Eureka Moment: Difference between revisions

Not to be confused with a [[Bat Deduction]]. While both can initially appear almost identical, a Eureka Moment leads to a coherent chain of reasoning that the detective can explain to the bystanders later; whereas a [[Bat Deduction]], if it gets explained at all, makes even ''less'' sense after the explanation.

Often used as a [[Deus Ex Machina]], albeit one that is acceptable more often than annoying. If the detective actually takes the idea literally rather than uses it as an inspiration, that is [[I Was Just Joking]].

** There is also a certain part wherein Heiji and Conan figures out the dying message, but start, at Heiji's prompting, to subtly lead Kazuha to deciphering the dying message to make her feel better, as she was about to cry.

** As well as Conan deliberately inducing Eureka moments to Kogoro due to Kogoro's [[It's Personal]] attitude after the murder of one of his old judo teammates.

** This was also how she first defeated the Watery card.

* In ''[[Utawarerumono]]'' (the visual novel), Hakuoro studies a strand of Mutikapa's fur in frustration, unable to explain why the creature fled the previous night when it had him and Eruruw in its grasp. Unable, that is, until Aruruw drenches him and the fur in tea and this trope ensues.

* Arguably the entire point of ''[[Yakitate!! Japan]]'', but applied to making bread. For example, one of these moments leads to the creation of Kazuma's "sushi-style" melon bread.

* In ''Magic Kaito'', another work by author Gosho Aoyama (author of the aforementioned [[Detective Conan]]), Kaito figures out how an old, poor magician got a parliamentary pen after a kidnapper claiming to be the Kaitou Kid took the Prime Minister after Aoko tells him the key to beating the [[The Dragon|boss]] of their video game is to defeat the [[Big Bad|king]] controlling him first.

** Sometimes his companions do it too. May and Dawn get a few of these during their contest battles.

* Occurs in ''[[Patlabor]]'' [[The Movie]]. Our heroes are trying to find out what's causing some [[Humongous Mecha]] with a new OS to go out of control. While taking a break while the investigation seems to be leading nowhere, Noah sees a dog barking at something they can't see & mentions they can hear things humans can't, cluing Shinohara in to the fact that ultrasonic waves are the culprit.

** Shinohara actually gets two of these in the film. The second comes when they learn that the evil genius who created the program had a plan to make all the robots in Tokyo to go crazy at once & are trying to figure out what could cause enough ultrasonic waves to make it happen. When a whistling tea kettle causes a nearby figurine in a glass case to shake they realize it's sympathetic vibrations in skyscrapers caused by the wind. Fortunately, it'd take a mind-bogglingly huge building & incredibly powerful winds for a city-wide disaster to occur. Unfortunately a giant factory complex has just finished construction in Tokyo Bay & a record-breaking typhoon is due to hit in three days...

* Happens twice in [[Fullmetal Alchemist]], within the same scene. When trying to decipher a code {{spoiler|from Scar's brother's notes, the group takes a break to reassemble Al who is in 'pieces', like a puzzle. May rips the bindings of the notes and with Scar and Marcoh's help reassemble it to see the nationwide transmutation circle (which Ed and Al figured out beforehand). When trying to think there was a silver lining in this, Yoki sneezes and causes the papers to shift. They're annoyed that the papers have been 'flipped over', and Al comes to his realization that the papers needed to be turned over to see the other half of the hidden message: a ''second'' transmutation circle [[Chekhov's Gun|which can be used to reverse the effects of the first.]]}}

== Fan Works ==

{{quote| "We don't have to figure out how to get the crew off the sub. He's already done that, he would have had to. All we gotta do is figure out what he's gonna do. So how's he gonna get the crew off the sub? They have to want to get off. How do you get a crew to want to get off a submarine? How do you get a crew to want to get off a ''nuclear'' sub..."}}

** And earlier, during the briefing for Jeffrey Pelt, Ryan realizes Ramius' motivations, quietly muttering [[Precision F-Strike|"You son of a bitch..."]], before repeating it loud enough for everyone to hear, prompting Pelt to say [[Deadpan Snarker|"You wish to add something to our discussion, Dr. Ryan?"]].

{{quote| '''[[Plucky Middie|Midshipman Blakeny]]:''' "It's a rare phasmid, sir... It's an insect that disguises itself as a stick in order to confuse its predators."<br />

'''[[The Captain|Captain Jack]]:''' (later) A nautical phasmid, Doctor... I intend to take a greater interest in the bounty of nature from now on. I had no idea that a study of nature could advance the art of naval warfare! Now to pull this predator in close and spring our trap. }}

* The entire plot of ''[[National Treasure]]'' hinged on the protagonist's ability to solve puzzles and uncover secrets in this manner. Granted, the hint was invariably directly related to the solution ("Pass and Stow" was written on an ad for the Liberty Bell, the correct time was drawn on a famous picture of the building it was stored in, etc), far more so than typically for this trope.

* In ''[[Die Hard With a Vengeance]]'', running into a band of under-aged looters alerts John McClane (Bruce Willis) that the villain's apparent plan is likely a distraction.

* An unexpected source: in ''[[Godzilla]] vs. Biollante'', a scientist works out the flaw of a recent attempt to neutralize Godzilla via [[Applied Phlebotinum]] by seeing dry ice hauled about for emergency refrigeration in the wake of the unthwarted monster attack.

* In ''[[Inside Man]],'' a chance comment a rookie cop makes to Denzel Washington's character allows him to figure out how exactly the hostage takers were able to stay ten steps ahead of the police.

* ''[[A Beautiful Mind]]'': Nash develops his theory out of his friends' fighting over a girl. [[Did Not Do the Research|THE NASH EQUILIBRIUM DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY!!!]]

** There's a more serious case later in the movie: {{spoiler|Nash realizes he hallucinates when he realizes in all the years he's seen them, the little girl never ages.}}

* Played with in ''Pi: Faith in Chaos''. Mathematician Max consults with his mentor Sol about a numerical sequence he's trying to solve. Sol tells him the story about Archimedes (see below). Which leads to this exchange:

{{quote| '''SOL''': So what's the lesson?<br />

'''SOL''': No, it's the wife! You have to relax! }}

* In the first ''[[Ace Ventura]]'' movie, Ace gets his [[Eureka Moment]] when his dog lies across the forehead of a picture of a Miami Dolphins kicker...and the way the dog's hair falls gives him his epiphany...and his [[Dude Looks Like a Lady|entire week's]] [[Brain Bleach|food consumption]]...

** The revelation that the aliens reproduce quicker with ''[[Incendiary Exponent|fire]]'' is brought about by Orlando Jones' character dropping a lit cigarette into a petri dish, seconds after explaining how he hasn't smoked in years.

** The alien's weakness to [[Elements Do Not Work That Way|selenium]] is discovered by Julianne Moore taking off her jacket, revealing her periodic table of elements t-shirt.

*** Note that ''Evolution'' was, in fact, a pastiche of these kinds of movies.

* In ''[[A Few Good Men]]'', Tom Cruise briefly halts a brainstorming session with the rest of the defense team to look for his lucky baseball bat, which Demi Moore has innocently placed in the closet. Staring into the closet prompts a [[Eureka Moment]] that reveals an important fact about the case--the murder victim's clothes were hanging in his closet; if he had really been due to transfer to another post the next morning--as his CO has claimed--his things would have been packed, and his closet empty. Prompting the line "he really does think better with that bat."

* In ''[[War Games]]'', during the tense final scene, when Falkin tries to access Joshua with his password and finds it's been taken out, David asks what they're going to do. Falkin says "I don't know. Do you?", then for some reason, Jennifer says "I told you not to play games with that thing". So, David thinks for a moment, then says "It's games. GAMES!", and proceeds to play games with Joshua.

* In ''Blood Work'', the detective realizes the meaning of the [[Criminal Mind Games|Code Killer's message]] ("903 472 568") looking at a check he wrote for his neighbor, Jasper "Buddy" No one, after someone else has pointed out that the message doesn't contain a 1.

** The title characters have been racking their brains trying to figure out where the Galaxy (which is about the size of a marble) is. Their only hint is that they were told it's "on Orion's Belt" by a dying alien. When Agent J sees the alien's cat at the morgue with what looks like a bell on its collar, he realizes the alien's dying gasp was actually "Bell" not "Belt" and discovered that the cat's name was, in fact, "Orion."

** And it happens again later on, when the MIB are trying to figure out where the Bug might get a ship, and Jay spots the mural of the World's Fair, where they'd stashed a pair of flying saucers decades before.

** [[Double Subverted]] in the sequel, where Will Smith's character starts to decode a ridiculously complicated chain of arrows in a pizza shop which leads him nowhere. He missed it at the first arrow. However, the free-association links he found do turn out to be quite close to the actual plot.

* Based on the ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]'' saga, the Chinese movie [[Red Cliff]] has [[Boisterous Bruiser]] Zhang Fei, not known for his tactical genius, but still unwittingly blurting out vital insights more than once. Towards the end of the movie, his comment on the enemy battle fleet ("those ships could give us more firewood than we'll use in our lifetime") leads to Zhou Yu's plan to set the entire fleet on fire.

* ''[[Dogma]]'' has one of these near the end; Jay tells Bethany (while trying to get it on, because the world's about to end) about a boardwalk he once took a girl to on a date. Bethany, after learning that the boardwalk has Skeeball, realizes that "John Doe Jersey," of whom her minister was sermonizing about earlier, is God, trapped in a comatose mortal body.

** Hey, Jay was a prophet (or is that profit?), after all.

* ''[[In the Line of Fire]]'': Clint Eastwood's character figures out the meaning of a word with seven letters after a chance remark by a character played by Joshua Malina.

* ''[[Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus]]''. After having sex the two [[Hot Scientist|Hot Scientists]] realize pheromones are the key. To capturing the monsters, that is.

* ''[[Major League]]'': The Indians' manager is about to send hopelessly wild pitcher Ricky Vaughn back to the minor leagues. During their conversation, the manager off-handedly mentions another pitcher who went down to the minors and had a successful career. Vaughn squints in the pitcher's direction, and the manager realizes all his problems are related to poor vision.

* In ''K-9'' Dooley is growing frustrated with a case he's working. His girlfriend Tracy told him that he needed to relax, and the answer would come to him. Not much later, things are getting romantic between the two, when lo and behold, Dooley has an epiphany and must rush out the door with his four-legged sidekick.

{{quote| '''Flynn''': My real name is Eugene Fitzherbert. I figured someone should know.<br />

'''Rapunzel''': I have magic hair that glows when I sing---I HAVE MAGIC HAIR THAT GLOWS WHEN I SING! }}

** "I'm the missing princess..."

* William has one in ''[[The Name of the Rose]]'' book considering the secret of the library. Adso remembers how Salvatore said "tertius equi", which is [[Canis Latinicus]] for "The third of horse" (when he meant "the third horse"). William concludes: "the first and the seventh of the four" really means {{spoiler|"the first and the seventh of the ''word'' four", and "four" is "quattuor" in Latin, so you have to push the letters Q and O!}}

{{quote| '''Tony Stark''': He had to conquer his greed, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience.<br />

'''Steve Rogers''': Right. I caught his act in Stuttgart.<br />

* Miranda has one at the end of "When You Reach Me".

{{quote| I am jumping up and down because at the very moment Dick Clark said the word "Go," it was like an invisible hand reached out and snatched away my veil. And for almost a minute, I understood everything. When that veil isn't hanging down right in front of a person's face, a minute is long enough to realize a lot of things.}}

* Every ''Cat Who...'' novel by Lillian Jackson Braun features Koko the Siamese doing something odd which eventually leads to Qwilleran having a [[Eureka Moment]]. How plausible Koko's behavior is, either taken at face value or with the strong hint he's ''trying'' to give clues, varies considerably.

* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in ''The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams'': While Bernie Rhodenbarr is talking with a friend, she mentions the ''Cat Who...'' series, when his cat suddenly launches into strange behavior and Bernie solves the crime. {{spoiler|Subverted, in that he'd already solved the crime, but didn't care about revealing the result. When the cat acted, as if on cue, he decided to play along.}}

* In ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', Sansa supplies her father with one {{spoiler|when she says that Joffrey (who she has a mad crush on, [[The Caligula|the poor girl]]) is nothing like his father, [[Boisterous Bruiser|Robert]]. This finally makes Eddard realize that ''none'' of Cersei's children take after Robert -- though all of Robert's bastards do -- and the kids are most likely the product of incest between Cersei and her brother, Jaime}}.

* This is nearly Elijah Baley's entire ''modus operandi'' in [[Isaac Asimov]]'s ''Robot'' novels. The third and final book in the series even barely gets away with justifying it.

** Asimov also wrote an essay about how this sort of thought process works called "the Eureka effect". It's even made it into a few high school literature books.

* [[Nero Wolfe]] does this quite a bit. He's got all the pieces, but can't make them fit together, Archie (or one of the suspects) says something that causes him to look at one particular thing in a different way, and everything falls into place. He will often admit to Archie when it was something that he said or did; if it was someone else, he saves the information for the [[The Summation|Parlor Scene.]] Both Archie and the reader know one has just occurred when Nero starts doing his "lip exercises".

* Subverted, while lampshading the subversion, in Mil Millington's "Love And Other Near-Death Experiences", in which the central character has a startling realization that he recognizes would qualify as a [[Eureka Moment]] - except that nobody did or said anything to trigger it, it just happened without prompting.

* In the grand tradition of mystery novels, happens frequently in [[Ngaio Marsh]]'s Inspector Alleyn series. An interesting departure is that the Eureka moment for Alleyn usually occurs near the middle of the book, with the reader catching up as more evidence is gathered.

** Played straight at the end of the book, when remarks of [[The Ditz|Detritus and Fred Colon]] make Vimes realize the [[Big Bad]] had been rubbing the hints of his plot in Vimes' face, assuming Vimes wouldn't get them.

** Lampshaded in that "eureka" is a Ephebian word meaning "Bring me a towel".

** Earlier, Ned overhears a conversation mentioning "an anchorman in Kingston". When he later learns that Kingston is the capital of Jamaica, he realises that what he heard was "a nanka-man", nanka being a local term for the Jamaican Boa.

* "Take a chill pill" in ''[[Mystery Team]]''.

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* The Dutch Detective show ''Baantjer'' featured, in ''each and every episode'', a Eureka moment when the protagonists were in their usual bar, when the barman makes an offhand remark. The Euraka moment always looks and sounds the same too. Eventually Lampshaded, when the barman asks if he doesn't deserve be put on the police payroll.

* Hong Kong prime time dramas seems to love this trope. Case in point, the period drama ''Song Shijie'', where the eponymous character is a court lawyer who seems to be surrounded by people and incidents that randomly give him pivotal clues.

** [[Gibbering Genius]] Fred puts it more poetically.

{{quote| '''Angel:''' "[[Madness Mantra|Listen, listen, listen...]] What are you listening for?" <br />

'''Fred:''' "The click. When it all comes together and makes sense. There's like a click in your brain and then you understand things again." }}

* [[Castle]] is beginning to show an aptitude for [[Eureka Moment|Eureka Moments]], usually inspired by his daughter. In a reversal, he gave one to his daughter in one episode.

** Castle and Beckett will often have these moments simultaneously (or near simultaneously) in order to demonstrate how they click (in [[UST|more ways than one]]). For one example, Beckett was writing something on [[The Big Board]] when she suddenly had a brainwave... and Castle at the exact same time ran in from the elevator, having obviously had the exact same brainwave.

* Happens with astonishing regularity in ''[[The Closer]]''. Brenda has them all the time... in fact, she had one when she was at her father's hospital bed, and another when she was trying on her wedding gown.

* In a ''[[CSI: NY]]'' episode, Hawkes watches a Jennifer Lopez video during his lunch break. While admiring her, um, ''ass''ets, he remembers they are insured, helping him figure out the case - it's an insurance scam.

* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' has it happen so many times, it's practically a drinking game at show marathons.

* [[Unfazed Everyman|Sheriff Carter]] solves problems with literal ''[[Eureka]]'' Moments, followed by saving the town with an [[It's Up to You]] sequence. (Especially ironic since he's the supposedly only normal person in a town full of geniuses.) Sometimes, however, the [[Eureka Moment]] moments come from the geniuses after the sheriff suggests a [[Muggle]] solution.

* Inverted in ''[[Everybody Loves Raymond]]'', when Ray lies that he has a great Christmas present ready for Debra, which he got the idea for on a trip they took to Manhattan a while back when she shouted "Oh my god!". On his brother's advice he gets her a First Edition copy of ''[[To Kill a Mockingbird]]'', then has to blunder his way through an explanation of what she shouted "Oh my god" at in Manhattan that caused him to think of the book.

* ''[[Hogan's Heroes]]'': Colonel Hogan gets most of his ideas this way. A typical scenario involves pacing while the others discuss a problem. He then pauses, smiles, and says "Wait a minute," before outlining the plan.

{{quote| '''Wilson''': "Who the hell chats about their blood type? You had to have tested me."<br />

'''House''' (to himself): "There's no reason to ask anyone their blood type..."<br />

{{quote| '''Wilson''': ...and you aren't even listening to me anymore, because I just gave you the solution to your case, right? And now you are going to leave without saying anything else.<br />

'''House (as he leaves Wilson's office)''': No. }}

{{quote| '''JD''': Oh, I'm just doing this thing where I use a slice of wisdom from someone else's life to solve a problem in my own life.<br />

'''Jordan''': Seems coincidental.<br />

* Done frequently in ''[[Inspector Morse]]'' with a inconsequential remark by Sergeant Lewis providing the inspiration for Morse to solve the mystery.

* A staple on ''[[Midsomer Murders]]'', where DCI Barnaby regularly receives the inspiration for solving the murder case from unrelated conversations, often in chats with his wife about whatever happens to be their personal side story (preparations for a county fair, etc.) in the episode.

* In one episode of ''[[Seven Days]]'', a scientist discovers a cure for cancer by seeing some water on her morning jog. The discovery is apparently averted when Frank goes back and interrupts her right before she sees the water- but she discovers it anyway after receiving a similar [[Eureka Moment]] from some coffee Frank gives her.

* An episode of ''[[The West Wing]]'' has Josh struggle all episode with trying to determine a solution for an unfavorable rider to a long-fought for bill that will result in a piece of land being used for strip-mining. After wracking his brains all episode without success, a chance comment from Donna about antiquated computer systems reminds him of a long conversation with the President earlier in the episode about national parks, and he comes up with the idea of using the Antiquities Act to have the President declare the region a national park.

** Josh and Donna had a few of these over the series. Another one concerned judicial nominees after the death of a Supreme Court Justice, and the declining health of the Chief Justice. Although all the characters were unhappy that they couldn't get the nominees they wanted confirmed, it wasn't until Donna told Josh the story of how her parents got their cats (they went to an animal shelter, and they couldn't decide between two, so they got both) that he has the idea of letting the Republicans name whoever they want for the open seat, if they will accept the Democratic nominee for Chief Justice.

* ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined]]'' ("Scattered"). Gaeta comes up with the idea to network Galactica's computers by lining up soap bars in the latrine.

* On ''[[Good Eats]]'', Alton was agonizing on what to do for an avocado-themed episode (while his assistants are suggesting varieties of guacamole) when one rolls into a sink full of water. He shouts "Eureka!" when he sees that the avocado floats.

** And in a later episode, Reid figures out how to get back a lost childhood memory while having a chat with a hooker in front of an automatic poker machine.

{{quote| '''Girl''': So, did it work? Did she quit smoking? Because I've tried everything. The patch, pills...<br />

'''Morgan''': You do realize that you just gave two thousand dollars to a hooker, right? What were you talking about, anyway?<br />

'''Reid''': How to quit smoking. }}

* The heroine of ''[[Ghost Whisperer]]'' seems to have moments like this now and then when trying to figure out the identity of the Ghost of the Week.

{{quote| '''Murdoch''': I wasn't aware I had resigned myself to anything, Miss Ogden. But you have given me some insight into this case.<br />

'''Ruby Ogden''': I have? I didn't intend to. }}

'''All''': ...When he's ''bluffing''! }}

* In the ''[[Parks and Recreation]]'' episode "Eagleton", Leslie is struggling to overcome her rival Lindsay in the neighboring town, who put up a fence in the middle of a shared public park. Ann offers to beat Lindsay with a baseball bat, which gives Leslie an idea. Cut to a few days later, when Leslie has turned Pawnee's side of the park into a baseball field using the fence as a convenient boundary.

* In the ''[[Power Rangers in Space]]'' episode "Five of a Kind", T.J.'s watching video footage of the Rangers' last fight against the [[Psycho Rangers]] (who the Rangers have struggled badly against up to this point, as each Psycho copies their individual fighting style) when the color disappears from the video. The monochrome footage gives him the idea to disguise the entire team in the same color uniform, so the Psychos won't know who is who.

{{quote| '''Tim:''' But nobody could move at that speed!<br />

'''Bill:''' Yeah, that's...inhuman!<br />

== Video Games ==

* Happens a few times in the ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' series.

** The most triumphant example in the first game has to be in case 4. You're backed into a corner, you have no proof that the witness isn't who he says he is, and it looks like you're going to lose. von Karma then says something as a joke which suddenly turns everything around: {{spoiler|"Perhaps you would like to cross-examine the parrot for some comic relief?"}}

** At several points in AAI Edgeworth will hit a brick wall with his confrontations, but then the player is reminded of past innocuous scraps of conversation, then links together half a dozen or so pieces of logic, which leads to a whole new perspective on the case. Sufficiently awesome music starts up to accompany this.

* [[Heavy Rain]] - The clues start coming together in the last act for the characters (and, by extension, the player) this way.

** {{spoiler|In one ending, at least. In another, Clover makes the connection.}}

** Heck, the entire plot is based on the idea that {{spoiler|a person being in danger and having enough of these moments can trigger morphogenic fields, essentially allowing telepathy. [[Fridge Brilliance|Junpei gets possibly the best one, so Akane can contact him.]]}}

== Web Comics ==

* In [http://www.cedarseed.com/malaak/II25.html Malaak, issue II, page 25], the person giving the inspiration doesn't even know about the mystery.

* Revolver Ocelot experiences one in ''[http://gigaville.com/comic.php?id=111 this]'' ''[[The Last Days of Foxhound|Last Days of Foxhound]]'' strip. Of course, he is {{spoiler|just [[Obfuscating Stupidity|playing dumb]] in order to be able to manipulate Solidus later.}}

* [[Wapsi Square]]: [http://wapsisquare.com/comic/stalling/ Amanda you're a friggen genius!]

* In [[Homestuck]], John figures out how to use the Alchemiter as a [[Merging Machine]] after reading about a card trick.

* In [[Ensign Sue Must Die]] Spock has [http://www.interrobangstudios.com/potluck/index.php?strip_id=1048 one.] Spock Prime's reaction simply rubs the salt in the wound.

== Western Animation ==

** One memorable conversation involved the Riddler and a series of riddles. Batman and Alfred are staring at the riddles and Alfred makes the comment that the riddles all involve numbers. From that, Batman turns the numbers into Roman numerals and then simultaneously, both declare, "Of course! The Department of Motor Vehicles!" (suddenly seeing the Roman numerals DMV together could easily be a [[Eureka Moment]] for any American.)

** Another has Batman deducing where Count Vertigo's hideout is when Alfred tells him that he soon won't know his right hand from his left. Yes, he was confused about which direction Vertigo escaped in because his senses were scrambled, and he had actually gone in the opposite direction Batman had originally thought.

** In yet another (Killer Croc's appearance on the scene), Batman realizes the nature of his foe due to Alfred's offhand comment that he was going to keep dinner in a crock pot to keep it warm.

{{quote| '''Princess Atta:''' I mean, even Hopper's afraid of birds--<br />

'''Flick:''' Haha, yeah, I -- say that again? }}

{{quote| '''Millhouse''': My feet are killing me.<br />

'''Lisa''': Feet... killing... We have to save Bart! }}

** When the family is trying to figure out a way to keep Apu from being deported, Abe mentions he could try living in a balloon. Lisa exclaims "That's it!", leading Bart to declare that she's as dumb as him. She explains that she connects him being a grandfather with grandfather clause, with his statement being irrelevant.

* ''Captain Flamingo'' runs on this trope. Every use of the eponymous character's "Bird Brain" is either this, or a full-on [[I Was Just Joking]], depending on [[Rule of Funny|which would be funnier.]] Either way, it's played for laughs, as the ideas he gets are usually ridiculous... but always manage to work.

** In a similar episode, the Warners were cleaning [[Ludwig Van Beethoven|Beethoven's]] chimney (badly, of course) and humming an obnoxious tune that went a little something like "Hm hm hm hmmmmmmmm". As they're leaving, ol' Ludwig finally has the inspiration for his Fifth Symphony. The next house on the Warners' route is "that Van Gogh grouch again", and Wakko picks a sunflower to help cheer him up.

* In an episode of ''[[The Raccoons]]'', Cyril is accused of stealing a gem during a blackout. Bert is trying to solve the crime but is stumped until he sees Cedric drop his [[Nerd Glasses]] in the river. It's then that he realizes that the gem was not stolen but knocked in an aquarium, and was rendered invisible by water refraction, same as Cedric's lenses.

* ''[[Jimmy Neutron]]'' had a recurring delayed reaction to this. When the heroes have exhausted all their obvious options, Jimmy starts thinking about the episode's events. One completely ordinary-seeming event would pop into his mind, he'd shout "[[Catch Phrase|Brain Blast!]]", and he'd come up with a solution based on that event.

* Sent up in a [[Running Gag]] on the ''[[South Park]]'' episode "Cancelled". The astronomer investigating Cartman's satellite dish implant draws several correct conclusions after increasingly absurd free association sessions based on conversations with Chef.

** [[Depraved Homosexual|Mr. Garrison]] struggled to invent a new vehicle until Mr. Hat [[Talking to Themself|commented]] "Boy, that Enrique Iglesias can sure gyrate his hot ass around" and decided on a gyroscope.

* Shego's mockery of her evil employer Dr. Drakken in ''[[Kim Possible]]'' often gives him inspiration for his next [[World Domination]] plot.

** When Kim visited her cousin Larry, he commented that Monty Fiske, the archeologist they had assisted earlier, was a master of Tai Shing Pek Kwar or Monkey Kung-Fu, prompting Kim to realize that he was the villain Monkey Fist.

* "Jack's Obsession" from ''[[The Nightmare Before Christmas]]'' leads up to an Eureka Moment, with Jack even shouting "EUREKA!!!"

* [[Lampshaded]] in the ''[[Futurama]]'' episode "That Darn Katz!":

'''Farnsworth''': Pssh. You can't suddenly know something by assembling a committee of words... That's it! I'll assemble your committee! }}

* In ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'', Po opens the scroll containing the secret to limitless power and kung fu itself to find {{spoiler|nothing but a blank, reflective foil, which seems to imply that obtaining limitless power is impossible}}. He then meets his father who says that the secret ingredient to his popular "Secret Ingredient Soup" is {{spoiler|also nothing; it's special because people believe it is}}. This leads Po to having his [[Eureka Moment]]: {{spoiler|that limitless power resides within oneself (hence the reflection), and that "there is no secret ingredient"}}.

{{quote| '''Jake:''' "Rence"?<br />

'''Finn:''' Some Donkus's real name must have been.... [[Fridge Brilliance|ReeeeEEEEE]]'''[[Fridge Brilliance|EEEEE]]''[[Fridge Brilliance|EEEEENCE?!?!]]''''' }}

* A similar tale surrounds the invention of the sewing machine: the inventor dreamed of spears with holes in them stabbing towards him, and realized upon waking that the eye of a needle to fit into a sewing machine had to be in the ''tip''.

* Supposedly, Eli Whitney came about the idea of the cotton gin by watching a cat wash itself.

* Watson and Crick, co-discoverers of the DNA molecule's double-helix structure, got the idea after noticing a spiral staircase. It was a [[Luck Based Search Technique|completely unlikely solution]] based on the limited evidence.

** They actually got the idea from Rosalind Franklin's research. Not so much a [[Eureka Moment]] as it was intellectual theft.

* Gauss once wrote in his diary "EYPHKA! num = Δ + Δ + Δ," thinking he'd proven Fermat's famously unproven polygonal number conjecture (yes, that's right, [[Fermats Last Theorem|he did it more than once]]) for n = 3; he later realized that the proof in his head needed significant ironing out, but for an open question, he got it quickly enough.

* According to Cognitive Psychology, when it comes to problem solving those "Eureka Moments" are actually called insights which are deep, useful understandings of the nature of a problem. However, compared to the typical slow approach to a problem solution, insights often occur abruptly and almost without warning. Tasks that involve insight usually require something new and non-obvious to be done and in most cases they are difficult enough to predict that the initial solution attempt will be unsuccessful. This can lead to the so called "AHA-experience" where the solution pops up all of a sudden.

{{reflist}}