Decoy Getaway: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
The villains have cornered one of the good guys in his private chamber; there is no escape, and he is promptly killed, preferably in the [[Dropped a Bridge
But not so fast! The entire thing is just a distraction, and the ''real'' good guy is [[Not Quite Dead]].
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== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[
* In the climax of ''[[Samurai
* Captain Kuro did this in ''[[
** Igaram would also serve as a decoy for Princess Vivi Nefertari from time to time, despite bearing no resemblance to her whatsoever.
* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (
** Later, Scar fakes the murder of Dr. Marcoh, using his clothes with a horribly mutilated chimera corpse. The bad guys count the chimeras that are supposed to be there and realize one is missing, though, and are not fooled in the slightest.
** Likewise, predating both of these examples, Mustang faked the death of Maria Ross by creating a puppet, vaguely resembling her, and torching it.
* Lelouch uses this tactic on and off in ''[[Code Geass]]'', usually with his accomplice C.C. dressed in the Zero costume (she actually started the practice in the first place without his knowledge). Turns tragic in the final episode when he uses it one last time {{spoiler|with his friend Suzaku dressed as Zero... so he can murder Lelouch in front of the world.}}
* Done in the ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' manga, in grand style: several of the characters are hiding from the (misguided) authorities. Setsuna and Haruna, between them, summon enough decoys to replace the entire group in a matter of minutes. Would be less awesome if it weren't for the fact that Haruna's summoning powers rely on ''physically sketching an exact likeness of the person''.
* Deliberately invoked by Batou in [[Ghost in
** The Major also pulls one when the government decides to "disband" Section 9 and the agents go to ground. {{spoiler|Batou watches her get [[Boom! Headshot!|sniped]] while she's boarding a plane, but it turns out to be a robot double she was operating by remote. After reuniting, the other agents have a good laugh at [[Skyward Scream|his]] [[Say My Name|reaction]].}}
* This is how {{spoiler|Lucrezia Noin's older brother Dix-Neuf Noinheim}} died in the [[Gundam Wing]] novel ''Frozen Teardrop''. The dude he was protecting? {{spoiler|His brother-in-law/Noin's husband, Milliardo Peacecraft aka Zechs Merquise.}}
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== Card Games ==
* The ''[[Magic:
== Comics ==
* One of the favorite tactics of [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Dr. Doom]] in the [[Marvel Universe]]. To the extent where the use of 'Doombots' to justify/retcon his defeats at the hands of unworthy characters has become something of a running gag...the thing with [[Squirrel Girl]], though, that really happened.
** In [[Ultimate Marvel]], Doctor Doom, being a very different character, didn't use this until ''{{spoiler|Ultimate Power}}'', which was kind of ridiculous (for [[Hijacked
* The [[Body Double|LMD]] (Life Model Decoys) is a mechanical duplicate of a person. The LMD is a favorite of S.H.I.E.L.D., particularlly Nick Fury, who rivals Dr. Doom!
** Maria uses an LMD to distract an arrogant Skrull version of Jarvis. While the Skrull is ranting, Maria [[Crowning Moment of Funny|tells him to his face that she is using a LMD, knowing he isn't listening to her]] before [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|sniping several Skrulls and blowing up the Helicarrier.]]
* The same thing happened with Thanos, whom we readers needed a Watcher to explain that it wasn't a clone, until the same author explained that it may have been a clone, but later stating in an Internet Forum that is wasn't a clone.
** Thanos uses a lot of clones. He also tends to modify them quite a bit one was designed to be more powerful than Galactus.
* In one ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' graphic novel, Sylar gives his hat and coat to a tramp so that the FBI agents following him would go after the tramp, letting Sylar get away.
* This is the [[Retcon]] used to explain away the first death of Monsieur Mallah and the the Brain when they first (re)appeared in ''[[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]''.
* ''WILDC.A.T.S.'' from Alan Moore's era. Don't imprison the brainwashing super-genius in the cell next to the shapeshifter. It's not going to end sanely.
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* Naturally, the first two ''[[Star Wars]]'' prequels. Somewhat justified, as Amidala is a politician, and real-life politicians have verifiably employed decoys since at least World War II. In ''Star Wars: Legacy'', a spin-off comic series, Emperor Roan Fel leaves behind a decoy on his throne while fleeing away from the Sith. Likewise, in the Legacy of the Force novels, [[Crazy Prepared|Admiral Pellaeon]] brings a decoy to a ''peace conference''. Which promptly gets raided. Pellaeon's opposite number? [[Deader Than Dead|No decoys]].
* Number Five eluded his captors by constructing a fully functioning decoy of himself in the first ''Short Circuit'' movie.
* Spoofed in ''[[
* John Travolta in ''[[Swordfish]]''.
* The ending art theft scene in the newer version of ''[[The Thomas Crown Affair]]''.
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* In the 2008 film, ''[[Vantage Point]]'', when the president hears rumors of an assassination attempt, he sends a decoy in his place. The decoy is shot. However, the president is still kidnapped in his hotel room and saved later by Joseph Barnes, his bodyguard.
* In the French Revolution segment of ''[[History of the World Part One]]'', the King of France takes advantage of the piss boy's resemblance to him by leaving the piss boy in his place to face the wrath of the revolutionaries.
* In ''[[The Lorax (
* In the film of ''[[Star Wars:
* In ''[[Shoot
* At the end of ''The Eagle Has Landed'', the last member of the Nazi assassination team succeeds in killing Winston Churchill just before he is killed by the Prime Minister's security. Then it is revealed that the dead man is a [[Body Double]], the real Winston Churchill was actually out of the country meeting with Stalin and FDR in a secret conference.
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** Also used elsewhere in the same universe by accident. In ''The Hound of the Baskervilles,'' the eponymous hound is set loose to hunt its intended victim. {{spoiler|But the man who ends up dead is actually a completely different character, and the dog chased him because of his scent -- he's wearing clothes that used to belong to the man the dog was supposed to kill.}}
* In ''[[The Quiller Memorandum]]'', Quiller discovers a bomb attached to his car. He sets it off to fool the enemy into thinking he is dead.
* At one point in ''[[
* Villainous Quinn Dexter, from the ''Reality Dysfunction'' trilogy by [[Peter Hamilton]], escapes a trap laid by the good guys by sending in a decoy instead.
== Live Action TV ==
* In the third season of his self-titled series, ''[[
** In another episode, Fred escapes pursuit by giving her jacket to a passerby.
* The Master used this technique to escape in several ''[[Doctor Who]]'' serials, notably in "Terror of the Autons", in which he hypnotized one of his lackeys, dressed the lackey up in his clothing, and sent him out to run away. While the others were distracted, the real Master slipped away.
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* Invoked and Subverted in the first season of ''[[Legend of the Seeker]]''. [[Big Bad|Darken Rahl]] is on his way to a specific castle. Richard And Kahlan camp along the route he's likely to take there, planning to snipe him with a crossbow as he passes. {{spoiler|As Rahl approaches, Richard notes that his hands are tied to his mount, and immediately deduces it was a decoy. The real Darken Rahl was already at the castle.}} Interestingly, the decoy gets a [[Day in The Limelight]] in the season two episode {{spoiler|Walter}}
* On ''[[Kamen Rider Double]]'', the Ice Age dopant somehow created an "ice copy" of itself which the pursuing Kamen Rider {{spoiler|Accel}} was following [[Incredibly Lame Pun|hotly]], believing it to be the real deal. When he whipped out his [[Finishing Move|Maximum Drive]] against the decoy, he was in for a disappointment.
* In an episode of [[Stargate SG
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== Video Games ==
* A major component to the plot of ''[[
* In ''[[Suikoden II]]'', it is revealed that {{spoiler|Neclord is still alive despite being killed on screen in the first game. With the explanation that he survived as the one you killed was a just a clone he created with his rune powers. This is an obvious [[Retcon]], as there are no clues to this before his return, but the characters involved in this subplot are [[Rule of Cool|cool enough to get away with it]]}}
* This tactic is necessary in at least the original ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' (and subsequently its recent rerelease). In a game where most players strive to keeps as many units alive as possible, you're forced to sacrifice some of them in a bid to progress the storyline.
* A Spy holding the [[Faking the Dead|Dead Ringer]] ready in ''[[
* In the [[
* Happens in [[Save the Princess|chapter 4]] of ''[[Yggdra Union]]'', where the Imperial Army leaves a [[Body Double]] of Gulcasa behind in Fort Karona to buy time for the real one to make it to Lost Aries with Yggdra and begin the Rite of Soul Unbinding. Gulcasa's decoy is significantly weaker than him, though, which serves as a tip-off to players who are actually paying attention. Once unhelmed, the decoy's portrait also happens to have shorter hair and softer facial features; his armor even fits better than Gulcasa's does.
* In ''[[
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== Western Animation ==
* A popular MO of Slade's in ''[[Teen Titans (
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Batman Beyond]]'', Terry gives his jacket to a homeless man as he leaves the subway, in order to distract The Stalker.
* In ''[[Men in Black (
* In the ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' episode "The Spy Who Rooked Me", some Joes and a [[James Bond]]-esque agent are assigned to deliver a vial of extremely deadly nerve gas to a special facility for proper disposal. Naturally, COBRA sends troops after them to steal the vial. At the end of the episode, Dr. Mindbender takes the vial, but it breaks. Just as Flint prepares to do a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to give the others time to get away, the agent smugly explains that the vial contains soda, and they were a distraction to give another team time to deliver the real vial. As the Joes were not told about this, they were '''really''' angry that they went through all that fuss for nothing.
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