History Quotes / BeneathTheMask

“I was ashamed of myself when I realized life was a costume party and I attended with my real face”

'''Trickster''': He ''is'' the mask! Without the mask, he's... nothing, bupkis, nada, zip! Just some boring, average insignificant jerk nobody cares about who'll [[DyingAlone die alone]] and forgotten, watching game shows in an empty apartment... with cats. If you touch that mask again... '''''[[SuddenlyShouting I'LL MURDER YA!]]'''''

-->''Either/Or'', by Creator/SorenKierkegaard

->[[DiabolicalMastermind The Opium Khan]] surveys his situation, and seems about to speak. Then he looks at Edie, and for the first time she sees the truth of him. The [[CardCarryingVillain hectoring matinee villain]] fades away, the cheery roguish smile vanishes, and in its place is [[TheSociopath the thing]] which locked a family in a room and incinerated them. It's like watching a snake rise from the corpse of a wolf. Another explosion rattles the room, closer this time.

-->-- ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/213786?view_adult=true Shatter]]''

-->-- '''Niccolo Machiavelli''', ''Literature/ThePrince Chapter XVIII''

-->'''Creator/SorenKierkegaard''', ''Either/Or''

-->-- '''Stormfront''', ''Series/TheBoys2019'' S2E2

-->-- "Just A Little Girl", by '''[[Music/TheAgeOfInformation Trading Yesterday]]'''

-->-- [["Music/TheWall In The Flesh?"]]", by '''Music/PinkFloyd'''

->''"Everyone sees what you appear to be, few really know what you really are."''
-->--'''Niccolo Machiavelli''', ''Literature/ThePrince Chapter XVIII''

->"''Everybody lies...''"
-->--'''Title character''', ''Series/{{House}}''

->''Here is my real head, here is my real head''
->''I wear this fucking mask because you cannot handle me''
->''Here is my real head''
-->--'''Music/MarilynManson''', "Organ Grinder"

-> A pure white mask, in contrast to her own Arab ethnicity. She’d meant to make a point of it, to challenge people to wonder more about what was behind the masks, about their assumptions about heroes and villains. Belatedly, she said, "We act too much. Hide behind masks way too often."
-->-- '''Sabah''', ''Literature/{{Worm}}''

->''"Are you surprised, dreamer? Are you surprised that I could be so much less of a man within? Do not be."''
-->--'''Laenan Kite''', ''[[Creator/CatherineWebb Mirror Dreams]]''

->"In [Loki's] head there is a voice, wild with laughter, crying, ''Reject me, try it, lay one hand on me again and you will be ''atoms'', all of you, and your pathetic ruin, nothing but dust.'' Outwardly he holds to that slight, polite smile."
-->--''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/213786?view_adult=true Shatter]]''

->...You may think that person is perfect or that everyone likes her/him, but people do have flaws. And there are always people who acknowledge those flaws. And there are always going to be people who don’t like you for whatever reason.
->If you think someone thinks that she/he is perfect, then that person is probably putting up a front. A lot of people are insecure, and acting super confident (or faking it until they make it) might be their way of coping. Everyone has flaws and knows that they have flaws, even if you personally do not see them acknowledge those flaws.
-->-- Blogger '''[[http://marysueproblems.tumblr.com/faq marysueproblems]]''' criticizing the concept of 'MarySue[=s=] in real life'

->''There before me, from this girl who'd never shown anything but self assuredness, was a catalogue of failures.''
-->--'''Shinji''', ''Fanfic/TheOneILoveIs'', ''chapter 6''

->In short, Yandere-chan is always insane, 100% of the time. Her sanity does not rise or fall. Instead, what rises and falls is her current level of composure; her current ability to hide her true nature. As Yandere-chan performs acts of cruelty, her composure will slip, and her true face will begin to show.
-->-- '''The developer''' of ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'', discussing its psychopathic main character

-> An image formed in front of her, born of [[{{Mana}} Stormlight]], created by instinct. She hadn't needed to draw this image first, for she knew it too well.\\

-->-- ''Literature/WordsOfRadiance''

-->--''Literature/{{Animorphs}} - Megamorphs #3''

-->--''Literature/{{Angelmaker}}''

->''"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be."''

->''"Fuck this world for confusing nice with good. Be a bitch if you want. Be whatever. Just drop the mask once in a while."''

-->-- "Just A Little Girl" by '''[[Music/TheAgeOfInformation Trading Yesterday]]'''

-->-- "Try" by '''Music/ColbieCaillat'''

-->-- '''Music/BillyJoel''', "The Stranger"

-->-- '''Music/PinkFloyd''', ''In The Flesh?'' ''Music/TheWall''

->'''''Why won't you let me hide from me?'''''
-->-- "Mirror, Mirror", {{WebAnimation/RWBY}}

-->--Roleplaying notes for the '''[[CelebrityImpersonator Star, Fucker]],''' ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade - Clanbook: Tzimisce (Revised)''

-->--''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000: Codex - Dark Eldar (5th ed)''

-->--'''Raoul''', ''Theatre/LoveNeverDies''

[[folder:Video Games]]->''"Your true face... What kind of... face is it? I wonder... the face under that mask... Is that... your true face?"''

->''"WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF??? ACCORDING TO [[Encyclopedia of]] [[Being Afraid]], THERE'S NOTHING TO FEAR EXCEPT ... [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness ... can anyone hear me?]] [[QuietCryForHelp Help...]] "''

-->--''VideoGame/Persona5'', "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wIZJs5SuV8 Beneath the Mask]]"

->''"You see a man whose character changed. I see a man who got found out... for who he truly was."''

-->''"The Japanese say you have three faces. The first face, you show to the world. The second face, you show to your close friends and your family. The third face, you never show anyone. It is the truest reflection of who you are."''

-->--''WesternAnimation/BatmanYearOne''

-->--''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', "The Honking"

->''Beneath this mask I wear''
->''There's nothing of me,''
->''Just horror, shame, despair...''
->''Why does she love me?''
-->--'''Raoul''', ''Theatre/LoveNeverDies''

-->--'''Series/{{House}}''', House M.D

->''"Commander, I want you to understand, I acquired human characteristics... to bring your people and mine closer together. To symbolize our mutuality. It is supposed to be a dignified, inspiring transition for both humans and Minbari. So will you please explain to me why this... Hair. Refuses to cooperate?"''
-->--'''Delenn''', ''Series/BabylonFive''

->''So ya thought ya might like to go to the show''
->''To feel the warm thrill of confusion that space cadet glow''
->''Tell me is something eluding you sunshine?''
->''Is this not what you expected to see?''
->''If you wanna find out what's behind these cold eyes''
->''You'll just have to claw your way through this disguise!''
-->-- '''Music/PinkFloyd''', ''In The Flesh?'' ''Music/TheWall''

->''Mirror, tell me something...''
->''Tell me, who's the loneliest of all?''
->''Fear of what's inside me...''
->''Tell me, can a heart [[IceQueen be turned to stone]]?''
->''Mirror, mirror, what's behind you?''
->''Save me from the things I see,''
->''I can keep it from the world,''
->'''''Why won't you let me hide from me?'''''
-->-- "Mirror, Mirror", {{WebAnimation/RWBY}}

->Laughing. Kicking. Clapping on the beat. Feeling her somewhere behind him, doing the same. Wondering if she wanted as badly as he did to be out of here, to be in the dark, to be alone in the dark, where he could put his false face aside before the real one beneath could grow hot enough to set it afire.
-->-- From ''Literature/WizardAndGlass'', by Stephen King

->''So go ahead and bat your eyes and lie right to the world''
->''For with everything you are, you're just a little girl''
-->-- "Just A Little Girl" by '''[[Music/TheAgeOfInformation Trading Yesterday]]'''

->''Why should you care, what they think of you''
->''When you're all alone, by yourself''
->''Do you like you? Do you like you?''
-->-- "Try" by '''Music/ColbieCaillat'''

->''"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be."''
-->-- '''Creator/KurtVonnegut''', ''Literature/MotherNight''

->''Well we all have a face that we hide away forever''
->''And we take them out and show ourselves''
->''When everyone has gone.''
->''Some are satin, some are steel''
->''Some are silk and some are leather.''
->''They're the faces of the Stranger,''
->''But we love to try them on.''
-->-- '''Music/BillyJoel''', "The Stranger"

->Everybody you know is nothing more than a collection of habits, idiosyncrasies and speech affectations for you to play with. [[MasterActor You know which personality or mannerism best amuses others]], but you don't have a developed personality of your own. You entertain and harangue other people, because you're afraid your friends might realize how dull you actually are. You haven't [[ShapeshifterDefaultForm "looked" like yourself]] this last month: [[VoluntaryShapeshifting you've always been somebody else]], pretending at an existence not your own, [[AttentionWhore playing for the appreciation of others]]. In public, you're the unlife of the party; in private, you bore yourself to bloody tears.
-->--Roleplaying notes for the '''[[CelebrityImpersonator Star, Fucker]],''' ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade - Clanbook: Tzimisce (Revised)''

-->-- ''Literature/WordsOfRadiance'' (second book of ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'')

->Tough girl, her mental jester mocked her. Everybody thinks you're such a tough girl.\\
But [[ComicBook/PowerGirl she]] had to be tough. Finding out that so many years of her life were a pre-programmed lie, coming to a strange world, finding only one man of Krypton and then losing him, turning from innocence into grim experience on a planet she never made... she had to be tough, or break. She had to wall the little girl off, most of the time, and put on the casing of the big, tough, capable bitch.
-->-- ''Fanfic/AForceOfFour''

->Throughout her rise to the top of the echelons of power, [[LadyOfWar Malys]] smiled not once, her face ever a mask of self-assurance and contempt for the Dark Eldar that once more clawed and scraped for favour. When she is sure no-one is around, however, Malys will gaze long into her own reflection, [[NotSoStoic grinning]], then giggling, the bursting into terrifying seizures of laughter that seem for all the world to come from two throats at once.
-->--''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000: Codex - Dark Eldar (5th ed)''

->''I'm a shape shifter\\
At Poe's masquerade\\
Hiding both face and mind\\
All free for you to draw\\
I'm a shape shifter\\
Chained down to my core\\
Please don't take off my mask\\
My place to hide''
-->--''VideoGame/Persona5'', "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wIZJs5SuV8 Beneath the Mask]]"

->Marco turned away from Jake. [[StepfordSmiler The grin disappeared]]. He looked like he wanted to cry.
->Our eyes met again. And not for the first time I realized [[SmarterThanYouLook how smart Marco is underneath all the jokes]]. He knew we were going to do it. [[SomeoneHasToDie He knew his best friend's life might be the price we paid]]. He also knew we couldn't go into this hopeless battle thinking about nothing but that single, terrible fact.
-->--''Literature/{{Animorphs}} - Megamorphs #3''

->In the beginning, when Annette was careful to keep her shape to the most aesthetically pleasing one possible, you had to be careful with your approach; it’s not that she lies out of malice or anger, but she protects herself in the best way she can. For Annette, the worst possible fate is to be seen, known, perceived in all her imperfections.
-->-- ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/23074084 A Series Of Observations On The Superhuman Psyche]]''

-->-- '''Stormfront''', ''Series/TheBoys2019'', "Proper Preparation and Planning".

->''"Your true face... What kind of... face is it? I wonder... the face under that mask... Is that... your true face?"''

->'''Barbara Gordon''': He's a pig.\\
'''Jim Gordon''': He's acting like one. Anyone who'd wear a cape and hurt criminals might go far to keep his secrets.
-->--''WesternAnimation/BatmanYearOne''

->'''Bender:''' Please... I'm scared.\\
'''Sal:''' We're all scared, it's the human condition. Why do you thinks I put on this tough guy facade? Now beat it!
-->--''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', "The Honking"