History Main / XanatosGambit

* Weirdly enough, the titular amorph of ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' pulls off a minor one of these while investigating a mysterious human-cannonball-related death at a circus in [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20090730.html this strip.]] Schlock's plan: hired reinforcements, or sent Jud Shafter to an early death. His friend considers both a plus. [[spoiler:It was sort-of the former, but more accurately it became Schlock's ace in the hole while Schlock himself became the distraction]].

-->'''Kevyn''': I've done it myself. It hurts, but it's not actually that difficult.
-->'''Tagon''': ... Stop helping.

** One of the Piraka once saw Makuta's plan written out in its entirety. It took up the walls of an entire room, [[GoMadFromTheRevelation and the Piraka went partially insane after reading it]].

* In ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'', the TournamentArc plot by Breezie the Hedgehog was this: by using a Chaos Emerald she discovered as the prize in a tournament fight, she knew that she'd lose it to someone good or evil. Either way, she got out big draws by bringing in Sonic and his friends and foes, making her much richer and more popular than before.

** Inverted in Book 7, when Durkon points out that Redcloak's options all lead to the failure of his plan. [[spoiler: If he sticks to the plan, either the Order defeats him and his plan fails, or his plan to capture ths Snarl succeeds and the gods destroy the world (which would destroy all goblins and likely the Dark One as well). His only other option is to give up the plan altogether.]]

* Humorously parodied in ''New Chance'' with Minato's advice on how Iruka can get stronger for the Jonin trials. The advice? [[RefugeInAudacity Sexually harass Anko]]. Minato's reasoning being that trying to escape her wrath will increase his skills since he'll have to use and improve all of them and develop some more to do it. If she catches him, he learns how to deal with torture and increases his pain threshold.

* In the ''FanFic/TamersForeverSeries'' [[spoiler: Daemon excutes a minor one when he uploads a virus into his tropes. which means that either A) the Tamers/Digidestained try to absorb the fallen troops data, and are infected by the virus or B). They ''don't'' absorb the data, allowing his own troops to absorb the data and thus grow stronger. Thus making a battle of attrition impossible for his enemies to win]]. He manages another one earlier, perhaps inadvertently, sending Doumon to obtain [[spoiler:the power of Chaos so he can break out of the Dark Ocean and take revenge on ''everything'']]. Though it inevitably fails, [[spoiler:Doumon's own data is enough when added to the rest he's been collecting to allow him to escape the Dark Ocean and go after Takato himself]].

** [[spoiler: [[EnemyWithout The Queen]]]]'s invasion of San Francisco during the FinalBattle by opening multiple portals at several points of the city. If the heroes decide to keep closing the portals, Jackie is left alone against an enemy he certainly cannot defeat; if the heroes remain with Jackie, then nobody will close the portals and San Francisco will be flooded with Shadowkhan.
* ''Fanfic/ANewChanceSeries'': Giovanni engages in one: He encourages Jessie, James, and Meowth to pursue Ash, but they must provide him with information on where he is. If they can capture Pikachu and the Eon Duo, good. If they can't, he can still know where Ash is, in case he wishes to take him out, or just stay a step ahead of him. [[spoiler: He couldn't, however, anticipate the trio quitting.]]

** In all the worlds similar to [[spoiler: Watanagashi-hen]] and [[spoiler: Meakashi-hen]], [[spoiler: Miyo]]'s gambit ''failed'' because [[spoiler: Shion]] killed the right person at the wrong time, without the one pulling the strings knowing until it was too late.

## [[TakeAThirdOption Clark is able to convince Bruce to help him and they team up]] - [[spoiler: this is what actually happens, and something Lex didn't really see coming, but he still has Doomsday, simply releasing the monster to kill both of them. And yes, it ends up with Superman dead]]. So while it's a PyrrhicVictory - Lex goes to jail, losing his [[VillainWithGoodPublicity reputation]] and his fortune, and Superman is even more beloved by the public as a martyr than when he was alive - but it's a victory nonetheless.

A Xanatos Gambit is a [[ThePlan plan]] for which all foreseeable outcomes benefit the creator -- including ones that superficially appear to be failure. The creator predicts potential attempts to thwart the plan, and arranges the situation such that the creator will ultimately benefit even if their adversary "succeeds" in "stopping" them. When faced with a Xanatos Gambit the options are either to accept that the creator will get the upper hand and choose the outcome that is least beneficial to them, or to defeat them by [[TakeAThirdOption finding a course that they didn't predict]]; of course, [[SpannerInTheWorks morons are especially good at the second option]]...

* In WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}, [[spoiler:Kevin Baugh uses ObfuscatingStupidity to convince the usurpers of his government to let him stay around. He then walks around spreading seeds of dissent throughout the government, and then smiles whenever a major event happens, since no matter what the end result of his actions are, he'll be facing a significantly weakened opponent]].

** Phoenix himself does one in 4-1. [[spoiler:He forges key evidence to replace that which the killer, Kristoph Gavin, erased. Kristoph reveals the forgery (which he does)? Good; he also self-implicates. He keeps quiet? Also good; the fake likely convicts him.]]

* ''Blog/MiraculousRewrite'': The villain's plan in "Prime Queen" is effectively this, as they akumatize Nadja Chamack specifically to exploit her desire to expose [[spoiler:Mayor Andre]]'s corruption to all of Paris. While she fails to retrieve the Ladybug or Black Cat, she succeeds in that goal, priming Paris to face the fallout of that scandal. [[spoiler:Monarcha]] gloats to their cohort about this, [[spoiler:rubbing in Gabriel's face how he never thought to play the long game]].

* This is used to humorous effect in ''Film/ThePrincessBride'', where Westley and Vizzini play a game of wits: Vizzini has to guess which goblet Westley has poisoned and select one to drink, Westley being forced to drink from the other one. After Vizzini has ([[IKnowYouKnowIKnow with much complicated exposition]]) made his choice and drunk, Westley reveals that both the goblets are poisoned and that he has a resistance to that particular poison. Notable in that this gambit's against a minor foe, and foreshadows that [[spoiler: the true enemy, for all his resources, is wholly Westley's inferior]]. Even if Vizzini realized that both cups were poisoned and refused to drink or drank from the bottle, Westley is now close enough to overpower him with little threat to Buttercup.

** Inverted in Book 7, when Durkon points out that Redcloak's options all lead to the failure of his plan. [[spoiler: If he sticks to the plan, either the Order defeats him and his plan fails, or his plan to capture ths Snarl succeeds and the gods destroy the world (which would destrit all goblins and likely the Dark One as well). His only other option is to give up the plan altogether.]]

A Xanatos Gambit is a [[ThePlan plan]] for which all foreseeable outcomes benefit the creator -- including ones that superficially appear to be failure. The creator predicts potential attempts to thwart the plan, and arranges the situation such that the creator will ultimately benefit even if their adversary "succeeds" in "stopping" them. When faced with a Xanatos Gambit the options are either to accept that the creator will get the upper hand and choose the outcome that is least beneficial to them, or to defeat them by [[TakeAThirdOption finding a course that they didn't predict]]. No matter how flawless the gambit may be, though, it will never be [[SpannerInTheWorks idiot-proof]]...

** Note that this only applies to Tzeentch himself: his followers and daemons are quite often the victims of some of these turnabouts (and can get quite miffed at being backstabbed by the god of hope, sorcery, mutation and betrayal), resulting in the JustAsPlanned / NotAsPlanned memes.

Contrast with IndyPloy, a "plan" executed with no planning whatsoever, XanatosBackfire (When someone's own thingamajig is the source of their downfall (if a work is the source of their downfall, then that's CreatorKiller)) , and BatmanGambit, a plan which relies on people doing as predicted in given circumstances. The MagnificentBastard is a villain type likely to use these, but a particularly skilled [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]], ManipulativeBastard, or GuileHero may also pull one off.

This trope is not to be confused with ThanatosGambit (where a plan includes the planner's death as a final piece) although they can overlap, or a XanatosBackfire (When someone's own thingamajig is the source of their downfall (if a work is the source of their downfall, then that's CreatorKiller), another name for HoistByHisOwnPetard)

SadisticChoice is the PolarOpposite, in which every given choice will hinder the [[UnwittingPawn the person deciding the choice]].

Contrast with IndyPloy, a "plan" executed with no planning whatsoever, and BatmanGambit, a plan which relies on people doing as predicted in given circumstances. The MagnificentBastard is a villain type likely to use these, but a particularly skilled [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]], ManipulativeBastard, or GuileHero may also pull one off.

This trope is not to be confused with ThanatosGambit, where a plan includes the planner's death as a final piece, although they can overlap.

SadisticChoice is the PolarOpposite, in which every choice will hinder the [[UnwittingPawn the person deciding the choice]].

Don't confuse this with XanatosBackfire, either. (another name for HoistByHisOwnPertard)

** Possibly the most impressive in the series is in ''VisualNovel/NewDanganronpaV3,'' where [[TheChessmaster Kokichi]] creates a plan to [[spoiler: bring an end to the killing game, which involves creating a murder situation that even ''[[BigBad Monokuma]]'' can't solve. Since he's put together that someone has to be watching the game, their goal is entertainment, so he decides to create a scenario where they can't determine whether Kaito or Kokichi is the killer or the victim. Doubly impressive is that it incorporates an attempted murder by Maki, which only made the whole thing harder to figure out. Ironically, while the whole thing was undone by Shuichi's detective work (the guy who'd been previously motivated by both participants in the plan), it ultimately did lead to them ending the killing game once and for all]].

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Not-Tengu seemed to have one going in regards to Nanase's Guardian Form. To whit, his plan was: Bait Nanase into attacking him first. Not-Tengu believed Guardian Forms can only be used in self defense. If she isn't defending herself, she can't use it and he's free to form his flock without any worries. If she manages to use her Guardian Form anyway, still not a problem. Not-Tengu doesn't know her other spells, any of which could potentially beat him, but Guardian Forms locks all of those out for at least a day due to burnout. And while she is in Guardian Form, she can only fight in hand to hand combat, something he has no problem with.