Basic Trope: A pair of villains in the same work with one's identity being known and the other's being The Reveal.
- Straight: In Tropers' Alliance The main villains are a Big Bad Duumvirate known as The Devil's Hands. General Hackinslash is already known by the public as one of them, but it isn't until The Climax that the other is revealed to be The Social Expert Dante Reiner.
- Exaggerated: The General is shown as one half during the opening credits, and Dante isn't seen as the other until The Stinger.
- Downplayed:
- Dante was an Obvious Judas, so his reveal wasn't all that surprising.
- The General was unknown for the first few episodes, but doesn't hide it after he is unmasked.
- The two are shown to interact, and clues about it being Dante were given during them.
- Justified:
- Hackinslash and Dante had different specializations, with the former being a Boisterous Bruiser and the latter a Consummate Liar. It only made sense to Divide and Conquer and work both sides.
- The two were secretly brothers/father-and-son, and if that were exposed it would be clear they were The Devil's Hands.
- Their preferred styles were different. Hackinslash went in guns blazing and active in the fight while Dante was more toward playing the field via manipulating.
- Dante is a Villain with Good Publicity and he wasn't willing to compromise this for the plan.
- Inverted: The Big Good are a duo known as Angel's Wings. Captain Braveheart is revealed to be one of them early on, but it's not until The Climax that Jayden is revealed at the other.
- Subverted:
- Dante is exposed.. as part of a group made to destroy Hackinslash no matter what.
- The Smart Guy Petro realizes after Hackinslash's first attack that Dante is his partner.
- The Team knew from the Start that it was all Hackinslash's work.
- Double-Subverted:
- ...then Hackinslash snickers, claiming he was planning to say that to confuse them. They really are partners.
- Due to his status as The Cassandra however he isn't believed until Dante voluntarily confesses.
- ...which made Dante's betrayal sting all the more.
- Zig-Zagged: The Devil's Hands are General Hackinslash and Dante, but Dante is The Mole trying to take the former down. That was, until he started to be good friends with him and began Becoming the Mask. He's now a Turncoat against his allies, but Pedro realizes their true dynamic off the bat. However he isn't believed until Dante voluntarily confesses towards the end. However they were both Good All Along, or so it seemed on the surface...
- Averted: The Big Bad is only the Obviously Evil General Hackinslash or Hidden Villain Dante Reiner.
- Enforced:
- The producers were arguing over whether the Devil's Hands should be outed from the start or be exposed in the final battle until a compromise was made: "Let's have The General be a known enemy from the start while Dante acts as an infiltrator to be ousted towards the finale."
- The director wanted Dante to just be a Hidden Villain, but the producers insisted there be a more visible villain who could be showed off in the trailers.
- The creators of Tropers' Alliance wanted to add suspense as to who the other member of The Devil's Hands is.
- Lampshaded:Herold the Hero: "We know who one of The Devil's Hands are... but who the heck is the other?"
- Invoked: Dante deliberately suggests the strategy so even if one of them falls the other can continue their work with no holdback.
- Exploited: Yancy, a spy for the good guys, sees the split rule and tries to break it into an Evil vs. Evil battle, with them taking on whoever remains.
- Defied: Hackinslash keeps Dante in check by posing as an equal.
- Discussed:Dante: "Really, everyone, you really think that he could pull all that off himself. No, no offense to him though, but he needed some with more brainpower... someone like me."
- Conversed:Don: "Oh come on, why show us one of them when you're still hiding the other?"Gia: "It's for the aspiring conspiracy theorists Don!"
- Deconstructed: The brash Hackinslash can't keep his mouth shut and ends up accidentally outing Dante as his co-conspirator.
- Reconstructed: Hackinslash squealing was actually a Batman Gambit on Dante's behalf — once the heroes storm his lair, he's already split, and they're lured into a Death Trap.
