| 1 | %%% |
| 2 | %% |
| 3 | %% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks! |
| 4 | %% |
| 5 | %%% |
| 6 | |
| 7 | [[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kent_brockman_hail_ants.jpg]]]] |
| 8 | [[caption-width-right:350:[[MemeticMutation "And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords!"]]]] |
| 9 | |
| 10 | %% This is how the quote formatting is supposed to look: One indent, then dialog, then two indents, then the source. Don't mess with it. |
| 11 | ->''"It has come to my attention that some have lately called me a 'collaborator', as if such a term was shameful. I ask you, what greater endeavor exists than that of collaboration? In our current unparalleled enterprise, refusal to collaborate is simply a refusal to grow — an insistence on suicide, if you will. Did the lungfish refuse to breathe air?"'' |
| 12 | -->-- '''Dr. Wallace Breen''', ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' |
| 13 | |
| 14 | [[TropeNamers Named]] after Vidkun Quisling, who assisted the Germans in their conquest and occupation of Norway during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.[[note]]Prior to this, Quisling was known for helping Norwegian explorer Fritjof Nansen in humanitarian work for the Russian famine as well as [[UsefulNotes/TheArmenianGenocide Armenian genocide]] survivors. So not only was he a traitor to his nation, he became a traitor to ''humanity''.[[/note]] The Quisling is the poster person of LesCollaborateurs, who appears whenever one country or culture is being conquered, occupied, or colonized by another, whether it be a human EvilEmpire, an AlienInvasion, an [[AIIsACrapshoot AI uprising]], TheLegionsOfHell, or some other foreign enemy. They do everything possible to curry favor with the new rulers - they speak the invaders' language more often than their own, ape the foreign customs, and refer to their hometown as [[PleaseSelectNewCityName New Invaderia]], AirstripOne, or {{Egopolis}} instead of Freedomville. They might justify this on the grounds that by [[InternalReformist securing a position of power and influence]], they can ensure the occupation is as painless and least oppressive as possible -- this may be genuine or [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist an excuse to grab power]]. Sometimes, this person [[FaceHeelTurn will have been a friend]] of the heroes before the invasion but will often be someone who had always [[CommanderContrarian given our heroes a hard time]]. Often, they will also try to make them "see reason" and stop their futile attempts to restore the old regime. Frequently has elements of the ObstructiveBureaucrat or TheDragon. When conversing with the conquering leaders they will probably be OpinionFlipflop personified. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | Despite all this, the Quisling is never seen as an equal by the conquerors, but at best as a useful tool to keep the natives in line. [[ContemptCrossfire At worst, they hold them in almost as much contempt as the Quisling's own people.]] Either way, they won't hesitate to dispose of them [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness once they outlive their usefulness]]. If the invaders value honor, expect them to eventually [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves get killed BECAUSE they're a traitor to the cause]]: at least the ''other'' invaded have a sense of pride and honor! |
| 17 | |
| 18 | What distinguishes the Quisling from other [[LesCollaborateurs Collaborateurs]] is authority. A Quisling will never be considered an equal by the conquerors but will have a position of power that will be used to influence the conquered people. They will often be the local "poster child" for submission to the conquerors. If a character has a minor job within the conquerors' hierarchy or simply chooses to accept the conquerors' rule rather than resist, then they are [[LesCollaborateurs Collaborateurs]] but not Quislings. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | The Quisling's storyline tends to end in one of a handful of ways: |
| 21 | * The first against the wall when the revolution comes. Disposing of or disgracing them is one of the first major victories for LaResistance, and now the real struggle begins as the invaders start to take [[YouRebelScum those rebel scum]] seriously... |
| 22 | * As the rebellion grows and its victory draws near, they opportunistically switch or are coerced to switch sides. They’re disgraced and held in even more contempt but manage to be just useful enough to save their neck. |
| 23 | * They finally do a HeelFaceTurn and joins La Resistance for real, becoming a redeemed hero in the process (though expect [[RedemptionEqualsDeath redemption to equal death]] in a lot of cases). Most common when the apparent betrayal is really a futile attempt at trying to moderate the oppression of the invaders, and they finally go too far. |
| 24 | * They were actually the SecretIdentity of La Resistance's leader all along, playing a dangerous double game to act as TheMole. They might still be [[ZeroApprovalGambit vilified in the histories]], but the heroes will remember their name with honor. |
| 25 | * The first against the wall when the revolution ''ends'', as the newly freed heroes are only too eager to convict the heinous traitor in a court of law (or just [[VigilanteExecution lynch them in the street]]). This is what happened to the historical Quisling, who after being removed from power had the Norwegians ''re-institute the death penalty just to apply it to him.'' |
| 26 | * The first against the wall when the revolution ''fails'' or is temporarily crushed, and they're killed, "purged" or otherwise done away with ''anyway'', because the higher-ups don't trust a former member of the conquered nation ([[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves let alone a traitor]]). Alternatively, they may kill them if the revolution is doing ''too well'', to get rid of an incompetent puppet leader who not only can't control their own people but is only furthering this unrest. |
| 27 | * If The Quisling is a WellIntentionedExtremist or a KnightTemplar who earnestly believes that selling their nation out would benefit the people in the long run (as opposed to just being an opportunist or GloryHound) the heroes may well decide that the StrawmanHasAPoint and adopt the Quisling's goals even after stripping the original of political power, especially if they simply [[IDidWhatIHadToDo did what was necessary]] to try to save as many people as they could in the face of an overwhelming enemy they couldn't possibly defeat. |
| 28 | * The Quisling will [[BatmanGambit outfox both the heroes and their puppet masters]] and achieve some hidden agenda that both sides oppose and/or become a legitimate power player in their own right, like in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' or ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}''. Since this requires a greater-than-normal amount of {{Magnificent Bastard}}ry to pull off and toadyism isn't viewed as a cool {{Evil Virtue|s}}… this rarely happens. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | Note that "Quisling" is rarely heard in the United States. This is because Americans have [[UsefulNotes/BenedictArnold their own term for the same thing]]. See RealLife, below. |
| 31 | |
| 32 | Compare to ProfessionalButtkisser. Contrast with HeadInTheSandManagement, who is not actually in the employ of the villain, but ends up helping them anyway through inaction or counterproductive actions, and the PeerPressuredBully, whose malicious acts are the result of societal pressure. |
| 33 | ---- |
| 34 | !!Examples: |
| 35 | [[index]] |
| 36 | * TheQuisling/AnimeAndManga |
| 37 | * TheQuisling/FanWorks |
| 38 | * TheQuisling/{{Literature}} |
| 39 | * TheQuisling/LiveActionTV |
| 40 | * TheQuisling/VideoGames |
| 41 | * TheQuisling/WesternAnimation |
| 42 | [[/index]] |
| 43 | |
| 44 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 45 | |
| 46 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 47 | * Writer James Lileks has humorously referred to [[LetsMeetTheMeat certain advertising mascots for meat products]] as "quislings": ''e.g.,'' a [[https://web.archive.org/web/20131220315500/http://www.lileks.com/institute/orphanage/orphans/cudahy2.html "quisling pig" advertising pork products,]] or a [[https://web.archive.org/web/20131220321700/http://www.lileks.com/institute/orphanage/orphans/dave.html "quisling fish" selling fish-cakes.]] [[http://www.valleydale.com/company/archive.html Click here]] for what Lileks calls "the motherlode of Quisling Pig propaganda" -- the singing, marching pigs of Valleydale Foods shilling for pork sausages. |
| 48 | * Humorously averted by the Advertising/ChickFilACows, who ask that America "EAT MOR CHIKIN". Chick-fil-A had previously had an anthropomorphic chicken for a mascot; its switch to cows was widely seen as a wise move, in part because this subtrope leads people to think that anything with cows would be for milk, or perhaps beef... nope. |
| 49 | * In Finland, UsefulNotes/McDonalds had an ad around the turn of the millennium, where an anthropomorphic pig was standing on the streets around Christmas shouting [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MIDusVEjcE Syökää Kanaa]], meaning "eat chicken" and telling people about promotions at [=McDonald's=]. Naturally the pig had ulterior motives for this, namely the fact that during the traditional Finnish Christmas dinner is ham. |
| 50 | [[/folder]] |
| 51 | |
| 52 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 53 | * ''ComicBook/{{Annihilation}}:'' House Fiyero, who seized control of the Kree Empire in a coup, eventually sell out to the Wave. They try to justify it on a dozen grounds, ignoring their refusal to help fight the Wave (or at least, fight it ''sensibly'') in the first place is what's led to their situation. Ronan the Accuser ain't having any of it. |
| 54 | * ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'': Cassius Ceramix in ''Asterix and the Big Fight'' is one played for laughs: he forces his village to adhere to Roman customs to an absurd degree (for example, he orders an aqueduct to be built in the village despite a river running right through it. When someone points this out, he orders that the river be ''diverted'' because "aqueducts are more ROMAN!") and addresses the Roman [[VillainOfTheWeek Villains of the Week]] as "our beloved invaders." |
| 55 | * ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': Wally West's father Rudy West was revealed to have been an agent of the Manhunters, a race of KnightTemplar alien robots, since before Wally was even born. He tries to recruit Wally to his cause, but obviously he isn't interested. And then as soon as the Manhunters are beaten, [[DirtyCoward he fakes his death]], only resurfacing during the ''next'' alien invasion (this time ostensibly on Earth's side). |
| 56 | * ''ComicBook/TheFlintstones'': Mr. Slate once the aliens arrive at Bedrock. |
| 57 | -->'''Mr. Slate:''' The people of Earth are honored by your visit. And should you ever need a puppet dictator to rule on your behalf... well, I am the richest guy in town. |
| 58 | * ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'': [[spoiler:Hawley Griffin betrays the group and sides with the Martians. He plans on becoming the ruler of the earth along with the Martians, to ensure his own [[DramaticIrony survival]]. He]] ends up ''first against the wall'', beaten and raped to death by [[SociopathicHero one of the good guys]]. |
| 59 | * ''ComicBook/{{Savage}}'' has two major examples, both of whom were installed as Prime Minister by the Volgans once the UK has been conquered. In the original run, this was a man named Simon Creepton, while the 2004 revival has a pastiche of Tony Blair nicknamed "Scooty". |
| 60 | * ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion2008'': The Skrulls plan to set up local Governors. Moonstone claims to be one, asking the Skrulls for control of South America if she helps them. However, this is a trick. |
| 61 | * ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': Most of Dr. Eggman's Grandmasters/Egg Bosses are this to some degree, either having joined Eggman after he conquered their people for a position of power or joined him before the conquering under the hopes of getting a position of power once he got around to it. The biggest example, however, is Mordred Hood pre- ''and'' post-CosmicRetcon, who sold out his nation in both continuities just so Eggman would put him in charge. |
| 62 | * ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'': The idea of MyMasterRightOrWrong is repeatedly explored as a samurai ideal throughout the series, with Lord Hebi (a giant snake) serving Lord Hikiji faithfully despite his constant scheming to one day become the Shogun. That is, until the BadFuture of ''Senso'', where Hikiji [[spoiler:collaborates with the invading Martians]] and does nothing to stop them from attacking his own people. This is too much for Hebi, who proceeds to ''destroy'' his master by picking him up and repeatedly bashing him against the ground, getting scorched shortly after. |
| 63 | * ''ComicBook/XMen'': The ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'' versions of [[ComicBook/TheInhumans Maximus the Mad]], Deadpool, Donald Pierce, Arcade, [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Norman Osborn, Wilson]] [[ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} Fisk, Matt Murdock, and the Owl]] were all too willing to toward their lot in with Apocalypse despite not being mutants themselves. |
| 64 | [[/folder]] |
| 65 | |
| 66 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 67 | * In the ''ComicStrip/DanDare'' story "Operation Saturn", an aristocratic scientist called Blasco plans to conquer Earth with help from the Rootha, the ruling aristocracy of the moons of Saturn. On arrival, he discovers that the Rootha are in fact Quislings themselves (and the strip explicitly calls them this). The true ruler of Saturnia is a being called Vora, who came from outer space. Vora actually intends to set Blasco up in a similar position to the Rootha, and Blasco is entirely willing to go along with this. Their fates? [[spoiler: Dan helps Saturnian rebels overthrow Vora, who sets off to conquer Earth and abandons the Rootha to the mercy of the rebels. Later, in a desperate struggle to save Earth, Digby accidentally knocks Blasco's space helmet off and he suffocates. Seeing this, a defeated Vora then turns his guns on himself]]. |
| 68 | [[/folder]] |
| 69 | |
| 70 | [[folder:Film — Live-Action]] |
| 71 | * ''Film/{{Balibo}}'': Roger at one point discovers an East Timorese man being tortured by the FRELIJIN for selling out to the Indonesians. |
| 72 | * In ''Film/{{Bumblebee}}'', Dr. Powell -- a scientist of government agency Sector Seven -- ends up stumbling into this role once they establish FirstContact with the Decepticons, gleefully cooperating with their new alien encounters and exchanging knowledge of their communications technology. Powell has a somewhat reasonable paranoia that if the US military doesn't take advantage of this discovery, [[RedScare the Soviets will]] (it is TheEighties, after all), but he has [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter a much less reasonable assumption that their visitors are benevolent]] in spite of calling themselves ''[[ObviouslyEvil Decepticons]]'' ([[LampshadeHanging a fact that's even pointed out to him]]). [[spoiler:He only comes to realize they've made a terrible mistake once they start announcing their plans to invite the rest of their kin to destroy Earth, [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness and he pays the price for it]].]] |
| 73 | * Captain Louis Renault in ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'', the Vichy French ''prefet de police'' nominally subservient to the Nazi German invaders. He professes to have no real loyalties, that he "blows with the wind" out of pure self-interest. He certainly has no respect for the Nazis themselves, as [[TeethClenchedTeamwork he does the absolute minimum to help them whenever they come stomping into his jurisdiction]]. [[spoiler:In the end, Rick Blaine's example reawakens Captain Renault's own idealism, and he joins Rick in the Allied resistance.]] |
| 74 | * ''[[Film/EdgeOfDarkness1943 Edge of Darkness]]'': Johann was a follower of ''the'' Quisling, having gone over to the Germans in 1940 when they invaded Norway. He regrets it. |
| 75 | * Many of the former Dead Rabbits in ''Film/GangsOfNewYork'', but especially [[spoiler:Happy Jack Mulraney, who had become one of Bill the Butcher's most valuable men, and whose death marks the return of the Dead Rabbits]]. |
| 76 | * ''Film/GoyasGhosts'': Lorenzo is a complex case. He represents the invading French forces that cruelly oppress the Spanish, but he also represents modern, enlightened ideas in opposition to the Spanish Inquisition whose leaders he persecutes. |
| 77 | * ''Film/IpMan'', starring Donnie Yen, has a normally Wiggum-esque police chief become this when the Japanese invade China. [[spoiler:Has a last-minute HeelFaceTurn after Ip Man is shot; he kills the Japanese officer who did it and helps the Chinese citizens in fighting the occupying Japanese forces, allowing Ip Man and his family to escape to Hong Kong.]] |
| 78 | * ''Film/MarsAttacks'': When the Martians attack Las Vegas, Joe Weinberg (Creator/DannyDeVito) tries to sell out to the Martians, even offering them his watch. [[EvenEvilHasStandards The Martians are clearly disgusted with his cowardly betrayal of his own kind]], shooting him with a ray that kills him ''far'' more slowly and painfully than usual for them. |
| 79 | * ''Film/MenWithoutWings'': Ullmann, the boss of the Czech workers at the airport in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. Ullmann is a Sudeten German, one of the ethnic-German Czech citizens who helped destabilize and partition the country in 1938, eventually facilitating the 1939 Nazi takeover. He suspects, but can't prove, that his people are conducting sabotage. |
| 80 | * The reverse-mole type of Quisling is exemplified by Tom Reagan in ''Film/MillersCrossing''. Cast out by Irish-mob boss Leo O'Bannon for fooling around with Leo's mistress, he joins up with Johnny Caspar's rising Italian-American gang, but only to take Caspar down from within and save Leo. A Campbellian heroic archetype: To save his own side he sacrifices his honor; this is pointedly an irreversible sacrifice. At the end, Leo invites Tom back into the fold but he can't accept. |
| 81 | * Two examples from the German film ''Novembermond'': Played straight with a male character who fits the LesCollaborateurs trope, and pretended at by Fèrial to act as TheMole. |
| 82 | * ''Red Dawn'': |
| 83 | ** The [[Film/RedDawn1984 original film]] has Mayor Bates of Calumet, Colorado, as a reluctant collaborator, especially given that the Soviet and Cuban occupiers are shooting his townspeople in retaliation for the guerrilla actions of the Wolverines. Despite this (or maybe because of it), [[spoiler:he turns in his own guerrilla son to the KGB, who force him to turn traitor (for which he gets executed by his friends). It's never shown what, if anything, happens to the Mayor.]] |
| 84 | ** Likewise in the [[Film/RedDawn2012 remake]] the mayor of Tacoma, Washington is also one, but only because he is entirely concerned for his citizens' own safety and well-being. He doesn't like the invasion, but he knows that the best thing he can do is to make the transition as easy and peaceful for his people as possible. When the time comes that the mayor may end up being killed in a Wolverine operation, the mayor's son apologizes to himself and says that it's for the greater good. |
| 85 | * ''Film/SupermanII'' has Lex Luthor join Zod to help him against Superman, asking in exchange for [[ShinyNewAustralia control of Australia]]. |
| 86 | * ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'' has [[spoiler:Dylan]] and his late father, from whom he inherited the Decepticons as a "client". He actually takes this to confusingly extreme measures, suggesting they kill their Autobot prisoners and fighting tooth and nail for the Cons to win, even though it's pretty clear the Autobots are winning and they don't really care much for his deal with them to begin with so he'd be safer just letting the Autobots win. Then FridgeBrilliance sets in and you realize that he'd rather die than have the Cons lose, because after what he did he'd be considered a war criminal for assisting aliens in enslaving his own species. Comic backstory goes even further, revealing he craves power (to the extent that the look in his eyes reminds Soundwave of Megatron and gives him a measure of respect) and the idea of being the middleman boss to a planet of slaves, answering directly to Megatron is very tempting to him. |
| 87 | * Kirkland in ''Film/TromasWar''. He gets his. |
| 88 | * ''Film/TronLegacy'': The Administrative Program Jarvis will salute whoever looks to be in power. [[spoiler:Finally, Clu has [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness enough]] of Jarvis and casually de-rezzes him without breaking a stride.]] |
| 89 | * ''Film/{{Volhynia}}''. The Ukrainian administrator of the village serves the Poles, the Soviets, the Germans, and finally the UPA with the same level of shameless flattery and enthusiasm. |
| 90 | [[/folder]] |
| 91 | |
| 92 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 93 | * "[[http://www.stthomasu.ca/~hunt/braytext.htm The Vicar of Bray]]" cheerfully recounts the Vicar's unending deference to whoever is power. |
| 94 | -->''And this is law, I will maintain\ |
| 95 | Unto my Dying Day, Sir.\ |
| 96 | That whatsoever King may reign,\ |
| 97 | I will be the Vicar of Bray, Sir!'' |
| 98 | * Music/BillBailey notes in his song "Insect Nation" that crabs will be the "sideways Quislings" during the inevitable BugWar, joining with the insects despite not being insects. He also adds that the spiders will also side with the insects even though [[ShownTheirWork they're not insects either]]. |
| 99 | [[/folder]] |
| 100 | |
| 101 | [[folder:Religion]] |
| 102 | * ''Literature/TheBible'': |
| 103 | ** [[Literature/BookOfJeremiah Jeremiah the prophet]] was considered this by his fellow Israelites when he (or rather, God through the prophet) advised the kingdom of Judah to surrender to the Babylonians so that their lives would be spared and that Jerusalem would not be destroyed. Unfortunately, they ignored his advice, and thus Jerusalem was sacked, and the people were deported to Babylon, where they remained until the time of the Medo-Persian Empire. |
| 104 | ** The Bible often makes a point of how Roman tax collectors are seen as the worst kind of people due to this. And yet even they are not beyond redemption. |
| 105 | [[/folder]] |
| 106 | |
| 107 | [[folder:Puppet Shows]] |
| 108 | * ''Series/KingdomAdventure'': Magistrate Pitts is helping to bring Lumia under [[SorcerousOverlord Zordock's]] control, and owes his position as Magistrate to Zordock in the first place. |
| 109 | [[/folder]] |
| 110 | |
| 111 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 112 | * In the Paizo ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' campaign, "Rise of the Runelords," [[spoiler: Mokmurian, leader of the giants]] was this to [[spoiler: Karzoug]] as giants were viewed as slaves in ancient Thassilon, not as generals or lords of some sort. This doesn't stop him from [[spoiler: doing his level best to wipe out humanity so Karzoug can have lots of souls.]] |
| 113 | * ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' |
| 114 | ** This is how Chaos cults starts on any world in this game's Crapsack Universe. Each Chaos God promises power in return for loyalty and worship, although the power they grant you [[DealWithTheDevil is often at a high cost]], and most don't survive it. This is why the Inquisition works so hard to root out chaos since there's always one guy who'd want the Dark God's more tangible gifts (as compared to the less pleasant Imperial faith). Chaos being made of demons and evil, they tend to regret it. |
| 115 | ** Also, Gue'vasa is the Tau name for humans who have turned their back on the [[TheEmpire Imperium of Man]] to serve the [[TheAlliance Tau Empire]]. They are mostly the descendants of Imperial Guardsmen who were abandoned in Tau territory after the Damocles Crusade, but occasionally, Imperial border worlds will rebel against Imperial control and secede to the expanding Tau Empire. This is used in meta to [[HandWave justify]] skirmish battles between the two factions, as they fight over control over the worlds; the [[http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Taros_Campaign#.UIlGSsXoTbA Taros Campaign]] is a prominent example of this. |
| 116 | ** Herman von Strab, the ex-Military Governor of Armageddon, became this to ''the Orks'' of all races when he sided with Ghazghkull Thraka during the Third War for Armageddon, hoping to regain his position after being overthrown due to his incredibly incompetent handling of the Second War for Armageddon. Ghaz kept von Strab around for a while to taunt his Imperial opponents, but eventually tired of it and had von Strab killed. |
| 117 | [[/folder]] |
| 118 | |
| 119 | [[folder:Visual Novel]] |
| 120 | * ''VisualNovel/{{Gnosia}}'' has the AC Supporter role, who's human, but is there to HELP the Gnosia (humans infected by the titular virus originating from the entity Gnos) take over the ship by lying their way through, with high stats able to convince someone on the crew is an impostor or talk their way out. |
| 121 | * ''VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}} 4: The Captain's Return'' introduces Miirage Foster, a Ceran politician campaigning for the position of planetary prime minister on a pro-PACT platform. You know, the faction that conquered Cera seven years earlier and turned its capital city into a glass crater. She wins the election after her only real competition, Ava Crescentia, is removed from the picture, and is shown doing her best to turn the world's population against Kayto Shields (who has spent the entire series [[FightingForAHomeland fighting to free Cera from its PACT conquerors]]) at the end of the game. In a twist, Foster genuinely believes the rhetoric that PACT is a force for good in the galaxy and that humankind would be better off under Veniczar Fontana's leadership. Kayto doesn't share her sentiments, and the two view each other as traitors to their homeworld. |
| 122 | [[/folder]] |
| 123 | |
| 124 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 125 | * In ''d20monkey'', Dove tries to win an important ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' tournament by pledging service to the BigBad of the adventure and offering Dallas, the only other surviving character, as a sacrifice. [[spoiler:When Dallas calls upon a construct of vengeance as retribution for this backstab, Dove tries to pledge himself to it as well, only to be [[KarmicDeath smooshed into a bloody paste instantly without as much as a charisma roll for his attempt.]]]] |
| 126 | * ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': |
| 127 | ** Captain Vole is a Jagerkin example of this trope; the only one of their kind to utterly discard his loyalty to the Heterodynes to serve Baron Wulfenbach, Vole doesn't consider himself a Jager and seems to relish the idea of destroying what is left of the Heterodynes so the Jagers have no choice but to follow his lead. Because of the friction this causes with the other Jagers (who all serve Wulfenbach while awaiting the Heterodynes' return), Vole has been forcibly assigned to Mechanicsburg -- the only town in Europa the Jagerkin cannot enter. |
| 128 | ** See also Doctor Silas Merlot. When Dr. Beetle is killed, Merlot attempts to pose the suggestion to Baron Wulfenbach that no one need know that the well-respected Beetle is kaputski. Unfortunately, the Baron is a little smarter and a bit more principled than most overlords; he despises traitors, and not just because a man willing to change sides that easily certainly can't be trusted to stay loyal to you. Merlot's punishment? He has to run Beetleburg, after the populace has been made aware that Dr. Beetle's death was the direct result of Merlot's petulant theatrics. He doesn't learn, either. |
| 129 | * ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': |
| 130 | ** Eridan Ampora attempts to become this. [[spoiler: He gets as far as murdering Feferi and Kanaya, destroying the Matriorb and blinding Sollux in a duel before Kanaya [[OurVampiresAreDifferent comes back as a rainbow drinker]] [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing and dispatches him with her chainsaw.]]]] |
| 131 | ** And, as it turns out, [[spoiler:Gamzee]]. He's the only character who hasn't been tricked into following Doc Scratch's plans. (Rose did work with Scratch, but she had no idea what [[spoiler: his true plan for her was.]]) |
| 132 | ** Numerous celebrities become this on Post-Scratch Earth, most notably Music/InsaneClownPosse and Guy Fieri. |
| 133 | * Tsukiko the necromancer in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', who joins the Azurite military solely so she can switch sides and help Xykon at the first opportunity. And a couple other prisoners the Paladins released. In retrospect, that was a universally bad decision on their part, as the prisoners seem to all be Chaotic Evil and immediately started looking for ways to join Xykon. Belkar was offered the chance to do so and turned it down solely because he thought it was funnier to throw a cat in Tsukiko's face. Yes, folks, in ''Dungeons & Dragons'', being the Quisling can be a major part of your morality and/or religion! |
| 134 | * Subverted in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'': At first the crew of the ''Cynthetic Certainty'' think they're dealing with Andromedian residents who have chosen to side with the [[BigBad Pa'anuri]]. [[spoiler:Turns out the Pa'anuri ''built'' them, or had the first ones built. And can imprint copies of their minds on their organic robots.]] |
| 135 | * In ''Webcomic/{{Vattu}}'', the title character encounters another slave who reveres the Sahtan civilization and scorns the fluters that he came from. |
| 136 | [[/folder]] |
| 137 | |
| 138 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 139 | * ''WebVideo/AldriversDevourerOfCos'': [[TheDragon Tony Hawk]] is this because he sold out humanity to [[BigBad Joan Rivers]] for "extreme sexual powers". |
| 140 | * In an article about a computer learning to play "Pong" from ''[=EGMi=]'', EGM's digital magazine, the writer of the article said, "I'd like to be the first to welcome our new computer overlords as that's how a lot of apocalyptic science-fiction novels start." |
| 141 | * In ''RolePlay/WeAreAllPokemonTrainers'', during the [=RtAU=] arc, where dragons turn most of humanity into Pokémon, Vallok gets some draconic humons to betray their species in return for better treatment, including Benjamin's old classmate Reggie, who now goes by [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Julkriid]]. |
| 142 | * ''WebVideo/WorldWarTwo'': The show depicts the TropeNamer's attempts to establish a fascist government in Norway, only to be brushed aside by Germany dealing with the legitimate government it has overthrown. |
| 143 | [[/folder]] |
| 144 | |
| 145 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 146 | * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidkun_Quisling Vidkun Quisling]], the real life TropeNamer, was a Norwegian fascist politician. Prior to this, he was known for his humanitarian work in Russia and Armenia with Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen. Nazi Germany invaded Norway on April 9th 1940 and, hoping for an easy capitulation like Denmark the day previous, asked Quisling to form his own government. Quisling attempted to do so, only to find he had no popular support and no one listened to him. The Germans attempted to negotiate support for him with the King of Norway and the government in exile but were flatly refused. He was finally appointed Minister President of Norway in 1942. When Germany lost the war, he was convicted of high treason and [[ShotAtDawn sentenced to death by firing squad]] (did we mention that Norway reinstated the death penalty ''just for him?'' No? Well, they did that). The TropeNamer was created in an editorial in [[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers The Times]] in 1940 and quickly picked up by other news agencies and UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill. |
| 147 | -->''"To writers, the word Quisling is a gift from the gods. If they had been ordered to invent a new word for traitor... they could hardly have hit upon a more brilliant combination of letters. Aurally it contrives to suggest something at once slippery and tortuous."'' |
| 148 | ** Vidkun Quisling's example was actually preceded by that of Artur Seyss-Inquart, who succeeded Kurt Schuschnigg as Chancellor of Austria and held the office for all of two days before handing over control of Austria to Germany in 1938 (the ''Anschluss''). As reward, he was appointed the governor of the newly-created German territory of Austria. Since Austria under his rule was fully on board with the military annexations of Czechoslovakia and Poland, and enthusiastically took part in the Holocaust, after the war Seyss-Inquart was condemned as a war criminal at Nuremberg and executed. |
| 149 | * The United States has a much older "Quisling" in the form of '''UsefulNotes/BenedictArnold''', whose name has become synonymous with "traitor" in American English. As a general in [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution the rebel Continental Army]], Arnold performed a number of particularly courageous acts, but a combination of financial troubles and [[DudeWheresMyRespect a perceived lack of recognition by his peers]] convinced him to sell out his comrades to the British. He tried to take a fort (West Point, today the site of the US Military Academy) with him, but his plot failed and he ultimately fled back to Britain. Recent scholarship suggests that Arnold's wife [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_Shippen Peggy Shippen Arnold]] might have [[LadyMacbeth instigated the betrayal]], though at the time she was cleared of charges. Some also say that there was a religious motive – as a staunch Protestant, he didn't like the idea of the Rebels accepting aid from Catholic France. The famous [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_Monument Boot Monument]] was erected in honor of his heroism at the Battle of Saratoga, but due to his later betrayal, it is the only US war memorial to exclude any mention of the honoree's name. Instead it simply alludes to his identity by describing his actions and the wound he received (a bullet to the foot, hence his boot being honored rather than the man himself). Historians believe that had he died in that battle, the name "Benedict Arnold" would probably be associated with schools, forts, and warships [[WhatCouldHaveBeen named in honor of a national war hero]]. |
| 150 | * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Jingwei Wang Jingwei]], one-time heir to Sun Yat-Sen until Generalissimo UsefulNotes/ChiangKaiShek asserted himself as the leader of the KMT/GMD with the backing of the military. In 1940 he became President of the [[LesCollaborateurs Wang Jingwei regime]] based out of the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo Japanese-occupied areas of China]]. His name is considered a byword for supreme treachery to a degree that makes [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution Benedict Arnold's]] look petty. Fortunately for him, he died of natural causes in '44, though his wife was tried and found guilty of treason at the post-war Nanjing War Crimes trial. To be fair, Wang had good cause to believe that his defection could ensure that the relationship between China and Japan would be one of co-operation and not exploitation. [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Additionally, the KMT had been forced to stoop to extreme levels to stop the brutal Japanese onslaught]]. Their "scorched earth" policy, while largely successful, killed hundreds of thousands in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1938_Yellow_River_flood a man-made flood]] and a [[SenselessSacrifice completely pointless]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1938_Changsha_fire fire]]. Wang hoped that with Japanese military backing, he could put an end to the war, topple Chiang's military dictatorship and rebuild China. However, the political situation changed as Japan moved to strike out at the Allies and the USA, and he quickly became little more than a puppet. All he could really do from then on was try to limit the worst excesses of the Japanese Army as they bled his country dry. Recent Chinese and Western assessments of Wang helped reinforce this view, and pointed out his important contributions during the [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors Xinhai Revolution]]. Nowadays, Wang is seen as a pitiable, naive fool within China, rather than a despicable coward. |
| 151 | ** In general, Chinese Quislings are referred to in Chinese as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanjian Hanjian]]. Note that this refers specifically to ''Chinese'' traitors (and specially, those who betray China to foreigners, as opposed betraying one Chinese ruler or faction in favor of another); traitors from other countries are referred to with another, more general word. |
| 152 | * Puyi, the [[PuppetKing "emperor"]] of "Manchukuo", the Japanese puppet state in UsefulNotes/{{Manchuria}}. He quickly found he didn't much care for the job and was constantly at odds with the Japanese and their exploitative zaibatsu corporations; the only reason he took it on was that the Japanese wanted a monarchist Quisling to rule the northeast, and he happened to be the only candidate for the job (having previously been the legitimate [[UsefulNotes/DynastiesFromShangToQing Qing Dynasty]] Emperor of China before the [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors Xinhai Revolution]]). After the war, he was imprisoned by the Soviets, then handed over to Communist China. He was then imprisoned and rehabilitated by them and finally released after ten years, now a very humbled and devoted Communist. [[RefreshinglyNormalLifeChoice He lived out a relatively normal life afterward]]. He married his fourth wife, wrote his autobiography, and gave interviees before dying of natural causes at the age 61. |
| 153 | * Pierre Laval, who was TheManBehindTheMan to Marshal Pétain in the Vichy French regime, and the reason "LesCollaborateurs" is a French phrase. Laval had been obsessively anti-Nazi and anti-German prior to the fall of France, but afterward decided the Nazis were the inevitable winners and did everything possible to ingratiate himself to them. Formerly a prominent member of the Socialist Party, [[BrokenPedestal Laval's defection disgusted the French left-wing to no end, with the socialists chanting "Death to Laval" as a rallying cry]], that the rest of France quickly picked up. When France was freed from Nazi rule, both Pétain and Laval were sentenced to death, though Pétain got his sentence commuted to life imprisonment by [[UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle de Gaulle]]. Laval, lacking Pétain's record of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI [[FallenHero heroism]], advanced age and [[WeUsedToBeFriends past friendship]] with de Gaulle, was given no such mercy. |
| 154 | * [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrey_Vlasov Andrey Vlasov]], a former Soviet general who defected to Germany during World War II and founded the collaborationist Russian Liberation Army, is the most infamous example of a pro-German collaborationist from the Soviet Union, to the point that his namesakes (Vlasov is a relatively common surname for Russians) during the Soviet times often noted in their questionnaires that they have no relation with the traitor-general. |
| 155 | * The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belarusian_Central_Rada Belarusian Central Rada]] was a collaborator's government made up of Belarusians previously involved in anti-Red/pro-White fighting in the region during the Russian Civil War. |
| 156 | * In one of the greatest ironies of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini ended up becoming one himself during the Italian Campaign in the later years of the conflict. Early in the war, he had been the very first fascist dictator to rise to power, eleven whole years before UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler and UsefulNotes/NaziGermany, and he'd had plans to carve out a "new Roman Empire" across the Mediterranean, for which he would inevitably need Quislings of his own. However, the Allies and his own monumental incompetence thwarted those plans and in 1943, the Allies singled him out to be the first Axis leader to fall. After the invasion of Sicily, with the Italian people angry and fed up with him, Mussolini was overthrown by King Victor Emmanuel III and General Badoglio, who signed an armistice that effectively saw Italy change sides and join the Allies. The Nazis didn't like that and ordered the troops they had in the country to take Italy back. German commandos freed Mussolini from his prison and he was appointed head of the "Italian Social Republic", or RSI. However, the RSI was just a puppet state for the Nazis, with Mussolini and his fellow Italian fascists now fully subservient to Hitler and the ''Wehrmacht''. He was so hated by his own people that when he was finally recaptured near the end of the war, he was executed by firing squad and his body was unceremoniously strung up in public. |
| 157 | * AncientRome: |
| 158 | ** One of AncientRome's favored tactics for conquest was to promise a local chieftain that he would be able to rule as a petty king over the conquered land if he agreed to provide information or troops to the Romans. What made it particularly effective was that the Romans punctiliously kept their word; submit, and Roman armies would protect you from others; don't submit, and the results would be very messy and very bad for you. |
| 159 | ** The Romans created cultural quislings where they would demand the pliant chieftains' sons as "hostages" and ship them to Rome, where they would be treated to the high life and the best Roman culture could give. This resulted in the heirs becoming thoroughly Romanized and converting a previously "barbarian" kingdom into a miniature Rome. It backfired with the Germans, however: instead of GoingNative, Cherusci chief [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arminius Arminius]] used his Roman military training to plan what became the first successful bid for independence by a Roman territory. Though for the most part, this system worked. Conquered lands became increasingly Romanized over the decades, and Roman citizenship eventually extended almost all residents of the Roman Empire (aside from slaves). |
| 160 | ** UsefulNotes/TheBritishEmpire copied this by setting up British-style schools and universities all over the empire, and by [[MajoredInWesternHypocrisy sending the sons of native rulers (and some bright commoners) to Eton and Oxford]]; this was also the purpose behind the Rhodes Scholarship, set up by colonialist Cecil Rhodes, to educate suitable people and preferably give them an appreciation of the British point of view on world affairs. Nehru, as one of these, was considered "the last Englishman to rule India". Likewise, the native leaders of [[VoluntaryVassal princely states]] within UsefulNotes/TheRaj could also be considered this. |
| 161 | * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephialtes_of_Trachis Ephialtes of Trachis]] is remembered in Greece in the same way that Quisling is in Norway, and "Ephialtes" has become a synonym for traitor. He betrayed the Hellenites and joined the Persians during the Battle of Thermopylae, showing them a mountain path that allowed the Persian forces to outflank the Spartan and other Hellenic forces that were defending the narrow pass. After the Persians were defeated, the Spartans put a bounty on his head. He was eventually killed in a bar fight by someone who knew nothing of the bounty, but [[PetTheDog the Spartans tracked the killer down and paid him anyway.]] |
| 162 | * Alaa Hussein Ali, Saddam Hussein's puppet leader following the invasion of Kuwait. Prior to the war he had held dual Kuwaiti/Iraqi citizenship. He had grown up in Kuwait and later went to Iraq to study. While there he joined Saddam's ruling political faction, the Baathist Party. Sometime after returning home he joined the Kuwaiti Army and held the rank of lieutenant when the invasion began. But rather than fight the invasion, he latched on to it and was appointed head of the "Republic of Kuwait" puppet regime. However, just one week later Saddam declared Kuwait was now part of Iraq and rewarded Ali by making him Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq. After Kuwait was liberated and Saddam's [[CurbStompBattle army utterly devastated by Coalition forces]], Ali disappeared. He wasn't seen or heard from until 1998, seven years later, when he turned up in Norway. He returned to Kuwait in 2000 where he was convicted of treason. |
| 163 | * After the American Civil War, the formerly little-used term "scalawag" (meaning "scoundrel") became widely known as a term of abuse for Southerners allied with the North during the war and Reconstruction. |
| 164 | * The equivalent term in South Asia (or at least in the Bengal region) is 'Mir Jafar'. Mir Jafar was a courtier and a general in the court of the Nawab of Bengal, Sirajuddowla. He made a pact with Robert Clive of the East India Company and during the historical Battle of Plassey, stood by and did nothing while Sirajuddowla's army was slaughtered by the British Army. This treachery thus led to the beginning of the Company's political domination of India and eventually to the British Raj and 200 years of political, economic, and social domination. |
| 165 | ** The term 'Jaychand' predates the above by about seven hundred years in northern and western Hindi speaking regions. Maharaja Jaychand notoriously refused to send help when the Rajput king Prithviraj Chauhan was attempting to repel an invasion by the Afghan Muslim warlord Muhammad Ghori. Jaychand’ s reason for betraying Prithviraj was due to the latter eloping with his daughter. This betrayal resulted In Prithviraj’s death and Ghori gaining a strong foothold for what would eventually become the Muslim conquest of Northern India, culminating in the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate. |
| 166 | * People who suck up to invaders don't always end up condemned by history. |
| 167 | ** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Nevsky Alexander Nevsky]] was a Russian prince who first rose to prominence as a military leader in the aftermath of the Mongol invasions of 1223-1240, winning several victories against invading Catholic armies. Rather than try to fight the Mongols, he did everything he could to placate them. He was successful; Russia ended up with a better deal from the Mongols than they gave to other nations they had invaded and conquered. Today, Alexander Nevsky is considered a national hero of Russia and is a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church. In a context, he is more of a rare HeelFaceTurn example. |
| 168 | *** Nevsky's good name derives in part from the fact that the Catholics (the Swedes, Germans, and Poles) were trying to convert the Russians to Catholicism, while the Mongols didn't give a damn what church the Russians were members of so long as they paid tribute. |
| 169 | *** The first few princes of Moscow - starting with Daniel, Alexander Nevsky's youngest son - continued collaborating, and were able to expand their territory and conquer other petty Russian principalities with the approval and sometimes active support of the Mongols. Eventually, the Muscovite state grew strong enough to first break free from Mongol rule and then [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge conquer all the remnants of the Golden Horde]]. |
| 170 | ** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_P._Laurel Jose P. Laurel]] is today mostly known as the president of Japanese puppet government of the Philippines during World War II, but he had an illustrious political career both before and after the war. Although in his case it was actually a subversion because he was basically told to do so by the exiled president, Manuel L. Quezon. He was thus this, PromotedToScapegoat, TheMole and MoleInCharge. |
| 171 | ** Also in the Philippines, president [[http:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilio_Aguinaldo Emilio Aguinaldo]] was more of a straight example of this trope, and it actually happened to him ''twice''; first during the [[UsefulNotes/SpanishAmericanWar Philippine Insurrection]], when he surrendered to the Americans and assisted in helping them fight the remaining anti-American resistance, and later during World War II, when he sided with the Japanese and gave a radio speech urging American and Filipino forces to surrender to Japan. In fact, the latter example led Aguinaldo to be lambasted as this by name by the American press. |
| 172 | * One of the reasons why the beatification of Croatian archbishop [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloysius_Stepinac Aloysius Stepinac]] is divisive among Catholics is that he has been accused of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_clergy_involvement_with_the_Ustase being this]] to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ustasha the Ustasha]], the horrifyingly brutal Nazi-inspired group that ruled Croatia during UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo. His defenders say that he ''initially'' welcomed the Independent State of Croatia, but by 1942 he had started to openly condemn the Nazi-aligned state's atrocities against Jews and Serbs, and even spoke against the Ustasha in public, but was unable to do a lot to help the Ustasha's victims. |
| 173 | * Only the truly famous or infamous are known to history by a single name. One of these is Bessos. Bessos was a Persian nobleman who ruled Sogdia, the largest province in the Persian Empire. After the battle of Gaugamela as the Great King was fleeing to the Persian heartland with Alexander breathing down their necks, Bessos and another nobleman plotted to kill him. This action guaranteed Alexander's victory, which Bessos and his cronies had hoped to be rewarded by Alexander for. Alexander was (depending on the source) either smarter, more honorable, or more idealistic than Bessos realized. Bessos' role in the plot was revealed, and the Sogdians captured him and tied him to a post on the side of a road with a sign reading "this is Bessos the dog" in Greek around his neck. Alexander, for his case only, decided to use the standard Persian punishment for treason: impalement. Normally he employed the somewhat more humane Macedonian punishment of a poisoned arrow. Basically, Bessos is the guy who killed the Achaemenid Empire. Oops. |
| 174 | * In 1306, English forces besieging Scottish rebels at Kildrummy Castle managed to bribe a royal Scottish blacksmith named Osbourne who, in exchange for all the gold he could carry, set fire to the defenders' food supply. Once the castle was taken, the English, who were disgusted by his greed, [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves melted the gold and poured it down his throat]]. |
| 175 | * Believe it or not, some Jews were this to the Nazis during UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust. Adam Czerniakow, head of the Warsaw Ghetto, and Jozef Andrzej Szerynski, chief of ghetto police, were both Polish Jews who chose to suck up to the Nazis to avoid extermination, as were Chaim Rumkowski, head of the Lodz Ghetto, and Moshe Merin, who was in charge of overseeing the deportation of Jews from East Upper Silesia. None of them would survive the war, either by deportation to a concentration camp or suicide. |
| 176 | * Former President Rodrigo Duterte, and his administration, have been accused of being this - kowtowing to the Chinese and alienating both fellow Filipinos and the US military, by surrendering Sea of Asia/West Philippine Sea to the Chinese (and blaming local fishermen whenever they get harassed by the Chinese Coast Guard instead of supporting them) and (unsuccessfully) attempting to oust them from the island respectively. This became prevalent once it is [[https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/902440/senate-probe-into-gentleman-s-agreement-between-duterte-china-sought/story/ revealed]] that Duterte had a gentleman's agreement with Xi Jingping which reveals that the Philippine government are not to send in repair materials to a grounded (and rusting) warship stationed at a disputed territory, basically dooming the marines posted there to a slow infrastructure decay and leaving them to their fate. |
| 177 | %%* When some Filipinos defend the actions of the Chinese Coast Guard firing a pressurized water hose on a Filipino supply ship on route to BRP Sierra Madre, PCG Spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela have [[https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2023/08/11/2287784/pcg-pro-china-filipinos-traitors this to say]] to the nation's traitors. |
| 178 | %%--> ''"If you are a Filipino, whether in government or private sector, regardless of your politics, defending and making excuses for China’s aggressive behavior should deem you unpatriotic, and a traitor to the Philippines and to our people."'' |
| 179 | [[/folder]] |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext Main / TheQuisling
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
