History BecomingTheMask / LiveActionTV

* In ''Series/{{Dexter}}'', the title character begins the show as an utterly emotionless sociopath who must fake all of his human interactions. However, as the series continues, he finds that he no longer has to pretend in many situations, coming to genuinely care for his family, developing a sense of empathy and feeling emotions beyond bloodlust. In the final season, a psychiatrist is amazed by Dexter's development.

* One ''Series/MidsomerMurders'' episode features a mystical lodge originally set up by two crime-partners as a con to separate wealthy people from their money. Ten years later, one of the partners wants to get out as originally planned for then, while the other has come to genuinely believe in the stuff he's spouting (which has also resulted in a massive drop in rates).

* ''{{Series/Spooks}}'': "Traitor's Gate" has undercover MI5 agent Peter Salter, who infiltrated a group of violent anarchists and wound up accepting the ideology they advocate due to his disgust with the state of the UK which grew over many years. One of the female anarchists, who he got involved with, also inspired him.

* One episode of ''Series/{{Castle}}'' deals with this. [[spoiler:A con artist dates a rich girl in order to get her money while his partner finds her way in as a servant. The guy falls in love with the rich girl, however, and tries to break off the con. His partner kills him and tries to get away with it, but Castle and Beckett trick her.]]

** Originally travelling with Daenerys and Viserys to serve as TheMole for Varys in hopes of a royal pardon, Jorah gradually develops a BodyguardCrush on Daenerys, defending her life on several occasions and becomes her closest advisor in her mission to retake the Seven Kingdoms and restore the Targaryen dynasty, even after he secured his pardon. This is deconstructed and reconstructed across the later seasons: when Jorah's original allegiance is revealed, Dany has to exile him with the threat of death despite his pleas ([[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask and her own wishes]]). However, Jorah continues to fight on Dany's behalf despite being an exile, trying to win her favor (by capturing Tyrion) and saving her life multiple times. Eventually, after seeing the many tribulations Jorah went through for the sake of his new sovereign, Daenerys decides to give him a royal pardon of her own.

* Cole Turner (aka Belthazor) in ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' was a half-demon sent to kill the Charmed Ones before [[LoveRedeems love for Phoebe redeemed him]] and he abandoned his demonic power. Subverted in that he eventually found himself in dire need of power to protect his loved ones and snapped back to his demonic conditioning and tried to marry Phoebe in part of a long plot to set her up as Queen of Hell and effectively spawn TheAntichrist.

* Cole Turner (Belthazor) in ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' was a half-demon sent to kill the Charmed Ones before [[LoveRedeems love for Phoebe redeemed him]] and he abandoned his demonic power. Subverted in that he eventually found himself in dire need of power to protect his loved ones and snapped back to his demonic conditioning and tried to marry Phoebe in part of a long plot to set her up as Queen of Hell and effectively spawn TheAntichrist.

* Cole Turner (Belthazor) in ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' was sent to kill the Charmed Ones before [[LoveRedeems love redeemed him]] and he abandoned his demonic power. Subverted in that he eventually found himself in dire need of power to protect his loved ones and snapped back to his demonic conditioning and tried to marry Phoebe in part of a long plot to set her up as queen of Hell and effectively spawn TheAntichrist.

** Another minor example is [[spoiler:Kat]] whose real name was Sasha. In her previous life, she used to be a drug runner and a smuggler which is where her piloting experience came from. When the Colonies were nuked, she took the name and identity of another woman that she knew was dead and worked herself a fake background and all. By the time her previous life caught up with her in Season 3, she was fully immersed in the identity she built herself.

** Sharon/Athena is ''ordered'' by the Cylons to make Helo fall in love with her and impregnate her. She ends up falling in love with him as well, and defects to the humans. Indeed, she becomes more anti-cylon in her attitudes than many humans.
** Later, [[spoiler:Boomer]], another copy of Number 8 [[spoiler:seduces/manipulates Tyrol to get him to help her]] but she hesitates to go through with it and soon regrets her actions.

* ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'':

*** Taken quite literally in the episode "Masks". Data becomes the embodiment of The Sun, Masaka, wearing her mask. Picard dons her counterpart's mask to "become" Korgano and convince "her" (Data) to sleep and end the ritual.
*** Ro Laren goes undercover to infiltrate the [[LaResistance Maquis]] near the end of the series, but ends up sympathizing with them so much that she sabotages Captain Picard's plan to draw them out in the open and joins them for real.

*** In the episode "Soldiers of the Empire", a crew of Klingons are demoralized enough to [[BeneathTheMask drop their mask]] and let us see them as ordinary grousing soldiers just like humans. Then at the end they recover enough to put their mask on again and become a ProudWarriorRace.
*** There's an episode where Miles O'Brien infiltrates a crime syndicate. While doing that, he forms a genuine friendship with Liam Bilby, a local crime boss. Throughout the episode Miles becomes increasingly conflicted, and ultimately [[spoiler:attacks his [[Franchise/StarTrek Star Fleet]] liaison and tries to warn Bilby that he has been compromised]].
** In an episode of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', the crew finds out that some con artists are impersonating them. One of them, the fake Tuvok, ''really'' gets into the role: he seems to sincerely admire the values of the Federation, and is awestruck when he finally meets his counterpart face-to-face, while they're in a MexicanStandoff. The real Tuvok is not impressed.
--->'''Fake Tuvok''': Logic suggests that neither of us has the advantage.\\
'''Tuvok''': Your logic is flawed. (''[[BlindedByTheLight blinds him with a flashlight]] and stuns him'')

* In ''Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}'', M'gann M'orzz, a White Martian DefectorFromDecadence, lives on Earth in human form. In the episode [[Recap/Supergirl2015S2E7TheDarkestPlace "The Darkest Place"]], when [[Comicbook/MartianManhunter J'onn]] discovers her identity and tries to kill her, she asks to die in her human form, now seeing it as her true face.
* A similar thing happens in the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "All Dogs Go To Heaven". [[spoiler: A skinwalker disguises himself as a family dog, waiting for the call to attack and turn the family. He eventually grows to love the family, and almost dies to defend them.]]

* In ''Series/TheUmbrellaAcademy'' [[spoiler: Lila was initially just pretending to be companion of Diego while undercover in the mental institution, in order to get close the Hargreeve siblings. Except Lila develops genuine feelings for Diego, sleeps with him and tries to separate him from the rest of his family and urge him to join the Commission so he doesn't get killed. This gets lampshaded by her surrogate mother The Handler, when she asks Lila if she'd kill Diego if she was ordered to]].
-->'''The Handler''' [[InLoveWithTheMark Falling for your mark, typical]].

* ''Series/TheXFiles'': An alien invader, infiltrated as a human baseball player, eventually decided he was a better person that way. When another alien came to execute him and ordered him to show his real face, he answered that [[TearJerker it ''was'' his real face.]] Even his poisonous blood has somehow changed human when he is killed.

* Will Traveler in ''Series/{{Traveler}}'' becomes fond of the two roommates he's setting up, and ends up sparing their lives (at great cost to him later), against the plans of his employers.