History Main / TrojanPrisoner

* Subverted in Terry Pratchett's very first novel, ''Literature/TheCarpetPeople''.

'''Hero:''' ...Enough of this talking, harharhar. ''(Beats up guard)'' I runs out of ideas after a while.

* In the first trilogy of the ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' saga, the good guys try to do this and fail miserably when [[spoiler:''they are captured because they lack the proper paperwork'']]. This rather original subversion is somewhat {{lampshaded}} when the hero is frantically trying to think of a way out of the mess and realizes that of all the things that could have gone wrong with their plan, no one considered the idea that they would [[spoiler: be suspected of being deserters]].

** In "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS1E3CygnusAlpha Cygnus Alpha]]", Gan is selected as a human sacrifice by the local cult, so Blake is shown readying the others to attack the priests when they show up to collect him. The next scene has Gan brought in chains to the cult leader, and the priests explain that they were attacked by his friends but were able to fight them off. Turns out Blake and the others are [[DressingAsTheEnemy dressed in the hooded cloaks of the priesthood]] with Gan as a TrojanPrisoner.

* In ''Anime/DragonBallSuperSuperHero'', the Red Ribbon Army's plan to lure Gohan to their lair is to kidnap his daughter Pan. Problem for them is that [[BadassAdorable Pan is already a skilled fighter at just three years old]], so their attempt to take her just results in an unconscious goon. That said, she agrees to fake her capture for an undercover Piccolo to get Gohan to the base anyway, namely because Piccolo sees it as an opportunity for Gohan to start training again via his PapaWolf instinct.

* In the Franchise/DCUniverse, Franchise/{{Batman}} once infiltrated Belle Reve prison, home of the the ComicBook/SuicideSquad, by posing as criminal 'Matches' Malone and arranging for Commissioner Gordon to have Malone held there while being transferred.
** When Lockup first started becoming a problem in Gotham Bats couldn't afford to be sidelined by being captured but needed someone to figure out where Lockup was taking everyone so the current ComicBook/{{Robin|1993}} got himself picked up by Lockup by posing as petty criminal Alvin Draper.
* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' comic "The Futurists" in ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' (from the collection ''The Betrothal of Sontar'') this is used to infiltrate an ancient Roman military camp. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when the Doctor remarks that it's a tired old trick, but there had to be a time when it was new enough to work.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Dynamo5}}'', a government agent pulls this on the main characters, without telling them, leading them to believe he's turned evil.
* In their first mission, the ''ComicBook/HuntersHellcats'' infiltrate a Japanese base with Hunter and Snake Oil driving a captured tank and marching the rest of the Hellcats ahead of them as captured spies.
* One issue of ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' has Frank allow himself be captured by a gang to lure out a reclusive gang boss so he can take him out.

* One that follows the VillainProtagonist in a four part story of ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics Sonic Universe]]'', in which Fiona Fox and what's left of the Destructix get themselves sent to the No Zone, a prison dimension, to bust out Scourge, Sonic's evil dimensional counterpart (long story). Getting in was easy enough, but they run into trouble as Scourge has lost any drive after being in the prison for so long and they need to convince him to get back in the game.
* ''[[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Star Wars]] ComicBook/{{Legacy}}'': When Princess Marisiah Fel is captured by the Sith and taken to their temple on Korriban to be interrogated, Imperial Knights Antares Draco, Ganner Krieg, and Jedi Master Shado Vao try to rescue her by having Draco disguise himself as a Sith Lord while Krieg and Vao act as his prisoners.

* A variation in ''[[ComicBook/{{X 23}} X-23: Target X]]'': ComicBook/TheKingpin is engaged in a MobWar with a rival gangster named Fade, and hires the Facility to deal with him when his own men can't. In order to get an assassin close enough, Fisk feeds information via a mole in his organization about his beloved niece, "Samantha," whom Fade then abducts. However "Samantha" is actually X-23. And Fade was planted with a trigger scent-laced letter...
* ComicBook/SteveTrevor, back when he was still a WWII era military inteligence officer, would occassionally act as a prisoner in a ploy to learn info about an opponent or break other prisoners out. Inverably something would go wrong and Franchise/WonderWoman would have to rescue him at the end of the operation, if she hadn't been involved from the start.

-->'''Guard:''' ''(Raises his weapon, pointing it at Preed)'' You're lying! He's not a slave and you're not traders. He doesn't carry himself like a slave! Look at the way he stands... probably ex-military. Akrennian traders always threaten before they ask a favor, it's tradition. ''(to Stith)'' And YOUR robes are made out of bedspreads!\\
'''Preed:''' Just out of curiosity, did we have a [[TimeForPlanB plan "B"?]] ''(Stith charges the guard and proceeds to [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beat the crap out of him]])'' An intelligent guard. [[DidNotSeeThatComing Didn't see]] ''[[{{Lampshading}} that]]'' [[DidNotSeeThatComing one coming]]. ''(tasers the guard)''

* A large-scale example in the ''Literature/BelisariusSeries'': In order to capture a major enemy stronghold, Belisarius and most of his army are "taken prisoner" after being "defeated in a battle". They are escorted into the stronghold by a group of a couple thousand soldiers who used to be on the enemy's side, before defecting en masse in a prior novel.

* In ''Literature/AClashOfKings'' from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', the Bloody Mummers do this with Robett Glover and his men as they bring them back as "prisoners of war", although they are secretly planning to betray the Lannisters. The Bloody Mummers then help Glover and his men escape and kill the Lannister guards. In a bit of SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome, the danger of this plan is revealed early on when Glover and his men are menaced by the Lannister guards when they first arrive, despite being promised "honorable treatment". They were fortunate enough to only be thrown into the dungeons, as it was very possible the sadistic Amory Lorch could have chosen to torture and/or execute some of them.

* In the first trilogy of the ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}} Saga'' the good guys try to do this and fail miserably when [[spoiler:''they are captured because they lack the proper paperwork'']]. This rather original subversion is somewhat {{lampshaded}} when the hero is frantically trying to think of a way out of the mess and realizes that of all the things that could have gone wrong with their plan, no one considered the idea that they would [[spoiler: be suspected of being deserters]].

* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends''

* ''Series/{{The 100}}'': The plan to get Bellamy into Mount Weather is for him to pose as a captured Grounder, and for Lincoln to pose as a Reaper who's captured him; when Mount Weather opens their doors to take Bellamy, Lincoln will kill the people who come out and Bellamy will slip inside. Backfires when Lincoln can't resist being given another dose of [[FantasticDrug the Red]], and lets Bellamy get captured for real.
* ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. In a flashback to when they were on Lian Yu, Oliver Queen, disguised as one of the [[FacelessGoons balaclava-wearing mercenaries]], brings Slade Wilson into their camp with his hands apparently tied behind his back.
-->'''Mercenary:''' You killed a few of my friends, you son-of-a-bitch!\\
'''Slade:''' [[PreAssKickingOneLiner And I'm going to kill a few more.]] ''(takes [[GunsAkimbo two pistols]] out from behind his back and guns them down)''
* ''Series/BabylonFive''. Londo attempts this with G'Kar for the assassination of Emperor Cartagia. Starts to be subverted when Cartagia replaces G'Kar's rigged-to-break chains with real ones on a whim, but G'Kar breaks them anyway.

** In "Cygnus Alpha", Gan is selected as a human sacrifice by the local cult, so Blake is shown readying the others to attack the priests when they show up to collect him. The next scene has Gan brought in chains to the cult leader, and the priests explain that they were attacked by his friends but were able to fight them off. Turns out Blake and the others are [[DressingAsTheEnemy dressed in the hooded cloaks of the priesthood]] with Gan as a TrojanPrisoner.
** In "Project Avalon", Blake and Vila try this trick using a captured guard, but for obvious reasons it doesn't work for long. The guard plays along briefly, then shouts a warning (fortunately he chooses to flee instead of helping his fellow guard subdue the rebels). Ironically the RebelLeader in the detention centre they're planning to rescue (yes, [[FollowTheLeader this episode was filmed just weeks after]] ''Star Wars'' came out) is ActuallyADoombot, so the same trick is being pulled on them.

** In Spike's introductory episode, Angel tries this with Xander as the prisoner, using EnforcedMethodActing to coax realistic prisoner behavior out of him. It doesn't work, as Spike knows Angel too well and thus knows he's faking it.
** This Trope appears in a Season 3 episode in which [[spoiler: Angel's soul is apparently removed by a sorcerer, thus allowing Angel and Faith to kidnap Buffy and in reality allowing Angel and Buffy to learn of the Mayor's plans for the ascension.]] Since this is quite drawn out, it might actually count as a reverse interrogation instead.
* This is how Michael Weston gets to a fugitive on the lam in the ''Series/BurnNotice'' episode "Friendly Fire." Michael plays the prisoner.
** The voiceover even came close to calling the trope by name: "The ultimate Trojan horse is a shackled prisoner."
* ''Series/CowboyBebop2021''. InvokedTrope by Vicious to kill off the leaders of TheSyndicate. His fellow underbosses Mao and Santiago will deliver him BoundAndGagged for plotting TheCoup, but actually in trick handcuffs that can be released at will. However the other two betray Viscious and have him ShippedInShackles and executed for real. [[spoiler:Or they would have if Viscious hadn't anticipated this and put a gagged Santiago in shackles with a holographic disguise.]]

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E2TheDalekInvasionOfEarth "The Dalek Invasion of Earth"]] has an attempt at this. The Daleks are ''not'' amused.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E4PlanetOfTheDaleks "Planet of the Daleks"]] has a more successful use of the trope.
** The Doctor and Romana allow Count Scarlioni to take them and Duggan prisoner (much to Duggan's chagrin) in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath "City of Death"]], so the Doctor can learn more about Scarlioni's plan. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] as Scarlioni was smarter than the average ''Series/DoctorWho'' villain.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E4StateOfDecay "State of Decay"]]: Romana poses as Tarak's prisoner so they can sneak into the tower to rescue Adric.

** When Lockup first started becoming a problem in Gotham Bats couldn't afford to be sidelined by being captured but needed someone to figure out where Lockup was taking everyone so the current [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin]] got himself picked up by Lockup by posing as petty criminal Alvin Draper.

** Done in the ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. After a surprisingly elaborate chase, the Joker is captured and sent to the cooler to be transported to Blackgate. However not only does he have a Plan B that results in Harvey and Rachel getting kidnapped and put in death traps. He implants a bomb in one of his henchmen, likewise has him arrested and taken to the G.C.P.D. After Batman and Gordon are busy trying to save Harvey and Rachel, he coaxes a fight with the guard looking over him, wins, holds the guard hostage then detonates the bomb. With the building in disarray, he's free and clear to capture Lau, his intended target, and escape. The one snag in this plan? He had to call a cell phone to activate the bomb. They didn't give him his [[OnePhoneCall phone call]].

* One issue of ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' has Frank allow himself be captured by a gang to lure out a reclusive gang boss so he can take him out.

'''Hero:''' ...Enough of this talking, harharhar. [Beats up guard] I runs out of ideas after a while.

* In ''Literature/TwentyYearsAfter'', Porthos and D'Artagnan pretend to take prisoners Athos and Aramis.

*** Bane and two of his mercenaries let themselves get captured so he can find out exactly who Dr. Pavel made a deal with instead of him. That soldier who informs the CIA agent that the hooded prisoners worked for Bane? It might take a second viewing of the film to realize that he is Bane's right-hand sniper, Barsad, posing as a Uzbekistan militant.
*** Later, when Bruce returns to Gotham, this is the method through which he gets to Fox, who can help him reach his backup Batsuit. First, he enlists Selina Kyle by appealing to her better nature and offering her the Clean Slate program (it is hinted that a Trojan Prisoner ploy will be used when Bruce tells her "I need you to find out where they're holding him [Fox], then take me in"). The steps after that are simple: Bruce lets himself get captured by Bane's men, who put a bag over his head and take him to the holding tank where Lucius Fox and Miranda Tate are being held. After he is deposited, Selina comes down and tells the mercenaries that Bane wants Bruce and Fox isolated from the others. They are led upstairs with a few mercenaries, and once out of sight from anyone else, she uses her CombatStilettos to knock out the mercenaries and unlocks Fox's handcuffs:
--->'''Lucius Fox:''' I like your girlfriend, Mr. Wayne.\\

--->'''Lucius Fox:''' I like your new girlfriend, Mr. Wayne! \\

* In ''Film/FaceOff'', this kicks off the plot, when Archer takes Castor Troy's face as part of a black bag operation to infiltrate [[SdrawkcabName Erewhon Prison]] and get information on Castor's bomb from Pollux Troy. This would have worked out if Castor hadn't woken from his coma and taken Archer's face in reply.

* In ''Series/TheWire'', gangster-robbing Omar is framed for murder and gets arrested. He knows well that this is probably a ploy by his enemies to get him shanked in lock-up. Sure enough, even though he starts out in a private cell, soon a guard lets in two menacing figures, and one of them produces a makeshift blade. As Omar prepares to make his last stand, they smile and reveal that they were sent by his dear friend Butchie, quickly getting themselves arrested so they could arm, armor, and stand with him. Note that in this example, there is no fake guard, that we know of. There may have been some [[DirtyCop bribery]] involved.

** Done in the ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. After a surprisingly elaborate chase, the Joker is captured and sent to the cooler to be transported to Blackgate. However not only does he have a Plan B that results in Harvey and Rachel getting kidnapped and put in death traps. He implants a bomb in one of his henchmen, likewise has him arrested and taken to the G.C.P.D. After Batman and Gordon are busy trying to save Harvey and Rachel, he coaxes a fight with the guard looking over him, wins, holds the guard hostage then detonates the bomb. With the building in disarray, he's free and clear to capture Lau, his intended target, and escape.
*** The one snag in this plan? He had to call a cell phone to activate the bomb. They didn't give him his one phone call.
** In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', Bane and two of his mercenaries let themselves get captured so he can find out exactly who Dr. Pavel made a deal with instead of him. That soldier who informs the CIA agent that the hooded prisoners worked for Bane? It might take a second viewing of the film to realize that he is Bane's right-hand sniper, Barsad, posing as a Uzbekistan militant.

* ''Series/PersonOfInterest''. Showing extraordinary confidence in the ability of Shaw and the Machine to protect her, Root lets herself be [[BlindfoldedTrip black-hooded]] and dragged off to a CIA BlackSite for interrogation, [[GetIntoJailFree in order to free another prisoner there]].

** In "Stardust City Rag", Seven of Nine offers herself as payment for Maddox, for secretly personal reasons, but rationalizing that her Borg components would be a fair trade. Raffi hides a small transport enhancer on her person which will blend in with her implants and rigs the cuffs to come off whenever Seven wants, allowing her to get the drop on Bjayzl.
** In "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2", Narek volunteers to pretend to be the captive of Rios, Raffi and Elnor so that they can turn him in for Saga's murder. It's a ruse so that they can enter Coppelius Station and get close enough to the beacon in order to destroy it.

* ''ComicBook/LeScorpion'': In ''The Angel's Shadow'', Armando and Mejai pull this stunt (with Armando dressed as a Warrior Monk) to gain access to the Vatican dungeons to rescue Hussar.

** Rusty does the same to Basher in ''Ocean's Eleven'', posing as an FBI agent to take him into custody before the LAPD can take him.

[[quoteright:331:[[Film/ANewHope https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/trojan_prisoner_star_wars.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:331:"Prisoner transfer? I wasn't informed of any--auggg!"]]

[[folder:Machinima]]
* Used in Chapter 15 of ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'': Reconstruction, where Church poses as Agent Washington's prisoner so they can get past they at the A.I storage facility. It fails when one guard gets suspicious and decides to report it to his superiors, leading to a shoot-out instead.
[[/folder]]

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1540224365090584000
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[[quoteright:331:[[Film/ANewHope https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/trojan_prisoner_star_wars.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:331:"Prisoner transfer? I wasn't informed of any--auggg!"]]

%% Caption selected per above IP thread. Please do not replace or remove without discussion here:
%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1404492079030138900

* In ''Manga/FairyTail'', Mirajane, Natsu, Wendy and the Exceed pull this trick with Mirajane transforming into a guard, hiding the Exceed in the big uniform and pretending that she wants to deliver the two Dragon Slayers to the king.
* Winry pretends to be Scar's hostage in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' in order to get away from Kimblee and his military attachment.
* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWingEndlessWaltz'' Duo pulls this gambit to protect [[TheMole Trowa]].
* While the series ''Manga/MysteriousJoker'' has been prone to DistressBall, some of the instances have been to invoke this. Joker will often use this to get closer to the treasure he's trying to steal
* James Bond in ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'' asks to be arrested by Patterson to get into Scotland Yard and steal evidence.
* In ''Anime/DragonBallSuperSuperHero'', the Red Ribbon Army's plan to lure Gohan to their lair is to kidnap his daughter Pan. Problem for them is that [[BadassAdorable Pan is already a skilled fighter at just three years old]], so their attempt to take her just results in an unconscious goon. That said, she agrees to fake her capture for an undercover Piccolo to get Gohan to the base anyway, namely because Piccolo sees it as an opportunity for Gohan to start training again via his PapaWolf instinct.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Dynamo5}}'', a government agent pulls this on the main characters, without telling them, leading them to believe he's turned evil.

* In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW'', Megatron allows himself to be taken prisoner in hopes that the Autobots would take him to Cybertron where he could use space bridge technology within himself to ambush them with the sudden appearance of his entire army. Galvatron and the Deceptigod completely ruin this plan.
* Done in a ''ComicBook/TeenTitansGo'' issue (the one based on the '03 series) that introduced Wonder Girl to infiltrate Blackfire's base of operations. They have Beast Boy disguise himself as a Gordanian and sneak the uncaptured Titans in to rescue the others. Blackfire even lampshades it herself as she berates herself for not realizing it sooner.

* In their first mission, the ''ComicBook/HuntersHellcats'' infiltrate a Japanese base with Hunter and Snake Oil driving a captured tank and marching the rest of the Hellcats ahead of them as captured spies.

* As an homage to ''Film/ANewHope'''s use below, this was used in Allronix's ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' FanFic ''Destiny's Pawn,'' as Carth attempts to bluff his way through a Sith base with Zaalbar as a "prisoner." Subverted, as the receptionist on duty doesn't buy it for a second.

* In ''Fanfic/ShadowchasersTorment'', Edgar discovers that the lizard king village has been taken over by a tyrant named Scath. Because the former shaman Sslinth hates Scath too, Edgar convinces Sslinth to try this to infiltrate the temple, with Edgar and Maddie posing as prisoners. (Unfortunately, Scath is onto them, but [[TimeForPlanB Edgar has a plan-B.]])
* In ''Fanfic/NarutoTheSecretSongsOfTheNinja,'' Team 7 infiltrate [[spoiler:Orochimaru's base]] this way, by disguising themselves as [[KillAndReplace some mooks they disposed of]] with henge and having Sakura play the prisoner.

-->'''Guard:''' (''Raises his weapon, pointing it at Preed'') You're lying! He's not a slave and you're not traders. He doesn't carry himself like a slave! Look at the way he stands... probably ex-military. Akrennian traders always threaten before they ask a favor, it's tradition. (''to Stith'') And YOUR robes are made out of bedspreads!\\
'''Preed:''' Just out of curiosity, did we have a [[TimeForPlanB plan "B"?]] ''(Stith charges the guard and proceeds to [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beat the crap out of him]])'' An intelligent guard. [[DidNotSeeThatComing Didn't see]] ''[[{{Lampshading}} that]]'' [[DidNotSeeThatComing one coming]]. (''tasers the guard'')

* In ''Film/TheATeam'', Murdock is disguised as the General by wearing a bag over his head, and [[spoiler: when Pike shoots him, it appears that he has died. Actually, it was ketchup packets and explosive squibs.]]

* ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy''

-->'''Mercenary:''' You killed a few of my friends, you son-of-a-bitch!
-->'''Slade:''' [[PreAssKickingOneLiner And I'm gonna to kill a few more.]] ''(takes [[GunsAkimbo two pistols]] out from behind his back and guns them down)''

* ''Series/BlakesSeven''

* ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed''

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries''

* One mission in ''VideoGame/GuildWars: Nightfall'' involves DressingAsTheEnemy to infiltrate Varesh Ossa's base. If you bring your centaur companion, who can't ("You may be able to dress as Kournans, two-legs, but what am I supposed to be, your mascot?"), guess what you do with him. (Complete with dialogue straight out of ''Franchise/StarWars''!)

* ''Tears to Tiara''

* ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder'' at one point sends B.J. Blazkowicz into a labor/concentration camp to make contact with a particular scientist and free him. It pretty quickly turns into a general jailbreak.

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto''
** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto2'': The "Alma Mater Return" mission revolves around intentionally going to prison, stealing a guard uniform, and sparking a riot.
** This is the focus of one of the online heists in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV''. Two of the heist crew members are brought into a penitentiary as a "guard" and "prisoner", in order to bust out a prisoner needed for the next heist.
* The ground portion of the ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' mission, ''Brushfire'', starts off with this trope with the player and their bridge officers as the "prisoners" and Rodek as the "guard."
* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher2AssassinsOfKings'' has multiple instances of this trope. The first is when Geralt pretends to have captured rebel leader Iorveth to lure Letho out. Unfortunately, this plan is ruined when the Blue Stripes attack. Depending on your choice, this can end up either with Geralt capturing Iorveth for real, or with him helping Iorveth escape. The second instance is when you decide to follow Iorveth in the game's second act. When an infiltration behind enemy lines goes awry, Geralt is helped by Vernon Roche, who uses this trope to smuggle him out of the enemy base.
* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'': In order to interrogate Caleb Menge, the leader of the radical Witch Hunters, Triss pretends to be Geralt's captive to gain access to their headquarters. Depending on your choices, the ruse either succeeds or Geralt breaks the ruse and starts slaughtering all of the Witch Hunters for threatening to torture Triss.

* In an episode of [[Series/{{MASH}} M*A*S*H]], BJ and Hawkeye accidentally captured a Chinese soldier who ''really'' didn't want to fight any more. Suddenly, their prisoner, who they had nicknamed Ralph, pointed his rifle at them and shouted orders (in Chinese, of course), just as a Chinese patrol came around a corner. After the patrol was satisfied that his "prisoners" were in good hands and left, Ralph lowered his rifle and surrendered again.

* ''Series/TheNewAvengers'': Steed and Purdey pull this trick to inflitrate Soo Choy's base in "Trap".

* ''Franchise/DocSavage'': In ''Devil on the Moon'', Lurgent and his men pull this trick to gain access to Doc's HQ and capture Renny, Long Tom and Pat.

* In the ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAkaneia Dark Dragon and Sword of Light]]'' manga adaptation by Maki Hakoda, this is one of Marth's favourite tactics to outsmart stronger armies, with himself as the captive.

* In the Franchise/DCUniverse, Franchise/{{Batman}} once infiltrated Belle Reve prison, home of the the Comicbook/SuicideSquad, by posing as criminal 'Matches' Malone and arranging for Commissioner Gordon to have Malone held there while being transferred.

* A variation in ''[[Comicbook/{{X 23}} X-23: Target X]]'': Comicbook/TheKingpin is engaged in a MobWar with a rival gangster named Fade, and hires the Facility to deal with him when his own men can't. In order to get an assassin close enough, Fisk feeds information via a mole in his organization about his beloved niece, "Samantha," whom Fade then abducts. However "Samantha" is actually X-23. And Fade was planted with a trigger scent-laced letter...

* In ''FanFic/ShadowchasersTorment'', Edgar discovers that the lizard king village has been taken over by a tyrant named Scath. Because the former shaman Sslinth hates Scath too, Edgar convinces Sslinth to try this to infiltrate the temple, with Edgar and Maddie posing as prisoners. (Unfortunately, Scath is onto them, but [[TimeForPlanB Edgar has a plan-B.]])
* In ''FanFic/NarutoTheSecretSongsOfTheNinja,'' Team 7 infiltrate [[spoiler:Orochimaru's base]] this way, by disguising themselves as [[KillAndReplace some mooks they disposed of]] with henge and having Sakura play the prisoner.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10 Omniverse}}'': In "The Frogs of War: Part 2", Ben gains a new transformation named Bulfrag which he uses to pose as an Incursean guard and "captures" Gwen, Kevin, Max and Blukic so they can infiltrate Plumbers [=HQ=] after it was taken over by the Incurseans.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Jackie Chan Adventures}}'' episode "Rumble in the Big House", Xiao Fung's demon portal is in Hollowlands Penitentiary, a prison. To get inside, ShenMont[[note]]Shen Du in Valmont's body[[/note]], Ratso, and Finn rob a bank and allow themselves to get arrested so they can use the Panku Box to free him.

* Used heavily in the ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' episode "Terrors", where Superboy and Miss Martian disguise themselves as supervillains and allow themselves to be "arrested" by the ComicBook/JusticeLeague. While in Belle Reve prison, they foil an attempted breakout and save the day.

* ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn'': [[MasterOfDisguise Clayface disguised as a cop]] and King Shark attempt this to sneak into a police station in episode 6. [[SubvertedTrope The cops immediately freak out, tranquilize and beat the shit out of King Shark before shipping him to Blackgate prison]], all in the span of less than five seconds.