History Main / SherlockScan

* ''Escape From The Hokage's Hat'' has Ao give Mei (the Mizukage) one on Tsunade's actions and to explain why he didn't just take Tsunade and her companions by force. What makes it rather impressive is that all he knew was that Tsunade and Shizune went AWOL from Konoha, dragged two kids (Naruto and Hinata) and with him observing '''one''' fight between Naruto, Hinata and some Oto Ninja.

--> '''Ao:''' That is exactly my point, Mizukage-sama. The blonde could simultaneously become the symbol of Konoha's potential strength and scapegoat. The population remains unified during the difficult times after the attack and the ninjas are allowed to rebuild from the resulting chaos. It would not surprise me if more people started to oppress the boy after the Uchiha Massacre. No matter how soft the Sandaime Hokage was, there was no way [[TheNeedsOfTheMany he would allow one child to come before his village.]] Therefore, it only makes sense he would turn a blind eye to any abuse or trouble the boy received in order to keep his own forces unified in times of despair. Perhaps he even used this as an opportunity to [[ManipulativeBastard condition the boy, gaining the trust of something with great potential with food or minimal protection.]] Now we fast forward to the present. Konoha has been invaded and a significant portion of its ninja population is lost in the fighting. The village has also lost the majority of its most powerful Kekkei Genkai clan and ninja. Tsunade rises to power and, observing the situation, decides that an active Jinchuuriki would be very helpful to discourage any further attacks. Yet, [[ExcaliburInTheRust she discovers the boy has been weakened]], and the population is now conditioned to use him as they see fit. For both a Kage and a healer of Tsunade's skill, this would never do. As the granddaughter of the Shodaime Hokage, she would be more than familiar with the burdens and realities of a Jinchuuriki. If I was her, I would act with all possible haste to rectify the situation. So she comes up with a plan that will fix things while keeping the ninja world too busy to take advantage of Konoha."
--> '''Mei:''' " "Ao, that's brilliant! Tsunade leaves Konoha, and every major and minor village would devote key resources to her capture or recruitment. Not only is Konoha left alone, but she can rehabilitate and recondition their Jinchuuriki to become the force it should have been! Using a Hyuga, they can keep an eye out for intruders while simultaneously building new bonds for the kid in Konoha. It would not surprise me if she is being used to seduce the boy as we speak to develop his loyalty. "Nevertheless Ao, this still does not explain your actions. If the boy is indeed a Jinchuuriki, it was all the more important that he be brought under our control. At the very least, you should have assured that Konoha had their weapon taken out. In addition, leaving the physical message with my seal in Tsunade's hands just got a lot more dangerous. She could use the offer to blackmail our entire country or weaken our standing with the Daimyo's. Now explain your reasoning for such dangerous and potentially devastating choices."

--> '''Ao:''' That is exactly my point, Mizukage-sama. The blonde could simultaneously become the symbol of Konoha's potential strength and scapegoat. The population remains unified during the difficult times after the attack and the ninjas are allowed to rebuild from the resulting chaos. It would not surprise me if more people started to oppress the boy after the Uchiha Massacre. No matter how soft the Sandaime Hokage was, there was no way [[NeedsOfTheMany he would allow one child to come before his village.]] Therefore, it only makes sense he would turn a blind eye to any abuse or trouble the boy received in order to keep his own forces unified in times of despair. Perhaps he even used this as an opportunity to [[ManipulativeBastard condition the boy, gaining the trust of something with great potential with food or minimal protection.]] Now we fast forward to the present. Konoha has been invaded and a significant portion of its ninja population is lost in the fighting. The village has also lost the majority of its most powerful Kekkei Genkai clan and ninja. Tsunade rises to power and, observing the situation, decides that an active Jinchuuriki would be very helpful to discourage any further attacks. Yet, [[ExcaliburInTheRust she discovers the boy has been weakened]], and the population is now conditioned to use him as they see fit. For both a Kage and a healer of Tsunade's skill, this would never do. As the granddaughter of the Shodaime Hokage, she would be more than familiar with the burdens and realities of a Jinchuuriki. If I was her, I would act with all possible haste to rectify the situation. So she comes up with a plan that will fix things while keeping the ninja world too busy to take advantage of Konoha."

--> -- The [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]], '''Franchise/SherlockHolmes'''[[note]]Though Sherlock had earlier brought up the possibility of John having served in Iraq, through the same clues; hence him asking "Afghanistan or Iraq?" when they first meet[[/note]]

* In ''{{Exalted}}'', Solars with the charm "Evidence-Discerning Method" can do something like this. It allows a character to gather up to twenty minutes worth of evidence (and the conclusions drawn therein) to be condensed into an action that takes five or six seconds.
* In ''MageTheAwakening'', there is a group of mages called "the Eleventh Question" who are able to do this (among other things, including being able to take evidence, make a guess at what it means, and then magically confirm if they are correct). They are generally considered among the fandom to be ''awesome''.

* In Laurie King's ''[[MaryRussell The Beekeeper's Apprentice]]'', Holmes' female apprentice demonstrates her credibility to Inspector Lestrade by doing this to one of his officers. She and Holmes do it to each other when they first meet. She's at a disadvantage, though, because she's read all Dr. Watson's books--which leaves her with nothing to deduce.

--> -- The [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]], '''Franchise/SherlockHolmes'''[[note]]Though Sherlock had earlier brought up the possibility of John having served in Iraq, through the similar clues; hence him asking "Afghanistan or Iraq?" when they first meet[[/note]]

--> -- The [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]], '''Franchise/SherlockHolmes'''

* ''Sherlock'''s American counterpart ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' features this as well. It's subverted in the first episode when he explains the intricate basis for several inductions in a row, ending with one that he simply knew beforehand [[CuttingTheKnot thanks to]] Website/{{Google}}.

'''Spidey''': ''Anyone'' can make assumptions. You were probably [[{{Batman}} a rich kid whose parents were shot in a dark alley]], and you...\\

* Speaking of {{Batman}}, when a detective in one storyline hired to (and long since defeated by) the task of finding the killer of the Waynes told Batman that after enough years on the force he can just look at a guy's face and immediately know that he's guilty, Batman said he can identify.

** In the JeremyBrett series in general, one of the key ways that the producers attempted to perform a CharacterRerailment on Dr. Watson and demonstrate that he wasn't the dunce that popular belief had {{Flanderized}} him into was to give Holmes the breathtakingly sudden moments of SherlockScan insight -- however, it would then be ''Watson'' who would explain the clues to the astonished recipient, suggesting that he was intelligent enough to gradually take on board Holmes' methods but wasn't quite as insightful about them.

* [[VinlandSaga Askeladd]] can read a man, can tell if a man is brave, cunning or a coward at a single glance, after living forty years of a wicked life.

* In PoulAnderson's "Queen of Air And Darkness", the detective opens his first meeting with his client with this, though drawing on the details of what she had told him when making the appointment. Later, he explains that he actively drew on the psychological archetype of a detective with such tricks.

* This is also the core of the cold reading techniques used by some "psychics." Being able to pick up on small details in appearance, wording, and mannerisms gives them an, apparently supernatural, ability to know things about people.

Compare the ScarilyCompetentTracker, who is like a SherlockScan done on [[FluorescentFootprints footprints]], and the BatmanColdOpen. See also HyperAwareness and AwesomeByAnalysis. When this kind of reasoning [[FridgeLogic makes no sense]] but still works, it's a BatDeduction. When the above subversion of performing one of these before noting an obvious hint occurs, it's ClueEvidenceAndASmokingGun.

* [[GeniusBruiser Xander Cage]] (played by VinDiesel) in ''XXx'' pulls one of these in a cafe, effortlessly pointing out all the plainclothes agents by noticing all the things that are wrong with the situation (like a waitress in high-heeled shoes).

* Averted in ''The Wisdom of FatherBrown'' by Creator/GKChesterton. In ''The Absence of Mr Glass'', some characters involve a brilliant criminologist in a domestic case, where he concludes with a sinister and dramatical interpretation of some facts. [[spoiler: Dramatic and totally false. The apparent killer is only a magician, so that the cards, the knives, the swords and the mysteriously large top hat have a very simple explanation]]. At the end of the tale, everyone (also the criminologist) is laughing.
* In Creator/AgathaChristie's Literature/TommyAndTuppence short story collection ''Partners In Crime'', which pastiches various detective stories and their tropes, Tommy Beresford makes a couple of attempts at this. In "The Affair of the Pink Pearl" he says to the client "You must find travelling by bus very tiring at this time of day", only to be told she came by taxi, and picked up a discarded bus ticket for a neighbour who collects them. In "The Case of the Missing Lady" he is able to "deduce" that the client has spent some time in the Arctic or Antarctic, by virtue of his distinctive tan. In fact, he was listening in when the man gave his name in the outer office, and recognised him as a famous polar explorer. (He also deduces that the man arrived in a taxi, adding to Tuppence afterwards "after all, it's the only reliable way of getting to this place.")

* TropeNamer: SherlockHolmes does this. All. The fricking. Time. This trope became the abused rattle to Doyle's sugar high kindergartener. According to Holmes himself in ''The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier'', it's his personal marketing schtick which is great for impressing potential clients as to his skills. Arthur Conan Doyle himself subverted this in a short story (''How Watson Learned the Trick'') where Watson attempts one of these, and all the details he used had a completely different explanation. Doyle picks it apart a little in Holmes' own words as well. While his powers of observation and deduction seemed superhuman to onlookers -- especially the ever-astonished Watson -- he explains more than once that he can't deduce squat if there's no evidence, and that often there's a good deal of evidence that's simply too vague for him to deduce anything... not until he learns more, anyway. A glance at someone may glean three or four obscure facts, but he still remains ignorant of everything else without proper investigation.

* Voltaire's ''Zadig'' has the main character doing this, making this trope OlderThanRadio. And also its subversion, since the sultan thinks Zadig is pulling his royal leg, that probably he robbed his horse and puts him in jail.

* In Literature/{{Worm}}, the character of Tattletale, whose superpower is basically enhanced intuition, is ''very'' good at using this along with the HannibalLecture to blackmail her enemies by revealing all their secrets and weaknesses. Another character, Cherish, who can sense and manipulate [[EmotionControl emotions]] tries to do this, but Tattletale beats her at her own game.

* DerrenBrown is capable of doing these- as seen in this segment where he uses it to guess the professions of people he meets in the street- http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=Ikk2DlEKQCw&feature=endscreen

* [[AloofBigBrother Mycroft Holmes]] can also do this, and as one might expect, he is better at it, correcting or expanding some of Sherlock's points. For example where Sherlock said a man had a child based on the fact he has clearly just bought toys Mycroft says ''children'' as no child is of the correct age to be given both a rattle and a picture book.
** This was given a ShoutOut in ArchieComics, of all things, when Jughead determines that a nearby man has two children--using the same rattle and picture book trick--and that the man is in the military, based on his polished shoes and haircut. Reggie points out that he could be buying the books for someone else's kids, or likes coloring himself. And he could just be a shoe-polish freak. Cut to the man talking about his military service and two kids. Jughead pulls this several times throughout the segment. Then it's subverted at the end, after Reggie makes [[BigEater the mistake]] of betting Juggie lunch that he can't tell the professions of the next three people who enter. The three people are a clown, painter (with overalls and ladder), and a cop.