History Main / IncrediblyObviousTail

* In one episode of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Giles suggests Buffy investigate a suspicious student after school, and Buffy sarcastically asks if she should tail him wearing dark glasses and a long coat. Cut to her doing exactly that.

* In one episode of ''Manga/SailorMoon'', Usagi tiptoes down the sidewalk after an increasingly annoyed Chibiusa. When she finally whips around and calls her out on it, Usagi leaps behind a pole several seconds too late to even pretend she wasn't seen.

->"The good news is if you ''know'' you're being followed , they're probably just trying to intimidate you. The dangerous ones would be those that you don't know are following you."

* ''The Berlin Memorandum'' by AdamHall. The neo-Nazis release {{Quiller}} in the hope of [[NiceJobGuidingUsHero following him back to his base]]. As he knows he's being followed anyway, the Nazis don't bother hiding themselves, as Quiller is [[JustBetweenYouAndMe working against the clock]] and has to contact his superiors regardless.

* ''Film/WhiteHeat'' (1949) starring James Cagney shows how a vehicle tail is conducted.

* In ''AgentsOfSHIELD'', Maria Hill spots several and casually talks about them on her cell phone:

Not to be confused with the thing cat-girls have. Or that thang J-Lo has, either. Compare the IncrediblyObviousBug.

* Internal security services will sometimes use an IncrediblyObviousTail as a means of intimidating foreign spies or local dissidents. During the ColdWar the KGB in Moscow used a technique called "bumper locking" where they'd stay only inches away from the car being followed.

->"But apparently my every move continues to fascinate them. Tonight's standard issue surveillance package includes: fake yuppie not checking her texts at the bus stop, impostor homeless man... mildly offensive, and the hipster following me, think he's Russian or..."
-->--'''Maria Hill''', ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD''

** In one of his commentaries, Michael mentions that this trope being in play usually means one of two things: Either the people watching you didn't have the time or resource to train a proper surveillance crew...or they just want you to know they're watching.

* ''[=McQ=]'' (1974). JohnWayne (following directly behind in a [[CoolCar green Pontiac Firebird Trans Am]]) tails a Bureau of Narcotics van carrying $2 million worth of confiscated drugs to the top secret location where the drugs are to be burned.

* Mika Waltari's The Dark Angel describes the city of Constantinople as a place where distinguished guests are always under surveillance, so the main character doesn't believe for a second that the emperor gave a servant to attend to his needs for pure benevolence. It turns out, however, that the servant is a shrewd man and doesn't necessarily view it as his duty to answer to the emperor (or more specifically to the emperor's vizier) above all else. But more generally, most "assigned" servants are rather obvious tails.
* ''The Enemy'' by Desmond Bagley. A British scientist runs to Sweden after an attack on a member of his family. A GovernmentAgencyOfFiction involved with counter-industrial espionage, follows him but only finds the scientist and his bodyguard just killing time there. In order to shake things up, they pretend to be a KGB team conducting a ridiculously inept tail, but this backfires badly when the bodyguard responds by shooting dead the man he's guarding. The rest of the book is spent finding out what was so important about the scientist he had to be killed to prevent him falling into enemy hands. [[/folder]]

[[/folder]]

* Played with in an episode of ''WalkerTexasRanger'' when Walker and Trivette are playing security guards on an armored car they're tempting the crooks with. Initially it's subverted (in reverse) when the crooks are snickering at the incredibly obvious Rangers pretending to be guards, but in action with the Rangers who are apparently oblivious to the large SUV that's been following them around all day. Quickly reversed when Walker and Trivette secretly switch trucks to one the crooks think it a good target, and Walker asks if the SUV is still following them.
* Averted in a ''BurnNotice'' episode where Michael is trying to follow his mark. He recruits the help of Fiona and Sam in their own cars. Each follows the target for a bit, while maintaining radio contact with each other, before swapping with the next follower. This way, no one car is constantly following the mark.

* ''{{Dexter}}'' has this all over the place. Dexter, as an experienced serial killer, presumably has mad stalking skillz, but some of the tailing he does would be obvious to anyone--and he's usually stalking other seasoned killers, too.

** The same thing happened at sea. Dedicated Russian ships designed for the purpose would latch onto any American warships they came across and follow close behind, hoping to snatch up any floating papers the warship leaves behind for possible intelligence and to intercept radio transmissions. Though almost all Navy broadcasts are encrypted, it still behooved American commanders to limit traffic out of caution, which made the whole exercise a tension-building annoyance. Likely the tactic was used as a [[{{Troll}} disruption]] to throw off normal plans with the outside chance of getting lucky rather than out of a genuine hope of gathering useful intel.

* ''WhiteHeat'' (1949) starring James Cagney shows how a vehicle tail is conducted.

* ''Manga/ToAruKagakuNoRailgun''. Kuroko following anybody, Misaka and Kuroko tailing their dorm supervisor.

* In Robert Asprin's ''[[MythAdventures Mything Persons]]'', Skeeve and Co. pick up a tail so obvious that Skeeve's bodyguard Guido doesn't bother to say anything about it because he assumes they already noticed. Skeeve has to resist the urge to shriek at him when this comes up, particularly when it occurs to Guido that their follower could be part of the aforementioned double-tail gambit. (She's not, as it happens.)

** The same thing happened at sea. Dedicated Russian ships designed for the purpose would latch onto any American warships they came across and follow close behind, hoping to snatch up any floating papers the warship leaves behind for possible intelligence and to intercept radio transmissions. Though almost all Navy broadcasts are encrypted, it still behooved American commanders to limit traffic out of caution, which made the whole exercise a tension-building annoyance. Likely the tactic was used as a [[{{Trolling}} disruption]] to throw off normal plans with the outside chance of getting lucky rather than out of a genuine hope of gathering useful intel.

* ''TheFrenchConnection'' (1971) goes to some trouble to show how a real life tail should be conducted (even so Gene Hackman's character is successfully evaded by the Frenchman on the subway).

* ''{{Bullitt}}'''s famous ChaseScene starts out with this, including the chasee's [[ThisIsGonnaSuck Perfect View]] of their rear-view mirror as the [[CoolCar Forest Green '68 Shelby Mustang GT Fastback]] crests the San Francisco Hills.

* In ''[[TheDarkTower The Drawing of the Three]]'', Eddie Dean plays host to Roland's consciousness. Eddie is suspected of smuggling drugs into the country, and several DEA agents are tailing him. Eddie notices the obvious ones, and Roland picks out the rest.