History Main / SurveillanceDrone

* ''Film/TheyLive'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THLT5iJldk0 flying little drones]] that are invisible to regular people.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':
** ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' has Eyebot robots that have a defence laser but are usually friendly to the player character.
** A [=RobCo=] exhibit in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' confirms that they can "recognize your face and voice with advanced facial and auditory recognition technology". Some Eyebots in ''Fallout 3'' can call in reinforcements after a certain stage in the game and a random encounter shows two wastelanders discussing whether or not its spying on them whilst it hovers in between the pair.

** It spawned an entire family of small helicopter drones (factory- or enthusiast-built) driven by an iPhone or UsefulNotes/{{Android}} device.

* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'': Asakura's artifact, the Oculus Corvinus/Raven's Eyes. Six small, flying robots used for spying and information-gathering. Perfect for the SchoolNewspaperNewshound. One chapter came up with a more complicated use for them, involving using a ghost to transmit information from one camera to another, so other people can watch the action without being detected.
* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' has the Wide Area Search spell, which has Raising Heart releasing inconspicuous floating energy orbs that remotely scan areas.

* In ''Anime/ErgoProxy'', Vincent and Pino [[spoiler:have escaped Romdeau and are now living in somewhat of a shanty-town, with about 15 people in its precinct. Vincent almost has a run-in with one, and after he and Pino settle in, more are sent out.]] Raul, the newly-appointed Director-General of the Citizen Security Bureau is to blame for this.
* In ''Manga/HunterXHunter'', Musse's [[LifeEnergy Nen]] ability, Secret Window, functions like this. It takes the form of three small [[OminousOwl owl-like]] psychic constructs that follow a target and allows Musse to see and hear everything that the owls can see. One of them requires physical contact with the target but cannot be seen or interacted with by anyone but Musse, though the other two owls' traits are unknown. [[spoiler:Secret Window continues to function even after Musse's death too, which has a purpose]] [[spoiler:as his boss, Benjamin, inherits the owls and can see and hear through them.]]

* Franchise/MarvelUniverse: the Rigellian Recorders.
** In ''Incredible Hulk: The End'' a Rigellion Recorder leaves behind a floating orb shaped one to watch over Bruce/Hulk as the LastOfHisKind on a post-nuclear holocaust Earth.
* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'': In the story ''Father's Day'', Jack-In-The-Box has one in the fight with the Brass Monkey. [[spoiler:This is because he's the third Jack-In-The-Box, taking over for his predecessor whose wife is having a child. The camera lets Jack-2 monitor from his basement headquarters and give Jack-3 advice and tactical updates.]]
* In Franchise/TheDCU, this is one of the functions of Mister Terrific's T-Spheres.
* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': There are a ''lot'' of surveillance drones hovering around Mega City One so that the Judges can spy on the people.

* ''ComicBook/{{Robin|1993}}'': The villain "Jaeger" uses surveillance drones to track his targets and film his kills. He sells the ensuing snuff films on the black market.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'': Syndrome used these on his remote volcanic island hideout
* In ''WesternAnimation/FelixTheCatTheMovie'' , the Duke used floating cubes with spotlights shining out of them as a sort of observation device to support his army of mechanized cylinders.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Hovercam Hovercam]] droids and a few probe droids
* ''Film/TheyLive'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THLT5iJldk0 Flying little drones]] that are invisible to regular people.
* ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina'' had one these spying for the EvilSorcerer Lo Pan.
* In ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'', after a ruckus outdoors, hovering robots owned by ''USA Today'' swoop down and begin taking pictures for tomorrow's paper.
* The ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'' iteration of Sam Wilson (a.k.a. the Falcon) swaps the falcon named Redwing from the comics in favor of a flying military drone with the same name, first seen in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar''. Among this Redwing's many functions is a camera that can see through solid objects in order to detect enemies, and sends visual data and other info into Falcon's goggles.

* The optic probe device used by the Martians in ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds1898'' (and all movie adaptation) roughly fills this trope.

* ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett''. Fennec Shand has a small, repulsor-driven, spherical recon droid stored in the buttstock of her rifle. It slips in and out of Bib Fortuna's palace unnoticed, mapping the entire place, and giving her and Boba a comprehensive layout and guard headcount.
* ''Series/StargateUniverse'': the ConfessionCam.
* ''Series/StargateSG1'':
** Goa'uld have access to these.
** The SGC's MALP probes qualify as a more primitive variation, as do the UAV drones.
* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': the Wraith have them, as well.

* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' has its [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin CamBot]].
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': The episode "To See the Invisible Man" has floating security drones used to watch for people breaking laws.

* Amazon.com's web series ''Series/AlphaHouse'' has the Watt Brothers only come to meetings on a video receiver and camera mounted on a drone.
* ''Series/Batman1966'' featured a variant on this trope:: a remotely-controlled model plane that tracked radio signals to their origin, which would have seemed a ''very'' high-tech concept in 1966.
* Season 2 of ''Series/AmericanGods2017'' introduces the Greek giant turned God of SinisterSurveillance, Argus. He uses bird-shaped drones (presumably as either a nod to or a mockery of Wednesday's own) among many of his other tools of trade to spy on people. One of them is destroyed by a raven right as it picks up Shadow's whereabouts.
* ''Series/ClassOf09'': The AI in 2034 frequently deploys them to gather intelligence against American citizens and better "protect" them against crime. Many however despise them as the tools of a repressive and out of control [[BigBrotherIsWatching surveillance state]].

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* The ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'' supplement Gadgets! had a "TV Spy Eye" device.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': The prying eye and eyes of the king spells.
* The Wizard Eye spell in ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}: Magic''. There's also a Wizard Nose...
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''; The servo skulls for the Inquisition, and the Tau drones.
[[/folder]]

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate 2'' had a magical one in the form of the Wizard's Eye Spell. It could go anywhere the player could and was invisible, though not invulnerable. Anything that could see through invisibility, could kill it.
* As you get closer to Cortex's castle in ''VideoGame/{{Crash Bandicoot|1996}}'', these start to appear.
* Alien surveillance probes are a recurring threat in ''VideoGame/CTwelveFinalResistance'', and can raise alarms the moment it catches you on camera. It gets really, really annoying at one section of the first level, where you must deactivate a forcefield, bypass an area with ''three'' probes, and reach the other side unnoticed -- if one of the probes spots you, it raises an alarm and the forcefield reactivates, forcing you to repeat the entire process all over again.

* ''VideoGame/Fallout3'': Eyebot robots, have a defence laser but are usually friendly to the player character.
** A [=RobCo=] exhibit in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' confirms that they can "recognize your face and voice with advanced facial and auditory recognition technology."
*** Some Eyebots in ''Fallout 3'' can call in reinforcements after a certain stage in the game and a random encounter shows two wastelanders discussing whether or not its spying on them whilst it hovers inbetween the pair.
** In the spinoff game ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', your companion Arcade Ganon[[spoiler:, who is actually a refugee from the now defunct Enclave and would probably know better,]] expresses a distrust of your RobotBuddy ED-E, who is a SuperPrototype for a model of eyebot that never was produced, specifically because it may be surveiling him.

* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': the hover-cam is operated by the cloud-riding Lakitu's, controlling said camera with a fishing pole, odd but close enough.

* ''VideoGame/StarCraft'': Observers are permanently-cloaked flying robots that can detect other cloaked units.
* In ''VideoGame/XBeyondTheFrontier'' the Xperimental Shuttle is equipped with a camera drone that is basically an excuse for the devs to have a free-flying external view.
** ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X3: Reunion]]'' features the tiny Camera Drone (about twice the size of a space suit) which is used in several missions but is otherwise unavailable for use. The Motion Analysis Relay System [[GameMod script package]] in ''X3: Terran Conflict'' and ''Albion Prelude'' in allows the [[AttackDrone fighter drone]] to coordinate as "Goblins", which can function as a surveillance net, by towing surveillance satellites around the controlling ship, or remotely deploy satellites far away for exploration or [[TargetSpotter target spotting]] for the [[MacrossMissileMassacre missile frigates]]

* Ogre Magi in ''VideoGame/WarcraftII'' and Warlocks in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' have access to a spell, the Eye of Kilrogg, that is essentially a magical version of a surveillance drone (which takes the shape of a big green, disembodied floating eye).
* In ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm'', the ''Scouting Drone'' talent and its variants are used to reveal an area for several seconds, exposing stealthed enemies in its radius.
* The CYPHER drones in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' are cameras with a hover fan. They'll sound the alarm if you're spotted by one, but they don't attack on their own.
* Remote Eye Cameras in ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}''.
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': The UNSC has a variety of small autonomous surveillance drones. The beginning of ''VideoGame/Halo2'' even shows camera drones present at a military award ceremony. The Covenant also have their own version, known as "Eyes".
* ''VideoGame/Rage2011'' has Authority Drones, which are designed to scout ahead and look for Ark survivors. Their usefulness is debatable, as despite having several in the players face over the course of the game the Authority never seem to collect a picture of you.
* ''VideoGame/ProjectEden'' has two kinds of deployable drone, a hovering ball with a limited battery life and a tracked rover with a small energy weapon. Both can press buttons.
* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'':
** The USA has this option in two flavors in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerGenerals''. One is bound to a vehicle and increases sight range while detecting invisible enemies, the other is a General power that makes one circle over a certain area indefinitely, like an infinite Spy Satellite power. The latter is cloaked, the former isn't, and both can be shot down by anything that can target air units (the vehicle-bound kind also dies out if the parent vehicle is destroyed.
** ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'': The Imperial Burst Drone is a small dragonfly-shaped robot that can detect disguised units, latch onto vehicles to slow them down, or commit suicide to stun vehicles.
%% * The ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' series has Gun Beetles. While most of them have some type of weapon, the Mono Beetles do not, and thus function as this.
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Worms}} Worms WMD]]'' features the Mischievous Drone, which flies for several seconds after it's launched in order to scout inside buildings and collect crates for you. An upgraded version that additionally creates a magnetic field can be crafted.
* Grineer data vaults in ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' are guarded by sensor regulators, balloon drones that will trip the alarm the moment an intruder gets into their cone of view, conveniently depicted as four lines jutting out from its camera. Don't think about trying to destroy them, as they will also trip the alarm if they survive the damage, unless you've already gathered the data.

* ''Webcomic/AMiracleOfScience'': the robot cameras on dynamic balancing platform.
* The Tic-Tocs (robot birds) from ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', apparently, though who exactly they're working for is a mystery to the Court and the Forest both.[[spoiler: It's eventually revealed that they were built by [[GadgeteerGenius Kat]], as part of a StableTimeLoop to save Annie from her fall off the bridge in one of the earliest chapters.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'': The press uses them.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'':
* ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'' featured such "spy orbs" utilized by Robotnik to monitor his city.
* The Autobots' Sky Spy from ''Franchise/TransformersGeneration1'' was a long range satellite version of this.
* WesternAnimation/{{Detentionaire}} has eyebots for a school of all things.

* The ''ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}}'' villain "Jaeger" uses surveillance drones to track his targets and film his kills. He sells the ensuing snuff films on the black market.

* In ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'', after a ruckus outdoors, hovering robots owned by ''[=USA=] Today'' swoop down and begin taking pictures for tomorrow's paper.
* The ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'' iteration of Sam Wilson (aka. ComicBook/TheFalcon) swaps the falcon named Redwing from the comics in favor of a flying military drone with the same name, first seen in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar''. Among this Redwing's many functions is a camera that can see through solid objects in order to detect enemies, and sends visual data and other info into Falcon's goggles.

* One of these (called a "Public Eye") appears near the beginning of Creator/RobertAHeinlein's novel ''Literature/{{Friday}}''. It's used by police to detect crimes in progress.
* Creator/LarryNiven's short story "Literature/CloakOfAnarchy" had the Copseye, which was used to monitor Free Parks. It also had a stunner to knock out those breaking the Parks' sole rule: don't hurt others.
* ''Literature/{{Uglies}}'': Aya has one of these named Moggle that she treats like a pet.
* The optic probe device used by the Martians in ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' - the book and all movies - roughly fills this trope.

* ''The Mothballed Spaceship'' by Creator/HarryHarrison. The protagonists are trying to get on board a mothballed space battleship that blasts anything that gets too close. They try sending in tiny robots, making them smaller and smaller in an attempt to get past its detectors.
-->Obsessed by miniaturization, they constructed a flying-eye appara­tus no larger than the head of a pin that dragged a threadlike control wire after it that also supplied current for the infinitesimal ion drive. This sparked and sizzled its way to within fifteen kilometers of the ''Indestructible'' before the all-seeing sensors detected it and neatly blasted it out of existence with a single shot.
* ''Literature/LaszloHadronAndTheWargodsTomb'': Mat joins in on part of the novl's events in the form of one of thse, since his [[BigDumbObject physical form]] is neither mobile nor portable.
* In ''[[Literature/TheMerchantPrincesSeries Empire Games]]'', the United States of Timeline-2 sends drones to investigate other worlds. Sometimes they come back, sometimes they don't. They're very concerned when one timeline, which seems to have a kind-of-20th-century level of technology, reacts in a way which suggests ''they know what it is''.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'': Syndrome used these on his remote volcanic island hideout

* The main functional difference of the real-life examples compared to fictional ones is that real-life ones tend to be much louder.

* [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]] has its [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin CamBot]].
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'' episode "To See The Invisible Man" had floating security drones used to watch for people breaking laws.

** One of these turns up in the story "Silence in the Library" as a link to [[PoweredByAForsakenChild Cal]].
** A Classic Series example: The Fifth Doctor's second story, "Four to Doomsday", also features a similar device, known as the Monopticon, patrolling the corridors of Monarch's massive spaceship.

* ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'': Scanners. They hover right in your face and take a snapshot of you, which creates [[InterfaceScrew a blinding flash]]. Destroying them may net you a battery, which charges up your suit a little bit. A different kind later on also drops Hopper mines and gives your position away to Striders with each photo.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': standard issue for reporters.
* ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'': "OUR UAV IS ONLINE!"

* ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'': the "Camspy".

* ''VideoGame/StarCraft'': Observers are flying cloaked robots that serve as detectors.