History Main / MaskOfConfidence

* Mamoru in ''Anime/FafnerInTheAzureDeadAggressor'' wears a Goubain mask when piloting his Fafner, which makes him act more HotBlooded.

* In the {{Literature/Discworld}} book ''Literature/{{Maskerade}}'', no one suspects that [[spoiler:Walter Plinge]] could be the Phantom, because without the mask he acts like an altogether different person. When Granny and Agnes give him an "invisible mask" to face [[spoiler: Salzella]] at the climax, he retains the confidence and poise of his alter ego.

* The hunters' warpaint in ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies''.
* In ''Literature/{{Masques}}'', Aralorn's friend Wolf wears a mask. His face is heavily scarred, but apart from that [[spoiler:he looks exactly like his evil father, so he really needs a new face.]]
* As the quote page says, At Literature/RightHoJeeves, Jeeves invokes this trope advising Gussie Fink-Nottle, who CanNotSpitItOut to Madeline Basset, to get a pirate costume or a Mephisthopeles costume to a costume ball Madeline has invited Gussie. We will never know if it would have worked because Gussie [[TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket gives the taxi the wrong address and his costume has no pockets where to save money and he expends the night at jail]].

* ''Fanfic/TheAdventuresOfPantheraNoire'': As Panthera, Juleka is almost unrecognizable, becoming a flirty, quick witted sass master. Ironically, her mask actually makes her insecurities in her normal life worse as it leads her to believe that Rose is in love with ''Panthera'' and not to the real her.

* In ''Franchise/StarWars'', the villainous Kylo Ren is a much darker take on this. When he's wearing a black, voice-altering mask (deliberately designed after Darth Vader's), he comes off as more cold, menacing and controlled. When the mask's off, he is a lot more awkward and emotional to the point where it's implied part of the reason he wears the mask is to hide his true feelings. Case in point, his master Snoke contemptuously tells him to "take that ridiculous thing off".

* As the quote page says, At Literature/RightHoJeeves, Jeeves invokes this trope advising Gussie Fink-Nottle, who CanNotSpitItOut to Madeline Basset, to get a pirate costume or a Mephisthopeles costume to a costume ball Madeline has invited Gussie. We will never know if it would have worked because Gussie [[TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket gives the taxi the wrong address and his costume has not pockets where to save money and he expends the night at jail]].

* Non superhero example in ''Series/TheMaskedSinger'', which naturally requires all of its contestants to be hidden via masks and costumes, as guessing them is the whole point of the show. Many singers have commented on how liberating it is to perform anonymously and get away from their existing reputations.

* Murakumo from ''VideoGame/SenranKagura'': While wearing the Hanyaa mask, she acts cool, stoic, and talks with a deep, tough-sounding voice. Without it, she turns into an ShrinkingViolet with an incredibly timid voice who's too nervous to form complete sentences.

* ''Webcomic/{{Flipside}}'': Maytag is outgoing and freethinking when in her jester outfit, and extremely shy and neurotic without it.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* People are known to act as a much less 'filtered' and 'conformed' version of themselves when wearing a mask of some sort. This is particularly true when said mask is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_disinhibition_effect the internet]]. Of course, this means that people who suppress their natural nastiness [[InternetJerk will unleash it online]].

->'''Bertie Wooster:''' ''And he was attending that fancy-dress ball, mark you--not, like every other well-bred Englishman, as a Pierrot, but as Mephistopheles--this involving, as I need scarcely stress, not only scarlet tights but a pretty frightful false beard... "And why not as a Pierrot?" I said, taking up the point which had struck me before. "Why this break with a grand old tradition?"''\\
'''Gussie Fink-Nottle:''' ''He particularly wanted me to go as Mephistopheles... Jeeves is a great believer in the moral effect of clothes. He thinks I might be emboldened in a striking costume like this. He said a Pirate Chief would be just as good.''

-> '''Bertie Wooster:''' ''And he was attending that fancy-dress ball, mark you--not, like every other well-bred Englishman, as a Pierrot, but as Mephistopheles--this involving, as I need scarcely stress, not only scarlet tights but a pretty frightful false beard... "And why not as a Pierrot?" I said, taking up the point which had struck me before. "Why this break with a grand old tradition?"''
-> '''Gussie Fink-Nottle:''' ''He particularly wanted me to go as Mephistopheles... Jeeves is a great believer in the moral effect of clothes. He thinks I might be emboldened in a striking costume like this. He said a Pirate Chief would be just as good.''

* Murakomo from ''VideoGame/SenranKagura'': While wearing the Hanyaa mask, she acts cool, stoic, and talks with a deep, tough-sounding voice. Without it, she turns into an ShrinkingViolet with an incredibly timid voice who's too nervous to form complete sentences.

* Webcomic/{{Flipside}}: Maytag is outgoing and freethinking when in her jester outfit, and extremely shy and neurotic without it.

* In ''Franchise/StarWars'', the villainous Kylo Ren is a much darker take on this. When he's wearing a black, voice-altering mask (deliberately designed after Darth Vader's), he comes off as more cold, menacing and controlled. When the mask's off, he is a lot more awkward and emotional to the point where it's implied part of the reason he wears the mask is to hide his true feelings.

* ''Film/TheMask'' revolves around an actual MaskOfPower, but when Stanley asks an anthropologist for more information about it, he doesn't believe it's magic and instead [[LampshadeHanging brings up]] the psychological effect of wearing a mask. Because the artifact unleashes its wearer's inner nature, the shy, lovesick Stanley is granted an absurd level of confidence as The Mask and is thus initially successful in his wooing of Tina but ultimately comes on too strong for her liking. When she realizes the two are one and the same and assures Stanley that she likes the hopeless romantic he is, it helps him reconcile his inner and outer selves and in the end they're happily in love without magic.

* ''Film/TheMask'' revolves around an actual MaskOfPower, but when Stanley asks an anthropologist for more information about it, he doesn't believe it's magic and instead [[LampshadeHanging brings up]] the psychological effect of wearing a mask.

* Murakomo from ''VideoGame/SenranKagura'': While wearing the Hanyaa mask, she acts cool, stoic, and talks with a deep, tough-sounding voice. Without it, she turns into an ShrinkingViolet with an incredibly timid voice who's to nervous to form complete sentences.

* People are known to act as a much less 'filtered' and 'conformed' version of themselves when wearing a mask of some sort. This is particularly true when said mask is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_disinhibition_effect the internet]]. Of course, this means that people who suppress their natural nastiness [[{{GIFT}} will unleash it online]].

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', after leaving the Straw Hat Crew, Usopp develops an alternate identity of Sogeking, so that he might still help to save his companion without betraying his true identity to the rest of the crew and let them know that he did not leave (it doesn't work, but that's beside the point). The mask included in the costume is nothing but a common carnival souvenir, but "Sogeking" is drawn out once again in a future battle, and grants Usopp enough confidence to win.

[[folder: Film ]]

* In ''Franchise/StarWars'', the villainous Kylo Ren is a much darker take on this. When he's wearing a black, voice-altering mask (deliberately designed after Darth Vader's), he comes off as more cold, menacing and controlled. When the mask's off, he is a lot more awkward and emotional, to the point it's implied part of the reason he wears the mask is to hide his true feelings.

[[folder: Literature ]]

* The self-help book ''Goodbye Shy'', which is about beating shyness, recounts an anecdote of a young boy who was painfully shy in public to the point of never speaking or interacting with anyone, until he was allowed to wear a mask to school one day. In an instant, he loudly declared himself to be "Nobody", and became gregarious and friendly. As this became his new normal, he made lots of friends and stopped needing the mask.

* As the quote page says, At Literature/RightHoJeeves, Jeeves invokes this trope advising Gussie Fink-Nottle, who CanNotSpitItOut to Madeline Basset, to get a pirate costume or a Mephisthopeles costume to a costume ball Madeline has invited Gussie. We will never know if it would have worked, because Gussie [[TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket gives the taxi the wrong address and his costume has not pockets where to save money and he expends the night at jail]].

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''Series/TheBennyHillShow'', "In Boutique Mask Dance." Benny goes to a mask boutique, tries to flirt with the shopgirl who rejects him. He puts a handsome mask on and she's falling all over herself, but he plays hard to get. Then he takes the mask off momentarily and puts it back on, but puts on a female mask by mistake, so now the shopgirl doesn't care for him. He's confused. Then a man enters the shop, sees this beautiful girl (Benny) and tries to woo her.

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* In ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' Alessio Rinaldi AKA the Peacock Prince has found himself with a rather problematic case of this: as the Malkavian Prince of Ravenna, he's more than capable of dealing with all the problems that governance throws at him - but only once he dons his mask of peacock feathers. Without it, he's frail, meek, and incapable of the dealing with his station as prince... and worse still, the Peacock Prince has actually begun to develop into an independent personality in its own right.

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* In the {{Literature/Discworld}} book ''Discworld/{{Maskerade}}'', no one suspects that [[spoiler:Walter Plinge]] could be the Phantom, because without the mask he acts like an altogether different person. When Granny and Agnes give him an "invisible mask" to face [[spoiler: Salzella]] at the climax, he retains the confidence and poise of his alter ego.

--{{}}> '''Bertie Wooster:''' ''And he was attending that fancy-dress ball, mark you--not, like every other well-bred Englishman, as a Pierrot, but as Mephistopheles--this involving, as I need scarcely stress, not only scarlet tights but a pretty frightful false beard... "And why not as a Pierrot?" I said, taking up the point which had struck me before. "Why this break with a grand old tradition?"''
--> '''Gussie Fink-Nottle:''' ''He particularly wanted me to go as Mephistopheles... Jeeves is a great believer in the moral effect of clothes. He thinks I might be emboldened in a striking costume like this. He said a Pirate Chief would be just as good.''

--> '''Bertie Wooster:''' ''And he was attending that fancy-dress ball, mark you--not, like every other well-bred Englishman, as a Pierrot, but as Mephistopheles--this involving, as I need scarcely stress, not only scarlet tights but a pretty frightful false beard... "And why not as a Pierrot?" I said, taking up the point which had struck me before. "Why this break with a grand old tradition?"''

--> ''Literature/RightHoJeeves''