Didn't Think This Through: Difference between revisions

'''Plankton:''' I don't know. I never thought I'd get this far.

'''Mr. Krabs:''' Well then, allow me to suggest your next move.

 

A situational trope. One character will develop a plan designed to solve a certain problem they're encountering. However, due to their failure to plan ahead, there is a massive gaping flaw in their plan that they, and also perhaps the audience, missed. As a result, they are now in a situation where, rather than winning, they are stuck with either a stalemate or an outright loss. As indicated by the page quote, this may occur because the character never thought that their plan would actually progress as far as it did in the first place.

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* At points in both the first and second seasons of ''[[Strike Witches]]'', Minna pulls a gun on Mio in order to try to stop her from getting herself killed in battle. Mio is quite aware of the flaw in this bluff, and it doesn't work either time.

* In a ''[[Saved by the Bell]]'' episode, Zack has detention on the day of a trivia contest for a trip to Hawaii. He send's Screech in his place, who comes back to ask him a question. Mr. Belding explains only those in detention can talk to others there, so Screech purposely gets in trouble. When he sits down, Zack tells him the obvious problem with that plan.

* On an episode of ''[[Seinfeld]]'' Kramer is at a department store when he decides to sell the clothes he's wearing to another customer. When he's left naked in the store's changing room with nothing to put on, he whimpers, "I didn't think it through!"

* [[Top Gear|A amphibious car challenge]], Hammond's car looked like a boat (with the steering wheel near the back) with an upper portion for the "girls in bikini to go," which he then noticed was so high up he couldn't see over while driving.

 

== Music ==

** In another episode, Downpour, a pastiche of one of the Wonder Twins, tries to kill [[Aquaman]] by [[Shooting Superman|hitting him with a torrent of water]]. Aquaman [[Won't Work On Me|just stands there]] with a [[Fascinating Eyebrow|raised eyebrow]]: "'King of the Seas', remember?"

*** Downpour's follow up wasn't particularly well thought out, either. He rushes up to Aquaman and punches him. [[Punch-Punch-Punch Uh-Oh|Ineffectually.]] Aquaman responds with a backhand slap that takes Downpour out instantly. In fairness to Downpour, he's ''supposed'' to be brain-damaged and visibly losing his mind in this scene - Copperhead, on the other hand, has no excuse.

** Zim has this as a personality trait; as [[The Other Wiki]] once described him, "Zim has a crafty sort of intelligence, but he tends to think precisely one step ahead of his current problem". For instance, Zim builds a [[Time Stands Still|stasis-field device]] in one episode which subsequently explodes, but the fireball is slowed by the stasis field until it's expanding at less than walking pace. However, it will eventually grow to the point where [[Sphere of Destruction|it'll consume Zim's base along with the entire city]]. Zim's brilliant plan to stop this? Simple. He'll just ''cancel the stasis field''. Despite being warned by his computer, and even his [[Cloudcuckoolander]] sidekick, that this is a really, really bad idea, he goes ahead with it. [[Hilarity Ensues]].

** The Tallest also seem to suffer from this, resulting in conquered planets being turned into massive parking lots because they didn't know what they'd do with the planet after conquering. They also ordered enslaved races to build weapons for them, [[Hilarity Ensues|resulting in the Megadoomer needing a massive extension cord and cloaking everything but the pilot and said extension cord]].

'''Zuko:''' Maybe not everything, but this is kind of important. }}

* The [[Bugs Bunny]] cartoon ''Jack Wabbit And The Beanstalk'' has Bugs challenging the giant to a duel. "Take twenty paces, toin, and fire. Got that, shorty?" As the giant takes his paces, he disappears into the horizon and Bugs thinks he's outsmarted the giant. But then the giant reappears over the other horizon—the twenty paces were enough to circumnavigate all the way back.

{{quote|'''Homer:''' I've figured out an alternative to giving up my beer. Basically, we become a family of traveling acrobats!

'''Marge:''' ... I don't think you thought this through. }}

* From the "Her Parents" episode of ''[[Adventure Time]]''

{{quote|'''Jake:''' Nah... That could never happen.

* Turned into a ''[[Running Gag]]'' with Mojo Jojo in ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]''. To the point where when a spree of robberies occurred in Townsville, the girls automatically ruled out Mojo because it was too well thought out.

* [[Wacky Races]] - Every single time [[Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat]]. It's never enough that he is ALWAYS miles ahead of every other racer, he not only has to stop to lay a trap, but also stays behind to see the payoff, which ALWAYS puts him in last place. The most absurd example was the episode where he got stuck in the mud, and pulled out by a farmer with a donkey. He decides to buy the donkey, thinking that the farmer will no longer be able to pull the other racers out. Never mind that 1) almost half the racers have some gimmick that allows them to get out on their own, including a dragon that can dry it up completely, 2) the farmer OBVIOUSLY has several beasts of burden besides the one he sold and 3) Just what the heck will he do with a frickin' donkey?!