History StepfordSmiler / FanWorks

* ''Fanfic/DannyPhantomStranded'': It's heavily implied "Dressed" that Stella Bevier secretly isn't very happy and may regret her past life choices. She clearly feels guilty over leaving her first family and has been trying to reconnect with her daughter Star and earn her forgiveness. When Star joins a beauty pageant, Stella is excited and uses this as a chance to bond with her and to reconnect with her (in addition to her own love for pageants) but comes off as very pushy and controlling about it, which pushes Star further away and causes her to lash out at Stella (partially due to Spectra's influence). Star lashes out for her mother's past mistakes, leaving Stella heartbroken and ashamed. However, both Danny and even her ex-husband try to comfort her and convince her that Star does not mean it, that she was just under a lot of stress and did not think about what she said. Stella, however, is still sad and bitter about the consequences of her mistakes.
** Later, when Johnathan tries and comfort her, Stella remembers how happy she was with him, and to her shock, she wonders why she felt that since she believes that she should be happy with her current husband.
** Later, Spectra reveals to Star and the rest of Team Phantom that Stella is miserable deep down and has many regrets about her life and her choices. Spectra also hints that Stella might be aware that her new husband and step-daughter are horrible people but is in complete denial about it. Stella is also very insecure about her flaws, and she isn't even sure if Jean-Luc is faithful to her or not and that she may be aware that Colette doesn't truly love her deep down and only sees her as a means to an end.

* ''Fanfic/FallenAngel'' depicts Amy's friendly and perky attitude as a way to mask her loneliness and insecurities.

* In the fanfiction ''Fanfic/{{Composure}}'', [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Princess Celestia]] is so trapped in her own image of composed benevolence that she breaks when Luna attempts to get her to acknowledge her feelings, releasing a millennium worth of repressed emotions all at once.
%%* [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Pinkie Pie]] can appear anywhere on the spectrum in fanfics. In ''Fanfic/ThePartyNeverEnded'', Pinkie Pie is Depressed, as she breaks under her GenkiGirl cover as she dreads over her love for Rainbow Dash. As for ''Fanfic/CupcakesSergeantSprinkles'', well, let's say she's Unstable and leave it at that.
* [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Rarity]] is Unstable in ''Fanfic/TheKillerRarityverse'' fic ''The Secret life of Rarity'', in which she maintains her social life over a period of 16 years in which she murders over 100 ponies/other races. She starts to slip towards the end, leading to her confrontation by Applejack.

!! Female Examples

%%[[AC: ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'']]

[[AC: ''Anime/CodeGeass'']]

[[AC: CrossOver]]

[[AC: Literature/{{Discworld}}]]

[[AC: ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'']]

[[AC: ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'']]

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'']]

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'']]

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'']]

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'']]

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'']]

[[AC: ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'']]

[[AC: ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'']]

[[AC: ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'']]

%%[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'']]

[[AC: Unsorted]]

!! Male Examples

[[AC: ''Anime/CodeGeass'']]

[[AC: {{Crossover}}s]]

[[AC: ''Manga/DeathNote'']]

[[AC: ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'']]

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'']]

[[AC: ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'']]

[[AC: ''Literature/GoodOmens'']]

[[AC: ''Literature/HarryPotter'']]

[[AC: ''WebComic/HetaliaAxisPowers'']]

[[AC: ''Literature/TheHungerGames'']]

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'']]

[[AC: ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'']]

%%[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'']]

[[AC: ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'']]

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'']]

[[AC: ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'']]

[[AC: ''Manga/OnePiece'']]

[[AC: ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'']]

[[AC: ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'']]

[[AC: ''Franchise/StarWars'']]

[[AC: CrossOver]]

[[AC: ''Manga/DeathNote'']]

[[AC: ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'']]

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'']]

[[AC: ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'']]

[[AC: ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'']]

%%[[AC:''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'']]

[[AC: ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'']]

[[AC: ''Franchise/YuGiOh'']]

* In ''WebAnimation/HelpMeDoctorHazama'', Shinji may come off as cheerful and easygoing, but in reality, he's struggling with massive amounts of guilt, rage, fear, and grief.

* In ''Fanfic/OnceMoreWithFeeling'' Shinji may come off as cheerful and easygoing, but in reality he's struggling with massive amounts of guilt, rage, fear, and grief.

* From ''Fanfic/TheFaceless'':

[[AC: ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'']]

** And, then there are the [[UncannyValley Stockholm Syndrome Pirates]].

* ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureauTheOtherSideOfTheSpectrum'' looks at all of the above and takes it UpToEleven. Spectrum-verse Newfoals feel no emotion but a hollow happiness, are ''always'' unshakable fanatics for Celestia, and will obey every order given to them by a native Equestrian, and show so little creativity and individuality that one character questions whether they have [[TechnicallyLivingZombie any higher brain function]] ''at all''. What happens to these Newfoals is less GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul and more Getting Your Soul Shattered And Rearranged Into a Smiley.

%%* [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Pinkie Pie]] can appear anywhere on the spectrum in fanfics. In ''Fanfic/ThePartyNeverEnded'', Pinkie Pie is Depressed, as she breaks under her GenkiGirl cover as she dreads over her love for Rainbow Dash. As for ''Fanfic/{{Cupcakes}}'', well, let's say she's Unstable and leave it at that.

[[AC: ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'']]
* There is a fair share of ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' fics that portray Tomo, [[GenkiGirl of all people]], as one of these. [[Fanfic/ColdNights Such]] [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3594480/1/Fallen_Happiness as]] [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2724513/1/Rouge_et_Noir these]] [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3313358/1/Wednesday_Morning_3am ones]].

* ''Fanfic/RemnantInferisDOOM'':
** Ruby does everything in her power to maintain an upbeat demeanor despite all the trauma that fighting Hell is putting her through. She actually pulls it off so well that some people find it disturbing how someone can remain so childish and innocent given the traumatic circumstances. Even Yang finds it downright scary how she can act like her normal self even while caked in blood after killing a group of demons. Of course, the mask slips every now and then and she completely stops hiding it when she starts getting into an argument with Weiss. She also stops bothering with the facade when they end up [[spoiler:in Hell.]]
** Beneath his jovial and positive behavior, VEGA's [[ColdBloodedTorture torture and attempted reformatting]] at [[spoiler:the SDC's]] hands reveals that he's ''riddled'' with self-loathing and regret for what he and Dr. Hayden did back on Mars.

[[AC:''Franchise/TheDCU'']

* [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Pinkie Pie]] can appear anywhere on the spectrum in fanfics. In ''Fanfic/ThePartyNeverEnded'', Pinkie Pie is Depressed, as she breaks under her GenkiGirl cover as she dreads over her love for Rainbow Dash. As for ''Fanfic/{{Cupcakes}}'', well, let's say she's Unstable and leave it at that.

[[AC: ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'']]
* ''Fanfic/{{Anachronism}}'':
** Gloria has a lot of trauma from being sent back in time. Due to the unusual event, she won't tell her friends about it.
** Sonia feels like a useless deadbeat with no purpose, but she usually hides her depression.

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'']]
* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' {{fanon}} sometimes portrays Sierra with tinges of this, suggesting that her LoonyFan antics are either the cause or effect of an inability to form any close, real-life friendships.

* [[Series/KamenRiderGaim Mitsuzane Kureshima]] in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11772125/1/Metroid-Kamen-Rider-Generations-Full-Series Metroid: Kamen Rider Generations]]'' is both a Depressed and an Empty example, combined with [[StepfordSnarker poorly cynical sarcasm]] in spades. Deep inside, he is heavily insecured with guilt because of the actions he committed in the past. As the story progresses, Mitsuzane starts depending on new friends -- [[Series/KamenRiderDrive Gou]] in particular since Kouta and Mai are now colonizing a new planet, and a SecondLove -- [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus]], to keep himself at check.

** [[VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption Ghor]] also experiences this when he [[BackFromTheDead returns from the dead]]. Each time whenever he mentions the events where him and [[TragicMonster the other two bounty hunters]] were [[BrainwashedAndCrazy corrupted]] and Samus is forced to mercy kill them that time; for him, it's outright saddening.

* [[Literature/HarryPotter Draco Malfoy]] often gets this treatment in sympathetic fics that don't actually [[DracoInLeatherPants put leather pants on him.]] I.e., he's spent his whole life trying to be what his father expects him to be and has no idea what he is. More of a Stepford ''Smirker'', of course, but it's entirely possible he does smile at people who aren't Harry Potter and his friends: we wouldn't know.

[[[AC: ''WebComic/HetaliaAxisPowers'']]

[AC: ''Literature/TheHungerGames'']]

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'']]
* Too many fics centered around Adrien or at least partly around him delve deeper into his home life, and show that he is forced to be a Stepford Smiler by his perfectionist StageDad. If he is sad about his MissingMom or upset about having his freedom restricted, Gabriel dismisses his feelings and prioritizes his image as the face of the Agreste brand over his emotional and mental health.

* Fics that wish to portray Naruto as secretly a badass all along tend to call his canon characterization the "idiot facade."
** Though it's just as common for the "idiot facade" to be the only thing keeping him sane from the abuse he receives from almost everyone (which is usually a lot harsher than canon, with mobs beating him and sometimes even being raped).

* ''Fanfic/{{Anachronism}}'': Hop has self-esteem issues and craves comfort from others. This doesn't become apparent until he snaps partway through his journey.

** ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureauTheOtherSideOfTheSpectrum'' looks at all of the above and takes it UpToEleven. Spectrum-verse Newfoals feel no emotion but a hollow happiness, are ''always'' unshakable fanatics for Celestia, and will obey every order given to them by a native Equestrian, and show so little creativity and individuality that one character questions whether they have [[TechnicallyLivingZombie any higher brain function]] ''at all''. What happens to these Newfoals is less GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul and more Getting Your Soul Shattered And Rearranged Into a Smiley.

[[AC:''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'']]

* Too many fics centered around Adrien or at least partly around him delve deeper into his home life, and show that he is forced to be a Stepford Smiler by his perfectionist celebrity father. If he is sad about his MissingMom or upset about having his freedom restricted, Gabriel dismisses his feelings and prioritizes his image as the face of the Agreste brand over his emotional and mental health.

* ''Fanfic/TheFlowerPrincessAndTheAlchemist'': Orihime is generally a bubbly, cheerful girl. However, there are occassions when this [[BeneathTheMask masks cracks]], revealing a [[HeroicSelfDeprecation massively guilt-stricken girl with nonexistent self-esteem, severe depression, and agonizing self-loathing issues]]. As explicitly stated by [[WordOfGod Word of God]], Orihime is suffering from PTSD and possibly clinical depression. She consciously tries to hide this part of herself, so people won't see and witness the "ugly and broken" parts of her, especially from [[SecondLove Ed]]. She thinks nobody would like that side of her and find her to be a weak, pathetic burden. She even laments once that she hates herself.

[[AC: ''WebComic/AxisPowersHetalia'']]
* Italy is this in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11886910/1/Gankona-Unnachgiebig-Unità Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità]]'' as he hid his insecurities and anxieties from Germany and Japan with brilliant smiles. His façade only cracked when [[spoiler:he saw Germany and Japan [[CockFight beat each other up]] over him.]]

[[AC: ''Literature/TheHungerGames'']]

* It can be surmised that [[spoiler:Tsuruya]] has been raised to be Depressed from the first chapter of the Initial Conflict arc of ''Fanfic/KyonBigDamnHero''.

[[AC: ''{{Franchise/Danganronpa}}'']]

* Ruth in ''FanFic/CIAAgents'' is clearly Depressed; she is so affected by her parents' divorce that ends being obsessed with the photography rather than just taking it as a hobby.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' fics that wish to portray him as [[MartyStu secretly a badass all along]] tend to call his canon characterization the "idiot facade."