Basic Trope: A character employs kindness as a diversion for ulterior motives.
- Straight:
- Alice is a Con Artist that seeks to trick old Bob into telling her his bank account. She approaches him with the act of a Nice Girl that makes him company and helps him carry his shopping bags.
- Alice and Bob are arch-enemies. Mid-battle, Alice pretends to sympathize with Bob's evil motives and helps him complete his Evil Plan. In case he lowers his guard, he inadvertently lets Alice near the self-destruction button of his Wave-Motion Gun.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice pulls a Long Con in which she pretends to be Bob's best friend for years and solves most of the problems in his life, only to steal his bank account as soon as he trusts her enough to do it.
- Alice seemingly allows Bob to become a Karma Houdini for his crimes and seems to outright like him for a long time, but she was just manipulating him into a compromising situation so he could die a humiliating, public death that would rob his followers of a martyr.
- Downplayed:
- Alice merely acts civil, not nice or anything of the like. It's all just a token effort.
- Bob isn't confused by Alice's act, nor he lowers his guard. He is still a little bit wary.
- Justified: Despite his old age, Bob is a Wide-Eyed Idealist, so he trusts strangers easily.
- Inverted:
- Alice acts very jerkishly toward Bob to the point she's a Devil in Plain Sight for everyone else. Nobody understands why old man Bob trusts her with his money.
- Alice is Bob's granddaughter and the two have a great relationship. Suddenly, Alice starts treating Bob horribly to confuse him. That way, he doesn't notice she's planning a party for him.
- Alice's awful behavior toward Bob alerts him that something is wrong with her.
- Subverted:
- Bob is not fooled by Alice's act.
- Alice tries her hardest to be nice and helpful but old Bob is so insufferable that she drops the facade after a while.
- Alice ends up Becoming the Mask and genuinely liking Bob, leading him to change as a person.
- Double Subverted:
- When Bob attempts to call Alice on her act, but then Alice acts so upset that Bob feels guilty and assumes it's genuine.
- Bob correctly deduces Alice snapped because she was sick of his behavior, but he takes it as An Aesop — it's him who needs to change his ways. He keeps thinking Alice is genuine.
- But then it turns out Bob was only pretending to change, and Alice was still well-prepared to execute her original plan.
- Parodied: ???
- Zig-Zagged: ???
- Averted: Alice doesn't treat Bob with kindness to lower his guard. She threatens him or manipulates someone he already trusts.
- Enforced: "We want a pro-kindness message, but how do we do that in this cynical show?" "How about this — be nice, it confuses people?" "Brilliant!"
- Lampshaded: "I can't believe you're being nice to him!" "Neither will he. That's the beauty of it!"
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: ???
- Defied:
- During the planning stage, Alice declares she won't waste time with niceties. She will just blackmail Bob.
- Bob doesn't trust Alice because she's nice but because she manages money very well and, following her advice, he's made a pretty penny. He says as much in his inner monologue.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
Back to Confound Them with Kindness
