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Basic Trope: A character agrees to keep another character's secret.

  • Straight: Alice discovers that her best friend, Claire, is a werewolf and agrees to keep it secret.
  • Exaggerated: Alice is suspicious that Claire is hiding something from her so she follows her to discover her secret: she's a werewolf. Claire sees her and asks Alice if she can keep this from anybody which she agrees.
  • Downplayed: The secret is something mundane, like Claire having a Sweet Tooth.
  • Justified:
  • Inverted:
    • Alice sells Claire's secret to the media.
    • An elaborate Masquerade is in place to make sure Alice, the only person who doesn't know Claire is a werewolf, never finds out.
  • Subverted:
    • Secret Secret-Keeper
    • Alternately, Alice tells Bob that Claire is a werewolf.
    • Claire is publicly outed as a werewolf, meaning Alice technically isn't keeping a secret anymore.
  • Double Subverted:
    • ...But Claire eventually learns that Alice knows her secret and then asks her to keep it.
    • ...But then asks Bob to keep the secret, as well.
    • Alice tells Bob Claire's secret... that Claire is a vampire.
  • Parodied: Claire threatens Disproportionate Retribution if Alice tells her secret... which is being a tomboy.
  • Zig Zagged: Claire tells Alice a secret, Alice tells it to Bob. But Bob doesn't tell the secret to anyone else.
    • Alice tells Bob a secret which could endanger her if it got out. Bob only tells the secret to his wife Claire, and swears her to secrecy. It looks like Claire will keep the secret...until the villainous Dave manipulates her into telling, which endangers Alice and greatly pisses off Bob.
  • Averted:
    • Alice never finds out that Claire is a werewolf.
    • Everybody knows that werewolves exist, and Claire happens to be one of them.
  • Enforced: "We need somebody to know Claire's secret, but we can't let everybody in the series know! Let's just make Alice know Claire's secret but not tell it."
  • Lampshaded: "Are you keeping any secrets Alice?"
  • Invoked: Claire chooses Alice as a friend just so that she can keep her werewolfism a secret.
  • Exploited: Alice threatens to reveal Claire's secret if Claire doesn't do a few... favors for her.
  • Defied: "No Alice, I won't tell you my secret."
  • Discused: "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."
  • Conversed: "Yeah, her secret's safe alright... But for how long??"
  • Implied: Claire says something to Alice, but we never actually hear it. Then Claire tells Alice to keep it a secret, and Alice agrees.
  • Deconstructed: Alice is having a nervous breakdown over trying not to spill the beans. She becomes increasingly paranoid, misinterpreting everything she hears as a reference to Claire's furry little secret.
  • Reconstructed: Alice eventually learns the difference between everyday conversations and references to Claire's secret.
  • Played For Laughs: Claire's secret is pretty obvious, like eating sweets in public, but she still insists that Alice never tells this to anybody.
  • Played For Drama: Claire's secret could end up ruining her reputation if it ever got out.

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