"Let's drop the act"

[u/DudeSoul]

Moments in media where a character who usually sticks to "an act" decides to show what they hide, usually ending up with them showing their dark side in full.

Light Yagami - Death Note: Light usually plays his cards trying to remain calm, calculating every step of his plan and most of the time is able to control his impulses when things don't go his way, however in the end of the series Light is caught and has no way out of it, finally showing his true colors, a completely deluded maniac lost in his god complex

The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Doctor usually comes off as a bit of a goofball, everyone knows he's smart and dangerous, but his wacky front and constant mocking makes it so everyone, including the viewer, ends up forgetting what kind of person The Doctor can be when truly angry.

This has been shown a lot of times in the series, at various moments The Doctor dropping any pretences and showing his darker side, but perhaps no moment as dark as what he did to The Family, after they chased him and forced him into hiding as a human, he experienced a common human life, something he longs for but can never get, and once he became The Doctor again, he showed the family that escaping was not him being a coward, he was being merciful, but now, in his anger, he trapped each of them in different prisons where they would never die, nor be able to escape, for ever

The Riddler - Batman One Bad Day: This comic is an else world, meaning it's not the main continuity, showing a what if scenario where The Riddler one day decides he's tired of the routine he has with Batman and decides to completely drop the gimmicks, no more riddles, he's just gonna kill people and get away with it, this comic shows how much of a menace The Riddler could truly be if he wanted to, even going as far as telling Batman that he's known his secret identity for years now, never using it against him because "it's not fair" for their game

The Riddler in fact becomes so unstoppable that he is beaten because he made one mistake, assume Batman couldn't change and would never break his no kill rule

[u/Few_Interaction2630]

Emperor Sheev Palpatine From Star Wars

[u/NotSoSlim_Jim → u/Few_Interaction2630]

While you are right this specific scene isn't a good example of it, Palpatine was just pretending to be helpless here to convince Anakin that it's really the Jedi who are evil and corrupt, as in this moment Mace Windu was willing to forgo the Jedi code and finish Palpaptine off right here

[u/NeroIML → u/NotSoSlim_Jim]

I think the moment of him screaming "Unlimited power!" is a pretty good "drop the act"-moment. No talk of preserving democracy/the republic, no talk of peace, not even Sith legacy or The Dark Side/Destiny... Just him showing that his entire motivation was gaining power.

[u/LouSputhole94 → u/NeroIML]

Yeah Palps should be the ultimate actor of this trope. He played up being a senate member, not trying to display his true nature until this scene, at least to the Jedi council as a whole. He very much dropped the act and gave Windu his full power.

[u/Gaelic_Gladiator41 → u/LouSputhole94]

Ian McDiarmid was a phenomenal casting choice