History XanatosGambit / WesternAnimation

** Sector V retrieves the stolen KND Code Module from Father at the beginning of "Operation GRADUATES." Later, [[TagalongKid Tommy]] realizes he let them take it back because they would hook it back up to the KND Super Big Computermabob. Father had already linked the Code Module to his InvoluntaryTransformation ray, which could now affect every Kids Next Door operative in the computer's database. [[spoiler:Tommy outsmarted him by quitting the KND and adding Father's DNA to the Code Module, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard causing him to fall victim to his own ray]].]]

* Parodied on ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1981'': After the Girls destroy the killer piñata [[{{Satan}} HIM]] planted at their birthday, Him claims his true plan was for everyone at the party to get tooth decay from the candy, but Princess and the other villains just think he's being a SoreLoser who can't admit defeat. [[AndThatsTerrible The Mayor complains about a toothache, though]].

* Parodied on ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': After the Girls destroy the killer piñata [[{{Satan}} Him]] planted at their birthday, Him claims his true plan was for everyone at the party to get tooth decay from the candy, but Princess and the other villains just think he's being a SoreLoser who can't admit defeat. [[AndThatsTerrible The Mayor complains about a toothache, though]].

** In the third season premiere, [[spoiler:[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E1TheCrystalEmpirePart1 King]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E2TheCrystalEmpirePart2 Sombra's]] booby-traps to prevent ponies from reaching the Crystal Heart. They keep them out? Good, the one thing that can stop him is out of reach. They reach it? It sets off a trap allowing him to begin growing his dark crystals inside the castle itself, even if he himself can't enter, as well as trapping the pony who found it.]]

** In the second season, Father sends Cree to attack Sector V's treehouse. They defeat her and send her to the Moonbase Prison. When Number 5 next runs into her, she reveals that this was the intended result. Once she was on the Moonbase, she could escape from jail and execute her plan to send the whole base drifting into the sun.
** The above plan at first seems to have backfired when the prison transport breaks down, leading to Number 5 seemingly beating Cree in a battle, trapping her in a garbage pod, and shooting her into space, ''after'' Cree explained her whole plan to her. Yet this was also AllAccordingToPlan; she hacked into the pod's controls, slowly driving it towards the Moonbase to continue with the first gambit.

* It's not at all surprising that there are a lot of examples from the TropeNamer, ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}''.
** One of the best examples is in the episode "Leader of the Pack", where Xanatos sends a robot double of himself named Coyote to break the Pack out of prison (except for Fox, who refuses), and sends them against the gargoyles. The gargoyles destroy the robot and defeat the Pack, but Xanatos's plan all along was to get an early parole for Fox; her refusal to escape with the others made a big impression on the parole board. In addition, Xanatos was also able to test his new tech project (Coyote), who made recurring appearances throughout the series. This was all brilliantly disguised as a bog-standard revenge plot; as Xanatos reveals at the end, he cares little for revenge, calling it a sucker's game.
** The first appearance of the Pack is also a Xanatos Gambit. Xanatos arranges for the Pack to be made aware of the Gargoyles' existence and for the Gargoyles themselves to be made aware of the Pack's existence. If the two sides destroy each other or the Pack wins, then Xanatos no longer has to deal with the Gargoyles. If the Pack loses (which they do), then Xanatos gains valuable information about the Gargoyles' skills, as the only thing he had previously known for sure was that they were physically formidable. Even better, neither side will retaliate against him because there's no way to trace the events to him.
** This was done in the ''series premiere'', where Xanatos uses the clan to steal some tech. When they find out that he's a {{Chessmaster}}, he then utilizes the opportunity to test out his new robots, using the tech they stole. Even though it winds up in defeat, he considered it a victory because...
*** A) He got the new technology.
*** B) He apparently has a photographic memory of said technology.
*** C) He gave his new toys a field-test against the most physically powerful beings out there, so he'll be able to make adjustments for down the line.
** "Eye of the Beholder" is a [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-Zag]] on this trope. Xanatos's plan to save Fox is made of interlinking gambits where the failure of one triggers the activation of the next. Once he determines that Fox might be the werewolf creature, his first two plans involve getting the Eye of Odin away from her, Plan A just by asking and then Plan B by forcefully trying to take it from her. Goliath and Elisa witness Plan B, deducing that the werewolf must have been human and that Xanatos is after the "jewel" that it had. Returning back to Castle Wyvern, Xanatos admits that Plan B has failed but now, Plan C was in effect, which is letting the Gargoyles' hatred of him fuel their desire to get the Eye from Fox before he does, and then he'll steal it from them. Unfortunately, they anticipated this and stuck around for the exposition. "I don't suppose you have a plan D?" As it turns out, he does; explain everything and ask nicely, banking on Goliath's [[ChronicHeroSyndrome natural empathy]] to save Fox. Goliath initially flies off in a huff, but after cooling off he begrudgingly decides to help out. At the end, Xanatos gets what he wants (as expected), but self-pityingly announces that the heroes have discovered his weakness; he [[spoiler:cares about Fox enough to submit to his enemies to save her. Goliath notes that that just means he's not as amoral as he thinks he is, meaning perhaps they don't have to be enemies at all.]]
--->'''Goliath''': Only '''you''' would regard '''love''' as a weakness.
** A "consolation prize" version was when he donated the Eye Of Odin to a museum, then sent out his team of robot gargoyles (the Steel Clan) to accompany him in a PoweredArmor to steal it back. Goliath and company intervene and it ends with the entire Steel Clan destroyed, but Xanatos explained that he still improved public relations with the city, retrieved the priceless ''magical'' Eye of Odin, successfully tested his battle armor, and was able to fight Goliath toe-to-toe, helping his own self-esteem. "[[StillGotIt I'd say I've still got the edge]]."
** He gets so good at this, [[ExploitedTrope that it eventually comes back to bite him]] when Thailog is introduced in the episode "Double Jeopardy". Thailog escapes by hiring Sevarius to kidnap him via communication supposedly from Xanatos. Sevarius had no problem believing that Xanatos would arrange a kidnapping of his own experiment/son/partner in a convoluted, Machiavellian scheme to achieve some unseen goal. Thailog continued to outmaneuver everyone for the rest of the episode. When his plan to steal $20 million dollars, and kill Xanatos, Goliath, and Sevarius went belly up, Thailog moved to his backup plan: make it appear that he and the money were destroyed in an explosion. However, Xanatos is aware of this possibility, as that is what HE would do.
--->'''Owen''': You mean, that creature is '''still out there.''' It has the '''money.''' It's as powerful as '''Goliath.''' And it's '''smarter''' than '''you?'''\\
'''Xanatos''': Owen, I think I created a monster.\\
'''Thailog''': '''''[[EvilLaugh Hahahahahahahaha!]]'''''
** The essence of a Xanatos Gambit, at least when Xanatos himself is performing one, is that defeating the heroes isn't usually his ''most'' preferred outcome (since that takes away a potential UnwittingPawn for a later plan). The true goal is usually independent of the big fight and sometimes resolved before the fight even happens. For example, in the episode ''Legion''. Xanatos uses the cyborg gargoyle Coldstone to break into a military installation and try to hack an advanced computer system. The military machine immediately uploads a computer virus into Coldstone, who is then confronted by a police experimental robot that tazes him. The heroes show up to confront Coldstone, there is a police chase, etc.; but none of this matters to the Xanatos Gambit since [[spoiler:Xanatos manufactured and donated the police robot: it was programmed to use its "taser" to download the virus from Coldstone's computer system[[note]]which itself was a case of XanatosSpeedChess as he was initially after the files on the computer Coldstone tried to hack, but felt the virus was more valuable since it took out Coldstone's programming[[/note]].]] The rest of the episode may appear as though it was spoiling Xanatos's scheme, but in reality it was completely irrelevant to his actual goals.
** Titania, [[spoiler:Fox's mother,]] displays this in "The Gathering". When she manipulates Oberon to attempt to abduct Alexander, she has set herself to win either way: if Oberon managed to get the baby, he could be raised in the magical nurturing environment of Avalon, and if the fight went against him, it would probably be because Fox's latent magic power came to the surface in MamaBear fashion, showing that Alex could be adequately trained on Earth after all.
** Demona's first attempt at a Xanatos Gambit was a failed one. In "A Long Way Till Morning". Demona confronts Elisa in her apartment and shoots her with a poison dart. She tells her that if she wants the antidote, have Goliath meet her at a certain location. Goliath takes the bait, but brings Hudson along with him. Once he arrives, Demona attacks, planning to kill the gargoyle leader so she can take over. She even gives Hudson a chance to side with her, but Hudson is able to protect Goliath until sunrise. The following night, once it's clear Demona's plan to kill Goliath has failed, she reminds them of the supposed reason they showed up in the first place -- to save Elisa from a poison that has NO antidote, and would've killed her by now. What Demona didn't realize, however, is that the dart [[PocketProtector never hit Elisa's skin, only her police badge]].
** Demona had improved her tactics by the time of "The Mirror" -- while she's trying to steal the eponymous artifact from a museum, Goliath and Elisa find her and chase her outside of the building. Once all three are gone, some hired {{Mook}}s of Demona's break in and steal the mirror for her.
** Demona and Macbeth steal a comatose Coldstone from the Gargoyles' lair and bring forth the Iago persona. The heroes are so focused on the reasons for this unlikely triple threat that they don't even notice the real purpose of the 'abduction': [[spoiler: the Weird Sisters, using mind control on Macbeth and Demona, also had them steal three magic objects the gargoyles had stored in their tower.]] The heroes don't even notice until the trail is cold.

** One of the best examples is in the episode "Leader of the Pack", where Xanatos sends a robot double of himself to break the Pack out of prison (except for Fox, who refuses), and sends them against the gargoyles. The gargoyles destroy the robot and defeat the Pack, but Xanatos' plan all along was to get an early parole for Fox; her refusal to escape with the others made a big impression on the parole board. In addition, Xanatos was also able to test his new tech project (the robot double), who made recurring appearances throughout the series. This was all brilliantly disguised as a bog-standard revenge plot; as Xanatos reveals at the end, he cares little for revenge, calling it a sucker's game.

** "Eye of the Beholder" is a [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-Zag]] on this trope. Xanatos' plan to save Fox is made of interlinking gambits where the failure of one triggers the activation of the next. Once he determines that Fox might be the werewolf creature, his first two plans involve getting the Eye of Odin away from her, Plan A just by asking and then Plan B by forcefully trying to take it from her. Goliath and Elisa witness Plan B, deducing that the werewolf must have been human and that Xanatos is after the "jewel" that it had. Returning back to Castle Wyvern, Xanatos admits that Plan B has failed but now, Plan C was in effect, which is letting the Gargoyles' hatred of him fuel their desire to get the Eye from Fox before he does, and then he'll steal it from them. Unfortunately, they anticipated this and stuck around for the exposition. "I don't suppose you have a plan D?" As it turns out, he does; explain everything and ask nicely, banking on Goliath's [[ChronicHeroSyndrome natural empathy]] to save Fox. Goliath initially flies off in a huff, but after cooling off he begrudgingly decides to help out. At the end, Xanatos gets what he wants (as expected), but self-pityingly announces that the heroes have discovered his weakness; he [[spoiler:cares about Fox enough to submit to his enemies to save her. Goliath notes that that just means he's not as amoral as he thinks he is, meaning perhaps they don't have to be enemies at all.]]

** And why is it that that plan fails with so many contingencies in mind? Because as soon as Cree arrives, she finds out that the recently turned teenager Numbuh 274 a.k.a. Chad Dickson just tried to do that and failed. Cree immediately gives up and leaves the way she came, taking Chad with her. [[spoiler:Which succeeds in planting a deep, ''deep''-cover mole for the KND Splinter Cell]].
** Sector V retrieves the stolen KND Code Module from Father at the beginning of "Operation GRADUATES." Later, [[TagalongKid Tommy]] realizes he let them take it back because they would hook it back up to the KND Super Big Computermabob. Father had already linked the Code Module to his InvoluntaryTransformation ray, which could now affect every Kids Next Door operative in the computer's database.

** Azula pulls one at the beginning of Season 3. After [[spoiler:[[BackFromTheDead (temporarily)]] killing Aang,]] Azula invites Zuko to return from his exile, which he accepts. This is genuine at first, but when Zuko makes her correctly suspect that [[spoiler:the Avatar was probably not actually dead for good]], she lies to their father about who actually did the deed, allowing Zuko full credit. On one hand, this means that if [[spoiler:Aang comes back]], Zuko had responsibility and is the one to receive the backlash for failure. On the other hand, if [[spoiler: Aang]] really is dead, Azula has coerced loyalty out of her brother, robbing the good guys of an important ally; Zuko also gives her leverage to keep [[spoiler: Iroh imprisoned]]. Unfortunately, she doesn't count on [[spoiler:Iroh escaping during the eclipse and Zuko growing a spine]].

** Azula pulls one at the beginning of Season 3. After [[spoiler:[[BackFromTheDead (temporarily)]] killing Aang,]] Azula invites Zuko to return from his exile, which he accepts. This is genuine at first, but when Zuko makes her correctly suspect that [[spoiler:the Avatar was probably not actually dead for good]], she lies to their father about who actually did the deed, allowing Zuko full credit. On one hand, this means that if [[spoiler:Aang comes back]], Zuko had responsibility and is the one to receive the backlash for failure. On the other hand, if [[spoiler: Aang]] really is dead, Azula has coerced loyalty out of her brother, robbing the good guys of an important ally; Zuko also gives her leverage to keep [[spoiler: Iroh imprisoned]]. Unfortunately, she doesn't count on [[spoiler: Iroh escaping during the eclipse and Zuko growing a spine]].

** In the second season, Father sends Cree to attack Sector V's treehouse. They defeat her and send her to the Moonbase Prison. When Number 5 next runs into her, she reveals that this was the intended result. Once she was on the Moonbase, she could escape from jail and execute her plan to send the whole base drifting into the sun. Too bad for her that Numbuh 274 a.k.a. Chad Dickson also tried to do that and failed.
** The above plan at first seems to have backfired when the prison transport breaks down, leading to Number 5 seemingly beating Cree in a battle, trapping her in a garbage pod, and shooting her into space. Cree's shown in the end to have done this on purpose; she hacked into the pod's controls, slowly driving it towards the Moonbase to continue with the first gambit.

* This is Dr. X's plan in the last two episodes of ''WesternAnimation/ActionMan2000''. He kidnaps Alex's friends, and puts them in deadly situations that will force Alex to use his AMP factor. If Alex succeeds in rescuing them by using his AMP abilities, then X will gain enough insight into it that he can replicate it on himself and become superhuman, and further [[EvilutionaryBiologist his plans to create neo-humanity]]. If Alex fails in rescuing them, X will have killed Alex's friends. This doesn't help his body issue but it is personally gratifying.

** Azula pulls one at the beginning of Season 3. After [[spoiler:[[BackFromTheDead (temporarily)]] killing Aang,]] Azula invites Zuko to return from his exile, which he accepts. She does this knowing that [[spoiler: the avatar was probably not actually dead for good.]] If he comes back, Zuko has implicitly taken the credit and, therefore, the responsibility for [[spoiler: killing the Avatar]] and is the one to receive the backlash for failure. If [[spoiler: Aang]] really is dead, Azula has coerced loyalty out of her brother, robbing the good guys of an important ally; Zuko also gives her leverage to keep [[spoiler: Iroh imprisoned.]] Unfortunately, she doesn't count on [[spoiler: Iroh escaping during the eclipse and Zuko growing a spine,]] and the failure of her plot (a first for the series) sends her down her VillainousBreakdown.

** In [[spoiler:the final season, when Celestia and Luna announced they were retiring and intended for Twilight to take their place, Twilight was unsure she was ready, so Discord, [[TricksterMentor in his own way]], tried to help her by running one the whole season. Posing as the ancient monster, Grogar, Discord gathered together the Mane Six's defeated villains who had not reformed to convince them [[LegionOfDoom to work together as a team]]. If the villains failed and were defeated again by the Mane Six, it would help give Twilight the confidence she needed to rule Equestria. If the villains learned the value of teamwork, they would be on their way to being reformed. Unfortunately, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero his plan backfired]] when he [[GoneHorriblyRight instead created a team of villains who learned to work together to]] ''[[GoneHorriblyRight take over Equestria]]'']].

* XanatosGambit/YoungJustice2010

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* Constantly seen in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice''. Even after almost every defeat of their operatives, "The Light" manages some sort of victory and one step closer towards their endgame. This show is run by the man who created David Xanatos, after all.
** The team went to Bialya, disrupted their scientists' experiments, and went home with a metallic sphere that is some kind of advanced technology. [[spoiler: It's not a big loss for The Light. They'll get more technology down the road. The main goal was to test their new partner's transportation system: a Boom-Tube.]]
** The team stops Black Manta from stealing Starro's body from Atlantis. [[spoiler: We later find out that Black Manta resorted to Plan B and destroyed the Starro, leaving only a small sample which would be sent to the surface world and can be obtained later.]]
*** [[spoiler: The "later" takes place in the episode "Misplaced" where Klarion [[KansasCityShuffle causes chaos to distract the heroes while the Light's agents steal the Starro sample which nobody would notice during that situation]].]]
** There is a gambit that is put into action since the pilot episode and culminates in episode 11. The ice-based villains were quickly defeated in episode 1. [[spoiler: This is part of their plan as each of them manage to get sent to Belle Reve, before carrying out their plan: Break every supervillain out of there.]]
** What's impressive is that [[spoiler:this itself was part of another Xanatos Gambit. The team stops the supervillains from breaking out. However, this attempted escape causes Amanda Waller, the warden, to lose her job to Hugo Strange, who is an agent of The Light. Now they have control over what is practically an army of supervillains.]]
** In "Revelation", the Injustice League launched an attack on various cities using mutated giant plants, but were ultimately captured by the team and Justice League. [[spoiler: The Injustice League's mutant plants were actually provided by The Light, who was able to monitor their effectiveness as a weapon. More importantly, the Justice League mistakenly believed the ''Injustice League'' to be the secret society who were working behind the scenes. Now The Light can continue to work their schemes more easily.]]
** On a smaller scale, Bane pulled one by stampeding Young Justice towards his enemies in KOBRA. Either they destroy KOBRA (and Bane wins) or KOBRA kills them and the Justice League destroys KOBRA to avenge them (and Bane wins).
** The Team BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame in "Summit". [[spoiler:They'd taken so many steps that no matter ''what'' the Light and Reach did, they were screwed. Summit continues? They're recording everything for an EngineeredPublicConfession to wreck the Reach's VillainWithGoodPublicity act. Artemis and Kaldur's FakeDefector act is uncovered? Miss Martian already replaced Deathstroke and fakes their deaths, Kaldur triggering what seems to be a DeadMansSwitch that reveals the Light was playing the Reach and shatters their alliance. Vandal Savage calls in an army of Mooks to kill them? The rest of the Team has already disguised themselves as mooks and turns the tables. The end result is the Ambassador, Black Manta, and the Brain captured, their alliance obliterated, the Reach exposed as the invaders they really are, and Vandal Savage having a VillainousBreakdown.]]
*** [[spoiler:But even here the Light manage to pull a Xanatos Gambit. ComicBook/LexLuthor, Queen Bee, Vandal Savage, and Klarion manage to get away, and Ras al Ghul will inevitably be resurrected with a Lazurus Pit. Then The Light steals the War World from under the Justice League's nose, threatens the rest of the universe should they invade Earth, and then reveals that they are in league with freakin ''Darkseid''. It ends with Vandal Savage commenting, "Business as usual." Even when the heroes win they lose!]]
** These gambits continue even into [[WesternAnimation/YoungJusticeRevivalSeries the revival seasons]]. The third season finale sees the Team and Outsiders return to Markovia when Baron Bedlam escapes prison and performs a coup d'etat. [[spoiler:When they get in, Terra, performing her usual TheMole role, is ordered to assassinate the Outsiders' leader Beast Boy at a critical moment with the hopes that the Light can use it to set up registration rules for future metahumans to traffic. Instead, the heroes knew she had been a mole, and use their kindness towards her to convince her to fully side with them instead. As her brother Geo-Force had been LockedOutOfTheLoop, he executes Baron Bedlam, their EvilUncle, in rage, and takes over the throne from his older brother Gregor instead. Because he was another member of the Outsiders, the Light banked on substituting Terra's attempted murder of Beast Boy with Geo-Force's violation of ThouShaltNotKill against Bedlam to set up their law, except ComicBook/BlackLightning accessed the communicator that Terra threw to the ground, catching Luthor red-handed, and works with Cyborg, Superboy, and Superman to successfully oust him from the United Nations, with Troia now the secretary-general of the United Nations.]]
*** [[spoiler:However, the Light had other plans that enabled them to survive this. Luthor wasn't the only criminal inside the United Nations, so was [[EvilAllAlong Zviad Baazovi]], Markovia's ambassador. He used psychic manipulation to enable Geo-Force's takeover from internal impulses he felt deep down, but were nudged to the surface, rendering him a PuppetKing to the Light, and securing their control of Markovia, and the now disgraced Luthor retreats to Markovia with his ComicBook/InfinityInc serving the country, while the heroes benefited from the now lifted sanctions and the merging of the Justice League factions.]]

** In the second season, Father sends Cree to attack Sector V's treehouse. They defeat her and send her to the Moonbase Prison. When Number 5 next runs into her, she reveals that this was the intended result. Once she was on the Moonbase, she could escape from jail and execute her plan to send the whole base drifting into the sun.

* Venger forms such a plan in the ''Westernanimation/DungeonsAndDragons'' episode "Prison Without Walls": He learns that the heroes have gone searching for Lukyon, a gnome wizard he imprisoned in a magic swamp for refusing to tell him where he hid a powerful gem called the Dragon's Heart. Instead of sending his army in to stop the kids, he lets them search, sending only Shadow-Demon to spy on them. He explains why: either the kids will succeed and find Lukyon, who will then trust them enough to tell them where he hid the Dragon's Heart (which means he'll know, as well); or they'll fail, and the swamp will kill them (meaning he'll finally get their weapons) -- either way, Venger will get ''something'' he's wanted. (It works, as the first scenario is what happens -- he just loses the battle that follows.)

* Vlad -- a.k.a. Plasmius -- of ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' is satisfied even when Danny defeats him because a) he sees the boy as his apprentice, and b) it further proves how they're NotSoDifferent.
-->'''Plasmius:''' Using your opponent's weaknesses against him... I ''am'' teaching you something after all.\\

** In [[spoiler:the final season, when Celestia and Luna announced they were retiring and intended for Twilight to take their place, Twilight was unsure she was ready, so Discord, [[TricksterMentor in his own way]], tried to help her by running one the whole season. Posing as the ancient monster, Grogar, Discord gathered together the Mane Six's defeated villains who had not reformed to convince them [[LegionOfDoom to work together as a team]]. If the villains failed and were defeated again by the Mane Six, it would help give Twilight the confidence she needed to rule Equestria. If the villains learned the value of teamwork, they would be on their way to being reformed. Unfortunately, his plan backfired when he [[NiceJobBreakingItHero instead created a team of villains who learned to work together to]] ''[[NiceJobBreakingItHero take over Equestria]]'']].

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' Mr. Krabs manages to pull off an uncharacteristically complex Xanatos Gambit with [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick. He tasks the two to prevent Plankton from stealing the [[MacGuffin Krabby Patty Formula]] from its safe place in his vault in a ''Film/JamesBond'' AffectionateParody type of clandestine operation. Ultimately, they fail and Plankton actually makes off with the formula, but it doesn't really matter -- [[spoiler:the Plankton [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick were trying to foil was, in fact, Mr. Krabs in disguise, and the entire thing was the result of a bet between the real Plankton and Krabs to see if Krabs could beat Plankton at his own game. If he succeeds, then he wins. If he fails, it still means the real Plankton can't get in either]].

** In H.I.V.E. offers Slade their three top-students, Gizmo, Mammoth, and Jinx, to eliminate the Teen Titans. But, as anyone could predict, they get beaten. At the end of the episode, while the H.I.V.E. operative is apologizing to Slade for the failure, Slade says that he knew it would end this way. His true purpose was to get the Titans' attention, which he accomplished when one of the students blabbed they were hired by Slade. From this moment on, he starts his [[MindScrew Mind Screwing Games]] with Robin.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' Mr. Krabs manages to pull off an uncharacteristically complex Xanatos Gambit with Spongebob and Patrick. He tasks the two to prevent Plankton from stealing the [[MacGuffin Krabby Patty Formula]] from its safe place in his vault in a ''Film/JamesBond'' AffectionateParody type of clandestine operation. Ultimately, they fail and Plankton actually makes off with the formula, but it doesn't really matter -- [[spoiler:the Plankton Spongebob and Patrick were trying to foil was, in fact, Mr. Krabs in disguise, and the entire thing was the result of a bet between the real Plankton and Krabs to see if Krabs could beat Plankton at his own game. If he succeeds, then he wins. If he fails, it still means the real Plankton can't get in either]].
** Plankton almost pulls this off himself in "Krabs v. Plankton", when he trips on a wet floor at the Krusty Krab and feigns serious injuries to sue for negligence. In this case, he tells Krabs he'll drop the charges on the condition that he gets the Krabby Patty secret formula, which Krabs would never hand over if his life depended on it. So, by dragging him to court and presenting a very clear cut case of negligence, he not only could sue Krabs for everything he's got, but he'd get to walk away with the formula, the restaurant, and Krabs' vast fortune. Either way, Krabs loses. [[spoiler: Or he would have if SpongeBob didn't cleverly expose the ruse with a well-timed Krabby Patty placement while Plankton was on the witness stand]].

** In [[spoiler:the final season, when Celestia and Luna announced they were retiring and intended for Twilight to take their place, Twilight was unsure she was ready, so Discord,[[TricksterMentor in his own way]], tried to help her by running one the whole season. Posing as the ancient monster, Grogar, Discord gathered together the Mane Six's defeated villains who had not reformed to convince them [[LegionOfDoom to work together as a team]]. If the villains failed and were defeated again by the Mane Six, it would help give Twilight the confidence she needed to rule Equestria. If the villains learned the value of teamwork, they would be on their way to being reformed. Unfortunately, his plan backfired when he [[NiceJobBreakingItHero instead created a team of villains who learned to work together to]] ''[[NiceJobBreakingItHero take over Equestria]]'']].

** In [[spoiler:the final season, when Celestia and Luna announced they were retiring and intended for Twilight to take their place, Twilight was unsure she was ready, so Discord,
[[TricksterMentor in his own way]], tried to help her by running one the whole season. Posing as the ancient monster, Grogar, Discord gathered together the Mane Six's defeated villains who had not reformed to convince them [[LegionOfDoom to work together as a team]]. If the villains failed and were defeated again by the Mane Six, it would help give Twilight the confidence she needed to rule Equestria. If the villains learned the value of teamwork, they would be on their way to being reformed. Unfortunately, his plan backfired when he [[NiceJobBreakingItHero instead created a team of villains who learned to work together to]] ''[[NiceJobBreakingItHero take over Equestria]]'']].

** In [[spoiler:the final season, when Celestia and Luna announced they were retiring and intended for Twilight to take their place, Twilight was unsure she was ready, so Discord, in his own way, tried to help her by running one the whole season. Posing as the ancient monster, Grogar, Discord gathered together the Mane Six's defeated villains who had not reformed to convince them [[LegionOfDoom to work together as a team]]. If the villains failed and were defeated again by the Mane Six, it would help give Twilight the confidence she needed to rule Equestria. If the villains learned the value of teamwork, they would be on their way to being reformed. Unfortunately, his plan backfired when he [[NiceJobBreakingItHero instead created a team of villains who learned to work together to]] ''[[NiceJobBreakingItHero take over Equestria]]'']].

** "Eye of the Beholder" is a [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-Zag]] on this trope. Xanatos' plan to save Fox is made of interlinking gambits where the failure of one triggers the activation of the next. Once he determines that Fox might be the werewolf creature, his first two plans involve getting the Eye of Odin away from her, Plan A just by asking and then Plan B by forcefully trying to take it from her. Goliath and Elisa witness Plan B, deducing that the werewolf must have been human and that Xanatos is after the "jewel" that it had. Returning back to Castle Wyvern, Xanatos admits that Plan B has failed but now, Plan C was in effect, which is letting the Gargoyles' hatred of him fuel their desire to get the Eye from Fox before he does, and then he'll steal it from them. Unfortunately, they anticipated it and stuck around for the exposition. "I don't suppose you have a plan D?" As it turns out, he does. He asks nicely. At the end, Xanatos gets what he wants (as expected), but self-pityingly announces that the heroes have discovered his weakness; he [[spoiler:cares about Fox enough to submit to his enemies to save her. Goliath notes that that just means he's not as amoral as he thinks he is, meaning perhaps they don't have to be enemies at all.]]

** He gets so good at this, [[ExploitedTrope that it eventually comes back to bite him]] when Thailog is introduced in the episode "Double Jeopardy". Thailog escapes by hiring Sevarius to kidnap him via communication supposedly from Xanatos. Sevarius had no problem believing that Xanatos would arrange a kidnapping of his own experiment/son/partner in a convoluted, Machiavellian scheme to achieve some unseen goal. Thailog continued to outmaneuver everyone. When his plan to steal $20 million dollars, and kill Xanatos, Goliath, and Sevarius went belly up, Thailog moved to his backup plan: make it appear that he and the money were destroyed in an explosion. However, Xanatos is aware of this possibility, as that is what HE would do.

** The essence of a Xanatos Gambit, at least when Xanatos himself is performing one, is that defeating the heroes isn't usually his ''most'' preferred outcome (since that takes away a potential UnwittingPawn for a later plan). The true goal is usually independent of the big fight and sometimes resolved before the fight even happens. For example, in the episode ''Legion''. Xanatos uses the cyborg gargoyle Coldstone to break into a military installation and try to hack an advanced computer system. The military machine immediately uploads a computer virus into Coldstone, who is then confronted by a police experimental robot that tazes him. The heroes show up to confront Coldstone, there is a police chase, etc.; but none of this matters to the Xanatos Gambit since [[spoiler:Xanatos manufactured and donated the police robot: it was programmed to use its "taser" to download the virus from Coldstone's computer system[[note]]which itself was a case of XanatosSpeedChess as he was initially after the files on the computer Coldstone tried to hack, but felt the virus was more valuable since it took out Coldstone's programming[[/note]]. The rest of the episode may appear as though it was spoiling Xanatos's scheme, but in reality it was completely irrelevant to his actual goals.]]

** Demona's first attempt at a Xanatos Gambit was a failed one. In "A Long Way Till Morning". Demona confronts Elisa in her apartment and shoots her with a poison dart. She tells her that if she wants the antidote, have Goliath meet her at a certain location. Goliath takes the bait, but brings Hudson along with him. Once he arrives, Demona attacks, planning to kill the gargoyle leader so she can take over. She even gives Hudson a chance to side with her, but Hudson is able to protect Goliath until sunrise. The following night, once it's clear Demona's plan to kill Goliath has failed, she reminds them of the supposed reason they showed up in the first place -- to save Elisa from a poison that has NO antidote, and would've killed her by now. What Demona didn't realize however is that the dart [[PocketProtector never hit Elisa's skin, only her police badge]].

** Demona and Macbeth steal a comatose Coldstone from the Gargoyles' lair and bring forth the Iago persona. The heroes are so focused on the reasons for this weird triple threat that they don't even notice the real purpose of the 'abduction': [[spoiler: the Weird Sisters, using mind control on Macbeth and Demona, also had them steal three magic objects the gargoyles had stored in their tower.]] The heroes don't even notice until the trail is cold.
* On ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim,'' [[VillainProtagonist Zim]] actually manages to pull one of these off in the unfinished episode "Simon Sez Doom." He volunteers at an orphanage for some unknown reason, so [[HeroAntagonist Dib]] volunteers too to find out why. Dib abandons his job (watching a volatile diaper-changing machine) to investigate Zim's plan, which turns out to be brainwashing all the kids to serve him through Simon Says. Dib manages to stop that, only to find out the ''real'' plan was to distract Dib so the machine would blow up. Dib manages to stop that, but [[spoiler:the machine has to be turned off, and Dib has to change the kids' diapers himself now]]. [[EvilIsPetty And]] ''[[EvilIsPetty that]]'' [[EvilIsPetty was Zim's]] ''[[EvilIsPetty real]]'' [[EvilIsPetty plan all along]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperheroes'', Imperiex carries out a preempted strike against the Legion to pave the way for the bigger invasion to come. With his friends in the ropes, Brainiac 5 gives in to his EnemyWithin and uses his hidden powers to single-handedly defeat Imperiex's forces, forcing them to retreat. However, Imperiex then informs his [[TheDragon Dragon]] that this was the outcome that he preferred all along, as it further molded Brainiac 5 into being an ideal ally.

* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': In the Season 2 premiere, [[BigBad Hawk Moth]] realizes that Ladybug and Cat Noir have found a major clue to his SecretIdentity, which would be disastrous to him since [[TheCorrupter his]] [[SuperEmpowering powers]] are much less suited to direct confrontation than those of the heroes. In response, he comes up with by far his cleverest plan to date: [[FalseFlagOperation creating a new akuma with]] ''[[FalseFlagOperation himself]]'' [[FalseFlagOperation as the target, and temporarily renouncing his butterfly Miraculous]]. This means no matter what happens, he comes out ahead. Either his akumatized self captures the heroes' Miraculous (his ultimate goal), or the heroes purify the akuma as usual and his immediate goal of concealing his identity is achieved, since Ladybug and Cat Noir would never suspect one of Hawk Moth's victims of being Hawk Moth.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries 2''-part finale "Legacy", ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} finally makes good on his promise to Superman that "if he won't be [his] knight, he will be [his] pawn", by having the Man of Steel kidnapped, brainwashed by Granny Goodness into believing he is Darkseid's son, and sent to lead a campaign on Earth. When Superman breaks out of the brainwashing, he is captured by the army, and he is facing execution for treason. He manages to escape and make his way to Apokolips, and personally challenge Darkseid, which he barely wins, and overthrows him. But the Lowlies try to help Darkseid, and nurse him to recovery. Ultimately, in the end, the damage was done: The trust of the people of Earth had been severely damaged, with the Man of Steel wondering if he can ever fully earn it back again. Whether he took over the Earth, or was executed, or personally defeated by Darkseid, or even defeats him and returns to Earth, either way, '''Darkseid wins!''' That said, he truly never considered the possibility that Superman could actually defeat him; he was enraged that Superman even so much as ''punched'' him. This plan was very nearly ruined as Superman won by turning Darkseid's own Omega Beams against him which nearly killed both of them -- Darkseid only survived because his slaves spared his life. Had Superman known that, he might well have opted to kill Darkseid with his own bare hands. Once Superman faces Darkseid again in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', he doesn't take any chances and makes sure Darkseid ''stayed'' dead for keeps.

*** [[spoiler:But even here the Light manage to pull a Xanatos Gambit. ComicBook/LexLuthor, Queen Bee, Vandal Savage, and Klarion manage to get away, and it is implied that Ras al Ghul will be resurrected with a Lazurus Pit. Then The Light takes the War World from under the Justice League's nose, threaten the rest of the universe should they invade Earth, and then reveals that they are in league with freakin Darkseid. It ends with Vandal Savage commenting, "Business as usual." Even when the heroes win they lose!]]

*** [[spoiler:However, the Light had other plans that enabled them to survive this. Luthor wasn't the only criminal inside the United Nations, so was [[EvilAllAlong Zviad Baazovi]], Markovia's ambassador. He used psychic manipulation to enable Geo-Force's takeover from internal impulses he felt deep down, but were nudged to the surface, rendering him a PuppetKing to the Light, and securing their control of Markovia, and the now disgraced Luthor retreats to Markovia with his ComicBook/InfinityInc serving the country, while the heroes benefitted from the now lifted sanctions and the merging of the Justice League factions.]]

** Demona had improved her tactics by the time of "The Mirror" -- while she's trying to steal the eponymous artifact from a museum, Goliath and Elisa find her and chase her outside of the building. Once all three are gone, some hired {{Mook}}s of Demona's break in [[GoLookAtTheDistraction and steal the mirror for her]].

--->'''Owen''': ''You mean, that creature is '''still out there.''' It has the '''money.''' It's as powerful as '''Goliath.''' And it's '''smarter''' than '''you?''' ''\\
'''Xanatos''': ''Owen, I think I created a monster.''\\
'''Thailog''': '''''EvilLaugh!'''''

** These gambits continue even into [[WesternAnimation/YoungJusticeRevivalSeries the revival seasons]]. The third season finale sees the Team and Outsiders return to Markovia when Baron Bedlam escapes prison and performs a coup d'etat. [[spoiler:When they get in, Terra, performing her usual TheMole role, is ordered to assassinate the Outsiders' leader Beast Boy at a critical moment with the hopes that the Light can use it to set up registration rules for future metahumans to traffic. Instead, the heroes knew she had been a mole, and use their kindness towards her to convince her to fully side with them instead. As her brother Geo-Force had been LockedOutOfTheLoop, he executes Baron Bedlam, their EvilUncle, in rage, and takes over the throne from his older brother Gregor instead. Because he was another member of the Outsiders, the Light banked on substituting Terra's attempted murder of Beast Boy with Geo-Force's violation of ThouShaltNotKill against Bedlam to set up their law, except ComicBook/BlackLightning accessed the communicator, catching Luthor red-handed, and works with Cyborg, Superboy, and Superman to successfully oust him from the United Nations, with Troia now the secretary-general of the United Nations.]]
*** [[spoiler:However, the Light had other plans that enabled them to survive this. Luthor wasn't the only criminal inside the United Nations, so was [[EvilAllAlong Zviad Baazovi]], Markovia's ambassador. He used psychic manipulation to enable Geo-Force's takeover from internal impulses he felt deep down, but were nudged to the surface, rendering him a PuppetKing to the Light, and securing their control of Markovia, and the now disgraced Luthor retreats to Markovia with his ComicBook/InfinityInc serving the country, while the main heroes benefitted meanwhile from the now lifted sanctions, and the merging of the Justice League factions.]]