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4[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/complexity-addiction_oots_7002.png]]]]
5[[caption-width-right:350:Let's hope no one asked for her to repeat that.]]
6
7->''"What's he up to now? It'll be something devious and over-complicated. He'd get dizzy if he tried to walk in a straight line."''
8-->-- '''The Rani''' (about the Master), ''Series/DoctorWho'', "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E3TheMarkOfTheRani The Mark of the Rani]]"
9
10A character comes up with a ridiculously elaborate plot that is so meticulously planned out that [[TemptingFate it can't possibly fail]]. But of course, it will. So why didn't they come up with a [[MundaneSolution simpler plan]]?
11
12Because the character has a Complexity Addiction. They simply can't help themselves from coming up with schemes that are far more complicated than they need to be. These plans might have glaring flaws to everyone else, such as [[GambitRoulette relying entirely on luck or unpredictable factors]], [[MissingStepsPlan missing a few steps in the plan]], [[DidntThinkThisThrough not really thinking through the plan]] [[AndThenWhat or being unable to fill in the gaps when asked about it]], and maybe even grabbing the IdiotBall with how complex they're making this whole thing out to be. But for whatever reason, the character can't help but make [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverKill an overdone, overblown plan]] for even the most simple and straightforward of tasks.
13
14Maybe they're insane. Maybe they're bored. Maybe they view it as being [[MadArtist artistic]]. Maybe they're [[InsufferableGenius really smart and want people to see how smart they are]]. Maybe simple plans [[ItAmusedMe aren't as amusing]] or [[ForTheEvulz as evil]] or are [[VictoryIsBoring just too boring]] for them. Maybe they consider their enemies {{worthy opponent}}s and that only an equally worthy plan should be used to defeat them. Maybe they [[{{Handwave}} don't even know]] the reason. [[RuleOfFunny It's Funny]], or [[RuleOfDrama it's Dramatic]], or [[RuleOfCool it's Cool]]; that's all that matters.
15
16If a work's creator ever shows a character with a Complexity Addiction making a plan, the UnspokenPlanGuarantee assures that this plan is not going to work. The reasons for this can be summed up by the classic KISS design principle: "Keep It Simple, Stupid". The more complicated a plan is, the more places there are that a plan can fail, and thus more opportunities for drama. Also, including such a plan onscreen and then executing it to perfection would mean that the creator just put a spoiler for their story in the work itself. Generally speaking, you can expect the complicated plan to fail whenever it's put into action. From there, [[IndyPloy the plan may just be made up as it goes along]], with some XanatosSpeedChess necessary to try and salvage whatever's left of the plan.
17
18Expect a smarter character to [[StatingTheSimpleSolution point out the existence of a simpler solution]], often something along the lines of "WhyDontYouJustShootHim" These characters frequently suffer from BondVillainStupidity. May overlap with VillainBall.
19
20See also ASimplePlan, where a very simple plan should have worked, but goes horribly awry. Compare AwesomeButImpractical, ZanyScheme, and CombatAestheticist. Contrast CombatPragmatist. See also DidntSeeThatComing and CuttingTheKnot. Additionally, see RubeGoldbergDevice for machinery built by people with a Complexity Addiction and PuzzleThriller for stories built for them. Compare OvercomplicatedMenuOrder for a similar situation, but with food/drink.
21
22----
23!!Examples:
24
25[[foldercontrol]]
26
27[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
28* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
29** Aizen has a bad case of this, considering he's shown to be strong enough to just take whatever he wants through his combination of brute force and a StoryBreakerPower. During the Soul Society arc, he has a very complicated plan to obtain the MacGuffin, including: [[spoiler: killing and impersonating the governing body, faking his own death, making his right hand man one of two prime suspects, faking his own autopsy, bribing 3 of the 4 guardians of Soul Society, and engineering a public execution]]. When that (inevitably) fails, he simply walks up and takes it, using an item he'd apparently found days ago. Why didn't he do that in the first place? Addictions are a strong force to be reckoned with. [[spoiler:Later "justified" as he reveals his goal during that arc wasn't ''just'' to acquire the Hogyoku (which he already knew Rukia had), but to set up an extreme training regime to groom Ichigo into a suitable opponent through which he could further strengthen himself, by forcing Ichigo to fight battles no one could've predicted happening, let alone know Ichigo would walk away from alive, including one where he ''would'' have died if not for Hanataro making sure Ichigo fully recovered.]]
30** The Hueco Mundo arc is where Aizen really succumbs to it. While Aizen has an ability that could let him easily defeat the entire Gotei 13, he [[spoiler: builds up an army of Arrancar, hollowfies Tousen and makes war with Soul Society, where he more or less deliberately gets on his side everyone but Gin killed for no real reason, including attempting to kill his last living general himself.]] Aside from it being more complex than simply single-handedly killing everyone with his overwhelmingly unfair powers personally. More idiotically, the only point his army could possibly serve, beyond intimidating Soul Society, is to be used as cannon fodder against Squad 0, the only real threat to Aizen's plan at this point. And he didn't even bother seeing if they'd be of any help. Aizen doesn't seem to care, and thus made the creation of the Arrancar army ''completely pointless''. [[spoiler:"Justified" in that the army itself was just a smokescreen to buy time for the Hogyoku, which Aizen thinks will make him invincible, to truly awaken, though the only schedule he was operating on was his own. Wonderweiss, the one integral Arrancar, was in truth the specifically-designed trump card against Genryusai Yamamoto. A portion of the army once again served as additional training for his envisioned punching bag Ichigo.]]
31** When she first uses Resurrección, Harribel displays the necessary speed and power to get around Hitsugaya's defenses with her sword, and could end the fight at literally any point. Instead, she spends the entire rest of the fight playing tug of war with her [[MakingASplash water powers]] and his [[AnIcePerson ice powers]], evidently attempting to set up some sort of [[LimitBreak super attack]]. Actually justified in that he was one of the generals who cared less about the success of Aizen's army than Aizen himself.
32** Zommari had a case that rivaled Aizen's. Instead of just using his body and mind-controlling powers to kill Byakuya and everybody else in minutes, he insists on toying with him, twisting the knife and explaining every aspect of his powers in tiny, minute detail, giving Byakuya more than enough information and time to overcome them and turn things around. Byakuya even keeps pointing out that he could probably just kill him at any point. Byakuya does sacrifice his arm when Zommari aims his power at the Captain's head, though Byakuya allows him to keep taking control of body parts and slicing the tendons for no apparent reason but being too arrogant to use Bankai until he's out of limbs.
33* ''Anime/MazingerZ'': In episode 39, TheDragon Baron Ashura captures TheHero Kouji and [[HumongousMecha Mazinger-Z]] and gives him the "join-us-or-die" choice. After Kouji's predictable answer, [[KangarooCourt Ashura sentences him to death]], and instead of shooting him, Ashura's {{Mooks}} start a bunch of giant power saws and drills to cut Mazinger-Z to pieces (it must be mentioned that [[BigBad Dr. Hell]] and [[CoDragons Count Brocken]] are watching the scene, and Brocken says that he would have just shot him).
34* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Several antagonists are fond of taking roundabout paths despite being capable of achieving their goal much more easily with less effort:
35** Uchiha Madara's [[AssimilationPlot Moon's Eye Plan]] to "save" the world involves dragging everyone into an [[LotusEaterMachine endless illusion]], which requires him to [[GottaCatchThemAll capture nine tailed beasts]]. [[OnlyICanKillHim The only person capable of stopping him]] is the First Hokage of Konoha village, Senju Hashirama. However, Madara is strong enough to control the multiple tailed beasts and use their power in battle to improve his chances. For political reasons, Hashirama had given away those tailed beasts to other villages, but Madara can [[CurbStompBattle effortlessly defeat]] them. In fact, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast with his fearsome reputation]], he could even get the tailed beasts by just asking. From their past several battles, Madara already knew [[WorthyOpponent Hashirama was capable of killing him]].
36
37::: Nonetheless, he challenges Hashirama with ''only one'' tailed beast, and gets killed in the battle. However, in anticipation of this happening, he had set up a technique in advance to [[BackFromTheDead get himself resurrected]]. During their battle, he had also bitten off some of Hashirama's flesh, which he then implants into his wounds, which eventually activates his Rinnegan. Unfortunately, by then, he's already an old man and in no shape to execute his plan. Hence, he sneakily implants his Rinnegan into the eyes of Nagato, an orphan boy from the Rain village. He then sets up an incident which causes ''another'' young boy (who later takes the alias Tobi) to lose half his body, takes him in and heals his body using the Hashirama's cells mentioned earlier. He then sets up another incident which triggers the young boy's StartOfDarkness, which convinces him of the Moon's Eye Plan. Madara now dies ''again'' after telling Tobi to recruit Nagato, then capture those tailed beasts, after which Nagato is to use the Rinnegan to resurrect Madara ''again'', who would ''then'' execute the Moon's Eye Plan.
38
39** [[BigBad Tobi]] plans to carry out the Moon's Eye Plan for his own ends, with no intention of ever bringing Madara back. It would thus make sense for him to capture the nine tailed beasts by himself, which he was capable of doing within months. His wood release powers, derived from Hashirama's cells, give him top-class offensive and defensive abilities. His sharingan makes him intangible and allows him to teleport himself and others into his pocket dimension. These powers make it very difficult for him to be defeated in battle, and even if he is pushed into a corner, he could [[CombatPragmatist teleport out of the battlefield]] and [[WeWillMeetAgain try again]] under more favourable circumstances. Instead, he spends 17 years setting up the Akatsuki, with much less capable subordinates, sends ''them'' to capture the tailed beasts, and then starts a world war to capture the last two his subordinates couldn't get.
40** In the Konoha invasion arc, Orochimaru has caught Sarutobi by surprise, grabbed hold of him and placed a kunai against his neck. Rather than kill him [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim right then]], he backs off, makes a speech about what it feels like to fight against your own teacher, and then summons the souls of the previous Hokages (who were Sarutobi's teachers) so that Sarutobi could experience what he just talked about.
41** In Pain's assault arc, Nagato/Pain invades Konoha to search for Naruto. He eventually pins down Naruto after having flattened Konoha earlier. There's nothing else left for him to achieve, but rather than simply return with the captured Naruto, he presses one of Naruto's BerserkButton which causes the Kyuubi inside him to go on a full rampage. WordOfGod says he did this mostly to "test" his powers against the Kyuubi.
42* ''Manga/RamenFighterMiki'':
43** Miki as TheBully and a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, displays this when at episode 3A when she insists on fighting the WorthyOpponent when she could easily avoid it. In episode 5B, she insists on beating Ohta to use him as a stepping stone to escape a well, when Ohta has a rope and Miki could just let him rescue her, but she simply handwaves it.
44** Kankuro's plans to defeat Miki always had to involve some kind of duel.
45* ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'': Mercurymon's plans were more focused on the spectacle of his victory than seeking out the most certain path to it.
46* ''Anime/TransformersSuperGodMasterforce'': Hydra chooses that rather than attacking his enemies while they're regular, vulnerable humans, he'll instead create overly-elaborate scenarios (pretending to be a photographer and kidnapping Lightfoot's father; pretending to be a film director, hiring a film crew, setting up a shot in the middle of a desert and convincing Ginrai to take part) before attacking his foes, or tag-teaming them with his brother, which actually worked the first time they did it (until he decided to just up and leave). But the absolute worst example he came up with was in episode 21, where he decides to kidnap every single doctor in the world, which would apparently cause everyone to realise how fragile they were, and make the entire human race loose the will to live.
47* ''Manga/PokemonAdventures:'' Mask Of Ice, the BigBad of the Gold, Silver and Crystal arc, lives and breaths this one. He wants to capture a Celebi, which only shows up at a specific time at the Illex Forest Shrine, and can only be caught by the GS Ball, which can only be made with feathers taken from Ho-Oh and Lugia. Apparently just soliciting the help of a trainer or an expert, like Professor Oak, never occurred to him, since he sets out on a ridiculously circuitous plan that involves kidnapping children years in advance, levelling Ecruteak, imprisoning the Legendary Beasts, attacking places all across Johto, and antagonising the Gym Leaders of Kanto and Johto.
48* ''Anime/KingsglaiveFinalFantasyXV'': The Empire's entire invasion plan in a nutshell. 1st, they offered a peace treaty. 2nd [[spoiler:they kidnapped Lunafeya]]. 3rd, [[spoiler:lure her bodyguard there, kill the bodyguard, and leave bodyguard's body in the dump]]. 4th, [[spoiler:hoping the body will be discovered before the invason]]. 5th, [[spoiler:Hoping someone make a connection as weirdness of her dying place is not her assigned mission place]]. Then [[spoiler:predicting the Kingsglaives will rescue Lunafreya will know where to look]]. Then [[spoiler:place Daemons in the fleets' cargo]]. Then [[spoiler:make sure subverted Kingsglaive members to be included in rescue attempt]]. Then place their emperor, acting chancellor, and empire's most competent and senior ruling members in the heart of enemy capital, now with renewed hostility. Finally, start the invasion and plan of stealing crystal. Seeing Emperor Aldercapt and Izunia are back to their homes safely is very dumb luck at their part as step number 4 and 5 work at all. They should have invaded right away as now their words are less trustworthy then before as they broke their promise of peace.
49* ''Franchise/YuGiOh'':
50** Characters have an odd habit of trying to string together some crazy strategy to win, rather than just using their strongest cards to stomp their adversary. A good example is Harald in ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', who tries to bring out three [[OlympusMons Aesir]] and then trigger Gjallerhorn to [[DeaderThanDead banish them all]] after three turns and [[DeathOrGloryAttack deal an insane amount of damage.]] Predictably, Yusei sabotages the activation such that Gjallerhorn does 0 damage and the Aesir are banished for nothing. Had he just ignored Gjallerhorn and left the Aesir on the field, he would have won handily.
51** Leo/Rua loves to wrangle together crazy combos to pull off a fairly impressive field. However, this usually ends up wasting all his resources and leaving him with a field that's nowhere near as invincible as he thinks it is, and many of his strategies seem to be made under the assumption that the opponent won't do anything to stop him. Of course, he’s [[TagalongKid a little kid]] and children actually do play the game this way before they learn better. It’s not like he wins.
52* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'':
53** The entire premise of the series is that lead characters [[TheOjou Kaguya Shinomiya]] and [[StudentCouncilPresident Miyuki Shirogane]] deeply love each other for all the right reasons, but refuse to reveal their feelings out of pride and fear that the first to confess will be considered 'weak'. Thus, these two teen geniuses behave like utter morons when it comes to interacting with each other, as they both concoct a series of ever-complicated plans to force the other to confess, like checking the weather report, coming to class on foot instead of by car or bike, then pretend they don't have an umbrella when it rains so that the other person will offer to share one to walk home together with (see, they can't offer first because that would show affection and weakness), ''then'' when neither can reveal they have their own umbrella, they begin manipulating the other to admit they have one. Kaguya is [[TheChessmaster the long-term planner]], Shirogane is [[XanatosSpeedChess faster on his feet]], but both are constantly foiled by [[SpannerInTheWorks their friends]] who show up in the midst of their mind games and break their plans with a [[MundaneSolution simple solution]], like offering a spare umbrella.
54** Later on, Iino also succumbs to similar convoluted thinking, after [[NotWhatItLooksLike repeatedly stumbling onto Kaguya and Shirogane in compromising positions]] and letting her own imagination run wild.
55* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'': Aleister Crowley's series-spanning plans are unbelievably convoluted, with dozens of interconnected schemes going on at once. However, it turns out this is {{justified|Trope}}: Crowley had been cursed such that he will always fail in his endeavors, so he has to set up {{Xanatos Gambit}}s in which the failure of any individual plan will further the success of all the others, resulting in an ultimate scenario in which failure is impossible, built on the failures that came before it.
56[[/folder]]
57
58[[folder:Comic Books]]
59* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' villains have this like it's contagious.
60** Justified for the Joker, who creates these elaborate plots to see if they'll ever kill his nemesis, but they never work. He wants to kill his enemy with a '''bang''', not a simple gunshot (even though he ''has'' resorted to a gun before).
61** ''ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures'': The Joker's tendency to this is lampshaded in ''Mad Love'', with him reacting angrily when Harley suggests [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim skipping the elaborate deathtraps and just shooting Batman]]. At the end, after Harley manages to capture Batman by herself, the Joker comes close to letting Batman go just because he doesn't have a death trap ready that lives up to his artistic standards. Then he decides that having Batman at his mercy is an opportunity not to be passed up, and maybe he'll give this "just shoot Batman" idea a go after all. It doesn't work out well for him.
62--->'''The Joker:''' "Just shoot him?!" Know this, my sweet: the death of Batman must be nothing less than a masterpiece! The triumph of my sheer comic genius over his ridiculous mask and gadgets!
63** The Riddler, despite "going straight" for a while, [[StatusQuoIsGod eventually got back into the habit]]. The Cluemaster, on the other hand, managed to kick the clue-leaving compulsion, and became a (comparatively) more cunning villain. Riddler tries to do normal crimes in one issue of ''ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures'' but is caught because he was leaving riddles... that he never actually intended to leave and was terrified after discovering he'd left. This convinces him that he is actually mentally ill and needs professional help. This is something of a FatalFlaw for old Eddie -- if he just went for straightforward criminal plots, he'd be pretty successful, but his obsession is not with gaining wealth but with decisively outdoing Batman, and what better way to prove you're better than winning with a handicap?
64** Deconstructed in ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}''. Part of the reason Batman works himself to exhaustion to capture all of the Arkham escapees is because he assumes some or all are in on Bane's plans. While this would be true of most of Batman's villains, Bats never suspects that Bane's just using them all as red herrings to wear Batman down. Had Bruce prioritized neutralizing Bane early instead of undermining an assumed plan, it's less likely Batman would have lost in that confrontation.
65* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': The entire ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'' in all of its permutations was revealed to [[{{Retcon}} have been]] masterminded by Norman Osborn (who had been faking his own death for years, to boot), for the mere purpose of driving Peter nuts.
66* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
67** Super-villain Black Flame has serious trouble with this. In ''ComicBook/AdventureComics #400'', ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} is at her mercy: trapped in a locked room, unconscious and sprinkled with Green Kryptonite. Black Flame orders her hired guns to hurry up and bring Supergirl to a DeathTrap before the Kryptonite kills her because she doesn't "want her go that easily". Supergirl survives Black Flame's elaborate death trap but she is immobilized and rendered unconscious. So Black Flame kills her? Nope. She sets another death trap up and waits for Supergirl to come around.
68** In ''ComicBook/Supergirl1982'' #20, Parasite manages to knock Supergirl out. Instead of killing her right away, he puts her in a complex death trap.
69** In ''ComicBook/SupermansPalJimmyOlsen'' #30, Superman adopts Jimmy as his son for a 30-day trial. During this period, they visit the Fortress of Solitude, where Superman shows Jimmy his mural of a solar system he created, in which the inhabitants named various parts after him (such as "Superman's asteroid", "Superman's planet", ect.). After that, Superman leaves Jimmy be while he checks his "electronic oracle". The oracle predicts that on the day the trial adoption expires, "Superman will destroy his own son!" Now, Superman has two options: A) tell Jimmy the bad news and revoke the adoption to protect him, or B) consider that the oracle has problems with homonyms and conclude that it may be referring to the sun in the aforementioned solar system. What Superman decides on is option C) treat Jimmy like crap without explaining why until Jimmy backs out of the trial.
70** In ''ComicBook/WhoTookTheSuperOutOfSuperman'', an alien organization is hired to destroy Earth. So they send an agent to Earth, under orders of watching Superman discreetly for thirty years and then turning him into a human bomb via psychological warfare, alien devices and villain summoning. Ultimately their overly complex gambit fails, and they have run out of time to fulfill their contract.
71** UsefulNotes/{{The Silver Age|of Comic Books}} Superman was always setting up elaborate hoaxes involving robot duplicates, fake newspaper headlines, and Batman wearing a Clark Kent mask, all to trick the aliens secretly preparing to attack Earth.
72** In the ''ComicBook/{{Crucible}}'' story arc, [[BigBad Korstus]] needs to get rid of Preceptor Lys Amata in order to take over the titular hero academy; but instead of shooting her off when he catches her alone and completely unawares, Korstus knocks her out and gets her placed in stasis because he wants her "to witness the destruction of all that she's built."
73** ''ComicBook/TwoForTheDeathOfOne'': When Syrene absorbs the power of the Runestone of Merlin, she becomes powerful enough to transform Satanis into a bug and crush him beneath her boot. However, she wants to kill him painfully after making him feel powerless; so she toys with him, gloats, and then summons a rain of meteors.
74--->'''Syrene:''' Do you know the utter joy of total power? I could turn you into protoplasmic slime if I so wished! But I believe watching you painfully die will be far more satisfying.
75** In ''ComicBook/TheKillersOfKrypton'':
76*** Harry Hokum has captured a depowered Supergirl, who refuses defiantly to speak, and he orders his men to take her to a cell to be tortured and dissected later instead of killing her quickly on the spot. Kara takes advantage of it to plan her escape.
77*** Later, the Omega Men have broken into Hokum's stronghold, and he plans to let them flee after they have rescued clones posing as their captive comrades. One of his minions suggests to simply nuke them, and Hokum admits it sounds tempting, but he will stick to his plan.
78** In ''ComicBook/SupermanVsShazam'', Karmang forces Black Adam and the Sandman Superman to trick Captain Marvel and Superman into fighting each other so they are too busy to learn about, find and dismantle his world-destroying devices... instead of simply instructing his minions to hide his machines stealthily in some inconspicuous place while avoiding both heroes at all costs, which they could easily do.
79** ''ComicBook/StarfiresRevenge'': When one of the minions of the titular crimelord brings an apparently helpless and unconscious Supergirl to his boss' headquarters, Starfire whips out a gun, and instead of simply shooting Supergirl, she pushes both the hero and her minion down into a wild gorilla's den and then leaves her lair.
80** ''ComicBook/TheUntoldStoryOfArgoCity'':
81*** When Fred and Edna Danvers find out Allura In-Ze has become severely ill because she is missing her daughter Kara (who had been adopted by the Danvers when her parents were believed dead), they have two options: explaining the situation to Kara... or becoming suddenly abusive to try to drive her away and back with her biological family. Since Kara was bound to investigate their strange behavior, and she has SuperSenses, their plan fails.
82*** Worried about her mother's mental health, Kara moves back with her birth parents, but they can tell she is missing her old life; so instead of talking it out and suggesting Allura is already feeling better and does not need an emotional crutch anymore, they trick their daughter into believing a space monster will kill her father or her cousin unless she moves back with the Danvers. Zor-El even admits he came up with a "weird story".
83** ''ComicBook/TheGirlWithTheXRayMind'': Before opening a portal to the Phantom Zone, Lesla-Lar foresees Mon-El (Superman's friend who is stuck in the Zone and has powers but is vulnerable to lead) will try to attack her, so she builds a gun which sprays lead dust... instead of stealing a normal gun which shoots normal bullets, which would work just as well.
84** In ''ComicBook/TheStrangeRevengeOfLenaLuthor'', Lex Luthor's cell mate wants to take revenge on the deceased man who put him in jail through his widow. So, he hires a pack of goons to gaslight Lena into madness instead of paying a hitman to assassinate her.
85** In ''ComicBook/TheAmazingStoryOfSupermanRedAndSupermanBlue'', Superman gets split into two identical duplicates (from this point on, "Red" and "Blue"), who decide to reveal their identities to Lois Lane and Lana Lang and get married. In order to decide who will propose who, they build two giant steel "L"s, fly to the Himalayas and stand on a mountaintop, waiting for one storm approaching and one lightning bolt striking one giant letter. When their method fails, Blue mentions he is still in love with Lana and Red admits he has fallen for Lois.
86** ''ComicBook/ThePhantomZone'': The Phantom Zoners manage to knock Supergirl out, but instead of picking one weapon of the Fortress' armory and shooting her unconscious self, they drop her in the Disintegration Pit and leave. Hence, they are not around to see Supergirl awakening right before sinking into the radioactive miasma, clinging to the pit's walls and climbing up and out of the cauldron. Fortunately for Supergirl, since she is not in a condition to fight anybody.
87** ''ComicBook/TheDayTheCheeringStopped'': Industrialist Oswald Mandias reveals Jimmy Olsen that he intends to stow himself away in a shuttle (in order to make some sort of grand announcement about his television empire), and then he kidnaps the young reporter so Jimmy cannot say anybody his plans before they have been carried out... a goal he could have accomplished by making Jimmy sign some sort of temporary non-disclosure agreement prior to their interview.
88** ''ComicBook/TheLeperFromKrypton'': Supergirl cannot deal with the wave of crime brought about by Superman's alleged death on her own, so she asks the Kandorians who can perform as a Superman substitute. Kara is told they are already conducting a selection process to choose several candidates, after which they will call upon all Kandorians to vote for one of the nominees. Kara points out that Van-Zee and Don-El already impersonated her cousin successfully, but the Kandorians reiterate that this question must be determined democratically.
89** ''ComicBook/GirlPower'': Lex Luthor has a golden opportunity to kill Supergirl; but instead of finishing her off, he decides to test the effects of Black Kryptonite on her. Not only does his radioactive rock fail to turn Supergirl into her loyal and evil minion how he expected, but he wastes the only chance he will ever have to kill Kara in that continuity.
90** In ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfLightningLad'', Lightning Lass tries to honor her deceased twin brother by impersonating him. As pondering over her actions several years later, Ayla admits she cannot figure out why she tried to pass herself off as her brother to join the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes instead of introducing herself to the team and requesting being admitted as a member.
91** In ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfLuthor'', Lex Luthor builds a shrinking ray, a gravity-manipulating device and a darkness grenade to rob a bank.
92** In ''ComicBook/TheLegionOfSuperHeroes'', Cosmic Boy must use his magnetic powers to put off a forest fire, and the simplest method he can come up with is causing a nearby lake to overflow by tossing meteors into it.
93** In ''ComicBook/SupergirlsThreeSuperGirlfriends'', Brainiac's ship provides a subtler than usual example. His force-field machine has power on and off buttons. You would think one of the most intelligent beings in the galaxy would figure he only needs build one single on/off power button into his device.
94** "ComicBook/TheSuperSteedOfSteel": Comet the Super-Horse goes through many unnecessary inadequacies for the sake of keeping the secret identity he thinks he needs: he lets himself be captured, taken to a ranch, bought out...because he did not want anybody to know he is not a normal horse, and the thought of simply outrunning his chasers or breaking out of his stall at night never occurs to him. Tellingly, after losing his memories, Comet simply breaks out of his pen at night and runs away.
95** ''ComicBook/TheKMetalFromKrypton'': Clark Kent, who has just been depowered, is eavesdropping a meeting between crimelord "Rocks" Gordon and his henchmen when another gangster clocks Clark unconscious from behind. Gordon's minion "Crusher" wants to shoot him on the spot while he lies unconscious, but his boss decides to take him to a hidden mine alive and kill him in there, assuming that it will be easier to get rid of the body.
96** ''ComicBook/TheLifeStoryOfSuperman'': As Superman is giving a crowd a tour of a world fair exhibit, Luthor manages to abduct and depower him; but instead of just shooting his nemesis, Luthor shoves him into a cage and aims a laser beam at him, stating that it will be triggered when the guests leave the building. However, the attendees take too long to leave, giving Superman time enough to escape.
97** "ComicBook/BrainiacRebirth": Superman is depowered, immobilized and completely at mercy of Brainiac, who is determined and incredibly eager to destroy him...but he decides he needs to run tests on Superman first, so Brainiac takes him in his ship. After examining him, Brainiac decides to kill him at last; but instead of using a simple and swift method (putting a bullet through his head, stabbing his heart, cutting his throat, even shooting a disintegrator beam...), Brainiac mentally activates a pulse of energy which begins killing Superman slowly. Then his ship gets attacked and Brainiac gets distracted, accidentally turning his pulse energy off and letting Superman escape.
98** In "ComicBook/SupermanAndSpiderMan", Doctor Doom's plan to release Parasite involved too many variables: he built an endlessly screeching micro-drone to drive the Hulk mad(der), lead him into Metropolis and goad him into punching the ground in one exact point to break Parasite's cell, which was located several miles underground. Doom knew the effort of climbing back to the surface would worn Parasite's energy off to dangerously low levels, but Doom expected Superman was still around when Parasite crawled his way to the surface...which was not the case. Parasite could have died right there and then, ruining Doom's greater scheme, were it not for Peter Parker walking around the place by sheer coincidence.
99* ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'s enemy Bullseye could probably kill people just fine with a regular gun, but he prefers to use different kinds of items with his incredible aiming skills. When he was posing as Hawkeye in ''ComicBook/DarkAvengers'', he wasn't too happy with Norman Osborn limiting him to only using a bow and arrow. A mini-series starring Bullseye goes into detail about this. He was ecstatic when he finally killed ComicBook/{{Elektra}} and is ''constantly'' looking for a way to get the same rush, with no success. He keeps on taking assignments harder and more impossible than the last simply for the thrill of it.
100* Every protagonist or central antagonist Creator/JimStarlin has written in the Creator/MarvelComics pre-''ComicBook/{{Annihilation}}'' cosmic narrative, whether they were Thanos, [[ComicBook/Warlock1967 Adam Warlock]], the Magus or the Goddess, used incredibly byzantine plans, often with a relatively mundane goal in mind (in ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet'', for example, Warlock's strategy was aimed at getting Thanos to raise his hand at a specific moment so the ComicBook/SilverSurfer could attempt to snatch the Gauntlet from him). The justification is that these characters are all contending with opponents who are master planners themselves and often possess some kind of super-ESP which would alert them to any simple scheme.
101* In ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' #169, multimillionaire Jason Beere learns he is dying, and out of ItsAllAboutMe decides the rest of the world should die with him. He comes up with a plan involving about sixteen individual steps, including wiring a world-destroying NeutronBomb to his failing heart, donning power armor to attack the Avengers, and planting fake bomb plans to have them go on wild goose chases around the world to assemble a taunting message. The plan fails somewhere around step ten when Iron Man puts him in Tony Stark's old life support chest unit. Beere could have accomplished his goal with a two-step plan: 1) acquire world-destroying bomb, 2) detonate bomb.
102* Doctor Doom from ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' is notorious for this. To the extent that more often than not it seems as if any given scheme was carried out by somebody that was ActuallyADoombot and Doom himself almost appears to be in multiple places at the same time. Generally, this does little to improve the overall results of his many conspiracies beyond giving the heroes (and sometimes other villains) a good workout.
103* At one point in ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', we see a stand-up comic routine by Skullcruncher that's heavily steeped in this. In prior stories, when the war was ongoing, Megatron had created a detailed multi-phase procedure for infiltrating and conquering worlds, including producing a small team of {{Super Soldier}}s to make the sixth and final phase (essentially a GodzillaThreshold) possible. Skullcruncher spends the whole routine mocking it. Why set up a detailed arrangement when the only important steps seem to be the first two and the sixth ("infiltrate and gather info", "try to subvert the populace without revealing yourself", and "declare open war and kill everything"), to the point where nobody in the audience could name what Phase 3 was? Why create the NighInvulnerable Phase Sixer units and [[MisappliedPhlebotinum hold them in reserve for taking specific planets]] rather than [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim just pulling them all together and making them crush the Autobots?]] He ultimately concludes that Megatron's recent HeelFaceTurn is because he is putting his infiltration protocol into practice... and he's not likely to reveal himself anytime soon, because even he can't remember what Phase 3 was.
104* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: When the Nazi spy Rudolph Hessenpfeffer has Steve Trevor at his mercy ''at gunpoint'' he aims the gun at the unstable roof above Trevor's head instead of shooting him to bury him alive instead. Wonder Woman is able to dig Steve out and rescue him almost immediately thereafter, though the commotion does allow Hessenpfeffer to escape.
105* The Leader from ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'' suffers from this. One time his intellect waned and he faced starvation in his secret base, because even the food processor unit was so complicated that he could not operate it without genius level intellect.
106* Multiple Creator/MarvelComics {{Retcon}}s over Mephisto's actions (most notably his manipulations of ComicBook/GhostRider and the time he took ComicBook/WonderMan and ComicBook/BeastMarvelComics to Hell) have resulted in the idea that Mephisto ''routinely'' uses illusions to complicate his plans, including creating apparent allies to the heroes who help them oppose him, because that will somehow benefit him in the long run.
107[[/folder]]
108
109[[folder:Comic Strips]]
110* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': As members of the secret club "G.R.O.S.S." ('''G'''et '''R'''id '''O'''f '''S'''limy Girl'''S'''), Calvin and Hobbes often come up with schemes to annoy and/or terrorize their neighbor Susie. [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1993/08/05 One day]], Calvin devises a scheme that involves writing a message in code which Susie will believe was written by Calvin for Hobbes, and "accidentally" letting Susie discover and read the note, which says that Calvin doesn't want Susie to go behind their house at noon. Calvin thinks this will naturally draw her to the back of his house at noon, at which point he and Hobbes can hit her with water balloons. Hobbes asks why they don't just hit her with water balloons right where she's sitting now. Calvin replies, "You're a good officer, Hobbes. But let's face it, you don't have an executive mind." Hobbes still thinks his idea sort of makes sense.
111* The original appearance of the RubeGoldbergDevice was in newspaper comics, in which a hugely complicated and often ridiculous device was built to accomplish some mundane function, e.g., ringing a doorbell by having a button release a cat that chases a mouse along a track, which generates a breeze which pushes on a series of fans which rings the bell.
112* ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'': Jason may be a genius -he put a toy rocket into low-Earth orbit once- but he tends to go for the massively complex ideas rather than simple ones.
113** Jason spends hours vainly trying to get past [[ThatOneBoss a monstrous creature]] in a computer game, dying each time no matter what offense he tries. Paige ends up passing the level [[SheatheYourSword by just walking right by the guy]].
114--->'''Jason:''' Look at him! He's huge! He's strong! He's sitting on a pile of skulls! How are you not supposed to fight him?\
115'''Paige:''' What is your IQ again?
116** Another strip shows Jason sketching out elaborate plans to catapult himself and his friend Marcus into Paige's bedroom through the window so they can spray her with squirt guns. The plan fails when Paige closes her window, prompting a panicked Jason and Marcus to try and stop the catapult while older brother Peter looks on and snarks "From such smarts, such stupidity."
117[[/folder]]
118
119[[folder:Fairy Tales]]
120* In "Literature/TheDevilWithTheThreeGoldenHairs", a king is determined to avoid a prophecy that a poor boy will get married to his daughter. Rather than stab the baby to death, which most assuredly would accomplish his goal, the king puts the baby into a box and dumps it into a river...Thus setting a SelfFulfillingProphecy in motion.
121[[/folder]]
122
123[[folder:Fan Works]]
124* In ''Fanfic/AForceOfFour'', [[WarGod Mars]] wants Wonder Woman, her daughter Fury and Power Girl dead, so he builds a coliseum and forces them into a gladiatorial battle with his own champions, instead of merely blasting them into oblivion.
125* Lampshaded in ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'':
126-->'''Andy:''' Say, Calvin, is there any reason [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim why they didn't just shoot you dead with their ray guns, right then and there]] and save the trouble of thinking up of another elaborate plan that's sure to fail?\
127'''Calvin:''' Rupert always wants stuff to be complicated.
128* ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'':
129** Makes a cameo appearance, ''in actual drug form''. Called [[IdiotBall Bahl's Stupefaction]], it is a narcotic that has the side effect of bringing about idiotically complex and impractical plans in Dark Wizards with Slytherin tendencies. The example presented in the narration is [[TakeThat suspiciously similar]] to Voldemort's plan from ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire''.
130** Lucius Malfoy warns his son that any plan that requires more than three things to happen will never work; morever, since only an idiot makes things as complicated as possible, the real limit is two. This lecture he did as a TakeThat to an InUniverse {{Expy}} of ''Anime/DeathNote'', because he noticed that Draco wanted to borrow inspiration from it for his rivalry with Harry.
131** Voldemort seems to have a bad case of this, with many bizarre plots similar to the ones in canon. Harry has difficulty understanding how someone so stupid could be an actual threat. [[spoiler:This is because Voldemort was a ''game'' to Tom Riddle, just practice for the real villain he planned to play later.]] He tells Harry that while essential plans should be simple and perfect (eg: apparate in front of your target and hit them with the Killing Curse), nonessential plans can be as complicated as you want, since by definition they're not important. This has the side benefit of giving you a reputation for [[ObfuscatingStupidity succeeding through blind luck rather than skill]].
132** In the same story Dumbledore has a reputation for not only using incredibly convoluted plots, but for also launching fake plots with no actual goals. The reason behind this is [[spoiler:he's actually deliberately triggering either-or prophecies and rarely understands the actual string of events himself, so he made sure they weren't out of character.]]
133* Lucius Malfoy in ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm''. While he isn't defeated through any misstep of his own, it is noted as the defining trait of the Malfoy house, and often trips them up when doing something simple would be much more effective.
134* The NeglectfulPrecursors in ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'' pretty much brought the events of the three galaxies featured about through this trope combined with [[DuelingMessiahs internal religious conflicts]]. More details can be found on the NeglectfulPrecursors page.
135* Justified in ''Fanfic/TheRigelBlackChronicles'' when Harry has to brew Jourdain's Amalgamation for her Potions internship. It's a highly and unnecessarily complex potion that's full of useless ingredients and does ''nothing at all'' when brewed properly, but frequently shows up on examinations.
136--> It was extraordinarily complicated simply for the sake of being complicated. It was created by some sadistic individual to test how well aspiring brewers could follow directions and successfully complete a potion they were unfamiliar with.
137* ''Fanfic/RosarioVampireBrightestDarkness Act I'': During the first few chapters, Apoch and Astreal go through elaborate schemes to test the group's power, and ultimately brainwash Rason and Dark, in order to be free of their master Ghaldin; the brainwashing attempt backfires when the sisters' inexperience with brainwashing spells allows Ghaldin to take control of all four of them. When all is said and done and Ghaldin is killed by Inner Moka, Tsukune flat-out tells the sisters that [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot he and his friends would have helped them willingly from the start if they had simply]] ''[[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot asked]]''.
138* ''Fanfic/TheRiseOfDarthVulcan'': The Princesses eventually realize, with the aid of Diamond Tiara (who spent time as his prisoner) that this is a defining trait of the titular VillainProtagonist. It's not enough for him to simply carry out a plan and beat his enemies -- he has to do it in such a way that his enemies are made to look like utter idiots compared to him, in order to justify his opinion of them.
139* In ''[[http://cartoon.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600095039 How I Learned to Love the Wild Horse]]'', Brittany informs [[WesternAnimation/TotallySpies WOOHP]] of the [[Manga/RanmaOneHalf Nerima Wrecking Crew]] and cites that she believes them to be a terrorist organization with Ranma as their leader. Ranma has recently moved to Beverly Hills and enrolled in the same school as the girls, so Jerry has them put him under surveillance to learn his motives for coming to America. It's later revealed that Brittany was helping Ranma get away from Nerima and he was going to be hired as a martial arts instructor for [=WOOHP=] but the organization doesn't usually do bodyguard details so she instead told them he was a terrorist leader. Why she couldn't tell the truth and ask for an exception is never explained.
140* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' fic ''[[https://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=6382 Déjà vu]]'', a corrupt Time Lord attempts to manipulate history to return Gallifrey to its old isolationist policy by capturing the Doctors and using their neural energy to power his equipment to rewrite the timelines, but he is so determined to get the energy he needs that he not only captures the first five Doctors, but also sends the Sixth to Tenth Doctors into the Death Zone as an additional distraction even when (from his perspective) the Ninth and Tenth Doctors are still in the future and it required extra energy to include them in his plan.
141* In ''Fanfic/TheVampireOfSteel'', Buffy and Supergirl have been captured by a mob of vampires. Yet [[BigBad Vladislav]] doesn't still want to kill them because he needs a sacrifice to open a portal and summon some kind of Lovecraftian horror. When one of his underlyings is about to just shoot them, Vladislav goes mad.
142-->"All I want to know is what this setup is all about," said Supergirl. "If we're going to be the main course for this vampire or whatever you're going to be hosting, just call me curious."\
143"Call you dead," said the guy with the bucket, and drew a .38.\
144Vladislav slapped his hand, then slapped his face. "How many times do I got to tell you? How many times? How many?"\
145"No more, boss, no more," pleaded the vamp. "I understand. I understand. I swear on my father's coffin."\
146The fangfather buried his hands in his underling's turtleneck. "I don't really have time for this aggravation, Lester. You got me?"\
147"Gotcha, boss."\
148"I said we don't shoot the women, and we don't shoot the women. We need them for later. Got that?"
149* A variant occurs in ''Fanfic/TheRWBYLoops''; Ozpin is stated to be addicted to ''conspiracy''. This generally results in keeping secrets past a point where it would be useful and revealing things via convoluted methods or only after being confronted directly. Most of the other loopers find this habit annoying and frustrating.
150* Half the cast in ''The Real Us''. There is a complicated list of what the Weasleys are and aren't allowed to know (for example, they can know that Sirius is a good guy, but must believe Snape is going to betray them). Harry would rather set up a complicated network of spells (or at least, have the school staff do it for him) than not take his secret girlfriend to the Yule Ball.
151* ''Fanfic/ProfessorArc'': Cinder Fall, [[TheChessmaster a woman who spends her all her time scheming]], assumes that Jaune has his own brilliant plan to serve his own ends, and in vain tries to figure it out. Not that he's simply at some kid [[IndyPloy blundering and bluffing his way out of trouble]]. Jaune more or less goes along with this, because [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness he knows what would happen if Cinder saw him as not worth her time]].
152* During their climactic final fight in ''Fanfic/KaraOfRokyn'', Lex Luthor bitterly ponders he had over one month to kill Superman quickly, but all he did was dump him in a pod and siphon his power off.
153-->He kicked out angrily at Superman, dislodging him, and damned himself for not killing him during the month and days he had him helpless, damned himself for trying to eke the last bit of power from his body for its usefulness.
154* ''Fanfic/TheMountainsRange'': [[spoiler:Kevan Lannister/Alejandro Fernandez spent years as his brother Tywin's faithful right hand, obeying orders without question and giving helpful advice, in order to manipulate Tywin into eventually doing himself in. Then he arranged to have his nephews Jaime and Tyrion murdered during the war against the Others (succeeding only with the former). During that time, he also caused the deaths of several other people, including two fellow [=SIs=] and several prominent nobles during the Pentoshi Bloodbath. He caused all this death and destruction, potentially destabilizing Westeros and nearly descending it back into CivilWar right when the Others were on their doorstep and threatening all of humanity...[[SkewedPriorities so he could be]] [[GoalInLife Lord Paramount of the Westerlands]]. Considering the amount of effort he put into reaching that goal, if he really wanted it that badly he could've just killed Tywin before he had any kids -- as the second son of Tytos he would've been next-in-line. Sure, his foreknowledge would've been useless afterwards, but it's obvious that he would've been smart enough to get around it. The only real reason he could've had for not doing that in the first place is this]].
155* ''Fanfic/AnchorFoal'': Downplayed. Celestia's plan is actually pretty straightforward (get Fluttershy to start a family so that Discord chooses to stay nice towards them after her death in memory of their friendship) and the method chosen isn't complicated so much as a bit roundabout in getting the desired result. But it does get pointed out there are simpler methods to use that would sidestep several of the problems that are inherent to Celestia's chosen method. This is justified however because Celestia's plan accounts for issues the simpler methods do not. (Namely that Fluttershy getting a mate to have a foal with is meant to ensure she has help as a parent because she's busy enough with her animals.)
156* ''Fanfic/SiVisPacemParaBellum'': Within a week of completing the First Task, Harry knows what the Second Task is and has a reasonable solution in the Bubblehead Charm. Hermione insists on finding another more complicated way, insisting Harry's solution is a "baseline". Several characters point out how unnecessary it is and when they manage to get some gillyweed, Harry forces Hermione to test it along side him (but without the smell and taste cancelling potions) as punishmnent.
157* Hermione in ''Fanfic/PrincessOfTheBlacks'' insists she and Jen use the notoriously complicated Fidelus charm for their Arithmancy project rather than something much simpler because she "refuses to turn in a decent project rather than an exceptional one".
158* ''Fanfic/SparkToSparkDustToDust'': Starscream's plan to overthrow Megatron has over '''four hundred and thirty-seven''' distinct phases.
159* ''Fanfic/WhenWorldsCollide'': Chris makes plans unnecessarily convoluted.
160-->'''Chris''': First, we'll get a hundred crocodiles, and then some cut-up logs. We'll have the campers log roll all the way across the lake, and then, the team with the most survivors will win invincibility. It's brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT!"\
161'''Chef''': Um, couldn't we just do a cheap event that doesn't really involve any death that might lead to lawsuits?\
162'''Chris''': [[BaseballEpisode Baseball?]]\
163'''Chef''': Baseball.
164* ''Fanfic/HereThereBeMonsters'': Doctor Sivana could have killed the Marvel Family as soon as their minions knocked them out; instead, he got them shackled to metal slabs and bathed by a paralysis beam because he wanted to make a show of it. He wanted to broadcast the execution, wait until the Marvels were awakened to gloat about his victory and the means through which it was achieved, and then killing them. He needed to taste every minute of it. Ultimately, he took so long that Captain Marvel found a way out of his predicament. Then Marvel pointed out that Sivana could have won this time if he had not spent so long gloating.
165* ''Fanfic/ADecentSelfInsertProbably'': Tempest has a tendency to make unnecessarily complicated plans on the spur of the moment. She even resists Marco's suggestion to just ask Demyx what he's doing specifically because it's simple and to the point.
166* ''Fanfic/AVeryKaraChristmas'', the main character discovers two of her schoolmates have found her wig and figured out she has a secret. She has three options to deal with that situation: first, coming clean about her secret identity; second, letting Superman brainwash them; third, learning how to make costumes and carve wood, buying raw materials (paid with freshly-mined gold and squeezed diamonds), making a bunch of Christmas decorations in a single night, and then showing them Kate and Jennifer to convince them that she was preparing a Christmas surprise for their schoolmates, and she was wearing one of her wigs in order to see if it was convincing enough.
167* This is the most charitable explanation for Dumbledore’s mistake in the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' fic “[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14125774/1/Wandwood Wandwood]]”. When his examination of Harry after the confrontation with Voldemort revealed that his magical core was basically collapsing, Dumbledore advised the still-living James and Lily that Harry would become a squib and it would be best for him to be placed in the muggle world. When Petunia rejected the “offer” and nobody was comfortable with placing Harry in an orphanage, Sirius ultimately decided to take custody of Harry himself and raise him in America, where Harry demonstrated magic when he was a few years older, subsequently determining that Harry just suffered from a case of "Infant Core Collapse Syndrome", where a very young witch or wizard basically exhausts their magical core performing a particularly powerful bit of magic on instinct. Since the chances of someone recovering from this and retaining their magic are only 10%, since Dumbledore learned that Harry was attending a magic school, he has convinced himself that Sirius restored Harry’s magic through dark rituals involving others being sacrificed to basically give their magic to Harry, rather than seriously consider that he was wrong in the first place or that Harry’s magic just healed on its own.
168* ''Fanfic/AMightyDemonSlayerGroomsSomePonies'': For Tirek's plan to succeed, he needed to wait for the rainbow bridge to open again, take the elements to Earth to subvert their power to have a superweapon ready, unleash Hell on Earth in Equestria and hope his mother actually shows up, all the while posing as the good guy so no heroes thwart him before he is ready. As it turned out, it took 5000 years for the bridge to re-open. Any sensible person would probably abandon the plan after a couple centuries, but Tirek really wanted his revenge. The sheer absurdity of this is one of the big reasons that this chapter was officially removed.
169* In ''Fanfic/RolePlayingEvangelion'', Asuka gets her hands on top secret records, talks Shinji into role-playing as the Nerv commanders, gets Rei to join them, carries out increasingly complex reenactments during the course of several days... just so she can finally bring herself to deliver a love confession.
170* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/41842554 The Best Laid Plans]]'' has Dia's actions in the first season of ''Anime/LoveLiveSunshine'', which includes [[StealthMentor secretly setting up the new Aquors]] and waiting for her ChildhoodFriends Kanan and Mari to makeup, as part of a months-long plan to make herself the ninth-member of the group just as her favorite idol Eli Ayase from [[Anime/LoveLive µ's]]. Rather than admitting this or wanting her little sister Ruby to think that her older sister is so conniving, she ends up being "seven" during Aquors role call.
171[[/folder]]
172
173[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
174* Yzma from ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' (and the SpinOff series ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewSchool'') has an affinity for making complex plans to destroy Kuzco, which never work. Kronk [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this at least once.
175-->'''Yzma:''' How shall I do it? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Cx7jzq2Bx4 Ooh, I know]]. I'll turn him into a flea, [[ForcedTransformation a harmless little flea]]. And then I'll put that flea in a box, and then I'll put that box inside of another box, and then I'll mail that box to myself. And when it arrives, [[EvilLaugh AH HA HA HA]], ''[[BludgeonedToDeath I'LL SMASH IT WITH A HAMMER]]!''
176** She does decide against the above plan in favor of [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim poisoning Kuzco]]... [[SkewedPriorities in order to save on postage]].
177* In the theatrical ''WesternAnimation/RecessSchoolsOut'' film, the MadScientist Dr. Philium Benedict builds a tractor beam in order to move the moon. His {{evil plan}} goes something like this:
178##Use a tractor beam to move the moon.
179##This will change the seasons, making it winter all year long.
180##With summer gone, schools will eliminate summer vacation.
181##Children will spend more time in class, becoming better-testing students.
182##People will be so grateful to him, they will elect him President of the United States.
183** Ignoring the fact that the whole thing is just a really roundabout way of getting into the highest political office in the country, [[InsaneTrollLogic there are just so many things wrong with that plan that it warps past funny and goes into tragic]]. The first step alone would have [[InferredHolocaust apocalyptically catastrophic consequences]]. TJ flat out tells Benedict that removing summer won't remove summer vacation, but Benedict just replies, "I can try."
184* The BigBad of ''WesternAnimation/SherlockGnomes'', Moriarty, commits his ultimate act of villainy in a very complex way. He even {{lampshade|Hanging}}s the trope later in the film.
185-->'''Moriarity:''' I came up with the Art/SistineChapel of evil plans. It's got a double-cross, it's got a triple-cross, I was smashed, he[[note]]Watson[[/note]] was smashed... I mean, to be fair, it is needlessly complicated, but that's what supervillains do!
186* ''WesternAnimation/BarbiePrincessCharmSchool'': [[RichBitch Dame Devin]], the film's BigBad, realizes Blair [[spoiler:might possibly be the lost Princess Sophia; she had the royal family [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident killed in a car crash]] so she could take over via [[PuppetKing her daughter]] [[LovableAlphaBitch Delancy]], not knowing Sophia had survived and instead been HappilyAdopted]]. To prevent her from possibly learning the truth and wrecking her plans, she repeatedly attempts to punish and then expel Blair for various crimes she didn't commit; [[RevealingCoverUp all this does is make Blair, her friends, and even Delancy suspicious]]. The irony is, Blair was only interested in being a Lady Royal, and had no idea she was [[spoiler:the spitting image of Queen Isabella]], so if Devin had left her alone she would've won. As it is [[spoiler:Blair figures out the truth, and Delancy pulls a HeelFaceTurn and crowns Blair, [[ReallyRoyaltyReveal revealing her to be the true ruler]]; Devin [[AccidentalPublicConfession then blurts out her whole plan on live TV, much to everyone's shock]].]]
187[[/folder]]
188
189[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
190* In the Creator/TimConway/Creator/DonKnotts movie ''Film/ThePrivateEyes'', a witness to the Morley murder calls the title characters to Morley Manor, then arranges for every single person in the Manor other than the killer to appear to be murdered, in order to trick the murderer into confessing in front of two police officers. Why he couldn't just go to the police and ''tell'' them who the murderer was never brought up. [[spoiler: Then again, Lord Morley never could get ''anything'' right.]]
191* ''Film/AustinPowers'' spoofs this trope as it commonly appears in spy films. [[BigBad Dr. Evil]] is notorious for making his plans to kill the titular character exceedingly complicated:
192** Near the start of the first movie, Number Two kept trying to convince Dr. Evil that their best option was to CutLexLuthorACheck, [[CardCarryingVillain which Dr. Evil roundly objected to]]. His reasoning was that, while Dr. Evil was cryogenically frozen until such a time that his plans could come to fruition, Number Two had to lay the groundwork to finance those plans, by building a legitimate business empire worth far more than Dr. Evil would initially demand in his schemes. They would've actually made ''more'' money, ''legitimately'', by not doing anything different at all.
193** In the first movie, Dr. Evil leans hard into BondVillainStupidity as he has Austin and Vanessa standing on a platform suspended over a pool of water with mutated, enraged sea bass ready to eat them, in a secluded room with the door closed and one easily defeated guard stationed there. Dr. Evil's son, Scott, is [[LampshadeHanging usually the one who calls him out]] on these things and [[StatingTheSimpleSolution states much easier ways]] to kill Austin. But what made this an addiction in this instance was his insistence that the aquatic threat be "sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads", when any other threat could've done the job easier.
194** In the second film, Dr Evil uses a time machine to steal Austin's mojo (rendering him impotent) rather than (as Scott suggests) simply shooting Austin at a time they know Austin will be occupied. Furthermore, when Dr Evil has Austin at his mercy, he has him and his partner Felicity placed in a room with slowly retracting floors over a pit of lava. Much like the first film, one inept guard is stationed there.
195** In the third film, Goldmember has Austin's father Nigel at his mercy, but much like Dr Evil, he fails to kill Nigel outright. Instead, he leaves him to die on a smelter. As is typical, the plan fails.
196* In ''Film/TheBourneIdentity'', Jason Bourne needs to get some information from a hotel receptionist, but he's afraid that the police will come after him or his girlfriend the moment any of them step inside. Therefore he comes up with a complicated plan of action, involving her entering, counting the number of steps she takes from the entrance, counting how many civilians, guards, etc. there are, and him then calling her via the lobby phone to plan further ahead. This is explained via Jason's voice-over as we see her doing this. As she looks at the telephone, the camera cuts to Jason outside, dialing the number. No answer. He hangs up in a hurry and prepares to go in, only to find her standing right behind him with the papers in hand.
197-->'''Jason:''' You just ''asked'' for it?
198* In ''Film/BulletTrain'', most (but not all) of the mayhem that occurs is the result of a plot [[spoiler:by the White Death to gather every single person (including [[OffingTheOffspring his never-do-well son]]) that was tangentially involved in the chain of events that led to his wife's death in a single place where he could kill them all.]] Even when [[spoiler:he has the mightiest Yakuza family of all of Japan and access to enough foot soldiers (and enough cash to pay for other assassins) to blow them all away.]] Multiple things get in the way, [[spoiler:including his own daughter trying to exploit things so the White Death will die too and she can take over and, absurdly enough, the man who actually killed the White Death's wife refusing the mission that would put him in the train because he had a stomach bug (Ladybug is just a replacement). When the White Death hears this from Ladybug during the FinalBattle, he ends up having a major VillainousBreakdown because without said assassin to kill (and many of his soldiers dead and him fatally wounded) it was AllForNothing.]]
199* Present in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' with the [[spoiler:HYDRA]] plan to assassinate [[spoiler:Nick Fury]]. The Winter Soldier has a weapon capable of destroying the armored car, yet the plan consists of first attacking him with a posse of fake policemen and a battering ram before hoping the car will drive down a random street where the Winter Soldier is waiting for him. Subverted later when they actually do just shoot him.
200* ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' both plays it straight and subverts it.
201** Wanda Maximoff shows shades of this as she and her brother Pietro's primary motivation for joining up with Ultron is revenge on Tony Stark for [[spoiler:creating the bombs that destroyed their home and killed their parents when they were children]]. However, she passes up an opportunity to kill him in the ''first 15 minutes of the film'' when she manages to catch him out of his armor and enthrall him with her PsychicPowers. At that point they could have just snapped his neck or something ([[WhyDontYouJustShootHim which Quicksilver]] [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]]) but instead she chooses to let him take Loki's Scepter and leave, hoping it will corrupt and destroy him and the other Avengers. This is despite the fact that she already has as good a chance to kill Tony as she's ever going to get, and her vendetta is with him personally, not the Avengers as a whole.
202** On the other hand Ultron earns the distinction of being the first major villain in the MCU who tries to use the most [[MundaneSolution simple, effective and straightforward solution]] first ([[spoiler:stealing the nuclear codes and using the nukes to destroy humanity]]) and only resorts to the more "colorful" overly complicated methods because that plan keeps getting thwarted.
203* The comedy ''Film/WithoutAClue'' imagines that Watson is the true genius and Sherlock Holmes just an actor hired for good publicity. A kidnap victim leaves behind a mysterious set of numbers and both Watson and Holmes spend hours going through a variety of obscure clues, jumps in logic and more to finally figure out that the victim is leaving behind a roundabout way of finding his location (the numbers, when turned into a chapter and verse in the missing man's favorite book of the Bible, reduce to a passage that includes the name of an obscure play that has only been performed in one theater in London in the recent past). When he's finally rescued, the victim is happy they saw the numbers...which were simply the address of the theater he was being held prisoner in.
204* This is Schultz's fatal flaw in ''Film/DjangoUnchained''. Schultz develops this crazy plan to have him and Django impersonate slave traders looking to buy a slave prize-fighter, and get Django's wife Broomhilda thrown into the bargain. Then Candie, the guy they're dealing with, figures it out thanks to his HypercompetentSidekick, and forces them to pay the exorbitant full amount for just Broomhilda at gunpoint, telling them point-blank that he would've sold her to them for cheap if they'd come to him honest. [[spoiler:Finally, after Candie [[SmugSnake keeps rubbing his victory in Schultz's face]], Schultz can't take it anymore and shoots Candie point-blank. Naturally, Candie's guards blow Schultz away.]]
205* Howard, the gambling addict of ''Film/UncutGems'', has multiple opportunities to square his debts... or to concoct even riskier bets by screwing over everyone around him, including his own family. He takes the latter option every single time.
206* The ''Film/JamesBond'' villains are bad enough [[BondVillainStupidity to name a whole separate trope]] -- for instance, instead of simply killing Bond, they [[Film/DrNo beat him up and leave him in a somewhat easily escapable cell]], [[Film/LiveAndLetDie leave him in the middle of an alligator farm]], or [[BlofeldPloy shoot a mook who failed them instead]].
207* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
208** Heroic example in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'': Qui-Gon's ridiculously complicated plan to get the hyperdrive replacement needed to repair Amidala's ship from Watto. Watto is apparently the only vendor in Mos Espa who has the part they need, but he won't take Qui-Gon's Republic credits because they're worthless on Tatooine, and Watto is immune to the JediMindTrick. So Qui-Gon hatches an elaborate plan involving tricking Watto into gambling the part in an upcoming Pod Race and then entering Watto's nine-year-old slave Anakin into the race and having him win it for him. Even though the movie makes it pretty clear Qui-Gon's Force powers meant he knew Anakin would win, you'd think there might have been an easier (and less dangerous) way. Like finding someone willing to exchange credits for a local currency, or trading their current ship for a less valuable but functional one. Or just book passage on a transport, or [[Film/ANewHope with a smuggler]] or something. Give them all the money he has now (a trader or a smuggler would have use for Republic credits, unlike a planet-bound merchant like Watto), and promise them a reward from the Jedi council when they arrive at Coruscant. Or seeing if the Republic has something similar to Western Union and asking the Council to wire them money in a form cashable in local currency.
209** In ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', Palpatine sends Dooku who sends Jango who sends Zam who sends a droid who sends worms to kill Padmé, all so that Jango can kill Zam with a Kaminoan dart and Obi-Wan can trace it to Kamino and find the clone army, after which Palpatine manipulates the Republic into making the clones their official army. If the plan hinged upon Obi-Wan finding the dart, there wasn't any need for Zam, the droid and the worms to get involved at all: Jango could just have fired the dart at Padmé and it wouldn't even matter whether or not he hits her.
210** ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'': Rather than sabotaging the Millennium Falcon's hyperdrive and waiting for Luke to be picked up by his friends, then trying to capture the Falcon, Vader could have just sent a shuttle down to the underside of Cloud City to capture Luke directly.
211** ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'':
212*** After becoming Emperor, Palpatine develops a frankly ridiculous plan due to SkewedPriorities, leaking schematics of the Death Star II and putting himself personally at risk in order to trap the Rebels and methodically destroy them with the Death Star II. This is highlighted by the fact that, per Vader, Imperial Intelligence ''knew where the Rebels were assembling their fleet''. A strike right then and there by a couple dozen battle squadrons from the local sector fleet could have crippled the Rebellion. But [[JustifiedTrope Palpy was more interested in seducing Luke to the Dark Side than in winning a military victory]], and kept pursuing his overcomplicated plan even after it became apparent the Rebels were not playing ball. {{Lampshaded}} in the spin-off novel ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire'' Darth Vader thinks Palpatine's EvilPlan is outright ''stupid'' (though naturally, he keeps it to himself). Due to his ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, Palpatine becomes the architect of his own downfall. First, he manipulates Galen Marek to draw out rebels in the senate, inadvertently creating the Rebel Alliance, then he disbands the senate in Episode 4, giving him a civil war and no Death Star to fight it with, and in Dark Empire he dies AGAIN because he thinks he can successfully manipulate Luke.
213*** The plan to rescue Han from Jabba the Hutt at the beginning of the movie is ridiculously complex, to the point where there is still considerable debate among fans as to what the original plan was, and how much was planned and how much was improvised, or if there were possibly several different plans going on at once. First Lando infiltrates the palace as a guard, then Luke sends the droids to Jabba as a "gift", then Leia arrives disguised as a bounty hunter with Chewie as her prisoner, then Leia frees Han from the carbonite but is discovered and taken captive, then Luke arrives and attempts to negotiate only to be forced to fight the rancor, then Jabba gets mad and sentences everyone to death, then they're taken to the Sarlacc Pit, then Luke gets his lightsaber back from R2, whom he's been using to smuggle the saber into the palace, then they kill everyone and go home. One wonders why any step besides that last one was necessary. Luke does seem to want to give Jabba the opportunity to resolve things peacefully, but that still makes everything that happened before Luke arrived pointless.
214*** EU sources also explained there was a third party in the midst of the Death Star II battle -- IG-88, the assassin droid from ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (or rather, [[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/IG-88A/Legends#Final_stages_of_the_plan IG-88A]]), who had uploaded himself into the Death Star's computer banks as part of an equally-convoluted plan to cause a galaxy-wide droid revolution. He actually participated in the battle by correcting the superlaser's accuracy. However, the DS 2 got blown up before he could turn the superlasers on the Imperials and begin his planned revolution.
215** Palpatine in ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker''. Having survived his death in ''Return of the Jedi'' by transferring his spirit to a cloned body using his master's "unnatural" dark side teachings, he finds that his clone bodies are unstable and very quickly degrade, making him full on DarkLordOnLifeSupport. His plan to amend this? Reveal his survival to the galaxy after over 30 years of having been thought dead to lure out Kylo Ren, now the Supreme Leader of the First Order, convince him to seek out and kill Rey, [[spoiler: his granddaughter]], banking on Kylo pretending to play along and wanting to turn her to the dark side instead, and also counting on Rey learning [[spoiler: that he is her grandfather]] luring her to him, so that he can have her embrace the dark side and strike him down, which would [[spoiler: complete a ritual that would allow him to transfer his spirit into her younger, uncrippled body]]. Never mind that within the first five minutes of the film, Kylo, a young man already fully immersed in the dark side ''and'' the powerful grandson of Anakin Skywalker, was willing and prepared to kill Palpatine as it was.
216* In ''Film/NowYouSeeMe'', the Four Horsemen's plans are insanely overcomplicated, given the simplicity of their true goals. This is part of the idea, though; the motive wasn't just simple robbery, but to make sure the ones being robbed knew who did it and couldn't prove how.
217* The villains from ''Film/JackReacher'', who explain it as "We make it messy now so it won't be messy later." [[spoiler:To explain, they overcomplicate their plan to do SerialKillingsSpecificTarget with a sniper and letting an ex-Marine with a prior history of killing sprees take the fall by 1) leaving behind an OrgyOfEvidence, 2) have their DetectiveMole find every single clue they left behind and thus accelerate the investigation and make it iron-clad (and thus have Reacher question why such absurd thoroughness), 3) use a sniping spot that would leave behind lots of evidence, when they knew that their FallGuy was ex-military and would ''not'' have used it, 4) attempt to strong-arm and kill anybody who asks too many questions even if the questions probably won't lead anywhere if they just lay low]]. All of this together leads to Reacher to find out that it was a set-up, and when they come gunning for ''him'', a RoaringRampageOfRevenge ensues.
218* Mafia hitwoman Salino of ''Film/TheSting'' is pretty much this trope ([[InformedAbility even though she's supposed to be Lonnegan's top assassin]] and his immediate choice to send after Hooker when he escapes his regular Mooks a second time, even if his advisor thinks it's overkill). She goes to Chicago, becomes a waitress, pretty much waits for Hooker to come to her instead of looking for him, waits a long time to act (much longer than it would considerably take to confirm that it's him), becoming an apparent LoveInterest... and, on the day of the titular "sting", she gets shot by a gunman hired to protect Hooker before she can draw the silenced gun on her purse.
219* The villains in Nolan's ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'' tend to exhibit this. The Joker definitely wins though, every step of his plan involves incredibly complicated plans and reliance on things he can't possibly know. He somehow knows exactly how much time it will take Batman to [[spoiler: save Harvey Dent and that the police will be too slow to save Rachel.]] If Batman was a minute slower or the police had a car in the area then the Joker's "ace in the hole" wouldn't exist anymore.
220* For a meta example, the later works of Creator/ChristopherNolan himself. Well over half of ''Film/{{Inception}}'' is spent explaining exactly what the rules of the universe even ''are'', which probably makes the film have the longest first act by percentage in film history. The film still did well at the box office despite its massive complexity. However, Nolan tried to one-up himself by a film with an even ''more'' convoluted plot in ''Film/{{Tenet}}'' a decade later, which confused audiences and even the cast members. It didn't help that it was released during the pandemic, but the lukewarm critical and audience response didn't bode well for its success in any situation.
221* Mr. Freeze in ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' steals several massive (roughly the size of a fist) diamonds to power a freeze-ray that he then takes to the local observatory so as to freeze all of Gotham in order to ransom the city to fund his research for a cure to [=MacGregor's=] Syndrome. [[CutLexLuthorACheck Why he doesn't fence the diamonds, or patent his cure to Stage One MacGregor's Syndrome, or even sell his freeze ray to fund his research]], is never explained.[[labelnote:Probable explanation]]He mentions that the authorities would have no choice but to give him "billions" for his research. Even if he's exaggerating, it's clear that he wants a) ''unlimited'' funds, and b) '''right now''', and isn't willing wait for the potential profit to accumulate. Also, being a freak of nature would probably hinder any legitimate business venture or employments.[[/labelnote]]
222* This is the Dude and Walter's major mistake in ''Film/TheBigLebowski''. They keep assuming that there ''has'' to be some big conspiracy/mystery to explain all these odd events and clues they're encountering, when in reality [[spoiler:there's totally normal and sensible explanations for all of them. The toe, the creepy Nihilists, Jackie Treehorn, Bunny's disappearance, the mysterious car following the Dude, the essay... they're all just random events with simple, non-criminal causes. The only mystery to be uncovered is a minor scam the Big Lebowski is running to bilk some money out of his own charity, and there's nothing for the Dude and Walter do about that other than tell Maude.]]
223** Walter [[DiscussedTrope deliberately tries to avoid this]] during the "handoff" scene, preferring to beat Bunny's location out of her kidnappers instead of paying them the demanded ransom. Turns out [[spoiler: there is no handoff. The kidnappers want them to simply drop the money off. Walter doesn't take the news well.]]
224* Professor Fate from ''Film/TheGreatRace'' spends the entire race cheating to get ahead. At the end of the movie, when the protagonist throws the titular Great Race in order to win over his love interest, Fate celebrates the victory. But shortly after, Fate lapses into a huge tantrum because, even though he wanted to win, he wanted to win on his terms (i.e, by cheating like he was being paid for it). He even goes so far as to scream "YOU CHEATED!" in the hero's ''face'' during all this.
225* ''Film/InsideMan'': One of the running plotlines is the police trying to find out what the bank robbers want, since their plan is so confusing and convoluted that it's impossible to tell. This turns out to be the point; [[spoiler:by confusing everyone, they were able to slip out among the hostages after stealing something that wasn't supposed to exist]]. That being said, they still overcomplicated things a bit. They wanted to make money and [[spoiler:expose a war criminal who collaborated with the Nazis]]. They could have done either one easily, but doing both at the same time required the complex plan.
226-->'''Russel:''' I'm no saint. I did it for the money. But what's the point of having money if you can't look yourself in the mirror?
227* ''Film/JourneyIntoFear'': The Nazis, Muller and Banat. They concoct an elaborate stylish murder plot involving a stage magic show, rather than just dragging Graham into an alley and shooting him; then they go to all the trouble of smuggling him off the boat rather than, say, whacking him over the head and chucking him overboard.
228* ''Film/TheNiceGuys'': The plan Amelia developed to expose her mother's corruption (and thus her connection to the Detroit automobile business and ''its'' anti-environmental corruption) is so absurd that the protagonists have a pretty hard time wrapping their heads around it when first explained to them: create a PornWithPlot and have the "plot" be a tell-all expose. She explains that the film's producer told her that the fact AllMenArePerverts will ensure nation-wide distribution and thus a large audience, but our heroes counter that this exact same fact may mean they won't ''care'' about the message.
229* ''Film/TheOstermanWeekend'': A CIA agent finds that his own organisation is behind the murder of his wife, so his plan of revenge involves: create a phony Soviet spy network called Omega, faking evidence that will convince a TV producer known to be critical of the CIA that his friends are members of Omega, wiring up his home with video equipment to gather evidence for this non-existent conspiracy, staging an attempted kidnapping of the producer's wife and son so they'll be brought to the house for their protection, {{Gaslighting}} everyone so they start to turn on each other, trying to kill the producer (whom he needs for his EvilPlan) and murdering his friends, kidnapping his wife and son for real so he can force the producer to confront the head of the CIA in a live interview about the murder of his wife. Why he never just went to the producer with his accusations, or just kidnapped his wife and son from the outset, is unexplained.
230* ''Film/AceVentura'': Ray Finkle's scheme is to get back at the Miami Dolphins, and Dan Marino in particular, for holding the laces on the ball the wrong way when Finkle tried a game-winning field goal in the UsefulNotes/SuperBowl. Finkle missed the kick, making him the laughingstock of the sports world. Blaming Marino for the entire thing, Finkle spends a long time building a fake identity, infiltrating the Miami police department, and escalating in the ranks until he becomes the MoleInCharge of the investigation that will ensue from his crimes. That done, Finkle has to get the resources for both the theft of the Dolphins' mascot (a bottle-nosed dolphin named Snowflake), and the kidnapping of Marino himself once the Dolphins make it to the Super Bowl. Finkle does all of this so Marino can see the Dolphins lose, humiliating his team while Marino is ForcedToWatch, all before killing him. [[spoiler:And this is without counting the whole thing about getting a sex change to assume the identity of "Lois Einhorn," a hiker that Finkle killed and made disappear, all to throw people even further off the trail.]]
231* ''Film/TangoAndCash'': BigBad Perret's plan to frame the titular CowboyCop duo for murder of a federal agent is absurdly complicated and it's lampshaded as such by the other crime lords that hear it when he proposes it. Perret's response is that it's needed to make sure that Tango and Cash [[DontCreateAMartyr don't end up becoming martyrs amongst the other cops]], which would happen if they are just killed like the other crime lords want. Because of this point, they end up agreeing for the moment. But when the titular duo manages to escape prison the crime lords tell Perret that they believe his plan didn't work and are going to send assassins to find them, and Perret belts out a borderline-whiny BigNo in response that shuts them up and they never do it.
232* ''Film/SnakesOnAPlane'': The titular animal rampage is a crime boss' plan to kill a witness that leaves people InUniverse to be utterly puzzled because it is just completely and utterly insane, just ''barely'' justifiable by it being CrazyEnoughToWork. The crime boss shuts up a goon that tries to question it by roaring that he has run out of other options (and even then that sounds pretty flimsy).
233* There's a story that, during the filming of ''Film/NorthByNorthwest'', someone on set asked Creator/AlfredHitchcock why the now-famous crop duster scene was necessary. Since Roger Thornhill doesn't suspect at all that his planned meeting is a trap, it would be just as effective and far simpler for the villains to just hire someone to walk up to Thornhill and shoot him--rather than trying to gun him down with a crop duster biplane. Reportedly, Hitchcock's only answer was something to the effect of "Let's hope the audience doesn't ask that."
234* ''Film/KnivesOut'':
235** This is one of Harlan's {{Fatal Flaw}}s. [[spoiler:He would rather concoct an elaborate complex cover-up to protect Marta than allow her to simply call an ambulance for what they both believed was a fatal morphine overdose.]]
236** Detective Blanc is so wrapped up with trying to figure out who had anonymously hired him that he does not [[spoiler:confront Marta right away, though he was suspicious of her from the very beginning]]. Instead, he uses [[spoiler:Marta]] to try to ferret out more answers. In the long run, this ends up [[spoiler:being the right call, as Marta is innocent and it leads to the actual murderer being caught]].
237** The murderer. [[spoiler:If Ransom hadn't anonymously paid Blanc to investigate Harlan's "murder" in order to get Marta arrested, the cops would have ruled it a suicide and the family would contest the will regardless.]] It was his own actions that allowed for Blanc to solve the case.
238* In the sequel, ''Film/GlassOnion'', Benoit Blanc once again exhibits a case of this that would be worrying in a detective in a ''straight'' murder-mystery:
239** He straight up admits that he is very bad at "dumb things", like ''TabletopGame/{{Clue}}'', and is shown entirely failing to get the point of ''VideoGame/AmongUs''. He ''expects'' complexity, which becomes a problem...
240** His plan to investigate involves accepting an invitation he wasn't sent, sending in [[spoiler:Helen, impersonating her dead twin sister Andi,]] as a distraction from his own presence at a party weekend where ''the host knows he was not invited''. Once there, he continues to stage distractions while his own distraction gathers clues, but none of the clues they find serve to eliminate ''anyone'' from the suspect pool.
241** He fails to spot the actual murderer for a really, really long time, because he thinks that surely all of the things that are going on are part some vast, complex scheme. [[spoiler:Nope; Miles Bron is ''not a smart guy'', so the idea that he was too smart to commit a crime that so obviously benefits him is null and void. Miles' murder of Duke was also just dumb -- in response to Birdie declaring it "So dumb it's ''brilliant!''" Blanc exasperatedly responds with "NO! It's just DUMB!" -- and the only attempted murder with any style or panache at all, Miles stole from Blanc.]]
242* It's easy to overlook amidst all of Scottie's psychodrama in ''Film/{{Vertigo}}'', but [[spoiler:Elster's plot to murder his wife]] has to be one of the most implausibly convoluted in film history, requiring [[spoiler:a woman who's an IdenticalStranger to Madeleine, knowledge of the stories of Madeleine's ancestors, a friend with a fear of heights to act as a patsy, an acute understanding of his thought processes, and access to a church's bell tower. It could all have been sunk easily had Scottie done even a cursory amount of sleuthing beyond simply following Madeleine around]].
243* ''Film/TheBatman2022'': Part of the Riddler's elaborately messed-up belief system is the idea that if you just present people with the truth, they'll reject it, so you have to get them to find it for themselves. This belief leads him to do things like, for example, put a very dark joke in a card on the recently murdered mayor's body, with the answer to that joke included in a ciphered message on the card, where if you take a lengthy ciphered document and highlight all the squares that match the letters in the cipher it'll form the word DRIVE, leading to a data drive stuck in the USB port of one of said mayor's fancy cars and attached to his severed thumb, which is the thumbprint required to unlock the drive and reveal compromising photographs of the mayor. Which a program on the drive then sends to all of Gotham's news outlets via Gordon's email. And the entire above mess is just ''step one''.
244* Brandon in ''Film/{{Rope}}'' plans what ''could'' have been a perfect murder, and then decides to add a lot of "artistic" flourishes just to up the risk factor and make himself feel smart. He throws a dinner party in the room where the body is hidden. The guests are people who knew the victim, including both his girlfriend ''and'' her ex -- and Brandon amuses himself by heavy-handedly trying to get them back together. On top of that, Brandon claims that the victim was invited to the party, too, leading everyone to worry when he never arrives. Brandon's accomplice repeatedly calls him out on this.
245* This is the cause behind the plot of ''Film/TheProducers''. The main characters have a plan: they've embezzled away a large amount of money for the play's budget, and that money will not be investigated if the play is a flop. Therefore, they decide to ensure that the play will close on opening night, and buy up the most offensive possible script--a barely-legible screed written by an open Nazi extolling the virtues of Adolf Hitler. That by itself would probably be enough to ensure the play is a failure, but they also try to clinch things by hiring Roger De Bris, a CampGay showman director whom they trust to be the worst possible person to handle the material, and [[FunWithAcronyms Lorenzo Saint DuBois]], a strung-out hippie beatnik, to play the title role. As it turns out, when ''SpringtimeForHitler'' opens, De Bris's over-the-top and farcical style, combined with [=DuBois=]'s rambling and incoherent performance, results in the play coming across to the audience as a satire of Adolf Hitler rather than the sincere tribute it was intended as.
246[[/folder]]
247
248[[folder:Literature]]
249%% Please no arguments here.
250* Trebla the Terrific from ''Literature/SuperMinion''. His heist plans are so complicated that each minion he hires has a separate tens-of-pages document listing their part of the plan and the contingencies they are to use depending on what happens.
251* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
252** Voldemort's biggest flaw (besides underestimating ThePowerOfLove) is wanting everything he does to be as epic to as possible, regardless of practicality. Several characters {{lampshade|Hanging}} this weakness.
253*** In ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire Goblet of Fire]]'', Voldemort sends a [[TheMole Mole]] to Hogwarts to kidnap Harry so as to use his blood in Voldemort's resurrection ritual. They do this by taking a full year to build the mole's false identity, force Harry to participate in the Triwizard Tournament against his will, rig the tournament to let him win, and enchant the trophy to teleport him to the ritual site. The mole either has strict orders to keep things properly dramatic or suffers the same problems as his boss, since he apparently does not think to use his trusted position of authority to whack Harry over the head, shove him into his magic chest, and smuggle him out of Hogwarts in the first week of class. Or to make any random object into his office into a Portkey, invite Harry in, and arrange for him to touch it.
254*** It's even pointed out that given Voldemort's status as the Evil Overlord of the Wizarding world, he could use ''any random Witch's or Wizard's blood'' for the ritual (it simply requires "blood of the enemy"... who outside of Voldemort's followers is ''not'' his enemy?), but no, Voldemort is obsessed with it being Harry, since he wants Harry's magical protection from his mother's sacrifice in his blood. There's also the problem that the ritual only requires Harry's ''blood'', not his presence -Voldemort's agent could have gotten that in the first week. A visit to the Mole's office, a scratch on anything in the office (There is the whole "forcibly taken" thing, but that could be gotten around by arranging for Harry to get in a fight in which he picks up some cuts and scratches), gathering the blood, a memory charm, and using the ability of the human memory to rewrite itself to compensate for the minimal amount of time lost -bam. Voldemort can then go after Harry at his leisure, without anyone but his followers being aware he's alive!
255** Harry only survives through books 4 on because the revived Voldemort demands a grandiose and wand-induced death. When Voldemort actually kills Harry in [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Book 7]], it doesn't stick. Voldemort actually tries to kill Harry as soon as he sees him near the end of [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Book 5]] when he shows up unexpectedly after Harry had thwarted the Death Eaters' plan. Luckily for Harry, Dumbledore intervenes just in time. When, in Book 6, the Death Eaters actually ''have Harry at their mercy,'' Snape stops them by reminding them that Voldemort wouldn't want somebody else to kill him. Though, admittedly, Snape has other reasons for what he does. Furthermore, Voldemort, who is an adult with a supernaturally powerful body, insists on killing Harry, a physically ordinary teenager, via magic, which is repeatedly shown to be ineffective. Had he instead decided to try killing Harry by stabbing, clubbing, or simply using his bare hands, he'd have almost certainly succeeded due to not having any obscure, [[AssPull never-before-mentioned laws of magic]] blowing up in his face.
256** When Harry is informed about Voldemort creating [[SoulJar Horcruxes]], he immediately thinks that they'll be nearly impossible to find, since Voldemort could choose any object and hide it anywhere. Dumbledore corrects him, noting that Voldemort's ego and fixation on patterns means he's psychologically incapable of making such important artifacts out of anything that he didn't consider equally important to his life; for example, hiding his grandfather's ring, the symbol that he was descended from Salazar Slytherin, in said grandfather's home- which doubled as the place where he killed said grandfather. This is why they spend so much of the book diving into memories of Voldemort's past, so they can learn about what places and items he would consider significant enough to use for his horcruxes.
257** One is discovered in [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince book 6]] to be stored near his childhood orphanage in a cavern that can only be opened with a blood sacrifice, across a lake that can only be safely crossed with a magical boat that can hold a maximum of one adult human, at the bottom of a basin full of a torture potion that would incapacitate the drinker. Since he provides the boat, that particular piece of his soul can be stolen by anyone with a bit of obscure trivia about Voldemort's youth and a judicious choice of partner -- Dumbledore takes Harry, who at 16 isn't quite an adult yet, and [[spoiler:Regulus Black takes a house elf, which Voldemort had forgotten to ward against]]. Dumbledore is immensely disappointed that Voldemort's grandiosity and sadism overrode his common sense: he made the defenses degrading and horrific at the expense of making them actually lethal.
258** In a PlayedForLaughs example, Oliver Wood's various incredibly-elaborate Quidditch play plans, which tend to take multiple magical diagrams to explain.
259* This seems to be the generally accepted MO for the Yendi (a cultural group whose [[PlanetOfHats hat]] is being scheming and secretive) in novels set in ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}''. For example, in the novel ''Literature/{{Yendi}}'', the Sorceress in Green arranges for Vlad's rival Laris to try to take over Vlad's territory in an obviously clumsy manner so that Vlad is on his guard when Cawti and Norathar try to kill him so that Vlad's allies in House Dragon will kill Norathar in a way that dishonors them all so that the next Dragon Emperor or Empress will be a person inclined to make the Sorceress's friend Sethra the Younger [[TheDragon Dragon Warlord]]. In the event that the assassination fails (which it does), the deliberate clumsiness of the previous attacks causes Norathar to find out that Laris set her up so that Norathar will kill him in a manner that dishonors her, which would also take her out of the line of succession. This secondary plan also fails.
260* A major aspect of the White Court of vampires in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' is that they ''don't'' operate with simple, straightforward plans. In the White Court, approval and influence is based partially on the way one maneuvers against one's opponents, both within the Court and outside of it. A White Court vampire could simply have an enemy gunned down, but that would be met with serious disapproval and a loss of respect and grace, while taking that foe down via ThePlan is viewed with admiration. It's ''institutional'' Complexity Addiction. Another, equally important reason, is that they work in and around human society far more than many other supernatural beings in the Dresdenverse. Hiring a gunman to shoot your rival can be easily traced back to you. Subtly goading another rival into a conflict with the first so ''he'' hires the gunman insulates you from the consequences far better. White Court culture has grown up around this principle, with the most respected actions being those that "everyone knows" you were responsible for, but nobody can connect you to with any sort of actual evidence. They also apply this to supernatural beings stronger than themselves.
261* In Creator/PGWodehouse's ''Literature/JeevesAndWooster'' stories, Jeeves has quite a habit of this and it almost never fails, being stuffed with the grey matter. In ''Right Ho, Jeeves'' Bertie informs Jeeves that his plan, viz dressing Gussie Fink-Nottle up as the devil and sending him to a fancy dress party to romance a girl, is far too elaborate to ever work. In fact, Gussie forgets the address of the house it's held at and botches the whole thing. Even so this says more about Gussie than about the complexity of the plan.
262* Tom Sawyer's plan for freeing Jim in ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfHuckleberryFinn''. They could have simply swiped the keys to his shackles and sneaked off in the middle of the night, but Tom insists on sawing the leg off Jim's bed that the shackle is attached to and making a rope ladder just to leave behind as a clue and all manner of other silly things, [[WrongGenreSavvy just because that's how prisoners in the books he's read escape]]. He insists doing it the easy way "just ain't proper." {{Justified}} because [[spoiler:Tom knows full well that Jim was already legally freed in the Widow Douglas' will. [[InnocentBigot He just wants to]] [[RuleOfFun play a fun game]]]].
263* In the Miller's tale of ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales'', a young woman and a young man are in love, but the woman is married to an old man. She and the young man, instead of just meeting up during the day in a secluded spot, decide to trick the woman's husband into thinking there's a flood coming, sit on the roof in tin tubs, scare the husband into closing his eyes/passing out for the entire night, then go into the house for a little love-making. The complexity ends up paying off-- when the husband comes to again, he's hollering that the flood is coming, and all his neighbors think he's nuts, making him permanently discredited. Yes, this trope is OlderThanSteam.
264* The Assassin's Guild in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' simply hates coming across as...''inelegant''. It's part of the job description, after all (and partially ContractualGenreBlindness, since nobody would tolerate the Guild if they ''didn't'' allow their victims a fair chance); a man with a crossbow killing someone for money is just a thug if he doesn't do it with ''class''. This is the reason Sam Vimes is able to foil repeated assassination attempts from the Guild. They always attack him at home or the office, never out in the street ("What, like some common murderer?"), and they always wear full black, which, while cool, is fairly impractical for nighttime stealth (as anyone trained in camo knows, mottled grays or dark greens are better, while dark blue is most useful at night; black just outlines you). Vimes' home and office are riddled with cunning booby traps, the butler is a BattleButler and Vimes himself [[CombatPragmatist has no compunctions about fighting dirty]]. This is also why Jonathan Teatime is a DeliberatelyBadExample of an assassin — his kills don't have class but rather slasher-villain levels of unbridled psychosis.
265* In Creator/SPSomtow's ''Inquestor'' stories, Inquestors play a very complicated "game" called ''makrugh'' in which the object is mainly to maneuver your opponents -- basically, every other Inquestor -- into losing face. Since this is pretty subjective, it tends to result in "You lost."/"Oh, but did I?" type conversations.
266* In ''Literature/OzmaOfOz'' (and the film adaption ''Film/ReturnToOz''), rather than wipe out the heroes with his unbeatable armies or magic, the Nome King makes them play a guessing game to rescue his victims; players must guess which ornaments are actually transformed people. Run out of guesses and be transformed. As long as you guess correctly, you get endless guesses. The King's steward even points out how stupid this is, especially in that he ''color-coded'' the victims. The Nome King insists that it's more fun this way, and even brags about how he's going to transform the heroes. Ironically, the discussion is overheard by Billina the hen, who uses the information to great effect.
267* This is used as a BatmanGambit in the Creator/KimNewman short story "A Shambles in Belgravia", one of the Professor Moriarty stories collected in ''Literature/TheHoundOfTheDurbervilles''. Irene Adler approaches Professor Moriarty to steal some 'intimate' blackmail photographs of herself from the {{Ruritania}}n embassy. Rather than just use a skilled cat burglar, Moriarty stirs up political trouble so there's a demonstration outside the embassy when the time comes to do the theft. It turns out that Irene is working for the head of the Ruritanian secret police who was in danger of losing his job because the country was so peaceful, but Moriarty has now fixed that.
268* In the children's series ''The Peterkin Papers'', the Peterkins are all extremely intelligent, even brilliant -- but without a lick of common sense. Whenever a problem presents itself with a simple solution and a complex solution, they'll go for the complex one, and the simple one will never even occur to them. Without the common-sense of their neighbor, the Old Lady from Philadelphia, there's no telling how much trouble they'd get into!
269* Discussed but averted in Tom Clancy's ''Literature/WithoutRemorse''. When Kelly/Clark comes up with a relatively simple plan to get a special ops team into North Vietnam and the generals and admirals keep wanting to "spice it up", he specifically points out that the more complex the plan, the more things you need to go right, and the more difficult it gets for it to go according to plan. He draws deliberate parallels to the Song Tay raid (which actually happened in real life) and how the plan was almost thuggishly simple yet extremely effective.[[note]]It still failed, but that was because it took so long to get approval to make the raid that the prisoners were all moved by the time the Army got there.[[/note]]
270* ''Literature/HowTheMarquisGotHisCoatBack'': The Elephant thinks it's a good idea to chain the Marquis to a pole in a room filling with water and ''leave the room''.
271* In ''[[Literature/Twilight2005 Twilight]]'', the Cullens end up with three (later two) vampires wanting to kill Bella. Instead of simply mobbing the vampires the instant they know of their murderous intentions (Edward knew instantly, as he could read minds) or keeping Bella and her father together and putting her under constant surveillance so they could kill the vampires when they attacked (there were seven Cullens to keep a look out, one of whom could see the future and another of whom could read minds, all against two vampires, since the third defected), they decide to split themselves up so that Esme, Rosalie, Edward, Emmett, and Carlisle go on a wild goose chase after one of the vampires while Alice and Jasper take Bella first to her home in Phoenix [[TooDumbToLive after telling the vamps that want to kill her that that's where she's going]] and then plan to take her to other major cities.
272* ''Literature/HushHush'':
273** In the first book, [[spoiler:Patch]] has this going on pretty badly as well. [[spoiler:He was stalking Nora for an unspecified amount of time before planning to kill her, which caused him to fall in love with her.]] Why he didn't just kill her the instant he found her (with his powers and the fact that she's not that smart, it wouldn't have been hard) is never explained.
274** In ''Crescendo'', all [[spoiler:Rixon]] has to do to accomplish his goals is to kill Nora. So naturally he spins it out across the entire book, making her hallucinate her dead father, knocking her out with a drugged card and chasing her through an empty library, trying to drive her off the road, attempting to turn her against Patch, and giving her a bogus spell to have him banished to Hell. The only reason given for him doing this is basically "ItAmusedMe".
275* The ''Literature/{{Sharpe}}'' series gives us a heroic (or at least anti-heroic) example: Sharpe several times has his nemesis Obadiah Hakeswill at his mercy, but leaves him to be eaten by tigers, trampled by an elephant, or bitten by poisonous snakes instead of a well-deserved bullet to the head. Of course, since these are prequels, his survival is a ForegoneConclusion - and retroactively adds logic to Sharpe eventually doing exactly that.
276* OpportunisticBastard ''par excellence'' Petyr Baelish shows signs of such an addiction in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', telling his would-be protégé that he will even make moves that are against his best interests for no other reason than to confuse his enemies as to his true goals. He manages to make this work by never blinking when his plans are thrown into disarray, but adapting smoothly and [[XanatosSpeedChess working up new plans]] to turn the unforeseen circumstances to his advantage. It helps that half of his plans boil down to "sow chaos and then present actual goal as solution to whoever ends up on top so they just hand it to you".
277* Prince Nahrmahn of Emerald is a highly intelligent man and one of the best schemers in the ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'' series. While he works for the betterment of his people, he is at least equally motivated by his love of "The Great Game" of international politics. After he makes a HeelFaceTurn, the Empire of Charis turns this trait to its advantage by making him the Empire's chief spymaster, where he gains a reputation as their best analyst.
278* The assassins in ''Literature/StateOfFear'' prefer to kill their targets by pressing a live Pacific blue ringed octopus to them, so that they're paralyzed by the octopus's venom.
279* In ''Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey'', Christian seems to have some sort of aversion to simply calling the police about people threatening him. Instead, he sets up needlessly complicated methods of protection, that include making Ana be watched by a bodyguard on his payroll at all times and literally forcing her (he picks her up and starts carrying her away while they're in the middle of the street) to move in with him.
280* In ''The Beast Within: Literature/ATaleOf Beauty's Prince'', to bring about the Beast's downfall, the witches seem to think the best way to go about things is to make Belle homesick and hope that the Beast thinks to give her the mirror as she lives, ''then'' tell Gaston to have her father committed by introducing him to their friend the asylum owner, ''then'' anticipating Belle revealing the Beast to everyone, then expect Gaston to go kill him. Apparently all that was a better plan than casting an enchantment on Belle (they use magic to make her miss her father, so it's not like they couldn't do that) or even having the asylum owner forcibly commit her directly. Keep in mind that the last petal falls from the rose that very evening, so really they would have succeeded in making the curse permanent simply by having Belle spend the night tending to her father!
281* ''Literature/GentlemanBastard'': Conman Locke Lamora admits that he's completely unsatisfied with simple, safe and reliable schemes. He always dreams up big and grand designs that might earn a fortune or might burn down a whole neighborhood. Sabetha bristles under the fact that she earns about as much as Locke over the long term, but his plans are so complex, ambitious and ingenious that he gets all the attention from their master.
282* ''Literature/TheSpiritThief'': Eli loves to make his schemes as ridiculous and complicated as possible, which trips him up several times when he thinks his opponents love theatrics as much as he does. Justified partly by his desire to earn a bounty of one million standards, which requires him to be very flashy and audacious.
283* ''Literature/TheThinkingMachine'': This is the only thing that can explain the incredibly convoluted plan the criminal comes up with in "The Fatal Cipher". It actually relies on the fact that Van Dusen is a deductive genius to stand any chance of succeeding.
284* In ''Literature/TheMysteriousAffairAtStyles'', Poirot notes that the killers would have gotten away with their plot to murder a wealthy old woman by putting bromide in her medication so that the strychnine in it would precipitate at the bottom and be taken as the final fatal dose if they had just laid low after doing that instead of trying to make it look like one of them was framed by another party and relying on "double jeopardy" rules to bail them out.
285* A reviewer of ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' pointed this out:
286-->When you're dealing with a woman who can magically enslave people with a touch, who do you send?\
287A) Four men with swords, so she'll enslave one and they'll fight each other.\
288B) One guy with a crossbow.
289* Accord of ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' is a supervillain with the power to solve a problem more quickly the more complex it is. In order to hold his interest, most of his plans tend to involve needlessly-complicated death traps. He also has [[CutLexLuthorACheck a twenty-three-year plan to end world hunger]] that no one will listen to.
290* ''Literature/{{Otherverse}}'': noted to be a common trait of faeries. They love convoluted plots-within-plots-within-plots and are masters of misdirection and subterfuge. They often play TheLongGame, with their designs playing out over decades, centuries, or even millenia if they can manage it. A noted weakness of theirs is blunt straightforwardness or BoringButPractical tactics, which they disdain and consider beneath them... but this disdain also means they aren't very good at dealing with said tactics either.
291* ''Literature/LivInTheFuture'': Liv’s plan for getting an ID watch she needs from a morgue is overly actionized. She proposes hiding by the loading dock and disabling the security cameras, knocking out the guards with “secret kung-fu karate moves” and taking their uniforms to enter undercover, defeating any baddies they find along the way, capped off by taking a watch and getting the heck out. The absurdity of it causes Alix to [[StunnedSilence go silent for a moment]] before he can react properly.
292-->'''Alix''': Need I remind you again that this ''isn’t a fantasy?''
293-->'''Liv''': I thought it was a good plan...
294* ''Literature/SpaceAcademy'': Vance has a major case of this as he could have just withdrawn from the Academy normally but chooses to almost get kicked out so he can blackmail the Commandant into ''letting'' him drop out, all for what appears to be the ego boost of outsmarting everyone.
295* The opening of Creator/FreemanWillsCrofts' short story "Unbreakable Alibi" describes this as the murderer's fatal flaw:
296-->Always he would reject the simple for something more ingenious and complex. When he murdered Jack Fleet it was this trait which cost him his life...
297[[/folder]]
298
299[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
300* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'':
301** Victoria Hand in "[[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS1E7TheHub The Hub]]". She sends Ward and Fitz on a mission to disarm a weapon that has fallen into terrorist hands, with the promise that they will be extracted afterward before S.H.I.E.L.D.'s takeover of the facility. In truth, however, there is no extraction plan and Ward and Fitz are likely going to their deaths. When Coulson confronts her about this, she merely states that they couldn't spare the resources. In the end, Coulson decides to go against her orders and take the rest of his team to rescue Ward and Fitz. Hand then reveals that she intended for him to do this all along... which begs the question of why she didn't just order Coulson to extract Ward and Fitz in the first place, since that's apparently what she wanted and (at least as far as the viewers are aware) it's not like Coulson and the others were really doing anything at the Hub to begin with. Heads into GambitRoulette territory when you consider that Coulson wouldn't have even found out there was no extraction plan if Simmons and Skye hadn't also violated their orders and hacked into Hand's classified mission plans.
302** In a later episode, Hand reveals that she's been evaluating Coulson to determine whether he CameBackWrong, so the events of "The Hub" might have been a SecretTestOfCharacter (though still an overly-complex one).
303* Everyone in ''Series/AlloAllo'' has this, with every plan from Michelle or the Commandant having at least three steps too many. Stand out has to go to Herr Flick's plans though, at least Michelle and the Commandant are usually ''trying'' to be discreet seeing as how they are breaking the law. Herr Flick just likes to plot things.
304* In ''Series/{{Angel}}'' Jasmine's plan while possessing Cordelia gives the impression of being massively over-complicated. Apparently, she felt the need to unleash the Beast, make Connor think he was responsible for the apocalypse, have sex with him, blot out the sun, bring back Angelus, release him to generate even more chaos and possibly kill the Beast, which serves her, then give birth. Alternatively, she could have had sex with Connor, told Angel, "I need some time to think", and left the city for a [[ExpressDelivery month or two]].
305** One possible justification for this is that actually ''required'' the deaths the Beast caused to bring her forth, and that Jasmine lacked full control in the early days. This would also explain why "Cordelia" had a nightmare (which the audience saw her having inside her own head) about a monstrous unknown demon--that ''works for her'' and she told to show up.
306* In one episode of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', Sheldon develops a game of three-person chess, then starts adding new pieces, new abilities... it quickly [[{{Calvinball}} spirals out of control]]. Naturally, the gang loves it.
307-->'''Leonard:''' When is my pawn allowed to use the golf cart?\
308'''Sheldon:''' When it's done charging. Or you land on the time machine... obviously.\
309'''Leonard:''' Oh...oh! Beekeeper to king twelve, I capture pope and release the swarm. Checkmate on Sheldon!
310* ''Series/BurnNotice'': The organization that burns Michael has a really complex recruitment process involving burning spies and then doing all manner of things to force them to cooperate and do their dirty work. Surely they could have just found some operatives they could tempt with money?
311** As it turns out, [[spoiler:the guy running the show is a psychologist with access to classified dossiers on agents. Which means that he can profile them to see if they're a good fit. Needless to say, with Michael it eventually backfired horribly]].
312** Michael gets accused pretty often of this by his friends, a few of the victims of the week he's helping and several enemies -- they all ask why the hell he doesn't just ''shoots'' whatever is the problem? The answer varies, but often comes down to either Michael not wanting to draw (more) police attention, wanting to keep whatever is still left of his conscience clean, wanting to be thorough in the destruction of whatever is the threat of the week (and/or it having way more guns), wanting to obtain information on who burned him that he won't get if the other guy's dead, or a combination of the above.
313* Presenter Tim Shaw has this in his ''[=CarSOS=]'' show during the segment he returns restored cars back to their owners. He always goes for the most convoluted scheme, complete with cheesy disguises and fake personae, possible; once even including a full pipe band in order to disguise a car's unique engine note. His co-presenter Creator/FuzzTownshend lampshades it as Tim just liking to dress up and being frustrated {{Pantomime}} dame.
314* While ''Series/{{Columbo}}'' is full of intelligent sociopaths making convoluted schemes, "[[Recap/ColumboS07E04 How to Dial a Murder]]" stands out among them all for being the most stupidly complex. Behavioral psychologist Dr. Mason murders his colleague Charlie for fooling around with his wife (whom he is implied to also have murdered) by training his dogs to come to run to a specific phone in the house and maul to death anyone who says the word "[[Film/CitizenKane Rosebud]]", which Mason arranges by inviting Charlie round to his house on the day he is getting a physical with his doctor, unplugging the other phone in the house (so Charlie doesn't accidentally pick that one up) and phoning Charlie from his bed (while hooked up to heart monitors) and tricking him into saying "rosebud". Aside from the fact that he fails to properly cover his tracks after the fact (e.g. he doesn't re-hook the first phone, he leaves evidence in his house and at the studio lot where he trained the dogs, and since his heart rate was being recorded at the time it was noted as shooting up at the ''exact time'' the murder took place), and that he is caught lying to Colombo, the fact that the dogs were otherwise friendly and that Charlie left the phone dangling after being attacked (meaning whoever he was talking to must have heard what was happening and never reported it) makes it highly likely that the dogs were trained to kill- and if that was true, then Mason was the obvious and only suspect, because only he had the means, knowledge and opportunity to pull it off, and a simpler scheme would have been much more successful. Columbo even gives him a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech for making so many stupid mistakes and says he was ''[[NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction disappointed]]'' that he made it so easy.
315* Some of the [=UnSubs=] of ''Series/CriminalMinds'' are pathologically stylish. The one that comes to mind first would be the Fisher King, who, for some reason, decided to send the protagonists on a Myth/{{Arthurian|Legend}}-themed scavenger hunt to catch him and save his victim, [[spoiler:who was also his daughter]].
316* The ''Series/{{CSI}}'' Franchise has this in spades. The first few episodes of the original show tend to have fairly straightforward crimes. But as the show went on, just watching Crime Scene Investigators find the same kind of evidence to solve crime would get routine, so the crimes got more complex, with RedHerring, Patsies, and more convoluted methods of murder that would leave less direct evidence behind. By the later season of the original show and its spin offs, ''Series/CSIMiami'' & ''Series/{{CSINY}}'', basically every murderer on the show has a Complexity Addiction worthy of your average Batman villain. The same effect is common amongst other PoliceProcedural shows, with the aforementioned ''Series/CriminalMinds'' having a similar thing. Later seasons criminals have far more complex delusions and psychosis and commit far more complex crimes than the early season criminals.
317** One episode of ''Series/CSICyber'' involved a man who wanted to murder the witnesses whose evidence had put his father in prison. The obvious solution was, or course, to become one of the most skilled players of an online first person shooter, use his hacking skills to remove inventory items from accounts of some of the other top players (who had to be adolescents living in the same city), befriend these players by gifting them replacement gear (hacked from yet more players), spend hours a day playing with them to gain their trust and then use them to unwittingly courier disguised firearms that he had ordered from the deep web and hide them in appropriate locations so that he could later retrieve the guns in order to shoot his targets. The point of all this was apparently so that the firearms would be untraceable but that is hardly the only challenging aspect of planning a murder and given the insane complexity of the plan it is difficult to believe that he couldn't have got hold of the illegal guns some other way (plus of course the cyber team are able to track him down anyway).
318** In particular for ''Series/CSICyber'' however, the necessity of a "Cyber" element for the crimes[[note]]The series follows the FBI Cyber Crime unit. Which can only involve themselves in a case if it has some sort of cyber crime element. This leads to the show sometimes bending itself over backwards to justify the team's involvement.[[/note]] can lead to this - often the criminals could just as well do their business using conventional means, and their insistence on performing some sort of cyber crime as part of their schemes leads to this trope and their downfall.
319* Justified on ''Series/Deception2018'' as illusionist Cameron explains to the FBI that most illusions (and crimes inspired by them) tend to be ridiculously complex just for the hell of it in order to hide the truth from the audience.
320** A Russian mobster makes people think they're on a fake reality TV show as a scheme to eliminate people who would try to defect from his organization.
321 * ''Series/DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency'': Dirk and Todd complain that Dirk's employer designed a needlessly complicated and dangerous verification system of death traps to give them the clues they need.
322* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
323** This has been a main character trait of the Master from the very beginning, and is especially true of the Anthony Ainley incarnation -- as the Rani says in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E3TheMarkOfTheRani The Mark of the Rani]]", "he'd get dizzy if he tried to walk in a straight line!" This is an intentional character flaw; Creator/TerranceDicks said the joke with the classic-era Master is that he's "the man so intelligent that he can't see the simple things staring him in the face." This usually tends to blow up in their face.
324** Styggron in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E4TheAndroidInvasion The Android Invasion]]" might have actually conquered Earth had he just sprayed the planet with the impossibly deadly poison that would certainly have killed every human on Earth, rather than spend so much of his time dicking around with robot doubles, {{Gaslighting}} spacemen, and building hyper-realistic training simulations where the pubs are kept fully stocked up with ale but every day on the calendar reads the same date.
325** It's a commonly pointed-out plot hole in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E5TheBrainOfMorbius The Brain of Morbius]]" that Solon's plan to give BrainInAJar Morbius a new body is far more complicated than it needs to be. Much of the plot is driven by his intention to cut off the Doctor's "magnificent" head and use it as the final piece of the FrankensteinsMonster body that he built for Morbius to live in. It would have been a lot more straightforward just to [[BrainTransplant put Morbius into the Doctor's body]] -- or even Condo's. This was mostly a holdover from earlier drafts of the script in which Condo was absent and Solon was a robot stitching together bodies from downed spaceships with no understanding of how they looked together, and the PlotHole was big enough that Creator/TerranceDicks wanted his name taken off the script. The production subtitles on the DVD suggest that, as someone who already spent a lot of time on the mishmash body, Solon may be experiencing "the same logic blind spot that engulfs someone when they are trying to assemble a flatpack wardrobe in that they would rather spend time and effort hammering in new bits, cutting off useless parts and searching for non-existent screws so that they can actually get the darn thing installed than start afresh with something far more suitable for the purpose intended".
326** The Doctor themself occasionally falls prey to the disease. More than one companion has had to point them in the direction of the simple approach when they've started going a little too tangential in their solutions than is tolerable (or safe ... or sane).
327*** In "[[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor The Day of the Doctor]]", three of the Doctor's regenerations work together to figure out a way to use the Sonic Screwdriver to get through a wooden door, the solution involving a centuries long time-loop to get the calculations done. When current companion Clara shows up, she points out none of them thought to ''check that the door was locked first.''
328** The Silence's plan to kill the Doctor was extremely complicated. Apparently they were controlling humanity and manipulating the space race to get a space suit which their assassin would be in while killing the Doctor. This despite the fact that they are capable of time travel and seem to have a base in the 52[[superscript:nd]] century. However, there is a reason: they want the Doctor's death to ''[[KilledOffForReal stick]]'', and so need to arrange for the right place, to be able to make it a fixed point in time, and the right assassin.
329** [[spoiler:Ashildr's]] plan in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E10FaceTheRaven "Face the Raven"]] could probably have been pulled off with a lunch invitation and [[SlippingAMickey a drugged cup of tea]]. Instead, the plan ends up an overly elaborate deception that risks the lives of multiple people, [[spoiler:gets Clara killed, and nearly leads to the enraged Doctor raining Hell upon the entire street]].
330* Happens on almost every episode of ''Series/{{Eureka}}'' as the super-scientists go through complex ideas to solve a major problem. It's non-scientist Carter who comes up with the solution so obvious and simple, it never occurs to the geniuses.
331* ''Series/GetSmart'': In a variation, CONTROL's spy gear that is assigned to Max on a constant basis (including his signature ShoePhone) are [[AwesomeButImpractical overly-complicated pieces of kit that are fragile, easy to lose, easy to mishandle]] (a thing that is very problematic [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace when it comes to concealed guns and explosives]]), prone to malfunction (the Cone of Silence being [[RunningGag the king]] of this point) and often designed to do things completely contrary to what they seemingly should be able to do with the vague explanation of "concealment". So in one episode Max just plain asks Professor Carlson, the developer of all of those gizmos, why not give him and 99 a regular tape recorder and camera instead of a tape recorder that is a concealed camera and a camera that is a concealed tape recorder as their gear-of-the-week. Carlson's answer, in the most deadpan, "I don't understand why you're asking me this" tone possible, is "because my mind doesn't work that way, that's why".
332* What screws over the BigBad of the first season of ''Series/TheGoodPlace'': [[spoiler: Michael, the architect of the Good Place. He was so excited to build a Bad Place. But instead of building a normal Bad Place and filling it with mundane torture implements like fire and bears and "butt spiders" like his fellow demons, he had an ''idea'': a Bad Place whose inhabitants would unknowingly torture each other with their personality flaws while thinking they are in the Good Place. But to pull off such a grand plan, he had to give the humans living there free will and maintain the illusion, which ultimately ruins the plan when the humans figure out on their own that they are in the Bad Place.]] This later turned out to be justified by the fact that [[spoiler: the mundane torture implements had grown ineffective. It turns out that humans will eventually develop a tolerance for any kind of pain. And the spiders get bored.]]
333* One contestant in the sixth season of ''Series/TheGreatBritishBakingShow'' suffered from this. Even after the judges repeatedly criticized her on the grounds that she tried to do too much and it ended up sinking her bakes, even knowing and saying herself that this was an issue, she couldn't seem to stop herself from trying to do the most elaborate bakes she could think up.
334* Barney on ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' puts way too much thought and effort into just about everything. When he wants to see whether he or Ted is the better TheCasanova he plans to have them compete in a sexual decathalon in a neutral city with a panel of international judges. When he wants to get revenge on Marshall, he spends months developing an exploding meatball sub to prank him with and uses elaborate and expensive means to fake a terminal illness so that Marshall will eat the exploding sub in accordance with Barney's last wishes. That's not even getting into the ridiculous {{Batman Gambit}}s he uses to seduce women.
335** The entire episode "The Playbook" is the explanation of ''one long scam'' on Barney's part to pick up a woman he hadn't even met yet when it started. It involves a scuba suit, website design, the Empire State building, seducing two other women along the way (one of whom he knew was a plant trying to scam ''him''), at least two false identities, and feigned emotional vulnerability.
336** And, the short-arc plan "The Robin", where he had to eliminate Robin's current boyfriend, enlist her office frenemy, use a BatmanGambit on the rest of the gang, and finally get Robin positioned, just so he could ''ask'' her if she'd marry him. The final step: "[[spoiler:Hope she says yes]]."
337* ''Series/TheInvisibleMan'': Arnaud is addicted to devising complex schemes for getting the invisibility gland out of Darien. In one episode, Darien actually asks Arnaud why he hasn't just shot him or cut the gland out?
338* Done deliberately in the ''Series/JonathanCreek'' episode "The Eye of Tireseias" by [[spoiler: Andre Masson. His plan to commit suicide and stage it so that it looks like he's been murdered by one of his business associates, as revenge for said associate sleeping with his wife, is intentionally overly complex and convoluted, as nobody would believe that anyone would go through so much trouble to try and frame someone. It would have worked perfectly if it weren't for one factor Masson could not have forseen; said associate's flat being burgled and a crucial piece of planted evidence being stolen.]]
339* This is Nate Ford's shtick in ''Series/{{Leverage}}''. Numerous characters have pointed out that he's addicted to running increasingly complex cons.
340** Although unlike most of the other characters here, he is [[ManipulativeBastard sufficiently skilled]] that his plans usually work. This is helped by his [[BadassCrew extremely skilled associates]].
341** In a season four episode, Hardison proves himself vulnerable to this, failing to complete a con because the marks began to suspect that the rigmarole was too extensive. Nate explains that he's able to be addicted to complexity because he begins from Plan G, the "ugly plan" that'll probably end up working even when everything else doesn't and that the other Plans help advancing.
342* ''Series/MacGyver1985'': Karl, the bad guy in "Deadly Silents", seems to suffer from this; concocting several elaborate death traps to kill Mac and Pinky, even as his partner keeps urging to [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim just shoot him.]]
343** Mac’s ArchEnemy Murdoch has a very big love for placing Mac inside of a DeathTrap where he will have enough time to find a way to get out through MacGyvering. Even in one episode where he truly goes AxCrazy and chases Max through some woods with a flamethrower and he decides to wire Mac’s car with a bomb just in case he tries to run away in it, he still decides to wire it so a little flag with the message “Bye, bye, time to fry” will deploy whenever someone turns the key and take two whole minutes after that to go boom, which is plenty of time for Mac to kick a window open and get out alongside the GirlOfTheWeek.
344* [[spoiler:Morgana]] from ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'' has this to the point of VillainBall.[[note]]See the recap of "Castle of Fyrien", for one.[[/note]] Best summed up by this quote from the "Lancelot du Lac" recap page. [[spoiler:Oddly enough, in this episode it actually works to heartbreaking effect]].
345-->'''Recap:''' Kill King Arthur? Nah, that's way too simple! Her plan involves soul coins, zombies, mind control, magical bracelets and perfect timing. It can't go wrong!
346* The ''Series/{{Monk}}'' episode "[[Recap/MonkS2E7MrMonkAndTheSleepingSuspect Mr. Monk and the Sleeping Suspect]]" is one particular case: Brian Babbage successfully kills his sister Amanda while he himself is in a coma for several months. How did he do it? With a bomb that was stuck to the inside of a mailbox with a special type of glue that would hold out for a few months, meaning it would be delivered on a time release, after which it would go off when it finally got into the deliveree's hands.[[note]]The coma part wasn't Brian's planned alibi, if you were wondering. He was actually planning to be put in jail so he could have been locked up at the time of the delivery. He got put into a coma while trying to get arrested, with the coma incidentally becoming a way better alibi.[[/note]] The possibility of it being delivered to the wrong address, of the victim moving, or of the bomb detonating too early or not at all, hasn't seemed to have to occur to Brian.
347* On ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'', there is a sketch in which a group of gangsters plan complex intricate schemes to do perfectly legal and mundane tasks such as buying a watch from a store and withdrawing money from a bank. Only one of them questions why they are putting so much effort into doing legal acts.
348* Many of the methods used by ''Series/MrBean'' to solve simple problems fit this trope, such as transporting an armchair on the roof of his car, and ''driving the car from the chair''.
349* On ''Series/NewGirl'' Schmitt and Ceecee are helping Winston with what they think is a proposal to their girlfriend. They're surprised when he doesn't as Winston explains he has a "28-point plan" for the proposal.
350** Winston enlists Jess' help cutting the list down and she starts tossing out items like erotic skywriting, the Los Angeles Children's Choir and a bobcat costume.
351* During a stint of unemployment, Ben of ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' invents a game called "Cones of Dunshire", but when he attempts to explain the rules to Leslie, he realizes that it is [[LoadsAndLoadsOfRules far too complicated]] and fears that ItWillNeverCatchOn. The game's complexity is exactly what endears it to the employees of an accounting firm that offers him a job. Much later it catches on more widely (although not among the cast), and the fact that he's the creator is what convinces a tech company to invest heavily in the town.
352* SOP for pretty much every ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' and ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' villain. They almost invariably utterly outclass all of the Rangers put together, and could easily wipe them out on Day 1, but choose to go through a whole process of summoning or creating a monster, sending it out, waiting for the Rangers to beat it, making it grow, then complain about not being able to beat those pesky Rangers. Repeat as necessary. This actually gets parodied with Carantula, the villain responsible for designing most of the monsters in ''Series/MashinSentaiKiramager'', as he insists on making wacky monsters based on random things from earth culture that he finds interesting, which actually makes them less effective in some cases. The worst example was a monster that was themed after bombs and bowling, which ended up being useless because the monster's bombs would not explode unless they first knocked over ten people with them, and the Kiramagers had fewer than ten members.
353* ''Series/{{Psych}}'': Many criminals come up with very elaborate schemes to kill the people they want dead. Although the end result is a mystery that leaves many of the cops stumped and the main detectives boggled for a few minutes, there are too many places for something to go wrong, which will ultimately lead to the clue that indicts them.
354** Shawn even lampshades this in one episode.
355--->''"First, you tried to make him fail a drug test, then you tried to trade him off to other teams, and when those didn't work you tried to kill him... I guess just injuring him would have been, what, too Tonya Harding-ish for you?"''
356** Possibly the case with recurring character Yang, as a symptom of her insanity. As a serial-killer her over-complex puzzles and riddles defeated every detective that tried to catch her, Shawn being the first one smart enough to win, [[spoiler: except it was actually her father who was performing the killings]], and that's because [[DefiedTrope he pretended to admit defeat and refused to do any]] of her CriminalMindGames (which drove her to "walk up to Shawn with a gun [[BatmanGambit and get caught]]" levels of crazy). But even in subsequent appearances where she is really trying to help Shawn catch her partner Yin, she ''still'' phrases her help in vague riddles and hints, rather than just ''telling'' him who Yin is. The one time he asks her to do exactly that, she becomes angry and insists that "that's not the way I work."
357* Happens a lot on ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'' as both the bad guys and the kids can come up with frankly ridiculous and insane plots in various ways.
358** The entire "Gargoyle King" storyline is the prime example.
359** Edgar runs an operation on a farm that's basically [[spoiler: to harvest people for organs and sell them on the black market? Does he simply kidnap these people and operate on them? Oh, no. First, he sends his wife, Evelyn, to pose as his 17 year old daughter (the woman is actually 26) to sway troubled high schoolers into joining. Then, he hypnotizes them into thinking they're seeing a source of pain (from Cheryl's dead brother to Betty's "dark persona") to make them loyal to him. He then convinces them that the only way to "cut away their pain" is via a "ceremony" that's actually the surgery.]] Betty basically lampshades how this whole thing is so outrageously complex that no one would ever suspect it's happening.
360* ''{{Series/Seinfeld}}'', S3 E13, "The Subway":
361-->'''Kramer:''' All right, Coney Island. Okay, you can take the B or the F and switch for the N at Broadway Lafayette, or you can go over the bridge to [=DeKalb=] and catch the Q to Atlantic Avenue, then switch to the IRT 2, 3, 4 or 5, but don't get on the G. See that's very tempting, but you wind up on Smith and 9th street, then you got to get on the R.\
362'''Elaine:''' Couldn't he just take the D straight to Coney Island?\
363'''Kramer:''' Well, yeah...
364* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'':
365** PlayedForLaughs in "[[Recap/SherlockS02E02TheHoundsOfBaskerville The Hounds of Baskerville]]" as John rants on how Sherlock ruined a game of ''TabletopGame/{{Clue}}do'' because he kept insisting the killer was Mr. Black... ''the murder victim''.
366--->'''John:''' Because it's not actually possible for the victim to have done it, Sherlock, that's why!\
367'''Sherlock:''' But it was the only possible solution...\
368'''John:''' It's not in the rules!\
369'''Sherlock:''' Then the rules are wrong!
370** A minor plot point in "[[Recap/SherlockS02E03TheReichenbachFall The Reichenbach Fall]]": [[spoiler:in an aversion of HollywoodHacking, Sherlock is so convinced that Moriarty actually made a program that can hack into anything that he never once considers the possibility that Moriarty simply bribed the right people to open the right doors and set off the right alarms at the proper times to make it look like he had developed such a program]]. Moriarty is legitimately disappointed in Holmes for not figuring this out, and calls him out on it.
371--->'''Moriarty:''' That's your weakness. You always want everything to be clever.
372*** In Series 3, [[spoiler:Sherlock claims that this in turn was all part of an elaborate BatmanGambit cooked up by him and Mycroft to bring down Moriarty and his organization. [[MindScrew If that was really Sherlock]]]].
373** And then there's "[[Recap/SherlockS04E03TheFinalProblem The Final Problem]]", a ridiculously complicated GambitRoulette[=/=]BatmanGambit which... suffice to say, left fans ''very'' divided.
374* While the Goa'uld of ''Series/StargateSG1'' attempted to be this, they came off as just a bunch of {{Large Ham}}s what were TooDumbToLive. Ba'al, on the other hand, actually ''had'' this. In the DVD movie ''Film/StargateContinuum'', he had the means to crush the Earth to dust a hundred times over, but he wanted to conquer the Earth by inviting the US President to tea. When the other Go'auld simply wanted to bomb the planet, he mocked their lack of style, saying "You're all so stuck in your ways." You could seriously sometimes forget that you're '''[[DracoInLeatherPants not]]''' [[DracoInLeatherPants supposed to root for him]]. {{Justified}} twofold: one, Ba'al retains memories of [[spoiler:the original timeline where Earth is ''way'' more trouble than it's worth to the Goa'uld]], and two, [[spoiler:in the original timeline he spent about a year living as a human and [[HumanityIsInfectious sort of got to like it]]]].
375* ''Series/SlowHorses'':
376** A recurring bit will be some of the Slough House agents overthinking a situation in terms of the complex spy world, not realizing quite often the obvious answers are true.
377** This is a huge problem for tech guru Roddy, an arrogant man who keeps looking for a complex idea. A good example is him completely brushing off looking up the plate number for a van used in a kidnapping as it's obviously an alias, the plates faked and the vans have long been switched out. It never occurs to Roddy that yes, someone would use their real name and actual vehicle for a crime.
378** Having bragged about living "off the grid," Roddy is thrown when River shows up at his door saying their boss Lamb gave him the address. Roddy rants on the elaborate steps he's taken changing his name, scrubbing any data trail, the multiple e-mails and servers he uses and there's no way a "Luddite" like Lamb could have tracked him down. He's naturally deflated when River tells him Lamb just followed Roddy home after his first day of work.
379* The entire first season plot of ''Series/StarTrekPicard'' and all the assorted murders, terrorist acts, and other crimes carried out by the ''Zhat Vash'' could have been avoided if the Romulans had simply ''told'' others about what they'd discovered instead of falling into their cultural obsession of secrecy and subterfuge.
380* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': The Borg Queen seems to fall victim to this in the episode ''Dark Frontier'', when she comes up with a complicated plot to infect Earth with a [[TheVirus nanoprobe virus]] that will slowly assimilate the human race over the course of several years. As ''Website/SFDebris'' pointed out, it would be much easier and faster to just attack Earth with multiple cubes at once, as the Federation was only barely able to handle one of them at a time.
381* Discussed in the ''Series/Supergirl2015'' episode "[[Recap/Supergirl2015S2E8Medusa Medusa]]", regarding the Luthor family.
382-->'''Alex:''' Why did Lillian Luthor take your blood? I mean, [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim why not just kill you]]?\
383'''Kara:''' I... think she has something a little more nefarious planned. \
384'''Winn:''' Ah, yes, those Luthors do love an ''epic'' criminal scheme.
385* The Terror in ''Series/TheTick2016'' loves needlessly complicated schemes. To quote Superian: "His plans make no sense." This eventually turns his most faithful lieutenant against him when she realizes that his schemes are basically whatever random impulses come into his head.
386* A geopolitical version of this is critiqued in ''Series/TheWestWing'' episode "A Good Day". Over the course of the episode Kate comes to realise that the various military and political wonks in the White House Situation Room, including herself, are so used to dealing with crises that they've gotten themselves locked into a near-perpetual crisis mode that leads them to over-complicate every situation to at times truly ridiculous and even dangerous ends. Case in point: a couple of hunters accidentally crossing the border and finding themselves in a stand-off with Canadian police almost becomes a war between the United States and Canada because everyone involved reacts as if this is a major international incident requiring a military build-up, sabre-rattling, complex back-door diplomatic negotiations and lots of serious complex stratagems instead of just a couple of schmucks who got lost and bumbled their way into the wrong country. Kate eventually resolves the situation by... falsely telling the hunters that hunting season is over and if they don't knock it off and surrender themselves they'll lose their hunting licenses.
387* In ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows2019'', the vampire Simon the Devious comes up with intricate plans to steal back a cursed hat from Laszlo, most parts of which are completely unnecessary. Even the vampire roommates, no stranger to stupid and over-complicated maneuvers themselves, are a bit confused at his scheme to produce 150 episodes of a home improvement show so that one of them would eventually get interested in it and apply to be on the show, allowing him access to take the hat. Guillermo also wonders why he picked a co-host first then sent him to architecture school instead of picking a guy who was already qualified.
388[[/folder]]
389
390[[folder:Music]]
391* Quoth Peter Sinfield, one-time lyricist for Music/KingCrimson:
392-->"We had an Ethos in Crimson...we just refused to play anything that sounded anything like a Tin Pan Alley record. If it sounded at all popular, it was out. So it had to be complicated, it had to be more expansive chords, it had to have strange influences. If it sounded, like, too simple, we'd make it more complicated, we'd play it in 7/8 or 5/8, just to show off."
393* The premise of the Music/JohnnyCash song "One Piece at a Time"...An automotive factory worker conspires with a friend an elaborate plan to steal an expensive sports car by sneaking the necessary parts off of the assembly line one at a time, spread out over multiple years and putting them together at home. Things become extra complicated when he realizes [[DidntThinkThisThrough he didn't factor in the changes in car designs across successive model years]].
394* Music/{{Eminem}}, well known for his virtuoso rapping, often jokes in songs about how his rapping is so musically and [[HurricaneOfPuns semantically]] complex that nobody can understand them. In interviews, he's attributed this to his addictive personality, claiming that the part of him that led to him getting addicted to drugs is the same part of him that obsessively pushes the technical limit of his art.
395[[/folder]]
396
397[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
398* Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}}'s The Whisper's FinishingMove The Aftermath is a one-armed [[Wrestling/GregoryHelms Vertabreaker]] setup into a face first over the back slam.
399[[/folder]]
400
401[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
402* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'', ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': Tzeentch, being essentially a god of {{Magnificent Bastard}}s, acts almost exclusively through {{Gambit Roulette}}s, even when a more straightforward solution might be possible. Many of his plans appear to be in direct conflict with each other, and it's been suggested that he doesn't actually ''have'' an ultimate goal. In fact, a popular fan theory is that Tzeentch has a LITERAL complexity addiction. If he ever wins, that is to say becomes the utterly dominant Chaos power and overruns reality, then there will be no more schemes for him to enact. Which will mean he ceases to exist at the very instant of his victory. That's why so many of his goals are in opposition to each other -- he cannot afford to ever actually win, but nor can he cease trying to. Mind you, he does seem to [[ForTheLulz enjoy it,]] as well...
403** Before the Horus Heresy, Primarch Roboute Guilliman criticised Primarch Alpharius of the Alpha Legion for this -- Alpharius' elaborate plans may in narrow terms have been highly successful, thoroughly crushing all opposition with limited losses for his legion, but they were also wasteful in time and resources (not helped by Alpharius' tendency to sometimes take counter-productive actions like warning enemies and giving them time to fortify solely to make his victories look more impressive).
404** Alpharius' overly complicated plots also extends to his Legion. In the wake of the Horus Heresy, the remnants of the Alpha Legion have kept up their guerrilla war against the Imperium of Man, with many of their tactics boiling down to absurdly complex long-term plots which are so labyrinthine that it can take them centuries to see any resuls. However, said results are often devastating, such as infecting the inhabitants of a Space Marine chapter's recruiting planet with a long-term memetic virus that causes half the chapter to suddenly turn traitor with no warning a century later.
405* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'''s Infernals suffer from Torment, which punishes them if they don't obey their (literally) Hellish masters. In order to appease them, they can perform Acts of Villainy that pander to their patrons' urges. Intentionally leaving clues to attract heroes to oppose you, setting up a fiendish death trap and gloating about your plans before leaving them for dead are all acceptable. Better still, you are rewarded whether or not you are successful; thus, rebellious Infernals can intentionally set themselves up to fail, in order to escape punishment for not doing their jobs.
406* Tinker gnomes in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'''s ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Spelljammer}}'' settings have this. It's most obvious in the {{Rube Goldberg Device}}s they're (in)famous for, but they're perfectly capable of falling in love with just about any "brilliant" idea or scheme at a moment's notice as well. (Some examples of their [[TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard naming conventions]] would seem to indicate that their brains may indeed run a mile a minute -- they'd have to just to cope with all the information they try to put ''into'' a "proper" name -- they just do so without bothering to stop for common sense along the way.)
407* A lot of CollectibleCardGame players focused on the creative deck-building side of the game are motivated by a desire to see their convoluted deck concept or some AwesomeButImpractical card actually win something, even if picking up a [[BoringButPractical tried-and-true cookie-cutter meta deck]] would have a higher success rate. Lampshaded by one such ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Discussion.aspx?popularpage=4&multiverseid=230788 card]]:
408-->'''Laboratory Maniac:''' His mind whirled with grand plans, never thinking of what might happen if he were to succeed.
409** In ''Magic'', such people are called "Johnnies" or "Jennies", and they're viewed as one of the three main player psychographics (the others being Timmies/Tammies, who play for the experience of casting big creatures and entertaining spells, and Spikes, who play for tactical satisfaction and the joy of winning). Many Magic sets will include at least a handful of cards that attempt something in a needlessly complicated way solely to give Johnny/Jenny a new toy, whether that's [[https://scryfall.com/card/ths/102/rescue-from-the-underworld a fiddly and limited reanimation spell that can be used to exploit enter-the-battlefield triggers]], [[https://scryfall.com/card/mbs/111/knowledge-pool a confusing artifact where spells get traded out for other spells when you cast them]], or [[https://scryfall.com/card/iko/155/gemrazer an entire mechanic about merging your creatures in ways that stack activation triggers]].
410* There's a little bit of a complexity epidemic in ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'', as many villains won't simply shoot the heroes, they'll tie them under a Rocket Engine, unleash mutant collared peccaries, or thrown into an arena. There's even one instance of a group of fanatical but otherwise perfectly sensible Soviet agents putting a hostage on a furnace's conveyor belt. A certain degree of justification exists in that the whole game runs on ''Franchise/IndianaJones''-style Pulp sensitivities.
411* The ''TabletopGame/DiscworldRolePlayingGame'' enforces this trope by offering dark lord characters their own Code of Honour disadvantage -- which includes the rule "Use overcomplicated death-traps and ornate, flared, barbed, and smokeblackened blades". Note that, on the Discworld, NarrativeCausality ensures that villains who act this way are generally guaranteed to survive their many defeats, in an equally stereotyped way -- and the game supports this too.
412[[/folder]]
413
414[[folder:Theatre]]
415* Cleopatra from ''Theatre/AntonyAndCleopatra''. She can't simply say something straight to your face or ask you for something, she'll make sure to manipulate your emotions and thoughts to get what she wants, even when it's completely unnecessary or even counterproductive.
416[[/folder]]
417
418[[folder:Toys]]
419* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'': Makuta's original plan failed. So he came with something even more complicated that required thousands of years of precise timing, careful execution, reliance on [[JustAsPlanned his opponents doing exactly what he expected them to do in trying to foil his schemes]], and even his [[ThanatosGambit own potential death]]. Some of his allies seriously complain about the over-complexity, wanting to simply use brute force instead, and a running joke among the Brotherhood was that he had back-up plans in place for his breakfast. Heck, Makuta himself even seemed aware of his addiction, as at several points he admitted to having "schemes within schemes" that would tear apart his enemies' minds if they tried to seriously decipher them (this is, in fact, NotHyperbole-look at Zaktan). [[spoiler:And it [[TheBadGuyWins WORKED]], with no one the wiser until he literally came out and revealed it]].
420* The board game ''Mouse Trap'', where the {{Rube Goldberg|Device}} mechanism for catching the mice was so complicated that it rarely if ever worked.
421** As [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dJr2SdyLGk the 1990's commercial]] describes the proceedings:
422--->''Just turn the crank''\
423''And snap the plank''\
424''And boot the ball right down the shoot.''\
425''Now watch it roll''\
426''And hit the pole''\
427''Knock the ball in the rub-a-dub tub''\
428''Which flips the man''\
429''Into the pan.''\
430''The trap is set''\
431''Here comes the net!''\
432''Mouse Trap--I guarantee!''\
433''It's the craziest trap you'll ever see.''
434[[/folder]]
435
436[[folder:Urban Legends]]
437* There's an [[https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-write-stuff/ urban legend]] that NASA spent a decade and twelve billion dollars (or whatever) developing a ballpoint pen that could write in zero-g... while the Russians [[BoringButPractical just used a pencil]]. The truth, for the record, is that pencils were used by both until it was realised snapped pencil tips floating around in space capsules were a hazard, so a guy called Paul C. Fisher spent his own money to develop a "space pen" and offered it to NASA.
438* This is why so many conspiracy theories fall apart under FridgeLogic, because the conspiracies are needlessly complicated to accomplish their goals.
439** UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy couldn't have just been shot by a nut with a sniper rifle in an empty building, [[WhoShotJFK it had to be]] a massive coordinated effort between the Soviet Union, the Mafia, Cuba, and the military-industrial complex. A secret, incredibly powerful group with enough power to rule the world would rather waste time and resources hiding in the shadows and trying to look nondescript instead of just brute-forcing their rule.
440*** Interestingly enough, the Soviet government worried that their own internal complexity addiction might have screwed them over; the top brass genuinely didn't want JFK dead (they were doing just fine ''without'' pissing off the most powerful nation in the world, thank you kindly), but they had to launch an investigation into the KGB just to see if, somewhere in their VastBureaucracy, some extremist hadn't gone unnoticed long enough to order the assassination without party approval (for what it's worth, [[NotMeThisTime they didn't find anything]]).
441** The moon landing was [[MoonLandingHoax faked]] and ''everyone'' involved kept it a secret even though the technology was available.
442** The 9/11 attacks were faked by flying two remote-controlled planes into the Twin Towers which were secretly rigged for demolition, flying a missile designed to ''look'' like a plane into the Pentagon, putting airplane parts in a hole in a field in PA ...somehow, quietly disposed of hundreds of passengers on 4 planes, and just to top it off, the bad guys somehow rigged WTC 7 to also be secretly demolished,[[note]]Reading the WTC owner in on the plan for some reason.[[/note]] because they ''knew'' the Towers' collapse wouldn't screw up the 7 demo charges.[[note]]They also knew that the plane impacts wouldn't damage the Towers' charges. This is starkly impossible, even with modern simulation technology, much less in 2001.[[/note]] All this demolition was done with secret experimental "super-thermite", which [[{{Unobtanium}} conveniently has exactly the unprecedented and un-reproducible properties]] to make the Towers and 7 collapse with the speed of explosives, but as quietly as thermite, explaining the lack of deafening explosions and local barotrauma.[[note]]There ''are'' military explosives that use super/nano-thermite, but it turns out they are, in fact, ''explosives''. In fact, they're intended to be ''more'' powerful than regular explosives.[[/note]]
443** Don't forget the part where none of the fake terrorists used to justify a war in Iraq and Afghanistan were from Iraq or Afghanistan. In fact, most of them were ''Saudi'', and the crime was pinned on a Saudi mastermind, even though Saudi Arabia is a US ally. And the genius planners never decided to fake [=WMDs=] in Iraq them to justify the war, which would be a ''lot easier than pulling off the 9/11 attacks''.
444[[/folder]]
445
446[[folder:Video Games]]
447* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
448** ''VideoGame/SonicLabyrinth'', a game in which Sonic has to solve puzzle mazes by [[GottaCatchThemAll collecting]] [[MacGuffin keys]]. The catch is that Sonic has lost his super speed with the exception of his spin dash ability, at the hands of his nemesis Dr. Eggman. According to the [[AllThereInTheManual manual scenario]] Eggman snuck into Sonic's house while Sonic was sleeping and stole his Sneakers to send him on this crazy quest.
449** It's a general AcceptableBreakFromReality for villains to have large winding fortresses instead of just blocking the hero with a wall or [[LeapOfFaith having them fall into lava]], but special mention must go to ''VideoGame/SonicSpinball'', in which Robotnik builds a "Pinball Defense System" to stop his nemesis who is well known for curling into a ball.
450** Mephiles's plan from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' could have ended so early if he just [[spoiler:killed Elise, thereby releasing Iblis]], but he had to overblow the whole plot, making the entire plan completely useless. He had plenty of other options, too:
451*** He could even have just [[spoiler:[[LetsPlay/SonictheHedgehog2006 cut up a few onions in front of her]]]].
452*** He could have skipped the manipulation altogether and just merge with the clearly unleashed Iblis in Silver's time period. It's not like Iblis is being subtle and hard to find.
453*** Even what he ends up doing, [[spoiler: killing Sonic]], would have been fine. Given the ease of which it was done, and that he only does it because his more complicated plan failed spectacularly, you have to wonder why he didn't just do that in the first place.
454* The Lich King in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has a truly epic case of this. He comes up with a plan to [[spoiler: transform your player into one of his 10/25 (depending on dungeon mode) greatest generals by allowing you to train up by killing off any number of already competent servants, including his 10 most powerful minions you can only kill when outnumbering them at least 9 to 1, then slaughter your way up to his inner sanctum and nearly kill him, before he kills you and raises you as undead.]] Alternatively, his plan could have gone something like this: Lord Marrowgar....okay I made you too big to ever leave the room, stay where you are. Drakuru, who I didn't kill like an idiot, send out your super-trolls. Deathwhisper rally the cultists! Saurfang lead the troops! Putridus release your plagues! Unleash the Darkfallen! The other 8 billion of you...Charge! I mean seriously, [[TheAlliance those]] [[TheHorde idiots]] are still ''killing each other'' even though the sole reason you're here is to fight a guy who ''reanimates the dead''.
455** This turns out to be explained by [[spoiler: what remains of Arthas' humanity deliberately holding him back. If the Scourge were left to their own devices (possibly still under the control of Ner'zhul) then they would wipe out the living. Possibly the ridiculous plan is a way to justify his [[OrcusOnHisThrone inaction]]. No, I'm not holding back. My plan just relies on bringing me to the brink of destruction]].
456*** Also worth noting from the above, [[spoiler:Arthas' intervention]] appears to be in the Lich King's subconscious. Meaning [[spoiler: in his rational mind, the Lich King actually thought having 10/25 mortals farm his strongest generals and almost kill him, only to be killed and raised to serve him seemed like a good idea, and one that would have worked if he had the foresight to kill Tirion Fordring at the start of the fight as he easily could have]].
457* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' players in general ''love'' this trope. Why dispose of garbage by throwing it in a trash dump outside when you can reduce it to ash in magma or hurl it [[spoiler:into the bottomless pits of Hell]]? Why use a few [[GameBreaker cage traps]] when you can build a pressurized-magma WaveMotionGun? As for dealing with captured enemies... throwing them into a cavern or off of a tower is the ''simple'' way of dealing with them, but [[BloodSport gladiatorial combat]] and deranged {{death trap}}s are extremely popular as well.
458** With any feature, intended [[GoodBadBugs or]] [[GoodBadBugs/SimulationGame not]], someone will find a way to weaponize it. Ignite artifacts to make incendiary booby-traps? Making drawbridge catapults to fire captive goblins at the next raiding party? Wait, let's drive a few dwarves berserk so they'll have to be slain and will come back as violently vengeful ghosts, which we can turn against our enemies! Or we could set up an elaborate gate-and-lever system (make sure you label the levers so you know where everything ends up) to both keep Noble politics interesting and the population of killer [[LegendaryCarp carp]] well fed!
459** [[GameMod How about we start messing with the game files]]? Like increasing the body temperature of the common cat to create a trap based on cats breeding to a critical mass and the ensuring temperature rise wiping whole sections of the fortress of life/flammable material? How about making elephants breed faster with a higher body temperature and making that cat nuke into a medieval ICBM? Even better--let's use strengthened doors and an invasion from Hell to flush the fortress of pesky kobold thieves!
460* ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheThirdPower'': The Resistance falls into this with their plan to kidnap Arielle, convince her that Arkadya is feigning camraderie with Cirinthia, and have her report to King Horatio. Not only does this paint a target on their heads, they also have to risk Arielle's life by bringing her to the site of Arkadya's crimes to prove their point. However, they believe they have no choice because King Horatio won't listen to them. [[spoiler:The Arkadyan Empire uses their bad rep against them by killing the Cirinthian royal family and framing them for it.]]
461* In ''VideoGame/{{Superman|64}}'' for the Nintendo 64, Lex Luthor captures Superman and puts him into a virtual reality environment, challenging him with tasks such as [[PassThroughTheRings flying through rings]]. Given the quality of the game, he may have been going for a FateWorseThanDeath angle here.
462* ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'', in the series named after him, when given responsibility over something, will want to do it in a time-consuming and convoluted way. This is most notable in the hamster he has to get into shape for ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheDiabolicalBox'', where Layton collects seemingly random junk to put in the critter's cage. Layton also likes to explain things to [[TheWatson Luke]] in the most confusing way possible. It's a good thing Luke is almost as good at deciphering messages as Layton. The villains aren't much better - in particular, Descole's convoluted schemes to find [[spoiler: The Azran sites]] before Layton, and [[spoiler: protect them from Targent]]. Especially his plan in ''Eternal Diva''.
463* People who play ''[[VideoGame/Aurora4X Aurora]]'' live by this trope, with the game being so complex any lesser person will go mad from frustration.
464* General Viggo from ''VideoGame/FurFighters'' opens the game by gassing the Fur Fighter village, knocking them all out cold with sleeping gas. He then kidnaps the children as hostages and transforms the spouses into mutant monsters to guard key locations. The reason for not killing the titular heroes who are currently helpless? Because that always went badly in the past. By the end of the game he decides to stop with all the clever plans and just use brute force.
465* There's one particular scenario in ''VideoGame/RideToHellRetribution'' involving the player having to get past an electric fence. The solution, instead of just crashing through it with a vehicle or cutting the power nearby, is to go kill a bunch of truckers, steal their fuel truck, kill a bunch of cops when they come to stop you, drive out of your way to a nearby power plant, kill everyone there and crash the truck into the power plant to destroy both, before returning to climb the un-electrified fence.
466** Near the end of the game, Jake goes after Pretty Boy, TheDragon of the Devil's Hand, and even knows where he stays. But rather than just go after him, he instead wins a couple of races for Pretty Boy's girlfriend, Brandy, goes to a mine and kills all of the workers there (to be fair, they shot at him first, but he is a biker, after all), goes to a miner's house to steal his bike, evades the police (killing many more of them), gets the bike fitted with C4, and gives it back to Brandy, who takes it to Pretty Boy's loft. And what happens next? Jake shoots the bike to blow it up (not detonating the explosives or anything, and no, the explosion is no different than the millions of explosions that came before it) in order to get Pretty Boy's attention. This leads to another fight with the Devil's Hand and yet another bike chase. Jake might as well have just shot an ordinary bike or car or simply fired a warning shot, since it seemed to serve the same purpose. At the very least, the electric fence part had a purpose, even if Jake mishandled it.
467* The AntagonistTitle character in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' has a chance to kill the other title character upon first meeting him, but [[BondVillainStupidity chooses instead to tell the guards to leave him alive, so he can make him suffer]]. Somewhat justified in that he's working with Scarecrow, who explicitly does not want to kill Batman until he's finished [[HopeCrusher destroying everything he represents]]. Killing him before that would only ensure that [[DontCreateAMartyr his legend will live on forever]].
468* The [=PS2=] FPS game ''Daemon Summoner'' has a stealth level which requires you to sneak on board a ship, and despite it being close to your starting position and only having one guard, you have to take the most roundabout and out of the way path imaginable to get on board the ship by sneaking through a warehouse, up a ridiculously long staircase and over the roof.
469* One complaint levied against ''VideoGame/ShadowOfDestiny'' is that the ways the main character avoids death seem like an excuse to abuse time travel. A video game magazine cited one scenario: the main character, Eike, is standing next to a tree when he is killed by an assailant who was using the tree to hide. Because of the circumstances of the game, he can move through time to prevent his own death. His solution? Go ''back to when the seed was first planted and prevent the tree from growing'', thus rendering his assassin's mode of concealment moot. The solution the magazine proposed? Just not stand next to the friggin' tree.
470* ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'': Justified with one of the main factions, the Dragon. Since they are students of Chaos Theory, in many cases the only point of their plans is to test their models. So they will set some ridiculously complex plot into motion just to see if it works. If it doesn't, they still get to gather data, and they'll be sure to do better next time.
471* Pierce of the ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' series is fond of devising needlessly convoluted plans that are always ignored in favour of the Boss's preferred method of "barge in and spray bullets until everything is dead". His loyalty mission in ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' is about finally going along with one of his plans for once.
472** In the alternate reality spin-off game ''VideoGame/AgentsOfMayhem'', Pierce ended up in charge of the Vice Kings and it's shown that his complicated plans actually did work exactly as intended, allowing him to eventually perform a bloodless takeover of all of Stilwater's criminal element before being recruited into MAYHEM. Granted, said plan simply involved [[BribingYourWayToVictory offering the other gang leaders a shitload of money in exchange for joining him]]; quite a bit less complicated than the plans his main universe self comes up with.
473* In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'', the infamous "Supply Lines..." mission has Zero send CJ to humiliate his rival Berkeley by assassinating his couriers using a miniature plane that regarded as ThatOneLevel due to being very hard to maneuver, quite fragile and overall impractical for the task instead of a more conventional method like personally gunning them down, like what CJ has been doing for the entire game. In fact, Zero could very easily ask CJ to get rid of Berkeley, but he would rather prefer to prove his superior intellect instead.
474* PlayedForLaughs in ''Franchise/{{Hitman}}''. The games have always encouraged creative ways to MakeItLookLikeAnAccident, but in the ''Overachievers'' ExpandedUniverse novella and subsequently ''VideoGame/Hitman3'', it's confirmed that InUniverse Agent 47 and TheHandler Diana have fun with their jobs and try to come up with the most convoluted ways to kill their targets [[ArrogantKungFuGuy in order to show off to the rest of the agency]]. In the aforementioned short story it's revealed that other agents decided to join in on the fun, leading to a NoodleIncident with another agent and [[NoodleImplements a Christmas tree]].
475* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'': ArcVillain Master Xehanort could give some villains a run for their money in terms of KudzuPlot plans. [[spoiler:According to ''Dream Drop Distance'', everything in the previous games has [[GambitRoulette somehow]] been AllAccordingToPlan via [[DiabolusExMachina secret, heretofore unmentioned powers]] that overlap AssimilationPlot with StableTimeLoop, all for the sake of recreating the Keyblade War, just to see what would happen. Xehanort even went as far as to cause his own StartOfDarkness.]] Given that other, more-straightforward methods to accomplish this have been demonstrated in a couple ''Kingdom Hearts'' games, one wonders why Xehanort didn't just look for them instead of working so feverishly on taking the harder option.
476* ''VideoGame/MysteryCaseFiles series''. Charles and Alistair just ''love'' their complicated plans and even more complicated locks. Charles is probably worse; while Alistair can just cut to the chase when needed, in ''VideoGames/MysteryCaseFilesEscapeFromRavenhearst,'' the whole game is Charles showing a very warped version of his life (which was bad enough to begin with), in order to lure the Master Detective to participate as [[spoiler:the "bride" in a bogus wedding scene. That's not even getting into using the Detective's necessary-to-survive actions to fuel the restoration of his "true loves" (yeah right) and daughters, so he can use them in further nefarious and complex schemes.]] Charles is flat nuts.
477* A running theme in the ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'' series are characters noting how ridiculously convoluted the various puzzles and traps they keep running into are when a simple gate would have done just as well. From statues that have to be lined up in just the right way to complex "water/cross wheel", the complexity of these has characters openly saying something like "can't they just leave a sign behind?"
478** In fact, the two puzzles in the first two games could be so complex that for the third and fourth entry, the developers allowed the option of players being given the solution or just skip the entire puzzle.
479* ''VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime'': [[GoldDigger Penelope]] could've gotten her billions of dollars from Bentley's designs legitimately if she had just remained patient with him and continued to [[FalseFriend play nice with Sly and Murray]]. Instead, her lust for money and power drives her to defect to Le Paradox and work on erasing the Cooper family from history, and [[RemovingTheRival disposing of Murray]] [[AndYourLittleDogToo and his van]], all so she could keep Bentley to herself, and force him into [[WarForFunAndProfit designing weapons]]. It comes crashing down hard when they find out, and dismiss Penelope as an [[BeyondRedemption unredeemable monster]].
480* Over the course of ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin'', Girlfriend's antagonistic parents just make things more and more needlessly dangerous. They want to kill their daughter's boyfriend, so their solutions are to kill him afer he loses a rap battle (Week 1), hire an assassin to kill him (Week 3), take him on top of a moving limousine and hope he dies that way (Week 4), and [[BaitTheDog send him and Girlfriend on a trip]] to ''destroy the airplane'', then hire the assassin to make sure he's dead (Week 7) instead of, y'know, shooting him when they had the chance. And this is just the first fraction of the game.
481* PlayedForDrama with Dutch in ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemptionII''. The man loves him some grand, complicated plans that will get the gang enough money to retire, cover their tracks flawlessly, and flip off their enemies while they're at it. Problem is, he seems incapable of realizing that a) [[MissingStepsPlan good plans don't skip steps]] b) people actually ''react'' to you trying to victimize them, c) just because Dutch assumes something is true doesn't mean it actually is, d) when these big plans fail, they leave a big mess that's easy to trace back to the gang, and e) the SunkCostFallacy is just that, and trying to cover up bad plans with worse plans does not work. After the 12-year TimeSkip to the original game, he's given up on grandiose plans in favor of convincing Native Americans to fight pointless wars against the United States while Dutch himself hides away in caves. What's worse is that it's implied by the endgame of ''II'', Dutch is suffering from an ''undiagnosed brain injury'' (that, even if it ''was'' diagnosed, would be impossible to treat with the medicine of the era) that prevents him from realizing any of this is a problem.
482* In ''VideoGame/NBABallers'', for the final tournament of the original game, the executives try to screw you over by constantly putting you against dynamic duos like the Lakers' Shaq and Kobe. Problem is, these matchups aren't 2-on-1, but 1-on-1-on-1, which means your opponents can easily end up screwing each other over while you capitalize on the tension to win it all anyway. [[spoiler:Even when ''the executives themselves'' decide to take you on to keep you from winning, it's still 1-on-1-on-1. Not surprisingly, they get fired after you completely own them on the court.]]
483* ''VideoGame/LANoire'' has an example in the first Traffic case. [[spoiler:Adrian Black fakes his own murder using a slaughterhouse hog, part of his new water heater, and the assistance of his plant foreman... so he can leave his wife and run off to Seattle to be with his mistress.]] Even Cole's partner points out there are easier ways to [[spoiler:break off an unhappy marriage]] than ''that''.
484* ''VideoGame/Persona5'': Black Mask is TheDragon for BigBad Masayoshi Shido, but Black Mask is also a DragonWithAnAgenda for plotting revenge against Shido. After discovering their power to traverse the Metaverse and cause mental shutdowns by killing Shadows, Black Mask offered their services to Shido's Antisocial Force as a hitman, dealing with Shido's enemies and becoming the ''only'' reason Shido was as successful as he was in getting close to becoming Prime Minister of Japan. And this was all so Black Mask could yank it away at Shido's moment of triumph by [[spoiler:revealing himself as Shido's bastard son, causing a massive scandal and ruining Shido's run for power at the last minute]]. As the Phantom Thieves point out, since Black Mask can enter the Metaverse and Shido can't, [[StatingTheSimpleSolution Black Mask could just kill Shido]] or steal his heart to enforce HeelFaceBrainwashing like the Thieves are doing. To make matters worse, Shido had figured out Black Mask's plot, and had a contingency in place to pull YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness on his hitman. [[spoiler:And GreaterScopeVillain Yaldabaoth's manipulation of the populace's cognition meant that ''no'' scandal, even the Phantom Thieves stealing Shido's heart and making him confess to all of his crimes on live television, was going to stick. Black Mask might not have known about Yaldabaoth at the time, but in UpdatedRerelease ''Persona 5: Royal'', it's even pointed out that Black Mask's plan was ultimately never going to work as designed.]]
485[[/folder]]
486
487[[folder:Visual Novels]]
488* Many of the murderers in ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' are either too paranoid, prideful, or just plain crazy to pull off a ''simple'' murder. Then again, simple murders are often covered up by the strategic destruction/removal of evidence or witnesses seeing things and coming to the wrong conclusions which often leads to the case itself taking on this trope, even if the murder was as simple as a spur of the moment shooting.
489** Florent L'Belle, the second culprit of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'' concocted a ''ridiculously'' overengineereed plot to get ahold of a large gold ingot, because he's too narcissistic to actually ''sell'' the cosmetics he spends loads of money advertising. In full, it went like this:
490*** Florent begins as the aide to the mayor of Tenma Town, and realizes that the alderman of Nine-Tails Vale has access to a gold ingot.
491*** Florent blackmails Tenma Town's mayor Damian Tenma with his daughter's safety to get him to support a merger between Tenma Town and Nine-Tails Vale, hoping that as aide to the mayor of the merged village, he'd get access to the forbidden chamber.
492*** When the plan started to falter, Florent instead decides to murder Alderman Kyubi.
493*** To do this, he arranges a meeting between Damian Tenma and Rex Kyubi, supposedly for Tenma to reveal his "The Amazing Nine-Tails" wrestling persona to Kyubi (a retired pro-wrestler himself).
494*** He then serves both men drugged coffee, and when they're both unconscious, stabs Kyubi and gets the Forbidden Chamber Key.
495*** After ''that'', he sets up a LockedRoomMystery by hiding Tenma's body in the Forbidden Chamber, disguising himself as the Amazing Nine-Tails, and getting Jinxie Tenma's attention, knowing that she knew her father's secret identity and that she wouldn't remove his mask as a wrestler's mask is SeriousBusiness.
496*** After she left, he dragged Tenma out of hiding and left the room, pressuring caretaker Phineas Filch into corroborating his alibi.
497---->'''Apollo:''' (Yeesh, {{Rube Goldberg|Device}} machines have less elaborate setups than L'Belle's scheme...)
498*** The plot looks ''especially'' ridiculous compared to Phineas Filch's own spur-of-the-moment plan to get into the chamber: Dress up in a Tenma Taro costume, sneak in through the vents, and then exit in plain sight, counting on village superstition (that Tenma Taro will kill you if you see him and then talk about it) to make a clean getaway.
499** This also applies to [[spoiler:Manfred von Karma]]'s revenge for [[spoiler:Gregory Edgeworth getting him a penalty on his "perfect" trial record: he shoots Gregory, takes on his son as a protege and raises him to be the very sort of attorney Gregory hated, then entices Yanni Yogi to help him murder someone else to frame Miles Edgeworth for it, banking on the idea that being caught up in a case so close to his father's murder would cause Edgeworth to confess to Gregory's killing (which von Karma knew Edgeworth mistakenly believed he did) and lead to Edeworth's imprisonment]]. That's quite some DisproportionateRetribution.
500** Lampshaded in the fourth game:
501--->'''Ema Skye:''' Why can't we have a normal, straightforward killing once in awhile in this country!?\
502'''Apollo:''' (I'll... pretend I didn't hear that.)
503* ''Franchise/DanganRonpa'': The [[DeadlyGame Killing Game]] can only be won by committing murder ''and'' getting away with it, which naturally leaves culprits desperate to commit the perfect crime that leaves them with an airtight alibi and frames another student. This occasionally leads to [[AwesomeButImpractical elaborate murder plots]]... despite the students who just [[BoringButPractical whacked their victim and booked it]] getting similar (or occasionally better) results.
504** ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'': The killer in the third case sets up a convoluted scheme that involves manipulating an accomplice into killing on their behalf, faking a series of attacks by a person in a robot costume to implicate someone else, the accomplice faking their death before being killed for real, and the killer having to direct most of the investigation without anyone else catching on. There are ultimately so many moving parts that the killer's desired narrative falls apart quickly. The complexity of the plan also works directly ''against'' it a couple times; the FrameUp victim is quickly exonerated because he's TheDitz and nobody really thinks he's capable of coming up with (much less carrying out) such a complicated plan, and the students eventually notice that one student was gathering all the "evidence" that pointed to the frame victim. It doesn't help that the culprit has a genuine [[INeverSaidItWasPoison slip of the tongue]], referring to the victims in plural before they could possibly know there ''was'' another victim.
505** ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'':
506*** Case 2's culprit manages to fall into both this ''and'' BoringButPractical. Their actual murder consisted of "get victim alone while everyone else is distracted by Kokichi's antics, knock victim out, drown victim in sink", and left almost no evidence. But then they just ''had'' to [[spoiler:create a rudimentary ropeway to dump the corpse in a piranha tank]] to frame Himiko, which resulted in some critical evidence falling where it couldn't be retrieved. Overall, the culprit added a fairly easily-disproven distraction and incriminated themselves in the process.
507*** Case 3's culprit commits two murders, one meticulously planned out and involves killing the target during a séance in a darkened room with several other people present, and one spur-of-the-moment when someone walks in on them setting up for the complicated murder and subsequently gets knocked out with a plank and then stabbed to death. The complicated murder is solved first, mainly because [[spoiler: the setup required for the murder weapon to work is so precise that [[ObviousJudas only the person who made the preparations for the séance could possibly have done it]].]] The "bonking the witness on the head" murder takes more time to puzzle out, and only with evidence collected during the investigation of the complicated scheme. Their plan was to make one obvious and get away with the other through LoopholeAbuse, but the aforementioned evidence allowed the others to connect them.
508** In the FanGame ''VisualNovel/SuperDanganronpaAnother2'', the most convoluted murder in the entire franchise ends up being ThePerfectCrime through LoopholeAbuse. [[spoiler:TeenGenius SerialKiller [[BitchInSheepsClothing Kanade Otonokoji]] used her twin sister as a ManchurianAgent to pull off a CrazyPrepared plan requiring TwinTelepathy, ImprobableAimingSkills, and a ''MemoryGambit'', resulting in the first crime in the series where ''two people'' were the killer [[XanatosGambit meaning that no matter which twin the others voted for, she would win]].]] The only reason it fails is due to a DeusExMachina.
509* Gilgamesh in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' shows up, effortlessly kills Caster, deflects Ilya's best attack, and sneers at everyone, but declines to kill them because he thinks Shirou's house is too shabby for a battle. He also refuses to kill Shirou and Tohsaka later because the house is burning down, which might make his ''clothes dirty.'' Gasp! He acts like this throughout the game and only goes straight for a kill in Heaven's Feel because he's pissed about someone taking away his stuff ([[spoiler:as in, Sakura is eating the townspeople]]). Oh, and it doesn't work, clearly because he discarded his style. Nevertheless, he's the most dangerous Servant around. He is repeatedly stated to be the strongest servant [[spoiler: (he has copies of all the legendary weapons the others yield plus unique ones)]], and is only defeated because he failed to use his full strength off the bat due to wanting to toy with opponents or not considering them worthy of his exertion.
510* Beatrice's bio in ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' comments that she has a problem with this. She gets so focused on the means to her ends, that she sometimes forgets the ends themselves. This is also a reference to how Beatrice's magic works in the setting - Beatrice and Kinzo describe magic as a kind of gamble, with a high-risk, high-reward system in place. Beatrice's plans are so convoluted to try and ensure that high reward, but it has the disadvantage of distracting her from her goals if she gets too into it.
511[[/folder]]
512
513[[folder:Web Animation]]
514* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': In "Unhappy Campers", Moxxie is delighted to finally be in charge of an operation, and one that involves not only killing someone [[MurderInc as per their usual business]] but investigating ''whom'' to kill first. He prepares extensively, including conconcting personas for himself disguised as a teenaged human girl and his wife as a boy... so when they arrive on the spot and immediately see someone up to his ears in circumstancial evidence of being the murderer they need to murder, he's not going to let a little detail like that derail his plan to investigate.
515[[/folder]]
516
517[[folder:Webcomics]]
518* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'':
519** This is an affliction common to Sparks, whose enthusiasm for pushing the boundaries of science and creating amazing contraptions can sometimes blind them to the obvious. They're so obsessed with building or improving new and crazy machines just to make them more complex, some even work in their [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040405 sleep.]] The affliction is also part of their ego. Providing a MundaneSolution to a problem will get you, ''[[CoolAndUnusualPunishment at the very least]],'' a [[DeathGlare severe glare]] for [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20091019 having spoiled the fun.]]
520** Similarly if you ask a Spark to make a coffee machine, you end up with ''[[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070618 this]]''. Although, to be fair, it does make [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070622 perfect]] [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070625 coffee]].
521** Airman Higgs lampshades it [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20150930 here.]]
522--->'''Alex Higgs:''' "I've seen this over and over! Damfool Sparks who think they've got to send a full-scale army of giant, singing rosebushes or it isn't romantic enough! Don't make everything so complicated!"
523** Also lampshaded by Queen Albia [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200911 here]]:
524--->'''Albia:''' (to Agatha) "Ridiculous machinations to accomplish nonsense easily done otherwise through ordinary means-- How like a young Spark. You are extremely amusing."
525* In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', as a result of her time in [[spoiler:the forest]], Antimony developed a case of this.
526-->'''Antimony:''' I suppose this calls for... an even '''more''' convoluted scheme!
527* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': Vriska loves to brag about her many "irons in the fire", but she doesn't appear to care if any of these schemes actually ''conflict''; as long as she's got another pie to stick a finger in, she's as happy as a clam that's never heard of chowder.
528** Her elaborate courtship of Tavros included abusing him physically and mentally, crippling him, taking advantage of his childhood fantasies, teaming up with him, mocking him, giving him a flying car, trying to force him to kill her and [[spoiler:killing him when he fails]], all in order to toughen him up and spark either red or [[BelligerentSexualTension black]] romantic feelings [[spoiler:because she thought it was fated because of Mindfang's journals]]. Instead, he just got confused and very frightened of her. She'd have had better results by ''just being nice to him''--it worked on John.
529** Rose tends to attribute a complicated motivation to those around her when a simpler one may be much more accurate and as more obvious. For instance, she thinks her mother's smothering affection and similar interests are affected in order to subtly mock and belittle her in an endless passive-aggressive battle of wits. Dave correctly guesses that Mom Lalonde's really just overly affectionate and happens to have the same interests as Rose.
530** Pretty much anything Caliborn does will be done the most needlessly-convoluted and time-consuming manner possible. Multiple characters point out his tendency to do things in ways that would mind-numb anyone else into a RageQuit.
531*** This is one of the ways he's contrasted with his future self, [[spoiler:Lord English]]; whereas Caliborn wastes his time and skill on pointlessly complex schemes, [[spoiler:English]] has grown up enough to understand that [[TheJuggernaut he can just blast his way through anyone that tries to stop him]]. He still goes through a lengthy process to enter new universes, but only because he has to follow Sburb's rules. Plus he's immortal and a time-traveler, so it's not a big problem for him.
532** John succumbs to this with his sylladex later in the story. After having spent most of the comic screwing around with his [[AwesomeButImpractical stupidly impractical, near-useless inventory system]] that forces him to constantly rearrange things, he obtains an array sylladex, which is [[BoringButPractical simple, easy-to-use, and has loads more space]]. John responds to this by combining the two systems, [[IdiotHero making the whole thing even more hideously impractical just to make things more challenging]].
533* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
534** Nale has this as his standard ''modus operandi'' to the point where all of his plans are regularly described as "needlessly complicated" by other characters. [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0255.html Case in point]]. He apparently [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0725.html inherited this from his mother]] (even though she didn't raise him). Even his class (multiclass Fighter/Thief/Sorcerer specializing in enchantment spells) is the same as a Bard (his twin brother Elan's class) but more complicated.
535** Xykon is the opposite of this trope, having a [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer simplicity addiction]]. He sees no point in creating elaborate plans or strategies when he can simply bombard an enemy with high-level spells or a target with [[ZergRush thousands upon thousands of Hobgoblin soldiers]]. In Xykon's case, it's not just a matter of laziness. To him, not needing plans or strategies to defeat his enemies is the ultimate expression of power. He also has a extreme disdain for [[UnequalRites uppity wizards who treat sorcerers such as himself as magical imbeciles]]. Thus the above simplicity addiction is one of his ways to continually reject the wizard's way of life by succeeding with only the minimal of planning and intelligence. That's not to say his plans are stupid by any means. By creatively using a single spell he manages to destroy a very large chunk of the Sapphire Guard who are guarding the throne room. He also spends a significant amount of time crafting or acquiring magical items to make his chosen tactics more effective and cover his weaknesses.
536--->'''Xykon:''' Planning doesn't matter. Strategy doesn't matter. Only two things matter: force in as great a concentration as you can manage, and style. And in a pinch, style can slide. In any battle, there's always a level of force against which no tactics can succeed.
537** Thog lays this accusation at Roy's feet during their arena fight. Roy has to use cross-class skills, specialized feats, and complicated schemes to use his best ability (intelligence) in combat; Thog can do the same by just hitting things. Ironically, Roy's attitude towards the {{Big Bad}}s are very simple: he doesn't care about a blood oath, story beats, or anything else except Xykon is going to hurt a lot of people and he needs to be stopped, period. He also doesn't care about what the gods think -- he needs to stop the Snarl because he doesn't want everyone to suffer and die.
538* ''Webcomic/TalesOfTheQuestor'':
539** The Fae, at least the Unseleighe Fae, trend toward this. Princeling Dolan had an ongoing political scheme that involved the Racconans, the Duke, the Wild Hunt, a minor plague, an unpayable debt and the daughters of a rival Fae Princeling and had been unfolding for over a century. As Sam put it, "(The Unseleighe Fae) think like a corkscrew."
540** The Brotherhood of Beither are possible candidates as well. It currently appears that they used political intrigue and influence through the Archivist's Guild and the Expansionist Party to remove political rivals from power by dissolving their rival's constituency by destroying the town of Freeman Downs through a loophole in an unfulfilled contract... Only for Freeman Downs' new questor to [[EvilCannotComprehendGood unexpectedly]] fulfill the contract with what practically amounts to an [[HeroicSacrifice indefinite exile]].
541* The fae of ''Webcomic/{{Roommates}}'' are no better. For example a simple installment of the custody battle between the Erlkönig and his ex Jadis involved BloodMagic, {{Shadow Archetype}}s, a magical mercenary doppelgänger, a cursed ring, an elaborate DreamWithinADream LotusEaterMachine, wrapped in several layers of symbolism, including planting ideas hundreds of years before, etc.... they both have a terminal case. (They are also incredibly [[LargeHam hammy]] and have the power to intentionally invoke several "Rule Of..." tropes.) Speaking of the Erlkönig, he is one of the few who bother with human disguises. But it has really obvious flaws[[note]]Still having slightly pointed ears, a shadow that shows his true form, using "Figlio Perduto" as a ringtone, going with the alias Lord ''Er''ro''l'' ''King'', etc.[[/note]] which either means he's leaving clues out of this trope, or the proof that he's [[GlamourFailure really]] [[MostDefinitelyNotAVillain bad at disguises]].
542* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'':
543** Chaos/Pandora actually deliberately makes her plans unnecessarily complex and unreliable, largely because [[PrescienceIsPredictable the alternative is too boring for her]]. In fact, it's easy to argue the actual ''goal'' of her plans is to fail, and her nominal goals are chosen not so much because she wants to achieve them as to give the [[AchievementsInIgnorance greatest degree of freedom]] for the consequences of her plans failing.
544** Immortals, of which Pandora is one, generally have to resort to such plans because they are bound to ironclad rules to only empower and guide mortals, though Pandora is one of worst in that regard.
545** Voltaire, another immortal, did have the simpler plans A and B, but enacted plan CM (AKA Complicated Mess) in desperation, though it turned out he didnt need it because something else made the basic elements of Plan A happen on their own, and now he is stuck executing a overly complex plan he doesn't need because he cannot stop it. [[spoiler: Although as it turned out, Plan A didn't achieve what he wanted due to things he couldn't have predicted, and Plan CM ''did'' end up working in his favour ... ''also'' in a way he couldn't have predicted.]]
546* Voldemort's tendency toward this kind of thing in ''Literature/HarryPotter'' is parodied in ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' in the story "Torg Potter and the Giblets with Fiber". Millard Stoop (a parody of Voldemort) originally planned to curse the infant Torg Potter with a combination of curses that would make it into something small and forgetful that would constantly pee itself and spread the common cold to others. Yes, he was going to do this to a ''baby''. Also, the plot of the whole chapter is an elaborate BatmanGambit just like in the original (''Goblet of Fire'') to obtain some of Torg's blood... which ''starts'' with obtaining some of Torg's blood in order to enter him into the Try-Gizzard Tournament.
547* ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' brings in someone with one of these for "[[http://xkcd.com/1172/ Workflow]]". Configuring your system to interpret "hold spacebar" as "control" is reasonable. Making this configuration depend on a bug that overheats your computer is, in the admin's own words, horrifying.
548** When locked out of his apartment, [[http://xkcd.com/530/ Randall Munroe himself]] hacked his roommate's computer to yell at her to let him in. It took a neighbor to [[StatingTheSimpleSolution suggest the doorbell]].
549* In the climax of ''Webcomic/{{Concession}}'' it turns out that what Joel thought was a carefully planned out XanatosGambit, [[http://concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20101029 had too many loose ends]]. [[spoiler: And it was all for naught, he believed that he needed to do all that to gather enough spiritual energy to overwhelm his older brother's powers, when his brother had no powers whatsoever.]]
550* The team in ''Webcomic/SturgeonsLaw'' have a problem with something as simple as [[http://sturgeonslaw.net/comic/checking-in/ checking in]] to a [[http://sturgeonslaw.net/comic/fluency/ hotel]].
551* In ''Webcomic/LeagueOfSuperRedundantHeroes'', SmugSuper Asstronomous got cursed by Maroon Jackdaw to have [[http://superredundant.com/?p=1110 the head of a donkey.]] Rather than [[http://superredundant.com/?p=1123 apologize]] and promise to stop hitting on her and the other superheroines at the [[GoodGuyBar Bar of Justice]], [[http://superredundant.com/?p=1128 he goes back in time]], finds an un-cursed version of himself, clones him, has his mind transferred to the clone and comes back to the present.
552-->'''Asstronomous:''' What? Maroon Jackdaw was being completely unreasonable!
553* ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'': Jango Fett wants to kill Obi-Wan for murdering his partner. To that end, he comes up with a plot involving a clone army, to tear down the entirety of the Jedi Order, the Republic, everything Obi-Wan loves and cares about... and then he will kill him. His son even asks WhyDontYouJustShootHim It's because Jango's a CardCarryingVillain, and he wants Obi-Wan to suffer.
554* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'':
555** This is one of many, ''many'' reasons that Red Mage's "fractactical genius" never does him any good. Because he is delusional and believes he is in an RPGMechanicsVerse, he seeks out elaborate plans in order to score more XP, generally leading to him and/or the others getting maimed.
556** This, combined with abject stupidity, is why the Dark Warriors never accomplish anything. At one point, [[OnlySaneMan D'rizzl]] proposes summoning up huge monsters to murder the Light Warriors in their sleep, and it eventually degenerates to the point where Vilbert wants to summon a huge rat creature, kill it, and put it into the Light Warriors' food, while Bikke is proposing bringing ''the building'' about in order to fire a broadside.
557--->'''D'rizzl:''' You do this every time. The plan is simple. Why do you seek idiotic complications?
558* Justified with Sam Starfall in ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}''. Sqid culture esteems the LovableRogue and other forms of daring scoundrel, and Sam is in many ways an exemplary Sqid, so his first concern when hatching a plan is less "how well will this work" and more "would this make a good story to tell once I've pulled it off through my brilliance, cunning and skill". In [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1700/fc01691.htm this strip]] he's ''disappointed'' that the guards are offsite and he can just walk away instead of needing to use the needlessly complex plan he came up with involving [[NoodleImplements coffee pots, paper and hot glue guns]].
559* The Quizzicle in ''WebComic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella'' tries to leave complicated trails of clues for Wonderella to follow. She's too dim to even notice them, although she does find him by a simple internet search instead one time.
560[[/folder]]
561
562[[folder:Web Original]]
563* Creator/GavinFree of Creator/AchievementHunter has this problem sometimes, going for grandiose or flashy gimmicks when it would be better to do something simple. This is most evident in the group's various Let's Plays of the ''VideoGame/{{Worms}}'' series, where a well-known running gag is him using the grappling hook or jetpack to drop bombs on people which more often than not causes the death of his own worm instead when he panics and lets go at the wrong time. A more recent example would be in one of their Let's Plays of the Terrorist Hunt mode of ''VideoGame/RainbowSixVegas'', where he continually uses breach charges on doors just because it's cool instead of just opening them. The last time this happens he ends up ''killing a teammate.''
564* Tom Collins in ''WebVideo/DemoReel'' doesn't just kidnap Donnie, hold him hostage and force Rebecca and Tacoma to give up the show that way, instead he has his associates dump him in the woods, which results in the rest of SWAG leaving in disgust, Tom going through SanitySlippage and ends up with a beatdown from Rebecca, Donnie and Karl.
565* The eponymous Dr. Horrible of ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'' feels that "killing is beneath him", and, as a result, uses non-lethal weapons such as the freeze ray. [[spoiler:At first, anyway...]]
566* The EvilOverlordList, item #85:
567-->''I will not use any plan in which the final step is horribly complicated, e.g. "Align the 12 Stones of Power on the sacred altar then activate the medallion at the moment of total eclipse." Instead it will be more along the lines of "Push the button."''
568* During the ''WebVideo/{{Hermitcraft}}'' Season 9 crossover with ''WebVideo/EmpiresSMP'' Season 2, a game of Tag is started where the tagged player from one server must kill a player from the other server using a randomly assigned method. In the game, Grian is assigned with killing an Empires player by letting them fall into the Void. He initially attempts to recreate some aspects of the Boatem Hole from ''Hermitcraft'' Season 8 for this... which eventually devolves into him being ''just'' a bit extra by setting up an entire "Tea Party" in the Void with some of Lizzie's FrogMen villagers. In spite of questioning his life choices in committing to the bit, after everything is said and done, he deems it all WorthIt.
569-->'''Grian:''' ''(while building a minecart track to transport a frog villager into the Void-hole)'' This plan has turned into something… just insane now. I don't even know what I'm doing anymore. [[LampshadeHanging This is a game of tag! Why am I… committing to the flair of a tea party]]?
570* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse''. An InvokedTrope in "Razzle Dazzle" when Mephisto the Mentalist is up against [[TheCape Chicago Champion]]. The Champ isn't the brightest superhero, so Mephisto's overly-complex plans [[ConfusionFu confuse him as a distraction]] for the real plan.
571** A number of villains in the series have this as their besetting flaw, most notably the Bell Witch and the Troll Bride. A few of the ''heroes'' seem to have this problem, as well.
572[[/folder]]
573
574[[folder:Western Animation]]
575* Perennial Creator/HannaBarbera villain [[DastardlyWhiplash Dick Dastardly]] [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat is the king of this trope]]. In his first appearance on ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces'' he would always come up with elaborate plans to cheat his way to victory. Here's the kicker: he didn't need to do this at all. His car was ''several times faster than anyone else's.'' He could have won every race legitimately with ease, and in fact, each race begins with him surging to a huge lead. But he always stops in order to set up traps, which invariably end up backfiring and costing him the race. This pattern of behavior would carry on to all of his many other appearances: no matter who he's going up against, Dastardly's complexity addiction is his greatest enemy. He even refuses to win legitimately: he's such a CardCarryingVillain that he can't stand to win if he didn't cheat while doing so.
576** Another fine example was when Dastardly was given his own [[WesternAnimation/DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines spinoff series]]. It revolved around him concocting ridiculously complex plans and inventing insane flying machines, all ''to catch a pigeon.''
577** Also, ''WesternAnimation/ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop'' kept seeing the titular character captured and put into overly ridiculous deathtraps. Granted the guy responsible wants to inherit her fortune and is probably trying to make it look like an accident (hence the reason he doesn't just shoot her), but some of them just get outright absurd, and after putting her in whatever trap he just runs off rather than sticking around and making sure it works.
578** Lampshaded by Penelope (after having been captured and informed how the latest death trap will work): "That's not very diabolical." (after having been told the elaborate way it will be triggered) "Now THAT'S diabolical!"
579* A heroic example: In ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingChanAndTheChanClan'', Tom Chan will often suggest needlessly elaborate plans such as deploying a series of mirrors to examine a statue (when Anne can just climb the tree and look through a pair of binoculars) or catapulting them over a wall (when the gate's open). Mostly PlayedForLaughs.
580* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'':
581** Down to the [[EvilBrit Gary Oldman accent]]:
582--->'''[[spoiler:Barry]]:''' You're not in any position to be calling the shots Steven; I'm the one holding the gun.\
583'''Steve:''' Sure, [[MundaneSolution you could kill me with your gun...]] but are you willing to try something much more elaborate and unnecessary?
584** Roger also demonstrates this in the season seven finale "Toy Whorey." He goes through several elaborate plans to try to get a bottle of Rain Duck wine from Greg and Terry, such as using an elaborate RubeGoldbergDevice to cut the power in the Smith house and then just wait for the two to notice the blackout and come check on them. Eventually, Francine gets sick of waiting, goes straight to their house, bitch-slaps them with a spatula, and simply ''takes'' the wine.
585*** An earlier episode had Roger enacting a scheme to steal a $10 pair of gloves, which involved buying a $700 necklace. His alter ego lampshades this, but Roger tells him to shut up.
586** In one episode, in order to get into a local baseball stadium that he was banned from, Stan, rather than simply sneak or break in decides to: move to Cuba, become discovered by a baseball agent, get smuggled into the US, join a minor league team, get picked up by the New York Yankees, become addicted to steroids, get caught, get dropped by the Yankees and then get picked up by the team that plays in the stadium late in the draft.
587* This is MC Pee Pants' MO in ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce''. His very first evil scheme is to release a rap single to get people eat tons of candy before instructing them to visit a warehouse and use their hyperactive sugar rush to power a giant drill to bore into the center of the earth, releasing demons onto the surface to partake in a diet pill pyramid scheme. They get never any less overly complicated than that.
588* Slater from ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' seems to suffer from this: In "Pocket Listing" he needs to scan the handprints, retinas, cell phones and flash drives of a visiting prince while he is in New York. So he comes up with a ridiculously over complicated plan that involves luring the Prince and his bodyguards to Cheryl's mansion, having her pose as the listing agent while the rest of the gang pose as servants, having Ray use a laxative to separate the prince from his bodyguards, separating the prince from his incredibly overbearing mother, then drugging the prince with a dart gun and scanning all of this in the roughly sixty seconds that it will take for the drug to wear off... Even though it would probably be infinitely easier to simply break into his room while he is sleeping and scan all the electronic equipment and then drug the prince and scan his retinas and handprints.
589** Lampshaded twice in the episode, first by Lana ("Why are your plans always so complicated? You're like [[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadrunner Wile E. Coyote]] with access to Predator Drones.") and later by Archer ("It had everything but a sign for [[ObviousTrap free bird-seed]].").
590** At the end of Season 6, [[spoiler:it's implied that Slater's been exploiting this trope in order to sabotage the gang so that the CIA could fire them for incompetence]].
591* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', EvilChancellor Long Feng has secretly ruled Ba Sing Se for years by suppressing all knowledge of the Fire Nation's war against the rest of the world. When the Avatar shows up, he finds himself in a position where he can't simply silence the Avatar and can't accept the Avatar's help without admitting the war is real. Instead, he has them followed constantly, captures Appa, then tries to get them to leave by lying about Appa's whereabouts. Had he just taken their intel but refused their help, then given them Appa, he wouldn't have been deposed at the end of the season.
592* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'':
593** In the episode "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE46AlmostGotIm Almost Got 'Im]]", the five members of Batman's RoguesGallery (Joker, Two-Face, Penguin, Killer Croc, and Poison Ivy) share their stories of how they almost killed Batman. These stories share a common theme where the villain could have [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim easily killed Batman with a gun or some sharp pointed object]], but instead opts for an elaborate DeathTrap ranging from flipping a giant penny with Batman tied on it or using birds to inject poison into Batman. And naturally, their plans fail. The sole exception is Killer Croc's story where he simply threw a big rock at Batman [[SarcasmFailure but based on the other villains' reactions]], it's clear that BoringButPractical just doesn't register with them.
594** In the episode "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE21MadLove Mad Love]]", Harley Quinn manages to make one of the Joker's theme schemes to kill Batman ''work.'' However, Batman manages to foil the improved and foolproof scheme by getting Harley to phone Joker to come see his death and impress him...but the Joker's huge ego [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou would not let anyone but him kill Bats]], this in spite of it being a worthy death. Just goes to show that stylish evil can and ''does'' work...but {{pride}}'ll get ya every time.
595** The Clock King even surpasses the Riddler as an addict to overly complicated schemes, but he exhibited this even before becoming a supervillain. As Temple Fugate, he has a chain pocketwatch, a wristwatch, and at his office he has a grandfather clock and another clock at his desks.
596* The kids from ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' occasionally run into this problem. One Halloween, the three kids were a group costume, the movie ''Film/{{Twister}}'', with one dressing as a tornado, another dressing as various objects that got picked up by the tornado, and the last being Creator/HelenHunt. Later, the kids became costumed wrestlers, and decided to become sea cucumbers with an overly complex backstory and in the ring routine. Despite the kids being overly ambitious in some of their plots, they are able to pull them off as often as not.
597* In ''WesternAnimation/CareBears'', Professor Cold Heart ''always'' incorporated an element of manipulation into his plans, whether or not it made the plan better... and in at least one instance where it made the plan ''worse'': In the episode ''Wedding Bells'', he manipulates his associate Auntie Freeze into going along with his plan to smuggle a dangerous invasion into Care-A-Lot, only for her to grow enraged and turn on him in the climax when she realizes the trickery -- when there's no reason to think she wouldn't have willingly participated in his evil scheme if he'd asked honestly.
598* [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Leonardo Leonardo]] suffers from this in the pilot of ''WesternAnimation/ClerksTheAnimatedSeries''; he's got a 63-step plan that starts with building the Quicker Stop across the street from the original Quick Stop, followed by a series of increasingly ridiculous solutions to increasingly unlikely or pointless problems that the previous step might cause ("What will he do for eggs after his army of gorillas kill all the chickens?" "Next step: Robot Chickens."). The final step ends with a pleasure dome [[SerialEscalation launching into space and nuking the Earth from orbit]].
599* The central premise of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' is that he uses his powerful inventions to solve minor everyday problems and gets in trouble for it.
600* In ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgersInTheTwentyFourthAndAHalfCentury'', Dodgers explains to the Space Cadet his route for finding Planet X, a convoluted path even he finds too confusing, judging from his reaction when the Cadet seems to understand it. Cadet suggests instead that they follow a series of planets that have been conveniently alphabetized.
601* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'': Flintheart Glomgold frequently suffers from this with a majority of his schemes. His scheme to take down Mark Beaks (which also had an extra plan to betray Scrooge) involved a billionaire's party on a yacht, a swimming pool full of sharks, a fake holiday involving carrots and an active volcano. The season 2 finale also had him coming up with such a scheme to help Scrooge beat General Lunaris after all of Scrooge's plans fail. [[spoiler:The scheme involves sharks dressed in parkas, Beakley dressed as a kid, Launchpad dressed as a rock, a giant slingshot, and Scrooge dressed as Santa Claus (whom Scrooge hates). The hilarious thing about this overly complicated scheme is that [[CrazyEnoughToWork it actually works]] thanks to Lunaris seeing it as nothing but a distraction due to how stupid it appeared]].
602** "The Ballad of Duke Baloney" reveals he suffered from this even as a kid: in a flashback to when he was a humble shoeshine boy (then going by his birth name of "Duke Baloney") he tells Scrooge about his plan to save up all his shoe shining earnings, then buy a coal mine, turn all the coal into diamonds, create a diamond point for a large drill, and finally drill through the ground for gold to sell for a fortune. [[StatingTheSimpleSolution Scrooge asks why he wouldn't just sell the diamonds]], to which a confused Duke [[ComicallyMissingThePoint asks what he's supposed to use for the drill if he does]].
603* The scams in ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' are this. The Eds are shown to have amazing talent in setting up services, but Eddy continuously insists on cutting corners with flashy scams that ultimately make the kids want to have a refund. It would be easy if they just set up an honest business, especially with all that technology Edd makes from junk. Case in point, any success they had is from a scam that's pretty straightforward while Jimmy succeeded on his first try with a trampoline.
604* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': In the episode "Back to the Norm", Crocker joins forces with Norm the Genie to defeat Timmy Turner. Rather than follow Norm's simple advice to, say, wish Timmy be sent to Mars, Crocker keeps coming up with a number of elaborate booby traps [[HoistByHisOwnPetard which keep backfiring onto Crocker himself.]]
605* Lampshaded in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E18TheDevilsHandsAreIdlePlaythings The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings]]" by Robot Devil: "Ah, my ridiculously-circuitous plan is one-quarter complete!" The plan is a ChainOfDeals that started by taking Bender's ass-plate in exchange for a horn nose. Bender uses the horn nose to deafen Leela, whom the Robot Devil offers a pair of robotic ears to so she can hear Fry's Holophonor opera. She agrees on the condition of giving him her hand [[spoiler:[[ReadTheFinePrint in marriage]], which allows the Robot Devil to negotiate the return of his own hands from Fry, who had won them in a game with the Robot Devil]]. Hilariously, a later episode reveals that going through this was unnecessary anyway; the Robot Devil has multiple replacement bodies anyway, therefore he could have switched out Fry's hands for one of the ones from the extra bodies easily enough.
606* In the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "[[Recap/GravityFallsS1E7DoubleDipper Double Dipper]]", Dipper lays out an elaborate plan (which later gets more elaborate, with the help of his clones) to ask Wendy to dance because [[CannotSpitItOut he's too nervous to simply ask her]] [[StatingTheSimpleSolution like Mabel suggests]]. Her tone gives the impression that this is a regular thing for Dipper.
607* OnceAnEpisode in ''WesternAnimation/HigglytownHeroes'', Twinkle will outline a long, complicated and absolutely absurd solution to the problem of the week. Fran will then point out ''one'' problem with it.
608* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'': Zim constantly falls into this trope, to the extent that "Zim comes up with comically overblown solution for relatively simple problem, HilarityEnsues" makes up the plot of basically half the series and lesser examples happen almost OnceAnEpisode. For example, in "Room With a Moose", Zim comes up with a relatively (for him) simple plan for getting rid of Dib and his fellow students and then adds several new phases to it that doesn't improve the plan at all and makes it possible for Dib to escape (it does, however, [[RuleOfFunny make the episode a lot funnier]]). Zim has an overblown ego the size of the planet he's trying to conquer and is incapable of self-reflection, thus ensuring he falls back into this trap time and time again. Given that Zim possesses technology capable of depopulating and/or destroying the Earth in less than a week if he ever applied it correctly, this trope (and the RuleOfFunny) is practically necessary for there to be much of a plot at all.
609* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'':
610** Dr. Drakken suffers from this. His sidekick, OnlySaneWoman Shego, lampshades this repeatedly.
611--->'''Shego:''' Okay, let's get Operation Too-Complicated-to-Actually-Work started!
612** Drakken actually turns this to his advantage in ''[[TheMovie So The Drama]]''. Near the beginning of the movie, he refuses to explain his plan to Shego. When a curious Shego decides to investigate, she still can't figure it out, even with all the different pieces of the plan in front of her. Frustrated, Shego threatens Drakken to spill what the plan is, but he explains that he was testing whether Kim would be able to figure out his plan; he reasons that, since Shego is as smart as Kim (or smarter), the fact that Shego can't figure it out proves that Kim won't be able to either. Shego is stunned to realize that Drakken is right, which means he could actually win. [[spoiler: [[NearVillainVictory And he nearly does.]]]]
613** The AffablyEvil Señor Senior, Senior insists on sticking to [[CardCarryingVillain the code of classic villainy]] on principle, [[ContractualGenreBlindness even if it lets Kim get away and foil his crimes]]. Then again, considering that for him, this is an elaborate retirement hobby, it entirely fits that he's more interested in having fun and challenging himself by playing by the rules than actually succeeding. Notably, the one time it ''wasn't'' a hobby but an attempt to steal back his fortune after he was cheated out of it he went for a simple plan (use his extreme sport abilities to steal everything back piece by piece while pretending to be poor) that nearly succeeded. When Kim was about to catch him, his son Señor Senior, Junior ''succeeded'' with another simple plan: [[spoiler:claim the bounty placed on his father by the guy who cheated them out of their fortune and then hire a lawyer to take everything back]].
614* A running gag in ''WesternAnimation/LesShadoks'' is the title characters' ridiculous and nonsensical so-called "proverbs". Among one of the most popular is: "Pourquoi faire simple quand on peut faire compliqué?", which is a parody of the French counterpart to "Why make it complicated when it can be easy?" Guess what it means? "Why make it easy when it can be complicated?"
615* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug is this crossed with ZanyScheme. A recurring theme with Marinette is that she will always come with the most complicated explanations and plans to accomplish simple tasks. For instance, ''Kwami Buster'' takes the gold when Marinette comes up with an over-elaborate ruse to hide her secret identity from Cat Noir by [[IdentityImpersonator getting "Marinette" and "Ladybug" to interact with each other]]. (To really hammer it in, it's immediately contrasted with Cat Noir's far simpler measure of making himself look like he doesn't know anything about their high school by blatantly misidentifying it as an ''elementary'' school.) It generally backfires on her when she isn't Ladybug, and will ''surely'' fail if her objective [[CannotSpitItOut involves Adrien in some capacity]].
616* ''WesternAnimation/MollyOfDenali'': In the episode "[[Recap/MollyOfDenaliS1E21MollyballVisitQyah Mollyball]]," [[{{Calvinball}} Mollyball]] is designed to induce this. The plays get increasingly elaborate, and the kids have to draw diagrams to explain them. The points awarded also increase exponentially.
617* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
618** In [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E1TheReturnOfHarmonyPart1 the season 2 premiere]], it's made very clear that if Discord wanted to disable the Elements of Harmony, the only stuff that can beat him, all he has to do is swiftly touch each of the mane six to invert their personalities and make them unfriendly to one another. But that would be too boring for him, so he decides to lure them into a hedge maze, [[DivideAndConquer divide them]] with hedge walls, give them lectures on how [[VirtueIsWeakness how the elements they bear are either weaknesses or hypocritical]], ''then'' hypnotize them to make them unfriendly with one another.
619** The episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E11ApplejacksDayOff Applejack's 'Day' Off]]" shows that Applejack has gotten to be this way with some of her chores, reflexively doing things to circumvent problems she fixed a while ago. Due to wanting to follow Applejack's instruction list to the letter, Twilight and Spike don't even manage to finish feeding the pigs by the time she and Rarity get back from their hour at the spa.
620* In ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', [[MadScientist Dr. Doofenshmirtz]] will regularly plot to do something needlessly complicated rather than something ''much'' simpler, like [[MonumentalTheft steal Big Ben]] rather than go to a store and buy a watch big enough for him to read. [[BetterThanABareBulb It's often]] [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]].
621-->'''But I'm no longer a hater''\
622'''Cause I've got an inator''\
623''And an overcomplicated scheme!''\
624''I get a couple of checks''\
625''Every month from my ex''\
626''So I can finance my coming regime!''
627** Phineas and Ferb are prone to this as well. For example, in "Picture This", Ferb has left his skateboard in England:
628--->'''Phineas:''' I know! We could create a highly-intricate and sophisticated machine that will transport any object from anywhere on the globe to our backyard!\
629'''Dad:''' Well, why don't you just build a new skateboard?\
630''[Phineas and Ferb stare at him in silence]''\
631'''Phineas:''' Hmm, yeahhh, I don't think so.\
632'''Ferb:''' If it's all the same with you, Father, we're going to build the machine.
633** For Phineas and Ferb, it's literally an [[FunctionalAddict addiction]]--Phineas goes into ''[[ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin withdrawal]]'' when they're forced to climb a mountain the normal way, with no crazy inventions, in "Bully Bromance Break-up". [[TheStoic Ferb holds up a little better, but that doesn't mean he likes it]].
634---> '''Ferb:''' If we hadn't been able to invent something soon, I was going to ''scream''.
635** Candace too. In the Christmas special, she decides that to make sure she gets Jeremy the perfect gift, she's going to trick him into writing a letter to Santa and then read it; she laughs and calls Phineas ridiculous when he suggests she just ask Jeremy what he wants.
636* ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'': Jet loves coming up with convoluted solutions to problems, because he considers those plans to be fun. For example, in "[[Recap/ReadyJetGoS2E19AstronautEllenOchoa Astronaut Ellen Ochoa]]", he has a MundaneMadeAwesome plan for making lemonade. Also, in "[[Recap/ReadyJetGoS2E3AsteroidBeltSpaceRaceSydney2 Sydney 2]]", he and Sean build a RubeGoldbergDevice just to deliver snacks.
637* In ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'''s "Steak Me Amadeus", [[spoiler:the Capicola Gang's]] plan for revenge on the park workers is printing fake Amadeus dollars (coupons to buy steaks at "Steak Me Amadeus") and sell them to Pops who would give them to the rest of the workers. When they want more cheap steaks, they would set up a meeting to exchange more Amadeus dollars and then ambush them. Their whole plan is dependent on the gang's desire for affordable steaks and apparently they didn't bother to take in account that if the park workers use these counterfeit coupons they would get trouble with the police and get arrested and won't have the chance to meet them. Rigby lampshades it:
638-->'''Rigby:''' Dude, that's really weird.\
639'''[[spoiler:Capicola Gang Leader]]:''' Well, it worked, didn't it?
640* Most ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' villains succumb to this, and [[OncePerEpisode every episode]] ends with either them or the members of Mystery Inc. giving detailed explanations of how they were pulling off what they were doing, and why. The common problem is that their schemes do not require a ScoobyDooHoax, and by trying to set one up the criminals create a lot of extra evidence and attract the attention of ThoseMeddlingKids.
641** In the ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' episode "Mystery Solvers Club State Finals": the villain (revealed to be ''[[spoiler: WesternAnimation/TheFunkyPhantom]]'', of all people), goes into ''excruciating'' detail about how he carried out his plot, which turns out to be an overly-complicated way of [[spoiler: getting rid of his team so he can stop being a sidekick]]. This ''could'' be justified by the fact that the whole episode is [[AllJustADream just a fever dream Scooby's having]], but still...
642** In the following episode, the VillainOfTheWeek's plan is even more complicated, and more pointless. The Gang lampshades this.
643** The reason why is generally something along the lines of "scare everyone else away so I can do what I want in the area," often involving treasure. Simply buying them off would work just as well, and would not attract people with an interest in ghosts.
644** In the ''Mystery Incorporated'' incarnation the fact that everyone's plans involve costumes and monsters is overall lampshaded/explained by the fact that Mystery Cove is famous for hauntings, and the overall plot involves cursed treasure (that would be a very strange curse). Everyone just uses monsters because everyone acts as if monsters are real until the reveal. The townsfolk, lead by the money grubbing mayor, never think to prove the monsters are real; they just try to make money off of them, justified by their tourist economy/haunted history. The whole thing is not always complexity addiction, sometimes it is a reasonable way to take advantage of everyone's unreasonable behavior. Though unless they are hiding something there is almost always an easier way.
645** Also in ''Mystery Incorporated'', Fred has an obvious addiction, setting up Rube Goldberg devices to capture villains on the regular. While PlayedForLaughs, Mystery Incorporated showcases this far more than other incarnations of Fred.
646* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
647** Subverted in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E16BrotherFromAnotherSeries Brother from Another Series]]" when Sideshow Bob's brother Cecil is about to kill Bart by throwing him off a hydroelectric dam:
648--->'''Cecil:''' At last, I'm going to do what Bob never could: KILL Bart Simpson!\
649'''Bart:''' By throwing me off a dam? Isn't that a little crude for a genius like you?\
650'''Cecil:''' Ooh, I suppose it is. Eh. If anyone asks, I'll lie!
651** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E5SideshowBobRoberts Sideshow Bob Roberts]]", Sideshow Bob rigs the Springfield Mayoral Election by [[VoteEarlyVoteOften stuffing the ballots]] ([[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat even though his opponent was guaranteed to lose anyway]]), and in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E13DayOfTheJackanapes Day of the Jackanapes]]", he tries to kill Bart and Krusty with one stone by kidnapping the former, hypnotizing him, rigging him with explosives with triggers on his palms and having him try to hug the latter during what was supposed to be his final show.
652** Another subversion: in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E20TwoDozenAndOneGreyhounds Two Dozen and One Greyhounds]]", when the Simpsons refuse to sell the ObviouslyEvil Mr. Burns their puppies, he takes it with such suspicious grace that they're sure he's coming up with some fiendish scheme to get them... Cut to Burns just stealing the pups at that very moment while their backs are turned.
653--->'''Smithers:''' Honestly, sir, you just don't put the effort into your schemes that you used to.
654** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E9SideshowBobsLastGleaming Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming]]", Sideshow Bob decides to steal a ''nuclear bomb'' and threaten to detonate it unless television stops broadcasting in Springfield. [[NiceJobFixingItVillain He busts this plan]] by picking a 1950s vintage bomb that is no longer operative, purely because of its "retro" value and despite the fact that there were plenty of modern bombs at his disposal. Then he tries to kill Bart and Krusty in a murder-suicide... using the 1903 Wright Flyer.
655** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E6TheComputerWoreMenaceShoes The Computer Wore Menace Shoes]]", during a parody of ''Series/ThePrisoner1967'':
656--->'''Number 2:''' I'll be blunt. Your web page has stumbled upon our secret plan.\
657'''Homer:''' That's impossible. All my stories are bullplop. [[GoshDangItToHeck Bullplop]]!\
658'''Number 2:''' Don't be cute. I'm referring to the flu shot exposé. You see, we're the ones loading them with mind-controlling additives.\
659'''Homer:''' But why?\
660'''Number 2:''' To drive people into a frenzy of shopping. That's why flu shots are given just before Christmas.\
661'''Homer:''' Of course. It's so simple. Wait, no it's not. It's needlessly complicated.\
662'''Number 2:''' Yes, it is.
663** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS19E8FuneralForAFiend Funeral for a Fiend]]", Sideshow Bob has Bart trapped in a coffin which is slowly being transported on [[ConveyorBeltODoom a conveyor belt towards a crematorium furnace]]. That said, when the Simpsons arrive to rescue Bart, Sideshow Bob switches the lever from '''[[EvilGloating Gloating Speed]]''' to '''KillHimAlready''' to speed up the conveyor belt. This isn't after managing to exploit his addiction in order to fake his death by attracting the Simpsons to a DeathTrap, then being convinced to trigger it so it will go off in his face, and wiring it so it will be a non-fatal explosion. It ''still'' involves a GambitRoulette with an ad for a BBQ joint made in a way the family would find irresistible.
664** In the "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS25E2TreehouseOfHorrorXXIV Treehouse of Horror XXIV]]" segment "Freaks No Geeks", Homer learns that Moe has an emerald. He tries to get it by tricking Marge into marrying Moe then killing Moe and marrying Marge to get the emerald. Homer says that the plan's best part is its simplicity.
665* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': This is pretty much Plankton's signature flaw when attempting to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula. From all his ridiculous schemes backfiring on him due to poorly timed planning, his robot wife Karen manages to swipe a Patty easily on her first try solo, just by ''ordering one'' (due to Krabs' cashier, Squidward being too apathetic about his job to care).
666* Pretty much every plan come up with by the Legion of Doom in ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}} Challenge of the Superfriends]]''. This was probably due to there being thirteen members and wanting everyone to seem like a participating member. It didn't help that the show's version of The Riddler had no purpose but to tip off the heroes how to beat the current scheme.
667* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Underdog}}'', Simon BarSinister's plan to take over the city was thwarted because he couldn't reach a vital piece of equipment due to the UsefulNotes/ThanksgivingDay Parade blocking the street. Fortunately, he has a time machine. How does he use it? Option A: Go back in time to that morning, cross the street before the parade starts. Option B: Go back in time one day, tell his troops the attack is postponed until Friday, when the parade won't be blocking the street. Option C: Go back in time one week, and move the device to the other side of the street, so the parade won't be an issue. What he comes up with is Option D: Go back ''several hundred years'' and sabotage the formation of Plymouth Plantation so that UsefulNotes/ThanksgivingDay never happens, and therefore the UsefulNotes/ThanksgivingDay Parade will not exist to keep him from crossing the street. He opted to try to alter centuries of history, possibly creating a ButterflyEffect that would cause the city he wanted to conquer to never exist in the first place, just to remove a temporary ''traffic obstacle''.
668* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'', [[spoiler:Qilby the Traitor]] tried to accomplish his goals with a rather complex plan that really wasn't necessary. Adamai even points out that [[spoiler:Qilby could have used the Eliacube to retrieve his sister's Dofus without relying on Yugo]]. He claims that he couldn't do it on his own because he was no match for the Dragon Phaeris. A claim that rings hollow when he and Phaeris actually fight and he proves to be an even match. In the end, Yugo calls out the villain on devising a needlessly complicated scheme when he could have easily defeated the heroes from the very beginning and claims that he did this because [[spoiler:he can't bring himself to actually kill his fellow Eliatropes or the Dragons. Deep down, Qilby just wanted to convince them to join him so they could all be friends again.]]
669* Wallace of ''WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit'' is a guy who loves his {{Rube Goldberg Machine}}s, using them in every step of his daily routines. This has included a jam catapult that launches a glob of it at his toast while it's airborne from the toaster, a slide incorporated into his breadmaking machine that allows him to use the same slides as the dough to descend a single story (and needs outside interference to avoid him falling into the machine), and a mechanical boot to push the gas pedal on his motorcycle that he has to move aside his foot for.
670* [[MadScientist Dr. Two Brains]] from ''WesternAnimation/WordGirl'' has a really bad case of this. In one episode, he tries to build a ray to transform gold into cheese. (Two Brains really likes [[TrademarkFavoriteFood cheese]].) But the ray doesn't work right. Instead of changing gold into cheese, it changes gold into potato salad. So Two Brains invents a ray to turn potato salad into cheese. Then he and his henchmen steal gold, to turn into potato salad, to turn into cheese. Granted the plan ''did'' briefly work in his favor since Word Girl originally couldn't believe the cheese-loving doctor would steal gold when he would usually just steal cheese.
671-->'''Word Girl:''' Doesn't that seen a little unnecessarily difficult? I mean, why not steal potato salad instead of gold? Or use the gold to buy the potato salad? Or why not just steal cheese in the first place?\
672'''Dr. Two Brains''': Well, when you put it like ''that'' it seems really obvious... b-but I had my reasons!
673** Or he could use the gold to buy cheese.
674** In the episode "Vocab-Bee," The Butcher has a bout of this and hatches a perfect plan to rob a bank that involves [[NoodleImplements a giant bowl of chili, a hippopotamus, a skywriter, a tightrope walker, polar bears, a garbage trunk, a trampoline,a french poodle, circus clowns, and a giant parakeet]]. It takes all day to set up and is foiled in seconds.
675[[/folder]]
676
677[[folder:Real Life]]
678* In 1658, a powerful Swedish Empire sought to wipe their old rival Denmark-Norway off the face of the map. They invaded Denmark itself and laid siege to its capital, Copenhagen. The Dutch Republic, a former ally of Denmark, knew that a Swedish victory would bar it from access to the very lucrative Baltic Sea trade and decided to intervene. They were wary however of the chance that Sweden's ally and their rival, England, might also intervene as a result. The story goes that when the ''de facto'' Dutch leader Johann de Witt gave lieutenant admiral Obdam overly detailed instructions on how to aid Denmark, Obdam complained that they were too complicated and that he needed something simpler. De Witt responded by summarizing the plan as [[PreAsskickingOneLiner "saving Copenhagen and punching in the mouth anyone who tries to stop us"]]. The siege was lifted that very same month.
679* Study the planning of the [[UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun Imperial Japanese Navy]] in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII -- especially at Midway, but any operational plan they put out. Unsupported forces scattered across Asia and the Pacific, conducting supposedly "coordinated" or "diversionary" attacks hundreds if not thousands of kilometers apart, which could in no way influence the battle's actual outcome. Overthinking plagued the Japanese at nearly every level during the war. After it became plain that the Zero fighter plane was becoming outclassed, the Japanese realized they needed a replacement. Japanese scientists and engineers indulged in over 40 different prototypes, each as implausible as the last and taken immediately back to the drawing board as soon as a newfangled improvement occurred. In the interim, the aging Zeros and their pilots were cut to ribbons by Hellcats and Corsairs.
680** The military-industrial complex of ''every'' sufficiently large participant in the war had many instances of this trope up until considerably late in the war. Only those which happened to have better percentages of competent teams and officers and/or enough resources to afford countless costly mistakes managed to pull ahead.
681** The celebrated admiral Isoroku Yamamoto in particular had a reputation for making plans that were elegant, yet still complex. Often, he pressured his superiors into accepting the plans by threatening to resign.
682** The Night Battle phase of their Decisive Battle plan, though, takes the cake, involving the coordination of four separate cruiser-destroyer groups into a simultaneous attack from four directions nearly 60 miles apart against the American battle fleet. At night. Note that when they actually faced the Americans in night battles, mistakes on both sides generally degenerated combat into a confused mess of 'everybody shoot the closest thing that looks like an enemy, and we'll figure out who shot which enemy tomorrow.'
683* The German Navy had a real problem with this in World War II due to the lack of experienced engineers and the domination of the design bureaus by fleet officers. The fire control systems for the Scharnhorst class, for example, were so hideously overcomplex the ships ''couldn't fire their guns'' until 22,000 yards of useless wiring was removed. [[http://navweaps.com/index_tech/tech-044.php See this article for more detail.]]
684** Germany in general had this issue throughout the war with regards to equipment. The weapons and vehicles they designed were very advanced, with powerful guns and thick armor, but so complicated they made logistics and maintenance a nightmare, and were prone to breaking when having to actually operate in variable weather conditions and terrain. At best, later German tanks were incredibly high quality machines, but the costs to build and operate them were enormous.
685*** Basic things like having interweaving track wheels could double or triple maintenance time. At worst, they became completely impractical. Armor kept getting thicker and guns getting bigger to the point that no engines existed that could propel these vehicles faster than a snail's pace if at all. Many tanks would break down simply on the way to the battlefield and had to be abandoned and destroyed by their own crews before ever facing the enemy.
686*** An infamous incident occurred during the battle of Kursk when Ferdinand tank destroyers caught fire when their engines exploded from the strain of going up a slight hill. On top of all of this, overall these vehicles had merely average K/D ratios.
687*** The most effective and deadly German anti-tank vehicle of the war in terms of kill count was the diminutive [=STuG=] series, built upon the chassis of the simple Panzer III. Unsurprisingly, the [=STuG=] was also very easy to maintain, with plenty of spare parts laying around due to the amount of Panzer [=IIIs=] produced, and had no nightmarishly complicated mechanisms under extreme stress.
688* UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington had a problem with this. He was at his best when he was forced to improvise and think on his feet, at his worst when he had time to come up with cumbersome, overly-elaborate battle plans. It made him [[StrategyVersusTactics a better tactical general than strategic general]].
689* Creator/TonyHawk mentioned in ''Film/TheBonesBrigadeAnAutobiography'' that he wanted to do as many tricky skateboard manoeuvres as he could, despite being criticised for it. The most prominent example being the evolution of his [=McTwist=]: First he did a [=McTwist=], then moved on to one foot [=McTwist=], then body varial [=McTwist=], until it ended in an ''ollie'' [=McTwist=], as in doing a [=McTwist=] with no hands grabbing the board!
690* In a very dark example, the [[SerialKiller Zodiac Killer]]'s reign of terror was marked by complex mathematical riddles, obscure clues to his identity mailed to the police, and endless hidden messages. His victims were selected by how they met mathematical patterns and geometric patterns drawn on the map instead of, for instance, personal bias or true hatred. The trail of death was the Zodiac's way of proving his mental superiority, so the complexity was more important to him than the murders themselves.
691* In his autobiography, former Delta Force operator Eric Haney noted this to be something of an occupational hazard for special operations, particularly with regard to plans originating from outside the community. In one example, Haney was called to the Pentagon to be briefed on a plan to swim ashore from a submarine and covertly infiltrate a Middle Eastern city... all to deliver replacement communications gear to the US embassy there. Haney instead opted to fly there openly as an official courier, with the comm gear in a diplomatic pouch.
692* In his biography of Creator/TerryPratchett, ''A Life With Footnotes'', Rob Willkins describes how part of his job as Sir Terry's PA was helping him automate the greenhouse, a job they both enjoyed as electronic hobbyist nerds. He admits that setting up the sprinklers so they could, if Terry wished, be turned on from the office served no purpose, but was done anyway because a) it was complicated and b) they ''could''. (The plan to attach Terry's hard drive to a rocket that would catch light if the building was on fire and transport it a safe distance was abandoned not because it was absurd, but because they both realised that if they ''did'' set up such a system, they would be tempted to set the office on fire just to see if it worked.)
693
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