History Main / CracksInTheIcyFacade

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': In "[[Recap/TheOwlHouseS1E5Covention Covention]]", [[Characters/TheOwlHouseAmityBlight Amity Blight]] starts as a total {{Jerkass}}, smashing King's cupcake and using Luz's challenge to keep her from studying magic. However, as soon as Eda reveals that Lilith cheated by increasing Amity's powers with a coven adhesive, [[EveryoneHasStandards the girl runs away ashamed]], and later frees Luz from her [[MagicallyBindingContract "everlasting oath"]].

* In the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, [[Characters/MCUTonyStark Iron Man/Tony Stark]] is always shown to be self-centered, arrogant, and constantly using his heroics to massage his ego. However, over the course of Phases 1-3 of the Infinity Saga, Tony is revealed to have more and more of a HiddenHeartOfGold.
** In ''Film/IronMan3'', it's shown that Tony Stark is suffering from PTSD from the events of [[Film/TheAvengers2012 the first Avengers]], having nightmares, panic attacks and constantly obsessing over trying to protect what family he has left. This shows that even a "selfish" hero like him has vulnerable moments and doesn't always think he's invincible.

** This reaches its peak in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', where Tony Stark [[spoiler:sacrifices himself by taking the stones off of Thanos and using them to end the threat of Thanos at the cost of it killing him. This is the response to Steve Rogers accusing Tony in ''Film/TheAvengers'' that the one thing could never do is [[GreaterNeedThanMine make a sacrifice play for the greater good of others even with nothing in return]]]].
* ''Film/{{Shazam}}'': Billy Batson was abandoned as a child and has spent the bulk of his childhood ditching foster homes. He seems to want nothing to do with anyone or anything that isn't his missing mother. The first clue that he isn't completely closed off is when he feels visibly guilty about hurting his new foster sister Darla's feelings. He follows it up by demonstrating that while he was initially standoffish to his foster family, he wasn't cool with watching a pair of bullies attack the crippled Freddie Freeman, and attacks them both with the crutch they took off of Freddie. This action is what earns him the attention of the Wizard, and gains him his powers.

** ''[[Recap/BabylonFiveS01E12ByAnyMeansNecessary By Any Means Necessary]] ": For the show's duration thus far, Londo has been on the receiving end of G'Kar's bullying. When Londo has a chance to acquire a rare plant G'Kar needs for a religious ritual, Londo shows he's capable of just as much cruelty, and G'Kar shows some humility for once.
** ''The very next episode, [[Recap/BabylonFiveS01E13SignsAndPortents Signs and Portents]] ", sees the mysterious Morden ask the same question of each of them: "[[ArcWords What do you want?]]".

'''Morden:''' AndThenWhat??\\
(Dramatic Pause)\\

* ''Series/DoctorWho'':[[Recap/DoctorWho2010CSAChristmasCarol "A Christmas Carol"]] The first indicator that The Doctor has that Kazran Sardick is not irredeemable is that he stops himself from hitting a child that threw a lump of coal at him. A quick SherlockScan and some AwesomenessByAnalysis, and the Doctor realizes Kazaran's FreudianExcuse, and determines to make him a nicer person, by changing his past.

* In ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' : [[DeadpanSnarker Snart]] (aka Captain Cold) and his partner [[DumbMuscle Mick]] (aka Heatwave) are both introduced as ruthless and cold-hearted master thieves in the Arrowverse who don't care about anything other than themselves and money. Even their interactions with each other seemed distant despite them seemingly having a close relationship. Over time, Snart is shown to love and care for his sister Lisa and has an honor code of never abandoning his teammates/associates, dating back to ''The Flash'' season one. Mick, in turn, is shown to view Snart as a hero (to him, anyway) and a confidant, [[spoiler:grieving him when he sacrificed himself at the end of ''Legends of Tomorrow'' season one]], and is much more aware of others' thoughts and feelings than he lets on.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': [[TheStoic Shoto Todoroki]] was first introduced as a cold, aloof, and emotionally distant boy who hates his father and is limiting his potential with his quirk in order to spite him. He reveals to Midoriya before their match in the Sports Festival that the reason he hates his father is that he's an {{Abusive Parent|s}} who put him through TrainingFromHell while simultaneously beating his mother until eventually, the mother snaps and throws boiling water on his face giving him his scar. Then, during their match, Midoriya calls him out for [[WillfullyWeak not going all out like everyone else]] just to spite his father and how his powers are '''his''' and his alone. This sparks Shoto to be more willing to use both sides of his quirk, including his fire side, as well as try to be an overall more open and caring person. This even pushes him to (begrudgingly) accept help from his father to learn how to hone his fire side, and later on [[spoiler:even give him the chance to be forgiven for his actions once he finally starts his redemption]].

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': [[TheStoic Shoto Todoroki]] was first introduced as a cold, aloof, and emotionally distant boy who hates his father and is limiting his potential with his quirk in order to spite him. He reveals to Midoriya before their match in the Sports Festival that the reason he hates his father is that he's an {{Abusive Parent|s}} who put him through TrainingFromHell while simultaneously beating his mother until eventually, the mother snaps and throws boiling water on his face giving him his scar. Then, during their match, Midoriya in response, Midoriya calls him out for not going all out like everyone else just to spite his father and how his powers are '''his''' and his alone. This sparks him to be more willing to use both sides of his quirk, including his fire side, as well as try to be an overall more open and caring person. This even pushes him to (begrudgingly) accept help from his father to learn how to hone his fire side, and later on [[spoiler:even give him the chance to be forgiven for his actions once he finally starts his redemption.]]

TheDefroster is very keen to spot these moments, and realize that the person they're dealing with is just in need of some support and attention, and cue the DefrostingIceQueen, sometimes culminating in NowAllowedToHug.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': [[TheStoic Shoto Todoroki]] was first introduced as a cold, aloof, and emotionally distant boy with hates his father and is limiting his potential with his quirk in order to spite him. He reveals to Midoriya before their match in the Sports Festival that the reason he hates his father is that he's an AbusiveParent who put him through TrainingFromHell while simultaneously beating his mother until eventually, the mother snaps and throws boiling water on his face giving him his scar. Then, during their match, Midoriya in response, Midoriya calls him out for not going all out like everyone else just to spite his father and how his powers are '''his''' and his alone. This sparks him to be more willing to use both sides of his quirk, including his fire side, as well as try to be an overall more open and caring person. This even pushes him to (begrudgingly) accept help from his father to learn how to hone his fire side, and later on [[spoiler:even give him the chance to be forgiven for his actions once he finally starts his redemption.]]

* ''Manga/SPYxFAMILY'': The titular spy, Agent Twilight aka Loid Forger, is a cold and apathetic secret agent who's rather distant and devoid of feelings, and avoids forming bonds or having a normal life due to his line of work. When adopting Anya for his mission, Operation Strix, he displays impatience and disinterest in caring for her to the point he would leave her at home unattented. After she is abducted, he initially considers leaving Anya to her fate at the hands of the criminals to maintain his cover, only to [[RoaringRampageOfRescue infiltrate straight inside the enemy stronghold to rescue her]] despite being fully aware of the several risks. After fending off the criminals, he adopts Anya after realizing the amount of families that turned her away. This act of solace towards Anya is the first instance of Agent Twilight showing the [[HiddenHeartOfGold secret empathy that lies deep within him]].

* ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'': Throughout the game, Shadow the Hedgehog shows an apathetic and superior nature to everyone around him. He has occasional flashbacks to a girl named Maria, who he promises revenge for. Partway through the game, he finds out his assigned partner, Rouge, is locked in a room with the Chaos Emeralds as the island is about to explode. He gains a brief flashback to Maria and saves her. While he justifies to her and himself he was only after the Chaos Emeralds, Rouge calls this in to question. He has another flashback to his time with Maria as he questions his purpose, showing he is more vulnerable than he's letting on. This comes to a head in the final story, where Amy unintentionally helps him realize what Maria really wanted, to give the people of the planet hope.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'': In the first arc of the show, [[Characters/TheDragonPrinceViren Lord Viren]] at first appears to be your typical ruthless EvilChancellor who'll make trouble for the heroes out of personal ambition as he secrelty stole the egg containing the Dragon Prince without the knowledge of the King, however a private conversation with his daughter reveals he holds genuine feelings of brotherhood for King Harrow, with the implication he was willing to perform a HeroicSacrifice for him, before ill timed words from a frustrated Harrow derail those plans. Later on, his [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist veneer of a ruthless pragmatist]] brakes in a [[NotSoStoic rant]] in front of a mirror, (after using a potion of true sight), which reveals him to be a insecure, self-doubting, man [[IJustWantToBeSpecial desperate to be seen as important by others.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' : [[{{Goth}} Lucy]] is introduced as a gloomy, aloof, cynical girl who is often portrayed as TheStoic around her siblings, initially seeming to only be interested in all things dark, mysterious, and grim, and often frightened or put off her siblings with her creepy habits and distant attitude towards everyone. But over time, Lucy is revealed to have more sides to her than her family realizes.reepy goth girl. She was also shown hiding the fact that she actually enjoys taking a break from the brood and gloom persona and reading bright and cherry books like Princess Pony.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': [[Characters/AmphibiaSashaWaybright Sasha Waybright]] is first introduced in flashbacks of season one as a manipulative, tough, cocky, and controlling friend of Marcy and Anne who feels as though she's doing what's right for the friendship by being a ControlFreak and ToxicFriendInfluence. However, it's revealed that after Anne defeats her in the season 1 finale, she misses Anne and Marcy and is angry that things will never be the same again. She is also shown to genuinely care about her friends and thinks she doing what's best for all of them to get back home, and when she realizes how much [[GrewASpine Anne has changed]], she struggles to accept it, since she always was the one who needed to protect her (and Marcy) when they were little. After [[spoiler:Marcy reveals how she practically tricked her and Anne into taking the box and taking them away from their home and gets subsequently stabbed in the back by Andreas, as well as Anne calling off their friendship,]] Sasha begins to feel an immense amount of guilt for her role in the events that occurred. She starts to be more humble and compassionate towards, openly shows her affections for Anne, and later [[spoiler:forgives Marcy for her actions of keeping her in Amphibia]], promising to be a much better friend and person overall after this experience.

* ''Manga/EdensZero'': [[BrokenBird Hermit Mio]] was introduced as an initially cold and distant android girl from Shiki and his human friends, with her interactions with them being aloof and (almost) emotionless. It's then revealed over time, that she used to be a CheerfulChild who wanted to be friends and help all humans, which to her being tricked by [[FalseFriend Müller]] into helping the humans create a weapon that killed off an entire planet of robots like her. Then, the humans experimented on her and tortured endlessly for two years, leaving her utterly broken, and with a fifteen-year HeroicBSOD full of anger and self-loading. However, it's shown that even though she's locked her heart away in the virtual world away from real humans, she is able to still help them when they need it, like when she gives Shiki multiple upgrades to help him in his fight with Spider. Eventually, with the PositiveFriendInfluence of Shiki and his friends and the love and support they give her, she is able to drop her facade and start to heal. While she slowly regains her cheerful personality, she still maintains a bit of a cynical streak.
* ''Manga/FairyTail'': [[IceQueen Erza Scarlet]] is introduced as a stone-faced disciplinarian and highly-trained badass who is often too serious during peaceful moments, unlike the rest of her guild. She often would chastise her guild for goofing off and not taking things seriously, especially Natsu. This would also cause her to have a Lack of empathy, in which she takes everyone away from the village without understanding why it would be important for them to stay and protect them.
** It's later revealed that she is a BrokenBird suffering from a traumatic DarkAndTroubledPast that left her with such a massive amount of feelings of guilt and betrayal that for a long time, she became hardened and more closed off to everyone else. After Gray calls her out for her lack of empathy, she begins to try and make an attempt to open up and be more light-hearted and understanding of others.

* ''Manga/SPYxFAMILY'': The titular spy, Agent Twilight aka Loid Forger, is a cold and apathetic secret agent who's rather distant and devoid of feelings, forming bonds, or having a normal life due to his line of work. When adopting Anya for his mission, Operation Strix, he displays impatience and disinterest in caring for her into the point he would leave her at home unattented. After she was abducted, he initially suggests about leaving Anya to her fate of the criminals to maintain his cover, only to infiltrate straight inside enemy stronghold to rescue her right after despite being fully aware of the several risks. After defeating the criminal group, he adopted Anya after reliazing the amount families that turned her away. This act of solace towards Anya is first instance of Agent Twilight showing the [[HiddenHeartOfGold secret empathy that lies deep within him]].

* ''Manga/SPYxFAMILY'': The titular spy, Agent Twilight aka Loid Forger, is a cold and apatheitc secret agent who's rather distant and devoid of feelings, forming bonds, or having a normal life due to his line of work. When adopting Anya for his mission, Operation Strix, he displays impatience and disinterest in caring for her into the point he would leave her at home unattented. After she was abducted, he initially suggests about leaving Anya to her fate of the criminals to maintain his cover, only to infiltrate straight inside enemy stronghold to rescue her right after despite being fully aware of the several risks. After defeating the criminal group, he adopted Anya after reliazing the amount families that turned her away. This act of solace towards Anya is first instance of Agent Twilight showing the [[HiddenHeartOfGold secret empathy that lies deep within him]].

* ''Manga/SPYxFAMILY'': The titular spy, Agent Twilight aka Loid Forger, is a cold and apatheitc secret agent who's rather distant and devoid of feelings, forming bonds, or having a normal life due to his line of work. When adopting Anya for his mission, Operation Strix, he displayed impatience and disinterest in caring for her into the point he would leave her at home unattented. After she was abducted, he initially suggests about leaving Anya to her fate of the criminals to maintain his cover, only to infiltrate straight inside enemy stronghold to rescue her right after despite being fully aware of the several risks. After defeating the criminal group, he adopted Anya after reliazing the amount families that turned her away. This act of solace towards Anya is first instance of Agent Twilight showing the [[HiddenHeartOfGold secret empathy that lies deep within him]].

* ''Manga/FairyTail'': [[IceQueen Ezra Scarlet]] is introduced as a stone-faced disciplinarian and highly-trained badass who is often too serious during peaceful moments, unlike the rest of her guild. She often would chastise her guild for goofing off and not taking things seriously, especially Natsu. This would also cause her to have a Lack of empathy, in which she takes everyone away from the village without understanding why it would be important for them to stay and protect them.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'': In the first arc of the show, Lord Viren at first appears to be your typical ruthless EvilChancellor who'll make trouble for the heroes out of personal ambition as he secrelty stole the egg containing the Dragon Prince without the knowledge of the King, however a private conversation with his daughter reveals he holds genuine feelings of brotherhood for King Harrow, with the implication he was willing to perform a HeroicSacrifice for him, before ill timed words from a frustrated Harrow derail those plans. Later on, his [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist veneer of a ruthless pragmatist]] brakes in a [[NotSoStoic rant]] in front of a mirror, (after using a potion of true sight), which reveals him to be a insecure, self-doubting, man [[IJustWantToBeSpecial desperate to be seen as important by others.]]

TheDefroster is very keen to spot these moments, and realize that the person they're dealing with is just in need of some support and attention, and cue the DefrostingIceQueen, sometimes culminating in NowAi..

TheDefroster is very keen to spot these moments, and realize that the person they're dealing with is just in need of some support and attention, and cue the DefrostingIceQueen.