Stepford Smiler/Playing With: Difference between revisions

** [[The Ace|The (wo)man who is charming, handsome, chipper, intelligent, talented, and sharply dressed to the extreme]] [[Broken Ace|turns out to have a past that]] [[Dark and Troubled Past|"dark and troubled"]] [[Trauma Conga Line|does not]] ''[[Trauma Conga Line|begin]]'' [[Trauma Conga Line|to describe]].

* '''Justified''': The character is a villain who is completely insane but who operates more or less secretly, and would likely be locked up in an asylum if he showed his real nature, so he pretends to be happy and polite. Or, the character is a hero who is completely sad and depressed, with little or negative self-esteem, but to help his friends and everyone he cares for, or to hide his insecurities, he pretends to be happy and cheerful.

* '''Subverted''': It looks like the cheerful character may be hiding a dark true nature, but then we find out it's all a lie, and they really are happy.

* '''Double Subverted''': Oh wait, the cheerful and happy character really isn't depressed at all... and then we learn that instead, their mask is hiding their [[Ax Crazy|insanity]]

* '''Zig Zagged''': The character seems to smile a lot and has been hiding some amount of depression, but his mask cracks and slips so often one must begin to wonder what is really happening inside the character's head.

* '''Averted''': Cheerful characters are cheerful, and aren't hiding any dark inner feelings at all. Depressed, hollow, and insane characters look and act depressed, hollow, or insane.

* '''Lampshaded''': "I alway knew she ''was'' hiding something! That perpetual cheerfullness isn't a natural thing!"

* '''Invoked''': "Uh-oh, that guy seems oddly happy. I betcha he's actually depressed or crazy- let's try to learn more about his past."