History Main / BackupBluff

* In ''Film/{{Ladyhawke}}'', Philippe the Mouse (MatthewBroderick) is hearing noises in the woods. He tries to fool his potential attackers by talking to two imaginary friends, saying things like, "You'd better draw your sword, Pierre!" and, "Ah, Louis, you brought your crossbow!" He also uses different voices to make it sound like they are there.

* The [[http:www.ghostarmy.org Ghost Army]] used this trick for the Allies in World War II many times, with inflatable tanks, sound-effects records of warships and submarines played through loudspeakers, fake radio chatter referring to nonexistent troops, and having the same battalion march several times through town wearing the uniforms of different armies (pretending to be French, then American, then British soldiers) etc.

Against Lord Slug in FanFic/SaviorOfDemons, [[OffscreenTeleportation Frieza]] suddenly appears to dress the villain down and warn him to get off Frieza's planet. [[spoiler: It's actually {{Shapeshifter}} [[TalkingAnimal Puar]] in disguise, trying to buy time.]] Made more amazing by the fact that [[spoiler: Oolong]] had just tried (and failed miserably) at this exact same tactic.

-->'''Maxwell Smart:''' I think it's only fair to warn you, this facility is surrounded by a highly trained team of 130 Black Op Snipers.
-->'''Siegfried:''' I find that hard to believe.
-->'''Maxwell Smart:''' Would you believe two dozen Delta Force Commandos?
-->'''Siegfried:''' No.
-->'''Maxwell Smart:''' How about Creator/ChuckNorris with a BB gun?

* Played with in the ''WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex'' episode "Badlands": Rex, Noah and Bobo are given the task of transporting a small container of valuable and unstable nanites, which they are told will "go off" if they are handled roughly. When the group is attacked by anarchists who want the nanites for their own purposes, Rex grabs a can of soda (which is the same size and shape as the nanite container) and threatens to intentionally make the nanites go off, and kill all of them in the explosion it will cause. This manages to scare the anarchists off, just long enough for Rex and Noah to steal one of their vehicles. It's only later that Rex and Noah find out that [[spoiler:the nanites were ''not'' going to "explode" if they were handled roughly, they were going to "go off", as in ''turn'' off]].

* In the last book of the ''Literature/ChroniclesOfPrydain'', King Rhun takes advantage of the smoke and confusion that pervades a battle. He races his horse from one side of the battlefield to the other, shouting orders to regiments of cavalry that don't exist.

Frequently characters, especially [[TheHero heroic]] {{Main Character}}s, find themselves going up against an opponent which outnumbers them or otherwise has a tactical advantage. Whether the character is a {{Badass}} or completely incapable, they know that in this instance, they don't have enough of a chance in a straight-up fight, so they try to gain an advantage by out-thinking their opponent.

-->'''Maxwell Smart:''' How about ChuckNorris with a BB gun?

One of TheOldestTricksInTheBook. Compare BrandishmentBluff, for when a weapon, rather than back up, is used.

* ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' has an article titled [[http://www.cracked.com/article_22316_5-soldiers-who-beat-insane-odds-by-lying-their-ass-off.html 5 Soldiers Who Beat Insane Odds (By Lying Their Ass Off)]], which lists events such as two soldiers pretending to have a concealed Spitfire preparing to attack, causing two German pilots to panic and shoot each other by accident, or one Scottish officer using RefugeInAudacity to convince 23,000 Germans that he had an army listening to him.

One of TheOldestTricksInTheBook.

** In the LiveActionAdaptation ''Kudo Shinichi Returns! Showdown with the Black Organization'', Kudo tells his opponents that twenty helicopters from the [[SWATTeam special police force]] are on their way with fifty armored police officers. In truth, his backup was only a single police helicopter with a single [[TheInspector plain clothes police inspector]] and one injured ([[DefectiveDetective and not particularly competent]]) PrivateDetective.

* In ''BeauGeste'', the initial assault on a fort is beaten off, but after each new attack, there are fewer defenders. Markoff props up the corpses at their posts to make it look as if there are still plenty of soldiers left.

* Several groups in various ''{{Redwall}}'' books use this trick, usually successfully. Of course, it helps that the bluffer is usually ''[[OneManArmy worth]]'' [[BadassCrew that many]].

* ''[[Series/BattlestarGalacticaClassic Battlestar Galactica]]'': In the original series episode ''Saga Of A Star World'', Starbuck and Apollo bluff a Cylon [[TheBattlestar Base Star]] into a severe tactical misstep by discussing over the radio whether or not they should bring ''all'' of their Viper squadrons with them to attack the ship (when in fact, they only have a single squadron at their disposal, and that squadron is already occupied providing cover to the evacuation of the Colonials from the surface of Carillon).

** Subverted in one episode where Max does this and to his surprise the Chief is waiting outside.

-->'''Siegfried:''' I don't believe you.

* In an episode of ''{{Psych}}'', "Truer Lies," Shawn and a pathological liar do this, magnanimously accepting the terms of two bad guys' surrender because the police were just around the corner. It turns out they were telling the truth.
* From the second season premiere of ''{{Chuck}}'': "My name is Charles Carmichael. I'm a CIA agent, and this is my trap. I don't think you gentlemen recognize the gravity of the predicament you're in. Your call to the Buy More? Yeah, we traced that. Your compound is currently surrounded by 23 infantry troopers, 16 snipers, seven heavy gunners, four demolitions experts and enough ammunition to orbit Arnold Schwarzenegger. You're outmatched and you're outgunned. Those pea-shooters you're holding might as well be sharp sticks and strong language....Of course you don't see anyone. What do you think we are, the FBI? The only thing you're going to see is a muzzle flash and an e-ticket straight to hell." To further sell this bluff, Chuck calls up Morgan and asks him about their Call of Duty map, where all of the figures in the quote come from, and gets Morgan to repeat all of those figures to the baddie of the week.

* In episode 20 ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', Kirito does one of these towards the commander of the Salamander army, stating that he's a Spriggan-Undine ambassador, and that attacking him and the Cait-Sith and Slyph meeting would cause the four races to declare war on the Salamander. The commander doesn't buy it, but challenges Kirito to a duel anyway. [[spoiler: After Kirito defeats him, one of his men tells the commander that he saw Kirito the other day with an Undine. Said man was the guy Kirito spared after he saved Leafa during their first encounter in episode 17. The Salamander army then leaves peacefully.]]

[[folder: Fan Fic ]]
* In ''FanFic/TheOpenDoor,'' Lars, a demon of Chaos, is accidentally transported to a plane full of devils. However, the devils are ''terrified'' of Chaos Demons, and Lars uses this trope as well as the fear they have to keep them from killing him, and signing a binding contract with them, saying that Chaos will not invade their home. Once he's not in danger of getting attacked, he reveals that, despite what he insinuated, he's lost, cut off from his people, and has ''no'' idea how he got to this plane to begin with. But because the devils are LawfulEvil, and they signed a contract with him preventing them from attacking him, it leads to epic-level facepalms and groaning from the devils at how easily they were tricked.
[[/folder]]

* In homage to the Live Action TV example below, the [[TheMovie film version]] of GetSmart gives us this exchange:

--> '''Max:''' At the moment, seven Coast Guard cutters are converging on us. Would you believe it? Seven.\\

* In ''TheOpenDoor,'' Lars, a demon of Chaos, is accidentally transported to a plane full of devils. However, the devils are ''terrified'' of Chaos Demons, and Lars uses this trope as well as the fear they have to keep them from killing him, and signing a binding contract with them, saying that Chaos will not invade their home. Once he's not in danger of getting attacked, he reveals that, despite what he insinuated, he's lost, cut off from his people, and has ''no'' idea how he got to this plane to begin with. But because the devils are LawfulEvil, and they signed a contract with him preventing them from attacking him, it leads to epic-level facepalms and groaning from the devils at how easily they were tricked.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout1}}'', a sufficiently-crafty player character can pull one of these on a ''boss''; even if it works, he suspects the ruse, but decides it isn't worth testing and lets you go.

* [[WorldWarII The Battle Off Samar]] pitted Taffy 3, a small flotilla of American escort carriers, destroyers, and destroyer escorts, against Admiral Kurita's Central Force, which had the American force outmatched in numbers, firepower, and tonnage by a truly staggaring degree. [[HeroicSacrifice In order to give the carriers a hope of escape]] , the destroyers and destroyer escorts [[LeeroyJenkins charged headlong into battle]]. The Japanese assumed that the ''only'' logical reason for the Americans to choose this tactic was if they were [[DelayingAction buying time]] for Admiral Halsey to [[TheCavalry bring his main force into battle,]] not knowing that Halsey's force was a considerable ways off. The Japanese retreated, giving the Americans one of the most unexpected victories of the war.