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Criminal Mind Games: Difference between revisions
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== Comic Books ==
* In all incarnations of ''[[Batman]]'', this is The Riddler's modus operandi; other Batman villains, notably The Joker, have also done it.
** Lampshaded during a [[Villain Team-Up]] that takes place in one of the old 1960s Batman movies, where the Riddler's colleagues eventually grow tired of him compromising their plans by leaving clues that they know Bats will inevitably solve. They try to stop him from doing so, but he fervently declares that he just can't resist and proceeds to leave more clues that eventually lead to their defeat.
** Interestingly, an early Batman story showed that the Riddler's insanity is such that he is physically incapable of committing a crime unless he leaves a clue. (His father used to beat him when he lied... so once dear old Dad was out of the way and only the consequential neuroses were left, he learned to tell the truth in extremely sneaky ways to get around them.)
** One comic set in [[The DCAU]] had Batman ''fail'' to decypher the Riddler's clues; he stumbled upon the crime because he was following three other crooks who had the same target. When the Riddler realises this, he doesn't care that he's going to jail because as far as he's concerned, he ''won''.
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* ''[[The Abominable Dr. Phibes]]'' accidentally dropped a medallion with some Hebrew lettering at the scene of one of his crimes, which tipped the police off to the Old Testament [[Theme Serial Killer|theme of his serial killing]].
* In ''[[Beverly Hills Cop]] 2'', this is the [[Big Bad]]'s apparent modus operandi, by leaving so-called "alphabet clues" at the scene of each of his daring crimes. It turns out to be a [[Subversion]], as the clues are designed to distract the [[By-The-Book Cop|By The Book Cops]]' attention and set up a [[Red Herring]] scapegoat while the real mastermind escapes.
* Jigsaw does this in ''[[Saw]] 2'', having abducted a Detective Matthews' son and left him, and numerous other victims-including Amanda, a survivor of his games- in a house filled with death traps, and is recording the whole thing, which becomes useful when the detective and a SWAT team show up to arrest him. Jigsaw says the son will be returned alive and safe if Matthews just has a conversation with him, but the house is also filling with nerve gas that will kill everyone inside in two hours. {{spoiler|The son is locked in a safe in Jigsaw's room, the video is not live and everyone in it is already dead apart from Amanda, and when Matthews shows up thinking he'll save his son Amanda reveals that she was Jigsaw's apprentice, and the whole thing was a revenge scheme of hers because Matthew's once framed her for a crime, ruining her life, and it ends with Amanda leaving him to die locked in the room from the first film}}.
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* Used by Melisande in ''[[Kushiel's Legacy|Kushiel's Chosen]]''. She thinks of her attempt to gain control of Terre d'Ange as a game and Phedre as her [[Worthy Opponent]], and so sends Phedre a hint to start her search.
* Subverted in [[Jorge Luis Borges]]' ''Death and the Compass''. Lonnrot thinks he's oh-so-clever for figuring out there'll be four cabalistic assassinations, not just three... {{spoiler|It turns out the first one was an accident, and the second and third were rigged in order to get Lonnrot - who has a very romanticized view of detective work - to come to that conclusion, and show up in a location where his nemesis Red Scharlach can off him.}}
* Played with in ''[[Red Dragon]]'', where the police intercept a fan letter the [[Serial Killer]] sent to his idol, Hannibal Lecter. Lecter begins corresponding with him in the sensationalist newspaper ''The Tattler'' with a cryptic message, and as the FBI aren't able to decipher it in time they decided to let go ahead as it's their only means of contacting him, and when they finally deciphered it they could take Lecter's place. Unfortunately, it wasn't the Dragon they were playing mind games with - Lecter's message {{spoiler|told the Dragon the hero and his family's home address, and said he should kill them all.}}
* ''[[Another Note]]'': The entire book is about trying to solve a very, very, difficult one of these. The killer, [[As Long as It Sounds Foreign|Beyond Birthday]], left several clues leading from one murder to the next. None of the investigating officers could even start to decipher B's clues. Only Naomi Misora—under L's guidance—and an "unprivate" detective named Ryuzaki could help. The clues lead Naomi Misora ''in person'' to find each and every one of these clues to make sure the effort didn't go to waste. {{spoiler|Ryuzaki ends up doing most of the work. He turns out to be the killer who placed the clues there in the first place.}}
== Live Action TV ==
* Subverted in ''[[Homicide: Life
* ''[[Law and Order Special Victims Unit]]'': though the police didn't give up on traditional methods entirely. In fact, by ''using'' traditional methods, they're able to catch the perp ''before'' he can complete his intended killings, and even manage to save a victim without stooping to his level.
* ''[[CSI]]'': Occurs with vastly more complex clues than usual.
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** Also one of the rare straight uses of this trope that manages to be funny: Detective Lassiter thinks the Yin-Yang Killer is testing him, specifically. He is...wrong.
** And then they do it all again the next season with Mr. Yang's partner, Mr. Yin.
* ''[[MacGyver]]'' had an escaped criminal foe who went as far as to call him with math equations that would yield a clue when solved.
* Variant: the ''[[Ghostwriter (TV series)|Ghostwriter]]'' episode "A Crime of Two Cities." A cross-Atlantic trio of kidnappers is led by a nutty mastermind who insists that they commit their crimes (and communicate with each other) through trick sentences and anagrams, all of which mock their intended victim. Unlike the usual trope, the leader isn't testing the heroes. She's doing it because she's arrogant, and wants to show off how the heroes are incapable of figuring out her clever clues.
* ''[[Captain Scarlet]] : The Mysterons do this all the time. The Mysterons''; somehow, despite tipping their hand every single time, actually ''win'' in a few episodes, starting with the second.
* ''[[Dexter]]''.
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* One episode of ''[[Due South]]'' had this. {{spoiler|Although Ray subverted it, when he admitted to Frasier that he was never good at solving puzzles, knowing that the villain had a mike in the car, intending to lull him into a false sense of security}}
* In ''[[Burn Notice]]'', Gilroy leaves clues about his identity to Michael this way. To quote [[Television Without Pity]], "either someone is setting up Mason Gilroy, or Mason Gilroy thinks he's the fucking Riddler."
* ''[[Sherlock]]'' does this in the first season finale, "The Great Game." In a somewhat unique instance, the perpetrator is using unsolved cases as the bait for Sherlock, forcing him to dig up the truth so that his victims won't be killed.
* Fox Mulder of ''[[The X-Files]]'' tends to get into these with reasonably human [[Monsters of the Week]], such as Robert Modell a.k.a. "Pusher" from the eponymous episode, {{spoiler|Mulder's ex-mentor}} from "Grotesque", and {{spoiler|Modell's even eviler twin}} from "Kitsunegari".
* The ''[[Murdoch Mysteries]]'' episode "Murdoch in Toyland", in which Murdoch is left a series of talking dolls designed to give him just enough clues to reach the next one, and also to make him overthink things and miss more blatant clues.
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[The Simpsons]]''
** Chief Wiggum was the "Mutton-Chop Murderer", who wanted to create a crime even Lisa Simpson couldn't solve. Played as a parody, natch.
** Subversion; Bart hides Lisa's report and challenges her with a series of riddles:
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'''Bart:''' Doh! }}
* Spoofed in the ''[[South Park]]'' episode "Chickenlover": the titular animal molester always left a message at the scene of the crime. The clues turn out to be really, really obvious... ''but Officer Barbrady is illiterate,'' and thus, he can't read the messages. After forcing himself to painstakingly learn to read through children's books, he eventually manages to find and arrest the culprit... who turns out to be a bookmobile driver who was trying to encourage Officer Barbrady to confront his illiteracy, even though there was no way he could have known about it before he molested the first chicken.
** Barbrady then celebrates his new found literacy by beginning to read books...starting with ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'', which he regarded as such utter garbage that he decided he would never read again, making the bookmobile drivers whole plan null and void.
* ''[[Bromwell High]]'': One of the girls hides some illegal sweets people are looking for and composes a rhyme telling where they are.
{{quote|If it is the sweets you seek, into the cloakroom you must sneak, and find where I keep my books, and hang my coat and bag on hooks. Behind the metal doors is stowed the sweets what make your head explode.}}
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[[Category:Crime and Punishment Tropes]]
[[Category:Plots]]
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