History Main / StealthMentor

* Deconstructed in the ''Fanfic/SleeperHitAU'': "Eraserhead" Aizawa [[PointOfDivergence kicks Izuku Midoriya out of UA in the very first day of school (the Quirk Apprehension Test)]] justifying it as Izuku being Quirkless and then he secretly helped Izuku enter another Hero school where he obtained his license and hit the ground running on the Hero ratings list. Aizawa's idea was to give Izuku's place to his protege Shinzou, who is most definitely not happy to discover that Aizawa demolished a kid's dreams out of some misplaced belief that he did not deserved to be a hero, [[{{Hypocrite}} yet]] recognized enough potential to try to help. As Shinzou puts it, Aizawa just did not wanted to bother with being Izuku's teacher.

* Deconstructed in the ''Fanfic/SleeperHitAU'': "Eraserhead" Aizawa [[PointOfDivergence kicks Izuku Midoriya out of UA in the very first day of school (the Quirk Apprehension Test)]] justifying it as Izuku being Quirkless and then he secretly helped Izuku enter another Hero school where he obtained his license and hit the ground running on the Hero ratings list. Aizawa's idea was to give Izuku ALessonInDefeat and make him even more driven to become the first [[BadassNormal Quirkless Hero]]. What everybody else saw was Aizawa demolishing a kid's dreams out of FantasticRacism (if not sheer spite) in the most bombastic way [[TheBore he]] could, turning him into a SadistTeacher in the eyes of all of his peers and students and his attempt at explaining himself just makes them attach "idiot" to the list of negative things they already think of him.

** In ''WesternAnimation/TheUltimateEnemy'', he is tasked with ensuring the BadFuture doesn't come to pass. He goes about this by sending ghosts from the future to kill Danny and eventually fighting him personally ([[CurbStompBattle though it's less of a fight than Danny would like]]). Danny escapes from Clockwork by travelling to the future; when he learns exactly how [[IncitingIncident his actions]] will result in [[FutureMeScaresMe Dark Danny's]] birth, he [[ScrewDestiny defies his destiny]] and [[DefeatingTheUndefeatable defeats his future self]]. As a reward for his efforts, Clockwork saves Danny's family and friends from dying, [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong rewinds the timeline to the point before everything began to escalate]], and [[MyGreatestSecondChance gives Danny another chance to make things right]], with the [[TheWatcher Observants]] accussing Clockwork of manipulating Danny into making the right choice. He doesn't bother to deny it.

** In ''WesternAnimation/TheUltimateEnemy'', he is tasked with ensuring the BadFuture doesn't come to pass. He goes about this by sending ghosts from the future to kill Danny and eventually fighting him personally ([[CurbStompBattle though it's less of a fight than Danny would like]]). Once Danny ends up travelling to the future and learns exactly how [[IncitingIncident his actions]] will result in [[FutureMeScaresMe Dark Danny's]] birth, he [[ScrewDestiny defies his destiny]] and [[DefeatingTheUndefeatable defeats his future self]]. As a reward for his efforts, Clockwork saves Danny's family and friends from dying, [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong rewinds the timeline to the point before everything began to escalate]], and [[MyGreatestSecondChance gives Danny another chance to make things right]], with the [[TheWatcher Observants]] accussing Clockwork of manipulating Danny into making the right choice. He doesn't bother to deny it.

* ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'': Mid-Boss! [[spoiler:Or, rather, King Krichevoshky.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{inFamous}}'': As it would turn out, big bad Kessler was actually [[spoiler:Cole, who travelled back in time to prepare his younger self to fight an even worse villain in the future, he does this by destroying his own home city, killing the younger version of his own wife/Cole's girlfriend, and making Cole fight several post-apocalyptic factions]].

* In ''VideoGame/LunarEternalBlue'', [[spoiler:Ghaleon]] plays this role. He's unable to directly oppose the BigBad himself because [[spoiler:he died 1000 years earlier, when he was the BigBad of the first game of the series. Zophar's magic restored him to life to act as his [[TheDragon Dragon]], and Zophar can withdraw that magic at any time he chooses, instantly killing Ghaleon. Thus, his only option is to go along with Zophar's plans while providing enough covert training to the heroes that they can defeat his new boss.]] Once the heroes figure out what he's up to, [[spoiler:he admits it, since they're now strong enough, happily fading away to join his long-dead best friend Dyne in death]].

* Dimentio in ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario''. His early monologues and actions reveal that he is trying to secretly help Mario and the other heroes become stronger in order to defeat BigBad Count Bleck. His motives, however, are less than pleasant. (Unfortunately, this is undermined by the same scene in which he pulls [[TheReveal The (fake) Reveal]] on the heroes. After explaining his intent to defeat Bleck, he asks them for their help. Agreeing repeatedly results in a NonstandardGameOver. Oops.)
** That's less of an undermining than it seems. Before and during his request the game drops a few blatant hints that he wants to kill Bleck to follow his own plans or world domination, so it's less that the game ruins the Reveal more that it we figured it out (or at least realized he couldn't be trusted) earlier and were waiting for it to be fully explained.
** The Black Chest Demons in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' make a huge show of being SealedEvilInACan and placing terrible curses on Mario when their chests are unlocked, but all of the "curses" in question are actually [[CursedWithAwesome beneficial abilities that are necessary to progress through the game]]. The last Chest Demon pretty much gives the game away when Mario, by this point having caught on, asks him to stop putting up the pretense and just curse him already; he sheepishly admits that he's been rehearsing his schtick for the length of his confinement, and requests that he be allowed to perform it anyway, to which Mario agrees. [[spoiler: Some in-game lore implies that the demons are, in fact, the spirits of four PrecursorHeroes who defeated the game's BigBad the first time around and trapped her soul; cursing their own souls to be sealed in chests after death was her last act of vengeance before she went dormant.]]
* [[spoiler:"Dr. Polito/SHODAN]] from ''VideoGame/SystemShock2'', who pretty much uses you to destroy an alien race that's infected the ship.