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Basic Trope: The Hero's friend turns out to be (or is at least in league with) the Big Bad.

  • Straight: Bob is ready to get some help from his best friend Charlie, but he gets betrayed when it turns out that Charlie is the crime boss of his empire.
  • Exaggerated: ALL of the hero's friends are bad guys, one of them being The Big Bad Wolf.
  • Downplayed: The Hero's casual acquaintance who appears a few times turns out to be the Big Bad.
  • Justified:
    • Charlie became Bob's friend in order to manipulate him.
    • Bob is a Reality Warper, and by becoming Bob's friend, Charlie is able to use Bob's power for his own ends.
    • Charlie is an Evil Former Friend of Bob's who wants revenge over a past incident.
  • Inverted: The Villain Protagonist's friend turns out to be The Mole conspiring to thwart his evil plans.
    • Bob's childhood bully and nemesis Daniel turns out to be the ultimate Big Good. Bob is utterly disillusioned from his heroic cause when he finds out.
  • Subverted:
    • Charlie seems to be the Big Bad, but was actually framed.
    • Charlie's friendship with Bob causes him to pull a Heel–Face Turn.
    • Emperor Evulz possesses the same identifying birthmark that Charlie has, but it turns out Evulz is actually his identical twin brother.
    • After the reveal, Charlie convinces Bob to turn to his side.
    • Charlie was Good All Along and secretly trying to stop the real villain of the story through sabotage.
  • Double Subverted:
    • ...and then it turns out that Charlie only made it look like he was framed, and really was the Big Bad after all.
    • Charlie runs into a Heel–Face Door-Slam by Bob.
    • ...However in actuality Charlie is the real Emperor Evulz, mind controlling his brother into the Evulz persona.
  • Parodied: Charlie is obviously evil, the Monster of the Week regularly visits Charlie in Bob's presence before trying to kill Bob, and Bob periodically walks in on Charlie in the middle of a megalomaniac rant. Bob finally discovers that Charlie is the big bad because he uses the same brand of shampoo that he found in the big bad's secret lair, and is shocked and outraged at his betrayal.
  • Zig Zagged: Bob knows that Charlie is not to be trusted yet he still hangs out with him.
  • Averted:
    • None of The Hero's friends turn out to be evil.
    • Alternatively, The Hero doesn't have any friends to begin with.
  • Enforced: "Charlie refuses to renew his contract for the next season, so let's write it that his character was the Big Bad all along!"
  • Lampshaded: "Huh, guess like brothers we've ended up fighting each huh Charlie?"
  • Invoked: Charlie usurps the role of Big Bad because he doesn't want anyone else to fight Bob.
  • Exploited: Bob urges Charlie to remember the good times they shared- So Bob can kill him whilst he's lost in thought.
  • Defied: Bob refuses to make any friends at all so he'll never end up shocked and betrayed by the reveal they're his enemy.
  • Discussed: ???
  • Conversed: ???
  • Implied: Emperor Evulz possesses the same subtle physical tic that Charlie and no one else has. Not helping matters is how Charlie is always missing whenever Evulz is around.
  • Deconstructed: Bob honestly viewed Charlie as his best friend, and having been betrayed Bob is depressed & afraid to make new friends to avoid another Charlie incident.
  • Reconstructed: Though Charlie's betrayal hurts Bob, Bob never ceases to consider him his friend even as he's forced to kill Charlie. Whilst wary of dealing with another Charlie incident, Bob vows to be a better friend so it'll never happen again.
  • Played For Drama: Alice, Bob's ex-girlfriend and personal Big Bad, reveals herself to be pregnant with his child. Shocked by the revelation, Bob has to either kill her and his unborn child or allow her to escape almost certainly causing more trouble in the future.

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