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{{trope}}
[[File:ClockKing.jpg|link=Batman:
The '''Clock King''' is the consummate planner. He doesn't just know when the guard change happens, but what routes they take, how long they spend in the lavatory, how long the cops will take to respond to a burglary alarm ''with'' 5:12 PM traffic on a rainy day, ''and'' that the 5:20 train will take two minutes and fifteen seconds longer than normal to leave the station, allowing them enough time to get on at 5:22:10.▼
He has such millimetric precision and obsessive attention to detail that he will frequently [[Smug Snake|boast]] of being "23 seconds ahead of schedule", or berate lackeys with "You're 17 seconds late". Expect the clock king to always carry a pocketwatch and chain, or a very expensive looking wristwatch with more hands than Shiva. For some reason, they dislike digital clocks. Maybe they feel they lack [[Evil Is Cool|villainous]] [[Evil Is Stylish|personality?]] Also, it's worth noting most Clock Kings and Queens are [[Villain
▲The Clock King is the consummate planner. He doesn't just know when the guard change happens, but what routes they take, how long they spend in the lavatory, how long the cops will take to respond to a burglary alarm ''with'' 5:12 PM traffic on a rainy day, ''and'' that the 5:20 train will take two minutes and fifteen seconds longer than normal to leave the station, allowing them enough time to get on at 5:22:10.
He's almost the mirror of [[The Chessmaster]]. He ''can't'' [[Manipulative Bastard|manipulate people]], but he ''can'' rely on their strict adherence to patterns and schedules. [[Spanner in
▲He has such millimetric precision and obsessive attention to detail that he will frequently [[Smug Snake|boast]] of being "23 seconds ahead of schedule", or berate lackeys with "You're 17 seconds late". Expect the clock king to always carry a pocketwatch and chain, or a very expensive looking wristwatch with more hands than Shiva. For some reason, they dislike digital clocks. Maybe they feel they lack [[Evil Is Cool|villainous]] [[Evil Is Stylish|personality?]] Also, it's worth noting most Clock Kings and Queens are [[Villain|Villains]]. It's not that heroes can't be this [[Determinator|obsessive]] at planning...they just tend to go with [[Batman Gambit|Batman Gambits]] instead. There's also the larger idea that the villains plan and scheme in secret ahead of time, and the heroes have to [[The Villain Makes the Plot|react to what villains initiate]].
Oh, and you had better ''pray''
▲He's almost the mirror of [[The Chessmaster]]. He ''can't'' [[Manipulative Bastard|manipulate people]], but he ''can'' rely on their strict adherence to patterns and schedules. [[Spanner in The Works|When they don't]], he [[Villainous Breakdown|goes off the rails]] (of course, a ''real'' planner will know the exact probabilities of each failure, and [[Xanatos Gambit|plan accordingly to win either case]]). These guys aren't that hot at [[Xanatos Speed Chess]]. He is, however, [[Awesomeness By Analysis|Awesome By Analysis]]. He's an example of what happens when a [[Schedule Fanatic]] starts to learn other people's schedules as well as his own. Common accessories and plots include the [[Magic Countdown]] and [[Time Bomb]]. Fond of [[Ludicrous Precision]], sometimes to the extent that he suffers from [[Super OCD]].
▲Oh, and you had better ''pray'' they don't get their hands on [[Time Travel]] technology.
See also [[Creature of Habit]], who also likes punctuality, although rarely for nefarious plans.
{{examples
== Anime and Manga ==
* Hakuba Saguru, a guest star in ''[[
* There's a rare hero example of this trope in ''[[
* Mamoru from ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V]]'' is a fussy, stressful fellow obsessed with keeping his schedule and always complaining about others' tardiness, which often makes him a [[Nervous Wreck]]. This behavior does not stop after his [[Heel Face Turn]], when his duties change from overseeing assassin squads to helping at a soup kitchen.
== Comic Books ==
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== Film ==
* ''Battle of the Bulge'' (1965). The German general in charge of the attack is constantly on Colonel Hessler's case about being on schedule. Justified because the Germans only have a limited amount of supplies and a short time before improving weather allows the Allies to use their overwhelming air superiority to crush them.
* The [[Voice
* Captain Vidal in ''[[
* The general in ''[[Universal Soldier]]'' is one of these, thanks to the superhuman abilities of the UniSols, he can accurately predict how much time it takes for them to swim a mile and a half under four minutes, then comment that ''they're eight seconds behind schedule.''
* Frank Martin from first ''[[The Transporter]]'' movie does a little of this. He is also very good with the measurements of weights.
* The Matt Helm movie ''The Wrecking Crew'' (1969). The [[Big Bad]], Count Contini, constantly talks about the schedule for his crime and how far it's ahead of or behind schedule.
* Sickan, one of the main characters in the Swedish ''Jönssonligan'' series of films, who plans each one of his crimes "[[Catch Phrase|In i minsta detalj]]" (down to the tiniest detail)
* Ditto Egon Olsen in ''[[Olsen
* Mrs. Appleyard in ''[[Picnic
* Early in the [[Show Within a Show]] of ''[[Last Action Hero]]'', Jack returns from buying groceries for his cousin to find police surrounding the house. After an [[Almost
* The Architect in ''[[The Matrix]]'' Reloaded, who factors in the unpredictability of others to make his predictions more accurate.
** Moreso the Train Man in ''[[The Matrix]] Revolutions.'' Then again, he ''controls'' the trains.
* In the latter parts of ''[[
* Harold Crick from ''[[Stranger Than Fiction]]''.
* [[Walt Disney]]'s [[Mary Poppins]] gives us Admiral Boom, a man who keeps his house 'ship-shape'. He fires off a cannon at very specific times, so much that his neighbors can plan accordingly.
{{quote|
* In ''Ocean's Eleven'', Terry Benedict is described as "a machine" because his schedule is so very precise, he even ''visits the men's room'' at the same time every day.
== Literature ==
* Phileas Fogg from ''[[Around the World
* There was a short-short story revolving around a publishing company secretary with this kind of mind. She murders her boss merely by paying attention to his unconsciously inflexible schedule, and delaying him from leaving the office for a specific amount of time, less than a minute. He is run down by a bus. [[Fridge Logic]] comes into play here when you realise that just because the boss has an inflexible schedule, it doesn't mean the bus service does.
* In a Norwegian short story, the victim was so obsessed with punctuality and performing every mundane task at the precise same second each day, that his killer was able to kill him by slowing his clock down by 30 seconds, thereby making him miss his bus, throwing him into a completely fuddled state and inducing a fatal heart attack.
* The Master Timekeeper (called the Ticktockman, but not to his face) in [[Harlan Ellison]]'s short story "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" not only is a
* Malvolio Bent of the'' [[Discworld]]'' novel ''[[
* The Daemon, of Danial Suarez's eponymous novel, is this. All the way. To the power of n.
* [[The Thrawn Trilogy|Grand Admiral Thrawn]] is quite adept at [[Xanatos Speed Chess]], but his initial plans often involve very precise timing. He acquires an ally ([[The Starscream|sort of]]) who has the ability to coordinate his forces to an even higher degree, but only rarely used him for that, since his fleets could execute simultaneous attacks just fine. Notably in ''[http://asylums.insanejournal.com/scans_daily/1095271.html Heir To The Empire]'', he [http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/4161/17405510.jpg observed] that two ships had connected for four minutes, fifty-three seconds, and knew not only that three people had transferred, but which people went to which ship and where they were going. Thrawn's scary like that.
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* Subverted in Kathryn Hulme's ''The Nun's Story.'' Gabrielle/Sister Luke frequently resists the strict schedules that govern the convents she lives in. To make matters worse, the one time she ''deliberately'' makes a show of arriving perfectly on time, {{spoiler|she actually arrives too late to prevent another nun from being murdered.}}
* [[Mack Bolan]] is always this way with the initial hit that starts off a 'Bolan Blitz', whether it's ambushing a Mafia convoy or sniping a group at incredible distances. As things get unpredictable beyond that point due to how his enemy reacts (and the inevitable unexpected arrival of the [[Girl of the Week]]) Bolan tends to improvise from then on.
* Jillie Djinn in ''[[
* Bone, [[The Mad Hatter]] [[Expy]] in Patrick Senecal's ''Aliss,'' believes himself to be involved in some kind of [[Berserk Button|furious war]] against time, so much so that at one point he demands a new watch with extra hours. He has an [[Complete Monster|unpleasant habit]] of leaving broken pocket watches in the corpses of his [[Body Horror|mutilated victims]]
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* ''[[
** [[Lampshade
{{quote|
'''Solok''': Of course I do. But humans are often irked by such precision. }}
* ''[[Fringe]]'' had one in "The Plateau". Though strictly speaking, he only saw all the possible outcomes and predicted which one was most likely, but he still had to know when and how long it would take someone to get hit by a bus.
*
* Superhoodie on ''[[
* The villain in the first episode of ''[[
* ''[[Tales of the Gold Monkey]]''. In "God Save the Queen" the time-obsessed villain plants a [[Time Bomb]] on board the Queen Victoria. Our hero causes him to have a [[Villainous Breakdown]] by resetting his watch.
* In a second-season episode of ''[[Arrow]]'' a version of the DC villain Clock King shows up.
== Tabletop Games ==
* It's hard to think of any ''[[Shadowrun]]'' group which ''hasn't'' done this at one point. Everything, from the layout of the building to how many insects invade the facility on a regular basis, is carefully and overwhelmingly mapped out and planned, to the point where you'd expect your average 'runner to time herself on the composition of a [[What Do You Mean
== Theatre ==
* Mr. Hines from ''[[
== Video Games ==
* Manfred von Karma in ''[[
* Lampshaded by the nefarious Skate Club leader in ''Tony Hawk's American Wasteland''; The second thing you have to do to join the Skate Club is "trick on all these objects before my stopwatch runs out." This is probably the only time the time limits you're given for missions are justified.
* Let's be honest: You. Anyone who's played enough games without an adaptive AI has had [[That One Boss]] (or [[That One Level|level]] or entire game) where the only way to win was to memorize the pattern of all the moving objects on screen until you could play it without even looking at the screen. For example, the final boss of the NES port of ''Trojan''; most of the boxers in ''[[Punch
** Furthermore, this is also true of multi-player RTS games, where build order and timing are often considered to be of extreme importance, but instead of a timer, you are trying to remain competitive with your opponent's collective abilities to shave moments off the time it takes them to accomplish their objectives.
** Ever try playing ''[[
** Anyone who managed to get 100% completion on ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
* Chronotron is an online game in which you must synchronize your actions with those of your past selves in order to solve puzzles.
* This is also true for players of most racing games, [[Speed Run]] players, or any kind of time trial [[Video Game]]. Everything that a player can think of to shave fractions of a second off their run will be attempted again and again until the player can do it perfectly in a satisfactory time.
* In many MMORPGs really dedicated players using damage-dealing characters will perfect their skill rotations to a second and can thus gain damage increases of 30-50% over less focused players. On fights requiring lots of mobility and non-standard attacks, many of these players can't handle the disruption to their rotations and their performance drops sharply. The top players can adjust the timing of their rotations on the fly and avoid this.
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' has Mechanicles. To get into further detail, this mad scientist/master planner once began an episode overlooking an invasion of Agrabah with an army of giant mechanical scorpions, listing off items off his schedule. When Aladdin and friends showed up, he nonchalantly crossed an item off his schedule, noting "Heroes' interference, 2:14. Yep, right on schedule!"
* There's Professor Paradox from ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force
* Temple Fugate, the ''[[Batman:
** In an example of the stunt casting the DCAU was famous for, Fugate was played by [[Alan Rachins]], then best known for playing the punctilious managing partner Douglas Brachman on ''[[
** He later reappeared as one of the [[Boxed Crook
** His meticulous timing and scheduling is explained in his back story; he owned a business efficiency company that was being sued, and the day of the hearing, the future mayor Hamilton Hill suggested he break schedule and take his coffee break later, so as to look more relaxed and presentable to the court. [[Murphy's Law]] kicked in, his appeal was thrown out, ruining him, and the end result can be summed up thusly:
{{quote|
'''Fugate''': He did worse! He made me ''late''! }}
* ''[[
▲** In an example of the stunt casting the DCAU was famous for, Fugate was played by Alan Rachins, then best known for playing the punctilious managing partner Douglas Brachman on ''[[LA Law]]'' -- a clock watcher's clock watcher.
* In ''[[Spider
▲* ''[[The Batman (Animation)|The Batman]]'' had a variation on this with Francis Grey, a pudgy guy who can rewind time to fix his mistakes, allowing him to effortlessly dodge Batman's punches, high speed traffic, and undo his embarrassing attempts at banter. Unlike most examples of this trope, he doesn't really plan ahead of time, but he knows what's going to happen because he's been there before.
* [[Voltron Force]]: Sky Marshal Wade does everything by the clock. Including using the bathroom. Lance uses this to the Voltron Force advantage.
▲* In ''[[Spider Man the Animated Series]],'' Jackson Weele used precision timing both to conduct highly efficient robbery to the actual Clock King's level of precision, as well as making his devices work, especially the Big Wheel tank, which also required precise timing (presumably, because its weapons are in proper firing position for a fraction of a second at a time, but frequently enough that with proper timing you can use them.) The Big Wheel also exists in the comics, as [[C List Fodder]], but the timing obsession is unique to the series (as is his being an actually dangerous opponent.)
▲* [[Voltron Force]]: Sky Marshal Wade does everything by the clock. Including using the bathroom. Lance uses this to the Voltron Force advantage.
== Real Life ==
* Immanuel Kant was famous for being one, especially in his later years. According to a famous anecdote, the inhabitants of Koenigsberg set their clocks on his daily walks, and the one day he wasn't on time, it was because he had just heard about [[the French Revolution]] breaking out. Or reading ''Emile'' by Rousseau.
* Any decent military commander in [[World War
* London bobbies in the early days had to walk a precise beat at a strictly regimented pace (including length of stride). This was because there were no telephones and few police stations in those days, so any citizen who'd witnessed a crime-in-progress would have to know where to go at a particular time of day to be certain of finding a policeman.
* Railroads in the UK and US forced standardization of times and time zones to allow uniform train schedules, needed to prevent catastrophic collisions.
* UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon is reportedly like this. According to one source, he plans his daily routine in ''five-minute blocks''.
* If you're in a class where every student doesn't take the exact same courses, a
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