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Not to be confused with [[Faceless Masses]], [[Faceless Eye]] or [[The Blank]].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* Both the [[Mooks|expandability]] and [[Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy|incompetence]] of the Faceless Goons are heavily subverted in ''[[Black Lagoon]]'' where Balalaika's Russian ex-military mercenaries are easily the most deadly force on the show and the murder of two of them lead to a city-wide manhunt.
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* The Disith soldiers in ''[[Last Exile]]'' are always seen wearing face masks...right up to the point where the heroes encounter them in a sympathetic moment ({{spoiler|the escape shuttle carrying a lot of civilians fails at launch}}). Soon after, the two sides start working together against their greater enemy, {{spoiler|The Guild}}.
* ''[[Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind]]'' features plenty of masked Torumekian soldiers, as well as the legions of Heedra in the manga. Subverted in the manga, at least, in that we sometimes see individual Torumekian soldiers without their masks. Then, of course, there are the [[Gas Masks]] required for anyone travelling in the Toxic Jungle, but that's another matter.
== Comic Books ==
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* The Nort soldiers in ''[[Rogue Trooper]]'' wear face-concealing masks, in contrast to the clear visors of the Southers.
* In ''[[All Fall Down]]'', the Order of Despots has a small army of them on their moon base.
== Film ==
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* The Soviet/South Yemeni/North Korean/any other communist nationality enemy pilots from ''Top Gun''.
** [[Reds with Rockets|Soviet pilots in general]]. Usually have (inaccurately) a red star on their helmets.
* In the audio commentary on the ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' films, [[Peter Jackson]] and company mention that they made the human allies of Sauron, the Haradrim, into Faceless Goons in ninja-wrap-turbans to [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?|de-emphasise their humanity]], something they didn't have to do with the [[Exclusively Evil|slavering, monstrous Orcs]] that make up the usual mookdom. They also subverted this in the extended edition, when Faramir looks at the body of a fallen Haradrim (with his young, handsome face exposed) and comments on what circumstances would have led him from his home and family to die violently in a foreign country. In the book, this was an internal musing by Sam.
** Although, ironically, in the book the dead guy's laying face-down.
** Saruman's Uruk-Hai also fit the trope with their identical, face-concealing helmets. In their case the point was probably the intimidation factor of several thousand identical goons, along with saving some time for the special effects people, as they didn't have to craft unique masks for every actor.
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* Inverted in ''[[Captain America (1990 film)]]'', where it's ''[[The Cavalry]]'' that arrive at the very end of the film to rescue the President who wear face-concealing masks and [[Dark Is Not Evil|all-black uniforms]]. The Red Skull's mooks are all attractive, fashionably-dressed people.
* King Hyperion's soldiers in ''[[The Immortals]]''. In the film, it is stated that they hide their faces as a sign of equality, while Theseus says that they do it because they are cowards.
== Literature ==
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* The [[Elite Mooks|Social Police]] in ''[[The Acts of Caine|Blade of Tyshalle]]'' wear reflective face-concealing masks and speak through voice-altering devices. Their utter anonymity is actually an important thematic element.
* While the ''[[Star Wars]]'' movie prequels play this trope completely straight with the Republic's Clone Troopers—who are on the heroes' side, oddly enough ([[It Was His Sled|until the end, that is]]) -- the ''Republic Commando'' series of novels by Karen Traviss (based on the [[Video Game]] of the same name) completely subvert this by Lampshading the troopers as living, breathing ''people'' that the so-called heroes are monstrously using as disposable cannon fodder. Only a relative few of the good guys ever realize this and come to appreciate these slaves as human beings who have gotten an infernally raw deal in life.
** The novel ''The Death Star''
** The novel "The Cestus Deception" effectively makes one trooper in particular one of the lead characters. Apparently Obi-Wan and several other Jedi and Senators have been striving to get the troopers seen as human beings.
* ''[[Discworld]]'':
** Defied by [[Genre Savvy|Vimes]] in ''[[
{{quote|'''Vimes:''' And then you and Waddy go and stand guard outside, where you can be seen. You're friendly-looking local lads. Take your bells, but, and I want to make this very clear, no swords, right? ... What do you want 'em to see? Now what ''I'' want them to see is Fatty Colon, decent lad, not too bright, I knew 'is dad, an' there's ol' Waddy, he drinks in my pub. 'cos if they just see a couple of men in uniform with swords you'll be in trouble."}}
** While not exactly goons normally (they became goonish in ''[[
* Death Eaters in the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' books wear masks, although to be more kid-friendly all but the worst are stunned/disarmed instead of being killed. These also turned out to be useful for concealing their identities after they lost the first Wizarding War.
== Live-Action TV ==
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** In Tennant's final episode the billionaire antagonist had an army of goons at his disposal, all wearing face-concealing black visors. {{spoiler|When The Master had assimilated the entire human race into copies of himself he failed to notice the one faceless guard who was a few inches too tall (who wasn't assimilated because he wasn't human).}}
** Any alien race made up of [[Rubber Forehead Aliens]] will, due to budget, employ Faceless Goons. Examples include the Sontarans, the newer Silurians, the Judoon and the Sycorax.
* Most Federation soldiers in ''[[Blake's 7
* Lannister uniforms in [[Game of Thrones]] include helmets with somewhat impractical folding visors that cover the wearer's face. Seen [http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/29400000/Cersei-and-Lannister-soldiers-cersei-lannister-29431415-570-300.jpg here]. This is in marked contrast to the books, where there is no standard uniform for any of the factions beyond a garment bearing some version of your Lord's insignia.
** Greyjoy soldiers also cover their faces with wraps underneath their enormous Wehrmacht cast-off helmets.
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** Similarly the Charrids. Having established that Scarrans are pretty much [[Immune to Bullets]] it was necessary to have them ally with a race that did not share this vulnerability, thus allowing shoot outs to continue.
* In ''[[UFO]]'' the mystery of the alien invaders (their name and true nature are never revealed) is enhanced by having them always wear spacesuits, with helmets filled with green fluid. Episodes where we're supposed to feel empathy for an individual alien ("Survival", "A Question of Priorities") feature [[In Space Everyone Can See Your Face|a lot more close-ups]].
* ''[[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]''. Cylon [[Mecha-Mooks|Centurions]]. Played initially for laughs in the new series when Baltar is trying to preach to one of these chrome domes, and you can't tell if the Centurion is paying attention or just wondering what this crazy human is babbling on about. Later on, [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|it ends up protecting Baltar with its own body when a warhead hits the ship.]] The series often implies that these [[The Voiceless|voiceless]] death dealers have a rich internal life once they've been released from the lobotomization imposed upon them by the skinjobs, but we never exactly learn how they view their situation.
** In the original series, the Cylons were originally envisioned as armor-wearing Reptilians, before they were decided to be a race of robotic warriors. Both versions came encased in faceless armor with an iconic, inhuman warbling red eye.
* A rather blatant example in ''[[Babylon 5]]''. Almost none of the foot soldiers of prominent races wear any kind of face-covering gear . Then on an occasion an alien invasion force assaults Babylon 5 and their soldiers are all [[Faceless Mooks]]. Coincidentially this race is regarded solely as arbitary conquerors and is never mentioned again after their attack is repelled.
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*** As well as similar goons in most [[Toku]].
* The Chigs in ''[[Space: Above and Beyond]]'' all wear armor that liquefies them into a green ooze if it's removed.
== Music ==
* The music video for [[Disturbed]]'s cover of ''Land of Confusion'' smashes together every tired, overdone fascism cliché in the book, but the most prominent is easily the [[Gas Mask Mooks|gas mask-like helmets]] worn by the evil military guys.
** Not to mention the the fact that [[Putting on the Reich|their logo is a nazi flag with a dollar sign replacing the swastika]].
== Tabletop Games ==
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*** Unless those Orks are Blood Axes who ''love'' [[Cool Hats]].
* The Faceless Army in ''Super [[Munchkin (game)|Munchkin]]''.
== Video Games ==
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* The Crimson Lance soldiers from ''[[Borderlands]]'' fit this role throughout the game. The only subversions are [[Lady of War|Athena]] and [[Defector From Decadence|Roland]].
* The reserve operatives in the ''[[Rainbow Six]]'' series.
== Web Comics ==
* In [[Holiday Wars]] Chick Soldiers serve as the faceless goons of The [[Easter Bunny]].
* Lampshaded beautifully in this [http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=219 strip] of ''[[VG Cats]]''.
* In ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20130318061244/http://www.drunkduck.com/Harkovast/ Harkovast]'', [[The Nameless]] are a good example of this trope, being an army of warriors who lack not just names but also cannot speak and always have their faces covered by helmets. They are so anonymous that they are the only creatures in [[Harkovast]] who cannot be identified with a real world animal.
* In ''[[The
== Web Original ==
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** Just to make sure you ''really'' don't feel for 'em, D-class personnel aren't technically even employees—they're criminals who've either been sentenced to life, or were on death row.<ref>or Foundation employees who stepped so far out of line that they probably would end up sentenced to life if such shenanigans ever made it as far as court</ref> The appeal of being D-class appears to be that you won't be cooped up for long; even if you survive the crazy-dangerous testing for which the position was created, you get terminated at the end of the month, quickly and painlessly.
* In Avatar: The Last Airbender, the Abridged series (found on Youtube) in the episode where Aang is captured for the first time by Zuko, he is taken away by two guards. In the next scene he is in Zuko's cabin and states, "Did you really think faceless guards number one and two could hold me?"
== Western Animation ==
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* ''[[Kim Possible]]'' subverts the trope; Drakken's masked goons are a rare example of faceless [[Punch Clock Villain]]s.
* The same goes for The Monarch's goons in ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'', the lone exception being the two recurring ones who've been seen out of their costumes, thus "humanizing" them to the point they [[Mauve Shirt|really can't be killed]]. But note that everyone around them still does...
** Lampshaded with a 50' shade by the two [[Genre Savvy]] henchmen 21 and 24, when they're sent on a mission with the new guy in episode 36. They constantly talk about how he's going to die, while they'll get away
{{quote|Henchman 21: You still don't get it. 24 and I have been on, like, a thousand missions. We've been shot at, dipped in acid...
Henchman 24: Brock Samson hit me with a car. Drove right into my kidney. Here I am!
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* Endemic in ''[[Iron Man: Armored Adventures]]''. As well as A.I.M., the Mandarin's [[The Triads and the Tongs|Tong]] all wear [[Highly-Visible Ninja]] outfits and the [[The Family for the Whole Family|Maggia]] (apart from [[Elite Mooks]] like Killer Shrike) wear identical suits and blank white masks.
* ''[[Transformers Prime]]'' has the Vehicons, who's only distinguishing facial feature is their V-shaped visor. They come in car and jet flavors. The only difference between the variants is [[Kibbles and Bits|type of kibble.]]
== Real Life ==
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* Counter Terrorist and SWAT uniforms also follow this (body armour, helmet and gasmask (sometimes with the lenses mirrored) for practicality and intimidation. The practicality comes from their use of tear gas and flashbangs, the intimidation is, well..imagine several well-trained killers dressed head to toe in black body armour, wielding automatic weapons and you can't see their faces or eye due to that inhuman looking gasmask (they usually also wear a balaclava under the helmet, because identification may lead to threats against them or their family). Scariest thing on earth.
* Fencing and kendo masks invoke this trope, partially for practical protection, partially for the psychological factor: people instinctively hold back against one another, especially people they know, when using weapons. Hiding the face eases this discomfort, and allows them to go all out against each other.
** At least for kendo, there is reason to look into your partner's eyes, as letting your eyes wander may give away your intention; but the eyes can remain visible as long as the mask conceals familiar facial features, and swordfighters express far more with their body-language than their eyes, which traditionally are concealed behind a helmet of some sort, anyway.▼
▲At least for kendo, there is reason to look into your partner's eyes, as letting your eyes wander may give away your intention; but the eyes can remain visible as long as the mask conceals familiar facial features, and swordfighters express far more with their body-language than their eyes, which traditionally are concealed behind a helmet of some sort, anyway.
* The psychological phenomenon [[wikipedia:Deindividuation|deindividuation]] explains part of why this trope might exist. When humans are placed in a group, they're more likely to do things against their moral or social beliefs because they feel anonymous. There's a chance that villains who [[Genre Savvy|know this]] purposefully use Faceless Goons - it's easier for your soldiers to commit atrocities/be bad when deindividuation is in effect.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Authority Tropes]]
[[Category:Cast Filler Tropes]]
[[Category:Mooks]]
[[Category:Villains]]
▲[[Category:Faceless Goons]]
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