History Main / ToughLeaderFacade

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': Though [[AntiHero Lelouch]] JumpedAtTheCall to become [[SecretIdentity Zero]], the persona of a confident rebel leader, strategist, and ruthless BigGood starts to take a toll on him. Underneath his bitter cynicism is a NiceGuy who genuinely wants to help the world and ''hates'' the fact he has to even kill innocents to change the world. However, with his multiple secret identities, the only one he can rely on is [[MysteriousWaif C.C.]] for support. [[spoiler: This is especially evident when he's forced to kill his BrainwashedAndCrazy half-sister [[AllLovingHero Euphemia]] after a careless phrase and PowerIncontinence sent her on a massacre. He makes a glorious speech as Zero against her actions and Britannia then goes off alone except for C.C. and cries over having to kill her and make her TheScapegoat.]]

* Somewhat subverted with Queen Elinor in ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}''. She fits the trope very well, being the more level-headed sovereign. Her husband King Fergus is a BoisterousBruiser with a good heart who is much more prone to being ruled by his emotions than his wife. Elinor is the one who is able to calm a crowd of feuding Scots simply by walking through it with the utmost dignity and taking care of details such as the betrothal of their daughter. The subversion comes in where it doesn't appear that Elinor is remotely ruffled by her holding this position. She doesn't seem to find it at all wearying, and it's only later in the story that she comes to realize that she's adopted the mask a little ''too'' well, and learns to let her hair down again (literally, in fact).

%%[[folder:Web Original]]

%%[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': [[PrincessesRule Princess Bubblegum]] has been doing this for more than 800 years and counting, but it's more a part of her personality than a mask. Season 5.2 made it especially clear that she's having a breakdown caused by all the stress she's under throughout the series. She fears dying because it would leave the Candy populace unattended and she has few confidants, namely Lady Rainicorn and TheProtagonist Finn. The latter is complicated given how he had feelings for her for the longest time and how her own tendencies mean she can be suspect in how much she cares about him (though it does become clear she genuinely treasures their bond and cares for him as a friend.) She is somewhat unrespected (though that's namely because of her surveillance and her subjects come to appreciate her more when they realize living under the so-called King of Ooo is pretty bad).

** Princess Celestia may technically be one of the two [[GodEmperor God Empresses of Ponykind]], but she hates her duties and the court protocol so much, she enacted a BatmanGambit to manipulate the mane characters into ''destroying half her palace'' as an excuse to get out of having to deal with a formal soiree, so she could just hang out with said characters at the local donut shop instead without breach of protocol. It's hinted that her centuries of isolation without Luna was a big reason why.
** At the beginning of "Sweet and Elite", Rarity is given a room in the palace while staying in Canterlot and goes overboard with the praise, going so far as to ''kiss Celestia's hooves''. The princess is visibly uncomfortable the entire time.
** In "Princess Twilight - Part 1", Celestia explains to Twilight that she's been [[TheStoic enduring]] the Summer Sun Celebrations for the sake of her subjects, even though it's served her only as a bitter reminder of her needing to banish her sister. However, she is much happier and looking forward to the one in this season, since it now serves as a celebration of her and Luna reuniting.
** Luna too displays some of this. Though she gets upset when her subjects display fear towards her, she is clearly more comfortable as the [[IronLady distant, imperious monarch]] as a means of hiding her more vulnerable nature.
** After Twilight Sparkle becomes a princess, she notably averts this, acting the same as she did before ascending. She even tells her friends not to refer to her as "Princess Twilight."

** [[TheCaligula Yellow Diamond]] could be seen as touching on this trope — she [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtA-juh3rf4 has a song]] trying to convince [[ALighterShadeOfBlack Blue Diamond]] to get over [[spoiler:[[PredecessorVillain Pink Diamond]]'s death]], but by the end, it's pretty clear that she's close to tears herself. (Blue Diamond may also count, but it's not clear if she's even ''trying'' to hide her depression.)

** We later find out that Pink Diamond zigzagged this. While the Diamond Authority was a rule of four equals on the outside, Pink, being the youngest, was often brushed aside [[spoiler:as incompetent, and had begged for her own colony because her authority was essentially a farce put on for their subjects. But when she got the colony she asked for, she realized to her horror that completing colonization would kill the life that lived there — a truth she'd been unaware of, as she'd believed that Gem production "created life from nothing"; she later miserably concludes that they are instead "stealing life and leaving nothing behind."]] When Pink made the decision [[spoiler:as Ruler of Earth to spare the Earth from the resource extraction process that would destroy it, Yellow and Blue wrote her off as irresponsible and ungrateful, usurped control, and made her only task to smile and assure her subjects that the Rebellion that had cropped up against Gem Homeworld rule was no threat. Unbeknownst to them, [[RebelLeader Pink had created the Rebellion herself]]; her PuppetQueen role was a part she played in the hopes that her careful balancing act would last until her rebels could free the colonized planet; she even spread Anti-Pink propaganda to incite them further.]] All the while the Diamond Authority continued putting on a front of being a single, cohesive, flawless oligarchy in order to hold their empire together.
** Ironically, the rebel leader Rose Quartz ''becomes'' this. Initially Rose's purpose was [[spoiler:for Pink to be able to [[LonelyAtTheTop socialize with others and experience freedom from the restraints of her class]]]], but since her decision to spearhead a Rebellion, she had to become whatever necessary for her fellow rebels to believe in her competency in leadership and maintain unity in the cause. She had a lot of personal baggage that probably would have torn the Rebellion apart if her secrets had been known and led to the doom of the Earth, humanity, and the rebels, so she hid her flaws under a graceful, perfect, wise, infallible veneer in order to keep the Rebellion together. Which ironically [[spoiler:though not uncoincidentally]], reflects many traits in the façade propagated by the Diamond Authority about their own leadership.

** Godmothers in her ''Literature/TalesOfTheFiveHundred Kingdoms'' series often have the task of keeping pressure on Traditional reprobates until they shape up. This requires a rather thick skin, especially in cases where they're playing a role that would traditionally go to a villain.

** In ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'', Queen Selenay of Valdemar has to be TheHighQueen and a LadyOfWar when the need calls for it. She has the entire Heraldic Circle to trust, but these are the same Heralds she must often send into deadly danger. The monarch is ''supposed'' to have an assigned Herald whose job is to be their rock-solid friend and honest advisor, but Selenay lacks one for the early part of her reign, and the result is a disastrous marriage [[spoiler:that nearly gets her killed]].
** Captain Kerowyn, once she takes command of the Skybolts, has to wear the ChainsOfCommanding at all times, unable to make close friends within her Company for fear of favoritism. Naturally, when she and Selenay meet, they understand each other at once.