Originally,　I was only going to talk about the well-known tricksters, pranksters, snark masters or outright shysters of gaming. There are, after all, plenty to choose from. However, there’s another kind of character I want to talk about, one that’s player-controlled. Depending on the situation, this one may be anything from hilariously incompetent to terrifyingly slick. They can spin the craziest tales one has ever heard or just hide in the background while everyone else hurls accusations. They are the Imposter, and they’ll use any and every trick in the book to get you before you can get them.

Among Us’ Imposter has gotten quite famous over the past several months. It looks just like all the other innocent spacemen in the game, but within its helmet lurks the mind of a killer (and sometimes an alien). It’s not so strong that it can run around taking out every crewmate unchallenged, so sneakiness and a silver tongue are its greatest weapons. Using these, the imposter can choose from a number of roles/methods to keep itself off of the crewmates’ radar. Some of these include:

The Team Player – This imposter will never level accusations directly, nor will they vote if it sounds like others are skipping. They do everything they can to simply blend into the group and dogpile onto whoever gets sussed by the others.

The Confidence Man – This imposter will look for a chance to vouch for a real crewmate during meetings, winning their trust. After that, they’ll try to be seen by that crewmate somewhere far away from the next kill(s). If all goes well, their “friend” will help shield them from suspicion until the final round.

The Lurker – Only speaking enough to be seen speaking, this one will do its best to help the others forget it’s there. It may try to be a Team Player first so as to help nudge suspicion towards someone else and then sit back as everyone else accuses each other.

The Storyteller – When questioned about anything, they’ll do their best to tell as complicated and airtight a story as possible. The idea is that the others will think it’s too detailed to be fake. Often these guys can be questioned until they don’t have an answer, but that can work in their favor too. After all who can be expected to remember everything?

The Actor – A non-lethal variant of the Imposter. This one will try not to kill and instead do its best to fake tasks the entire round and launch sabotage when no one’s looking. If it acts well, then no one will suspects anything if it backs-up the claims of the other imposter.

The “No U” – it’s basically what it sounds like. This guy will wait until someone accuses them and then attempt to flip the accusation back onto their accuser. This guy can be defeated with the ol’ “if it’s not them, then vote me” play, but they can also use that to buy enough time to skip. After all, if you get it wrong, then you lose, right?

Although player-controlled, the Imposter is the best kind of cheeky shyster. His whole goal is to trick you and make you question even your own eyes, and he has all manner of ways to do it. You can be wise to their tricks, but they’ll still get you more often than not. A subtle imposter is difficult to catch by nature, because all their tactics rely on doubt. If no one or even only one person saw them do something, it’s not difficult at all to turn suspicion away. It’s what makes being the Imposter so much fun!

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How do you feel about the Imposter? Got any good Imposter stories? Either way, stay tuned for more Cheeky Charlatans!

Image edited by Hatmonster