History Main / BodyGuardBetrayal

* Barely averted in ''Film/TheBodyguard''. A casual line at the beginning of the movie mentions that the (to-be-revealed) hitman (a former Secret Service agent like Kevin Costner's character) was interviewed and was "eager" for the job of guarding his future target.

** Vito's bodyguard Paulie called in sick the day that an attempt was carried out on Vito's life. Naturally, it's not a coincidence.

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* In ''Literature/TheLostRegiment'' novels, the [[HumanAlien Merki]] [[TheHorde Horde]] has a unique post that doesn't have an equivalent in the Tugar Horde. Shield Bearers are trained from among the White Clan to protect the Qar Qarth (chief of the entire horde) and the Zan Qarth (the heir apparent). However, they are not merely bodyguards. A Shield Bearer is also supposed to be the Qar/Zan Qarth's closest friend and advisor, as they train themselves not to think "what would a warrior do?" but "what is good for the Horde?" As such, one of the Shield Bearer's duties is to kill his charge, if this proves to be beneficial to the Horde as a whole. However, there are specific rules on when and how this must be done. The decision to kill the Qar Qarth can only come from the White Clan council, while the death of a Zan Qarth must be ordered by the Qar Qarth. Even then, it is usually preferred for the death to be honorable (i.e. face to face), although extreme cases allow for a dishonorable one (i.e. InTheBack). Additionally, the Shield Bearer is expected to die at the burial ceremony of his charge.
* In ''[[Literature/TakeshiKovacs Altered Carbon]]'', Trepp is a fairly decent PunchClockVillain who works for the BigBad. By the end of the novel, she comes to realize what a depraved monster her boss really is; ordered to finish off the wounded protagonist, she turns on her employer instead.
* Oenone Zero in the ''Literature/MortalEngines'' series resurrects the [[{{Cyborg}} Stalker]] Shrike to serve as a bodyguard for the Stalker [[GeneralRipper Fang]], but she's secretly plotting against Fang and gives Shrike some ManchurianAgent programming so that she can use him as an assassin when the time is right. When activated, Shrike is unwilling but unable to stop himself from attacking Fang and tearing her apart, but Fang is NotQuiteDead and slowly rebuilt in the next book.
* In the first book of [[Literature/GentlemanBastard The Gentleman Bastard]] series, the Berengias twins, who work as bodyguards for Capa Barsavi and his family, turn out to be the sisters of the [[BigBad Big Bad]] and proceed to help him kill the Capa and his sons. They also reveal to have killed her wife by slowly poisoning her, and making it seem like a disease had done it.
* In the ''Literature/SpiralArm'' series, Paul Feeley, the Radiant Name, refuses to allow his Protectors to retreat when his residence comes under fire because he is defended by his [[DeflectorShields sparkle armor]], disregarding the fact that the Protectors are not similarly equipped. Disgusted by the Radiant Name's disregard for the lives of those who serve him, his captain-Protector orders the retreat and then kills his master himself.
* In ''Winner Takes All'', hitmen Literature/JohnRain and Dox decide to kill their target during an arms deal and make it look like one of his bodyguards decided to steal the money. They're bemused to have this very scenario happen before they start shooting (though the bodyguard is a terrorist who wants to steal the weapons, not the money).
* In the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' book ''[[Recap/WarriorCatsShatteredSky Shattered Sky]]'', Rain offers to watch over the wounded Darktail for a while. Violetpaw decides to bring a piece of prey for Darktail to eat when he wakes up, and she returns to find Rain suffocating their leader. It looks for a moment as if he's successful, but it turns out that Darktail was just PlayingPossum: when Rain turns away, Darktail jumps up and kills him in revenge.
* ''Literature/AscendanceOfABookworm'': Myne is placed under the protection of a pair of knights while High Priest Ferdinand helps the Knight's Order deal with a rampaging Trombe. As Knights are nobles, one of them resents having to watch over the commoner Myne. He begins bullying Myne and ends up cutting her with a knife. Myne's mana-rich blood falls to the ground, where it ends up awakening ''another'' Trombe seed that happened to be lying dormant beneath their feet.
* In ''Literature/AlphaAndOmega'', Haji Jamal Ashrawi, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, suspects his head bodyguard of aiding several [=ISIS=] members in ambushing and beating him as a warning not to obstruct them.
* ''Literature/TheElderEmpire'': When [[spoiler:Nathaniel Boreas]] betrays his allies the Consultants, Shera turns to his bodyguard and says "it's time to come home." Said bodyguard immediately stabs his boss with great relish. Normally the Consultants don't have their Shepherds (the deep-cover spies) perform assassinations, because they tend to be emotionally attached to their targets. [[spoiler:Nathaniel Boreas]] is ''such'' an asshole that the closest thing he has to a best friend attacks him with zero hesitation.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' this is suspected of one the kings of the high elves, Tethlis the Slayer. After enacting a campaign of genocide on the dark elves that led many to worry that they were [[HeWhoFightsMonsters becoming no better]], Tethlis made a pilgrimage to the Sword of Kaine, an ArtifactOfDoom wielded by the first Phoenix King. The official story is that a dark elf assassin was waiting for him on the isle, but it's strongly suspected that the truth is he tried to draw the sword and his bodyguards cut him down in fear that he might succeed.
* Attempted on Coordinator [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Theodore Kurita]] in the course of the ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' history. The Black Dragon Society, an AncientConspiracy of extremely traditionalist, xenophobic ultranationalists, managed to subvert the Otomo, the Coordinator's bodyguard company. They very nearly killed him while marching by in their Battlemechs during a military parade, but a BigDamnHeroes movement by an irregular army regiment [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores comprised of military dregs]] and the {{Yakuza}}, reinforcements from loyalist members of the SecretPolice, along with a [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Ragtag Bunch of Mercenary Msifits]], managed to save the Coordinator. Based on the RealLife assassination of Anwar Sadat.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'': "[Violets] are [the Ultraviolet's] spymasters, gophers, assassins and eventually his patsies, but never his bodyguards. No High Programmer is that crazy."

* In ''VideoGame/{{Mafia}}'', Don Salieri is sold out to Morello by his personal bodyguard but luckily, Tommy is with him at the moment of their attack. Also, it is Tommy who gets to kill the traitor.
* In ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge'', Robert Pope is murdered after being sold out by his bodyguard Ropeburn.

** Which was an accident. She meant to kill Helena, but the mother jumped to shield her daughter at the last second.
* In ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'', Georg Prime is accused of killing the queen and kidnapping you. He really did kill the Queen, but it was a ShootTheDog moment that she and her husband had him agree to [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity so she doesn't blow everything up with the Sun Rune]]. [[YouCantThwartStageOne You also run away with him by choice.]] Straighter examples of this would be Zahhak and Alenia, filthy Godwin devils.
** In the [[VideoGame/SuikodenI first Suikoden]], Pahn betrays the young master after Ted comes back from his fateful meeting and reveals the secret of his Rune to them. In this case, Pahn is trying to keep ''them'' from betraying TheEmpire, which would be bad, given that the hero's father is one of their best officers and all... Pahn also eventually regrets his actions and [[HeelFaceTurn switches back to your side]]; however, this can lead to a delayed case of RedemptionEqualsDeath if you don't pump enough time and money into leveling him up before he pulls a YouShallNotPass.
* Raven in ''VideoGame/OneMustFall 2097''. (If his ending is canon, anyway)
** Even in the backstory Raven was grooming freelance assassins for the job, only waiting until his future career and retirement were assured before finally choosing to let one of them get by him. (And his employer ''knew it''.) The peculiar circumstances of the tournament just provided Raven with a perfect opportunity to legally and openly kill his employer ''and'' set himself up for life just by doing so.

* ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'' -- The beginning of the game sees [[PlayerCharacter Corvo]], the Royal Protector, thrown into prison for the murder of the Empress. It's false of course; she was actually offed by corrupt officials who had launched a coup, and they used Corvo as their scapegoat. Unfortunately for them, Corvo breaks out of prison and spends the rest of the game setting the record straight [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge in the most brutal and painful way possible]].
* In ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'', while not actually used in-game, the background for [[ColdSniper certain]] [[TheCommissar Imperial Guard]] honor guard units implies this to be the case should the general's zeal or competence fail.

* In ''VideoGame/KingOfTheCastle'', the Intimidation scheme, which multiple regions can pursue, involves bribing the members of the Palace Watch to help the region's claimant overthrow the King. If the scheme reaches its final stage, the nobles can vote to have the Watch either stand down while they storm the Palace and assassinate the King, or escort the King to them and force them to become a [[PuppetKing puppet]] under threat of assassination. If the [[PraetorianGuard Honour Guard]] are from the scheming region, they will also be complicit in the plan (otherwise, they may be killed trying to defend the King).

* In ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' Servants are meant to protect and fight for their Master, but on four occasions the Servant willingly betrays their Master. In the backstory Caster gets fed up with her original Master (a mage TooDumbToLive by virtue of summoning the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Witch of Betrayal]] and failing to earn her respect), tricks him into wasting all his Command Seals (the orders she would ''have'' to obey), and then murders him. In [[MultipleEndings one bad ending]] Saber kills Shirou in order to obtain her wish. In Unlimited Blade Works Archer betrays Rin and joins forces with Caster so he can [[spoiler:kill Shirou]]. Later in the same route Gilgamesh, who had agreed to act as Shinji's Servant, forcibly converts Shinji's body into a vessel for the Grail.
* This happens near the end of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice''. Queen Ga'ran's royal guard has Phoenix, Apollo, and Nahyuta at gunpoint, but once she is exposed as a fraud who is ineligible for the crown because she can't channel spirits, they all immediately turn their guns on ''her'' instead. Ultimately, though, nobody gets hurt, as Ga'ran passes out from the strain she put herself through and the royal guard leaves it at that.
* ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth 2'': The president of Zheng Fa that we meet in the game is actually his BodyDouble. Sick and tired of putting his life on the line without having any actual power over anything, the body double [[KillAndReplace killed and replaced the real president]], posing as the Head of Estate for more than a decade. Problems arise once it became obvious that the body double was a spineless coward that could only pretend to be the strong leader that the real president was. With his popularity numbers on the gutter, the fake president devised a plan to [[FakeAssassination stage an assassination attempt]] during his visit to Gourd Lake in order to drum up some sympathy support, kickstarting the events of the game.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Marilith}}'', the bodyguard Stark betrays his old boss, the drug cartel leader Krystiyan, to the BigBad, Valentino. Bonus points for the "NothingPersonal, it's just business" line.

* A dramatic, awesome, and oddly enough ''heroic'' variant in ''WebComic/TheOrderOfTheStick.'' [[spoiler:During the Godsmoot, Roy finally realizes how the undead Durkon -- really the High Priest of Hel -- has tricked him, and how enormous the stakes are. However, by the rules of the Godsmoot, none of the other bodyguards may intervene; a bodyguard that dares raise his weapon against another cleric is put to death. However, [[LoopholeAbuse there are no rules for a cleric being attacked by their own bodyguard]]...]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', The Venture Family bodyguards are assigned to not only protect the Venture Professors but to kill them if they ever want to activate the mysterious Orb. Rusty's father, Professor Venture, may have been killed by his bodyguard--Kano has steadfastly refused to talk about it, even after his vow of silence was lifted. What we do know is that the bodyguard of Rusty's grandfather opted to [[TakeAThirdOption break the Orb]] rather than kill his boss.

* Wei in ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' does this to Alice Wong after assisting her in killing her father's entire crime family.
* In ''Manga/DragonBall,'' Commander Red's right-hand man Black betrays him in this fashion, [[DisappointedByTheMotive after finding out that Red doesn't care about the success or glory of the Red Ribbon Army; he actually just intends to use the Dragon Balls to make himself taller]], and doesn't care how many of his subordinates die along the way.
* ''[[VisualNovel/PhantomOfInferno Requiem for the Phantom]]'' has Godoh Daisuke being shot at point-blank range by his best friend and right-hand man, Shiga, at the instigation of [[SmugSnake Scythe Master]]. Unlike most other examples of this trope, Shiga truly respected and admired Godoh and, even after taking over the Godoh Group and turning it into an affiliate of [[TheSyndicate Inferno]], loathed Scythe for setting into the motion the events that led to the murder.

* In the second season of the ''Manga/BlackButler'' anime, CreepyChild Alois Trancy's servant Claude [[MeaningfulName Faustus]] — who is supposed to be bound to him by an incontrovertible DealWithTheDevil contract — responds to an impassioned speech about [[LivingEmotionalCrutch how badly Alois needs him]] by crushing his skull between his hands. AlasPoorVillain.
* ''Manga/TheRoseOfVersailles'' provides a rather unusual and heroic example: Oscar is a member of the Military Household of the King of France and a personal friend of the queen, and seeing how France is going down the drain due to the government's ineptitude she spends many years trying to get her to be the queen France ''needs'' and use her influence on the king to clean the government's act before it's too late... But as the queen is UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette she doesn't listen, and once her direct superior in the French Guards sends orders to fire on the rioting Parisians Oscar instead leads her troops in a mutiny and joins the assault on the Bastille (in which Oscar dies), effectively starting UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution. The unusual part is that while Marie Antoinette and the court react with the appropriate horror once they find out the French Guards do ''not'' march on Versailles to kill the royals, the queen never stops considering Oscar the best friend she ever had, to the point that, between the sessions of her trial, she even expresses regret for how their last encounter went and for not listening to her advice when it could have made a difference.
* In ''The Manhua/RavagesOfTime'', when [[spoiler:the Sima clan mutinies against the Prime Minister Cao Cao, the Sima clan troops' leader at the family residence Xu Ding reveals himself as TheMole, then "the loyal one" Guo Ang loses his arm to one of his own men at Xu Ding's behest, after which Xu Ding and company proceed to mostly annihilate the Sima clan present there]] -- kicking off [[spoiler:Sima Yi's own planned revenge of [[TheStarscream worming his way up the ranks of the Cao faction before overthrowing Cao Cao]]]].

* Creator/{{Marvel}}'s ComicBook/TheKingpin was hired as a bodyguard for Don Rigoletto. He used this position to secretly unite the mobs behind his boss' back. His final step in usurping Rigoletto's power was to snap his neck.

* Twice in ''FanFic/TheTaintedGrimoire'':
** Raven is actually a member of Khamja. While he and Crow are protecting Maria, their true objective is separate and more sinister but the moment Maria got involved, Raven could have killed her without remorse if it wasn't for Adelle.
** Fasullo is actually Ewen in disguise and the whole time he spent working as the leader of Baron Beltorey's guards was just so can take something the Baron had.
* ''FanFic/ABriefHistoryOfEquestria'': During the last Unicorn civil war (following Hearth's Warming but prior to a full Equestrian unification), many of the Unicorn nobles were killed by their own bodyguards, saving Princess Platinum the trouble of a long and drawn-out war.

%%ZeroContextExample* Inverted, then defied, when Starlight initiates Operation Midnight Longsword, where the Praetorians are all killed and replaced with magi-tech battle droids, who become the new Praetorians.
* ''FanFic/QueenOfAllOni'': Just prior to the climax, a now [[SanitySlippage utterly delusional and paranoid]] Queen Jade decides to eliminate her chief minions, including {{Battle Butler}}s Left and Right, and replace them all with people who have been brainwashed to have no free will, and therefore can't ever betray her. Right happens to overhear this, [[SelfFulfillingProphecy and thus]] during Jade's [[EnemyCivilWar duel]] with Tarakudo during the FinalBattle, he quite literally stabs her InTheBack, allowing Tarakudo to win.

* ''Fanfic/TheMountainAndTheWolf'': Tyrion recounts the story of the betrayal of Aerys Targaryen by his bodyguard (without specifying said bodyguard's name, aka Jaime) to the Wolf. The Wolf later uses the story as an example of how the worst crimes in Westeros are EasilyForgiven (from his perspective, at least) ''[[DramaticIrony to Jaime himself]]''.

[[folder:Films — Animation]]

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]

* Done very well in ''Film/QuantumOfSolace''. When interrogating Mr. White, one of the leaders of Quantum, he mocks them by saying "The first thing you should know about us is that [[WeAreEverywhere we have people everywhere]].", at which point he turns to the aide following M everywhere and adds "Am I right?" - he pulls a gun and shoots the other [=MI6=] agents.
-->'''M:''' When someone says "We've got people everywhere", you expect it to be hyperbole! Lots of people say that. ''Florists'' use that expression. It doesn't mean that they've got somebody working for them inside the bloody room!
* Franchise/StarWars:
** In ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', all the clones "betray" their Jedi charges when they're told to execute Order 66 by Palpatine.
** In ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', [[TheDragon Darth Vader]] turns against [[BigBad Palpatine]] himself upon seeing Luke gets tortured by him.

* ''Film/TheRunningMan''. Earlier in the movie, BigBad Killian insulted his bodyguard Sven by asking "Steroids made you deaf?" At the end, Ben Richards confronts Killian.
-->'''Killian:''' Sven, do you wanna talk to Mr. Richards? ''[pause]'' Well?\\
'''Sven:''' I've got to score some steroids. ''[[[ScrewThisImOuttaHere turns and leaves Killian to Richards]]]''\\
'''Richards:''' ''[kills Killian in a HoistByHisOwnPetard way]''

* In ''Film/TheSentinel2006'', the Secret Service finds out that one of them is involved in a plot to assassinate the President, but they focus all their efforts on the main character because his story doesn't check out. This is due to him sleeping with the First Lady, though. The real traitor is doing this to protect his family. He does get a RedemptionEqualsDeath ending, however.
* Barely averted in ''Film/TheBodyguard''. A casual line at the beginning of the movie mentions that the (to-be-revealed) hitman (a former Secret Service agent like Kevin Costner's character) was interviewed and was "eager" for the job of guarding his future target.

* In ''Film/ZorroTheGayBlade,'' the Big Bad's soldiers are loyal to him up until the last minute of the Zorro-led revolution. In the end, the Big Bad (and wife) are surrounded by his soldiers (guns pointing out), who are in turn surrounded by an angry mob. The troop leader sees which side his bread is buttered on, and commands, "ABOUT FACE!"
* In a deleted scene from ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'', Creator/MaxVonSydow's King Osric ends up on the receiving end of a pretty brutal stabbing by his own royal bodyguards.

* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
** ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'': How Admiral Thrawn finally goes down. Thrawn betrayed the warrior race he was using for bodyguards, lying to them and poisoning their world to keep them in indentured servitude. When his personal guard found out about this, he stabbed Thrawn.
** It's also the reason Palpatine's cloned-bodies plot couldn't continue indefinitely; one of his ''supposedly'' fanatically-loyal [[PraetorianGuard Royal Guardsmen]] tampered with the source DNA being used to create the clone bodies, so eventually every single Palpatine clone would start degenerating/aging way too fast to be of any use.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
** Jaime Lannister, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, known as "The Kingslayer". It says something about how [[CrapsackWorld bad things had gotten]] because, by the time Jaime is made Lord Commander, it's not just an unpopular political appointment: he probably was the best one left for the job. Yes, the despised ''Kingslayer'' was ''the best one they had''. He had [[TheCaligula a good reason]], for that betrayal of his, however... not that people fully admit it. That no one else knows the full story (which would exonerate him even more), yet he ''still'' was made Lord Commander, just further reinforces both the dominance of his House ''and'' the general crapsackiness of the situation given that, bar Barristan Selmy, he was better than any others.
** A member of the Kingsguard tries to murder Tyrion Lannister during the Battle of the Blackwater. He immediately suspects his sister Queen Cersei is behind the attack, though we have no confirmation in her point-of-view chapters.
** Although King Maegor "[[AxCrazy The Cruel]]" Targaryen had his entire remaining Kingsguard famously abandon him in the only such mass betrayal in what is technically this trope, it's not widely considered a true example by those writing the histories of the Seven Kingdoms. Because this "disgraceful" Kingsguard went on to support his nephew, Jaehaerys "[[TheGoodKing The Wise]]" and, incidentally, the next king -- and, by doing so, [[ConflictingLoyalty stuck to others of their oaths as knights sworn to the Faith of the Seven, not just the Throne]]. The very Faith that Maegor partially got his sobriquet for ''messily'' persecuting in the first place.
** As noted above, the culture of Westeros generally takes a very dim view of this kind of thing, regardless of which side is left writing or singing the histories. There is, however, one other notable exception living solidly in ConflictingLoyalty territory. When the last two members of House Durrandon both decided to defy the Targaryens, their remaining guards (both city and personal) came to the reasonable conclusion that they'd rather ''not'' repeat the lesson learned from [[KillItWithFire Harrenhal]], thanks. After they learned of the defeat of the last Storm King (and his whole army) on the field, and upon hearing his daughter swearing DefiantToTheEnd vengeance in response, they promptly gave the walled city and keep of Stormsend up to the Targaryen army... after capturing, stripping and then wrapping their [[ItRunsInTheFamily stubbornly defiant]] "Storm Queen", Argella, in chains. They then unceremoniously dumped her at the feet of her future husband, Orys Baratheon, as part of the surrender. Although they're not lauded for these actions, they're conspicuously not condemned for them, either. Because... what ''the hell else'' are you supposed to do against a real, live [[WeaponOfMassDestruction fully-grown, castle-killing dragon]] ''known'' to be capable of melting stone (Meraxes, ridden by Rhaenys Targaryen), [[NeverBringAKnifeToAGunFight when all you have is, basically, a pike line]] on top of some suddenly very [[KnowWhenToFoldEm flimsy-feeling walls]], since most of your army buddies have already become mince or charcoal ''and'' you've got a city of civilians to defend? [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Yeah]].

* Vivenna, in ''Literature/{{Warbreaker}}'', hires a set of bodyguards to protect her. Shame they'd been using her to advance their own agenda (and that of their real employer) all along. Denth in particular was quite irritated when she got away because he lost his best weapon.
* In the Literature/JackRyan novel ''Executive Orders'', an Iranian sleeper agent inserted into the US Secret Service, years ago, is activated to assassinate Jack Ryan. Another Iranian sleeper agent at the start of the book succeeds in killing "The Moustache" (presumably Saddam Hussein, from context elsewhere in the book, but never mentioned by name), years after working his way into the Iraqi [[StateSec security service]] and working up through the ranks.

* In Creator/WenSpencer's ''[[Literature/{{Tinker}} The Wolf Who Rules]]'', the climactic confrontation is ended when Wolf persuades not his opponent but his opponent's bodyguard, who kill him on the grounds he's advocating wrong-doing. This is their job, and it is fully accepted that they have the authority to do so.
* ''Mindstar Rising'' by Creator/PeterFHamilton. TheMole working for the BigBad turns out to be one of Julia Evans' own bodyguards. [[FailedASpotCheck They belatedly realise]] he's been off sick on the days that the psychic hired by Julia to check her security is on duty.
* In Creator/MercedesLackey's ''[[Literature/HeraldsofValdemar Oathbreakers]]'' Tarma pulls this in order to avenge Captain Idra, who was raped and killed by her brother, the king of Rethwellan.
** The series also provides a widespread invoked example of this with the Haighlei. Each of the kings of the various Haighlei kingdoms has the sons of the other kings as their personal bodyguards to make it very difficult to declare war on each other, as doing so would be asking for at least one bodyguard to betray them.
* In a non-fatal example, Kimo of ''Spy Hunt'' betrays his 11-year-old charges, leading to their kidnapping.
* In Jacqueline Carey's ''Literature/TheSundering'', Tanaris was the king's bodyguard, but when he discovered that the king had fathered a child with his new wife Tanaris killed both his wife and the king in a fit of rage. It comes up a lot.
* In the {{Backstory}} of Andy Hoare's ''Literature/WhiteScars'' novel ''Hunt for Voldorius'', how the governor died.
* Creator/NormanSpinrad's ''Agent of Chaos'' starts with an assassination attempt on the Coordinator. The initial phase of the attempt involves ten guys blasting with lasers to draw the attention of the bodyguards -- so they won't notice in time to stop one of their own turning and shooting the Coordinator.
* Creator/TimothyZahn's ''[[Literature/{{Blackcollar}} The Backlash Mission]]'' has bodyguards subjected to [[{{Brainwashed}} "loyalty conditioning"]]. One guard in particular knows '''very''' well how much reason he has to want a certain official dead, but loyalty conditioning means he'd give his life to defend the man. And then he gets dosed with a drug that neutralizes the conditioning...
* In Creator/OlegDivov's ''Brothers in Reason'', a wealthy European businessman is kidnapped by an unknown organization in order to investigate his ties to a powerful Russian psychic agency. His loyal bodyguard lets it happen, as the kidnappers have taken his daughter.

* Referenced in ''Literature/AnansiBoys'': the former leader of the Caribbean island several of the characters end up visiting is noted to have died "of falling out of bed repeatedly", despite his bodyguards being in the room and "assisting" him.
* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/TheGeneralFoundation": A subplot that occurs during the [[DistantSequel gap between]] the previous story, "Literature/TheMerchantPrinces", and this story. Ducem Barr had managed to rise high enough in military rank to be part of the guard for the Governor-General who had unfairly punished his home planet of Siwenna. He killed the General in retribution for the atrocities committed on his family and planet.
* Numerous opportunities for this in ''Literature/TalesOfTheBranionRealm'', since there are three different types of royal guard plus informal security. Does not necessarily have to do with assassination; at one point fifty Palace Guards ''desert'' to join their RebelPrince.

* Inverted in the Literature/CiaphasCain ('''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM''') novel ''Death or Glory'': Cain and Jurgen accidentally stumble upon Korbul, the warboss leading the invasion of Perlia, along with his nob bodyguards. However, the nobs don't attack, as to do so would imply the warboss is too weak to do the job himself, and therefore a challenge to his authority (which to orks would count as Bodyguard Betrayal). For the same reason, Jurgen stays out of the fight, as this would give the nobs a reason to attack him. Once Korbul goes down, the nobs start arguing over who's in charge.

* Happens to the Lady Door in Neil Gaiman's book ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}''. She hires Hunter, the very best fighter in the Underside, to be her bodyguard. Unfortunately, the two villains she's in most danger from hired Hunter ''first'', with instructions to protect Door from all threats except them.
* Averted in Creator/SergeyLukyanenko's ''[[Literature/LineOfDelirium Emperors of Illusions]]''. As Emperor Grey is sneaking out of his palace in order to [[spoiler:leave this universe for one tailored for him]], he asks a young bodyguard who earlier saved his sanity where he's from. The guard tells him, and the Emperor realizes that the guy is from a rebellious world that was sacked on his secret order. In fact, the guy only survived because [[spoiler:Kay refused to shoot him]]. The Emperor outright asks why the guard didn't kill him. After all, why else would he strive to become his bodyguard? The guard replies that that was his original plan, even though he knows that the [[DeathIsCheap death wouldn't stick]]. However, after getting close to Grey and finding out that he isn't happy at all, he lost his hate and decided that maybe leaving the Emperor alive wasn't a mercy after all.

* Philip II of Macedon's dream of conquering Persia died when he was killed by one of his bodyguards. The reason for the assassination is unknown. The task of conquering Persia would eventually be carried out by Philip's son, [[UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat Alexander]]. Interestingly, an ancient ConspiracyTheory puts it that this assassination was on behalf of Alexander--either on his orders or (perhaps more likely, given his youth and personality) those of his mother Olympias.

** By the time of the Severan Dynasty, the Praetorians had long diverged from their original purpose as being a check on the Emperor's power and began abusing their own, often assassinating emperors that refused to pay them bribes or attempted to reform them and then forcibly installing puppet emperors in their place. One of their biggest offenses was assassinating Pertinax (who was one of the emperors who tried to reform the Praetorians and in their eyes wasn't paying a large enough bribe to them) and found his replacement by ''literally holding the position of Emperor up for auction to [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney the highest bidder]]''. The Praetorians were also infamous for being responsible for the death of Aurelian, one of Rome's most competent emperors since Trajan whose reforms the Praetorians feared would cut back their own power.

* In the ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'' episode "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS9E16SixHours 6 Hours]]", a traitorous bodyguard kidnaps the wealthy girl he was protecting because he wanted to have her father pay a ransom or else he will kill her [[RaceAgainstTheClock within]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin that timeframe]], even sinking so low as to [[MurderDotCom broadcast the murder over the internet]]. [[spoiler:Luckily, Walker finds them JustInTime and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard creams the traitor with his own]] [[BulletproofHumanShield murder weapon]]]].

** The importance of the Guard's support was best shown in the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Year of Four Emperors]]. First the Guard opened the succession crisis by killing emperor UsefulNotes/{{Nero}} when he had screwed up enough. Then they disposed of his Senate-elected successor Galba when he refused to pay them the accession donative promised on his behalf by his associates. The Guard fought ferociously for Galba's successor Otho (one of Galba's associates who made the promise and got the job for keeping it), but Otho killed himself when part of his army deserted to the usurper Vitellius' side and were fired. Finally, the fired Guards were instrumental in Vitellius' downfall when they joined the troops of Vespasian, filling his ranks (depleted by leaving part of the army to quell a Jewish rebellion) with the [[EliteMook best troops in the empire]].

[[caption-width-right:350:''Death of Caligula'', Etching by G.Mochetti after drawing by Bartolomeo Pinelli]]

!!'''As this can possibly become a DeathTrope, all Spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.'''

** As noted above, the culture of Westeros generally takes a very dim view of this kind of thing, regardless of which side is left writing or singing the histories. There is, however, one other notable exception living solidly in ConflictingLoyalty territory. When the last two members of House Durrandon both decided to defy the Targaryens, their remaining guards (both city and personal) came to the reasonable conclusion that they'd rather ''not'' repeat the lesson learned from [[KillItWithFire Harrenhal]], thanks. After they learned of the defeat last Storm King (and his whole army) on the field, and upon hearing his daughter swearing DefiantToTheEnd vengeance in response, they promptly gave the walled city and keep of Stormsend up to the Targaryen army... after capturing, stripping and then wrapping their [[ItRunsInTheFamily stubbornly defiant]] "Storm Queen", Argella, in chains. They then unceremoniously dumped her at the feet of her future husband, Orys Baratheon, as part of the surrender. Although they're not lauded for these actions, they're conspicuously not condemned for them, either. Because... what ''the hell else'' are you supposed to do against a real, live [[WeaponOfMassDestruction fully-grown, castle-killing dragon]] ''known'' to be capable of melting stone (Meraxes, ridden by Rhaenys Targaryen), [[NeverBringAKnifeToAGunFight when all you have is, basically, a pike line]] on top of some suddenly very [[KnowWhenToFoldEm flimsy-feeling walls]], since most of your army buddies have already become mince or charcoal ''and'' you've got a city of civilians to defend? [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Yeah]].

In RealLife, rulers have tried setting up a PraetorianGuard--an elite bodyguard unit directly reporting to the leader--to reduce this risk. Unfortunately, as nine Roman emperors found out, the Praetorian Guard may get a "better offer" from the rival to the throne. Leaders who create a CultOfPersonality and then recruit only [[UndyingLoyalty rabidly loyal]] followers who worship them as bodyguards may be more likely to avoid this trope.

In RealLife, rulers have tried setting up a PraetorianGuard--an elite bodyguard unit directly reporting to the leader--to reduce this risk. Unfortunately, as nine Roman emperors found out, the Praetorian Guard may get a "better offer" from the rival to the throne. Leaders who create a CultOfPersonality and then recruit only rabidly loyal followers who worship them as bodyguards may be more likely to avoid this trope.

In RealLife, rulers have tried setting up a PraetorianGuard--an elite bodyguard unit directly reporting to the leader--to reduce this risk. Unfortunately, as nine Roman emperors found out, the Praetorian Guard may get a "better offer" from the rival to the throne. Leaders who create a CultOfPersonality and then recruit only rabidly loyal followers who worship to bodyguard them may be more likely to avoid this trope.

In RealLife, rulers have tried setting up a PraetorianGuard--an elite bodyguard unit directly reporting to the leader--to reduce this risk. Unfortunately, as nine Roman emperors found out, the Praetorian Guard may get a "better offer" from the rival to the throne. Leaders who create a CultOfPersonaliy and then recruit only rabidly loyal followers who worship to bodyguard them may be more likely to avoid this trope.

In RealLife, rulers have tried setting up a PraetorianGuard--an elite bodyguard unit directly reporting to the leader--to reduce this risk. Unfortunately, as nine Roman emperors found out, the Praetorian Guard may get a "better offer" from the rival to the throne.

In RealLife, rulers have tried setting up a PraetorianGuard--an elite bodyguard unit directly reporting to the leader--to reduce this risk. Unfortunately, as nine Roman emperors found out, the Praetorian Gua may get a "better offer" from the rival to the throne.

May be a manifestation of EvenEvilHasStandards. A CadreOfForeignBodyguards was a common way to subvert this trope in real life, since a cadre with no local attachments has fewer reason to indulge in this trope.

May be a manifestation of EvenEvilHasStandards.

* In the ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'' episode "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS9E16SixHours 6 Hours]]", a traitorous bodyguard kidnaps the wealthy girl he was protecting because he wanted to have her father pay a ransom or else he will kill her [[RaceAgainstTheClock within]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin that timeframe]], [[spoiler:even sinking so low as to [[MurderDotCom broadcast the murder over the internet]]]]. [[JustInTime Just in the nick of time]], Walker finds them [[spoiler:and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard creams the traitor with his own murder weapon]]]].

* Philip II of Macedon's dream of conquering Persia died when he was killed by one of his bodyguards. The reason for the assassination is unknown. The task of conquering Persia would eventually be carried out by Philip's son, [[UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat Alexander]].

* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'': Myne is placed under the protection of a pair of knights while High Priest Ferdinand helps the order deal with a rampaging Trombe. As Knights are nobles, one of them resents having to watch over the commoner Myne. He begins bullying Myne and ends up cutting her with a knife. Myne's mana-rich blood falls to the ground, where it ends up awakening ''another'' Trombe seed that happened to be lying dormant beneath their feet.

PlayingWith/BodyguardBetrayal

* In the ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'' episode "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS9E16SixHours 6 Hours]]", a traitorous bodyguard kidnaps the wealthy girl he was protecting because he wanted to have her father pay a ransom or else he will kill her [[RaceAgainstTheClock within]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin that timeframe]], [[spoiler:even sinking so low as to broadcast the murder over the internet]]. [[JustInTime Just in the nick of time]], Walker finds them [[spoiler:and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard creams the traitor with his own murder weapon]]]].

* In the ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'' episode "[[RaceAgainstTheClock 6 Hours]]", a traitorous bodyguard kidnaps the wealthy girl he was protecting because he wanted to have her father pay a ransom or else he will kill her, [[spoiler:even sinking so low as to broadcast the murder over the internet]], and the Rangers had [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin within that timeframe]] to stop him. [[JustInTime Just in the nick of time]], Walker finds them [[spoiler:and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard creams the traitor with his own murder weapon]]]].

* In the ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'' episode "[[RaceAgainstTheClock 6 Hours]]", a traitorous bodyguard kidnaps the wealthy girl he was protecting because he wanted to have her father pay a ransom or else he will kill her, [[spoiler:even sinking so low as to broadcast the murder over the internet]], and the Rangers had [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin within that timeframe]] to stop him. Just in the nick of time, Walker finds them [[spoiler:and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard creams the traitor with his own murder weapon]]]].