History Main / LovesMyAlterEgo

** ->Téa: Um... Yugi, before you go, there's something I need to tell you.
** ->Yugi: Don't worry, Tea. I know all about it.
** ->Téa: Really?
** ->Yugi: Yeah. You're in love with me, right?
** ->Téa: Actually, I'm in love with your sexy alter ego.
** ->Yugi: Oh... this is kinda awkward.

->Téa: Um... Yugi, before you go, there's something I need to tell you.
->Yugi: Don't worry, Tea. I know all about it.
->Téa: Really?
->Yugi: Yeah. You're in love with me, right?
->Téa: Actually, I'm in love with your sexy alter ego.
->Yugi: Oh... this is kinda awkward.

* Anzu/Téa in the ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}'' manga and anime is frequently confused about whether she's in love with Yugi or "the other [Yami] Yugi."

* ''Batman Beyond'' has a non-romantic version of this trope where Terry's younger brother Matt idolizes the new Batman as BadAss and the epitome of cool but sees his own older brother as a boring, workaholic who's never around.

* In ShugoChara, Tadase falls in love with Amu's alter ego "Amulet Heart". [[spoiler: Still later he confesses his that he actually loves Amu for who she is, not her alter ego.]]

* A strange case in {{Hayate no Gotoku}}, Luca appears to have started to fall for Hayate's alterego, but shown no signs of being a lesbian. She'll probably be relieved to find out that Hayate is actually a guy, though probably unhappy about having to deal with his {{unwanted harem}}.

*** In her defense, The Ultimate Black Cat was a complete [[InvertedTrope inversion]] of the standard one; she ''wanted'' to live a normal life with the man under the mask. The problem being she's an adult (at least in her mid-20's) and he's a 15 year old kid. Definitely a justified {{squick}}.

* Vicki Vale was Comicbook/{{Batman}}'s Lois Lane (in fact she was a pretty blatant ripoff, being a nosy reporter with an alliterative name and all) throughout the '40s and '50s, but eventually the writers got tired of her and she quietly slipped away into comic-book limbo. She's still turns up in TheDCU from time to time as a TV reporter, but after [[Film/{{Batman}} the Tim Burton film]], she didn't properly turn up again until ''TheBatman versus {{Dracula}}'' (See RuleOfCool).
** She's now back at the Gotham Gazette and [[spoiler: knows Batman's secret]]. Which means she also knows [[spoiler: he's dead]]. What she's going to do about this remains to be seen.

** In the Italian miniseries ''Ultraheroes'', which basically is about the founding of a ''JusticeLeague Disney Comics'', Paperinik and Paperinika actually starts to get along, and even falling for each other... which causes them no small amount of angst, since they both already ''have'' a significant other - the other's secret identity.

* Thundermind of ''TheDCU'''s Great Ten has this in his secret identity (him being the only member of the team to really have one). In a shameless (and [[RuleOfFunny hilarious]]) riff on SilverAge Superman, Thundermind is also the nebbish, bespectacled schoolteacher Zou Kang. His affections for attractive coworker Ms. Wu are ignored because she only has eyes for Thundermind.
* Happens to TheHulk believe it or not. Betty prefered Bruce Banner, Jarella preferred Hulk and Caiera loves both.

** In another SuperSentai series, ''MahouSentaiMagiranger'', Kai's crush Yuka goes gaga over Magired, but the trope is subverted when she figures out his identity during the movie that takes place halfway through the series. Notably, [[SecretSecretKeeper she never outright tells him that she's aware of his identity.]]

In the best-case scenario, she'll discover the truth by pure accident, which somehow makes it more okay than if the hero had told her (or not, expect fireworks at being LockedOutOfTheLoop). In the worst-case scenario, after the {{masquerade}}-maintaining ItsNotYouItsMe, she'll eventually hook up with some other civilian besides the hero, who [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy just wants his beloved to be happy]].

** Currently, Wondy has her Diana Prince identity again, and Tom Tressler (the BadassNormal formerly known as Nemesis) is [[LovesMyAlterEgo in love with someones alter ego]].

* Even though she knows who he really is, ActionGirl/[[TheLancer Lancer]] Elli Quinn from {{Lois McMaster Bujold}}'s ''VorkosiganSaga'' is deeply in love with her commander, Admiral Miles Naismith--but not so enamored of his real identity Lt. Miles Vorkosigan. ("I've heard you do his accent." is as close as she can come to acknowledging it.) Her refusal to come to terms with this exasperates Miles ("I don't do his accent; he does mine.") and eventually scuttles the relationship.

* This becomes a major problem for Gara Petothel in ''[[XWingSeries X-Wing: Wraith Squadron]]'', who is an imperial secret agent who likes her covert identiy as an Alliance pilot so much, she would rather like to [[BecommingTheMask become the mask]]. Unfortunately the one pilot to show romantic interest her is the only survivor of an ambush she had set up months before. Not only did the death of all his friends traumatize him deeply, it's also his friendship to her, that slowly helps him to recover.
* Subverted in Artemis Fowl, Artemis's Alter Ego, Orion, is the one in love.

* Oscar Wilde's ''TheImportanceOfBeingEarnest'' has its own version of this, with Jack's ward Cecily falling in love with his alter ego and "Bunbury", Ernest. Not having met him, though, she doesn't know the first thing about him, making it possible for Jack's friend Algernon to pose as Ernest to woo her. Of course, the traditional Loves My Alter Ego is not quite there, but that is somewhat thanks to Algernon who takes on the role of Ernest. Meanwhile, Jack's -- who goes by the name Ernest in the city -- LoveInterest Gwendolyn is convinced that Jack is Ernest, eventually leading Cecily and Gwendolyn to briefly think they're in love with the same man, until it turns out that ''no one'' is Earnest.

* ''PhineasAndFerb'' plays with this in one episode. Isabella gets annoyed that her usual crush, Phineas, keeps disappearing when she needs him. Meanwhile she swoons over the Beak, the new superhero she follows in Lois Lane-fashion. Of course, the Beak is actually Phineas (and his brother, Ferb) in a robotic suit. [[GenreSavvy]] Candace calls her out for her GenreBlindness.

* ''PhineasAndFerb'' plays with this in one episode. While Isabella still loves Phineas, she gets annoyed with him constantly disappearing. Meanwhile, she also swoons over a recent superhero that appeared whom she calls The Beak (which happens to be both Phineas and Ferb.)

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* ''CodeGeass'' has a variation. ActionGirl Kallen has a BodyguardCrush on Lelouch's masked identity, [[DarkMessiah Zero]], but has a very low opinion of Lelouch, mostly because he cultivates a reputation for being an [[RichIdiotWithNoDayJob apathetic]] [[JerkassFacade jerk]]. When Kallen dramatically learns Zero's true identity, she has a HeroicBSOD, but after she's had some time to get used to the idea, she comes to love both of them.

* [[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]] has Kuno hating Ranma, but loves his female side. Inverse for his sister, Kodachi: loves Ranma, but hates his female side.
** Inverse variation to Shampoo and Ukyo. Of course, the two find out.

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* How is ''SailorMoon'' not here yet? in the anime, Usagi[=/=]SailorMoon loves Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask, while he has a mysterious need to protect Moon. Usagi can't stand Mamoru, who also seems to dislike Usagi. At the same time, he's in love with the mysterious princess of his dreams [[spoiler:who is actually Usagi's past self.]] In the second season, there's also the Tsukikage no Knight, whom Usagi loves while she also loves Mamoru/Mask, though he turns out to be [[spoiler:the astral-projected manifestation of Mamoru's love for Usagi when his memories are sealed.]] The manga is even worse, because Usagi and Mamoru actually like each other there before learning each other's identities.

** Technically, Freakazoid is more of a separate personality than an alter ego, which occasionally caused him to actively mock Dexter over this trope. It also meant that when Steff found out the truth, she was at first incredulous, then thought it was funny more than anything else, and never brought it up thereafter.

* Oscar Wilde's ''The Importance of Being Earnest"'' has its own version of this, with Jack's ward Cecily falling in love with his alter ego and "Bunbury", Ernest. Not having met him, though, she doesn't know the first thing about him, making it possible for Jack's friend Algernon to pose as Ernest to woo her. Of course, the traditional Loves My Alter Ego is not quite there, but that is somewhat thanks to Algernon who takes on the role of Ernest. Meanwhile, Jack's -- who goes by the name Ernest in the city -- LoveInterest Gwendolyn is convinced that Jack is Ernest, eventually leading Cecily and Gwendolyn to briefly think they're in love with the same man, until it turns out that ''no one'' is Earnest.

*Subverted in Death Sentence (the sequel to Death Wish), Paul Benjamin starts a relationship with a court employee named Irene Evans. Her comments about the vigilante (whom she does not know as just Benjamin's alter ego) do not seem to indicate she particularly supports the vigilante.
*Averted in the Spider; Nita Van Sloan supported Richard Wentworth as himself and the Spider.