Uriah Gambit: Difference between revisions

 

See also [[Unfriendly Fire]] for a more hands-on approach that can work in both directions. When you send someone out with an item that attracts danger, that's the [[Trouble Magnet Gambit]]. When you do this [[Driven to Suicide|to yourself]], it's [[Suicide by Cop]].

{{examples}}

 

* In ''[[Code Geass]] R2'', {{spoiler|Lelouch tries to get Rolo killed several times as punishment for trying to replace Nunnally (and the Shirley incident), but he keeps surviving. For further irony, when Rolo ''did'' die, it was through a heartwrenching ''[[Heroic Sacrifice]]'' to save Lelouch's life ''after Lelouch admitted he had been trying to kill Rolo''... and Lelouch ended up genuinely forgiving him.}}

* Askeladd from ''[[Vinland Saga]]'' uses this gambit to facilitate an even larger [[Xanatos Gambit]] to remove a rival from the game.

* The plot of ''[[Area 88]]'' starts with Kanzaki tricking Shin into enlisting in the Aslan Foreign Legion in the middle of a civil war in order to have a shot at Shin's girlfriend, Ryoko.

* In [[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|the 2003 anime adaptation]] of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', after {{spoiler|Lior's Destruction by Scar's Philosopher's Stone Array}} and Alphonse telling to Roy that {{spoiler|Fuhrer King Bradley is a Homunculus}}, the main villain has {{spoiler|Pride}} send Roy, his squad and Armstrong to another war, so {{spoiler|one of the homunculi}} can shoot them during the battle and blame it on their enemies.

* In ''The Memoirs of [[Sherlock Holmes]]'' story "The Adventure of the Crooked Man", the victim was overheard arguing with his wife, and she was heard to say the name David. It turned out that she was alluding to the Biblical story described above; her husband had done something similar to a romantic rival thirty years earlier.

* In ''[[Vorkosigan Saga|Shards of Honour]]'' by [[Lois McMaster Bujold]], the (failed) invasion of Escobar is used by Emperor Ezar to [[Offing the Offspring|dispose]] of [[The Caligula|Crown Prince Serg]] and weaken the faction supporting him.

* {{spoiler|''The Sign of the Broken Sword''}} by [[G. K. Chesterton]]. An interesting twist on both tropes: The murderer, {{spoiler|General St. Claire, [[Unfriendly Fire|killed]] his victim first, and then planned otherwise pointless assault so that it would happen at exactly the same spot, thus hiding his victim among other casualties.}}

* In the ''[[Codex Alera]]'' series by Jim Butcher done a couple times. First by {{spoiler|Lord Aqutaine}} with the {{spoiler|Crown-loyal soldiers}}. Then {{spoiler|Gaius Sextus}} does this to {{spoiler|Lord Rhodes, in revenge for his part in murdering Septimus}}.

* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s ''[[Gaunt's Ghosts]]'' novels, this often happens to the ''entire regiment'', usually when someone wants to get rid of "Gaunt and his damn Ghosts". (In the worst cases, they resort to [[Unfriendly Fire]].)

* In [[Graham McNeill]]'s ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' [[Horus Heresy]] novel ''Fulgrim'', when Vespanian complains to Fulgrim that the captains who should have been supporting Captain Demeter didn't, and if it weren't for the intervention of other men, the captain and his men would have died, he realizes that this was exactly Fulgrim's intent. {{spoiler|Then Fulgrim kills Vespanian.}}

** This was also the reason that Palpatine supported the [[Outbound Flight]] project. Eighteen Jedi, six of them Masters, heading off on a dangerous mission into the Unknown Regions... why, ''anything'' could happen out there. The fifty thousand civilians with them? Too bad.

* In ''Strength and Honor'', the emperor of Rome packs his space fleet ([[Recycled in Space|yes, you read that right]]) with political enemies. [[Surprisingly Elite Cannon Fodder|If they win, good. If they lose, good.]]

* In ''Flashman and the Mountain of Light,'' the Sikh ruling class deliberately starts a war with the British empire so that their unruly and regicidal army will be slaughtered.

* Felix Cortez plans to do this in [[Clear and Present Danger]], sending Cartel fighters against the American soldiers while building his own loyal group of fighters to take over the Cartel. The plan get interrupted in the story by other events.

* In ''[[The Hunger Games]], Book II, Catching Fire'', President Snow has a problem; many districts are beginning to rebel, using Katniss as their inspiration. An obvious death would just incite them further. What can he do? {{spoiler|Just [[Blatant Lies|coincidentally discover that the Quarter Quell makes her fight in The Games again]].}}

** {{spoiler|The [[Not So Different]] president Coin tries this on Katniss in ''Mockingjay'' by sending her into battle with someone [[Brainwashed and Crazy|brainwashed by the Capitol to want to kill her]], hoping that she will die and become a martyr for the rebel cause, as opposed to a possible rival.}}

** For another attempt at Fireheart's life, Tigerclaw orders him to try and cross a flooded stream using a spindly branch caught in the water. When Fireheart's right in the middle and Longtail isn't watching, he tries to [[Make It Look Like an Accident]] by knocking the branch loose from the rock it's caught on. Longtail saves Fireheart from drowning.

* In the [[Shadowrun]] novel ''Lone Wolf'', the undercover cop protagonist mouths off to the war chief of the street gang he's infiltrated, and nearly falls prey to this trope the next time he's sent on an errand for the gang. He lampshades the analogy between his predicament and Uriah's.

* Done in the [[Mirror Universe]] novel [[Star Trek TNG|Dark Mirror]] to mirror![[Doomed by Canon|Jack Crusher]] by Evil!Picard to take possession of Beverly. Original!Picard is horrified to learn this.

* In ''[[Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince]]'', both Narcissa Malfoy and Dumbledore think that Voldemort's main goal when he assigned his mission to Draco was to have Draco killed trying, as a punishment for Lucius' past failures.

** In ''Pool of Radiance'', the first of the Gold Box games, you could hire NPCs to go with you. Hire until you get two guys in plate armor, then 'accidentally' cast a sleep spell too close to them, which makes them die immediately when hit by the enemy. They have magic plate armor and swords. "Oops, I'm too low level to resurrect you, but I can use animate dead", and get two free fairly powerful zombies you don't have to pay, and once they finally get hacked to pieces, some nice armor and swords...

* The first mission given to you by Prince LaCroix in ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines]]'' is a variation of this trope; once he realizes killing you in public would become a PR nightmare, he gives you a mission that would simply get rid of you... And if you by some incredible good stroke of fortune happen to succeed, well, [[Xanatos Gambit|that suits his purposes just as well]]. {{spoiler|The last mission he gives you, which consists of making you find Nines and then setting fire to the forest next to your meeting place so the werewolves'll get you both, is an even better example.}}

* In ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' II, you find out that the Battle of Malachor V was like this too. Revan stacked the fleet with Jedi and soldiers who might oppose his upcoming rise to power. Only one Jedi survived the battle.

* Pretty much guaranteed to come up at least once per game in the [[Total War]] series of games, especially if you choose the longest campaign options. Disloyal generals may be bribed with wives and titles, but your sons can't. And since the consequences of attempting to assassinate your own heirs can be dire (even moreso as they tend to have 0-3 loyalty before you even think of putting the option on the table), this is the more desirable outcome. For those who haven't played it, heir succession follows the actual rules of the eldest son first. This is especially a problem for Ireland where the average loyalty seems to be 1 or 2 and not 4 or 5. Upon crowning the new king, you'll likely have a civil war on your hands if you can't get them killed. May also be used to remove an eldest son who has numerous birth defects, which negatively impacts your economy and general loyalty when he's crowned.

*** And in the Oosawa manga, Eltoshan's wife [[Derailing Love Interests|is derailed]] into a [[Clingy Jealous Girl]] who gives Lachesis permission to join Sigurd's crew ''in open hopes to get her killed in battle'' so she'll be forever away from the older brother she has [[Brother-Sister Incest]] vibes with. Lachesis immediately notices and is saddened, but she decides to keep fighting anyway.

{{quote|'''Sigurd''': "Telling your husband's little sister to go off to war... [[Lampshade Hanging|What is Mistress Iria thinking]]?!"}}

* In ''Oblivion'', one of the Mage's Guild leaders has you go pull a ring out of the bottom of a well. A ring that happens to weigh as much as a full suit of armor. One of your predecessors is floating around in said well when you dive in. {{spoiler|Guess which Mage's Guild leader turns out to be working with the Necromancers?}}

* In ''[[Liberal Crime Squad]]'', Conservative enlightened too late are tagged "wanted for rehabilitation", and if they are arrested, they will spill the bean on their recruiters. So there are 2 ways to deal with them: Send them to a minor and crime free safehouse to do some tame stuff (like legal fundraising), or send them to their death (like ordering them to sell brownies until they run into the Police Gang Units, or better, the Death Squads, and make them fight to the death, or just showing up at a Conservative place naked and armed with molotovs.)

* Teryn Loghain Mac Tir of ''[[Dragon Age Origins]]'' is known for this, he doesn't like the way that King Cailan runs things, so what does he do? {{spoiler|He withdraws backup in the fight with the darkspawn, letting Cailan, and most of the Grey Wardens, along with a good chunk of Ferelden's army get slaughtered.}}

{{quote|

'''Seth:''' You see, power shifts quickly in the Brotherhood. Kane has been loath to attack America, but I think now is the time, and you are the one to do it. [[Hopeless Boss Fight|This is the Pentagon]]. [[Blatant Lies|A full-scale attack with your strongest forces should render the military control center]] [[Killed Mid-Sentence|ino]]-

'''Kane:''' [[Bond One-Liner|Yes. Power shifts more quickly than some people think.]]

}}

* Any soldier that you take a dislike to in [[X Com]] will most likely end up being the first one through the doors of a UFO.

 

* In ''[[Invader Zim]]'', the Tallest, the leaders of the Irkens, send Zim to "invade" an uncharted area they assume has no planets in it, inhabited or otherwise, because they don't want him [[Spanner in the Works|screwing up any invasions]]. [[Hilarity Ensues|It turns out to be Earth]].

** And in a later episode, they send him to a harsh alien boot camp in the hope that he'll be killed, while at the same time holding a betting pool on how long Zim will last. Not only is Zim the only member of his training unit to survive, but the Tallest end up losing an extremely large amount of money to the one guy who bet on Zim surviving.

* The ''[[Veggie Tales]]'' adaptation had Uriah [[It Got Worse|hold his ground]] [[Refuge in Audacity|and win the day single-handedly]]--but suffers from some severe post-traumatic stress. Granted, he was unlikely to be [[Cool and Unusual Punishment|killed by pies]] in the first place...

* In one episode of ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', an Earth Kingdom soldier mentions that one way the Fire Nation deals with war prisoners is dressing them up in military uniforms and sending them to the front lines without weapons.

** Also suspected by suspicious fans is that Ozai sent Zuko away on a [[Snipe Hunt]] ''hoping'' that he would get killed sooner rather than later, so that Ozai could have him out of his hair permanently without getting his hands dirty. Well, dirtier.

 

== Real Life ==

* [[Truth in Television]]. The Soviets are suspected of taking advantage of the Warsaw Uprising that way (they claim they were just out of gas, but they also refused landing to supply planes from the Western Allies). They allowed the fighters in the city to bleed out, then they occupied the city destroyed by German soldiers. Between the early Soviet failure in Poland, splitting it with Reich (which "officially" started World War II) and "rail war" on Soviet territory, it's reasonable to assume Stalin would expect problems there and wanted the place to be as weakened as possible by the time Red Army's supply will move through it - and setting up one enemy to attack another is something he did all the time.

* In the [[Second Sino-Japanese War|Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945]], the Chinese Nationalist government, in an effort to "use space to buy time" repeatedly held back their best-equipped and most loyal forces and left the nominally nationalist-aligned warlords and bands of civilians to fight the Japanese alone and in guerrilla warfare. The Communists did their best to avoid combat and leave the hard fighting to the nationalists, building their strength whilst launching grassroots publicity campaigns emphasizing their comparative willingness to fight the Japanese directly.

** The Chinese have a long and proud history of playing "let's you and him fight" in war and politPolishics. Initially a very minor player in party politics, Mao originally came to power as the most powerful surviving leader of the Communists; he had left most of his rivals and their followers to face the purges of the Nationalists alone and be massacred, taking care of the remainder himself. During the Vietnam War, the PRC played both sides, sought to prolong the war as long as possible to ingratiate themselves with the North Vietnamese and weaken the US (who they wanted off of their borders).

* Very popular method as used by Ottoman rulers: Untrustworthy generals were sent to invade Europe, often resulting in [[Xanatos Gambit|win-win situations]]. For the Sultan, that is.

** Another interpretation is that Nazi Regime simply wanted to fight the UK and USSR one after another without these two being allies; USSR wanted to delay the war as much as possible and maybe have an army able to shoot and having guns by then; and the UK would like to be somewhere across the channel from whatever fight would break out (no fight would also be acceptable). All three failed.

** During the war, one of the key points of contention between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies was what the Soviets perceived as a delay in the Western Allies opening up a second European front to take some of the pressure off the Eastern front. The Soviets pretty much accused the Western Allies of this trope, suggesting that they were delaying as long as possible to make sure that the Nazis and Soviets essentially fought each other to the death.

** Actually, it was a win-win situation for the US. The revolution broke out at about the same time as the Suez crisis, so the US and the Soviets made a quiet deal that if the US leaves Hungary alone, the USSR leaves the canal's vicinity alone. Basically, the Soviets sacrificed a strategic advantage in the Mediterranean in exchange for keeping US forces out of the communist bloc and preventing a [[Escalating War|potential escalation]] to a nuclear exchange. Don't forget, this is the [[Cold War]] we're talking about, Mutually Assured Destruction and all.

** The [[wikipedia:Prague Spring|Prague Spring]] and following [[wikipedia:Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia|invasion]] was also a win-win result for the USA.

*** Communist parties in Western Europe began to break away from the Soviet position and formed more independent beliefs.

* In 1968, the [[Magnificent Bastard|Mexican government]] manipulated the army into committing the [[wikipedia:Tlatelolco massacre|Tlatelolco Massacre]] by positioning armed agents from one faction of the army within the crowd of protesting students and convincing the rest of the army that the students were firing at them.