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Fake-Out Make-Out

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Danny: I call that a fake-out make-out.
Sam: [dreamily] Yeah. I know.

Two characters, who either appear to be attracted to each other but in denial or just hate each other's guts, find themselves cornered during an emergency. They're about to be caught sneaking into the Big Bad's fortress, looking at confidential files, or fleeing the scene of the battle. The quickest solution? Kiss — passionately.

Maybe the theory is that whoever's about to find them will want to look away and give them some privacy. Maybe the logic is to do the LEAST suspicious thing two people would be doing in a dark room or alley, or because it's difficult to recognize someone's face when it's mashed against someone else's. Maybe it's somehow necessary to maintain the Masquerade. Maybe it's a good excuse. Either way, the danger is quickly thwarted... but the moment is not so quickly forgotten.

Probably the only kiss that comes without warning. Often fuel for shippers anyway, and has a good chance of appearing in that episode's trailer. Distinct from the Kiss of Distraction because that involves one of the kissers being distracted, whereas this seeks to distract people looking at the kiss.

Sometimes done to interrupt a person speaking/shouting, either to just shut them up or because someone is coming.

Compare the longer-term Undercover as Lovers. Compare and contrast Platonic Kissing.


Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Anime & Manga 
  • Case Closed:
    • In one chapter, Ai Haibara talks one of her classmates into faking intimate contact so she could figure out whether she was being tailed by the Organization, only to scare him with the intense expression on her face.
    • Takagi and Satou have also pretended to date on a few occasions to tail a suspect (Takagi couldn't enjoy their time together at all because Satou is pretty damn scary when in Work Mode).
  • The fifth episode of Code Geass, where Lelouch "kisses" Kallen so she doesn't see C.C around. Although they don't actually kiss (he holds her by the jaw and puts his face right up close to hers to keep her from looking around until C.C is gone), from behind it looks that way to at least one onlooker (Shirley), who happens to have an intense crush on Lelouch.
    Kallen: Hey...
    Lelouch: What?
    Kallen: ...what are you doing?
    Lelouch: What, indeed...
  • The Dangers in My Heart: Yamada pulls Ichikawa’s face close to hers as if to kiss him in order to ward Nanjou off. While it does the job, Ichikawa feels "used" afterward and his pessimistic outlook overnight led to him avoiding interactions with Yamada for two days under the assumption that their relationship was a ploy to ward off other boys. And it wasn't.
  • The first episode of Darker than Black has Hei doing this to a woman he is acting as a bodyguard for.
  • In Divergence Eve when Bernard and Misaki are sneaking around a guard checks them and Bernard kisses Misaki to give an explanation as to why they were there. She blushed and it was never mentioned again.
  • In the BL manga FAKE, Dee locks lips with Ryo in an alley to distract the bad guys from spotting their target, who is hiding behind them. The leader of the bad guys leaves visibly squicked, Dee comments on how great it feels to throw them off their tracks, and Ryo stammers out that they didn't have to go to such lengths.
  • Used by two different pairs in one episode of The Familiar of Zero, Louise x Agnes being the more entertaining of the two — Agnes eavesdrops on a conversation between conspirators, Louise comes up behind her and gasps when she overhears part of the plot. When one of the men goes to investigate, Agnes quickly kisses Louise until the man walks off. Agnes looks disgusted (or, at least, very embarrassed) afterwards, but for some odd reason, someone happens to mention a rumor to Louise later on that Agnes might like women...
    • In that exact same episode/chapter of the light novel, there's a really steamy, passionate scene where Princess Henrietta practically rapes Saito to avoid arrest by government officials looking for her.
    • Also on the subject of Agnes, she is androgynous/masculine in appearance note , so her and Louise kissing wouldn't necessarily look like a lesbian makeout session to unknowing observers.
    • Then there's another moment where the Queen and Saito do this, only using something more... racy.
  • Gunslinger Girl. In "The Sheep and the Goats", Alessandro Ricci and his cyborg Petra are doing surveillance in their car when a suspected terrorist walks up the street towards them, so he unbuttons her shirt and kisses her. Due to Petra's age and conditioning she's a good deal more flustered about it than he is.
  • Steins;Gate: Moeka goes ballistic after Okabe steals her phone. They end up wrestling, Moeka screaming all the while, and Okabe ends up doing this so that a passing neighbor doesn't call the cops. This pacifies Moeka for a good 10 seconds before she bites him, so apparently, he's a natural.
  • Super Dimension Fortress Macross has an example where kissing is actually weaponized: specifically, against the resident Proud Warrior Race Guy Zentradi who live apart from their women and reproduce through cloning. When Misa and Hikaru (Minmay and Kaifun in Do You Remember Love?) are ordered to kiss by Britai who have no idea what kissing is, the two comply and give a nasty Heroic BSoD to every single Zentradi in the room.
    • The third episode of Macross 7 Encore is essentially a large shout out to the original SDF scene, but this time, it's Milia and Max doing the kissing and the targets are Meltran (female Zentradi). The reactions are the same.
  • In chapter 41 of We Never Learn, Nariyuki and Kirisu-sensei are casually eating ice cream together, with Kirisu in a high school outfit. When two other main characters show up, Nariyuki and Kirisu hide in a bush and Nariyuki pulls Kurisu in for a Fake-Out Make-Out; this has the result of making the other two so uncomfortable, they run off without seeing Nariyuki or Kurisu's faces. Nariyuki and Kirusu don't actually kiss, though—-the angle makes it look like they are.
  • In The World God Only Knows this is done by Keima to Tenri to trick the demon chasing them.
  • Yui Kamio Lets Loose: In Chapter 2, in order to give some trespassing delinquents the slip, Yui in Black grabs Kiito by the necklace chains he was wearing, pulls him close to her so that his body hides her from sight and puts a pen to his neck while their faces are close to each other which makes them look like a couple making out.

    Comic Books 
  • Happens in the Knights of the Old Republic comic. Twice.
    "Leave him guys, he's recruiting..."
  • Chemical Kid and Dragonwing do it in the first issue of the 2011 reboot of Legion of Super-Heroes.
  • Allan Quatermain and Mina Murray do this during an infiltration in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
  • Uncanny X-Men: Iceman does this to Cecilia Reyes, who not only actively dislikes him but hates the whole mutants-vs-humans drama thing going on, and is only with him because she got outed and will be killed if she doesn't have his help.

    Comic Strips 
  • In the MAD parody of Mandrake the Magician ("Manduck the Magician"), Manduck tries this trick multiple times. It never works and the girl in question eventually realizes he isn't doing it to avoid pursuit at all.
    "WHO CARES IF IT DON'T WORK?"

    Fan Works 
  • Played with in Cinderjuice; the two leads share a kiss because they're being watched - by her father, who immediately freaks out and stops looking.
  • Employed in the Homestuck fanfic Cities in Dust by two detectives hot on the trail... Happens about halfway through the chapter
  • Used in Facing the Future Series story Stolen Years by Danny and Sam to escape the Guys In White. Of course, considering their Relationship Upgrade status, there wasn't really anything 'fake' about it.
  • Death Note Equestria: When Rainbow Dash is investigating the possibility that Applejack is Third Kira, the latter acts flirty and kisses her... in order to throw off the observing Mer and keep her from realizing that Applejack is whispering instructions to Dash to meet up and explain what's happening.
  • The Fifth Act: in an Omake, Cloud is trying to hide from Sephiroth and wants Kunsel to hide him. So Kunsel dresses Cloud in a Second Class outfit and kisses him to trick Sephiroth into thinking he stumbled upon horny soldiers rather than look into it.
  • Xander once saved a female werewolf in First Knight by keeping ahead of the hunters until dawn, then stripping them both naked and giving her a red cloak while wearing a showercap himself. When the hunters catch up to them, Xander says they were playing a game of Red Riding Hood and "admits" the howls were due to him being a screamer. After a couple more instances of that, werewolf hunters avoid that area since they "know" it's just a rather kinky couple.
  • In the Gunslinger Girl fanfic "Porcupine Love" by Thescarredman, Triela chases a Padania assassin into a dark alley only to find themselves in a tight clinch with their pistols under each other's chins. Then an elderly couple sees them together, so rather than attempt to kill each other in front of witnesses, they kiss instead.
    • In another fic by the same author, Chief Draghi of the rival Section One enters a lift with cyborg girl Verotrois who uses the opportunity have an Elevator Conference that Section Two wouldn't approve of. She then suggests they come up with a cover story as to why the elevator was stopped. Draghi curtly dismisses the idea that he'd need one, only to have Verotrois prank him by having her clothes in disarray when the doors open on a couple of outraged female Section Two personnel.
  • In the Kingdom Hearts fic Kisses and Lies, Kairi does this with Sora when the two are on an undercover reconnaissance mission in a shopping mall, to avoid suspicion from the people they're following. Played for awkwardness due to the two having broken up recently.
  • Re: My Hostage, Not Yours: To prove to the Valkians that he and Gaz are mates, and that she's thus under his protection, Zim swoops her up and gives her The Big Damn Kiss. True to the trope, it quickly becomes more intense as their UST causes them both to enjoy it more than planned.
  • In Strange New World, Ryuji and Ann do this while investigating Madarame's art gallery to avoid suspicion from his security guards.
  • In Sun-touched, Varric and Bethany are searching for clues to the mystery they're trying to solve. When they're interrupted by guards entering the quarters they're investigating, they hide in the closet and, in a moment of desperation, Bethany kisses Varric to make it look like they just sneaked away to find a place to make out. Since they're in Orzammar, where everyone is under the mistaken impression that she's his concubine, the worst that happens is a lot of eye-rolling.
  • Vow of the King: As part of an Infraction Distraction while infiltrating Soul Society, Orihime pulls Tatsuki into a nearby alley and starts making out with her when they sense a captain nearby. After getting "caught", they act deeply apologetic for fooling around when they're supposed to be patrolling, causing Komamura to let them off with a warning.

    Film — Animation 
  • April and the Extraordinary World: When April is being chased through the Paris Fair, Julius grabs her and kisses her, thus convincing her pursuer that this is not the girl he was chasing.
  • Batman: Gotham by Gaslight: When the police stop Selena Kyle's carriage to search it while she attempts to help a wounded Bruce Wayne out of his Batman costume, the two of them simply strip to the waist and begin kissing. When the police officers open the door and see the half-naked couple, they're unsurprisingly embarrassed enough that they let them through without a search. After they've gone Bruce and Selena start making out for real and he ends up in her bed. Unfortunately that means the police know exactly where to find Bruce when they come to arrest him the following morning.
  • In Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost, Shaggy and Scooby disguise themselves as a couple to justify being in the park in the middle of the night (instead of, for example, following Mayor Corey around), and pretend to make out so that no one will be able to see that Scooby is, well, a dog.

    Film — Live-Action 
  • In 21 Jump Street, Schmidt and Jenko are trying to hide from a motorcycle gang in a car, so Jenko pushes Schmidt down and tells him to pretend he's giving him a blowjob.
  • Hilariously subverted in one of its earliest examples, Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps. In it, the main character is trying to evade police who are looking for him on a train. So he bursts into a woman's compartment and kisses her as the police look in, snicker, and go on. The woman then immediately turns him in to the police without hesitation.
  • Two Interpol agents do this in Assassins, guarding a hotel room where their colleagues are setting up a sting operation to try to trap Electra, the hacker played by Julianne Moore but they can't fool Miguel Bain, who casually greets them, then as he walks past them, whirls, whips out his silenced pistol and shoots both of them (and a hotel maid who inadvertently witnesses the scene).
  • While the twin heroes of The Barbarians infiltrate the Big Bad Kadar's compound, they are spotted by one of the guards. They start kissing each other until he turns away, with much spitting ensuing afterwards.
  • Similarly used in Bon Voyage, as the characters who start kissing have just escaped into a dark movie theater.
  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Black Widow insists on doing this to Captain America as bad guys are looking for them in a shopping mall (later she teases him about being such a bad kisser due to his lack of experience).
    Natasha: Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable.
    Steve: [uncomfortably] Yes, they do.
  • In Charlotte Gray, which takes place in Nazi-occupied France, the eponymous heroine and a member of the French resistance are being held in a house by Nazis, and manage to distract the guard who's supposed to be watching them by making out, then jump him and run for it when he comes over to separate them.
    • Earlier, the resistance member is yelling angrily at Nazi tanks driving down the street, and Charlotte kisses him to shut him up and prevent him from being arrested or killed on the spot.
  • Played with in Clue, in which, in order to hide the bodies of three murder victims, the characters set up a makeout room with the corpses.
  • Confidentially Yours: Vercel decides to accompany Barbara during one of her investigations, even though he's wanted for murder and is supposed to be hiding out. Some police cars pass by and Barbara kisses Vercel so as to hide him from their sight.
  • In Epic Movie (2007), the character Susan ends up being persuaded into chugging a couple gallons of beer and it goes about as well as one might suspect. She ends up puking out a couple gallons of puke on the crowds who were cheering her on, grossing them out in the process. She clearly needs to puke more, but doesn't want to puke on anymore of the crowd and also clearly doesn't want to gross them out... so she finds an archer close by and... locks lips with him, while holding his head in place, not letting him escape... she clearly was trying to make it seem like she was just making out with the archer, but everyone quickly realized that the poor archer wasn't making out with a hot woman, but said hot woman was pumping puke down his throat with no escape... this is said to be the main reason why no one showed up to the battle the following day.
  • Subverted in The Faculty. While breaking into the school's storeroom to steal ingredients for his drugs, Zeke cites the trope to reassure Marybeth should they be caught. However, the two aren't patient, and start making out regardless.
  • Subversion in Fight Club: Tyler pulls Marla into a corner in a hallway to escape the paramedics, but instead of kissing her, he does a bit of an awkward dance to pass the time.
  • The First Power. The detectives are staking out the place where they think the serial killer will strike next. One of them is in a car doing this trope but when he lifts his head it turns out he's not making out with The Squadette (who's walking up and down the street as The Bait) but with a sex doll. He flips the others the bird when they gibe him about it.
  • The Fourth Protocol: MI5 Watchers have tailed The Mole to a pizzeria. Michael Caine's character is outside in a van, watching two of their agents groping each other in one of the booths.
    "Do you think Jimmy's overdoing it a little?"
    "Gloria don't seem to be objecting."
  • At one point in Heathers, Veronica and Jason elude a police officer by not just kissing, but also by disrobing and getting into a car. Notably, they do attract attention — just not for the shooting. Over radio, another officer asks whether or not the two are having full-blown sex.
  • Inception: Arthur suggests this to Ariadne to avoid the stares of the projections:
    Ariadne: They're still looking at us.
    Arthur: ...it was worth a shot.
  • James Bond:
  • At the start of John Carter, the title character is being followed in the rain on a New York street in 1881, so he ducks off to the side and engages in conversation with a Lady in Red while shielding his face with a hat (ostensibly from the rain). She's a bit annoyed when the handsome stranger then leaves without closing the deal.
  • In K-9, the protagonist uses this trick to elude one of the bad guys, but there's a small problem — the sunbathing woman he kisses is a complete stranger who is taken by surprise. The trick works, and the thug leaves, but while he makes an honest attempt to apologize, she kicks him hard where it hurts.
  • Keeping Up with the Joneses: When both the Gaffneys and the Joneses are captured by the Scorpion, Karen takes a knife and pretends to be attracted to Natalie then kisses her to hand the knife over to her and save the day. It's a non-disguise variant, but it's still used to fool the enemy.
  • Played straight in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Well, except that both characters are male, and it doesn't really lead anywhere...
  • A Most Wanted Man: Irna teases fellow intelligence agent Gunther that he fancies the pretty blonde lawyer they're tailing. He replies that she's not his type, then they pretend to kiss as the lawyer passes their position, with Gunther eyeing the lawyer as he's kissing.
  • Mission: Impossible (1996): Ethan and Sarah lean against a wall and make out to observe their mark exiting a building without drawing attention.
  • The New Centurions: Roy sees a robbery taking place inside a store, calls for backup, draws his gun and ducks behind a car for cover, then realizes that there's a couple snuggling each other in the front seat. He rushes over to warn them, only to get shot in the chest with a sawed-off by the couple, who are driving the getaway car.
  • In New Town Killers, Sean avoids detection in a nightclub by grabbing a random girl on the dance floor and kissing her. She doesn't seem to mind.
  • Norah of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist does this to Nick after she asks him to be her "five-minute boyfriend".
  • T. R. Devlin in Notorious (1946): "Wait a minute, I'm gonna kiss you."
  • Rock 'n' Roll High School features a solo Fake-Out Make-Out in which one of the protagonists turns towards a corner, wraps his arms around himself and mimics the sounds of a couple making out, successfully fooling his pursuers.
  • In Ronin (1998), Robert De Niro and Natascha McElhone's characters are sitting in a car at night, scoping a target. When a car passes them, he pulls the fake-out. After they pull apart, she silently straddles him for a little real making-out.
  • Simon and Emma do this in The Saint (1997).
  • In Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins, Daphne does this to Fred to keep the school principal from recognizing them while they are in disguise, so they can sneak into their school (after being suspended) to investigate.
  • Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity: Zed goes up to check the rooms himself. As Rik and Daria are coming in the window, they hear Zed approaching, strip, and jump into bed, pretending to have been having sex. Once Zed leaves, the pretend sex becomes real lovemaking.
  • In Submarine, Oliver sees his mother behaving suspiciously with Graham, and quickly pulls his girlfriend Jordana into a kiss so he can simultaneously hide and spy on his mother.
  • Top Secret!, a farcical Affectionate Parody of action movies set in World War II, takes it in a bit of a different direction: when a patrol of soldiers looking for them happens by, the young protagonists hide in each others' faces in a park crowded with other couples making out.
  • Yellowbeard. When the protagonists walk through Portsmouth, two people kissing each other turn out to be the villains Mr. Moon and Gilbert, with Gilbert dressed as a woman.

    Literature 

By Author:

  • Linnea Sinclair has a couple of examples:
    • In Games of Command, Branden's trying to blend in among Tasha's former coworkers when he spots several who know him personally. He tugs Tasha into an access corridor and starts kissing her to hide his face. Since the couple had gotten together a few days before and broken up a few hours before, Tasha is understandably confused.
    • In Gabriel's Ghost, Sullivan, Chaz, and Ren are trying to pick the lock on a door in a public hallway. When they hear someone coming, Sullivan takes the chance to steal a kiss from Chaz, and silences her protests by claiming they need an excuse to be standing around in a hallway. The passerby laugh and tell them to get a room, and Ren apologizes claiming it's the couple's honeymoon.

By Work:

  • Alyzon Whitestarr by Isobelle Carmody features two of the main protagonists, Alyzon and Harrison, sneaking into a library to find out about Alyzon's sister. When a military-looking goon comes along, guess what happens.
  • Aurora Cycle: In the first book, Tyler and Kal have to sneak into a space station's central computer area so the squad's hacker can remote-access the computers. When they discover a computer technician is approaching the room, Tyler apologizes to Kal before kissing him, as Kal's species considers any form of physical contact highly intimate, before telling him to walk out of the room with him looking embarrassed.
  • In the Belisarius Series by David Drake and Eric Flint, Prince Eon of Axum hides the fugitive Princess Shakuntala from a search of his quarters... by throwing her on the bed, jumping on top of her, and then pulling the blankets up over them both while making some obvious physical movements and sounds. The villain's soldiers, utterly embarrassed at having caught their master's royal houseguest in the middle of something - especially since the prince doesn't pause at their entry - give his rooms the hastiest and most perfunctory search ever and then flee in disorder. Afterwards Eon apologizes profusely to the princess for the deception, but she's mostly amused that not all of him was faking it.
  • In In the Belly of the Bloodhound, part of of the Bloody Jack series, Jackie Faber and her Arch-Nemesis Clarissa are taking advantage of a diversion to look for possible escape routes, IIRC. Hearing someone coming, Jackie grabs Clarissa and makes out with her. Passionately. A Minion with an F in Evil walks in on them, causing them to be Mistaken for Gay.
  • A Court of Thorns and Roses: Rhys kisses Feyre without her consent in the first book to protect her from Amarantha's anger.
  • Dragon Jousters: It doesn't go all the way, but in Alta, Kiron needs to hide Aket-ten from the Magi. He pulls her into a shrine to the goddess of lovers, throws his cloak over her, pushes her to her knees in front of the statue, and kneels himself. The Magus in charge of the squad looks in, "sees" a pair of lovers praying, and leaves without Aket-ten.
  • Used near the beginning of For Love of Evil. When Parry rescues his wife Jolie, he kills the guards in the tent. A minute later, when a guard pokes his head in, Parry uses hypnosis to convince the guard he is the leader (whom he has killed) and says "I am not yet finished with the wench. Leave me alone until I am." This buys him a little time to escape with Jolie.
  • Help I Am Being Held Prisoner: Harry (a prisoner whose snuck out of the prison but intends to go back) and Marian use this to keep a guard from the prison they run into at a party from seeing Harry's face and arresting him for being an escaped prisoner.
  • Most of the kisses between Katniss and Peeta in The Hunger Games are this, seeing as they're supposed to keep up a Star-Crossed Lovers masquerade—or at least all of them are to Katniss before she starts feeling something. To Peeta, it's a completely different story. Note that the trope is played with here, as in this case they're doing it to get people to pay attention to them, rather than avert it.
  • In The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln, by Stephen L. Carter, Abigail and Jonathan do this when investigating in the bad part of town, to convince their pursuers that Abigail is a prostitute and Jonathan is engaging her services.
  • In The Lost Redeemer, Elias and Nahila are interrupted during their search for forbidden books in Zidane's office. They decided that getting caught making out (even in a forbidden area) might get them in less trouble.
  • In Loyal Enemies, Shelena notices that they are being watched while they are investigating Lliotarel's chamber and immediately drags Veres onto the bed and pretends to kiss and undress him. She counts on the observer to assume there was some residue of the love potion someone planted in Lliotarel's secret food stash, which Veres immediately sampled. Veres is alternately freaked out and angry as he's got a hard time believing it's not just another one of Shelena's games until he finally catches on.
  • Isaac Asimov's Pebble in the Sky: When Bel Arvardan is secretly meeting with Pola in chapter 14, "Second Meeting", she tells him that he should try to kiss her if he hears any noise to disguise their meeting. During their discussion, she lies that someone is coming, to trick him into kissing her.
    "First-I don't think anyone followed us, but if you hear any noise at all, would you-would you"-her eyes dropped-"put your arms about me, and-and-you know."
    He nodded his head and said dryly, "I believe I can improvise without any trouble. Is it necessary to wait for noise?"
  • Phryne Fisher: Bert does this to avoid detection in Little Lonsdale Street in Cocaine Blues.
  • In Proxy, Syd does this to Knox while trying to escape the party.
  • Playe with in The Shadow Of The Lion by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and Dave Freer. When two characters need to escape from soldiers who are chasing them, they wind up in the chamber of a high class courtisan who disguises both of them using her makeup, then proceeds to have sex with them so that when the soldiers enter her room, they're too uncomfortable to give a thorough inspection.
  • Star Wars Legends: Used by Corran Horn in Wedge's Gamble to avoid being seen by his nemesis while on an undercover mission. His soon-to-be love interest was not amused when she found out - particularly as it was her romantic rival he'd kissed.
  • Happens in Sweet-Talking TJ by Karen McCombie, between the title character of the book and Stella to trick the police. It might have worked, but then they might have just not been seen.
  • In one of the Sweet Valley High Kids Christmas books, one of the twins does this after she and a boy she was helping are caught by guards in a restricted area during a party. As neither of them were invited to the party to begin with, she also runs off crying, saying, "I told you someone would see us." The guards are so busy laughing that neither of them are checked for ID or questioned about why they were in the restricted area.
  • In The Pillars of Creation of the Sword of Truth series, Jennsen and Sebastian pull this off to avoid being noticed by a squad of D'Haran soldiers.
  • In Red Storm Rising Vigdis kisses Mike to pretend to be a local couple when a Soviet helicopter approaches them.
  • The Tomorrow Series: In The Night Is for Hunting, Lee figures out a way for Fiona's parents, who have been working in an office after much of the area has been recolonized, to sneak out and meet with her during their lunch break. After tearfully reuniting with their long-lost daughter, they return to the office snuggling, kissing and touching each other intimately. It's very clear what they wanted people to think they were doing hiding in a bush all through lunch.
  • In the sixth Troubleshooters book, Going Too Far, Sam and Alyssa do this in an alley to hide from random passing strangers that A) they are fighting, violently, and B) they are handcuffed to each other again.
  • Vorkosigan Saga:
    • At the beginning of The Warrior's Apprentice, Miles and Elena do this twice in rapid succession. The first time is intentional: Miles convinces an armsman that they're sneaking into the library to make out, rather than to break into his father's secure terminal. Shortly thereafter, both their fathers walk into the room, and Miles' attempts to make it look like they're rehearsing a play just make it look more like awkwardly-concealed sex. Complications ensue.
    • In Ethan of Athos Elli Quinn wants to make sure her scheme to get a pair of Cetagandan intelligence agents arrested goes as planned, so she drags Ethan into a convenient alcove near the agents' rooms and enacts this trope. Ethan is a bit perturbed since he's from a male-only planet with religious beliefs that women are the source of all sin and temptation, but he manages to play along.
  • Mat pulls a surprise make out in The Wheel of Time to prevent the woman in question from being discovered. She is quite shocked at first, but quickly complies when she hears the guards' voices.
  • Young Sherlock Holmes: In Red Leech, it occurs to Sherlock that kissing Virginia would be the perfect way to hide his face from the man they are tailing. However, he is too embarrassed to attempt to put the plan into operation. Fortunately, the man does not notice him.

    Live-Action TV 
  • 24 takes it a step further. Rick is trying to help Kim Bauer, who has been kidnapped, when a guard comes in. He pretends that he's raping her instead. The guard... approves, and later expresses an interest in raping her as well.
  • Arrested Development: In the pilot, Maeby kisses George Michael just to get attention from her parents. They don't notice. This does, however, provide George Michael enough fetish material to last the rest of the series.
  • The Avengers: Steed and Mrs. Peel fake a kiss while following an enemy spy in "Escape in Time". However, they only face one another in a street corner and don't actually kiss.
  • Babylon 5. Captain Sheridan is being hit on by a beautiful naked Political Officer. He looks like he's going to refuse her advances when Ivanova (who's up to something he really doesn't want anyone to find out about) appears in his quarters via holographic projection. As the political's about to turn around to see what could possibly be distracting Sheridan from her naked body, Sheridan grabs her for a passionate clinch, giving Ivanova the opportunity for some great deadpan snarking. "I think you're about to go where everyone has gone before."
  • The Beauty Queen Of Jerusalem: Tzachi pulls Rachelika into a sudden kiss when a British patrol comes by.
  • Between the Lines (1992). Mo is infiltrating an Animal Wrongs Group, and tells them she's going to do the Schlub Pub Seduction trick on a security guard working at the animal testing centre they intend to attack. The security guard is actually an undercover Naylor, who's embarrassed as Mo is both his colleague and a lesbian. Eventually Mo has to tell him to start pawing her as "I'm supposed to be seducing you, not taking you by force."
  • Bionic Woman
    • Apparently superfluous usage from episode "The List": Jaime and her partner, sneaking down a restricted corridor, see that a security guard has already spotted them, but they do the Fake-out Make-out anyway as he hurries over to try to get them to leave, then they knock him out. Then snog again.
    • On another occasion Jaime sees a couple kissing outside her apartment, but her bionic ear picks up their conversation revealing they're actually a surveillance team.
  • Boardwalk Empire: In "The Age of Reason," Jimmy and Angela are walking down the boardwalk when Jimmy notices Nucky walking by. He immediately makes out with Angela to distract her while he notices that Nucky is in the company of Waxey Gordon and Manny Horvitz's henchman Herman Kaufman, and realizes Herman is spying on Manny for Waxey.
  • In the Broad City episode "Burning Bridges," Ilana walks past Abbi's table during her date with Trey. She grabs him and starts making out with him to stop Ilana from recognizing them.
  • Brooklyn Nine-Nine:
    • Jake and Amy use one of these to get the drop on two people they need to arrest. As they're currently both attempting to deny their attraction, the switch from making out to arresting is a little over-emphasized:
      Amy: Freeze! We are police colleagues!
      Jake: You're under arrest! This is a work event!
    • This happens again (without the UST) in the Season 4 opener, between Jake and Holt, of all people. This is because Jake theorizes, correctly, that the person they're trying to distract is a Politically Incorrect Villain who won't be able to handle two men kissing, and will try to stop them.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Often subverted (of course it was).
    • In "Goodbye, Iowa", Xander suggests this so people aren't suspicious when they infiltrate The Initiative, Xander dressed as a soldier and Buffy wearing a Labcoat of Science and Medicine. Buffy points out that nothing could make them more conspicuous.
      Buffy: This is The Initiative, Xander. Military guys and scientists do not make out with each other!
      Xander: Well, maybe that's what's wrong with the world. Ever think about that?
    • In "Innocence", it was the excuse Xander and Cordelia (more appropriately dressed as his trashy girlfriend) successfully used to get access to the local military base's armory so they could steal a bazooka for Buffy to use on The Judge.
    • And subverted in "Passion" when Angelus is stalking Buffy; she and her friends exit the Bronze without taking notice of a couple necking. Once they're past, the woman falls dead to the ground to reveal it was Angelus feeding on her.
    • In "Becoming, Part Two" Buffy runs into Xander at the hospital. As she's wanted by the police, who mistakenly think she had something to do with Kendra's murder, Xander quickly pulls her into a hug when two cops pass them in the corridor. On letting go, Buffy jokes that Xander did that partially to cop a feel — Xander's lack of response to the jibe tells Buffy that something bad has happened to Willow.
  • Angel. In "The Magic Bullet", Winifred hears people approaching and grabs Angel for a passionate snog. It doesn't work, given that everyone in the city is being mind-controlled by the Big Bad Jasmine and nothing is happening in Los Angeles — not even a young couple making out on a midnight stroll — without her approval.
    Winifred: (whispering) You think they bought it?
    Angel: (whispering) I did. I—I mean, I didn't hear anything.
    [Oh, Crap! reaction when they realise it's because the group has stopped to stare at them.]
  • Burn Notice: Fiona and Sam use this when they're caught sneaking onto a boat to search it... only they make it look like they're in the middle of having sex. Happens again in a fourth season episode between Fiona and Jesse, when some mooks catch them on surveillance duty in her car - naturally in the aftermath it's clear there's some chemistry between them which leaves them both a bit unsettled.
  • Castle:
    • Played straight in the episode "Knockdown" in which the title character and Beckett try to get close to a guard of a building in which Ryan and Esposito are being tortured for information by a professional assassin. They try the drunk and lost maneuver but that doesn't quite lower the guard's defensiveness. Not until they do the trope does the guard relax enough to be taken out. Word of God is that it was genuine.
    • In the Season 3 finale, Castle calls Beckett out on their UST, including the fact that they never talked about the time they kissed. "I don't know what we are."
  • Chuck:
    • In "Chuck Versus the Break-Up", we learn that Bryce and Sarah always used the "happy couple making out" cover up during missions together. And pretended they didn't enjoy it.
    • Replace "always" with "often", and that could go for Sarah and Chuck, too. Chuck is usually taken completely off guard, but generally doesn't seem to mind.
    • Used between Chuck and, of all people, General Beckman in "Chuck vs. the Santa Suit". Afterwards they agree, "We will never speak of this again."
      Beckman: Pucker up, Bartowski. You're about to become a man!
  • Community:
    • Britta and Jeff have one in an early episode so he can avoid failing a class.
    • Starburns tries to have one, but Quendra refuses.
      Starburns: I'll explain later!
      Quendra: The explanation isn't the issue!
  • Crash Landing on You: Invoked. When the boat that is supposed to smuggle Se-ri back to South Korea is held up by the navy, Jeong-hyuk kisses Se-ri just as the hold door is opened, explicitly comparing it to a Korean drama tactic to get out of a sticky situation.
  • CSI uses it with Catherine and Detective Vartann when they were trying to make it look like they were in a hotel room as lovers instead of cops on a stakeout.
  • Daredevil (2015). In "Regrets Only", Matt Murdock's former lover Elektra Natchios asks his help to steal a ledger on Roxxon's dealings with the Hand from the Yakatomi building, and trolls him by making a "No Sex" rule. When the guards are searching for the thieves who stole the ledger, they come across Matt and Elektra in a room pretending to have sex while Playing Drunk. The guards are still suspicious, but are eventually convinced and just move them on so they can continue the search.
  • In the live-action Death Note series, Light kisses Misa to stop her from calling him Kira in his bugged bedroom. After the kiss, he whispers in her ear, telling her to leave and meet him at a safer location later.
  • Degrassi: The Next Generation: Paige is having some trouble getting past a bouncer into a VIP party at a movie premiere. Cue Alex with a fake story apologizing for being late because some jerk blocked in the "Employees Only" space at the strip club, followed by a very convincing kiss. That got them in, where they proceeded to become a two-girl Spotlight-Stealing Squad (in-show).... Well, actually, that did turn into a Canon pairing, at least for a season or two.
  • Doctor Who: "Smith and Jones" has a time-delayed version. The Doctor kisses Martha before running away so that some of his non-human DNA will register on her, and the aliens hunting for it will be held up double-checking that Martha is human, buying him some time.
  • The Friday Night Project has a short-lived segment in its first series called "The Inappropriate Kissers", where two people would be planted in a real-life situation, (in one instance, next to an interviewer at a film premiere) merrily necking away. Supposedly, in Real Life he was very much into her, but she couldn't stand the sight of him.
  • Get Smart:
    • According to "The Groovy Guru", this is Emergency Park Procedure R-17. After smooching with the attractive CONTROL courier according to this procedure, Max tries to go in for another round. She pushes him away, not least because she's used the opportunity to steal the key to the bomb she's just handcuffed to Max's wrist.
    • In "Run Robot Run", two KAOS saboteurs called Donald Sneed and Mrs. Emily Neal have just finished planting a booby trap in Max's apartment when he shows up. To explain what they're doing there they start smooching, and have to do this for a while because Max gets distracted watching them make out. After Max finally goes inside, they admit it was quite pleasant.
    • Even the Chief did it, when on a mission so classified that he couldn't tell his agents about it. He pretended to be dating a much younger woman, and at one point they met on a park bench so she could give him a secret formula note . When he realized that a disguised 99 was approaching, he suddenly kisses the operative.
  • The 2012 BBC production of Henry IV, Part 1 has a version of this between Prince Hal and Hooker with a Heart of Gold Doll Tearsheet, who aren't really in any kind of relationship. They're hiding Falstaff from the sheriff, and being "interrupted" gives the prince a good excuse to shoo the sheriff out as quickly as possible. This was not in the original stage directions.
  • House: In "The Down Low", Thirteen pretends to be a prostitute in order to cover up her and Eddie's presence at a drugs warehouse, where they were collecting environmental samples.
  • In Plain Sight: Played with. Mary just wants to smear lipstick on Marshall's face to make them look less suspicious when they confront the diamond smugglers, but he mistakes her intentions and tries to kiss her. When she tells him off, he unapologetically responds, "I'm a guy. It's what we do."
  • The IT Crowd:
    • In "Are We Not Men?", Moss kisses Roy to cover up their involvement in a robbery and their presence near the thieves hideout. After a moment of embarrassment, Roy points out that it would be more convenient if they hid behind a set of adjacent bins. However, Moss still uses this technique to hide from the next four dozen police cars that drive past.
    • In a later episode, Moss shoplifts some DVD's in a shopping centre and as the two of them try to leave quietly they see a security guard waiting for them at the bottom of the escalator. Moss grabs Roy's face and starts to kiss him but Roy pushes him off saying "That's not gonna work!".
  • Leverage: Parker does this to Hardison to cover for having set off a silent alarm. He tries to discuss it afterward, but she apparently doesn't notice. It happens again in the third season opener.
    Hardison: You know, I like it when we do this pretending to kiss thing.
    Parker: Pretending?
    Hardison: Heey...
  • Lois & Clark:
    • Lampshaded in one first-season episode. After getting caught snooping in a closet, Clark hands Lois over as a reporter in order to preserve his own cover. Later, she tells him they could have done this trope instead.
    • Also done in another episode where Lois and Clark are pretending to be a newlywed couple in order to investigate from a hotel typically reserved for honeymooners. When Clark's super-hearing picks up on the maid, he immediately hides the telescope they've been using, and starts kissing Lois. The maid takes one look at this as she walks in, and promptly walks right back out.
    • There was another variation in this show. Before she was thrown out of a plane, Lois asked to kiss Clark goodbye. She really wanted to get close enough to whisper, "I'll take the one on the left".
  • MacGyver: Mac and his female partner pull this trick when they are caught by a motorcycle cop while scoping out the hospital they are planning to break into in "For Love or Money".
  • A Man Called Intrepid: In this miniseries, a male-female spy team supposedly disappear into an office for a little nookie, but actually to rifle through the files. When the guard becomes suspicious, the woman starts to fake moans of passion, whereupon he just smirks and goes back to his post.
    • These two first meet when the woman turns up to pass on a message. She refuses to leave immediately however, pointing out that if his house is under surveillance, it will be obvious that an exchange of information has taken place, but if she leaves several hours later with her clothes and lipstick in disarray, the agents outside will get a different idea. She then offers to avert the 'fake' part of this trope, but he's in love with someone else, so declines.
  • A variant in The Mighty Boosh episode "Party". Vince is cornered by the angry shaman Dennis, who thinks (incorrectly) that Vince put the moves on his wife and is prepared to behead him for it. Vince insists that he didn't do it because he's in love with Howard, and passionately kisses him to prove it.
  • Monk: Averted in "Mr. Monk and the Genius". Monk and Natalie are in the car when they spot a murder suspect approaching. Natalie panics and suggests that they kiss, but quickly backpedals when Monk looks at her in shock.
  • The Musketeers makes this into a Running Gag. First when d'Artagnan is running away from guards who believe him to be a murderer - he grabs a random girl (Constance Bonacieux) and makes out with her. She then proceeds to threaten him with a knife before taking pity on him. And then she has to do it again to help the Musketeers get into an enemy base - by pretending to be a prostitute and ending up in a compromising situation with a recently-dead guard. And then again in the second episode when d'Artagnan needs an excuse for being away from the room he was told to stay in and decides to use the she's my mistress line.
  • My Family: Ben is spying on his wife, but notices she's about to walk by the vehicle he is watching from, he asks his son Nick to think of something. Nick pulls a Fake-Out Make-Out with his own father. While it works, Ben has no response but to return the gum that Nick was chewing.
  • NCIS:
    • In a flashback, Ziva saves a former marine by claiming that he was looking at banned areas of a ship because she asked him to find them some privacy - instead of spying. They then proceed to enjoy themselves until the suspicious crewmember leaves, and Ziva starts telling him off for his stupidity.
    • In another episode, Tony and Ziva act out a wild sex scene in a hotel room they know is rigged with cameras and bugs, to sell their disguise as married assassins. Part of this involves Ziva making Tony do push-ups on top of her for an hour, leaving the observers (who have infared) absolutely stunned.
  • Oz: An undercover police officer passes on information to his female partner by having her pose as his wife on a prison visit, then whispering the information in her ear while they're kissing passionately. It's obvious however that the two are lovers in real life also.
  • Person of Interest. John Reese and fellow CIA assassin Kara Stanton pretend to be a courting couple who 'accidentally' stumble into the wrong hotel room where their targets are. After killing them, Stanton complains that Reese doesn't do any actual kissing.
  • The Professionals. In "The Untouchables", Bodie has to make out with the daughter of a government official for a sting operation. She's involved with someone else so is reluctant to play along, until Bodie gets annoyed, grabs hold of the girl and gives her a lingering snog. The next time he sees her, she's changed into a dress that reveals a lot more skin.
  • Psych: In one episode, a police team (with Shawn and Lassiter) were listening in on a date that Juliet was on, undercover, with a suspected serial killer. She used the "safe word" once the suspect started to act suspicious, and Shawn and Lassiter ran to the rescue, just as soon as it turned out it was actually nothing, to which Jules frantically and discretely waves them off. At this point, they are already within a few feet of her and her "date," so in an attempt to appear inconspicuous, Shawn hunches and curls up against Lassie's chest with Lassiter's back to them, and while they don't actually kiss, it gives the illusion that Lassiter is on a date with a woman, and that they're probably making out. Shawn also grabs Lassiter's ass.
    • Made all the better due to the fact that Shawn uses Deadpan Snarker the whole time they're doing it, and that Lassie hates him. Also that it looks incredibly awkward from their point of view. Also that it actually worked.
  • Robin Hood: Marian and the Count kiss after getting back from a trip into the forest, to cover up for the fact that they had gone there to meet Robin.
  • Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung: When the two of them are caught outside the palace after curfew, Hae-ryung embraces Dowon to distract the guards, though they don't kiss.
  • Roswell, New Mexico: Exe's Kyle and Liz are almost caught trying to steal hospital equipment for their experiments, they first attempt to hide in a closet but Liz resorts to this when that fails and Steph catches them. When Kyle asks why they couldn't come up with a better diversion, Liz responds.
    Liz: What else do people do in closets?
  • Secret Army. La Résistance use a fake bicycle accident to make a German officer stop his vehicle so they can jump him. After they've dragged the body off into the woods an army motorcycle-sidecar drives up, and its occupants are highly suspicious at seeing an abandoned staff car...until a man comes out of the woods wearing an unbuttoned officer's uniform, his arm around a pretty Belgian girl. The Germans whistle and catcall, then roar off on their motorcycle. As there's some UST between the two characters there's an "you can stop kissing me, they've gone" moment too.
  • Smallville:
    • Chloe once started kissing Clark when the two were about to be caught looking at hospital records, then fed the security guard some story about taking a break from their "candy-striping".
    • Happens again in the Season 9 premiere. Lois speaks with John Corben, who she believes is a detective at the time. When an actual cop comes, he evokes this trope without her consent. She takes it well...
  • Sonny with a Chance: Sonny does this to Chad as part of a Batman Gambit to dump his best friend. It Makes Sense in Context... kinda...
  • Star Trek: Enterprise. Played with. Captain Archer is talking to his Green-Skinned Space Babe, when suddenly he plants one on her. He tells her afterward that it was just a Fake-Out Make-Out because someone was looking at them, but in actuality his translator had broken, and he was buying time to reset it so that she wouldn't figure out he was an alien.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation
    • In "Preemptive Strike" Ensign Ro goes undercover to infiltrate a Maquis resistance group, and passes on her information by meeting Captain Picard in a bar, where she tells him to pretend he's buying her sexual services. The whole thing is presented as quite uncomfortable for both of them, as while Ro shares some Belligerent Sexual Tension with Commander Riker, she's never had any with Picard whom she regards more as a stern Parental Substitute.
    • It works out better in "Captain's Holiday" when Vash (hoping to avoid being noticed by a Ferengi) throws herself into the arms of Captain Picard (who has just beamed down to the planet) and greets him like an old friend. Picard is rather annoyed as he has no idea who Vash is, but it marks the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
  • Star Trek: Voyager. In "Prime Factors" an alien wants to trade some technology Voyager needs, but without his superior knowing. He arranges a secret meeting via a local woman that Harry Kim is seeing, as no-one will think it strange if she takes him off somewhere private.
  • Still Standing: In the Season 2 episode "Still in Cahoots", Bill and Judy Miller are suspicious of older kids Brian and Lauren starting to get along and while snooping in one’s room, Bill and Judy quickly rush into the hall and start kissing to gross them out and divert suspicion.
  • In an episode of the Vendetta season of Strike Back, Alexander Coltrane and a female agent quickly do this to avoid being caught snooping, even nastily asking the security guard, "Do you mind?!". The guy actually apologizes and hurriedly leaves.
  • Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye had the appropriately titled episode "The Kiss". Jack and Sue go undercover at a law firm. When one of the employees, Janice, comes in as Sue is doing evidence hunting, Jack hurries back to the room. Janice comes in to find the two kissing and rubbing their hands on each other, which they "explain" as heat-of-the-moment excitement after a major break in their case. The other agents tease them mercilessly.
  • Supernatural: Played with. Bela and Dean pretend to be married in the ghost ship episode. Bela pretends to faint, and they use this as an excuse to get into the room with the records they need. Dean leaves, and when a security guard comes to check on Bela, she acts like Dean is still there and they are up to something (complete with moaning when the guard closes the door). The guard then sees Dean walking back up the hall. He assumes Bela is cheating on him.
  • Todd and the Book of Pure Evil: Curtis kisses Hannah to avoid detection by their creepy guidance counselor. This also marks the point where Hannah develops feelings for Curtis, though it had been hinted at in early episodes.
  • Walker, Texas Ranger. A Russian cop who has gone undercover with the Russian mob sneaks away to call Walker and company. When he's caught by one of the gangsters, he turns the tables by yelling at him for interrupting his phone sex with his girlfriend.
  • Warehouse 13: In "Duped", Pete and Myka employ this trope to avoid the suspicion of the target they are trailing. Although it's not really Myka. At the end of the episode, Pete says this was how he figured out the impostor, as the real Myka would never have kissed him.
  • Weeds: In one episode, Nancy and Andy are waiting for a drug shipment when they see cops approach — their solution is to make out so passionately in the car that Andy spaces out for a while. Turns out he enjoyed it.
  • White Collar: To preserve her cover as a call girl, Diana Barrigan (who, incidentally, is gay and has a girlfriend) jumps Neal Caffrey (who is posing as her john) when someone enters their penthouse suite in "Need to Know". It turns out to be Neal's friend, Mozzie. When Neal tries to resume the makeout session by pretending Mozz is one of the bad guys, Diana shuts him down.

    Radio 
  • Dimension X's "Pebble in the Sky": When Bel Arvardan meets with Pola a second time, footsteps are heard to approach them, and Pola immediately suggests they kiss to avoid suspicion.

    Video Games 
  • On a specific string of choices in Detroit: Become Human, Markus can do this with North in order to avoid the cops. While it does work, doing this dramatically decreases their Relationship Values, primarily because (unknown to both Markus and the player at that point) North has a traumatic past as a former Sex Bot.
  • An interruption in Mass Effect: Andromeda allows the player to kiss an ally when he is (illegally) searching through some crates and a guard is closing in. Since there's a party next door, the guard awkwardly walks away.
  • Red Dead Redemption 2: A French Jerk named Charles Chatenay asks Arthur to escort him out of Saint Denis due to earning enemies with his artwork, and he disguises himself as a woman. When he suspects that someone's watching them, he suddenly grabs Arthur and kisses him. Arthur is not happy about it and shoves him away. If you play Charles's Stranger mission to the end with Arthur, it could be possible to pass tuberculosis on to Charles with the fake-out make-out.
  • In The Saboteur, this is something you can do to reduce your Wanted Meter by grabbing a random woman on the street.
  • In Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse, when Flint Paper begins to question Stinky on a suspicious love letter, she lies by saying that she and Sam have been in a secret love affair, and seals it with a kiss. This is comes off more as Squick though due to the fact that Sam is a giant talking dog, and the audience, Sam, Max, and Flint are all weirded out by it. Granted, her actual secret lover is a giant talking cockroach, which isn't much better.

    Visual Novels 
  • Metro PD: Close to You:
    • During Hanai's route, he and the protagonist pose as a couple to lure in the person who's been taking photos of couples in the act, complete with a real kiss. Once he snaps a couple of shots, they pounce and nab him with the evidence right there on his camera.
    • Kirisawa and the protagonist perform a textbook fake make-out early in his route during their stakeout of a drug ring's possible area of operation, in order to avoid being noticed by a person of interest.

    Webcomics 
  • Backfires badly in College Roomies from Hell!!!, when Mike makes the mistake of using this tactic with the obsessively-in-love-with-him April. She later uses the incident against him.
    • It gets worse from there, ending when April accidentally murders Mike.
  • Crankrats: When the bad guys come into the bar Maddie and Jack work in, looking to arrest him, Maddie pulls Jack behind the counter and pretends to be in the middle of debauchery. Baddie turns away in disgust. Win-win.
  • Fall City Blues: Lex and Eiffel.
  • In Gaia, Viviana kisses Ilias to hide her face from a guard.
  • Marsh Rocket uses this trope then later subverts it: somebody taped the MakeOut, and it's implied it's on the future equivalent of YouTube.
  • Ménage à 3: Action Girl Spy Bianca uses the trick with Sonya, who's a complete stranger to her, to lose a couple of pursuers. Perhaps fortunately for her, Sonya is a bisexual drama addict...
  • Slightly modified in Narbonic during "Professor Madblood and the Lovelace Affair". Madblood is going to give Helen a piece of his mind regarding her inappropriate relations with Dave, just as she's "convincing" Titus Misanthropy to keep quiet on the subject. So she kisses Titus (currently unconscious). Passionately. There was never any sexual tension between Helen and Titus, and Helen's attempts at romance with Madblood are pretty much over anyway, even before he storms off in disgust.
    "Hm. Peppermint."
  • Played with in one of the bonus strips in The Order of the Stick volume War and XPs, where two female paladins pretend to be dating in order to avoid having to deal with Miko tagging along. This leads to one paladin saying that they had better atone for their lie, or they might lose their powers. The other one suggests that the two of them dating doesn't have to be a lie. Cue lesbian paladin makeout.

    Web Original 
  • Not Always Right has a story about a waitress helping a customer find something, only for him to realize his ex is there, prompting him to do this to the waitress.
  • In Twig, Sylvester's First Kiss with Lillian happens this way, in order to distract her classmates from realizing that they're actually spies working for an oppressive government. He's subsequently quite smug about it.

    Western Animation 
  • Archer: Done by Lana to evade a KGB hitsquad when Sterling Archer suffers Identity Amnesia. The kiss starts to bring his old memories back.
  • Inque and Aaron Herbst in the Batman Beyond episode "Disappearing Inque". Aaron enjoys it, as he is infatuated with Inque, but she simply used it to get out of a sticky situation and she hits and threatens him right afterward. She's not a nice lady.
  • Code Lyoko: When Hervé and Nicolas follow the gang to the Supercomputer, Odd and Aelita let them catch them kissing to explain their presence in the Factory. Since the two are pretending to be cousins, this would give them an excuse for doing so off campus. (When they tell Sissi later, she thinks that they're crazy, more so when Aelita and Odd continue the charade by pretending to be angry with each other.)
  • Danny and Sam do it twice on Danny Phantom. Granted, the show didn't invent the trope, but they did give it a catchy name. The first time, Sam initiates it. The second time, Danny does. It is only slightly less awkward the second time.
  • In The Fairly Oddparents episode where Timmy lent his fairy godparents to Tootie for her birthday, he pulled this on her to prevent her from blurting out that she had them.
  • Family Guy:
    • In "Deep Throats", Brian and Stewie are in disguise (Stewie, of course, in drag), and end up kissing to avoid being spotted. Afterwards, Stewie reacts with "Hey, freaking shot in the dark, but you wanna do something sometime?"
    • In "Saving Private Brian", they kiss to get discharged from the army. It doesn't work.
      Gay Soldier: Any room for one more?
      Stewie: Hell yeah! [Brian slaps Stewie]
  • In order to convince others that they were taken, Amy and Leela did it multiple times to Fry as a Running Gag in the Futurama episode "A Flight to Remember". His reaction was always the same: surprise, "Hmm?", and then enjoyment, "Hmm..."
  • Justice League: Wonder Woman kisses Batman in the episode "Starscrossed", when the two are posing as a civilian husband and wife to elude detection from Thanagarian soldiers. He doesn't mind.
    Wonder Woman: [blushing] Sorry.
    Batman: [in his smarmiest Bruce Wayne voice] Don't be.
  • Kick Buttowski:
    • An episode had the title character kiss Kendall, a girl he loves to hate, to avoid getting thrown out of a movie theater by a local bully turned overzealous usher.
    • And in "Hand in Hand," Kendall initiates another kiss with Kick (while each wears a gender-swapped disguise) to avoid getting caught glued together by Kendall's boyfriend Renaldo. Kick the BST up another notch...
  • King of the Hill: In "My Own Private Rodeo", this was what led to Dale Gribble's estrangement from his father Bug. Bug, still in the closet about his sexuality, was about to be caught kissing a male caterer at Dale and Nancy's wedding, so Bug grabbed the nearest women in arms reach. Unluckily for him, that woman was Nancy and the person walking in was Dale.
  • The Looney Tunes Show: Lola does this to Bugs when she is tailing Daffy in "Double Date".
  • They don't actually kiss, but in the Marvel's Spider-Man episode "School of Hard Knocks", when Peter and Kamala Khan are undercover in a school that's a front for AIM, they react to Headmistress Rappacini approaching while they're investigating by sitting on a bench with Kamala holding Peter's arm and resting her head on his shoulder. The Scientist Supreme understandingly reminds them to sit a foot apart, and moves on.
  • Mission Hill: Eunice "Weirdie" Eulmeyer kisses Kevin passionately as they are discovered trying to steal Kevin's recommendation letter from an army base.
  • The Simpsons:
    • In "The Parent Rap", Homer and Marge sneak off at night in burglar outfits in order to get back at a cruel judge. On the way Chief Wiggum drives by, so they quickly begin kissing to hide their motives. And Wiggum comments how two young dock workers have found love...
    • Stood on its head in the movie: Marge is trying to make it back to the motel room where the family is hiding without being caught, but she is cornered by two male police officers. Turns out they weren't pursuing her at all but only looking for a room themselves so they could get intimate with each other.
    • Both parodied and lampshaded in "Homer and Marge Turn a Couple Play". Homer is trying to scalp baseball tickets when he spots Wiggum and whispers to Marge, "Pretend we're in love," then kisses her.
    • In "Rome-old and Juli-eh", Homer and Patty (disguised as Selma) do this to try and break up Selma and Grampa. They both have to think of others (Marge in Homer's case, Mrs. Krabappel in Patty's) while proceeding.
  • Star Wars: The Clone Wars: In "A Friend in Need", Lux Bonteri does this to Ahsoka because he sees Pre Vizsla approaching, and he doesn't want Vizsla to overhear anything revealing Ahsoka is a Jedi.
  • Stōked: When Lo and Reef try to convince everyone they’re not just pretending to be in a romantic relationship, Fin dares them to prove it by making out in front of her. They do, after some hesitation from Lo (since Reef’s mouth was in a disgusting state after his fish taco). By the end of the episode, however, she admits that their last kiss wasn’t “so disgusting” and they kiss again after he pops in a breath mint. Additionally, a few episodes later, it’s revealed that they had started dating – for real, this time.
    Reef: You're the one who agreed to the smooch in the first place.
    Lo: I don't remember asking you to brush my teeth with your tongue.
    Reef: I wanted it to be convincing.
  • Krisse does this in an episode in the second season of Wakfu, they were really playing a game similar to rugby...

    Real Life 
  • Two boys smoking pot in a car, and a policeman drives up...
  • Once done at pre-Berlin Wall Europe by two youths involved in the Berlin form of suspicious doings to fool the East German Guards into dismissing it as merely the adolescent kind.
  • One Allied-sponsored burglary attempt at a Vichy embassy during World War II was protected by a distraction using this means. Quite extreme — the female half of the pair actually stripped naked to make sure the patrolling guard wouldn't interrupt them more than once.
  • One variation was a female Zionist agent in Istanbul who bought large numbers of condoms in which to smuggle messages to Jews behind German lines. Naturally, most people thought it was for the more obvious reason.
  • In 1950, when a group of Scottish college students raided the Westminster Abbey and stole the Stone of Scone to return it to Scotland as a political gesture, two of the students were caught by a policeman in the dead of the night with part of the stone hidden in the boot of their car. The solution was to start passionately making out, and the unsuspecting cop let them off without incident.

 
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"Eww, gross, Loser Love!"

In order to throw off ghost hunter Valerie, Sam tackles Danny to the ground and kisses him. While the tactic works, it brings a bit of awkwardness between Danny and Sam, and despite them claiming it wasn't a real kiss, Tucker points out that the tactic still has the words "make" and "out" in it.

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Main / FakeOutMakeOut

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