History Main / TheDogWasTheMastermind

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}'' fanfic [[https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13978187/1/Rei-Ryghts-Ace-Attorney-Turnabout-Of-The-Revengers Rei Ryghts: Ace Attorney Turnabout Of The Revengers]], the true culprit is deduced as the [[SerialKiller serial murderer]] known as the Dragon Killer, who turns out to be [[spoiler: the movie director's errand boy, a nice young man who is also friends with E-Sha of Gold Third.]] Another reason he wasn't suspected was because he's [[spoiler: a native of [[UsefulNotes/XBox Leanbox]], whereas all the murders occurred entirely in [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation Lastation]].]]

* Hardly anyone could have expected Aji Tae, the BigBad of ''Manhwa/ShinAngyoOnshi'', DiabolicalMastermind who had already brought down a country before the series began and is stated to be an EvilSorcerer of the highest order to be that dorky PrettyBoy healer with a pet goose who shows up to save one of the main characters and clearly plays into the role of not-so-covert sage mentor later. All exactly as planned by him. The fact that he completely changes his appearance between flashbacks and actual story helps to mislead readers.

* In the ''Literature/StarTrekNewFrontier'' novel "Stone and Anvil", the Excalibur crew needs to find the man who created Janos' intelligence to help him extend it. To bad he doesn't exactly know how to do that...the real mastermind is his pet Gribble, a small animal no larger than a rat. Before the Gribble can do anything, though, Janos eats him.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'', TheEmperor/[[BigBad The Adversary]], who conquered the Homelands and drove most of the Fables out into the mundane world, turns out to be [[Literature/TheAdventuresOfPinocchio Gepetto]], of all people.[[note]] It was originally meant to be Literature/PeterPan, until the comic's writer discovered that the book is still in copyright in the UK and will remain so forever. This is because J.M. Barrie, the book's author, bequeathed the rights to a children's hospital, and to ensure that it didn't lose a valuable source of income when the book fell into public domain the UK Parliament passed a special bill to keep it in perpetual copyright.[[/note]]

* In the third Comicbook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica story in ''All Star Comics'' #5, the JSA bust up a series of rackets headed by a mysterious figure known as Mr. X. At the end of the story, an innocuous milquetoast who had appeared in each of the individual chapters turns up the police station. It turns out he is really Mr. X and now, with all of his rackets smashed, he intends to turn himself in and live off the state in prison.
* In UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks, it was assumed by everyone - in-universe and out - that [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]]'s unseen enemy Mr. Mind was an dangerously brilliant EvilGenius bent on world domination; this was true, but everyone also assumed he was human, which he was not. He's actually a tiny little worm from another planet, something which came as a surprise to everyone. (But he's one ''dangerous'' little worm.)
* ComicBook/NickFury, Agent of SHIELD, threw the readers a curve when the identity of [[Characters/MarvelComicsHYDRA HYDRA]]'s leader, Don Antonio Caballero, proved to be an alias. Ripping off his life-like mask, the true Supreme Hydra stood revealed as Fury's long missing UsefulNotes/{{W|orldWarII}}W2 arch enemy Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. It was a moment so jarring, artist Jim Steranko made it a two page panel for the occasion.

* In ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E64WillTheRealMartianPleaseStandUp Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up?]]", the trope is subverted--any one of the eight individuals from the bus, including the driver, are suspected of being the titular character in a human disguise. It's played straight, though, in the double-twist ending: the cheerful waiter at the diner where the characters were gathered, who stayed in the background and largely remained a non-entity, is secretly a Venusian who's part of a colonization force that's already defeated the Martians.

* The BigBad of ''WesternAnimation/MuchaLucha'''s [[TheMovie movie]] is a random girl that appears at the beginning.

** The second example also incorporated a subversion--for a moment or two, before the real mastermind appeared, the audience is led to believe that ''Watson'' is Moriarty.

* The ''Literature/HarryPotter'' story ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4101650/1/Backward_With_Purpose_Part_I_Always_and_Always Backward With Purpose]]'' involved Harry, Ginny, and Ron [[SetRightWhatOnceWasWrong traveling back in time to fix]] a BadFuture. At the same time ([[TimeyWimeyBall relatively]]), someone else is also traveling from the future and [[TheManBehindTheMan tweaking things behind their backs]]. It is revealed to be Harry and Ginny's son Albus, who was never seen previously and had not yet even existed in any form or timeline from the main characters' (and audiences') perspective. Perhaps most bizarrely, if you read the sequel ''it all makes sense''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Pedestal}}'' Stage 2 reveals that ''none'' of the five suspects were responsible for Shiori's death. The true mastermind is none other than Akari, heroine Aoi's aloof best friend who just seemed to be TheWatson and the muscle with no connection to Shiori whatsoever, and who helped Aoi investigate Shiori's death (becuase she wanted to know if she succeeded in driving Shiori to suicide).

* ''Film/{{Assassins}}''. Robert's contact who betrayed him, and Miguel's contact who sicced him on Robert turned out to be Robert's supposed to be dead friend Nikolai.

* Played with in ''Film/TheHangover''. The three guys' friend is kidnapped. The one who did it was Mr. Chao, the [[NakedPeopleAreFunny naked guy]] who jumped out of the trunk of the police car they stole the night before. Worse is that the guy they saved isn't even the one they were looking for.

** Season 2 MonsterOfTheWeek Deevak was disguised as Jameel, the snitch.

* The killer in the ''Series/ColdCase'' episode "Stalker" was disguised as a male nurse.

* Paris, 1908: A Newfoundland dog rescued a drowning toddler from the River Seine, and was given a beefsteak as a reward. Two days later, the same dog rescues another child from the River Seine, and is rewarded with a beefsteak. More and more children fall into river, and are rescued by the dog. Officials feared a criminal throwing children into the river and investigated - only to find the dog actually ''was'' the mastermind. The dog had learned rescuing a drowning child meant a beefsteak, and had been ''pushing children in'' and pulling them out for the reward.

* In ''White Noise'', a random construction worker seen for all of three seconds earlier in the film turns out to be behind the kidnapping repeatedly mentioned in the background and in league with the evil spirits.

** In the third book, the revenge plot is masterminded by Evie, the chipper new waitress who works with Nate and only has about a dozen lines before TheReveal that her father is the murdered Alexander Alton.

** In the third book, the revenge plot is masterminded by Evie, the chipper new waitress who works with Phoebe and only has about a dozen lines before TheReveal that her father is the murdered Alexander Alton.

* ''Literature/FamilySkeletonMysteries'': The killer in book 3 turns out to have been a supporting character who spent most of their time in the background, namely, Roxanne Beale, the frazzled grad student who was desperately trying to finish her jumbled dissertation with help from Georgia's mother. Georgia and Sid only learn she's the killer after discovering her sister was DrivenToSuicide by the Devil's Divas.

* In ''Film/FridayThe13thPartVANewBeginning'', the copycat killer mimicking Jason's M.O. turns out to be the paramedic, Roy Burns.

* The first ''Film/SawI'' movie. The "dead man" in the middle of the room (John Kramer) is also seen in a flashback, where he's equally inconspicuous as a patient at the cancer ward. There is a hint, though. When someone starts loading the revolver the guy on the floor supposedly committed suicide with, it's empty. Revolvers don't eject spent cartridges. You can't kill yourself with an empty revolver...

[[caption-width-right:350:[[VisualPun Huh. Well, that explains everything]].]]

** The two-part episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns?". The culprit was ''Maggie''. Funnily enough, there's a "shifty-eyed" moment that lets you know it: in Part 1, Mr. Burns asks the angry mob who's actually brave enough to stop him. Watch that scene and notice the ''one person'' who just keeps glaring without looking away. This twist ending gets a call-back a few seasons down the line, when a Mob gang that has come to punish Homer are all taken down with [[ImprobableAimingSkills precise, non-life-threatening shots]] from an unseen sniper. Who shot Fat Tony? Who do you ''think?''

* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': A literal example InUniverse in “The Murder Mystery.” It is revealed that Bolt and the other animals from the TV show teamed up to kill The Director, and furthermore [[InsuranceFraud collected a double-indemnity life insurance payout]] afterwards.

* TheDogWasTheMastermind: There are some truly improbable and nearly impossible-to-guess culprits in the series.

** The killer in ''[Gone Gull'' is Marty the cook, who is one of the least appearing or fleshed characters in the entire cast and whose motive is that he was in love with a woman the victim was harassing, and who Marty was rarely if ever seen interacting with earlier in the book.