History Main / SurveillanceAsThePlotDemands

* ''Film/TheDarkKnight'':
** Batman has this. He [[spoiler:hacks all the cell phones in the city to act as sonar-esque devices which all report to a central hub, giving him real-time, 3D, audio and video of nearly ''all of Gotham City'']].
** Surveillance was used in a much worse fashion in ''Film/BatmanAndRobin''. Incriminating speeches made by the villains were sometimes replayed using ''the same shot that was used earlier in the movie, surveillance-free!''

* In ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', Gruntilda seems able to see what you're doing at all times, even when you're in a world not under her control, and will frequently comment on your progress or mock you when you make a mistake.

* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':

** In ''ComicBook/TheComingOfAtlas'', [[Characters/SupermanSupportingCast Lana Lang]] uses [=LexCorp's=] flying drones to monitor the battle between the Science Police and a giant monster, and later the fight between Superman and Atlas.

** In ''ComicBook/SupermansReturnToKrypton'', Jor-El's telescopic viewer, equipped with a language translator device, allows him to watch people on distant planets. As looking for a place where Kryptonians can survive, he finds Earth and starts observing a certain couple from a little USA town called Smallville who have caught his attention.
** In ''ComicBook/SupermanVsShazam'', Karmang's devices let him track Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel as they fly between dimensions, and watch the battle between Superman and Captain Marvel from his Martian castle. Since Karmang is both a MadScientist and an EvilSorcerer, readers are left to guess his machines' nature.

** In ''ComicBook/TheSuperRevengeOfLexLuthor'', the eponymous villain proves his surveillance systems can monitor his wife Ardora, who lives on another planet, whenever he wants (in his defense, he switched on his monitor because he was concerned about her).

** In ''ComicBook/BatmanSupermanWorldsFinest'': Niles Caulder's remote cameras show hero vs villain battles happening simultaneously in three different cities.

** ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfLightningLad'': It is not explained how the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes' space monitor can show events ranging from a Sun-Eater plunging into the Sun to monsters rampaging on random planets.
** ''ComicBook/TheLegionOfSuperHeroes'': When Cosmic Boy turns off the Legion's Television Trouble-finder, the monitor automatically displays images of a scavenging ship. Cosmic Boy never explains how the Trouble-finder finds, records and broadcasts random catastrophes.
** ''ComicBook/TheEarthwarSaga'': The Legion's computers can simultaneously monitor the Khund's invasion, Wildfire's mission on Weber's World, and Superboy and his friends streaking through the space.
** ''ComicBook/ThePlanetEaterTrilogy'': When controlled by Brainiac, the cameras of his mechanical planet-weapon can display images of different catastrophes happening simultaneously in different planets.

** Some of the Valar have vast surveillance assets. When upon the holy mountain Taniquetil beside his spouse Varda, Manwë Súlimo could see anywhere in the world; likewise, when Varda was similarly situated, she could hear anywhere in the world. [[BigBad Melkor/Morgoth]] had a rather nasty variant; he set a chair atop the peak of Thangorodrim where he imprisoned Húrin, just so Húrin could see all of Morgoth's victories and the ruin of Húrin's own nation and family.
** Oddly, the Palantíri themselves seem to subvert this trope -- they were primarily designed for communication between the owners of the stones. However, they are not purely communication devices. Tolkien elaborates on how they can be used in one of the chapters in ''Unfinished Tales''. They have limited range, cannot see through things, and cannot look everywhere at once, but they can be used to view things in locations other than the rooms where other stones are kept.