History SoYouWantTo / WriteABelievableMasquerade

** This has the advantage keeping the world-building simple, and works well when magicals are on the bottom end of the [[SuperWeight super weight class]].

*** Of course, a clever writer might use this as an advantage. Someone who actively tries to help people, despite the risks, could be portrayed as being even more heroic. After all, what makes Franchise/SpiderMan such a beloved character is that he helps people despite the personal costs to himself.

* '''The amount of people with magic blood''': It sounds really nice if you say "only one percent of population has magic". However, you need to remember that there are 7.4 ''billion'' people in the world, and one percent of that is 74 million people. For the record, that's more than the entire population of Great Britain. It's pretty much impossible to keep this many people hidden from the outside world, so think about how many people your masquerade encompasses.

** The anime & rpg ''Anime/{{Night Wizard}}'' has the World Barrier, which destroys anything witnessed by normal mortals does not conform to the “proper appearance of the Earth” (i.e. what is considered normal).

* 3) A CleanupCrew or some Ret-Gone effect that erases evidence. Briefly, this is some organization or force that [[ItWasHereISwear erases any physical evidence and records]] and [[DisposingofaBody any corposes]], that either [[LaserGuidedAmnesia erases memories of the supernatural]] or [[FakeMemories implants false memories that convinces observers that only mundane events occur]] and by providing a plausible cover-up. In most settings, there is the possibility that the [[BrokenMasquerade Masquerade might temporarily break]], like in stories where there is a WelcomedToTheMasquerade. So there needs to be someone to seal the breach and punish anyone responsible. Examples include:

** The World Barrier from ''Anime/NightWizard'' has the power to alter memeories, modify physical records, and even undo physical harm or death, in order to preserve what is considered to be normal.

** However, a mere assertion will seem to be an abritrary cop-out, as it doesn't answer the question of why in the first place. Besides, you still have to establish the limitations and exceptions of that inherent visibility.

* '''How do you cover up public displays of the supernatural?''' Slip-ups ''are'' going to happen, no matter how hard you try, so what does the damage control look like? What do you do when a man changing into werewolf is captured by someone's camera and the video posted on Youtube? How do you hide a wizard battle in streets of a big city? What do you do when an aerial battle gone wrong knocks a top off a skyscraper? This is especially important if your story takes place in twenty-first century, when almost everyone carries a camera with Internet access in their pockets. If there's a video on Youtube, by the time you take it down, there could be dozens of copies and stills from it circulating the Internet. If you wipe somebody's mind after you accidentally throw a fireball in front of a witness, there's a chance they've tweeted about it already. And what about CCTV cameras, or satellite surveillance?

** A "Glitch in the Matrix" triggered by the machine masters of the Matrix in the 1999 film ''Film/TheMatrix'', which erases

** The World Barrier from ''Anime/{{Night Wizard}}'' has the power to alter memeories, modify physical records, and even undo physical harm or death, in order to preserve what is considered to be normal.

!!Key Elements
A successful Masquerade often features 3 key elements:

* 1) A MasqueradeEnforcer. Briefly, this is a permanent feature of the setting (usually a force of nature or some godlike entity) that punishes or traumatizes any "unnatural" creature that may be observable to humans, forcing said "unnatural" creatures to disguise themselves from humanity. This force often also destroys any evidence of magic. Examples include:

* 2) Something that makes magic InvisibleToNormals. Briefly, a permanent feature of the setting causes the supernatural creatures to be completely unobservable to humans in the first place without some supernatural power of their own. Examples of:

* 3) A CleanupCrew or some Ret-Gone effect that erases evidence. In most settings, there is the possibility that the [[BrokenMasquerade Masquerade might temporarily break]], like in stories where there is a WelcomedToTheMasquerade. So there needs to be someone to seal the breach and punish anyone responsible. Briefly, this is some organization or force that [[ItWasHereISwear erases any physical evidence and records]] and [[DisposingofaBody any corposes]], that either [[LaserGuidedAmnesia erases memories of the supernatural]] or [[FakeMemories implants false memories that convinces observers that only mundane events occur]] and by providing a plausible cover-up. Examples include: