History Main / RightUnderTheirNoses

** Done on several occasions, most notably when Han hides by sticking the Falcon on the back of a Star Destroyer.

* While attempting to avoid pursuit by Nazis in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'', Indiana Jones and his father go through Berlin to get the journal back. They manage to [[HeyWait run into Hitler who proceeds to write his autograph in it]]. And this is ''after'' Hitler has "declared war on the Jones boys" (as the BigBad of the film put it).

* The title character of ''[[WoodenShipsAndIronMen Captain Caution]]'', an American privateer, insists he doesn't believe in taking chances. His French friend is incredulous: sailing right into a British-held port and anchoring where the fort's guns will have a perfect shot at him isn't taking chances? Of course not; since he made himself so totally vulnerable to them, the British '''knew''' he couldn't be an American coming in to capture one of the ships already in port. And that night, he snuck a crew aboard....

** The legend of Bael the Bard says that when he [[AbductionIsLove stole away Lord Stark's daughter]] they hide in the Winterfell crypts. No one found them for an years.

** In ''Literature/ThePrincessAndTheQueen'' When Rhaenyra storms King's Landing Aegon II hides in the last place she would ever think: [[spoiler: in Dragonstone, ''her own home'']].

* Literature/CiaphasCain ''always'' manages to foil the enemy's application of this trope, usually by heading to the sector least likely to see action (to the confusion of the underlings, who all believe in his gung-ho '''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM''' persona). This results in him stumbling on a tunnel leading to the enemy, an infiltration unit, or daemonic summoning ritual in progress, and therefore putting his life even further at risk than if he'd gone to the frontline. One of his MauveShirts has a similar ability, her bad luck leading to discover previously-unseen enemies or traps.

* {{Inverted}} in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': It is revealed that the Hellmouth is in fact located directly underneath the library where Buffy and the [[InSeriesNickname Scoobie Gang]] hang out and make their plans to stop the bad guys' plans. Given that [[BigBad The Master]] was trapped in the Hellmouth for all of the first season, it is thus inferred that the ''Big Bad'' had been hiding under the ''heroes''' noses the whole time, though it never seems like he's aware of the fact.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Where has Gendry being staying all this time after his departure on Season 3? In King's Landing of course, back at the forge in Flea Bottom making weapons for the Lannister army.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag'': In the modern day portions of the game, you (as the point of view character) interact with a cell of Assassins that's hiding from the international Templar manhunt targeting them by working openly in the lobby of Abstergo Entertainment, a subsidiary of the very company that is the front for the Templars.

* Inverted in ''WebVideo/VaguelyRecallingJoJo'', the villain DIO is constantly following Jotaro's group but they don't seem to spot him until the plot calls for it.

* Literally walking up to the Front Door, usually [[DressingAsTheEnemy disguised]] as [[TheDungAges filthy peasants]] or a {{janitor|impersonation infiltration}}. (''"these aren't the droids you are looking for."'')

[[folder: Fan Works ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

--> '''Pippin:''' "If we go south, we can slip past Saruman unnoticed. '''The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm!'''"
--> '''Treebeard:''' "That... doesn't make any sense to me! Then again... you ''are'' very small. South it is, then!"

[[folder: Literature ]]

-->'''Ruanek:''' Audacious, hells, yes! But how in the name of all those hells are you going to get in? Just walk right up and order the gates to open?
-->'''Spock:''' Precisely.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Newspaper Comics ]]

-->Calvin: She'll never look here.

[[folder: Video Games ]]

--> '''Penelo''': But what about once we're inside? Won't the city watch find us?
--> '''Ashe''': We'll do what we can to blend into the crowd. Our names may be notorious, but our faces are not far-known.
--> '''Vaan''': True, true. You're our princess, and we didn't even recognize you.
--> '''Ashe''': (flatly) I noticed.

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* A Corollary Two example in Bob Defendi's podcast audiobook [[http://playtesting.net/?cat=3 ''Death By Cliche'']]. It's even [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] somewhat by the main character. Given that the entire thing is a deconstruction of bad [=GM-ing=] and poor storytelling, this isn't particularly surprising.

* Literally walking up to the Front Door, usually [[DressingAsTheEnemy disguised]] as [[TheDungAges filthy peasants]]. (''"these aren't the droids you are looking for."'')

* During a of ''WebVideo/{{Muselk}}'' playing ''VideoGame/PropHunt'' in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', Muselk encounters a teammate named Publo who should have been turned into an object to hide from the enemy team, but instead has been turned into a Pyro. Muselk concludes that this is the single worst disguise in all of Prop Hunt, and assumes that Publo is standing in the open because he has accepted his doom. A few minutes later, Muselk notices that ''every enemy has failed to notice Publo'', because they're ''too'' focused on looking for players disguised as objects and hiding, and thus Publo is the only player who doesn't get found.

* [[UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden]] was quite possibly the most wanted man on earth for ten years. It was widely assumed that he was living in a cave in the most remote parts of Afghanistan to avoid capture. As it turns out, he was living in a very nice Pakistani suburb, about a mile from Pakistan's most prominent military academy. There's debate as to whether it was this trope, or whether the Pakistani government [[SelectiveObliviousness simply had no interest in knowing that he was there.]]

* [[UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLadin]] was quite possibly the most wanted man on earth for ten years. It was widely assumed that he was living in a cave in the backwoods of Afghanistan to avoid capture. As it turns out, he was living in a very nice Pakistani suburb, about a mile from Pakistan's most prominent military academy. There's debate as to whether his [[ProperlyParanoid extreme levels of security]] were just that effective, or whether the Pakistani government [[SelectiveObliviousness simply had no interest in knowing that he was there.]]

* [[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} RWBY]] antagonist Cinder Fall's way of destroying beacon academy? Having her and her associates (Minus Torchwick) literraly be contestants in the vytal festival as foreign academy students, this helps her plan everything else up to the end of Volume 3.

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': This is explicitly how Sam and Frodo succeed. After all, who in their right mind would take the one artifact Sauron needs to rule the world right to his doorstep? Tolkien at one point tried to make up an excuse for them to sneak into [[EldritchLocation Minas Morgul]], but thought better of it.

* This is explicitly how [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Sam and Frodo]] succeed. After all, who in their right mind would take the one artifact Sauron needs to rule the world right to his doorstep? Tolkien at one point tried to make up an excuse for them to sneak into [[EldritchLocation Minas Morgul]], but thought better of it.

* In the ''{{Mistborn}}'' trilogy, the protagonists choose to stage their revolution right in TheEmpire's capital city. The argument is that it's the last place anyone would expect them to do it, and also that it has the most resources for their use.

This may extend to:

* One ''VideoGame/{{Dungeon Keeper }}II'' level pits the Keeper against an enemy with a vastly superior subterranean fortress and army. The Keeper levels the field by stealing them piece by piece, sealing rooms away from the enemy using magically hidden doors and ambushing soldiers to [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil torture into switching sides]].

* Played with in [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/109.html this]] ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic'' strip

* A Corollary Two example in Bob Defendi's podcast audiobook [[http://playtesting.net/?cat=3 ''Death By Cliche'']]. It's even [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] somewhat by the main character. Given that the entire thing is a deconstruction of bad [=GM-ing=] and poor storytelling, this isn't particularly suprising.

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* A man who was seriously wanted by the FBI was working as a dishwasher in a cafeteria. In Washington, DC. In the basement of FBI headquarters.
* Fugitive LAPD officer Chris Dorner holed up in a Big Bear cabin less than 200 yards from the police outpost coordinating the manhunt for him.
* General Antoine Lavallette was arrested in 1815 for having supported UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte and managed to escape the Conciergerie with the help of his wife, trading clothes with her. Some of his friends hid him in an attic of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a few hundred metres away from the palace of the King who wanted him dead.

[[/folder]]

* In Literature/StarTrekVulcansHeart, during the early stages of the revolution on Romulus, Spock proposes a plan along these lines:
-->Ruanek: �Audacious, hells, yes! But how in the name of all those hells are you going to get in? Just walk right up and order the gates to open?�
--->Spock: �Precisely�.

* ''ASongOfIceAndFire'':

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[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

-->Ruanek: “Audacious, hells, yes! But how in the name of all those hells are you going to get in? Just walk right up and order the gates to open?”
--->Spock: “Precisely”.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:NewspaperComics]]

[[AC:RealLife]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]

[[AC:WebOriginal]]

* Played with in [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/109.html this]] IrregularWebcomic strip

* In ''ASongOfIceAndFire'' Bran and his company hide from [[spoiler: Theon Greyjoy]] by doubling back and hiding [[spoiler: in the crypts under Winterfell.]]

--> -- '''Pippin''', ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings: The Two Towers''

* While attempting to avoid pursuit by Nazis in ''Film/TheLastCrusade'', IndianaJones and his father go through Berlin to get the journal back. They manage to [[HeyWait run into Hitler who proceeds to write his autograph in it]]. And this is ''after'' Hitler has "declared war on the Jones boys" (as the BigBad of the film put it).
* In any ''RobinHood'' film, the titular hero will sneak his entire band into Nottingham dressed as peasants.

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* ''Franchise/StarWars'' does this on several occasions, most notably when Han hides by sticking the Falcon on the back of a Star Destroyer.
** Well that bit was justified because the Falcon got lost among the many greebles covering the star destroyer, even for some viewers it was hard to spot.

*** Well, remember, it is covered in [[Podcast/RiffTrax sand]]. And [[{{Narm}} he hates sand]].
*** There's also a theory mentioned in one of the books that Obi-Wan had actually put him there as bait to lure Vader in for a final confrontation. The character bringing up the theory points out that it would have been very hard for Vader ''not'' to find out about an application to the Imperial Naval Academy from "Luke Skywalker of Tatooine", which is exactly what would've happened within a year or two had the events of ''Film/ANewHope'' not caused Luke to take a different path off the planet.