History Main / NarrowedItDownToTheGuyIRecognize

* Happens so often on ''Series/{{Castle}}'' that lately they've taken to casting at least two familiar faces an episode, so even though you know one of them did it, they at least keep you guessing between which.

* Parodied in the ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' sketch "[[https://youtu.be/qaKZi6p6sxg?si=UCkjlQpSgssVneO7 Murdur Durdur]]", where ''everyone'' assumes the creepy priest played by guest host Creator/ElonMusk murdered the titular [[FunetikAksent durdur]] the minute he shows up, followed by him immediately confessing.

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'': Creator/JohnnyYongBosch as an insignificant bumbling rookie detective? American fans of Japanese media didn't buy it. [[spoiler: Yep, he did it.]]
** A kind of double subversion: Johnny Yong Bosch was also playing the protagonist, meaning that getting him to play an insignificant character would be making ''more'' use of him rather than wasting him. However, the protagonist is almost a HeroicMime, so having him play another important character would make sure that he wasn't wasted.

* Subverted ''hard'' in ''VideoGame/MinecraftStoryMode''. One episode features a murder mystery set in a mansion, introducing multiple new characters as potential cuplrits. Unfortunately, every single character is voiced by and modeled after a famous (at the time) Minecraft [=YouTuber=], ''except'' for the one who turns out to be a culprit, to avoid casting any of their real life actors in a negative light. Even vague familiarity with the [=YouTube=] scene of 2012-2016 can make the culprit glaringly obvious from the moment she's introduced.

* Subverted ''hard'' in ''VideoGame/MinecraftStoryMode''. One episode features a murder mystery set in a mansion, introducing multiple new characters as potential cuplrits. Unfortunately, every single character is voiced by and modeled after a famous (at the time) Minecraft YouTuber, ''except'' for the one who turns out to be a culprit, to avoid casting any of their real life actors in a negative light. Even vague familiarity with the [=YouTube=] scene of 2012-2016 can make the culprit glaringly obvious from the moment she's introduced.

* Subverted ''hard'' in ''VideoGame/MinecraftStoryMode''. One episode features a murder mystery set in a mansion, introducing multiple new characters as potential cuplrits. Unfortunately, every single character is voiced by and modeled after a famous (at the time) Minecraft YouTuber, ''except'' for the one who turns out to be a culprit, to avoid casting any of their real life actors in a negative light. Even vague familiarity with the YouTube scene of 2012-2016 can make the culprit glaringly obvious from the moment she's introduced.

* In ''Film/{{Twisted}}'' (2004), [[spoiler:Creator/SamuelLJackson is playing the protagonist's foster father and mentor. Naturally, given the types of role Jackson usually plays, he's the killer.]]

* On Wednesday, the most famous cast member [[spoiler: Christina Ricci]] turns out to be the BigBad controlling the monster who was killing everyone.

** An episode featured Thomas F. Wilson as the victim's boss. You best remember him as Biff Tannen from ''Film/BackToTheFuture''. [[spoiler:He turned out to be the killer.]]

* In the 2016 film version of ''Series/DadsArmy'', the plot of which involves a German spy in Walmington-on-Sea, would anyone be really surprised to see that the spy is played by [[spoiler: Creator/CatherineZetaJones, who's only the biggest name in the cast]]? That they are ''also'' a CanonForeigner, and would thus be immediately suspected anyway, makes it feel like the casting is a deliberate wink to the audience.

** Subverted in the Season 1 cliff-hanger finale, where Richard Schiff shows up as a guest star, [[spoiler: and is killed off after just a couple of minutes of screen time]]. The DVD commentary says they specifically hired a big name so the audience would see him as the ultimate bad guy--they wouldn't pay a big star like that to be just a [[IncrediblyLamePun one-shot]] flunky.

* During a Creator/JohnMulaney bit about Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit, he stated that he wanted the victim to look at the line-up of suspects in an episode where Creator/DeanCain was playing the rapist and say, "Is that Dean Cain?".

* ''Series/{{Forever}}'' spoiled the identity of a killer by casting Emily Kinney (Beth from ''Series/TheWalkingDead''), as it would have been strange to hire an actress at the height of her popularity to date to play such a small role if it wasn't that of the killer.

* ''FuruhataNinzaburo'' takes this trope UpToEleven: the criminal is played by a famous face each time, and at least twice Furuhata faces off against actual celebrities: a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of baseball star Ichiro Suzuki (who, [=BTW=], flat out refused to have his character's name changed) and the entire JPop band SMAP.

** [[Series/{{Dirt}} Will McCormack]] raped Devalos' daughter and others.

* Frequently played straight and averted on ''Series/DeathInParadise'', thanks to the show's production location. A guest spot on ''Death In Paradise'' comes with a week's free holiday in sunny Guadeloupe, which is enough to get a lot of British TV stars to sign on for small roles. Sometimes the most recognisable guest actor has the smallest speaking part (victims of the week have included Creator/JamesCosmo and Creator/SeanPertwee) -- presumably having used their star power to maximise their beach time

* Come on, as if you didn't know that [[spoiler:Creator/AlanTudyk would play something better than just an architect]] on ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}''.