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| 6 | [[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/TheUltimates2002 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hulk_83.png]]]] |
| 7 | [[caption-width-right:350:WARNING: [[ShutUpHannibal Actual results may vary]].]] |
| 8 | %% |
| 9 | ->'''Bruce Wayne:''' People are dying, Alfred. What would you have me do?\ |
| 10 | '''Alfred:''' Endure, Master Wayne. Take it. They'll hate you for it, but that's the point of Batman. He can be the outcast. He can make the choice no one else can make: the right choice. |
| 11 | -->-- ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' |
| 12 | |
| 13 | Sometimes to make a HeroicSacrifice, a hero doesn't need to die. Sometimes they must sacrifice something else... their good name, reputation, and integrity. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | A character attempting a Zero Approval Gambit will knowingly risk -- or deliberately seek -- a ZeroPercentApprovalRating and paint themself in a bad light in order to achieve some greater good. This might involve falsely confessing to a crime they didn't commit, or it might involve them being an enormous {{Jerkass}} contrary to their true nature. The net result is that they will be hated, hunted and/or disgraced for all time. In short, they willingly become a HeroWithBadPublicity. See also SelfMadeMyth. Note that this isn't a short-term trick. A Zero Approval Gambit is usually permanent or takes a huge amount of work to undo. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | This is an inverse of VillainWithGoodPublicity. Compare GoodIsNotNice, NecessarilyEvil, NobleDemon, WhatTheHellHero, BreakHisHeartToSaveHim, and HiddenHeartOfGold. Can result in a HeroWithAnFInGood. Sometimes done to facilitate a GenghisGambit. Often a job hazard of the AgentProvocateur. Most of the time it involves becoming a SilentScapegoat. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | ---- |
| 20 | !!Examples: |
| 21 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 22 | |
| 23 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 24 | * ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': [[spoiler:Eren Yeager's final plan hinges on taking all of the world's hatred of Paradis and the Eldians on to himself. In doing so, he enables the Eldians to be in a better position to achieve lasting peace by being the heroes who saved the world from him while simultaneously showing Marley and the rest of the world the problems with how they dealt with Eldians in general. By [[MemoryGambit wiping his friends' memories of his confessions]], he allows that all to come to pass. In the long run however, people do eventually go to war again, resulting in another war in Paradis long after the conclusion of the main plot.]] |
| 25 | * In an early arc of ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', Guts taunts Theresa after he just killed her monstrous Apostle father the Count. Theresa furiously swears that she'll kill Guts someday, somehow. Guts sneers at this, but the moment he turns his head away he looks like he's on the brink of tears. After his own painful daddy issues are revealed, it's clear in hindsight that Guts was just trying to give Theresa something to help her deal with her grief. |
| 26 | ** Guts does this a lot. Since he's constantly under attack from demons and evil spirits, anyone who follows him is at risk of hideous death. Thus he makes a complete jackass of himself whenever possible, driving them off and saving their lives. This fades as he gains friends who can handle themselves in battle. |
| 27 | * One story in ''Manga/BlackJack'' has Jack look after a patient who plays the bad guy on a children's show. The patient's little brother is constantly picked on by his peers, who think that because the patient plays the villain, he ''is'' a villain. At the end of the chapter, Black Jack takes advantage of his [[TwoFaced naturally creepy appearance]] to pretend to be a bad guy attacking the little brother. The patient plays along and "defeats" him, causing the little brother to have his pride in the patient restored. |
| 28 | * ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Ryuuken appears to be engaged in a [[HeroicNeutral long-term plan]] to keep himself [[RefusalOfTheCall outcast]] from the spiritual world and his family, and hated by his son. Uryuu views Ryuuken's [[HiddenHeartOfGold dismissal of Quincies]] as a betrayal of the family heritage, refuses to live with him and doesn't trust him. When Isshin accuses Ryuuken of allowing Uryuu [[SecretTestOfCharacter to go to Hueco Mundo]] with Ichigo, Ryuuken quickly explains he simply doesn't care whether his son lives or dies. Souken states that Ryuuken's goal is [[DeclarationOfProtection protection]], but refuses to tell Uryuu what. It's very strongly implied to be Uryuu's life, which has been in grave danger from the [[ShroudedInMyth legendary]] [[TheEmperor Quincy King]] for at least nine years. It's also implied that Ryuuken is ''persona non grata'' among the Quincies; they are shocked to learn Uryuu exists and, while TheEmperor and a very few elite Quincies have mentioned Souken, Uryuu and Uryuu's mother, even they don't speak of Ryuuken. [[spoiler:However, the fact that he's beneath notice means he's able to conduct his research on one of Yhwach's abilities in secret, allowing him to discover a fatal weakness which he delivers to Uryu and allows Ichigo to kill him once and for all.]] |
| 29 | * In ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'', it's revealed this is the goal of [[spoiler:Second Princess Carissa]] in Volumes 17 and 18. [[spoiler:Angered by the United Kingdom's falling status amongst the European nations due to both her mother's more pacifistic direction of leading and the encroaching influence of the Roman Catholic Church [[TheManBehindTheMan manipulating the European Union]] into forcing the UK to commit to nuclear disarming, she decides to unleash a ''coup d'etat'' on the nation with the Knights of England and the power of [[CoolSword Curtana Original]] in order to assume power, kill off her family, and then crush all of the UK's enemies after rebuilding their military might to ensure the Catholic Church couldn't manipulate them anymore. She never really had any intentions of surviving once it was done and fully intended to be overthrown, killed, and seen by history as nothing but a tyrant if it ensured her country's security]]. This revelation causes most of the soldiers who were already wavering or even otherwise loyal to turn traitor and join the heroes [[spoiler:because they wanted to spare her from that fate]]. |
| 30 | * In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', [[spoiler: [[Characters/CodeGeassLelouchLamperouge Lelouch Lamperouge]]]] sets himself up as [[TakeOverTheWorld the emperor of the world]] and runs [[TheEmpire Britannia]] with an iron fist. He does this in order to [[GenghisGambit unite the world against a single, common enemy]]; i.e., himself. Once this is accomplished, [[spoiler:he has Suzaku assume the identity of Zero. He then orders Suzaku to assassinate him in public in the guise of Zero, thus causing the world to rally behind its hero and [[ThanatosGambit eliminating the last source of hatred on Earth]]. [[TheExtremistWasRight It works]].]] |
| 31 | ** [[spoiler:Similarly to her brother, Nunnally sets up a plan to use [[DoomsdayDevice Democles]] as a symbol of hatred, therefore uniting all the people. Of course, [[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim Lelouch won't have any of it and uses his Geass on her,]] [[HeroicSacrifice ultimately taking her place]].]] |
| 32 | * In "Side:Hope", the final episode of ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'', [[spoiler:[[VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair the students of Class 77-B]] publicly take the blame for the [[DeadlyGame Final Killing Game]] in order to ensure that the Future Foundation will be able to recover from the event and continue to help rebuild the world. They were already wanted fugitives for what they did while BrainwashedAndCrazy, so taking the fall was a non-issue]]. |
| 33 | * In ''Manga/TheDangersInMyHeart'', Ichikawa accepts an accusation from Adachi of writing his classmates’ last names down on the tombstones of a cemetery backdrop as a passive-aggressive insult. In reality, his classmate Hara wrote down common family names that just happened to include her classmates and Ichikawa was trying to protect her from their potential outrage. Things go back to normal once Hara returns to the room and clears up the misunderstanding. |
| 34 | * In ''Manga/DestinyOfTheShrineMaiden'', this is Chikane's gambit. [[spoiler:The ritual requires a priestess to kill the other. In order to save Himeko, she does this and that ([[ItWasHisSled you know what are these]]) which includes apparently [[ZeroApprovalGambit siding with Orochi]], so that Himeko will hate her enough to kill her]]. The gambit is not about saving the world, it's about saving her girlfriend. |
| 35 | * In the Edolas arc of ''Manga/FairyTail'', Mystogan wants to paint himself as the villain who made [[TheMagicGoesAway the magic go away]] (it actually ''was'' his fault) so that Pantherlily can kill him and be the hero who will unite Edolas in their time of panic. Pantherlily wants to do it the other way around. In the end, however, it is resolved when [[TheHero Natsu]] steps up as the '''[[LargeHam Great Demon King Dragneel]]''' so no one has to die. |
| 36 | * ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': [[spoiler:Roy Mustang did this when he enacted a plan to make it appear that he burned Maria Ross to death (it was actually a fake cadaver, and Ross was being sneaked out of the country). Ross was under arrest for the murder of Maes Hughes and was to be executed, so Mustang saved her life while making it appear to the higher-ups that his desire for vengeance was quenched. All the while, Ross's friends and family continue to think she's dead, making Mustang a bloodthirsty murderer in their eyes (at least until they learn the truth).]] |
| 37 | * ''Manga/GreenBox'': Sena was expecting that livestreaming the death of a country would get a lot of attention. While he got mainly death threats, some comments gave suggestions on what to wish for in order to escape the Green Box, and he got contacted by a journalist who knows a rumor about his situation, while the government has quickly worked out his whereabouts. |
| 38 | * In ''Manga/HoshinEngi'', the hero Taikobo pulls one off to ensure the safe passage of refugees through a border gate, with shades of BatmanGambit and EnforcedMethodActing. He pretends to take the side of the official of the pass and attacks one of his shills harmlessly with wind magic. This angers his {{Humanshifting}} companion Yozen so much that Yozen transforms into a highly respected general to convince the official to let the people pass. Taikobo tells the official that the 'general' is a [[CassandraTruth shapeshifter trying to trick him]], and forces him to choose which person to believe. The official arrests Taikobo and lets the refugees pass. |
| 39 | * Partially averted in ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven'' where in the fourth season, Inazuma Eleven GO, [[spoiler: [[TheAce Gouenji Shuuya]] of all people turned heel and took on the name Ishido Shuuji [[HiddenHeartOfGold in order to save soccer]] from BigBad Senguuji Daigo]]. It is partially averted since quite a few people in-universe know he's actually [[spoiler: Gouenji and vice-versa]] such that it doesn't hurt his reputation that much to anyone inside the FourthWall. In the end, his gambit paid off and his position transitioned to the leadership of LaResistance leader and BigGood Hibiki Seigou, thereby ensuring the safety of soccer for everyone. Funnily, it was played straight with the fandom. |
| 40 | * Ishigami from ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' has a tendency to redirect things to himself for others. In particular, [[spoiler:when he's falsely accused of stalking Otomo by her boyfriend to hide his rampant infidelity, he ends up suspended from school and ostracized by all his peers; while he certainly did not intend to do this, he chooses again to remain a pariah in order to protect Otomo from further pain, humiliation, and possible abuse by her boyfriend.]] |
| 41 | * ''Anime/KillLaKill'': Satsuki Kiryuin puts down pretty much everyone in her school in order to get her desired result -- [[spoiler:an army strong enough to take down her mother]]. This includes some on-the-fly lying to Ryuko [[spoiler:when Isshin's real murderer shows up]]. |
| 42 | * Jintetsu of ''Manga/{{Kurogane}}'' does this almost compulsively, since he thinks so little of himself. The most prominent example is when he [[spoiler:doesn't tell Makoto who really ruined her family (her adopted "father", Renji). This leads her to continue to believe he (Jintetsu) had done it, thus allowing her to maintain her fond memories of Renji]]. |
| 43 | * ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' has a two-person variation, wherein Zechs Merquise and Treize Khushrenada put themselves in charge of OZ, an Earth-based military organization, and then start the biggest, most terrible war they can so the common man will finally realize WarIsHell and actually do something to prevent it. This is apparently somewhat subtle in the anime; the manga and novelization have Zechs come right out and admit to this trope. |
| 44 | * The entire first season of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' is essentially this. Celestial Being appears all of a sudden and declares war against all three factions (The Union of Free Nations and Solar Energy (the Americas, Japan, and Australia), the Advanced European Union (Europe and Africa) and the Human Reform League (Russia, China and India)). Eventually, it is revealed that the small group of Celestial Being's members that the series revolves around are largely expendable and that the goal all along was essentially to piss off the three largest military powers in the world enough to make them join forces against Celestial Being, thus uniting the world and bringing an end to the conflict. It didn't work out quite as intended, as Season 2 introduces the A-LAWS, who themselves cause even more devastating conflicts than Season 1 had. |
| 45 | * In ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'', William's ultimate plan requires drawing the hatred of everyone in London and the British Empire at large as a common enemy of the people, to be defeated by them. Now, if only he weren't so darn likable... |
| 46 | * ''Literature/MyYouthRomanticComedyIsWrongAsIExpected'' is a series almost exclusively about this, as main character Hachiman Hikigaya constantly comes up with the most cynical and messy solutions to Service Club client's problems that often require him to intentionally play the bad guy. By the end of the first sixth volume (or first season in the anime), he cements himself as 'the most hated guy in school' and his friends and teacher begin trying to convince him to start thinking of his own happiness above others. The wiki even has a section detailing all instances of this he's pulled called "Social Suicides Committed by Hachiman Hikigaya." |
| 47 | * ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': |
| 48 | ** [[spoiler:Itachi Uchiha]] is probably the most intense example available, as [[spoiler:it involved him killing his parents and entire clan (except Sasuke), making himself a wanted mass murderer in the eyes of the whole world, and making his brother hate him so intensely that Sasuke chases him for years just to kill him]], all so that the world could know peace. He then also had to adopt the mask of an [[MurderInc Akatsuki]] member for years, something he hated, just to keep up the act and continue to be of use to Konoha by [[spoiler:keeping the Akatsuki away from the village]]. The gambit worked in that another major war didn't occur for about eight years. As for how it [[spoiler:affected Sasuke]]... |
| 49 | ** In a lighter example (though tragic as well), under the Fourth Kazekage's orders Yashamaru told Gaara that he'd never loved him and in fact hated him, that Gaara was not and never would be loved, because he blamed Gaara for his sister's death, and that his sister had also never loved Gaara and was using him to exact revenge on Suna. In reality, Yashamaru did legitimately love him, and the person he truly hated was the Fourth Kazekage, Gaara's father and Yashamaru's brother-in-law. Karura, Gaara's mother, also loved him: [[spoiler:in fact, her love is what truly drives the sand to protect her son]]. If anyone was to blame for this, it was the Fourth Kazekage, who [[spoiler:after being revived by the Edo Tensei admitted he did not deserve to be called Father by his youngest son.]] |
| 50 | ** [[spoiler:This is also Sasuke's motivation behind wanting to be the Hokage. By [[GenghisGambit shouldering all of the hatred of the shinobi world on himself]], he'll be able to create a world of peace. It doesn't take off, as Naruto puts a stop to it before it can begin.]] |
| 51 | * Kaido from ''Manga/OnePiece'' once yearned to be a Messianic figure known as [[BigGood Joy Boy,]] the second coming of a mysterious man who lived almost a thousand years prior. Over time, he eventually realized that this wasn't the case, and it wasn't his destiny to be this figure. So Kaido instead planned to create [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans a world of chaos and nonstop warfare with himself at the center of it.]] [[spoiler: After his defeat, we're shown a flashback where Kaido explains that whoever would succeed in defeating him would ''have'' to be the real Joy Boy. Meaning that his entire goal was to engineer a situation that would not only flush out the true savior of the world but would allow Kaido, the great evil they've come to stop, to be the first person to see him.]] |
| 52 | * Saitama invokes this in ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan'' by [[spoiler:claiming that the only reason he defeated a powerful monster was that all the other heroes risked their lives to weaken it. This ensures that the superhero agency continues to get support and funding, at the cost of everyone hating him for being a GloryHound.]] |
| 53 | ** It turns out this was [[spoiler:[[InvincibleVillain Garō's]]]] plan all along. [[spoiler:By becoming the most powerful, [[AsLongAsThereIsEvil eternal evil]] in existence, he would force all of humanity's [[HumansAreFlawed heroes]] to become the ideal heroes everyone can look up to and make humanity set aside its differences in order to survive and stand against him, unable to focus upon the true enemy: [[HumansAreBastards Itself]]]]. And yet, he [[spoiler:[[ThouShallNotKill refuses to kill the very Heroes he fights or any civilians]], and [[BeingEvilSucks doesn't even want to be evil]]]]. Saitama challenges this worldview throughout their final battle, [[spoiler:not even bothering to kill him at the very end and simply asking him [[WasItReallyWorthIt if he's okay with being a villain]] - Garō's facial expression very clearly states he isn't]]. |
| 54 | * ''Manga/TheRecordOfAFallenVampire''. [[spoiler: The humans and the vampire distrust each other. They distrust each other so much that there's a war just waiting to be launched, which would very likely destroy the world. Strauss' solution? [[HeroicSacrifice Take on everyone's hate]]; both human, vampire, and dhampire, so that they will always have a common enemy to unite against, despite them STILL not liking each other.]] If that's not a Zero Approval Gambit, nothing is. |
| 55 | ** [[spoiler: Especially since it only works while he's alive]]; He's literally borne the hatred of all three races on his back for thousands of years, all while trying to revive his Queen [[spoiler: who he didn't truly love, and having to kill the reincarnation/soul of his slain children in the form of the curse of the Black Swan.]] |
| 56 | * Anthy from ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena''. It turns out [[spoiler: she's an ancient Goddess-Princess who watched her brother, the God-Prince, being blamed for all the evil on earth. As a child, she decided to take the blame and let herself be punished by the world for all eternity. She subsequently spends the entire series serene and calm, while suffering the anguish and hatred of the entire world... because her brother coped by becoming evil instead. Eventually subverted when it turns out that ''none'' of it was necessary, and all it took for her to change her situation is to overcome her fear of change and simply walk away.]] |
| 57 | * A flashback chapter of ''Manga/SnowWhiteWithTheRedHair'' reveals that upon reaching maturity Izana cruelly set up two problematic earls to fail by behaving like a much more self-centered and spoiled prince than he really is and having them beggar themselves and ruin both their own families and those loyal to them in their attempts to win his favor before stripping them of their lands and titles. It's downplayed in that those who hate him afterwards are only from two areas of the kingdom, but he was well aware at the time that his actions would likely lead to assassination attempts and wanted to send a clear message about what kind of king he was going to be while also testing the rest of the nobles in the kingdom while ensuring they are all very cautious around him. |
| 58 | * In ''Manga/SpecialA'' we discover that antagonist Yahiro Saiga pulled one of these years ago. Having discovered that one of Akira's friends was a GoldDigger who was only interested in using her for her money, Yahiro used his family's wealth and his own skill as a ManipulativeBastard to force the girl to transfer. Akira discovered this, and rather than telling her why he did it, Yahiro let her think of him as a monster and maintain her happy memories of her friendship. Flashforward a few years to the series, and Akira still hates him for what he did, as do Yahiro's ex-friend Kei and most of the Special A class. He doesn't try to correct their image of him and instead plays the villain until well into the series. |
| 59 | * In the second episode of the anime adaptation of ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'', there is an established mistrust between the players and the beta testers, due to the latter gaining the upper hand early in the game. This nearly leads to disaster when a troublemaker begins to raise the tension between beta testers and players after [[spoiler: and the man who organized the raid dies]]. In response Kirito takes all the scorn on himself, claiming that the other beta testers spent too much time on the early floors while he climbed higher into Aincrad; the end result is that he earns a reputation as "a beta tester and a cheater! [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs A beater!]]", while the other beta testers are not ostracized. |
| 60 | * ''Manga/TigerMask'' does this four times, initially because, as a wrestling heel, the more he was hated the more people came to his matches hoping to see him defeated, meaning more money for him (and he says so to the public to make them hate him more. Left out was that he used the money to help orphans), and later, after establishing himself as a face in a world where ProWrestlingIsReal, because he thinks he may not survive the next ordeal. It never works properly: back when he was a heel Ruriko recognized the man under the mask as her childhood friend Naoto, eventually leading to his official HeelFaceTurn; at the Maskmen World Championship (a tournament set up by Tiger's Cave to murder him) [[spoiler:Baba]] asked himself why Tiger Mask would take part in a tournament where his life was in such a clear danger, discovered what he wanted to use the prize for (pay for an extremely expensive surgery that would restore a girl's sight), and went out to help him win the tournament and regain his good fame; before fighting Black V, that Tiger Mask was convinced he could not beat (as he had not come up with a counter to Black V's devastating Missile Headbutt ''yet''), even Ruriko and Baba thought he had gone insane when he inflicted a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown to the aspiring wrestler Teppei Oiwa, but Teppei recognized it as a SecretTestOfCharacter and explained it to Ruriko (and Tiger Mask himself admitted so to Baba right before facing Black V, so that someone would become Teppei's teacher in his place if Black V ended up killing him); and before going to face an apparent execution at Tiger's Cave main base the other JWA wrestlers flat-out disbelieved him due the previous incidents and [[spoiler:[[TrueCompanion followed him to Tiger's Cave main base to turn his execution in the storming and defeat of Tiger's Cave]]]]. |
| 61 | * ''Manga/TokyoGhoul[=:Re=]'' uses this as a '''major''' twist. [[spoiler: For more than a decade, Kishou Arima had been conspiring with Eto to sow the seeds of revolution. He purposefully built up his fierce reputation as TheDreaded, becoming a boogeyman either worshiped or feared by everyone......so that whoever could kill him would become a HopeBringer capable of bringing down [[GovernmentConspiracy V and the CCG]]. When Kaneki defeats him but won't strike the killing blow, Arima takes his own life to complete the plan]]. |
| 62 | * Taiga's run for Student Council President in ''Literature/{{Toradora}}'' was essentially this. Declaring that if elected she'd essentially be an Evil High School Overlord was part of a plan to get the reluctant Kitamura to step up to the plate. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] as the other students were perfectly aware of it. |
| 63 | * In ''Manga/{{Toriko}}'' this apparently was [[spoiler:[[BigBad Acacia's]]]] plan from the wery beginning. Turns out that he figured out [[spoiler:the weakness of his inner demon]] long ago, and all this time he tried to force [[spoiler:it to vomit all that he devoured [[VillainousGlutton (which included the population of countless planets).]] Said weakness is the fact that his inner demon [[EmotionEater hates the taste of anger]] and an immense amount of it can make him sick. That means that in order to free everyone who was devoured, he not only had to be defeated but also defeated by someone as angry as possible.]] Naturally, in order to do it, he had to be as much of a [[HiddenHeartOfGold jerkass to everyone, as possible]]. |
| 64 | [[/folder]] |
| 65 | |
| 66 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 67 | * ''ComicBook/AchilleTalon'': The story ''Le Roi des Zôtres'' depends on this. The only other choice for ruler being a peace-loving beatnik, Achille sets out to look like a bloodthirsty madman channeling the worst dictators of history. Successfully pissing off every single age branch, social class, and profession, he barely escapes with his life but the country is restored. |
| 68 | * ''ComicBook/BoosterGold'': Booster Gold, who dooms himself to being seen as a fame-obsessed fool while he's saving the universe through time travel. Since his foes are also time travelers, hiding his true importance reduces the risk of being targeted for a GrandfatherParadox. [[spoiler:For the same reasons, his mentor and son Rip Hunter carefully hides his entire identity from everyone.]] |
| 69 | * ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': On the inside, Batman is one of the most compassionate, good-hearted, and moral individuals on the face of the Earth. But hardly anyone has ever seen this side of him because he spends almost all his time cultivating a fearsome image and a gruff persona so that criminals will be afraid of him. The downside is that law-abiding members of society end up afraid of him too and other heroes think he's a jerk (if they aren't also afraid of him). Of course, this varies wildly DependingOnTheWriter — Batman has gone through every shade of pretending to be awful, being completely upstanding, and actually being a CompleteMonster in an Elseworld story. |
| 70 | * ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'': In ''ComicBook/Deadpool2008'', during a crossover issue with the X-Men, it seems like Deadpool, who has been given probationary X-Men membership, is trying to assassinate a man who is falsely accusing the X-Men of holding his daughter hostage. The twist ending has it turn out that Deadpool's real plan was actually [[spoiler:to save the man, who was really being threatened by Norman Osborn, from being assassinated while making it look like the X-Men saved him from Deadpool, giving a huge boost to the X-Men's reputation.]] |
| 71 | * ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': Hal Jordan does this in the aftermath of ''[[ComicBook/GreenLanternLightsOut Lights Out]]'' and ''[[ComicBook/GreenLanternGodhead Godhead]]'', [[spoiler:faking Kilowog's death, stealing Krona's prototype Willpower gauntlet and ditching the Corps to really pull the heat off of the Corps so that they can get on the good side of the universe again and have all of the blame and anger focused on him.]] |
| 72 | * ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': In the 90s era of ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk1968'', prior to the ''ComicBook/{{Onslaught}}'' storyline, the Hulk was caught up in an incident where a mysterious group known as the Alliance was causing mass destruction (in actuality, it was the supposedly-dead Leader acting through one of his minions). After a number of incidents and seemingly caught in the throes of insanity, the Hulk decided to turn the US' attention back to him and claim he was "the Alliance" by going by his Maestro personality. |
| 73 | * ''ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}}'': |
| 74 | ** Qubit endangers the entirety of the human race by letting the murderous Plutonian live and he gets his ass handed repeatedly for such an act. His refusal to kill him stems from his belief that he can put the Plutonian's power into good use without sacrificing Tony if given the chance, even when having the opportunity to kill Tony at all times. |
| 75 | ** Gilgamos' plan to save humanity from the Plutonian involved making them immortal forever, which could have led to a stagnation of epic proportions. Good thing he was offered an alternative. |
| 76 | * ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': Judge Dredd pulled this in a one shot story titled "The Beating". Dredd is filmed at a public order incident seemingly beating a biker to death with a daystick and the video goes viral. Dredd, not caring about his reputation with the media (or anyone else for that matter), deliberately set the incident up, as the biker in question was actually a Wally Squad judge who was finished an undercover assignment and needed to be reassigned, so Dredd faked his death by using a rubber daystick. |
| 77 | * ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'': In ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfLightningLad'', Saturn Girl tries to pull this off by cheating in the leader election, secretly copying their abilities, and then suspending all of the Legionnaires for ridiculous reasons. That way, once Zaryan invades, she'll have all of their powers as a one woman Legion and will have pissed off her teammates so they won't want to help. It fails when Lightning Lad finds out what she was trying to do and goes to help, dying in battle against Zaryan so Saturn Girl doesn't. |
| 78 | * ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'': During ''ComicBook/{{Secret Invasion|2008}}'', Xavin pulls a zero-approval gambit on the rest of the Runaways, knocking them all out with a forcefield and then running away, hoping that the others will assume that they betrayed the team and elect to flee rather than trying to fight the Skrulls. It doesn't work and the team ends up rescuing Xavin when they end up in over their head. The only thing it does accomplish is making Karolina ''extremely'' cross with Xavin. |
| 79 | * ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': During the storyline ''ComicBook/TheOther'', following Peter's [[ComicBookDeath supposed death]], Wolverine hits on the grieving Mary Jane, who slaps him. His fellow heroes are disgusted until Wolverine tells them that he did it to make her angry, so she wouldn't become consumed by grief, and if she spent the rest of her life hating him for it, then so be it. Fortunately or not, Mary Jane saw through it in fairly short order, though she thanked Wolverine for putting in the effort. |
| 80 | * ''ComicBook/UltimateMarvel'': Bruce Banner becomes increasingly unstable [[NotGoodWithRejection following his breakup with Betty Ross]] and talks of the government considering pulling their budget, so the Hulk goes on a rampage through Manhattan killing over 800 people [[EngineeredHeroics in order to demonstrate to the public that the Ultimates were needed]]. After turning back into Banner and explaining his motives, he's promptly kicked in the face and arrested by ComicBook/CaptainAmerica. His plan works without a hitch, as his teammates become celebrities and [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Betty decides to take him back]]. |
| 81 | * ''ComicBook/XMen'': One of the major arcs in Creator/ChrisClaremont's classic ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen'' run was the HeelFaceTurn of Magneto, the team's archenemy. However, this actually caused a rift among the stable of writers and editors, with a portion of them refusing to accept that Magneto was redeemable. Bouts of ArmedWithCanon ensued, and Magneto would often revert to a bad guy when depicted in comics written by others. Right before leaving X-Men, Claremont introduced a justification to explain why Magneto returned to being a villain, while simultaneously respecting this huge HeelFaceTurn arc, by having Magneto claiming that he could do more good for mutantkind by acting like a bad guy and being a lighting rod for manking's hatred, instead of joining with the X-Men and damning them by his association. |
| 82 | [[/folder]] |
| 83 | |
| 84 | [[folder:Fairy Tales]] |
| 85 | * In the Japanese children's story ''Naita Aka Oni'' ("The Red Oni Who Cried"), the blue Oni lets the townspeople believe he is evil so that his friend, the red Oni, can come to their "rescue" and befriend them. |
| 86 | [[/folder]] |
| 87 | |
| 88 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 89 | * Explicitly stated in ''FanFic/FalloutEquestria'': Littlepip, having become the Wasteland's face of good, acknowledges the need to secure its safety and recovery, despite what the world - and her friends - might think of her. |
| 90 | ** Applies to [[spoiler:Scootaloo]] as well. |
| 91 | * This is, essentially, what the dwarven noble protagonist does in the opening chapters of ''Fanfic/DragonAgeTheCrownOfThorns'', an elaborate ''Franchise/DragonAge'' AlternateUniverse fanfiction which has six wardens, plus Alistair, as main cast, among other things. How does he do this? He actually, unlike the original game, [[spoiler:figures out ''in advance'' that Bhelen is planning to kill Trian and frame the protagonist for it. But if the protagonist foils the plan, then since the protagonist is popular the Assembly will name him King. But he wants ''Trian'' on the throne, so to foil Bhelen, the protagonist deliberately ''frames himself'' for Trian's murder, and then has Trian secretly taken somewhere else to recover.]] |
| 92 | * In ''FanFic/ArmoredCoreFromTheAshes,'' [[VillainProtagonist Ghost]] may be doing this. Hopefully. |
| 93 | * In the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'', Princess Celestia is more than willing to use an alias to write unflattering tabloid articles about herself if it benefits the greater good in some way. The tabloids would demonize her anyway, at least this way they're doing it in a way that benefits somepony. [[spoiler:In the finale of the Princess Gaia Arc, she writes such an article, painting herself as the real BigBad of the Nightmare Whisper incident to spare Fluttershy from being demonized by the tabloids for something she will not and cannot ever repeat so the poor girl can move on. She even has her Day Guard make it seem like she's attempting to suppress the article so the conspiracy theorists will assume it's true and leave Fluttershy alone.]] |
| 94 | * Sharpe, of XSGCOM, uses this ''all the time.'' His ultimate goal is to make X-COM and earth ''so terrifying'' that no one will ever ''think'' to look at them harshly again. He also uses this to force the Free Jaffa and the Tok'Ra to work together to find a cloaked assassin, claiming that "if they hate me enough, they won't go pointing guns at each other." |
| 95 | * Twilight Sparkle invokes this in her [[DeadManWriting final letter]] to Celestia in ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/32548/ MLP: Breaking Twilight]]''. As Nightmare Moon is still active when [[spoiler:Twilight dies and Celestia returns from the Sun]], Twilight knows that Luna is facing a lot of flak for everything Nightmare Moon has done. So, to make sure Equestria will accept Luna, she wants to be demonized in Luna's stead. |
| 96 | * [[spoiler:Nate]] in ''FanFic/ForTheMission''. When he finds out about [[spoiler:[[BestFriend his partner's]] [[HeroicSacrifice death]]]], he drops all subtlety and [[TurnCoat deserts the guild]] [[KickTheDog after insulting them]]. He also has his [[spoiler:[[ActuallyADoombot Substitute clone]]]] tell them that he intends to take the [[PlotCoupon Time Gears]] again, [[spoiler:[[EvilGloating starting with Treeshroud Forest]]]]. While he ''is'' going to collect the Time Gears, [[spoiler:Nate]] also insulted them and [[VillainBall tipped them off on his destination]] because [[BatmanGambit he knew that they would send someone after him]] and see that [[spoiler:the forest was still frozen]]. |
| 97 | * In ''Blog/ThePredespairKids,'' just like [[Franchise/{{Danganronpa}} in canon]], Mikan Tsumiki is a ShrinkingViolet with zero confidence who cries at the drop of a hat. Yet she, of all people, actually pulls one of these when she [[spoiler: pretends to side with [[BigBad Junko]] as a Remnant of Despair in an attempt to get close and stop her plan]]. She does this knowing it's unlikely anyone will forgive her or even hear her out, especially after [[spoiler: Junko orders her to help during The Incident of Hope's Peak Academy]]. |
| 98 | * ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/6334630/ The Sum of Their Parts]]'' sees Harry Potter becoming the next dark lord in order to bring about societal reform and unravel the attitudes that allowed Voldemort to rise. Augusta Longbottom contacts him on behalf of several influential players who are sympathetic to his cause and offers to help achieve the reforms he wants by making him a scapegoat and common enemy. |
| 99 | --> '''Augusta''': I tell you this as a fair warning. I do not approve of your methods, but the Wizengamot is led by fools. If threats are necessary to make them see sense, then we shall accommodate them. We will cast your name in darkness, Lord Potter. We will speak of you in the same breath as Riddle and Grindelwald. You will be the Unforgivable against which all measures can be justified. And against that, against another Dark Lord aided by werewolves and vampires, even creature laws can be repealed. |
| 100 | * ''Fanfic/TheNegotiationsVerse'': Not that she planned for or intended it, but Celestia is completely willing to be hated by everyone and remembered as a historical villain more despised than Hitler, Stalin, Bin Laden, Mao, and Pol Pot put together as long as it means that her ponies will be forgiven for following her [[AssimilationPlot genocidal crusade to convert all of humanity]]. |
| 101 | * ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'': When the Renegade visits Earth Fifty, he finds it still suffering from the aftermath of the WellIntentionedExtremist Justice Lords, who have been overthrown but replaced with the tyrannical SHADE agency -- which, moreover, is making deals with places like Apokolips. In order to re-establish a superhero team, he steps forward to make an only-semi-serious attempt at conquering the planet, with his real aim being to draw any remaining metahumans out of the woodwork to stop him. |
| 102 | [[/folder]] |
| 103 | |
| 104 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 105 | * In ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', [[spoiler:Black Widow]] does this by allowing [[spoiler:her]] checkered background get leaked to the public. Captain America intends this for all of S.H.I.E.L.D., reasoning that [[spoiler:they've been so thoroughly infiltrated and corrupted by HYDRA that the only way to destroy the infestation is to [[GodzillaThreshold burn SHIELD with it]].]] |
| 106 | * ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'': |
| 107 | ** ''Film/BatmanBegins'': Bruce acts as a drunken boor at his party, throwing out all the guests as they react in disgust. He was actually doing it for their own protection, as Ra's al Ghul had just shown up. |
| 108 | ** ''Film/TheDarkKnight'': |
| 109 | *** At the end of the film Batman takes the blame for Harvey Dent's killing spree, knowing that if the truth came out it would destroy all of the work Dent did as one of the few non-corrupt members of Gotham's criminal justice system. |
| 110 | *** Harvey Dent manages a rare short-term version when he turns himself in as Batman so that the Joker will come out of hiding and attack him, allowing the real Batman to do the same to the Joker. This works, ''and'' proves that Harvey's not Batman in the process so that his reputation is restored. |
| 111 | * In both [[Film/TheGreenHornet the film]] and the [[Radio/TheGreenHornet original]] source material, this the basic idea behind the titular Green Hornet. Disguising the hero as a villain allows him to operate with impunity, understand the inner workings of his various foes at the same level, and ''ideally'' keeps innocent bystanders and his personal allies out of the fray. |
| 112 | * The trope is Invoked in ''Film/MenInBlackInternational'' by H when [[spoiler:he, M, and C figure out High T is TheMole and is on his way to Paris to betray the organization to the Hive. H and M go off after him and H tells C to stay behind, with instructions to say that H was the mole if they fail to stop T because the revelation that one of the most decorated agents in MIB history was a mole would cripple the whole organization. Thankfully, the ploy didn't need to be used.]] |
| 113 | * In ''Film/OzTheGreatAndPowerful'', [[spoiler:during the final confrontation between the Wicked Witches, Oscar pretends to make a getaway in a hot air balloon with a bunch of gold, making everyone think he's abandoned them. Then, when Theodora shoots down his balloon and everyone believes he's dead, he works his stage magic and a video projector to make a grand comeback as the "true" Wizard of Oz, renewing everyone's hope and scaring the witches away.]] |
| 114 | * John Hartigan in ''Film/SinCity'' takes the fall for the rape of a child, losing his wife and spending eight years in prison, because [[spoiler:he thinks]] she'll be killed if he denies it. |
| 115 | * In the 1990 movie "Stella", Stella [[spoiler: lets her daughter think she's abandoned her to get married]] to give her daughter a chance at a good life. |
| 116 | * Attempted in ''Film/StrokerAce''. One of Stroker's schemes to get fired involves creating an advertisement gag that is meant to piss off Torkle and [=NASCAR=] fans. He arrives in his chicken costume at the speedway sitting atop a giant egg being pulled by a wagon and tractor. In addition, he has his racecar outfitted to look like a plucked chicken. Torkle ''is'' angry, but he turns the gag on Stroker by acting like it was the best thing Stroker could do for the company, ensuring that Stroker ''won't'' try it again. |
| 117 | * Sang-hyun from ''Film/Thirst2009'' survives a fatal disease and makes a miraculous recovery because, unknown to the world, he is given a blood transfusion from a vampire and becomes one. A small group of fanatics begins revering him as a saint and spend weeks or months camped outside of the hospital where he had been treated. At the end of the movie, he convinces all of them that he isn't a saint and that they should move on with their lives by letting himself be caught about to sexually assault a woman (he doesn't actually do anything to her). |
| 118 | * Things get desperate enough in ''Film/ThirteenDays'' that this gambit had to be pulled out for the sake of making sure the Cuban Missile Crisis didn't turn into the prelude to a nuclear WorldWarThree: |
| 119 | ** Adlai Stevenson is the only member of Ex-Comm that continually brings up the idea of a diplomatic solution before the decision to blockade Cuba was set, even though it makes him seem like a pushover weakling (it did to Robert Kennedy, who pushes for pulling Stevenson out of the televised UN Security Council meeting regarding the missiles as Soviet Ambassador Zorin continues to pound the US while Stevenson remains calm and quiet). He is well aware that he's committing political suicide by continuing to talk of diplomacy when no one else was, lampshading it himself when he first brings up the idea of a trade (give away Guantanamo Bay and the US missiles in Turkey) by remarking that someone should be the coward and it may as well be him, an old political cat[[note]]He was the Democratic nominee for President in 1952 and 1956, both times losing to Eisenhower[[/note]] with little to look forward to in his twilight years. |
| 120 | -->'''Stevenson:''' (''talking to Kenny at a reception afterwards'') Have you ever seen anyone slit his own throat like I did today? |
| 121 | ** Later on, most of Ex-Comm, including Kenny, is opposed to trading away the US missiles in Turkey in exchange for the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba. Both Kennedys, though, want to do it as the deadline to the start of military action against Cuba drew close. Kenny, in a rather heated exchange with Bobby, argues it would just lead to the Soviets forcing trade after trade until they demand something untradable like Berlin, by which point war would break out anyway. |
| 122 | -->'''Kenny:''' Not to mention this administration would be politically dead. |
| 123 | -->'''Bobby:''' I don't care if this administration ends up in the freaking toilet! We don't do a deal tonight, there won't ''be'' an administration. |
| 124 | * In the movie version of ''[[{{Film/Watchmen}} Watchmen]]'', [[spoiler:Dr. Manhattan lets the world think [[BewareTheSuperman he's gone on a murderous rampage]], [[GenghisGambit so they'd unite against him instead of killing each other]]. Not that it was his idea...]] |
| 125 | [[/folder]] |
| 126 | |
| 127 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 128 | * ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': Aral and Miles Vorkosigan both are willing to engage in this, with them using their negative reputations to help them; Aral said he was saddled with being TheButcher (even though he wasn't), but he would use the moniker because he "earned" it. |
| 129 | -->'''Aral:''' There is no more hollow feeling than to stand with your honor shattered at your feet while soaring public reputation wraps you in rewards. That's soul-destroying. The other way around is merely very, very irritating. |
| 130 | * Lord Cett of ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'' is an interesting example who is neither particularly evil nor particularly heroic, but who goes out of his way to portray himself as a ruthless, cruel, rude, cunning conqueror. In reality, he's fairly neutral. While certainly not the nicest guy in the world, he's not nearly as bloodthirsty as he tries to convince everyone he is; Cett simply became convinced very early on that a ruler could not afford ''any'' potential outward signs of weakness. Given the setting he lives in, [[JerkassHasAPoint he's not entirely wrong.]] |
| 131 | * In the ''Literature/{{Hurog}}'' duology, Ward makes himself ''very'' unpopular among his allies by suggesting that they give the BigBad [[spoiler: the dragon bones in a cave under castle Hurog]] in order to save the people. In the end, he does something that makes him even more unpopular, namely [[spoiler: killing his ghost-slave Oreg, who is magically bound to the castle, to make the cave collapse. Oreg ''wants'' to die, but Ward thinks bad of ''himself'' due to that deed.]] |
| 132 | * ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': |
| 133 | ** Jaime "The Kingslayer" Lannister broke his vows as a member of the [[PraetorianGuard Kingsguard]] and killed King Aerys the Mad, to prevent the total destruction of King's Landing, which Aerys planned to burn down to spite his enemies as they breached the gates. For the entire series he is reviled and distrusted by nearly everyone he meets as a result, none of whom (except for Brienne, the only person he tells the story to,) know why he did it. In the end it seems he was too occupied with the political turmoil after the murder [[spoiler:and hunting down Aerys' other alchemists]] to make a big deal out of it, and by the time things had calmed down it would have looked like he was just making excuses for the murder, which his pride would not allow. Jaime was also put in a position of genuine conflicted loyalty - between his father and head of his family and his king. The realm considers what he did to be dishonorable, certainly, but it's still distinct from someone who turned traitor for money or to simply save himself. |
| 134 | ** Eddard Stark attempts this gambit near the end of ''A Game of Thrones'' by admitting to the false allegations the Lannisters have cooked up against him. He wants to protect his daughters, who are effectively hostages now, and to prevent a full-scale war from breaking out. Even though most of the Lannisters are also in on the plan, and intend to spare Eddard and send him off to the Wall, Robert's successor Joffrey Baratheon [[StupidEvil chooses to publicly execute him instead]], completely defeating the purpose of the gambit and resulting in said full-scale war breaking out anyway. |
| 135 | ** Ned Stark, again - if R+L=J is true (as it is in the TV series). Jon is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. This would make him the heir to the throne, and one of only three known surviving Targaryens. Only Jon's parents and Ned knew his true identity; with their deaths, and given Robert Baratheon's hatred of the Targaryens and desire to kill them all, Ned lies and claims Jon's parents are himself and an unknown prostitute. Ned takes this secret to his grave, even though the common belief that he cheated on his wife is a stain on his otherwise scrupulous honor, and drives a rift between him and his wife that never truly heals. |
| 136 | * In Stephen Donaldson's ''[[Literature/TheMirrorOfHerDreams Mordant's Need]]'', King Joyce exemplifies this trope.[[spoiler: After spending the majority of his life building his kingdom from scratch (Including collecting every magician in the world into one place), he faces new threats in his old age. In response, he pretends to descend into senility, making everyone hate him and his regime. Because his enemies think that he's weak, they attack his kingdom at the same time (to get at the magicians.) His senility flushes out all opposition to his regime at the same time.]] |
| 137 | * Explored from various angles in the original ''Literature/EndersGame'' series, most explicitly with Admiral Lands of the Lusitania Fleet. |
| 138 | * ''Literature/LegacyOfTheForce'': |
| 139 | ** Jacen Solo. Although in his case, he actually ''is'' being thoroughly evil, though his [[WellIntentionedExtremist intentions]] are noble. Sort of. |
| 140 | ** Corran Horn took the blame for the destruction of the garden paradise world of Ithor to spare the rest of Jedi Order. |
| 141 | * ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': In ''Literature/TurnCoat'' [[spoiler: Warden Donald Morgan allows himself to be considered a traitor to A) prevent any blowback on the actual (mind-controlled) murderer, who he's in love with and B) prevent a civil war from breaking out in the White Council.]] |
| 142 | * In ''Literature/FiveHundredYearsAfter'', Adron's last words are, "Don't tell them that I meant well." |
| 143 | * In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', Severus Snape kills Albus Dumbledore. For the next year, he is reviled by all of his former associates and just about everybody in the wizarding world. At the end of the seventh book, it is revealed that he had arranged this with Dumbledore almost a year before, as a plot to save a student from the act and to let Dumbledore die with dignity, as well as to cement Voldemort's trust in him and thus allow him to work as TheMole now that his DoubleAgent role is blown. |
| 144 | * In the chronologically last of the ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' series, "Admiral Hornblower", Hornblower comes across a boat full of well-armed French revolutionaries out to spring Napoleon from St Helina. The only way he can foil it is to lie to them and pledge his honor that Napoleon had died. Inverted, though, in that, as Hornblower is returning to port to hand in his resignation, he is met by another ship and informed that Napoleon had actually died. |
| 145 | * In ''Literature/NoMoreDeadDogs,'' by Gordon Korman, Wallace does this at the end when he takes the blame for sabotaging the school play in order to protect the real culprit, Rachel's little brother. |
| 146 | * The plot of Creator/JohnMoore's ''Literature/BadPrinceCharlie'' centers around a scheme to have the throne of Damask taken by an unpopular ruler so that the neighboring kingdom of Noile can be seen as saviors when they conquer it, at which point the people who engineered the scheme get paid off and the 'tyrant' (Who doesn't care for his home country anyway) gets banished. The strange thing is that Charlie manages to make himself unpopular by being ''competent''. |
| 147 | * GodEmperor Leto II of [[Literature/GodEmperorOfDune Dune]] sets up such a gambit. To preserve humanity, he becomes, well, a tyrant for three and a half millennia. His absolute oppression will instill a racial memory based hatred in humanity so profound that it will impel them to scatter farthest reaches of existence preventing the possibility that they will ever become extinct. But his plan [[ThanatosGambit also necessitates his demise]]. Now, a god can't simply die or commit suicide, because that would not stop the worship of him; so he arranges things so that his own people would revolt and topple him by force. |
| 148 | ** As can be imagined, there's a bit of a balancing act involved in foiling the premature assassination attempts while not actually eliminating everyone capable of successfully pulling it off when the time ''does'' come. |
| 149 | ** Baron Harkonnen in the original novel was attempting a villainous variant by having his nephew Rabban brutalize Arrakis's population, in order to give his heir, Feyd-Rautha, an in as a savior from Rabban's torment. Unfortunately for him, ThePlan didn't have time to work, as his rival family the Atredies had already insinuated themselves within the natives. |
| 150 | ** Leto II is almost thrown off his game when his enemies use a HoneyTrap. The woman they sent was deliberately born and raised to be an unexpected surprise who was perfectly suited for him. It's hard to stick to a plan that requires everyone to hate you when you finally meet someone whose love you want. |
| 151 | * Successfully done, kinda, in ''The Carpet Makers'' by Andreas Eschbach: The Emperor, being immortal, spends several centuries making himself unpleasant while mounting an effective rebellion against himself in a disguise. All because he wants to die, and knows that if he just committed suicide without utterly destroying his image as a god-like being, his empire, that he ruled for over 200,000 years, would never be free of him. He even arranges for his unwilling killer never to reveal the truth, and for his desecrated corpse to be exhibited as an object of shame. |
| 152 | * [[Franchise/TheWitcher Geralt of Rivia]], in the short story ''[[Literature/TheLastWish The Lesser Evil]]''. He [[spoiler:[[ShootTheDog kills Renfri]], [[IDidWhatIHadToDo who was planning to massacre the whole village of Blaviken]]]]. Ironically, they proceed to [[DefiantStoneThrow pelt him with stones]], [[HumansAreBastards not the least bit grateful]]. |
| 153 | * Creator/RandallGarrett's ''[[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24302/24302-h/24302-h.htm The Highest Treason]]'' shows a society where [[PoliticalOvercorrectness you cannot say that one man can be better than another in ''anything'', promotion is strictly according to age]], and that society is quickly losing a war against aliens. So, the protagonist, as a desperate patriot, [[spoiler: joins the enemy, helps them conquer a planet, and slaughters the people there, showing the humanity that one person can be ''worse'' than another]]. In the end, the humanity is victorious, and their philosophy is now that one man cannot be better than another in ''everything''. |
| 154 | * Invoked by ''Literature/PerryRhodan'', where the hostile UsefulNotes/ColdWar power blocs' common enmity against the Third Power marks the beginning of the process towards establishing OneWorldOrder. |
| 155 | * [[http://thezombieknight.blogspot.com/2013/12/page-427-xlix.html This]] page of ''Literature/TheZombieKnight'', when [[ExtraOreDinary Hector]] ([[HeroWithBadPublicity already unjustly feared]]) is trying to save a town from superpowered [[AgentProvocateur Agents Provocateur]], sums up the trope perfectly. |
| 156 | * PlayedForLaughs in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', when Sergeant Colon reveals that his old DrillSergeantNasty was doing this to keep the squad united, if only against him. They realized why he'd put them through hell, and... ambushed him when he was coming out of a bar and beat the proverbial seven kinds of crap out of him. His knuckles sometimes twinge with happy memories. |
| 157 | ** Again in Discworld in ''Unseen Academicals''. The head men of the University's sports team tell the players there's no big meal before the night of the real game. There's no real medical reason for this, the management just wants the players united in hatred. They come to regret it when the staff decides it applies to ''everyone'' on the team, including them. |
| 158 | * Steelheart in ''Literature/TheReckonersTrilogy'' [[spoiler: can only be harmed by those who don't fear him,]] so he goes to great effort to ensure that everyone fears him, including creating a PR department whose function is to blame him for atrocities he didn't have the time to actually commit. [[spoiler: Ironically, this proves to be his greatest weakness as well, as his power [[LoopholeAbuse doesn't prevent him from accidentally killing himself]].]] |
| 159 | * In ''Literature/TheMachineriesOfEmpire'', Jedao has deliberately [[spoiler:massacred his own men at Hellspin so that he'd be executed, but also made himself useful enough that he'd be put in the black cradle]], ensuring that he'll always be there when the Hexarchate is at its weakest. |
| 160 | * In ''Literature/SolarDefendersTheRoleOfAShield'', Kawena is known as a coward who freaks out and runs away from monster attacks. [[spoiler: She's actually one of the {{Sentai}} heroes who defends the town from monsters, and needs an excuse to get away and transform in private.]] |
| 161 | * ''Literature/HowARealistHeroRebuiltTheKingdom'': Duke Georg Carmine pretended that he wasn't recognizing Souma as the new king of Elfrieden and sought to reinstate his friend Albert into the throne, as part of a plot to draw out the corrupt nobles under himself so that Souma could purge them all in one fell swoop, even if this meant he would be imprisoned and executed for treason. Souma, however, has him fake his death and continue serving him as Kagetora, the leader of his secret service. |
| 162 | [[/folder]] |
| 163 | |
| 164 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 165 | * ''Series/ThirtyRock'': When Jack and Liz are attending a Six Sigma conference at which Jack is supposed to speak, an accidentally hot microphone instead [[WereLiveRealization broadcasts his embarassing self-hype speech in the bathroom]]. Liz saves the day by grabbing the microphone and going onstage to convince the crowd that she is the entertainment and that Jack's mishap was actually her "Jack Donaghy impression". She then launches into a series of other (terrible) impressions, and finishes by opening her shirt and dancing. The crowd is horrified, but she successfully covers for Jack. |
| 166 | * In ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' Season Five, after facing scandal charges for covering up the murder of Detective Billy Malone and not wanting anyone else in his office to take the fall, Oliver throws the Green Arrow under the bus to take the blame for the crime. It works and the Green Arrow becomes public enemy No. 1. |
| 167 | * Captain Sobel in ''Series/BandOfBrothers'' is characterized as a petty tyrant and an incompetent battlefield leader, but he does know that making his soldiers hate him will get them better motivated to train harder and become better soldiers. The issue is that he takes it too far: the soldiers certainly hate him, but so much that they’re willing to kill him if he ends up commanding them in actual battle. Leadership of the company ends up breaking down because no one respects or fears Sobel enough, to the point that Sobel is reassigned. The series also suggests that this line of thinking, while effective to a point, is arguably unnecessary; it's repeatedly shown through the series that Winters is able to motivate the men without sacrificing their respect for him. |
| 168 | * In the third-to-last episode of ''Series/BreakingBad'', [[spoiler: Walt pretends to be more dangerous and unhinged than he actually is and takes credit for Hank's death on a bugged phone call to [[WetBlanketWife Skyler]] in order to make her seem innocent to the police.]] |
| 169 | * In ''Series/{{Broadchurch}}'', it's eventually revealed that Alec Hardy took the blame for [[spoiler: his wife losing a crucial piece of evidence while at a hotel with her lover, to keep their daughter from learning of her mother's affair.]] |
| 170 | * In ''Series/{{Community}}'': Pierce [[spoiler: falsely admits to bribing the teacher to kick Jeff out of Biology 101, so that their anger would be directed back at him, instead of Jeff.]] |
| 171 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 172 | ** The Doctor [[spoiler: destroys Amy's faith in him]] to kill the Minotaur in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E11TheGodComplex The God Complex]]". |
| 173 | ** The Seventh Doctor did the same thing to Ace in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E3TheCurseOfFenric The Curse of Fenric]]", for similar reasons. |
| 174 | ** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E12HellBent Hell Bent]]", the Twelfth Doctor knowingly alienates [[spoiler:his own people, whom he spent millennia pining for, and his confidante Ohila]] in his effort to [[spoiler:save Clara Oswald from her unjust, fixed-point-in-time death]]. Sadly, he does not [[EarnYourHappyEnding earn his happy ending]] -- he has undergone a SanitySlippage and his goal is a TragicDream that cannot be fulfilled without destroying space and time. Maybe he'll mend fences with them later if they finally prove understanding. |
| 175 | * In ''Series/IClaudius'', several decades of Claudius' competent rule as Emperor has resulted in widespread public approval for the idea of hereditary imperial rule--much to Claudius' chagrin, because he wants to restore the old Roman Republic. To counteract this, he tries to behave like his degraded predecessors Caligula and Tiberius by marrying his niece Aggripinilla and grooming her incompetent and malicious son Nero as his heir, while secretly setting up his other son Brittanicus to overthrow him later. It fails; Brittanicus refuses to go along and will assuredly die, and Nero's poor rule ended Julio-Claudian rule, but not emperors. |
| 176 | * In ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', [[spoiler:Earl takes the blame for his ex-wife Joy so that she could take care of her children and husband.]] |
| 177 | * Doctor Kelso has done this a number of times on ''Series/{{Scrubs}}''. He's entirely comfortable being disliked by most of the hospital, and often uses it to his advantage. In one episode, the staff becomes bitterly divided over [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror the Iraq War]]. Kelso realizes that doctors constantly fighting when they need to work together is a recipe for disaster, so he deliberately introduces petty and unpopular rule changes, causing everyone to forget their arguments and come together to complain about him. |
| 178 | * This Trope is a recurring theme in ''Series/OhsamaSentaiKingOhger'': |
| 179 | ** In episode 29, the kings of the five human nations decide to falsely confess to crimes and step down from their thrones in order to appease the citizens who want answers as to why the kings were suddenly attacked by each other's aides and are being influenced to riot by Hilbill's mind control so that war doesn't break out between the nations. Jeremy and Gerojim stop them from doing this and take the blame for the attack instead even though this means sacrificing all the work that Jeremy did to make peace between humans and Bugnarrok. |
| 180 | ** It is revealed in episode 37 that Iroki, the previous ruler of Toufu that Kaguragi overthrew, made herself look like a selfish tyrant who was hoarding food for herself during a famine and ordered Kaguragi to kill her after she set the set the food stores on fire to keep anybody from finding out that the food stores had been poisoned, fearing that Toufu's reputation would be harmed if word got out. |
| 181 | ** It is revealed in episode 42 that [[spoiler:Rcules]] had done this as well. [[spoiler:He had been acting as a villain for the past 17 years as part of a LongGame to get an opportunity to kill the true BigBad Dagded. After he finally learned the identity of TheMole in his court in episode 20 which he had been looking for, he chose to use the trial by combat as an opportunity to vacate the throne to Gira and fake his death. The unhinged villainous rant he publicly went on was actually an act to make the citizens turn on him so that Gira would be accepted as the new king. Suzume was the only person who knew he had good intentions.]] Later, when he is finally put on trial for his actions, [[BeAllMySinsRemembered he requests that his motivations be kept secret so that history will remember him as a villain because he feels that his goal didn't justify his crimes]]. |
| 182 | * Played for laughs in an episode of ''Series/SisterSister''. When the girls and one of their friends get into a bitter fight during a trip, Lisa inserts herself in a very annoying way, causing the girls to complain to each other about her and forget their argument. She then smirks that all they needed was a common enemy. |
| 183 | * ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' |
| 184 | ** In the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E17SinsOfTheFather Sins of the Father]]", Worf takes discommendation and shame on his family name for the good of the Empire, even though he knows the real villain was the father of the politically powerful Duras. In the later episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E7Reunion Reunion]]", [[spoiler:Duras repays Worf for this by ''murdering his on-off lover and the mother of his son'' after she spurns his advances. [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge Worf takes this about how you'd expect]]]]. |
| 185 | ** In the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E10TheDefector The Defector]]", a Romulan Admiral defects to the Federation to prevent a Romulan-Federation war. |
| 186 | --->'''Admiral Jarok:''' My daughter will grow up believing that her father is a traitor. But she ''will'' grow up. |
| 187 | * ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E19Duet Duet]]", the Cardassian clerk Aamin Marritza poses as his former superior and infamous war criminal Gul Darhe'el, brazenly antagonizing the Bajorans with regalings of the atrocities so that he can be executed and provide some closure for the Bajorans, and to shame his fellow Cardassians for not owning up to these crimes. |
| 188 | * Wesley's reasoning for kidnapping Connor in ''Series/{{Angel}}'' is that, though he's betraying his friends and they'll hate him forever, he's saving Connor and sparing them the burden of knowing that Angel's prophesied to kill his son. Unfortunately, this decision's made after several sleepless weeks, which is perhaps the only justification for the mixture of IdiotBall misunderstandings that follow. |
| 189 | * Perverted a bit in ''Series/{{Misfits}}'' where Curtis needs to break up with her ex without getting upset and triggering his time-warping guilt. Queue the awesome breakup montage. |
| 190 | * In ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'', to defuse some slightly more personal than usual teasing between Drew and Ryan, Colin invites them all to "make fun of the bald guy" and declares himself the "lightning rod of hate." |
| 191 | [[/folder]] |
| 192 | |
| 193 | [[folder:Manhua]] |
| 194 | * In ''Manhua/GoddessCreationSystem'' Xiaxi is taken as the favored new servant of Mingyi, who goes out of his way to show his wife and concubines how great she is. Even though she's clearly rejecting him, his wives get pissed off and the seemingly meekest of them, Liu Ru, actually whips Xiaxi herself along with a few servants. [[spoiler:This turns out to have been a deal between her and Xiaxi: Xiaxi gets the bonus of Mingyi realizing he went too far while Liu Ru gets blamed for what happened. Liu Ru is promptly exiled, just as she and Xiaxi planned: Liu Ru was abducted into the household and wants to leave to be with her true love. She offers to take Xiaxi with her, but Xiaxi can't leave.]] |
| 195 | [[/folder]] |
| 196 | |
| 197 | [[folder:Radio]] |
| 198 | * This has always been part of ''Radio/TheGreenHornet''; he uses his position as a supposed "bad guy" to get villains to trust him when he offers his services and to intimidate friends and foes alike (sometimes ''intending'' them to betray him!). This has remained consistent from the radio serials through the TV show and the 2011 movie. |
| 199 | [[/folder]] |
| 200 | |
| 201 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 202 | * The Far Sight Enclave army book of ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' heavily implies that the motive of everything Farsight is doing is to protect the Tau from the Eye of Terror. |
| 203 | [[/folder]] |
| 204 | |
| 205 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 206 | * A big theme in ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods''. The witch neatly sums it up: |
| 207 | --> "No, of course, what really matters is the blame. Somebody to blame. Fine! If that's the thing you enjoy, placing the blame, if that's the aim, give me the blame!" |
| 208 | * Mrs Erlynne does one on the spur of the moment in ''Theatre/LadyWindermeresFan'': while hiding with Lady Windermere in another gentleman's house, Mrs Erlynne [[spoiler:reveals herself, and thus exposes herself to scandal and contempt, in order to explain the presence of Lady Windermere's fan on the table, and allow her to slip away unseen.]] |
| 209 | * In ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'', Elphaba tells Glinda that no one can ever know the truth that she was only rebelling against a tyrannical Wizard. |
| 210 | [[/folder]] |
| 211 | |
| 212 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 213 | * ''VideoGame/ArTonelicoIIMelodyOfMetafalica'': This, combined with GambitPileup, aptly describe the [[AntiVillain (Anti-)Villains]]. ''Your party'' even get to try to make people agree to your madman's scheme [[spoiler: to drop a significant part of the FloatingContinent to power-up a literal stairway to heavens in order to make real an ancient miracle that's ''proven to not work'' before.]] Oh, and there is a ''[[SoundtrackDissonance nice song]]'' playing when you drop the thing, too! |
| 214 | * ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'': As ''[[BioShockInfinite/BurialAtSea Burial at Sea]]'' reveals, [[spoiler:[[RebelLeader Daizy Fitzroy]] went to her death fully knowing that Elizabeth killing her would be the key towards her taking down [[BigBad Comstock]]. The Luteces however did have to egg her on to pull a gun on a young boy to give Elizabeth an excuse to kill her]]. |
| 215 | * ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCentralFiction'': [[spoiler: Ragna erases himself from the universe in order for the world to move on, and in order to do so, he must become 'The Enemy of the World'.]] |
| 216 | * In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', it's heavily implied that [[spoiler: Maferath]], the ultimate betrayer of the series' backstory, actually pulled one of these to enable his descendants to eventually take down [[TheEmpire The Empire]]. |
| 217 | * In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'', the Dark Warriors are this trope combined with TrueNeutral. They've destroyed the overflow of light in the world to keep the balance, after which the world slowly started edging towards darkness instead. If they hadn't, the lack of balance would have caused the world to be destroyed - but in the meantime, they're known as the ones who ended the happiest era known on the planet. Luckily, the majority of the people you talk to during the game actually seem to ''understand'' this. |
| 218 | * ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'': [[spoiler:Emperor Rudolf of Rigel]] purposefully makes himself look like an EvilOverlord and [[spoiler:tries to conquer the entire continent]] to ensure that Alm can [[spoiler:rally everybody against him and lead to a natural unification of Rigel and Zofia, all while ensuring that now-Emperor Alm will obtain the power to defeat the [[MadGod long-since-degenerated]] Duma]]. |
| 219 | * ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsIntoReverie'': At the end of the game, [[spoiler:the Retributive Tower's KillSat is primed to fire ceaselessly upon whatever humanity's collective consciousness hates the most; in other words, [[InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves it will keep firing until the world is destroyed]]. [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel Rufus Albarea]] stays behind in the tower and uses its communications array to broadcast a fake ultimatum to the entire world framing himself as the ultimate evil responsible for the tower, who is now holding the world ransom; needless to say, this quickly makes him the most hated man in the world, and since he happens to currently ''be'' in the Retributive Tower itself... The rest of the party realizes what he's trying to do and manage to save him from his own HeroicSacrifice right before the tower annihilates itself.]] |
| 220 | * In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' Tali can pull one of these to exile herself from the fleet (and destroy her reputation) to save her father's. |
| 221 | ** If you play the ''Arrival'' DLC, Admiral Hackett basically tells Shepard that they're going to have to pull one [[spoiler:to prevent a human-batarian war after you slowed the Reaper invasion by destroying a colony of 300,000 batarians]]. If you give a Renegade response at the end, he blatantly tells you that you're a convenient scapegoat. Notably, Shepard goes through a similar situation even if he/she isn't involved in the events of ''Arrival'', thanks to their alliance with Cerberus. |
| 222 | * ''VideoGame/MetalGear'': |
| 223 | ** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'': It's revealed at the end of the game that [[spoiler: The Boss' defection was an act; in order to save America's face and prevent a nuclear war, she ends up having to be killed by Snake. The end result: The Boss is dead, her reputation is permanently ruined, and the entire world believes her to be nothing more than a war criminal and a traitor to her country]]. On top of it all, it's revealed in subsequent games [[spoiler: that her death wasn't even really about preventing war; instead, the U.S government had set the whole thing up because they were scared of her and wanted to get rid of her]]. |
| 224 | ** ''VideoGame/MetalGear '': [[spoiler: It's explained that foxhound was a joint task force assembled by nato. This was later retconned for the subsistence re-release but as the story was originally intended, big boss had actually succeeded in unifying a chunk of the planet by turning himself into the world's most dangerous terrorist if he had been allowed to continue, this eventually would have forced the entire planet to form a singular unified government]]. |
| 225 | ** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'': [[spoiler: Roy Campbell fakes being married to Rosemary and makes himself look like a DirtyOldMan in order to prevent the Patriots from using Rosemary and Little John as leverage against Raiden, who is Rosemary's husband and Little John's actual father, which results in him being estranged from his daughter.]] |
| 226 | * One probably happens at the end of ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'', when [[spoiler: at the end of the game, Samus redirects the space station's orbit to impact SR-388, to ensure that the X parasites do not take over the galaxy. It's implied that the Federation [[WhatTheHellHero does not like this]], but by now you've seen that the Federation's been breeding Metroids (even [[EldritchAbomination Omega Metroids]]) for "various purposes", which means that they're starting to do the same kinds of things as the evil Space Pirates.]] And what makes it worse, [[spoiler: Samus has the DNA of the Metroids and pretty much all of the (now extinct) SR-388 ecosystem, which means the Federation will probably want to get her for ''many'' reasons now.]] |
| 227 | * ''VideoGame/RealityMinds'': [[spoiler:Silvana was originally supposed to create a spell that could send Kvena's spirit to the afterlife, but secretly gave up on it because she didn't want to lose Kvena's company. Kvena then manipulates Silvana into attacking her village as part of a gambit to make the latter hate her, all to motivate Silvana to finish the spell in order to kill Kvena.]] |
| 228 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden II}}'', [[spoiler:Riou, Jowy and Nanami's old master, Genkaku, had to duel with his best friend from another country in a final match between champions to end the war. He finds out his own king poisoned his sword, and once the duel begins he refuses to attack, after which he is banned from his country as a traitor to go live in the other country he was previously at war with, where he is known as a coward.]] |
| 229 | * In ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' Ambassador B'Vat tries to provoke a ForeverWar between the Federation and the Klingon Empire to ensure that the Klingons will forever have [[EnemyMine an enemy to unify against]] since he fears that the Empire would self-destruct without one. To that end, he attempts to sic a planet killer on Federation planets. [[spoiler:The player disrupts the plan with help from a Klingon defector, and kills B'Vat shortly thereafter.]] |
| 230 | * ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsX:'' Though admittedly it was more "3 approval gambit" but [[spoiler:Hopes's entire plan in the TrueFinalBoss fight relied on him turning against the heroes to fuel Ende to with the power of love, courage, hope, friendship, and all the positive emotions that the heroes kept on going. The only ones who could tell, hence the "3", were [[Anime/CodeGeass Lelouch, C.C.]] (the former pulling off his infamous "Zero Requiem"), and the protagonist.]] |
| 231 | * ''VideoGame/TouhouEiyashouImperishableNight''. Basically, your party casts a spell that makes the night never end in order to find the source of a potentially world-threatening magic that only appear at night. If they don't find the culprit at the time the sun is supposed to rise, the entire Gensokyo will gang-up on them. You CantGetAwayWithNothing either; the BarrierMaiden Reimu Hakurei and the [[BigGood guardian of humans]] Keine Kamishirasawa (oh, and Marisa) is out for your characters' head. |
| 232 | ** Subverted in that the [[TheGreatestStoryNeverTold common people don't know the protagonists were investigating the false moon]], and believed they were investigating the unending night. |
| 233 | * In ''VideoGame/TownOfSalem'', the purpose of the Jester role is to get lynched, which requires a majority of people in the town to a) put you on the gallows to defend yourself and b) determine after the defence that you're guilty. Therefore, the Jester has to make themselves look like they're another evil role, like the Mafia or the Serial Killer, in order to get everyone else to lynch them. Of course, this is only a desired outcome for the Jester, as one of the people who voted them guilty will be found dead the next morning... |
| 234 | * ''[[Videogame/Yakuza1 Yakuza]]'' has TheHero, Kazuma Kiryu, take the fall for his friend Nishiki killing their Patriarch after the latter tried to rape their mutual friend/crush Yumi at the beginning of the game. [[spoiler:Tragically, as the events of the game (along with bonus scenes from the ''[[UpdatedRerelease Kiwami]]'' [[UpdatedRerelease remaster]]) progress, it might have been better off for everybody involved had Kiryu not done so.]] |
| 235 | [[/folder]] |
| 236 | |
| 237 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 238 | * [[spoiler:Miou]] in ''VisualNovel/AProfile'' goes out of her way to get Masayuki to distrust her, but he won't do it. |
| 239 | * [[spoiler:Mitsuhide]] in ''VisualNovel/IkemenSengoku'' [[spoiler:deliberately spreads rumors about his traitorous nature and acts as shady as humanly possible to fool his lord Nobunaga's enemies into believing that he's plotting to betray Nobunaga and would be willing to work with them in secret to take him down. Once he's "allied" with them, he either lures them into a trap or ferrets out enough incriminating evidence on them to thwart their plans]]. |
| 240 | * This is [[spoiler: Kokichi Oma]]'s modus operandi in ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony''. [[spoiler: He's a ConsummateLiar and spends the majority of the game willfully antagonizing everyone around him for his own amusement before pretending to be the mastermind as part of an [[TheChessmaster elaborate]] GenghisGambit to outwit the real one.]] |
| 241 | [[/folder]] |
| 242 | |
| 243 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 244 | * In ''Webcomic/CaptainSNES'', Alex tries one of these to convince the [[Anime/SailorMoon Sailor Scouts]] to get out of the line of fire when they're trying to [[UnwantedAssistance help him fight the]] [[VideoGame/{{Lufia}} Sinistrals]]. It succeeds at the "Zero Approval" part but fails at getting them to leave. |
| 245 | * In ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'', Big Ears [[KnightInShiningArmor the paladin]] scares away a crowd of innocent bystanders by pretending to be a mad monster. |
| 246 | * Mike (a.k.a. The Pythagorean) in ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive'' claims that this is his superpower. |
| 247 | * Roy from ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' attempts to pull this to clear out some innocent bystanders, in the most [[LampshadeHanging lampshade-worthy]] way possible. It works. |
| 248 | --> '''Roy:''' I'm a big scary gladiator with [[ExpospeakGag permissive ideas about individual rights]]! BOO! |
| 249 | * [[spoiler:The Slime King]] in ''Webcomic/BlasphemousSagaFantasy'' declares himself to be a bad guy so that [[spoiler:Seb can have the motivation to train and get stronger, as well as being able to watch over the village in case of Grrg's return]] |
| 250 | * The end of ''[[WebVideo/TwitchPlaysPokemon Bill-Sanctioned Shenanigans]]'' has [[spoiler:Bill doing this once it becomes clear that he can't stop Ao from reaching Mt. Silver and undoing the lock on the gods' powers]]. |
| 251 | * ''Webcomic/SweetHome2017'': Hyuk tends to create plans that involve deliberately leaving others to die or never risking lives to save others in order to encourage the others to go out of their way to keep everyone alive out of spite towards him. It gets him hated by just about everyone, but his plans almost always work perfectly. |
| 252 | [[/folder]] |
| 253 | |
| 254 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 255 | * According to Rational Wiki, [[http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Skarka%27s_Law Skarka's Law]] is the reason that this ''will never work'' in RealLife -- no matter how much of a HateSink a person tries to be, there will always be [[SpannerInTheWorks somebody out there]] who will defend him. In other words, while it is possible to become an extremely hated person, a true 0% approval rating is impossible. |
| 256 | * This trope is somewhat embodied by Rational Wiki's concept of a [[http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Deep_cover_liberal "Deep cover liberal"]], a hyperthetical public figure who is secretly liberal but ''pretends'' to be an insane ultra-conservative whackjob in order to discredit conservative ideas, "...act(ing) in a way contrary to their own beliefs and often sacrific(ing) their credibility to defend the public against world-renowned nutjobs." |
| 257 | * ''WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers'': The Waluigi Arc starts picking up steam after one of these. [[spoiler: Waluigi deliberately makes himself the most hated person in the Mushroom Kingdom by starting the [[ZombieApocalypse T-Pose virus epidemic]] so he can bring his [[ThePowerOfHate Power of Rejection]] to full strength. When Mario remains the only person left who wants to be his friend (if only so he can get free food), Waluigi makes Mario reject him as well by putting him and Luigi through a ''Franchise/{{Saw}}''-style DeathTrap.]] |
| 258 | [[/folder]] |
| 259 | |
| 260 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 261 | * In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'', Ben does this ''inadvertently'' when he attempts to resolve a [[SillyReasonForWar pointless war]] on an alien planet. After he accidentally destroys a statue of one of their beloved former leaders, both sides end up being united by their mutual hatred for ''him''. |
| 262 | * The Question makes an assassination attempt against Lex Luthor in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'', in order to prevent a seemingly unavoidable future in which Superman kills Luthor, leading to the Justice League JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope. He reasons that, since he's already considered a nutty ConspiracyTheorist by the public, his arrest and fall from grace will leave the rest of the Justice League relatively untarnished. (Of course, the show never allows heroic characters to kill human beings unless it's a BadFuture or a parallel universe, so Luthor kicks his ass.) [[spoiler: It helped that Luthor was unknowingly the host of Brainiac, who was secretly giving Luthor enhanced strength, speed, stamina, etc. to keep him alive until Brainiac could find a better host.]] |
| 263 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Separate Vocations", some bad guidance counseling causes Bart and Lisa to end up swapping roles, with Bart becoming the goodie-two-shoes and Lisa the surly rebel. Lisa ends up stealing all the Teachers' Edition textbooks (crippling the school, since they don't know the material otherwise), and Bart is the one to find the books in her locker. In order to keep Lisa from destroying her future by getting expelled, Bart takes the blame. His recent good relationship with Principal Skinner softens the punishment to 600 days' worth of detention. |
| 264 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'' episode "Plunder And Lightning", [[spoiler: Kit]] pretends to betray Baloo, Rebecca, and Molly to gain Don Karnage's trust and allow them to escape the air pirates. |
| 265 | [[/folder]] |
| 266 | |
| 267 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 268 | * Often a strategy employed by coaches or trainers of sports teams: the goal is to force teammates to put aside whatever personal differences they might have by subjecting them to a TrainingFromHell, thus bonding over their [[EnemyMine mutual hatred]] for the guy putting them through it. Famously employed by Olympic Hockey Coach Herb Brooks for the 1980 US team. His use of the Gambit enabled him to overcome bitter inter-collegiate rivalries among individual team members and get them all working together as a team, united in their hatred of ''him''. Thanks to this training, the team took the gold medal against very long odds, and to this day, members of that team still speak of Brooks as the most brutal coach they've ever had. |
| 269 | ** This is also used in [[DrillSergeantNasty the military]], except in the military going through hell continues as they do their job. |
| 270 | * The 2012 Washington Nationals decision to shut down ace pitcher Stephen Strasburg after reaching an innings limit. It was said to be good for Strasburg's arm [[note]]Strasburg tore his ulnar collateral ligament in 2010, forcing him to undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the entire 2011 season[[/note]], but hated by the national media, especially since the team was in a pennant race. |
| 271 | * Similar to the Strasburg example, Chicago Bulls player Derrick Rose was medically cleared to play after injuring his knee the previous season, but refused to out of not wanting to risk another injury and not being mentally ready. |
| 272 | * General Ulysses S Grant's [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overland_Campaign Overland Campaign]] can be seen as a Zero Approval Gambit in the context of the Generals that came before. The Overland Campaign consisted of a series of tactical defeats wrapped in an overall strategic victory. With over 55,000 casualties Grant was denounced in the press as a butcher and the losses even put serious pressure on President Abraham Lincoln in an election year. The strategy to constantly engage General Lee and then maneuver around him forced the Confederate army into an irreversible retreat, but the overall objectives tended to be lost on the public which were focused on the battlefield reports. The generals that came before Grant were very much aware of their public image, and in the case of George [=McClellan=], also eying a run for the Presidency. Their tendency to advance cautiously and then immediately retreat after any battle that did not result in complete victory ultimately wasted more lives for little gain. Still, to this day Grant is often cited as waging a pure war of attrition, carelessly throwing his men into combat to grind down the Confederates. |
| 273 | * Creator/SorenKierkegaard was once engaged to [[TheMuse Regine Olsen]], but he eventually broke the engagement. He knew that a broken engagement would cast the woman in a bad light, so he pretended to act like an adulterous scoundrel so that ''he'' would take the blame instead. He managed to fool everyone... except Olsen. |
| 274 | * Pope Pius XII, also known as "Hitler's Pope" for a long time for his refusal to stand against the Nazis and the Holocaust, was vilified as the absolute worst pope who ever existed in History. Turns out it was strategic all along since he used his power to decide who was or wasn't Catholic to help thousands of Jews escape Nazi territories by giving away travel visas, and none of them knew who their savior was until decades later. Actually standing against the Nazis openly would have been a very bad idea since Hitler had the power to control frontiers and could have added Catholics to his no-travel list, making the whole operation all but impossible. Pius XII knew very well that his reputation would suffer, but he didn't mind since even the Bible says that [[{{WhatYouAreInTheDark}} doing the right thing]] is more important than maintaining a reputation.[[note]]Although the Pope still attracted controversy for his conciliatory attitudes towards former fascists and Nazis post-[=WW2=], even having sympathisers in the Vatican smuggling them away from punishment. This has been attributed to the Pope viewing fascism as a lesser threat towards the church than communism.[[/note]] |
| 275 | [[/folder]] |
| 276 |
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