History SpannerInTheWorks / AnimeAndManga

** In the Dressrosa Arc, Donquixote Doflamingo hatches what looks like the perfect trap to destroy the Straw Hats with. See, this guy isn't your average villain; not only is he an extremely skilled and powerful [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] and ManipulativeBastard, he's also smart enough to know that underestimating Luffy's crew would be a fatal mistake. However, outside factor after outside factor helps the Straw Hat Pirates out, rendering it all moot. The Tontattas, whose people were enslaved by the Donquixote Family, provide intel on the location of the Smile Factory and the identity of the power-user maintaining control over the country's LivingToys. A familiar face from the past shows up at the colosseum (and he probably wouldn't have shown up without the tournament Doflamingo created to trap Luffy) to switch places with Luffy, allowing him to attack Doflamingo's castle undetected. But the biggest spanners came from Doffy's own crew: his officer Violet, who maintained a façade of loyalty since the time she was blackmailed into joining, falls for Sanji's chivalry and switches sides. Jora, on the tail-end of her capturing the ''Thousand Sunny'', lets her guard down long enough for Brook to pull a YouAreAlreadyDead. Bellamy helps Luffy escape the colosseum because Doffy decided to have him killed. And most of all, there's Sugar, the one turning people into toys. Her being knocked unconscious is the only way for the guise over Dressrosa to be lifted, but no one can get near her. Usopp is captured, but instead of turning him into a toy like the others, she feeds him a grape she believed to be poisoned… which was actually hellishly spicy, and the resulting JumpScare / NightmareFace causes her to faint in shock. Consequently, Doflamingo's precious {{Masquerade}} is shattered, the country sees him for the evil person he truly is, and he's forced to take the most drastic measures that he can.

* ''Anime/{{Daimos}}'': Olban's plan for world domination started to unravel when Maradon, a gardener, found out he [[spoiler:was responsible for the previous Emperor's assassination]].

-->'''Magellan:''' Nothing is going our way! How could one intruder spark so much mayhem?!

* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', it turns out '''[[spoiler:Scar's older brother]]''' was the first to figure out Father's AncientConspiracy (more exactly: [[spoiler: he was the first person to notice the transmutation circle around the country and began piecing together what's going on; the raid on his country confirmed his suspicions, and he quickly devised countermeasures for it).]] And he did this '''before the series even starts'''!]][[spoiler: He may have died to save his younger brother before he could execute the plan but he played a major role in defeating Father, by allowing the heroes to fight back.]] And even more: [[spoiler: by transmuting his own arm to a mutilated Scar ''plus'' imbibing it with the right kind of alchemy, he not only saved his younger brother's life (at the high price of further damaging his mind and soul), but helped him become the one who ultimately took down Fuhrer Bradley aka Wrath, one of the most dangerous Homunculus.]]

** Shidou:
** A fairly stupid shinigami, is partly responsible for Mello's escape from the police raid, because he sat still and did exactly what he'd been told to do, rather than taking his Death Note back the minute its current owner died, which would have meant that Mello couldn't have his "give me the notebook" scene.

** And afterwards, preparing to kill the heroes for their interference, Pilaf's palace is destroyed by Goku, having t

* In ''Manga/{{Basilisk}}'', Princess Oboro may not be able to fight, but she derails [[spoiler: BigBad Tenzen]]'s plans ''thrice''. First, [[spoiler: she tries to interrupt a fight between Koushirou and Gennosuke but accidentally causes Koushirou to [[EyeScream blind himself with his own powers]], limiting Tenzen's physical actions since Koushirou is his NumberTwo]]. Second, [[spoiler: she seals her own [[AntiMagic Piercing Eyes]] to avert using her incredibly lethal powers against her clansmen again, but ''also'' preventing Tenzen from using said powers for his sole benefit.]] And third, [[spoiler: her eyes are de-sealed when ''Tenzen is reviving himself after Gennosuke kills him'', which allowes her to undo Tenzen's {{Immortality}} and kills him for good]]. And in the end she also [[spoiler: derails Ofuku's plans via commiting an HeroicSuicide instead of killing a completely indefense Gennosuke, sending her into a ''mighty'' VillainousBreakdown.]]

** Heroic Gambit Example: Between them, Heiji Hattori and Ai Haibara screw up a plan Conan had worked out to get information on the Men in Black. Haibara, despite being an otherwise intelligent and calculating person, felt enough of an obligation to Conan that it made her insistent on going to him. She showed up just as the plan was going his way, and when her presence opened the door for everything to get shot to hell. Heiji's role in the Spannering was in deliberately leaving Haibara the means to locate Conan in the first place in case she chose to do exactly what she did.

** One of the biggest would have to be Princess Euphemia. When Brittanian occupiers were murdering Japanese civilians by the dozens and prett much enslaving those who survived, it was easy for Lelouch's [[LaResistance violent revolution]] to gain followers. But then good natured Euphemia [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething is put in a position of power]]; [[AllLovingHeroine she]] starts treating the Japanese people with respect, tries to find a compromise solution that both Brittania and Japan can live with, and just like that all of Lelouch's popular support goes bye-bye. Lelouch actually '''admits''' defeat to Euphemia, calling her his most formidable opponent.

** Ironically, Lelouch could count as ''his own'' Spanner: on multiple occasions, his attachment to his friends (especially Suzaku or Shirley, but '''especially''' his sister Nunnally) have caused him to make moves that jeopardize his plans or even ''the entire rebellion'' he leads. The first occurrence in R1 is where he [[spoiler: lets Villetta live, because he thought she was no danger to him]]. When was that? Second episode. The big ones are where he [[spoiler: ignores his own unstable Geass, leading to the death of Euphemia as he geasses her into becoming a GenocidalManiac and then has to shoot her dead to stop her]], and where he abandoned his followers for his kidnapped sister shortly afterward which ''greatly'' weakened their position, his trait continued on in R2. This came to the logical conclusion [[spoiler:when his RoaringRampageOfRevenge for the murder of Shirley, carried out against a cult whose members included scientists and children, which ended up being a large part of Prince Schneizel's efforts to turn the Black Knights against him - the centerpiece being the fact that their beloved leader possesses a MindControl eye and quite possibly forced them all into obedience (he didn't, probably because he's smart enough not to mis-use such power that only works once).]]

*** And why does she become such a problem? [[spoiler: Because Lelouch couln't bring himself to kill a woman who is unarmed and, by that moment, no threat to him.]] Bad decision, there.

* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', everything is going perfectly for Gendo, until Rei FINALLY gets some self-awareness and realises that no matter how fucked up Shinji is, he would '''still''' be a better choice for godhood than a) the lunatic standing with his hand in her chest (literally) b) the group of lunatics who are killing everyone Rei has ever known. So the world is destroyed, recreated and in the end everyone who want to live is allowed to live. [[GainaxEnding Or SOMETHING...]]

** The CompilationMovie series essentially tones down her role as this. While she still tries finding evidence about Lelouch, her inolvement with Shirley is changed to having Deithard be the one to shoot her and cause her amnesia in order to retrieve her evidence. Even when Schneizel in this version reveals C.C is the source of Lelouch's Geass, the Black Knights show more reluctance towards betraying him by wanting him to answer their questions first before passing judgement. It's not so much her or Ohgi this time as it is Schneizel and Kanon by having their men be the ones that try to gun down Lelouch before the Black Knights could get their answers.
One of the biggest would have to be Princess Euphemia. When Brittanian occupiers were murdering Japanese civilians by the dozens and prett much enslaving those who survived, it was easy for Lelouch's [[LaResistance violent revolution]] to gain followers. But then good natured Euphemia [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething is put in a position of power]]; [[AllLovingHeroine she]] starts treating the Japanese people with respect, tries to find a compromise solution that both Brittania and Japan can live with, and just like that all of Lelouch's popular support goes bye-bye. Lelouch actually '''admits''' defeat to Euphemia, calling her his most formidable opponent.

** The CompilationMovie series essentially tones down her role as this. While she still tries finding evidence about Lelouch, Shirley's aformentioned TraumaCongaLine is AdaptedOut, having Deithard be the one to shoot her in order to retrieve her evidence. Even when Schneizel in this version reveals C.C is the source of Lelouch's Geass, the Black Knights are still more reluctant about betraying him and want him to answer their questions first before passing judgement. It's not so much her or Ohgi this time as it is Schneizel and Kanon by having their men be the ones try to gun down Lelouch before the Black Knights could get their answers.

** One of the biggest would have to be Princess Euphemia. When Brittanian occupiers were murdering Japanese civilians by the dozens and prett much enslaving those who survived, it was easy for Lelouch's [[LaResistance violent revolution]] to gain followers. But then good natured Euphemia [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething is put in a position of power]]; [[AllLovingHeroine she]] starts treating the Japanese people with respect, tries to find a compromise solution that both Brittania and Japan can live with, and just like that all of Lelouch's popular support goes bye-bye. Lelouch actually '''admits''' defeat to Euphemia, calling her his most formidable opponent.

** And afterwards, preparing to kill the heroes for their interference, Pilaf's palace is destroyed by Goku, having turned into a giant monkey monster.
** In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', Gohan and Krillin become this to both Vegeta and Frieza on Namek. First, Gohan steals the Dragon Ball that Vegeta took and hid. Second, Gohan and Krillin teaming up with Vegeta against the Ginyu Force kept them alive long enough for Goku to arrive and save them, taking out the last major force on Frieza's side. Then, their friendship with the Namekians gave them access to the Dragon Balls, allowing them to wish Piccolo back to life, bring him to Namek, and deny Frieza and Vegeta their chance at immortality.
** Vegeta ends up being a spanner at the climax of the Cell Games arc. While Gohan is in a beam struggle with Cell, all of the other fighters seem helpless to even budge Cell, and it seems that Cell is set to kill Gohan. But, Vegeta hits Cell with a blast from behind that's just strong enough to make Cell briefly lose his footing, distracting him. This allows Gohan to unleash all of his remaining power, destroying Cell down to the atomic level, finally getting rid of him.
** In ''Dragon Ball Minus'', Frieza recalls all the Saiyans to their home planet so he can kill them all at once in a month's time. He does this because he fears the Saiyans rebelling and becoming Super Saiyans. This alerted Bardock and and his wife, Gine, so they sent their youngest child away. That child grew up to become the Super Saiyan who kicks Frieza's butt.
** In ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', Manga/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman ends up being this towards Champa's team in the Champa arc. Vegeta had suspected something wrong when, during Goku's match with Frost, the Saiyan is taken down so easily. However, during Frost's match with Piccolo, Jaco spots Frost slipping his right arm inside Piccolo's stretched and wrapped arm. When Frost defeats a now-poisoned Piccolo and declared winner, Jaco objects and tells the announcer to check his right arm. [[spoiler:Frost had a needle implanted inside his right forearm coated with poison. Frost is disqualified ''and'' disgraced while Piccolo becomes the real winner.]] Even more, Jaco risked being ''obliterated on the spot'' for a possible lie to expose this.
* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' has [[spoiler: Nodoka, Kazumi and ''specially'' Chisame]] derailing [[spoiler: Kurt Godel's ThanatosGambit]], because [[spoiler: when Negi goes OneWingedAngel on him after he reveals what happened to his DoomedHometown, Nodoka and Kazumi hold him in place, and then Chisame slaps him back to sanity.]]
** And it's not the only one. [[spoiler: Natsumi Murakami is the owner of an artifact which hasn't been found/used/invoked in ''centuries'', obtained from her Pactio with Koutarou. Said artifact is basically an InvisibilityCloak... and she uses it to bring ''a whole rescue team'' to the place where [[ApocalypseMaiden a captive and unconscious]] [[AntiMagic Asuna]] is about to be used by Fate to rewrite the whole Magical World. Fate's [[OhCrap horrified]] face when he sees what happened is ''priceless''.]]
* In ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'', one of the main reasons [[ManipulativeBastard Izaya]] hates Shizuo so much is because his emotional volatility, TooDumbToFool nature, and firmly sustained belief that Izaya is responsible for 99.9% of everything that goes wrong in Ikebukuro makes him liable to become one at any moment -- because all of it makes him immune to Izaya's manipulations. [[spoiler:Shizuo ends up doing exactly this in volume 6, when Izaya's attempt to frame Shizuo and get him out of the way for the moment doesn't go quite as planned and instead brings even ''worse'' people down on Izaya's head]].
* In ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'''s Flying Pussyfoot arc, it seems like everyone is this for everyone else, in a plot that was already capable of being summed up in one word: "clusterfuck." [[spoiler:Long story short: the [[{{Cult}} Lemures]] plan to hold the train passengers hostage in return for Huey Laforet's release from prison. [[AxCrazy Ladd Russo]] and his [[TheMafia buddies]] plan to kill a bunch of people ForTheEvulz. Czeslaw Meyer plans to smuggle explosives into New York and sell them. Jacuzzi Splot and his gang of delinquents plan to steal Czeslaw's explosives and sell them. [[OutlawCouple Isaac and Miria]] have already pulled off a robbery and plan to use the train to make their getaway into New York City. [[InformationBroker Daily Days]] agent [[BadassBystander Rachel]] just wants to [[RailEnthusiast hitch a ride]]. And [[SociopathicHero Rail Tracer]] ''does not approve of all these shenanigans going down on his train''.]] All of these plans disrupt one another in spectacular fashion and end in varying levels of success based - with one or two notable exceptions - on how sympathetic the characters involved are.
* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': Ash often manages to throw spanners into his rival's tactics due to his tendency to make seemingly dumb choices of Pokemon (bad type match-ups, significantly smaller Pokemon, etc.) and then do the unexpected with them.
** Regularly Ash and his team have a habit of obliviously getting in the middle of bad guy's plans just at the most inconvenient of times and pulling them apart.
** Also the Team Rocket trio. Jessie, James and Meowth almost always manage to create problems for Cassidy and Butch, other Rocket agents, or other villain teams by trying to steal their prize. As several characters have noted, they are actually much better at fighting other villains than fighting the heroes.
** Bewear of the ''Sun and Moon'' series usually evacuates Team Rocket just as they're about to get their ass kicked, though on some occasions it cuts in just as they're about to defeat the twerps. In some instances they become savvy to this, and one time even leave a distraction for Bewear so they have time to finish a more elaborate scheme.
** Nebby's Teleport-happy antics also ended up jogging Lillie from her TraumaInducedAmnesia and exposing Faba's scheming that he'd covered up for years.
* In ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', Giovanni has a GameBreaker Deoxys that can Forme Change instantaneously at will. Yes, he's pretty much unstoppable...until Bill and his buddies figure out how it works and disable it.
* During the finale of ''Anime/PokemonZoroarkMasterOfIllusions'', [[spoiler: Kodai wins, he gets the Time Ripple. All plant-life in Crown City begins to die! But suddenly it turns out to be all an illusion by Zoroark. But [[ThisCannotBe her illusions shouldn't work on him]], he's got a device for that! Well remember that cute little Zorua he's been [[KickTheDog kicking around the whole movie]]? The one who tried his hardest to stop him but failed? Well turns out a lucky little bite in their last scuffle, unknown to ether of them, broke Kodai's illusion canceler, bringing Kodai's plan crashing down.]]
* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Touma often derails the complex plans of any character by simply showing up and kicking the crap out of every bad guy in sight. Subverted in that Laura Stewart and Aleister Crowley are {{Magnificent Bastard}}s and can factor him into their schemes. Later, Aleister has a VillainousBreakdown when [[spoiler: Shiage defeats Meltdowner]], raging that it's impossible and ordering his death in an effort to stop him from derailing his calculations any further.
* In the Makai Arc of ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', Yusuke's decision to hold a tournament was a last ditch effort to eliminate Yomi and Mukuro, since Yusuke knew he had no hope of taking either of them in a fight. However, due to Kurama and co.'s lucky presence, and Mukuro's bugging of Yomi's estate, Yusuke's idea prevents all hell from breaking loose: if Yomi were to simply attempt to kill Yusuke, Kurama, as well as his own elite fighters, would side with Yusuke. While Yomi would be capable of killing them all, he'd expend at least a third of his power doing so, leaving him vulnerable to Mukuro and Hiei, all of this forcing Yomi to accept Yusuke's proposal.
* In ''[[Anime/GoLion Beast King Golion]]'', Honerva's plan to take down Altea by [[spoiler: killing Shirogane]] falls victim to ''two'' spanners- one was Kurogane in Red Lion coming up with the idea [[spoiler: to push the Deathblack Beastman Galcia into some magma]], and when Galra attacks again before Altea could train a replacement, [[spoiler: Fala takes Blue Lion]].
* In ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'', [[spoiler:Maverick's]] longtime manipulation of [[spoiler:both [=HeroTV=] and Barnaby]] for his own ends is utterly destroyed by a cascading series of spanners in the works, beginning with Kotetsu, who completely inadvertently foils [[spoiler:Maverick]]'s attempt at [[spoiler:wiping potentially incriminating knowledge from his memory]] and forces him into a much grander plan to try and remove him from the picture...
** ...which falls apart thanks to [[spoiler:Kotetsu's former boss, Ben Jackson. Maverick wipes the memories of Wild Tiger's secret identity from the [=HeroTV=] crew, but overlooks Ben, leaving him able to come to Kotetsu's rescue when the other heroes are out to arrest him]].
** And, to a lesser extent than the above, [[spoiler:Judge Yuri Petrov of the Justice Bureau, aka Lunatic. Maverick could not possibly have anticipated that Yuri had done extensive research into Wild Tiger and Wild Tiger's civilian identity after crossing his path as Lunatic, or that Lunatic's obsessive sense of justice would lead him to come to Kotetsu's aid just in the nick of time to keep Kotetsu from being arrested by the fake Wild Tiger]].
** And finally, [[spoiler:Kotetsu's daughter Kaede, who goes into Sternbild to help prove her father's innocence. When she approaches Maverick to ask for help, he has no idea who she is or that she's recently manifested the power to duplicate the powers of any NEXT she touches, and simply pats her on the head... unwittingly giving her the ability to undo his brainwashing of the other heroes with a well-timed EmotionBomb. Even once he's realized who she is and taken her hostage, he and Rotwang ''still'' fail to properly account for her power, and thanks to coming into contact with Blue Rose shortly before their capture she's able to prevent Rotwang from executing the heroes in his deathtrap.]]
* [[spoiler: Ringo Oginome]] pretty much tells [[spoiler: Shoma Takakura]] that he became one for her [[spoiler: "Project M"]] in episode 11 of ''Anime/MawaruPenguindrum''. This, because [[spoiler: Shoma is the first person to question said "Project M", in which Ringo wants to reach almost all the possible extremes to bear the child of Tabuki-sensei since it means [[MySiblingWillLivethroughMe she'll live the life of her dead older sister]] Momoka; among other things, Shouma tells Ringo that she's herself and ''not'' Momoka, which later makes her think twice in regards to having sex with a {{Love Potion}}ed!Tabuki.]]
** There's another one whose spanning "powers" act on a bigger scale: [[spoiler: Masako Natsume]].[[spoiler: In her backstory episode, we find out that she doesn't want to be used by Sanetoshi at all and only goes along with his plans resentfully to keep her little brother Mario alive. Later on, she refuses to burn her half of the Destiny Diary, which serves as some sort of seal on Sanetoshi's power; the entire diary does get burnt to bits by episode 23, but Masako's refusal holds him off long enough for Ringo to learn the Fate Transfer spell.]]
* Nine times out of ten, bad guys in ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' tend to get their plans uprooted because of this.
** The entirety of the Principality of Zeon is just one big spanner against ''themselves'' in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'''s One Year War. Among them being:
*** M'Quve refusing to give Ramba Ral the new Doms, leading to his death and later that of the Black Tri-Stars, depriving Zeon of experienced and talented soldiers.
*** Sayla and Amuro spotting a Federation traitor just before Operation Odessa, managing to foil his plans.
*** [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamThe08thMSTeam Ghinias Saharin]] snapping and attacking, leading to the death of his own men that his sister Aina ''had brokered for a cease-fire to get them out for medical attention''.
*** Zeon soldiers mistakenly thought that the Gundam had been destroyed early on in the Battle of Solomon, leading a talented and seasoned pilot like [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory Anaval Gato]] to break away and miss fighting Amuro.
*** Zeon blowing a lot of their funding on expensive Mobile Armors or experimental, extremely limited-focus Mobile Suits;
*** Ghiren firing a superweapon too early just to kill his own father, also wiping out LOTS of Zeon's troops. Then a pissed off Kycillia executes Ghiren for {{Patricide}}, leading to the powerful Delaz Fleet (that Gato is a part of) to bail. And to think, they had spent 9 months at that point in a stalemate and were really close to winning...
*** And, of course, the ultimate one: three Zeon soldiers go to Side 7 to investigate goings on in there and discover the Federation building Mobile Suits there. Had they not attacked the factory, the Colony wouldn't have been destroyewd and Amuro would have NOT been in the right place and time to hop into the Gundam that his father built...
** ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam''
*** Domon Kasshu. Suffice it to say, he's a thorn in the side of anyone who ever has a plan in this series (including, sometimes, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero people on his side]]). Examples include showing up in Shinjuku just as Master Asia is putting his EvilPlan into motion and [[spoiler:being in love with the person Ulube selects as the core unit for the Devil Gundam: via an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove, he managed to break through Rain's brainwashing and release her, with ThEPowerOfLove fueling the God Gundam's ultimate attack that let them destroy the Devil Gundam forever and ever.]].
*** If it wasn't for Rain "borrowing" the Rising Gundam during the Finals, [[spoiler:Wong's plan to kill Domon and install ''Allenby'' as the ApocalypseMaiden in charge of the Devil Gundam might well have succeeded. Instead, Rain [[DefusingTheTykebomb took Allenby down WITHOUT killing her]] and then her father removed the DG cells from her body, which later let Allenby help Domon free Rain from the Devil Gundam.]]
*** Even more: [[spoiler: Rain's father Dr. Mikamura used to be in league with the bad guys. When [[DaddysGirl his beloved]] [[MoralityPet Rain]] found out and called him out, [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes Mikamura]] [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realised how terrible all of this was]] and decided to [[HeelFaceTurn turn tails on the villains]], which led to Rain taking Allenby out of Wong's plans.]] And ''then'', [[spoiler: when Rain was seized as the ApocalypseMaiden instead, a fatally wounded Mikamura managed to alert Domon and his friends of the upcoming danger ''and'', in his dying throes, released the capsule containing Domon's cryogenized father, which deprived [[BigBad Ulube]] from his ''other'' hostage and gave Dr. Kasshu the chance to help as well.]]
** In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'', Durandal ends up throwing a spanner towards himself and his Destiny Plan by ''repeteadly'' trying to assassinate his political rival and the local {{Guile Hero}}ine, Lacus Clyne. Had he not decided that Lacus had to die, then Lacus's boyfriend Kira and Kira's friends in the ''Archangel'' crew wouldn't have gotten back together to fight back and stop the new war that just started, and may had even ''accepted'' the Destiny Plan.
** In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'', Haman Karn and her Neo Zeon group had successfully obtained Side 3 through her massive XanatosGambit. It seemed that the Earth would be next... had Glemy Toto not decide to reveal himself as a clone of Ghiren Zabi and initiate a civil war with her.
** In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'', Romefeller's WarForFunAndProfit scheme fell apart because of Princess Relena Peacecraft. Romefeller's leader, Duke Dermail, invaded Relena's homeland because she was espousing Total Pacifism, which started to undercut Romefeller's authority. Dermail offered to call off the invasion if Relena dissolved the nation and agreed to become the [[PuppetKing figurehead Queen of the nations unified under Romefeller's banner]], and she accepted to protect the remaining citizens. He didn't expect [[PluckyGirl Relena]] [[PoliticallyActivePrincess to reject that whole "figurehead" thing and continue advocating peace]], leading to others within Romefeller to admit they're very tired of war. [[spoiler: And when they ''did'' finally manage to checkmate her, the one who took over was... [[MagnificentBastard Treize Khushrenada]], the ''other'' spanner in Romefeller's works because he was not a warmonger; he didn't espouse total peace like Relena but throughout held to the idea that war is not a goal but a means: something that simply has its place as and when needed.]]
** In ''Anime/GundamBuildFighters'', Chairman Mashita of PPSE creates arcade game-like machines that [[MundaneUtility animate Gundam model kits]], which have become a worldwide phenomenon and made him a nice chunk of change. And then along comes Reiji, the prince of the otherworldly kingdom from which Mashita stole the [[MinovskyPhysics unusual particles]] which make Gunpla Battle machines work. Afraid that Reiji's victory would give him the spotlight and the opportunity to expose Mashita's theft, the Chairman begins rigging the World Tournament in the hopes of eliminating Reiji...but due to his piloting skills, the model-building talents of his partner Sei Iori, and the TrueCompanions bonds they share with each other and most of the tournament's other participants, every attempt thusfar has failed. Ultimately, he threw in his Trump Card, a BrainwashedAndCrazy Meijin Kawaguchi III and his Exia Dark Matter, causing the duo to defeat him and also expose the truth of those particles.
*** Mashita's twin brother, the leader of the Gunpla Mafia, also has his plans wrecked by Reiji. He had planned to take over the Yajima Stadium and defeat the Battlers of the 7th World Gunpla Battle Tournament (the ones who ruined Mashita) to take control of Gunpla Battles all over by demoralizing people. He ends up taking down Sei, the Meijin and Mao by manipulating their Plavsky Particle amount and holds back China, Nils and Ricardo and prepares to finish off Sei when Reiji suddenly teleports in, take control and [[ChekhovsGun uses the Arista Aila had]] to repower Sei's suit and defeat the leader.
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'': [[LethallyStupid Iok Kujan]], through sheer, unadulterated incompetence and stupidity, completely derails Tekkadan and [=McGillis's=] plan to deal with the [[spoiler: [[MechanicalAbomination Mobile Armor Hashmal]]]]. ''Twice.'' First he activates the[[spoiler: Mobile Armor]] by showing up in a Mobile Suit, despite precautions taken by the other side not to bring Ahab Wave-powered machines to the dig site precisely to prevent that from happening. Later, after Tekkadan has taken careful measures to draw the [[spoiler:Mobile Armor]] into an ambush site near a city they evacuated, Iok shows up to ([[ShootingSuperman futilely]]) attack it, drawing its path away from the evacuated city and towards a still-populated agricultural plant, [[spoiler:which is subsequently destroyed]].
* In ''Manga/HonooNoAlpenRose'', [[spoiler: Jeudi]] and, in the anime, [[spoiler: her mother Helene]] were this. The first, via [[spoiler: appearing in the Durant mansion and thus throwing a wrench in the local SmugSnake Toulonchamp's plans, which involved him having his own daughter Mathilda as his spy as well as Jeudi's BodyDouble to twist the Durants's arms into helping him]]; it goes double when [[spoiler: she reveals her knowledge of the ''Alpine Rose'' song when she's being taken away (by singing it in the anime and or leaving a handwritten version of the lyrics in the anime), letting Helene know the truth and identify ''her'' as her daughter instead of Mathilda.]] The second, via [[spoiler: crawling towards Toulonchamp in the middle of a HostageSituation and holding on his leg while he's about to kidnap Jeudi at knife point, distracting him enough to let Jeudi's boyfriend Lundi pounce on him ''and'' setting Jeudi free.]]
** However, [[spoiler: Friederich Brandel aka Jeudi's dad/Helene's husband]] was the biggest one. [[spoiler: The aforementioned ''Alpine Rose'' song? It was ''his'' most famous theme, and not only it doubled as a symbol of LaResistance against ThoseWackyNazis but as his biggest token of love for Helene after they became StarCrossedLovers. Jeudi using it to prove her identity to Helene ''totally'' undid all of Toulonchamp's plans in regards to the Durants, and before that it was one of Jeudi's few memories about her own past as well.]]
** Also, [[spoiler: Toulonchamp's spy Anna commits the VERY dumb mistake of trying to kill Jeudi via dropping a pot on her head, which the girl barely manages to escape from. This not only scares the crap out of Jeudi's grandparents (reducing their willingness to collaborate with Toulonchamp no matter what he says), but it also terrifies ''Mathilda herself'' and leads her to, despite not defecting to his side, drop some of the info she has to Lundi.]] This ultimately forces him to [[spoiler: directly go to the Durants's home, right in the moment when General Guisan (a highranked military leader as well as a friend of the Durant family who ''knows'' that Jeudi is the real Durant girl) shows up as well...]]
* In ''Anime/PrincessTutu'' '''Ahiru''' is this to Drosselmeyer. Made more ironic by the fact ''he'' was the one to bring her into the story to get it moving. It did... in the direction ''[[EarnYourHappyEnding opposite]]'' to what he wanted.
* In ''Manga/AnatoliaStory'', Queen Nakia needs a special girl's blood to perform a powerful BloodMagic that will kill her stepson Kail and give her the chance to make her own son Juda the heir to the Hitite Empire. Too bad that the girl she brought into Hattusa as her prospect HumanSacrifice, Yuri Suzuki, turned out to be a naive but very fast-learning PluckyGirl who decided to fight back to protect herself, then became the partner and concubine of the same prince Nakia wanted to murder, and she not only ended up becoming Nakia's strongest rival but also one of the most influential people in the nation.
* Eren [[spoiler:being a titan shifter]] in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' derailed [[spoiler:the other titan shifters]]'s plans by causing them to shift their focus towards Eren.
* ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'': In his first appearance, Gin tried to set Tsukune up to take the fall for Gin's own perversions in an effort to have Moka all to himself. The only reason it failed is because Kurumu was about to comfort Tsukune just as Gin intercepted him. Kurumu followed them and stumbled across [[{{Frameup}} a certain episode behind the school involving a digital camera and the girls' locker room]]. Afterwards, she rescued Tsukune from the vengeful locker room girls, confronted Gin on the roof, and presented a testimony that confirmed Moka's already-growing doubts about Tsukune's role in the incident.
* ''Anime/FutureGPXCyberFormula'': [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Smith]] and [[PunchClockVillain Bootsvorz]]'s plans to steal [[SuperPrototype Asurada GSX]] get folded multiple times of time due to unexpected mishaps:
** Smith sending a helicopter to shoot down the truck delivering GSX to Team Sugo gets sabotaged by a 14-year-old boy on a motorcycle who gets unhurt and capable or driving the car to safety.
** A sabotage on Hayato before the Niseko GP gets ruined when Ohtomo Johji, a veteran friendly driver, happens to be out to practice that night as well.
** On the Niseko GP, Bootsvorz's first attempt to crash out the car gets ruined by Hayato's sudden pit entry for a set of rain tire. An unexpected rainfall that follows causes him - running on slick - to spin out.
** His second attempt also gets ruined because a random car gets out of a mud trap and blocks the gap between to two machines. The heavy rain causes him and the said car to crash each other out.
** In the Brazilian GP, Bootsvorz gets into a perfect spot to take down GSX, but he doesn't expect a rival driver Knight Shoemach to [[HeroicSacrifice deliberately crash him out at the last second]] to protect it.
** Smith's personal attempt at taking out both Shoemach and Bootsvorz gets spoiled when Hayato, driving GSX into a shortcut, jumps out of nowhere and scares him, indirectly leading him to his death.
* In the second part of the ''Anime/ExplorerWomanRay'' [=OVA=]s, Ray [[spoiler: uses a crystal pendant on the Ord temple - which uses controlled light beams as a means of somehow controlling the weather - in order to stop bad guy Rieg Vader from controlling it.]]
* The first cour of ''Anime/{{Endride}}'' revolved around a) Prince Emilio wanting to [[{{Patricide}} kill King Delzaine]], b) his friends trying to dissuade him because they need answers from Delzaine, c) the [[LaResistance Ignauts]] trying to get Delzaine to peacefully step down while fighting off his [[QuirkyMinibossSquad enforcers]], the [[LesCollaborateurs Truculent]], and d) Shun trying to get to Babylon so he can use the Babel device to return to his world. Come the mid-season climax, [[spoiler:instead one of the Truculent, [[AxeCrazy Ibelda]], slaughters all his teammates, kills Delzaine himself, and jumps into the Babel device, meaning absolutely no one got what they wanted, and a whole new set of problems were created besides.]]
* This is basically Chika Fujiwara's defining character trait in ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' She's prevented Shirogane and Kaguya plans to force each other to [[LoveConfession confess]] so many times that [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation most fans are convinced that she's secretly doing it on purpose]].
* In ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' and its non-canon SpinOff ''Anime/SaintSeiyaSoulOfGold'', Pisces Aphrodite was on both ends of the trope:
** In the first, Aphrodite had devised a pretty good back-up plan shall he lose his fight with Shun: he anticipated the Saints would try and have someone keeping him busy while the other continued to run, so he planted his poisonous roses on the stairs behind his temple to act as DeadlyGas. By all rights, he had won with mocking ease, ''and'' it was about to work since Seiya fell for it in his despair and urge to go forward... [[spoiler: But then, Seiya's mentor Marin showed up. As a Female Saint, Marin had to wear a CoolMask - so she put it on Seiya, which allowed him to recover from the poison even when it poisoned ''her'' instead. As he wasn't breathing poison anymore ''and'' he saw his beloved mentor collapsed, Seiya gained enough physical strength and HeroicWillpower to destroy the roses, clearing his path to the top and towards the BigBad.]] [[spoiler: And by the way, Shun defeated and killed Aphrodite anyway.]]
** In the second, Aphrodite apparently lost his ''first'' fight against [[spoiler: Andreas Rize]] after being revived [[spoiler: and was absorbed into the mighty Yggdrassil tree]]... but in reality, he had become this and was waiting for the exact moment to show it. [[spoiler: When [[DemonicPossession Loki-in-Andreas'-body]] got his hands on Gungnir and destroyed the Odin Robe, the tide was turned a the fallen Gold Saints returned, all because Aphrodite [[AcquiredPoisonImmunity was immune to plant toxins]] ''[[AcquiredPoisonImmunity -even Yggdrasil's-]]'' and was able to develop countermeasures, so the also absorbed and "killed" Gold Saints were only kept in a deathlike state but did ''not'' actually die. Aphrodite even pointed out Loki's '''fatal''' mistake to his face.]]
* ''Anime/LupinIIIPart5'' has Lupin's ploy to [[spoiler: [[FakingTheDead fake his death]]]] to get away from assassins nearly fall apart due to [[spoiler: [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou Zenigata running up and "rescuing" him.]]]] If it wasn't for this, Lupin would have successfully pulled his plan off right there and then, but instead is forced to trek across the desert and have both of them, as well as [[SixthRanger Ami]], nearly die of thirst. (He does successfully manage to pull of the plan eventually, though, after some improvisation.)
* ''Manga/Overlord2012'':
** In an odd inversion, Ainz unwittingly messes with his subordinate Demiurge's plans to Nazarick's immediate benefit. By showing up in the Empire and giving a perfect demonstration of how overpowered he is (he willingly turned off his melee protections, used no magic and ''still'' wiped the floor with a giant, intelligent and PVP-optimized troll), Ainz [[spoiler:gets the Empire to declare itself a vassal state of Ainz in the hopes that they'll fare better as his property than as his enemies]]. Demiurge (who sincerely believes Ainz is a master plotter more skilled than himself) is flabbergasted: he never doubted [[spoiler:the Empire would eventually submit]], but he expected it to require a long and bloody war of attrition over several months, and even then only after having subjugated the neighboring Kingdom and acquiring its resources. Of course this all went over Ainz' head: he simply cannot grasp that ordinary humans might find the godlike lich who can kill thousands with a single spell horrifying, and was slightly miffed that the Emperor was rooting for the troll rather than a fellow ruler.
** Demiurge does it to Ainz all the time on a much lower scale: since Ainz' greatest fear is that his underlings find out he ''isn't'' TheChessmaster they think he is, he always tries to get the others to give their opinions on the plan (so ''he'' can learn what the plan is, [[RepeatingSoTheAudienceCanHear being just as ignorant as the audience]]), and then appear to have planned it all along... only for Demiurge to laugh and explain that Ainz' genius runs far deeper than that, causing Ainz to scream internally as the others beg Ainz to explain the ''true'' plan.
----

* In ''Manga/PokemonSpecial'', Giovanni has a GameBreaker Deoxys that can Forme Change instantaneously at will. Yes, he's pretty much unstoppable...until Bill and his buddies figure out how it works and disable it.

** In ''Anime/TenchiInTokyo'', there are ''three'' of these: Washu, because the villains always tend to underestimate her, and in this case this lets her [[spoiler: lock herself in her laboratory to decode Yugi's plans without anyone disturbing her, which she manages to do almost flawlessly]]; [[spoiler: Sasami]], because [[spoiler: Yugi got distracted by her desire to keep her out of her schemes since she's her MoralityPet]] (and this is pointed out by [[spoiler: Matori]], ''twice''); and '''specially''' [[spoiler: Sakuya, who despite being Yugi's "shadow", in the end turns out to be more independent than she should've been, and ends up breaking through a LotusEaterMachine that keeps Tenchi away so she can him back to fight Yugi.]]

** In ''Anime/MazingerZ'', thanks to [[MemeticMutation Brocken]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Ball]], Koji is able to rescue the kidnapped civilians. Not to mention the fact that in the same series, he saved Koji's life several times, gaining Koji's respect in the process. And in the ''Mazinger-Z versus Great General of Darkness'', as a squad of Mykene Warrior Monsters are trashing Mazinger-Z he suddenly interfered. He only deterred them for several seconds, but those seconds were all that [[spoiler:Tetsuya needed to intervene with Great Mazinger and save Kouji's life. And because Kouji did not die, he could help to save the world in ''Anime/GreatMazinger'' and ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer''.]]

** Bewear of the ''Sun and Moon'' series usually evacuates Team Rocket just as they're about to get their ass kicked, though on some occasions he cuts in just as they're about to defeat the twerps.

* This is basically Chika Fujiwara's defining character trait in ''Manga/KaguyaSamaWaKokurasetai''. She's prevented Shirogane and Kaguya plans to force each other to [[LoveConfession confess]] so many times that [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation most fans are convinced that she's secretly doing it on purpose]].

** As of 862, Sanji might have performed his ''biggest'' spanner act ever... [[spoiler: simply by calling his bride Pudding's ThirdEye [[FreakinessShame "beau]][[FreakyIsCool tiful"]]. Up until then, the AxCrazy BitchInSheepsClothing Pudding was fully willing to shoot him dead with a HandCannon... but since she had been bullied all of her life for that same ThirdEye, Sanji's kind phrase shook her to the core and sent her in a sobbing VillainousBreakdown. This meant: she couldn't bring herself to kill him, Sanji managed to perceive and dodge additional threats in their surroundings (like an attack from Pudding's '''very''' badass ColdSniper older brother Katakuri)... and then Luffy (and some clones of his) got the ''perfect'' opening to [[WeddingSmashers begin crashing the wedding]], undo Big Mom's KillEmall plans regarding Sanji's family, '''and''' put the plan to ''assassinate'' Big Mom herself in movement.]]

** In a non-Straw Hat example, there's Trafalgar Law. The Dressrosa arc, which escalated to involve nearly every major power in the world in some form—-the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the Four Emperors, the Marines, the World Government, and the Revolutionary Army-—wouldn't have even ''happened'' if it weren't for him in the first place. His alliance with Luffy really did "shake the world" as the papers said, as it put the Straw Hats in the path of the Donquixote Family, leading to all of the above, and the gradual destruction of Donquixote Doflamingo's criminal empire. The thing is, Law, much like Luffy in that regard, doesn't care about ''any'' of it. The ultimate purpose of all his actions, including continuing to live to this very day, for the last ''thirteen years'', has been to kill Doflamingo. If the world has to spiral into chaos just so he can kill the man who murdered the most important person in his life, then so be it... though it's revealed in some chapters that he also seems to want the aftershock he knows will follow Doffy's defeat. Luffy grants his wish for the most part. Doffy's not dead, but he's clearly ruined. So when the government kicks him out of the Warlords and puts him and Luffy on equal footing, he shrugs it all off as if to say, "SoLongSuckers"
*** The aforementioned "most important person" in Law's life, [[spoiler: Doflamingo's younger brother]] Rocinante aka Corazon, not only allowed Law to become a spanner in Doffy's plans, but ''also'' was a spanner in his own right. By treating Law with sincere kindness [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe when no one else would]], Corazon reached for him and became his BigBrotherMentor, beating Doflamingo (who wanted to be Law's EvilMentor) to the punch and restoring Law's lost humanity. And later, [[spoiler: when Doflamingo obtained an ''incredibly'' powerful Devil Fruit (the Ope Ope no Mi) Corazon [[ForceFeeding forcibly fed it to Law instead]], curing him from his lethal illness ''and'' [[SuperpowerLottery granting him other VERY good skills]].]] True, [[spoiler: Corazon was shot dead by Doflamingo for that (and for being TheMole for the Marines)]], but ultimately he had a spectacular last laugh since, as said above, Law ultimately became Doflamingo's biggest nemesis.

* Akiyama sees Nao Kanzaki as this in regards to the ''Manga/LiarGame.'' The Liar Game's producers break even by collecting on the players' debts, and profits when the winning contestants forfeit half of their winnings to OptOut of the game. Nao, however, has consistently been using her winnings to pay off other players' debts while increasing her own as a result. Akiyama believes that Nao has the potential to completely bankrupt the Liar Game by doing this since by the end, her personal debt will have gotten so high actually ''collecting'' would be impossible.

* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', it turns out '''[[spoiler:Scar's older brother]]''' was the first to figure out Father's AncientConspiracy (more exactly: [[spoiler: he was first to notice the transmutation circle around the country and begins piecing together what's going on, with the raid on his country confirming his suspicions, and quickly devising countermeasures for it). And he did this '''before the series even starts'''!]][[spoiler: He may have died to save his younger brother before he could execute the plan but he played a major role in defeating Father, by allowing the heroes to fight back.]]

*** Zeon soldiers mistakenly thinking the Gundam had been destroyed early on in the Battle of Solomon, leading a talented and seasoned pilot like [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory Anaval Gato]] to break away and miss fighting Amuro.

*** And, of course, the ultimate one: three Zeon soldiers go to Side 7 to investigate goings on in there and discover the Federation building Mobile Suits there. Had they not attacked the factory...

*** Domon Kasshu. Suffice it to say, he's a thorn in the side of anyone who ever has a plan in this series (including, sometimes, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero people on his side]]). Examples include showing up in Shinjuku just as Master Asia is putting his EvilPlan into motion and [[spoiler:being in love with the person Ulube selects as the core unit for the Devil Gundam]].
*** If it wasn't for Rain "borrowing" the Rising Gundam during the Finals, [[spoiler:Wong's plan to kill Domon and install ''Allenby'' as the ApocalypseMaiden in charge of the Devil Gundam might well have succeeded. Instead, Rain [[DefusingTheTykebomb took Allenby down without killing her]] and then her father removed the DG cells, which later allowed Allenby to help Domon free Rain from the Devil Gundam.]]

** In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'', Durandal ends up throwing a spanner towards himself and his Destiny Plan by ''repeteadly'' trying to assassinate Lacus Clyne. Had he not decided that Lacus had to die, then Lacus's boyfriend Kira and Kira's friends in the ''Archangel'' crew wouldn't have gotten back together to stop the new war that just started, and may had even ''accepted'' the Destiny Plan.

* In ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' and its non-canon SpinOff ''Anime/SaintSeiyaSoulOfGold'', Pisces Aphrodite was in both ends of the trope:
** In the first, Aphrodite had devised a pretty good back-up plan shall he lose his fight with Shun: he anticipated the Saints would try and have someone keeping him busy while the other continued to run, so he planted his poisonous roses on the stairs behind his temple to act as DeadlyGas. By all rights, he had won with mocking ease, ''and'' it was about to work since Seiya fell for it in his urge to go forward... [[spoiler: But then, Seiya's mentor Marin showed up. As a Female Saint, Marin had to wear a CoolMask - so she put it on Seiya, which allowed him to recover from the poison even when it poisoned ''her'' instead. As he wasn't breathing poison anymore ''and'' he saw his beloved mentor collapsed, Seiya gained enough physical strength and HeroicWillpower to destroy the roses, clearing his path to the top and towards the BigBad.]] [[spoiler: And by the way, Shun defeated and killed Aphrodite anyway.]]

* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', it turns out '''[[spoiler:Scar's older brother]]''' was the first to figure out Father's AncientConspiracy (more exactly: [[spoiler: he was first to notice the transmutation circle around the country and begins piecing together what's going on, with the raid on his country confirming his suspicions, and quickly devising countermeasures for it). And he did this '''before the series even starts'''! [[spoiler: He may have died to save his younger brother before he could execute the plan but he played a major role in defeating Father, by allowing the heroes to fight back.]]

* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', it turns out '''[[spoiler:Scar's older brother]]''' was the first to figure out Father's AncientConspiracy and think up a countermeasure '''before the series even starts''' that allows the heroes to fight back.
** You can't help but pity Father. Despite being an EldritchAbomination who spent centuries erecting a [[GambitRoulette massive plan]] to gain godhood, fate sent an entire legion of fools to ruin his day. In addition to [[spoiler:Scar's brother]], you've got Ling Yao and his entourage, who can sense Homunculi and just want the secret of immortality; May Chang, who uses alkahestry instead of alchemy (therefore she lacks its weaknesses) and is on the same quest as her half-brother Ling; and even Scar himself, whose thirst for revenge almost derails the plan several times.

** In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', Gohan and Krillin become this to both Vegeta and Frieza on Namek. First, Gohan steals the Dragon Ball that Vegeta took and hidden. Second, Gohan and Krillin teaming up with Vegeta against the Ginyu Force kept themselves alive long enough for Goku to arrive and save them, taking out the last major force on Frieza's side. Then, their friendship with the Namekians gave them access to the Dragon Balls, allowing them to wish Piccolo back to life, bring him to Namek, and deny Frieza and Vegeta their chance at immortality.

** In ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', Manga/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman ends up being this towards Champa's team in the Champa arc. Vegeta had suspected something wrong when, during Goku's match with Frost, the Saiyan is taken down so easily. However, during Frost's match with Piccolo, Jaco spots Frost slipping his right arm inside Piccolo's stretched and wrapped arm. When Frost defeats a now-poisoned Piccolo and declared winner, Jaco objects and tells the announcer to check his right arm. [[spoiler:Frost had a needle implanted inside his right forearm coated with poison. Frost is disqualified ''and'' disgraced while Piccolo becomes the real winner.]] Even more, Jaco risked being obliterated for a possible lie to expose this.

*** Better is a bit of opinion felt on Near's part. L already gave them the structure to finish the case. After all they didn't have to start from scratch like he did. Plus, L nearly had the case solved on his own. It took a manipulated shinigami to take him down. In fact, it wouldn't have taken Near and Mello to solve the case if someone had the guts to '''A:''' Check and see if the fake rules were legit, and '''B:''' Keep an eye on Light and Misa. The only edge they had was the fact they were 2 people rather than 1.