History Main / TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife

* in ''WeissKreuz'', Ken Hidaka's entire love life can be summed up this way. He breaks up with his first girlfriend, [[BikerBabe Yuriko]], because he simply can't handle lying to her and can't see any other way to keep her safe, then does it ''again'' when the first one doesn't quite take; the second, Reiko, turns out to be one of his targets, so that doesn't end at all well either. Unsurprisingly, by ''Gluhen'' he seems to have given up dating entirely.
* Done semi-literally in PuellaMagiMadokaMagica; the process of becoming a MagicalGirl entails [[spoiler: having your soul removed from your body, basically turning you into a lich. Not to mention the fact that you ''have'' to continue hunting witches to avoid becoming one yourself.]]

** Felicia Hardy turned into a superheroine, which actually ''complicated'' their dating.

* Comes up in the second book of Marie Brennan's OnyxCourt series. Antony refuses to tell his wife about the Onyx Court, and she calls him on keeping secrets more than once, although eventually she accepts that there are certain things that he just can't/won't tell her. The third book also plays with this trope: while TheMasquerade has clearly not limited Galen's ''dating'' life, society dictates that he must marry outside it. Galen agonizes for months about whether and how to tell his fiancee, Delphia. Subverted when he does decide to tell her and her reaction, after a brief initial shock, is pretty much, "Faeries living under London? Cool!"

* in ''WeissKreuz'', Ken Hidaka's entire love life can be summed up this way. He breaks up with his first girlfriend, [[BikerBabe Yuriko]], because he simply can't handle lying to her and can't see any other way to keep her safe, then does it ''again'' when the first one doesn't quite take; the second, Reiko, turns out to be one of his targets, so that relationship doesn't end at all well either.

* in ''WeissKreuz'', Ken Hidaka's entire love life can be summed up this way. He breaks up with his first girlfriend, [[BikerBabe Yuriko]], because he simply can't handle lying to her and can't see any other way to keep her safe, then does it ''again'' when the first one doesn't quite take; the second, Reiko, turns out to be one of his targets. That doesn't end well either.

Usually, the LoveInterest freaks out. Rarely... very rarely... the LoveInterest [[UnderstandingBoyfriend doesn't freak out at all]] and instead reacts with some variation of "Huh... well that explains a lot." Of course, adding a regular character who is in the know will remove a huge source of drama, so any girlfriends or boyfriends that find out about the Masquerade have a life expectancy of a few hours. Compare [=~It's Not You, It's My Enemies~=]. May be because she or he LovesMyAlterEgo. Often the cause of a character being HollywoodDateless. A subtrope of KeepingSecretsSucks. If your heroic job threatens your dating life for reasons other than its secrey, see LovedINotHonorMore.

** '''B.''' Neither of you knows the other is in on it. {{HilarityEnsues Hilarious complications ensue.]]

* ''AmericanDragonJakeLong'': [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig zagged]] via type 3B. Jake meets Rose at the start of his Masquerade, dates her, finds out she's on the other side of it and breaks up with her, gets her back via HeelFaceTurn, ''she'' breaks up with ''him'' because she thinks he's getting reckless about their relationship, she [[HopeSpot starts considering getting back together with him]], then she gets [[spoiler:[[ResetButton rewritten in history]]]] and Jake is left a wreck. His next two dating prospects at least have the decency to be a disaster right out of the gate.

* ''AmericanDragonJakeLong'': [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig zagged.]] Jake meets Rose at the start of his Masquerade, dates her, finds out she's on the other side of it and breaks up with her, gets her back via HeelFaceTurn, ''she'' breaks up with ''him'' because she thinks he's getting reckless about their relationship, she [[HopeSpot starts considering getting back together with him]], then she gets [[spoiler:[[ResetButton rewritten in history]]]] and Jake is left a wreck. His next two dating prospects at least have the decency to be a disaster right out of the gate.

* Brutally averted in the Persona3 and Persona4 games from the ShinMegamiTensei franchise. Later into the games, you will actually find your life much much easier if you date/socialize/karaoke/have coffee on a regular basis and cram only for the exams. The dates in Persona3 are even designed such that you are only required to max out your Knowledge stat by the last quarter of the game.

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* This trope is why so many superheroes from the ''GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'' are divorced (in some cases, divorced multiple times). It also explains why so many of them are "girl/guy in every port" types.

* Played for laughs in ''Mr. and Mrs. Smith''. Both are Elite Spies of different (and competing) agencies who both live an elaborate lie (similar to Schwarzenegger's in ''True Lies''. It all goes south when they are on the same job.

Usually, the LoveInterest freaks out. Rarely... very rarely... the LoveInterest [[UnderstandingBoyfriend doesn't freak out at all]] and instead reacts with some variation of "Huh... well that explains a lot." Of course, adding a regular character who is in the know will remove a huge source of drama, so any girlfriends or boyfriends that find out about the Masquerade have a life expectancy of a few hours. Compare [=~It's Not You, It's My Enemies~=]. May be because she or he LovesMyAlterEgo. Often the cause of a character being HollywoodDateless. A subtrope of KeepingSecretsSucks.

** '''B.''' He walks in on you while in the middle of official Masquerade business, and won't leave until you explain why you just staked some goth guy through the chest.

Of course, adding a regular character on the inside will remove a huge source of drama, so any girlfriends or boyfriends that find out about the Masquerade have a life expectancy of a few hours. Compare [=~It's Not You, It's My Enemies~=]. May be because she or he LovesMyAlterEgo. Often the cause of a character being HollywoodDateless. A subtrope of KeepingSecretsSucks.

* In ''TrueLies'' Schwarzenegger's character, a secret agent, pretends to his wife that he is an exceptionally dull accountant. This nearly kills his marriage.

* On ''{{Warehouse 13}}'', Pete's love interest fled the town after being possessed by an artifact that caused her to try and kill him.