Basic Trope: The Wild Card taken up to eleven, drastically changing from a good guy to a bad guy and vice versa.
- Straight: Eva joins Alice and Bob's fight against The Empire, but betrays them later on... only to flip back again later. And again when they meet The Dragon. And after the dragon pulls You Have Outlived Your Usefulness...
- Exaggerated:
- Eva changes sides Once an Episode as a Running Gag.
- Eva seems to be on a Heel-Face Propeller Blade, as she keeps changing side every second.
- Eva is either crossing the Moral Event Horizon or is The Paragon and never in between.
- Every time Eva changes sides, it turns out that history has changed so that she's always been on that side.
- Eva is a Double Reverse Quadruple Agent, but her true affiliation keeps changing anyway.
- Downplayed: Eva is a True Neutral who assists whichever side currently suits her goals better.
- Justified:
- Eva has a Split Personality; one with The Empire, the other with them, thus causing her switch over.
- Eva is really indecisive.
- Eva is Chaotic Neutral.
- Eva is a mercenary.
- Eva is confused about what she actually wants in life and what she believes in.
- Eva is a Wild Card with goals independent of the main conflict, and she sides with whoever furthers said goals.
- This conflict is not a simple "vs. The Empire" fight, despite the fact that The Empire is fighting, but is very morally gray. The truth is, Eva is the most black and white character there, but the shifting ideals, policies, and harm each is doing causes the person who benefits from Eva's help, and who's help benefits Eva, to constantly change, but Eva herself never really changes "sides". This makes it seem as if she is constantly betraying both sides.
- Inverted: Eva is a loyal agent, but her agency keeps going over to the side of good... then evil... then good again.
- Subverted:
- After joining the heroes, Eva appears to betray them... but is actually just pretending to rejoin The Empire so she can snag the MacGuffin.
- Eva sometimes fights alongside the heroes and sometimes against them, but eventually reveals that when she fights against them, it's only to make them stronger.
- Double Subverted:
- She did join the empire, but did so carefully so that she could claim to be only after the MacGuffin if it looked like the heroes would win, which they did.
- Eva's story doesn't actually check out. Many of the fights had far too much at stake, and no useful lesson. The whole Trickster Mentor thing is just another mask.
- Parodied:
- Eva just so happens to switch sides right before she gets her reward for following that side, and keeps making the same mistake every time she switches.
- Eva doesn't even know which side she's on any more.
- Eva is an Extreme Doormat Prone to Tears pushed into war by her mother, and is on the side of whoever is threatening her the most right now.
- Zig Zagged:
- Almost always is, between "Heel–Face Turn" and "Face–Heel Turn".
- Some seasons Eva keeps switching sides, others she stays on the same side the whole time.
- Averted:
- Eva never betrays them.
- Eve is completely up front about having her own agenda, although not necessarily about what that agenda is. She's never on a side to begin with.
- Eva switches sides and remains on that side for the rest of the series.
- Enforced: "Eva isn't working out as a hero; let's have her go back to The Empire!" "...Wait, no, that isn't working..."
- Lampshaded:
- "Pick a side, Eva! I've had enough of this! If you want to stay with us, then come back inside and I will pretend this never happened, but if not...get lost. Go away and never come back!"
- The secret base has a literal revolving door, marked "Eva."
- When asked what side she's on, Eva has to check her watch.
- "Whose side are you on, Eva?!" "I'm on my side."
- Invoked:
- Eva is a double agent, and this is the most convincing way to get information on both sides.
- She actually thinks every side is worthless, and switches between them constantly in order to best sabotage them both.
- Exploited: Bob knows Eva is going to switch sides constantly, and hides several bugs on her person so that he can get vital intel from his enemies, if only temporarily.
- Defied:
- Eva performs a Heel–Face Turn or a Face–Heel Turn. And that's it.
- When Eva tries to switch sides, she is Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves.
- No-one alies with her in the first place, knowing she's going to drop them at the first opportunity.
- Discussed: "I still can't trust Eva. I just can't, there's no reason to. She doesn't even seem as though she's changed at all since she stabbed us in the back already, what's to say she won't do it again when things get tough?"
- Conversed: "I've lost track: which side is Eva on this episode?"
- Deconstructed: The Empire has been helping Eva achieve her dreams, but she starts questioning their methods after meeting Alice and Bob and ends up joining their fight. However, her past makes it difficult for her to fit in with the other heroes, and she goes back to The Empire... but can't stand working for them knowing all they've done, so she rejoins the heroes. But now they trust her even less, and she doesn't have anywhere she fits in anymore.
- Reconstructed:
- Or so she thinks. While Alice and Bob are still unwilling to trust her, Wide-Eyed Idealist Colin has been going to bat for Eva every time the discussion turns in that direction and has been very convincing in his defense, finally making Alice and Bob agree to give her at least one more chance. Accepted into the group once more, Eva finds a place she can do good and comes to settle in.
- Rejected by both sides Eva becomes a Wild Card striving toward her own goals while manipulating both sides. Because she disagrees with The Empire's more evil actions she will help out the heroes when the empire is doing something really bad, but she doesn't consider herself their friend and will leave once they have won the fight.
- Played for Laughs:
- Eva switches sides so often that it stops being treated seriously and just becomes ridiculous.
- She holds a sign that says "Will betray allies for food"
- Implied: We never see Eva admit allice to either side, but every time we see her she's stabbed one or both factions in the back.
Back to Heel–Face Revolving Door.
