History Main / GutFeeling

* In StarTrekDepartmentOfTemporalInvestigations, Agent Dulmur has one of these regarding a connection between a temporal anomaly from the previous year and the vortex phenomenon he's currently investigating. His senior partner Lucsly advises against "gut feelings", saying that everything their Department deals with is counter-intuitive anyway. Nonetheless, Lucsly doesn't entirely dismiss Dulmur's insight, but insists on waiting until he has supporting evidence.

* In ''Homestuck'', Dave has "a really bad feeling about all this" before flying off to confront Aranea on LOFAF, and even tells the Mayor goodbye in case "i never see you again". Shortly later he and most of his friends are killed in [S] Game Over. This might have been his Time powers sensing they were all in a doomed timeline, though.

'''[[color:blue:Examples: (Category 1)]]'''

** She also veers into Category 2 and maybe 3, as there's constantly things she simply couldn't know - but does. This may or may not be related to her Slayer abilities, as Faith all but literally reads minds.

'''[[color:purple:(Category 2)]]'''

'''[[color:maroon:(Category 3)]]'''

* Finally, the concept is discussed in StarTrekCastNoShadow, in which Elias Vaughn is frustrated when his superior dismisses gut feelings.

* Subverted in ''TheUsualSuspects''. Although it could be considered playing to the trope as the crooks are the main characters, the main detective's obsession with one of those crooks leads him to completely miss the true DiabolicalMastermind (who is responsible for killing off the rest of his FiveManBand of crooks), until it's too late.
* In ''RiseOfTheGuardians'', when Pitch is about to make his move against the Guardians, [[BadassSanta Nicholas St. North]] warns his fellow Guardians, "He's up to something. I can feel it, in my belly!"

Often the main character isn't aware of this, it's just that the villain conveniently turns out to be someone they were uneasy about all along. Sometimes, though, characters are willing to risk a lot on that gut feeling; when this happens they're usually right. This is also common trait of the MarySue; they're perfect, so anyone who they don't like has to be the bad guy.

If major characters are separated and/or there's a question about one of them surviving or succeeding in their task, but one character says calmly, "I know he's okay, I can feel it," then you can all but guarantee that this character will in fact be okay, despite the character not having anything to base this on. Common in cheesy movies of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, and still often found in manga and anime, where such is often attributed to ThePowerOfFriendship or ThePowerOfLove.

* In StarTrekTitan, another alien character, very LiteralMinded, tests the phenomenon by putting nanites in the food to monitor his crewmates' intestines.

* The following conversation from the third ''LordOfTheRings'' movie: "How do we know Frodo is still alive?" "What does your heart tell you?"
* ''StarWars - Return of the Jedi'': Leia is completely calm at seeing the explosion of the Death Star, despite knowing that Luke was on it. When Han tries to reassure her that Luke made it off the Death Star, she nonchalantly says "I know he did, I can feel it". (May be a case of MySignificanceSenseIsTingling, despite the fact that Leia doesn't have any Force training.) And of course, whenever someone has a bad feeling about this, they're right.
** The ExpandedUniverse has more than once called it "[[TwinTelepathy that semimystical twin thing]]".
* ''{{Firefly}}'' movie ''Film/{{Serenity}}''. When Zoe, the second-in-command is asked if she thinks their captain succeeded in carrying out the goal of their near suicide mission, Zoe confidently replies that she knows he did. The next scene begins with the captain, not only not having done so but getting knocked flat on his face by the NecessarilyEvil WorthyOpponent who is preventing him from doing so. However he eventually wins the fight and proves Zoe right.

* Averted In ''[[StarWars Return of the Jedi]]'', Han Solo says, "I've just got a feeling I might not see her again," as the Millennium Falcon flies off to do battle with the Death Star. He does.

** Twisted a little in ''ThePhantomMenace'' and ''AttackOfTheClones''; when Anakin leaves his mother behind on Tatooine, she tries to convince him that they will meet again. They do, a film later, but only when she's dying.

* StephenColbert pokes fun at politicians who rely on their gut over facts (see quotes page).

* [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in ''Film/ReturnOf the Jedi'', with Luke and Vader, since they can both sense things through the Force.

** Also in The Lord of the Rings: Gandalf is such an incredible judge of character that he actually knows that the ending [[spoiler:will be Gollum's doing]], "for good or ill." (And he has to know, deep down that it's [[spoiler:for good,]] or he would advise Frodo differently.

* ''Literature/BelgarathTheSorcerer'', prequel to the Belgariad: everyone who interacts with Zedar feels vaguely uneasy, making his FaceHeelTurn little surprise to the reader (If there was any surprise left, since it's a prequel).

* [[TheSwordOfTruth Kahlan]] decided that the men who objected to her taking command of their forces, who had previously been fighting a hopeless battle against the Imperial Order, intended to side with them and ordered all but one of them killed. Surprise, the survivor admitted they did intend to go up to the enemy army and try to join up.

* In ''TheStand'', Lloyd's first reaction to hearing [[BigBad Randall Flagg]] wandering around in the prison looking for survivors is to hide under his bunk and hope that he'll go away. Since Lloyd is also dying of starvation in his cell, he quickly reveals himself and begs Flagg for help when Flagg pretends to get ready to leave.
* Herald Talia in the ''HeraldsOfValdemar'' series is TheEmpath, but the Queen's most trusted advisor makes her profoundly uneasy because she cannot sense anything from him. He turns out to be a traitor of the highest order, though tragically he isn't found out before he gets Talia's close friend (his own ''nephew'') killed.

* In the ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Ultimate Computer", Kirk has an uncomfortable feeling about the titular machine before it goes haywire, but he wonders if it's just because he's jealous. It isn't.

* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', Wrex once did a job for [[BigBad Saren]] along with a bunch of other mercenaries. However, the first time he actually saw Saren, he got a feeling that there was something ''very'' wrong with the whole situation, and fled before receiving any payment[[note]]It was a pretty hefty sum, too[[/note]]. Turns out his hunch was right; all of the other merc's turned up dead within a week after after the job was finished.

* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', Wrex once did a job for [[BigBad Saren]] along with a bunch of other mercenaries. However, the first time he actually saw Saren, he got a feeling that there was something ''very'' wrong with the whole situation, and fled before receiving any payment[[note]]It was a pretty hefty sum, too[[/note]]. Turns out his hunch was right; all of the other merc's turned up dead within a week.

* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', Wrex once did a job for [[BigBad Saren]] along with a bunch of other mercenaries. However, the first time he actually saw Saren, he got a feeling that there was something ''very'' wrong with the whole situation, and fled before receiving any payment[[note]]It was a pretty hefty sum, too[[/note]]. Turns out his hunch was right; the other mercenaries met untimely ends within a week of finishing the job.

Compare EvilDetectingDog. Opposite the HorribleJudgeOfCharacter.

* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', Wrex once did a job for [[BigBad Saren]] along with a bunch of other mercenaries. When he met Saren face to face, he immediately felt there was something wrong with him, and fled before receiving any payment. This turned out to be the right decision; the other mercenaries all met untimely ends.

* Perhaps slightly better [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in ''[[StarWars Return of the Jedi]]'', with Luke and Vader.

* [[Characters/SuperRobotWarsCompact2 Kyosuke Nanbu]] in ''SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'' has good instincts and his "hunches" tend to be spot on. In the first game, he suspected that [[spoiler:[[Characters/SuperRobotWarsAlpha Ingram Prisken]]]] was a traitor; turns out he was right. Not only that, he correctly guessed the traitor [[HiddenAgendaVillain had an agenda seperate]] from the [[HumanAliens Aerogaters]]. For the sequel, he suspected [[Characters/SuperRobotWarsAdvance Lamia Loveless]] was TheMole within minutes of meeting her, and correctly guessed she was working for a third-party.

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect'', Wrex once did a job for [[BigBad Saren]] along with a bunch of other mercenaries. When he met Saren face to face, he immediately felt there was something wrong with him, and fled before receiving any payment. This turned out to be the right decision; the other mercenaries all met untimely ends.

-->-- '''Garrus Vakarian''', ''MassEffect''

* Joe Cabot in ''ReservoirDogs'' correctly picks out TheMole in the gang of crooks he recruited, based on his gut. When Mr. White objects Joe just says, "You don't need proof when you've got instinct!"

* ''HarryPotter''. thanks to Harry's mental connection to Voldy, he literally ''can'' read the villain's mind. So this is played straight all through ''Deathly Hallows''. He can roughly chart what Voldemort is doing by his gut feelings. However, in ''Order of the Phoenix'', [[spoiler:his firm belief that the Death Eaters captured Sirius turns out to have been planted by Voldemort himself, resulting in Sirius getting KilledOffForReal]]. [[HesJustHiding Unless you ask the fangirls]].

* ''TheLordOfTheRings'': Frodo chooses to trust Aragorn at their first meeting based largely on a gut feeling.
** Well, that and his logic that if Aragorn was an agent of the Enemy, he would make more effort ''not'' to look so dark and threatening. "An enemy would look fairer and feel fouler".

* ''BelgarathTheSorcerer'', prequel to the Belgariad: everyone who interacts with Zedar feels vaguely uneasy, making his FaceHeelTurn little surprise to the reader (If there was any surprise left, since it's a prequel).
* Subverted in ''HarryPotter'': [[spoiler:Harry distrusts Snape from the moment he meets him]], and his opinion never changes. At the end of ''Half-Blood Prince'', he is apparently proved right, but then finds out in Deathly Hallows that his Gut Feeling was entirely wrong.
** It should be pointed out, however, that [[spoiler:Snape hated Harry with a vengeance and had actively worked to ensure that Harry hated him just as much. Harry's gut feeling may have been wrong, but with good reason.]]
** Also, at the end of ''Deathly Hallows'' [[spoiler: Harry has named one of his sons after both Dumbledore and Snape, and tells the boy that Snape was one of the most courageous men he ever knew]]
** Harry tends to be an intuitive and perceptive person, but he's also very emotional, and his feelings cloud his judgement - which leads to him mistaking his personal dislike of characters like Malfoy and Snape for evidence that they're up to something (which they may or may not be).