History Main / BathroomBreakOut

** 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.

* ''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 in to see the result. Fortunately the submarine is surfaced, so he's able to climb out the hatch and swim for it.

* In ''The Annihilist'', Franchise/DocSavage escapes from the police by going into the bathroom and climbing up the sheer air shaft to the roof.

* Subverted in the book ''Buddy'', when the kidnapped kid says he needs to go to the bathroom and his captor answers that there are no windows in the bathroom.

* 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 the ending of the ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' story "And the Executioner Wore Stiletto Heels", Stiletto ([[TalkingYourWayOut who has excellent persuasion abilities]]) escapes death row this way, by asking for a bathroom break some time before execution.
* One issue of the 2007 series of ''Comicbook/BatmanAndTheOutsiders'' opens with Metamorpho captured in France for [[ItMakesSenseInContext hijacking an ESA shuttle and ramming it into the International Space Station]]. He asks to go to the bathroom, and the prosecutor and two police officers escort him inside the bathroom (giving him enough privacy to do his business, of course)... But Metamorpho being [[ElementalShapeshifter Metamorpho]], he finds a creative way to escape.

* Averted in ''Film/{{Firefox}}''. Creator/ClintEastwood's character hides from a KGB check in a public restroom, but a plainclothes KGB officer follows him in there and Clint is forced to kill him.
* Averted in ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn''. Seth Gecko lets Kate Fuller go to the bathroom to get changed, then adds that if she's not back in three minutes, "I'm going to shoot your father in the face."

* Inverted in ''Film/TheHobbitTheDesolationOfSmaug'', which includes a scene in which Bilbo and the dwarves sneak ''into'' a house in Laketown [[{{Squick}} via the toilet]] (which is built directly over the water of the lake).

* 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 Max with guns drawn. Max then tries [[SuperWindowJump jumping out the window]] [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome only to end up in hospital]], from which he's finally able to escape with the help of LaResistance.

* In the French film ''Film/{{Nikita}}'' (and its American remake, ''Point Of No Return''), Nikita's "graduation test" after being trained as an assassin is to kill a foreign diplomat, his escort, and his bodyguard in a fancy restaurant, then escape through a window in the restaurant's lady's room. Turns out the escape route she was told to use is blocked, and coming up with her own escape plan is all part of the graduation test.
* ''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 in to see the result. Fortunately the submarine is surfaced, so he's able to climb out the hatch and swim for it.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' Florence attempts this but is [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff2500/fc02434.htm the bathroom lacks windows or vents large enough to climb through.]] She later uses the fact that it's a women's restroom to [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff2500/fc02438.htm distract her male captor]] enough to destroy her remote and escape.
* In ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'' Sven sneaks out through the [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=680 bathroom window]] to avoid having to deal with his ex who's looking for him. Faye guesses this and waits outside for him. Further subverted when the ex-girlfriend reveals that she knew all along that he was doing this and just wanted to make him squirm for revenge.

* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. Toph is captured by Xin Fu and Master Yu, (her old earthbending mentor) in a metal box, and tries to escape by saying that she needs to go to the bathroom. Yu almost falls for it when Xin Fu points out that this is probably a ploy and they ignore her request.

* ''Series/ForeverKnight''. A DitchTheBodyguards version occurs in "For I Have Sinned". She asks her male police bodyguard to step outside while she takes a shower, then ducks out the window.

* Nina uses this to temporarily escape her male bodyguards in an early chapter of ''Manga/MamotteLollipop''; it backfires when the people who at that point want to kill her are already in there. (She's saved because one of the baddies foolishly admits he's a boy in drag.)

* ''Manga/BlackLagoon''. Inverted in "Greenback Jane" where the title character waits till one of her guards goes to the toilet, then locks him inside by tying up the door handle. She then breaks a computer over the head of the other guard.
* In ''Anime/{{Tekkonkinkreet}}'', Black and White escape one of Mr Snake's henchmen by climbing out of a bathroom window.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'', Emp talks about how she thought about doing this but decided against it, because it might dissuade crooks from allowing captured heroines to use the bathroom in the future.
* In ''ComicBook/TheLosers'', Aisha escapes through the bathroom window of a hotel room during a gunfight.

* ''Fanfic/{{Zenith}}'': To escape from the guards, Spike asks to go to the bathroom. The guards eventually realize that Spike's trying to escape and barge in, but by then he's left misdirecting clues to make them think he's trying an AirVentEscape. They rush out to stop him while he's actually hiding inside a throw pillow.
* ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'': Among his escape attempts, J'onn J'aarkn tries to escape via the ''toilet'' but only to be caught the in the act by OL.

* In ''Film/TheMummyReturns'', Alex does this by kicking out the toilet, pulling the emergency break on the train he's on and making a run for it.
* The "hostages" at the LARP/ModelUnitedNations meeting do this to escape in the Mary-Kate and Ashley movie ''Film/WinningLondon''.
* In ''Film/HoundsOfLove'', Vicki attempts to escape her captors via a bathroom window when they're distracted, but she's foiled by their dog underneath the window, forcing her to take another route. [[spoiler:At the end of the film, she does leave this way.]]

* In the French film ''Film/{{Nikita}}'' (and its American remake, ''Point Of No Return''), Nikita's "graduation test" after being trained as an assassin is to kill a foreign diplomat, his escort, and his bodyguard in a fancy restaurant, then escape through a window in the restaurant's lady's room. Turns out the escape route she was told to use is blocked, and coming up with her own escape plan is all part of the graduation test.

* In ''Film/{{Villain}}'', Mitsuyo makes her escape through a bathroom window when the police find her and bring her to the station to question her about her murderer boyfriend, whom she's been helping to escape.

* Averted in ''Film/{{Firefox}}''. Creator/ClintEastwood's character hides from a KGB check in a public restroom, but a plainclothes KGB officer follows him in there and Clint is forced to kill him.

* In ''Film/ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld'' it happens before the start of the movie - a police detective reports that ex-con robber Smiler Grogan gave them the slip that way earlier in the morning while they were tailing him.
* Done in ''Film/MalcolmX'' when the titular character has to get away from the gangsters on his tail.
* In ''Film/{{Lajja}}'' [[PinballProtagonist Vaidehi]] escapes through a window in the airport's restroom when she finds out that her {{Jerkass}} husband intends to kill her after their baby is born.
* In ''Film/AlanPartridgeAlphaPapa'', Alan attempts to escape from the mobile home while its moving by going to the bathroom and climbing into the septic tank. This does not work so well.

* Inverted in ''Film/TheHobbitTheDesolationOfSmaug'', which includes a scene in which Bilbo and the dwarves sneak ''into'' a house in Laketown [[{{Squick}} via the toilet]] (which is built directly over the water of the lake).
* In ''Film/BloodSimple'', Abby flees from Visser through her bathroom window into the next room.
* Averted in ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn''. Seth Gecko lets Kate Fuller go to the bathroom to get changed, then adds that if she's not back in three minutes, "I'm going to shoot your father in the face."
* In ''Film/TheKillers'', Kitty escapes trouble through a pub's bathroom window.

* In ''Film/CatchMeIfYouCan'', after Hanratty captured Frank and they were on a plane back to the US. Hanratty let him use the bathroom after breaking the news that his father was dead, and Frank escaped by removing the screws holding the commode down.
* ''Film/TheDarkTower2017''. Jake Chambers notices there's [[UncannyValley something odd about the people]] who've come to take him to a special clinic. He goes to pack his bag and then goes to the toilet, making sure to leave his bag outside so it doesn't look like he's trying this trope. Of course that makes it easier to climb out the window onto the roof. The villains however quickly realise what he's up to and go after him.
* 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 Max with guns drawn. Max then tries [[SuperWindowJump jumping out the window]] [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome only to end up in hospital]], from which he's finally able to escape with the help of LaResistance.
* ''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 in to see the result. Fortunately the submarine is surfaced, so he's able to climb out the hatch and swim for it.
* ''Film/RuthlessPeople''. Creator/JudgeReinhold'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.
* In ''Film/DeathSentence'', Nick escapes from the watchful eye of Detective Wallis by going to visit his son in his hospital room, then climbing out the bathroom window.
* In ''Film/SilentNight2012'', Maria attempts to escape from Santa by climbing the motel bathroom window. She falls out of the third storey window and [[TrashLanding lands on a pile of trash bags]] on the wasteland behind the motel.
* In ''Film/PleaseStandBy'', Wendy breaks out of a hospital by locking herself into the bathroom, opening the window, and then hiding under the sink so the nurse will think she jumped. Once the bathroom is unguarded, she makes a break for it through the door.

* In ''Film/SatansCheerleaders'', Chris, Debbie and Sharon escape from the sheriff's house by going upstairs to go to the bathroom, and then climbing out the window and dropping off the porch. However, Ms. Johnson gets caught when she tries it.
* In ''Film/AboutScout'', Scout escapes from the social workers who want to put her in foster care by climbing through Gram's bathroom window.

* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' the villains are smart enough to only let [[spoiler: Jerin]] use a chamber pot. [[spoiler: He still manages to make use of the short moment of privacy this gives him.]]

* ''Literature/{{Circleverse}}'': In ''[[Literature/CircleOfMagic Tris's Book]]'', 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.
* 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.

* 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 horror novel ''Literature/{{Jago}}'', people's personal demons come to life and start attacking them. The repellant Mike Toad encounters his in a pub, and flees into the restroom with the intention of escaping out of the window. The window turns out to have a security mesh on it that he can't break through, and he dies a humiliating death on the unclean restroom floor.

* ''Literature/TheTwoHeadedEagle'' by John Biggins. Otto Prohaska crashlands behind enemy lines and tries to pose as an Italian flier when he encounters Alpini troops. They take him to the mountain hut they're using as a base, but he realises from their SpotTheImposter questions that they suspect he's actually Austrian. He goes to the latrine which is a tin shed perched on the side of the mountain, peels off a section of the back wall and uses it for a ShieldSurf down the mountainside.

* ''Series/{{The Punisher|2017}}''. In "Roadhouse Blues", Amy tries to slip out of the roadhouse this way when the bad guys turn up, but they just follow her into the toilet and haul her back through the window. All it does is [[NiceJobBreakingItHero ensure Amy has gone somewhere out of sight so they can interrogate her]].

* A Catholic bishop did this in Talca, Chile, to avoid being interviewed for 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.

* 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.

* ''The Two-Headed Eagle'' by John Biggins. Otto Prohaska crashlands behind enemy lines and tries to pose as an Italian flier when he encounters Alpini troops. They take him to the mountain hut they're using as a base, but he realises from their SpotTheImposter questions that they suspect he's actually Austrian. He goes to the latrine which is a tin shed perched on the side of the mountain, peels off a section of the back wall and uses it for a ShieldSurf down the mountainside.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' Florence attempts this but is [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff2500/fc02434.htm the bathroom lacks windows or vents large enough to climb through]]. She later uses the fact that it's a women's restroom to [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff2500/fc02438.htm distract her male captor]] enough to destroy her remote and escape.

* ''Series/ThePunisher''. In "Roadhouse Blues", Amy tries to slip out of the roadhouse this way when the bad guys turn up, but they just follow her into the toilet and haul her back through the window. All it does is [[NiceJobBreakingItHero ensure Amy has gone somewhere out of sight so they can interrogate her]].

* In ''Film/SilentNight'', Maria attempts to escape from Santa by climbing the motel bathroom window. She falls out of the third storey window and [[TrashLanding lands on a pile of trash bags]] on the wasteland behind the motel.

* In the first part of ''VideoGame/StupidInvaders'', Bud escapes from Bolok the bounty hunter in this fashion.

* ''Manga/BlackLagoon''. Inverted in "Greenback Jane" where the title character waits till one of her guards goes to the toilet, then locks him inside by tying up the handle. She then breaks a computer over the head of the other guard.

Related to TheGuardsMustBeCrazy. 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. Compare BathroomSearchExcuse, where a character uses ''looking'' for the bathroom as an excuse for snooping.

* 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 Max 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.