Basic Trope: A character who runs both sides.
- Straight: Alex runs the Good Team as himself and the Evil Team as Emperor Evulz.
- Exaggerated: Every side is lead by Alex himself.
- Downplayed: Alex influeces both sides significantly but never formally controlls them
- Justified:
- Alex is already established as being completely neutral, and his position and motivation is explained in full.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door.
- Alex the Mole in Charge whether by design or accident, and decided that being at the helm of the biggest rival would be worth the risk.
- Team Eval's purpose is to train (and evaluate) team Good Kids, makes sense for Alex to control the behavior of this Starter Villain.
- Inverted: Both sides employ Alex.
- Subverted: The Good team is run by Alice and the Evil Empire is run by Alice's Enemy Within.
- Double Subverted: Alice and her Enemy Within get merged back together. She continues to run both sides.
- Parodied: Alex frequently calls members of both the Good Team and the Evil Team into his office at the same time to receive orders. His office is an enforced truce zone, and he puts on his Emperor Evulz mask in front of both teams.
- Zig Zagged: Alex allies wholly with one team or another at different times, but events make him change his mind constantly and go back to playing both sides.
- Averted: The leaders as well as the subordinates of both sides hate each other.
- Enforced: "We need to make Alex look like The Chessmaster, and above both sides."
- Lampshaded: "You ever think the Evil Team's leader looks and sounds like ours? Wouldn't it be weird if they were twins, or something?"
- Invoked: Alex is blackmailed by a third party into betraying one or the other side, and has to run both sides in secret.
- Exploited: Someone finds out that Alex is playing both sides and threatens to expose him if he doesn't agree with their demands.
- Defied: Alex refuses to play both sides, and outs the whole operation to at least one of the teams.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Implied: Alex and Emperor Evulz are played by the same person, but it is not clear if they are indeed the same character or if the actor is Acting for Two.
Back to Running Both Sides
