Xanatos Speed Chess: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Some characters have an amazing gift not only for convoluted plans but for revising them whenever new circumstances arise. And then pulling it off. Even a [[Gambit Pileup]] does not prevent this character from working around it to success.

While the plots can be as complex as a [[Gambit Roulette]]—or at least end up that way—they tend to function rather differently. The plotting character tends to be more [[The Trickster]] than [[The Chessmaster]]. We usually follow, if not the plotter himself, then characters near him, so we can see his continual and brilliant improvisations. This is also likely to be pulled off by heroes, rather than villains -- [[The Good Guys Always Win|one reason why it is likely to succeed]]. The other is that the plot is always teetering at the edge of failure, making its success more [[Rule of Drama|dramatic]].

 

 

Xanatos Speed Chess is one of the defining marks of the [[Magnificent Bastard]].

 

Compare [[Indy Ploy]], which is similar; the distinction here is that Xanatos Speed Chess involves changing an existing plan quickly, while an [[Indy Ploy]] involves there being ''no'' plan whatsoever.

 

* {{spoiler|[[Complete Monster|Kurata]]}} from ''[[Digimon Savers]]'' seemed to be very good at this, often losing individual battles to the heroes (after nearly defeating them to begin with) but ''always'' having some sort of backup plan that would ensure his ultimate victory.

* Attempted and failed by Zao in [[Sand Land]].

* Being a [[Complete Monster]] and a [[Magnificent Bastard]], [[Monster (manga)|Johan Liebert]] is able to change his plans on a whim. Because of this, his plans almost always work out...{{spoiler|[[Spanner in the Works|until the end.]]}}

* Why Hanbe from ''[[Sengoku Basara]]'' is considered a genius: he has a plan for every possible outcome.

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* ''[[Sleeper (Comic Book)|Sleeper]]'' (along with its prequel ''Point Blank'') by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips is pretty much built out of this trope, with Tao and Lynch using ever more convoluted plans to entrap each other and manipulate [[Double Agent]] Holden (who has plans of his own).

* Marvel's [[Thor|Loki]] and his spiritual twin [[Dr. Doom]] are both masters of this trope and employee it regularly. Loki uses it more due to his preference for indirect manipulation and lies.

 

== Film ==

* Josh and his crew from [[Tower Heist]] (an [[Affectionate Parody]] of heist films like [[Ocean's Eleven]]) start out with a plan, but when things go south Josh proves himself a master of this trope.

* Details from the beginning of the ''[[The Lion King]]'' strongly imply that Scar's initial plan was to have Simba killed only, so he'd remove competition for the throne. It wasn't until the hyenas failure to kill Simba due to Mufasa's interference, as well as Banzai's sardonic question of whether Scar should kill Mufasa to get the throne that Scar even considered the idea of murdering Mufasa in the first place.

 

== Literature ==

* David from ''[[Animorphs]]'' plays a mean game too, which is only appropriate as Senna is his [[Expy]]. It takes him being saddled with the [[Villain Ball]] before the Animorphs are able to defeat him.

* ''[[Neuromancer]]'' - the AI Wintermute describes himself this way: "I try to plan, in your sense of the word, but that isn't my basic mode, really. I improvise. It's my greatest talent. I prefer situations to plans, you see..." The plot of the book never makes a big point of this, though: when Molly decides to take a detour and when {{spoiler|Case gets tricked by Neuromancer into thinking he's Wintermute}}, he doesn't manage to stop them.

* Crowley from ''[[Good Omens]]'' pulls this when two Dukes of Hell are sent to {{spoiler|drag him back down to... well, [[Captain Obvious|hell]]}}. After Crowley's [[Crazy Prepared|Plan A]] works on only ''one'' of his foes, he turns to Plan B, which fails in record time. Time for Plan C! ...Unfortunately, there ''is'' no Plan C. He comes up with Plan C on the fly, which boils down to tricking the Duke, Hastur, into {{spoiler|[[It Makes Sense in Context|chasing him into]] ''[[It Makes Sense in Context|phone lines]]'', winding back and forth over miles and miles of cable, and then timing his own escape ''perfectly''... back into Crowley's own apartment, where his own phone was ringing, at the ''exact moment'' before his answering machine picked up}}. The result? Hastur {{spoiler|is now trapped in Crowley's ''answering machine''}}. Doubles as a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] for Crowley.

* Phaethon from [[John C. Wright]]'s ''[[The Golden Oecumene|The Golden Age]]'' starts off with a straightforward plan, which unfortunately [[Didn't See That Coming]]. Fortunately, he's also an engineer and believes in triple redundancy. The rest of the book is basically him working down the Xanatos index one by one.

* Tavi from The Codex Alera by Jim Butcher is an exemplar of this trope. In book five, across the ocean from his home continent, surrounded by anthropomorphic wolves who easily outclass him, he plays a game of Xanatos Speed Chess with limited resources against a villain who has hundreds of thousands of extremely powerful fodder. AND WINS.

 

* The Doctor from ''[[Doctor Who]]'' is a renowned master of the [[Indy Ploy]]. However, on those rare occasions where he actually has a semblance of a plan, if things go awry he'll tend to only pause momentarily in shock before dashing off to salvage victory regardless. The [[The Chessmaster|Seventh Doctor]], who ''always'' had a plan, did this more often than not (including at least one long, drawn-out game with an Ancient Evil from the Dawn of Time).

** [[Arch Enemy|The Master]] has his own knack for turning bad situations to his advantage - witness {{spoiler|his magnificent comeback from ''accidentally'' destroying about a quarter of the universe to holding the rest to ransom}} in 'Logopolis'.

* Annie in ''[[Community]]'' episode [[Community/Recap/S1/E09 Debate 109|Debate 109]] is able to thwart an attempted [[Batman Gambit]] by {{spoiler|passionately kissing Jeff, causing him to drop Simmons.}}

* The Cranes from ''[[Frasier]]'' are masters at this whenever they get into a tight situation (i.e., most episodes), as are Roz and Daphne. Granted, they frequently fail on a level or two by the end of the episode, but the skill and slickness with which they lie, manipulate events, think up new plans, and navigate a tangled thicket of cross-purposes and plot threads to keep everything running smoothly for 20 minutes of airtime is impressive to watch.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

'''Roxane:''' Why, what ails you?

'''Cyrano:''' Nothing; 'tis... ''(He shows his hand, smiling)'' This scratch! }}

 

== Toys ==

* ''[[Bionicle]]'': Makuta didn't take the rescue of the Matoran of Metru Nui into account, though managed to get past that. When part of his plan called for leaving his body, he didn't expect it to be destroyed by the end, but he still managed to keep his plan going smoothly, {{spoiler|[[Grand Theft Me|taking over]] [[A God Am I|Mata Nui's body]] and the Matoran World within it at the end of 2008's arc}}.

 

== Video Games ==

* This is part of what makes Malefor from [[The Legend of Spyro]] such an effective [[Chessmaster]]. Spyro turns out to be alive and frees his [[Dragon]] from his control? {{spoiler|Trick Cynder into luring Spyro to the Well of Souls and freeing him.}} In fact, taking Cynder in the first place may have been an adjustment in response to {{spoiler|Spyro's egg not being present at the Dragon Temple.}}

 

* Kotomine of ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' has a pretty good one of these in Heavens Feel. Plan A: start with sending Lancer to figure out who everyone is, where they are and how strong. {{spoiler|Crap, after roflstomping True Assassin he got his heart pulled out and eaten.}} Ok, uh, well we still have Gilgamesh, and he's pissed about the serial killings going on. {{spoiler|Damnit, he got eaten too.}} Fine, we'll set up {{spoiler|Sakura, the monster eating everyone}} to turn into the gate and destroy the world. Uh oh, the [[MacGuffin Girl|Core of the Grail]] just got hijacked, time to [[Enemy Mine|team up with Shirou to recover it.]] Oops, True Assassin came after him and humans can't kill Servants with the tools he has. {{spoiler|Guess we'll destroy Zouken's body, using my fake heart as a decoy and ''then'' drive off Assassin.}} Woops, the Grail doesn't like me and {{spoiler|just destroyed my heart.}} And, breaking the narration, he still makes it to the end of the path and ''still'' nearly unleashes a plan that is in fact ''much worse'' than the scale of what he was trying in the first two. Plus, Shirou's ideology has been neatly discarded, and Kotomine really hated it.

** Archer's plan in "Unlimited Blade Works". His repeated gambits to {{spoiler|kill Shirou and set up either himself and Rin or a Rin/Saber team as the winners of the Grail War by playing Caster, Kotomine and the protagonists against each other}} are truly inspired.

* Maou from ''[[G Senjou no Maou]]'' has a gift for revising convoluted plans on the fly, being an expy of [[Code Geass|Lelouch]], which is how he keeps beating the protagonists, even until the very end.

 

== Web Comics ==

* In ''[[Girl Genius]]'', Gil needs to get into the castle and have it be known that he did—so his father knows, and doesn't attack it. His [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20081103 plot to convince the crowd that he's Gilgamesh Wulfenbach] convinces them that he's putting on a show. So—he tells them they're right, and by this means lures them to the castle and breaks the truth them only there. (With some unexpected backup from his friends.)

** Additionally, in chapter 6, both Tarvek and Anevka Sturmvoraus seem to be playing Xanatos Speed Chess with each other for control of Sturmhalten and The Other, executing back up plan after back up plan. Tarvek even says in [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060906 this strip] that "None of this was in my original plan, but it's all working out so beautifully!"

* Helen Narbon, of ''[[Narbonic]]'', is another case where the fanbase—and even the characters in the strip—are never fully certain if Helen is playing Xanatos Speed Chess, [[Gambit Roulette]], or if she's just luckier than anyone has any right to be. At several points, it seems Helen, herself, is not certain.

{{quote|{{spoiler|'''Artie''': My last thought before blackout is this: That every aspect of my nature--my mind, my sense of ethics, the body in which I currently reside--seems, now, engineered for this moment, for shielding this woman from impact. I have never been able to fathom the disjointed workings of Helen's mind. Did she surmise that someday she would be in danger? Did she create me specifically to save her life? And, if she really can plan this far ahead, why couldn't she just find a way to avoid the whole stupid situation? I always knew I'd die with a headache.}}}}

** It doesn't help that some Sunday strips have suggested mad scientists may be able to see the future to a limited degree.

** And demonstrates ([[Idiot Ball|Sort of?]]) his prowess... on the OTHER [[The Chessmaster|Chess Master]], [http://www.erfworld.com/2009/10/summer-updates-039/ here].

* ''[[Freefall]]'': Sam Starfall wanted to get Florence into (and safely back out of) the heavily guarded campus of Ecosystems Unlimited, and maybe ''borrow'' some things while they're there. This means improvising and readjusting his plans when circumstances ask for it, like [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1700/fc01604.htm stuffing crickets in his pants], [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1700/fc01669.htm releasing them into the fire detection system], and [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1700/fc01682.htm creating a makeshift disguise].

** The villian in "The Big Idea" tries to play this, but needless to say, ends up failing miserably."

* The [[Villain Protagonist]] of ''[[The Salvation War]]'', Michael-lan, is a master of this trope.

 

== Western Animation ==

{{quote|'''Dragonelle''': Sir, I take personal responsibility for the failure of Chaos Strike.

'''Dread''': Mmm, you're too hard on yourself, my dear. The great pyramid has been desecrated, and the explosion's left no evidence to trace the crime to us. Tensions in the region will rise, as planned. Besides, the test of the Dread probes was a qualified success, certainly more R&D is required. But I believe our ultimate victory is right at hand. }}

 

== Real Life ==

* The theory of [https://www.edge.org/conversation/nassim_nicholas_taleb-understanding-is-a-poor-substitute-for-convexity-antifragility antifragility] (concept even more general than reliability) points to opportunistic adaptation as part of survival strategy: to maximize a system's viability in real conditions (where random disturbances happen all the time), you need to minimize potentially fatal outcomes ''and'' optimize the entire the function of "gain-pain". The latter in turn involves both minimizing losses from bad luck events ''and'' maximizing opportunistic gain from good luck events, if only because winning some more resources usually allows to amortise some more damage from setbacks (if you already have consumed more than enough of nutrients, you can go hungry a bit longer, and the better time you make in the racing proper, the more time you can afford to lose on pit stops)... as long as a single event doesn't cause game over all by itself.

** E.g. a kingdom is ''fragile'' if per old song it can be lost due to a single horseshoe thrown. But we can move into the opposite direction. An ''anti-fragile'' kingdom would be resistant to such failures on many levels: motivate and select more reliable smiths to work for the cavalry and courier corps (well-paid jobs), and likewise good riders for the courier corps (horse racing is a thing), have more horses fit for the couriers (use a good season to breed and feed ''more'' horses, pay attention to horse breeding <ref>we want more ''fast'' horses</ref>) and send redundant messengers<ref>and make sure horses are available to quickly remount cavalry while we're at it</ref>, find and deploy whatever alternative methods of battlefield communication are available, have at least some reserves on hand<ref>among the other things, reserves increase both ability to resist ''bad luck'' (compensate for faltering units or unexpected enemy tactics) and ability to invest in ''good luck'' (bolster a successful attack or secure a new position) without being restricted by immediate trade-offs</ref>, etc. But pasture productivity and hay yield depend on random weather, animal husbandry optimizes for performance from input of random combinations of random mutations, qualities of smith apprentices are also somewhat random and need vetting via competition, craft methods (down to smithy layouts) are subject to a form of evolution... thus most of these proactive measures boil down to "exploit random openings better, and use them to guard against risks and losses from inevitable random setbacks". But the faster you can react, the more short-term opportunities you can exploit.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Improvised Index]]

[[Category:The Plan]]

[[Category:Plots]]