History Main / LiveActionEscortMission

[[folder:Comicbooks]]
* [[Comicbook/{{Asterix}} Asterix & Obelix]], where the person being escorted is a Spanish Prince, who tried holding his breath to get what he wanted. Obelix learned the same trick as well.

* {{Film/Aliens}} [[DownplayedTrope downplays this,]] but once Newt is found, getting her to safety becomes one of the heroes' main goals.

* In the Ruby-Spears ''WesternAnimation/MegaMan'' cartoon, Mega had to escort Brain Bot, a superintelligent robot, to California. Not only did he not know when to quit messing with things and trying to "fix" them, Wily also had his sights on the brainy 'bot.

* One of the funniest episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' was in season 5, where Raven got sent alone to escort three "younger" heroes to a safehouse from the BigBad types trying to kidnap them. No one told her that the oldest was 4, and the youngest still in diapers. HilarityEnsues all around. Especially when they stop for the night. Take note, when asked to tell a bedtime story she slightly dumbs down the Trigon arc into a hilariously funny tale of horror for the little kids.

* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. Bodie and Doyle are assigned by their boss Cowley to protect an Arab dignitary. They find themselves being pursued by a number of assassins (possibly Mossad), and later discover that [[MissionControlIsOffItsMeds even Cowley isn't giving all the support he could]] because they're serving as TheBait. At the end of the episode it's even suggested that the dignitary was a fake as well.

* In the ''Series/StarskyAndHutch'' episode, "Death Ride", the two are assigned to escort a mobster's daughter from San Francisco to Bay City. [[spoiler: It turned out they were a DecoyConvoy, as there was a snitch at the precinct feeding information to the people who wanted her dead.]]

** The bulk of ''Film/{{Wolverine}}'' sees him protecting Mariko, for no other reason than he's a nice guy and he had a passing relationship with her grandfather.

* In ''Disney/MulanII'', Mulan and Shang are escorting three princesses to meet their husbands.

* One of the funniest episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' was in season 5, where Raven got sent alone to escort three "younger" heroes to a safehouse from the BigBad types trying to kidnap them. No one told her that the oldest was 4, and the youngest still in diapers. HilarityEnsues all around. Especially when they stop for the night. Take note, when asked to tell a bedtime story she slightly dumbs down the Trigon arc into hilariously funny tale of horror for the little kids.

* On ''Series/PersonOfInterest, this is extremely common given the way in which Reese has very little information about what is going to happen to the potential victim. Rather justified, as to the persons of interest, having a random stranger appear and begin shooting at the people that are trying to kill you isn't really an invitation to stick around.

* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. Bodie and Doyle are assigned by their boss Cowley to protect an Arab dignitary. The find themselves being pursued by an endless number of assassins (possibly Mossad), and later discover that even Cowley isn't giving all the support he can because they're actually serving as TheBait. At the end of the episode it's even suggested that the dignitary was a fake as well.

Exactly why anyone is willing to take such a job ''voluntarily'' without being given the needed authority over the escortee is hard to explain without GenreBlindness (or enough GenreSavvy to know it'll work out in the end). Or you were ordered to do it, or desperate, or didn't know what the person would be like, or were misled, etc.

* ''Dragon Boy'', the prototype one-shot that evolved into ''Manga/{{DragonBall}}'', was about a strong young boy named Tanton escorting a snooty princess back to her home country. When she's not whining or insulting Tanton, she's cowering in fear of whatever comes their way.

* ''Dragon Boy'', the prototype one-shot that evolved into ''{{DragonBall}}'', was about a strong young boy named Tanton escorting a snooty princess back to her home country. When she's not whining or insulting Tanton, she's cowering in fear of whatever comes their way.

* Averted in ''The Tehran Contract'' by Gayle Rivers and James Hudson. The mercenary team hired to get some upper class Iranian teenagers out of the country quickly make it clear who's boss. The first person protagonist concludes that their snooty attitude actually makes things easier, as the mercs don't have to identify with the teenagers -- they're just a package that has to be delivered.

* The heart of ''Film/JurassicPark''.

* ''Film/ThreeTenToYuma'' features one as its main plot, as a posse escorts outlaw Russell Crowe's character to the nearest train station, before taking it UptoEleven at the climax, when Russell Crowe's character's gang catches up to the group.

* The bulk of ''Film/{{Wolverine}}'' sees him protecting Mariko, for no other reason than he's a nice guy and he had a passing relationship with her grandfather.

* In ''Manga/Brave10'', Kakei and Saizo get one when they escort Isanami back to Izumo.

* The entire premise of ''Film/SixteenBlocks''.

* ''Dragon Boy'', the prototype one-shot that evolved into ''{{DragonBall}}'', was about a strong young boy named Tanton escorting a snooty princess back to her home country. When she's not whining or insulting Tanton, she's cowering in fear of whatever comes their way.

* [[Comicbook/{{Asterix}} Asterix & Obelix]], where the person being escorted is a Spanish Prince, who tried holding his breath to get what he wanted. Obelix learned the same trick as well.

* Charles Bronson in ''Film/{{Assassination}}'' (1987) has a scene when the first lady of the United States insists on riding in a open top convertible car. He replies that the last time the Secret Service allowed one of its "protectees" to ride in a convertible, it was JFK in Dallas...
* Nicolas Cage as a Secret Service Agent tasked with protecting the former First Lady in ''Film/GuardingTess''. She routinely insults and demeans the agents charged with protecting her, uses the Emergency Button like she was calling room service, and leaves the house without telling them where she's going.

* This is the premise of ''Film/WhosThatGirl'', with Madonna as the escortee.
* Appears in both ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'' and ''Film/ConanTheDestroyer'' as the reasons for Conan's quests, although the princess in the first movie barely appears and is much less annoying than the one in the second.
* ''Film/{{United 93}}'''s finale is built around a [[LiveActionEscortMission Live Action Escort]] [[StormingTheCastle To The Cockpit]], but with a much more mature and serious walking MacGuffin.

* The second half of ''Film/PitchBlack''.
* The entire premise of ''Film/SixteenBlocks''.
* Clint Eastwood's ''Film/TheGauntlet'', where Clint has to escort a witness to the courthouse, but too many people are doing everything they can to make sure she doesn't make it there alive.
* In ''Film/RedTails'', the Tuskegee Airmen guard flights of vulnerable bombers over German territory in a TruthInTelevision example. Unlike many examples, they jump at the chance to do so, as it's the best opportunity they've gotten to prove what they can do.
-->'''Colonel Bullard:''' We count our victories by the [[{{Protectorate}} bombers we get to their targets]], by the husbands we return to their wives, by the fathers we give back to their children. [[{{Determinator}} To the last minute, to the last man, we fight. We fight!]]
* In ''Film/TheLastLegion'', the titular last legion must get the very young last emperor of Rome to Britain. The kid isn't as stupid as some other examples, but he still gets kidnapped pretty often.
* The Waterloo Station sequence in ''Film/TheBourneUltimatum''.
* ''Film/BabylonAD'' revolves around a mercenary transporting a Messiah-like convent girl from war-torn Russia to New York City. Emphasized in the movie more than the novel (where Toorop and his charge just hops on the plane to Montreal rather than making a hazardous BorderCrossing).
* Princess Yuki in ''Film/TheHiddenFortress'' is TrappedBehindEnemyLines and the plot revolves around the heroes escorting her back to her homeland.
* The titular character in ''Film/{{Dutch}}'' has to escort his girlfriend's snotty son Doyle home from prep school. While he gets his own back plenty of times, Dutch can only go so far because he really wants to win Doyle over [[spoiler:before proposing to his mom]]. He also refuses to abandon the boy no matter what, because that would end his relationship with the mother. Doyle senses all this and takes full advantage.

* Averted in ''The Tehran Contract'' by Gayle Rivers and James Hudson. The mercenary team hired to get some upper class Iranian teenagers out of the country quickly make it clear who's boss. The first person protagonist concludes that their snooty attitude actually makes things easier, as the mercs don't have to identify with the teenagers -- they're just a package that has to be delivered.

* In ''Series/TheGreatestAmericanHero'' episode, "The Hit Car," Bill and Ralph transport a gun moll to court. Unfortunately, she is seemingly a complete flake who insist of being driven to the courthouse, a journey which the heroes are repeatedly attacked by hit men where Ralph and his super suit is the only means of fighting them off. Eventually, they get the woman to court, only to have her plead the Fifth and they realize the whole gauntlet was arranged specifically to target Bill. The partner's differing reactions are worth noting; the badly battered Bill Maxwell is all 'oh damn' but Ralph is ''furious''.

* On ''Series/PersonOfInterest, this is extremely common given the way in which Reese has very little information about what is going to happen to the potential victim. Rather justified, as to the persons of interest, having a random stranger appear and begin shooting at the people that are trying to kill you isn't really an invitation to stick around.

* In an episode of ''Series/ISpy'', the agents are assigned to protect a spoiled teenage Middle East king who they come to hate. However, when they are dumped in the desert to die by villains who include [[spoiler: a pre-Star Trek Walter Koenig]] he knows more about desert survival, helping them to stay alive.
* An episode of ''Series/TheATeam'' has the team hired to escort an African princess to her wedding.

* In the Ruby-Spears ''WesternAnimation/MegaMan'' cartoon, Mega had to escort Brain Bot, a superintelligent robot, to California. Not only did he not know when to quit messing with things and trying to "fix" them, Wily also had his sights on the brainy 'bot.

-->'''Colonel Bullard:''' We count our victories by the [[LiveActionEscortMission bombers we get to their targets]], by the husbands we return to their wives, by the fathers we give back to their children. [[{{Determinator}} To the last minute, to the last man, we fight. We fight!]]

** Not that people need a whole lot of convincing. (Since it usually involves Anakin or Han, respectively. They'd just be bored if they didn't have to shoot crap.)
*** Though Leia and Amidala generally aren't as stupid as the classic examples of this trope...
*** Not to mention Leia and Amidala are both tough cookies.
*** And Padmé [[SubvertedTrope has doubles]].
*** Padmé is also GenreSavvy enough to use this trope to their mutual advantage when Obi-Won is in trouble but Anakin's duty to protect her prevents him from going to rescue his mentor. Her solution: ''she'' will go rescue him, and Anakin will have to come along to do his job of protecting her.

* Inverted in the first season ''TheManFromUNCLE'' episode "The Four-Steps Affair" where Solo and Kuryakin are tasked to prevent THRUSH from kidnapping the 10 year old leader of an Asian country. The boy, far from being spoiled, is at least as (if not more) mature and worldly wise than his caretakers:

* In ''TheGreatestAmericanHero'' episode, "The Hit Car," Bill and Ralph transport a gun moll to court. Unfortunately, she is seemingly a complete flake who insist of being driven to the courthouse, a journey which the heroes are repeatedly attacked by hit men where Ralph and his super suit is the only means of fighting them off. Eventually, they get the woman to court, only to have her plead the Fifth and they realize the whole gauntlet was arranged specifically to target Bill. The partner's differing reactions are worth noting; the badly battered Bill Maxwell is all 'oh damn' but Ralph is ''furious''.
* NoHeroics has Time Bomb hired to escort an obnoxious spoiled princeling

* In an episode of "I Spy" the agents are assigned to protect a spoiled teenage Middle East king who they come to hate. However, when they are dumped in the desert to die by villains who include [[spoiler: a pre-Star Trek Walter Koenig]] he knows more about desert survival, helping them to stay alive.

* In ''Disney/{{Mulan}} 2'', Mulan and Shang are escorting three princesses to meet their husbands.

* ''WorldOfQuest'' is an entire series of this. Quest himself is tricked into it, the others just like Quest and think it'll be fun. The escortee, Prince Nestor, is an incompetent jackass most of the time.(Though he becomes relatively useful in fights, his ego still causes way more problems than his skills can fix, particularly since the other members of the party are still way more useful in fights.)