Plot-Based Photograph Obfuscation: Difference between revisions

Sometimes, being able to see someone would enable the viewer to wrap up some important part of the show's mystery well beforehand. Commonly, a character will have a photograph of himself next to someone who is obscured by [[Lens Flare]], a deep shadow or some other obfuscation. In any event, you can be sure that, whoever the obscured person is, he's going to be important to the plot.

 

{{examples}}

 

** Fortunately, the original manga ''is'' covering that.

* The photograph of Fate and her mother in episode four of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]''. Interesting because the secret isn't what Precia looks like -- she's shown in episode seven -- but that {{spoiler|she's smiling: the photo was taken before she went insane. Also, it's not really Fate in the photo, but her [[Parental Favouritism|sister]]''/''[[Cloning Blues|original]], although Fate has no clue.}}

* Every image of Yui Ikari throughout the first half or more of ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', be it a physical photo or Shinji's memories of his mother, is obscured so that we cannot see her face.

* In ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]'', Tamaki's mother is shown only in flashbacks, where she either has her skin and face blacked out, is seen only from the back, or has only the lower part of her face shown. Later, when we are shown a photo of her and Tamaki that had their faces blacked out in the flashback, Tamaki's face is clear but his mother's falls victim to a convenient lens flare. This is mainly because she had yet to be fully shown in the manga when the anime was made.

* Early in ''[[G Gundam]]'', Domon goes around flashing a torn picture of a man and asking if people have seen him. Shortly into the series, we learn that the man is his older brother Kyoji, and the missing part of the picture shows the rest of the Kasshu family, with an adolescent Domon sitting on Kyoji's shoulders. This isn't really a spoiler so much as an indication of Domon's current attitude towards his brother.

* Renton's big sister is discussed and shown repeatedly throughout ''[[Eureka Seven]]'' but we are never shown her face until near the end of the series and it turns out there was really nothing important about her appearance.

* ''[[Zoids]] Fuzors'' features a photgraph of the "old" Mach Storm team; the face of RD's father is obscured in it. But then, ''every'' picture of his face is obscured. {{spoiler|In a twist to the conventions of the genre, his identity is not important to the plot at all.}}

* In ''[[Allison and Lillia]]'', the only photo Lillia has of her [[Disappeared Dad]] is one where he moved during the exposure, so she has never seen his face. This is intentional, as otherwise, {{spoiler|she would quickly recognize the man dating her mother as her own father with dyed hair.}}

* Marika of ''[[Twin Spica]]'' has a photograph of her and her father. {{spoiler|The obfuscation is to hide that the age of her father doesn't match his current appearance, but the girl in the picture looks just like [[Cloning Blues|Marika]].}}

* ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]'': Later in the series, a few flashbacks show a photo of {{spoiler|Syaoran}} with his parents, but the mom & dad's faces are obscured by the lens flare (somehow always perfectly placed, despite the lighting). Their faces are never shown in any other shots of them, either. But we know who they are, right, guys?

* The photo of Ranka and her older brother in ''[[Macross Frontier]]''.

* A photo of a woman (whom [[Fanon]] purports to be the late Lady Hellsing) in a sari holding a baby Integra has the woman's face [[Lens Flare|flared out]] in the ''[[Hellsing]]'' tv series.

* A recent manga chapter of ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'' has a photograph of Ryohei Sasagawa and some woman, obscured by unlikely glare.

** Earlier, a photo in Kurokawa's room had her and some man with an obscured face. Fans put two and two together and discovered KHR's first [[Official Couple]].

 

== Films -- Animated ==

** Another example actually happens at the end of the film: When the heroes all get their photos taken before finally going home, {{spoiler|both Milo and ____ are seen only from the waist down while everyone else is shown completely,}} hinting the fact that {{spoiler|the former actually chose not to go back to the surface like everyone else, and decided to stay in Atlantis instead, which ultimately results in him marrying [[The High Queen|____.]]}}

 

 

== Films -- Live Action ==

* In ''Back to the Future III'', present!Doc finds a photo of himself in the old west. The photo is torn in half -- later, it is revealed that the missing half contained Marty.

 

 

== Video Games ==

** This happens at least twice more in the first game alone.

* Not a photographic example, but there's a very good reason in ''[[Tsukihime]]'' that Shiki's childhood memories of Hisui and Kohaku initially aren't in color. {{spoiler|Seeing their eyes in color would reveal that Shiki is mixing up the cheerful girl and the girl in the mansion...}}

** In the manga, Akiha is occasionally shown with a framed Polaroid photo of herself and Shiki ripped down the middle. Close examination will reveal that there is an arm around each of their shoulders that doesn't seem to belong to either of them; eventually {{spoiler|the full image is shown, with SHIKI in the middle of the picture}}.

** This continues in [http://www.teamfortress.com/loosecanon/13.html Loose Canon,] which reveals that a 3rd Life Extender Machine was built for someone.