History Main / BackstabbingTheAlphaBitch

Sometimes, this is to [[TheStarscream take the Alpha Bitch's place in her own right]]. Sometimes, [[PostSupportRegret the backstabber suddenly comes to the realization that the Alpha Bitch is simply a miserable human being, and not worth the loyalty]]. Sometimes the backstabber is motivated by some form of {{revenge}}, [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy]], or ambition. Whatever the reason, the backstabber's actions will aid the story's heroine (who is inevitably an outcast and the target of the Alpha Bitch's derision). Thus, [[BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork the backstabber ends up doing the heroine's dirty work without the heroine having to get her hands dirty taking down the Alpha Bitch on her own]]. The backstabber often never realizes this, and such a result is frequently the furthest thing from the backstabber's mind when she moves to betray the Alpha Bitch. However, the backstabber often won't object to the heroine benefiting, as long as the Alpha Bitch is made to suffer, and they may even give the heroine a few concessions. Of course, in some stories, the backstabber might outright ''recruit'' the heroine into helping her do this, and you can expect the latter to be initially suspicious.

Occasionally the character has been pretending to be TheDitz, but [[ObfuscatingStupidity is smarter than anyone suspects]]. Occasionally, the heroine manipulates a loyal member of the Girl Posse into taking this action, and that member is usually the weak link in the chain.

* This happens to Manami in ''Manga/Life2002'', when one of her GirlPosse tells the teachers about her bullying. This causes Manami to bully her, to the point where [[spoiler:she [[BungledSuicide attempts suicide]]]].
* In ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'', the AlphaBitch Nanami gets backstabbed by her GirlPosse (Keiko, Aiko, and Yuuko) as part of [[BreakTheHaughty her breakdown.]] TheStarscream girl member ([[spoiler:Keiko Sonoda, the one with GirlishPigtails]]) remarks that it felt good to ''finally'' tell Nanami how they all felt about her, that they had gotten tired of exploiting her popularity, and then takes over the gang. Nanami's recent treatment of the girl, based in jealousy, didn't exactly help her.

* ''Fanfic/{{CONSEQUENCES|MiraculousLadybug}}'': One installment [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/27702113 “BULLYING”]], [[DeconstructionFic deconstructs]] the FandomSpecificPlot of Marinette getting bullied by her classmates on [[ManipulativeBastard Lila’s]] false accusations. The class actually caught onto [[BitchInSheepsClothing Lila’s true nature]] a long time ago, but instead of confronting her immediately, they continue to act as her loyal followers and pretend to bully Marinette for her, all while gathering evidence of her schemes and manipulations before finally luring her into an EngineeredPublicConfession with her mother and school staff in hiding.

* Jaqueline, the [[HollywoodHomely "ugly"]] stepsister in ''Film/EverAfter'', rebels against her mother and sister's shameless [[TheVamp vampiness]] after realizing they considered her just barely higher on the family's totem pole than Danielle (who they had made a servant in her own home and denied all happiness) and after being casually dismissed as never being able to attract ''any'' royal's attention at the ball ("You're only going for the food"). She wisely decided to help Danielle dish them out a karmic comeuppance. She's also the one who patched Danielle up after the whipping and expressed the opinion that her mother and sister had crossed a line, well before there was any profit for her in doing so. She also showed disgust when Marguerite tried to steal Danielle's mother's dress early in the film, so it is clear she sympathized with Danielle from the get-go.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer:'' Harmony does this to Cordelia after it becomes public knowledge that she's been dating Xander. Arguably an {{Inversion}}, however -- Cordelia was a LovableAlphaBitch by this point, while Harmony really had no such depths. (She eventually gained some, but only after graduating, becoming a vampire and transferring to ''Series/{{Angel}}.''
* ''Series/ControlZ'': Nearly all of persons within the popular clique backstabbed Isabela in different ways before and after she was outed as transgender.

** It is revealed that Shay and Mackenzie’s rivalry began in third grade, when Mackenzie [[WeUsedToBeFriends betrayed their friendship]] by deserting her on the playground when she got injured to steal the head cheerleader position from her, and has kept ever since, a title that every woman in Shay’s family before her has held, making Shay the first girl in her family to never be head cheerleader.

* Happens to Azula from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' during "The Boiling Rock", when Mai and Ty Lee turn on her. As Azula thought she held total command over them, their betrayal makes her paranoid of everyone she commands and is one of the contributions to her VillainousBreakdown.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Crusaders of the Lost Mark", Silver Spoon turns against Diamond Tiara [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal after being treated badly one too many times]]. It's this little bit that sends Diamond spiraling towards a long-awaited HeelFaceTurn.

* This happens to Manami in ''Manga/Life2002'', when one of her GirlPosse tells the teachers about her bullying. This causes Manami to bully her, to the point where [[spoiler:she [[BungledSuicide attempts suicide]]]].

[[folder:Film]]
* Tia from ''Film/{{Saved}}'' waits until the prom to destroy Hilary Faye's reputation by proving that she performed the vandalism on the school for which the heroine was blamed.

* Lisa Luder in ''Film/RomyAndMichelesHighSchoolReunion'' waits until the reunion before confronting queen bee Christy Masters. Lisa seems to be motivated more by moral outrage and personal dislike of Christy than traditional jealousy. The flashbacks show Lisa had always been a more independent thinker than the rest of the group.
* Cady in ''Film/MeanGirls'' is an odd case of the heroine doing her own knifing. Jo Mitchell has this happen to her in the sequel.
* Jaqueline, the [[HollywoodHomely "ugly"]] stepsister in ''Film/EverAfter'', rebels against her mother and sister's shameless [[TheVamp vampiness]] after realizing they considered her just barely higher on the family's totem pole than Danielle (who they had made a servant in her own home and denied all happiness) and after being casually dismissed as never being able to attract ''any'' royal's attention at the ball ("You're only going for the food"). She wisely decided to help Danielle dish them out a karmic comeuppance. She's also the one who patched Danielle up after the whipping and expressed the opinion that her mother and sister had crossed a line, well before there was any profit for her in doing so. She also showed disgust when Marguerite tried to steal Danielle's mother's dress early in the film, so it is clear she sympathized with Danielle from the get-go.

* From Amanda Bynes' ''Film/SydneyWhite'', a modern retelling of "Literature/SnowWhite", sorority president [[AlphaBitch Rachel Witchburn]], after much verbal and emotional abuse to several people, including her sorority sisters, finally got stripped of her presidency and her regime by said sisters.
* In ''Film/HappyDeathDay'', while stuck in a GroundhogDayLoop where every day ends with her death, protagonist Tree at one point demonstrates her decision to get over her own 'Alpha Bitch' status by tipping chocolate milk over the head of Danielle, the leader of her sorority (although it technically doesn't count as this was not Tree's final 'loop', with the result that Tree's the only one who even remembers this happened and Danielle continues as per normal once time progresses beyond this day).

* Anastasia from ''WesternAnimation/CinderellaIIIATwistInTime'' does this to her mother Lady Tremaine. Not only that, but she goes full CallingTheOldWomanOut on her mother, calling her out for not letting her have her own life and illusions [[spoiler:and having tried to use her in her plans before]].

* The YA novel ''Literature/LetsGetLost'' has a rare example of this trope where the AlphaBitch in question is ''the protagonist'' and her getting backstabbed is deconstructed, as Isabel is betrayed just as she's started to become a nicer, happier person, confirming her fears that being kind makes you weak, and the girl who takes her place as Queen Bee sinks to even worse behavior that Isabel herself ever stooped to.

* In ''Series/EightSimpleRules'', one of the sisters explicitly invokes this trope.
* In ''Series/{{Glee}}'' season 2, former head cheerleader and AlphaBitch Quinn tells Coach Sue Sylvester of New Cheerleading Captain Santana's boob job to get Santana demoted and put herself back on top.
* This trope is a major plot point in the early 1990s Canadian teen soap opera ''Hillside'' (broadcast on Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} as ''Fifteen'' and starring a young Creator/RyanReynolds). The Alpha Bitch is the manipulative, conniving Brooke, who lusts after Hillside School's star athlete Matt and dedicates her life to trying to break up his relationship with "Little Miss Perfect" Ashley (played by Laura Harris). Little does she know that her own BFF and BetaBitch Kelly (played by future anime voice actress Enuka Vanessa Okuma) has her own plan to ruin Brooke, and is even involving Brooke's own sister...

* ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'' has Miu being attacked and sabotaged [[spoiler:by one of her GirlPosse in a beauty pageant. The latter became a zodiart monster, too.]]

* ''Series/LizzieMcGuire'': When Kate breaks her arm, Claire kicks her out of the cheerleading team, takes over as captain, and quickly proves herself to be much worse.
* ''Series/ControlZ'': Nearly all of persons within the popular clique backstabbed Isabela in different ways before and after she was outed as transgender.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' episode "Outcast Ashley", Ashley B. and the other two Ashleys kick Ashley A. out of the clique for forgetting "Purple Day" (the anniversary of the day they first met where they all wear purple; Ashley A. was wearing yellow), and so Ashley A. decides to hang out with [[TheSmartGuy Gretchen]] for a while. However, the other Ashleys end up befriending her, and then in the end, they leave Gretchen behind and Ashley A. returns to the group.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Crusaders of the Lost Mark", Silver Spoon turns against Diamond Tiara [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal after being treated badly one too many times]]. It's this little bit that sends Diamond spiraling towards a long-awaited HeelFaceTurn.
* Roxy does this to Pizzazz in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' episode "Roxy Rumbles". After Jetta and Pizzazz make fun of her due to her [[NeverLearnedToRead inability to read]] she calls them out and quits the band. She ends up returning a few days later due to her contract.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Island'' episode "Paintball Deer Hunter", Beth betrays Heather by shooting her repeatedly with a paintball gun after being bullied and bossed around by her for the entire season. Lindsay, Heather's other stooge, even joins in on the fun. Sadly, Beth is voted off soon after and Lindsay goes right back to working for her again...up until "That's Off the Chain" where Lindsay is eliminated, but nonetheless delivers her a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech so epic that most of it is bleeped out. Later, in the penultimate challenge of the season, [[LaserGuidedKarma it is Lindsay's dare that ultimately gets Heather eliminated]].