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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"I was a fool. I had been deceived that I had been working for a greater good. I was in fact an unknowing tool of a greater evil."''
|'''Shunjinko''''s biography, ''[[Mortal Kombat: Deception]]''}}
Not only does an Unwitting Pawn fail to stop the bad guy, but he actually furthers the villain's plan in the process. This is the kind of person that the [[Magnificent Bastard]] and [[Batman Gambit]] depend on. The [[Manipulative Bastard]] will take great delight in using them and then [[Hannibal Lecture|deconstructing]] their [[Horrible Judge of Character|naivete]] and [[Did You Actually Believe?|blind faith]] as they [[Evil Gloating|gloat]]. Not surprisingly, they also have a tendency to [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|die ironically after inadvertently helping the villain]].
These guys are not always being manipulated by the villain; [[Unwitting Instigator of Doom|sometimes they blunder their way into helping him of their own accord]]. Not that the villain's going to examine his gift horse for cavities...
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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]].
Sometimes the unwitting pawn is deserving of his fate. They may be a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]], Evil
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.
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Tend to be played by [[The Chessmaster]], logically enough.
'''Many examples are intrinsic spoilers.'''
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==▼
▲== [[Anime and Manga]] ==
* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', {{spoiler|Kimblee masses the Drachman army to attack Amestris from the north, in order to cause enough bloodshed to complete Father's giant Transmutation Circle. All the Drachmans are defeated except for the General, who calls Kimblee out. Kimblee then coolly states that he didn't care which side lost as long as lots of people died. The general is then hit by one last shot from the Amestrians, to add death to insult and injury}}.
** Hohenheim's backstory reveals that {{spoiler|the Emperor of Xerxes also fit this bill. Father lured him into creating a nation-wide transmutation circle, claiming it would grant the Emperor immortality. Instead, Father used it to give immortality to himself and Hohenheim, at the price of the entire nation}}.
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** {{spoiler|The upper echelon of Central's military}} were suckered into following the same scheme with similar promises.
** In the [[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|2003 anime version]], the homunculi manipulate alchemists into trying to create the Philosopher's Stone so that their leader Dante can use it for her own immortality. Dante also falsely promises to make the homunculi human if they succeed.
* Played with in ''[[Bleach]]'', where [[Magnificent Bastard]] {{spoiler|Aizen}} is unable to manipulate Ichigo directly, so it is revealed that instead he [[Gambit Roulette|manipulates]] almost EVERYONE ELSE in the story (including everyone Ichigo has fought, as well as Orihime) as
* ''[[Peach Girl]]'': Toji and most of the [[Spear Carrier
* Makoto Isshiki in ''[[RahXephon]]''. He takes down Tokyo Jupiter, but all he achieves by doing so is enabling the Mulians to invade the outside world en masse. [[It's Personal]]...
* 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.}}
* Poor Suzaku Kururugi from ''[[Code Geass]]''. Being an emotional, impulsive, and
** 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.}}
* In ''[[Death Note]]'', ''nearly everybody'' falls victim to this trope at some point, [[Chessmaster
** [[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.
▲** [[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.
* Poor Shinji Ikari from ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''. From being manipulated and forced by [[Manipulative Bastard|Gendo Ikari]] against his will to being forced to bring about [[The End of the World as We Know It]].
** Another interpretation is that everyone, their grandmother and their grandmother's yappy dog fall under this trope in that series. We have SEELE, a secret organization of [[Chessmaster
* In ''[[Naruto]]'', it turns out Sasuke was the
* In ''[[Berserk]]'' Skull Knight attempts to kill [[Big Bad]] Griffith with a mystical attack. Next Volume Griffith uses the attack to unleash hell on earth.
* Who in ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]'' '''isn't''' playing into [[Big Bad|Fei Wong Reed]]'s plans, again? {{spoiler|Kurogane}} might be the least manipulated of the group, but he's not exactly immune, either.
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* Treize Khushrenada is such a [[Magnificent Bastard]] he turns essentially the ENTIRE CAST of ''[[Gundam Wing]]'' into Unwitting Pawns.
* [[He's Dedicated to Roses|Hak-Yoon]] ends up being one to Mi-Mi, who manipulated him by pretending to like him, then had him and his gang rape her maid and film it in front of two of said maid's best friends, all because she was jealous that the maid had gotten the boy she was ''really'' in love with, and when said plan fell through, abandoned him to his fate and told him he was nothing more than a pawn for her revenge. [[The Dog Bites Back|He isn't too happy about this.]]
* Alice of ''[[Code Geass
* 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.}}
* So many in ''[[Monster (manga)|Monster]]'' as the series' [[Big Bad]], Johan being the [[Magnificent Bastard]]
* 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]]'':
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* In the ''[[Green Lantern]]'' story ''[[Sinestro Corps War]]'', the Guardians and the Green Lantern Corps turn out to be these after Sinestro reveals that {{spoiler|he (Sinestro) won the war by making the Guardians override their own principles and disable the "no killing" function on the Lantern rings}}.
* The ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' comic writer love these. Usually one or more of the main characters, but often the villain.
* Recently in ''[[Archie Comics Sonic the Hedgehog|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'', [[Idol Singer|Mina Mongoose]] was this to [[Evil Sorcerer|Ixis Naugus]]
==
* In the ''[[Mass Effect]]'' fanfic ''[[The Council Era]]'', Krogan Overlord Tikrog Kurvok unknowingly becomes a pawn in his advisor Halak Marr's plot to start the Krogan Rebellions and turn the krogan into a [[Master Race]].
== [[Film]] ==
* In ''[[Equilibrium]]'', John Preston turns over the entire leadership of [[La Résistance]] for a chance to see the [[Big Bad]] face to face and assassinate him. Except DuPont knew about this plan all along and arrested Preston as well. DuPont would have succeeded, except he took the time to [[Evil Gloating|gloat]] before killing Preston, triggering Preston's [[Unstoppable Rage]].
* ''Everyone'' in the ''[[Saw]]'' movies is like this. The entire franchise is one giant incomprehensible [[Gambit Roulette]], and all the characters are constantly walking right into Jigsaw's plans.
** Though inverted because, even though we the viewer are [[Genre Savvy]], Jigsaw genuinely wants the suckers to live, he doesn't expect them to make the wrong choice and die but he wants them to make the right choice and live, therefore he doesn't do Xanatos Gambits - or just ones that fail. His successors and helpers, however, do seem to want everyone to die, and expect them to do dumb things - which they do. All the time. One can only assume that in universes in which things like Saw and all such are set, no-one watches thriller/horror movies, because the only [[Genre Savvy]] character is often the killer.
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* {{spoiler|Tom Ludlow}} in ''Street Kings''
* Subverted in ''Collateral Damage'': The protagonist very nearly succeeds in helping the terrorists' [[Evil Plan]] come to fruition, but luckily becomes wise to his true situation just in time to foil it.
* Subverted in ''[[Blade]] II''. The [[Evil Overlord]]'s [[Affably Evil]] daughter mocks the eponymous protagonist for agreeing to a meeting with his enemies to easily, but quickly shuts her trap when
* Christopher Nolan's first film, ''[[Following]]'' has two levels of Unwitting Pawns. A house burglar and a blonde femme fatale sucker a floundering writer into {{spoiler|framing himself for the burglar's murder charge.}} Then we learn that {{spoiler|the burglar is actually working for a gangster who the blonde is blackmailing, and he was setting the writer up for ''her'' murder.}}
* In ''White Noise'', once John begins experimenting with EVP (a way of listening to/seeing spirits in the beyond) on his own, he starts receiving messages from his late wife, believing them ways to save people. {{spoiler|They're really trick visions sent by three very, very malicious spirits so that they can follow him and break into the realm of the living through the door he's opened up. And Anna's constant insistence that he 'Go now!'? Those were visions of when he arrived at the final location the messages showed him, where she was trying to warn him to get away and save himself.}} "Exactly as planned" indeed.
* In ''[[Wanted]]'', {{spoiler|the main character is played especially with the charms of the hot chick. Who is played herself, along with everyone in the order. At the end, some of her "colleagues" decide going into business for themselves isn't such a bad idea, but she has the... balls to set things right.}}
* Everything that Morpheus does in ''[[The Matrix]]'', since The One, The Prophecy, The Oracle are all further systems of control of the humans by the AI's.
* In ''[[Twice Upon a Time (1983 film)|Twice Upon a Time]]'', Synonimess Botch tricks our heroes Ralph and Mumford into bringing him the mainspring from the Cosmic Clock, giving him control over time and the chance to cover the land of Din in nightmare bombs as part of his plot to trap the Rushers in waking nightmares.
* In ''[[Total Recall]]'', Quade is his own unwitting pawn. He had his own memory wiped as part of his cover to infiltrate [[La Résistance]] and identify its leader.
== [[Literature]] ==
* In the words of {{spoiler|the fake}} Mad-Eye Moody in the fourth ''[[Harry Potter]]'' book,
{{quote|
** {{spoiler|Ginny Weasley}} in ''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (novel)|Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]'', though she eventually became suspicious and {{spoiler|tried unsuccessfully to destroy the diary.}}
** Harry Potter himself in ''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (novel)|Order of the Phoenix]]'', when Voldemort tricks him into {{spoiler|going to the Department of Mysteries}}. Especially notable given that he told Snape (who at this point he believed loyal to Dumbledore) that he'd {{spoiler|had a vision of Sirius in danger there}}, [[Idiot Ball|and still rushes in to do the Dark Lord's dirty work for him]].
** 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}}.
* Everyone except Iago from ''[[Othello]]''.
* In Stephen Marley's book ''Spirit Mirror'', [[Chia Black Dragon]] tries very hard to dodge [[Magnificent Bastard|Nyak's]] [[Xanatos Gambit]] by [[Take a Third Option|taking a third option]]. {{spoiler|She fails, and ends up [[Sealed Evil in a Can|releasing Nyak from his can]]. Then in the next book, ''Mortal Mask'', she does it again.}}
* When Grand Admiral Thrawn from the ''[[Star Wars]]'' [[Expanded Universe]] is involved, characters become suckers by being so afraid that they play right into his hands through their caution, the best example being that when they need a certain device from one of two locations, they leak info that they will go to one, therefore showing him they are actually going to the other.
* In the ''[[Wheel of Time]]'' series:
** The entire point of Elaida is to further the plans of the Forsaken by either doing what a servant says or just [[Idiot Ball|being an idiot]].
** The entire Whitecloak movement.
* Although Ian Irvine has one in every single book, the conclusion to the ''Well of Echoes'' series deserves special mention for the sheer scale of it. The main character attempts to stop the [[Magnificent Bastard]] from using the most powerful magic in the world to take over said world by {{spoiler|destroying the power sources of all magic, thus preventing anybody from using it}}. Except it turns out that {{spoiler|the magic the [[Magnificent Bastard]] was using was the only one powered by something else}}, and what she had actually done was {{spoiler|destroyed any and every chance the heroes had of stopping him}}. Whoops.
* The ''[[Chronicles of Thomas Covenant]]'' by Stephen Donaldson. Lord Foul is a [[Chessmaster]] and [[Manipulative Bastard]] extraordinaire, and his plan to destroy the Land involves not just conquering everything, but continually engineering situations where the protagonists become
* Most of the Blood Angels in [[James Swallow]]'s [[Warhammer
* In [[Tad Williams]]' ''[[Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn]]'' series, this role is amply filled by King Elias. From the start, [[Evil Sorcerer]] Pryrates tricks and manipulates him via promises: first, to {{spoiler|communicate with his dead wife}}, and later, to {{spoiler|grant him [[Immortality]]}}, all while turning him into {{spoiler|a [[Demonic Possession|vessel]] for the [[Sealed Evil in a Can|return]] of the [[Big Bad]] Storm King}}.
** Ironically enough, {{spoiler|Pryrates is an even bigger Sucker. The Storm King manipulated him with the promise that Pryrates would be the "first among men" when The Storm King returned. And he was the first...to die.}}
** The entire cast of protagonists are suckers, by the classic definition, as the most basic element of the Storm King's [[Xanatos Gambit]] is to trick them into {{spoiler|[[MacGuffin Delivery Service|bringing him the Three Swords]]}}. It works perfectly.
* [[Discworld|Vimes]]. Oh, dear, poor Vimes. ''[[
{{quote|
* The [[Dale Brown]] book ''Act of War'' has many characters play into {{spoiler|National Security Adviser Robert Chamberlain's}} hands.
** ''Shadow Command'' sees US President Joseph Gardner playing right into the hands of Russian President Leonid Zevitin. The former's egoistic desperation to control the [[Chaotic Good]] protagonists leads him to steadily feed information that should have stayed classified. Fortunately for Gardner, he does not end up outliving his usefulness.
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* [[The Pendragon Adventure|Poor Mark and Courtney.]] Every time they try to help out Bobby and his friends, they usually just end up playing into [[Big Bad|Saint Dane's]] hands.
* In ''Flora's Dare'', Flora is sent off by Lord Axacaya to Bilskinir House to recover Georgiana Segunda's Diario so as to determine how to free the Loliga. Little does she suspect {{spoiler|that the his primary reason for sending her was to confirm his suspicions that she's the last Hadraada, and thus have her killed}}.
* In ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'', Edmund is the White Witch's
* In [[Kurt Vonnegut]]'s novel ''[[Cat's Cradle]]'', Angela and Newt Hoenikker are suckered by agents of the American and Russian governments, respectively.
* At the end of Suzanne Collins's ''[[The Hunger Games|Catching Fire]]'', Katniss learns that she was central to an enormous plot that no one let her in on.
* In the ''Mistborn'' trilogy, {{spoiler|everyone is
* In Hunger, the second book of the [[Gone (novel)]] series, the Gaiaphage does this to Caine and Lana. Caine thinks he's messing with the nuclear power plant for revenge and power, and Lana thinks she's actually trying to destroy the Gaiaphage. It may also be doing this to Brittney in book 3. Drake is corrupt enough that he actually works for it willingly.
* Kronos does this to ''everyone'' in [[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]. Furthermore, especially in the second book of the new series, [[The Heroes of Olympus]], many characters, among which the [[Big Bad]] herself, state that Percy will be Gaia's pawn, and that he'll bring about the destruction of the gods.
* King James in [[Harald]], who makes war on [[Posthumous Character|his father]]'s allies on the advice of his [[Evil Chancellor]], who is in the pay of the real [[Big Bad]].
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* In ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' and ''[[The Children of Húrin|The Children of Hurin]]'', Hurin ends up as one after he is released by Morgoth. Driven mad by 28 years of [[Mind Rape]] he ends up unwittingly leading the enemy to the Hidden City of Gondolin, causes a civil war and the ultimate destruction of the last free tribe of Men, and sets events in motion that lead to the fall of the largest kingdom of Elves, all in an attempt to avenge his families deaths . He only stops when [[Our Angels Are Different|Melian]] ''tells'' him that he's not helping anyone, and effectively acting as a tool of Morgoth's malice. [[Driven to Suicide|Then he kills himself]].
* ''[[In Death]]'': William from ''Rapture In Death'' doesn't even know that his wife, Reanna [[The Sociopath]], has manipulated him in more ways than one to help her commit murder.
* Under the advice of his dead wife's spirit and [[Big Good]] Kil'jaeden, the old orc shaman Ner'zhul in the ''[[Warcraft]]'' novel ''[[Rise of the Horde]]'' [[The Alliance|convinces his people to put away their differences]] and [[Training the Peaceful Villagers|prepare to defend themselves]] against the Draenei. Except his wife's ghost was an illusion, Kil'jaeden is [[The Devil]] and this book is the [[Start of Darkness]] of the orcs that explains how they became the [[
* In [[A Song of Ice and Fire]],
* In ''Fred, Alice and Aunty Lou'', a [[Robert Westall]] short story in his anthology ''[[Break of Dark]]'', author Peter Wingfield plays into the hands of vengeful ghosts; giving them a conduit to the real world and the energy of his dislike for his old school-mate, Roger.
* ''[[A Certain Magical Index]]'':
** Touma to practically every character and faction in the setting.
** The Pope to Fiamma of the Right. Fiamma misleads him into thinking that Touma is a threat to the world, and thus tricks him into furthering Fiamma's own plans.
** The members of Gremlin involved in the attack on Hawaii turn out to be expendable pawns to the true organisation of Gremlin. {{spoiler|It's later revealed that Othinus, Gremlin's leader, was herself an unwitting pawn to the other Magic Gods.}}
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
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*** Britain as a whole served as the Sucker, or maybe just [[Too Dumb to Live]]. The Doctor's six words ("Don't you think she looks tired?") were only to the Prime Minister's ''assistant'', the one person she should have been able to count on to defend her. Harriet Jones, to all appearances, was as popular and successful as Churchill and had just saved London from invading aliens. The ''next day'', Parliament ousts her in a vote of no confidence because she's "tired". Is it any surprise who they put into power next? They got what they deserved.
**** It was very compressed, but apart from the speed, isn't entirely unlikely. And it could be that her frantic worry about what he had said didn't help her side of things.
****
** The Daleks are admittedly pretty good at [[Incredibly Lame Pun|suckering]] the Doctor. In "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S31
*** In
**** "[[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.}}
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* Though she was fairly bad to begin with, Kai Winn in the final episode of ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' certainly seems to fulfill this role to Gul Dukat's [[Chessmaster]].
* A lot of Suckers have come and gone in ''[[Survivor]]'', but the biggest of them all would probably be Erik Reichenbach from Micronesia. In what many considered to be the dumbest move in the show's history, Erik gives away his Individual Immunity and is promptly voted off by the [[Femme Fatale|conniving female alliance]], after being conned in a transparent ploy for redemption.
** The recent season of ''[[Survivor]]'' was ''full'' of
** Russell pulls this off ''again'' in ''Heroes vs. Villains,'' this time using [[Jerk Jock|Tyson]] to break up what should have been a foolproof plan to get either himself or Parvati out of the game by tricking him into switching his vote to Parvati, which broke up the even distribution of votes that Boston Rob's alliance would have used to get either Russell or Parvati out depending on who Russell used his Hidden Immunity Idol on. Instead, Russell uses it on Parvati, who now has four votes to Russell's two... and Tyson's three. That's right, [[What an Idiot!|Tyson not only screwed up Rob's plan but ended up getting ''himself'' voted out of the game.]] Ouch.
* Bradford in season 2 of ''[[The Apprentice (TV series)|The Apprentice]]'' did the same, waiving his exemption, and was immediately fired by Donald Trump, SOLELY because he was an idiot. This is a rare example of someone becoming the victim of their ''own'' [[Batman Gambit]]. Bradford wanted rid of the terribly ineffective team leader, Ivana, but knew that he wouldn't be brought back into the boardroom since he had immunity; therefore he surrendered it, so that she'd bring him back. Unfortunately, he didn't consider what the other possible outcome of that decision might be...
* In ''[[24|Twenty Four]]'', '''everyone''' takes turns being the
* Much like ''[[24]]'', almost everyone in ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' has taken a turn as a
* The ''entire cast'' of ''[[Angel]]'' in season four. {{spoiler|They spend a whole whack of time chasing down Jasmine, hoping to free the world from her version of lovey-dovey mind-control. At the end, their victory is entirely spoiled when evil law firm Wolfram and Hart contact them saying how happy they are that they've averted instant world peace.}} Nearly everything they had done in the past seasons had led to {{spoiler|Jasmine's}} rise to power to begin with. Ironically, in the next season, the entire Wolfram and Hart becomes a sucker when Angel fools its higher-ups into thinking he is corrupted. And for giving him the means to do it, as a reward.
* In ''[[Lexx]]'', captain Stanley Tweedle's backstory, in which he was supposed to deliver what amounted to blueprints for the emperor's superweapon to the rebel forces, and instead ended up providing the emperor with the codes to deactivate the rebel's planetary defenses.
* ''[[Lost]]''
** Poor John Locke is
** He also kept juggling [[Idiot Ball
** For a devilish [[Manipulative Bastard]] and a supposedly wise ageless man, Ben and Richard too came across as total dupes; Locke, Ben and Richard, the [[Three Stooges]]?
* Both Sam and Dean Winchester on ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' have played right into the villains' hands, {{spoiler|making the [[The End of the World as We Know It|apocalypse]] possible.}} [[Driven to Suicide|Grief]]-[[Heroic BSOD|stricken]] Dean's [[Deal with the Devil]] leads to him {{spoiler|going to hell where he finally gives in to the offer to torture others to spare himself, breaking the first seal holding back [[Sealed Evil in a Can|Lucifer]]}}. Similarly screwed in the head, Sam {{spoiler|is seduced to the [[The Dark Side]] by [[The Mole|Ruby]] just enough to get him to kill Lilith, which they all expected to prevent the last seal from being shattered; in reality, she ''was'' the last seal.}} [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|What neat little bookends, guys]].
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* 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.
* Averted in [[Kamen Rider OOO]]
* 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
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* Gordon Freeman and Adrian Shepherd in ''[[Half Life]]''. We don't [[Kansas City Shuffle|exactly know what the plan is]] but that G-Man keeps laughing at us.
* In the original ''[[Guilty Gear]]'', after you defeat the sub-boss, Testament, he reveals that this was all part of his plan, since he can now use his blood to awaken Justice.
* The player character in ''[[
* Serge of ''[[Chrono Cross]]'' ''defines'' this trope. The guy can't go to the bathroom without furthering someone or [[
** Here's the short version: {{spoiler|First, Lynx manipulates him into coming to Fort Dragonia so he can steal Serge's body and release the lock on the computer system FATE (which Lynx is a [[Wetware Body]] for). The Dragon Gods and Harle get him to kill FATE to release the seal on their power, then merge into their original [[Eldritch Abomination]]-ish form and start work on annihilating all human life. Except that ''all of this'' was planned by Balthasar, because only by awakening the Dragon Gods would it be possible to create the Chrono Cross, which is the only thing that can save [[Chrono Trigger|Schala]] from [[Eldritch Abomination|Lavos]]'s hold over her.}} [[Mind Screw|Confused yet?]]
* Practically ''everyone'' in the [[Chzo Mythos]] is a
* There is sort of a subversion played on this in ''Spartan: Total Warrior'' The game, like the movie [[300]] which it shares many similarities to, consists of ridiculously epic [[Conservation of Ninjutsu|One Against Billions]] battles and sweeping, one-button-per-5-victims decapitations like a living lawnmower, all while listening to the god of war Ares's evil laughter and bloodlusty encouragement ("Hahaha, kill and kill again!"). It appears blatantly obvious to anyone familiar with button-mashing spells and swordplay epics that he will turn out to be some sort of enemy in the future, and that his plan all along was to get you to kill every Roman and his mother, but it turns out that it's only half true; {{spoiler|while Ares does indeed to turn out to be the [[Big Bad]], your genocide on the Romans was merely a distraction so that your homeland of Sparta could be destroyed while you were away. We are treated to multiple more tropes during Ares's [[Hannibal Lecture]], such as the fact that he is your [[Luke, I Am Your Father|father]] and Tiberias was merely a [[The Man Behind the Man|puppet]]. You technically did fulfill his plans for mass murder, but it was of both your enemies AND your friends.}}
* The Global Defense Initiative (okay, mostly Boyle) in ''[[Command
* ''[[Diablo]]'': This
** Even more so Diablo 2: {{spoiler|The entire game is the tale of how Marius gets manipulated by Bhaal into rescuing his soulstone from destruction at the hands of the player character, escaping the fate that his brothers suffered. Poor Marius dies in asylum cell as the horrible truth comes crashing down on him.}}
** [[Diablo III]]: Diablo's unwitting pawns? {{spoiler|''Everyone''. Except Adria, who wasn't unwitting, and may not have actually been a pawn.}}
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** It gets worse in the lead-in to Ending Four, where, after the Gods die and he gets everything he wanted as a result... he decides, apropos of nothing, that it's up to Furiae and him to become the new gods and finish their plan to destroy and recreate the world. This entire route being something of a bizarre [[Mind Screw]]...It's not clear whether {{spoiler|the giant flying man-eating babies are related to this, or just a consequence of the Gods being dead, although the game more implies the latter. Yes, really. Giant killer babies.}}
* The ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series. Multiple times.
** Terra and her comrades fall for this ''hard'' when the Empire in ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'' insists that it wants to commence peace talks. Granted, a few party members are suspicious enough to prepare a backup plan, but Terra, Locke, and General Leo swallow the plot hook-line-and-sinker and deliver a whole bunch of Espers for Kefka to turn into Magicite. Worse, this enables him to enter the Esper World and raise the Floating Continent, where the Three Goddesses are hidden away. It turns out that Emperor Gestahl was also a
** 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.
***
*** Sephiroth was also implied to be one throughout the whole game. No, not the fanon about him being used by Jenova. It was by Hojo. Hojo was implied to have set up all the events for Sephiroth to go berserk, and then was trying to aid him upon his return without Sephiroth knowing it, not simply because Sephiroth was his son, but also because Hojo wanted to see his (amoral) research blossom to full
** 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
** {{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.}}.
** Doesn't Ramza {{spoiler|end up completing Delita's [[Batman Gambit]]?}}
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** [[Final Fantasy V|Bartz]] is this, aside from being an [[Idiot Hero]]. He and his companions {{spoiler|Head into the Great Forest of Moore, in order to stop [[Big Bad|Exdeath]] from taking what's sealed inside. Turns out ''he'' waited for them to get to that world's crystals... And destroy them. Wow.}}
*** Bartz and Krile go to seek Ghido for help after {{spoiler|Exdeath is defeated and the worlds fuse together}} and at that point, {{spoiler|an innocuous-looking splinter that Krile has}} enables Exdeath to return. Having overheard the converstion, {{spoiler|he sets out to take control of the Void}}.
** Oh [[Final Fantasy IV|Cecil]]. We love the guy, but he's got a bad history with traps. First he delivers a trapped ring to the village of Mist (which, is known as the "Bomb Ring" in some versions). Then later he's approached with a [[Hostage for Macguffin]] deal, and he hands over the macguffin (assumed at the time to be the last one Golbez needed) before seeing the hostage. Then he and his group have the door to the second-to-last Underworld crystal opened because of some disturbance inside, and end up giving Golbez a way in. And ''then'', after failing to secure the (seven!) lost Crystals, they go and unseal the door to the last one, and trudge through the [[Scrappy Level]] both ways to bring it outside, only for Golbez to re-control Kain and take it at the last second. And if you include the crystal that he retrieved for Baron in the backstory, that makes him directly responsible for Golbez getting fully ''half'' of the Crystals. Sometimes, you wonder why Cecil keeps doing things, considering that the situation gets worse every time he gets close to a
** By the time [[Final Fantasy XIII]] rolls around, the main group is being ''told'' that they're Unwitting Pawns.
* [[Radiata Stories]]. [[Idiot Hero|Jack]] does [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Lucian's]] job for him. All he has to do is provide the tools and the directions.
* Non-FF Squaresoft example: Surlent from ''[[Treasure of the Rudra]]''. Being fooled by a thief is one thing, being fooled about ''once every thirty minutes'' by the very ''forces of Creation'' is another. Although it quickly becomes clear that Surlent helping the game's [[Gambit Pileup]] along (and {{spoiler|losing his body thrice in the process}}) is actually his destiny (by failing hard but consistently, he accidentally brings all of the [[
* ''[[Golden Sun]] I'' and ''II'' has Alex, who uses both parties in a massive
** Only to discover that he ''himself'' was {{spoiler|the Wise One's}}
*** {{spoiler|And in [[Golden Sun: Dark Dawn]] it's shown that he one-upped The Wise One, and is doing the same thing again. He's so good at this that in his very first appearence, he even says to the characters they're pawns, and they can't do anything about it. By the end of the game, it's clear that he's been using almost everyone of importance throughout the whole plot, including [[Those Two Bad Guys]]. And the player still doesn't have the slightest idea what his long-term goals are, as he remains [[The Unfought]].}}
** Gloriously subverted in Agatio's intro scene in ''The Lost Age'', in which he flat-out tells Alex [[Take That|to his face]] that [[Genre Savvy|he knows he's being used]], and ''just doesn't care'' as long as his goals get accomplished, too. Definitely Agatio's personal [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]], since he's otherwise one of the flattest major characters in a series known for [[Flat Character
* The ''[[Metal Gear]]'' series:
** ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater]]'' shows Naked Snake being used by the United States government into achieving their goal of gaining Russia's portion of the Philosopher's Legacy. ''Portable Ops'' has {{spoiler|Zero}} use Big Boss to defeat Gene and scare the Philosophers enough that Ocelot can gain control of their whereabouts and the American portion of the Philosophers' Legacy.
*** Portable Ops also implies that the main villain, Volgin, was himself an
** ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'' retcons many of the events previously established in the franchise. It is explained that the events of the first two ''[[Metal Gear]]'' games involved {{spoiler|Big Boss trying to create a place where individual liberty is guaranteed for everyone, instead of being a soldiers' haven. The Patriots have Solid Snake tear down both Outer Heaven and Zanzibar Land to destroy Big Boss' dream of freedom}}. The first two ''Metal Gear Solid'' games are changed to have Solid Snake again being used by the Patriots {{spoiler|and possibly Zero}} to defeat anyone who stood in their way. The Patriots by MGS4 (set in 2014) are now an {{spoiler|AI system which was supposed to continue Zero's legacy by gaining control of all of mankind using the Sons of the Patriots (SOP) system. Snake is sent in to stop Revolver Ocelot from destroying the Patriots AI system}}. At the same time, Snake and his allies are used {{spoiler|by Liquid Ocelot in his goal in destroying the Patriots AI systems, Liquid Ocelot pretending to plan to hijack the System using the AI named 'GW' and Snake and company countering it by using a virus to destroy the it, not knowing the virus as written by Naomi would destroy the remaining Patriot [[A Is]] as well}}; even if he didn't know about it or plan for it to happen, it certainly fit his goals. ''Somewhat'' averted in that his own post-Patriot vision was averted by {{spoiler|Sunny Gurlukovich, who wrote the virus to destroy the Patriot [[A Is]] but preserve key parts of modern civilization, and then, Drebin implies that Ocelot's vision of a war-torn world would still be an inevitable likely outcome despite this, that or the UN becoming a neo-Patriots/Philosophers III group}}.)
** Solid Snake was manipulated throughout the entire series. The most affecting part of the MGS4 ending {{spoiler|might be Big Boss promising Snake that there is no one left to manipulate him anymore}}.
** In ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'', Liquid's plan hinged on Snake discovering the card keys (
*** The sad thing is that, even if Liquid's plan didn't work or didn't even happen, Snake still would have been an unwitting pawn in either case: {{spoiler|According to Liquid and his Pentagon spy, the real reason why Snake was sent over to Shadow Moses was to infect most of the people on the island, both the terrorists and most of the people involved in the REX project, so the Pentagon, and presumably the Patriots, would have recovered REX and the Genome Soldiers from the island without any risk of damage, even making absolute certain that FOXDIE was injected into Snake.}}
**
*** If Peace Walker is anything to go by (and possibly ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]''), Big Boss's misinformation doesn't even come close to the fact that the Patriots essentially manipulated Snake into trying to destroy Metal Gear and take Big Boss down as an insurance policy in case they failed to either bring him back into the fold or ruin/kill Big Boss the first time by one of their agents firing a nuke at the East Coast.
** Speaking of ''[[Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker]]'', other than the brief revelation that Coldman was the deviously cunning strategist that Gene alluded to in Portable Ops, it turns out that most of the game was manipulated by Paz Ortega Andrade, even the KGB agent Zadornov hiring Snake as a distraction to force Coldman to activate Peace Walker so he could hijack it and frame America with an attack on Cuba, and she wasn't even the one who pulled all the strings: Her employers, Cipher, had planned out the entire incident just to get Big Boss to rejoin the fold, and it is also heavily implied that they also ordered Paz to frame Big Boss and MSF with nuking the East Coast when Big Boss refused the offer. They also arranged for Kaz to briefly work with them, although it is also implied that they didn't tell him about the nuke plan.
** The ending to ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]]'' implies that Solid Snake and Otacon may have ended up being [[Unwitting Pawns]] of the Patriots all along.
** [[Metal Gear Solid]]: the first game that comes to mind when you hear the words "unwitting pawn".
* The hero from the ''[[Quest for Glory]]'' series has a terrible habit of playing right into the game's villain's hands, even though he manages to fix things in the end. In ''Quest for Glory 2'', {{spoiler|he gets mind-controlled into releasing the evil djinn Iblis by the game's [[Big Bad]], then is almost trapped forever in Iblis' chamber}}. In ''Quest for Glory 3'', {{spoiler|in an attempt to bring peace between two tribes, he brings their leaders together in front of a third-party king. Then one of the leaders becomes possessed and kills the other, and is promptly killed by another person in the room, almost guaranteeing the war he was trying to stop}}. In ''Quest for Glory 4'', {{spoiler|he falls for a trick by the [[Big Bad]] from the second game, back for revenge. As a result, he ends up having to go through the motions to release a [[Cosmic Horror]] on the world}}. However, {{spoiler|Elsa Von Spielburg}} is the Unwitting Pawn in ''Quest for Glory 5''.
** The hero being the hero, he couldn't very well save the world without putting it in danger first.
** A little unfair to {{spoiler|Elsa}}? The villain tries to manipulate her, but she's far from stupid and stops cooperating pretty soon. IIRC, she's even the first to suspect the right person.
* In ''[[System Shock]] 2'', this happens often enough through the game's plot that it's practically the player's full-time occupation. However, those who had played the first game, and knew who they were dealing with, walked into the Gambit with open arms.
* ''[[Vagrant Story]]'': In a very unusual example, Ashley Riot was a
* Fei Fong Wong of ''[[Xenogears]]''. Not only was he a sucker for Solaris, the Wave Existence, his split personalities and his own prior incarnation, but even his friends manipulated him without reservations.
* Virtually every single named character in the ''[[Xenosaga]]'' trilogy is a Unwitting Pawn. This is not an exaggeration.
* The majority of the plot of ''[[Atelier Iris 3]]'' concerns three quirky teenagers trying to find [[Mineral MacGuffin|eight gemstones]] so they can open a book which will grant any wish, while helping the even-more-quirky townsfolk with their problems. What could go wrong? {{spoiler|How about nearly causing [[The End of the World as We Know It]] because you were manipulated by an evil spirit from (almost) the very beginning into wasting the only wish you get?}}
* ''[[Warcraft]]'': After slaughtering his own people and eventually letting one of his closest friends die,
** ''You'' are always an Unwitting Pawn in this game. Abercrombie in Duskwood, Myzrael in Arathi Highlands, Kalaran the Deceiver in Searing Gorge, Teron Gorefiend in Shadowmoon Valley, Drakuru in Grizzly Hills, Loken in the Storm Peaks, Athissa in the Azsuna questline and Xal'atath of Stormsong Valley are just a few examples of villains who have used Azeroth's biggest sucker - aka, your character - as an Unwitting Pawn. Seeing as being the Unwitting Pawn is part of zone progression each time, a [[Violation of Common Sense]] rule seems to be enforced. Worth noting, however, than in most of these cases, you get a chance later to go back and get revenge against whoever was behind it.
** This is also the reason Vanessa VanCleef spares you in the Westfall storyline, as you've inadvertently helped her, but she promises it won't be the case the second time.
* The main characters in ''[[Persona 3]]'' spend a good portion of the game fighting a series of [[Monster of the Week|powerful bosses that appear once a month]] only to discover that {{spoiler|Ikutsuki}} tricked them into doing so {{spoiler|by doctoring video footage of Yukari's father}} so that he could {{spoiler|[[Eldritch Abomination|summon Nyx]]}}. {{spoiler|His plan fails when he forgets about [[Spanner in the Works|the dog]].}}
* ''[[Persona 4]]'': {{spoiler|If the player doesn't choose to immediately kill him (and get the Bad Ending), Taro Namatame is revealed to be a [[Tragic Hero]] with genuinely good intentions misguided by Adachi, the [[Man Behind the Man]]. Later on he has a [[My God, What Have I Done?]] moment upon learning that the TV World was not the shelter he thought it was. But then it turns out there's an even BIGGER [[Man Behind the Man]]...}}
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** It's implied that Thrall only let the Forsaken into the Horde because they need a presence in the Eastern Kingdoms, and because the Earthen Ring suggested that they could potentially cure undeath. The Forsaken are considered allied to the Horde rather than true members.
** [[You Suck]] too. There are multiple quest chains where you're [[Stupidity Is the Only Option|suckered into doing a bad guy's bidding]]. Unfortunately for the bad guy, once they decide that you've outlived your usefulness, you [[Oh Crap|show up with friends]] and proceed to [[Spanner in the Works|beat the tar out of them and take their loot.]]
*
** The game implies that Thrall doesn't really trust the Forsaken, apparently he flat out needs them because otherwise the Alliance is too much more powerful. (Without the Forsaken and the Blood Elves, the Horde would be entirely on Kalimdor [and then Outland and more recently Northrend] which is also home to two of the Alliance races ''and'' a noticeable number of human outposts, including Jaina Proudmoore's city of Theramore Isle.) The other Horde leaders never even mention Varimathras when planning. It's very likely that nobody trusted him at all except [[What an Idiot!|Sylvanas]]. And Arthas was savvy enough to realize he was probably selling his soul and just didn't realize it was to his enemy. After all, it DID give him the power to almost destroy the Scourge. The Scarlets? Morons.
** Thrall is ''not'' fooled though by {{spoiler|Neeru Fireblade}}, who remains only at Thrall's pleasure because he doesn't have enough information to move against the Burning Blade cult, all the while convinced that ''he'' has ''Thrall' outwitted.
** Sintharia, Deathwing's only surviving consort, despises him and plots to make a new Twilight Dragonflight to take over Azeroth. It is implied that she's been manipulated by him all along, as in Cataclysm, he has reanimated her and uses her eggs to create Twilight Dragons to assist him in his plans.
* ''[[BioWare]]
** In ''[[Baldur's Gate|Baldurs Gate]] II: Throne of Bhaal'', {{spoiler|your whole party is this, killing off the other Bhaalspawn for Melissan's scheme to ascend to power.}}
** [[Knights of the Old Republic]]
*** Alhough not made by [[BioWare]], the player character from the second game counts too.
** {{spoiler|''The protagonist''}} in ''[[Jade Empire]]''. [[Magnificent Bastard|"Magnificent"]] indeed.
** In ''[[Dragon Age]]'' ''Origins'', the Dwarf Noble origin story has the player character's exile come about as a result of becoming an
** In ''[[Dragon Age II]]'', Hawke becomes an
** In [[Mass Effect]], so many of them. Notably {{spoiler|Saren Arterius and Matriarch Benezia for the Reapers}} and {{spoiler|Shepard for The Illusive Man, though you can give him a massive 'screw you' by taking the paragon ending.}}
* Happens to the player in several [[
* {{spoiler|''The protagonist''}} in ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines]]''. And with the [[Gambit Pileup]] that's going on, it's at time hard to tell exactly ''whose'' plan.
** Possibly also {{spoiler|anyone who tried to use the Ankharan Sarcophagus to gain power.}}
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* ''[[Kingdom Hearts (video game)|Kingdom Hearts]]'' - Sora. {{spoiler|Organization XIII urged him to destroy heartless so they could collect the hearts released, in order to build Kingdom Hearts. Kinda justified here...once he figures it out, he still has no choice but to continue slaying them.}}
** ''[[Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories]]'': {{spoiler|Everything he does until the 13th floor is part of the Organization's plan to wipe his memory. It would have worked, too, if not for, well...}}
** Also, {{spoiler|[[The Heartless]]}} took advantages of both {{spoiler|Maleficent and Organization XIII}} by playing on their darkest desires while pretending they were the [[
** {{spoiler|Most of the cast}} of ''[[Birth By Sleep]]'' are thoroughly manipulated by {{spoiler|Master Xehanort, Terra being the biggest sucker of them all}}, but {{spoiler|Vanitas}} is at the top of BBS trickery list {{spoiler|for playing ''Xehanort the Xanatos King'' just as he was being beaten over the head with Terra's Keyblade...[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|By Terra's AnimatedArmor, no less]].}} And all of this trickery was simply for the {{spoiler|[[Narm Charm|X-Blade]] }}. And during the game Terra gets suckered by Maleficent, Jumba, Hades, and Captain Hook. [[Genre Blindness]] doesn't begin to describe it.
* Onaga's manipulation of Shujinko in ''[[Mortal Kombat: Deception]]'' is actually the namer of the game.
* In ''[[Mitadake High]]'', you are either this or the Manipulative Bastard themselves
* In ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]'', {{spoiler|Harry Whitehorse unwittingly falls into Alexei and Yeager's plot to cause tension in the guilds by helping cause the death of Belius, and by extension, his grandfather, the Don. Belius gets better, the Don does not.}}
* Captain Gordon ('''Defender of Earth!'''), from ''[[Disgaea: Hour of Darkness]]'', thinks he is sent to defeat you in order to defend Earth, but soon discovers he's being played like a piano by his superiors and that his mission is merely a pretext for an invasion of the Netherworld.
** {{spoiler|Trumping that is General Carter, who himself was played like a fiddle by Archangel Vulcanus, who really wanted the Netherworld razed as part of his ploy to become a god. He (''along with everyone else in the plot'') was being used as a tool to fulfill [[Chessmaster|Seraph Lamington]] and [[Obfuscating Stupidity|King Krichevskoy]]'s combined [[Gambit Index|Gambit]], and had no idea how bad his own scheme fell into the puzzle until the curtain fell - on him. HARD.}}
* In ''[[Call of Duty]]: [[Modern Warfare]] 2'', {{spoiler|[[General Ripper|General Shepherd]] is revealed to have set up a five-year gambit to pit the USA and Russia against each other, so that he may lead the USA to the status as permanent ultimate world power, and be known worldwide as a "hero" for it. And he doesn't give two shits over how many millions of innocents get in his way. The man made all of the US, UK, & Russia into his Unwitting Pawns, including the player characters, one of whom (Roach) he kills after sending him to retrieve the evidence that would have exposed him as the mastermind behind the plot. Even though [[Spanner in the Works|Price & Soap managed to kill him]], it's not stated if Shepherd's plan has already succeeded. Hints suggest that [[Downer Ending|it]] [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog|did]].}}
* Copy-X, and, to a lesser extent, Zero and his [[La Résistance]] allies in ''[[Mega Man Zero]] 3''. [[Big Bad|Dr. Weil]] played them all for fools, orchestrating the new conflict between Neo Aradia and the [[La Résistance]], which was just after an unofficial truce made by Zero and the Guardians. Zero goes off to fight Copy-X to stop the conflict, and when the latter tries to go [[One-Winged Angel]], a booby-trap which Weil installed earlier on Copy-X, was activated, killing him. With Copy-X gone, Dr. Weil, the one next in power, is now the new dictator of Neo Arcadia. It was [[Lampshade Hanging|pointed out]] by Zero himself:
{{quote|
* [[The Starscream|Prometheus and Pandora]] in ''[[Mega Man ZX]] Advent''. At first, they backstabbed [[Big Bad|Albert]] and then fights Grey/Ashe. After s/he defeats them, suddenly their anguish, hatred, and despair are absorbed by [[Artifact of Doom|Model Ws]] in the background and then they collapse. The real Albert then appears, stating that the body that everyone think by "Albert" is actually a decoy, and that those negative emotions are necessary to revive and activate the Model Ws.
{{quote|
* In ''[[Star Wars]]: [[The Force Unleashed]]'', Starkiller/Galen Marek is shown to have been one when {{spoiler|Vader reveals that everything up to that point had been planned by himself and [[Manipulative Bastard|Palpatine]] to have Stakiller assemble a proto-Rebellion. It didn't matter if his goal was to stay loyal to Vader and "distract" the Emperor, or if he thought he was fooling Vader and genuinely attempting to form a rebellion, his only purpose was to get them together in the same place at the same time.}} It only fails because {{spoiler|Juno and PROXY are jointly the [[Spanner in the Works]]}}, one sacrificing himself to distract Vader as he's {{spoiler|about to kill his apprentice}} and the other rescuing him after his fall. The ending also implies that {{spoiler|Vader was also an
* ''Apollo Justice: [[Ace Attorney]]'''s {{spoiler|Klavier Gavin}} is the
* General Morgahn during much of ''Guild Wars: Nightfall''. Once he learns the truth about Varesh, however, he helps defeat her and joins the player character's team as an NPC. The PC also spends a fair bit of time being this during various schemes in ''Guild Wars: Prophecies''.
* Harry spends most of ''[[Silent Hill 1]]'' being Dahlia's Sucker, but his unwavering love for his daughter is also what causes him to be the [[Spanner in the Works]]. Depending on which of the [[Multiple Endings]] you get, you can argue the same for the protagonists of the other games: passively taking directions from everyone [[Silent Hill 2|and their dog]] at every turn, but fully capable of [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|killing]] the local [[Eldritch Abomination]] when push comes to shove.
* ''[[
* Warhammer40000 : [[Dawn of War]] ends with Gabriel destroying [[Diabolus Ex Machina|Maledictum]], {{spoiler|which turns out to be prison of Daemon of Khorne.}} Forces of Chaos used unknowing Gabriel as an Unwitting Pawn in their scheme {{spoiler|to free the Daemon}}.
* In ''[[Prototype (video game)|Prototype]]'' [[Humanoid Abomination|Alex]] [[Person of Mass Destruction|Mercer]] spends most of the game unknowingly aiding the plans of people who want him dead. {{spoiler|First, he frees Elizabeth Greene, thinking she's just another victim. As it turns out, she's the [[Hive Queen]] behind the virus. Then, he tries to help his ex-girlfriend, Karen Parker, by providing her with biological materials from the infected. As it turns out [[Armies Are Evil|Blackwatch]] has coerced her into working for them, and that genetic material Alex collected gets turned into a parasite which almost kills him. Then, Blackwatch Captain Cross tricks him into going to a location where they hit him with both [[Deadly Gas|Bloodtox]] and [[Super Soldier|D-Codes]]. Finally, the Supreme Hunter consumes Cross, and uses that form to get Alex to kill off the Blackwatch leadership, and in an attempt to catch Alex off-guard so that the Hunter might eat him}}. Our [[Heroic Sociopath]] manages to overcome all this because he's a [[Badass]], but he does come across as a bit of a gullible idiot.
** 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|
* {{spoiler|The new leader of Team Plasma, N,}} is shown to be this in [[Pokémon Black and White|
* 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
* Dear lord, Zelenin from [[Strange Journey]]. [[Manipulative Bastard]] [[Dragon with an Agenda|Mastema]] and [[Council of Angels|The Three Wise Men]] play her like a fiddle all the game, playing on her insecurities and fears in a terribly blatant manner, which she always blissfully ignores, until either their plans come to fruition or she's been reduced to holy dust.
* In the old FPS/RPG ''[[Strife]]'' you get hit with this in the bad ending, {{spoiler|Blackbird, your [[Voice with an Internet Connection]], is revealed to be the Entity and has been using you to free her}}.
* {{spoiler|Ace, or Gentarou Hongou}} from ''[[Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors|Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors]]'', {{spoiler|ends up being used by Zero to mop up the other [[Corrupt Corporate Executive
* ''[[Last Scenario]]'', in its grand quest to [[Playing with a Trope|break]] RPG plots, couldn't possibly leave this one alone. However, unlike most of the tropes it targets, it's not [[Subverted]]- it's {{spoiler|exaggerated. Not only is Hilbert doing exactly what the Kingdom wants him to do for the first half of the game, he was set up as a hero ''purely'' for this purpose. The entire [[Heroic Lineage]] spiel was [[Unreliable Expositor|lies]], and in falling for it hook, line, and sinker, Hilbert was doing exactly what they wanted.}}
* In ''[[Dungeons
* In Fable 2, the protagonist spends his entire LIFE trying to stop the [[Big Bad]] Lucien from rebuilding an ancient tower of magical doom. Once {{spoiler|Lucien is dead, Theresa, who guided him through this quest, reveals that she was just using Lucien to rebuild the spire and using you to defeat Lucien so she could claim the spire herself}}.
* Happens to the player characters in ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' games way too often. Then again, the only manipulators who you can't get bloody revenge against in these games are the untouchable Daedric Princes, and they at least compensate you for your work with cool artifacts.
* In ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'' the reason that you're told to try and keep President Kimball and General Oliver alive if you're working for Mr. House or Yes Man is that after the NCR gets the boot from Vegas their citizens will be quick to blame them for waging a costly and unpopular war while still capable of being on decent enough relations with Vegas to do trade.
* Edge in ''[[Panzer Dragoon]] Saga'' spends the whole game being used by the Seekers, the Empire, and by Craymen, since he's the only dragon rider aside from Azel atop Atolm Dragon.
* Patroklos Alexander from ''[[Soul Calibur]] V'' is the son of legendary Holy Warrior Sophitia Alexandria and has pledged himself to hunting the 'malfested' who slew her and kidnapped his elder sister. {{spoiler|So he winds up killing the human enemies of Graf Dumas, an alias of what amounts to the grand-daddy of all malfested... the Azure Nightmare himself.}}
* {{spoiler|Dimentio}} does this to Mario and co. in [[Super Paper Mario]]:
{{quote|
** To make it worse, [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|this speeds up The Void]], to the point where it [[
* The Player Character is this in ''[[Dark Souls]]''. No matter what you do, by beating the game you're just a pawn in an [[Ancient Conspiracy]] and [[Forever War]] regarding whether the Age of Fire should continue or end.
* [[Pirate Girl|Risky Boots]] from the ''[[Shantae]]'' series; from ''Risky's Revenge'' onward, manipulating others to meet her goals has pretty much been her MO in every one of her schemes.
▲== [[Visual Novels]] ==
* Mary in ''[[Shikkoku no Sharnoth]]'' is obviously the pawn of multiple competing factions, but doesn't realize it fully until well into the story.
* In the [[Homestar Runner|Strong Bad Email]] [http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail98.html 'stupid stuff'], Strong Bad makes a bet with Kevin Grumbles that he can make Homestar say something intelligent. In desperation, he tries saying something nonsensical (''[[Word Salad|"I say there, Homestar...butt's twelve by pies?"]]''); as it turns out, Homestar apparently made his ''own'' bet with Kevin Grumbles that he could make Strong Bad say something stupid, and Strong Bad just won it for him. The real kicker is that Kevin actually wanted Strong Bad to make Homestar say something ''stupid'', but Strong Bad thought that too little challenge. Perhaps he should've asked an insultingly simple math question. He could have at least gotten Coulomb's law out of it. He also gets suckered in the game ''Strong Badia the Free''. {{spoiler|He spends the entire game trying to become the new king, only to find out that it was all a ploy by the King of Town to get Strong Bad stuck in the castle and the King in Strong Bad's position.}}▼
▲== [[Web Animation]] ==
▲* In the [[Homestar Runner|Strong Bad Email]] [http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail98.html stupid stuff], Strong Bad makes a bet with Kevin Grumbles that he can make Homestar say something intelligent. In desperation, he tries saying something nonsensical (''[[Word Salad|"I say there, Homestar...butt's twelve by pies?"]]''); as it turns out, Homestar apparently made his ''own'' bet with Kevin Grumbles that he could make Strong Bad say something stupid, and Strong Bad just won it for him. The real kicker is that Kevin actually wanted Strong Bad to make Homestar say something ''stupid'', but Strong Bad thought that too little challenge. Perhaps he should've asked an insultingly simple math question. He could have at least gotten Coulomb's law out of it. He also gets suckered in the game ''Strong Badia the Free''. {{spoiler|He spends the entire game trying to become the new king, only to find out that it was all a ploy by the King of Town to get Strong Bad stuck in the castle and the King in Strong Bad's position.}}
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]:''
** Miko Miyazaki {{spoiler|leads the villains to Azure City and allows them to discover the location of [[McGuffin|Soon's Gate]]. She kills Lord Shojo, leaving the city more vulnerable to attack. Then she ''destroys Soon's gate'' when the villains are on the verge of losing, giving them a chance to escape certain death}}. And all the while, she believes that she's following the will of the ([[Lawful Good]]) gods
** Vaarsuvius has now turned into one, when {{spoiler|s/he attacked Xykon with his newfound power, knocking him [[Orcus on His Throne|off his throne]], exactly as the fiends who granted hir that power planned.}}
** As it turns out, {{spoiler|''Xykon himself'' is this to Redcloak, who's been playing humble servant all these years in order to get Xykon to aid in completing the Plan (which, it seems, doesn't aid Xykon's own goals ''at all''.}}
***
* Sillice of ''[[Drowtales]]'' when {{spoiler|Kalki tells her that the Nidraa'chal she's just fighting are just a diversion for the enemies that are currently most probably killing the Val'Sharess. Sillice then barges into the ravaged tower, confronts one of her sisters ([[Guilt by Association Gag|the only one NOT included in this plot]]) and then gets accused of having killed all the guards in an attempt to overthrow her mother, and has to run away to exile with their mortal enemies. No one suspects the ones that are truly pulling the strings: Snadhya'rune, Sarv'swati and Zala'ess, who get off scot free and take control of the clan while pretending their mother is still alive.}}
* Terezi of ''[[Homestuck]]'' is usually [[Awesome By Analysis]], but she's recently fallen into this at the hands of {{spoiler|Gamzee, who she has no idea turned evil}}.
** Absolutely everyone to {{color|#2ED73A|D}}{{color|white|o}}{{color|#2ED73A|c Scratch}}. There's a ''reason'' he calls people who aren't [[The Omniscient|omniscient]] "suckers." Which is taken
* Nick in the "Surreptitious Machinations" arc of [[General Protection Fault]]. The entire plan hinges on him being isolated from his friends and building the "Project Velociraptor" to power Trudy's energy weapons, enabling her and C.R.U.D.E. to take over the world. He's also [[Horrible Judge of Character|one of the only ones who still trusts Trudy]], so the heroes have to try to convince him to see the truth.
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== [[Web Original]] ==
* In ''The Normal Innocent Bystander's Survival Guide'', point 17 is:
{{quote|
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''Challenge Of the [[Superfriends]]'': In one of the more [[So Bad It's Good|infamous]] plots from the series, the Legion of Doom collaborates with a group of Venusians to rework Earth's climate into something more tropical. To this end - in what may be ''the'' single most contrived [[Gambit Roulette]] in history - they enact a series of disasters, and the Superfriends play right into their hands when their attempts to stop them result in ''filling the atmosphere with steam, flooding the western hemisphere, and moving the Earth out of its orbit''.
* Xanatos used to make suckers out of the ''[[Gargoyles]]'' many a time by turning their hatred of him to his advantage.
* In ''[[Transformers Armada]]'', almost every major non-human character takes a turn being one of these, as would be expected when [[The Mole]] happens to be a [[Manipulative Bastard]].
* In season 4 of the 2003 ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', both the turtles and the [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] Agent Bishop are suckered ''royally'' by the Foot Mystics/Shredder's Heralds, resulting in the ''entire plot'' to season 5.
* Danny from ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' becomes one of these almost every time he encounters Vlad Masters. Usually Vlad hints at what he's going to do right away, and Danny fails to understand and plays right into his hands anyway. Surprisingly, Valerie was an even ''bigger'' sucker than
* Timmy from ''[[The Fairly
* In ''[[Xiaolin Showdown]]'', Omi ends up playing right into Chase Young's hands in the second season, {{spoiler|temporarly becoming his apprentice}}.
* [[Kim Possible]] found herself in this position in ''So The Drama'', when it was revealed that [[Romantic False Lead|Erik]] was really [[The Mole|a "synthodrone"]] working for Drakken. As Ron observed, "Drakken didn't win, he played you." An even more direct case was in the episode "Hidden Talents", where Drakken created fake messages from [[Mission Control|Wade]] (as well as sending a virus to the real Wade) to get Kim to [[MacGuffin Delivery Service|bring him]] one of Dementor's inventions. He also attempted to do it a second time after he forgot to tell Kim to get the adaptor plug, but the second time didn't work as well due to Wade debugging his computer.
* Harold in ''[[Total Drama Action]]'', when choosing to listen to ''Courtney and Duncan'' of all people, in order to vote off {{spoiler|Leshawna, ''his love interest''}}.
* Where Sinedd from ''[[Galactik Football]]'' goes, intergalactic conspiracy is sure to follow.
* Scooby Doo in episode 16 of [[Scooby Doo Mystery Inc]]; Pericles used Scooby's need to save the town to further his own plan to find the Cursed Treasure of Crystal Cove.
* In one episode of [[Batman: The Animated Series]], a businessman builds a casino...themed after [[The Joker]]. Joker is understandably incensed, a breaks out of Arkham to punish this act of image-theft by blowing up the joint. As Batman discovers, the businessman had spent too much on his building, and gave it a Joker-theme so the Joker would do just that, and then cash in on the insurance.
== [[Real Life]] ==
* Napoleon III, who got played by every second-rate power in Europe, and some overseas. He certainly
* Supposedly, the only relatively foolproof reason for letting yourself be recruited as a spy is to do it for the money. Any other motives (Freedom, Nationalism, the Workers' Revolution, whatever) expose you to being played as an unwitting double agent, mole, or agent provocateur by the people you oppose.
** This is NOT a "[[wikipedia:Useful idiot|useful idiot]]," which is when (usually overt) support for a third party's nominal, moderate, public goals is cynically manipulated by the latter to advance their more closely-held, radical and secret goals. The "idiot" part comes from them being [[The Quisling]] without realizing that's what they're doing. They claim to love their country/faction/family/4-H club, but their actions and words say
* ...''You''.
** [[Giggling Villain|Mwihiwhih]]....[[Evil Laughter|MWAHAHAHAHA!]]
** Huh. I figured I was a [[Spanner in the Works]].
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Gambit Index]]
[[Category:Evil Gloating]]
[[Category:Betrayal Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Unwitting Pawn]]
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