History Main / FakeDefector

* One story option, which will happen most of the time in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' unless you choose Kratos at the Flanoir doctor scene]], features Zelos doing this, in part to get one of the required elements to create the Eternal Sword. In the other story path, he really does join the villains and you have to kill him.

* In one of the earliest ''Literature/BabysittersClub'' books, the girls are losing clients to the Baby-Sitters Agency (mainly because their members are older than twelve), so Kristy tries to find some new members. The two she gets are Janet and Leslie, who apparently quit the Agency because they didn't like how it was being run. So they're promptly booked for jobs with two new clients who saw the club's advertising for new, older sitters who could stay out later. Imagine the girls' shock at the Monday evening meeting, when their "defectors" don't show up, and the new clients call to complain that they were stood up. Kristy was absolutely devastated when she confronted them and learned that they did it deliberately to sabotage the [=BSC=]'s reputation.

** The truth of Kaldur's supposed FaceHeelTurn.

* Subverted with Saul in ''VisualNovel/DaughterForDessert''. Saul is trying to buy up the protagonist's diner when he is first introduced, and we later find out (after he is fired) that he was instructed to buy out specific businesses. Then, after a temporary stint as a cook at the diner, he reappears alongside Cecilia. However, when the protagonist is put on trial, Saul represents his pro bono and conspires with Mortelli to sabotage the prosecution.

* One story option, which will happen most of the time in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' unless you choose Kratos at the Flanoir doctor scene]], features Zelos doing this, in part to get one of the required elements to create the Eternal Sword. In the other story path, he really does join the villains and you have to kill him.
** If you piece all the story together, Kratos plays with this trope as well. Ultimately, Kratos doesn't believe in Mithos' vision of the world, but his inherent fatalism -- and the knowledge of what happened last time he tried -- keeps him from truly abandoning the Cruxis leader. This leads to Kratos playing the two of you up against each other and helping in his own fashion, hoping that ultimately Lloyd will win so Kratos will be able to die. He'll never actively oppose Mithos unless you choose him in the aforementioned scene, however.
* Subverted in the Unlimited Blade Works route in the ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' game by Servant Archer, defecting to one side, betraying them, then turning around and attacking his original side, revealing himself to have been [[ThePlan acting in his own personal interests all along]].
* Jowy Atreides from ''VideoGame/SuikodenII'' is an archetypical example of this trope (and a classic [[TheStarscream Starscream]]. Originally the main character's best friend and ally in the oncoming war against the [[PsychoforHire demonic, malevolent]] and [[AxCrazy psychopathic]] [[TheCaligula Prince]] Luca Blight (not the Luca above), he betrays said best friend and joins up with Luca, believing that the only way to stop him is from the inside. His plans are successful and at the end of the game, you can choose whether to fight him to the death or not.
** Sialeeds does this when she betrays the heroes in ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'' for the same reasoning as Jowy's: kill the corrupt people of the Senate from the inside so that no one will oppose the [[TheHero Prince]] and Lym.
* Axel in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'' pretended to help [[TheStarscream Marluxia]] for most of the game (even killing Vexen in the process), then turns around and ruins his plans.

* Megan Kher in the Playdom game ''VideoGame/GardensOfTime''. With help from [[TeamDad Alistair]] and [[FieryRedhead Eleanor]], she pulls this on none other than ''Julius Caesar''. Or better said, his younger and {{face heel turn}}ed self. [[ItmakesSenseInContext It's a long story]].
* In ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar'', when the party obtains the Dragon Helmet, Nash betrays them and takes it to Xenobia. He couldn't explain beforehand that he was planning to double-cross the Vile Tribe, and he returns injured but with the Dragon Helmet intact. This is altered in the remakes.
* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', the cloned Rachni queen, assuming you killed the real queen in ''1'' will pull this on you just to get access to your big emergency superweapon project, then sabotage the project on behalf of the Reapers. The real queen, should she still be alive, is genuinely on your side though, and her brood of worker drones will provide you with more War Assets than some ''fleets''.
* ''VisualNovel/IkemenSengoku'':
** Nobunaga and Hideyoshi's routes have Mitsuhide pretend to betray the Oda forces to get information on their enemies and/or lure them into a trap. This is quite easy for Mitsuhide to pull off, as he's an ''incredibly'' shady-looking and acting guy who was already attracting speculation about whether he might be the one who attempted to assassinate Nobunaga at Honno-ji (which ''was'' true in the original historical timeline, but not in the alternate one the main character is in).
** Mitsunari's route has Mitsunari himself act as the fake defector in his Dramatic ending. He pretends to be the one responsible for burning innocent villages so that Kennyo's Ikko Ikki forces will be distracted long enough by trying to hunt him down for the rest of the Oda forces to gather solid evidence that it was actually Kennyo himself who burned these villages and then blamed them on the Oda.
* In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', [[spoiler:Akechi]] drops [[spoiler:his]] opposition to the Phantom Thieves in the face of intense public pressure, and when the public turns on them after [[spoiler:Kunikazu's death]], [[spoiler:he]] joins them in their attempt to change [[spoiler:Sae]]'s heart, halt the rigged police investigation, and prove they're being set up by a conspiracy. [[spoiler:It turns out Akechi is part of said conspiracy and the protagonists knew that the whole time and have just OutGambitted him.]]

* ''Videogame/YakuzaLikeADragon''; Yosuke Tendo joins the heroes after the disbanding of the Omi Alliance, fighting alongside them to protect Watase and Daigo. This turns out to be a lie to gain the trust of Matsumi Arakawa (who helped Watase and Daigo engineer the disbanding), whom Tendo murders in order to get in the good graces of [[BigBad Ryo Aoki]] and take control of the Omi remnant that refused Watase's orders to disband.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfSuperman'' episode "Can a Luthor Change His Spots?", Luthor convinces Perry White that he's gone straight and is given a laboratory in the Daily Planet building. Jimmy Olson correctly believes that Luthor is lying and tries to catch him committing a crime.
* In the ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries The New Batman Adventures]]'' episode [[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE21MadLove "Mad Love"]], Harley Quinn sends a message saying that she's turned against the Joker because [[EvenEvilHasStandards he's gone too far]] and plans to kill everyone in Gotham City. It's actually a trap intended to [[MurderTheHypotenuse kill Batman]] so that Mistah J will give up his obsession and start paying attention to her.

-->'''Dr.Calvin:''' ''[as they rush up the staircase]'' I assume we'll discuss what just happened later?

** In ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', Captain America is part of a team time-traveling back to the events of ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' to recover Loki's scepter. He ends up in an elevator full of people who he knows are actually HYDRA agents thanks to the events of ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', and there's a tense moment when they ask for the scepter back and prepare for a fight. Cap puts them at ease by whispering [[MythologyGag two words:]] [[ComicBook/CaptainAmericaSteveRogers "Hail HYDRA."]]

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
** The ''[[HonorBeforeReason beyond]]'' [[HonorBeforeReason honorable]] Jon Snow becomes a fake defector in order to spy on the wildling king, Mance Rayder, for the Night's Watch at the orders of his superior officer, Qhorin Halfhand; he is forced to kill Qhorin Halfhand as Qhorin ordered him to do in order to gain the trust of the wildling leaders. And then to have sex with his new wildling girlfriend every night to maintain their trust. How ''else'' would he convince them he's forsworn those vows of chastity he honors so much? He ''does'' feel very bad about all this. During his role as fake defector -- though he comes to see ordinary wildlings as regular men, women and children and feels compassion for them -- he learns of the wildling king's plans to attack the Wall and must work to prevent this and warn the Night's Watch. He comes to fall in love with the aforementioned wildling girl but must leave her as he has always been loyal to the Night's Watch and must fulfill his duty.
** The Westerling family counts as well. The family is of minor nobility and is sworn to the Lannisters. After their daughter Jeyne, likely the only family member who doesn't fit this trope, marries the King in the North, Robb Stark, leader of one of the armies opposed to the Lannisters in the War of Five Kings, the Westerlings pretend to declare loyalty to the Starks. However, Robb's direwolf Grey Wind, an EvilDetectingDog, indicates that something is wrong about the family. Later, Jeyne's mother reveals to Jaime Lannister that she has been in contact with his father, Tywin Lannister, the head of the Lannister family, and was aware of the planned betrayal of Robb Stark at the hands of one of his sworn families. She also gave her daughter drugs to prevent conception, thus ensuring the male line of the Stark family died with Robb (or so she thought).
** Wyman Manderly, ever loyal to the Starks, pretends to defer to the Freys and Boltons after the Red Wedding when it's really all a ruse to [[{{Pun}} dish up]] some revenge of his own.
* In one of the earliest ''Literature/BabysittersClub'' books, the girls are losing clients to the Baby-Sitters Agency (mainly because their members are older than twelve), so Kristy tries to find some new members. The two she gets are Janet and Leslie, who apparently quit the Agency because they didn't like how it was being run. So they're promptly booked for jobs with two new clients who saw the club's advertising for new, older sitters who could stay out later. Imagine the girls' shock at the Monday evening meeting, when their "defectors" don't show up, and the new clients call to complain that they were stood up. Kristy was absolutely devastated when she confronted them and learned that they did it deliberately to sabotage the [=BSC=]'s reputation.
* Fiona Samson in the ''Literature/BernardSamsonSeries'', who was playing this for a seriously long time.

* Also subverted in ''Literature/{{Flashman}} and the Angel of the Lord''. [[spoiler:Joe Simmons]] was supposed to sabotage John Brown, but [[BecomingTheMask ended up following him for real]].
* Successfully pulled by Sir Horace Harkness in the ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' series, when their ship was taken by Havenite StateSec. A life of [[AntiHero smuggling and bootlegging]] certainly paid off -- he managed to deceive his watchdogs, hack the enemy ship's central computer, free his mates, and blow the entire ship to Kingdom Come after making a clean getaway. He was deservingly knighted for this performance.
* Professor Severus Snape of the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series. Interestingly, he defected to both sides at different points, so we're kept guessing for most of the series about which side he's a ''fake'' defector to. (Fans debated it to hell and back.) It all ends with a very unusual twist: his deception is successful but his mission fails. Voldemort believes Snape but kills him anyway, out of expediency. That said, he was able to prevent a whole lot of worse abuse towards the students of Hogwarts using his position as Headmaster and was able to give Harry his all-important memories about Voldemort's extra Horcrux, so in a way, he succeeded.
* Subverted in ''Emperor: The Gods of War'' by Conn Iggulden, where Brutus actually has done a face-heel turn and betrayed Caesar. However Caesar and his generals play it out as a fake defector, and even Brutus himself does so in order to get into Caesar's daughter's bed.
* In ''Literature/WatershipDown'' Bigwig tells the [[PoliceState Efrafans]] that he's a member of the [[CityGuards Owsla]] who escaped the destruction of his warren by Men, which is true except Bigwig neglects to mention that he's part of a group of similar refugees hoping to spring some of the Efrafan does for their own warren.
* Lara of the ''[[Literature/XWingSeries X-Wing]]'' series started off as a bad guy playing TheMole in the New Republic. She caused the near-total destruction of an X-wing squadron, then went back to the Imperials, got disgusted by her newest boss's insistence that WeHaveReserves, and engineered his death. Then, awaiting another chance, she went undercover among the New Republic again, joined an X-wing squadron, and started BecomingTheMask and finding that GoodFeelsGood, so she switched sides and started getting close to the only survivor of the X-wing squadron she'd destroyed. ''Then'' her true origin was revealed and she was forced to flee and rejoin the bad guys as a fake defector, contributing to a major New Republic victory. It ends on a bittersweet note at first (she has to live the rest of her life under a different identity to avoid being condemned to death for her actions as an Imperial agent), but a later book shows that things went all the better for her, as she started both a family and a successful business with the aforementioned survivor.
* In Creator/OrsonScottCard's novel ''Literature/ShadowPuppets'', Suriyawong spends most of his time working his way up to being the BigBad's second-hand man so that when the time comes he can give the good guys a chance to shoot the BigBad in the head.
* In Creator/TimPowers's novel ''Literature/{{Declare}}'' his protagonist Andrew Hale is more or less shoved into making a false defection in order to get close to his nemesis Kim Philby.
* In Creator/SandyMitchell's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} ''[[TabletopGame/DarkHeresy Scourge the Heretic]]'', when they are [[TheInfiltration infiltrating a smuggling operation]], Kyrlock claims to have deserted the Imperial Guard and need to escape. Later, when their guide [[AttemptedRape attempts to rape]] a girl also waiting to be smuggled, and Elyra is unable to get him to back down, Kyrlock tells him that while Elyra doesn't want to share, he would be willing. This [[EvilCannotComprehendGood lets him get close enough]] to bring the man down. Though it is over in a couple of minutes, Elyra is nearly convinced that he means it; when he says [[PowerOfTrust he knew she would back him up]], she is embarrassed and can not admit how close it came.
* Happens many times in ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms''. Especially noteworthy is just before the battle of Chi Bi; after Cao Cao's loyal admiral is executed [[FeedTheMole thanks to a plot of Zhou Yu's]], the admiral's brothers use it as a cover story for their supposed defection. However, they are easily discovered, but Zhou Yu just proceeds to [[FeedTheMole play along]] so as to plant his own Fake Defector to defeat Cao's giant navy.
* Also common in Kamakura-era retellings of the ''Literature/TheTaleOfGenji''. Many scenes in Genji make it clear that Genji was having an affair with the Emperor's chief wife, and even fathered her child. To avoid the unpatriotic implications, the retellings would have them go through the same conversations... but later reveal they were faking the whole thing to fool their enemies! And then NINJAS ATTACK!
* As of ''[[Literature/TheWheelOfTime The Gathering Storm]]'', Verin is revealed to be one of these, having joined the Black Ajah to save herself, then studied it and eventually brought it down from within. Considering how well she fooled her fellow Blacks, and the LoopholeAbuse she used to be able to divulge all (which also entailed a HeroicSacrifice), it's tempting to call her a [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bitch]] despite still being one of the Heroes. She's certainly the mistress of ThePlan.

* In Creator/TomClancy's ''[[Literature/JackRyan Cardinal of the Kremlin]]'', Jack Ryan pulls this, staging several 'incidents' to trick the Russians into trying to recruit him, including a rather public incident involving a gay senator. He's not actually going undercover, though -- he just needs to arrange a one-on-one with the KGB Chief, so he can blackmail HIM into defecting, bringing along the titular [[TheMole mole]].
* In the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' [[ExpandedUniverse Double Helix]] novel "Double Or Nothing", Mackenzie Calhoun needs to infiltrate the Big Bad, so he punches out an admiral. (He was supposed to have a loud argument with him, but he decided that he needed to be punched...to make the charade more authentic, of course). It is subverted, however, in that the Big Bad sees right through it and keeps it hidden until the big moment.
* The female lead of the ''Literature/JamesBond'' novel and film ''Literature/FromRussiaWithLove'' was told that her mission was to become one of these to leak false intelligence to the West. Her mission is actually a set up to lure Bond into a situation where SMERSH/SPECTRE (Depending on the adaptation) can kill both of them in a manner that embarrasses the British government.
* In Literature/TheDresdenFiles novel ''Literature/{{Changes}}'', Martin pretends to defect to the Red Court, serving as a DoubleAgent and setting up their total destruction. The protagonist was incredibly surprised, naturally.

-->''"[You] gave me the opportunity to make it look as though I were sincerely swapping Wess's freedom for your life. It took less acting to do that than to give Wess away under any conditions I could have dreamed up in your absence. In fact, as it was, I didn't have to act at all. It was a good swap."'' -- '''Lucky Starr'''
* In ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' it seems like Peeta has teamed up with the careers to kill Katniss. In actuality, he teamed up with them to lure them away from her and help keep her alive.
* In ''Literature/ChristianNation'', the protagonist convincingly fakes being "born again" so that he could escape being executed by the American theocratic government.
* In ''Literature/TheBlackCompany'' you have Blade, who "defects" after Croaker suspects him of having an affair with Lady, Croaker's wife. In the months-long con that followed, Croaker repeatedly sent the religious fanatics of his own army against Blade's forces, thinning his pressed army of the malcontents while Blade turned nearly his entire enemy force to the Company side.
* Seen in the ''Warrior'' trilogy of ''[[Franchise/BattleTechExpandedUniverse BattleTech]]'' novels about the Fourth Succession War, with not a clue whatsoever to an uninitiated reader until {{the Reveal}} late in the final novel. Of course, the surprise will likely be lost on most modern readers already familiar with the universe's backstory who'll recognize the name Justin Xiang Allard easily enough; it worked better when the books (some of the first ever written) were still new.
* In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', it appears that Tigerheart is eagerly following his grandfather [[BigBad Tigerstar]]'s teachings, but he's really spying on Tigerstar and the Dark Forest, unbeknownst to the reader and other characters (even Ivypool, who worked as a spy herself after joining and realizing that they're really hell-bent on destroying the Clans.)
* In ''[[Literature/{{Sharpe}} Sharpe's Tiger]]'', Sharpe and Lawford infiltrate the garrison of Seringapatam by pretending to be deserters happy to fight for Tippoo Sultan. They are eventually found out, but not before Sharpe has earned the respect of his new commanding officer -- who is actually somewhat relieved to learn that Sharpe is a spy because the kind of man he judges Sharpe to be would never actually desert.
* In ''Toys/{{Bionicle}} Adventures 9: Web of Shadows'', disillusioned Toa leader Vakama joins with the evil Roodaka, Sidorak and their [[GiantSpider Visorak]] horde only to find where the captured [[{{Hobbits}} Matoran citizens]] are held in stasis and to try rescuing them himself. His plan doesn't last -- once Roodaka gets him to touch Sidorak's throne (actually [[BigBad Makuta]]'s), the throne's dark energy corrupts Vakama's mind and turns him evil for real. This is in contrast to the ''Web of Shadows'' DirectToVideo animated film, in which Vakama never pretends to be evil and gets corrupted without touching the throne.

** ''Series/ChikyuuSentaiFiveman'' had an episode by [[Creator/ToshikiInoue the same writer]] where thanks to a monster with ResetButton powers, TheBadGuyWins and TheHeroDies. Five Pink then decides ResistanceIsFutile and assists in the slaughter of [[CainAndAbel her other siblings]]. Then, when the monster decides he [[TheStarscream shouldn’t use his powers only when ordered to]], Pink then takes advantage of this to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong.
** ''Series/ChourikiSentaiOhranger'' repeated this plot only this time had it fail. Ohyellow joins the bad guys in an attempt to recover an antidote, however, unlike Pink Turbo faking amnesia, Ohyellow faked cowardice and surrendered instead. Ohyellow also lets herself get hit by the poison darts and tries to get the antidote however she wore a bulletproof vest to protect herself, unlike Pink Turbo who allowed herself to be poisoned. Since Ohyellow doesn't take as many risks the bad guys aren't fooled and give her a fake antidote instead. They then need to use a backup plan instead.

* ''Franchise/PowerRangers''

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''