History BecomingTheMask / FanWorks

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/28488132/chapters/69805728 Where there is strife, there is Pride]]'', rather than posing as the Fuhrer's son as in canon, Pride is set up to be adopted by Maes and Gracia Hughes in order to keep a closer eye on Maes' close friend Roy Mustang. While he initially disdains them and is aggravated at being forced to act the part of a cheerful, innocent child even in private, the Hughes' doting behavior and genuine love grows on him over the years (especially contrasted with [[WellDoneSonGuy his cold, dutiful relationship with Father]]), and though he tries to justify it to himself as merely appreciating [[{{Narcissist}} the attention and care he is naturally due]], he becomes truly fond of them (and eventually Elicia when she is born, quickly developing a strong BigBrotherInstinct) even as he continues working toward Father's goal. Eventually, his doubts and conflicting loyalties lead to him [[spoiler: [[SparedByTheAdaptation saving Maes' life]] when he is targeted by the other homunculi after figuring out Father's plan]], and his justifications become more and more flimsy even to himself. [[spoiler: Maes and Gracia learning the truth and still loving him and considering him their son regardless finally pushes him into a full-on HeelFaceTurn. By the end, he comes to realize that "Selim Hughes" has in fact become more than just an affected persona for him and accepts it and his family as a part of who he now is (tellingly, during his encounter with Truth he is addressed as both "Pride" ''and'' "Selim").]]

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/28488132/chapters/69805728 Where there is strife, there is Pride]]'', rather than posing as the Fuhrer's son as in canon, Pride is set up to be adopted by Maes and Gracia Hughes in order to keep a closer eye on Maes' close friend Roy Mustang. While he initially disdains them and is aggravated at being forced to act the part of a cheerful, innocent child even in private, the Hughes' doting behavior and genuine love grows on him over the years (especially contrasted with [[WellDoneSonGuy his cold, dutiful relationship with Father]]), and though he tries to justify it to himself as merely appreciating [[{{Narcissist}} the attention and care he is naturally due]], he becomes truly fond of them (and eventually Elicia when she is born, quickly developing a strong BigBrotherInstinct) even as he continues working toward Father's goal. Eventually, his doubts and conflicting loyalties lead to him [[spoiler: saving Maes' life when he is targeted by the other homunculi after figuring out Father's plan]], and his justifications become more and more flimsy even to himself. [[spoiler: Maes and Gracia learning the truth and still loving him and considering him their son regardless finally pushes him into a full-on HeelFaceTurn. By the end, he comes to realize that "Selim Hughes" has in fact become more than just an affected persona for him and accepts it as a part of himself.]]

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/28488132/chapters/69805728 Where there is strife, there is Pride]]'', rather than posing as the Fuhrer's son as in canon, Pride is set up to be adopted by Maes and Gracia Hughes in order to keep a closer eye on Maes' close friend Roy Mustang. While he initially disdains them and is aggravated at being forced to act the part of a cheerful, innocent child even in private, the Hughes' doting behavior and genuine love grows on him over the years (especially contrasted with [[WellDoneSonGuy his cold, dutiful relationship with Father]]), and though he tries to justify it to himself as merely appreciating [[{{Narcissist}} the attention and care he is naturally due]], he becomes truly fond of them (and eventually Elicia when she is born, quickly developing a strong BigBrotherInstinct) even as he continues working toward Father's goal. Eventually, his doubts and conflicting loyalties lead to him [[spoiler: saving Maes' life when he is targeted by the other homunculi after figuring out Father's plan]], and his justifications become more and more flimsy even to himself. [[spoiler: Maes and Gracia learning the truth and still loving him and considering him their son regardless finally pushes him into a full-on HeelFaceTurn.]]

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/28488132/chapters/69805728 Where there is strife, there is Pride]]'', rather than posing as the Fuhrer's son as in canon, Pride is set up to be adopted by Maes and Gracia Hughes in order to keep a closer eye on Hughes' close friend Roy Mustang. While he initially disdains them and is aggravated at being forced to act the part of a cheerful, ignorant child even in private, the Hughes' doting behavior and genuine love grows on him over the years (especially contrasted with his cold, dutiful relationship with Father), and though he tries to justify it to himself as merely appreciating [[SmallNameBigEgo the attention and care he is naturally due]], he becomes truly fond of them (and eventually Elicia when she is born, quickly developing a strong BigBrotherInstinct) even as he continues working toward Father's goal. Eventually, his doubts and conflicting loyalties lead to him [[spoiler: saving Hughes' life when he is targeted by the other homunculi after figuring out Father's plan]], and his justifications become more and more flimsy even to himself. [[spoiler: Maes and Gracia learning the truth and still loving him and expressing their desire for him to remain their son finally pushes him into a full-on HeelFaceTurn.]]

* ''Fanfic/APieceOfRebellion'': Bad Cop/Good Cop initially plans on tricking Wyldstyle and the rest of the rebellion into believing that [[GollumMadeMeDoIt Bad Cop is a darker side of Good Cop,]] and that he legitimately wants to help them fight President Business. Over time, however, Good Cop finds himself sympathizing with the Master Builders more and more, and subsequently clashing with his brother over how they should proceed.

* ''Fanfic/APieceOfRebellion'': Bad Cop/Good Cop initially plans on tricking Wyldstyle and the rest of the rebellion into believing that [[GollumMadeMeDoIt Bad Cop is a darker side of Good Cop, and that he legitimately wants to help them fight President Business. Over time, however, Good Cop finds himself sympathizing with the Master Builders more and more, and subsequently clashing with his brother over how they should proceed.

* In ''Fanfic/CheatCodename'', Blue Laser tried to manipulate Reynold into becoming his lackey, but he slowly realizes he cares for and values him.

* Twice in ''Fanfic/CheatCodename''
** Blue Laser tried to manipulate Reynold into becoming his lackey, but he slowly realizes he cares for and values him.
** Blue Laser also realizes they're eclipsing the Commandos in terms of spotlight despite being the villains. But Reynold reminds him Strong Bad did this with Homestar.

* Explored in the ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' crossover ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6338566/1/Drift Drift]]'', where [[RobotGirl Cameron]] has spent a couple hundred years carefully developing an entire personality construct based on her "Allison" memories, effectively becoming an otherwise indistinguishable human. It turns out that Cameron has apparently been using the Allison persona for so long that elements of her have influenced other parts of her "brain", like her combat programs - which she finds quite troubling, because she is apparently unable to actually do physical maintenance on her processors.

* ''Fanfic/SOE2LoneHeirOfKrypton'': Asuka decided to pretend she was a super-heroine... and throughout the story she becomes one.
* ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'': At the beginning Shinji intended to pretend that he cared about Asuka, Rei, Misato, Touji, Kensuke... in order to manipulate them. However, he quickly came to care for them and regard them as his family sincerely.

* In the ''[[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/Heirverse Heirverse]]'' series, this is pretty much how Gin and Aizen get together. YMMV though as this could just as easily be a case of BeneathTheMask and some of Kyouka's comment would imply that.

* In ''Fanfic/MyMirrorSwordAndShield'', Suzaku was a OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent turned unintentional time-traveler. Fearing how his appearance could butterfly the War of Ascencion and erase his timeline, he joins Emperor Lelouch's EvilEmpire as a knight. Suzaku puts on the facade of being a loyal obedient knight to Lelouch in order to keep track of him and make sure that Lelouch dies at the right time. When he refuses to give up Lelouch to [[LaResistance the JLF ]] despite being unarmed and surrounded in the Battle of Narita and being promised to absolved for his actions. Suzaku then realizes that he is genuinely loyal to Lelouch. Which complicates things.

* ''Fanfic/TheSmeetSeries'': In the third story, ''Indokani'', Tenn is sent to infiltrate the kurokani program, disguised as a Kryvtor. In the process, she gets close to several of the other trainees, and is surprised to find herself coming to genuinely like them.

* ''Fanfic/QueenOfShadows'': Thanks to Shendu trying to re-write the Book of Ages, Jade Chan ends up in an alternate reality where she has replaced the queen of an empire of Shadowkhan. Trying to fufill the role so she isn't caught out, Jade unknowingly does a better job of being the queen than the ''real'' queen. Her advisors take this more as her developing into a true leader than anything suspicious.

* Subverted in ''Fanfic/SurfaceTension''. When she began falling for Malon and later Ruto, Zelda tried to make herself believe that she was just really into being her male-disguise Sheik. No, she's a lesbian who has [[{{Gayngst}} had a hard time accepting it]].

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/35990902/chapters/89720398 Where There's Smoke There's... A Smoker?]]'', Marinette blurts out to Adrien that she is smoking to explain why she was in an alleyway alone instead of powering down from Ladybug. She even getting actual cigarettes to cover her claim. By the end of the story, she admits that she has become addicted to smoking as it helps relieve stress from being the new Guardian and Ladybug.

* ''[[Fanfic/FlashbackMHA Flashback]]'': When Eri reverts All Might's body back to its prime, he regains his former idealism -- something which had degraded into being a mask he wore to reassure others. He resolves not just to beat the villains, but do all he can to help those in need.

* ''Fanfic/BlackkatsReverse'': Originally, Kurama's search for the other jinchuuriki is mainly motivated by his desire to find a place to hide Naruto, the only one he cares about. Over time, however, he gets attached to Gaara, Fuu and Yugito after seeing that all three of them are just lost, neglected children who don't have anywhere else to go.
* In ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4446452/1/Deep_Cover Deep Cover]]'', Naruto gets sent on a mission to infiltrate the Sound village, with the idea that his behavior is so loud and obvious that nobody would suspect him hiding something. [[spoiler:He betrays Konoha and has a romantic moment with Tayuya while watching it burn. Thinking back on how he made his decision, he realizes that at some point in the past he stopped caring about Konoha and decided that Sound was his home.]]

* ''Fanfic/LittleUzumaki'': When Team Seven falls into a FountainOfYouth, Naruto and Sakura [[LossOfIdentity lose all their memories]] of their past lives. Sasuke, by contrast, retains his memories, but pretends to have been fully reverted just like his teammates. However, he occasionally finds himself reacting to things in childish ways that he didn't ''intend'' to react, making him fear that [[TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody the Fountain still had some effect upon his mind]].

* ''Fanfic/ACrownOfStars'': Discussed in [[http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/a-crown-of-stars-nge-ou.11766/page-10#post-2491498 chapter 34]]. Asuka says she has worn so many masks during her life that she is not sure of what is her real self anymore. Another character suggests that she should to choose one mask and wear it until it becomes real.

* ''[[http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/704708/camouflage-contract-angst-donghae-eunhae-hyukjae-romance-mpreg-hyukhae Camouflage Contract]]'', a Music/SuperJunior fanfic about the [[ThoseTwoGuys Eunhyuk]]/[[HoYay Donghae]] couple (more commonly known as [[PortmanteauCoupleName EunHae)]] is all about this trope. [[spoiler: Eunhyuk gets Donghae to a fake relationship with him so he can avoid others' suspicions and in turn Donghae can raise his son well instead of having to be a prostitute everyday for money. At first it was only temporary, but through time, they truly fall in love with each other and decide to settle with the other for real.]]

* After exonerating Naofumi in ''Fanfic/AmbitionOfTheRedPrincess'', Malty thinks to herself that she'll have to become Mien the Adventurer for real now as she won't be able to rely on her royal status any more.

* Cinder Fall in ''Fanfic/TheRWBYLoops'' zigzags this trope something fierce. Because of the way the time loops works, she decides to fake a friendly looping identity with which to socialize with the good guys whilst simultaneously indulging her villainous side in secret. The two identities both manage to grow stronger and cause more internal conflict [[spoiler:to the point where, with a little assistance from an outside force, they become [[SplitPersonality independent and unaware of each other.]] This does not end well]].

* ''Fanfic/{{Suikakasen}}'': Kasen pretends to want to help Yoshika become a hermit after she realizes that she can get Yoshika to gather the materials she needs to gets past [[SomeKindOfForcefield gate Rajoumon]] so that she can retrieve her severed arm. After Kasen gets Yoshika to buy both books about hermit training and barriers, a GoodTimesMontage plays that first portrays Yoshika engaging in hermit training at the instruction of the books while Kasen focuses on the books about barriers. As the montage goes on however, [[DefrostingIceQueen Kasen starts to develop a genuine friendship with Yoshika]] and begins listening to the hermit training documents too. Once Kasen realizes this trope is in action, she doesn't take it too well and plans to covertly off Yoshika, but [[ObliviousGuiltSlinging Yoshika tells Kasen about how grateful she is to have met her and adds that she can't stop fearing the day of her death when they are apart]]. This makes Kasen undergo a HeelRealization and confess the truth about who she really is and that she used Yoshika. [[MilhollandRelationshipMoment Yoshika doesn't mind because of their friendship]] and suggests that Kasen could get over her LossOfIdentity by becoming a hermit together with her. Kasen's present-day character title being "One-Armed Horned Hermit" should tell you all that you need to know from this point.

* ''Fanfic/{{Ripples}}'': Will Vandam becomes TrappedInThePast of Meridian, as well as de-aged; however, she's convinved the whole thing is a LotusEaterMachine as part of some convoluted plot of Phobos. She plays along, taking the name Van Rivers, eventually becoming the friend and confidant of the child-version of Prince Phobos. By the time she realizes it ''isn't'' an illusion, and that she's really trapped in this new timeline forever, she's spent so long as "Van Rivers", and become so distanced from "Will Vandam" that it's hard to think of herself by that identity. She also finds that, having spent so many years convinced everyone around her was only an illusion, she has a very difficult time "remembering to care" about anyone besides a select few. She eventually decides it's easier to embrace the "Van" idenity, if only as a way to cope.

* ''Fanfic/{{Ripples}}'': Will Vandam becomes TrappedInThePast of Meridian, as well as de-aged; however, she's convinved the whole thing is a LotusEaterMachine as part of some convoluted plot of Phobos. She plays along, taking the name Van Rivers, eventually becoming the friend and confidant of the child-version of Prince Phobos. By the time she realizes it ''isn't'' an illusion, and that she's really trapped in this new timeline forever, she's spent so long as "Van Rivers", and become so distanced from "Will Vandam" that she finds it easier to embrace that identity, partially as a way to cope. By the time the story catches up to canon, Van is one of Phobos' CoDragons and his TokenGoodTeammate.