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{{trope}}
[[File:analysis.jpg|link=Clannad
{{quote|As it turns out, this towering blond monster who casually told Sylvester Stallone, "I will break you," could have, in fact, probably calculated the amount of effort (in force pounds per square inch and Joules expenditure) needed to do just that in his head.
|''[[Cracked.com]],'' on [[Dolph Lundgren]], from the article [http://www.cracked.com/article_15753_8-celebrities-you-didnt-know-were-geeks_p2.html#ixzz1exN0ezK9 8 Celebrities You Didn't Know Were Geeks]}}
Some people learn by [[Badass Bookworm|flipping pages.]] Some people must gain knowledge [[Taught By Experience|through pain.]] Some people study by [[Taught
▲{{quote|As it turns out, this towering blond monster who casually told Sylvester Stallone, "I will break you," could have, in fact, probably calculated the amount of effort (in force pounds per square inch and Joules expenditure) needed to do just that in his head.|''[[Cracked]],'' on [[Dolph Lundgren]], from the article [http://www.cracked.com/article_15753_8-celebrities-you-didnt-know-were-geeks_p2.html#ixzz1exN0ezK9 8 Celebrities You Didn't Know Were Geeks]}}
Most skills take a certain measure of practice to master... unless you are [[Good
▲Some people learn by [[Badass Bookworm|flipping pages.]] Some people must gain knowledge [[Taught By Experience|through pain.]] Some people study by [[Taught By Television|television.]] And then there are those who [[Super Intelligence|just have to observe]]...
▲Most skills take a certain measure of practice to master... unless you are [[Good With Numbers]]. [[Hard Work Hardly Works|Those lucky few]] can substitute careful examination in place of careful practice, with the same results: success.
Need to make a million-to-one shot to stop the Doomsday Device from exploding the world, but have never even fired a gun? Just run off some mental calculations about your gun's firing speed, friction, gravity and the slightly off-kilter scope (how exactly the analyzer knows all those variables is pretty much always handwaved or never explained), and it's a done deal. Or defeat a jujitsu master by logically anticipating where his next strike will come from and remaining one step ahead. Mental capacity is limitless when the plot is at stake!
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If he has time to explain himself, it always sounds something like "[[If My Calculations Are Correct]]". Of course, explaining it [[Unspoken Plan Guarantee|gives it a chance to fail]]. Relatedly, two awesomeness analysts don't really need to explain anything to each other, they can do it by [[Talking Through Technique]].
The most common cause of [[Badass Bookworm]] syndrome, and often results from [[The Professor]] having [[Omnidisciplinary Scientist|a doctorate in general knowledge rather than any one field]], while The [[Clock King]] can do this thanks to precise attention to detail and patterns. Characters who get to skip the analysis altogether due to some form of copycat power are [[Power Copying]]. [[Exactly What I Aimed At]] usually comes from this trope. They are most likely screwed if the opponent knows [[Confusion Fu]]. [[The Profiler]] does this with people. An author may use [[Super
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
== [[Anime]]
* Kid Buu from ''[[Dragon Ball
** This was also how Goku first learned to do his trademark Kamehameha blast in ''Dragon Ball''.
** Vegeta himself is an excellent example of this trope, when he learns how to sense ki by having witnessed the Z fighters do so.
** Back when Yamcha was the main [[Butt Monkey]] and Tien was the current [[Jerkass]] villain, Yamcha threw his very first on-screen Kamehameha. Tien was less than impressed, and fired one right back at him. Keep in mind that Master Roshi spent ''50 years'' perfecting this technique.
*** Let's elaborate a bit on the whole Kamehameha thing. Goku managed to perform a smaller version of it after seeing Master Roshi do it once for the first time. The second was Yamcha who used it, during the second Tenkaichi Budokai, presumably after seeing Roshi and Goku in the past. Next came Krilin, on that same tournament, who did an improvised yet effective one, again after seeing Goku and Yamcha. Finally, Ten Shin Han launched a powerful one merely after seeing it once. Note that Roshi never taught any of them said technique and was quite surprised when they managed to pull it by themselves.
** Android 16 seems to have a knack for analysing the power and abilities of others, immediately sensing Piccolo's fusion. In a show where everyone is constantly underestimating their opponent, this sticks out.
* This ability to copy techniques and instantly comprehend motion is the main source of the Sharingan's power in ''[[
** To say nothing of Shikamaru. During the fight with Tayuya, he managed to learn the pattern of the music-controlled summoned creatures by watching her fingers as she played her flute.
** Even Konoha's own #1 loud mouth ninja (post time-skip) develops his own form of battle analysis, using his Shadow Clones in Trial-and-Error fighting until he forms a winning strategy.
*** {{spoiler|This is how Naruto wins most of his fights, but his greatest victories are when he doesn't use Kage Bushins. For example, when facing the [[Badass Grandpa|Third Raikage]] in battle, he learned from [[Did We Just Have Tea
** This is also ignoring Sasuke's ability to create strategies by figuring out exactly how his opponent fights, which has nothing to do with the Sharingan itself, but rather his own Analysis which is enhanced by the Sharingan.
** And then there's Neji, who managed to figure out the Hyuuga's ultimate defense technique, despite the fact that it is supposed to be the exclusive property of the clan head and heir, and he isn't even on the list of possible successors.
* Misaki of ''[[
* This is how Vash the Stampede in ''[[Trigun]]'' is so awesome with his gunmanship. In one episode, he even surreptitiously throws a rock between gun duelists to deflect a bullet in mid-flight away from a lethal trajectory.
** He, does, however, have the advantage of being {{spoiler|over a hundred}} years old and has had plenty of time to hone his skills. Still, his physical abilities combined with his high mental abilities are what allows him to pull off such stunts.
** Indeed, Vash was even able to dodge bullets by noting the trajectory of a gun just as the wielder began to pull the trigger, giving him a head start on moving out of the way.
* Ranma from ''[[Ranma
** Note that understanding a technique doesn't always mean being able to defeat it, as Ranma specifically admitted to never figuring out how to counter Herb's Soaring Dragon Spirit technique.
*** He did figure out how to dodge it though, as he now knew what it was (invisible bouncing ki-blasts) and thus knew what to look (sense) for.
* In ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (
** Then in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh (
** Also, while this aspect wasn't quite as prominent in the second anime, Yami is incredibly good at analyzing his environment and developing strategies against brutal gang members. One of the prime examples is the "trigger" trap in the chapter where Jounouchi gets tortured by Hirutani's gang with stun guns. Yami lets one of the guys hit him so that he can lead the gang to puddle, telling them that a time bomb is going up unless they find a trigger. Hirutani quickly figures out that if they use the stun guns in the rain, they might actually hurt themselves. This wasn't the trigger though. The trigger was the arm of one of the gang member's, who was lying by the puddle after getting kicked by Jounouchi, stun gun still in his hand that is kept up by a metal pipe. Above his head, Yami had tied his Millenium Puzzle so that water drops on his face, waking him slowly. The moment he stirs, the metal pipe that held up his arm falls to the side, and he drops the stun gun into the puddle.
* Ryosuke Takahashi of ''[[Initial D]]'', one of the hero's main rivals, is said to be the only racing driver who trains on the
** To further prove his awesomeness, in 4th stage once he asks Takumi to wait for his opponent for a few seconds, lowering his speed in the first part of the race, having understood just by watching him that the opponent is awesome by analysis himself. The opponent is in fact so good that in the little time he studies Takumi's car by following him he realizes Takumi's weak point. Ryosuke does that on purpose so that their opponent can prepare a strategy in the following race, to teach Takumi to understand his weak points and improve his ability. This means he is so smart that he actually uses another awesome by analysis character as a pawn, predicting all of his further reasoning and reaction. He's 3 steps ahead of a common awesome by analysis character. This kind of [[The Chessmaster|foreshadowing]] rivals that of [[Code Geass
* [[Teen Genius|Kotomi]] attempts to pull this off during a baseball game in the first episode of ''[[Clannad (
** Subverted in the [[Visual Novel]] when Kotomi attempts this with a claw machine.
* Manabu Yukimitsu from ''[[
** Hiruma and Mamori aren't too shabby either.
** Takami, quarterback for the Ojou White Knights also runs on this trope.
** Parodied by Sasuke Kanagushi of the Dokubari Scorpions, who pays attention to the little details in the opposing players' position to accurately predict their moves. Unfortunately, he was up against Hiruma who Takami says "His enemy's just [[Magnificent Bastard|plain too evil]]." How Hiruma tricks him? Using ''[[It Makes Sense in Context|blush and lipstick.]]''
* Awesomeness of Lelouch from ''[[
** He also pulls this in the first season when a detailed study of the "White Armor"'s fighting style allows for prediction and preemptive countermeasures which almost result in the Lancelot's destruction - "almost" because a missed strike at the cockpit reveals its pilot to be his childhood friend Suzaku, inducing a brief [[Heroic BSOD]] in Lelouch.
** And he does it again late in ''R2'' when he rapidly calculates (partly in his head, partly using his Frame's computer) several dozens of environment parameters under extreme time pressure to {{spoiler|cancel out the a FLEJA explosion}}. Even the inventor of FLEJA, Nina Einstein, admits she wouldn't be able to do it fast enough.
*** He also records a video that gives the appearance of talking to {{spoiler|Schneizel}} (already a [[Magnificent Bastard
* {{spoiler|King Bradley}} in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (
** All alchemists are this in general since they often have to understand and utilize the material in their surroundings to use their ability.
* One chapter of ''[[
* With one TV announcement L from ''[[
** Light Yagami himself qualifies; this is a key part of much of his success, allowing him to keep pace with L and, later, Mello and Near.
* Touma from ''[[
** Index herself. Within a space of roughly three seconds, she correctly identifies the history, style and pretty much everything about a giant rock monster that had just appeared. The awesome part comes when she takes partial control of it by apparently ''reciting letters at it'' and causing it to miss/punch itself. Oh, and this is without her using magic, because apparently she can only do that under special circumstances or something and doesn't know she can at all.
*** Considering that her mind contains knowledge of pretty much everything to do with magic, it's more a matter of her having a really fast ability to access that stored knowledge. (Considering that she holds 103,000 books worth of magical knowledge in her head, it's still a pretty impressive feat.)
*** She still has to figure out what's going on and decide what to do. It's analysis and just happening to have a gigantic resource to draw on.
** Also Accelerator. Yes, he won the superpower lottery, obviously, but it's entirely reliant on his knowledge of mathematics ie. if he wants to stomp his foot and make a gigantic rippling wave of doom, he needs to know how to actually ''do'' that. He knows how to shot web.
*** Not just Accelerator. '''''
** Touma still counts, I mean he perfectly calculated the trajectory and velocity of a flying F-15 jet coming near him in like five seconds, he also subconsciously finds ways to counteract the abilities of his enemies. Like how he is able to block Misaka's railgun which goes three times the speed of sound, or Accelerators black wings of badass by using his own weakness of not being able to negate strong powers instantly.
* [[Mad Scientist|Urahara Kisuke]] from ''[[
** Ishida is known to do this as well, most notably in his fight with Cirucci Thunderwitch. Mayuri appears to be fond of doing this as well. Hell, pretty much any character in ''Bleach'' has had one of these moments sooner or later [[Attack! Attack! Attack!|except Ichigo and Chad]].
** How come {{spoiler|Aizen}} wasn't mentioned? Prior to {{spoiler|turning into an [[Eldritch Abomination]]}}, clearly one of his main and most impressive skills was analyzing people around him and using their emotions and ideals to his benefit!
** Espada #1 Coyote Starrk is extremely observant, helped by his seemingly perfect vision. He's able to figure out how Ukitake and Kyoraku's powers work after seeing them a few times. His [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] was {{spoiler|figuring out how the color game works.}}
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** Though he doesn't apply it in battle, Barragan showed shades of this. By simply listening and analyzing Aizen and Yamamoto's rather vague comments, he was quickly able to figure out how to bring the real Karakura Town back.
** {{spoiler|Tsukishima}} has displayed this ability, somewhat. It's not so much that he analyzes, it's just that he {{spoiler|uses his Fullbring on your sword and, thanks to its powers, now knows - [[Time Travel Tense Trouble|and has already known]] - your every weakness.}}
* Kenshiro from ''[[
** An even more appropriate example is the villain Amiba [[Spell My Name
* Parodied with a [[Mook]] in ''[[
** Also played straight with Maka and Kidd. Maka's ability to analyse and discern who and what her enemies are (as well as how to beat them) makes her a serious threat to anyone, while Kidd (when he's not stressed out over his OCD) proves that his ability to extrapolate a fight makes him a brilliant strategist. And then there's Stein (who has a bloody doctorate in
* [[Badass Bookworm|Kiyomaro Takamine]] of ''[[Zatch Bell
** Once he learns that Robnos's laser beam attack reflects multiple times, he calculates the angles instantly and hides himself and Gash in the attack's blind spot.
** When Gash still gets hit by the attack, Kiyomaro deduces that Robnos has a clone, explaining why he survived Gash's lightning attack without a scratch.
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** Dufaux much? His ability {{spoiler|Answer Talker, which he shares with Kiyomaro}} is literally KNOWING EVERYTHING. He actually just walks into an attack from Ropes, {{spoiler|sustaining no more damage than a big hole ripped in the shoulder of his jacket.}} He then proceeds to {{spoiler|pin Apollo to a wall and burn his book, only casting his first spell the entire battle if I remember correctly. If not, only one mid-level spell to defeat their trump spell.}}
** And Momon. And just about everyone. Really, it's about the premise of the show here.
* You know those attacks {{spoiler|Vivio}} was flinging around at the end of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
** Also in ''StrikerS'', Teana's personal "graduation fight" consisted of knocking out three combat cyborgs ''at once'' by predicting their moves. She didn't have much choice but to think very hard, either: all three were way above her in both combat skill and power, and she was crippled, to boot.
* It can be said that this is Negi Springfield from ''[[
** Of course, it also helps that he has a truly ridiculous amount of power as well, further amped by Evangeline's [[Training
** Same goes for Yue. She's able to recognize an illusory dimension and KO a griffin dragon by analyzing their properties. It helps that her artifact is a [[Great Big Book of Everything]].
** Jack Rakan as well. {{spoiler|After witnessing Negi's speed and concluding that he can't match it, he is still able to hit, block, and dodge him. He explains that he is able to predict ''where'' he will move to.}}
*** Rakan's abilities come from fighting another Lightning guy and using what he learned from that battle, he even says so himself.
* Satsuki, the local (evil?) brainiac of ''[[X
* ''[[The Prince of Tennis]]'', anyone? There's a whole style of tennis based on analyzing your opponent's moves, abilities, statistics, etcetera, and then using it to beat them. It's called Data Tennis. It's utilized most extensively by Yanagi Renji and Inui Sadaharu, although it is used to a lesser (or at least, less successful) extent by Mizuki. Konjiki Koharu and Dan Taichi also show a tendency for Data Tennis, though in Koharu's case it is largely overshadowed by his Comedy Tennis, and Dan is yet to actually use his data in a match (largely due to the fact that, at least in manga canon, he is yet to HAVE a match).
** Jokingly subverted by all of Inui's non-Tennis sports attempts. When playing billiards, the others assume he'll be good at it, even going so far as to say "It seems like a game he'd be good at, neh?" He then proceeds to lose horribly. Another time, when they go bowling, he chooses a light ball because it should be easier to control... but in bowling, a light ball tends to get excessive spin, making it ironically DIFFICULT to control. He spends the whole game making one point per turn, because he can only get the ball to hit the far left pin.
*** Every time this happens, he grimaces, gets [[Scary Shiny Glasses]], and thinks a stunned "''Illogical...''"
* Seems to be a characteristic of Fukumoto Nobuyuki main characters. [[Akagi]] defeats seasoned professional mah jongg players just by watching them play, and ultimately wins by making a play that most would consider suicide. [[Kaiji]] is able to grasp the nature of the one-sided gambles he finds himself in and creates plans to help get him out of tough situations.
* Tirawit from ''[[Kenichi:
** Siegfried and Odin also use a variant: they dodge and counter their opponent's attacks by learning their "rhythm", which allows them to predict the opponent's next move. In both cases Kenichi attempts to trip them up by performing random stunts unrelated to fighting (Siegfried) or radically altering his fighting technique at quick intervals (Odin).
* Emerald from ''[[
** Pearl can also tell what move a Pokémon is about to make before it makes it by observing its movements and stance, allowing him to figure out a counter beforehand.
*** Black can use his Munna to clear his mind completely, and can determine what sort of Pokemon he's up against using various clues.
** In the anime, Tracey has this ability as one of the perks of being a Pokémon Watcher.
** Also in the anime, Max ''thinks'' he's this, [[Small Name, Big Ego|but]] the few times we see him battle he has trouble getting his plan rolling quickly enough. Granted, he's seven and has no actual experience whatsoever.
* Pretty much most of the characters in ''[[
* In ''[[
* The male lead of ''[[
* Kenshin from ''[[
** It also hurt him in his battle against [[Dissonant Serenity|Soujiro]] [[Super Speed|Seta]], who was emotionless/ki-less, and therefore, unreadable. Kenshin pretty much flounders during the first half of the fight, but {{spoiler|is able to turn it around when Soujiro suffers a [[Villainous Breakdown|nervous breakdown]].}}
* In ''[[
* Toru of ''[[
* Keima from ''[[
* In the [[Sports Stories|sports manga]] ''[[
* From ''[[Black Cat (
* This is, [[Informed Ability|at least in theory]], a skill possessed by every Athena Saint in ''[[
* Erza Scarlet from ''[[Fairy Tail]]'' was able to figure out the weaknesses of Midnight's powers after three exchanges.
* In ''[[Digimon Tamers]]'', one of the D-Reaper's agents was able to replicate the Digimon's attacks after seeing them only once.
== [[Comic Books]] ==▼
▲== Comic Books ==
* Beast of ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' has defeated [[Hawkeye]] at billiards through calculation of angles. (Avengers, around issue 198)
** Cyclops is similarly good at pool, seeing as he's had to memorize complex trigonometric techniques to make sure his optic blasts go wherever he wants. Its implied/stated to be part of his powers.
* Mr. Fantastic of the ''[[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Fantastic Four]]'' lives on this trope. Being stretchy and somewhat more resistant to bullets than the normal person would not be the most impressive superpower (though still better than no powers at all), but when it's backed up by a brain that can build nearly anything, including a planet-buster-buster, he's a lot more dangerous.
* [
** Bruce Banner has this too when he isn't the [[
* [[Marvel Universe]]'s Anti-Hero-Villain [[Taskmaster]] can do this with any physical skill he has seen at least once and is physically capable of duplicating (and even some that he shouldn't be). However, what makes this
** In fact, he's so good at it that governments have been shown to hire him to train law-enforcement to take down supervillains.
** This power, however, requires the subject to act sanely and in a recognizable pattern. [[Daredevil]] once defeated him by acting at random (eventually tricking Taskmaster into stepping into traffic), and he is powerless against [[Deadpool]].
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** He is a bit stronger than a normal human, because of the superior genetics of the Inhumans. Still, he has been shown to damage ''Ultron'' with a well-placed strike. And pushing the awesomeness even further: this is not a "superpower." He was never exposed to the Terrigan Mists, like other Inhumans, so his abilities are the result of training and discipline. Eat your heart out, Batman.
** This is also the power of ''[[Top Ten]]'' Detective King Peacock, although his justification is [[Satan Is Good|rather odd.]] (He talks to Satan. Apparently.)
* This is pretty much the whole shtick of the [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'s [[Heel Face Turn
* Over in DC, [[Batman]] is said to have a second major in this, as he is very very much a detective and criminologist when his preplanning everything didn't succeed immediately.
** An epitomal example of this trope in action comes in ''[[Batman: Year One]]'' when Bruce Wayne first encounters street hooker [[Catwoman (
*** Which may have been a shout-out to the [[Adam West]] ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' series, in which Catwoman is rendered incapable of using ''karate'' against Batman because it's a defensive martial art and he refuses to attack her (?)
** Same goes for Batman's evil counterpart Prometheus, who has created technology that analyzes an opponent's fighting style, allowing him to simulate it perfectly.
** Batman villain Bane became a master of several martial arts and sciences simply by reading every book he could get his hands on. After Bane holds his own against world-class swordsman Ra's al-Ghul, Ra's criticizes his lack of flair and implies that Bane learned sword fighting entirely from reading books on the subject.
* The Midnighter of ''[[The Authority]]'' starts every battle by first running the whole thing through the supercomputer in his head a few million times, analysing every possible outcome, so he'll know precisely how the battle will go, and what he'll have to do. He's particularly fond of telling people that he's already beaten them a few million times, so doing it once more will be simple.
** He even put this on a business card once in an effort to save time. This failed, as the card ended up in his forehead. Ow.
** Though this was [[Inverted Trope|rather effectively inverted]] in ''[[Captain Atom]]: Armageddon''. The Midnighter saw Captain Atom as just another target for a [[No
** And it totally fails when a supervillain summons the Joker. [[The Joker]], despite being entirely human, is so psychotic and unpredictable that ''the only thing'' Midnighter can do is [[Logic Bomb|stand there staring at him]].
** Another failure came about in the miniseries ''Human on the Inside'', in which Midnighter's opponent thwarted him by declining to make the first move, reasoning that Midnighter could only derive the possibilities for the fight once his opponent made an opening move. Fans seem divided over whether that's really how the power was supposed to work.
* Another [[Wildstorm]] example would be Paris of ''[[Stormwatch PHD]]'' who developed his talent for precision violence via [[The Gift|innate instinct]], [[Training
* Shockwave in the Marvel ''[[Transformers]]'' series (not to be confused with Shockwave in the cartoon series, who was totally different) was like this, able to calculate probabilities of situational outcomes to exact percentages. It didn't hurt that he was, y'know, an actual computer.
** The IDW Shockwave is no slouch at this either, and not just for calculating probabilities or discovering weakness, either. During a fight with the Dinobots, he is astonished by the irrationality of their attack, and deducts that it's driven by anger, an emotion that he finds irrational and normally pointless. However, once he sees how it seems to drive up their ability to fight, he patches together a "rage" emulator into his mind, and goes absolutely berserk, single-handedly dominating the Dinobots, and then puts this so-called "anger" on the back-burner for later analysis.
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* Destiny Ajaye in the upcoming Top Cow series ''[[Genius]]'' has this ability which she uses to co-ordinate gang warfare on a national scale.
* In ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' crossover ''Necrosha'', a resurrected, [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] Doug Ramsey easily beats up the ''[[New Mutants]]'' by using his [[Omniglot]] power to "translate" the nonverbal language of their [[Attack Pattern Alpha]], predicting their every move. He loses the upper hand when Karma mind controls the whole team, causing them to [[Confusion Fu|move erratically]].
* In ''[[Watchmen (
* Finesse from ''[[The Avengers (Comic Book)|Avenger's Academy]]'' has a similar ability to the Taskmaster's: the ability to master any physical skill she sees performed. So much so that she actually wonders if she might be Taskmaster's daughter.
* This is supposedly how Helix sees the world in IDW's ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' series. It is the explanation for her kickass combat abilities that make her a match for Snake-Eyes.
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* In a ''[[Harry Potter and
* This is Hermione Granger's stock-in-trade in the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' fic ''[[The Arithmancer]]'' -- a mathematical prodigy capable of performing complex calculations in her head, she tests into Arithmancy in her first year, and goes on to publish ground-breaking work in professional journals and apply principles of chemistry, physics ''and'' physiology to magic with astounding (and sometimes ''terrifying'') results.
== [[
▲* In a ''[[Harry Potter and The Methods of Rationality (Fanfic)|Harry Potter and The Methods of Rationality]]'' [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/64/Harry_Potter_and_the_Methods_of_Rationality omake] about what it would look like if it was about ''[[Lord of the Rings]]'', Frodo implied that, even if [[Evil Cannot Comprehend Good|Evil Could Not Comprehend Good]] intuitively, that won't keep Sauron from figuring it out this way.
* The [[Badass]] "Tetragrammaton Clerics" of ''[[Equilibrium]]'' are masters of the [[Gun Kata]]: through analysis of thousands of recorded gunfights, they know where bullets are most likely to be at any given time, and they simply aren't in those places. Likewise, they also don't aim so much as they shoot at all the places where people are probably standing.
* This is the whole premise of the Thai martial arts film ''[[
* In ''[[Ice Princess]]'', Michelle Trachtenberg is a math and physics nerd who applies her skills to becoming a figure skater, utilizing it to figure out how fast an ideal spin is and how much power she needs to apply to do it, and so on. She goes from 0 to competing for a U.S. Nationals spot in a few weeks.
** That said, it is implied that her character has skated recreationally for many years, and so at least has a little advantage in the area of previously-gained experience.
* In the film ''[[The
* This is hilariously subverted in the film ''[[Im Juli]]''. The main character, a physics teacher, must get a car across a river with a [[Benevolent Architecture|conveniently placed ramp]]. He does some calculations in the sand, drives the car off the ramp, and sails through the air... only to land in the middle of the river.
** It's played with in ''[[Road Trip]]'' - Ruben calculates that the car will need to be going [[American Customary Measurements|50 miles/hour]] to jump the broken bridge. After EL spits over the gap - and causes the bridge to collapse further - he revises it to 75. They make the jump fine...but the car's axles break and, after they all get clear, [[Every Car Is a Pinto|it blows up.]]
* In the Kid N Play movie ''Class Act'', uber-nerd Duncan becomes a star football player by using geometry and physics to kick perfect field goals.
* Richard B Riddick's [[
** The Crematoria prison escape begins with Riddick giving a detailed description of what they guys currently escaping the prison are doing, and concludes by saying it's a good plan. When another prison asks him how he knows their plan, he replies, "It was mine."
* [[Sherlock Holmes]] has always had shades of this, but the [[Sherlock Holmes (
** The 2011 sequel, A Game of Shadows takes this to awesome new extremes with FUCKING MORIARTY interrupting Holmes' INNER MONOLOGUE with an in-depth rebuttal, detailing just how he will counter Holmes' attempts to beat the shit out of him. Needless to say, the cinema this troper saw it in pretty much exploded from the sheer awesome.
* Basil has a very pronounced moment of awesomeness near the end of ''[[
** And then, just to rub it in Ratigan's face, he grabs Dawson and Olivia, cheerfully cries, "Smile everyone!" and poses with the two of them with a massive shit-eating grin on his face, in front of the camera that would have photographed the moment of the final blow.
** Although Dawson deserves some of the credit; Basil's wrapped up in self-pity before Dawson finally snaps him out of it by frustratedly yelling that if all Basil's going to do is lie in the trap feeling sorry for himself, they might as well set it off.
{{quote|
* In ''[[How to Train Your Dragon (
* Victor Creed, a clawed and beastlike creature with abilities similar to [[Wolverine]] in ''[[X Men Origins: Wolverine
* In ''[[Ink]]'', the pathfinder is able to cause a car accident to happen despite barely being able to affect the physical world by being in sync with the flow of events. He creates a Rube Goldberg machine made out of people in order to shake up someone who sorely needs it.
* Anybody who takes the [[Fantastic Drug]] in ''[[Limitless]]'' temporarily gains this.
* The winning shot [[Happy Gilmore]] uses to defeat Shooter [[Mc Gavin]] is definitely awesome by analysis.
== [[Literature]] ==▼
* C. Auguste Dupin in [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s early ''The Purloined Letter'' and ''The Murders in Rue Morgue'' is practically the [[Ur Example]] of this trope.
▲== Literature ==
* ''[[Discworld]]'':
▲* C. Auguste Dupin in [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s early ''The Purloined Letter'' and ''The Murders in Rue Morgue'' is practically the [[Ur Example]] of this trope.
** In the
** His excuse for this is that he's spent decades juggling different parts of his city's political and murderous groups. However, the fact that he's a trained assassin with excellent reflexes probably helps... Furthermore, it would be quite in character for Vetinari to be lying about not having done it before.
** He does, however, appear mystified that anyone should think it amazing that he can do this.
*** Although juggling is something only ''The Fools Guild'' does, not assassins. (Alternate interpretation: juggling ''badly'' is something only Fools do...)
**** The two schools ''are'' next door to each other. Considering the Fools Guild teaches Battle Clowning (imagine a martial art based on typical clown motifs) Vetinari probably stealthily observed lessons or may have even taken part in them in disguise.
** This trope is pretty much all Vetinari does. At the end of ''[[
** ''[[
* In ''The Arctic Incident'', [[
** In ''The Lost Colony'', he {{spoiler|saves Holly's life
* Literary (and to some extent, historical) example: In ''Claudius the God'' (the second part of ''[[I, Claudius]]'', though it is downplayed in the TV adaptation), Claudius - who was frail and had spent years [[Obfuscating Stupidity|playing the fool]] before being forced to take the throne - leads the Roman forces to victory against the Britons through his extensive knowledge of historical tactics and his heavy use intelligence about the enemy's social structure and favored tactics.
* Grand Admiral Thrawn, from [[The Thrawn Trilogy]], with the ability to find a species' weakness just by looking at their artwork. And, for that matter, figure out their general biological traits (dominantly left- or right-handed, number of fingers or limbs used, perceptual or biorhythmic flaws) as well as traits of those who created or even just favor a particular piece. Notably another character who was supposed to have his tactical insight couldn't do a number of things Thrawn could, and never so much as looked at a painting.
** Thrawn also had one "failure", where the inferences he'd made after looking at the art proved utterly wrong. In a dialogue with Pellaeon, Thrawn specifically says that his failure to understand a species' art led to him being forced to eradicate said race. Years later, he thinks he's finally starting to grasp their psyche. Such a pity.
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*** Thrawn ''always'' liked explaining things. He just did so in more detail in ''Outbound Flight''.
** Thrawn's [[The Watson]], Gilad Pellaeon, [[Legacy Character|graduates to this]] in ''[[Hand of Thrawn]]''. While not a match for Thrawn's ability, he successfully deduces that a fleet of attackers supposedly led by Garm Bel Iblis cannot be, by ''using one of Bel Iblis` own tactics'' to defeat it.
** Sort of used and subverted in ''[[Star Wars
** Mace Windu does this all the time. His main Force power is to detect "shatterpoints"; where to hit things, including situations or people's minds, so they break. On several occasions, he has been without a visible shatterpoint and still managed to come out on top. Just before the climax of his feature novel ([[Shatterpoint|guess the name!]]), there's a scene of him "looking" at the shatterpoints for himself, the people around him, the mountain he's on, the war the planet is in, and possibly the entire Clone Wars. It's basically [[Matt Stover]]'s way of saying "[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Hold onto yer butts]]."
** Wraith Squadron pilot [[Genius Bruiser|Voort "Piggy" saBinring]], from the [[X Wing Series]]. A mentally enhanced [[Pig Man|Gamorrean]] who happens to be [[Good
* ''The Demon Device'', by Robert Saffron, has Albert Einstein using this method in a game of pool against Arthur Conan Doyle. Although Einstein has never played pool before he scores well, though it's not clear if he wins the game.
* Professor Derek in ''[[The Gone-Away World]]'' by Nick Harkaway, who claims to be so incredibly smart that, despite being an enormous nerd, he's able to emulate normal human behavior patterns through pure analysis.
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* Kiriyama of ''[[Battle Royale]]'' might be the ultimate example of this, as he possesses a prodigious intelligence that is able to master virtually any field of knowledge from biology to martial arts and combine them to incredibly deadly effect. Oh, and he's also a completely amoral and emotionless sociopath, which makes tangling with him ''loads'' of fun.
* ''Lord Loss'', the first book of Darren Shan's ''[[The Demonata]]'' series, features a subversion. The main character is playing chess against a Demon Lord in order to {{spoiler|save the life of his brother}}. However, every move he makes is repelled and countered until he realises that the only way to win is to {{spoiler|stop thinking and simply play randomly, taking risks and not showing fear or sorrow, which is what the demon master craves. In this way he denies the demon master what he wants, and beats him,}} although in doing so {{spoiler|he makes himself a life-long enemy of the demon master.}} Uh oh.
* The Mentats of Frank Herbert's ''[[Dune]]'' series may be the most fundamentally realistic example of this trope in literature, though their feats of deduction and analysis are labeled as necessarily superhuman even within the context of the books. Miles Teg's {{spoiler|T-probe induced, calorie-intensive "faster than the eye can see" mode}} could be described as {{spoiler|exceedingly advanced prana-bindu training coupled with a version of this ability above and beyond even other Mentats}}, especially considering Herbert specifically describes {{spoiler|"Mentat mode" computation as being calorie-intensive to a lesser degree}}.
* In ''[[
** Miles' clone brother Mark assumes he also inherited this talent for military analysis and is proven disastrously wrong. Later, however, he discovers his own genius level aptitude for economics. It appears that their shared analytical skill is genetic but the field of application is influenced by their upbringing (Miles on the warlike Barrayar, Mark on the mercenary Jackson's Whole).
* In "Improbable" by Adam Fawer, David Caine is already so good at calculating probabilities in his head that his graduate professor nicknames him, "[
* [[Sherlock Holmes]] might very well be this trope's [[Ur Example]]. At least once in every single story Sir [[
* One of the many things that makes [[Pint
* Vin does this to defeat Zane in ''[[Mistborn]]''. {{spoiler|Having already run out of atium, a metal that gives the person using it the ability to see and react a few seconds into the future, Vin counters Zane's attack by clearing her mind and reacting solely on instinct. She then watches his movements as he prepares to block her attack and strikes from the complete opposite side.}}
* This is the secret weapon of ''[[Inspector Spector]]'': he sold his soul to Satan to be the world's greatest detective. (not [[Batman|THAT]] detective)
* In Laura Ingalls Wilder's ''[[Little House
== [[Live
* The Borg, in ''[[Star Trek:
* Data of ''[[Star Trek:
* In the ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'' episode "Carbon Creek," the Vulcans survive on Earth by making money hustling pool.
** Tuvok tried the same thing on ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' when playing pool on the holodeck. Unfortunately for him, he didn't account for the table being slightly off-balance.
** This may have been influenced by [[
** An episode of ''[[Quantum Leap]]'' showed a variation of this, where Al uses a holographic projection of ball trajectories imposed over a pool table to allow Sam to impersonate a skilled player.
** In these cases it's completely justified. Professional pool players are so good due to Awesomeness By Analysis in the first place.
* Avoided in ''[[Numb3rs]]'', wherein the super-brain Charlie Eppes tries, among other things, golf and sniping, and learns that knowing math simply isn't enough. It requires some kind of instinct or gut feeling to get it right. But the [[An Aesop|Aesop]] the whole way through the series is one of synthesizing maths with the everyday skills of the FBI... Or something.
** Averted ''hard'' when Charlie and Larry become college basketball coaches. They only manage to get their team their first win in years when Larry hires ''professional basketball players'' as his graduate assistants.
* In ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', Sylar's original super power was analysis. By "understanding how things work", he's able to take the super powers of others, and also rapidly master those superpowers while their original owners either [[How Do I Shot Web?|had trouble using them]], or [[Power Incontinence|couldn't stop using them uncontrollably]].
** Contrast with Monica Dawson in Season 2. She has the ability to [[Mega Manning|automatically copy]] any physical action she sees without any analysis whatsoever.
** In Season 3, Peter absorbs Sylar's ability in order to use it to understand the show's plot. No, really.
*** To clarify, he's trying to avert a future he visited but realizes he isn't smart enough to take all the factors into account especially since in the Heroes verse, the future has a way of putting itself back on track (sometimes).
* Throughout her time on ''[[
* Avoided in an episode of ''[[The Pretender]]'' (mostly) when Jarod must learn how to beat a pool hustler at his own game. Being a super-genius he figures it'll be an easy task since it's just "simple physics" and initially does very poorly. Fortunately for him, he learns ''very'' quickly.
* Used in about every third episode of ''[[
** The Eleventh Doctor seems to have "instant replay" vision. Basically, he thinks so quickly, everything around him slows to a crawl while he analyzes the situation and works it to his advantage.
* Subversion: In ''[[Engine Sentai Go-onger]]'', the villain Hiramekimedes is all about calculation, analysis, and fighting via mathematics. Several of his attacks are even based around angles of triangles. However, the Go-ongers and Go-on Wings always decimate him, with Go-On Gold explaining that it's precisely ''because'' Hiramekimedes is so logical that it's easy to predict his attacks. {{spoiler|This causes Hiramekimedes to go crazy and swing to the ''other'' extreme of Game Theory: the completely random player who attacks with random mathematical fallacies (like 4 divided by 189 is exactly 100). He beats the crap out of the logical Go-On Gold, but is defeated by Go-On Red because ''his'' attacks are not based on logic or randomness, but pure [[Hot
* Low-stakes example: In an episode of ''[[Step
* ''[[Psych]]'': Shawn Spencer. It doesn't matter how complicated your plan is, the minute that little glowy montage starts, you are going ''down''.
* ''[[The Mentalist]]'': Patrick Jane too. He may be a [[Magnificent Bastard]], but the man knows people.
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** Also subverted in an episode where Sheldon tries to learn swimming and rock climbing on the Internet. It doesn't work.
* One of the transgenics in ''[[Dark Angel]]'' had a level of strategic planning that seemingly made him predict the future.
** In a better example, Max is able to win thousands of dollars from a casino by using physics to predict where the ball will land in roulette. Also, she studies the shuffling deck in poker to figure out who has what cards.
* In an episode of ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'', Cameron does this to win at pool on her first try.
* ''[[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]''{{'}}s River: "Also, I can kill you with my brain."
** And we see just how true this is in "War Stories," where River comes upon Kaylee, who is pinned down by gunfire from three separate enemies. River glances at their positions, does the math, takes Kaylee's pistol, and proceeds to headshot all three of them ''[[Firefly (TV series)/Awesome|with her eyes closed]]''. Later [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] by Kaylee during a discussion of the incident in "Objects in Space":
{{quote|
*** On the other hand, given that she's a psychic, this and her other combat skills may be the result of telepathically sensing where enemies are and what moves they're about to make.
** Also, in "Safe", Simon and River are visiting a town on a planet where they've just landed. River walks up to a pavilion where the locals are dancing, analyzes their motions for a few seconds, then joins in dancing perfectly.
*** Not so much, because before River was taken by the Alliance she was also extremely gifted at dancing. Chances are it was a mix of this and Awesomeness by Analysis that let her join in so easily.
* ''[[
** "Tabula Rasa"
** "Lessons Learned"
** "Extreme Aggressor" (the pilot) has us meet Gideon for the first time giving a profile of a killer. At the end of the episode, {{spoiler|he walks into a gas station, and the cashier happens to fit the profile. He might've been about to dismiss it as a coincidence, if the cashier hadn't pointed a gun at his head.}} In the following episode, "Compulsion", he tells a group of students about how he told the killer what he knew about him, including the reason he stuttered. The team spends the entire episode trying to figure that out. {{spoiler|Subverted when it turns out Gideon was lying to the killer about that last part. [[Double Subverted]] because Gideon knew it would stall him long enough to make his move.}}
** [[Hollywood Nerd|Reid]] is frequently [[Awesome By Analysis]]. Oftentimes, ''handwriting'' analysis.
* Averted once in ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]''. One episode started with Gabrielle explaining to Xena that she had analyzed one of Xena's more complex somersaulting moves into separate stages. Gabrielle then attempted to duplicate the move by following those stages in sequence. She spent the rest of the episode limping with a sprained ankle.
** And played straight in the [[Groundhog Day Loop]] episode. Xena spends the penultimate day of the cycle totally ignoring all the events she has to stop to break the cycle in order to calculate angles, measure distances, and observe what the environment is doing. Then, when she wakes up (again), she's able to do everything in mere minutes with her carefully planned actions and well-aimed chakrum throws.
* Kyle and Jesse from ''[[Kyle XY]]'' both have super advanced brains and can copy pretty much anything by watching or doing the math. A good example is when Kyle joins the basketball team at school and can make any shot just by measuring the angles or learning how to fight by watching martial arts movies(he also learned Japanese this way).
* In one ''[[3rd Rock
** Another episode teaser shows the Solomons watching the lottery drawing, and hitting all the numbers. They then happily tear up the ticket (either not knowing or not caring about the money, they ARE aliens, after all), and make remarks about how easy the prediction was, since it's just physics.
* In ''[[The District]]'', the whole point of [
* Tracy, AKA Dice, in an episode of ''[[The Cape (2010 TV series)|The Cape]]'' is a savant who perceives the world around her on a quantum level, allowing her to make extremely accurate predictions about the future and set events in motion by doing something seemingly innocuous. At one point, she drops a coin, which starts off a series of events that almost result in [[Big Bad|Peter Fleming]]'s death. She is also able to walk right past any security by picking a moment when no one is looking.
* This trope is why Ryan Stiles never played the host during a game of "Party Quirks" in ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway
* The eponymous protagonist of ''[[
* Abed from ''[[
** On the other hand, the information on which he bases his analysis is [[Genre Savvy]] and [[Meta Guy|knowledge of tropes]], so this makes sense.
* Subverted on ''[[
* The titular character in the short-lived series ''[[John Doe]]'' has this as a superpower: he literally knows everything (except, of course, anything about his own past) and has the intelligence to apply that knowledge in whatever situation he's in. The show showed that despite this he wasn't infallible: some situations could have multiple explanations and he didn't always chose the right one, with a prime example being an episode where he was asked to help figure out how a thief had managed to sneak a rare gem out of a museum without being seen on the security cameras. Doe quickly demonstrated how knowledge of where the cameras were and their limitations, a convenient sculpture, and use of the environment could pull it off. When the guard who actually stole it finally confesses, it turns out he simply swallowed the gem and walked out the front door.
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==▼
▲== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Spirit of the Century]]'' has the Theory in Practice stunt for exactly this purpose. It has strict limitations compared to similar stunts, but allows characters to use their Science skill in place of ''any'' other skill provided they can come up with some plausible sounding [[Techno Babble]] for how their analysis helps. The rulebook quote:
{{quote|
* ''[[Dungeons
** Not exactly. The feat simply confers knowledge of all languages. Also, it requires superhuman intelligence and fluency in at least five languages.
== [[Video Games]] ==▼
▲== Video Games ==
* Any RPG with [[Leaked Experience]] implies that the characters that don't partecipate in the battle still become stronger by merely watching the fights.
* ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' has the Scan spell (Also known as Libra). Its effectiveness varies from game to game, but it's generally very useful to know your opponent's current hit points, immunities, and [[Elemental Rock
** Useful enough that it's actually a common weapon ability in ''[[
*** ''FFX'' even has an optional dungeon full of monsters immune to scanning.
** In ''FFIV'' a late-game goblin enemy will actually scan itself, revealing its weakness to lightning. Needless to say [[Schmuck Bait|using lightning attacks on it is a bad idea]].
** Characters with the Blue Magic ability can learn enemy magic by simply observing the ability in action.
* Latooni's whole shtick in ''[[Super Robot Wars]]''. Well, that and massive quantities of [[Shrinking Violet]] cuteness.
** Let us not forget Bartolls/Valtols from the OVA and Original Generation Gaiden. Attacks become useless on them after they've been used once, since they can dodge any future attempts of that attack pattern.
*** Unless you kill them in one blow, or use the Spirit Command 'Strike' the next time you try to attack them.
**** That's not eeeexactly true. Rather, Valtolles have +2 Morale on dodging an incoming attack, and their signature ability is "ODE System", which means that all of them have a Morale score equal to the Valtolle on the map with the highest Morale score. Since Morale affects your dodge rate, hit rate, damage given, and damage taken (and possibly critical rate), and since they also gain Morale when they hit you, odds are if you miss one Valtolle, you'll start missing a whole lot more. Fortunately it also means that if you beat them black and blue in one turn they'll suffer a horrible Morale drop, which makes them very easy to kill owing to their paperthin armor.
* Welkin Gunther from ''[[Valkyria Chronicles]]'' achieved this in Operation Cloudburst. He drove his tank through a river, Oregon Trail-style, and all he had to do to make it happen was watch how the grass grew in the shallow parts and ask [[Wrench Wench|Isara]] to waterproof it. Being a nature lover sure comes in handy, and the surprise attack gave [[The Empire|the imperial soldiers]] on watch one hell of a spooking.
* It could be argued that this is how the V.A.T.S. system in ''[[Fallout 3]]'' works.
** The argument is helped by a new perk in ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]''. It improves the efficiency of the V.A.T.S. system if the player's Science skill is high enough. The perk is called "Math Wrath."
* This is the basis of [[Mega Manning]]. Blue Magic in the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series is often utilized in this manner.
* In the third ''[[
* This is part of ''[[
* The Copy power (power, not ability) from ''[[
* Minor original character Fracture from the second ''[[DC Universe Online]]'' trailer has this as a power. It briefly shows his vision, analyzing statistics, probability, and structural weak points to overcome a Brainiac drone in single combat. {{spoiler|Apparently, it only works on threats he's aware of, since purported ally Luthor [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|stabs him in the back moments later]] }}
* If you choose the Dark Side Path in ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (
* The ''[[
** Similarly, the abilities Download (ups a stat based on opponent's defenses), Anticipation (shudders depending on the power of its foe's attacks), Trace (copies the foe's ability), Rivalry (raises Attack if the foe is of the same gender), and Imposter (transforms into an opponent in front) all involve reacting to the opponent in some way. And there is apparently very little involved. Telepathy takes this and applies it to ally Pokemon in Doubles. An inversion exists in Unaware which COMPLETELY IGNORES the foe's stat changes.
*** And finally, there are several moves that are used by analyzing the opponent. Detect requires the user to avoid the opponent completely by knowing what move they'll use next. Role Play allows you to copy the foe's ability just by pretending to be them. Mind Reader is said to do [[Exactly What It Says
== Visual Novels ==▼
** Somewhat surprisingly, Archer fits this trope. This is mostly surprising because he's {{spoiler|[[What an Idiot|Shirou's]] future self.}} The game calls this ability "Mind's Eye (True)," where "Mind's Eye (Fake)" is when you have supernaturally good instincts and/or a bit of sixth sense. Apparently he needs it because his reflexes suck compared to the other servants.▼
** In the ''Heaven's Feel'' route, {{spoiler|Shirou}} mimics this skill, and uses it to defeat {{spoiler|Dark Berserker}} in three seconds. ▼
** Both {{spoiler|Archer and Shirou}} also apply this a little more literally. They subconsciously scan any weapon when they see it, and analyse it down to its creation, its history, its previous usage and even the wielder's skill. This allows for recreation of the weapon, complete with all that previous information, rendering the projection dozens of times better than any other magic-user can manage.▼
** Not exactly as Analyzing as the previous examples, but Shirou in the beginning managed to survive multiple deathblows by Lancer this way. One example being choosing to swing his weapon back just after jumping out of the window to block one, even though he's moreorless guessing that Lancer would attack him right after, and a misjudgment in timing would result in death.▼
* ''[[Maji De Watashi Ni Koi Shinasai (Visual Novel)|Maji De Watashi Ni Koi Shinasai]]'' has the [[Sibling Team]] Gale and Gates. However, while Gates is able to successfully predict Momoyo's first attack, it's so overwhelming that Gale is unable to defend against it.▼
* ''[[Yume Miru Kusuri (Visual Novel)|Yume Miru Kusuri]]'': During the climax of Aeka's route, Kouhei finds himself {{spoiler|pinned down by two armed assailants, whilst Gaito [[Attempted Rape|attempts to rape Aeka]]. In a matter of ''seconds'', Kouhei manages to analyze the situation, throw off his assailants and take a hostage to rescue Aeka.}}▼
▲=== [[Visual Novels]] ===
* ''[[Fate/stay night]]'':
▲** Somewhat surprisingly, Archer fits this trope. This is mostly surprising because he's {{spoiler|[[What an Idiot!|Shirou's]] future self.}} The game calls this ability "Mind's Eye (True)," where "Mind's Eye (Fake)" is when you have supernaturally good instincts and/or a bit of sixth sense. Apparently he needs it because his reflexes suck compared to the other servants.
▲** In the ''Heaven's Feel'' route, {{spoiler|Shirou}} mimics this skill, and uses it to defeat {{spoiler|Dark Berserker}} in three seconds.
▲** Both
▲** Not exactly as Analyzing as the previous examples, but Shirou in the beginning managed to survive multiple deathblows by Lancer this way. One example being choosing to swing his weapon back just after jumping out of the window to block one, even though he's
▲* ''[[Maji
▲* ''[[
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[
* Leslie [http://gigaville.com/comic.php?id=176 does this] in ''[[The Last Days of Foxhound]]'', bouncing a bullet off one mook's gun into another's forehead. Her computation is added by nanites in her brain.
* This is Klaus' specialty in ''[[
** It's implied that while all Sparks have specialties, Klaus's specialty is ''the Spark itself''.
** Tarvek Sturmvoraus is a more minor example. While he didn't necessarily improve on the design until he built the second head, the fact that he was able to reverse-engineer one of the Van Rijn muses without ''completely destroying'' the original is impressive, considering that Master Payne (who knows more about the Muses than most) made it clear that even master Sparks had tried and failed to discover any of the Muses' special capabilities, and most of the Muses had been lost in the process.
* In ''[[Kevin and Kell]]'', Danielle Kindle saw George Fennec knocked high and far into the air. After a glance, she calculated his trajectory in her head and got into the exact catching position well ahead of time. Because she's [[Good
* Guthrie Carroll of ''[[Fans]]'' once programmed a spaceship the size of a 2' cube to engage in evasive atmospheric entry, dodging all enemy fire on the way down, then taunted an otherwise invulnerable foe to walk directly under it just as it slammed into the earth (all while being just outside the blast radius).
* Diamonds Droog from the Intermission section of ''[[
{{quote|
** And then he aims for the bullet holes in the walls that are already there due to time traveling shenanigans.
* Sal's superpower in ''[[Dubious Company]]''. As she explains ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20130607151231/http://dubiouscompany.com/comics/2008/04/20 here]''. She later uses it to ''[[
* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' has Haley Sorlie, who wanted to build spaceships, "got a couple of degrees", but didn't get a job. So she enlisted in the U.N.S. military, because hey, they are always building ships. "But it's not called 'The Service' for ship building", so she was an expert in space customs, until her boss found her a mission of greater challenge level and promotion opportunity. On-screen, she managed to figure out a major feature of a spaceship (ancient, built by the species she never even heard about before, and weird all over) visible parts of which were already explained away so well both Sorlie herself and her overseers believed it. And then (after being acquainted to that species and its creation closer, which still did not include shop-talk) found on another ship an integrated key component missed not only by the best living specialist in the Galaxy in this particular matter, but also by ''AI actually controlling this ship for a while'' (granted, they did not dwell on every single minor weirdness of this design, because most of it was exotic, either in awesome or [[Cool but Inefficient|awesome, yet overpriced]] ways).
== [[Web Original]] ==▼
* ''[[Tech Infantry]]'' has Icarus Hicks, literally the smartest man in the galaxy, who despite being a middle-aged medical researcher with little military training (and that as [[The Medic]]), manages to hold his own against [[Space Marines]] in [[Powered Armor]] by combining the fine dexterity he developed as a surgeon with analysis of the weaknesses of their [[Powered Armor]] suits to think up a way to shut them down.
▲== Web Original ==
* In the [[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]], most super-intelligent individuals had this ability, making them much more dangerous than their otherwise (usually) geeky exteriors would suggest. Doctor Simian, an evil, hyper-intelligent chimpanzee generally considered one of the two smartest beings on earth, is notable for combining
▲* ''[[Tech Infantry]]'' has Icarus Hicks, literally the smartest man in the galaxy, who despite being a middle-aged medical researcher with little military training (and that as [[The Medic]]), manages to hold his own against [[Space Marines]] in [[Powered Armor]] by combining the fine dexterity he developed as a surgeon with analysis of the weaknesses of their [[Powered Armor]] suits to think up a way to shut them down.
▲* In the [[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]], most super-intelligent individuals had this ability, making them much more dangerous than their otherwise (usually) geeky exteriors would suggest. Doctor Simian, an evil, hyper-intelligent chimpanzee generally considered one of the two smartest beings on earth, is notable for combining [[Awesomeness By Analysis]] and the ability to generate new technology almost at will in weapons tailored to take advantage of a hero's weaknesses.
* In the ''[[Whateley Universe]]'' canon, Chaka has the ability to see how [[Ki Attacks]] work simply by watching them, and can immediately duplicate them on her own. Similarly, a character named Loophole can determine the trajectory of bullets, bodies, and the like... and 'jump into' anything mechanical or electronic to commune with it, understanding how it works in a matter of moments. Contrast this with Caitlin Bardue, who can understand any magical object/device ''without'' knowing how it works.
* In ''[[The Salvation War]]'', [[Planet of Hats|this is Humanity's Hat.]]
* This is what Ranger is known as in ''[[Comic Fury Werewolf]]''. He analyzes everyone's actions down to the last detail, trying to figure out the culprit. In his first game, he even went so far back as to read the first five games in-depth to figure out everyone's play styles.
** He only stopped because it became incredibly time-consuming to do it, as the first time he accomplished the feat was an all-nighter effort on his part. With the addition of the later games to add into the mix...
* In the superhero story [[
== [[Western Animation]] ==▼
* Despite being by far the most feeble of the trio, Edd of ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'' can often perform amazing feats with just a few calculations and some [[Bamboo Technology]].▼
▲== Western Animation ==
* In ''[[Batman:
▲* Despite being by far the most feeble of the trio, Edd of ''[[Ed, Edd n Eddy]]'' can often perform amazing feats with just a few calculations and some [[Bamboo Technology]].
▲* In ''[[Batman the Animated Series (Animation)|Batman the Animated Series]]'', the villain The Clock King (who's basically a middle-aged civil servant) is able to go hand to hand with Batman simply from having studied Batman's tendencies in a fight. As a matter of fact, this is one of Batman himself's methods; he does this often when caught by surprise, allowing him to defeat his enemy or, should the situation become too great (it happens, but rarely), retreat to fight another day.
** Fittingly, [[Distaff Counterpart|Batgirl]] and [[Alternate Company Equivalent|Midnighter]] (mentioned above) both have this. In Batgirl's case it's a [[Charles Atlas Superpower]] but in Midnighter's case there's a supercomputer in his head.
* In an episode of ''[[Justice League]]'', the nanotechnological android based on the comic character Amazo takes this ability to its logical
** So screwed, in fact, that even a nanotech solution doesn't defeat him.
** ''[[Justice League]]'' also subverts the trope in the person of [[The Question]]. A brilliant reinvention of the older DC hero, Vic Sage is genuinely strange. While sane, he honestly connects things that are completely unrelated, tending to sound like a total conspiracy nut. However, his actual reasoning works rather well when he tracks down actual connections, to the point he is reluctantly given credit for it by the rest of the League. Yes, by Batman as well.
* In ''[[
** Don't forget Iroh figuring out how to redirect lightning with Waterbending principles applied to Firebending.
* There was a bit character in [[Looney Tunes]] called Egghead, Jr. that Foghorn Leghorn would occasionally be saddled with. A mute chicken lad with a spherical head, beady eyes, and huge glasses, he would quickly jot down some very technical-looking mumbo-jumbo and succeed at whatever he was attempting at the time... like throwing a 90 MPH fastball or winning a game of croquet with ''one swing''.
** This was developed into the ability to calculate ''[[Gambit Roulette]]''s to his own advantage when the character appeared in ''[[Duck Dodgers]]''.
** Tom of ''[[
* In the ''[[
** It's a little beyond vectors and trajectories. His brain runs a ridiculously complicated mathematical equation that basically sums up the entire world, and calculates it in such a way that he can predict the future in ways beyond just physics. Once he develops his "gift" it gets to the point where he starts to have brief flashes of future events completely at random. So he's essentially psychic. With MATH! (Stay in school, kids)
* Gadget had more than a few of these moments during ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (
* On ''[[Jimmy Two
* In ''[[My Little Pony
== [[Real Life]] ==
* Toddlers and young children are like this by default. This is what helps them learn how to ''[[Awesome Yet Practical|learn]]''. Disabilities like Down's Syndrome result in the child lacking this ability.
* From the reality show ''[[Survivor (TV series)|Survivor]]'', contestant Yau-Man Chan, despite being a small man in his 50s, was able to excel in many of the physical reward challenges because he calculated things like arrow trajectories. Early in the game, he opened a supply crate that several younger men couldn't
* According to [https://web.archive.org/web/20120621010710/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/football/nfl/04/22/best.game.ever0428/ this Sports Illustrated] article, Raymond Berry pulled off some truly amazing stunts in American Football through sheer power of preparation and training. Unfortunately, he managed to not get his 1985 New England Patriots a Super Bowl ring in rather humiliating fashion...
* When working on the swashbuckler parody ''[[The Court Jester]]'', Danny Kaye was trained in fencing by co-star and skilled fencer Basil Rathbone. Thanks to his coordination, which aided him in physical comedy, Kaye was able to become as competent at doing the fencing routine as Rathbone with about a month's practice.
* One of the contestants at ''[[Ninja Warrior]]'' failed in his first run at the Warped Wall obstacle. Defeated but not conquered, he took measurements and ran the trigonometry of the wall through its mathematical paces. Next year, he beat the wall, ''[[For Science!|with math!]]''
** And the commentator ''[[Hurricane of Puns|would not shut up about it]]''.
* [
* An AI programmer named Doug Lenat used his program, Eurisko, to [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/11/090511fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=6 win the Traveller Trillion Credit Squadron tournament two years in a row], despite not being a wargamer. He only stopped because the [[Scrub|traditional wargamers]] there found his [[Zerg Rush|strategies]] distasteful and threatened to stop having the tournament if he won again.
** Further details on this feat can be found [http://aliciapatterson.org/stories/eurisko-computer-mind-its-own here].
* The astronomer Neil DeGrasse Tyson tells a story in his autobiography about how, one time, he was on a bus going along the single narrow road connecting two towns on the coast of Italy. The road was blocked by a carelessly parked car whose owner was nowhere around. The bus came to a stop and everyone got out and wondered how they were going to get to their destination. Tyson realized he could move the car: he knew that the rear end of a car is much lighter than the front, and from experience wrestling, knew how to lift things using your leg muscles. He lifted up the rear bumper, rotated the car around its front tires, and pivoted it off the road. It looked really impressive but the secret wasn't abnormal strength so much as figuring out the right way to go about it.
* [
* And, on a meta note, science. Through systematic investigation of the nature of the universe, this enterprise has made possible achievements which would be unimaginable in earlier ages, from the miracles of modern medicine to space exploration to [[TV Tropes]].
* Mostly averted in Real Life, due to the fact that ''[[
** To be fair, many of those approximations are very, ''very'' good. The point remains that measuring and calibrating everything involved by hand usually takes longer than you have.
*** If the other guy has rigged a computer to do his number crunching on the fly for him though, try not to get on his bad side.
** It's also worth noting that if actually practiced, you're able to get over the Dilemma pretty quickly. Intentionally invoke it enough and you're able to use both parts of your brain.
** There's also the whole issue with that mathematical calculation is only useful to the degree of precision of one's coordination, which is a large part of what practice develops in physical activities.
** Another way to consider it is that this is what ''everyone'' who is any good at things does ''all the time''. Practice doesn't lead one to have better intuition, whatever that is: it burns the math into one's unconscious so that the result is "just obvious", in the same way that nobody needs to do complex numeric calculations to coordinate the intricate computational nightmare that is their arms and legs. Having to do the math consciously is arguably being ''too slow''.
* Engineers of all fields tend to work this way, including the military variety, whose cold calculations are often the basis of various sadistic devices such as shells that split apart into a myriad submunitions to make sure that it is difficult to miss, biological agents which decimate entire populations indiscriminately, and incendiaries that burn flesh off bone, [[Humans Are
* Sniping tends to work this way. It's often described as 90% mathematics and 10% actual shooting. The snipers' spotters also have to be equally proficient, and carry calculation sheets with them as part of standard kit.
** And one knows it is involved when one has to take the rotation of the earth into account along with one's own heart beat.
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** Temperature, humidity, wind direction, lead time...it's not just the physicality that makes sniper training some of the toughest in the military.
* In [[World War II]] the US Army Air Forces established an Office of Statistical Control that studied the effect of aerial bombing missions and how to make them more efficient in weakening the adversary. Part of this effort included a study that indicated that using the B-29 strategic bomber in low level incendiary attacks would prove much more effective than bombing from high altitude for which it had been designed. [[Badass General|General Curtis LeMay]] agreed and in the final 7 months of the war the change in tactics devastated the better part of 67 Japanese cities, killing as many as 500,000 and rendering some 5 million more homeless.
* Another example from WWII was the analysis the RAF performed on aircraft returning from combat. They studied the battle damage sustained by their aircraft, made a graph of the various parts of the aircraft, and resolved to reinforce the areas that seemed be shot up the most. Then one bright fellow said they had it completely backwards. Since those areas were found the most on returning aircraft, it was deduced that they were actually the least critical. Areas that needed reinforcement were actually the areas that were lowest on the graph, as the aircraft receiving damage there did not make it home. This was followed and survivability increased.
* Averted by many would-be (and some professional) game designers. Though one can beat a game with math, making a game fun purely on the math is generally unsuccessful.
* [
* Michael Larson, an ice-cream truck driver who [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHa4f3ebf-M won $110,237] on ''[[Press Your Luck]]'', by analyzing and memorizing all the patterns and safe points, due to the computer not being truly random.
** Similarly, an engineer named Joseph Jaggers in 1873 discovered a roulette wheel in Monte Carlo that was slightly unbalanced, causing some numbers to come up more often. It netted him a few hundred thousand dollars.
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* This seems to be a very common ability amongst professional gamers. They become so adept at analysing all of the information that they see that they will predict exactly when and where an enemy will attack. Their sense of what the enemy is doing without any direct information can be pretty astonishing to casual players.
** In something of a subversion, inexperienced players are usually more random and thus harder to predict. Depending on the game, this can be something of a problem for more experienced gamers.
* According to most (including [[Word of God|the man himself]]) this is what made [[
* Cracked.com did an entire article about [http://www.cracked.com/article_19664_6-counterintuitive-tricks-to-beating-popular-game-shows.html
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