History Main / FilchingFoodForFun

* ''LetsPlay/PiratesSMP'': Martyn's boot rats[[note]]the in-universe manifestation of his stream chat[[/note]] are prone to stealing food from his pockets out of pettiness because he doesn't feed them often.

[[folder:Web Animation]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': One of Krosp's, [[UpliftedAnimal Emperor of all cats]], bad habits. In one comic he licks the filling out of Agatha's tuna salad sandwich, then eats the rest when she throws it out, and when Gil brings her a replacement sandwich Krosp eats that one too, only for Gil to mention he put ghost pirate peppers on it.
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* Saint Augustine famously [[note]]mostly because he writes about this at length in ''Confessions''[[/note]] stole pears as a kid and felt terrible about the fact after he reformed and became Christian. Years later.

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' has this as a stock behavior for Garfield, as well as one of its most frequently recurring gags. One strip has Jon try and turn the tables on the cat by stealing ''his'' food. Garfield, who is already tucking into Jon's dinner that night, is unimpressed.
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* Saint Augustine famously [[note]]mostly because he writes about this at length in ''Confessions''[[/note]] stole pears as a kid, and felt terrible about the fact after he reformed and became Christian. Years later.
* There's an old Yiddish proverb that says "Tasty is the fish from someone else's plate."

* In ''Westernanimation/TheLoudHouse'' episode, "A Fridge Too Far," [[{{Troll}} Luna]] mentions that she likes stealing her siblings' food simply for the heck of it.

SisterTrope to EnemyEatsYourLunch which is about eating someone else's food right in front of them to assert dominance or intimidate opponents. Compare RoguishPoacher. Contrast JustifiedCriminal, who steals out of necessity to feed themselves or their family. A character who does this a lot may have StickyFingers. [[{{Pun}} Literally]]

SisterTrope to EnemyEatsYourLunch which is about eating someone else's food right in front of them to assert dominance or intimidate opponents. Compare to RoguishPoacher. Contrast to JustifiedCriminal who steals out of necessity to feed themselves or their family. A character who does this a lot may have StickyFingers. [[{{Pun}} Literally]]

* Chuck Billy from Brazilian comic series ''ComicBook/{{MonicasGang}}'' is constantly seen scrumping from his neighbor Mr. Lau's guava tree, resulting in him angrily shooting at him with [[FamilyFriendlyFirearms a rifle loaded with salt]].

* ''Film/{{Infamous}}'': After robbing the dispensary, Arielle grabs a handful of candy from the bowl on the counter on her way out.

A common "Revenge" for this type of behavior is to give the thief more than they bargained for. The most common is dousing an otherwise mundane dish in BlazingInfernoHellfireSauce; this not only teaches them a VERY painful lesson, it also outs them as the food thief, and if they attempt to complain, you can throw their innocent act back in their face by asking them why they were getting into your food and they can't feign ignorance, because if you're the one they're complaining at, clearly they had full knowledge it was ''your'' food. However, it's not advised to do this with things that can cause common allergies like peanuts, fruits, or gluten - if you even slightly suspect the thief is someone you know has one of these allergies and they suffer a reaction, you can be charged for poisoning or ''attempted murder''.

A common "Revenge" for this type of behavior is to give the thief more than they bargained for. The most common is dousing an otherwise mundane dish in BlazingInfernoHellfireSauce; this not only teaches them a VERY painful lesson, it also outs them as the food thief, and if they attempt to complain, you can throw their innocent act back in their face by asking them why they were getting into your food and they can't feign ignorance, because if you're the one they're complaining at, clearly they had full knowledge it was ''your'' food. However, it's not advised to do this with things that can cause common allergies like peanuts or gluten - if you even slightly suspect the thief is someone you know has one of these allergies and they suffer a reaction, you can be charged for poisoning or ''attempted murder''.

A common "Revenge" for this type of behavior is to give the thief more than they bargained for. The most common is dousing an otherwise mundane dish in BlazingInfernoHellfireSauce; this not only teaches them a VERY painful lesson, it also outs them as the food thief, and if they attempt to complain, you can throw their innocent act back in their face by asking them why they were getting into your food and they can't feign ignorance. However, it's not advised to do this with things that can cause common allergies like peanuts or gluten - if you even slightly suspect the thief is someone you know has one of these allergies and they suffer a reaction, you can be charged for poisoning or ''attempted murder''.

* ''Film/JudasKiss'': After knocking out the security guard, Ruben steals his bag of chips and eats them while the kidnapping is going down. He also steals the guard's porno tapes, which shows his pettiness.

* Unfortunately this becomes a DeadlyPrank in ''Film/{{Sleepers}}'', where a foursome of boys steal from a hot dog vendor and then prank him by holding his cart at the top of some stairs. When the cart slips from their hands, it crashes and severely injures an elderly man.

* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': The teenage thief Lift is introduced breaking into a palace to eat the ruler's lunch; the ''Literature/{{Edgedancer}}'' novella features her visiting a new city just to steal the festival pancakes. Beyond the self-imposed challenge, she's a BigEater because [[spoiler: she's a [[MagicKnight Knight Radiant]] with the unique ability to convert nutrition into [[{{Mana}} Investiture]], so using her powers makes her extremely hungry]].

* ''Literature/GoodOmens'' ends with Adam Young scrumping an apple from a neighbour's tree, because "there never was an apple, in [[MeaningfulName Adam]]'s opinion, that wasn't worth the trouble you got into for eating it".

* In ''Series/{{House}}'', DoctorJerk House steals his friend Wilson's food repeatedly and sometimes eats it right in front of him to tick him off, but at times he steals his food from a fridge (either at home as they're occasionally roommates or at the hospital where they both work), only for Wilson to find empty boxes. It's PlayedForLaughs as they are friends who bicker all the time. House also secretly eats other doctors' food [[AutopsySnackTime in the morgue]]. He just loves messing with people.
-->'''Cuddy:''' You keep your lunch in the morgue?\\
'''House:''' If I put it in the doctor's lounge, everybody else eats it.\\
'''Cuddy:''' ''[points to a label on one of the containers]'' That's because it's everybody else's food.
* ''Series/DontTrustTheBInApartment23'': Chloe, the titular B(itch), casually steals food from other people. For example, she takes her roommate June's lunch from their fridge. She does it for the heck of it and mostly because there's not much others can do about it.
* Federal flack Twitchell on ''[[Series/{{Tremors}} Tremors: The Series]]'' was always taking food and soft drinks from Jodie's store without paying for them, in one of many ways he threw his weight around.

* In ''Series/BurnNotice'''s [[Recap/BurnNoticeS1E1Pilot pilot episode]], Michael breaks into his client's employer's mansion to look at his finances, suspecting the wealthy landlord committed the crime of the week as an insurance scam. While there, he swipes a yogurt from the fridge (partly) for use as a prop to confuse anybody who might walk in on him.

* The 1937 ''[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Merrie Melodies]]'' short "Pigs is Pigs" had Piggy Hamhock (a predecessor to Porky Pig) compulsively stealing and eating all manner of food, much to his mother's chagrin. He then proceeds to have a lengthy AcidRefluxNightmare in which a mad scientist uses an elaborate machine to force-feed Piggy until he's grotesquely bloated. When Piggy is finally allowed to leave, he decides to have one last chicken leg for the road... and promptly explodes. Then he wakes up, relieved to find out it was AllJustADream.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'': Crown prince Ezran steals jelly tarts from the baker for fun.
* WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck's 1950 short "Lion Around" involves Donald's nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie disguising themselves as a mountain lion in order to scare Donald and steal a pie off his windowsill. [[HilarityEnsues Things get complicated]] when a ''real'' mountain lion shows up.
* In her first spotlight episode, Katnappe from ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' steals a little boy's ice-cream at a fair and eats a bit, then throws it on the ground. This makes the little boy cry.
* In ''Westernanimation/TheLoudHouse'' episode, "A Fridge Too Far," [[{{Troll}} Luna]] mentions that she likes stealing her siblings' food simply for the heck of it.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'': In the episode "Life of Crime", the title character gives himself and Patrick a candy bar. Patrick foolishly thinks Spongebob stole his despite him already eating it which Spongebob asserts to no avail. He then decides to taunt Patrick's stubbornness by gesturing to eat the candy bar and eventually does.

* In ''Westernanimation/TheLoudHouse'' episode, "a Fridge too Far," [[{{Troll}} Luna]] mentions that she likes stealing her siblings' food simply for the heck of it.

* Unfortunately this becomes a DeadlyPrank in ''Film/{{Sleepers}}'', while attempting to steal from a hot dog vender.

* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': The teenage thief Lift is introduced breaking into a palace to eat the ruler's lunch; the ''Literature/{{Edgedancer}}'' novella features her visiting a new city just to steal the festival pancakes. Beyond the self-imposed challenge, she's a BigEater because [[spoiler:she's a [[MagicKnight Knight Radiant]] with the unique ability to convert nutrition into [[{{Mana}} Investiture]], so using her powers makes her extremely hungry]].

* Saint Augustine famously [[note]]mostly because he writes about this at lenght in ''Confessions''[[/note]] stole pears as a kid, and felt terrible about the fact after he reformed and became Christian. Years later.

SisterTrope to EnemyEatsYourLunch which is about eating someone else's food right in front of them to assert dominance or intimidate opponents. Compare to RoguishPoacher. Contrast to JustifiedCriminal who steals out of necessity to feed themselves or their family. A character who does this a lot may have StickyFingers.