Line #57 Main/ItMustBeMine


1	->''"I said to the Red Bull, 'I must have them! I must have ''all'' of them, ''all there are''!"''
2	-->-- '''King Haggard''', ''Literature/TheLastUnicorn''
3
4	There is a valuable thing out there. It's [[WhatMeasureIsANonUnique one-of-a-kind]], which makes it the greatest prize ever. That means someone wants it, just for that reason, by any means.
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6	Note it's not the artifact [[ArtifactOfAttraction hypnotically seducing the person into wanting it]]. The person is just that selfish or greedy. Nor is it something earned; it's outright taken. It also doesn't count if someone steals it [[StickyFingers for the thrill of the theft]], or to just show how good a thief he/she is. Either the thief has to want it, or he/she is stealing it for someone who does.
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8	Note that this rarely ends well, no matter [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism whether the story is idealistic or cynical]]. That person stole something they shouldn't keep. In idealistic stories, it's too important to lock away. In cynical stories, it's [[DeathByMaterialism too dangerous to try to lock away]].
9	----
10	!!Examples:
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12	[[foldercontrol]]
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14	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
15	* ''Franchise/LupinIII'' doesn't count for this trope. He ''never'' wants it for the rarity, and has often taken something just to make sure someone else ''doesn't'' have it. On the other hand, ''[[FemmeFatale Fujiko]]'' is also the cause of many of their capers. To the point where Jigen will try to quit the job once he hears it was her idea.
16	* Professor Machinegal in ''Anime/{{Moldiver}}'' has this as his main motivation for being a supervillain. He already is wealthy, respected, and famous, but there are technological artifacts he can only get by stealing, and he doesn't think anyone but him is worthy of them anyway.
17	* That [[InconsistentSpelling Gelarden or Lawrence III]], depending on the language, in ''Anime/{{Pokemon 2000}}'' who captured the Legendary Birds.
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20	[[folder:Comic Books]]
21	* There's also a Creator/MarvelComics character named The Collector, who collected unique specimens from across the universe.
22	* The original motivation of the Franchise/{{Batman}} villain the Cavalier was to obtain unique pieces that he was unable to purchase for his collection.
23	* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': Larfleeze wants ''everything'', but especially rare things, like Lantern rings he's never seen before.
24	* ''ComicBook/Superboy1994'': Scavenger wants all the extraterrestrial tech and magical items around Hawaii. When a spear with rumored magical properties is featured on the news, he says it must be his before teleporting in and stealing it after Superboy has already been knocked for a loop by Knockout.
25	* ''ComicBook/{{Robin\|1993}}'': Toyman takes advantage of the fact that the man who bought most of his collection will be completely unable to turn down a certain vintage toy tank if it appears at a toy seller's in Gotham by turning the thing into a remote-controlled weapon. The ensuing confrontation over the toys between Toyman and one of Bruce Wayne's eccentric neighbors who both have this mindset when it comes to the toys they collect has to be broken up by Robin.
26	* A great deal of the friction and fighting between Franchise/WonderWoman and the [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 Post-Crisis]] ComicBook/{{Cheetah}} (Barbara Minerva) is caused by Barbara's insistence on trying to steal Diana's lasso for her collection of mystical and occult artifacts.
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29	[[folder:Fan Works]]
30	* ''Fanfic/AThingOfVikings'': Roman Emperor Michael V is a RoyalBrat who immediately demands Snotlout hand over his dragon Hookfang to him, simply because he wants it.
31	* ''Fanfic/RainbowDoubleDashsLunaverse:'' When she was a child, Puissance's parents told her she'd want for nothing. Skip forward several decades, and she's an old and rich lady for who this has ''always'' been true, and whenever a new shiny thing catches her interest, she ''will'' have it. Even if that thing in question is a living being. She's got a whole collection of unique ponies all for herself, and who are creepily devoted to her in return.
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34	[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
35	* Most of the characters in ''Film/{{The Maltese Falcon\|1941}}'' will go to any lengths to obtain the fabled bird.
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37
38	[[folder:Literature]]
39	%%* There is a story where a princess (or maybe duchess) hears someone in her land has a talking cat. She wants it for herself, so she throws the owner in her dungeon. One scene has her riding in her carriage, carrying the cat in her hand muff, and the cat escapes by biting her hand.
40	* In the first ''[[Literature/AcornaSeries Acorna]]'' book, Hafiz Harakamian sought to add Acorna to his collection of rarities as the crown jewel, a desire which quickly disappeared once he learned she wasn't some sort of mutant, but a lost member of a space-faring race.
41	* The actions of [[ChurchMilitant Fiamma of the Right]], the [[spoiler:former]] [[TheManBehindTheMan Man Behind the Man]] of the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches in ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'', are guided solely by his obsession with possessing Touma's [[AntiMagic Imagine Breaker]] and [[GodhoodSeeker becoming more powerful than God himself]].
42	* All of the unicorns, in ''Literature/TheLastUnicorn'', collected by King Haggard.
43	-->'''Haggard:''' They are ''mine''! They belong to ''me''! The Red Bull gathered them one-by-one and I bade him drive each one into the sea! I like to watch them. They fill me with joy. The first time I felt it, I thought I was going to die. I said to the Red Bull, 'I must have them! I must have all of them, all there are! For nothing makes me happy but their shining, and their grace.' So, the Red Bull caught them. Each time I see the unicorns -- '''my''' unicorns -- it is like that morning in the woods, and I feel young, in ''spite'' of myself!
44	* In Creator/RobertAsprin's fantasy novel ''[[Literature/MythAdventures Myth Directions]]'', Tanda the Trollop assassin ropes protagonist Skeeve into her attempt to find a truly one-of-a-kind item to give to Aahz (a scaly green Pervect) as a birthday present. She ultimately settles on a ghastly frog-sculpture trophy that has no value except as the prize for a heated sports competition between rival cities. Their [[ASimplePlan robbery attempt]] goes horribly wrong, and things only spiral further out of control from there.
45	** To add to it, Skeeve tries to keep Aahz from finding out about any of this because he knows the lecture he'll get for having done something like this. When Aahz ''does'' find out and asks incredulously "This ugly statue is what's behind all this?", a frustrated Skeeve responds "Yeah, because we wanted to give it to you. Happy birthday." After a stunned minute, Aahz decides he wants it and the group alters their escape plan to include the theft of the trophy.
46	* Creator/SimonRGreen's ''Literature/{{Nightside}}'' books feature the [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Collector]], who is reclusive, petulant, and somewhat childish in his single-minded devotion to things that -- in his opinion -- only he can truly appreciate.
47	* Ublaz Mad Eyes in ''The Pearls of Lutra'' from the ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' series is obsessed with the titular pearls, known as "the Tears of All Oceans". He has a crown already made with six empty facets in which to place the pearls, and wants them badly enough to send multiple expeditions out to Mossflower to find them, resulting in the slaughter of an entire hold of otters ([[SoleSurvivor save one]]) and the abduction of innocent Abbeydwellers just to satisfy his vanity.
48	* In ''Literature/ShakuganNoShana'', the villain Sorath is obsessed with obtaining Shana's FlamingSword Nietono no Shana. When he manages to steal it, he [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness throws away]] his own CoolSword Blutsauger.
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51	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
52	* ''Series/TheAvengers1960s'' episode "[[Series/TheManFromUncle The Man from Auntie]]" features a villainous firm that collects items like this for... collectors. The "item" they've currently stolen and plan to [[AuctionOfEvil auction off]] is Emma Peel.
53	* Comes up in ''Series/DadsArmy'' of all places where Mainwaring is trying to buy some oranges at a charity auction from the warden, who predictably is doing everything in his power to stop him from getting them. Eventually Wilson tells Pike to buy an orange for Mainwaring but neglects to tell the captain, resulting in Mainwaring entering a furious bidding war against himself. He eventually ends up paying ten shillings for it (when the first one sold for a couple of pence).
54	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
55	** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E6TheSeedsOfDoom "The Seeds of Doom"]], two alien pods are found in the Antarctic permafrost. The psychotic millionaire Harrison Chase sends a team of thugs to get them because they're unique. The pods cause vegetation to kill animal life, endangering the world.
56	** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath "City of Death"]], a key plot-point involves the theft of the ''Mona Lisa'', to be sold (along with six identical paintings) to finance Count Scarlioni's temporal experiments. Inspector Duggan observes to the Doctor at one point, "There are at least seven people in my address book who'd pay millions for that picture, for their own private collections. It would be an expensive gloat, but they'd do it."
57	* Happens often with the marks in ''Series/{{Hustle}}''. Examples include a rare banknote in "The Lesson" (or so it seems), a case of rare wine in "Getting Even", and a Faberge Egg (one of a matched pair) in "Eat Yourself Slender".
58	* An episode of ''Series/JonathanCreek'' had a woman and her daughter steal a valuable statue to spite its owner (the mother's brother). When the daughter went to recover it she was murdered by an AxeCrazy, sociopathic pimp who decided he wanted it simply because he heard it was valuable.
59	* ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'': Kamen Rider Diend has a 'treasure' in each episode that he is seeking. He alone knows what makes something a 'treasure,' and he only wants it because it is one, and rarely for what it actually does (some of 'em are important to the plot.)
60	** Invoked in the World of Kabuto arc, where Decade claims to have a bottle of legendary spice discovered by Vasco de Gama, which of course Diend wants. In reality, it's nothing but ordinary pepper, and Decade is {{Troll}}ing Diend as payback for all the trolling he usually does.
61	** His habits cause significant chaos in ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'' because he arrives at some crucial point of the story and steals the most important TransformationTrinket at the moment. The intervention may be potentially world ending.
62	* In ''Series/LoisAndClark'', a baddie captures Superman and uses ComicBook/LoisLane as hostage to make sure he doesn't escape. Which he does, via NewPowersAsThePlotDemands.
63	* At least one ''Series/MissionImpossible'' episode had a millionaire who had a national treasure that the original nation wanted back, and it was important they get it for reasons of international politics. The current owner was not cooperative.
64	* The ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E22TheMostToys The Most Toys]]". The thing that was stolen was Lieutenant Commander Data. It probably wasn't one of Kivas Fajo's better business plans...
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67	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
68	* Wrestling/JoeyRyan's explanation for showing up in Championship Wrestling From Hollywood with the organization's television title belt, even though he never won it. As the biggest television star on the card, why ''shouldn't'' he have the belt?
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71	[[folder:Video Games]]
72	* Oliver, the Duke of Tanas from ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' 9 and 10, toward the royal heron laguz.
73	* Chandra in ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' says this about one of the [[SealedEvilInACan artifacts of the Ancients]], before she knew what exactly it was.
74	* In ''VideoGame/MysteryOfMortlakeMansion'', "R's" notes reveal that he was obsessed with the magic of [[spoiler:Cagliostro]]. Too late does he realise that EvilIsNotAToy.
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77	[[folder:Web Comics]]
78	* ''Webcomic/DorkTower'': This is actually Igor's catchphrase, though it seems like it doesn't so much have to be a unique thing as just press his nerd buttons.
79	* In ''Webcomic/{{Nodwick}}'''s ''Literature/LordOfTheRings'' parody, the Gollum character is based on Igor above. Nodwick quickly realised that "This One Ring" is not an ArtifactOfAttraction as everyone believed; Smeagor was just crazy.
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82	[[folder:Western Animation]]
83	* There was a ''WesternAnimation/{{ThunderCats\|1985}}'' episode where some queen tried to cage a magical songbird ([[InformedAbility although its song didn't come across as beautiful as we were told]]).
84	* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', episode "The Main Man": An alien called the Preserver has a private zoo in which every creature is the [[LastOfHisKind last of its kind]]; in the episode, it attempts to add Superman, the last Kryptonian, to its collection by hiring Lobo to capture him. Once Lobo succeeds, the Preserver ''captures him as well'', since [[WhereIWasBornAndRazed he's the last Czarnian]]. [[{{TeethClenchedTeamwork}} Lobo and Supes team up.]] HilarityEnsues.
85	* In a ''[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Treehouse of Horror]]'' episode, Comic Book Guy is the supervillain "The Collector" who collects Lucy Lawless, the [[Series/DoctorWho Fourth Doctor]], Matt Groening, etc. He also owns the only working phaser ever made (only fired once, to keep William Shatner from making another album) and a working ''[[Film/ThePhantomMenace double-lightsaber]]''.
86	-->'''Lawless:''' You removed it from its original packaging!
87	-->'''Collector:''' No! It's no longer a collectible!
88	* [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsMrKrabs Mr. Krabs]] had just sold a cap to ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' when another person showed up saying it was a rare cap and offering way more than what Spongebob paid. Krabs spent most of the episode trying to recover it and, [[spoiler:by the time he did get it back, several others appeared, making it not so valuable anymore]].
89	* ''[[WesternAnimation/YogisSpaceRace Galaxy Goof-Ups]]'': In "Space Station [=USA=]", once the titular station is found, the richest man in galaxy wants to add it to his space station collection and has no moral objections against stealing it.
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Context Main / ItMustBeMine