Stepford Smiler: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
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{{quote|''"He always smiled, and he always chuckled, but inside he did not notice anyone, did not care; it was his body that smiled, nodded and shook hands. Nothing touched his mind, which remained remote."''|'''[[Philip K. Dick]]''', ''[[Ubik]]''}}
Everyone loves [[Purity Sue]]. [[Love Is in the Air|They can't help it!]] She's [[Mary Poppins|practically perfect in every way.]] The
It's all a lie, of course.
The
These are the three main types of Stepford Smiler:
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'''Type C''': The smile [[Cute and Psycho|hides a very unstable and crazy person]].
Type A [[Heroes|Heroines]] or show co-stars that are Stepford Smilers can either be played straight (they really are that [[The Ditz|shallow]]) or to gain viewer sympathy as they struggle to live up to their own impossible ideals. [[Villains|Villainesses]] like the [[Evil Matriarch]] who are Stepford Smilers are usually played one of two ways: it can either humanize them, much like the heroine, or it can accentuate their evil by contrasting it with their soullessness. Feminine pronouns are used throughout this trope because the
The Type B's mask itself can also hide a terrible secret... ''there is '''nothing''' behind it.'' The void is either a result of using up so much energy [[I Just Want to Be Normal|pretending to be normal]] that nothing is left over, or because there was [[The Soulless|nothing there to begin with.]] The [[Trope Namer|trope-naming]] [[The Stepford Wives|Stepford Wives]] fall into this second category, naturally.
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The Stepford Smiler gets her name (as does the [[Stepford Suburbia]] in which she lives) from the book and later movies ''[[The Stepford Wives]]'', about a village whose men conspire to create the Barbie perfect wife, all with similar eerie smiles.
See also [[Faux Affably Evil]], [[Beneath the Mask]], [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing]], [[Broken Ace]], [[Comedic Sociopathy]], [[The Fake Cutie]], [[Evil Matriarch]], [[Extreme Doormat]], [[I Just Want to Be Normal]], [[Mary Sue]], [[Masquerade]], [[Think Happy Thoughts]], [[Uncanny Valley Girl]], [[Yandere]], and the darker variants of [[Minnesota Nice]]. Contrast with [[Nietzsche Wannabe]], [[The Stoic]], [[The Pollyanna]], [[Yamato Nadeshiko]]. Compare/Contrast with [[The Snark Knight]], whose demeanor is typically the [[Inverted Trope|inverse]] of the
Contrast [[Drama Queen]].
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* Masane from ''[[Witchblade (anime)|Witchblade]]'' has this to a degree. After losing all her memories in the great quake, and even her old name, all she had to build a new life was her daughter Rihoko. She is constantly saying that Rihoko is the only thing she has and aside from being her mom, there really isn't that much to Masane. Well until she activated the Witchblade and became an [[Action Mom]]. As the series progresses, she gets better.
* Tohru Honda from ''[[Fruits Basket]]'' is a genuinely kind and caring person, but has serious insecurities that she hides behind her smile and [[The Pollyanna|cheerful disposition]] to avoid troubling her friends.
* ''[[Digimon Tamers]]'' had a
** And then the [[Eldritch Abomination]] that feeds off of despair showed up. Cue Juri getting [[Mind Rape|mind raped]] with the memory of Leomon's death, over and over.
* Asakura Ryoko from ''[[Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' fits this trope more or less. As she acts like a [[Purity Sue]], she keeps a cute, caring and friendly appearance, even when she is about to stab you with her [[Knife Nut|beloved combat knife]], ''or'' when dying. Since she is an [[Artificial Human]], unable to empathize with humans, it is very likely that it is just a fixed masquerade, thus Type C.
** It becomes especially disturbing when you consider that it's likely the only time only time she's ''really'' smiling is when {{spoiler|she's trying to kill Kyon}}. She's also, arguably, a deconstruction of both the
*** In [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5B-KZNIZYs the Disappearance movie] (spoiler warning, it shows a scene from the film), it gets particularly egregious. That smile seems even more sinister than it did before once you've seen it.
* It's plainly obvious that the overly optimistic and cheerful Kafuka Fuura from ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei|Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei]]'' is a
* Wakaba Shinohara in ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]''. Effervescently [[Genki Girl|bubbly, energetic, and perky]]... until during the Black Rose Arc, we find that {{spoiler|she deeply resents people who are special, having a rather low sense of self-worth herself.}}
** To say nothing of [[Emotionless Girl|Anthy]]. She is initially presented as a demure, somewhat shy and even submissive girl, but by the end of the series {{spoiler|it has been revealed that not only has she been living with an unimaginable amount of both physical and emotional pain, but she could even be considered [[The Dragon|a puppet]] of the series' [[Big Bad]] (her own brother). She's possibly Type A and B, perhaps even Type C}}.
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* Dawn from ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'', oddly enough, fits this trope. She fails at keeping it a secret though.
** Not odd at all. She lost a good 3 or so contests in a ''row'' before her self esteem broke. She seems to naturally have self esteem problems, maybe due to bullying as a child, and maybe her mother's wanting for her to be like her, and since she is a bubbly cutie who worries about her friends. Not at all odd.
* Mary Magdalene in ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'' almost constantly smiles, even though she's constantly having visions of the future and the past, some of them horrifying and violent. In fact, she has so many visions she has no memory of her childhood or even her
* Mai Tokiha from ''[[Mai-HiME (manga)|Mai-HiME]]'' keeps a smile on her face almost constantly because she doesn't want to burden any of her friends with her personal problems, which include a [[Parental Abandonment|dead mother]] and a [[Ill Girl|sick younger brother]].
** The anime version of [[Psycho Lesbian|Shizuru]]: She manages to keep up a cool and semi-cheerful facade for the vast majority of the series, all while trying to content herself with being Natsuki's friend despite believing that she can't tell her how she feels. We don't see it break until Natsuki rejects her.
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* Yuno Gasai of ''[[Mirai Nikki]]'' is ''extremely'' [[Yandere|Type C]].
* Madame Red from ''[[Black Butler]]''.
* Mami Tomoe from ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' looks sweet, kind and gentle, but this hides a very scarred little girl from all the fighting she's already done. And she [[Heroic Self-Deprecation|knows it]]. {{spoiler|What she doesn't know is that this has gone to the extent of hiding a very '''fragile''' little girl as well, should she know the [[Awful Truth
* ''[[Corpse Party]]'' has the Type A {{spoiler|Seiko}}, who smiles and strives to keep everyone cheerful despite being in a lot of pain following {{spoiler|her mother's disappearance}}. The mask winds up breaking upon being accused of not taking anything seriously.
* ''[[Kyouran Kazoku Nikki]]'' has at least 2. Kyouka, the self proclaimed [[God in Human Form]], is actually a {{spoiler|banished princess from a race of sentient creatures from a place called Shangri-la}}. In episode 26's [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]] of the entire series, she boldly proclaims that she {{spoiler|is the child of Enka, and must be killed}}. She breaks down, claiming that she doesn't even know who she is since her people are {{spoiler|effectively a race of sentient beings that possess you and give you animal ears}}, lending evidence to her being a type B.
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** Sakurako is a [[Yandere|Type C]].
* Koharu of ''[[Koharu no Hibi]]'' is [[Yandere|Type C]].
* Koala from ''[[One Piece]]'' is a type A : During her time as a slave, she had to put on a smile at all times, because slaves who stopped smiling or cleaning would be killed. Needless to say, that smile hid. The poor little girl was so scarred by her time as a slave that she kept the
* Chikane and Himeko both from ''Kannazuki no Miko''. Himeko had a really terrible childhood and tries to hide her insecurities. Chikane {{spoiler|is constantly trying to hide her feelings of love for Himeko...and eventually remembers that she killed her in a past life for a ritual to rebirth the world.}} Because of this, she was unable to help in the ritual to summon Orochi's nemesis {{spoiler|so she wore the mask of the villain at this point in the series when she realized the reason why she couldn't help, because a deep part of her still hated the god. That was Himeko would become stronger and kill her to complete the ritual.}}
* Farnese from ''[[Berserk]]''. She used to be a spoiled, pampered [[Lonely Rich Kid]] that had she needed to be happy. In appearance. It appears she was actually a [[Pyromaniac]] [[Enfante Terrible]] who was suffering from her parents' [[Hands-Off Parenting]] and was called the "demon child" of the Vandimion house.
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* ''[[The Stepford Wives]]'' is the [[Trope Namer]]. The wives are a kind of Type B, being robots.
* ''[[Mean Girls]]'': Gretchen (the 'one small step from a complete nervous breakdown' version, rather than the 'empty inside' version).
* Most characters in ''[[Pleasantville]]'' are a
* Gina McKee plays a particularly creepy variant of this in ''[[Mirror Mask]]''.
{{quote|'''Black Queen:''' Because we are...what?
'''Guard:''' Not a home to Mr. Grumpy, Your Majesty.
'''Black Queen:''' Exactly! }}
* ''The Chumscrubber'' is essentially about an entire suburb full of
* In [[Tim Burton]]'s ''[[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film)|Charlie and The Chocolate Factory]]'', Violet Beauregard's mom has definite Stepford vibes, especially regarding her perfectionist coaching of her daughter.
** She's played, surprise surprise, by Missi Pyle, patron saint of this trope.
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* The Other Mother from ''[[Coraline (novel)|Coraline]]''.
* On the heroic side, Leitha from [[David Eddings]]'s ''[[The Redemption of Althalus]]'': she pretends to be cheerful and witty, but is secretly neurotic, insecure, and self-hating.
* [[William Sleator]]'s ''[[Literature/Others See Us|Others See Us]]'' has Annelise, who is well loved by everyone, including her cousin Jared, until he gains telepathy and realizes she's a
** [[C. S. Lewis|CS Lewis]]' short story ''The Shoddy Lands'' also has its protagonist experience a telepathic vision of a
* The Goddess Media from ''[[American Gods]]'' by [[Neil Gaiman]] was like this in her true form. As the humanoid manifestation of The Media, when she wasn't possessing characters on television she was described as looking like the sickeningly sweet hostess one of those morning shows filmed in a fake living room.
* Sansa Stark from ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' becomes this in order to survive being trapped in a [[Deadly Decadent Court]] ruled by a depraved boy king.
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** Varys and Littlefinger, the resident [[Magnificent Bastard]]s, are this, and in both cases, it's implied to be more than just a mask to wear in public...
* Countess Rostov from ''[[War and Peace]]'' is very much like this except when she's talking with her daughters. Pierre Bezukhov's wife Helene would be a subversion in that she goes from having no role in society except being beautiful (and smiling a lot) to one of the eminent hostesses on the Moscow and St. Petersburg scene after getting married.
* Part of the reason Will Navidson moved his family into the titular {{color|blue|house}} in ''[[House of Leaves]]'' was to get closer to his family, including his
* Lilith de Tempscire from ''[[Discworld]]'' is a variant of a
* Ira Levin's book ''[[The Stepford Wives]]'', the [[Trope Namer]].
* Kaitlyn Werhner from the short story, ''Dark Red Mind''. If you were to see her smile at you with those piercing blue eyes, ''run.'' Not that it would help you any.
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* ''[[Eastenders]]'' has had Vanessa Gold, a lovely, only slightly tarty woman with perfect hair, a perfect name, and a perfect complexion, wearing exclusively white. She smiles an awful lot, and allows herself to put up with a cheating husband for many many years. When Max leaves her for Tanya, she goes a wee bit bonkers, including a lot of screaming, derpface and smashing living rooms, but the really powerful stuff was her obsessive cleaning when she suspected the affair.
* ''Most'' characters in ''[[Twin Peaks]]'' live this trope - it is one of the key fascinations of [[David Lynch]] and common in his work. The key theme of ''[[Twin Peaks]]'' is taking a dreamy, perfect small rural town with white picket fences and exposing the hypocrisy, instability and literal evil that underlies it everywhere. Shades of grey abound.
* Many, many characters in ''[[Desperate Housewives]]''
* Julia McNamara from ''[[Nip Tuck]]'' is half
* Blair in ''[[Gossip Girl]]'' is a Type 1, especially during the first season when she's with Nate. Serena accuses her of being in constant denial in order to keep her life perfect. She admits to faking her happy sparkly persona to her stepfather in Season 4: "What kind of a princess schemes and plays sex games and drapes herself in old Hollywood movies?"
** Also, Nate Archibald's mother. To the point of being called the Archibot by fans.
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* Barb Ballantine, the 'perfect' mom from ''[[The Mommies]]'' showed signs of this trait.
* [[Amy Poehler]]'s impression of Hillary Clinton on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' seems to draw a good deal of inspiration from this trope.
* The ''[[Lexx]]'' universe has a [[School of Seduction]] that ''raises'' women to be
{{quote|'''Matron:''' And now, Zev, repeat after me: "Are you comfortable, darling?"
'''Girl:''' "Are you comfortable, darling?"
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** And then at the end we find out why it was just her in that big empty house for all those years....
* The [[The Nth Doctor|Seventh Doctor]] episode, ''The Happiness Patrol'' is built around this trope. It focuses on a whole society of Stepford Smilers who are [[Happiness Is Mandatory|forced to be happy]] by the titular organization. The penalty for displaying discontent or sadness is death -- [[It Makes Sense in Context|by strawberry goopy stuff]]
* On the Season 8 episode of ''[[Law and Order Special Victims Unit]]'', "Cage," Detective
* ''[[V-2009]]'': Anna is a type C and her daughter Lisa is a type C who later becomes a type A.
* In ''[[Skins]]'':
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== [[Theater]] ==
* Mrs. Lovett in ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (theatre)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]''. She is cheerful and kindly, but has no problems whatsoever chopping up human bodies nor really with Sweeney's killing, and she is really only interested in improving her social standing. While not necessarily hollow, she certainly doesn't give a lot of moral considerations to her actions.
* In the musical ''[[How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying]]'', Rosemary is a
* All four main characters in the Sondheim musical ''Follies'' are
* Amanda from Tennessee Williams's ''[[The Glass Menagerie]]'' possibly qualifies, though she's most interested in [[Evil Matriarch|living her ideal life vicariously through her children]].
** On that note, Stella and especially Blanche from ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire]].''
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* ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'' has Laughing Octopus. She's got a * really* good reason, though.
* Miranda Lawson from ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' keeps trying to convince herself and everyone around her that she's happy and she's found her place in life, but that perpetual smile of her just screams "Fake!"
* Atoli in ''[[.hack GU Games]]'' is cheerful and bubbly, [[Love Freak|wants everyone to get along, and wants to be loved]]... {{spoiler|and then you find out she's like that only because her total lack of self-esteem in real life, due to lifelong emotional abuse by her parents ("Girls should be quiet and unnoticeable!!"
* GLaDOS from ''[[Portal (series)|Portal]]''.
* ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' plays this trope straight with just about everyone except Tidus.
** Nope, even Tidus. His [[Idiot Hero]] persona is mostly just an act to deal with his angst over his [[Disappeared Dad]]. And he has a more traditional
* Litchi Faye-Ling from ''[[Blaz Blue]]'' is Type A. On the outside and towards the people of Orient Town, she is highly sociable, kind, compassionate and caring doctor who is idolized by pretty much everyone, and it might not be a lie at all, she's deep down kind hearted. However, she never told anyone about her own problems, that being a desperate lover with [[Guilt Complex]], especially for letting her lover turn into an [[Eldritch Abomination]], injects herself with the same corruption which granted her power and looking for a cure and in the same time rotting her body away, and she'd rather bear the burden herself than worrying those she cared about with it. {{spoiler|Hazama managed to find out her face behind her smiler face and used that to manipulate her to get her [[Forced Into Evil]] under the guise of eventual survival from the escalating corruption and the chance to cure that lover.}} Which in turn, made her pull a new mask in front of Rachel: She pretends that only her lover needs help and she's the only one who can, while in truth, she also needs help as well when the other source of help (Kokonoe) flat out refused to help. Unfortunately, Rachel bought that mask and dismisses her as an obsessed idiot who chose the wrong side.
* {{spoiler|Carol}} in ''[[Mitsumete Knight]]''. She became this because she was frequently bullied in her childhood and had no friends. She posed as a [[Genki Girl]] in order to remedy this, and sadly this worked ''all too well''.
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* The brainwashed Joo Dees (shares initials with Jane Doe) from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]].'' Mentally, they're practically Stepford Wives. ''Of the government.''
** Also Ty Lee. At least some of her cheerful and perky attitude is a ruse to keep Azula happy, at least before she {{spoiler|betrays her}}.
** [[Evil Mentor|H]][[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|a]][[He Who Fights Monsters|m]][[Wicked Witch|a]]. She first appears as a kind but slightly eerie and mysterious old woman. Later we find out that she's a Waterbender, and that she's only living in the Fire Nation because she was captured from the South Pole, imprisoned with other Waterbenders, and prevented from bending her native element for years. She escaped by bending a guard's body fluids, turning him into a [[People Puppet]], and forcing him to unlock her cell. This alone would have been justifiable and wouldn't have made her into a villain. But then we find out that she's been living in the Fire Nation for years just to exact revenge on innocent civilians, capturing them with the same technique she used on the guards. Then, when the Gaang tried to stop her, she started [[People Puppet
* Bloberta Puffington, Orel's mother from ''[[Moral Orel]]'', exemplifies the psychotic version of this trope. "Ah, yarn... yarn... yarn ! YARN ! YAAARRRNNN-- ... Welcome home, dear !"
** Hell, ''everyone'' in [[What the Hell, Townspeople?|Moralville]], who as a whole are more concerned with the ''appearance'' of faith then actually following it. A few get better. Most, probably, do not. The fact that this is based on the creator's [[Freudian Excuse|childhood experiences]] is depressing.
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** [[Depending on the Writer|Depends on what episode you're watching]]. A lot of episodes go out of their way to prove that Marge and Homer do still love each other. The show thrives on [[Negative Continuity]], after all...
*** One very early episode shows Marge was taught to be one of these by her mother as she tries to make Lisa the same way in hope that if they pretend to be happy, they'll be happy after a while. However, when Marge sees Lisa actually starting to step into the role and how others start to take advantage of it, she gets angry, whisks her away and takes back her advice. Perhaps it could be said that in the series in general Marge has a tiny bit too much will left to stay in this role consistently.
** It's worth noting that Marge being in this trope is a direct result of the writers amping up Homer's [[Jerkass]] qualities. You could accuse Marge of being a
** Lindsey Naegel (aka the businesswoman) appears to be, on the surface, a powerful and successful woman who's sophisticated demeanor hides a dark side (she's a self-admitted sexual predator) and is a functional alcohallic.
* ''[[Hey Arnold!]]'': Helga's older sister Olga is a Type A version of this. She looks perfect on first glance, being very good at academics, music, has a personality many consider pleasant, and is considered very beautiful. However, with enough pressure this facade of perfection can crack revealing a young woman that's dangerously neurotic and melodramatic due to having to live up to her parents' constant attention and enormously high standards. In Olga's own words: "You're [Helga] lucky they [their parents] don't even notice you."
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== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Several, but most notably, Tatsunosuke, Suzu, and Tetsunosuke in ''[[Peacemaker Kurogane]]''.
** Okita "I smile constantly, love candy, play with the neighborhood kids, am pretty much a male [[Yamato Nadeshiko]] wife to Hijikata, and am pretty much the most terrifying swordsman in all of Japan" Souji. {{spoiler|Okita "I've been killing since I was eight and don't appear to actually regret it" Souji.}} That man's a TEXTBOOK
*** This may be why his ''[[Gintama]]'' counterpart keeps trying to murder Hijikata.
* The villainous Seta Sojirou, [[The Dragon]] of ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'''s best known story arc, also fits here -- a cheerful young person who's capable of incredible violence because he has no soul or conscience behind the mask. (Or at least that's what ''he'' thinks.) He actually started doing this because it stopped his family from abusing him if he didn't appear bothered by it.
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* You Takami from ''[[Deadman Wonderland]]'' seems to be one of the friendlier people in the prison/themepark, but he's not above {{spoiler|stealing the antidote for Ganta's poison, taking someone's ''entire'' ear for their earring, selling out [[The Ditz|ditzy]] possible [[Dark Action Girl]] Shiro to the guards, and killing his own father}}, although the last part was because he thought he was protecting his sister. Then again {{spoiler|he doubted that his dad could've really raped her}} so one wonders exactly what kind of person You was ''before'' being imprisoned.
** Actually, {{spoiler|his little sister, Minatsuki, killed their father. He even asks, upon her about to [[Back Stab]] him with her Branch Of Sin, if 'this is how you killed out father?'}}
** After his confrontation with Minatsuki, he actually starts becoming happier/more content, and babies the hell out of his little sister, which is pretty strange considering that {{spoiler|Minatsuki is an [[Ax Crazy]], [[Psycho for Hire]], [[Combat Pragmatist]] [[Blood Knight]] who is a very experienced killer and has been a [[Combat Sadomasochist]] for the last 5 to 10 years}}. However, this change seems to coincide with the fact that Minatsuki {{spoiler|mellows out from outright [[The Sociopath|sociopathic killer]] to just [[Sociopathic Hero
* It's been implied at this point that Takuto Tsunashi of ''[[Star Driver]]'', up to this point a typical kind, cheerful, [[Badass]] [[Idiot Hero]] with a bit of [[Cloudcuckoolander]] mixed in, at the very least has some [[Hidden Depths]] that are... well, not nice, at the very least (and at the most, this is all a facade and he's completely SCREWED UP) if these implications are to be believed. Knowing Yoji Enokido, these are probably going to be fully explored by the time the series is over.
* [[Intrepid Reporter]] Wolfgang Grimmer, from ''[[Monster (manga)|Monster]]'', a rare male version of the mask as the only personality. {{spoiler|The fact that sometimes he snaps in a Hulk-like killer alterego with no memories afterwards doesn't help his case, although he pleads [[Freudian Excuse|childhood abuse]] and unethical assassin training.}} However, he's also one of the rare ''good'' examples of this trope, genuinely wanting to do the right thing, and [[Character Development|as his role in the series progresses]] it seems like the [[Becoming the Mask|emotions he displays grow more genuine.]]
** In fact, [[Complete Monster|Johan's]] own ability to project a happy, kind, innocent and childlike demeanor worthy of a cherub, other than for purposes of manipulation and as a cover for his true sociopathic nature, doubles as a mask for covering up his dark past, {{spoiler|spent in the orphanages of the Communist bloc}}.
** Also, Johan's muscle and pawn, Roberto, harbors an extremely creepy Stepford Smile, [http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd282/mon15/05/ster749q.jpg as seen here]. Let's just say that it's a common trait amongst Kinderheim alumni...
* [[Spell My Name with an "S"|Fay/Fai]] from ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]'' has traits of the
** Even before the series hit [[It Got Worse]] territory in the Acid Tokyo arc, in Outo Country Kurogane had blatantly told Fay he knew he was hiding something. During the Celes arc we find out just what he had been hiding. We learn about his past {{spoiler|and that his real name isn't Fay, but Yuui; Fay was the name of his identical twin who sacrificed himself to let Yuui live... but Yuui thought he killed his brother.}} That's not all, either. Fay has other dark secrets we learn about. No wonder he tried to hide behind a smile.
* Chichiri from ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'' has a literal mask that helps him pull off the goofy, care-free smile; it's a significant plot-point when he takes it off to relay his tragic backstory.
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** And then there's Mao, who has both Type A and Type C qualities: he smiles a lot and seems quite cheerful, but he's [[Unhappy Medium|completely insane from reading all the minds around him]], and desperately pining for C.C., [[Loners Are Freaks|the only person who can provide him with any measure of companionship]].
** And Rolo Lamperouge. He seems like a perfectly normal and very nice kid ... until people start dropping dead around him. Not to mention he can be considered Type C due to his [[Cute and Psycho]] and [[Yandere]] tendencies.
* In ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'', the [[Big Bad]] of the TYL arc, Byakuran, is a
** He is beginning to show cracks, though; we got a nice "oh fuck" face with {{spoiler|Uni's}} arrival.
** Rokudo Mukuro can also definitely be considered one. He apparently copes with his [[Ax Crazy|insanity]] and [[Break the Cutie|horrible past]] by being a
** Yamamoto shows signs of being this at times. Fanon usually takes such subtleties and [[Up to Eleven|runs with 'em for all they're worth]].
* Magi's Jamil is a good example. He's all smiles on the outside, but quickly reveals himself to be a sword-happy Type C
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** Also thought to be this are the {{spoiler|Boa sisters}} and some of the other slaves of the [[Complete Monster|Celestial Dragons]].
* ''[[Game X Rush]]'' has smiling, laughing, charming Yuuki, who's hiding a treasure-trove of Capital-I-Issues in his head. Memori reflects that ''"Even a face laced with a tiny bit of pain... is a thousand times better than seeing that mask."'' It's implied that a large part of Yuuki's impetuous to stay around Memori is that Memori can discern the real smiles from Yuki just being a [[Sad Clown]].
* {{spoiler|Sasame}} from ''[[Prétear]]'' is an example of this in both the manga and anime, but particularly the anime. Outwardly he's jovial and flirty, as well as [[Big Brother Mentor|always willing to be a listening ear to anyone who has problems]]
* [[Mahou Sensei Negima|Negi Springfield]] himself. Like Tohru, he is genuinely kind and sweet, but it's made very clear that {{spoiler|that his [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] and transformation into a [[One-Winged Angel]] didn't come out of nowhere}}. Bear in mind, Negi is ''ten''.
* The titular ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler]]''. Recent chapters/episodes have implied that his kindness and decency are coping mechanisms he developed to cope with the harsh, nay, downright vicious realities of his life rather than his fundamental personality.
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* ''[[Durarara!!]]'': {{spoiler|Kida}} is not naturally that cheerful — it's a front he puts up for Mikado's sake.
* [[Iron Woobie|Tragically enough,]] {{spoiler|Zero}} of ''[[Kurohime]]'' has been a Type A since the beginning of the manga.
* Xellos from ''[[Slayers]]''. A case where the
* Tokidoki Rikugou of ''[[Amatsuki]]'' is a Type A.
* Yuki Giou of ''[[Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru]]'' clearly has some issues of self-worth stemming from being abandoned by his parents when he was real young. However, if someone should ask him if he's doing alright he usually gives them a cheerful smile and says "nothing's wrong" but tends to get depressed if he's by himself.
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Zirah stared at him in wide-eyed innocence. He looked puzzled.
"Why not?" }}
* In ''[[Code Geass: Mao of the Deliverance|Code Geass Mao of the Deliverance]]'', the titular character not only displays a blend of Type A and Type C--exuding cheerfulness and cool self-satisfaction while really [[Unhappy Medium|suffering from insanity]] and desperately [[Love Makes You Crazy|pining after C.C.]]
* ''[[Naruto]]'' fics that wish to portray him as [[Marty Stu|secretly a badass all along]] tend to call his canon characterization the "idiot facade."
* ''[[Invader Zim]]'' fanfics about [[Cheerful Child|Keef]] are pretty rare, but those that exist often portray him as having neglectful of abusive parents. Given [[Jhonen Vasquez]]' style, this is entirely plausible (compare ''[[Squee]],'' for example.)
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== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Coraline (animation)|Coraline]]'' has the Other Wybie, who was literally ''made'' to smile despite his actual emotions. {{spoiler|So much so, that when he expresses his disapproval [[The Speechless|through a frown]], the Other Mother ''sews his lips into a perma-grin.'' The stitches are cut, but not before we see what [[The Dark Knight Saga|the Joker]] might have looked like as a child.}}
* [[Tim Burton]]'s ''[[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film)|Charlie and The Chocolate Factory]]'' has Willy Wonka recast as a
* Norman Bates from ''[[Psycho]]''. Outwardly smiling and charming, but oh so unwell behind the mask. It's even more unnerving because Norman himself is so unstable that he acknowledges his Stepford mask slipping on and off:
{{quote|'''Marion:''' Sometimes, we deliberately step into those traps.
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* In ''[[Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor]]'', Luke is subjected to a terrible vision of what it's like to [[And I Must Scream|live through the heat death of the universe]]; when he comes out of it he's... different. He becomes nihilistic and depressed, believing that love and friendship are just tools people use to manipulate each other, and that it's pointless to save anyone. However, he's still [[The Messiah|Luke Skywalker]], and he makes the conscious decision to act ''exactly'' like he did back when he still thought life had value and meaning, in the hopes of [[Becoming the Mask]], longing to believe the happy lies again. Eventually he does get out of that mindset.
* In a dystopian novel by Fedor Zamyatin ''We'' the totalitarian government works towards making its subjects as machinelike as possible: perfectly scheduled and mapped lives, synchronised movements of multiple people, lack of names in favor of numbers. This agenda is ultimately crowned by "The Great Operation" in which the human brain is irradiated by rays, that ''[[Mind Rape|completely and irreparably strip a person of his imagination]]''. It's like [[Equilibrium|Prosium]] on an anatomical level. One of the effects (aside from turning a human being into an obedient and ever-happy shell of a man) is a perpetual grin on the subject's face as he now thinks "smiling is a natural expression of human face".
* ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' gives us Theon Greyjoy. ''Everyone'' comments on how he is always smiling, as if he hadn't a care in the world, and almost everyone is to some extent creeped out by it because he keeps it up even when it's grossly inappropriate and often downright morbid. Sure enough, he's got issues even ''he'' didn't knew he had, as a result of being kept as a hostage half his life in a situation where everyone maintained a polite fiction of him being a "guest" and
* ''[[Darkest Powers|The Summoning]]'' has Simon Bae, who for his introduction in the first book seems like a totally normal, cheerful kid who just so happens to be locked up with his older brother in a group home for mentally unstable kids. No matter how gloomy and angry his brother Derek is, Simon always remains upbeat and positive, until Derek snaps at him for doing nothing to help find their [[Parental Abandonment|missing father]]. This is the first thing that breaks Simon’s happy mask, and he admits that having to pretend to be content all the time when he really wants nothing more than to run away and find his dad is killing him inside.
** And again in ''The Reckoning'', when {{spoiler|he takes Chloe on a date, only to discover that his suspicions about her actually having feelings for Derek and not for him are true. He admits to having ignored it so he could just keep trying, but upon finding it out for real, his smile once again breaks and he actually leaves Chloe behind in the forest to go be alone for a while.}}
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** Spike himself also falls within this stereotype; despite all of his posturing as far as being a murderous bad-ass vampire, with the body-count to back up his swaggering, the dude is still the horribly insecure, [[Momma's Boy]] [[Nerd]] who writes crappy poetry, who overcompensates for his nerdiness by acting like a big time vampire. This was most notably shown in his origin episode, which contrasted Spike's boastful tales of past exploits with flashbacks that reveal how lame he used to be, right down to revealing that his nickname "William the Bloody" originally referred to his "bloody awful poetry."
*** He's both. The above would have him be something of a...Stepford Snarker, but over the course of his [[Character Development]] and becoming a woobie he's ''also'' still an asshole. With codependency problems. He and Dru were groundbreaking for the series when introduced because they were very clearly ''people'' in addition to being monsters; Spike's whole character arc explores this. And messes with him for fun, apparently.
* A pair of Pagan gods in the [[Christmas Episode]] of ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]''. One was the traditional female
** To call them "smilers" is a gross understatement. They're more like... stepford newlyweds-who-just-found-$500-in-the-house.
** If you know what's going to happen next, Dean comes off as a version of this trope in the supposed lighter moments of Seasons Two (the season where everything leads up to him making the demonic pact) and Three (when he has done so). Whether it's the Daddy Issues or [[Survivor Guilt]] or his impending death/suicide, he loves to pretend that everything is perfect when it's really, ''really'' not.
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* ''[[That Mitchell and Webb Look]]'': The host of the Quiz Broadcast sketches ("Hello, good evening, and remain indoors!") a game show taking place [[After the End|after]] "[[Noodle Incident|The]] [[The End of the World as We Know It|Event]]". His act (and [[Bullet-Proof Fashion Plate|suit]]) unravel as things get progressively worse.
* Niles Crane from ''[[Frasier]]'', he of the wife so bizarre and despicable that [[The Ghost|she became incapable of being revealed onscreen]] is something of a subversion of Type A -- he's absolutely ''terrible'' at his Stepford facade, so his friends and family members aren't fooled for a minute....but he also believes that he truly ''is'' happy, so his Stepford-y behavior continues no matter how clearly the other characters voice their disapproval. He [[Freak-Out|snaps]] in a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] in season 3 when he finally leaves Maris, though he has a couple of backslides, also involving this trope ("Life with Maris wasn't that bad! [[Love Martyr|It was my fault!]] [[Blatant Lies|I was too demanding!]] '[[Manipulative Bastard|Eat something!]] [[Spoiled Brat|Unlock this door!]] [[Domestic Abuse|Don't throw that!]]'")
* ''[[Desperate Housewives]]'' has Orson Hodge, who has been married with the [[Up to Eleven]]
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* Zelos from ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]'' is a
** His goal is to drive his comrades away from him, because he [[Death Seeker|doesn't want to be missed]]. Realizing the [[Butt Monkey]] of the group is also a [[Sad Clown]] can be quite [[Tear Jerker|jarring]], especially {{spoiler|if you chose the ending where [[Lovable Traitor|you kill him]].}}
* Another example is Jade Curtiss from ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]''. He does it due to being [[The Stoic]], and to mask the fact that he {{spoiler|Accidentally [[Dead Little Sister|killed his teacher]]}}. Plus, it helps a [[Deadpan Snarker]] to keep a straight face.
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{{quote|'''Ned Flanders:''' Now calm down, Ned-dily-diddly-diddly-diddly... they did their best, shoddily-iddly-iddly-diddly... gotta be ''nice'', hostily-iddly-diddly-iddly... Ah '''''hell''''' diddly-ding-dong-crap! '''''Can't you morons do anything right?!'''''}}
*** In fact, in one Halloween special, Ned Flanders becomes an Orwellian figure and makes sure ''everyone'' smiles - or go through "Re-Neducation", aka lobotomy.
* An episode of ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents]]'' has Timmy Turner's dad become this as a result of Timmy travelling to the past to prevent him from winning a race and thus meeting Timmy's mom. This results in a dystopian future in which Dad becomes a
** There is a hint of this lampshaded by Timmy's mom after being swapped into dad's body in one episode, where she mentioned that she had a sudden feeling of giving up on her dreams. This could mean Timmy's dad gave up on his old dreams sometime ago.
** Also, in the FLARG episode when Timmy is trying to stop Mark from exploding:
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== Radio ==
* The Happy Smilers, a group in an episode of ''[[Adventures in Odyssey]]'', are largely composed of these
== Tabletop Games ==
* Every vampire from ''[[Vampire: The Requiem]]'' slowly loses its [[Karma Meter|Humanity]] as the years go by, but the [[Vampires Are Sex Gods|Daeva]] [[The Beautiful Elite|clan]] are particularly prone to this. They are presented as [[Evil Is Sexy|sexy]] and [[Manipulative Bastard]] [[The Casanova|men]] and [[The Vamp|women]] that ooze sensuality, and maintain the image of the perfect vampires, but inside they're completely rotten. Years of manipulation drain their ability to feel true attachment until they can no longer [[What Is This Thing You Call Love?|comprehend human emotions]] and even though they seem to be passionate and claim to understand desire, they only feel need. This causes many Daeva to became [[The Hedonist|depraved]] and desperate to feel again. Things get worse each passing decade, because vampires tend to forget to fake breathing and blinking, gradually turning them into [[Empty Shell
{{quote|''Such simple creatures I'm grateful not be one any longer. Still... I do wish to remember just a bit more clearly what it felt like.''}}
* ''[[Paranoia (game)|Paranoia]]'' features a dystopic world run by a power-mad AI that demands that all citizens be happy, under penalty of summary execution.
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** A more depressing version is {{spoiler|Milla, a perpetually cheerful party girl who hides the fact that she worked at an orphanage that burned down, killing all inside. As if that wasn't enough, she also wound up psychically hearing their screams for help as they died.}} [[Alternate Character Interpretation|Interpretations]] vary with the player with some seeing her as someone who's ''coped'' with the trauma in her past. [[Word of God]] says it's the latter, and that "locking up" nightmares is a perfectly healthy way of dealing with that level of trauma.
** By comparison, twice in Boyd Cooper's mind, you get assaulted by nightmares and have to fight them as minibosses. So it would seem that in the metaphorical context of things, nightmares being "locked up" is more a sign that you've dealt with them and have them under control, rather than that you're suppressing them.
* Louis from ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'' display type B. In the events of The Sacrifice comic, Louis had to kill a person who attacked him in a bathroom stall (the person became an infected or "zombie") and saw the destruction of his workplace and the city from the viral outbreak, testing his will since he always had a positive outlook in life. Louis still holds the "everything will get better" attitude, even after he and the other survivors had to endure
* Any game from Zynga. In ''Cityville'', it's just getting scary with how everyone always smiles and looks so cutesy. A few of my contacts have named their cities Stepford for this very reason.
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== [[Visual Novels]] ==
* In ''[[A Profile]]'', Masayuki is implied to be one for a time, but it turns out to be untrue and that he really has simply changed, mostly for the better. {{spoiler|Miou, on the other hand, is pretty emotionally damaged inside.}}
* It's strongly implied that [[Clannad|Nagisa Furukawa's parents]], Akio and Sanae, at least partially fake their [[Adult Child
* The characters do this in ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'' in the question arcs, and first two answer arcs, to try and hide things.
** Rena is also a perfect example of a Type A. {{spoiler|It's all a facade, but she does it to escape from her sadness.}}
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[[Category:Subverted Innocence]]
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[[Category:This Index Has Had a Hard Life]]
[[Category:Extraversion Tropes]]
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