History Main / MasqueradeBall

* The current (so far only) major plot in ''Fanfic/TheStrexFamily'' is being set up by one of these.

** Referenced by [[theGrimReaper Death]] explaining why he appeared at a summoning ritual with a cocktail and a sausage-onna-stick.[[AC: "The party's nice, but I expect it'll all go downhill after midnight. It's when [[ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself they think I'll be taking my mask off.]]"]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Mirthworms}}: The plot to the 1987 special "A Mirthworm Masquerade". Bert Worm is planning to go with Crystal Crawler to a local masquerade ball; Bert's costume is a hat, cape, mask and sword. However, Bert's plans are disrupted by the villainous Wormaline Wiggler, who wants to use the ball to further her own power.

* ''Series/The100'' has a flashback where TheArk holds a masquerade party. Since Octavia had to keep her existence hidden from the rest of the Ark, this was the only occasion when she was able to leave her family's quarters and see the rest of the space station.
* ''Series/{{Alias}}'' brought the WigDressAccent to new levels by attending a modern retro masque party, where Sydney meets a NewOldFlame who's probably TheMole.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Robert mentions during their hunting trip that Renly likes to organize these.
* ''Series/GeneralHospital'' has an annual Nurses Ball, which is also used to spread awareness about HIV and AIDS.
* ''Series/GossipGirl'', being about rich socialite teens, has a GorgeousPeriodDress costume ball.
* One of these took place in season 2 of ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'' although most of the time the masks weren't worn anyway. However, a notable instance of when a mask ''was'' used was when Joy stole Nina's in order to trick Fabian into kissing her, as they were already [[DressesTheSame wearing the same dress]].
* In ''Series/KeepingUpAppearances'', Hyacinth wanted to go to the Lord Mayor's Fancy Dress Ball as Marie-Antoinette, but ended up with a Boudiccea costume instead.
* The second episode of ''Series/{{Leonardo}}'' season two is "The Betrothal Ball", set at the Medici's masquerade ball during Florence's Carnivale.
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'' has Cora meeting Prince Henry at one in "The Miller's Daughter".

* On ''Series/{{Revenge}}'', the Graysons hold an annual masquerade ball at Halloween. It's cancelled in the first season because of Daniel's legal troubles, but staged in the second season episode "Masquerade," with Emily manipulating Victoria into thinking her pre-Grayson son might be in attendance.
* Used in the Disney series ''Series/TheSwampFox''. Mary was arrested for treason and told she'd be released after attending one. Marion sneaks into the ball in a redcoat uniform and tries to sneak her out. They both get caught, although they both escape soon after.
* A black-and-white masque ball in an episode of ''Series/UglyBetty'' provides cover for on-the-lam Claire Meade to talk to her estranged husband again.
* Season 2's Masquerade in ''Series/TheVampireDiaries''.
* The ''Series/{{Zorro|1957}}'' episode "Masquerade for Murder" features a masquerade ball at the De la Vega hacienda. Although it's a pretext to have a masked assassin meddling with the guests and try to kill the governor. Naturally, Sergeant García confuses Zorro with a masked guest.

* The events of "[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8902209/1/Masquerade]]" happens during one. Despite the dance NOT turning into a bloody, horror one, the settings DO become quite creepy for this troper...

** in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E1TheMasqueOfMandragora The Masque of Mandragora]]", the [[MalevolentMaskedMen Cult of Demnos]] takes advantage of Giuliano's swanky ascension party to conceal themselves in Part 4.
A masquerade party also factors in "Black Orchid".
** And in the new series, the clockwork robots of "The Girl in the Fireplace" use masquerade masks as part of their period 18th-century disguise to hide their featureless mechanical heads.

* In ''Series/KeepingUpAppearances'', Hyacinth wanted to go to the Lord Mayor's Fancy Dress Ball as Marie-Antoinette, but ended up with a Boudiccea costume instead.
* Used in the Disney series "Series/TheSwampFox". Mary was arrested for treason and told she'd be released after attending one. Marion sneaks into the ball in a redcoat uniform and tries to sneak her out. They both get caught, although they both escape soon after.

* The second episode of ''Series/{{Leonardo}}'' season two is "The Betrothal Ball", set at the Medici's masquerade ball during Florence's Carnivale.
* One of these took place in season 2 of ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'' although most of the time the masks weren't worn anyway. However, a notable instance of when a mask ''was'' used was when Joy stole Nina's in order to trick Fabian into kissing her, as they were already [[DressesTheSame wearing the same dress]].
* On ''Series/{{Revenge}}'', the Graysons hold an annual masquerade ball at Halloween. It's cancelled in the first season because of Daniel's legal troubles, but staged in the second season episode "Masquerade," with Emily manipulating Victoria into thinking her pre-Grayson son might be in attendance.
* ''Series/The100'' has a flashback where TheArk holds a masquerade party. Since Octavia had to keep her existence hidden from the rest of the Ark, this was the only occasion when she was able to leave her family's quarters and see the rest of the space station.
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'' has Cora meeting Prince Henry at one in "The Miller's Daughter".

* A masquerade ball is the central setting for the Music/{{Rammstein}} video for "Du Riechst So Gut '98". All the band members, in the form of one werewolf (who continually shapeshifts between all six without anyone noticing), tracks a woman in a red dress to a masquerade ball, infiltrates them, seeking her out by scent (he/they sniffs various women's shoulders, searching for her), culminating in cornering her in a bedroom, for a fetish / horrific scene in which six wolf heads burst from his body as they kiss. The wolves escape as the partygoers try to catch them, and the woman is implied to have become a Werewolf as well.

* The video for Music/FlorenceAndTheMachine's "Shake It Out".
* The video for Music/PoetsOfTheFall's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE Daze]]," is set at a lavish party where Venetian-[[CoolMask masked]] attendees (band members among them) literally burn money, presided over by Hamartia, the MonsterClown jester-king. The plot kicks off when a female attendee decides to unmask and ghost, which [[TragicMistake Hamartia]] doesn't care for at all...
* In the video for Music/{{Avantasia}}'s "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w_58CQWHFQ Mystery Of A Blood Red Rose]]", a masquerade ball makes an appearance.

* Banquo's Mask in ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}} Magic Items 3'' is a mask that lets intangiable beings become tangiable. One of the vignettes features a ghost who uses it to attend a Masquerade Ball, only for his costume to collapse to the ground when the woman he's dancing with raises it to kiss him.

* ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' fall in love at the masque ball, not knowing that they're members of enemy families.

* Verdi's opera ''Un ballo in maschera'' is [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory very loosely based]] around the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden, who was shot during a masked ball.
** Francois Auber also wrote an {{Opera}} about the same incident, called ''Gustav le troisieme, ou le bal masque''

* The ''Theatre/MrsHawking'' play series: In the spinoff ''[[https://youtu.be/p5c6nddQ1dw Gentlemen Never Tell]]'', a masquerade ball is a centerpiece of the action. It's in fact an Englishman's version of what they imagine the Venetian tradition to be.

* Creator/{{Infocom}}'s third mystery, ''Suspect'', was set at a costume party. The hostess is murdered with part of the protagonist's costume, making the protagonist... well, as the title implies, the suspect.
* Lord Fain of ''VideoGame/{{Lusternia}}'' has an aesthetic that mixes Masquerade Ball and ChessMotifs. Appropriately, his appearance is an extended ShoutOut to "Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath", right down to his title ("The Crimson Masque") and his [[spoiler: [[NotAMask actual lack of a mask]]]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Morpheus}}'', the guests of the ''Herculania'' yacht had one, where Belle Swan performed "Salome's Seven Veils". Her daughter, Claire Moon tried to [[ThrowingOffTheDisability dance off her disease of polio]] after being healed by Jan Pharris' Neurographicon, but it only lasted for a few seconds. Then things went awry when Jan's [[NightmareFace ghoulish facial features]] reappeared.

VisualNovel/TheArcana: Before his death, [[TheCaligula Count Lucio]] would throw an extravagant Masquerade party every year for his own birthday, which any citizen in Vesuvia was permitted to attend. It was on the night of one such party, three years before the main story takes place, that Lucio was killed.

* The first arc of ''Webcomic/TheWolfAtWestonCourt'' focuses on Nova’s goal of sneaking into a masquerade ball and forcing Loup to make a dress for her.

* The episode "Heart of Tarkon" of ''[[WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers Galaxy Rangers]]'' has Doc crashing one of these and using the opportunity to turn on the charm with Maya. Maya is not fooled by his identity in the slightest, [[GiveGeeksAChance but is surprised at how charming he can be]].

Pratchett uses the same gag in the short story ''Turntables of the Night'' set at the modern-day, ultra-mundane version of the Masquerade Ball; a small town Hallowe'en disco.

* Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's "Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath". It ends badly when someone dressed as an incarnation of the titular disease turns out to be that incarnation and spreads it to the rest of the DeadlyDecadentCourt

* ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' has a masquerade scene where the Phantom tributes Poe's story.
* Very obliquely mentioned in an excerpt from a scene of the eponymous BrownNote [[ShowWithinAShow playscript-within-the-book]] ''Literature/TheKingInYellow'':
-->CAMILLA: You, sir, should unmask.\\
STRANGER: Indeed?\\
CASSILDA: Indeed it's time. We all have laid aside disguise but you.\\
STRANGER: [[NotAMask I wear no mask.]] \\
CAMILLA: ''(Terrified, aside to Cassilda.)'' No mask? No mask!

* The beginning of the climax of the sequel to Literature/{{Incarceron}}, ''Saphique'' takes place in a Masquerade Ball.
* Jacqueline Carey's ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'' books frequently feature elaborate masked balls, usually at the winter solstice; however, the trope is averted in that most people's identity isn't really concealed all that effectively. It's an effective plot device for forcing characters together, however.

* Many of the Franchise/{{Batman}} short story collections feature this. A few times Bruce Wayne shows up in a Batman costume. How silly!
* Creator/GKChesterton's ''Literature/TheManWhoWasThursday'' ends with one.
* ''Literature/TheReynardCycle'': The opening chapter of ''Reynard the Fox'' revolves around the titular character taking advantage of a masked ball in order to commit his latest heist. In a nod towards the series' [[BeastFable origins]] all of the guests are dressed in costumes that resemble the animals of their heraldry (Lord Chanticleer, for instance, is dressed up as a bantam rooster.)
* The climax of the first book of the ''Swan's War'' trilogy is a masked ball with such an abundance of plotting, provocation, and foreshadowing that it defines the evenings of both following books.
* In Phillipa Gregory's "Literature/TheOtherBoleynGirl" Mary Boleyn flirts with Henry the VIII at a masquerade in his court.
* [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]] gets invited to a vampire masquerade ball in the third book. It's a trap, of course, and he knows it. So he declares his opinion on the subject by showing up in the cheesiest vampire costume ever.
* German author Spoerl once had a ball in one of his stories. The narrator/protagonist meets a girl there and wants to get closer. But when midnight is near, she suddenly wants to leave. He doesn't want to let her go, follows her, and takes off her mask. To see to his shock that she has a disfigured face. She explains that she never meets other people except at Masquerade Balls, once a year. Yes, it's pretty much a TearJerker.
* Variation on the planet Adumar in the Literature/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.
* Creator/AgathaChristie uses a masquerade ball as the starting place for a murder in the "Finessing the King"/"The Gentleman Dressed in Newspaper" two-part story in ''[[Literature/TommyAndTuppence Partners in Crime]]''.

* In ''Literature/TheFolkKeeper'', everyone dresses in costume for the Midsummer Festival. Corinna, as a nod to her MagicHair, dresses as [[Literature/SamsonAndDelilah Samson]].
* The party at Lady Simtal's estate in ''Literature/GardensOfTheMoon'' is one of these. Most people seem to choose masks based on desired personality traits. Councilman Turban Orr, for example, wears a tiger mask.
* Some, but not all, of the guests in ''The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper Feast'' by Alan Aldridge and William Plomer attend the ball in masks. These include a fox in a [[CommediaDellArte Punchinello]] costume, a snail who wears a bright smiling mask [[ShyShelledAnimal to hide his shyness]], and another fox who is wearing a rabbit mask and sitting with a rabbit in a fox mask.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Robert mentions during their hunting trip that Renly likes to organize these.
* ''Series/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.

* A black-and-white masque ball in an episode of ''Series/UglyBetty'' provides cover for on-the-lam Claire Meade to talk to her estranged husband again.

* American Soap Operas usually have at least one every year. Someone usually gets killed.
** ''Series/GeneralHospital'' has an annual Nurses Ball, which is also used to spread awareness about HIV and AIDS.
* The climax of the classic ''Series/DoctorWho'' story "The Masque of Mandragora" has one of these. A masquerade party also factors in "Black Orchid".
** And in the new series, the clockwork robots of "The Girl in the Fireplace" use masquerade masks as part of their period 18th-century disguise to hide their featureless mechanical heads.

* ''Anime/WolfsRain'': The climax has the villainous [[AristocratsAreEvil Nobles]] gather to celebrate their slightly insane plan with such a party.
* In ''Manga/VampireKnight'', a Masquerade ball is held in Chapter 87 of the manga, with Zero and Yuki sharing a masks-on kiss, away from the crowd. You'd expect these types of scenarios in a world filled with aristocratic bishonen and bishoujo vampires having a social structure heavily resembling a monarchy.

* The second arc of ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' 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.]]
* ''Manga/TheRoseOfVersailles'' 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.

* ''Anime/LupinIIIDragonOfDoom'' features one hosted by Chin Chin Chow on his luxury cruise ship. Lupin and Jigen (dressed up as a vampire and a werewolf respectively) managed to attend the ball through forged invitation cards, whilst Fujiko (dressed as a cowgirl) really was invited.
* In ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'', Albert and Irene meet at one of these in ''The Scandal in the British Empire'' to converse discreetly and share information, while showcasing the excesses of the aristocracy.

* 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.

* ''ComicBook/SensationComics'': The first time Countess Draska Nishki shows up she throws a Masquerade Ball which ComicBook/SteveTrevor is instructed to attend to act as a {{honey pot}} even though Steve already knows Nishki is expecting him. The Holliday Girls attend the party as well and one of them dresses as Franchise/WonderWoman and ends up mistaken for the real thing when she's spotted helping a drugged Steve escape.

* ''ComicStrip/ModestyBlaise'': In "Our Friend Maude", Modesty and Willie take advantage of an 18th century themed masquerade ball being held by a group of arms dealers to spy on them. They have to improvise madly to come up with costumes and invitations in time.

* The current (so far only) major plot in Fanfic/TheStrexFamily is being set up by one of these.
* 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).

* ''Film/LoveMeTonight:'' Maurice, a tailor mistaken for royalty, [[ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself wears his everyday clothes]] as a costume.

* At least one Cinderella adaptation makes the Prince's ball a masquerade, making the whole "find her by her shoe size!" idea seem slightly less silly.
%%** If you're referring to the Hilary Duff movie, it still seems pretty obvious who everyone is under the masks.
%%** It also happened in a Muppet version.
%%** In ''Film/EverAfter'', it is a masked ball, but the Prince doesn't use the shoe to find her anyway.
* In ''Film/ZorroTheGayBlade'', the governor holds a Masquerade Ball. Zorro shows up ([[ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself in costume]]) and is unmasked as Don Diego, but then ''all'' the other male guests show up, also dressed as Zorro.
* ''Film/BatmanReturns'' has a costume Christmas party, where everyone wears a costume except, of course, Batman and Catwoman -- for whom their civilian identities ''are'' their costumes.
%%* ''Film/ThePinkPanther1963'' has one.
* In ''Film/{{Amadeus}}'', Salieri follows Mozart to a masked ball, at which Mozart ridicules Salieri to the delight of the crowd.

* In creepy parallel to Judge Turpin above, ''Film/RevengeOfTheNerds'' has the lead nerd use his college-fair [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]] costume to trick the heroine into sex.
* The film ''Film/StartTheRevolutionWithoutMe'' (a humorous account of the French Revolution) has a hilarious send-up of this type of party. Even though it's technically not a Masquerade Ball, everyone still wears elaborate court dress--except for King Louis the XVI, who arrives in an elaborate chicken costume. (Apparently his devious wife told him it was [[ItsACostumePartyISwear supposed to be a costume ball]] and then "changed her mind" without telling him.) There's also plenty of intrigue, spying, and backstabbing going on as the ball patrons exchange secret notes with each other--so many notes in fact, that the ''entire floor'' gets covered with them.
* ''Film/VanHelsing'': Dracula stages one of these with Anna Valerious as his unwilling date and inviting Van Helsing to come and rescue her. For added creepiness the ballroom is lined with mirrors that [[MissingReflection reveal]] Anna is the ''only'' human in the crowded room.

* In ''Film/{{Brick}}'', Laura holds a "Halloween in January," party.
* In ''Ridicule'', a scorned lover attempts sabotage at an elegant costume ball in pre-Revolutionary France.
* Marie-Antoinette, her husband, and her two favorite ladies sneak out of Versailles to attend a masked ball in Paris in Sofia Coppola's ''Film/MarieAntoinette.''
* In ''Film/TerrorTrain'', there's a masquerade party held in the titular vehicle, providing plenty of disguises for the killer.
* In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle go dancing at one organized by Miranda Tate. [[spoiler:RuleOfSymbolism applies, as both Miranda and Selina are wearing masks, symbolizing their ambiguous role.]] Bruce Wayne isn't wearing a mask...except he is: that of "Bruce Wayne, Eccentric Billionaire", a mask for his true nature as Batman.
* ''Film/MadamSatan'': Jimmy stages an elaborate one on his blimp, which allows Angela to seduce her husband Bob in her "Madam Satan" disguise.
* ''Film/{{Rags}}'': Majesty Records holds a masquerade ball in celebration of a talent search. Charlie has to attend it in secret after his stepfamily steal his invitation, and gets in and out undetected with a hat and mask.

* Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's "Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath". It ends badly when someone dressed as an incarnation of the titular disease turns out to be that incarnation and spreads it to the rest of the DeadlyDecadentCourt

%%Pratchett uses the same gag in the short story ''Turntables of the Night'' set at the modern-day, ultra-mundane version of the Masquerade Ball; a small town Hallowe'en disco.

* In ''Anime/TheBigO'', Schwarzwald rigged it so that the masks would eventually explode. Damn.
** He didn't end up the NietzscheWannabe posterchild for nothing.
* The climax of ''Anime/WolfsRain'' has the villainous [[AristocratsAreEvil Nobles]] gather to celebrate their slightly insane plan with such a party.

* 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 ... Creator/RumikoTakahashi likes puns.)

* [[ComicBook/{{Oracle}} 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.

* The events of "Masquerade"[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8902209/1/Masquerade]] happens during one. Despite the dance NOT turning into a bloody, horror one, the settings DO become quite creepy for this troper...

* 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.

* Happens in ''Film/VanHelsing''.

** If you're referring to the Hilary Duff movie, it still seems pretty obvious who everyone is under the masks.
** It also happened in a Muppet version.
** In ''Film/EverAfter'', it is a masked ball, but the Prince doesn't use the shoe to find her anyway.

* Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's "Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath". It ends badly.
* Referenced by TheGrimReaper in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', explaining why he appeared at a summoning ritual with a cocktail and a sausage-onna-stick.[[AC: "The party's nice, but I expect it'll all go downhill after midnight. It's when [[ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself they think I'll be taking my mask off.]]"]]
** ''Literature/WitchesAbroad'' also includes Death apparently wearing a carnival mask, and in ''Literature/{{Maskerade}}'' he actually does (along with the full ''Red Death'' ensemble), with the shock coming when he ''does'' take it off. Pratchett uses the same gag in the short story ''Turntables of the Night'' set at the modern-day, ultra-mundane version of the Masquerade Ball; a small town Hallowe'en disco.

* In the Literature/{{Discworld}} novel ''Literature/WitchesAbroad'', the story of [[strike:Cinderella]] Emberella is done at a masquerade ball. The Witches use this to switch the poor scullery girl with one of their own.
** Just how they managed to change the very dark-skinned Emberella to pale Magrat [[FridgeLogic is never explained.]]
*** Well, the point is that nobody knows who it is - the herald who was carefully coached to announce "Mysterious and Beautiful Stranger" probably wasn't ''told'' "It'll actually be Ella from the kitchens, who's really the Baron's daughter".

A popular 19th century setting, due to, as Wiki/TheOtherWiki puts it, "both to their popularity at the time and to their endless supply of plot devices." To wit: Mistaken identities, untraceable murderers, believing something is AllPartOfTheShow, a normally-costumed character hiding in [[ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself plain sight]], (or mocked for their [[YourCostumeNeedsWork poor quality costume]]) and one of the attendees' masks being revealed to be their ''[[NotAMask actual face]]''. [[DeadlyDecadentCourt A court is a... difficult place.]]

* The ''Series/{{Zorro}}'' episode "Masquerade for Murder" features a masquerade ball at the De La Vega hacienda. Although it's a pretext to have a masked assassin meddling with the guests and try to kill the governor. Naturally, Sergeant García confuses Zorro with a masked guest.

* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': Martellus throws a party in Paris to announce himself as Storm King and Colette is able to convince him and his sister to make it a masquerade which makes it very easy for Tarvek to be at the party without being recognized and killed by Martellus, or any of the other many attendees who would likely try.

* ''Manga/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.

[[folder: Visual Novels]]

* 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).

For really grand scale masquerades, the writers may include festitivities where the entire city [[GorgeousPeriodDress dresses up in grand costumes]], a la Carnival/Mardi Gras. Which maximizes the chance for confusion and mingling with people one would normally never know. Hard to avoid in [[ItsAlwaysMardiGrasInNewOrleans New Orleans]] and Venice.

* In ''Manga/VampireKnight'', a Masquerade ball is held in Chapter 87 of the manga, with Zero and Yuki sharing a masks-on kiss, away from the crowd. You'd expect these types of scenarios in a world filled with aristocratic, bishonen and bishoujo vampires having a social structure heavily resembling a monarchy.

* ''Manga/{{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.]]

* 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''.

* The film ''Film/StartTheRevolutionWithoutMe'' (a humorous account of the French Revolution) has a hilarious send-up of this type of party. Even though it's technically not a Masquerade Ball, everyone still wears elaborate court dress--except for King Louis the XVI, who arrives in an elaborate chicken costume. (Apparently his devious wife told him it was [[ItsACostumePartyISwear supposed to be a costume ball]] and then "changed her mind" without telling him.) There's also plenty of intrigue, spying and backstabbing going on as the ball patrons exchange secret notes with each other--so many notes in fact, that the ''entire floor'' gets covered with them.

* The {{climax}} of Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''Film/ToCatchAThief'' is set at a ball, where people wear lavish costumes fom the era of Louis XV.

* In ''Ridicule'', a scorned lover attempts sabatoge at an elegant costume ball in pre-Revolutionary France.

* In ''Literature/EllaEnchanted'', the ball at the end is a masked affair, which is convenient for Ella since in this Cinderella retelling the prince already knows her well enough to recognise her unmasked (not to mention her stepfamily). In this case, most of the guests don't wait until the end of the night to unmask, since the event is about introducing the prince to eligible young ladies, and said young ladies want the prince to be able to see how beatiful they are.

* Creator/JohnCWright's ''[[Literature/TheGoldenOecumene The Golden Age]]'' opens with a masquerade season to celebrate a once-in-a-millenium holiday.

* The climax of the first book of the ''Swan's War'' trilogy is a mask ball with such an abundance of plotting, provocation and foreshadowing that it defines the evenings of both following books.

* German author Spoerl once had a ball in one of his stories. The narrator/protagonist meets a girl there and wants to get closer. But when midnight is near, she suddenly wants to leave. He doesn't want to let her go, follows her and takes off her mask. To see to his shock that she has a disfigured face. She explains that she never meets other people except on Masquerade Balls, once a year. Yes, it's pretty much a TearJerker.

* One of these took place in season 2 of ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'' although most of the time the masks weren't worn anyways. However, a notable instance of when a mask ''was'' used was when Joy stole Nina's in order to trick Fabian into kissing her, as they were already [[DressesTheSame wearing the same dress]].

* A masquerade ball is the central setting for the Music/{{Rammstein}} video for "Du Riechst So Gut '98". All the band members, in the form of one werewolf (who continually shapeshifts between all six without anyone noticing) tracks a woman in a red dress to a masquerade ball, infiltrates them, seeking her out by scent (he/they sniffs various women's shoulders, searching for her), culminating in cornering her in a bedroom, for a fetish / horrific scene in which six wolf heads burst from his body as they kiss. The wolves escape as the partygoers try to catch them, and the woman is implied to have become a Werewolf as well.

* One of the worlds the ''Podcast/{{Sequinox}}'' girls are sent to in the Gemini Arc is based off of Venice Carnivale, where everyone is wearing feathered masks like Vivaldi's.

* An episode of the first ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' cartoon revolves around a high-class masquerade ball April attends (and looks [[SheCleansUpNicely shockingly stunning]] in her evening gown). She brings the Turtles with her, thinking it'd be fun and ironic. Over the course of the episode she is [[MistakenIdentity mistaken]] for a similarly-dressed European princess and kidnapped, and when security orders everyone to take off their masks, the Turtles are in an obvious bind.

* One of these took place in season 2 of ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'' although most of the time the masks weren't worn anyways. However, a notable instance of when a mask ''was'' used was when Joy stole Nina's in order to trick Fabian into kissing her, as they were already [[DressTheSame wearing the same dress]].

* One of these took place in season 2 of ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'' although most of the time the masks weren't worn anyways.