Line #12 Main/AllAccordingToPlan


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5	->''"I defeated his minions, and he cackled and said, 'Exactly as I planned.'\
6	I discovered his secret fortress. 'Exactly as I planned.'\
7	I breached his defenses, and still he said, 'Exactly as I planned.'\
8	I slew him in single combat, and with his dying breath he gasped, 'Exactly as I planned.'\
9	I stood over his grave and I said, 'You never really got the hang of planning, did you?'"''
10	-->-- '''Jenna Moran''', ''TabletopGame/{{Nobilis}}''
11
12	Looks like there's trouble for the [[BigBad villain]]. The heroes destroyed their {{Phlebotinum}} research facility, the government realized that the man they thought was the president was actually an evil robotic duplicate, and his entire accounting staff has just [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking turned into mimes]]. What's his response?
13
14	''[[OminousAdversarialAmusement Excellent.]]'' Everything is going according to plan.
15
16	[[WhamLine That one little phrase is all it takes to cause even the most apparently monumental loss to be completely turned on its head]]. Was the villain CrazyPrepared enough to ensure that [[XanatosGambit even their failure somehow turns into a victory]]? Did they prepare a plan only just incompetent enough that the heroes could [[BatmanGambit predictably defeat them]]? Or was their EvilPlan something else entirely?
17
18	Well, we're not going to find out anytime soon. In all likelihood, they're relying on the UnspokenPlanGuarantee to catch everyone off guard so that we can [[YouCantThwartStageOne proceed to the real plot]]. Stay tuned next week for the exciting new development!
19
20	In terms of writing, this is a relatively meta trope in that in most cases it's technically irrelevant. Regardless of whether anyone actually says the phrase, whatever gambits are floating around are still floating around. This is because the phrase is used primarily as reassurance, either for the audience or other characters. Strictly speaking it can be used with plans that as far as anyone can tell are ''already'' going as planned -- it's just a status update so that we only ever worry when people stop saying it.
21
22	At the same time, watch out for [[SpannerInTheWorks spanners]] and [[TheChessmaster opposing chessmasters]]. They're notorious for popping up [[TemptingFate right when something like this gets said]] in [[OutGambitted one way]] or [[GoneHorriblyRight another]]. When it's too late for the SpannerInTheWorks to do anything, and the whole plan gets explained, then the trope is CheckAndMate.
23
24	Compare GambitRoulette where ''even probability itself'' goes all according to plan. See also FailureGambit. Contrast with DidntSeeThatComing.
25
26	Combine this phrase with BlatantLies, and you get IMeantToDoThat.
27
28	Sister trope to OminousAdversarialAmusement.
29
30	'''Since complex schemes are often involved in this trope, be wary of spoilers.'''
31
32	----
33	!!Examples
34	[[foldercontrol]]
35
36	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
37	* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
38	** Sousuke Aizen. When things go not quite as planned, he still has a backup plan. Sometimes he doesn't, but he'll make you think he did '''and then''' it goes all according to plan because you gave him time to make it so.
39	** Urahara doesn't have one grandiose plan, but he does have multiple contingencies for the most unlikely of scenarios. Aizen acknowledges him as being on his level for this, and Yhwach recognizes that this makes Urahara unpredictable enough to be included among the Five Special War Powers.
40	** That being said, pretty much every battle in ''Bleach'' will have multiple of these moments. Most of the Arrancar and Thousand Year Blood War arcs involve characters telling each other that they had planned for their opponent to plan for their plan that had planned for their plan that had been planned ahead of time to counter their opponents plan... Before their opponent says "But I planned for you to do that..." %%[[spoiler: At one point, Yhwach blatently states that he planned for his entire army to be defeated and all of his men destroyed, as well as almost getting wiped out of existance, only surviving because of some ass-pull ability.]] To make a long story short, Bleach villains don't understand the idea of "Just because it's going to plan, doesn't mean it's a good plan."
41	* [[Characters/CodeGeassLelouchLamperouge Lelouch Lamperouge]] of ''Anime/CodeGeass'' is fond of saying "All tasks at hand have been cleared"... and that line is roughly his version of "What could possibly go wrong". The [[SpannerInTheWorks Spanner always hits the Works]] about 2 nanoseconds later - things are going just as planne-Oh no, IT'S THE [[SuperPrototype LANCELOT]]! boom
42	* [[Characters/DeathNoteLightYagami Light Yagami]] of ''Manga/DeathNote'' uses this phrase when his MemoryGambit and BatmanGambit to [[spoiler:convince the police and his own family that he is not in possession of the Death Note, and is not the known serial killer, Kira]] goes perfectly right. Just as Light regains [[spoiler:his memories, after touching the Death Note once more]], he mentally cants, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HQXtqIu_b8 Exactly as planned,]]" a phrase that has reached memetic status.
43	** Light also thinks a phrase very close to this during the final showdown, after [[spoiler: Near explains his plan to prove that Light is Kira. Of course, things [[OutGambitted don't go according to plan]] for him...]]
44	* PlayedForLaughs, naturally, in ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'', with a combination of BriarPatching and someone failing to see that the situation was NotWhatItLooksLike. The silly part? The character who does the spot-on Light Yagami ShoutOut is [[spoiler: Shiranui, a 12-week old kitten]].
45	* Subverted in the FinalBattle of ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency''. Just when it looks like TheBadGuyWins, [[TheHero Joseph Joestar]] manages to turn everything around: he uses the [[PlotDevice Red Stone of Aja]] to intercept and amplify [[BigBad Kars]]' deathblow, causing the volcano they're on to erupt and launching them skyward on a giant slab of rock. Kars attempts to escape, only to get hit by [[AnArmAndALeg Joseph's severed left arm]] (also launched by the blast after Kars cut it off), which distracts him long enough for rocks launched from the landmass at high speeds to strike him and propel him into space. Before he leaves the atmosphere, Kars angrily demands to know if Joseph planned all of this out; Joseph says "Of course, you dolt!" but thinks to himself: [[{{Troll}} "Actually I didn't, but thinking that I did will drive him crazy!"]]
46	** Somehow it's zigzagged in the anime adaptation: while in the manga, Kars was defeated just by chance, here Joseph's bragging was the necesary distraction for him to be hitted with the rocks. "Just as planned: I just taunted you with that cliché phrase, you dropped your guard, and I defeated you!"
47	** Later employed by DIO in his final battle with Jotaro in ''Stardust Crusaders'': DIO exploits Star Platinum's high-powered beatdown to rocket down the Cairo streets directly towards Joseph's lifeless body, allowing him to drain Joseph's blood and regain his strength.
48	* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', [[ManipulativeBastard Gendo Ikari]] (along with his right-hand man, Fuyutsuki) and the members of [[OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness SEELE]] were fond of saying things were going "all according to the scenario." Should be noted that they were ultimately pulling for different scenarios, but no matter what, whatever happened was ''always'' according to the scenario or irrelevant to it. Their differing scenarios diverge at the end, so it makes sense. At the point where something went according to Gendo's scenario that was NOT according to SEELE's scenario, [[spoiler: SEELE sent in the JSSDF to kill every single last person at NERV HQ]].
49	* Zeo from ''Manga/OnePiece'' both subverts this and takes it to ridiculous extremes, claiming that absolutely ''everything'' goes according to his plans. [[IMeantToDoThat Even the bad stuff.]] ''[[ButtMonkey Especially]]'' [[ButtMonkey the bad stuff.]] For example, his response to getting knocked down and Brook standing on his head? He's actually slowly wearing him down by headbutting his foot. Being [[spoiler:turned into a frail old fishman due to energy steroid abuse]]? ''[[BlatantLies He did that on purpose.]]''
50	* PlayedForLaughs in ''Manga/SPYxFamily'' during the Cruise Adventure arc. At one point Yor is fighting off a CarnivalOfKillers and loses one of her daggers in the scuffle. Anya finds it and decides to throw it to Yor, but since she's a child, [[AntiClimax the dagger lands too far away from the fighting, where Yor can't even see or hear it]]. This ends up setting a chain of favorable DisasterDominoes, when two surviving enemy assassins try to eliminate Olka and escape while Yor is occupied, one of them slips on the dagger and falls, hitting his head on a pipe and knocking himself out, while also involuntarily firing his gun and hitting his partner in the leg, which causes the second guy to smash into the wall and also knock himself out, on top of said dagger planting itself on his butt. The gunshots from the commotion catch Yor's attention, allowing her to retrieve her dagger. Anya tries to pass it off as "exactly as planned", [[BlatantLies but even she's not buying it]].
51	* PlayedForLaughs in ''Literature/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime''. After [[TheAce Rimuru Tempest]] suffers Ifrit's fire spell, he laments his short life (or rather, slime life) and his mistakes in the battle... before noticing that he's not actually taking any damage. His [[BenevolentAI Great Sage]] ability then informs him that this is thanks to his Thermal Fluctuation Resistance ability, which nullifies all temperature-based attacks. Upon realizing this, Rimuru's attitude shifts, and he take the opportunity to gloat that this is, in fact, "keikaku doori," or all according to plan. Great Sage isn't fooled in the slightest, but lets him have this moment.
52	* ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' inverts the trope. With all the ScryVsScry going on the BigBad admits that "It looks like my plan won't go exactly per my prepared script." There are entire chapters with one [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]] or another detailing what did or did not go wrong after a major event.
53	* [[TheChessmaster Reiji Akaba]] of ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'' says this line after witnessing Tsukikage's defeat against Shinji in Synchro Dimension. The dimension's chairman council are understandably surprised because Reiji came from Standard Dimension to ask for cooperation with Synchro Dimension as warriors to end an interdimensional war and yet his comrades keep losing to residents from their dimension in an ongoing tournament there. It is later revealed in following episodes that Tsukikage is implied to lose on purpose and his defeat is essential; Those who lose the tournament are sent to underground facility as slaves while those who advance to the next round are confined inside individual rooms with constant surveillance. With Tsukikage's defeat, he's free from the tournament's constant watch and able to move freely. Escaping from the facility is not a problem since Tsukikage is a ninja. This way, he can give reports to Reiji regarding his other comrades' condition in the facility and the season's BigBad and contribute in freeing others when an invasion occurs.
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Comic Books]]
57	* Lampshaded by Pip the Troll after getting captured by the Myth/NorseMythology death goddess Hela in ''ComicBook/XFactor2006'' #212.
58	-->'''Hela:''' You tell me nothing I do not already know, nor expect. Indeed, all is going--\
59	'''Pip:''' Accordin' to plan? That's what'cha were gonna say, right? That's what [[TheChessmaster mooks like you]] always say... [[TemptingFate Right before ya get the boom lowered on ya.]]
60	* ''ComicBook/SensationComicsFeaturingWonderWoman'': In "Morning Coffee", [[ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} Selina]] smugly claims things are all going according to plan when Diana catches her. This isn't much of a surprise to the reader given that Selina made it clear she was waiting for Diana to do so, however in the end Diana still catches her after she thought she'd made a clean getaway.
61	* ''ComicBook/UltimateMarvel'':
62	** ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'': Uttered by Wolverine during "Return to Weapon X" when Jean apologizes to him, on account of his being captured. Turns out he wanted to be captured so Nick Fury can use him to find where Weapon X was.
63	** ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'':
64	*** Iron Man claims that he saw the events of ''ComicBook/TheUltimates2'' coming (except the "Natasha betraying him" part) and figures it all worked out pretty well for him.
65	*** Hulk is trying to crack open the tank of Captain America? Excellent. Everything is going according to plan.
66	* In the ''ComicBook/TeenTitansNew52''/''ComicBook/TheRavagers'' storyline "The Culling", the villain Harvest is pretty much the guy in the page quote, never shutting up about how all is going according to plan no matter ''how'' thoroughly everything we actually ''see'' him try to do goes down the tubes. Repeatedly copy-pasting "exactly as planned" into the dialogue of a guy who ''demonstrates'' very little in the way of planning skill [[ShowDontTell does not a]] DiabolicalMastermind [[ShowDontTell make]]!
67	[[/folder]]
68
69	[[folder:Fan Works]]
70	* ''Fanfic/AChampionInEarthBet'': The Guild is confronting the VillainWithGoodPublicity Skylance, protector and overseer of the Kyushu refugee camps, who is graciously agreeing to surrender peacefully into their custody to avoid needless casualties in her camp ([[FailureGambit and incidentally, make her into an ultranationalist martyr for her supporters who would pressure the government into releasing her]]). Then a battalion of vans and villains arrive led by another ultranationalist villain Fuji-Sama, who first calls out Skylance for her apparent cowardly surrender and then encourages her to [[EnemyMine join forces with him to fight off the Guild]]. The Avatar's thoughts?
71	--> So far so good. This was ''your'' Plan A. Plan B was messier.
72	* ''Fanfic/TheChildOfLove'': In the first chapters Gendo reiterates everything is going as planned when he gets notified details about Asuka’s pregnancy. That was the first hint that something was very, very wrong behind Asuka getting pregnant.
73	-->'''Gendo''': As planned...
74	* ''Fanfic/DoingItRightThisTime'': When Rei gets informed about Shinji's arrival to Tokyo-3 she is glad because all is going according her plan.
75	-->'''Rei''': And all proceeds according to the Scenario.
76	* ''Fanfic/LastChildOfKrypton'': Parodied in an {{omake}} when Pen Pen revealed he was behind the entire plot, and all went as he planned.
77	* ''The Hope of the Senju Clan'' has Sarutobi "The Professor/God of Shinobi" Hiruzen (3rd Hokage) explain at length to Kakashi, Kushina, Yamato, Kurenai and Asuma how Senju Naruto (Tsunade's his mom) is to be trained and by who as well as other incidental things showing that he's got his bases covered with Naruto's training and safety. The next scene has a council meeting where Danzo tries to make a ploy to get Naruto trained under him. The reader can then see and predict how different parts of Sarutobi's plan come in to block Danzo. No matter what tactic Danzo uses.
78	* Exaggerated in ''Fanfic/TealovesSteamyAdventure'', where Tealove getting captured by a cave troll, meeting a new ally in captivity, and escaping was somehow exactly according to Baron Zeppeli's plan. Then parodied in the sequel, ''Fanfic/DiamondAndSilversExcellentAdventure'', where someone asks Zeppeli what the plan actually ''is'', and he can't remember. And then it turns out he's actually saying a Zebrew phrase that happens to ''sound'' like "Exactly as planned!" Translated, it actually means [[OhCrap "These matters are very concerning to me."]]
79	* In ''Fanfic/KnowThyself'', the "Dark Lord" is a deliberately programmed factor placed into the Matrix by the machines as a method of culling and controlling the otherwise unpredictable Wizard population that crops up. This is also why wizards are more antiquated than muggles; since a Dark Lord utterly destroys their community every thirty years, by the time they manage to rebuild they already have another one and HistoryRepeats all over again.
80	* ''WebAnimation/{{Underverse}}'': In 0.5, [=XGaster=] claims that every single action taken by Sans, Frisk, and [[spoiler:Chara]] contribute to his plans in some fashion, even if their decisions are unexpected. They all oppose him.
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Film]]
84	* ''Film/{{Ajnabee}}'': BigBad Vicky enjoys making ludicrous and convoluted plans by predicting Raj's behavior, to the point saying "AllAccordingToPlan" is his catchphrase [[spoiler:and [[ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish the password of his bank account]].]]
85	* ''Franchise/StarWars''
86	** TheEmperor is quite fond of this. In ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', he tells Luke "Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design."
87	** Dooku too. In ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' he even tells Ventress word for word "All is going according to plan."
88	* Subverted in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. While the Joker says these (or nearly these) exact words, he's describing how ''other'' people tend to make intricate plans and schemes, while he (nominally) is an agent of chaos.
89	* This is used as a SequelHook in ''Film/WarriorOfTheLostWorld'', where the defeat of Omega and the [[ActuallyADoombot "death"]] of Prosser were (apparently) all part of the master plan to destroy [[LaResistance The New Way]] for good.
90	* ''Film/UndercoverBrother''. An alarm goes off at Multinational Inc. and reveals that the BROTHERHOOD agent Undercover Brother has infiltrated the building. Instead of being dismayed, TheDragon Mr. Feather says "The Brotherhood is making their move. Just as I expected."
91	* The big turn of ''Film/TotalRecall1990'' is villain Cohaagen revealing [[spoiler: Hauser never turned on him but agreed to be mind-wiped to become Quaid to infiltrate the rebels and help eliminate them. All the aid Quaid has gotten was planted by Cohaagen and used to push Quaid along.]] Interestingly, it then lampshades the trope.
92	-->'''Quaid''': Sorry, don't buy it. Too perfect.\
93	'''Cohaagen''': Perfect, my ass! You pop a memory cap before [[spoiler: we can activate you]]. Richter goes hog-wild, almost screwing up everything I spent a year planning. Frankly...I'm amazed it worked.
94	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid\|1989}}'', Ursula the sea witch, transformed into the human woman "Vanessa," sings "''What a lovely little bride I'll make / My dear, I'll look divine / Everything is working out according to my ultimate design.''" This, however, is actually something of a subversion in that Ursula is experiencing a SanitySlippage because her original plan ''isn't'' working out. She had thought that she could just take Ariel's voice and this would be enough to keep her from ever getting Prince Eric to give her the [[TrueLovesKiss kiss of true love]]. After a near-miss only just stopped by her eel henchmen, she hastily concocted this plan to put Prince Eric under her spell and marry him herself.
95	* Implied in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', although it's the heroes doing it. [[spoiler:The film ends with Thanos killing half the universe, but Dr Strange indicates that this was the only outcome where the Avengers could ultimately beat Thanos...prior to his own disintegration, that is.]] This gets its payoff in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', where it turns out [[spoiler:Strange gave up the Time Stone to set up the scenario in this film where Tony can steal the Infinity Stones from Thanos and perform a HeroicSacrifice that saves the universe. In ''Endgame'', Strange still won't tell Tony what the plan actually is, because its success is dependent on Tony figuring it out on his own.]]
96	* ''Film/DieHard'': When the cops arrive at Nakatomi Plaza, Hans assures his men that their arrival is merely a temporary incovenience; they were going to show up at some point and it was just a matter of when. He also adds that their arrival was necessary to his plan; Hans demands the release of terrorists, forcing the cops to call the FBI; the FBI, thinking the bad guys are terrorists, cut the power to the building... which was Hans' plan all along because the power loss means the vault containing bearer bonds can be opened.
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:Literature]]
100	* Yuuji Sakamoto acts this way in ''Literature/BakaAndTestSummonTheBeasts'', but his tactics {{ZigZag\|gingTrope}} for [[RuleOfFunny comedic effect]].
101	* Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/FoundationSeries'':
102	** ''Literature/TheFoundationTrilogy'': Despite having died decades to centuries ago, [[PosthumousCharacter Hari Seldon]] planned the events of each chapter. Appearing in the "[[DeadManWriting Time Vault]]", he announces the primary conflict of the story and reassures the people of Terminus that it will be resolved in their favour. His predictions become known as [[ThePlan the Seldon Plan]].
103	*** "Literature/TheEncyclopedists": Hari Seldon appears on the [[FoundingDay Foundation's 50th anniversary]] to announce that, if all has gone according to plan, Terminus is now abandoned by the [[VestigialEmpire decaying empire]]. They are a small world of scientists and engineers, threatened by the [[UngovernableGalaxy vast and rapidly expanding reaches of their barbarian neighbors]]. Only one course of (obvious) action will keep them safe.
104	*** "Literature/TheMayors": Hari Seldon appears on the Foundation's 80th anniversary to announce that, if all has gone according to plan, Terminus is now using the [[ScamReligion Spiritual Power]] against the military of the neighboring [[UngovernableGalaxy barbarian kingdoms]]. However, he warns that this is merely a new BalanceOfPower, similar to what was used [[Literature/TheEncyclopedists thirty years ago]]. Terminus will have to [[Literature/TheMerchantPrinces abandon their false religion in order to expand into the rest of the galaxy]].
105	*** "Literature/TheMule" sees the Foundation's major players come together at the Time Vault to hear Seldon's advice on how to deal with the titular warlord. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Seldon instead starts talking about how the Foundation is either in or on the verge of a civil war]] - the Mule is [[OutsideContextProblem completely outside the Seldon Plan]].]]
106	** Creator/GeorgeZebrowski's "Literature/FoundationsConscience": The sixth appearance of Hari Seldon was scheduled to occur on the [[FoundingDay Foundation's 1000th anniversary]], on the 190 d. 1000 [-F.E.-] It was one of three {{Missing Episode}}s discovered by the [[TheAllConcealingI unidentified researcher]]. In this [[{{Hologram}} holographic recording]], Seldon reveals that he expects humanity to grow [[ImmuneToFate beyond the laws of psychohistory]], to recreate itself and society so much that [[PatrickStewartSpeech they become a better and more noble race of people]], a people [[RousseauWasRight free from negative impulses]].
107	* At the end of ''Literature/GoodOmens'', the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley speculate that the aversion of Armageddon due to a large number of improbable coincidences (including an [[AntiAntiChrist anti-Christ who decided that he liked the world the way that it was]] may well have been what God -- who is supposed to be infallible, after all -- intended all along.
108	* The ''{{TabletopGame/Warhammer}}'' tie-in novel, ''The Master of Death'', is a complete send-up of this trope. The VillainProtagonist W'soran spends the entire book manipulating the disparate human and undead residents of the region in a centuries-long plot to get him in a room to duel his more powerful rival and take the throne of Mourkain. Every seeming reversal is revealed to have been accounted for in his labyrinthine master plan. After everything falls into place perfectly he fights his way through the unwinnable battle for the capital to seize the crown for himself and win in one final stroke... and then he realizes he never actually thought of a way to do that. Despite what he had constantly assured his followers, himself, and the reader he never ''really'' had a plan.
109	* ''Literature/TheExpanse'' has an in-universe example that is very much PlayedForDrama. [[BigBadWannabe Marco Inaros]] is a narcissistic psychopath who combines this with NeverMyFault to refuse to ever acknowledge that he miscalculated. To be fair to him, he is a good enough tactician to plan and execute devastating first strikes, and he is good at taking advantage of the new opportunities to hurt his enemies that inevitably arise in the chaos he spreads. However, he totally lacks the ability to reconcile his [[XanatosSpeedChess quick-changing short-term goals]] with [[TheChessmaster a larger-scale plan]], and he is too arrogant to listen to people who could help him with this even when he is quite obviously losing ground. The result is that he alienates all his intelligent and reasonable allies, leaving him with just a small group of cultishly-loyal, hate-fuelled fanatics who follow him blindly as he lashes out at the easiest target while insisting that the opportunity to do so was his plan all along.
110	[[/folder]]
111
112	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
113	* How many episodes of either ''Series/{{Hustle}}'' or ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' have shown things going horribly, the team on the verge of being busted and go to jail, the mark getting away...and then they grin at each other on "right on schedule?"
114	* In the ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' episode "Needs", Adelle [=DeWitt=] uses a somewhat different phrase to give the same effect:
115	-->'''Dominic:''' I was just informed that we have four actives planning to escape.\
116	'''[=DeWitt=]:''' ''[smiles]'' ...Right on schedule.
117	* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'':
118	** During the second season, Maquis crewmember Michael Jonas began providing information to the Kazon. While Jonas believed that even if his transmissions were detected they would be dismissed as background noise, Tuvok detected them right away but wasn't able to identify the specific crew member who was TheMole. Tuvok and Captain Janeway recruited Tom Paris to take part in an operation to flush out the mole in which over the course of several weeks Paris apparently became increasingly insubordinate and dissatisfied with Starfleet life. This culminated in him leaving the ship to join a Talaxian convoy, which Jonas communicated to the Kazon, who then kidnapped Paris. While on the Kazon ship Paris was able to access the communications revealing Jonas as the mole, and communicated that back to Janeway. It all worked out as Tuvok and Janeway planned.
119	** In [[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS6E26S7E1UnimatrixZero the season six finale]], three senior members of the ''Voyager'''s crew (including Captain Janeway) beam over to a Borg ship. After infiltrating it, they are eventually caught and assimilated. The crew on the ship has been monitoring their life signs, and they detect the assimilation of the three. Commander Chakotay's response?
120	--->''"[[BatmanGambit So far, so good.]]"''
121	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
122	** The Mayor (the BigBad for Season 3) is smart about this. [[TheDragon Faith]] is eager for some action and asks her boss if there's likely to be any fighting. The Mayor replies no, not if everything goes according to plan "but since when do things go according to plan?"
123	** Played straight with the heroine in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E1TheFreshman The Freshman]]". Buffy is spying on a nest of vampires when she falls through the skylight into their midst.
124	--->'''Sunday''': I must say, you've really got me now. I mean, it's a diabolical plan, throw yourself at my feet with a broken arm and no weapons of any kind. How'm I going to get out of this one?\
125	'''Buffy''': You got a nice set-up here, but you made one mistake.\
126	'''Sunday''': Yeah? What was that?\
127	'''Buffy''': Well, I'm not actually positive, but statistically speaking people usually make at least-- (Sunday makes Buffy TalkToTheFist).
128	* On the ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' episode "[[Recap/FireflyE07Jaynestown Jaynestown]]", the contact Mal meets up with is upset the townspeople have embraced Jayne as a hero. Mal assures the contact that it's all according to their new plan.
129	-->'''Kaylee:''' (''after the contact leaves'') Sir, how exactly is this part of our-\
130	'''Mal:''' Still workin' the details.
131	* ''Series/DoctorWho''
132	** During a conversation at the beginning of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks Genesis of the Daleks]]", a Time Lord smugly tells the Doctor that he is a "special case" in Time Lord history, that they "allow" him his freedom to roam about the universe doing whatever he feels like. Never mind that he ran away in a stolen TARDIS before anyone could stop him. Not to mention the Master, or the Rani, or the Meddling Monk. It turns out he's referring to what the Doctor is allowed to do after he was caught and served his penance on [[InsignificantBluePlanet Earth]].
133	** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E8TheHauntingOfVillaDiodati "The Haunting of Villa Diodati"]], the Doctor is forced to give the lone Cyberman what it wants to stop him destroying the world, despite being specifically warned not to do this by Jack Harkness. When his companions beg the Doctor to say this was all according to plan, she says it was...and Step Two of that plan is fixing the mess she just created.
134	* While not necessarily a villain, Barney Stintson in ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' suffers the worst possible [[spoiler:bachelor party, complete with a terrible hotel room, the worst entertainment (including the stripper being his ex-fiancée), losing a ton of money in a gambling game, and ultimately Robin seemingly ending their engagement.]] It's not until after this final devastating blow do we find out that [[spoiler:it was all orchestrated by his fiancée Robin in order to exceed Barney's unrealistic expectations for his bachelor party.]]
135	-->''(After Barney's life has seemingly fallen apart)''\
136	[[spoiler:'''Robin''']]: (''on the phone'') Ted... We're right on schedule.
137	* In Episode 5 of Radio/TheFrantics' television show ''Four On The Floor'', [[https://youtu.be/w8NfQqj7VAQ?t=18m7s a sketch]] involving two burglars breaking into a building to crack a safe parodies this by having the mastermind repeatedly inform his partner that everything that happens, including ''a security guard conveniently dropping dead from a heart attack at just the right moment'' is "Just like I planned it!"
138	* ''Series/DeusSalveORei'', Catarina's great plan to control Montemor goes up in flames when Rodolfo marches in and steamrolls all resistance and she is taken prisoner. Turns out the conflict was engineered between the two monarchs with Catarina being ''supposed to lose'' and then they would later marry, officially uniting the two crowns. What [[UnwittingPawn Rodolfo]] didn't expect is that Catarina would find a way to dispose of him so that she could rule by herself.
139	[[/folder]]
140
141	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
142	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''
143	** This is part of the Tzeentchians' hat. Tzeentch is essentially the GodOfEvil plans, gambits and other schemes, worshipped by sorcerers and the ambitious, who sees so far into the future that all his plans are mutually contradictory: the success of one means the failure of another and vice versa. It is customary, when reducing your opponent to incoherent rage and [[SkywardScream skyward screaming]], to [[SmugSmiler smile smugly]] and declare Just as planned." ([[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Gendo]] [[ScaryShinyGlasses glasses]] and [[FingerTenting hands]] optional). [[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Just_as_planned More information here.]]
144	** Games Workshop has hinted that the failure of all thirteen Black Crusades, which has given Abaddon the Despoiler a reputation as a GeneralFailure, were actually this trope. How better to gauge your enemy's strength over the millennia? Moreover, the assumption that the Black Crusades failed contradicts the manifest unwillingness of the [[BadBoss Chaos]] [[EldritchAbomination Gods]] to [[YouHaveFailedMe tolerate failure]], and their equally manifest willingness to allow Abbadon to remain [[BigBad Warmaster]] for 10,000 years. [[FridgeHorror This line of thought makes Abbadon even more horrifying]] than he ''prima facie'' is: he has convinced players of the game that he's incompetent, even while giving his unholy patrons exactly what they want.
145	*** To clarify: the Imperium, and many players, interpret the Black Crusades as failures because the invaders are always driven back and never hold territory. What's actually happening is that the vast bulk of the invaders are independant forces joined together by the most fragile of alliances, and so most of the war is little more than a smokescreen from Abaddon's perspective. Once he and his actual loyalists have achieved whatever their real objective is they return to their own territory and leave the rest of the Chaos forces to their own devices, where lacking any central leadership or direction they are inevitably defeated eventually.
146	*** This was confirmed in the ''The Gathering Storm'' supplement. He'd been systematically demolishing an ancient anti-Chaos pylon network the Imperium didn't know about, so that finishing off the main cluster on Cadia unleashed a warpstorm that covered the galaxy.
147	* This trope is played for laughs in one of the margin-quotes from ''TabletopGame/{{Nobilis}}''.
148	* In the ''Dune'' board game, when playing the Bene Gesserit faction, at the beginning of the game you secretly write a faction name and a turn number on a paper. If the written faction wins the game on the written turn, you reveal it and win the game instead, showing that everything that happened had in fact be been planned long in advance by the Bene Gesserit to serve their own goals. This is one of the most pleasant ways to win the game.
149	** It is very rare to actually win a ''Dune'' game this way, but it can be used for manipulative ends ("Wait... It seems I can win now, but could it be some Bene Gesserit trick ?")
150	** The worst thing (or the best, if you're playing BG), is that it works even if the predicted faction wins as part of an alliance, and ''even if the Bene Gesserit are themselves part of that alliance''. In this case, the Bene Gesserit is the only winner instead of winning as part of the alliance. This make many players quite distrustful of the Bene Gesserit as allies.
151	* This is part of the Scorpion Clan's [[PlanetOfHats Hat]] in ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings''. They would have people believe that ''everything'' they do is part of a XanatosGambit, including the clear failures where the "just as planned" benefits cannot possibly be worth the costs.
152	[[/folder]]
153
154	[[folder:Video Games]]
155	* After he has the negative emotion of [[CoDragons Prometheus and Pandora]] [[EmotionEater sucked into the]] [[ArtifactOfDoom Model Ws]] in the background, awakening them and forming the {{Ouroboros}}, Master Albert from ''VideoGame/MegaManZX Advent'' said:
156	-->''Just as I planned!''
157	* Similar to the ''TabletopGame/{{Nobilis}}'' quote above, [[spoiler: [[BigBad Arthas]]]] of ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' plans himself right into a grave. Spending half the Wrath of the Lich King expansion [[YouHaveFailedMe killing off sub-bosses]] as if they were mooks, until finally [[spoiler: when the players in their 10 or 25 man group face him, claims it was all according to his plan to train and equip the most powerful people in the world so he can kill them and use them as generals in his army.]] He nearly ''succeeds'', though, letting you cut him down to 10% health before [[spoiler:[[OneHitKill instakilling the raid]] and putting all your souls in his grip, ready to implement his plan]]... and it takes something of a DeusExMachina for his plan to finally be derailed.
158	** Kil'jaeden's plans are pretty much ALL this. Even failures, because he EXPECTS most of his minions to fail. If they succeed, great. If not, well, he hadn't planned for them to succeed, so no real loss. He's also immortal and plans really, really long-term. He finally lost his cool when he honest-to-goodness for real failed when he came to [[SpannerInTheWorks Azeroth]]...which is also where his brother, whom he's been chasing for [[TimeAbyss 25,000 years]] currently resides. Said brother ends up having a hand in his defeat, so yeah, Azeroth was literally his ONLY real failure in over 25,000 years. [[spoiler: And he still isn't dead. All it takes for him to come back is some schmuck opening the Sunwell portal. Blood Elves never have been too responsible with magic...]]
159	* In ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'', [[spoiler: Kohaku pretty much says this once it's revealed that she was behind almost the entire plot of the Far Side routes.]]
160	-->[[spoiler: ''That's right. All of it was something I wished would happen, Shiki-san.'']]
161	* Ocelot in nearly every ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' game he appears in. There's a reason he's renowned for his ChronicBackstabbingDisorder.
162	* The ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' series started with an accident when a sample of an unknown material was rushed through an experiment, which happened to fall on a day when the computers had crashed earlier and where still acting somewhat strange from time to time. Which lead to the scanning machine and the material sample acting as a kind of teleportation device, opening an interdimensional rift through which aliens invaded Earth. [[spoiler:The sample happened to come from another project at the research facility, which used the crystals in interdimensional teleportation devices, and at the same time a human looking alien manipulated things in the background so the protagonist Gordon Freeman would kill the leader of the invading aliens, which benefited another unknown power he was working for. 12 years later, ''VideoGame/HalfLife2: Episode 2'' reveals that it wasn't an accident at all and the strange alien had set everything up to cause the interdimensional rift from the very beginning.]]
163	* In ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'', we have [[spoiler:[[FromNobodyToNightmare Marx.]]]] In ''Milky Way Wishes,'' the sun and moon are fighting. A little puffball named Marx asks Kirby to summon NOVA to wish for the sun and moon to stop. In the end, when Kirby finally gets to NOVA, [[spoiler:Marx pushes Kirby out of the way, and wishes to control Popstar. Cue him morphing into an EldritchAbomination and saying this:]]
164	--> [[spoiler:I did it! It all went according to plan! [[TheChessmaster I got the sun and moon to fight. I got you to go into space...]] It was all according to my perfect little plan!]]
165	* Subverted by Kuja in ''Videogame/FinalFantasyIX''. He says this trope, almost word-for-word, as his common catchphrase, but later it's revealed that he wasn't as in control as he thought. (Or, more accurately, it really ''did'' go all according to plan as far as using the heroes was concerned, but he didn't account for [[TheManBehindTheMan his boss predicting his actions]].) Fortunately for Kuja, while his [[TheChessmaster Chessmastery]] needs polish, he plays a damn good game of XanatosSpeedChess.
166	* When [[spoiler: Robert Baxter]] is revealed to be the BigBad of ''[[VideoGame/TimeCrisis Time Crisis 5]]''.
167	--> [[spoiler:If you had just died this would all have gone according to plan.]]
168	* Happens in ''VideoGame/Persona5''. [[spoiler:Albeit a heroic example this time. Joker has been arrested, TheDragon has just finished scraping his brains off the interrogation room floor, and there is nothing standing between the BigBad and the Prime Minister's seat]]... right?
169	-->'''[[spoiler:Ryuji]]:''' You're shitting me... we got 'em.
170	* In ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'' after he was Awakened by Joko and bound to serve him, [[spoiler:Koss]] took every opportunity he could to flout orders and make life hell for his superiors. This culminated with him finally being banished to "guard" an empty cave for the rest of eternity - exactly what [[spoiler:Koss]] had wanted as he found it preferable to serving Joko.
171	* ''VideoGame/PokemonStadium2'': In the Gym Leader Castle, the first Rocket Grunt you face on the bridge will say "Just as I planned it." whenever one of his Pokémon faints, unless you knock out said Pokémon with one attack. Granted, his strategy is using [[SuicideAttack Explosion and Self-Destruct]].
172	[[/folder]]
173
174	[[folder: Web Animation]]
175	* At the end of episode eleven of ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'', the Emperor is shown sitting on his throne and musing that everything is going ''Just. As. Planned.'' So far, the viewer's idea of what the plan is is pretty sketchy. However, looking back a dozen plus episodes later and he really did have all of his pieces in motion by that point; the question is how much further the chain reaction will go now that the JustForFun/HolyShitQuotient has topped itself at BeyondTheImpossible so many times.
176	[[/folder]]
177
178	[[folder:Webcomics]]
179	* Subverted in the ''Webcomic/ErrantStory'' strip "[[https://www.errantstory.com/?p=5264 Nick of Time]]":
180	-->'''[[spoiler:Sarine]]:''' '''Whew!''' Oh thank Anilis! I thought I was about to die any second...\
181	''({{beat}})''\
182	'''[[spoiler:Sarine]]:''' -I mean, ''just as planned''.
183	* Used a lot in ''Webcomic/TouhouNekokayou''. It even got inverted in one of the newer strips.
184	* ''The Prime of Ambition'' ChristmasEpisode filler had this [[http://jaadrih.comicgenesis.com/d/20101225.html twice in a row]]. Oh, well...
185	* Discussed in ''Webcomic/MonsterOfTheWeek'':
186	-->'''[[TheMole Sexy informant]]''': My triple-dog agenting against Skinner went according to plan, sir.\
187	'''[[BigBad Cancer Man]]''': You don't know the plan.\
188	'''Sexy informant''': Eh, everything always turns out to be according to plan.
189	* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': John meets the ghost of Meenah, a troll girl [[spoiler: who is an alternate-universe counterpart of the Condesce]]. When she finds out she's dead, she exclaims happily that her plan worked. [[spoiler: Turned out her plan was to kill herself and the rest of her session's players with a bomb to avoid oblivion when the Scratch happened.]]
190	** Previously, [[spoiler:Doc Scratch]] managed to pull a version of this on ''the entire cast'', with the event that went as planned being [[spoiler:'''the entirety of Acts 1 through 5'''. It's only after his own death that the full machinations of Doc Scratch are finally revealed; in fact, [[MyDeathIsOnlyTheBeginning it's Doc Scratch's death that allows his master,]] [[EldritchAbomination Lord]] [[BigBad English]], to finally make his appearance.]] It's his [[LastWords final line]] that really sells it:
191	---> [[spoiler:[[WhamLine S U C K E R S.]]]]
192	* Augusgus from ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'' utters this regarding the outcome of the Room Game and FUG's plans.
193	* In {{Webcomic/Helper}}, the main character's catchphrase is "as expected, as expected", hinting that he's actually [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass much smarter than he appears.]]
194	* In ''Webcomic/SkinHorse'', after A-Sig launch a nuclear bomb at the Biomass, and the Biomass just ''eats'' it, Mr Green says everything is going according to plan. Dr Engelbright questions how ''failing'' was part of the plan, and Mr Green clarifies that his XanatosGambit means he had contingencies in place for precisely that outcome. Engelbright insists that this is ''not'' the same thing as everything going according to plan.
195	[[/folder]]
196
197	[[folder:Web Original]]
198	* Referenced in the Podcast/{{Rifftrax}} commentary for ''Film/ThreeHundred''. ("I know it looks bad but its all part of the plan!" during one of the many scenes when Spartans are slaughtering large numbers of Persians.)
199	** They use it again in ''{{Film/Avatar}}'', when the ColonelBadass is escaping his flaming aircraft.
200	* ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'' has this happen in Episode 60, where it's revealed that [[spoiler:practically all of the Cell Saga was a gigantic BatmanGambit set up by '''''[[IdiotHero Goku]]''''' of all people, who wanted Gohan to replace him as Earth's protector since he knew he wouldn't be around forever]]. However, he missed one important detail: [[spoiler:Gohan is a kind-hearted intellectual and not a fight-happy martial artist like his father]], which almost causes the entire thing to go pear-shaped. Lampshaded by having a parody of the ''Manga/DeathNote'' example above, or more specifically the memetic mock fansub version "All according to keikaku" [[spoiler:except, Goku being [[BigEater Goku]], he says "cake" instead, and is promptly corrected by translation notes.]]
201	* In two of the endings of ''WebVideo/AHeistWithMarkiplier'', [[spoiler:either Bob or Wade]] breaks Mark out of jail.... as part of a master plan to get Mark permanently sent to jail.
202	[[/folder]]
203
204	[[folder:Western Animation]]
205	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne", when Bruce Wayne is chained and Alfred is tied in Doctor Hugo Strange's basement:
206	-->'''Alfred:''' Oh, Master Bruce! I am so sorry. This is [[ItsAllMyFault all my fault]]!\
207	'''[[TheChessmaster Bruce Wayne:]]''' Nonsense, Alfred. Believe or not, this is working out just as I planned.\
208	'''[[ServileSnarker Alfred:]]''' How reassuring.
209	* In ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' Cree says this when she first gets captured by the KND, and again after modifying the garbage disposal rocket she was inside of to fly towards the KND Moonbase. [[spoiler:Subverted when she finally arrives at the Moonbase and declares her intent to HurlItIntoTheSun (which was her mission all along), only for [[FaceHeelTurn an imprisoned Chad]] to tell her not to bother as he just tried doing exactly that and failed.]]
210	* Subversion in the opening of ''WesternAnimation/CountDuckula'':
211	-->'''Narrator:''' This latest incarnation did ''not'' run according to plan.
212	* The ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgers'' episode "Corporate Pigfall", when the Eager Young Space Cadet becomes the head of a powerful corporation, Dodgers decides to bring him back, and drags the new cadet (Egghead Jr from WesternAnimation/FoghornLeghorn cartoons) into it, despite deriding all Egghead Jr.'s carefully-drawn plans. In the end, Egghead Jr. is given the Cadet's position with the company, enabling him to return to the Galactic Protectorate, and the final scene is him writing on his drawing board "Exactly as I planned".
213	* In ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' episode "Black Magic", [[ManipulativeBastard Tarakudo]] says this after he has tricked the resident [[MaskOfPower Oni]] [[EvilMask Mask]] wielder [[spoiler:Captain Black]] to summon the Sumo Khan (beginning his [[DemonicPossession corruption by the Oni General]]) and allowed him to [[spoiler:take [[QuirkyMinibossSquad the Enforcers]] into custody and imprison them in Section 13 where three other Oni Masks are stored]].
214	-->'''Tarakudo''': Ahh, things are going exactly as I envisioned.\
215	'''Finn''': This is the plan?
216	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' "[[Recap/TheLegendOfKorraS1E6AndTheWinnerIs And the Winner Is...]]", when [[TheDragon The Lieutenant]] tells [[BigBad Amon]] that the city is defying his threat.
217	-->'''The Lieutenant:''' We just got word. The council has defied your threat. They're leaving the pro-bending arena open.\
218	'''[[TheChessmaster Amon]]:''' Perfect. Everything is going according to plan.
219	* Parodied in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' where Angelica, imitating a villain on TV, says "Everything is going [[DelusionsofEloquence accordion]] to plan."
220	* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil''
221	** [[Characters/StarVsTheForcesOfEvilToffee Toffee of Septarsis]]
222	*** In "[[Recap/StarVsTheForcesOfEvilS1E24StormTheCastle Storm the Castle]]", not only does he successfully get Star to come to his territory, but [[TheBadGuyWins gets her to destroy the wand to save Marco]]. Even being destroyed by the resulting explosion was to his benefit, as he gained possession of half the wand in the process.
223	*** Almost everything he does in Season 2 and "The Battle For Mewni" falls under this as well. Only one thing goes truly awry in his plan: he intended on gaining both his finger ''and'' Star's half of the wand so that he can be resurrected and have full power over the corrupted magic. But Star was smart enough not to bring her wand with her when she confronts Ludo, and Ludo is sensible enough to listen to Star about what's going on and allows her to perform the Whispering Spell on his half of the wand. With a full-powered wand no longer a possibility, Toffee settles on just resurrecting with his finger and leaving Star stranded in the Realm of Magic, only for her to claim the last spark of uncorrupted magic, achieve SuperMode, and return to defeat Toffee.
224	* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars''[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E20InnocentsOfRyloth , "Innocents of Ryloth"]]: When one of the battle droids tells the tactical droid that the gunships are still headed their way despite the barrage the tactical droid responds with ''"Just as I calculated"''.
225	* Thrawn in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' is fond of this trope, assuring the audience that despite the loss the empire took this week it's all somehow still working towards his greater plan. A contrast to how he was originally presented in ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'' where he would actually display said clever plans.
226	* The ''WesternAnimation/WITCH2004'' episode "Q is for Quarry" begins with a battle which results in defeat for the resident villains, leading to this exchange:
227	-->'''Shagon:''' We were soundly defeated. Kadma will be quite proud of herself.\
228	'''[[TheChessmaster Nerissa:]]''' Then everything's going according to plan.
229	[[/folder]]

Context Main / AllAccordingToPlan