Multiple books
- After Ben accidentally blows up the principal’s office while diverting a mortar before it can kill anyone, the principal spends the next several books holding a severe grudge while having to use a broom closet as an office. Eventually he has to move back into the remains of his old office (which is covered in pigeon poop) and, while being a Professional Butt-Kisser, does a poor job of acting like he enjoys the fresh air and space the missing wall provides.
Spy School
- Ben gets in some delightful barbs at the principal in order to deliberately get sent to detention (and accidentally goes on longer than necessary and really infuriates the guy).Principal: When I was a student here we knew how to behave. Would you like to know how we were punished for fighting back then?Ben: Wow, that would have been a long time ago. Did they put you in the stockade? They used that a lot in Colonial America.Principal: What did you just say?Ben: That you're old. Was I being too subtle for you?
Spy Camp
- Everyone else at the spy school is jealous of how Ben is getting death threats and thinks it’s cool, something that leaves Ben exasperated.
Spy Ski School
- After being The Ace for the first three books, Erica assumes that she will be an Instant Expert at skiing, only to suffer a complete and total wipeout (plus knocking out many other skiers as she rolls down the hill) that takes several pages to describe.
- The other boys and Alexander all try to give Ben romantic advice, only for other characters to happily point out the flaws in it. When Warren massages Zoe's shoulders to try and prove he can be suave and flirt with her at the same time, she says that his hands feel so disgusting that she needs to take a shower.
- Alexander orders Rocky Mountain oysters for dinner and enjoys several bites before learning the meal is made of bull testicles, which leads to a Vomit Discretion Shot.
- A recurring villain who is normally a smooth Consummate Liar turns into a Bad Liar while denying that he stole the book's Evil Plan from a James Bond movie.
Spy School The Secret Service
- Erica makes it look like a kid who bullied Ben wet his pants in front of hundreds of reporters.
Spy School: Revolution
- The Historical Rap Sheet of the villains includes their predecessors tricking John Wilkes Booth into assassinating Abraham Lincoln by telling him it is all a play. Their diaries note how the infamous "Sic semper tyrannis" quote really was something Booth insisted on saying himself to seem more erudite.
- When the villain starts gleefully monologuing, the heroes repeatedly pretend the background noise keeps them from hearing the speech and ask the villain to start over as a form of revenge.
Spy School Goes North
- The whole sequence where Cyrus's rival Ivan is introduced. The kids hear a scream and think a captive Cyrus is being tortured, but he just burned his tongue by accident while having tea (Ivan thinks Torture Is Ineffective). Then, Ivan and Cyrus argue about which one of them has the tougher granddaughter as Erica fights Ivan's granddaughter Svetlana. Then, Ivan talks up his ancestor Sergei (a nineteenth-century spy) and orders Cyrus to read a letter Sergei wrote, supposedly proving that there were dodgy goings-on with the Alaska Purchase.Cyrus: My dearest Irina, I am so sorry to hear of the plague that killed all our goats. Perhaps we should sell one of our children to help cover expenses-.
Ivan (embarrassed) Not that part! This part here.
Cyrus The czar has asked me to observe the transfer of funds for Alaska closely-and I believe the reasons for his suspicions are particularly flatulent.
Ivan Well-founded, your translating skills are pathetic.
Cyrus This handwriting is what's pathetic. - The scene where Murray Hill is complaining about how the government has him living alone on an island with hundreds of farting walruses (or walri as he mistakenly calls them) and keeps getting No Sympathy.
