History Main / LovableTraitor

* Jill, a Wyvern Rider in the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series, becomes a traitor not once, but ''three times.'' First, she leaves Daein to spy on Ike in ''Path of Radiance,'' which leads to her altogether abandoning her country and joining the Crimean Army. Then, in ''Radiant Dawn'', she's fighting Crimea on Daein's side. ''Then'', it's possible to make her betray Daein and join Crimea again. Luckily, she's heroic enough (and a spectacular unit to boot) that the audience overlooks her constant flip-flopping.

*** And let's be fair, the soulless vampire probably decided to betray Angel ''after'' she saw [[spoiler: Fred, who she liked, die due to Gunn's error and Angel and Spike's unwillingness to trade Fred's life for countless others]], and latter events [[spoiler: like Angel's willingness to sacrifice his allies]] proved her right.

* A comical example is Chang from "Series/{{Community}}". He constantly tries to worm his way into the study group only to sell them out later, yet he's so pathetic that no one can bear to outright banish him.

A {{Trickster}} who seems to have the element of subtlety only in specific clumps. Sometimes the spiritual cousin of the PunchClockVillain, sometimes a variation on the EnigmaticMinion or a more amenable LesCollaborateurs.

This is OlderThanPrint -- the archetypical example is the ''Literature/ProseEdda'''s depiction (which, for whatever it's worth, diverges markedly from that within the older ''Literature/PoeticEdda'') of the [[NorseMythology Norse god Loki]]. Much like the Lovable Traitor, it's a misconception to think of him simply as evil -- although he's not above being TheJester in the most classy way he can.

* Xellos, fan-favorite [[spoiler:demon]] and self-proclaimed trickster priest from ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}''. Always an amiable sort, Xellos will often manage to passively "betray" his allies by ''oops'', allowing them to die horribly, alternately help and hinder our heroes and merrily subvert the status quo to his own amusement and greater purpose - sometimes ''all in the course of one episode''.
** Of course, as a [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Mazoku]], his greater purpose is ''[[OmnicidalManiac nothing less than the complete and total destruction of the universe and everything in it, himself included]]''. At least, that's the theory...
* Nagi in ''Anime/{{Mai-HiME}}'' (less so in ''Anime/{{Mai-Otome}}'', where he is the BigBad)
* Kurodou Akabane in ''GetBackers''
* Hisoka from ''HunterXHunter''
* Ken Murata from ''LightNovel/KyoKaraMaoh'', though he is not a villain.

* Sergeant Major Kululu from ''KeroroGunsou''. He's technically the superior officer, but since he's so sketchy, no one wants to follow him so he's the intelligence officer.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}:

* The Fixer is often this for the ''{{Thunderbolts}}''. He frequently switches sides or abandons his friends to die to save his own skin. He doesn't care about money, power, revenge, altruism, duty or loyalty. He only cares about the challenge of a task, proving he's the smartest one in the room and staying alive. He will help save the world or help conquer it provided he is given an interesting technical challenge to figure out.

* Valentine in ''Film/MirrorMask''. But he redeems himself completely.
* Hoggle the grumpy dwarf in ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}''.

* ''Captain'' [[PiratesOfTheCaribbean Jack Sparrow]]. In the course of the first {{film}}, he ends up allied with and conspiring against every single character down to and including the monkey.
* Mac from ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull''.
** "[[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor Jonesy!!]]"

* The Marquis De Carabas from ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'', by Creator/NeilGaiman. Though, more accurately, [[spoiler:Hunter]] is the true mole of the group, and is considerably likable. The Marquis on the other hand can be relied upon when he owes you (or your father) a favor - though he much prefers you to owe him.
* Speaking of Creator/NeilGaiman: Crowley of ''Literature/GoodOmens'', "An angel who did not so much fall as saunter vaguely downwards".
** Strictly speaking, Aziraphale is one as well, since both he and Crowley are working against their respective factions in an apocalypse-averting TakeAThirdOption plan.
* Long John Silver (and a great many more of Stevenson's characters) in ''Literature/TreasureIsland''.

* Dustfinger, of ''Literature/{{Inkheart}}'', betrays them about twice in the first book, yet each time, and AFTER, they trust him readily enough
* Edmund Pevensie from ''Literature/ChroniclesOfNarnia''. Although this might be due to [[http://chanatta.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/rtuk_feature_skandar_keynes_01.jpg the actor's]] enjoyable personality and [[TallDarkAndHandsome looks]], especially in the second movie.
* Arguably, Krager in Creator/DavidEddings' ''TheElenium''. He's openly and unrepentently on the side of the bad guys (he's basically TheDragon's sidekick), but he has no real loyalty to them, he just thinks they're going to win. If the heroes capture him, he'll trade information for his life, and it's always good information, so they'll accept the deal the ''next'' time they capture him. Thanks to this, he gets away with murder ([[TearJerker literally]]) [[spoiler:for the whole series, since by the time his usefulness is spent (meaning the heroes can kill him) it's obvious he's dying of liver disease.]]

* [[TheBigGuy Jayne Cobb]] from ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' may have made a deal with the bad guy in the pilot episode and tries to turn [[TheMedic Simon]] and [[ChildSoldier River]] over to the Feds in "Ariel", but only out of foolish greed than genuine malice and he comes to regret the latter incident.

* Series/{{Supernatural}} has Bela, a highly-successful thief of supernatural items who has occasional run-ins with Sam and Dean. She becomes much more of a LovableRogue, however, after she willingly (if at gunpoint) gave Sam and Dean's whereabouts to a KnightTemplar hunter who wanted to kill them. Dean calls her after the two narrowly escape with their lives, and when she proves unrepentant about the affair, Dean tells her in no uncertain terms that if he ever sees her again, he'll kill her. Then he hangs up. A few minutes later, Bela calls back with an apologetic non-apology and the hunter's location as recompense.
* ''DarkAngel'''s Alec, at least before he becomes a full-on good guy, which is a gradual process.

* Bart Rathbone from ''AdventuresInOdyssey''. Little more than a conniving businessman, not above helping the out-and-out villains at one point, and generally the opposite of everything the show stands for. But... it's just so hard not to love the guy sometimes. (It helps that, in practice, he's generally harmless. And he did turn on the bad guys eventually, albeit for selfish reasons.)

* Some of the members of Organization XIII in the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' are examples, like Axel and Demyx. Axel epitomizes this during ''Chain of Memories''.
* The Turks in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''.
** As well as Raijin and Fujin in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''.
* A character in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry 3'' named literally The Jester falls in this trope before revealing himself to be [[spoiler:Arkham, the BigBad, in disguise]].
* Depending on what you do in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', [[spoiler:Zelos]] falls within this category.
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny'': [[spoiler:[[SayMyName LEON! LEOOOOOOONNNN!!!!]]]]
* Saemon Havarian from ''BaldursGate II'', as {{lampshaded}} ''repeatedly'' by [[FanNickname CHARNAME]], the supporting cast, [[spoiler:the villain]], and anyone else who's ever had to deal with him ever. [[GenreSavvy If it hadn't been for the fact that sidequests equal more XP and loot]], going along with almost ''anything'' he says becomes a major point of WhoWouldBeStupidEnough.
** Also, [[spoiler: Yoshimo]].
* Jill, a Wyvern Rider in the FireEmblem series, becomes a traitor not once, but ''three times.'' First, she leaves Daein to spy on Ike in ''Path of Radiance,'' which leads to her altogether abandoning her country and joining the Crimean Army. Then, in ''Radiant Dawn'', she's fighting Crimea on Daein's side. ''Then'', it's possible to make her betray Daein and join Crimea again. Luckily, she's heroic enough (and a spectacular unit to boot) that the audience overlooks her constant flip-flopping.

** When his true intentions are revealed he definetly fits this trope: [[spoiler: He tells you he's used you to bring the ice trolls under the sway of the Lich King, and gets transformed into a death knight as a reward. Then he thanks you for helping him and lets you go unharmed.]]

* [[BigBad Al]][[TheChessmaster ex]] [[MagnificentBastard from]] ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' could count.

* ''WesternAnimattion/LegendOfKorra'' Oh, [[spoiler: Varrick.]] He only gets ''more'' loveable after being put in prison. Nobody seems capable of holding any bitterness towards him, and he even makes up for it with [[spoiler: a heartless war machine, Zhu Li (the battleship, not the cute assistant).]] [[spoiler: Bolin]] definitely misses him and wishes he were there to lighten the mood.

----

* Arguably, Krager in DavidEddings' ''TheElenium''. He's openly and unrepentently on the side of the bad guys (he's basically TheDragon's sidekick), but he has no real loyalty to them, he just thinks they're going to win. If the heroes capture him, he'll trade information for his life, and it's always good information, so they'll accept the deal the ''next'' time they capture him. Thanks to this, he gets away with murder ([[TearJerker literally]]) [[spoiler:for the whole series, since by the time his usefulness is spent (meaning the heroes can kill him) it's obvious he's dying of liver disease.]]

* Varys and Littlefinger in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. As a man of low nobility and no martial prowess and a foreign commoner and eunuch respectively, they're not trusted so much as underestimated by the rulers of the Seven Kingdoms.

* Ken Murata from ''KyouKaraMaou'', though he is not a villain.

* Some of the members of Organization XIII in the ''KingdomHearts'' are examples, like Axel and Demyx. Axel epitomizes of this during ''Chain of Memories''.

This is OlderThanPrint -- the archetypical example is the ''Literature/ProseEdda'''s depiction (which, for whatever it's worth, diverges markedly from that within the older ''Literature/PoeticEddas'') of the [[NorseMythology Norse god Loki]]. Much like the Lovable Traitor, it's a misconception to think of him simply as evil -- although he's not above being TheJester in the most classy way he can.

Your major safety is he likes being entertained, so sometimes will [[FightingForSurvival willingly subvert his bosses]] if he has his own agenda and help you -- or at least not hinder you. He'll get you into trouble, but he'll assure you afterwards he knew you could deal with it. He'll betray you, but he won't tell your enemies all they really need to know about you.

* Harmony, bimbo cheerleader-turned-vampire-turned-perky-executive-assistant, gets a letter of recommendation from Series/{{Angel}} even after she betrays him. To be fair, he was counting on her doing it anyway, and she ''was'' a pretty good secretary...
** And let's be fair, the soulless vampire probably decided to betray Angel ''after'' she saw [[spoiler: Fred, who she liked, die due to Gunn's error and Angel and Spike's unwillingness to trade Fred's life for countless others]], and latter events [[spoiler: like Angel's willingness to sacrifice his allies]] proved her right.

* Saint Germain in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness''.

* Varys and Littlefinger in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''.

* Series/{{Supernatural}} has Bella, a highly-successful thief of supernatural items who has occasional run-ins with Sam and Dean. She becomes much more of a LovableRogue, however, after she willingly (if at gunpoint) gave Sam and Dean's whereabouts to a KnightTemplar hunter who wanted to kill them. Dean calls her after the two narrowly escape with their lives, and when she proves unrepentant about the affair, Dean tells her in no uncertain terms that if he ever sees her again, he'll kill her. Then he hangs up. A few minutes later, Bella calls back with an apologetic non-apology and the hunter's location as recompense.

-->-- '''Tyrion Lannister''', ''ASongOfIceAndFire''.

* Kanbei Kuroda in ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' suffers from a bad case of ChronicBackstabbingDisorder and inevitably tries to seize power for himself against Ieyasu or Mitsunari. However, he suffers from a worse case of being a ButtMonkey and his determination to be TheStarscream despite that makes Ieyasu state that he's impossible to despise.

* Kabuto Yakushi from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' is so ridiculously untrustworthy that even the villain he swore unending loyalty to claims that there's no telling what he'll pull when he's on his own. He can, and has, betrayed everybody he's ever met at least once [[AffablyEvil with a smile on his face]] and may be on his way to BigBad status at the moment.

* The Marquis De Carabas from {{Neverwhere}}, by NeilGaiman. Though, more accurately, [[spoiler:Hunter]] is the true mole of the group, and is considerably likable. The Marquis on the other hand can be relied upon when he owes you (or your father) a favor - though he much prefers you to owe him.
* Speaking of NeilGaiman: Crowley of ''Literature/GoodOmens''.
* Long John Silver (and a great many more of Stevenson's characters) in ''TreasureIsland''.
* Varys and Littlefinger in ''ASongOfIceAndFire''.
* Rupert of Hentzau, one of the main antagonists in ''ThePrisonerOfZenda'', will stab just about anybody - hero or villain, whichever seems most fun - in the back, with an [[AffablyEvil amiable smile]] on his face. The women of {{Ruritania}} have a collective crush on him; even the hero keeps bringing up his [[FoeYay positive qualities]].

* Edmund Pevensie from ''ChroniclesOfNarnia''. Although this might be due to [[http://chanatta.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/rtuk_feature_skandar_keynes_01.jpg the actor's]] enjoyable personality and [[TallDarkAndHandsome looks]], especially in the second movie.

* Kabuto from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' is so ridiculously untrustworthy that even the villain he swore unending loyalty to claims that there's no telling what he'll pull when he's on his own. He can, and has, betrayed everybody he's ever met at least once [[AffablyEvil with a smile on his face]] and may be on his way to BigBad status at the moment.
** Uchiha Itachi. Even before [[spoiler: his true intentions were revealed.]]
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Ichimaru Gin. He has a blatant case of ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, and even deliberately joined [[spoiler: Aizen]] to backstab him (it looked to be the easiest way to get to him).

-->--'''Tyrion Lannister''', ''ASongOfIceAndFire''.

* The Turks in ''FinalFantasyVII''.
** As well as Raijin and Fujin in ''FinalFantasyVIII''.
* Saint Germain in ''{{Castlevania}}: Curse of Darkness''.

* Valentine in ''MirrorMask''. But he redeems himself completely.

* [[TheBigGuy Jayne Cobb]] from ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' may have made a deal with the bad guy in the pilot episode and tries to turn [[TheMedic Simon]] and [[ChildSoldier River]] over to the Feds in "Ariel".

* Zevran from ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' is this HellBentForLeather doused in FetishFuel.

-->--'''Tyrion Lannister''', in ''ASongOfIceAndFire''.

* ''WesternAnimattion/LegendOfKorra'' Oh, [[spoiler: Varrick.]] He only gets ''more'' loveable after being put in prison. Nobody seems capable of holding any bitterness towards him, and he even makes up for it with [[spoiler: a heartless war machine, Joo Li (the battleship, not the cute assistant).]] [[spoiler: Bolin]] definitely misses him and wishes he were there to lighten the mood.

* Fujiko Mine from ''[[LupinIII Lupin the Third]]''.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans''' Terra.

* Dustfinger, of ''Inkheart'', betrays them about twice in the first book, yet each time, and AFTER, they trust him readily enough

* Arguably, Krager in DavidEddings' ''The Elenium''. He's openly and unrepentently on the side of the bad guys (he's basically TheDragon's sidekick), but he has no real loyalty to them, he just thinks they're going to win. If the heroes capture him, he'll trade information for his life, and it's always good information, so they'll accept the deal the ''next'' time they capture him. Thanks to this, he gets away with murder ([[TearJerker literally]]) [[spoiler:for the whole series, since by the time his usefulness is spent (meaning the heroes can kill him) it's obvious he's dying of liver disease.]]

* Arguably, Krager in DavidEddings' ''The Elenium''. He's openly and unrepentently on the side of the bad guys (he's basically TheDragon's sidekick), but he has no real loyalty to them, he just thinks they're going to win. If the heroes capture him, he'll trade information for his life, and it's always good information, so they'll accept the deal the ''next'' time they capture him. For a certain kind of reader, who finds the [[KnightTemplar self-righteous slaughter]] by the main characters a bit tiring, he may be [[UnintentionallySympathetic the most sympathetic character in the book]] - at least he's honest about who he is.