Disguised Hostage Gambit: Difference between revisions

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== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* In ''[[Angel Sanctuary]]'' a variation of this was used against one of the supporting character's [[Backstory]]. [[Celestial Bureaucracy]] questioned said character's loyalty, and had suspected he had relations with another Angel (which was [[Forbidden Fruit|strictly forbidden]] and the punishment is severe), they sent him off to kill the leader of a rebel fraction in their Ghetto. Turned out the supposed leader was actually the Angel's lover - her hair was cut short, dyed red, and a gun tied to her hands so he wouldn't recognize her at first. He didn't realized this until after he shot and killed her.

* Fujiko does this to an unlucky cult enforcer in the pilot episode of ''[[Lupin III ~~the~~ Woman Called Fujiko Mine|The Woman Named Fujiko Mine]]''. She dresses the thug in her dress and gags him, leading to the unlucky mook getting beheaded in her place [[Mugged for Disguise|while she escapes in his uniform]].

* Fujiko does this to an unlucky cult enforcer in the pilot episode of ''[[Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine|The Woman Named Fujiko Mine]]''. She dresses the thug in her dress and gags him, leading to the unlucky mook getting beheaded in her place [[Mugged for Disguise|while she escapes in his uniform]].

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* In a story in an issue of ''[[Batman ~~(Comic Book)~~|The Batman Chronicles]]'', a killer nicknamed the Mimic tries to pull this stunt on private eye Jason Bard, using his facility at imitating voices to make it sound like Bard's client is calling for help. At the last moment, Bard realizes what is going on and shoots the correct target.

* In a story in an issue of ''[[Batman|The Batman Chronicles]]'', a killer nicknamed the Mimic tries to pull this stunt on private eye Jason Bard, using his facility at imitating voices to make it sound like Bard's client is calling for help. At the last moment, Bard realizes what is going on and shoots the correct target.

* More than once [[Jonah Hex]] has captured a enemy, dressed the bad guy in his trademark jacket and hat, gagged him and bound him to the saddle before sending the horse galloping into the outlaw camp to draw fire.

* In ''[[Flashpoint (Comic Book)|Flashpoint]] [[Batman]]: Knight of Vengeance'', the Joker pulls this on Jim Gordon, causing Jim to shoot one of Harvey Dent's kids.

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== [[Film]] ==

* In ''[[Enemy ~~At the Gates (Film)|Enemy At~~ the Gates]]'' Germans dress a captured Soviet soldier as a German signaller and send him to the battlefield to sink a cable. Unfortunately enemy signallers are priority targets for snipers and the poor sob gets shot by his comrades. The German sniper uses the kill to pinpoint the location of the Soviets.

* In ''[[Enemy at the Gates]]'' Germans dress a captured Soviet soldier as a German signaller and send him to the battlefield to sink a cable. Unfortunately enemy signallers are priority targets for snipers and the poor sob gets shot by his comrades. The German sniper uses the kill to pinpoint the location of the Soviets.

* In ''[[The Dark Knight Saga|The Dark Knight]]'', {{spoiler|The Joker does this with his hostages (with their mouths taped shut, masks to hide this and weapons tied to their hands), forcing [[Batman]] to disable the police officers (although they worked it out eventually)}}.

* An ([[Anti-Hero|anti-]])heroic example: in the ''[[V for Vendetta]]'' film: {{spoiler|The police shoot a hostage because they're all wearing V masks.}}

** Slightly different in the graphic novel. Just one guy is dressed up as V, and he was pretty much one of the bad guys (a high ranking party member with some seriously sleazy [[Kick the Dog]] moments, though no outright [[Moral Event Horizon]] crossings).

* Subverted in ''[[Quick Change (~~Film~~)|Quick Change]]'' (1990). Grimm (Bill Murray) robs a bank while dressed as a clown. He takes everyone inside hostage and demands getaway vehicles. Police Chief Ratzinger thinks Grimm will dress some of the hostages as clowns and take them out to the vehicles in a group so police snipers can't target him. Grimm actually has something else in mind: {{spoiler|He and two confederates inside the bank will pretend to be released hostages (with the cash taped to their bodies under their civilian clothes) and escape while the cops are concentrating on the bank}}.

* Subverted in ''[[Quick Change (film)|Quick Change]]'' (1990). Grimm (Bill Murray) robs a bank while dressed as a clown. He takes everyone inside hostage and demands getaway vehicles. Police Chief Ratzinger thinks Grimm will dress some of the hostages as clowns and take them out to the vehicles in a group so police snipers can't target him. Grimm actually has something else in mind: {{spoiler|He and two confederates inside the bank will pretend to be released hostages (with the cash taped to their bodies under their civilian clothes) and escape while the cops are concentrating on the bank}}.

* This kind of thing was done to the [[Big Bad]] in the ''[[FX~~|F/X~~]]'' movie.

* This kind of thing was done to the [[Big Bad]] in the ''[[FX]]'' movie.

* In ''[[Mission Impossible (~~Film~~)|Mission Impossible II]]'', {{spoiler|there is a rare example of the hero pulling this on the villain, with the aid of a couple of [[Latex Perfection]] masks}}.

* In ''[[Mission Impossible (film)|Mission Impossible II]]'', {{spoiler|there is a rare example of the hero pulling this on the villain, with the aid of a couple of [[Latex Perfection]] masks}}.

** A grim variant occurs in ''[[Mission Impossible (~~Film~~)|Mission Impossible 3]]'', where Ethan's girlfriend is apparently executed at the climax. We later learn that the victim was really the [[Big Bad]]'s female mook dressed up like the girlfriend, with her mouth taped shut to prevent her from revealing the ruse.

** A grim variant occurs in ''[[Mission Impossible (film)|Mission Impossible 3]]'', where Ethan's girlfriend is apparently executed at the climax. We later learn that the victim was really the [[Big Bad]]'s female mook dressed up like the girlfriend, with her mouth taped shut to prevent her from revealing the ruse.

* ''[[Inside Man]]'' has a variant, in which the thieves make the hostages wear the same uniform as them, but with the full knowledge of the police outside. This keeps the police from interfering at first. {{spoiler|It also lets most of the robbers blend into the crowd of freed hostages and escape after the robbery is complete.}}

* The title character does this in ''[[Darkman]]''. After capturing one of the villainous mooks, he duct-tapes the man's mouth shut and then dresses him up in a realistic mask, making him resemble the hero.

* A variation occurs in the film ''[[Master and Commander]]'' when {{spoiler|at the end Aubrey realizes, from an offhand comment by Maturin, that the doctor on the ''Acheron'' had died some time before the final battle, so the "doctor" who told Aubrey the captain had been killed had ''been'' the captain, so was in a position to organize the captured French sailors and retake the ship. It also pays of the foreshadowings seen earlier in the film that the audience, and Aubrey, never see the French captain's face clearly.}}

* A variation is done in ''[[The a Team (~~Film~~)|The a Team]]'', with {{spoiler|Murdock subsituting for the general in the final scene.}}

* A variation is done in ''[[The A-Team (film)|The a Team]]'', with {{spoiler|Murdock subsituting for the general in the final scene.}}

== [[Live-Action TV]] ==

* The season 4 finale of ''[[CSI: NY|CSI: New York]]'' had Irish terrorists do this to captured police officers. One of the main characters was able to free himself (he was tied up nearby) and stop the police from shooting them.

* Occurs at the end of an episode of ''[[Millennium (TV)|Millennium]]''. The villain is a serial killer called the Avatar (based on the Zodiac Killer) who wears a burlap sack over his head to mask his face. He kidnaps a woman, and hero Frank chases him to his lair. After being injured by the Avatar, Frank chases him through the house and manages to corner the killer, who's pointing a gun at him. At the last moment, Frank realizes something's wrong, and doesn't pull the trigger. Turns out the "Avatar" is the hostage, who's been tied up, gagged, and posed with a gun in her hand. The real Avatar uses this opportunity to escape.

* Occurs at the end of an episode of ''[[Millennium (TV series)|Millennium]]''. The villain is a serial killer called the Avatar (based on the Zodiac Killer) who wears a burlap sack over his head to mask his face. He kidnaps a woman, and hero Frank chases him to his lair. After being injured by the Avatar, Frank chases him through the house and manages to corner the killer, who's pointing a gun at him. At the last moment, Frank realizes something's wrong, and doesn't pull the trigger. Turns out the "Avatar" is the hostage, who's been tied up, gagged, and posed with a gun in her hand. The real Avatar uses this opportunity to escape.

* In an episode of ''[[Medium]]'', the bad guy released an hostage through a back door with a balaclava on his head and a gun taped to his hand. The police shot him dead. Fortunately, it was [[All Just a Dream]]. A prophetic one, but the main character managed to save the victim when it happened for real.

* An interesting variation is used in ''[[Burn Notice]]''. After their attempts to defuse a hostage situation result in them [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|accidentally becoming accomplices]] (someone pulled a gun and Mike took it away from him), Mike and Sam need to find a way out of the situation. After discussing trying this based on an urban legend, and the fact the cops haven't seen the hostage-taker, they manage to convince one of the two hostages (who just found out the other one, her boss, is really a sleazy con artist) to name the other as the gunman. Mike then engineers a situation where said sleazeball is able to take his gun back, and when the cops burst in the plan works without a hitch. Though the negotiator is kind of curious why somebody blew open a safe full of ill-gotten money...

** A similar variation occurs on ''[[Leverage]]''. Nathan is about to con a corrupt judge out of thousands of dollars when the bank is robbed and the robbers take everyone hostage when the police arrive. The robbers turn out to be father and son who only rob the place to get money to pay off some thugs holding the father's wife for ransom. The judge figures out that he is being scammed and when he disarms the robbers, he uses the gun to shoot Nathan. When the cops storm the bank in the end, the team has arranged things to look like the judge was the sole robber and hostage taker. All the witnesses back them up since the judge is reviled by everyone and the cops will not investigate further since they hate his guts as well.

* In the ''[[~~Its~~ Always Sunny in Philadelphia]]'' episode "[[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|The Gang Gets Taken Hostage]]", the McPoyle's make the gang put on their signature bathrobes and briefs (in Dee's case it's an over sized Garfield t-shirt) because "it's far too obvious who the hostages are in this situation".

* In the ''[[It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]]'' episode "[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|The Gang Gets Taken Hostage]]", the McPoyle's make the gang put on their signature bathrobes and briefs (in Dee's case it's an over sized Garfield t-shirt) because "it's far too obvious who the hostages are in this situation".

* Someone pulls this on Clark in ''[[~~Smallville (TV)|~~Smallville]]'' after he's begun officially superheroing. The rest of the episode is devoted to him needing to develop his "Kryptonian intuition" to avoid this sort of thing, something he could've done just by x-raying the "gunman," although he had no reason to suspect him.

* Someone pulls this on Clark in ''[[Smallville]]'' after he's begun officially superheroing. The rest of the episode is devoted to him needing to develop his "Kryptonian intuition" to avoid this sort of thing, something he could've done just by x-raying the "gunman," although he had no reason to suspect him.

** Another episode has [[Dragon Lady|Roulette]] dressing up a bound and gagged Lois Lane in a replica of her costume in order to trick [[Green Arrow]] into shooting her.

* On Psych (episode "Ferry Tale") escaping convicts on a ferry surrounded by the police {{spoiler|take prisoners inside and pretend to shoot them. When the police raid the boat and take two wounded "hostages" to one of their boats they discover too late that two of the criminals are in fact convicts.}}

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== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==

* Klang does this to Pat Ryan in ''[[Terry and ~~The~~ Pirates]]''. Having captured Pat, Klang dresses him a Japanese uniform, gags him and ties him to a post so he looks like a sentry in the fake camp the Dragon Lady is about to attack.

* Klang does this to Pat Ryan in ''[[Terry and the Pirates]]''. Having captured Pat, Klang dresses him a Japanese uniform, gags him and ties him to a post so he looks like a sentry in the fake camp the Dragon Lady is about to attack.

== [[Video Games]] ==

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== [[Western Animation]] ==

* ''[[~~Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|~~Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' "[[Avatar: The Last Airbender ~~(Animation)~~/Zuko Alone/Recap|Zuko Alone]]" it was mentioned that the Fire Nation did this with Earth Kingdom prisoners-of-war.

* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' "[[Avatar: The Last Airbender/Zuko Alone/Recap|Zuko Alone]]" it was mentioned that the Fire Nation did this with Earth Kingdom prisoners-of-war.

* [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] in the ''[[~~Thundercats 2011 (Western Animation)|~~Thundercats 2011]]'' episode "Omens Part Two," when [[Catfolk]] King Claudus learns that invading [[Lizard Folk|Lizards]] are holding Panthro, his friend and best General, in a [[Hostage for Macguffin]]. Rather than acquiece, Claudus promptly [[Ditch the Bodyguards|ditches his bodyguards]] to cut a rapid path to Panthro, who he successfully rescues. Panthro then stabs Claudus [[In the Back]], and reveals himself to be [[Sorcerous Overlord]] and series [[Big Bad]] Mumm-Ra, in illusory disguise.

* [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] in the ''[[Thundercats 2011]]'' episode "Omens Part Two," when [[Catfolk]] King Claudus learns that invading [[Lizard Folk|Lizards]] are holding Panthro, his friend and best General, in a [[Hostage for Macguffin]]. Rather than acquiece, Claudus promptly [[Ditch the Bodyguards|ditches his bodyguards]] to cut a rapid path to Panthro, who he successfully rescues. Panthro then stabs Claudus [[In the Back]], and reveals himself to be [[Sorcerous Overlord]] and series [[Big Bad]] Mumm-Ra, in illusory disguise.

* In ''[[Batman ~~the~~ Brave And The Bold ~~(Animation)~~|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]'',Star Sapphire does this to a British reporter named Georgette Taylor. She uses her power ring to immobilize Taylor and encase her in a Star Sapphire costume, and then sends her flying off into the distance. Batman and [[Green Lantern]] waste time trying to capture the fake Star Sapphire while the real one carries out her nefarious scheme.

* In ''[[Batman: The Brave And The Bold|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]'',Star Sapphire does this to a British reporter named Georgette Taylor. She uses her power ring to immobilize Taylor and encase her in a Star Sapphire costume, and then sends her flying off into the distance. Batman and [[Green Lantern]] waste time trying to capture the fake Star Sapphire while the real one carries out her nefarious scheme.

* ''[[~~The Powerpuff Girls (Animation)|~~The Powerpuff Girls]]'': Sedusa once traded clothes with Miss Bellum and claimed to have captured 'Sedusa' to trick the girls, who fortunately wouldn't believe Ms. Bellum would singlehandedly defeat Sedusa.

* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'': Sedusa once traded clothes with Miss Bellum and claimed to have captured 'Sedusa' to trick the girls, who fortunately wouldn't believe Ms. Bellum would singlehandedly defeat Sedusa.

== [[Real Life]] ==