Paper-Thin Disguise/Video Games: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:paper thin disguise.jpg|link=Team Fortress 2|frame|"[[Three Panel Soul|Seems trustworthy enough]]."]]

{{quote|'''Banjo:''' I'm Banjo the Stony. Can I come in and play?

'''Officer Unogopaz:''' Yep, it's pretty obvious.|''[[Banjo-Kazooie|Banjo-Tooie]]''}}

 

 

** Made better when your rival comes in, recognizes you immediately, wonders what's up with the disguise, and strips you of it, then to have the grunt finally recognize you.

** Speaking of which, a variation involving inanimate objects was also used. The transmitter used to cause the Gyarados to evolve at a rapid rate at Lake of Rage (and was implied to be the cause of the Red Gyarados) was disguised as a tree near the shop. And by disguised, I mean rather obviously (the control box was clearly seen, not to mention most of the "tree" was metallic gray).

** The team's bases themselves, disguised as such things as granaries and shipping companies, sometimes qualify. The ones in Double Cross are said to "fool nobody", and 2fort's RED base, meant to be disguised as a farm, has a ''wooden cow''. There are mooing sounds coming from somewhere, presumably a hidden tape recorder.

* Subverted in ''[[Full Throttle]]''. The villain hosts a demolition derby as a ploy to lure out and kill protagonists Ben and Maureen. Ben and Maureen enter the derby in disguises deliberately made to fool everyone ''except'' the villain, all as part of a [[Batman Gambit]] to ''fake'' their own deaths while keeping their true identities hidden from the derby's spectators. The villain even [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] upon seeing them, "Who do they think they're fooling with those ''ludicrous'' disguises?"

** Their lines of idle dialogue are just as hilariously paper thin:

{{quote|'''Spy/Road worker:''' My red sign helps me work on the road.

'''Spy/Assassin:''' I like to shoot people.

'''Spy/Sewer worker:''' Feces. }}

* The identity of the Cornstalker in ''[[Touch Detective]] 2 1/2'' is supposed to be a big secret... but {{spoiler|there is one character that has the ''same'' jawline, ''same'' hair, ''same'' basic build, very similar name, and most disconcerting of all, the ''same voice'' (or rather, squeaky tones). A visit to the portrait gallery after the very first episode is enough to figure out who he is.}}

* ''[[Persona 4]]'' expects even the player to think that all it takes for {{spoiler|Naoto to be unmistakable for a boy is to put on a ''hat''.}}

** In ''Blazing Sword'', the player's army sneaks into Bern. The three lords don ragged brown cloaks without hoods. This is somewhat effective with Hector and Lyn, but Eliwood never bothers to take off his highly visible crown.

** A much older example is Sirius, from ''Mystery of the Emblem''. Even though pretty much everybody knows that he is really Camus beneath his [[Cool Mask]], his true identity is never revealed (except if you count his [[Suspiciously Specific Denial]] when {{spoiler|he snaps Nyna out of her [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] state in the Final Chapter}} as a very thinly-veiled confirmation).

* Tallis in the new ''Mark of the Assassin'' DLC adventure for ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' gets her hands on the [[MacGuffin]] by putting an Orlesian guard's helmet on and letting the Duke hand it to her. This doesn't make much sense, due primarily to the fact that she's a female elf and thus a ''lot'' shorter than the normal guards, but also because she [[Stripperific|isn't wearing all that much clothing]].

* In ''[[The World Ends With You]]'' {{spoiler|Joshua does this in his human form he looks like his composer form only as a teenage boy,and only 2 people figure it out Sho Minamimoto and a low level reaper Koki Kariya, and it figures this is the same form he killed Neku with heck he could have just put on a shirt that said "I am not the person who killed you." and that would have been better.}}

* In ''[[Donkey Kong Country (video game)|Donkey Kong Country]]'', King K. Rool seems to make a habit of this. Subverted in that he fools no one (except, oddly, [[Did Not Do the Research|whoever it was who wrote his trophy description]] in ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]. Brawl''), and there isn't even any real indication that he's ''trying'' to fool anyone. Apparently, he just likes dressing up in strange costumes and changing his title.

* In ''[[The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion]]'' a single mask is the Gray Fox's only disguise, with no change in clothing or voice. Of course, the mask was [[Blessed with Suck]] by a godlike being, and in fantasy setting "[[A Wizard Did It]]" is [[Justified Trope|justifiedi]].

** Later on in the Burning Steppes quest chain in ''Cataclysm'', you're required to disguise yourself as a member of the Blackrock army using a mask that's the same model as the masks from Hallow's Eve. Most members of the army will fall for it, others will get suspicious requiring you to beat them to death with the cudgel one of the commanders gave you.

* Averted in ''[[Fallout 3]]'', where it is impossible to disguise yourself. Your character is instantly recognizable, even dressed like [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/c/c7/Fo3_APA_Enclave.png this]. Perhaps the [https://web.archive.org/web/20151218094619/http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Chinese_remnant wiki] puts it best:

{{quote|They are immediately hostile towards the PC, because he/she is American. (And that goes even for Asian-American characters wearing Chinese Army paraphernalia...)}}

* In ''[[Ragnarok Online]]'', in order to get to the Rekenber Corporation's laboratory for various quests, you just have to wear a pair of geek glasses and a white mustache to get pass the guard guarding the laboratory, and the guard will allow you to pass even if you have a different hairstyle, clothing or even as a female.

* The 1994 PC game ''[[Eagle Eye Mysteries|Eagle Eye Mysteries in London]]'' has a mystery called "Case of Blood's Bold Bauble," where the protagonists have to get information from an obstructive hotel desk clerk. Your partner borrows another character's glasses and puts them on you, then pretends that you're the star of a new TV show and he/she is your agent. The kicker: the glasses is the only thing your (unseen by you) character's avatar wears in the way of a disguise, your partner doesn't even attempt to disguise him/herself, both of you are children (which means your partner shouldn't be old enough to be a TV actor's agent), the clerk will have presumably met you before (if you're playing the mysteries in the order they're presented), ''and the clerk still falls for it''.

* ''[[The Adventures of Robin Hood (video game)|The Adventures of Robin Hood]]'': Putting on a monk's robe fools guards every time - even when they see you doing it.

* In the second ''[[Sly Cooper]]'' game, [[Spell My Name with a "The"|The]] [[Large Ham|Murray]] disguises himself as an anthropomorphic moose [[Furry Confusion|by wearing a stuffed moose head over his own]]. To be fair, these guys [[The Guards Must Be Crazy|aren't exactly the brightest]] or [[Conspicuously Selective Perception|most perceptive]].

* Despite having long green hair, horns, not altering his voice, and a tendency to wear the same blue clothing, Arle couldn't identify her ''long-term antagonist'' Satan in ''[[Puyo Puyo]] TSU's'' Alternate Ending, all because he was wearing a gold mask that only covered his eyes.

* ''[[Monster Girl Quest Paradox]]'' has Alicetroemeria, actually Alice VIII disguised as a human. Said disguise consists solely of wearing a different kind of dress - her face is completely uncovered. The party immediately figures out her identity upon meeting her, yet Heinrich (who's on a journey to defeat Alice VIII) is comically unable to realize this.