History Main / WaitHere

* Lampshaded in the GagDub of ''GhostStories''.
-->“Obeying horror movie rules, I'm going to go out alone. You stay here while I go out looking for help.” - Hajime
-->“Okay. God bless him. Leaving me here alone and defenseless in a cemetery. What a guy.” - Momoko

* ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'' has an interesting variation in the Watanagashi arc. Keiichi and Rena have gotten Mion [[spoiler:actually Shion]] to confess to the murders and convinced her to turn herself in. She agrees, on the condition that she be given a half hour alone with Keiichi. Keiichi agrees, but (understanding that his friend is a homicidal maniac) tells Rena that if he's not back within the time limit, to call the police. Rena does just this. As a result, Keiichi narrowly avoids having several nails hammered into his hand.

-->-- [[http://web.archive.org/web/20080224002204/www.geocities.com/evilsnack/sidekick.htm The Things I Will Do if I Am Ever the Sidekick]]

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Brawl_Wait_Here_3274.JPG]]]]

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits'' episodes

* ''Film/BeverlyHillsCop'' uses the sidekick rescue variant when Axel Foley (lead Eddie Murphy) goes into a warehouse, telling Billy (Judge Reinhold) to stay put, because he doesn't have probable cause. The strictly by-the-book Billy gets increasingly nervous as the BigBad and his thugs show up then leave with the {{Love Interest|s}} in tow, and finally gets up the nerve to go in. The resulting BigDamnHeroes moment sets up his CharacterDevelopment arc for the rest of the movie and the sequel.

* {{Discussed|Trope}} and promptly played straight in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09042002/ this]] ''WapsiSquare'' strip.

[[caption-width-right:350:"[[DistressedDamsel And try not to get caught for two friggin' seconds.]]"]]

Of course, the common subversion of this trope is that it's the hero who ends up getting in over his head. In this case, the buddy/girl will get to be the {{big damn hero|es}} for once and bail him out of a thrashing by the villain's [[{{Mook}} goons]]. Cue AnAesop about ThePowerOfFriendship when the hero complains about them ignoring orders.

* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' Ichigo tells Orihime and Uryu to wait for him during the Ulquiorra fight, [[spoiler:she doesn't, the resulting crossfire probably saves Ichigo's life… And causes his SuperPoweredEvilSide to give Uryu a nearly mortal wound]].

* ''Film/LastActionHero'' goes into this at length, but Jack provides a very pragmatic solution: ''a gun'' in the glove compartment. Unfortunately, it also gives Daniel enough leverage to follow him… and get captured.

* ''Film/BeverlyHillsCop'' uses the sidekick rescue variant when Axel Foley (lead Eddie Murphy) goes into a warehouse, telling Billy (Judge Reinhold) to stay put, because he doesn't have probable cause. The strictly by-the-book Billy gets increasingly nervous as the BigBad and his thugs show up then leave with the LoveInterest in tow, and finally gets up the nerve to go in. The resulting BigDamnHeroes moment sets up his CharacterDevelopment arc for the rest of the movie and the sequel.

* In ''OceansEleven'', when part of the crew goes to [[spoiler: steal the “pinch,”]] George Clooney expressly tells Matt Damon to wait in the van. He can't take the bickering of the two brothers and leaves, which leads to… complications.

* In ''Film/GreenLantern'', Hal Jordan tells [[LoveInterest Carol Ferris]] to "Stay here" as he goes off to fight [[BigBad Parallax]]. Considering that the two of them have just witnessed Parallax [[YouHaveFailedMe brutally murder his own minion]], Carol readily agrees. But after Hal immediately gets himself into trouble, Carol saves the day.

* ''TheTwilightZone'' TOS episode "Still Valley". A Confederate scout gives orders to his partner.

* Dawn in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' often fell into this. (“Dawn's in trouble; [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall must be Tuesday…]]”) Although to be fair, Xander had this happen to him occasionally (at least twice a season.)

* ''TheOuterLimits'' episodes

* ''{{CSI NY}}'' 'Point of No Return' has Mac tell Danny to wait by the car while they go in on a bust because Danny forgot his vest. Danny waits, but when the suspect runs out and into another area, Danny follows him anyway and ends up trying to survive a shooting match.

* As shown above in the page image, during The Subspace Emissary in ''SuperSmashBros'', [[Franchise/MetalGear Snake]] has been very clear to [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]] and [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Peach]].

* Jade in ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' lives and breathes this trope. Jackie will say “Stay here,” “Don't play with the CosmicKeystone,” “Don't try and fight the ancient evil dragon spirit.” And what does she do? The above. It's gotten to the point Jackie should carry chloroform and rope wherever he goes just to subdue her. Or accept she's his SideKick, train her, and let her be annoying/helpful like a more competent [[TheScrappy Scrappy]].
* ''JonnyQuest'' TOS episode "Terror Island". When Race Bannon arrives at the title island, he tells Jonny and Hadji to stay and guard the boat to keep them out of danger. Naturally they disobey him, acquire a tractor and ram into the villain's laboratory, thus saving both Jonny's father and Race Bannon from a GiantSpider.

* ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'': The story "Don't Move" follows Odie as he is told to Wait Here while Garfield attends to some business. Unfortunately for Odie, it goes wrong from the beginning, when a dog-catching truck snaps him up. A series of misadventures ensue, ending when [[spoiler:Odie gets deposited just two feet away from the spot where he started. Garfield returns from his errand, oblivious to the events that had happened, then points at Odie and says with annoyance, "[[DramaticIrony You moved]]."]]

* This ends up actually working in ''TheGirlIn6E''. The title character asks the DamselInDistress to wait for her — at a shack in the middle of nowhere and the dead of night — while she goes to confront the antagonist, and to call 911 if she doesn't return in 15 minutes. You'd expect that she'll either get in over her head and be incapacitated, leaving her Damsel at the mercy of the antagonist, or that something or other will happen to the Damsel before she gets back. But while things don't go quite as smoothly as she'd hoped, she returns unharmed in all of 10 minutes, the Damsel is still where she left her, and everything proceeds swimmingly from there.

* This ends up actually working in ''TheGirlIn6e''. The title character asks the DamselInDistress to wait for her — at a shack in the middle of nowhere and the dead of night — while she goes to confront the antagonist, and to call 911 if she doesn't return in 15 minutes. You'd expect that she'll either get in over her head and be incapacitated, leaving her Damsel at the mercy of the antagonist, or that something or other will happen to the Damsel before she gets back. But while things don't go quite as smoothly as she'd hoped, she returns unharmed in all of 10 minutes, the Damsel is still where she left her, and everything proceeds swimmingly from there.

->''“If the Hero says ‘wait here,’ it really doesn't matter whether you obey him or not. If you stay, you will be captured by the Evil Overlord's henchmen as soon as the Hero is out of earshot. If you tag along, you will be caught by the Evil Overlord's henchmen as you stumble along. Don't agonize over your decision.”''

Whenever our hero has to go off and do something important, they first decide to dump off any
“dead weight” (such as [[SmallAnnoyingCreature cute sidekicks]] or LoveInterests) that might slow them down by [[DamselScrappy getting into trouble at precisely the wrong time]]. He'll tell the person something akin to “Wait here, if I'm not back in an hour, call the police.”

Of course, the common subversion of this trope is that it's the hero who ends up getting in over his head. In this case, the buddy/girl will get to be the {{big damn hero|es}} for once and bail him out of a thrashing by the villain's [[{{Mook}} goons]]. Cue {{A|nAesop}}esop about ThePowerOfFriendship when the hero complains about them ignoring orders.

--> '''Beckett''': “Wait here.”
--> '''Castle''': “[[SarcasmMode Yes, we've seen how well that works out.]]”

* At every crime scene, Detective Beckett orders Series/{{Castle}} to wait in the car... and he ''never fails'' to get mixed up in the final confrontation of the perp. Subverted in "Home is Where the Heart Stops," when he actually ''does'' wait in the car... and the perp lands on his windshield and drags him out anyway.

-->'''Daniel''': ''[heavily sarcastic]'' Yes. You go into the dark tunnel, alone, and I'll wait here in the dark room, alone. Great plan!

* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] on ''Series/{{NCIS}}'': Palmer is ordered to stay in the car and he does...but he ''[[CarFu drives the car into the perp!]]'':

* [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] and promptly played straight in [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09042002/ this]] ''WapsiSquare'' strip.

* April O'Neil does this in the ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' cartoon, but is at least slightly justified, in that if she listened to the turtles and stayed put, she wouldn't get a story. This was lampshaded in one episode when she trailed some thugs to a warehouse and she calls the turtles for reinforcements.

Of course, the common subversion of this trope is that it's the hero who ends up getting in over his head. In this case, the buddy/girl will get to be the [[BigDamnHeroes big damn hero]] for once and bail him out of a thrashing by the villain's [[{{Mook}} goons]]. Cue [[AnAesop Aesop]] about ThePowerOfFriendship when the hero complains about them ignoring orders.

* Done several ways in ''{{Chuck}}''. Chuck doesn't listen, gets in trouble. Chuck listens, gets in trouble. Chuck doesn't listen, and saves the day.

* At every crime scene, Detective Beckett orders {{Castle}} to wait in the car... and he ''never fails'' to get mixed up in the final confrontation of the perp. Subverted in "Home is Where the Heart Stops," when he actually ''does'' wait in the car... and the perp lands on his windshield and drags him out anyway.

* In ''KamenRiderDouble'''s prequel movie, Shotaro's boss Sokichi tells him “don't move a damn step from here” during a dangerous mission. Being an impulsive kid, Shotaro moves, and unintentionally causes Sokichi's death, which becomes [[MyGreatestFailure his greatest failure]].

* Discussed in ''EverymanHYBRID''. The characters are savvy enough to know that even if getting out of the car means you might run into [[TheSlenderManMythos the Slender Man]], staying in the car while the others go looking is never a good idea.

* ''{{Bambi}}'' has the titular character's mother telling him to wait while she checks the meadow to make sure its safe.

* In ''FullMetalAlchemist'', this is toyed with when Roy tells Riza to wait for him, but only a day. After that, she is to leave him essentially for dead. Of course, she refuses, and stays at her post. However, at the moment Roy returns, he finds [[spoiler:Major Armstrong instead! It freaks him out, but then he realizes that he's been a LONG time, so it wouldn't be too surprising if Riza had gone. She was just at the restroom at the moment though, and returns shortly after]].

* Fugitive Bronik says this to his child hostage Gillie twice in ''Film/TigerBay''. However, as Gillie is 11 years old, the first time she wanders off to play by the river. The second time, she is discovered by the [[HeroAntagonist police]].