History Quotes / ComplexityAddiction

-->--'''The Doctor to The Master''', ''Series/DoctorWho'', [[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E1TerrorOfTheAutons Terror of the Autons"]]

-->--'''Website/CollegeHumor''', "[[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mOcixShtD5o&pp=ygUVYm93c2VyIGFuZCBoaXMgbWluaW9u Bowser and His Minions]]"

-->--''WebAnimation/HalfLifeSideStoryGaidenHuntDownFreeMan''

-->--''WebComic/EightBitTheater'', [[https://www.nuklearpower.com/2002/09/09/episode-191-real-they-both-did-their-research/ episode 191]]

-->--''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20091019 "Elevator Madness!"]]

-->--''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20150930 "Couple's Time"]]

-->--'''Queen Albia''', ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200911 11 Sept. 2020]]

-->--'''The Narrator''' after [[IdiotHero John Egbert]] deliberately makes his inventory system impractical, ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''

-->--''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0378.html "He didn't even have to say please."]]

[[folder:Web Original]]

-->--'''Brian Cronin''', [[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/ "Comics Should Be Good"]]

-->--''[[Website/{{Reddit}} /r/BadMtgCombos]]'', [[https://www.reddit.com/r/BadMtgCombos/comments/gpoafw/how_to_win_turn_4_in_standard_and_still_be_bad/ "How to Win Turn 4 in Standard and Still Be Bad"]]

[[folder:Web Video]]

-->--'''Steve''', ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', "With Friends Like Steve's"

-->--''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'', "Little Brittle"

->''"I should have just destroyed him when I had the chance. But NO! I had to be greedy. Elaborate. Turn it into a sport."''
-->--'''Cronos''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''

-->--''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', "The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks!"

-->--''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', "The Ballad of Duke Baloney!"

-->--'''Robot Devil''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''

-->--'''Shego''', ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', "Ron-Millionaire"

-->--'''Heinz Doofenshmirtz''', ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''

-->--''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', "[[Recap/PhineasAndFerbElementaryMyDearStacy Elementary, My Dear Stacy]]"

-->--''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', "[[Recap/PhineasAndFerbPictureThis Picture This]]"

-->--''WesternAnimation/{{ReBoot}}'', "Web World Wars"

-->-- ''ComicBook/TheKillersOfKrypton''

-->-- ''ComicBook/ScoobyDooTeamUp'', "Man Bat and Robbin'"

-->-- '''Darth Krayt''', ''ComicBook/StarWarsLegacy #13: Ready to Die''

-->-- '''Syrene''', ''ComicBook/TwoForTheDeathOfOne''

-->-- ''Fanfic/KaraOfRokyn''

-->-- '''Annika-709''', ''Fanfic/Plan7Of9FromOuterSpace''

-->-- ''Fanfic/TheVampireOfSteel''

-->-- '''Yzma''', ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove''

-->-- ''Film/AustinPowersInternationalManOfMystery''

-->-- '''August Walker'''/'''[[spoiler:[[TheMole John Lark]]]]''' to '''[[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist Solomon Lane]]''', ''Film/MissionImpossibleFallout''

-->-- ''Literature/GotrekAndFelix: Beastslayer''

-->-- '''Dread Emperor Traitorous''', ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil''

-->-- '''Accord''' designs a DeathTrap, ''Literature/{{Worm}}''

-->-- '''Robin''', ''Series/HowIMetYourMother''

-->-- ''Series/TheInvisibleMan'', "Diseased"

-->-- '''Creator/GordonRamsay''', on La Parra de Burriana, ''Series/KitchenNightmares''

-->-- '''Moriarty''', ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''

-->'''The Doctor to The Master''', ''Series/DoctorWho'', [[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E1TerrorOfTheAutons Terror of the Autons"]]

-->-- ''Series/TheBoys2019'', [[Recap/TheBoysS0208WhatIKnow "What I Know"]]

-->-- '''Ema Skye''', ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'' ({{lampshad|eHanging}}ing the frequent usage of this trope in ''Franchise/AceAttorney'')

-->-- '''Apollo Justice''', ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies''

-->-- '''Website/CollegeHumor''', "[[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mOcixShtD5o&pp=ygUVYm93c2VyIGFuZCBoaXMgbWluaW9u Bowser and His Minions]]"

-->-- ''WebAnimation/HalfLifeSideStoryGaidenHuntDownFreeMan''

-->-- ''WebComic/EightBitTheater'', [[https://www.nuklearpower.com/2002/09/09/episode-191-real-they-both-did-their-research/ episode 191]]

-->-- ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20091019 "Elevator Madness!"]]

-->-- ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20150930 "Couple's Time"]]

-->-- '''Queen Albia''', ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200911 11 Sept. 2020]]

-->-- '''The Narrator''' after [[IdiotHero John Egbert]] deliberately makes his inventory system impractical, ''{{Webcomic/Homestuck}}''

-->-- ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0378.html "He didn't even have to say please."]]

-->-- '''Brian Cronin''', [[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/ "Comics Should Be Good"]]

-->-- ''[[Website/{{Reddit}} /r/BadMtgCombos]]'', [[https://www.reddit.com/r/BadMtgCombos/comments/gpoafw/how_to_win_turn_4_in_standard_and_still_be_bad/ "How to Win Turn 4 in Standard and Still Be Bad"]]

-->-- ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gvPvQP5B9k Donkey Kong Country Abridged: Episode 2 — Ape Fool Young]]''

-->-- '''Website/SFDebris''', on Arne Darvin/Barry Waddle's plan to travel back in time and kill Captain Kirk with an [[KillerRabbit explosive tribble]], in [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine "Trials and Tribble-ations"]]

-->-- '''[[WebVideo/TwoBestFriendsPlay Pat]]''', while [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R318LQaGGbA playing through]] the infamous "electric fence" level in ''VideoGame/RideToHellRetribution''

-->-- ''Website/{{Collegehumor}}'', "Too Many Twists"

-> "So [[BigBad Palpatine]] needs Padme dead, but he doesn't want to do it himself. So he asks [[TheDragon Count Dooku]] to go kill Padme, but Count Dooku doesn't want to do it himself. So Count Dooku asks [[BountyHunter Jango Fett]] to go kill Padme, but Jango Fett doesn't want to do it himself. So he asks his [[ProfessionalKiller shapeshifter friend]] to go kill Padme but the shapeshifter sends a ''[[AttackDrone robot]]'' to go kill Padme! And if you really wanna be an asshole, and get even more granular, the droid says "I'll send these [[CreepyCentipedes little bugs]] to go kill Padme!" [[labelnote: Note]] Even funnier, the bugs themselves were going to inject a [[PoisonIsEvil deadly poison]] that was going to kill Padme which means that not even the bugs are the ones finishing her off. [[/labelnote]] ''Palpatine sends a man who sends a man, who sends a shapeshifter, who sends a robot, who sends bugs TO GO KILL PADME!'' And what's even funnier is that [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim after they chase the robot and the shapeshifter, Jango has a chance to go kill Padme]], but instead he goes out of his way to assassinate the person he hired to assassinate PADME!!!
-->-- ''WebVideo/TheCosmonautVarietyHour'' in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPvEJjNNPp4 Every Star Wars Movie Reviewed - Pt. 2 - The Prequels]]

-->-- '''WebVideo/{{Lemmino}}''', [[WhoShotJFK The Kennedy Assassination]]: [[https://youtu.be/5u7euN1HTuU Inside the Book Depository]]

-->-- '''Steve''', ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', "With Friends Like Steve's"

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'', "Little Brittle"

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', "The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks!"

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', "The Ballad of Duke Baloney!"

-->-- '''Robot Devil''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''

-->-- '''Shego''', ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', "Ron-Millionaire"

-->-- '''Heinz Doofenshmirtz''', ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', "[[Recap/PhineasAndFerbElementaryMyDearStacy Elementary, My Dear Stacy]]"

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', "[[Recap/PhineasAndFerbPictureThis Picture This]]"

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{ReBoot}}'', "Web World Wars"

-->-- '''Carl von Clauswitz''', ''On War''

-->-- '''UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein''', also attributed to Pete Seeger

->'''Phineas:''' Ferb, he must have left your skateboard in England [[Recap/PhineasAndFerbElementaryMyDearStacy the last time we were there]]. I know! We could create a highly intricate and sophisticated machine, that will transport any object from anywhere on the globe to our backyard!\\

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/Ducktales2017'', "The Ballad of Duke Baloney!"

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', "Elementary, My Dear Stacy"

--> ''WebVideo/TheCosmonautVarietyHour'' in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPvEJjNNPp4 Every Star Wars Movie Reviewed - Pt. 2 - The Prequels]]

-->-- '''WebVideo/{{Lemmino}}''', [[https://youtu.be/5u7euN1HTuU The Kennedy Assassination: Inside the Book Depository]]

->'''Nale:''' I just need to devise some scheme, some elaborate machination, by which I could unearth more information concerning this [[CosmicKeystone gate]]...\\

-> "So [[BigBad Palpatine]] needs Padme dead, but he doesn't want to do it himself. So he asks [[TheDragon Count Dooku]] to go kill Padme, but Count Dooku doesn't want to do it himself. So Count Dooku asks [[BountyHunter Jango Fett]] to go kill Padme, but Jango Fett doesn't want to do it himself. So he asks his [[ProfessionalKiller shapeshifter friend]] to go kill Padme but the shapeshifter sends a ''[[AttackDrone robot]]'' to go kill Padme! And if you really wanna be an asshole, and get even more granular, the droid says "I'll send these [[CreepyCentipede little bugs]] to go kill Padme!" [[labelnote: Note]] Even funnier, the bugs themselves were going to inject a [[PoisonIsEvil deadly poison]] that was going to kill Padme which means that not even the bugs are the ones finishing her off. [[/labelnote]] ''Palpatine sends a man who sends a man, who sends a shapeshifter, who sends a robot, who sends bugs TO GO KILL PADME!'' And what's even funnier is that [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim after they chase the robot and the shapeshifter, Jango has a chance to go kill Padme]], but instead he goes out of his way to assassinate the person he hired to assassinate PADME!!!

-> "So Palpatine needs Padme dead, but he doesn't want to do it himself. So he asks Count Dooku to go kill Padme, but Count Dooku doesn't want to do it himself. So Count Dooku asks Jango Fett to go kill Padme, but Jango Fett doesn't want to do it himself. So he asks his shapeshifter friend to go kill Padme but the shapeshifter sends a robot to go kill Padme. And if you really wanna be an asshole, and get even more granular, the droid says "I'll send these little bugs to go kill Padme!" [[labelnote: Note]] Even funnier, the bugs themselves were going to inject a poison that was going to kill Padme which means that not even the bugs are the ones finishing her off. [[/labelnote]] ''Palpatine sends a man who sends a man, who sends a shapeshifter, who sends a robot, who sends bugs TO GO KILL PADME!'' And what's even funnier is that [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim after they chase the robot and the shapeshifter, Jango has a chance to go kill Padme]], but instead he goes out of his way to assassinate the person he hired to assassinate PADME!!!

-> "So Palpatine needs Padme dead, but he doesn't want to do it himself. So he asks Count Dooku to go kill Padme, but Count Dooku doesn't want to do it himself. So Count Dooku asks Jango Fett to go kill Padme, but Jango Fett doesn't want to do it himself. So he asks his shapeshifter friend to go kill Padme but the shapeshifter sends a robot to go kill Padme. And if you really wanna be an asshole, and get even more granular, the droid says "I'll send these little bugs to go kill Padme!" [[labelnote: Note]] Even funnier, the bugs themselves were going to inject a poison that was going to kill Padme which means that not even the bugs are the ones finishing her off. [[/labelnote]] [[ComplexityAddiction Palpatine sends a man who sends a man, who sends a shapeshifter, who sends a robot, who sends bugs TO GO KILL PADME!]] And what's even funnier is that [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim after they chase the robot and the shapeshifter, Jango has a chance to go kill Padme]], but instead he goes out of his way to assassinate the person he hired to assassinate PADME!!!

->'''[=GeneralIronicus=]:''' ''[as Snake]'' I forgot to mention -- [[BigBad my brother]]... [[HiddenDepths is a limbo master]]! That's how they decided primary elections in the future of ''Metal Gear''.\\
'''LetsPlay/ChipCheezum:''' Aside from expositioning.\\
'''Ironicus:''' If it was ''all'' exposition, then we would have President [[DoubleReverseQuadrupleAgent Ocelot]] by now.\\
'''Chip:''' Every time there's, like, a State of the Union address, it'd just be him going ''[in Ocelot voice]'' "I tricked all of you, America! I tricked you into thinking that I tricked you! And then I tricked you again! Bet you didn't see ''that'' one coming!"\\
'''Ironicus [as Ocelot]:''' Even ''I'' don't know how many times you've been tricked!\\
'''Chip [as Ocelot]:''' I got a Trick-Diary!\\
'''Ironicus [as Ocelot]:''' I tricked ''myself'' into tricking me to trick ''you'', to trick ''me'' to trick the Patriots!\\
'''Chip [as Ocelot]:''' [[StupidEvil I can't do anything without tricking]]! I can't even ask for pepper without tricking them into giving me the pepper!
-->-- '''[[http://chipandironicus.com/ Chip and Ironicus]]''' discussing [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Revolver Ocelot]] becoming President

[[folder:Newspapers]]

->''"Film/TheJackal strikes me as the sort of overachiever who, assigned to kill a mosquito, would purchase contraband insecticides from Iraq and bring them to the United States by hot air balloon, distilling his drinking water from clouds and shooting birds for food."''
-->-- '''Creator/RogerEbert'''

[[folder:Podcasts]]

->'''Mike:''' It seems a bit convoluted. It's like they're trying to fill most of the movie with a nonsensical plot to have a movie where a Predator fights Aliens. "It's the Aztec calender!" "Uh, sure, okay."\\
'''Rich:''' Do they really need ''people?'' Why can't they just go out into the jungle, capture a few bears, throw 'em into the temple? Then they get to fight [[BearsAreBadNews alien-bears]].
-->-- ''WebVideo/HalfInTheBag'' riffs ''Film/AVPAlienVsPredator''

[[folder:VisualNovels]]

->''"Why can't we have a normal, straightforward killing once in a while in this country?"''
-->-- '''Ema Skye''', ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'' ({{lampshad|eHanging}}ing the frequent usage of this trope in ''Franchise/AceAttorney'')

->''(Yeesh, Rube Goldberg machines have less elaborate setups than [[spoiler:L'Belle's]] scheme...)''
-->-- '''Apollo Justice''', ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies''

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
->'''Moint Pan:''' [[StylisticSuck WHT IS DEAL?!?!?!?!?!]]\\
'''[[TheChessmaster G-Man]]:''' Moint pan it was never your deal! Remembar [[VideoGame/HalfLife1 black missa]]? One who crow bar you was never freeaman [[OnceMoreWithClarity but instead was AMAD whole time]]! Oldes frint was [[TheMole actual spy for US]]! He keep eye on you for sevantien year so that when time came we could use to [[WeNeedADistraction desctrat combins from freeman]]! You thut you [[VideoGame/HuntDownTheFreeman HUNT DOWN FREE MAN]]? Ha! You are foool like baby so!\\
'''Moint Pan:''' wait! You mean you use spec ops soldier whose face I never see to beat me to actually death but then [[BackFromTheDead resurect me]] and make that boy my best fren only so that sevanteen year later you both culd use me to make it so freeman was always [[BreakingTheFourthWall play on easy mode]], even tho combins actually dont care about me and all I did was be on boat for two decade and [[FrameUp be frame for kill one spy]]? ''[{{Beat}}]'' BASTARD! Oldest trick in book, under my nose hole time!
-->-- ''WebAnimation/HalfLifeSideStoryGaidenHuntDownFreeMan''

[[/folder]]

->''Rather than dragging Wolverine's paralyzed ass back to his lab for immediate healing-factor theft, Yashida decides to [[BondVillainStupidity let Wolverine go]] and fakes his own death for no conceivable reason. Yashida even goes to the trouble of staging a huge public funeral for himself. ''[...]'' There was literally no need for any of this other bullshit. This movie should've been the equivalent of Wolverine waking up in a bathtub full of ice without his kidney.''
-->-- '''{{Website/Cracked}}''' [[http://www.cracked.com/article_21383_5-dumb-things-movie-characters-do-only-to-advance-plot.html on]] ''Film/TheWolverine''

->''[[Characters/XMenRoguesGalleryAToI Arcade]] doesn't murder people. He puts them in [[DeathCourse Murdercade]]. It's a deadly but outrageously unexplainable high-tech fun fair that has yet to kill a single participant in the history of Creator/MarvelComics.''
-->-- '''{{Creator/Seanbaby}}'''

->''You're just waiting for the point where the Master and the Daleks will betray one another and see who will try it first. My money was on the Master so imagine my surprise when it turns out to be the Daleks. As ever, he [[XanatosGambit has a back up plan]] up his sleeve. He must literally spend years thinking up his harebrained schemes and then figuring out all the ways they could be brought down and exit strategies. He cannot have that much faith in himself.''
-->-- '''[[http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/dark-eyes-4-master-of-daleks-written-by.html Joe Ford]]''' on ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'', "Dark Eyes 4: Master of Daleks"

->''You want to sneak bombs onto a cruise ship. Do you:\\\
A: Put them in your luggage\\
B: Strap them to your body\\
C: Put the detonators in the heads of the seventeen irons in your set of golf clubs, make the balls the bombs and have a member of the crew bring them on board for you\\\
Again, obviously it's C. Nobody would think a set of golf clubs with seventeen irons was silly, especially irons that had LED displays on them.''
-->-- '''Chris Parry''' on ''Film/Speed2CruiseControl''

->'''Lex Luthor:''' Listen to this. We're gonna make me a suit!\\
'''Emil Hamilton:''' Great! With like, rockets and guns?\\
'''Lex:''' No! No no no! It's gonna be a suit... that isn't a suit. It's just my SKIN! But I'm in a suit! I'll be invulnerable!\\
'''Emil:''' Wouldn't that be an aura?\\
'''Lex:''' No! It's a SKIN SUIT! Don't you get it?\\
'''Emil:''' Like [[Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Buffalo Bill]]? Would you ___ me Buffalo Bill?\\
'''Lex:''' No! Like, a super-suit! And get this, there's a kicker!\\
'''Emil:''' Do tell, Mr. Luth-[[AccentUponTheWrongSyllable er]].\\
'''Lex:''' It ABSORBS Kryptonite!\\
'''Emil:''' ...Why would you want your suit to radiate Kryptonite?\\
'''Lex:''' NEVER MIND!\\
'''Emil:''' It's because that kid who thinks he has a secret that everyone knows has superpowers, you want to whack him, don't you.\\
'''Lex:''' [[AxCrazy KILLING KILLING KILLING]]!\\
'''Emil:''' Okay. Well, all due respect Lex (and awesome vocal device, I must say), why don't you just, you know, lure him somewhere and then [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim just put the f______g rock on his chest and shoot him in the face]]?\\
'''Lex:''' I WANT A SUIT!
-->-- '''Neal Bailey''' [[http://www.supermanhomepage.com/tv/tv.php?topic=reviews/smallville8-ep14 on]] ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', "Requiem"

->''Anyway, this spurts [[Characters/MarvelComicsScarletSpider Kaine]] into going into the courtroom and [[MotiveRant confessing]] himself to, uh, killing a bunch of people because Peter Parker took a picture of him committing murder, so see, he hated him so much he had his fingerprints and DNA altered to match his and then [[MurderIsTheBestSolution killed a bunch more people]]. ''Of course!'' What’s sad is that events in the Marvel Universe had [[DorkAge gotten so stupid in general]] at this point that there was really no way for a reasonable judge to deny the story.''
-->-- ''Blog/ToplessRobot'', [[http://www.toplessrobot.com/2008/11/the_13_dumbest_spiderman_storiesjust_from_the_clon.php "The 13 Dumbest Spider-Man Stories...]] Just From ComicBook/TheCloneSaga"

->''Give [[Wrestling/JohnCena [John] Cena]] credit, though. He had access to [[ToiletHumor a giant trough of solid waste]] secretly suspended above the ring, but he had patience enough to [[WeWait wait until the end of a three-hour]] ''[[Wrestling/{{WWE}} Raw]]'' to pull the trigger (not that there are actual guns that fire poop, so excuse the metaphor), even letting the heels [[BullyingADragon cut a ten-minute long promo on him]]. Now that’s discipline! If I had the same [[DrunkWithPower power of crap]], I wouldn’t have lasted five minutes into the program without using it.''
-->-- ''Website/{{Wrestlecrap}}'', [[http://www.wrestlecrap.com/inductions/aj-and-dolph-are-poopy/ "AJ and Dolph are Poopy"]]

->''"Two young star-crossed lovers should go on this romantic getaway, when love is forbidden and leads to the Dark Side? Oh wait--I guess Palpatine was the guy that initially suggested the idea, so he might've been usin' a trick of them or somethin'. Y'know, his grand plan was to cloud all their judgement and trick them into letting Anakin go with her because he knew Anakin was gonna fall in love, get Padme pregnant, then have premonitions of future pregnancy complications leading to her death so that Palpatine could tell Anakin to use the Dark Side to save her so Anakin could become Darth Vader and help Palpatine rule the empire. You'd think that if this guy could think that far into the future, [[CutLexLuthorACheck he'd just pick the Lotto numbers]]. ...But wait, [[DisneyVillainDeath if that were the case]]--! ...[[BellisariosMaxim ah, fuck it]]."''
-->-- '''[[WebVideo/RedLetterMedia Mr. Plinkett]]''' on ''Film/AttackOfTheClones''

->''"President?! Do you know how much power I'd have to ''give up'' to be President? That's right, conspiracy buff. I spent $75 million on a fake Presidential campaign, ''all just to tick Superman off''."''
-->-- '''Lex Luthor''', ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]]''

->''"So, to get this straight, Zack's scheming the election so he can go to D.C., and Slater's [[GambitPileup scheming Zack through his scheming of Belding]]... I didn't remember the show as a constant stream of double bluffs and cons on cons, more akin to ''Series/TinkerTailorSoldierSpy'' than a light-hearted highschool romp."''
-->-- '''Stuart Millard''' on ''Series/SavedByTheBell'' ("The Election"), ''So Excited, So Scared''

-->-- ''Series/TheBoys2019''

->'''Frenchie''': [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Wile E. Coyote]]. Always chases Road Runner, always with an elaborate plan, always fails. You know, I always say, "Why do this, Coyote? All you need is an AR-15, and 'meep meep' no more."

->"Vicious, complicated, and inefficient! Typical of your way of thinking."

'''Emil:''' Okay. Well, all due respect Lex (and awesome [[DarthVaderClone vocal device]], I must say), why don't you just, you know, lure him somewhere and then [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim just put the f______g rock on his chest and shoot him in the face]]?\\

->''[[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor He]] kicked out angrily at Franchise/{{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.''

->''"All I want to know is what this setup is all about," said ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}. "If we're going to be the main course for this [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer vampire]] or whatever you're going to be hosting, just call me curious."\\

"I said we don’t shoot the women, and we don't shoot the women. We need them for later. Got that?"''

-->-- ''{{Website/Cracked}}'' [[http://www.cracked.com/article_21383_5-dumb-things-movie-characters-do-only-to-advance-plot.html on]] ''Film/TheWolverine''

->'''Robin''': You dressed up as bats, just to rob a mall? Isn't that kind of... elaborate?\\
'''Fred''': Not compared to some of the crimes we've solved!\\
'''Robin''': Mm. Or some of our cases, now that I think of it.

->Be careful, Maladi, that you do not scheme for scheming's sake. Do not become so enamored of your plotting that you lose sight of your goal.

->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.

->[[ComicBook/LexLuthor He]] kicked out angrily at Franchise/{{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.

->At the time B.O.R.G. was recruiting beautiful women to seduce high-ranking generals so they could be blackmailed into dropping satellite A-bombs on the San Andreas Fault, thereby creating an earthquake which would inundate Silicone Valley. Realizing this plan was completely ridiculous, I enacted a more efficient strategy to eliminate the competition by selling quality products at lower prices than our rivals.

->"All I want to know is what this setup is all about," said ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}. "If we're going to be the main course for this [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer vampire]] or whatever you're going to be hosting, just call me curious."\\

"I said we don’t shoot the women, and we don't shoot the women. We need them for later. Got that?"

->Ah, how shall I do it? Oh, I know. I'll turn him into a flea, 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... ''I'll smash it with a hammer!'' It's brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, I tell you! Genius, I say! [[SubvertedTrope ...Or, to save on postage, I'll just poison him with this.]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-action]]

->Why did you have to make this so ''[[PrecisionFStrike fucking]]'' complicated?!
-->-- '''August Walker'''/'''[[spoiler:[[TheMole John Lark]]]]''' to '''[[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist Solomon Lane]]''', Film/MissionImpossibleFallout

->Halek had known Victor long enough to understand how his devious mind worked. Victor was one of those who liked convoluted things for the sake of convolution. He liked to plot and scheme just for the sake of it.

->I've yet to encounter a situation that couldn't be improved by a copious amount of lies and body doubles.

->Thirty-two minutes to draw out blueprints for the pendulums and work out the sequence needed for best effect. Three hundred to three hundred and forty minutes of time to set it up. He could estimate costs north of eleven thousand dollars, not counting salaries. None of the materials were particularly expensive in and of themselves, and he had any number of businesses in his pocket where he could acquire those materials at a significant discount.
-->-- '''Accord''' designs a death trap, ''Literature/{{Worm}}''

[[folder:Live-action TV]]

->Instead of being an alive person pretending to be a dead person pretending to be an alive person, why not just be an alive person?

->'''Darien''': All right, so why don't you just knock me out with a... Stun gun? Baseball bat? You know, what is it with all these complex plots? I mean, what, is it a Swiss thing? Is that what it is?\\
'''Arnaud''': You ''know'' I can't just walk up to you and knock you out with a baseball bat. There are... variables.\\
'''Darien''': Don't defend it. Please.\\
'''Arnaud''': You could turn invisible, for one--\\
'''Darien''': Will you ''just'' admit it?\\
'''Arnaud''': Admit what?\\
'''Darien''': You're ridiculous. You are! I mean, you join the Q-Gland design team just so you can steal the design. You make me think Kevin's alive so, what, I can lead you to some files. Hey, buddy, you could've found them on your own with a little research. Then you give me the flu so I could wind up in some hospital room and you can take the gland out of me? Douche, Rube Goldberg's got nothing on you, pal.
-->-- ''{{Series/The Invisible Man}}'', "Diseased"

->So when you're sat with all these fresh ingredients on your doorstep, and the climate [[UsefulNotes/{{Spain}} they]]'ve got, the simpler it is, the better it's gonna be. Unfortunately, they've got more complicated, and tried to be clever, and [[CordonBleughChef completely lost the fucking plot]].

->Then how did I break into the bank, to the tower, to the prison? ''Daylight robbery!'' All it takes is a few willing participants! I knew you'd fall for it. That's your weakness, you always want everything to be clever.

->Film/TheJackal strikes me as the sort of overachiever who, assigned to kill a mosquito, would purchase contraband insecticides from Iraq and bring them to the United States by hot air balloon, distilling his drinking water from clouds and shooting birds for food.

'''Rich:''' Do they really need ''people?'' Why can't they just go out into the jungle, capture a few bears, throw 'em into the temple? Then they get to fight [[BearsAreBadNews alien-bears.]]

->Why can't we have a normal, straightforward killing once in a while in this country?
-->-- '''Ema Skye''', ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'' (lampshading the frequent usage of this trope in ''Franchise/AceAttorney'')

->(Yeesh, Rube Goldberg machines have less elaborate setups than [[spoiler:L'Belle's]] scheme...)

'''[[TheChessmaster G-Man:]]''' Moint pan it was never your deal! Remembar [[VideoGame/HalfLife1 black missa?]] One who crow bar you was never freeaman [[OnceMoreWithClarity but instead was AMAD whole time!]] Oldes frint was [[TheMole actual spy for US!]] He keep eye on you for sevantien year so that when time came we could use to [[WeNeedADistraction desctrat combins from freeman!]] You thut you [[VideoGame/HuntDownTheFreeman HUNT DOWN FREE MAN?]] Ha! You are foool like baby so!\\
'''Moint Pan:''' wait! You mean you use spec ops soldier whose face I never see to beat me to actually death but then [[BackFromTheDead resurect me]] and make that boy my best fren only so that sevanteen year later you both culd use me to make it so freeman was always [[BreakingTheFourthWall play on easy mode,]] even tho combins actually dont care about me and all I did was be on boat for two decade and [[FrameUp be frame for kill one spy?]]\\
(''{{Beat}}'')\\
'''Moint Pan:''' BASTARD! Oldest trick in book, under my nose hole time!

[...]\\

'''[[OnlySaneMan Moloch:]]''' Why don't we just move this winch? There should be enough cable, and it looks strong enough that we could lower ''everybody'' on a platform.\\
(''turns around and notices he's become the subject of several disapproving glares'')\\
'''Moloch:''' ...and then, at the bottom, it could unfold into a... a giant ''caterpillar'' or... something...\\

->'''Gil''': I can't even get in the same room with Agatha without--\\
'''Higgs''': [[StatingTheSimpleSolution So write her a letter.]]\\
'''Gil''': Whut?\\
'''Higgs''': I've seen this over and over! Damfool [[MadScientist Sparks]] who thing 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! Here. Paper. Pen. Sit. Now. Write. Use the pen. On the paper. ''Tell'' her what you want to say.\\
'''Gil''': ''({{Beat}})'' I could build a machine that would project a simulacrum of myself that could explain-\\
'''Higgs''': ''Why I smacked you?''\\
'''Gil''': Or... I could... just write...

->Ridiculous machinations to accomplish nonsense easily done otherwise through ''ordinary'' means-- how like a young [[ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder Spark]]. You are ''[[ActuallyPrettyFunny extremely amusing]].''

->This is ''exactly'' the [[LampshadeHanging needless complexity]] you've come to expect from your sylladex!

'''(GilliganCut)'''\\

->'''[=GeneralIronicus=]:''' ''(as Snake)'' I forgot to mention -- [[BigBad my brother]]... [[HiddenDepths is a limbo master!]] That's how they decided primary elections in the future of ''Metal Gear''.\\

'''Ironicus''': If it was ''all'' exposition, then we would have President [[DoubleReverseQuadrupleAgent Ocelot]] by now.\\
'''Chip:''' Every time there's, like, a State of the Union address, it'd just be him going ''(in Ocelot voice)'' "I tricked all of you, America! I tricked you into thinking that I tricked you! And then I tricked you again! Bet you didn't see ''that'' one coming!"\\
'''Ironicus (as Ocelot):''' Even ''I'' don't know how many times you've been tricked!\\
'''Chip (as Ocelot):''' I got a Trick-Diary!\\
'''Ironicus (as Ocelot):''' I tricked ''myself'' into tricking me to trick ''you'', to trick ''me'' to trick the Patriots!\\
'''Chip (as Ocelot):''' [[StupidEvil I can't do anything without tricking!]] I can't even ask for pepper without tricking them into giving me the pepper!

->Rather than dragging Wolverine's paralyzed ass back to his lab for immediate healing-factor theft, Yashida decides to [[BondVillainStupidity let Wolverine go]] and fakes his own death for no conceivable reason. Yashida even goes to the trouble of staging a huge public funeral for himself...There was literally no need for any of this other bullshit. This movie should've been the equivalent of Wolverine waking up in a bathtub full of ice without his kidney.

->[[Franchise/SpiderMan Arcade]] doesn't murder people. He puts them in [[DeadlyGame Murdercade]]. It's a deadly but outrageously unexplainable high-tech fun fair that has yet to kill a single participant in the history of Creator/MarvelComics.

->You're just waiting for the point where the Master and the Daleks will betray one another and see who will try it first. My money was on the Master so imagine my surprise when it turns out to be the Daleks. As ever, he [[XanatosGambit has a back up plan]] up his sleeve. He must literally spend years thinking up his harebrained schemes and then figuring out all the ways they could be brought down and exit strategies. He cannot have that much faith in himself.

->You want to sneak bombs onto a cruise ship. Do you:\\\

Again, obviously it's C. Nobody would think a set of golf clubs with seventeen irons was silly, especially irons that had LED displays on them.

->You just have to love the fact that {{Franchise/Superman}} doesn't even give a problem a second thought before his mind goes right to, "I know! I'll do an elaborate ruse!" He's gone the ruse route for so long he doesn't know how to solve problems any other way, not even giving it a few more seconds' thought to determine if the problem actually exists in the first place!

->(crossed out) 5. Attack with your turn 1 flyer buffed by infinite Rallies.\\

5. Draw your deck.\\
(crossed out) 6. Cast a card that wins the game.\\

Now we're talking.
-->-- ''[[Website/{{Reddit}} /r/BadMtgCombos]]'', "[[https://www.reddit.com/r/BadMtgCombos/comments/gpoafw/how_to_win_turn_4_in_standard_and_still_be_bad/ How to Win Turn 4 in Standard and Still Be Bad]]"

->This is the episode in which the Doctor deduces the Cybermen's plans, a deduction never contradicted in the story, and they are rubbish. Their goal: To take control of the Wheel and use it as a base from which to launch the invasion of Earth. Fair enough. Step 1: Make a star go nova. 2. Smuggle yourself aboard a deserted ship full of bernalium and coast near the station (while sitting in big eggs for NO REASON WHATSOEVER). 3. Send over some Cybermats so they can eat all the bernalium on the Wheel. 4. Without bernalium, they can't fire their weapons, so if they didn't already destroy the derelict ship before the Cybermats could do their job, allow the Wheel crew to investigate and find bernalium aboard it. 5. Mind control the crew members and smuggle yourself aboard the Wheel. 6. Let the crew fix the laser and protect the station from the nova-created meteor storm. 7. Take control of the air supply and suffocate the crew. 8. Say to yourself how clever, clever, clever you are. There are a hundred ways this could have gone wrong even before the TARDIS landed aboard the Silver Carrier. Even Step 7 is overly convoluted. The Cybermen can kill you with one zap of their chest unit, or take control of your brain, or probably choke you out manually with their great strength. Once they get aboard the Wheel, why not just do that? The nova thing is complete overkill as well, and a complete contrast to the invasion force consisting of two whole Cybermen. Sometimes in episodic television, a plan will seem convoluted in retrospect yet seem to stand up on an episode-by-episode basis. But all unfurled in one go by the Doctor, as it is here, it really seems to work of a crackpot.
-->-- '''Siskoid''''s ''[[http://siskoid.blogspot.com/2012/06/doctor-who-210-wheel-in-space-part-5.html Blog of Geekery]]'', on ''Series/DoctorWho: [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E7TheWheelInSpace The Wheel in Space]]'', Episode 5

->'''Lex Luthor''': Listen to this. We're gonna make me a suit!\\

'''Emil:''' Like [[Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Buffalo Bill?]] Would you ___ me Buffalo Bill?\\

'''Emil:''' Do tell, Mr. Luth-[[AccentUponTheWrongSyllable er.]]\\

'''Lex:''' [[AxCrazy KILLING KILLING KILLING!]]\\
'''Emil:''' Okay. Well, all due respect Lex (and awesome [[DarthVaderClone vocal device]], I must say), why don't you just, you know, lure him somewhere and then [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim just put the f______g rock on his chest and shoot him in the face?]]\\

-->-- '''Neal Bailey''' [[http://www.supermanhomepage.com/tv/tv.php?topic=reviews/smallville8-ep14 on]] ''{{Series/Smallville}}'' ("Requiem")

->Anyway, this spurts [[ComicBook/ScarletSpider Kaine]] into going into the courtroom and [[MotiveRant confessing]] himself to, uh, killing a bunch of people because Peter Parker took a picture of him committing murder, so see, he hated him so much he had his fingerprints and DNA altered to match his and then [[MurderIsTheBestSolution killed a bunch more people]]. ''Of course!'' What’s sad is that events in the Marvel Universe had [[DorkAge gotten so stupid in general]] at this point that there was really no way for a reasonable judge to deny the story.

->Give [[Wrestling/JohnCena [John] Cena]] credit, though. He had access to [[ToiletHumor a giant trough of solid waste]] secretly suspended above the ring, but he had patience enough to [[WeWait wait until the end of a three-hour]] ''[[Wrestling/{{WWE}} Raw]]'' to pull the trigger (not that there are actual guns that fire poop, so excuse the metaphor), even letting the heels [[BullyingADragon cut a ten-minute long promo on him.]] Now that’s discipline! If I had the same [[DrunkWithPower power of crap]], I wouldn’t have lasted five minutes into the program without using it.
-->-- ''{{Website/Wrestlecrap}}'', [[http://www.wrestlecrap.com/inductions/aj-and-dolph-are-poopy/ "AJ and Dolph are Poopy"]]

->'''K. Rool''': KLUMPH! You need to devise a new [[ZanyScheme sneaky plan]] immediately!\\
'''Klumph''': [[StatingTheSimpleSolution You know, we could have just chased after them...]]\\
'''K. Rool''': Just do what I say! Don't question me!
-->-- ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gvPvQP5B9k Donkey Kong Country Abridged: Episode 2 - Ape Fool Young]]''

->Two young star-crossed lovers should go on this romantic getaway, when love is forbidden and leads to the Dark Side? Oh wait--I guess Palpatine was the guy that initially suggested the idea, so he might've been usin' a trick of them or somethin'. Y'know, his grand plan was to cloud all their judgement and trick them into letting Anakin go with her because he knew Anakin was gonna fall in love, get Padme pregnant, then have premonitions of future pregnancy complications leading to her death so that Palpatine could tell Anakin to use the Dark Side to save her so Anakin could become Darth Vader and help Palpatine rule the empire. You'd think that if this guy could think that far into the future, [[CutLexLuthorACheck he'd just pick the Lotto numbers]]. ...But wait, [[DisneyVillainDeath if that were the case]]--! ..[[BellisariosMaxim ah, fuck it.]]

->Klingon revenge is a dish best served ''[[SubvertedCatchphrase convoluted]]''.
-->-- '''{{Website/SFDebris}}''', on Arne Darvin/Barry Waddle's plan to travel back in time and kill Captain Kirk with an [[KillerRabbit explosive tribble]], in [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine "Trials and Tribble-ations"]]

->This is the most, like ''THE'' most, out-of-the-way, absurd solution to a problem that has an easy solution. Like, "Oh no, my coffee's cold! Why don't I blow up a country, instead of just heating it in the microwave?"
-->-- '''[[WebVideo/TwoBestFriendsPlay Pat,]]''' while [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R318LQaGGbA playing through]] the infamous "electric fence" level in ''VideoGame/RideToHellRetribution''

->Sure, you could kill me with your gun... but are you willing to try something much more elaborate and unnecessary?
-->-- '''Steve''', ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' ("With Friends Like Steve's")

'''Scrooge:''' A yacht and a buffet for one person? [[TheScrooge I'm not paying for that.]]\\

'''Duke:''' (''looks at Scrooge with confusion'') Then, what would I use for the drill?

->Ah, my ridiculously circuitous plan is one-quarter complete!

->President?! Do you know how much power I'd have to ''give up'' to be President? That's right, conspiracy buff. I spent $75 million on a fake Presidential campaign, ''all just to tick Superman off''.
-->-- '''Lex Luthor''', ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited''

->Okay, let's get Operation Too-Complicated-To-Actually-Work underway.

->Anyway, once I recovered from the shock I did what I always do: solve a simple problem by inventing a complicated and menacing machine.

-->--''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', "Elementary, My Dear Stacy"

->'''Megabyte''': Hexadecimal, you know the plan.\\
'''Hexadecimal''': Which one? There seem to be several.
-->--''WesternAnimation/{{ReBoot}}'', "Web World Wars"

->The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a ''perfect'' plan.

->Any damned fool can make something complex. It takes a genius to make something simple.

->So, to get this straight, Zack's scheming the election so he can go to D.C., and Slater's [[GambitPileup scheming Zack through his scheming of Belding]]... I didn't remember the show as a constant stream of double bluffs and cons on cons, more akin to ''Series/TinkerTailorSoldierSpy'' than a light-hearted highschool romp.
-->--'''Stuart Millard''' on ''Series/SavedByTheBell'' ("The Election"), ''So Excited, So Scared''