History Main / IndyPloy

* Luffy of ''Manga/OnePiece'' does this once or twice. At one point. the main characters make a minutely detailed plan to invade a government-owned island. Luffy, being the IdiotHero that he is, [[LeeroyJenkins charges in at the soonest possible moment]], leaving his allies to beat a hasty path in after him. Not that it really matters -- they use the same plan to get the rest of the Straw Hats in and it works. Luffy just gets in early and defeats the first [=CP9=] member.

-->--'''Sam Starfall''', ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}''

* In the manga ''Manga/BattleRoyale'', Shuuya has an admirable tendency to jump into a conflict to help the underdog. The problem is that he never thinks about what he'll do after he becomes part of it. He usually reveals his Indy Ploy after the conflict is already resolved and the other person asks what he was thinking.
** And a lot of the time it turns out his plan was no more elaborate than 'jump in and hope for the best.'
* As a leader, this is both Ichigo of ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'''s strength and weakness. On one hand, he can be so aggressive, and attempt such suicidal things with such limited preparation, that it astonishes and repeatedly catches more cautious foes off-guard. On the other hand, when the villains DO know what to expect from him, his impetuosity and lack of foresight makes him a real UnwittingPawn.

** In his fight with [[spoiler:Shukuro Tsukishima]], Byakuya of all people was forced to do this due to his opponent's power to [[spoiler:"insert" himself into someone's past, which he used to become the person who trained Byakuya how to fight, meaning he knew all of Byakuya's abilities and tactics and could counter them easily because he was now the one who originally taught them to him]]. Byakuya realized the only way to win was to improvise something unexpected. Later, he admitted he enjoyed it.
* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'': Spike "I try not to think" Spiegel is a contrast to Jet, especially {{Lampshaded}} over a game of TabletopGame/{{Shogi}} in [[BigDamnMovie the movie]]. When he does make plans, they're simple and disposable; he expects them to fail, leaving him no choice but to improvise.
** To quote the manga: "Plan A is 'Take it as it comes,' Plan B is 'First come, first served,' and Plan C is 'Wing it.'"

* In ''Manga/Eyeshield21'' this will happen quite often with the Devil Bats, especially near the end of the series. It is particularly prevalent on the last kick returns and when the Japanese team uses the [[spoiler:Dragonfly and Golden Dragonfly]].

* ''Manga/InuYasha'': This pretty much exemplifies Inuyasha's entire approach to fighting. He even learns Bakuryuuha totally without meaning to by reacting instinctively. His unconventional fighting style is commented on by other characters on more than one occasion.
* In ''Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor'', the titular character lives his life by this philosophy. Or he's a super genius that plans everything far in advance. [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation It's hard to tell]].
** In one episode, this was discussed when Tylor has a debate with Yamamoto about what happens if all plans against the enemy fails. Tylor's point was that sometimes all plans can fail and you must think fast at that point to win. Yamamoto dismisses Tylor as being an idiot, only to look in shock later in the episode, as Tylor's attempt to escape the Raalgon fleet pursuing them -- after all before plans failed -- resulted in the whole Raalgon fleet getting wiped out by their own actions. Leaving the crew wondering, if Tylor was just lucky, or used an Indy Ploy against the Raalgon Fleet.

** This plot was revisited in the ''Anime/LupinIIIPartII'' series, where an armchair detective (criminologist) programmed a computer to do the same thing. This time, Lupin's IndyPloy was to rely on Zenigata's whim.

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Deidara prides himself with these, as it correlates with his belief that true art is a momentary concept.
** Naruto himself has twice been described to mooks who had never seen him before as "[[LeeroyJenkins the one who will attack you without thinking first]]". While he can often make up plans (even very good ones), he initially is only capable of thinking them up immediately before he has to do them. Of course, this is somewhat implied to be why he's a capable fighter; he makes up for his lack of raw intelligence with body instinct.
*** It actually works in his favor. Considering that literally everyone he's fought has pulled new and unheard-of secret techniques out of their ass when he fights them, trying to plan ahead would be a pointless exercise. What little strategy he had (at least until recent chapters) has been "spam them with [[MesACrowd Shadow]] [[ZergRush Clones]] until they break out the big guns, and then figure it out from there." ''The kid plans for Indy Ploys.''
* Luffy of ''Manga/OnePiece'' did this once or twice. At one point the main characters were making a minutely-detailed plan to invade a government-owned island. Luffy, being the IdiotHero that he is, [[LeeroyJenkins charged in at the soonest possible moment]], leaving his allies to beat a hasty path in after him. Not that it really mattered. They used the same plan to get the rest of the Straw Hats in and it worked. Luffy just got in early and defeated the first [=CP9=] member.
** His fight with Eneru may also qualify. With his "Mantra" Eneru was able to predict and counter all of Luffy's moves, so he just started making up moves on the spot in an effort to get around it.

** When Luffy ''does'' have a plan, it usually amounts to "let's beat up the bad guy!" Anything else, he makes up as he goes (or has to be planned by a subordinate, usually Robin or Nami, or occasionally Usopp.)

* Use of the Indy Ploy is the totality of the Saotome School of Martial Art in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''.
** With one exception. When Ryouga learns the breaking point technique, Ranma employs the secret Saotome technique of... running away from the fight to think of a plan.
* Nearly ''every'' victory in ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' is like this. The one time the protagonists plan before a fight, they win, but [[spoiler:Kamina dies in the ensuing victory.]]
** And it's not like any plan they make will have more than 1% chance of success. [[spoiler:As they can pull off even something with 0 chance of success, it doesn't really matter...]]

** "Come on Genkai, this is me we're talking about, I'm just making it up as I go!"
** "Alright Yusuke, you're out of options, time to do something stupid!"

* ''Film/PresumedInnocent'' had an "Indy plot" (Creator/HarrisonFord even starred!) bordering on an IdiotPlot where the whole plot goes random and every character has to make shit up off the top of his/her head at the moment. All the best-laid plans turn the plotters into {{Unwitting Pawn}}s. [[spoiler:The wife was the murderer, and she just wanted to get her husband's attention, who would cover it up. When he got on trial, she wanted to confess, but there was no evidence against him. He's struggling the whole movie to get the evidence, only for it to be right under his nose, in the desk of a cop friend of his. And the whammer? The judge was at the end of a ParanoiaFuel not-at-all-subtle attempt at blackmail ''by the defense attorney'', who despite all odds stoically refused to succumb to it. The accused only escaped not because he was innocent, but because ''he seemed innocent'' because there was no evidence. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Oh yeah]], and there was [[RedHerring no conspiracy]] to frame him, as stated above, on the contrary.]]

* ''WebVideo/OutsideXbox'': Often, the main Oxbox team will take on a level of ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'' or ''VideoGame/Hitman2'' in a video style known as "Three Ways to Play". Within these videos, while Andy tries to be a ConsummateProfessional and has on multiple occasions ended with a Silent Assassin rating, both Jane and Mike tend to rely on improvisation: Jane gets close to the target and then [[CombatPragmatist just does whatever she thinks will work]], and Mike tends to kill NPC's at random and [[MadBomber actively looks for the most spectacular way to kill his targets]], meaning that they have had to do a ''lot'' of frantically revising strategies, ducking through the first available door, hiding in a box for ages or fleeing in a hail of gunfire.
** This is the Oxventurers Guild's primary MO in their Dungeons and Dragons campaign, Luke's character Dob at one point straight up stops pre-planning half a sentence into an idea.
-->'''Dob:''' What if we get Christopher to bring one of us in by the scruff of the neck and say “I caught this prisoner trying to escape!”, and from there maybe a plan will formulate on the fly!

* In ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'', this is Sam Starfall's stock in trade. After all, [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ "Improvise is one of the few battle plans that survives contact with the enemy."]]

* [[Machinima/LeeroyJenkinsVideo LEEEEROY JENKINS!!!]] is an example of the 'WhatWereYouThinking' variety. While the video was staged, along with Leeroy's blinding incompetence, the creators said it was based on a real (although presumably less over-the-top) event.

* A common feature of every tabletop wargame, be it ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'', ''TabletopGame/IronKingdoms'' or anything else. Sometimes you just lose a lynchpin of your strategy on turn one or two -- your mech takes an unlucky hit and is crippled, your wizard decides to explore a new career as [[BalefulPolymorph a frog]] or [[MagicMisfire a smoking crater]] containing SmolderingShoes, your reserves are delayed, your tanks are stuck in an unfortunate terrain feature -- and you have to wing it from there.

Contrast StrategySchmategy (where the character just acts at random without even improvising a plan on the fly), XanatosGambit (a plan where all reasonable outcomes are beneficial) and BatmanGambit (where the gambitter uses his knowledge of what all involved will do in order to use them as pieces on the board). Between them and this trope lies XanatosSpeedChess, where the plan, generally more complicated than "survive and don't get caught", is continually adapted to circumstances. This can lead to a SpannerInTheWorks where they cannot be predicted ''because'' they don't know what they are going to do next.

** ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'':
--->'''Sallah:''' What are we going to do now?
--->'''Indy:''' I don't know, I'm making this up as I go.

** Also of note is that although Ben had access to numerous transformations with vast strategic value, such as a [[ImplacableMan resilliant]] [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinetic]] with [[NotQuiteFlight pseudo-flight capabilities]] and a [[EnergyWeapon laser-equipped]], [[{{Technopath}} technopathic]], [[{{Nanobots}} nanobot]] construct with [[BlobMonster blob]]-esque attributes, Ben's most-used form in the series by far is the [[MultiArmedAndDangerous four-armed]] MightyGlacier whose selling point is SuperStrength (despite half of his other forms having superhuman strength to begin with).

The favorite plan (or rather, lack thereof) of almost every ActionHero and IdiotHero in existence.

An Indy Ploy is also a surefire way to invoke an UnspokenPlanGuarantee. Since Indy's course of action is unknown even to Indy himself, and therefore unknown to the audience, Indy is ''more'' likely to succeed than if he had spent time planning on-screen.

Named after Franchise/IndianaJones, who has had to make more hasty exits than most of us have had hot dinners.

* From ''[[Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo 1635: The Cannon Law]]'':

* ComicBook/DoctorStrange frequently goes to cases without much preparation, expecting that he'll be quick-witted enough (or have the right amulet, or know the right spell) to deal with the situation as it develops.

* Joseph Joestar, the [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency second titular hero]] of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', is very good at coming up with plans on the fly, both as a young Hamon user and as an [[OlderAndWiser Older and kinda-sorta Wiser]] mentor to his grandson Jotaro. For example, his plan to defeat Santana relies on the fact that the sun was shining directly above a well, and during his first encounter with Wamuu, he uses a minecart (and attempts to use a stick of dynamite) to distract the Pillar Man and keep his friends safe, all while analyzing his [[ProudWarriorRace personality]] to figure out a way to talk him into letting him go. By the time of the finale, [[spoiler:Kars is actually convinced that Joseph was able to formulate a plan that involves his hand getting cut off then launched into the stratosphere by a volcanic eruption]]. Fittingly, his characterization in ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]'' draws heavily from the TropeNamer, right down to the CoolHat.

*** [[spoiler:In ''Revenge'', [[TakenToEleven she creates a new costume, song rearrangement, and singing-and-dancing routine mere ''minutes'' before performing for a live audience.]]]]

** Taken [[UpToEleven up to eleven]] during the brief online SCP-themed roleplay channel, the rules of which were crafted by both Kondraki and the even more infamous Fishmonger. The game system they devised was actually designed to be imbalanced ''on purpose'', and players were encouraged to make characters with absolutely ludicrous stats. Indy ploys were a normal function of gameplay; arguably there was no point where the resultant campaign was actually ''on'' [[OffTheRails the rails]].

* In ''Literature/TheHobbit'', the Dwarves seem to mostly operate this way, dealing with every obstacle as they happen. This becomes a problem late in the book, when they turn out to have no plan for getting rid of Smaug, which Bilbo doesn't find out until after they've already pissed him off by stealing from him.

** But maybe he [[ActionMom gets it from his mother]]. After all, Cordelia starts out captured by the enemy in ''Literature/ShardsOfHonor'' and ends up [[spoiler:married into the highest levels of aristocracy and Vicerene of two planets]] before it's all said and done. Of course this is ''after'' she [[spoiler:effects a daring escape from Aral Vorkosigan]] who is kind of a [[FourStarBadAss Admiral Bad Ass]] and certainly an OfficerAndAGentleman (InSpace!).

[[caption-width-right:258: Dr. Jones never needs a "Plan B," because he never has a "Plan A."]]

*** In the commentary for the Series 5 opener, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E1TheEleventhHour The Eleventh Hour]]", [[Creator/StevenMoffat Steven Moffat]] describes the Doctor as the sort of person who would jump off a building and work out what to do about it on the way down. Moffat would much later write "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E11HeavenSent Heaven Sent]]" -- part of the Series 9 finale -- which featured the Twelfth Doctor doing almost exactly that.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E1TheWomanWhoFellToEarth "The Woman Who Fell to Earth"]], the Thirteenth Doctor's plan to save a hapless crane operator who's been randomly targeted by a ritual hunt is to come up with a plan once she gets to the top of the crane she's climbing.

* Like in the ''Shanghai Noon'' example below, in ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}} and the Cauldron'', after Obelix doesn't understand a detailed plan, Asterix replaces it with "we fight, get the gold and go away" (to which Obelix replies "This one I understand!").

* Comicbook/DoctorStrange frequently goes to cases without much preparation, expecting that he'll be quick-witted enough (or have the right amulet, or know the right spell) to deal with the situation as it develops.

-->Khal: "Adric's plans are rarely ''good'' ones, but they're quick."
-->Varis: "You'd be surprised how much more useful a skill that is in the adventuring trade."

* Parodied in the ''Republic'' series of ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' comics, where [[LoveableRogue scoundrel]] Vilmarh Grahrk paraphrases Indy: [[http://www.darkhorse.com/reviews/previews.php?theid=10-455&p=1 "I don't know! Am making this up as I go!"]]
** This probably counts as an [[Creator/HarrisonFord Actor]] [[ActorAllusion Allusion]] as well.
* An InformedAbility of Jazz from ''ComicBook/TheTransformers,'' intended as a contrast to Prowl as the Autobot's StrawVulcan. Where Prowl is obsessed with planning and order, Jazz is creative and improvisational. In fairness, when they ''do'' get to show off these tendencies, they work about as often as not.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

See also HowDidYouKnowIDidnt and IHaveNoIdeaWhatImDoing. May involve HoldingTheFloor. Unrelated, despite the name, to the IndyEscape, which does involve a plan:''' RUN'''. Those who weaponize this employ ConfusionFu. WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants is when the ''author'' does this.

* In early ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'', the titular character expressed "Who needs a plan when you've got the watch!" thought process, often selecting the alien forms that possessed the most brute strength or coolest powers. In "Hunted", a fake bounty hunter calls Ben out on this primitive strategy, and since then, he has been more creative with the Omnitrix. Well, more or less.