History Main / ScarilyCompetentTracker

* The Cat from ''Series/RedDwarf'' can smell things ''in outer space.'' Subverted in the extended version of "Tikka To Ride" when he smells a dead body and lists off several details about him, such as being a big smoker and married. Lister pulls out the man's wallet, finding membership cards for both anti-smoking and gay pride societies.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'', the Huns are able to identify the movement of the Imperial army simply by [[GpsEvidence analyzing a lost doll]] (although it's a joint effort of four or five commanders and makes a reasonable amount of sense given the setting).

* In the CyberPunk movie ''Film/CircuitryMan'', there are these two cops who keep showing up in pursuit of the main characters, all the way across the U.S. They're clearly rather incompetent -- both the heroes and the villains are constantly getting away from them -- but ''they keep showing up''.

* Ezio Auditore is the most prominent one in the ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' series. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] by his genetic [[AuraVision Eagle Vision/Sense]] ability.
** By the time of ''[[VideoGAme/AssassinsCreedRevelations Revelations]]'', he can actually ''follow a ghost image of his target'' with his Eagle Vision, seeing the image as clearly as if the person is still walking the path in front of him. You know how, in some games with Time Trials, you have the option to follow a "ghost"? Exactly like that. Oh, and if you're a guard who is on patrol with a set path, he can also see the paths you are ''going'' to be walking, and where you tend to stop. And where your path intersects with other guards.\\
His Eagle Vision can also pick out concealed doorways and passages, along with being able to find the ''one person'' in a crowd who has what he needs. Fifty guards wandering around, and only one of them has a key, which is hidden in a pouch where no one could possibly spot it? Disguised as a hooded priest in a monastery full of men dressed ''exactly the same way'', from whom you are indistinguishable to the point that your own mother couldn't pick you out of a line-up? If Ezio turns on his Eagle Vision, you will be lit up like the Holy Grail. Good luck escaping this man.

* ''LetsPlay/{{Dream}}'': In any challenge where someone is hunting someone else, the Hunter(s) always have a compass that points towards their target, meaning they can always find him no matter where he goes or how he tries to hide. The exception was that they couldn't track locations within the Nether until a Minecraft update changed that. The compass plays a big role in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgdSJdeGF_0 "Minecraft Speedrunner VS 3 Hunters FINALE."]] [[spoiler:Dream builds a fake Nether Portal so that he could trick the hunters into thinking he was back at the Nether. It would've worked, but the compass gave it away since it can indirectly tell whether Dream's at the Overworld or the Nether depending on if it moves or not since this video was before the update that made compasses work in the Nether.]]

** ''Series/TheRoughRiders'', in a dryly hilarious parody of the ''Sundance'' chase scene, subverts the trope: the "posse" just happens to be going in the same direction as the outlaws.

* The reality TV show ''Series/{{Mantracker}}'' is all about this. A team of two have to reach a certain point on the map with two trackers on horses on their trail. Even with a good headstart every time, and taking paths the horses can't, the contestants usually lose.
** It doesn't help the contestants that most of them fall into DickDastardlyStopsToCheat territory who will waste precious time trying to set up decoys and fakeouts that Mantracker will glance over and discard as obvious tricks before moving on in the correct direction.

* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in the ''WesternAnimation/AceVentura'' animated series: Ace finds a footprint and gives a detailed description of the owner's age, size, health, and appearance. Turns out the guy dropped a driver's license next to the footprint.

* ''Film/AvalancheSharks'': When spring-breaker Carol goes searching for her missing cousin Ross in a wooded area she is only visiting, a snowfall has buried both his tracks and the goggles he dropped before being eaten. However, Carol finds the goggles, glimpsing an extremely small and nondistinctive part of them that isn't quite buried, and digs them up to find proof something happened to Ross. That being said, this is partially a lucky break, as Carol admits to being unsure about whether or not Ross really did venture that far into the woods right before finding the goggles.