History BatmanGambit / Fanworks

* ''Fanfic/JWITCHSeries'': In "Down to Earth", when Martin starts using the Earth Demon Chi to play real-life superhero, Miranda lures him out by pretending to be a DamselInDistress, allowing the other Knights of Vengeance to ambush him he shows up to help her.

* ''Fanfic/TheScorpionJar'': Izuku's plan for dealing with Katsuki is simple: let him come to him. While he knows Katsuki is too prideful and arrogant to consult him for test answers, he also can't ''stand'' the concept of his favorite punching bag gaining any kind of confidence. So once Katsuki hears rumors that Izuku's working as an KnowledgeBroker, it's only a matter of time before he goes after him, trying to threaten him back into submission. And when he does, Izuku [[CaughtOnTape secretly records the whole conversation]], so that he's got evidence of Katsuki declaring that he'll "throw you off the roof myself".

* ''Fanfic/TheScorpionJar'': Izuku's plan for dealing with Katsuki is simple: let him come to him. While he knows Katsuki is too prideful and arrogant to consult him for test answers, he also can't ''stand'' the concept of his favorite punching bag gaining any kind of confidence. So once Katsuki hears rumors that Izuku's working as an InformationBroker, it's only a matter of time before he goes after him, trying to threaten him back into submission. And when he does, Izuku [[CaughtOnTape secretly records the whole conversation]], so that he's got evidence of Katsuki declaring that he'll "throw you off the roof myself".

-->'''Rabbit''': It’s not hard to figure out you monitor the Ladyblog to keep tabs on us. ''(Pulls up a Ladyblog video of the fight at the library)'' You knew our weapons got taken over. And with no way for me to check Ladybug or Cat Noir's identities, I knew you’d try to make your move. So I purposely went to a public place by myself where you would be able to find me.\\

* ''[[Fanfic/NullAndVoidNevaraRaven Null and Void]]'': Izuku advises Shinso to refer to Bakugo as "Kacchan", knowing that it would immediately get his attention and leave him open to be mind-controlled by his quirk.

* ''[[Fanfic/ThinkBeforeYouSpeakMHA Think Before You Speak]]'': Aizawa attempts one after being forbidden from expelling anyone in his class. By lying to Tensei about how Tenya was injured during a training exercise, he exploits his friend's BigBrotherInstinct, banking on the notion that Tensei will spread his MaliciousSlander ''for'' him and ruin Izuku's good name. The whole scheme [[HoistByHisOwnPetard blows up in his face]] precisely ''because'' people don't react the way he anticipated; while Tensei spread the lie, the public reacted with disgust at a Pro Hero targeting a student. Never mind how others who knew the truth promptly stepped up to defend Izuku, something Aizawa [[DidntThinkThisThrough completely failed to consider]].

-->'''Rabbit''': It’s not hard to figure out you monitor the Ladyblog to keep tabs on us. (''Pulls up a Ladyblog video of the fight at the library'') You knew our weapons got taken over. And with no way for me to check Ladybug or Cat Noir's identities, I knew you’d try to make your move. So I purposely went to a public place by myself where you would be able to find me.\\
'''Ladybug''': And remember this video? (''plays another video of her talking to Alya, explaining that Chat Noir had used Cataclysm to help them escape, and that her plan to defeat Nanny Mite involved using her civilian identity'')\\

'''Chameleon''': (''smirks'') Ah, I see. So you used me as a distraction. Clever.

* Izuku in ''Fanfic/NullAndVoidNevaraRaven'' advices Shinso to refer to Bakugo as "Kacchan", knowing that it would immediately get his attention and leave him open to be mind-controlled by his quirk.

** Miserain gives Scootaloo the [[ArtifactOfDoom Tear of Covet]], ''knowing'' that her [[PlotRelevantAgeUp wish]] will backfire and leave her miserable, [[spoiler: feeding and releasing the woebeghoul contained within.]]

* ''Fanfic/ShadowsOverMeridian'': The first part of Jade's plan for destroying the Guardians' lives on Earth is to have Cedric and Miranda nudge their family and friends who aren't in the know about their powers to become more suspicious of them simply by making them notice how secretive the girls have been acting, driving a wedge between the Guardians and their loved ones.

* In ''Fanfic/MallRats'', Lincoln wants to leave because he sees his three bullies. Leni tells him it's rude, so he distracts her by bringing up the romper she wants.

* ''Fanfic/ThereWasOnceAnAvengerFromKrypton'': In Chapter 22 of ''To Rule Alone, To Build Together'', the ''[[WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug Miraculous team]]'' put together one of these to try and expose Hawk Moth's identity -- Chloe intentionally upsets Rose (with her permission, [[MemoryGambit though her memory of it is erased to sell the illusion]]) so that Hawk Moth will Akumatize her. [[spoiler:Juleka]] will then use the situation to see through his glamor with her TrueSight and learn who he is.

* ''Fanfic/DarthVaderHeroOfNaboo'': Just by repeatedly trolling Sidious with his mere existence, Vader is able to goad him into [[spoiler: attacking Plagueis and thereby putting himself in position to be killed by him in retaliation]]. Sidious admits upon realizing this that if he weren't so pissed at being manipulated, he'd be impressed.

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/35046859 someone new?]]'', Frost basically does this to set Barry and Caitlin up on a date with each other after Iris has left Barry under unspecified circumstances. While Chester and Allegra arranged separate dates for Barry and Caitlin via dating apps, Frost created a fake profile for Barry's date and arranged for one of Chillblaine's friends to be a fake date for Caitlin, thus ensuring that both would meet at Jitters afterwards (as far as Barry knows, his date stood him up and left him waiting at Jitters while Caitlin left the club where she was to meet her date once he proved unpleasant and went to Jitters to calm down). When Chester asks why Frost didn't just work with him and Allegra to set Barry and Caitlin up directly, Frost explains that she knew the others couldn't keep a secret and Barry and Caitlin would just be awkward if they thought they'd been set up with each other, but by arranging their dates in venues where Barry and Caitlin would rendezvous at Jitter's out of habit, Frost had faith that they would come together on their own.

* ''[[IdiotHero Goku]]'' of all people does this [[spoiler:to the level of TheChessmaster]]'' in ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'' during the fight against Cell. [[spoiler:Goku came to realize that he would one day die of old age, which would leave Earth unprotected, so he decided to use the whole Cell situation as a way to coax Gohan into becoming the new protector of Earth. To be sure Gohan would be strong enough to carry this burden, he needed Cell to pose a serious threat for his son to overcome, so he arranged for Vegeta and Trunks to fight Cell first, knowing that one (or both) of them would probably screw it up somehow, which would allow Cell the opportunity to achieve his perfect form. He also made Cell postpone his plan to kill everyone after defeating Vegeta, by issuing a challenge of his own to him prior. Goku knew that he himself wouldn't pass up on such a challenge, and neither would Cell, since Cell has a part of his personality embedded in him. He made a glaring miscalculation though; he had assumed Gohan would be happy for the chance to take up the mantle as Earth's protector, believing that his son enjoyed fighting just as much as himself. Gohan didn't, and he had completely overlooked that unlike pretty much everybody else]].

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/37481308/chapters/94102180 Miraculous: Tales of Scarlet Beetle & Ikati Black]]'', Adrien is given permission by his parents to have a birthday party, with plans to invite his classmates plus Mendeleiev's class sans [[AlphaBitch Chloe]]. Nathaniel, secretly the Butterfly user [[BigBad Monarch]], knows that Chloe will try to sabotage the party out of spite, leading to potential Akumas. So he deliberately leaves his phone for her to find, and as he expected she fakes an email from Gabriel saying that the party is canceled and that all the students are plebians. Despite Adrien's protest that his father isn't like this, the email stirs up Nino's old frustration at authority figures, enough for Monarch to Akumatize him into the Bubbler.

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/35046859 someone new?]'', Frost apparently does this to set Barry and Caitlin up on a date with each other after Iris has left Barry under unspecified circumstances. While Chester and Allegra arranged separate dates for Barry and Caitlin via dating apps, Frost created a fake profile for Barry's date and arranged for one of Chillblaine's friends to be a fake date for Caitlin, thus ensuring that both would meet at Jitters afterwards (Barry's date stood him up and left him waiting there while Caitlin left the club where she was to meet her date once he proved unpleasant). When Chester asks why Frost didn't just work with him and Allegra to set Barry and Caitlin up directly, Frost explains that she knew the others couldn't keep a secret and Barry and Caitlin would just be awkward if they thought they'd been set up directly, but by arranging their dates in venues where Barry and Caitlin would rendezvous at Jitter's out of habit, Frost had faith that they would come together on their own.

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'']]
* In ''Fanfic/QueenOfDiamonds'', as in the original film, Aladdin defeats Jafar by playing on his ego and tricking him into wishing that he was a genie. However, in this case Aladdin was apparently planning to do that from the beginning, whereas in the original film he seemingly came up with this 'plan' on impulse.

[[AC: ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'']]
* In ''Fanfic/WhatTomorrowBrings'', when Visser Three and Jake come face-to-face for the first time since their memories of the original timeline have been restored, with Jake in control of a Pool Ship, Visser Three starts offering to kill only the Animorphs amd let their allies go free while Jake rejects any such offer. Marco guesses that the two will continue to debate the 'offer' until only Jake is 'obliged' to sacrifice himself, as both enemies know that is the only term Jake will accept.

[[AC: ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'']]
* In ''Fanfic/ForgingABetterFuture'', Oliver pulls a successful one on Malcolm, apprehending Daniel Brickwell, the one who truly murdered Malcolm's wife, knowing his enemy is vengeful enough to risk exposure just so he can have the pleasure of killing Brickwell himself. As Oliver planned, Malcolm takes the bait and tries to kill Brickwell before being repelled by Oliver and Sara, which succeeds in proving the existence of the Dark Archer to the FBI, limits Malcolm's movements even more, and lends credence to the existence of Tempest, which to date had been dismissed by most of the general population as a sign that the Arrow was mentally ill.
* In "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/35046859 someone new?]]" Frost apparently does this to set Barry and Caitlin up on a date with each other after Iris has left Barry under unspecified circumstances. While Chester and Allegra arranged separate dates for Barry and Caitlin via dating apps, Frost created a fake profile for Barry's date and arranged for one of Chillblaine's friends to be a fake date for Caitlin, thus ensuring that both would meet at Jitters afterwards (Barry's date stood him up and left him waiting there while Caitlin left the club where she was to meet her date once he proved unpleasant). When Chester asks why Frost didn't just work with him and Allegra to set Barry and Caitlin up directly, Frost explains that she knew the others couldn't keep a secret and Barry and Caitlin would just be awkward if they thought they'd been set up directly, but by arranging their dates in venues where Barry and Caitlin would rendezvous at Jitter's out of habit, Frost had faith that they would come together on their own.
* ''Fanfic/ToHellAndBackArrowverse'';
** [[spoiler:Talia]] manages to play both the Justice League and the League of Assassins expertly; [[spoiler:she sends an assassin after Iris, knowing the Justice League would figure out it was her and go to the League of Assassins for help, putting all of her targets in the same location so she can wipe them all out in one fell swoop]].
** As soon as [[spoiler:Barry]] escaped from Zoom's prison, he immediately called [[spoiler:Waller to put his father into protective custody and hired Christopher Chance to take his place, believing that Zoom would try to kill Henry next. He is 100% correct and the plan goes off without a hitch]].

[[AC: ''Literature/BattleRoyale'']]
* ''Fanfic/SeventyTwoHours'' has [[AxCrazy Damien]] systematically annihilate the cheerleaders (the Brat Pack) by exploiting their mutual distrust for one another. By breaking into their compound and escaping unseen, he's easily able to cause the simmering tension in the group to boil over. Within a couple of hours, every one of them is dead, and they've even [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness disposed of his redundant lackey for him in the process]].

[[AC: ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'']]
* Calvin uses one of these against Thunderstorm in ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries''. [[spoiler:He acts bizarre, getting Thunderstorm to [[ItMakesSenseInContext let him ride his magic carpet]] [[Series/RedDwarf to the king of the potatoes.]][[note]]Not quite like that - he just had him say yes, and he took control from there.[[/note]] After this, he notes how he's insane and has the MTM blast him. He responds by destroying the MTM.]]
** Earlier, in "It Will Build Character", Dad gets Calvin to get in the canoe by hooking Hobbes on his fishing pole, knowing that he'd instantly go after him.
--> '''Calvin:''' [[LampshadeHanging Gotta say, that was pretty clever.]]

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'']]
* ''[[Fanfic/TheNowakverse Under the Bridge]]'' shows quite an elaborate plan to attack the Rescue Rangers with a submarine.
** Step 1: Sink a rodent-sized cruise ship with an artificial iceberg. Hardly anyone would suspect this to be an attack.
** Step 2: Wait until the Rangers arrive on the scene. They ''will'', also because they're the only small-animal rescue team nearby with aircraft capable of marine search-and-rescue missions. And nothing about this looks like a trap, especially if nobody tells them before they take off that the iceberg has appeared in front of the cruise ship out of seemingly thin air.
** Step 3: Once they've arrived, destroy their aircraft and capture them.

[[AC: ''CrossOver'']]

* ''Fanfic/FateStarryNight'': Seeing that Illya is trying to kill Shirou at all costs, Ritsuka purposefully pisses Berserker off by using a Shadow Jason as a HumanShield, enraging the Greek hero so badly that he ignores Illya's orders for the sake of turning Ritsuka into a blood smear.

* In ''Fanfic/ThinkingInLittleGreenBoxes'' Harry concocts a couple of plans that just involve having Doctor Doom and [[ComicBook/ThePunisher the Punisher]] doing what they do naturally when given the incentive.

* In the first part of ''FanFic/ABridgeOnceBroken'' [[TheChessmaster Loki]] makes a very, very convoluted, risky plan that basically rests on people ''thinking'' he's either a bad guy or insignificant. [[spoiler: Or, in the grand finale, dead.]]
* In the second ''Fanfic/UltimateVideoRumble'', [[spoiler: Demitri's]] plot accurately counts on any villain, given a last-minute hint about the supercharging of Haohmaru's soul, hurriedly trying to capture him (despite not knowing exactly how to harness that power); any hero, given an even-''more''-last-minute hint about one of the villain groups, trying to stop them; and [[DealWithTheDevil the Dark Guy allying with the person]] who actually demonstrates he knows what's going on. Then all he has to do is let them trip over each other while pretending to be, at most, a flunkie, until [[spoiler: he and Morrigan can ambush and brainwash enough fighters]] in the confusion.
* This is part of the key to [[MagnificentBastard Stephen Strange's]] mastery of the GambitPileUp in ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm.'' With all of the {{Manipulative Bastard}}s around, he can't possibly control them all-he just sets things up so that they will do what they want to do anyway...but their plans are always eventually incorporated into his own, as the villains end up getting HoistByTheirOwnPetard thanks to the heroes ''coincidentally'' discovering some piece of information or being in the right place at the right time. He can even work other {{Batman Gambit}}s into his ''own'' {{Batman Gambit}}s, such as when chapter 34 of the sequel reveals that [[spoiler: Alison Carter sent Fury and Coulson to investigate the Smallville meteor shower, knowing that they would find a good home for baby Kal-El]], an event which will play into Strange's overall plan for [[spoiler: Clark]].
* In the Extra Stage of ''Fanfic/FantasyOfUtterRidiculousness'', [[TheSlacker Jamie]] of all people manages to pull one of these off. With Megas about to be destroyed by Yuuka, he makes casual conversation with her until she calls the mech "a pathetic excuse for a war machine". Then he just sits back and smiles knowingly as Yuuka's pressing of Coop's Berserk Button triggers a HeroicSecondWind, putting him back on the offensive and catching the youkai off guard.
* In ''Fanfic/TokraApocalypse'', the SGC and the Hunters manage to trick Abaddon and Eva into fighting each other by playing on their shared arrogance.
* Invoked by Crowley in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9018850/1/When-Worlds-Collide When Worlds Collide]]''. The Winchesters can't get why demons are attacking the NCIS until they learn of [[PapaWolf Agent Gibbs]]'s previous handling of threats towards his team and realize Crowley intends to frame them for some agent's murder, which would lead Gibbs to slaughter them. The plan is ultimately foiled when the Winchesters warn NCIS but everyone acknowledge it ''would'' have likely worked.
* ''Fanfic/EquestriaGirlsAFairlyOddFriendship'': During the FinalBattle, [[spoiler: [[BigBadDuumvirate the Dazzlings]]]] have stolen Cosmo and Wanda's magic and fused into a {{Kaiju}}. To give Sunset (in her [[SuperMode Daydream Shimmer]] form) a chance to beat them, Timmy starts goading them into doing things that violate Da Rules, knowing that each violation will temporarily cancel out their ability to use the magic, giving Sunset openings to beat them down.
* ''Fanfic/ThereWasOnceAnAvengerFromKrypton'': In Chapter 22 of ''To Rule Alone, To Build Together'', the ''[[WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug Miraculous team]]'' put together one of these to try and expose Hawk Moth's identity -- Chloe intentionally upsets Rose (with her permission, [[MemoryGambit though her memory of it is erased to sell the illusion]]) so that Hawk Moth will Akumatize her. [[spoiler: Juleka]] will then use the situation to see through his glamor with her TrueSight and learn who he is.

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'']]

[[AC: ''Manga/DeathNote'']]

* In ''Fanfic/PointOfSuccession'' Light and [[OCStandIn Mr. Junko]] fake a scene where one of them pretends to be injured in order to confirm that [[ImpersonatingAnOfficer Matt isn't a real cop]] because when they shout for help [[WhatTheHellHero he doesn't even stop to look.]]

[[AC: ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'']]

[[AC: ''Series/DoctorWho'']]

[[AC: ''Series/{{Firefly}}'']]

[[AC:''Series/GameOfThrones'' / ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'']]

[[AC: ''Literature/HarryPotter'']]
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9454927/28/Order-of-the-Dragon Order of the Dragon]]'' Ron makes a plan which depends heavily on Percy's estrangement from his family and brown-nosing of Cornelius Fudge.

[[AC: ''Literature/HerculePoirot'']]
* In ''Fanfic/TheLondonSyndicate'', it turns out that [[spoiler: the titular rival gang operating right in Poirot's neighborhood is just a bunch of disguised members of the syndicate there to distract him from their real smuggling operations]].

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'']]
* In the medieval AU “[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12592118/1/The-Imposter The Imposter]]”, disgraced squire Hiccup manages to rescue Princess Astrid from Earl Alvin by disguising himself as a kitchen servant and taking Astrid her next meal; after her previous escape attempt was thwarted, the guards decide to take the finer food intended for her for themselves, with Hiccup anticipating this and drugging the food so that the guards will be too ill to stop the subsequent escape attempt when he returns with plainer food.

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'']]

* ''Fanfic/MadWorldInvaderZim'': It's revealed in the final chapter that the entire story was a plot put into motion by [[spoiler: Miss Bitters]], for the purpose of permanently defeating [[EldritchAbomination The Thing in the Wall]].

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'']]

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'']]

[[AC: ''Franchise/MassEffect'']]

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'']]

[[AC:Franchise/MonsterVerse]]

[[AC: ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'']]

* Izuku in ''Fanfic/NullAndVoidNevaraRaven'' advices Shinso to refer to Bakugo as "Kacchan", knowing that it would immediately get his attention and leave him open to be mind-controlled by his quirk.

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'']]
* ''Fanfic/AFutureOfFriendshipAHistoryOfHate'': [[spoiler: Fury Cross leaves a wrath wound on Rainbow Dash in their first fight, then pisses her off during their rematch; the wrath wound feeds on her anger and weakens her, allowing him to curbstomp her. Fortunately, her friends show up in time to save her and help beat him.]]
** [[spoiler: He also deliberately mentions where his encampment is in relation to Ghastly Gorge (the battleground chosen for their rematch), knowing Rainbow Dash will deduce it and meet him there alone, while her friends go to the Gorge.]]

* In ''Fanfic/PoundAndPumpkinCakesAdventuresAndMisadventuresInPottyTraining'', the chapter "Potty Training, Pinkie Pie Style", revolves around Pinkie Pie sitting on the toilet to demonstrate how it works to the twins, who then pretend to be clueless so that Pinkie Pie would put a diaper on and demonstrate by pulling it down, causing the twins to say, "You're one of us now", and treat her like another baby.

* ''Fanfic/ThePiecesLieWhereTheyFell'': In the sequel ''Picking Up the Pieces'', [[spoiler: Mist Flight develops one to get Internal Affairs in hot water with the public. Once the guards have all their work done processing the confiscated information about the Hatchery records, Mist's plan is to speak to King Well Banded, convincing him of the good publicity that ending the Hatcheries would bring; at the same time, the Royal Guards hold a protest in front of IA headquarters about their Captain being unfairly targeted, keeping them busy enough that they can't join the other Guards in bringing order to the celebrating griffons in the city that predictably get out of control. When the reason for the Royal Guards' protest is revealed, the public denounces IA for their actions, and IA responds by trying to make a deal with Gentle Step to stop the protests; as Mist Flight expected, she refuses to get involved. In retaliation, IA's commissioner orders her brought to court. In the course of the hearing in question, Gentle Step is fully reinstated as Captain-General after it comes out that IA's Commissioner has a personal grudge against her for being made Captain-General instead of him (since he was on the short list to become Captain-General, but was instead shunted off to IA after she got the job). Also, King Well Banded was in on the plan to get Gentle Step reinstated, and would have just pardoned her if Hardy Rule hadn't started losing his temper and Sweet Surprise hadn't found the physical proof they needed to damage his credibility and prove his grudge against her first.]]

[[AC: ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'']]

[[AC: ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'']]

* ''Fanfic/ShinjiAndWarhammer40k'' is full of both [[BatmanGambit gambits]] and [[GambitRoulette roulettes]]. Made even better by the fact that neither Gendo ''or'' [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness SEELE]] are willing to admit the possibility that ''neither'' is manipulating Shinji. Let alone the fact that he's manipulating ''both them, and the Japanese government'' against each other.

[[AC: ''Series/OddSquad'']]
* In ''Fanfic/PatternsOfThePast'', the Patternista kidnaps Old Missie, Olesya's boss, and holds her for ransom at the White Dress Hop, a speakeasy in town. The reason she holds her there is because she's aware that Odd Squad agents, being children, don't go to speakeasies, whether on business or on their off time. In addition, once she traps most of the rescue team, she reveals that she planted listening devices all around Old Missie's office to eavesdrop on the team's plan to rescue their boss, meaning that she stayed one step ahead of them.

[[AC: ''Manga/OnePiece'']]

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'']]

[[AC: ''ComicBook/PowerGirl'']]

[[AC: ''Anime/PrettyCure'']]

[[AC: RealPersonFic]]

[[AC: ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'']]

[[AC: ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'']]

* Jaune's ultimate plan in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12638092/13/The-Beacon-Civil-War The Beacon Civil War]]'' to win the titular war game requires he release the captive Weiss because he knows she'd convince Pyrrha to use the negotiations between their sides to attack the boys' base in the cafeteria in revenge for her being captured in the first place (which was also achieved by a BatmanGambit- luring her into attacking Jaune with bad love poetry). Said attack leaves the other capture points undefended and (with some XanatosSpeedChess) earns the boys' side victory.

[[AC: ''Franchise/StarWars'']]

[[AC: ''Manga/SoulEater'']]

[[AC: ''Series/{{Survivor}}'']]

[[AC: ''Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos'']]
* In the fic ''Fanfic/ByTheFiresLight'' Detective Carl Rourke and Mira Grolinksy try to use the Slender Man's meta nature against it, so they can curb its destructive nature and save its victims. [[spoiler: It ends up failing miserably.]]

[[AC: ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'']]

[[AC: ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'']]

[[AC: ''Franchise/TouhouProject'']]

[[AC: ''Series/{{Victorious}}'']]
* Plays a key part in "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11221042/1/Start-from-Scratch Start from Scratch]]", after Tori and Jade realise that Beck has been emotionally manipulating Jade for years to turn her into his docile housewife (Jade compares the idea to ''Film/TheStepfordWives'' before Beck subdues her attempt to escape). Tori apparently confronts him with a gun to try and force him to let Jade go, but after Beck easily disarms her and mocks her failure, Tori provokes him into confessing to exactly why he raped Jade in the past, after which Tori reveals that she was wearing a wire and his entire confession has been recorded by the police.

[[AC: ''{{Literature/Worldwar}}'']]

[[AC: ''Franchise/YuGiOh'']]

* ''Fanfic/FateStarryNight'': Seeing that Illya is trying to kill Shirou at all costs, Ritsuka purposefully pisses Berserker's by using a Shadow Jason as a HumanShield, enraging the Greek hero so badly that he ignores Illya's orders for the sake of turning Ritsuka into a blood smear.

* ''Fanfic/FateStarryNight'': Seeing that Illya is trying to kill Shirou at all costs, Ritsuka purposefully pushes Berserker's BerserkButton by using a Shadow Jason as a HumanShield, enraging the Greek hero so badly that he ignores Illya's orders for the sake of turning Ritsuka into a blood smear.

* ''[[Fanfic/AFutureOfFriendshipAHistoryOfHate A Future of Friendship, A History of Hate]]'': [[spoiler: Fury Cross leaves a wrath wound on Rainbow Dash in their first fight, then pisses her off during their rematch; the wrath wound feeds on her anger and weakens her, allowing him to curbstomp her. Fortunately, her friends show up in time to save her and help beat him.]]

* In ''[[Fanfic/PatternsOfThePast Patterns of the Past]]'', the Patternista kidnaps Old Missie, Olesya's boss, and holds her for ransom at the White Dress Hop, a speakeasy in town. The reason she holds her there is because she's aware that Odd Squad agents, being children, don't go to speakeasies, whether on business or on their off time. In addition, once she traps most of the rescue team, she reveals that she planted listening devices all around Old Missie's office to eavesdrop on the team's plan to rescue their boss, meaning that she stayed one step ahead of them.

* In ''[[Fanfic/PatternsOfThePast Patterns of the Past]]'', the Patternista kidnaps Old Missie, Olesya's boss, and holds her for random at the White Dress Hop, a speakeasy in town. The reason she holds her there is because she's aware that Odd Squad agents, being children, don't go to speakeasies, whether on business or on their off time. In addition, once she traps most of the rescue team, she reveals that she planted listening devices all around Old Missie's office to eavesdrop on the team's plan to rescue their boss, meaning that she stayed one step ahead of them.

* ''Fanfic/QueenOfAllOni'': Uncle knows that Daolon Wong knows how to summon [[SealedEvilInACan Tarakudo]], who the heroes need to interrogate for information on [[VillainProtagonist Jade]], and also that he won't divulge it willingly. So, [[spoiler: with help from Captain Black, Uncle stages a jailbreak, convincing Wong that he's gone behind the backs of the other heroes, so Wong will help him conjure Tarakudo. When the ritual is successful, Wong predictably double crosses Uncle and tries to cut a [[DealWithTheDevil deal]] with Tarakudo -- at which point Tohru and the Section 13 agents waiting outside the shack they're in bust in, arresting Wong and leaving Uncle and Tohru to question Tarakudo.]]

** In Chapter 39: "Black Bart" Bartolomeo attacks a Celestial Dragon then calls the World Government to taunt them. He gets the [[MassOhCrap Five Elder Stars]] who proceed to send [[GeneralRipper Akainu]] and five battleships after them. All to draw off some of the World Governments fire power so the Strawhats can save Robin.

* ''FanFic/SeventyTwoHours'' has [[AxCrazy Damien]] systematically annihilate the cheerleaders (the Brat Pack) by exploiting their mutual distrust for one another. By breaking into their compound and escaping unseen, he's easily able to cause the simmering tension in the group to boil over. Within a couple of hours, every one of them is dead, and they've even [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness disposed of his redundant lackey for him in the process]].

* In the ''FanFic/CalvinAtCamp'' episode "Jason Fox TheMusical," Eugene tricks the Eds into recruiting kids to help them with scams. Once there is no one to scam, he assumes that the kids will turn on each other in frustration.

* In ''FanFic/TheLoneTraveler'', the eponymous Traveler has encountered many versions of people—both from his own world and numerous other worlds—and learned how they will react. This lets him plan things to either aid or greatly hinder their local counterparts.

* In ''FanFic/{{Origins}}'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]''[=/=]''[=Halo=]'']] MassiveMultiplayerCrossover, several of these happen, some smaller than others.

* In the second ''FanFic/UltimateVideoRumble'', [[spoiler: Demitri's]] plot accurately counts on any villain, given a last-minute hint about the supercharging of Haohmaru's soul, hurriedly trying to capture him (despite not knowing exactly how to harness that power); any hero, given an even-''more''-last-minute hint about one of the villain groups, trying to stop them; and [[DealWithTheDevil the Dark Guy allying with the person]] who actually demonstrates he knows what's going on. Then all he has to do is let them trip over each other while pretending to be, at most, a flunkie, until [[spoiler: he and Morrigan can ambush and brainwash enough fighters]] in the confusion.
* This is part of the key to [[MagnificentBastard Stephen Strange's]] mastery of the GambitPileUp in ''FanFic/ChildOfTheStorm.'' With all of the {{Manipulative Bastard}}s around, he can't possibly control them all-he just sets things up so that they will do what they want to do anyway...but their plans are always eventually incorporated into his own, as the villains end up getting HoistByTheirOwnPetard thanks to the heroes ''coincidentally'' discovering some piece of information or being in the right place at the right time. He can even work other {{Batman Gambit}}s into his ''own'' {{Batman Gambit}}s, such as when chapter 34 of the sequel reveals that [[spoiler: Alison Carter sent Fury and Coulson to investigate the Smallville meteor shower, knowing that they would find a good home for baby Kal-El]], an event which will play into Strange's overall plan for [[spoiler: Clark]].
* In the Extra Stage of ''FanFic/FantasyOfUtterRidiculousness'', [[TheSlacker Jamie]] of all people manages to pull one of these off. With Megas about to be destroyed by Yuuka, he makes casual conversation with her until she calls the mech "a pathetic excuse for a war machine". Then he just sits back and smiles knowingly as Yuuka's pressing of Coop's Berserk Button triggers a HeroicSecondWind, putting him back on the offensive and catching the youkai off guard.

* In ''FanFic/ACharmedLife'' Light's final plan in his game with L hinges on the fact that he, the Chief's son, is well-liked and trusted by the police whereas L, an outsider who is poking into their affairs and casually disregards the feelings of his [[WeAREStrugglingTogether alleged allies]], is not.
* In ''FanFic/DeathNoteIITheHiddenNote'', the final plan concocted by KJ (Which we [[UnspokenPlanGuarantee never hear all of]]) goes off without a hitch because of one of these.
* In ''FanFic/FeverDreams'' Light tricks all the officers present at [[spoiler: Higuchi]]'s arrest into accepting and giving up ownership of [[ArtifactOfDoom the notebook]] in order to [[LaserGuidedAmnesia wipe their memories]] by having Rem throw the notebook at every cop, growling out "That's mine, give it back to me" and if "Give it back or IllKillYou" doesn't work [[SecretTestOfCharacter she should tell them they passed the test of bravery]] and that she had selected them to be the next Kira, and if they would just [[PaterFamilicide slaughter their families]] [[IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten and fifty additional innocent people then they could have the power of Kira.]]

* In ''FanFic/PointOfSuccession'' Light and [[OCStandIn Mr. Junko]] fake a scene where one of them pretends to be injured in order to confirm that [[ImpersonatingAnOfficer Matt isn't a real cop]] because when they shout for help [[WhatTheHellHero he doesn't even stop to look.]]

* Alphamon performs a direct one in [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7623289/1/ Transcendence: Digital Curse]] by simply assaulting an important city and making sure his target knows it.

* ''FanFic/QueenOfAllOni'': Uncle knows that Daolon Wong knows how to summon [[SealedEvilInACan Tarakudo]], who the heroes need to interrogate for information on [[VillainProtagonist Jade]], and also that he won't divulge it willingly. So, [[spoiler: with help from Captain Black, Uncle stages a jailbreak, convincing Wong that he's gone behind the backs of the other heroes, so Wong will help him conjure Tarakudo. When the ritual is successful, Wong predictably double crosses Uncle and tries to cut a [[DealWithTheDevil deal]] with Tarakudo -- at which point Tohru and the Section 13 agents waiting outside the shack they're in bust in, arresting Wong and leaving Uncle and Tohru to question Tarakudo.]]

* ''Manga/{{Evangelion 303}}'': Asuka was [[spoiler:threatening with committing suicide.]] In order to come close enough to [[spoiler:tear her gun out of her hands]], he promised that he would not try to stop her if she let him sit beside her. Fortunately she bought it.

* ''FanFic/RosarioVampireBrightestDarkness'':

* ''FanFic/StarWarsLineage:'' The Jedi Council members, seeing that Qui-Gon is in a funk after his previous Padawan Xanatos turned to the Dark Side, decide that he ought to take a new Padawan. The only problem is that he himself doesn't want to, and he's famous for being TheLastDJ. So what do they do? ''Explicitly forbid him to take a Padawan, telling him he's a bad influence.'' Sure enough, he selects Obi-Wan to be his new apprentice, to mass approval.

* In the fic Fanfic/ByTheFiresLight Detective Carl Rourke and Mira Grolinksy try to use the Slender Man's meta nature against it, so they can curb its destructive nature and save its victims. [[spoiler: It ends up failing miserably.]]

* In ''FanFic/TenRandomCharacters'', Robin's plans in Chapter 11 could qualify as this.

[[AC: ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'']]

* In FanFic/WorldwarWarOfEquals after an incident with [[spoiler: Hugo Chavez]], the American and Russian governments actually leak news of the fleet to very unreliable sources such as Alex Jones and Radio/CoastToCoastAM in order to discredit his claims. [[spoiler: It works.]]

* In ''FanFic/BeingDeadAintEasy'', Joey pulls one on Yami Bakura to get him to help by saying that if Yami Yugi couldn't do it, there's no way ''he'' could. [[spoiler:Yami Bakura saw through it, but helped Joey to further his own plans]].