History XanatosGambit / WesternAnimation

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'', Prince Phobeos used a particularly brilliant one: he spread a rumor that the lost Seal of Phobeos had been found in order to lure Caleb into a living [[QuicksandSucks sandpit]] trap. Even though Caleb and the Guardians escape from the sandpit, Phobeos' real goal was to weed out TheMole in his castle by finding out who leaked the rumor to Caleb.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'', Prince Phobeos used a particularly brilliant one: he spread a rumor that the lost Seal of Phobeos had been found in order lure Caleb into a living [[QuicksandSucks sandpit]] trap. Even though Caleb and the Guardians escape from the sandpit, Phobeos' real goal was to weed out TheMole in his castle by finding out who leaked the rumor to Caleb.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/WITCH'', Prince Phobeos used a particularly brilliant one: he spread a rumor that the lost Seal of Phobeos had been found in order lure Caleb into a living [[QuicksandSucks sandpit] trap. Even though Caleb and the Guardians escape from the sandpit, Phobeos' real goal was to weed out TheMole in his castle by finding out who leaked the rumor to Caleb.

** Father ''also'' figures out how to turn Tommy's defeat of him in that episode into a temporary victory in "Operation IT."

%%* Skeleton King's plans in ''WesternAnimation/SuperRobotMonkeyTeamHyperforceGo'' mostly go this way.

* It's not at all surprising that there are a lot of examples from ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}''.

** The Master of Games pulls one of these when he tricks Robin, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and a bunch of other heroes (and Gizmo) into fighting in a tournament. No matter who would win, the losers would be captured in his amulet enabling him to utilize their powers.

* In the Nick cartoon ''ElTigre'' the episode Eye Caramba has a member of the Flock of Fury (the main family's arch-nemesis') trick the titular character to put up the source of his power as a bet knowing he'd stink at darts without it. Then after using lasers to guide her dart she accidentally throws it backwards, and is visibly distraught about losing her glass eye. That was just a plan for him to take home her glass eye, knowing he would give it to his father to wear, so the Flock could spy on him through the eye's built-in camera and be able to both get away from crime scenes before he arrives but also destroy his confidence and make him eventually give up.

* WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends has one in I Only Have Surprise for You. Mac knowing that Bloo would throw him a surprise party and humiliate him, sets out to destroy the party before it can start. Only to find that Bloo had another party planned, so he goes to smash that... only to find that it wasn't meant for him but for a cute little imaginary friend named Artie. Feeling totally remorseful, and having the whole house hate him, he goes out of his way to make another party for the kid topped with him dressing up as a clown and humiliating himself. And when Mac asks Artie how good the party was he says "I only have one thing to say"... and then rips off his costume revealing himself as Madame Foster in disguise. In other words... Bloo indeed made two surprise parties, knowing that Mac would smash them both and become completely remorseful, and thus throw himself his own surprise party and therefore humiliating himself... AND EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE WAS IN ON IT.... Except Eduardo

* The CareBears of all people try to pull one of these in their second movie. After [[SatanicArchetype Dark Heart]] has kidnapped most of the Care Bear Family, the remaining free members attempt a rescue mission... expecting Dark Heart to capture them, and put them in the same place as all the others, figuring that they are at their strongest when they are together.

* During an episode of ''TheAvengersUnitedTheyStand'' cartoon, newly introduced villains the Zodiac hijack a series of nuclear weapons satellites, which our heroes believe are being used to hold the world hostage and promptly destroy. Turns out, they ''wanted'' the satellites destroyed, as they were obstructing their view of a celestial convergence needed to turn their [[ArtifactofDoom giant astronomical key]] and bring them one step closer to universal domination.

* ComicBook/LexLuthor also pulls one off in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' when he hacks the Justice League's KillSat: Cadmus could be completely wiped out, removing a threat to himself. Heavy hitters in the Justice League could turn themselves in to the government, removing a threat to himself. Justice League and Cadmus could go into allout war, destroying one side, and removing a threat to himself. If all that is somehow avoided, he '''still''' buys time to complete his Amazo clone and become a god. {{Batman|Gambit}} [[SpannerInTheWorks unfortunately ruins it.]]

* While its writing seemed to be aimed at preschoolers, ''Challenge of the {{WesternAnimation/Superfriends}}'' attempted a few of these. In one episode, the Legion of Doom pretended to shrink the U.N. building down to briefcase size and hide it on an island surrounded by lava and guarded by a lava monster at the center of the Earth. This was only to trick the Superfriends into defeating the lava monster so that the Legion could abscond with the monolith that was ''really'' on the island.

* Parodied on ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': After the Girls destroy the killer piñata [[{{Satan}} Him]] planted at their birthday, Him claims his true plan was for everyone at the party to get tooth decay from the candy, but Princess and the other villains just think he's being a SoreLoser who can't admit defeat.

* Used by the Nightsisters in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsCloneWars'' Season 3, Episode 12. Ventress is sent to assassinate Dooku. If she succeeds, Dooku is dead. If she fails, Dooku realizes his vulnerability and returns to the Nightsisters for a new apprentice, furthering their plans.

* While its writing seemed to be aimed at preschoolers, ''Challenge of the SuperFriends'' attempted a few of these. In one episode, the Legion of Doom pretended to shrink the U.N. building down to briefcase size and hide it on an island surrounded by lava and guarded by a lava monster at the center of the Earth. This was only to trick the Superfriends into defeating the lava monster so that the Legion could abscond with the monolith that was ''really'' on the island.

* Venger forms such a plan in the ''Westernanimation/DungeonsAndDragons'' episode "Prison Without Walls": He learns that the heroes have gone searching for Lukyon, a gnome wizard he imprisoned in a magic swamp for refusing to tell him where he hid a powerful gem called the Dragon's Heart. Instead of sending his army in to stop the kids, he lets them search, sending only Shadow-Demon to spy on them. He explains why: either the kids will succeed and find Lukyon, who will then trust them enough to tell them where he hid the Dragon's Heart (which means he'll know, as well); or they'll fail, and the swamp will kill them (meaning he'll finally get their weapons -- either way, Venger will get ''something'' he's wanted. (It works, as the first scenario is what happens, but he loses the battle that ensues.)

* Shredder in ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' used one well in the first part of thw third season finale. With the Technodrome running on fumes and in need of power, Shredder knows that the Turtles will stop their attempts to get an energy source. So he uses the last of the Technodrome's power to take control of a lab housing a new energy source to lure the Turtles there, allowing Bebop and Rocksteady to break into another lab with a power source they can use. Even though the Turtles defeat Shredder, for once, Bebop and Rocksteady do their job right and get the energy source, leaving the Turtles shocked when they find out.

* Megabyte from ''ReBoot'' returned in real style and a few dangerous new upgrades. First he pretended to be a copy of Bob and that threw everyone off guard, especially Dot (who almost married him). But even when he was discovered, he then lured them to capture a copy of himself (an alias) which was simply a distraction as he got inside the Principle Office and took over within moments, infecting a half-dozen new soldiers and ending with a PsychoticSmirk [[LeftHanging for the series.]]

* In an episode of ''SpongeBobSquarePants'' Mr. Krabs manages to pull off an uncharacteristically complex XanatosGambit with Spongebob and Patrick. He tasks the two to prevent Plankton from stealing the [[MacGuffin Krabby Patty Formula]] from its safe place in his vault in a ''Film/JamesBond'' AffectionateParody type of clandestine operation. Ultimately, they fail and Plankton actually makes off with the formula, but it doesn't really matter - [[spoiler:the Plankton Spongebob and Patrick were trying to foil was, in fact, Mr. Krabs in disguise, and the entire thing was the result of a bet between the real Plankton and Krabs to see if Krabs could beat Plankton at his own game. If he succeeds, then he wins. If he fails, it still means the real Plankton can't get in either]].

* On ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Jack Spicer]] gets one in a NotSoHarmlessVillain moment: he creates the [[ShapeShifter Chameleon Bot]], a robot can change shape and uses it to replace Kimiko. At that point, every outcome helps him. If the monks don't realize the switch, it can sow division within the Good Guy's ranks and help him win showdowns by sabotaging them. If the monks ''do'' realize the switch, the bot can try killing them. If they realize the switch ''and'' defeat the bot, Jack can use the diversion to steal all their Shen Gong Wu. The third option is what happens.

** He gets so good at this, [[ExploitedTrope it comes back to sabotage him]] when Thailog escapes by hiring Sevarius to kidnap him via communication supposedly from Xanatos. Sevarius had no problem believing Xanatos would arrange a kidnapping of his own experiment/son/partner in a convoluted, Machiavellian scheme to achieve some unseen goal. Thailog continued to outmaneuver everyone. When his plan to steal $20 million dollars, and kill Xanatos, Goliath, and Sevarius went belly up, Thailog moved to his backup plan: make it appear that he and the money were destroyed in an explosion. However, Xanatos is aware of this possibility, as that's what he would do;

** He gets so good at this, [[ExploitedTrope it comes back to sabotage him]] when Thailog escapes by hiring Sevarius to kidnap him via communication supposedly from Xanatos. Sevarius had no problem believing Xanatos would arrange a kidnap of his own experiment/son/partner in a convoluted, Machiavellian scheme to achieve some unseen goal. Thailog continued to outmaneuver everyone. When his plan to steal $20 million dollars, and kill Xanatos, Goliath, and Sevarius went belly up, Thailog moved to his backup plan: make it appear that he and the money were destroyed in an explosion. However, Xanatos is aware of this possibility, as that's what he would do;

** Azula pulls one at the beginning of season three. After [[spoiler:[[BackFromTheDead (temporarily)]] killing Aang,]] Azula invites Zuko to return from his exile, which he accepts. She does this knowing that [[spoiler: the avatar was probably not actually dead for good.]] If he comes back, Zuko has implicitly taken the credit and, therefore, the responsibility for [[spoiler: killing the Avatar]] and is the one to receive the backlash for failure. If [[spoiler: Aang]] really is dead, Azula has coerced loyalty out of her brother, robbing the good guys of an important ally; Zuko also gives her leverage to keep [[spoiler: Iroh imprisoned.]] Unfortunately, she doesn't count on [[spoiler: Iroh escaping during the eclipse and Zuko growing a spine,]] and the failure of her plot (a first for the series) sends her down her [[VillanousBreakdown]].

* Parodied on ''ThePowerpuffGirls'': After the Girls destroy the killer piñata [[{{Satan}} Him]] planted at their birthday, Him claims his true plan was for everyone at the party to get tooth decay from the candy, but Princess and the other villains just think he's being a SoreLoser who can't admit defeat.

* Shredder in ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' used one well in the first part of third season finale. With the Technodrome running on fumes and in need of power, Shredder knows that the Turtles will stop their attempts to get an energy source. So he uses the last the Technodrome's power to take control of a lab housing a new energy source to lure the Turtles there, allowing Bebop and Rocksteady to break into another lab with a power source they can use. Even though the Turtles defeat Shredder, for once, Bebop and Rocksteady do their job right and get the energy source, leaving the Turtles shocked when they find out.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries 2''-part finale "Legacy", Darkseid finally makes good on promise to Superman that "if he won't be [his] knight, he will be [his] pawn", by having the Man of Steel kidnapped, brainwashed by Granny Goodness into believing he is Darkseid's son, and sent to lead a campaign on Earth. When Superman breaks out of the brainwashing, he is captured by the army, and he is facing execution for treason. He manages to escape and make his way to Apokolips, and personally challenge Darkseid, which he barely wins, and overthrows him. But the Lowlies try to help Darkseid, and nurse him to recovery. Ultimately, in the end, the damage was done: The trust of the people of Earth had been severely damaged, with the Man of Steel wondering if he can ever fully earn it back again. Whether he took over the Earth, or was executed, or personally defeated by Darkseid, or even defeats him and returns to Earth, either way, '''Darkseid wins!''' That said, he truly never considered the possibility that Superman could actually defeat him; he was enraged that Superman even so much as ''punched'' him. This plan was very nearly ruined as Superman won by turning Darkseid's own Omega Beams against him which nearly killed both of them- Darkseid only survived because his slaves spared his life. Had Superman known that, he might well have opted to kill Darkseid with his own bare hands.

* LexLuthor also pulls one off in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' when he hacks the Justice League's KillSat: Cadmus could be completely wiped out, removing a threat to himself. Heavy hitters in the Justice League could turn themselves in to the government, removing a threat to himself. Justice League and Cadmus could go into allout war, destroying one side, and removing a threat to himself. If all that is somehow avoided, he '''still''' buys time to complete his Amazo clone and become a god. {{Batman|Gambit}} [[SpannerInTheWorks unfortunately ruins it.]]

*** [[spoiler:But even here the Light manage to pull a XanatosGambit. LexLuthor, Queen Bee, Vandal Savage, and Klarion manage to get away, and it is implied that Ras al Ghul will be resurected with a Lazurus Pit. Then The Light takes the War World from under the Justice League's nose, threaten the rest of the universe should they invade Earth, and then reveals that they are in league with freakin Darkseid. It ends with Vandal Savage commenting, "Business as usual." Even when the heroes win they lose!]]