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Per TRS, Jerkass Facade is deprecated, primarily in favor of Hidden Heart Of Gold. Examples have been moved to Sandbox.Jerkass Facade.


->''"The best way to not get your heart broken is to pretend you don't have one."''
-->-- '''Creator/CharlieSheen'''

%% One quote is sufficient. Please place additional entries on the quotes tab.

The character acts like either a heartless bastard or otherwise obnoxious {{Jerkass}} when they really aren’t.

Their reasons might be because they are afraid to get intimate with other people because they simply assume that [[SafetyInIndifference the person will either die or betray them]] just like everyone else they have ever gotten close to. It might be because the person is being stalked by horrible demons, TheMafia, TheGovernment, or some other dangerous and unstoppable entity [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies and does not want to drag others into it]]. Maybe they’re pulling off a ZeroApprovalGambit and/or GenghisGambit. In more light-hearted media, maybe they just feel they have [[SlaveToPR a reputation to uphold]] as a [=Jerkass=]. So rather than letting anyone get close to them, they behave like a completely obnoxious douche bag to scare them all away from wanting anything to do with them.

Compare with StepfordSnarker, SourOutsideSadInside and JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
* This trope: faking jerk attitude, hiding good traits.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Actually a jerk, but with some good traits slipping every now and then.
* StepfordSnarker: snarking in order to hide insecurities, sadness and resentment (and the like)
* SourOutsideSadInside: Actually a jerk/rough snarker, but is also sad inside.

Contrast BitchInSheepsClothing and JerkWithAHeartOfJerk. See also ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies, DefrostingIceQueen, ThinkNothingOfIt, DontYouDarePityMe and MonsterFacade. May secretly be a ZeroApprovalGambit. Not to be confused with [[VideoGame/{{Mother3}} The [=Jerkass=] known as Fassad.]]

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!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}'', Genjo Sanzo is incredibly rude and likes to constantly threaten his companions with death, but it's all hot air because he also does things like [[spoiler: rescuing Goku from his prison and giving Hakkai a chance at a new life.]] He'll also claim that he doesn't care about hostages, only to rescue said hostages two minutes later.
* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': Goku acted this way towards Uub during the final episode to bring out his aggression. In reality Goku is kindness incarnate, and was just [[{{Troll}} trolling]] Uub so he'd show his true power. He apologizes after the fight is over.
** In ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', in order to push Cabba to his RageBreakingPoint, Vegeta briefly becomes his old SpacePirate self and threatens to destroy Cabba's entire planet and kill his family once he kills him. This pushes Cabba over the edges and he ascends to Super Saiyan.
* ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'':
** Sakura's older brother Touya sets himself up as a BigBrotherBully who teases her almost non-stop to the extent that she often fantasizes about bullying him back, but he's actually quite a caring person and fiercely protective of her. Nonetheless, the act is successful enough to convince an AllLovingHero like Sakura that he's nothing but a callous {{Jerkass}} [[PetTheDog with one or another nice moments]], [[spoiler: and when she ''actually'' finds out how much he cares, [[CryCute she's driven to tears]].]]
** Syaoran Li similarly attempts to play up the role of a cold, ruthless rival for Sakura, even when he is blatantly warming to her (and secretly crushing on her). Unlike Touya though, Syaoran doesn't fool Sakura for very long:
--->'''Sakura:''' You always act like that, but it's never true.
--->'''Syaoran:''' What makes you say that?
--->'''Sakura:''' I know you. Syaoran-kun, you're a NiceGuy.
--->''[[LuminescentBlush *Syaoran turns bright red*]]''
* ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'': In the Black Swordsman and Conviction arcs of the manga Guts (though a much [[NobleDemon edgier example]]) behaved in this manner because he has the [[MagneticPlotDevice Brand of Sacrifice]], and therefore the demons are never going to leave him alone. While he is perfectly capable of defending himself against the demons, he doesn't want to have to worry about anyone else dying because of it. This gives the outward appearance that he is completely immoral, heartless, and downright sadistic. In one notable instance, Guts gives the daughter of an Apostle that he just killed a knife and tells her to kill herself (despite saving her life shortly thereafter.) She instead swears revenge on him. After he leaves it is revealed that he only said that so she would hate him, and to foster a desire for revenge that would give her a reason to keep living.
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'':
** Asuka sometimes just seems to treat most people rudely and violently, though this is in an effort to hide her low self-esteem and self-loathing: she intentionally pushes people away because she is scared of they will hurt her or they will think she is pitiful and worthless if they discover her real self. When she interacts with someone she trusts -Misato, Kaji, Hikari...- Asuka drops the mask and treats that person nicely. She also cares for Shinji and worries about him when he is in danger as he was in the "Sea of Dirac" incident.
** The same can be said to a degree for a few other characters in the series like Gendo Ikari and Misato.
* Hayate from ''Manga/{{Pretear}}'', particularly in the anime adaptation. Once the {{backstory}} is revealed, it becomes apparent that he has been acting mean towards Himeno out of fear that she will fall in love with him, [[spoiler:just like Takako did in the past -- [[WomanScorned which]] [[LoveHurts didn't]] [[LoveMakesYouEvil end]] [[TheDarkSide well]]]]. Not only does this fail to keep her from getting attached (especially once she learns his reasons), but he ends up falling in love with her.
* Be honest here, if ''Anime/CodeGeass'''s Lelouch Lamperouge didn't act like a {{Jerkass}} whenever people called him out on his actions, fewer people would want him dead. Zero Requiem in R2 especially had this, with [[spoiler:Lelouch eventually getting everyone (no exaggeration) to hate him so that he could die and make Britannia and the world a better place]]. This is lampshaded in R2 episode 19, where [[spoiler: Lelouch and Kallen are facing a firing squad. He puts on the facade with an obfuscating FacingTheBulletsOneLiner to prevent her from making a SenselessSacrifice by defending him and getting killed. As she's walking away, he whispers: "Kallen, you must live on."]] Played straight in season 1 whenever Lelouch interacts with Kallen, in order to throw her off his trail from identifying him as Zero.
* ''Franchise/OnePiece'''s Nico Robin putted up a mild [=Jerkass=] Facade in the [[Recap/OnePieceWaterSevenArc Water Seven arc]], trying to convince the other Straw Hats she had willingly betrayed them. Her reason for this was the bad guys were threatening them with the very attack that destroyed her home island if she didn't comply. She goes as far as to actively resist attempts to rescue her after the crew learns of this before coming to her senses.
** Nami (though possessing a jerkish personality in general) acted similarly in the [[Recap/OnePieceArlongArc Arlong Park arc]]. While she initially hated pirates, she eventually found herself wanting to stay with the crew, but being unable to do so because of her obligation to buy back her village. As a such, when she sees her crewmates on the island, she falsely claims to have murdered Usopp and states that she was using the crew to gain money.
** Boa Hancock seemed like a [[KickTheDog puppy-kicking]] VainSorceress with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, even [[TakenForGranite turning her own subjects into stone]] for allowing a man (Luffy) onto her island. However, when she saw Luffy protect her sister's brand, and thus their shared secret, as well as make the choice ''not'' to leave the island, but see his petrified friends revived, she allowed him into her castle and showed her brand. She explained that the [[AristocratsAreEvil Celestial Dragons]] who bought them as slaves when they were children [[SlaveBrand burnt it into she and her sisters' backs]] to show them they were "less than human". Given what the Celestial Dragons were shown as capable of, spending four years with them as slaves would be no picnic, [[BrokenBird and this had lasting psychological effects on the three]]: Hancock's [[GenkiGirl normally cheerful middle sister]], Sandersonia, had a screaming freak-out from just remembering. Thus, Hancock decided that she would no longer show weakness to anyone, including her own subjects. Nyon implied her crying to Luffy was the first time she showed any warmth in her. Naturally, Luffy understood and forgave her. She no longer has to pull this facade on Luffy, [[AllAmazonsWantHercules as she now loves him.]] [[ObliviousToLove Not that he cares...]]
** Same goes with Whitebeard. When we first see him, he tore up Shanks' letter and demanded that he deliver his message personally, while arrogantly ignoring his nurses' warnings about drinking too much. And when Shanks did show up, they got into an argument about Ace and Blackbeard, with Whitebeard declaring that he is Whitebeard and he could do whatever he wanted. Turns out [[spoiler: he's just covering the fact that Ace went after Blackbeard completely on his own, specifically ignoring his orders to ''not'' do that. Whitebeard was actually in complete agreement with Shanks the whole time for the same reasons. The situation Ace found himself in as a result was completely his own fault. On top of that, Whitebeared is aware of his mortality and how he isn't as strong as he used to be. And when one of his own comrades betrayed and stabbed him, he simply embraced the guy, calling him one of his sons and that he forgave him]].
** Chopper tends to insult people who compliment him. He likely got that from his mentor, Dr. Kureha, who chased him off Drum Island wielding her ornamental weapons to get him to pursue his dreams of becoming a pirate doctor. But his facade is ''very, very flimsy''. He usually insults people while waving his arms cutely, or doing a happy dance.
--->'''Nami:''' "He's the type that can't hide their emotions..."
** During the [[Recap/OnePieceWholeCakeIslandArc Whole Cake Island arc]], [[spoiler: Sanji]] pulled this in order to make [[spoiler: Luffy and Nami forget about him and move on when they come to rescue him. He takes it really far too, cruelly insulting his friends nonstop and then brutally beating Luffy until he knocks him out. It actually works on Nami, who angrily disowns him, but Luffy sees right through it and makes him cry when he still refuses to turn his back on him.]]
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
** Roy Mustang is a subtler and more justified example of this. A good-looking soldier who only cares for promotions [[spoiler:(and has sworn to protect his comrades and underlings using his position and power)]], dates several girls at the same time [[spoiler:(so that people don't take him too seriously)]] cooks a girl alive for supposedly killing his best friend [[spoiler:(and fakes her death to protect her from serious implications,]], constantly goes to a brothel/pub with a lot of girls [[spoiler:(to gain information from the girls, who are part of his spy network, as is the pub owner- who happens to be his adoptive mother)]], uses military phones to call his supposed girlfriends [[spoiler:(and to direct the 'girlfriends' in a coordinated attack)]], and whose assistant has to keep him in check [[spoiler:(so he doesn't stray from the path of justice he set out for himself)]]. But he really did commit genocide.
** Greed ([[spoiler:both times]]) sometimes counts too. [[spoiler:The first]] Greed refers to the chimeras he takes in as his possessions and the lengths that he'll go for them as "keeping them in top condition". [[spoiler:The second Greed wants to rule the entire world, become God, etc., but as Ling eventually figures out, that's just so he doesn't have to admit all he really wants is to have friends.]]
** Ed fits this trope as well, albeit to a lesser extent in the eyes of the audience because he's {{just a kid}}.
* Ryuuji, from ''Manga/TokyoCrazyParadise'' force-feeds Tsukasa expensive candies to drive her further into debt to him-- only the "candy" is actually antidote to poison.
* Yuuko of ''Manga/XxxHolic'' pretends to be a selfish HardDrinkingPartyGirl who makes Watanuki do all her work when in actuality essentially everything she makes him do or every time she acts like a jerk, she's probably saving his life, teaching him, [[spoiler: training him]], or something like that. And he always falls for it.
* Oogami Rei from ''Manga/CodeBreaker'' is a somewhat more heroic example. At first, he acts like a pretty cold-hearted bastard, doing things like snapping a dog's neck, burning a group of policemen to death to elimiate all witnesses, killing a man in front of his LittlestCancerPatient daughter, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking torching the helpful, handcrafted guide his classmates made for him in order to help him remember their names.]] Actually [[spoiler: the dog was dying after getting beaten up by thugs, the policemen were wholly corrupt (as was their chief), giving the little girl an excuse for a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against Oogami also gave her a reason to live, and Oogami had already memorized their names ("I don't like 'things', they disappear too easily. I don't need 'things' to remember ''people''." (basically)) -- the first time he ever bothered to learn the names of, essentially, innocent bystanders.]] Naturally, his companion [[CuteBruiser Sakura]] notices something's amiss when [[spoiler: Oogami had an almost tender look on his usually mask-like face when he euthanizes the dog]] and also when [[spoiler: he saves the dead dog's puppy, who takes an ''immediate'' liking to Oogami despite Sakura's protests]].
* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'': Jean maintains a cold demeanor towards his cyborg Rico, and hits her whenever she doesn't perform to standard. Seeing as the cyborgs are all going to die before adulthood as a result of their conditioning, he has good reason not to get too attached, especially since Jean still feels the loss of his sister Enrica. On rare occasions, however, this façade cracks, like when Rico is injured and falls into the sea during a battle and Jean desperately dives in to save her.
* In ''Manga/{{X 1999}}'' the protagonist Kamui Shirou is a [=Jerkass=] because he is involved in something big, namely TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, and he doesn't want to involve his two dear friends (Kotori and Fuuma) so he distances himself from them and acts cold to everybody around him to keep them away. Naturally he warms to them eventually, but then fate has its way with them.
* BridgeBunnies Mayl and Tayl from ''Anime/HeroicAge'' chew the eponymous protagonist out behind his back for seemingly giving in to the SmugSnake's plans and joining him aboard the fleet's flagship. But as surmised by the other characters and confirmed by Age himself, he's only doing this because the other Nodos will now be after him, putting any ship he's on in danger.
* [[spoiler: Ruka]] from ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' arguably does this, or at least thinks that he does. On one hand, [[spoiler: He deliberately spent the last week of his life making the girl he loved hate him with every fiber of her being, because he believed it was the only way to get her out of the self-destructive holding pattern she'd been in for the entire series.]] On the other he did plenty of unnecessarily [=Jerkass=] things, such as [[spoiler:assaulting Juri sexually ''and'' humiliating Shiori by destroying the one relationship she felt good about. He had wanted to discredit Shiori, [[KickTheDog but that's no reason to utterly ruin her life]].]]
* [[spoiler:Mayoi Hachikuji]] in ''LightNovel/{{Bakemonogatari}}''. She knows that she is caught in or actually is a supernatural event and doesn't want anyone else to have to get involved. [[spoiler:She's a 'snail,' otherwise known as a spirit that distracts people who are avoiding going somewhere and makes them follow her. She knows she's dead and that she won't reach her destination, so she tells anyone who talks to her that she hates them so they'll leave her alone and not waste their time on her.]]
* Itachi Uchiha of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. [[spoiler: He doomed himself to a life of being hated by his only remaining family, who he truly loved all along, along with the stigma of being a missing-nin AND part of an evil organisation, all while hating violence and combat, and was ordered to kill his family in order to prevent another war from breaking out but he spared Sasuke. His actions were partly motivated out of love for Sasuke, and he put on a cold emotionless front acting like he just wanted to kill Sasuke and take his eyes (which wasn't true)]] and unfortunately Sasuke only found out about Itachi's true intentions ''after'' Itachi died. WellIntentionedExtremist, anyone?
** Sasuke shows shades of this in part one occasionally before his FaceHeelTurn, most notably in the Land of Waves arc when he [[HeroicSacrifice jumps]] in front of Naruto to save him from Haku's attack, desperately thinking 'Please make it in time!' When Naruto asks him why he did it, he claims [[IWasJustPassingThrough his body moved on his own]], before calling him an idiot.
** Chapter 547 of the manga reveals that Yashamaru [[spoiler:never really hated his nephew Gaara, but was actually ordered by the Kazekage to tell him so. In reality, Yashamaru loved Gaara and the person he actually hated was his brother-in-law, the Fourth Kazekage, who was responsible for making the order to seal the Shukaku into Gaara and causing the death of Karura, his wife and Yashamaru's older sister.]]
* Alucard of ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' acts like a [=Jerkass=] towards Seras because it's his way of toughening her up until she becomes a true vampire. [[spoiler: When she does become one in Volume 7]] he gets a [[ILoveYouVampireSon little nicer]].
** He's still quite the bastard to anyone that ''isn't'' Integra, Seras, or the Queen, though, and the first thing he says to Seras after [[spoiler: disappearing for thirty years]] is "You're loud, as always."
** He may not realize he should act any different [[spoiler: on his return, to [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld someone as old as him]], 30 years is like a few weeks or months at most, and Seras is a vampire as well, so he probably thinks she views it the same way as him,]] so he probably can't see any reason to act differently than he would otherwise. [[{{Troll}} That and he probably found it hilarious.]]
* Minami, the bishonen male lead of ''Manga/CherryJuice'', uses this early on in the manga to hide his romantic feelings for his [[NotBloodRelated sister]], Otome.
* Leorio in ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' actively cultivates an image of greedy lechery (well, he ''is'' a HandsomeLech...), because he doesn't want people to think of him as soft. However, the reason he always insists on the best prices and payment for everything? He wants to become so rich that he can afford to give any patient treatment (no matter how expensive) for free, [[spoiler: because his best friend Pietro died due to lack of affordable healthcare.]]
* Great in ''Manga/ViolinistOfHamelnShchelkunchik'' keeps complaining that everything is a pain, is a DeadpanSnarker to the Nth degree, taunts a foot tall fairy for being flat and goes so far as to slap a classmate for being "too friendly" to him. Dig in a little deeper, and you have one of the most dependable, trustworthy and mature(!) characters in the setting.
* Alex from ''Manga/{{Nightschool}}'' initially comes across as an [[LittleMissSnarker overly snarky, antisocial preteen]] with a strong aversion to admitting that she actually cares about anything. She has a very good reason for her behavior, though. [[spoiler: She's been cursed so that anything or anyone that she says she likes or loves gets destroyed. Even without those words, showing affection means risking the subject coming to harm in some way.]]
* Trip from ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}: Best Wishes'' has proven to be this as of his fourth appearance. Instead of being the [=jerkass=] he first comes off as, he has shown to care for his Pokémon and also helps Ash out despite the fact they are rivals and is annoyed by Ash's antics. And then you find out in his backstory that he was a CheerfulChild in the past.
* {{Deconstructed|Trope}} in ''Manga/HajimeNoIppo''. Kojima is a big fans of Ippo, so when he fights aginst Ippo, in order to make Ippo fight him seriously and to psych himself up, he deliberately insults Ippo and his coach. Apparently, the result is too well, [[spoiler:the fight ended in two clean blows, first blow is CounterAttack from Kojima and the second is Ippo's CounterAttack against Kojima's attack which resulted in OneHitKO]]. To make the things worse, even without those insults, Ippo will stay fight at his best despite his NiceGuy demeanor, [[spoiler:and thanks to the nature of the OneHitKO, Kojima can't remember his fight with Ippo, something he deeply regrets]].
* Though not so much in the anime, [[spoiler:Shigure Sohma]] is this in the ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' manga. It takes a special kind of [=Jerkass=] to [[spoiler:imply to others that you know the way to break a centuries-long curse that everyone is desperate to be free from, and withhold that information from your younger, more desperate cousins. Then, when exiled from the family for banging the mother of the rather temperamental Sohma leader (whom you really love), manipulate a rather harmless young woman who has absolutely nothing to do with your fucked up family into setting off events that will break the curse.]] But everything will be okay and [[DracoInLeatherPants the fandom will forgive you]] once everyone realizes you did it for everyone's good...it ''was'' a facade, right?
* By the end of the first episode/chapter of ''Manga/Brave10'', it's clear [[HitmanWithAHeart Saizo]] is this trope. He tries to be edgier and more uncaring than he actually is. Really he's just a BrokenBird who's afraid of the vulnerability that comes with caring.
* Osamu Sugo ''Anime/FutureGPXCyberFormula''. At first, it looks like he TookALevelInJerkass when he challenges Hayato and the other racers in the Double-One arc by using "dirty tricks" in races so he can get Hayato angry, but he just wanted to ''teach'' Hayato how to be a better racer [[spoiler:as his eyesight problems began to worsen, which stemmed from the incident with Smith]].
* Hakaider/Saburo from ''Series/{{Kikaider}}'' somewhat falls into this category; in Machine That Dreams he seems to legitimately lament be used by Professor Gill and that he and Dr. Komyoji's other robots "only puppets". Though when Jiro questions whether or not he is satisfied with that he proceeds to insult then attack him.
* [[BreakTheCutie After too many bad things happened]] to [[{{telepathy}} Haruka]] from ''Manga/KotouraSan'' [[BlessedWithSuck because of her]] {{telepath|y}}ic powers, she [[BrokenBird cynically]] comes to the conclusion that the only way to avoid [[DoomMagnet hurting people in the long run]] (and by extension, being hurt by being abandoned by someone she cares about again) is this. People already assume she's a [[{{Jerkass}} horrible person]], she just decides to cultivate it so no one will get close to her again. Thankfully Manabe breaks through before it gets too far.
* [[spoiler:Maho Nishizumi]] from ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'' initially seems like an IceQueen, but it's revealed that she acts as she does as part of fulfilling her obligations as family heir, which she does so that [[spoiler:her younger sister Miho will be able to pursue tankery as she wishes]].
** The student council initially threatens Miho with expulsion if she doesn't do tankery, coming off as overbearing bullies in the process. They're hiding the real reason why they want her to do tankery so badly- [[spoiler:if they don't win, the school will be shut down]]- out of a desire to avoid burdening her with that in her first year at the school.
* Invoked by ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'''s [[spoiler: Lyle Dylandy]], because [[spoiler: he's taking his dead twin brother Neil's place in Celestial Being and wants to leave clear that, while he ''can'' become Lockon Stratos in the group and battlefield, he ''refuses'' to become [[TheAce Neil's]] ReplacementGoldfish.]]
* In ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'', Eiji Nizuma occasionally makes arrogant or stand-offish remarks, such as his comment for being first runner-up for an award essentially saying that while everyone else his age watched television or played video games, he was drawing manga (which is partly true, as he grew up in a remote area, and without the money for much of the entertainment kids his age enjoyed, spent his spare time drawing), as well as telling the artists who complain about him [[spoiler:illustrating Iwase's Natural+ while also doing his own series]] that if they don't like that, they need only do better than he does. In reality, he wants to motivate his rivals to do better, since he not only enjoys drawing manga, but also reading it.
* Ymir from ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', to the extent that even her [[LesYay potential]] LoveInterest refers to her as having "the worst personality ever". She's actively abrasive towards others, constantly tossing out {{Armor Piercing Question}}s and mocking her comrades during their darkest moments. However, her being a {{Jerkass}} serves to challenge unhealthy behaviors or push people through [[HeroicBSOD trauma]], allowing them to continue functioning until the mission is over. While her past remains a mystery, it's ''very clear'' it involved considerable misery and personal loss. However, her utter devotion to Krista and decision to [[spoiler: risk her life for Reiner and Bertolt]] reveal a far more caring person hiding beneath multiple layers of snark.
* [[CowardlyLion Gilbert Nightray]] from ''Manga/PandoraHearts'' learnt to put on such a facade in order to survive as a Pandora agent: he is ruthless in a fight and doesn't hesitate to shoot his mind-controlled colleagues or [[WouldHurtAChild children]] - [[HitmanWithAHeart but he will go out of his way to avoid collateral damage and protect civilians.]] He is not that good at maintaining the facade in non-life-threatening situations, though, and the rest of the cast quickly figures out that Gilbert is [[TenderTears a big softie]] underneath.
* Haru from ''Manga/{{Ojojojo}}'' started off as a nice kid, but after [[spoiler: being shunned by her envious elementary school classmates for her social status]], she started acting arrogant to gain attention, even at the cost of being hated by everyone. [[BecomingTheMask She acted like this for so long that the conceit became deeply rooted into her personality]].
* Homura Akemi from ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' is implied to have one. While she acts callous towards the other girls (Madoka excluded), it's implied that she cares for and fights to protect them, regardless of what she or anyone else thinks. ''[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion Rebellion]]'' reveals that [[spoiler:her idea of a perfect world is one where everyone is happy, despite the fact that she created it "solely" for Madoka's sake]].
* In ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', Kirito pulls this as a part of his ZeroApprovalGambit to stop aggression against Beta Testers. It works, with only Asuna and Agil realizing what Kirito was doing. To quote the guy himself...
--->'''Kirito''': "A beater... I like it. That's right. I am a beater. From now on, don't confuse me with the other testers."
* ''[[Anime/YuGiOh Seto Kaiba]]'' appears to be this. He is constantly acting as a Jerkass to others, mostly to hide his own inner fears caused by his trauma of living with his adoptive father, Gozaburo Kaiba.
** [[TokenGoodTeammate Rishid/Odion]] does this to a degree when he impersonates Marik during the Battle City finals, but not very convincingly. He plays a completely fair duel and respects Joey/Jonouchi's dueling skills, neither of which really suit the season's main BigBad, and Joey/Jonouchi is able to see through the disguise eventually.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'':
** In an early story Peter Parker started acting like a jerk around Betty Brant so that she wouldn't want to be in a relationship with him anymore. Betty had lost her brother who kept getting himself into danger, and Peter didn't want her to have to face a similar situation with her boyfriend.
** Spider-Man initially treated the ComicBook/XMen this way too.
* Dr Allison Mann in ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'' maintains a cold façade to everyone she deals with (especially Yorick) after being dumped by her first lesbian girlfriend in college, and angrily denies that love is anything other than a biological reaction.
* Believe it or not, ''Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk'' is like this sometimes, but this is usually because of his [[SplitPersonality multiple personalities]].
* Night Thrasher sometimes came off as a [=Jerkass=] to the rest of the ComicBook/NewWarriors and got kicked off the team twice as a result.
** Inverted after ''Comicbook/CivilWar'' where his brother is somewhat of a dick but everyone loves him anyway, except Jubilee, who isn't liked by her teammates because she's the only who doesn't put up with him.
* In ''Comicbook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}'', the Legion discovers that Ultra Boy hid a criminal past and set out to catch him. Only Phantom Girl objects that they should know him and that this is out of character. He flees and joins some pirates, until their plan comes to fruition and turns on them. He reveals that he had used his sight powers and learned their plans, and that they could not be overcome by a frontal attack, and so he had forged evidence to show he had been a criminal to get inside.
* One of the reasons ''[[Creator/CarlBarks Back to the Klondike]]'' became such a popular story was for establishing this aspect of Scrooge [=McDuck's=] character.
* Franchise/{{Batman}}, occasionally. Though it's hard to tell whether it's a facade or just his pragmatic personality. He shows it much more with his adopted son Dick Grayson. He kicked him out twice, replaced him, punched him and frequently hurts his feelings but it is hinted in some issues that Bruce does that to hide his feelings and that he actually loves Dick (as a son) and that he is the favourite child. Also, he says that he intentionally amped up his coldness and [=jerkassery=] as Dick was starting to go out on his own, even though he know it would cause Dick to be bitter towards him (which he eventually gets over), so that Dick wouldn't end up like him and keep his humanity. Batman seems to use a [=Jerkass=] Facade because he is aware of his own mortality. The fewer people who are attached to him, the fewer people will mourn when he finally messes up. This is, after all, the [[BadassNormal guy in the bat-themed combat suit]] facing off against sadistic, intelligent psychopaths on his ''safest'' nights. You know, when he's not helping ''friggin' Superman'' deal with threats that Big Blue can't handle alone. DependingOnTheWriter. Several times over the last two decades Batman has been written as a genuine JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
* Nightwing can be a jerkass himself (guess where he got that from). However, [[PokeThePoodle he's pretty bad at it]]. He once tried that and started crying because, unlike Bruce, he is a lot more emotional. Probably the reason he is liked more than his mentor.
* Arsenal has the whole jerk facade but he does that to hide his insecurities and when he is a jerk he is still not that bad. Sadly, it seems that he's become a genuine jerkass in ''Rise of Arsenal'' [[spoiler: in the wake of his daughter's death, the loss of his arm, and falling back into drug abuse.]]
* ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'' has Stray Dog, a hard ass nails BountyHunter who seems to be an underhanded backstabber, but he is secretly also a beloved supporter of an OrphanageOfLove.
* ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} is a genuine JerkWithAHeartOfGold, but he sometimes ups the jerkass part for the benefit of others. When Spider-Man apparently died, he made a pass at the grieving Mary Jane. She slapped him and furiously swore to find a way to kill him if he ever did that again. When Jarvis tried to call Logan out on it, he explained that he wanted to give Mary something to focus on other than grief, like anger.
* One issue of ''Franchise/ArchieComics'' had ''Reggie'' sit down beside a depressed Dilton, [[PetTheDog give him a pep talk]], and offer to help him get the woman he had a crush on. When Dilton suspiciously asked what he wanted in return, Reggie only demanded he keep the entire thing a secret. He has a reputation to keep as a jerk, after all. Other times have had him do nice things for others while going out of his way to not be seen doing it or often by BreakingTheFourthWall to remind readers that "even a rat fink like [him] can do something nice once and a while".
* Plourr Illo of the ''Comicbook/XWingSeries'' is somewhere between this and JerkWithAHeartOfGold. She casually insults strangers and teammates alike, often called out on it, though the teammates are used to this and return in kind. She also hates incompetence and is suspicious of most people. But it doesn't take much to show that she does care - and in the setting she [[RightfulKingReturns was born to]] she's more restrained and diplomatic, her harshness fading except when talking to people she genuinely ''doesn't'' like.
* In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' issue ''Spotlight: Trailcutter'', Whirl tells the depressed Trailcutter he's too nice, and if he wants respect he should be rude, not care what people think, and talk big about himself. These are all ways to boost low confidence (although Whirl doesn't word them as such) and he uses them too.
* In the ''ComicBook/{{Mandy}}'' story "The Girl Who Can’t Cry!", Linda is on her way to her new boarding school when she overhears an invasion plan by space aliens, who have placed a "human" girl in the school in order to aid in their plot. The alien's only defect is its inability to cry, so Linda has to find the impostor by making anyone she suspects cry - naturally, this makes her comes across as an unpleasant jerk, especially since she can't tell anyone what's going on.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fanworks]]
* ''Fanfic/ACrownOfStars'': Asuka played the role of a obnoxious, angry, petulant girl when she was a child to drive people away because she was afraid of pain. After going through a war, being abandoned, {{Mind Rape}}d, betrayed and left to die, surviving the end of the world and being turned into two warlords' sex toy she wears her masks because she is afraid of falling in love and because she thinks she is not worthy of being loved.
* ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'': Although they got together Shinji and Asuka have to pretend nothing has changed between them due to a non-unjustified fear to be separated. So that when they are in public Asuka acts still rude and mean to him as giving him apologetic glances or apologising before or after.
* ''Fanfic/TheChildOfLove'': Asuka pretended to be mean to drive people away, so avoiding pain and getting hurt. After a while she realizes her behaviour is only hurting her more, so she drops the act gradually. When Touji gets shocked at her being nicer Shinji tells him that is her real self BeneathTheMask.
* ''Fanfic/GhostsOfEvangelion'': Asuka tries to pretend she's more unpleasant than she really is because she's frightened of other people. Shinji and their daughter can see through her mask, though.
* ''Fanfic/{{HERZ}}'': When she was younger Asuka pretended she was harsh and prideful so that nobody realized she was -to her eyes- weak and pitiful and hurt her. Later though she realized the wall she had built around her heart was separating her from people she loved as her mother and Shinji. When the story begins she is an adult woman, and although she is still bad-tempered, she does not feel the need to hide behind a mask and drive everyone away.
* ''Fanfic/LastChildOfKrypton'': In the second chapter, during a flight Kaji ponders that Asuka's bluster, arrogance and smugness is nothing but a façade to protect herself. Later he says Shinji she is not a bad girl but she acts like one to hide she is in reality very fragile.
* In PeggySue FanFic ''FanFic/TheSecondTry'', Asuka invoked this trope in the original timeline to prevent people from getting close to her emotionally. After the Third Impact, she gradually got over the need to do so, but, back in the past, she was still forced to continue the charade, even though she no longer wanted to prevent anybody from finding out that she and Shinji were time-travelers. She found the act of acting this trope out to be emotionally distressing, and childish.
* ''Fanfic/SOE2LoneHeirOfKrypton'': Asuka used to wear a mask of an irritating, ever-angry, unapproachable girl because she was afraid of people hurting her. Throughout the story and as her powers grow and her character develops her mask gradually falls apart, especially around Shinji.
* Asuka in ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'' behaved like a bratty, annoying child so no one realized that she was a sad, weak child. However Shinji saw through her mask right away.
* In ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionGenocide'', In chapter 8, Shinji and Misato argue about Asuka being unpleasant on purpose to drive people away:
-->"She's been keeping all that inside of her for a very long time, I'd imagine," she said in her most tender voice. "She never has been the outgoing sort. Not with her feelings. I guess she was so hurt that all she could do was build a wall around her heart."\\
"But why?" Shinji said, confused. "Wouldn't acting the way she does drive people away?"\\
"Maybe that's the point. Humans hide from the pain by pretending to be something they are not. Because pain is only found when something or someone you care for is lost to you. If you care for nothing, you think that you will have no pain."
* ''Fanfic/OnceMoreWithFeeling'': After Third Impact, Shinji knows that Asuka’s annoying, snappy, arrogant behavior is a façade to protect herself.
-->Then the Second Child had arrived, bringing with her conflict, friction and more then a few painful contusions to his head as she continually let him know exactly what she thought of him as an Eva Pilot, a man and a human.\\
All of it a giant lie to shield the four year old girl desperately hiding deep behind the moats, minefields and electrified fences she had placed around her heart.
* [[Series/KamenRiderGaim Micchy]] in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11772125/1/Metroid-Kamen-Rider-Generations-Full-Series Metroid: Kamen Rider Generations]]'' often treats [[Series/KamenRiderGhost Alain]] as the [[ButtMonkey butt]] of his [[DeadpanSnarker derisive jokes]] and does have a tendency to [[{{Troll}} ham it up to rile]] Alain even further. WordOfGod provides two explanations -- (1) He cares for his friends, fights to protect everything what [[PhysicalGod Kouta]] fought for [[PhysicalGod before]] [[ButNowIMustGo leaving Earth]]. (2) This façade is in fact a coping mechanism [[SadClown to hide his emotional pain]] and the [[DarkAndTroubledPast sins he committed in the past continue to haunt him]].
* In ''Fanfic/NotThisTimeFate'', Jaune has been forced to relive the events of the show with [[DownerEnding everyone dying at the end]] hundreds, if not thousands of times. In order not to become friends with the show's main cast - as he knows they are going to die sooner or later - he decides to fend them away by pretending to be a [[LazyBum lazy,]] [[FantasticRacism racist]] {{Jerkass}}, who casually seduces random women, doesn't give a damn about his teammates and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking dishes out spoilers without a warning]]. It mostly works, except with Yang who partially sees through his disguise and Ruby, who is so friendly that she likes Jaune anyway. Over time, his other friends from previous timelines start seeing through it as well as he can't bring himself to be a full on {{Jerkass}}, making Jaune come across as a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
* In ''Fanfic/HerFracturedSpirit'', Pearl and Marina tease each other on camera but it's all just for show. In their private life they're a happy couple in a SecretRelationship.
* Cardin Winchester in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12574905/1/In-the-Kingdom-s-Service In the Kingdom's Service]]'' is a racist bully who's secretly a VSS agent and in a relationship with his most common victim Velvet, who's an agent herself. Even his occasional bullying of Jaune is to help the latter maintain his cover.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* Mr. Nebbercracker from the film ''WesternAnimation/MonsterHouse'' is actually a very nice old man, but deliberately acts mean and cranky. He does this to keep children away from the Monster House so it won't attack them.
* Combining this trope with MonsterFacade, ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' pretends to be a bloodthirsty monster of an Ogre so that he can be left alone. Moreover, despite being [[GoodIsNotNice fairly abrasive]], he [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold risked his life to save Donkey, Fiona, and a colony of refugees]]. Granted, he is a more justified example than the most.
-->'''Shrek:''' "People take one look at me and go 'AGH! HELP! RUN! [[FantasticRacism A big, stupid, ugly ogre]]'. ''sigh'' [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters They judge me before they even know me]]. [[FreudianExcuse That's why I'm better off alone]]."
* ''Disney/WreckItRalph'', upon learning why King Candy does not want Vanelope to race, and being unable to convince her of the danger himself, goes full on Jerkass by destroying her precious kart, which he'd spent the previous act helping her build and learn to drive. It completely devastates her, and in turn, himself.
* Nick Wilde from ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'' plays up the CunningLikeAFox stereotype because that's what society expects from his species. He is dismissive of Judy at first, delivering a dream-crushing TheReasonYouSuckSpeech and then deliberately wasting time in the investigation she put her career on, because her idealism and naiveté reminds him of his own younger idealistic self that was rejected for being an untrustworthy fox. However, as he gets to know Judy and comes to appreciate her genuineness, he reveals his hidden kind and noble side, standing up for Judy against her MeanBoss and helping her solve the case she's working on.
* Miss Kitty in ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail: Fievel Goes West'' acts harsh and blunt when Tanya meets her but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CsXJ0MUxU0 turns out to be]], in her own words soft as a powder puff and twice as gentle, and happily helps Tanya fulfill her dream of being a singer.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Ethan Edwards from ''Film/TheSearchers''. Fighting in the [[UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar US Civil War]] traumatized him so much that he sought solace in giving up his humanity and wallowing in his hatred of the Comanche - who have massacred his sister's family, gee, why do you think he'd hold that against them? But when he gets a chance to prove it by [[spoiler: killing his niece who's been adopted by the Comanche]], he doesn't do it. [[spoiler: She's been kidnapped and raped by a Comanche warrior]]-- in Ethan's mind it would be better to [[spoiler: die rather than live with that shame]]. The fact that he doesn't [[spoiler: kill her]] proves that he fits this trope. In fact he is infuriated that [[spoiler: she has apparently gone native, adopting the ways of the people who killed her parents and brothers and raped and murdered her elder sister. What else could she have done? but to Ethan it feels like a betrayal.]]
* ''Film/TheDarkKnightSaga'' Christopher Nolan's Batman film reboot has Batman deciding Bruce Wayne should be an arrogant, lazy, alcoholic, philandering jerkass RichIdiotWithNoDayJob (imagine Paris Hilton as a guy), both in order to deflect suspicions that he's really Batman, and to prevent long-lasting relationships from developing (which also helps keep suspicion down). Granted, this is all fairly [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]]. There was also an element of him "saving himself" for Rachel. He specifically invokes this to get the innocent party guests out of his house, and thus out of harm's way, calling everyone present a bunch of moochers and hangers-on. In hindsight, it's a wonder he was able to get them back for that fundraising party in the second movie.
* ''Film/{{Constantine}}''. John Constantine is extremely rude to Angela Dodson for some time after meeting her. He later tells her why:
-->"You don't wanna know what's out there, trust me... Your sister embraced her gift, you denied yours. Denial is a better idea. It's why you're still alive. Stick with me, that will change. I don't need another ghost following me around."
* Stepanak in ''Film/DownPeriscope'' actively tries to sabotage his Navy career and get kicked off the ''Stingray'' by being an unhelpful, snarky and insubordinate jerkass. Later, when given an opportunity to reveal their location during SilentRunningMode, he stays quiet. His CO actually calls him on it.
-->'''Cmdr. Tom Dodge:''' You missed a hell of an opportunity. One peep outta you and we woulda been in a lot of trouble.\\
'''Stepanak:''' No, sir. That would've been unethical. I'm only out to screw myself. That would've screwed everybody.
* ''Film/TheFugitive'': Samuel Gerard spends the movie snapping at people and insisting he doesn't care. He also wears his ''very soft'' heart on his sleeve. (His team, clearly used to the drama, loves him a lot.)
* ''Grease'' and ''Grease2'' films' ''T-Birds'' male gang
* ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'' teases that [[InsufferableGenius Mark]] may be this. [[spoiler:Although he communciates to people rudely in the film, he genuinely seems like he just wants friends and for Facebook to succeed, and cares for his friend, even though he might have screwed him out of a deal, he still realized what he done and tries to friend Erica after being somewhat rude to her throughout the film.]]
* Grouchy Smurf in ''Film/TheSmurfs'' confesses to a green M&M plushie that he only uses his grouchiness to hide his true feelings.
* ''Film/TheWaterboy'': Although [[MyBelovedSmother extremely overprotective]] of her son Bobby, Mama Boucher actually isn't a [[TheFundamentalist Fundamentalist]] EvilMatriarch, she's been pretending to be one due to the pain of [[spoiler:her husband deserting her and Bobby]], and was scared of Bobby abandoning her [[spoiler:too]].
* Both Mike and Dexter in ''Film/ThePhiladelphiaStory'':
** Mike is a [[ArtistDisillusionment disillusioned poet]] who puts toughness on "to save [his] skin".
** Dexter lets Mike think he's blackmailing Tracy for revenge, he jokes about his drinking problem, and half his dialogue consists of [[DeadpanSnarker snarky remarks]]. This might seem like [=Jerkass=] behaviour, but the truth is he's trying to ''save'' Tracy from blackmail, he's given up drinking, and his snarkiness covers a lot of genuine feeling. At the end of the movie, when Tracy is feeling ashamed and miserable, she turns to Dexter for comfort, and finds him surprisingly sympathetic.
* The 1943 comedy ''The Meanest Man in the World'' stars Creator/JackBenny as a kindhearted lawyer who finds he must adapt one of these to land clients.
* ''Film/TheDistinguishedGentleman'': The protagonist cons his way into Congress and, at first, treats being there as a lark and happily acts like what he thinks a stereotypical Congressman should be, voting frivolously, dissing constituents, and sucking up to lobbyists. Then it starts to hit home that he's toying with real people's lives.
* Tony Stark from the ''Film/IronMan'' series. A multi-billionaire playboy for most of his days who is never afraid to sarcastically quip and demean those around him. However it masks a lot of loneliness and frustration with his past as a WellDoneSonGuy. He also really doesn't like showing he's got more feelings than "guy who always has a one-liner at the ready" (best demonstrated with his SandInMyEyes moment in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' when [[spoiler:Phil Coulson dies]]).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Rand al'Thor pulls this trick a few times early in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', to distance himself from his friends out of fear he may harm them. Unfortunately, as time goes on, events conspire to make this much less of a facade. Also, it doesn't help that the [[UnwantedHarem women that love him]] can see right through the facade.
* This pops up in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' from time to time: most of the main characters fall into this, including the witch Granny Weatherwax (a gruff bitchy old woman with biting sarcasm who's too proud to admit how much she likes her friends, but who is never mean to anyone who can't fight back or doesn't deserve it), and pre-''Discworld/MenAtArms'' Sam Vimes (Captain of the Night Watch, a sarcastic pessimistic alcoholic who lived a pauper's life to provide for widows and children of men who'd fallen in the Watch).
* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' it is revealed Arabella Figg intentionally acted somewhat unsympathetic toward Harry so the Dursleys would trust her with babysitting him and she could protect him. In truth, she is fairly likable, and even apologizes to him about it when he finds out that she's a squib and member of the Order of the Phoenix.
* In Creator/DeanKoontz's ''Literature/{{Hideaway}}'', the character Regina does this briefly. She is afraid that Hatch and Lindsey will only adopt her for a little while before they get sick of her and bring her back to the orphanage, which will hurt her deeply. So instead of going through that pain, she tries to scare them off from adopting her in the first place.
* In Creator/SpiderRobinson's novel ''Literature/VeryBadDeaths,'' a main character is a natural telepath whose perceptions of others' minds are extremely painful to him. Fortunately, his perception has a limited physical range, so he just needs to keep his distance from others. In college he repels company, not by [=jerkass=] behavior, but simply by never bathing. Later in life that isn't enough, his range has grown longer, so he lives alone on an island off the coast of Vancouver, British Columbia.
* Dallas Winston, from the classic novel ''Literature/TheOutsiders,'' is an example of this. He lives up to the reputation of one of the most tough and dangerous greasers in Tulsa, yet he cares deeply for Johnny more than anything. Though he might be a rude, lying, cheating, switchblade-carrying criminal, he only acts like he doesn't care as a survival instinct to protect himself from getting hurt.
* Puck from ''Literature/TheSistersGrimm'' is the perfect example of this trope. He pulls gross and disturbing pranks on Sabrina, calls her rude names, and insists that she is the worse thing that happened to him. Yet, despite all of this, he's always there to save her life and teared up when [[spoiler: Sabrina nearly fell off the platform while battling dragons. They are married in the future.]] He also cried at [[spoiler: his father's funeral]]
* Somewhat averted with Severus Snape, while he has been shown to be a genuine [[Jerkass]] in the series, he's not a completely heartless person as he's a troubled man who has trouble getting over the fact the protagnists mother who he had a romantic interest in has died and has been taken by his school rival.
* Carnival from the ''Literature/DeepgateCodex'' series, so goddamn much. She tries her very hardest to act as though none of the people she knows mean much of anything to her, even after she nearly gets killed trying to rescue one of her best friends--but by then we all know better.
* Francis Crawford of Lymond in Dorothy Dunnett's ''Literature/LymondChronicles''. Every book starts out by presenting him as a heartless and obnoxious bastard before slowly revealing the JerkWithAHeartOfGold underneath.
* This trope ''is'' Dante from ''Literature/ARushOfWings''. He's completely justified, too.
* An unintentional version appears in ''Literature/BrewstersMillions'' and its various adaptations; Monty Brewster is a decent and good-hearted man, but because he can't tell anyone why he has crazily spend a huge amount of money within a short period of time (it's so that he can inherit an even larger amount when he's done so), he frequently comes across either as insanely reckless or an irresponsible, feckless jackass.
* From ''Literature/WorldWarZ'', [[spoiler: Paul Redeker]], who penned the eponymous [[spoiler: Redeker]] Plan in response to the zombie outbreak. He was utterly reviled as the worst of South Africa's apartheidists who revised that government's "Plan Orange", the plan to insure the survival of the country's white minority. Then apartheid ended and he went into political exile. Then the zombie outbreak occurred and men kicked his door down and, rather than kill him in a fit of last minute vengeance, asked if he had a plan. He did. Being the ultimate in uncaring dispassion, his plan called for the government to save those who mattered and leave behind those who didn't, specifically as zombie bait to relieve pressure on the beleaguered government. It involved deliberately sacrificing a significant chunk of humanity to a prolonged, gruesome death in order to save those who could fight the menace. Each government official at the meeting hearing his plan reviled him and said nothing. Except the book's stand-in for Nelson Mandela, who said that "This plan, this man, will save our people" and embraced him. Then it turns out that [[spoiler: Redeker]] was not dispassionate. He was so passionate, so empathic that he had to block off all emotion so as not to feel others' pain. That hug broke him, rendered him psychopathic, with a split personality. His plan was implemented, and it saved humanity, and he ended up in a hospital, writing his own biography, believing himself to be a man who had worked intimately with [[spoiler: Paul Redeker.]]
* Raymond Shaw of ''Literature/TheManchurianCandidate'' is three things: stoic, haughty, and [[LackofEmpathy aloof]]. The narrator calls him one of the most unlikeable men in America. It's a convincing act that's [[BecomingTheMask taken a life of its own]]. Deep down, Raymond is a fragile ManChild who mainly acts this way to deal with his terrible mother.
* ''Literature/TrappedOnDraconica'': [[spoiler: Kalak]] feels compelled to act like a jerkass to compensate for inner toughness. He's actually an {{Adorkable}} self-deprecating MommasBoy.
* {{Subverted}} in ''Literature/BattleRoyale'': it turns out that one character's jerkass facade is in fact a facade, and she really is a heartless bitch after all.
* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'':
** Edward Cullen early in ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' was a jerk to Bella to push her away from him because he didn't want to be tempted to drink her blood. How he resisted the temptation to do the same to the other students is a mystery, though Bella's blood being SupernaturallyDeliciousAndNutritious is definitely a factor.
** Edward does this again in ''New Moon''; when he decides to leave in the belief that Bella will be safer without him and his family around, he claims that he never really loved her, and that she was just a distraction to him, in the hope that she'll move on if she has no hope of him ever coming back.
* Artfully demonstrated in ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'', with Sergeant Zim and the rest of the instructors at Camp Currie. They are complete jerks to the recruits, but know when to try to help them rather than continuing the pressure. The narrator overhears a conversation between two of them that explains just how much they care for the young adults who will eventually be sent out to fight. In the book, all support functions are done by civilians; soldiers fight.
* Will Herondale in ''Literature/TheInfernalDevices''. [[spoiler:It's to stop people from caring about him too much - because of his curse, they'll wind up dead eventually. After he finds out that there is no curse, he mellows down.]]
* Johanna Mason from ''Literature/TheHungerGames''.
* In ''Literature/StarlightAndShadows'', the drow Liriel begins to fear that her friendship with the sea elf Xzorsh has given him too positive an impression of her species (most of whom would kill him without a second thought), and so tries to put on a jerkass facade to prevent him from regarding the drow as an amiable race.
* Clip from the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' has a facade so thorough, that some characters wonder if it even is one, but Clip is genuinely conflicted about the death of his entire hometown and Rake's abandonment of his people.
* In ''Literature/TheBelgariad'', Beldin is a [[{{Gonk}} fantastically ugly]] dwarf who deliberately presents himself as [[ThePigPen unkempt]] and uncouth, and who greets some of his oldest friends with barrages of awful insults. Beneath that act, he's kind-hearted, caring, and Belgarath's most steadfast companion for millennia. In a prequel novel, he breaks down in tears when told that his friends do love him.
* Squirrel in ''Literature/TheCityWithoutMemory'' is a minor noble from a medieval world who grew up with an abusive father and brothers and a weak-willed, near-neglectful mother. She acts as the future mistress of the castle, saying her brothers will be killed soon and she’ll have the heads of everyone she doesn’t like. Beneath all that there’s a desperately scared and lonely girl.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Kev in ''Series/{{Derek}}''. Although he seems to be little more than a sex-crazed alcoholic at first, it is shown in later episodes that he genuinely cares about the people he's around.
* Oliver Queen in ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', in an attempt to help keep his identity as the vigilante 'Hood' a secret (his reasoning being that no one could suspect a real douchebag of being a hero).
* Oliver Queen from ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', has shades of this trope. However, Hawkman calls him out on it.
* In ''Series/{{Dark Angel}}'', Alec's defense mechanism is to act like a total jerk. It's a survival trick he learnt during his years at Manticore to hide his true feelings and bury his past.
* Sawyer in ''Series/{{Lost}}'', mainly due to self-loathing. His life was destroyed by a con man so when he ended up as one himself he began to feel that he deserved to be treated like crap (though considering all the stuff he did prior to arriving on the island, he does kind of deserve it). Kate does call him out on it once she realizes what he's doing, though:
-->'''Kate:''' You try too hard, Sawyer. I ask you to help a woman who can't breathe, and you want me to kiss you? Nobody's that disgusting.
* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'': The title character himself. acts like a douchebag genius on the outside,but is actually kind and caring.
* May apply to ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'''s Owen Harper, since what got him into Torchwood was the death of the love of his life by alien tumor... which he dealt with at one point by nearly date-raping a woman. [[ThereAreNoTherapists Torchwood needs therapists.]]
* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}''
** Jordan is the clearest example. She acts like she couldn't care less about everyone, including Cox. However, in later seasons she's genuinely supportive of Cox in his darker moments and acts as a mother figure to the other characters on occasion.
** Dr. Kelso sometimes hides behind a facade of Jerkassdom. Many would just write him off as ''being'' a [=Jerkass=] with maybe a heart of gold somewhere. But as shown in "My Jiggly Ball," his position requires him to make decisions that he often doesn't like, and which make everyone see him as the villain. The only way he can cope with it is to brush off all criticism and act like he doesn't care. This is also proven in "My Chopped Liver," when Kelso's dog dies and he refuses to leave his office out of fear that others in the hospital would see him crying.
*** In "His Story IV," it's revealed that at least some of his [=Jerkass=] tendencies are deliberate, to make him the common enemy of the hospital employees and keep them from bickering with one another. It's implied to be the only way to keep interpersonal squabbles from affecting the running of the hospital.
** Perhaps Dr. Cox (if not just an elitist JerkWithAHeartOfGold). He will verbally abuse even those closest to him for the tiniest of slights and faults, is a borderline alcoholic egomaniac and refuses to show affection to anyone. However, he's only this way partly because of his past (abusive parents) and that over the years any optimism he had left has been thoroughly beaten out of him. But even after all of this he cares about each patient he sees. He's tough on others because it's the only way he knows to teach the younger doctors and motivate his patients. In his softer moments, he'll show that he's just a broken man that keeps struggling on day after day, and that he does care about those around him but he's just too afraid to show it.
* Barney from ''Series/HowIMetYourMother''. His selfishness and womanizing are just a cover up for his insecurities.
* ''Series/{{ER}}'''s Doug Ross
* ''Series/LALaw'''s Arnie Becker.
* Yuuto Sakurai from ''Series/KamenRiderDenO'' comes off as rude, overly serious, and quick to anger (especially with his partner Deneb). As the series progresses, however, we learn that his ability to become a Kamen Rider comes with a hefty price: [[spoiler:each time he transforms, some of the memories people have of him are erased, meaning that the more he fights, the fewer people know he even exists.]]
* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'':
** Taiga Hanaya is a FallenHero and a DoctorJerk. He combines all the reasons stated above, making it hard to differentiate between him simply being jerk and doing his best to appear as someone who keeps people away. Rare moments of weakness show his true nature of a [[TookALevelInJerkass broken]] man who considers his life to be without any value besides fighting Bugsters and no future beyond that. Nico sees through it quickly and tells him what she thinks about it in [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech #27]].
** Kiriya Kujo combines this with ConsummateLiar to hide his pain from [[ItsAllMyFault losing a friend]]. [[spoiler: He also makes it look like he CameBackWrong as part of his plan for CR to get all the Proto Gashats, even managing to get Emu's help in keeping up the masquerade.]]
* ''Series/{{House}}'': Dr. House definitely had moments where his jerkassery was genuine, but he shows many times that he's capable of a lot more love and compassion than he wants people to think.
* Lester from ''Series/{{Primeval}}'' is in reality a fairly BenevolentBoss but {{Whitehall}} power politics (and that he is a bit of a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold snob]]) force him to hide behind his facade of a classic ObstructiveBureaucrat.
-->'''Abby:''' ''You know underneath it all you are really quite nice.''\\
'''Lester:''' ''Repeat that disgraceful slander and you'll be hearing from my lawyers''.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': Dr. [[TheMcCoy [=McCoy=]'s]] thin, crumbly veneer of grumbles and sarcasm hides (badly) what is quite possibly the most compassionate character on network television.
** ''Film/StarTrek2009'': [=McCoy's=] [[AlternateContinuity counterpart]] in the new movie hides it a bit better. [[FridgeBrilliance Maybe he'll soften up after working in Starfleet for awhile.]]
** In "[[MirrorUniverse Mirror, Mirror]]" Kirk had to adopt one of these in order to keep the crew of the I.S.S. Enterprise from getting any more suspicious of him than they already were. After the guard who foiled Mirror Chekov's effort to assassinate Kirk mentioned that Chekov had been promising to make him an officer, Kirk hired him to his personal guard, telling him that now he was on the officer track and might even get promoted to Captain. When the man agreed to this rather over-enthusiastically, however, Kirk then [[KickTheDog punched him out]] and said "Not on my ship."
** Emin Maritza from the classic [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine DS9]] episode "Duet." And how!!
** Counselor Troi was forced to adopt one for [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration TNG]]'s "Face of the Enemy", while she impersonated Major Rakal of the Tal Shiar, the Romulan SecretPolice.
%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample * ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'': Doc Cottle.
* ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration'' offers up [[DefrostingIceQueen Holly J]] who thinks people want her to be mean, and that she's doing it for her friends, and as her favorite defense mechanism. Given she learned social order from her [[AlphaBitch borderline evil]] [[AloofBigBrother older sister]] [[TheGhost Heather]], it's not much of a surprise.
* Major Charles Emerson Winchester on ''Series/{{MASH}}'' appears to be one in a Christmas episode when he receives numerous packages of what appear to be chocolates from a Boston confectioner and refuses to share them with anyone. He's later [[HiddenHeartOfGold shown donating them]], in the middle of the night, to a local orphanage and explaining that his family has a tradition of doing acts of kindness and charity at Christmas, but with an insistence of remaining anonymous. At the end of the episode Klinger learns of what Charles has done and agrees to keep it a secret.
* ''Series/TheInspectorLynleyMysteries''' Barbara Havers - while she is genuinely brutally honest - is so deeply insecure that she developed this front as a defense mechanism. Lynley calls her out on it, and as time goes on, she's been able to let go of it more and more.
-->'''Lynley:''' You don't have to do that.\\
'''Barbara:''' What?\\
'''Lynley:''' Push me away.
* ''Series/BetterOffTed'': Veronica could be the poster child for this trope. Although she comes off as uncaring and borderline sociopathic at times, occasionally the facade will drop, usually with Ted who becomes her confidant (such as in the second season premiere when she discusses her desire to have children).
* Eliot Spencer from ''Series/{{Leverage}}''. In their Christmas episode:
--> '''Kid:''' I don't get it. Are you nice, or are you mean?\\
'''Eliot:''' ''(Passes him a present and puts a finger to his lips)''
** Elliot rarely acts like a actual jerk ([[VitriolicBestBuds except to Hardison]]). More of a Scary Tough Guy Facade.
* Rudy Wade from ''Series/{{Misfits}}'' is probably THE definition of this Trope. His 'superpower' is the ability to split into two people. The only catch being that one of them is his true, emotional self while the other is his facade.
* Derek Hale on ''Series/TeenWolf'' has a DarkAndTroubledPast that has left him with trust issues and a justified sense of [[HunterOfMonsters persecution]]. He compensates by trying to seem as mean as possible, but is really just a [[GoodIsNotNice somewhat dark]] AntiHero.
* Dr. John Becker of ''Series/{{Becker}}'' is certainly this to an extent. Sure, he's really grouchy and kind of a jerk, but cares about his patients, especially in the pilot when he uses his own money to buy needed medication for a boy with HIV.
* Rex Evans on ''Series/NecessaryRoughness'' put up the façade back when he was still in the closet, both because he was miserable about having to hide his partner, and because he was afraid that making friends would lead to someone finding out his secret. It didn't help that the team's rising star, Toes Kitteridge, was a virulent homophobe.
* ''Series/{{JAG}}'': Admiral Chegwidden is a mild version of this trope. Even though he often hides behind military protocol and the authority that comes with being an admiral to distance himself from interpersonal relationships beyond the strictly professional, he deeply cares for the people that work under him.
* ''Series/TheFlash2014'' has Harry Wells, who is initially very hostile and standoffish to the team when he shows up in season 2. He very quickly shows himself to care deeply, however, as he risks his life to save the team on multiple occasions. Of course, he would vehemently deny that he cares about anyone other than his daughter, Jesse, but his actions speak far louder than his words and he eventually [[TookALevelInKindness takes a level in kindness]] (although he remains a socially awkward InsufferableGenius). It becomes apparent that the reason for his initially extreme jerkass behaviour was that he was trying very hard not to get close to the team due to the fact that [[spoiler: Zoom had kidnapped Jesse and would likely use her to blackmail him into betraying them.]]
* In ''Series/{{Supergirl}}'', Mon-El starts out as a bit a jerk ([[spoiler:especially once it becomes known that he's the Prince of Daxam]]), but Kara starts to rub off on him, and he eventually becomes a genuine hero. So when [[spoiler:his parents arrive to take him back to rebuild Daxam]], he tells them to go away and never come back, accepting that his people (he included) were exactly what Kryptonians have always believed them to be. After ending up in the future, he resolves to follow Supergirl's ideal and founds the Legion.
* ''Series/StargateSG1'': O'Neill adopts such a persona at times, usually as part of a plan to trick a hidden enemy into revealing themselves to him. While most people do understand that it is, in fact, just an act, it's a little disturbing both to viewers and the characters in-universe just how ''convincing'' O'Neill is capable of acting the part.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Podcasts]]
* Both Merle and Taako of ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneBalance'' display this trope.
** {{Word of God}} is that the reason Merle is so unfriendly to people outside the party (particularly Angus) is because he's insecure about his own value to the party and feels threatened by people he perceives as more competent than him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* "The Summer Of Punk" angle in Wrestling/RingOfHonor, where baby {{face}} Wrestling/CMPunk revealed that not only was he leaving the promotion, not only was he taking the ROH world title with him, but that he was going to draw out the process until he made it clear just how much he hated each and every last fan watching. In the end, it turned out he was broken up about leaving and returned at his earliest opportunity, which coincidentally was also when ROH really needed it due to one of their [[Wrestling/{{TNA}} perennial rivals]] blocking talent.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* In Act III of ''Theatre/LaBoheme'', Rodolfo pretends to be cruel and jealous so that Mimi will leave him. In reality, he is concerned for her worsening [[VictorianNovelDisease consumption]], and, knowing he cannot take care of her, [[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim tries to reject her]] so she can find a lover who isn't a StarvingArtist.
* In Shakespeare's ''Theatre/HenryIVPart1'', Prince Hal monologues about how he's acting like a jerk so that
--> When this loose behavior I throw off\\
And pay the debt I never promised,\\
By how much better than my word I am,\\
By so much shall I falsify men's hopes;\\
And like bright metal on a sullen ground,\\
My reformation, glittering o'er my fault,\\
Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes\\
Than that which hath no foil to set it off.\\
I'll so offend, to make offence a skill;\\
Redeeming time when men think least I will.
* In Theatre/HenryV Hal goes on to become, to everyone's surprise, a great king who trounces the French in battle through the sheer power of his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxNCnPFQZ-g epic monologuing]].
* This is a common theory to explain ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'''s assholish behavior towards Ophelia; that he was pretending to be horrible, despite loving her, in order to distance her from the horrors that were to come.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Possible example: Albel Nox from ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime''. The commonly accepted {{Fanon}} here is that he doesn't let people close because [[spoiler:he doesn't want to deal with losing them, after his father sacrificed himself for him.]]
* Neku, from ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' seems to be like this. When he is forced to say what is on his mind, he constantly states that he doesn't want to get close to other people because they'll only end up betraying him. Although, this might not actually be a facade.
** Even when he loses most of his [=Jerkass=] tendencies toward the end of the game (and in Another Day), he still tends to be quite the DeadpanSnarker.
* Squall, the main character of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', chooses to act like a cold, insensitive bastard because he believes that if he forms any kind of emotional investment, it will be broken eventually, so he's better off just being a complete jerk to everyone rather than deal with the pain of loss again after the loss of his big sister. Further complicating the issue is that he suffers from memory loss (due to use of Guardian Forces) and doesn't fully remember his big sister, preventing him from getting any meaningful closure.
* Zelos from ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' definitely fits the bill. He's easily the brashest of the main characters and doesn't seem to care one wit if the things he says are offensive or inappropriate. If one pays enough attention to his dialogue though, there are numerous examples of him saying things that show off a more sensitive and observant side to him, most of which are quickly covered up by him making yet another crass joke. This hints at the true nature of most things he says or does being an [[ObfuscatingStupidity act]] specifically designed to get people to either ignore him or think of him poorly, borne from the severe trust issues he developed over the years.
** Especially evident in the skit "For Depressed People." In response to [[spoiler: Corrine's death,]] he says the party "shouldn't worry about things that are already over." Regal, Genis and ''[[EmotionlessGirl Presea]]'' chew him out for it, but once they leave Zelos reveals he's only saying that because he thinks the way ''they're'' acting - walking on eggshells around Sheena - is only making her more depressed.
* Asuna/Flannery from ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' and ''Emerald'' tries to be intimidating and scary because this is the way she believes a Gym Leader should behave. She's very bad at it, and after being defeated by the player, she gives the facade up entirely.
** [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Litten's]] fully evolved form Incineroar is the {{Heel}} Pokemon, but out of battle it is a FriendToAllChildren and young Pokemon.
* ''Videogame/LifeIsStrange'' has Victoria Chase, a character who in the first episode has a scene that personifies this trope immediately. Stereotypical bully, but with a little kindness thrown her way, she can just as easily reciprocate it. [[spoiler: Her reason for being the way she is ties back to her parents and the world she's been shown by them; "to be successful, you have to be willing to step on and over anyone".]]
* [[GratuitousFrench Waka]] from ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' plays this up through most of the game, going so far as to outright [[MiniBoss attack you]] the first two times you meet him for ''no'' justifiable reason except to be a [=Jerkass=] and tell you how Ammy's become weak (''despite'' the fact that you just beat him). He's constantly riling up [[ExpositionFairy Issun]] and acts in such an untrustworthy way that the heroes aren't even sure which side he's on. When you're fighting the final boss, though, it's revealed that [[spoiler:he's been on your side the whole time and was working to protect Nippon from [[TrueFinalBoss Yami]]'s darkness, performing a HeroicSacrifice that almost kills him so that Amaterasu can finish Yami off.]]
* Silk Fox of ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' is a caring and honorable person. She is also very arrogant, aloof, and dismissive of 'peasants'. The player has a choice over whether she keeps the facade when she [[spoiler:becomes Empress]] or drops it in favor of her actual personality.
** Sagacious Zu also goes here. Yes, he'll make a [[TokenEvilTeammate half-hearted attempt to encourage Closed Fist actions]]. Yes, he used to be a Lotus Assassin. Yes, he's [[TheAtoner attempting to assuage his guilt]]. Still, he will protect your PlayerCharacter and Dawn Star with everything, including [[spoiler: a HeroicSacrifice that nearly destroys Death's Hand]].
* Snake starts off like this in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', a grumpy "Stick to the mission" type who apparently has little patience for romantic overtures and idealistic pursuits, but it's strongly implied - if not outright stated - that he acts like this to protect himself from even more emotional/psychological trauma. He later softens up into a JerkWithAHeartOfGold - though willing to be a ManipulativeBastard for the greater good.
** An even better example would have to be ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3''s' [[spoiler:The Boss who is a fake defector. Neither Big Boss nor player find this out until after they kill her.]]
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'':
** Raigh from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'' makes a big show of not caring about anyone and only joining so he can learn more dark magic... which he is doing so that he won't ever be unable to protect his loved ones again. When he tries it on his {{Polar Opposite Twin|s}} Lugh, all he gets is a laugh and an admonishment that if Raigh keeps it up he won't make any friends. (''Heroes'' makes the facade even more hilariously transparent when he addresses he player.)
** Colm from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' is like this, acting like a jerk and a common thief but [[LoveableRogue eventually showing a]] [[SugarAndIcePersonality softer side]].
** Sanaki from [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius the Tellius games]]. When the Greil Mercenaries show up in Begnion palace, Sanaki initially dismisses Ike and Elincia's plea for help, sends the Greil Mercenaries to do [[spoiler:seemingly]] mundane and random tasks, all the while insulting Ike as he's a "commoner mercenary". [[spoiler:Once Ike figures out with the help of Soren and Titania that Sanaki has a plan to expose her corrupt senators, she becomes a lot more friendly to the Greil Mercenaries. After Ike helps her out with her plan, Sanaki convinces Ike to allow Elincia to make him a Crimean lord, and sends quite a bit of Begnion troops to Ike's aid.]]
* Shadow the Hedgehog from the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' franchise shows trades of this. He really does care about others, but he remains cold and distant even to his own friends, because he doesn't want anyone to get too close to him out of fear of losing them again like with Maria. It doesn't help that he already has low trust in others.
* Zero from ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' and ''[[VideoGame/MegaManZero Zero]]'' straddles this with JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Deep down he ''is'' a nice guy who fights for the people he believes in, but has been betrayed by so many allies - including Iris, a girl he had feelings for - and fought in so many wars he's practically forced to assume a cold, uncaring facade.
* In some installments of the ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' series, this is part of Zhuge Liang's story mode. Other characters think he's a cold, scheming jerk, but he's willing to bear responsibility for some of Shu's more ruthless moves if it means Liu Bei's compassionate reputation remains intact.
* [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Liara T'Soni]] of ''Franchise/MassEffect'' adopts one of these between games both to operate in the galactic underworld and [[spoiler: due to guilt over handing Shepard's body over to Cerberus. Happily, she drops the facade at the conclusion of ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' and becomes warm towards Shepard once again.]]
* Rizwan from ''VideoGame/SuikodenTierkreis'' continuously abuses her daughter Manaril to use her power to read [[MacGuffin False Chronicles]], which result is used to develop the Magedom's technology. [[spoiler: Considering how the Magedom works, she has to do this in order to survive, and in the end, she cares for her daughter all along.]]
* Shinjiro Aragaki in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}''. Played almost humorously when he's unsuccessful, but becomes rather tragic when you realize just how far he's willing to go for those he cares about.
* [[spoiler:Dallas]] in ''VideoGame/InFamous'' was [[spoiler:forced by Kessler all along into making Cole bad publicity]].
* Garrett of the ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' series. A genuinely noble AntiHero with a good sense of humour, but a certified prick on the outside. Nice people do not live long in [[WretchedHive the City]].
* Inspector Cabanela from ''VideoGame/GhostTrick'' seems like a smarmy JiveTurkey who's obsessed with promotion and maintaining a "spotless record". Turns out his obsession with getting promoted was [[spoiler: so he could get in a position to oversee the cases handled by the Special Investigation Unit and thus help his friend and partner, Inspector Jowd.]]
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'': Lightning spends a good chunk of the game hiding her own uncertainty, anger, fear and confusion from the others by perpetuating this image of herself, until CharacterDevelopment kicks in (but even before it kicked in, there were a few moments where either her reactions or the narration clue us in).
-->'''Narrator (Vanille):''' (during an early cutscene) Lightning was suffering. Reaching out to us. But none of us could see it.
* Two examples from ''VideoGame/BlazBlue''.
** [[AntiHero Ragna]] acts like a standoff-ish [=Jerkass=] and TerrorHero to drive people away from him, partly because he's a wanted criminal and loner by nature, and partly because the ArtifactOfDoom on his right arm saps people's life-force to sustain itself. He's a JerkWithAHeartOfGold really.
** [[MsFanservice Makoto]] used to act like a [=Jerkass=] as well, but only because people [[FantasticRacism picked on her for being a beastkin]]. She's a NiceGal now, but [[spoiler:her bad ending in the second game]] suggests that her feelings haven't exactly gone away completely.
* Most [[AlwaysChaoticEvil drow]] in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'' are massive jerks and [[spoiler: Solaufein]] is no exception. But wait, he is! He’s actually a [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch good aligned rogue drow]] working as a spy that has put up a very convincing disguise.
* Nathan Drake from ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'' is a kind of devil-may-care JerkWithAHeartOfGold treasure hunter on the surface but his real personality swings much closer to this and in fact he's actually not that great at hiding it.
* Cloud from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' acts cocky, rude and detached as part of a 'cool' persona that he is convinced that a former member of the elite military group SOLDIER would have. In his case, it's not out of a desire to keep people from getting close to him, but out of a mixture of self-loathing and lack of self-knowledge. Only a couple of people actually fall for it, and he readily shows his softer side around Tifa and Aeris, while most [=NPCs=] find his performance offputting or a bit desperate. After the [[DisguisedInDrag ordeal]] in Wall Market, he scales the act back to much more tolerable funny sarcasm with the occasional cruel comment when he's really lost his temper. Then he has even that yanked away from him by increasing SanitySlippage followed by a [[HeroicBSOD catastrophic mental breakdown]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* Tomoki in ''VisualNovel/{{Canvas 2}}''. [[spoiler:In fact, she's so used to it that she's scared people will hate her if she gets the surgery she needs and refuses to get it.]]
* The princess Lesteena in ''VisualNovel/EienNoAselia'' hides the fact that she's actually one of the nicest people in the cast by acting cold, callous and dismissive towards everyone. [[spoiler:When the king is assassinated, she drops the callous and dismissive parts and most of the coldness.]]
* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'':
** Rin Tohsaka's personality in the early parts of the game is a [=Jerkass=] Facade. It's especially obvious in Heaven's Feel, although there it's for a [[ShootTheDog good reason]].
** Archer also uses a [=jerkass=] facade on Rin and Saber, as he plans on killing his past self and then disappearing.
* Yaginuma in ''VisualNovel/KaraNoShoujo'' acts like a jerk to keep people from getting too close to him as he can't bear a repeat of what happened to his sister. At first, this is an InformedAttribute but then during one of the endings we get to see him meet with Kuchiki Chizuru and he's actually fairly nice to her.
* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'':
** [[spoiler:Eva Ushiromiya]], as a part of her plan to [[spoiler:not let her niece and ward Ange know that her parents were AxCrazy murderers]].
** In [=EP5=] it's revealed that [[spoiler:Beatrice]] has this as well. [[spoiler:Her "sadistic {{troll}}" personality was actually part of an act that was meant to guide Battler towards understanding her.]]
* Hugh O'Conner from ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney''. He acted like a jerk because of his reputation as a genius. [[spoiler:Also, because he believed his friends abandoned him after finding out he wasn't a genius and was getting perfect scores thanks to bribes.]] Drops the facade [[spoiler:and proves he might be pretty skilled after all]] at the end of 5-3.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Albin from ''Webcomic/WasteOfTime'' might seem like a jerkass, but he really does care about his workers.
* Abel from ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'' has a ''magical'' [=Jerkass=] Facade - which doesn't work on the {{Muggles}} he's stuck with now.
* [[http://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic1-090108.php The genesis]] of one of these, courtesy of ''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie''.
* Diane of ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' has a ''very'' convincing facade. It's only when one of her friends dissolves into tears that we see that she's really a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. In filler, we see her praising her friends' A- on a test.
* [[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick Eugene Greenhilt]], or at least when Roy was 8, when he refuses to try to get Xykon with Right-Eye, because he reckons that Xykon would go after his family if things went South.
* Lucy of ''Webcomic/BittersweetCandyBowl'' puts of a harsh facade, but when she is around her pets (or really distressed) it falls away from her, showing her true (much sweeter) nature.
* Karkat Vantas of ''{{Webcomic/Homestuck}}''. Types in all caps, insults every one of his friends relentlessly, and also does his best to help them and blames himself for every death.
* [[http://explosm.net/comics/3801/ This comic]] from Webcomic/CyanideAndHappiness.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Originals]]
* This is a common comical persona for many WebAnimation/YouTubePoop makers, most famously Creator/{{Deepercutt}}.
* Sasha Hunter in ''Literature/GreekNinja'', and as it turns out, Hashimoto Daichi.
* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic is legitimately a dick, but emphasizes that side as best as he can with newbies, mostly because he doesn't want to be seen as the pathetic weakling he really is. They always eventually see through him.
* Fiearius Soliveré of "Literature/CaelumLex" emits a jerk persona to appear strong to his crew, worthy to his criminal allies and indestructible to his enemies.
* PlayedForDrama in ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'', where he goes MartyrWithoutACause DeathSeeker on everyone's ass and pretends to be a DirtyCoward so nobody will notice or miss him when he commits [[SuicideByCop Suicide By]] PlotHole.
* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', [[ManipulativeBastard Ronove]], [[DragonWithAnAgenda Dreadlord]] of the [[BloodKnight Northern]] [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Horde]], acts like a generic cruel overlord in front of his peers and enemies, but also occasionally shows a quirky side which most accept as remnants of his former [[CloudCuckooLander goofy]], [[TraumaInducedAmnesia amnesiac]] personality (most notably him munching on cake and sand gnome legs). He has shown a [[NobleDemon less evil persona]] recently but quite subtly. He let his caught human friends, with whom he had been travelling with during his amnesiac days, flee a demon-occupied city alive while weaving a convincing enough tale to his superiors for the seemingly "evil" reasons he let the escape happen. He takes over the torturing of his former, captured master [[TheAtoner Omaroch]] seemingly because he enjoys the cruel act, but in fact it's because letting others torture Omaroch would be far more severe than what he ends up doing to him. He openly manipulates [[FallenHero Refan]], Omaroch's son, but does it for Refan's own good because he sees Refan's [[SuperPoweredEvilSide demonic side]] useful and allowing the man to grow into a warrior who doesn't have to fear for his life anymore. However, Ronove harbors more complex plans than most people think, and the one person who realizes that things don't quite add up as far as his actions go is still being manipulated by him into believing one thing while the truth is actually quite different. It's thus clear that he has some sense of honour and he still feels sympathy for his former travelling companions, but he's also capable of acts of CruelMercy by twisting seemingly benevolent acts into something far more sinister.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheodoreTugboat'', of all characters, in the episode "Bumper Buddies". Foduck playfully bumps him, not realising that it hurts so Theodore avoids him. When Foduck asks if they're still friends, Theodore's answer is "Foduck, I am not your friend anymore." TheNarrator then says "I'm still not sure if Theodore meant it, he just didn't want Foduck to bump him anymore.".
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'':
** Common with the Ice King. He kidnaps princesses sure, but he [[spoiler: used to be a decent scholar named Simon Petrikov before TheEnd, lost his fiance, lost ALL of his memories, and only kidnaps princesses to ease his horrible lonliness.]]
** It's implied that Marceline plays up her [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampirism]] both to protect others (because she sees herself as evil), and so that [[NeverBeHurtAgain no-one can ever get close to her and then leave her]], which unfortunately has happened to the poor girl far too often (as in, ''[[TraumaCongaLine in every one of her onscreen relationships]]'').
* In ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddysBigPictureShow'', it's revealed that [[spoiler:Eddy's greedy and selfish attitude]] was all an act to impress his [[spoiler:brother]], who is a bigger [=Jerkass=] than he (or anyone, even Kevin and Sarah) could ever hope to be.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'' brought this up for [[RichBitch Trixie]], but it was never brought up again. It was shown hides her HiddenDepths and acts like a AlphaBitch to be accepted with the popular kids. A few early episodes imply she's sweeter than she seems but [[CharacterizationMarchesOn that was dropped]] by season 3.
* In the first season of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', [[AntiVillain Prince Zuko]] sometimes puts on a mighty show of acting like a RoyalBrat in front of his men, effectively earning their resentment... before [[HiddenHeartOfGold risking his own life to save the ship's helmsman during a terrible storm]]. The reason behind his scar... [[spoiler: he spoke out against [[WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife sacrificing a division of new recruits as a distraction]] during a war meeting, so his father [[AbusiveParents challenged him to]] an [[DuelToTheDeath Agni Kai]] as a punishment, leaving Zuko with his scars as a reminder for his "arrogance". Iroh's revelation of this to the crew caused them to ease up on Zuko a bit.]] It could even be argued that Zuko was trying to emulate his father and sister who were jerkasses with no facade, as they were the "proper" and successful Fire Nation royalty that he and Iroh weren't. Eventually he realized that their selfish if not sociopathic stances were ruining the Fire Nation and [[HeelFaceTurn he drops the facade of being an obedient prince to do what's right for everyone]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' episode "Bobby Goes Nuts", Bobby is tired of being picked on by the bullies at school, so he goes to the gym in order to get tougher-- but the only class that isn't full already is a self-defense class for women, where he learns that a man's weak point is his groin. He beats the bullies with this technique, but then continues to do it to anyone who bothers him in the slightest, becoming a bully himself. Eventually, he goes too far and kicks Hank, who gets Peggy to bully him until he kicks ''her''-- which, since she doesn't have testicles, doesn't work so well. This finally jars him out of meeting all his problems with the same unthinking response.
* Moe Syzlak, from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', tries to hide his good deeds with a protectiveness normal people would reserve for hiding evil deeds.
-->'''Ned:''' I know you! You're the guy at the hospital who reads to sick children?
-->'''Moe:''' [[SlaveToPR ...if this gets out]], the next words you say will be muzzled by your own butt.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** Invoked by Babs Seed. She only joined Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon in bullying the CMC [[spoiler: because she was bullied back at Manehattan, and she wanted to avoid being bullied again by them.]]
** Played straight with Diamond Tiara herself. The season 5 episode "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" revealed that [[spoiler: she only acted mean because that's how her mother (an even bigger bully than she is) taught her to act; she knows her behavior is wrong, and she wants to change but doesn't know how]].
* ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutronBoyGenius'':
** Cindy Vortex reveals that she acts this ways because she slowly became more and more jealous of Jimmy for being smarter than her, thus explaining why [[{{Tsundere}} she's such a hardass on him]]. This was ultimately carried over into the TV series, abit [[BelligerentSexualTension in a different manner]].
** Carl Wheezer [[TheHeart of all people]] [[TookALevelInJerkass becomes this]] in one episode of [[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius the TV series]] just to impress a girl he was smitten by.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'' episode "Puppy Love," [=Jerkass=] Pete, [[PetTheDog with purer intentions than usual, at least]], advises the typically ''very'' NiceGuy, PJ, to dress like a tough redneck and be as obnoxious and rude as possible because [[UnreliableNarrator the ladies love it]]. PJ's crush responds negatively to the facade, and in the process he becomes a repeated target of a school bully.
* In ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'', Wiggles [=McSunbask=] doesn't want to be a bully, but his fearsome appearance (he's an alligator) scares everyone around him so he just embraced that image.
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'':
** Amethyst attacked Pearl in the Kindergarten, and even threw and tied up Steven, because Pearl reminded her of her past. She was also this way with Greg, as a act of revenge for Rose having less time for her.
** Lapis Lazuli also fits this trope, nearly drowning Steven's stepfamily as a act of revenge for trapping her in a mirror for thousands of years.
* Inverted with the ''WesternAnimation/HeckleAndJeckle'' cartoon "Sappy New Year." The boys give up practical jokes as a New Year's resolution, but their attempts to do good deeds are haphazard and are misconstrued as more troublemaking.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'':
** Stormer is rather sweet but has to act like a jerk to be a part of her band.
** "Roxy Rumbles" implies most of Roxy's rougher traits are a facade as well. She's a lot nicer after quitting the band.
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': On her first day of preschool, Helga was being laughed at by the other kids because she was overtly [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe smitten by Arnold's attention]]. So to stop the torment, she started bullying the other kids, [[LovingBully including Arnold]], in order to stop them from bullying her.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'':
** Mr. Cat has straight out admitted to Kaeloo that he has a sensitive and vulnerable side which he hides by being a jerk to everyone else.
** It's been hinted at that Pretty isn't as mean as she acts and [[SlaveToPR only picks on Kaeloo and her friends to uphold her status as the]] AlphaBitch.
* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': Gabriel Agreste plays with this trope. He is a {{Jerkass}} ControlFreak whose behavior has allowed [[BigBad Hawk Moth]] to [[BrainwashedAndCrazy akumatize]] at least three people. [[spoiler:The facade comes from the fact that Gabriel ''is'' [[ArchnemesisDad Hawk Moth]], and his actions were probably calculated to give him more targets, rather than out of malice. Even so, he still ''is Hawk Moth'', so the act [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk is covering up]] an even bigger jerkass.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'', [[spoiler:Mitchell hides behind one as revealed in the ChristmasEpisode, "Holidays in Boxwood Terrace". Mitchell acts mean to Jet and his friends, and Mitchell claims that he "doesn't do friends", but Mitchell isn't really mean, he's really just a lonely kid who wants to join Jet's clique, but doesn't know how to fit in. Fortunately, he gets his happy ending. However, while he's somewhat considered to be a part of Jet's circle of friends and is nicer in season 2, it's implied that he's been keeping up this jerk mask for so long, that [[BecomingTheMask he's become it]], which explains why he still acts like a jerk sometimes]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* {{Drill Sergeant|Nasty}}s usually are like this, due to their occupation demanding them to toughen up their recruits, and this usually by degrading them as much as possible without mercy so they will set their goal higher and become stronger because of it. Their occupation is to train the recruits, not to make them mentally ill, so it is vital for the drill sergeant to recognize when one of his recruits is obviously affected in the wrong way by the training, and try getting said recruits help instead of more drilling. After all, since almost every drill sergeants have lives outside the military, most are actually nice people, and will notice when something is wrong with the recruits.
* Many Internet forums have their Resident Freaks and Jackasses. On average it's a total facade because no normal person is that stupid, that perverted. Sometimes the facade slips.
* 4Chan revels in this one, believe it or not. Acting like a jerkass is a readily accepted prerequesite for posting which its users all follow, much like the "be nice to one another" creed found on most websites. If you want to see the facade shattered like a dinner plate hit with buckshot, look no further than the time someone posted ''Love You Forever'', known on 4Chan as "The Day /b/ Cried", where the vast majority of the posters all pretty much began blubbering and lamenting [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas how much they love/miss their moms]].
* Music/JohnLennon until TheSeventies, where he started to deal with his problems and admitted that part of his bitter unhappiness was that he wasn't actually that badly off and he was still unhappy, and acted like a [=Jerkass=] to push people away.
* For some people, this is a response to sadness or anger. They push people away because they either don't want help or don't want to be a burden.
[[/folder]]

to:

->''"The best way to not get your heart broken is to pretend you don't have one."''
-->-- '''Creator/CharlieSheen'''

%% One quote is sufficient. Please place additional entries on the quotes tab.

The character acts like either a heartless bastard or otherwise obnoxious {{Jerkass}} when they really aren’t.

Their reasons might be because they are afraid to get intimate with other people because they simply assume that [[SafetyInIndifference the person will either die or betray them]] just like everyone else they have ever gotten close to. It might be because the person is being stalked by horrible demons, TheMafia, TheGovernment, or some other dangerous and unstoppable entity [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies and does not want to drag others into it]]. Maybe they’re pulling off a ZeroApprovalGambit and/or GenghisGambit. In more light-hearted media, maybe they just feel they have [[SlaveToPR a reputation to uphold]] as a [=Jerkass=]. So rather than letting anyone get close to them, they behave like a completely obnoxious douche bag to scare them all away from wanting anything to do with them.

Compare with StepfordSnarker, SourOutsideSadInside and JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
* This trope: faking jerk attitude, hiding good traits.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Actually a jerk, but with some good traits slipping every now and then.
* StepfordSnarker: snarking in order to hide insecurities, sadness and resentment (and the like)
* SourOutsideSadInside: Actually a jerk/rough snarker, but is also sad inside.

Contrast BitchInSheepsClothing and JerkWithAHeartOfJerk. See also ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies, DefrostingIceQueen, ThinkNothingOfIt, DontYouDarePityMe and MonsterFacade. May secretly be a ZeroApprovalGambit. Not to be confused with [[VideoGame/{{Mother3}} The [=Jerkass=] known as Fassad.]]

----
!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}'', Genjo Sanzo is incredibly rude and likes to constantly threaten his companions with death, but it's all hot air because he also does things like [[spoiler: rescuing Goku from his prison and giving Hakkai a chance at a new life.]] He'll also claim that he doesn't care about hostages, only to rescue said hostages two minutes later.
* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': Goku acted this way towards Uub during the final episode to bring out his aggression. In reality Goku is kindness incarnate, and was just [[{{Troll}} trolling]] Uub so he'd show his true power. He apologizes after the fight is over.
** In ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', in order to push Cabba to his RageBreakingPoint, Vegeta briefly becomes his old SpacePirate self and threatens to destroy Cabba's entire planet and kill his family once he kills him. This pushes Cabba over the edges and he ascends to Super Saiyan.
* ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'':
** Sakura's older brother Touya sets himself up as a BigBrotherBully who teases her almost non-stop to the extent that she often fantasizes about bullying him back, but he's actually quite a caring person and fiercely protective of her. Nonetheless, the act is successful enough to convince an AllLovingHero like Sakura that he's nothing but a callous {{Jerkass}} [[PetTheDog with one or another nice moments]], [[spoiler: and when she ''actually'' finds out how much he cares, [[CryCute she's driven to tears]].]]
** Syaoran Li similarly attempts to play up the role of a cold, ruthless rival for Sakura, even when he is blatantly warming to her (and secretly crushing on her). Unlike Touya though, Syaoran doesn't fool Sakura for very long:
--->'''Sakura:''' You always act like that, but it's never true.
--->'''Syaoran:''' What makes you say that?
--->'''Sakura:''' I know you. Syaoran-kun, you're a NiceGuy.
--->''[[LuminescentBlush *Syaoran turns bright red*]]''
* ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'': In the Black Swordsman and Conviction arcs of the manga Guts (though a much [[NobleDemon edgier example]]) behaved in this manner because he has the [[MagneticPlotDevice Brand of Sacrifice]], and therefore the demons are never going to leave him alone. While he is perfectly capable of defending himself against the demons, he doesn't want to have to worry about anyone else dying because of it. This gives the outward appearance that he is completely immoral, heartless, and downright sadistic. In one notable instance, Guts gives the daughter of an Apostle that he just killed a knife and tells her to kill herself (despite saving her life shortly thereafter.) She instead swears revenge on him. After he leaves it is revealed that he only said that so she would hate him, and to foster a desire for revenge that would give her a reason to keep living.
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'':
** Asuka sometimes just seems to treat most people rudely and violently, though this is in an effort to hide her low self-esteem and self-loathing: she intentionally pushes people away because she is scared of they will hurt her or they will think she is pitiful and worthless if they discover her real self. When she interacts with someone she trusts -Misato, Kaji, Hikari...- Asuka drops the mask and treats that person nicely. She also cares for Shinji and worries about him when he is in danger as he was in the "Sea of Dirac" incident.
** The same can be said to a degree for a few other characters in the series like Gendo Ikari and Misato.
* Hayate from ''Manga/{{Pretear}}'', particularly in the anime adaptation. Once the {{backstory}} is revealed, it becomes apparent that he has been acting mean towards Himeno out of fear that she will fall in love with him, [[spoiler:just like Takako did in the past -- [[WomanScorned which]] [[LoveHurts didn't]] [[LoveMakesYouEvil end]] [[TheDarkSide well]]]]. Not only does this fail to keep her from getting attached (especially once she learns his reasons), but he ends up falling in love with her.
* Be honest here, if ''Anime/CodeGeass'''s Lelouch Lamperouge didn't act like a {{Jerkass}} whenever people called him out on his actions, fewer people would want him dead. Zero Requiem in R2 especially had this, with [[spoiler:Lelouch eventually getting everyone (no exaggeration) to hate him so that he could die and make Britannia and the world a better place]]. This is lampshaded in R2 episode 19, where [[spoiler: Lelouch and Kallen are facing a firing squad. He puts on the facade with an obfuscating FacingTheBulletsOneLiner to prevent her from making a SenselessSacrifice by defending him and getting killed. As she's walking away, he whispers: "Kallen, you must live on."]] Played straight in season 1 whenever Lelouch interacts with Kallen, in order to throw her off his trail from identifying him as Zero.
* ''Franchise/OnePiece'''s Nico Robin putted up a mild [=Jerkass=] Facade in the [[Recap/OnePieceWaterSevenArc Water Seven arc]], trying to convince the other Straw Hats she had willingly betrayed them. Her reason for this was the bad guys were threatening them with the very attack that destroyed her home island if she didn't comply. She goes as far as to actively resist attempts to rescue her after the crew learns of this before coming to her senses.
** Nami (though possessing a jerkish personality in general) acted similarly in the [[Recap/OnePieceArlongArc Arlong Park arc]]. While she initially hated pirates, she eventually found herself wanting to stay with the crew, but being unable to do so because of her obligation to buy back her village. As a such, when she sees her crewmates on the island, she falsely claims to have murdered Usopp and states that she was using the crew to gain money.
** Boa Hancock seemed like a [[KickTheDog puppy-kicking]] VainSorceress with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, even [[TakenForGranite turning her own subjects into stone]] for allowing a man (Luffy) onto her island. However, when she saw Luffy protect her sister's brand, and thus their shared secret, as well as make the choice ''not'' to leave the island, but see his petrified friends revived, she allowed him into her castle and showed her brand. She explained that the [[AristocratsAreEvil Celestial Dragons]] who bought them as slaves when they were children [[SlaveBrand burnt it into she and her sisters' backs]] to show them they were "less than human". Given what the Celestial Dragons were shown as capable of, spending four years with them as slaves would be no picnic, [[BrokenBird and this had lasting psychological effects on the three]]: Hancock's [[GenkiGirl normally cheerful middle sister]], Sandersonia, had a screaming freak-out from just remembering. Thus, Hancock decided that she would no longer show weakness to anyone, including her own subjects. Nyon implied her crying to Luffy was the first time she showed any warmth in her. Naturally, Luffy understood and forgave her. She no longer has to pull this facade on Luffy, [[AllAmazonsWantHercules as she now loves him.]] [[ObliviousToLove Not that he cares...]]
** Same goes with Whitebeard. When we first see him, he tore up Shanks' letter and demanded that he deliver his message personally, while arrogantly ignoring his nurses' warnings about drinking too much. And when Shanks did show up, they got into an argument about Ace and Blackbeard, with Whitebeard declaring that he is Whitebeard and he could do whatever he wanted. Turns out [[spoiler: he's just covering the fact that Ace went after Blackbeard completely on his own, specifically ignoring his orders to ''not'' do that. Whitebeard was actually in complete agreement with Shanks the whole time for the same reasons. The situation Ace found himself in as a result was completely his own fault. On top of that, Whitebeared is aware of his mortality and how he isn't as strong as he used to be. And when one of his own comrades betrayed and stabbed him, he simply embraced the guy, calling him one of his sons and that he forgave him]].
** Chopper tends to insult people who compliment him. He likely got that from his mentor, Dr. Kureha, who chased him off Drum Island wielding her ornamental weapons to get him to pursue his dreams of becoming a pirate doctor. But his facade is ''very, very flimsy''. He usually insults people while waving his arms cutely, or doing a happy dance.
--->'''Nami:''' "He's the type that can't hide their emotions..."
** During the [[Recap/OnePieceWholeCakeIslandArc Whole Cake Island arc]], [[spoiler: Sanji]] pulled this in order to make [[spoiler: Luffy and Nami forget about him and move on when they come to rescue him. He takes it really far too, cruelly insulting his friends nonstop and then brutally beating Luffy until he knocks him out. It actually works on Nami, who angrily disowns him, but Luffy sees right through it and makes him cry when he still refuses to turn his back on him.]]
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
** Roy Mustang is a subtler and more justified example of this. A good-looking soldier who only cares for promotions [[spoiler:(and has sworn to protect his comrades and underlings using his position and power)]], dates several girls at the same time [[spoiler:(so that people don't take him too seriously)]] cooks a girl alive for supposedly killing his best friend [[spoiler:(and fakes her death to protect her from serious implications,]], constantly goes to a brothel/pub with a lot of girls [[spoiler:(to gain information from the girls, who are part of his spy network, as is the pub owner- who happens to be his adoptive mother)]], uses military phones to call his supposed girlfriends [[spoiler:(and to direct the 'girlfriends' in a coordinated attack)]], and whose assistant has to keep him in check [[spoiler:(so he doesn't stray from the path of justice he set out for himself)]]. But he really did commit genocide.
** Greed ([[spoiler:both times]]) sometimes counts too. [[spoiler:The first]] Greed refers to the chimeras he takes in as his possessions and the lengths that he'll go for them as "keeping them in top condition". [[spoiler:The second Greed wants to rule the entire world, become God, etc., but as Ling eventually figures out, that's just so he doesn't have to admit all he really wants is to have friends.]]
** Ed fits this trope as well, albeit to a lesser extent in the eyes of the audience because he's {{just a kid}}.
* Ryuuji, from ''Manga/TokyoCrazyParadise'' force-feeds Tsukasa expensive candies to drive her further into debt to him-- only the "candy" is actually antidote to poison.
* Yuuko of ''Manga/XxxHolic'' pretends to be a selfish HardDrinkingPartyGirl who makes Watanuki do all her work when in actuality essentially everything she makes him do or every time she acts like a jerk, she's probably saving his life, teaching him, [[spoiler: training him]], or something like that. And he always falls for it.
* Oogami Rei from ''Manga/CodeBreaker'' is a somewhat more heroic example. At first, he acts like a pretty cold-hearted bastard, doing things like snapping a dog's neck, burning a group of policemen to death to elimiate all witnesses, killing a man in front of his LittlestCancerPatient daughter, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking torching the helpful, handcrafted guide his classmates made for him in order to help him remember their names.]] Actually [[spoiler: the dog was dying after getting beaten up by thugs, the policemen were wholly corrupt (as was their chief), giving the little girl an excuse for a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against Oogami also gave her a reason to live, and Oogami had already memorized their names ("I don't like 'things', they disappear too easily. I don't need 'things' to remember ''people''." (basically)) -- the first time he ever bothered to learn the names of, essentially, innocent bystanders.]] Naturally, his companion [[CuteBruiser Sakura]] notices something's amiss when [[spoiler: Oogami had an almost tender look on his usually mask-like face when he euthanizes the dog]] and also when [[spoiler: he saves the dead dog's puppy, who takes an ''immediate'' liking to Oogami despite Sakura's protests]].
* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'': Jean maintains a cold demeanor towards his cyborg Rico, and hits her whenever she doesn't perform to standard. Seeing as the cyborgs are all going to die before adulthood as a result of their conditioning, he has good reason not to get too attached, especially since Jean still feels the loss of his sister Enrica. On rare occasions, however, this façade cracks, like when Rico is injured and falls into the sea during a battle and Jean desperately dives in to save her.
* In ''Manga/{{X 1999}}'' the protagonist Kamui Shirou is a [=Jerkass=] because he is involved in something big, namely TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, and he doesn't want to involve his two dear friends (Kotori and Fuuma) so he distances himself from them and acts cold to everybody around him to keep them away. Naturally he warms to them eventually, but then fate has its way with them.
* BridgeBunnies Mayl and Tayl from ''Anime/HeroicAge'' chew the eponymous protagonist out behind his back for seemingly giving in to the SmugSnake's plans and joining him aboard the fleet's flagship. But as surmised by the other characters and confirmed by Age himself, he's only doing this because the other Nodos will now be after him, putting any ship he's on in danger.
* [[spoiler: Ruka]] from ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' arguably does this, or at least thinks that he does. On one hand, [[spoiler: He deliberately spent the last week of his life making the girl he loved hate him with every fiber of her being, because he believed it was the only way to get her out of the self-destructive holding pattern she'd been in for the entire series.]] On the other he did plenty of unnecessarily [=Jerkass=] things, such as [[spoiler:assaulting Juri sexually ''and'' humiliating Shiori by destroying the one relationship she felt good about. He had wanted to discredit Shiori, [[KickTheDog but that's no reason to utterly ruin her life]].]]
* [[spoiler:Mayoi Hachikuji]] in ''LightNovel/{{Bakemonogatari}}''. She knows that she is caught in or actually is a supernatural event and doesn't want anyone else to have to get involved. [[spoiler:She's a 'snail,' otherwise known as a spirit that distracts people who are avoiding going somewhere and makes them follow her. She knows she's dead and that she won't reach her destination, so she tells anyone who talks to her that she hates them so they'll leave her alone and not waste their time on her.]]
* Itachi Uchiha of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. [[spoiler: He doomed himself to a life of being hated by his only remaining family, who he truly loved all along, along with the stigma of being a missing-nin AND part of an evil organisation, all while hating violence and combat, and was ordered to kill his family in order to prevent another war from breaking out but he spared Sasuke. His actions were partly motivated out of love for Sasuke, and he put on a cold emotionless front acting like he just wanted to kill Sasuke and take his eyes (which wasn't true)]] and unfortunately Sasuke only found out about Itachi's true intentions ''after'' Itachi died. WellIntentionedExtremist, anyone?
** Sasuke shows shades of this in part one occasionally before his FaceHeelTurn, most notably in the Land of Waves arc when he [[HeroicSacrifice jumps]] in front of Naruto to save him from Haku's attack, desperately thinking 'Please make it in time!' When Naruto asks him why he did it, he claims [[IWasJustPassingThrough his body moved on his own]], before calling him an idiot.
** Chapter 547 of the manga reveals that Yashamaru [[spoiler:never really hated his nephew Gaara, but was actually ordered by the Kazekage to tell him so. In reality, Yashamaru loved Gaara and the person he actually hated was his brother-in-law, the Fourth Kazekage, who was responsible for making the order to seal the Shukaku into Gaara and causing the death of Karura, his wife and Yashamaru's older sister.]]
* Alucard of ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' acts like a [=Jerkass=] towards Seras because it's his way of toughening her up until she becomes a true vampire. [[spoiler: When she does become one in Volume 7]] he gets a [[ILoveYouVampireSon little nicer]].
** He's still quite the bastard to anyone that ''isn't'' Integra, Seras, or the Queen, though, and the first thing he says to Seras after [[spoiler: disappearing for thirty years]] is "You're loud, as always."
** He may not realize he should act any different [[spoiler: on his return, to [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld someone as old as him]], 30 years is like a few weeks or months at most, and Seras is a vampire as well, so he probably thinks she views it the same way as him,]] so he probably can't see any reason to act differently than he would otherwise. [[{{Troll}} That and he probably found it hilarious.]]
* Minami, the bishonen male lead of ''Manga/CherryJuice'', uses this early on in the manga to hide his romantic feelings for his [[NotBloodRelated sister]], Otome.
* Leorio in ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' actively cultivates an image of greedy lechery (well, he ''is'' a HandsomeLech...), because he doesn't want people to think of him as soft. However, the reason he always insists on the best prices and payment for everything? He wants to become so rich that he can afford to give any patient treatment (no matter how expensive) for free, [[spoiler: because his best friend Pietro died due to lack of affordable healthcare.]]
* Great in ''Manga/ViolinistOfHamelnShchelkunchik'' keeps complaining that everything is a pain, is a DeadpanSnarker to the Nth degree, taunts a foot tall fairy for being flat and goes so far as to slap a classmate for being "too friendly" to him. Dig in a little deeper, and you have one of the most dependable, trustworthy and mature(!) characters in the setting.
* Alex from ''Manga/{{Nightschool}}'' initially comes across as an [[LittleMissSnarker overly snarky, antisocial preteen]] with a strong aversion to admitting that she actually cares about anything. She has a very good reason for her behavior, though. [[spoiler: She's been cursed so that anything or anyone that she says she likes or loves gets destroyed. Even without those words, showing affection means risking the subject coming to harm in some way.]]
* Trip from ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}: Best Wishes'' has proven to be this as of his fourth appearance. Instead of being the [=jerkass=] he first comes off as, he has shown to care for his Pokémon and also helps Ash out despite the fact they are rivals and is annoyed by Ash's antics. And then you find out in his backstory that he was a CheerfulChild in the past.
* {{Deconstructed|Trope}} in ''Manga/HajimeNoIppo''. Kojima is a big fans of Ippo, so when he fights aginst Ippo, in order to make Ippo fight him seriously and to psych himself up, he deliberately insults Ippo and his coach. Apparently, the result is too well, [[spoiler:the fight ended in two clean blows, first blow is CounterAttack from Kojima and the second is Ippo's CounterAttack against Kojima's attack which resulted in OneHitKO]]. To make the things worse, even without those insults, Ippo will stay fight at his best despite his NiceGuy demeanor, [[spoiler:and thanks to the nature of the OneHitKO, Kojima can't remember his fight with Ippo, something he deeply regrets]].
* Though not so much in the anime, [[spoiler:Shigure Sohma]] is this in the ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' manga. It takes a special kind of [=Jerkass=] to [[spoiler:imply to others that you know the way to break a centuries-long curse that everyone is desperate to be free from, and withhold that information from your younger, more desperate cousins. Then, when exiled from the family for banging the mother of the rather temperamental Sohma leader (whom you really love), manipulate a rather harmless young woman who has absolutely nothing to do with your fucked up family into setting off events that will break the curse.]] But everything will be okay and [[DracoInLeatherPants the fandom will forgive you]] once everyone realizes you did it for everyone's good...it ''was'' a facade, right?
* By the end of the first episode/chapter of ''Manga/Brave10'', it's clear [[HitmanWithAHeart Saizo]] is this trope. He tries to be edgier and more uncaring than he actually is. Really he's just a BrokenBird who's afraid of the vulnerability that comes with caring.
* Osamu Sugo ''Anime/FutureGPXCyberFormula''. At first, it looks like he TookALevelInJerkass when he challenges Hayato and the other racers in the Double-One arc by using "dirty tricks" in races so he can get Hayato angry, but he just wanted to ''teach'' Hayato how to be a better racer [[spoiler:as his eyesight problems began to worsen, which stemmed from the incident with Smith]].
* Hakaider/Saburo from ''Series/{{Kikaider}}'' somewhat falls into this category; in Machine That Dreams he seems to legitimately lament be used by Professor Gill and that he and Dr. Komyoji's other robots "only puppets". Though when Jiro questions whether or not he is satisfied with that he proceeds to insult then attack him.
* [[BreakTheCutie After too many bad things happened]] to [[{{telepathy}} Haruka]] from ''Manga/KotouraSan'' [[BlessedWithSuck because of her]] {{telepath|y}}ic powers, she [[BrokenBird cynically]] comes to the conclusion that the only way to avoid [[DoomMagnet hurting people in the long run]] (and by extension, being hurt by being abandoned by someone she cares about again) is this. People already assume she's a [[{{Jerkass}} horrible person]], she just decides to cultivate it so no one will get close to her again. Thankfully Manabe breaks through before it gets too far.
* [[spoiler:Maho Nishizumi]] from ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'' initially seems like an IceQueen, but it's revealed that she acts as she does as part of fulfilling her obligations as family heir, which she does so that [[spoiler:her younger sister Miho will be able to pursue tankery as she wishes]].
** The student council initially threatens Miho with expulsion if she doesn't do tankery, coming off as overbearing bullies in the process. They're hiding the real reason why they want her to do tankery so badly- [[spoiler:if they don't win, the school will be shut down]]- out of a desire to avoid burdening her with that in her first year at the school.
* Invoked by ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'''s [[spoiler: Lyle Dylandy]], because [[spoiler: he's taking his dead twin brother Neil's place in Celestial Being and wants to leave clear that, while he ''can'' become Lockon Stratos in the group and battlefield, he ''refuses'' to become [[TheAce Neil's]] ReplacementGoldfish.]]
* In ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'', Eiji Nizuma occasionally makes arrogant or stand-offish remarks, such as his comment for being first runner-up for an award essentially saying that while everyone else his age watched television or played video games, he was drawing manga (which is partly true, as he grew up in a remote area, and without the money for much of the entertainment kids his age enjoyed, spent his spare time drawing), as well as telling the artists who complain about him [[spoiler:illustrating Iwase's Natural+ while also doing his own series]] that if they don't like that, they need only do better than he does. In reality, he wants to motivate his rivals to do better, since he not only enjoys drawing manga, but also reading it.
* Ymir from ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', to the extent that even her [[LesYay potential]] LoveInterest refers to her as having "the worst personality ever". She's actively abrasive towards others, constantly tossing out {{Armor Piercing Question}}s and mocking her comrades during their darkest moments. However, her being a {{Jerkass}} serves to challenge unhealthy behaviors or push people through [[HeroicBSOD trauma]], allowing them to continue functioning until the mission is over. While her past remains a mystery, it's ''very clear'' it involved considerable misery and personal loss. However, her utter devotion to Krista and decision to [[spoiler: risk her life for Reiner and Bertolt]] reveal a far more caring person hiding beneath multiple layers of snark.
* [[CowardlyLion Gilbert Nightray]] from ''Manga/PandoraHearts'' learnt to put on such a facade in order to survive as a Pandora agent: he is ruthless in a fight and doesn't hesitate to shoot his mind-controlled colleagues or [[WouldHurtAChild children]] - [[HitmanWithAHeart but he will go out of his way to avoid collateral damage and protect civilians.]] He is not that good at maintaining the facade in non-life-threatening situations, though, and the rest of the cast quickly figures out that Gilbert is [[TenderTears a big softie]] underneath.
* Haru from ''Manga/{{Ojojojo}}'' started off as a nice kid, but after [[spoiler: being shunned by her envious elementary school classmates for her social status]], she started acting arrogant to gain attention, even at the cost of being hated by everyone. [[BecomingTheMask She acted like this for so long that the conceit became deeply rooted into her personality]].
* Homura Akemi from ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' is implied to have one. While she acts callous towards the other girls (Madoka excluded), it's implied that she cares for and fights to protect them, regardless of what she or anyone else thinks. ''[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion Rebellion]]'' reveals that [[spoiler:her idea of a perfect world is one where everyone is happy, despite the fact that she created it "solely" for Madoka's sake]].
* In ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', Kirito pulls this as a part of his ZeroApprovalGambit to stop aggression against Beta Testers. It works, with only Asuna and Agil realizing what Kirito was doing. To quote the guy himself...
--->'''Kirito''': "A beater... I like it. That's right. I am a beater. From now on, don't confuse me with the other testers."
* ''[[Anime/YuGiOh Seto Kaiba]]'' appears to be this. He is constantly acting as a Jerkass to others, mostly to hide his own inner fears caused by his trauma of living with his adoptive father, Gozaburo Kaiba.
** [[TokenGoodTeammate Rishid/Odion]] does this to a degree when he impersonates Marik during the Battle City finals, but not very convincingly. He plays a completely fair duel and respects Joey/Jonouchi's dueling skills, neither of which really suit the season's main BigBad, and Joey/Jonouchi is able to see through the disguise eventually.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'':
** In an early story Peter Parker started acting like a jerk around Betty Brant so that she wouldn't want to be in a relationship with him anymore. Betty had lost her brother who kept getting himself into danger, and Peter didn't want her to have to face a similar situation with her boyfriend.
** Spider-Man initially treated the ComicBook/XMen this way too.
* Dr Allison Mann in ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'' maintains a cold façade to everyone she deals with (especially Yorick) after being dumped by her first lesbian girlfriend in college, and angrily denies that love is anything other than a biological reaction.
* Believe it or not, ''Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk'' is like this sometimes, but this is usually because of his [[SplitPersonality multiple personalities]].
* Night Thrasher sometimes came off as a [=Jerkass=] to the rest of the ComicBook/NewWarriors and got kicked off the team twice as a result.
** Inverted after ''Comicbook/CivilWar'' where his brother is somewhat of a dick but everyone loves him anyway, except Jubilee, who isn't liked by her teammates because she's the only who doesn't put up with him.
* In ''Comicbook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}'', the Legion discovers that Ultra Boy hid a criminal past and set out to catch him. Only Phantom Girl objects that they should know him and that this is out of character. He flees and joins some pirates, until their plan comes to fruition and turns on them. He reveals that he had used his sight powers and learned their plans, and that they could not be overcome by a frontal attack, and so he had forged evidence to show he had been a criminal to get inside.
* One of the reasons ''[[Creator/CarlBarks Back to the Klondike]]'' became such a popular story was for establishing this aspect of Scrooge [=McDuck's=] character.
* Franchise/{{Batman}}, occasionally. Though it's hard to tell whether it's a facade or just his pragmatic personality. He shows it much more with his adopted son Dick Grayson. He kicked him out twice, replaced him, punched him and frequently hurts his feelings but it is hinted in some issues that Bruce does that to hide his feelings and that he actually loves Dick (as a son) and that he is the favourite child. Also, he says that he intentionally amped up his coldness and [=jerkassery=] as Dick was starting to go out on his own, even though he know it would cause Dick to be bitter towards him (which he eventually gets over), so that Dick wouldn't end up like him and keep his humanity. Batman seems to use a [=Jerkass=] Facade because he is aware of his own mortality. The fewer people who are attached to him, the fewer people will mourn when he finally messes up. This is, after all, the [[BadassNormal guy in the bat-themed combat suit]] facing off against sadistic, intelligent psychopaths on his ''safest'' nights. You know, when he's not helping ''friggin' Superman'' deal with threats that Big Blue can't handle alone. DependingOnTheWriter. Several times over the last two decades Batman has been written as a genuine JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
* Nightwing can be a jerkass himself (guess where he got that from). However, [[PokeThePoodle he's pretty bad at it]]. He once tried that and started crying because, unlike Bruce, he is a lot more emotional. Probably the reason he is liked more than his mentor.
* Arsenal has the whole jerk facade but he does that to hide his insecurities and when he is a jerk he is still not that bad. Sadly, it seems that he's become a genuine jerkass in ''Rise of Arsenal'' [[spoiler: in the wake of his daughter's death, the loss of his arm, and falling back into drug abuse.]]
* ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'' has Stray Dog, a hard ass nails BountyHunter who seems to be an underhanded backstabber, but he is secretly also a beloved supporter of an OrphanageOfLove.
* ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} is a genuine JerkWithAHeartOfGold, but he sometimes ups the jerkass part for the benefit of others. When Spider-Man apparently died, he made a pass at the grieving Mary Jane. She slapped him and furiously swore to find a way to kill him if he ever did that again. When Jarvis tried to call Logan out on it, he explained that he wanted to give Mary something to focus on other than grief, like anger.
* One issue of ''Franchise/ArchieComics'' had ''Reggie'' sit down beside a depressed Dilton, [[PetTheDog give him a pep talk]], and offer to help him get the woman he had a crush on. When Dilton suspiciously asked what he wanted in return, Reggie only demanded he keep the entire thing a secret. He has a reputation to keep as a jerk, after all. Other times have had him do nice things for others while going out of his way to not be seen doing it or often by BreakingTheFourthWall to remind readers that "even a rat fink like [him] can do something nice once and a while".
* Plourr Illo of the ''Comicbook/XWingSeries'' is somewhere between this and JerkWithAHeartOfGold. She casually insults strangers and teammates alike, often called out on it, though the teammates are used to this and return in kind. She also hates incompetence and is suspicious of most people. But it doesn't take much to show that she does care - and in the setting she [[RightfulKingReturns was born to]] she's more restrained and diplomatic, her harshness fading except when talking to people she genuinely ''doesn't'' like.
* In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' issue ''Spotlight: Trailcutter'', Whirl tells the depressed Trailcutter he's too nice, and if he wants respect he should be rude, not care what people think, and talk big about himself. These are all ways to boost low confidence (although Whirl doesn't word them as such) and he uses them too.
* In the ''ComicBook/{{Mandy}}'' story "The Girl Who Can’t Cry!", Linda is on her way to her new boarding school when she overhears an invasion plan by space aliens, who have placed a "human" girl in the school in order to aid in their plot. The alien's only defect is its inability to cry, so Linda has to find the impostor by making anyone she suspects cry - naturally, this makes her comes across as an unpleasant jerk, especially since she can't tell anyone what's going on.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fanworks]]
* ''Fanfic/ACrownOfStars'': Asuka played the role of a obnoxious, angry, petulant girl when she was a child to drive people away because she was afraid of pain. After going through a war, being abandoned, {{Mind Rape}}d, betrayed and left to die, surviving the end of the world and being turned into two warlords' sex toy she wears her masks because she is afraid of falling in love and because she thinks she is not worthy of being loved.
* ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'': Although they got together Shinji and Asuka have to pretend nothing has changed between them due to a non-unjustified fear to be separated. So that when they are in public Asuka acts still rude and mean to him as giving him apologetic glances or apologising before or after.
* ''Fanfic/TheChildOfLove'': Asuka pretended to be mean to drive people away, so avoiding pain and getting hurt. After a while she realizes her behaviour is only hurting her more, so she drops the act gradually. When Touji gets shocked at her being nicer Shinji tells him that is her real self BeneathTheMask.
* ''Fanfic/GhostsOfEvangelion'': Asuka tries to pretend she's more unpleasant than she really is because she's frightened of other people. Shinji and their daughter can see through her mask, though.
* ''Fanfic/{{HERZ}}'': When she was younger Asuka pretended she was harsh and prideful so that nobody realized she was -to her eyes- weak and pitiful and hurt her. Later though she realized the wall she had built around her heart was separating her from people she loved as her mother and Shinji. When the story begins she is an adult woman, and although she is still bad-tempered, she does not feel the need to hide behind a mask and drive everyone away.
* ''Fanfic/LastChildOfKrypton'': In the second chapter, during a flight Kaji ponders that Asuka's bluster, arrogance and smugness is nothing but a façade to protect herself. Later he says Shinji she is not a bad girl but she acts like one to hide she is in reality very fragile.
* In PeggySue FanFic ''FanFic/TheSecondTry'', Asuka invoked this trope in the original timeline to prevent people from getting close to her emotionally. After the Third Impact, she gradually got over the need to do so, but, back in the past, she was still forced to continue the charade, even though she no longer wanted to prevent anybody from finding out that she and Shinji were time-travelers. She found the act of acting this trope out to be emotionally distressing, and childish.
* ''Fanfic/SOE2LoneHeirOfKrypton'': Asuka used to wear a mask of an irritating, ever-angry, unapproachable girl because she was afraid of people hurting her. Throughout the story and as her powers grow and her character develops her mask gradually falls apart, especially around Shinji.
* Asuka in ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'' behaved like a bratty, annoying child so no one realized that she was a sad, weak child. However Shinji saw through her mask right away.
* In ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionGenocide'', In chapter 8, Shinji and Misato argue about Asuka being unpleasant on purpose to drive people away:
-->"She's been keeping all that inside of her for a very long time, I'd imagine," she said in her most tender voice. "She never has been the outgoing sort. Not with her feelings. I guess she was so hurt that all she could do was build a wall around her heart."\\
"But why?" Shinji said, confused. "Wouldn't acting the way she does drive people away?"\\
"Maybe that's the point. Humans hide from the pain by pretending to be something they are not. Because pain is only found when something or someone you care for is lost to you. If you care for nothing, you think that you will have no pain."
* ''Fanfic/OnceMoreWithFeeling'': After Third Impact, Shinji knows that Asuka’s annoying, snappy, arrogant behavior is a façade to protect herself.
-->Then the Second Child had arrived, bringing with her conflict, friction and more then a few painful contusions to his head as she continually let him know exactly what she thought of him as an Eva Pilot, a man and a human.\\
All of it a giant lie to shield the four year old girl desperately hiding deep behind the moats, minefields and electrified fences she had placed around her heart.
* [[Series/KamenRiderGaim Micchy]] in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11772125/1/Metroid-Kamen-Rider-Generations-Full-Series Metroid: Kamen Rider Generations]]'' often treats [[Series/KamenRiderGhost Alain]] as the [[ButtMonkey butt]] of his [[DeadpanSnarker derisive jokes]] and does have a tendency to [[{{Troll}} ham it up to rile]] Alain even further. WordOfGod provides two explanations -- (1) He cares for his friends, fights to protect everything what [[PhysicalGod Kouta]] fought for [[PhysicalGod before]] [[ButNowIMustGo leaving Earth]]. (2) This façade is in fact a coping mechanism [[SadClown to hide his emotional pain]] and the [[DarkAndTroubledPast sins he committed in the past continue to haunt him]].
* In ''Fanfic/NotThisTimeFate'', Jaune has been forced to relive the events of the show with [[DownerEnding everyone dying at the end]] hundreds, if not thousands of times. In order not to become friends with the show's main cast - as he knows they are going to die sooner or later - he decides to fend them away by pretending to be a [[LazyBum lazy,]] [[FantasticRacism racist]] {{Jerkass}}, who casually seduces random women, doesn't give a damn about his teammates and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking dishes out spoilers without a warning]]. It mostly works, except with Yang who partially sees through his disguise and Ruby, who is so friendly that she likes Jaune anyway. Over time, his other friends from previous timelines start seeing through it as well as he can't bring himself to be a full on {{Jerkass}}, making Jaune come across as a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
* In ''Fanfic/HerFracturedSpirit'', Pearl and Marina tease each other on camera but it's all just for show. In their private life they're a happy couple in a SecretRelationship.
* Cardin Winchester in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12574905/1/In-the-Kingdom-s-Service In the Kingdom's Service]]'' is a racist bully who's secretly a VSS agent and in a relationship with his most common victim Velvet, who's an agent herself. Even his occasional bullying of Jaune is to help the latter maintain his cover.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* Mr. Nebbercracker from the film ''WesternAnimation/MonsterHouse'' is actually a very nice old man, but deliberately acts mean and cranky. He does this to keep children away from the Monster House so it won't attack them.
* Combining this trope with MonsterFacade, ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' pretends to be a bloodthirsty monster of an Ogre so that he can be left alone. Moreover, despite being [[GoodIsNotNice fairly abrasive]], he [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold risked his life to save Donkey, Fiona, and a colony of refugees]]. Granted, he is a more justified example than the most.
-->'''Shrek:''' "People take one look at me and go 'AGH! HELP! RUN! [[FantasticRacism A big, stupid, ugly ogre]]'. ''sigh'' [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters They judge me before they even know me]]. [[FreudianExcuse That's why I'm better off alone]]."
* ''Disney/WreckItRalph'', upon learning why King Candy does not want Vanelope to race, and being unable to convince her of the danger himself, goes full on Jerkass by destroying her precious kart, which he'd spent the previous act helping her build and learn to drive. It completely devastates her, and in turn, himself.
* Nick Wilde from ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'' plays up the CunningLikeAFox stereotype because that's what society expects from his species. He is dismissive of Judy at first, delivering a dream-crushing TheReasonYouSuckSpeech and then deliberately wasting time in the investigation she put her career on, because her idealism and naiveté reminds him of his own younger idealistic self that was rejected for being an untrustworthy fox. However, as he gets to know Judy and comes to appreciate her genuineness, he reveals his hidden kind and noble side, standing up for Judy against her MeanBoss and helping her solve the case she's working on.
* Miss Kitty in ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail: Fievel Goes West'' acts harsh and blunt when Tanya meets her but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CsXJ0MUxU0 turns out to be]], in her own words soft as a powder puff and twice as gentle, and happily helps Tanya fulfill her dream of being a singer.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Ethan Edwards from ''Film/TheSearchers''. Fighting in the [[UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar US Civil War]] traumatized him so much that he sought solace in giving up his humanity and wallowing in his hatred of the Comanche - who have massacred his sister's family, gee, why do you think he'd hold that against them? But when he gets a chance to prove it by [[spoiler: killing his niece who's been adopted by the Comanche]], he doesn't do it. [[spoiler: She's been kidnapped and raped by a Comanche warrior]]-- in Ethan's mind it would be better to [[spoiler: die rather than live with that shame]]. The fact that he doesn't [[spoiler: kill her]] proves that he fits this trope. In fact he is infuriated that [[spoiler: she has apparently gone native, adopting the ways of the people who killed her parents and brothers and raped and murdered her elder sister. What else could she have done? but to Ethan it feels like a betrayal.]]
* ''Film/TheDarkKnightSaga'' Christopher Nolan's Batman film reboot has Batman deciding Bruce Wayne should be an arrogant, lazy, alcoholic, philandering jerkass RichIdiotWithNoDayJob (imagine Paris Hilton as a guy), both in order to deflect suspicions that he's really Batman, and to prevent long-lasting relationships from developing (which also helps keep suspicion down). Granted, this is all fairly [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]]. There was also an element of him "saving himself" for Rachel. He specifically invokes this to get the innocent party guests out of his house, and thus out of harm's way, calling everyone present a bunch of moochers and hangers-on. In hindsight, it's a wonder he was able to get them back for that fundraising party in the second movie.
* ''Film/{{Constantine}}''. John Constantine is extremely rude to Angela Dodson for some time after meeting her. He later tells her why:
-->"You don't wanna know what's out there, trust me... Your sister embraced her gift, you denied yours. Denial is a better idea. It's why you're still alive. Stick with me, that will change. I don't need another ghost following me around."
* Stepanak in ''Film/DownPeriscope'' actively tries to sabotage his Navy career and get kicked off the ''Stingray'' by being an unhelpful, snarky and insubordinate jerkass. Later, when given an opportunity to reveal their location during SilentRunningMode, he stays quiet. His CO actually calls him on it.
-->'''Cmdr. Tom Dodge:''' You missed a hell of an opportunity. One peep outta you and we woulda been in a lot of trouble.\\
'''Stepanak:''' No, sir. That would've been unethical. I'm only out to screw myself. That would've screwed everybody.
* ''Film/TheFugitive'': Samuel Gerard spends the movie snapping at people and insisting he doesn't care. He also wears his ''very soft'' heart on his sleeve. (His team, clearly used to the drama, loves him a lot.)
* ''Grease'' and ''Grease2'' films' ''T-Birds'' male gang
* ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'' teases that [[InsufferableGenius Mark]] may be this. [[spoiler:Although he communciates to people rudely in the film, he genuinely seems like he just wants friends and for Facebook to succeed, and cares for his friend, even though he might have screwed him out of a deal, he still realized what he done and tries to friend Erica after being somewhat rude to her throughout the film.]]
* Grouchy Smurf in ''Film/TheSmurfs'' confesses to a green M&M plushie that he only uses his grouchiness to hide his true feelings.
* ''Film/TheWaterboy'': Although [[MyBelovedSmother extremely overprotective]] of her son Bobby, Mama Boucher actually isn't a [[TheFundamentalist Fundamentalist]] EvilMatriarch, she's been pretending to be one due to the pain of [[spoiler:her husband deserting her and Bobby]], and was scared of Bobby abandoning her [[spoiler:too]].
* Both Mike and Dexter in ''Film/ThePhiladelphiaStory'':
** Mike is a [[ArtistDisillusionment disillusioned poet]] who puts toughness on "to save [his] skin".
** Dexter lets Mike think he's blackmailing Tracy for revenge, he jokes about his drinking problem, and half his dialogue consists of [[DeadpanSnarker snarky remarks]]. This might seem like [=Jerkass=] behaviour, but the truth is he's trying to ''save'' Tracy from blackmail, he's given up drinking, and his snarkiness covers a lot of genuine feeling. At the end of the movie, when Tracy is feeling ashamed and miserable, she turns to Dexter for comfort, and finds him surprisingly sympathetic.
* The 1943 comedy ''The Meanest Man in the World'' stars Creator/JackBenny as a kindhearted lawyer who finds he must adapt one of these to land clients.
* ''Film/TheDistinguishedGentleman'': The protagonist cons his way into Congress and, at first, treats being there as a lark and happily acts like what he thinks a stereotypical Congressman should be, voting frivolously, dissing constituents, and sucking up to lobbyists. Then it starts to hit home that he's toying with real people's lives.
* Tony Stark from the ''Film/IronMan'' series. A multi-billionaire playboy for most of his days who is never afraid to sarcastically quip and demean those around him. However it masks a lot of loneliness and frustration with his past as a WellDoneSonGuy. He also really doesn't like showing he's got more feelings than "guy who always has a one-liner at the ready" (best demonstrated with his SandInMyEyes moment in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' when [[spoiler:Phil Coulson dies]]).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Rand al'Thor pulls this trick a few times early in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', to distance himself from his friends out of fear he may harm them. Unfortunately, as time goes on, events conspire to make this much less of a facade. Also, it doesn't help that the [[UnwantedHarem women that love him]] can see right through the facade.
* This pops up in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' from time to time: most of the main characters fall into this, including the witch Granny Weatherwax (a gruff bitchy old woman with biting sarcasm who's too proud to admit how much she likes her friends, but who is never mean to anyone who can't fight back or doesn't deserve it), and pre-''Discworld/MenAtArms'' Sam Vimes (Captain of the Night Watch, a sarcastic pessimistic alcoholic who lived a pauper's life to provide for widows and children of men who'd fallen in the Watch).
* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' it is revealed Arabella Figg intentionally acted somewhat unsympathetic toward Harry so the Dursleys would trust her with babysitting him and she could protect him. In truth, she is fairly likable, and even apologizes to him about it when he finds out that she's a squib and member of the Order of the Phoenix.
* In Creator/DeanKoontz's ''Literature/{{Hideaway}}'', the character Regina does this briefly. She is afraid that Hatch and Lindsey will only adopt her for a little while before they get sick of her and bring her back to the orphanage, which will hurt her deeply. So instead of going through that pain, she tries to scare them off from adopting her in the first place.
* In Creator/SpiderRobinson's novel ''Literature/VeryBadDeaths,'' a main character is a natural telepath whose perceptions of others' minds are extremely painful to him. Fortunately, his perception has a limited physical range, so he just needs to keep his distance from others. In college he repels company, not by [=jerkass=] behavior, but simply by never bathing. Later in life that isn't enough, his range has grown longer, so he lives alone on an island off the coast of Vancouver, British Columbia.
* Dallas Winston, from the classic novel ''Literature/TheOutsiders,'' is an example of this. He lives up to the reputation of one of the most tough and dangerous greasers in Tulsa, yet he cares deeply for Johnny more than anything. Though he might be a rude, lying, cheating, switchblade-carrying criminal, he only acts like he doesn't care as a survival instinct to protect himself from getting hurt.
* Puck from ''Literature/TheSistersGrimm'' is the perfect example of this trope. He pulls gross and disturbing pranks on Sabrina, calls her rude names, and insists that she is the worse thing that happened to him. Yet, despite all of this, he's always there to save her life and teared up when [[spoiler: Sabrina nearly fell off the platform while battling dragons. They are married in the future.]] He also cried at [[spoiler: his father's funeral]]
* Somewhat averted with Severus Snape, while he has been shown to be a genuine [[Jerkass]] in the series, he's not a completely heartless person as he's a troubled man who has trouble getting over the fact the protagnists mother who he had a romantic interest in has died and has been taken by his school rival.
* Carnival from the ''Literature/DeepgateCodex'' series, so goddamn much. She tries her very hardest to act as though none of the people she knows mean much of anything to her, even after she nearly gets killed trying to rescue one of her best friends--but by then we all know better.
* Francis Crawford of Lymond in Dorothy Dunnett's ''Literature/LymondChronicles''. Every book starts out by presenting him as a heartless and obnoxious bastard before slowly revealing the JerkWithAHeartOfGold underneath.
* This trope ''is'' Dante from ''Literature/ARushOfWings''. He's completely justified, too.
* An unintentional version appears in ''Literature/BrewstersMillions'' and its various adaptations; Monty Brewster is a decent and good-hearted man, but because he can't tell anyone why he has crazily spend a huge amount of money within a short period of time (it's so that he can inherit an even larger amount when he's done so), he frequently comes across either as insanely reckless or an irresponsible, feckless jackass.
* From ''Literature/WorldWarZ'', [[spoiler: Paul Redeker]], who penned the eponymous [[spoiler: Redeker]] Plan in response to the zombie outbreak. He was utterly reviled as the worst of South Africa's apartheidists who revised that government's "Plan Orange", the plan to insure the survival of the country's white minority. Then apartheid ended and he went into political exile. Then the zombie outbreak occurred and men kicked his door down and, rather than kill him in a fit of last minute vengeance, asked if he had a plan. He did. Being the ultimate in uncaring dispassion, his plan called for the government to save those who mattered and leave behind those who didn't, specifically as zombie bait to relieve pressure on the beleaguered government. It involved deliberately sacrificing a significant chunk of humanity to a prolonged, gruesome death in order to save those who could fight the menace. Each government official at the meeting hearing his plan reviled him and said nothing. Except the book's stand-in for Nelson Mandela, who said that "This plan, this man, will save our people" and embraced him. Then it turns out that [[spoiler: Redeker]] was not dispassionate. He was so passionate, so empathic that he had to block off all emotion so as not to feel others' pain. That hug broke him, rendered him psychopathic, with a split personality. His plan was implemented, and it saved humanity, and he ended up in a hospital, writing his own biography, believing himself to be a man who had worked intimately with [[spoiler: Paul Redeker.]]
* Raymond Shaw of ''Literature/TheManchurianCandidate'' is three things: stoic, haughty, and [[LackofEmpathy aloof]]. The narrator calls him one of the most unlikeable men in America. It's a convincing act that's [[BecomingTheMask taken a life of its own]]. Deep down, Raymond is a fragile ManChild who mainly acts this way to deal with his terrible mother.
* ''Literature/TrappedOnDraconica'': [[spoiler: Kalak]] feels compelled to act like a jerkass to compensate for inner toughness. He's actually an {{Adorkable}} self-deprecating MommasBoy.
* {{Subverted}} in ''Literature/BattleRoyale'': it turns out that one character's jerkass facade is in fact a facade, and she really is a heartless bitch after all.
* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'':
** Edward Cullen early in ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' was a jerk to Bella to push her away from him because he didn't want to be tempted to drink her blood. How he resisted the temptation to do the same to the other students is a mystery, though Bella's blood being SupernaturallyDeliciousAndNutritious is definitely a factor.
** Edward does this again in ''New Moon''; when he decides to leave in the belief that Bella will be safer without him and his family around, he claims that he never really loved her, and that she was just a distraction to him, in the hope that she'll move on if she has no hope of him ever coming back.
* Artfully demonstrated in ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'', with Sergeant Zim and the rest of the instructors at Camp Currie. They are complete jerks to the recruits, but know when to try to help them rather than continuing the pressure. The narrator overhears a conversation between two of them that explains just how much they care for the young adults who will eventually be sent out to fight. In the book, all support functions are done by civilians; soldiers fight.
* Will Herondale in ''Literature/TheInfernalDevices''. [[spoiler:It's to stop people from caring about him too much - because of his curse, they'll wind up dead eventually. After he finds out that there is no curse, he mellows down.]]
* Johanna Mason from ''Literature/TheHungerGames''.
* In ''Literature/StarlightAndShadows'', the drow Liriel begins to fear that her friendship with the sea elf Xzorsh has given him too positive an impression of her species (most of whom would kill him without a second thought), and so tries to put on a jerkass facade to prevent him from regarding the drow as an amiable race.
* Clip from the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' has a facade so thorough, that some characters wonder if it even is one, but Clip is genuinely conflicted about the death of his entire hometown and Rake's abandonment of his people.
* In ''Literature/TheBelgariad'', Beldin is a [[{{Gonk}} fantastically ugly]] dwarf who deliberately presents himself as [[ThePigPen unkempt]] and uncouth, and who greets some of his oldest friends with barrages of awful insults. Beneath that act, he's kind-hearted, caring, and Belgarath's most steadfast companion for millennia. In a prequel novel, he breaks down in tears when told that his friends do love him.
* Squirrel in ''Literature/TheCityWithoutMemory'' is a minor noble from a medieval world who grew up with an abusive father and brothers and a weak-willed, near-neglectful mother. She acts as the future mistress of the castle, saying her brothers will be killed soon and she’ll have the heads of everyone she doesn’t like. Beneath all that there’s a desperately scared and lonely girl.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Kev in ''Series/{{Derek}}''. Although he seems to be little more than a sex-crazed alcoholic at first, it is shown in later episodes that he genuinely cares about the people he's around.
* Oliver Queen in ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', in an attempt to help keep his identity as the vigilante 'Hood' a secret (his reasoning being that no one could suspect a real douchebag of being a hero).
* Oliver Queen from ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', has shades of this trope. However, Hawkman calls him out on it.
* In ''Series/{{Dark Angel}}'', Alec's defense mechanism is to act like a total jerk. It's a survival trick he learnt during his years at Manticore to hide his true feelings and bury his past.
* Sawyer in ''Series/{{Lost}}'', mainly due to self-loathing. His life was destroyed by a con man so when he ended up as one himself he began to feel that he deserved to be treated like crap (though considering all the stuff he did prior to arriving on the island, he does kind of deserve it). Kate does call him out on it once she realizes what he's doing, though:
-->'''Kate:''' You try too hard, Sawyer. I ask you to help a woman who can't breathe, and you want me to kiss you? Nobody's that disgusting.
* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'': The title character himself. acts like a douchebag genius on the outside,but is actually kind and caring.
* May apply to ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'''s Owen Harper, since what got him into Torchwood was the death of the love of his life by alien tumor... which he dealt with at one point by nearly date-raping a woman. [[ThereAreNoTherapists Torchwood needs therapists.]]
* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}''
** Jordan is the clearest example. She acts like she couldn't care less about everyone, including Cox. However, in later seasons she's genuinely supportive of Cox in his darker moments and acts as a mother figure to the other characters on occasion.
** Dr. Kelso sometimes hides behind a facade of Jerkassdom. Many would just write him off as ''being'' a [=Jerkass=] with maybe a heart of gold somewhere. But as shown in "My Jiggly Ball," his position requires him to make decisions that he often doesn't like, and which make everyone see him as the villain. The only way he can cope with it is to brush off all criticism and act like he doesn't care. This is also proven in "My Chopped Liver," when Kelso's dog dies and he refuses to leave his office out of fear that others in the hospital would see him crying.
*** In "His Story IV," it's revealed that at least some of his [=Jerkass=] tendencies are deliberate, to make him the common enemy of the hospital employees and keep them from bickering with one another. It's implied to be the only way to keep interpersonal squabbles from affecting the running of the hospital.
** Perhaps Dr. Cox (if not just an elitist JerkWithAHeartOfGold). He will verbally abuse even those closest to him for the tiniest of slights and faults, is a borderline alcoholic egomaniac and refuses to show affection to anyone. However, he's only this way partly because of his past (abusive parents) and that over the years any optimism he had left has been thoroughly beaten out of him. But even after all of this he cares about each patient he sees. He's tough on others because it's the only way he knows to teach the younger doctors and motivate his patients. In his softer moments, he'll show that he's just a broken man that keeps struggling on day after day, and that he does care about those around him but he's just too afraid to show it.
* Barney from ''Series/HowIMetYourMother''. His selfishness and womanizing are just a cover up for his insecurities.
* ''Series/{{ER}}'''s Doug Ross
* ''Series/LALaw'''s Arnie Becker.
* Yuuto Sakurai from ''Series/KamenRiderDenO'' comes off as rude, overly serious, and quick to anger (especially with his partner Deneb). As the series progresses, however, we learn that his ability to become a Kamen Rider comes with a hefty price: [[spoiler:each time he transforms, some of the memories people have of him are erased, meaning that the more he fights, the fewer people know he even exists.]]
* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'':
** Taiga Hanaya is a FallenHero and a DoctorJerk. He combines all the reasons stated above, making it hard to differentiate between him simply being jerk and doing his best to appear as someone who keeps people away. Rare moments of weakness show his true nature of a [[TookALevelInJerkass broken]] man who considers his life to be without any value besides fighting Bugsters and no future beyond that. Nico sees through it quickly and tells him what she thinks about it in [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech #27]].
** Kiriya Kujo combines this with ConsummateLiar to hide his pain from [[ItsAllMyFault losing a friend]]. [[spoiler: He also makes it look like he CameBackWrong as part of his plan for CR to get all the Proto Gashats, even managing to get Emu's help in keeping up the masquerade.]]
* ''Series/{{House}}'': Dr. House definitely had moments where his jerkassery was genuine, but he shows many times that he's capable of a lot more love and compassion than he wants people to think.
* Lester from ''Series/{{Primeval}}'' is in reality a fairly BenevolentBoss but {{Whitehall}} power politics (and that he is a bit of a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold snob]]) force him to hide behind his facade of a classic ObstructiveBureaucrat.
-->'''Abby:''' ''You know underneath it all you are really quite nice.''\\
'''Lester:''' ''Repeat that disgraceful slander and you'll be hearing from my lawyers''.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': Dr. [[TheMcCoy [=McCoy=]'s]] thin, crumbly veneer of grumbles and sarcasm hides (badly) what is quite possibly the most compassionate character on network television.
** ''Film/StarTrek2009'': [=McCoy's=] [[AlternateContinuity counterpart]] in the new movie hides it a bit better. [[FridgeBrilliance Maybe he'll soften up after working in Starfleet for awhile.]]
** In "[[MirrorUniverse Mirror, Mirror]]" Kirk had to adopt one of these in order to keep the crew of the I.S.S. Enterprise from getting any more suspicious of him than they already were. After the guard who foiled Mirror Chekov's effort to assassinate Kirk mentioned that Chekov had been promising to make him an officer, Kirk hired him to his personal guard, telling him that now he was on the officer track and might even get promoted to Captain. When the man agreed to this rather over-enthusiastically, however, Kirk then [[KickTheDog punched him out]] and said "Not on my ship."
** Emin Maritza from the classic [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine DS9]] episode "Duet." And how!!
** Counselor Troi was forced to adopt one for [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration TNG]]'s "Face of the Enemy", while she impersonated Major Rakal of the Tal Shiar, the Romulan SecretPolice.
%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample * ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'': Doc Cottle.
* ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration'' offers up [[DefrostingIceQueen Holly J]] who thinks people want her to be mean, and that she's doing it for her friends, and as her favorite defense mechanism. Given she learned social order from her [[AlphaBitch borderline evil]] [[AloofBigBrother older sister]] [[TheGhost Heather]], it's not much of a surprise.
* Major Charles Emerson Winchester on ''Series/{{MASH}}'' appears to be one in a Christmas episode when he receives numerous packages of what appear to be chocolates from a Boston confectioner and refuses to share them with anyone. He's later [[HiddenHeartOfGold shown donating them]], in the middle of the night, to a local orphanage and explaining that his family has a tradition of doing acts of kindness and charity at Christmas, but with an insistence of remaining anonymous. At the end of the episode Klinger learns of what Charles has done and agrees to keep it a secret.
* ''Series/TheInspectorLynleyMysteries''' Barbara Havers - while she is genuinely brutally honest - is so deeply insecure that she developed this front as a defense mechanism. Lynley calls her out on it, and as time goes on, she's been able to let go of it more and more.
-->'''Lynley:''' You don't have to do that.\\
'''Barbara:''' What?\\
'''Lynley:''' Push me away.
* ''Series/BetterOffTed'': Veronica could be the poster child for this trope. Although she comes off as uncaring and borderline sociopathic at times, occasionally the facade will drop, usually with Ted who becomes her confidant (such as in the second season premiere when she discusses her desire to have children).
* Eliot Spencer from ''Series/{{Leverage}}''. In their Christmas episode:
--> '''Kid:''' I don't get it. Are you nice, or are you mean?\\
'''Eliot:''' ''(Passes him a present and puts a finger to his lips)''
** Elliot rarely acts like a actual jerk ([[VitriolicBestBuds except to Hardison]]). More of a Scary Tough Guy Facade.
* Rudy Wade from ''Series/{{Misfits}}'' is probably THE definition of this Trope. His 'superpower' is the ability to split into two people. The only catch being that one of them is his true, emotional self while the other is his facade.
* Derek Hale on ''Series/TeenWolf'' has a DarkAndTroubledPast that has left him with trust issues and a justified sense of [[HunterOfMonsters persecution]]. He compensates by trying to seem as mean as possible, but is really just a [[GoodIsNotNice somewhat dark]] AntiHero.
* Dr. John Becker of ''Series/{{Becker}}'' is certainly this to an extent. Sure, he's really grouchy and kind of a jerk, but cares about his patients, especially in the pilot when he uses his own money to buy needed medication for a boy with HIV.
* Rex Evans on ''Series/NecessaryRoughness'' put up the façade back when he was still in the closet, both because he was miserable about having to hide his partner, and because he was afraid that making friends would lead to someone finding out his secret. It didn't help that the team's rising star, Toes Kitteridge, was a virulent homophobe.
* ''Series/{{JAG}}'': Admiral Chegwidden is a mild version of this trope. Even though he often hides behind military protocol and the authority that comes with being an admiral to distance himself from interpersonal relationships beyond the strictly professional, he deeply cares for the people that work under him.
* ''Series/TheFlash2014'' has Harry Wells, who is initially very hostile and standoffish to the team when he shows up in season 2. He very quickly shows himself to care deeply, however, as he risks his life to save the team on multiple occasions. Of course, he would vehemently deny that he cares about anyone other than his daughter, Jesse, but his actions speak far louder than his words and he eventually [[TookALevelInKindness takes a level in kindness]] (although he remains a socially awkward InsufferableGenius). It becomes apparent that the reason for his initially extreme jerkass behaviour was that he was trying very hard not to get close to the team due to the fact that [[spoiler: Zoom had kidnapped Jesse and would likely use her to blackmail him into betraying them.]]
* In ''Series/{{Supergirl}}'', Mon-El starts out as a bit a jerk ([[spoiler:especially once it becomes known that he's the Prince of Daxam]]), but Kara starts to rub off on him, and he eventually becomes a genuine hero. So when [[spoiler:his parents arrive to take him back to rebuild Daxam]], he tells them to go away and never come back, accepting that his people (he included) were exactly what Kryptonians have always believed them to be. After ending up in the future, he resolves to follow Supergirl's ideal and founds the Legion.
* ''Series/StargateSG1'': O'Neill adopts such a persona at times, usually as part of a plan to trick a hidden enemy into revealing themselves to him. While most people do understand that it is, in fact, just an act, it's a little disturbing both to viewers and the characters in-universe just how ''convincing'' O'Neill is capable of acting the part.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Podcasts]]
* Both Merle and Taako of ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneBalance'' display this trope.
** {{Word of God}} is that the reason Merle is so unfriendly to people outside the party (particularly Angus) is because he's insecure about his own value to the party and feels threatened by people he perceives as more competent than him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* "The Summer Of Punk" angle in Wrestling/RingOfHonor, where baby {{face}} Wrestling/CMPunk revealed that not only was he leaving the promotion, not only was he taking the ROH world title with him, but that he was going to draw out the process until he made it clear just how much he hated each and every last fan watching. In the end, it turned out he was broken up about leaving and returned at his earliest opportunity, which coincidentally was also when ROH really needed it due to one of their [[Wrestling/{{TNA}} perennial rivals]] blocking talent.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* In Act III of ''Theatre/LaBoheme'', Rodolfo pretends to be cruel and jealous so that Mimi will leave him. In reality, he is concerned for her worsening [[VictorianNovelDisease consumption]], and, knowing he cannot take care of her, [[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim tries to reject her]] so she can find a lover who isn't a StarvingArtist.
* In Shakespeare's ''Theatre/HenryIVPart1'', Prince Hal monologues about how he's acting like a jerk so that
--> When this loose behavior I throw off\\
And pay the debt I never promised,\\
By how much better than my word I am,\\
By so much shall I falsify men's hopes;\\
And like bright metal on a sullen ground,\\
My reformation, glittering o'er my fault,\\
Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes\\
Than that which hath no foil to set it off.\\
I'll so offend, to make offence a skill;\\
Redeeming time when men think least I will.
* In Theatre/HenryV Hal goes on to become, to everyone's surprise, a great king who trounces the French in battle through the sheer power of his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxNCnPFQZ-g epic monologuing]].
* This is a common theory to explain ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'''s assholish behavior towards Ophelia; that he was pretending to be horrible, despite loving her, in order to distance her from the horrors that were to come.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Possible example: Albel Nox from ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime''. The commonly accepted {{Fanon}} here is that he doesn't let people close because [[spoiler:he doesn't want to deal with losing them, after his father sacrificed himself for him.]]
* Neku, from ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' seems to be like this. When he is forced to say what is on his mind, he constantly states that he doesn't want to get close to other people because they'll only end up betraying him. Although, this might not actually be a facade.
** Even when he loses most of his [=Jerkass=] tendencies toward the end of the game (and in Another Day), he still tends to be quite the DeadpanSnarker.
* Squall, the main character of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', chooses to act like a cold, insensitive bastard because he believes that if he forms any kind of emotional investment, it will be broken eventually, so he's better off just being a complete jerk to everyone rather than deal with the pain of loss again after the loss of his big sister. Further complicating the issue is that he suffers from memory loss (due to use of Guardian Forces) and doesn't fully remember his big sister, preventing him from getting any meaningful closure.
* Zelos from ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' definitely fits the bill. He's easily the brashest of the main characters and doesn't seem to care one wit if the things he says are offensive or inappropriate. If one pays enough attention to his dialogue though, there are numerous examples of him saying things that show off a more sensitive and observant side to him, most of which are quickly covered up by him making yet another crass joke. This hints at the true nature of most things he says or does being an [[ObfuscatingStupidity act]] specifically designed to get people to either ignore him or think of him poorly, borne from the severe trust issues he developed over the years.
** Especially evident in the skit "For Depressed People." In response to [[spoiler: Corrine's death,]] he says the party "shouldn't worry about things that are already over." Regal, Genis and ''[[EmotionlessGirl Presea]]'' chew him out for it, but once they leave Zelos reveals he's only saying that because he thinks the way ''they're'' acting - walking on eggshells around Sheena - is only making her more depressed.
* Asuna/Flannery from ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' and ''Emerald'' tries to be intimidating and scary because this is the way she believes a Gym Leader should behave. She's very bad at it, and after being defeated by the player, she gives the facade up entirely.
** [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Litten's]] fully evolved form Incineroar is the {{Heel}} Pokemon, but out of battle it is a FriendToAllChildren and young Pokemon.
* ''Videogame/LifeIsStrange'' has Victoria Chase, a character who in the first episode has a scene that personifies this trope immediately. Stereotypical bully, but with a little kindness thrown her way, she can just as easily reciprocate it. [[spoiler: Her reason for being the way she is ties back to her parents and the world she's been shown by them; "to be successful, you have to be willing to step on and over anyone".]]
* [[GratuitousFrench Waka]] from ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' plays this up through most of the game, going so far as to outright [[MiniBoss attack you]] the first two times you meet him for ''no'' justifiable reason except to be a [=Jerkass=] and tell you how Ammy's become weak (''despite'' the fact that you just beat him). He's constantly riling up [[ExpositionFairy Issun]] and acts in such an untrustworthy way that the heroes aren't even sure which side he's on. When you're fighting the final boss, though, it's revealed that [[spoiler:he's been on your side the whole time and was working to protect Nippon from [[TrueFinalBoss Yami]]'s darkness, performing a HeroicSacrifice that almost kills him so that Amaterasu can finish Yami off.]]
* Silk Fox of ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' is a caring and honorable person. She is also very arrogant, aloof, and dismissive of 'peasants'. The player has a choice over whether she keeps the facade when she [[spoiler:becomes Empress]] or drops it in favor of her actual personality.
** Sagacious Zu also goes here. Yes, he'll make a [[TokenEvilTeammate half-hearted attempt to encourage Closed Fist actions]]. Yes, he used to be a Lotus Assassin. Yes, he's [[TheAtoner attempting to assuage his guilt]]. Still, he will protect your PlayerCharacter and Dawn Star with everything, including [[spoiler: a HeroicSacrifice that nearly destroys Death's Hand]].
* Snake starts off like this in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', a grumpy "Stick to the mission" type who apparently has little patience for romantic overtures and idealistic pursuits, but it's strongly implied - if not outright stated - that he acts like this to protect himself from even more emotional/psychological trauma. He later softens up into a JerkWithAHeartOfGold - though willing to be a ManipulativeBastard for the greater good.
** An even better example would have to be ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3''s' [[spoiler:The Boss who is a fake defector. Neither Big Boss nor player find this out until after they kill her.]]
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'':
** Raigh from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'' makes a big show of not caring about anyone and only joining so he can learn more dark magic... which he is doing so that he won't ever be unable to protect his loved ones again. When he tries it on his {{Polar Opposite Twin|s}} Lugh, all he gets is a laugh and an admonishment that if Raigh keeps it up he won't make any friends. (''Heroes'' makes the facade even more hilariously transparent when he addresses he player.)
** Colm from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' is like this, acting like a jerk and a common thief but [[LoveableRogue eventually showing a]] [[SugarAndIcePersonality softer side]].
** Sanaki from [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius the Tellius games]]. When the Greil Mercenaries show up in Begnion palace, Sanaki initially dismisses Ike and Elincia's plea for help, sends the Greil Mercenaries to do [[spoiler:seemingly]] mundane and random tasks, all the while insulting Ike as he's a "commoner mercenary". [[spoiler:Once Ike figures out with the help of Soren and Titania that Sanaki has a plan to expose her corrupt senators, she becomes a lot more friendly to the Greil Mercenaries. After Ike helps her out with her plan, Sanaki convinces Ike to allow Elincia to make him a Crimean lord, and sends quite a bit of Begnion troops to Ike's aid.]]
* Shadow the Hedgehog from the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' franchise shows trades of this. He really does care about others, but he remains cold and distant even to his own friends, because he doesn't want anyone to get too close to him out of fear of losing them again like with Maria. It doesn't help that he already has low trust in others.
* Zero from ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' and ''[[VideoGame/MegaManZero Zero]]'' straddles this with JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Deep down he ''is'' a nice guy who fights for the people he believes in, but has been betrayed by so many allies - including Iris, a girl he had feelings for - and fought in so many wars he's practically forced to assume a cold, uncaring facade.
* In some installments of the ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' series, this is part of Zhuge Liang's story mode. Other characters think he's a cold, scheming jerk, but he's willing to bear responsibility for some of Shu's more ruthless moves if it means Liu Bei's compassionate reputation remains intact.
* [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Liara T'Soni]] of ''Franchise/MassEffect'' adopts one of these between games both to operate in the galactic underworld and [[spoiler: due to guilt over handing Shepard's body over to Cerberus. Happily, she drops the facade at the conclusion of ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' and becomes warm towards Shepard once again.]]
* Rizwan from ''VideoGame/SuikodenTierkreis'' continuously abuses her daughter Manaril to use her power to read [[MacGuffin False Chronicles]], which result is used to develop the Magedom's technology. [[spoiler: Considering how the Magedom works, she has to do this in order to survive, and in the end, she cares for her daughter all along.]]
* Shinjiro Aragaki in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}''. Played almost humorously when he's unsuccessful, but becomes rather tragic when you realize just how far he's willing to go for those he cares about.
* [[spoiler:Dallas]] in ''VideoGame/InFamous'' was [[spoiler:forced by Kessler all along into making Cole bad publicity]].
* Garrett of the ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' series. A genuinely noble AntiHero with a good sense of humour, but a certified prick on the outside. Nice people do not live long in [[WretchedHive the City]].
* Inspector Cabanela from ''VideoGame/GhostTrick'' seems like a smarmy JiveTurkey who's obsessed with promotion and maintaining a "spotless record". Turns out his obsession with getting promoted was [[spoiler: so he could get in a position to oversee the cases handled by the Special Investigation Unit and thus help his friend and partner, Inspector Jowd.]]
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'': Lightning spends a good chunk of the game hiding her own uncertainty, anger, fear and confusion from the others by perpetuating this image of herself, until CharacterDevelopment kicks in (but even before it kicked in, there were a few moments where either her reactions or the narration clue us in).
-->'''Narrator (Vanille):''' (during an early cutscene) Lightning was suffering. Reaching out to us. But none of us could see it.
* Two examples from ''VideoGame/BlazBlue''.
** [[AntiHero Ragna]] acts like a standoff-ish [=Jerkass=] and TerrorHero to drive people away from him, partly because he's a wanted criminal and loner by nature, and partly because the ArtifactOfDoom on his right arm saps people's life-force to sustain itself. He's a JerkWithAHeartOfGold really.
** [[MsFanservice Makoto]] used to act like a [=Jerkass=] as well, but only because people [[FantasticRacism picked on her for being a beastkin]]. She's a NiceGal now, but [[spoiler:her bad ending in the second game]] suggests that her feelings haven't exactly gone away completely.
* Most [[AlwaysChaoticEvil drow]] in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'' are massive jerks and [[spoiler: Solaufein]] is no exception. But wait, he is! He’s actually a [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch good aligned rogue drow]] working as a spy that has put up a very convincing disguise.
* Nathan Drake from ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'' is a kind of devil-may-care JerkWithAHeartOfGold treasure hunter on the surface but his real personality swings much closer to this and in fact he's actually not that great at hiding it.
* Cloud from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' acts cocky, rude and detached as part of a 'cool' persona that he is convinced that a former member of the elite military group SOLDIER would have. In his case, it's not out of a desire to keep people from getting close to him, but out of a mixture of self-loathing and lack of self-knowledge. Only a couple of people actually fall for it, and he readily shows his softer side around Tifa and Aeris, while most [=NPCs=] find his performance offputting or a bit desperate. After the [[DisguisedInDrag ordeal]] in Wall Market, he scales the act back to much more tolerable funny sarcasm with the occasional cruel comment when he's really lost his temper. Then he has even that yanked away from him by increasing SanitySlippage followed by a [[HeroicBSOD catastrophic mental breakdown]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* Tomoki in ''VisualNovel/{{Canvas 2}}''. [[spoiler:In fact, she's so used to it that she's scared people will hate her if she gets the surgery she needs and refuses to get it.]]
* The princess Lesteena in ''VisualNovel/EienNoAselia'' hides the fact that she's actually one of the nicest people in the cast by acting cold, callous and dismissive towards everyone. [[spoiler:When the king is assassinated, she drops the callous and dismissive parts and most of the coldness.]]
* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'':
** Rin Tohsaka's personality in the early parts of the game is a [=Jerkass=] Facade. It's especially obvious in Heaven's Feel, although there it's for a [[ShootTheDog good reason]].
** Archer also uses a [=jerkass=] facade on Rin and Saber, as he plans on killing his past self and then disappearing.
* Yaginuma in ''VisualNovel/KaraNoShoujo'' acts like a jerk to keep people from getting too close to him as he can't bear a repeat of what happened to his sister. At first, this is an InformedAttribute but then during one of the endings we get to see him meet with Kuchiki Chizuru and he's actually fairly nice to her.
* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'':
** [[spoiler:Eva Ushiromiya]], as a part of her plan to [[spoiler:not let her niece and ward Ange know that her parents were AxCrazy murderers]].
** In [=EP5=] it's revealed that [[spoiler:Beatrice]] has this as well. [[spoiler:Her "sadistic {{troll}}" personality was actually part of an act that was meant to guide Battler towards understanding her.]]
* Hugh O'Conner from ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney''. He acted like a jerk because of his reputation as a genius. [[spoiler:Also, because he believed his friends abandoned him after finding out he wasn't a genius and was getting perfect scores thanks to bribes.]] Drops the facade [[spoiler:and proves he might be pretty skilled after all]] at the end of 5-3.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Albin from ''Webcomic/WasteOfTime'' might seem like a jerkass, but he really does care about his workers.
* Abel from ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'' has a ''magical'' [=Jerkass=] Facade - which doesn't work on the {{Muggles}} he's stuck with now.
* [[http://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic1-090108.php The genesis]] of one of these, courtesy of ''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie''.
* Diane of ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' has a ''very'' convincing facade. It's only when one of her friends dissolves into tears that we see that she's really a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. In filler, we see her praising her friends' A- on a test.
* [[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick Eugene Greenhilt]], or at least when Roy was 8, when he refuses to try to get Xykon with Right-Eye, because he reckons that Xykon would go after his family if things went South.
* Lucy of ''Webcomic/BittersweetCandyBowl'' puts of a harsh facade, but when she is around her pets (or really distressed) it falls away from her, showing her true (much sweeter) nature.
* Karkat Vantas of ''{{Webcomic/Homestuck}}''. Types in all caps, insults every one of his friends relentlessly, and also does his best to help them and blames himself for every death.
* [[http://explosm.net/comics/3801/ This comic]] from Webcomic/CyanideAndHappiness.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Originals]]
* This is a common comical persona for many WebAnimation/YouTubePoop makers, most famously Creator/{{Deepercutt}}.
* Sasha Hunter in ''Literature/GreekNinja'', and as it turns out, Hashimoto Daichi.
* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic is legitimately a dick, but emphasizes that side as best as he can with newbies, mostly because he doesn't want to be seen as the pathetic weakling he really is. They always eventually see through him.
* Fiearius Soliveré of "Literature/CaelumLex" emits a jerk persona to appear strong to his crew, worthy to his criminal allies and indestructible to his enemies.
* PlayedForDrama in ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'', where he goes MartyrWithoutACause DeathSeeker on everyone's ass and pretends to be a DirtyCoward so nobody will notice or miss him when he commits [[SuicideByCop Suicide By]] PlotHole.
* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', [[ManipulativeBastard Ronove]], [[DragonWithAnAgenda Dreadlord]] of the [[BloodKnight Northern]] [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Horde]], acts like a generic cruel overlord in front of his peers and enemies, but also occasionally shows a quirky side which most accept as remnants of his former [[CloudCuckooLander goofy]], [[TraumaInducedAmnesia amnesiac]] personality (most notably him munching on cake and sand gnome legs). He has shown a [[NobleDemon less evil persona]] recently but quite subtly. He let his caught human friends, with whom he had been travelling with during his amnesiac days, flee a demon-occupied city alive while weaving a convincing enough tale to his superiors for the seemingly "evil" reasons he let the escape happen. He takes over the torturing of his former, captured master [[TheAtoner Omaroch]] seemingly because he enjoys the cruel act, but in fact it's because letting others torture Omaroch would be far more severe than what he ends up doing to him. He openly manipulates [[FallenHero Refan]], Omaroch's son, but does it for Refan's own good because he sees Refan's [[SuperPoweredEvilSide demonic side]] useful and allowing the man to grow into a warrior who doesn't have to fear for his life anymore. However, Ronove harbors more complex plans than most people think, and the one person who realizes that things don't quite add up as far as his actions go is still being manipulated by him into believing one thing while the truth is actually quite different. It's thus clear that he has some sense of honour and he still feels sympathy for his former travelling companions, but he's also capable of acts of CruelMercy by twisting seemingly benevolent acts into something far more sinister.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheodoreTugboat'', of all characters, in the episode "Bumper Buddies". Foduck playfully bumps him, not realising that it hurts so Theodore avoids him. When Foduck asks if they're still friends, Theodore's answer is "Foduck, I am not your friend anymore." TheNarrator then says "I'm still not sure if Theodore meant it, he just didn't want Foduck to bump him anymore.".
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'':
** Common with the Ice King. He kidnaps princesses sure, but he [[spoiler: used to be a decent scholar named Simon Petrikov before TheEnd, lost his fiance, lost ALL of his memories, and only kidnaps princesses to ease his horrible lonliness.]]
** It's implied that Marceline plays up her [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampirism]] both to protect others (because she sees herself as evil), and so that [[NeverBeHurtAgain no-one can ever get close to her and then leave her]], which unfortunately has happened to the poor girl far too often (as in, ''[[TraumaCongaLine in every one of her onscreen relationships]]'').
* In ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddysBigPictureShow'', it's revealed that [[spoiler:Eddy's greedy and selfish attitude]] was all an act to impress his [[spoiler:brother]], who is a bigger [=Jerkass=] than he (or anyone, even Kevin and Sarah) could ever hope to be.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'' brought this up for [[RichBitch Trixie]], but it was never brought up again. It was shown hides her HiddenDepths and acts like a AlphaBitch to be accepted with the popular kids. A few early episodes imply she's sweeter than she seems but [[CharacterizationMarchesOn that was dropped]] by season 3.
* In the first season of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', [[AntiVillain Prince Zuko]] sometimes puts on a mighty show of acting like a RoyalBrat in front of his men, effectively earning their resentment... before [[HiddenHeartOfGold risking his own life to save the ship's helmsman during a terrible storm]]. The reason behind his scar... [[spoiler: he spoke out against [[WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife sacrificing a division of new recruits as a distraction]] during a war meeting, so his father [[AbusiveParents challenged him to]] an [[DuelToTheDeath Agni Kai]] as a punishment, leaving Zuko with his scars as a reminder for his "arrogance". Iroh's revelation of this to the crew caused them to ease up on Zuko a bit.]] It could even be argued that Zuko was trying to emulate his father and sister who were jerkasses with no facade, as they were the "proper" and successful Fire Nation royalty that he and Iroh weren't. Eventually he realized that their selfish if not sociopathic stances were ruining the Fire Nation and [[HeelFaceTurn he drops the facade of being an obedient prince to do what's right for everyone]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' episode "Bobby Goes Nuts", Bobby is tired of being picked on by the bullies at school, so he goes to the gym in order to get tougher-- but the only class that isn't full already is a self-defense class for women, where he learns that a man's weak point is his groin. He beats the bullies with this technique, but then continues to do it to anyone who bothers him in the slightest, becoming a bully himself. Eventually, he goes too far and kicks Hank, who gets Peggy to bully him until he kicks ''her''-- which, since she doesn't have testicles, doesn't work so well. This finally jars him out of meeting all his problems with the same unthinking response.
* Moe Syzlak, from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', tries to hide his good deeds with a protectiveness normal people would reserve for hiding evil deeds.
-->'''Ned:''' I know you! You're the guy at the hospital who reads to sick children?
-->'''Moe:''' [[SlaveToPR ...if this gets out]], the next words you say will be muzzled by your own butt.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** Invoked by Babs Seed. She only joined Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon in bullying the CMC [[spoiler: because she was bullied back at Manehattan, and she wanted to avoid being bullied again by them.]]
** Played straight with Diamond Tiara herself. The season 5 episode "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" revealed that [[spoiler: she only acted mean because that's how her mother (an even bigger bully than she is) taught her to act; she knows her behavior is wrong, and she wants to change but doesn't know how]].
* ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutronBoyGenius'':
** Cindy Vortex reveals that she acts this ways because she slowly became more and more jealous of Jimmy for being smarter than her, thus explaining why [[{{Tsundere}} she's such a hardass on him]]. This was ultimately carried over into the TV series, abit [[BelligerentSexualTension in a different manner]].
** Carl Wheezer [[TheHeart of all people]] [[TookALevelInJerkass becomes this]] in one episode of [[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius the TV series]] just to impress a girl he was smitten by.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'' episode "Puppy Love," [=Jerkass=] Pete, [[PetTheDog with purer intentions than usual, at least]], advises the typically ''very'' NiceGuy, PJ, to dress like a tough redneck and be as obnoxious and rude as possible because [[UnreliableNarrator the ladies love it]]. PJ's crush responds negatively to the facade, and in the process he becomes a repeated target of a school bully.
* In ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'', Wiggles [=McSunbask=] doesn't want to be a bully, but his fearsome appearance (he's an alligator) scares everyone around him so he just embraced that image.
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'':
** Amethyst attacked Pearl in the Kindergarten, and even threw and tied up Steven, because Pearl reminded her of her past. She was also this way with Greg, as a act of revenge for Rose having less time for her.
** Lapis Lazuli also fits this trope, nearly drowning Steven's stepfamily as a act of revenge for trapping her in a mirror for thousands of years.
* Inverted with the ''WesternAnimation/HeckleAndJeckle'' cartoon "Sappy New Year." The boys give up practical jokes as a New Year's resolution, but their attempts to do good deeds are haphazard and are misconstrued as more troublemaking.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'':
** Stormer is rather sweet but has to act like a jerk to be a part of her band.
** "Roxy Rumbles" implies most of Roxy's rougher traits are a facade as well. She's a lot nicer after quitting the band.
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': On her first day of preschool, Helga was being laughed at by the other kids because she was overtly [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe smitten by Arnold's attention]]. So to stop the torment, she started bullying the other kids, [[LovingBully including Arnold]], in order to stop them from bullying her.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'':
** Mr. Cat has straight out admitted to Kaeloo that he has a sensitive and vulnerable side which he hides by being a jerk to everyone else.
** It's been hinted at that Pretty isn't as mean as she acts and [[SlaveToPR only picks on Kaeloo and her friends to uphold her status as the]] AlphaBitch.
* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': Gabriel Agreste plays with this trope. He is a {{Jerkass}} ControlFreak whose behavior has allowed [[BigBad Hawk Moth]] to [[BrainwashedAndCrazy akumatize]] at least three people. [[spoiler:The facade comes from the fact that Gabriel ''is'' [[ArchnemesisDad Hawk Moth]], and his actions were probably calculated to give him more targets, rather than out of malice. Even so, he still ''is Hawk Moth'', so the act [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk is covering up]] an even bigger jerkass.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'', [[spoiler:Mitchell hides behind one as revealed in the ChristmasEpisode, "Holidays in Boxwood Terrace". Mitchell acts mean to Jet and his friends, and Mitchell claims that he "doesn't do friends", but Mitchell isn't really mean, he's really just a lonely kid who wants to join Jet's clique, but doesn't know how to fit in. Fortunately, he gets his happy ending. However, while he's somewhat considered to be a part of Jet's circle of friends and is nicer in season 2, it's implied that he's been keeping up this jerk mask for so long, that [[BecomingTheMask he's become it]], which explains why he still acts like a jerk sometimes]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* {{Drill Sergeant|Nasty}}s usually are like this, due to their occupation demanding them to toughen up their recruits, and this usually by degrading them as much as possible without mercy so they will set their goal higher and become stronger because of it. Their occupation is to train the recruits, not to make them mentally ill, so it is vital for the drill sergeant to recognize when one of his recruits is obviously affected in the wrong way by the training, and try getting said recruits help instead of more drilling. After all, since almost every drill sergeants have lives outside the military, most are actually nice people, and will notice when something is wrong with the recruits.
* Many Internet forums have their Resident Freaks and Jackasses. On average it's a total facade because no normal person is that stupid, that perverted. Sometimes the facade slips.
* 4Chan revels in this one, believe it or not. Acting like a jerkass is a readily accepted prerequesite for posting which its users all follow, much like the "be nice to one another" creed found on most websites. If you want to see the facade shattered like a dinner plate hit with buckshot, look no further than the time someone posted ''Love You Forever'', known on 4Chan as "The Day /b/ Cried", where the vast majority of the posters all pretty much began blubbering and lamenting [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas how much they love/miss their moms]].
* Music/JohnLennon until TheSeventies, where he started to deal with his problems and admitted that part of his bitter unhappiness was that he wasn't actually that badly off and he was still unhappy, and acted like a [=Jerkass=] to push people away.
* For some people, this is a response to sadness or anger. They push people away because they either don't want help or don't want to be a burden.
[[/folder]]
[[redirect:HiddenHeartOfGold]]
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' episode "Bobby Goes Nuts", Bobby is tired of being picked on by the bullies at school, so he goes to the gym in order to get tougher-- but the only class that isn't full already is a self-defense class for women, where he learns that a man's weak point is his groin. He beats the bullies with this technique, but then continues to do it to anyone who bothers him in the slightest, becoming a bully himself. Eventually, he goes too far and kicks Hank, who gets Peggy to bully him until he kicks ''her''-- which, since [[CaptainObvious she doesn't have testicles]], doesn't work so well. This finally jars him out of meeting all his problems with the same unthinking response.

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* In the ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' episode "Bobby Goes Nuts", Bobby is tired of being picked on by the bullies at school, so he goes to the gym in order to get tougher-- but the only class that isn't full already is a self-defense class for women, where he learns that a man's weak point is his groin. He beats the bullies with this technique, but then continues to do it to anyone who bothers him in the slightest, becoming a bully himself. Eventually, he goes too far and kicks Hank, who gets Peggy to bully him until he kicks ''her''-- which, since [[CaptainObvious she doesn't have testicles]], testicles, doesn't work so well. This finally jars him out of meeting all his problems with the same unthinking response.
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** [[TokenGoodTeammate Rishid/Odion]] does this to a degree when he impersonates Marik during the Battle City finals, but not very convincingly. He plays a completely fair duel and respects Joey/Jonouchi's dueling skills, neither of which really suit the season's main BigBad, and Joey/Jonouchi is able to see through the disguise eventually.

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''Anime/YuGiOh''
* ''Seto Kaiba'' appears to be this. He is constantly acting as a Jerkass to others, mostly to hide his own inner fears caused by his trauma of living with his adoptive father, Gozaburo Kaiba.

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''Anime/YuGiOh''
* ''Seto Kaiba'' ''[[Anime/YuGiOh Seto Kaiba]]'' appears to be this. He is constantly acting as a Jerkass to others, mostly to hide his own inner fears caused by his trauma of living with his adoptive father, Gozaburo Kaiba.



** [[MsFanservice Makoto]] used to act like a [=Jerkass=] as well, but only because people [[[FantasticRacism picked on her for being a beastkin]]. She's a NiceGal now, but [[spoiler:her bad ending in the second game]] suggests that her feelings haven't exactly gone away completely.

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** [[MsFanservice Makoto]] used to act like a [=Jerkass=] as well, but only because people [[[FantasticRacism [[FantasticRacism picked on her for being a beastkin]]. She's a NiceGal now, but [[spoiler:her bad ending in the second game]] suggests that her feelings haven't exactly gone away completely.
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* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': Gabriel Agreste plays with this trope. He is a {{Jerkass}} ControlFreak whose behavior has allowed [[BigBad Hawk Moth]] to [[BrainwashedAndCrazy akumatize]] at least three people. [[spoiler:The facade comes from the fact that Gabriel ''is'' [[ArchnemesisDad Hawk Moth]], and his actions were probably calculated to give him more targets, rather than out of malice. Even so, he still ''is Hawk Moth'', so the JerkassFacade [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk is covering up]] an even bigger jerkass.]]

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* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': Gabriel Agreste plays with this trope. He is a {{Jerkass}} ControlFreak whose behavior has allowed [[BigBad Hawk Moth]] to [[BrainwashedAndCrazy akumatize]] at least three people. [[spoiler:The facade comes from the fact that Gabriel ''is'' [[ArchnemesisDad Hawk Moth]], and his actions were probably calculated to give him more targets, rather than out of malice. Even so, he still ''is Hawk Moth'', so the JerkassFacade act [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk is covering up]] an even bigger jerkass.]]
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-->'''Moe:''' ... if this gets out, the next words you say will be muzzled by your own butt.

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-->'''Moe:''' ... -->'''Moe:''' [[SlaveToPR ...if this gets out, out]], the next words you say will be muzzled by your own butt.
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* In the first season of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', [[AntiVillain Prince Zuko]] sometimes puts on a mighty show of acting like a RoyalBrat in front of his men, effectively earning their resentment... before [[HiddenHeartOfGold risking his own life to save the ship's helmsman during a terrible storm]]. The reason behind his scar... [[spoiler: he spoke out against [[WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife sacrificing a division of new recruits as a distraction]] during a war meeting, so his father [[AbusiveParents burned half his face off]] as a punishment. Iroh's revelation of this to the crew caused them to ease up on Zuko a bit.]] It could even be argued that Zuko was trying to emulate his father and sister who were jerkasses with no facade, as they were the "proper" and successful Fire Nation royalty that he and Iroh weren't. Eventually he realized that their selfish if not sociopathic stances were ruining the Fire Nation and [[HeelFaceTurn he drops the facade of being an obedient prince to do what's right for everyone]].

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* In the first season of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', [[AntiVillain Prince Zuko]] sometimes puts on a mighty show of acting like a RoyalBrat in front of his men, effectively earning their resentment... before [[HiddenHeartOfGold risking his own life to save the ship's helmsman during a terrible storm]]. The reason behind his scar... [[spoiler: he spoke out against [[WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife sacrificing a division of new recruits as a distraction]] during a war meeting, so his father [[AbusiveParents burned half his face off]] challenged him to]] an [[DuelToTheDeath Agni Kai]] as a punishment.punishment, leaving Zuko with his scars as a reminder for his "arrogance". Iroh's revelation of this to the crew caused them to ease up on Zuko a bit.]] It could even be argued that Zuko was trying to emulate his father and sister who were jerkasses with no facade, as they were the "proper" and successful Fire Nation royalty that he and Iroh weren't. Eventually he realized that their selfish if not sociopathic stances were ruining the Fire Nation and [[HeelFaceTurn he drops the facade of being an obedient prince to do what's right for everyone]].
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These characters are under multiple tropes and shouldn't be. As they're all hiding their gold, I've moved them to Hidden Heart Of Gold.


* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** At the beginning of the manga, it's revealed that Ichigo had been carefully cultivating this kind of image when Kon, using his body, tears that image to shreds by romancing the females in his class. Ichigo is ''not'' happy. Ichigo's cold and distant behavior toward Keigo, Mizuiro and Tatsuki before going to rescue Orihime is also an example; he doesn't want them getting involved in the world of the Shinigami and getting hurt as Chad and Orihime already have.
** Soifon deliberately acts hostile to her subordinates for the so that they can become stronger. This is especially true with her lieutenant, Omaeda, whom she motivates (through reverse psychology) to stay alive during the battle against Aizen's forces. Lampshaded when Renji reacts with shock to Soifon's open kindness only to be chastised by Rukia, who points out that Soifon's always been a kind person.
** Uryuu so sincerely believes his father's [[RefusalOfTheCall jerkass attitude]] that he assumes Ryuuken is trying to kill him instead of restoring his powers as promised.[[labelnote:*]] It was actually a brutal restoration technique that required the target's body and soul be pushed to the absolute limit before being shot by a spiritual arrow, forcing Ryuuken to make Uryuu think he was going to die for the technique to work at all.[[/labelnote]] Ryuuken seems to encourage Uryuu to think the absolute worst about him. However, Isshin greatly trusts Ryuuken as both a colleague and [[OddFriendship friend]] and Ryuuken is also [[PetTheDog gentle and protective]] towards Ichigo and Orihime behind Uryuu's back. Flashbacks reveal that Ryuuken is a very decent man BeneathTheMask but prefers to appear uncaring for [[ZeroApprovalGambit reasons]] that have been only [[MysteriousPast partially explained]].

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* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'': [[DoctorJerk Taiga]] [[FallenHero Hanaya]] combines all the reasons stated above, making it hard to differentiate between him simply being [[DarkAndTroubledPast jerk]] and doing his best to appear as a [[JerkassFacade one]] to keep people away. Rare moments of weakness show his true nature of a [[TookALevelInJerkass broken]] [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis man]] who considers his life to be without any value besides fighting Bugsters and no future beyond that. Nico sees through it quickly and tells him what she thinks about it in [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech #27]].

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* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'': [[DoctorJerk Taiga]] [[FallenHero Hanaya]] ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'':
** Taiga Hanaya is a FallenHero and a DoctorJerk. He
combines all the reasons stated above, making it hard to differentiate between him simply being [[DarkAndTroubledPast jerk]] jerk and doing his best to appear as a [[JerkassFacade one]] to keep someone who keeps people away. Rare moments of weakness show his true nature of a [[TookALevelInJerkass broken]] [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis man]] man who considers his life to be without any value besides fighting Bugsters and no future beyond that. Nico sees through it quickly and tells him what she thinks about it in [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech #27]].



* [[Series/{{House}} Dr. House]] definitely had moments where his jerkassery was genuine, but he shows many times that he's capable of a lot more love and compassion than he wants people to think.

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* [[Series/{{House}} ''Series/{{House}}'': Dr. House]] House definitely had moments where his jerkassery was genuine, but he shows many times that he's capable of a lot more love and compassion than he wants people to think.
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* In ''Series/{{Supergirl}}'', Mon-El starts out as a bit a jerk ([[spoiler:especially once it becomes known that he's the Prince of Daxam]]), but Kara starts to rub off on him, and he eventually becomes a genuine hero. So when [[spoiler:his parents arrive to take him back to rebuild Daxam]], he tells them to go away and never come back, accepting that his people (he included) were exactly what Kryptonians have always believed them to be.

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* In ''Series/{{Supergirl}}'', Mon-El starts out as a bit a jerk ([[spoiler:especially once it becomes known that he's the Prince of Daxam]]), but Kara starts to rub off on him, and he eventually becomes a genuine hero. So when [[spoiler:his parents arrive to take him back to rebuild Daxam]], he tells them to go away and never come back, accepting that his people (he included) were exactly what Kryptonians have always believed them to be. After ending up in the future, he resolves to follow Supergirl's ideal and founds the Legion.

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* In ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' FanFic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11822902/1/Not-this-time-Fate Not this time, Fate]]'', Jaune has been forced to relive the events of the show with [[DownerEnding everyone dying at the end]] hundreds, if not thousands of times. In order not to become friends with the show's main cast - as he knows they are going to die sooner or later - he decides to fend them away by pretending to be a [[LazyBum lazy,]] [[FantasticRacism racist]] {{Jerkass}}, who casually seduces random women, doesn't give a damn about his teammates and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking dishes out spoilers without a warning]]. It mostly works, except with Yang who partially sees through his disguise and Ruby, who is so friendly that she likes Jaune anyway.

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* In ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' FanFic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11822902/1/Not-this-time-Fate Not this time, Fate]]'', ''Fanfic/NotThisTimeFate'', Jaune has been forced to relive the events of the show with [[DownerEnding everyone dying at the end]] hundreds, if not thousands of times. In order not to become friends with the show's main cast - as he knows they are going to die sooner or later - he decides to fend them away by pretending to be a [[LazyBum lazy,]] [[FantasticRacism racist]] {{Jerkass}}, who casually seduces random women, doesn't give a damn about his teammates and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking dishes out spoilers without a warning]]. It mostly works, except with Yang who partially sees through his disguise and Ruby, who is so friendly that she likes Jaune anyway. Over time, his other friends from previous timelines start seeing through it as well as he can't bring himself to be a full on {{Jerkass}}, making Jaune come across as a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.


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* Cardin Winchester in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12574905/1/In-the-Kingdom-s-Service In the Kingdom's Service]]'' is a racist bully who's secretly a VSS agent and in a relationship with his most common victim Velvet, who's an agent herself. Even his occasional bullying of Jaune is to help the latter maintain his cover.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'', [[spoiler:Mitchell hides behind one as revealed in the ChristmasEpisode, "Holidays in Boxwood Terrace". Mitchell acts mean to Jet and his friends, and Mitchell claims that he "doesn't do friends", but Mitchell isn't really mean, he's really just a lonely kid who wants to join Jet's clique, but doesn't know how to fit in. Fortunately, he gets his happy ending. However, while he's somewhat considered to be a part of Jet's circle of friends and is nicer in season 2, it's implied that he's been keeping up this jerk mask for so long, that [[BecomingTheMask he's become it]], which explains why he still acts like a jerk sometimes]].
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* In ''Literature/TheBelgariad'', Beldin is a [[{{Gonk}} fantastically ugly]] dwarf who deliberately presents himself as [[ThePigPen unkempt]] and uncouth, and who greets some of his oldest friends with barrages of awful insults. Beneath that act, he's kind-hearted, caring, and Belgarath's most steadfast companion for millennia.

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* In ''Literature/TheBelgariad'', Beldin is a [[{{Gonk}} fantastically ugly]] dwarf who deliberately presents himself as [[ThePigPen unkempt]] and uncouth, and who greets some of his oldest friends with barrages of awful insults. Beneath that act, he's kind-hearted, caring, and Belgarath's most steadfast companion for millennia. In a prequel novel, he breaks down in tears when told that his friends do love him.
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Removing Understatement pothole as per here


* Dr. John Becker of ''Series/{{Becker}}'' is certainly this to an extent. Sure, he's really grouchy and [[{{Understatement}} kind of a jerk]], but cares about his patients, especially in the pilot when he uses his own money to buy needed medication for a boy with HIV.

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* Dr. John Becker of ''Series/{{Becker}}'' is certainly this to an extent. Sure, he's really grouchy and [[{{Understatement}} kind of a jerk]], jerk, but cares about his patients, especially in the pilot when he uses his own money to buy needed medication for a boy with HIV.
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How To Write An Example - Don't Write Reviews


** Same goes with Whitebeard. When we first see him, he tore up Shanks' letter and demanded that he deliver his message personally, while arrogantly ignoring his nurses' warnings about drinking too much. And when Shanks did show up, they got into an argument about Ace and Blackbeard, with Whitebeard declaring that he is Whitebeard and he could do whatever he wanted. Turns out [[spoiler: he's just covering the fact that Ace went after Blackbeard completely on his own, specifically ignoring his orders to ''not'' do that. Whitebeard was actually in complete agreement with Shanks the whole time for the same reasons. The situation Ace found himself in as a result was completely his own fault. On top of that, Whitebeared is aware of his mortality and how he isn't as strong as he used to be. And when one of his own comrades betrayed and stabbed him, he simply embraced the guy, [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming calling him one of his sons]] and that he forgave him]].

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** Same goes with Whitebeard. When we first see him, he tore up Shanks' letter and demanded that he deliver his message personally, while arrogantly ignoring his nurses' warnings about drinking too much. And when Shanks did show up, they got into an argument about Ace and Blackbeard, with Whitebeard declaring that he is Whitebeard and he could do whatever he wanted. Turns out [[spoiler: he's just covering the fact that Ace went after Blackbeard completely on his own, specifically ignoring his orders to ''not'' do that. Whitebeard was actually in complete agreement with Shanks the whole time for the same reasons. The situation Ace found himself in as a result was completely his own fault. On top of that, Whitebeared is aware of his mortality and how he isn't as strong as he used to be. And when one of his own comrades betrayed and stabbed him, he simply embraced the guy, [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming calling him one of his sons]] sons and that he forgave him]].



** Roy Mustang is a subtler and more justified example of this. A good-looking soldier who only cares for promotions [[spoiler:(and has sworn to protect his comrades and underlings using his position and power)]], dates several girls at the same time [[spoiler:(so that people don't take him too seriously)]] cooks a girl alive for supposedly killing his best friend [[spoiler:(and fakes her death to protect her from serious implications, in a most [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome awesome way]])]], constantly goes to a brothel/pub with a lot of girls [[spoiler:(to gain information from the girls, who are part of his spy network, as is the pub owner- who happens to be his adoptive mother)]], uses military phones to call his supposed girlfriends [[spoiler:(and to direct the 'girlfriends' in a coordinated attack)]], and whose assistant has to keep him in check [[spoiler:(so he doesn't stray from the path of justice he set out for himself)]]. But he really did commit genocide.

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** Roy Mustang is a subtler and more justified example of this. A good-looking soldier who only cares for promotions [[spoiler:(and has sworn to protect his comrades and underlings using his position and power)]], dates several girls at the same time [[spoiler:(so that people don't take him too seriously)]] cooks a girl alive for supposedly killing his best friend [[spoiler:(and fakes her death to protect her from serious implications, in a most [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome awesome way]])]], implications,]], constantly goes to a brothel/pub with a lot of girls [[spoiler:(to gain information from the girls, who are part of his spy network, as is the pub owner- who happens to be his adoptive mother)]], uses military phones to call his supposed girlfriends [[spoiler:(and to direct the 'girlfriends' in a coordinated attack)]], and whose assistant has to keep him in check [[spoiler:(so he doesn't stray from the path of justice he set out for himself)]]. But he really did commit genocide.



'''Stepanak:''' No, sir. That would've been unethical. I'm only out to screw myself. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming That would've screwed everybody.]]

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'''Stepanak:''' No, sir. That would've been unethical. I'm only out to screw myself. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming That would've screwed everybody.]]



* Doc Cottle from the reimagined ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''. The man is a walking, talking, last-cigarettes-in-the-known-universe smoking CrowningMomentOfAwesome

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%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample * ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'': Doc Cottle from the reimagined ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''. The man is a walking, talking, last-cigarettes-in-the-known-universe smoking CrowningMomentOfAwesomeCottle.
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-->-- '''Charlie Sheen'''

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-->-- '''Charlie Sheen'''
'''Creator/CharlieSheen'''



** ''Film/StarTrek'': [=McCoy's=] [[AlternateContinuity counterpart]] in the new movie hides it a bit better. [[FridgeBrilliance Maybe he'll soften up after working in Starfleet for awhile.]]

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** ''Film/StarTrek'': ''Film/StarTrek2009'': [=McCoy's=] [[AlternateContinuity counterpart]] in the new movie hides it a bit better. [[FridgeBrilliance Maybe he'll soften up after working in Starfleet for awhile.]]
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** Litten's fully evolved form Incineroar is the {{Heel}} Pokemon, but out of battle it is a FriendToAllChildren and young Pokemon.

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** Litten's [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Litten's]] fully evolved form Incineroar is the {{Heel}} Pokemon, but out of battle it is a FriendToAllChildren and young Pokemon.
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** Litten's fully evolved form Incineroar is the {{Heel}} Pokemon, but out of battle it is a FriendToAllChildren and young Pokemon.
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* Squirrel in ''Literature/TheCityWithoutMemory'' is a minor noble from a medieval world who grew up with an abusive father and brothers and a weak-willed, near-neglectful mother. She acts as the future mistress of the castle, saying her brothers will be killed soon and she’ll have the heads of everyone she doesn’t like. Beneath all that there’s a desperately scared and lonely girl.
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[[folder:Podcasts]]
* Both Merle and Taako of ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneBalance'' display this trope.
** {{Word of God}} is that the reason Merle is so unfriendly to people outside the party (particularly Angus) is because he's insecure about his own value to the party and feels threatened by people he perceives as more competent than him.
[[/folder]]
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* In ''Fanfic/HerFracturedSpirit'', Pearl and Marina tease each other on camera but it's all just for show. In their private life they're a happy couple in a SecretRelationship.
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* ''Videogame/LifeIsStrange'' has Victoria Chase, a character who in the first episode has a scene that personifies this trope immediately. Stereotypical bully, but with a little kindness thrown her way, she can just as easily reciprocate it. [[spoiler: Her reason for being the way she is ties back to her parents and the world she's been shown by them; "to be successful, you have to be willing to step on and over anyone".]]
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The character acts like either a heartless bastard or otherwise obnoxious {{Jerkass}} when he really isn't.

His reasons might be because he is afraid to get intimate with other people because he simply assumes that [[SafetyInIndifference the person will either die or betray him]] just like everyone else he has ever gotten close to. It might be because the person is being stalked by horrible demons, TheMafia, TheGovernment, or some other dangerous and unstoppable entity and does not want to drag others into it. In more light-hearted media, maybe he just feels he has a reputation to uphold as a [=Jerkass=]. So rather than letting anyone get close to him, he behaves like a completely obnoxious douche bag to scare them all away from wanting anything to do with him.

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The character acts like either a heartless bastard or otherwise obnoxious {{Jerkass}} when he they really isn't.

His
aren’t.

Their
reasons might be because he is they are afraid to get intimate with other people because he they simply assumes assume that [[SafetyInIndifference the person will either die or betray him]] them]] just like everyone else he has they have ever gotten close to. It might be because the person is being stalked by horrible demons, TheMafia, TheGovernment, or some other dangerous and unstoppable entity [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies and does not want to drag others into it. it]]. Maybe they’re pulling off a ZeroApprovalGambit and/or GenghisGambit. In more light-hearted media, maybe he they just feels he has feel they have [[SlaveToPR a reputation to uphold uphold]] as a [=Jerkass=]. So rather than letting anyone get close to him, he behaves them, they behave like a completely obnoxious douche bag to scare them all away from wanting anything to do with him.
them.
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* ''Film/TheFugitive'': Samuel Gerard spends the movie snapping at people and insisting he doesn't care. He also wears his very soft heart on his sleeve.

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* ''Film/TheFugitive'': Samuel Gerard spends the movie snapping at people and insisting he doesn't care. He also wears his very soft ''very soft'' heart on his sleeve.sleeve. (His team, clearly used to the drama, loves him a lot.)

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