History Main / CurtainCamouflage

* ''Literature/TheSuperDictionary'': An illustration for the word "curtain" shows someone trying to hide behind a curtain, their shoes peeking out from the bottom.

[[quoteright:350:[[Literature/TheSuperdictionary https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Curtains2_7285.jpg]]]]

* The page image comes from ''Literature/TheSuperdictionary''-- appropriately, for the word "curtain."

* ''Anime/PaniPoniDash'': Whenever Rei freaks [[InnocentProdigy Rebecca]] out by showing [[EyesDoNotBelongThere she has an eye in her palm]], Rebecca usually responds with this.
* When Anime/{{Madlax}} comes to visit her target the night before the assassination [[spoiler:on the account that it was himself who ordered his own death]], she initially conceals herself behind a curtain from neck down. This was to hide the fact that she was wearing an cocktail dress and has actually come to comfort the man before he goes. She is funny like that.

* ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' - Lumiere is caught doing inappropriate things to a feather duster behind some curtains.
* Subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' movie ''[[WesternAnimation/ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnythingAVeggieTalesMovie The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything]]''. The villains have captured the prince and are now looking for his little sister, and one of them flings a curtain aside when he thinks she's hiding behind it. She's not. He gives up in frustration, [[GaveUpTooSoon unaware that she's actually hiding under the floorboards.]]

* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'', Cullen hides behind a curtain in order to listen to what his sisters have to talk about with Eldest Whistler. [[spoiler: He leaves his hiding place to hug and kiss Eldest Whistler when he hears that she plans to marry him.]]
* Literature/TheRadix: [[ProfessionalKiller Erich Metzger]] does this when he comes to kill general Rojas, and it works. Apparently, Santiago Rojas's bodyguard has FailedASpotCheck.
* ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'':
** In "Charles Augustus Milverton," Holmes and Watson break into a blackmailer's house; when they hear noises coming toward the office, they quickly duck behind a curtain in time for some ExactEavesdropping [[spoiler:and a little murder]].
** In “Literature/TheValleyOfFear”, the assassin hides behind the curtain to catch the victim off guard. [[spoiler:The ProperlyParanoid victim spots the shoe behind the curtain and attacks the murderer, who ends up being accidentally and [[BoomHeadshot rather gruesomely]] killed in the ensuing GunStruggle.]]
** In “The Mazarin Stone”, Holmes hides behind one to spy on two men to learn where they hid the eponymous diamond. It works because they think the shape they see is actually a wax bust of Holmes that he made a point of showing them earlier that evening.
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's "The Shadow Kingdom", Literature/{{Kull}} does not notice the spy, but at the end of the first scene, a tapestry moves.
* In ''Literature/MairelonTheMagician'', Kim hides behind a curtain when she wants to hide the fact she's been snooping around in the carriage.
* On [[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars Barsoom]] curtains are deliberately hung to create a narrow gallery between them and the wall where guards, assassins, eavesdroppers or whatever may lurk. It's not paranoia when people are really out to get you - as everybody and everything is on Mars.
* In ''Literature/TheRubyRedTrilogy'', Gwen has to hide behind a curtain from her future self. Future!Gwen spots her anyway, but at least distracts Gideon.
* In ''Literature/{{Night Watch|Discworld}}'', Vetinari steps out from behind a curtain in his aunt's house, where some conspirators are meeting.
* ''Literature/TheWrongSideOfGoodbye'': A potential victim notices the Screen Cutter (a serial rapist) hiding behind a curtain in her house, and hits him in the face with a broom.

* ''Series/TheRiseOfPhoenixes'': Zi Yan hides behind a curtain while Zhi Wei talks to Ning Yi.
* ''Series/OurMissBrooks'': In "Madame Brooks [=DuBarry=]" Mr. Conklin and Harriet hide behind the curtains in Mrs. Davis' living room and spy on Miss Brooks.
* In ''Series/IClaudius'', Claudius ducks behind a curtain when the Praetorian Guard bursts into the palace after the murder of [[TheCaligula Caligula]]. They find him, and because they need an emperor to keep their jobs, they make him emperor.
** Apparently this [[RealLife actually happened]].

* ''Series/{{Cluedo}}'': Mrs White does this when she is eavesdropping.
--> '''Mrs White''': I secreted myself be'ind the curtains.
* ''Series/FatherTed'': Ted and Dougal [[SomethingThatBeginsWithBoring are playing hide-and-seek]], and [[TheDitz Dougal]] stupidly "hides" by concealing just his face behind a curtain, leaving the rest of his body plainly visible. When it's Dougal's turn to be "On," Ted finally concedes the fact that there just aren't many good hiding places in a caravan and hides himself in the very same way!
** Though Dougal ''still'' [[TheDitz can't find him]].

* Parker does this to hide from the BigBad in the ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' episode ''The Wedding Job''.

* In a vehicular variant, Klinger on ''Series/{{MASH}}'' once hid a tank by draping an army tent over it, effectively surrounding it with curtains on all sides. However this doesn't work as the enemy (who are shelling the camp) didn't see or hear the tank drive out, so they know it's still there.

* ''Series/FrontierCircus'': In "The Smallest Target", Bobby hides behind a rack of hanging dresses in Bonnie's caravan.
* ''Series/WhodunnitUK'': The thief in "A Bad Habit" hides behind a curtain in the abbey.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E11WorldEnoughAndTime World Enough and Time]]", Bill attempts to hide behind a curtain in the hospital. Not very well, as the IV stand she is hooked up to is still outside the curtain.
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': In "The One with Unagi", Rachel and Phoebe sneak into Ross' apartment, hide behind his curtains and jump out yelling "DANGER!" to scare him as revenge for him pulling a similar JumpScare on them.

* In ''The Medium'' by Gian-Carlo Menotti, Toby is often found hiding behind the curtain of the puppet theater. This contributes to Baba's suspicions of him and, after her SanitySlippage, [[spoiler:her shooting him when he fails to answer her, with the curtain becoming a White Sheet of Death]].
* In the sci-fi parody by Steve Lovett, ''Babes In Outer Space'', the astronauts do this to hide from evil Queen Rula. The Queen's scientist Natina turns on lights to reveal them, but pretends it’s a 'shadowscope' that can [[SurveillanceAsThePlotDemands see everything the escaped astronauts are doing]]. Our heroes then [[RuleOfFunny proceed to pantomime]] everything the shadowscope 'sees'.

* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' Boris hid behind the curtain in the Jäger Generals meeting room to listen in when Da Boys gave their report, Dimo [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110314 noticed him though so he ended up not being hid for the conversation.]]

* The animated series of ''Film/PoliceAcademy'' had one episode where Capt. Harris and Lt. Proctor hid behind the curtains when a criminal showed up to rob the bank. They were just trying to prevent the criminal from seeing them but they accidentally fell on the criminal, capturing him by a stroke of luck. Harris quickly started hogging as much glory as he could.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGhostCoastToCoast'' episode "Surprise", Zorak and Moltar frantically prepare a surprise birthday party for Space Ghost. Having invited all the guests (mostly the Council of Doom) and brought them into the studio while Space Ghost was distracted, the most logical hiding place was behind a set of drapes on the set. This backfired horribly, as the drapes were never there before (and they didn't match the desk), so SG decided to just blast them (the drapes, that is; he didn't seem particularly concerned that the Council of Doom was hiding behind them).

* During UsefulNotes/WW2 when UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle went to the White House to meet President UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt, the Secret Service became convinced that he'd try to assassinate the President and hid behind the curtains of the Oval Office. The sight of their shoes poking out from under the curtain did not facilitate post-war US-French relations.