History Main / KleptomaniacHero

[[folder:Wide Open Sandbox]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''Manga/MagicalCircleGuruGuru''
** The "hero" actually introduces another character who wants to be a hero to the idea of stealing herbs from homes, which backfires on the second character. This anime plays with other tropes, including a scene at the end where [[spoiler:the characters defeat everything except the final boss, then leave without fighting him.]], the manga does defeat the final boss, in a much longer story.

* Since ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'' is about a group of tabletop RPG players that embody almost all gaming tropes, this trope is par for the course. It's probably best captured in one of the early strips, ''FiveGreenTowels,'' in which the group has their first adventure since acquiring a BagOfHolding and strip the dungeon of everything - including the furniture, soiled handkerchiefs and toenail clippings.

* A large number of {{Magical Girl}}s in the Italian remake of ''FanFic/BattleFantasiaProject'' are prone to [[RobbingTheDead strip the bodies of fallen allies and enemies of anything useful]] (and in fact [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Mami]] and [[Franchise/SailorMoon Sailor Venus]] insist their allies must do it ''with them'' if they happen to fall in battle), with Venus also picking up Eudial's Fire Buster II and giving it to Naru for defence [[WeirdnessMagnet the next time she gets attacked from a monster]] ([[GenreSavvy Shadow Galactica just happened to be about to attack her]], even if finding out about her past encounters made them change their minds). Among those who aren't this in canon or are [[OriginalGeneration original characters]], it's {{Justified}} for [[OriginalGeneration Star Reverie]] (as she has no other mean to support herself), [[ComicBook/{{WITCH}} Will Vandom]] (who has picked it up from [[OriginalGeneration her brother]], who is former military. Soldiers in the field ''do'' have this habit), [[ComicBook/{{WITCH}} Cornelia Hale]] (whose mother was revealed as [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTVSpecials Megan William]]'s secret identity. As Megan had all reasons to do it when stranded in the Pony world, it's likely Cornelia got it from her) and [[ComicBook/{{WITCH}} denizens of Meridian]] (who, when they did it, were ''dirt poor'' due the tyrant they were in the process of overthrowing being a crappy administrator. Elyon vowed to make it unnecessary as soon as she took over), but the others play it straight.
* ''FanFic/FalloutEquestria'':

* Brad in ''Fanfic/{{FREAKINGENSOKYO}}'', to an [[UpToEleven almost unbelievable degree]]. He stuffs his BagOfHolding with stolen clothes and furniture, and is showing no signs of tiring.

* ''Literature/LoneWolf'': Maybe he's not as bad as some video-game heroes, but still, Lone Wolf always has the option to thoroughly check for loot wherever he goes. It's part of the InventoryManagementPuzzle, as many items, precious or not, won't come into play and just waste space in the backpack. Nonetheless, if you want to drag along that bag of silver nuggets or that ingot of platinum for the rest of the adventure, you can! The Kai monastery can always need some rebuilding/refitting, after all.

** The trope is discouraged, however, in the third edition sourcebook ''Oriental Adventures,'' which includes an honor system that penalizes those who steal from the dead.
** The original TabletopGame/TombOfHorrors had adamant and mythril doors, to prevent you from trying to [[DungeonBypass break them down]]. Enterprising players realized that if they could pry these doors off their hinges, they could [[ShopFodder sell them for an amazing sum]]. The remake, therefore, [[ObviousRulePatch goes into great detail to explain]] that the doors are just ''magically hardened'' to be ''as strong'' as adamant and mythril, but are actually ''made'' of ordinary cheap metals.
** ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' attempted to avert this with the Kender. When creating the setting, they realized that they had to have room for a Good race [[PlanetOfHats that specialized in]] the Thief class, but if a race (like halflings) was composed of career thieves, then [[FridgeLogic why would the other Good races let them be around?]] Their solution was to create a race that had no concept of ownership, and stole things for fidgeting or fun without any malicious intent. Ironically, this created [[TheScrappy one of the most loathed races ever]], because while a halfling will steal from enemies out of practicality, [[ChaoticStupid a kender will steal from anyone for no reason]], and while the Kender might mean no harm by their thieving behavior, a ''player'' could easily use their tendencies as an excuse to act like a JerkAss toward their party members. Add in the fact that said characters also try to cause as much trouble as possible (because the character is "bored"), and are near useless in diplomatic and puzzle-solving situations, and they have the reputation of being the most annoying character concepts for other players at the table to have to deal with. Players who want to create Kenders often forget that the original authors wrote their Kender character to be tolerated by the other members of his group by author fiat; no such guarantee is in play for the other players at the table.
*** ''[[HalfHumanHybrid Half]]''-kender is in the spot of having a worse in-universe reputation, but being better off in terms of not being disruptive at the table -- they get the kender finger-filching curiosity, but the human ability to recognise the concept of ownership and a longer attention span. The end effect is a race regarded as 'stealth kender' (acting like kender, but not looking like one so you know to protect your things), but in reality more likely to ''resist'' the urge to just pick up things, and if they don't significantly more likely to remember where they picked it up ''and put it back''.
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The Blood Ravens Chapter of Space Marines are [[Memes/TabletopGames memetically]] this. This stems from their original appearances in the VideoGame/DawnOfWar video games, where the Blood Ravens can equip relics that are explicitly other Chapters' property, including Primarch relics and Adeptus Custodes gear, with vaguely suspicious explanations for having them in their armory. To hear the fans tell it, the Blood Ravens steal every useful bit of equipment they can find, even things that ''should'' be [[ImpossibleThief downright impossible to steal]] (the ammunition from enemy weapons, entire armored divisions, the Blackstone Fortresses, Abaddon's arms, the lost Primarchs, Bjorn the Fell-Handed...).

* Naturally, appears in ''Webcomic/{{Adventurers}}!'' The homeowner's lack of objection is justified:
-->'''Commoner #1:''' And you didn't stop him... because...?\\
'''Commoner #2:''' Hello! His sword is as big as '''me'''.
* Used for humorous effect in [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/darthsanddroids/episodes/0071.html this]] ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'' strip.
** It's rather a [[https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/1851.html running gag]] for Jim.

* Parodied in [[http://www.hejibits.com/comics/one-mans-trash/ this]] ''Webcomic/{{Hejibits}}'' comic.

* ''Webcomic/{{Nodwick}}'': The adventuring party fits this description. They'll loot ''anything'' from a dungeon, including the statuary. This is not appreciated by their poor henchman Nodwick, who invariably has to schlep several tons of worthless junk back home. (In this reality, henchmen have SuperStrength, but only when lifting things that their employers designate as "loot".)

* Parodied in [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comics/stolen-pixels/6501-Stolen-Pixels-123-Her-Story this]] ''WebComic/StolenPixels'' strip about ''VideoGame/VelvetAssassin'', where you gain XP by swiping random junk owned by Nazis, where her "Crowning Achievement" was stealing Himmler's left boot.

[[folder:Web Original]]

* [[WebVideo/OMFGCata Jesse Cox]] is notorious for doing this during otherwise straightforward [=RPGs=]. In short, if the facility to loot objects exists, he will exploit it constantly - much to the frustration of his fanbase.
** As an example, the designers of ''Videogame/BioshockInfinite'' littered the bodies of your fallen enemies with low stength restoratives for your health and salts. These objects also appear commonly in the world design--since you have no inventory, they have to be offered almost constantly. Eating a few such items will restore you to full health. ''Jesse'', however, tracks down and devours every last food item one by one. While already at full health and salts. In areas he might need to backtrack through later. ''While recording an [[NonActionGuy action Let's Play.]]''
* Huey and to a lesser extent Calamity of [[WebAnimation/NoEvil No Evil]] seem to have a streak of kleptomania, the former stealing the cast's scarecrows, and the latter "borrowing" (and never returning) many a thing on occasion.
* ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment'' sometimes makes fun of this in games, such as during his review of ''VideoGame/{{Phantasmagoria2}}'' - in which the main character is an office worker.
--> '''Spoony''': What does it say about me as a person that my first instinct is to rifle through her desk for useful objects?

* Namechecked in WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation's review of ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'', as one of the symptoms of adventure game heroes.

** In the sequel, ''Videogame/{{Dishonored 2}}'', this trope continues to be played straight as you can outright loot... your own possessions (technically), as you embezzle royal vaults early in the game while leaving Dunwall. {{Justified}}, however -- Corvo, for example, outright states that he needs all the cash he can get to bootstrap retaking the throne.

* Blood Ravens in ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar II'', [[FanNickname nicknamed]] "Bloody Magpies" for "releasing from the chapter's vaults" heaps of gear clearly marked as belonging to other chapters. For the most part, they were thought lost by the original chapter and/or "recovered" by the Blood Ravens under vague circumstances. For the least part...

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The Blood Ravens Chapter of Space Marines are [[Memes/TabletopGames memetically]] this, to the point where they've been given the FanNickname "Bloody [[ThievingMagpie Magpies]]". This stems from their original appearances in the VideoGame/DawnOfWar video games, where the Blood Ravens can equip relics that are explicitly other Chapters' property, including Primarch relics and Adeptus Custodes gear, with vaguely suspicious explanations for having them in their armory. To hear the fans tell it, the Blood Ravens steal every useful bit of equipment they can find, even things that ''should'' be [[ImpossibleThief downright impossible to steal]] (the ammunition from enemy weapons, entire armored divisions, the Blackstone Fortresses, Abaddon's arms, the lost Primarchs, Bjorn the Fell-Handed...).

** It's worth noting that stealing absolutely ''everything'' in these games is a bad idea - ''Fallout 3'' and ''New Vegas'' in particular are filled with heavy, nigh-worthless atmospheric clutter that can't even be considered VendorTrash.

** The original TabletopGame/TombOfHorrors had adamant and mythril doors, to prevent you from trying to [[DungeonBypass break them down]]. Enterprising players realized that if they could pry these doors off their hinges, they could [[VendorTrash sell them for an amazing sum]]. The remake, therefore, [[ObviousRulePatch goes into great detail to explain]] that the doors are just ''magically hardened'' to be ''as strong'' as adamant and mythril, but are actually ''made'' of ordinary cheap metals.

* The ''Overlord2012'' LN has an innkeeper remind guests that other people's rooms are off-limits. Perfectly redundant for normal people, but this ''is'' a world with a strong resemblance to an MMO, with all the ProtagonistCenteredMorality that implies.

*** Speaking of dungeon crawling and grave robbing, there's all of one random sidequest where you get [[WhatTheHellHero called out for this]] if you loot an ancient burial mound while the mound's owner is ''right there''. An option you can pick to diffuse the situation is to reason it's payment for helping him out, since a few ancient knick-knacks and bags of gold is small potatoes to the problem you're helping with (A necromancer trying to raise the man's entire ancestral line), which he begrudgingly accepts.

* In the old ''VideoGame/DejaVu'' games, you could ''literally'' pick up everything that wasn't nailed down ''too'' hard. Books? Check. Flowerpot with dead flower? Sure. ''Board nailed over a window?'' Just yank it loose and stick it in your coat, it might come in handy. Since there were quite a few items you actually needed to win, but you don't know which ones the first time, you tended to pick up literally everything, just in case.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The Blood Ravens Chapter of Space Marines are [[Memes/TabletopGames memetically]] this, to the point where they've been given the FanNickname Bloody [[ThievingMagpie Magpies]]. This stems from their original appearances in the VideoGame/DawnOfWar video games, where the Blood Ravens can equip relics that are explicitly other Chapters' property, including Primarch relics and Adeptus Custodes gear, with vaguely suspicious explanations for having them in their armory. To hear the fans tell it, the Blood Ravens steal every useful bit of equipment they can find, even things that ''should'' be [[ImpossibleThief downright impossible to steal]] (the ammunition from enemy weapons, entire armored divisions, the Blackstone Fortresses, Abaddon's arms, the lost Primarchs, Bjorn the Fell-Handed...).

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The Blood Ravens Chapter of Space Marines are [[Memes/TabletopGames memetically]] this, to the point where they've been given the FanNickname Bloody Magpies.This stems from their original appearances in the VideoGame/DawnOfWar video games, where the Blood Ravens can equip relics that are explicitly other Chapters' property, including Primarch relics and Adeptus Custodes gear, with vaguely suspicious explanations for having them in their armory. To hear the fans tell it, the Blood Ravens steal every useful bit of equipment they can find, even things that ''should'' be [[ImpossibleThief downright impossible to steal]] (the ammunition from enemy weapons, entire armored divisions, the Blackstone Fortresses, Abaddon's arms, the lost Primarchs, Bjorn the Fell-Handed...).

* Parodied in the RPGEpisode of ''Anime/HareGuu'' where Haré opening a treasure chest in a random house results in him getting him beaten up for stealing.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment''. {{NPC}}s will be confused and offended when you casually walk into their house with your armored entourage, and will attack you if they see you swiping their stuff. Some of them even put traps on their various containers to prevent. Seems a bit paranoid, though the apparent lack of door locks to their houses might explain it. Also you cannot sell stolen goods. At all. Even if they were stolen on another plan of existance, every shop-owner in the universe will somehow tell and refuse to accept them. That leaves you with the option to sell them gear obtained otherwise, then steal it back to make it trully yours.

* The game ''VideoGame/{{Sacred}}'' follows this trope - you can open any container in any area with no consequences. Add in the fact that the contents value increases as your level does and can be further boosted by certain abilities and items that increase your chance of finding more valuable loot you can end up with a barrel inside a peasant's hovel containing hundreds or thousands of gold pieces or a valuable magic item worth thousands. When you factor in quest rewards can include magic items as well, finding a farmer's sheep can result in being given XP, 2000 gold pieces and a magic sword as a common result - never mind the ludicrous nature of that.

** There is exactly one chest in the entire game you are not supposed to loot. If you wait, the owner will later thank you for it, teach you the otherwise unobtainable Lance formula, sell you alchemic ingredients from there on out, and even give you the stuff in the chests! This is the ''only'' time this happens in the game and, while one of the people in the house says their brother hates it when people touch his stuff, if you go for the loot before talking to him you'll get no feedback whatsoever that you missed anything. GuideDangIt

* [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''VideoGame/YouAreNotTheHero''. This game is about a woman following the heroes to get back what they took from her.

* In ''VideoGame/RavenswordShadowlands'', this is downplayed; you can steal plates and pitchers from [=NPCs=]' houses, and there's also a handful of houses you can break into, but that's about all the game offers in terms of unscrupulous thievery.

* In ''Videogame/TheSims3'', a sim with the Kleptomaniac trait will steal anything they can get their hands on. There's even a lifetime wish for ''[[UpToEleven 50,000 simoleons worth of stolen good]]''.

** In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' Haythem shows disgust at the idea of looting dead bodies when one of his men suggests the idea. Which is made extremely funny when the player is making him loot said dead body as he is saying this.
* In the ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' series Snake/Raiden can pick up dead bodies and drop them to shake out items, ammo, and sometimes weapons. In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', Snake can also hold somebody up by aiming at their back without being noticed and procede to frisk them. Snake comments on feeling like a graverobber in the first Solid game.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The Blood Ravens Chapter of Space Marines are [[Memes/TabletopGames memetically]] this, to the point where they've been given the FanNickname Bloody Magpies. To hear the fans tell it, the Blood Ravens steal every useful bit of equipment they can find, even things that ''should'' be [[ImpossibleThief downright impossible to steal]] (Relics from Primarchs, Adeptus Custodes equipment [both of these are actually in the game, the fans didn't make this up], Bjorn the Fell-Handed...). This stems from their original appearances in the VideoGame/DawnOfWar video games, where the Blood Ravens can equip relics that are explicitly other Chapters' property, with vaguely suspicious explanations for having them in their armory.

* 10tons's ''Jydge'' features a character that's a cross between ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' and ''Film/{{Robocop}}''. The Jydge will self-destruct if it accidentally kills an innocent. However the "Jydge" program can always use extra funds, so your law enforcement cyborg is allowed to "confiscate" money from slain criminals and "their" loot boxes. The Jydge can also hack public [=ATMs=] and once you hack some money from that, you can blow the [=ATM=] up for even more cash.

* 10tons's ''Jydge'' features a character that's a cross between ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd and ''Film/{{Robocop}}''. The Jydge will self-destruct if it accidentally kills an innocent. However the "Jydge" program can always use extra funds, so your law enforcement cyborg is allowed to "confiscate" money from slain criminals and their loot boxes. The Jydge can also hack public [=ATMs=] and once you hack some money from that, you can blow the [=ATM=] up for even more cash.

->''"Thank you, gentlemen! Someday, I '''''will''''' repay you!...Unless, of course, I can't find you or if I forget."''

* Most works of InteractiveFiction require you to steal everything you can find, including most Creator/{{Infocom}} games. However, Infocom's early wordplay-themed game ''VideoGame/NordAndBertCouldntMakeHeadOrTailOfIt'' subverted this in one section: Given a six-pack and a list of "pretenses" (such as "The world is flat" and "2+2=5") in a lawful town, the player must "TAKE BEER UNDER FALSE PRETENSES".

->''"Thank you, gentlemen! Someday, I ''will'' repay you!...Unless, of course, I can't find you or if I forget."''

* In ''Videogame/{{Okami}}'' you can set off ''bombs'' in people's houses to get food or coins from the ensuing wreckage. Since this game evolved from ''Zelda'', it's expected.
* ''Videogame/{{Solatorobo}}'' normally allows Red to poke about unmolested anywhere he likes, including at an orphanage. However, searching Vanille's bed will result in [[KleptomaniacHeroFoundUnderwear him finding some underwear]], and his sister Chocolat telling him to not stare at it.

* In ''VideoGame/SecretOfEvermore'', a woman in the first village you reach says you should take everything from the gourds and pots in all the huts, since you'll probably end up helping them in the long run.
** There is exactly one chest in the entire game you are not supposed to loot. If you wait, the owner will later thank you for it and give you an item superior to what you would have gotten if you looted it right away. Unfortunately, this is the only time this happens and there is no clue that you should not take from the chest, making it a case of GuideDangIt.

Fortunately, hardly anyone ever notices. In fact, as you wander around the world, particularly in [=RPGs=], you will repeatedly just [[TrespassingHero waltz uninvited into every house in the town]], [[RewardingVandalism smash the breakable items]] and loot it ''right before the owner's eyes'', and simply be told "[[WelcomeToCorneria There are many guards in the castle.]]" Be careful,though. [[KleptomaniacHeroFoundUnderwear You might just find something untoward...]]