History Main / BatmanInMyBasement

* A villainous example in ''Film/{{Hellraiser}}'', when Julia is keeping her undead former lover/[[AFamilyAffair brother-in-law]] in the attic. Whenever she can get away with it, she kills people so that Frank can use their blood to reconstitute his body.

* Pretty much the entire run of ''Manga/DetectiveConan'', where the main character has de-aged ten years and lives with his SheIsNotMyGirlfriend classmate until he can change back. Which he does, briefly, on several occasions. Naturally, more and more people are discovering his secret, including a confidant of the BigBad.

* The entire plot of the 1980s classic ''HidingOut'', starring ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'''s Jon Cryer as an accountant who has to go on the run from the mob, or some crooked police, or something.

* Mike hides Eleven in his basement in ''Series/StrangerThings'', both because [[TheyWouldCutYouUp they would cut him up]] and because he thinks she can help them find Will.

* In ''Manga/KimiWaPetto'', Sumire keeps a homeless young man named Takeshi, or "Momo", in her house as her "pet". To keep her boyfriend (and dog-lover) Hasumi in the dark, she has to borrow her friend's actual pet dog when Hasumi wants to see "Momo", and Takeshi pretends to be her distant cousin whenever Hasumi unexpectedly drops by.

* The original (1960s) version of DC's ''ComicBook/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.

->'''Dick Grayson:''' Batman lives in Bruce Wayne's basement?\\
'''Batman:''' Bruce Wayne lives in Batman's attic!
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOBatmanMovie''

* The ''Film/FatAlbert'' movie displays this trope strongly.

* In ''Film/TheShapeOfWater'', Elisa hides the Asset ([[FishPeople an amphibious humanoid]]) in her bathroom after she and her friends rescue him from the government laboratory.

When the character is eventually found, a quick SecretIdentity, UnpronounceableAlias, or LineOfSightName will be conjured on the spot, along with an unusual job title to explain their strange outfit. If female, the hidden character will frequently end up as a [[{{Meido}} maid]].

!!!'''In General:'''
* There was a horror story in which a young girl discovers her estranged father has been [[IncredibleShrinkingMan shrunken]] and hides him in her jewelry box. She treats him like a pet until he is discovered by her mother, at which point the two of them do... [[ImAHumanitarian something really horrible]].
!!!'''By Work:'''

* Inverted in ''Disney/{{Tangled}}''. While Rapunzel briefly does keep Flynn hidden in a closet while Mother Gothel is around, she doesn't want to keep him a secret. She wants to use the fact that she knocked out and locked up an intruder as proof that she can handle going outside (ItMakesSenseInContext). Mother Gothel refuses to listen and never finds out.

* Aladdin did this with Iago in ''Disney/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'', although it was because he wanted to break Iago's HeelFaceTurn gently to the Sultan and Jasmine.

* Twilight Sparkle hides Chirp, a human, in her library in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/Silent Knight''. At one point she buries him under a pile of books to hide him from a patron.

* ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' and ''Series/{{Alf}}'' had entire families (or at least the younger set) hiding these friendly, glowy and/or cat-eating aliens.

* Not in the basement, per se, but in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'', Harry has to keep a very noisy Dobby hidden from his aunt an uncle during a dinner party.

->'''Dick Grayson:''' Batman lives in Bruce Wayne's basement?
->'''Batman:''' Bruce Wayne lives in Batman's attic!

Some character -- a RebelliousPrincess, an alien, TheChosenOne or the MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter[[note]]Or Franchise/{{Batman}}.[[/note]] -- 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.

The TropeNamer is the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "I've Got Batman In My Basement," which revolved around a group of local children hiding Batman from the Penguin as he recuperated from a heavy dose of poison. The production team [[CreatorBacklash does not think too highly of the episode]], citing their distaste for excessively kid-friendly plots as well as the [[TheFamilyForTheWholeFamily bumbling antics]] of the villains.

!!Examples

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* The main character's family in ''[[Literature/YoungWizards Wizard's Holiday]]'' and part of ''[[Literature/YoungWizards Wizards at War]]'' is perfectly aware of the alien exchange students living in the basement, but they have to keep their existence secret from everyone else in town.
* The beginning of Creator/PiersAnthony's ''Virtual Mode'' series.

* In the first of ''Literature/TheExecutioner'' novels by Don Pendleton, the protagonist Mack Bolan is found by a "Marion the Librarian-type" after he has collapsed unconscious from his injuries following one of this raids on a Mafia target. She hides him in her house from both the police and the Mafia while she nurses him back to health and even launders his battle suit.
* Not in the basement, per se, but in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'', Harry has to keep a very noisy Dobby hidden from his aunt an uncle during a dinner party.
* In a short story titled ''Such A Sweet Little Girl'', a CreepyChild has a ghost in her room. Played with in that the girl in no way makes the ghost's presence a secret (and in fact openly brags about it), but everyone in her family dismisses the signs anyway.

* The protagonist of ''Literature/{{Beachwalker}}'' spends most of the book hiding an escaped POW in a basement. It doesn't help that said refugee's enemies have control of most of the town.
* In ''Literature/TurnCoat'', Harry hides Warden Morgan, who is wanted by the White Council for the murder of a Senior member.
* Omri has to conceal various tiny live people in his bedroom in ''Literature/TheIndianInTheCupboard'' and its sequels. Hiding the tiny people is easy enough, getting them food isn't impossible, but when they start demanding coffee and whisky, neither of which are normal things for a nine-year-old to want...
* In ''Literature/TheLivesOfChristopherChant'', Christopher has to hide the Goddess when she escapes from [[spoiler:being sacrificed to Asheth because she's no longer a child]] which would be easier if she wasn't a powerful sorceress, and if she hadn't brought a newborn orphaned kitten with her.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''Series/OurMissBrooks'': In "The Jockey", Miss Brooks and Mrs. Davis hide a jockey ''and his racehorse'' in their garage until he can win a big race and pay his debts.
* 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]].
* This is the basic plot of ''Series/{{Alf}}'', which is about a common family hiding an alien, and making lame excuses to avoid visitors from realizing that.
* This is the premise of Nickelodeon's sitcom ''Series/TheJourneyOfAllenStrange'', about a brother and sister hiding a stranded teenage alien in their attic.
* An inversion in ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'' episode "Resurrection", where two robots clone/birth a human after humanity goes extinct, and have to hide him from the other human-hating robots. The robots ultimately sacrifice themselves and shut off themselves and their brethren to give the Earth back to the new human race.
* Inverted in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' when Xander had to hide the villain Spike in his basement, to avoid his recapture by the Initiative. Also, in Season 7 he keeps Spike in his closet (which is huge).

-->'''George Michael:''' I have Pop Pop in the attic.
-->'''Michael:''' What? The mere fact that you call making love 'pop-pop' tells me you're not ready!

* ''Series/MaskedRider'': When Ferbus first arrived, Molly and Albee had to hide him due to Hal's allergies, but Hal is not allergic anymore around Ferbus; once he revealed himself, Ferbus was accepted as part of the family.
* ''Series/PowerRangersZeo'': Bulk and Skull hide an amnesiac Goldar & Rito in their basement for a while.
* In ''Series/TheNewAdventuresOfBeansBaxter'' episode "There's No Place Like Omsk," Beans hides a Russian defector, who happens to look exactly like Miss Universe Shawn Weatherly.
* In the new ''Series/DoctorWho'' series, the [[TheNthDoctor tenth Doctor]] hides ''himself'' in this manner by storing his Time Lord memory and genetics in a locket and tricking himself into thinking he is an Edwardian-era boarding school teacher so that the Family of Blood will not track him down and kill him. His companion ends up posing as a beleaguered maid, retaining full knowledge of why her "employer" [[BadBoss has good reason to act so out of character.]] [[spoiler:Eventually, the Family finds him anyway, and we learn the real reason he did it: to save ''them'' from the FateWorseThanDeath he has to unleash to stop them.]]

* In the series ''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, ''Series/{{Spellbinder}} 2: Land of the Dragon Lord'', the young Dragon Lord was hidden from invading barbarians by a local family.
* ''Series/FrontierCircus'': In "Karina", Casey and Tony hide the runaway Karina in Casey's wagon, initially keeping her presence secret from Ben.
* Mike hides Eleven in his basement in ''Series/StrangerThings'', both because [[TheyWouldCutYouUp they would cut him up]] and because he thinks she can help them find Will.

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

The rescuer, whether [[JumpedAtTheCall enthusiastic]] or [[RefusalOfTheCall reluctant]], quickly runs into a big problem. Because they are not a victim of ParentalAbandonment, they have to keep up a [[{{Masquerade}} charade]] of hiding the character from said parents. Family members start to notice that the character's spending a lot of time in their room, acting rather snippy about people going in there, stashing food, and apparently talking to themself. They will make some quick excuses about practicing lines for a school play.

* In ''Film/MilkMoney'', the kids hide a runaway hooker in their tree house.

* In the new ''Series/DoctorWho'' series, the [[TheNthDoctor tenth Doctor]] hides ''himself'' in this manner by storing his Time Lord memory and genetics in a locket and tricking himself into thinking he is a Edwardian-era boarding school teacher so that the Family of Blood will not track him down and kill him. His companion ends up posing as a beleaguered maid, retaining full knowledge of why her "employer" [[BadBoss has good reason to act so out of character.]] [[spoiler:Eventually, the Family finds him anyway, and we learn the real reason he did it: to save ''them'' from the FateWorseThanDeath he has to unleash to stop them.]]

* Used in ''Webcomic/ComingUpViolet'' when [[CousinOliver Dawn]] crosses the proverbial pound and is forced to stay with the eponymous character and her guardian's family. Violet then deflects attempts by her friends to go to her house while the still traumatized human girl stays there. Eventually they make a disguise for her so that she can move about freely though.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': in separate episodes Bart takes in Otto (kicked out of his apartment) and Chester Lampwick, a hobo who invented Itchy & Scratchy. He keeps them both in the basement, but his parents find out fairly quickly.

->'''Batman:''' [[LessEmbarrassingTerm Bruce Wayne lives in Batman's attic!]]

-->--''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOBatmanMovie''

* Twilight Sparkle hides Chirp, a human, in her library in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfiction {{Fanfic/Silent Knight}}. At one point she buries him under a pile of books to hide him from a patron.
[[/folder]]

* Utilized in ''Film/TheTransporter'' where Shu Qi's character, Lai, is introduced as "The new cook" (as opposed to "the maid") to the Police inspector who is surprised at the change in Frank's (Jason Statham's) normally routine, and deceptively mundane, lifestyle.

* The first ''Film/{{Hellboy}}'' movie has a scene of the title character RoofHopping, when suddenly he runs into a little boy who likes to sit up there with the pigeons. They hang out and eat cookies while Hellboy throws pebbles at a perceived romantic rival on a street below them. It's one of the best moments of the movie.

Some character -- a RebelliousPrincess, an alien, TheChosenOne or the MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter[[note]]or Franchise/{{Batman}}[[/note]] -- 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.