History Main / HandyRemoteControl

* Franchise/{{Batman}} usually has at least one in his Utility Belt. SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker sometimes carries one too.

* In ''{{Garfield}}'' the remote control for the TV has only one button, as does the remote for the garage-door causing a mixup once.

* In one story of the WhateleyUniverse, Generator (Jade Sinclair) is being harassed by Peeper, the 'Howard Stern' of SuperHeroSchool Whateley Academy. She pulls out a remote control and uses it to drive a caterpillar-sized robot down his shirt, inside his pants, making it grab hold of the back of his tighty-whiteys, then give him a wedgie, and ''then'' lift him forty feet in the air by the back of his shorts in the worst wedgie ever. Subversion: the remote control is a fake; the 'robot' is actually possessed by a copy of her own mind.

* In HolidayWars, The EasterBunny has a remote that zaps and controls AprilFoolsDay, as seen [[http://www.th3rdworld.com/web-comic/Holiday-Wars/episode/Holiday-Wars-Episode-41 in this strip]].

* Lelouch of ''CodeGeass'' fame is fond of these. He often carries a Handy Remote Control, sometimes shaped like a chesspiece, that lets him detonate strategically-placed bombs, perform basic maneuvers (i.e. opening fire) with a fifteen-foot gun-toting robot, or activate various forms of phlebotinum such as the technology-paralyzing Gefjun disruptor EMP rays.

** The CommLinks used by Babylon 5's staff is shown to be useful for this function, including as a remote control for their video screens [[spoiler: and for remote-controled {{Cool Starship}}s rigged with [[NukeEm thermonuclear warheads]].]]

* With the amount of wireless communication protocols in smartphones, of which include cellular internet ([=3G/4G=]), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and now near-field communication, there are a plethora of things that can be controled via your phone. Need to record something on your DVR but you're not at home? There's an app for that. Got home security connected to a base station and forgot to set the alarm? You can set it from your phone. Have a 'smart home' control system? That can be controlled from an app. The smartphone is so far the closest thing to a universal remote we have.

* One of the opening sequences to ''{{Newsradio}}'' showed [[ConspiracyTheorist Joe]] using a small device to force a traffic light to change.

* In ''DevilSurvivor2'', practically every weird piece of technology or magitech is controlled by a character whipping out their cell phone.

* Nadia has one in the first book of the RedMarsTrilogy. It was pressed on her by Arkady, her lover and the leader of the rebellion, in a moment of madness, then mostly forgotten. Then, long after Arkady's death, the peaceful caravan she's travelling with gets [[DeathFromAbove targeted]] by the government/metanational forces on Phobos just because there are members of the first hundred with it. Nadia used the remote, and we're reminded that [[ColonyDrop Arkady led the team that build the Phobos base]].

* ''MST3K'''s [[MadScientist Pearl Forrester]] once installed electrodes in [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys Professor Bobo's]] brain, allowing his body to be controlled by an "all-in-one universal remote we got at Target for nine bucks".

* [[http://moltenblade.comicgenesis.com/d/20080802.html This device]] from ''MoltenBlade''. Seems to have a switch ''and'' a moderately-sized red button.

* Done a few times in ''KimPossible''. One of the {{MacGuffin}}s was a universal remote for any device.
* Parodied in an episode of ''ThePowerpuffGirls''. The girls have been captured and are being lowered into acid by the villain, who is using one of these to control the lowering mechanism. The police arrive, arrest the villain, and try to use the remote to save the girls, but can't find the right button in time. Fortunately, turns out the girls were invulnerable to acid.

* In an episode of ''TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', Green Goblin has a remote control device that activates a nanobot armor, turning Mark Allen from a regular boy into Molten Man at the press of a button.

* The bank robber has one of these for the hostages' bomb vests in ''{{Hancock}}.''

* Jason Bourne has one in ''[[Film/TheBourneSeries The Bourne Identity]]'' that makes cars' alarms go off, creating handy distractions.

* [[BurnNotice Michael Weston]] is a fan of these.

* James Bond is no stranger to this, especially in video games.
** ''James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire'' is the grand master of this, with ''two'' gadgets: the Q-Decryptor and the Q-Remote. The former can open all locked doors and download data from computer mainframes. The latter could "steal" remote-control signals and allow Bond to use them remotely.
** ''007 Nightfire'' cools this down somewhat by limiting Bond to the Decryptor, which opens doors with four-digit codes. It takes some time to complete the task until you get the software upgrade, which cuts down the time needed.
** ''GoldeneyeRogueAgent'' features the "EM Hack," which means that GoldenEye can project EMP bursts and control electronic objects. He can activate machine traps, open doors, bugger up his assailants' guns, all kinds of cool stuff.

* Al's handheld device in ''QuantumLeap.''
* The original ''MissionImpossible'' television series abounds with these, containing a single pushbutton, which can cause whatever action is next called for in the plot. So common that it's one of the stock shots that appears in the closing credits of many eps. Barney also rigged entire cars for remote control and drove them under pretty tough routes, at least once per season; sometimes with people inside, sometimes not.

* Subverted in one ''DoctorWho'' episode, where the Doctor threatens to use one of these to activate the [=TARDIS's=] SelfDestructMechanism. [[BrandishmentBluff There is in fact no such mechanism; the "remote" is actually a Jammy Dodger.]]

* Given that the protagonists in ''StayTuned'' are TrappedInTVLand, the remote control is rather central to the plot.

* Subverted in the comic ''GlobalFrequency'', where a terrorist threatens that he can blow a bomb remotely any time with one. The heroes jam transmissions, but it turns out that he lied; it's hardwired to the bomb. So they shoot the guy's ''entire lower arm arm'' off with dual uzis and pistols.

* In ''[[DotHack .hack: Legend of the Twilight]]'', Shugo gets the Twilight Bracelet, that basically does whatever is convenient to the storyline.

* SG teams in ''Series/{{Stargate SG-1}}'' and ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' routinely use remote detonators with their bricks of C4. These became a substantial plot point in one or two episodes, such as the incident where the Atlantis team rigged a Wraith base to explode, then talked their way out by brandishing the remote detonator. They left the detonator in the base with the guy who had been stuck in the FaceHeelRevolvingDoor for a couple episodes, and [[RedemptionEqualsDeath he activated it as soon as the Atlantis team was clear]].

* Subverted in one ''DoctorWho'' episode, where the Doctor threatens to use one of these to activate[=TARDIS's=] SelfDestructMechanism, [[BrandishmentBluff when there is in fact no such mechanism and the remote itself is actually a jammy dodger]]

* {{Batman}} usually has at least one in his Utility Belt. TheJoker sometimes carries one too.