History Main / MasqueradeBall

* As if you needed any more cues that the [[HornedHumanoid Boazanians]] from ''Anime/VoltesV'' are a FantasyCounterpartCulture to UsefulNotes/{{France}}, in General Dange's flashback, the nobles are shown having a MasqueradeBall, while the commoners are excluded and forced to do hard labour.

* ''Anime/IsabelleOfParis'' begins wirth Isabelle preparing for one, as in French society it's customary for every woman to debut at one.

* As if you needed any more cues that the [[HornedHumanoid Boazanians]] from ''Anime/VoltesV'' are a FantasyCounterpartCulture to UsefulNotes/{{France}}, in General Dange's flashback, the nobles are shown having a MasqueradeBall while the poorer ones are excluded.

* ''Anime/IsabelleOfParis'' begins wirth Isabelle preparing for one, and everyone reacts as if she's a HeadTurningBeauty.
* Frequent in ''Anime/LaSeineNoHoshi'', which takes place during UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution, particularly Marie Antoinette.

* ''Fanfic/TheFundamentalEssenceOfVillainy'': ''Masquerade'', [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin as the title would suggest]], takes place at a charity masquerade ball.

* The first arc in the webcomic ''webcomic/ILoveYoo'' is a masquerade ball.

A popular 19th century setting, due to, as Website/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]]''. [[DecadentCourt A court is a... difficult place.]]

* ''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.

* ''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 dealer}}s to spy on them. They have to improvise madly to come up with costumes and invitations in time.

* In ''Film/{{Brick}}'', Laura holds a "Halloween in January," party.

* ''Film/{{Rags}}'': Majesty Records holds a masquerade ball in celebration of a talent search. Charlie has to attend it in secret after his step-family steal his invitation, and gets in and out undetected with a hat and mask.

* ''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.

** 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.]]"]]

* ''Literature/TheOtherBoleynGirl'': Mary Boleyn flirts with Henry the VIII at a masquerade in his court.

* ''Turntables of the Night'': Creator/TerryPratchett does a take on "Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath" in this short story, set at the modern-day ultra-mundane version of the Masquerade Ball; a small town Hallowe'en disco. Everything goes well at first, everyone dancing around in stupid masks and costumes, until a man in a black rhinestone suit, platform shoes and a skeleton mask arrives...

* ''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.

* One Republic's video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrOeGCJdZe4&ob=av2e All the Right Moves]]" feature a masquerade ball of Edwardian style - complete with a thieving rat.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'', one of the missions takes place in a masquerade ball party. You can, if choose to do so, [[ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself infiltrate as a guest with your own mask]], widely known as a famous assassin's icon, though this will be seen as a flashy and provocative innocent costume.

* ''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.

* The assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden occurred at a masquerade hosted by the King. The assassin was not recognized, 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).

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

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': In the Season 1 finale, Lestat de Lioncourt (and to a lesser extent Louis de Pointe du Lac and Claudia) organizes a Mardi Gras ball. Most of the guests are the elite of New Orleans, and they're decked out in lavish costumes and masks.

* Many of the ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' short story collections feature this. A few times Bruce Wayne shows up in a Batman costume. How silly!
* Some, but not all, of the guests in ''Literature/TheButterflyBallAndTheGrasshoppersFeast'' 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.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''

* 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 beautiful they are.
* 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.
* Creator/JohnCWright's ''[[Literature/TheGoldenOecumene The Golden Age]]'' opens with a masquerade season to celebrate a once-in-a-millennium holiday.
* In the ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' series, Queen Selenay, partly as a way to see if Prince Thanel of Rethwellan is truly serious about her, holds a masquerade party after the year of mourning for her father is up. She and her eleven ladies-in-waiting dress up as the identical-looking Moon Maidens from Rethwellan legend. Thanel, who is costumed as the Moon Prince, is able to pick Selenay out due to the rose she was wearing at her belt and proposes marriage, which she happily accepts and the two announce their betrothal at the time of unmasking. Too bad things went downhill after the wedding.
* The beginning of the climax of the sequel to ''Literature/{{Incarceron}}'', ''Saphique'' takes place in a Masquerade Ball.
* Very obliquely mentioned in an excerpt from a scene of the eponymous BrownNote [[ShowWithinAShow playscript-within-the-book]] ''Literature/TheKingInYellow'':

* 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.
* Creator/GKChesterton's ''Literature/TheManWhoWasThursday'' ends with one.
* Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's "Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath". It ends badly when someone dressed as an incarnation of the eponymous disease turns out to be that incarnation and spreads it to the rest of the DeadlyDecadentCourt.
* In Phillipa Gregory's "Literature/TheOtherBoleynGirl" Mary Boleyn flirts with Henry the VIII at a masquerade in his court.
* 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/PartnersInCrime''.
* ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' has a masquerade scene where the Phantom tributes Poe's story.
* In ''Literature/PhoenixAndAshes'', 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''.)

* Masquerades pop up occasionally in ''Literature/TheRoyalDiaries'':

* 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.
* 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.
* Creator/TerryPratchett does a take on "Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath" in the short story "Literature/TurntablesOfTheNight" set at the modern-day, ultra-mundane version of the Masquerade Ball; a small town Hallowe'en disco. Everything goes well at first, everyone dancing around in stupid masks and costumes, until a man in a black rhinestone suit, platform shoes and a skeleton mask arrives...
* 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.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': In the Season 1 finale, Lestat de Lioncourt (and to a lesser extent Louis de Pointe du Lac and Claudia) organizes a Mardi Gras ball. Most of the guests are the elite of New Orleans, and they're decked in lavish costumes and masks.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': In the Season 1 finale, Lestat de Lioncourt (and to a lesser extent Louis de Pointe du Lac and Claudia) organize a Mardi Gras ball. Most of the guests are the elite of New Orleans, and they're decked in lavish costumes and masks.

* In ''Film/{{Cruella}}'', the Baroness has a fondness for hosting masked balls. Cruella first announces her presence on the fashion scene bu crashing the Baroness' Black & White Ball wearing a gown of vivid red.

* 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.

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]]''. [[DecadentCourt A court is a... difficult place.]]

* ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' has one turned UpToEleven - the song is simply called "Masquerade," and gets used repeatedly throughout the remainder of the play.

* 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]]''.

* Creator/TerryPratchett does a take on "Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath" 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. Everything goes well at first, everyone dancing around in stupid masks and costumes, until a man in a black rhinestone suit, platform shoes and a skeleton mask arrives...

* 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.

* Creator/Terry Pratchett does a take on "Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath" in the short story "Literature/{{Turntables of the Night}}" set at the modern-day, ultra-mundane version of the Masquerade Ball; a small town Hallowe'en disco. Everything goes well at first, everyone dancing around in stupid masks and costumes, until a man in a black rhinestone suit, platform shoes and a skeleton mask arrives...

* Creator/{{Infocom}}'s third mystery, ''VideoGame/{{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.

* 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.''