Line #156 Main/EngineeredHeroics


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9	[[quoteright:215:[[Webcomic/LovingReaper https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/engineeredheroics.png]]]]
10	[[caption-width-right:215:Sadly {{Glory Hound}}s don't [[LackOfEmpathy care about the welfare]] of [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals actual hounds]].[[note]]Check out the the notes at the end of the [[https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/loving-reaper/saved/viewer?title_no=353275&episode_no=37&serviceZone=GLOBAL source comic]] for tips on spotting fake animal rescue videos[[/note]]]]
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12	->'''Syndrome:''' The robot will emerge dramatically, do some damage. Throngs of screaming people! And just when all hope is lost, Syndrome will save the day! I'll be a bigger hero than you ''ever'' were!\
13	'''Mr. Incredible:''' You mean you killed off real heroes so that you could... '''PRETEND''' TO BE ONE?!
14	-->--''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1''
15
16	Engineered Heroics is when an individual craves the attention and [[FamedInStory glory that comes with heroism]]...and thus, creates a catastrophe to play TheHero in.
17
18	The character suffers from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero_syndrome Hero Syndrome]], a RealLife disorder most often found in firefighters, in cases where they are also [[FirefighterArsonist arsonists who start fires]] so they can get recognition from putting them out or similar jobs like emergency workers or police officers. Usually they are also losers -- they have huge egos, but they tend to be low on the hierarchy of whatever job they have (for example, a Deputy who thinks he should be Sheriff), and thus their delusions of grandeur do not match their reality. Acting the hero thus gives them the chance to be the center of attention before they go back to their menial work.
19
20	Hero Syndrome is a fairly common trope in fiction and serves as a textbook example of EvilCannotComprehendGood. It is a symptom of {{Narcissis\|t}}m; it is [[ItsAllAboutMe pathologically self-centered]], and involves a [[LackOfEmpathy callous disregard for the victim]]. Someone engaging in Engineered Heroics does not care at all about the people they are supposedly "saving" and are [[GloryHound only interested in the glory]], whereas the true [[TheHero Hero]] traditionally ''always'' cares about the people they are saving and, while they may be susceptible to [[InHarmsWay thrill-seeking]] and the [[GlorySeeker limelight]], they don't let that override their sense of duty and empathy. This guy, however, has a warped sense of duty and [[LackOfEmpathy no sense of empathy whatsoever]]; hence, he is almost always a villain or at best a very dark-shaded AntiHero.
21
22	''Don't'' expect a real hero to react very well to people who do this.
23
24	Compare FakeUltimateHero, GloryHound, FakeDangerGambit, FalseFlagOperation, and MonsterProtectionRacket. See also MinionManipulatedIntoVillainy, where the villain causes someone hardships or tragedies, so they can solve them in exchange for the person's loyalty. [[MunchausenSyndrome Munchausen by Proxy]] is also related, as the character makes another sick and weak to get the praise and sympathy for being the caretaker. Not to be confused with ChronicHeroSyndrome, where the character solves genuine problems rather than creating them himself.
25
26	Usually involves the [[SevenDeadlySins sins]] of {{Pride}} and {{Lust}} (the Lust in this case being lust for glory and recognition).
27
28	(Fun fact: Japanese coined the GratuitousEnglish term ''match-pump'' for exactly this behavior, focusing on the archetypal example of an arsonist who goes around "heroically" extinguishing his own fires after the fact.)
29	----
30	!!Example subpages:
31
32	[[index]]
33	* EngineeredHeroics/FanWorks
34	* EngineeredHeroics/{{Literature}}
35	* EngineeredHeroics/LiveActionTV
36	* EngineeredHeroics/VideoGames
37	* EngineeredHeroics/WesternAnimation
38	[[/index]]
39
40	!!Other examples:
41
42	[[foldercontrol]]
43
44	[[folder:Animation]]
45	* ''Animation/{{Mechamato}}'': Payapi secretly sets fires so that he can put them out and be recognized as a hero for it.
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
49	* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', Ginjo tricks Ichigo into trusting him by saving Ichigo's sister from a Hollow attack he and his partner Tsukishima arranged. For added verisimilitude Tsukishima [[MemoryGambit alters Ginjo's memory]] so that he'll even believe his own engineered scenario.
50	* This was [[BigBad Griffith]]'s EvilPlan in ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''. After instigating a demonic incursion into the physical world that devastates humanity, he establishes the utopian kingdom of Falconia for [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans him to rule over]] as GodEmperor while he promises the surviving humans that he'll reclaim the world he destroyed.
51	* ''Manga/CaseClosed'': One case involved a house catching on fire when a girl was inside. It turned out the culprit set the fire so he could pull a {{Heroic Fire\|Rescue}} RescueRomance. He didn't anticipate getting caught or that Ran rescued the girl before he could.
52	** A downplayed but arguably even viler example in Shinichi's first (official) investigation: the AssholeVictim du jour was a photographer that won an award for his photo of an apartment fire, only for one of his coworkers to discover he'd set it in the first place. [[BestServedCold Since]] her brother ''died'' in said fire...
53	* ''Manga/DeathNote'': Well, [[Characters/DeathNoteLightYagami Light Yagami's]] perfectly happy [[SoProudOfYou soaking up lots of praise from the Task Force]] for working to stop Kira... while being Kira.
54	* ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'': [[spoiler:Frost, Frieza's alternate self from Universe 6,]] initially seems like a [[GoodCounterpart cool and friendly hero]] who's beloved for ending wars and villainous plots all across the galaxy. In reality, the vast majority of conflicts and disasters that he stops were deliberately set up ahead of time by him and his agents. Once people are in danger, [[spoiler:Frost]] heads over and "defeats" the villains he himself created. He does this out of a mixture of extreme narcissism, greed, and [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatism]]; why conquer the galaxy when you can pretend to save it and get worshipped like a god in return?
55	* A minor recurring character named Sentinel Vengeance from ''Manga/FrankenFran'' is addicted to doing "good" and constantly cons people so he can appear as a hero as well as vanquish his thirst for revenge on the first two Sentinels. [[spoiler:When he suffers TheLoinsSleepTonight, he arranges for the deaths of all the people who supported him, so that he could feel self-righteous once more.]]
56	* ''Manga/{{Kinnikuman}}'': In the second chapter, Kin wants to get the attention of famous singer Takahar Nana, so he hires a monster to pretend to attack her so he can "save" her and get some RescueRomance. The monster immediately decides that he doesn't want to take a fall for an idiot like Kinnikuman and decides to kidnap Nana for real, forcing Kin to actually work at his rescue. He succeeds, but Nana, having fainted and missed most of the action, believes that her manager Hitoshi saved her.
57	* ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid: Kanna's Daily Life'':
58	** In Chapter 5, Saikawa defeats a massive beast in order to prove her karate skills to a group of adults that had insulted her. What she was unaware of was that the beast was actually [[{{Weredragon}} Tohru]] in disguise.
59	** In Chapter 91, Kanna comes up with a plan to keep the elves from invading by having Nina return home with a slice of Tohru's tail to make them think that she defeated her.
60	* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
61	** Done in conjunction with a FrameUp in the Dressrosa arc. A flashback shows that [[spoiler: Doflamingo came to King Riku Dold II, the former king of the country and tells him he'll sell the island to him (Doflamingo is a descendent of the former rulers that preceded King Riku you see). King Riku begs the citizens for the money fully intending to pay it back. But once he had it, Doflamingo used his string powers to take control of Riku's body as well as his army to attack the citizens. Once the people hated Riku for "tricking them", Doflamingo and his top lieutenants swooped in to "save the day".]]
62	** Done by the heroes in the Fish-Man Island arc, not for fame but to help undo the FantasticRacism between Fish-men and humans. The New Fish-man Pirates have captured most of the island's royal family, and call out a challenge to the Straw Hat Pirates. Luffy's all for it, but Jimbei stops him; if Luffy were to just beat up Hody Jones, it would merely be seen as "another human beating down a fish man". Instead, Jimbei plans for himself and the mermaid princess Shirahoshi to be captured, and for Luffy to pull a BigDamnHeroes when Shirahoshi calls for him. It works, and the spectacle also buys the time for the rest of the Straw Hats to reunite.
63	* ''Anime/Overlord2012'':
64	** This is how the main character [[VillainProtagonist Ainz Ooal Gown]] gains more renown in the New World. A demonic invasion led by a powerful demon named Jaldabaoth begins attacking the Re-Estize kingdom and throws it into a panic. Under the guise of the human adventurer Momon he finally drives off Jaldabaoth after a bout of intense combat. In actuality, Jaldabaoth is really Ainz's loyal subordinate Demiurge, and one of the reasons for putting on such a performance is to bolster Momon's reputation.
65	** An accidental version earlier when [[spoiler:Shalltear]] is mind-controlled into rebelling against Nazarick. Momon declares he'll take care of [[spoiler:the vampire]], but after ensuring there are no witnesses, takes her out as Ainz (since he needs all his spells for it). The victory is credited to Momon anyway.
66	** The entire Holy Kingdom arc consists of Jaldabaoth curbstomping their forces with conscripted demihumans, requiring them to ask Ainz for help. He declares that he can't use his army to help them for diplomatic reasons... so he'll go by himself (and there's a scene where he has to talk with the Nazarick forces posing as the demons, telling them to actually fight back). It ends with [[spoiler:the Holy Kingdom nearly destroyed, some survivors starting a cult dedicated to Ainz, several of the demihumans now serving Ainz, and the Holy Kingdom's ruler replaced by a doppelganger who plans to play up internal rivalries until the people beg Ainz to take over.]]
67	** After Ainz kills the Giant of the East and subdues the Serpent of the West, he has their monster minions attack Carne Village, which is one of his own {{Protectorate}}s. Then he sends his envoy to the village, Lupusregina Beta, to swoop in and help repel the attack, thus putting the villagers even further into his debt.
68	* Clembot from ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesXY'' gets framed for a rash of incidents. When Ash and friends investigate, it's revealed that the FrameUp was just Phase I of the true culprit, Belmondo's, scheme. Phase II is for Belmondo to use his own Clembot to "solve" those same crimes and be hailed as a hero.
69	* In ''Manga/RappiRangai'', to get the main character accepted in a princess's kingdom, his party of {{Kunoichi}} had him pretend to beat them to become a bodyguard for the princess.
70	* In one episode of ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'', Nanami continually finds herself in danger, only to be saved each time by a young boy named Mitsuru. He later reveals to Utena and Miki that he caused those dangers so he could impress Nanami and make her think of him as a [[BigBrotherInstinct big brother]].
71	* ''Anime/SailorMoon'': When Zoicite is disguised as a fake Sailor Moon and acting like a hero, he causes a few of the disasters he saves, like cutting the cables of a window washer's platform to swoop in and catch him.
72	* In one episode of ''Manga/SgtFrog'', Paul runs Momoka through a VR simulation of various plans to get Fuyuki to declare his love for her. One such plan involves him saving her from some thugs, thus sending adrenaline to his brain and heightening his emotions. Paul forgets to take into account that Fuyuki is a Grade-A wimp, and the simulation ends with Fuyuki running away, albeit taking Momoka with him, and calling for a police officer (which Momoka admits [[FearIsTheAppropriateResponse is probably the wiser course of action]]). Paul then hypothesizes that [[AgentMulder Fuyuki]] would leap into action if it were an alien attack, and changes the simulation accordingly. However, after initially spazzing out over the alien, Fuyuki again runs away. Throughout all the simulations, ''someone else'' always saves them before Fuyuki can, until literally everyone in town is moved out of their way.
73	* ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'': Zig-zagged in "Jeffrey's Knighthood". Lina and Naga are hired to accompany young Jeffrey as he goes on a quest to defeat some bandits in order to earn himself a knighthood. Unknown to him (but known to Lina and Naga), the bandits are actually actors hired by his mother to create a situation where he can prove himself. Unknown to all of them, real bandits moved in and drove away the fake ones before they get to the hideout. Of course, Jeffrey still fails to prove himself (not that he realizes this), because he's so utterly useless that the girls have to do all the work (except for when his mother shows up and clobbers people with a warhammer for daring to point that out in his hearing).
74	* Discussed in ''Manga/SpyXFamily''. Due to complicated reasons, the spy Loid needs his six-year-old daughter Anya to earn Stella Stars (badges given out for exceptional achievements) at her school. Anya earns one Stella Star by alerting adults around her to a drowning child, saving his life. Loid later mentions that the spy agency could arrange for similar "accidents" for Anya to intervene in, but they find it too risky to implement.
75	* ''Manga/UshioAndTora'': shortly after the introduction of [[CreepyChild Kirio Inasa]], the fourth possible successor to the Beast Spear who actually boasts about wielding a weapon superior to the Spear and advocates its destruction, the main Kouhamei Temple is attacked by an avatar of [[BigBad Hakumen no Mono]], who nearly kills all the monks with her power. Then Hizaki Mikado, the order's leader shows up and uses all her Dharmic power to land a powerful attack which seemingly immobilize the avatar as Kirio jumps in and effortlessly slays her in one swing of his scythe, showing that his weapon can be used even against Hakumen and even mass-produced... [[spoiler: except that it really isn't, as not only Mikado's technique was already killing the avatar, but it is confirmed that the entire event was a plan of Hakumen itself to trick the monks into destroying the Spear.]]
76	* ''Manga/YuGiOh'': One chapter of the manga featured a boy who loved superhero comics but wasn't strong himself. His father wanted to make him more self-confident so he hired some kids to pretend to attack someone while the boy was in a superhero costume. It worked, but then the hired kids turned it around and started really hurting the boy in order to get more money out of the father.
77	[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder:Comic Books]]
80	* In ''ComicBook/AstroCity'':
81	** The Conquistador's plan is to gather numerous criminals to simultaneously commit crimes across Astro City [[spoiler:so he can use his heroic identity to strike them down as part of his heroic debut.]]
82	** [[spoiler:In his previous identity as El Hombre]], he teamed with one of his enemies to create a giant robot for him to destroy, boosting his sagging profile. The enemy betrayed him and the robot ran amok, and when his plan was revealed, he resigned from the Honor Guard in disgrace.
83	** Invoked by some of Winged Victory's female enemies: They claimed to be students of her self-defense classes, and later committed crimes so she could stop them and enjoy the publicity.
84	* ComicBook/BoosterGold has spent his entire career trying to redeem himself because of this trope. Traveling back through time with advanced weaponry, he set up a disaster to allow people to see his heroics. In an inversion, in his current time-traveling series, his real heroics are erased from history, [[TheGreatestStoryNeverTold and people rarely see him doing good.]] During ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'', he hired an out-of-work actor to stage a robbery so that he could intervene and raise his profile. It backfired after the check bounced and the actor publicly confronted him.
85	* ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'': Part of what fuels TheAntichrist ([[spoiler:better known as Literature/HarryPotter]])'s school shooting rampage is the reveal that all his exploits had been faked for him by order of the Headmaster ([[spoiler:a BodySurfing Creator/AleisterCrowley in the body of Tom Marvolo Riddle]]), leading him to murder students and faculty alike.
86	* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
87	** One early comic zigzagged this trope like crazy when Clark Kent, bemoaning how Lois Lane never had the time of day for him because she was too focused on Superman, had a friend suggest to him that he should talk Superman into dressing up in his clothes and doing something heroic to impress her. Due to his super-senses, he noticed Lois Lane was eavesdropping on them and wisely dropped the plan, only to be forced into pretending he'd gone with it after all when she happened to catch him changing into Superman a bit later. By the end, this game of mistaken identities had her utterly befuddled, and he was not doing much better at sorting out the situation for himself.
88	** In ''ComicBook/Superman1939'' #172, Superman retires, and his successor, Ar-Val, wows the reporters covering the story with a variety of heroic feats such as catching the ''Daily Planet'' globe when it falls down. The only exception is Jimmy, who sees evidence that Ar-Val set things up so he could show off.
89	** In ''Man of Tomorrow #7'', "When No One's Looking", a new superhero, Soar, arrives in Metropolis and takes down the Royal Flush gang. [[Characters/SupermanJimmyOlsen Jimmy Olsen]] takes a job as his photographer...which turns out to be a sting. By the end, he's gathered enough evidence to prove that the gang was in Metropolis rather than Gotham thanks to Soar wanting to set himself up as a hero. He tells Soar that Superman, who the new "hero" saw as a rival, is a real hero because he doesn't need recognition to save people.
90	** ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlBatgirlPlot'': As posing as ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}, Mr. Mxyzptlk takes Superman's powers away right when he is trying to prevent a building from collapsing, so that "Supergirl" can show up and save the day.
91	** ''ComicBook/TheSuperRevengeOfLexLuthor'': As part of a plan to drive Superman crazy, Luthor builds a robot to return stolen money to a bank, expecting Superman to misinterpret the robot's purpose, destroy it, and then being criticised by the public.
92	** ''ComicBook/WorldsFinest1941'': In issue #142, the Composite Superman sneakily uses his powers to set up several disasters -triggering several rockets' launching, weakening a building's foundations...-, making sure that Superman and Batman to fail when they try to save the situation, and then he shows up, fixes everything and is hailed as the hero of the day. It does not take long for Clark and Bruce to figure out their rival is behind everything.
93	* In ''ComicBook/TheTick'', Chairface makes a deal with Barry Hubris in which his minions flee from Barry on sight to build up his rep, while Barry only makes the effort to pursue and capture criminals working for other gangs, leaving Chairface as the top criminal in the city by attrition. It fails because Barry is so utterly insane that he doesn't remember his half of the bargain, and indiscriminately brutalizes everyone. Chairface ultimately decides that he needs to bring the Tick back to get rid of Barry.
94	* ''ComicBook/TheTrialOfYellowjacket'': In [[RockBottom one of the lowest points]] of his superhero career, [[ComicBook/AntMan Hank Pym]] attempts this in order to redeem himself in the eyes of ComicBook/TheAvengers after his unprovoked attack on a surrendering Elfqueen leads to a court martial. His plan is to create an indestructible robot to attack the Avengers Mansion that is only vulnerable to his stings as Yellowjacket so that he can swoop in and save the day. He doesn't even manage to pull this off, as he is knocked out by the robot and ComicBook/TheWasp has to take it down herself after discovering Hank's plan, and his attempt at doing this gets him kicked out of the team until [[HesBack he eventually redeems himself]]. It also leads to Janet divorcing Hank due to him [[NeverLiveItDown hitting her]] when she tried to talk him out of the plan.
95	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Some of the White Magician's victims are led to believe they're going to be in a mock fight with him that'll help him maintain his false public identity as a hero, so are mislead to think this trope is in play when he's really just going to kill them. The White Magician's shtick is to sell stolen STAR Labs tech to low-level criminals and then fight those same criminals as a hero, which leads to the perp's death in all cases where they'd have any hope of identifying him as their supplier.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
99	* In ''ComicStrip/TheFortunesOfFlossie'', Bill bribes Astromar the Seer to give the superstitious Flossie a prophecy that she'll "marry the man who saves her from danger." Then Bill gets his friends to stage a highway robbery when he takes Flossie for a ride, all so that he can fight off the fake bandits and look like a hero in front of his girlfriend. The ruse fails when Flossie recognizes the masked "bandits" as Bill's friends. As the verse that accompanies the panels recounts:
100	-->The next day Flossie went with Bill to take a motor ride:\
101	And on a lonely road three masked men suddenly they espied.\
102	The villains shouted "Stop that car! Hands up! And make it snappy!''\
103	"Oh, Bill, protect me!" Flossie cried (which made our hero happy).\
104	"Don't be afraid, dear," whispered he: "my courage this will test!"\
105	Out of the car he jumped, and knocked those three thugs galley-west!\
106	But one mask slipped—and Flossie saw the face of Danny Lake,\
107	A friend of Bill's! She realized the hold-up was a fake!
108	[[/folder]]
109
110	[[folder:Fairy Tales]]
111	* Creator/FranzXaverVonSchonwerth's "Literature/NineBagsOfGold": Since Marie needs nine bags of gold to be allowed to marry her boyfriend, her elven friends make the kingdom's prince fall ill so Marie can cure him and be paid for her "deed".
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
115	* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'': This is Syndrome's problem. He wants to be a great and famous hero like his childhood idol Mr. Incredible but sees no problem murdering actual heroes or attacking cities in pursuit of this, not to mention [[WouldHurtAChild blowing up children]]. To do this, he creates the Omnidroid, a powerful battle robot made to be NighInvulnerable, highly intelligent, and generally strong enough so that no one else could take it on, leaving him to stop it with the help of a remote control. [[spoiler:This backfires on him when it turns out that the learning robot ''got smart enough to wonder why it had to take orders'', recognizing the remote as its WeaksauceWeakness and getting it off of Syndrome with a sneak attack. Syndrome goes down fairly easily after that, leaving the Incredibles and Frozone to actually defeat the thing.]]
116	* Oscar and Lenny from ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale'' stage a public brawl that results in Lenny's [[FakingTheDead apparent death]], in order to give Lenny (a vegetarian shark) an opportunity to drop off the radar and start a new life, and to allow Oscar to keep up his charade[=/=]image of being a 'shark slayer' while scaring off any fear of retribution from TheMafia.
117	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'': In her pursuit of Rapunzel, [[spoiler:Mother Gothel]] strikes up an alliance with [[spoiler:the Stabbington Brothers]]. She tricks them into thinking they'll get Rapunzel, whom they plan to sell to the highest bidder, and when they advance on the girl, she knocks them both unconscious, making it look like an impromptu rescue.
118	* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTroubleInTokyo'': It is revealed towards the end that [[BigBad Brushogun]], the mighty Japanese supervillain the Titans are investigating, [[spoiler:was actually defeated and captured years ago by [[TheCommissionerGordon Commander Uehara Daizo]] of the Tokyo police department. But instead of turning Brushogun in, Daizo [[HumanResources hooked him up to a printing press and industrialized his power to create living art]], forcing him to create a host of fake villains so [[DirtyCop Daizo could earn fame and fortune by "saving" Tokyo from staged crises]].]]
119	[[/folder]]
120
121	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
122	* ''Film/{{Aquaman\|2018}}:'' [[spoiler:Orm]] almost single-handedly disposes of the submarine that attacks his forces and the Xebellians. Except he is the one behind the attack, [[spoiler:as he paid Black Manta to get the submarine for him.]]
123	* In ''Film/TheBatman2022'', the Riddler's crime spree reveals that twenty years ago [[spoiler:the mobster Carmine Falcone masterminded the arrest of his rival Salvatore Maroni and the largest drug bust in Gotham history]]. Nearly the entire upper echelon of the [[spoiler:Gotham city government]] owe their success to this single event which is why [[spoiler:Falcone controls the entire city]].
124	* In ''Film/BatmanReturns'', the Penguin and Max Shreck arrange a public spectacle where one of the clowns in the Red Triangle Circus gang kidnaps the mayor's baby son during a live press conference and leaps into the sewer, only to be vocally "stopped" by the mysterious "penguin man of the sewers." Penguin then emerges and personally hands the child back to his parents unharmed. This allows Penguin to reenter society and Shreck to set up Penguin's bid for mayor.
125	* In ''Film/TheBeastmaster'', Dar has his tiger attack Kiri and then pretends to drive it off in an attempt to seduce her.
126	* In ''Film/BetterWatchOut'', the [[ProtectThisHouse home invasion]] that drives the film turns out to have been [[spoiler:a ploy by Luke to get into his cute babysitter Ashley's pants. When she finds out, [[EnfantTerrible he doesn't take it well]].]]
127	* In ''Film/ClearAndPresentDanger'' [[DragonWithAnAgenda Felix Cortez's]] attempt to take over the Columbian drug trade involves striking a deal with corrupt American politicians so they can regularly arrest his men to keep up appearances while leaving his actual operation untouched.
128	* In ''Film/{{Dragonheart}}'', Bowen and Draco reach an agreement in which they travel together and Draco pretends to attack any villages the duo might come across, allowing Bowen to heroically show up and feign to kill Draco by shooting him with a giant ballista, at which point Draco fakes being mortally wounded and intentionally falls into any nearby body of water to sink and swim away while Bowen gets his reward. This goes well for a while until the duo and their new allies stumble upon a town with a lake that's too shallow for Draco to submerge in. When the starving inhabitants descend upon the seemingly dead dragon while chanting "Meat! Meat!", Draco understandably flies away, exposing the scam and causing the infuriated villagers to turn on our heroes (while [[ImAHumanitarian still screaming "Meat! Meat!", no less]]). Interestingly, this deal was done out of necessity. Bowen is a real knight but had run out of dragons to kill in his quest for vengeance, turning Draco into the LastOfHisKind. By working together, Bowen keeps his job and Draco continues living.
129	* Happens a couple of different ways in ''Film/FiftyFirstDates''. Among the ploys Adam Sandler's character uses to get Lucy (Drew Barrymore) to notice him are a penguin he places in the road (which she nearly kills), and his friend staging an attack on him (she beats him within an inch of his life with a baseball bat she keeps in the car). Basically, ''he's'' engineering chances for ''her'' to be heroic.
130	* ''Film/{{Filibus}}'': The SkyPirate of the title has her {{Mook}}s kidnap Leonora Hardy, sister of the famous Inspector Hardy. Filibus's reason? So that she can show up in genderbent disguise as the Count de la Brive, save the day, and sneak with her new identity into Inspector Hardy's social circle.
131	* In ''Film/HeroAtLarge'', Steve Nichols (a struggling actor) becomes a superhero for foiling a robbery while dressed as "Captain Avenger". [[BrokenPedestal The crowd loses respect for him once a reporter reveals that the foiled robbery was staged]].
132	* In ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'', this was [[spoiler: Apex Cybernetics]]'s plan. It's revealed they are directly responsible for instigating Godzilla's rampage due to [[spoiler: Ghidorah's remains that are incorporated into Mechagodzilla's brain, signaling to Godzilla that Ghidorah is still alive.]] With humanity now turned against Godzilla, [[spoiler: Apex]] intended to [[spoiler: publicly unleash Mechagodzilla]], kill Godzilla and be credited as humanity's saviors.
133	* In ''Film/GreenForDanger'', [[spoiler:Sanson staged the gas "attack" and rescue of Linley to put herself above suspicion]].
134	* In ''Film/TheMagicSword'', the evil sorcerer Lodac kidnaps the Princess with Sir Branton vowing to save her. It turns out Branton and Lodac are in cahoots so Branton can win the Princess in marriage by "saving" her. Too bad for him that A) brave George and his band of knights insist on joining the "rescue" and B) Lodac has no intention of honoring the deal.
135	* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'':
136	** Loki in his debut appearance in ''Film/{{Thor}}'' attempts to use such a situation as his final bid for power. [[spoiler:He brokers an agreement with his people's sworn enemy, Jötunheim and their king Laufey, to assassinate his adoptive father Odin. This act is done to deceive Laufey that Loki is his ally within Asgard. After granting them passage to the castle, Loki suddenly betrays Laufey right before he assassinates Odin and kills him, portraying himself as Odin's savior and giving himself justification to go to open war with Jötunheim]]. However the whole plot relies on Thor being stuck on Earth, which unfortunately for Loki, is not the case and his plot is exposed in front of his mother.
137	** This turns out to be [[spoiler:Mysterio]]'s modus operandi in ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome''. The entire thing about Elementals, his acts as a hero, his backstory, basically everything [[spoiler:was faked using holographic technology he invented for Stark Industries, along with help from his crew]] in order to make him look like a superhero [[spoiler: worthy enough to be Iron Man's successor]].
138	* Captain Amazing in ''Film/MysteryMen'' arranges the release of his ArchEnemy Casanova Frankenstein from the mental institution since he is losing his corporate sponsors thanks to the lack of crime in the city. This backfires when he underestimates his old foe and gets himself killed as a direct result.
139	* ''Film/{{Maverick}}'' (1994, Richard Donner) beats several baddies in a fistfight to scare Angel, only to later pay them money for throwing the fight.
140	* ''Film/ProjectA'' (part II) have the villain, Inspector Chun, bribing minions to stage a hold-up for him to arrest in order to gain himself a promotion. When he starts firing on his minions for real, one of his mooks tries spilling the beans only to be KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade.
141	* This is the accusation in ''Film/RichardJewell'' (and also in real life), that Jewell planted the bomb he discovered to look like a hero. (The accusation was untrue.)
142	* The killer's plan in ''Film/Scream4'' is a mix of this and FameThroughInfamy, masterminding a killing spree and framing somebody else for it in order to come out looking like a heroic SoleSurvivor who defeated the killer. [[spoiler:Specifically, Jill was trying to copy her older cousin Sidney, envious of the fame she received as the FinalGirl of [[Film/{{Scream}} three separate murder sprees]]. Jill even killed ''[[{{Matricide}} her own mother]]'' just so she could have Sidney's DarkAndTroubledPast of her mother being murdered by a SerialKiller.]]
143	* The fantasy movie, ''Film/TheThrillingSword'' have the hero slaying a multi-headed dragon laying waste to the kingdom, getting in the way of Lord Xie, the BigBad CourtMage who summoned said dragon, and was about to claim credit from the King for banishing the dragon.
144	* Inverted in ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'', when we discover that [[spoiler:Elijah masterminded a number of catastrophes to search for a hero because he thinks of himself as a supervillain and needs a WorthyOpponent.]] Yes, he's [[YoureInsane insane]].
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147	[[folder:Visual Novel]]
148	* ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'' has [[spoiler:Luke Atmey, a private eye]] who is planning heists with the thief he is chasing and proclaiming his heroism upon "recovering" the stolen objects.
149	-->'''[[spoiler:Atmey]]:''' Unable to find a rival worthy of my genius, I was forced to create one myself! Here I am, the tragic clown!
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151
152	[[folder:Webcomics]]
153	* ''Webcomic/Alfie2010''; it is revealed that the d'revo attack on the largely human trade caravan just as it was arriving outside of Red Fort was secretly set up by Speaker Aghavni in the hopes that one or more of the diminutive, hornless, tailless folk would acquit themselves well enough to justify inducting them into the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuys resident Voch'khari tribe]]. Why?
154	--> "Tribe elders elected me to speak with humans, but then all they do is complain! 'Humans are too weak!' 'Can't trade with the weak!' 'Can't learn to grow food from the weak!' I gave the humans the opportunity to prove their worth! And they took it! ''Everybody Wins!''"
155	* In ''Webcomic/TheComebackPathOfPrincessFromMars'', we have the case of Ritter Ely. He is a psychotic noble from the terran empire who is all but addicted to the praise and glory he gets from his "heroic" public image, so when he and the protagonist Olga Perez are sent to Mars by imperial decree, he first sabotages the transport, trying to kill Olga to eliminate the competition, and then partners with a terran sleeper cell sent in advance to have said cell attack random images so he can swoop in and stage a "rescue" for the cameras. Unfortunately for him, Olga survived his little stunt and limped over to the very first town these EngineeredHeroics were to take place, causing Olga to accidentally steal his limelight as she defended herself. At that point, he goes from merely wanting to kill Olga only because he was ordered to do it by his even more deranged father to wanting to make her utterly suffer as much as possible before her death for the affront and blames her for ''actually'' fighting his subordinates on camera as opposed to merely making a show for his image.
156	* In ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'', during the "[[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack The Enemy Let Slip]]" StoryArc, [[spoiler:when Han is about to be frozen in alcohol, he confesses that he is the traitor of the Rebellion and that he kept selling it out for money]].
157	* The [[spoiler:''entire'' Dragonslayer deal]] in ''Webcomic/DragonMango''.
158	* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' Father Gerät accuses Martellus of engineering the escape of something from their vaults in order to conveniently [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20141114 show up to help save the Corbettites' Depot Fortress and earn their good graces.]] While he's wrong Martellus is a little disappointed he hadn't thought of it and offers Gerät a job which the Abbot turns down.
159	* ''Webcomic/KaitenMutenmaru'': Crocell Xylel, from ''[[Recap/KaitenMutenmaruSeaOfTheBeginning Sea of the Beginning]]'', is seen in the television promising to wipe out monsters in Megapolis with costumes he creates for heroes as the CEO of Megadis. When Mutenmaru's group and Shinobu infiltrate Megadis to verify Father Brasse's suspicion, Crocell reveals that he's the one who creates monsters in Megapolis with the help of Thia to keep heroes fighting.
160	* In one ''Webcomic/LovingReaper'' strip Death encounters the ghost of a puppy who died whilst two teen boys were staging a puppy rescue video for social media by throwing it in a pond and going in to collect it and filming it, they threw it back and tried again when they didn't get the shot they wanted so presumably the pup either drowned or succumbed to hypothermia. Sadly the comment section on their video has no idea and thinks they are heroes. The strip is a warning telling people to look out for these fake animal rescue videos online.
161	* Done in ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan''. It is all but stated that the disasters [[spoiler:the new-and-seemingly-better hero organization the Neo Heroes face were manufactured by their backers or executives only for Neo Heroes to stop them, since not only did the appearances of monsters spike up extremely when they started, but Child Emperor's research shows many monsters were enhanced to raise their disaster level and had control chips in their brain. Not to mention the fact that somehow Neo Heroes always came first to defeat their foes with minimal damage. This becomes more apparent once their attempts at defeating the already known criminals Speed-o-Sound Sonic and Garou were complete failures. The robot army attacking the entire world also appears to be an escalation of this, considering how easily Neo Heroes can scrap them along with the robots giving them enough time to attack, many Neo Heroes commenting on how well prepared they are for the supposedly sudden attack, the other executives aside from [=McCoy=] being very calm over the attack, and at least four million robots targetting the Hero Association headquarters for complete destruction yet don't do the same to the Neo Heroes.]]
162	* ''Webcomic/TwoKinds'': In Trace's backstory, he decided to fight a dragon to impress Saria, his future wife. So he decided to enlist his dragon friend Nora. Unfortunately, they got in trouble for destroying the Grand Templar's garden, ''and'' Saria never even noticed the incident.
163	* ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'': Inverted trope [[BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad for demons]]. Demon society respects violence as a measure of social status; Rampages are intentional killing sprees in innocent villages meant to show how much of a badass the killer is by [[BullyingADragon luring as many vengeful adventurers and bounty hunters]] [[BringIt on their ass as fuzzing possible]]... unless the village was intentionally ''founded'' by demons, where it is designed to give a major defense disadvantage when being raided and related to few outside adventurers. Engineered villainy is only rare because it takes centuries to ''ferment'' a town and wait for all traces of demon involvement to fade.
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165
166	[[folder:Web Original]]
167	* An attempt at doing this in ''WebAnimation/BrokenQuest'' results in an entire village being burnt to the ground.
168	* In the ''WebAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls'' Season 1 finale, "Saving the Day", Cheetah falls while attempting to save Lucius Fox, and is saved by Wonder Woman catching her with the Lasso of Truth, resulting in her confessing in front of Principal Amanda Waller that she rigged his jet pack so that she could save him... [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty and then confessing to all the other things she did over the course of the season]].
169	* The whole point of "The Flanders Company" webseries' setting: The Flanders Company is an agency which rents Superheroes their necessary Nemesis, who is bound by a contract to lose fights in order to ensure the heroes' status -- and their subsequent wealth, which is more than necessary to pay the Company's outrageously high fees. They need to pay their villains with all their equipment of mayhem, after all.
170	* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'': In Season 11, the Reds and Blues are attacked by Locus, but saved by Felix. In the 12th season, Felix reveals that not only is he EvilAllAlong, but he and Locus are partners and what happened was an orchestrated charade to win the Reds and Blues' trust. Felix even lampshades how implausible his help really was;
171	-->'''Felix:''' How many times have I jumped in front of a bullet for you, Wash? Three? Those are some... pretty great reflexes, huh? Most people would have to...''plan'' that sort of thing.
172	* ''WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers'': In "Mario And... The Well", Fishy Boopkins gets rescued by Bob from a well. Come "The Mario Concert", however, and it's revealed that Bob pushed Boopkins down the well in the first place so Bob could get popular.
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Context Main / EngineeredHeroics