History Main / ArkhamsRazor

* Unsurprisingly lampshaded in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': When the rest of the cast jump to a wild conclusion regarding the parentage of a child, OnlySaneMan ([[AmbiguousGender or woman]]) V points out that they have nowhere near enough evidence to reach said conclusion... but given their past experience, that probably means they're right anyway. Although it really isn't that much of a leap from "his ex has a kid of the right age that looks like him" to "that's his kid".

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E1WhoShotMrBurnsPartTwo Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part Two]]", the family watches the news report that Smithers has been found innocent, and Marge comments that it's never the most likely suspect. Lisa counters that [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome actually, in 95% of cases it IS the most likely suspect]], and the rest of the time it's [[AnticlimacticUnmasking just some random person with no motive at all]]. Incidentally, the actual culprit fits this trope nicely: it was [[spoiler:baby Maggie]], of all people.

* At the start of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'', Jotaro Kujo was arrested for beating up a grouo of armed gang members. The problem is that he has no idea how he managed to pull it off. Therefore he jumps to the only logical conclusion; he’s possessed by an evil spirit. He’s mostly right, the "evil spirit" is actually his newly developed [[GuardianEntity Stand]], Star Platinum.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsWhoShotMrBurns Who Shot Mr. Burns?]]", the family watches the news report that Smithers has been found innocent, and Marge comments that it's never the most likely suspect. Lisa counters that [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome actually, in 95% of cases it IS the most likely suspect]], and the rest of the time it's [[AnticlimacticUnmasking just some random person with no motive at all]]. Incidentally, the actual culprit fits this trope nicely: it was [[spoiler:baby Maggie]], of all people.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Emerald and Neo's overlapping powers caused the fandom no shortage of headaches pre-Atlas arc. The audience knew little beforehand about either character, but knew that Neo could create "illusions" somehow, that had previously been dispelled by Yang shattering them while the real Neo got away. She was later seen with an altered appearance and seems to change her eye color repeatedly just to do so. Pressing the point that she could alter what people see was her various disguises taken during the Vytal Festival Tournament, with her pink and brown eyes being the only hint to her identity. Thus, when presented with clear situations where someone was messing with what a character sees and hears, fans assumed it was Neo, only for it to be revealed that it was Emerald this time. Three volumes later, the difference was clarified: Neo's illusions have physical form, whereas Emerald's are mental manipulation only.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' plays with this. At one point the Reds try to figure out why Lopez disappeared, then later the Warthog went nuts and started trying to kill Sarge. [[NewMeat Donut]] actually hits on the rather bizarre correct answer: Church got killed, then his ghost possessed Lopez to use for a body, then the Blues accidentally triggered the Hog's remote control while looking for Lopez's "fix stuff" function. But the other Reds think Sarge's brainwashing beam idea is more likely, and they'd rejected that one out of hand for the MundaneSolution that the Blues reprogrammed Lopez.

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'': In one episode, the gang is arguing about who was the most "badass" as a kid. All of their tales of [[FormerTeenRebel youthful rebellion are eventually proven false,]] except for TeamMom (and literal mom) and kindergarten teacher Lily, who painted a picture of herself as basically an {{Expy}} of [[KarmicThief Omar Little]] from ''Series/TheWire''. Naturally, at the end of the episode this is proven true.

* ''Film/{{Hook}}'': The first time we meet Tootles, he's searching frantically for something. When Peter asks him what he's doing, he says, "I've lost my marbles!" Which Peter of course interprets metaphorically, thinking that Tootle's has gone insane. Much later in the movie, Peter learns that Tootles used to be a Lost Boy, and that he left his (quite literal) marbles behind in Neverland.

* ''Franchise/{{Peanuts}}'': In ''It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown'', while rehearsing for a Christmas pageant, Sally talks about waiting for Harold Angel to sing. Charlie Brown thinks this is just the standard {{Mondegreen}} for "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" until a kid named Harold Angel shows up looking for Sally.

See also: NeverTheObviousSuspect, InfallibleBabble, CassandraTruth. Often overlaps with TheCuckoolanderWasRight, AccidentalTruth, or RefugeInAudacity. May be the basis of a BrickJoke. Compare ImpossiblyMundaneExplanation, where an explanation floated by a character is dismissed for being too mundane, and AluminumChristmasTrees, which is an example of how this can happen in real life.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'', it's frequently suggested, half-jokingly, that the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher must be cursed since no DADA professor ever lasts more than one school year. The reader isn't invited to take this very seriously — until Book 6 when Dumbledore reveals that it actually was cursed by Voldemort.
** ImpliedTrope: Dumbledore never actually ''confirmed'' that the position was cursed (as he wasn't certain himself), but he does reveal that the problems with the position started immediately after he turned down Voldemort for the job. Also technically a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]], as now, the explanation that the position is cursed is no longer particularly outlandish.

* ''Franchise/{{Peanuts}}'': In ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas'', while rehearsing for a Christmas pageant, Sally talks about waiting for Harold Angel to sing. Charlie Brown thinks this is just the standard {{Mondegreen}} for "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" until a kid named Harold Angel shows up looking for Sally.

* ''Series/{{House}}'': Often played non-comedically. In medical jargon, an unexpected diagnosis is referred to as a "[[http://house.wikia.com/wiki/Zebra zebra]]". Justified, in this case, because dealing with the zebra cases is [[AnthropicPrinciple the entire reason for House's department]] ''existing''. They only get the weird cases that the regular doctors can't figure out, similar to how Franchise/SherlockHolmes probably didn't deal with many conventional crimes that Scotland Yard was able to deal with on their own.

[[folder:Table-top Games]]

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Emerald and Neo . The audience knew little beforehand about either character, but knew that Neo could create "illusions" somehow, that had previously been dispelled by Yang shattering them while the real Neo got away. She was later seen with an altered appearance and seems to change her eye color repeatedly just to do so. Pressing the point that she could alter what people see was her various disguises taken during the Vytal Tournament, with her pink and brown eyes being the only hint to her identity. Thus, when presented with clear situations where someone was messing with what a character sees and hears, fans assumed it was Neo. There were the odd fans that insisted it was Mercury or more likely Emerald who had the illusion power (mainly due to one of the biggest uses of said illusions occurred to a character who was hunting Emerald down and couldn't find her), but they were promptly shouted down and considered ignorant of canon. It later turned out that Emerald ''was'' the person crafting illusions, though Neo still retains the strange reality-altering powers she had before, which have yet to be explained.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsWhoShotMrBurns Who Shot Mr. Burns?]]", the family watches the news report that Smithers has been found innocent, and Marge comments that it's never the most likely suspect. Lisa counters that [[RealityEnsues actually, in 95% of cases it IS the most likely suspect]], and the rest of the time it's [[AnticlimacticUnmasking just some random person with no motive at all]]. Incidentally, the actual culprit fits this trope nicely: it was [[spoiler:baby Maggie]], of all people.

* Unsurprisingly lampshaded in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': When the rest of the cast jump to a wild conclusion regarding the parentage of a child, OnlySaneMan ([[AmbiguousGender or woman]]) V points out that they have nowhere near enough evidence to reach said conclusion... but given their past experience, that probably means they're right anyway.

* TabeltopGame/ArkhamHorror obviously falls into this (if the name wasn't a dead giveaway). Take almost any encounter in the game regarding your character hearing a strange noise or seeing a weird light, and there's a chance it leads to a mystical artifact, a coverup, or a monster of indescribable horror.