History Main / GrandTheftPrototype

* While not a blatant case of theft, Russia's first nuclear bomber, the Tupolev Tu-4A, was basically created from this. During the closing stages of WWII, several B-29 bombers damaged from missions over Japan crash-landed in Soviet territory. With the B-29 being the then-cutting edge plane of the war and Russia in need of a decent strategic bomber, Stalin refused to return the planes, and reverse-engineered them to create the Tu-4, which was essentially an exact copy of the B-29 except with [[MoreDakka bigger defensive guns.]]

* Franchise/WonderWoman's invisible plane has been subjected to theft and attempted theft on occasion, she always gets it back though and no enemy as of yet has been able to duplicate the Amazon tech that went into making the thing.
* ''ComicBook/AlphaFlight'': This is the origin of Weapon Alpha/Vindicator/Guardian, althpough he was stealing his own prototype. James Hudson was a leading petrochemical engineer and scientist for the Am-Can Corporation developing a powered exoskeleton suit. When he learned that his work would be used for American military purposes, Hudson raided his workplace, stole the prototype suit and destroyed the plans. He leaves the suit to be recovered (albeit without the vital control helmet, which he built before coming to the company).

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* In the "Phantom Train of Doom" episode of ''Series/YoungIndianaJones'', when the heroes find themselves in possession of the titular train - and its massive railroad gun - they decide to bring it back to friendly lines rather than blow it up as originally planned. [[spoiler: This works for all of a minute, until the Germans destroy the tracks and move in to retake the train.]]

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* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'':

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* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'': In [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS4E04FlightOfTheDefender "Flight of the Defender"]], Ezra and Sabine steal a prototype TIE Defender Elite from the Empire, with the goal of eventually delivering its flight recorder to Alliance High Command.

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* ''Franchise/CodeGeass'': Lelouch hijacks the strongest robot in the first season from Britannia.

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

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

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

* In the prologue missions of ''VideoGame/RingOfRed'', a North Japanese rebel steals a SuperPrototype AFW from right under the noses of the South Japan army, kicking off the game's main narrative.

* In ''VideoGame/FrontMission 3'', you can jack any vehicle without a pilot. Though only the normal Wanzers can be kept afterward.

* Subverted in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': [[TheBigGuy Boromir]] [[AntiHero tries to pull one of these]] with the [[ArtifactOfDoom One Ring]] at the Council of Elrond but has his idea shot down pretty quickly.
* The ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'' series begins with an accidental one. A French ship delivering the [[EggMacGuffin egg]] of a [[LateArrivalSpoiler Chinese Celestial]] to become the personal companion of the [[UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte French Emperor]] is delayed due to a run of bad luck at sea, and is captured by a British vessel a week before the egg hatched and the dragonet [[FallingIntoTheCockpit imprinted on it's captain]].
* "Adopting" enemy technology might as well be considered part of the Terran [[PlanetOfHats hat]] in the early arcs of ''Literature/PerryRhodan'' -- especially in the very earliest issues, when Earth's own industry (starting on a 1970s Cold War footing) was still struggling with the sudden influx of new alien knowledge. No less than three early Terran capital ships were simply stolen from hostile alien factions and put to good use, and the same goes for e.g. the prototype shock-absorber device that would prove vital in concealing Earth's position by making Terran vessels' hyperspace jumps virtually undetectable with the technology of the time.
* Appears as a plot point in the ''Warrior'' trilogy of ''Franchise/BattleTechExpandedUniverse'' novels when Capellan commando troops use inside information to raid a Davion research facility for a new type of myomer fiber that promises to make [[HumongousMecha [=BattleMechs=]]] considerably more physically powerful. [[spoiler:It's a trap, though; the material is actually a FlawedPrototype that their enemies ''want'' them to get their hands on because they already know exactly how to exploit the flaw on the battlefield.]]
* In the third book of ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' (''The Amber Spyglass''), Mrs. Coulter steals a prototype flying machine from Lord Asriel's fortress. [[spoiler: It turns out she stole only the ''first'' prototype, which Lord Asriel showed her [[BatmanGambit knowing she would steal it]], and he trails her in a more advanced prototype.]]

''ComicBook/AlphaFlight'': This is the origin of Weapon Alpha/Vindicator/Guardian, althpough he was stealing his own prototype. James Hudson was a leading petrochemical engineer and scientist for the Am-Can Corporation developing a powered exoskeleton suit. When he learned that his work would be used for American military purposes, Hudson raided his workplace, stole the prototype suit and destroyed the plans. He leaves the suit to be recovered (albeit without the vital control helmet, which he built before coming to the company).

* In ''Series/{{Lexx}}'', the titular starship is a PlanetKiller built by His Divine Shadow. In the first episode, the Austral B Heretics infiltrate The Cluster to capture The Lexx away from the ReligionOfEvil that dominates the universe. In the attempt, these agents of La Resistance all die. IdiotHero Stanley Tweedle (who bumped into them while fleeing for his life) gains control of The Lexx instead.

See also FallingIntoTheCockpit where this is usually done by accident. PhlebotinumRebel, where the heroes hijack ''themselves''. May overlap with HighSpeedHijack if the vehicle is in motion when stolen. Compare and contrast SabotageToDiscredit, which at least deprives ''them'' of the invention even if you don't gain it for yourself. This isn't meaning a crossover between ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' and ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'', although that would be awesome.

* The first episode of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory'' [[TropeNamer coined this trope's previous name]] through the title of the first episode: "Gundamjack". Here, AcePilot Anavel Gato does just that with the [[NukeEm Nuke-loaded GP02A Physalis]], thus setting off the plot of the series. Of course, how the said hijacking was pulled off should go down in [[Awesome/{{Gundam}} the annals of badassery]]...

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* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries:'' Superman's first crime-fighting adventure in the three-part series premiere is kicked off by the theft of a [=LexCorp=] [[HumongousMecha battlesuit]] prototype. [[spoiler:It's actually a setup to cover Luthor's illegal sale of the device to Kaznia.]]

* With ''Franchise/PowerRangers''' abundance of HumongousMecha, you can bet this shows up from time to time:
** ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' featured hijacks of each of Tommy's Zords. Dragonzord in the first season after a briefly mind-controlled Billy was made to steal the Dragon Dagger and give it to Goldar, the Tigerzord in season 2 in an episode where Goldar stole Saba from Tommy and gave him to Rita, and in season 3 the Falconzord was stolen by Lord Zedd. The theft of the Falconzord lasted the longest, but the villains didn't use it, just kept it as a trophy.

** In ''Series/PowerRangersZeo'', the two megazords were hijacked by different groups of villains and fought each other.
** The Turbo Megazord is stolen in ''Series/PowerRangersTurbo'', forcing the Rangers to use the new Rescue Megazord. Something similar happened in the [[Series/GekisouSentaiCarranger Sentai counterpart]].
** In ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'', Delta Megazord, using a virus. Then Mega Voyager, thanks to Psycho Yellow.
** In ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'', ''all'' Zords were first claimed by villains, then freed or convinced to do a HeelFaceTurn by the Rangers. Middle example of this trope because the Zords are sentient.
** In ''Series/PowerRangersTimeForce,'' the Quantasaurus Rex is the focus of a multi-parter, as the heroes and villains (and [[SixthRanger Eric]], who is a side unto himself at this point) track it to where a faulty time portal dropped it and vie for control of it. It is controlled by the villains for a time until Eric winds up with it. Is it any better off in Eric's hands? [[{{Pun}} Only time would tell]].
** In ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce,'' when Zen-Aku came along, three Wild Zords were part of the package. However, he stole several of the ones belonging to the Rangers and could have them attack individually or use their [[MechaExpansionPack attachment modes]] with his own Megazord, the Predazord.
*** There was also a MonsterOfTheWeek who could control any animal - or any animal-based hero. After he makes the Rangers jump through hoops ([[HypnoFool literally!)]] for a bit, the bad guys skip to MakeMyMonsterGrow ''very'' early on and the result is an episode nearly entirely given to an epic battle of the Zords he's stolen versus the Zords the rangers are still in control of, with a ridiculous(ly awesome) amount of attachment-switching to make all kinds of quick-and-dirty Megazord formations, with [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Toxica and Jindrax]] setting up a table where they announced the fight as {{Combat Commentator}}s as if it was a sporting event. (Without them, we wouldn't know the names of most of the one-off formations used!)
** The same thing happened in the [[Series/HyakujuuSentaiGaoranger source material]].
** This was the ''point'' of at least the first half of ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder''. Right in the premiere, the Rangers first got their zords by jacking them from the villains. Then many episodes featured lost Dinozord eggs that were being sought after by both sides, and when the villains got them first the Rangers had to jack them back. Then the evil White Rangers (yes, plural, though there was only one at a time) showed up and they were ''very'' good at hijacking the Rangers' secondary zords. Even the White Ranger's zord was "borrowed" at one point by Tommy. Ultimately only ''two'' Dinozords were used exclusively by one side: the "Mezodon" zord, which was last to appear and came after most of the jacking died down; and the Brachiozord, which was there from the beginning but was ''a carrier with no combat capabilities''.
** In ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'', there were a couple attempts to take over SPD Command (which is both [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs their base]] ''and'' a zord). Wootox only got as far as the TransformationSequence, but Broodwing had more success in the finale.
** In ''Series/PowerRangersRPM,'' Venjix's new mecha is stolen by the Rangers and turned into the Whale Zord. Later, Shifter, now rogue, decides to take one of the Rangers' megazords - the effort to break his control leads the Rangers' MissionControl to figure out how to combine all the megazords together. [[NiceJobFixingItVillain Oops.]]
** In ''[[Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge Power Rangers Dino Supercharge]]'', after getting a hold of the Rangers' technology, a faction of villains was able to take control of the Zords and use them to fight Heckyl.

* In ''[[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin]]'' a prototype Wayne Tech vehicle containing a lot of new innovations is stolen by a group of car theives and Tim ends up blowing it up to prevent the theft of the secrets it contains.
* Franchise/WonderWoman's invisible plane has been subjected to theft and attempted theft on occasion, she always gets it back though and no enemey as of yet has been able to duplicate the Amazon tech that went into making the thing.

* In a kind of inversion, the Soviets try on several occasions to steal ''Series/{{Airwolf}}''. This is not quite the same as the first story, where Stringfellow Hawke has to Gundam Jack-back the previously stolen chopper from Libya.
** In the latter case, it's the chopper's own designer who jacks it during a trial run.

* The whole plot behind ''{{Series/Airwolf}}'': originally the helicopter was planned to be a whole squadron of ships that could blend in with civilian aircraft. The designer does this to ''himself'', slaughtering US government officials viewing a test run, and taking it to a Mideast country. The protagonists of the series manage to steal it back, but refuse to give it to the government or the manufacturer, holding it in exchange for information on one of the protagonist's family members who is a POW in Vietnam.

* While not a balatant case of theft, Russia's first nuclear bomber, the Tupolev Tu-4A, was basically created from this; During the closing stages of WWII, several B-29 bombers damaged from missions over Japan crash-landed in Soviet territory. With the B-29 being the then-cutting edge plane of the war and Russia in need of a decent strategic bomber, Stalin refused to return the planes, and reverse-engineered them to create the Tu-4, which was essentially an exact copy of the B-29 except with [[MoreDakka bigger defensive guns.]]

See also FallingIntoTheCockpit where this is usually done by accident. PhlebotinumRebel, where the heroes hijack ''themselves''. May overlap with HighSpeedHijack if the vehicle is in motion when stolen. Compare and contrast SabotageToDiscredit, which is the alterernative option of depriving ''them'' of the new invention without gaining it for yourself. This isn't meaning a crossover between ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' and ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'', although that would be awesome.

See also FallingIntoTheCockpit where this is usually done by accident. PhlebotinumRebel, where the heroes hijack ''themselves''. May overlap with HighSpeedHijack if the vehicle is in motion when stolen. This isn't meaning a crossover between ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' and ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'', although that would be awesome.

** In ''Series/PowerRangersDinoSuperCharge'', after getting a hold of the Rangers' technology, a faction of villains was able to take control of the Zords and use them to fight Heckyl.

** In ''Series/PowerRangersTimeForce,'' the Quantasaurus Rex is the focus of a multi-parter, as the heroes and villains (and [[SixthRanger Eric]], who is a side unto himself at this point) track it to where a faulty time portal dropped it and vie for control of it. It is controlled by the villains for a time until Eric winds up with it. Is it any better off in Eric's hands? [[IncrediblyLamePun Only time would tell]].