History Main / RedHerringMole

* ''Animation/AgentAli'': In Season 1, a mole serving the Numeros is said to be among the main cast of MATA agents. It seems to be Ali's uncle Bakar at first due to footage of him copying the IRIS' blueprint, but Ali finds out that he was mind-controlled at the time. When Ali goes to the location of Aaron's base and Rizwan follows him, Ali assumes Rizwan to have always known the base and thinks him to be the mole, but not for long once the Numeros attack them. The season finale reveals the [[BitchInSheepsClothing seemingly kind]] gadget scientist Jenny to have been playing the long con on MATA.

* Inverted in ''Film/NoWayOut''. The protagonist (Kevin Costner) must race to find evidence to exonerate himself amid a Pentagon WitchHunt for a Soviet mole suspected of killing the Defense Secretary's mistress. The hunt, of course, is a RedHerring intended to divert attention from the real murderer. The twist comes after he has successfully cleared suspicion from himself, when it's revealed that [[spoiler:he actually is a Soviet mole]].

* ''Series/{{Bones}}:'' They set up Lance Sweets to look like he might be the Gormogon's apprentice, before the reveal that it was Zack.

* The ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' episode "[[Recap/FireflyE01Serenity Serenity]]" does this. [[spoiler:From the ''moment you see him'', Simon is set up as the mole with every trick in the book short of painting the word "mole" on his back - until TheReveal, which ''still'' misdirects suspicion onto Shepherd Book for a split second before revealing the mole to be Dobson, who'd been largely inoffensive and bumbling to that point.]]

So here we come to TheReveal, where it turns out... Bob wasn't TheMole after all! Nope, Bob is a totally innocent character who just had a bunch of unfortunate coincidences surrounding him. There may not be a mole at all, but if there is, it will be an entirely different character, and probably the one that everyone suspected least -- or even the one who was [[MoleInCharge leading the Mole Hunt]] in the first place.

!!'''Just knowing the work's name can act as a spoiler for this trope. Beware.'''

* In the '80s CrisisCrossover ''ComicBook/{{Millennium}}'', the premise was that every book had a mole working for the alien robots known as the Manhunters. The writer of ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'' promptly drafted Mark Shaw, a character who had previously worked with the Manhunters (before turning on them), into the book to be an obvious target of suspicion. Naturally the mole was someone else entirely.

** And, because the Mole would not be obvious about his task, players don't want to make it obvious they are failing on purpose. They want to make it seem like they are doing subtle sabotage ''badly.'' Anyone who is clearly failing on purpose is clearly a RedHerringMole and not the real Mole. (That is, unless the real Mole thought you would think that, and is making himself [[HiddenInPlainSight so obvious you will overlook him]]. Yeah, it's [[GambitPileup that kind of show]].)

* Although it's known to the audience the whole time, Robin of ''Series/RobinHood'' uses Will Scarlett as a RedHerringMole in order to flush out the real one.

** Of course, since there are ten people on the ship and nine of them are in the opening credits, it's fairly obvious which one isn't above board.

** In the episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS04E14SexAndViolence "Sex And Violence" (S04, E14)]], the Winchesters are hunting an EnthrallingSiren which disguises itself as human to lure in prey. Sam falls in love with a woman who is strongly hinted to be the siren in question, only for it to turn out to be [[spoiler:a male FBI agent who befriended Dean]].

* ''VideoGame/CaveStory'': Professor Booster appears as a [[EvilEyebrows grumpy-looking]], [[EvilOldFolks old]] [[MadScientist scientist]] in a [[LabcoatOfScienceAndMedicine white coat]] wearing [[OpaqueLenses opaque]], [[RedEyesTakeWarning signal red glasses]]. It doesn't help that the game's main antagonist throughout the story is also a [[MadDoctor doctor in a white coat]]. Nonetheless he never switches sides, [[spoiler: and even stays loyal until his death in one continuity of the game, giving away an item to the protagonist with his last bit of strength that he could otherwise have used to save himself]].

* ''Series/{{Blackadder}} Goes Forth'' episode "General Hospital" has Blackadder sent to a field hospital to track down a mole. Once there he meets "Mister Smith", who speaks with a HEAVY German accent. Also leads to this:

* The [[ExecutiveMeddling actual]] PilotEpisode of ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' does this. [[spoiler:From the ''moment you see him'', Simon is set up as the mole with every trick in the book short of painting the word "mole" on his back - until TheReveal, which ''still'' misdirects suspicion onto Shepherd Book for a split second before revealing the mole to be Dobson, who'd been largely inoffensive and bumbling to that point.]]

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': In the season 4 finale "Broken Link", while he was joined with a Founder, Odo saw an image of Klingon chancellor Gowron, and is led to think that Gowron is a changeling imposter. The season 5 episode "Apocalypse Rising" has Odo join Sisko to infiltrate a Klingon station where Gowron is visiting to kill him. But eventually, he realizes that Gowron isn't an imposter, but [[spoiler:General Martok]] is, who is eliminated quickly. They deduce that [[BatmanGambit the Founders wanted Odo misled into assassinating Gowron so that the Klingon/Federation war would go on]], leaving both too weak to stop the Dominion.

'''[[TheDitz George]]:''' [[CompletelyMissingThePoint NINE!?]] [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Cap's got his work cut out for him, then!]]

* The mole hunt that eventually nabbed notorious FBI spy Robert Hanssen was focused for some time on the wrong person, a CIA agent who turned out to be innocent. The Bureau questioned the CIA officer and his family at length, until they acquired a recording of the mole and realized they'd been looking at the wrong man. Hanssen's arrest followed a few months later.

* In ''Batman'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/DanceWithTheDemons'', Catwoman gets shot with a poisoned dart. Some early clues such like the composition of the poison mislead Batman into thinking Ra's Al Ghul is behind the assassination attempt, but Ra's turns isn't the culprit. [[spoiler:His daughter Talia is]].

** This got to the point where, in book 6, Rowling devoted an ''entire chapter'' to explain how [[spoiler:Snape can be a loyal Death Eater after seemingly siding with Dumbledore against Voldemort]] in the previous 5 books. This chapter exists for the sole purpose of making it believable that he is very definitely the mole before [[spoiler:he kills Dumbledore at the end of the book.]] In the end, [[spoiler:he was on Harry's side the whole time and was only faking allegiance to the Death Eaters. Dumbledore had planned his own death at Snape's hands to give Snape the unassailable credentials he needed as TheMole because he knew he was dying anyways.]]

Not to be confused with TheMole, who is only ''pretending'' to work for the bad guys, though in some circumstances a character can be both. A TenLittleMurderVictims plot involves most of the cast being these.

Not to be confused with a ReverseMole, who is only ''pretending'' to work for the bad guys, though in some circumstances a character can be both. A TenLittleMurderVictims plot involves most of the cast being these.

** This got to the point where, in book 6, Rowling devoted an ''entire chapter'' to explain how [[spoiler:Snape can be a loyal Death Eater after seemingly siding with Dumbledore against Voldemort]] in the previous 5 books. This chapter exists for the sole purpose of making it believable that he is very definitely the mole before [[spoiler:he kills Dumbledore at the end of the book.]] In the end, [[spoiler:he was on Harry's side the whole time and was only faking allegiance to the Death Eaters. Dumbledore had planned his own death at Snape's hands to give Snape the unassailable credentials he needed as a ReverseMole because he knew he was dying anyways.]]

* ''Series/TheSopranos'': Subverted. Tony suspects that Big Pussy, one of his oldest friends in the mob, has become an informant for the Feds. After Paulie tries to confirm that Pussy is carrying a wire by taking him to a sauna, Pussy refuses to take his clothes off and skips town. Tony discovers that Jimmy Altieri (who also fits the physical description he was given) has been working with the Feds and has him killed with Uncle Junior's approval, while worrying that Paulie killed Pussy on his own initiative. Pussy later returns, actively working as an informant behind Tony's back, before he too is found out and killed by Tony, Paulie, and Sal.

* ''Series/TheSopranos'': Subverted. Tony suspects that Big Pussy, one of his oldest friends in the mob, has become an informant for the Feds. After Paulie tries to confirm that Pussy is carrying a wire by taking him to a sauna, Pussy refuses to take his clothes off and skips town. Tony discovers that Jimmy Altieri has been working with the Feds and has him killed with Uncle Junior's approval, while worrying that Paulie killed Pussy on his own initiative. Pussy later returns, actively working as an informant behind Tony's back, before he too is found out and killed by Tony, Paulie, and Sal.

* In ''Film/TheFaculty'', Delilah ''is'' a mole, but she's just there to distract the others from the fact that the HiveQueen alien has infiltrated their group.

* In ''Film/TheFaculty'', Delilah ''is'' a mole, but she's just there to distract the others from the fact that the Queen alien has infiltrated their group.

* In ''Film/TheFaculty'', Delilah ''is'' a mole, but she's just there to distract the others from the fact that [[spoiler:Marybeth]] has infiltrated their group.

* In ''Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', the film makers avoided the IKnewIt crowd by making TheInvisibleMan vanish ([[JustForPun Heh]]) from the movie for a bit, with people who read the original arc from ''Creator/AlanMoore'' 's comic book sequel think he was going to be the traitor, only for him to be the straight up hero who saves the gang at the risk of his own life.

* In ''Film/{{Stalag 17}}'', Sefton is widely perceived to be the spy in the barracks due to being chummy with the Germans (a professional necessity for TheScrounger) and misanthropic towards his fellow inmates. The only thing tipping off the viewer that it's not him is that he's too bloody obvious; in fact, it's [[spoiler:Price, the man who was leading the hunt for the spy.]]

* Creator/DanBrown is absolutely in love with this trope. Read two books, and you'll pick up how the guy who's obviously the mole isn't, and that the character least likely to be will be, and you'll be able to readily pick him out. Or, you can trust me and do it with the first one you read. Seriously. It's the guy it makes the absolute least sense for it to be.

* The first ''Literature/{{Harry Potter|and the Philosophers Stone}}'' book has Snape, whom Harry believes is attempting to steal the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone. Nope, it's [[spoiler: Quirrell]]. Snape is suspected of other events of which he is innocent in later books as well.