Turncoat: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

If they're discovered to have been bad the whole time, they're [[The Mole]]. If they're a bad guy who's been secretly ''good'', they're the [[Reverse Mole]]. If they're faking their switch, they're a [[Fake Defector]] or [[Heel Face Mole]]. If they switch back and forth, they're going through the [[Heel Face Revolving Door]]. The [[Defector From Decadence]] often falls under this.

* Esmer in ''The Last [[Chronicles of Thomas Covenant]]'' is chronically unable to choose a side, to the annoyance of everyone involved. He has the rare distinction of being able to switch sides several times a day and the personal power to pull it off.

* ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'': In [[Ben Counter]]'s ''[[Horus Heresy]]'' novel ''Galaxy In Flames'', {{spoiler|Lucius}} motivated by [[Green-Eyed Monster|envy]] of how {{spoiler|Tarvitz}} took command, betrays {{spoiler|the last survivors of Horus's treacherous attack}}.

{{quote|''Then I did not fully realize the cowardice of my jeddak, or the bravery of you and the girl. [[Good Old Ways|I am an old man from another age and I love courage]]. At first I resented the girl's attack upon me, but later I came to see the bravery of it and it won my admiration, as have all her acts. She feared not O-tar, she feared not me, she feared not all the warriors of Manator. And you! Blood of a million sires! how you fight! I am sorry that I exposed you at The Fields of Jetan. I am sorry that I dragged the girl Tara back to O-Tar. I would make amends. I would be your friend. Here is my sword at your feet.''}}

* In ''[[Discworld]]'', Nobby Nobbs is famous in times of war for exactly this. He hovers around the edge of the battlefield, swiping boots off the fallen soldiers and will just move in with whoever he thinks is winning. The generals used his uniform as an indicator to tell who was winning.