Witness Protection: Difference between revisions

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This idea in can be used fiction in a number of ways:
This idea in can be used fiction in a number of ways:
* If the protagonist goes into witness protection, expect focus on the hardships of the program. Frequently they were an innocent who has had to turn their life upside down because of someone else who is a threat to them; often they lost a loved one to the people they had to run away from (which may be why they were testifying in the first place).
* If the protagonist goes into witness protection, expect focus on the hardships of the program. Frequently they were an innocent who has had to turn their life upside down because of someone else who is a threat to them; often they lost a loved one to the people they had to run away from (which may be why they were testifying in the first place).
* If it's someone the protagonist knows, it's a convenient way to have them [[Put On a Bus]] and lose all contact with the rest of the cast without actually killing them. Similarly, you can expect copious [[Angst]] about losing someone they cared about to witness protection (like a boyfriend or girlfriend losing their lover who follows his or her family into the program).
* If it's someone the protagonist knows, it's a convenient way to have them [[Put on a Bus]] and lose all contact with the rest of the cast without actually killing them. Similarly, you can expect copious [[Angst]] about losing someone they cared about to witness protection (like a boyfriend or girlfriend losing their lover who follows his or her family into the program).
* It can also be approached from the other end: the protagonists start digging into someone's background, discover that it looks suspiciously fabricated and dig deeper under the assumption that they're a bad egg, and find themselves on the wrong end of a "back off" lecture from a US Marshal.
* It can also be approached from the other end: the protagonists start digging into someone's background, discover that it looks suspiciously fabricated and dig deeper under the assumption that they're a bad egg, and find themselves on the wrong end of a "back off" lecture from a US Marshal.
* The protectee might just blow the whole thing off and [[Ditch the Bodyguards]], leading to exactly the kind of dangerous escapades everyone was trying to avoid in the first place.
* The protectee might just blow the whole thing off and [[Ditch the Bodyguards]], leading to exactly the kind of dangerous escapades everyone was trying to avoid in the first place.
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* ''[[Lethal Weapon 2]]'' - Cops have to watch and protect a guy who ripped millions off from the mob before he testifies, then gets to disappear into Witness Protection with the money he swiped.
* ''[[Lethal Weapon 2]]'' - Cops have to watch and protect a guy who ripped millions off from the mob before he testifies, then gets to disappear into Witness Protection with the money he swiped.
* ''[[Sister Act]]'' - After witnessing a mob hit, a singer is placed in witness protection in a convent.
* ''[[Sister Act]]'' - After witnessing a mob hit, a singer is placed in witness protection in a convent.
* ''[[Eraser (Film)|Eraser]]''. [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] is the titular US Marshal whose job it is to make those in the federal Witness Protection Program disappear, as far as the world of the witness is concerned.
* ''[[Eraser]]''. [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] is the titular US Marshal whose job it is to make those in the federal Witness Protection Program disappear, as far as the world of the witness is concerned.
* There's a Mary-Kate and Ashley movie with this as the premise. Basically, Mary Kate and Ashley witness a bank robbery taking place; the bank robbers threaten them, or MK&A/the government has reason to believe that they'll come back to try and remove the witnesses to their crime. So MK&A and their family go into Witness Protection and eventually end up in Australia, running a bed and breakfast. (They stop at several states along the way, including Utah, and accidentally blow their cover rather spectacularly each time. In Utah, though, it's deliberate; they're under cover as Amish, and the girls just look at each other and then shout to everyone in hearing distance "We're in the Witness Protection Program!" Then they get told that this is the last chance they have, and are moved to Australia.) The rest of the movie is about the girls trying to assimilate into Australian culture, adopting a baby kangaroo, and trying to evade the bank robbers when they finally show up in Australia. At the end of the movie, the bank robbers are apprehended, and the girls are given the option to return to the life they used to know; they prefer to stay, but admit their real identities to their new friends, now that the danger's over.
* There's a Mary-Kate and Ashley movie with this as the premise. Basically, Mary Kate and Ashley witness a bank robbery taking place; the bank robbers threaten them, or MK&A/the government has reason to believe that they'll come back to try and remove the witnesses to their crime. So MK&A and their family go into Witness Protection and eventually end up in Australia, running a bed and breakfast. (They stop at several states along the way, including Utah, and accidentally blow their cover rather spectacularly each time. In Utah, though, it's deliberate; they're under cover as Amish, and the girls just look at each other and then shout to everyone in hearing distance "We're in the Witness Protection Program!" Then they get told that this is the last chance they have, and are moved to Australia.) The rest of the movie is about the girls trying to assimilate into Australian culture, adopting a baby kangaroo, and trying to evade the bank robbers when they finally show up in Australia. At the end of the movie, the bank robbers are apprehended, and the girls are given the option to return to the life they used to know; they prefer to stay, but admit their real identities to their new friends, now that the danger's over.
* ''[[Bullitt]]'' starts off with the titular cop being assigned to one of these. {{spoiler|It's his team's failure to keep the "witness" from getting killed that drives the plot for the rest of the film.}}
* ''[[Bullitt]]'' starts off with the titular cop being assigned to one of these. {{spoiler|It's his team's failure to keep the "witness" from getting killed that drives the plot for the rest of the film.}}
* Spoofed in ''Witless Protection'', with [[Larry the Cable Guy]].
* Spoofed in ''Witless Protection'', with [[Larry the Cable Guy]].
* ''[[Snakes On a Plane]]'' - The Hawaiian mob boss puts said snakes on said plane to kill a witness, because he'd "Tried everything else!"
* ''[[Snakes on a Plane]]'' - The Hawaiian mob boss puts said snakes on said plane to kill a witness, because he'd "Tried everything else!"
* in the film ''Mobsters and Mormons'' a family of three( with mob/mafia connections) is relocated to Utah. Hilarity ensues as they try to fit in, and deal with the overly friendly neighbors.
* in the film ''Mobsters and Mormons'' a family of three( with mob/mafia connections) is relocated to Utah. Hilarity ensues as they try to fit in, and deal with the overly friendly neighbors.
* ''[[Donnie Brasco]]'' went into this after the events detailed in the movie. Al Pacino's character in [[Real Life]] was very surprised and very, very pissed when "Donnie" walked into the courtroom to testify as an FBI agent. Eventually the agent was able to return to his normal life after the Fed's managed to get the Mob to call off the hit on him.
* ''[[Donnie Brasco]]'' went into this after the events detailed in the movie. Al Pacino's character in [[Real Life]] was very surprised and very, very pissed when "Donnie" walked into the courtroom to testify as an FBI agent. Eventually the agent was able to return to his normal life after the Fed's managed to get the Mob to call off the hit on him.
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* In the television show ''[[Cape Wrath]]'', the protagonists are moved to a town seemingly inhabited solely by those in witness protection, and the secrets they all hold serve to be an important plot device.
* In the television show ''[[Cape Wrath]]'', the protagonists are moved to a town seemingly inhabited solely by those in witness protection, and the secrets they all hold serve to be an important plot device.
* The TV show ''[[In Plain Sight]]'' features U.S. Marshals involved in this program and the various plights of their charges.
* The TV show ''[[In Plain Sight]]'' features U.S. Marshals involved in this program and the various plights of their charges.
* Darnell "Crabman" Turner from ''[[My Name Is Earl (TV)|My Name Is Earl]]'' is in this, and as soon as he gets spotted on TV by the entire country, he gets lifted with his family and vanishes.
* Darnell "Crabman" Turner from ''[[My Name Is Earl]]'' is in this, and as soon as he gets spotted on TV by the entire country, he gets lifted with his family and vanishes.
** In a case of [[Did Not Do the Research]], Joy manipulates the system by blowing her family's cover ''numerous'' times until she gets to live the life she's always wanted (a trophy wife in a gated community). She soon finds it to be a case of [[Be Careful What You Wish For]], because with her trailer trash past, she has a tough time fitting in with the other women.
** In a case of [[Did Not Do the Research]], Joy manipulates the system by blowing her family's cover ''numerous'' times until she gets to live the life she's always wanted (a trophy wife in a gated community). She soon finds it to be a case of [[Be Careful What You Wish For]], because with her trailer trash past, she has a tough time fitting in with the other women.
* In ''[[The Sopranos]]'', while looking at colleges with his daughter, Tony Soprano comes across a former member of the Mob who'd turned State's Evidence and gone into the witness protection program. Needless to say, the informer doesn't survive the experience.
* In ''[[The Sopranos]]'', while looking at colleges with his daughter, Tony Soprano comes across a former member of the Mob who'd turned State's Evidence and gone into the witness protection program. Needless to say, the informer doesn't survive the experience.
* Used in ''[[Bones (TV)|Bones]]'', Brennan's parents went into it, as did the man that killed her mother.
* Used in ''[[Bones]]'', Brennan's parents went into it, as did the man that killed her mother.
** I always had the impression that her parents went into a more informal witness protection, getting new identities themselves without the government's help.
** I always had the impression that her parents went into a more informal witness protection, getting new identities themselves without the government's help.
* ''[[Wiseguy]]''. Undercover cop John Henry Raglin advises a participant in the Garment Industry case to go into the Witness Protection Program. When she asks Raglin (who's posing as a mob enforcer) how come he knows so much about it, Raglin jokes, "Half my relatives are in it."
* ''[[Wiseguy]]''. Undercover cop John Henry Raglin advises a participant in the Garment Industry case to go into the Witness Protection Program. When she asks Raglin (who's posing as a mob enforcer) how come he knows so much about it, Raglin jokes, "Half my relatives are in it."
* One of the victims of the week in an early ''[[House (TV)|House]]'' episode is a mobster who is being prepped for this. It's this revelation that enable's that episode's [[Eureka Moment]].
* One of the victims of the week in an early ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' episode is a mobster who is being prepped for this. It's this revelation that enable's that episode's [[Eureka Moment]].
* In ''[[24 (TV)|Twenty Four]]'', Jonas Hodges is supposed to be sent into witness protection - but an assassin gets to him first.
* In ''[[24|Twenty Four]]'', Jonas Hodges is supposed to be sent into witness protection - but an assassin gets to him first.
* ''[[The Wire]]'' - the complete and total failure of Baltimore's local witness protection program is a major, recurring plot point. In fact, Carcetti uses the bad press from a witness murder to win the Mayoral election. The kicker: {{spoiler|The guy was actually killed by a ricochet from dumbass drunks shooting bottles.}} In Season 1, a kid agrees to testify against his gang, but the best that Baltimore can do is drop him off at his Grandmother's house in the country. He gets bored, wanders back into the city to hang out with his friends, and is murdered.
* ''[[The Wire]]'' - the complete and total failure of Baltimore's local witness protection program is a major, recurring plot point. In fact, Carcetti uses the bad press from a witness murder to win the Mayoral election. The kicker: {{spoiler|The guy was actually killed by a ricochet from dumbass drunks shooting bottles.}} In Season 1, a kid agrees to testify against his gang, but the best that Baltimore can do is drop him off at his Grandmother's house in the country. He gets bored, wanders back into the city to hang out with his friends, and is murdered.
* An episode of ''[[Criminal Minds (TV)|Criminal Minds]]'' had it turn out that one of the victims was in witness protection.
* An episode of ''[[Criminal Minds]]'' had it turn out that one of the victims was in witness protection.
* One episode of ''[[Flashpoint (TV)|Flashpoint]]'' had a little girl and her parents go into the Witness Protection after the girl had seen a group of men murdering her friend's family (including her friend) when she was at a sleepover. However despite remaining hidden for months, the killers managed to find them because they bribed a cop into telling their location.
* One episode of ''[[Flashpoint (TV series)|Flashpoint]]'' had a little girl and her parents go into the Witness Protection after the girl had seen a group of men murdering her friend's family (including her friend) when she was at a sleepover. However despite remaining hidden for months, the killers managed to find them because they bribed a cop into telling their location.
* In ''[[Warehouse 13]]'', it's eventually revealed that {{spoiler|Claudia's on-again, off-again boyfriend Todd}} is in witness protection; between this and the [[Masquerade]] surrounding the Warehouse, they each spend most of an episode being incredibly suspicious of the other until they simultaneously confront each other and realize that neither one actually knows anything about the other's secrets.
* In ''[[Warehouse 13]]'', it's eventually revealed that {{spoiler|Claudia's on-again, off-again boyfriend Todd}} is in witness protection; between this and the [[Masquerade]] surrounding the Warehouse, they each spend most of an episode being incredibly suspicious of the other until they simultaneously confront each other and realize that neither one actually knows anything about the other's secrets.
* In the season 1 finale of ''[[Castle (TV)|Castle]]'', the victim is a plastic surgeon who did a [[Magic Plastic Surgery|face alteration]] on a mob witness going into protection. Castle and Beckett have to convince the FBI to let them have access to the witness, and they eventually end up effectively using the witness as bait to catch the killer.
* In the season 1 finale of ''[[Castle]]'', the victim is a plastic surgeon who did a [[Magic Plastic Surgery|face alteration]] on a mob witness going into protection. Castle and Beckett have to convince the FBI to let them have access to the witness, and they eventually end up effectively using the witness as bait to catch the killer.
* There's a ''[[Veronica Mars]]'' episode where Keith is hired to track someone down; he eventually figures out that his target is in witness protection and his clients are Russian mobsters.
* There's a ''[[Veronica Mars]]'' episode where Keith is hired to track someone down; he eventually figures out that his target is in witness protection and his clients are Russian mobsters.
* In the ''[[Monk (TV)|Monk]]'' episode, "Mr. Monk Gets Cabin Fever", Monk witnesses a Chinese gangland murder and enters protective custody in the worst of places (for Monk)...nature!
* In the ''[[Monk]]'' episode, "Mr. Monk Gets Cabin Fever", Monk witnesses a Chinese gangland murder and enters protective custody in the worst of places (for Monk)...nature!
* ''[[Starsky and Hutch (TV)|Starsky and Hutch]]'': In "Targets Without A Badge", Starsky finds a woman who crosses his path oddly familiar; it develops that she's a friend from childhood, supposedly dead in a car crash, who had actually gone into witness protection with her parents.
* ''[[Starsky and Hutch (TV series)|Starsky and Hutch]]'': In "Targets Without A Badge", Starsky finds a woman who crosses his path oddly familiar; it develops that she's a friend from childhood, supposedly dead in a car crash, who had actually gone into witness protection with her parents.
* On ''[[Law and Order Special Victims Unit (TV)|Law and Order Special Victims Unit]]'', {{spoiler|ADA Alex Cabot}} is put into Witness Protection for her testimony against an assassin.
* On ''[[Law & Order: Special Victims Unit|Law and Order Special Victims Unit]]'', {{spoiler|ADA Alex Cabot}} is put into Witness Protection for her testimony against an assassin.
* On ''[[Sons of Anarchy]]'', the gang is forced to intimidate a young girl in Witness Protection to keep her from testifying against the gang. One group of bikers wants to kill her outright, the other [[Even Evil Has Standards|considers that too much]], and it nearly ends in a shootout.
* On ''[[Sons of Anarchy]]'', the gang is forced to intimidate a young girl in Witness Protection to keep her from testifying against the gang. One group of bikers wants to kill her outright, the other [[Even Evil Has Standards|considers that too much]], and it nearly ends in a shootout.
* ''[[The Mentalist (TV)|The Mentalist]]'': In "Red Sauce", the CBI's murder investigation gets a lot more complicated when the victim, who worked at a local video arcade, turns out to be a mob informant in witness protection.
* ''[[The Mentalist]]'': In "Red Sauce", the CBI's murder investigation gets a lot more complicated when the victim, who worked at a local video arcade, turns out to be a mob informant in witness protection.
* An old boyfriend of Juliet's is in the program in the ''[[Psych (TV)|Psych]]'' episode "A Very Juliet Episode".
* An old boyfriend of Juliet's is in the program in the ''[[Psych]]'' episode "A Very Juliet Episode".
* The victim in the ''[[Rizzoli and Isles]]'' episode "Don't Stop Dancing, Girl" was in witness protection, but someone from her past hunted her down.
* The victim in the ''[[Rizzoli and Isles]]'' episode "Don't Stop Dancing, Girl" was in witness protection, but someone from her past hunted her down.
* ''[[MacGyver (TV)|MacGyver]]'' helped get someone into witness protection. Two episodes deal with this character, "The Eraser" and "Back from the Dead".
* ''[[MacGyver]]'' helped get someone into witness protection. Two episodes deal with this character, "The Eraser" and "Back from the Dead".
* Gary goes into witness protection in the ''[[Early Edition]]'' episode "In Gary We Trust".
* Gary goes into witness protection in the ''[[Early Edition]]'' episode "In Gary We Trust".
* An old friend of Neal's is revealed to be in witness protection in the season three finale of ''[[White Collar]]''.
* An old friend of Neal's is revealed to be in witness protection in the season three finale of ''[[White Collar]]''.
* A witness to a crime doesn't want to testify because they are in witness protection in an episode of ''[[JAG (TV)|JAG]]''.
* A witness to a crime doesn't want to testify because they are in witness protection in an episode of ''[[JAG]]''.
* A suspect in a murder investigation is about to enter witness protection in the ''[[NCIS (TV)|NCIS]]'' episode "Nine Lives".
* A suspect in a murder investigation is about to enter witness protection in the ''[[NCIS]]'' episode "Nine Lives".


== [[Manga]] and [[Anime]] ==
== [[Manga]] and [[Anime]] ==
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* When ''[[The Simpsons (Animation)|The Simpsons]]'' became the Thompsons, complete with large-lettered shirts reading "WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM".
* When ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' became the Thompsons, complete with large-lettered shirts reading "WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM".


{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Witness_Protection"