History PlayingWith / Masquerade

** The vampires are openly known to exist among [[AncientConspiracy players of true power]] and trade favors with one another. Nobody who is 'sufficiently pragmatic' gets filled in to try to prevent any true believers from bringing their system down.

** Despite the setting being a veritable FantasyKitchenSink there is a masquerade to cover up the [[PuzzlingPlatypus platypus's existence]] as TheWorldIsNotReady. In spite of far more bizarre creatures already known to exist.

* '''Downplayed''': The vampires are only hidden from those whom they think will work against them. A lot of people still know they exist, even if they don't openly talk about it.

* '''Reconstructed''': The masquerade exists for the benefit of the supernatural world, who are terrified of humans hunting them down. They'd rather live inside a prison of secrecy than risk what might happen if their existence was made public.

'''Basic Trope''': The existence of the supernatural is hidden from normal people.

* '''Justified''': The last time someone found out that vampires existed, [[VanHelsingHateCrimes they set out to hunt them down.]] The vampires aren't eager to repeat this.

** Everyone is aware of the existence of vampires except [[TomatoInTheMirror the vampires themselves,]] who are kept in the dark of their true nature.

** It seems as if nobody knows the vampires exist, but it then turns out that [[EverybodyKnewAlready everybody knows,]] but prefers not to talk about it due to a series of bloody conflicts in the past.
** It turns out that [[DoingInTheWizard vampires don't really exist.]]
** After many centuries of hiding in the shadows, [[TheUnmasquedWorld the existence of vampires are finally revealed to humans.]]

** There seems to be a vampire masquerade, but it turns out vampires don't exist... [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves, however]], ''do'' exist, and ''theirs'' is the true masquerade.

** The vampires' refusal to show themselves to humans is a sign of their [[FantasticRacism elitism and snobbery - they see themselves as better than typical humans.]] This leads them to refuse to ask for human help when crisis strikes them all, and they suffer greatly because they will not let themselves integrate into the thriving normal society.

** The masquerade is actually bad for humanity since it prevents them from knowing how to protect themselves from supernatural threats and prevents any checks on the power of whoever is keeping the supernatural a secret. Those who are in the know have an effective monopoly over all interaction between the human and supernatural world, which not only lacks any form of transparency but also restricts any scientific or economic benefits humans may gain.
** The development of information technology, such as the Internet and surveillance, breaks the masquerade since there is no way to keep anything a secret anymore.

Back to {{Masquerade}}

** TheMenInBlack make hilariously weak, pathetic, and half-hearted attempts at hiding the paranormal from the general public.
** Vampires look absolutely nothing like humans, [[PaperThinDisguise but continue pretending to be human]] in normal society while [[MostDefinitivelyNotAVillain enthusiastically stating at every opportunity]] that they [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial are absolutely not vampires at all]].

* '''Justified''': The last time someone found out that vampires existed, [[VanHelsingHateCrimesvthey set out to hunt them down.]] The vampires aren't eager to repeat this.

* '''Straight''': Vampires exist, but they keep their identity secret from humans.
* '''Exaggerated''': 90% of the population consists of vampires, and the human 10% is still kept in the dark about it.

* '''Justified''': The last time someone found out that vampires existed, they set out to hunt them down. The vampires aren't eager to repeat this.

** Everyone is aware of the existence of vampires except the vampires themselves, who are kept in the dark of their true nature.

** It seems as if nobody knows the vampires exist, but it then turns out that everybody knows, but prefers not to talk about it due to a series of bloody conflicts in the past.
** It turns out that vampires don't really exist.
** After many centuries of hiding in the shadows, [[TheUnmasquedWorld the existence of vampires are finally revealed to humans]].

** Vampires look absolutely nothing like humans, [[PaperThinDisguise but continue pretending to be human]] in normal society while enthusiastically stating at every opportunity that they [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial are absolutely not vampires at all]].

* '''Invoked''': As Bob and his vampire family move into a new town, Bob insists that this time, they aren't letting anyone know about their supernatural status, because past experiences have been largely negative.
* '''Exploited''': Alice, a human, realizes that if there were vampires, they probably wouldn't let humans know about it, so she makes sure to vampire-proof her house just in case.

* '''Conversed''': "I swear, half of the episodes' plots could be resolved if the vampires would just man up and reveal themselves to the townspeople!"

** The vampires' refusal to show themselves to humans is a sign of their elitism and snobbery - they see themselves as better than typical humans. This leads them to refuse to ask for human help when crisis strikes them all, and they suffer greatly because they will not let themselves integrate into the thriving normal society.
** A vampire breaks the masquerade, and the resulting consequences are significantly worse than the sacrifices made to uphold it.

* '''Parodied''': Vampires look absolutely nothing like humans, but continue pretending to be human in normal society while enthusiastically stating at every opportunity that they [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial are absolutely not vampires at all]].

** The development of information technology, such as the Internet and sousvellience, breaks the masquerade since there is no way to keep anything a secret anymore.

* "'Reconstructed'": The masquerade exists for the benefit of the supernatural world, who are terrified of humans hunting them down. They'd rather live inside a prison of secrecy than risk what might happen if their existance was made public.

%%* '''Reconstructed''' : ???

* '''Reconstructed:'''

* '''Deconstructed''': The vampires' refusal to show themselves to humans is a sign of their elitism and snobbery - they see themselves as better than typical humans. This leads them to refuse to ask for human help when crisis strikes them all, and they suffer greatly because they will not let themselves integrate into the thriving normal society.
* '''Reconstructed:''' A vampire breaks the masquerade, and the resulting consequences are significantly worse than the sacrifices made to uphold it.

** Everyone is aware of the existence of vampires except the vampires themselves, who are kept in the dark of there true nature.

* '''Averted''': Vampires exist, and the humans know it.

* '''Zig Zagged''': No human knows that the vampires exist... until we meet Alice. Then, however, it turns out that Alice is completely delusional, and although she thinks there are vampires, her beliefs are completely unfounded. Until we find out about the second group of vampires that exactly matches Alice's descriptions, of course. Then, however, it turns out that these vampires are actually just humans pretending to have supernatural powers.

%%* '''Reconstructed''': ???

* '''Inverted''': Normal, non-powered humans keep their existence a secret among a vampire society.

%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???
%%* '''Played For Laughs''': ???

* '''Subverted''': It seems as if nobody knows the vampires exist, but it then turns out that everybody knows, but prefers not to talk about it due to a series of bloody conflicts in the past.
** Or it turns out that vampires don't really exist.
* '''Double Subverted''': ...Until their [[LaserGuidedAmnesia memories were wiped]] to prevent the conflict from reappearing, and the vampires continued living in secrecy.

*** Alternately, there seems to be a vampire masquerade, but it turns out vampires don't exist... [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves, however]], ''do'' exist, and ''theirs'' is the true masquerade.