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In a third-person limited (or first-person) narrative, deceiving the MC and deceiving the reader are pretty much the same thing, since the reader only knows as much as the protagonist. In this case...
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#4: Attribution notice removed
by
System
·
2019-12-12T21:42:33Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/45301 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T11:56:00Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/45301 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
In a third-person limited (or first-person) narrative, deceiving the MC and deceiving the reader are pretty much the same thing, since the reader only knows as much as the protagonist. In this case, there's nothing wrong with a little deception. One of my favourite adventure games, _Another Code: Two Memories_, actually does exactly what you describe: > Midway through the game, the protagonist ''finally'' meets up with her father, which is her main objective for most of the game up to that point... except it wasn't actually him. Her ''actual'' father shows up a short time later, and the guy she met earlier turns out to be the main villain. I didn't feel like the game had cheated me, or lied to me; I felt like it was a very clever and surprising twist. What you could try and do is include subtle little hints that there's something not quite right about this guy. Something he says, or does, that doesn't fit the established facts. Ideally, something subtle enough that a reader won't pick up on it on first reading, but in hindsight will make them think, "Oh yeah, of _course_ this guy was a fake!"
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2019-05-21T11:25:03Z (almost 5 years ago)
Original score: 2