Poison and Cure Gambit: Difference between revisions

* Thomas of Magnus, the ''hero'' of Sigmund Brouwer's ''Wings of Dawn'', uses this -- the price of being given regular doses of antidote is continued cooperation from the [[Ancient Conspiracy|agents]] pursuing him, all of whom claim to be with the good guys and want him to join them. {{spoiler|In reality, this is a [[Batman Gambit]] to weed out which side is lying; Knowing that the villains have [[Combat Pragmatist|fewer compunctions about fighting dirty]] and [[Out-Gambitted|think they're smarter than he is]], Thomas is slipping non-lethal doses into every meal and providing them with flavored water as the "antidote". When he "inadvertently" allows them enough information to determine the recipe of the supposed antidote, the villain works it out and seizes the opportunity to... [[Hoist by His Own Petard|poison himself]]. OOPS}}.

* In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', Harry pulls a unique subversion by poisoning HIMSELF so that he can strong-arm a faerie with an interest in his survival into cooperating with his plan.

* The [[Mega Corp|Corporations]] of ''[[Oryx and Crake]]'', particularly HelthWyzer, made a business out of creating new diseases, inserting them into their vitamin supplements, and then selling the proprietary cures at high prices. This practice came back to bite the human race in the butt later, when [[The Chessmaster|Crake]] takes it to the next level.

* In William Gibson's ''[[Neuromancer]]'', protagonist Henry Case is controlled by his employer via sacs of poison placed into his blood vessels.

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

{{quote|'''River''': This device can disarm micro-explosives from up to 40 feet.

'''Trader''': Interesting, what kind of explosives? *Takes a sip of wine*