Well, we all have a face that we hide away forever
And we take them out and show ourselves when everyone has gone
Some are satin, some are steel
Some are silk and some are leather
They’re the faces of a stranger, but we love to try them on
And we take them out and show ourselves when everyone has gone
Some are satin, some are steel
Some are silk and some are leather
They’re the faces of a stranger, but we love to try them on
— Billy Joel, "The Stranger"
A common technique used to add depth to a character or as a plot twist or subversion is to create a character with two opposing sides. This typically consists of:
- An "outer" character - who they appear to be to most other characters, and who they usually initially appear to the audience.
- An "inner" character - who the character is revealed to be behind closed doors.
Can be made to surprise the audience with a twist, to make An Aesop, as what was initially a subversion of a Deadhorse Trope, in an effort of Character Development, or simply for the aestheticism of contrast.
Subindex of Infauxmation Desk. Index to Hidden Depths.
See also Index All Along, Simple, yet Opulent.
Named for the Transformers slogan. If you're looking for the comic of the same name, it is here: The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye.
Tropes:
Subcategories:
- Affably Evil: A villain who is actually amiable and nice in spite of their intentions.
- Amnesiac Resonance
- Awakening the Sleeping Giant
- Bad Actor, Good Liar
- Badass Adorable: A cute person who can kick ass.
- Badass Bookworm: A intelligent person who can kick ass
- Bad Samaritan
- Beneath the Mask
- Beware the Honest Ones
- Beware the Nice Ones: Nice people can be quite scary when they're enraged.
- Beware the Quiet Ones
- Beware the Silly Ones: Just because this guy is a buffoon doesn't mean he's harmless.
- Big Ego, Hidden Depths
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: A jerk pretends to be a nice person.
- Broken Ace
- Bruiser with a Soft Center: A character who's tough and strong on the outside but soft and sensitive on the inside.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: An eccentric person is still very good at their job.
- Chest Monster: A video game enemy disguised as a treasure chest to lure players into approaching them.
- Cover-Blowing Superpower
- Cowardly Lion
- Creepy Good
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
- Cute and Psycho: An adorable character with a violent side.
- Cute Bruiser
- Dancing Royalty
- Dandere
- Dark Is Not Evil: A character who looks sinister, but is actually good.
- Decoy Damsel
- Ditzy Genius: A character who is knowledgeable in numbers, science, and other brainy stuff, but lacks common sense that even certified morons possess.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind
- Dumbass Has a Point: The dumb character actually makes a valid point on something.
- Dumber Than They Look: The seemingly intelligent character is not as smart as their appearance and/or personality suggests.
- Elective Broken Language
- Enfant Terrible
- Excalibur in the Rust
- Faster Than They Look
- Faux Affably Evil: A villain's affable nature is just an act and does nothing to change the fact that they are a horrible person.
- Fauxreigner: A foreigner is really someone pretending to be from another country.
- Feigning Intelligence: An intellectual is really a dumb person pretending to be smart.
- Fluffy the Terrible: A dangerous and/or terrifying enemy has a name that sounds cute, silly, or otherwise not very threatening.
- Fool for Love
- Freaky Fashion, Mild Mind
- Frozen Face
- Genius Bruiser: A strong person who actually has brains to go with their brawn.
- Genius Ditz: A person is well-versed in a specific subject even though they otherwise come off as being an idiot.
- Gentle Giant: A tall person who is actually very genial and affable than they may appear at first glance.
- Get It Over With
- Girl with Psycho Weapon: A young girl with a not-so pretty weapon.
- Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: A girly girl with a tomboyish side.
- Given Name Reveal
- Good All Along
- Good Is Not Dumb: Being the good guy does not mean it's easy to be deceived by the bad guys.
- Good Is Not Nice: Being the good guy does not mean you're not a jerk.
- Good Is Not Soft: Being the good guy does not mean you're unwilling to inflict pain on those who deserve it.
- Grail in the Garbage
- Greatness Mistaken for Failure: A character is mistakenly believed to be inept, because their skills are way beyond the norm.
- Happy Fun Ball
- Hidden Depths
- Hidden Heart of Gold
- Humanizing Tears
- I Knew There Was Something About You
- I Never Told You My Name
- Jerkass Has a Point: A jerk actually makes a valid point even if the way they made their observation wasn't very nice or tactful.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A character who acts mean and selfish, but they mean well deep down.
- Killer Rabbit
- Kuudere
- Let's Get Dangerous!: Someone who usually behaves in an inept manner shows competence in a serious situation.
- Light Is Not Good
- Little Miss Almighty
- Little Miss Badass
- Little Miss Con Artist
- Living a Double Life
- Loon with a Heart of Gold
- Magical Homeless Person: Homeless people possessing supernatural powers.
- The Man in Front of the Man
- Mask of Sanity
- Masquerade
- Extra-Strength Masquerade: For all intents and purposes, the setting should have become The Unmasqued World, but it doesn't.
- Masquerade Enforcer: Reality conspires to punish those supernatural forces that try to reveal themselves to ordinary people.
- Masquerade Paradox: If supernatural forces are stronger than mundane ones, why and how could they stay hidden from the public?
- Mutual Masquerade: Those who have a certain secret aren't aware that a close acquaintance also shares a similar one.
- Mentor in Sour Armor: The protagonist's mentor is a world-weary Snark Knight with a hidden soft side.
- Misfit Mobilization Moment
- Monster Façade
- More Deadly Than the Male: The antagonist dismisses the female of the group when they're really the biggest threat in the room.
- More than Just a Teacher
- Nobody's That Dumb: A dumb character points out that they are aware of their lack of intelligence and remarks that even they have limits to how stupid they can be.
- Non-Human Lover Reveal
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: A villain who initially appeared to be a non-threatening joke proves themselves to be capable of being a serious threat.
- Not the First Victim: There were other victims that were undiscovered before the apparent first victim.
- Obfuscating Disability: Someone pretends to be disabled.
- Obfuscating Insanity: Someone pretends to be insane.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Someone pretends to be dumb.
- Old Master
- One-Sided Arm-Wrestling
- Paper Tiger: A villain who gloats about being dangerous, but is too much of a wimp to act on his threats.
- Personal Effects Reveal
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: A small being is strong enough to handle much larger enemies.
- Playing Up the Stereotype: A character turns out to be faking their stereotypical traits and be more well-rounded.
- Pre-Insanity Reveal: It's shown what a crazy person was like before they lost their mind.
- The Pretty Guys Are Stronger: The pretty effeminate dude is actually the strongest and toughest one of the bunch.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits
- Real Men Wear Pink: Macho guys who have feminine interests and hobbies.
- The Reveal
- Reverse Relationship Reveal
- Sealed Evil in a Teddy Bear
- Secret Other Family
- Secret Sex Worker
- Sheep in Sheep's Clothing: A nice person is suspected to be not as good as it seems, but it turns out that their supposed moments of meanness were themselves covers to hide how honest the person truly is.
- Silk Hiding Steel
- Small Girl, Big Gun
- Smarter Than You Look
- The So-Called Coward
- Sour Outside, Sad Inside
- Spoiled Sweet: In spite of being wealthy and pampered by their parents, these heroes are very hospitable, optimistic and quite amicable to their addressees.
- Stepford Smiler: Pretending to be happy so that no one knows how upset you truly are about your problems.
- Stepford Snarker
- Stout Strength: An overweight person is capable of heavy lifting.
- Stronger Than They Look
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality
- Surprisingly Gentle Song
- Symbolic Glass House: Looks transparent, but has secrets.
- Tastes Better Than It Looks: Food that looks disgusting, but tastes delicious.
- Temperate Berserker
- This Banana is Armed
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak
- Too Quirky to Lose
- Tranquil Fury: Expressing anger while remaining calm and stoic.
- True Beauty Is on the Inside
- Tsundere
- Undercover Cop Reveal: Someone turns out to be a police officer working undercover.
- Underestimating Badassery
- Villain Has a Point: The bad guy actually makes a valid point even though they're committing evil deeds.
- Villains Love Entertainment: Even baddies can like games and movies.
- Waif-Fu
- What a Piece of Junk
- Wisdom from the Gutter
- Wise Beyond Their Years
- A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
- Yandere
- Young Face, Old Eyes
