History Main / IndyPloy

** In his fight with [[spoiler:Shukuro Tsukishima]], Byakuya of all people is forced to do this due to his opponent's power to [[spoiler:[[BackstoryInvader "insert" himself into someone's past]], which he uses to become the person who trained Byakuya how to fight, meaning that he knows all of Byakuya's abilities and tactics and can counter them easily because he's now the one who originally taught them to him]]. Byakuya realizes that the only way to win is to improvise something unexpected. [[spoiler:In particular, Byakuya cannot bring the "petals" of Senbonzakura too close to his own body or he'll cut himself with his own blades. Since Tsukishima knows this, he fights Byakuya at very close quarters. So [[DeliberateInjuryGambit Byakuya sends some of the blade through his own hand to impale Tsukishima]].]] Later, he admits that he enjoyed doing so.

** In his fight with [[spoiler:Shukuro Tsukishima]], Byakuya of all people is forced to do this due to his opponent's power to [[spoiler:[[BackstoryInvader "insert" himself into someone's past]], which he uses to become the person who trained Byakuya how to fight, meaning that he knows all of Byakuya's abilities and tactics and can counter them easily because he's now the one who originally taught them to him]]. Byakuya realizes that the only way to win is to improvise something unexpected. Later, he admits that he enjoyed doing so.

* Joseph Joestar, the [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency second titular hero]] of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', is very good at coming up with plans on the fly, both as a young Hamon user and as an [[OlderAndWiser Older and kinda-sorta Wiser]] mentor to his grandson Jotaro. For example, his plan to defeat Santana relies on the fact that the sun was shining directly above a well, and during his first encounter with Wamuu, he uses a minecart (and attempts to use a stick of dynamite) to distract the Pillar Man and keep his friends safe, all while analyzing his [[ProudWarriorRace personality]] to figure out a way to talk him into letting him go. By the time of the finale, [[spoiler:Kars is actually convinced that Joseph was able to formulate a plan that involves his hand getting cut off then launched into the stratosphere by a volcanic eruption]]. Fittingly, his characterization in ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]'' draws heavily from the TropeNamer, right down to the hat.

*** Two particularly interesting tactics of his; first, to allow himself to go into a daze and let instinct keep him from getting hit (didn't work because he couldn't attack without breaking the trance) and throwing his fists against the wall (they're made of rubber) to let them ricochet unpredictably.

** Trafalgar Law eventually catches on to Luffy's LeeroyJenkins tendencies and incorporates them into the plan to attack Onigashima by letting him and [[TheRival Eustass Kid]] charge into the place first, leaving the Beast Pirates too distracted to notice the rest of the alliance sneaking into the island.

* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' it is generally agreed that sooner or later any adventure will involve some degree of this. A good GameMaster knows how to both throw in some SpannerInTheWorks so the best laid plans of wizards and rogues will go slightly awry, but also let the players' improvised solutions work enough that it's fun for everybody.

** Yuamu from ''Anime/YuGiOhGoRush'' whenever she mixed random booster packs into her deck to throw a data collector and managed to win with it just fine.

** Probably his ballsiest (if not outright insane) ploy was in the climax of ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom''. Indy is in the middle of a rope bridge, surrounded on both sides by Thugees. Mola Ram forces Willie and Short Round to go out onto the bridge with him. Indy quickly wraps his leg around a rope railing and yells something in Chinese to Shorty, who quickly wraps his arm likewise and tells Willie:

** At one point in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'' it doesn't work, where Indy tries to jump onto a truck and misses.
--->'''Indy:''' Damn, I thought that was closer.
*** Mac, who knows Indy, immediately assumes playing chicken with vehicles is a really bad idea, because Indy's going to pull something unexpected -- in this case, it turns out, pulling himself up and out of the car at the last moment and letting the crash happen.
** {{Lampshaded}} later in the film:
--->'''Mutt Williams''': What's he gonna do now?\\

** And then he pokes his head between them with a ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RPG-7 RPG-7!!!]]''
--->'''Indy:''' Scooch over, will you, son?\\

** Hereditary. Witness Indy's dad in ''Last Crusade''. "I suddenly remembered my Charlemagne."

-->'''Indy[to a passenger on the train]:''' Subway's faster.

* In ''Literature/TheDreamsideRoad'', Orson often plans, but expects to use an IndyPloy as [[TimeForPlanB Plan B]]. His wide arsenal of weapons, and his decade of survival have made him a speedy and successful improviser.

** In fact, it's a mark of his CharacterDevelopment that he slowly shifts from the IndyPloy to XanatosSpeedChess and starts preparing things ahead of time. The examples mostly take place over the first few books, while notable examples of his planning ahead include ''Literature/DeathMasks,'' ''Literature/SmallFavor,'' ''Literature/TurnCoat,'' and ''Literature/SkinGame.'' As he lampshades, [[SquishyWizard wizards in general are much physically weaker than many of their enemies,]] and so the supernatural baddies will generally try to ambush him to get him out of the way. But once he has time to plan...

** A larger example, as revealed in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianTwilight'', is [[spoiler:Kane's ultimate goal of the series. It turned out that all he was trying to do was find some way to get off of Earth, and that every Tiberium War he started was more or less an IndyPloy.]] [[FanDislikedExplanation Fans did not take this well at all.]]

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': Most of Commander Shepard's adventures, due to the fact that s/he has no access to trustworthy intelligence on what is happening and is constantly thrown into situations with no idea what is going on or what s/he is going to do about it. The final mission of ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' is inherently unplannable, as nobody has ever seen what is on the other side of the Omega-4 Relay and returned to tell the tale. Notably, Shepard is ''trained'' to do this, as a graduate of an elite special operations program that is designed to prepare the trainees to be able to adapt to any situation.

** Unfortunately for everyone, Aria may be a hell of a badass, but she's a ''terrible'' strategist, meaning that the entirety of the Omega DLC for the third game is an IndyPloy on the part of her and Shepard, after everything falls to pieces.

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Similar to the concept of "No battle plan survives contact with the enemy", many a GameMaster[=/=]DungeonMaster[=/=][[Franchise/TheWorldOfDarkness Storyteller]][=/=][[TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu Keeper of Arcane Lore]] have found that plans and worldbuilding details very often don't survive contact with the players either. Well-prepared plotlines and locations go unused because players decided to go elsewhere, planned {{Big Bad}}s become allies (or get seduced), etc. A lot of running a game goes into concurrent Indy Ploys, also known as "making things up on the spot" and SureLetsGoWithThat.
* ''TabletopGame/BladesInTheDark'' plays this straight for the players, but not their characters. When you start a Score, everyone at the table only knows the general nature of your plan and a crucial detail for starting it (i.e. infiltration plan and the point of entry), while an Engagement roll determines how difficult the first obstacle will be when you start playing. Very little prep is done outside of this. However, your characters have access to both [[LimitedLoadout an inventory that is only defined when you need it to be]] and Flashbacks that let the player say "[[CrazyPrepared My character was prepared for that]]" whenever you meet a complication that you as a player weren't prepared for.
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' features this in the FinalBattle of the "Divine Contention" questline. The player party has to defend the small town of Leilon from multiple threats at once: [[spoiler:on one side, there's Ularan Mortus and his ghoulish army who serve the god of death Myrkul, along with the ChaoticEvil black dragon Chardansearavitriol. On the other side, there's Fheralai Stormsworn and the cult of the storm god Talos, along with the LawfulEvil green dragon Claugiyliamatar. The party has to deal with both of these forces attacking the city at the same time]]. Depending on what the players do, the situation adapts in multiple different ways, as seen on [[https://5e.tools/img/adventure/DC/012-ozw9h-flowchart-export.png this handy flowchart]]. The DM is even advised in the quest's notes to give the players a boost if they show cleverness with their Indy Ploys by tilting the odds in their favor.
* Adorjan's Excellency in ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' specifically can't enhance anything that's planned out in advance, meaning that anyone using said Excellency has to use these on a regular basis.
* A common feature of every tabletop wargame, be it ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'', ''TabletopGame/IronKingdoms'' or anything else. Sometimes you just lose a lynchpin of your strategy on turn one or two -- your mech takes an unlucky hit and is crippled, your wizard decides to explore a new career as [[ForcedTransformation a frog]] or [[MagicMisfire a smoking crater]] containing SmolderingShoes, your reserves are delayed, your tanks are stuck in an unfortunate terrain feature -- and you have to wing it from there.
* Common strategy in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', most notably from the Orks and the Space Wolves. The Space Wolves, at least, are quite bright under their [[ObfuscatingStupidity mostly feigned]] barbarian attitudes, meaning that they ''can'' have plans, they're just also really good at ad-libbing when it all goes to hell. The Orks, on the other hand:
-->"Here's da plan: win. If we lose, it's 'cause ya didn't follow da plan."
** A Boss with any chance of significant success has to be Kunnin' enough to put decent strategies together, but beyond those broad strokes, he and all his nobz and boyz will be implementing Indy Ployz that consist mainly of krumpin' everything in sight.
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** Yuamu from ''Anime/YuGiOhGoRush'' takes this UpToEleven where she ever mixed random booster packs into her deck to throw a data collecter and managed to win with it just fine.

* Dr. Kondraki of the ''Website/SCPFoundation'' loves this. Some of the steps of his [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/duke-till-dawn plan to terminate SCP-083]] were "Wing It," "Make Something Up," "Cross That Bridge When I Come To It," and "Put My Head Between My Knees And Kiss My Ass Goodbye".