Basic Trope: One character learns another character's secret, but doesn't tell that character about it.
- Straight: Bob finds out that the superheroine Amazing Grace is Alice Ashley, but doesn't tell her.
- Exaggerated: Everyone knows that Amazing Grace is Alice Ashley, but don't even hint that they know.
- Downplayed:
- Bob suspects Alice is Amazing Grace, but doesn't know it for sure (and therefore doesn't ask her about it either).
- Bob finds out Alice is Amazing Grace. Alice suspects that Bob knows, but doesn't confront him directly about it.
- Justified: Bob thinks if he tells Alice, she'll get worried and their personal lives will have more difficulties.
- Inverted: Alice keeps on telling everyone that she's Amazing Grace, but no one believes her.
- Subverted: Bob discovers that Alice is Amazing Grace, and doesn't tell anyone to protect her secret ... only to find out that she's not actually the superheroine, but is just cosplaying for a con.
- Double Subverted:
- Alice is obviously embarrassed about her cosplay hobbies, so Bob decides to keep that a secret as well.
- Alice turns out to be using cosplay as a decoy; she is Amazing Grace after all.
- Parodied: Bob discovers that Alice is "secretly" a local star athlete, nicknamed Amazing Grace by her teammates. He monologues about wanting to protect Alice's secret at all cost, even though it's not even a secret.
- Zig-Zagged: Bob finds out Alice is Amazing Grace, but then he realises that she's only cosplaying for a Con. But Alice is a Closet Geek, so Bob decides to keep her cosplaying hobbies a secret. However, Alice's other friends tell him that, even though Alice may not be proud to be a geek, her interests are not exactly a secret, and she would (bedgrudgingly) admit it if someone asks.
- Averted: There is no secret identity to keep.
- Enforced: Rule of Drama
- Lampshaded: "How do I let her know I know her secret without ruining her trust?"
- Invoked: Bob finds out Alice is Amazing Grace, and her handler forces him to not tell anyone of this knowledge, including Alice herself.
- Exploited: Bob learns that Alice is Amazing Grace and decides not to tell anybody else, thinking he could profit by withholding the information.
- Defied: As soon as Bob discovers Alice is Amazing Grace, he tells her outright without hesitation.
- Discussed: "I do want to find out the local superhero's Secret Identity, because knowledge is power. That would give me power over them. Of course, 'with great power,' etcetera, etcetera, and not all heroes wear capes."
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: Finding out Alice is Amazing Grace shocked Bob. He opts not to tell her anything since he fears it would complicate things, but his more secretive actions begin causing Alice to start suspecting him of knowing her secret. This leads to paranoia and their relationship deteriorates.
- Reconstructed: The lengths to which Bob went to uphold Alice's Masquerade convince her that she can trust him.
- Implied: Bob has a conversation with Alice, where, after quite a while, it seems more like he knows more than he lets on, particularly due to how convenient those circumstances are to Amazing Grace.
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