History Main / KeepAway

* ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles 2'' has the title turtles playing keep-away from the Foot with the last canister of mutagenic ooze. It eventually finds its way into Tatsu's hands when one of the defeated Foot lays a staff across the floor, causing Donatello to wipe out.

--->'''Bart:''' [[SarcasmMode Oh, woes me. My precious uniform.]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'' fight between OzzyOsbourne and RobZombie, Ozzy and Mills do this with Rob's brain. (ItMakesSenseInContext, seriously. [[KentBrockmanNews Nick Diamond]] calls it a "game of HotPotato", but Ozzy is trying to keep it away from Rob, so it more fits this Trope.)

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* Luffy from ''OnePiece'', having extendable rubber arms is able to perform this trope all by himself to keep Usopp from drinking the group's water supply (and even ''names it'' as a technique: the "Gomu Gomu no Dame Da"; Dame Da roughly means "No Way" or "Stop That").

* In chapter 166 (the [[NoDialogueEpisode No Dialogue Chapter]]) of ''MahouSenseiNegima'', several of Negi's students play keep away with his ring-wand (They're 14/15, he's ten, teasing him is their favorite sport, [[strike:it seems]]) until Akira, who was helping him look for it in the first place, brings it to a [[BewareTheNiceOnes surprisingly abrupt end]].
** It is also done several chapters later with Negi's unconscious body at a sleep over. Boy's a deep sleeper.
* There is a ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'' episode where the heroes and villains fight over the then unhatched Togepi egg while maneuvering through Weezing's smoke. Pikachu ultimately catches it before it could shatter, but Misty's the main [[TeamMom mom]] to it.

** [[WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries We're tormenting you!]]
* In one of the animated adaptations of ''VisualNovel/{{Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni}}'', Satako and a couple other students do this with one of Rika's books. [[{{Beware the Nice Ones}} Cue Rika beating the stuffing out of Satoko with a chair]].
* ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]'': In the manga, Ranma, Genma, and Soun toss [[DirtyOldMan Happosai]] between the three of them in order to keep him away from Pantyhose Taro. Ranma even says:
--> Keep passing the pervert around!

[[AC:Films -- Animated]]
* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', [[spoiler: the heroes do this with Syndrome's remote control, keeping it away from the Omnidroid it controls.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'' had a scene where some bat-like aliens do this with the protagonist as the "ball" to keep him safe. They're running away from the villains, and they're passing Cale to each other [[{{Heroic Sacrifice}} as they're shot down by the bad guys]].

* Baloo and Bagheera actually do this to Mowgli near the middle of ''Disney/TheJungleBook'' in order to rescue him from King Louie and the other monkeys. Curiously enough, the animation for this scene was actually taken from the above film.

* The climax of ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek 2}}'' did this with the Fairy Godmother's magic wand.

[[AC:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles 2'' has the titular turtles playing keep-away from the Foot with the last canister of mutagenic ooze. It eventually finds its way into Tatsu's hands when one of the defeated Foot lays a staff across the floor, causing Donatello to wipe out.
* ''TheGreatMuppetCaper'' has loads of fun with this in the heist foil scene; once that diamond starts getting tossed around the muppets start bragging about their throwing skills, the host of The Wide World of Muppet Sports shows up, theme music starts playing...
* The climax to the second live-action ''[[Film/ScoobyDooMonstersUnleashed Scooby Doo]]'' movie features [[spoiler: the gang trying to keep a piece of machinery away from a group of monsters.]]

* The bullies in ''{{Film/Beethoven}}'' do this to Ted with his glasses.

[[AC:Literature]]
* In the ''BerensteinBears'' chapter books, this is just one of the ways the bullies pick on Ferdy.

[[AC:Live Action Television]]
* The Doctor and [[ActionGirl Ace]] with the Bow of Nemesis in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial ''Silver Nemesis''.

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* In the ''WebAnimation/GothamGirls'' [[WebAnimation web Flash animated series]], Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy tried to keep their loot from Batgirl in this manner. Unfortunately for the crooks, Batgirl took advantage of Harley's childish gullibility and called to her to throw the item to her. Harley, caught up in the tossing, did so and realized too late that she was suckered while Batgirl made her getaway.
* One {{Rifftrax}} short features a young {{Woobie}} falling victim to this, courtesy of some neighborhood bullies. Riffer Bill Corbett notes that a game of "Monkey in the Middle" can quickly be ended by a [[GroinAttack good, swift crotch punch]] from the Monkey.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* Given the GottaCatchThemAll nature of ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'', it's little surprise this often happens. The second season opener subverted it: once the keep away session (with the Talismans) was completed, Uncle angrily revealed that the heroes had gone after the ''wrong'' MacGuffin.
* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' does it a few times. In "A Sitch In Time", it's the head of the Tempus Simia idol. In "Adventures In Rufus Sitting", everyone's after the microchip that the token naked mole rat has swallowed. They do the schoolyard version in A Sitch in Time, first TheMovie.
* This is directly used as a spoof of American Football in season 3 of ''TransformersGeneration1'' as Blurr, Wheelie and the others throw Metroplex's conveniently egg-shaped Transformation Cog to one another while running.
** Indeed, the term "yoink!" in these moments is a sort of inside gag for Transformers fans, as it pops up in a lot of fan works.
** In the pilot of ''TransformersAnimated'', the Autobots do this trying to keep the [=AllSpark=] away from Starscream.
* And the ''[[WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor Kids Next Door]]'' do this with a football-shaped bomb.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', the bullies do this with Bart's "Junior Campers" uniform. Bart actually wanted to quit so he started to walk away, telling them to keep it. Jimbo then tells him that he'd better ''pretend'' to want it back, or he'd be sorry. Bart complies.
-->"[[SarcasmMode Oh, woes me. My precious uniform.]]"

* In ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'', The [[HarmlessVillain Beagle Boys]] and the [[BrattyHalfPint triplets Huey Dewey and Louie]] ended up doing this with a [[MacGuffin bag of form-changing powder]], while engaged in a {{Shapeshifter Showdown}} on top of that!
* Near the end of one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Cyberchase}}'', the kids toss the Sun-
* ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' does this several times.

** In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'', the Humane Six attempt to keep the Element of Magic away from Sunset Shimmer, but she ultimately intercepts it and turns OneWingedAngel.
** In "Daring Don't", everypony but Rainbow Dash play this game to keep the Ring of Destiny away from the villains. Dash and [[spoiler: Daring Do]], meanwhile, use the distraction to sabotage the rest of the rings.
** In "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils", the Cutie Mark Crusaders play keep away with the box containing the sabotaged headdress so Sweetie Belle can fix it before it ruins Rarity's reputation and career.

* On an episode of ''{{Doug}}'', Roger and his gang play keep-away with AV nerd Larry's hat. This kicks off the main plot; when the hat lands on Doug's pencil and he holds it up, Larry mistakes him for playing along with the game and lashes out at him.

* In "Toby Braves the Bully" from ''WesternAnimation/SheriffCalliesWildWest'', the bully, Bradley Bulldog, pulls this on Toby, taking his newspapers and taunting him with them, before throwing them all to the ground.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'' fight between OzzyOsbourne and RobZombie, Ozzy and Mills do this with Rob's brain. (ItMakesSenseInContext, seriously. [[KentBrockmanNews Nick Diamond]] calls it a "game of HotPotato", but Ozzy is trying to keep it away from Rob, so it more fits this Trope.)

* And the ''KidsNextDoor'' do this with a football-shaped bomb.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'' fight between OzzyOsbourne and RobZombie, Ozzy and Mills do this with Rob's brain. (ItMakesSenseInContext, seriously. Nick Diamond calls it a "game of HotPotato", but Ozzy is trying to keep it away from Rob, so it more fits this Trope.)

** In "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils", the Cutie Mark Crusaders play keep away with the box containing the sabotaged headdress so Sweetie Belle can fix it before it ruins Rarity's reputation and career.

** In ''WesternAnimation/EquestriaGirls'', the Humane Six attempt to keep the Element of Magic away from Sunset Shimmer, but she ulimately intercepts it and turns OneWingedAngel.

** Another episode has a group of girl bullies doing this with Lisa's shoes.

* Mr. Toad and his friends Mole, Water Rat, and Angus [=MacBadger=] actually do this to the deed for Toad Hall at the end of ''Literature/TheWindInTheWillows'' segment of ''Disney/TheAdventuresOfIchabodAndMrToad'' in order to get rid of the evil innkeeper Mr. Winkie and his army of weasels, who have taken over the mansion after framing Toad for allegedly stealing a car.

* ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' does this twice.

** In "Daring Don't", everypony but Rainbow Dash play this game to keep the Ring of Destiny away from the villains. Dash and [[spoiler: Daring Do]], meanwhile, use the distraction to sabotage the rest of the rings.

** In "The Return of Harmony, Part 2", brainwashed Flutterbitch leads this game to keep the Elements of Harmony Reference Guide away from Twilight.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* At the end of ''TheIncredibles'', [[spoiler: the heroes do this with Syndrome's remote control, keeping it away from the Omnidroid it controls.]]

* ''TitanAE'' had a scene where some bat-like aliens do this with the protagonist as the "ball" to keep him safe.
** Specifically, they're running away from the villains, and they're passing Cale to each other [[{{Heroic Sacrifice}} as they're shot down by the bad guys]].
* Mr. Toad and his friends Mole, Water Rat, and Angus [=MacBadger=] actually do this to the deed for Toad Hall at the end of ''TheWindInTheWillows'' segment of ''Disney/TheAdventuresOfIchabodAndMrToad'' in order to get rid of the evil innkeeper Mr. Winkie and his army of weasels, who have taken over the mansion after framing Toad for allegedly stealing a car.
* Baloo and Bagheera actually do this to Mowgli near the middle of ''Disney/TheJungleBook'' in order to rescue him from King Louie and the other monkeys. Curiously enough, the animation for this scene was actually taken from the above film.
* ''Disney/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'' ends with Aladdin and his friends trying to get [[JackassGenie Jafar's]] lamp away from him and [[HarmlessVillain Abis]] [[PunnyName Mal]] in order to destroy it, because according to Genie, the only way to kill a genie is to destroy his lamp before his summoner can wish him free (at which the genie becomes invincible afterwards). Jafar finds out about this, and as a result he traps the heroes in a pit of lava, with the lamp just out of reach. Fortunately, [[HeelFaceTurn Iago the parrot]] shows up in time, grabs Jafar's lamp, and throws it into the lava. [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath Cue Jafar getting electrocuted, turning into a skeleton, screaming throughout, and exploding violently.]]
* The climax of ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}} 2'' did this with the Fairy Godmother's magic wand.

** In "Daring Don't", everypony but Rainbow Dash play this game to keep the Ring of Destiny away from the villains.

* In the ''GothamGirls'' [[WebAnimation web Flash animated series]], Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy tried to keep their loot from Batgirl in this manner. Unfortunately for the crooks, Batgirl took advantage of Harley's childish gullibility and called to her to throw the item to her. Harley, caught up in the tossing, did so and realized too late that she was suckered while Batgirl made her getaway.

* Near the end of one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Cyberchase}}'', the kids toss the Sun-

* In the altered present in ''Film/OOODenOAllRidersLetsGoKamenRiders'', [[Series/KamenRiderOOO Eiji and Ankh]] run into trouble with some kids, who proceed to steal Eiji's OOO Medals and pass them around in order to inconvenience poor Eiji. Later, in the climax of the film, those same kids steal the [{TransformationTrinket OOO Driver]] from the Shocker Greeed; the gathered crowd decide to help them out and join in the pass-around until the captive Riders are freed and the Driver is returned to Eiji.

* The climax of ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}} Shrek 2]]'' did this with the Fairy Godmother's magic wand.

* Near the end of one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Cyberchase}}'', the kids toss the Sun-o-sphere back and forth to keep the Hacker from taking it. At the end of another (doubling as a CrowningMomentofAwesome), Matt trusts Slider enough to play KeepAway with the Ring.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'', the Ashleys steal Gus's harmonica and toss it amongst themselves while getting Gus to jinx himself.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/StormHawks'', the Hawks annoy Starling because what they claim is a training exercise seems like a game of this-the climax of the episode turns out to be a FinalExamBoss requiring the skills addressed in the assortment of "games" played earlier when they trained, including, yes, a game of keep-away.
* In "The Birthday Boy" on the PBSKids version of ''Literature/TheBerenstainBears'', Too Tall and his gang pull this with Sister Bear's bow, until Brother Bear appears on the scene and puts a stop to it.
* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', the MindRaped Mane Six (minus Twilight) keeping a book away from Twilight
** Happens again in another Discord episode, "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E11KeepCalmAndFlutterOn Keep Calm and Flutter On]]" as a FunnyBackgroundEvent - while Fluttershy talks with Twilight about how she plans to reform Discord, Discord plays keep-away with Angel Bunny's favorite couch in the background.
* A small fight in ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' happened with [[CompanionCube Mr. Puck]] being the MacGuffin, and Odd, Aelita, and Ulrich being the ones trying to get it back from Sissi, Nicholas, and Herve. Luckily it ended up in a small This is mine tussle and Aelita regained her elf, so to speak.
* In the SpongeBob episode ''Wigstruck'', several guys did this with their own band member (who loved his wig so much) until they lost it. Then, when they were briefly fired, they blamed the guy for losing it [[{{Hypocrite}} even though it was their fault]].
* In an installment of ''WesternAnimation/{{Caillou}}'', Mommy does this for demonstration purposes when teaching Caillou to play ringette.

[[AC: RealLife]]
* The game "Monkey In The Middle" is basically this trope, though all participants are willing and nothing was technically stolen (unless you count the "monkey" taking the item and switching places with the last person to touch the item)
-----
<<|ActionAdventureTropes|>>
<<|SchoolTropes|>>

* ''[[{{Disney/Aladdin}} Aladdin: The Return of Jafar]]'' ends with Aladdin and his friends attempting to get [[JackassGenie Jafar's]] lamp away from Jafar and [[HarmlessVillain Abis]] [[PunnyName Mal]] in order to destroy it, because according to Genie, the only way to kill a genie is to destroy his lamp before his summoner can wish him free (at which the genie becomes invincible afterwards). Jafar finds out about this, and as a result he traps the heroes in a pit of lava, with the lamp just out of reach. Fortunately, [[HeelFaceTurn Iago the parrot]] shows up in time, grabs Jafar's lamp, and throws it into the lava. [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath Cue Jafar getting electrocuted, turning into a skeleton, screaming throughout, and exploding violently.]]

* The BlackComedy / BodyHorror movie ''StreetTrash'' does this with a homeless guy's ''severed penis.''