History ContrivedCoincidence / WesternAnimation

** Another episode has Mr. Big finding his doppelganger who just happens to be named Mr. Birg. Mr. Big hires Mr. Birg knowing that [=WordGirl=] will think thatMr. Birg is him and be too busy following Mr. Birg around to stop his plan.

** Another episode has Mr. Big finding doppelganger who just happens to be named Mr. Birg. Mr. Big hires Mr. Birg knowing that [=WordGirl=] will think thatMr. Birg is him and be too busy following Mr. Birg around to stop his plan.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE25TheClockKing "The Clock King"]], the opening of Gotham Central Station is [[LudicrousPrecision exactly seven years after]] the Clock King's StartOfDarkness, in a [[SubwaysSuck desolated subway.]]

** 9 times out of 10 whenever the Mystery gang manages to catch the ghost, it's after they've already found enough evidence to know who the ghost is, the trap they attempt to use to catch the ghost has failed spectacularly, and the resulting chase scene has in numerous extremely unlikely occurrences that somehow don't occur in any of the chase scenes prior that end with the gang catching the ghost entirely by accident.

* ''WesternAnimation/GIJoe'': In "The Viper is Coming," Barbecue's new apartment is menaced by mysterious phone calls stating that "the viper is coming," with additional cryptic messages in each call: "575," "West Corner," and "Top Floor First." The Joes naturally assume that the "viper" is a reference to their archenemy Cobra Commander and interpret the messages as clues, which all lead to upcoming Cobra attacks: the latitude and longitude 5-75 takes the Joes to a hidden Cobra base in Antarctica, "West Corner" refers to a planned kidnapping at West Point Military Academy, and "Top Floor First" reveals another Cobra headquarters on the top floor of the world's tallest building. The Joes are thus able to anticipate and thwart all of the schemes, but every Cobra operative they meet claims that the "viper" isn't part of the organization. Then, at the end of the episode, one final call comes through, saying that the viper will arrive at noon tomorrow. The Joes build a military blockade...and then an old man shows up with cleaning equipment and announces that he is "the viper," here [[AlterKocker "to vipe the vindows"]]--he charges ''$5.75'' an hour and will start on the ''top floor'', ''west corner'' first. [[EverybodyLaughsEnding Cue laughter]]. So everything this completely-unrelated old man said on the phone just happened to be critical hints to top-secret missions planned by a major terrorist organization. Sure, why not?

** "Ghost Bride" had Gerald sharing the legend of Cynthia Snell, the titular bride who was jilted by her then-fiancé for her sister, and in revenge, murdered them before killing herself, and on the anniversary of her crimes, she would rise from the grave and wander around the cemetery where she is buried, humming the wedding march, in search of more victims. Curly wanted to tell the story and would've done so much better than Gerald, especially since the latter left out the most important part that that very evening was the anniversary of her crimes. The gang decides to visit the cemetery that night to see if she would rise from the grave, but when it seems as though the legend really is true, [[spoiler:it was actually Helga (wanting revenge for the boys not allowing her to come because she was a girl and they get scared to easy) and Curly (wanting revenge for the other kids not letting him tell the story, thanks to Arnold recognizing the red socks he wore earlier that day) scaring them. The latter is locked in the crypt following this, and Arnold tells them it'll only take him an hour to realize the door unlocks from the inside, at which point, he is about to have an encounter with the real ghost bride.]]

* There was an episode of ''WesternAnimation/GIJoe'' in the eighties in which the Joes repeatedly received menacing telephone calls throughout the episode warning them that "the viper is coming," which they naturally assumed referred to their archenemy Cobra. They were able to interpret apparent clues in the calls to upcoming Cobra attacks, and so anticipate and thwart the attacks, and so throughout the episode enjoyed great success against Cobra, but the calls keep coming. Then, at the end of the episode, an old man shows up with cleaning equipment and announces that he is "the viper," and that he was there [[AlterKocker "to vipe the vindows."]] [[EverybodyLaughsEnding Cue laughter]]. So there just happened to be critical clues to upcoming Cobra attacks in a series of unrelated phone calls. Sure, why not?

-->'''Arthur''': So, what happened in the special? I've been dying to know!\\

* So many in ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}''. The babies often misinterpret things or believe something to be different from reality, only for something to happen to support their theories. Sometimes, the lies Angelica tells to scare or manipulate them come true as well, and she's surprised to find that she was "right." In other instances, the babies will inadvertently stumble upon and expose secrets or fraud because they just so happen to be in the right place in the right time.

** "Ghost Bride" had Gerald sharing the legend of Cynthia Snell, the titular bride who was jilted by her then-fiancé for her sister, and in revenge, murdered them before killing herself, and on the anniversary of her crimes, she would rise from the grave and wander around the cemetery where she is buried, humming the wedding march, in search of more victims. Curly wanted to tell the story and would've done so much better than Gerald, especially since the latter left out the most important part that that very evening was the anniversary of her crimes. The gang decides to visit the cemetery that night to see if she would rise from the grave, but when it seems as though the legend really is true, it was actually Helga (wanting revenge for the boys not allowing her to come because she was a girl and they get scared to easy) and Curly (wanting revenge for the other kids not letting him tell the story, thanks to Arnold recognizing the red socks he wore earlier that day) scaring them. The latter is locked in the crypt following this, and Arnold tells them it'll only take him an hour to realize the door unlocks from the inside, [[spoiler:at which point, he is about to have an encounter with the real ghost bride.]]

** In "The Headless Cabbie", Arnold tells a scary story about the titular horse-drawn buggy driver who was out driving in the park one cold night when a woman asked for a ride to help look for her lost Scottish terrier, gifting him with a scarf as thanks. As they traveled, they encountered a man with a golden hook for an arm and heard the dog barking; the woman forced the cabbie to go faster and faster, and the scarf caught on a low-hanging branch, which decapitated him and sent her into insane laughter. Later, when the kids travel through the park to get ice cream, bizarre coincidences pop up that make them think they're in the story. Hoofbeats are heard on the cobblestones... it's just Eugene, practicing his clog dancing. A man with a golden hook-arm appears... it's a guy selling watches. ''The headless cabbie and laughing woman themselves'' suddenly arrive... but it's actually Ernie, who's taken to driving the carriage for some extra money and is hiding his head in his coat to keep warm, and Mr. Hyunh, who's riding in the cab and laughing insanely... well, for absolutely no reason ("WHO WANTS TO HEAR MY CREEPY LAUGH?").

** PlayedForLaughs in the episode "The Day the Earth Didn't Move Around Very Much". A power outage causes Johnny's alarm clock to freeze, and upon waking up, he assumes that time has stopped for everyone in the world but him. As luck would have it, everyone he encounters that day just so happens to have some reason to stand perfectly still whenever Johnny gets close. It starts out relatively possible--little Suzy, for example, is trying to balance an egg on her nose and doesn't want to jostle it--but it quickly moves into ludicrous territory, such as an entire traffic jam deciding to stop honking their horns (because it doesn't do anything) or a group of chefs playing charades and requiring a moment of "perfect, unmoving stillness" to figure out a solution.

** In "[[Recap/ArthurS4E1DWsLibraryCardArthursBigHit Arthur's Big Hit]]", Arthur hits a RageBreakingPoint and hits D.W. after she breaks his model airplane and shows no remorse for it. Later, Binky is being [[PeerPressuredBully peer-pressured]] by his {{Jerkass}} friends into punching the next kid he sees to prove how tough he is... which ends up being Arthur. The episode treats this as LaserGuidedKarma despite the fact that Binky had meant (reluctantly, but still...) to engage in the exact sort of behavior which the episode's anti-violence Aesop was meant to discourage.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': In "Meet The Beat-Alls", this is how the titular villainous super-team was formed. Mojo Jojo, [=HIM=], Fuzzy Lumpkins and Princess Morbucks each went to the Powerpuff Girls' house to kill them, and by sheer luck they all decided to do so on the same night.

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'': Kaldur/Aqualad gets homesick and returns to Atlantis just before the Light attacks.

** Contrived Coincidences happen frequently in the series, usually neatly {{lampshade|Hanging}}d, but the episode "[[Recap/KimPossibleS2E30RewritingHistory Rewriting History]]" is the most blatant and over the top example: Kim and Ron discover that Ron's great-grandfather Jon Stoppable was a police constable with the same kind of relationship to Mr. Barkin's ancestor, the chief of police. Most of Jon's success in police work is down to ace reporter Miriam "Mim" Possible, Kim's great-grandmother. Professor Dementor's ancestor is demonstrating his device at the World's Fair, and is just like his modern equivalent. Chasing this up, Wade discovers that his ten-year-old ancestor was there too. Ron finds this pile-up of coincidences unlikely, and when Drakken's great-grandfather enters the picture (with a sidekick resembling Shego), Ron [[LampshadeHanging declares the whole thing ludicrous]]. Having just discovered all this, it turns out that after a hundred years, the device is due to go off that day. With sixty seconds left on the clock and no idea how to disable it, Drakken and Shego burst in to steal it. Their craft takes the device far enough to go off harmlessly. Ron notes that the villains arriving in the nick of time is so unlikely, it's like a dream - [[AllJustADream and it was]] (though according to WordOfGod all the persons were real).

** The episode "The Best Night Ever" has everything go horribly wrong at the Galloping Gala in an unlikely way. True, Princess Celestia claimed the Gala was always horrible, but most {{JustForFun/egregious}} are the forest animals who are scared of Fluttershy. The guests at the Gala can't control what the animals think, and it seems unlikely there would just happen to be animals who are scared of Fluttershy at a place where everything else is horrible. Then again, maybe the guests at the Gala can control what the Animals think -- because what they think is: "All Gala guests are horrible." A time-tested truism.

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS14E4LargeMarge Large Marge," Marge accidentally gets massive breast implants meant for another plastic surgery patient. Towards the end of the episode, Krusty the Clown's elephant Stampy has gone on a wild rampage and is trying to eat Bart, Homer, and Milhouse, with the cops ready to shoot; unfortunately, Krusty can't remember the trigger word that will calm Stampy down. Marge quickly [[InvokedTrope invokes]] DistractedByTheSexy by undoing her top, causing all of the men in the crowd--including the cops--to ogle her. Krusty in particular shouts "Look at those magumbos!"--and wouldn't you know that "magumbo" just so happens to be the trigger word that Stampy needs to hear.

%%* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/WordGirl'' was entirely built around {{lampshad|eHanging}}ing this trope, starting from normal usage and becoming territory by the end of the episode.

''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''

{{Contrived Coincidence}}s in western animation TV shows.

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' is a show that ''runs'' on this type of thing:
** In every episode, the eponymous young boys build a spectacular creation and Heinz Doofenshmirtz builds an invention of evil. Whenever Doofenshmirtz loses control of his invention, no matter how far away it is, it will inevitably destroy, directly or indirectly, any evidence of what Phineas and Ferb built that day before their mother can see it (much to the bafflement of their sister Candace). Less often, Phineas and Ferb will do something that seems inconsequential at the time but actually helps their pet platypus Perry (who's a secret agent) defeat Doofenshmirtz later on. One or the other (or both) happens OncePerEpisode. Perry the Platypus is the only one who's aware how much the characters affect each other's lives on a daily basis.
** In addition, the two subplots are always near each other. Phineas and Ferb are on a trip to see Mr. Rushmore? Doofenshmirtz's base [[LandmarkingTheHiddenBase is]] ''[[LandmarkingTheHiddenBase in]]'' [[LandmarkingTheHiddenBase Mt. Rushmore]]! Phineas and Ferb are visiting their grandparents in England? Doofenshmirtz is attending an evil convention in England! Phineas and Ferb are ''in space...'' (That one got semi-{{lampshade|Hanging}}d.)
** When they build a super computer it takes advantage of the coincidences to let them do the nicest thing possible for their mother, [[spoiler: fixing her hair after a horrible hair day]]. The computer even gets a LiteralGenie moment but it is MadeOfExplodium, all things it anticipated.
** Then there are the even less likely moments where Perry's two dual lives meet, such as when Dr. Doofenshmirtz takes his girlfriend to the restaurant Phineas and Ferb built in their backyard, or when Candace delivered girl scout cookies to Doof's apartment, ''while Perry was still there.'' Jeremy once went to Doof's home to teach him how to play the guitar. Doof once dated Linda. He once went to a garage sale at the Flynn-Fletcher household. (It's not known if he knows Linda lives there.) It goes to the point where every character has interacted with the doctor at some point, bar Phineas and Ferb themselves, and they have gotten close at points.
** {{Averted|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerbTheMovieAcrossThe2ndDimension'', where the boys ''land'' in Doof's building, destroy the machine (an "Other-Dimension-Inator"), and then cheerfully help him fix it. And then Perry busts in, freezes when he sees them, and attempts to stop the doctor in 'mindless pet mode'. [[spoiler: He fails. They travel to another dimension, and then gets outed as a secret agent,]] but then LaserGuidedAmnesia (literally, they get zapped with a laser that erases memories) allows the characters to press the ResetButton and forget all about it.
** The same ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerbTheMovieAcrossThe2ndDimension'' has both Perry ''and Candace'' invoke the coincidence to save the day. [[spoiler: Perry knows the boys can build incredible things, and has been saving all of their disappeared inventions for use by the boys, along with their friends and allies, to defeat Alternate-Doof's invasion. When it's still not going well, Candace forces their mom out to see what's happening, reasoning the "Mysterious Force" preventing her from busting her brothers, now that they are involved due to their saved inventions, will clean up ''the entire city''. She was right.]]
** In "A Real Boy", Candace finally gets Mom to see Phineas and Ferb in the middle of their big project for the day. As luck would have it, Doofenshmirtz accidentally hits himself with his "Forget-about-it-inator" (it makes you [[LaserGuidedAmnesia forget about whatever you're thinking about at that moment]]), then pulls a "WhatDoesThisButtonDo?" and erases Linda witnessing the project...several times in a row, no less.
** In the episode "Don't Even Blink", the characters decide to watch the boys' latest invention to see where it goes. On the day where Doofenshmirtz has built an ''invisibility'' ray. Every time Linda comes to look it goes invisible, and it turns visible again when she leaves... and when Candace realises you can still feel it, her attempt to cover it in paint is thwarted by Doof deciding to screw the whole thing, and convert the machine to a disintegrator ray.
** Many of the patches that the Fireside Girls earn are conveniently linked to Phineas and Ferb's project of the day, but this is justified. They have MeritBadgesForEverything, and the local troop leader has such a crush on Phineas that she's earned the "help your neighbor" patch alone ''dozens'' of times just to spend more time with him.
** This unfortunately doesn't apply when it comes to Candace's own projects. In situations where the boys are protected by random chance, [[CantGetAwayWithNuthin Candace is not and will be caught every time]].
** In "Rollercoaster: The Musical!", Phineas and Ferb make a new rollercoaster just like the original from the series' first episode and Doofenshmirtz tries to revert Earth's rotation the same way he tried back then.
** In the [[Recap/MiloMurphysLawS2E1ThePhineasAndFerbEffect crossover episode]] with ''WesternAnimation/MiloMurphysLaw'', it's revealed that they have a [[BornLucky power that is basically the opposite of Murphy's Law]].

** In "[[Recap/ArthurS4E1DWsLibraryCardArthursBigHit Arthur's Big Hit]]", Arthur hits a RageBreakingPoint and hits D.W. after she breaks his model airplane and shows no remorse for it. Later, Binky is being [[PeerPressuredBully peer-pressured]] by his {{Jerkass}} friends into punching the next kid he sees to prove how tough he is... which ends up being Arthur. The episode treats this as LaserGuidedKarma despite the fact that Binky had meant (reluctantly, but still...) to engage in the exact sort of behavior which the episode's anti-violence Aesop was meant to discourage.