History Main / EverybodyKnewAlready

TransparentCloset is a common subtrope, where a character's sexuality isn't as much of a secret as they think it is. See also OpenSecret where it's painfully obvious from the get-go that no one is fooled by the secret. The metafictional version, where a writer reveals a twist that the audience already figured out, is the CaptainObviousReveal. Opposite trope of ThoughtTheyKnewAlready. Super-trope to EveryoneCanSeeIt. Also see TheUntwist.

* ''Film/AvengersEndgame'': When the Avengers go back in time to retrieve the Infinity Stones before Thanos assembles them, Thor runs into his mother Frigga[[note]]Moments before she is [[Film/ThorTheDarkWorld killed by Malekith]] while getting the Reality Stone. He pretends to be his younger self, which quickly fails.

* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/21828973?view_full_work=true Just Taken]]'' has [[Music/MelanieC Melanie]]'s fears of being buried alive and ducks were already known by her dad, Alan. Earlier, [[Music/SpiceGirls Emma]] had already known about being afraid of choking and losing control. Geri, Mel, and Victoria all understood about the duck phobia, which none of them didn't mind as there was a justified reason behind them. Alan explained he used a stuffed animal, a [[WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck duck]], in hopes to calm Melanie when she was a child.

-->'''Samuel''': "Mrs. Ketchum and I are going to get married."\\
'''Gary''': "Well, it's about time! Don't look so surprised, Grandpa. Everyone in Pallet Town knows you and Mrs. Ketchum have had a thing going for years."\\
'''Samuel''': "They do?"\\
'''Gary''': "Sure. It's the worst-kept secret in town."

* ''Fanfic/RainbowDoubleDashsLunaverse:'' In "Crisis on Two Equestrias", everyone in the regular [=Fim=] universe knows Lyra and Bon-Bon have a crush on one another, but CannotSpitItOut (Pinkie even has a whole party prepared for if-and-when they manage it).

-->'''Crewmember:''' But, Captain, we always knew you were a whoopsie. (Rest of crew pulls him back to shut him up.)

** Harry is afraid to reveal the demon in his head to his KnightInShiningArmor buddy Michael, whose job is pretty much to bring down said demons. When he finally does, the reaction is of course "I know". Harry has forgotten that, at least in theory, Michael's job is to give people possessed by those demons ''a chance to repent'' and be freed.
** Harry also forgot that he got possessed because he metaphorically [[TakingTheBullet Took the Bullet]] to protect Michael's toddler son...on Michael's front lawn...while Michael was home...
** ''Literature/BattleGround'': After years of hiding that she'd become the Winter Lady and angsting about how her parents will react to her loss of humanity Michael's daughter Molly finally comes clean. Her parents have already figured it out, probably back when Michael noticed that the statues of the Royalty of Winter and Summer in Hades included his daughter in ''Literature/SkinGame'', and tell her that being a fairy princess doesn't exonerate her from doing the dishes.

'''Aamir''': In classic Khan gossip train, you tell Ammi, she tells Abbu and we overhear because he always has his phone on speaker.

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. Security officer Tuvok catches fellow officers Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres [[MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces making out on an Engineering console while on duty]]. Tom asks Tuvok not to report this to Captain Janeway, but Tuvok coldly rejects the suggestion that he might lie to his captain. It turns out Tuvok didn't tell Janeway, but she knows anyway as half the ship is gossiping about their affair.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'': In season 23, Olivia doesn't even ''pretend'' to be surprised when Rollins discloses that she and Carisi are together. Amanda later tells Sonny she suspects Olivia has always known.

* In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', it turns out the whole party knew who TheMole was all along, and what looks like you falling into their trap was actually them falling into ''yours''.

* In ''Manga/ToLoveRu'', the general reaction to finding out Lala is an alien goes along the lines of "Oh. So that's why she has the tail." All while Rito, the only one who cares about TheMasquerade, freaks out and panics.

* Humorously done in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'' with Polnareff trying to surprise the others with the revelation that [[spoiler: Avdol [[BackFromTheDead survived a seemingly fatal attack]] [[NotQuiteDead and had been recovering the whole time he was gone]]]] only to find out that he was the ''only'' one who didn't know ([[spoiler:the others wanted to give Avdol enough time to recover from his injuries]] and didn't trust Polnareff not to blab about it).

* In an episode of the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, there is an OldSuperhero named Gligarman who is really the owner of a toy store. He gets shocked when everyone in town starts calling him by his real name during a climactic battle.
* Subverted hilariously in the last chapter of ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'': The girls eagerly declare that they already knew Haruhi's "[[SweetPollyOliver secret]]" when she wears a dress and begins dancing romantically with Tamaki. It isn't until later that they actually find out that she's a girl, and it turns out that they thought her "secret" was that [[MistakenForGay "he" and Tamaki were gay]] and that "he" liked [[RecursiveCrossdressing wearing women's clothing]].

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Ikkaku is willing to throw fights to avoid revealing his [[SuperMode bankai]], despite having willingly told [[HeterosexualLifePartner Yumichika]], [[TheApprentice Renji]] and [[ActionSurvivor Keigo]] that he possesses one. When chastising Ikkaku for his attitude, [[BigBrotherMentor Iba]] reveals he's always known. [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Komamura]] accidentally overhears but promises to keep his mouth shut. Later on, [[MadScientist Mayuri's]] comment to Ichigo that he and Akon once patched up Ikkaku's broken bankai reminds Mayuri he wasn't supposed to reveal the secret. He concludes he doesn't care.
* All the girls in ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple'' are confused as to how all the men never realized that Kisara's right hand Shiratori is [[spoiler:actually a girl]]. This revelation comes after a LoveTriangle arc, showing that the object of Shiratori's affection was ''not'' who all the men thought it was.

* PlayedForDrama in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', where the "secret" was that [[spoiler:Asuka's father and the doctor who took care of Asuka's bed-ridden and driven-into-insanity mother Kyouko were involved behind Kyoko's back]]. Even [[spoiler:Asuka]] knew, which is implied to be the reason why [[spoiler:she refuses to live with her father [[ParentWithNewParamour and his "new" wife]] after her mother's suicide.]]
* On ''Anime/{{Himawari}}'', Himari hides that she's discovered that Azami is a spy for the boy's school, but all of the other girls already knew. Only she and their teacher, Hayato, didn't. When they discover that she's hiding it, they explain that he's a double agent and that he's a boy.
* In ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'', after [[spoiler: his first match with Itona]], Koro-sensei decides he has no choice but to reveal a shocking truth about himself. He is actually an artificially created creature. No one in the class is surprised since Koro-sensei already said he isn't an alien and an artificial being was the only explanation left.
-->'''Entire class:''' Well, duh. And?\\
'''Koro-sensei:''' What a weak reaction! That was a pretty shocking thing to confess, wasn't it?!
* ''Manhua/RetiredHeroes'': Some {{Fake Ultimate Hero}}es expose a couple of adventurers as demons. Not only did the entire village already know they were demons, but they're actually the people who the fakes are impersonating.

* In chapter 140 of ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'', Ishigami is surprised to learn that the entire student council already knew about his crush on Tsubame. It's probably a good thing that it wasn't mentioned that the entire ''school'' already knew thanks to his rather public [[AchievementsInIgnorance accidental love confession]].

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** One old (prose) story suggested that most of Clark's close friends and co-workers knew he was Superman but were secretly government agents assigned to allow him the illusion of a "normal" life.
** One issue had an emergency that doesn't leave him time to get into costume at the Daily Planet, and everyone tells him to just go do it -- they've just been humoring him about the "secret identity" thing. [[WhamEpisode Wham issue]]? Nah, it was AllJustADream.
** Various stories have also implied that his secret identity is widely known back in his hometown of Smallville, but the whole town keeps quiet about it out of loyalty and friendship.
* PlayedForLaughs by Creator/PeterDavid in Comicbook/{{Wolverine}}. The X-Men were currently "dead" when Logan found out that [[ComicBook/SpiderWoman Jessica Drew]] and some of his Madripoor friends recognized him in his "Patch" disguise. It turned out they'd humoured him, on the basis that he must have had his reasons. Considering that Patch is Wolverine with an eyepatch and the claws not extended, this should really not have been such a shock.
-->'''Jessica''': When someone with claws and a temper wants to believe he's fooling people, no one wants to be the one to say "hey, Wolvie, what's with the stupid eyepatch?"

* In ''ComicBook/GoldDigger'', Britanny Diggers did a brief stint as a superhero in her school days. While the villains remained oddly oblivious, the rest of the students had no trouble figuring out the superhero 'Cheets', was actually their classmate Brittany, the only member of the student body who also had fur and a tail and was the only were-cheetah on Earth.
* [[Franchise/FantasticFour The Human Torch's]] features in ''Strange Tales'' involved him protecting his secret identity...despite the fact that he was a celebrity in his main title. Presumably, this was due to a lapse in Stan Lee's memory ([[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2005/11/03/comic-book-urban-legends-revealed-23/ which actually has some precedent]]); eventually, it was [[RetCon retconned]] that all the supporting cast were simply going along with the Torch's masquerade out of concern for his privacy...
* Right before the ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'', Vicki Vale had figured out everyone in ComicBook/{{Batman}}'s inner circle's real name sans [[ComicBook/Batgirl2009 Stephanie Brown]]. She had no hard evidence so she didn't run the story. She also didn't count on Batman's [[ComicBook/TaliaAlGhul baby mama]] being the daughter of an [[ComicBook/RasAlGhul international terrorist]] who'd kill her if people figured out who they were by extension.
* Two examples in ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'':
** The first occurs when Leetah accidentally yells out Cutter's secret soul name in front of Cutter's best friend, Skywise. It turns out Cutter and Skywise have such a strong mental link, they've known each other's soul names since they were kids.
** The second one occurs when BigBad Winnowill reveals Cutter's animal heritage to Leetah. Not only did both Leetah and Cutter already know, but they're also actually both ''proud'' of it.

* One issue of ''ComicBook/MsMarvel2014'' had the heroine finally revealing her SecretIdentity to her school friends, only to be shocked when they all admit to having figured it out already. She didn't exactly do a good job of hiding it, not helped by the fact that the preceding arc revolved around Ms. Marvel and Kamala Khan going missing at the same time.

* In the ''Series/{{Glee}}'' fanfic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6384367/1/We_Have_a_Problem We have a problem]],'' Kurt and Puck go to great lengths to keep their [[HoYay relationship]] a secret. When they finally decide to come out, it turns out that more or less everybody already knew.
* In ''Fanfic/TheEggTeam'', despite the many misteps he makes in trying to maintain his traveling doctor facade, Eggman is still shocked to find out that Teddy figured out that he was lying about it during his meeting with the trio outside of his room

* In ''Fanfic/TheKeysStandAlone: The Soft World'', the disguised George and Ringo are quite startled to find out that the Six Step Combo knew they were outworlders from the moment the band met them. In fact, the band thought the two were lying or exaggerating when they said they were musicians, since the band had never met a competent outworlder musician before, and planned to humiliate them on stage. George finds that admittance quite funny.
* In Chapter 20 of ''Fanfic/OriginStory'', Alex confesses to Louise that she murdered Henry Peter Gyrich, and did it in order to protect Louise from further attack. Alex then begs for Louise's forgiveness. Louise's only reaction is to gently let Alex know that she figured it out days before and that she forgave Alex as soon as she figured it out.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12435618/1/ Perception]]'' Adrien and Marinette eventually start dating, and, fearing Chloe's reaction, wisely decide to keep it secret. Then one day they get too affectionate... And it turns out that not only were the only ones fooled Chloe herself and ''maybe'' Sabrina, but Alix was genuinely surprised that it was supposed to be a secret.
* ''Fanfic/WhiteSheepRWBY'': Blake tells her team (Yang, Ren, and Nora) that she has something she needs to say to them, then removes her ribbon, revealing she is a Faunus. They then wait patiently for whatever she was planning to say. Turns out that Nora saw Blake in the shower weeks ago ("[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial Not because I was comparing our chest sizes or anything!"]]) and, not knowing it was a secret, told both her teammates and Team WJPR. Jaune somehow missed the memo, but doesn't particularly care when he finds out.
* ''Fanfic/{{Mended}}'': Professor Oak and Delia ''tried'' to keep a SecretRelationship, but it was an open secret amongst their neighbors.
-->'''Samuel''': "Mrs. Ketchum and I are going to get married."\\
'''Gary''': "Well, it's about time! Don't look so surprised, Grandpa. Everyone in Pallet Town knows you and Mrs. Ketchum have had a thing going for years."\\
'''Samuel''': "They do?"\\
'''Gary''': "Sure. It's the worst-kept secret in town."
* PlayedForDrama in ''Fanfic/CicadaPsalms''. At age 23, Mion tearfully confesses to her grandmother about the accidental permanent TwinSwitch she and Shion did as kids. It turns out that Oryou suspected it for years. She doesn't mind that Mion was born Shion, plus it was so long ago that it doesn't matter much anymore. The twins have long since [[BecomingTheMask become more accustomed to being each other]].
* ''Series/{{Supergirl 2015}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/MyYouthIsYours'': Once it becomes clear that everyone knows about Kara and Lena's relationship, and everyone knows that everyone else knows, Mon-El asks if they can stop pretending it's some big secret.
* This is the reaction of many characters, in the ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' AU ''Fanfic/BeyondHeroes: Of Sunshine and Red Lyrium'', to the news that the Inquisitor has gotten married. Next to no one is at all surprised that she is now married to the character whom pretty much everyone has always suspected she secretly loved. The only person who has doubts is Cassandra - who doesn't entirely trust the groom.
* ''Fanfic/RaisedByJagers'': It only takes a few years for the people of Mechanicsburg to realize that Agatha is the Heterodyne (partly due to her habit of heterodyning while thinking hard). They do a great job of keeping it a secret from outsiders, but by the time she's fifteen the various spies in town are starting to realize that something is up.
* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/21828973?view_full_work=true Just Taken]]'' has [[Music/MelanieC Melanie]]'s fears of being buried alive and ducks were already known by her dad, Alan. Earlier, [[Music/SpiceGirls Emma]] had already known about being afraid of choking and losing control. Geri, Mel, and Victoria all understood about the duck phobia, which none of them didn't mind as there was a justified reason behind them. Alan explained he used a stuffed animal, a [[WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck duck]], in hopes to calm Melanie when she was a child.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'' fic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/21447313?view_full_work=true Final Stand of Death]]'', both the in-story spectators and [[{{Music/KISS}} Gene Simmons]] already knew Fusion Gundam was in fact [[spoiler:the Music/SpiceGirls]], long before they revealed themselves to Johnny and Nick. It was also noted that Fusion Gundam addressed each other by their birth instead of their disguised names.
* ''Fanfic/RainbowDoubleDashsLunaverse:'' In "Crisis on Two Equestrias", everyone in the regular [=Fim=] universe knows Lyra and Bon-Bon have a crush on one another, but CannotSpitItOut (Pinkie even has a whole party prepared for if-and-when they manage it).
* ''Fanfic/ARedRoseInTheBlueWind'': When Blake is outed as a Faunus, Sonic's group reveal that they all figured it out the day they met her, and are surprised that the rest of Team RWBY didn't.

* In ''Film/TheHungerGamesMockingjayPart2'', [[spoiler:Katniss admits that she was never under orders to kill Snow; Cressida points out that none of them had believed her, but chose to trust it was the right thing anyway]].

* The only people who ''don't'' know that nightclub owner Johnny Kelly is really mob boss ''Film/JohnnyDangerously'' are his mother and baby brother. This is explained to Johnny by ''the Pope''.

* ''Film/AvengersEndgame'': When the Avengers go back in time to retrieve the Infinity Stones before Thanos assembles them, Thor runs into his mother Frigga[[note]]Moments before she is [[Film/ThorTheDarkWorld killed by Malekith]] while getting the Reality Stone. He pretends to be his younger self, which quickly fails.
-->'''Frigga:''' You're not the Thor I know at all, are you?
-->'''Thor:''' Yes I am.
-->'''Frigga:''' The future hasn't been kind to you, has it?
-->'''Thor:''' I didn't say I was from the future.
-->'''Frigga:''' I was raised by witches, boy. I see with more than eyes, you know that.[[note]]Granted, even if she only had her eyes and not additional magic senses, the fact that Thor looked vastly different than his 2013 self thanks to his BeardOfSorrow and [[HeartbreakAndIceCream drastic weight gain]] killed the ruse before it even began.[[/note]]

* It was treated as a big deal when Music/InsaneClownPosse revealed themselves as being evangelical Christians in a 2010 interview. Which is odd, since their music had always been full of Christian ideas and symbolism and they had already spelled it out in the track ''Thy Unveiling'' back in 2002.

* Meanwhile, when [[Series/AmericanIdol Clay Aiken]] came out, a group of fans reportedly sued his label for misrepresenting him as implicitly heterosexual.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas: Dead Money,'' when Vera Keyes confesses to Sinclair that she has been scamming him all along in an attempt to get at his money. Sinclair already knew, and had been playing along and biding his time until he could deliver an act of truly brutal revenge... but Vera [[WhatYouAreInTheDark ultimately having a change of heart and admitting the truth]] on her own [[LoveRedeems convinces him]] to forgive her.
* In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'', Woozie's blindness. He's convinced that he acts normally enough to be indistinguishable from someone sighted, but he feels his way around everywhere and fires a [=MP5=] like... well, someone who can't see. Everyone humours him.
-->'''Woozie:''' I have a confession to make. I... I'm blind.
--> '''CJ:''' [[SarcasmMode No shit.]]

* Lee can actually invoke this in Episode 3 of ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', where he can tell anyone in the group that he was a convicted murderer. If Lee tells Kenny but not Lily, then she is shocked to find out he knows this later in the Episode.
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'', Estelle thinks she's managed to hide her status as an [[KingIncognito Imperial Princess]] from the rest of the party, but by the time it's officially revealed, both [[TheHero Yuri]] and [[TheSmartGuy Rita]] have figured it out. Only [[TagalongKid Karol]] is surprised.
* Similarly, though much more tragically, in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss,'' Luke thinks he's hidden his [[spoiler: impending disintegration - [[ItMakesSenseInContext yeah, literally,]]]] from everyone except Jade, who, of course, figured it out right away. Tear finds out not much later from Mieu, who had overheard Jade and Luke, and in the ending, Guy and Anise reveal that they, too, knew all along.
* From ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'': [[spoiler:Adamantine]], too. Also called 'cotton candy', the name coming from an extended metaphor of [[spoiler: Hell]] being a 'circus', because of all the [[DeadlyEuphemism Fun]] that's there. Heck, the words 'cotton candy' are often coloured cyan on the forums, further playing up the OpenSecret status of it. Furthermore, it's not even much of a secret in-game, since it can be found in the status screen's 'stone' tab.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Magicka}}'', you discover to your shock and horror halfway through the game that your mentor Vlad, [[MostDefinitelyNotAVillain who repeatedly assures you he's not a vampire]], [[ClassicalMovieVampire wears evening-wear all the time, has a Romanian accent, slick hair, opera cape]] and is seen sucking blood fro-, I mean, 'having a conversation' with some poor villager that happens to get tossed off a cliff the moment he notices you've been observing him... Is actually a werewolf! No, wait. Not a werewolf. The other 'v' monster. 'Vampire', that's it. He's secretly a vampire. Shocking, we know. We apologize for the lack of spoiler tags.

* In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', it turns out the whole party knew who TheMole was all along, and what looks like you falling into their trap was actually them falling into ''yours''.
* ''VideoGame/Bioshock2'': Stanley Poole desperately tells Delta not to let Lamb know he was the one who drowned everyone in Dionysus Park to hide the fact he was spending her money on women, booze and plasmids. When Delta confronts him, Lamb laughs over the loudspeaker and tells him she knew already, and Delta can do whatever he wants to Poole.

-->'''Chromedome''': "You told [[MotorMouth Swerve]], right? So assume everyone on board knows. [[SerialEscalation In fact, assume everyone on Cybertron knows]]. [[UpToEleven In fact, assume that distant]] ''[[UpToEleven alien races]]'', [[UpToEleven otherwise untouched by civilization]]—"

* Taken UpToEleven in the ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'' tale ''[[http://www.scp-wiki.net/everyone-knows Everyone Knows,]]'' where everyone in the world (except for one person) has known about anomalies for years but kept them secret. The SCP Foundation alone employs almost 3.5 billion people.

* PlayedForDrama in ''Fanfic/CicadaPsalms''. At age 23, Mion tearfully reveals to her grandmother about the accidental permanent TwinSwitch she and Shion did as kids. It turns out that Oryou suspected it for years. She doesn't mind that Mion was born Shion, plus it was so long ago that it doesn't matter much anymore. The twins have long since [[BecomingTheMask become more accustomed to being each other]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'' fic, [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/21447313?view_full_work=true Final Stand of Death]], both the in-story spectators and [[{{Music/KISS}} Gene Simmons]] already knew Fusion Gundam was in fact [[spoiler: Music/SpiceGirls]], long before they revealed themselves to Johnny and Nick. It was also noted that Fusion Gundam addressed each other by their birth instead of their disguised names.

* ''Literature/TheQueensThief'': At the end of ''The Thief'', when it is revealed that Eugenides is really [[spoiler:the Thief of Eddis and cousin to the Queen of Eddis, not some random half-Sounisan peasant,]] he is sorely disappointed to find the magus had figured it out already...as had virtually everyone but Sophos, actually, and [[TomatoSurprise the readers.]]

* In the ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' episode "Present Tense", the BadFuture adult version of William tells Oliver that he's gay. Oliver replies that he and Felicity figured that out from their time with 12-13 year old present-day William.

** Castle, Beckett and Esposito are torn up about telling Ryan that his fiancée slept with a pick-up artist a month after they started dating. When they're finally about to break the news, Ryan nonchalantly announces that he already knows and doesn't care because they weren't exclusive at the time.

*** After just about everyone else knows they still keep it secret from Captain Gates, assuming she'd use their relationship as an excuse to break them up. When Castle saves Beckett from a bomb, Gates tells her that this would be a good time for Beckett to kiss him as a thank you. She's offended that they didn't think she was a good enough detective to realize what was going on.

* On the ''Series/TrueLife'' episode "I'm Coming Out", they profiled three (closeted) gay teens. Towards the end of the piece, one young man worked up the courage to come out to his best friend. He sits her down, lets her know how much their friendship means to him, and that he has something to tell him that he's never told anyone else. He tells her that he's gay. Without blinking, she looks at him and replies, in a slightly confused tone "Yes. What was the secret you wanted to tell me?" In fact, the girl's first words on the ConfessionCam were "From the moment I met [him], I knew he was gay."

* ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters'': If Riki manages to beat him, the mysterious Mask The Saito will finally reveal himself to be...Kyousuke! Riki's reaction is basically 'yeah, I know', given that that'd been pretty obvious since at least the moment he opened his mouth. [[LargeHam Kyousuke]] is quite disappointed by the lackluster reaction, so Riki makes an attempt to humour him and pretend he really didn't know, but Kyousuke just advises him not to bother.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'', it's implied after a 15-year {{timeskip}} that most of the city of Chel'el'sussoloth heavily suspects that The Empress Diva'ratrika [[spoiler:has been dead for close to 30 years]] but just haven't been able to ''prove'' it until [[spoiler:Kiel'ndia very publicly assassinates the BodyDouble they were using as a stand in]] which finally gives an allied clan an excuse to pull out of the conflict. Likewise, it's implied that most of the Sarghress already know that [[spoiler:Ariel's]] biological mother is actually [[spoiler:Mel'arnach and not Quain'tana]] despite the official story to the contrary.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' had a slight variant on this. In "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", Binky spends most of the episode trying to keep a secret from the Tough Customers that he sometimes still holds his Mom's hand. When he does get caught out, it's not that they already knew, but the reaction is complete disappointment...that Binky's secret wasn't something more interesting. The Tough Customers don't think any less of him for holding his mom's hand but chide him that next time he has some big secret, it had better be something really juicy.

* When we first meet Matthew's family in ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'' he tells Jessie they don't know he's gay to spite him having figured it out early and being CampGay. His family are southern and very traditional so he finds it easier to just not talk about it with them. In season four his mother finds out and it [[IHaveNoSon destroys their relationship]] but they still pretend everything's normal around the rest of the family. In the end he decides he needs to tell his dad to spite of his mother insisting he'll never be able to handle it. When he dose tell him he calmly tells him he was aware both of his sexuality, which he knew about from the start because he was never really trying to hide it and of the difficalties he'd been having with his mother, to which he assures him she'll eventually come around.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'' deals with the housemates doing a role-playing exercise to help Xandir tell his parents he is gay. They (pretending to be his parents) initially simply exclaim "Duh!" when he tells them, but he accuses them of not taking it seriously. Thus, the rest of the episode is an extended fantasy in which the characters all take on roles and act out an elaborate story of what might happen when he really tells them, involving running away, prostitution and eventual murder. At the end of the episode, he finally comes out to his ''real'' parents...who simply exclaim, "Duh!"
* A running gag in the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' episode "The Missing Links of Moorshire!" is that the two kelpies haunting the mystical golf course the characters have become trapped in keep showing up to gloatingly explain various dangers of the situation to the ducks...seconds after the ducks have worked it out for themselves.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' ultimately makes it clear that seemingly the ''only'' person who knows both Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala and works with at least one of them on a regular basis who does not either [[SecretKeeper explicitly know about]] or [[SecretSecretKeeper suspect]] the existence of their SecretRelationship is Jar Jar Binks. In fact, the list of characters who know or suspect that they're married that haven't explicitly been told is as long or longer than the people who ''have'' outright been told.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'': When Megan Wheeler finally tells Ross she's pregnant, he's less than shocked. She only replies that if they'd been female, they would have figured it out weeks ago. For his part, Nichols had pretty well figured it out as well, probably a while ago, but Ross convinced him not to bring it up with Wheeler because of the potential implications of asking a woman if she's pregnant. (He does eventually do it anyway, but only after she serves up an opening so blatantly that she's pretty much just telling him to ask.)

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12435618/1/ Perception]]'' Adrien and Marinette eventually start dating, and, fearing Chloe's reaction, wisely decide to keep it secret. Then one day they get too affectionate... And it turns out that not only were the only ones fooled Chloe herself and maybe Sabrina, but Alix was genuinely surprised that it was supposed to be a secret.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' opens with Alya announcing to Alix, Mylene, Rose, and Juleka that they have a major reveal: Marinette has a crush. Alix immediately points out that everyone even knows it's on Adrien. Marinette is mortified, until Rose assures her that [[ObliviousToLove Adrien himself doesn't know.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'' revealed sometime in the second season that Orel's father Clay is actually the mayor of Moralton...and everyone but Orel and the audience knew it already.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'': in the episode "Bluebird", a Gem named "Bluebird Azurite" arrives in Beach City, wishing to join Steven's Little Homeschool. ''Everyone'' immediately knows Bluebird is [[spoiler:a fusion of Aquamarine and Eyeball Ruby]], but while Steven suspects she's there for revenge and immediately wants to get rid of her, the other Crystal Gems want to give Bluebird the benefit of the doubt. [[spoiler:Steven is right and is unimpressed by their dramatic reveal.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'': in the episode "Bluebird", a Gem named "Bluebird Azurite" arrives in Beach City, wishing to join Steven's Little Homeschool. EVERYONE immediately knows Bluebird is [[spoiler:a fusion of Aquamarine and Eyeball Ruby.]] Steven suspects Bluebird is there for revenge, but the Crystal Gems want to give her the benefit of the doubt, anyway. [[spoiler:Steven is right.]]

* Midway into the first season of ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'', Pidge reveals to the whole crew that [[spoiler:[[SweetPollyOliver she is actually a girl.]]]] Lance is the ''only'' one surprised by this: The audience had already seen that Shiro and Allura found out by this point. Keith and Hunk had suspected as much. Coran assumed [[spoiler:Pidge's actual gender]] immediately and never thought otherwise.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'': When Megan Wheeler finally tells Ross she's pregnant, he's less than shocked. She only replies that if they'd been female, they would have figured it out weeks ago. For his part, Nichols had pretty well figured it out as well, probably a while ago, but Ross convinced him not to bring it up with Wheeler because of the potential implications of asking a woman if she's pregnant. (He does eventually do it anyway, but only after she so blatantly hands him an opening that she might as well be telling him to ask.)

* Throughout the first season of ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', Dipper tries his hardest to keep his crush on Wendy a secret. Mabel finds out almost immediately and Soos [[SmarterThanYouLook offhandedly mentions knowing it]] during the first season finale. [[spoiler:When he finally admits it to her in season two, Wendy tells him it was obvious and she could hear him [[StageWhisper repeatedly]] [[LampshadeHanging admitting it,]], making him feel more embarrassed.]]

TransparentCloset is a common subtrope, where a character's sexuality isn't as much of a secret as they think it is. See also OpenSecret where it's painfully obvious from the get-go that no one is fooled by the secret. The metafictional version, where a writer reveals a twist that the audience already figured out, is the CaptainObviousReveal. Opposite trope of ThoughtTheyKnewAlready. Also see TheUntwist.

* An episode of ''Series/CriminalMinds'' had J.J. trying to keep the fact she was having a relationship with a detective she'd met the year before a secret to keep her personal life personal, causing problems when the team encountered him again and she didn't want to acknowledge it. When she finally gave in and kissed him in public, the response from her co-workers who saw it was amusement that she was finally admitting it.

* May only half qualify but in an episode of ''Series/{{Psych}}'' while drunk Lassiter admits that none of the higher-ups at the police department actually believes he's a psychic and are only playing along due to his impressive track record. Though, it is also clear that a good number of officers do buy into the psychic act.

** In the episode ''[=LGBSteve=]'' a roller derby team Hailey want's to join agrees to let her in as long as she convinces her "sister" to also join, Hailey assumes they mistook [[DudeLooksLikeALady Steve]] for a ButchLesbian like themselves. Then when Steve gets close to another member of the group Hailey objects to him lying about his gender in order to date her and ends up pulling his pants down, exposing his genitals to the whole team. As it turns out they all knew Steve was physically male but due to him being InTouchWithHisFeminineSide assumed he was a trans woman.

TransparentCloset is a common subtrope, where a character's sexuality isn't as much of a secret as they think it is. See also OpenSecret where it's painfully obvious from the get-go that no one is fooled by the secret. The metafictional version, where a writer reveals a twist that the audience already figured out, is the CaptainObviousReveal. Opposite trope of ThoughtTheyKnewAlready.

** Same goes for the general fandom when the Hooded Man/totheark was revealed to be [[spoiler:Brian.]] It was literally the only option aside from [[FanNickname Bruce,]] also known as [[NoNameGiven the Groundskeeper.]] And he was ''[[KilledOffForReal dead.]]''

* From ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'':
** The Hidden Fun Stuff. Most everyone learns what it actually is through the forums or the Dwarf Fortress wiki, where the article about it is only protected by a scroll down. It's discussed quite openly on the forums aside from the FanNickname covering it up, and even most newbies know that the 'Hidden Fun Stuff/HMS' refers to [[spoiler: TheLegionsOfHell]]. Of course, when you somehow manage to get someone entirely unspoiled, the results can be quite epically hilarious. See ''[[LetsPlay/{{Vaults}} Vaults?]]'' for a good example.
** [[spoiler:Adamantine]], too. Also called 'cotton candy', the name coming from an extended metaphor of [[spoiler: Hell]] being a 'circus', because of all the [[DeadlyEuphemism Fun]] that's there. Heck, the words 'cotton candy' are often coloured cyan on the forums, further playing up the OpenSecret status of it. Furthermore, it's not even much of a secret in-game, since it can be found in the status screen's 'stone' tab.

** Stan is surprised to find out that not only is his classmate "Token" actually named Tolkien (as in, the author of Lord of the Rings), but everyone else at school already knew that. It's handwaved that previous uses of "Token" were just characters like Cartman and Mr. Garrison being idiots not knowing how to spell it, and Tolkien himself admits to not liking the name which may explain why he uses it too.

*
** Meta-example on ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': We are introduced to the mysterious KidHero [[TheCowl Mysterion,]] and the audience never finds out who, exactly, he ([[SamusIsAGirl or she?]]) is. Then Mysterion reappears as part of the Coon and Friends Trilogy. The whole first episode passes, still without revealing Mysterion's identity...only for [[TheEveryman Stan]] to casually address him by name ten minutes into the second episode. [[spoiler:It's Kenny.]]

* Meta-example on ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': We are introduced to the mysterious KidHero [[TheCowl Mysterion,]] and the audience never finds out who, exactly, he ([[SamusIsAGirl or she?]]) is. Then Mysterion reappears as part of the Coon and Friends Trilogy. The whole first episode passes, still without revealing Mysterion's identity...only for [[TheEveryman Stan]] to casually address him by name ten minutes into the second episode. [[spoiler:It's Kenny.]]