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{{trope}}
[[File:583-11.png|130px|thumbnail|link= Naruto|Those headbands are of the countries he infiltrated under his ''first'' employer. His espionage career gets more complicated after this<ref>also his career is not revealed to the audience in chronological order. And by "after" we meant chronologically, not the order we discover things about him.</ref>]]
{{quote|''"You must spend every day pretending to act like you're falsely letting on that you aren't not unbetraying someone you don't not purport to allegedly not work for but really do!"''|'''Psycho Mantis''' on Revolver Ocelot, ''[[The Last Days of Foxhound]]''}}▼
▲{{quote|''"You must spend every day pretending to act like you're falsely letting on that you aren't not unbetraying someone you don't not purport to allegedly not work for but really do!"''
|'''Psycho Mantis''' on Revolver Ocelot, ''[[The Last Days of Foxhound]]''}}
There's [[The Mole]], who's a villain pretending to work for the good guys. And the [[Reverse Mole]], which is the same but reversed. You put them together, and you get the [[Double Agent]], who's working for either the villain or the hero, and acts as a fake mole for the other.
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For example, take the classic [[Cold War]] double agent. A Russian who "[[Fake Defector|defects]]" to the Americans, to supply information back to the Russians. In these examples, the double agent is ''actually'' a spy for a fleet of invading aliens. But the CIA ''know'' about the aliens, thus make the man a mole for them. But the KGB had their suspicions about the aliens anyway, but don't have the tech themselves to infiltrate the aliens so they piggy back on the Americans. But this is all an act for his ''true'' employers, a [[Path of Inspiration]]... and so on.
[[I Thought It Meant|This trope is not]] [[Comic Sutra|about a sex position]], although now that it's been mentioned, there [[Rule
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* Follow along closely children: Xellos in ''[[Slayers]]'' pretends to be a priest who's really a demon who's really under the orders of a demon but is actually betraying THAT demon for another demon, and is trying to destroy the world except sometimes maybe not, and helps the team, except when trying to destroy them, except when he's secretly helping. Lina trusts him implicitly to eventually fuck her over, and says at much at one point. Xellos thinks she's crazy, but she's not the one serving multiple masters with multiple plans to destroy/save/rule the world.
* Kaji in ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', appearing to work for Nerv, Seele, the Japanese Ministry of the Interior, and against another one of them, in varying configurations. His true mission is to find out the truth about the nature of the Second Impact and the angels for himself.
* Sideways in ''[[Transformers Armada]],'' not aided by a shaky, rushed translation. {{spoiler|He's an Autobot. No, a Decepticon posing as an Autobot. No, he just wants the Mini-cons for himself. No, he's working for Unicron. No, he ''is'' part of Unicron.}} And then he returns in ''[[Transformers Cybertron]]'' to do it all over again {{spoiler|with a yet different final goal}}.
* {{spoiler|Tsuchimikado Motoharu}} from ''[[
* From ''[[Naruto]]'' we have Kabuto Yakushi. First, he disguised himself as a Leaf ninja for at least four years, only to reveal he's working for Orochimaru, who himself does not entirely trust him. Later we discover he was a spy for Sasori in Orochimaru's organization, but Orochimaru had long since removed that brainwashing and made him a double agent to keep tabs on the Akatsuki. We also find out that Orochimaru used him as a spy against Sasori and his organization (Akatsuki) ''before'' Sasori brainwashed Kabuto.{{verify}} After the apparent death of Orochimaru, Kabuto went rogue, with various reactions to the loss of Orochimaru from shock to joy. Nowadays, he's working [[Big Bad Duumvirate|with]] Tobi, but blackmailed him and is pretty much in charge, depending on their various trump cards. Later we learned he was a spy for Konoha (which he later spys on for Orochimaru) and infiltrated numerous countries on its behalf. However Konoha stopped trusting him resulting in him having a grudge again Konoha. Confused yet?
* [[Trigun]]: Manga version of [[Sexy Priest|Nicholas D.
== Comic Books ==
* The [[Transformers Generation 1|Autobot Punch/Counterpunch]] was originally portrayed as a [[Double Agent]] (an Autobot who pretended to be a Mole for the Decepticons). Later interpretations of the character sometimes depict him as a
* The second season of ''[[Sleeper (Comic Book)|Sleeper]]'' has {{spoiler|Holden}} doing this through the entire run.
== Fan Works ==
* In ''[[Harry Potter and
== Film ==
* In [[Cypher]], the protagonist is the [[This Loser Is You|plaything]] in a [[Gambit Pileup]]. He ends up a hex-tuple spy, ultimately working for {{spoiler|himself. He pulled a Memory Gambit before the movie began, so he could pass one set of lie-detectors to get into one agency, then fail the same set of lie-detectors to get into the rival agency.}}
* Lightly riffed in ''[[Indiana Jones and
* Openly an issue with Captain Jack Sparrow in ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]''. It's nearly impossible to do a write up of his betraying and side-switching first three films because it's NEVER really made clear exactly who he's helping, who he's fucking over, or even why he's doing it (and, at some points, he doesn't seem to be able to keep track of it himself).
* Arguably, Anakin Skywalker as Darth Vader becomes this in ''[[Revenge of the Sith]]''. After becoming Darth Vader under Palpatine, a.k.a Darth Sideous, he goes on two missions: his first to lead the extermination of the Jedi on Coruscant who don't know he's a Sith. Secondly, in his public guise, Palpatine rules the Republic, but as Darth Sideous, he controls the Separatists. He tells the Separatists he's sending his new apprentice to meet them, who promptly kills them all as they wonder why, and at the same time, announces to the Republic that he's dispatched someone to take down the Separatists, after which he announces beginning of the Empire. Anakin then postulates to Padme that he could kill Palpatine and take over the Empire himself.
== Literature ==
* Severus Snape in ''[[Harry Potter]]'', who is working for {{spoiler|Lily}} by working for {{spoiler|Dumbledore}} by pretending to work for {{spoiler|Voldemort}} by pretending to work for {{spoiler|Dumbledore}}. As a testament to JK's writing ability, this is easier to follow than it sounds.
** There are another couple of layers if [[Alternate Character Interpretation|you use the version]] where {{spoiler|Voldemort knows that Snape is a member of the Order. So, working for Dumbledore as a teacher, working for Voldemort as a spy, working for Dumbledore as an Order member and reporting on his spying for Voldemort, reporting on THAT to Voldemort as another-level-up spy, reporting ''that'' to Dumbledore... }}
* In ''[[Dune]]'', Yueh came pretty close, what with his being mentally conditioned at the Imperial Medical School to be unable to harm another person, and then secretly captured along with his wife by the Harkonnen Family and re-brainwashed into an assassin, then retained by the Atredies Family on the grounds of his original, supposedly unbreakable conditioning, eventually betraying them to the Harkonnens on the promise of being reunited with his wife but secretly resisting their brainwashing and at the last minute helping the Duke's son and her mother escape, then arming the captured Duke Atredies with a concealed suicide weapon he can use to kill the Baron Harkonnen, then pretending to still be loyal to Harkonnen and asking to be reunited with his wife at which point Harkonnen tells him she is dead and kills him. More of a very unstable double agent, but then this all happens in something like the first three chapters of the book.
* ''[[X Wing Series]]'': Gara Petothel, though not intentionally, at least at first. At first she intended to be [[The Mole]]; later she [[Becoming the Mask|became the mask]]. Later still she was discovered and had to go back to her old side - but worked to sabotage it.
* One of these is the main character of [[Keith Laumer]]'s ''Dinosaur Beach'', leading to multiple levels of [[Tomato Surprise]] as he betrays one faction or another. His ultimate allegiance turns out to be to {{spoiler|''none'' of the main factions--all of them wished to "fix" the timestream by eliminating time travelers after their own time period, but none were willing to accept that their own time travel was part of the problem. He set everything up to retroactively prevent the invention of time travel, [[Omnicidal Neutral|at the cost of the existence of everyone who was born after its invention]].}}
* The ''[[Illuminatus]]'' novels have Tobias Knight, described as the only quintuple agent in the history of espionage. If this troper remembers correctly he was working for the CIA, KGB, FBI, Illuminati and the Discordians all at the same time, and had reached the point where he was participating in conspiracy for its own sake.
* While the [[Memory Gambit|agent in question was completely unaware of his status]],
== Live-Action TV ==
* {{spoiler|Tony Almeida}} in Season 7 of ''[[
* Dr. Jill Roberts (Jordana Brewster) in several episodes of ''[[Chuck]]''. Her apparent loyalty switches back and forth in a dizzying manner.
* The loyalties of Adelle DeWitt in ''[[Dollhouse]]'' dizzyingly switch between Rossum and Echo at least once or twice per episode throughout the second/final season. Eventually, it's revealed {{spoiler|she's working against Rossum}}.
* Irina Derevko, Jack Bristow, and Arvin Sloane on ''[[Alias (TV series)|Alias]]'' who vacillate between working for terrorists, the CIA, the K Directorate, SD-6, Authorized Personnel Only, themselves, each other...
** And then there's Sark, who literally does not care whose side he is on, as long as he ends up on top.
* ''[[
* Dr Kellerman in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' serial ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S12
* Figuring out how many factions Alex Krycek works for in any given episode of ''[[The X
* ''[[Grimm (TV)|Grimm]]'' has Captain Renard, a member of a so-far unknown Wesen royal family. Every single faction he has contacted so far has assumed he's working for some other side. And his actions really aren't helping us decide either.
* ''[[Star Trek
== Newspaper Comics ==
* ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'' did this in one strip where they're playing football. Then they try to justify why why the other didn't score (I'm actually a double agent, triple agent, your goal is on top of mine so anytime you score it's a point for me, I'm actually a badminton player disguised as a football player,
== Tabletop Games ==
* The Green Lady from ''[[Exalted]]'' is working for four different
* Fully and hilariously possible in ''[[Paranoia (game)|Paranoia]]'': secret societies often have agents infiltrate other secret societies, who in turn might use the very same person to spy on yet another secret society, ''ad nauseum''. The rulebook even acknowledges the (very remote) possibility of spying on all of Alpha Complex at once. "[[Deadpan Snarker|Try to keep your cover stories straight.]]"
** The end result of this is a secret society called The Wobblies. The Computer heard about it and sent a team of Troubleshooters to spy on it. Problem was, it didn't exist (the [[Real Life]] Wobblies had died out long before Alpha Complex was created), and when the Troubleshooters reported this, they were swiftly executed for insubordination. This cycle repeated until one group got smart and [[Take a Third Option|actually founded the society just so they had something to spy on]]. This attracted the attention of other groups, who sent in their own spies, resulting in [[Flock of Wolves|a group made up entirely of spies from other groups]].
* ''[[
* ''[[Munchkin (
== Toys ==
* ''[[Bionicle]]'' has a rather simple one, as these things go: Roodaka worked for both the Brotherhood of Makuta and the Dark Hunters, but she played them off of each other and her true allegiance is to herself. Eventually both sides found out and started targeting her; at which point a third faction, the Order of Mata Nui, caught her and made her a [[Boxed Crook]].
== Video Games ==
* The [[Trope Namer]] is the original description of [[Team Fortress 2
** For more on this topic, see [[Team Fortress 2
* Revolver Ocelot in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' has, at various points in the series, apparently been working for the CIA, NSA, KGB, GRU, Colonel Volgin, FOXHOUND, rogue FOXHOUND, Colonel Gurlukuvich, Solidus Snake and the Patriots. In ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'', we learn that {{spoiler|he was truly faithful to Big Boss, and the entire ''Solid'' series was a plot by him to recover Naked Snake's remains}}.
** EVA from ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater]]''. When Snake meets her, he assumes that she is a NSA agent who defected to the soviets and now works for the KGB infiltrating Volgins private Army. {{spoiler|But she's actually a chinese spy posing as a KGB agent and let herself be captured by Volgin. She just walked into Snake by accident without knowing about him, but when he asked her if she is "Adam", she did some quick thinking and said she's Adams partner "Eva". As the Adam Snake was supposed to meet had indeed a parnter named Eva, he swallowed the whole story and "Eva" ran with it.}}
*** {{spoiler|Both of whom being unaware of the fact that Adam was actually Ocelot.}}
* {{spoiler|Zelos}} of ''[[
* [[
* [[Carmen Sandiego]] is described in some of the game manuals as a ''Triple'' agent. It's not too hard to think she probably reaches
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' has Axel. He starts off in Chain of Memories working for Marluxia, {{spoiler|betrays him for Zexion and Lexaeus}} and then ditches them to fend for himself - although 358/2 Days reveals that {{spoiler|he was under Saix's orders the whole time}}. ''[[
* In ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'', you can become this for the two instructors of the Sith Academy on Korriban, pitching them against each other while pretending to work for each of them as a double agent. This can end with them both saying to kill the other, then they feel the effects of the poison you gave to both of them, [[Oh Crap|leading them to realize you are working for yourself.]]
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Star
* The Lost Archive DLC in [[Assassin's Creed
== Web Comics ==
* Professor Tiktoffen in ''[[Girl Genius]]''. Everyone seems to think they are the ones he is really working for. It's been [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110704 revealed] that he was pretty much ''everyone's'' "man inside" the city-state of Mechanicsburg, and his true loyalty was solely to himself - his goal was to take over Mechanicsburg, and by making all the other factions think he was on their side in the struggle for the empire, they wouldn't oppose him when he made his bid for power over a single city.
* [[
** Tagon's Toughs occasionally find they have the opportunity to play this role, or at least what looks like the opportunity to do so. Look for the phrase "get paid twice"; it means both sides in a conflict are trying to hire the Toughs, and Tagon is optimistically trying to find a way to satisfy both contracts without letting either one catch on to his game.
** On at least [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2002-09-29 one] occasion they successfully managed to get paid ''five'' times.
** They get paid four times in ''The Body Politic'', starting [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2007-07-15 here]. They get paid twice for stealing Xinchub's corpse, once for ''preventing'' the same theft, and once more for cloning a copy.
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[The Avengers: Earth's
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[[Category:Espionage Tropes]]
[[Category:Betrayal Tropes]]
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