History Main / MasqueradeBall

[[folder: Comic Books]]
* Featured in the WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}} comics by SLG. A costume party is held on Halloween at the Xanatos building- where the gargoyles fit right in and Elisa is dressed like Princess Jasmine. (She likes Disney Princesses for some reason.) Meanwhile, Fox and David Xanatos are attending a masquerade at the White House.
* Barbara Gordon first created the Comicbook/{{Batgirl}} outfit as a costume for a party - to annoy her father. When the party was crashed by supercriminals, she responded to the crisis like a costumed crimefighter rather than a costumed partygoer (Which Bruce Wayne did, seeing as he was in a clown outfit at the time), starting her journey to become a member of the Bat-Family.
* Happens once in a while in ''ComicBook/{{Diabolik}}''. In one occasion [[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist Ginko]] complained that the terrorists that were the villains of the story could have infiltrated it by just wearing a mask... And not only their leader ''does just that'', but ''[[VillainProtagonist Diabolik and Eva are there too]], wearing costumes over their [[LatexPerfection perfect masks]]''.
* ''Franchise/TheSmurfs'' hold various types of masquerade parties in the comic books, although in a one-page gag, most of the Smurfs end up going to one party as Papa Smurf, except for [[ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself one Smurf who seemingly went as himself]] -- only it turns out to be ''Papa Smurf in a costume''.
[[/folder]]

* Popular in MarySue and {{shipping}} {{FanFic}}s as it gives the writer an excuse to [[CostumePorn describe the gorgeous ball gowns]] that their female characters are wearing, a chance meeting with someone's MysteriousProtector, and, if the host/hostess hired a band, a scene where a character shows off their amazing singing abilities. The fact that MostFanficWritersAreGirls could be responsible for the first and second reasons.
** A common trend of this in ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' fanfics is to hold another Yule Ball (sans the Triwizard Tournament that it's supposed to go with).

The refinery on top of the sheer trope goldmine that is the Masquerade Ball is the convention of using aliases to go with the masks. Historically, that can free participants to indulge in era-appropriate 'scandalous' behaviors -- and also make a good opportunity for the uninvited to crash. Watch out for the mass robbery by the PhantomThief and ClassyCatBurglar, and hope there's a [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] SuperHero around somewhere. CharityBall often combines with the theft, to give the thiefs a good way to infiltrate.

* In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle go dancing at one organized by Miranda Tate.

* The first ''Film/ThePinkPanther'' film has one.

* The assassination of king Gustav III of Sweden occurred at a masquerade hosted by the King. The assassin was not recognised, but dropped his pistol at the scene and, thanks to some very fine detective work, the entire conspiracy was unearthed and the involved arrested within a week. The incident was used as a plot for two different operas ((see above)).

* Variation on the planet Adumar in the XWingSeries; the perator (king) of Cartann puts on a mask at royal balls which makes it socially acceptable for others to treat him as just another guest, even though everyone knows it's him.

* It happens twice in ''Radio/OurMissBrooks''
** In ''The Festival'', a masquerade festival is being held in a park near Madison High School.
** The masquerade in ''Cinderella for a Day'' is a swankier event, a dance held at the local country club.

* In ''Anime/UruseiYatsura'' the Mendo family has a masked ball every year. This is a rather psychotic pun as the word for "ball" (as in party) can also mean "combat challenge". Which is what it was - all the participants put on masks and attack each other, taking out their frustrations in anonymity. (Then the monk Cherry shows up, having mistaken the Japanese phrase "masked ball" for "grape harvest" and wants to pick grapes ... RumikoTakahashi likes puns.)

* The climax of the anime ''WolfsRain'' has the villainous [[AristocratsAreEvil Nobles]] gather to celebrate their slightly insane plan with such a party.

* In ''UruseiYatsura'' the Mendo family has a masked ball every year. This is a rather psychotic pun as the word for "ball" (as in party) can also mean "combat challenge". Which is what it was - all the participants put on masks and attack each other, taking out their frustrations in anonymity. (Then the monk Cherry shows up, having mistaken the Japanese phrase "masked ball" for "grape harvest" and wants to pick grapes ... RumikoTakahashi likes puns.)
* The second arc of ''VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'' ends with a demonic twist on one of these [[spoiler:celebrating the resurrection of the witch]]. Everyone except for Beato wears [[{{Mook}} goat head masks]]. The halls are decorated with [[ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth golden butterflies]]. [[ImAHumanitarian There is plenty to eat and drink.]]

* {{Vassalord}}: In vol. 4, [[spoiler: Rayflo sends Charlie a note to attend a masqueradeso they can meet up. They quote Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera at each other and eventually a fight between Barry and Charlie breaks out.]]

* In the ''Literature/ElementalMasters'' series book, ''Phoenix and Ashes'', which is based on ''((Literature/Cinderella}}'' there is a masquerade ball towards the end of the book. The heroine, Eleanor, attends costumed as a fairy princess. (Her stepsisters are dressed up as historical personages Empress Josephine and Madame de Pompadour, while her stepmother is the Queen of the Night from ''Theatre/TheMagicFlute''.

* The beginning of the climax of the sequel to {{Incarceron}}, ''Saphique'' takes place in a Masquerade Ball.

* ''RoseOfVersailles'' works at least one into the plot, with Marie Antoinette sneaking out of Versailles to attend one in the city where she meets Fersen, kicking off her major romantic subplot.

->Green and black,
->Queen and priest,
->Trace of rouge,
->Face of beast,
->Faces -
->Take your turn, take a ride
->on the merry-go-round
->in an inhuman race!

* Very obliquely mentioned in an excerpt from a scene of the eponymous BrownNote [[ShowWithinAShow playscript-within-the-book]] ''TheKingInYellow'':

[[folder:Film]]

* ''Film/SkyBlue'' has one of these at the very start; Shua sneaks into Ecoban wearing an appropriate mask.

The refinery on top of the sheer trope goldmine that is the Masquerade Ball is the convention of using aliases to go with the masks. Historically, that can free participants to indulge in era-appropriate 'scandalous' behaviors -- and also make a good opportunity for the uninvited to crash. Watch out for the mass robbery by the PhantomThief and ClassyCatBurglar, and hope there's a [[TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] SuperHero around somewhere. CharityBall often combines with the theft, to give the thiefs a good way to infiltrate.

* One of these happens at the end of the giant DisneyAnimatedCanon tribute-slash-{{Deconstruction}}-of-itself ''Film/{{Enchanted}}''.

* In happens twice in ''Radio/OurMissBrooks''