History BatmanGambit / ComicBooks

* In the 13-issue story "The Kindly Ones" from ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' series, Death calls Dream out on having orchestrated a Batman Gambit. This gambit is a [[spoiler: suicide.]] It's also implied that only two others in existence realize what's happened: Puck [[spoiler: who says that he could discuss the subject "endlessly"]], and [[spoiler: Loki, who doesn't realize he's been played until it's too late for him.]]

{{Batman Gambits}} in ComicBooks.

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'':
** Susie tricks Calvin [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1986/01/13 with an elegantly simple Batman Gambit]].
** [[http://assets.amuniversal.com/d52fdf68250b102d94d7001438c0f03b Susie pulls off a far-more complex one]] during a story arc in which Calvin steals Susie's "Binky Betsy" doll and holds it for ransom, demanding $100 for her return (via an "anonymous" note signed "Sincerely, Calvin.") Susie puts an envelope by "the tree out front," as she was instructed to do, but hides behind the tree, out of Calvin's line of sight. Calvin sees the envelope and is overjoyed, thinking she caved and coughed up the money. However, just as Susie had planned, Calvin takes his eyes off of Hobbes for a few seconds to check the envelope, inside of which is no money, but a note that reads "Now we're even." Calvin is confused and has no idea what that means... until he turns to see [[{{Revenge}} Susie running off with Hobbes, whom SHE holds for ransom]]. Susie even comes out ahead, because in the ensuing [[PrisonerExchange toy exchange]], Susie gets both "Binky Betsy" ''and'' a quarter in exchange for Hobbes.
** Calvin ''tries'' to pull one against Susie, but fails rather spectacularly by making the assumption that [[PsychologicalProjection Susie thinks like him]]. The idea was to drop a letter containing Calvin's "secret plans" near her, she'd read it in order to foil his plans, but the misinformation contained in the letter would lead her into a water balloon ambush. The plan went wrong on Step 1, since Susie had no interest in spying on Calvin and [[EpicFail just returned the letter to him]]. The only way he could get her to actually pick it up was to drop incredibly obvious hints about how he wanted her to do it- which, of course clued her in that it was a trap. She then promptly turned the tables with another BatmanGambit of her own- instead of just going to the ambush location, she hid nearby with a hose and waited for Calvin to get impatient and check where she was, at which point she soaked him.

** [[http://assets.amuniversal.com/d52fdf68250b102d94d7001438c0f03b Susie pulls off a far-more complex one]] during a story arc in which Calvin steals Susie's "Binky Betsy" doll and holds it for ransom, demanding $100 for her return (via an "anonymous" note signed [[WhatAnIdiot "Sincerely, Calvin."]]) Susie puts an envelope by "the tree out front," as she was instructed to do, but hides behind the tree, out of Calvin's line of sight. Calvin sees the envelope and is overjoyed, thinking she caved and coughed up the money. However, just as Susie had planned, Calvin takes his eyes off of Hobbes for a few seconds to check the envelope, inside of which is no money, but a note that reads "Now we're even." Calvin is confused and has no idea what that means... until he turns to see [[{{Revenge}} Susie running off with Hobbes, whom SHE holds for ransom]]. Susie even comes out ahead, because in the ensuing [[PrisonerExchange toy exchange]], Susie gets both "Binky Betsy" ''and'' a quarter in exchange for Hobbes.

** Part-time LovableRogue, part-time plain {{Jerkass}} Chelli Aphra pulls of one ''on Darth Vader'' in the comic ''ComicBook/StarWarsDarthVader''. Throughout the series, she makes it very clear that she expects him to get rid of her once [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness she outlived her usefulness]], but requests that he does so with a lightsaber, instead of venting her into space, since she's always had nightmares about that. Vader [[{{Sadist}} being Vader]], he throws her into an airlock as soon as possible. [[spoiler:Which she was setting him up to do, since she had put her mercenary and droids in a position to pick her up as soon as the ''Executor'' was out of sight]].

* One ''Franchise/StarWars'' story had masterful plot pulled off. During the time following the events of ''Film/ANewHope'', Darth Vader was on a Star Destroyer in search of the Rebel Fleet, intending on capturing prisoners to rat out their location. However, the commanding officer, Commander Demmings, was a man who preferred dead Rebels over prisoners. After two incidents involving Rebels dying instead of being captured, Vader was prepared to Force Choke Demmings for his failures before Demmings choked out that he was only following his example following the destruction of Alderaan. This gives Vader an EurekaMoment and pulls Demmings into his office. At a supposed Rebel base, the gunner was ordered to just lightly strike the base, but once more, the base blows up. Vader looks like he's prepared to finally do away with Demmings [[spoiler: before revealing that the gunner's game was up -- he'd been trolling Vader and Demmings to protect the Rebels as he was from Alderaan and was angry at the destruction of his homeworld. The base he picked for bombing was actually an Alderaan colony meant to continue their fallen world's legacy and, because he wanted to troll Vader, he just blew up a place he could have called home.]]

** Way back in the original mini-series, Sonic, Tails and Antoine accidentally upend one of these concocted by Sally and Rotor. The plan was for Sally to demand to speak to Robotnik in order to get her father released, knowing he'd double-cross her and throw her into the Roboticizer. However, Sally's boots were outfitted with devices meant to disable and analyze the device, giving them a chance to save everyone. However, Sally was being completely vague about what she was doing and Sonic just didn't trust it at all, even with a royal edict telling him not to intervene. [[NotMyFault She blames them for the plan's failure]].

** One story shows the Phantom Blot pulling off a magnificent gambit. It gets complicated, so listen carefully:

*** The Blot kidnaps Mickey, and forces him to tell the police that the Blot will be travelling by train. If Mickey reveals that this is a lie, the Blot will murder him with a bomb.

*** This is exactly what the Phantom Blot expected would happen, so he's travelling by train as the police are scouring the harbour and airport.

%%* ''ComicBook/LockeAndKey'': The [[Literature/HarryPotter Voldemort]]-like villain. So far, he's been manipulating pretty much '''everyone''' into his agenda.

* ''ComicBook/TheHerderWitch'': Morie the witch is suspicious of star seers (stars that resemble people), but decides to trust them after they tell her about a kidnapped father she could rescue. It's only after she's completed that job that she discovers that they told her about it so they could lure her out into an open field for capture.
* ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'': Constantine sold his soul to the devil on three separate occasions (or rather, to each of the three most powerful demons in hell). Thus when he dies and each comes to collect, they realize that they'll have to fight for his soul (to give it up to the others is unthinkable), which would either destroy them or weaken them to the point where Heaven could finally attack and destroy Hell). The only way out is to save Constantine's life (including curing his cancer)... just as he'd planned.
* In ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'', Reggie and Veronica played a prank on Archie by making up a story about how Mr. Weatherbee was looking for him. Then Weatherbee turns up and he really was looking for someone, to represent the school on a trip to the capital. After Archie recommends Reggie and Veronica, Weatherbee sends various messengers to summon the two to his office (the first of which is Archie himself), but Reggie, thinking that Archie is playing the same gag on him, rebuffs them each and every time. Weatherbee eventually gets fed up, and trails the next messenger, so when Reg and Veronica ignore the summons one last time, he was there, and he sent them off to detention.
* In ''ComicBook/LesCompagnonsDuCrepuscule'', Neyrelle and Carmine´s husband sets up one to get rid of her sisters, and to gain power over the three wells connected to the sister`s inheritance. Full control will give Neyrelle access to power over the three forces. The knight is crucial, and is lured into a trap.
* One ''Franchise/StarWars'' story had masterful plot pulled off. During the time following the events of ''Film/ANewHope'', Darth Vader was on a Star Destroyer in search of the Rebel Fleet, intending on capturing prisoners to rat out their location. However, the commanding officer, Commander Demmings, was a man who preferred dead Rebels over prisoners. After two incidents involving Rebels dying instead of being captured, Vader was prepared to Force Choke Demmings for his failures before Demmings choked out that he was only following his example following the destruction of Alderaan. This gives Vader an EurekaMoment and pulls Demmings into his office. At a supposed Rebel base, the gunner was ordered to just lightly strike the base, but once more, the base blows up. Vader looks like he's prepared to finally do away with Demmings [[spoiler: before revealing that the gunner's game was up -- he'd been trolling Vader and Demmings to protect the Rebels as he was from Alderaan and was angry at the destruction of his homeworld. The base he picked for bombing was actually an Alderaan colony meant to continue their fallen world's legacy and, because he wanted to troll Vader, he just blew up a place he could have called home.]]

*** [[http://coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+1718-A In one story]], Scrooge launches an epic scheme involving deliberately [[ClimateChange cooling down the Earth]], risking '''100 billion Euros''' of his own money in the process, and using his understanding of Rockerduck's greediness (of which Scrooge himself is in no short supply) that Rockerduck will buy the whole project off of him in the hopes of reaping massive profits. The project is a money-loser, and Scrooge reveals this only after Rockerduck has paid Scrooge. The sole purpose of this risky scheme? Scrooge was worried that Rockerduck would soon pass him as Richest Duck in the World, and this was a way to get Rockerduck to burn some money on a lousy investment and remain in second place.

!!!Franchise/TheDCU
* ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}'':
** In ''ComicBook/ElseworldsFinestSupergirlAndBatgirl'', Batgirl needed to lure ''ComicBook/LexLuthor'' to Gotham City to "bring him, set him up, and take him down". So she announced that she'd allow him build a new factory in Gotham, knowing that Luthor's ego wouldn't let him miss a chance to go there and show his genius off. Her plan worked, but thanks to ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'''s help.
** ''ComicBook/Batgirl2011'': In the crossover with the ''Night of Owls'', the Court of Owls forbids James Gordon from activating the Bat Signal in order to prove to the citizens of Gotham that there is nobody to rescue them. James, being James, refuses to cowed by their threats and activates the signal...which was what they wanted, since they knew he would never bow to their pressure and they had replaced the Bat-logo with the Owl symbol.
* ''ComicBook/{{Chlorophylle}}'': Zizanion, unable to attack Mithron because of his guards, delivers a message announcing he will make the palace blow up at midday. Bouclette, as a precaution to protect the king, has him immediatly moved to a different, more isolated castle in the country. Turns out this is exactly what Zizanion expected them to do, as it makes it easier for him to place the bomb in this more isolated and unguarded castle before Mithron arrives. Fortunately, their car ends up with a damaged tyre and they arrive too late, causing the castle to blow up without them inside.
* ComicBook/TheJoker, in his more serious interpretations, is immune to the Batman Gambit based simply on the fact that he is completely unpredictable. And moreover, that if he can be bothered, he's savvy enough to see through them. Worst of all is if Batman finds himself on the receiving end of a gambit orchestrated by the Joker, something writer Scott Snyder did heavily during the times he used the character in the New 52. After all, the Joker knows Batman just as well as the Bat knows him.
** In the ''ComicBook/{{Joker}}'' graphic novel, the premise is that Joker, somehow, gets out of Arkham through the front gate. It's suggested but never stated that he was legally released. Later, he intimates to the Riddler that this was a sham.
--->'''Joker''': "The best place to hide, Edward, is in sanity!"
* "Tower of Babel", the JLA story where Batman's files are revealed and even JLA: Year One, where [[ComicBook/MartianManhunter J'onn]] did much the same thing, by a period of time.
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** This is the kind of planning that allows ComicBook/LexLuthor, with no superpowers, to be a threat to Superman nearly every time the two of them meet.
** A Pre-Crisis Superman story had Luthor falling in love, turning good, curing a deadly disease, marrying, and even allowing Superman to read his mind (with a machine) to convince his former foe that he'd changed- but it was all a trick; he erased his own memories of the plan and arranged it so that he ''genuinely'' believed he had reformed in order to lure Superman into an inescapable trap. His only error was that he had to make himself forget that ''he was already married'' (to an alien woman) for the plan to work... and Superman was aware of that.
** In ''ComicBook/SupermanVsTheAmazingSpiderMan'', when Franchise/{{Superman}} shoves ComicBook/LexLuthor's robot into the ground, the mecha's head detaches from the body and blasts off. Superman flies after it and discovers that it is a decoy. Meanwhile, Lex gets away laughing loudly.
** Superman pulled one of these on ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}, ''and himself'' in ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton''. After rescuing ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} from being a Female Fury, Supes inducts her as an official hero and sort of parades her around Earth. Angered about losing his prize, Darkseid comes to Earth and seemingly vaporizes her with his Omega Beams. Superman goes apeshit over losing her and beats Darkseid to a pulp and seals him inside the Source Wall. Superman then meets with Supergirl, who used a device to teleport away at the last second, and reports that the plan was successful. They were able to goad Darkseid into coming to fight them personally, and the mere ''sight'' of Supergirl's seeming death was able to trigger Superman's UnstoppableRage so he could curb stomp Darkseid's ass. Batman muses that the plan had no input from him, it was all Clark, and it was brilliant.
** ''ComicBook/WarWorld'': Superman's plan to destroy the titular super-weapong was goading Mongul into firing at Supergirl and him until overloading Warworld's circuits.
--->'''Supergirl:''' Uh-Oh! Something tells me Mongul isn't kidding anymore!\\
'''Superman:''' Perfect! He's reacting exactly as I'd hoped he would!
** ''ComicBook/KryptoniteNevermore'': A group of pirates raid a freighter to distract the Coast Guard. Meanwhile, the main body of their band captures a Government facility.
** ''ComicBook/TheThirdKryptonian'': As fighting Amalak's men off, Superman suddenly shouts "I have to protect Kandor" and flies off, knowing Amalak will think him stupid enough to give away the city's location, and give chase.
** In ''ComicBook/HelOnEarth'', [[WellIntentionedExtremist H'el]] was counting on ComicBook/{{Superboy}} to destroy most of his [[TimeMachine Star Chamber]] because he was actually destroying the fueling station for his ship and freed his ship from its launchpad, helping H'el in his plan to resurrect Krypton at the expense of Earth.
** ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'': If you subscribe to the theory Lex Luthor is Leo Quintum, Superman allowed him to see the world through his eyes if only briefly to reform him.
** In ''ComicBook/WhoTookTheSuperOutOfSuperman'', villain Xviar gaslights Superman into believing he's undergoing a psychotic break by chemically treating his Clark Kent suits so that they block off his powers. Xviar's trick convinces Superman that he needs to forfeit one of his dual identities, so he spends extended lengths of time out of his apartment, trying to find himself, as Xviar sets a trap to turn him into a ticking bomb. Xviar's scheme falls apart when Clark Kent is called as a witness in court. Being in a hurry, Superman picks a spare suit he keeps in his office, which hadn't been touched by Xviar, and finds out he still has powers as Clark Kent.
** ''ComicBook/SupermanUnchained'': Anticipating Wraith's species will soon invade Earth using the equation, Lex Luthor creates a syringe with synthetic solar energy that will transform whoever uses it into a solar bomb. He wants Superman to use it so that he can defeat the invaders and get himself killed in the process. Luthor does not anticipate, however, that Wraith would take the syringe and use it on himself.
** In ''ComicBook/WhoIsSuperwoman'', Lucy Lane has a plan to lure Supergirl out and into a trap. First Lucy tricks Kara via false evidence into believing her friend Thara: is the titular villain; and helped Reatron murder her father. Then Lucy puts on her Superwoman suit and parades Reactron around Metropolis, goading a very emotional Kara into attacking them.
** Supergirl's specialty regarding Batman Gambits is using them to OutGambit villains' Batman Gambits.
** A double subversion occurs in a story from the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]]. Supergirl encounters Black Flame, a woman who seems to be a super-powered Kryptonian, in the process of some rather destructive vandalism. The villainess claims she's from the distant future of the year 4000, and "invites" Supergirl to view her time using a computerized exhibition device. It shows the heroine a terrible future where Black Flame extorts wealth from thousands of worlds (as in, she can blow them to little pieces if they don't comply). Worst part: she's Supergirl’s direct descendent, "Supergirl XXV", and the citizens of this distant future despise the first one just as much for starting this hated family line. Supergirl is naturally very upset, and after pursuing numerous leads (she senses something fishy here) including visiting the bottled city of Kandor, and eventually decides to unearth a chuck of gold kryptonite, and use it to erase her own powers, eliminating the possibility she could pass them down to a descendant, in effect, making Black Flame RetGone. Then Black Flame appears with a cruel laugh, revealing her ''true'' identity, that of an assistant of a criminal from the Kandor who was interred in the Phantom Zone. Black Flame had set up the plan out of revenge, leaving Kandor and using something called Red-K to increase her size, then pulled the ruse ''hoping'' Supergirl would depower herself. After listening to the powerless heroine her beg a little, she shoves Supergirl into a pit of quicksand and watches her drown. Or so it seems. [[spoiler: Black Flame gets a big surprise as the Red-K wears off, shrinking herself to normal size, because Supergirl actually figured the plan out, and was [[OutGambit outgambitting her]] with her own BatmanGambit; now that she's shrunk, Supergirl grabs her, showing her the - fake - chuck of gold kryptonite and shoving her inside a make-up compact that holds a few minute grains of ''real'' gold kryptonite. As she ships the criminal back to Kandor, the last panel of the story shows the one flaw in Black Flame's plan - a cavity in her teeth with a dental filling that Supergirl noticed while investigating records in a Kandor dental clinic, something a superpowered descendant would not have,]]
** In another story, Mr. Mxyzptlk (well, a relative of his) commands everyone in the 40th century to believe Supergirl is a criminal. Supergirl is captured with Kryptonite, tried, and sentenced to have the word "OUTLAW" branded on her forehead. Afterwards Kara is marginalized, insulted and bullied until she cracks and decides that "[She's]] been branded an outlaw, so [she'll] be one!" just like Mxy had planned. Or rather, planned, but failed. Supergirl's act of rage was an act to fool him into revealing himself which he did.
** In the ''ComicBook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'' storyline, two villains tried to pull off separate Batman Gambits to defeat Supergirl:
*** ''SelfDemonstrating/{{Lobo}}'' tries to use Supergirl's rage against her by taunting her into not holding back. As such, Dr. Veritas teleports them out of the Block to prevent their fight from damaging it. Once outside, Lobo calls his ship and flies to Supergirl's old apartment in New York, hoping to calm her down. He then tries to be friendly to her offering to mentor her so she can learn to control her rage. Big mistake. Supergirl has had it with people trying to manipulate her and gives him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
*** [[spoiler:Worldkiller-1]] had taken over the body of an alien warlord and wanted to steal Supergirl's body. However he couldn't destroy his host body. So he goaded Supergirl to use her EyeBeams on him until she reduced his body to ashes involuntarily.
** In ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 2005 story arc]]'' "Girl Power", Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman have to spot an imposter Supergirl. Superman hits both Supergirls, assuming that his real cousin will not retaliate. His plan fails because both girls fight back.
** In ''ComicBook/TheKillersOfKrypton'', Supergirl, who has been captured by Harry Hokum, spits on his face while he is wondering what to do with her. As expected, Hokum gets so mad that he forgets about cutting her up on the spot, and orders she is dragged to a cell instead. On the way, Kara taunts his minion Splyce until the alien fires her solar blasts at her. Supergirl feels her cells recharging, but she pretends to pass out; and after being dumped into a cell, she breaks her handcuffs and makes her getaway.
** In ''ComicBook/StrangersAtTheHeartsCore'', villain Klax-Ar wants to find the Earth's location so he can use his weaponized sled to take over the world. Kara's blows seem ineffectual against his flying vehicle, which has been built from the remains from a broken-down Superboy Robot, so she pretends to flee in panic, knowing Klax-Ar follow her trail. When they arrive in Earth, Klax-Ar thinks Supergirl has made a stupid mistake until his vehicle malfunctions, and Kara explains their robots have been rendered inoperative by Earth's pollution.
* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'':
** Ozymandias needs super-powerful Dr. Manhattan out of the picture in order to carry out his plan. To accomplish this, Ozymandias connives to induce cancer in several of Manhattan's associates, then arranges for him to appear on a live television talk show where a journalist will ambush him with the accusation of having ''caused'' the cancers. This predictably drives Manhattan (whose emotional connection to humanity had been weakening for years) to decide that life on Earth isn't worth the hassle and teleport to Mars.
** The Comedian's murder had already left Rorschach wondering whether someone was "gunning for masks" (i.e., planning to kill all the active and retired superheroes). When Dr. Manhattan is forced into exile, Rorschach recognizes that he was framed, and becomes ''convinced'' that a mask-killer is at work. He's wrong, but Ozymandias decides to encourage Rorschach's belief by making ''himself'' the next target. Through intermediaries, he hires an assassin to kill him, then evades the attack, disarms the assassin, and kills him in a way that looks like suicide. This not only convinces Nite Owl and the others that Rorschach is right, but also puts Ozymandias himself beyond suspicion. Later, Ozymandias contrives to have Rorschach arrested under circumstances that make ''him'' appear to be the mask-killer.
** In the end, Nite Owl and Rorschach discover that Ozymandias is responsible, but when they (along with Dr. Manhattan and Silk Spectre) confront him with the evidence, he reveals that his plot has averted World War III, and the others can't ever disclose what they know without jeopardizing the peace and possibly bringing about the destruction of all life on Earth. They are forced to help him cover up his crimes. It's also implied that Nite Owl and Rorschach only uncover the truth because Ozymandias has left the evidence for them to find on his office computer, protected only by a very weak password (and a user interface that actually ''tells'' them when they have a partial match and encourages them to keep guessing). By luring them to his Antarctic headquarters while Ozymandias's masterstroke is being carried out in New York, he ensures that they can't interfere with it (and, in fact, don't even know it's happening until too late).
* One of Tim's final acts in the ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'' before becoming Red Robin involves poisoning ComicBook/LadyShiva with a toxin that will only effect her with an elevated heart rate in preparation for a fight before Shiva has even challenged him.
* In ''Franchise/GreenLantern'' ''ComicBook/BrightestDay'', Lobo attacks Atrocitus, trying to get the bounty on his head. The White Lantern Battery orders Hal Jordan, Carol Ferris, and Sinestro to help Atrocitus, so they do. After Lobo is driven off, the four of them vow to work together to find the missing emotional entities. Atrocitus hired Lobo to attack him in the first place and take a dive, in order to get the others to trust him. As payment, Lobo is given a Red Lantern Ring.

!!!Franchise/MarvelUniverse
* In ''ComicBook/CivilWar'', the trick to trap Hulk in the satellite and shoot him into space was based on the likely reactions of Bruce Banner: that he wouldn't trust the people leading S.H.I.E.L.D., but that he would trust Nick Fury, not knowing that he's been missing since Secret War, and that he would decide that "this is a job for Hulk".
* In a crossover with ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} and ComicBook/TheDefenders, the hero and team find themselves at the mercy of the Grandmaster and an old Doctor Doom robot called the Prime Mover and the Grandmaster is able to beat the Prime Mover and obtain the Earth. When he decides he wants to turn Earth into a breeding ground for super-powered pawns, Daredevil challenges him to a game of heads or tails, double or nothing, playing with the Grandmaster's addiction to gambling. Though Daredevil cheats to win, the entire plan hinged on Grandmaster accepting. ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} would pull the same trick years later with even ''more'' blatant cheating.
** Grandmaster is hit with this again at the end of ''ComicBook/AvengersNoSurrender'' as he's confronted by Lightning, who challenges him to a game of poker to decide the fate of the Earth. Grandmaster becomes so scared of Lightning having a higher hand than him that he folds. Then Lightning reveals to him how he did it: [[spoiler:he's never played poker before. Lightning bluffed him just by being convincing.]]
** Grandmaster is one of the Elders of the Universe, each is the last survivor of an ancient race that has adopt a particular [[PlanetOfHats hat]] in order to have a focus and be ablet to survive the boredom of immortality. Likewise, the particular obsession can be used to turn the tables on them (e.g. threaten to start smashing The Collector's stuff).
* Believe it or not, ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}. You see, everyone thinks that Deadpool's a moron. He's not. This was proved without a doubt when he executed a plan involving the manipulation of the X-Men, HAMMER, ComicBook/NormanOsborn, some random called Kincaid, the SFPD, the public, the local news, and a chicken, over the course of five issues. Deadpool first declared to the X-Men that he was going to kill Kincaid, causing a public fiasco, making the X-Men look like criminals, then, he proceeded to interrupt a ''live broadcast'', wearing a ''home made X-Men outfit'', then, he let himself be captured by Domino, knowing that her morals would mean that when Cyclops ordered Wolverine to "take Deadpool out of the picture", she would protect him, then, Deadpool got Domino to tell him her greatest fear, ''then'' stuck the chicken, (which was Domino's worst fear) into an air vent in a train station, knowing ''full well that Osborn would put Kincaid in an open spot to GET him killed to make the X-Men look bad'', fully expecting the X-Men to try to save Kincaid by way of a vent, pulling out the lights ''FIRST'' to add to the confusion. Then he flushed Kincaid into the open. While Kincaid was in the open, Deadpool kept an eye out for snipers, '''PROTECTING''' Kincaid, while making it look like he was going to kill him. Then, when Wolverine saved Kincaid, Deadpool made a run for it, and fought the X-Men (except for Wolverine who would, by now, be in on the plot, Deadpool made sure of that) on the roof, allowing a camera guy taken by Wolverine to film them, making the X-Men look like heroes, and Osborn to look like an incompetent buffoon, just as '''''planned!'''''
** This aspect of Deadpool's personality was lampshaded by Nick Fury in ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance 2'' where Nick Fury states that with his intelligence and skill, Deadpool would easily be the most dangerous being on the ''entire planet'' if it weren't for his insanity preventing him from doing ''too'' much.
* The founding of the ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}} was likely the most elaborate example of this Trope in Marvel. With most citizens at the brink of the DespairEventHorizon after Onslaught seemingly kills ComicBook/TheAvengers and the ComicBook/FantasticFour, Baron Zemo comes up with a ''brilliant'' EvilPlan, which is to gather the former members of the Masters of Evil and use new identities, posing as heroes to gain the public's trust until they could strike by complete surprise. And it worked ''brilliantly''. Nobody, not the government, the media, nor the remaining heroes like ComicBook/SpiderMan ever suspected a thing. The plan may well have succeeded, had not half the original team not discovered that [[BecomingTheMask being respected and admired had more benefits to being hated and feared.]]
* In ''ComicBook/EarthX'', ComicBook/CaptainAmerica uses Alicia Master's Marvels (animated clay fashioned in the guise of Earth's heroes) to have an army immune to the Skull's mind-control, and to preoccupy the supervillain's superhuman slave army. Cap then disguises himself as a Marvel made in his image to fool the Skull into believing he's also immune to the boy's powers, allowing Cap to get in close and [[ShootTheDog snap the Skull's neck]]
* In ''ComicBook/{{Excalibur}}'', it is revealed that Merlyn arranged the formation of Excalibur and manipulated many subsequent events (including faking his own death), in order to ultimately prevent the collapse of Merlyn's Energy Matrix and destroy Merlyn's former teacher [[OmnicidalManiac Necrom]]. [[spoiler:The gambit is only half-successful: while Necrom ''is'' destroyed, Captain Britain and Meggan create a feedback loop in the Energy Matrix and destroy it, greatly reducing Merlyn's power.]]
-->''Was all this deception really necessary? - Merlyn's daughter Roma''
* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': If you know ''anything'' about Victor Von Doom, you can easily see why this trope could just as well be called ''The Doom Gambit'' (most of them involve him being ActuallyADoombot).
* In Marvel's ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet'' [[CrisisCrossover crossover]], the [[TheChessmaster coldly calculating]] ComicBook/AdamWarlock sets into motion several futile engagements against the omnipotent ComicBook/{{Thanos}} and his upstart successor Nebula, designed to exploit the villains' AchillesHeel and ineptitude (respectively), and ultimately transition the Infinity Gauntlet to Warlock himself.
** It's part of the same gambit, but it's worth pointing out that a substantial part of Warlock's gambit was to script an entire battle involving more than a dozen of the galaxy's strongest warriors sacrificing their lives, to get Thanos to ''raise his hand'' at the right moment.
** Warlock's [[EnemyWithout evil half]] the Magus is not to be outdone in the sequel [[CrisisCrossover crossover]] ''The Infinity War'', implementing an elaborate scheme geared towards the acquisition of the Infinity Gauntlet. Unfortunately, two [[TheChessmaster Chessmasters]] (three, if you count Thanos' duplicitous doppelganger) are better than one, and after Warlock and Thanos discern the Magus' end game, they execute a counter-scheme that sabotages the villain's newfound godhood, and ultimately leads to his defeat.
* The ''ComicBook/IronMan'' comic showed that Howard Stark pulled an epic one during "The Secret Origin of Tony Stark". Howard and Maria Stark were expecting a child, but they come to find out that their child was very ill. He wouldn't be able to be active at all if not be dead. Enter the Rigellian Recorder robot 451, who promises that he can heal him in exchange for using him for a powerful robot that is said to help lead humanity into a golden age of peace and prosperity. However, Howard realizes that all of 451's talks of this use Alexander the Great as an example and realizes that his son would live, only to die years later. What does he do? [[spoiler:He finds a way to negate 451's modifications, then, while hiding the child away, adopts another and proclaims him to be his son. The boy he adopted? ''Tony Stark''.]] When 451 came to collect, he had no idea of what had happened.
* ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'':
** Absorbing Man isn't exactly a genius, but he's good at using his powers, and always tries to absorb the properties of Thor's hammer or Cap's shield if either hero is present. In one story, Thor anticipated this and fooled him into thinking a papier-mâché duplicate of his hammer was the real thing. having absorbed the properties of papier-mâché, the villain was defeated easily.
** Odin has one of his own, when it's revealed during the "Disassembled/Ragnarok" story arc that all of the trials and tribulations that Odin had put Thor through over the years (centuries, millennia) were preparing him to finally be the god to put an end to the Ragnarok Cycle once and for all.
** If you followed Thor since ComicBook/AvengersDisassembled, and through ComicBook/DarkReign and ComicBook/{{Siege}}, and up until now, you probably already know this. If you didn't, [[http://www.narutoforums.com/showthread.php?t=743153 read this]] and realize who the real orchestrator behind everything that happened was. [[spoiler:Loki]]. In short? [[spoiler:Loki was shown to ensure his own adoption by [[PhysicalGod Odin]], caused the last [[{{Gotterdammerung}} Ragnarok]], made sure Thor would revive all the gods, manipulated humans, gods, demons and Doom to ensure he won't have an afterlife and that he would be reincarnated, caused [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn Osborn's]] downfall, made it possible for Asgard to exist without harming [[WorldTree Yggdrasil]], all with everyone around him being clueless.]] And the best part? No one has yet realized the magnitude of the plan that was executed or the reason behind it.
** In ''[[ComicBook/LokiAgentOfAsgard Loki: Agent of Asgard]]'', the main villain of the piece manages to pull off one of these that involves time-travel, murdering a shapeshifter who looks like an otter, setting the shapeshifter's brothers against each other, a young Odin, Asgard's greatest hero, and shooting a giant fish that's actually a dwarf with a bazooka, all to cause the creation of a sword that the current Loki acquired before the series began.
** In ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'' storyline ''ComicBook/TheSurturSaga'', Surtur pulled one on ALL the Asgardians: after breaking the seals barring the exit from Muspelheim with Malekith's aid, they launched an all-out invasion of Midgard, forcing the Asgardians to muster all their armies and allies and head down to Earth to stop them. During the initial stage of the battle in Midgard, while he and his Fire Demons rampaged and fought against the Asgardian forces in New York, they end up setting a lot of fires that threaten to burn the whole city down. To prevent this, Thor called forth a thundering rainstorm which put out the fires out... and that was what Surtr intended all along, as due to the mystical nature of the storm, once the clouds part and a rainbow appear, he could sense and find his way to the rainbow bridge, Bifrost, allowing him to immediately assault Asgard, now empty save for Heimdell and Odin himself as its last-line of defense, where the Eternal Flame he needs to light his greatsword Twilight and burn the Nine Worlds to ashes. And with all the Asgardian forces and heroes stuck on Midgard trying to hold off against the forces of Muspelheim, only Thor can head back to help his father stop Surtr from winning.
* TheMole on the team in ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' attributes this to the success of their plan near the end of the first volume - specifically, they let Nico suggest part of it after arranging things so there wouldn't be many other options.
* Pretty much all of Franchise/SpiderMan's victories against supervillains depend on Batman Gambits, especially ones much more powerful than he is. Spider-Man will either set up in advance or improvise on the spot various traps and goad his enemies into falling into them, and even if he can beat a supervillain in straight combat, he'll joke around and mock them into fury and carelessness to make the fight easier.
** Tombstone pulled one of these off in a ''Spider-Man Tangled Webs'' story that featured him as a VillainProtagonist. After suffering a heart attack (due to his very unhealthy diet) Tombstone was arrested and sent to [[TheAlcatraz the super-villain prison the Raft]], where he quickly developed an enmity with [[DirtyCop a crooked correction officer]] and the Kangaroo, who the correction officer used as his enforcer to keep the inmates in line. Tombstone planned to murder the Kangaroo, but he had a problem – his cellmate, the Spot, learned of the plan, and didn’t want to be an accessory to murder, seeing as he was up for parole soon. Tombstone threatened the much weaker man, but the Spot betrayed the plan to the guards anyway (even though turning stool-pigeon on any inmate, much less one like Tombstone, is usually suicide) and Tombstone was caught in the act. He was sent to solitary, where the crooked officer tormented him and kept his medication from him, while the Spot was granted parole for his act. Eventually, Tombstone got sicker and sicker, until he had a second heart attack. The crooked officer knew he was in trouble, because Tombstone would be transferred, and the Kangaroo wouldn’t work for him if Tombstone survived. So his NumberTwo arranged for the guy to personally guard the villain as the ambulance transferred him so he could kill the villain and MakeItLookLikeAnAccident. That’s when Tombstone’s long-prepared escape plan came to fruition, and it was revealed that the Number Two and the Spot had been in on it all along. The Spot opened a portal to Switzerland (where Tombstone could get better medical treatment with confidentiality) and the villain killed the correction officer during the transit. (Unfortunately for the Spot, Tombstone later repaid him by snapping his neck, showing that while his heart was healed, it was still black as pitch.)
* ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'':
** ComicBook/NickFury performs one of these. In order to eliminate a dangerous assassin and recover the high tech rifle he possesses, Fury anonymously contacts the assassin ''and orders a hit on himself''. He manages to successfully lure the assassin into the open and kill him. The best part. The assassin is armed with a gun with X-ray vision and a special bullet that will phase through any barriers between him and his target. As he's setting up his aim, the last thing he sees is Nick Fury aiming the only other copy of this same rifle ''at him''. He didn't just call a hit on himself, he slipped the assassin just enough information about his own schedule so that he'd know exactly when and where the assassin would attack.
** Hulk does not care about the Chitauri alien invasion, but he's a DumbMuscle. Captain America easily manipulates him to fight with BlatantLies: first he told him that the alien leader had been flirting with Betty Ross, and then that the rest of the armada had been calling him a "sissy boy".
* In ''ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}: Origins'', Wolverine has a plan with ComicBook/{{Bucky|Barnes}}. The first part of the plan requires Bucky to hire a mercenary to attack Wolverine. Bucky hires everyone's favorite fourth-wall destroying, partially insane, [[ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} merc with a mouth]], because Bucky knows how he hates that everyone thinks he's a Wolverine knock-off -- so Deadpool will draw Wolverine into a very noticeable battle. Deadpool is also the only guy who could have a chance against Wolverine. Hence, the battle ensues, and eventually [[spoiler:Deadpool has Wolverine hanging above a secret pool so that he can drown him, which may take a long time. But then, Wolverine's son, ComicBook/{{Daken}}, shows up, Bucky shoots Daken with a special bullet that will dull his healing factor, keeping him knocked out for a long time, so Wolverine can un-brainwash him.]] It turns out, that was the entire point of everything. [[TheChewToy Deadpool did not get paid.]]
* ''ComicBook/XMen'' series:
** During the ComicBook/{{Onslaught}} CrisisCrossover , it was revealed that Professor X (like Batman) kept secret files on how to kill each X-Man in case they went rogue, including himself (which was good, since Onslaught was created from a combination of Xavier's and ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'s minds).
** The "Xavier Protocols", as these plans are known, eventually end up becoming important plot elements in various other arcs.
** In ''ComicBook/CurseOfTheMutants'', Xarus's vampire army manages to turn Wolverine. Xarus then puts Logan in the lead of his attack on Utopia, as a psychological gambit to demoralise the mutants. Then, just when Xarus thinks he can't lose, ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} reveals the vampirism only worked because Dr Nemesis shut off Wolvie's HealingFactor, and turns it back on. Now Wolverine's back, very unhappy, knows where Xarus is based, and the vamps ''really'' aren't expecting him to turn on them.
--->'''Cyclops''': I had to assume the possibility that you'd get bitten and turned. In fact, I counted on it.
** ComicBook/JubileeMarvelComics was actually able to pull off one of these in an early issue of ''ComicBook/GenerationX'', the first time the team dealt with Emplate, the demonic mutant brother of the M-Twins, who could [[VampiricDraining feed off the genetic material]] of other mutants and assimilate their abilities. Emplate managed to capture and subdue the entire team (even Emma Frost, believe it or not) and had them at his mercy. So Jubilee suddenly decides to spend the time ''insulting'' him. (The best one? She parodies David Letterman with "The Top Ten Reasons Emplate is a Loser", number one being that despite all he's doing, he's ''still'' not as annoying as his sister M.) After enduring one and a half issues of this, Emplate loses his temper, and uses his draining power on her, only to find out that Jubilee was trying to make him angry on purpose, because ''she'' has been known to lose control of her powers when she's angry. Because she succeeds in tricking Emplate into assimilating her powers when he's enraged, well, the results are ''explosive'', and the team is able to fight back.
* One ComicBook/{{Punisher}} comic has a white-collar criminal flee to a Caribbean BananaRepublic, strongarming its president into letting him run his criminal empire from there. The president retaliates by mentioning (during dinner with an American diplomat that the newcomer is certainly doing lots for the country's economy, having started to build a huge runway. The diplomat goes on high alert due to the possibility of the staging point for a Soviet invasion, the criminal is completely dumbfounded to find a U.S. Army division on his doorstep (he built the runway to make it easier to smuggle drugs, and is completely baffled anyone would suspect Soviet involvement, although of course he can't exactly say so in public).
* ''ComicBook/MarvelAdventures: The Avengers'':
** During Issue #10, Cap spends Iron Man's jousting match against the Black Knight on the phone with Jarvis, wanting to find some jousting rule that invalidates the match, counting on Iron Man's loss as well as Morgan le Fay being honor-bound to agree to a rematch. It works, as he discovers jousting matches require all participants to wield shields, and gives Iron Man [[IconicItem his]].
** When the Mad Thinker unleashed her Super-Adaptoid and used it to copy the powers of Quicksilver and Spider-Man. After it copied everything about Bruce Banner, Quicksilver notices some odd quirks towards the Super-Adaptoid. Quicksilver is able to get the remote the Thinker is using to activate the Adaptoid's ability, snatch up Captain America and get it to copy his abilities. To the Avengers' shock, the Super-Adaptoid stands down, proclaims the Avengers good people and flies off. Quicksilver explains that he realized that the Adaptoid's odd quirks meant that it had possibly copied the heroes' personalities as well as their powers. He also didn't tell Cap his plan because he knew he wouldn't trust him with pulling it off.

** ComicBook/{{Jubilee}} was actually able to pull off one of these in an early issue of ''ComicBook/GenerationX'', the first time the team dealt with Emplate, the demonic mutant brother of the M-Twins, who could [[VampiricDraining feed off the genetic material]] of other mutants and assimilate their abilities. Emplate managed to capture and subdue the entire team (even Emma Frost, believe it or not) and had them at his mercy. So Jubilee suddenly decides to spend the time ''insulting'' him. (The best one? She parodies David Letterman with "The Top Ten Reasons Emplate is a Loser", number one being that despite all he's doing, he's ''still'' not as annoying as his sister M.) After enduring one and a half issues of this, Emplate loses his temper, and uses his draining power on her, only to find out that Jubilee was trying to make him angry on purpose, because ''she'' has been known to lose control of her powers when she's angry. Because she succeeds in tricking Emplate into assimilating her powers when he's enraged, well, the results are ''explosive'', and the team is able to fight back.

* Interestingly enough, ComicBook/TheJoker, in his more serious interpretations, is immune to the Batman Gambit based simply on the fact that he is completely unpredictable. And moreover, that if he can be bothered, he's savvy enough to see through them. Worst of all is if Batman finds himself on the receiving end of a gambit orchestrated by the Joker, something writer Scott Snyder did heavily during the times he used the character in the New 52. After all, the Joker knows Batman just as well as the Bat knows him.

** In ''ComicBook/ElseworldsFinestSupergirlAndBatgirl'', Batgirl needed to lure ''Comicbook/LexLuthor'' to Gotham City to "bring him, set him up, and take him down". So she announced that she'd allow him build a new factory in Gotham, knowing that Luthor's ego wouldn't let him miss a chance to go there and show his genius off. Her plan worked, but thanks to ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'''s help.

** In ''Comicbook/SupermanVsTheAmazingSpiderMan'', when Franchise/{{Superman}} shoves Comicbook/LexLuthor's robot into the ground, the mecha's head detaches from the body and blasts off. Superman flies after it and discovers that it is a decoy. Meanwhile, Lex gets away laughing loudly.
** Superman pulled one of these on ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}, ''and himself'' in ''Comicbook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton''. After rescuing ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} from being a Female Fury, Supes inducts her as an official hero and sort of parades her around Earth. Angered about losing his prize, Darkseid comes to Earth and seemingly vaporizes her with his Omega Beams. Superman goes apeshit over losing her and beats Darkseid to a pulp and seals him inside the Source Wall. Superman then meets with Supergirl, who used a device to teleport away at the last second, and reports that the plan was successful. They were able to goad Darkseid into coming to fight them personally, and the mere ''sight'' of Supergirl's seeming death was able to trigger Superman's UnstoppableRage so he could curb stomp Darkseid's ass. Batman muses that the plan had no input from him, it was all Clark, and it was brilliant.

* One of Tim's final acts in the ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'' before becoming Red Robin involves poisoning Comicbook/LadyShiva with a toxin that will only effect her with an elevated heart rate in preparation for a fight before Shiva has even challenged him.

** Grandmaster is one of the Elders of the Universe, each is the last survivor of an ancient race that has adopt a particular [[Main/PlanetOfHats hat]] in order to have a focus and be ablet to survive the boredom of immortality. Likewise, the particular obsession can be used to turn the tables on them (e.g. threaten to start smashing The Collector's stuff).

* In ''ComicBook/EarthX'', Comicbook/CaptainAmerica uses Alicia Master's Marvels (animated clay fashioned in the guise of Earth's heroes) to have an army immune to the Skull's mind-control, and to preoccupy the supervillain's superhuman slave army. Cap then disguises himself as a Marvel made in his image to fool the Skull into believing he's also immune to the boy's powers, allowing Cap to get in close and [[ShootTheDog snap the Skull's neck]]
* In ''Comicbook/{{Excalibur}}'', it is revealed that Merlyn arranged the formation of Excalibur and manipulated many subsequent events (including faking his own death), in order to ultimately prevent the collapse of Merlyn's Energy Matrix and destroy Merlyn's former teacher [[OmnicidalManiac Necrom]]. [[spoiler:The gambit is only half-successful: while Necrom ''is'' destroyed, Captain Britain and Meggan create a feedback loop in the Energy Matrix and destroy it, greatly reducing Merlyn's power.]]

* ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'': If you know ''anything'' about Victor Von Doom, you can easily see why this trope could just as well be called ''The Doom Gambit'' (most of them involve him being ActuallyADoombot).

** If you followed Thor since ComicBook/AvengersDisassembled, and through Comicbook/DarkReign and Comicbook/{{Siege}}, and up until now, you probably already know this. If you didn't, [[http://www.narutoforums.com/showthread.php?t=743153 read this]] and realize who the real orchestrator behind everything that happened was. [[spoiler:Loki]]. In short? [[spoiler:Loki was shown to ensure his own adoption by [[PhysicalGod Odin]], caused the last [[{{Gotterdammerung}} Ragnarok]], made sure Thor would revive all the gods, manipulated humans, gods, demons and Doom to ensure he won't have an afterlife and that he would be reincarnated, caused [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn Osborn's]] downfall, made it possible for Asgard to exist without harming [[WorldTree Yggdrasil]], all with everyone around him being clueless.]] And the best part? No one has yet realized the magnitude of the plan that was executed or the reason behind it.

* TheMole on the team in ''Comicbook/{{Runaways}}'' attributes this to the success of their plan near the end of the first volume - specifically, they let Nico suggest part of it after arranging things so there wouldn't be many other options.

* ''ComicBook/TheUltimates''

* ''Comicbook/XMen'' series:

** In ''ComicBook/CurseOfTheMutants'', Xarus's vampire army manages to turn Wolverine. Xarus then puts Logan in the lead of his attack on Utopia, as a psychological gambit to demoralise the mutants. Then, just when Xarus thinks he can't lose, Comicbook/{{Cyclops}} reveals the vampirism only worked because Dr Nemesis shut off Wolvie's HealingFactor, and turns it back on. Now Wolverine's back, very unhappy, knows where Xarus is based, and the vamps ''really'' aren't expecting him to turn on them.

* One {{ComicBook/Punisher}} comic has a white-collar criminal flee to a Caribbean BananaRepublic, strongarming its president into letting him run his criminal empire from there. The president retaliates by mentioning (during dinner with an American diplomat that the newcomer is certainly doing lots for the country's economy, having started to build a huge runway. The diplomat goes on high alert due to the possibility of the staging point for a Soviet invasion, the criminal is completely dumbfounded to find a U.S. Army division on his doorstep (he built the runway to make it easier to smuggle drugs, and is completely baffled anyone would suspect Soviet involvement, although of course he can't exactly say so in public).

* A character in the ''Comicbook/{{Blacksad}}'' album "Artic Nation" is in the middle of one several decades in the making. A key factor in this plot is [[spoiler:marrying her own father, while keeping him from discovering this particular bit of information. She succeeds at most of her goals, but her sister is killed in the process and her niece rendered an orphan]].

* In the 13-issue story "The Kindly Ones" from ''Comicbook/TheSandman'' series, Death calls Dream out on having orchestrated a Batman Gambit. This gambit is a [[spoiler: suicide.]] It's also implied that only two others in existence realize what's happened: Puck [[spoiler: who says that he could discuss the subject "endlessly"]], and [[spoiler: Loki, who doesn't realize he's been played until it's too late for him.]]

* Snively pulls something like this a few times in trying to get rid of his dear uncle Robotnik/Eggman in ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'', befitting his role as TheStarscream. The first Robotnik, his "dear" Uncle Julian, was killed when his superweapon, the Ultimate Annihilator, is destroyed - Snively had sabotaged it and knew it was a matter of time before the Freedom Fighters would find a way to aim it at him, as he was now the only one who could be killed. The second Robotnik, Dr. Eggman, was slowly being driven insane by his constant losses. All he had to do was call his new love, the Iron Queen, and let her know when the Egg finally broke.
* Udon Comics has a fun one, in ''Comicbook/StreetFighter Legends''. Karin challenges Sakura to a contest, ANY contest... and Sakura comes up with a Hot-Dog Eating Contest. Karin quickly comes up with the plan. She asks to, at least, be able to pick the time and place of the next contest. She cheats like mad, relying on Sakura to go all out. Sakura does so, and it looks like Karin might win, until it's revealed she was cheating. She goes to her back-up plan. Admit defeat in the stupid, stupid contest, and challenge Sakura IMMEDIATELY to a martial arts match, which Karin wanted. Handicapped. Right there, right now. Sakura, meanwhile, was busy trying not to throw up. It would be a good Xanatos Gambit, if it wasn't for the simple failure condition of Sakura calling foul. Sakura could have NOT exhausted herself in the hot-dog contest, or simply refused the fight. But Sakura is not the person to do that.
* Spider Jerusalem pulls one in the climax of ''Comicbook/{{Transmetropolitan}}''. The first time he meets [[PresidentEvil Gary Callahan]] he was able to record him with the use of "Source Gas". In their future meetings Callahan is smart enough to nullify such tricks, preventing Spider from getting any dirt on him. But as the story goes on Spider becomes less like a crusading journalist and more like an outright revolutionary, carrying real guns and using lethal force on assailants. After successfully ruining the president's career, he drives the final nail when Callahan meets him one last time to kill him. He has Spider repeatedly scanned for weapons and prepares to have him shot, claiming Spider nonetheless got a gun past security and it was self-defense. Unfortunately for the President, he was relying too much on his belief that Spider had lost it, and forgot the first trick he ever played on him. Spider is soaked in Source Gas, and Callahan is exposed.

* ''{{ComicBook/Hellblazer}}'': Constantine sold his soul to the devil on three separate occasions (or rather, to each of the three most powerful demons in hell). Thus when he dies and each comes to collect, they realize that they'll have to fight for his soul (to give it up to the others is unthinkable), which would either destroy them or weaken them to the point where Heaven could finally attack and destroy Hell). The only way out is to save Constantine's life (including curing his cancer)... just as he'd planned.