History RefugeInAudacity / Comicbooks

* SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}} ''is'' this. Like when he made 372,844 pancakes just so he could pull a joke on Domino and teach her a lesson. Or when he kicked ComicBook/CaptainAmerica in the balls just so he could save the world instead of Cap. Or how he shrunk the Rhino down with Pym Particles and kept him as a pet/key chain. He doesn't hide in audacity he eats, sleeps, and breathes it.

* ComicBook/ThePunisher villain Barracuda, in his spinoff series, uses this to escape death by volcano. He and his group of mercenaries are working for Luna, a homophobic dictator who falls for Barracuda's {{Crossdresser}} second-in-command Fifty. Luna's sudden but inevitable betrayal lands 'Cuda and Fifty in a helicopter over a volcano with Luna about to make them jump in at gunpoint, leading Barracuda to make Fifty [[WeNeedADistraction buy them some time]]...

** During the initial run of ''Batman, Incorporated'', Batman reveals his secret identity on an Internet message board, knowing full well that people will suspect Bruce Wayne of being Batman after he publically announces his company's support for Batman's efforts. By putting the information on the Internet, he reckons people will dismiss it as just another crazy rumor. As if to prove his point, a troll immediately responds that Wayne is ''obviously'' a different person.
* {{Catwoman}} pulled this off in her very first appearance in ''TheBatmanAdventures'' (1992). While stealing a necklace from a museum, she's caught by a security guard with a gun. Rather than panicking, she simply acts as if he ''doesn't'' have a gun, leaving the guard so rattled that he [[HeroicBSOD freezes up]] and is still babbling after Catwoman has escaped.

* {{Deadpool}} ''is'' this. Like when he made 372,844 pancakes just so he could pull a joke on Domino and teach her a lesson. Or when he kicked {{Captain America}} in the balls just so he could save the world instead of Cap. Or how he shrunk the Rhino down with Pym Particles and kept him as a pet/key chain. He doesn't hide in audacity he eats, sleeps, and breathes it.

* In ''Comicbook/JusticeLeagueInternational'', Maxwell Lord introduces himself to the League by acting like he's already working for them, i.e. giving Dr. Light a League communicator and turning up at headquarters to introduce BoosterGold as their newest member.
* In both the Post-Crisis and New 52 continuities, ''{{Superman}}'' keeps his civilian identity secret by pretending he doesn't have one. He reasons (correctly) that while a mask lampshades that you're hiding something, people will assume that a demigod who clearly doesn't need money or other material things does not have a day job and would not bother with the trivial nonsense of mortal life.
* A villain who snorts cocaine isn't anything special. A villain who ''gets his superpowers'' from cocaine, on top of being a top-grade ham, is CrazyAwesome, which is how Snowflame achieved EnsembleDarkhorse status in TheNewGuardians.
* {{Punisher}} villain Barracuda, in his spinoff series, uses this to escape death by volcano. He and his group of mercenaries are working for Luna, a homophobic dictator who falls for Barracuda's {{Crossdresser}} second-in-command Fifty. Luna's sudden but inevitable betrayal lands 'Cuda and Fifty in a helicopter over a volcano with Luna about to make them jump in at gunpoint, leading Barracuda to make Fifty [[WeNeedADistraction buy them some time]]...

* ''{{Fables}}'': Prince Charming kills Bluebeard, walks out of the house carrying the body in a carpet--and cheerily admitting as much when people ask what he's got--and calls in the mayor to watch him dispose of the body. He correctly judges that he can get away with this, because a) nobody especially liked Bluebeard and b) all his money will now go to the Fabletown coffers.

* In Kyle Baker’s ''You Are Here'' the main villain managea to serve only a year for murdering his wife due to "A good lawyer, bad evidence, worse cops and prison overpopulation" and then goes on to publish a book called "Yes I Did It and I'll Kill Again." After attending a press junket he says "I plan to kill the bastard who was screwing my wife" ''on air''.

* {{Deadpool}} ''is'' this. Like when he made 372,844 pancakes just so he could pull a joke on Domino and teach her a lesson. Or when he kicked {{Captain America}} in the balls just so he could save the world instead of Cap. Or how he shrunk the Rhino down with Pym Particles and kept him as a pet/key chain. He doesn't hide in audacity he eats, sleeps, and breathes it.

* A villain who snorts cocaine isn't anything special. A villain who ''gets his superpowers'' from cocaine, on top of being a top-grade ham, is awesome, which is how Snowflame achieved EnsembleDarkhorse status in the New Guardians series.

* A villain who snorts cocaine isn't cool. A villain who ''gets his superpowers'' from cocaine, on top of being a top-grade ham, is awesome, which is how Snowflame achieved EnsembleDarkhorse status in the New Guardians series.

* In Kyle Baker’s ''You Are Here'' the main villain manage to serve only a year for murdering his wife due to "A good lawyer, bad evidence, worse cops and prison overpopulation" and then goes on to publish a book called "Yes I Did It and I'll Kill Again." After attending a press junket he says "I plan to kill the bastard who was screwing my wife" ''on air''.
* In "Axiom of Implausibility", a story from an issue of the magazine ''Heavy Metal'', a firm is contracted to kill a witness who's holed up in the middle of suburbia. The first 3 attempts on his life fail after the hitmen, attempting to be inconspicuous and avoid witnesses, keep getting their covers blown by observant neighbors. So on the 4th try, they send in a {{Stripperific}}, DualWielding, bizarre OneLiner[=-spouting=] ActionGirl to kick down the front door and make a total spectacle. The hit succeeds, and the eyewitness reports are so outlandish that the cops don't believe them.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Wanted}}'', there is a back story in which the supposed first supervillains of the world were a bunch of completely ass-naked bank thieves who managed to get away with it for the longest time since the cops don't want to get into shoot-outs with a gang of naked men and superheroes don't want to be seen getting into a brawl with a bunch of big, burly men with their peckers hanging out in the open.

* In both the Post-Crisis and New 52 continuities, ''{{Superman}}'' keeps his civilian identity secret simply by pretending he doesn't have one, reasoning (correctly) that while a mask lampshades that you're hiding something, people will assume that a demigod who clearly doesn't need money or other material things does not have a day job and would not bother with the trivial nonsense of mortal life.

* In ''JusticeLeagueInternational'', Maxwell Lord introduces himself to the League by acting like he's already working for them, i.e. giving Dr. Light a League communicator and turning up at headquarters to introduce BoosterGold as their newest member.
* In both the Post-Crisis and New 52 continuties, ''{{Superman}}'' keeps his civilian identity secret simply by pretending he doesn't have one, reasoning (correctly) that while a mask lampshades that you're hiding something, people will assume that a demigod who clearly doesn't need money or other material things does not have a day job and would not bother with the trivial nonsense of mortal life.

* {{Lobo}} is built around this trope.
* Rose Wilson, the Ravager from Comicbook/TeenTitans. She's so CrazyAwesome that she can get away with leaving in the middle of a funeral reception to skinny-dip, and shoot Supergirl and Wondergirl with a rocket launcher when they're [[LesYay in the middle of hugging.]] And that's without mentioning her seemingly skin-tight chain mail armor which in RealLife would be completely impractical...

* Most characters in {{Preacher}}.
-->Came the day that T.C. fucked the chicken.
* The title character of ''ComicBook/BattlePope'' is a womanizing, boozing, heavy smoker of a Pope... who also [[BadassPreacher fights Evil for the Lord]].
* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' dabbled in this.
** One Sunday strip depicted a scene from a story Calvin had written, in which an ordinary office worker is ''shot and killed by rifle-toting deer''.
** Another of the Sunday strips featured aliens taking the entire water and air supply of Earth for no discernible reason, and telling the Earthlings "[[PunchClockVillain We're just doing our job]]." (Hobbes admits that, if anything, Calvin's story wasn't outrageous ''enough''.)
** And then there's [[http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3564/3680478087_b74b245335.jpg this]].
* The ''{{Transformers}}'' manga series ''Kiss Players,'' in which the Autobots need to be kissed by young women to power up. If you haven't heard of it... well, let's just say it starts out ''sorta'' {{Ecchi}} and then becomes ''really'' {{Ecchi}}, with the [[AllThereInTheManual nominally]] adult female characters drawn to look like teenaged girls, if not ''younger.'' [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything White viscous fluids]] and other completely unsubtle sexual imagery are thrown at the reader machine-gun style, in a way that's so over the top that it [[FanDisservice stops being]] FetishFuel. They don't ''make'' BrainBleach strong enough to erase this. The creator [[WordOfGod has actually said]] that he'd wanted to make people's jaws drop. He's doing a ''splendid'' job of it so far. An actual description, complete with a panel from the comic, can be found [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Kiss_Players_%28franchise%29 here.]]
* [[http://thomas-sibley.com/stalin-hitler/1.html Alexey Lipatov's comic ''Stalin vs. Hitler'']], which features [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Stalin and Hitler battling each other]]......with ''magic and superpowers''. The fact that there's historical basis for some of the scenes and dialogue makes this even better.
* ''ScudTheDisposableAssassin'': Scud, a robot assassin purchased from a vending machine for 50 cents, ends up teaming up with space mafia to fight zombie dinosaurs raised by Voodoo Ben[[spoiler:jamin Franklin]]. When you get bitten by a zombie velociraptor, you [[spoiler: become a zombie dinosaur yourself.]] It's all explained as 'well, dinosaurs have tiny brains, so they're really hard to re-kill'. This is one of the more reasonable issues.
** One major antagonist is a hulking monster with [[RummageSaleReject arms for legs (with a pair of mouths in its elbow-knees), mousetraps for hands, an electrical plug for a head, and a squid tied around its waist.]] Who speaks entirely in movie quotes.
* Pick a GarthEnnis book. Any Garth Ennis book.
* Did MarkMillar write it? If so, it has about a 90-95% chance of using this trope, and about the same percentage of those instances use this trope as the core concept. Doubly so if it gets a movie adaptation (Ya like some [[{{Wanted}} bending bullets]]? How about an [[{{Kick-Ass}} 11-year superassassin]]?).
** Speaking of ''{{Wanted}}'', there is a back story in which the supposed first supervillains of the world were a bunch of completely ass-naked bank thieves who managed to get away with it for the longest time since the cops don't want to get into shoot-outs with a gang of naked men and superheroes don't want to be seen getting into a brawl with a bunch of big, burly men with their peckers hanging out in the open.

* Erik Larsen took topical RefugeInAudacity to new heights in SavageDragon # 177, when Dragon's teenaged children fought '''Radioactive Giant Zombie Osama Bin Laden!!''' Oh, and did we mention that [[CrossesTheLineTwice the radiation came from post-tsunami nuclear leaks in Japan]]? And that Zombie Osama was lured into his final death by a WhitneyHouston song?

* [[{{Deadpool}} Pick any of my comic appearances]] that isn't this. Go ahead, ''try.'' I'll be in my bouncy castle until you come back.
* ''PaperinikNewAdventures'' is built on this. The first story, published almost thirty years before this series, had the premise of "Donald Duck flips because everyone treats him like an idiot, so he uses the stuff of a GentlemanThief to take his revenge", and executes this by having Paperinik ''steal Scrooge's mattress while he's sleeping on it''. With Paperinik being born like this it's no wonder that, even if he's now a superhero, he and [[HypercompetentSidekick Uno]] will pull things like defeating a fish-based supervillain with an horde of hungry kittens.

* In ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer: Season 8'' [[spoiler:Buffy and Angel have sex while flying, going into space and then hurtling down to Earth, still having sex, starting the next universe. They then abandon that universe to save this one. Brings a new meaning to [[IncrediblyLamePun Big Bang]], huh? Oh, and it happens in the issue "Them F#©%ing (Plus the True History of the Universe)"]].
* From what's been seen thus far, the twin sisters Indigo from {{Dreamkeepers}} have made an art out of this.
** As in, [[spoiler:helping [[{{Badass}} Scinter]] and [[GentleGiant Igrath]] escape from a squad of Shock Troopers by driving a cart of booze right through the blockade; tossing several bottles of said booze to the gathered crowd; and [[MsFanservice ripping their tops off]], ultimately causing a riot.]]
** Saying that, [[EvilIsSexy Tinsel]] sauntering through a damaged room, full of surveyors, clad in nothing but ''lingerie'' falls safely within this Trope. Most telling is that the guards present seem used to this.
* In the first ''[[SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Sam & Max]]'' comic, our heroes are spared from ritual sacrifice when the dagger-holder spontaneously combusts. Instead of [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] the unlikeliness of such rescue and bringing plausibility crashing down, the duo comments on adjusting one's wardrobe to prepare for such occasions. Light cottons are preferred.
** Then there's their actions in the recent games. Sure, any crime-fighting duo can take out the mafia. But saving the day by usurping the presidency, starting a civil war, and abusing [[BigRedButton "The Button"]] takes style.
** Plus, they did take out the [[BlatantLies mafia-free]] playland and casino by pretending to be hypnotized and dead respectively.
* SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker. In almost every incarnation he is capable of getting away with things because ''no one'' can anticipate his actions, even Batman. In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' he has such a conviction in himself and is so apathetic about everything that he can get away with [[spoiler:wearing a nurse outfit]] and remain intensely frightening.
-->'''Gamble''': "You think you can steal from us and just walk away?"\\
'''Joker''': "Yeah."
** In one of his most insane plans, Joker poisons Gotham harbor with a specialized toxin that only affects fish. Since all the fish are now smiling, he [[DisneyOwnsThisTrope tries to copyright them]] and make a fortune. When a bureaucrat tells him he can't copyright a natural resource, he goes on T.V. and announces he's going to kill the guy at midnight, which he does despite police protection and Batman. [[spoiler: Turns out Joker poisoned the guy while he was in his office]]. Then he just forgets about the copyright stuff and starts killing bureaucrats.
** As a general rule, most Bat-fans would agree that if the Joker's on the screen/page and you're not laughing, something is being done horribly wrong. This applies ''no matter what'' the Joker is doing, with the sole possible exceptions of paralyzing Barbara Gordon and killing Jason Todd.
* [[{{Transmetropolitan}} Spider Jerusalem]] lives by this. Hopped up on God-know what drugs, brutalizing anyone who stands up against him, handing out blasts of a bowel disruptor like they were candy, all in the pursuit of ''The Truth''.
* ''Notfunny Cartoons'' lives and breathes this one. Examples include a guy testing a plane engine whenever he can't sleep, a killer robot teacher (no, not "reprogrammed"), an AxCrazy guy living in somebody's wall, a man losing his track of thought and ''accidentally puppeting and turning into a butterfly'' when trying to fetch cigarettes... they not only take refuge in audacity, they crank it up to [[SerialEscalation incredible extremes]]. Oh, and naturally, nobody [[ApatheticCitizens gives the going-ons more than a curious glance]]. [[http://www.notfunnycartoons.com/main.html It really has to be seen to be believed]] (although they're pretty slow with translating from the original German, sadly).

* Two words: ''BattlePope''
* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' dabbled in this. One Sunday strip depicted a scene from a story Calvin had written, in which an ordinary office worker is ''shot and killed by rifle-toting deer''.

* The ''{{Transformers}}'' manga series ''Kiss Players,'' in which the Autobots need to be kissed by young women to power up. If you haven't heard of it... well, let's just say it starts out ''sorta'' {{Ecchi}} and then becomes ''really'' {{Ecchi}}, with the [[AllThereInTheManual nominally]] adult female characters drawn to look standard loli age if not ''younger.'' [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything White viscous fluids]] and other completely unsubtle sexual imagery are thrown at the reader machine-gun style, in a way that's so over the top that it [[FanDisservice stops being]] FetishFuel. They don't ''make'' BrainBleach strong enough to erase this. The creator [[WordOfGod has actually said]] that he'd wanted to make people's jaws drop. He's doing a ''splendid'' job of it so far.
** An actual description, complete with a panel from the comic, can be found [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Kiss_Players_%28franchise%29 here.]]

* ScudTheDisposableAssassin: Scud, a robot assassin purchased from a vending machine for 50 cents, ends up teaming up with space mafia to fight zombie dinosaurs raised by Voodoo Ben[[spoiler:jamin Franklin]]. When you get bitten by a zombie velociraptor, you [[spoiler: become a zombie dinosaur yourself.]] It's all explained as 'well, dinosaurs have tiny brains, so they're really hard to re-kill'. This is one of the more reasonable issues.

* In ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer: Season 8'' [[spoiler:Buffy and Angel have sex while flying, going into space and then hurtling down to Earth, still having sex, starting the next universe. They then abandon that universe to save this one. Brings a new meaning to [[IncrediblyLamePun Big Bang]], huh? Oh, and it happens in the issue "Them F#©%ing (Plus the True History of the Universe)"]].

* A {{Batman}} comic has Bruce Wayne sequestered to sit on the jury of a man he arrested as Batman trying to kidnap a baby. The prosecuting counsel asks whether there is any reason why he should not sit on this jury. Bruce calmly admits he's prejudiced in the case because he's Batman (hey, he's under oath). After everyone's stopped laughing, the judge tells him to stop screwing around and take things seriously.

* ''CalvinAndHobbes'' dabbled in this. One Sunday strip depicted a scene from a story Calvin had written, in which an ordinary office worker is ''shot and killed by rifle-toting deer''.
** Another of the Sunday strips featured aliens taking the entire water supply for no discernible reason, and telling the Earthlings "We're just doing our job". (Hobbes admits that, if anything, Calvin's story wasn't outrageous ''enough''.)

* Scud, The Disposable Assassin: Scud, a robot assassin purchased from a vending machine for 50 cents, ends up teaming up with space mafia to fight zombie dinosaurs raised by Voodoo Ben[[spoiler:jamin Franklin]]. When you get bitten by a zombie velociraptor, you [[spoiler: become a zombie dinosaur yourself.]] It's all explained as 'well, dinosaurs have tiny brains, so they're really hard to re-kill'. This is one of the more reasonable issues.

* In ''Justice League International'', Maxwell Lord introduces himself to the League by acting like he's already working for them, i.e. giving Dr. Light a League communicator and turning up at headquarters to introduce BoosterGold as their newest member.

* In both the Post-Crisis and New 52 continuties, ''Superman'' keeps his civilian identity secret simply by pretending he doesn't have one, reasoning (correctly) that while a mask lampshades that you're hiding something, people will assume that a demigod who clearly doesn't need money or other material things does not have a day job and would not bother with the trivial nonsense of mortal life.

* From what's been seen thus far, the twin sisters Indigo from {{Dreamkeepers}} have made an art out of this.

** Saying that, [[{{EvilIsSexy}} Tinsel]] sauntering through a damaged room, full of surveyors, clad in nothing but ''lingerie'' falls safely within this Trope. Most telling is that the guards present seem used to this.

* TheJoker. In almost every incarnation he is capable of getting away with things because ''no one'' can anticipate his actions, even Batman. In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' he has such a conviction in himself and is so apathetic about everything that he can get away with [[spoiler:wearing a nurse outfit]] and remain intensely frightening.

** In one of his most insane plans, Joker poisons Gotham harbor with a specialized toxin that only affects fish. Since all the fish are now smiling, he [[DisneyOwnsThisTrope tries to copyright them]] and make a fortune. When a bureaucrat tells him he can't copyright a natural resource, he goes on T.V. and announces he's going to kill the guy at midnight, which he does despite police protection and Batman. [[spoiler: Turns out Joker poisoned the guy while he was in his office]]. Then he just forgets about the copyright stuff and starts killing bureaucrats.

* ''Notfunny Cartoons'' lives and breathes this one. Examples include a guy testing a plane engine whenever he can't sleep, a killer robot teacher (no, not "reprogrammed"), an {{ax crazy}} guy living in somebody's wall, a man losing his track of thought and ''accidentally puppeting and turning into a butterfly'' when trying to fetch cigarettes... they not only take refuge in audacity, they crank it up to [[SerialEscalation incredible extremes]]. Oh, and naturally, nobody [[ApatheticCitizens gives the going-ons more than a curious glance]]. [[http://www.notfunnycartoons.com/main.html It really has to be seen to be believed]] (although they're pretty slow with translating from the original German, sadly).
* Tommy Monaghan from ''{{Comicbook/Hitman}}'' tells his first girl, Wendy, that he kills (bad) people for money. Wendy doesn't believe him until he shows up, shot. Ironically, his next girl doesn't believe Tommy refuses to say 'bitch' -because- he kills (bad) people.

* In Kyle Baker’s ''You Are Here'' the main villain manage to serve only a year for murdering his wife due to "A good lawyer, bad evidence, worse cops and prison overpopulation" and then goes on to publish a book called "Yes I Did It and I'll Kill Again." After attending a press junket he says "I plan to kill the bastard who was screwing my wife" ''on air''.
* In "Axiom of Implausibility", a story from an issue of the magazine ''Heavy Metal'', a firm is contracted to kill a witness who's holed up in the middle of suburbia. The first 3 attempts on his life fail after the hitmen, attempting to be inconspicuous and avoid witnesses, keep getting their covers blown by observant neighbors. So on the 4th try, they send in a {{Stripperific}}, DualWielding, bizarre OneLiner[=-spouting=] ActionGirl to kick down the front door and make a total spectacle. The hit succeeds, and the eyewitness reports are so outlandish that the cops don't believe them.
* Most characters in {{Preacher}}.

* TheJoker. In almost every incarnation he is capable of getting away with things because ''no one'' can anticipate his actions, even Batman. In ''TheDarkKnight'' he has such a conviction in himself and is so apathetic about everything that he can get away with [[spoiler:wearing a nurse outfit]] and remain intensely frightening.

----

* In both the Post-Crisis and New 52 continuties, [[Superman]] keeps his civilian identity secret simply by pretending he doesn't have one, reasoning (correctly) that while a mask lampshades that you're hiding something, people will assume that a demigod who clearly doesn't need money or other material things does not have a day job and would not bother with the trivial nonsense of mortal life.