History Main / TunnelKing

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': The Mole (inspired by an older villain named Melvin Mole) is a villain who, while attempting to tunnel out of his prison, tunneled his way into a pipeline carrying toxic waste and was mutated into something resembling an actual mole with phenomenal digging abilities.

* ''Creator/DCComics'': Cave Carson, an obscure character from the '60s who still makes the occasional cameo. He's a spelunker with a tunneling machine that he and his team use to explore underground caverns. Revived by Creator/YoungAnimal in ''Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye''.

** The Underground Man in ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'', responsible for starting out Sinnoh's extensive [[BeneathTheEarth Underground]] with his digging, along with his son and grandson, Roark and Byron, respectively.

* Relg, the zealot from ''Literature/TheBelgariad''. Though all his people are [[BeneathTheEarth underground dwelling]], Relg takes it to extremes, going as far as considering caves [[IncrediblyLamePun holey]]. Plus, he has a special magic that makes it possible for him (and [[{{Squick}} people he carries along]]) to ''walk through solid rock''.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Nugget from ''VideoGame/{{Kindergarten}}'' has dug a pit he calls the Nugget Cave in the sandbox that is deep enough that you'll die from falling/jumping into it unless you have something to cushion your fall. Ms. Applegate suspects that he's accomplished this by digging straight through the bottom of the box. His digging abilities come in handy more than once in ''VideoGame/Kindergarten2'', and both Ms. Applegate and Felix call him a "mole creature" at separate occasions.

* The Mole, a villain from the ''Golden Age of TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'' who constructed a mechanical exoskeleton that enables him to tunnel through anything.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Godforsaken}}'', some moord possess the strange ability to tunnel through space, creating invisible passages. Though no faster than walking above ground, it does allow one to move undetected and untouchable.
* The Skaven from ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' have a tunneling unit. Whether it appears where it should (directly underneath the enemy's artillery units, usually) or the tunnelers screw up horribly and either collapse their tunnel or arrive somewhere on another continent or at least at a different spot on the battlefield than they should (whereupon they spend the rest of the turn bickering about who held the map the wrong side up) is dependent on the roll of a die. Dwarven miners are a somewhat more reliable version.

* The [[BugWar Tyranids]] from ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' have tunneling creatures with the size and power of tanks.

Human versions of this character are almost always nicknamed The Mole, but that title was already taken for a [[TheMole different trope]]. {{Mole Miner}}s and MoleMen are often this. In a fight, expect some kind of DigAttack. See also OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame for an entire race typically having this trait.

* Andy W. Hol from ''Anime/AquarionEvol'' is pretty much obsessed with his holes. And rigging them to collapse under things.

* In ''Manga/FairyTail'' there is Virgo and [[{{Gonk}} Everlue]], with the former being a Tunnel Queen: their earth-based magic allows them to move freely into the ground and dig holes and tunnels with ease.

* A character from ''Manga/TheLawOfUeki'' has, as he calls it, "A power to turn my beautiful hair into a drill!" which allows him to dig extremely fast. Ueki states that this power is actually awesome, as he is pretty much unbeatable underground (that's the reason why he has to catch him in the air).

* Oddly, one of Team Rocket's specialties on ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', and often noted by them. Their holes are good enough to impress the very ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann''-esque Byron.
* Ryoga from ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', once he learns the Bakusai Tenketsu, a pseudo-{{Pressure Point}}s attack that lets him demolish rock with a touch of a finger. Once he learns the [[KamehameHadoken Shishi Hokodan]], he gets even better at it. Why someone with [[NoSenseOfDirection his directional issues]] is burrowing under the ground in the first place is a mystery.
* Free from ''Manga/SoulEater'' wanted to escape prison using this method, but [[Funny/SoulEater they only gave him chopsticks]].

* Simon the Digger from ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann''. Yes, "The Digger" is his [[TheMagnificent title]]. Prior to discovering Lagann, his main job and talent was to dig very fast (that's how he discovered Lagann in the first place), and it's therefore fitting enough that his mecha (and its successive upgrades) employs drills as weapons. He manages to fight off several enemies with tunneling tactics, including Viral, the Dai-Gunzan, and the Dai-Gundo. Even his name reflects this, as it's pronounced "Shimon" -- and "shimo" means "below" in Japanese.
* The Prince of the Underworld, from ''Manga/UruseiYatsura''. Being a TunnelKing is literally his power, akin to Lum's flight and [[ShockAndAwe lightning bolts]], but with NoSenseOfDirection.
%%* The mole guy from ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne''.

* Franchise/{{Batman}} had a villain called The Mole (inspired by an older villain named Melvin Mole). Attempting to tunnel out of his prison, he tunneled his way into a pipeline carrying toxic waste and was mutated into something resembling an actual mole with phenomenal digging abilities.
* ''Henry Burrows'' was a similar concept in ''ComicBook/TheBeano'' in TheNineties, minus the criminal aspect.
* Cave Carson, an obscure Creator/DCComics character from the '60s who still makes the occasional cameo. He's a spelunker with a tunneling machine that he and his team use to explore underground caverns. Revived by Creator/YoungAnimal in ''Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye''.
* On the other hand, the ComicBook/FantasticFour's Mole Man is a bit of a subversion. Even though he looks like a mole and lives underground, he lets his giant monsters do all the manual labor, including digging tunnels.
* Tunnel Rat from ''ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel'' is the squad's tunnel-making expert. He was an EOD tech (like Hama) and the toy was designed to resemble him.
* The Dalton Brothers from ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'' are experts in escaping through tunnels. They often dig one tunnel each to get out of their single cell, but still.
* An early ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'' (back when it was a comic book) story featured a character named Melvin Mole, who could dig through anything given an implement, be it a spade, a lunch spoon, a toothpick, or even his nose hair. This leads to his downfall when he tried to tunnel out of prison and [[spoiler:ended up tunneling into his own execution chamber]].

* In ''Film/TopSecret,'' captured scientist Prof. Flammond is using a spoon to dig an escape tunnel when Nick and the Resistance Fighters break in to rescue him. Flammond tells them he was almost finished with his tunnel and Nick takes a peek at what looks like the Holland Tunnel. He remarks, "Not bad!"