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1'''Basic Trope''': The least likely character to be the HiddenVillain (The BigBad, TheMole, TheManBehindTheMan) actually is.
2* '''Straight''': Detective Bob finds out that [[PunnyName Carl]], the friendly car dealership owner who sold him a car earlier, is the Mafia boss he had been tracking.
3* '''Exaggerated''': Detective Bob, after investigating several crime lords and shady politicians, finds out that his wife Alice's dog, Fido, is the real DiabolicalMastermind.
4* '''Downplayed''': Carl is an associate of the Mafia boss.
5* '''Justified''':
6** Carl takes on a normal job, which has no connection to crime, so he would never be suspected.
7** The car dealership was a useful place to launder money.
8* '''Inverted''':
9** Detective Bob suspected Carl from the start, [[ProperlyParanoid even without any reason to.]]
10** Carl is revealed to be the story's BigGood all along.
11** Bob, who has amnesia, learns that [[TomatoInTheMirror he was the Mafia boss]] himself!
12* '''Subverted''': Carl the car dealership owner is a former mafia boss under the Witness Protection Program.
13* '''Double Subverted''':
14** ...Who is actually a detective, investigating the true {{Man Behind the Man}}.
15** Carl supposedly proves his innocence to Bob, then it is revealed that he had been pulling the strings all along.
16* '''Parodied''': Fido enjoys seeing Detective Bob not suspecting him, just because he is a dog. But it's just a ruse so he could take over the world [[UnwittingPawn once all of the suspects (who are his greatest enemies) are arrested.]]
17* '''Zig Zagged''': The man did it, but wait, he was really behind TheDragon, but TheDragon was really the man behind the mastermind...
18* '''Averted''': The {{Man Behind the Man}} is just one of the suspects or some other likely person, not the least likely person.
19* '''Enforced''': "Hey, how about we make the boss Carl, the car dealership owner? [[AssPull The readers won't ever find out.]]”
20* '''Lampshaded''': "Carl, you're the Mafia boss? How sneaky of you for adopting that ruse."
21* '''Invoked''': Carl becomes a car dealership owner so he could become a Mafia boss without anybody knowing.
22* '''Exploited''': Since Fido knows that no one will ever suspect him as being a serial killer, he becomes one and frame people left and right, warding detectives off the right path.
23* '''Defied''': Detective Bob refuses to believe that the least likely suspect is the criminal, and Carl doesn't adopt such a silly cover job.
24* '''Discussed''': "Hey, it's probably the dog who did it all, because he knew we wouldn't suspect him." "The dog? Seriously? [[YouWatchTooMuchX You've been reading too many cheap mystery thrillers lately.]]" [[GilliganCut Cut]] to a scene where Fido makes a SarcasticConfession.
25* '''Conversed''':
26** "This is such a [[ClicheStorm predictable movie...]] Wait a minute! What just happened? ''Carl'' was behind it all? Why? [[{{Asspull}} It doesn't make any sense!]]"
27** "It was Carl, the car mechanic?! It's always the one you least expect. But I guess it would be less memorable the other way."
28* '''Implied''': At the end of the story, after Bob nabs what looks like the mafia boss, and all seems well, we see Carl talking on the phone, saying that “the decoy was a success.”
29* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': The creator knew that this nonsensical twist would upset the fans, and [[TrollingCreator deliberately included it to troll them.]]
30* '''Deconstructed''':
31** Fido really was the mastermind, but because he didn't plan ahead, Fido panics and does something that incriminates him.
32** Fido realizes he simply doesn’t have the resources to pull his plan off, so it never gets off the air.
33** Carl gets arrested for tax evasion, and [[MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot the rest of his activities come out soon after.]]
34* '''Reconstructed''': But since Detective Bob thinks that Fido is innocent (as he's just a dog), Fido gets to continue his EvilPlan [[KarmaHoudini scot-free.]]
35* '''Played For Laughs''': It's ''[[ObviousJudas really freaking obvious]]'' that Carl is a Mafia boss putting up a ruse as a car dealership owner, but hilarity ensues when Bob ''outright refuses'' to acknowledge that, even when the evidence is ''[[ImplausibleDeniability right in front of him!]]''
36* '''Played For Drama''': Fido successfully pulls off his EvilPlan, but he wasn't CrazyPrepared enough when he's revealed to be the mastermind. His crimes gets him 260 different life sentences.
37* '''Played For Horror''': Detective Bob kills the Chesapeake Piano Wire Strangler in a climactic ChaseScene and sits down alone with Carl for a brew during the epilogue, and when he looks away from Carl for a second [[CruelTwistEnding a very familiar length of piano wire suddenly comes from behind and wraps itself around his neck]].
38----
39Wait, the [[TheDogWasTheMastermind main page]] was behind it all? That’s impossible!
40----
41%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:

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