Look Behind You!: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Bob_and_George_What%27s_That.jpg|link=Bob and George|frame|[[Mega Man (video game)|You can never be too careful.]]]]
{{quote|''Look, it's the Goodyear Blimp!''
|'''Bill''' [[Time Travel|in the late 1800s!]], ''[[Bill and Ted (film)|Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure]]''}}
Alice is in a tight situation involving Bob. Maybe Bob wants money from her, or has a gun pointed at her head, or is just plain annoying.
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A variant is for Alice to just look past Bob with a quizzical expression, or to duck herself—this latter being an almost certain guarantee of Bob mocking Alice and then getting brained by the oncoming low bridge.
One of [[The Oldest Tricks in The Book]]; quite possibly ''the'' oldest. There have even been recorded tests where lab monkeys have done it - both to humans and other monkeys - possibly making the concept older than humanity. Telling the target his shoelace is untied or his fly is down are similar tricks, and are usually grouped with this one.
Related to [[We Need a Distraction]]. Also in the process of becoming a [[Discredited Trope]] (if not an outright [[Dead Horse Trope]]). Note, however, that just the two last words ({{spoiler|''behind you''}}) are pure [[Paranoia Fuel]] on their own. Compare [[Snap to the Side]]. If the method involved deliberately having them look somewhere just in time to be killed/heavily injured by something, see [[Death by Looking Up]].
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* A [[Running Gag]] in ''[[Bomberman Jetters]]'' is that any given character at any given point could say "Look, a Komodo dragon!" as a distraction.
* In ''[[Mai-Otome]]'', as Shiho evaluates Arika and Erstin's cooking results, she refuses to even try the "food" they made because of how disgusting it looks. Arika tells her that there's a spiral in the sky before putting a morsel in her mouth while she's distracted. Shiho finds the food disgusting and gets angrier.
*
* [[Eddie Izzard]]'s monologue on beekeeping depicts the process of honey-harvesting as walking into a hive and then saying "Look, there's a Ferrari over there!" so you can steal all the honey.▼
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== [[Fan
* In ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' fanfic ''A Black Comedy'':
{{quote|'''Sirius:''' Wait.
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== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Top Secret]]'' has a subversion of the second variant: During a train-top battle one of the combatants ends up ducking for a bridge... Only for the east-
* Marty McFly used this against several generations of Tannens throughout the ''[[Back to The Future]]'' trilogy. It only failed once, with Griff in 2015. He did turn and look, but was still able to block Marty's punch.
** For example, in Part II, just as Biff was about to kill Marty, Marty says, "Yo, I bet you're forgetting one thing. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" Biff falls for it.
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* In [[Neal Stephenson]]'s ''[[The Baroque Cycle]]'', "Half-Cocked" Jack Shaftoe resorts to this to outwit his enraged and violent sons, in characteristic Vagabond style:
{{quote|"Powers o' Darkness!" Jack exclaimed, focusing his one eye that hadn't swollen shut on a point in the middle distance. "I do believe that elephant is fookin' that camel up the arse -- or is it t'other way round?"}}
* ''[[
* The usual subversion in ''The Silver Pigs'' by Lindsey Davies—notable for the villain mocking Falco for using "that old trick" ''in [[Ancient Rome]]''.
* In ''[[Gentleman Bastard Sequence|The Lies of Locke Lamora]]'', Locke is getting his ass kicked by {{spoiler|the Grey King}}, and tricks him into thinking that Jean (who is a much better fighter than Locke) is right behind him. While he's distracted, Locke steals the dagger from his enemy's belt and stabs him to death.
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'''Harry:''' ...he's sitting in a wheelchair about forty feet behind you. Holding a shotgun. }}
* Tom Sawyer does this to his Aunt Polly early in [[The Adventures of Tom Sawyer]].
* [[The Machine Gunners|Chas McGill]] pulls this on Boddser Brown when Brown has him cornered. Turns out that
* In ''[[Low Fantasy|Gerfalcon]]'' (1927) by Leslie Barringer, Herluin looks past a bandit and shouts as if to reinforcements, "This way! This way! We have him!" The bandit turns to run, and Herluin hits him with a thrown club, then finishes him with his sword.
== [[Live
* Parodied frequently on ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]''—their version usually boils down to, "Hey, look, a ''big distracting thing!''"
* Would you believe that Maxwell Smart used this ploy in most episodes of ''[[Get Smart]]''?
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* Used - and [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] - by Drew Carey on ''[[The Drew Carey Show]]'': "Look, it's the oldest trick in the book!"
* Used by [[Kamen Rider Decade|Daiki Kaitou/Diend]] in the ''[[Kamen Rider Den-O|Den-O Trilogy: Episode Yellow]]'', trying to escape [[Time Cop]] Reiji Kurosaki by pointing out the DenLiner crew trying to reclaim the time train. Kurosaki doesn't buy it at first, so of course this is one of the few times [[Troll|Kaitou]] is being 100% truthful.
** In ''[[Kamen Rider W]]'', a [[Flash Back]] shows protagonist Shotaro as a [[Dark and Troubled Past|young crook]] doing this to beat cop Mikio Jinno...by shouting "Look, a UFO! A yeti!" [[Good Is Dumb|It works.]] And then at the end of the episode, [[
*** ''[[Kamen Rider Fourze]]'' has a [[Shout-Out]] to this in episode 7, where JK uses the exact same line to try and escape from a vengeance-minded [[Monster of the Week]]. It doesn't work for him, though.
* In ''[[The Cosby Show]]'', Cliff does this to Rudy during a checker game. {{spoiler|It doesn't work}}. Rudy then tries it on Cliff. {{spoiler|It works.}}
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== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==
* ''[[FoxTrot]]'' had Paige invoking this trope on an Ice Cream vendor at the Zoo, claiming that there is an escaped Lion, Tiger, and Bull Elephant in that order. By the time he even turns around, he notices that the Ice Cream Cone he prepared for Paige had far too many swirls (about 16, with some drooping over the cone). He also mentioned that she did something similar the previous summer.
* In the ''[[Pooch Cafe]]'' [http://imgsrv.gocomics.com/dim/?fh=4844b91b2768d15a67258648d49232df comic for March 9, 2011]{{Dead link}}, Chazz uses "Look! Halley's Comet!"
* ''[[Garfield]]''; the ''very first'' time Garfield stole Jon's dinner [https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1978/06/22?ct=v&cti=1502255 (way back in 1978)] he did so this way. More than four decades later, he hasn't learned.
== [[Recorded and Stand Up Comedy]] ==
▲* [[Eddie Izzard]]'s monologue on beekeeping depicts the process of honey-harvesting as walking into a hive and then saying "Look, there's a Ferrari over there!" so you can steal all the honey.
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== [[Theatre]] ==
* In ''[[Sherlock Holmes (theatre)|Sherlock Holmes]]'', Holmes uses this trick to handcuff Moriarty after getting him to place his hands within convenient reach.
== [[Toys]] ==
* Played around with in ''[[Bionicle]]'': Krika tells Tahu, who has him cornered, to look behind him. Tahu asks Krika if he really thinks that Tahu is stupid enough to fall for that. Krika tells Tahu that he's ''counting'' on that, since there actually ''is'' something behind him. Tahu chances the look, {{spoiler|and sure enough, four of Krika's allies are charging straight into the battle.}}
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== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Subverted in [https://web.archive.org/web/20111224172733/http://wulffmorgenthaler.com/2010/08/15/ this] ''[[Wulffmorgenthaler]]'' strip, when a [[Civilized Animal|gazelle caught bluffing at poker]] warns the other players about an incoming lion.
* The first storyline of ''[[A Modest Destiny]]'' had Maxim pull this from time to time. However, he took it to the next level by substituting an "escape dummy" (a giant stuffed doll of himself on a scarecrow frame) before running off.
* In ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', characters distract each other with some variant of "Hey, is that a demonic duck of some sort?" It always is. (except for once there was a picket sign instead, stating that the demonic duck was [[Weird Trade Union|on strike]]. This caused the distraction to fail.) Occasionally he [http://egscomics.com/?date{{=}}2002-04-22 complains about feeling used].
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* From ''[[Girl Genius]]'', we have this instance: [[Action Survivor|Von Zinzer]]: [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100118 "Uh... hey, check it out."] - though in this case not only does the target look, but there's actually something to see.
* In ''[[The Heroes of Middlecenter]]:'' "Look, a distracting thing!"
* Played with throughout ''[[Bob and George]]'', usually accompanied with the phrase "yoink." Parodied [https://web.archive.org/web/20070630154506/http://bobandgeorge.com/Archive/index.php?date=021208 here].
** ''Bob and George'' also loves double-subverting this. Someone would try it. The other person wouldn't fall for it, but the first character would run off anyway.
** My personal favorite was when someone pulled this on Mynd. Before turning around he explained, "[[Genre Savvy|I know this is probably a trick]], [[Dangerously Genre Savvy|but I can't take the chance that it's not]]."
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** And let us not forget how [[Final Fantasy IV|Zeromus]] (the representation of Alex's hatred) was tricked into turning around ''three times''. Naturally, the moment he finally catches on and refuses to look, the thing Bob and Alex are talking about (a naked Alanis Morisette, the representation of Alex's cynicism) actually is behind him.
* However, in [http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=114 this] ''[[Sequential Art (webcomic)|Sequential Art]]'' strip, it fails.
* Occurs once in ''[[Jack (webcomic)|Jack]]'' in [http://www.pholph.com/index_a.php?Strip=1079 this strip]{{Dead link}}
* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in [http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/123 this] ''[[Looking for Group]]'' comic.
{{quote|'''[[Omnicidal Maniac|Richard]]''': Good evening. This is a diversion. [[Kill It with Fire|* fwoosh!*]]}}
* In ''Tale of the Cave'': [https://web.archive.org/web/20120109065910/http://taleotc.com/126 "HEY LOOK, A DISTRACTION!"]
* There's a [[Double Subversion]] in [http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/comics/irreg2167.png this] [[Irregular Webcomic]] strip.
* ''[[Emergency Exit]]'' does this...it works because [[Cloudcuckoolander|Eddie]] [http://eecomics.net/?strip_id=891 collects distractions.]
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* In ''[[Men in Hats]]'', Aram [http://www.meninhats.com/d/20040123.html loves distracting people] [http://www.meninhats.com/d/20040920.html this way].
* Joel in ''[[Weregeek]]'' distracts [[Cosplay Otaku Girl|Abbie]] by "[http://www.weregeek.com/2012/01/30/ A girl with a Nyan Cat hairband]".
* In a ''[[Nodwick]]'' strip, Nodwick, Yeagar, and Artax have lured a giant demon towards a lake full of holy water that they are standing in front of. Artax yells this warning to him, and the guy says, "Sorry magic boy, you're going to have to come up with something slightly more original. Telling me my shoelace is untied won't work either." Unfortunately for him, Artax isn't bluffing; Piffany, who is piloting an angel-shaped [[Humongous Mecha]], does a cannonball into the lake, dousing him and melting him into sludge.
== [[Web Original]] ==
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* As ''[[Kim Possible]]'' and Dr. Drakken fight on top of a train, Kim suddenly gasps and hits the deck. Drakken turns to look, and meets the roof of a tunnel.
* In the ''[[Word Girl]]'' episode "A Simple Plan", Dr. Two-Brains (who is consciously making his plots much less complex) escapes by using this phrase and running away while her back is turned. As Word Girl readily admits to a nearby grocer, "That... was embarrassing."
* Played straight in ''[[
* In a ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'' short, Dee Dee keeps [[Crying Wolf]], taunting Dexter with "Dexter, what's that?" Then she says "Dexter, what's that?" one last time, and Dexter replies, "I'm not falling for that again" - when there's a giant bug sitting on his head, big enough that it's even obscuring his vision.
* Sonic in ''[[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' manages this by just pointing and casually stating, "''I'M'' over ''there''." The villains in this show were [[Too Dumb to Live|pretty damn stupid]].
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{{quote|'''Flash''': You're too fast for me... But not for him.
'''AMAZO''': That's the oldest trick-- ''(gets blasted from behind by Green Lantern)'' }}
*
{{quote|'''Actress Azula''': You caught me. Wait, what's that? [[Crowning Moment of Funny|I think it's your honor!]]
'''Actor Zuko''': Where?! }}
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* ''[[Invader Zim]]'' just points upward to distract the other aliens in "Abducted." It takes them [[Double Take|more than a few takes]] to realize [[Too Dumb to Live|he's not standing there anymore]].
** In "Gaz, Taster of Pork," Dib tells a pair of pig monster guards "Hey, look! There's something a pig thing would like!" It works, but the guards catch him soon after he gets past them.
* From ''[[Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot (animation)|Big Guy and Rusty
* In ''[[Arthur]]'', Buster, after apologizing for his cocky persona after letting his heroism get to his head, shouts to Francine and Arthur "Look out! A Runaway Piano!" Francine utters "Very funny!" in a disbelieving manner, but the POV shows that Buster was being very serious when he tells them this, as a piano was rolling towards them, causing Buster to tackle them to get them out of the way.
* ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'', "Canderemy": Candace points and shouts "Hey, isn't that the guy from that movie?" to distract Stacy from the fact that Candace and Jeremy have [[Biological Mashup|literally become joined at the hip]].
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'''Time Cop:''' I cannot argue that.}}
== [[Real Life]] ==
* A real life example would be Operation Fortitude from [[World War II]], where the allies fooled the Germans into thinking the real liberation forces landing in Normandy were actually a diversion so that
** Likewise, earlier they'd convinced the Germans that the coming attack on Sicily was a diversion and the real attack would be a two-pronged assault on Sardinia and Greece. [[Winston Churchill]] said anyone but a fool would know the target ''must'' be Sicily, but British intelligence made the Germans believe that was what they ''wanted'' them to think.
* #6 of [[The Thirty-Six Stratagems]] is practically this.
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[[Category:Alice and Bob]]
[[Category:The Oldest Tricks in The Book]]
[[Category:Older Than Dirt]]
[[Category:The Plan]]
[[Category:Look Behind You!]]
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