History Main / BecomingTheMask

* The titular running back of ''{{Eyeshield 21}}'' undergoes this, taking on such a title and becoming the "Hero of Notre Dame." The more the series progresses, the more he realizes how important that name really is and how people's dreams are relying on his lightspeed runs. And of course, this leads to problems when he [[spoiler:meets the real Eyeshield 21...s and has to fight for his title.]]

* [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Possibly]] the titular character of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', who covered his depression and anger with the villagers by acting happy-go-lucky and cheerful all the time. Eventually, that became his default personality.
** This also happened to Sai. He was trained as an emotionless assassin and then sent to join Team 7. Originally ordered to assassinate Sasuke and observe Naruto, he eventually became a true member of the team.

* Minor example: The father of the titular ''Film/LordOfWar'' was a Ukrainian who, along with his family, emigrated from the Soviet Union to America under the pretense of being Jewish. He would later on fully embrace the Jewish lifestyle, opening a store with the Star of David as part of the logo, faithfully attending synagogue services, and even obeying orthodox Jewish dietary laws, much to the annoyance of his Catholic wife.

** Lowbacca in ''[[YoungJediKnights Diversity Alliance]]''. He isn't [[FantasticRacism racist]], but he can see where the titular group gets their ideas from. Even though they're basically the {{Flanderized}} version of the Black Panthers.

* Souichi Negishi is a soft-hearted nice guy. His stage persona in DetroitMetalCity, Krauser II, is a violent, foul-mouthed, vulgar Gene Simmons lookalike. Quite a few gags in the series revolve around Negishi accidentally lapsing into his Krauser II persona when he's out of costume, offending and confusing everyone around him.
* Parodied at MutekiKanbanMusume, a deconstruction of the FightingSeries PlayedForLaughs: Just after his TomatoInTheMirror moment, when he realizes he is not an [[{{Sentai}} Star Ranger]], but merely a ShopKeeper who CannotTellFictionFromReality, Akihiko decides that even if he is not a Star Ranger, he will be a hero and see that a little boy is not harmed by an AngryGuardDog.

* In TsubasaReservoirChronicle, it is revealed that [[spoiler: Fai]] has secretly been working as a [[TheMole mole]] for Fei Wong in an attempt to [[spoiler: resurrect his twin brother]] and has been misleading the group the entire time. However, he eventually develops a genuine affection for his comrades and undergoes a HeelFaceTurn just prior to the reveal.

* In "The Mark of the Horse Lord" by RosemarySutcliff, Phaedrus the gladiator impersonates Midir the king [[spoiler:even dying to save his people.]]

* Used quite positively in ''Anime/HaibaneRenmei''. [[spoiler:Reki originally acted nice and supporting towards everybody solely to earn a quick salvation for her troubles, but as time went by and no Day of Flight came, it slowly became her true identity, as she finally realized in the final episode, allowing her to AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence.]] This does not just come out of nowhere--some claim that it is ''[[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory the way Christian salvation is supposed to work]]''; though like most aspects of Christianity, there are several other schools of thought.

* [[spoiler: Reiner Braun]] from ''ShingekiNoKyojin'', in an absolutely heartbreaking deconstruction. [[spoiler: His guilt over his crimes as TheMole, and growing attachment to his human comrades, results in him suffering dissociative episodes. He quite literally {{Mind Rape}}d himself into having episodes where he genuinely believes his cover is real, since that's who he would rather be]]. A minor case also occurs with [[spoiler: Annie Leonhardt, one of his partners. During a rampage, she spares her former classmates.....which eventually leads to her being exposed]].

* ''PrettyCure'' loves this trope. [[FutariWaPrettyCure Kiriya]]]], [[spoiler:[[FutariWaPrettyCureSplashStar the Kiryuu twins]], [[FreshPrettyCure Setsuna]] and [[SuitePreCure Siren]] each pretended to be ordinary schoolkids in order to get close to the respective series' heroines and undermine their efforts. Inevitably, their interactions with the Cures expose them to the PowerOfFriendship and lead to a HeelFaceTurn by the end.

* ''PrettyCure'' loves this trope. [[spoiler:[[FutariWaPrettyCure Kiriya]]]], [[spoiler:[[FutariWaPrettyCureSplashStar the Kiryuu twins]]]], [[FreshPrettyCure Setsuna]] and [[SuitePreCure Siren]] each pretended to be ordinary schoolkids in order to get close to the respective series' heroines and undermine their efforts. Inevitably, their interactions with the Cures expose them to the PowerOfFriendship and lead to a HeelFaceTurn by the end.

* [[spoiler: Reiner Braun]] from ''ShingekiNoKyojin'', resulting in a heartbreaking VillainousBSOD. To a lesser degree, [[spoiler: Annie Leonhart]] may also have experienced this, as [[spoiler: she spares Armin during her rampage after having expressed admiration for his strong ideals]]. Both are [[spoiler: [[TheMole Titan Shifters]] sent to infiltrate the military, and exterminate mankind]], but come to care for others. On the other hand, [[spoiler: fellow Titan [[TheQuietOne Bertholdt]] seems to have avoided it and openly criticizes Reiner over how much he's changed]].

*** Lelouch arguably believed in many of the ideals that he used Zero to represent but was too cynical to admit to himself. But with [[spoiler:Nunnally becoming Viceroy in Area 11]], being told by Kallen to keep [[spoiler:deceiving her and the Black Knights]] as Zero, and by Suzaku to make his lies come true, he eventually embraces the mask... and in true, ironic ''Anime/CodeGeass'' style, never more so than when [[spoiler:he seemingly discards all ideals and becomes the BigBad]].

** [[spoiler: Rolo]], with each passing day, grows more comfortable in his role, until finally [[spoiler: he dies for his “brother’s” sake.]]
** While [[FemmeFatale Villeta Nu]] only masqueraded as [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters Ohgi's]] [[spoiler:lover]] shortly before [[spoiler:shooting him]] (thanks to IdentityAmnesia), their [[spoiler:[[LivingWithTheVillain past relationship]]]] was used to blackmail Villeta into [[spoiler:siding with the Black Knights]] in R2, until the entire political lay of the land had been so ''thoroughly'' messed up that the blackmail was rendered moot, but at which point she didn't ''have'' to be blackmailed anymore to [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor finally and fully]] join Oughi and the Black Knights.

** The HandOfThrawn Duology has the Devist family, a number of clones of [[AcePilot Soontir Fel]] who kept together and secretive to avoid the FantasticRacism that comes with [[CloningBlues being a clone]]. They were set up as a cell of [[DeepCoverAgent sleeper agents]], supposed to answer the call when the Empire needed them, and in the mean time they became farmers. But like Soontir before them, they [[FarmBoy loved the soil]], and loved it more than the Empire. When they scramble in their TIE interceptors and [[CatchAFallingStar save]] Han and Leia, they don't report them, and are eventually talked into helping the New Republic with the Camaasi Document crisis.
*** Fel himself states that they and the other cells were ''designed'' to do this - to develop stronger loyalty to each other and their world than to the Empire that quite literally created them. This way, when a threat [[NewJediOrder came past the galaxy's edge]], they would be able to fight it without too much worry about ideological ties. Pity the villains dug most of the cells up to act as cannon fodder well before that...
** ''LukeSkywalkerAndTheShadowsOfMindor'' has Luke half-awake during [[AndIMustScream an eternity after the heat death of the universe]], after all the stars have burned out. He escapes the projection of this eternity before he can despair enough to [[GrandTheftMe let his body be stolen]], but for quite some time later he's cynical, depressed, even nihilistic, believing that all of his friends are using him and nothing will matter in the end. He's [[TheMessiah Luke Skywalker]], so he very consciously decides to act ''exactly'' like he would have before going through that, hoping that eventually it will stop being an act and he can "fall back into the dream of the light". Fortunately he doesn't have to wait that long before regaining his faith during a {{Mind Screw}}y metaphor-heavy sequence.

* Max Beerbohm's ''The Happy Hypocrite'' makes this OlderThanRadio. It features a literal mask to hide the signs of dissipation in the villain's face; when the villainess realizes the truth and pulls off the mask, the face beneath has literally been molded into the mask's form.

* This happens alarmingly frequently to people who play the Spy in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': While [[PaperThinDisguise disguised as a member of the opposing team]], it's surprisingly easy to forget whose side you're really on, especially since you have to act the part for the disguise to work. It doesn't help that teams are [[ColorCodedMultiplayer identical, save the color of their uniforms]] and those often switch do to asymmetrical game modes switching the teams each round and team scramblings.

* ''PointBreak'' stars KeanuReeves as an FBI agent who goes undercover as a surfer to get close to a suspected bank robber. The inevitable occurs.

* ''TheBrothersBloom''. The older brother believes that "the perfect con" is one that actually becomes real. His younger brother inevitably falls in love with the heiress that he was supposed to seduce.

* Comicbook/{{Batman}}: Bruce Wayne is now merely [[SecretIdentityIdentity Batman in disguise]] and not the reverse, and even his subconscious calls him Batman, as seen in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond''. Like everything with {{Batman}}, how much this is true varies [[DependingOnTheWriter from writer to writer]].
** Summarized in the novelization of ''{{Knightfall}}'', Alfred explains to Tim Drake that Batman uses the cowl to become a different personality, hearkening back to primitive beliefs that wearing the mask of a god is to literally become that god.

** On the other hand when the League had their personalities divided and Bruce and Batman were temporarily separated people, Batman basically became an empty shell, even faceless. Bruce, on the other hand, had all the rage and anger, but none of the training or ability to channel it into anything positive.

* The assassin droid Zeta in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' replaced an accountant, as he was investigating money laundering by a terrorist organization. Once he completed the mission he ended up running into the guy he was impersonating. Per protocol, he should have eliminated the man on the spot. The aforementioned time spent with the man's family affected him to the point that he could not bring himself to deprive him of that experience, and so went rogue instead (leading into his SpinOff series, ''TheZetaProject'').

-->-- '''GeorgeOrwell''', ''Shooting an Elephant''

* ChrisJericho originally set out with {{Christian}} to con TrishStratus and {{Lita}}, respectively, into sleeping with them by being lovey, helpful heroes. Along the way, though, Jericho actually developed feelings for Trish and regretted the con, trying to talk his way out of it when the women found out. Trish was already feeling betrayed and well underway with a FaceHeelTurn by the time he got around to it, though.
* During his run as the leader of the MinistryOfDarkness, it was hinted a few times that TheUndertaker was letting his character completely take over who he really was as a person. In a way, this was strengthening {{Kayfabe}} by breaking it.
* According to kayfabe, "The Boogeyman" was an aspiring television actor who couldn't let go of his commitment to a role after his horror series was cancelled.

* ElSanto. Lucha Libre legend throughout the 50s and until his death in 1984. He became known for his silver mask, which he only removed once for the public eye, and was buried with it on.
* {{Rey Mysterio|Jr}} too, who in a sense ''is'' his mask. In fact, if you saw him bare-faced, you might not even know who it is.
* The guys behind ''WrestleCrap'' have suggested this is what happened to Jim Helwig, also known as The UltimateWarrior.

* [[Training Day]]: One EpilepticTree claims that Alonzo is so dangerous precisely because being "The Wolf" does not come naturally to him - his bad guy persona is taken to the max precisely because he has to construct it.

** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' has an episode where Miles O'Brien infiltrates an crime syndicate and in the process forms a genuine friendship with Liam Bilby, a local crime boss. Throughout the episode Miles becomes increasingly conflicted, and ultimately [[spoiler:attacks his [[Franchise/StarTrek Star Fleet]] liaison and tries to warn Bilby that he has been compromised.]]

** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' has an episode where Miles O'Brien infiltrates an intergalactic crime syndicate and in the process forms a genuine friendship with Liam Bilby, a local crime boss. Throughout the episode Miles becomes increasingly conflicted, and ultimately [[spoiler:attacks his [[Franchise/StarTrek Star Fleet]] liaison and tries to warn Bilby that he has been compromised.]]

* In the BelisariusSeries, Damodara starts as a ReasonableAuthorityFigure, but after being in command of the honourable and noble Raput army he can't claim everything he does is based on mere practicality about not offending them. Even the Ye-Tai assigned to the army, despite the general opinion of the Ye-Tai on both sides of the conflict as being brutal barbarians, start behaving better, with the resulting increase in respect granted to them.

* Happens in ''{{Ever17}}'' with [[spoiler:Kaburaki "The Kid" Ryougo impersonating Kuranari Takeshi in Kid's (Hokuto's) routes.]] It's done so well that half of the plot hinges on it, but [[spoiler:Kaburaki]] gets a little bit too intimate with his fake personality. A given, since he's [[spoiler:been practicing non-stop since 2017]].