History Main / IfMyCalculationsAreCorrect

* The ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' trilogy. Fortunately for the protagonists, Doc Brown's calculations are ''always'' correct, even if they involve unnecessarily complicated and implausible plans.

[[quoteright:602:[[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/if_my_calculations.jpg]]]]

* Hanna-Barbera's ''WesternAnimmation/SecretSquirrel'' uses this phrase when trying to catch a bomb launched from a submarine in the episode "Sub Swiper".

* In ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie'' Dr. Robotnik says the line. Nobody listens to him.
** "According to my calculations, if the Robot Generator isn't stopped by sunrise tomorrow, there will be a giant explosion... huh?"

* ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}''. In ''Explorers of the Moon'', Calculus is hoping that his device will prevent the rocket from crashing against a meteor. Otherwise he would have to [[ComicallyMissingThePoint redo all his calculations!]]

[[folder:Fanfic]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* In Film/TheMartian, there are repeated variations on "I did the math. It checks out.", emphasizing the ScienceHero nature of, well, basically everyone in the main cast. One character does use the exact phrase - Teddy Sanders, who uses it to grimly predict that Mark will starve to death long before they can get to him. Mark Watney, meanwhile, gives an enthusiastic "Okay, let's do the math!" while recording a log on his plans to grow potatoes on Mars, in order to create enough calories for him to survive until the intended arrival of the Ares IV mission and thus (unknown to him at the time) prove Teddy wrong.
* Spoofed in TheMovie of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''; after attempting to escape from the ship by tunneling out (in ''space''), Crow declares, "Believe me, Mike, I calculated the odds of this succeeding against the odds I was doing something incredibly stupid and... I went ahead anyway."

* This happens in ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', when Bane wants to pull the core out of a nuclear reactor.
--> '''Dr. Pavel''': No! You cannot! This is the only power source capable of sustaining it. If you move it, the core will decay in a matter of months.
--> '''Bane''': Five, by my calculations.
* Both played straight and spoofed by combat droid K-2SO in ''Film/RogueOne''. For example, to Cassian, when he sees reluctant recruit Jyn Erso with a blaster:
-->'''K-2SO''': You're letting her keep it? Would you like to know the probability of her using it against you? …it's ''high.'' It's very high.
* ''Film/TheBluesBrothers'': At the climax, Elwood informs Jake that if his calculations are correct, as they're being chased by every police officer in downtown Chicago, they're coming up on the honorable Richard J. Daly Plaza.
-->'''Jake:''' That's where they got that Picasso!

* ''Literature/HamishX'': [[TheSmartGuy Parveen]] is always saying this.

%%* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
%%** ''Series/{{Star TrekTheOriginalSeries}}'': Spock is constantly spouting these.
%%** ''Film/StarTrek2009'': Chekov, of all people, gets this line.

** And, on another Creator/JossWhedon show, Topher on ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}''.

* Parodied by Series/{{Monk}} who often gives the line "Unless I'm wrong," but always follows it up with "Which, you know, I'm not." And he is not wrong.
** Though, he does at least occasionally mention a percentage of how 'sure' he is. One time, he was roughly 90% sure that the man he was speaking to had killed his own wife... only for the man to open the door to his hotel room and introduce them. Oops.
*** The Captain, frustrated by this habit of Monk's, once ordered him to give a more definite statement, which Monk did: "Captain, I am ''one hundred percent sure'' that he probably killed his wife."
** Randy Disher, during a moment of low self-esteem, once borrowed Monk's gimmick, changing it to, "Unless I'm wrong, which I probably am."
* In ''[[Series/ThreeTwoOneContact The Bloodhound Gang]]'' story, "The Case of the Dark Night," the young kid member of the gang member explains he calculated how much gas a car that does 14 MPG would need to start up and run out after going around 5 ft, 4 teaspoons. With this being a trap for car thieves using Mr. Bloodhound's antique car as bait (and this being an educational series) he has all the incentive necessary to get that right. As it happens, the trap works perfectly: the crooks go the expected distance, which is just enough to incriminate themselves to the waiting police officers.
* In the Adam West ''Series/Batman1966'' it was once phrased as "If my memory serves..." and Robin interjected "Which it always does!"
* ''Series/InPlainSight'' had a witness who insisted that a bridge collapse was caused by faulty materials rather than his calculations. He goes to the government, testifies in court, and holds the owner of the construction company at gunpoint to ''force'' him to admit that substandard materials were used in the bridge...and it turns out that the materials ''were'' switched without his knowledge, and the collapse really was sparked off by events beyond his control. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, during the course of his rigorous investigation to prove that it was not his fault, and after he gets the culprit to confess, he learned that it was his fault anyway. Though this particular collapse was instigated by the improper construction, he had been used flawed math on every bridge he ever made, and one of them was going to collapse sooner or later, this one just went first because there were additional problems.]] To his credit, he told everybody that part, too, in addition to what the constructor did.
* In ''Series/DueSouth'', when Fraser and Ray are trapped in a bank vault which robbers are trying to breach, Fraser starts his lecture with "Now, I don't have the specifications for the door, Ray. But I've been making calculations based on its thickness, the depth of the existing hole and the reflection of the tonal input as it percusses against my tuning fork." Ray doesn't want to even hear it, let along participate in the plan, but eventually permits Fraser to proceed to share his estimate of the amount of time it will take for the robbers to break into the vault and to activate the sprinklers so that the vault will fill with water, leaving the two of them with an inch of breathing space but allowing them to surprise the robbers when they get the door open. Provided, they maintain a constant rate of drilling.
* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', the Fourth Doctor goes for the less modest approach: "Now, assuming I'm right, and I invariably am..." (He is, of course. He's the Doctor.)
* The characters in ''Series/BlakesSeven'' routinely consult battle computers which do these calculations for them, often replayed via MasterComputer Zen or Orac.

* Bentley says this as a catchphrase in the ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'' games, usually going "If I did my math right, and I ''always'' do my math right..." While he never screws up safe combinations, his calculations ''are'' sometimes off in later games, hitting unforeseen security. This does not hurt his confidence any.
* In ''VideoGame/PokemonXDGaleOfDarkness'', one of the ordinary [[{{Mooks}} Cipher Peons]] always quotes probabilities, which are clearly just pulled out of thin air. Although the one about how likely the player is to wreck their plans if not stopped seemed pretty accurate.

* In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', [[spoiler: Gerald Robotnik uses this line in his recorded "death sentence for every human on Earth" message. To be precise, he says: "If my calculations are correct, the Space Colony ARK will impact the Earth in 27 minutes and 53 seconds."]]

* In ''VideoGame/Fallout1'', Overseer Jacoren says this word for word and is somehow able to deduce that an army of Super Mutants is being formed just on the scant numbers the [[PlayerCharacter Vault Dweller]] reports encountering. [[spoiler:Being in direct contact with the Enclave probably had something to do with it.]]
* In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', Mr. House runs many calculations. They're mind-blowingly accurate - even his prediction for the day the bombs dropped was only off by a single day. [[PlayerCharacter The Courier]] is the only wild card variable in his calculations, and he does his damnest to play them in his own favor.

* Spoofed by ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' in "Itchy and Scratchy Land": in the Itchy and Scratchy theme park populated by animatronic robots, Professor Frink warns that "all robots will eventually turn against their masters and run amok, in an orgy of blood and the kicking and the biting with the metal teeth and the hurting and shoving." But he adds that "According to my calculations, the robots won't go berserk for at least 24 hours." Immediately, all the robots start attacking the humans. Frink says in a slightly embarrassed tone, "Oh. I forgot to CarryTheOne."

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBackyardigans'': A variation of the phrase is used by Pablo during the "Mission to Mars" episode. Near the beginning of one of the episode's songs, he sings, "''My calculations say...we're pretty much toast''".
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/StormHawks'' has Piper using the "If my calculations are correct... and they always are" line. Unfortunately, she then has to make such large-scale calculations, a small margin of error was inevitable. Fortunately, Aerrow saves her from a HeroicBSOD by reaffirming her that he has faith in her calculations, and she's able to make new calculations to successfully resolve the problems created by her first one.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretShow'': Subverted. In an episode revolving around a MirrorWorld, according to Professor Professor, when the dimensional doors close, if things aren't in their proper place (as in, the worlds they came from), ''both'' will ''explode''. Everyone has prepared for the worst when they realize they got all their people out successfully, but left Doctor Doctor behind... but the calculations turn out to be, in the chief's words, "completely and utterly ''wrong''."

* In the ''WesternAnimation/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' episode "Food for Thought", pilgrim Simon uses an abacus to calculate the groups chances of survival, beginning each announcement with "According to my calculations..."
* "If my calculations are correct" was the catchphrase of the inventor Newton Gimmick in ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTeddyRuxpin''.
* Used often by the titular character in ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius''.
* Hanna-Barbera's Secret Squirrel uses this phrase when trying to catch a bomb launched from a submarine in the episode "Sub Swiper".
* Delivered at least once an episode on ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'' by Kowalski, the resident GadgeteerGenius. He then laughs at the very idea of them being wrong with, "Pfft... ''if''..."

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBeatles'' episode "Mr. Moonlight" has the boys following Professor Ludwig Von Brilliant to a native island to see a lunar eclipse. He's a bit daffy, but he was right about his calculations as to when the eclipse starts.
* Parodied in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb,'' when [[ItMakesSenseInContext Dr. Doofenshmirtz's plan results in him and Perry being stuck to thousands of balloons and flying off into the stratosphere]]:
-->'''Doofenshmirtz:''' "You know, on paper...this was the outcome too."

* Since Nico is TheSmartOne out of the other protagonists in ''WesternAnimation/MightyExpress'', expect him to use "According to my calculations..." as a catchphrase.

* "If my calculations are correct" was the CatchPhrase of the inventor Newton Gimmick in ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTeddyRuxpin''.

* Since Nico is TheSmartOne out of the other protagonists in ''WesternAnimation/MightyExpress'', expect him to use "According to my calculations..." as a {{Catchphrase}}.

-->-- '''Emmet "Doc" Brown,''' ''Film/BackToTheFuture''

* ''Film/TheBluesBrothers'': At the climax, Elwood informs Jake that if his calculations are correct, as they're tearing their way through downtown Chicago, they're coming up on the honorable Richard J. Daly Plaza.

* Used often by the titular character in ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutron''.

Often takes the less rigorous form of "If I'm right..." usually with the addendum of "...and I (''[[TemptingFate always]]'') am..." to show bravado.

Incidentally, the chances of the calculations actually ''being'' correct are roughly equal to the percentage of episode shown at the point it's said. [[BadassBookworm Unless it]]'s [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]] or [[{{Franchise/Foundation}} Hari Seldon]], or [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture Doc Brown]].

** "No Control" has Sandy sing the lines "If I read these figures right / The world will end tomorrow night!"

** while the duo are parachuting Brain says "If my calculations are correct, which they always are, we will land directly on the roof". His calculations ''are'' correct in terms of their landing, but he failed to take into account the fact that the roof was covered in ice, so they slide right off.

* Used by Dr. Arne Magnusson in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2: Episode Two'', as a way to further emphasize just how hopelessly self-important the character is. He even tacks on, "and I have no reason to doubt myself."
** There's also a memorable exchange in Episode One, when DOG proposes an... unusual method of [[spoiler: getting you and Alyx into the damaged Citadel]] - having Gordon and Alyx pile into a minivan while DOG ''grav-guns'' it [[spoiler:across the chasm in downtown City 17]]. She expresses doubt about their odds of making it, but DOG insists, leading to this exchange:

*** The best part is that [[ThrowItIn DOG shaking his head was originally a programming mistake.]]

* Fi in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' throws out percentages at nearly every chance she gets.
** There is a 90% chance that the game makes sure to give her ''many'' chances. This quickly makes her an AnnoyingVideoGameHelper for many players.
** Turns rather chilling when you head for the final battle and Fi says that there is a 0% chance of returning if you don't win.

* In ''VideoGame/Fallout1'', Overseer Jacoren pretty much says this word for word and is somehow able to deduce that an army of Super Mutants is being formed just on the scant numbers the [[PlayerCharacter Vault Dweller]] reports encountering. [[spoiler:Being in direct contact with the Enclave probably had something to do with it.]]

* Extremely subverted in ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretShow'': An episode involving a MirrorUniverse states that when the dimensional doors close, if everything isn't in the universe it started in, ''both'' will ''explode''. Everyone has prepared for the worst when they realize they got all their people out successfully, but left the villain behind... but the calculations are "completely and utterly ''wrong''".

[[folder: Live-Action TV ]]

[[folder: Theatre]]

->''"...when this baby hits 88 miles per hour... you're gonna see some serious shit."'' [[note]][[{{Bowdlerise}} Or "stuff" if you're watching the TV edit.]][[/note]]

* Played straight in Lemon Demon's "Dinosaurchestra Part Three":

** There's also a memorable exchange in Episode One, when DOG proposes an... unusual method of [[spoiler: getting you and Alyx into the damaged Citadel]] - having Gordon and Alyx pile into a minivan while DOG ''grav-guns'' it [[spoiler: across the chasm in downtown City 17]]. She expresses doubt about their odds of making it, but DOG insists, leading to this exchange:
-->'''Alyx''': Are you sure?
-->''DOG nods''
-->'''Alyx''': Well, Gordon, he ''is'' a robot, he ''has'' done the math. ''(whispers)'' You... ''did'' do the math, right?
-->''DOG shakes his head''

[[folder: Web Original ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* In Film/TheMartian, no-one ever uses this exact phrase, but there are repeated variations on "I did the math. It checks out.", emphasizing the ScienceHero nature of, well, basically everyone in the main cast. Mark Watney also gives an enthusiastic "Okay, let's do the math!" while recording a log on his plans to grow potatoes on Mars, in order to create enough calories for him to survive until the intended arrival of the Ares IV mission.