History Main / FalseFriend

* ''Fanfic/AccidentalCompanions'': Naruto views the rest of Team 7 this way, due to their tendency to treat him like an annoying TagalongKid more than anything else.
* ''Fanfic/AfterThatFatefulNight'': [[spoiler:Silent Brook]] serves as one to Twilight Sparkle, getting close to her for the sole purpose of potentially reaching Nightmare Moon.
* ''Fanfic/AftermathOfTheGames'': In ''Integration'', Filly Starlight is afraid of making new friends out of fear that they'll abandon her like she believes Sunburst did. Twilight encourages her by stating the risk is worth it, admitting that others pretended to be her friend when she was younger in hopes of meeting Princess Celestia... or getting her to do their homework for them.

* ''Fanfic/AlwaysTheQuietOnes'': The Rainbooms find Fluttershy's diary, which leaves them with the impression that she never considered them to be friends. Turns out [[spoiler:it was actually an English assignment]].

* ''Fanfic/AnywayIveBeenThere'': Pacifica acted as one towards Tiffany and Elizabeth. When she tries to apologize for this later, they [[RejectedApology shoot her efforts down]].
* ''Fanfic/ArchenemiesToSuperfriends'' has Lila realize that most of her classmates are SecretlySelfish and were {{taking advantage of|Generosity}} Marinette before she came along and they all switched targets to ''her'', wanting to exploit her [[CelebrityLie supposed celebrity ties]]. This ironically leads to her bonding with Marinette over time due to their shared frustration over the class being AllTakeAndNoGive.

* ''Fanfic/BurnTheWitchMiraculousLadybug'': Lila served as one to most of her classmates, but especially Rose, who is utterly ''heartbroken'' when she learns too late that Lila tricked her into donating to a FakeCharity. Especially since Rose unwittingly encouraged many of her friends and family to donate as well, even contacting Prince Ali out of the belief that he'd naturally want to support his [[CelebrityLie dear friend]]... only for Prince Ali to reveal he didn't know who Lila was, berating Rose for getting him involved with a ConArtist and cutting off contact with her.
* ''Fanfic/BurningBridgesBuildingConfidence'': Lila naturally serves as one to all of her "friends", as well as a ToxicFriendInfluence. Alya is the hardest hit; Lila manipulates her into becoming her [[TheBrute brutish enforcer]]. At one point, Lila pretends to be listening to Alya vent, but secretly mutes her, only switching it back on so she can pass on some 'juicy' cherry-picked gossip.

* ''Fanfic/ACloudyPath'': Albedo attempted to become one of these for Taylor; the only reason she tried getting closer to her was in order to ferret out and learn her secrets. However, Taylor's inner circle proved too difficult for her to penetrate.
* In ''Fanfic/CoincidenceAndMisunderstandings'', Starfire convinces herself that Raven was one of these all along, hiding her true demonic nature from the rest of the team for five years and biding her time until she was strong enough to follow in her father's footsteps and try destroying the world.
* In ''Fanfic/CrimsonAndNoire'', Marinette isn't aware that Lila is a ConsummateLiar who acts sweet and friendly while attempting to monopolize as much of Marinette's free time as possible. Plagg suspects that Lila is a ClingyJealousGirl who wants Marinette all to herself.
* ''Fanfic/ADeceptiveGameOfChess'': Blake feigns attraction to Weiss in order to lure the heiress into a trap, exploiting her FriendlessBackground. She soon comes to regret this.
* ''Fanfic/TheDemesneOfTheReluctantTwilightSparkle'' {{Downplay|edTrope}}s this. Twilight's growing friendship with Discord ''is'' genuine; however, he realizes that she's deliberately cultivating that friendship for reasons that could be interpreted as ways to keep him under control.

* ''Fanfic/FloweyIsNotAGoodLifeCoach'': Flowey pretends to be Papyrus' friend, deciding to psychologically torment and string him along simply because [[ForTheEvulz he's bored]] and wants to see just how far he can push the trusting skeleton.
* ''Fanfic/ForHisOwnSake'': Kagura and Chisato convince Mutsumi that they want to help her in her self-imposed mission to [[ShipperOnDeck get Keitaro and Naru back together]]. As it turns out, Mutsumi is so delusional that she continues to believe this even when they act in ways that clearly contradict their claims, such as when Kagura attempts to seduce Keitaro. Ultimately, Chisato becomes so [[EnragedByIdiocy enraged by her stupidity]] that she slaps and calls her out:
-->'''Chisato:''' Will you just shut the hell up? Even Naru said that she didn't want to work things out with Keitaro, who what makes you think that after all that was said, all that you heard that things were going to go as you wanted?\\
'''Kagura:''' It was so easy to have you wrapped around our fingers, but even so, we didn't think that you were so... well, so ''stupid''. I mean there has to be a limit of how stupid someone can be, right?
* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/46817137/chapters/117923854 Hold on til May]]'', it turns out that Adrien is a BitchInSheepsClothing. Not only did he trick Chloé into constantly taking the fall for all of their mischief as children, he sees all of their classmates as {{Unwitting Pawn}}s whom he's manipulating to create the "ideal high school experience" he's always wanted. After Marinette transfers to another school, he becomes hellbent on forcing her to come back -- not because he cares about her, but because he thinks she's a particularly ''useful'' pawn.
* ''Fanfic/AHollowInEquestria'': Ulquiorra attempts to invoke this from Chapter 35 onwards, hoping to convince the ponies to leave him alone so he can focus on figuring out who's threatening Equestria. This ultimately backfires, in part since he doesn't understand how said friendships developed in the first place, so he unintentionally winds up strengthening them in the long run.
* ''Fanfic/ISeeWhatYouDoBehindClosedDoorsMiraculousLadybug'': Both Lila and Adrien qualify here, as both only care about manipulating the rest of their classmates to their own selfish ends. Notably, Lila ends up [[spoiler:exposing Adrien when she praises him as her AccompliceByInaction]].
* ''Fanfic/TheKarmaOfLies'':
** Lila, quite naturally, is a ManipulativeBitch [[BitchInSheepsClothing in Sheep's Clothing]] who strings her classmates along with promises that are TooGoodToBeTrue. Notably, she sees the rest of the class as being much like her -- in her eyes, it's clear that they only care about [[TakingAdvantageOfGenerosity what they can get]] out of being her friends, and she's simply exploiting their SecretlySelfish nature.
** Adrien also proves himself to be one, preferring to let Lila do as she pleases because he ''might'' be inconvenienced if he warns his classmates that they're being conned. His friendship is shown to be purely lip service; he likes calling Marinette, Nino, and the others his friends without having to actually ''do anything'' to help them out.

* [[ManipulativeBitch Lila]] serves as one to [[UnwittingPawn Alya]] in ''Fanfic/MarinetteDupainChengsSpitePlaylist''. As Alya is reeling from the shock and hurt of Marinette transferring to another school and calling her out for being a FairWeatherFriend, Lila convinces her that she's a much ''truer'' friend, when in reality, she's been taking advantage of her every step of the way.
* ''Fanfic/TheMatrixRewinds'': In a rare heroic version, Victoria's BetaBitch friend Courtney (who took the name Elle after unplugging) has only taken on the role as part of her cover.
* ''Fanfic/ProjectSunflower'': When Erin Olsen/Sunflower starts bonding with the Mane Six, along with Meadowlark and her daughter Marigold, she's afraid that she'll become this, as she was sent to Equestria to find a potential home for humanity. When the truth comes out, and she explains herself, the Mane Six forgive her, but Meadowlark does not.
* Ruby from ''Webcomic/{{REMNANTS}}'' was popular at her old school but this was only because of the silver eyes (which are associated with powerful huntsman) she inherited from her celebrity mother. Most of her friends only liked Ruby for her eyes, not her character.
* According to ''Fanfic/TheRugratsTheory'', Susie goes along with everything that Angelica tells her, then exploits her trust by turning her tales into the ''Rugrats'' cartoon.
* ''Fanfic/ThroughTheWellOfPirene'': This is Amelia's initial relationship with Wire and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The moment she sees them as more of a burden than a boon, she promptly writes them off.
* ''Fanfic/TraitorsFace'': Mai starts out as one for Aang in Act 1, manipulating him and the rest of the Gaang while gradually BecomingTheMask.

* In ''Fanfic/{{Venality}}'', Denki Kaminari is a false friend to the "Bakugang", as he's secretly TheMole working for the League of Villains.
* ''Fanfic/VengeanceOfDawn'':
** During her time at the School for Gifted Unicorns, Laurel dealt with multiple ponies pretending to be her friends so that she'd do their homework for them. Laurel was painfully aware of the fact that they were just using her, which is part of why she's so devoted to Breaking Dawn; Dawn was the first pony she met who didn't have any ulterior motives and simply wanted to be her friend.
** Twilight also dealt with this: one of her friends as a filly, Scarlet Shine, was ordered to hang out with her by her parents, who wanted to use that "friendship" as leverage for securing an audience with Princess Celestia.
** While disguised as "Countess Mercedes Zaccone", Breaking Dawn works her way into Twilight's good graces with the intent of poisoning Candence and orchestrating Twilight's downfall.

* In ''Fanfic/WhateverHappenedToElfstar'', Gina Frost allows Marcie into their circle of friends and their [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons D&D]] sessions, only to single her out because she doesn't want Marcie getting too close to Debbie. When Marcie breaks down because of the ostracization, Gina kicks her out of the group and shows no sympathy when told she's suffering.
* ''Fanfic/TheWolvesInTheWoodsMiraculousLadybug'' calls Alya's friendship with Marinette into question, as she [[ToxicFriendInfluence convinced most of the class]] to turn upon her based on Lila's claims... while ''fully aware'' that Lila wasn't telling the truth. Why? Because she wanted to 'knock her down a few pegs' [[TallPoppySyndrome after her recent successes]] and keep Marinette cowed and dependent upon her 'bestie'.
** Nino also wonders whether Alya originally defended her from Chloé because it was the right thing to do... or simply because she wanted to 'play the hero'. It's heavily implied that she wanted Marinette to ''remain'' an ExtremeDoormat, disliking the idea of her gaining any confidence.
* ''Fanfic/TheWorldOfTheCreatures'': Hope presents herself to Patrick as a compassionate, supportive friend who's always willing to be there for him and listen to his troubles. In reality, she's only doing this to make him more dependent upon her, so she can cut him off from his real friends.
* ''Fanfic/YourHeartAHavenOfThornsNaruto'': Naruto eventually realizes that the trust he'd placed in the Sandaime was completely misplaced. While Hiruzen played the role of a grandfatherly figure who repeatedly reassured him that he'd eventually be able to [[IJustWantToHaveFriends make friends]], he did nothing to address how Naruto was being [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer isolated and scorned]] by most of Konoha. What's worse, [[spoiler:Sasuke]] reveals that his father warned him away from trying to befriend Naruto, explaining that he was the [[SealedInsideAPersonShapedCan Kyuubi's jinchuuriki]] and that the Sandaime would see any friendship as a potential ''alliance''. In other words, Hiruzen worked to keep Naruto isolated, lonely and desperate for approval.

* ''Fanfic/ACertainInfinitePossibility'': While ambiguous at first, it eventually becomes clear that [[spoiler:Jason]] doesn't actually care for anyone in the Kamijou Faction. They're simply useful to them, and they keeps them alive because they need them for their plans.

* ''Fanfic/TheDemesneOfTheReluctantTwilightSparkle'' [[{{Downplayed}} downplays]] this. Twilight's growing friendship with Discord ''is'' genuine; however, he realizes that she's deliberately cultivating that friendship for reasons that could be interpreted as ways to keep him under control.

* ''Fanfic/YourHeartAHavenOfThornsNaruto'': Naruto eventually comes to realize that the trust he placed in the Sandaime was completely misplaced. While his 'Saru-jiji' repeatedly reassured him that he'd eventually be able to make friends, he did nothing to address how he was being [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer isolated and scorned]] by the majority of Konoha's residents. What's worse, [[spoiler:Sasuke]] reveals that his father had actually informed him that Naruto was the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki, advising him to avoid Naruto because Hiruzen would see any friendship formed between him and clan children as a potential ''alliance''.

* Lil Lightning the Welsh Corgi from ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatiansIIPatchsLondonAdventure'',: He informs Thunderbolt that his character is being killed off the show, when in fact, it's soon revealed to be a lie just to trick the German Shepard into getting out of the picture in order so Lightning can have the spotlight for himself, having grown tired of being in Thunderbolt's shadow.
-->'''Lil Lightning''': ''[to a Thunderbolt Plush Toy]'' A whole new direction! What do you think of ''that'', Thunderbolt, old pal? Finally, I'll be able to step out of your shadow, you overrated, overacting ham! "''The Lil' Lightning Adventure Hour''". Has a nice ring, doesn't it? What do you think? ''(chuckles)''

--->'''Thunderbolt''': ''[about getting hit in the head with a paint can by Cruella]'' That hurt. That ''really'' hurt!\\

'''Lightning''': (''mockingly'') "But - but - but." HEY, GENIUS! You're no hero! You're a '''''FRAUD!''''' And by the way, there ''never'' was a plan to recast you. I just had to get you out of the way. ''[grins evilly at him, then starts to head back toward the exit with a wicked chuckle and a devious look on his face]'' And now, I get to go take your place on the show! ''MY'' SHOW!\\

** Light Yagami is quite fond of this trope. The most notable victims of his manipulations are Misa Amane and Kiyomi Takada. Each woman was [[{{Yandere}} incredibly in love with him]], but Light, as with all of his allies, [[YouHaveOutLivedYourUsefulness found them disposable]].

* ''Franchise/SlyCooper'': [[BitchInSheepsClothing Penelope]] feigns being a NiceGirl to get the trust of the Cooper Gang for her world domination ploy, even going as far as to pull Bentley into a fake romance for his potential in profiting from weapon designs. Since she sees no potential in Sly or Murray, just objects towards her goals, Penelope tries to murder them to have Bentley to herself. She gets caught red-handed, and is kicked out of the Cooper Gang and declared a sworn enemy.

* ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'': Herald Myste had this pulled on her as a child three times by guys using her to get close to her best friend (the most attractive girl in the neighborhood). Prince Karathanelan tricks Selenay into wedding him but doesn't survive the "betrayal" part.

* In ''Fanfic/CrimsonAndNoire'', Marinette [[ForWantOfANail isn't aware]] that Lila is a ConsummateLiar who acts sweet and friendly while attempting to monopolize as much of Marinette's free time as possible. Plagg suspects that Lila is a ClingyJealousGirl who wants Marinette all to herself.

Sadly,... TruthInTelevision.

* Wrestling/AdamCole and MJF were forced to tag together in the Blind Tag Team Eliminator. At first the two hated each other but over the course of the next couple months the two would become "best friends" much to the disdain of his actual best friend Roderick Strong and the Kingdom. They won the ROH tag team titles at All In 2023 against Aussie Open and would lose the tag team titles 4 months later to the devil's masked men. At World's End... right as the two were about to be attacked by the devil's masked men, the lights went out and when they came up... the masked men were now behind Adam Cole revealing that Adam Cole was the devil and the masked men were The Kingdom and Wardlow. The rest of the now Undisputed Kingdom attacked MJF.