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== Anime & Manga ==
* One episode of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' does this word-for-word, during Joey's battle with Yugi. He gives a long internal monologue about whether or not the card Yugi placed down was a trap card or if that was too obvious...
** "Eh. Who cares? I'm just gonna attack."
** This exact scenario, with whatever permutations, has gone on in in the mind of every person who has played the game in real life, at least once.
* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' is based around this trope SO MUCH. [[Manipulative Bastard|Gendo Ikari's]] relation with [[The Omniscient Council of Vagueness|SEELE]] IS this. They each know that the other is planning to betray them, so both work with that, but both know that the other knows. They just keep on trying to get one step ahead using their unimportant pawns, such as Shinji, Rei, Asuka, Toji, Kaworu etc etc. Both are surprised when {{spoiler|one of their pawns (Rei) decides to end the world rather spectacularily in favor of another pawn. So all the planning failed. Suckers.}}
* ''Every'' fight during the second part of ''[[Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure (Manga)|Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure]]'' follows this pattern. Jojo attacks, the opponent declares they saw it coming and counters, Jojo explains he saw ''that'' coming and twists the attack as needed, and so on until one side or the other goes down.
* This makes up about a third of ''[[Kaiji]]'', the other two-thirds being basic game theory and heroic determination. In particular, the defeat of {{spoiler|Tonegawa}} in the first season is based on Kaiji's realization of when {{spoiler|Tonegawa}} will ''stop'' knowing he knows. {{spoiler|Tonegawa's observant enough to notice that two of Kaiji's cards are bloodstained on the back, and clever enough to realize that Kaiji has to know the cards are bloodstained. From there, Tonegawa assumes that Kaiji set a simple trap, bloodstaining cards other than the ones Tonegawa thought he had out, so as to trick him into playing the wrong card and losing. But because Tonegawa thinks he's better and smarter than lower-class gamblers like Kaiji, it doesn't occur to him that Kaiji would realize that Tonegawa would realize this, and that the cards are exactly the ones he initially thought they were.}}
* Appears in ''[[Ghost in Thethe Shell: Stand Alone Complex]]'', strangely not as a part of an [[Evil Plan]], but in a sniper duel. In fact, the whole episode revolves around knowing and predicting enemy tactics. The story is told by one character during a poker game to illustrate to the other players why he is so good at bluffing.
* This is ALL of ''Spiral'' once the Blade Children storyline starts.
* And all of ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'' from the time L shows up. So, all of it, really.
** Especially when {{spoiler|L and Light start working together to catch Kira, who is actually Light. L was always slightly better at the up close and personal mindgames, but Light fared better in the end.}}
** The series finale may be the largest example of this anywhere. Light and Near are somewhere around eight deep into this, both of them believing that they are one step ahead of the other.
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* ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'' does something like this during the big game between Ojou and Deimon during the Fall Tournament, with a whole string of characters reacting with shock, then going "Is that what you expected me to say?" when a dramatic play seems to go one way, then the other.
* A major plot point of a certain ''[[Spice and Wolf]]'' arc. Holo is a semi-deity, one incredibly adept at quick thinking and long term planning both. Her [[Sherlock Scan|sharp senses]] and silver tongue can turn practically any bargain into an incredible deal. So when Lawrence manages to find himself in a make-or-break financial showdown with Amati, (who is ''also'' an incredible merchant), he almost breaks down trying to out-think their combined plans. {{spoiler|Holo was actually helping him the whole time, he was just so distraught over the matter that he missed the hints she was dropping, and completely misinterpreted the few he caught.}}
* An episode of ''[[Pokémon (Animeanime)|Pokémon]]'' had the group seeing a basket of fruit on the road. Ash wanted to eat it, but Misty points out that it's an obvious trap by [[Team Rocket]]. She then points to some fruit growing in the trees, which the gang decided to take... causing them to fall right into a trap set by Team Rocket, who set up the basket knowing it would be ignored.
* ''[[Mirai Nikki]]'' And how! Considering its a series thats about people trying to kill each other to become God. And each and every one of them can predict the future. The entire series revolves around this trope.
 
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{{quote| '''Charlie Brown:''' Ha! I know what she's got on her mind! Every year she pulls the same trick on me... she jerks the ball away just as I try to kick it... Well, this time I think she has a different idea. I think she's going to try to fool me by '''not''' jerking the ball away! This time she knows I know she knows that I know she knows I know what she's going to do... I'm way ahead of her! ''([[Hilarity Ensues]])''<br />
'''Lucy:''' I figured you knew that I knew you knew I knew that you knew I knew you knew, so I had to jerk it away! }}
* When [[Black Widow (Comic Bookcomics)|Black Widow]] stops the hijacking of a NASA space shuttle she and the agent in charge of the hijacking keep one-upping the other after they reveal a part of their scheme to the other, each explaining how it "changes the game." First, Black Widow reveals that she is working with the CIA and has been impersonating the man's partner. The man, commenting that that changes the game, explains that he has just detonated the explosive in his partners head, probably killing a few of his interrogators. Widow, saying that that changes the game, explains that she is still going to take this man in for questioning, though now she will make sure to hurt him while doing so. The hijacker, [[Overly Long Gag|after commenting that that changes the game]], explains that he is now crashing the shuttle to stop her. After that the game stops changing and Widow just beats the tar out of the man, but you have to wonder what game they started with and what they were playing when they finished.
* [[Garfield]] had a case of this, when Garfield was trying to get a spider to come a bit closer so he could hit him with a (not very well concealed) newspaper. After a pileup of "Make me Make you"s, they forget what they were talking about... and the process was restarted in the last panel.
 
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== Fan Works ==
* In ''[[Harry Potter and The Methods of Rationality]]'', Harry learns methods of deception at higher levels, such that this becomes invoked. If you want to pretend that you don't know anything about something, you don't say "I don't know", you act as you anticipate your opponent anticipating your actions if you didn't know--in this case, pretending to clumsily fish for more information on the topic.
* Played with in ''[[My Immortal]]''. When <s> Ebony</s> Enoby travels back in time, she knows that <s>Snape</s> Snoop possessed <s>James</s> Samaro and made him kill <s>Lucious</s> Lucian. She, however, did not "want them to know [she] knew." Whether or not Tom knew she knew is not made clear, but it is likely, as {{spoiler|he is Volxemort and commanded Snop.}} "Suddenly it's a [[Sit ComSitcom]]," the dramatic reading snarked at this bit.
** Tom knew she knew that he knew that Snoop worked for Volxemort and possessed Samaro and... it kind of melts from there.
* In a recent chapter of [[Dragon Age the Crown of Thorns|Dragon Age: The Crown of Thorns]], Theron Mahariel, the Dalish Elf Warden, contemplates how he's been passively spying / been allowed to eavesdrop on some secret talks between the [[Guile Hero]] dwarven noble protagonist and Alim Surana, [[One-Man Army]] mage. The extent of the I know he knows I don't, etc., has to be seen to be believed. And it's only ''slightly'' played for laughs.
 
{{quote| {{spoiler|So, basically, Theron knew that Raonar and Alim knew some things they didn't, and he also knew that Raonar knew that he knew this, but did not bother pointing it out or taking measures to prevent the tattooed elf, in the future, from coming to know of everything else Alim came to know, as long as said mage did not come to know of the hunter's knowing of what he thought everyone else did not know, meaning that Theron did not have to bother getting into the habit of finding lounging spots any way farther, since Raonar either did not have anything specifically against it or knew he was not going to inform the others of his knowing that Alim, who did not know that he knew of his knowing of things that only Raonar knew more about, knew more than what he thought he knew the others did.}}}}
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== Films -- Animation ==
* Disney's ''[[Hercules (Disney film)|Hercules]]'' has a variation. Hades is telling The Fates his [[Evil Plan]], but they keep interrupting him by saying they already know his plan, because they're the Fates and they ''know everything''. Hades eventually snaps and shouts ''I KNOW you know! I know! I get it! I get the concept!
 
 
== Films -- Live-Action ==
* ''[[The Princess Bride (Filmfilm)|The Princess Bride]]'' has this between Vizzini and the Man in Black, as he attempts to figure out [[Poisoned Chalice Switcheroo|which goblet contains the poison]]. (See the Literature entry below.) Subverted in that Vizzini isn't really trying to reason it out; he's just throwing possibilities at the Man in Black to see if any of them gets a reaction. If he were ''really'' playing [[I Know You Know I Know]], he'd have realized that just as he wasn't about to leave the outcome to chance, the Man in Black wasn't about to leave it to chance either...
** If Vizzini were paying attention to his own line of reasoning, he might have realized that he was getting dangerously close to the truth (as shown by the Man in Black getting increasingly nervous in this scene in the book) that {{spoiler|neither goblet was safe to drink from}}.
* ''[[The Lion in Winter]]'' played this straight, albeit slightly lampshaded, complete with the line itself from [[Manipulative Bastard|Prince Geoffrey]]: "I know. You know I know. I know you know I know, we know that Henry knows and Henry knows we know it. We're a ''knowledgeable'' family."
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{{quote| ''I've written papers on "Little did he know." I've taught classes on "Little did he know." I once gave an entire seminar based upon "Little did he know." Sonofabitch, Harold. "Little did he know" means there's something he did not know. That means there's something you don't know. Did you know that?''}}
* In the film (and play) ''Romanoff and Juliet'', The General (Peter Ustinov) goes back and forth between the U.S. and Soviet ambassadors, discovering the layers of intrigue: The Soviets have broken the American code. The Americans know this, and are feeding the Soviets misinformation. The Soviets are aware that it is misinformation and are pretending to be fooled by it. {{spoiler|When the U.S. ambassador hears that, he is flabbergasted.}}
* From ''[[Little Big Man (Film)|Little Big Man]]'' comes the great quote "You want me to think that you don't want me to go down there, but the subtle truth is you really *don't* want me to go down there!"
* ''[[Down With Love]]'', several times, one of them also counting as a [[Hurricane of Puns]], as the discussion concerns two magazines called "Know Magazine" and "Now magazine"
{{quote| '''Barbara Novak:''' You know I have no interest in seeing you.<br />
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* ''[[Coming to America]]'' has this happen as Prince Akeem meets his [[Extreme Doormat|bride-to-be]]:
{{quote| '''Akeem:''' Listen, I know what I like, and I know you know what I like, because you were trained to know what I like, but I would like to know, what do you like?}}
* Seen in ''[[The Three Musketeers (2011 (Filmfilm)|The Three Musketeers 2011]]''. The musketeers have to break into the Tower of London. Milady, who's worked with them in the past, knows their methods, and can give Buckingham the information. They know she knows their methods and will tell Buckingham. She knows they know she knows and will tell Buckingham. {{spoiler|The English capture D'Artagnan, who she knew they'd use to infiltrate while the others acted as decoys, assuming she wouldn't take him into account. Turns out, they knew she'd do that, he's the decoy, and they do something completely different.}}
 
 
== Literature ==
* A hilarious example exists in ''[[The Princess Bride (Literaturenovel)|The Princess Bride]]'' with mid-level villain Vizzini. He goes through all sorts of permutations on which goblet has the poison in it, based on his observations and the defeat of his minions. In the end, {{spoiler|he was right in all his deductions, as every conclusion he reached was that he could ''not'' choose one of the two goblets, but he failed to take his deductions to the logical conclusion: his opponent had poisoned both goblets of wine. His opponent had spent four years building up an immunity to that particular poison}}.
* The ''[[Dune]]'' series is renowned for its incredibly intricate layers-upon-layers of this kind of gambit.
** The first book alone features a subverted [[Red Herring Mole]] (someone suspected of being a traitor who is both too obvious to be the real mole as well as [[Beneath Suspicion]], but actually turns out to be the traitor), followed by an elaborate mind game played by Thufir Hawat to set the Harkonnens against one another, and capped with Paul successfully bluffing and counter-bluffing the combined forces of the Bene Gesserit, the Imperium, and the Spacing Guild.
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** Parodied mercilessly in the National Lampoon's ''[[Parody|Doon]]'', where two characters have a half-hour long conversation without knowing what the other is talking about.
* The big reveal in Book XI of ''[[The Brothers Karamazov]]'' relies on this type of logic played seriously. You can almost see it coming when it is occurring at an earlier point in the novel (some hints are dropped that ''something'' is going on at either rate), but when you learn precisely what took place in one character's mind as a result of [[Gambit Roulette|seemingly-irrelevant events]], it forces you to [[Mind Screw|re-evaluate everything else that has happened.]]
** Also used by the author in ''[[Crime and Punishment (Literature)|Crime and Punishment]]'', where the [[Nietzsche Wannabe]] protagonist and the [[Inspector Javert]] who inspired [[Columbo (TV)|Columbo]] play this game.
* [[Edgar Allan Poe]] plays this one straight in one of his mystery stories, "The Purloined Letter". Private eye Auguste Dupin actually explains that this is the reason he can outwit the police and get his man. The police know who stole the document; the thief knows the police know. The difference between Dupin and the police is that Dupin knows the suspect knows the police know, and the police don't know that.
* Vetinari plays this game subtly off-screen in ''[[Discworld]]''. Specifically, his package to Uberwald was clearly tampered with, as expected, and he specifically uses codes that are ''almost'' unbreakable. (As for himself? He ''always'' poisons both glasses. It doesn't matter who knows what, he gets out ahead either way!)
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*** Empty City: Zhuge Liang sits alone in an empty city playing his harp while a rival army comes up. They know that Zhuge is a genius and is obviously up to something. Knowing they would know this, the city ''really is empty'', and the whole thing was a stall tactic. That worked.
*** Two Roads: Cao Cao is leading his army through a mountain pass when he comes to a fork in the road, one direction he can see a lot of smoke as you would expect from army camp fires; down the other he sees ''very'' little smoke. Obviously, the big smoke path is a ruse and the little smoke path is an ambush. Actually? [[I Know You Know I Know]], the big path is the real army.
* Played with in ''[[Twilight (Literaturenovel)|Twilight]]''. Edward and Alice Cullen play a [[Chess (Tabletop Game)|Chess]] game by using their abilities to figure out what move the other is going to make next... and countering... and being countered... and countering again... and so on.... The game is finished in their minds before two pieces are physically moved.
* A children's book titled ''Finding Buck McHenry'', about a man who may or may not be a retired pro baseball player, has the young narrator going, "I knew. And he knew that I knew. And I knew that he knew that I knew. Stop. You're making yourself dizzy." {{spoiler|The story Mack Henry eventually tells is half true; he did play baseball as a young man, but he wasn't the same man the kids are confusing him with.}}
* In ''Mistress of Dragons'', Draconis knew that Edward knew that Draconis knew that Edward didn't trust him. I had to spend 5 minutes interpreting that.
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== Live-Action TV ==
* Nearly every sitcom with [[Zany Scheme|wacky secret hijinx]] ever. ''Especially'' when someone hatches a [[Counter Zany]].
* Data does this in the ''[[Star Trek: theThe Next Generation]]'' episode "Peak Performance", right [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQoJOAbAsRM here]. Troi points out he's overanalysing.
* In an episode of ''[[Friends]]'', "The One Where Everyone Finds Out", Phoebe and Rachel find out about Monica and Chandler's secret relationship, and something of an arms race begins regarding whether or not "they know we know they know we know!" Joey gets caught in the middle (since he's known for a while), and eventually throws up his hands when he can't keep track of who knows what.
** Parodied in the same episode, when Monica walks into the apartment and dramatically says, "They know." Cue the confusion.
* Similar to the above example (but fewer levels), Richie in ''[[The Class (TV series)|The Class]]'' must determine how Duncan's date went for Nicole, but since he's a [[Bad Liar]], he ends up revealing Nicole's secret, then Duncan's secret, then both.
* During Draft Day betting at ''[[Sports Night]]'' Dana and Casey try to figure out if the other knows anything about Tommy Castro's knees, and if so, do they know that the other person actually doesn't know anything about... etc. Ends when Casey explains the entire [[I Know You Know I Know]] situation to Dan, while wired so Dana can hear him.
* The ''[[Doctor Who]]'' one-off comedy special ''The Curse of the Fatal Death'' has the Doctor and the Master engaging in a round of this. Since both have access to time machines, it quickly gets complicated.. ("624 years in a sodding sewer!")
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{{quote| '''Sir Humphrey:''' Yes, but even though they probably certainly know that you probably wouldn't, they can't certainly know that although you probably wouldn't there's no probability that you certainly would!}}
* Used in the ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' episode "Ripple Effect",
** Used dramatically in ''[[Stargate Universe (TV)|Stargate Universe]]'' with Chloe revealing that she ''knows'' about the thing that he ''knows, it's just that''... the 'thing'.. is Eli being in love with her whilst she's in love and in a relationship with one of Eli's best friends.
* A common sight in ''[[Survivor]]'', with the convoluted backstabbing, double-dealing, and mind-gaming that the players perpetrate on one another.
* Relied on by Shawn in ''[[Psych]]'', as it is unclear whether/how much most of the main cast believes his [[Phony Psychic|psychic stint.]] Lampshaded in the theme song, in fact, it's (almost) the name of the theme song.
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* Recently used in ''[[Chuck]]'', after the staff of the buy more is told to behave Morgan goes through this to try and work out whether or not they should misbehave due to the person telling them knowing they'd know he knows they know he knows how they'd act.
* ''[[Burn Notice]]'' talks about this during season 2. Michael, having started to become much more enlightened as to Carla's objectives and methods, begins to spy on her. Unfortunately, as he points out, he can't do anything different because it would clue her in to the fact that he already knows a little of what's going on.
* On ''[[The A-Team (TV)|The A-Team]]'', [[Mr. T|B.A. Baracus]] is terrified of flying, so they have to drug him every time they go on a flight. One time, they put it in his burger. Another time, he realized that they needed to drug him, so he took Murdock's burger. And promptly passed out afterwards. Finally, at one point he was switching everyone's burgers, trying to figure out which one was drugged, and ultimately decides that the one burger they wouldn't have put it in is the one they gave him first... only for it to be revealed that this time, they'd drugged his milk.
** How exactly did this guy get into Army Special Forces again?
** Also from ''[[The A-Team (TV)|The A-Team]]'':
{{quote| '''Amy:''' The last couple of times Decker got really close you pulled the same trick, hiding right under his nose. Making him think we're half-way out of state. He's gonna figure that game out.<br />
'''Hannibal:''' Yeah. But he'll figure I figured that, so he'll figure that I figured the other way, which is why we're staying here.<br />
'''Amy:''' That makes no sense.<br />
'''Hannibal:''' Decker will understand it. }}
* In an episode of ''[[The Invisible Man (TV series)|The Invisible Man]]'' (2000), Darien gets implanted a spy nanobot by a [[Femme Fatale|former girlfriend]] working for the evil agency Crysalis (the details of how the nanobot was implanted are a bit embarrassing to him). The Agency finds out, so they Know that Crysalis know. So they plan to use him as a decoy, but later the secret is ruined, so Crysalis knows that the agency knows that Crysalis knows. And obviously, the Agency knows.
* Used mostly seriously on ''[[Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip]].'' Matt's assistant has told Danny about Matt's pill-popping. After Danny confronts Matt, she quietly walks into the room.
{{quote| '''Assistant:''' I know you know I told Danny.<br />
'''Matt:''' I know you know I know. }}
* Shows up in ''[[Fringe]]'' with Milo Stanfield, a savant who can predict the future enough to cause accidents to kill people [[Rube Goldberg Hates Your Guts|set off by dropping a pen]]. It's impossible for Fringe Division to outthink him, because if they try, he'll predict it, and if they predict he'll predict it and choose a different option, he'll predict that too. Astrid describes the situation with at least six recursions of "he'll predict that we predict".
* Invoked in ''[[Sherlock (TV)|Sherlock]]'s'' "A Study in Pink". The assassin tempts Sherlock into a battle of wits involving two identical pills: one poisoned, the other harmless. He tries to lure Sherlock in with this form of logic, but Sherlock refuses the terms of the argument, knowing that no matter what choice he makes, the odds of success are still 50/50. He [[Take a Third Option|takes a third option]] and is ready to walk away from the whole thing, but gets lured back to the table because he ''has to know'' if he can win. And the twist of it is, [[Evasive Fight Thread Episode|the show never says]] if he made the right choice.
* Played with on ''[[Boy Meets World]]''. Cory thinks that Mr. Feeny knows that Topanga proposed to him, even though Mr. Feeny doesn't actually know:
{{quote| '''Cory:''' Ohhhhh, you're a smug one aren't you George huh. You know you know, I know you know, I don't know how you know, but I know that you know.<br />
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I knew that you knew that I knew'' }}
* [[The Rutles]]: "I know you know what you know, but you should know by now that you're not me..."
* "Throwing It All Away" by [[Genesis (Musicband)|Genesis]] starts with the lines:
{{quote| ''Need I say I love you<br />
Need I say I care<br />
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== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* In the ''[[Tabletop Gme/Magic The Gathering|Magic The Gathering]]'' novel ''[[Magic: theThe Gathering (Tabletop Game)/Test of Metal|Test of Metal]]'', Jace and Tezzeret play this game, each trying to anticipate the other's moves while knowing the other is doing the same thing and knowing the other knows this.
 
 
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* The new indie game ''[[Achron]]'' is built upon this trope and time-travel. Every minute or so, a time "wave" occurs so any changes you made to that last big fight will be etched into the game and your opponent will have a chance to fix it or leave it. Or maybe you just pretended to change it, and he sends troops back to fight what he thought you sent back. But then, you did send stuff back, but maybe not to there, so he doesn't know that you know that he knows you sent troops back. Or does he?
* Fighting gamer and game designer David Sirlin calls it "Yomi Layers" with "I know you know I know" being the third layer. He explains it in-depth in [http://www.sirlin.net/articles/yomi-layer-3-knowing-the-mind-of-the-opponent.html this article.]
* [[Psychonauts (Video Game)|Boyd]] pulls a variation of this midway through The [[Milkman Conspiracy]], much to Raz's confusion:
{{quote| '''Boyd''': -unless they know we know we know they know, so we won't go!<br />
'''Raz''': So... I shouldn't go to the book depository?<br />
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== Web Animation ==
* ''[[Red vs. Blue (Machinima)|Red vs. Blue]]'' has an example in the final episodes of ''Revelation'': as Washington and co. approach a base known to be inhabited by Tex, he stops the jeep some distance away, pointing out that the open area ahead is the perfect spot for a sniper ambush. Doc asks, since Tex received the same training he did, wouldn't she know he'd know that and plan accordingly? Wash: "You're overthinking it." And then the buried landmines go off.
 
 
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{{quote| '''Thief:''' You realize of course this means Fighter is the smartest.<br />
'''Black Mage:''' I want to cry, but there aren't enough tears. }}
** Red Mage parodies this trope in [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2008/02/01/episode-950-stop-drop-and-roll-is-for-morons/ this comic] to reach the conclusion that [[Blatant Lies|he actually knows]] how to cast Life 3, [[Insane Troll Logic|despite stating in the same sentence]] the fact that he knows that he can't. Red Mage used [[Right for Thethe Wrong Reasons]], except he should be wrong. But somehow [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe|it works]].
* ''Mr. Square'' Has a prime example, wherein Mr. Square says, verbatim "I know that you know that I know what you know about knowing that I know, but you don't know that my knowledge of you knowing is not secret, I WANT you to know that I know so you don't know what I don't....you know?" [http://revfitz.com/msi243.html in this comic]
* ''[[Casey and Andy (Webcomic)|Casey and Andy]]'' does this [http://www.galactanet.com/comic/view.php?strip=209 at one point] in an almost [[Two Scenes, One Dialogue]] where the two discuss how they'll counteract each other's plans in increasingly complex manners, whether the other knows about the plan or not.
{{quote| '''Quantum Cop:''' This '''Quantum Vector Collector''' will tell us exactly where Quantum Crook is.<br />
'''Quantum Crook:''' This Quantum Vector Collector '''Inspector''' will tell us when my opposite tries to find us.<br />
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'''Quantum Cop:''' Excellent. He's in Mt. Fuji and doesn't know we're coming.<br />
'''Quantum Crook:''' Excellent. He knows where we are, and thinks we don't know he's coming. }}
* ''[[Schlock Mercenary (Webcomic)|Schlock Mercenary]]'':
{{quote| '''TAG:''' I know you know I know. I did not say more because I did not know whether you should know that I know that you know.}}
** Subverted in that both participants of the conversation are AIs, and have no problem following this.
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* Happens twice in ''[[Irregular Webcomic]]'' [http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/1967.html Here] when Adam and Jamie become omniscient, and [http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/2222.html here] when Head Death talks with Head Paradox.
* The entire point of [http://nedroid.com/2011/04/nice-try-though/ this] ''[[Nedroid]]'' strip.
* [[Trope Overdosed|It was bound to happen]], sooner or later, in ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|The Order of the Stick]]''. Vaarsuvius does it [http://www.GiantITP.com/comics/oots0789.html in strip #789]:
{{quote| '''Vaarsuvius:''' ...which in turn means that he knew that you would know that {{spoiler|he was in the empire}}, and that you would know that he would know that you knew.<br />
'''Elan:''' Which means... that I'm totally confused. }}
* ''[[Homestuck (Webcomic)|Homestuck]]'': The duel between Terezi and Vriska in Act 5. Terezi proposes that they flip a coin to decide whether Vriska stays or goes. Both parties realize that Terezi is employing [[Double-Speak]], so "go" really means "die". Both parties know that Vriska [[Winds of Destiny Change|can alter probability]] and make the coin fall on whichever side she wants. Terezi expects Vriska to call her bluff, by making the coin land on "go" and then turning to leave. Vriska does precisely that, expecting that Terezi won't have the stomach to stab her in the back. This is even lampshaded by [[Mysterious Watcher|Doc Scratch]], who narrates their fight.
{{quote| '''Doc Scratch:''' Naturally, the Thief [Vriska] knew this was her intent all along. ... <br />
And the Seer [Terezi] knew the Thief knew all this as well. <br />
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* Used without being named in one of Ayla's ''[[Whateley Universe]]'' stories, "Ayla and the Network". The ENTIRE plot is various groups having a [[Gambit Roulette]]. The winner is the one who can end the "I know you know" game. {{spoiler|It's Thuban and Ayla. Ayla, who knows people would break through any security she has, so BOTH her laptops are traps, and Thuban, who set up the ENTIRE blackmail plot!}}
* Experienced players in ''[[Mitadake High]]'' pull this kind of thing all the time when debating whether or not to give out their PDA Numbers. Unless the host has disabled the computers due to abuse, in which case there's no risk whatsoever.
* In the party/forum game of ''Mafia'', this is known as "WIFOM logic", stemming from the [[Out-Gambitted|"Wine In Front Of Me"]] scene from ''[[The Princess Bride (Filmfilm)|The Princess Bride]]''. In truth it's a [[Logic Bomb|Logical Paradox]] that yields no useful information.
** In some of the more complicated ''Mafia/Werewolf'' games, this can be a genuine issue. Oftentimes the evil team will have to deliberately and knowingly kill one of their own, because otherwise the good team will not only know that the person is evil, but that the other members of the evil team know that. It's now [http://mafiascum.net/wiki/index.php?title=Bussing common knowledge] that the evil team will do that, but it's still more effective than the alternative.
* [[Mind My Gap]]: Virgil Horn almost quotes this trope word for word on the [http://www.rostoad.com/map11.html loading screen].
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== Western Animation ==
* Kronk does this in one episode of ''[[The Emperor's New School (Animation)|The Emperors New School]]''. He is faced with a choice of two levers and is instructed to pull the one he ''wouldn't'' pick, due to his ineptitude with levers. He does an [[I Know You Know I Know]] for a while until Kuzco interrupts by saying "Yeah, this went on for another two hours," and fast-forwards through the whole thing.
* Done in ''[[FostersFoster's Home for Imaginary Friends]]'', where Bloo is setting up a humiliating surprise party for Mac, and all his efforts play right into Bloo's hands, even when he thinks he's doing the opposite of what Bloo thought he'd do.
* Taken to extremes in the ''[[Danger Mouse]]'' episode "The Statue of Liberty Caper", where Danger Mouse and Baron Greenback both try to outwit each other with regards to the location of a trapdoor in the floor, leading Danger Mouse to say "I guessed that you'd guess I guessed you guessed I'd guessed you'd guessed and out-guessed your guess, I guess".
** End's up as something of a [[Xanatos Gambit/Crazy Prepared|Crazy Prepared]] in that by the time the scene has finished Dangermouse has saved Penfold's Auntie, Penfold (twice) and the famous buildings of the Americas due to utilising the extreme number of guesses to blow up Greenback's shipboard comupter.
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* In the ''[[Code Lyoko]]'' episode "Contact", Odd and Yumi have an instance of this.
{{quote| '''Yumi:''' Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?}}
* Used in the ''[[Young Justice (Animationanimation)|Young Justice]]'' show. The team is using a former Justice League hideout that was compromised. As explained by Robin; "They know we know they know."
* ''[[The Flintstones]]'' has one of these. It's something to the effect of "Even though he knows she knows he knows he knows she knows he *doesn't* know..."
 
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