Basic Trope: To protect a Vulnerable Convoy carrying Alice, an additional decoy convoy is dispatched by Harry, Alice's security detail, with a goal to fool Bob, who wants to kidnap Alice.
- Straight: Bob attacks a convoy that is supposed to carry Alice. It turns out Alice is not there and is actually on a second convoy heading in a different direction.
- Exaggerated: There are multiple decoy convoys, with each having a few Body Doubles of Alice.
- Downplayed: Both the decoy convoy and the convoy with Alice safely arrive to their destinations, neither gets attacked.
- Justified: The story is based on a historical event where decoy convoys were used.
- Inverted: There was an attack on Alice's convoy lead by a Bob look-alike. However, Bob had infiltrated the convoy long before that and is ready to kidnap Alice.
- Averted: Due to shortages of personnel or material, only the real convoy could be dispatched.
- Subverted: Bob has attacked the convoy, but has not found Alice there. It looks like the convoy is a decoy. However, it is later shown that Alice is actually there, either disguised or hiding.
- Double Subverted: Bob has attacked the convoy, but has not found Alice at first. Bob is not easily fooled into thinking that this is a decoy convoy, and finds Alice in hiding. However, it turns out that this is just a body double (i.e. so the convoy is still a decoy) and Alice is somewhere else.
- Zig Zagged: Bob has attacked the convoy, but has not found Alice at first. Bob is not easily fooled into thinking that this is a decoy convoy, and finds Alice look-alike hiding. Bob realises that this is not real Alice, except it is too late. The real Alice in disguise has managed to infiltrate his war band and now is standing with a weapon behind him.
- Parodied:
- There are multiple decoy convoys leaving the base, each clearly marked such as "Decoy convoy #2"...
- A henchman lists in his resume that he is skilled in "attacks on decoy convoys".
- The sign at the crossroad gives direction for "decoy convoys" and the "real convoy".
- Unparodied:
- The convoy marked as "Decoy convoy #3" is later shown to actually carry real Alice.
- Untwist: An weakly armed decoy convoy is shown leaving with the town, while the real, strongly armed convoy is getting ready. The decoy convoy is later shown to be attacked.
- Implied:
- A convoy with Alice leaves the town. Two lines of tracks are shown running in different directions.
- Harry is writing down a plan that includes "send a decoy convoy".
- Enforced:
- The actions scenes from the attack on a convoy clearly show different vehicles and people than the scene where the convoy with the main movie star (Alice) is leaving a town. So the story is adjusted in postproduction in the way that the convoy attacked was a decoy convoy.
- The mission in the video game would be too easy if there was only one convoy. So a few decoy convoys are added.
- The writers want to show that Harry and/or Alice are not above doing the occasional ruthless stratagem.
- It allows the writers to write an action sequence in which the heroes end up losing no matter how good they are without making it an instant Downer Ending.
- Deconstructed:
- Harry is hesitating whether to send decoy convoys. While a useful distraction, it would divide his forces.
- Harry's forces are perfectly okay with dying to make sure Alice succeeds... they are a whole lot less about dying for a literal dummy, especially if they were not warned beforehand to avoid giving away their hand to Bob via "being too fake".
- Reconstructed: Harry decides for a plan with decoy convoys. Although it will divide his forces, the main goal is actually not to transport Alice, but to lure out Bob.
- Discussed: Bob observes a convoy and asks his second in command whether he thinks that Alice is really there.
- Lampshaded: Before attacking a convoy, Bob says that it "It would be a pity if this was just a decoy." He turns out to be right.
- Exploited: Bob sends ahead a spy to find out whether Alice is sending any decoy convoy.
- Defied: Harry refuses to send out decoy convoys. He instead makes sure that the "Vulnerable Convoy" will have every single able-bodied soldier at hand and the biggest bullets, bombs and armored vehicles he can afford, because if Bob's forces figure out that he sent an under-strength convoy with Alice and manage to catch it then everybody's screwed anyway.
- Invoked: ???
- Conversed: Bob taunts Harry, that he cannot fool him with old tricks such as sending decoy convoys.
Back to Decoy Convoy — why does it look so vulnerable?
