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* Gaius in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' isn't shy about admitting to be a thief, but won't say what got him branded.
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* Gaius in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' isn't shy about admitting to be a thief, but won't say what got him branded. The only thing he's specifically said he's been arrested for was [[spoiler: being paid to rob the royal treasury and frame Maribelle's father as the one who hired him. Even then, he sent an anonymous message exposing the whole scheme, and only went along with it in the first place because his real employer's plan B was abducting or killing Maribelle herself]].
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* When Mike and Bob are imprisoned in the hut in the native village in ''Film/JungleGoddess'', Bob remarks that he's been in less comfortable jails than this. On ''Series/MST3K'', Crow replies "That's nothing to be proud of!".
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[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': Laras, the stout old head cook at the White Tower, reveals a hint of her HiddenDepths when she helps Min and the deposed Tower leader escape. She fondly says that Min's ActionGirl tendencies remind her of her youth, when she was "near to getting myself hanged, sometimes", but the details are never revealed.
[[/folder]]
* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': Laras, the stout old head cook at the White Tower, reveals a hint of her HiddenDepths when she helps Min and the deposed Tower leader escape. She fondly says that Min's ActionGirl tendencies remind her of her youth, when she was "near to getting myself hanged, sometimes", but the details are never revealed.
[[/folder]]
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* ''Series/DeadLikeMe'': The strait-laced office manager Delores offhandedly mentions that her time in TheEighties included "cocaine, tattoos, and all those restraining orders", and is quite blasé about bailing George out of jail. She declines to clarify.
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* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'': The PlayerCharacter knew how to pick locks before becoming a vampire, which Smiling Jack {{lampshade|Hanging}}s. Also, when they stumble across an acquaintance from their mortal life, she assumes that their disappearance was drug-related, not knowing about the {{Masquerade}}.
-->'''Smiling Jack:''' Not exactly an angel in life, were ya?
-->'''Smiling Jack:''' Not exactly an angel in life, were ya?
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->'''Phoebe:''' ''(in interrogation room)'' Hey you, behind the glass! Who're ''you'' looking at? ''(to Gary)'' I've always wanted to say that every time I was in one of these rooms-- which was never.
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->'''Phoebe:''' ''(in interrogation room)'' Hey you, behind the glass! Who're ''you'' looking at? ''(to Gary)'' [[FairCop Gary]])'' I've always wanted to say that every time I was in one of these rooms-- which was never.
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A (usually side) character who implies that they have committed at least one serious crime, which ultimately goes unexplained. A common examples is a character casually mentioning that they have been to jail with no follow-up for context. The general lack of explanation is ultimately what makes the trope and the humor. It can be a simple one-time comment or appear as a full-on RunningGag.
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A (usually side) character (usually a side character) who implies that they have committed at least one serious crime, which ultimately goes unexplained. A common examples example is a character casually mentioning that they have been to jail with no follow-up for context. The general lack of explanation is ultimately what makes the trope and the humor. It can be a simple one-time comment or appear as a full-on RunningGag.
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** Having an alarmingly encyclopedic knowledge of canabis and murder.
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** Having an alarmingly encyclopedic knowledge of canabis cannabis and murder.
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* Lillian in ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'' has said some seriously sketchy remarks about her past, such as she has a cop's bullet lodged in her chest, that she has experience burying bodies, that she knows the gangs of New York by heart, and that she pickpockets all the time. She also accidentally murdered her own husband. Despite all this, she has also claimed to be a police informant. What is true or not is deliberately ambiguous because she's also old and has used her fair share of drugs.
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* Lillian in ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'' has said some seriously sketchy remarks about her past, such as she has having a cop's bullet lodged in her chest, that she has experience burying bodies, that she knows the gangs of New York by heart, and that she pickpockets all the time. She also accidentally murdered her own husband. Despite all this, she has also claimed to be a police informant. What is true or not is deliberately ambiguous because she's also old and has used her fair share of drugs.
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* Gaius in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' isn't shy about admitting to be a thief, but won't say what got him branded.
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->'''Phoebe:''' ''(in interrogation room)'' Hey hey, behind the glass! Who're ''you'' looking at? ''(to Gary)'' I've always wanted to say that every time I was in one of these rooms-- which was never.
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->'''Phoebe:''' ''(in interrogation room)'' Hey hey, you, behind the glass! Who're ''you'' looking at? ''(to Gary)'' I've always wanted to say that every time I was in one of these rooms-- which was never.
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->'''Phoebe:''' ''(in interrogation room)'' Hey hey, behind the glass! Who're ''you'' looking at? ''(to Gary)'' I've always wanted to say that every time I was in one of these rooms-- which was never.
-->-- ''Series/{{Friends}}'', "The One With Ball"
-->-- ''Series/{{Friends}}'', "The One With Ball"
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* The Hunter playable class in ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'' is implied to have some kind of criminal background. The official class description reads, “You’re no outlaw, at least not anymore, but making your own luck has always meant bending the rules.” Given that the player character is revived by their Ghost at the beginning of the game after having been dead for a very long time, with no recollection of their past means we’ll likely never know what this line is referring to.
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* The Hunter playable class in ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'' is implied to have some kind of criminal background. The official class description reads, “You’re no outlaw, at least not anymore, but making your own luck has always meant bending the rules.” Given that the player character is revived by their Ghost at the beginning of the game after having been dead for a very long time, with no recollection of their past means we’ll likely never know what this line is referring to.
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* Nick from ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2''. Although he is characterized as a ConMan and drops several hints at his shady past, he never outright confirms any engagement in a specific criminal activity.
-->'''Nick''': Brains come out. Swamp water doesn't. Don't ask me how I know that.
-->'''Nick''': Brains come out. Swamp water doesn't. Don't ask me how I know that.
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* A tradition in the ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games from ''Morrowind'' on. The PlayerCharacter starts as either a current or recently released prisoner, with the details left to the player's imagination. In every case, no-one acknowledges you to be an escaped convict after the fact (unless you commit ''new'' crimes to anger the locals), even if you're running around in prison rags and manacles.
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* A tradition in the ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games from ''Morrowind'' on. The PlayerCharacter starts as either a current or recently released prisoner, with the details left to the player's imagination. In every case, almost no-one acknowledges you to be an escaped a former convict after the fact (unless you commit ''new'' crimes to anger the locals), even if you're running around in prison rags and manacles.
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-->'''Emperor Uriel Septim:''' Perhaps the gods have placed you here so that we may meet? As for what you have done, [[LampshadeHanging it does not matter]]. That is not what you will be remembered for.
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Frequently a NoodleIncident. May be a part of a MysteriousPast. An opposite to AmbiguouslyTrained, where a character is implied to have been in law enforcement or the military.
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Compare YouAllMeetInACell. Frequently a NoodleIncident. May be a part of a MysteriousPast. An opposite to AmbiguouslyTrained, where a character is implied to have been in law enforcement or the military.
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* A tradition in the ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games from ''Morrowind'' on. The PlayerCharacter starts as either a current or recently released prisoner, with the details left to the player's imagination. In ''Skyrim'' it's left deliberately vague whether they were even charged with anything; even the guards are confused why they're there.
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* A tradition in the ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games from ''Morrowind'' on. The PlayerCharacter starts as either a current or recently released prisoner, with the details left to the player's imagination. In every case, no-one acknowledges you to be an escaped convict after the fact (unless you commit ''new'' crimes to anger the locals), even if you're running around in prison rags and manacles.
** In ''Morrowind'', all we know about the player character is that they are "a prisoner born on a certain day to uncertain parents", whom the Emperor arranges to be transported to the isle of Vvardenfell to take part in TheProphecy.
** In ''Oblivion'', the player character is [[YouAllMeetInACell an inmate of the Imperial Prison]] who happens to be in the wrong cell at the right time, and escapes by tagging along with the Emperor and his bodyguards while they flee from assassins. Interestingly even the player character doesn't seem to know why they're in jail, and the Emperor simply gives this trope a HandWave if asked.
-->'''Emperor Uriel Septim:''' Perhaps the gods have placed you here so that we may meet? As for what you have done, [[LampshadeHanging it does not matter]]. That is not what you will be remembered for.
** In ''Skyrim'' it's left deliberately vague whether they're even a criminal at all; they wereeven charged with anything; even simply captured in the chaos of a battle between the Empire and local rebels, and the guards are confused as to why they're there.some random foreigner is among the prisoners to be executed.
** In ''Morrowind'', all we know about the player character is that they are "a prisoner born on a certain day to uncertain parents", whom the Emperor arranges to be transported to the isle of Vvardenfell to take part in TheProphecy.
** In ''Oblivion'', the player character is [[YouAllMeetInACell an inmate of the Imperial Prison]] who happens to be in the wrong cell at the right time, and escapes by tagging along with the Emperor and his bodyguards while they flee from assassins. Interestingly even the player character doesn't seem to know why they're in jail, and the Emperor simply gives this trope a HandWave if asked.
-->'''Emperor Uriel Septim:''' Perhaps the gods have placed you here so that we may meet? As for what you have done, [[LampshadeHanging it does not matter]]. That is not what you will be remembered for.
** In ''Skyrim'' it's left deliberately vague whether they're even a criminal at all; they were
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* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'': It’s constantly implied that Dennis is probably a SerialKiller and/or sexual predator. He makes numerous creepy remarks (like wanting to pressure women into having sex with him using "the implication" that [[DeadlyEuphemism something might go wrong]] if they don’t), has a hidden compartment in his car filled with [[NoodleImplements ropes and chloroform]] for binding, is hinted to be [[BrotherSisterIncest sexually attracted to his own sister]] (who he verbally abuses), and [[HairTriggerTemper flies into psychopathic rages at any provocation]]. Even if he isn’t a criminal, it’s made pretty clear that he would ''like'' to be one.
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* In the first season of ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', Lee is set to a prison involving a murder of his wife after catching her cheating with someone else. However it's never clear if he intentionally did it or if it was out of self defense. In fact it's one of the selling points of the dialogue system, to make him either seem like a decent being who was wrong accused or an utter bastard who deserved it.
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* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' gives a reasonably clear picture of what [[ConArtist Sophie]], [[PlayfulHacker Hardison]], and [[PhantomThief Parker]] got up to prior to the team's formation, but the criminal details of "retrieval expert" Eliot's past are more ambiguous. It's confirmed he went from the US Armed Forces to PrivateMilitaryContractor to freelancer-for-hire, and the third season reveals that at one point he worked as [[spoiler:an enforcer for the season's main antagonist]]. He occasionally hints at having done some very dark things he feels he can never be clean from, but the closest he comes to going into specifics (during the aforementioned season 3 reveal) is begging his teammates not to ask - because if they ask, [[YouDoNotWantToKnow he'll tell them]].
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* The Hunter playable class in ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'' is implied to have some kind of criminal background. The official class description reads, “You’re no outlaw, at least not anymore, but making your own luck has always meant bending the rules.” Given that the player character is revived by their Ghost at the beginning of the game after having been dead for a very long time, with no recollection of their past means we’ll likely never know what this line is referring to.
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* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', Garak used to belong to a shifty organization called the Obsidian Order and did ''something'' to get him exiled from it, but it's never revealed what. He gives multiple conflicting stories, two of which involve double-crossing ''himself''.
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* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', Garak used to belong to a shifty organization called the Obsidian Order Order[[note]]the secret police of the Cardassions, it's later discovered that he is the son of the only leader of the organization to live long enough to retire[[/note]] and did ''something'' to get him exiled from it, but it's never revealed what. He gives multiple conflicting stories, two of which involve double-crossing ''himself''.
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* A tradition in the ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games from ''Morrowind'' on. The PlayerCharacter starts as either a current or recently released prisoner, with the details left to the player's imagination. In ''Skyrim'' it's left deliberately vague whether they were even charged with anything; even the guards are confused why you're there.
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* A tradition in the ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games from ''Morrowind'' on. The PlayerCharacter starts as either a current or recently released prisoner, with the details left to the player's imagination. In ''Skyrim'' it's left deliberately vague whether they were even charged with anything; even the guards are confused why you're they're there.
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* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', Garak used to belong to a shifty organisation called the Obsidian Order and did ''something'' to get him exiled from it, but it's never revealed what.
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* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', Garak used to belong to a shifty organisation organization called the Obsidian Order and did ''something'' to get him exiled from it, but it's never revealed what.what. He gives multiple conflicting stories, two of which involve double-crossing ''himself''.
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* A tradition in the ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games from ''Morrowind'' on. The PlayerCharacter starts as either a current or recently released prisoner, with the details left to the player's imagination. In ''Skyrim'' it's left deliberately vague whether they were even charged with anything; even the guards are confused why you're there.
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* In ''Film/TheMagnificentSeven2016'', Robicheaux says he met his partner Billy Rocks when he was serving a warrant on him, but Billy's exact crime is never directly stated (when Faraday jokingly asks, Billy gives him a DeathGlare and a non-answer in response).
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* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'', one of the chefs has done time, but nobody knows what for because he changes the story every time. He's claimed to have robbed the second-largest bank in France using only a ballpoint pen and killed a man with his thumb among many other things.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'', one of ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' Horst the chefs sous-chef has done time, but nobody knows what for because [[MultipleChoicePast he changes the story every time. time]]. He's claimed to have robbed the second-largest bank in France using only a ballpoint pen and [[OnceKilledAManWithANoodleImplement killed a man with his thumb thumb]], among many other things.
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* From ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', Bub's [[HonestJohnsDealership concession stand is barely legal to begin with]], but various cartoons have suggested a more extensive criminal past. [[Recap/StrongBadEmailE96Lackey "Lackey"]] reveals he's on the run from one or more debt collection agencies. In [[Recap/HomestarRunnerBugInMouthDisease "Bug in Mouth Disease"]], he's seen trying to dispose of files labeled "Exhibit A" and a cooler containing a human pancreas labeled "Exhibit B". In [[Recap/StrongBadEmailE191Buried "Buried"]], he implies that he buried someone named Rich under Strongbadia. And in [[Recap/HomestarRunnerIKilledPomPom "I Killed Pom Pom"]], he thinks its perfectly reasonable for someone to buy 50 gallons of bleach, saw blades, and body bags in a single shopping trip--and when Homestar "confesses" to [[MistakenForMurder the murder he thinks he committed]], Bubs offers advice on how to avoid arrest.
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* From ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', Bub's concession stand [[HonestJohnsDealership concession stand is barely legal to begin with]], but various cartoons have suggested a more extensive criminal past. The WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail [[Recap/StrongBadEmailE96Lackey "Lackey"]] "lackey"]] reveals he's on the run from one or more debt collection agencies. In [[Recap/HomestarRunnerBugInMouthDisease "Bug in Mouth Disease"]], he's seen trying to dispose of files labeled "Exhibit A" and a cooler containing a human pancreas labeled "Exhibit B". In [[Recap/StrongBadEmailE191Buried "Buried"]], "buried"]], he implies that he buried someone named Rich under Strongbadia. And in [[Recap/HomestarRunnerIKilledPomPom "I Killed Pom Pom"]], he thinks its it's perfectly reasonable for someone to buy 50 gallons of bleach, saw blades, and body bags in a single shopping trip--and when Homestar "confesses" to [[MistakenForMurder [[MistakenForMurderer the murder he thinks he committed]], Bubs offers advice on how to avoid arrest.
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[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
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[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
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* Mickey in ''Film/PeeWeesBigAdventure'' tells Pee-wee he got in trouble with the police because he got angry and used a knife...to [[MattressTagGag cut off one of those mattress tags]] that say "Do Not Remove Under the Penalty of Law".
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* Mickey in ''Film/PeeWeesBigAdventure'' tells Pee-wee he got in trouble with the police because he got angry and used a knife... to [[MattressTagGag cut off one of those mattress tags]] that say "Do Not Remove Under the Penalty of Law".
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* Mickey in ''Film/PeeWeesBigAdventure'' tells Pee-wee he got in trouble with the police because he got angry and used a knife...to [[MattressTagGag cut off one of those mattress tags]] that say "Do Not Remove Under the Penalty of Law".
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* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'', one of the chefs has done time, but nobody knows what for because he changes the story every time. He's claimed to have robbed the Bank of Britain using only a ballpoint pen and killed a man with his thumb among many other things.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'', one of the chefs has done time, but nobody knows what for because he changes the story every time. He's claimed to have robbed the Bank of Britain second-largest bank in France using only a ballpoint pen and killed a man with his thumb among many other things.
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[[folder:Video Games]]
* Joey Falconetti in ''VideoGame/{{Ripper}}'' is explained by many to be the world's greatest hacker, known to have supposedly wiped the credit record of the entire East Coast, but few of the characters explain what he did to become the RetiredOutlaw he is when the game takes place.
[[/folder]]
* Joey Falconetti in ''VideoGame/{{Ripper}}'' is explained by many to be the world's greatest hacker, known to have supposedly wiped the credit record of the entire East Coast, but few of the characters explain what he did to become the RetiredOutlaw he is when the game takes place.
[[/folder]]
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Frequently a NoodleIncident. May be a part of a MysteriousPast.
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Frequently a NoodleIncident. May be a part of a MysteriousPast. An opposite to AmbiguouslyTrained, where a character is implied to have been in law enforcement or the military.
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[[AC:Web Animation]]
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[[AC:Film -- Animated]]
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[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
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[[AC:Film -- Live-Action]]
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[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
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[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
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[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
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[[/folder]]
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[[/folder]]
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Created from YKTTW
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A (usually side) character who implies that they have committed at least one serious crime, which ultimately goes unexplained. A common examples is a character casually mentioning that they have been to jail with no follow-up for context. The general lack of explanation is ultimately what makes the trope and the humor. It can be a simple one-time comment or appear as a full-on RunningGag.
Frequently a NoodleIncident. May be a part of a MysteriousPast.
----
!!Examples:
[[AC:Film -- Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'', when the Oozma Kappa fraternity group is spotted by security in the Scare Factory, Art completely freaks out at the thought of any legal punishment and screams that he [[NeverGoingBackToPrison can't go back to prison]]. It's [[NoodleIncident never explained]] what he did to wind up there in the first place.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'', one of the chefs has done time, but nobody knows what for because he changes the story every time. He's claimed to have robbed the Bank of Britain using only a ballpoint pen and killed a man with his thumb among many other things.
[[AC:Film -- Live-Action]]
* Aja from ''Film/JemAndTheHolograms'' mentions going to juvvy. It's never mentioned why she went there, but it's still off for the stick-to-the-rules OnlySaneMan Aja from the [[WesternAnimation/{{Jem}} cartoon]].
[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Phoebe's MysteriousPast is a frequent source of comedy on the show. At one point she dates a cop who looks at her file and learns she has done "some pretty weird stuff". In one episode, she and her friends are in Vegas and she says this when she believes she is being arrested.
-->'''Phoebe:''' No, no, you can't arrest me! [[NeverGoingBackToPrison I won't go back, I won't go back to that hellhole!]]
* In ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', Barney's job is [[ObliquelyObfuscatedOccupation poorly defined and highly ambiguous]], though it's known that his company does a lot of illegal activity and does a lot business with "our friends the North Koreans". In season eight, his friends kidnap him for [[spoiler:his bachelor party]] and his first instinct upon being thrown into the car is to yell that he never associated with North Korea, and if his kidnappers are North Koreans that he never associated with ''South'' Korea.
* Creed from ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' takes this tropes UpToEleven. A few examples of implied crimes...
** Casually mentioning he has been involved in a number of cults, both as a leader and a follower.
** Panicking when the cops show up to office looking for marijuana even though Michael was framing Toby.
** Having an alarmingly encyclopedic knowledge of canabis and murder.
** In a HalloweenEpisode, showing up to work covered in blood and later mentioning to the camera crew what a lucky coincidence it was that it was Halloween.
** Suggesting that he killed a man named Creed Bratton and [[KillAndReplace assumed his identity.]]
** In the GrandFinale, set a year after the penultimate episode, Dwight states that Creed faked his death the day after the documentary aired. He comes back during the episode, but the last we see of him is him being arrested.
* ''Series/SchittsCreek'': Back when she was a globe-trotting socialite with unlimited funds, Alexis would frequently get held hostage in faraway palaces or interrogated by foreign authorities at embassies. What she ''did'' to wind up in those situations is anyone's guess, including her parents', since they are often only learning of these occurrences in the present.
* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', Garak used to belong to a shifty organisation called the Obsidian Order and did ''something'' to get him exiled from it, but it's never revealed what.
* Lillian in ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'' has said some seriously sketchy remarks about her past, such as she has a cop's bullet lodged in her chest, that she has experience burying bodies, that she knows the gangs of New York by heart, and that she pickpockets all the time. She also accidentally murdered her own husband. Despite all this, she has also claimed to be a police informant. What is true or not is deliberately ambiguous because she's also old and has used her fair share of drugs.
[[AC:Web Animation]]
* From ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', Bub's [[HonestJohnsDealership concession stand is barely legal to begin with]], but various cartoons have suggested a more extensive criminal past. [[Recap/StrongBadEmailE96Lackey "Lackey"]] reveals he's on the run from one or more debt collection agencies. In [[Recap/HomestarRunnerBugInMouthDisease "Bug in Mouth Disease"]], he's seen trying to dispose of files labeled "Exhibit A" and a cooler containing a human pancreas labeled "Exhibit B". In [[Recap/StrongBadEmailE191Buried "Buried"]], he implies that he buried someone named Rich under Strongbadia. And in [[Recap/HomestarRunnerIKilledPomPom "I Killed Pom Pom"]], he thinks its perfectly reasonable for someone to buy 50 gallons of bleach, saw blades, and body bags in a single shopping trip--and when Homestar "confesses" to [[MistakenForMurder the murder he thinks he committed]], Bubs offers advice on how to avoid arrest.
----
Frequently a NoodleIncident. May be a part of a MysteriousPast.
----
!!Examples:
[[AC:Film -- Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'', when the Oozma Kappa fraternity group is spotted by security in the Scare Factory, Art completely freaks out at the thought of any legal punishment and screams that he [[NeverGoingBackToPrison can't go back to prison]]. It's [[NoodleIncident never explained]] what he did to wind up there in the first place.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'', one of the chefs has done time, but nobody knows what for because he changes the story every time. He's claimed to have robbed the Bank of Britain using only a ballpoint pen and killed a man with his thumb among many other things.
[[AC:Film -- Live-Action]]
* Aja from ''Film/JemAndTheHolograms'' mentions going to juvvy. It's never mentioned why she went there, but it's still off for the stick-to-the-rules OnlySaneMan Aja from the [[WesternAnimation/{{Jem}} cartoon]].
[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Phoebe's MysteriousPast is a frequent source of comedy on the show. At one point she dates a cop who looks at her file and learns she has done "some pretty weird stuff". In one episode, she and her friends are in Vegas and she says this when she believes she is being arrested.
-->'''Phoebe:''' No, no, you can't arrest me! [[NeverGoingBackToPrison I won't go back, I won't go back to that hellhole!]]
* In ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', Barney's job is [[ObliquelyObfuscatedOccupation poorly defined and highly ambiguous]], though it's known that his company does a lot of illegal activity and does a lot business with "our friends the North Koreans". In season eight, his friends kidnap him for [[spoiler:his bachelor party]] and his first instinct upon being thrown into the car is to yell that he never associated with North Korea, and if his kidnappers are North Koreans that he never associated with ''South'' Korea.
* Creed from ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' takes this tropes UpToEleven. A few examples of implied crimes...
** Casually mentioning he has been involved in a number of cults, both as a leader and a follower.
** Panicking when the cops show up to office looking for marijuana even though Michael was framing Toby.
** Having an alarmingly encyclopedic knowledge of canabis and murder.
** In a HalloweenEpisode, showing up to work covered in blood and later mentioning to the camera crew what a lucky coincidence it was that it was Halloween.
** Suggesting that he killed a man named Creed Bratton and [[KillAndReplace assumed his identity.]]
** In the GrandFinale, set a year after the penultimate episode, Dwight states that Creed faked his death the day after the documentary aired. He comes back during the episode, but the last we see of him is him being arrested.
* ''Series/SchittsCreek'': Back when she was a globe-trotting socialite with unlimited funds, Alexis would frequently get held hostage in faraway palaces or interrogated by foreign authorities at embassies. What she ''did'' to wind up in those situations is anyone's guess, including her parents', since they are often only learning of these occurrences in the present.
* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', Garak used to belong to a shifty organisation called the Obsidian Order and did ''something'' to get him exiled from it, but it's never revealed what.
* Lillian in ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'' has said some seriously sketchy remarks about her past, such as she has a cop's bullet lodged in her chest, that she has experience burying bodies, that she knows the gangs of New York by heart, and that she pickpockets all the time. She also accidentally murdered her own husband. Despite all this, she has also claimed to be a police informant. What is true or not is deliberately ambiguous because she's also old and has used her fair share of drugs.
[[AC:Web Animation]]
* From ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', Bub's [[HonestJohnsDealership concession stand is barely legal to begin with]], but various cartoons have suggested a more extensive criminal past. [[Recap/StrongBadEmailE96Lackey "Lackey"]] reveals he's on the run from one or more debt collection agencies. In [[Recap/HomestarRunnerBugInMouthDisease "Bug in Mouth Disease"]], he's seen trying to dispose of files labeled "Exhibit A" and a cooler containing a human pancreas labeled "Exhibit B". In [[Recap/StrongBadEmailE191Buried "Buried"]], he implies that he buried someone named Rich under Strongbadia. And in [[Recap/HomestarRunnerIKilledPomPom "I Killed Pom Pom"]], he thinks its perfectly reasonable for someone to buy 50 gallons of bleach, saw blades, and body bags in a single shopping trip--and when Homestar "confesses" to [[MistakenForMurder the murder he thinks he committed]], Bubs offers advice on how to avoid arrest.
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