History Main / SatchelSwitcheroo

* One ''TabletopGame/D20Modern'' adventure ("A Funny Thing Happened at Carousel 14", which happens to be a homage to ''Film/WhatsUpDoc'') features no fewer than four characters with identical (gaudy and "unusual") bags, each with vitally important and for the most part incriminating contents. Compounding matters are two additional characters who plan to intentionally switch their own (again, identical) bags with someone else's. The GameMaster is instructed to treat the adventure as a corporate espionage thriller, so that the players will be surprised when [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity Inevitably Ensues]].

* One happens in the Mexican superhero/wrestler film ''Neutron the Atomic Superman vs. the Death Robots'', though despite claims to the contrary, they look nothing alike.

* In a classic ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' strip, two scientists have identical unmarked beakers. One of them loudly objects to the replacement of his dysentery culture with lemonade just as [[IDrankWhat the other takes a drink]]. This strip is often posted as a [[BlackComedy serious safety reminder]] in various academic and professional labs: [[TemptingFate eating or drinking anything in a lab and/or out of labware]] can and has resulted in [[TruthInTelevision numerous, often tragic, variations on this exact scenario]].

* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'': In "Enter The Viper", Jackie and Jade are trying to steal the snake talisman from the same museum [[ClassyCatBurglar Viper]] is trying to steal a valuable jewel from. One scuffle later and both of their identical-looking bags end up on the floor next to each other, triggering the accidental swap.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'', Jackie and Jade are trying to steal the snake talisman from the same museum [[ClassyCatBurglar Viper]] is trying to steal a valuable jewel from. One scuffle later and both of their identical-looking bags end up on the floor next to each other, triggering the accidental swap.

* The ultimate conflict in ''Film/PoliceAcademy5AssignmentMiamiBeach'' comes about because a group of jewel thieves have placed the package in which their loot is concealed in a bag which is externally identical to Commandant Lassard's luggage, who is taking the same flight as the criminals. They end up claiming the wrong bags when they get to Miami, forcing the villains to try to track down Lassard and reclaim the diamonds.

* The ultimate conflict in ''Film/PoliceAcademy5AssignmentMiamiBeach'' comes about because a group of jewel thieves have placed the package in which their loot concealed in a bag which is externally identical to Commandant Lassard's luggage, who is taking the same flight as the criminals. They end up claiming the wrong bags when they get to Miami, forcing the villains to try to track down Lassard and reclaim the diamonds.

* The ultimate conflict in ''Film/PoliceAcademy5AssignmentMiamiBeach'' comes about because a group of criminals who have smuggled diamonds into the country have placed the package in which the diamonds are concealed in a bag which is externally identical to Commandant Lassard's luggage, who is taking the same flight as the criminals. They end up claiming the wrong bags when they get to Miami, forcing the villains to try to track down Lassard and reclaim the diamonds.

* The Creator/JackieChan film ''Film/TheLegendofDrunkenMaster'' starts with one of these. One package holds a stolen cultural artifact, the other holds a ginseng root that Jackie's master purchased on a shopping trip. The packages get swapped by accident when Jackie tries to smuggle the ginseng past customs.

* The Creator/JackieChan film ''Legend Of Drunken Master'' starts with one of these. One package holds a stolen cultural artifact, the other holds a ginseng root that Jackie's master purchased on a shopping trip. The packages get swapped by accident when Jackie tries to smuggle the ginseng past customs.

* One of the revelations of TheRashomon in ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed: Carbon'' is the switching of two bags, one of them with money.

Compare SwitchedAtBirth, ShellGame. See also StolenMacGuffinReveal. When ''one'' character gets two or more objects mixed up, that's UnfortunateItemSwap. If there's only one ''bag'' but screwy items keep getting pulled out, that's RummageFail.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': In [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS6E3Fugitive "Fugitive"]], [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate Nala Se]] has two case, one of which is carrying a preserved tumour extracted from a deceased clone trooper that the Jedi want to examine, swapped behind Shaak Ti's back with the intent that she'll take the empty one back to Coruscant. ARC trooper Fives sees the swap, but since the Kaminoans are planning on having him [[LaserGuidedAmnesia memory-wiped]] she doesn't think it's a problem...

[[folder:Theater]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': Arnold, Gerald, and Sid find a shopping bag full of money, and decide to take it to the police station in the morning to collect a reward. But when Arnold arrives with the bag, it's full of birdseed. He tries to explain, "There was this old woman next to me on the bus, and she had pink hair, a peg leg, and one eyebrow. She had a whole bunch of shopping bags just like mine, and she must have taken my bag by mistake." [[CassandraTruth Nobody believes him]].

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' there is a murderer on the loose who happens to look just like Hamton, at one point Plucky tricks Hamton is crawling into a sack which he then ties shut and tries to take him to the police, along the way he bumps into some bank employees who are transporting money and he grabs a sack of money by mistake, and when he presents the bag to the police and finding it full of money he promptly arrested.
* An odd example in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''; Twilight and friends are waiting to greet the games inspector, who they're told has a floral print suitcase. The pony they wind up with is an unnamed claustrophobic tourist with mustang blood. HilarityEnsues.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' ChristmasEpisode "The Magic Sack Of Mr. Nicholas", Gargamel captures a bunch of Smurfs while Chlorhydris steals Mr. Nicholas's toys. They bump into each other, swapping bags in the process.
* ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'': In "Bad Tina", Tina's siblings pull this bit on her classmate Tammy, swapping her bag with one of the Pesto twins' bags, to retrieve Tina's notebook of 'erotic friend fiction' and avoid public humiliation.

* A variation happens in ''Kung Fu Panda'' special ''Secrets of the Scroll,'' when Po's list of potential careers (doctor, janitor, comedian, and dancer), written on a scroll with jade handles, is accidentally switched with Tigress' list of four kung fu masters to find, which has identical handles. Tigress opens the wrong scroll and thinks that she has to find a doctor, janitor, comedian and dancer. HilarityEnsues.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', a significant jar of peanut butter is swapped several times between two identical bags. Eventually one falls into lava, at which point Steve learns that Stan had been trying to do this, but had thought it was a "magic bag" and didn't realize he had to ''do'' anything to make the swap, resulting in the jar being in the bag that fell into lava.

* In James Blaylock's ''Homunculus'', four of Keeble's mechanical boxes are eagerly sought by the heroes and by several different villains. In this case, ''all'' of them have value to ''somebody'', but characters in search of a particular box's contents (an emerald, an oxygen-maker, a perpetual-motion device, and the title creature) keep snatching the wrong one.

* One episode of ''Anime/{{Kochikame}}'' involved one of these, in which one of the bags contained photos of Nakagawa posing shirtless. Ryotsu and Nakagawa then spend the rest of the episode attempting to get that bag back (since, well, their chief has it and all...).

* ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' - Tina's siblings pull this bit on her classmate Tammy to retrieve her notebook of 'erotic friend fiction' and avoid public humiliation.