Basic Trope: An exemplary individual rebels, dragging a whole bunch of others with him.
- Straight: Decorated admiral Bob, who fought for The Good Kingdom against The Empire, defects. The entire navy follows him.
- Exaggerated: The entire country changes sides along with Bob.
- Downplayed: Only a handful of his trusted officers accompany Bob in his defection.
- Justified:
- Bob is so beloved and respected in The Good Kingdom that when he says that The Empire is good, others will believe him, even if the facts state otherwise.
- Bob's troops are loyal to Bob himself rather than The Good Kingdom.
- Inverted:
- When admiral Bob performs his Face–Heel Turn, a bunch of Empire's navy comes over to the Kingdom.
- Commodore Rex, one of The Empire's most feared and ruthless military leaders, defects to The Good Kingdom, sparking mass Heel Face Turns in his wake.
- Subverted:
- It looks like the navy will follow Bob, but in the end, they decide that they prefer to fight for The Good Kingdom.
- It looks like Bob is considering changing sides... but he decides against it.
- Double Subverted:
- ...One fleet, though, decides to follow him.
- He did actually: it's just that he and his followers were a lot more subtle about it.
- Parodied:
- Bob is so adored, when he changes sides EVERYONE but the king joins him.
- Bob deciding to get a Face–Heel Turn basically amounts to "I'm a respected all-loved hero with massive amount of power and skill. It'd be a real dick move to defect right now..."
- Zig Zagged: When Bob's subordinates learn that he is considering betraying The Good Kingdom (after receiving some seriously incriminating documents against their government,) a schism occurs. Some fleets defect to The Empire since they expect Bob to defect as well but others remain loyal to The Good Kingdom. Bob chooses to go rogue, taking with him any troops who have similar qualms against The Good Kingdom. But part of him is still considering joining The Empire...
- Averted: Bob never betrays the Kingdom.
- Enforced: Producers decide to make the story darker, so they make The Paragon change sides and consider the navy following him to be logical conclusion.
- Lampshaded: "And so, one dude deprived us of our entire naval forces... We are so dead."
- Invoked: Imperial agent tempts admiral Bob to change sides, knowing that with the respect he has, others will follow.
- Exploited: Seeing that a paragon is considering going renegade, Alice lines up the situation so that she benefits.
- Defied:
- Bob is murdered before he can change sides and The Empire is framed, creating a martyr.
- The military as a whole enforces Tall Poppy Syndrome. Any personnel deemed "too exemplary" is investigated. They are then brainwashed or, in some cases, murdered to prevent their defection.
- Discussed: "But what if admiral Bob changes sides?" "Well, I figure the navy would follow him. He's very respected."
- Conversed: "And out of all people - it was Bob who changed sides! And half of the kingdom followed him!"
- Implied: In the old archives of war, admiral Bob can be seen as fighting for both sides, and at some point, numbers of Royal Navy go to zero while numbers of Imperial Navy double.
- Deconstructed: Bob's subordinates immediately realize something is wrong when their leader has a sudden, radical shift in beliefs and ultimately prove to be more loyal to the kingdom then Bob himself. Bob loses his influence over his navy and the only people who defect with him are the few he could convince through threats.
- Reconstructed:
- Knowing his navy would see through a sudden shift in beliefs, Bob hatches a scheme (with some help from The Empire) to intimidate his navy into switching sides.
- Bob fails to convince his navy to defect, so he uses Mind Control instead. He gets to keep his troops with the added bonus of increased obedience.
- Played For Laughs: Charlie, a captain in the navy, plans to show his new girlfriend his impressive battleship... but the navy defects at the worst possible time and takes the ship with them! Hijinks ensue as he tries to steal back the battleship before the date.
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