History Main / GrandTheftPrototype

* In the iOS and Mac game VideoGame/GalaxyOnFire Valkyrie DownloadableContent, Keith the protagonist sneaks into a Voss station to steal a prototype K'suuk fighter that was designed for non-Vossk. He isn't stealing it so the Terrans who are enemies of the Voss can analyze it -- the Terrans don't really care about this ship. He is stealing it for Alice a rogue ArmsDealer who wants to copyright the design and be the first to introduce the ship to market.

* In VideoGame/JanesUSAF you and your wingmen have to escort a spec ops chopper as it infiltrates a test pilot onto a Russian airfield. Once there, he steals a prototype Sukhoi-37 fighter with a new kind of ECM jammer and flies it back to US controlled territory. You have to escort him back.

* VideoGame/Fallout3 has [[AmericanRobot Liberty Prime]], a HumongousMecha designed by the [[AfterTheEnd pre-war]] United States to [[InvadedStatesOfAmerica liberate Anchorage, Alaska]] from [[RedScare Chinese Communist invaders]], brought to full working order by the Brotherhood of Steel to fight against the Enclave, TheRemnant of the United States government.

* This is how Kamina from ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' gets his Gurren (It even provided the trope picture for quite a while). This action inspires Kittan and some other humans to jack some Gunmen for their own battle against the beastmen, until they eventually joined the rest of Team Gurren to form ''Team Dai-Gurren''.
** Simon's Lagann is the reason they're able to jack their bigger targets, when simply ousting the current pilot isn't an option. Simply have Lagann drill into the target to "combine" with it, and it can hijack the target's systems. Thus the trope crosses into PowerCopying. Need to fly? Beat a flying mecha and [[strike: rip off the wings and rockets and]] attach the whole thing to your back. Lagann's ability to integrate with any and all kinds of mecha will take it from there.

* ''VideoGame/MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries'' did this trope once, with a faction hiring you to help steal a superheavy Clan-technology mech for their side. Possibly a double-dip of this idea, because you had the option to grab it away from them, too!

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', Shepard can hijack a Cerberus Atlas if s/he either finds it unattended or s/he kills the pilot while leaving the mech itself intact.

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' has at least two angels that hijack an Eva for their own personal use:
** Bardiel, a fungus-like angel that contaminates Unit-03 as it's transported through a storm (in which it was presumably hiding) and then takes control during its activation test, with it trying to kill the other Eva pilots. In both continuities, Shinji refuses to fight it because he realises that the human pilot is still trapped inside, and [[AbusiveParents Gendo]] activates the Dummy Plug system, which takes control of Unit-01 away from Shinji and forces it to destroy Unit-03 (almost an example of this trope in itself). The main difference between''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' and ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion' here is that in NGE, Toji was the pilot, lost a leg to the Dummy Plug's attack, and was left incapacitated for the rest of the series; in ROE, the pilot is [[spoiler: Asuka, who presumably suffered far less severe injuries, as, when we see her after the TimeSkip in 3.33, she has only an eyepatch - which is implied to be hiding [[BodyHorror where Bardiel either mutated her to give her angelic traits, or outright merged with her head.]]]]
** The second example in NGE is of Kaworu, who doesn't actually pilot Unit-02 when he hijacks it - he floats nearby in the air while remotely controlling its movements, using it to break into Terminal Dogma in an attempt to cause [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Third Impact]].
** Then, in ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion 2.0'', Mari jacks Unit-02 to fight against Zeruel. [[CurbStompBattle Not that it did ANY good, unfortunately]]. Nevertheless, it is interesting that she intentionally uses a feature of Unit-02 that Asuka never used (and may not even be aware of). The fact that she was able to Evajack it at all - given the nature of the Evangelions in the original series - has spawned a number of EpilepticTrees: [[spoiler: each Eva contains either part of or a fully intact human soul, and can only be piloted by the child of that person, or by someone who essentially is that person (in Rei's case). Unit 02 contains the soul of Asuka's mother - Mari would only be able to use it if they have the same mother..or if she's an angel.]] Notably, while the final film supplies some revelations about Mari, this is one that [[RiddleForTheAges is left unexplained]].

** Then, in ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion 2.0'', Mari jacks Unit-02 to fight against Zeruel. [[CurbStompBattle Not that it did ANY good, unfortunately]]. Nevertheless, it is interesting that she intentionally uses a feature of Unit-02 that Asuka never used (and may not even be aware of). The fact that she was able to Evajack it at all - given the nature of the Evangelions in the original series - has spawned a number of EpilepticTrees: [[spoiler: each Eva contains either part of or a fully intact human soul, and can only be piloted by the child of that person, or by someone who essentially [[CloningBlues is that person]] (in Rei's case). Unit 02 contains the soul of Asuka's mother - Mari would only be able to use it if they have the same mother..or if she's an angel.]] Notably, while the final film supplies some revelations about Mari, this is one that [[RiddleForTheAges is left unexplained]].

* Anise Azeat of ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel II'' steals an Emblem Frame/Angel Wing/whatever-they've-decided-to-call-them-this-week from the ''Luxiole'' early in the game, but gets to keep it after her HeelFaceTurn and joins the Rune Angels.

* This seems to be the standard operating procedure of the [[NebulousEvilOrganization Phantom Task Organization]] from ''LightNovel/InfiniteStratos''. Their targets are mostly classified, corporate, and governmental IS units and related items, with dedicated security teams and IS pilots guarding them - and they still manage to successfully steal the same.

** It's a very common idea in the whole ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' universe. Since building mechs is fairly difficult, killing the pilot and capturing the mech is a very common goal according to the universe lore. Though generally this was done on the battlefield: disable the 'Mech, kill the pilot, and then drag the 'Mech to your repair bay and now it's yours.
*** You'd think if that were the case these people would start putting a SelfDestructMechanism on their mechs.
*** Again, building mechs is fairly difficult. Blowing up a mech just because the pilot died means your side can't recover it either.
*** This is basically expected enough in-universe that practically every [=BattleMech=] comes with standard anti-theft countermeasures already built in. The most common example, showcased in various novels, is the computer running a voice recognition check in conjunction with an individual code phrase during startup. At the same time, several novels reveal that each mech's Neurohelmet must be re-calibrated for each new user, which can pretty much only be done in the hangar. Skipping this process leads to a punch-drunk machine and a pilot with a massive, incurable hangover.

** Then, in ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion 2.0'', Mari jacks Unit-02 to fight against Zeruel. [[CurbStompBattle Not that it did ANY good, unfortunately]]. Nevertheless, it is interesting that she intentionally uses a feature of Unit-02 that Asuka never used (and may not even be aware of). The fact that she was able to Evajack it at all - given the nature of the Evangelions in the original series - has spawned a number of EpilepticTrees: [[spoiler: each Eva contains either part of or a fully intact human soul, and can only be piloted by the child of that person, or by someone who essentially [[CloningBlues is that person]] (in Rei's case). Unit 02 contains the soul of Asuka's mother - Mari would only be able to use it if they have the same mother..or if she's an angel.]]

* Rain Mikamura in ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'' doesn't exactly ''steal'' the Shining Gundam, as she's on its crew, but she does pilot it despite not having combat training. Later, she "borrows" Japan's Rising Gundam because she needs to get somewhere fast. Her explanation to her stunned friends was nobody was using it at the time. The only conclusion is [[CrazyPrepared She programed a subroutine into both of them that would give her a custom pink trace suit with heels in case Domon wasn't around]].
** Later, while Domon and Rain are in Hong Kong for the finals, a local kid tries to steal the Burning Gundam, nearly killing himself and screwing up Domon's shoulder in the process.

* Even though they were the intended pilots (for the most part), the ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' team stole theirs once they learned that the original plan for Operation Meteor [[spoiler:was to ColonyDrop the Earth, then crush all remaining opposition and TakeOverTheWorld,]] opting instead to fight the enemy that was oppressing the colonies and leaving the civilians out of it.

* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury'', Mioriene steals Gundam Aerial from Suletta by taking her student ID under the pretense of helping her install a map of the school they're in. She's doing it so she can face the person she's in an ArrangedMarriage to, Guel Jeturk, in a duel to get out of it. However, unlike most examples [[EpicFail she has no idea how to really pilot a MS]] and Suletta ends up saving her.
** Later in the series, [[spoiler:"Elan Ceres" Number Five]] tries to steal Gundam Aerial on a much more permanent basis, but [[spoiler:Aerial is having none of it, raising his Permet score to near-lethal levels and threatening him before kicking him out of the cockpit]].

* Mission six of VideoGame/MetalWarriors has you infiltrating an enemy base to hijack the Drache, a prototype mecha with unlimited flight ability.

* The final mission in ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorFrontline'' involves stealing an experimental Nazi fighter plane.