Odd Couple

[butterflydreaming]

There is a trope, frequent in anime and not uncommon in fantasy novels, where a sweet and gentle person (or cat-like companion) has a hidden self that is a centuries old monster. I found myself considering how the reverse would look, and realized: isn't that what the amnesia trope is? Regarding Henry, as the prime example. Henry with amnesia is sweet and gentle, but original Henry was not a nice person.

So here we have a powerful monster or sorcerer, but their truer, hidden self is a sweetheart.

Wait, isn't that like when the dragon is a princess under a curse? But with the variation that she has to stay a dragon, most of the time, even when the curse is broken?

I find myself laughing at the idea of a person who goes around being terrifying as a false self, and when called to action becomes a chickadee. The idea that the peaceful one is the more powerful form of the two and that the scary one functions better in the daily world.