History Main / AmbiguousAllegiance

* DoubleReverseQuadrupleAgent: Someone with a bunch of allegiances at once to opposing factions

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1645745786064133600&page=1#1under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.]]]]]]

->'''Dick Tracy:''' Who's side are you on?\\
'''Breathless Mahoney:''' The side I'm always on: Mine.
-->-- ''Film/DickTracy''

This trope occurs when a particular character's allegiance is so unclear as to be a prominent subject of debate among fans. No one is ever really sure who this character is loyal to or if they even have loyalty to anyone. Many things may cause this: Perhaps there's reason to think that the character may not be in control of their own actions, or perhaps they simply change sides as often as you change clothes. Either way, you'll be left wondering whose side they're on for a while. The question may eventually be resolved or it may simply left up to the fans to debate.

Contrast AllegianceAffirmation.

----
!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* [[spoiler:Zeke Yeager]] in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', who ''claims'' what his allegiance is but his actions are very contradictory and he may be a case of PlayingBothSides.
* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', Gin's allegiance was in question a lot (at first he seemed to be the ObviouslyEvil BigBad, then he was revealed as Aizen's minion in a DoubleSubversion, but in the scenes where he appeared in Las Noches he still seemed rather untrustworthy). [[spoiler:It's eventually revealed that Gin had been waiting for the perfect moment to kill Aizen for over 100 years for mysterious reasons that appear to have involved his ChildhoodFriend Rangiku. Unfortunately, Aizen had known all along what Gin had been planning. Gin did pull it off better than Aizen expected, but Aizen prevailed in the end.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* Severus Snape from the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books. He repeatedly behaves suspiciously in a way that makes Harry suspect he's working for Voldemort, but others always claim that he's loyal to Dumbledore and working against Voldemort. This is seemingly resolved in the 6th book, but [[spoiler: it is eventually revealed that really was working against Voldemort and was motivated by love for Harry's mother (hence the reason he hated Harry so much; Harry looks a lot like his father, who himself bullied Snape mercilessly). Even Snape's seeming betrayal of Dumbledore was done on his orders. Harry names one of [[DeadGuyJunior his sons]] after him and describes him as "the bravest man I ever knew".]]
* Up until TheReveal, no one knew the allegiance of Verin Mathwin from ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime''. The fact that several key conversations of hers were offscreen, and that she was a SpaceCadet of the highest order did ''not'' help in the slightest.
* The Golden Company in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' has an unusual take on this -- it is pretty clear that they hold allegiance to [[spoiler: Aegon Targaryen, also known as Young Griff]], but because of their history it is unclear if they've firmly switched to [[spoiler: supporting a Targaryen claimant to the Iron Throne in order to get home]] or if at least elements in the Golden Company think [[spoiler: Young Griff isn't actually Aegon Targaryen and has some Blackfyre connection]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Jason Winkler from ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'' was a good guy at first, and then he started to unravel the mystery of Joy Mercer's disappearance. Ultimately, this led him to Victor and the next thing the viewers knew, he had joined Victor's society. This spawned some debate among fans of the series as to whether Jason was being forced to cooperate with the society or whether he had joined of his own free will. (A third theory is that he is TheMole, pretending to be loyal to the society in order to gather information on them.) Turned out, [[spoiler: he was slowly dying and needed [[MacGuffin The Cup of Ankh]] to save himself.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games]]
* This is the raison d'être of the Alpha Legion in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''. Officially they're a Traitor Legion, fighting against the Imperium, but the background material -- which is deliberately confusing and contradictory, as befits the masters of deception -- suggests that they may actually be loyal to the Emperor while despising what the Imperium has become, or possibly loyal to humanity itself, or possibly just playing a long game against the Chaos Gods. Or they may have lost sight of their original purpose and been wholly corrupted. Further confusing matters is their identical twin leaders (which every Legionnaire looks like to further confuse things), at least one of whom is dead, and at least one of whom was probably loyal to the Emperor.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Axel from the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series has no doubt been the subject of such a discussion at least once. Not even his fellow Organization members are entirely sure of where his loyalties lie.
* One of the biggest mysteries of the ''VideoGame/TrailsSeries'' is finding out whose side [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel Lechter Arundel]] is on. In public, he's the secretary of [[EvilChancellor Chancellor Giliath Osborne]] but in other cases, he also has relationships to Osborne's biggest rival, [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky Olivert]] and the crown princess of a different country plus working together with an agent of a rival country at a different state in Western Zemuria. [[spoiler: And then there's the mystery as to whether he's part of Ouroboros or not as he talks just like the 4th Anguis.]] This is finally revealed in ''Cold Steel III'' and his true allegiance lies [[spoiler:with Osborne to atone for the sins his father had caused]]. And then ''Cold Steel IV'' reveals that he [[spoiler:wanted to kill Osborne out of revenge for his father's death, as Osborne is the one who had him executed. However, the death of [[MoralityPet Millium]] broke him emotionally and made him decide to see Osborne's plans through to the end, thinking that he's come too far now and that Millium's sacrifice will have been for nothing otherwise]].
[[/folder]]

* This is the raison d'etre of the Alpha Legion in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''. Officially they're a Traitor Legion, fighting against the Imperium, but the background material -- which is deliberately confusing and contradictory, as befits the masters of deception -- suggests that they may actually be loyal to the Emperor while despising what the Imperium has become, or possibly loyal to humanity itself, or possibly just playing a long game against the Chaos Gods. Or they may have lost sight of their original purpose and been wholly corrupted. Further confusing matters is their identical twin leaders, at least one of whom is dead, and at least one of whom was probably loyal to the Emperor.

* One of the biggest mysteries of the ''VideoGame/TrailsSeries'' is finding out whose side [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel Lechter Arundel]] is on. In public, he's the secretary of [[EvilChancellor Chancellor Giliath Osborne]] but in other cases, he also has relationships to Osborne's biggest rival, [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky Olivert]] and the crown princess of a different country plus working together with an agent of a rival country at a different state in Western Zemuria. [[spoiler: And then there's the mystery as to whether he's part of Ouroboros or not as he talks just like the 4th Anguis.]] This is finally revealed in ''Cold Steel III'' and his true allegiance lies [[spoiler:with Osborne to atone for the sins his father had caused.]]

* Jason Winkler from ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'' was a good guy at first, and then he started to unravel the mystery of Joy Mercer's disappearance. Ultimately, this led him to Victor and the next thing the viewers knew, he had joined Victor's society. This spawned some debate among fans of the series as to whether Jason was being forced to cooperate with the society or whether he had joined of his own free will. (A third theory is that he is the ReverseMole, pretending to be loyal to the society in order to gather information on them.) Turned out, [[spoiler: he was slowly dying and needed [[MacGuffin The Cup of Ankh]] to save himself.]]

'''Breathless Mahoney:''' The side I'm always on: mine.

* One of the biggest mysteries of the ''VideoGame/KisekiSeries'' is finding out whose side [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel Lechter Arundel]] is on. In public, he's the secretary of [[EvilChancellor Chancellor Giliath Osborne]] but in other cases, he also has relationships to Osborne's biggest rival, [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky Olivert]] and the crown princess of a different country plus working together with an agent of a rival country at a different state in Western Zemuria. [[spoiler: And then there's the mystery as to whether he's part of Ouroboros or not as he talks just like the 4th Anguis.]] This is finally revealed in ''Cold Steel III'' and his true allegiance lies [[spoiler:with Osborne to atone for the sins his father had caused.]]

* Axel from the ''Videogame/KingdomHearts'' series has no doubt been the subject of such a discussion at least once. Not even his fellow Organization members are entirely sure of where his loyalties lie.

This trope occurs when a particular characters allegiance is so unclear as to be a prominent subject of debate among fans. No one is ever really sure who this character is loyal to or if they even have loyalty to anyone. Many things may cause this: Perhaps there's reason to think that the character may not be in control of their own actions, or perhaps they simply change sides as often as you change clothes. Either way, you'll be left wondering whose side they're on for a while. The question may eventually be resolved or it may simply left up to the fans to debate.

* Severus Snape from the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books. [[spoiler:He was a good man, albeit flawed, having [[KickTheDog kicked the dog]] a lot. He really was working against Voldemort and was motivated by love for Harry's mother (hence the reason he hated Harry so much; Harry looks a lot like his father, who himself bullied Snape mercilessly). Harry names one of [[DeadGuyJunior his sons]] after him and describes him as "the bravest man I ever knew".]]

* One of the biggest mysteries of the ''VideoGame/KisekiSeries'' is finding out whose side [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel Lechter Arundel]] is on. In public, he's the secretary of [[EvilChancellor Chancellor Giliath Osborne]] but in other cases, he also has relationships to Osborne's biggest rival, [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky Olivert]] and the crown princess of a different country plus working together with an agent of a rival country at a different state in Western Zemuria. [[spoiler: And then there's the mystery as to whether he's part of Ouroboros or not as he talks just like the 4th Anguis.]]

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* Severus Snape from the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books. [[spoiler:He was a good man, albeit flawed, having [[KickTheDog kicked the dog]] a lot. He really was working against Voldemort and was motivated by love for Harry's mother (hence the reason he hated Harry so much; Harry looks a lot like his father, who himself bullied Snape mercilessly). Harry names one of [[DeadGuyJunior his sons]] after him and describes him as "the bravest man I ever knew".]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* Axel from the ''Videogame/KingdomHearts'' series has no doubt been the subject of such a discussion at least once. Not even his fellow Organization members are entirely sure of where his loyalties lie.

* Jason Winkler from ''HouseOfAnubis'' was a good guy at first, and then he started to unravel the mystery of Joy Mercer's disappearance. Ultimately, this led him to Victor and the next thing the viewers knew, he had joined Victor's society. This spawned some debate among fans of the series as to whether Jason was being forced to cooperate with the society or whether he had joined of his own free will. (A third theory is that he is the ReverseMole, pretending to be loyal to the society in order to gather information on them.) Turned out, [[spoiler: he was slowly dying and needed [[MacGuffin The Cup of Ankh]] to save himself.]]

This trope occurs when a particular characters alleigance is so unclear as to be a prominent subject of debate among fans. No one is ever really sure who this character is loyal to or if they even have loyalty to anyone. Many things may cause this: Perhaps there's reason to think that the character may not be in control of their own actions, or perhaps they simply change sides as often as you change clothes. Either way, you'll be left wondering whose side they're on for a while. The question may eventually be resolved or it may simply left up to the fans to debate.

* Up until TheReveal, no one knew the allegiance of Verin Mathwin from ''TheWheelOfTime''. The fact that several key conversations of hers were offscreen, and that she was a SpaceCadet of the highest order did ''not'' help in the slightest.

* Axel from the ''KingdomHearts'' series has no doubt been the subject of such a discussion at least once. Not even his fellow Organization members are entirely sure of where his loyalties lie.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* Mr. Krabs from ''{{SpongeBob SquarePants}}''

* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', Gin's allegiance was in question a lot (at first he seemed to be the ObviouslyEvil BigBad, then he was revealed as Aizen's minion in a DoubleSubversion, but in the scenes where he appeared in Las Noches he still seemed rather untrustworthy). Finally it's revealed that [[spoiler:Gin had been pulling an epic BatmanGambit where he'd been waiting for the perfect moment to kill Aizen for over 100 years for nothing more than having his thugs attack his MoralityPet ([[IKnewIt and the fangirls rejoiced]]). He even almost succeeds]].

* In ''{{Bleach}}'', Gin's allegiance was in question a lot (at first he seemed to be the ObviouslyEvil BigBad, then he was revealed as Aizen's minion in a DoubleSubversion, but in the scenes where he appeared in Las Noches he still seemed rather untrustworthy). Finally it's revealed that [[spoiler:Gin had been pulling an epic BatmanGambit where he'd been waiting for the perfect moment to kill Aizen for over 100 years for nothing more than having his thugs attack his MoralityPet ([[IKnewIt and the fangirls rejoiced]]). He even almost succeeds]].

* Severus Snape from the ''HarryPotter'' books. [[spoiler:He was a good man, albeit flawed, having [[KickTheDog kicked the dog]] a lot. He really was working against Voldemort and was motivated by love for Harry's mother (hence the reason he hated Harry so much; Harry looks a lot like his father, who himself bullied Snape mercilessly). YourMileageMayVary, but at the very least Harry names one of [[DeadGuyJunior his sons]] after him and describes him as "the bravest man I ever knew".]]

* Jason Winkler from ''HouseOfAnubis'' was a good guy at first, and then he started to unravel the mystery of Joy Mercer's disappearance. Ultimately, this led him to Victor and the next thing the viewers knew, he had joined Victor's society. This spawned some debate among fans of the series as to whether Jason was being forced to cooperate with the society or whether he had joined of his own free will. (A third theory is that he is the ReverseMole, pretending to be loyal to the society in order to gather information on them.) Turned out, he was slowly dying and needed [[MacGuffin The Cup of Ankh]] to save himself.

* Jason Winkler from ''HouseOfAnubis'' was a good guy at first, and then he started to unravel the mystery of Joy Mercer's disappearance. Ultimately, this led him to Victor and the next thing the viewers knew, he had joined Victor's society. This spawned some debate among fans of the series as to whether Jason was being forced to cooperate with the society or whether he had joined of his own free will. (A third theory is that he is the ReverseMole, pretending to be loyal to the society in order to gather information on them.)

[[AC: AnimeAndManga]]
* In ''{{Bleach}}'' Gin's allegiance was in question a lot (at first he seemed to be the ObviouslyEvil BigBad, then he was revealed as Aizen's minion in a DoubleSubversion, but in the scenes where he appeared in Las Noches he still seemed rather untrustworthy). Finally it's revealed [[spoiler: he'd been pulling an epic BatmanGambit where he'd been waiting for the perfect moment to kill Aizen for over 100 years for nothing more than having his thugs attack his MoralityPet ([[IKnewIt and the fangirls rejoiced]]). He even almost succeeds.]]

[[AC: {{Literature}}]]

* Severus Snape from the ''HarryPotter'' books. [[spoiler: He was a good (albeit flawed, who'd KickedTheDog a lot) man. He really was working against Voldemort and was motivated by love for Harry's mother (hence the reason he hated Harry so much; he looks a lot like his father, who himself bullied Snape mercilessly). YourMileageMayVary, but at the very least Harry names one of [[DeadGuyJunior his sons]] after him and describes him as "the bravest man I ever knew".]]

[[AC: LiveActionTV]]
* Jason Winkler from ''HouseOfAnubis.'' He was a good guy at first, and then he started to unravel the mystery of Joy Mercer's disappearance. Ultimately, this led him to Victor and the next thing the viewers knew, he had joined Victor's society. This spawned some debate among fans of the series as to whether Jason was being forced to cooperate with the society or whether he had joined of his own free will. (A third theory that has been proposed is that he is the ReverseMole, pretending to be loyal to the society in order to gather information on them.)

[[AC: VideoGames]]

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]
* Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob