Unwitting Pawn: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

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]].

 

{{examples}}

== [[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}}.

* 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.]]

* 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]] and [[Complete Monster]] that he is (yes he's both), plays everyone like a fiddle in order to get what he wants. At one point, he has a town of Unwitting Pawns as he moves them to the point where they all start massacring each other.

 

 

 

 

* 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?}}

** Not to mention ''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.