History BatmanGambit / AnimatedFilms

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'': During the FinalBattle with one of Gotham's finest villains, Terry [=McGinnis=] pulls a gambit the original Batman never used or would have thought of. During his time under the cowl, Bruce believed ignoring Joker's clown-themed gags would work, but it just made the Clown Prince even more determined to make Batman laugh, to the point [[spoiler:the Joker implanted a microchip on Tim Drake's body allowing him to pull off a multi-part GrandTheftMe that gradually lengthened the amount of time the Joker had control, predictably up until there was no more Tim Drake, only Joker]]. As he fights, Terry deduces Joker's FatalFlaw of being an AttentionWhore who loves to gloat. The new Batman soon goads him into a VillainousBreakdown by condescendingly [[BoringInsult trash-talking his jokes]]; after all, a comedian's worst enemy is TheHeckler. It riles the Joker up until he throws several bombs and knocks Batman down, giving him the chance to strangle his enemy. [[spoiler:It's here that Terry reveals it was part of the plan to eradicate the Joker for good by getting him close enough to fry the microchip with the Joker's own electric joy-buzzer that he lost earlier in the fight.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood'', Red Hood targets Black Mask, who breaks the Joker out of Arkham to kill him. The Joker [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder uses Black Mask and his colleagues]] as bait to draw out Red Hood. [[spoiler:However, the gambit was actually Red Hood's; the Joker was his real target all along and he had gone after Black Mask in order to make him desperate enough to turn to the Joker and save him the trouble of breaking him out]].

** Bomb Voyage sticks a bomb to Buddy's cape as he leaves the crime scene, knowing that Mr Incredible would rather save an innocent child than capture a criminal. Actually works better than expected, because not only did it draw Mr Incredible away, but the ensuing chaos made an even bigger diversion that let Bomb Voyage escape scot free.

** Bomb Voyage sticks a bomb to Buddy's cape as he leaves the crime scene (see above), knowing that Mr Incredible would rather save an innocent child than capture a criminal. Actually works better than expected, because not only did it draw Mr Incredible away, but the ensuing chaos made an even bigger diversion that let Bomb Voyage escape scot free.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'': Skinner tries to spring one on Linguini by forcing him to make a dish that Gusteau hated, saying he's just doing it as a challenge for the "budding chef", thus ensuring that whether he can cook it per recipe or tries to improvise he'll screw up and be on grounds for him to fire as he pleases. Thankfully, Rémy's around to make it into something that's actually good ruining his scheme.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'' broke out of prison by having Minion send him watch, addressed from Megamind's ArchNemesis Metroman, knowing the prison warden wouldn't let him keep it. When the warden put it on, the hologram projector in the watch activated, making the warden look like Megamind. The prison guards threw the warden in Megamind's cell, and he used the confusion to grab the watch and escape.

* In Pixar's ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'', Disgust gives Anger a funny "TheReasonYouSuck" speech in order to activate his hothead to burn the window's glass and bring Joy and Sadness into Headquarters.

* In Pixar's ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'', Riley Anderson's Disgust give Riley's Anger a funny "TheReasonYouSuck" speech in order to active Anger's hothead to burn the glass to bring Riley's Joy and Riley's Sadness into Headquarters.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'': Terry [=McGinnis=] pulls a gambit the original Batman never used. Bruce believed ignoring Joker's clown-themed gags would work, but it just made the Clown Prince even more determined to make Batman laugh. Terry also finds out that Joker [[spoiler:hijacked Tim Drake's body via a microchip and has a ring buzzer.]] Deducing Joker's FatalFlaw of being an AttentionWhore who loves to gloat, Terry goads him to a VillainousBreakdown by condescendingly [[BoringInsult trash-talking his jokes]]. After all, a comedian's worst nightmare is TheHeckler. [[spoiler:It was exploited by Terry so he can kill the Joker for good by frying the microchip with the joy-buzzer.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'', Doc Hudson challenges Lightning to a race around Willy's Butte. Why? Because he knows that there is a hard curve on the track and that Lightning will try to take it at full speed, given his "I'm the Fastest" attitude. As a result, Lightning loses traction and crashes into a cactus patch, and is forced to continue fixing the road.

** When Syndrome calls Mr. Incredible's bluff when he threatens to kill Mirage after taking her hostage, knowing that he wouldn't have the guts to go through with it. It later comes back to bite him in the ass for his {{jerkass}} attitude in the situation.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', Scar pulls a fairly sadistic one on Mufasa when he puts Simba in danger. It ends up getting Mufasa killed.

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* ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'' pulls off a successful gambit against the Genie, showing that he was clever enough to not get overwhelmed by the Genie's antics. By challenging Genie's "phenomenal cosmic power", Aladdin was able to escape the Cave of Wonders without using up one of his precious few wishes. Genie proceeds to close the loophole for future tricks of this sort (and even gets a couple of puns in at the same time).

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[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batmangambit_incredibles.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:He knew Mr. Incredible had to save him.]]

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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' [[BigBad Frollo]] tells Quasimodo that he has troops ready to capture Esmeralda at the Court of Miracles. [[RivalsTeamUp Quasimodo and Phoebus]] go to warn her first. Frollo is there as well; he didn't know where the court was but [[TrickAndFollowPloy knew they would lead him to it]].

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* In ''Disney/TheLionKing'', Scar pulls a fairly sadistic one on Mufasa when he puts Simba in danger. It ends up getting Mufasa killed.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Nocturna}}'''s Moka spends the whole movie working on one. [[spoiler:Aside from his insatiable coffee habit, literally every action he takes, down to the last breath, is calculated to put Tim in a situation where his only option is to overcome his fear of the dark, which will save the night from certain doom]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder'': [[EvilPoacher [=McLeach=]]], realizing he can't torture Cody into coughing up the location of [[NobleBirdOfPrey Marahute]], lies to Cody about Marahute already being shot and making him worried about the eggs so that the boy will lead him to the location of the nest.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'': Nick and Judy pull an '''''epic''''' one during the climax. [[spoiler:With a badly injured leg, Judy can't run or fight and although Nick is a likely target for the Night Howler serum, [[NoOneGetsLeftBehind he refuses to leave her behind]]. While bandaging her leg, blueberries spill out, which they substitute for the Night Howler pellets as they are similar in size, color and shape. They bolt for the exit but end up knocked into a pit. As expected, Bellwether darts Nick and calls the police to report Judy being attacked by a savage fox. Nick and Judy carry on the "gone savage" act long enough to record Bellwether's [[EngineeredPublicConfession evil gloating]] and buy time for the ZPD to show up. They then have enough evidence to arrest her and her minions, as well as a sample that is used to develop an antidote for those driven savage by the Night Howlers.]].