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1->'''Psycho Mantis:''' I mean, you must spend every day pretending to act like you're falsely letting on that you aren't not unbetraying someone you don't not purport to allegedly not work for but really '''do'''! How do you keep all this shit straight without having an '''aneurysm'''?!\
2'''Revolver Ocelot:''' ''[shrug]'' Practice.
3-->-- ''Webcomic/TheLastDaysOfFOXHOUND'', [[http://www.doctorshrugs.com/foxhound/comic.php?id=300 "Retroactive Conspiracy, Part II"]]
4
5There's TheMole, who pretends to be on your side, but is secretly working for your enemies. Then there's the DoubleAgent, who pretends to be a mole for your enemies, but really ''is'' on your side. Then we have those who take this game of elaborate deception a step further. Or two. Or seventeen.
6
7This is the trope for people who have erected layers upon layers of deception, normally as a massive GambitRoulette to satisfy their wishes or their true employers' wishes. It's quite often that the chain of deception ends with the person the spy loves. The effect on the viewer can be [[MindScrew very disorienting]] as they try to keep up, [[IdentityBreakdown if not on the character(s) in question themselves.]]
8
9Contrast HeelFaceRevolvingDoor, which is a character cycling between being a hero and a villain, and ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, where people constantly make alliances to stab them in the back. In the case of the revolving door and the disorder, the character is genuinely changing alignments or allegiances, whereas in this trope the character never truly changes (or at least, rarely), it's just the in-universe perceptions of the character that change. Sometimes, the recursion can reach IKnowYouKnowIKnow levels.
10
11For example, take the classic UsefulNotes/ColdWar double agent, a Russian who secretly defects to the Americans and gives them info about the Russians. Take that a step further and you have a ''triple'' agent, which is a Russian who ''pretends'' to defect to the Americans and gives them false or misleading info about the Russians, in order to get the Americans to trust him so that he can spy on the ''Americans'' and give info back to the ''Russians''. Take this even further and you've got this trope: The "triple agent" is ''actually'' a spy for a fleet of invading aliens. But the CIA ''know'' about the aliens, thus make the man a mole for them. But the KGB had their suspicions about the aliens anyway, but don't have the tech themselves to infiltrate the aliens so they piggyback on the Americans. But this is all an act for his ''true'' employers, a PathOfInspiration... and so on.
12
13Compare WildCard, who openly has no clear or multiple allegiances. Also compare GambitPileup and MultilayerFacade.
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15[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant This trope is not]] [[ComicSutra about a sex position]] (or a wrestling move), although now that it's been mentioned, there [[RuleThirtyFour probably is one]] by this name.
16
17----
18!!Examples:
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20[[foldercontrol]]
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22[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
23* Follow along closely, children: Xellos in ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'' pretends to be a priest who's really a demon (who is a priest of the demon religion) who's really under the orders of a demon but is actually betraying THAT demon for another demon, and is trying to destroy the world except sometimes maybe not, and helps the team, except when trying to destroy them, except when he's secretly helping. Lina trusts him implicitly to eventually fuck her over and says at much at one point. Xellos thinks she's crazy, but she's not the one serving multiple masters with multiple plans to destroy/save/rule the world.
24* [[spoiler: Rei Furuya, codename Bourbon, alias Tohru Amuro]] from ''Manga/CaseClosed''. To skip to the conclusion, he's an agent of the Japanese Public Security Bureau, going undercover in [[TheSyndicate The Black Organization]], who have ordered him to infiltrate the Mouri Detective Agency. Complicating matters is that he also has a purely personal grudge against FBIAgent Shuichi Akai, the Organization's most feared enemy, so he often neglects his responsibilites to the PSB in favor of opposing Akai (justifying it to himself as "trying to rise through the rankings so I can get better information")... But he's not SO blinded that he can't work together with Akai on occasion, so his loyalty in any given mission is a crapshoot. There's a reason he's known as "The Man With Three Faces".
25* Kaji in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', appearing to work for Nerv, Seele, the Japanese Ministry of the Interior, and against another one of them, in varying configurations. His true mission is to find out the truth about the nature of both TheConspiracy behind Second Impact and the angels for himself.
26* Sideways in ''Anime/TransformersArmada,'' not aided by a shaky, rushed translation. [[spoiler:He's an Autobot. No, a Decepticon posing as an Autobot. No, he just wants the Mini-cons for himself. No, he's working for Unicron. No, he ''is'' part of Unicron.]] And then he returns in ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'' to do it all over again [[spoiler:with a yet different final goal]].
27* [[spoiler:Tsuchimikado Motoharu]] from ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'' is [[spoiler:the only magician-esper hybrid]] and is constantly switching between working for Aleister Crowley (and Academy City's dark side) and Necessarius. It's even hinted that he works for even more covert organizations, but he's being let off the hook for the time being. The best part is that everyone knows he's got multiple agendas and nobody knows who he really works for... but because of this, he makes an excellent neutral middleman between all these organizations so he's left alone for the most part.
28* From ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', we have Kabuto Yakushi. First, he disguised himself as a Leaf ninja for at least four years, only to reveal he's working for Orochimaru, who himself does not entirely trust him. Later we discover he was a spy for Sasori in Orochimaru's organization, but Orochimaru had long since removed that brainwashing and made him a double agent to keep tabs on the Akatsuki. After the apparent death of Orochimaru, Kabuto went rogue, with various reactions to the loss of Orochimaru from shock to joy. Nowadays, he's working [[BigBadDuumvirate with]] Tobi, but blackmailed him and is pretty much in charge, depending on their various trump cards. Later we learned he was a spy for Konoha (which he later spies on for Orochimaru) and infiltrated numerous countries on its behalf. However, Konoha stopped trusting him resulting in him having a grudge against Konoha. Confused yet?
29* ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'': Manga version of [[SexyPriest Nicholas D. Wolfwood]]. Part of every major faction in the series and [[MurderInc at least one minor one]]. Shot his [[EvilMentor teacher]] to join the [[CarnivalOfKillers Gung Ho Guns]] to subvert [[BigBad Knives']] plans for TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, but also manipulated TheHero on behalf of the villains before and even after becoming emotionally invested in his well-being. Then turned on them after [[TheHero Vash]] was defeated and captured, and staged a jailbreak. [[DyingMomentOfAwesome Finally]] abandons everyone in favor of his primary allegiance: the kids at the orphanage where he spent the [[CrapsackWorld closest thing to]] a happy bit of his childhood.
30* [[spoiler:Nimura Furuta]] from ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' and its sequel, '':Re''. He's a TykeBomb working for [[spoiler:the organization '''V''', a Ghoul Investigator, a collaborator in Dr. Kanou's experiments, a mole that leaks information to Aogiri and infiltrated both the Ghoul Restaurant and the Clowns gang as Souta]]. To top off the complicated mess of his involvements, he's a BastardBastard from [[spoiler:the Washuu Clan]]. Suffice to say, he's spent considerable time establishing connections with as many groups as possible. It isn't clear exactly where his true loyalties lie, or what his true goals might be. By the second half of the sequel, however, he is at least established as [[spoiler:the final BigBad, who is ultimately loyal only to himself]].
31* Aruka Schild of ''Manga/{{Needless}}''. She's introduced as a member of the resistance against Arklight. She appears to betray them but was in fact working for Arklight as a double agent to obtain a data chip their leader possessed. When she appears again she makes several attempts to kill her brother Cruz, but mind-bogglingly, also gives him help in secret, even going so far as to kill her own subordinates. Cruz is thoroughly confused by her contradictory actions. In their final encounter, Aruka reveals SHE was the one who hid the data chips in the first place, putting one in Cruz's head during a surgery he was having. Turns out all her murder attempts on her brother were so she wouldn't blow her cover while Arklight was watching and the help she gave in secret was to get Cruz, and the chip, as far away from harm and Arklight as possible. Sadly she is killed by Arklight as a traitor before she can heel-face turn, and the author never goes into further depth about her life of espionage and intrigue. How Aruka ended up under Arklight's thumb and what she was trying to accomplish would make a darn interesting spin-off story.
32* Zeke from ''Manga/AttackOnTitan''. Raised to infiltrate [[spoiler:Marley for the Eldian Resistance, then betrayed the resistance]] for Marley, then betrayed Marley for ''a second resistance'' and the allied Eldian nation that the first resistance was trying to restore. Needless to say, while the second resistance trusts him, [[spoiler:as he's leading it]], Eldia doesn't trust him any farther than it can throw him.
33* ''Anime/PrincessPrincipal'' essentially has a binary example. Charlotte, [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep a.k.a. "Princess,"]] is on the surface a double-agent, continuing to play her role as princess while she works with her kingdom's enemies, the Commonwealth, to take the throne. The complicating factor is that she technically isn't the princess--unbeknownst to everyone else, she [[PrinceAndPauper swapped places with Ange]], the spy squad's [[TheAce ace agent]], when they were children. Ironically, the Commonwealth's game plan is to install Ange as a "fake" queen after assassinating the current one, not realizing that Ange ''actually is'' the heir to the throne. Ange (actually Charlotte) plays along with this plan for the most part, but is only truly loyal to Charlotte (actually Ange), and just to add further conflict, "Charlotte" ''does'' want to go through with this plan while "Ange" would rather they both sneak out of the country so they don't get killed. At one point the team is ordered to eliminate the Princess, and to escape this tricky situation, both of them end up impersonating themselves.
34* ''Literature/RebuildWorld'': Yanigisawa works with both the local and national branches of Sakashita which is the regional front of OneNationUnderCopyright (with the local branch having secrets from the overall organization), has significant ties to [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized the Nationalist Rebels]], to the {{Precursors}} ArtificialIntelligence remnants who oppose most of the former, and also makes a deal with an opposing MegaCorp. Having participated in an unrelated corporate plot setting up a PublicityStunt in order to sell a company's equipment to the local government, as well.
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37[[folder:Comic Books]]
38* The [[Franchise/TransformersGeneration1 Autobot Punch/Counterpunch]] was originally portrayed as a DoubleAgent (an Autobot who pretended to be a Mole for the Decepticons). Later interpretations of the character sometimes depict him as a Double Reverse Quadruple Agent, often due to prolonged effects of BecomingTheMask.
39* The second season of ''ComicBook/SleeperWildStorm'' has [[spoiler:Holden]] doing this through the entire run.
40* During the early run of ''ComicBook/NewAvengers'', ComicBook/SpiderWoman is a quintuple agent. [[spoiler:She's an Avenger, a member of HYDRA, an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., loyal to Nick Fury specifically, and really a Skrull.]]
41* ''ComicBook/TrinityWar'': [[spoiler:The Atom turns out to be a JLA agent who was ordered to infiltrate the Justice League on Amanda Waller's orders. But then the finale reveals that she's actually Atomica of Earth-3, working with The Outsider and his [[LegionOfDoom Secret Society]] to manipulate everyone so that they could get their hands on PandorasBox and use it to summon the rest of the Crime Syndicate]].
42* In ''ComicBook/{{Monstress}}'', [[spoiler: Master Ren is an agent of the Dusk Court, but he's actually keeping tabs on them for his cat superiors, except not really as he's actually working for the Lord Doctor, but now he's grown a conscience and isn't working for him anymore.]]
43* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': While Diana sees right through all Ares' subterfuge when Zeus is deposed by Athena the war god plays all the sides, acting as a spy for Athena's group and Zeus' group while also having his own (flexible) goal. He ends up aiding Athena, though not being truly on her side, but that's because there's no one he hates more than Zeus ''and'' Hades tried to murder Ares' granddaughter Diana right in front of him which forced him to pick a definitive side. ComicBook/WonderGirl remains confused even after Ares plays his hand by killing Hades and freeing Diana and her allies.
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46[[folder:Comic Strips]]
47* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' did this in one strip where they're playing football. Then they try to justify why the other didn't score (I'm actually a double agent, triple agent, your goal is on top of mine so anytime you score it's a point for me, I'm actually a badminton player disguised as a football player, etc.) until it turns into a game of {{Calvinball}}.
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50[[folder:Fan Works]]
51* ''Fanfic/AllAssortedAnimorphsAUs'': In "What if Tom was infested by a member of the Yeerk Peace Movement?", the Yeerk Peace Movement finds an opportunity to incriminate [[NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering Vissers One and Three]] in front of the [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Council of Thirteen]]. In order to do so, Aftran has to pretend to be loyal to Visser One and the Empire as a whole at the same time while pretending to not care about any other species, while [[SymbioticPossession Tom]] sometimes has to pretend to be her.
52* In ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'' Blaise Zabini is a ''quintuple'' agent. In a game with ''three'' sides. The only reason he never became a sextuple agent was that he couldn't find anyone else to sell out to, though it probably doesn't help that one of his true masters [[LaserGuidedAmnesia Memory-Charmed]] him into forgetting their arrangement. He later makes this work for him: now that he's cultured his image as a WildCard among wildcards, at a time when Slytherin House is divided in twain, with battle lines drawn, he sits ''in the middle.''
53* In ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4446452/1/Deep-Cover Deep Cover]]'' Naruto spends years as spying on Sound for Konoha. Then he gets a job from Orochimaru to replace one of Konoha's other spies and feed them false information. In other words, he's a Konoha agent pretending to be a Sound agent pretending to be a Konoha agent pretending to be a Sound agent. In the end, he realizes that his loyalty to Konoha is only due to being born there and chooses to [[BecomingTheMask be a Sound ninja]].
54* Basically everyone in ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/48341/1/Changelings%2C-Changelings%2C-Everywhere/ Changelings, Changelings Everywhere!]]'' is either a spy or duplicate from another changeling faction to the point most aren't really sure who they work for. Eventually, the Twilight Sparkle changeling breaks out her graph paper so everyone can figure out who they work for.
55* Kaji is this ''Fanfic/NeonMetathesisEvangelion'' as much as in [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion canon]]. He works as inspector for the U.N., he works for Gendo, he works for the Japanese Ministry of the Interior, and at times also against all of those. Recently, he has even begun working for Kaworu in exchange for information. He already has pissed off or will piss off SEELE, Gendo and the JSSDF.
56* Eventually, Jaune in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12574905/1/In-the-Kingdom-s-Service In the Kingdom's Service]]'' ends up as a student at Beacon who's secretly working for the Vale Secret Service, pretending to work for Cinder Fall, and working alongside Roman Torchwick to stop Cinder. Roman is one of only two people (alongside Blake) who knows all of Jaune's loyalties, real and fake, and is up front that he'll betray Jaune the moment their interests no longer align. [[spoiler:After Oobleck dies and a [[TyrantTakesTheHelm new director takes over the VSS]], Jaune plays all three sides against one another]], though once again, Roman knows he's doing it and simply doesn't care because it advances his agenda as well.
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59[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
60* Agent Shigeki Arakawa from the JGSDF in ''Anime/Patlabor2TheMovie'' is working for the government [[spoiler:while supposedly working with Tsuge, while supposedly working with Gotoh, while trying to appear innocent of Tsuge's terrorist acts as to avoid repercussions. It doesn't work for him, as he overplays Gotoh]].
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63[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
64* In ''Film/{{Cypher}}'', the protagonist is the [[ThisLoserIsYou plaything]] in a GambitPileup. He ends up a hex-tuple spy, ultimately working for [[spoiler:himself. He pulled a MemoryGambit before the movie began, so he could pass one set of lie-detectors to get into one agency, then fail the same set of lie-detectors to get into the rival agency]].
65* Lightly riffed in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'' : [[spoiler:Mac betrays Indy in the beginning, "explains" it partway through by claiming to be a CIA double-agent, then betrays him ''again'' at the end.]] Indy {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this:
66-->'''Indy:''' What, are you some kind of ''triple'' agent?!\
67'''[[spoiler:Mac]]:''' Nah, I just lied about being a double.
68* Koskov from ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'' is a somewhat {{downplayed|Trope}} version of this trope. By the end of the film his loyalties have mostly been clarified, [[spoiler:he was using the British to eliminate a superior who was about to have him arrested for corruption]], but earlier in the film he bounces back and forth.
69* Cary Grant's character in ''Film/{{Charade}}'' is constantly changing sides, turning from TheMole to DoubleAgent and eventually to Double Reverse Quadruple Agent.
70* A relatively simple one in ''Film/{{Spy}}'': [[spoiler:CIA agent Bradley Fine turns up alive and working for the villain after faking his death, only for him to later reveal that he was actually forced to go into deep cover after another agent really did turn traitor and leaked the identities of the agency's top operatives.]]
71* Ilsa Faust in ''Film/MissionImpossibleRogueNation'', whose allegiance seems to shift with every scene. Eventually, it's revealed that [[spoiler:she's a mole working under the command of [=MI6=] whose goal is to take down the Syndicate; in order to maintain the illusion of working for them she is forced to "betray" Ethan and his allies numerous times to the enemy when in actuality she's helping them all the while... maybe.]]
72* Nowak in ''Film/TheInquestOfPilotPirx'' is [[spoiler:a robot who works for no one but himself and pretends to be a human who for humanity's sake pretends to be a robot who works for no one but himself]].
73* Protagonist Evelyn Salt in ''Film/{{Salt}}'', the extent of which is revealed over the course of the film. She started as a KGB, later SVR, SleeperAgent inserted into the United States as a child and joined the CIA, then gets outed by her own SVR handler as part of ThePlan and goes on the lam. Problem was, she'd [[GoingNative gone native]] after her American husband pulled out all the stops to get her freed after she was captured in North Korea on a CIA assignment, and after they kidnap [[spoiler:and later murder]] him, she fakes carrying out her part of the sleeper agents' plan, kills her handler, then infiltrates the infiltrators to completely wreck their attempt to start WorldWarIII.
74* In ''Film/AtomicBlonde'', [[spoiler: Lorraine]] is revealed to be the mysterious Satchel, a KGB mole within [=MI6=]. Except the very end of the movie shows that in reality [[spoiler: she's a CIA agent, planted to [[PlayingBothSides play both of the other agencies]] against each other]].
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78* Severus Snape in ''Literature/HarryPotter''. Early on in the series, we are given reason to suspect that he's an agent for Voldemort, but Dumbledore keeps insisting that Snape is on their side, without ever actually saying ''why'' he's so certain of this. The short version is, both sides think that Snape is ''their'' double agent, and both are aware of the other side thinking that to be the case. The only question is which side Snape actually ''does'' work for, and we don't finally learn the truth for a ''long'' time. The fact that Snape is able to pull this off when ''both'' Voldemort and Dumbledore are accomplished [[{{Telepathy}} mind-readers]] is all the more impressive.
79* In ''Literature/{{Dune}}'', Yueh came pretty close, what with his being mentally conditioned at the Imperial Medical School to be unable to harm another person, and then secretly captured along with his wife by the Harkonnen Family and re-brainwashed into an assassin, then retained by the Atreides Family on the grounds of his original, supposedly unbreakable conditioning, eventually betraying them to the Harkonnens on the promise of being reunited with his wife but secretly resisting their brainwashing and at the last minute helping the Duke's son and her mother escape, then arming the captured Duke Atreides with a concealed suicide weapon he can use to kill the Baron Harkonnen, then pretending to still be loyal to Harkonnen and asking to be reunited with his wife at which point Harkonnen tells him she is dead and kills him. More of a very unstable double agent, but then this all happens in something like the first three chapters of the book.
80* ''Literature/XWingSeries'': Gara Petothel, though not intentionally, at least at first. At first, she intended to be TheMole; later she [[BecomingTheMask became the mask]]. Later still she was discovered and had to go back to her old side - but worked to sabotage it.
81* One of these is the main character of Creator/KeithLaumer's ''Dinosaur Beach'', leading to multiple levels of TomatoSurprise as he betrays one faction or another. His ultimate allegiance turns out to be to [[spoiler:''none'' of the main factions--all of them wished to "fix" the timestream by eliminating time travelers after their own time period, but none were willing to accept that their own time travel was part of the problem. He set everything up to retroactively prevent the invention of time travel, [[OmnicidalNeutral at the cost of the existence of everyone who was born after its invention]]]].
82* The Literature/{{Illuminatus}} novels have Tobias Knight, described as the only quintuple agent in the history of espionage. Apparently at one point he was working for the CIA, KGB, FBI, Illuminati and the Discordians all at the same time, and had reached the point where he was participating in conspiracy for its own sake.
83* While the [[MemoryGambit agent in question was completely unaware of his status]], unraveling the layers of this drives the plot of Creator/PhilipKDick's ''Literature/WeCanRememberItForYouWholesale''. {{M|indScrew}}aybe.
84* The Creator/MackReynolds novel ''The Five-Way Secret Agent'', where a guy is drafted into an international espionage assignment by five different opposing factions, one after another.
85* In James Clavell's ''Literature/NobleHouse'', [[spoiler:[[MagnificentBastard Roger Crosse]]]] is the chief of [[spoiler:British]] Intelligence for Hong Kong, who pretends to work for [[spoiler:the KGB]] but really reports to [[spoiler:London]] and earns money and commendations (by selling information to and selling out agents from) from both sides.
86* Kemper Boyd in Creator/JamesEllroy's ''American Tabloid''. He works as a gofer for the Kennedy brothers, spies on them for J. Edgar Hoover, gets a job investigating civil rights abuses at the Kennedy Justice Department and uses it as a cover for operating an anti-Castro Cuban exile training camp for the CIA, and turns the camp into a front for a heroin-smuggling scheme he cooked up with TheMafia. If he had somehow worked out a way to get on the Hughes Tool Company payroll, he'd have been working both for and against ''every single faction'' in the novel simultaneously.
87* Creator/TimPowers' novel ''Literature/{{Declare}}'' is based partially on the life of Kim Philby (see below, under "Real Life") and Cold War spying in general, so this inevitably comes into play. As is put to the protagonist Andrew Hale, the final fate of any spy network is "playback," where they're caught by a hostile power and used to feed false information back to their home agency, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin played back]] for all they're worth while trying to extract useful information from them. Hale ends the book [[spoiler:playing back against the British SIS and the Soviet KGB for ''himself'', finally getting out of the Great Game and retiring with the woman he loves]].
88* ''Literature/TheRiddleMasterTrilogy'': [[spoiler:Deth: Pretends to be working for the High One, despite actually being the High One himself and working under deep cover for his impersonator, so that he can mentor his successor into success, which requires betraying said successor to the man unknowingly impersonating himself, aka the High One and faking his own death to impersonate a wizard who was never a wizard but was always him. (Deth why.)]]
89* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' novel ''Literature/{{Changes}}'', [[spoiler:Martin]] is a member of the Fellowship of St. Giles, an organization of people who have been infected by, but not yet succumbed to, the Red Court Vampire curse, who work to oppose the Red Court. As events in the story progress, [[spoiler:he betrays his teammates and allies to the Red Court, apparently as one of the vampires' moles in the Fellowship. However, his true allegiance is against the Red Court. He holds no loyalty to any organization, only to the cause of destroying the Red Court, and to that end, he betrayed Susan and Harry in a gambit that involved sacrificing his own life to ultimately defeat the Red Court.]]
90* Charlie Walter in ''Literature/TheMentalState'' is a LITERAL example! After his true role in the BattleOfWits between Zack and Saif is revealed, Zack even describes him as this [[LampshadeHanging WORD FOR WORD]]! His true allegiance is with Zack, but Saif is aware of this and tortures information out of him. Luckily, Zack had prepared for this in advance and supplied Charlie with false information. This ultimately makes him a quadruple agent that Saif reversed and Zack reversed back.
91* In ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', O'Brien is a prominent member of the Inner Party (essentially government top brass), but Winston gets the gut feeling that he's not as loyal to the Party as he should be. About midway through the novel, O'Brien seemingly confirms Winston's suspicion when he reveals himself to be a member of [[LaResistance the Brotherhood]] and brings Winston into the fold. But then even later, it turns out that O'Brien was not only loyal to the Party all along, but was also the mastermind behind Winston's capture by the Thought Police and would eventually be the one to carry out Winston's MindRape.
92-->'''Winston:''' They got you too!\
93'''O'Brien:''' [[WhamLine They got me a long time ago.]]
94* ''Literature/TheTraitorBaruCormorant'': there's a reason why the book is called that. [[spoiler:She betrays her homeland, Taranoke, by joining the Empire of Masks that colonized it. For the Masquerade, she suppresses a rebellion in Aurdwynn, and then turns around and betrays the Masquerade by raising a new one more likely to succeed. Leading that rebellion, Baru destroys Aurdwynn's colonial administration. But Baru is doing so on orders from the Throne, the Masquerade's ShadowGovernment, acting as a honeypot to draw out every rebel in Aurdwynn so they can be wiped out in a single stroke (while also removing the ineffectual colonial governor from power). With Aurdwynn thus pacified, Baru proves herself worthy of joining the Throne and attaining near-absolute power over the empire. And with that power, she intends to destroy the Masquerade from within, to avenge its many crimes against her home, all the other lands it's colonized, and [[ItsPersonal herself]].]]
95* ''Literature/SpecialOperations'': Happens several times.
96** Dieter Braun and Hans Tauber in the first book initially seem to just be loyal Germans, then Finn comes to suspect that the two of them are secretly members of the resistance, a suspicion which is [[spoiler: confirmed, although the two are actually Abwehr spies trying to bring down the Resistance for the Nazi's]].
97** In the second book Veronique initially seems to be a British agent on a mission, then apparently kills a fellow agent and goes rogue, [[spoiler: The man actually died in an accident and she is still serving the Allies]].
98** Also in the second book [[spoiler: Jacques]] is sabotaging the mission for the Nazi's, but only because they have his parents prisoner, with him also trying to manipulate the Nazi's to free the prisoners and come out on top... just at the cost of seeing some of his allies as expendable.
99** Alan Munro in the fourth book had a good record as an agent but seemingly deserted with a lot of money. He is actually trying to save the life of his daughter, who is a prisoner the Gestapo are about to execute, but it remains a matter of concern just what hell do to save her life [[spoiler: ultimately he doesn't; sell out anyone though]].
100* ''Literature/InCryptid'': Antimony Price infiltrates the [[KnightTemplar Covenant]] as TheMole for the Price family to learn their plans for North America. The Covenant, once deciding she's not a threat, train her as one of their own, and send her to infiltrate the Spencer carnival to determine whether they're knowingly harboring cryptids. [[spoiler:It turns out the Covenant knew who she was from the beginning, but they hoped they could turn her to their side. It doesn't work.]]
101* Literature/TheDeerAndTheCauldron - Wei Xiaobao keeps accumulating multiple sets of conflicting loyalties (some genuine, some he made up in order to stay alive); it's no surprise that he eventually gets tired of trying to manage the mess he got himself into by FakingTheDead.
102* ''Literature/KeeperOfTheLostCities'': Jolie Ruewen was an elite prodigy secretly working undercover for the Black Swan by pretending to join the Neverseen but she's not sure if she's actually for the Black Swan or the Neverseen. And let’s not get Brant mixed up in this.
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105[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
106* [[spoiler:Tony Almeida]] in Season 7 of ''Series/TwentyFour''. He initially seems to be working for David Emerson and his mercenaries, until it's revealed that he's working with Bill and Chloe to take down the people behind Emerson (General Benjamin Juma and Jonas Hodges). But then it's revealed he was evil and working for a cabal of rival {{Big Bad}}s who wanted Juma and Hodges taken down all along, then eventually we find out he's trying to gain the trust of the cabal's leader so he can kill him in revenge for [[spoiler:ordering the death of his wife back in Season 5.]]
107* Dr. Jill Roberts (Jordana Brewster) in several episodes of ''Series/{{Chuck}}''. Her apparent loyalty switches back and forth in a dizzying manner.
108* The loyalties of Adelle [=DeWitt=] in ''{{Series/Dollhouse}}'' dizzyingly switch between Rossum and Echo at least once or twice per episode throughout the second/final season. Eventually, it's revealed [[spoiler:she's working against Rossum]].
109* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': Scorpius takes this to mindbending levels by the end of the series. [[spoiler:Sikozu]] qualifies as well, especially in ''Peacekeeper Wars'' when she [[spoiler:sells out to the species she was created to destroy in an attempt to make them free her species]].
110** In fact, when Scorpius finally explains all the levels of spying he's doing, Noranti exclaims, "Oh, I do admire your compartmentalization of duplicity!"
111** In both cases they're actually much more ''straightforward'' than they first appear. They have one goal, and any allegiance beyond that is something to be picked up, faked, or discarded at will.
112%% ZCE * Dr Kellerman in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E5RevengeOfTheCybermen Revenge of the Cybermen]]''.
113* Figuring out how many factions Alex Krycek works for in any given episode of ''Series/TheXFiles'' is an exercise in futility, especially since he ''also'' has an unhealthy [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder tendency to backstab his employers (mostly) for the lulz]].
114* ''Series/{{Grimm}}'' has Captain Renard, a half-Wesen estranged son of the Royals. Every single faction he has contacted so far has assumed he's working for some other side. And his actions really aren't helping us decide either. Then in season 5 [[spoiler:he gets recruited by the Wesen supremacist group Black Claw unless he's just stringing them along to entrap them, or to get his daughter back, or for some other reason.]] Keep in mind that this is all ''on top of'' being a police officer and Nick's boss, which usually means having to cover up when Nick's actions are more Grimm than cop.
115-->'''Meisner''': You chose the wrong side, Sean.
116-->'''Renard''': I never choose sides. You shouldn't either.
117* Colby Granger in ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}'' has a two-episode arc of this. First he's an FBI agent. Then it turns out he's actually a spy for the Chinese. And then it turns out that that's a fabrication too; he's actually part of a top-secret FBI investigation, one so classified that even his team is unaware of it, to take down a ''real'' Chinese spy inside the DOJ. It all comes together eventually, but there's a point at which the rest of the team can't even agree with each other about who Colby is and what he's up to[[note]]Megan leans towards giving him the benefit of the doubt, David is convinced that Colby is guilty and that the later story is just a ploy, and Don ''wants'' to believe he's guilty (having taken Colby's supposed confession himself) but can't shake the nagging sense inside his head that there's something more going on.[[/note]].
118** The first episode of this arc also features a former British Intelligence agent who is this. It's stated that by the time he was discharged from the service, "nobody knew which side he was playing for". (In fact, it's never entirely made clear who, if anyone, he was aligned with by the time the episode comes around.)
119* ''Franchise/StarTrek''
120** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': So, does [[MysteriousPast Garak]] support the [[TheGovernment Detappa Council]]? The [[SecretPolice Obsidian Order]]? The [[PraetorianGuard Central Command]]? The [[LaResistance Dissident Movement]]? The [[TheFederation Federation]]? [[TheSpymaster Enabran Tain]]? [[ItsAllAboutMe Himself]]? Have fun trying to figure it out because none of the characters in-universe can! [[spoiler:His [[PatrioticFervour true loyalty]] seems to be to Cardassia itself and that means his alliances can shift all over the place depending on who he feels has Cardassia's best interests at heart.]]
121--->'''Kira:''' Don't worry, he's on our side -- I think.
122** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': The two-part episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E4Gambit Gambit]]" had both Picard and Riker captured by a group of artifact smugglers, and they pretend to work for them to investigate what they're really up to. Furthermore, Picard and Riker have to pretend to hate each other for this to work (the group's boss dislikes Picard, so Picard disliking Riker would hopefully make the boss take Riker into his confidence). Throw in a half dozen other crew members, each with their own personal loyalties and it starts to get very confusing. This is even lampshaded in the episode by Picard:
123---> '''Picard:''' I'm having trouble remembering whose side I'm on!
124* [[spoiler:Cortez]] on ''Series/LastResort''. While on the sub, [[spoiler:she is secretly a CIA mole that they've planted there to undermine a rogue nuclear sub captain by stealing his launch key. But then, the actual CIA has been partially infiltrated by the Conspiracy, so she's secretly working for a sub-conspiracy that wants to ''keep'' the rogue sub in play, just under a different captain.]]
125* Parodied in a ''Series/MadTV1995'' sketch spoofing ''Series/{{Alias}}'', along with the show's hyperkinetic style (read the dialogue about two times as fast as you normally would, and you'll get the idea).
126-->'''Sydney:''' Dad!\
127'''Dad:''' There's no time. I'm a spy for [=SD6=].\
128'''Sydney:''' But [=SD6=] is a rogue faction for the CIA.\
129'''Dad:''' But I'm a double agent for the CIA.\
130'''Sydney:''' How do I know you're not a triple agent pretending to be a double agent who's pretending to be an agent for [=SD6=] when you're really not an agent at all?\
131'''Dad:''' ...Now I'm confused.
132* Nicholas Brody, a POW brought back after 8 years on ''Series/{{Homeland}}'' is suspected to be TheMole for Al Qaeda by CIA agent Carrie Matheson. [[spoiler:Turns out she's right, however the CIA manages to convince him to work for them in exchange for immunity after his attempted suicide bombing. It becomes unclear where his allegiance lies.]]
133* Aidan Matthews in ''Series/Revenge2011'' starts out as Emily's mole inside Grayson Global, planted with the help of their mentor Takeda, and somehow manages to not blow his cover even once Emily's marriage to Daniel is revealed to be a fraud, leading to a point where both Conrad and Victoria believe him to be their double agent in their feud with ''each other''.
134* In ''Series/TheMusketeers'', Rochefort was originally the Cardinal's spy in Spain, who was kept hostage, tortured, and then sent back to France to spy on them, however he has his own plans to [[spoiler:usurp the king and marry Queen Anne]].
135* Leo Kamali from ''Series/StrikeBack'': Shadow Warfare.
136* Cassandra in ''Series/{{Nikita}}'' is a matryoshka doll of loyalties. Introduced as the wife of Belarussian president Valeri Ovechkin, who was then convinced to turn on him, she is then revealed to have been [[spoiler: an MI-6 agent who had been sent to Belarus as a honey trap]]. Later still, it is revealed that [[spoiler: she was originally an intelligence agent sent to infiltrate MI-6]].
137* ''Franchise/KamenRider'':
138** ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'': DJ Sagara works for the Yggdrasill Corporation, but spends a good amount of time advising and giving help to the heroes, [[TheHero Kouta]] in particular. Later on, he resurfaces seemingly on the side of the [[MonsterLord Overlords]] of Helheim Forest. It's eventually revealed Sagara's true allegiance is to [[spoiler:the Helheim Forest [[GeniusLoci itself]], he's the living embodiment of it, and he masterminded everything in order to find a worthy candidate to supplant the Overlords]].
139** ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'': [[EnigmaticMinion Blood Stalk]] serves ''four'' different factions over the course of the series ([[NebulousEvilOrganisation Faust]], Hokuto, Seito and [[MegaCorp Namba Heavy Industries]]) each of which is convinced he's TheMole to the other factions. In fact, Blood Stalk is actually [[spoiler:[[PlayingBothSides manipulating all of them]], his only true allegiance is to himself]].
140[[/folder]]
141
142[[folder:Radio]]
143* Parodied to the hilt in the radio play ''The Dog It Was That Died'' by Creator/TomStoppard. Rupert Purvis is a British secret agent who was approached by the Russians to act as a double agent. His British chief knows he was approached and encouraged him to play along so that the Russians would think they were in control of the situation, but on the other hand his Russian handler knows that the chief knows, and encouraged him to play along so that the British would think they were in control of the situation... the effort of figuring out who he's actually working for and whether he's actually achieving anything eventually lands him in a mental institution.
144[[/folder]]
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146[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
147* ''TabletopGame/DeltaGreen'': Agent Renko [[spoiler:''might'' be this; in theory he is a GRU SV-8 agent spying on Delta Green, but at the same time he actively helps the [=PCs=] and he is shown to be dissatisfied with his work at GRU SV-8. In reality, he is whatever the Handler wants him to be: [[TheMole A Mole]] trying to infiltrate and spread disinformation inside Delta Green, or maybe he is trying to defect to Delta Green and gives intel slowly to not be targeted by GRU SV-8, or maybe he is really trying to infiltrate but is BecomingTheMask, or maybe he's TheChessmaster and Double Reverse Quadruple Agent, playing all sides at the same time.]]
148* ''TabletopGame/DemonTheFallen'': Loyalties can get convoluted, as shown with Fell Knight Guanli in the ''City of Angels'' supplement. He's an LAPD officer... except he's secretly a demon and the Minister of Lions in the Infernal Court of Los Angeles... except he's actually TheMole for the Cryptic faction placed there to spy on the Court... except he's in the process of betraying them too by killing other demons alongside [[UnholyMatrimony his lover Ravana]] to consume their power... And then there's the fact that Ravana's loyalties are in turn somewhat convoluted...
149* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': The Green Lady is working for four different Deathlords -- one of whom [[CreepyCrossdresser is convinced she's secretly a man]] -- as well as the Bureau of Destiny, and playing every last one of them off of the others. In fact, she's pulling such a convoluted, multilayered MemoryGambit that even ''she'' doesn't know whose side she's really on. [[spoiler:Her true loyalties lie with Heaven, but she may well end up helping to destroy the world before her gambit resolves itself.]]
150* ''TabletopGame/InNomine'':
151** One of Alaemon's possible origins is that he's actually a deep-cover agent for Heaven and for the ArchangelMichael in particular who agreed to Fall in order to go behind enemy ranks. However, he's also been in Hell so long that his actual allegiances are unclear -- beneath his demon front he's still a celestial loyalist, but beneath that front he could have gone over to Hell in truth, or be working for himself, or just have cracked under the strain.
152** The shifting mess of conspiracies that makes up Alaemon's followers is such that the more experienced demons inevitably find themselves embedded in multiple subfactions and conspiracies as moles, countermoles, counter-countermoles and so on. A low-level grunt in one conspiracy might be secretly the leader of a second, while feeding misinformation from both to a third on the pay of a fourth whose own leaders suspect that he's selling them out to yet another...
153* ''TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}} Impossible'' has the triple agent card. It allows you to claim allegiance to three nations (out of the four available) at the same time. There's also the {{sidekick}} [=Dusty McRonin=], the man of too many allegiances.
154* ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'': Secret societies often have agents infiltrate other secret societies, who in turn might use the very same person to spy on yet another secret society, ''ad nauseum''. The rulebook even acknowledges the (very remote) possibility of spying on all of Alpha Complex at once. "[[DeadpanSnarker Try to keep your cover stories straight.]]" The end result of this is a secret society called The Wobblies. The Computer heard about it and sent a team of Troubleshooters to gather information. Problem was, it didn't exist (the RealLife Wobblies had died out long before Alpha Complex was created), so when the Troubleshooters returned with no information they were swiftly executed for insubordination. This cycle repeated until one group got smart and [[TakeAThirdOption actually founded the society just so they had something to spy on]]. This attracted the attention of other groups, who sent in their own spies, resulting in [[FlockOfWolves a group made up entirely of spies from other groups]].
155* ''TabletopGame/TheWerewolvesOfMillersHollow'' will sometime [[StealthPun flirt]] with this. The {{m|oleInCharge}}ayor of the village can secretly be a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolf]], but more precisely a [[FoodChainOfEvil white werewolf]], as well as the [[InterspeciesRomance lover]] of the [[MagicalFlutist pied piper]]. It works better if there are many players.
156* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The Alpha Legion count as a Chaos Space Marine army under the rules, but in truth, they might still be loyal to the Imperium. Or they might actually be playing both sides while ''really'' working towards the Cabal's vision for the galaxy long after the organisation's death. Or they might just be loyal to their two Primarchs, who might both be loyal to Chaos, both loyal to the Imperium, or one brother might be scheming against the other and pulling part of the legion away. The most likely thing is that the decentralised organisation of the Legion backfired against them after the death of Horus during his rebellion against the Imperium and the (maybe happened, maybe not) death of Alpharius, or at least whatever legionary who was thinking they were Alpharius at the time and with Omegon (who himself believed Alpharius was dead and took his identity) probably faking his death immediately after the Horus Heresy in the Great Scouring, and now they're just a bunch of fractured warbands without an ideology or long-term strategy in common. There is no way to know the true loyalties of any given Alpha Legionnaire. Thanks to chemical and psychic brainwashing, the Legionnaire himself, or any of their serfs, may not be aware of it either.
157[[/folder]]
158
159[[folder:Toys]]
160* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' has a rather simple one, as these things go: Roodaka worked for both the Brotherhood of Makuta and the Dark Hunters, but she played them off of each other and her true allegiance is to herself. Eventually, both sides found out and started targeting her; at which point a third faction, the Order of Mata Nui, caught her and made her a BoxedCrook.
161[[/folder]]
162
163[[folder:Video Games]]
164* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfTianDing'' has the Japanese spy, Kawashima Kaguya, introduced attempting to steal a valuable artifact from the Taiwanese which your titular hero managed to obtain moments before her. But after fighting Kaguya in an intense boss fight, you find out Kaguya is actually working for the Taiwanese resistance and stealing the item to prevent the Japanese from opening the tomb.
165* ''VideoGame/MetalGear''
166** Revolver Ocelot has, at various points in the series, apparently been working for the CIA, NSA, KGB, GRU, FOXHOUND, rogue FOXHOUND, the Gurlukovich Mercenaries, Solidus Snake and the Patriots... while not really working for ''any'' of them. In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', we learn that his true allegiences lay with [[spoiler:Big Boss, and the entire ''Solid'' games was a plot by him to recover Big Boss's remains and fulfill his dream of Outer Heaven]]. He goes so far as to [[spoiler: brainwash himself into acting like Snake's deceased brother Liquid, whilst maintaining the pretence that he was being possessed by Liquid's spirit through his arm (grafted onto Ocelot after he lost his during the events of [=MGS1=]). The extent to which this was a true personality swap and not an act is left very ambiguous.]][[note]]WordOfGod says that Ocelot really was somehow possessed by Liquid, because of some weird spirit shenanigans when Ocelot transplanted Liquid's arm to his body, but he regained control by removing the arm and replacing it with a standard cybernetic arm, then pretended he was still a nutcase to lower The Patriots' guard.[[/note]]
167** EVA from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater''. When Snake meets her, he assumes that she is an NSA agent who defected to the Soviets and now works for the KGB infiltrating Volgin's private army. [[spoiler:But she's actually a Chinese spy posing as a KGB agent and let herself get captured by Volgin. She walked into Snake by accident without knowing about his mission (since she didn't know the password), but when he asked her if she was "ADAM", she did some quick thinking and said she was ADAM's partner "EVA". Snake bought it and "EVA" ran with it during the entire mission.]] [[spoiler:For added bonus points, both EVA and Snake were unaware of the fact that ADAM was Ocelot.]]
168* [[spoiler:Zelos]] of ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' works for Lloyd by working for Kratos while working for [[spoiler:Yggdrasil]] by pretending to pretend to be helping Lloyd in one ending. He also passes information to [[spoiler:the Renegades]] throughout, that group also being headed up by a more traditional DoubleAgent who's pretending to still be working for [[spoiler:Yggdrasill]] himself. Of course, [[spoiler:Zelos']] ''true'' allegiance for most of the game is to ''himself'', explicitly so when he's found out. Afterward, he [[spoiler:either pulls a genuine and permanent HeelFaceTurn or else [[SuicideByCop forces the party to fight and kill him]], depending on which path you're on.]]
169* The above character's SpiritualSuccessor, [[spoiler:Alvin]] from ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia'', is even ''worse.'' First, he seems to be on your side. Then, it's revealed he's done work for [[spoiler:Exodus, the group trying to assassinate Milla]]. He's also spying for [[spoiler:Gaius and the Chimeriad]], manipulating [[spoiler:Ivar]], and at one point he leaks information to [[spoiler:Muzet as well]]. This is less of a diabolical plot on his part and more of a natural impulse; [[spoiler:he was raised as a child spy.]]
170* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' has Alvis. Through the course of the story, it's impossible to tell which side he's on. At one point he's a mysterious helper, then he's acting shady with a group of shady characters, then he's back again on Shulk's side. It continues to grow from there, and it's not until the very end that his true motivations become clear.
171** Spiritual ancestor ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' featured [[spoiler:Citan]], who first appears to be helping the party, later betrays the party, then reveals that he was ordered to actually help the party by pretending to betray them to keep his cover as a secret agent. He may have also been acting without authorization at least some of the time as well, it's hard to say.
172* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' have [[MemeticBadass Naesala]], Raven King of Kilvas. He works for Daein as a mercenary leader (the rest of the mercenaries are Kilvans), and he seemingly betrayed Reyson for Oliver, but later he betrays Daein to protect Reyson and Leanne from Ashnard. ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, anyone? [[spoiler:Turns out his ultimate loyalty was to his own kingdom, but this was complicated by a [[DealWithTheDevil blood pact]] he'd signed with a certain Begnion senator. Generally, he took whichever side would benefit Kilvas the most, or harm it the least. The last time he switched sides, he did so in order to secure the blood pact and do away with it once and for all.]]
173* ''Franchise/CarmenSandiego'': Carmen is described in some of the game manuals as a ''Triple'' agent. It's not too hard to think she probably reaches Double Reverse Quadruple Agent status pretty easily, given her [[ImpossibleTheft legendary stealing prowess]].
174** Made explicit in the Sega Master System version, where she is described as "an agent, double agent, triple agent and quadruple agent for so many countries even she has forgotten who she's working for."
175* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' has Axel. In ''Chain of Memories'', [[TheStarscream a rebel faction of the Organization is emerging]] in Castle Oblivion, led by Marluxia with Larxene as TheDragon. Vexen, an Organization loyalist, gets suspicious of them and goes to monitor their activities. Axel convinces Larxene that he is in on Marluxia’s rebellion and wants to join them too. Marluxia, concerned both with Vexen getting in his way and not being certain of Axel’s motives, orders Axel [[spoiler:to kill Vexen as a way of proving his loyalty, and Axel actually kills Vexen for them]], gaining Marluxia’s trust and becoming a part of the Organization rebellion. But then he uses Marluxia’s trust to betray him by [[spoiler:letting Naminé go free]], and even attacks Marluxia himself before [[TheHero Sora]] interrupts their fight, which forces him into fighting Sora instead. After losing the fight and FakingTheDead, he goes to join Zexion, another Organization loyalist who was working with Vexen, in Castle Oblivion’s basement levels. He eggs on Zexion into attacking Riku in an attempt to get him killed too, and when Zexion survives the encounter, [[spoiler:he orders the Riku Replica to kill the weakened Zexion]], which leaves Axel as the only surviving Organization member in Castle Oblivion, having successfully wiped out both the rebel and loyalist factions there entirely. ''358/2 Days'' reveals that [[spoiler:he was under Saix's orders the whole time]], and he was simply removing the competition for their own plans of [[TheStarscream an Organization takeover]]. However, [[spoiler:Saix abandons these plans due to growing loyalty to Xemnas]], and a rift grows between them as well due to the additional complication of Axel growing closer to Roxas. In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', he abandons the Organization entirely after being ordered to eliminate Roxas and failing to do so, [[spoiler:which leads to him kidnapping Kairi]] in his own plan to bring Roxas back, and then ultimately [[spoiler:sacrifices himself to protect Sora, because of how Sora reminds him of Roxas]]. He plays for all teams. Ultimately, his simplified motives the whole time were [[spoiler:helping Saix take over the Organization, until he grew so attached to Roxas that his motivation changed to simply reuniting with him, [[HeelFaceTurn ultimately culminating in him sacrificing himself for Sora due to Sora being all he had left of Roxas.]]]]
176* In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', you can repeatably betray the two instructors of the Sith Academy on Korriban, pitching them against each other while pretending to work for each of them as a double agent. This can end with them both saying to kill the other, then they feel the effects of the poison you gave to both of them, [[OhCrap leading them to realize you are working for yourself]]. As is ''proper'' for a Sith, so really [[GoneHorriblyRight they're very good teachers]].
177* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'', while in Underdark, you can triple-cross two Drow priestesses, an elder Baatezu, and a silver dragon, who each thinks you work for them, while in reality, you pursue your own agenda...
178* In ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' Imperial characters have several opportunities to do this and decide on the fly whose side you're actually on if anyone's. One of the most notable cases is act 2 in Imperial Agent's story, where you're an undercover agent for both the Imperial and Republic intelligences [[spoiler:though not entirely by choice for the Republic, since they've found the keyword to set off your brainwashing (originally put in place by Imperials at the command of the Sith) which allows them to give orders you cannot disobey. And then one of the other members of the Republic team turns out to have been on to you but let it go because he was actually working for a ''third'' faction all along. Then in the third act, things get ''complicated'']].
179* The Lost Archive DLC in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'' reveals [[spoiler:Lucy to be one]].
180* Harley Filben in ''VideoGame/DeusEx''. He starts off as a UNATCO informant giving JC Denton information about the NSF. As it turns out, [[spoiler:he's working for the NSF. And near the end of the game, he reveals that he's actually part of the Illuminati, posing as an NSF agent.]] The funny thing is, every time he reveals a new identity, that's the side you happen to be working with at that part in time. He was on your side the whole time.
181* [[spoiler:Dietrich Troy/Nicklaus]] in ''VideoGame/SpyFiction2003''. [[spoiler:He's working for both Phantom and Enigma. He's committed several acts of terrorism, but also wants revenge on Scarface.]] [[FridgeBrilliance In hindsight]], it also appears that [[spoiler:he specifically arranged the destruction of the primary Lahder production facilities, the rescue of Doctor Coleman, and the defeat of Scarface, so he's at least against Enigma if not necessarily aligned with Phantom]].
182* ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield 3}}'' features [[spoiler:the BigBad]], who, it is revealed late in the game, is [[spoiler:actually an American agent provocateur]], which is why no one believes the main character's assertions that he's a bad guy. While it is entirely possible to look at the evidence and draw the same conclusion as the interrogators, the protagonist ultimately decides they're wrong and goes after him. [[spoiler:And he's right. The BigBad used his American contacts to cover up his terrorist dealings, and is only just barely stopped from nuking New York City by the protagonist.]]
183* An almost untraceable example comes from ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' in the form of a semi-retired officer of the Harmonium named Ebb Creakknees. Early in the game, he is presented as a 'tout', or guide, who sits in the Smoldering Corpse bar and is one of the most valuable and helpful sources of information on Sigil and its environs. Much later, however, he can be found leading a group of Anarchists in Curst and reveals he is a double agent spying on the Harmonium...except if certain conditions are met, in which he reveals himself to be a ''triple'' agent, a member of the Harmonium pretending to be an Anarchist pretending to be a member of the Harmonium.
184* Delita, TheChessmaster from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' is allegedly a DoubleAgent working for the church in the Southern Sky forces, but he's also strategically feeding info to Ramza while sending bad intel to the Church. [[spoiler:In his case, he's ultimately a WildCard out for his own ambition. Acting as a Double Reverse Quadruple Agent allows him to stay out of the way while Ramza kills off the other players in the GambitPileup.]]
185* ''VideoGame/TheSims'':
186** One career level in ''VideoGame/TheSims3'' Law Enforcement career is "Triple Agent".
187** In ''VideoGame/TheSims4'', despite getting an achievement for maxing out the Secret Agent career at rank 10, you get the job "Triple Agent" at rank 11 if you're on the Villain branch. The true allegiance of a sim with this job is simply not known, according to the description.
188* The ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' franchise has the mysterious Ada Wong, a mercenary and corporate spy of unknown alliances. She's involved herself in numerous incidents throughout the franchise, frequently manipulating and double-crossing people as easily as most people breathe. She ''seems'' to be a freelance agent that takes on individual assignments from different parties, though it's impossible to know for certain. While working for one of Umbrella's competitors, she formed alliances with the likes of [[BigBad Albert]] [[TheChessmaster Wesker]] and would later turn on him as well, for another unnamed ''third'' group. The ''only'' consistent loyalty she displays throughout the franchise is her [[DatingCatwoman complicated]] relationship with Leon, taking advantage of him but also willing to risk her assignments and life to protect him.
189* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': While the Spy is described as such in his official biography, in the supplementary comics each color Spy is exclusively loyal to their team and there's no sign that there's any cross-team shenanigans going on; in game, Spies can "only" go into triple agent territory--is that allied Spy you see wearing a disguise of the enemy Spy one of your double agents or an actual enemy Spy pretending to be such? Better Spy-check him anyway just to be sure!
190* In chapter 5 of ''VideoGame/WorldFlipper'', an unexpected landing on [[HumanitysWake Mecha Metropolis]] causes the heroes to be labeled as fugitives and makes the entire city go into lockdown. After getting assistance from Dia and Regis to hide from the Administrator and find the World Flipper, [[spoiler:Regis suddenly betrays the heroes and attempts to kill them, claiming he was working for the Adminsistrator. When they actually do reach the Administrator, [[BigDamnHeroes he suddenly appears to attack for the heroes]], revealing that he was with them all along and only pulled that stunt to keep suspicion off of him]].
191[[/folder]]
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193[[folder:Webcomics]]
194* ''Webcomic/TheCallOfWhatever'' has [[http://tcow.comicgenesis.com/d/20040817.html a throwaway gag involving one Russ McDonald]], who was working for six cults, two anti-cult organizations, TheMenInBlack, and at least two unidentified groups. He was assassinated 11 different ways at once.
195* Professor Tiktoffen in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''. Everyone seems to think they are the ones he is really working for. It's been [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110704 revealed]] that he's managed to convince every faction that he's their "inside man" within [[MalevolentArchitecture Castle Heterodyne]], including the [[GeniusLoci Castle itself.]] However his true loyalty was solely to himself -- his goal was to take over Mechanicsburg, and by making all the other factions think he was on their side in the struggle for the empire, they wouldn't oppose him when he made his bid for power over a single city.
196* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'':
197** Tagon's Toughs occasionally find they have the opportunity to play this role, or at least what looks like the opportunity to do so. Look for the phrase "get paid twice"; it means both sides in a conflict are trying to hire the Toughs, and Tagon is optimistically trying to find a way to satisfy both contracts without letting either one catch on to his game.
198** On at least [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2002-09-29 one]] occasion they successfully managed to get paid ''five'' times.
199** They get paid four times in "The Body Politic", starting [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2007-07-15 here]]. They get paid twice for stealing Xinchub's corpse, once for ''preventing'' the same theft, and once more for cloning a copy. Though it's worth noting that the two sides paying for the corpse's theft [[spoiler:are actually working together, because "[[BatmanGambit [Tagon] will do anything if he thinks he can be paid twice]]".]]
200* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' explains the trope with a simple quote:
201-->'''Nale:''' Glamored Armor? Isn't that kind of a weak ability, [[spoiler:Dad]]?\
202[[spoiler:'''Tarquin:''']] Actually, when you change flags as often as I do, it's a real cost-saver.
203[[/folder]]
204
205[[folder:Web Animation]]
206* Oculus Max from ''WebAnimation/SuperThings''. He's a villain that has an alternate form that makes him look like a hero. As such, he has duped the heroes into thinking he's with them, while he's actually on the villains' side...and even that isn't solid. He has plans of double-crossing the villains as well for his own motives, to rule Kaboom City for his own solo faction.
207[[/folder]]
208
209[[folder:Western Animation]]
210* ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'': Black Widow. …[[WildMassGuessing Maybe.]] [[EpilepticTrees Maybe not.]] [[TheMole Or…]] [[TheMole Who knows?]] Season Two shows [[spoiler:Nick Fury trusts her directly as a Lancer when dealing with the Skrull invasion. Then again he also had Mockingbird as a confidant, and she's the BigBad Skrull Queen in disguise]].
211* In ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'', an agent working for [=W.O.O.H.P.=] turns out to be TheDragon for Jerry's EvilTwin Terrance then is later revealed to be a triple agent pretending to be a double agent. ''Then'' it turns out he really is working for Terrance after all.
212-->'''Clover:''' Wait, so you're a double DoubleAgent?\
213'''Alex:''' Wouldn't that make him a quadruple agent?
214[[/folder]]
215
216[[folder:Real Life]]
217* [[http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=ali_touchent_1 Ali Touchent]], identified as "Tarek" by the pseudonymous [[http://articles.cnn.com/2006-11-16/world/schuster.column_1_qaeda-bin-laden-unit-jihadi?_s=PM:WORLD "Omar Nasiri"]] in his book "Inside the Jihad: My Life with Al-Qaeda - A Spy's Story", was supposedly a fervent and devoted member of the fundamentalist Armed Islamic Group (GIA) fighting against the Algerian military government. However, later evidence surfaced that he may've been an ''agent provocateur'' working with and/or for the Algerian government to help portray the GIA in the light of ruthless killers by goading them into committing various atrocities. However, the fact that he was behind the Paris metro attacks of 1995, among other terrorist acts, [[BecomingTheMask makes his allegiances all the more murky and questionable]].
218* During the Second World War, Britain [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-Cross_System had great success (in fact, 100% success)]] at detecting German spies and either imprisoning/executing them, or turning them into double agents. In fact, the reason for imprisoning some of the captured German spies instead of turning them is that Germany would've gotten suspicious if ''all'' of their spies seemingly succeeded in evading capture.
219** There's a story that the Germans, suspecting many of their spies had been turned, tried a counter: they instructed one of their spies to (on arrival) go to British intelligence and admit to being a German spy and to offer to be a double agent. This way, they'd find out what the British told double agents to say, while the spy would pass their real observations on by alternate means. This would have been a triple agent (i.e. pretending to be a double agent.) However, on arrival the spy went to British intelligence as planned but also told them about the triple agent plan, so the British could control both streams of information - hence he was a quadruple agent.
220** Several spies gave intelligence that led Hitler to conclude that Normandy being the target was a deception and that Calais, located at the shortest distance across the Channel and also closer to targets in Germany itself, was the real target (one of the agents truthfully reported that Normandy was the target, but because his particular information stream to this point [[CryingWolf had been verified lies]] [[CassandraTruth the Germans took it as further evidence of a Calais landing]]). The resulting intelligence caused Hitler to keep his armored reserves concentrated at Calais until it was too late for the potential reserves to do anything meaningful. [[RefugeInAudacity These agents were notified by radio that they had been awarded the Iron Cross for their services to Germany.]]
221* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoliy_Golitsyn Anatoliy Golitsyn]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Nosenko Yuri Nosenko]]. There is still no consensus whether these high-profile Soviet defections were genuine, or were planned by the KGB. The more you dig into it, the more confused you get.
222[[/folder]]

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