Sometimes, life can be really tough. Whether it's receiving a special yet mushy gift from a loved one, or taking up a hobby that is deemed undignified for your well-being, or maybe even buying a childish item for yourself at the nearby convenience store.
Say that you're given a bouquet of flowers by someone who has a crush on you, or you've just decided taking up doing embroidery, or buying a wind-up toy frog. You're in the middle of doing your embarrassing hobby and what-not, when, uh-oh! One of your friends is coming down the sidewalk, possibly on the verge of discovering the object that you have.
What's the best thing to do? Hide said object behind your person, with the most popular hiding place on your body being behind your back. However, if your True Companions discover what you're hiding behind your back, Hilarity Ensues.
Most precisely, this is a comedy trope, in which a character hides his most treasured item or whatever behind his body. Sometimes, it works, and sometimes, it doesn't. Expect it to show up in some forms of media. Often combined with an "Oh, Crap!" Smile.
Examples:
- Done to hilarious effect in one Bleach filler when Ichigo attempts to hide his enormous butcher's knife of a sword behind his back. A good 2 feet of the sword stuck out above his head.
- Tubby did this twice in an episode of the Little Lulu anime; first with a bouquet of flowers that Lulu gave him earlier (which he promptly stomps flat in anger, once it's been discovered), and the second time with a doll wrapped up in a sweater that he attempted giving to Lulu.
- In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all squeeze together to keep Snape from noticing that they have a jar of probably illegal fire behind them to keep them warm. Unfortunately, Snape notices that they look guilty and comes over to punish them for something else.
- Blackadder: In "Head" from the second series, Blackadder hurries to Traitor's Cloister to hide the head which had mistakenly been cut off, before the Queen finds it. He hides it behind his back, just as she approaches. When the Queen demands that he holds hands with her, he has to resort to tucking the head inside his tights.
- Fawlty Towers: Basil sometimes hides an object frantically, with hilarious results.
- "A Touch of Class": When Sybil comes in, Basil hides the cheque he is about to write for Lord Melbury, and distracts her by kissing her, to her annoyance.
- "The Kipper and the Corpse": Both of the titular items have to be hidden frantically. Basil tries to dispose of the kipper out of the bedroom window, but cannot open it; he resorts to hiding it inside his jumper, but the smell gives it away. As for the corpse, it ends up being hidden in a wardrobe, and in a laundry basket.
- "Basil the Rat": In the presence of the health inspector, Basil suddenly sees a box of rat poison on the fridge. As he grabs it, he drops a wine bottle which is in his hand.
- In Grange Hill, Jenkins hides a "chicken's foot" prank item behind his back, just as Mr Baxter enters. When Mr Baxter asks what he is hiding, Humphries stealthily takes the chicken's foot, so Jenkins can show his empty hands.
- In Kamen Rider OOO, Dr. Maki quickly stuffs a Cous Coussier flyer into his pocket when Date comes into the lab. Date, however, notices and tries to see what it is. Rather than let him see, Dr. Maki eats the flyer.
- Peanuts once had a variant, where Linus made his blanket resemble a toy rabbit so Lucy wouldn't throw the blanket into the trash burner.
- Played for Drama in Spring Awakening when Moritz is about to commit suicide: He takes out a gun and prepares to fire it before he is interrupted by Ilse, and frantically hides the gun to prevent her from figuring out his true intentions.
- Bolin from The Legend of Korra attempts to hide from Opal a piece of metal so she doesn't notice he is trying to metalbend, but ultimately fails when trying to put it back in place.
- In My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Rainbow Dash frantically conceals her book whenever her friends come in, as she doesn't want them to know that she actually loves reading.
