History Main / CrimeConcealingHobby

Compare NaughtyBirdwatching (where astronomy and birdwatching equipment is used for a less noble purpose) and TheConvenientStoreNextDoor (where the location that is used to perform said hobby is an important part of the criminal plan). Also see EmbarrassingCoverUp and ItsForABook (if you're an amatuer writer, some odd stuff is ''definitely'' going to end up in your search history). Related to LegitimateBusinessmensSocialClub, where the front for crime is a more traditional business.

Compare NaughtyBirdwatching (where astronomy and birdwatching equipment is used for a less noble purpose) and TheConvenientStoreNextDoor (where the location that is used to perform said hobby is an important part of the criminal plan). Also see EmbarrassingCoverUp. Related to LegitimateBusinessmensSocialClub, where the front for crime is a more traditional business.

Compare NaughtyBirdwatching (where astronomy and birdwatching equipment is used for a less noble purpose) and TheConvenientStoreNextDoor (where the location that is used to perform said hobby is an important part of the criminal plan). Also see EmbarrassingCoverUp.

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!! Examples

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

* ''Film/TheLadykillers2004'': The plot begins with Professor Dorr renting out an old lady's basement so he and his friends can practice classical music. In fact, they're digging a tunnel to rob a nearby casino vault, playing recorded music to mask the sounds of their work. While Dorr is WickedCultured and likely is a musical enthusiast, the rest of the crew... [[BookDumb aren't.]]

-->'''Marion:''' A man should have a hobby.
-->'''Norman:''' Well, it's, it's more than a hobby. A hobby's supposed to pass the time, not fill it.
-->'''Marion:''' Is your time so empty? [...] Do you go out with friends?
-->'''Norman:''' Well, a boy's best friend is his mother.
* ''Film/TheThomasCrownAffair1999'': Crown is well-known as a lover and connoisseur of art, and includes a visit to the museum as part of his daily routine. He's even on a first-name basis with security. He's actually scouting the place as he masterminds his heist.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/TheMule": Magnifico plays a [[BizarreInstrument Visi-Sonor, an instrument that creates visual illusions in addition to sound]], very well. Well enough that he's allowed to give concerts on every planet that he, Bayta, and Toran go to. The climax reveals that [[spoiler:he's the BigBad, and the instrument served as an AmplifierArtifact for his EmotionControl powers, allowing him to demoralize the Foundation leaders.]]

* ''Film/TheGreatEscape'': Colin the Forger's hobby as a bird watcher provides one of the many means to conceal the prisoners' efforts right under the Germans' noses, by having their forgery workshop time done while he's (supposedly) giving birdwatching lessons. Why does he need all the pens, ink and paper? For drawing and documenting the birds.

* ''Film/TheGreatEscape'': Colin's the Forger's hobby as a bird watcher provides one of the many means to conceal the prisoners' efforts right under the Germans' noses, by having their forgery workshop time done while he's (supposedly) giving birdwatching lessons.

* ''Film/EscapeFromAlcatraz'': As part of their escape plan to dig out the back of their cell, the four prisoners register to obtain recreational tools such as an accordion so they can hide what they're doing from the guards. However, at least one of these hobbies (painting) is instrumental in itself since they need flesh-colored paint to create [[SleepingDummy convincing dummy heads]].
* ''Film/TheGreatEscape'': Colin's the Forger's hobby as a bird watcher provides one of the many means to conceal the prisoners' efforts right under the Germans' noses, by having their forgery workshop time done while he's (supposedly) giving birdwatching lessons.
* ''Film/TheThomasCrownAffair1999'': Crown is well-known as a lover and connoisseur of art, and includes a visit to the museum as part of his daily routine. He's even on a first-name basis with security. He's actually scouting the place as he masterminds his heist.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/TheMule": Magnifico plays a [[BizarreInstrument Visi-Sonor, an instrument that creates visual illusions in addition to sound]], very well. Well enough that he's allowed to give concerts on every planet that he, Bayta, and Toran go to. The climax reveals that [[spoiler:he's the BigBad, and the instrument served as an AmplifierArtifact for his EmotionControl powers, allowing him to demoralize the Foundation leaders.]]
* In ''[[Literature/TheCatWhoSeries The Cat Who Sniffed Glue]]'', an actor murders his identical twin and impersonates him so successfully that no one around them [[note]] outside the family, but their mother dies of a stroke, their father commits suicide, the killer murders his own wife at the same time, and the dead man's wife is his accomplice[[/note]], including people who'd known them both for years, suspects a switch has taken place. He's only found out when the eponymous cat detects the glue holding his fake mustache on (the dead twin had a real one, which was shaved off at the time of the murder).

-->'''Norman:''' [[Main/AFIS100Years100MovieQuotes Well, a boy's best friend is his mother.]]

Compare NaughtyBirdwatching (where astronomy and birdwatching equipment is used for a less noble purpose) and TheConvenientStoreNextDoor (where the location that is used to perform said hobby is an important part of the criminal plan).

** "[[Literature/TheRedHeadedLeague The Red-Headed League]]": A pawnbroker's assistant is always taking pictures and running off to the darkened basement to develop them. In fact, he's digging a tunnel to the bank behind the shop.

* In [[TheCatWhoSeries The Cat Who Sniffed Glue]], an actor murders his identical twin and impersonates him so successfully that no one around them [[note]] outside the family, but their mother dies of a stroke, their father commits suicide, the killer murders his own wife at the same time, and the dead man's wife is his accomplice[[/note]], including people who'd known them both for years, suspects a switch has taken place. He's only found out when the eponymous cat detects the glue holding his fake mustache on (the dead twin had a real one, which was shaved off at the time of the murder).

* The French comic ''Les Maitres de l'Orge'' (The Barleymasters) has Adrien Steenfort, a rich brewer, go for a lone walk every evening without fail with his dinner's leftovers to feed the local cats. In fact, he's going to feed Garcin, his son's murderer (he'd set fire to the brewery, not knowing there were people inside), who he's kept walled up in the ruins of the brewery for twelve years, using him as a captive and silent audience. At the end of the story, Steenfort's been in the hospital for a few days, and finds Garcin has starved to death. The loss of his captive confidante (he compares the nightly monologue sessions to an addictive drug), in addition to his financial and family woes, makes Steenfort burn Garcin's body and commit suicide.

* Played with in Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''Film/{{Psycho}}''. Norman's hobby is taxidermy, which not only establishes him as kind of creepy, but also would provide ample reason for him to know how to chemically disinfect things. However, this isn't used as while he does clean the bathroom, it's an efficient scrub. Still, it's implied that after he (and, yes, at this point very mentally ill) grave-robbed his mother's corpse after murdering her, to make her appear as semi-lifelike as she does he may have stuffed her, too. With his mental state surrounding his mother, though, he probably wouldn't know if he did.

* Played with in ''Film/TheWrongArmOfTheLaw''. While Nosy Parker immediately suspects that Pearly Gates is still using his fashion boutique as a front for his gang's activities, Pearly insists that the fashion boutique is now a legitimate business which he runs on the side.

* ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'': Inverted. The pub thugs when the viewer first meets them, seem to be only defined by their being criminals; but once the song "I've Got A Dream" comes, we find out they all have hobbies (playing the piano; baking; mime; interior design; etc.) that they'd really love to turn into their jobs.

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: Fan Works ]]

[[folder: Film -- Animated ]]

[[folder: Film -- Live-Action ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/TheMule": Magnifico plays a [[BizarreInstrument Visi-Sonor, an instrument that creates visual illusions in addition to sound]], very well. Well enough that he's allowed to give concerts on every planet that he, Bliss, and Trevieze go to. The climax reveals that [[spoiler:he's the BigBad, and the instrument served as an AmplifierArtifact for his EmotionControl powers, allowing him to demoralize the Foundation leaders.]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fic ''Fanfic/LovedAndLost'', Prince Jewelius is early on established to travel a lot in order to explore and learn more about Equestria. After he [[TyrantTakesTheHelm seizes the throne]] by using the events of "A Canterlot Wedding" against the heroes ([[CorruptTheCutie all but Twilight]]), he [[JustBetweenYouAndMe privately tells them]] that his real reason for traveling so much has been searching for the means to usurp his royal family he has secretly hated for years. He learned about the Changelings and the caverns underneath Canterlot during these travels, and once he was told the date of his cousin Cadance's wedding, he traveled to the Badlands to forge an alliance with Queen Chrysalis, providing her information about the caverns where she imprisoned Cadance.

** In ''The Red-Headed League'', a pawnbroker's assistant is always taking pictures and running off to the darkened basement to develop them. In fact, he's digging a tunnel to the bank behind the shop.
* In ''Literature/{{Foundation}}'', Magnifico has playing a Visi-Sonor as a hobby, giving numerous concerts to the Foundation elite. In the end, it turned out he is the BigBad, and the instrument served as an AmplifierArtifact for his EmotionControl powers, allowing him to demoralize the Foundation leaders.

Warning: spoilers.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fic ''Fanfic/LovedAndLost'', Prince Jewelius is early on established to travel a lot in order to explore and learn more about Equestria. After he [[TyrantTakesTheHelm seizes the throne]] by using the events of ''A Canterlot Wedding'' against the heroes, he [[JustBetweenYouAndMe privately reveals them]] that his real reason for traveling so much has been searching for the means to usurp his royal family he has secretly hated for years. He learned about the Changelings and the caverns underneath Canterlot during these travels, and once he was told the date of his cousin Cadance's wedding, he traveled to the Badlands to forge an alliance with Queen Chrysalis, providing her information about the caverns where she imprisoned Cadance.

* ''Film/TheLadykillers'': The plot begins with Professor Dorr renting out an old lady's basement so he and his friends can practice classical music. In fact, they're digging a tunnel to rob a nearby casino vault, playing recorded music to mask the sounds of their work. While Dorr is WickedCultured and likely is a musical enthusiast, the rest of the crew... [[BookDumb aren't.]]

[[AC:ComicBooks]]

[[AC:Film - Animated]]

[[AC:Film - Live Action]]

[[AC:Literature]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheScoobyDooShow'' episode "There's a Demon Shark in the Foggy Dark", Mr. Wells stated that cabinetry was his hobby, which enabled him to hide stolen pearls near a frozen shark monster.

* In ''{{Literature/Foundation}}'', Magnifico has playing a Visi-Sonor as a hobby, giving numerous concerts to the Foundation elite. In the end, it turned out he is the BigBad, and the instrument served as an AmplifierArtifact for his EmotionControl powers, allowing him to demoralize the Foundation leaders.

* ''Series/MidsomerMurders'': On occasion, the crimes are committed ''because'' of the hobby, which are SeriousBusiness in Midsomer and cause for any number of reprehensible activities from adultery to blackmail to creative accounting. One episode has a mentally-disturbed woman murder people who might interfere with the local tourist attraction (a miniature village), a SocialClimber murders any potential witnesses that saw her driving drunk (which would have barred her from entering the village social club), etc.

Compare NaughtyBirdwatching (where astronomy and birdwatching equipment is used for a less noble purpose).

* Disney/{{Tangled}}: Inverted. The pub thugs when the viewer first meets them, seem to be only defined by their being criminals; but once the song "I've Got A Dream" comes, we find out they all have hobbies (playing the piano; baking; mime; interior design; etc.) that they'd really love to turn into their jobs.