So Much for Stealth in Anime and Manga.
- In Black Clover, during their search for the Witch Queen, Dominante provides Asta, Fanzell, Finral, Noelle, and Mariella with invisibility cloaks to enter the Forest of Witches undetected. Unfortunately, they lose their cloaks thanks to Fanzell's actions and catches the attention of the Security Golems and the other witches.
- Case Closed: While in a supposedly haunted house, Conan accidentally knocks a broom over; he manages to keep it from making noise by catching it with his foot, but not the bucket that fell along with it.
- In A Certain Magical Index, Touma tries to sneak up on the Skill-Out gang that has kidnapped Misuzu. Right before he can reach them, Misuzu herself sees him and gives him away by calling out to him. Touma screams, "Is she stupid!?" before he is forced to fight off the Skill-Out thugs.
- A variant in Death Note. L at one point starts going on a lecture of how important stealth and discretion will be in the investigation, and under no circumstances must they reveal themselves. At the exact same time, Matsuda has sneaked into the suspects' headquarters and is caught just outside their meeting room, and manages to covertly send a distress signal to Watari. You can practically see this trope's name running through L's mind when he is informed.L: Forget everything I just said. We're going to need a new strategy. Matsuda, you idiot!
- Doraemon movies have them quite often:
- Doraemon: Nobita and the Castle of the Undersea Devil have the gang hiding from Poseidon's troops using Doraemon's underground bunker, but an Ill-Timed Sneeze from Gian gives their position away. Cue Doraemon bringing out his Tunneling Mole to beat a hasty retreat.
- Doraemon: Nobita and the Steel Troops have Doraemon and Nobita spying on Riruru and her giant Killer Robot, Zanda Claus, from a mile away. Doraemon uses his Long-Distance Microphone so they can hear what Riruru is saying to her robot troops, and they uncover Riruru's plans of leading the Steel Troops into the city for an all-out Robot War. A panicked Nobita exclaims, "ATTACK EARTH!?!" before Doraemon can stop him - turns out the Microphone works both ways. Cue Doraemon and Nobita fleeing from robot mooks.
- Doraemon: Nobita and The Space Heroes has Nobita and Aron infiltrating Ikaros' quarters, and an Exact Eavesdropping on two mooks leads to their discovery of Ikaros' plans to perform an Earth-Shattering Kaboom destroying Planet Pokkoru. Once again, Nobita panics and lets out a Big "WHAT?!" giving away their position.
- Full Metal Panic!. SÅsuke and Kurz realize that enemy soldiers are moving in on them and dive for cover. Kaname notes that this is like a Bolivian Army Ending trope, and says movies should have a Happy Ending. Unfortunately she says the last bit too loud — Disturbed Doves give away their location, leading to an immediate shoot-out.
- In episode 4 of Girls und Panzer, the Stug III team have decorated their tank destroyer in eyecatching red and yellow, complete with sashimono (war banners). They hide in an alley an ambush a Matilda tank, then back up and sneak away, gleefully congratulating themselves on how the Stug's low profile allows it to hide behind house fences... except that their war banners are taller than the fences, and give away their position. The Matilda's partner tank uses that to nail them.
- Happens to several characters in an episode of Hayate the Combat Butler, by stepping on game controllers of all things.
- In JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Devo's attempt to ambush Polnareff goes awry when Polnareff succeeds on a very easy spot check.Devo: How did you know I was in the fridge?
Polnareff: Are you stupid? You took everything out of the fridge and left it in plain sight! - One Piece:
- This happens thanks to a rooster... Sort of. Usopp, the one doing the sneaking, fully expects the rooster to crow and wake up the enemy, a government assassin capable of killing a hundred men singlehandedly. Instead, the rooster quietly chirps, causing Usopp to scream in shock, "ROOSTERS DON'T MAKE THAT KIND OF SOUND!"
- This is a minor Running Gag, considering Luffy's utter lack of stealth. When Nico Robin is convincing the Straw Hats to let her stay on their crew, she mentions that she has considerable experience with stealth missions, only to be informed that they're never stealthy.
- One of the few times this trope isn't Luffy's fault is in Impel Down. Having sneaked into the prison so he can rescue Ace, Luffy stays out of sight and kept quiet. Unfortunately, by sheer coincidence, Buggy the Clown is already launching his own attempt at a jailbreak and ends up blowing Luffy's cover.
- Another instant that wasn't Luffy's fault was during the Return to Sabaody arc, where Luffy had been told not to cause any trouble so he could reunite with his crew and set sail. Unfortunately, a gang impersonating the Straw Hats showed up at the same time, and due to them loudly announcing it, the Marines ended up being on their guard for the real crew, which resulted in the Straw Hats' return being made public.
- Stepping on a stick is how young Soujirou attracts the attention of Shishio in Rurouni Kenshin.
- In Soul Eater, while Maka and Soul are trying to acquire the soul of Blair, they both hide behind a tree. Unfortunately, Soul's rear end is sticking out, and from there, Hilarity Ensues.
- A rare non-action example in Twilight Star Sui and Neri. In Chapter 7, the two titular characters are hiding in an information booth, watching at Shida who was temporarily working as a guide. Shida, however, doesn't take long in just five panels to see the two's heads sticking out on the said table.Shida: What's up, you two?
