The Bad Guys (2022): In the Maraschino Ruby short, it's revealed that Chief Luggins doesn't believe that the titular group is truly redeemed, something she seeks to prove. You'd Expect: Her to simply not do anything and just wait for them to do something bad. If she is suspicious, she can request an officer watch over them. Instead: She steals the titular gem from the museum, replaces it with a fake, then runs an ad in the newspaper practically daring the Bad Guys to take it. The Result: Upon attempting to interrogate them for the supposed theft of a push pop earlier that day, Mr. Shark, disguised as the group's lawyer, points out that what Luggins did counts as entrapment, which is a crime and nearly gets her arrested. Mr. Wolf only agrees to drop the charges if she takes back what she said about the group in the newspaper while also pickpocketing her so he and the others can return the real gem, meaning that all she did was humiliate herself for no reason.
Home (2015): One that starts the whole movie off. Captain Smek has just run out of an attempted peace meeting with the Gorg. On the way out, he bumps into a pedestal holding up a strange rock. You'd Expect: Him to leave it where it is. He is most likely not on the Gorg's good side at the moment. Even if the rock didn't have all of his kids inside, most people don't like it when people take things that belong to them. Instead: He takes it without so much as a second thought. The Result: The Gorg is violently enraged and starts to chase the Boov down. You Might Now Expect: Smek or someone else to realize that the Gorg really wants the "Shusher Wand" back and give it back the next time they see him. Yes, it's hard to try and confront the being that wants you wiped out, but it's worth the shot. Instead: Nobody realizes this until Oh (due to having spent time with Tip) realizes what the problem was.
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is the beloved and frustrating child of Stoick the Vast, on the Viking island of Berk. As a teenager, Hiccup keeps getting into trouble with his attempts to catch a dragon during a raid. Stoick relegates him to blacksmith duty, to keep his son out of danger and to keep the village safe from Hiccup. In addition, Hiccup reveals that he is a whiz at repairing weapons and inventing them, and the work gives him hidden muscle. You'd Expect: Hiccup would apply himself smarter, not harder, and show more self-preservation if he's going to catch a dragon. His dad is mainly concerned that Hiccup keeps running into danger more so than anything else, and Stoick has a point. Hiccup just needs to lie low during one raid to earn his father's trust, and make sure to stay away from the food supplies. Instead: Hiccup doesn't seem to learn about valuing his life, being as stubborn as his father. He insists on doing things impulsively and risking his life without consequence. In the first part of the movie, he does catch a Night Fury with his weapon, while shooting it in a spot isolated from the village, but he also loses the sheep that the village needs to survive through the winter when a Monstrous Nightmare gives chase. After saving his son, Stoick calls Hiccup out for his selfishness in front of the whole village and sends him home while the other teens except Astrid and Fishlegs laugh.
Later on in the movie, Hiccup, while riding his trained dragon Toothless with Astrid discovers the dragon nest. They also discover that a dragon queen, the Red Death, hypnotizes the dragons into stealing food for her. They have to tell Stoick, since not doing so would count as treason in Viking times, and Stoick is looking for the nest so that he can stop the raids and keep the village alive. Hiccup convinces Astrid that he'll take care of it, during the Final Exam. You'd Expect: What Hiccup did in a deleted scene: ride Toothless into the arena to show that dragons can be tamed and taught, and then cut a plea bargain with his dad about the nest, so that the village can attack with dragons, to stop the Red Death. Astrid points out how cool Hiccup was for being the first Viking to ride a dragon, and Stoick recognizes greatness even when it contradicts his belief. Instead: Hiccup, fearing for Toothless's safety, goes alone into the Kill Ring without planning to tell his dad anything. He drops his mother's helmet and his knife, announcing loudly he's not a Viking, and tries to tame the Monstrous Nightmare peacefully. Stoick, who watches with surprise and dismay, orders the fight to stop right when Hiccup shows the Monstrous Nightmare can be trained, the latter action nearly gets Hiccup killed, captures Toothless when the latter shows up to save his human, and disowns Hiccup when the latter blurts out that you need a dragon to get to the nest. Hiccup can only watch as his dad sails off with Toothless on a Suicide Mission.
After being outed as a dragon trainer, Hiccup tries to warn his dad about the extreme dangers of the dragon's nest. You'd Expect: Stoick would, for once, listen to his son. Hiccup has tactical knowledge of the nest which would give the invading party a huge advantage, or at least they would be better prepared for the worst. Instead: Stoick decides to be an JerkassAbusive Dad and disown Hiccup for thinking outside the box. He does this while shoving Hiccup roughly to the ground. Then he proceeds to drag Toothless with him on the ship to set off for the nest. Fortunately for Stoick and the rest of the adults, Hiccup was able to come up with a rescue plan, let alone even want to rescue them after all the abuse they put him throughout the movie.
At the beginning of the movie, Hiccup tells his father that he ran into Dragon Hunters who are working for a man named Drago Bludivist. Stoick gets an Oh, Crap! expression and orders an immediate lockdown for the island. You'd Expect: Stoick would quickly tell Hiccup who Drago is: a madman who nearly murdered him and a group of chiefs for laughing at the notion that a man could control dragons. This conveys the danger perfectly. Instead: Stoick doesn't, not at this juncture anyway. Hiccup then flies out of Berk to find the Hunters, so that he gets a chance to meet Drago and reason with him about dragons. Stoick does tell his son later, but only after "rescuing" him from the Hunters' ship and after Hiccup stubbornly clings to his idea that he has to make peace.
Hiccup by the time of the third act has heard three people give opinions on Drago Bludivist: his father, dragon trapper Eret, son of Eret; and his mother Valka. They all say that Drago can't be reasoned with, that he doles out severe punishment, and that he murders and hurts dragons. You'd Expect: This to mean that when Drago attacks Valka's Sanctuary, Hiccup would let Toothless shoot him after getting enough berth. Stoick and Valka are one thing, but Drago's own battered employee, Eret, makes it clear that you can't change Drago's mind. Instead: Hiccup tries to reason with Drago and stop the battle with the Bewilderbeast before more dragon and human lives are lost. While this does save his parents from getting killed by the great dragon, Drago takes the opportunity to use the Bewilderbeast to control Toothless. A brainwashed Toothless then fires at Hiccup, killing Stoick who takes the blow.
A year has passed since the second movie. Hiccup has taken it upon himself to save as many dragons as possible from the remnants of Drago's army and various trappers, who have split into factions. Gobber mentions that Berk is running out of room with all the dragons rescued, and also Hiccup is inviting trouble by making Berk a target. You'd Expect: If Berk is getting overcrowded that they create a new base to take all the wild dragons after expanding the island to its maximum capacity. Hiccup has been mapping as much of the Archipelago as possible, and in the spin-off show Race to the Edge he's created at least one external base for dragon exploration and fighting. You'd Also Expect: Hiccup's missions would be more discreet considering that he doesn't want to engage in another war. Instead: Hiccup's friends still have no discretion despite about six years of battle. When they storm ships to raid them, Hiccup happily announces himself as not a demon to the guards he needs to fight, while the twins and Fishlegs are clumsy with their wings. Also, the latest dragon they rescue is so large that it causes Disaster Dominoes. When Gobber brings up the issue, Hiccup waves his concerns away. The Result: The remaining faction leaders hire a Night Fury killer named Grimmel to take down Hiccup, and steal away the Alpha of dragons. Grimmel it turns out is an expert at Kansas City Shuffle and can predict Hiccup's actions.
On the raid, Toothless can sense another dragon in a cage. Hiccup is calling for him, saying they have to leave. You'd Expect: Toothless would lead Hiccup to the cage to open it, just in case. Instead: He flies away. The Result: Grimmel frees the dragon, which turns out to be a Light Fury, and uses her as a Honey Trap for Toothless.
Meanwhile, Snotlout is hitting on his aunt, Hiccup's mother Valka. He's doing as well as a job as you may expect, from expressing jealousy towards Eret. You'd Expect: Valka would tell Snotlout upfront that she's not interested because she's still mourning her husband, who only passed the year before thanks to Drago. Also, it's weird because even if they aren't blood-related, she's family. Hiccup as a child accepted that his father wasn't going to get a "new mom" because, for Stoick, there was only one Valka. Snotlout is also grieving Stoick, who was kinder to him than his father Spitelout was. Instead: She humors him without telling him "no" upfront. Predictably: Snotlout gets more jealous when she defers to Eret's authority.
Towards the end of the movie, Hiccup attempts a raid on Grimmel's fleet. He realizes it was a trap, and in the chaos, Tuffnut forgets about Ruffnut who is left behind. Hiccup is despondent because Toothless has been away for ages with Light Fury with his new prosthetic, and because he failed his tribe. You'd Expect: He and Astrid would go on Stormfly back to rescue Ruffnut or negotiate with Grimmel for her release. If she escaped, they could meet halfway across the ocean and make sure that she wasn't followed to their island. Instead: Astrid, wanting to cheer Hiccup's spirit, takes him and Stormfly to find the Hidden World, Toothless and Light Fury]]. The Result: The three nearly get killed by wild dragons, and [Toothless is annoyed that his nightlong date was interrupted. Then they find out that Grimmel let Ruffnut go to follow her to the new island, and where Toothless was, which leads to the climax of the film where Grimmel nearly kills Toothless and Light Fury.
Grimmel captures Toothless and the Light Fury and makes it clear to Hiccup that he's going to enjoy killing them. You'd Expect: He would realize that Hiccup would do anything to rescue Toothless and the Light Fury, and kill Hiccup and his friends. Hiccup made it clear during their first meeting that he treats Dragons as friends and loyal companions rather than tools or things to be killed after being caught, which should have raised a major red flag for Grimmel. Or: Tell Hiccup that if he does try to rescue Toothless, he'll sic his Deathgrippers and/or the Northern Alliance on Berk. Instead: Confident that he has already won, Grimmel thinks that Hiccup is nothing without his dragon and doesn't attempt to attack him before trying to kill Toothless and the Light Fury. The Result: In not killing Hiccup, Grimmel underestimated Hiccup's resourcefulness and eventually meets his death when Hiccup proves him wrong. In the previous movie, even Drago was smart enough to know Hiccup was a major threat to his goals and thus tried to kill both Hiccup and Toothless.
Kung Fu Panda: The Furious Five and Shifu are angry and disappointed when Oogway chooses a random panda that fell out of the sky as the Dragon Warrior. Po, a naive kung fu fanboy, doesn't believe he's the Dragon Warrior but does want to learn about his passion. He keeps gushing to the Five about how he's a big fan, and in fact, expects that Tigress was the one who was chosen. You'd Expect: That Tigress and Shifu would realize that Po isn't treating kung fu as a joke and it wasn't his fault Oogway pointed at him. Po is knowledgeable about the weapons used in the craft, but lacks the years of discipline and training the Five received. Instead: Shifu does all that he can to scare Po off, by torturing him during sessions and literally tossing him out of the Jade Palace. Tigress keeps accusing Po of treating kung fu and the Dragon Warrior status as a joke. The Result: Thus, when Tai Lung escapes, Oogway ascends and Shifu has to train Po by necessity, Po freaks out and tries to run away because he knows he can't go up against Tai Lung, who has murdered needlessly. He calls out Shifu for trying to get rid of him and then suddenly changes his tune while saying that he was hoping that Shifu would change him into someone better. This causes Shifu to have a Jerkass Realization, fortunately, and he figures out how to train Po competently. Tigress in the meantime goes off to stop Tai Lung, and nearly gets killed despite putting up a great fight with her friends' help. Po's silliness also helps him distract Tai Lung during their climactic battle, and ultimately gain the upper hand.
In the Action Prologue, Lord Shen when younger had heard his parents consult the Soothsayer, who had helped raise him. She predicts that a "warrior in black and white" will defeat him if he doesn't change his ways. You'd Expect: Shen to have realized that his parents had consulted the Soothsayer to deal with his "growing darkness," whatever that was, which was worrying them. He can just feign good behavior until they stop fretting about his actions. Also, that he has a choice to avoid his fate if he steps away from the dark path with the wolves. Or that he would consider that "black and white" could mean so many things, like the snow leopards who do exist. Instead: Shen orders the wolves to wipe out all the nearby pandas. The Result: His parents are horrified and are forced to banish him for committing genocide. The Soothsayer is also horrified and guilty about what her scrying indirectly caused. Also, as the Soothsayer predicted, Shen only seals his own fate by trying to prevent it. While the surviving pandas go into hiding in the mountains, in a village that has snow and altitude as a defense, a mother panda hides her baby in a radish crate and dies leading the wolves away. This baby happens to end up in a noodle shop in the Valley of Peace and turns out to be a natural kung fu master. The Soothsayer later saves Po when Shen hits him with cannon fire and gives him the pep talk he needs to go and stop Shen.
Lord Shen has just thwarted the heroes' attempt to stop him from leaving the harbor with his fleet to conquer China. Most of the heroes are left injured and completely helpless except for Po, who stands up to face the fleet himself. Shen orders his men to fire one of his cannons at him, but Po uses his newfound 11th-Hour Superpower to catch the cannonball in midair and redirect it into the water. The next few attempts to shoot him end the same way. You'd expect: Shen to realize that this isn't working and try a different plan of attack, like just siccing his wolves on him. Instead: He continues to fire at Po, even as he starts redirecting the shots into his own fleet until he gets himself blown up.
Po himself suffers this earlier in the film after the Five chew him out for letting Shen get away (another idiotic, but forgivable, move). After finding out that Shen knows something about Po's real parents, Tigress orders him to stay behind, knowing that this battle is too personal for him; she tells him she doesn't want him to get hurt. You'd expect: For Po to understand that and stay put. Instead: He goes anyway, inadvertently foiling the Five's plot to blow up Shen's foundry and nearly dooming all of China.
Master Oogway was badly injured in battle thousands of years ago. His best friend Kai took him to a panda village, where the pandas used chi to heal Oogway. Kai is intrigued by how chi can be used to gain power and wants more of it. You'd Expect: He wouldn't test out his ability to grab power on the pandas that saved Oogway's life. Instead: He tries to wipe out the pandas in the village. Just like Shen would hundreds of years later. Oogway, who owed the pandas, was forced to send away Kai to the Spirit Realm to save the village.
Kai finally returns to the real world after spending millennia growing his power. He's sent out jade zombies as spies and as mindless warriors to see how much the world has changed. You'd Expect: He would go to the panda village first. They are harmless and easy pickings for Kai since they have no idea that he is coming or knows their hidden location. Instead: He makes his way to the Jade Palace first, to destroy Oogway's legacy. Shifu can't defeat Kai and gets turned into a jombie, but he buys time for Tigress to escape and warn Po, who happens to be in the panda village. The Result: Po decides to train the villagers for the fight, using their strengths, because he knows he has to protect them. This means that, if not for Kai being immortal, then Kai would have lost following the ensuing Humiliation Conga.
After Alex and his friends crash in Africa following an unsuccessful attempt to fly back to New York, he comes across the pride led by Zuba, who is revealed to be Alex's father and gets taken in. At the same time, the treacherous Makunga reminds Zuba that Alex must win a fight in order to be fully accepted into the pride. You'd Expect: Considering Alex spent quite a lot of time outside the pride, Zuba would try and tell him about the exact details of the initiation procedure to make sure his son is ready for the fight. Instead: Zuba immediately assumes Alex knows how the initiation works and doesn't bother to explain to him what to do. Worse, he forgets about Makunga who was indirectly responsible for Alex being caught and shipped away in the first place. The Result: Makunga manipulates Alex into picking a fight with the strongest and most feared lion in the pride; Alex doesn't help the situation either by taking the whole thing as a dance battle and getting soundly beaten by his rival. Poor Communication Kills at its finest.
Now, with Alex beaten, Makunga lets out an unsympathetic remark about Zuba now having to exile his own son from the pride and is heard cheerfully goading him into banishing Alex. You'd Expect: Zuba would at least consider the possibility that the fight was rigged and suspect Makunga to have done it. If he were to give up the leader position there and then, it would be wise for him to exile Makunga first, considering everything the latter had done prior to that point, and choose someone else to lead the pride, like his wife for example. Instead: He fails to put two and two together, resigns almost immediately out of shame, and does not even bother putting anyone trustworthy in charge, causing Makunga to take over the leader position and exile Alex as his first say-so, with his family leaving as well. This results in the reserve being taken over and falling under Makunga's unfair rule. Until...
The water source in the reserve runs out, much to the animals' anguish. Now that Makunga is the pride leader, he has to do something about it. You'd Expect: He would at least try and pick a Pragmatic Villainy approach that would suit his ends yet wouldn't put him in hot water. Instead: Makunga embraces the Villain Ball and proposes that the animals have to fight each other for water, fully knowing that he has the most chances to win. As if that's not enough, he keeps abusing other animals because he just can't stop being a Smug Snake all the while. Result: Other animals are appalled at Makunga's behavior and basically force him to come to Zuba for a piece of advice. While Makunga does try to get Zuba into trouble next by telling him about Alex venturing out into the wilderness on his own to fix the problem, this bites him very hard as both Alex and Zuba succeed in restoring water to the reserve. And when Nana puts Makunga through a Humiliation Conga and drags him away, nobody feels sorry for him.
The movie starts with two alien babies landing on Earth. One is white-skinned and ends up at a millionaire couple's doorstep. The other, a blue-skinned sapient genius with a talking fish, lands in a prison yard. Both are found immediately because the landing impacts were quite loud. You'd Expect: That child care services and the government science agencies would take away a blue-skinned alien baby that comprehends so much at a young age to study him and give him a proper home, and do the same with "Mr. Goody Two Shoes". There's life on other planets! You have two babies from two different dying planets! Instead: Reed Richards Is Useless and Rule of Funny come into play. The millionaire couple adopts their child, who grows up to become the disillusioned superhero Metroman. The jail inmates, with their stern warden's permission, adopt the little blue baby, who becomes the playful supervillain Megamind and views criminal activity as a game. In time, Megamind gains multiple life sentences, while Metroman develops a Hollywood Midlife Crisis and leaves the city to Megamind and a new "hero"'s mercy. The whole movie could have been avoided with a little common sense and decent government oversight.
Metroman after a point resents his role as Metrocity's savior. He hates how his life is full of nothing but "going through the motions" with his old buddy, and that he doesn't have time to explore who he is or what he wants. The thing is, he started their whole "playtime" by putting a young Megamind in the corner for attempting to make popcorn in class. Thus, Megamind thinks this is how things are, that he is the bad guy and Metroman is the hero. No one's ever told him he could be someone or something else. You'd Expect: He would call a truce with Megamind while the latter is (temporarily) in prison. The villain considers that place his home and isn't stupid. (Most of the time.) They could discuss that the game is over so that Megamind could do something with his life other than try to kill Metroman and take Roxanne Ritchie hostage. Metroman could then find time to develop his music career, as he does later. Instead: Metroman decides to fake his death on the spur of the moment, giving Megamind control of the city and the means to create a new "hero" who ultimately goes rogue. Even though he has the power to stop Titan, he refuses to because he's not a hero anymore, and he tells Megamind that "good will step up," when a self-loathing Megamind doesn't think he can ever be a hero. Roxanne for good reason calls out Metroman for his selfishness, when Megamind created Titan and an ensuing citywide rampage.
Roxanne Ritchie in the meantime finds herself alone and out of resources when Hal as Titan takes over the city, and a defeated Megamind leaves her to go back to jail, his home. Since no one else is doing the hero's work, she decides to do it. You'd Expect: Megamind told Roxanne that the gun that could depower Hal was inside the invisible car, which he abandoned by accident somewhere in the city after she found out he was posing as Bernard and dumped him. Titan, in the meantime, is going on his rampage but allowing people to evacuate, which could give her time to comb the city and find the invisible car by shining a light on it. Then she grabs the gun, lures Tiian into a vulnerable position, and whacks him. You'd Also Expect: Roxanne knows where Megamind's hideout is. She could take the suggestion she made to Megamind of grabbing his weapons and utilizing a Worf Barrage against Hal. Instead: Roxanne calls for Hal from the sky and tries to reason with him. She tries to point out that they worked together for so many years, and that You Are Better Than You Think You Are. Unfortunately, Hal is beyond reason, and unlike Megamind, is willing to commit murder. The Result: Hal only spares Roxanne to tie her to a building and prepare to take it down slowly, demanding that Megamind come to rescue her. Minion while disguised as Megamind manages to rescue her, but when Hal figures out who the real Megamind is, the latter nearly dies until Roxanne by dumb luck finds the invisible car and hints at Megamind where to find it.
One that starts the movie off. After Megamind interrupts an aquarium heist and puts the Go Fish Gang in a cage, the cage suddenly breaks, allowing them to make a getaway. You'd Expect: That Megamind quickly use the dehydration gun on him to quickly halt their escape. He just used it to get rid of a shark that was coming towards him, and there's no cool down like some of his prior weapons. Instead: He just...doesn't do anything, and lets them get away, which then allows them to show up at the party and nearly out him to the Doom Syndicate.
The above leads into a What an Idiot moment for the Go Fish Gang. They decide to attend the party after being texted an invite by the Doom Syndicate, with the intent to out Megamind as a good guy. You'd Expect: That the gang simply text back the Doom Syndicate that Megamind was a good guy now. Megamind had no idea that the Go Fish Gang were being invited, and this would've been a perfect time for the gang to get the drop on Megamind. You'd Also Expect: That the gang go to the party, and tell the Doom Syndicate directly what was going on. Instead: They never tell the Doom Syndicate that he's good, and instead go to the party to take on Megamind directly. As a Result: Megamind is able to hold off the Go Fish Gang, and eventually pacify them with the dehydration gun.
When they first appear, The Doom Syndicate reveal that the reason they hadn't shown up when they did was because they were waiting for Megamind's sign that he took over. You'd Expect: That they join up when Megamind first takes over the city and Metro Man was presumed dead. Considering that the whole city presumed Metro Man, the man who had been defending their city for years was finally killed, and as such, became a massive event, they would've gotten the idea to join up. Instead: They only join up with him after he defeats Tighten, which is also around the same time that Megamind turned to the side of good.
Throughout the movie, Megamind is having trouble lying to his old supervillain friends about being a villain, and not dealing with them results in chaos running rampant throughout the city. You'd Expect: That Megamind get them all alone and use the dehydration gun on them to pacify them. At this point, they aren't aware that Megamind has turned good, and still trust him entirely. It would be extremely easy to just talk to them alone and use the gun on them. Plus, since the gun doesn't need to cool down, he could do it even easier. Instead: This idea never occurs to Megamind, and he remains content with stalling them until they eventually decide to launch Metro City to space. Even Worse: At one point in the movie, Megamind uses the dehydration gun to pacify three criminals who were close to revealing the truth about him, making the decision to not use it on them even worse.
After the Doom Syndicate find out about Megamind's old plan of launching Metro City to space, Megamind finally comes up with a plan to stop them, and it's simply to just put them in the portable prison. You'd Expect: That Megamind remember that earlier, the prison malfunctioned and that it wouldn't hold them for very long. Knowing that, he could finally use the dehydration gun to take them out, since they're all together in one place. You'd Also Expect: That this idea come to him earlier and actually take a moment to fix the prison so it can be held indefinitely. You'd Also Also Expect: That he do what he should've done earlier and just simply use the dehydration gun. Instead: Megamind decides to not only wing the entire plan, thus never getting the chance to fix the portable prison, but he also still doesn't use the dehydration gun. Not only that, when they're in the prison, Megamind decides to not immediately take them to jail, but gloat that he's now a hero. As a Result: The prison malfunctions and the Doom Syndicate are clued off to Megamind's turn to good. Not only that, but Megamind is scared enough to the extent the sweat he exhibits ends up hydrating the pacified Go Fish Gang, and Megamind is barely able to escape.
The movie begins with Susan and Derek's wedding ruined because the former undergoes a Forced Transformation by a meteor, which gets her captured by the military. After a series of events that, long story short, led to her becoming a hero, the first thing she does once she was free is find her fiance, expecting a warm welcome. You'd Expect: Derek to stay with Susan. Dating/being married to a Giant Woman who helped save the city could have potentially made him even more famous than he already is. For that matter, while Susan is initially looking for a way to return to her normal size, he could convince her to stay as Ginormica; not just to ensure his fame, but also to continue helping people, a conclusion she eventually comes to anyway. It's not like Susan wouldn't listen to him, as she says he was all she could think about the whole time they were separated. You'd think a man with a big ego would have been excited to hear that and put some pragmatism to use. Instead: He breaks up with her purely to focus more on his career, telling her she's "casting a very big shadow". The Result: Susan sees Derek for what he really is, which causes problems for him when he tries to take her back at the end of the movie, as well as an episode of the 2013 series if you consider it to be canon.
One that starts the movie off. RJ is about to steal a bunch of Vincent's food, and as he's about to leave, RJ realizes that Vincent has a can of Spuddies in his grasp. You'd Expect: That RJ leave it alone. Vincent was asleep, and by the time he would wake up, RJ could probably get far away as possible. Plus, he already had a bunch of food, so going back for a single can of Spuddies wouldn't really be worth it. Instead: RJ tries to swipe the can. The Result: Vincent ends up waking up, and as RJ's trying to explain himself, he accidentally gets Vincent's food destroyed. While he is able to make a deal with Vincent, it very nearly kills him in the process.
Later on, RJ discovers Verne trying to take the food they stole back, and after a tug of war with the cart, RJ realizes that they had accidentally unhooked the chain of a dog nearby. You'd Expect: RJ to clearly warn Verne of the danger. Sure, they're in an argument, but Verne is shown to be paranoid, and any sign of danger would be something that would instantly distract Verne from their argument. Instead: RJ only tells Verne to keep quiet, without mentioning the dog nearby. Even Worse: RJ tries to take the food back right in front of Verne, which was the only reason why they were out there in the first place. The Result: Verne finally snaps at RJ despite RJ telling him to be quiet, thus alerting the dog and causing it to chase them throughout the yards, ultimately resulting in the food being destroyed.
During the heist on Glady's house, RJ sends Heather out to keep an eye on Gladys, who had just woken up. At the same time however, the rest of the animals are ready to go, but RJ has to get that last can of Spuddies to give to Vincent. You'd Expect: Heather to be at least somewhat skeptical of RJ's actions. She's been shown as fairly smart and level-headed, and as much as she's friends with RJ, he is acting weird. Instead: Heather disregards RJ's sudden sketchy behavior, and goes to keep an eye on Gladys. You'd Then Expect: Heather to simply watch Gladys. She had just woken up, and hadn't even noticed the heist going on. Instead: Heather leaps out in front of Gladys to play dead. The Result: Gladys, in a panic, kicks Heather down the stairs and scares Ozzie into thinking she just died. Gladys is also alerted to the heist going on in her home, resulting in the animals (save for RJ), being captured. Fortunately for the rest of them, RJ has his Heel–Face Turn, and saves the family.
Jack Frost wakes up in a frozen pond, remembering nothing about his past life and only has his new ice powers along with his staff. It doesn't take long for him to realize that nobody can see or hear him, and he asks the Man in the Moon tons of questions about this, knowing he was the one who made Jack immortal in the first place. You'd Expect: MIM to explain things to him, or at the very least, say that he'll find out someday. Instead: He only tells him his new title and said powers, and literally nothing else. The Result: Poor Jack (a TEENAGER, mind you) is left to wander the Earth all alone. You'd Also Expect: The other Guardians, as well as other spirits that exist, to help him out or at the very least check up on him, being that one of the Big Four has little helpers doing her job for her and two of them only work once a year. Instead: They all just automatically assume he's doing perfectly fine by himself.
300 years later, the Man in the Moon decides to make Jack a new guardian since Pitch Black, aka, "The Boogeyman" has returned. You'd Expect: At least Sandy, considering he's been on relatively good terms with Jack, to slowly and calmly approach him and invite him to the North Pole, by orders of MIM. Instead: Bunnymund and a few of the Yetis shove him into a shack and toss him into a portal.
When he arrives, North and the others immediately begin the ceremony and expect him to go through with the initiation. Surprise, surprise, he says no. You'd Expect: Jack to point out what was mentioned above, and rightfully chew them out for not coming to him sooner. Instead: He snarkily says that he just wants to have fun, and isn't willing to stay cooped up in a hideout "bribing" kids. You'd Then Expect: The others to admit they should've been there for him, but at the same time, explain the gravity of the situation. Instead: Bunny, being stubborn and abrasive as usual, acts all offended and claims that Jack isn't fit to be one of them.
Later on, after making all the Easter eggs, Jack offers to take Sophie home, promising that he'll be back in time. Unfortunately, Pitch lures him into his lair with his memories, and distracts him long enough for his Nightmares to go out and smash all the eggs. By the time he meets up with the others, it's too late. North then sees Jack holding his memories, along with Baby Tooth missing, and realizes where he was. You'd Expect: Them to let Jack explain himself. You'd Also Expect: Considering they've been around way longer than Jack and have dealt with the Boogeyman before, they'd be well aware of what he does and what he's capable of. Instead: Bunny bitterly cuts him off, blaming him for the events, and even shouting "WE SHOULD NEVER HAVE TRUSTED YOU!" This also leads to the other two turning their backs on him. Keep In Mind: Considering how desperate they were to have him join their little bandwagon, they sure as hell were quick to turn on him when things looked bad. The Result: Jack is made to think it was all his fault and runs away to Antarctica, where he runs into Pitch again. This time, he sympathizes with Jack and offers a chance to join him instead. When Jack refuses, Pitch breaks his staff, throws him and Baby Tooth into an icy crevice, and leaves them there.
Oscar owes his boss Sykes money. And he doesn't have said money. Angie gives him a pearl that her grandmother gave her so that he can get out of his debt. You'd Expect: That Oscar would use the pearl to pay off his debt. Instead: He stupidly decides to bet the pearl at the seahorse races because he heard that the race was rigged and he wants to become rich. The Result: Sykes is not pleased when he finds out about this, and the seahorse that Oscar bet on ends up tripping, resulting in Oscar winning zero money and thus he now can't pay off his debt. Sykes does not take that well either and has Oscar punished.
Later on in the movie, Angie is captured by the mob, and after Lino threatens to eat Angie if Oscar doesn't surrender, Lenny (disguised as a dolphin), fake-eats her. You'd Expect: That Oscar, after having Lenny fake eat Angie, send him out of the room to let Angie out. Lenny genuinely hates the taste of fish, so much so that it causes him to vomit. Plus, none of the sharks have any idea that it's Lenny, and are assuming it's just a dolphin, so it's not like they're expecting anything. Instead: He decides to do a long, drawn out dance to taunt Lino as he seemingly no longer has power over him. Naturally: Lenny vomits up Angie (along with some other stuff), and Don Lino is tipped off that not only is Lenny still alive, but he now has more of a reason to kill Oscar.
Lord Farquaad wants to create a perfect kingdom for himself. To do so, a Magic Mirror tells him he has to marry a princess to become a king. The mirror suggests three options, and Farquaad chooses Princess Fiona. The Mirror then tries to add a caveat that she's cursed. You'd Expect: That given how savvy Farquaad is later in having other knights go to rescue Fiona, he would pay attention. You'd Also Expect: That the Mirror would keep trying to warn him. Instead: Farquaad dismisses the Mirror's warnings that Fiona turns into an ogre at night, and the spell can only be broken with true love. During this time, he waits for Shrek to return, and the Mirror either can't or doesn't warn him.
Moments before that, Farquaad has selected one of the princesses shown to him by the Mirror. He can choose between Snow White, Cinderella, and Fiona. You'd Expect: That Farquaad chooses Snow White since getting Snow White to love him would have required little to no effort (just a simple kiss). Instead: He chooses Fiona, which requires any suitor to go through a life-risking effort to save.
The inciting incident of the movie is this. The Fairy Godmother wants her son Prince Charming to marry Fiona. The reasons are political, so that they have an in with the Far Far Away royal family, and she can maintain King Harold as her pawn since she did a favor for Harold. In fact, Fiona has spent years waiting for him and wrote in her diary about wanting Charming to come and break her curse. Harold and his wife Queen Lillian expected Charming to show up. You'd Expect: They would have rescued Fiona sooner than they actually did. The Fairy Godmother also could have given Charming a failsafe to handle Dragon given her array of potions, just in case a sword won't do the job. Instead: Charming sits on his ass and waits for dozens of other knights and princes to try their luck, evidenced by the charred skeletons that Shrek and Fiona find while making their escape in the first movie. Then he appears and traverses the tower, narrating how this will be a success. He doesn't even question that the dragon guarding the tower is missing, or that things seem to be a little more scorched than you would expect a princess's tower to be. The Result: He meets a "gender-confused" wolf in the tower instead, who confirms that he's not Princess Fiona. The Big Bad Wolf, one of the fairy tale creatures that Shrek helped rescue from eviction, subsequently tells Charming that he was too late: Fiona already got rescued and married, being on her honeymoon. To Make Matters Worse: In the alternate timeline created in the fourth movie, Fiona eventually left the tower after spending countless years there, leaving scratch marks on the wall. It hints that either Charming gave up on her after her parents sold the kingdom of Far Far Away, or he got turned into dragon barbecue.
Harold and Lillian invite their newly married daughter to the kingdom to meet her husband. Shrek knows this is a bad idea because they obviously would have wanted her to marry a prince and he's not royalty, telling Fiona they shouldn't go. He gets overruled and packs their carriage to travel to Far Far Away, asking Pinocchio and Gingerbread Man to house-sit. Fiona knows that Shrek has Jabba Table Manners as an ogre, and No Social Skills since most people who see him grab the Torches and Pitchforks. You'd Expect: Considering Fiona has no problem maintaining her princess elegance and etiquette after spending years locked in a tower, she would spend the long carriage ride drilling Shrek into how to best behave and make a good impression on her parents. Lillian actually likes Shrek after getting over the initial shock of realizing their daughter married an ogre, and over dinner says the swamp will be a good place to raise their grandkids. Instead: They spend most of the carriage ride fending off Donkey's Are We There Yet? questions. The Result: Shrek tries, to his credit, tasting what he thinks is the soup course and complimenting Lillian on the cooking based on Fiona's silent gestures, only to find out it's a bowl for washing hands. Lillian finds it amusing and tries to change the subject to ask about the swamp, but Harold is given one more reason to dislike his son-in-law. Harold then proceeds to bait Shrek about how any grandchildren would be ogres, with an accusatory tone, and Shrek naturally retaliates verbally. The evening ends in disaster as the fight escalates, not helped by the fact that the Fairy Godmother finds out that Charming missed out on his chance to win Fiona by a few months and extorts Harold to make Fiona single and available again, or she'll turn him back into a frog.
When Shrek has become human (thanks to the Happily Ever After Potion) and is looking for Fiona in the castle, the Fairy Godmother is in Fiona's room and locks the door and the window so Shrek can't escape. She also tells him that Fiona is in love with Charming while the two watch Fiona and Charming walk away together. You'd Expect: For Shrek to not let the Fairy Godmother's trickery and words get to him. After all, he is married to Fiona. You'd Also Expect: Shrek will pull himself together and continue looking for Fiona so he can explain to her about the spell. Instead: He slips into a Heroic BSoD and goes to the bar to drown his sorrows. If not for Donkey cheering him up, Charming would have ended up winning Fiona's heart through deceit and selfishness.
In a later scene, Shrek and Donkey (as a human and a stallion, respectively), along with Puss in Boots, spy on the conversation that the Fairy Godmother and Charming are having with King Harold. You'd Expect: For Shrek, Donkey and Puss to keep quiet until the conversation is over. Instead: Donkey shouts "Mother?!" loud enough for the Fairy Godmother to catch the trio spying. What's worse is that Shrek escalates the situation by pointing at Donkey and saying "Look, a talking horse!" The Result: The Fairy Godmother orders the police to go after Shrek, Donkey, and Puss, resulting in them getting imprisoned. Fortunately: Gingy, Pinocchio, and co. come to help the trio escape from prison.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish reveals Puss wasted his previous eight lives in very stupid and reckless ways, but the most two notable examples are his sixth and seventh deaths. In his sixth death he ate at a fancy restaurant, but the dish gave him a severe allergic reaction causing his face to swell up. He then asks the waiter if the fish he's eating has shellfish in it, to which the waiter tell him it does. You'd Expect: Puss to stop eating it immediately and seak medical attention right away. Instead: He continues EATING it. The Result Puss dies from the allergic reaction costing him his sixth life. His seventh death shows that he was baking bread in Drury lane with Gingy. However, Gingy warns Puss that the oven is at a dangerously high temperature. You'd expect: Puss to turn down the temperature. Instead: He brushes off Gingys warning and proclaims he's the master of baking and opens the oven door. The Result: Puss is blasted by the fire once he opens it and gets burned to death, ending his seventh life.
The Trolls have celebrated peace without the Bergens attacking them for twenty years, and are throwing a light festival that evening. A grumpy troll named Branch is against such, as it could attract the Bergens right to them. You'd Expect: Poppy to listen to Branch's advice and hold the light festival underground, or someplace where they cannot be seen by the Bergens. Instead: She just shrugs him off and holds the festival that evening as she planned. The Result: The Bergen Chef witnesses the festival and kidnaps all of Poppy's friends.
