Don't Tell Mama: Difference between revisions

Everyone knows that [[Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas]]. And since that's the case, a lot of bad men, whether they might be gangsters, [[Career Killers]], [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Corrupt Corporate Executives]], [[Hitman With a Heart|Hitmen With A Heart]], [[Gentleman Thief|Gentleman Thieves]] or [[Anti -Hero|Anti Heroes]] in a morally questionable job will try to do their utmost to keep their mothers from knowing what it is they ''really'' do. This can even extend to getting enemies to join in on [[The Masquerade]] in order to keep her blissfully unaware.

Some criminals doing this often like to think of themselves as [[The Dutiful Son]], providing for and protecting their mother or family while also keeping the knowledge of where the family's prosperity comes from secret, but their true status will depend on their other actions, as the character in question may be anything from a [[Complete Monster]] to a [[Delinquent]] to an [[Anti -Villain]]. In many cases this trope is merely a source of [[Wangst]] or [[Pet the Dog]] moments, but when the secret is sufficiently important, it can turn into [[Poor Communication Kills]].

{{examples|Examples:}}

* [[Anti -Villain]] variation in [[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]], where the Wolkenritter keep their gathering Linker Cores to complete the Book of Darkness and save Hayate's life a secret from Hayate, knowing that she would not approve. She eventually finds out about what they were doing during the final battle; the Wolkenritter apologize, and Hayate forgives them.

* IIRC, Joe Pesci's character from ''[[Goodfellas]]'' lied to his mother about why he and the guys were there that night to keep her from finding out that [[Hair -Trigger Temper|he'd just killed someone for no real reason]].