History Main / CrazyEnoughToWork

-->-- ''Website/TheOnion'', [[http://www.theonion.com/articles/fraternity-in-danger-of-losing-house-launches-hare,2604/ Fraternity In Danger Of Losing House Launches Harebrained Scheme To Fix Economy]]

* All over the place in ''Anime/CodeGeass''. Zero's plans often seem so impossible or amazing (and are always assisted with use of his geass) that he earns the name "Miracle Worker" for pulling off so many insane stunts. In fact, early on Zero has a hard time recruiting people since his plans sound so insane, most people aren't willing to risk their lives on what looks like suicide missions.

* In ''VideoGame/Crysis3'', Psycho says that going straight through the front door into the Liberty Dome will work because it's so crazy that CELL [[DidntSeeThatComing will never see it coming.]]
* ''VisualNovel/DaughterForDessert'':
** The protagonist breaks into Mortelli's office to find out what his friend isn't telling him.
** Also, [[spoiler:Lainie had a scheme, with the protagonist as an accomplice, to get startup capital for the diner from her family, even though her lawyer had previously denied her request]].

* ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework'':
** The protagonist evacuates his summer school class to safety from an avalanche on skis. [[spoiler:Bonus points for taking place only a few months after another avalanche on the same mountain claimed the lives of all but the best skiers (himself and Tamara), giving both of them PTSD,]] and the presence of three rookie skiers in the group, one of whom goes down the mountain without a partner guiding her.
** Double subverted with the break-in of Dennis's apartment to find his storage device. The protagonist, Henry, and all the girls masterfully plan the caper, only to find no sign of said device. Then, Dennis suddenly comes home in a huff, carelessly throwing aside a portable hard drive. The protagonist, realizing that this must be the device they were looking for, takes it before they all sneak out.

* In ''[[VideoGame/HatofulBoyfriend Hatoful Boyfriend Holiday Star]]'', the villainous Tohri Nishikikouji is using Anghel's power of bringing people into a shared mass hallucination to power a laser to destroy St Pidgeonation's. This could qualify on its own. [[spoiler:The heroes ''then'' realise that it might be possible to use those same powers to repel the laser. They do so by having Anghel bring them into a hallucination where they are "Pretty Coore" magical girls, able to use the power of love and friendship to save the school.]] ''It works.''

* In the fourth case of ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney]]'', Prosecutor von Karma jokingly suggests that Phoenix cross-examine a suspect's pet parrot because he has no other options besides throwing the case. [[spoiler: [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Guess what causes von Karma to lose the case.]]]]

* In ''VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}} Mask of Arcadius'', Kayto Shields holds this opinion of the plan Ava proposes to take down the Pact flagship Legion. Since their target is too heavily armored and shielded to take down conventionally, the plan entails firing a point-blank shot from the Sunrider's [[WaveMotionGun Vanguard Cannon]] straight down the barrel of the Legion's own WaveMotionGun. This will start up a chain reaction within the Legion's power generator and destroy the ship from the inside out. The plan's success depends on whether or not Kayto [[spoiler:lets Ava go down to a compromised section of the ship in order to fire the Vanguard Cannon manually after a direct hit from the Legion's laser batteries knocks out the bridge firing controls]].
-->'''Kayto:''' So in other words, the only way to kill that thing is to fly right in front of its primary weapon and shove a Vanguard down its maw, huh. Absolutely insane. I approve of this plan.

* Subverted in a ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' comic where two scientists are [[OutrunningTheFireball running away from an explosion]], one scientist remarking "I guess it wasn't crazy enough to work after all."

* ''Series/BreakingBad'': Mike and Jesse are on stakeout in front of a crack den after a tipoff that the people inside are selling their blue meth, despite them not working for Gus. Mike's plan is just to wait in the car until eventually a dealer walks out the door, but Jesse's not patient enough for that. After a failed attempt at forced entry, he decides on a more unconventional strategy to get into the house based on his firsthand knowledge that methheads tend to be irrational. He gets a shovel and starts digging a hole in the front yard; the house's guard gets curious and comes out to watch Jesse dig. Jesse then asks if he can take over for him, which he does without question, then asks if he can use the house's washroom and just walks in. Even [[TheStoic Mike]] is impressed.

* ''Series/ExtraordinaryAttorneyWoo'': [[BunnyEarsLawyer Attorney Woo]] comes up with a plan to engage a man with a severe form of autism by performing "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7va8qSF7QP8 This is Pengsoo]]" as the man is hyperfocused on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pengsoo Pengsoo]]. [[spoiler: It doesn't quite work at the beginning, but she does get him to sing a little]].

--->'''Michael''': You know the plans people say are "just crazy enough to work"? Well, I don't believe in doing those plans when you can go with a "sure thing" instead. That's why I'm having him wheel me into the meeting inside of this cheese cart.

* When the ''ComicBook/{{Justice League|of America}}'' uses a [[ComicBook/TheCreeper crazy superhero]] to predict the actions of completely crazy bad guys, at least you have the "crazy" part covered.
* {{Deconstructed|Trope}}, {{discussed|Trope}}, and ultimately played straight in ''ComicBook/{{Hitman|1993}}''. Tommy suggests that they "do something completely and totally crazy" to escape the SAS at the end of #24. [[GilliganCut The cover of #25 is Tommy hung upside down and bleeding and Nat unconscious on the floor with the SAS soldiers behind them holding automatic weapons.]]

* In the finale of ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'', Spidey attempts to reconcile with Miguel during the finale, telling him the honest to goodness truth, that "It was [[Characters/MarvelComicsOttoOctavius Doc Ock]] [[BodySurf hijacking my body]]" along with everything else. Miguel points out that it's so stupid that it has to be true and all is forgiven.

* ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse examples:
** According to his nephews, Donald Duck's sane ideas never work, but the crazy ones do. He demonstrates again and again that his crazy ideas do indeed work. For example, the above statement was a comment on Donald taking an angry mouse and bug spray to go after an armored man armed with swords, muskets, and a cannon... And it ended with his foe completely unarmed and unarmored while Donald is training his own cannon on him.
*** In "Donald and Reginella's Wedding" his goal was to save Reginella from [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe a forced wedding]], and to do so he had to face an entire army with medieval weapons, when all he had was a double-barreled shotgun with plenty of rock salt shells and a boombox... Playing a song so horrible it was painful. By the time he was finished, the entire enemy army was willing to melt their weapons into agricoltural implements and turn into farmers for fear he'd cripple them all, because [[CruelMercy he wasn't going to kill them]].
** In some Italian stories, Scrooge reached the conclusion that if money moves people and goods in the desire to obtain it, then fuels and propellants obtained from it would be incredibly powerful, and started making Dollarite from his own money to power spaceships. Dollarite is just as powerful as Scrooge thought, much to his nephews' confusion... And that was before he came up with the ''[[ExaggeratedTrope Super]]'' Dollarite.
* The plan of the villain in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' is simple enough ([[spoiler:unite the world against a common enemy, so humanity won't kill itself]]) but his method is... odd, to say the least. It involves a [[spoiler:genetically engineered giant squid with the cloned brain of a human savant, capable of transmitting nightmarish images directly to any brain within a large radius. The idea is that when teleported to New York, this thing dies instantly, but explodes with enough force to kill millions, causing the world to unite against the threat of an alien invasion]]. It works, although not necessarily perfectly. Averted in the film adaptation, as while the plan is still the same, it's done in a much more realistic way, [[spoiler:by destroying several cities with nuke-level explosions that mimic Dr. Manhattan's energy signature, framing him instead of an alien race]].
* This, alongside never-ending wisecracks and his entire existence being pain, is one-third of Characters/{{Deadpool|WadeWilson}}'s entire thing. Some of the plans and tactics he comes up with are sheer lunacy, but he ''makes'' them work. During the ''ComicBook/DarkAvengers'' era, [[Characters/DaredevilCentralRoguesGallery Bullseye]] ([[CostumeCopycat dressed as Hawkeye]]) fires a rocket launcher at Deadpool, who is in a moving vehicle, so what does Deadpool do? He pulls the brakes, turns the car sideways and rolls down the windows, which allows the missile to ''fly through the windows past the driver's seat'' and harmlessly explode against a hillside. Bullseye [[ActuallyPrettyFunny even laughs at this]] and says no one else could have pulled that off.

** Episode V: ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''. Han and the ''[[WhatAPieceOfJunk Millennium Falcon]]'' are having a tough time outrunning the huge Star Destroyers chasing them, so...
--->'''Leia''' You're not actually going INTO [[AsteroidThicket an asteroid field]]?!
--->'''Han:''' They'd be crazy to follow us, wouldn't they?
** And then he pulls another crazy stunt by going into a strafing run against another Star Destroyer. This confuses and distracts everyone long enough for Han to hide the ''Falcon'' on the back of the Star Destroyer's hull. When the Imperial fleet prepares to jump to hyperspace, thinking the ''Falcon'' had somehow already escaped, it dumps its garbage as per standard procedure and the ''Falcon'' with powered-down engines floats away in the middle of the trash field. Too bad [[BountyHunter Boba Fett]] stuck around long enough to see them when they powered up their engines again.
** Lando had one in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' when he commanded the Rebel fleet to attack the Imperial Star Destroyers at point-blank range, guessing that A. The Death Star wouldn't fire on them for fear of taking out the Imperial ships in the process, B. The Empire would actually think the Rebels knew what they were doing more than they let on (this was elaborated on further in the novelization), and C. Even if it didn't work they could at least [[TakingYouWithMe take some of the Imperial fleet down with them]].

* When the EpicHail signaling the war's end fails to stop two armies from charging at each other and re-igniting the war, [[Anime/SoundOfTheSky Kanata Sorami]] tries ThePowerOfRock. [[spoiler: It works long enough for TheCavalry to show up.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'':

** ''Literature/UnfinishedTalesOfNumenorAndMiddleEarth'' elaborates on Gandalf's role in arranging the journey of ''Literature/TheHobbit'' in "The Quest of Erebor". He talks Thorin out of a military expedition against the dragon and proposes a mission of stealth and burglary instead. When the dwarves grouse about the unlikiness of success, Gandalf admits it, but says that he's done them a huge favor by changing their task from ''impossibly'' difficult to ''absurdly'' difficult.

** As the main character points out, these types of operations run on this type of trope. Getting people out of countries is not something to ever be taken lightly as the stakes are so high that you have to be above reproach in your operation. The fact that he tore apart the problems with the initial plans (give the Americans fake teacher covers[[note]]all the schools are closed[[/note]], give the Americans fake humanitarian covers[[note]]it's obvious the fake campaign will be bungled and it's winter, arriving off-season to supply "farming equipment" will be a huge red flag[[/note]] give the Americans fake reporter covers[[note]]too much risk for DisproportionateRetribution if the refugees are caught, "same time tomorrow [[en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Jennings Peter Jennings]] will be dangling from a noose"[[/note]] and bike through a very mountainous country during winter for 300 miles[[note]]at least half of the people being asked to do that don't know how to bike and it's a logistical nightmare all around[[/note]]) results in the following conversation:

** As the main character points out, these types of operations run on this type of trope. Getting people out of countries is not something to ever be taken lightly as the stakes are so high that you have to be above reproach in your operation. The fact that he tore apart the problems with the initial plans (give the Americans fake teacher covers, give the Americans fake humanitarian covers, give the Americans fake reporter covers, biking through a very mountainous country during winter for 300 miles) results in the following conversation:

** As the main character points out, these types of operations run on this type of trope. Getting people out of countries is not something to ever be taken lightly as the stakes are so high that you have to be above reproach in your operation. The fact that he tore apart the problem with the initial plan (biking through a very mountainous country during winter for 300 miles) results in the following conversation:

** Peter says this before putting his hand in a waffle iron. Needless to say, that didn't solve the problem at hand. However, his second idea does. But it caused a [[{{pun}} problem at hand]].

** Peter says this before putting his hand in a waffle iron. Needless to say, that didn't solve the problem at hand. However, his second idea does. But it caused a [[JustForPun problem at hand]].

* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017:'' During an invasion from the Moonlanders, Glomgold's plan to stop them (involving sharks in parkas, Launchpad disguised as a boulder being launched by a giant slingshot, and Scrooge dressing as Santa Claus) actually goes off without a hitch and almost flat-out succeeds (in part because Lunaris thinks it's too stupid to be anything but a decoy).

* Subverted in ''Literature/TheDisasterArtist''. Just before filming on ''Film/TheRoom'' begins, Creator/TommyWiseau makes it clear that he'd much rather see his best friend and line producer Creator/GregSestero in the role of Mark, rather than Don, the actor who was cast. His plan is to avoid making waves by simply never telling Don he's been replaced, not rolling film when Don is performing and then reshooting every scene with Greg in his place, claiming it's a demo reel for the producers to look at. Greg calls the plan "just crazy enough not to work at all", and indeed, Don realizes what's going on by the end of the first day on set.

*** {{Subverted}} '''spectacularly''' with Apex Cybernetics. Walter Simmons firmly believes that fortune favors the bold and that man's reach should always exceed his grasp, [[spoiler:so much so that he (A) actually thought achieving his dreams of toppling Godzilla was worth hooking [[DraconicAbomination Ghidorah]]'s '''still-partly-alive''' skull up to a 460-foot Titan-class HumongousMecha '''as the machine's brain''', despite [[OmnicidalManiac how malevolent and uncontrollable Ghidorah proved to be to the whole world in the previous movie]]; and (B) Simmons practically [[InvokedTrope invokes]] the UnfinishedUntestedUsedAnyway trope on Mechagodzilla whilst foregoing Ren Serizawa's more pragmatic suggestions. These two acts of brash arrogance, instead of ensuring that Apex beat both Godzilla and Kong and come out with everything they wanted; accomplish nothing except for a Ghidorah-possessed Mechagodzilla [[KarmicDeath killing Simmons]], and doing exactly what Apex claimed their weapon would prevent, most likely reducing Apex's plans for MugglePower to tatters]].

** ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' has the attack on [[Characters/MarvelComicsThanos Thanos]] (lampshaded by [[Characters/MarvelComicsSteveRogers Captain America]], who replies to "This is gonna work" with "I know it is. 'Cause I don't know what I'm gonna do if it doesn't."), which ends up working too well because to the heroes' surprise, Thanos is completely alone and much weaker due to [[spoiler:destroying the Infinity Stones having cost the majority of his strength]]. And in a bigger level, the plan to [[spoiler:"Time Heist" the Infinity Stones from the past, which everyone goes along with because no matter how bizarre, it's their only chance to return things to normal]].