History Main / EscapeArtist

* Scooby-Doo can be a good escape artist when it comes to ropes like in Where's Scooby-Doo in ''WesternAnimation/TheScoobyDooAndScrappyDooShow'' and the training scene in ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooShaggysShowdown''

* Scooby-Doo can be a good escape artist when it comes to ropes like in Where's Scooby-Doo in ''WesternAnimation/TheScoobyDooAndScrappyDooShow'' and the training scene in Western Animation/ScoobyDooShaggysShowdown

* Scooby-Doo can be a good escape artist when it comes to ropes like in Where's Scooby-Doo in ''WesternAnimation/TheScoobyDooAndScrappyDooShow'' and the training scene in Western Animation/Scooby-DooShaggysShowdown

* Scooby-Doo can be a good escape artist when it comes to ropes like in Where's Scooby-Doo in ''WesternAnimation/TheScoobyDooAndScrappyDooShow'' and the training scene in Western Animation/Scooby-Doo!Shaggy'sShowdown

* Scott Free, a.k.a. Mister Miracle, Franchise/TheDCU's (and perhaps all of fiction's) greatest escapologist. He has [[ComicBook/NewGods New God]] technology he uses when fighting crime, but he rarely uses it to escape anything. It's all skill stemming from being raised on Apokolips ([[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid's planet]]) under Granny Goodness, and repeatedly escaping from her until he was finally able to escape Apokolips- and after ''that'', basically any escape is on the cards. Literally no one, except possibly his protegé, has his level of skill in escape.
** On the topic of that protégé--Shilo Norman, the second Mister Miracle, may well be even better. In his ComicBook/SevenSoldiers miniseries, he [[BeyondTheImpossible successfully escapes from many impossible scenarios]]. They are, in order: a ''black hole'', the Omega Sanction (being serially reincarnated in his own mind, [[DespairEventHorizon in ever more depressing and hopeless lives]]), and finally, in the finale, ''death itself'', after being chained and shackled, ''shot in the head and buried.''
* The wizard Zatara and his daughter, ComicBook/{{Zatanna}}. True, they possess magic as well, but they are both perfectly capable of escapology on their own and have done so numerous times when not able to utilize their magic skill. Also, Zatara was the teacher of escapology to...
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
** ... Batman. Always prepared with the right tools and skills, from lockpicks to acid to liquid nitrogen. It's almost a cliché for villains to put Bats in a DeathTrap and have him "miraculously" escape.
** Also, ComicBook/TheJoker can usually wriggle out of a straitjacket rather quickly (probably because he's had so much practice, given how often he [[CardboardPrison breaks out of Arkham]]). In fact, this is even lampshaded in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' where he puts Batman in a DeathTrap that involves a straitjacket. Batman gets out of it rather fast, and the villain comments, "They don't make straitjackets the way they used to...I should know..."

** ComicBook/TheRiddler is a self-trained escapologist, who looks up to Houdini himself. Notably, Riddler has been shown being able to easily bust out of prisons even other villains can't get out of.
* John Constantine, the ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'', is a master of this, but uses more of his wits to get out of sticky situations.
* Calvin Rose, a former Talon of the Court of Owls, used to be an escape artist for Haly's Circus. By age ten, he knew fourteen different ways to escape from a straitjacket.
* Yorick, the NonActionSnarker protagonist of ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'', is an amateur escape artist and magician, which is the one useful skill he has that badass bodyguard Agent 355 doesn't. In his first scene, he's talking to his girlfriend on speakerphone while hanging from the ceiling and working his way out of a straitjacket.
* The various incarnations of [[MeaningfulName Getaway]] from the ''[[Franchise/TheTransformers Transformers]]'' comics are well known for their ability to get out of tight scrapes. Simon Furman ended up killing off several Getaways during his various tenures as writer, with the notion that it would be ironic if someone named Getaway didn't actually get away.
* In ''ComicBook/AthenaVoltaire'', the titular character met all sorts of interesting people thanks to her father's work as a StageMagician. One was Creator/HarryHoudini, a close family friend who became her godfather. Since her own work occasionally gets her tied up by Nazis, having received a few lessons from him comes in handy.
* Averted in ''ComicBook/{{Aquila}}'', where the titular hero has this ability thanks to divine empowerment rather than any dexterity on his part. Bonds and chains only work on him as long as he wills it, allowing him to be a PlayAlongPrisoner until it's time to strike.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: The first time Diana meets [[ComicBook/{{Cheetah}} Priscilla Rich]] is when she's doing a daring escape from a glass box full of water wrapped in chains for a charity event. Priscilla is furious at the attention Wonder Woman is getting and tries to sabotage the escape by sneakily adding the unbreakable lasso to the restraints, hoping to kill her.

* In ''Girl Genius'' story ''Fanfic/RaisedByJagers'', Ducky casually escapes from her bonds after being tied up for weeks. Her captor is annoyed that she could have done that at ''any'' time.

-->-- '''Yuri''' (to Tron), ''Film/{{TRON}}''

As a character type in fiction, escapologists will ALWAYS escape on pure skill. Though they may use tools to free themselves, those tools still require intense training to use, as well as a high amount of cunning to conceal in case of being trapped. They are also always incredibly nimble and of cat-like dexterity. This lends itself to excelling in other talents, like [[ProfessionalGambler gambling]] (especially for [[AbsurdlyHighStakesGame high stakes]]), [[GadgeteerGenius gadgeteering]], misdirection, etc. Also, the ability to escape usually goes hand-in-hand with the ability to ''infiltrate'', and so escapologists can usually be found as the mastermind or a high profile member of a group performing TheCaper. Furthermore, expect an escapologist [[IKnowKungFu to know kung-fu]], for when guile and skill alone won't get him out of trouble.

Because of its association with the stage, escapist characters are also usually [[LargeHam pretty hammy]] and melodramatic. They tend to be [[LovableRogue roguishly charming]] to boot. Basically, if a character's gimmick is escapology, he's gonna be larger than life. Escapology is, obviously, quite a universally useful skill, so you see both good and bad guys relying on it, but even bad guys tend to be [[AffablyEvil pretty charming and charismatic]] if they're this kind of character. They will ALWAYS show confidence in their skill, to the point of sometimes bragging about it or even using it as a signature of their character. There is no such thing as a timid or subdued escapist since their ability to survive traps and bonds depends on being brave and confident of one's abilities. Even when an escapologist is actually a very serious character, he'll still tell you to your face that a trap won't work on him. For example, Franchise/{{Batman}}, one of fiction's greatest escapologists, may be serious and not prone to bragging, but if you tie him up, he'll be the first to tell you "This won't hold me for long."

* ''Film/ThePhantomOfParis'': Cheri-Bibi is a stage magician who specializes in stuff like this. He slips out of handcuffs like they're nothing. The opening scene has him trussed up with a rope, only to wriggle out. For the big finale of his act, he's thrown, handcuffed and strait-jacketed, into a compartment filled with water; he escapes from that too. And later, when he's in prison, he escapes from jail.
* ''Film/{{The Princess|2022}}'': The princess escapes more than once, from manacles through dislocating her thumb and out of a high tower when the way down is guarded through [[WallCrawl wall climbing]].

** Walter Gibson had access to Houdini's logs, and incorporated his techniques.

** In "Mr. Monk goes to the Asylum", he manages to escape a straight-jacket and a padded cell.

** Jo Grant, companion to the Third Doctor, was very handy at getting out of handcuffs, manacles, and the like. The escapology course seems to be the only [=UNIT=] agent course that she excelled in.

* Tony Blake in ''Series/TheMagician'' escaped from a South American prison with the aid of the fellow prisoner who taught him escapology. Tony continues to use his acquired skill to escape handcuffs.

* Comicbook writer and artist Creator/JimSteranko was an amateur escapologist, and an influence on both Mister Miracle and Joe Kavalier mentioned above.

* Scott Free, a.k.a. Mister Miracle, Franchise/TheDCU's (and perhaps all of fiction's) greatest escapologist. He has [[ComicBook/NewGods New God]] technology he uses when fighting crime, but he rarely uses it to escape anything. It's all skill stemming from being raised on Apokolips (''ComicBook/Darkseid'''s planet) under Granny Goodness, and repeatedly escaping from her until he was finally able to escape Apokolips- and after ''that'', basically any escape is on the cards. Literally no one, except possibly his protegé, has his level of skill in escape.

* Scott Free, a.k.a. Mister Miracle, Franchise/TheDCU's (and perhaps all of fiction's) greatest escapologist. He has [[ComicBook/NewGods New God]] technology he uses when fighting crime, but he rarely uses it to escape anything. Literally no one, except possibly his protegé, has his level of skill in escape. He's so good at escaping, he managed to escape Apokolips. [[ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} Darkseid's planet]]. Let that sink in. Because that was just his ''first'' escape.