Basic Trope: A mentally unstable or sociopathic character hides it well.
- Straight: As far as anyone knows, Patrick Dexter Ripley is just a regular guy.
- Exaggerated: Ripley is a superbly charming hometown hero that no one would dream of being a criminal.
- Downplayed:
- Ripley isn't crazy, just a closeted eccentric.
- Ripley pretends to be harmlessly silly, not dangerously deranged.
- Justified: Ripley has superb self-control.
- Inverted:
- Everyone in town knows Ripley is bad news merely by the look in his eyes.
- Ripley is perfectly sane but pretends to be crazy.
- Subverted: Ripley projects an aura of "too good to be true"-ness, and everyone in town has their suspicions about him.
- Parodied: Even while in the middle of a noticeable meltdown, no one suspects Ripley of any wrongdoing.
- Zig Zagged: Ripley doesn't need a mask of sanity—at first. After coming face to face with the town's hideous past, he goes downhill quickly and terrifyingly, coming to grips with it by using his prior personality as a coping mechanism.
- Averted: Ripley doesn't have any crazy to hide. Or anything interesting, for that matter.
- Enforced: If people ever found out about Ripley's "hobby", they wouldn't be too enthused.
- Lampshaded: In his thoughts, Ripley frequently notes that he's different from other people in a way he can't fully grasp.
- Invoked: Ripley uses his mask to cope with childhood trauma and avoid the stigma of being "crazy".
- Exploited: A lot of things tend to swing Ripley's way thanks to his "special way with people".
- Defied: Ripley is so noticeably insane he's taken into care at the earliest opportunity.
- Discussed: The exact details of Ripley's "mask" are explored, with emphasis placed on the visual aspects of his condition.
- Conversed: Ripley talks with a therapist regularly about the persona he puts on for others.
- Implied: Ripley has a visible tell that shows up when he's under strain.
- Deconstructed:
- Ripley's mask is so solid it eventually lets him become a sane person for real.
- In a place where sanity is relative, Ripley doesn't know if his mask helps or hinders him.
- Ripley's mask isn't airtight, and pretty soon his urges start to get the better of him.
- Reconstructed: Knowing you're crazy goes a long way towards coping with it. Ripley manages to work around his deficiencies well enough by emulating other people, eventually coming to understand and respect them on an intellectual level if not an emotional one.
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