Line #66 Main/NeonSignHideout


1	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheGreatPiggyBankRobbery https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/80_the_great_piggy_bank_robberymkv_snapshot_0407_20171018_180423.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI It's a secret to everybody.]]]]
3
4	The [[BigBad villain]] is an unstoppable force of evil! His evil lair is impossible to find! Hidden in the darkest corners of the planet! How will our intrepid heroes ever find it?
5
6	Oh wait, the giant, brightly lit sign proclaiming "This Way To Villain's Hideout!" [[AffablyEvil Nice work!]]
7
8	Almost universally a ComedyTrope. Variations include, but are not limited to "Villain's Hideout, Keep Out", and "Evil Fortress, 100 Miles". Very common in WesternAnimation.
9
10	Sometimes, the sign instead advertises the "TotallyNotACriminalFront" [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial which is in no way a villain's lair, at all]].
11	----
12	!!Examples:
13	[[foldercontrol]]
14
15	[[folder:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
16	* In ''Anime/AstroBoy'', the three robots' underground hideout is marked by a garishly painted sign.
17	* A "good" or at least "neutral" example: In ''Anime/KillLaKill'', the Mankanshoku [[BackAlleyDoctor Back-Alley Clinic]] has a flashing neon sign pointing it out (it's also in their own house).
18	* A "good guy" example: Franchise/LupinIII had his name written on the roof of his hideout in neon for one episode so the bad guys trying to assassinate him could easily locate him.
19	* In ''Anime/WorldConquestZvezdaPlot'', the protagonists' SupervillainLair has a sign on the door which clearly states it to be Zvezda's secret headquarters. HeroAntagonist White Robin still manages to fail to notice it, getting distracted by background events while Dva sneaks up and flips the sign around to the back side.
20	[[/folder]]
21
22	[[folder:ComicBooks]]
23	* In one issue of ''[[ComicBook/ArchieComics Jughead's Diner]]'', Jughead and his Dinersville pals have to lure a giant gelatin monster to the secret lab of [[BigBad Sal Monella]], but don't know where it is. Luckily, there are signs pointing the way. ("See the secret lab!") When Jughead lampshades the concept of signs leading to a ''secret'' lab, one of his pals suggests that the lab was so secret even Sal couldn't find it!
24	* In ''ComicBook/{{Marville}}'', the Kingpin of Crime's lair is a gigantic skyscraper with "KINGPIN ENTERPRISES" written on the side.
25	[[/folder]]
26
27	[[folder:Fan Works]]
28	* An Abridged Series crossover special between ''WebVideo/YuYuHakushoAbridged'', ''WebVideo/NarutoTheAbridgedSeries'' and ''WebVideo/BerserkAbridged'' had our heroes go on a long and dangerous journey in the name of SavingChristmas, only to discover the thieves were not only right next to their Christmas party, but had a sign out front reading "[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial We are not thieves; we do not have Christmas]]".
29	-->'''Kuwabara''': Aw, this can't be the right place!
30	-->'''Guts''': Yeah, just look at that sign.
31	* Ballser's Castle in ''VideoGame/{{Something}}''. It only looks that way because it is a sprite-edit of Bowser's Castle from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld''
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
35	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'' had a variation of sorts. Roxanne was able to easily find Megamind's hideout because it was the only building in town with a fake observatory on the roof, but she couldn't have gotten in without the doormat that said "Secret Entrance".
36	-->'''Megamind:''' ''Minion!''
37	-->'''Minion:''' ''(meekly)'' I kept forgetting where it was.
38	* ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'': Kayley says there should be a sign declaring the border of Dragon Country, despite the fact that the air suddenly turns gaseous, the sky is orange, and the heroes walked over a dragon skeleton to get there.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
42	* A version of this takes place in ''Film/SpyHard'', as the villian's headquarters has a clearly marked "Intruder Entrance" sign on one of their doors, and it isn't SchmuckBait either, it's actually pointing out the best place for intruders to enter.
43	* The live-action ''WesternAnimation/DudleyDoRight'' movie had this with Snidely Whiplash and his secret hideout.
44	* ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' (1939): While going through the Haunted Forest to the castle of the Wicked Witch of the West, our heroes encounter a sign that says "Witches castle 1 mile" [sic]. Mind you, the Witch is the ruler of the country, and has no need of secrecy.
45	* Justified in ''Film/{{Blade}}'' where the vampire safehouse is marked with symbols in UV paint.
46	* Mr. Freeze's lair in ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' is an ice cream factory lit up with a bright neon sign and moving spotlights lighting the place up like it's a Hollywood premiere. Really, if Batman and the police can't figure out that's where he's hiding they really don't deserve to defeat him.
47	[[/folder]]
48
49	[[folder:{{Literature}}]]
50	* The various signs on the way to Don'tgonearthe Castle ("Last Chance Not To Go Near The Castle!" "Don't Go Near The Coach Park!") in ''Literature/CarpeJugulum''. Justified in that the Old Count ''wants'' visitors, and understands SchmuckBait.
51	[[/folder]]
52
53	[[folder:LiveActionTV]]
54	* The 1960s ''Series/Batman1966'' series, naturally. One example has a villain hideout in a run-down factory, with a big [[https://twitter.com/BatLabels/status/1018888199182135298/photo/1 "run down factory" sign]] over the door.
55	* ''Series/{{Angel}}''.
56	-->'''Wesley:''' How do you expect to find Angelus without Connor?
57	-->'''Faith:''' The old-fashioned way. The kid's not the only tracker. Something'll turn up. A trail of bodies, tell-tale clue... ''(sees a huge banner on a building reading WELCOME FAITH)'' Maybe a carpet fiber...
58	-->'''Wesley:''' So much for the element of surprise.
59	* This occurs in the ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode [[Recap/CommunityS6E01Ladders Ladders]] when the group builds a speakeasy under Greendale after [[BaitAndSwitchTyrant Frankie]] bans alcohol. ''They'' think it's HiddenInPlainSight. It is, of course, actually this.
60	-->'''Britta:''' Who tattled?
61	-->'''Frankie:''' In what world, Britta, do you see this as covert enough to require 'tattling'? You built a ''bar'' in a ''school''. There was lumber involved! I have been letting you hole up in here because it kept you contained and satisfied, because you are all compulsively defiant.
62	* ''Series/MrRobot'' has fsociety's [[HackerCave base of operations,]] a derelict arcade that was once called "Fun Society," but the broken sign now reads "F Society". [[spoiler: The FBI agent who eventually discovers it lampshades how long it took them to find it.]]
63	* In ''Series/TheMightyBoosh'', Dixon Bainbridge's secret lab, which Vince struggles to find, is clearly marked by a giant sign that says "Secret Lab".
64
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Pinball]]
68	* In Creator/WilliamsElectronics' ''Pinball/WhiteWater'', the entrance to the Lost Mine has a sign over it reading "Lost Mine here".
69	* ''Pinball/SecretService'' has a set of barricades on the road leading to the Soviet's secret HomeBase:
70	-->[-ROAD CLOSED-]\
71	[-BRIDGE OUT-]\
72	[-THIS MEANS YOU-]\
73	[-SECRET HIDEOUT-]
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder:Theme Parks]]
77	* At Ride/UniversalStudios
78	** In ''Ride/DoctorDoomsFearfall'', the location of the "Tower of Doom" is made very blatant due to the ride's name being displayed in big letters on a massive sign that can be seen from quite afar.
79	** The location of Snidely's hideout in ''Ride/DudleyDoRightsRipsawFalls'' is directly shown with a large neon sign on the building, that reads, "HIDEOUT".
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder:VideoGames]]
83	* Bowser's castle in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' was marked with a literal neon sign proclaiming "BOWSER", though it wasn't trying to be hidden in the first place.
84	* ''VideoGame/SeriousSam II'' sees Sam wonder where he can find the imprisoned Simba shaman right outside a building with a huge neon side that reads "Lucky's imprisoned Simba shamans".
85	* In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', the "Secret Entrance" to the Great Tree is cleverly hidden by a large piece of paper that's the exact color and texture of the tree. You blow that paper away...and you find that the "Secret Entrance" has been marked thusly with a large movie-theater–style sign, complete with flashing lights around the edges.
86	** Hilariously, an NPC traveling with you, when talking about the Secret Entrance and how it's hidden, mentions that it wouldn't be marked by a sign.
87	* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'' doesn't have a neon sign, obviously, but it does have an island shaped like a spider with [[FourIsDeath four]] smaller fortresses in the northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest corner.
88	* ''VideoGame/BioMenace'' has a secret door in the last level of episode 1. It is actually a normal visible door. What makes the door so secret are the bright red letters written on it reading "SECRET DOOR".
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	[[folder:{{Webcomics}}]]
92	* ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'', with Wily's castle.
93	* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': Has the label "Secret Train to Large Animal Holding Cells (Very Hush Hush, You Know.)"
94	* Ziggy's base of operations in ''Webcomic/ZiggyPigAndSillySeal2022'' is a run-down building named "Totally Normal (Not Sketchy At All) Establishment".[[note]]Sponsored by Secret Lairs "R" Us.[[/note]]
95	-->'''Throg:''' Why pray tell doth thou havest a secret lair, then?\
96	'''Ziggy:''' Well, considerin' how many of you mook-imals found it, guess it ain't all that secret. Might as well charge admission at this point.
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:Web Original]]
100	* Invoked by Mumbo Jumbo, who for AprilFoolsDay one year made a [=YouTube=] video of himself [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvVsObdpU2o "building the best unhidden bunker in Minecraft"]] using fireworks, cakeheaded glowing zombies nametagged with invitations, a beacon with decorative stained glass shooting multicolored light beams into the sky, an arrow sign with redstone lamps spelling "HERE", and more.
101	[[/folder]]
102
103	[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
104	* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' had Negaduck's hideout [[FunnyBackgroundEvent raise a giant flag with his face on it]]. Which Darkwing, naturally, [[FailedASpotCheck completely fails to notice]]. Instead, he laser-focuses on a single bread crumb left behind at the crime scene and [[GPSEvidence figures out the location of the hideout just from that]]. When he shows up, Negaduck reveals that he ''deliberately'' left the crumb behind in order to lure Darkwing there because he knew Darkwing wouldn't notice the flag.
105	* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''
106	** In the 1946 short "WesternAnimation/TheGreatPiggyBankRobbery", WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck (as "Duck Twacy, the famous detec-a-tive") takes a streetcar (labeled "To Gangsters' Hideout") past neon signs that read, "Gangsters' Hideout," to one that reads, "This is IT! Entrance."
107	** Another Looney Tunes example: The 1952 WesternAnimation/BugsBunny short "Water, Water Every Hare" started with a shot of castle with a neon sign alternating "Evil Scientist" and "Boo".
108	** In "Bugsy and Mugsy" Bugs Bunny is living in an abandoned house that two criminals use for a hideout. Bugs invokes this trope by putting up a literal Neon sign that says "Rocky's Hideaway." naturally it doesn't take long for the police to find them. Rocky never noticed the sign and thought that idiot sidekick had turned him in. Poor Mugsy gets a beatdown for nothing.
109	* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'' TV movie, ''Fairly Odd Baby'', Wanda and the other were looking for the evil baby lair, and she said that her maternal instincts were a sonar device to locate Poof. She credited her maternal instincts to finding the room where Poof was located, but there was clearly a sign that pointed to where the door was.
110	* Also done in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Super Mario World\|1991}}'' cartoon, where Bowser's Castle has the same sign as in the game, except it lights up letter by letter. And is apparently called the ''Coney Island Disco Palace''. A menacing name it is not.
111	* In ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' Doof 'trades' as 'Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated', even going so far as to have his own advertising jingle. His headquarters are usually in a large skyscraper-type building, with a giant 'Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated' sign on the outside.
112	** Similarly, Perry's spy organization, the [[FunWithAcronyms O.W.C.A.: Organization Without a Cool Acronym]], has this sign in front of their building:
113	--> O.W.C.A. Secret Headquarters (Please Pay No Attention To This Sign)
114	* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'', the Cluster has a recruiting office with a storefront right on human territory in Tremorton.
115	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' Treehouse of Horror IV story, ''Bart Simpson's Dracula''. Bart and Lisa are coming back from washing themselves of the blood that Lisa "spilled" on the two of them. At first they think they stumbled onto Burns' vampire lair when Bart leans on a structure and opens a hidden wall, but it turns out to be just the laundry room. ''Then'' they find it when Lisa turns around and sees an open staircase leading down with a neon sign on the wall reading "To Secret Vampire Lair" (followed by a blinking sign under it stating "No Garlic").
116	[[/folder]]

Context Main / NeonSignHideout