False Friend: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

This describes a person, who may be a [[Manipulative Bastard]], a [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing]], [[Alpha Bitch]], etc. who gets close to you and pretends to be your ally, friend, lover, etc. Basically, they earn your trust, and when you least expect it, they betray you and reveal they've merely been playing you this whole time. Another variation on this is that the manipulative character may find himself [[Becoming the Mask]], developing real feelings for the person he betrayed. Sometimes, the betrayer may turn out to be someone you've known pretty much your whole life.

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Elfen Lied]]'': During Lucy's childhood, she made friends with another girl who promised to keep the fact that Lucy was taking care of a puppy a secret from a group of boys who frequently bullied her. Eventually, the boys found out about the puppy and [[Moral Event Horizon|beat it to death in front of Lucy while making her watch]]. It turns out the girl Lucy made friends with had ''deliberately'' told the boys about the puppy, and while she's pretending to cry about it and feel bad about what she did, we see her ''smile'' through her crocodile-tears. Lucy then snaps forever and '''kills''' [[Karmic Twist Ending|her along with the bullies]].

* When Riff from ''[[Count Cain]]'' has his confusing {{spoiler|[[Face Heel Turn]] and "dies," it is revealed that Riff, the manservant ''personality'' was never actually real, and that ''Riffael'' the owner of the body, is, in fact, a [[Complete Monster]].}} This is Cain's manservant by the way, the only one who can "see his scars, make his tea, and tie his shoelaces." Epic [[Tear Jerker]].

* {{spoiler|Haruko}} turns out to have been playing her friend from the start in ''[[School Mermaid]]'' as part of a horrific [[Batman Gambit]].

* ''[[Master of Martial Hearts]]'': Let's just say that the final episode of the OVA defines the trope and leave it at that.

 

 

== Films -- Live-Action ==

** There are deleted scenes that indicate that Marlon/Louis does in fact feel guilty about what he's doing to Truman, and the (actual, real-life) actor said that the character has a drug addiction from the stress.

* In ''[[Black Swan]]'', Nina sees Lily as one of these, but [[Mind Screw|the truth is anyone's guess]].

 

== Literature ==

* ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'': {{spoiler|O'Brien}} tricks Winston and Julia into thinking he's their friend and gets him to trust them, especially as far as identifying himself as a member of the Inner Party but [[Double Agent|is really a member of]] [[La Résistance]]. He then leads the raid to capture the protagonists, brings them to the Ministry of Love and oversees their torture and brainwashing.

* ''[[Harry Potter]]'': {{spoiler|Wormtail}} does this when he betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort, even though they were his best friends. When his remaining friend {{spoiler|,Sirius,}} chased him down after James and Lily's deaths, {{spoiler|Wormtail shouted that Sirius had been the one to sell out the Potters, caused an explosion that killed a dozen innocent people, and faked his death before escaping, pinning the murders of himself, the Potters, and all the other people on Sirius}}.

* ''[[The 39 Clues]]'': [[Handsome Devil|Ian Kabra]] pretended to like [[Smart Girl|Amy]] so he and his sister could steal the clue from right under [[Brother-Sister Team|Amy and Dan's]] noses.... Only... [[In Love with the Mark|it isn't]] [[Unrequited Love Switcheroo|quite that simple]].

* In ''[[The Traitor Game]]'', [[Friendless Background|Micheal]] comes to believe that [[Cool Loser|Francis]] has spent their entire friendship laughing about their games with his friends. The consequences are nothing short of disastrous.

== Live-Action TV ==

* In ''[[Oz]]'' [[Complete Monster|Schillinger]] arranges for [[Depraved Bisexual|Chris Keller]] to meet [[Butt Monkey|Tobias Beecher]], Schillinger's former sex slave, with the intent of gaining his trust and seducing him. A mutual attraction instantly forms between them, and the two eventually exchange confessions of love. Unfortunately for Beecher he finds out that the man he fell in love with was working with his arch enemy all along (and informs him that he never loved him right before breaking Beecher's arms and legs). Keller clearly enjoys the beating, but is briefly seen experiencing a moment of regret when he returns to his empty cell and eventually realizes that he has fallen in love with Beecher.

* A heroic example in ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]'' was Marian, who cultivates a "friendship" of sorts with Guy of Gisborne so that she can pass on information to Robin. She even goes so far as to pull off a perfectly executed [[Decoy Damsel]] ploy, which Guy falls for hook, line and sinker. Of course, Guy was something of a False Friend himself considering he seems more than ready to have Marian punished if she disobeys him, and when he learns that she's in love with [[Robin Hood]], he {{spoiler|stabs her to death}}.

{{quote|'''Myka:''' If I am wrong, then kill me. Do it! Kill me now! I mean, we're all gonna die anyway right, so what's the difference? So shoot me! Shoot me now. Kill me. But not like this. Not like a coward. I want you to look me in the eyes and. Take. My. Life.}}

 

== Music ==

* "I Was Only Kidding" by [["Weird Al" Yankovic]] is this.

 

== Theatre ==

** De Guiche [[Girl Posse|pays a fine court of obsequious noblemen]], but the nobles really distrust and despise him because he is a gascon. They only bow to him because he is successful.

{{quote|'''Second Marquis''': Faugh!. . .Another Gascon!

'''Cyrano:''' Thou!. . .Marry!. . .thou!. . .Pray when

Did we herd swine together, you and I! }}

 

== Video Games ==

* There's an odd version of this in the ''[[Phoenix Wright]]'' series. Dahlia Hawthorne tricks Phoenix into thinking she's in love with him, just so she can get a piece of evidence back that incriminates her for a previous murder. She tries to kill him when it doesn't work. It's somewhat subverted when Dahlia has her sister impersonate her for a while, and her sister actually does fall in love with Phoenix.

** {{spoiler|Kristoph Gavin became Phoenix's "friend" only to closely monitor his activities after Kristoph got him disbarred, and ends up framing him for a murder. Phoenix was aware of this, however.}}

* The Boss in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 3'', before defecting, was Snake's mentor and one of his closest friends. She celebrates her [[Face Heel Turn]] by beating him up and stealing his rescued hostage.

** {{spoiler|Subverted ''and'' played straight, however, as The Boss was really a [[Fake Defector]] sent in by the U.S. government to play the False Friend to [[Big Bad]] Colonel Volgin.}}

* ''[[Magical Diary: Horse Hall]]'': {{spoiler|Damien.}} That ''bastard''.

** If you get his good ending, it turns into [[Becoming the Mask]] .... maybe. If you believe ''anything'' he says by that point!

* ''[[Touhou]]: Mystic Square'' features the [[Playing with Fire|fire]] and [[An Ice Person|ice]] magicians [[Red Oni, Blue Oni|Yuki and Mai]] as a [[Dual Boss]]. If you defeat Mai first, Yuki will be furious and [[Turns Red|crank up the heat]]. But if you defeat Yuki first, Mai will smugly declare that her comrade was nothing more than "dead weight" dragging her down (though ironically Mai's regarded as the easier of the two). Mai's [[Leitmotif]] is appropriately named "Treacherous Maiden ~ Judas Kiss."

 

* ''[[Megatokyo]]''. Miho did this to Piro some time before the start of the series.

** Nale also uses a suggestion spell to make Elan angrier, hence the uncharacteristic murderous fury.

 

== Web Original ==

* In ''[[The Gamers Alliance]]'', [[Manipulative Bastard|Ferron]] befriends [[Loveable Rogue|Refan]] during the Great War but does so only for two reasons: to avenge his lover who died by Refan's hand and to use Refan to get rid of [[The Dragon]] who had also wronged him (hoping that the two weaken each other enough in battle so that he can finish both of them off).

 

== Western Animation ==

** Malchior is this to Raven in the "Spellbound" episode.

** And Blackfire, Starfire's sister, who pretended to care for her sister while framing her for the crimes she committed so Starfire would get taken to jail instead. Starfire eventually finds out the truth and engages her in battle which leads to Blackfire rightfully getting captured by the police.

* Plankton in ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'''s "F.U.N." episode.

 

{{reflist}}