Disguise

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Disguises are a very commonly used plot device for cases in Detective Conan. In most cases, the disguises are simple: wigs, makeup, sunglasses, clothing, etc., are used to alter the person's face and build to give the impression they are a different person. Some degree of disguise ability is common among magicians and actors. A few characters specialize in disguise and are capable of copying a person's voice and appearance exactly.

Types of disguises in Detective Conan

Simple

Most characters use simple disguises to change their appearance. Usually said disguise is fairly weak and only just hides the person's identity. Examples of simple disguises include:

• wigs and fake facial hair
• makeup
• sunglasses and glasses
• clothing such as hats, scarves, or high collared coats
• padding and platform shoes
• mechanical voice alteration

Elaborate

Relatively few characters possess the knowledge to create detailed disguises that would hold up under scrutiny.

Latex masks

Although their use is relatively rare, latex masks are a very successful disguise strategy in Detective Conan. They are portrayed as being practically perfect renditions of others' faces. Detective Conan latex masks stand up even under close range inspection -even quickly assembled ones. They also stand up to minor abuse and weather. They do have the drawback of being disruptable. Kaitou Kid was forced not to wear goggles because it would disrupt his Jirokichi disguise. Face pinching is the most common technique used to detect a latex mask, and is gleefully employed by Kaitou Kid hunter Inspector Nakamori.

Kuroba Kaito has demonstrated the ability to apply latex masks in a matter of seconds for a practically flawless disguise. How he stores them on his person without damaging them is unknown. Other characters like Yukiko have been shown to take several hours to create and apply a mask which is much more realistic.

There are five known expert practitioners who can create latex masks: Kuroba Kaito, Kuroba Toichi, Vermouth, Kudo Yukiko, and Chikage Kuroba (Phantom Lady).

Voice mimicry

Voice mimicry is a relatively rare skill in Detective Conan. There are four known expert practitioners who can mimic a range of voices without the aid of a device, Kuroba Kaito, Kuroba Toichi, Vermouth, and Kudo Yukiko. Kuroba Kaito has demonstrated the greatest range and flexibility so far: mimicking children, elderly, men, and women alike. He can also copy someone's voice after hearing just a little of that person's speech. Kuroba Toichi's voice mimicry skills have not been seen much because of his relatively few appearances, but as the first Kaito Kid and the teacher of Vermouth and Yukiko, it can be assumed he excelled at this. Vermouth has been seen mimicking adult men and women's voices. Yukiko's ability seems lesser than the other three, sticking with adult women's voices, but she has shown the ability to copy regional accents.

Characters using Agasa's voice-changing bowtie can easily and precisely copy anyone's voice. Conan is by far the most frequent user although Agasa has used it as well. Professor Agasa also created a variation on the bowtie called the Voice-Changing Face Mask which also enables voice imitation, but additionally muffles the wearer's voice so that they sound ill. Ai Haibara and Conan have both employed this gadget. Neither the bowtie nor the mask can imitate regional accents.

Plastic surgery

Several characters underwent plastic surgery in order to change their facial appearance or copy some one else's face. This typically cannot be done on short notice as it requires sufficient funds and several months to heal after extensive changes.

• One of the residents of the blue castle disguised as old family head Masuyo Mamiya in the The Old Blue Castle Investigation Case case.
• Makoto Okuda copied Shinichi Kudo's face in the Murderer, Shinichi Kudo case.

Mechanical mockup

Professor Agasa made a mechanical mockup which worn on his shoulders used that makes him seem like a much taller male figure. Agasa has only used it once in the Conan Edogawa Kidnapping Case.

Characters who specialize in disguise

Many of the characters who specialize in disguise have studied under a magician, and many magicians in Detective Conan also have disguise abilities.

Chikage Kuroba

Also known as Phantom Lady, Chikage Kuroba was a thief in her young years who specialized at disguise indicated by her nickname "the women of twenty faces". She often used stage tricks during her heists although it is unknown whom she learned them from. After meeting with Toichi on a heist, she married him and presumably taught him some of her disguise art.

Toichi Kuroba

An excellent stage magician and first Kaitou Kid, Toichi Kuroba taught many of the current disguise artists in Detective Conan. He himself may have learned some of his disguise from his wife, Chikage Kuroba. Toichi Kuroba's modus was to get close to, steal, and escape with targets by impersonating people at the scene like officers or owners. Toichi likely specialized in the same techniques that his son now uses: quick changing skills, latex masks, perfect voice imitation, and various gadgets.

Kaito Kuroba

Main article: List of disguises Kaito Kuroba used

Kaito Kuroba is the only son of Toichi Kuroba and Chikage Kuroba. Kaito's ability to disguise is most likely learned from his parents. Kaito has taken over the role of Kaitou Kid and uses quick changing skills, latex masks, perfect voice imitation, and various gadgets. Kaito specializes at quick disguises, altering his appearance in a matter of seconds while shrouded by smoke or commotion. Kaito's disguises are rarely used in the long term, and Kaito occasionally says things "out-of-character", leading to his disguise being uncovered. Additionally, his body structure (specifically his height) would usually give away his identity when disguising as individuals shorter than him due to his unnatural pose or action to conceal the difference in height.

Vermouth

Main article: List of disguises Vermouth used

Vermouth is a Black Organization specialist disguise artist and actress who studied under Toichi Kuroba. While highly competent at short and quick disguise, Vermouth excels at long term impersonation, and is capable of taking over someone's life and fooling even their close friends and family. She has used this ability to create two different star actress identities for herself: Sharon Vineyard and Chris Vineyard, which serve as her public faces and give her mobility and access to events exclusive to the rich and famous.

Her disguise ability was first shown in the episode 230 (The Mysterious Passenger), when she was shown dressed as a waiter, provoking both Gin and Vodka.

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Yukiko Kudo

Main article: List of disguises Yukiko used

Shinichi's mother, Yukiko also used to study with Toichi Kuroba. By her own admission, her disguise ability is not quite as good as Vermouth's and Kaito's, but is portrayed far more true to life than either of the two. She is capable of making latex masks, but applying them typically takes hours. Her voice mimicry may also be fairly limited, and she tends to stick to women's voices, although she does regional accents quite well and has copied her husband's voice. She often prefers a simple wig, hat, and altered voice combination which is easily seen through by her son, Shinichi.

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Miwako Sato

Main article: List of disguises Sato used

Compared to the other, Police Officer Sato has the least amount of disguise and cannot do voice mimicry. However, she can disguise as individuals with similar physique to her. She mostly uses the disguises for investigation by posing as normal civilian or as a possible target/victim in the case.

List of cases involving a disguise

This list is currently incomplete.
For long term or repeatedly used disguises, the first instance of use will be mentioned i.e (Conan's bowtie, Vermouth's Araide)

The Kidnapping of a Company President's Daughter Case (Manga: 2-5, Anime: 2)

• Conan Edogawa - Glasses: Used to make his face less recognizable. The original pair of glasses Conan used (before receiving the Criminal Tracking Glasses from Professor Agasa) belonged to his father, Yusaku Kudo. Because the glasses used prescription lenses, Conan popped the lenses out before wearing them when seeing Ran the first time in his shrunken body. The lack of lenses in the glasses goes unnoticed by other characters.

An Idol's Locked Room Murder Case (Manga: 6-9, Anime: 3)

• Yoko Okino - Hat: to make her face less recognizable.
• Conan Edogawa - Voice-Changing Bowtie: to copy Kogoro and Shinichi's voice. This is a very often recurring method Conan uses to impersonate others.

Aka Oni Mura Fire Festival Murder Case (Manga: 10-12, Anime: 38)

• Masaki Negishi impersonator - Hat, Sunglasses, Coat: He was paid by Masaki Negishi's murderer to impersonate the victim to give the killer an alibi. Disguise foiled by being oppositely handed of the real Masaki Negishi.

The Strange Person Hunt Murder Case (Manga: 13-16, Anime 13, 128)

• Akemi Miyano - Makeup, Glasses, School Uniform, Hairstyle: Used to make herself look younger. Disguise foiled by imperfect application when used a second time.

Facial Mask Murder Case (Anime)

• Chihiro Kojima - Facial pack, Towel, Bathrobe, and Slippers: To disguise as her mother in order to remove herself from murder suspicion, causing the estimate in time of death to be inaccurate. Disguise foiled as she forgot to remove her own purple lipstick before applying the facial pack.

Detective Conan vs. real world disguise

Detective Conan ignores the limitations of real world disguises, and many of the abilities shown by disguise artists like Vermouth or Kaito Kid are impossible. In the real world, trying to impersonate other people is fairly difficult; the more complicated a disguise is and the longer it is used, the more likely it is to fail.

Creating a latex facial mask to imitate someone's face is possible in real life, but it takes on the order of hours to prepare and apply accurately and requires having a good model of the face in question. In Detective Conan, Kaitou Kid puts on masks in seconds, which is improbable when perfection is required. Latex mask application is more realistic in Yukiko's case, who had 7 hours of time to dress Heiji and Conan to fool the Black Organization in the showdown with Vermouth.

While disguise characters in Detective Conan are portrayed as having limitlessly flexible voices, voice mimicry is extremely difficult. Would be voice copiers typically run up against the physical range of one's voice. Men cannot reach higher octaves while women struggle with low voices. Also it is extremely difficult to mimic voices in general even with practice, especially arbitrary voices. Accents greatly add to the errors one can make. Again, Yukiko seems to be a fairly accurate portrayal of an extremely good real life voice changer: preferring to create new voices rather than imitate others which is more believable while also apparently limited in her range to women.

Ignoring latex masks, other disguises which change one's body shape are somewhat realistic in Detective Conan, although the speed at which they are applied stretches the bounds of reality. Carefully placed padding and custom fit clothing are certainly possible, as are disguised platform shoes to add height. Quick change is also possible in real life, although it may be difficult to disguise the tearaway clothes as normal clothes under scrutiny. Nevertheless, disguising as someone with drastic difference in body structure can be difficult and require additional pre-planning and training in order to make the disguised person's movement believable, as in the case of Yukiko who requires a pair sizable platform shoes to disguise as her taller husband Yusaku. Similarly, only Irish who has similar build as Superintendent Matsumoto is capable of disguising as him without arousing suspicion, something that even Master of Disguise Vermouth appears to have trouble with.