History Main / EnterStageWindow

** [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Night]][[ComicBook/NightwingRebirth wing]] used his apartment window to enter and leave the building while in costume in addition to the usual uses of sneaking up on criminals and police.
** [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim Drake]] has used this method to enter (and leave) the Sheriff's department and used Nightwing's usual method of leaving for crimefighting mentioned above while staying with him.

* Comicbook/{{X 23}} enters her apartment via a combination of [[GlobalAirShip Angel]], the fire escape, and the window in ''All-New Wolverine'' #2. Considering she's currently in her Wolverine duds at the time, it avoids awkward encounters with her neighbors should she just go in through the door. How she goes unnoticed considering it's broad daylight in the ''Bronx'' is another matter. Gabby later slips out via the same window after their confrontation.

Someone – often, though not necessarily, the GirlNextDoor – enters the hero's home through their bedroom window. If (as is usually the case) it's an upstairs window, this can be done via a ladder, trellis, close-standing tree, or some other, more obscure method. In some cases, there's a good reason for this: they're [[YouAreGrounded sneaking in]], or the more conventional entrances are locked shut or somehow blocked. Often, though, it seems like they do it mainly because it [[RuleOfCool just seems cool]]. Though found in many kinds of fictional media, this trope is particularly prevalent in television.

Just as often as it's used for hijinx, this trope is used for horror - see BreakingAndBloodsucking for a common variant. The image of a monster or killer climbing through a sleeping person's window and into their bedroom is fundamentally both an inappropriate entry and a violation of privacy, so there's a lot of potential [[RapeAsDrama rape subtext]] here.

Someone – often, though not necessarily, the GirlNextDoor – enters the hero's house through their bedroom window. If (as is usually the case) it's an upstairs window, this can be done via a ladder, trellis, close-standing tree, or some other, more obscure method. In some cases, there's a good reason for this: they're [[YouAreGrounded sneaking in]], or the more conventional entrances are locked shut or somehow blocked. Often, though, it seems like they do it mainly because it [[RuleOfCool just seems cool]]. Though found in many kinds of fictional media, this trope is particularly prevalent in television.

Someone--often the GirlNextDoor, though not necessarily--enters the hero's house by climbing in their bedroom window. This can be done via ladder, trellis, close-standing tree, or some other, more obscure method. In some cases, there's a good reason for this: they're [[YouAreGrounded sneaking in]], or the more traditional entrances are somehow blocked. Often, though, it seems like they do it just because it [[RuleOfCool seems cool]]. Though found in many kinds of fiction, this trope is particularly prevalent in television.

If the window is shut, the traditional way to get the resident's attention is to throw gravel at it, but as that's become [[DiscreditedTrope something of a cliché]], it's usually [[PlayingWithATrope subverted somehow]] (they break the window, or hit their friend with a rock, or discover they picked the wrong room...) Often the culmination of a BalconyWooingScene.

* In ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', Edward climbs a tree to get into Bella's bedroom. Though she doesn't know at first, this later becomes an almost daily routine for their relationship.

** Jacob does it in ''New Moon'', but at least he ''asks'' first.

* In ''Film/WildRose'', Xiao Feng is a {{Tomboy}}. When her father calls her home, she crawls through the window of their hut instead of using the door, just to mess with him.

Just as often as it's used for hijinx, this trope can also be played for horror - see BreakingAndBloodsucking for a common variant. The image of a monster or killer climbing through a sleeping person's window and into their bedroom is fundamentally both an inappropriate entry and a violation of privacy, so there's a lot of potential [[RapeAsDrama rape subtext]] here.

** In ''Five get into Trouble'', the children try to rescue Dick from the large house Owl's Dene. They believe his is behind a lighted attic window, and throw up a stone. Somebody comes to the window, but it is not Dick. Then they discover an open window on the ground floor, and they are caught when they sneak in that way. Julian later believes that the villain opened the window so that they might climb in, and they fell neatly into the trap.

* How the eponymous character on ''Series/DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency'' is introduced to his unwitting "sidekick" Todd (whose perspective has had most of the show's screen time up to that point). Cue a [[CloudCuckooLander genuine & enthusiastic "Hi!" from Dirk,]] while he's still hanging halfway out the window. And cue a [[RealityEnsues freak-out from Todd over a complete stranger climbing into his apartment.]]

* Prince Zen and his self appointed aide Obi in ''Manga/AkagamiNoShirayukihime'' use windows more often than doors to enter or exit rooms. Zen doesn't get to do so as often as he'd like as it's not considered proper decorum but Obi originally tended to surprise other characters more when he used a door instead of a window to enter a building. Even Obi has stopped doing it so much after Zen knighted him and tasked him with Shirayuki's protection.

--->'''Dr. Tofu:''' (''referring to Ranma'') So, tell me. Did we have a visitor last night?\\

'''Dr. Tofu:''' (''laughs'') Yep, that's pretty much what I thought.
* This occurs in ''Manga/SangatsuNoLion'' during one of Rei's recollections of his childhood spent in the Kouda household; [[spoiler:Kyoko, has at least once, snuck into Rei's room this way to snuggle with him in his futon, presumably while in an emotionally fragile state.]]

** [[Comicbook/RobinSeries Tim Drake]] has used this method to enter (and leave) the Sheriff's department and used Nightwing's usual method of leaving for crimefighting mentioned above while staying with him.