History Main / DitchTheBodyguards

WitnessProtection is [[UnwantedAssistance boring]]. If it's done right, there's no opportunity for adventure. So when the protagonist is asked to hole up in a cheap motel until he can testify at the trial, odds are he won't comply. Perhaps he needs to save someone else in danger. Maybe he needs the freedom to catch the real bad guy. Or maybe he just [[TooDumbToLive doesn't believe he's in as much danger as the police say he is]]. Whatever the reason, he'll take the first opportunity to lose his bodyguards and strike out on his own, leaving the police to track him down before TheMafia assassins do.

Compare UnsafeHaven, where the protectorate stays put in the safe place (i.e. with the body guards) but is put in danger regardless. They have the same reason; being safe is not exciting. This is an all-too-common source of headaches for anyone on a LiveActionEscortMission, or any Secret Service agents trying to protect the President's daughter.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' anime episode 173. Rurichiyo evades her guardians Kenryu and Enryu to go to a tea party with other noble children.
%%%* Bradley does this once in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. Not that he needs them.

* ''Operation Daybreak'' (1975). On the day of his assassination UsefulNotes/ReinhardHeydrich is running late, so he orders his driver to speed up, leaving their escort of an armoured car and two truckloads of troops behind.

* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl''. Mimi Machiavelli, daughter of a witness who's testifying in a mob trial, handcuffs Hilshire and Triela together and nicks out the door to see her boyfriend, only to get immediately nabbed by mafiosi. Fortunately there are other Agency cyborgs on site who immediately snatch her back. Naturally the event gets used for a Shipping moment.

* In the recent ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' storyline, "Bruce Wayne: The Road Home", Vicki Vale does this in every early chapter, thinking she isn't in too much danger ''[[TooDumbToLive just because]]'' she wants to reveal the secret identities of the entire Bat-Family. It isn't until a disguised Bruce Wayne Batman is able to snatch her away and tell her the severity of the situation is she able to settle down slightly.

** Showing that he's learned absolutely nothing, Skeeve is again bodyguard-free when he sits in on a Dragon Poker game run by his FriendlyEnemy the Geek in the very next novel, ''Little Myth Marker.'' Especially rich because [[spoiler: the game was rigged with marked cards]], and Skeeve's bodyguards are mobsters with direct relevant experience that would have kept him out of trouble completely.

* On ''Series/{{Dexter}}'', after the FBI suspect that [[spoiler: Doakes]] is the Bay Harbor Butcher, Dexter is given a protective detail since they assume the Butcher will come after him. He slips away from them by climbing out the window of his apartment.

* In a season ten episode of ''Series/MurdochMysteries'', Roger Newsome is put under police protection when he becomes the only living witness to a murder. He escapes his guard [[TooDumbToLive to get a haircut]]. [[spoiler: This ends badly for Roger.]]

* ''Literature/KeeperOfTheLostCities'': In ''Exile'', it's mentioned that Sophie has tried many times to ditch her bodyguard Sandor, to no avail.

* In ''VisualNovel/SpiritHunterNG'', either Seiji or Kaoru (depending on which you saved in the Kubitarou case) will be put under house arrest after narrowly escaping hospitalisation. In the Demon Tsukuyomi case, they finally break through the security assigned to them in order to meet up with Akira [[spoiler:and the rescued Ami]], leading to a unique scene between them and the protagonist.

'''Triela:''' ''(picking the lock on their handcuffs)'' I think she's got [[StudentTeacherRomance the wrong idea about us]].\\

* Rand does this frequently in ''Literature/TheWheelOftime''. This is because his bodyguard is a specialized AmazonBrigade, and he himself has a strong hangup about getting women into danger. Thus, whenever danger rears its head he has a tendency to slip away. Not only does this often result in him being injured, his guards consider it insulting to their integrity as warriors.

* Played straight on an episode of ''Series/BurnNotice'' when one of the protectees sneaks out of the safe house (read: "Michael's mother's garage") so she can go to prom. {{Reality ensues}}, but fortunately Michael is able to get there in time to rescue her.

* In the last episode of ''SpecialOpsMission'', the assassination target is covered very well by his protectors, who show him around the large and sprawling compound while, unknown to them, the sniper, Will, is trying desperately to get a shot when the target is unprotected. All seems lost, as the bodyguards know what they're doing, until the target decides he needs to get some fresh air, away from them. The focus rapidly shifts from assassination to evasion after that.

* Finn and Dana attempt this in ''Homeland''. It ends badly.

* In a season ten episode of ''Series/Murdoch Mysteries'' Roger Newsome is put under police protection when he becomes the only living witness to a murder. He escapes his guard [[TooDumbToLive to get a haircut]]. [[spoiler: This ends badly for Roger.]]

* ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_City_%28film%29 Wicked City]]'' (1987). Giuseppi Mayart escapes from his bodyguards Taki and Makie at the hotel they're staying at.

** Semi-inverted with Creator/WaltDisney, who once technically kidnapped then-Vice-President UsefulNotes/RichardNixon by taking him for a ride on the [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disneyland]] Monorail [[DitchTheBodyguards before Nixon's Secret Service entourage had a chance to board the vehicle]].

* In ''Manga/AkagamiNoShirayukihime'' Zen will occasionally try to avoid his aides while walking the castle grounds or shirking his official duties and leaving the castle to roam the countryside though he fully expects them to catch up to him eventually and does it to practice. A flashback reveals he used to take this much more seriously before learning to trust Mitsuhide who was brought in by Izana in response to a young Zen proving more than capable of avoiding his previous bodyguards.

* in the first few episodes of ''{{Series/Arrow}}'', Oliver Queen does this constantly to John Diggle (and to his replacement until the latter resigns in exasperation). However it becomes unnecessary after Oliver reveals the truth to Diggle and he becomes the first recruit to Team Arrow. It gets an amusing CallBack in Season 8 when Oliver--in an alternate Earth where he's reliving the events of the pilot episode--tries to [[StealthHiBye slip out of Diggle's car]] like when they first met, only to find Diggle has locked the car door in advance.

* in the first few episodes of ''{{Series/Arrow}}'', Oliver Queen does this constantly to John Diggle (and to his replacement until the latter resigns in exasperation). However it becomes unnecessary after Oliver reveals the truth to Diggle and he becomes the first recruit to Team Arrow. It gets an amusing CallBack in Season 8 when Oliver tries to [[StealthHiBye slip out of Diggle's car]] like when they first met, only to find he's locked the car door in advance.

* Oliver Queen does this constantly to Diggle in the first few episodes of ''{{Series/Arrow}}''. At least until [[spoiler: Diggle discovers his secret and he doesn't have to anymore.]]

* Franchise/WonderWoman and [[SpoiledSweet Princess Audrey]] of Kasnia do this when they first meet in ''Franchise/{{Justice League|of America}}''. Audrey admits that she's been ditching bodyguards since childhood.

Compare UnsafeHaven, where the protectorate stays put in the safe place (i.e. with the body guards) but is put in danger regardless. They have the same reason, being safe is not exiting. This is an all-too-common source of headaches for anyone on a LiveActionEscortMission, or any Secret Service agents trying to protect the President's daughter.

'''Lois Lane''': Maybe he just needed some space. Haven't you ever noticed how she hovers over him, everywhere he goes?\\