Awesomeness By Analysis: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

* Kid Buu from ''[[Dragon Ball|Dragon Ball Z]]'' was able to learn any technique instantly just by watching someone else use it.

** This was also how Goku first learned to do his trademark Kamehameha blast in ''Dragon Ball''.

*** 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 (anime)|Yu-Gi-Oh GX]]'', Daichi Misawa literally analyzes his opponent's known cards via computer before a duel and writes complex math formulas on his walls to develop new strategies. Kagurazaka, a one-shot character in Season 1, manages to do this by copying Yugi's deck, and was implied to have done so with several more duelists. There's also Dr. Zweinstein in Season 2, who is implied to have spent most of his time since Duel Monsters came out mastering the [[Serious Business|game]] through analysis and "duel physics".

* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh (anime)|Yu-Gi-Oh]]'': Want to beat Yugi at a game he's never played? A game of your own creation, no less? You will lose; even if you're lucky, it will take him a maximum of two turns to figure out the game to the point that he's able to invent a strategy to kick your butt. As mentioned elsewhere, the card game [[Plot Tumor|taking over]] was unintended. He ''is'' king of ''games,'' plural, and being able to do this is his thing.

** 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.

* In ''[[Digimon Tamers]]'', one of the D-Reaper's agents was able to replicate the Digimon's attacks after seeing them only once.

 

* 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.

* 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.

 

* In a ''[[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 ''[[The 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.

* 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.

 

* 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 ''[[Chocolate]]'', in which an autistic girl is able to become a face-kicking machine by memorising techniques she sees when watching [[Bruce Lee]] movies and observing lessons at a nearby Muay Thai school.

* The winning shot [[Happy Gilmore]] uses to defeat Shooter [[Mc Gavin]] is definitely awesome by analysis.

 

* 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.

* ''[[Discworld]]'':

* In Laura Ingalls Wilder's ''[[Little House on the Prairie|The Long Winter]]'', the Ingallses are running out of food, and Pa realizes that Almanzo Wilder is still hanging onto his seed grain by hiding it behind a false wall with a plug in the knothole. When Almanzo and his brother ask him how he knew, Pa, an experienced carpenter, answers that the dimensions of their room doesn't match the dimensions of its building, and that there isn't anything else they could keep in such a small space ''and'' need to plug in the knothole.

 

* The Borg, in ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'', ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'', and ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]''. They analyze anything used against them and adapt to it, rendering the technique useless in short order. At their first encounter, Starfleet phasers killed a few drones, but the Borg quickly developed personal shields that were immune to those phaser frequencies. The only serious threats to them were {{spoiler|Species 8472}} and possibly {{spoiler|the complex picture developed by Starfleet, although the latter was never used}}.

* Data of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' is ''made'' of this trope. He can take in information, and process and understand it, so fast that his primary limitation is that the computer interfaces he uses to do this are simply not able to go as fast as he can (being made for organics). One outstanding example occured wehen Star Fleet was attempting to reveal Romulan involvement in the Klingon civil war. When Picard's idea literally fell apart, Data conceived of a new method, researched it, implemented it, and use it to unmask the Romulan ships in the space of a few ''minutes'', while dealing with a crew ready to mutiny while commanding a ship in battle.

* 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.

 

* ''[[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|''Shooting a gun should be easy - it's just physics, right?''}}

** Not exactly. The feat simply confers knowledge of all languages. Also, it requires superhuman intelligence and fluency in at least five languages.

 

* 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-Paper-Scissors|elemental weaknesses]].

*** 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 on the Tin]]. Predicting your opponent's moves is also a given for anyone wishing to compete in the higher levels of the metagame.

 

* ''[[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.

 

== [[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 ''[[Girl Genius]]'': he's not specifically capable of duplicating physical feats, but he's ''very very good'' at examining other [[Science-Related Memetic Disorder|Sparks']] inventions and improving them. This also apparently extends to neurology, as his current goal is to find out what causes [[Mad Science]] behavior in Sparks to begin with...

* ''[[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).

 

* ''[[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 superhero story [[Worm]], the character of Lisa a.k.a. Tattletale has this as a superpower. When analyzing someone or something, she needs to have some information about the target to begin with, and her power fills in the gaps in her knowledge, allowing her to crack computer passwords, profile people around her, and make predictions about the most likely outcome of a given situation, among other things. She's very accurate, although not infallible. In the few instances where she makes mistakes, she messes up pretty big. Also, she can become mentally overloaded if she tries to take in and analyze too much information all at once.

 

* 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]].

** 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 exreme—being able to analyze things on the molecular level while being able to at the same time alter its own structure at the molecular level. In short, ''you are so screwed''.

* Gadget had more than a few of these moments during ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (animation)|Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]'', leading to a [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop]] episode wherein she learned the valuable lesson to stop thinking so much.

* On ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'', Heloise manages to ace skeet shooting thanks to this. After Beezy [[Screw Learning, I Have Phlebotinum|becomes smart]], he repeats this process on a much grander scale.

 

* 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 open—lift the crate over a rock, drop the crate corner first, and let gravity crack a weak spot.