History Main / BlindAlley

[[folder:Film]]
* Averted in ''Film/{{Inception}}''. Cobb runs down an alley to try and ditch several agents that are chasing him. They notice him stuck in between the two buildings at the other end of the narrowing alley and he barely escapes them.
* Occurred in the mock buster ''Mega Piranha''.

* An important plot device in ''Film/TheNeverendingStory'', where Bastian escapes his bullies by hiding in a bookstore, while his chasers rush by. The following encounter with the bookstore owner sets off the story.

* ''Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth'' by Creator/HPLovecraft has a variation of this trope. The protagonist is fleeing the eponymous TownWithADarkSecret and hears his pursuers approaching, so he jumps into a ditch. The huge search party just passes him by, even after he [[GoMadFromTheRevelation faints from horror]] at the sight of them.

* In ''Webcomic/StarImpact'', Aster and company [[https://www.starimpactcomic.com/comic/chapter-2-page-3 [=duck into an alley=]]] to escape a {{Paparazzi}} in pursuit of her.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''WebVideo/TheHire: Star'', where an incredibly abusive singer's driver decides to have some fun at her expense, leading her bodyguards (trying to catch up in an SUV) in a high speed chase through a city, at one point backing into an alleyway to see if they'd "lost them". The guards drive past, and he proceeds to tear out of the alley, pull up along side them, [[IShallTauntYou wink at them]], and then take off again.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused]] with characters being pursued down an actual "blind alley", only to find themselves up against a ChainLinkFence or other dead-end.

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[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

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[[folder: Western Animation ]]

%% The following {{Zero Context Example}}s have been commented out and moved to Discussion. Please don't uncomment them unless you add enough information to explain how they fit the trope.

%% The following {{Zero Context Example}}s have been commented out and moved to Discussion. Please don't uncomment them unless you add enough information to explain how they fit the trope.

[[IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused]] with characters being pursued down an actual "blind alley", only to find themselves up against a ChainLinkFence or other dead-end.

See also BehindTheBlack.

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* ''Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth'' by Creator/HPLovecraft has a variation of this trope. The protagonist is fleeing the eponymous TownWithADarkSecret and hears his pursuers approaching, so he jumps into a ditch. The huge search party just passes him by, even after he [[GoMadFromTheRevelation faints from horror]].

* ''Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth'' by Creator/HPLovecraft has a variation of this trope. The protagonist is fleeing the eponymous TownWithADarkSecret along an abandoned railroad. He hears his pursuers approaching and jumps into a ditch. The huge search party just passes him by, even after he [[GoMadFromTheRevelation faints from horror]].

* ''Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth'' by Creator/HPLovecraft has a variation of this trope. The protagonist is running along an abandoned railway that leads out of Innsmouth. He hears his pursuers approaching and jumps into a ditch. The huge search party just passes him by, even after he [[GoneMadFromTheRevelation faints from horror]].

* Happens in an episode of ''/Series/{{Friends}}'', "The One in Barbados, Part 2". Ross and Charlie enter a room down the corridor while their pursuers continue down the hall.

* ''Series/AlarmFurCobra11''

* All the time in ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry''.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''WebVideo/TheHire: Star'', where an incredibly abusive singer's driver decides to have some fun at her expense, leading her bodyguards (trying to catch up in an SUV) in a high speed chase through a city, at one point backing into an alleyway to see if they'd "lost them".
** The guards drive past, and he proceeds to tear out of the alley, pull up along side them, [[IShallTauntYou wink at them]], and then take off again.

* ''Film/EscapeFromSobibor'': One of the guards goes into a senior officer's office [[spoiler:and discovers him by spotting blood and following its trail, marking the turning point of the escape when they had previously gotten along without widespread discovery.]]

* In the ''[[Literature/TimeMachineSeries Blade of the Guillotine]]'', it's used to escape an angry royalist blacksmith.

* Happens in an episode of ''{{Friends}}'', "The One in Barbados, Part 2". Ross and Charlie enter a room down the corridor while their pursuers continue down the hall.

* In the second episode of ''ThereSheIs'', the cat is trying to deliver the cake to his bunny girlfriend and hides in an alley from the rhino, dog, and other animals chasing him.

!!Examples:

* A game mechanic in the Franchise/AssassinsCreed series. Get out of the guards' line of sight, jump into a convenient well or haystack, and wait for the guards to [[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy lose interest]].

* All the time in WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode ''[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesTheClockKing The Clock King]]'', Batman enters one next to the Gotham Traffic Department, so no one will see him getting out of Bruce Wayne's limo.

* Alleys are used a lot in ''Series/{{Angel}}''. The title sequence ends in one, [[spoiler:Liam (Angel) was sired in one, Darla died and Connor was born in one, the Beast appeared in (the same) one, and now it looks like Angel, Spike, Gunn, and Illyria are going to die in one.]]

* A game mechanic in the Franchise/AssassinsCreed series. Get out of the guards' line of sight, jump into a convenient well or haystack, and wait for the guards to lose interest.

* At the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode ''[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesTheClockKing The Clock King]]'' this trope is Batman enters one next Gotham Traffic Department. He gets out his SecretIdentity Bruce Wayne limousine, but nobody notices because this trope.

* At the ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode ''[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesTheClockKing The Clock King]]'' this trope is Batman enters one next Gotham Traffic Department. He gets out his SecretIdentity Bruce Wayne limousine, but nobody notices because this trope.

* At the ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode ''[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesTheClockKing The Clock King]]'' this trope is Batman enters one next Gotham Traffic Deparment. He gets out his SecretIdentity Bruce Wayne limousine, but nobody notices because this trope.

* At the ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode ''[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesTheClockKing The Clock King]]'' this trope is Batman enters one next Gotham Traffic Deparment. He gets out his SecredIdentity Bruce Wayne limousine, but nobody notices because this trope.