A chase scene trope wherein Bob (the chased) runs/drives through an area containing people potentially hostile to both him and Charlie (the chaser), in the hopes of slowing the chaser down. Usually this involves riling them up somehow. If it fails, Bob ends up Chased by Angry Natives.
See also Summon Bigger Fish, Torches and Pitchforks, Defensive Feint Trap.
Examples
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Anime & Manga
- In the Cowboy Bebop episode Stray Dog Strut, Hakim (the bounty of the week), Spike, and two scientists are all chasing after Ein on foot. Ein runs under a card table where a couple of guys are playing chess as a crowd watches. Hakim, who's enormously tall, easily clears the table, leaving the group surprised. Then Spike simply crashes through the table. By the time the two scientists arrive, they find their way blocked by a bunch of angry people.
Comic Books
- The Punisher:
- The Punisher: Welcome Back, Frank: Chased by Mafia goons through a zoo, Frank runs through the polar bear enclosure, punches the first sleepy one he sees and keeps running. By the time the goons get there, they are facing three very pissed-off polar bears.
- In another story, Frank is driving around town killing various gang members and criminals. One group survives the initial attack and gives chase. Frank gets rid of them by driving through a Mafia meeting without stopping, the gangstas following aren't so lucky.
- Used in Asterix by one of the boars in the forest. Whenever pursued by the Gauls, he leads them across a Roman patrol, and flees while they beat each other up.
- One or two BDs have the hero escape pursuit by running into a gang of Football Hooligans, claiming the pursuer is for the other team, and flee once the carnage begins.
- In Hitman vs Lobo, Hitman uses this trick, shooting Lobo in the eyes (forcing him to follow by smell until they regenerate) and leading him in a merry chase through all the local gang meeting places, dispatching several of his personal foes in the ensuing chaos. Then he leads him into an actual ambush by Six-pac and his squad... The gods of plot are with him and the most incompetent band of super-misfits on the planet actually wins.
- In one of the Kaamelott comics, Arthur and co are climbing to the top of a mountain to defeat an evil necromancer. Along the way, they come across a gigantic Rodent of Unusual Size, fortunately asleep. When things go wrong at the summit, they slide back down on improvised sleds, hurling stones at the rat as they pass. When the pursuing necromancer arrives, the rat is awake and angry, and proceeds to eat him.
Fan Works
- All Guardsmen Party: The Guardsmen are trying to return to base, but are being tailed by a very aggressive traffic cop. Not willing to expose themselves either by revealing the base or gunning down a police officer, they instead drive a few laps through the middle of a gunfight between some Hive gangs. Their van only takes a few incidental bullets, while the cop is deliberately shot down and swarmed by pipe-wielding kids. When he shows up later, the cop is pissed.
Film
- Inverted in A Low Down Dirty Shame; Shame interrogates a Latino crook, then lets him go... turns out they were backstage of a Skinhead rally.
- The crew of Serenity intentionally provoke a fleet of Reaver spaceships into following them, so that they can use them in a surprise attack on the Operative's fleet.
Literature
- Interesting Times: Rincewind, pursued by the palace guard, finds himself trapped in the wrestler's quarters. He gets out of it by pointing at one of the guards, claiming he has a pork sandwich on him, and escapes as the guards are crushed in the stampede.
- Hermione attempts this in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, running through the centaurs' territory in the hopes that Umbridge will be dealt with by them. However, it turns out the centaurs do not appreciate being used that way, even if the target is the villainous Dolores Umbridge. They carry off Umbridge, but then turn on her and Harry.
- At least one Redwall novel has the heroes evade capture by stirring up hornets or wasps and running just as the vermin approach.
- In Lawrence Watt-Evans' The Misenchanted Sword, the protagonist — a soldier behind enemy lines — takes a nap in a tree, and when he wakes up, there's a young dragon on the ground beneath him. He jumps on the dragon but is unable to kill him, so he runs away through the forest, the dragon chasing him, until he finds himself unwittingly on the edge of a large enemy encampment. He screams and runs through the camp — and the sentries, soldiers, etc. who start chasing him have to turn around to deal with the dragon.
- The Dresden Files:
- This is awkwardly done by Harry in the book Small Favor when a huge snow storm has hit most of Chicago. Harry and a friend head to the train station to acquire something when they are beset upon by hobs, small imp-like monsters beholden to the Winter Queens. While they are handling these monsters and protecting people, one of the Gruffs, a Summer Fae assassin who has been trying to chase him, arrives in the form of a 10ft or taller goat-man. Summer Fae and Winter Fae have a deep dislike of each other at the best of times. So, Harry tricks the hobs into noticing the wounded Gruff and let nature take its course.
- In Changes this was discussed and Harry has to vehemently deny this was his intention. He explains to the native party he had no way of knowing that when he was escaping Red Court vampires pursuing him in the Chicago field office of the FBI, and he opened a door to the spirit world to escape, he would land in the private dining hall of the Erlking, a powerful Fae who has wanted to kill Harry ever since he trapped the Erlking in a magic circle. The Red Court vampires try to claim this whole thing is a plot by Harry to get the Erlking to kill them in Harry's place. The concept of being used like that angers the Erlking, who decides to let the parties face trial by combat. The victor will win his protection as a guest, the other will be treated like an invader.
Video Games
- It's (sometimes) possible to pull this off in Warcraft III, which contains monsters equally hostile to all players. However, it requires good timing so they don't attack you, and if your enemy is strong enough, fighting them merely gets him more money, experience, and items.
- In MMOs such as City of Heroes. it's possible to use this as a PK technique, by using a combination of long-range attacks and stealth to 'pull' a powerful group of monsters on top of enemy players.
