History Main / DragonWithAnAgenda

* [[Characters/GravityFallsBillCipher Bill Cipher]] of ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' was summoned by Lil' Gideon to attack Stan, but this exchange suggests that he's less a MonsterOfTheWeek and more his own agent:

* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': Ysengrin wants to KillAllHumans, and his boss Coyote apparently doesn't. It's [[WildMassGuessing possible]] that Ysengrin is trying to pull strings behind Coyote's back, and that Y killed Red and Blue because [[HeKnowsTooMuch they saw too much.]]
* Wanda from ''{{Webcomic/Erfworld}}'' seemingly serves Stanley the Tool willingly, but it turns out she convinced him to attack her kingdom of Faq because she expected him to get slaughtered, and when he emerged victorious, she only joined him in his quest for the legendary Arkentools because she was hoping she'd get to wield one herself. [[spoiler:She does.]]
** When asked [[spoiler:why she's still with him after that,]] her answer is somewhere between BecauseDestinySaysSo and YouCantFightFate.

* Ian and Anita in ''Webcomic/ErrantStory'' fit this trope pretty well, with the added little twist that it isn't clear which one is the BigBad and which one is TheDragon.
* ''{{Webcomic/Homestuck}}'''s [[spoiler:[[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Condesce]] works for [[BigBad Lord English,]] but also seems to be looking to backstab him...[[HiddenAgendaVillain somehow.]]]]

* In the Website/ChannelAwesome world, The Other Guy is the real puppet-master behind the site. The one who everyone thinks is the ineffectual BadBoss, WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic, is just like that because he's desperate for attention and praise.
* Linksano and Mecha-Kara are ultimately this during the Lord Vyce arc of WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall. In fact, [[spoiler:Linksano defects to the side of the good guys to take Vyce down, while Mecha-Kara was a former BigBad who only went along to take out Linkara.]]
** Mechakara is also this in ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' acting as TheMole for Turrell and Zodd. He cares nothing about their plans and is only helping because Turrell promised that he would reveal to him the secrets of Malachite's Hand. [[spoiler:When he finds out that Turrell knows as much about it as he does, he goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge on a terrified Turrell and Zodd.]]

* The Fright Knight in ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' subtly expresses his absolute distaste working for Pariah Dark and it hints he wants to go a different route. It ultimately proves true when he works against Pariah during the final battle. It's hinted he went to serve Vlad, but the original writer left the show before [[WhatCouldHaveBeen possible stories]] of this could have been told in Season Three.
* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}},'' [[TheFairFolk the Weird Sisters]] serve this role for the Archmage -- he wants revenge on Goliath, while they want revenge on the Magus and the rest of the Avalon Clan. They couldn't really get on the island themselves, however, since Oberon had forbidden it; the reason they willingly put themselves under the Archmage's service was because they knew ''he'' would order them to go there, exploiting a loophole in Avalon's laws.
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
%% ** In ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'', [[spoiler:Snively]] in the final minutes of the series finale was revealed to be this.
** On ''WesternAnimation/SonicUnderground'', Sleet and Dingo once plotted to steal tax money meant for Robotnik and frame [[StickyFingers Manic]] for it.
* In the original ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'', Porcina's Raptorian minions encourage her to go to the extreme of turning Ponyland and all the Little Ponies into glass because they want to take the place for themselves.
* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Grogar is set up to be the ultimate antagonist of Season 9, recruiting [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicQueenChrysalis Queen Chrysalis]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicLordTirek Lord Tirek]], and [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicCozyGlow Cozy Glow]], and when he sends them to retrieve his bell, they find it but withhold it from him, planning to betray him and take over Equestria themselves. [[spoiler:Subverted in that Grogar turned out to be Discord trying to improve Twilight's confidence by orchestrating a fight between her and her greatest enemies, and the trio are the up front [[BigBad Big Bads]] for the entire two-part finale.]]

* In a [[BadFuture dark future]] episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'', Grim is ultimately this to dark overlord Mandy. [[spoiler:She was aware of this and set things up to capture the rebels and make Grim pay.]]
* [[Characters/GravityFallsBillCipher Bill Cipher]] of ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' was summoned by Lil' Gideon to attack Stan, but this exchange suggests that he's less a MonsterOfTheWeek and more his own agent;
-->'''Gideon''': Listen to me, demon! I have a job for you. I need you to enter the mind of Stanford Pines and steal the code to his safe!\\
'''Bill''': Haha- Wait. Stan...Pines... ''(Images of Stan and Stan's tattoo flash by on his face)'' You know what, kid? You've convinced me. I'm sold! I'll help you with this and in return you can help me with something I've been working on. We'll work out the details later.
** As of Season 2 he's officially the BigBad of the series.
* [[Characters/StarVsTheForcesOfEvilToffee Toffee]] from ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil''. Originally hired by Ludo to help manage his incompetent monsters, it's clear Toffee has some ulterior motives. Sure enough, he soon [[spoiler:manipulates Ludo into firing Buff Frog and then convinces the monsters to throw Ludo out of his own castle, effectively taking control of his army.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/LegendQuest'', Literature/BabaYaga is the Dragon to Quetzacoatl, but only because he's enslaved her. While he intends to bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, she has a plan to instead remake the world so witches are in power. [[spoiler: Too bad that's all part of his BatmanGambit]].

* Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium:

* ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'' of ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' has this as the relationship between Grand Admiral Thrawn himself and Jedi Master Joruus C'baoth. C'baoth took Thrawn's orders with more and more reluctance as time went on, and he wanted very different things. Towards the end, they weren't really on the same side anymore. [[spoiler:Thrawn was fully aware of this, and at the time of his death was planning to solve the problem by [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness eliminating C'baoth]] and [[SendInTheClones making a replacement C'baoth]]. His own death, nearly simultaneous to C'baoth's, derailed his plan.]]
* In ''Literature/BehindBlueEyes'' by Anna Mocikat: Metatron is technically just the chief enforcer of the Olympias Corporation but it's clear he wants to actually rule it even to the Board. They'd love to reign him in but he's very good at contriving reasons why that's a bad idea. Nephilim becomes ''his'' DragonWithAnAgenda when he promotes her to Archangel status [[spoiler: until he brainwashes her rebellious tendencies out of her.]]
* In ''Literature/CodexAlera'', [[LadyMacbeth Lady Invidia Aquitaine]] serves as her husband Lord Aquitaine's Dragon so that she can get her hans on the Realm's reins of power (and married him primarily for this purpose), while he [[spoiler:wants to topple a First Lord he sees as corrupt, but has no real desire to hold power himself]]. After breaking with him, Lady Aquitaine winds up in a similar relationship with [[spoiler:the Vord Queen]], serving [[spoiler:her]] only because [[spoiler:she is able to keep Invidia alive despite her crippling injuries]].
* In Creator/TadWilliams' ''Literature/{{Otherland}}'', John Dread is this to CorruptCorporateExecutive Felix Jongleur. Jongleur's EvilPlan is focused on [[ImmortalitySeeker living forever]], and he's trained the AxCrazy SerialKiller Dread as a PsychoForHire to go after his physical opponents. Dread is far, far more ambitions than Jongleur realizes, however, and is simply biding his time, waiting for a moment of weakness to take over. And he does indeed, deposing Jongleur as master of Otherland and embarking on a godlike orgy of [[SugarApocalypse virtual destruction]].
* On the good guy side, in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' we get Vimes playing this role to Vetinari, maybe. Most of the time Vimes appears to be just a good little dragon, but he does sometimes have a different agenda, or at least a different motivation. Depending on how you look at it; technically, they both want what's best for Ankh-Morpork, but they ''do'' often differ on what exactly that means.
** Vetinari frequently "solves" problems he's not allowed to solve himself by pointing Vimes at them and giving him a Clue. Carrot would make a straighter example of a Dragon, though usually he's serving by proxy as he technically answers to Commander Vimes, not the Patrician.
** Lord Hong from ''Literature/InterestingTimes'' is this to the emperor, and only just fails being TheStarscream by way of not really being bothered about having his old boss's land.
* In Creator/DavidEddings' ''Literature/TheMalloreon'', the [[DemonLordsAndArchDevils Demon Lords Mordja and Nahaz]] work for [[BigBad Zandramas]] and [[AGodAmI Urvon]] solely so that they can seize the [[ArtifactOfDoom Sardion]] from them in their moment of triumph and then drag them into hell. Urvon's other Dragon, [[EvilSorceror Harakan]] / [[DarkMessiah Mengha]], is also a DragonWithAnAgenda; he conspires with Nahaz to drive Urvon mad and take his place, so that the two of them can rule the world. Since Nahaz is out to betray ''both'' of them, and both of them believe that their magic is enough to keep him under control, he succeeds in being DragonWithAnAgenda ''and'' DragonInChief to two separate characters.
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian story "Literature/ThePhoenixOnTheSword", Ascalante. He was summoned to help the conspirators, and in his first appearance, comments on how his tools think he is their tool.
* Drake from ''Literature/{{Gone}}''. A psychopath, he serves as BigBad [[TheSociopath Caine's]] top enforcer, but it's apparent from his interior monologues that he's just helping Caine in hopes that Caine and Sam will kill each other. Although he probably would've turned on Caine as soon as they no longer had mutual goals, [[spoiler:Caine tried to kill him after Drake gave Diana near-fatal injuries, which caused Drake to switch over to The Gaiaphage.]]
* Interestingly, in ''Literature/TheGoodTheBadAndTheMediochre'', Sapphire's [[TheDragon Dragon]] [[SmugSnake Mr Antler]] ''doesn't'' have any ulterior motives that [[BigBad Sapphire]] doesn't know about. However, TheBrute [[BarbarianHero Maelstrom]] secretly intends to [[FantasticRacism murder the dragon]] (of the winged, scaly sort) which the Sapphire Smuggling Syndicate are keeping alive as a back-up plan, while TheEvilGenius "[[MagnificentBastard the tempomancer]]" is a HiddenAgendaVillain and member of a NebulousEvilOrganisation who are using Sapphire's plans to further their own.
* In ''Literature/TheReckonersTrilogy'', Obliteration is this to Regalia. Strangely, she knows very well that he is an OmnicidalManiac planning to kill her and everyone else eventually, but is using him in the meantime anyway.
* In ''Literature/TheBalancedSword'', the demon king Kerlamion takes a shot at world domination using a strategy devised by one of his underlings. Said underling has his own objective, and once he's got what he wants from Kerlamion he cheerfully goes his own way and lets Kerlamion's world domination attempt crash and burn.
* ''Literature/{{Smoke}}'': Barney Bueler is hired to capture Freddy for the tobacco company who accidentally turned him invisible (and want to find him to study the process and/or use him as a corporate spy) but is far more interested in forcing Freddy to be an invisible Assassin for himself (killing Buelers enemies and being rented out to organized crime) and gathers blackmail material against his employers.
* In ''Literature/MarvelsSpiderManHostileTakeover'', Fisk hired Blood Spider to sully Spider-Man's reputation. Bingham wants to take it a step further and usurp Spider-Man and his legacy all together. The would eventually lead to Fisk taking over by holding the last remaining flash-drive of his illicit activities with Oscorp hostage.
* In the third ''{{Literature/Nevermoor}}'' book, it's revealed that [[spoiler:Ezra Squall, the series' primary villain, works for President Wintersea, who might be even worse than he is and is certainly more of a threat to the population at large--he's an extremely powerful Wundersmith, but she has control of an entire nation, and political and personal power so great that even Squall falls in line. He works for her not because he likes her (he doesn't) or because he feels loyal to her cause (he has no loyalty to ''anything'' except himself), but because he's [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatic]] enough to realize that, after being banished from the Free State, cozying up to her is the best way he can remain safe in the Republic. His primary goal is ''always'' to find a way to return to and conquer Nevermoor; anything he does for her is just so he can maintain his position and stay on her good side. The first time her goals directly interfere with his own, he immediately goes behind her back to find a way to undermine her]].

* Occasionally in the ''Literature/JackRyan'' universe.
** Felix Cortez in ''Literature/ClearAndPresentDanger'', Badaryn in ''Literature/ExecutiveOrders'', and Dmitri Popov in ''Literature/RainbowSix'' are all freelance professionals who are hired by the [[BigBad Big Bads]] (the [[TheCartel Medellin Cartel]], the [[MiddleEasternCoalition United Islamic Republic]], and John Brightling's pharmaceutical MegaCorp, respectively) as intelligence and special operations specialists. Originally, the "agenda" part of their behavior is extremely mild, consisting mainly of bilking their employers by skimming off the top of the money allocated for intelligence operations. However, Cortez graduates to full-blown [[TheStarscream Starscream]] when an American operation against the Cartel offers him a chance to overthrow its leaders and take their place. Popov on the other hand makes a HeelFaceTurn when he realizes that his CEO boss is running an environmentalist conspiracy whose purpose is to [[OmnicidalManiac wipe out almost all human life on Earth]], making this an odd case of "dragon whose boss never bothered to tell him what the agenda ''was'' and ensure they were on the same page."
** This is the backstory of Kevin O'Donnell, leader of the Ulster Liberation Army, in ''Literature/PatriotGames''. He was once the chief of security for the [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles Provisional Wing of the IRA]], and used this position to eliminate members of the organization whose politics didn't agree with his, ultimately in the hopes of remaking it into something more in line with his own ideology (Maoist revolutionary rather than the Provos' less radical brand of nationalism). The PIRA eventually catch on, forcing O'Donnell to flee and [[RenegadeSplinterFaction set up his own organization.]]

* ''Series/TheSopranos'': In season 1, Tony allowed his Uncle Junior to become the official Boss of the family since he would become the FBI's main target instead of Tony, who could still exercise power through the other capos, who recognized him as de facto leader. Eventually, it resulted in a minor MobWar when Junior realized that his nephew had fleeced him, one which Tony won.

* ''Series/{{Salem}}'': The inner dynamics of the coven are quite a complex matter. Mary seems to be their quasi-leader, but everyone from the elders to Tituba and Hale are beginning to doubt her effectiveness after John Alden returns to Salem. And Mary herself, their [[TheDragon Dragon]], has her own ideas about how things should be run.

* ''VideoGame/{{Blazblue}}'': All of [[spoiler: Izanami's]] direct subordinates have the same goal as their boss but have their own reasons for working for her, none of which seem to coincide with her own goals of "creating a world of death". Terumi wants ToCreateAPlaygroundForEvil because he [[ForTheEvulz finds misery interesting]]. Hazama, [[spoiler: now separated from Terumi, are different and still unknown.]] Relius wants to be [[GodhoodSeeker the god of a perfect world]] to satiate [[ForScience his scientific curiosity]]. And Phantom/[[spoiler: Nine]] wants revenge against the first two for using her for their plans in the first place.
* [[spoiler:Cabadath, the Tall Man]] from the ''VideoGame/ChzoMythos''. The central conflict of the series, in fact, is him resisting [[spoiler:replacement by [[BigBad Chzo]]. He fails in the last game, and the PlayerCharacter Theo becomes TheDragon.]]
* Colonel Autumn from ''{{Videogame/Fallout 3}}'' counts, as both he and the President have different aims for Project Purity. He wants to use it as leverage to [[spoiler:control]] all the free humans in the Capitol Wastelands, and President Eden wants to use it to [[spoiler:exterminate]] everything in the Capitol Wastelands. It's also why [[DragonTheirFeet he takes the opportunity to split as soon as the Lone Wanderer hits the Enclave base.]]
* Kefka from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' kills the emperor at the end of the DiscOneFinalDungeon and spends the next year [[OmnicidalManiac killing whatever he pleases.]] He fits for this trope, [[ForTheEvulz assuming he had an agenda in the first place]].
** He did outright state his intentions of reviving the Warring Triad when spied upon in the Magitek Factory, but it's questionable whether his method was planned or at a whim.
* All of Chaos' Warriors in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' have priorities other than serving him. Some of them, like Exdeath and the Cloud of Darkness, are just {{Omnicidal Maniac}}s. Others, like Sephiroth and Kuja, are more interested in going back to their own worlds, regaining their memories, and screwing with the Warriors of Cosmos. And then there's Golbez, whose role in the story [[AntiVillain can hardly be called antagonistic]].

* The Ancient Minister and Ganondorf, as well as possibly Bowser, ''all'' take this role in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'''s Subspace Emissary.
* [[TheBrute Astaroth]] in the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'', [[AllThereInTheManual according to the backstory]].
* Samir Duran could be considered a Dragon With An Agenda compared to the BigBad Infested Kerrigan in ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' when we [[spoiler:discover some of his agenda in ''Dark Origin'']]. He could also be viewed as an EnigmaticMinion [[spoiler:and TheMole (against two different factions!)]]
* [[spoiler:Cyril]] in ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheSecondStory'', who was supposed to be the leader of their organization, and seeks to reclaim the position over actually following the group's goals.
* In ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'', it is revealed that Darth Vader has been Palpatine's Dragon with an Agenda much earlier than the "I am Your Father" Scene in Episode V mentioned under Film. Vader tries pulling off a similar speech to the young Starkiller, but proves unable to sway him.
** In the "Dark Side" DLC available for some versions of the game, Starkiller actually becomes a Dragon with an Agenda appealing to Luke Skywalker.
* In ''VideoGame/SuikodenIII'', you eventually learn [[spoiler:[[TheChessmaster Albert Silverberg]] orchestrated everything just to prove his skill as a strategist. He then casually derails it and walks away, likely leaving many players [[KarmaHoudini aching for a chance to settle the score]]. Or at least wipe that not-quite-smile off his face]].
* In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'' (as well as some non-OG games, to an extent), Shu Shirakawa acts as this to Bian Zoldark. Bian is well aware that Shu is both more powerful and more interested in pursuing his own goals, and he actually ''requests'' for Shu to [[DragonTheirFeet merely observe during his final battle]].

* Recurring villain Wild Dog in the ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis'' series. In the first two games he seems to be very loyal and close to the retrospective {{Big Bad}}'s, but after they both die and he loses his arm in his first fight with a VSSE agent back in the first game {Then getting it replaced with a robotic arm}, he shows up in the later games not caring about the plans of the {{Big Bad}}'s of the 3rd and 4th games: He just wants to cause as much trouble for the VSSE for as he can, regardless of what his current boss wants to do.
* It is revealed midway through ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' that Cesare, Rodrigo Borgia's [[TheDragon Dragon]] (and son) has a very different idea of how the Templars should conquer all of Italy, and eventually Europe. Cesare plans to conquer it openly with military might, while Rodrigo would rather work behind the scenes as, while he wants Templar world domination, he doesn't want to be ''seen'' doing it.
* In ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic VII'', Kastore initially serves as an advisor to King Archibald of Deyja (along with the three other Terrans that followed his lead, but Kastore is the dominant one). Once you've made your choice between Light and Dark, however, it becomes increasingly clear that Kastore is building a power-base of his own (apparently going for a more traditional military-focused necromantic regime, but it turns out it is [[LostTechnology a bit more complex than that]]), culminating in Archibald evacuating his closest followers to a laboratory off the coast of [=AvLee=] and Kastore assuming the throne of Deyja.
* The BlackKnight in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' aided TheChessmaster in [[spoiler:unleashing Ashera and her judgement]] and fought on their side in the game's climax, but didn't seem to have much interest in which side won in the end. His only personal goal was to [[spoiler:surpass his teacher, Greil, as a swordsman. After Greil was killed, he figured his son Ike would make a suitable substitute, and siding with Ashera gave him the chance to face Ike in combat.]] This goal also existed when he was serving Ashnard in ''Path of Radiance'', but the player didn't know about it then.
* [[spoiler:Konishi]] from ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou''. It's hinted at, but eventually [[spoiler:she outright betrays the Conductor by making a deal with Minamimoto, wanting to be the new Conductor when he becomes Composer.]]
* Alex from ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' fits this trope very well.
* [[spoiler:Yuga]] in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'' appears to be the BigBad of the game, until it's revealed that he was actually the Dragon to [[spoiler:Hilda]]. However, he turns out to be this when he makes it clear that [[spoiler:he doesn't care about Lorule or Hyrule, and only wishes to attain the Triforce to remake Lorule in his own image]].
* [[TheDragon Craft]] in ''VideoGame/MegaManZero4'' is one of these and makes this apparent [[NearVillainVictory when his boss]] [[BigBad Dr. Weil]] [[NearVillainVictory is about to destroy Area Zero and the Resistance with it]]. Craft fires the KillSat that Dr. Weil was planning to use on Area Zero at Neo Arcadia, destroying the city. Unfortunately, Weil survives this. Interestingly, Craft betrays Weil to protect Neige.
* ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'': Sindri Myr to Lord Bale. The Chaos army is under the nominal control of Lord Bale, but Sindri is pulling the strings, arranging as much carnage and betrayal as he can to find the Maledictum and use it to attain daemonhood. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2ujVI5CPjk Ever since, it has become traditional in 40K to bellow the name of your Dragon With An Agenda when he betrays you.]]

* ''VideoGame/TrailsSeries''

* In ''{{VideoGame/Bayonetta 2}}'', [[spoiler:Loptr pulled Father Balder (the BigBad from the [[{{VideoGame/Bayonetta}} first game]]) [[TimeTravel through time]] to serve him. Loptr wants to claim the 'Eyes of the World' for his own and Loki, the good half of his soul, stands in his way. Balder, meanwhile, only wants to kill Loki because he thinks Loki killed his wife, Rosa (it was actually Loptr from 500 years ago), and has no interest in any of Loptr's goals otherwise.]]

* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline'', Mannimarco is an EvilAllAlong agent of BigBad Molag Bal. However, Mannimarco plans to [[TheStarscream usurp Bal's godhood]] if all goes to plan...
* ''VideoGame/ForeverHome'' has General Kail, the second-in-command to the BigBad General Barclyss in Tren's Judgment military faction. Barclyss wishes to use his military power to wipe out all life on the planet ([[DeathSeeker including himself]]) and while Kail outwardly supports his ideology, he secretly plans on being the SoleSurvivor so he can have the planet all to himself. It's unknown if Barclyss is aware of his subordinate's agenda or if he cares.
* In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', [[spoiler:Akechi]] genuinely is trying to help the BigBad [[spoiler:become Prime Minister of Japan]], but this is actually only the first step in their revenge plot against them, with the ultimate goal of destroying them entirely. [[spoiler:Sadly, if he had been honest with the Phantom Thieves about wanting this from the beginning, they likely would have been happy to help, but because he was too distrustful and too unwilling to cut his losses, he only managed a DeathEqualsRedemption ending.]]
* Aaron Keener in ''VideoGame/TheDivision'', had sided with Colonel Bliss and the [=LMB=], when the situation had spiraled out of control in New York. However, at the end of the game, when it became clear that the [=LMB=] was finished, Keener cut his losses, and made off with Vitaly and Gorden Amherst’s research and equipment to make new viruses to seize power.
* ''VideoGame/AceCombat7SkiesUnknown''
** Dr. Schroeder was working with Erusea to collect data from Mihaly to improve the drone army when they started taking heavy casualties. [[spoiler:However, he had no interest in restoring Erusea to its former glory, and was only looking to avenge his homeland of Belka.]]
** [[spoiler:It is revealed three quarters of the way through the game, that Princess Rosa Cossette d’Elise was manipulated by young Erusean officers called the Radicals. While Cossette just wanted to protect her people from she saw as encroaching Osean imperialism, with the construction of [[SpaceElevator the Lighthouse]], the Radicals had hoped to use their drone army to restore Erusea to its former glory. When Farbanti had fallen to Osean control, the Radicals tried to have Cossette killed as they [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness no longer had any use]] for her.]]
* [[spoiler:Constable Neyla]] in ''VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves'' is this to [[BigBad Arpeggio]], intending to betray him at the 11th hour and take over his plans for her own ambitions. [[spoiler:She succeeds, kills Arpeggio [[TheUnfought before you get to even fight him]], and fuses with Clockwerk to become "Clock-La"]].
* In ''VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime'', the only goal [[TheSociopath Penelope]] shares in common with [[BigBad Cyril Le Paradox]] is to erase the Cooper family from the timeline, and even then, her motivation is mainly out of [[TheResenter spite]] towards the member of her generation. And while Le Paradox has the goal of altering time to make him appear to be of French royalty because of his huge ego, Penelope intends to build weapons of mass destruction, sell them to terrorists to make billions of dollars, and turn the UsefulNotes/WarOnTerror into WorldWarIII so she could TakeOverTheWorld in the resulting chaos. [[spoiler:Penelope escapes, and is likely to be the new BigBad of the series]].
** The other members Le Paradox recurred also joined of their own selfish ambition: El Jefe joined to profit from cigar smuggling in 17th century Japan, Toothpick wanted to live the life of a western sheriff, The Grizz tried to forge Ice Age artworks so that he can "discover" them in the 21st century, and Miss Decibel is a DreadfulMusician who has a crush on Le Paradox, and desires to prove her usefulness to him [[spoiler:and fails]].
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'': Aamon pretends to be Psaro the Manslayer's loyal right-hand man, but in reality Aamon was plotting against Psaro all along: he manipulates several human crooks into murdering Psaro's lover, and her death drives Psaro into transforming into a mindless, genocidal monster, whereupon Aamon claims Psaro's position as "Master of Monsters".
* In ''VideoGame/LibraryOfRuina'', this happens on the players' side due to being {{Villain Protagonist}}s. Specifically, [[spoiler:All that time spent working with Angela was all so Roland could try to make Angela suffer by killing her as soon as she got what she wanted- as revenge for causing Distortions, including the Pianist which killed his wife and unborn child. He succeeds in one of the bad endings.]]
* An interesting case occurs with Arthur towards Dutch in ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemptionII''. Arthur continues to remain loyal to Dutch, even if he is aware of Dutch's SanitySlippage and doesn't always agree with his plans - his honor level determines whether he is keeping up appearances or if it is genuine. Regardless, Arthur starts doing things behind Dutch's back, such as throwing [[spoiler: Straus]] out of the gang, permits [[spoiler: Swanson and Trelawny to leave]], attempts to de-escalate the Wapiti-US Army feud and actively plots to [[spoiler: help John and his family escape with money to leave the outlaw life]]. Majority of Arthur's actions against Dutch is to protect the gang from both the law and from Dutch himself.
* ''VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}}'': Alice is this to her "sister", the Alpha Prototype. The two of them are the secret puppet masters of PACT and have instigated a devastating galactic war. But whereas Alpha is a WellIntentionedExtremist using the war to prepare humanity to face a worse threat down the line, Alice is a genocidal misanthrope who wants all humans to die for killing the man she loved. Alice's true intentions only come to light at the end of ''Sunrider: Liberation Day'', where she derails Alpha's plans by [[spoiler:turning the peace conference that was supposed to mark the war's end into a bloodbath]].

* The ''Series/DoctorWho''[=/=]''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' crossover fancomic ''[[RichsComixBlog Outrage]]'' reveals that Eric Raymond's toady Techrat was actually one of these.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons,'' the villain, "[[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Bowler Hat Guy]]," [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin has a bowler hat]] that's actually a sapient robot helper, [[HypercompetentSidekick Dor-15]]. While he wants to ruin Lewis' life and pass the Memory Scanner off as his own, Dor-15 [[spoiler:becomes TheStarscream and creates a BadFuture where humans are {{Mind Control}}led]].

* The ''Film/{{Twilight}}: Eclipse'' movie seems to do this to Jane, implying that she will allow the Cullens' deaths without Aro's knowledge. This makes more sense than in the book, where Aro wants Edward and Alice to join his side but nevertheless is willing to let Victoria's army kill them.
* Bennett from ''Film/{{Commando}}'' only aims to kill Matrix; little else.
* Darth Vader's infamous speech from ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' ends with him revealing his willingness to betray the Emperor for family:
-->"Luke, you can destroy [[BigBad the Emperor]]. He has foreseen this. It is your ''[[BecauseDestinySaysSo destiny.]]'' Join me, and [[WeCanRuleTogether together we can rule the galaxy as father and son!]]"
** In ''Film/TheLastJedi'', [[spoiler:Kylo Ren kills Snoke and usurps the First Order for about twenty minutes.]]
** The Sith Order's Rule of Two ''officially'' makes the apprentice a Dragon With An Agenda, that agenda being [[TheStarscream "kill your master."]] The apprentice is meant to learn as much as he can about the dark side of the Force until he's grown powerful enough to overthrow and replace his master (who, in turn, will be working to prevent this outcome). This is due to the Sith Order's extreme Darwinian ideology: if the apprentice kills his master, he's worthy to replace him. If he can't do it and is killed instead, he isn't worthy, and the master will have to find a more deserving apprentice.
* ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'':
** In both ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' and ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', ComicBook/TheJoker and Bane start out as Dragons to someone else (TheMafia for the former, a CorruptCorporateExecutive for the latter), but they're only using their nominal "bosses" for their resources and quickly [[DragonAscendant kill them and take over their operations]] once they've [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived their usefulness]].
** In ''Film/BatmanBegins'', Scarecrow provides an unusual example. He does the same thing The Joker does to the Mafia, but his agenda is just that of a different villain to whom he is a more loyal dragon.
* Richter from ''Film/TotalRecall1990'' nearly screws up his boss Cohaagen's plans several times, because Cohaagen wants Quaid alive for whatever his plans are, and Richter is constantly trying to kill him to avenge his wife Lori, whom Quaid killed (and the fact that Lori was Quaid's 'wife' for a while and was constantly in bed with him can't have helped either). He is naturally quite pleased when Cohaagen finally gives up and gives the order to take him out.

* TheFilmOfTheBook of ''Film/PatriotGames'' has Sean Miller fulfilling this role to his [[BigBad boss]] Kevin O'Donnell. After Ryan kills his brother and prevents a terrorist attack on the Royal Family, he cares less about O'Donnell and his plans and focuses more on getting revenge on Ryan and his family. [[spoiler: He also goes as far as to [[TheStarscream shoot and kill O'Donnell and Annette]] in the final battle when they force him to turn the boat around.]]
* ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'': Some of Jigsaw's numerous apprentices and accomplices (who are more or less treated equally asides from how much they're involved in Jigsaw's schemes), including the most notorious ones, have goals and ideals differing from his own.
** While Amanda did support Jigsaw's testing, the traps she made on her own were inescapable rather having a way for the victims to escape, believing that death would be more merciful and that nobody can really change.
** Hoffman never really subscribed to [[InsaneTrollLogic Jigsaw's twisted philosophy]]. A test of character he has with Simone, a furious maimed survivor, [[CaptainObvious has him further doubt it amounted to anything positive]].
** Although nowhere near as rebellious as other disciples, WordOfGod suggested that even after his FaceHeelTurn, Lawrence [[PetTheDog was going to go back and free Adam]]. Sadly, Amanda already got to him by then.
* ''Franchise/TheMatrix'': (Former) Agent Smith is under almost constant control by his Machine masters and tasked with maintaining order in the Matrix. However, even in the original film he reveals that he has ulterior motives. When he briefly [[RemovingTheEarpiece removes his earpiece]], he admits to Morpheus that he completely despises the "zoo" he considers himself trapped in, and is revolted by the stench of humanity. In the sequels, he goes on a full-scale rebellion to destroy everything.

* ''{{Film/She|1965}}'': She's second in command, Billali, hopes to be granted immortality as a reward for his service, and rebels when she decides to give it to the hero instead.
* G Money in ''Film/NewJackCity'' becomes this after Nino Brown shows constant disrespect and indifference towards him after he helped Nino become the drug kingpin of New York, and even though Nino is supposed to be his best friend. This causes him to pull a MistreatmentInducedBetrayal. [[spoiler: It doesn't work out for him.]]

* Ross in ''Film/TheTragedyOfMacbeth'' has his role expanded to become Macbeth's right-hand man after becoming king, serving as his personal assassin and enforcer. [[spoiler:In the end, it's revealed that he was also selling Macbeth out to Malcolm, and took Fleance under his personal protection instead of killing him as per Macbeth's orders, all for an unknown purpose.]]
* ''Franchise/IndianaJones'': UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler seems particularly prone to picking these.
** The main villain in ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', Rene Belloq, is a French archaeologist who trades in black market antiquities. While officially charged with recovering the Ark for the Nazis, he considers them "necessary evils" rather than genuine partners and isn't planning to turn the Ark over to them until he's discovered its secrets himself. It's not clear whether his interest is purely intellectual or something more, but since he considers the Ark a direct link to God, the sky's the limit in terms of what he could be planning.
** The main villain in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'', Walter Donovan, is an American industrialist who helps the Nazis in their search for the Holy Grail. He has different goals for it than them: while they're interested in the symbolic value of "writing themselves into the Grail legend," his interest is purely materialistic, wanting the eternal life that the cup can grant him.
* A few of the main villains in ''Franchise/JamesBond'' can be seen as this.
** Max Zorin, the main villain of ''Film/AViewToAKill'', is a KGB agent who was inserted into the West long ago until he rose to be the CEO of a wealthy Anglo-French defense contractor and microchip producer. This was supposed to be an industrial espionage conduit for the KGB, but Zorin [[BecomingTheMask is more interested in being a CEO in his own right]], culminating in a plan to wipe out his business competitors in Silicon Valley and leave his own company with a monopoly on the microchip market. When the KGB realizes something's amiss, they try to rein him in, but he refuses to obey and proclaims that he's cutting ties to them.
** ''Film/{{Spectre}}'': Franz Oberhauser [[spoiler:aka Ernst Stavro Blofeld]] plans to turn himself into this. He's the hidden hand sponsoring "Nine Eyes," a sophisticated global surveillance network that nine of the world's most powerful nations will rely on for intelligence gathering (to the point that at least one of them is literally considering using this to replace their human intelligence capacities altogether). What those nations aren't aware of is that their Nine Eyes contractor is also a worldwide crime syndicate that will use this intelligence to manipulate them and to support its own criminal activities.

%% Image removed per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1339992504057240100
%% Please start a new thread if you'd like to suggest an image.

* Archduke Gorgon from ''Anime/MazingerZ'' and ''Anime/GreatMazinger''. Theoretically, he allied himself with BigBad Dr. Hell to help him to destroy Mazinger-Z. [[ThePlan But his real goal was]] [[spoiler:watching over Hell and betraying him at the right time to get him killed (in the Gosaku Ota manga he backstabbed him) and Mazinger-Z destroyed.]] [[MagnificentBastard He succeeded on all fronts]].

* ''Manga/{{Lady}}'': Mary Waverly, twice.
** [[spoiler: First on the list is punishing Lynn for "ruining" her mother's engagement to her father, when in reality her mother was such an [[RichBitch unpleasant woman]] it drove him away.]]
** [[spoiler: Mary manipulates Lynn via promising to help her get [[BigFancyHouse Marble Mansion]] back — but only if she relinquishes her bid to the Lady's Crest that both of them want so badly.]]
* DarkMagicalGirl Lutecia from ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'' who cooperates with MadScientist Scaglietti not for his goals of world domination but [[spoiler:to reanimate her mother, Megane, who is in a coma]].
* Dabi from ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' is one of the League of Villains' most dangerous members, but he's ambivalent at best to [[BigBad Shigaraki's]] goals and is only allied with the League to advance his own agenda, that being Stain's will [[spoiler:and his personal vengeance against his father, Endeavor.]]
* Pain in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' is the most direct example.
** Kabuto, because [[spoiler:after Orochimaru was defeated by Sasuke, he ingrained some of his master's remains into his own body, and decided to help Tobi in the 4th Ninja War]].
** Pain may be this to Tobi, but Tobi himself is this to [[spoiler:Madara]]. Both Tobi and [[spoiler:Madara]] are rather annoyed with how those agendas have messed with their plans.
** It turns out that [[spoiler:Black Zetsu]] is this to [[spoiler:both Tobi and Madara]]; he's actually working for [[spoiler:Princess Kaguya]].
* Carrossea Doon from ''Anime/{{Madlax}}'' is only with Enfant to [[spoiler:find and protect female lead Margaret Burton, who's been targeted by the group]], rather than for [[NietzscheWannabe Monday's]] insane plans.

* Nico Robin in ''Manga/OnePiece'' starts out as a Dragon to Crocodile in the Alabasta arc, but is later on revealed to have her own plans. After Crocodile's defeat, she [[HeelFaceTurn joins Luffy's crew]].
* ''Anime/RobotRomanceTrilogy'':
** ''Anime/VoltesV'': Prince Heinel was born the son of a disgraced traitor, and ever since his birth, was treated with contempt by his fellow nobles. Even though he was a child, the other nobles refused to interact with him and he was barred from living in the castle, his birthright. Heinel swore he would do whatever he could to bring honour to his name, and opted to join the military. After he graduated from the Boazanian Institute of Military Sciences and Warfare as the top cadet, Emperor Zambajil tasked him with invading the Earth, which Heinel took as a great honour. He set out to the planet believing he would bring victory and honour to his name.
** ''Anime/{{Daimos}}'': Richter was ordered to invade the Earth by Olban, but he does it with glee because the humans killed his father and he wants to inflict a great punishment for them. Throw in his screwed up [[MessianicArchetype Messiah complex]] and you get one hell of a villain.
* Saten in the anime of ''Manga/{{Needless}}'', who is introduced as one of Simeon's Elite Four, yet in a few scenes he "accidentally" helped out the good guys as they infiltrated Simeon's HQ. It turns out that [[spoiler:Saten was another survivor of the Adam Project who wanted Arclight dead so he could take over, but neither he nor his bosses counted on a revived Arclight coming back and absorbing him.]]
* Seto Kaiba from ''Anime/YuGiOh'' did this to his own Kaiba Corporation when he was what, twelve?
* Invoked in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' by [[MagnificentBastard Gendo]] [[LoveMakesYouEvil Ikari]], playing The Dragon to [[BigBad Keel Lorenz]] by ensuring the destruction of the [[EldritchAbomination Angels]] to open the path to [[AssimilationPlot Insturmentality]]. Once the path is open, he will immediately take things off the rails for his own [[EternalLove reunification]] [[LoveMakesYouCrazy scenario]]. Interestingly, the leaders of both [=NERV=] and [=SEELE=] both know from the very beginning that before the end, one will betray the other once they don't need the other groups help anymore. [[spoiler:And in ''End of Evangelion'', [=SEELE=] orders a full assault, killing almost everyone at [=NERV=].]]

* From ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', [[spoiler:Sird to Giovanni]]. Turns out she was TheDragon from ''another'' villainous team; she was actually working undercover as TheMole to learn more about various Pokémon from space.
* Demon of ''Manga/DigimonVTamer01'' [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans basically wants to wreck the world as he knows it]]. His dragon, Etemonkey, just wants to get to the human world and plans to come in peace. His other dragon, Neo Saiba, has his own plan of taking Digital World from Demon and [[InTheirOwnImage recreating it in his own image]]. [[spoiler:However, Demon knows this from the start and deliberately lets Neo to usurp him, by being assimilated by Neo's Arkadimon, so that he can assimilate it back when it gains enough power and Neo loses control of it.]]
* Mercurymon in ''Anime/DigimonFrontier''. He plans to betray his master, Cherubimon, and rule the digital world himself. [[spoiler:However, he is killed before the fight with Cherubimon.]]
* In the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', Char Aznable splits his time between earnestly supporting Zeon's cause and trying to kill Zeon's ruling Zabi family. He's not TheStarscream since he isn't interested in ruling, he just wants [[RevengeByProxy revenge]] for his [[YouKilledMyFather father]].
-->'''Char''': Blame this on the misfortune of your birth.
* In ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'' Bask Om and his boss, Jamitov Hymem have very different agendas. Jamitov wants to rule the world. Bask, conversely, just wants to kill every colonial he can get his hands on. Since Bask's aims are rather less grandiose than Jamitov's, this doesn't really cause them too many problems.
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'''s Glemmy Toto starts out as a VillainOfTheWeek, eventually graduating to a position as [[BigBad Haman Khan's]] right-hand man. While the two of them share the goal of recreating the glory of Zeon, Haman intends to do it herself. Glemmy, on the other hand, seeks to reinstate the Zabi dictatorship, as [[spoiler:represented by himself]]. This eventually results in [[spoiler:Glemmy forming a RenegadeSplinterFaction and [[BigBadEnsemble challenging Haman]] for the BigBad spot]].
* Subverted in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED''. It's clear from fairly early on that [[GeneralRipper Patrick]] [[PresidentEvil Zala's]] right-hand man, Rau Le Creuset, has his own agenda, though just what it is isn't made clear. Than TheReveal comes along: he's [[spoiler:an OmnicidalManiac who seeks the [[KillAllHumans annihilation of the entire human race]], and oh, by the by, is the ''real'' BigBad of the series, with Patrick as his UnwittingPawn]].
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'': [[TheDragon Vidar]]'s only reason for working under [[NonActionBigBad Rustal Elion]] is to get revenge on [=McGillis=]. Rustal wants to stop [=McGillis=] as well, but only because [=McGillis=] is a threat to his own plans of [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans maximizing his power]] over Gjallarhorn.
* Ichiki from ''Manga/NabariNoOu'' plays TheDragon to Hattori before she [[spoiler:betrays him for Fuuma]]. It appears that she'd been planning to [[spoiler:dispose of Hattori all along, and was just waiting for him to outlive his usefulness]].

* ''Manga/FairyTail'': [[spoiler:Ultear, to Lyon and Jellal as she's taking orders from her ''actual'' boss, Master Hades, to manipulate them for Grimoire Heart's goals. Of course, then she turns out to be fully willing to betray Hades too once their mutual goal, Zeref, is in sight.]]
* In ''Manga/Brave10'', Tokugawa Ieyasu has two dragons: Hattori Hanzo and Date Masamune. Hanzo has his own plans for capturing Isanami, and couldn't care less about the upcoming Tokugawa vs Toyotomi clash, [[spoiler:[[TheStarscream after all his team would be the one ruling from the shadows]]...or so he claims.]] Masamune also completely lacks respect for Ieyasu and his intentions. He's just in it for [[BloodKnight WAR!]]
* ''Literature/Overlord2012'': Albedo's loyalty to [[VillainProtagonist Ainz]] is, like all the rest of the Nazarick [=NPCs=], [[UndyingLoyalty absolute]]. However, that doesn't stop her from doing things that she knows he wouldn't like behind his back, if she thinks it's for his greater good. Most importantly, [[spoiler: secretly assembling a strike team to hunt down and kill any other Supreme Beings in the New World, despite Ainz wanting to reunite with his old friends. She does this because she doesn't want to serve anyone other than Ainz, and out of revenge for all the other Supreme Beings abandoning Nazarick and Ainz.]]
* Smile in ''Anime/BattleSpiritsShonenToppaBashin''. [[spoiler: He doesn't support Number Nine's plan. Rather, he finds it repulsive. He just wants to face J in the King Uchuuchouten Cup to prove he makes a better partner for J than Bashin does.]]
* Vincent Leung in ''Literature/TheCaseFilesOfJewelerRichard'' is employed by Octavia for various tasks and supports her, but it's made clear toward the end of the arc that he doesn't agree with her ultimate goals and also spends a healthy amount of time trying to advance his own goals with Seigi.
* Queen Beryl in ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal'' is second in command to Queen Metalia, but secretly plans to keep the Silver Crystal for herself and take over the earth.

* ''ComicBook/XMen'': Mystique's betraying the boss in charge is almost expected at this point, such as when [[spoiler:she killed Mr. Sinister in a BatmanGambit to save Rogue's life.]]
* During ''ComicBook/DarkReign'', Norman Osborn put together a cabal of the best villains to help him hold onto power. Unfortunately, he ran into this trope: Doctor Doom was only in it to get back control of Latveria after his last... foray against the Avengers, Loki was in it for as long as it amused him (and later, as part of a plan to force Asgard to leave Midgard space), ComicBook/EmmaFrost was only there because she was desperate to save the mutants, and Namor was only there because he needed the political clout to rebuild Atlantis (and support Emma, who he wanted to get back together with). Later he adds Taskmaster to the group, who's only really there for the money, and unknown to Osborn, had previously helped Deadpool mess with Norman's plans. Osborn did realize that this was happening, and was starting a plan to build a new Cabal who ''wouldn't'' randomly try to kill him.
* ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'': A couple of Cap's villains fall under this trope.
** [[Characters/MarvelComicsRedSkull Red Skull]], his archnemesis, has long become a self-directed supervillain in his own right. However, in the original comics, he was in fact the Dragon for UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler. The Fuhrer essentially plucked him off the streets of Germany in an attempt to turn him into the perfect Nazi, eventually putting him in charge of the Reich's terrorist operations. However, he realized too late that the Red Skull had become too powerful for him to control and was using his own status to build up his own power base loyal to him rather than to Hitler. This would presumably have led to the Red Skull trying to overthrow him sooner or later, but the war ended and Hitler was killed before things had a chance to come to a head.
** Batroc The Leaper, a French Foreign Legion deserter turned underworld mercenary that Cap frequently butts heads with. An extremely mild case as Batroc generally does what his employers tell him: however, he holds no malice towards Cap and is usually portrayed as having a WorthyAdversary relationship with him, which he occasionally prioritizes over his bosses' preferences. (In at least one instance, Batroc even saved Cap's life because he judged that his upcoming death - being eaten by a pack of sharks - would have been an unworthy death for such a great soldier).
* In ''ComicBook/DeathOfTheFamily'', [[spoiler:Ogilvy, Penguin's second-in-command, has decided to take over Penguin's empire, as well as name himself Emperor Penguin]].
* Following ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueNoJustice'', Luthor carefully explained to the members of the Legion of Doom why his new obsession would also be in their interests, giving them each control of an energy type they could use for their own ends. Unfortunately, in ''Justice League/Aquaman: Drowned Earth'', Black Manta went off-message when he realised just how powerful his artefact was, and that he could achieve his own ends (domination of the oceans and revenge on Aquaman) in a way that screwed the rest of the Legion over. This was almost immediately followed by [[spoiler: the Joker revealing that he only joined because he thought it would be funny to muck the whole thing up just as Luthor was about to achieve it, until Luthor getting The Batman Who Laughs involved made him speed up the timetable on that.]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'': It would probably take less time to list the high-ranking Roman officials appearing in the series who ''aren't'' hoping (and in many cases actively plotting) to take the throne of UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar for themselves. The most frequent example, of course, is [[UsefulNotes/MarcusJuniusBrutus Brutus]]. It's usually just a RunningGag, with Brutus shown sharpening a knife or grumbling "one of these days, I'm going to..." after a putdown by Caesar. However, he turns into an actual villain in Recap/AsterixAndSon, where he turns out to be plotting to kidnap Caesar's son (still a baby at this point) in order to eliminate a potential rival.
* ''ComicBook/BlakeAndMortimer'': Colonel Olrik, the heroes' archenemy, fits this trope in most stories. A renegade intelligence officer, he now spends most of his time as an underworld mercenary that various villains hire to do intelligence work for him. He's developed a very bad case of ItsPersonal against Blake and Mortimer after all the times they've thwarted him, however, so whatever agenda his employers have hired him for is always in danger of being sidelined by his personal agenda of gaining revenge. There are a couple other cases, however:
** In the original story, ''The Secret of the Swordfish'', Olrik was working as head of StateSec for the Asian despot Basam Damdu. At one point, he offers the imprisoned Mortimer a chance to join him in plotting to overthrow his boss and free the world from his dictatorship. The plot never goes anywhere, as Mortimer is freed from his prison first, so we never find out if this was just a ploy to encourage Mortimer to work for him, or if he really was planning to turn [[TheStarscream Starscream]] on him.
** In ''The Yellow Mark'', for once, Olrik is no longer a hired contractor but an enslaved one, whom the MadScientist Jonathan Septimus turns into his personal Dragon with advanced brain control techniques. Not surprisingly, once Septimus' brain control device is destroyed, Olrik's agenda of ''not being a slave'' kicks into gear and Septimus is quickly murdered.

* ''Fanfic/PastSins'' has an interesting twist on the concept; the BigBad is an extremely ReluctantMonster forced into the role, where TheDragon expects an OmnicidalManiac.
* The ''Series/DoctorWho''[=/=]''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' crossover fancomic ''[[RichsComixBlog Outrage]]'' reveals that Eric Raymond's toady Techrat was actually one of these.
* In ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached'', the Raleka have a completely different agenda than [[spoiler:Brox and Co.]], but they have to work together to take the Vasyn pieces from the four.

* ''FanFic/NightsFavoredChild'': The Inquisitor is implied to be this to Nightmare Moon, though like [[EnigmaticMinion pretty much everything else about him]], nothing about this agenda is clear.
* ''FanFic/BurningBlack'': Crocker's only working for Remy to [[spoiler: keep his mother safe]] and after realizing that fairies are returning to Dimmsdale and there's a new Timmy in town, decides to use part of Remy's resources to create a device that will [[spoiler: resurrect Timmy Turner]] and make things the way they '''should''' be.
* ''FanFic/BloodSilkAndSteel'': Sokka is this to both Azula and Ozai.

* Shade in season three of ''Fanfic/TheFlashSentryChronicles'' was only working for Doom Raizer, because it would bring him closer to accomplishing his own goals, which was to eliminate the last of the Jackhowls, Springer.
* The AscendedFanfic ''Literature/ReadyPlayerOne'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Lacero}}'' reveals that [[spoiler:Nolan Sorrento had no intention of giving control of the OASIS to IOI. He intended to destroy it to take revenge on GSS because his sister was a Gunter who died because she took meth to stay up to be in the OASIS]].
* In ''Fanfic/PersonaTheSougawaFiles'', [[spoiler:Yuudai Honda turns out to have completely different goals than his boss Nobuyuki, which come to light after Nobuyuki's death]].
* ''Fanfic/ChasingDragons'': As is eventually revealed around the time of the Greyjoy Rebellion, [[spoiler: Euron is only playing loyal servant to Stannis in order to position himself as a replacement as Hand when Jon Arryn eventually retires, and from there set himself to become regent for Stannis' children upon eliminating him, then marrying one of his daughters when they come of age and taking the Iron Throne for himself.]]
* ''Fanfic/ADiplomaticVisit'': In the fourth story, ''The Diplomat's Life'', [[spoiler:Umbrea and later Rabia are this to Grogar, since he's the creator of the Shadow Pony Sect. When Umbrea began her scheme to escape the Shadow Prison, she had no intention of freeing Grogar, just wanting power for herself. Likewise, Rabia had plans of his own when he escaped, and he continues those plans when he's freed from Limbo.]]
* Mako is a benevolent example of this to Ryuko Kiryuin in ''Fanfic/NaturalSelection''. Ryuko is the successor to a millennium-old plan to consume humanity and destroy the Earth for the sake of her alien benefactors. Mako just wants her girlfriend to be happy, less angry and for Honnouji to go back to being a (relatively) normal school.
* ''Fanfic/CindersAndAshesTheChroniclesOfKamenRiderDante'' has Yudai Sonoda, who works with Re:Shocker out of a desire to avenge his sister Yuna... who was turned into a monster by their machinations. [[spoiler:By the time he actually ''does'' have his chance for revenge and guns for their leader, they're [[RefugeeFromTVLand in the real world]] and his leader, having been aware of the genre conventions of Kamen Rider, [[BreakThemByTalking deconstructs how his arc will go end]]]].
* Adam Taurus is this to Sienna Khan in ''FanFic/WarOfRemnantARWBYAnthology''. While he doesn't murder her like in canon, it's only because she's much more bloodthirsty than her original incarnation. He is also prone to doing things behind her back, most notably killing Ilia, who Sienna cared a great deal about, and framing it on racist humans to enrage her.

A Dragon with an Agenda is a character serving as TheDragon to the BigBad, but having different goals from him. For example, if this character [[DragonTheirFeet encounters the heroes immediately after the death or defeat of his boss]], he/she won't try to complete the Big Bad's EvilPlan, but will instead go on to pursue their own plans. Conversely, if the Big Bad actually has some admirable or honorable traits, then the Dragon in this case will be the more sadistic one, more likely to pursue actually killing the heroes rather than simply stopping them.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', Slade (formerly a BigBad himself) only serves as [[{{Satan}} Trigon's]] Dragon so [[spoiler:he can get his mortal body back]]. Interestingly, he starts out this plotline very subservient to Trigon, and gradually starts acting less as a servant and more like a partner when he gets closer to getting what he wants. [[spoiler:When it becomes apparent that Trigon has no intention of honoring their agreement, Slade [[EnemyMine teams up with the Titans]] to take him down]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Grogar is set up to be the ultimate antagonist of Season 9, recruiting Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow, and when he sends them to retrieve his bell, they find it but withhold it from him, planning to betray him and take over Equestria themselves. [[spoiler:Subverted in that Grogar turned out to be Discord trying to improve Twilight's confidence by orchestrating a fight between her and her greatest enemies, and the trio are the up front [[BigBad Big Bads]] for the entire two-part finale.]]

* [[TheDreaded Bill Cipher]] of ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' was summoned by Lil' Gideon to attack Stan, but this exchange suggests that he's less a MonsterOfTheWeek and more his own agent;

* Toffee from ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil''. Originally hired by Ludo to help manage his incompetent monsters, it's clear Toffee has some ulterior motives. Sure enough, he soon [[spoiler:manipulates Ludo into firing Buff Frog and then convinces the monsters to throw Ludo out of his own castle, effectively taking control of his army.]]

* In the Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses world, The Other Guy is the real puppet-master behind the site. The one who everyone thinks is the ineffectual BadBoss, WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic, is just like that because he's desperate for attention and praise.