History Main / SleepingDummy

* 'Literature/JamesBond'' -- ''Literature/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'': In the original book version only, Bond does this trick to fool the mob hitmen hired to burn the motel down.
* ''Literature/JohnRain'' (by Barry Eisler): In ''Requiem for an Assassin'', the BigBad murders an InnocentBystander for this trick. Knowing that John is stalking him through a park at night, he kills someone and leaves their body in a position where he's apparently waiting in ambush. As Rain sneaks up on the corpse, he gets captured.

* ''Literature/PhoenixForce'': A sophisticated version appears in "Tooth and Claw", where a KGB hit team tracks down Gary Manning to a hotel room and use an InfraredXRayCamera to spy on him, only to find he's suddenly disappeared from the screen. On investigating they find a mannequin with a remote-control battery-operated thermal unit that distributes heat to various parts of the 'body'. They also find a BoobyTrap.

* In the WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017 episode "Glomtales", Louie is grounded to the mansion while the rest of the family goes on, as Louie calls it "the laziest adventure of all time". He obviously wants to leave to get there himself, but Della has programmed a security bot to make sure he stays put. One of his plans involves planting a sleeping dummy in his bed, seemingly getting out of the room and into a doorway, when in reality, the "Louie" the robot sees is another dummy on a remote controlled vehicle. Unfortunately for Louie, the robot catches on faster than he expected and nonlethally zaps Louie back inside.

* Done many, many times by the ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''. It helps that (with the exception of Tobias and Ax) their parents actually trusted them.
* Late in ''[[Literature/AuntDimity Aunt Dimity: Snowbound]]'': Having convinced the caretaker that she and Wendy are ill in bed, Lori arranges one of these with pillows so she can slip out and help the other hikers search the house. Wendy compliments her on the ruse, and Lori is pleased to have out-thought the rocket scientist for once.

* ''Literature/CloudAtlas''. Cavendish uses this trick during the escape from the nursing home, in order to lure the fearsome [[BattleaxeNurse Nurse Noakes]] into his room so he can lock the door behind her.
* In ''Literature/TheDiscreetPrincess'', Finette makes one after marrying Bel-à-Voir, guessing he might have some problems with her after his EvilPrince brother died because of her. Turns out the brother made him swear an oath to kill her as soon as possible.
* In one of Creator/MercedesLackey's ''Doubled Edge'' novels, Rhoslyn needs to go Underhill while seeming to stay in the mortal world. She arranges a couple pillows under her blanket ... and then casts an illusion of her sleeping mortal disguise on the pillows.
* In one adventure of ''Literature/TheFamousFive'', they discover their host's butler set up a dummy in his bed while he went on criminal activities.
* In ''Literature/IfIFallIfIDie'', Will puts dirty laundry under his blanket before he sneaks out at night with Jonah.
* Used in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' by the Hobbits. In ''Literature/TheFellowshipOfTheRing'', while the hobbits are staying in The Prancing Pony inn the servant Nob puts a bolster in each of the hobbits' beds so it looks like someone is sleeping in them. During the night some operatives of the Enemy break into the room and slash the bolsters.
* In ''[[Literature/GarrettPI Old Tin Sorrows]]'', Garrett leaves a blanket-covered suit of armor in his bed while he sneaks around the Stantnor mansion at night. When he returns, there's an ax buried in its chest.
* According to ''Literature/OrkneyingaSaga'', Magnus Erlendsson, later better known as St. Magnus of Orkney, employed this trick to escape from being a hostage of King Magnus of Norway. When the king's ship lies off Scotland, Magnus "prepared his bunk so that it looked as if someone were sleeping in it, then slipped overboard and swam ashore." By the time the Norwegians realize Magnus is not actually in his bunk, he has already a good head start.
* A sophisticated version appears in ''Literature/PhoenixForce''. In "Tooth and Claw", a KGB hit team tracks down Gary Manning to a hotel room and use an InfraredXRayCamera to spy on him, only to find he's suddenly disappeared from the screen. On investigating they find a mannequin with a remote-control battery-operated thermal unit that distributes heat to various parts of the 'body'. They also find a BoobyTrap.
* In Creator/AAMilne's ''The Red House Mystery'', [[AmateurSleuth Anthony]] and [[TheWatson Bill]] do this before going off to tail a suspect at night so that the suspect (who is staying in the same house as they are) won't realize they're onto him. Bill is pretty proud of his sleeping dummy, but Anthony's is so convincing that it even fools Bill.
* In ''Requiem for an Assassin'' by Barry Eisler, the BigBad murders an InnocentBystander for this trick. Knowing that Literature/JohnRain is stalking him through a park at night, he kills someone and leaves their body in a position where he's apparently waiting in ambush. As Rain sneaks up on the corpse, he gets captured.
* In the original book version of ''Literature/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'', Literature/JamesBond does this to fool the mob hitmen hired to burn the motel down.
* In Scott Westerfeld's ''Literature/{{Uglies}}'', Tally puts a portable heater under her covers to convince the heat-sensitive room that she's still in bed.

%%* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}''.

* In ''Film/RawDeal'', the hero does the 'fake snoring' version while Monique is talking to Max Keller on the phone about the (fake) ID she's found in his wallet.

** In "Time Is On My Side", Bella tries to assassinate Sam and Dean in their motel room, only to find herself shooting a couple of blow-up sex dolls. Dean then calls her on the phone, saying that they're not even in the same state she's in.

* The same scene is played for RuleOfFunny in ''Series/RedDwarf'' when the crew try to dress up a mannequin as Lister, who's waiting behind the door to clobber Legion. Unfortunately the mannequin is [[PaperThinDisguise extremely unconvincing]] (plus Legion has [[TheOldestTricksInTheBook seen the movie it's from]]).

* Used in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' by Sam and Dean. With blow-up dolls.

* Calvin of ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' does this, with a broom to mimic Calvin's hair.

* The Dodos in ''ComicStrip/SafeHavens'' were able to sneak into the rocket to Mars by leaving behind fake dummies of themselves back on Earth.

A character wants to sneak somewhere at night without being caught, so he or she stuffs the bed with rolled-up sheets or pillowcases or something to make it look as though he or she is still in bed, maybe with a fake papier-maché head sticking out from the sheets and [[OutfitDecoy with some clothes on]]. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

* Mary Anne from ''Literature/TheBabysittersClub'' tries this at camp, using a cantaloupe as the head. It doesn't fool the counselors whatsoever, though she does impress the other counselors-in-training, which was was what she was trying to do in the first place.
** Another instance of this in the same series was in the portrait series. Claudia recounts a story from when she was seven and was afraid of the tooth fairy. When she lost her first baby tooth and put it under her pillow, she put several things on her windowsill, put a pile of things under her covers to look like her and hid in her closet. Her mom apparently didn't notice anything strange, and Claudia was relieved when she realized that the tooth fairy didn't exist and parents were the ones who took the teeth.

* Mary Ann from ''Literature/TheBabysittersClub'' tries this at camp, using a cantaloupe as the head. It doesn't fool the counselors whatsoever, though she does impress the other counselors-in-training, which was was what she was trying to do in the first place.

--> 11 Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch for him, so that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” 12 So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled and escaped. 13 And Michal took the household idol and laid it on the bed, put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head, and covered it with clothes. 14 And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” 15 Then Saul sent the messengers [again] to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me on his bed [if necessary], so that I may kill him.” 16 When the messengers came in, there was the household idol on the bed with a quilt of goats’ hair at its head.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Detentionaire}}'', Lee uses one in the episode “Friday Night Bites” so he can sneak out and go to a party to gather clues. Unfortunately, his mother hears about him attending anyway when the fact is broadcast over the news.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has Peter doing this to sneak out from under the nose of his wife, Lois. When she goes to check on him, the dummy speaks to her, courtesy of a tape recording Peter made of himself responding to the comments he predicts Lois will make. The ruse works surprisingly well at first, but after a few exchanges, his "answers" no longer sync up, prompting Lois to pull back the bedsheet and reveal the dummy. Of course, at that moment Peter's stupidity ruins the charade anyway: "Lois, if you still haven't discovered I'm gone, please flip the tape over to side B."

* In the 1953 POWCamp movie ''Albert R. N.'', eponymous Albert is a dummy built by British POW's to fool the head count done by their German guards, based on the RealLife case mentioned below.

* * ''Film/AlbertRN'' (1953). The eponymous Albert is a dummy built by British prisoners of war to fool the head count done by their German guards, based on the RealLife case mentioned below.

** Clark Kent does this in ''Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #11: Jimmy Olsen, Clark Kent's Pal!'' to keep ComicBook/JimmyOlsen, who is temporarily rooming with his alter ego, from discovering his SecretIdentity. He took it a step further by using super-ventriloquism to make it talk.

A character wants to sneak somewhere at night without being caught, so he or she stuffs the bed with rolled up sheets or pillowcases or something to make it look as though he or she is still in bed, maybe with a fake papier-maché head sticking out from the sheets and [[OutfitDecoy with some clothes on]]. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

* Happens in ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' when Szilard starts eating other alchemists onboard of Advena Avis. He leaves a sleeping dummy on his bed to cover up his doings. It is found when Maiza attempts eat him himself.

* A convoluted version in an episode of ''Manga/CaseClosed'' - the employees at a restaurant are searching for the owner. He usually naps on the couch in the back room, but they look, and see that he's not there. Later, they go back and see him sleeping there, but of course, it's not him, it's this - he's the BodyOfTheWeek, and this was used to confuse the time of the murder. The twist is [[spoiler: how the cushion got there - the murderer put some puffy jackets in a vacuum bag, vacuumed it flat, then, when they all went to check the first time, poked a hole in the bag through the blanket with a corkscrew, which wouldn't be odd for a restaurant employee to carry. The bag inflated and became this.]]

* In the anime of ''Anime/Golgo13'', Duke Togo does this in bedroom which is under video surveillance at the time, pulling the pillows under the sheet with him, then slipping off the bed on the opposite side from the CCTV camera.

* As shown in a flashback in the 95th episode of ''Anime/YuGiOh'', Rishid makes one of Marik out of a pillow while he and Ishizu spend an hour outside, which they were not allowed to do since they belong to a family of tombkeepers. [[spoiler:Marik and Ishizu's father wasn't fooled and beats Rishid within an inch of his life, until Marik's imaginary friend[=/=]dark side intervenes.]]

* In ''Film/LawAbidingCitizen'', the protagonist uses a simple pillows under the sheet trick to hide the fact that he's not in his cell. Justified as the cell is dark and in solitary, so no-one goes in to check.

* In silent film ''Film/SkyHigh1922'', this is how Tom Mix sneaks out of the bad guy camp he's infiltrated, so he can alert the authorities.

* In Creator/AAMilne's ''The Red House Mystery'', [[AmateurSleuth Anthony]] and [[TheWatson Bill]] do this before going off to tail a suspect at night, so that the suspect (who is staying in the same house as they are) won't realize they're onto him. Bill is pretty proud of his sleeping dummy, but Anthony's is so convincing that it even fools Bill.

* ''Series/OneHundredThingsToDoBeforeHighSchool'': In "Stay Up All Night Thing!", CJ, Crispo and Fenwick stuff their sleeping bags when they sneak out of the school sleepover to see the sunrise.

** George Sr. claims that making papier mache copies of his own head is just a hobby to avoid boredom during house arrest. Nobody falls for it.
* ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. In "Genesis", Damien Darhk has tracked down where John Diggle, his wife Lyla and their baby daughter are hiding. He gloatingly moves to the baby cot and rips aside the blankets...only to find a pile of automatic weapons. Mind you [[BattleCouple that might be normal for this couple.]]
* Implied in ''Series/TheATeam'' episode "[[Recap/TheATeamS2E12TheWhiteBallot The White Ballot]]." The sheriff's deputy goes into "Joe Morgan's" room and shoots him as he lies in bed; however, all that is really shown is a bunch of rumpled covers and Face is seen shortly thereafter in an entirely different area.

* ''Series/TheGoodies''. In "The Bunfight at the OK Tearooms", Graeme uses one so Tim and Bill won't realise he's made off with their [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext cream mine]] claim until it's too late. It's made out of a frying pan, a mop, two cups and a banana (which prompts Tim to comment "He's never at his best first thing" and Bill to ask "Oi Graeme, why have you got a mop on your head?!")

* ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'': one episode had Malcolm and Reese sneaking out to a party and using decoys in their bed to trick their parents: Reese used a balloon and Malcolm a stuffed monster mask. This ends up backfiring when Hal comes inside, feeling nostalgic since there is a possibility that he and Lois have a grave disease. As he goes give "Reese" a kiss, the balloon bursts, causing him to start screaming, which in turn woke up Dewey (who shares the bed with Malcolm) and finds himself face-to-face with the monster mask. Cue more screaming.

* On ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', Ralph uses one of these to break out of {{prison}}. He would have made one for Earl, but ended up eating the watermelon that would have comprised the Earl-dummy's head.

* Used in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' by Sam and Dean. With blow up dolls.

* Subverted in a prime time spy show that aired on FOX around ten years ago. (name, anyone?) The spy and his girl-of-the-week were in a hotel room that the bad guys were closing in on. The baddies break in, and see two big lumps on the bed. The leader scoffs at the use of such an old ploy, and shoots up the closet. The baddies leave...and the protagonists throw off the blankets and get up from the bed. They were ''counting'' on the enemy to assume they were just pillows.

* In the video for Music/BarenakedLadies "Shoe Box", the girl leaves one of these in her bed when she sneaks out of her room to meet her older lover. It doesn't fool her mom for a moment. (And its AllJustADream anyway.)

* ''Literature/TheBible'' Features an instance of this when David tries yet another time to escape a murder attempt at the hands of Saul. His wife Michal warns him about Saul's plan. After David escapes through the window, she takes the house idol and dresses it up in clothes. She covers its head with goat hair and lies it in the bed. When Saul's messengers come, she tells them that he is sick. This doesn't deter Saul. He asks the messengers to bring David to him bed and all so he can kill him in it at which point the ruse is discovered.

* In ''VideoGame/ATaleOfTwoKingdoms'', Maeldun is locked in his guest room after being accused of murdering the King. In order to escape, he has to hide a pillow under his bedsheets, knock down a statue from a dresser to distract a guard, and hide behind the door so the guard doesn't see him.

* The cast of ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' does this to escape an assassination attempt... only instead of pillows they sneak over to a camping site, kill several campers and stick their corpses in the beds. On the other hand, pillows don't bleed when cut.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' episode "The Belchies", Louis, Gene and Tina each leave one of these when they sneak out of the house. Each dummy says something of its respective maker: Louise leaves a convincingly-shaped pile of clothes, Gene leaves a full bag of trash, and Tina leaves a note simply reading 'Tina'.

* ''WesternAnimation/HootKloot'': Played with in episode "Strange on the Range": The episode starts with sheriff Hoot Kloot bringing imprisoned criminal Billy the Kidder his prison meal and, upon entering the cell, finding (instead of Billy) a dummy made from bed sheets lying on Billy's bed. Instantly, Kloot storms off to search for the escaped criminal; however, Billy is really ''inside'' the dummy and, since Kloot did not bother to lock the cell, walks out after him.

** Homer has also done this on multiple occasions. In an odd form, he does this at work, but at the same time he's normally asleep at work anyway.

* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' (TheOneWith the attempt to frame Prue at the auction house).

* A convoluted version in an episode of ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' - the employees at a restaurant are searching for the owner. He usually naps on the couch in the back room, but they look, and see that he's not there. Later, they go back and see him sleeping there, but of course, it's not him, it's this - he's the BodyOfTheWeek, and this was used to confuse the time of the murder. The twist is [[spoiler: how the cushion got there - the murderer put some puffy jackets in a vacuum bag, vacuumed it flat, then, when they all went to check the first time, poked a hole in the bag through the blanket with a corkscrew, which wouldn't be odd for a restaurant employee to carry. The bag inflated and became this.]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''Fanfic/HereThereBeMonsters'': In order to break villain Mr. Atom out, Doctor Sivana causes a blackout. Before the facility's auxiliary generators started working, Sivana got in there and got Mr. Atom out, leaving a bogus robot body in its place. It took a week for the guards to find out they were guarding a phony prisoner.

* * ''Albert R.N.'' (1953). The eponymous Albert is a dummy built by British prisoners of war to fool the head count done by their German guards, based on the RealLife case mentioned below.

* Done many, many times by the Literature/{{Animorphs}}. It helps that (with the exception of Tobias and Ax) their parents actually trusted them.

* ''Hoot Kloot'': Played with in episode "Strange on the Range": The episode starts with sheriff Hoot Kloot bringing imprisoned criminal Billy the Kidder his prison meal and, upon entering the cell, finding (instead of Billy) a dummy made from bed sheets lying on Billy's bed. Instantly, Kloot storms off to search for the escaped criminal; however, Billy is really ''inside'' the dummy and, since Kloot did not bother to lock the cell, walks out after him.

In ''Film/DeathRidesAHorse'', the two men who have been trailing Ryan ever since he was released from prison break into his hotel and shoot the form under the blankets on his bed. Ryan, who is seated on a chair in a darkened corner of the room, then lights the lamp and guns the two of them down.