History DidntSeeThatComing / VideoGames

* ''VideoGame/HyperdimensionNeptuniaVictory'': Mr. Badd's plan to neutralize all the goddesses in Gamindustri worked flawlessly, leaving him and his organization free to move in and take power. He didn't count on a [[UsefulNotes/XBox foreign CPU]] to show up and derail the step of the plan.

** The Reapers didn't plan for [[spoiler:the Protheans to stop the keepers from activating the Citadel Relay. Nor did they anticipate the keepers evolving in manners that could be exploited to this end]]. This is noteworthy as it also relied on the Reapers' only weakness: [[spoiler:their expectations. They ''expected'' the Protheans to futilely fight until their extinction. They ''didn't'' expect them to accept their fate and FlingALightIntoTheFuture, essentially using their last fighting chance to give future sentient life better odds of survival]].

*** [[spoiler:In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', the Tuchanka's Reaper clearly didn't expect Eve to create a plan to use [[SandWorm Kalros]] in order to distract him while she and Mordin take the extra time to finalize the cure of the Genophage. And both the Reaper and the heroes didn't predict that Kalros was strong enough to actually ''kill'' the Reaper, either.]]

** ''Mass Effect 2'' squad member [[CombatMedic Mordin Solus]] relies on this trope to give him an advantage when going into a dangerous situation. He states in a conversation with Shepard that people see species like turians and asari as obvious threats because of their strength and capabilities, but because he's a salarian (amphibious lizard people who are comparatively physically weak as a species, yet intellectually superior), his enemies "[[VerbalTic *sharp inhale*]] never see me coming". Extra points for the SlasherSmile with that last bit, and for being ex-special ops and plenty dangerous in his own right. Omega quickly learned not to judge him by his diminished physique and odd behaviour (especially after he displayed the bodies of several mercs who tried to extort money out of him outside his ghetto clinic as a warning to others).

-->'''Grodus:''' In my most paranoid moments, I never thought my own computer would betray me.

-->'''Mimi:''' [[BigWhat WHAAAAT?!]] How did you earn enough Rubees to pay it off?! That's not supposed to happen!

* In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', this is basically Grodus' reaction to the reveal that his base's AI TEC has been helping Princess Peach subvert his plans.
-->'''Grodus:''' Never in my most paranoid moments did I imagine a computer would betray me.

** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', [[FishOutOfTemporalWater Javik]] reveals that the Protheans had actually intended [[spoiler:the ''[[TheChosenOne Asari]]'']] to lead the Galaxy against the Reapers in the next Cycle; influencing their early civilisation in order to give them a decent headstart. Upon waking up from 50,000 years of hibernation, Javik is naturally taken aback to discover that they're sitting on their hands, while it's ''[[TheUnChosenOne Humanity]]'' who are leading the charge.

* In ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'', [[spoiler:Fontaine's]] plot to [[spoiler:get Jack to kill Andrew Ryan to let him take over Rapture]] went off without a ''hitch''... except for those Little Sisters…
* In ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCalamityTrigger'', Hakumen says a variation of this in his Arcade path when [[spoiler:Nu-13 turns out to be the ninth fight instead of the last one]].

** Hazama, once again, runs afoul of this trope [[spoiler:in ''Chronophantasma'' against ''the exact same perpetrator'']]. [[labelnote:Got time to kill?]][[spoiler:Having completed everything in ''Continuum Shift'' proper according to his own specifications, he is so confident in his ability to control affairs that rather than keep Tsubaki Yayoi (the wielder of the Izayoi and Hazama's anti-Hakumen shield) on a tight leash with him at all times, he lets her run around Ikaruga on her own. This is in blatant ignorance of the fact that the last time he caught Makoto and Tsubaki with each other caused the instance mentioned in the above entry. True enough, Makoto finds Tsubaki, only Kagura Mutsuki happens to interrupt the fight and let Tsubaki run free. After being filled in (and likely getting a knuckle sandwich or two for his trouble), Kagura orchestrates a trap to lure Tsubaki back to Makoto, Noel and Jin to break her brainwashing, and the trap works as intended. Afterwards, Terumi gets into a fight with Hakumen, and when he thinks he can evade Hakumen's Time Cutter, Trinity pins him in place so he can't -- and because Tsubaki is now off fighting alongside Makoto against Relius and his cadre of puppets, Terumi can't use her to stay Hakumen's blade. Due to {{synchronization}}, both Hazama and Terumi suffer their worst defeat.]][[/labelnote]]
** Izanami runs afoul of this trope as of ''Central Fiction''. [[spoiler:As she's the Goddess of Death, the heroes can't kill her no matter what, a fact she demonstrates multiple times to their shock. However, it never occurs to her that, since both she and Noel carry [[SoulFragment half of the soul of Ragna and Jin's sister Saya]], they can just have Noel absorb her into herself to restore Saya's soul. Granted, she ''does'' try and work around this process by absorbing Noel when she tries it, but once again, she doesn't count on Ragna interfering at the critical moment, which results in her defeat.]]

-->'''Sarge:''' She wouldn't marry you on your best day.
-->'''Plastro:''' How about my worst?
--> ''[Sarge kicks over a wooden block, and knocks down some Tan soldiers, guarding Plastro, off a ledge, complete with [[BowledOver a wooden pins being knocked down sound effect]] ]''
-->'''Plastro:''' Huh!? Excellent move, I didn't see that coming! But do you think you can outsmart a bullet, hhhmmmm?
-->'''Sarge:''' Maybe not, I bet that thing could.
-->'''Plastro:''' What thing? ''[Notices dog behind him]'' What? Oh, mommy... ''[dog starts chewing in him]'' No, let go- Ahhhh!
-->'''Sarge:''' I don't think the world is ready to be led by a chew toy, have a nice day!

* In ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'', [[spoiler:Fontaine's]] plot to [[spoiler:get Jack to kill Andrew Ryan to let him take over Rapture]] went off without a ''hitch''… except for those Little Sisters…

* ''{{VideoGame/Catherine}}'' revolves around a love triangle between Vincent, Katherine, and Catherine. Vincent and Katherine have been together for 5 years, and seem to be on the verge of making the next step, especially now that Katherine is pregnant and [[spoiler:is lying about said pregnancy as a last-ditch attempt to get Vincent to marry her]]. Vincent ends up cheating on her with Catherine, a seductive, flighty, and violent woman [[spoiler:who is really a succubus sent by the BigBad to test him as part of a grander EvilPlan to exterminate uncommitted/unfaithful men]]. The crux of the original game is all about choosing which woman Vincent ends up with, though he can ditch both if played a certain way. However, the ''[[UpdatedRerelease Full Body]]'' version introduces Qatherine/"Rin" as an unlikely ThirdOptionLoveInterest. She's sweet, earnest, supportive, naive, and utterly harmless, and is even suffering from amnesia. All she wants to do is play the piano and make people happy. No one takes her seriously, and the other women barely even notice she exists. Not even [[spoiler:the BigBad seems to care, despite knowing that Rin is actually from a race of AngelicAliens whose human form is that of [[AttractiveBentGender an androgynous male]]]]. Rin lives by some unusual -- but profound -- ideals: No one can tell someone else how to live their life, and that individuals are the only ones who should decide what is important to them. If you choose to romance Rin, [[spoiler:this philosophy turns out to be ''exactly'' what Vincent needs to hear to take a step back from the whole Katherine/Catherine debacle and reassess his life]]. Not only does Vincent become a far stronger, more competent person, he [[spoiler:realizes [[IfItsYouItsOkay Rin makes him happy and that gender doesn't matter to him]]]]. This ''completely'' derails Catherine's strategy; [[spoiler:[[DidntSeeThatComing she isn't even aware of Rin as a romantic rival until it's too late]], and [[KnowWhenToFoldEm just gives up]] when she realizes [[IncompatibleOrientation Vincent may not even be interested in being seduced by a woman]]]]. This also happens to a lesser extent with Katherine, who decides [[spoiler:to break up with Vincent before she even finds out about Rin's gender. She's a little surprised at first when she does, but [[GracefulLoser is visibly relieved and walks away with a smile on her face]]]]. The biggest reaction comes from [[spoiler:the BigBad, who is utterly baffled and annoyed by the entire situation. He never expected a loser like Vincent would survive, let alone get into a same-sex relationship that outright defies the entire basis of the EvilPlan]]. It also never occurs to him that [[spoiler:Rin's piano playing manifests as their angelic power, which gives any listener the ability to see new possibilities and opportunities. It's much harder to kill people in elaborate puzzle death traps when they're emotionally stable and have more time to think]]. Vincent could and would have survived the ordeal on his own, but sweet, harmless, amnesiac Rin is the one who made that victory ''inevitable''.

-->'''Samuel Hayden:''' She didn't know you had the demonic Crucible... ''*chuckling*'' [[{{Irony}} In the end, the very power you sought to eradicate from Earth is now what will help you save it...]]

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas''

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6n2LMg8i3s The impact of the Wii Remote]] is more one for the industry '''itself''' than any in-game thing, but it's pretty much '''the''' perfect example. Only Gamespot saw it coming… in an {{April Fools|Day}} joke.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}} Episode III'', [[spoiler: Wilhelm]] is about to win! Everyone is where they need to be! The MacGuffin is within reach! [[spoiler: Too bad he didn't see Allen ruining his plans by taking Shion back and then not comprehending that KOS-MOS/Mary might just break the MacGuffin needed to restart time!]]

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' sees Scarecrow surprised to find out [[spoiler:Bruce Wayne is Batman after unmasking him]].

* In ''[[VideoGame/ArmyMen Army Men: Sarge's Heroes]]'', in the CutScene before the the final mission, Sarge confronts [[BiGBad General Plastro]] who says he will use the last remaining portal to destroy the Green Nation and [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe marry Vicky Grimm]], they share the following dialogue:

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' sees Scarecrow surprised to find out [[spoiler:Bruce Wayne is Batman after unmasking him.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'', [[spoiler:Fontaine's]] plot to [[spoiler:get Jack to kill Andrew Ryan to let him take over Rapture]] went off without a ''hitch''....except for those Little Sisters....
* In ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCalamityTrigger'', Hakumen says a variation of this in his Arcade path when [[spoiler:Nu-13 turns out to be the ninth fight instead of the last one.]]

** Hazama, once again, runs afoul of this trope [[spoiler:in ''Chronophantasma'' against ''the exact same perpetrator''.]] [[labelnote:Got time to kill?]] [[spoiler:Having completed everything in ''Continuum Shift'' proper according to his own specifications, he is so confident in his ability to control affairs that rather than keep Tsubaki Yayoi (the wielder of the Izayoi and Hazama's anti-Hakumen shield) on a tight leash with him at all times, he lets her run around Ikaruga on her own. This is in blatant ignorance of the fact that the last time he caught Makoto and Tsubaki with each other caused the instance mentioned in the above entry. True enough, Makoto finds Tsubaki, only Kagura Mutsuki happens to interrupt the fight and let Tsubaki run free. After being filled in (and likely getting a knuckle sandwich or two for his trouble), Kagura orchestrates a trap to lure Tsubaki back to Makoto, Noel and Jin to break her brainwashing, and the trap works as intended. Afterwards, Terumi gets into a fight with Hakumen, and when he thinks he can evade Hakumen's Time Cutter, Trinity pins him in place so he can't -- and because Tsubaki is now off fighting alongside Makoto against Relius and his cadre of puppets, Terumi can't use her to stay Hakumen's blade. Due to {{synchronization}}, both Hazama and Terumi suffer their worst defeat.]][[/labelnote]]
** Izanami runs afoul this trope as of ''Central Fiction''. [[spoiler:As she's the Goddess of Death, the heroes can't kill her no matter what, a fact she demonstrates multiple times to their shock. However, it never occurs to her that, since both she and Noel carry [[SoulFragment half of the soul of Ragna and Jin's sister Saya]], they can just have Noel absorb her into herself to restore Saya's soul. Granted, she ''does'' try and work around this process by absorbing Noel when she tries it, but once again she doesn't count on Ragna interfering at the critical moment, which results in her defeat]].
** The heroes collectively get hit with this hard at the climax of ''Central Fiction''. ''No one'' saw [[spoiler:Terumi [[HeroKiller killing Hakumen]] and [[GrandTheftMe stealing the Susano'o Unit]]]] coming, mostly because most of them didn't even know [[spoiler:Terumi was the original owner of the Unit and the ones that did never considered that he would both be willing to re-enter it (as he had willing casted it off in the backstory) and have the means to eject Hakumen in order to do so]].
* ''{{VideoGame/Catherine}}'' revolves around a love triangle between Vincent, Katherine, and Catherine. Vincent and Katherine have been together for 5 years, and seem to be on the verge of making the next step, especially now that Katherine is pregnant and [[spoiler: is lying about said pregnancy as a last-ditch attempt to get Vincent to marry her.]] Vincent ends up cheating on her with Catherine, a seductive, flighty, and violent woman [[spoiler: who is really a succubus sent by the BigBad to test him as part of a grander EvilPlan to exterminate uncommitted/unfaithful men.]] The crux of the original game is all about choosing which woman Vincent ends up with, though he can ditch both if played a certain way. However, the ''[[UpdatedRerelease Full Body]]'' version introduces Qatherine/"Rin" as an unlikely ThirdOptionLoveInterest. She's sweet, earnest, supportive, naive, and utterly harmless, and is even suffering from amnesia. All she wants to do is play the piano and make people happy. No one takes her seriously, and the other women barely even notice she exists. Not even [[spoiler: the BigBad seems to care, despite knowing that Rin is actually from a race of AngelicAliens whose human form is that of [[AttractiveBentGender an androgynous male.]]]] Rin lives by some unusual -- but profound -- ideals: No one can tell someone else how to live their life, and that individuals are the only ones should decide what is important to them. If you choose to romance Rin, [[spoiler: this philosophy turns out to be ''exactly'' what Vincent needs to hear to take a step back from the whole Katherine/Catherine debacle and reassess his life.]] Not only does Vincent become a far stronger, more competent person, he [[spoiler: realizes [[IfItsYouItsOkay Rin makes him happy and that gender doesn't matter to him.]]]] This ''completely'' derails Catherine's strategy; [[spoiler: [[DidntSeeThatComing she isn't even aware of Rin as a romantic rival until it's too late]], and [[KnowWhenToFoldEm just gives up]] when she realizes [[IncompatibleOrientation Vincent may not even be interested in being seduced by a woman.]]]] This also happens to a lesser extent with Katherine, who decides [[spoiler: to break up with Vincent before she even finds out about Rin's gender. She's a little surprised at first when she does, but [[GracefulLoser is visibly relieved and walks away with a smile on her face.]]]] The biggest reaction comes from [[spoiler: the BigBad, who is utterly baffled and annoyed by the entire situation. He never expected a loser like Vincent would survive, let alone get into a same-sex relationship that outright defies the entire basis of the EvilPlan.]] It also never occurs to him that [[spoiler: Rin's piano playing manifests as their angelic power, which gives any listener the ability see new possibilities and opportunities. It's much harder to kill people in elaborate puzzle death traps when they're emotionally stable and have more time to think.]] Vincent would've survived the ordeal on his own, but sweet, harmless, amnesiac Rin is the one who made that victory inevitable.
* In ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'', [[MagnificentBastard Kane's]] always a step ahead. Of everyone. GDI, Scrin, his own generals. Then in ''Command & Conquer 3'' [[spoiler:he undergoes a VillainousBreakdown when Kilian's forces ally with GDI. And then in Kane's Wrath, when it's revealed just how proficient Kane is at playing a GambitRoulette, he's yet again surprised when Alexa reveals to have tried to destroy LEGION, and tricked Kane into executing Kilian, out of her ''devotion to Kane''. That said, he still wins out in the end]].
** In the First game its seemed as though Nod has successfully defamed GDI and caused the UN to cut off all funding from them leaving them vulnerable for their forces. But instead it was all a BatmanGambit by GDI to trick Nod into lowering their guard, when Nod forces began attacking GDI bases they ended up facing fully armed forces.

** Ol' Bobby seems to have a real problem with AI's. Another AI that his organization was using for anti-terrorist operations went rogue when it classified ''them'' as terrorists, then began actively sabotaging their plans. And, of course, he made the classic Villain flop-up by ''continuously'' underestimating JC's abilities.

* ''Videogame/DoomEternal:'' The Khan Maykr knows enough of the Fortress of Doom, where the Doom Slayer resides, that she's aware that completely draining its power will strand him within it, unable to make it move elsewhere or open a portal to any other location at all; she leaves, thinking he's finally entombed him for eternity... but she doesn't know the Doom Slayer picked up the demonic Crucible just a moment ago; a blade made of pure Argent energy more than capable of powering the Fortress all by itself, making it trivial for him to resume operations with her taunts in mind.

* In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', the Thalmor were quite confident the Civil War in Skyrim would ultimately end in their favour. If the Imperials won, their Thalmor allies would be free to continue their efforts to infiltrate, influence and undermine a province of the Empire. If the Stormcloaks won, the Empire would be weakened significantly, recall their troops and leaving Skyrim wide open for the Aldmeri Dominion to launch an invasion. What they ''didn't'' see coming was the return of [[BigBad Alduin]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the World-Eater]], the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt resurrection of the Dragons]], and the arrival of [[CrystalDragonJesus the Dragonborn]].

** Also, nobody thought that [[spoiler:killing Bhunivelze, the top god in the food chain, who uses the Fal'Cie's god as a ''weapon''.]] was possible. Guess what happens when you combine the efforts of one OmnicidalManiac with the strength and will of twelve heroes. Yep.

** And in the sequel ''VideoGame/MegadimensionNeptuniaVII'', none of the [=CPUs=] saw their defeat at the hands of Gold Third coming. [[spoiler:Neither did Gold Third, for that matter. This counts as an Unknowable Unknown for all involved as an extradimensional RealityWarper nobody knew about had just started screwing with events.]]

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomsOfAmalurReckoning'' [[spoiler:Tirnoch created the Fateless One so that he/she could free Tirnoch from her prison that she was destined to hold her forever]]. This part works perfectly. What [[spoiler:Tirnoch]] ''didn't'' see coming was [[spoiler:the Fateless One being powerful enough to kill her]].
** The PlayerCharacter is this for the entire game world. In this setting, every living thing has a destiny that is consider [[YouCantFightFate inevitable]]. The [[MeaningfulName Fateless One]] ''doesn't'', and merely showing up at an event can throw a major spanner in the works.
* In ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVII'', [[spoiler:it turns out Egar (unseen since King's Quest IV) is the false King Otar.]]
* In ''VideoGame/MadRatDead'', [[spoiler:the Rat God's plan (and her composure) both fall apart when Heart is able to break into Mad Rat's brain to fight her off.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Rat God''']]: What the hell are you doing here?!
* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'' despite the [[AbusivePrecursors Reapers]] being terrifyingly thorough when it comes to wiping out all life in the galaxy, they still can't foresee every outcome:
** The Reapers didn't plan for [[spoiler:the Protheans to stop the keepers from activating the Citadel Relay. Nor did they anticipate the keepers evolving in manner that could be exploited to this end]]. This is noteworthy as it also relied on the Reapers only weakness: [[spoiler:their expectations. They ''expected'' the Protheans to futilely fight until extinction. They ''didn't'' expect them to accept their fate and FlingALightIntoTheFuture, essentially using their last fighting chance to give future sentient life better odds of survival]].

*** [[spoiler:In VideoGame/MassEffect3, the Tuchanka's Reaper clearly didn't expected Eve created a plan to use [[SandWorm Kalros]] in order to distract him while she and Mordin take the extra time to finalize the cure of the Genophage. And both the Reaper and the heroes didn't predicted that Kalros was strong enough to actually ''kill'' the Reaper, either.]]

** ''[[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Pokemon Platinum]]'''s Cyrus captures the [[OlympusMons Legendary Pokemon of Time and Space]], and prepares to use them to destroy the universe to end human suffering. Unbeknownst to him, they were [[RuleOfThree two-thirds of a trio]], and the [[EldritchAbomination Legendary Pokemon of Matter/Antimatter]], long ago banned from reality and stricken from mythology out of fear, isn't too pleased with him for this...
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', [[spoiler:[[TheManBehindTheMan Ghetsis]]]] was not expecting the protagonist to be able to summon the other Legendary Dragon of Unova, nor that the player's relationship to their Pokemon really was [[ThePowerOfFriendship friendship]], rather than using Pokemon as tools, ''nor'' that this second revelation would cause N to doubt his own cause and [[WorthyOpponent challenge the player character]] over the validity of their beliefs. As a result, the player ultimately [[DefeatMeansFriendship befriends N]], and [[spoiler:Ghetsis's plan to conquer Unova through FantasyGunControl falls to pieces. And [[VillainousBreakdown so does he]]]].

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' there are two instances of this; the first is that the BigBad was expecting some kind of superweapon [[spoiler:not a SealedEvilInACan]]. The second ''is actually a good thing for the heroes'' [[spoiler:Rita, and no one else, expected them using an apatheia to create an aer controller to aid Estelle would create [[NatureSpirit Undine]]]]!

* In ''VideoGame/King'sQuestVII'', [[spoiler:it turns out Egar (unseen since King's Quest IV) is the false King Otar.]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6n2LMg8i3s The impact of the Wii Remote]] is more one for the industry '''itself''' than any in-game thing, but it's pretty much '''the''' perfect example. Only Gamespot saw it coming… in an {{April Fools|Day}} joke.

* Calypso sometimes runs into this in ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal''; he doesn't always pick the most dependable players. In fact, the only two games in the series where he doesn't utterly and completely lose at least once are Twisted Metal 3 and Twisted Metal 2012.
** [[MonsterClown Sweet Tooth]] tends to do this most often, but he's gotten caught off-guard by others as well. At least ''four'' characters turn the tables on him in ''Twisted Metal 2''. Even when he took over Twisted Metal 4, he got his ass handed to him four times (Forced to take DRIVING SAFETY CLASSES, forced to act as chauffeur to an annoyingly crazy family, arrested by a bounty hunter, and trapped in his own Soul Jar).
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}''. [[spoiler:After his [[TheReveal Reveal]] as TheChessmaster, Shuji Ikutsuki plans to sacrifice most of the party by forcing RobotGirl Aigis to murder them, in order to bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. He's just about to succeed... and at that point, the player is reminded that Ikutsuki forgot to crucify the dog, too.]]
** [[spoiler:[[Franchise/ScoobyDoo "And I would have gotten away with it, too! If it weren't for you meddling kids and that dog!]]]]
* And it happens again in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', if you manage to find the true ending. The game itself works against you here, making you wait until most of the way through the good ending and then ignore two of its attempts to turn you around, that it's really no wonder the true final boss is surprised you got that far.
** And in-universe, Dojima, and especially Naoto, can usually keep up with the Investigation Team's deductions, only to fall short because they weren't aware of the supernatural elements. [[spoiler:Naoto starts seeing the full picture after experiencing the TV world for herself, but Dojima refuses to believe in the TV world even in the end, though he does get the basic gist of what happened.]]
** And the Investigation Team themselves nearly fall prey to {{Red Herring}}s from time to time. Of particular note is [[spoiler:the fact that there were two people stuffing others into the TV world, and the real culprit is, [[BeneathSuspicion of all people]], [[BumblingSidekick Adachi]]]].
* This is the BattleThemeMusic for ''VideoGame/Persona5'', and fits several of the bosses' opinions of the Phantom Thieves as well. Certainly mob bosses and CorruptCorporateExecutive types never think a group of [[YouMeddlingKids meddling kids]] and an anthropomorphic cat could destroy their perfectly orchestrated machinations.
-->''You'll never see it coming!''
* In ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'', [[MagnificentBastard Kane's]] always a step ahead. Of everyone. GDI, Scrin, his own generals. Then in ''Command & Conquer 3'' [[spoiler:he undergoes a VillainousBreakdown when Kilian's forces ally with GDI. And then in Kane's Wrath, when it's revealed just how proficient Kane is at playing a GambitRoulette, he's yet again surprised when Alexa reveals to have tried to destroy LEGION, and tricked Kane into executing Kilian, out of her ''devotion to Kane''. That said, he still wins out in the end]].
** In the First game its seemed as though Nod has successfully defamed GDI and caused the UN to cut off all funding from them leaving them vulnerable for their forces. But instead it was all a BatmanGambit by GDI to trick Nod into lowering their guard, when Nod forces began attacking GDI bases they ended up facing fully armed forces.
* ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' has a backstory example: Fhjull Forked-Tongue, LawfulEvil devil manages to trap a deva, a very incarnation of truth and LawfulGood, only to have it undone by the fact that the deva ''lied'' to him. The result of this (which is never precisely explained) is that Fhjull is now trapped into performing charity to any who asks.
* In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', this is basically Grodus' reaction to the reveal that his base's AI TEC has been helping Princess Peach subvert his plans.
-->'''Grodus:''' Never in my most paranoid moments did I imagine a computer would betray me.
* In ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCalamityTrigger'', Hakumen says a variation of this in his Arcade path when [[spoiler:Nu-13 turns out to be the ninth fight instead of the last one.]]
** Hazama runs afoul of this trope in ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift Continuum Shift Extend]]'', variant 3X. [[labelnote:Here's the rundown.]][[spoiler:During the events of ''Wheel of Fortune: Calamity Trigger'', Hazama makes an attempt on Jin's life, only to have himself parried by a half-dressed squirrel beastkin he initially recognizes as Makoto Nanaya, but when she asks about Noel, who was obliterated in Ibukido during this timeline, he starts running questions through his mind on just who she is. This Makoto, as he finds out far too late to salvage the rest of his ''Wheel of Fortune'' plot, is actually an extracontinuual anomaly, and not only has she been asking questions about things that didn't happen in ''Wheel of Fortune'', but she also brought Noel up before Tsubaki Yayoi - the resulting confusion caused Tsubaki to not meet with Hazama for prescheduled {{mindrape}}, so Hazama has to come up after her, and since Continuum Shift Makoto has been in recent contact, she was nowhere near Relius, who Hazama was outsourcing her handling to. His plans completely toppled and his patience having expired, he decides to kill her where she stands - only Rachel shows up and gets her out of there, leaving him alone with his seething rage. Back in ''Continuum Shift'', when Hazama catches Makoto chatting with Jin and not on assignment in Ikaruga, he finally puts two and two together, and his actions relegate his newfound priorities with her - outsource to Relius or '''''kill on sight'''''!]][[/labelnote]]
** Hazama, once again, runs afoul of this trope [[spoiler:in ''Chronophantasma'' against ''the exact same perpetrator''.]] [[labelnote:Got time to kill?]] [[spoiler:Having completed everything in ''Continuum Shift'' proper according to his own specifications, he is so confident in his ability to control affairs that rather than keep Tsubaki Yayoi (the wielder of the Izayoi and Hazama's anti-Hakumen shield) on a tight leash with him at all times, he lets her run around Ikaruga on her own. This is in blatant ignorance of the fact that the last time he caught Makoto and Tsubaki with each other caused the instance mentioned in the above entry. True enough, Makoto finds Tsubaki, only Kagura Mutsuki happens to interrupt the fight and let Tsubaki run free. After being filled in (and likely getting a knuckle sandwich or two for his trouble), Kagura orchestrates a trap to lure Tsubaki back to Makoto, Noel and Jin to break her brainwashing, and the trap works as intended. Afterwards, Terumi gets into a fight with Hakumen, and when he thinks he can evade Hakumen's Time Cutter, Trinity pins him in place so he can't - and because Tsubaki is now off fighting alongside Makoto against Relius and his cadre of puppets, Terumi can't use her to stay Hakumen's blade. Due to {{synchronization}}, both Hazama and Terumi suffer their worst defeat.]][[/labelnote]]
** Izanami runs afoul this trope as of ''Central Fiction''. [[spoiler:As she's the Goddess of Death, the heroes can't kill her no matter what, a fact she demonstrates multiple times to their shock. However, it never occurs to her that, since both she and Noel carry [[SoulFragment half of the soul of Ragna and Jin's sister Saya]], they can just have Noel absorb her into herself to restore Saya's soul. Granted, she ''does'' try and work around this process by absorbing Noel when she tries it, but once again she doesn't count on Ragna interfering at the critical moment, which results in her defeat]].
** The heroes collectively get hit with this hard at the climax of ''Central Fiction''. ''No one'' saw [[spoiler:Terumi [[HeroKiller killing Hakumen]] and [[GrandTheftMe stealing the Susano'o Unit]]]] coming, mostly because most of them didn't even know [[spoiler:Terumi was the original owner of the Unit and the ones that did never considered that he would both be willing to re-enter it (as he had willing casted it off in the backstory) and have the means to eject Hakumen in order to do so]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'', [[spoiler:Fontaine's]] plot to [[spoiler:get Jack to kill Andrew Ryan to let him take over Rapture]] went off without a ''hitch''....except for those Little Sisters....

* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' - Pity poor Sebastian [=LaCroix=]. For an ineffectual-seeming idiot Prince, he manages to make [[SurprisinglyEliteCannonFodder surprisingly good use of the PC]] and then [[spoiler:turn the entire city against you when he [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness doesn't need you anymore]]]]. Problem is, there was simply no way he could count on [[spoiler:you defeating the Blood Hunt and any and all other opposition by yourself, Caine empowering you to defeat his Dominate, ''and'' Jack [[VideoGame/ZeroWing setting him up the bomb]]]]. Okay, the first might have been something he should have expected, but the rest almost amounts to a DiabolusExMachina from his perspective.
* In ''VideoGame/KingdomsOfAmalurReckoning'' [[spoiler:Tirnoch created the Fateless One so that he/she could free Tirnoch from her prison that she was destined to hold her forever]]. This part works perfectly. What [[spoiler:Tirnoch]] ''didn't'' see coming was [[spoiler:the Fateless One being powerful enough to kill her]].
** The PlayerCharacter is this for the entire game world. In this setting, every living thing has a destiny that is consider [[YouCantFightFate inevitable]]. The [[MeaningfulName Fateless One]] ''doesn't'', and merely showing up at an event can throw a major spanner in the works.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''
** ''[[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Pokemon Platinum]]'''s Cyrus captures the [[OlympusMons Legendary Pokemon of Time and Space]], and prepares to use them to destroy the universe to end human suffering. Unbeknownst to him, they were [[RuleOfThree two-thirds of a trio]], and the [[EldritchAbomination Legendary Pokemon of Matter/Antimatter]], long ago banned from reality and stricken from mythology out of fear, isn't too pleased with him for this...
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', [[spoiler:[[TheManBehindTheMan Ghetsis]]]] was not expecting the protagonist to be able to summon the other Legendary Dragon of Unova, nor that the player's relationship to their Pokemon really was [[ThePowerOfFriendship friendship]], rather than using Pokemon as tools, ''nor'' that this second revelation would cause N to doubt his own cause and [[WorthyOpponent challenge the player character]] over the validity of their beliefs. As a result, the player ultimately [[DefeatMeansFriendship befriends N]], and [[spoiler:Ghetsis's plan to conquer Unova through FantasyGunControl falls to pieces. And [[VillainousBreakdown so does he]]]].
* In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', the Thalmor were quite confident the Civil War in Skyrim would ultimately end in their favour. If the Imperials won, their Thalmor allies would be free to continue their efforts to infiltrate, influence and undermine a province of the Empire. If the Stormcloaks won, the Empire would be weakened significantly, recall their troops and leaving Skyrim wide open for the Aldmeri Dominion to launch an invasion. What they ''didn't'' see coming was the return of [[BigBad Alduin]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the World-Eater]], the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt resurrection of the Dragons]], and the arrival of [[CrystalDragonJesus the Dragonborn]].
** The Dragonborn can potentially end up throwing a huge wrench into the Thalmor's plans for Skyrim by siding with either faction: either they face a reunified and re-invigorated Empire, or a still fairly powerful and not-being-continually-drained Cyrodiil and a rather powerful and ''[[ScrewYouElves very]]'' hostile independent Skyrim, and either winner also gets a new ally in the form of a PhysicalGod.
* ''VideoGame/HyperdimensionNeptuniaVictory'': Mr. Badd's plan to neutralize all the goddesses in Gamindustri worked flawlessly, leaving him and his organization free to move in and take power. He didn't count on a [[UsefulNotes/XBox foreign CPU]] to show up and derail the step of the plan.
** And in the sequel ''VideoGame/MegadimensionNeptuniaVII'', none of the [=CPUs=] saw their defeat at the hands of Gold Third coming. [[spoiler:Neither did Gold Third, for that matter. This counts as an Unknowable Unknown for all involved as an extradimensional RealityWarper nobody knew about had just started screwing with events.]]
* In ''[[VideoGame/SilentHill1 Silent Hill]]'', Dahlia didn't count on [[spoiler:Kaufmann]] having more than one [[spoiler:vial of aglaophotis]].
* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas''
** The the Independent Path ends with the 4 year-long-struggle between the Legion and NCR for control over the Mojave, as well as the 200-year-old plans of Mr House, completely derailed by one lone, and very lucky, [[WildCard Courier]].
** While Mr House, the NCR, the Legion or Yes Man send the Courier to parley with the various minor factions to rally support for their side in the second Battle of Hoover Dam, the one faction ''none'' of them expected to get was [[spoiler:an [[OldSoldier elderly]] contingent of [[TheRemnant Enclave Remnants]] from Navarro, whom your companion Arcade can introduce you to]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'':
** The [[TheEmpire Taidaan Empire]] fell due nobody anticipating the Kushan Mothership escaping the Kharakian Genocide, creating a powerful fleet and invading from the unguarded border as they were busy with a large rebellion.
** The rebellion itself. The emperor and his advisors had expected the people to be cowed in awe from the emperor's ability to see the Kushans, descendants of their ancestral enemy the Higaarans, violate the treaty preventing them from developing again hyperspace technology, and cheer upon their final destruction in the Kharakian Genocide. Instead the people realized the Kushans had ''forgot'' the treaty and were not hostile, and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard the Kharakian Genocide sparked the long-brewing rebellion that the emperor was planning to prevent with this act]].
* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' sees Scarecrow surprised to find out [[spoiler:Bruce Wayne is Batman after unmasking him.]]
* ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' has, at one point, Gordon gaining the ability to command antlions and promptly using this new army to invade an enemy stronghold. Despite the fluff explicitly mentioning that the Combine soldiers are all brainwashed and no longer have a personality of any sort, when one of them does finally report in what's going on, it does so in a [[NotSoStoic halting and uncertain tone]] vastly unlike the [[TheStoic professional manners]] heard so far.
-->'''Combine soldier:''' Warning, uh, [[TheHero primary target]] is engaged in, uh... [[TheBeastmaster command and control tactics]] with [[BigCreepyCrawlies biotics]]. Repeat, primary target has tactical C&C over biotics.
* In ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} the X-Universe]]'':
** The Kha'ak War comes to a rather unexpected and abrupt halt when a dormant jumpgate suddenly turns on and out pours the highly advanced Earth State Fleet, which proceeds to crush their main war fleet. ''Nobody'' on any side of the conflict saw that coming.
** The Ancients who control the jump network use it to keep different intelligent species cordoned off from other civilizations that are [[BlueAndOrangeMorality too different]] for them to get along with. For the most part, this seems to have worked quite well for millions of years, and if the Ancients ever make a bad judgement call, they can rearrange the jumpgates overnight to fix things. Then humanity invented a jumpgate on their own, which the Ancients thought was an impossible technological leap for such a young species. The humans also invented a self-replicating, self-improving, artificially intelligent machine race that is now out of control and spreading very quickly through uninhabited systems, which leads to the Ancients essentially throwing their hands up and [[GodzillaThreshold shutting down the entire network]] in the hopes of containing this chaos before it ruins anything else.

* This is a consistent character flaw for Altera in ''VideoGame/FateExtellaTheUmbralStar''. Her brain is completely wired for vanquishing the foe in front of her, to the point of tunnel vision; she completely fails to see battle as part of a bigger picture. Opponent makes a deeply flawed tactical move? She'll chastise them for the error, only to be ''completely blindsided'' by the strategic advantage that set up. Opponent has a non-combat solution to the conflict that doesn't require her to "lose"? She's completely psychologically unprepared and rendered helpless.

* The mother of all moments in the ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' series happens at the very end of ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11''. [[spoiler:Kronika has distorted events in every timeline so that Raiden and Liu Kang would fight each other, because she knows that her plans risk failure should they ever unite against her. While Liu Kang dies in every known instance and Raiden falls to corruption, she has likely planned out how to deal with the mortal champion of Earthrealm should Raiden somehow be removed from the equation. Where this trope comes in is ''how Raiden removes himself'' -- by merging with Past Liu Kang's soul and Present Liu Kang's flesh, displacing the flesh of Past Liu Kang in the process. What is left is the immortality and Hourglass immunity of a god, the power and determination of a mortal champion, and Present Liu Kang's comprehensive knowledge of the layout of her keep and army formations... and because two of the three fused voluntarily, there is no way to divide them and continue her plans as before. Kronika and Cetrion can only stare slack-jawed at Past Liu Kang's empty shackles before going back to work and hurriedly activating the Hourglass, and Kronika's tone of voice speaks ''volumes'' of how thoroughly Raiden compromised her plans.]]
* ''{{VideoGame/Catherine}}'' revolves around a love triangle between Vincent, Katherine, and Catherine. Vincent and Katherine have been together for 5 years, and seem to be on the verge of making the next step, especially now that Katherine is pregnant and [[spoiler: is lying about said pregnancy as a last-ditch attempt to get Vincent to marry her.]] Vincent ends up cheating on her with Catherine, a seductive, flighty, and violent woman [[spoiler: who is really a succubus sent by the BigBad to test him as part of a grander EvilPlan to exterminate uncommitted/unfaithful men.]] The crux of the original game is all about choosing which woman Vincent ends up with, though he can ditch both if played a certain way. However, the ''[[UpdatedRerelease Full Body]]'' version introduces Qatherine/"Rin" as an unlikely ThirdOptionLoveInterest. She's sweet, earnest, supportive, naive, and utterly harmless, and is even suffering from amnesia. All she wants to do is play the piano and make people happy. No one takes her seriously, and the other women barely even notice she exists. Not even [[spoiler: the BigBad seems to care, despite knowing that Rin is actually from a race of AngelicAliens whose human form is that of [[AttractiveBentGender an androgynous male.]]]] Rin lives by some unusual - but profound - ideals: No one can tell someone else how to live their life, and that individuals are the only ones should decide what is important to them. If you choose to romance Rin, [[spoiler: this philosophy turns out to be ''exactly'' what Vincent needs to hear to take a step back from the whole Katherine/Catherine debacle and reassess his life.]] Not only does Vincent become a far stronger, more competent person, he [[spoiler: realizes [[IfItsYouItsOkay Rin makes him happy and that gender doesn't matter to him.]]]] This ''completely'' derails Catherine's strategy; [[spoiler: [[DidntSeeThatComing she isn't even aware of Rin as a romantic rival until it's too late]], and [[KnowWhenToFoldEm just gives up]] when she realizes [[IncompatibleOrientation Vincent may not even be interested in being seduced by a woman.]]]] This also happens to a lesser extent with Katherine, who decides [[spoiler: to break up with Vincent before she even finds out about Rin's gender. She's a little surprised at first when she does, but [[GracefulLoser is visibly relieved and walks away with a smile on her face.]]]] The biggest reaction comes from [[spoiler: the BigBad, who is utterly baffled and annoyed by the entire situation. He never expected a loser like Vincent would survive, let alone get into a same-sex relationship that outright defies the entire basis of the EvilPlan.]] It also never occurs to him that [[spoiler: Rin's piano playing manifests as their angelic power, which gives any listener the ability see new possibilities and oppportunities. It's much harder to kill people in elaborate puzzle death traps when they're emotionally stable and have more time to think.]] Vincent would've survived the ordeal on his own, but sweet, harmless, amnesiac Rin is the one who made that victory inevitable.
* ''Videogame/DoomEternal:'' The Khan Maykr knows enough of the Fortress of Doom, where the Doom Slayer resides, that she's aware that completely draining its power will strand him within it, unable to make it move elsewhere or open a portal to any other location at all; she leaves, thinking he's finally entombed him for eternity... but she doesn't know the Doom Slayer picked up the demonic Crucible just a moment ago; a blade made of pure Argent energy more than capable of powering the Fortress all by itself, making it trivial for him to resume operations with her taunts in mind.
-->'''Samuel Hayden:''' She didn't know you had the demonic Crucible... ''*chuckling*'' [[{{Irony}} In the end, the very power you sought to eradicate from Earth is now what will help you save it...]]

* ''VideoGame/AceCombat7SkiesUnknown'' features two:
** Unknown Known - Erusea neglects securing Stonehenge after it once again falls within their territory, not because they don't know its power, but rather because they don't see how a wrecked superweapon could be useful. By the time they realize that it's not completely useless (Mobius One only smashed ''seven'' of the eight guns during [[VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies the Usean Continental War]], as the eighth had been silenced by a meteor impact that took out its power supply, but left the gun itself intact prior to the war) and there's a reason there's a small pocket of Osean forces there, it's almost too late for them to do anything about it. This failure to recognize the importance of this particular known value and close the pocket around Stonehenge sooner costs Erusea one of the Arsenal Birds.
** Unknown Unknown - ''neither'' side could forsee that they would launch their ASAT missions at exactly the same time while Osea was besieging the Erusean capital of Farbanti. On top of this, neither side had a real contingency for what to do if ''their entire communications network'' goes dark, resulting in widespread chaos and anarchy as nations secede, entire military units rebel, and people start shooting at each other.
* In ''VideoGame/MadRatDead'', [[spoiler:the Rat God's plan (and her composure) both fall apart when Heart is able to break into Mad Rat's brain to fight her off.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Rat God''']]: What the hell are you doing here?!
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'': If the player chooses to marry temperamental and haughty Debora, The Hero gets various levels of this from pretty much everyone — including Debora herself and her father.

-->'''Samuel Hayden:''' She didn't know you had the demonic Crucible... ''*chuckling*'' [[{{Irony}} In the end, the very power you sought to erradicate from Earth is now what will help you save it...]]

** Unknown Known - Erusea neglects securing Stonehenge after it once again falls within their territory, not because they don't know its power, but rather because they don't see how a wrecked superweapon could be useful. By the time they realize that it's not completely useless (Mobius One only smashed ;;seven'' of the eight guns during [[VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies the Usean Continental War]], as the eighth had been silenced by a meteor impact that took out its power supply, but left the gun itself intact prior to the war) and there's a reason there's a small pocket of Osean forces there, it's almost too late for them to do anything about it. This failure to recognize the importance of this particular known value and close the pocket around Stonehenge sooner costs Erusea one of the Arsenal Birds.

* Bob Page from ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' had a plan [[AGodAmI to become a]] PhysicalGod by merging with a nigh-omniscient AI that was only ''mildly'' impeded by the player ''[[NukeEm nuking his base of operations]]''. It's completely thrown out the window, however, by the AI deciding [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness it wants to merge with the player instead]].