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Unwitting Pawn: Difference between revisions
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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]].
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* 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.
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* 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 Unwitting Pawns. Thomas Covenant is saddled with the role of Unwitting Pawn for the entire duration of the first and second trilogies, knowing that Lord Foul's plan hinges on the destructive and harmful actions he takes, but helpless to do otherwise because there are no good alternatives.
* 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.}}
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* 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 ''[[BioShock (series)]]''. However, this is justified, as the player character {{spoiler|is being mind controlled by Atlas/Fontaine from the very beginning, so he had no control over his actions. At least, until Dr. Tennenbaum snaps him out of it}}.
* 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 Unwitting Pawn in some way. Practically a testament to how incredibly good Chzo is at this [[Magnificent Bastard]] business.
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** In ''[[Dragon Age II]]'', Hawke becomes an Unwitting Pawn of {{spoiler|Anders, a ''party member''}} in a scheme to {{spoiler|start a war between the Templars and Mages.}} Since ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' is [[Darker and Edgier]] than other Bioware games, the scheme ''works'' regardless of Hawke's actions afterwards.
** 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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** Also, {{spoiler|[[The Heartless]]}} took advantages of both {{spoiler|Maleficent and Organization XIII}} by playing on their darkest desires while pretending they were the [[mook]]s. {{spoiler|Maleficent}} never figured it out but {{spoiler|the Organization}} did, but kept playing the game for their own purposes.
** {{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.}}
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* 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.
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* {{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]]s who ran the Nonary Game 9 years ago.}}
* ''[[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.
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* 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 Danny—her entire ghost hunting 'career' was started by Vlad as part of a gambit and just became the gift that kept on giving for him and all his plans. She was NOT happy when she found out the truth.
* 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.
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