History Main / TheQuisling

* Fehn Digler (not to be confused with HeartwarmingOrphan [[OneSteveLimit Fehn]]), the newscaster in ''VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil,'' is a helpless suck-up to the Alpha Sections. He even has a personal contingent of Alpha guards! At the end of the game, when the Alphas are on their last legs, he switches sides suddenly, to no one's surprise.

* BeyondGoodAndEvil has reporter Fehn Digler and the Hyllian Word, a news outlet that's part of the Alpha Sections' PropagandaMachine, kissing their collective asses while vilifying the [[LaResistance IRIS Network]]. As soon as IRIS spurs Hyllis into an open revolt against the Alpha Sections, Fehn ''immediately'' starts sucking up to them, declaring the revolt a victory for the "proud journalistic profession."

* [[spoiler:Saren Arterius]] in ''VideoGame/MassEffect'', who honestly believes [[spoiler:the invasion of the Reapers is inevitable]] and that helping them take over the Galaxy will prevent pointless sacrifices.
** [[spoiler:There's a bit of MindControl involved there, but it was never made clear exactly where Saren's interests ended and Sovereign's began.]]
** Also, Quisling is [[InvokedTrope mentioned by name]] in comparison to [[spoiler:Ashley's grandfather]], who surrendered his colony to an alien army rather than see millions of civilians die in a pointless LastStand. It's rather clear that he was a scapegoat, but the incident [[spoiler:prevents his granddaughter from rising higher in the ranks than a glorified security guard, until Captain Anderson takes her on board the ''Normandy''.]]
*** Given how young she became a Gunnery Sergeant, and by Mass Effect 3, a Second-Lieutenant, she seems to have gotten past this.

* [[spoiler:Sailors Neptune and Uranus]] in the final season of ''Manga/SailorMoon'' give up their star seeds willingly to Galaxia for power, gladly fight their own friends and teammates, and kill 2 of the others [[spoiler:Sailors Pluto and Saturn]]. This is a gambit on their part [[spoiler:to use their powers to capture Galaxia's own star seed. It fails miserably because Galaxia is GenreSavvy enough to see through the plan]].
** Not true - Galaxia even says they managed to fool her. The gambit works perfectly, [[spoiler:with one minor snag: Galaxia doesn't have a star seed.]]

[[TropeNamer Named]] after [[NeverLiveItDown Vidkun Quisling]], who assisted the Nazis in their conquest and rule of Norway during WorldWarII. The poster boy of LesCollaborateurs, he appears whenever one country or culture is being conquered, occupied, or colonized by another. He does everything possible to curry favor with the new rulers. He speaks their language more often than his own, apes their customs and refers to his hometown as New Invaderia instead of Freedomville. He might justify this on the grounds that by securing a position of power and influence he can ensure the occupation is as painless and least oppressive as possible. Sometimes, he [[FaceHeelTurn will have been a friend]] of the heroes before the invasion, but often he will be someone who had always [[CommanderContrarian given our heroes a hard time]], and he will try to make them "see reason" and stop their futile attempts to restore the old regime. Frequently has elements of the ObstructiveBureaucrat or TheDragon. When conversing with the conquering leaders he will probably be OpinionFlipflop personified.

* If TheQuisling is a WellIntentionedExtremist or a KnightTemplar who earnestly believes that selling his nation out would benefit his people in the long run (as opposed to just being an opportunist or GloryHound) the heroes may well decide that the StrawmanHasAPoint and adopt the Quisling's goals even after stripping the original of political power.
* TheQuisling will [[BatmanGambit outfox both the heroes and his puppet masters]] and achieve some hidden agenda that both sides oppose and/or become a legitimate power player in his own right, like in VideoGame/MetalGearSolid or {{Suikoden}}. Since this requires a greater-than-normal amount of {{Magnificent Bastard}}ry to pull off and toadyism isn't viewed as a cool {{Evil Virtue|s}}... this rarely happens.

* In Creator/KurtVonnegut's ''Mother Night'' the American protagonist is asked to become TheQuisling for the Nazis by an American agent to pass information to America. The book is about what being a collaborator does to his soul (and life), even though he knows he is doing it for a good cause.

* From ''Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined'':
** There's Gaius Baltar, who continued his role as President of the Colonies after the Cylons invaded New Caprica and wilfully collaborated with them throughout the subsequent occupation. Considering [[DirtyCoward his character]] he most likely did this simply out of self-interest, although at one point he did [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse have a gun pointed at his head]] when he refused to sign off on an order for mass executions of civilians. Went through a KarmaHoudini when the revolution ended by joining the Cylon Fleet, but fate eventually caught up to him when he was later re-captured by the Colonials on another planet. After interrogation he was then put on trial for treason and mass-murder (although, ironically, not for his role in the ''first'' Cylon genocide). [[spoiler: And acquitted, the MagnificentBastard!]]

* On ''Series/BattlestarGalacticaClassic'', Count Baltar was an archetypal Quisling to the Cylons, who bore most of the responsibility for the colonies' destruction, until his HeelFaceTurn around halfway through.
* StephenColbert of ''Series/TheColbertReport'' uses this an awful lot for a talk show host.

* Councilor Na'Far from ''Series/BabylonFive'' is a highly reluctant example of this trope, being the figurehead for [[spoiler:the Narn puppet regime after the Centauri conquers them.]] He believes that by willingly cooperating with the invaders he may be able to stifle some of the worst abuses of his people.
** And [[spoiler: Londo]] ends up being an incredibly rare completely sympathetic example of the trope, as his hellish years ruling [[spoiler: the Centauri]] as a puppet for the [[spoiler: Drakh]] are played as an unambiguous HeroicSacrifice and an atonement for the crimes in which he was previously complicit.
** Captain Lochley is a softer version, revealed to have been a Clark loyalist during the Earth civil war. However, she cited her duty to Earthforce rather than any seeking of power.
* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', Dukat basically serves as this to Cardassia, though the Dominion never actually invaded; the Cardassians joined more or less willingly. Damar, his replacement, gets better.
** Legate Broca, a last-minute replacement for Damar after the latter vacates the position [[spoiler:by forming LaResistance]], is completely loyal to the Dominion, even in spite of [[spoiler:the Cardassian people rising up against the Dominion and having their cities destroyed because of it]]. Both Weyoun and the female Changeling treat him with nothing but contempt, [[spoiler: and he is unceremoniously executed when they decide to preempt any potential HeelFaceTurn on his part]].
* One ''{{Sliders}}'' episode has its own word for this: Thatchers. Apparently a version of MargaretThatcher "welcomed its new Kromag overlords", and when they were driven out, the word for collaborators was inspired from her name (similar to this trope, probably because it also sounds much like "traitor/treachery" in English). The moral struggles of a "Thatcher" is a plot point of the episode in question.
* The Castellan in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E6TheInvasionOfTime The Invasion of Time]]" gets the chance to serve as Quisling to ''three'' despots; firstly the Doctor (when it seems that he's [[DrunkWithPower gone mad with power]] and taken over Gallifrey, then the Vardans (when they invade, seemingly with the Doctor's collaboration) and ''then'' the Sontarans (when the Doctor, having tricked the Vardans into thinking he was a collaborator, deals with them only to discover that the Sontarans were manipulating the Vardans).

* In ''Series/SecretArmy'', the staff of the Cafe Candide pretend to be this. Actually, they're members of LaResistance group Lifeline.
* The municipal government of Pawnee in ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' is implied to have a problem with doing this. At different points of history, the town's slogan has been "Welcome [[WorldWarII German]] / [[TheVietnamWar Vietnamese]] / [[WarOnTerror Taliban]] soldiers!"
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' has a number of examples, especially Zhaan's unnamed lover, who she murdered when he became a Quisling for the Peacekeepers, and Volmae in "Thank God It's Friday... Again", again for the Peacekeepers.
* Ro in the ''Series/BlakesSeven'' episode "Horizon". He learns better.
* ''Series/{{House}}'' accuses Cuddy of being this for Vogler in Season 1, even name-dropping the original. Vogler buys his way into the hospital board's chair with a $100,000,000 donation, and when he starts using his position for ethically questionable practices, the board (and Cuddy) adopt a policy of appeasement so as not to lose the money. Cuddy eventually comes around when Vogler starts firing board members for voting against his motions.

[[TropeNamer Named]] after [[NeverLiveItDown Vidkun Quisling]], who assisted the Nazis in their conquest and rule of Norway during WorldWarII. The poster boy of LesCollaborateurs, he ([[TheUnfairSex and it's almost always a man]]) appears whenever one country or culture is being conquered, occupied, or colonized by another. He does everything possible to curry favor with the new rulers. He speaks their language more often than his own, apes their customs and refers to his hometown as New Invaderia instead of Freedomville. He might justify this on the grounds that by securing a position of power and influence he can ensure the occupation is as painless and least oppressive as possible. Sometimes, he [[FaceHeelTurn will have been a friend]] of the heroes before the invasion, but often he will be someone who had always [[CommanderContrarian given our heroes a hard time]], and he will try to make them "see reason" and stop their futile attempts to restore the old regime. Frequently has elements of the ObstructiveBureaucrat or TheDragon. When conversing with the conquering leaders he will probably be OpinionFlipflop personified.

** Dar'Khan Drathir in ''TheSunwellTrilogy''. He's the one who betrayed his homeland Quel'Thalas by letting [[EvilPrince Arthas]] in and have his people slaughtered by the soon-to-be Lich King.

* BeyondGoodAndEvil has the Hyllian Word, a newspaper that spends almost the entire game as part of the Alpha Sections' propaganda network, kissing their collective asses while vilifying the IRIS Network. As soon as the Hyllian people revolt against the Alpha Sections, though, the Word ''immediately'' starts sucking up to the IRIS Network, declaring the revolt a victory for journalism.

* BeyondGoodAndEvil has the Hyllian Word, a newspaper that spends the entire game kissing the Alpha Sections' collective asses while vilifying the IRIS Network. As soon as the Hyllian people revolt against the Alpha Sections, though, the Word ''immediately'' starts sucking up to the IRIS Network, declaring the revolt a victory for journalism.

** In ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNS6E11TheGodComplex The God Complex]]'', the Tivolians have this as their [[PlanetOfHats hat]] - their cities are designed to be comfortable to invading armies, their anthem is titled "Glory To Insert Name Here", etc.

* Quark in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' is extremely opportunistic, even for a [[PlanetOfHats Ferengi]], and willing to run his bar under whomever is currently in control of the station. As the owner of the largest business of the station, he is somewhat of a spokesperson for the local store and restaurant owners. Knowing that, Sisko uses a combination of bribes and blackmail every time Quark threatens to leave the station. In the episode in which Bajor joins the Federation, he ceremoniously unrolls a banner in his bar, but it turns out to be the one of the Klingon Empire, which had been conquering several nearby systems some months earlier. He immediately runs to get the Federation banner from behind the bar, without even trying to cover up the mix-up.
** Subverted when the Dominion takes over the station. He isn't so cheerful but keeps his head down. However, his brother is a member of LaResistance, and when they are all locked up he helps bust them out of jail.
** Quark is a citizen of an outside power that is normally neutral anyway. It isn't clear that the term "quisling" would apply to him, especially as the main thing he does is keep a bar. He ran his bar when the Cardassians were in charge, when the Federation took over, during the Dominion occupation and then again when the Federation came back. In fact, he played a critical role in helping the Federation retake the station. His sole concern was that the Jem'Hadar weren't interested in anything he was selling (alcohol, food or holographic sex), pinning his hopes on the Vorta being 'alcoholic, gluttonous sex maniacs'.
** More conventionally, Legate Broca, a last-minute replacement for Damar after the latter vacates the position [[spoiler:by forming LaResistance]], is completely loyal to the Dominion, even in spite of [[spoiler:the Cardassian people rising up against the Dominion and having their cities destroyed because of it]]. Both Weyoun and the female Changeling treat him with nothing but contempt, [[spoiler: and he is unceremoniously executed when they decide to preempt any potential HeelFaceTurn on his part]].

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' had the Klingon house of Duras regularly collaborating with Romulans. Their father, Ja'rod, gave them access codes for their surprise attack on Khitomer, and years later, Duras pinned the blame on Worf's father, Mogh. Duras's sisters, Lursa and B'etor had Romulan Commander [[IdenticalGrandson Sela]] supply their side during the Klingon Civil War in "Redemption".

* In the ''Franchise/StarWars'' novel ''Shadows of the Empire'', the protagonists gain entry to their enemy's castle through the services of a traitorous technician named Benedict Vidkun. Naturally, he is content to accept the heroes' bribes [[DidntSeeThatComing but then tries to shoot them before they get inside]]. Seriously, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin what did you expect with that name?]]

* [[EvilChancellor Andrew]] in {{Harald}}, though his motives are never made clear.

* People who suck up to invaders don't always end up condemned by history. [[en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Nevsky Alexander Nevsky]] was a Russian prince who first rose to prominence as a military leader in the aftermath of the Mongol invasions of 1223-1240, winning several victories against invading Catholic armies. Rather than try to fight the Mongols, he did everything he could to placate them. He was successful; Russia ended up with a better deal from the Mongols than they gave to other nations they had invaded and conquered. Today, Alexander Nevsky is considered a national hero of Russia and is a saint of the Russian Orthodox church.

* [[spoiler:The mayor of Shinjuku]] in ''Anime/{{Karas}}'' fits this trope, cheerfully doing Eko's bidding--and even believing in his philosophy.

* [[spoiler:Sailors Neptune and Uranus]] in the final season of ''Manga/SailorMoon'' give up their star seeds willingly to Galaxia for power, gladly fight their own friends and teammates, and even kill 2 of the others [[spoiler:Sailors Pluto and Saturn]]. This is a gambit on their part [[spoiler:to use their powers to capture Galaxia's own star seed. It fails miserably because Galaxia is GenreSavvy enough to see through the plan]].

* Eggman does this a bit during the Metarex Saga of ''Anime/SonicX''... that said, he doesn't do an entirely terrible job of it and is out for himself from beginning to end.

* Any voluntary Controller from ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', but Hedrick Chapman deserves a special mention. You know, being the one who paraded [[PluckyGirl Loren]] before the Yeerks and basically said, "Hey, lookit this! I gotta planet of six billion just waitin' for ya!" and all. [[spoiler:Elfangor, Loren and the Yeerk he was trying to help, Sub-visser Thirty-two, all leave him to be sucked into a black hole. However, the Ellimist saved him and wiped his memory. When the Yeerks finally make it to Earth, he and his wife are infested, but only cooperate to keep their daughter, Melissa, free and uninfested. He becomes a MiddleManagementMook and the Animorphs' go-to guy when they need someone to threaten or torture.]] Ahh, karma.

** There's Gaius Baltar, who continued his role as President of the Colonies after the Cylons invaded New Caprica and wilfully collaborated with them throughout the subsequent occupation. Considering [[DirtyCoward his character]] he most likely did this simply out of self-interest, although at one point he did [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse literally have a gun pointed at his head]] when he refused to sign off on an order for mass executions of civilians. Went through a KarmaHoudini when the revolution ended by joining the Cylon Fleet, but fate eventually caught up to him when he was later re-captured by the Colonials on another planet. After interrogation he was then put on trial for treason and mass-murder (although, ironically, not for his role in the ''first'' Cylon genocide). [[spoiler: And acquitted, the MagnificentBastard!]]

** And [[spoiler: Londo]] ends up being an incredibly rare completely sympathetic example of the trope, as his hellish years ruling [[spoiler: the Centauri]] as a puppet for the [[spoiler: Drakh]] are played as a totally unambiguous HeroicSacrifice and an atonement for the crimes in which he was previously complicit.

* Pretty much how Chaos cults starts on any world in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. Each Chaos God promises power in return for loyalty and worship, although the power they grant you is often at a high cost, and most don't survive it. This is why the Inquisition works so hard to root out chaos, since there's always one guy who'd want the Dark God's more tangible gifts (as compared to the less pleasant Imperial faith).

* Franz from ''VideoGame/SuikodenIII'' is a rare sympathetic example, throwing himself into soldiering for Harmonia, hoping they would treat his village better (note:those conquered by Harmonia are treated like cannon fodder, at best) and [[{{Determinator}} he kept going even when he was tired, hungry and had the hate of everyone he was fighting for]].
** Note that Harmonia had conquered Franz's village before he was even born, and actually had a specific system in place for conquered groups to achieve the kind of elevation in status Franz hoped to achieve for his village if they proved themselves useful enough. [[spoiler:And in the end, there's a good chance he succeeded, since by switching to the heroes' side he helped Sasarai regain his position as second in command of Harmonia and stopped Luc's destructive plans.]]

* There is also the DirtyCoward Count Borghen from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII''. He allowed the Palamecians to overtake Fynn, is held in contempt by said Palamecians, ultimately an inept foe, but acts as the game's first major antagonist and even manages to [[spoiler: kill Josef.]]

** Of course, [[spoiler:there's a bit of MindControl involved there, but it was never made clear exactly where Saren's interests ended and Sovereign's began.]]

** It's also justified in Papa Khan's case in that the Legion sent a Frumentarii to act as an ambassador, in other words feeding a ton of bullshit to the Khans (including telling a female Khan about how awesome it'll be for her to be a Legionnaire, despite the fact that the Legion's treatment of women is nothing short of inhumane), with only Regis being totally unconvinced and the rest are either just eager for vengeance or simply apathetic.

** And a couple other prisoners the Paladins released. In retrospect, that was pretty much a universally bad decision on their part, as the prisoners seem to all be Chaotic Evil and immediately started looking for ways to join Xykon. Yes, folks, in ''Dungeons & Dragons'', being the Quisling can be a major part of your morality and/or religion!

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Jingwei Wang Jingwei]], one-time heir to Sun Yat-Sen until Chiang Kai-Shek asserted himself as the leader of the GMD with the backing of the military. In 1940 he became President of the [[LesCollaborateurs Wang Jingwei regime]] based out of the [[WorldWarTwo Japanese-occupied areas of China.]] His name is considered a byword for supreme treachery to a degree that makes [[TheAmericanRevolution Benedict Arnold's]] look petty. Fortunately for him he died of natural causes in '44, though his wife was tried and found guilty of treason at the post-war Nanjing War Crimes trial. To be fair, Wang had good cause to believe that his defection could ensure that the relationship between China and Japan would be one of co-operation, and not exploitation. However, the political situation changed as Japan moved to strike out at the Allies and the USA, and he quickly became little more than a puppet. All he could really do from then on was try to limit the worst excesses of the Japanese Army as they pretty much bled the country dry.

* Pierre Laval, who was TheManBehindTheMan to Marshal Pétain in the Vichy French regime, and pretty much the reason "LesCollaborateurs" is a French phrase. When France was freed from Nazi rule, both were sentenced to death, though Pétain got his sentence commuted to a life sentence by De Gaulle.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidkun_Quisling Vidkun Quisling]], the real life TropeNamer, was a Norwegian fascist politician. Nazi Germany invaded Norway on April 9th 1940, and hoping for an easy capitulation like Denmark the day previous, asked Quisling to form his own government. Quisling attempted to do so, only to find he had no popular support and no one listened to him. The Germans attempted to negotiate support for him with the Monarch of Norway and the government in exile, but were flatly refused. He was finally appointed Minister President of Norway in 1942. When Germany lost the war, he was accused of high treason and sentenced to death by firing squad. The TropeNamer was created in an editorial in [[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers The Times]] in 1940 and quickly picked up by other news agencies and WinstonChurchill.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidkun_Quisling Vidkun Quisling]], the real life TropeNamer, was a Norwegian fascist politician. Nazi Germany invaded Norway on April 9th 1940, and hoping for an easy capitulation like Denmark the day previous, asked Quisling to form his own government. Quisling attempted to do so, only to find he had no popular support and no one listened to him. The Germans attempted to negotiate support for him with the Monarch of Norway and the government in exile, but were flatly refused. He was finally appointed Minister President of Norway in 1942. When Germany lost the war, he was accused of high treason and sentenced to death by firing squad. A PoliticalCartoon reveals that Norwegians were using "quisling" to mean "traitor" as early as 1944. Winston Churchill used the term in speeches from 1940 onwards.

** The Controller in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E1DayOfTheDaleks Day of the Daleks]]" is explicitly called a Quisling by the Doctor in reference to his collaboration with the Daleks.

** Later in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E4TheDaleksMasterPlan The Daleks' Master Plan]]" there is Mavic Chen, Guardian of the Solar System, who plots with the Daleks and delegates from the Outer Galaxies to take over Earth, while planning to betray the Daleks and take control of the Universe. He is RewardedAsATraitorDeserves by the Daleks, who seem to have been plotting against all their allies.

* ''BusouRenkin'' has "familiars", humans who serve the [[ImAHumanitarian hommunculi]] and will mark themselves with the same insignia to avoid being eaten by them.

* A ''very'' strange and unique example of this comes from the ''CrestOfTheStars'' franchise. Ghintec/Jinto starts out a little ambivalent about the centerpiece [[OurElvesAreDifferent Space Elves]] of the work, the Abh, but by the start of the second "season" of the TV series he's unflinchingly loyal to the Abh and their conquering empire (in part due to, uh, [[TheDulcineaEffect his loyalty to Lamhirh/Lafiel]], one of the princesses of the Abh). The people of his own world definitely see him (and his dad) as examples of this trope ''in-show'' and it causes a lot of trouble later on. The unique element? Ghintec is ''[[DesignatedHero our hero]]'' and point-of-view character.

* [[spoiler:The mayor of Shinjuku]] in ''{{Karas}}'' fits this trope, cheerfully doing Eko's bidding--and even believing in his philosophy.
* [[spoiler:Job Trünicht]] in ''LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' eventually becomes this.

* Eggman does this a bit during the Metarex Saga of ''SonicX''... that said, he doesn't do an entirely terrible job of it and is out for himself from beginning to end.

* In ''TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', [[spoiler: Hawley Griffin betrays the group and sides with the Martians. He plans on becoming the ruler of the earth along with the Martians, to ensure his own [[DramaticIrony survival]]. He]] ends up ''first against the wall'', beaten and raped to death by [[SociopathicHero one of the good guys]].
* Cassius Ceramix in ''{{Asterix}} and the Big Fight'' is one played for laughs: he forces his village to adhere to Roman customs to an absurd degree (for example, he orders an aqueduct to be built in the village despite a river running right through it. When someone points this out, he orders that the river be ''diverted'' because "aqueducts are more ROMAN!") and addresses the Roman [[VillainOfTheWeek Villains of the Week]] as "our beloved invaders."

* Although it might not count, since he probably wanted to cook the cast anyway, in ''MuppetTreasureIsland'', when the heroes land on the island of "cannibal pigs", the Swedish Chef gets a cameo (which the Singing Fruit break the fourth wall to lampshade) in which disguised with a fake pig-nose, he serves as the chef for the pigs.
* Many of the former Dead Rabbits in ''GangsOfNewYork'', but especially [[spoiler:Happy Jack Mulraney, who had become one of Bill the Butcher's most valuable men, and whose death marks the return of the Dead Rabbits.]]
* Kirkland in ''TromasWar''. He gets his.

* Film/{{Transformers}}: Dark of the Moon has [[spoiler: Dylan]] and his late father, from whom he inherited the Decepticons as a "client".

* An actual psychological disorder in the ZombieApocalypse novel ''WorldWarZ'' (written by Max Brooks, son of Mel); "quislings" are humans who have nervous breakdowns and begin behaving like zombies. Unfortunately for them, the genuine article can tell the difference...

* In ''HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' Voldemort installs a few of these to re-enforce his reign:

* [[PropheticNames Shift]] the Ape, from the final book in the ''{{Narnia}}'' series, fits the above description perfectly.
** Also because Shift was apparently a Lucifer parallel.
* Saruman in ''TheLordOfTheRings''. He also becomes TheDragon.
** He might like to ''think'' he was TheDragon; to anyone else it's clear that that job belongs to the Witch-King.
** In the book, Saruman was TheStarscream, and there was a straight example of TheQuisling - Lotho Sackville-Baggins.
** Grí­ma Wormtongue is a definite Quisling, [[EvilChancellor acting as King Théoden's advisor while undermining him for his real master, Saruman]].
* In KurtVonnegut's ''Mother Night'' the American protagonist is asked to become TheQuisling for the Nazis by an American agent to pass information to America. The book is about what being a collaborator does to his soul (and life), even though he knows he is doing it for a good cause.
* ''The Ganymede Takeover'', a 1967 science fiction novel by Creator/PhilipKDick and Ray Nelson, has several such characters (as the alien invaders know this is the only effective way [[VichyEarth they can rule Earth]]) racist landowner Gus Swenesgard being the best example. Subverted in that when the aliens are finally defeated, the resistance set up Swenesgard to be their puppet ruler until democracy is restored. That is, if they ever intend to restore democracy...

* In the ''StarWars'' novel "Shadows of the Empire," the protagonists gain entry to their enemy's castle through the services of a traitorous technician named Benedict Vidkun. Naturally, he is content to accept the heroes' bribes [[DidntSeeThatComing but then tries to shoot them before they get inside]]. Seriously, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin what did you expect with that name?]]

** And when she ultimately finds herself stuck between the Vong (who don't really [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness need her anymore]]) and the New Republic (who she betrayed), she TakesAThirdOption by [[spoiler: giving herself a DisneyVillainDeath]].

* Lord Pryderi, in the final installment of the ''PrydainChronicles'', has always been a loyal ally of Prince Gwydion...only to show up for the council of war and declare that the only sane option is to join the enemy. Which he does. [[spoiler:He gets RewardedAsATraitorDeserves when, on Arawn's orders, he attempts to invade Caer Dallben and the place itself destroys him.]]

* Some of the cooperating ''zeks'' in ''OneDayInTheLifeOfIvanDenisovich'', like the cooks, like to screw over their fellow prisoners for their own gain.

* In ''TheTomorrowSeries'', you have [[spoiler: Major Harvey. Who is RewardedAsATraitorDeserves by Robyn TakingYouWithMe during the group's escape from Stratton Prison.]]
* A few positive examples in ASongOfIceAndFire; when Daenarys starts conquering/liberating cities founded on slavery, she unsurprisingly gets quite a few people (whether ex-slaves or freemen with a conscience,) who fully support her regime, with a few particularly useful ones joining her council. Equally unsurprisingly, these people are viewed as quislings by the deposed masters, and many acts of murder and sabotage are carried out by the latter, who consider themselves LaResistance.

** Later in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E4TheDaleksMasterPlan The Dalek's Master Plan]]" there is Mavic Chen, Guardian of the Solar System, who plots with the Daleks and delegates from the Outer Galaxies to take over Earth, while planning to betray the Daleks and take control of the Universe. He is RewardedAsATraitorDeserves by the Daleks, who seem to have been plotting against all their allies.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' had the Klingon house of Duras regularly collaborating with Romulans. Their father, Ja'rod, gave them access codes for their surprise attack on Khitomer, and years later, Duras pinned the blame on Worf's father, Mogh. Duras' sisters, Lursa and B'etor had Romulan Commander [[IdenticalGrandson Sela]] supply their side during the Klingon Civil War in "Redemption".

* The municipal government of Pawnee in ''ParksAndRecreation'' is implied to have a problem with doing this. At different points of history, the town's slogan has been "Welcome [[WorldWarII German]] / [[TheVietnamWar Vietnamese]] / [[WarOnTerror Taliban]] soldiers!"

* ''{{House}}'' accuses Cuddy of being this for Vogler in Season 1, even name-dropping the original. Vogler buys his way into the hospital board's chair with a $100,000,000 donation, and when he starts using his position for ethically questionable practices, the board (and Cuddy) adopt a policy of appeasement so as not to lose the money. Cuddy eventually comes around when Vogler starts firing board members for voting against his motions.

* BillBailey notes in his song "Insect Nation" that crabs will be the "sideways Quislings" during the inevitable BugWar, joining with the insects despite not being insects. He also adds that the spiders will also side with the insects even though [[ShownTheirWork they're not insects either]].

* In the Paizo ''{{Pathfinder}}'' campaign, "Rise of the Runelords," [[spoiler: Mokmurian, leader of the giants]] was this to [[spoiler: Karzoug]] as giants were viewed as slaves in ancient Thassilon, not as generals or lords of some sort. This doesn't stop him from [[spoiler: doing his level best to wipe out humanity so Karzoug can have lots of souls.]]
* Pretty much how Chaos cults starts on any world in TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}. Each Chaos God promises power in return for loyalty and worship, although the power they grant you is often at a high cost, and most don't survive it. This is why the Inquisition works so hard to root out chaos, since there's always one guy who'd want the Dark God's more tangible gifts (as compared to the less pleasant Imperial faith).

[[folder:Videogames]]
* Franz from ''SuikodenIII'' is a rare sympathetic example, throwing himself into soldiering for Harmonia, hoping they would treat his village better (note:those conquered by Harmonia are treated like cannon fodder, at best) and [[{{Determinator}} he kept going even when he was tired, hungry and had the hate of everyone he was fighting for]].

* ''SuikodenIV'' has Snowe Vingerhut and his father. Snowe is portrayed as somewhat more sympathetic, as he negotiates for Razril to be occupied rather than risk a war with forces [[WeaponOfMassDestruction capable of blowing up an island]], and is unaware of just how bad the occupation is thanks to be distracted by a false position. His father, on the other hand, is a straight-up DirtyCoward who ignores the atrocities committed by the occupying forces and stays holed up in his mansion.
* ''SuikodenV'' has Lord De Beers of Leclar, who supported whoever happened to have the most power in the Senate at any given moment. During the Falenan Civil War, he ditches his post at Leclar to hide in the fortress town of Doraat, then leaves ''there'' once the Loyalist Army approaches to cower in [[spoiler: Stormfist]]. Eventually, when the Loyalist Army approaches again, he [[spoiler: flees the country altogether]]. Notably, both sides of the conflict regard him with scorn and dismiss him as unimportant.
* Doctor Wallace Breen in ''{{Half-Life}} 2'', though the Seven Hour War was an extremely bloody affair. Somehow, he managed to negotiate the surrender on the behalf of the United Nations and was appointed as the ruler of Earth. This is on top of undertaking the extremely dangerous experiment with a pure sample and ramping the equipment up beyond normal safe levels, causing the Black Mesa Incident. [[SpannerInTheWorks Then Gordon showed up again.]]

* On the subject of FinalFantasy, how could we forget the DirtyCoward Count Borghen from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII''? He allowed the Palamecians to overtake Fynn, is held in contempt by said Palamecians, ultimately an inept foe, but acts as the game's first major antagonist and even manages to [[spoiler: kill Josef.]]

* [[spoiler:Saren Arterius]] in ''MassEffect'', who honestly believes [[spoiler:the invasion of the Reapers is inevitable]] and that helping them take over the Galaxy will prevent pointless sacrifices.

* Another BioWare example is Chuundar from ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic''. So long as he remains High Chieftain, he's all too glad to sell his own people to Czerka, arrange for his [[spoiler: brother]]'s exile and spread lies that his [[spoiler: father]] has gone mad in order to get the party to do his dirty work.

* Nufai the Skinwalker from ''UniverseAtWar''. As he comments himself, it's the sort of attitude that left him alive when [[PlanetLooters The Hierarchy]] [[LastOfHisKind butchered the rest of his species]].

** King Perenolde of Alterac in ''WarcraftII'', ''Literature/TidesOfDarkness'' and ''Literature/BeyondTheDarkPortal''. During the orc invasion, he helped TheHorde attack other human kingdoms so his own nation would stay relatively untouched.

* Lionwhyte in BrutalLegend sells humanity into slavery to [[BigBad Doviculus]], and chews out Ironheade for not seeing how much better off they are under his rule.
* Either Papa Khan or Regis could qualify in VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas. Papa Khan is so keen for vengeance against the NCR that he's willing to enter into an alliance with The Legion, despite their practice of backstabbing every tribe who sides with them, press-ganging all the worthy men into their military and enslaving or killing the rest. Regis will take control of the Great Khans if Papa is assassinated, and will agree to a truce with the NCR in order to aid them against the Legion. Papa Khan however can be convinced to break off the alliance if you convince enough of his advisers to speak out against him and disgrace the frumentarii in their camp.

* In VideoGame/EarthBound, [[spoiler: Pokey joins [[BigBad Giygas]] fairly early in the game, and acts as a thorn in Ness's side for the first half of the game. He spends most of the rest of the game on the run, until he finally shows up in the endgame as Giygas's [[TheDragon Dragon]]. After Giygas's defeat, he manages to escape and becomes the BigBad of VideoGame/{{Mother3}}.]]

* Tsukiko the necromancer in Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick, who joins the Azurite military solely so she can switch sides and help Xykon at the first opportunity.
** And a couple other prisoners the Paladins released. In retrospect, that was pretty much a universally bad decision on their part, as the prisoners seem to all be Chaotic Evil and immediately started looking for ways to join Xykon. Yes, folks, in Dungeons and Dragons, being the Quisling can be a major part of your morality and/or religion!

* In {{Vattu}}, the title character encounters another slave who reveres the Sahtan civilization and scorns the fluters that he came from.

* In article about a computer learning to play "pong" from EGMi, EGM's digital magazine, the writer of the article said, "I'd like to be the first to welcome our new computer overlords as that's how a lot of apocalyptic science-fiction novels start."

* EvilChancellor Grumper in the FelixTheCatTheMovie.

** For the WWII French in general, before the fall of the Third Republic a slogan for French Quislings was "[[HarsherInHindsight Better Hitler than Blum]]" (Blum was the Jewish French Prime minister).

* "Scalawag" is incorrectly thought to mean "Scoundrel". The term first appeared after the AmericanCivilWar as a slur against Southerners who stayed loyal to the Union or made deals with them. So a scalawag is a traitor.

* The revolution fails or is temporarily crushed, and he's killed, "purged" or otherwise done away with, anyway, because the higher-ups don't trust a former member of the conquered nation (let alone a traitor).

** Grima Wormtongue is a definite Quisling, [[EvilChancellor acting as King Theoden's advisor while undermining him for his real master, Saruman]].