Unwitting Pawn: Difference between revisions

The [[Wide-Eyed Idealist]] often becomes this, but sometimes the [[Knight Templar]] and [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] can fall into this too. When the main character does this, and then has to ''fix'' it, it's [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]].

 

 

Compare [[Out-Gambitted]], [[Unwitting Instigator of Doom]], [[My God, What Have I Done?]]. Contrast the [[Spanner in the Works]], who just as ignorantly harms these schemes.

* Lavinia Reberth of ''[[Soukou no Strain]]'' is a [[Fan Girl]] of epic proportions, who'd do anything to get some of Sara's attention. Dress up as a [[Playboy Bunny]]? Failed. Ambush her in the shower? Got the wrong girl. Steal her most precious possession? Dropped it in a garbage dump, which ended up with Sara's [[Luke, I Am Your Father|true identity]] revealed to the whole crew, the Libertad kicked out of port before it could complete repairs, and one of their teammates dead. [[It's All My Fault|Oops.]]

* In the anime of ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'', nearly everything that the main characters do seem to play right into Aion's hands. {{spoiler|In the end, even though [[Downer Ending|almost all of the main cast die]], they only seem to stop him temporarily.}}

** Same for the Order of the Black Knights, which was first manipulated by Lelouch before {{spoiler|becoming Schneizel's pawns}}. Lelouch actually ''is'' the hero who is trying to save the world. He has a lot of bad luck and some questionable methods, but the Black Knights generally benefited from his actions, manipulation aside. {{spoiler|Schneizel, not so much. He has decent luck, if not good, and his methods are not questionable - they're definitely not good for the human race as a whole.}}

** [[Double Subverted]] by Rem, who {{spoiler|kills L for Light in order to save Misa from being arrested}}. She figures out ''exactly'' what Light is trying to get her to do, how he's getting her to do it, and what will happen if she doesn't {{spoiler|(she dies)}}... And she does it anyway.

* In ''[[One Piece]]'', Whitebeard was a target for this. The World Government wanted to kill him and his whole crew with a barricade killzone trap and execute Ace, {{spoiler|the son of the Pirate King}} once they are stuck as a warning to all Pirates and cement their power. However, Whitebeard, {{spoiler|while he still dies, manages to re-ignite the Golden Age of Pirates, and most of his crew and allies survive. Also, technically Ace was saved, but still dies anyways.}} However, in the end, he, and technically the WG, is still fooled by the true mastermind and main cause of the war, {{spoiler|Blackbeard}}. His plan was that he knew Whitebeard would risk anything to save a single of his crew, and the WG would do anything to take him down. {{spoiler|While everyone is focusing on Marine HQ, Blackbeard slips into Impel Down, recruits the strongest prisoners of Level Six, which contains some of the worst criminals in the history of the world, sails back, kills Whitebeard, steals Whitebeard's destructive powers for his own means, and then makes a clean escape.}} Even worse, the WG's pride makes it that they will not acknowledge his success, and cover it up, meaning he can plan even more things unharrased.

* Alice of ''[[Code Geass: Nightmare of Nunnally]]'', desperate to save Nunnally, accepts help from Anya and proceeds to Kamine Island. {{spoiler|It turns out that Anya was possessed by Empress Marianne, who needed Nunnally to complete her and Charles' [[Assimilation Plot]]. Thankfully, Alice telling Nunnally that she values her as an individual [[Spanner in the Works|derails]] the plan}}.

* Poor [[Puella Magi Madoka Magica|Homura]], so you wanted to save your friend from certain death using your Faust powered wish? {{spoiler|Well you did technically save her by making it so as long she is not saved, the timeline repeat itself. Unfortunately, you also helped Kyuubey create what is the ultimate power source based on people suffering since Madoka is not only a juicy power source but since with every cycle Homura becomes more cynical, her suffering only gives even more power with each interval. And she can do nothing to get out of the loop.}}

* Near the end of the first season of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'', Sho assumes that {{spoiler|everybody in Duel Academy were the pawns of Kagemaru, the season's [[Big Bad]].}}

* ''[[Gundam Seed]]'': Everyone—but especially [[General Ripper|Patrick Zala]] and [[Villain with Good Publicity|Muruta Azrael]]—serve as Unwitting Pawns to series' [[Big Bad]] Rau Le Creuset. In ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'', Shinn Asuka is the Unwitting Pawn of Chairman Durdandal.

* In the words of {{spoiler|the fake}} Mad-Eye Moody in the fourth ''[[Harry Potter]]'' book,

{{quote|Decent people are so easy to manipulate.}}

** This hits Harry ''hard'' in books 4 and 5. Given how badly these stories ended for everyone, the best thing Harry could have done was ''nothing''.

** Ultimately, {{spoiler|almost every major character in the series is revealed to be one to some extent, pawns for Dumbledore and Voldemort, both of whose decades long game of wits to destroy the other is revealed to be what the whole series revolves around. Even Harry himself is a piece in the game. Snape on the other hand is a willing pawn for Dumbledore}}.

**** The Doctor, like all Time Lords, is telepathic, and while not as skilled at it as The Master has the potential for mind control and planting false memories and perceptions in people.

** The Daleks are admittedly pretty good at [[Incredibly Lame Pun|suckering]] the Doctor. In "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S31/E03 Victory of the Daleks|Victory of the Daleks]]", the Daleks use the Doctor's hatred of the Daleks and love of Earth to not only create ''five'' retro-style Daleks (a net gain of two), but also {{spoiler|for once, survive the events of the episode}}.

**** "[[Person of Mass Destruction|The most dangerous warrior in the world]]" indeed.

** In ''The Doctor's Wife'' it is revealed that the Doctor has been being manipulated for a very long time by {{spoiler|The TARDIS, who was waiting for a time lord crazy enough to try and steal her so she could see the universe. The Doctor protested that he chose her because someone had left the door unlocked. The TARDIS, briefly able to speak, replied that of course "someone" had.}}

* In the 1998 ''[[Merlin (TV miniseries)|Merlin]]'' series, both multiple characters (Arthur, Merlin, Guinevere) end up as Mab's suckers at one point or another.

* The "rich and powerful" marks Nate Ford mentions during the opening credits for ''[[Leverage]]'' are usually these. At some point along the way, their Mooks will often fall to this trope or Elliot, whichever one hits first.

* In the fourth season finale of ''[[Chuck]]'', {{spoiler|it's revealed that every major plot point that has happened since the pilot has been part of a bigger scheme, with Chuck and possibly everyone involved with those major plot points as the unwitting pawns. Whose pawns, exactly, and in what game, has yet to be revealed.}}

* Mulder and Scully in the [[The X-Files]]. It's pretty much their job description.

** Cloud from ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]''. One of the main points of his character is that [[White-Haired Pretty Boy|Sephiroth]] can make Cloud do anything by manipulating him just the right way, and he makes sure Cloud knows it.

*** {{spoiler|Sephiroth himself could be considered one, depending on whether or not Aeris knew she needed to die to make Holy work.}}

** Tidus and Yuna from ''[[Final Fantasy X]]''. They get bounced like ping-pong balls back and forth between Yevon's plan to {{spoiler|continue the spiral of death and Auron's plan to destroy it and free Spira.}} ''[[Final Fantasy X-2]]'' seems to imply that Yuna, at least, ''never figured it out.''

** {{spoiler|Almost ''everyone''}} ends up this way in ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' after the dust has settled from the [[Gambit Pileup]] by the story's end. {{spoiler|Except Delita. And Ramza.}}.

** Part of the reason is because the amnesiac Mercer, even though he's [[I'm a Humanitarian|eating people left and right]] in order to understand what the hell is going on, is often in the dark about what the hell is going on. As the game progresses he ''knows'' he's probably being played, but due to a lack of options he has to play along anyways if he's going to have a hope of accomplishing anything. He even says it outright to {{spoiler|Cross}}.

{{quote|'''Mercer''': Why do I get the feeling I'm getting the short end of this deal?}}

* The Tribunal expansion of Morrowind gives us the power-maddened (literally) {{spoiler|pseudo-god Almalexia. Centuries of wielding power that is unfit for mortals has left her more than a little crazy, and she has the protagonist carry out her increasingly insane orders (whether or not the character is aware that he's being manipulated is [[Heroic Mime|impossible to tell]]. Either way, it's a case of [[Plot Induced Stupidity]]). When she finally lays out her cards, she embarks on a long monologue about how nutty she is and how stupid you are, and there isn't even a [[Talk to the Fist]] option}}.

* Vhailor in ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'' by {{spoiler|the Practical Incarntion}}. And then you fall for it, by {{spoiler|the aptly-named Trias the Betrayer}}.