History Main / BatmanInMyBasement

* The [[TropeNamer name of the trope]] comes from an episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', in which a boy hid an injured Batman in his mother's basement. It doesn't fit most of the rest of the trope, though, as when the kid's friend [[CassandraTruth frankly tells the mother what they're doing]], she assumes he's playing with his friends.

Meanwhile, the hidden character isn't much help, being prone to doing strange things having to do with their origin, or falling in love with their protector's sibling or friend, or being pursued by one of their own.

* The beginning of PiersAnthony's ''VirtualMode'' series.
* In Thomas Love Peacock's satirical novel ''NightmareAbbey'' (1818), the hero finds himself having to conceal a beautiful woman he believes to be a political refugee caught up in a web of Illuminati conspiracies [[spoiler:when she's actually just a fellow UpperClassTwit on the run from the marriage her father has arranged to ''the hero himself'']]. Their endless (thankfully offstage) conversations on Kantian philosophy don't make up for what happens when his girlfriend finds out. With a clear parody of the trope OlderThanRadio, the trope itself is probably at least as old.
* In ''Literature/TheSecretSharer'' by Creator/JosephConrad, a ship's captain hides a stowaway in his cabin, concealing him from the rest of the crew.
* This is the plot of the novel ''TheSugarQueen.'' However, the girl in the closet turns out to be [[spoiler: the heroine's dead half-sister. Yup, a ghost.]]

* In a short story titled ''SuchASweetLittleGirl'', a CreepyChild has a ghost in her room. Subverted in that the girl in no way makes the ghost's presence a secret (and in fact openly brags about it), but no one in her family believes her. [[spoiler:After she sends the ghost to claw out her brother's eyes for mocking her about it, her mother ''still'' doesn't believe it. And the story ends with the implication that the mother will be attacked like the brother.]]

* A graphic novella called ''GoodAsLily'' is about a teenaged girl who encounters three different versions of herself: as a kid, as a career woman, and as an old lady. She hides all of them in her bedroom as she tries to figure out what to do with them.

* In ''TheSecretSharer'' by JoesephConrad, a ship's captain hides a stowaway in his cabin, concealing him from the rest of the crew.

* In ''RurouniKenshin'', Seta Soujiro hid the fleeing Shishio. When Soujiro's [[AbusiveParents abusive family]] (he was an illegitimate child) catch on to the missing bandages and food, they corner the boy in an attempt to kill. [[SelfMadeOrphan He snaps]].
* Digimon touches this theme a lot when the action is set in the real world, with the Digimon usually acting as soft toys. The parents usually find out the truth eventually.

* In ''[[YesPrecure5 Yes! Pretty Cure 5]]'', Coco lives in Nozomi's room at first. After an incident involving Nozomi's mother, however, the girls immediately go find him another place to live where his presence won't be as questionable.

* ''SonicX'' features Chuck, Chris, and their two servants hiding Sonic and his friends from the world, Eggman, and Chris's parents. At least until Eggman's land base is destroyed and the world becomes aware of their presence.

* In Creator/RaymondBriggs' ''Literature/TheMan'', a boy must hide a tiny and very demanding man in his bedroom.

--->'''Lisa''': Mom, there's a funny smell and a lot of bad language coming from the basement and dad's upstairs.

* In ''RoseGunsDays'' Season 1, Claudia hides Leo and Rose in her house just above her restaurant, when [[TheMafia Caleb]] and his mooks put a reward on their head. Since she left club Primavera before Amanda took it over she can slip under their radar. Until Amanda remembers about her.

* In ''RoseGunsDays'' Season 1, Claudia hides Leo and Rose in her house just above her restaurant, when [[spoiler:[[TheMafia Caleb and his mooks]] put a reward on their head.]] Since she left club Primavera before [[spoiler:Amanda took it over]] she can slip under their radar. [[spoiler:Until Amanda remembers about her.]]

* Haruko in ''{{FLCL}}'' ends up sharing a bunk bed with the main character while masquerading as a maid.

* In ''TheNewAdventuresOfBeansBaxter'' episode "There's No Place Like Omsk," Beans hides a Russian defector, who happens to look exactly like Miss Universe Shawn Weatherly.

* Inverted in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' when Xander had to hide the villain Spike in his basement, to avoid his recapture by the Initiative.

* In ''series/{{Smallville}}'', ''Eternal'' and a couple episodes after it, Chloe is forced to keep [[spoiler:Doomsday]] in her basement, and [[spoiler:disposes of the bodies, which is both terrifying and tear jerking]].

* The original (1960s) version of DC's StanleyAndHisMonster went in for this in a big way. In addition to the monster, who was hiding from the modern equivalents of a pitchforks-and-torches-wielding mob, Stanley also ended up hiding a leprechaun and a German dwarf who didn't want to have to deal with the US immigration service, and the ghost of Napoleon, who wasn't so much hiding as haunting a grandfather clock and hoping for some decent wine. The later revamp, drawn by Phil Foglio, had only the monster, who was now a nameless demon exiled from Hell for being too nice.

* In [[Film/ACountryChristmas A Country Christmas]] a powerless Santa must hide in a barnyard.

* In ''TheSecretSharer'' by Joeseph Conrad, a ship's captain hides a stowaway in his cabin, concealing him from the rest of the crew.

* In ''{{Smallville}}'', ''Eternal'' and a couple episodes after it, Chloe is forced to keep [[spoiler:Doomsday]] in her basement, and [[spoiler:disposes of the bodies, which is both terrifying and tear jerking]].

* In the series Spellbinder, there were times when Riana was hiding Paul in her barn and then, when they went through to Paul's world, times when Paul hid Riana in his house.
** In the sequel series, Spellbinder 2: Land of the Dragon Lord, the young Dragon Lord was hidden from invading barbarians by a local family.

* In an episode of [[WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan Ultimate Spider-Man]], Peter has to hide, of all people, the frickin' '''''[[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]]''''' in his bedroom, in a situation similar to that of the TropeNamer. With the Hulk being the Hulk, he has a ''really'' hard time keeping Aunt May (who is right downstairs) from noticing.

* Aladdin did this with Iago in ''[[Disney/{{Aladdin}} The Return Of Jafar]]'', although it was because he wanted to break Iago's HeelFaceTurn gently to the Sultan and Jasmine.

* Before Iron Man, ''Film/Thor'' had Jane Foster, Dr. Selvig and Darcy hiding Thor in their car dealership-turned-astrophysics lab when he fell to Earth.

* Before Iron Man, ''Film/Thor'' had Jane Foster, Dr. Selvig and Darcy hiding Thor in their car dealership-turned-astrophysics lab when he fell to Earth.

Some character -- a RebelliousPrincess, an alien, TheChosenOne or the MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter[[hottip:*:or Franchise/{{Batman}}]] -- is on the run, homeless, out of options, and needs a place to hide. It becomes the duty of the first available OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent they come across to stash the hero in their basement/garage/attic/bedroom until they [[SavingTheWorld Save The World]]/defeat the BigBad/find a portal back to their MagicalLand.

Some character -- a RebelliousPrincess, an alien, TheChosenOne or the MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter[[hottip:*:or {{Batman}}]] -- is on the run, homeless, out of options, and needs a place to hide. It becomes the duty of the first available OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent they come across to stash the hero in their basement/garage/attic/bedroom until they [[SavingTheWorld Save The World]]/defeat the BigBad/find a portal back to their MagicalLand.

* [[Film/IronMan3 Iron Man in my Garage]]. Notably, Tony's in and out over the course of, apparently, a single night.

* Subverted in ''Anime/DigimonSavers''. Masaru tries make a big point to Agumon that he must not, under any circumstances, be discovered by his family... only for both of them to botch it thirty seconds later. [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight Mom took it pretty well, actually.]]
** Well, considering [[spoiler: DATS is the reason her husband disappeared]], it's not really surprising.
** Digimon touches this theme a lot when the action is set in the real world, with the Digimon usually acting as soft toys. The parents usually find out the truth eventually. Anime/DigimonAdventure plays the trope straightest with Izzy to the extent that his parents become concerned that "one day at camp" changed him so much. They're a little more bewildered when Tentomon ends up botching it too.
** But basically averted in ''Anime/DigimonTamers''. Terriermon does play the part of a plush toy (and gets subjected to play dates with Henry's baby sister Suzie), but Renamon is rather skilled at not being seen and she goes off on her own half the time. Takato makes an attempt at this trope with Guilmon, but after about a day he realizes it's not going to work so he finds an abandoned shed or something in a nearby park that Guilmon can live in.

* A few years ago in France, when Corsican nationalist Yvan Colona was searched for the murder of a prefect, several families hid him from the police, for several years. He has been arrested and convicted since then − although whether he really was the culprit remains unclear.