History Main / TreacherousQuestGiver

** HistoryRepeats in ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' with Magolor, a [[BitchInSheepsClothing seemingly friendly]] alien whose CoolShip crash-landed in Dream Land. After having Kirby and friends repair the ship, Magolor takes them to his home planet [[DeathWorld Halcandra]] and asks them to defeat the seemingly AxCrazy dragon Landia. Once they do, Magolor snatches the [[CrownOfPower Master Crown]] from atop Landia's head and proclaims his plans to [[GalacticConqueror conquer the universe]]. It's debatable how much agency Magolor has in this, however, as [[spoiler:the Master Crown is actually an ArtifactOfDoom that promptly [[BrainwashedAndCrazy hijacks his soul]] and transforms him into a [[EldritchAbomination horrifying monster]] animated solely by ThePowerOfHate. Once the crown is removed,]] he becomes Kirby's good friend in all subsequent appearances.

* ''Dungeon Siege 2'': The old Azunite student [[spoiler:turns out to be the real Zaramoth reborn]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Putrefaction}} 2'' begins where the first left off, as you enter the Void. Emerging from the portal, you're greeted by the Hermit, a talking, flaming, skull-like demon who possesses you and grants you superpowers, besides guiding and directing you to the source of the putrefaction to help you put an end to it. In the final cutscene, [[spoiler:the Hermit reveals he wants the void's powers for himself, and is using you to get it, and your FinalBoss is the Hermit's One-Winged Angel form]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Ratchet and Clank|2002}}'': The two main characters spend the first half of the first game trying to contact [[TheMole Captain Qwark]], who sends them to his hidden base planet in order to demonstrate their heroic worth. [[spoiler: Or, y'know, kill them on the orders of the BigBad he's been working for in exchange for [[MoneyDearBoy corporate sponsorship]].]]
* ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando'': It turns out the whole time, the man the duo have been working for was [[spoiler:Captain Quark]] in disguise.

* In ''VideoGame/ThiefTheDarkProject'', a client named Constantine asks you to find [[MacGuffin The Eye]] but it turns out he's really [[spoiler:[[TricksterGod a Pagan God]] who wants to [[RitualMagic revert the world back to]] [[WildWilderness a wild state]]]].

A common PlotTwist found in RolePlayingGames and {{Video Game}}s, but also found in Adventure, Action, or anything that loosely resembles TheHerosJourney. Happens when the QuestGiver directly tries to deceive the PC/hero for their own hidden purposes. They have managed to disguise their EvilPlan as the CallToAdventure; they've been UsingYouAllAlong. Upon finding out, TheHero must either [[RedemptionQuest change their goals]], or simply go though with the evil-killing procedure that [[NiceJobFixingItVillain was so generously mapped out for them]] in the first place.

These BlatantLies are usually quite obvious to most players, but playing the UnwittingPawn is usually [[AnthropicPrinciple necessary to keep the plot moving]]. Demands for DarkerAndEdgier and SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids over the past few decades have also made this rather routine. Nearly an OmnipresentTrope in [[RolePlayingGame RPG]]s with multiple quest lines, if only because out of so many people bossing the player around, one of them ought to be lying. It is often a handy recipe for spicing up a boring FetchQuest.

A [[TitleDrop Treacherous Quest Giver]] may be:

* [[TheCommiesMadeMeDoIt Someone who is being coerced]], as even [[TheChessmaster someone slick enough to fool the hero]] isn't above being persuaded by brute force.

*** A much nastier one is when [[spoiler: Anders, ''your own party member'' asks you to help him gather ingredients for a potion to separate him and Justice. They're actually ingredients for a bomb to blow up the Chantry.]]

** Basic module [=CM3=] ''Sabre River''. The Seer sends the [[PlayerCharacter PCs]] to retrieve the sabre's hilt so he can end the curse on the title river. In fact the Seer is the one behind the curse, and wants the hilt so he can recreate the sabre and become invincible.

* There are so many examples in ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' it's become an expectation. Standard adventure design seems to be "Johnson gives the team a mission, the team makes a plan, the plan goes wrong so the team shoots their way out, Johnson double-crosses the team." The general assumption in all cyberpunk games is that whoever's hiring you has huge ulterior motives and may decide to shaft you. Some GM's have started throwing ''non''-treacherous quest givers at their groups just to watch the expressions of total incomprehension on the faces of the players. Outright lampshaded by the cover of one supplement, which showed an employer's palm pilot displaying a "to do" list. The last item on the list was "Betray shadowrunners".

* ''WesternAnimation/OverTheGardenWall'': Beatrice is a bluebird who tells Wirt and Greg to seek out the witch Adelaide if they want to get home. In fact, Beatrice was bringing them to [[MadeASlave become Adelaide's servants]] in exchange for [[ForcedTransformation changing Beatrice and her family back into humans]].However, Beatrice ends up liking Wirt and Greg too much to sell them out, [[TakeMeInstead and offers herself in their place]]. Unfortunately, Wirt doesn't find out the last part, and breaks apart from Beatrice.

* A number of contacts in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' do this, more notably in City of Villains. One who sends you on an "innocent" smash-and-grab into the Midnighter's Club, and then later informs you that you just stole a number of artifacts that will help your contact to free Rularuu, a god-like being who eats universes.
* [[spoiler:Valerian Scarlet]] from ''VideoGame/ChampionsOnline'' kicks off probably the absolute darkest of the major storylines of the game by tricking you into obtaining all the items necessary to unleash an out-and-out apocalypse, and as an added bonus, tricking you into beating up the one person who might have been able to stop it, putting [[spoiler:Valerian]] in a position to steal his Flame Gem, one of the items needed for the EvilPlan in question. NiceJobBreakingItHero would be an understatement once the truth is revealed.

* ''VideoGame/{{Undertow}}'': After [[RecruitingTheCriminal forcibly recruiting]] Jason Rake into his service, Admiral Lancaster quickly turns on Rake after deceiving him into raiding the Nemonians for supplies, intending to hide his betrayal of the pact with [[Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea Nemo]] by personally killing Rake and using the ex-pirate's reputation to absolve the Iron Marines of any blame. Rake has this to say after taking out the Admiral's sub.

** Parodied in "The Lost Toys" miniquest, which has a strange boy ask you to find several vampyre plush toys scattered all over Morytania. After returning all of the toys, [[CaptainObviousReveal he reveals he is a vampyre lord and the player character sarcastically pretends to be surprised]]. It should have been obvious since you meet him in the same bar as Vanstrom. The vampyre lord claims he has good intentions for collecting the toys, though the player character doesn't believe him.

** The developers must really like this trope. "Azzanadra's Quest" has Azzanadra send you along with his agent Trindine to look for clues about the location of the elder god's eggs. After finding the elder god eggs a strange voice in the player's head points out that Azzanadra found the location without the player's help and that it is suspicious that he sent you to a lot of dead ends with Trindine. It turns out Trindine was actually secretly looking for information about Saradomin's crown, and had used you to summon Saradomin back to Gielinor to steal the crown from him. When the player confronts Azzanadra and Trindine about manipulating them they can even {{Lampshade}} this trope.

* It occurs quite a bit in the ''Franchise/TombRaider'' series; most notably with the BigBad of the first game, Jacqueline Natla.

* ''WesternAnimation/OverTheGardenWall'': Beatrice is a bluebird who tells Wirt and Greg to seek out the witch Adelaide if they want to get home. In fact, Beatrice was bringing them to [[MadeASlave become Adelaide's servants]] in exchange for [[ForcedTransformation changing Beatrice and her family back into humans]]. However, Beatrice ends up liking Wirt and Greg too much to sell them out, [[TakeMeInstead and offers herself in their place]]. Unfortunately, Wirt doesn't find out the last part, and breaks apart from Beatrice.

* ''VideoGame/WarioLand3:'' The protector of the music box world sends Wario on a quest to retrieve five magic music boxes to restore his power. [[spoiler:Turns out the "protector" was actually Rudy the Clown, an evil spirit to was trying to conquer the world, and the game's final boss.]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/MonkeyWrench'': In the episode "Lythop Liberation", Dr. Agness hires the protagonists to help her evacuate an endangered species from its home planet, which will implode in a matter of hours. However, the good doctor is lying. The planet is in no danger, and that species is only endangered because she has been killing them to make weapons and armor from their remains. Once the surviving members of the species have all been gathered in one place, Dr. Agness reveals her true colors by slaughtering them all before trying to give Beebs and Shrike a FatalReward for their work.
[[/folder]]

* ''VideoGame/Warframe'': The various spirals of Duviri will see you working with one of five courtiers of [[MadKing Dominus Thrax]], [[HairTriggerTemper Lodun]], [[GreenEyedMonster Bombastine]], [[NervousWreck Sythel]], [[TheEeyore Luscinia]], and [[StepfordSmiler Mathila]] to undermine his authority, serving as half of your MissionControl in their respective spiral. Inevitably, upon completing their six tasks they will [[PowerIncontinence lose their composure and]] [[ScaledUp transform into an Orowyrm and attack you]], forcing you to calm them down via defeating them in combat.

A TreacherousQuestGiver may be:

* Neko Matta of ''VideoGame/AdventureQuestWorlds'' at first appears to be helping you in your fight against Chaos Shogun Kitsune by giving quests to you. It eventually turns out that it was all a ruse as he was actually buying Kitsune enough time to summon O-dokuro, the gigantic undead youkai that serves as this saga's Chaos Beast battle.
** The Great Godfather of Soul is another TreacherousQuestGiver, as he sets up Lord Ovthedance by claiming he cheats in dance contests and cons you into doing his dirty work for him so he can take the title of Dancing Champion for himself... and he would've succeeded if you hadn't won the /Dance Off Minigame, after which he vows vengeance against you with help from his manipulator, Chaos Lord Discordia... [[spoiler:who was actually manipulated by the real Chaos Lord, Kimberly.]]

*** [[spoiler: Queen Anora]] has no problem ratting out the party that rescues her, once she suspects FailureIsTheOnlyOption. [[spoiler: If you decide her father is too dangerous to live, she'll also turn on you at the Landsmeet.]]
*** [[spoiler: Flemeth is priming the warden to conceive a special child for unknown purposes.]]
* ''Dungeon Siege 2'': The old Azunite student ([[spoiler: turns out to be the real Zaramoth reborn.]])

*** [[spoiler:Visil originally has no agenda other than work for Etria. However, after a point, due to possession by Yggdrasil, he starts finding ways to kill your guild.]]

* In ''VideoGame/ThiefTheDarkProject'', a client named Constantine asks you to find [[MacGuffin The Eye]] but it turns out he's really [[spoiler: [[TricksterGod a Pagan God]] who wants to [[RitualMagic revert the world back to]] [[WildWilderness a wild state]].]]

* Neko Matta of ''VideoGame/AdventureQuestWorlds'' at first appears to be helping you in your fight against Chaos Shogun Kitsune by giving quests to you. It eventually turns out that it was all a ruse as he was actually buying Kitsune enough time to summon O-dokuro, the gigantic undead youkai that serves as this saga's Chaos Beast battle.
** The Great Godfather of Soul is another TreacherousQuestGiver, as he sets up Lord Ovthedance by claiming he cheats in dance contests and cons you into doing his dirty work for him so he can take the title of Dancing Champion for himself... and he would've succeeded if you hadn't won the /Dance Off Minigame, after which he vows vengeance against you with help from his manipulator, Chaos Lord Discordia... [[spoiler:who was actually manipulated by the real Chaos Lord, Kimberly.]]
* One of the quests of the Sharn Syndicate chain from ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsOnline'' has you working with Burgundy Tir, who has recently contacted an underlord of the Sharn Syndicate. He sends you on a run with his agent Zircon, a Warforged who has VIP access to the Lordsmarch Bank, in order to steal the Stormreaver Fresco, a piece of art from ancient times. Zircon, who it turns out is the underlord, betrays you during the mission, running off after getting his hands on the Fresco in hopes of framing you for the theft, leaving you to escape the vault and deal with Iron Sentinels and the city guard. Later, during a mission to kill Zircon and retrieve the Fresco for its real owner, a dragon by the name of Kear, you learn that Burgundy Tir was behind the whole thing. Since you can't kill Burgundy without bringing down the wrath of the Coin Lords on your head, you instead blackmail him into giving you an item of his in return for your silence after the mission.
** Another quest sees a Silver Flame inquisitor, Gnomon, send you into a chapel to destroy an evil religious cult. [[spoiler:The cult is harmless, and "Inquisitor Gnomon" doesn't exist - the NPC you spoke with is a monster called a Rakshasa in disguise, as you discover some quests later, and your quest was part of a plan to create unrest within the Silver Flame.]]
* Calder Cob is an early questgiver you meet in the introductory Archet quests for Hobbits and Men in ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsOnline''. The best soldier of the village leader, Captain Brackenbrook, Calder sends you to Bronwe's Folly, a ruin that turns out to have been claimed by the Blackwolds, in order to kill wolves. The wolves turn out to be the property of a Blackwold Wolf-master, who it turns out was tipped off about your arrival by Calder and who you then have to kill. The rest of the intro quest line involves proving Calder Cob's treachery and the truth of the Blackwolds' intentions to assault Archet to the Captain, who Calder has been serving as a TreacherousAdvisor to, as well as making plans to defend the village from the assault in question. In the final instance of the quest line, where the Blackwolds finally do make their assault, Calder Cob becomes your final enemy.
* In ''VideoGame/EveOnline'' ''the player's'' can act as treacherous quest givers. One of the most common variants involves an insurance scam where a player puts out an order for a freight order with an enormous payout but also a hefty insurance fee (which the hired player has to pay to the client if they shipment is destroyed). Invariably, the shipment will take the contracted player through a dangerous part of the game if the client doesn't simply take the initiative to destroy his own cargo. The whole point is to collect the insurance fee.
* Happens very frequently in ''VideoGame/RuneScape''. StupidityIsTheOnlyOption most of the time.
** "Regicide" has King Lathas send you to assassinate his evil brother King Tyras. After completing the assassination, it turns out that King Lathas is the real villain and all the stuff you heard about King Tyras being evil was lies. Players should have already figured this out because you never actually see King Tyras, and in a previous quest you find out that the plague affecting half of the capital is a hoax and King Lathas's explanation for why he created the fake plague was very weak and didn't explain what really happened to the people who supposedly died of the plague.
** "Icthlarin's Little Helper" has the quest giver, who turns out to be the evil goddess Amascut, mind control the player character into robbing a tomb for her.
** "Smoking Kills" has a strange woman named Sumona sends you on a quest to rescue her sister, Jesmona, from a dangerous dungeon. It turns out the Sumona and Jesmona are both Amascut in disguise and trying to get you killed. She still rewards you for completing the quest though.
** "Temple of Ikov" has a strange man named Lucien send you on a quest to retrieve the staff of Armadyl. When you get to where the staff is kept and the guards explain that Lucien is a villain, you can choose to either turn on Lucien, or steal the staff for him anyway.
** Part of the way through "Legends' Quest" a ghost asks you to kill an undead wizard that he claims is holding him prisoner. The ghost is pretty obviously the demon you have been fighting in disguise. You can choose to follow his instructions, which makes the following boss battles with the demon more difficult, or you can go back through the dungeon to get help from another NPC to reveal the demon's true form, which takes longer and requires you to make the payment to get into the deeper level of the dungeon a second time.
** "Devious Minds" has a mysterious monk ask the player to make a special weapon for him and then smuggle a strange orb onto the holy island of Entrana, which he says is a surprise for the monks there. It turns out the guy is an assassin who uses the orb to teleport to Entrana, where he kills a bunch of the monks using the weapon you made and steals a relic from them. Although a later quest reveals he was actually working for an ally of the player.
** "What Lies Below" has the wizard Surok Magis ask you to create a special wand which he says he will use to make gold. It turns out he is planning to use it to control King Roald's mind. The player should have figured out something was suspicious because he also gives the players directions on how to find a secret tunnel controlled by a Zamorakian Cult which acts as a safer shortcut to the altar where the wand is made.
** "Rag and Bone Man" and "Fur 'n Seek" have an Odd Old Man carrying around a suspicious sack he sometimes talks to ask the player to collect bones and other items which he claims are for a museum. If you complete both quests and collect every bone and other item he requests, it turns out he is actually being mind controlled by an undead monster skull he's carrying in his sack which is using him to collect bones to assemble a new body for itself.
** "Kennith's Concerns" has a little boy named Kennith ask you to investigate what the slug-possessed villagers are up to but then strangely loses interest. It eventually turns out that Kennith has terrifying psychic powers and is using them to make the slug-possessed villagers do what he wants, all just so that he can get revenge on a girl for losing his favorite toy.
** "Kindred Spirits" starts with Linza asking you to investigate some disappearances and suggests you go to Relomia, the emissary of the BigBad Sliske. Relomia leads you into a trap by claiming Sliske has been kidnapped too. Sliske then puts the player and his other prisoners through a series of sadistic games. In the end it turns out Linza was also working for Sliske in exchange for protection.
** "In Search of Myreque" has a mysterious man named Vanstrom Klause ask you to deliver weapons to a group of rebels fighting to free the nation of Morytania from its vampyre rulers. It turns out Vanstrom is a vampyre using you to find the rebels.
** Parodied in "The Lost Toys" miniquest, which has a strange boy ask you to find several vampyre plush toys scattered all over Morytania. After returning all of the toys, [[CaptainObviousReveal he reveals he is a vampyre lord and the player character sarcastically pretends to be surprised]]. It should have been obvious since you meet him in the same bar as Vanstrom. The vampyre lord claims he has good intentions for collecting the toys, though the player character doesn't believe him.
** "The General's Shadow" miniquest has the villain General Khazard send the player character, who is in disguise and not recognized by Khazard, on a quest to collect reports from his scouts. After doing this [[TheCakeIsALie he sends you into a cave to get your reward and you get attacked by the ghost of his pet hellhound that you previously killed]]. It turns out Khazard recognized who you were the whole time and was trying to get you killed.
** "Desperate Times" has the player helping the Kerapac take control of a time manipulating artifact as part of a plan to stop the rebirth of the elder gods. The player finds out too late that he intends to sacrifice the entire planet to kill the elder gods.
** The developers must really like this trope. "Azzanadra's Quest" has Azzanadra send you along with his agent Trindine to look for clues about the location of the elder god's eggs. After finding the elder god eggs a strange voice in the player's head points out that Azzanadra found the location without the player's help and that it is suspicious that he sent you to a lot of dead ends with Trindine. It turns out Trindine was actually secretly looking for information about Saradomin's crown, and had used you to summon Saradomin back to Gielinor to steal the crown from him. When the player confronts Azzanadra and Trindine about manipulating them they can even {{Lampshade}} this trope.
* ''VideoGame/TheTiamatSacrament'': Darius, the merchant who asks you to find dragon shards[[spoiler:, is actually an agent for Lord Nephron. He and Nephron want to reassemble the shards into Saphira's seal, allowing them to steal her power]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Undertow}}'': After [[RecruitingTheCriminal forcibly recruiting]] Jason Rake into his service, Admiral Lancaster quickly turns on Rake after deceiving him into raiding the Nemonians for supplies, intending to hide his betrayal of the pact with [[Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea Nemo]] by personally killing Rake and using the ex-pirate's reputation to absolve the Iron Marines of any blame. Rake has this to say after taking out the Admiral's sub.
---> '''Rake:''' ''One less monster in the depths.''

* ''Manga/EternalAlice'': [[spoiler: Turns out Alternate L. Takion's grandson is the real Takion, and he wants to use the wish from The Never Ending Story to keep him and Liddell eternally young. In the manga, it's so that he can add to his collection of stories and keep the Never Ending Alice from, well, never ending.]]

* In ''The Four Castles'', one of the ''ComicBook/AdventureTimeGraphicNovels'', the Guildmaster of the Heroes' Guild is actually a fake from a ThievesGuild and his "quest" is just manipulating Finn and Jake into robbing people for him.

* [[spoiler: Jeft]] in ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached''. Though the quest itself was real, he had no business getting the four involved with it, and had no intention of seeing it through to the end. He entangled them strictly ForTheLulz.

* ''{{WesternAnimation/Aladdin}}'': A disguised Jafar sends Aladdin to find the Genie's lamp, fully intending to kill him once he has it.

* [[spoiler: The Hierophant]] in ''Film/TheGamersDorknessRising'' definitely counts as this. [[AnAesop Most of the players don't notice]] because acting like {{Munchkin}}s has effectively rendered them GenreBlind.

* ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'': Walter Donovan, who sends Indy after the Grail, [[spoiler: is actually a Nazi who wants the Grail for himself.]]
* Played with in ''Film/FiftyFifty1992'': when [[UsefulNotes/{{CIA}} Martin Sprue]] hired [[PrivateMilitaryContractors Sam French and Jake Wyer]] to help [[LaResistance Akhantar]] overthrow General Bosavi, he is completely sincere, and genuinely wants to help the people of Tengara. Then Bosavi cuts a deal with the US government, and Sprue gets ordered to sell out Jake and Frenchie.
* ''Film/{{Oblivion 2013}}'': [[spoiler: Mission control at the space station Tet is in fact the BigBad using clones of Harper and Victoria for their own ends.]]

* Happens in ''Literature/StarWarsScoundrels'', when it is revealed at the end that the man who hired Han Solo to break into a Black Sun crimelord's vault was actually [[spoiler: Boba Fett trying to get two bounties with one stone.]]
* In ''Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan'', Mr. Des Tiny gave the two warring clans of vampires separate prophecies, ensuring that both sides believe that their survival depends on certain artifacts given to them by Tiny, and, in the case of the Vampaneze, that they absolutely follow the human that Tiny designates to become their Lord. In the end, it all comes down to single combat between Darren and Vancha, and the Lord and his protector [[spoiler: the brothers, respectively, of the two Princes]]. The characters can see the prophecies falling apart when certain foretold events fail to come to pass, yet they continue to believe their lives, and the world, depend on adhering to Tiny's rules.

* Defied in ''TabletopGame/BladesInTheDark''. The rulebook specifically states that while employer betrayals are a stock aspect of the genre, stiffing the player characters screws with several mechanics and is just plain no fun, and therefore best avoided.

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
** When the Order first meet the Linear Guild, Nale convinces them to help retirve the Talisman of Dorukan, claiming TheGoodKing sent them to get it. [[spoiler:When they do get it, it turns out it allows the holder to control a menagerie of obscure monsters -- they needed the Order's help because only Good-aligned heroes could access the {{Plot Coupons}}, and the Guild plans to deliver the Talisman to the {{Big Bad}}.]]
** Later, Nale relies on Roy's willingness to accept a sidequest in order to send him on a useless quest for starmetal in order to slow him down. [[spoiler: To his annoyance, the starmetal turned out to be real - he figured that the legend was such an obvious sidequest that ''someone'' would have already taken it if it even existed at all. Incidentally, the starmetal turns out to be a valuable weapon against the BigBad.]]
* ''Dungeons & Denizens'': In one story the quest giver starts [[http://dungeond.com/2006/09/16/09162006/ here]] and ends [[http://dungeond.com/2006/09/23/09232006/ here]].

* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', the guide for both [[VigilanteMan Vigilante Troll]] Terezi and [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder "bluh bluh huge bitch"]] Vriska is the [[spoiler: Black Queen, who they exiled via Operation Regisurp]], guiding them to go against the plan with her own motives to [[spoiler: destroy her prototyping ring so that [[TheMole Archagent Jack Noir]] can't get his hands on it.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'': ''The Lord of the Beans'' had the Head Elder of the Razzberry Forest be secretly in the pay of Scaryman.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' had an episode where Jimmy and friends are sent on a mission to steal an egg from a museum by a woman who turns out to be Professor Calamitus in disguise and needed the egg to finish his superweapon. His plan failed because Carl accidently mixed up the real egg with the fake one they were supposed to replace it with during the robbery.