Red Herring Mole: Difference between revisions

{{examples|Examples:}}

* The monster of ''[[The Thing (Filmfilm)|The Thing]]'' mimics target animals, including humans. However, over the course of the movie, the various people which are hinted to be the monster (and suspected of being the monster by the others) are all proved to be human.

* In the middle of [[Agatha Christie (Creator)|Agatha Christie]]'s ''[[And Then There Were None (Literature)|And Then There Were None]]'', one of the characters mysteriously disappears. He/she ''could'' have been offed by the serial killer in their midst, but the other characters can't find his/her body or even any sign of him/her anywhere else on the island. Aha! He/she must be the killer, hiding somewhere that the others can't find! That assumption's shot down when {{spoiler|the surviving characters find his/her body washed up on the shore. The line of the [[Nursery Rhyme]] referring to the character's sequential death even states that he/she was done in by a Red Herring, having been set up by the ''actual'' killer.}}

* In the [[Reality Show]] named ''[[The Mole (TV series)|The Mole]]'', the object is to identify [[The Mole]] among the contestants. Since failed guesses at the Mole's identity get players eliminated from the game, players will often pretend to be the Mole to trick their competitors into guessing wrong.

*** And, because the Mole would not be obvious about his task, players don't want to make it obvious they are failing on purpose. They want to make it seem like they are doing subtle sabotage ''badly.'' Anyone who is clearly failing on purpose is clearly a [[Red Herring Mole]] and not the real Mole. (That is, unless the real Mole thought you would think that, and is making himself [[Hidden in Plain Sight|so obvious you will overlook him]]. Yeah, it's [[Gambit Pileup|that kind of show]].)

{{quote| '''Giles:''' Wait... you think I'm evil if I go on a camping trip with young girls and ''don't'' touch them?}}

* ''[[Black AdderBlackadder]] Goes Forth'' has Johann Schmidt, in a hospital where there's believed to be a spy. He speaks with a HEAVY German Drawl. Also leads to this.

{{quote| [[Keet|George]]: "Have you seen any German spies?"<br />

Schmidt: "Nein, nein!"<br />

* In ''[[Paper Mario: theThe Thousand Year Door (Video Game)|Paper Mario the Thousand -Year Door]]'', the player is given every reason to think Jolene is responsible for the mysterious disappearances around the Glitz Pit. {{spoiler|Nope, it's Grubba, the Glitz Pit's manager; turns out Jolene was snooping around to find evidence of Grubba's evil plot to expose him.}}

* Gorath in ''[[Betrayal Atat Krondor]]'', a dark elf who joins the humans for the good of his own race, is suspected of being a double agent for much of the game, with several unfortunate (and no doubt orchestrated by his enemies) incidents painting him in a highly suspicious light. When the party arrives in Romney to find the Krondorian Lancers brutally murdered, one of the witnesses reports of someone sharing Gorath's name and description supposedly being seen there earlier, much to James' fury. Later, when Gorath and Owyn are captured by Delekhan, the former is treated somewhat like a spy who has failed in his tasks. Owyn is unsettled by the idea but concludes that he still needs Gorath's help to get out of there alive, whatever his real loyalties might be.

* In a particularly nasty example for a kid's show, ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' has {{spoiler|Wasp, who is framed as a traitor and spends over fifty years in prison. The real traitor gets away with it and eventually gets [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|promoted to chief of intelligence]].}}