History Main / UndersideRide

* ''Film/ZombiesZombiesZombies'': The zombie Chris and Dakota [[CarFu run over]] clings to the underside of Chris's truck and rides with them to the lab.

* In a flashback chapter in ''Literature/HaloFirstStrike'', John (the Master Chief) and his squad of saboteurs infiltrated an enemy base using this method. The gate guards were GenreSavvy enough to scan the underside of their vehicles with a mirror-on-a-stick. Having none of that, the infiltrators brought their own mirrors to reflect an unoccupied portion of the underside back at the guards. The kicker was that this was a training exercise, and the Spartans did this when they were twelve!

* At the start of ''Film/FantasticBeastsTheCrimesOfGrindelwald'', Grindelwald clings the underside of the carriage that is supposed to be taking hum to Europe to face punishment for his crimes.

* In ''Spider-ManIntoTheSpider-Verse'', when Spider-Man, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Ham, and Peni Parker are [[spoiler: sneaking into Kingpin's lair to destroy the collider]], Peni and the SP//dr are rolling under a food trolley with a white blanket.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Spider-ManIntoTheSpider-Verse'', when Spider-Man, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Ham, and Peni Parker are [[spoiler: sneaking into Kingpin's lair to destroy the collider]], Peni and the SP//dr are rolling under a food trolley with a white blanket.

* At the start of ''Film/FantasicBeastsTheCrimesOfGrindelwald'', Grindelwald clings the underside of the carriage that is supposed to be taking hum to Europe to face punishment for his crimes.

[[folder:AnimeAndManga]]

* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'', Heero rides underneath an ambulance before hijacking it.

[[folder:ComicBooks]]
* ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'': After a train is derailed, a tramp it is revealed who says it's the last time he's travelling on the axles.
* ThePunisher does this at least once to follow a gang.
* In an 80s era ''ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'', Bruce Banner clings to the axle of a van as it rolls away. His suit and back get torn up as a result.

* In the original ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'' story arc, when the Wolfriders are surrounded by hostile trolls they attempt to escape by riding their wolves underbelly. The wolves then attempt to leap over the trolls, which seems slightly implausible with the elves lowering their centers of gravity.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Chassis}}'', Twist's personal droid clings to the underside of Chassis's aerocar to sabotage it during a race.
* In ''DK III: The Master Race'' #2, Carrie clings to the underside of her escape vehicle - a tank - leading the police to believe that is empty.
* One of the early Action Comics issues, back in the days when it wasn't entirely Superman stories, had a short story of a criminal who tried this to break out of prison. A pendant he was wearing got caught in a moving part and strangled him.

[[folder:{{Film}} -- Animated]]
* ''Disney/TheRescuersDownUnder''. Bernard, Miss Bianca and Joey get under [=McLeach=]'s truck to follow him when he goes after Cody.
* ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}''. Jiminy Cricket hitches a ride on the coach that takes children to Pleasure Island.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail: Fievel Goes West'', there's a train car for mice beneath the real train cars.

[[folder:{{Film}} -- Live Action]]

* ''Film/TheArtOfWar'' (2000). Happens near the end, when Shaw (Wesley Snipes) escapes from a group of assassins by lying flat in the road, seemingly to [[LookBothWays avoid being hit by an oncoming truck]]. When it passes, he's nowhere to be seen, until it's revealed he escaped by grabbing on to the undercarriage.
* The ending to ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina'' shows the hero happily driving away, only for a last minute JumpScare revealing a monster hiding under his semi trailer.
* Jim West in the ''Film/WildWildWest'' movie does this, using a cart designed to let him move between the train they were on, and a chase train. Unfortunately, the rope connecting him breaks.
* The Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles do this in their [[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIII third movie]], using a wagon to sneak into the daimyo's palace. Of course, they were already DressingAsTheEnemy, but wanted to stay out of contact with the daimyo to avoid a case of SpotTheImposter.
* Chucky does this with a school bus in ''Film/ChildsPlay2''.

* In ''Film/WereTheMillers'', the Millers find a bunch of illegal immigrants hiding under their RV. They run away when they are discovered.

* In ''Film/EasternCondors'', two of the team cling to the underside of the army truck, dropping off as it reaches the bridge to take out the machine gun nest.
* In ''Film/EmperorOfTheNorth'' the hobos spend some time riding in the train's undercarriage. Evil train conductor Shack's response is to extend a heavy pin on a cord to beneath where they're hiding and let it repeatedly bounce off the track and smack into their bodies.

* In ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'', both Furiosa and Nux have scenes where they climb underneath the speeding truck to make some on-road repairs.
* In ''Film/EvilRoySlade'', Roy and Betsy travel from the West to Boston on the underside of trains.
-->'''Betsy''': We've seen the bottom half of America!

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]
* In ''Literature/TheOdyssey'', Odysseus and his crew are trapped within a cave by Polyphemus, a man-eating shepherd cyclops. Odysseus and his crew escape by clinging to the underside of Polyphemus' sheep.
** Similarly, in ''[[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians The Sea of Monsters]]'', Percy Jackson uses the same method to get into Polyphemus's cave to rescue Grover and Clarisse, at Annabeth's suggestion.
* In the first ''VideoGame/SplinterCell'' novel, Sam uses this trick to get around in Iran.

* In ''Terror Valley'' by Creator/JTEdson, Calamity Jane sneaks out of the mission by hiding in a 'possum-belly'; a sheet of rawhide attached to the bottom of a wagon for carrying firewood.
** Belle Starr pulls the same trick in ''Troubled Range''.
* [[Literature/TheBartimaeusTrilogy Bartimaeus]] does this in the second book, having just escaped imprisonment and needing to flee in a hurry. Made somewhat easier for him in that he can transform into a small and very spiny impling who has no trouble sticking to the car.

* ''The Constipation of O'Brien''. The normally incompetent Private Literature/McAuslan slips past the guards during a night infiltration exercise by grabbing onto the underside of the truck bringing in 'captured' soldiers. Desperate to take a leak after the truck reaches its destination, he then blunders into the [[CaptureTheFlag red lamp that's the objective]], [[AchievementsInIgnorance accidentally winning the exercise]].

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]
* ''Series/MacGyver1985'': Mac clings underneath a truck to escape the cops in the episode "Jerico Games".

* The escapee in the pilot episode of ''Series/BreakoutKings'' escapes this way. He even saves up rejected license plates that the prison manufactured to provide a something to cover himself when the guards check the underside with a mirror.
* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'': In "The Hub", Ward and Fitz use a magnetic pouch to attach themselves to the bottom of a truck in order to gain access to the separatist compound.

* ''Series/FatherBrown'': Inspector Sullivan does this to escape in "The Owl of Minerva"; clinging to the underside of the van that is supposed to be transporting him to prison.

[[folder:NewspaperComics]]
* ''ComicStrip/SpiderMan'': Spider-Man and Tarantula cling the underside of an army truck bringing reinforcements in order to sneak into a prison.

[[folder:VideoGames]]
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare'': Jack and Cormack briefly do this to get inside an Atlas compound. Wearing PoweredArmor really helps.
* ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankUpYourArsenal'' has Captain Qwark do this on one of Dr. Nefarious' cargo ships (In A Qwark Vid-Comic Flashback) which is PlayedForLaughs since he's in space without a spacesuit having to hold his breath.

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E2CapeFeare Cape Feare]]", Sideshow Bob tries this in a parody of the 1991 ''Cape Fear'' scene. While he does get to his destination, it doesn't quite work out as the family drove through a lot of cacti and over a fair few speed bumps on the way there, not to mention Homer spilling his hot coffee under the car.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': In "The Blue Spirit" episode, the titular ninja [[spoiler: Zuko in disguise]] sneaks into Zhao's compound by hiding beneath a layer of dirt, in the road, then latching onto the undercarriage of a passing supply wagon.
* The episode of ''WesternAnimation/SonicSatAM'' "Spy Hog" has the Freedom Fighters sneak into Robotropolis by way of riding beneath a hover vehicle with magnets strapped to their hips.
** Sonic also occasionally uses an antigravity function of his sneakers to do this.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'': On their way to Canada, the two hitch a ride on a train; at first we see two figures in a train cart that would be Ren and Stimpy, but it was actually two random guys shaped like them, and the real two are under the cart with their heads bumping on the tracks.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/ToyStory3 http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/woody_ride.jpg]]]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', Rosa clings to the underside of the Smiths' car cackling:

** [[spoiler: She then gets run over by the car as it drives off and is in tremendous pain. More than likely, she dies from this.]]

DoNotTryThisAtHome. There are a lot of moving parts underneath a vehicle that can chew up a human body real good. And when you fall off - not if, ''when'' - not only will you hit the road at high speed, you stand a good chance of being run over by the very vehicle you were riding on.

* ''Series/MacGyver'': Mac clings underneath a truck to escape the cops in the episode "Jerico Games".

DoNotTryThisAtHome. There are a lot of moving parts underneath a vehicle that can chew up a human body real good. And when you fall off - not if, you will - not only will you hit the road at high speed, you stand a good chance of being run over by the very vehicle you were riding on.

[[folder:{{Film}} - Animated]]

[[folder:{{Film}} - Live Action]]

* Soviet boxcars had blades underside to discourage any underside rides and to guide any riders directly under the wheels. This was because the boxcars were used to haul, not only cargo, but also imprisoned people and it was to prevent any escape attempts.
* Some illegal immigrants or thrill seekers sometimes hide themselves in airliner landing gear wells. Given to the fact that the landing gear wells are usually very confined and unpressurized, and there is ''awfully'' cold in the flight altitudes, these rides tend to end up badly. Those who aren't crushed by the retracting landing gear, often are either frozen to death or suffocated by the thin air.

DoNotTryThisAtHome. There are a lot of moving parts underneath a vehicle that can chew up a human body real good. And if you fall off - and you will - not only will you hit the road at high speed, you stand a good chance of being run over by the very vehicle you were riding on.

** In #72 of the MarvelComics series, the Star Viper sneaks onto the Joe's Utah base by holding onto the underside of Skidmark's Desert Fox vehicle.

** [[spoiler: She then gets run over by the car as it drives off and is in tremendous pain.]]

* In ''Terror Valley'' by JTEdson, Calamity Jane sneaks out of the mission by hiding in a 'possum-belly'; a sheet of rawhide attached to the bottom of a wagon for carrying firewood.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' prequel novel ''Literature/HaloFirstStrike'', John and his squad of saboteurs infiltrates an enemy base using this method. The gate guards were GenreSavvy enough to scan the underside of their vehicles with a mirror-on-a-stick. Having none of that, they brought their own mirrors to reflect an unoccupied portion of the underside back at the guards. The kicker was that this was a training exercise, and the Spartans did this when they were fifteen.