History Main / ItsProbablyNothing

* ''ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'': "If there's nothing out there, then what was that noise?"

** When you first get the bite, the debuff even ''says'' something along the lines of "It's probably nothing". If you check back on that debuff every so often, you'll see that the bite is slowly getting worse....

* The people manning the Chernobyl power plant did this twice. First they ignored the obvious pieces of reactor fuel lying around and thought the explosion hadn't blown everything the hell up, then after several dosimeters were [[ReadingsAreOffTheScale pegged at maximum]] and they brought in one that actually had the proper range, it read so high that they assumed it must be defective. It wasn't.

* Zigzagged in one episode of the second six part ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' mini-series. When Stormshadow breaks into the Joe's HQ to steal part of the Weather Dominator, using knockout gas to disable the nearest guards, some of the Joes outside seem to notice, but then they figure they didn't hear anything. However, a few minutes later, one of them says he's "not hearing it again" and they go investigate. Unfortunately, by then Stormshadow has stolen it and gotten away.

* Zigzagged in one episode of the six part WesternAnimation/GIJoeTheRevengeOfCobra''. When Stormshadow breaks into the Joe's HQ to steal part of the Weather Dominator, using knockout gas to disable the nearest guards, some of the Joes outside seem to notice, but then they figure they didn't hear anything. However, a few minutes later, one of them says he's "not hearing it again" and they go investigate. Unfortunately, by then Stormshadow has stolen it and gotten away.

... except when it's ''not''!

->''It's not just the wind. It's not all in your head. And it's ''definitely'' something to worry about.''

** '''[=LeChuck=]:''' The wind makes not such a creaking! \\

* ''SplinterCell'' has guards as thorough as (if not more so than) the ones in ''Metal Gear Solid''. Worse, they have far too many ways to remove the shadows you rely on. The guards early in the game have flashlights and flares. The Chinese soldiers have headband-mounted lights. Not to be outdone, the Georgian Special Forces have ''night-vision goggles''. By the third game, enemies with ''thermal-vision'' start showing up, complete with x-ray vision.
** Of course there are still mooks who have no special way of seeing in the dark, and they fit the trope perfectly. There is a co-op level in Chaos Theory where you can enter a room with two guards watching a sports game on TV. Shooting out the TV then quickly leaving the room results in them waldering around for a bit, then going back to the couch with a 'probably the wind' comment and watching their shot out TV. Good job guards.

* In the first Predator stage of the original ''AlienVsPredator'' [=PC=] game, after gibbing a guard in the opening cutscene, you can hear the base's MissionControl: "Unit Two, report in... Report ''in'', Unit Two... Unit Two, do you copy?! Damn, his comm must be down." You're doing these idiots a favor when you kill them.

* Agent Wyoming's introduction in RedVsBlue is full of this trope:

* The Phantoms in ''TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'': Once Link enters a safe-zone, he becomes invisible to them. No matter how clearly in their sight he was before that and how long they've been chasing him before he escaped, afterwards, after looking around for barely two seconds in a "Where'd he go?" fashion, they apparently dismiss it as "It was probably nothing" and turn around to start patrolling their regular route again, without even considering to keep an eye on the spot where he disappeared.

* The staple of the StealthBasedGame, or rather, any game with a stealth element.

** The guards in ''MetalGearSolid3'' play this straight sometimes. If they get a glimpse of you from a distance, they'll pull out a pair of binoculars to get a closer look. [[StealthHiBye If you hide yourself quickly enough]], they'll think it was "just their imagination".

* Played with in the ''[[SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' movie. Sonic is relaxing on the beach and Tails goes out to the ocean to try his new machine, it goes out of control and he begins screaming for Sonic to help him. Sonic, who just wants to relax, dismisses it as "probably nothing". Tails continues screaming for Sonic, and he finally yells at him to shut up.

--> '''Genma:''' What's that?
--> '''Soun:''' The wind, probably.

* Subverted in late chapters of WaterMargin. When Zhang Shun, one of the main characters, is scouting under the walls of Hangzhou, held by rebels under Fang La, he tests the guards' alertness by tossing a lump of clay over the wall. The guards respond by talking aloud that it is probably nothing, but are in fact fully alerted, waiting for something out of ordinary to emerge. When Zhang Shun emerges from his hiding place thinking he is safe, he is struck by a hail of arrows.

** There are exceptions, though. Make the slightest noise on a metal surface, or shoot an arrow at a wall, and most of the time everyone in the immediate vicinity will be on full alert looking for you.

** The one exception is metal surfaces. Make the slightest noise on a metal surface, and most of the time everyone in the immediate vicinity will be on full alert looking for you.

* Happens in a rather surreal way in ''{{Goblins!}}'', when an alternate-universe Minmax falls into a rift in reality and is erased from existence. His friends panic at first, but as he's also erased from their memories, they calm down and reassure themselves that they're both safe and no one fell in.

* ''JojosBizarreAdventure: Stardust Crusaders.'' The team has been chased around the world by characters with mysterious powers that manifest in all sorts of crazy ways, they end up in a strangely lifeless town covered in fog in India, and after being rudely brushed off by a store owner, Joseph notices roaches crawling on the man's neck. The natural reaction? "I must've been imagining things."

* Notably averted by the 2009 ''[[GhostbustersTheVideoGame Ghostbusters]]'' game. Even when the PKE meter shows nothing, the Ghostbusters ''never'' assume that It's Probably Nothing. They ''always'' investigate. Of course, blowing up [[spoiler: the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man for the second time]] early in the game probably has them on their toes for the rest.