History Main / TheDogWasTheMastermind

** And in ''The Murder of Roger Ackroyd'', [[spoiler: the killer is the Narrator. In an inversion, he is perfectly reliable most of the time and much of the mystery is because everyone else is covering up their own misdeeds. The killer is genuinelly perplexed as to why the murder suddenly got so complicated.]]

* In ''GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'': [[MagnificentBastard The Laughing Man]]'s icon reads ,"I thought what I'd do was I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes". The Laughing Man actually does this several times. Apart from his ability to hack into people's cybernetic eyes and edit himself from their vision, he appears as [[spoiler: a random forum goer the Major speaks to about the Laughing Man case]] and he spent the years in between his first "attack" and the events of the series [[spoiler: pretending to be an actual deaf-dumb mute]]. Finally in the end he chooses to live the rest of his life [[spoiler: working in a library]].

* An episode of Community has the study group trying to discover who among them stole Annie's pen. It turns out [[spoiler:it was a monkey living in the vents.]]

* In ''TheUsualSuspects'', diabolical [[DiabolicalMastermind Criminal Mastermind Keyser Soze is [[spoiler:[[ItWasHisSled the "cripple" Verbal Kint]], which means this doubles as UnreliableNarrator]].

* In ''TheUsualSuspects'', diabolical CriminalMastermind Keyser Soze is [[spoiler:[[ItWasHisSled the "cripple" Verbal Kint]], which means this doubles as UnreliableNarrator]].

* Quentin Makepeace (a foppish playwright in the prime minister's company) turns out to be the mastermind of all the events in the BartimaeusTrilogy

* FullMetalAlchemist, manga version. The Homunculus Pride is [[spoiler: [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld little Selim Bradley]]. In fairness, the biggest clue to his identity are his speech patterns in the original Japanese, [[LostInTranslation which wouldn't get through to an American reader]]. One translator did pick up on this [[IKnewIt and correctly predicted his identity]].

* Marx from ''KirbySuperStar'' is introduced at the beginning when he tells you the objective for Milky Way Wishes, wishes you luck, and you leave. You don't see him again until the very end, when he reveals that [[XanatosGambit he set up the whole thing so he could rule the world.]]

* In ''GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'': [[MagnificentBastard The Laughing Man]]'s icon reads ,"I thought what I'd do was I'd pretend I was one of those dumb deaf-mutes". The Laughing Man actually does this several times. Apart from his ability to hack into people's cybernetic eyes and edit himself from their vision, he appears as [[spoiler: a random forum goer the Major speaks to about the Laughing Man case]] and he spent the years in between his first "attack" and the events of the series [[spoiler: pretending to be an actual deaf-dumb mute]]. Finally in the end he chooses to live the rest of his life [[spoiler: working in a library]].

* Marx, from ''KirbySuperStar, is introduced at the beginning when he tells you the objective for Milky Way Wishes, wishes you luck, and you leave. You don't see him again until the very end, when he reveals that [[XanatosGambit he set up the whole thing so he could rule the world.]]

* The BigBad in ''NoOneLivesForever'' turns out to be [[spoiler: a recurring background character that shows up drunk in most levels as a RunningGag]]

* In ''WildARMs3'', you'll occasionally notice a purple-haired little girl. She might just walk by for a second as you enter a town or dungeon, or show up standing near a plot-important character as he begins conspicuously talking to himself. She is, of course, the BigBad ManipulativeBastard.

Also see BeneathSuspicion and MilkmanConspiracy. Sometimes appears in a CluelessMystery.

* Parodied in the "Scooby-Doo Ending" of ''WaynesWorld'', where it's revealed that Ben is really Old Man Withers, the amusement park owner who Wayne spoke to for five seconds near the beginning in the film.

->'"The real killer was. . . the guy on the floor. After all, no one would have expected the guy on the floor, because he has '''nothing to do with this movie'''!
-->-- '''ConfusedMatthew''', in his review of {{Saw}}.

* Asterix: The [[ManBehindTheMan villain behind the sickle-trafficking gang]] in Asterix's second album, "Asterix and the Golden Sickle": [[ChekhovsGunman He appeared time and again before the reveal? ]] Check. Was he BeneathSuspicion? Check. [[TheReveal It is a surprise both to the heroes and the audience? ]] Check. [[InherentInTheSystem Does it make sense with the general theme of that album? ]] You bet, because this is the only way the not so bright members of the sickle-trafficking gang could get away with an operation like this for so much time.

* Asterix: The [[ManBehindTheMan villain behind the sickle-trafficking gang]] in Asterix's second album, "Asterix and the Golden Sickle": [[ChejovGunman He appeared time and again before the reveal? ]] Check. Was he BeneathSuspicion? Check. [[TheReveal It is a surprise both to the heroes and the audience? ]] Check. [[InherentInTheSystem Does it make sense with the general theme of that album? ]] You bet, because this is the only way the not so bright members of the sickle-trafficking gang could get away with an operation like this for so much time.