What An Idiot / Western Animation A To C

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• 3Below:
  • Stuart's ex has shown up on Earth, and he is terrified. He explains to the Tarrons that he ran out on her, and Durians either mate for life or until a female Durian eats her mate.
    You'd Expect: They would offer to protect him while he talks things out with his ex. Stuart of course would be knowledgable of his own culture.
    Instead: Aja dismisses his worries as sheer nerves and says that working things out with her, with some privacy, will give them both closure.
    Predictably: Stuart was right; his ex wanted to eat him because she got engaged again. The Tarrons have to fend her off long enough for her to accept a compromise. Then it turns out she was a spy for Morando, and her real purpose was confirming the royals were on Earth. The lesson? Listen to Stuart next time.
  • In season two, Colonel Kubritz has made contact with Morando. She makes a Deal with the Devil, as Sergeant Costa points out: he'll give her Omens to protect Earth and she'll allow him to find Galen's core. They'll destroy Krel and Aja together because she holds a grudge against them for breaking into her facility twice and escaping with their lives. Then when he starts reshaping the universe in his image, Earth will be spared.
    You'd Expect: Kubritz would have some Betrayal Insurance on hand because Morando can snap her or any of her men like a twig. He also sent an asteroid that would have devastated Arcadia if not for the Tarrons agreeing to a temporary Enemy Mine.
    You'd Also Expect: Her raid on the House of Tarron and Mother would be a little more discreet. The trolls may be an Open Secret and most of them are in New Jersey with Jim and Merlin but Aargh, Strickler and Toby are still there. Strickler may be willing to lend a hand if Toby calls him.
    Instead: Colonel Kubritz doesn't consider that Morando would consider her and Earth expendable. She brings out a dozen trucks, Morando's armory, and helicopters. Then when Morando hands her advanced weaponry, she blasts through the house laughing maniacally as Costa arrests the Blanks, Toby, Steve, Aargh, and Varvatos.
    Predictably: During their fight, Aja points out to Kubritz that for someone who hates aliens, she allied with the token evil Big Bad of them. Kubritz's arm also gets injured thanks to the science fiction "Home Alone" Antics. When Mother goes down defending her family, she transfers her consciousness to an Omen bot which gives her more firepower to go with her Mama Bear attitude. With a Surprisingly Realistic Outcome, people get an inkling of what happened that night because of the ruckus, and Darci is suspicious when Toby makes an excuse to leave in the middle of stapling movie posters all over town. In later episodes, when Kubritz fires on the innocent civilians of Arcadia in their attempt to protect the Tarrons, they call her out for being evil and even Sergeant Costas turns on her because she's gone off the rails. Kubritz finds out in the Series Finale that Morando was going to destroy Earth anyway once he got what he needed, and dies when she fights him and he crushes her to death.
  • In the same episode, Varvatos Vex and Morando get into a confrontation. Morando says that he wanted Vex to be his general, while Vex said he only lowered the shields because Morando promised no one would get hurt in the coup. Varvatos wins, but Morando goes Combat Pragmatist and knocks him down.
    You'd Expect: Morando would just kill him then and there. Or permanently maim Varvatos so that he can no longer fight.
    Instead: He knocks out Vex and lets Sergeant Costas wrap him in chains to take away in a truck to District 49. Morando promises that he'll make Varvatos outlive the Tarrons instead of giving him a glorious death. There are implications that he wants to break and mold Varvatos into the general he wanted.
    The Result: The Blanks revive themselves in the truck. Lucy frees Varvatos and busts them out of the truck. Varvatos says they need to return to save Aja and Krel.
  • Kubritz wants to lure out the Tarrons since they went into hiding after the assault on Mother. They could be anywhere, as long as there is a power source to heal the Akiridion king and queen.
    You'd Expect: Since Eli is a citizen in the town, knock on his door and interrogate him with a search warrant and do the same with Steve. Sergeant Costas arrested both boys for trying to defend the Tarrons, making them fugitives technically.
    Alternatively: Look up the license number on the taco truck that Stuart drives. She knows it exists since the Blanks served tacos as a distraction for the first heist and Sergeant Costas finds them easily when turning himself in to the Tarrons.
    Instead: When Toby screens his movie, featuring Krel as an alien savior, Kubritz fires on the crowd at a movie theater and demands to know where the Tarrons are. We see that she could have easily killed someone, and causes ample property damage. When the Tarrons start evacuating the town, Kubritz then declares martial law and rounds up the citizens from their homes using the Omen bots she received from Morando to interrogate them about where the royals are. This is an act of war on US soil, to usher in soldiers to imprison an entire town just to secure two minors and their elderly guardian. Brilliant.
    The Result: Steve, Eli, and Toby quickly note that killing their movie audience was not All Part of the Show and suit up to protect their friends and family. Detective Scott starts joining in on the evacuation and goes Papa Wolf for his daughter, saying that he refuses to recognize Kubritz's authority for declaring war on his neighbors. Mary and Darci start tweeting about it as well, guaranteeing that the scandal will go viral and look embarrassing for the military. The only reason the Akiridons aren't concerned about this is they're dealing with the fallout of the Series Finale, and a talking cat calls Toby, Aargh and Steve for another adventure. Safe to say that even if Kubritz had survived, she would be in for a lot of legal trouble and a dishonorable discharge for her power-hungry actions.

A

• Abby Hatcher:
  • In the first episode, Abby gives Bozzly her childhood blanket as a gift, but upon coming downstairs, Bozzly starts sneezing from the dust and Abby takes him to get cleaned up. Before going, Bozzly puts the blanket on one of the boxes.
    You'd Expect: For Abby to groom Bozzly near the blanket so they can keep watch over the blanket.
    Instead: She grooms Bozzly away from the blanket.
    You'd Also Expect: Either Abby or Bozzly to watch the blanket so it doesn't get stolen.
    Instead: They don't.
    As a result: The mover unknowingly picks up the box that has the blanket on it and takes it to the truck.
  • In "Peeper Time Blues", a mix-up with the groceries causes the Squeaky Peepers' egg carton bed to end up with Chef Jeff. When the Peepers discover their bed disappeared, they become depressed and turn blue, and constantly sing the blues.
    You'd Expect: The Peepers to tell Abby and Bozzly that their bed is missing.
    Instead: They don't bother to do so, and Abby and Bozzly spend the whole episode trying to find out why.
    • Earlier, the mix-up was started when Curly bounced and spilled the groceries around the Peeper bed.
      You'd Expect: Either Abby or Bozzly to pay attention when putting the groceries away.
      Instead: They don't and wind up putting the Peeper bed in with the groceries.
      You'd Also Expect: Either Chef Jeff or Curly to think twice before thinking they bought two egg cartons when they really didn't, and also to notice the music notes on the Peeper bed.
      Instead: They don't bother about it.
  • In "Princess Flug's Flowery Adventure", Princess Flug ends up in Abby's laundry which sets off a mad chase through town, and she gets distracted wherever she sees flowers and follows them right before Abby and Bozzly show up.
    You'd Expect: Abby to use the Fuzzly Spotter to locate Princess Flug and see where she is.
    Instead: She doesn't even bother to use her watch and just keeps chasing her.
    You'd also expect: Princess Flug to be in Abby's viewpoint whenever she gets attracted to a new flower.
    Instead: She completely obscures herself by the flower or something else, leaving Abby to miss her completely.
  • In "Wai Po's Wild Day", Wai Po invites Abby and Bozzly to play with her. Abby and Bozzly put their gear away so it's easier to play, and while playing on Grumbles as a merry-go-round, they get sent flying to the top of the floodlight, and are unable to get down due to taking off their gear.
    You'd Expect: For Abby to use her Pogo Spring Shoes (the one part of gear she didn't remove) to bounce herself and Bozzly back down to safety.
    Instead: They get Wai Po to use the gear and save them.
  • In "Mo and Bo and the Missing Button Trail", snow covers the trail of buttons Abby leaves to get home, leaving her and the Fuzzlies lost.
    You'd Expect: For Abby to use her Zoomer View X-Ray Specs to see through the snow to find the buttons.
    Instead: She never bothers to use them and uses different methods instead.
  • In "Abby's Track and Field Day", Abby is nervous when she is signed up for Track and Field Day in the park and cannot use her gear, so the Fuzzlies try to find a sport she can do without them.
    You'd Expect: For Abby to take off her gear before practicing the sports.
    Instead: She keeps her gear on the whole time, and whenever she practices, she panics and cheats with a gadget.
  • In "Abby and the Costume Ball", Abby dresses in a Marie Antoinette costume and makes a grand entrance, but her giant poofy skirt prevents her from getting out.
    You'd Expect: Abby to shimmy out the door sideways.
    Instead: She struggles to get out facing forward, leading to more trouble to come.
• The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius:
  • In "The Great Egg Heist", Jimmy and the gang are tricked by Professor Calamitous into stealing a Jade Egg for him to power a doomsday device of his. During the heist, Carl ends up getting the real Jade egg mixed up with a fake made to be put in the real one's place at the museum. Upon delivering the egg, Calamitous traps the gang with the intent of killing them with his doomsday device, while letting them know how trying to substitute lead to meltdowns as Jimmy prepares to use one of his inventions to help the gang escape.
    You'd Expect: As Carl wasn't actually sure whether or not he left the real jade egg back at the museum, he would let Jimmy break them out before telling him. If the egg was actually the real one, then any mistake on Jimmy's part could cause them to get killed, so telling him after they were safe would be the best option - after all, the fake egg would just make Calamitous's doomsday machine not work.
    Instead: He nudges Jimmy in an attempt to tell him that he might have left the real one back and that Calamitous has the fake, causing Jimmy to accidentally toss his invention into the forcefield, destroying it. While it is revealed that Calamitous does have the fake when his doomsday device explodes, if Carl had been wrong, it meant he would have doomed them all.
• The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin: In "Octopede Sailors", we learn that Grubby was in a shipwreck as a child. After disobeying his father to save his life, Grubby is praised by his father and asks him to follow him.
  You'd Expect: Grubby to instead go back to the tiller, since it would be much safer there.
  Instead: He listens to his father's orders.
  As A Result: Grubby is swept away by a wave while running.
• All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series: Carface's original human family, whose son is so irresponsible and lazy that Carface runs rampant around the house and inadvertently ruins his family's Christmas simply because he isn't trained to know better.
  You'd Expect: For the boy to own up to his carelessness, as he risks losing his pet over the incident.
  Instead: The ungrateful child doesn't say a thing in defense of Carface, leaving him at the mercy of his angry parents who want to get rid of him.
  Compounding This: The parents, instead of giving him up to a home for adoption or giving their kid one more chance to properly train Carface, instead kick him out onto the street to fend for himself. And bear in mind, he was just a puppy, and they did this on a cold winter night when it was raining.
  The Result: Carface becomes the bitter, greedy, self-serving louse he is, one bad enough to make deals with the Devil. All because they could not be bothered to be the responsible, caring owners they should have been.
• The Amazing World of Gumball:
  • At the beginning of the episode "The Authority", Richard wants to watch TV, but there are no batteries in the remote. Fortunately, he spots a pair of batteries on the table.
    You'd Expect: Richard to put the batteries in the remote and then use the remote to turn on the TV.
    Instead: Richard throws the batteries at the TV, hoping to hit the power button. He misses and hits the screen instead, breaking the TV as a result. This happens again later in the episode when Gumball, Darwin, and Anais take on Richard's shape and IQ as a result of Granny Jojo overprotecting them.
  • In "The Nemesis" Rob wants to get revenge on Gumball and Darwin for not saving him from the Void in the earlier season. They didn'tsave him because they didn't notice him and he assumed they ignored his pleas. His attemps for revenge fail and he gives up. Gumball and Darwin feel sorry for him and want to help.
    You'd Expect: Them to apologise to him for what they did, to explain that they didn't notice him in the Void and to try to make things up with him.
    Instead:They help him become a better villain which leads to the conflict of the episode.
  • In "The Rerun", Gumball manages to get his hands on the reality-warping remote and uses it to defeat his Arch-Enemy Rob and send him into the Void before becoming Ret-Gone due to Rob erasing his family from existence. He then decides to save him after feeling terrible about it.
    You'd Expect: That Gumball would reverse everything back to normal and save himself before saving Rob as he is beginning to become Ret-Gone, even to gather up his family to save him from the Void.
    Instead: Gumball immediately goes into the Void to save Rob (who stubbornly tries to evade him) before saving himself from becoming Ret-Gone.
    Result: Rob manages to get the remote back and prepares to use it to finish off Gumball, who is seconds away from becoming Ret-Gone.
    Luckily: Rob ultimately can't bring himself to do so since Gumball came back for him, and atones for everything he's done by rewinding back to where he bought the remote, and destroys the remote so no one can use it again.
  • In "The Spoiler," when Gumball tries to avoid Spoilers by burying himself into a hole in his backyard, the radio was on about a discussion on The Screaming:
    You'd Expect: For him to turn off the radio.
    Instead: He decides to just go about his ridiculous plan, and lo and behold, he got a spoiler from the radio. Darwin even points this out.
• American Dad!
  • In "Bullocks to Stan", Jeff is in a diner hiding from Stan and Bullock and is telling a waitress to pretend she doesn't know him but she actually does not know him.
    You'd expect: Jeff to try coming up with a fake name, or, better yet, just roll with that and draw no attention to himself.
    Instead: Jeff says his name, allowing Bullock to recognize him. If it weren't for Hayley, he would have been dead right now.
  • "Roger & Me": Stan and Roger take part in the show Best Buddiez!, in an attempt to win the grand prize of $200,000 to help get Francine the operation for her brain. While Roger dominates his half of the round due to knowing everything about Stan, Stan fails to know a thing about Roger in the reversal round. Then the final question comes up, relating to Roger’s favourite movie, which he has mentioned that it was Miller's Crossing after reciting a line from the film to Stan.
    You’d Expect: Stan to remember what Roger said that time at the hotel, write down Miller’s Crossing and win the game and the money.
    Instead: He writes down White Chicks, throwing away any chance of winning, which forces Stan to let Roger to do Francine’s operation for free. It goes as well as you'd expect.
  • "Four Little Words": Long story short, Stan framed Francine for murdering her best friend, so that he wouldn't have to hear her say I Told You So about how the real killer going on a date with Melinda was a bad idea. Francine is so wracked with guilt and trauma that she flies to India to become a teacher in a village, complete with adopting an orphan boy named Sanjit. A month passes before Stan, having taken over Francine's housekeeping duties, realizes that if he had admitted he was wrong first, she wouldn't have the opportunity to say I Told You So.
    You'd Expect: Stan would do more than come clean and apologize. He traumatized his wife and should take steps to proactively handle the rift that's bound to follow.
    Instead: He flies to India, apologizes while coming clean about the Zany Scheme, and expects that's all fine and dandy.
    Predictably: Francine reads him the riot act and doesn't forgive him. She tells him that she has been wracked with guilt, prayed to Ganesha for forgiveness about accidentally killing her best friend while still being a Christian, and developed bad diarrhea from the terrible water. To top it all off, she can't just leave the boy that she adopted. Stan ends the episode in the doghouse, having only found another suitable parent for Sanjit without making up for everything else, and Francine makes it clear she only came back to get her previous lifestyle and for her husband or child. If not for Status Quo Is God, he would be sleeping on the couch forever.
  • In "Dope & Faith", Stan ends up meeting a potential friend in Brett through the prayer of god, before realising that – despite his pal sharing the similar qualities – he’s an atheist.
    You’d Expect: Stan to just accept Brett for who he is.
    Instead: Stan tries to show Brett that god exists through a trek during the mountains, pointing out how Kurt Russell keeps getting work, witnessing the birth of a newborn child and visiting the rotting carcass of a whale. Eventually, Brett has enough and leaves Stan.
    Then You’d Expect: Stan to realise the error of his ways, apologise, and accept Brett for who he is.
    Instead: Stan opts to give Brett several tests of adversity, such as blowing up Brett’s house, closing down his business with food poisoning, and making his wife and kids leave for a lesbian.
    Naturally: This causes Brett to try and commit suicide by jumping off a building, only to be brought back by Satan after making a bargain. Only then does Stan realise to accept Brett for who he is when he could’ve done that a lot earlier in the episode.
  • "Frannie 911": Francine and Roger make up a phony kidnapping at the Langston Ice Factory to show that Stan does care about Roger after all.
    You’d Expect: Francine to call Stan with preferably a burner phone, or anonymously through a pay phone.
    Or Even: Call from a friend’s phone, preferably someone who doesn’t know Stan.
    Instead: Francine calls from her own cell phone to Stan, who immediately realises it’s her due to Caller ID.
    Result: Not only does Stan refuse to entertain the idea of rescuing Roger throughout the night, but Francine and Roger’s partnership breaks down when Francine ultimately had enough of Roger’s antics by slapping him with a sea bass before leaving him.
  • In "Delorean Storey-an", Stan and Steve are driving down the road late at night, then Steve decides to get some sleep. Stan, meanwhile, decides to keep on driving because he's "fueled by pure adrenaline".
    You'd expect: Stan to keep his eyes open so that he can focus on the road.
    Or: If he wants to rest his eyes, stop the car first.
    Instead: He decides to rest his eyes while still driving, causing the car to nearly go off the road! While he does manage to swerve back onto the road before he can crash, Steve is left leaning outside the open car door, causing his head to collide with a running hare named Andy, killing the poor little animal. Needless to say, the death of Andy does not go down well with the tortoise who was racing him.
  • In "Weiner of our Discontent", Roger gets hold of some poisonous hot dogs which will kill anyone who eats them, and decides to keep hold of them so that he can feel important (and kill anyone who pisses him off by feeding them one of the poisoned hot dogs). Due to a mix-up, Steve and Toshi nearly end up eating them in a hot dog-eating contest, but Toshi's mother unknowingly prevents them from doing so. Afterwards, Stan destroys the poisonous hot dogs once and for all.
    You'd expect: Francine to be furious at Roger for nearly killing both her son and one of his friends, and to lecture him about how you don't need power over life and death just to feel good about yourself.
    Instead: She blames Stan for everything, because he was mean to Roger earlier in the episode. Stan then tries to make amends by letting Roger hold onto the adrenaline shot that he uses to stave off his lethal shellfish allergy... and the brilliance of this thinking is demonstrated in the very next scene, when Roger deliberately poisons Stan with some crawfish cookies, withholds the adrenaline shot so that he can feel high and mighty again, and then reveals that he wasted it on himself shortly after Stan gave it to him.
  • In "Daddy Queerest", Terry’s father Tank Bates comes over to his household for a visit. During this time, Stan and Francine are there; the former wanting to see Tank, while the latter supporting Terry.
    You’d Expect: Terry to have the courage to come out clean to his father, but considering his track record with his father being fumbled…
    Instead: Due to Francine holding his hand, Terry hurriedly reveals that he’s been living with Francine while his fiancée Greg is living with Stan, unconvincingly keeping up the façade for a few days.
    Even Worse: Terry has no intention of coming out to his father despite having an opportunity to do so when he was in the same room with him!
    The Result: Stan, in a drunken rage, reveals the truth to Tank that his son his gay, and Tank ends up leaving his son’s household the following day. By the time Terry finally mans up to tell his father at Tank’s ceremony that he’s gay, it’s far too late, and he tries to lump the fault onto Stan until Francine comes to Stan’s defense. Seriously, what does Greg see in Terry?
  • In "A Jones for a Smith", Stan has been battling a cold. While sitting on a park bench near a soup kitchen, he is approached by a shady looking man who claims to be in the "pharmaceutical business". The man lights a pipe and offers it to Stan.
    You'd expect: Stan — being in law enforcement and all — to realize that this man is a drug dealer who's trying to sell him an illegal substance, refuse his help and arrest him.
    Instead: He thinks the drug is a "heated inhalent" and take a hit.
    The result: Stan continues to use the drug over the next several days and is oblivious to what it is until Roger catches him in the act and informs him that he's been smoking crack-cocaine. Stan throws the crack away and vows not to smoke it again, but by then it's too late. He's developed a crack addiction.
  • In "White Rice", Stan takes Francine to a hypnotist masquerading as a therapist. For nearly 20 Years, Sal has hypnotized Francine and managed to make Francine forget things she wanted to talk about without any issue, though during that time he does ask for a sandwich prior to Stan leaving.
    You’d Expect: Stan to wait for Sal’s order before leaving.
    Instead: He walks out before Sal even starts thinking of a sandwich. For 20 Years.
    The Result: Sal ends up making Francine remember everything she was forced to forget over the last two decades, including wanting to get off, vaccinating Hayley’s twin brother Bailey, being punched in the face during Stan’s sleep, and her stint as a comedian, which kicks off the plot. All because Sal never got a sandwich.
  • In "Less Money, Mo' Problems", Stan and Francine attempt to live on welfare in order to win a bet between Hayley and Jeff.
    You’d Expect: Stan and Francine to have planned out where to live and what to do with just $938 to work with, prior to leaving the household.
    Instead: They fail to check into a fancy hotel and try to live in the slum hotel for the night; Stan buys a Pontiac Aztek from a Pontiac dealer (somehow) which gets taken away the following day; Stan tries to live on free samples only to be caught out and making Francine give up on the bet…
    But Wait! There’s More! Stan eventually becomes desperate by trying to get a job at a hamburger place, then steals the boss’ shoes only to be caught out by the shoe police, then gets run over by Roger and Steve in a Ferrari forcing Stan to do some self-aid after a failed visit at the clinic. During this time, he ends up meeting Alex— no, Billy, who convinces him to do a job, which happens to be at the Smith household at night.
    The Result: Jeff comes to the rescue by stabbing the intruders in self-defense, as Stan concedes to the family that you can’t live on welfare after four days of trying (despite Hayley saying it’s been less than two days).
  • In "The Kidney Stays in the Picture", Hayley's kidneys fail and she needs a transplant, but Francine drops a bombshell that Stan may not be Hayley's father due to Francine having a one-night stand before she married Stan. However, Francine cannot remember who she slept with, so Stan takes her and himself into the past with a time travel machine from the CIA so they can see who Francine slept with and get the guy's info so they can go back to the present and use the info to save Hayley's life.
    You'd expect: Stan and Francine to get the man's information from his dropped wallet and leave to go back to their own time with the information.
    Instead: Stan, being the jealous and overprotective husband that he is, blows his cover and berates the man that is kissing the young Francine, causing her to get upset at the mistake she almost made and leaves. This causes the past to be messed up and present Francine points out that this will cause Hayley to be Ret-Gone if the man really is her father so she convinces Stan to get her younger self to sleep with the guy by any means necessary.
    How it works out: The couple tell their younger selves about the situation and young Stan is up for the idea to get young Francine to have the one night stand, but she refuses to do it. Present Stan then remembers he has the formula needed to create the drug Ecstasy, so he goes to young Roger for assistance in making the drug. Once they have it, they drug young Francine and convince the man from the one night stand to sleep with her only because she was drugged up. Roger then ties the guy up and takes his kidneys.
    • Earlier in the same episode, Hayley tags along with Francine and her old friend Kelly on a night out with drinks. However, Hayley has a hard time stomaching the drinks by the time the Ultimate Kelly’s show up. Knowing what The Kidney Killer can do to the unprepared, Francine tells Hayley to "sit this one out".
      You’d Expect: Hayley to heed her mother’s advice, regardless of what Kelly thinks.
      Instead: Hayley gives in to peer pressure and drinks it, resulting in one of her kidneys failing, and the plot goes from there.
  • In "Spelling Bee My Baby", Stan and Roger are tied at 200-200 in a badminton showdown, with Steve as the line judge. Unfortunately, he gets taken away by Francine just as they get to the final serve. As they ponder on who to get for the line judge, Klaus offers to fill in for Steve.
    You’d Expect: Stan and Roger to consider Klaus.
    Instead: Roger flicks Klaus away with his racquet without a second thought and suggests Hayley as the line judge, despite being preoccupied with her husband Jeff taken away from her life. To get her as the line judge faster, Stan and Roger thrust her through the five stages of grief (technically four, since Roger didn’t know what bargaining was).
    Result: While it does work, Hayley realizes that Stan and Roger were both responsible for Jeff being abducted and takes away the shuttlecock. They should’ve just gone with Klaus.
  • "A Boy Named Michael": Greg and Terry decide to adopt a young Russian orphan and spend weeks planning and preparing for his arrival.
    You'd Expect: Them to do their research on what a kid actually likes and needs, and for the party guests to do the same, especially since they already had a daughter.
    Or, At The Very Least: They go to Steve for advice and ask him what he likes, as well as take a look in his room, considering that the kid would've been around his age.
    Instead: They view Michael more as an accessory, not only giving him a life plan, but an ancient fragile lounge to sleep over instead of a proper bed. They're even baffled at the Spider-Man backpack that Roger gave them, even though it was the only realistic gift that a kid would actually enjoy.
    Basically: If Roger hadn't replaced him, you can bet that Michael would've definitely run away. That is if Terry hadn't murdered him first.
  • In "The Mural of the Story", Stan tries to fix a mural that has been defaced by graffiti but fails to do it properly. Hayley gets blamed by the townspeople who start throwing stuff at her. Hayley begs for Stan to stand up for her and tell them she didn't ruin it but rather have Stan own up and admit fault.
    You'd Expect: Stan to come clean about his actions and admit fault for his failure to restore the mural. After all, he did give Hayley a lecture on how family should come first at the beginning of the episode.
    Instead: Being more concerned about his image as the town hero, he doesn't and just slowly backs away, and never owns up for his failure.
    • Later in the same episode, Stan decides to have Hayley's face altered so she can be in public without being recognized.
      You'd Expect: That Stan would get an expert to do the facial reconstruction surgery since he lacks the skills necessary to pull off a good job.
      Instead: He does the face surgery himself and ends up horribly disfiguring Hayley's face.
    • In the subplot, Steve decides to take Roger!H.J. Rimmons to the North American Federation of Clowning Academics and accuses that he hit him out of spite after breaking his arm in the smallest clown car for nothing. The clown judge points out that this isn’t the first time H.J. was accused of hitting a student.
      You’d Expect: While he has the advantage in that he didn’t physically harm Steve, H.J. to be careful with what he says before the clown judge.
      Instead: He admits that this is the first time he didn’t actually do it, therefore incriminating himself.
      Result: After failing to retract his statement, H.J. Rimmons is stripped of his clown teaching license and turns in his red nose.
• The Angry Beavers: In "Up All Night", Norbert and Daggett decide to stay up all night since they don't live with their parents anymore. After engaging in some nighttime activities, they decide to check on the time. Their clock reads 9:37, but it doesn't have an AM/PM indicator.
  You'd Expect: Norb or Dag to look out one of their dam's windows just to see if it's still night outside. They live in a place with normal times for sunrises and sunsets; it would be light out at 9:37 AM.
  Instead: Norb assumes that it's still evening, and he and Dag decide to stay up even longer.
  To Make Matters Worse: They next time they check on the clock, it reads 10:34. They still believe it's nighttime until Dag realizes that the plug fell out. When they finally check outside, they realize to their own horror that they stayed up several decades into the future.
• Animaniacs:
  • In the first Pinky and the Brain segment "Win Big", Brain needs $99,000 to complete his latest world domination device. He becomes a contestant on the game show Gyp-Parody! and dominates the competition, winning $49,500 before the final round.
    You'd think: Brain would be somewhat familiar with the rules of the show he's on and know that he can come back as a returning champion as long as he doesn't finish with $0. The only way that can happen is if he wagers everything and gives an incorrect response.
    Instead: The problem isn't that he stumbles on the same exact subject that Pinky was pestering him about earlier in the episode; Brain's greed gets the better of him and he goes double or nothing, finishing with $0 and losing his chance to compete the next day.
  • In "Bully for Skippy," a jerk named Duke is physically throwing around Skippy. Skippy goes to the school counselor for help.
    You'd Expect: After she sees the evidence of physical abuse, the counselor would confront Duke and either suspend him or warn him that he risks suspension or expulsion for assaulting another student.
    Instead: She keeps telling Skippy to find peaceful ways to avoid getting bullied. Yeah, like that has ever worked.
    The Result: After Duke injures him badly too many times, Skippy goes to his Aunt Slappy for help. Together, they engage in Toon Physics to deliver Amusing Injuries to Duke. It ends up being the trick that works; Duke thanks them for scaring him straight and helps repair a machine that Slappy ordered. When the counselor tries to tell off Slappy for encouraging violence, the machine grabs her and subjects her to offscreen violence. Even worse, it's implied that it may have brainwashed her and the inspector, since they blatantly changed their minds about their opinion on violence.
  • In "Potty Emergency", Wakko has to pee after drinking too much soda. He tries finding public restrooms, only to come up short.
    You'd Expect: Wakko to go back to the water tower to use the bathroom after this failure (after all, you can't say it was too far when he managed to climb a tall mountain), then return to the movie theater.
    Instead: He tries to use his toilet inside his bag, which gets him into more mishaps.
    Then Again: The plot wouldn't have worked quite as well if this was the way it ended. Most of the episode's memorable moments happen as a result of the toilet he found in his bag.
• Animaniacs (2020)
  • "The Mousechurian Candidate": When Brain genetically engineers a female mouse to become his First Lady, he finds out that Julia is more charismatic than he is, owing to her Nice Girl and Nice to the Waiter tendencies. Much to his chagrin, she ends up winning the position of Senator on the campaign trail from under his nose. Voters wrote her in because she kissed babies when they cried, did traditions that the locals appreciated, and listens to people. Brain gets jealous until he realizes that he can use Julia to further his ambitions and work from behind the scenes. The thing is that Julia tosses out his speech suggesting using child labor to make bombs, and tells him off for how he treats Pinky. Pinky even notes that her niceness is what makes her more likeable than Brain.
    You'd Expect: Brain would go for Plan B;  a state governor or the President of the United States may be grabbing power, but they are ultimately undermined by all the red tape in their attempts to create change. He should go with the flow and find other means of taking over the world.
    Instead: He reveals that he put a mind-control chip in Julia, the same one that enables her genetic enhancement. When activating the chip, it electrocutes Julia and brainwashes her into being a puppet for his words.
    Predictably: This means the plan fails. Julia shocks the audience with her Out-of-Character Alert speeches and goes feral as the chip malfunctions. She runs off into the wilderness, leading her rival to gain the governorship position. Brain only says that it was a calculated risk and doesn't realize that it was his own fault. To top it all off, Julia retains enough of her sapience to create a hidden underground lair. She spies on Brain and Pinky smugly, waiting for a chance at revenge. 
• The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes:
  • "Hail, HYDRA!": HYDRA and AIM are duking it out in the streets of New York, and both the Avengers and SHIELD have deployed to deal with it.
    You'd Expect: For Maria Hill — who'd just been promoted to Director in Fury's absence — to hold off on her usual distrust of the Avengers until after the current threat is dealt with.
    Instead: She ignores the warring supervillains in favor of having her agents try and arrest the Avengers.
    The Result: Iron Man and Wasp are forced to spend the episode trying to ward of SHIELD's forces rather than help their teammates, and while HYDRA and AIM are both defeated, all Hill managed to accomplish was ensure that the Avengers will resist all further attempts to have them register with SHIELD.
  • "Nightmare in Red": Red Hulk attacks the S.H.I.E.L.D. Hellicarrier.
    You'd Expect: The then-current SHIELD director, Maria Hill, would order a hunt for Red Hulk.
    Instead: Maria apparently assumes that The Incredible Hulk somehow changed his skin tone from green to red, then attacked the Helicarrier, and so orders a hunt for him instead. The hunt succeeds, depriving the Avengers of their strongest member for an unspecified lengthy amount of time. Meanwhile, Red Hulk remains free to wreak havoc under the order of Red Skull.
  • "Powerless": Amora the Enchantress helps Loki extract revenge on the Avengers by casting a spell which turns The Mighty Thor mortal, strips Captain America of his strength, and drains Iron Man's technical knowledge, giving Loki the opportunity to kill them with the Destroyer armor.
    You'd Expect: The Enchantress would make sure that this spell would prove impossible for the Avengers to break.
    Instead: Before Loki goes to fight, she warns him that if Thor learns a lesson in humility, he and his teammates will regain their abilities. Thor had already gained humility by this point, and didn't revert to arrogance until the morning on which this episode began. The magic doesn't reverse until Thor gains humility again, but the episode never says why the Enchantress and Loki believed Thor would have trouble losing the arrogance he lost before.

B

• Back at the Barnyard: In "A Tale of Two Snottys", as the title suggests, there are two Snotty Boys. One is real while the other is Pig in disguise. When Mrs. Beady wonders which one is her real nephew, she (correctly) assumes that the imposter is a talking animal. So when she finds out that Pig is the imposter...
  You'd Expect: Mrs. Beady to take off Pig's disguise and expose him as the talking animal he is right in front of her husband and nephew, which would finally give her some credibility.
  Instead: She just throws Pig's butt right out the door, therefore ruining her chance.
  As a Bonus: She lets Pig get away with Snotty Boy's clothes on. Leaving her nephew with a worn-out shirt, (rubber?) pants, and old leather shoes.
• In one episode of Back to the Future, Doc Brown's Evil Former Friend Walter Wisdom steals the DeLorean knowing full well about how the flux capacitor works and wanting to profit from it. Doc and the others chase Wisdom through time, but the villain manages to shake them at the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883.
  You'd Expect: Wisdom to use the time machine to amass a large sum of money a la Biff Tannen in BTTF 2. Or set up an empire with himself as sole dictator. Really, when you have a time machine, the possibilities are endless.
  Instead: He immediately takes the DeLorean back to 1991, goes on live national TV, and starts offering time machine rides for $999,995 a pop. This gives Doc and the others enough time to catch up with him and discredit him in front of the public.
• The Backyardigans:
  • From "Secret Mission": The secret agent team successfully limbos under the laser light beams and are about to approach the Gargantuan Gallery; Pablo then accidentally drops his Spy Gadget, which slides back under.
    You'd Expect: Pablo to limbo back under the lasers, grab the Spy Gadget, and limbo right back safely.
    Instead: He tries reaching for the Spy Gadget and ends up touching the laser, setting off an alarm and shutting a gate, thus the Spy Gadget is gone for the rest of the episode.
  • From "Who Goes There?": Uniqua jumps out of a painting and pretends she's a statue.
    You'd Expect: Tyrone would have noticed something's amiss since he saw her in the painting earlier.
    Instead: He not only falls for it but doesn't notice she's missing from the painting.
    But Then: In real life, moose have terrible eyesight.
• Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse: In the short "Trapped in the Dreamhouse", Barbie's rival Raquelle tries to stop Barbie from outshining her at a fashion show by setting the AI system of the dreamhouse to "evil", causing it to prevent Barbie and her friends from leaving to do the show.
  You'd Expect: Barbie would remember that she's just a few steps away from the AI's good/evil switch, set it back to its default setting, and unlock the dreamhouse.
  Instead: Barbie decides to walk all the way to the control room and remove the CPU. She and her friends barely survive several Death Traps along the way. The last trap destroys the dreamhouse, requiring Ken to quickly build a new one.
• Beavis and Butt-Head: Most of the idiocy in this show came from the titular duo, but not all of it.
  • "Woodshop": Beavis cuts his finger off, and the rest of the episode is spent at the hospital, where he needs said finger put back on.
    You'd expect: The doctor would, y'know, fasten it on with a cast or something.
    Instead: He simply warns Beavis just not to use it. He does right away, and it falls off again. Cue the next episode.
  • "Copy Machine": Buzzcut needs someone to make copies of a worksheet for his class.
    You'd expect: Buzzcut to ask anyone other than Beavis and Butt-Head to make the copies, given their track record.
    Instead: He asks Beavis and Butt-Head to make the copies. His orders include the line "You will only copy the worksheet! You will not copy your butts again!", implying that he is fully aware that he is about to place his trust in kids who have proven themselves to be absolutely untrustworthy.
    As a Result: This one should be painfully obvious. It's certainly painful for Beavis - his butt falls through the glass, and he spends most of the episode stuck in the copier.
• In one of the "Cliff Hanger" segments on Between the Lions, Cliff Hanger is pulled to safety by a Kangaroo King. He and the King stop in front of two signs: one pointing to "King's Castle" and the other pointing to "Cliff".
  You'd Expect: Cliff to follow the King until he can find another path.
  Instead: He follows the signs that says "Cliff". Predictably, he ends up falling off the cliff and is left dangling from the branch yet again.
• Blaze and the Monster Machines:
  • In "Axle City Grand Prix", Crusher steals Gabby's remote that lets her control any machine so he can try and win the titular race. In one of his cheats, he turns on a bunch of cranes which block Blaze's way with pipes.
    You'd Expect: For Crusher to double check the pipes to see if either one is big enough for Blaze to easily drive right through.
    Instead: He disappears right after the pipes are laid out, and once Blaze encounters the pipes, Gabby immediately realizes he can drive through the biggest ones and he does just that.
  • In "Dinocoaster", Zeg gets a ticket so he, Blaze and AJ can ride the titular ride. All of a sudden, a kid truck drops his ball and it bounces away, and Zeg offers to get it.
    You'd Expect: Zeg to put his ticket in a safe place or have Blaze and AJ watch it for him.
    Instead: He leaves the ticket unattended on a barrel.
    You'd also expect: Blaze to bring the ticket to Zeg after he returns the kid truck's ball to him.
    Instead: He leaves it where it is, and a wind sweeps it up and away into Axle City, kicking off the plot of the episode.
  • In "Power Tires", Blaze is given the titular tires after an accident causes his regular tires to get ripped. Throughout the race, Crusher notices Blaze is catching up and tries to stop him.
    You'd Expect: For Crusher to think twice before he puts his cheat underway, as they always have a short flaw in them somehow.
    Instead: He goes with it anyway, and no matter what he sends out, Blaze will use the Power Tires to get past the cheat based on what he turns them into for the obstacle.
  • In "Officer Blaze", Blaze has to deliver a cake to a birthday party and throughout the trip, he comes across several traffic jams on the streets before him.
    You'd Expect: Blaze to simply use the sidewalk to get around the jams.
    Instead: He uses his siren to tell the trucks to move, possibly to advance the plotline.
  • "AJ to the Rescue": Blaze chases after a monkey's runaway kite, not going far from AJ, only to fall into a mud pit and cannot get out.
    You'd Expect: AJ to go the same way Blaze did and arrive where he is in no time.
    Instead: He follows a different route, and thus, it takes the whole episode before he finally reaches Blaze.
    You'd also Expect: For Blaze to use his Blazing Speed on his own without AJ (since he's done it before in "Treasure Track") to quickly free himself.
    Instead: He stays stuck until AJ arrives and gives him the Blazing Speed power while in the driver's seat.
  • In "Babysitting Heroes", Stripes turns on a bubble machine which makes bubbles for the baby animals to play with, then one pops against a book on the shelf, which causes it to knock over several toys in a chain reaction finishing with a toy train driving right off the shelf toward the bubble machine.
    You'd Expect: Either Blaze, AJ or Stripes to run and pick it up.
    Instead: They stay where they are, leaving the train to turn up the machine's power and trap the animals in giant bubbles, kicking off the plot of the episode.

C

• One Caillou episode has this infamous exchange: Caillou is afraid of a man he sees and tells his mother.
  You'd Expect: Caillou's mother would keep him away from the man.
  Instead: She simply leaves Caillou alone with him.
• In Captain N: The Game Master: both the N Team and The Forces of Chaos tend to display stupidity when an opportunity for victory is in sight. In "Wishful Thinking", the N Team discover a lamp containing a Genie with the ability to what else? Grant wishes.
  You'd Expect: That the N Team would wish for the defeat of Mother Brain and all others seeking to dominate Videoland, plus bring King Charles back. Even Lana considers using a wish to stop Mother Brain.
  Instead: The N Team members make personal wishes like Kevin's skills being enhanced, Mega Man becoming stronger, Lana falling heads over heels for Simon (literally) and Kid Icarus (or rather, Pit) making himself big. By the end of the episode, no attempt is made to use a wish to permanently stop The Forces of Chaos or bring the King back home. Granted the wishes could come out wrong if not worded right, Kid Icarus managed to make several wishes without them backfiring.
  • But again the bad guys can be equally stupid. In Happy Birthday, Mega Man, The N Team accompany Mega Man on a mission to the Warp of Life which can make him human. To achieve humanity, he has to pass three challenges. The first is gaining the will to leave the Pleasure Zone (as the world is so fun due to the many games/stores/rides that no one wants to leave). After Mega Man and the N Team depart, they discover that they've been in the Pleasure Zone for three weeks.
    You'd expect: That Mother Brain and The Forces of Chaos would take advantage of the N Teams' absence and try for another takeover of Videoland. Someone from the N Team would have to consider that.
    Instead: We don't see the aforementioned villains, nor are they acknowledged.
• Camp Lazlo
  • In "The Book of Slinkman", Samson is delivering the new rule books for Camp Kidney and Acorn Flats but accidentally drops them mixing up the delivery tags and he ends up sending the Camp Kidney rule book to Acorn Flats.
    You'd Expect: Miss Doe would stop Samson and notify him of the mistake or notify Scoutmaster Lumpus of the mix up and give him the rule book.
    Instead: She throws it away, and all the boy scouts are wearing dresses and having tea parties.
    Admittedly: The scouts aren't blameless either, You'd think that at least one of them would be suspicious about the content of the book and would want to take a closer look, which would have resulted in them finding out it's not really their book.
    Instead: They continue following the rules, even when it mentions avoiding the scouts and all of them end up locked over a fence. It's only after Lumpus, who didn't even partake nor care about what was going on, takes the book and reads out loud that it's actually for the Acorn Flats that they stop this nonsense.
  • In "Racing Slicks", the Bean Scouts are having a competition to build and race their own go-karts. Lazlo, Raj, and Clam, however, blow their money on riding a kiddie ride instead of spending it on parts for their race car, so they need to get more money.
    You'd Expect: Every time they get new money for the car, one or more of them would make absolute certain to remind them that this money is strictly for the car, and not for the kiddie ride. Better yet, have someone (like Slinkman or someone else) monitor them and make sure they spend their money wisely.
    Instead: They blow the money on the kiddie ride every single time.
  • In the Valentines' Day special, Commander Hoo Ha finds a love letter his daughter Patsy wrote for Lazlo. Not knowing who the letter was for, he forces the Bean Scouts to go through rigorous activities to find out who the letter was for.
    You'd Expect: Patsy would lie and tell Hoo Ha right there that the letter was for him.
    Instead: She waits until after she beats up all of the Bean Scouts against her will to do this. Samson ends up lampshading this.
  • In "Samson Needs a Hug", Lazlo receives a phone call through the radio station from a crying Samson who wants to know why he's so lonely. Lazlo asks Samson for his name.
    You'd expect: That Samson would be honest and tell Lazlo his real name.
    Instead: Samson is too scared to reveal who he is (when he is not known for being that shy) and says that he's Edward. Lazlo tells him that what he needs is a hug, but as a result of Samson's lie, not only does Lazlo (who also holds the Idiot Ball) start to hug Edward against his will, he later starts hugging everybody in Camp Kidney except Samson against their will.
• Cat Burglar: One of Rowdy's many deaths has this Played for Laughs. He decides to tunnel under the museum's wall to infiltrate.
  You'd Expect: He would grab a flashlight from his Bag of Holding, which contains a beehive and an opera singer.
  Instead: He digs in the dark, relying on the player to get the questions right.
  The Result: If you guess the trivia questions wrong, Rowdy realizes he made a wrong turn when banging into something. He lights a match to see his way...and finds out he hit a leaking gas line. KA-BOOM!
• Carmen Sandiego:
  • A long time ago, V.I.L.E. adopted a baby abandoned in Argentina. At least, that's what they told the child whom they adopted, whom they nicknamed "Black Sheep" or "Lambikins"; Carmen for her part has been questioning the story for a long time. It's revealed that V.I.L.E. is made up of ruthless thieves that will "steal lives" in Carmen's words to get what they want.
    You'd Expect: That "Black Sheep"'s adoptive parents would have been upfront about that last part. As a child, you accept what's normal and Carmen had no other context than what Brunt taught her.
    Instead: As Carmen bitterly recounts, V.I.L.E. lied to her. They made it seem that stealing was just a game, to take an object and taunt the authorities, which was what she did as a child to her teachers and fellow students. The only reason they let her attend the academy young was to make her another soldier, while still lying.
    The Result: Carmen is blindsided when she tags along with a graduating class of thieves and when her best school friend Gray fires on an innocent archaeologist trying to defend a find at a dig. When she makes her escape from V.I.L.E. Island a year later, she severs all ties with V.I.L.E., abandons the "Black Sheep" moniker, and openly declares war.
  • Meanwhile, Carmen has recruited two former thief siblings to her team: Zach and Ivy. Both accompany her on the various heists on V.I.L.E. and provide backup support.
    You'd Expect: Given that Zach doesn't wear any disguises that V.I.L.E. would recognize him, and that they would see Ivy when she's not wearing a wig or beard. Including the time where he impersonated a Duke.
    Instead: V.I.L.E. focuses on Carmen entirely, with taking her down, capturing or executing her.
    The Result: In "The Duke of Vermeer Caper," Zach is able to convince Countess Cleo that he's a Duke to give Carmen time to steal Cleo's collection of stolen Vermeer paintings, and in "The Opera on the Outback Caper" he distracts El Topo by telling him that the subliminal opera music V.I.L.E. is playing is causing the dingos to attack his partner. Ironically, V.I.L.E. does kidnap Chase Devineaux, a Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist, after believing he and Carmen are allied.
  • It's later revealed that Shadow-san was the one who found Carmen as a baby and brought her to V.I.L.E. island. The reason why he was so hard on her and failed her final exam on purpose was to make sure she didn't become a thief, because she had the potential to do better.
    You'd Expect: At any point that Shadow-san would find a way to talk to Carmen discreetly about that he doesn't want her to throw her life away to please him or the other teachers. She has the potential to become a better person than anyone of them can with her compassion and stubborn determination.
    Instead: Shadow-san is a Stern Teacher and Jerkass to Carmen, saying that her recklessness and immaturity will get her killed and she needs to learn discipline. Including the point where she confronts him about failing her on purpose, and they are the only people in the room.
    The Result: When Carmen decides to defect, she does so in such a public way that it makes her V.I.L.E.'s number one target, and the only reason she's not killed off the bat is because Coach Brunt still loves her and the other teachers think she could be a formidable thief for them. Shadow-san was also unable to join her due to playing the part of an obstructive teacher too well, and all he can do is aid her in giving her another hard drive with V.I.L.E. hideouts.
• Castlevania (2017)
  • Dracula appears in a literal ball of fire after the death of his wife, Lisa, at the hands of the people of Wallachia. Dracula tells them he'll never forgive them for her death, and that in one year's time, he'll unleash the hordes of Hell on their town and kill everyone still left there.
    You'd Expect: The people of Wallachia would flee the town in terror. Or at least make plans to escape, seeing as how Dracula gave them a whole year to leave before he'd descend on the town.
    Instead: Not only do they not leave, the people of Wallachia throw a party on the one-year anniversary of Dracula's announcement, believing the Bishop's claims that it was all a mass illusion caused by Satan, specifically to mock Dracula. Predictably, Dracula chooses that moment to come back, making it literally rain blood while summoning a horde of demons that put the entire town to the slaughter, including women and children. Values Dissonance or not, common sense should've told them to haul ass out of Wallachia. The only one who seemed to have the sense was an old woman who left flowers at the remnants of the Belmont house, because she was grateful to Lisa for healing her.
  • The bishop in the meantime comes to Gresit. The night hordes are attacking the city at night, while nomadic Speakers come to help. A rambling drunk monster hunter comes as well, defending the Speakers and revealing he has the knowledge to attack the hordes
    You'd Expect: The bishop would have his priorities straight. People are dying, and they have little to no means of repelling the monsters. He should be doing research as to how to protect the city. It's also his life at stake.
    Instead: He orders the church agents to wipe out the Speakers if they don't leave, blaming them for the demons, and threatens Trevor Belmont who is the last Belmont and has the means to fight monsters.
    The Result: Trevor manages to convince the townspeople that they should value their own lives over scapegoating the Speakers, and the demons make sure to track down the bishop and murder him to avenge Lisa.
  • In season two, we get a flashback to Lisa's arrest. It's revealed that the village wisewoman ratted her out out of pettiness that Lisa's science was more reliable than her homemade remedies from foot skin. Lisa tries to explain to the violent church agents that she uses science that civilization has forgotten, and she has the books to prove it. Also, it's revealed that she's married, and she tries to warn the church agents that if any harm comes to her, then she can't stop her husband from going on a rampage after she spent a decade "improving" him. She's not saying this to save herself, but to save them.
    You'd Expect: The church to realize that Lisa is harmless, and that they would have realized who her husband was a long, long time ago. As we learn, Dracula doesn't exactly have a low profile, due to the fact that he has a moving castle and immense powers. Not to mention his very well-known reputation of impaling people he doesn't like.
    Instead: The bishop assumes her "husband" is Satan, accuses Lisa of being a witch, and takes her away for an inquisition after burning her house down, including the books.
    The Result: Dracula lays waste to Targoviste when he learns what happened to Lisa, and starts on the rest of Wallachia. Several years later, Dracula's demon Blue Fangs tracks down the bishop, is able to invade his church because God doesn't believe in the bishop's true divinity, and murders him after thanking him for motivating Dracula to release the night hordes. To make matters worse, Alucard laments that his father is a man with science, culture, and history, but Lisa's death means that Alucard, Sypha and Trevor have to kill Dracula.
  • During Dracula's rampage, several of his generals are worried. They are asking what they are going to eat if all the humans are wiped out Carmilla tries to pull off a coup by recruiting Hector, one of Dracula's human friends and a necromancer. Hector apparently thinks that it was to keep Dracula in line, not betray him. Their plan goes south anyway when Sypha manages to trap Dracula's castle and bring it to the Belmont Hold.
    You'd Expect: Hector would leave Carmilla in the daylight and start a new life in the ravages of Dracula's war.
    Instead: He waits until dusk to hear of her plans.
    The Result: Carmilla takes the opportunity to enslave him so that he can make a new undead army for her. Hector would fight back, but he's outnumbered and overpowered.
  • In Season 3, Isaac has just found out that Hector, the other forgemaster, has been kidnapped by Carmilla and is being held in her castle as a prisoner in her dungeon. Meanwhile, Isaac knows that Hector and Carmilla betrayed Dracula, but it was Trevor, Alucard and Sypha who killed his friend..
    You'd Expect: He wouldn't stretch himself thin. Focus on one piece of revenge at a time and move on to the next. Or revive Dracula and Lisa first and let him do the honors, even if Lisa protests.
    Instead: Isaac tries to revive Dracula and go to kill Carmilla and Hector at the same time.
    The Result: Although it is a Pyrrhic Victory for the heroes, they manage to stop the first part.
  • Isaac intends to leave by boat to his next destination, but the city guard show up and threaten Isaac and his horde of crafted monsters, ordering him to leave the city immediately. Isaac responds that he fully intends to leave, and that he's making his way to the docks to find a ship.
    You'd Expect: The city guard would just let Isaac leave. Their job is protecting the city, and if Isaac is going to leave anyway, then just let him go. Isaac has a horde of monsters at his beck and call, and he was in a good mood, so he was trying to be reasonable in just leaving by boat like he wants. Maybe the guards could follow him at a safe distance and warn him not to try anything, but not actively antagonize him. As long as he leaves the city like he says he's going to, there's no need to risk any more lives.
    Instead: The guards demand Isaac walk out of the city along with his monsters instead of going to the port, refusing to let him leave of his own accord. Isaac gets so annoyed at dealing with the guards that he has the monsters rip the city guards apart in brutal fashion.
• In the CatDog episode "Mush, Dog, Mush!" Cat and Dog are participating in a sled race, and Cat really wants to win. When Dog gets tired, Cat takes over his place as the runner. They're in first place, and the finish line is in sight.
  You'd Expect: Cat to cross the finish line.
  Instead: Cat is feeling a bit smug. As soon as they're right in front of the finish line, he suddenly stops, slowly lifts up his finger, and places it down on the finish line, going "Oh, yeah!"
  As a result: Everyone passes them, and they don't get first place. And even though it's his own fault, Cat still complains that they were "so darn stinking close!"
• In the Captain Planet episode An Inside Job, Dr. Blight walks into a Rock formation with a clearly visible door, Kwame comes by the Rock formation.
  So You'd Expect: Kwame would use his Earth ring to lift the rock formation or find a way to open the door of the rock formation.
  Instead: He assumes that Dr. Blight is in another place and ignores the rock formation.
  • In The Unbearable Blightness of Being, Dr. Blight constructs a machine that lets her switch bodies with Gaia and uses Gaia's powers to wreck havoc.
    You'd expect: Blight would put her own body in a cage or something similar before the switch, so that Gaia will be trapped in Blight's body. Or, at the very least, inform her "assistant" MAL of the switch.
    Instead: She does none of these things, leaving Gaia able to fight the disasters with Blight's own technology, even getting the Planeteers and MAL on her side.
  • In Mission to Save Earth, Part II, Captain Pollution is being drained of his energy. In pain, Captain Pollution wonder outloud who's responsible for this.
    You'd expect: The Planeteers and Commander Clash to remain hidden and continue draining Captain Pollution's energy until he's dead.
    Instead: Ma-Ti yells that their device is the cause of his energy loss, giving away their position and revealing their secret weapon. MAL hears this and renders the device inoperable. Captain Pollution regains his composure and approach the Planeteers menacingly.
• Chowder:
  • In "Field Tournament Style Up and Down on the Ground Manja Flanja Blanja Banja Ishka Bibble Babble Flabble Doma Roma Floma Boma Jingle Jangle Every Angle Bricka Bracka Flacka Stacka Two Ton Rerun Free For All Big Ball", when playing the eponymous sport, neither side is to score a goal or a Bowser-esque monster will throw away the stadium. Truffles is unaware of that fact and gets bored, begging someone to score, much to the chagrin of Mung Daal.
    You'd Expect: Mung would explain that part to Truffles.
    Instead: He leaves that part out, making his explanations sound more like a case of Honor Before Reason.
  Mung: Winning isn't the point! Only the rules and regulations matter! It's a gentleman's sport! That's how it is, and that's how it always will be, and there's nothing YOU can do about it, so there!
  • As a Result: Truffles takes over as Captain of Goulash United, ending with them scoring a goal, and the monster tosses the stadium. Mung blames Truffles for this, when he could have prevented it by explaining that instead of his other explanation.
  Mung: Now you've destroyed the sport!
  Truffles: I thought you were talking figuratively!
• Clifford the Big Red Dog: The kids in Emily Elizabeth's class try out for "Jane and the Beanstalk," with Jetta getting the lead role and Emily Elizabeth playing Jane's mother. Jetta is a good actress but lazy; she keeps blowing off opportunities to learn her lines.
  You'd Expect: The teachers would schedule regular rehearsals and have a tech crew on hand.
  Instead: The adults don't schedule any rehearsals and instead remind the kids to practice their parts on their own time. Jetta keeps making excuses.
  The Result: On opening night, everyone realizes they don't have a beanstalk until Clifford offers his tail. Jetta is also forced to admit she didn't practice after trying to throw a hissy fit. Emily Elizabeth gets the part because she knows Jane's lines by default, and Jetta is cast as the cow.
• In Code Monkeys, Mr. Larrity is in a high-stakes poker competition against up-and-coming entrepreneur Gill Bates. He's brought Benny with him to help him cheat by staring at his competitors' hands. Benny sees Gill's hand and warns Larrity that it's really good.
  You'd Expect: Larrity to trust Benny and just drop out of the hand, cutting his losses but not making things worse.
  Instead: Larrity completely ignores Benny's advice and bets Gameavision on his hand, which includes cards not even found in a standard deck (including an Old Maid and a blue Uno Reverse). Naturally, he loses spectacularly.
• Codename: Kids Next Door:
  • Operation: C.A.B.L.E.-T.V.: The KND have just defeated a minor villain with a device that changes people's ages.
    You'd expect: Numbuh One would keep this age-changing device to use against the adults, or at least to stop anyone else from getting their hands on it.
    Instead: He throws it away, and the Delightful Children From Down The Lane pick it up.
    The Result: 4.5 episodes later, The Delightful Children use it to turn Numbuh 1 into an adult, forcing him to abandon the KND for a while.
  • In Operation E.N.D., Surpreme Leader Numbuh 274 is faking the ages of several sectors in order to hide the fact he's about to turn 13 by claiming they are 13 and need to be decommissioned. One of the sectors whose ages he changes is Sector V.
    You'd expect: That as gung-ho as she is over decommissioning operatives, Numbuh 86 would realize that something is wrong, considering that she has been going to school with the members of Sector V since kindergarten.
    Instead: She buys it hook, line and sinker, even after Numbuh 1 points out that above fact.
    The Result: 4/5s of Sector V get decommissioned, leaving them much less competent when Numbuh 1 comes back to clean up her and Numbuh 274's messes.
  • Another Numbuh 86 one from the same episode as the above. After everything is settled, she admits that she's too blame for how messy everything got and offers to recommission Sector V as thanks. In order to do this, she has to repair the Recommissioning Module, something that can bring back the memories of anyone decommissioned.
    You'd expect: Her to reveal this fact once she recommissions Sector V. As shown in past episodes, the villains are perfectly willing to take advantage of Kids Next Door tech if they think it will suit their needs.
    Instead: She says nothing about it.
    The Result: Come Operation: Z.E.R.O., Father uses the Recommissioning Module, which was being housed in the KND museum which has very little in the way of security, to reawaken Grandfather, who nearly destroys the Kids Next Door.
  • During Operation I.T, Father has managed to become Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door via a game of tag and prevented a trick from Numbuh 1 for him to give the position up.
    You'd expect: Father to, under no circumstances, begin another game of tag. He's won at this point and he has the Delightful Children for backup.
    Instead: He starts another game to show off how in control of everything he is.
    The Result: Numbuh 362 regains her title and Father is removed from the KND for good.
  • It's proved multiple times that nobody likes Numbuh 13 due to his tendency to screw everything up due to his bumblingness to the point that they would rather be it than have him be the Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door.
    You'd Expect: They would decommission him immediately and kick him out of the group. They can do so before he becomes of age, as shown with Numbuh 363 later on.
    Instead: Somehow nobody, including 362, thought of doing this and kept him within the organization even though he repeatedly proved to be The Load for the team.
  • During Operation G.R.A.D.U.A.T.E.S, the remaining K.N.D modify their birthday suits to protect against Father's animalization ray.
    You'd expect: An agent would fly into the ray wearing the modified suit to test it and see if it really works.
    Instead: They all fly into the ray at once without testing the suits.
    The Result: They end up only delaying the effects of the ray for a few seconds and everyone is turned into animals.
• Craig of the Creek
  • "The Curse": Craig and his friends accidentally spy on two Goth girls they believe to be witches. The two are reading Tarot cards while discussing the future. When they catch Craig and his friends, Craig apologizes and begs to not be cursed.
    You'd Expect: The girls would laugh, explain that Tarot isn't that sort of magic, and just warn the kids to not be so nosy.
    Instead: They pretend to curse Craig and his friends.
    The Result: Craig, JP and Kelsey suffer a bad luck streak and believe they have to defeat the "witches". Laser-Guided Karma ensues for the girls when Kelsey, based on the witchy manga she reads, sprays them with water in the belief that they'll melt.
  • "Escape from Family Dinner": Craig is roped into staying at home for a steak barbecue when Kelsey and J.P. need his help surviving a water fight. At one point his dad is heating up the steaks. They hear Jessica needing help inside.
    You'd Expect: Craig's dad would send Craig inside to help.
    Instead: He runs inside and tells Craig to watch the steaks.
    You'd Then Expect: Craig would either turn off the fire or watch the food as instructed.
    Instead: He tries to escape and leaves the coals unattended.
    Predictabily: The steaks get burned, and if Craig's dad hadn't intervened, the house likely would've gone with them.
  • "The Invitation": Scout Jason and Craig hate each other's guts. They are invited to a tea party with cake and have to spend the whole time talking civilly or they will get kicked out without getting cake. It's revealed that Jason and fellow scout Boris accidentally ruined Craig's collection of maps by opening his and his friends' stump on a rainy day.
    You'd Expect: Jason to have told Craig immediately after the fact and apologized.
    Instead: Jason kept it quiet until he's forced to confess at the tea party. Then he digs himself deeper by claiming it was an inspection to make sure that Craig and his friends weren't storing any contraband. Which isn't an excuse for violating someone's privacy without jurisdiction and ruining their stuff.
    The Result: Craig is tempted to ruin Jason's merit badges in revenge, and would if he didn't realize that the maps getting ruined was a genuine accident and revenge wouldn't accomplish anything. Instead he reveals that the cake is cardboard and in the ensuing foodfight, Jason's badges get ruined anyway.
  • "The End Was Here": Craig, Kelsey, and J.P. go on a quest to find out what started a great war in the creek involving capture the flag. They end up at Jason's house, and Jason tells them rudely but accurately that they can't dig up his yard and he was hoping they actually wanted to spend time with him.
    You'd Expect: Craig to put aside his disdain for Jason and directly tell him about the war and the old books. Jason actually points this out at the end of the episode.
    Instead: He lets Kelsey pull a distraction by injuring J.P. so that he can get the treasure while Jason tends to J.P. He actually does by finding a box of diaries from the ancients.
    You'd Then Expect: Craig would grab the box and hop the fence, or even take the book with the telltale evidence if the box itself is too heavy.
    Instead: He sits with the most important book in the collection and reads it out loud, and Jason can hear it when he goes inside to get medical supplies.
    The Result: Jason chases him down with a Supersoaker. Thanks to the shenanigans, the diary is drenched when Craig is forced to drop it into the river to save Jason from falling. Jason does apologize, to his credit, when he hears the full story, and Craig in turn apologizes for excluding him from the adventure as well as digging up his yard. They commit to solving the mystery together, making him their fourth ranger. Both boys also get grounded due to Craig digging up Jason's yard.
• Crashbox: In one episode of "Sketch Pad", a man who is later revealed to be the night watchman is sleeping and has a dream about his boss being in a car accident.
  You'd Expect: The man to just keep quiet about it, or at least refrain from saying anything about the dream.
  Instead: He tells his boss about the dream and gets fired for being asleep on the job. Sketch describes it best.
  Sketch: When he told his boss about his dream, he may as well have signed his own pink slip.
• The Cuphead Show!: During the episode, "Roll The Dice", King Dice discovers that Cuphead, who owes the Devil, King Dice's boss, his soul, has stumbled into his game show, which is another way to get souls.
  You'd Expect: King Dice to wait until after Cuphead has won to reveal this fact to his boss. While his game show is quite rigged, the first two rounds still have chances to lose and that means a chance Cuphead might walk free. Not to mention, the Devil has a nasty temper. As such, if the Devil doesn't know he played, King Dice can't be punished for letting him go.
  Instead: King Dice calls the Devil as soon as he realizes who Cuphead is and to play, overconfident that the kid will win.
  As a result: Cuphead proves to be too stupid to make it through the game normally and too proud to accept a rigged win. Thus, he escapes while King Dice is harshly chewed out by the Devil and replaced by Henchman.

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