History Main / BathroomBreakOut

* ''Film/RuthlessPeople''. Judge Reinhold's character has kidnapped a woman. Some cops come in to question him, and he excuses himself saying he has a touch of stomach flu. They hear moans and groans and assume he's having serious diarrhea, but he's really trying to squeeze out the window. Meanwhile, the cops have received a call implicating the husband, so they just leave.

* ''Fanfic/{{Zenith}}'': To escape from the guards keeping an eye on him, Spike pleads that he needs to do his business to a bathroom. The guards eventually realize that Spike's trying to escape and barge in, but by then he's left several misdirecting clues to make them think he's trying an AirVentEscape and rush out to stop him, while he's safely hiding inside an unassuming-looking throw pillow.

* An episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSVU'' used this as part of its DeusAngstMachina: Stabler discovers that he sent the wrong man to jail and promises him that he'll get him out once they arrest the actual criminal. Once said perp is arrested, he asks to use the restroom and dies in the attempt, though it's left ambiguous whether this was an accident or the guest-starring RabidCop killed him. This somehow makes it impossible to clear the other man's name: despite knowing he's innocent, they have to leave him to serve out the rest of his sentence. This gets a ContinuityNod in a later episode, where the prisoner is shown again and gives Stabler a DeathGlare. (It does ''not'', however, prevent Stabler and his coworkers from [[AesopAmnesia constantly pushing to arrest and lock up suspects with as little evidence as possible]].)

* In ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', Bella knows that the bathroom in the Phoenix airport has two doors in and out and her watcher, Alice, does not. Bella tells Alice she's going to the bathroom and then quickly escapes through the bathroom's other door before Alice can realize what she intends to do.
* [[Literature/RickyRicottasMightyRobot Ricky Ricotta]] does this to stop a MadScientist.
* An elaborate example is seen in ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode''. During the bathroom break, the escaping characters fake an escape through the bathroom window, managing to mislead pursuers.

* In ''The Witches of Chiswick'' by Creator/RobertRankin, one character, while being questioned, asks to go to the bathroom. His interrogator points out that the window in the bathroom is too small to climb out of.
* Kit Kittredge manages this in one of the American Girl books, ''Kit Saves the Day''. She is only ten years old, so it makes a little more sense that she can fit through the bathroom window.
* Somewhat more brute-force version in one of the Literature/StephaniePlum books. Steph is being held captive in a bathroom and managed to talk her captors into leaving the building for items they're going to need for planned nastiness inflicted on her. When she discovers a soggy piece of wallboard, she kicks her way through the wall, then leaves via a window in the next room.
* In one of the various incarnations of the FairyTale ''Literature/LittleRedRidingHood'', Red escapes the BigBad Wolf (or tries to, anyway) by using this excuse.
* In ''Literature/MythAdventures'', Skeeve tried to escape from the bar on Perv through the backdoor in the bathroom. Unfortunately Pervish thugs turned out to be smart enough to wait him outside.

* In ''[[Literature/CircleOfMagic Tris's Book/The Power in the Storm]]'', Tris tells the others that she needs to use the privy ''now'' as an excuse to get away from them and go to try and fight off the pirates on her own.
* In the book ''Literature/ThingsNotSeen,'' the main character, who has turned invisible, uses a bathroom to change from winter clothing that lets no invisibility show through, to being naked.
* In Alistair [=MacLean's=] ''Fear is the Key'' the protagonist has taken a woman hostage. They hide out in a hotel where he offers her a chance to clean herself up. At first she indignantly refuses, then suddenly changes her mind. Realising what she's thinking, he goes and waits outside the bathroom window for her to crawl through it, then marches her back inside.
* In ''Restless in the Grave'', Literature/KateShugak escapes from the pilot she had tricked into bringing her to Adak by going to the bathroom in the bar, and then getting the waitress to direct her to the back way out.
* From "Target: Domino Lady" in ''Literature/DominoLady: Sex as a Weapon'', Ellen fakes emotional distress as an excuse to go to the bathroom where she changes to her alter ego and sneaks out the bathroom window.
* In ''The Annihilist'', Franchise/DocSavage escapes from the police by going into the bathroom and climbing up the sheer air shaft to the roof.

* ''Series/AllInTheFamily'': In "Edith's 50th Birthday," Edith tries using a bathroom break to escape her attacker, a rapist. Unfortunately, the rapist is too smart for this trick. Edith draws a few chuckles when she says, "I'll go later" in a very non-comedic moment.
* ''Series/HappyDays'': The 1980 episode "Hot Stuff," where Fonzie, Potsie and Ralph use the bathroom window to escape from a burning Arnold's. (The fire -- the BigBad in this case -- had nearly engulfed the restaurant, but even so, the three have to rely on some outside help to escape.)
* In ''Series/{{Charmed}}'', Paige, Henry, and Billie are being held hostage in a bank by one of Henry's parolees. Paige tells the parolee that she needs to use the bathroom and he checks with the manager to make sure that there are no windows for her to escape through (not knowing that she is a whitelighter). Once in the bathroom, Paige orbs back to the manor.
* In ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'', Buster goes to the bathroom then climbs out of the window to get away from Lucille II.
* Subverted in ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire''. Agent Sebso is delivering a witness to another prison in order to protect him. He pulls over the car saying he needs to relieve himself. [[TheMole Sebso]] then kills the witness and hits himself on the head with a rock to MakeItLookLikeAStruggle. When asked later, Sebso says that the witness said he wanted to use the bathroom and then tried to make his escape after Sebso removed his cuffs.
* Kate in ''Series/{{Lost}}'' escapes her police escort at the airport this way.
* In the ''Series/{{CSI}}'' episode "What's Eating Gilbert Grissom?", the suspect asks for a bathroom break. After taking longer than he should, they bust down the stall door, thinking he escaped, but find instead that he committed suicide by suffocating himself with a plastic bag.
* An episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSVU'' used this as part of its DeusAngstMachina: Stabler discovers that he sent the wrong man to jail and promises him that he'll get him out once they arrest the actual criminal. Once said perp is arrested, he asks to use the restroom and dies in the attempt, though it's left ambiguous whether this was an accident or the guest-starring RabidCop killed him. This somehow makes it impossible to clear the other man's name: despite knowing he's innocent, they have to leave him to serve out the rest of his sentence. This gets a ContinuityNod in a later episode, where the prisoner is shown again and gives Stabler a DeathGlare. (It does ''not'', however, prevent Stabler and his coworkers from [[AesopAmnesia constantly pushing to arrest and lock up suspects with as little evidence as possible]].)
** An earlier episode had Benson and Stabler inadvertently catching a suspect who had been on the run for thirty years after pulling one of these; she told then-junior prosecutor Elizabeth Donnelly that she wanted a meeting, and when Donnelly let her use the bathroom, she climbed out the window. And you better believe Donnelly remembers it like it was yesterday, because her coworkers never let her live it down, leading her to take a leave from the judiciary to prosecute the woman. [[spoiler:She ultimately changes her tune when the suspect reveals the true sequence of events; she came to Donnelly to ask for her help in getting an abortion, as she was carrying the child of the abusive husband she'd just killed, but she was too intimidated by Donnelly to ask and so decided on the spur of the moment to run away instead.]]

* Van Helsing does it in the ''Series/YoungDracula'' episode "Halloscream"; leaving behind a tape of himself whistling to convince Jono that he is still in there.
* Subverted in one of the ''Series/ChappellesShow'' Tyrone Biggums sketches. Tyrone has promised to give up crack and asks the people in his intervention to let him use the bathroom. He walks into the restroom and says "aw man, how come they don't have any windows in here?"
* In ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'', Carrie apparently escaped from a date once by going to the bathroom and escaping out the window.
* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': In "An Innocent Man", Oliver ditches his bodyguard by going to the washroom and never coming back.
* In an episode of ''Series/SevenDays'' the perp of the week/damsel in distress tries to make Parker think she's done this by leaving the window open while hiding in the shower with the curtain closed; but Parker just turns on the cold water in the shower, making her yelp.
* In one episode of ''Series/RedDwarf'', Rimmer mentions a date he once had, who apparently got a little confused and tried to climb out the bathroom window. Seeing as he spent the whole evening making fun of her nose (in a very misguided attempt to break the ice), it never occurred to him that she was trying to get away.

* ''Series/TheEqualizer ''is not impressed when a little old lady does a DitchTheBodyguards stunt on one of his associates this way. She was a fan of murder mysteries and espionage thrillers, so probably learned of the technique from them.
* ''Series/{{Justified}}'': In "The Life Inside", Jamie Berglund attempts to escape from her captors by climbing out the bathroom window. Being eight months pregnant, she doesn't get far.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': In "Sharp Teeth", when Sam and Dean finally track down Garth - actually a friend of theirs - in a hospital, he asks to go to the bathroom and wriggles out of the window.

* Done by Earl and his ex-wife Joy on ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', while escaping from Jessie, Earl's PsychoExGirlfriend turned BountyHunter to get revenge on Joy.

* In ''VideoGame/DayOfTheTentacle,'' Laverne uses this excuse to get out of her cell and use the Chron-O-John.
* You try this in ''VideoGame/EscapeFromStMarys''. It doesn't work. It does for another student.
* In the first part of ''VideoGame/StupidInvaders'', Bud escapes from Bolok the bounty hunter in this fashion.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' "Survival of the Fittest" Sari tricks the guard into letting her go to the bathroom, and then escaping by knocking him out when she claimed it wouldn't flush.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** When Homer is taking Bart to a behavior correction camp, Bart escapes by climbing out the window of the restroom at a highway diner. Homer tries to follow him, getting stuck in the process, while Bart tells the cook that he's trying to dine and dash.
** Another time is when Krusty the Clown owed lots of gambling money to Fat Tony and instead of paying escaped through the bathroom. (You can actually hear a car take off, and then a ''plane''. Then Legs tells Fat Tony, [[ComicallyMissingThePoint "When he's done in there, I gotta go."]])

* Attempted in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' by [[spoiler:Peridot]] who, after getting caught by the Crystal Gems and released by Steven in the aptly titled episode "Catch and Release", tries to escape by locking herself in Steven's bathroom. She finds no other way out, and it quickly [[LockedInTheBathroom becomes her new residence]].
** This becomes even more hilarious when the eagle-eyed viewer spots the ''open window'' in the background, which, while small, is big enough for a short and skinny gem like Peridot to fit through. Either she FailedASpotCheck, or she just ''really'' wanted to stay.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Fillmore}}'': In "Of Slain Kings on Checkered Fields", Checkmatey gets away from Ingrid by going to the bathroom, turning on the shower, and climbing out the window.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': In Episode 53, Stumpy claims he has to go to the bathroom in order to escape the house and hide evidence of a crime. He quickly slips out the front door and is noticed by the very people he's trying to escape.

* A catholic bishop did this in Talca, Chile, to avoid being interviewed for a coverage on sexual harassment allegations. He was found on the way to his car later and the first thing he said was ''"I greet you warmly, but [[{{SuspiciouslySpecificDenial}} I'm not a criminal]]"'', before hastily taking off.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''Literature/YoungSherlockHolmes'': In ''Red Leech'', Matty's kidnappers let him of the train to use the toilet while one of them watches the door. Holmes breaks through the rotted back wall of the wooden outhouse to help him escape.

* ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandaloneComplex''. The Major does this during a training exercise, despite the fact that the toilet window is [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome halfway up a skyscraper]].

* A catholic bishop did this in Talca, Chile, to avoid being interviewed for a coverage on sexual harassment allegations. He was found on the way to his car later and the first thing he said was ''I greet you warmly, but [[{{SuspiciouslySpecificDenial}} I'm not a criminal]].'', before hastily taking off.

* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl''. Mafia boss Mario Bossi escapes Triela this way, while the two are chained together as well. Triela, one of the more efficient and proud cyborgs, is highly embarrassed and has to run him down while still in agony from her period.

* ''Film/RuthlessPeople''. Judge Reinhold's character has kidnapped a woman. Some cops come in to question him, and he excuses himself saying he has a touch of stomach flu. They hear moans and groans from the back room and assume he's having serious diarrhea, but he's really trying to sneak out a back window. Meanwhile, the cops have received a call implicating the husband, so they just leave.

Related to GuardsMustBeCrazy. Usually requires a character to engage in CallingYourBathroomBreaks. A character may also feign a ShyBladder to get away with this. See also BalconyEscape. Contrast LockedInTheBathroom, where the intent is to ''stay'' in the bathroom.

Once alone, Bob makes his crafty, and usually narrowly executed, escape through the bathroom window, an {{air vent|Passageway}} or some other really unlikely exit. Frequently, the GenreSavvy hero is waiting for them.

Related to GuardsMustBeCrazy. Usually requires a character to engage in CallingYourBathroomBreaks. See also BalconyEscape. Contrast LockedInTheBathroom, where the intent is to ''stay'' in the bathroom.

* ''Film/NineteenFortyOne''. Hollis Wood manages to do this ''from a submarine''. He's eaten a toy compass the Japanese submariners need to find out their location, so they feed him prune juice to make it come out again. Hollis protests that he can't do a crap with them all watching, so they leave him alone on the toilet. Hollis then drops a boot into the toilet bowl and flees when they rush into to see the result. Fortunately the submarine is surfaced, so he's able to climb out the hatch and swim for it.

* Averted in ''Film/MaxManus''. Max enters his apartment and finds the Gestapo waiting for him. He insists on going to the toilet, but two Gestapo agents enter the toilet with him and stand directly behind him with guns drawn. Max then tries [[SuperWindowJump jumping out the window]] [[RealityEnsues only to end up in hospital]], from which he's finally able to escape with the help of LaResistance.