History Main / ObviousJudas

* In ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', Rourke's status as the villain should probably be evident to anyone vaguely familiar with this kind of film: the macho guy in the military uniform with the FemmeFatale girlfriend on an archaeology expedition that preaches the value of understanding is probably the bad guy, especially since the movie [[OnlyOnePlausibleSuspect doesn't really have another character to fill the antagonist role]]. He's also not involved in a scene focusing around the whole crew bonding, which alone should be a red flag. Once he's said "this changes ''nothing''" upon learning there are people in the ruins, it's pretty much confirmed. It's ''somewhat'' more surprising, albeit less plot-relevant, that the rest of the crew is in on it (only briefly, though). When he pulls a gun on Milo, Milo isn't so much surprised as he is angry with himself for not realizing Rourke probably came for more than the scenery.
* ''WesternAnimation/Incredibles2'': The true identity of Evelyn Deavor as The Screenslaver was very obvious from early on in the film with several red flags ranging from having vague motivations to recruiting Elastigirl into promoting superheroes, to constantly having and snobbish attitude, and making weird evil looking faces often. Evelyn’s name is also has the similar type of pronoun fiat ion as the words "evil endeavor".

* Despite ''looking'' very evil, Clayton from ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'' isn't actually revealed to be evil until about fifteen minutes until the end of the movie. Not helping is the fact that he was an antagonist (albeit a more sympathetic one) in the original ''Tarzan'' stories.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'''s villain, Charles Muntz, is barely even a twist. On top of his nasty-looking dogs and somewhat off-putting demeanor, he's really the only character in the movie who ''could'' be the main villain, due to [[MinimalistCast how small the cast is]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': King Andrais Leviathan's status as the series' WalkingSpoiler villain was so blatantly and excessively foreshadowed that viewers started making many theories about him right after his first appearance, where he's seen moving a chess piece resembling protagonist Anne Boonchuy on a chessboard, and then kneeling down to a sinister-looking entity, which is later revealed to be The Core. And that's without mentioning the indications present in Andrais' aesthetic, as he's covered in dark-colored, battle-scarred armor, has [[WhiteHairBlackHeart white hair and a beard]], and is voiced by Keith David, who's known to have portrayed numerous villains in his career. Andrais' last name is also a dead giveaway, as "leviathan" is a word used to describe autocratic monarchs who are tyrants. When the Season 2 finale's episode was announced to be titled "True Colors", the betrayal Andrais was going to commit was basically spoiled out, and became not as exciting of a twist as the reveal that Marcy Wu duped her friends into going to Amphibia because she didn't want to lose them from moving away from home.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': King Andrais Leviathan's status as the series' WalkingSpoiler villain was so blatantly and excessively foreshadowed that viewers started making many theories about him right after his first appearance, where he's seen moving a chess piece resembling protagonist Anne Boonchuy on a chessboard, and then kneeling down to a sinister-looking entity, which is later revealed to be The Core. Indications of Andrais' morality are even present in his aesthetic, as he's covered in dark colored, battle-scarred armor, has [[WhiteHairBlackHeart white hair and a beard]], and is voiced by Keith David, who is known to have portrayed numerous villains in his career. Andrais' last name is also a dead giveaway, as "leviathan" is a word used to describe autocratic monarchs who are tyrants. When the Season 2 finale's episode was announced to be titled "True Colors", the betrayal Andrais was going to commit was basically spoiled out, and became not as exciting of a twist as the reveal that Marcy Wu duped her friends into going to Amphibia because she didn't want to lose them from moving away from home.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': King Andrais Leviathan's status as the series' WalkingSpoiler villain was so blatantly and excessively foreshadowed that viewers started making many theories about him right after his first appearance, where he's seen moving a chess piece resembling protagonist Anne Boonchuy on a chessboard, and then kneeling down to a sinister-looking entity, which is later revealed to be The Core. By the time the Season 2 finale's episode was announced to be titled "True Colors", the betrayal Andrais was going to commit was basically spoiled out, and became not as exciting of a twist as the reveal that Marcy Wu duped her friends into going to Amphibia because she didn't want to lose them from moving away from home. Indications of Andrais' morality are even present in his aesthetic, as he's covered in dark colored, battle-scarred armor, has [[WhiteHairBlackHeart white hair and a beard]], and is voiced by Keith David, who is known to have portrayed numerous villains in his career. Andrais' last name is also a dead giveaway, as "leviathan" is a word used to describe autocratic monarchs who are tyrants.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': King Andrais Leviathan's status as the series' WalkingSpoiler villain was so blatantly and excessively foreshadowed that viewers started making many theories about him right after his first appearance, where he's seen moving a chess piece resembling protagonist Anne Boonchuy on a chessboard, and then kneeling down to a sinister-looking entity, which is later revealed to be The Core. By the time the Season 2 finale's episode announced to be titled "True Colors", the betrayal Andrais was going to commit was basically spoiled out, and became not as exciting of a twist as the reveal that Marcy Wu duped her friends into going to Amphibia because she didn't want to lose them from moving away from home. Indications of Andrais' morality are even present in his aesthetic, as he's covered in dark colored, battle-scarred armor, has [[WhiteHairBlackHeart white hair and a beard]], and is voiced by Keith David, who is known to have portrayed numerous villains in his career. Andrais' last name is also a dead giveaway, as "leviathan" is a word used to describe autocratic monarchs who are tyrants.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': King Andrais Leviathan’s villainy status was so blatantly and somewhat excessively foreshadowed towards viewers of the show that they started making many theories about him right after his first appearance it’s foreshadowing over him which shows him moving a chessboard with a piece with Anne Boonchuy on it like a chess master. Then he is seen kneeling down to a sinister looking entity, which is later revealed to be The Core. By the time the season 2 finale’s episode title was revealed to be named “True Colors”, the betrayal Andrais was going to commit was basically spoiled out and became not as exciting of a twist as the reveal that Marcy duped her friends into going to Amphibia because she did not want to lose them from moving away from home. Other blatant indications of Andrais’ morality is even shown in his attire as his typical appearance has him be covered in dark colored, battle scarred armor, having hair and a beard that are both colored white, and having the voice of Keith David, who is known to have portrayed several villains in his career. Andrais’ last name is also a dead giveaway as leviathan is a word used to describe autocratic monarchs who are tyrants.

* They are young, but have [[WhiteHairBlackHeart white hair]] that makes them look a bit too much like [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]]

So why suspect them? They express traits that seem ObviouslyEvil; perhaps they speak in a CreepyMonotone and wear an OminousOperaCape, or they have [[WhiteHairBlackHeart white hair]] that makes them look a bit too much like [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]], or they constantly go on monologues about how the world is imperfect and corrupt and needs to be cleansed of its impurity, or they wear ScaryShinyGlasses, or they are the one [[NiceGuy Nice Guy/Girl]] in a well-established WorldOfJerkass, or their [[MeaningfulName name]] is something like "[[Myth/ArthurianLegend Mordred]] M. [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast McTraitor]]" that makes them sound like a CardCarryingVillain, or they have way too much of a resemblance to that [[MalevolentMaskedMan mysterious masked villain]] who menaces the heroes and are clearly [[TwoAliasesOneCharacter the same person]] with a PaperThinDisguise that the heroes somehow don't see through, or they just look like a DastardlyWhiplash. When they finally betray the heroes, you say, "IKnewIt"

The writers may have ''intended'' the audience to feel uneasy about Mx. Suspicious and anticipate a betrayal, creating a sense of suspense. However, ObviouslyEvil character traits are not the best way of accomplishing that goal.

For some reasons, VideoGames are often prone to this. A possible explanation among many is that games focusing on a limited number of characters' [[PointOfView Points of View]] will have the villain often introduced as an ally as a way to justify giving them more on-screen time and fleshing out their relationship with the protagonist. Naturally when this same template is used too much times, the audience will begin to foresee the pattern.

* Vegeta in the Majin Buu arc of ''Anime/DragonBallZ''. DoubleSubversion. Due to everyone knowing he's a giant {{Jerkass}}, and still pretty evil, and making more than his normal "evil" behavior during this specific time, he was expected to do this. The subversion is that it appears he was FORCED into his FaceHeelTurn, then the other comes from that he used a rather elaborate BatmanGambit to get Babadi to target him, thus making him a Judas in the sense of the trope.
* {{Defied|Trope}} with Hiei from ''Manga/YuYuHakusho''. Everyone except Yusuke believed that he would betray the group during the Saint Beasts arc, however this proved not to be the case once the demon tells the Saint Beasts to go to hell. Yusuke's trust had a ''weird'' effect on Hiei. Later, in the Chapter Black arc everyone is ''startled'' when Hiei goes 'stop the tunnel to Demon World? Screw that, I want to go home,' and ditches the rest of the team. He comes back and saves Yusuke's life less than a week later, though. And then he and Hiei beat the snot out of each other for a while, and then they're friends again. Even after the team splits up.

* It's not difficult to figure out that Shou Tucker from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' is hiding a dark secret, what with Colonel Mustang's sombre recount of what happened to a chimera capable of understanding human speech that he transmuted, the ScaryShinyGlasses, and his asocial personality that leaves his little daughter feeling lonely. {{Subverted|Trope}} in that ''how'' depraved he really is succeeds at being genuinely horrifying.

* ''WesternAnimation/Incredibles2'': The true identity of Evelyn Deavor as The Screenslaver was very obvious from early on in the film with several red flags ranging from having vague motivations to recruiting Elastigirl into promoting superheroes, to constantly having and snobbish attitude, and making weird evil looking faces often. Evelyn’s name is also has the similar type of pronoun fiat ion as the words “evil endeavor”
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie2TheSecondPart'' parodies this. Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi has an entire VillainSong about how she's MostDefinitelyNotAVillain, and she seems to basically be the Lego equivalent of an EldritchAbomination, which makes the ominous music playing as she calls herself "the least evil queen in history" even more blatant. Even Wyldstyle points out how her song is basically just one long SuspiciouslySpecificDenial. It then subverts this, as it turns out she's actually a genuinely good being who happens to have a degree of BlueAndOrangeMorality -- she doesn't get that she comes across as an Obvious Judas. It's even {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by her [[TheDragon Dragon:]]
-->'''Wyldstyle:''' Why didn't you guys just tell us that?\\
'''General Mayhem:''' We ''tried!'' The Queen sang a whole song about how not evil she was!\\
'''Wyldstyle:''' THAT WAS THE ''TRUTH?!'' YOU GUYS ARE TERRIBLE COMMUNICATORS!!!\\
'''General Mayhem:''' I know...

* The ''Literature/HarryPotter'' novels love to {{subvert|ed trope}} this with Professor Snape. Severus Snape is Harry's least favorite teacher, and for a good reason -- he's heavily biased against Gryffindors in general and Harry in particular, and never stops trying to get the boy in trouble. But every time he's a suspect in some mystery, he's actually a RedHerring. In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'' he seems to be planning to steal the titular object and threatening Quirrel about it -- but Quirrel is the actual plotter, and Snape was investigating him (Quirrel even lampshades that Snape made a good smokescreen by swooping around and acting suspicious). He's eventually revealed to be a former Death Eater, and ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'' has him swear an Unbreakable Vow to help Draco kill Dumbledore and following through -- which a flashback in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' reveals was a MercyKill after Dumbledore contracted a curse that would kill him soon anyways.

* A strange sort of {{subversion}} in ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}''. That Mordred will one day kill Arthur is a ForegoneConclusion, one that Merlin learns about as early as the first series. By the time an adult Mordred reappears in the fifth series, Merlin is nearly beside himself with paranoia, certain that the young knight is playing some sort of long con to get in good with King Arthur before betraying him. As it turns out, Mordred is completely genuine in his loyalty and affection for Arthur and all his creepy behaviour and ominous looks are just incidental. His betrayal comes when Arthur has his [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Childhood Sweetheart]] executed for treason, thus leading Mordred on an arguably justified (to some degree) RoaringRampageOfRevenge.

* ''Series/{{NTSFSDSUV}}'': Parodied and double subverted in an episode where Robert Picardo shows up playing a creepy, sinister tech expert who just so happens to have shown up after [[TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch "the mysterious untimely death of the previous tech expert"]]. Nobody except Sam seems to notice his suspicious behavior (like making headless dolls of the entire team), who later confronts him about it and is immediately proven wrong when the guy acts shocked at the suggestion and it turns out he is NotEvilJustMisunderstood. Then the final scene shows that he and Agent Trent were both behind the episode's plot.

* Subverted in ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids''. Jim, who is playing Qui-Gon Jinn, is convinced Sio Bibble is this since he has a goatee and is an advisor to the queen which means he must be an EvilChancellor. He wasn't.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'':
** Subverted with Asami. She's incredibly obviously designed to look like she may be secretly evil; her beauty, having paler, sharper features than the heroine and being more [[MakeupIsEvil traditionally feminine]], [[RichBitch wealth]], [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver red and black clothing]], [[CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds striking up a relationship with the guy Korra's interested in]], and being the [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter daughter]] of their enemy's EvilGenius accomplice all mark her as the person who turns out to be evil to the shock of the characters but not the audience. Surprisingly. Asami in fact turns out to be nothing of the sort, and remains one of the most noble characters in the show. Apparently in the early stages, the writers planned for her to be an Equalist spy, and when they changed their minds saw no reason to change her character design. Even ''more'' subverted in the last season, where she becomes Korra's LoveInterest.
** Played straight, however, with Korra's [[EvilUncle Uncle Unalaq]] in Season 2, who comes across as very eerie and manipulative right off the bat, not to mention having two CreepyChild kids. Naturally, as usual for this trope, Korra and almost everyone else totally trusts him despite his sinister presence. Korra's father stands out as the OnlySaneMan for being suspicious of his brother's motives, but naturally [[CassandraTruth Korra doesn't listen to him]].
* Bismuth of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' is introduced as an old war comrade and friend of Garnet and Pearl, but savvy fans suspected something amiss given that Bismuth had been bubbled and left in Lion's mane, inaccessible to the rest of the team, who assumed that she was shattered in the war. She also fits in a little too perfectly with the main team in a show [[StatusQuoIsGod that generally doesn't give secondary characters much screen time]]. Ultimately downplayed in that she's revealed to be a WellIntentionedExtremist instead, whose disagreements with Rose Quartz (and eventually Steven) over Bismuth creating a weapon capable of easily murdering their enemies ended up becoming physical. Her episode ended with Steven leaving a better impression on Bismuth than Rose Quartz had, and her being re-bubbled for the next two seasons before Steven releases her once more.

* Sigurd from ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline''. He pushes Leafa around, even outside the terms of their original agreement, and when Kirito intercedes on her behalf, [[DisproportionateRetribution Sigurd threatens to kill him]] while Kirito is unable to fight back due to being in an enemy city (Which unlike in SAO won't [[TheMostDangerousVideoGame actually kill him]], but since death in ALO has an apparently steep EXP penalty, this is quite a KickTheDog moment), [[PragmaticVillainy only stopping when his underlings point out that there are people watching]]. It's thus fairly obvious that he's the traitor to the Sylphs, although the twist is more about the existence of one, rather than the traitor's identity.

* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'': Tsumugi Shirogane is a self-proclaimed plain, background-esque character whom no other student generally gave attention to until she's revealed as the killing game's mastermind in the final chapter. Her status as an OutOfFocus archetype was meant to hide that reveal in favor of other forms of {{Foreshadowing}}, but for many players (newcomers and past ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' fans alike), that's exactly what gave her away. By Chapter 4, Tsumugi was the only character who didn't help or hinder others in any investigation or trial (not to mention that she was hardly accused of anything), which led players to consider her as the last available option for the mastermind's identity, since nothing else was done with her character so far whereas everyone else already had a role to play.

* Dio from ''VisualNovel/VirtuesLastReward'' is somewhat of an in-universe example of this. He's a haughty {{Jerkass}} with a [[SirSwearsALot potty mouth]], a mysterious background, and a tendency to cause trouble. Because of this, even the ''other characters'' don't trust him. Since they're all playing a DeadlyGame that is [[PrisonersDilemma built on trust]], just about everyone voting against Dio votes "betray." So the reveal that he's a terrorist leader who's planted bombs in the warehouse isn't exactly surprising. This is in sharp contrast to [[VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors the game's predecessor]], where the Big Bad [[BitchInSheepsClothing managed to hide themselves rather well]].

* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'': Miyo Takano is the BigBad posing as Oyashiro-sama. She consistently appears right before or after the arc takes a dark turn storywise, continually makes ''incredibly'' unsettling and downright psychotic comments related to Oyashiro-sama and Hinamizawa's history, and her method of death in all arcs is her body being found burnt to a crisp, which as early as the second arc is revealed to have happened before the Watagahashi festival, where she appeared, even happened, obviously signifying a fake body (by comparison, the other victim, Tomitake, was found with his throat torn out). And in the sixth arc, she is the one who provides Rena with the theory/lie that the curse of Oyashiro is actually aliens, causing her to become paranoid and turn against the others, which was almost certainly intentional on Miyo's part. The only way to not see the answer is that the game hints that Takano is possibly a kind of malevolent spirit, befitting the horror vibe of the first three arcs. As soon as it becomes clear that the supernatural elements of the story are largely a RedHerring and all the mysteries have grounded explanations, her being the mastermind is almost ''comically'' obvious.
* Played with in ''VisualNovel/CemeteryMary''. The central mystery is the identity of the [[SerialKiller Blackwood Butcher]]. In all three routes, Reginald Tetra seems nice at first but starts acting very suspiciously; he regularly purchases antifreeze (the usual murder weapon found in the Blackwood Butcher cases) and rat poison, constantly tries to bring the titular heroine to places while not telling her where they are, acts ''too'' nice to her, keeps disappearing to "make calls" to "clients", and is a coffin-maker with a morbid fascination for making a coffin to fit Mary in, among other things. Twila Sophio, the AmateurSleuth on the case, is convinced that he is the culprit... and is so adamant about it (and a jerk in general) that the player is likely to dismiss him as a RedHerring. But no, [[TheUntwist he really is the killer]].
* ''VisualNovel/HeartOfTheWoods'': Evelyn Fischer is the BigBad behind the curse. She's rather cold toward not just Tara and Madison, but also her own daughter, Morgan. A lot of her lines contain thinly veiled death threats against Madison. As a result, if there's any character among the human cast who comes off as a candidate for the villain, it's her. The game doesn't even treat this as much of a surprise, since Madison is unsurprised after Abigail tells her that Evelyn tricked her.

** ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney'': The [[HangingJudge Lord Chief Justice]], Mael Stronghart. He's surrounded by ClocksOfControl everywhere he goes, constantly waxes poetic about [[OrderIsNotGood law and order]] and how great his new forensic investigation team is, has an ominous {{Leitmotif}}, and once talks Ryunosuke's ear off for [[NapInducingSpeak several hours]] about how much he wants to become the Attorney General to [[WellIntentionedExtremist stamp out all the crime in Britain]]. Even the game calls him "a thoroughly intimidating man". True to form, he's the mastermind behind pretty much everything bad that happens across the entire duology, save for case 1-3 and 1-5, which revolve more around the BigBadDuumvirate of [[LoanShark Magnus McGilded]] and [[TheCracker Ashley Graydon]].

* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'': Tsumugi Shirogane as the Mastermind. The fact that she was an extremely plain background character was meant to hide it, but for many fans, that's what gave her away. By Chapter 4, she was the only character to not help or hinder any investigation or trial, which led fans to believe she was the last available option for being the Mastermind since nothing else was done with her character so far and everyone else already had a role to play.

* In the 1954 adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/AnimalFarm'', the design of Napoleon makes it far too evident that he is or will become the bad guy, especially if you compare him with the other pigs.

* ''Film/FantasticFour2015'': Even those viewers unfamiliar with the comic book source material can't have been too shocked when the villain turned out to be the guy named '''[[DrFakenstein Dr. Victor]] [[DarknessVonGothickname von]] {{Doom|yDoomsOfDoom}}'''.

* ''Film/FantasticFour2015'': Even those viewers unfamiliar with the comic book source material can't have been too shocked when the villain turned out to be the guy named '''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Dr. Victor von Doom]]'''.

* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole: [[WebVideo/CriticalRoleCampaignOne Vox Machina]]'' has Cassandra de Rolo, Percy's sister. Mysteriously spared by the Briarwoods despite her involvement in two previous failed rebellions against them, and after they'd casually slaughtered the rest of her family. And the Briarwoods had previously been shown to employ various forms of mind control magic. This was so obvious that even the players saw it coming a mile away, trying numerous tricks to try and get her to admit her allegiance or sever the Briarwoods' control over her, and ultimately only begrudgingly taking her along after deciding it was less dangerous to have her nearby where they could keep on eye on her. Sure enough, she betrays the party at the first opportunity. There was a slight twist though, that she actually ''wasn't'' mind controlled, but had simply been broken by the Briarwoods after years of torture and was aiding them out of a survival response, and with enough effort Percy is eventually able to convince her to make a genuine HeelFaceTurn. The animated adaption, ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfVoxMachina'', doesn't even try to hide it, revealing her relationship with the Briarwoods before the heroes even encounter her.

* ''FantasticFour2015'': Even those viewers unfamiliar with the comic book source material can't have been too shocked when the villain turned out to be the guy named '''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Dr. Victor von Doom]]'''.

* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole: [[WebVideo/CriticalRoleCampaignOne Vox Machina]]'' has Cassandra de Rolo, Percy's sister. Mysteriously spared by the Briarwoods despite her involvement in two previous failed rebellions against them, and after they'd casually slaughtered the rest of her family. And the Briarwoods had previously been shown to employ various forms of mind control magic. This was so obvious that even the players saw it coming a mile away, trying numerous tricks to try and get her to admit her allegiance or sever the Briarwoods' control over her, and ultimately only begrudgingly taking her along after deciding it was less dangerous to have her nearby where they could keep on eye on her. Sure enough, she betrays the party at the first opportunity. There was a slight twist though, that she actually ''wasn't'' mind controlled, but had simply been broken by the Briarwoods after years of torture and was aiding them out of a StockholmSyndrome-esque survival response, and with enough effort Percy is eventually able to convince her to make a genuine HeelFaceTurn. The animated adaption, ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfVoxMachina'', doesn't even try to hide it, revealing her relationship with the Briarwoods before the heroes even encounter her.

[[\folder]]

** ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheMonsterOfMexico'': Mr. Smiley is so cartoonishly, obviously evil, that the film treats it as a given that he was one of the culprits.
[[/folder]]

For some reasons, VideoGames are often prone to this. A possible explanation among many is that games focusing on a limited numbers of character PointOfView will have the villain often introduced as an ally as a way to justify giving them more on-screen time and fleshing out their relationship with the protagonist. Naturally when this same template is used too much times, the audience will begin to foresee the pattern.

* During the Xyrus Academy Arc in ''Literature/TheBeginningAfterTheEnd'', it's painfully obvious that Kai Crestless, one of Arthur's fellow Disciplinary Committee members, isn't someone to be trusted. His presence makes Arthur feel uneasy (especially since Arthur can't sense his powers), he suspiciously takes up bigger patrols than the other members of the committee all on his own, and at one point, when Arthur asks him about his unique powers, he casually threatens to kill him. Sure enough, he is revealed to be TheMole for the Radicals (who are under the sway of the Vritra) and he ends up helping kickstart the attack on Xyrus that marks the conclusion of the arc. The Webcomic version makes his true colors the more obvious by giving him a perpetual sinister leer on his face that screams SmugSnake. However, both Kai (alongside Lucas Wykes, another student who was Arthur's enemy as an adventurer and also ends up falling under the sway of the Vritra) are meant to obfuscate who among Arthur's classmates will end up becoming one of his greatest enemies in the future.

* The ''Literature/HarryPotter'' novels love to {{subvert|ed trope}} this with Professor Snape. Severus Snape is Harry's least favorite teacher, and for a good reason -- he's heavily biased against Gryffindors in general and Harry in particular, and never stops trying to get the boy in trouble. But every time he's a suspect in some mystery, he's actually a RedHerring. In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'' he seems to be planning to steal the titular object and threatening Quirrel about it -- but Quirrel is the actual plotter, and Snape was investigating him (Quirrel even lampshades that Snape made a good smokescreen by swooping around and acting suspicious). He's eventually revealed to be a former Death Eater, and ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'' has him swear an Unbreakable Vow to help Draco kill Dumbledore and following through -- which a flashback in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' reveals was a MercyKill after Dumbledore contracted a curse that would kill him soon anyways.

** For the North Roose Bolton. He's on the "good" side of the Starks, but comes from a long-time rival of House Stark that still brags about how they would flay their enemies alive, and even has the flayed man as their sigil, along with living in the [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Dreadfort]]. He's also constantly described as creepy, being very pale and having a quiet, whispered voice due to his frequent leechings (even holding a meeting while naked and being leeched), and has a number of weird habits.
** The Freys have the reputation of being up-jumped, self-important and loyal only when it suits them. This reputation was galvanized when they obeyed their oath of loyalty to the Tullys during Robert's Rebellion only ''after'' it became clear that the Tullys were going to win anyway. Also, most of the Freys are described as very unattractive, many reassembling their weasel-like common ancestor, Lord Walder Frey. Also many of them are very unpleasant, from the abrupt and rude [[BastardBastard "Bastard" Walder Rivers]], the thuggish and fierce Hosteen Frey, the scheming [[EvilCripple "Lame" Lothar Frey]], and the brutal "Black" Walder Frey. The trope is confirmed when Walder switches sides against the Tullys and Starks, and then has them slaughtered. Ironically, some of the nicer Freys, such as [[NiceGirl Roslin]], are described as being relatively attractive.

* ''Literature/TheJenkinsverse'': In-universe. A Corti doctor (who humans call "Grizzly") is ordered to offer his services to Adrian Sanders, the most dangerous human alive, and then report all his activities to the Corti government. Grizzly knows that he'll be discovered sooner or later, so after bouncing some ideas off someone else, he walks up to Adrian's pirate crew, [[HonestyIsTheBestPolicy tells them he's a spy]], and offers them his services. The pirates are careful not to mention anything particularly important around Grizzly, and Grizzly is careful to stay far away from anything that might be considered important.
* ''Literature/AngelsOfMusic'' actually manages to use this as a ProphecyTwist. The prophecy is "One of us is a traitor. One of us is not what she seems" and the twist is [[spoiler: that these are two separate statements, and the traitor is ''exactly'' what she seems]].

'''Lysanderoth:''' ''[wearing a monocle and sporting a moustache]'' This world is imperfect...\\

'''Dennis:''' ''[in disbelief]'' Is anybody else listening to this?\\