History Main / TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife

* Around halfway into ''Manga/KaitouSaintTail'', Meimi realizes she doesn't actually want to hide her SecretIdentity from Asuka Jr. anymore because it's basically tantamount to deceiving him, and she knows he has a very honest personality and hates deception; however, she's also afraid of it also being such a BerserkButton for him that she's terrified of doing so. As it turns out, it ''is'' ruining her dating life, but not for the reason she thinks: Asuka Jr. has been falling in love with her and has actually been suspecting her to be Saint Tail for a while, but that's less of a problem to him than the fact he has no idea what she's thinking and can't tell if she secretly hates him, because she's been repressing all of her feelings out of guilt and forcing him to use increasingly roundabout ways to figure out what's going through her head.

* The stress of the masquerade getting in the way is part of the reason Thrix is the ChristmasCake in ''Literature/LonelyWerewolfGirl'' (the other part of the reason is she is a chronic workaholic). In the sequel, her only love interest turned out to be a case of DatingCatwoman.

* ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'' has the mermaids be under a {{Geas}} in that revealing their identity as mermaids to a human will result in them turning into foam. Naturally, this means any mermaid who falls in love with a human will have to hide a ''huge'' part of their life from their partner, and in the manga, part of Lucia and Kaito's relationship troubles come from the fact that even after Kaito decides to toss the TwoPersonLoveTriangle out the window and commit to Lucia, she still has to keep secrets from him. [[spoiler:It later turns out that the need to hold up TheMasquerade was exactly what ruined Sara and Mitsuki's relationship, leading to her going over the edge and becoming TheDragon. Ultimately, Kaito turns out to be [[ChangelingFantasy not actually human]] and therefore fair game to find out about Lucia's identity, but Hanon and Rina manage to make it all the way to being HappilyMarried with their human lovers Nagisa and Hamasaki without spilling; in Hamasaki's case, the manga implies that he's figured out that Rina is a mermaid, but is deliberately not confirming it because he can tell there's a reason she can't say it.]]

* ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'' has the mermaids be under a {{Geas}} in that revealing their identity as mermaids to a human will result in them turning into foam. Naturally, this means any mermaid who falls in love with a human will have to hide a ''huge'' part of their life from their partner, and in the manga, part of Lucia and Kaito's relationship troubles come from the fact that even after Kaito decides to toss the TwoPersonLoveTriangle out the window and commit to Lucia, she still has to keep secrets from him. [[spoiler:It later turns out that the need to hold up TheMasquerade was exactly what ruined Sara and Mitsuki's relationship, leading to her going over the edge and becoming TheDragon. Ultimately, Kaito turns out to be [[ChangelingFantasy not actually human]] and therefore fair game to find out about Lucia's identity, but Hanon and Rina manage to make it all the way to being HappilyMarried with their human lovers Nagisa and Hamasaki without spilling; in Hamasaki's case, the manga implies that he's figured out that Rina is a mermaid, but is deliberately not confirming it because he can tell there's a reason she can't say it. Unfortunately, ]]

* ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'' has the mermaids be under a {{Geas}} in that revealing their identity as mermaids to a human will result in them turning into foam. Naturally, this means any mermaid who falls in love with a human will have to hide a ''huge'' part of their life from their partner, and in the manga, part of Lucia and Kaito's relationship troubles come from the fact that even after Kaito decides to toss the TwoPersonLoveTriangle out the window and commit to Lucia, she still has to keep secrets from him. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Kaito turns out to be [[ChangelingFantasy not actually human]] and therefore fair game to find out about Lucia's identity, but Hanon and Rina manage to make it all the way to being HappilyMarried with their human lovers Nagisa and Hamasaki without spilling. In Hamasaki's case, the manga version implies that he's figured out that Rina is a mermaid, but is deliberately not confirming it because he can tell there's a reason she can't say it.]]

* ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'' has this be the main issue between Ichigo and her would-be boyfriend Aoyama. They vow to meet up, but Ichigo needs to fight off the aliens and ultimately arrives late at the meeting place, apologizing. And even when she isn't fighting, if she gets too excited, she grows cat features (or turns into a cat completely) and has to hide those from him, too. Aoyama eventually reveals that, while he didn't ''know''-know, he figured Ichigo was doing something great that he couldn't be a part of and just took it in stride. [[spoiler:Then he creates a split-personality of the Blue Knight, who fights alongside Ichigo. And ''then'' he turns out to be the BigBad.]]

* In the ''Manga/CaseClosed'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Dominoes}}'', Ran is a superheroine-in-training under the tutelage of her boyfriend Shinichi's superhero father. Except said boyfriend is deliberately kept LockedOutOfTheLoop in order to "keep him safe," to the point where his father uses abuse tactics to keep him ignorant and obedient. Not only is Ran constantly ditching Shinichi with shoddy excuses to run off with his adoptive brother, but Ran herself has slowly adopted his family's habit of shaming him when he steps out of the lines they draw for him without his consent. [[spoiler:Upon finally discovering her secret, Shinichi gives her a second chance to prove she can support him; she fails due to her superhero duties calling her away, and [[LoveCannotOvercome Shinichi breaks up with her]] on the grounds that they may love each other, but she hasn't treated him as her partner in long time.]]

* In the ''Manga/CaseClosed'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Dominoes}}'', Ran is a superheroine-in-training under the tutelage of her boyfriend Shinichi's superhero father. Except said boyfriend is deliberately kept LockedOutOfTheLoop in order to "keep him safe," to the point where his father uses abuse tactics to keep him ignorant and obedient. Not only is Ran constantly ditching Shinichi with shoddy excuses to run off with his adoptive brother, but Ran herself has slowly adopted his family's habit of shaming him when he steps out of the lines they draw for him without his consent. [[spoiler:Only a few days after discovering her secret, [[LoveCannotOvercome Shinichi breaks up with her]] on the grounds that she may love him as she claims, but she treats him like her burden, not her partner.]]

* In the ''Manga/CaseClosed'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Dominoes}}'', Ran is a superheroine-in-training under the tutelage of her boyfriend Shinichi's superhero father. Except said boyfriend is deliberately kept LockedOutOfTheLoop in order to "keep him safe," to the point where abuse tactics are used to keep him ignorant and obedient--and even Ran herself has become accustomed to shaming Shinichi when he steps out of the behavioral lines she and her team drew for him without his consent. [[spoiler:Despite Ran expressing deep love for Shinichi and a desire to work through their relationship issues, [[LoveCannotOvercome Shinichi eventually dumps her]] on the grounds that she continuously treats him like a burden, not a partner. To him, learning her secret only made obvious how little she actually respected him.]]

* In the ''Manga/CaseClosed'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Dominoes}}'', Ran is a superheroine-in-training under the tutelage of her boyfriend Shinichi's superhero father. Except said boyfriend is deliberately kept LockedOutOfTheLoop in order to "keep him safe," to the point where abuse tactics are used to keep him ignorant and obedient--and even Ran herself has become accustomed to shaming Shinichi when he steps out of the behavioral lines she and her team drew for him without his consent. [[spoiler:Despite Ran expressing deep love for Shinichi and a desire to work through their relationship issues, [[LoveCannotOvercome Shinichi eventually dumps her]] on the grounds that she continuously treats him like a burden, not a partner.]]

* In the ''Manga/CaseClosed'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Dominoes}}'', Ran is a superheroine-in-training under the tutelage of her boyfriend Shinichi's superhero father. Except said boyfriend is deliberately kept ignorant of all of this, to the point where some pretty intense power abuse is used to keep him ignorant and obedient, up to and including Ran herself habitually becoming accustomed to shaming him when he steps out of the behavioral lines she and her team drew for him without honest engagement or consent. Though Ran is in denial of the fact, their relationship is already all but officially over when Shinichi inevitably finds out, and when he does, it isn't the actual secret that hurts Shinichi but what it confirms about how his father and girlfriend actually see him as a person: Ran was perfectly content in letting TheMasquerade isolate Shinichi from any genuine, trust-reciprocating friendships and in pressuring Shinichi to give up his dreams of investigating crime because it's "too dangerous" for him--all for the sake of "keeping him safe." Having any faith or trust in him as a person apparently was never seen as an option, even by those who claimed to love him the most. [[spoiler:Despite expressing deep love for Shinichi and a sincere desire to work through their relationship issues, Ran's accidental confirmation of her condescending view towards "protecting" her boyfriend while trying to explain why she hid all this is the final straw; [[LoveCannotOvercome Shinichi dumps her and feels "relief" after doing so.]]]]

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* ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'' has this be the main issue between Ichigo and her would-be boyfriend Aoyama. They vow to meet up, but Ichigo needs to fight off the aliens and ultimately arrives late at the meeting place, apologizing. And even when she isn't fighting, if she gets too excited, she grows cat features (or turns into a cat completely) and has to hide those from him, too. Aoyama eventually reveals that, while he didn't ''know''-know, he figured Ichigo was doing something great that he couldn't be a part of and just took it in stride. [[spoiler:Then he creates a split-personality of the Blue Knight, who fights alongside Ichigo. And ''then'' he turns out to be the BigBad.]]

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
** If this trope had an AnthropomorphicPersonification, Peter Parker would punch it so hard the blue highlights would [[ComicBook/ScottPilgrim fly out of its hair]].
** [[ILetGwenStacyDie Gwen Stacy]] is an infamous example. She hated Spider-Man because she blamed him for her father's death (despite being a former police chief, which would already put a target on his back) and it's much later revealed she found out soon before her death that Peter was Spidey. And of course, she died from dating him via the Green Goblin.
** Mary Jane, although he ''did'' marry her, but the number of times his crime-fighting got in the way of dates, it's an exception. Plus, in ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'', with his identity discovered by the whole wide world and everyone in danger because of it, he opts to lose his marriage by having a general amnesia imposed upon the world in order to resume the masquerade all over again. However, [[ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManNickSpencer in 2018 they got back together]] after MJ decided she was okay with this part of Peter's life.
** His first love interest, Betty Brant, was a straight type-A. She was a SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan and it's why she was drawn to Peter. His superheroing, however, does cause tension, and she thinks he's a bad boy. They end up becoming close friends later.
** Liz Allen and Debbie Whitman might qualify as well... both very interested in Parker until they realized he's quite unreliable on dates.
** ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan isn't exempt from this either. Mary Jane originally breaks up him after she begins having nightmares about him dying, coupled with the fact that she suspects Gwen Stacy has feelings for him. Gwen briefly dates Peter but dumps him when he's replaced by Chameleon.
* ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'': It happens to Billy Batson as [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] when he starts dating [[ComicBook/StarsAndSTRIPE Stargirl]]. Billy is 16, Stargirl is 16 and knew that Billy was 16, and that Billy was Captain Marvel, and that it was still Billy's basic personality when he was in Captain Marvel mode, even if his alter ego looks like a thiry year old man. But the rest of the Justice Society, did not know about Captain Marvel's secret teenaged identity, which made the relationship look highly improper. Jay Garrick, the Flash, flatly told Captain Marvel to break it off, and he did so rather than reveal his identity to the older members of the team.

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** Pre-Crisis Clark Kent avoided romantic relationships because he feared that his enemies would target his love interest.
*** Strangely, he didn't seem to realize that Lois Lane, and occasionally Lana Lang, were often targeted, anyway, both due to their occupation and the fact that everyone knew they were close despite not being [[OfficialCouple official couples]].
** In ''ComicBook/KryptonNoMore'' he is having lunch with Lois when he realizes he has to help his cousin fight an alien army, and he shoves Lois out of his apartment.
* ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'':
** It happened to Pre-Crisis Supergirl all the time. ''All. The. Time.'' She never could keep a steady boyfriend for long because she was prone to ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl1982 unexplained absences]]'' or ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl1972 ditch the guy abruptly because her Super Senses picked up on something]]''.
** [[ComicBook/Supergirl2011 Post-Flashpoint Supergirl]] was dating a nice guy called Michael when her powers faded and, in order to recover them and keep performing her duties, she had to break up with him and [[ComicBook/SupergirlRebirth move to another city]].
* In the ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'' parody of the Adam West Batman series, Robin does a FaceHeelTurn because he's upset with being a victim of this trope time and again.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'', Mark's first girlfriend Amber was a Type A as she suspected he was a drug dealer due to his frequent disappearances. When he does finally tell her he's a superhero, she's initially fine with it until she realizes that she's not equipped to handle the knowledge that her boyfriend could die at any moment and wouldn't always be there, and they break up as a result.
* In ''[[ComicBook/MightyMorphinPowerRangersBoomStudios Go Go Power Rangers]]'', Kimberly is seen dating a teen named Matt and is constantly having to leave him to go save the day. When they get caught up in the ''ComicBook/MightyMorphinPowerRangersShatteredGrid'' storyline, he ends up finding out their identities and begs them to confirm it to him to stop the lies. They ''can't'' because of Zordon's three rules and he walks out on Kimberly and the others.

* Inverted in ''Fanfic/PrecociousCrush''. Mindy and Dave's secret life as heroes seems to be Mindy's only hope of attracting Dave's attention. Though, granted, this is exclusively because the only guy Mindy is interested in is Dave. Boys her own age are certainly interested though.
* Inverted in ''Fanfic/NoChanceForFate'', Ami had no social life prior to becoming a Sailor Scout. After becoming a Sailor Scout, she gains a boyfriend in the boy she tutors, Ranma. Who perfectly understands about fights causing one to miss dates and would lend a hand in battle.
* In ''Fanfic/ImGivingYouANightCall'', Ed ended up dumping Roy when the latter shot him and was put in charge of arresting him. Even before that, Ed had to leave in the middle of dates for Fullmetal business.

* In ''Fanfic/StormOnTheHorizon'', after the events of ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'' and her subsequent "suicide" that removed her from the timeline, Max moved to San Francisco and became a barista and photographer. While she was able to cover up her powers, her [[TheAgeless eternal youth]] was a different story entirely, making her romances with people her age increasingly skeevy. What's more, the nature of how she saved Chloe meant that she can never be with the one person she truly loved.

* This trope comes into play in the 2011 version of ''Film/TinkerTailorSoldierSpy'' when [[spoiler:Peter Guillam]] is forced to break up with his boyfriend in case [[UsefulNotes/SecretIntelligenceService the Circus]] starts investigating him. He is unable to explain his [[ItsNotYouItsMe true reasons for wanting the break-up]] - his boyfriend says [[MistakenForCheating "If there's someone else, you can tell me,"]] to which [[spoiler:Guillam]] just shakes his head - and he is left sobbing as a man he clearly loved walks out.
* ''Film/TheSorcerersApprentice'' has this as well, with the main character having to hide his newfound magical powers.
* In ''Film/TrueLies'' Schwarzenegger's character, a secret agent, pretends to his wife that he is an exceptionally dull computer salesman. This nearly kills his marriage. The irony is that she nearly cheats on him with a car salesman pretending to be a spy to get her in bed. [[spoiler:At the end, the couple is HappilyMarried again, working together on assignments]].

* A large element of the "indie short film" ''Eagles Are Turning People Into Horses''. [[spoiler:In fact, the ''point'' is for the "broken masquerade" to scare his girlfriend away]].
* In ''Point of No Return'' (an American remake of ''[[Film/{{Nikita}} La Femme Nikita]]''), the lead is incredibly happy with her newfound boyfriend but can't take all the lying on top of being forced to kill people. Since she can't just drop out of the secret agency that recruited her, she runs away.

* In ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'', Peter has to bail on the titular Homecoming dance to stop the Vulture's last heist. Just to rub it in, this is immediately after discovering [[spoiler:the Vulture is his date's *dad*.]]
* As part of ''Film/Daredevil2003'''s deconstruction of vigilante superheroes, Matt Murdock is implied to be good at getting women but no good at keeping them. He's shown listening to a woman dumping him via answering machine for repeatedly NotStayingForBreakfast (because he's a vigilante who works at night and [[BlessedWithSuck has to sleep in a sensory deprivation tank]]) or even inviting him to his apartment (actually a crypt where he stashes his Daredevil stuff). When he decides not to accept the advances of Elektra Natchios, his friend Foggy sardonically congratulates him on cutting straight to the inevitable conclusion.

* TheMasquerade killed [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]]'s dating life:

** Karrin Murphy, a vanilla mortal, has deep feelings for Harry and he has them back, but as she knows he can live for centuries and she will only live for one at most, she and he never get together, not even casually because Harry wouldn't do things by halves. [[spoiler:As of ''Literature/SkinGame'' the two are making significant progress towards a relationship. Becomes a full fledged relationship in ''Literature/PeaceTalks'' only for her to die in ''Literature/BattleGround'']]
* ''Literature/TheScarletPimpernel'': Percy Blakeney had his ''marriage'' (nearly) killed by TheMasquerade. He probably would have told his wife the truth had he not been led to believe she was a sympathizer for the other side just a few hours after the wedding. The lies and miscommunications that followed drive the plot of the book.

* The stress of the masquerade getting in the way is part of the reason Thrix is the ChristmasCake in ''Literature/LonelyWerewolfGirl'' (the other part of the reason is she is a chronic workaholic). In the sequel, her only love interest turned out to be a case of DatingCatwoman.
* Spike and [[ProfessionalKiller Cindy]] from the Literature/ThursdayNext series are a subversion as they're happy together and Spike manages to fail to understand when Cindy subtly tells him.
* Referenced in ''Literature/TheLaundryFiles''. People in the Laundry are both legally and magically compelled not to speak of their work with anyone not cleared to know about magic and the occult, so Bob reflects on the difficulties this situation creates for one's social life when you're not permitted to explain a single thing about one's work. Bob and others in the Laundry are basically forced to only date within the agency, which for Bob meant a very restricted dating pool of ''one'' delusional narcissist his age until Mo joined up. Everyone is almost entirely cut off from their families for the same reasons--all Bob's parents know is that he's a civil servant.
* Discussed in ''Literature/HowToBeASuperhero'' as an inevitable side effect of having a SecretKeeper; no matter how well-meaning your significant other is, she's not going to understand superheroic issues like cleaning alien hell-slime off your costume.
* In ''[[Literature/TheCasterChronicles Beautiful Creatures]]'', the Caster community keeps to itself. This makes dating nearly impossible for Lena, once she starts becoming interested in the mortal Ethan.

* A borderline one comes up in ''{{Series/Animorphs}}'' with Rachel. She’s a popular, pretty girl and in one book, a guy wants to get together with her. She is torn because she thinks it would be nice to date someone who isn’t trapped as a bird and dealing with the Masquerade, but she ultimately reconsiders and chases him off, thinking she can’t take the risk. She does continue having feelings for Tobias through the series, though.

* ''VideoGame/BarrySteakfries'': In the ''VideoGame/JetpackJoyride'' music video "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8hn4oGFIm4 Robot Bird]]", Barry tells his girlfriend that he is busy fighting the scientists at Legitimate Research, and he's having so much fun doing so. [[spoiler:She dumps him at the end]].

* Terry [=McGinnis=] of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'': His steady girlfriend Dana got ''really'' sick of being perpetually StoodUp, and his foray into other prospects got him into a DatingCatwoman mess. Luckily for him, Dana eventually comes around, as seen in the DistantFinale the show got in WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague. She knows his secret identity by then, so at some point, she either figured it out or Terry wised up and just told her.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan'', Kimmy is fed up with Octus (with Lance and Ilana) "going to the bathroom" all the time, especially when he leaves right before the prom.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'', when Matt and Will started dating, he got more than a little suspicious of why she kept running off. Once he found out the reason why, he was more supportive... though, it didn't stop him from wanting to help. By the end of the second season, they evolved into a BattleCouple.
* Peter from ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' actually subverts this with Liz in the long run. While Peter does have to miss dates or not be an attentive BF as he could because of his duties, Liz just assumes he is busy with work and caring for his aunt. What drives their relationship to end is that Liz realizes that the girl Peter truly loves is Gwen. {{Foreshadow|ing}}ed in a prior episode when her brother called out Peter [[WhatTheHellHero for how he has been with Liz]]. The fact he mentions her being okay with his work gives the implications that the real issue was Peter's own feelings. Sure enough, the next issue has him work in being a more attentive boyfriend, but eventually, she ends it.

** Marinette Dupain-Cheng has an overwhelming and unrequited crush on classmate Adrien Agreste, while superhero Cat Noir is constantly flirting with, and being rebuffed by, his partner Ladybug. Adrien is actually Cat Noir, while Ladybug is actually Marinette, but neither party knows the other's true identity (the only ones who know are their Kwamis Tikki and Plagg). [[spoiler:In episodes like "Oblivio", "Cat Blanc", "Ephemeral" & "Transmission" once the {{Masquerade}} is temporarily removed the two hook up almost instantly.]]

* Mark's first girlfriend Amber in ''WesternAnimation/Invincible2021'' was a Type 1 as she figured out his identity early on but broke up with him because she was hurt that he wouldn't reveal it to her sooner [[AdaptationalJerkass even after she tried to pressure him into it by acting hurt]] by his need to ditch her during an attack and [[ItsAllAboutMe constantly holding his lateness against him even though she knew exactly why]]. [[spoiler:However, they get back together in the season finale when Amber takes pity on him after he gets his ass handed to him by his ArchnemesisDad on live television.]]

* Straker's marriage in ''Series/{{UFO}}'' was destroyed by keeping SHADO secret from his wife. It didn't help when she caught him meeting with one of the BridgeBunnies and he was unable to tell her why.

** Marinette Dupain-Cheng has an overwhelming and unrequited crush on classmate Adrien Agreste, while superhero Cat Noir is constantly flirting with, and being rebuffed by, his partner Ladybug. Adrien is actually Cat Noir, while Ladybug is actually Marinette, but neither party knows the other's true identity (the only ones who know are their Kwamis Tikki and Plagg). [[spoiler:In "Cat Blanc" and "Oblivio", once the {{Masquerade}} is temporarily removed the two hook up almost instantly.]]

* Such is the life of intelligence agents and certain special forces. However in the case of the CIA, at least, agents are permitted one contact on the "outside" to know who they really work for in the event something unfortunate does happen.
** Indeed, CIA agents are generally permitted to tell whoever it is they're in a long-term relationship with at the time, as well as certain other people if the circumstances require it. This is a lot easier (for most agents, at least) than you might think; being a CIA agent isn't usually so much about having a fake identity and running around chasing people as it is a lot of making contacts and so on while using your own name and lying about your job to everyone on the outside. As far as your parents (for instance) or any short-term flings you might have are concerned, you probably work for the Department of State or Defense or Agriculture, or perhaps even a private company.
* This is what happened to Carlos Hathcock. Only in his case, he was already married when his wife found out that he was a Marine sniper, after which she freaked out and almost left him.

* ''VideoGame/JetpackJoyride'': In the music video "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8hn4oGFIm4 Robot Bird]]", Barry tells his girlfriend that he is busy fighting the scientists at Legitimate Research, and he's having so much fun doing so. [[spoiler:She dumps him at the end]].

* Just ask Cally Stone of ''Series/DarkOracle'' about this one. Every potential relationship she has (and most of her friendships) get torpedoed by her attempts at dealing with the comic book that has taken over her life. Conversely, her brother [[CoolLoser Lance]], and his best friend [[ButtMonkey Dizzy]], probably wouldn't have dating lives if the comic had forced them together with their respective girlfriends.

* In ''Anime/WeissKreuz'', Ken Hidaka's entire love life can be summed up this way. He breaks up with his first girlfriend, BadassBiker 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 [[KillTheOnesYouLove that doesn't end at all well either]]. Unsurprisingly, by ''Gluhen'' he seems to have given up dating entirely.

** Tim Drake, the 3rd [[Comicbook/RobinSeries Robin]], has a fondness for dating civilians (Arianna, Zoanne, Tam) in comparison to the other Robins. These relationships always end up going south, unsurprisingly. With Arianna and Zoanne, they have no clue of his secret identity, and with Tam, she managed to keep his secret AND dodge all death threats at her for being associated with him fairly well but broke up anyways. Even with his longest relationship, Stephanie Brown (Spoiler), they were dating as superheroes and not civilians because he couldn't give away his real identity. They had problems due to Robin's secretiveness and only patched things up when Batman, who was the one who had forbidden Tim from telling her in the first place, forcefully revealed Robin's real name to her without discussing it with Tim.

** In ''Comicbook/KryptonNoMore'' he is having lunch with Lois when he realizes he has to help his cousin fight an alien army, and he shoves Lois out of his apartment.

* Deconstructed on Series/{{iZombie}}: Liv breaks up with Major so he won't find out she's a zombie, and the show ultimately portrays this as an extremely selfish decision that ruins his life and puts him in danger.

* On ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'', Pete's love interest fled the town after being possessed by an artifact that caused her to try and kill him. Thankfully, she stopped him before he used up his one chance to tell someone the truth about his job.

* Averted in the ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' games from the ''Franchise/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 ''Persona 3'' are even designed such that you are only required to max out your Knowledge stat by the last quarter of the game.
** It's more like an inversion - being in [[VideoGame/{{Persona 3}} SEES]] or the [[VideoGame/{{Persona 4}} Investigation Team]] is the protagonist's "in" with several girls considered highly desirable by the rest of the school.

* As part of ''Film/Dardevil2003'''s deconstruction of vigilante superheroes, Matt Murdock is implied to be good at getting women but no good at keeping them. He's shown listening to a woman dumping him via answering machine for repeatedly NotStayingForBreakfast (because he's a vigilante who works at night and [[BlessedWithSuck has to sleep in a sensory deprivation tank]]) or even inviting him to his apartment (actually a crypt where he stashes his Daredevil stuff).

* In ''Anime/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 [[KillTheOnesYouLove that doesn't end at all well either]]. Unsurprisingly, by ''Gluhen'' he seems to have given up dating entirely.

** Initially with Suzaku and Euphemia, but having their respective masquerades broken allowed them both to genuinely get to know each other. [[spoiler: But Euphemia didn't tell Suzaku about Lelouch being her brother and still trusted him, which got her killed]].
* ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'' has this be the main issue between Ichigo and her would-be boyfriend Aoyama. They vow to meet up, but Ichigo needs to fight off the aliens and ultimately arrives late at the meeting place, apologizing. And even when she isn't fighting, if she gets too excited, she grows cat features (or turns into a cat completely) and has to hide those from him, too. Aoyama eventually reveals that, while he didn't ''know''-know, he figured Ichigo was doing something great that he couldn't be a part of and just took it in stride. [[spoiler: Then he creates a split-personality of the Blue Knight, who fights alongside Ichigo. And ''then'' he turns out to be the BigBad.]]

** Special mention goes to Sayaka, who is never able to tell the boy she loves about being a MagicalGirl [[spoiler: because it also made her a [[OurLichesAreDifferent lich]]. [[TheCorruption This]] [[TragicMonster ends]] [[MercyKill badly]].]]

* ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'': It happens to Billy Batson as [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] when he starts dating [[ComicBook/StargirlDC Stargirl]]. Billy is 16, Stargirl is 16 and knew that Billy was 16, and that Billy was Captain Marvel, and that it was still Billy's basic personality when he was in Captain Marvel mode, even if his alter ego looks like a thiry year old man. But the rest of the Justice Society, did not know about Captain Marvel's secret teenaged identity, which made the relationship look highly improper. Jay Garrick, the Flash, flatly told Captain Marvel to break it off, and he did so rather than reveal his identity to the older members of the team.

** ''Bruce Wayne, of all people'', admits this to Vicki Vale when he realizes this is why she's [[spoiler: deduced his secret identity, thus why Ra's al Ghul wants her dead.]]

* This trope comes into play in the 2011 version of ''Film/TinkerTailorSoldierSpy'' when [[spoiler: Peter Guillam]] is forced to break up with his boyfriend in case [[UsefulNotes/SecretIntelligenceService the Circus]] starts investigating him. He is unable to explain his [[ItsNotYouItsMe true reasons for wanting the break-up]] - his boyfriend says [[MistakenForCheating "If there's someone else, you can tell me,"]] to which [[spoiler: Guillam]] just shakes his head - and he is left sobbing as a man he clearly loved walks out.

** [[spoiler: Come [[Film/MenInBlackII the sequel]], she's left him, in a pseudo-Type 1a situation.]]

* In ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'', Peter has to bail on the titular Homecoming dance to stop the Vulture's last heist. Just to rub it in, this is immediately after discovering [[spoiler: the Vulture is his date's *dad*.]]

* George from ''Series/{{Being Human|UK}}'' deals with this twice: with Sam, his rebound girlfriend, whom he [[spoiler: nearly transforms in front of because she won't let him get out of going to a parent-teacher conference for her daughter on the night of a full moon]]; and, most notably, with Nina, who starts out quite angry and annoyed about being constantly left out of the loop when it comes to George's secrets and then gets [[spoiler: introduced to the masquerade when George accidentally scratches her partway through a transformation and turns her into a werewolf. Her inability to cope with her introduction to the masquerade leads them to break up for a while.]]

* ''Series/{{Suits}}'' has obvious attraction between Mike and Rachel, but Mike realizes he can't continue the relationship while hiding the fact he doesn't have a law degree. Harvey orders Mike to end the relationship, and he reluctantly obeys. [[spoiler: They later get together and Mike tells her the truth because he decides that he loves her too much to lie to her. She decides to keep his secret.]]

* The ''Mythcreants'' comic ''Once Upon A Trope'' has a little fun with this. A man is forced to stand up his date, claiming his boss demands he do some filing. His date laments this is what he always says as he leaves. [[spoiler: Turns out the ''date'' is the superhero and has the man's boss call him in for extra duty while she's out saving the world so the masquerade ''won't'' kill her dating life.]]

** Marinette Dupain-Cheng has an overwhelming and unrequited crush on classmate Adrien Agreste, while superhero Cat Noir is constantly flirting with, and being rebuffed by, his partner Ladybug. Adrien is actually Cat Noir, while Ladybug is actually Marinette, but neither party knows the other's true identity (the only ones who know are their Kwamis Tikki and Plagg). [[spoiler: In "Cat Blanc" and "Oblivio", once the {{Masquerade}} is temporarily removed the two hook up almost instantly.]]

* Mark's first girlfriend Amber in ''WesternAnimation/Invincible2021'' was a Type 1 as she figured out his identity early on but broke up with him because she was hurt that he wouldn't reveal it to her sooner [[AdaptationalJerkass even after she tried to pressure him into it by acting hurt]] by his need to ditch her during an attack and [[ItsAllAboutMe constantly holding his lateness against him even though she knew exactly why]]. [[spoiler: However, they get back together in the season finale when Amber takes pity on him after he gets his ass handed to him by his ArchnemesisDad on live television.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlack'': The Animated Series'' has a pre-[=MiB=] girlfriend run into J while he and K are on stakeout. After they kiss a bit, K (who was distracted) neuralizes the girl and tells her to go home.

** Mary Jane, although he ''did'' marry her, but the number of times his crime-fighting got in the way of dates, it's an exception. Plus, in ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'', with his identity discovered by the whole wide world and everyone in danger because of it, he opts to lose his marriage by having a general amnesia imposed upon the world in order to resume the masquerade all over again. However, [[ComicBook/NickSpencersSpiderMan in 2018 they got back together]] after MJ decided she was okay with this part of Peter's life.

* The entire 'subplot' mechanic in ''TabletopGame/{{Spycraft}}'' is this trope, with about half the standard subplots being about the difficulties caused in your personal life by your spy antics and the other half being about your personal life popping up and messing up missions. It's a lot more entertaining than it sounds.
* Similarly, the "story hooks" in superhero game ''[[TabletopGame/ProseDescriptiveQualities Truth & Justice]]'' are designed to enable this. Your Qualities (skills and traits) are also your health, so taking damage decreases them - and the first Quality you assign damage to in a fight is your vote for where your plot goes next. Mind that you can have relationships as Qualities. This lead to the joke that you could punch Franchise/SpiderMan in the Girlfriend and that's why there was always trouble with Mary Jane.
* Present in all ''TabletopGame/WorldOfDarkness'' splats, and enforced for vampires (who have to include mundanes in their social circle to stay alive) and werewolves (who can only breed with mundanes and have mechanically strong basic drives). Tends to be especially bad for werewolves in the ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'', since their significant other being upset with them over disappearing every night for a quarter of each month and yelling at them about it can sometimes provoke a death rage, which is [[OmnicidalManiac pretty much what it sounds like]].

* Peter from WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan actually subverts this with Liz in the long run. While Peter does have to miss dates or not be an attentive BF as he could because of his duties, Liz just assumes he is busy with work and caring for his aunt. What drives their relationship to end is that Liz realizes that the girl Peter truly loves is Gwen. {{Foreshadow|ing}}ed in a prior episode when her brother called out Peter [[WhatTheHellHero for how he has been with Liz]]. The fact he mentions her being okay with his work gives the implications that the real issue was Peter's own feelings. Sure enough, the next issue has him work in being a more attentive boyfriend, but eventually, she ends it.

** Although, Rose eventually gets her memories back during the GrandFinale, so the door is left often for them to have a happy ending.

* ''TheSorcerersApprentice'' has this as well, with the main character having to hide his newfound magical powers.