8,347
edits
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (Fixed image/caption markup) |
|||
(11 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:
[[The Hero]] has come upon an [[Innocent Bystander]] trapped in a [[Tailor-Made Prison]] by a wicked monster. The prisoner may plead with the hero to be set free, telling him all about the horrors the tyrant has inflicted upon him, or the prisoner may just hang in sorrowful [[Unwilling Suspension]] in his terrible bonds. Once the hero sets the prisoner free, it quickly becomes apparent that he was tricked.
The '''False Innocence Trick''' (aka [[Fake Good in A Can]]) is when a villain or monster locked away for a good reason feigns innocence or being a good guy in order to fool the hero into letting him go. Typically the villain will prey on the hero's good will and strong moral fiber while doing this by making himself and his story as sympathetic as possible. He often is also counting on the fact that the hero [[Did Not Do the Research]] or has come from a time/place far enough away to not know who the prisoner really is.
Contrast the more common [[Decoy Damsel]], and [[Disguised Hostage Gambit]] for when a villain makes a genuine prisoner look like a bad guy.
Line 11:
== Film ==
* ''[[Star Trek V:
{{quote|
* In ''[[Phantasm Oblivion]]'', in a dream, the Tall Man is caught by a noose and he begs the protagonist, Michael to cut him down.
{{quote|
'''Michael:''' No!
'''The Tall Man:''' I won't hurt you.
'''Michael:''' You're killing the world!
'''The Tall Man:''' I'll go away... and I won't ever come back [gives mischievous grin]
'''Michael:''' You will?
'''The Tall Man:''' Yes. }}
Line 29:
== Live Action TV ==
* ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'' TOS episode "[[The Twilight Zone
* ''[[
** There was an episode where the sisters try to save a man trapped in a painting, but it turns out he was evil all along.
** Another episode sees the sisters trying to save demon children from their ice cream truck prison.
* ''[[Star Trek:
** When Captain Picard was [[Alien Abduction|abducted by aliens]] in "Allegiance," {{spoiler|one of his fellow abductees is really a member of the alien race that captured them}}.
** Troi, O'Brien and Data were [[Grand Theft Me|bodyjacked]] by noncorporeal beings in "Power Play." They claimed to be survivors of a Starfleet vessel that had crashed on an uncharted world about two hundred years before. {{spoiler|They were actually convicted criminals}}.
* In the ''[[The Outer Limits]]'' episode "Quality of Mercy", Major Stokes and a female cadet are held prisoner on an alien world. She is taken for more experiments and wants just to die. At the climax, we find {{spoiler|the woman is really an alien spy -- and the man just told the aliens humanity's battle plans}}
* In the ''[[
** The fact that they killed a guy at the start of the episode should've been a clue. How? By possessing a guy's dead mother and having her choke her son.
* ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'': This is how we meet our first Vorta, Eris, as a "prisoner" of the Jem'Hadar.
== Tabletop RPG ==
* ''[[Dungeons
** In "The Mansion of Mad Professor Ludlow" in ''Dragon'' magazine #42, the player characters are Boy Scouts investigating a haunted house. In one room is what appears to be an innocent maiden chained to the wall. She is actually a [[Horny Devils|succubus]] and very hungry.
** In the original [[Greyhawk]] campaign, the demon lord Fraz-Urb'Iuu was trapped in a stone prison below Castle Greyhawk. He finally tricked two adventurers into performing several heroic deeds to free him, and rewarded them by taking them to his home plane on the Abyss as his slaves.
Line 49:
== Video Games ==
* In ''[[Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub
* In one quest in ''[[Oblivion]]'', you can buy a house, only to find that it's haunted. Investigation reveals the corpse of a lich (imprisoned for being evil) who claim's he's [[The Atoner|turned good]] after having time to reflect on his crimes. Unfortunately [[Stupidity Is the Only Option]] if you want to complete the quest.
* ''[[Paper Mario:
** [[Subverted Trope|It is also implied that they themselves are being forced to curse you]], [[Loophole Abuse|yet choose to do so in a manner such that the "curse" is more of a blessing in disguise.]]
* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', there's a quest in the Arathi Highlands where you're contacted by an earth princess named Myzrael, who seeks your help to escape her confinement. To free her, you kill some of her guardians and release her from her crystal prison, where you find out that she's evil. Sort of subverted though, in that she was driven to madness by the Old Gods, and now resides in Deepholm, where she is once again sane and good.
* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
* Happens on two different occasions in ''[[
** The first time is while escaping from [[Big Bad|Irenicus]]' dungeon. You run across an imprisoned man in a [[Gilded Cage|rather luxurious]] cell, with a large number of booby-trapped treasure chests to boot. If you let him out, he shortly afterward reveals he's a doppelganger and attacks, with rather predictable results.
** The second time is about halfway through the game, when {{spoiler|Yoshimo, who had (potentially) joined you near the start, reveals himself as a [[Sixth Ranger Traitor]] for Irenicus, due to a geas placed on him. The next time you meet him after that, there is no way around [[Killed Off for Real|killing him off for real]]}}.
Line 62:
* In ''[[Shadowgate]]'', the room with the Golden Horn is also occupied by a beautiful young woman who is chained to the wall. If you try to grab the Horn, the "prisoner" will transform into a vicious werewolf that tears you apart. The only clue that something is off with the prisoner is that the description notes that she looks beautiful in [[Lunacy|moonlight]].
* This is the main plot point in the 2004 ''[[Bards Tale]]'' game.
* In ''[[Batman: Arkham Asylum]]'', you can see Clayface in a glass cell. But in fact, he [[Shapeshifting|changes his appearance]] each time the camera wanders away from him and tries to trick you into releasing him. Good thing the game doesn't offer you the opportunity to free him, or this troper would have done it.
== Webcomics ==
* In ''[[
** Agatha does rescue him eventually, after learning some unflattering things about their mutual 'host'. He helps her escape at a later date in return. And then he tries killing her, so she throws him out of an airship. As it turns out, Othar is hardly a 'fake good'; [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|his definition of 'good' just differs slightly from hers]].
* ''[[Rusty and Co.]]'' Sir Malevolus of all people [http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-8-87/ tried] to pull it. On someone who was there when he was arrested, at that.
{{quote|'''Stabs''': ...I ain't that gullible. Better luck next time, okay? }}
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Teen Titans (
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Sealed Index in A Can]]
[[Category:Good Is Dumb]]
[[Category:Infernal Tropes]]▼
[[Category:Rule of Drama]]
[[Category:Hidden Badass]]
Line 83:
[[Category:Betrayal Tropes]]
[[Category:Horror Tropes]]
[[Category:
[[Category:
|