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{{trope}}
[[File:Motleycrew.jpg|link=Star Wars|
{{quote|'''CIA''': Was getting caught part of your plan?
'''Bane''': Of course!
|''[[The Dark Knight Rises]]''}}
Perhaps you need to smuggle some recognizable people into a base, or smuggle some friends out of a hostile situation. Perhaps the two of you have just been caught by your enemies, and are trying a bluff. Time for the
In the simple version, some of the protagonists [[Dressing
▲Perhaps you need to smuggle some recognizable people into a base, or smuggle some friends out of a hostile situation. Perhaps the two of you have just been caught by your enemies, and are trying a bluff. Time for the [[Trojan Prisoner]] trick.
▲In the simple version, some of the protagonists [[Dressing As the Enemy|pretend to be enemy mooks]], with the others posing as their prisoners or slaves. Quite often, the main hero gets to play the captive, being the most recognisable, but if the mooks have [[Faceless Goons|face-concealing outfits]], it's the least recognisable member of the group who gets tied up.
In the other version, the fake guard is someone the enemy thinks is on their side, e.g [[The Mole]], [[Heel Face Turn|a reformed villain]], or a [[Loveable Rogue]]. They swagger into the enemy camp, show off their captive, then surreptitiously help them escape, while doing a little espionage on the side. The fake guard doesn't always bother telling the hero the plan in advance either; the act is much more convincing [[Enforced Method Acting|if the hero thinks it's real.]]
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Occasionally, this trick is [[Unspoken Plan|proposed offscreen]], leading the viewer to think that a major character pulled a [[Face Heel Turn]].
If they are physically bound, this can lead to a [[Chained Heat]] or fighting [[With My Hands Tied]]. Compare [[I Surrender, Suckers]], and cases where anyone should be able to see through overlap with [[The Guards Must Be Crazy]]. The [[Play
[[I Thought It Meant|Not to be confused]] with the similar, but distinct, [["Alone
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* In the ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' ''[[Fire Emblem Akaneia|Dark Dragon and Sword of Light]]'' manga adaptation by Maki Hakoda, this is one of Marth's favourite tactics to outsmart stronger armies, with himself as the captive.
* In ''[[One Piece]]'', during the Impel Down riot, Mr.2 does this with Buggy and Mr. 3. They get past Magellan and then manage to reach Level 5 (in order to save a captured and poisoned Luffy) thanks to Mr.2's ability to change his aspect. He disguises as Hannyabal and then takes the other two with him as his prisoners.
* In ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]'', [[Big Bad]] Gauron lets himself be captured in order to get aboard the good guys' transport. The Trojan Prisoner part comes after he's aboard.
== Comic Books ==
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* In ''[[Dynamo 5]]'', a government agent pulls this on the main characters, without telling them, leading them to believe he's turned evil.
* In [[The DCU]], Batman once infiltrated Belle Reve prison, home of the the [[Suicide Squad]], by posing as criminal 'Matches' Malone and arranging for Commissioner Gordon to have Malone held there while being transferred.
* In the ''[[
== Fan Works ==
* As an homage to [[A New Hope]]'s use below, this was used in Allronix's [[Knights of the Old Republic]] [[Fanfic]] ''Destiny's Pawn,'' as Carth attempts to bluff his way through a Sith base with Zaalbar as a "prisoner." Subverted, as the receptionist on duty doesn't buy it for a second.
* Two examples of this in ''[[
** In the Goblin Valley, Ringo has to pretend to be a human slave being led by George, who's become a goblin.
** At the climax, Paul has shaken off mind control but pretends to still be under the influence to gain entry into the warehouse where the Vasyn is being kept. George is [[Dressing
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** Subverted in ''[[Dark Empire]]'', where Palpatine abducts Luke, Luke hatches a plan to pretend to be Palpatine's apprentice and then kill him, but in the end, Luke himself goes over to the [[Dark Side]] only to be saved by Leia. In the end, Han kills Palpatine.
** This is parodied in ''Twisted Toyfare Theater'', where ''every'' plan the group has seems to involve putting Chewbacca in binders for some reason.
* In ''[[The Mask (
* In ''[[Star Trek]]: Nemesis'', Data transports Picard in, while pretending to be his [[Evil Twin]].
* Both ''[[
** Rusty does the same to Basher in ''Ocean's Eleven'', posing as an FBI agent to take him into custody before the LAPD can take him.
* In ''[[Secondhand Lions]]'', one of the stories told by the uncles featured this.
* In ''[[The Proposition]]'', The Burns Gang infiltrates the police station by having Two-Bob put on full traditional Aboriginal dress and war paint while Sam and Arthur steal police uniforms and drag him into town as their prisoner.
* ''[[Blood Diamond]]'', although it lasts about twenty seconds, (just long enough for the soldiers to lower their guard and the "prisoner" [[Just Shoot Him|to shoot them]]) and is done to cross a bridge.
* Played straight in ''[[
* In ''[[Tropic Thunder]]'' the [[Five-Man Band]] (sans leader) almost pull this off, but Lazarus is caught in a contradiction. [[More Dakka]] ensues.
* Preed tries to pull the gambit off in ''[[Titan
* In ''[[Face Off]]'', this kicks off the plot, where the good guy takes the bad guy's face to get some information. This would have worked out if the bad guy hadn't woken from his coma and taken the good guy's face.
* Done in ''[[Monsters vs. Aliens]]'', with the other monsters wearing the clone outfits and escorting Ginormica.
* In ''[[Top Secret]]'', Resistance members Chocolate Mousse and Deja Vu wear German army uniforms and march Nick Rivers ahead of them at gunpoint in order to infiltrate Fleurgendorf prison. There are two jokes: Chocolate Mousse is black (and all of the German soldiers are white), and as they're goosestepping, their boots fly off.
* In ''[[The
* In Disney's ''The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh'', the Scarecrow and his men [[Dressing
* In ''Force 10 From Navarone'', Mallory and Barnsby get back into the Chetnik camp they had just escaped from by getting two partisans to disguise themselves as guards (The guards in question being two with allegedly burned faces covered with bandages, so facial recognition isn't an issue) and take them back in through the front gate as recaptured prisoners. They then rescue their still-captured medic and explosives expert (And the explosives expert's suitcase full of explosives).
* In the 2010 French thriller "Point Blank", a fugitive pretends to be a cop and leads his ally (also a fugitive) into a police station in handcuffs. This is the only way for them to enter the police station and retrieve a piece of [[Caught
== Literature ==
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* ''[[Treasure Island]]'': Long John Silver pulls this with Jim, who'd been genuinely captured by Silver and the other pirates earlier. Silver's practical reason for keeping Jim alive is that he's his best chance to escape the gallows if things go south, as Silver suspects they might, ''and'' an extra gun hand against the pirates who'll inevitably turn on them once that happens. However, it's never entirely clear whether Silver would have kept his word to keep Jim alive if things had gone according to plan...
* The ''[[Black Jewels]]'' series uses this to great effect in the third novel, when {{spoiler|Daemon}} pretends to betray and capture {{spoiler|Surreal}}.
* ''[[
* In the first trilogy of the ''[[Dragonlance]] Saga'' the good guys try to do this and fail miserably when {{spoiler|''they are captured because they lack the proper paperwork''}}. This rather original subversion is somewhat [[Lampshaded]] when the hero is frantically trying to think of a way out of the mess and realize that of all the things that could have gone wrong with their plan, no one considered the idea that they would {{spoiler|be suspected of being deserters}}.
* Magnificently subverted in Terry Pratchett's very first novel, ''[[The Carpet People]]''.
{{quote|
'''Guard:''' Where are you taking them?
'''Hero:''' ...Enough of this talking, harharhar. [Beats up guard] I runs out of ideas after a while. }}
* Chase, of the ''[[Sword of Truth]]'' series, does this using his adopted daughter as the captive, in order to make a rescue attempt. Coincidentally, two other groups of characters use similar disguises to perform the exact same rescue, each of their own volition. After they meet up with each other, they make their way out with the rescuees playing the captives.
* Ur-Example: ''[[The Scarlet Pimpernel (
* Sinon in ''[[
* In the ''[[X Wing Series]]'' novels, part of the plan to retake Coruscant from the Empire is to [[Boxed Crook|take dangerous criminals]], a significant part of the intergalactic crime syndicate Black Sun, from the prison world Kessel, then smuggle them to Coruscant where they will cause havok and distract Imperial forces. Unfortunately, some of those criminals still have Imperial ties.
** In the comics, very soon after he has defected to the Rebellion Soontir Fel darkly hints that he's a [[Fake Defector]] to get intel out of a reluctant Imperial captive.
** "[[Star Wars Expanded Universe|Side Trip]]", a novella written by both [[Timothy Zahn]] and [[Michael Stackpole]], has Thrawn-in-Mandalorian-armor pull a blaster on Corran and his father after guiding them into a mutual enemy's clutches. Thrawn, assumed to be a bounty hunter going with the money, exchanges threats with Corran, telling him that he'll "[[Multitasked Conversation|seek you out and take care of you personally]]" and that ''he'' would be the only thing between Corran and freedom, even grabbing the cell bars and shaking them after Corran and his father are imprisoned. After Thrawn and the mutual enemy have left, Corran's father shows his son that the bar-shaking move was a cover, letting Thrawn stick a molecular stiletto - think tiny lightsaber with a ''very'' fragile blade - on the bar. "Taking care of you personally" meant that when they escaped and got back to him, Thrawn would be in a better tactical position to start shooting, and they'd be on the same side.
** The [[X Wing Series|Wraiths]] once pull a weird version with actual prisoners. The plan goes like this: Wraiths start a [[Bar Brawl|bar fight]] with Imperial pilots; more Wraiths show up dressed as military police and arrest all the fighters; Imperials get knocked out on the way back to the stockade, and the Wraiths from the bar change into police uniform too; all Wraiths infiltrate the base [[Dressing
* Done with mixed success in [[Dan Wells]]' ''Partials''.
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* Used by Alex in ''[[Lost]]'', and [[Lampshaded]] by Sawyer: "Don't get mad at me because you fell for the Wookiee Prisoner gag."
* ''[[
** Slightly subverted in that the sheriff is obviously suspicious of this but not enough to stop them. He also believes he has judged Mal correctly when he sets an ambush, expecting him to return the stolen loot (which turns out to be {{spoiler|desperately-needed medical supplies}}). He lets Mal go after getting the loot back.
* ''[[Mission: Impossible]]'' has done this several times, often to get a member of their team into a prison, such as in "Old Man Out", "Trial By Fury" and "The Test Case".
* In ''[[
* In Spike's introductory episode on ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', Angel tries this with Xander as the prisoner, using [[Enforced Method Acting]] to coax realistic prisoner behavior out of him. It doesn't work as Spike knows Angel too well and thus knows he's faking it.
** This Trope appears in a Season 3 episode in which {{spoiler|Angel's soul is apparently removed by a sorcerer, thus allowing Angel and Faith to kidnap Buffy and in reality allowing Angel and Buffy to learn of the Mayor's plans for the ascension.}} Since this is quite drawn out, it might actually count as a reverse interrogation instead.
* [[The Dragon]] Astronema does this in ''[[Power Rangers in Space]]'' to help them get them on the planet the [[Big Bad]] has Zordon imprisoned.
* Attempted in "[[Doctor Who
* This is how Michael Weston gets to a fugitive on the lam in the ''[[Burn Notice]]'' episode "Friendly Fire." Michael plays the prisoner.
** The voiceover even came close to calling the trope by name: "The ultimate Trojan horse is a shackled prisoner."
* Londo attempts this with G'Kar against Cartagia in ''[[Babylon 5]]''. Starts to be subverted when Cartagia replaces G'Kar's rigged-to-break chains with real ones on a whim, but G'Kar [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|breaks them anyway]].
* Used to get Byers and Bond out of prison in [[The Lone Gunmen]] after they went in trying to prove a prisoner's innocence {{spoiler|only to find out that the guy's actually guilty, but that another prisoner has been framed}}, and freeing him.
* An exceptionally brief version appears in ''[[
== Machinima ==
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== Other ==
* Used in "Bee in the City", a Transformers convention script-reading starring the cast of ''[[
== Video Games ==
* In ''[[
** And once again in the sequel to infiltrate the Vanguard. Subverted in that {{spoiler|though the [[Mooks]] fall for it, Alice isn't fooled and throws all of them in prison.}} Except they still get it to work, {{spoiler|shutting off the power and escaping in under a minute}}
* One mission in ''[[Guild Wars]] Nightfall'' involves [[Dressing
* Happens in ''[[Tears to Tiara]]'' with [[Lady of War|Octavia]], a former imperial officer, with [[The Archer|Morgan]] as the fake prisoner. It would have worked, if it weren't for the fact that the unit that Octavia associated herself with was known to have been destroyed a long time ago.
* Used in ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
* ''[[
* A variant is used in ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' during Isabela's personal quest in act 3. Hawke turns her over to one of Castillon's agents, then tracks the agent back to Castillon's base.
* A villainous example: The intro of ''[[Batman: Arkham Asylum]]'' has Batman dragging [[The Joker]] off to Arkham after thwarting a hostage situation that involved the Mayor that was instigated by the latter, noting that it was suspiciously easy this time around. Turns out, he's right and it was all part of the Joker's plan to take over the madhouse. Turns out that when you take an insane person to the asylum, you're just taking him home.
* A rather convoluted example in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]]''. Snake and Olga teamed up and then apparently betrayed Raiden near the entrance to Arsenal Gear, and subdued him, captured and delivered him to Solidus's men. The betrayal was actually faked in order to lessen security onboard Arsenal Gear, although they never told Raiden before doing it, presumably in order to sell the act. This understandably left Raiden really ticked off at Snake when he met up with him later.
* ''[[Mortal Kombat|Mortal Kombat 11]]''. In chapter 6 of Story Mode, the Earthrealm Warriors bring Kitana into the Tarkatan village, claiming she is a "gift" for Shao Kahn. Their true intent is to convince Baraka to help them. This fails for two reasons, firstly because Skarlet is there too and wants Kitana for herself (Edenian blood is a "delicacy" to her) and secondly because, well, this is a [[Fighting Game]] you know, so Baraka naturally isn't going to consider it until Kitana fights him.
* In chapter 9 of the remake of ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', Cloud and Aerith discover that Tifa is being taken to Don Corsone's mansion for an "audition". The "winner" of that audition becomes Don's "bride for the night", which is a nice way of saying [[Sex Slave]]. In order to rescue her, Aerith tries volunteering for the audition, and after quite a few hurdles and side quests to earn the "endorsement" she needs, Cloud ends up doing the same, [[Disguised in Drag]]. As it turns out, this was also the reason Tifa is there (she was not kidnapped, as Cloud assumes) having volunteered in order to shake info out of Don.
* ''[[Rayman 2: The Great Escape]]'' starts with the eponymous protagonist captured by [[Space Pirates]], locked up in their ship's brig, and without his powers, no less. Fortunately, his pal Glowbox gets himself captured on purpose, smuggling in a Silver Loom (by [[Stomach of Holding| swallowing it]], one of his odd talents) which Rayman uses to restore at least some of his powers, enough to well, begin [[Title Drop|a great escape.]]
== Web Comics ==
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* A villain example is seen in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0356.html this] ''[[Order of the Stick]]'' strip.
** And another example [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0387.html here].
* Done in ''[[
* In ''[[Girl Genius]]'', Agatha uses this method to get into Castle Heterodyne.
* Done in an arc of ''[[General Protection Fault]]'' involving an alternate dimension populated with [[Evil Twin]] (or sometimes Good Twin) counterparts of the cast. Fooker explains the plan to his teammates as "[[Star Wars|Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?]]"
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* ''[[Futurama]]'' "A Clone of My Own", Fry is brought into the "Near Death Star" as an escaped prisoner.
* ''[[Buzz Lightyear of Star Command]]'' almost goes through with it, with the Commander disguised as a bounty hunter leading Buzz's captured squad away. Unfortunately, the Mole they're secretly rescuing pops out from stowaway too early.
{{quote|
* In the ''[[Teen Titans (
* Wolverine and Beast do this in ''[[Wolverine and
* When [[
* Combined with [[I Surrender, Suckers]] in ''[[
* Played with repeatedly during the Boiling Rock episodes of [[Avatar: The Last Airbender]].
** And in the Season 1 episode ''Imprisoned'', they visit an Earth village that was taken over by the Fire Nation. Katara pretends to be an Earthbender in order to be taken to the prison ship in which the Fire Nation put all of the other Earthbenders, in order to free one of their friends who was captured.
** And in "The Runaway" episode: Katara pretends to turn Toph in to the authorities to collect the sizable reward money, with the intention that Toph will simply metalbend her way out of jail. {{spoiler|It doesn't exactly go as planned.}}
* Awsomely subverted in [[Titan
{{quote|
** And then the guard sees their Plan B. Kicked in the face by a Mantrin. This entire bit was brought to you by [[Joss Whedon]].
* In the ''[[Kim Possible]]'' episode "Two To Tutor", the "police helicopter" that picks up Shego and Señor Senior Junior turns out to be a fake piloted by Señor Senior Senior.
* In the ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' episode "A Sultan Worth His Salt", Aladdin allows himself to be captured by the [[Amazon Brigade|Galafems]] during a rescue mission to save Jasmine. While the Galafem queen and her troops interrogate Aladdin, Genie and the Sultan infiltrate the island, [[Bound and Gagged|tie up and gag]] the queen's sentries, and ultimately save the day.
* Used heavily in the ''[[Young Justice (
== Real Life ==
* Jerzy Bielecki managed to escape from Auschwitz with a friend [https://web.archive.org/web/20131104064025/http://
* A similar escape happened at [[The Alcatraz|Colditz POW camp]]. The Allied prisoners were quite adept at making convincing fake guard uniforms, but the process was slow. It was noticed that a storeroom in the outer courtyard of the castle was occasionally visited by work details from another camp under heavy guard. After digging a quick tunnel to the storeroom and acquiring some Polish NCO uniforms eight prisoners were able to walk straight out of the camp following a shift change, while using up only two of the precious Guard disguises.
* The Dutch resistance freed 44 prisoners from Leeuwarden prison during the German occupation in 1944 by sending five men into the prison using this trope.
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[[Category:Infauxmation Desk]]
[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
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