Kakashi Without A Mask

Hey, Kakashi-sensei here!

Yesterday episode 469 of the Naruto Shippuden series was released and those who only watch the anime finally got to see Kakashi’s face. I want to take this opportunity to do some more analyzing. I hope you guys will enjoy!

Why is Kakashi always wearing a mask?

The mask covers the lower half of Kakashi’s face and has the same color as Kakashi’s headband. It gives you the impression Kakashi was not created as an afterthought. Kakashi is usually always seen with his mask on.

This has always helped in making Kakashi a more mysterious and interesting character. They say that even his dogs have rarely seen his face, which shows how little he actually takes it off…

Kakashi’s face!

Why doesn’t Kakashi take off his mask?

So, why does he cover it up? I have a couple of theories. Here they are:

It’s like the anbu masks and acts as a way for Kakashi to get rid of his emotions, so he can perform better during missions. The reason he would be wearing it then would be because his father committed suicide when Kakashi was still quite young.
Hiding your face is seen as a way to scare enemies, because you might be hiding something. It’s just like Kakashi hiding his sharingan under his headband. Once the sharingan is revealed, the enemy might fear a similarly powerful attribute to be revealed near the mouth or cheek. You never know in a world such as this one. Besides Kakashi could easily hide a microphone and transmitter for undetected communication with outside forces.
Avoiding recognition. This is in my opinion the most likely reason for Kakashi to hide part of his face. Near the end of the episode (Naruto Shippuden episode 469) we see Guy, who has been Kakashi’s friend for a very long time, struggling and failing to recognize Kakashi when Kakashi is dressed up as his alias Sukea, a photographer who is retired as anbu Black Ops member. This means that if this is indeed the reason, it is working very well.