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* ''[[Shugo Chara]]'' has one. Who was the [[Man Behind the Man|Man Behind The Man?]] {{spoiler|Hikaru Ichinomiya.}}
* Quicker version: Who is the Claw in ''[[Gun X Sword]]''? {{spoiler|The old man talking to Wendy in the park.}}
* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', manga version. The Homunculus Pride is {{spoiler|[[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|little Selim Bradley]]}}. The biggest clue to his identity are his speech patterns in the original Japanese, [[Lost in Translation|which wouldn't get through to an American reader]]. One translator did pick up on this [[I Knew It!|and correctly predicted his identity]].
* Used in ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler (Manga)|Hayate the Combat Butler]]'', Santa in Hayate's 'imaginations' from the first chapter is revealed to be {{spoiler|Mikado}}. Although the reveal doesn't really unnerve Hayate, since he's already been unnerved by this point in the plot.
* ''[[Tantei Gakuen Q]]'' has an epic "Whaaaat!?" moment when the high priest behind ''five murder cases'' in the Kamaikakushi village is revealed to be the cute and innocent [[The Woobie|Fuuma Mio]], who later turns out to be a [[Anti-Villain]] thanks to [[More Than Mind Control]] that [[Break the Cutie|Broke the Cutie]]. Result? Eventual redemption and [[Tears of Remorse]].
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* In ''[[Doorways in The Sand]]'', {{spoiler|there's a near-literal example: the mastermind is in nearly every scene, disguised as the cat}}.
* In [[Harry Harrison]]'s ''Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers'', the race of [[Big Bad|Big Bads]], who were mentioned throughout the book turn out to be {{spoiler|tiny lizards with [[Psychic Powers]] kept as pets by another race}}.
* In William Tenn's 1955 short story ''The Servant Problem'', the ruler of a future [[Dystopia]] is a [[Smug Snake]] subconsciously controlled by {{spoiler|his education minister}}, an [[Out -Gambitted]] [[Magnificent Bastard]] subconsciously controlled by a [[Magnificent Bastard]] {{spoiler|psychologist}}, who in turn was [[Out -Gambitted]] and controlled by {{spoiler|a junior technician}}. Things go pear-shaped for this [[The Man Behind the Man|Man Behind The Man Behind The Man Behind The Man]] when it turns out that {{spoiler|he, like everyone else in the world, was conditioned to worship the ruler; this dystopia is evidently now a dog chasing its own tail}}.
* In one of the ''Agaton Sax'' kids' detective books, someone who appears to be an average-looking member of the crew of crooks turns out to be the criminal mastermind boss himself.
* In ''Hush, Hush'', it turns out that the person trying to murder Nora was {{spoiler|Jules}}. Given how he was virtually nonexistent in the story, it was rather...jarring.
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* ''[[Persona 4]]'' practically runs on this trope, in keeping with its theme of not letting first impressions or outward appearances deceive you. {{spoiler|All three of the major players in the kidnappings and murders can be frequently found around Inaba doing absolutely ''nothing'' out of the ordinary.}}
** {{spoiler|The Real kicker is that the ''true'' final boss, [[The Man Behind the Man|the one who set the events of the game into motion]], turns out to be... The nameless, forgettable gas station attendant whom you met at the very beginning of the game.}}
* Tomator at the end of ''[[The Lost Vikings]] 2'' turns out to be the [[Bratty Half -Pint]] that sometimes appeared in the middle of the levels to be annoying.
* The head of the evil organization, H.A.R.M., in ''[[No One Lives Forever]]'' turns out to be {{spoiler|a recurring background character that shows up drunk in most levels as a [[Running Gag]].}}
** The player is given one hint: {{spoiler|he sputters an alarmed "Uh-oh!!" when interacted with on the space station. He reverts to his usual drunken behaviour afterwards. This can also be taken as quite the compliment as most everyone else has been doubting Archer's abilities the [[Big Bad]] responds to her appearance with [[Oh Crap]]!}}
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* At the very end of ''[[Blaz Blue]]: Continuum Shift'', it is revealed that the Imperator of the NOL is {{spoiler|Saya, who we thought was either a [[Distressed Damsel]] or a [[Dead Little Sister]] all this time.}}
** Until the reveal from a Drama CD revealing that {{spoiler|Saya was brought forth to Relius shortly after her kidnapping and Relius made a cryptic comment that she's going to be a vessel for something, meaning Imperator Saya, for all means, could be a [[Puppet King]] manipulated by Relius and Hazama, therefore the mastermind may have been both of them since the very beginning.}}
* One that's really only known in Japan is the culprit in the old mystery game ''[http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Portopia_Renzoku_Satsujin_Jiken:Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken|The Portopia Serial Murder Case]]'' (although some may have heard about its [[Shout -Out]] in [[Haruhi-chan]]). The culprit is quite literally the one you'd least suspect, since not only is he your assistant, he's also (since the main character is an unseen [[Heroic Mime]]) ''the guy executing the player's commands and speaking for the main character''. The revelation was so out of left field that the phrase "Yasu is the culprit" is something of a [[Memetic Mutation|minor Japanese meme]] for this sort of trope.
** This meme gets used in ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro Ni]]'', when we find out {{spoiler|the culprit's 'real'}} name is Yasu.
* In ''[[Wild Arms 3 (Video Game)|Wild Arms 3]]'', you'll occasionally notice a purple-haired little girl. She might just walk by for a second as you enter a town or dungeon, or show up standing near a plot-important character as he begins conspicuously talking to himself. She is, of course, {{spoiler|the [[Big Bad]] [[Manipulative Bastard]].}}
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[[Category:Villains]]
[[Category:The Dog Was The Mastermind]]
[[Category:Trope]]
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