Line #41 Main/TheSecretIndex


1	[[quoteright:270:[[TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/seekers_of_knowledge_by_marktarrisse_9869.jpg]] ]]
2
3	-> '''T. Rex:''' I'd love to have a secret I could take to my grave!\
4	'''Dromiceiomimus:''' Technically, there's all sorts of things you've never told people that will be lost when you die: what you had for breakfast this morning, for instance.\
5	'''T. Rex:''' Yeah, but those are CRAPPY secrets! I'm talking about the GOOD stuff: buried treasure, world-changing revelations, that sort of thing!
6	-->-- ''Webcomic/DinosaurComics'', [[https://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=3830 #3830]]
7
8	''Did EspionageTropes send you? Shhh... Don't tell anyone you found this place. This index is a secret to everybody. It's here that we index all the darkest secrets stored on Website/TVTropes. If you're looking for secret personalities look over at MoreThanMeetsTheEye. If it's there, don't look for it here. For more mysteries, see MysteryTropes, don't bother with the InfauxmationDesk. And remember, be careful. TheIndexIsWatchingYou.''
9	----
10	[[folder:\
11	--TOP SECRET-- \
12	\
13	\
14	\
15	CLASSIFIED INFORMATION\
16	\
17	\
18	\
19	]]
20	All individuals handling this information are required to protect it from unauthorized disclosure in the interest of the international security of TV Tropes.
21	----
22	[[index]]
23	[floatboxright:
24	'''See also:'''
25	+ EspionageTropes
26	+ TheIndexIsWatchingYou
27	+ {{Masquerade}}
28	+ SecretIdentity
29	+ SecretSocieties
30	+ SpoileredRotten
31	+ TruthAndLies
32	]
33	* AdaptationalSecrecyDowngrade: An InUniverse secret from the original work is less of a secret in the adaptation.
34	* AmbiguousCriminalHistory: I'm secretly a criminal. No, I won't tell you about it.
35	* ApocalypticGagOrder: The government keeps an [[ApocalypseHow existential threat]] to a specific location or the whole world a secret, in order to avert [[GoMadFromTheRevelation mass panic and chaos]].
36	* BatmanInMyBasement: When someone highly conspicuous hides in a "normal" location.
37	* BigSecret: Hiding a secret causes a person to be suspected of a crime.
38	* BlackSite: A top-secret {{government\|Conspiracy}} facility, military base, or prison that the authorities really don't want anyone not in the know to access or visit.
39	** SecretGovernmentWarehouse: A covert government facility that secretly contains various objects they don't want anyone else to know about.
40	* BookcasePassage: A bookcase hides a secret passage.
41	* BookedFullOfMooks: A character in a public space discovers that all the bystanders around them are actually another character's employees or co-conspirators.
42	* CannotKeepASecret: Someone who really can't keep their mouth shut, even if their life depended on it.
43	* ClassifiedInformation: This info is an official secret, and we're not allowed to share it with anyone who isn't authorized to know it.
44	* ClosetGay: An {{UsefulNotes/LGBT}} character is hiding their true orientation by pretending to be completely straight.
45	* ConfidentialityBetrayal: A character tells another character's secret to third parties, making it no longer a secret.
46	* TheConspiracy: A grand, secretive (and most likely [[EvilPlan sinister]]) plot that is planned and executed by a mysterious group.
47	** AncientConspiracy: A ''very old'' secret society that has manipulated various historical and current events for their own gain.
48	** BenevolentConspiracy: A secret society that ''isn't'' really evil, but is in fact planning something for the (greater) good of the world.
49	** CorporateConspiracy: A secret project run by a [[MegaCorp big business institution]].
50	** GovernmentConspiracy: A secret project run by a [[TheGovernment government organization]], such as the military or an intelligence agency.
51	** NebulousCriminalConspiracy: Interconnected secret schemes that are committed by various organized crime syndicates.
52	* CovertGroup: A secret group or organization of any kind.
53	* CurrencyConspiracy: All the proof you need that "they" exist is in an everyday dollar bill.
54	* CutHimselfShaving: Making up a lame excuse for an injury you received from your double life.
55	* DarkSecret: A horrible secret that a character is terrified to reveal.
56	* DeceptiveLegacy: A child learns a well-kept secret about their parentage.
57	* DeducingTheSecretIdentity: Someone logically deduces a Secret Identity, using clues, process of elimination, etc.
58	* DidNotDieThatWay: When someone finds out that they were lied to about a loved one's death.
59	* DominoRevelation: One revealed secret reveals another secret, which reveals another, which...
60	* EasterEgg: The programmers hid some sort of secret in a video game.
61	* EmpireWithADarkSecret: A whole civilization is built on a horrible secret.
62	* EverybodyKnewAlready: Everyone actually knows your deep dark secret, but they're too polite to tell you.
63	* EyeObscuringHat: The hat that still conceals who you are and adds an air of mystery.
64	* EyeOfProvidence: An eye in a triangle is shorthand for SecretSocieties and other ominous conspiracy stuff.
65	* EyesOutOfSight: You'll never see what this person's eyes look like.
66	* GasLeakCoverup: Whatever it was, it ''wasn't'' a gas leak.
67	** SharedMassHallucination: Another semi-plausible explanation designed to cover-up a strange event.
68	* TheHiddenHour: A secret time that only a few people know exists.
69	* HiddenMechanic: A mechanic in a video game that is not explained to the player.
70	* HiddenTrack: A secret song on a CD or record.
71	* HideYourOtherness: Keeping up the lies that protect the secret world.
72	* HidingTheHandicap: Hiding the fact that you're disabled or afflicted.
73	* IdTellYouButThenIdHaveToKillYou: Someone has a secret that's so great, that if he told anyone, he'd have to kill them.
74	* IllNeverTellYouWhatImTellingYou: Blurting out a secret while simultaneously claiming you won't do just that.
75	* IfOnlyYouKnew: A character says something that connects to a fact or event [[LockedOutOfTheLoop of which they're unaware of]], usually to someone who is in the know.
76	* InformationWantsToBeFree: A secret must be made public. The bad guys want to prevent that.
77	* InfractionDistraction: By feigning a minor offense, the big one can be kept secret.
78	* InternalReveal: The audience already knows the secret but one of the characters is just finding out.
79	* InvisibleWriting: Writing is made invisible to keep it a secret.
80	* IsThatWhatHeToldYou: A character reveals to a person what someone else has been keeping from them.
81	* KeepingSecretsSucks: Sometimes you need to lie or kill to keep a secret.
82	* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Everyone is conspiring to keep the main character oblivious.
83	* LooseLips: Someone gives away sensitive information unintentionally.
84	* LooseFloorboardHidingSpot: Hiding something secret under a loose floorboard.
85	* LoveConfessor: Confiding your love for someone to a third party.
86	* LovesSecrecy: Delighting in keeping secrets from others and mocking them about it.
87	* TheManBehindTheMan: The BigBad is secretly controlled by an even Bigger Bad.
88	* {{Masquerade}}: There's a secret world of strangeness that has been carefully hidden beneath everyone else's noses.
89	** BrokenMasquerade: You have discovered the big secret that was hidden from you all along.
90	** ExpositingTheMasquerade: Turns out these folks knew about the weird stuff all along.
91	** ExtraStrengthMasquerade: The big secret should've been revealed by now, ''but yet it hasn't''.
92	** KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade: Find out the big secret, and die for your efforts.
93	** MasqueradeEnforcer: Reality conspires to punish those that try to reveal the secret.
94	** MasqueradeParadox: Turns out the big secret isn't worth keeping secret.
95	** TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife: Tying to uphold the masquerade (or living a [[SecretIdentity double life]]) makes dating difficult.
96	** TheMenInBlack: Mysterious [[GovernmentConspiracy government agents]] responsible for keeping something secret from the general public.
97	** MutualMasquerade: Two people part of the same (or different) conspiracies both think the other one is normal.
98	** ToUnmasqueTheWorld: Someone wants to expose the big secret and reveal it to everyone else.
99	** TheUnmasquedWorld: Now ''everyone'' in the whole wide world knows about something that was formerly secret.
100	** WelcomedToTheMasquerade: A character is introduced into a secret society or hidden world.
101	** TheWorldIsNotReady: The secret masquerade exists out of a well-intentioned belief that [[YouDoNOTWantToKnow the truth is so shocking]], [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow most people wouldn't be able to handle it]], [[GoMadFromTheRevelation and would all descend into mass panic and chaos]].
102	* MissingSecret: When one mistakenly believes there is a "secret" feature in a video game that doesn't actually exist.
103	* MultilayerFacade: Keeping secrets under secrets.
104	* MySecretPregnancy: A woman hides her pregnancy.
105	* MysteriousPast: A character has a secret past.
106	* MysteriousPurple: The color purple used to characterize or code things as mysterious, ambiguous, or enigmatic, often with a yet unrevealed hidden backstory or secret motivations.
107	* MysticalCityPlanning: A whole location is secretly in the shape of a giant spell.
108	* NeverBareheaded: A character never reveals what's under their hat.
109	* ObviousVillainSecretVillain: One villain is obvious, and one is a secret
110	* OpenSecret: Something is declared to be a "secret", but everyone actually knows about it anyway.
111	* OstentatiousSecret: Someone openly advertises that ''they have a secret''.
112	* OverTheTopSecret: Super-duper-extremely-top-secret information that has its own special security class.
113	* PlayingNiceForNow: Don't let anyone know we are at each other's throats.
114	* PlotDrivingSecret: If they knew the truth, we wouldn't have a plot.
115	* PopCultureSymbology: Secret meanings found in pop culture.
116	* PublicSecretMessage: Announcing secret info by concealing it in plain sight.
117	* PubliclyDiscussingTheSecret: Characters who know a secret disregard all semblance of actual secrecy.
118	* QueerFlowers: Gay men and women using certain flowers to convey homosexual romance, originally meant to be hidden messages to other homosexuals.
119	* RestrictedRescueOperation: Especially the type where you need to keep it a secret.
120	* SafelySecludedScienceCenter: A laboratory is isolated for the sake of secrecy - and safety.
121	* SecretArt: A skill or technique known only to a few people.
122	* SecretCharacter: A playable character in a video game who is a secret until they're unlocked.
123	* SecretChaser: A character insistent on finding out another character's secret.
124	* SecretCircleOfSecrets: A secret society of ominous hooded figures up to who knows what?
125	* SecretCompartment: A storage compartment HiddenInPlainSight for storing items that only people in the know are supposed to be aware of.
126	* SecretDiary: A diary or journal that is kept in secret.
127	* SecretHandshake: The secret means of identifying people who are keeping a secret together.
128	* SecretHistory: A work claims its events took place in RealLife, but were kept secret by InUniverse actors.
129	** SuppressedHistory: Historical records have been lost, or perhaps deliberately censored by those who don't want the truth to get out.
130	* SecretIdentity: An alternate identity that is used to hide a secret double life.
131	** SecondSuperIdentity: When there is more than one secret identity.
132	* SecretIngredient: The mysterious something added to food to make it special.
133	* SecretKeeper: The person whom you trust with your secrets.
134	** TheConfidant: Someone who keeps their best friend's secrets.
135	** SecretSecretKeeper: The person who is keeping your secrets that you don't even know about.
136	* SecretLevel: A bonus level of a video game that is hidden and not needed to beat the game.
137	* SecretlyGayActivity: Disguising flirtation (or sex) with the same sex with a perfectly "innocent" activity.
138	* SecretMessageWink: Winking to secretly get a message across.
139	* SecretOtherFamily: A character has more than one family and hides them from one another.
140	* SecretPath: A hidden path that bypasses obstacles by taking a route not many know.
141	* SecretPetPlot: A character adopts a pet and tries to hide it.
142	* SecretPolice: A covert law enforcement agency serving an oppressive government, with the aim of violently suppressing any opposition.
143	* SecretRelationship: Two characters keep their relationships a secret from everyone else.
144	* SecretRoom: A hidden room within a building.
145	* SecretSexWorker: A character is LivingADoubleLife, hiding that they are a sex worker from those closest to them, typically out of fear of social rejection, condemnation, and/or being arrested for engaging in a criminalized profession.
146	* SecretShop: A business that is hidden away from customers who aren't actively seeking it out.
147	** BlackMarket: A secretive, illegitimate business network in which criminals sell illegal products or services.
148	* SecretSocietyGroupPicture: The members of a (not so) secret society all posed for a group photo that provides damning evidence of their existence.
149	* SecretSquatter: A character lives concealed in an already-occupied house.
150	* SecretStabWound: A character hides a serious injury.
151	** ClothingConcealedInjury: When clothing has to be used to hide said injury.
152	** SecretlyDying: A character hides the fact that they have a terminal illness or lethal wound.
153	* SecretTestOfCharacter: The actual test is a secret to prove what's in their heart.
154	* SecretWar: A covert conflict that's being fought behind a masquerade between the belligerents.
155	* SecretlyWealthy: A character hides the fact that they're fabulously wealthy.
156	* SecretWeapon: A hidden weapon typically revealed during or near the climax of the story.
157	* SecretWord: It's not going to be "[[ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish swordfish]]".
158	* SentIntoHiding: A person is kept hidden, and thus secret, from the rest of society.
159	* ShadowGovernment: A secret government faction that ''actually'' runs things.
160	* {{Spoiler}}s: Surprising plot details from a work of fiction, which may or may not be kept hidden so that anyone who hasn't seen that story yet won't be prematurely spoiled by these shocking revelations.
161	* SubtleSuperpowering: Keeping your powers secret by using them in a downplayed manner.
162	* TheyreCalledPersonalIssuesForAReason: Secrets that, when discovered, only reveal embarrassing and unimportant information.
163	* ThisPageWillSelfDestruct: A self-destruct mechanism is built into a device which relays secret information.
164	* ThoughtTheyKnewAlready: A secret is revealed because someone didn't know it was secret.
165	* TownWithADarkSecret: A town or village hides a terrible secret from outsiders.
166	* UndercoverWhenAlone: Keeping a secret even when no one is around to find out about it.
167	* UnmanlySecret: A man hides his love of something stereotypically not masculine.
168	* VillainRevealsTheSecret: A character's or a group's secret is revealed by the villain.
169	* WainscotSociety: A whole second social system exists in close parallel to the "normal" world.
170	* WaterSourceTampering: They don't want you to know what you're really drinking.
171	* WeWouldHaveToldYouBut: A character has to be kept in the dark about something in order for the plan to work out.
172	* WhatsInsidePlot: Characters try to figure out what is hidden inside a locked box or closet.
173	* WorldOfMysteries: A whole setting consisting of secrets and mysteries.
174	[[/index]]
175	[[/folder]]
176

Context Main / TheSecretIndex