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13->''"Your enemy knows nothing about you''\
14''And he's got no way to get in''\
15''But the way your heart is made to bleed''\
16''Is by your bosom friend"''
17-->-- '''Blind Willie Davis''', "Your Enemy Cannot Harm You"
18
19It's often the person you least expect.
20
21TheHero is looking for answers, beating up bikers, paying off informants and searching through the GreatBigLibraryOfEverything. His [[TrueCompanions best friend]] and [[HeterosexualLifePartners partner]] pleads with him to stop, [[CrusadingWidow it won't bring "her" back]], and it just puts him in danger. Yet still the hero persists.
22
23A few acts later, he's getting beat on by the GiantMook, it looks like it's all going to fade to black when... [[TheCavalry his partner shows up]], [[ChandlersLaw gun in hand!]] Wait, why is he pointing the tranquilizer gun at hi–
24
25When he wakes up, the friend is terribly distraught. Says he ''tried'' to get him to stop, that he warned him what would happen. Saving him is out of his hands now, it's all on his head. Wait, ''what?''
26
27The best friend has been in league with (or is) the BigBad behind the whole plot. However, they genuinely like the hero and would rather he live a long and happy life. He might try a CirclingMonologue to bring him onboard, but chances are he already knows the hero's moral code is such that he'd just be wasting both their time by doing it. Still, he just might try, for old time's sake. Compounding matters, he's usually a StrawTraitor to some horrible ideal, is either directly or indirectly responsible for much of the hero's recent suffering, and/or was covering it up.
28
29Compare EvilFormerFriend, TheDogWasTheMastermind, EvilMentor, and TreacherousAdvisor. Contrast FriendlyEnemy, LivingWithTheVillain. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] [[DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu another type of big bad friend]]. If the hero is being chummy with the BigBad, that's GoKartingWithBowser. EvilAllAlong is for anyone who turns out to be evil, not just friends. Related to TheyWereHoldingYouBack.
30
31!!As this is a {{Betrayal Trope|s}} and a form of TheReveal, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers abound]]. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Beware]].
32----
33!!Examples:
34[[foldercontrol]]
35
36[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
37* All over the place in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan''. Eren learns that [[spoiler:Annie Leonhart, the girl that taught him how to fight, is really the Female Titan responsible for slaughtering his squad mates]]. Not long after that, he learns [[spoiler:that [[TheQuietOne meek]] Bertolt Hoover and TeamDad Reiner Braun were the Colossal Titan and Armored Titan all along. And therefore, indirectly responsible for a good majority of the death in the series, including that of his mother]]. To say he's [[YouMonster less]] [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge than]] [[YouKilledMyFather thrilled]] is an understatement. For an extra twisting of the proverbial knife, all are presented as [[TragicVillain sympathetic]] and [[BecomingTheMask genuine]] in their attachment to the people they've betrayed.
38** After the TimeSkip, [[spoiler:Eren himself]] becomes this, although the "friend" has been averted dramatically since then.
39* ''Anime/{{Bakugan}}'' plays this straight with Masquerade, who turns out to be [[spoiler: Alice]] but subverts it with Wiseman, who has merely [[spoiler: copied the appearance of Gunz]].
40* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': As he made clear from early on, Griffith's strongest trait was his devotion to his dream. Guts grew to feel a bond with him and think of him as a friend only to realise too late that everything and everyone was a means to that, when Griffith eventually sacrificed his men to a horde of demons in order to turn himself into a demon-god.
41* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', Lelouch and Suzaku have this both ways. Suzaku is TheEmpire's AcePilot, and Lelouch is the RebelLeader. Both are shown as sympathetic characters.
42%%* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'': Jet confronts one of these in "Black Dog Serenade".
43* At one point in ''Manga/DeathNote'', L, who suspects Light of being Kira by then, says he would be disappointed if Light turned out to be Kira because Light's the best friend he's ever had. It's especially heartbreaking because the audience has known from the beginning that Light is indeed Kira. WordOfGod says that he was [[TeasingCreator probably lying]]. However, ''Matsuda'' wasn't -- in fact, in Matsuda's case it was arguably worse: Light had been deceiving him for five years straight by the time the finale comes up [[spoiler: and he tries to have Matsuda murdered]]. It's next to no wonder that [[BreakTheCutie poor Matsuda]] [[spoiler:snaps ''massively'' in the end... and shoots Light several times [[BerserkerTears while screaming and crying]].]]
44* In ''Franchise/{{Devilman}}'', [[spoiler: Akira's best friend Ryo Asuka, the guy who got him into the whole horrible mess, turns out to be ''Satan''.]]
45* ''Manga/FairyTail'' has the [[TheDreaded Black Wizard Zeref]] as this to [[BigGood Mavis Vermillion]]. It was already confirmed in Chapter 340 of the manga that they knew each other (as fans had already suspected), but it wasn't until ''Fairy Tail Zero'' began that we find out ''how'' they knew each other; Mavis recognized his [[InstantDeathRadius Ankhseram Black Magic]] and called it by name, and showed Zeref the first bit of [[ThrowTheDogABone genuine kindness]] he'd experienced in centuries, if not ''ever'', to the point where Zeref [[spoiler:agreed to teach Fairy Tail's founding members the magic they needed to defeat [[StarterVillain Blue Skull]], making him indirectly responsible for Fairy Tail's very existence as a magic guild]]. Zeref later called this his 'most precious memory.' Even in the present, Mavis still clearly feels bad for the guy, but acknowledges him as the [[OmnicidalManiac grave threat]] that he is. [[spoiler:Even more tragically, they fell in love with one another after they realized they were both immortal, but Zeref's Curse killed her [[KissOfDeath after their first and only kiss]]]], and it's ''heavily implied'' Zeref's current desire [[spoiler:to obtain Lumen Histoire, Mavis's body trapped in crystal, is motivated partially out of this love]].
46* In one story of ''Manga/FrankenFran'', Fran's younger sister Veronica [[spoiler:realizes that the only girl that had befriended with her in the private school where Fran has sent her is actually working for a criminal organization that is kidnapping students and selling them to pedophiles in foreign countries.]]
47* ''Anime/HugttoPrettyCure'': [[spoiler:George Cry, president of the Dark Tomorrow Company and the one responsible for creating a BadFuture through TimeCrash-ing to a halt, is actually a friend of Future Hana, who's suffering and death motivates him to stop time at all costs, even if it means subjecting the Hana of the present timeline through extreme psychological torture. However, it should be noted that he never reveals this information to her in the slightest throughout all of their confrontations, so for all Hana knows, he's just a villain in every sense of the word.]]
48%%* Jin to Joe in ''Anime/InnocentVenus''.
49* In ''Literature/IsThisAZombie'', Eucliwood Hellscythe considered the King of Night to be her friend still, despite him unleashing a lot of megalo (demons) into the city to harm people and her new friends. [[spoiler:He wanted to die, since he became an immortal zombie to serve her, but she wouldn't do it.]]
50** In season 2, [[spoiler:Nene, implied to be the strongest fighter in the underworld, is seen eating and drinking with Chris, the current BigBad, and implied to be the strongest magical girl, who had fought each other before in the past.]]
51* Freesia from the second season of ''Anime/JubeiChan'' was a ''very'' calculating DarkMagicalGirl who had wormed her way into Jiyu's home (and bed). When Freesia finally reveals herself later in the series, she [[HeroicBSOD shatters Jiyu's mind]], sends her wounded off a cliff, and turns her father against her.
52* In the anime of ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple'', the final boss of Ragnarok that Kenichi faces is [[spoiler: Odin/Ryuto Asamiya, Kenichi's ForgottenChildhoodFriend.]] True to being a RankScalesWithAsskicking figure, it takes Kenichi a few episodes to finally take him down.
53* ''Anime/TheLostVillage'' has Koharun, the friendly and helpful guide of the trip. She turned out to know about the strange things that happen to the people who go to the village and was the one to gather people to go there, hoping to bring their personal monsters out and even made Hayato snap to grant his Nanaki extra power.
54* As of chapter 117 of ''Manga/MedakaBox'', [[spoiler:Zenkichi joins the Flask Plan]] to teach Medaka the value of failure.
55* In a filler arc, Manga/{{Naruto}} learns that the old man he often ate with at the ramen shop is actually a ninja from a village that had been destroyed, who seeks revenge against the Leaf Village. [[spoiler:Interestingly enough, his friendship with Naruto actually ''was'' genuine, and he replaced the deadly explosive tags across the village with harmless ones, intending it as a scavenger hunt similar to the games he played with his son.]]
56** Near the end of the series, [[spoiler:Sasuke becomes this: after thwarting Madara Uchiha's plan to take over the world with a superpowerful genjutsu, Sasuke reveals that he plans to kill the Kages, trap the tailed beasts in satellites, and start a revolution and taking over the world himself]].
57* In ''Literature/PsychicWars'', not one, but two [[spoiler:lovers of the main characters are demons, one of them being the BigBad of the story]].
58* This is actually most of the premise for ''Manga/SaintSeiyaTheLostCanvas''. The main character's best friend, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyfast Alone]], becomes the host of the evil god, Hades. As one of Athena's saints, our hero must fight against his best friend.
59** Alone means "Halo" in Italian (the setting of the story). The meaning in english is [[BilingualBonus possibly intentional]].
60* After the Arachnophobia arc in ''Manga/SoulEater'', it turns out that [[spoiler:Justin Law]] had gone through the first phase of this, but afterwards... well, [[spoiler:turns out that Law worships Asura, not Shinigami-sama, is an extreme misogynist, likes to be playing HoYay with his longtime apparent enemy, and more than likely helped set up Kid to be kidnapped by the arc's BigBad {{Chessmaster}}.]] So, he subverted this while acting TheMole. He might still like Stein, though, because [[spoiler:he did retreat before injuring him]].
61** As of chapter 96, [[spoiler:Crona]] steps to the role too, setting their aims on absorbing the Kishin himself.
62* The third-to-last episode of ''Anime/StarDriver'' reveals that [[spoiler:Sugata]] is the [[spoiler:long-absent Emperor of Glittering Crux]].
63* In ''Audioplay/StrikersSoundStageX'' of ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'', the culprit behind the Mariage killings turns out to be [[spoiler:Teana's partner Runessa]]; [[spoiler: Teana]] seemed to get along well with her, offering her [[spoiler:a permanent partnership position]] at the end of the case, and [[spoiler:Runessa, despite being the DetectiveMole]], was touched by the offer.
64* In ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'', Kirito eventually realizes that [[spoiler:Heathcliff, head of the most successful guild in the game,]] is actually Kayaba Akihiko, the man who trapped them there in the first place.
65-->'''Kirito:''' It always bugged me...something that any child knows. [[spoiler:There's nothing more boring than watching someone else play an RPG]].
66* Nana Hiiragi of ''Manga/TalentlessNana'' is a sweet, sociable, and friendly girl who very quickly ingratiates herself with her entire class of superpowered "Talented" individuals. [[spoiler:She's actually a ChildSoldier out to murder them all.]]
67* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'': The BigBad is [[spoiler: Maverick, Barnaby's mentor[=/=]father figure]] who killed Barnaby's parents because [[HeKnowsTooMuch they knew too much]]. He started out as a WellIntentionedExtremist, his actions being a way to make [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividuals NEXTs]] into heroes who are appreciated in society rather victims of FantasticRacism.
68* This trope also applies to [[spoiler:Wolfwood]] in the ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' anime. [[spoiler:He turns against the villains shortly afteward, [[RedemptionEqualsDeath only to die in the process.]]]]
69* Youko's friend Yuka Sugimoto in ''Literature/TheTwelveKingdoms'' becomes her rival to become the Queen of Kei. [[spoiler: Though unlike others, she gets better and relinquishes her claim, returning to Hourai/Japan.]]
70* [[spoiler:Chisato Inoue]] from ''Manga/VampirePrincessMiyu'' turns out to be this. [[spoiler:Subverted in that Chisato wasn't aware of it either until almost the end, when her once-sealed demonic powers starte coming to the surface ''and'' her brother Tokiya, a full-blooded Shinma, is killed. From then on, the at first oblivious Chisato embraces her position as the ApocalypseMaiden and faces Miyu head-on, wanting to avenge Tokiya's death...]]
71[[/folder]]
72
73[[folder:Comic Books]]
74* ''ComicBook/BlazeOfGlory'': [[spoiler:Marcel Fournier]] turns out to be a spy for the nightriders.
75* In the ''ComicBook/DoctorWhoTitan'' comics, [[spoiler:the Squire, a companion of both the War and Eleventh Doctors]], turns out to be [[spoiler:a shapeshifting agent for the Volatix Cabal (a Dalek RenegadeSplinterFaction)]] and the true Big Bad of the [[spoiler:Eleventh Doctor Year Two]] arc.
76* Sinestro still sees [[Franchise/GreenLantern Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps]] as friends, even after he betrayed them and founded the Sinestro Corps. He repeatedly makes clear that their conflict is NothingPersonal; his beef is with the Guardians and he actually really wishes the Green Lanterns would join him, even if he acknowledges that it’s not likely to ever happen.
77** In that same vein, Hal Jordan was this during his time as Parallax. During ''ComicBook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime'', he wanted to destroy all of space/time just so he can give everyone else their worlds back and give them back the people they lost. When Hal sacrifices himself to save Earth in ''ComicBook/FinalNight'', he's given a hero's funeral, though the only one not trusting of him was Franchise/{{Batman}}, something that stayed for a while after his eventual resurrection.
78* Maxwell Lord to the [[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLI]]. Despite killing [[ComicBook/BlueBeetle Ted Kord]] in the build-up to ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', Max still views them as his friends and warns them to stay out of his way, even telling ComicBook/BoosterGold that killing ComicBook/BlueBeetle wasn't easy for him.
79* ''ComicBook/LockeAndKey'': In his false identity of Zac Wells, [[BigBad Dodge]] befriends the Locke children (particularly Tyler and Kinsey, the latter of whom he starts dating) so that he can use them to find the [[ArtifactOfDoom Omega Key]].
80* ''ComicBook/{{Monstress}}'':
81** [[spoiler:Maika's lover Tuya]] turns out to be the one leading the Dusk Court's efforts to hunt down and kill Maika.
82** Master Ren turns out to be spying on Maika for his cat superiors, who know all about her lineage and the [[EldritchAbomination Monstrum]] inside her, and seem to have their own agenda. [[spoiler:When they decide to abduct [[MoralityPet Kippa]], however, he turns on them.]]
83* Hartigan in ''ComicBook/SinCity'' has one of these, his partner Bob, who shoots Hartigan in the back to keep him from killing Senator Roark's pedophile son. There are apparently no hard feelings on either side, and Bob gives Hartigan a lift back to town after he gets out of jail (this only happened in the film; in the comic the guy who gives Hartigan a lift is a different ex-colleague, and he doesn't see Bob again).
84** Bob is later ([[AnachronicOrder or earlier, depending on your point of view]]) killed by a different partner, whom Ava Lord had dug her talons into.
85* This happens to ComicBook/SpiderMan with alarming regularly. His friends and co-workers are guaranteed to either die, go mad, or both.
86-->'''[[http://asitecalledfred.com/comics101/69.html Comics 101]]:''' ''[[ComicBook/TheCloneSaga [T]he Jackal]]'' was merely the latest in a long tradition in ''Amazing Spider-Man'' in which nearly everyone in Peter Parker's life either becomes a villain or is related to a villain in one way or another. Need examples? First girlfriend Betty Brant? She married Ned Leeds, who eventually became the Hobgoblin. Schoolmate Liz Allen? Her brother was the Molten Man. JJJ? His son becomes the Man-Wolf. Peter Parker's parents? Turns out they were killed by the Comicbook/RedSkull. The list goes on and on (and on). In a world like this, one of Peter's college professors becoming a supervillain makes perfect sense.
87* [[spoiler:Adrian Veidt]] in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' is introduced as a former team member of the other second-generation characters, although no longer especially friendly with them, but is actually the Big Bad of the comic, plotting to [[spoiler:commit a massacre in order to fake an alien invasion and unite humanity]].
88* In ''ComicBook/{{Zero}}'', [[spoiler:Robert]] is Ginsberg Nova.
89[[/folder]]
90
91[[folder:Fan Works]]
92* In ''Fanfic/BookFiveLegends'', ''two'' characters newly introduced (who quickly become friends with Team Avatar) are revealed to be working against the heroes as a BigBadDuumvirate, [[spoiler:adopted siblings Temuji and Fumiko]].
93* In ''Fanfic/ConversationsWithACryptid'', ''two'' people Izuku knew turned out to be dangerous villains. His childhood doctor was a member of [[BigBad All for One]]'s inner circle, and [[spoiler:[[LukeIAmYourFather his absent father is All for One himself]]]].
94* ''Fanfic/FriendshipIsMagicalGirls'': Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust were friends growing up; when Lightning returns to town, Rainbow is thrilled at the prospect of renewing their friendship. Unfortunately for her, Lightning is a member of the Shadowbolts (the main antagonists of the Loyalty Arc), and has no problem using their friendship to gain information that can be used against the mahoushoujo. When Lightning eventually outs herself as a Shadowbolt, Rainbow is ''pissed'', and then depressed.
95* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13537784/1/Huffily-Puffily Huffily Puffily]]'': Lucy has a habit of unknowingly befriending the main villain of each year. She's especially upset by [[spoiler:discovering that Tom Riddle has been manipulating her and is a murderous sociopath, because he actually did become attached to her. Which, for him, means torturing and petrifying and even killing people who upset her, and then wanting to kidnap her away to stay with him once his cover is blown]], leaving her rather traumatised the following year. [[spoiler:Just as well a nice friendly black dog has turned up to comfort her...]]
96* [[spoiler:Drew]] in the ''Series/HannahMontana'' fic ''I Didn't Sign Up for This''. She is quick to befriend Miley and dates Lilly but in the last chapter, she is revealed to be a murderous sociopath that cares about [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness no one but herself.]]
97* The entire plot of the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic ''Fanfic/InnerDemons'' revolves around a prophecy that Twilight Sparkle will be consumed by her [[EnemyWithin inner darkness]] and become Equestria's EvilOverlord. This happens within a matter of chapters, and the rest of the story is dedicated to her trying to kill the rest of the Mane 6, and them trying to fight and/or redeem her (until {{the climax}}, there's a bit of debate among them).
98** As another Twilight Sparkle-related example, ''Fanfic/PagesOfHarmony'', Twilight is driven by a desire to extract the Elements from her friends by [[spoiler:capturing and murdering them in various ways specific to their Elements]]. Though much like Light in ''Manga/DeathNote'', she appears to believe she's doing it for the greater good, and her friends try to get through to her and get her to come to her senses. [[spoiler:She doesn't listen.]]
99** Another Twilight Sparkle-related example (these are popular, aren't they?). ''Fanfic/DeathNoteEquestria'' has her taking on the role of Light as Kira. She's so determined to defeat L and enforce her vision of justice on the world that she even goes so far as to [[spoiler:engineer Rarity and Pinkie's death as part of her cover]]; she does have a few VillainousBSOD moments along the way, but that hasn't stopped her so far.
100* In ''Fanfic/MadWorldInvaderZim'', Nny is this to Dib, who is totally unaware that his new friend is the SerialKiller he's investigating.
101* In the side stories to ''Fanfic/MGLNCrisis'', it turns out that [[spoiler:Racquel Benna/Zettin, the fruit vendor Fate knows was actually a scientist who worked alongside Precia and Scaglietti, creating a clone of Clyde Harlaown who served to impregnate Precia with Alicia. Racquel said she moved near Fate hoping to tell Fate the truth one day]].
102* ''FanFic/RosarioVampireBrightestDarkness'': Hokuto serves as such in Act III, pretending to be a friend to Tsukune and the gang and hatching a plan to have them defeat Kuyou when he attacks Yokai Academy, thus proving to the students that they're not {{Fake Ultimate Hero}}es and they really did beat Fairy Tale. As it turns out, Hokuto himself set the whole thing up; he lured Kuyou back to the academy and manipulated Tsukune and co. into fighting him so he could use the chaos as a diversion to steal an ArtifactOfDoom he needed in order to resurrect [[EldritchAbomination Alucard]] and bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, all out of [[OmnicidalManiac sheer]] [[StrawNihilist nihilism]]. While he's not the legitimate BigBad of Act III, that role taken by Kiria, he ''does'' take over the role in Act IV.
103* [[spoiler:Phoenix Wright himself to Mia Fey]] in the fangame ''VideoGame/TurnaboutOfCourage''.
104** And to the opposite extent, [[spoiler:Rhea Wits]] to Apollo Justice in ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorneyCase5TurnaboutSubstitution''.
105* [[spoiler:Grunnel]] in ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached''. He genuinely likes the four and is fascinated by what they have to say about Earth. But when [[spoiler:Brox]] comes up with a use for Paul that [[spoiler:Grunnel]] knows Paul won't agree to, [[spoiler:Grunnel]] quite readily backstabs the four to ensure Paul's participation in [[spoiler:Brox]]'s scheme. As he says to Ringo: "[[spoiler:Brox]] is my friend. You are not my enemies. Do you understand the difference?" Yet he prevents [[spoiler:Brox]] from killing George and Ringo because he likes them.
106* In the ''Manga/MedakaBox'' fanfic ''Fanfic/WorldAsMyth'', Hanhaba Shiranui fills this role towards the Broadcast Club in general, and Zenkichi Hitoyoshi in particular.
107[[/folder]]
108
109[[folder:Films — Animation]]
110* In the second ''WesternAnimation/{{Bionicle}}'' movie, Turaga Dume starts out as a trusted friend and city leader to both [[SacrificialLion Toa Lhikan]] and [[DudeWheresMyRespect Toa Vakama]], even if he DOES act a little strangely. Turns out he's the one who ordered the rest of Lhikan's team to be killed off years ago and for ex-Toa [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes Nidhiki]] and [[DumbMuscle Krekka]] to capture him as well, even managing to capture and imprison half of Vakama's team in the Coliseum and generally causing mass chaos and destruction all around. And then it turns out that Dume is not Dume at all, but rather [[BigBad Makuta]] ''disguised'' as Dume, who has been in stasis for years. Even better, before this, Makuta was a trusted guardian of their home island, meaning there are ''two'' examples of this trope in one movie.
111-->'''Nidhiki:''' This time, your farewell will be forever, brother.
112-->'''Lhikan:''' You lost the right to call me brother long ago!
113* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'', Moses and Rameses were adopted brothers who grew to be very close. Rameses is even willing to do everything in his power to make Moses' accidental murder of an Egyptian forgotten, but Moses flees all the same. Fast forward several years, and Moses returns to Egypt to free the slaves, and Rameses is now Pharaoh. Over the course of the Ten Plagues, their friendship evaporates as Moses tries to get Rameses to let the Hebrew people go, but Rameses, caught up in his WellDoneSonGuy raising about not being the weak link, refuses, leading to worse and worse plagues.
114%%* [[spoiler:Humpty Dumpty]] in ''WesternAnimation/PussInBoots''.
115[[/folder]]
116
117[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
118* In ''Film/Another48Hrs'', sequel to ''Film/FortyEightHrs'', Jack's fellow detective, Ben Kehoe, is revealed as a big time drug dealer. The character had been used for some exposition in the first film and it was somewhat given away by having him slick back his hair and wearing a suit in the second.
119* In ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'', Harry Osborn turns out to be this in the end, angered at Peter for refusing to give him his blood so that his disease could be cured. Electro can also count.
120* ''Film/TheBabysitterKillerQueen'': In the original ''Babysitter'' film, [[spoiler:Melanie]] was Cole's [[GirlNextDoor cute 12-year-old neighbor]] and his only friend at school. She even helped him by letting him take refuge at her dad's house when [[BigBad Bee's]] cult was trying to kill him. The sequel is set two years later and does a complete 180º by suddenly making [[spoiler:Melanie]] the cult's new leader, who now seeks to kill Cole herself.
121* ''Film/TheBelievers'': Cal's closest friends turn out to be part of an evil cult that sacrifices children and want him to join them by offering up his own son.
122* ''Film/BloodWork'': Terry [=McCaleb=]'s [[spoiler:associate, Buddy, happens to be a WellIntentionedExtremist and the serial killer he was searching for all the time]].
123* ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'': Despite the title, the Big Bad Friend is actually [[spoiler:Pierce towards Nick Fury]], not Bucky Barnes towards Steve Rogers.
124* Textbook example in the Creator/SamuelLJackson and Ed Harris film, ''Cleaner''. Ed Harris is Sam's best friend that helps him but later betrays him.
125* When Michael [=MacCauley=] in ''Film/TheCommuter'' [[spoiler:gets surrounded inside of a derailed train cart with a group of hostages, his best friend and former police colleague Det. Lt. Alex Murphy comes in to negotiate. After a slip of the tongue Alex reveals he is working with the criminals and is responsible for directly evolving Michael but did it to help with his money problems as he thought Michael wouldn't ask any questions]].
126* In ''Film/DarkBlue'', Jack Van Meter sets up Perry's murder, which fails when Bobby is killed instead.
127* ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'': In order to stop the multiversal demon chasing after America Chavez from stealing her powers of multiverse travel, Strange goes to [[spoiler:Wanda for assistance, asking her to come to Kamar-Taj to help them since she's one of the strongest Avengers and a powerful magic user who helped them defeat Thanos. Wanda counters by offering to host America at her farm instead, but in making the offer she ends up [[NiceJobFixingItVillain accidentally outing herself]] as the one trying to steal America's powers, because [[INeverSaidItWasPoison she refers to America by name despite Strange never having mentioned it in their conversation.]]]]
128* The hero's partner, played by Kevin Pollock, in ''Film/EndOfDays'' turns out to be in league with the villains.
129* ''Film/TheFaculty'': The HiveQueen that controls the [[PuppeteerParasite alien parasites]] turns out to be [[spoiler:the NewTransferStudent Marybeth Louise Hutchinson]], part of the student resistance group itself. Even ''they're'' shocked by this realization, for all how their GenreSavvy nature about how horror and alien movies work has helped them survive.
130* In ''Film/{{Horns}}'' Ig is trying to work out who killed his girlfriend, and if it was truly him. [[spoiler:Turns out his secretly jealous best friend was the killer.]]
131* ''Film/HotFuzz''. [[spoiler:Danny Butterman, the cop Nicolas befriends is actually in on what is going on, but tries to keep him out of trouble, even going so far as faking his death. Considering that when Nick tries to explain, Danny immediately enters an extreme state of denial and then sends him back to London, it's possible that he ''was'' aware on some level, but subconsciously never connected the dots for the sake of his own psyche. When Nicholas returns to stop the NWA, though, he chooses to join him.]]
132* Happened at least twice to ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' - [[spoiler:Elsa Schneider]], who was obsessed with the Holy Grail enough to help the Nazis in ''[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade The Last Crusade]]''; and [[spoiler:Mac]] working with Communists in ''[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]'':
133-->'''[[spoiler:Mac]]:''' I'm a capitalist. And they pay.
134* More than once to Film/JamesBond, though he ought to have expected it. The biggest example is [[spoiler:Alec Trevelyan aka Janus from ''Film/GoldenEye'', who once was James's partner and best friend as well as Agent 006, but after faking his death becomes the BigBad of the movie]].
135%%* Edward (not Edmund, like in real life) is this to Detective Harris in ''Kemper: The [=CoEd=] Killer''.
136* In ''Film/LastActionHero'''s [[ShowWithinAShow Movie Within A Movie]], CowboyCop Jack Slater's buddy in the FBI, John Practice, turns out to work for BigBad Vivaldi.
137* The 37th Dolan in ''Film/TheLastWitchHunter'' was supposed to be the hero's assistant but turns out to be working for the villain.
138%%* The Creator/JuliaRoberts/Nick Nolte rom-thriller ''I Love Trouble''.
139* The film of ''Film/MaxPayne'' had this happen with the father's old partner and Max's mentor, who turns out to be the villain.
140%%* O-Dog from ''Film/MenaceIISociety''.
141* ''Film/MinorityReport'': [[spoiler:Lamar Burgess is a WellIntentionedExtremist who tries to set up a {{Utopia}} that unfortunately involves a murder. He was also John Anderton's good friend until he was exposed.]]
142* ''Film/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries'':
143** ''Film/MissionImpossible1996'': The villain turns out to be [[spoiler:Jim Phelps, [[BrokenPedestal Ethan's boss]] and friend]].
144** [[Film/MissionImpossibleIII The third film]] has [[spoiler:Musgrave, another IMF veteran and friend to Ethan, who teams up with [[BigBad Owen Davian]] to find the "Rabbit's Foot"]].
145* ''Film/Oldboy2003'': Woo-jin is this two times over; first to Dae-su as they went to school together[[note]]Granted, they were rather aquaintances than friends[[/note]], and secondly to Mi-do as the two enjoy talking about sushi over online chatrooms.
146* In ''Motives'', the lead protagonist is set up for a fall by his best friend. Why? To steal the protagonist wife.
147* Senator Paine from ''Film/MrSmithGoesToWashington'' admires Mr. Smith's idealism and doesn't want to see him ruined by the political machine that he ends up fighting, though not enough to come clean. [[spoiler:Until the end, that is, when his conscience finally gets the better of him.]]
148* Though the ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' world is [[GrayAndGrayMorality full of gray]] at the best of times, it's nevertheless a big shock to Jack Sparrow in ''[[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnStrangerTides On Stranger Tides]]'' that his old friend and one-time flame Angelica is not only the first mate of ''Blackbeard'' but got that position by claiming to be his daughter. [[spoiler:He gets a double-dose of surprise when he assumes it's a scam to use the man to find the Fountain Of Youth, and she explains she actually is loyal to him and that she actually ''is'' his biological daughter]].
149* In ''Film/{{RIPD}}'' [[Creator/KevinBacon Hayes]] turns out to be a dead-o, and organizing the dead's plan to reconstruct the Staff of Jericho.
150%%* The film ''Rogue'' features this as part of its double-twist ending.
151* Happened to Hartigan at the beginning of his segment in ''Film/SinCity'', when his partner shoots him in the back to keep him from killing the bad guy. But, you know, he really ought to have seen it coming, what with the partner being played by Creator/MichaelMadsen.
152* In ''Film/{{Skyscraper}}'' when Will Sawyer [[spoiler:tells his best friend and former FBI colleague Ben whom he considers a 'brother' that he removed the tablet from his stolen bag and still has it, Ben laments, drawing his weapon on Will revealing he helped orchestrate the terrorist plot on the building but did not mean for his family to get trapped inside]].
153* In ''Film/SnakeEyes'', the best friend of the detective protagonist sets his friend up to cover up the assassination of the Secretary of Defense at the stadium. He's a WellIntentionedExtremist who cooperated with a group of military contractors because of a dispute about a military software system that might be dangerous, which the Secretary wanted to cancel.
154* The villain in ''Film/{{Sneakers}}''. "I cannot kill my friend." ''(hands gun to mook)'' "Kill my friend."
155* ''Film/StrangeDays''. [[spoiler:The killer turns out to be the protagonist's best friend]].
156* ''Film/StreetKings''. Detective Tom Ludlow's entire police unit is in on Washington's murder and have gone way too far in their corruption, keeping Ludlow in the dark because of his better morals. Capt. Wander (the prime mover in the whole operation) even admits at the end that despite ordering him killed, he loves Tom more than any of the other guys in their unit and unlike them he is irreplaceable for him. They say goodbye as family before Ludlow shoot his friend.
157* ''Film/SwordOfTheAssassin'': Nguyen Vu's childhood friend, whom Vu believed to be a freedom fighter, [[spoiler: was actually a power obsessed BitchInSheepsClothing who planned on having the entire royal family murdered to cement his rise to power. In the end, Vu deemed him even worse than the current empress, a woman who ordered the execution of Vu's entire family]].
158* Subverted in ''Film/TalladegaNightsTheBalladOfRickyBobby''. Ricky Bobby is betrayed by his best friend Cal, who steals his glory, his house and his wife. Despite this, Cal continues to call Ricky on the phone to chat and ask advice (for instance, asking where things are stored in Ricky's house). Ricky, out of force of habit, chats with him until he remembers that he is mad at Cal.
159* ''Film/TheThirdMan''. [[spoiler:The protagonist is investigating the murder of his friend Harry Lime. It turns out that Harry Lime is alive and engaged in horrible crimes. He's the villain of the story]].
160* ''Film/TheTrumanShow''. Truman's "best friend" since childhood (who is really an actor) at one point appears to truly be listening to Truman's plight and confusion, almost seeming to really want to help his buddy understand the crap that's going on with his life. However, he allows himself to be instrumental in the biggest MindScrew the studio pulls on Truman in bringing his "father" back from the grave. He later leads the hunt to capture Truman once he starts escaping. Earlier drafts and deleted scenes emphasized the actor being torn over doing such a thing to a man he had genuinely come to view as his best friend, and in these drafts, he initially redeemed himself by intentionally looking the other way when locating Truman and allowing him to escape.
161* [[spoiler:Elijah Price]] is the BigBad of ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'', [[spoiler:which he reveals only when he and David are starting to become friends near the end. He sees life as the prototype of a story after becoming intrigued by the comics his mother gave him, so he killed hundreds of people in mass disasters over the years to find his antithesis, a real hero. He manipulates David over the course of the film to fill this archetype, not to save people, but to find meaning in his own life]].
162* ''Film/{{Underground}}'': Blacky's best friend Marko betrays him and becomes the AntiVillain of the film.
163* ''Film/{{Valentine}}'': The film's final shot reveals that [[spoiler:Kate's boyfriend Adam Carr is a cover identity for Jeremy Melton, the vengeful SerialKiller picking off her friends over an offense they committed against him years ago. Also counts as LoveInterestTraitor]].
164[[/folder]]
165
166[[folder:Literature]]
167%%!!By Author:
168%%* Every Creator/DanBrown novel features this trope where the friend or trustworthy boss turns out to be the ''BigBad'':
169%%** [[spoiler:Carlo Ventresca]] in ''Literature/AngelsAndDemons''.
170%%** [[spoiler:Trevor Strathmore]] in ''Literature/DigitalFortress''.
171%%** [[spoiler:William Pickering]] in ''Literature/DeceptionPoint''.
172%%** [[spoiler:Sir Leigh Teabing]] in ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode''. [[spoiler:There's actually a few betrayals and friend-turned-villains here including Andrernet, Legaludec and to a lesser degree Bezu Fache.]]
173
174%%!!By Title:
175* ''Literature/AmericanGods'': One of Shadow's old friends, [[spoiler:Low-Key Lyesmith from his stint in prison]], is actually [[spoiler:Mr. World/Loki]]. This becomes especially trying it involves [[TheMentor Mr. Wednesday]], [[spoiler:he turned out to be working with Loki the entire time, working to manipulate both sides into a devastating war]].
176* In ''{{Literature/Aristoi}}'', [[spoiler:Zhenling]] was part of the BigBad's plan to crack Gabriel's encryptions all along.
177* At the climax of Volume 7 of ''Literature/TheBeginningAfterTheEnd'', [[spoiler:Elijah Knight, who has been missing ever since he was abducted by the Vritra during the attack on Xyrus years ago, returns as one of the Scythes during the climactic battle and goes after both Arthur and Tessia. Naturally, both assume that Elijah has become BrainwashedAndCrazy and was ReforgedIntoAMinion during his time in Alacrya. However, Elijah reveals to Arthur during their confrontation that he is in fact Nico Sever, the former childhood friend of Arthur's past life King Grey. Like Grey, Nico was also [[ReincarnateInAnotherWorld reincarnated into this world]] by [[BigBad Agrona]], and has been working for him out of a desire to both reunite with his fiancée Cecilia - him and Grey's shared ChildhoodFriendLoveInterest - and to exact revenge on Grey for killing her]].
178-->'''[[spoiler:Nico]]:''' [[WeUsedToBeFriends I was your best...friend]], [[spoiler:and the one whose fiancée you killed in front of me]].
179-->'''[[spoiler:Arthur]]:''' [[spoiler:Nico]]...You look like garbage, old friend.
180* ''Literature/ChrysalisRinoZ'': When Tungstant realizes that the [[FascistsBedTime Torpor Police]] have to have ''modified the fortress'' to have space for all the ants they're taking and giving a good night's sleep, she rushes to her partner, Cobalt, to warn her of the dire news. Cobalt tries to reassure her that the fortress plans aren't secret, surely the torpor enforcers would be making sure that their changes aren't going to bring things crashing down, but Tungstant won't calm down, and can't understand why Cobalt isn't getting upset along with her. Until Cobalt murmurs, "You really should have gone to sleep," and Tungstant is knocked out for her mandatory eight hours' rest.
181* Fidelias to Amara in the ''Literature/CodexAlera'' series. Not much of a spoiler, though, since his real allegiance is revealed within the first couple of chapters of the first book.
182* In ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'', Kitiara in her final moments is {{mind rape}}d when she discovers that her servant, Lord Soth intends to kill her and make her [[FateWorseThanDeath serve him as his banshee for all eternity.]]
183* Robert Harris' ''Literature/{{Fatherland}}'', where [[spoiler:Xavier's old friend Max Jaeger]] turns out to be the source of the SS's inside information.
184* The Thing in Tamora Pierce's ''Literature/{{Mastiff}}''.
185* ''Literature/NightfallSeries'': Myra ends up developing a twisted, love-hate friendship with Prince Vladimir, to the point that he is even giving her tips on how to defeat him.
186* ''Literature/Metro2035'':
187** Dietmar, a high-ranking official of the Reich and the leader of the Iron Legion, starts off with a cordial face in his first encounter with Artyom with Homer and Lyokha to the Reich's home station after the former lost his passport and they were subsequently conscripted into the Iron Legion. [[spoiler:But he quickly drops that facade when he sends Artyom on a mission to bomb the tunnels to Theatre station, before threatening Homer if Artyom does not follow his demands, making him the BigBad of the first two-thirds of ''2035''.]]
188** Lyokha starts as TheLancer to Artyom for the majority of the story. [[spoiler:Then comes the trek to Arbat station, where he is revealed to betray his friend Artyom by working as [[TheDragon the second-in-command]] to the Watcher's leader Aleksei Bessolov. It ultimately starts his fall to grace.]]
189* In Creator/AgathaChristie's ''Ordeal by Innocence'', [[spoiler:the former nanny is this to Philip Durrant, warning him to stop prying into the murder of his mother-in-law, which she committed on behalf of the victim's delinquent son. She murders Philip to cover her tracks]].
190* In Creator/SergeyLukyanenko's ''Rough Draft'', the main character has just killed a powerful Functional who was trying to kill him. He then meets his friend but quickly realizes that he's one of them. The friend initially tries to help him but then nearly kills him. It gets weirder in the sequel, ''Final Draft'', where the friend returns, explaining he was just scared. At the end, though, he challenges the main character to a duel.
191* In books 5 and 6 of ''Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan'', Darren's discovery and exposure of [[spoiler:Kurda's treason]] plays out like this, although he really is more of a WellIntentionedExtremist.
192** Played straighter in book 9 with [[spoiler:Steve Leonard, who... [[AxCrazy isn't]]]].
193* ''Literature/TheShadowsBetweenUs'': [[spoiler:Leandros Vasco, who is really Xanthos, Kallias's long-thought dead older brother and the original heir to the throne. He's also the one who murdered their parents and has been trying to assassinate Kallias so he can have a clear path to the throne]].
194* The first Stuart Gibbs ''Literature/SpySchool'' novel has the hero realizing that [[spoiler:his PluckyComicRelief CynicalMentor is TheMole]], something that becomes a LateArrivalSpoiler for the rest of the series.
195* ''Literature/TreasureIsland'': Long John Silver, Jim Hawkins's mentor figure and the local MagnificentBastard, is probably the most famous example of this trope. [[spoiler:So much that he manages to get away with it in the end.]]
196* In ''Literature/{{Tunnels}}'', the BigBad turns out to be [[spoiler:the protagonist's little sister]].
197* In ''Literature/TheUnderlandChronicles'', to all appearances, [[spoiler:Henry's affection for his cousin and his offer to rule with her are sincere]].
198* Natalie to Lissa in ''Literature/VampireAcademy''. She acts as a caring friend to her, while secretly killing animals, which Lissa cares for, messing with her mind and trying to get her captured by her dad.
199* In ''Literature/VoidCity'', one of the major antagonists is Roger, Eric's oldest friend and long-time business partner, who has secretly despised him and wanted to kill him for decades.
200[[/folder]]
201
202[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
203* ''Series/TwentyFour'' plays this straight with Nina Meyers and plays with it for [[spoiler: Tony Almeida]]. While Nina was TheMole working for the first season's Big Bad, [[spoiler: Tony]] through his [[KnightTemplar own warped sense]] of justice is aiding the seventh season's Big Bad to get him to trust him so he can kill him in revenge for [[spoiler: being the mastermind behind the plot that led to the death of his family.]]
204* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'': Near the end of the first season, it's revealed that [[BigBad The Clairvoyant]] is actually [[spoiler: Coulson's best friend, Agent Garrett]]. And things get even worse when it turns out that [[spoiler: [[TheBigGuy Ward]]]] is [[TheMole working for him]] as well.
205* Gaheris Rhade from ''Series/{{Andromeda}}''. However, "The Unconquerable Man" put a twist on it. [[spoiler: Gaheris actually ''won'' the fight originally, but got frozen in time like Hunt did in the pilot. He eventually gets rescued by Beka and company, just like in the pilot. In fact, he lives through much of the series plot, though it plays out far differently. [[TheAtoner He tries to rebuild the Commonwealth to make up for the fact that his people slaughtered everything that moved after the Andromeda was lost]], and were ultimately nowhere near the {{Warrior Poet}}s he had thought. Tyr is killed by Rhade for betrayal, Perseid gets annihilated, and the universe is about to be ripped to shreds when Trance tells him there's another chance to fix it all. Rhade eventually agrees, uses said universe shredding phenomena to travel back in time and kill his previous self moments before he begins his mutiny, takes his uniform, and ''throws the fight with Dylan Hunt at the beginning of the pilot episode''.]] Chronologically, [[MindScrew the main series then follows.]] Does anyone have anything for a headache?
206* On season 4 of ''Series/{{Angel}}'', the Big Bad orchestrating the disappearance of the sun and master of the giant rock demon turns out to be [[spoiler: Cordelia, although she's actually being controlled by a god]].
207* Season 5 of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' gives Team Arrow a new ally in the form of District Attorney Adrian Chase, who in the comics is the true identity of Vigilante, a recurring antagonist in this season. [[spoiler: In a MetaTwist, Chase is a villain, but he's not Vigilante; he's actually the BigBad, Prometheus.]]
208* In ''Series/BabylonBerlin'', resident [[spoiler:NobleBigotWithABadge Bruno Wolters]] is revealed to be in on the preparations of the [[spoiler:Black Reichswehr's MilitaryCoup]].
209* An inversion occurs in ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''. After [[spoiler: Saul Tigh]] is outed as a Cylon, Adama accuses him of being one of these. [[spoiler: Tigh]] himself however was more of a PsychoSupporter.
210* ''Series/BehindHerEyes'': [[spoiler:Rob was Adele's best friend in the psychiatric hospital, but he killed her and took over her body so [[DepravedHomosexual he could have Daniel to himself.]]]]
211* In ''Series/BreakingBad'', Hank Schreider has been going after the elusive meth cook, Heisenberg, who's behind the manufacture of high-quality meth, arson, murder, and other atrocities; he occasionally talks about all this trouble with his brother-in-law Walter White. Of course, [[VillainProtagonist Walter is Heisenberg]], and he's been using Hank's talks to stay one step ahead of the law. [[spoiler:Hank does ''not'' take it well upon finally making the connection.]]
212* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
213** In Season 9, [[spoiler: Whistler]] is revealed to be working with Pearl and Nash.
214** The BigBad of Season 2, to whom the Anointed One and Spike & Drusilla both play DiscOneFinalBoss, ends up being [[spoiler:Angel, having returned to his former self after losing his soul.]]
215** In Season 3, [[spoiler:Faith]] turns out to be TheDragon to Mayor Wilkins.
216* ''Series/CobraKai'':
217** While Hawk is mainly TheHeavy for the Cobra Kai students in Season 2 (the honor of the BigBad goes to John Kreese), he's still is one to Demetri given that Hawk has given in to his aggression way too far to the point where he sees Demetri and his nerdy interests as a burden to his "cool, tough" persona.
218** Robby Keene becomes this to the Miyagi-Dos as TheHeavy for the Cobra Kai students in Season 4 (Kreese and Silver is the season's BigBadDuumvirate), become the dojo's top student and teaching ''Miyagi-Do'' moves to their advantage. He serves as the FinalBoss for Miyagi-Do's Eli/Hawk en route to the All-Valley championship.
219** Terry Silver becomes this to John Kreese in Season 5, after the Season 4 finale has the former betraying the latter to the police and seize Cobra Kai for himself. While both are antagonists no question, Silver is obviously the bigger threat, to the point where the Miyagi-Fangs (particularly Daniel and Johnny) ally with ''Kreese'' to stop Silver from spreading his "Way of the Fist" influence to global levels.
220** Kenny Payne becomes this to Robby Keene as TheHeavy for the Cobra Kai students in Season 5 (the honor of the BigBad goes to Terry Silver) after he becomes Cobra Kai's top male student in the wake of Robby's defection, something that Kenny himself feels betrayed by.
221* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
222** Played with regarding TheMaster, the Doctor's old academia colleague. In some of their incarnations, they still see the Doctor as a close friend, and much of their machinations are to either prove to the Doctor that the Doctor's obsession with the comparatively primitive humans is silly, or to convince the Doctor to join them. In others however, they are [[SubvertedTrope genuinely trying kill the Doctor]]. Exemplified by this little exchange:
223---> '''Clara''': He's not your friend. You keep trying to kill him.\
224'''[[GenderBender The Mistress]]''': He keeps trying to kill me. It's sort of our texting. We've been at it for ages.\
225'''Clara''': Mm, it must be love.\
226'''The Mistress''': Oh, don't be disgusting. We're Time Lords, not animals. Try, nano-brain, to rise above the reproductive frenzy of your noisy little food chain, and contemplate friendship. A friendship older than your civilisation. And infinitely more complex.
227** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E1E2Spyfall "Spyfall"]], [[spoiler:the Doctor's old [=MI6=] contact O turns out to be the latest incarnation of {{the Master}}, who killed the real O and stole his identity.]]
228* In Creator/JossWhedon's ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'', lovable, loyal [[spoiler: Boyd]], the hero's friend, turns out to be the BigBad.
229* ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'': As revealed in the finale, [[spoiler: Sharon Carter has, since her [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar last appearance]], turned to a life of crime, becoming the Madripoor crime lord known as the Power Broker. All her help to Sam and Bucky is for the sake of advancing her own goals.]]
230* ''Series/TheFlash2014'':
231** It is revealed at the end of the first episode (to the audience, not the characters) that TeamDad GeniusCripple Harrison Wells is [[ObfuscatingDisability not only not paralysed]], but that he has a secret room in his lab with an AI that shows him the future, and that he's been keeping an eye on Barry for a very long time. He only gets more AmbiguouslyEvil from there, culminating in [[spoiler:TheReveal that he is the Reverse-Flash, Flash's archenemy who killed his mother.]]
232** In Season 2, it's revealed in the back half of the season that the new BigBad, Zoom, is actually [[spoiler: the team's new ally Jay Garrick. Or rather, Hunter Zolomon, who's been posing as Jay.]]
233* ''Series/{{Forbrydelsen}}'' did this [[spoiler:in all three seasons. In the first season, the murderer turns out to be Vagn, the best friend of the main victim's father. In the second season, Lund's new partner Strange proves [[DetectiveMole to be the killer]]. And in the final season, the main villain is Reinhardt, the business partner and close friend of the kidnapped girl's father (although the kidnapping was by the vengeful father of the girl who Reinhardt raped and killed).]]
234* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Locke pretends to be a friend to Jon Snow starting from "Oathkeeper". He leads Jon to believe that he's just another recruit for the Night's Watch who bravely offered to accompany his party to track down and deal with the mutineers who killed Lord Commander Mormant and are tormenting the women at Craster's Keep. In reality, Locke is there to find and kill Bran and Rickon Stark, Jon's half-brothers, who immediately threaten the Boltons' claim on the North. He betrays Jon by preventing Jon from saving Bran and Rickon and may have planned to harm Jon himself — but Bran manages to kill Locke before he can — and Jon remains unaware of Locke's true intentions since Locke was killed before anything was revealed to him.
235* In ''Series/{{Gotham}}'', Bruce finds out, to his horror, that [[spoiler: Jeremiah Valeska]] was hit with Jerome's insanity gas the day they met, and was driven insane without him ever being the wiser, due to [[spoiler: Jeremiah's]] [[MasterActor ability to convincingly act like everything was fine]]. This means that Bruce only finds out there is anything wrong with him when [[spoiler: Jeremiah]] wants him to, and by that time, it's too late, because [[spoiler: Jeremiah has already turned the clean energy generators he and Bruce worked on together into bombs.]] He still thinks of Bruce as his friend even after revealing his true nature, though, and [[SanitySlippage doesn't really understand it when Bruce no longer feels the same way.]]
236* [[PsychoPsychologist Dr.]] [[ImAHumanitarian Hannibal]] [[SerialKiller Lecter]] to [[TheProfiler Will Graham]] (and to a lesser extent, [[DaChief Jack Crawford]]) in ''Series/{{Hannibal}}''. In a departure from the source material, where Graham never met Hannibal before exposing him as the "Chesapeake Ripper" and arresting him, Hannibal is here referred to Graham as his FBI-mandated psychiatrist. He becomes friends with Graham and Crawford and lends his medical and psychological expertise to the FBI's Behavioral Sciences unit, the group out to catch the Chesapeake Ripper, while {{Gaslighting}} Graham for his own amusement and other ends.
237** By the end of season one, [[spoiler:Graham realises that Hannibal is this trope, but by then he's been manipulated into near-insanity and framed for a string of Hannibal's murders, [[CassandraTruth destroying his credibility]]. In season ''two'', Hannibal exploits Jack's emotional vulnerability over his wife's cancer and seduces Alana; he grievously injures them and Will in the finale, making him this for the entire main cast.]]
238--->'''Hannibal:''' I was hoping you and I wouldn't have to say goodbye: nothing seen, nor said.\
239'''[[spoiler:Alana Bloom]]:''' '''Stop!''' I was so ''blind.''\
240'''Hannibal:''' In your defense, I worked very hard to blind you.
241* In ''Series/{{Jekyll}}'' [[spoiler: Peter Syme]] turns out to be working against Jackman. And makes the argument that after so long pretending to be a friend they really are friends, even after betraying him.
242* Mitsuzane Kureshima/Kamen Rider Ryugen from ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'' is a particularly tragic example. He made increasingly desperate and messed up attempts to protect his friends without ever taking a single moment to think whether they want or need that, digging himself deeper with each move. Long story short, by the series' end he maimed, murdered or attempted to murder nearly half of the cast all because he thought he knows what's best.
243* Since we rarely get much of an insight into the personal lives of the detectives and prosecutors who appear on the numerous ''Franchise/LawAndOrder'' series, it's almost a certain bet that whenever an old friend of one of the characters shows up, it will turn out that they've become one of these.
244* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': [[spoiler:Halbrand has been Sauron]] all along, even as Galadriel confided in him about Finrod, and why she was hunting for him. In his defense, he asks Galadriel several times to stop and just let him be, and warned her that he is not the hero she sees in him. Galadriel even goes into denial and lists all the supposed good things she witnessed he did after learning that [[spoiler:the man she thought was her friend or even more than a friend, is Sauron himself.]]
245* In ''Series/{{Luther}}'', the antagonist of the first series' final two episodes is [[spoiler:DCI Ian Reed, Luther's friend and confidant, who is actually a DirtyCop]].
246%%* In ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'', Tommy plays with this, though he's just BrainwashedAndCrazy himself.
247* A less bloody example of this trope can occur in ''Series/TheMole'' if the hidden Mole befriends a contestant who never once suspects them to be the Mole and is eliminated as a result. This is especially prevalent in the Dutch series where at least three seasons (13, 17, and 18) have had one of the final four contestants be absolutely gobsmacked when they learn in the finale that their best friend who they trusted 100% was the Mole who had been playing them all along.
248* ''Series/PennyDreadful'':
249** In the first season finale, it's revealed that [[spoiler: [[AdaptationalVillainy Mina Murray is in fact a willful servant of the vampires]], and has been acting as bait to lure Vanessa into their clutches.]]
250** In Season 2, the team turns to [[TheDandy Professor Lyle]] to help them translate the [[BlackSpeech Verbis Diablo]], unaware that he's actually working for the witch coven they're fighting. To his credit, however, Lyle is being blackmailed into the situation, is clearly uncomfortable with it, and tries to subtly defy the witches and warn the heroes on several occasions. [[spoiler: When Sir Malcolm is taken prisoner by the witches at the end of the season, Lyle finally confesses his treachery to the team and helps them [[StormingTheCastle storm the witches' castle to rescue him]], even managing to personally kill one of the witches.]]
251* Subverted in the episode ''The Great Game'' from ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''. When [[spoiler:John appears to meet Sherlock at the pool]], we (and Sherlock) assume that he's Moriarty. However, it's soon revealed that [[spoiler:he is strapped to a bomb and the real Moriarty was just making him say lines that imply he is]].
252* This describes Lex Luthor for the first four seasons or so of ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', and intermittently afterward. Notable in that this isn't presented as a twist, but as a continuing theme throughout the series -- he legitimately likes the protagonists, he just sees their demands that he stop digging up their secrets as a requirement to tell them he's stopped in the interest of courtesy (rather than a moral need to actually stop). He also spends most of his time on the show SlowlySlippingIntoEvil, through a combination of childhood trauma, dangerous obsessions, extreme privilege, and his many MANY near-death experiences causing his pre-existing narcissism to skyrocket.
253* ''Series/SquidGame'': [[spoiler:Il-nam, the first player who bonds with Gi-hun in the game]], turns out to be the game's creator, [[spoiler:playing along for the thrill of it.]]
254* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
255** The Big Bad of Season 6, to whom [[spoiler: Crowley, Eve, and Raphael]] played DiscOneFinalBoss, is revealed to be [[spoiler: Castiel, who has decided that to defeat Raphael and put Heaven on the right track, [[WellIntentionedExtremist anything is acceptable]] - in this case, taking on a million souls. However, throughout nearly the entire season, he staunchly remains their friend, putting their safety ahead of his plans on multiple occasions and vehemently protecting them from Crowley, who would prefer to kill them. The Winchester boys do their best to stop Castiel throughout the final episodes of the season, while he continues to plead for them to accept him and his reasons for evil]].
256** In the final episode of Season 4, [[spoiler:Ruby]] reveals to Sam that she had been collaborating with Lilith the whole time just as [[spoiler:Lucifer rises]].
257[[/folder]]
258
259[[folder:Music]]
260* In Music/TheProtomen's works, Dr. Wily serves as one to Dr. Light. The second act of their RockOpera trilogy, ''The Father of Death'', details ''how'' Wily betrays Light during his rise to power.
261%%* The music video for "Handlebars" by Flobots.
262* "Your Enemy Cannot Harm You" by Blind Willie Davis is about how your enemies don't know enough about you to hurt you as deeply as a traitorous friend.
263[[/folder]]
264
265[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
266* During the summer of 1991 The Ultimate Warrior turned to his friend Jake "The Snake" Roberts for help in learning how to defeat The Undertaker. Roberts explained that after passing three tests, Warrior would have the "knowledge of the dark side" to defeat Undertaker. These tests included Warrior being locked inside a coffin and being buried alive in dirt. The final test was Warrior walking through a room full of live snakes to reach a chest containing "the answer". Warrior opened the chest, only to be immediately bitten by a King Cobra. As Warrior weakened from the effects of the snakebite, Roberts was joined by The Undertaker and Paul Bearer, revealing the three were working together all along. Jake Robert's last statement to The Ultimate Warrior was "Never trust a snake".
267[[/folder]]
268
269[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
270* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', the BigBad for the Antiquities expansion is Urza's brother Mishra. [[spoiler:But the true BigBad, Yawgmoth, has been manipulating both brothers this whole time. Urza does not take this well.]]
271[[/folder]]
272
273[[folder:Video Games]]
274* [[spoiler:Fasti, who is actually Mobius,]] is the BigBad of ''VideoGame/AgarestSenki2''. Until TheReveal, they were the resident [[spoiler:TheSmartGuy]].
275* [[spoiler:Livia]] in ''VideoGame/AlphaPrime''. At the end, it's revealed that they're not just TheMole, but were the Company's agent that orchestrated the plot in the first place. This also leads into [[spoiler:[[TheBadGuyWins the bad guys winning]]]].
276* ''{{VideoGame/Anachronox}}'': In the end, [[spoiler:Grumpos, the second character in your party, looks like he's going to destroy the key to open the portal, but instead]] reveals he's with the bad guys the whole time and opens the portal for them.
277* At the end of ''VideoGame/BeyondDivinity'', [[spoiler:it's revealed that your only ally throughout the game, the unnamed Death Knight, is actually, Damian, the BigBad of the ''Divinity'' series. [[{{Subverted}} But it's all a ruse, though]]]].
278%%* The possibility is explored in ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}} 64''. [[spoiler:The friend is indeed the big bad.]]
279%%* [[spoiler:Gary Smith]] from ''VideoGame/{{Bully}}'' pulled a serious [[FaceHeelTurn dick move]].
280%%* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare's'' BigBad:
281%%-->'''[[spoiler:General Shephard]]:''' [[FalseReassurance Good.]] [[WhamLine That's one less]] [[YouHaveOutLivedYourUsefulness loose end.]]
282%%* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'':
283%%** [[spoiler:Mathias]] in ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence Lament of Innocence]]''.
284%%** [[spoiler:Albus]] in ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaOrderOfEcclesia Order of Ecclesia]]''.
285%%** [[spoiler:Zead]] in ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness Curse of Darkness]]''.
286%%** [[spoiler:Maxim]] in ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaHarmonyOfDissonance Harmony of Dissonance]]''.
287* This is the case with ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuthHackersMemory'': Your friend Yu is actually K, the hacker that stole your identity, then spends the game "helping" you recover your account by sending you on a wild goose chase. Yu was hoping that you would become more dependent on K's advice, eventually isolating you from everyone and ensuring that you two would be friends and partners forever.
288* ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
289** Flipped around in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'': The villain Loghain thinks that his king and son-in-law is a Big Bad Friend who is selling out the kingdom to the same empire that his father and Loghain expelled from the country just one generation ago. Thinking the king has already made his FaceHeelTurn and become TheQuisling, he betrays him and takes control of the kingdom himself.
290** ''Return to Ostagar'' reveals that [[spoiler:the king was indeed planning to divorce Loghain's daughter Anora and marry the Empress of Orlais had he survived the battle, which if Loghain is a party member at the time has him both vindicated and furious that he was ''[[TheExtremistWasRight right]]'' all along]].
291** Subverted again in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', where Cassandra is [[ConspiracyTheorist convinced]] that Varric's friend Hawke was the BigBad responsible for everything and went to Kirkwall specifically to start the Mage-Templar War that is currently sweeping Thedas, when in reality, they were simply the RightManInTheWrongPlace and were swept up in events far outside of their control. Played straight with [[spoiler:Anders, however, who blows up the Kirkwall Chantry, killing scores of innocents, to incite a mage rebellion, ultimately leading to said war]].
292** And then ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' gives us [[spoiler:Solas, a.k.a. the [[GodWasMyCopilot elven god of rebellion]] [[TheTrickster Fen'Harel]]. Not only was he indirectly responsible for the Breach, he has been manipulating the Inquisition the entire time, and is actually planning to destroy the Veil, merging Thedas and the Fade, which would most likely kill every living being on the planet. If he likes the Inquisitor, he'll be deeply reluctant about it and challenge the Inquisitor to prove him wrong, but if he doesn't, then he'll have no regrets]].
293* In ''VideoGame/DungeonSiege 2'', [[spoiler:the Azurite Scholar that has been helping you throughout the game turns out to be the Overmage of the Cinbri, who has been manipulating both you ''and'' the BigBad in order to reshape Aranna in his image.]]
294* In ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'', Pokey claims that Ness is his best friend, and you can tell a cop that you're both friends, too... until he does a FaceHeelTurn. Though, that would make him TheDragon Friend... [[spoiler:Until ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}''. In that game, it shows that he really did consider Ness a friend; he cherishes the latter's weapon, the "[[ImprobableWeaponUser Friend's Yo-Yo]]" and keeps a shrine to him in his headquarters.]]
295* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
296** [[spoiler:Vossler]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' fights alongside you for a chunk of the game, but sells you out to the Archadian Empire afterwards on the belief that [[spoiler: it would be better to surrender to stop the bloodshed instead of continuing a seemingly fruitless rebellion. He's immediately given the StrawTraitor treatment, fights you as a boss later on, and then dies dramatically on an exploding warship.]]
297** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': [[spoiler:Thancred, one of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, and the player's first ally if they started off in Ul'dah, was secretly possessed by the game's big bad, Lahabrea, an immortal aetherial being who possesses mortal hosts to bring about the resurrection of his dark god. It's implied that Thancred was under Lahabrea's control since long before the player met him.]]
298*** During ''Shadowbringers'' [[spoiler:the Ascian Emet-Selch is this to the player character, but unlike his colleague Lahabrea, he spends most of the expansion attempting to cooperate with the Scions, crossing into Lightwarden territory, saving one of their companions, can be spoken to at length to get his unique perspective, and drops some of the biggest twists in the story. Eventually he warms up to the player, confiding that he wishes for nothing more than the restoration of his lost civilization but would be perfectly willing to let go if the people who came about after the loss of that civilization can prove themselves worthy enough in his eyes. Shortly after, he ends his truce with them after they fail his test of whether the Scions would be judged as potential allies. After he is defeated, he accepts his defeat and asks the player character to remember his people. Comes full circle in 5.3, when the soul of Emet-Selch appears to save the player and their party during the final battle against Elidibus.]]
299*** The later patches of ''Shadowbringers'' and the following expansion ''Endwalker'' expand on this. [[spoiler:In the unsundered past, Emet-Selch was friends with fellow Convocation of Fourteen member Azem, whose sundered soul would reincarnate into the player character's Warrior of Light and Ardbert. Since Azem was considered a defector unworthy of having a memory crystal made, Emet-Selch made one in secret and imbued it with his friend's signature incantation to summon allies and set up a plan to make sure it made its way to the player prior to the final confrontation with Elidibus.]] [[spoiler:''Endwalker'' has the player travel to unsundered Etheirys, where they would befriend a past version of Emet-Selch, his other friend Hythlodaeus, and the previous Azem Venat in their quest to learn of the true cause of the Final Days and eventually tell them of the events to come. Upon learning that Hermes' creation Meteion caused it, Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus covers the player and Venat's escape, but not before telling the player to not squander the legacy he leaves them (which mirrors his last words to them in ''Shadowbringers'') before the former two's memories are erased. All of these events would lead to Emet-Selch and the Ascians' quest to restore Etheirys, as well as Venat becoming Hydaelyn.]]
300** Each of the Sworn Six of Paladia from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyBraveExvius'' is directly linked to the party in some way, but none more so than Veritas of the Dark, who is heavily hinted to be [[spoiler:Sir Raegan, Rain's father and Lasswell's adoptive father.]]
301* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'': [[spoiler:Edelgard]] is this within the Silver Snow route, as they spend just under a year working alongside Byleth in part 1 of the game before they reveal themselves as the [[TinTyrant Flame Emperor]] in chapter 11 of the game. [[spoiler:Of course, if you are absolutely fed up with the [[PathOfInspiration Church of Seiros]] and their KnightTemplar tendencies, you can choose to side with her instead, leading to the Crimson Flower route.]]
302* Happens several times in the ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' series:
303** In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity'', [[spoiler:Lance Vance]] sells out Tommy Vercetti to Liberty City mafioso [[BigBad Sonny Forelli]] in the final mission out of opportunism because he felt he was being sidelined by Tommy in the Vercetti criminal empire.
304** In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'', [[spoiler:Big Smoke and Ryder]] betray the Johnsons to corrupt police officers Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Pulaski to get rich off the drug trade.
305** [[spoiler:Billy Grey]] in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheLostAndDamned''. He ultimately decides to sell out the entire Lost MC for his freedom; however, Johnny Klebitz infiltrates the prison and personally executes [[spoiler:Billy]] before he can testify.
306* ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'': [[spoiler:Cortana]] is [[CameBackWrong back and evil]] but still very devoted to Master Chief. [[spoiler:The difference in her warm encouragement to John 117 and bitter hostility to the new {{Deuteragonist}} Locke is very noticeable.]]
307* ''{{VideoGame/Kirby}}'': [[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Marx]] and [[VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand Magolor]] start their games off by being friends with [[TheHero Kirby]], but they secretly [[ManipulativeBastard trick Kirby into doing their bidding]], and as a result, they become the FinalBoss of their respective games.
308* The FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'' is one of your party members and also the person who's been [[EvilMentor mentoring and advising]] the player character throughout the game. Whether they actually qualify as EvilAllAlong, though, [[WellIntentionedExtremist is left up to the player to decide]].
309* ''VideoGame/{{KOLM}}'': In the second game [[spoiler:Father]], who'd seemed to be an ally, turns out to have been working with Mother the whole time and tosses Robbie aside when he succeeds in bringing Sister to him.
310* ''VideoGame/TheLastStory'': [[spoiler:Dagran, the main character's best friend and the looked up to and respected leader of their mercenary group turns out to have been TheManBehingTheMan, manipulating both Lazulis Island and the Gurak into re-starting their war, both as a way for him to get power and knighthood for himself and his group and to fulfill his goal to murder General Ashtar. While he claims that he always only saw them as pawns for his long plan to get revenge on the man who killed his family, it's implied that he truly did care for their friends.]]
311* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'' has [[spoiler:Crow]]. Throughout the game, Class VII has been antagonistic against a group of terrorists called the "Imperial Liberation Front" whose leader is a man called "C". Turns out that said leader [[spoiler:is Crow]], whose room is just across from [[TheHero Rean's room]]. He doesn't give out his reasons until the second game as to why he did his terrorism acts.
312* ''VideoGame/LoserReborn'': One of the [[BigBadEnsemble Big Bads]], the Cultist, is the reincarnation of the protagonist's friend from their previous lives. He wants to destroy the RPG world in order to wake the protagonist from their coma. The protagonist can choose to either side with the Cultist or fight him in the endgame.
313* In the ''VideoGame/{{Lufia}}'' series, a common plot element is a certain character being [[spoiler: Erim, the Sinistral of Death. In ''VideoGame/LufiaAndTheFortressOfDoom'' it was Lufia herself, in ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals'' it was Iris, and in ''VideoGame/LufiaTheLegendReturns'' it was Seena.]] Often, this character is not even aware of their true identity.
314* In ''VideoGame/MasterDetectiveArchivesRainCode'', the BigBad of the game is [[spoiler:Makoto Kagutsuchi, who had been Yuma's friend up to the point of the reveal, when he betrays him and reveals his true identity as the criminal the detectives have been pursuing.]]
315* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'':
316** The Boss in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', before defecting, was Naked Snake's mentor and one of his closest friends. She celebrates her FaceHeelTurn by beating him up and stealing his rescued hostage. [[spoiler:It was a ruse to make Volgin trust her and Snake wasn't in on it. She only ends up needing to be taken out when Volgin messes things up by actually ''using'' one of the nukes she'd brought for him, necessitating her to defect "for real" as Snake is sent in again to kill her.]]
317** The same goes for Naked Snake as Big Boss with the chronologically later ''VideoGame/MetalGear1'' as the commander of the young Solid Snake.
318** The plot point is repeated again for ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', wherein [[spoiler:radio contact Master Miller turns out to have been DeadAllAlong, with the Master Miller you talked to being Liquid Snake in disguise]].
319* [[spoiler:Pavel]] in ''VideoGame/MetroLastLight'' is Artyom's travel companion for a major part of the game and the two end up saving each other's life several times before they finally make it back to a civilized station where they are safe to relax and stock up on supplies before they each make their way to their respective homes. [[spoiler:Over a farewell meal, he tells Artyom that he's not just forced to be a soldier for the Communists, but actually believes in their principles. At that moment two communist officers appear behind him and it turns out that he's not just a simple scout, but a Major who was tasked to capture Artyom and just happened to end up in the same Nazi prison after his team was killed. And he just had been spiking your drinks.]]
320* It turns out that the [[HeroKiller Parkour Killer]] in ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge'' is [[spoiler:Faith's best friend Celeste, who believes the Runners' days are numbered and is fine with helping the police capture all her old Runner buddies to save her own sorry ass]].
321* The ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' mod series ''VideoGame/TheBastardOfKosigan'' has a couple. That group of mostly-nice witches you were helping out in the first module? Oops, they were manipulating you into helping them summon an ancient demon with which to wipe the world clean of civilization and start over with magic-users in control. Your lover in the second module? Whoops, she was the mastermind behind every assassination attempt on you or your family for the entire story so far. Both cases give you the chance to join them when their plots are revealed, which due to the story's GreyAndGreyMorality, isn't that far off the 'good guys' plots.
322* ''VideoGame/NocturneRebirth'' has [[spoiler:Khaos]], who Reviel considers a friend despite the former scheming against him and trying to destroy/recreate the world, which is why he tries to get his friend to pull a HeelFaceTurn. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, the BigBad ends up committing suicide upon defeat because he was that desperate to enact his plan.]] TheDragon, [[spoiler:Shylphiel]], states that [[spoiler:Khaos]] was likewise fond of Reviel, Luna, and Ristill despite his antagonism.
323* ''[[VideoGame/Onmyoji2016 Onmyōji]]'': [[spoiler: '''[[NiceGirl Yaobikuni]]''', my God, [[YamatoNadeshiko Yaobikuni]]. She's been ''seriously'' nice and ''seriously'' helpful to the rest of the main quartet before the revelation that everything she does is only part of her plan to serve the [[GreaterScopeVillain Yamata-no-orochi]] hits them ''hard'']].
324%%* In ''VideoGame/PaladinsQuest'', Duke, an apparent classmate of Chezni, is actually Zaygos.
325* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'':
326** This role is played with in ''VideoGame/Persona3'', with [[spoiler:Ryoji Mochizuki. He certainly acts as a friend to the protagonist, which is played up in the BigDamnMovie, but he isn't even a social link in the original game, and while he's the closest thing to a BigBad in the game, he's really more of an AntiVillain, having no choice as to whether he destroys the world or not. This is made even more apparent in the female route, where he acts as a social link, and is a romance option]].
327** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'':
328*** [[spoiler:Goro Akechi, one of the characters the Protagonist befriends over the course of the game, turns out to be TheHeavy for the bad guys, and the one ultimately responsible for the formation of TheConspiracy.]]
329*** Played with in the case of ''Royal'''s final villain, [[spoiler: Dr. Takuto Maruki. He comes to befriend all the Phantom Thieves during their counseling sessions with him, but at that point he ''wasn't'' a villain; he experienced BigBadSlippage when the Thieves took out Yaldabaoth. Though even after taking center stage as the villain, he still considers the Thieves his friends and goes out of his way to give them a chance against him.]]
330* In the ''A Nightmare at Green Lake'' event of ''VideoGame/Reverse1999'', the climax reveals that the FinalGirl Anne is actually this, revealing herself not to be an innocent young woman from a remote forest village, but the supernatural and powerful changeling Jessica, who has controlled all of the monsters that have been attacking the Crew if not transforming into them herself.
331* In ''VideoGame/{{Rosenkreuzstilette}}'', [[spoiler:Iris is considered like a kid sister to the rest of RKS, including Tia. What they don't know is that she's really the BigBad who's making RKS fight against the [[UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire Holy Empire]] ForTheEvulz. She eventually reveals to Tia who she really was and the real reasons for the war, and that she really did all that for both said reason and [[GodhoodSeeker to become god of the world]]. That's where none of RKS trusts her anymore]].
332* ''VideoGame/{{Scorn}}'': The Parasite, which latches itself onto Scorn Guy and gives him the ability to heal himself, as well as turning into a LivingWeapon Scorn Guy uses to fend off other monsters. One would think the Parasite is actually helping Scorn Guy through his journey...until you realize the Parasite is gradually draining Scorn Guy's health throughout the game and transforming his body into a meaty monstrocity. It isn't long before Scorn Guy realizes what's happening and [[spoiler:uses a machine to rip the Parasite off his body before it kills him or fully renders him immobile]].
333* [[spoiler:Special Agent Kato]] the third and final BigBad in ''VideoGame/ShadowHeartsCovenant'', doesn't let a little thing like wanting to destroy the world ruin the good friendship he has with Yuri. He even encourages the heroes to stop him if they truly believe they've got the right moral standpoint compared to his.
334* ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'': The [[AntagonistTitle titular]] Skullgirl, Marie, was childhood friends with Peacock before the Medici mafia captured Peacock (then named Patricia) and sold her as a slave, which resulted in Marie becoming the Skullgirl to take revenge. They both still consider the other to be a friend, and the only reason Peacock is hunting Marie down is to give her a MercyKill.
335%%* In ''VideoGame/SonicAndTheBlackKnight'', [[spoiler:Merlina]].
336* ''VideoGame/SpacePiratesAndZombies'' has [[spoiler:Don who turns out was a zombie leader/commander all along, and was leading you to the core to unleash the zombies]].
337* In ''VideoGame/SpiderManMilesMorales'', [[GadgeteerGenius the Tinkerer]] is Miles' ChildhoodFriend Phin who's desperately trying to get revenge on the EvilInc Roxxon for killing her brother by any means necessary.
338* [[spoiler:Faize]] in ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheLastHope'' after a HeroicBSOD sets down [[StartOfDarkness the path of darkness]].
339* In '' VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', [[spoiler:Mithos]] is quick to befriend the party once they meet him, and he becomes especially close with [[spoiler:Genis]]. Once [[spoiler:Genis]] finds out that his "friend" isn't just an enemy, but [[spoiler:the leader of Cruxis and BigBad of the game]], he reveals that he had his suspicions, but didn't want it to be true, and spends much of the rest of the game struggling with his feelings of betrayal, but thinking of [[spoiler:Mithos]] as a friend on some level..
340** [[spoiler:Kratos]] is set up as another such case. Initially, the character doesn't seem all that close to anyone in the group, having supposedly joined [[spoiler:only for the money]] (which is actually a lie), but gradually becomes something of a mentor to Lloyd, if fairly cynical. The group takes it hard when they realize [[spoiler:Kratos]] has betrayed them, but late in the game, [[SubvertedTrope it turns out that]] he was GoodAllAlong, and Lloyd forgives [[spoiler:Kratos]] after defeating him in a final duel.
341%%** In ''Dawn Of The New World'', [[spoiler:Emil and Richter]] without a doubt.
342* ''VideoGame/TheTestamentOfSherlockHolmes'' implies that Sherlock Holmes is this to Watson, as it drops hints that the famous detective might be the mastermind of the murders committed throughout the game. Watson's deteriorating friendship with Holmes is an ongoing plotline. [[spoiler:Holmes is innocent, of course, but he's doing it deliberately. Moriarty is framing Holmes for the crimes, and Homes is intentionally acting suspicious to keep Moriarty's attention off of Watson.]]
343* For the first half or so of ''VideoGame/TonyHawksUnderground'', it's simply a story of two guys ([[CharacterCustomization or a guy and a gal]]) from New Jersey trying to make it big as pro skaters. However after the pair arrive in Hawaii, the PlayerCharacter decides to pull off a big stunt by tricking over a hovering helicopter and the character's friend, Eric Sparrow, is on filming duty. The main character successfully pulls off their amazing feat but [[spoiler:Eric seizes the tape and passes it off as his own work, taking all the fame that would have gone to the player character. The rest of the game is spent trying to catch up to Eric and pay him back for screwing your character over]].
344* ''VideoGame/WarriorsOrochi 4'' introduces [[spoiler:Perseus]], Zeus' half-mortal son, who aids the coalition in confronting Ares and Athena. He's also a mentor to Yukimura, Naotora, Guan Yinping and Zhao Yun when they obtained their bracelets that activate their deified forms. He suddenly goes missing which prompt the coalition to find him no matter what. [[spoiler:It turns out that Perseus is actually Loki, the Norse god of trickery, who wants to bring his master, Odin, to the world by instigating a war between the humans and gods which forces them to activate the bracelets.]]
345* [[spoiler:Joshua]] in ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou''. [[spoiler:You actually have him as a member of your party for 1/3 of the game,]] as well as a cutscene that starts out short but is slowly revealed (an attempt to confuse the player as to whether [[spoiler:Neku's killer]] was him or the Reaper, [[spoiler:Minamimoto]]). The game switches itself up on you: It intentionally makes you suspect that [[spoiler:Joshua did it]], then reveals it to be [[spoiler:Minamimoto]] with some rather convincing evidence, even so far as to make you think that [[spoiler:Minamimoto could be the final boss, especially after he revives himself]]. Then, the end of the game does a 180 and reveals that [[spoiler:Joshua was not only the killer, but the Composer of the game as well: He killed Neku (who could use any pin) so that Neku could take his place in the Game that would determine Shibuya's fate]].
346* ''VideoGame/YsSeven'': Adol befriends [[spoiler:Tia, a resident of Old Town whose friend Maya is suffering from Iskan Fever. Unfortunately, the fever is caused by the imbalance of Dragon Energy in Altago, so Tia takes up her role as the Maiden of Demise and seeks to destroy and restart all life on Altago in the hopes that Maya will be reincarnated under better circumstances. Despite this, her friendship with Adol is genuine and Scias states that she would be sad to kill him]].
347[[/folder]]
348
349[[folder:Visual Novels]]
350* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'':
351** We don't actually see the moment of revelation for [[spoiler: Phoenix Wright]], but [[spoiler: Kristoph Gavin]] is the one who set him up to be disbarred and dishonored in ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney''. [[spoiler:Gavin]] then spends seven years pretending to be [[spoiler:Phoenix]]’s dearest friend, and the only person who objected to their punishment until [[spoiler:Phoenix]] finally takes them down.
352** In ''[[VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth Investigations]]'', [[spoiler:Shi-Long Lang]] is shocked to discover that [[spoiler:Byrne Faraday's killer and a key member of the smuggling ring is his assistant Shih-na.]]
353** [[spoiler:Calisto Yew]] serves as one to [[spoiler:Byrne Faraday and Tyrell Badd, her accomplices in the Yatagarasu, when she betrays and kills Byrne, due to being TheMole for the smuggling ring the Yatagarasu is fighting]].
354** Also those last two? [[spoiler: They're the same person. "Shih-na" breaks down into one of Yew's trademark laughing fits (down to the poses) and admits as much when caught. She states that "Calisto Yew" never existed, implying that the identity was created whole cloth to aid the ring and it's left ambigious as to how much of Shih-na was real and how much was an act. Her real name is also never revealed.]]
355** The Investigations sequel has [[spoiler:Simon Keyes, who poses as an innocuous friend to the party, even fooling Edgeworth before he figures out that Simon is the mastermind behind the game’s events]].
356** [[ImpliedTrope Implied]] by Apollo in the last case of ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies Dual Destinies]]'', when he states that [[spoiler:Prosecutor Blackquill]] seems torn after TheReveal of [[spoiler:[[TheMole Bobby Fulbright]]'s true identity, as the two of them were partners. The previous cases also give the feeling that there was a strong, if unusual, friendship between them]].
357** Through cases 4 and 5 of ''Dual Destinies'', Apollo wonders if his friend and co-worker [[FieryRedhead Athena Cykes]] has killed his childhood friend Clay Terran. His lead is that he senses with his HyperAwareness that Athena is hiding something from him, which is rare for her. {{Subverted|Trope}}: the killer was an enemy to Athena as well and she was just another victim of the whole ordeal as she's [[FrameUp framed]] for Clay's murder (''and Athena's mother's murder too'').
358** Downplayed by ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney'', where it's not the BigBad himself, but the final prosecutor [[spoiler: who is Ryunosuke's friend Kazuma]], and remains cordial and friendly to Ryunosuke even as he loses himself to RevengeBeforeReason and tries to get an innocent man convicted of the BigBad's crimes.[[spoiler: Thankfully, Ryunosuke is able to smack sense into him before the verdict can be handed down.]]
359* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'':
360** ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'': Since every case is composed by a murder committed by one of the people who you had to live for a little while, while most case end up showing the murderer as sympathetic in their motives, sometimes they do come off as cold blooded killers, such as [[spoiler:Celestia, who killed Hifumi and Ishimaru to get out of the school with the money offered by Monokuma]], [[spoiler:Mikan, who killed Ibuki and Hiyoko after regaining her memories as a member of Ultimate Despair]] and [[spoiler:Nagito, who not only essentially caused the first murder but sets up his own death to be unsolvable in an attempt to get everyone besides Chiaki killed]]. After [[spoiler:Celestia's]] execution, Makoto notes that since the culprit killed his friends, he can't pity her, but acknowledges once thinking of her as a friend, which gets him into pitying her anyway and blaming Monokuma for her FaceHeelTurn and resulting death.
361** Zig-zagged with [[spoiler: Junko Enoshima, the true BigBad. You do meet her as a friend (albeit that she dies early on), but that's actually Junko's [[TwinSwitch twin sister]] Mukuro and you only meet the real Junko in chapter 6... but she then proceeds to reveal that all the students, Junko and Mukuro included, were friends at Hope's Peak before their memories were wiped. WordOfGod is also that Junko genuinely considered the other students to be her friends, but she's such a messed-up despair nut that she stuck them in the Killing Game specifically ''because'' she cared so much about them.]]
362** ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'':
363*** The last case reveals that [[spoiler:Hinata and everybody else but Chiaki are the Remnants of Despair, a group of Ultimate Despair that served directly under Junko and are trying to destroy the world, though none of them have memories of that]].
364*** [[spoiler:Chiaki]] is a subversion, as [[spoiler:even though she was the traitor, she was working for the Future Foundation, who was trying to help them. During the aforementioned incident in which she is set up as Nagito's killer, she [[HeroicSacrifice does everything she can to ensure that she's convicted (and executed) for it]], even though she's unable to actually come out and reveal herself as the "traitor"]].
365* In ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'', well, [[MinimalistCast there aren't really characters that aren't]] the {{Player Character}}'s friends, although at first it doesn't look like there will be any villain either. [[DisguisedHorrorStory Then things start going horribly wrong]], and it's hinted right from the start that [[spoiler: Monika]] has some part in it. This continues to become more clear, although for a long time you can do nothing but watch in incomprehension, because that really doesn't explain what's going on. It turns out [[spoiler: she has gone quite mad, [[GoMadFromTheRevelation for extraordinary reasons]], and is only maintaining her (former?) pleasant persona as a role to hide it... but she's still ''your'' friend, if not anybody else's, because [[{{Yandere}} all she cares about is getting to be with you, no matter what she has to do to others.]]]]
366* In ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'', [[BigBad Zero]] has kidnapped nine people and is forcing them to play a DeadlyGame. What's Zero's identity? [[spoiler:Akane Kurashiki, the protagonist's [[ChildhoodFriendRomance childhood friend]]/[[LoveInterestTraitor love interest]] who has been playing along with him through the game [[BitchInSheepsClothing pretending to be an innocent victim of the ordeal]]. Though she is [[WellIntentionedExtremist trying to save her past self]] and get revenge against the real Big Bad, Ace, and his cohorts.]]
367* Old school Japanese PC/NES adventure game ''VisualNovel/ThePortopiaSerialMurderCase'' has this as TheReveal, as the titular killer turns out to be [[spoiler:Yasuhiro "Yasu" Mano, who is not only the main character's ''partner'' [[TheDogWasTheMastermind but also the single most unlikely suspect]] as he is with you ''throughout the entire game, executing the commands of the unseen protagonist''.]] The shock factor was so high that nowadays the phrase "[[spoiler:Yasu]] is the culprit" is something of a [[MemeticMutation meme]] amongst old fans. This twist is so well-known that it's been given [[ShoutOut Shout Outs]] in ''Manga/HaruhiChan'', Episode 7 of ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'', and Chapter 3 of ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc''.
368* Aster from ''VisualNovel/TyrionCuthbertAttorneyOfTheArcane'' is a big fanboy of yours, and helps you get information out of von Sanctus in case 3... but he's revealed to have been the Patron of case 5, who worked with Eris to brainwash Aria into murdering the heads of other noble houses, as part of a long-running scheme to have uncontested rule over Wyverngarde.
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370
371[[folder:Webcomics]]
372* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' Torg ''believes'' Riff is one of these following the "Hereti-Corp freelancer" revelation, though it's more a case of "unwitting stooge." Played straight with Sam during the "Vampires" StoryArc.
373* [[spoiler:Subverted]] in ''Webcomic/BrawlInTheFamily'''s "Cocoon Academy" arc. [[spoiler:Not only is it not Dedede's StartOfDarkness, but it turns out to be Meta Knight's origin story instead of Kirby's.]]
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375
376[[folder:Web Original]]
377* ''WebVideo/ArbyNTheChief'': Eugene, the BigBad of Season 7, spends most of the season as a genuine friend to Arbiter and Chief, and is even able to advantage of the depression and isolation they're feeling to coerce them into becoming {{Villain Protagonist}}s for a time.
378* Defied in ''WebAnimation/PerfectKirby'' with Bill, the BigBad of the first installment. Kirby considers Bill an annoyance, and while he is surprised by Bill being the Xbox smuggler, he rejects Bill's claim that they're friends.
379-->'''Kirby''': Bill, we've only known each other since you moved in, ''two weeks ago!''\
380'''Bill''': When did this happen, ''three weeks ago?''
381* [[spoiler:Kevin]] in ''WebVideo/TribeTwelve'' is [[spoiler:secretly [[DragonInChief The]] [[FourEyesZeroSoul Observer]]]]. No one is happy to hear it.
382** Similarly, [[spoiler:Noah is destined to become Firebrand, a member of [[CoDragons the Collective.]]]] [[spoiler:Noah]] [[DespairEventHorizon doesn't take it well.]] [[HeroicBSOD At all.]]
383[[/folder]]
384
385[[folder:Western Animation]]
386* ''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender:''
387** In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Fire Lord [[GreaterScopeVillain Sozin]] was best friends with Avatar Roku growing up and the two considered each other brothers. The two became distant due to Roku's duties as the Avatar and Sozin's plans for conquest, and Sozin betrayed him as soon as he had the chance. Notably, however, on his deathbed Sozin [[WasItReallyWorthIt took the time to reflect on his actions]] and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realized that he did regret what he had done]], only to bitterly note it was far too late for apologies to make things right.
388** Sequel series ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' has Varrick for Bolin. He did betray him and his friends, intended to use Unalaq's plan for his own selfish benefit, but Bolin still respected him and was still willing to accept his help against their real enemies. This seemed to become a more legitimate, trustworthy friendship as the series progressed, however.
389* Todd Ianuzzi from ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'' is a variation of this trope. Most of the time is associated or pretends to be a friend of Beavis and Butt-Head, but he is really an UngratefulBastard and a bully who enjoys committing crimes. However, Beavis and Butt-Head think he is "cool".
390* ''WesternAnimation/CleopatraInSpace'' reveals that the evil intergalactic conqueror Octavian is actually [[spoiler:Cleo's childhood best friend Gozi, who under unfortunate circumstances, survived 30,000 years and become a villain]]. He actually doesn't want to fight Cleo and offers her to join him in conquest, but she rejects the offer.
391* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'': Danny's ArchEnemy Vlad Masters is this to Danny's father Jack, who was his best friend in college. Not that Vlad makes much of an effort to hide how much he hates Jack in the present (which [[TheDitz Jack]] remains oblivious to), except when he wants something from him, but he does a good job of convincing everyone other than Danny and co. that he's not ''evil''. [[spoiler: At least until the GrandFinale. When Jack found out he'd been played he was...[[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome not happy]].]]
392* ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'':
393** In ''Cult of the Conductor'', [[spoiler:Simon starts out as Grace's closest friend, but as book 3 progresses, his refusal to change the Apex's violent ways drives a wedge until he eventually tries to usurp and kill her]].
394** In ''Duet'', Kez is unintentionally this to Ryan and Min-Gi. She is TheLoad throughout their journey on the train, causing trouble against the other denizens. And her ultimate intentions are to bring the duo to her friend to placate her by replacing a former passenger they were close to.
395* ''WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures'': This happens a few times throughout the show:
396** Most notably, Gene to Tony. Gene was the Mandarin the entire time and caused the plane crash that resulted in Tony wearing the arc reactor and [[spoiler:Howard Stark being presumed dead. It is revealed that Gene kidnapped him to get the Makulan ring he found and force him to help Gene find more.]] Gene did have some feelings of friendship left for Pepper, but did not let that stop him from achieving his goals.
397** Subverted with the Living Laser, who [[spoiler:was split into two- a good one and an evil one. Tony thought his friend had betrayed him before discovering the truth]].
398** Whitney, aka Madam Masque, whose mind was poisoned by the chemicals used in the mask and turned her into a bad guy.
399** Although this may be a reach, it's safe to assume that Andy was Pepper's friend who turned out to be an android created by Rhona. Although he expressed that he always liked Pepper, he didn't let that stop him from following Rhona's orders.
400* Dr. Benton Quest in ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'' seems have a serious problem with friendships; often whenever he pays a visit to friends or even acquaintances, they are often turn out to be psychopathic MadScientist types or minions of [[BigBad Dr. Zin]] who are eager to kill him and his family.
401* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
402** In "The Mystery of the Urinal Deuce", we find out that it was [[spoiler:Stan Marsh]] who put the dookie in the urinal. Though it ''was'' terrorists who caused 9/11. [[spoiler:The "9/11 Truth" movement is a GovernmentConspiracy in order to keep the "retarded one fourth of America" in line through fear.]]
403** In several other episodes, Eric Cartman. Though something of a parody, because his friends ''know'' he's not to be trusted---it's just that somehow, he usually winds up convincing one or more of them to believe him anyway, just to stab them in the back. Further parodied/[[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in the Wal-Mart episode, where Kyle Broflovski keeps pointing this out, though Cartman still seems to think they all believe him.
404* The titular character of ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' repeatedly considers [[EvilOverlord Lord Hater]] a friend, despite his detests. Only his partner Sylvia averts this, and constantly tries to get him to see the truth.
405* Qilby from WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}} was seemingly close to his siblings especially his twin sister Shinonomé but his ability to memorize his past deaths and rebirths made life miserable for him to the point where he was desperate to leave his planet and explore the Krosmoz so much to the point where he started a war and stole the heart of a prince of another race, in his debut, he hid his treachery from his reincarnated brothers.
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