Not a Mask: Difference between revisions

A horror trope which has become something of a [[Dead Horse Trope]], as it's now almost always played for comedy. It involves a character seeing an ugly face and begin pulling at it, on the assumption that it's a mask. Of course, it's actually someone's face and the puller will typically be [[Horror Struck]]. Sometimes a purely comedic variation will occur with wigs if the joke is that [[Bifauxnen|a woman looks like a man]]. Also closely related to "I'm not pregnant, I'm just obese" jokes. Compare with [[Your Costume Needs Work]] and [[For Halloween I Am Going As Myself]]. Can be a result of the monster being [[Mistaken for An Imposter]].

* Happens to the main character of ''[[Angel Densetsu (Manga)|Angel Densetsu]]'' where a new guidance conselor first scolds him for wearing a frightening mask and begins pulling on his face, and then [[Crosses the Line Twice|accuses him of mutilating himself to scare people]].

* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (Manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', most people assume that Alphonse Elric just really likes wearing armor, since he never even takes his helmet off. In fact, after Al lost his flesh-and-blood body, [[Emergency Transformation|in order to keep him from dying completely, his soul was bound to the closest substitute in the immediate vicinity]], meaning [[Animated Armor|that empty suit of armor ''is'' his body]].

** In [[Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime)|the 2003 anime]], there's an omake episode that has the premise that the characters are [[Show Within a Show|actually actors]]. One of the jokes involves the reveal that the freakish looking Gluttony ''is not'' an actor.

* Inverted in [http://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=15990 this] ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' Fan Fic, as the non-mask-wearing character in question is an attractive [[Human Alien]].

* Quasimodo in [[Disney Animated Canon|Disney's adaptation]] of ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]''. His deformed face is mistaken for a mask, as he is at the Festival of Fools, where everyone is wearing an ugly mask. When he wins, they try to pull off his "mask" , but recoil when they realize he really looks like that. He then has to run away while they throw vegetables at him.

* Played straight in Robert W. Chambers's ''[[The King in Yellow]]'', a short story collection that inspired [[HP Lovecraft]] and was a precursor of the [[Cosmic Horror Story]]. The quote used at the top apparently comes from the titular play, of which we never get more than a few small excerpts, as it drives its readers [[Brown Note|insane]] (no actual ''performances'' are ever suggested). The King in Yellow character is implied to be some sort of [[Humanoid Abomination]].

* In [[Beastly]] Kyle goes to a [[For Halloween I Am Going As Myself|Halloween party]] where he startes talking to a girl who asks to see him again but to do so she needs to know what he looks like and you know the rest.

** Parodied by [[The Grim Reaper|Death]] in the [[Discworld]] novel ''[[Discworld (Literature)/The Light Fantastic|The Light Fantastic]]'', explaining why he appeared at a summoning ritual with a cocktail and a sausage-on-a-stick. {{smallcaps| "The party's nice, but I expect it'll all go downhill after midnight. It's when they think I'll be taking my mask off."}}

** ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Maskerade|Maskerade]]'' features Death appearing to a man while dressed in a bright red suit and an extremely cheap skull mask. The man demands that Death removes his mask, to which he complies. The man then asks him to remove his ''other'' mask...

** In ''[[Discworld (Literature)/I Shall Wear Midnight|I Shall Wear Midnight]]'', {{spoiler|Mrs. Proust sells stereotypically warty and hideous witch masks and gloves, and appears to be wearing a full set. Then Tiffany realizes that the masks she sells are copies of her own face.}}

* Used in the first episode of ''[[Torchwood (TV)|Torchwood]]''. The fact that the guy looks like an alien wearing a normal janitor's jumpsuit plays with you.

* In the ''[[Tales From the Crypt (TV)|Tales From the Crypt]]'' episode "Only Skin Deep", the guy finds out the woman {{spoiler|a deranged [[Serial Killer]] who murders men and cuts off their faces for her "art"}} he hooked up with during a Halloween party isn't wearing a mask when he scratches her and draws blood.

* [[Spongebob SquarePants]] once pulled Squidward's face off, thinking it to be a disguise. (Hint: It wasn't.)