History Main / GideonPloy

Strength in numbers can be good. Having a vast force at your disposal can be very intimidating to the opposition. It can make you seem like you have great control over the situation and [[{{WeHaveReserves}} plenty of backup]] if things get ugly.

But what do you do when you don't have a whole bunch of [[{{Mooks}} mooks]] on your employee roster? If it's [[{{FiveManBand}} just you and some friends]] or even a [[{{OneManArmy}} solo act]]?

Well that is where the Gideon Ploy comes in! Through clever acting, disguises, misdirection, decoys, and other such feats, you make the opposition think you have more in your ranks than you actually do.

* This is how Túrin joins the Men of Brethil in Literature/TheChildrenOfHurin. He comes across a group of them being attacked by orcs in the forest so he hides in the bushes making enough noise to sound like a small army and leaps into action acting like a [[FrontlineGeneral captain leading his troops]]. The orcs run away and are killed by Túrin and the Men of Brethil who then get confused as to why Túrin's men are taking so long to join the battle.

* Our TropeNamer, of course comes from the Book of Judges in Literature/TheBible, where Gideon leads an army of only 300 [[strike:Spartan]] Israelite warriors against the Midianites, who are described as having wall-to-wall camels. Gideon's night-time ambush and making his army seem far bigger than it was, aided by some holy PSYOP support from God, resulted in the Midianites slaughtering each other.

[[folder:TV Series]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]
* ''{{VideoGame/Starcraft}}'': The High Templar's Hallucination skill creates an illusion of the target, which can be used to fool the enemy into attacking to protect the real unit.

* In ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'', during ''The Scandal in the British Empire'' arc, Sherlock rushes to save Irene Adler from The Lord of Crime, but doesn't actually want to involve the police. Instead, he rustles up the Baker Street Irregulars, John Watson, and some shoddy costumes to acts as if the police are coming.
** Slightly subverted in that Albert didn't buy the ploy for a minute.

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
* An inversion in ''Film/ThePatriot'', where Benjamin Martin and his men dress up scarecrows as Redcoat officers and hold them at gunpoint within full view of General Cornwallis' camp, specifically to convince Cornwallis that they held a large number of English officers captive so they could exchange the "officers" for Colonial prisoners Cornwallis had. It works, much to Cornwallis' later consternation.

* Used twice during the UsefulNotes/SengokuPeriod, first by UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga at the Battle of Okehazama, with Nobunaga setting up a decoy army and then sneaking around to attack the enemy from a back route, and then again by UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu when under siege by the Takeda Clan, having only five men (and a few ninjas) at his disposal. He had one man light all the braziers on the castle walls, throw open the gates, and start beating a massive drum, causing the Takeda to hesitate, after which Ieyasu sent out UsefulNotes/HattoriHanzo. Needless to say, he survived.

* Used twice during the UsefulNotes/SengokuPeriod, first by UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga at the Battle of Okehazama, with Nobunaga setting up a decoy army and then sneaking around to attack the enemy from a back route, and then again by UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu when under siege by the Takeda Clan, having only five men (and a few ninjas) at his disposal. He had one man light all the braziers on the castle walls, throw open the gates, and start beating a massive drum, causing the Takeda to hesitate, after which Ieyasu sent out UsefulNotes/HatoriHanzo. Needless to say, he survived.

* An inversion in ''Film/ThePatriot'', where Benjamin Martin and his men dress up scarecrows as Redcoat officers and hold them at gunpoint within full view of General Cornwallis' camp, specifically to exchange the "officers" for prisoners Cornwallis had. It works, much to Cornwallis' later consternation.

* This is how Túrin joins the Men of Brethil in Literature/TheChildrenOfHurin. He come across a group of them being attacked by orcs in the forest so he hides in the bushes making enough noise to sound like a small army and leaps into action acting like a [[FrontlineGeneral captain leading his troops]]. The orcs run away and are killed by Túrin and the Men of Brethil who then get confused as to why Túrin's men are taking so long to join the battle.

-->--''[[Literature/TheBible Judges 7:18]]''

** General George Washington used this tactic in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution as well.

* The battalions of inflatable decoys in WorldWarTwo served this purpose.

** Referenced in ''Literature/TheGunsOfTheSouth'', where Forrest, during a parley, tries to convince a time-traveling enemy soldier to surrender. The enemy laughs, figuring that Forrest will employ this trope; Forrest responds "I used tricks when I was weak; I ain't weak now."

* During UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, this was one of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest's favorite tricks. On one occasion he had his men turn logs into "cannons"; on another his soldiers marched within view of the enemy, then when they got out of sight they looped back around and marched past again.

->''"When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, 'For the LORD and for Gideon.'"

* Our TropeNamer, of course comes from the Boom of Judges in Literature/TheBible, where Gideon leads an army of only 300 [[strike:Spartan]] Israelite warriors against the Midianites, who are described as having wall-to-wall camels. Gideon's night-time ambush and making his army seem far bigger than it was, aided by some holy PSYOP support from God, resulted in the Midianites slaughtering each other.

* The main characters of BurnNotice sometimes employ this tactic, especially when they need to fool someone into thinking that Team Westen is actually a large and far-reaching secret agency.

-->--''[[{{TheBible}} Jdg 7:18]]''

* Our TropeNamer, of course comes from the Boom of Judges in TheBible, where Gideon leads an army of only 300 [[strike:Spartan]] Israelite warriors against the Midianites, who are described as having wall-to-wall camels. Gideon's night-time ambush and making his army seem far bigger than it was, aided by some holy PSYOP support from God, resulted in the Midianites slaughtering each other.