The Man Behind the Man: Difference between revisions

'''Raiden''': Alright, this has officially become a load of crap.|''[http://www.gamespite.net/toastywiki/index.php/Site/ThumbnailMetalGearSolid2-05 Thumbnail Threatre: Metal Gear Solid 2: Part 5]''}}

When a character previously positioned as a [[Big Bad]] is revealed in fact to be a [[Disc One Final Boss]], '''The Man Behind the Man''' shows his (or her, or its)their face.

* ''[[Blood Plus|Blood+]]'' does this fairly often. In early episodes Van Argeno is set up as the [[Big Bad]], however {{spoiler|after about ten episodes, he's revealed to be working to Solomon. Later, Solomon is shown to actually be the lowest-ranking of five Chevaliers. Then, for a time, their progenitor Diva is expected to be the mastermind, but she turns out to be too crazy to be the leader. By the end it's become apparent that Amshel is calling the shots, whereas Argeno - who was the first supposed [[Big Bad]], remember - is reduced to cowering in fear and begging for his life.}} As a kind of a last hurrah, the final episode also implies that {{spoiler|Nathan}} had been pulling the strings all along.

* [[Playing with a Trope|Played with]] in ''[[The Nail]]''. It's implied that [[Lex Luthor]] (believed by the Justice League to be the [[Big Bad]]) is being manipulated by [[wikipedia:Starro|Starro]] until it's revealed that {{spoiler|[[Red Herring|"Starro"]] is actually a [[The Grotesque|mutated]] version of [[Krypto the Superdog|Krypto]]}}. The ''real'' [[Big Bad]] is none other than... {{spoiler|[[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|Jimmy Olsen]]}}.

* Any [[Evil Plan]] in Marvel orchestrated by [[Moral Guardians| the Watchdogs]], the [[Disposable Superhero Maker| Power Brokers]], the [[Knight Templar| Scourge of the Underworld]], the [[Anti-Human Alliance| Resistants]], and for a while, [[Bomb Throwing Anarchist| U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M.]], could ultimately be traced back to [[The Red Skull]], who secretly founded, funded and/or led those organizations.

== FanfictionFan Works ==

* The Biggest Bad is this to General Hand in ''[http://fav.me/d4lv1qv Super Milestone Wars 2]''.

* [[Yoda Kenobi]], author of the epic ''[[Star Wars]]'' fanfic series ''[[Legacy of the Sith]]'' loves this one. The villain of the first story is set up as [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Vagaari]] leader Goresh Tenziesh, but he turns out to be controlled by [[Smug Snake|General Kol Renin]], one of the leaders of {{spoiler|the true Sith Empire}}. ''Then'' it's revealed that Renin is only {{spoiler|an apprentice Sith. The real mastermind is his Master, [[Magnificent Bastard|Darth Malig]]. Now it's being foreshadowed that even Malig isn't the complete answer to the puzzle, though it's unknown if there's another villain controlling him or not}}.

* In ''[[Naruto Veangance Revelaitons]]'', a "council" of five Christians is apparently the group giving orders to [[Big Bad|Madara]], [[The Dragon|Taliana]], [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|the President of the Kibusi Corporation]], [[President Evil|the President of the United States]] and many others.

* ''[[The Legend of Spyro: A New Dawn|The Legend of Spyro a New Dawn]]'' has it's first half with a [[Big Bad Ensemble]] consisting of [[Anti-Villain|Deadlock]], [[Physical God|Empress Tyrania]], and [[Gentleman Thief|Boss Kaze]], though Deadlock is [[The Heavy]] of the three. The second half reveals that {{spoiler|Deadlock's [[Dragon]] General Grendel had been manipulating all three of them as part of his plan to gain an [[Artifact of Doom]] he can use to obtain the power of the Naga Spirit Of War and take revenge on the dragons for their banishment of the Naga thousands of years ago. In a twist, the readers know he's The Man Behind the Man at the half way point but the characters don't until after Deadlock is defeated and he successfully performs the ritual, giving him access to a civilization destroying [[Eldritch Abomination]].}}

* Emperor Palpatine to Darth Vader in ''[[A New Hope]]'' and ''[[ReturnThe ofEmpire theStrikes JediBack]]'', making a cameo in the secondlatter. Also to Count Dooku in the prequels ''[[Star Wars]]''. We know that Dooku isn't in charge. The characters don't. Galactic-scale defeat ensues.

** In facefact, pretty much 90% of all villainous plots in the franchise, including the non-canon [[Expanded Universe]] can be traced back to either Palpatine, or if taking place before ''[[The Phantom Menace]]'', some other Sith Lord. Even in continuities where Palpatine is believed or confirmed to be dead (something that is ''never'' certain) his vile influence can still be felt.

* The 2003 ''[[Zatoichi]]'' remake takes this to a ridiculous level in revealing ''two'' men behind the man in the film's very last minutes.

* ''[[Rush Hour|Rush Hour 2]]''. This trope is discussed by Carter and Lee. Carter's theory of investigation is "Follow the Rich White Man." His belief is that behind every major crime there's a rich white man waiting for his cut. {{spoiler|And he's right. In each movie the [[Big Bad]] or one his associates is the rich white guy.}}

* Glen Cook does this constantly in all his major works. Played straightest in ''Dread Empire'' where the titular empire, Shinsan, is controlled by its emperor who wins the succession struggle halfway through the series , {{spoiler|, O Shing. But he is really being controlled by a cabal of sorcerer-generals, the Tervola, who are actually being controlled by a conspiracy of 9 individuals at the highest places in society from across the globe/continent, who are actually being controlled by an immortal demigod the Star Rider, who is being controlled by an ill defined higher, extra-dimensional power. That's where it stops, but probably not.}}

** Sauron's also heavily implied or outright stated to be the man behind Angmar, several barbarian invasions of Gondor, and at least one plague. He did a lot to weaken his enemies before revealing himself openly a few decades prior to ''[[The Lord of the Rings|LOTR]]''.

* Raymond E. Feist is in ''love'' with this one. Across the ''[[Riftwar Cycle]]'', the first real villains (the first book was more [[Grey and Grey Morality]]) were the dark elves, who then turned out to be manipulated by the [[Reptiles Are Aborrent|Pantathian]] [[Religion of Evil|priests]], who were in turn pawns for [[Abusive Precursors|the Valheru]]. Later installments revealed that the Valheru themselves were being influenced by [[God of Evil|Nalar]], and the most recent books are suggesting that someone or something else is manipulating ''him''. Among the side villains, [[Eldritch Abomination|the Dark God]] was manipulating the Dasati for centuries before taking its place as their ruler, and the demon legions currently trying to invade the mortal world are on the run from ''even worse demons'' back home.

* ''[[Harry Potter]] and the Philosopher's Stone (Sorcerernovel)|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's) Stone]]'': Quirrel being the [[Big Bad]] was the main [[The Reveal|reveal]] but Voldemort being a [[Visual Pun|literal man]] [[Incredibly Lame Pun|behind the man]] was also pretty big.

* In Steven Gould's novel ''[[Jumper (novel)|Reflex]]'', Davy and Millie Rice end up with a series of Men Behind Men at least three layers deep.

** In season 6, {{spoiler|Abu Fayed's superior, General Habib, appears in one episode, but he was already captured by the time we learn about him. Fayed was also the attempted pawn of Dmitri Gredenko, however Gredenko died and Fayed seemed to reclaim his spot as antagonist, but died in the very next episode. Latter a different conspiracy emerged when the Chinese entered the picture, led by Cheng Zi, and they are revealed to be in cahoots with Jack's long lost father Phillip. Phillip and his son Graem were also Logan's co-conspirators in the previous conspiracy, or at least until they were seemingly retconned, as Logan recievedreceived the full blame for it at the start of season 7.}}

** In season 7, {{spoiler|it's debatable whether Benjamin Juma's relations with Jonas Hodges count, as Hodges relationship is already stated in Redemption, and it can be interpreted as more of a [[Big Bad Duumvirate]] than Hodges being Juma's superior. On a far grander and less ambigiousambiguous scale, even Hodges was merely a member of a [[The Omniscient Council of Vagueness|large cabal]] headed by Alan Wilson, and Wilson was stated by Tony Almeida to have been The Man Behind the Man to [[President Evil]] Charles Logan.}}

* In [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] in 1998, [[Vince McMahon]] underwent a [[Heel Face Turn]] after his son [[Shane McMahon]] took over his stable, [[The Corporation]], and merged it with [[The Undertaker]]'s pseudo-Satanic cult, The [[Ministry of Darkness]], to form The Corporate Ministry. While Shane and [[The Undertaker]] usurped control of Vince's company and kidnapped his daughter [[Stephanie McMahon]], Vince was forced to make peace with all the wrestlers he'd spent the past few years screwing over time and time again, and unite them against this new threat. Then, Undertaker started speaking of a "higher power" he served—who turned out to be Vince himself, a [[Shocking Swerve]] that wrestling fans are still mad about.

* Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick are this to the judges on ''[[American Idol]]''.

* One of the first adventure paths in role-playing, the G/D/Q series of 1st edition ''[[Dungeons & Dragons|AD&D]]'' modules, was essentially this trope played out repeatedly: hill giants working for frost giants, frost giants for fire giants, all giants for drow, drow for Lolth. By the time you kill their demon-goddess, you're either [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|crowing that you've bested the ''ultimate'' Man Behind The Man]], or [[Your Mileage May Vary|fed up and ready to play some one-shot adventures for a change]].

** Its spiritual successor, ''[[BioShock (series)|BioShock]]'', also does a masterful execution of it with {{spoiler|Frank Fontaine}}.

*** ''[[BioShock (series)|BioShock]]'' is something of a subversion, since {{spoiler|Fontaine is actually revealed to be the man behind ''you'' (Atlas doesn't really count as he was just Fontaine's alter-ego, not a separate person).}}

* In ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]|Warhammer 40,000: [[Dawn of War]]'', the campaign starts as an apparent defense against an Ork invasion. However, it is soon revealed that a Chaos force is having the Orks run interference. Then within the Chaos force, it becomes clear that {{spoiler|Chaos Sorcerer Sindri Myr and not the "primary commander" Chaos Lord Bale}} is the one really pulling the strings, masterminding the operation to his own gain. {{spoiler|Beyond that, in the final cutscene it's suggested that even Sindri was a pawn to the daemon locked in the Malectidum.}}

* ''[[Kirby]]'': There's almost always someone behind [[Kirby|King Dedede]]'s attacks. And sometimes someone behind the one who is behind Dedede's attacks.

* In ''[[EarthBound]]'', {{spoiler|the protagonist's 12-year-old neighbor is controlling the "cosmic destroyer," in a case of [[Enfante Terrible]]. In [[Mother 3|the]][[No Export for You|Japanese-only]] sequel ''[[Mother 3|sequel]]'', he is arguably a [[Magnificent Bastard]], as well}}.

* ''[[Jade Empire]]'' has two, with Death's Hand first appearing to be a bad guy acting on his own, and then {{spoiler|revealing he has been acting on the Emperor's orders all along and the Emperor was the one who set up the death of the Water Dragon and the upsetting of the balance in the first place}}, and then once you defeat ''him'' {{spoiler|your kindly old Master Li wanders in, reveals that this was all part of his [[Evil Plan]] to get vengeance on his brother, and kills you}}, and it turns out that ''he'' is the final boss after all that.

* {{spoiler|Izanami}} of ''[[Persona 4]]'' is revealed to be behind everything in the True Ending. The kicker? {{spoiler|She was disguised as [[Chekhov's Gunman|THE''the GASgas STATIONstation ATTENDANTattendant FORfor THEthe ENTIREentire GAMEgame'', until you question the attendant and her identity is revealed.]]}}

** Oh, that's just the end of it. {{spoiler|You first find out that Nametame was the one kidnapping all the characters you've been trying to rescue, but then it turns out he was just being manipulated by Adachi, who was the one who committed the first two murders that started the game. But then after you beat him, he gets taken over by a giant disco eyeball named Ameno-sagiri who claims to have done all this to "grant mankind its true desires." But THEN''then'' it turns out Izanami was behind it all, creating the Midnight Channel, the shadows, and giving the protagonist, Nametame and Adachi their powers as part of her grand social experiment.}}

* In ''[[Pokémon Black and White]]'', {{spoiler|N is supposedly the boss of Team Plasma. However, it is revealed at the end that Ghetsis was pulling the strings the whole time.}}

** In ''[[Pokémon]] Colosseum'', Nascour is built up to be the [[Big Bad]] of the game. However, the true [[Big Bad]] is really {{spoiler|Mayor Es Cade,}} or Evice, as he calls himself during [[The Reveal]]. This actually has a very sigificantsignificant moment of [[Foreshadowing]] in the beginning. {{spoiler|Notice how Nascour casually walks out of Es Cade's house before you talk with him.}}

** [[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon|''PokemonMysteryDungeonPokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky'']]: Dusknoir is actually working for [[Disc One Final Boss|Primal Dialga]], who in turn is being manipulated by {{spoiler|Darkrai.}}

** ''[[Fire Emblem Jugdral]]'' has {{spoiler|Manfroy, who was behind the actions of [[Evil Chancellor|Reptor]], [[Smug Snake|Sandima]], [[The Usurper|Chagall]], [[Utopia Justifies the Means|Alvis]], and [[Dragon-in-Chief|Yurius]], with most of that being all at the same time!}}

* In ''[[First Encounter Assault Recon|F.E.A.R.]]'', Paxton Fettel is presented as the game's primary villain. However, the real enemy is {{spoiler|his mother, Alma, who is psychically controlling him and directing him to locate and free her. And [[The Stinger|it is revealed that Paxton Fettel is the Point Man's brother, making Alma the mother of the main character as well]]. Holy bejeezus.}}

* In ''[[Dungeon Siege]]|Dungeon Siege 2]]'', {{spoiler|the Archmage turns out to not only be behind Valdis's actions, but also behind YOUR actions by disguising himself as Mr.Exposition}}.

* The ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' franchise does this a LOT. Take, for instance, ''[[Sonic Adventure 2]]'': it's not a perfect example, but [[{{spoiler:|out of the three "bad guys", one is just trying to avenge the death of a loved one, one is working with Eggman because it involves jewel theft, and the other (Eggman himself)... ends up working with the good guys to stop ''[[The Chessmaster|his own grandfather's plan to destroy Earth]]'', which revolved around Eggman's plan the whole time.}} This final mission also happens to involve a [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere]] and a good ol'-fashioned [[The Plan|plan.]]

* ''[[Legend of Dragoon]]'' first starts off with Dart's girlfriend being captured and imprisonnedimprisoned. When he arrives at her place of capture he is quickly introduced to a man named Frugel, who is the cruel warden of Helena prison. After defeating him Dart learns that he in fact takes orders from Emperor Doel, who lives in the Black Castle of Kazas. Doel also is taking orders from a man named Lloyd, who is acting as "[[The Dragon]]" for Emperor Diaz. Emperor Diaz is revealed to actually be {{spoiler|Dart's father, Zieg Feld,}} who plays the part of the main antagonist for the rest of the game up until the final boss, {{spoiler|Melbu Frahma, who was posessing Zieg the entire time}}.

* "Craig" from ''[[Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People|Strong Bads Cool Game for Attractive People]]''.

* In [[Epic Mickey]], [[Oswald the Lucky Rabbit|Oswald]] reveals that all of the Blotlings [[Mickey Mouse|Mickey]] fought, including the [[Living Shadow|Shadow Blot]], were all {{spoiler|drippings from the [[Eldritch Abomination|REAL''real'' Shadow Blot]], who was [[Sealed Evil in a Can|imprisoned inside a bottle]] on the summit of Mickeyjunk Mountain.}}

* In ''[[Sam and Max]]|Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse]]'', it is revealed that the true mastermind of the events of the third season is not Skun-ka'pe, not Papierwaite, not [[Eldritch Abomination|Yog Soggoth]], and not even [[Fluffy the Terrible|Junior]]. It is Max's super-ego, the narrator of the game, who got tired waiting for Max to discover his cultured side (Max is all id).

* ''[[Crash Bandicoot]]'' was '''the''' face of the [[PlayStation]] in its lifespan, often being considered the unofficial mascot of it and a major rival to [[Super Mario 64|Mario]]. However, the genetically-modified marsupial wasn't the reason the [[PlayStation]] won the fifth-generation [[Console Wars]]—though he did play a big part in it, the [[PlayStation]] won more because of its reliance on the CD-ROM format and the fact that it tapped into the young-adult gaming market, with third-party exclusives like ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' and ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' overshadowing and outlasting Crash for years to come.

* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword|The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword]]'', {{spoiler|The Imprisoned/Demise}} is this for Lord Ghirahim. Not that Ghirahim keeps it a secret that he's not the one in charge. {{spoiler|Demise is this for ''Ganon'' as well by way of the latter being an incarnation of the former's hatred}}.

** {{spoiler|The Imprisoned/Demise is presumably also this for Vaati, Majora, Malladus, Bellum and every other [[Big Bad]] in the series as well, his curse was for an incarnation of his hatred to follow all future versions of Link and Zelda for all time}}

* {{spoiler|Julius,}} from ''[[Final Fantasy Adventure]]'' / ''[[Sword of Mana]]''.

* In ''[[Dark Souls]]'', {{spoiler|Gwyndolin}} is the one secretly behind Gwynevere, {{spoiler|withe the Gwynevere you face actually being an illusion. Gwyndolin is using her to manipulate the Undead into linking the fire, so then he can ruling through her by proxy.}}

* {{spoiler|Metus}} to the Skrall in ''[[Bionicle]]''.

* Charles Martel was the maior domus of the merovingianMerovingian kings and the true man in power of the Frankish Kingdom. After his death, his job went to his sons Carloman and Pepin, the later eventually becommingbecoming the actual King of the Franks. He was such a [[Magnificent Bastard]] that the carolingianCarolingian dynasty wasn't named after Pepins son Charlemagne, who would become the most famous member of the family and one of the greatest ruler of Europe, but after Charles Martel himself, even though the family gained the throne more than 10 years after his death. But everyone knew that he had been the real ruler of the Franks all along.

* [[Rasputin|Grigori Rasputin]] was thought to be the man behind Tsar Nicholas II through Tsaritsa Alexandra.

* Although Emperor Hirohito was the head of the Japanese forces, many military ministers often pressure him to go to war in WWII. The idea that Hirohito was a powerless figurehead has long been discredtieddiscredited, and was in fact a conspiracy perpetrated by General MacArthur so that Japan could retain a monarchy and thus not fall to Communism. While the Emperor was historically merely a puppet that changed with the fall of the Shogunate, which gave the throne limited but real power. Hirohito was certainly not a pacificstpacifist and did he did agree with the planned invasions of China and Asia, and numerous other acts of war. In this he was not The Man Behind the Man but just someone who happened to agree with his militant military staff, though he had to deal with whatever faction happened to put itself forward at the time. Men like General Toga, though far from innocent, were patsies to the myth to give the world someone to blame other than the Emperor. Hirohito was kept well informed of most military and state matters, and had a fair amount of input. Virtually every high-ranking officer stated afterwards that if the Emperor gave an order to end the war, or stop the atrocities, they would have obeyed him. While he was in a different position from [[Adolf Hitler]] and was neither an absolute dictator nor the ultimate architecht of Japanese aggression, he was broadly of a mind with the radical imperialists.

* To be honest, most controversalcontroversial political leaders can be catagorizedcategorized as being this, or below it, in some way. Mao of Communist China, and Stalin of the Soviet Union, including their contributions to Socialism in the forms of Maoism and Stalinism, ''claim'' to be branches of Marxist-Leninist roots, which make Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin examples of this trope for left wing politics.

*** It seems now, that any controversalcontroversial Conservative Prime Minister, will automatically be stereotyped in this light to portray Margaret Thatcher as this trope to whoever in the party is currently in power.

* [[The Mafia|The Genovese Family]] made it a habit to appoint a 'front boss' from the fifties onward to distract law enforcement as well as rival families from the ''actual'' boss. In one case that actual boss was Vincente Gigante [[The Dog Was the Mastermind|who pretentedpretended to be insane by walking the streets of New York while muttering to himself]].