| abstract
| - The polar opposite of the Treacherous Advisor, the Stealth Mentor is a Trickster Mentor who poses as an antagonist for much of the story but ultimately reveals that all of their actions have been a sneaky way of forcing the hero to become stronger. A subtrope of the Reverse Mole, can overlap with the Mysterious Protector. This character type will inevitably be an Enigmatic Minion to the heroes at some point prior to their reveal. Any losses will be revealed to be intentional. This can take a couple of forms: either giving the aspiring hero a taste of what he's going to be up against in the big leagues because it's The Only Way They Will Learn, or encouraging a budding rebel by giving him something to push against. Expect generous helpings of Reverse Psychology. The Stealth Mentor's motives may vary: some genuinely have the hero's best interests at heart, but others may be grooming him as a Worthy Opponent - in the most lethal scenario this may be part of a plan in which My Death Is Just the Beginning. This is the Training From Hell, and then some, because the hero really believes that this guy is out to get him. If the Stealth Mentor's actions could plausibly have gotten the hero killed (and the Stealth Mentor cares enough for this to be a problem), this is a form of Xanatos Roulette... but the hero survived, as the Stealth Mentor knew he would, so this falls under the Omniscient Morality License. If a recurring antagonist or Aloof Big Brother is a popular Ensemble Darkhorse, expect lots of Fan Speculation to this effect. It also doubles as a convenient Hand Wave to the question "if he's such a nice guy, why does he keep trying to brutally kill me?" A lighter variant is the parent who encourages a romance by pretending to vociferously oppose it, as Prospero does in Shakespeare's The Tempest. Examples of Stealth Mentor include:
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