History Main / DoingResearch

* In Series/{{Grimm}}, because Nick is new to the job, he frequently visits the trailer he inherited from his Aunt Marie to gain information about [[MonsterOfTheWeek Wesen types]], other magical phenomena and hunting techniques.

--> Twilight’s smirk turned a little sheepish at that. “Oh come on, Applejack, I haven’t been that bad about my research lately…” she paused, seeing a smirk appear on her friend’s face. “…have I?”\\\
“Sugarcube, the only thang that’s come out of your library in the last four days has been smoke and earth-shatterin’ kabooms.”

* In one of his stand-up routines, Creator/LouisCK tells of how his daughter was bitten on the leg by a wild pony in Italy, after which she immediately hit the internet to read up on ponies. And, says Louis, "it turns out, they're assholes! They bite all the time!"

** In "[[WebAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsFriendshipGamesShorts The Science of Magic]]" short preceding the film ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsFriendshipGames'', Sunset decides to look into how the Humane Six's new magic works, with science. She ends up battered by magic and the results themselves are inconclusive.

-->'''Doctor:''' You want weapons? We're in a library. Books! Best weapons in the world. This room's the greatest arsenal we could have. ''[throws some books to Rose]'' Arm yourself.
** The plot of "Silence in the Library" is resolved by an unusual variation in which the Doctor gets the ''villains'' to do some research.
--> '''The Doctor''': "This is the biggest library in the universe. ''[[BadassBoast Look me up.]]''" (They do, and wisely [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere decide to call it quits]])

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E19StormOverRyloth Storm Over Ryloth]]": Mar Tuuk asks for all the files they have on Anakin Skywalker in order to research his opponent, which allows him to predict that Anakin will return despite the heavy losses to his fleet and the fact that Tuuk has him outgunned. Anakin's [[ISurrenderSuckers strategy]] upon return still manages to catch him by surprise.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E2ToothAndClaw Tooth and Claw]]" invokes this trope in a more... time-sensitive manner than is customary. [[Characters/DoctorWhoTenthDoctor The Tenth Doctor]] and company have been cornered [[spoiler:by a werewolf]] in Torchwood House. Upon realizing they've been trapped in the house's LIBRARY of all places, The Doctor utters a strong candidate for page quote:

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeamoSupremo'', a touristic guide becomes a supervillain and defeats the Teamo with her knowledege of local landmarks (not as dumb as it sounds -- she knew perfectly all the territories where they fought). The Teamo only defeats her after an intensive study of the local history and geography.

* Anytime the {{Science Hero}}es of ''Franchise/StarTrek'' encounter a new threat, they immediately hit the Starfleet database to look up any prior oddities that bear any resemblance to whatever they're now facing.

* Mostly averted in ''Series/GameOfThrones''. When Sam Tarly begs the masters of the Citadel (the biggest and most important library in the setting) to use their reputation and their knowledge to help humanity against the [[TheUndead Army of ]] [[TheEvilArmy the Dead]], either by pushing the still unaware forces to join the battle or by browsing through their books for something useful, they react with apathy, arrogance and disbelief. Player however straight by Sam Tarly himself and other characters, who are often able to acquire vital pieces of information this way.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/DisneyFairies Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast]]'': After Nyx first sees the NeverBeast, she goes to Scribble to read every volume he has about animals.

* ''{{Film/Hellboy2004}}'': During Hellboy's fist fight with Sammael, Abe Sapien is researching Sammael and relaying information to Hellboy. He asks how to kill Sammael, and Abe replies that the book doesn't say how.

* In an episode o ''WesternAnimation/TeamoSupremo'', a touristic guide becomes a supervillain and defeats the Teamo with her knowledege of local landmarks (not as dumb as it sounds -- she knew perfectly all the territories where they fought). The Teamo only defeats her after an intensive study of the local history and geography.

* Mostly averted in ''Series/GameOfThrones''. When Sam Tarly begs the masters of the Citadel (the biggest and most important library in the setting) to use their reputation and their knowledge to help humanity against the [[TheUndead Army of ]] [[TheEvilArmy the Dead]], either by pushing the still unaware forces to join the battle or by browsing through their books for something useful, they react with apathy, arrogance and disbelief. Player however straight by Sam Tarly himself and other characters, who are often able to acquire vital piece of information this way.

* Mostly averted in ''Series/GameOfThrones''. When Sam Tarly begs the masters of the Citadel to use their reputation and their knowledge to help humanity against the [[theUndead Army of ]] [[TheEvilArmy the Dead]], either by pushing the still unaware forces to join the battle or by browsing through their books for something useful, they react with apathy, arrogance and disbelief.

* ''ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}}'': Tim spends a fair amount of time looking information up trying to track down the identity, most likely location or powers and allies of an opponent or other oddity he's encountered. On at least one occasion he and Steph worked together to figure out the identity and location of some kidnappers by working with an old computer in Oracle's clocktower while bouncing ideasoff each other.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsForgottenFriendship'': In Equestria, Sunset Shimmer and Princess Twilight Sparkle are introduced to the restricted section of the Canterlot Library, where they start their research for the source of the massive LaserGuidedAmnesia that happened in the human world. It takes them a lot of time before finding a clue [[spoiler:about the Memory Stone]], because the catalog machine sorting the documentation is broken.

* Many episodes of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' involve one of them, usually Sam, trying to find out what they might be facing and/or how to kill it by this method. This is mostly done by him searching the web for odd occurrences first, then researching in the library. There's also that book their dad wrote. And the extensive library of Bobby Singer. Then, they eventually move into the abandoned bunker of an organization dedicated to cataloging supernatural knowledge, which means they have access to their archives. The following quote from Claire Novak in the episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS10E20AngelHeart "Angel Heart"]] probably says it best:

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls''

* Many episodes of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' involve one of them, usually Sam, trying to find out what they might be facing and/or how to kill it by this method. This is mostly done by him searching the web for odd occurrences first, then researching in the library. There's also that book their dad wrote. And the extensive library of Bobby Singer. Then, they eventually move into the abandoned bunker of an organization dedicated to cataloging supernatural knowledge, which means they have access to their archives. The following quote from Claire Novak in the episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS10E20AngelHeart Angel Heart]] probably says it best:

* Many episodes of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' involve one of them, usually Sam, trying to find out what they might be facing and/or how to kill it by this method. This is mostly done by him searching the web for odd occurrences first, then researching in the library. There's also that book their dad wrote. And the extensive library of Bobby Singer. Then, they eventually move into the abandoned bunker of an organization dedicated to cataloging supernatural knowledge, which means they have access to their archives.

* Many episodes of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' involve one of them, usually Sam, trying to find out what they might be facing and/or how to kill it by this method. This is mostly done by him searching the web for odd occurrences first, then researching in the library. There's also that book their dad wrote.

* In "The Science of Magic" short preceding the film ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsFriendshipGames'', Sunset decides to look into how the Humane Six's new magic works, with science. She ends up battered by magic and the results themselves are inconclusive.
-->'''Sunset Shimmer:''' Finally, after all this testing, I've come to a definitive conclusion! ''[cough]'' I have no idea how magic works in this world. ''[groan]''

Where ScienceHero revels on this, ActionHero revels on TrainingFromHell and TimeToUnlockMoreTruePotential to achieve their goal.