I Knew There Was Something About You

This is a Stock Phrase said by a character upon discovering an important new piece of information about another. There may have been an actual buildup of the first character's suspicions, or it may be a case of hindsight being 20/20.

Common variants are "I knew there was something fishy/odd about you" or "I knew there was something about you that I liked/didn't like".

When the fandom says this about a character, it's I Knew It!

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• In episode 4 of the Lucky Star anime, during a discussion about teenage crime, Kagami jokes to Konata...
  Kagami: Although, if you ever did something horrible...
  Kagami (Imagine Spot): I always knew deep down she'd do something like this.
  Kagami: ...is exactly what I'd tell everyone!
• Sword Art Online: Yuuki, even after trying to cut all contact with Asuna so she wouldn't find out the truth about her, she had a feeling Asuna would find her in the real world, even telling the medical staff of her hospital to expect her and giving permission to inform Asuna about her situation.

Comic Books

• Ultimate Galactus Trilogy: Carol Danvers is a little shocked when her captive "superhero" turns out to be Dr. Lawson, who shoots back she'd always suspected him of something. She replies she'd always thought he was "a flake", not an apparent saboteur. She also completely failed to catch the alien infiltrator bit.

Fan Works

• Empath: The Luckiest Smurf: Polaris Psyche was the only one of his kind to find out that Empath was a Smurf... as if the blue skin and bald head didn't clue him in.

Film — Animated

• Mulan: The Emperor's advisor Chi-Fu says this trope almost word for word, when he reveals her identity as a woman in front of her platoon.
• In Disney's The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, Ariel's daughter tells her new friends, Tip the penguin and Dash the walrus that she's really a human. Tip responds with: "I knew there was something un-fishy about you!"
• In Toy Story 2, the toys are trying to find out who took Woody when Buzz recognizes the thief as Al of Al's Toy Barn, who appears in his commericals as "The Chicken Man", which the other toys dislike. Hamm says "I knew there was something I didn't like about that chicken."

Film — Live-Action

• In Avengers: Endgame, after seeing Captain America wield his hammer Mjölnir, Thor delivers an ecstatic "I knew it!", having clearly suspected since Avengers: Age of Ultron that Cap was indeed worthy to wield the hammer.
• In Reservoir Dogs, during the final standoff, Joe tells everyone that Mr. Orange was the one guy that he wasn't 100% on.
• TRON: Ram suspects early on that there was something unusual about Flynn and even remarks on that fact to Tron. Later, when Ram has been mortally injured, he flat-out asks Flynn "Are you a User?". When Flynn confirms it, Ram dies with a smile, happy to not only be right in his suspicions, but knowing that the Users exist and one is there to help.

Live-Action TV

• Bones: Zach was a brilliant but vulnerable genius, who goes absolutely crazy, crushing his friends.
  Cam: I knew the day I met that boy that he would cause me pain.
• Dexter:
  Sergeant James Doakes: [about Dexter using drugs] I knew there was something wrong with you. The secrets, the sneaking around... Now it all makes sense. A lot of cops have been where you are. The booze, the drugs... makes the job go down easier. Stay clean and stay out of my way, we won't have a problem.
  • Later subverted when Doakes discovers the real reason that Dexter acts weird.
  • Also, when Lila discovers that Dexter is the Bay Harbor Butcher and Dexter asks her if she is now afraid of him, she tells him that she was always afraid of him because she could tell how consumed he was by the darkness inside him. And later in season five, one of Dexter's soon-to-be victims says that "from the moment I met you I knew you were f**ked up".
• Power Rangers:
  • Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: This is Aisha's reaction when Adam's date turns out to be Scorpina.
  Aisha: I knew there was something I didn't like about you! I mean, besides your hair and your clothes.
  • Power Rangers: Dino Thunder: Tommy has a near-identical reaction in "House of Cards" when he finally learns that [[Principal Randall is actually Elsa]].
  Tommy: I knew there was something I didn't like about you!
• In the Poirot adaptation of Curtain, when Hercule Poirot narrows down Stephen Norton as the mastermind behind the murders by proxy, who cannot even be lawfully tried or convicted:
  Poirot: Your proximity to these three murders was too much of a coincidence, and I smelt, as you say, the rat! That is why I came to Styles, to observe you function, and you have not disappointed, monsieur. No, you are a man who is very clever, but not clever enough for Hercule Poirot.
• Star Trek: Picard: In "Maps and Legends", Picard says this verbatim when he finds out that Jurati loves Earl Grey tea.
• Wizards of Waverly Place:
  Alex Russo: I knew there was something I liked about you, but this... this is genius. You are my new role model.
  Stevie: Please, Alex. I'm sure this is something you would have eventually come up with yourself.
  Alex Russo: Yeah, now that's true. I take it back; I'm my own role model again.

Toys

• BIONICLE:
  Vezon: Who are you, and why are you here?
  Mazeka: I'm here to kill you!
  Vezon: Oh. I knew there was something about you that I liked!

Video Games

• ANNO: Mutationem: Early on, Ayane tells Ann she has doubts about Dr. Alan Doyle as he refuses to disclose certain information about the Entanglelitis and refrains Ann from entering the backroom of his lab. After Ann recovers the stolen ROM and sees Ryan had visited Doyle, Ayane vociferates that she knew Doyle was being too shady.
• Soon after the end of Act III in Diablo III, several of your followers (as well as player characters) express that they always knew something was wrong about Adria but had allowed themselves to be taken in.
• On the Crimson Flower route of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, if Byleth fights Catherine in the finale, she says that she'd always known they were trouble, and laments having done nothing back then. It's a bit of Insane Troll Logic born of her Blind Obedience to Rhea, plus five years passing since the Two Roads Before You choice.
• When Max Payne busts down the door to face Vinnie Gognitti, Gognitti tells him "I knew from day one there was something screwy about you!"
• Pops up in a couple of the Pokémon main series games, usually with a gym leader or one of the final bosses saying it to the player character.
• Star Fox Adventures: Upon his first arrival in ThornTail Hollow, Fox comes across a Dino that stays fully silent when spoken too. When the stone golem hints there's more to his silence, Fox proclaim this phrase was he confronts the Dino.
• Star Wars Legends: In Knights of the Old Republic, Carth is very openly stating he smells a rat in the whole setup with your Player Character. And just as he's getting over his trust issues, in comes The Reveal. His alternate lines almost quote the trope title.
• In Tales of Symphonia, Raine says this after Kratos betrays them.

Web Comics

• Played for laughs in The Adventures of Dr. McNinja.
  Person 1: I knew he was a ghost wizard.
  Person 2: What no you didn't.
  Person 1: I knew he was an evil agent of Dracula.
  Person 3: ...
  Person 1: I knew I didn't like him.
  Person 4: He is so good to all of us. Stop it.
• Unsounded: Emil Toma and Quigley say "I knew it!" in unison when they see that Duane is undead. They then compare notes in the middle of the unfolding catastrophe until he knocks their heads together.

Western Animation

• A Brick Joke from Carmen Sandiego. In the pilot, after Carmen flunked VILE's pickpocket test (to steal a dollar bill from Shadowsan's coat), she accused Shadowsan of rigging the test by not putting a dollar in his coat. This leads to an emotional exchange in the first season finale, "The French Connection Caper", when Shadowsan revealed that he had failed her because he wanted to save her from a life of crime:
  Shadowsan: Yes, the coat was empty.
  Carmen: I KNEW IT!
• Code Lyoko: After Jim discovers the group's secret, he constantly says "I was right!" every few minutes.
• Star Wars:
  • Star Wars: The Clone Wars: In "Crisis on Naboo", Cad Bane says this when he finds out that Rako Hardeen was actually an undercover Obi-Wan Kenobi.
  • Star Wars Rebels: When Hondo finds out his new partner "Jabba the Hutt" is actually Ezra Bridger, he initially seems genuinely hurt that Ezra lied to him him, before switching tone to admiration.
• Steven Universe: In "Made of Honor", Bismuth is upset but feels vindicated after Steven fills her in on Rose Quartz actually being Pink Diamond, as it explains a lot about her suspicions concerning Rose's passive and merciful yet surprisingly successful battle strategy during the Crystal Gems' rebellion.
• Voltron: Legendary Defender: In Episode 6, after hearing Lance tell them over the comm channel that Rolo and Nyma stole the Blue Lion, Hunk goes on a long-winded rant about how he knew the aliens were deceiving them.

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