He had truly hated and despised the villagers who treated him poorly and questioned the sincerity of their change of heart regarding him, but he buried those feelings deep down.

Meditating at the Waterfall of Truth reveals the depths beneath Naruto's own Stepford Smiler habit.

One theory is that Sakura broke out of her Stepford Smiler attitude and embraced 'Inner Sakura' after it helped her break out of Ino's body switch jutsu during the Chuunin Exam.

A bit of a cross between Becoming the Mask and Character Development. Although Inner Sakura hasn't been seen since the time skip, and Sakura is now more willing to say what's really on her mind.

Sakura is a perfect example (as well as the current trope illustrator): her inner side shows us what she actually thinks about something but is not willing to say or do.

It was later revealed as he was dying that for most of his life he lived as a slave under Frieza, despite his father having promised him he would grow up to become the legendary Super Saiyan and be the one to put an end to Frieza.

Prince Vegeta of Dragon Ball Z was introduced as an arrogant, selfish, coldhearted man.

And conversely, even in full-blown Kira mode, he still realizes that he cares a lot for his little sister. The Death Note only showed his true colors.

Death Note: An Alternative Character Interpretation for Light Yagami.

However, this persona falls away when she's transformed into Pixy Misa, the manifestation of her deeply repressed id: an egomaniacal Chaotic Evil jealous Dark Magical Girl trickster.

Magical Project S: Misao Amano's normal self is that of a stereotypical Shrinking Violet friendless, blue-haired Ill Girl.

Gori herself wears a mask at work that very much hides her true, much more vivacious self, while Washimi seems to be the most consistent character, without extreme personality shifts between different parts of her life due to her control over it all (though her personality is naturally very suitable for a wide variety of social situations). Washimi and Gori, two successful businesswomen at the company, play a major role in helping Retsuko both take off her mask around other people and stand up for herself, while at the same time noting how useful masks can be at times and how they can help you get along better with other people. Retsuko is very much of the variety that doesn't want others to see behind her mask but is completely oblivious to the fact that all of her coworkers are wearing masks themselves.

Aggretsuko has the idea of social masks as perhaps the major theme of the show.

Obfuscating Stupidity and Obfuscating Insanity can be subtropes, as can A Darker Me. Often used in conjunction with Hidden Heart of Gold, Jerk with a Heart of Gold, Bitch in Sheep's Clothing, Sugar-and-Ice Personality, Sad Clown, Stepford Smiler, Undercover When Alone, Broken Ace, and The Proud Elite. Related to GIFT and What You Are in the Dark. Juggling both is considered important too much tatamae can leave a person seeming fake or shallow, or with dangerously-repressed desires, but too much honne can make a person look like an idiot manchild at best and a complete sociopath at worst. Every person has two sides: a persona they must wear for the good of society, and another which expresses their own desires (in Japan, these concepts are referred to as 'tatamae' and 'honne'). In Eastern philosophy, this is considered synonymous with the concept of 'Face'.

The concept in Western philosophy originated with Carl Jung, who referred to the mask people wear in public as the 'persona' ( Latin via Ancient Greek for 'mask'), and their hidden desires as their ' shadow.' More complex works might argue that the hidden self is just a part of the real self and that the public self is also part of the real self. Occasionally the person actually wants someone to see their hidden side (the 'real me') but for some reason can never get people to see it. This hidden self is sometimes portrayed as 'the real self'. This hidden self that people don't show to others is what Beneath the Mask is about. Other times the person is well aware of their hidden self and are determined to keep it hidden.

Sometimes a person may never know they had a hidden self before the mask comes off. A villain, for example, may be hiding a soft spot. The secrets this mask hides are varied and are not always dark.

When circumstances (such as anonymity, strong emotion, or sufficient power) allow a character to take off that mask and act in complete accord with their inclinations, they reveal what's beneath the mask. That's a simple fact of human psychology. Virtually everyone has to wear a public mask in order to be accepted by others.

Another word for hiding behind a mkas