Where a character's true loyalties lie aren't necessarily clear and/or obvious, especially in works with more than one Anti-Hero and/or Anti-Villain. Perhaps this character previously fell under Hazy-Feel Turn, and/or Heel–Face Revolving Door. Maybe they've decided to take a side. Or maybe they want to make a statement, Sudden Principled Stand or otherwise. Either way, this trope is when they actively and explicitly confirm where their loyalties lie, whether through their words, and/or actions.
One common variant involves someone getting thrown out of (or otherwise leaving) a group. They join another group, initially - but not necessarily - reluctantly, but gradually grow to enjoy being part of their new group. Then, their old group tries to welcome them back - only for them to reject their former group, affirming that they now belong with their new group.
Another variant involves a Double Reverse Quadruple Agent finally making it clear which side they ultimately work for.
A third variant involves a Heel–Face Turn (or more rarely, a Face–Heel Turn) being cemented. May result in a Heel–Face Door-Slam, or otherwise come back to bite the one invoking this trope.
Related to Initiation Ceremony, wherein a ceremony or ritual is used to affirm one's loyalty to a group. In some situations, declaring your allegiance can prove deadly, making it a Dying Moment of Awesome.
Compare If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!, Insignia Rip-Off Ritual, and Smash the Symbol. Contrast Heel–Face Revolving Door. Super-Trope to Shoot Your Mate. Can occasionally (but not necessarily) overlap with Deadly Graduation and overlaps more often with Shut Up, Hannibal!.
Note that this trope does not apply to reveals about one's true allegiance in general - this only applies to an active decision by a character to establish where their loyalties lie. Passive reveals (e.g. a character coming across evidence revealing another character's true loyalties, a mole being caught out and forced to reveal themselves, instances of Foreshadowing, etc.), or one character revealing another character's loyalties (deliberately or otherwise), are not this trope. Not to be confused with Allegiant.
Due to the nature of this trope, unmarked spoilers lie ahead.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Martian Successor Nadesico: The crew of the Nadesico have fled the ship, and are being hunted by the military and Nergal. But they have a plan to retake the ship. They stage a strike on the dock where the Nadesico is waiting. Nergal Chairman Akatsuki points out to Erina Wan that the crew won't get far, as they have the master key. The crew board the ship, to find Goat Hoary there. He looks at them, and reaches into his coat (the audience is meant to think he is drawing a gun). Cut to Akatsuki laughing, saying he never even saw it coming, as he thought Hoary was just another "yes-man", holding up a note that Hoary had left saying that he had taken the master key, He had decided to stand with the Nadesico crew rather than with Nergal.
- Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V: Between the Jigsaw Puzzle Plot and the Morality Kitchen Sink, it's difficult to establish the allegiance of several characters at first.
- Yugo is initially thought by basically everyone to be an Academia spy from the Synchro Dimension, mainly because he looks identical to the guy who kidnapped Ruri, and he fights against Yuto (Ruri's boyfriend) quite viciously. However, halfway through the Maiami Championship arc he's seen fighting against Academia. The beginning of the Synchro arc reveals his true allegiance: he doesn't have one. Instead he saw his friend Rin getting kidnapped by a guy who looked identical to him, and then somehow ended up in Heartland which was invaded by Academia, and so he turned against them in spite - or because - he had no real clue what was going on. He chooses to side with the Lancers, who are against Academia.
- Sora was initially an extremely loyal Academia soldier who was sent on a mission to spy on the Standard Dimension and LDS. However, while he's there he grows close to Yuzu, Yuya and the others and teaches them Fusion Summoning. As a result, he is extremely conflicted when the Professor - the leader of the Academia - orders him to capture several people including Yuzu, and tries to bring back Serena in exchange for her. Yuya points out that this won't work - creating more doubts — and eventually Sora pulls a last minute Heel–Face Turn, introducing himself to Crow as one of Yuya's friends and giving him information, and later fighting against Academia's Mooks along with Tsukikage even though he carded his brother in an earlier episode.
- Jean Michel Roget initially appears to be an Academia spy stationed in the Synchro Dimension, which is further emphasized by reveals such as having no background information, introducing Real Solid Vision technology and later on adding Fusion cards to a cop's deck. However, he also seems oddly nervous when Fusion summoning is brought up in any context, and he doesn't deliver Yuzu and Serena to the Academia even though he has the locations of both of them (he even arrests Serena). Eventually he reveals that he betrayed Academia and now he's out for himself.
- Shinji Weber first appears as a friend of Crow's who's not too sure about the Lancer's claims to be from another dimension but rolls with it due to circumstances. However, it turns out that his real allegiance can be boiled down to "the only ones who deserve to live are the Commons, fuck the Tops". He then rallies the Commons and turns against everyone despite of being repeatedly told that there are bigger and more immediate problems, because he thinks that anyone who doesn't agree with him must be in allegiance with the Tops. He even turns against Crow, who tells him that his actions will only lead to a Full-Circle Revolution.
- Another ambiguous figure in the Commons vs Tops conflict is Jack Atlas, who was originally of the Commons but rose to the rank of the Tops thanks to his dueling skills. He's a Base-Breaking Character In-Universe, as half the Commons think he is a Class Traitor, while the others think he is someone to look up to. Jack's Stoic, Jerkass personality and cryptic gestures and comments don't help. Eventually it's revealed that Jack was one for unity between the classes and that he never forgot his Commons roots. However, his gestures only had a real meaning to him, and even though he's a Jerk with a Heart of Gold and a Stealth Mentor, most people never picked up on it because he only clearly showed the "jerk" part. He only clearly confirms his alliance when he duels against Sergei, who is Roget's pawn, and even then people have their doubts. It takes his duel with Yuya to affirm to the Commons that he's a good guy.
Comic Books
- The current page image for Even Evil Has Standards: a Batman/Captain America crossover has the Joker declare to the Red Skull, "I may be a criminal lunatic, but I'm an American criminal lunatic!"
- In the Villains United miniseries, the Secret Six are kidnapped by the Society of Supervillains and subjected to brutal torture. However, there's a twist: their captors keep going easy on Scandal, which causes her teammates to wonder if she's been selling them out for better treatment. After they finally manage to escape, Scandal grabs Fatality, one of their guards, bites her ear off, and then swallows it. As Fatality is an Ax-Crazy Blood Knight whose entire schtick is violently avenging slights against her, and therefore Scandal has just made one hell of an enemy, the other Secret Six members quickly decide that she's probably not a traitor.
Ragdoll: She makes a compelling case with that ear thing, don't you find?
- XIII: As the Number Two of the conspiracy that assassinated the previous President is about to be arrested, he undoes his shirt to flaunt his shoulder tattoo showing his rank in the conspiracy and bites down on a Cyanide Pill.
Fan Works
- Codex Equus: Gicelig does this upon defecting to the Equestrian Pantheon. After leaving the Elternteil Deer Pantheon and making sure the Leymits are running, he publicly apologizes to Blue Suede and Princess Twilight for his peers' actions, then takes off his old armor, freezes it, and shatters it to symbolize his official defection to the Equestrian Pantheon.
- The Mountain and the Wolf: The Wolf makes it fairly clear he's not an obedient servant after Daenerys catches him trying to take the Iron Throne away (the reader knows he's been Running Both Sides for quite a while). Downplayed in that he seems honestly confused that she'd be angry at him for that, because he seems to sincerely believe she's a ruthless butcher in the vein of Warhammer Fantasy's Chaos Lords. Daenerys siccing Drogon on him prevents the situation from being cleared up.
- Friday Night Funkin': Corruption: When initially introduced in Week 8's first song, "Tormentor", Soul Boyfriend is set up as the manifestation of The Corruption that's taken control of Boyfriend's body. "Neuroses" throws that into question, as Soul reminds Boyfriend to stay focused when he falters and that the corruption "isn't my doing". "Discharge" firmly establishes Soul as a distinct entity with Boyfriend's best interests in mind; performing a Dynamic Entry and tossing him a guitar, Soul pulls Boyfriend out of his funk and the two play one final duet, ultimately breaking him free from the corruption's control.
Films — Animation
- Ice Age has the climactic scene near Glacier Pass, where the wicked smilodon Soto has Manny the woolly mammoth cornered. Soto orders his right-hand cat Diego to flank their target, but Diego instead interposes himself in Manny's defense. Soto is stunned that Diego has sided with a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits, but remains undeterred, being driven by a lust for vengeance. The confrontation results in Diego's Heroic Sacrifice.
Films — Live-Action
- Early in Birds of Prey (2020), Harley Quinn drives a tanker right into the Ace Chemical Factory note , advertising to everyone in Gotham that she and The Joker have broken up. This turns out to be a terrible decision, as Harley quickly discovers that a lot of people want her dead and have only been leaving her alone up until now because they were afraid of pissing off the Joker, and now figure that she's fair game.
- In Disney Channel's Cloud 9, Kayla gets thrown out of the Swift Team thanks to Sebastian Swift's machinations, and joins the Hot Doggers. Later, she shows up wearing a Swift Team jacket - only to reveal that she was merely wearing it to return the equipment she was told to give back earlier. She then confirms that she's officially joined and belongs with the Hot Doggers, having dumped the Swift Team for what they did to her.
- Excalibur: Early in the film, the noble knight Sir Leondegrance wins a jousting tournament and is given the chance to pull the sword Excalibur from the stone, but fails. When a young squire named Arthur succeeds in drawing the sword and word spreads, the knights begin arguing over whether to proclaim him king. Leondegrance IMMEDIATELY proclaims his allegiance to Arthur (and eventually his daughter Guinevere marries him).
- Rags: Throughout the film, Lloyd has proven to feel sympathy for Charlie, but he's also stuck following his dad and brother- the ones antagonizing Charlie. When they both turn on him and kick him out of Android, he finally turns on them in response, announcing to an entire crowd of people that Arthur had been lying to Charlie for years. He ends the film as a backup dancer for Charlie, cementing their new relationship.
- Star Wars:
- A New Hope: Han Solo presents himself throughout the film as an opportunist only helping the Rebellion for money, and loads up his reward and leaves just before the last-ditch attack on the Empire's Death Star. Just when Luke's X-Wing is targeted by Darth Vader, Han flies in with guns blazing, saving Luke's life and showing his true allegiance as a Rebel hero.
- Return of the Jedi: During their confrontation aboard the second Death Star, Luke Skywalker tells Palpatine where to stick it.
Luke: You've failed, Your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me.
- Star Trek: First Contact: Data pulls a Fake Defector on the Borg Queen. During the scene where he's supposedly turned on Starfleet, the Queen makes Picard watch as Data fires torpedos at The Phoenix. She doesn't notice in the background as he gets closer and closer to the coolant tanks, until the torpedos miss the Phoenix entirely. She turns, realizing a moment too late what's happened, as Data smugly declares his allegiance to Starfleet by declaring that "Resistance is Futile."
Literature
- One of Aesop's Fables is "The Dilemma of the Bat." Enmity between the birds of the sky and the beasts of the ground was growing, and war seemed imminent. Some birds approached the bat to side with them, but the bat dreaded becoming involved in battle. The bat declined, declaring (on the grounds of having no feathers), "I am a beast." Later, some beasts approached the bat to side with them, but the bat declined, declaring (on the grounds of having wings), "I am a bird." An eleventh hour truce was reached between the two sides, averting warfare. Now, both the birds and the beasts shunned the bat as an outsider, not to be trusted. "Better to choose sides and risk enemies, than to remain aloof and have no friends," he lamented.
- Animorphs: As Ax usually fights in his own Andalite body while the rest of the team use terrifying animals, the Yeerks speculate that it's done to announce that the "Andalite bandits" are here, and possibly that he can't morph like the others. The former is correct, as it helps fuel the impression that they're all Andalites instead of mostly humans.
- In the Circle of Magic books, Daja is exiled from her people and ends up at a temple where she begins studying smithing magic, which she wouldn't be allowed to do in her culture, and becomes part of a very close group of friends. When she gets a chance to rejoin her people, she declines, saying she's changed too much to go back.
- This, combined with a helping of Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work, is how Tywin Lannister justified carrying out The Purge of House Targaryen in the backstory of A Song of Ice and Fire. Tywin and his considerable forces had stayed neutral all throughout a Civil War, until he saw that Rebel Leader Robert Baratheon not only won a key battle but also killed Prince Rhaegar. Tywin knew he had to act swiftly both to endear himself to the new regime and also to save his son Jaime, who was an implicit hostage in the King's Praetorian Guard. So Tywin rushed his army to the capital (which was also the last major Targaryen stronghold), convinced them that the Lannisters had come to join them, then promptly sacked the city and killed every member of House Targaryen they could get their hands on, most notably Rhaegar's young children, who would have otherwise been potential rivals for the throne that diehard Targaryen loyalists (or ambitious lords looking to use them in a Puppet King fashion) might have rallied behind.
We had come late to Robert's cause. It was necessary to demonstrate our loyalty. When I laid those bodies before the throne, no man could doubt that we had forsaken House Targaryen forever. And Robert's relief was palpable. As stupid as he was, even he knew Rhaegar's children had to die if his throne was ever to be secure. Yet he saw himself as a hero, and heroes do not kill children.
- Harrow the Ninth: The God-Emperor demands that everyone present in the climax declare whether or not they're loyal to him, including people who've served at his side for ten thousand years. His oldest companion answers, "No, John", and teleports the entire Space Station into The Underworld in a last-ditch attempt to kill him for his crimes.
- Harry Potter: Severus Snape pulls one of these during Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, finally confirming where it is that his loyalties ultimately lie.
- Watership Down:
- Bigwig is battling General Woundwort in the runs of the warren on Watership Down. The General offers Bigwig a position in his own Owsla, "the Mark of his choice" if he'll surrender. That fails. Then he tells Bigwig that he had enough rabbits to bring down the wall in four places, so why doesn't he just come out. Bigwig's response fills Woundwort with terror, as he had assumed Bigwig was the Chief.
Bigwig: My Chief Rabbit has told me to defend this run and until he says otherwise I shall stay here.
- This is important for two reasons. First, at the beginning of the novel, Bigwig had said that he would never call Hazel his Chief, but here, in a life or death battle, he says it without hesitation. Also, Woundwort can't conceive of a warren where the Chief would be more clever than strong, so he immediately assumes that someone bigger and stronger than Bigwig is waiting for him, even if he finishes Bigwig off. The conviction of his allegiance to Hazel, though, is so intense that it breaks the spirits of all the other rabbits from Efrafa who had come to take down the warren at Watership Down.
- Bigwig is battling General Woundwort in the runs of the warren on Watership Down. The General offers Bigwig a position in his own Owsla, "the Mark of his choice" if he'll surrender. That fails. Then he tells Bigwig that he had enough rabbits to bring down the wall in four places, so why doesn't he just come out. Bigwig's response fills Woundwort with terror, as he had assumed Bigwig was the Chief.
Live-Action TV
- Babylon 5: Zack Allen is asked by the Nightwatch to betray Captain Sheridan and the command staff. They confront him and with his help arrest the Nightwatch for mutiny.
- Cobra Kai: In the Season 3 finale "December 19": Robby Keene shows their loyalty to Cobra Kai by attacking Johnny, his own father, after the latter nearly kills John Kreese; and then telling them, as well as Samantha (his ex-girlfriend), Miguel and Daniel (who he used to see as a father) to Get Out! of the Cobra Kai Dojo while he returns to Kreese's side to train for the next All-Valley.
- The Community episode "For a Few Paintballs More" has Greendale Community College engage City College in a paintball war where Greendale would be forced to close if they lost. Pierce is captured early on and agrees to supply City College with information if they don't eliminate him. When he outlives his usefulness, City College Dean Spreck orders one of his men to eliminate Pierce, only for Pierce to apparently suffer a heart attack. Just after the last Greendale student is eliminated, the two remaining City College students start to celebrate. Just then, a third City College student runs up to celebrate with them, only to shoot them both and reveal that he's Pierce. As the official winner of the paintball war, Pierce says to give the prize money to Greendale.
- In One Piece (2023), up till episode 6, Zoro technically did not join Luffy and did not consider himself a part of Luffy's crew. But after he wakes up from his fight with Mihawk, he makes it official by telling Luffy he is his captain and that he is his first mate.
- Our Flag Means Death: While the whole crew are clearly enjoying themselves when Calico Jack comes on board in Episode 8, Jack killing Karl the seagull immediately turns them against him. When Stede kicks him off the ship and Jack angrily asks if anyone's going to stay with "the fop" over him, the entire crew ends up doing so.
- In Pose, members of a ballroom House adopt the House name as their unofficial surname in order to show their affiliation. At the start of the final season, former House of Wintour member Lemar forms his own House, Khan, absorbing the surviving members of the House of Wintour, except for Cubby, to whom he refuses membership because Cubby is dying of AIDS and was therefore unable to participate in the balls. Shortly thereafter, poor Cubby dies, and while his final moments are attended by his biological mother and most of his former House siblings, he still effectively dies without being attached to a House. Incensed by Lemar's callous treatment of his longtime brother, his former House Mother Elektra rallies all of her surviving children to join the dormant House of Evangelista, led by Blanca, so that they can challenge the House of Khan and knock them down a peg. Consequently, they all adopt (or in some cases, re-adopt) the surname Evangelista to show their affiliation, even Elektra, despite this technically making her a subordinate to Blanca (who started out as a daughter in Elektra's old House of Abundance.)
- Snowpiercer has at least two scenes:
- At the end of "Our Answer to Everything", Ruth and Layton manage to stop a riot by the pro-Willford factions, but their victory is undermined hours later, when the Wilford supporters all light red lamps and put them in their windows; the red light can be seen running almost the entire length of the train.
- In "The Eternal Engineer", when Boki, one of Wilford's staunches supporters, learns that Wilford organized the murders of his fellow breachmen, he approaches Layton and gives him a token that Wilford gave him many years ago, and advises him to shove it up Wilford's ass if he ever gets the opportunity.
- In the second season of Sports Night, the network has brought in a "ratings specialist" to improve the show, and the main cast assume he's there to wrest control away from beloved executive producer Isaac Jaffee, until he speaks up to the suits at a conference:
Sam: One last thing: The first and last decision making authority on this show will rest with Isaac Jaffee until Isaac Jaffee says otherwise. And if you disrespect him in my presence again, I will re-dedicate the rest of my life to ruining the rest of yours. And if you think I'm just mouthing at ya, you should ask around about me. I have absolutely no conscience about these things.
- Star Trek: The Next Generation:
- In "Datalore", Picard doesn't even need to ask how Data would respond if his loyalty to Starfleet conflict with his loyalty to his brother. Data freely states that Starfleet comes first.
Picard: Which requires I now ask you a very serious question. Since the two of you are closely related to each other...
Data: The answer, sir, is that my loyalty is to you and Starfleet. Completely.
Picard: Thank you, Commander. I was certain of that. - "True Q" has Starfleet Academy prodigy Amanda Rogers serve an internship under Doctor Crusher aboard the Enterprise. However, Amanda can also manifest Reality Warper powers, which draws the attention of Q. Though the Enterprise crew make a case for Amanda to remain in their midst as a talented human, Q's nickel tour of Q-dom sways Amanda's decision. She announces this on the Enterprise bridge with apologies to everyone.
Amanda: Ever since I got here, I've been fighting this. I've been denying the truth, denying what I am. I ... am Q.
- In "Datalore", Picard doesn't even need to ask how Data would respond if his loyalty to Starfleet conflict with his loyalty to his brother. Data freely states that Starfleet comes first.
- In the first season of Vikings, after Ragnar wins a duel against Earl Haraldson and becomes the new Earl, the former Earl's wife is the first to swear loyalty to him (hoping that Ragnar won't hold a grudge over her late husband's actions) and later there is a ceremony where members of the town come out to swear their allegiance to Ragnar.
Music
- In the Marty Robbins song "Big Iron", while the protagonist of the song isn't known to the people of the town at first, he soon confirms that he is a Ranger from Arizona who is tracking an outlaw named Texas Red, setting up the Showdown at High Noon that is the climax of the song.
Video Games
- During the betrayal that ends Act III of Diablo III, Adria makes clear that not only was she never on the side of Tyrael and the Nephalem, but she was on Team Diablo from the very beginning.
Adria: Twenty years ago, a great and terrible power drew me to Tristram. But Aidan, Leoric's eldest son, defeated that power and sought to contain it within his own flesh.
Tyrael: The Dark Wanderer!
Adria: It was Diablo I saw within him. And I pledged myself to his service. Now, at last, his grand design comes to fruition! - Episode: In The Baby Project, it's possible for the protagonist's male love interest to side against his best friend and her jerkass ex-boyfriend at a party. He'll officially reject their friendship, admit to being a victim of blackmail, and spill the ex's big secret to the protagonist and everyone else at the party.
- In Grand Theft Auto III, the first mission for Asuka Kasen involves Claude proving that his loyalties to the Mafia are completely broken...by assassinating Don Salvatore Leone.
- Guilty Gear Xrd - REVELATOR -: During one of the chapters of the story mode, Ariels (the St. Maximus) was asked by Ky Kiske, when the time for need comes, if she would be in humanity's side. Ariels replies wondering if such a question must be honored with an answer.
- In the Mass Effect universe, adult Quarians mark their citizenship by affixing the name of the ship upon which they serve to their name (for instance, Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema serves aboard the Neema, and Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay serves aboard the Tonbay.) In Mass Effect 2, if Commander Shepard helps Tali beat the treason charges against her without implicating her deceased father, she changes her name to Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, affirming her allegiance to Shepard and their ship.
- Metro: Last Light has Lesnitsky, a Red Line spy who infiltrated the Rangers. When being accused by Anna of being a traitor, Lesnitsky replies that he was never working under Miller to begin with, and that he was always spying for General Korbut.
- Mortal Kombat 9: At the end of Chapter 3, Cyrax and Raiden discuss about the elder Sub-Zero's death. Cyrax makes it clear to Raiden that his loyalty is with the Lin Kuei above all else, including Earthrealm.
- Persona 5: The Phantom Thieves encounter Akechi in the engine room. However, he explains that, while he's been doing his father's dirty work, he's been plotting to double cross Shido the whole time. After his defeat, the Phantom Thieves offer him the chance to steal Shido's Heart together, only for Shido's Cognitive version of Akechi to show up to kill him, mocking him for thinking he was anything more than a puppet. The Cognition summons Shadows and tells Akechi he might prolong his life by shooting the Thieves, but he instead shoots the Cognition, then shoots a panel to raise a barrier to protect the heroes, demanding they steal the Heart in his stead, making it clear the only side he's on is his own.
Web Animation
- In Red vs. Blue, Agent Washington, after all his efforts to bring the Director and Project Freelancer to justice, is arrested in Season 7 for detonating an EMP in Freelancer Command and spends most of the season in jail, seething over it and getting increasingly bitter. Then, at the end of the season, he arrives just as the Meta corners Simmons, Donut, and Lopez and shoots Donut and Lopez dead.
- RWBY: While imprisoned by Salem, Oscar decides to try and beat her at her own game by sowing division among her followers. The consequences of his actions results in characters having to declare who their allegiances are to. Once Tyrian confirms that Salem intends to destroy the world, Hazel decides to get Emerald and Oscar away from her; he dies securing the freedom of Oscar, Emerald, Jaune, Yang and Ren, placing Emerald in their hands. When Penny malfunctions, Emerald helps to subdue her, and then complains that she's going to be super-pissed if they all give up the fight just as she's switched sides. The heroes accept her affirmation, officialising her defection.
Western Animation
- Beast Wars:
- One of the ways the Transformers have to show their allegiance is their activation code, which can be switched at will: "Maximize" for the Maximals and "Terrorize" for the Predacons.
- After the events of "Maximal No More", where Dinobot ended up giving the Golden Disk to Megatron, he realized the error of his ways and swore allegiance to the Maximals for the rest of his life.
- G.I. Joe succeeds in thwarting Cobra Commander's Evil Plan and wrecking his satellite base. The Cobra officers flee from their defeat, leaving hapless mooks behind. One of these is a woman, who gets rescued by joes from a Collapsing Lair. As the joes fly away from the scene, Command inquires if there are any prisoners taken. The woman tears off her Cobra insignia, and flings it into the sea. "Negative, Command, just one survivor," reports the joe.
- Steven Universe:
- Initially a Homeworld Gem, Lapis Lazuli flip-flops on her exact alignment due to her tumultuous past of being a prisoner of both Homeworld and of the Crystal Gems; while close friends with Crystal Gems Steven and Peridot, she cares deeply for the Homeworld she remembers and is absolutely terrified of being imprisoned again, culminating in her fleeing Earth in the belief the Diamonds are planning an attack. When the Diamonds actually do attack during Reunited, Lapis returns and attacks Blue Diamond, stating that if she's going to be treated like a rebel no matter what she does, she may as well embrace it, officially proclaiming herself to be a Crystal Gem.
Lapis Lazuli: I couldn't stay away. If they're gonna punish me like a Crystal Gem, I might as well be one.
- Peridot goes through a similar process. After serving as the show's first recurring threat, she's eventually captured by the Crystal Gems, but Steven senses that she's afraid of something and sets her free. His kindness toward her gradually makes her soften her anti-Earth views, and she agrees to help the Gems stop the Cluster, a superweapon implanted by the Great Diamond Authority to shatter the Earth. Unfortunately, the Gems discover that Peridot is trying to contact Yellow Diamond, her superior—and one of the Homeworld leaders they've been rebelling against for centuries—and suspect the worse. When Peridot does contact Yellow, though, she refuses to give the Crystal Gems up and tries to persuade the Diamond to give up on the plan to destroy Earth. When Yellow stubbornly refuses, Peridot furiously declares her new allegiance:
Peridot: I can tell you with certainty that there are things on this planet worth protecting!
Yellow Diamond: What do you know about the Earth?
Peridot: APPARENTLY MORE THAN YOU, YOU CLOD!
- Initially a Homeworld Gem, Lapis Lazuli flip-flops on her exact alignment due to her tumultuous past of being a prisoner of both Homeworld and of the Crystal Gems; while close friends with Crystal Gems Steven and Peridot, she cares deeply for the Homeworld she remembers and is absolutely terrified of being imprisoned again, culminating in her fleeing Earth in the belief the Diamonds are planning an attack. When the Diamonds actually do attack during Reunited, Lapis returns and attacks Blue Diamond, stating that if she's going to be treated like a rebel no matter what she does, she may as well embrace it, officially proclaiming herself to be a Crystal Gem.
- ThunderCats: Done by Pumyra in the series finale when she reveals she's performed a Face–Heel Turn and joined Mumm-Ra.
Pumyra: You are my king... But HE is my Master.
Real Life
- There's the mostly British idiom "Nail ones's colours to the mast," defined as "To clearly show one's support for a side or opinion in a dispute, often indicating an intention to defend that side to the end."
This comes from the Age of Sail, where a warship wishing to indicate that they had surrendered would "strike their colors", i.e. lower their national flag. Nailing one's colors to the mast would mean that the officers in question would not surrender under any circumstances.
