History Main / SafeCracking

[[folder:Manga]]
* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Genma, who invented two martial arts styles based on theft, is shown to be a safecracker.
* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'': Kaitou Kid is asked by Jirokichi Suzuki to crack his safe the Iron Tanuki.
* ''Franchise/LupinIII'': Not used often, Lupin prefers SocialEngineering to open the safe, but he has proven the ability to do so several times in the franchise. The [[TabletopGame/LupinIII board game]] just assumes that if a character enters the building with the loot, they can automatically open it. They're just that good.
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->''"It's about fitting into a culture with its own rules and hierarchies. It's a world where bank robbers are the rock stars, con artists are the snobs, car thieves are the blue collar guys...and safe crackers are '''the artists'''."''

* The 1960s ''Series/{{Batman}}'' had the Riddler used a different method: he obtained a supply of a rare wax that becomes powerfully corrosive when exposed to flame to eat through locks and simply poke them clear of the door itself to open it.

It's a DeadHorseTrope now - but survives due to the GrandfatherClause in older material, and is [[PlayedForLaughs used for comedy]] occasionally but ''never'' straight.

* The ''Franchise/SlyCooper'' series regularly involves safecracking - for the [[VideoGame/SlyCooperAndTheThieviusRaccoonus first]] [[VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves two]] games, you simply receive the combination codes once you pick up all the level's collectible "clue bottles", but in [[VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves the third game]] you have to crack them yourself, rotating the dial (via the analogue stick) until it clicks.

** This is possible in [[VideoGame/{{Payday2}} the sequel]] via a perk in the ghost tree. It's time-consuming, but quicker and quieter than drilling, assuming that the player isn't interrupted.

* "Series/ Jason King; a pair of safecrackers use a technique they learn from one of King's books; one brand of safe has a design flaw which means that all they have to do to open the safe is hit the centre of the dial with a hammer, causing all the tumblers to fall into place.

** In the sequel ''Vabank 2'', Kramer locks a little girl in a safe and then Kwinto has to crack the safe before she runs out of air.

* There is only one surefire way to break into a safe; pull it out of the wall and chisel the back off by slicing through the rivets with a cold chisel; always assuming that (a) you have a whole weekend to do it,(b) nobody hears the god-awful noise you will make, and (c) you have a good excuse when the fuzz inevitably show up and catch you "In flagrante delicto", so to speak.

* In ''Film/BankShot'', Ballentine [[SrealTheSurroundings steals the bank]] because they don't have time to rack the safe on site. Hermann then sets to work cracking it. He cuts it, drills it and finally blasts into with nitroglycerin before it opens.

* Creator/OHenry's ''A Retrieved Reform''/''A Retrieved Reformation''/''Alias Jimmy Valentine'' begins with a safecracker getting out of prison by a pardon.

* A ''WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther'' cartoon shows this trope taken UpToEleven with AmusingInjuries quite obviously PlayedForLaughs, including StockCostumeTraits too.

* Averted in ''PAYDAYTheHeist''. Rather than trying to crack the codes in the fortified vaults and rooms, the crew brute force the way around it. For the bank they rob, the crew use thermite in the room above the vault to bypass the door and have direct access to the money. In another mission where the crew attempt to rob some junkies, rather than trying to crack the code to the panic room (where the money is), they decide to detach the panic room from the floor, blow a hole to the roof, and have a helicopter airlift the room away, money and all.

* ''OurManFlint''. Flint uses a stethoscope-like device to crack the Exotica Beauty company safe.

* KarateBears krack [[http://www.karatebears.com/2011/05/safekracker.html safes]]

* ''VideoGame/Sylvio'', a game about recording ghostly messages using a microphone, uses a unique approach to getting into locked safes and lockers. By using the microphone to pick up imperceptible sounds, you can hear the tumbler click each time you've reached the correct number in the combination. Repeat as necessary until the door opens.

* Safecrackers is one of the games played on ''ThePriceIsRight''. A big prize is locked behind a vault and contestants have to use 3 numbers on the vault by guessing the price of a small item. (Ironically, one contestant who the game in the 80s was a locksmith and another was a police officer.)

* ''EternalDarkness'' had the lead character Alex unlock an old safe through the use of a 200-year-old Stethoscope.
* Made fun of in ''[[SpyroTheDragon Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs]]''. After delivering a number of tools to the Master Thief, he demonstrates his skills as he opens the safe that holds the Heart of his Realm. He starts out by listening to the safe with a stethoscope while turning the dial, but then transitions to using a hammer and a crowbar, and then finally just blows the safe up. Made even sillier than it seems by the fact that since it's ''his'' safe to begin with, the Master Thief should have known the combination.
* ''{{Safecracker}}'' places the protagonist in the headquarters of a prestigious safe-manufacturing firm known as Crabb & Sons, as part of a job interview - crack all the safes and open the final vault in the span of 12 hours, and you're hired. The safes vary from cleverly hidden that need special keys, to novelty boxes that can be opened by completing a puzzle, and none of them rely on the traditional methods of safecracking. (Except for the tried and true "figure out where they wrote down the combination" gambit.)

-->-- '''''Series/BurnNotice''''', "Scatter Point"

* A ''ThePinkPanther'' cartoon shows this trope taken UpToEleven with AmusingInjuries quite obviously PlayedForLaughs, including StockCostumeTraits too.

* Safecrackers is one of the games played on ''ThePriceIsRight''. A big prize is locked behind a vault and contestants have to use 3 numbers on the vault by guessing the price of a small item.