History IdiotBall / WebAnimation

* ''WebAnimation/{{Anon}}'': Roxy, Sam, and Lilly's kidnap attempt on Chelsea, Tucker, Hunter, and Kyle. Sure, individually they're all pretty scary but are all totally inept when it comes to working together. Lilly basically allows herself to be caught when she stands outside the hotel room where it all takes place, Sam forgets that she left the gun on the table to make out with Tucker, and Roxy forgets to put bullets in the gun in the first place. It doesn't take much for the trio to be caught out.

-->'''Jackal''': Uhh, not sure we should be letting her run off with a gun.

** When Weiss fights Vernal at Haven, she sacrifices her highly flexible combat style and abilities in favour of repeatedly trying to summon her newly mastered Knight avatar. Each time, she leaves herself wide-open to direct strikes from Vernal, who makes it clear she won't let Weiss take the "easy way out". As a result, she quickly loses the fight and her Aura, allowing Cinder to inflict a fatal blow. Jaune's Semblance awakens in response, saving her life. When Team RWBY later fights the Ace-Ops, Weiss shows she's learned from the Vernal fight by using complex strategy to keep her opponent off-balance and blinded just long enough to allow her to safely summon the Knight.
** Raven plans to use the Relic of Knowledge to keep Salem away from her tribe. During the Volume 5 climax, Yang points out just how poorly thought out her plan is: if Salem is willing to pursue her for daring to harbour the Spring Maiden, she'll become even more determined to hunt Raven down to obtain a Relic. Yang concludes that Raven's [[DirtyCoward cowardice]] means that she should leave the Relic with her more courageous daughter, something Raven tearfully agrees to before fleeing in shame.
** Cinder is successful in carrying out Salem's plan for Beacon, adapting on the fly to unexpected events. However, she's obsessed with stealing power and killing Ruby, so ignores Watts' warning and sabotages Salem's stealthy plan for Haven in favour of a noisy confrontation with the heroes just to target Ruby and the Spring Maiden. As Watts predicts, the consequences are a "bloody mess"; the villains are defeated, the heroes gain the Relic, and Cinder is left for dead. Ostracised from Salem until she redeems herself, she keeps unsuccessfully sabotaging Salem's plans for personal gain until Watts [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech furiously dissects her failings]] in Volume 8. This time, she listens and [[ShesBack returns to her Beacon form]].
** In Volume 7, Robyn protects Mantle [[FatalFlaw aggressively and recklessly]], while Clover's [[UndyingLoyalty blind obedience]] to Ironwood reflects Qrow's UndyingLoyalty to [[BigGood Ozpin]] prior to its [[BrokenPedestal breakdown]]. During an all-nighter that sees them transporting [[PracticallyJoker Tyrian]], they learn Ironwood's betrayed Mantle and issued arrest warrants for the heroes. The fight that unfolds is a cascade of [[ATragedyOfImpulsiveness poor decisions]] caused by [[ExhaustionInducedIdiocy exhaustion]], stress, established character flaws and Tyrian baiting Robyn and Qrow. A betrayed Robyn [[FuryFueledFoolishness recklessly attacks]] Clover, who is trying to arrest Qrow, allowing Tyrian to crash the airship. With Robyn comatose, a three-way battle ensues where Qrow prioritises Tyrian, Clover [[ByTheBookCop prioritises]] Qrow, and Tyrian baits Qrow [[EnemyMine into a truce]] against Clover. It ends with Tyrian down, Qrow disarmed and Clover without Aura. As [[CynicIdealistDuo Qrow and Clover]] argue about UndyingLoyalty, Tyrian escapes by impaling Clover [[FrameUp with Qrow's weapon]]. In Volume 8, Qrow [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot moodily dwells]] on the poor decisions that were made.

* ''{{Machinima/Anon}}'': Roxy, Sam, and Lilly's kidnap attempt on Chelsea, Tucker, Hunter, and Kyle. Sure, individually they're all pretty scary but are all totally inept when it comes to working together. Lilly basically allows herself to be caught when she stands outside the hotel room where it all takes place, Sam forgets that she left the gun on the table to make out with Tucker, and Roxy forgets to put bullets in the gun in the first place. It doesn't take much for the trio to be caught out.

* ''WebAnimation/{{Shrapnel}}'': Bringing Potato, a human child, into a [[FantasticRacism vehemently anti-human city]] where many of the residents have [[TheNoseKnows an outstanding sense of smell]] for what amounts to a field trip, and expecting that wearing a pair of fake cat ears is enough to [[LittleBitBeastly blend in with the locals]] isn’t Reznya’s best idea. Somewhat {{Downplayed}} in that Reznya clearly meant for it to be a short trip and only let Potato near people she knew she could trust, and that things only truly went wrong when she had a lapse in judgment and allowed Potato to run off, ''with a gun'', unsupervised. Jackal [[LampshadeHanging lampshades how none of the adults in the room (himself included) even try to stop her]].

* ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'' Special 4: "Kitten & Tzeentch play a Children's Card Game" starts off with Magnus the Red and "Kitten" hanging out on a spaceship and planning to do something fun during the trip. Magnus chooses the first activity, and basically for no reason chooses to play with a OuijaBoard -- which, he is himself quick to point out, is often used by Warp entities to do nasty things to the unwary users. So it's while knowing this and while being on the run from one of the very gods of the Warp that Magnus chooses to play with such a board. Unsurprisingly, this is the set-up for a struggle over Magnus's soul when his "adoptive father" comes to take it back.

** In Volume 7, Robyn protects Mantle [[FatalFlaw aggressively and recklessly]], while Clover's [[UndyingLoyalty blind obedience]] to Ironwood reflects Qrow's UndyingLoyalty to [[BigGood Ozpin]] prior to its [[BrokenPedestal breakdown]]. After an all-nighter sees them transporting [[PracticallyJoker Tyrian]] when they learn Ironwood's betrayed Mantle and issued arrest warrants for the heroes. The fight that unfolds is a cascade of [[ATragedyOfImpulsiveness poor decisions]] caused by [[ExhaustionInducedIdiocy exhaustion]], stress, established character flaws and Tyrian baiting Robyn and Qrow. A betrayed Robyn [[FuryFueledFoolishness recklessly attacks]] Clover, who is trying to arrest Qrow, allowing Tyrian to crash the airship. With Robyn comatose, a three-way battle ensues where Qrow prioritises Tyrian, Clover [[ByTheBookCop prioritises]] Qrow, and Tyrian baits Qrow [[EnemyMine into a truce]] against Clover. It ends with Tyrian down, Qrow disarmed and Clover without Aura. As [[CynicIdealistDuo Qrow and Clover]] argue about UndyingLoyalty, Tyrian escapes by impaling Clover [[FrameUp with Qrow's weapon]]. In Volume 8, Qrow [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot moodily dwells]] on the poor decisions that were made.

** In Volume 7, Robyn protects Mantle [[FatalFlaw aggressively and recklessly]], while Clover's [[UndyingLoyalty blind obedience]] to Ironwood reflects Qrow's UndyingLoyalty to [[BigGood Ozpin]] prior to its [[BrokenPedestal breakdown]]. An all-nighter sees them transporting [[PracticallyJoker Tyrian]] when they learn Ironwood's betrayed Mantle and arrest warrants for the heroes have been issued. The fight that unfolds is a cascade of [[ATragedyOfImpulsiveness poor decisions]] caused by [[ExhaustionInducedIdiocy exhaustion]], stress, established character flaws and Tyrian baiting Robyn and Qrow. A betrayed Robyn [[FuryFueledFoolishness recklessly attacks]] Clover, who is trying to arrest Qrow, allowing Tyrian to crash the airship. With Robyn comatose, a three-way battle ensues where Qrow prioritises Tyrian, Clover [[ByTheBookCop prioritises]] Qrow, and Tyrian baits Qrow [[EnemyMine into a truce]] against Clover. It ends with Tyrian down, Qrow disarmed and Clover without Aura. As [[CynicIdealistDuo Qrow and Clover]] argue about UndyingLoyalty, Tyrian escapes by impaling Clover [[FrameUp with Qrow's weapon]]. In Volume 8, Qrow [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot moodily dwells]] on the poor decisions that were made.

** In Volume 7, Robyn protects Mantle [[FatalFlaw aggressively and recklessly]], while Clover's [[UndyingLoyalty blind obedience]] to Ironwood reflects Qrow's UndyingLoyalty to [[BigGood Ozpin]] prior to its [[BrokenPedestal breakdown]]. An all-nighter sees them transporting [[PracticallyJoker Tyrian]] when they learn Ironwood's betrayed Mantle and arrest warrants for the heroes have been issued. The fight that unfolds is a cascade of [[ATragedyOfImpulsiveness poor decisions]] caused by [[ExhaustionInducedIdiocy exhaustion]], stress, established character flaws and Tyrian baiting Robyn and Qrow. A betrayed Robyn [[FuryFueledFoolishness recklessly attacks]] Clover, who is trying to arrest Qrow, allowing Tyrian to crash the airship. With Robyn comatose, a three-way battle ensues where Qrow prioritises Tyrian, Clover [[ByTheBookCop prioritises]] Qrow, and Tyrian baits Qrow [[EnemyMine into a truce]] against Clover. It ends with Tyrian down, Qrow disarmed and Clover without Aura. As [[CynicIdealistDuo Qrow and Clover]] argue about UndyingLoyalty, Tyrian escapes after impaling Clover [[FrameUp with Qrow's weapon]]. In Volume 8, Qrow [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot moodily dwells]] on the poor decisions that were made.

** In Volume 7, Robyn protects Mantle [[FatalFlaw aggressively and recklessly]], while Clover's [[UndyingLoyalty blind obedience]] to Ironwood reflects Qrow's UndyingLoyalty to [[BigGood Ozpin]] prior to its [[BrokenPedestal breakdown]]. An all-nighter sees them transporting [[PracticallyJoker Tyrian]] when they learn Ironwood's betrayed Mantle and arrest warrants for the heroes have been issued. The fight that unfolds is a cascade of [[ATragedyOfImpulsiveness poor decisions]] caused by [[ExhaustionInducedIdiocy exhaustion]], stress, established character flaws and Tyrian baiting Robyn and Qrow. A betrayed Robyn [[FuryFueledFoolishness recklessly attacks]] Clover, who is trying to arrest Qrow, allowing Tyrian to crash the airship. With Robyn comatose, a three-way battle ensues where Qrow prioritises Tyrian, Clover [[ByTheBookCop prioritises]] Qrow, and Tyrian baits Qrow [[EnemyMine into a truce]] against Clover. It ends with Tyrian bound, Qrow disarmed and Clover without Aura. As [[CynicIdealistDuo Qrow and Clover]] argue about UndyingLoyalty, Tyrian frees himself and impales Clover with Qrow's weapon. He escapes, leaving Qrow [[FrameUp framed for Clover's murder]]. In Volume 8, Qrow [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot moodily dwells]] on the poor decisions that were made.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': The Volume 5 conflict over who gets the coveted Relic of Knowledge contains two examples:
** Raven plans to use the Relic of Knowledge to keep Salem away from her tribe. During the climax, Yang points out just how poorly thought out her plan is: if Salem is willing to pursue her for daring to harbour the Spring Maiden, she'll become even more determined to hunt Raven down to obtain a Relic. Yang concludes that Raven's [[DirtyCoward cowardice]] means that she should leave the Relic with her more courageous daughter, something Raven tearfully agrees to before fleeing in shame.

** Cinder is successful in carrying out Salem's plan for Beacon, adapting on the fly to unexpected events. However, she's obsessed with stealing power and killing Ruby, so ignores Watts' warning and sabotages Salem's stealthy plan for Haven in favour of a noisy confrontation with the heroes just to target Ruby and the Spring Maiden. As Watts predicts, the consequences are a "bloody mess"; the villains are defeated, with the heroes gaining the Relic and Cinder being left for dead. Ostracised from Salem until she redeems herself, she keeps unsuccessfully sabotaging Salem's plans for personal gain until Watts [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech furiously dissects her failings]] in Volume 8. This time, she listens and [[ShesBack returns to her Beacon form]].

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': The Volume 5 conflict over who gets the coveted Relic of Knowledge, leads to two examples:

** Raven plans to use the Relic of Knowledge to keep Salem away from her tribe. During the climax, Yang points out just how poorly thought out her plan is: if Salem is willing to pursue her for daring to harbour the Spring Maiden, she'll become even more determined to hunt Raven down to obtain a Relic. Yang concludes that Raven's cowardice means that she should leave the Relic with her more courageous daughter, something Raven tearfully agrees to before fleeing in shame.

** Despite Cinder's success in carrying out Salem's plan for Beacon, including adapting on the fly to unexpected events, she's so obsessed with obtaining more power and killing Ruby that she ignores Watts' warning and sabotages Salem's stealthy plan for Haven in favour of a noisy confrontation with the heroes just to kill Ruby and steal the Spring Maiden's power. As Watts predicted, the consequences is a "bloody mess" that results in the villains suffering a devastating defeat, with the heroes gaining the Relic and Cinder being left for dead. She is ostracised from Salem's group until she can redeem herself, and even then continues to sabotage Salem's plans for personal gain until Watts [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech furiously dissects her failings]] in Volume 8. This time, she listens to him and gives up the idiot ball to return to her Beacon form.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Raven planned to use the Relic of Knowledge to keep Salem away from her tribe. In "Haven's Fate", Yang points out just how poorly thought out her plan is. If Salem was willing to pursue her when she thought Raven was only harboring the Spring Maiden, then she would definitely hunt her with everything at her disposal upon learning she had one of the Relics Salem's after. Raven is shocked to realise that she didn't consider that implications, and letting Yang take the Relic indicates that she agrees with her.
** In the same few episodes, Cinder, who had previously pulled off a large-scale plot to destroy Beacon and steal the Fall Maiden's powers becomes so fixated on killing Ruby that she remakes the plan to topple Haven which would have allowed her to quietly take its Relic, just to get vengeance. The end result is a massive shit-show resulting in the villains suffering a devastating defeat with the heroes gaining the Relic and Cinder being defeated and left for dead.

** Volume 7 is unfortunately, Ruby's turn to make poor decisions. She gets everyone to [[spoiler:lie to Ironwood about Salem's immortality, the Relic still having one question left and Ozpin's own deceit]]. When she finally decides to tell him the truth, [[spoiler:Ironwood grabs ahold of the IdiotBall and the situation quickly devolves as he no longer trusts her or Ozpin due to their lies, and tries to kill Oscar and arrest Ruby and co. before deciding to abandon Mantle in a misguided attempt to prevent Salem from obtaining a Relic]].

* ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'' Special 4: "Kitten & Tzeentch play a Children's Card Game" starts off with Magnus the Red and "Kitten" hanging out on a spaceship and planning to do something fun during the trip. Magnus chooses the first activity, and basically for no reason chooses to play with a OuijaBoard -- which, he is himself quick to point out, is often used by Warp entities to do nasty things to the unwary users. So it's while knowing this and while being on the run from one of the very gods of the Warp that Magnus chooses to play with such a board. Unsurprisingly, this is the set-up for a struggle over Magnus's soul when his "daddy" comes to take it back.

* ''{{Machinima/Anon}}'': Roxy, Sam, and Lilly's kidnap attempt on Chelsea, Tucker, Hunter, and Kyle. Sure, individually they're all pretty scary but are all totally inept when it comes to working together. Lilly basically allows herself to be caught when she stands outside the hotel room where it all takes place, Sam forgets that she left the gun on the table to make out with Tucker, and Roxy forgets to put bullets in the gun in the first place. It doesn't take much for the trio to be caught out.

** Volume 7 is unfortunately, Ruby's turn to make poor decisions. She gets everyone to [[spoiler:lie to Ironwood about Salem's immortality, the Relic still having one question left and Ozpin's own deceit]]. When she finally decides to tell him the truth, [[spoiler:Ironwood grabs ahold of the IdiotBall and the situation quickly devolves as he no longer trusts her or Ozpin due to their lies, and tries to kill Oscar and arrest Ruby and co. before deciding to abandon Mantle in a misguided attempt to prevent Salem from obtaining a Relic]].

** In the same few episodes, Cinder, who had previously pulled off a large-scale plot to destroy Beacon and steal the Fall Maiden's powers becomes so fixated on killing Ruby that she remakes the plan to topple Haven which would have allowed her to quietly take its Relic, just to get vengeance. The end result is a massive shit-show resulting in the villains suffering a devastating defeat with the heroes gaining the Relic and Cinder being defeated and left for dead.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Raven planned to use the Relic of Knowledge to keep Salem away from her tribe. In "Haven's Fate", Yang points out just how poorly thought out her plan is. If Salem was willing to pursue her when she thought Raven was only harboring the Spring Maiden, then she would definitely hunt her with everything at her disposal upon learning she had one of the Relics Salem's after. Raven is shocked to realise that she didn't consider that implications, and letting Yang take the Relic indicates that she agrees with her.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Raven planned to steal the Relic for her tribe and use it to keep Salem away from them. In "Haven's Fate", Yang points out just how poorly thought out her plan is. If Salem was willing to come after her when she thought Raven was only harboring the Spring Maiden, then she would definitely hunt her with everything at her disposal upon learning she had one of the Relics Salem's after. The look on Raven's face indicates that she didn't consider that possibility, and the fact that she lets Yang take the Relic indicates that she agrees with her.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Raven planned to steal the Relic for her tribe and use it to keep Salem away from them. In "Haven's Fate", Yang points out just how poorly thought out her plan is. If Salem was willing to come after her when she thought Raven was only harboring the Spring Maiden, then she would definitely hunt her with everything at her disposal upon learning she had one of the Relics Salem's after. The look on Raven's face indicates that she didn't consider that possibility, and the fact that she lets Yang take the Relic indicates that she agrees with her. [[spoiler:Yang's argument is partially driven by the fact that Raven is the real Spring Maiden and has been using a decoy to hide the fact; because the Relic of Knowledge is connected to the Spring Maiden, learning that Raven is the Spring Maiden and has the 'correct' Relic would make her a target Salem cannot ignore. Yang understands this instantly, but Raven was so trapped in her machinations and her misconception that power equals strength, that she didn't understand the consequences of her plan until Yang pointed it out.]]

* The ''WebAnimation/HowItShouldHaveEnded'' series often shows what would have happened had this trope been {{Averted}} or {{Subverted}} in a film.

** Really, everybody's held the idiot ball at some point or another. Even the more saner members of the cast (I.E. Strong Bad, Bubs, Marzipan) can go from OnlySaneMan to complete looney in a matter of seconds. Even Strong Sad, probably the only consistently sane man, has his moments of utter craziness.

** The titular character IS an Idiot Ball, which is really almost the point of any short with him in it.

* Coach Z on ''HomestarRunner''. It seems that he only keeps his "more than two praeblams" (other than his butt fixation) for one episode. The whole cast plays dodgeball with the proverbial Idiot Ball.