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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|'''[[General Failure|Zapp Brannigan]]''': We can't be too careful with these codes [to Earth's automated defenses]. Rumor has it a double agent may be aboard this very ship. You, ensign, what's your name?
'''Zapp''': Hugh Mann? Now that's [[Names to Trust Immediately|a name I can trust]]. Run down to the central battle computer and enter these codes. Chop, chop!
'''[[Only Sane Man|Kif]]''': [[Genre Savvy|Um, sir? There's something about that ensign that's--]]
'''Zapp''': You're damn right there is! That strapping young lad's gunning for your job. And he just might get it.
|''[[Futurama]]''}}
Someone has gotten [[Cloning Blues|duplicated]]/[[Demonic Possession|taken over]]/[[Humanity Ensues|impersonated]] by something not human, and the duplicate is trying to pass as a main character. But they do a [[Glamour Failure|terrible job of it]]; [[Uncanny Valley|acting in an erratic manner]], forgetting names, walking stiffly, and [[Creepy Monotone|talking in an odd dialect]]. They might as well call themselves "Hugh Mann" and [[Most Definitely Not a Villain|walk around with a name-tag reading "I'm Most Definitely Not A Space Alien"]] - it would make for about as convincing a disguise.
▲{{quote|'''[[General Failure|Zapp Brannigan]]''': We can't be too careful with these codes [to Earth's automated defenses]. Rumor has it a double agent may be aboard this very ship. You, ensign, what's your name?<br />
▲'''Decapodian in a [[Paper-Thin Disguise]]''': [[Trope Namer|Hugh Mann,]] sir!<br />
▲'''Zapp''': Hugh Mann? Now that's [[Names to Trust Immediately|a name I can trust]]. Run down to the central battle computer and enter these codes. Chop, chop!<br />
▲'''[[Only Sane Man|Kif]]''': [[Genre Savvy|Um, sir? There's something about that ensign that's--]]<br />
▲'''Zapp''': You're damn right there is! That strapping young lad's gunning for your job. And he just might get it.|''[[Futurama (Animation)|Futurama]]''}}
▲Someone has gotten [[Cloning Blues|duplicated]]/[[Demonic Possession|taken over]]/[[Humanity Ensues|impersonated]] by something not human, and the duplicate is trying to pass as a main character. But they do a [[Glamour Failure|terrible job of it]]; [[Uncanny Valley|acting in an erratic manner]], forgetting names, walking stiffly, and [[Creepy Monotone|talking in an odd dialect]]. They might as well call themselves "Hugh Mann" and [[Most Definitely Not a Villain|walk around with a name-tag reading "I'm Most Definitely Not A Space Alien"]] - it would make for about as convincing a disguise.
Luckily for them, [[Weirdness Censor|nobody notices]] at all. Or at least [[Cassandra Truth|nobody anyone will listen to.]] Sometimes, it helps that the character that's being impersonated normally acts this way.
See also [[Clark Kenting]] and [[Paper-Thin Disguise]]. Compare [[Louis Cypher]]. Not to be confused with ''[[Funday Pawpet Show]]'' character Hugh Manatee.
{{examples}}
== Comic Books ==
* In an issue of ''[[The Flash|Impulse]]'', Bart has to hide the fact that his cousin Jenni is from the future, so he teaches her English with the help of books like "See Spot Run". When introduced to his friends, Jenni's first attempt at conversing with them is to ask if they've Seen Spot Run.
== Film ==
* In Tim Burton's ''[[Mars Attacks
* ''[[The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra]]'':
{{quote|
'''Kro-Bar''': Aliens? Us? Is this one of your Earth jokes? }}
* Edgar, in the first ''[[Men in Black (
** [[In
* In ''[[The Human Duplicators]]'', a detective gets duplicated (Surprise!) and the duplicate reports back to the original's superiors to throw them off the case. Despite his random pauses and stiff movement, they don't suspect a thing.
* Absolutely ruthlessly parodied in ''[[Monsters vs. Aliens]]'' where the aliens can tell that the ancient fishman is not one of them (although they believe him to merely be a defective clone) but cannot identify a one-eyed slime monster or a six foot cockroach as not being one of them. The disguise that leads them to believe that they are mere clones? Simply their ill-fitting uniforms.
* In ''[[It Came
* ''[[The Skeleton Key]]'' [[Grand Theft Me|ends this way]], although at least one person seems to suspect something might be wrong.
* {{spoiler|The Strangers}} from ''[[Dark City]]''. By extension {{spoiler|the whole environment they constructed}} .
* In the second ''[[
* Deconstructed in ''[[Hellboy (
== Literature ==
* ''[[The
** It doesn't exactly help that Arthur blurts out "What?" on this suggestion.
** In the [[The
* A more serious example would be [[
* Mostly averted by R. Daneel Olivaw of the ''[[The Caves of Steel|Robot]]''/''Empire/[[Foundation]]'' series by [[Isaac Asimov]], but every now and then the ten-thousand-year-old robot gets the urge to call himself something like "Chetter Hummin" ("Cheater Human") for a while. This is probably a way to evade the psychological cost of lying to humans, which is an indirect violation of the Robotic Laws.
* Several times throughout ''[[
** This is actually something of a running gag for Ax whenever he's [[Humanity Ensues|in his human form]], [[Sense Freak|particularly about food]]. This boy [[Big Eater|enjoys eating]] cigarette butts and other strange stuff...
*** And [[Trademark Favorite Food|Cinnamon buns]] (who would blame him? Cinnabons).
** At one point, Ax gets asked about where he's from? After his first response ("I am from the Republic of Ivory Coast") doesn't work, Ax just lists off a bunch of ''World Almanac'' countries- until finally hearing a suggestion of Canada... At which Ax now promptly notes "I am from Canada. I am Canadese." as his reply.
** Fortunately, they eventually get access to [[Ridiculously
*** They did however, cleaned Marco's room with their ''pleasure'', which is probably just as weird for him. The act irritates Marco to no end, at any rate...
*** And almost blew their cover, as the now very clean room now confused the hell out of Marco's father!
* In the Mark Clifton short story ''What Have I Done?'', an employment agent meets an alien who asks him to help the alien invaders with their disguises. (The agent has a superhuman ability to read people, and is the only person so far who's seen through the
== Live Action TV ==
* In the ''[[
** This varies by scene. In the scene in the car, he is very obviously a mannequin. In the scene in the restaurant, he's just got a sheen to his skin and the ''funny'' talking.
** Subverted in another episode of ''[[
** Another subversion: In "Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood", after one of the characters becomes possessed, Martha notices something off about her, and she confirms this by asking whether she'd like jam and sardines in her tea. "I like the sound of that."
* Reversed and subverted in an episode of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''. Reversed, in that it's a human, Daniel Jackson in this case, trying to pass for a Goa'
** Also played straight when Sam is taken over by a Tok'ra. She acts rather odd, but no one seems to notice anything until she starts dialing up the gate. In another episode, Colonel O'Neill is duplicated by a crystal entity and everyone, even his ex-wife, thinks the entity is him even though he speaks very haltingly and suddenly acts like he's once again depressed about his son's pre-show pre-movie death. Another reversed/subversion in another episode, O'Neill pretends to be a Goa'uld (although all he knows is "Jaffa Kree!") but the Goa'uld he's trying to bluff don't really buy it.
*** O'Neill thought it might work because the last time the people he was trying to bluff saw him, he was about to be implanted with a Goa'uld symbiote. Unfortunately for him, he didn't know that Goa'uld (as well as former Goa'uld hosts) can sense the presence or absence of a symbiote.
** The O'Neill duplicate episode came fairly early in the series, and the team didn't know each other all that well yet; Sam didn't even know about O'Neill's family tragedy. O'Neill's ex-wife just assumed he finally wanted to talk about their relationship and their son's
** Jackson pretending to be a bounty hunter: "[[Crowning Moment of Funny|My name is...]] [[Shout
** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in "Off the Grid" when Daniel, Cam, and Sam are all arguing over who would make the most convincing drug dealer for their meet with the bad guys and Teal'c says they're all equally unlikely. Subverted when Mitchell's attempts at posing as said drug dealer backfire off screen and the audience just sees the team running for their lives.
* In the comedy soap opera ''[[Soap]]'', Burt was replaced by a look-alike alien Burt. Though alien Burt acted very oddly and was sex-crazed, only his wife Mary was really concerned, because the real Burt was pretty odd himself.
* In ''[[
** Anya seemed to like the robot better than the regular Buffy, particularly after its greeting of, "Hello, Anya. How is your money?" Anya replies with a happy, "Fine! Thank you!" apparently glad that someone now cares about the money as much as she does.
** We also have all of the demons at Xander and Anya's wedding, and Clem at Buffy's birthday party.
*** And Anya herself, when she's trying to keep the Watcher's Council from finding out she's an ex-demon:
{{quote|
* Done hilariously in an episode of ''[[Mad TV]]'', where throughout the episode, segments were aired for "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLSlGmVrmuM Smith Comma John, Human Being for President]", in which the candidate demonstrates his human American nature with statements like "I am sitting next to fire. Willingly." and introducing his wife: a golden retriever. The capper is when he partakes in the all-American activity of eating corn dogs, first sticking his hand into a deep fryer to retrieve one, and then "eating" it via the magic of visual effects: the camera stops for a moment, a bite is missing, and he pretends to be chewing, before going for another "bite". ''Sooo'' not an alien.
* In ''[[Smallville]]'', after being a [[Human Popsicle]] for months, Clark Kent is enraged when he returns and finds that Bizarro (this version looks exactly like Clark, except when sunlight falls on him) had stolen his identity, and no one except Chloe noticed. Chloe had no choice but to stay silent, as Bizarro would have killed her if he found out that she knew. Clark would have been fine with it if Lana had also been playing along, but she was ''completely fooled'' and had sex with Bizarro several times.
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* In ''[[The Secret Circle]]'' {{spoiler|Melissa}} is possessed by a demon. Turns out, demons aren't very good actors. Apart from general weird and out of character behavior, when frustrated she broke into [[Evil Sounds Deep]]. Unusually for this trope their friend screaming at them in demon voice because they expressed reservations about her creepy plan was noticed, although the real giveaway was when the demonic snake crawled across her forehead under the skin.
* In ''Zardip Zap'', a series of fitness and health information videos for children, the eponymous character is an alien sent by his leaders to re-learn the secret to taking care of one's body. masquerades as a child named Zardip [[Line-of-Sight Name|Pacific]] in order to gain information. He pulls it off rather well aside from not knowing what the organs in his own body are.
== Music ==
* The Duras Sisters' eponymous track on "Masquerading as Human" describes ''something'' that's doing just that, and finding just how easy it is to do so, even when they do things like order steak with marmalade and have a deadbolt on their closet door.
* Likewise, filker Karen Lindsey and her song "Nobody Knows I'm Really an Alien." The marooned alien cook is having a great time of it on Earth. He lives in a hippie commune (where the residents have had so many drugs they don't notice), goes to sci-fi conventions (where his looks are mistaken for a great costume), and even gets bit parts in Hollywood films (where again, no one seems to notice). It's only when he goes on a talk show to "set the record straight" that the MiB patrol shows up to cart him off.
== Theater ==
* In ''[[Dark of the Moon]]'', the protagonist, a witch, pretends to be a human. When asked what his name is, he says, "John... Human!" Cue [[Lampshade Hanging|bewildered remarks]] from the other characters.
== Video Games ==
* If you hide for some period in ''[[Halo]]'', Grunts may occasionally respond with: "It's okay to come out now, this is Sergeant... Smitherson! Yeah..." Occasionally they'll play it straighter and reply as "Sergeant Humanoid."
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Rift]]'', there are a group of...odd people that, should you greet them, will say things like: "Hello, fellow air-breather!" They also sell strange items.
* Inverted in ''[[Sam and Max Hit The Road]]''. At one point in the game, the eponymous duo put on a [[Paper-Thin Disguise|paper-thin Bigfoot disguise]] to sneak into a convention. Also subverted in that the bouncer makes it clear that he knows they're in disguise, and he's only letting them in because they did him a favor earlier. Played straight with the rest of the bigfoots, however, who don't see anything out of the ordinary, even when the [[It Makes Sense in Context|bigfoot's navel starts talking]].
* In ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', the team sneaks aboard a Shinra ship disguised as Shinra soldiers. Red XIII, a red wolf-like creature, clearly has trouble standing on two legs, and doesn't bother to cover his tail. Naturally, their cover is not blown. (That said, no ''real'' Shinra soldiers are ever seen speaking to him, and given his familiarity with humans it's unlikely he'd say something ''too'' ridiculous even if they did.)
* One of the new classes in ''Super [[Monday Night Combat]]'' is Karl, a reconnaissance cyborg developed to infiltrate the society of the lawless Outlanders. Uniquely for this trope, Karl seems to completely buy into the idea that he is human. In-game, he'll often talk about getting goosebumps, needing a drink, or being due for a haircut. His bio mentions that he has an extreme hatred of robots and that his locker room outbursts are "just a little too perfect."
* In ''[[Lego Star Wars]]'', your characters can don Stormtrooper helmets to get into restricted areas. Chewbacca is so big that he can only wear his as a hat on top of his head. Not to mention he is seven feet tall and covered in fur. The disguise still works.
* ''[[
* Invoked by the game ''[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1175060/Human_Simulator/ Human Simulator]'', in which you play a hapless android named "Hugh Mann", attempting to fit in with all the non-androids around him.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/5/4/ Broodax] of ''[[Penny Arcade (Webcomic)|Penny Arcade]]''.
* Parodied in [http://legostargalactica.comicgen.com/d/20061101.html this] [[Legostar Galactica]] strip.
* Also parodied in the ''[[
* Often seen in ''[[
* [http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=183 This] ''[[
* A ''[[
* When Corlis (dragon) and Moppy (cat) from ''[[Dragon Tails]]'' attempt to board a plane with a [[Paper-Thin Disguise]], Corlis delivers "I am Bob Human, and this is my friend Bill Human. We are both human."
* Taken to its flimsiest extreme in [http://buttersafe.com/2010/07/22/the-essence-of-being-human/ this] ''[[Buttersafe]]'' strip.
* Warmech of ''[[8-Bit Theater
== Western Animation ==
* The Brain Slugs from ''[[
** They have to, lest the slug becomes suspicious, and, in Leela's words, "assimilates" them.
** [[Trope Namer|Names the trope]] in the episode "A Taste of Freedom".
* "Bill Cosby" from the Trapper Keeper episode on ''[[South Park]]'' is a ''[[Terminator]]''-esque operative from the future who takes a contemporary name.
{{quote|
* ''[[The Simpsons (
** In a Treehouse of Horror episode, where Kang and Kodos attempt to sabotage the 1996 American presidential election by assuming the identities of Bill Clinton and Bob Dole. In one campaign speech, Kang (as Clinton) monotonously intones "I am Clin-Ton! As overlord, all will kneel trembling before me, and obey my brutal commands!" before crossing his arms over his chest and shouting "End communication!" His staffers attribute the behavior to an "over-tight necktie".
{{quote|
** In another episode, Homer is kidnapped and replaced by a lookalike who speaks with a German accent, has no understanding of Homer's personality, and explains the sense that there's something different about him by stating "I am a new tie wearing." Subverted; Marge sees through it immediately, but she ''still'' decides to go along with it after he promises her sex.
* In one episode of ''[[The Flintstones]]'', The Great Gazoo creates a duplicate of Fred. The duplicate can only utter the words "Yes yes yes", separated by one second pauses. Despite this, absolutely no one notices the difference.
** There's a second episode in which aliens produce multiple Fred clones. They can say nothing more than "Yabba. Dabba. Doo." And almost no one notices.
* ''[[Star Wars:
* Frequently used heroically by ''[[Scooby-Doo]]'', who seems to get away with impersonating the bad guys' own human and/or monstrously-disguised henchmen with ease, despite being 1) a terrible actor, 2) impaired by a speech impediment, and 3) a freakin' Great Dane.
* In ''[[
** The hilarious part is that "Major Shake" is a seemingly normal, decent, average person, whereas Master Shake is a sociopathic obnoxious [[Jerkass]]. Major Shake also looks like a slightly melted version of Master Shake, wearing red high heeled shoes, and with a [[Insistent Terminology|jambox]] melted into his side.
*** And he doesn't actually have any mission or agenda, and is rather confused about what the heck the Plutonians are hoping to accomplish.
* In an episode of ''[[The Tick (animation)]]'', Arthur was cloned by their alien neighbor. The clone was greenish and could only say "I Arthur", yet he fooled the Tick ([[The Ditz|not that it's very difficult with him]]). When he found both the original and the clone, he told them to say [[Something Only They Would Say|something only the REAL Arthur would know]]. Arthur delivered a lengthy anecdote about a personal incident they had once, which convinced the Tick... while the clone said "I Arthur", which ALSO convinced the Tick, since he couldn't find any fault in the statement.
* In the ''[[
* In the episode "Prime Problem" of the [[Transformers Generation 1|original Transformers cartoon]], Megatron creates a clone of Optimus Prime and operates it remotely. The Autobots can't tell the difference between the clone and the original, despite the fact that Megatron calls Ironhide "Bumblebee" and can't operate Teletran 1. Amongst the methods used to try to tell the two Optimus apart is a race. Yes, a race.
** To make the name mix-up even more ridiculous... Ironhide is one of the highest ranking officers. Bumblebee is not an officer and is a member of the Spec Ops team (either a spy or assassin, depending on source material). Any leader worth his salt should know his enemy's highest ranking officers, ''especially'' when he's been fighting them for millions of years!
** Another Transformers example, this time from ''[[Transformers Animated]]''. The supposed traitor Wasp traveled to Earth to get his revenge on Bumblebee, by swapping places with him. The team aren't suspicious at all when "Bumblebee" starts talking weird and has no idea what happened earlier in the show, despite the fact that they were trying to convince Sentinel that the real traitor was still on Cybertron! At least later in the show, "Wasp" is able to prove that he's the real Bumblebee by telling Bulkhead something that only the two of them know from their days in Autobot Boot Camp. And then Bulkhead convinces the rest of them to go with a test for which is the real Bumblebee: playing against each other on a video game. Justified in that Bumblebee is a video game junkie and quite good at it, and Wasp hasn't had the time to hone his skills at it.
* Zim from [[Invader Zim]] is... not a very convincing human, to say the least. Luckily, Earth is filled with morons/people who don't care who won't listen to [[Only Sane Man|Dib]].
** And Dib's sister, who is just [[Genre Savvy]] to see that Zim is far too incompetent to have much chance of success and so doesn't give a damn.
* Inverted on ''[[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers
* In ''[[Archer]]'', {{spoiler|Barry Dillon's}} fake Israeli passport reads "Sy Berg", after he is rebuilt as a cyborg. He also doesn't act very naturally when going through customs, leaving them with "Shalom, or whatever it is we say."
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[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]
[[Category:Hugh Mann]]
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