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| 18 | ->''"Thank you, Fat Tony. However, in the future, I would prefer a nondescript briefcase to the [[StockMoneyBag sack with a dollar sign on it.]]"'' |
| 19 | -->-- '''Mayor "Diamond" Joe Quimby''', ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', "Mayored To The Mob" |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Whenever someone is offering someone else an obscene amount of money for whatever reason, it will be in the form of neatly stacked and bound stacks of bills in a briefcase, or, if the amount is even larger, a suitcase. This frequently appears where the people making the briefcase can't afford enough money and therefore try to pad out the suitcase with stacks of paper with a few dollar bills on top. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | For accuracy, the briefcase should be a [[https://zerohalliburton.com/collections/aluminum-business-cases Zero Halliburton brand brushed-aluminum model]] (oddly just the right size for exactly ten thousand one-hundred-dollar bills), the first choice of terrorists, drug dealers, and Las Vegas [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_roller whales.]] |
| 24 | |
| 25 | Thanks to inflation, a briefcase full of money isn't really an obscene amount these days, relatively speaking. Assuming that the contents are all $100 USD bills, an average-sized briefcase (25" x 18" x 4") could fit about US$2,400,000. An average attache case (18" x 12" x 4.5") is good for about US$1,000,000. That's obviously a lot of money, enough to make for a plausible bribe in most circumstances and a perfectly respectable sum if you plan to use it just for yourself, but not generally enough in the modern developed world to live on like a king, or sufficient to fund a significant enterprise. Years ago, the US Treasury stopped making bills bigger than $100 to make it more difficult to conceal large amounts of illicit cash. The European Central Bank followed suit in 2018.[[labelnote:*]]Though they are no longer printed and issued, €500 bills are still legal tender. A briefcase as described above can hold €6,350,000 ($8,550,275 USD), whereas an attaché case can hold up to €3,213,000 ($4,326,304 USD).[[/labelnote]] Some rich countries such as Switzerland (which prints bills as big as 1000 francs (about $1,115.50) continue to print large bills, though you aren't likely to actually see one unless you need it for specific purchases, such as buying property and/or vehicles. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | By the way, a briefcase filled with cash would weigh quite a lot: ten thousand American banknotes would weigh twenty-two pounds, twenty-four thousand would weigh ''fifty-three.'' On top of that, those cool aluminum suitcases weigh eight-- as much as a carton of milk. Carrying a million bucks in a silver briefcase would thus be like carrying one of those jugs that go on top of water coolers -- in ''one hand''.[[note]]At that weight, this briefcase would probably make for quite an effective [[MoneyMauling bludgeoning weapon]] if you had the strength to swing it properly.[[/note]] [[HollywoodDensity However, you never see anyone struggling to lift the suitcase.]] You're also unlikely to see the suitcase ''enthusiastically'' [[MoneyToThrowAway spit out the excess bills]] that have been crammed into it when it opens, to make sure that everything's neatly stacked inside when the audience gets a look. |
| 28 | |
| 29 | To get around inflation, the briefcase will sometimes contain a portable, high-tech money transfer device ready to send the [[UndisclosedFunds undisclosed sum]] to the nameless [[SwissBankAccount offshore bank on Grand Cayman]] of your choice. |
| 30 | |
| 31 | To make sure the cash is authentic, you can expect the recipient to pick up a bundle of bills and [[HearMeTheMoney flip through it while holding the cash up to their ear.]] |
| 32 | |
| 33 | Alongside the StockMoneyBag, this is probably the most common manifestation of AMacGuffinFullOfMoney. Can overlap with HandcuffedBriefcase. Given its weight and value, the case is likely shackled to the wrist of TheBrute and even he is flanked by bodyguards. Might be handed to a criminal in a RansomDrop. |
| 34 | |
| 35 | As this trope is so common, only exceptions, parodies and subversions will be listed. |
| 36 | |
| 37 | ---- |
| 38 | !!Examples: |
| 39 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 40 | |
| 41 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 42 | * A Canadian commercial for a hybrid car has a guy going into a gas station with a briefcase and puts it on the counter, opening it up. You expect that the "gas station" is a front for something... until the guy says "Pump Number 3?", and the clerk motions towards the door. [[RidiculousFutureInflation High gas prices indeed]]. |
| 43 | [[/folder]] |
| 44 | |
| 45 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 46 | * In the first episode of ''Anime/TheBigO'', Roger Smith negotiates the release of R. Dorothy Wainright (whom he doesn't yet realize is an android) from Beck by bringing a briefcase full of money. Roger activates a hidden feature in the briefcase which sends it ''flying back to them via built-in rockets.'' Beck's {{mook}}s open fire on the briefcase in surprise, only to break the lock and ''dump the money all over the city.'' The viewer can easily sympathize with Beck screaming about being SurroundedByIdiots. |
| 47 | * An episode of ''Manga/CaseClosed'' had a rich person trying to get his daughter back by paying one of these...only the bills were all fake because he couldn't get that much in cash at the time without bankrupting himself [[spoiler: and the kidnapper didn't really want the money anyways]]. |
| 48 | * In the ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' episode "[[Recap/CowboyBebopSession3HonkyTonkWoman Honky Tonk Woman]]", Spike and Jet end up in possession of a poker chip that contains an encryption key for an extremely valuable (and illegal) computer decryption program. They agree to sell it to a crime lord for a large amount of money, which is delivered via spacewalk in a case. Of course, it's really a double-cross and the case also has a hidden compartment with a gun that the crime lord's underling tries to use against Spike, but Spike and Jet were already expecting this and prepared accordingly. |
| 49 | * In ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'', Nagi offers one of these in order to pay off Hayate's debt to the "[[{{Yakuza}} very nice men]]". They gladly accept. |
| 50 | * In ''Manga/KarakuridoujiUltimo'', Iruma Tonomitsu, a shady politician (falsely) offers Yamato a briefcase that contains $100 million in order to buy Ultimo. [[spoiler:After Iruma ends up getting stabbed by his own Karakuri douji, Yamato's mother apparently takes the money to get a nice apartment]]. |
| 51 | * {{Invoked|Trope}} in the third round of the ''Manga/LiarGame'', in which the scenario has participants role-play as smugglers trying to sneak conspicuous suitcases through customs and inspectors determining whether or not the suitcase really is full of money or [[IKnowYouKnowIKnow whether the smuggler just wants them to think that]]. It is played straight several times but also averted in that the obscene amounts of money also come in: rare gems, checks, bank-accounts complete with ATM cards, and poker chips. |
| 52 | * In ''Manga/LinebarrelsOfIron'' the BigBad is seemingly going to offer the main character a briefcase full of gold bars as an apparent bribe to get him to join him. But the "gold" is actually cake that he's giving to him regardless of his answer as something for them to snack on as he continues his proposition. |
| 53 | * Late in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', Char Aznable sends [[spoiler:his sister]] Sayla Mass a suitcase full of gold in an attempt to persuade her to leave ''White Base'' and the Federation military. |
| 54 | * In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack'', Char hands out briefcases of gold to a number of Federation officials as part of a short-lived peace deal that gave him control of the old Axis asteroid base. |
| 55 | * At the beginning of ''Manga/OnePiece'''s Water Seven Arc, the gold retrieved from Skypiea is exchanged for three of these. Two are stolen by the Franky Family, and the theft is only noticed when Luffy realizes that the briefcase he's holding is lighter than it used to be. |
| 56 | * Early on in ''Manga/TheVoynichHotel'', we see Taizou debating in his mind whether to spend the money in his briefcase or not. [[spoiler: This is because he obtained it by betraying the {{Yakuza}} along with his brother, who got caught by them and died. It's dangerous money.]] |
| 57 | * In ''Anime/YuGiOh'', Seto Kaiba substitutes a briefcase full of ''Duel Monsters'' cards. The implication is that they are all rare and valuable. In real life, a lot of them are common because [[GameplayAndStorySegregation his deck was released as a starter deck]], but card availability is a ''lot'' different in the anime. |
| 58 | [[/folder]] |
| 59 | |
| 60 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 61 | * ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' |
| 62 | ** Referred to in the story ''The Joker's Millions''. The Joker believes he's inherited a fortune and, just before he discovers [[spoiler:that most of the money is counterfeit and most of the valuables are worthless fakes]], he comments to himself "I've been spending a lot lately. Still, plenty more where that came from. I'll just take another suitcase full as pocket money." |
| 63 | ** [[ComicBook/RedHood Jason Todd]] lampshades this in the original "Under the Hood" arc, where Black Mask sends Mr. Freeze and a bunch of {{Red Shirt}}s to "deliver" his $50 million ransom for a stock of kryptonite. |
| 64 | --> '''Jason:''' So tell me, how much of that is Chinese newspaper underneath? |
| 65 | --> '''Freeze:''' ... it's actually six inches of the Gotham Guardian. |
| 66 | * Subverted in ''ComicBook/KickAss'' when it's revealed [[spoiler:that Big Daddy was never actually a cop, made up everything about his past, and that the trunk he keeps with him is, in fact, full of old comics that he sells on the internet to fund his operations]]. |
| 67 | * In the ''ComicBook/{{Marsupilami}}'' book "Le Temple de Boavista", photocopier tycoon Harold Stonelove carries with him a money briefcase[[note]]he mentions in an AsideComment that "only" half the bills are fake[[/note]] he's willing to give to anyone who makes him laugh. [[spoiler:He finally laughs in the epilogue, when he sees the briefcase's contents swapped with a statuette BlowingARaspberry. He decides whoever did it earned the money.]] |
| 68 | * PlayedForLaughs in ''ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon'', when the story's BigBad attempts to blackmail the "Súper" with a money briefcase... that is destroyed with its contents by accident by the two protagonists, even when it's an armored one, each time he goes to the T.I.A. headquarters [[spoiler: Driving him insane after having spent that way all his money.]] |
| 69 | [[/folder]] |
| 70 | |
| 71 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 72 | * Hol Horse is introduced carrying one in ''Fanfic/IronTouch'', which [[KleptomaniacHero Sara]] promptly tries to steal. |
| 73 | * In ''Fanfic/OriginStory'', even with their ArbitrarilyLargeBankAccount as backup, Alex and Louise keep a gym bag stuffed full of hundred dollar bills in the back floorboard of their car, just in case of emergencies. |
| 74 | [[/folder]] |
| 75 | |
| 76 | [[folder:Films -- Animated]] |
| 77 | * In the 2009 film ''WesternAnimation/AstroBoy'' the robots open up a briefcase and are bathed in golden light, parodying ''Film/PulpFiction'', but the suitcase merely contains a flashlight. |
| 78 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheNutJob2NuttyByNature'': The Mayor has received several "campaign contributions" that way. |
| 79 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', Mei and her friends raise $700 in the form of mostly $5 bills and present it to the [=SkyDome=] ticket booth attendant in a lunchbox full of cash. |
| 80 | [[/folder]] |
| 81 | |
| 82 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 83 | * In ''Film/AaronLovesAngela'', drug dealer Beau Lincoln carries a briefcase with stacks of bills sorted by denomination, from fives to fifties. [[spoiler:After he's shot, he begs Aaron with his dying breaths to take it. Aaron does, attracting the ire of the two goons who killed Beau.]] |
| 84 | * ''Film/AintThemBodiesSaints'': On the run from the law, Bob digs up a suitcase full of cash he'd left buried for four years while serving time for armed robbery. |
| 85 | * A duffel bag in ''Film/{{Andhadhun}}'', used by Manohar for the drop-off with the organ harvesters. [[spoiler:It turns out to be mostly filled with blank pieces of paper.]] |
| 86 | * A plot point in ''Film/{{Assassins}}''. Robert Rath goes to a bank with a very large suitcase to empty his account, while Miguel Bain waits outside with a sniper rifle to blow his head off. Rath is running a BatmanGambit; given the time it takes to convert all that money to cash, Bain will become impatient and start worrying that Rath slipped out another entrance. Eventually he'll go into the bank to check but must leave his rifle behind which Rath's accomplice can then steal. |
| 87 | * ''Film/AssaultOnAQueen'' (1966). SubmarinePirates plan to rob the [=QE2=] of a shipment of gold bullion but run into an unexpected hitch when the crates prove too heavy to be carried unassisted. The [=QE2=]'s crew naturally refuse to help, so the robbers have to drag the crates past gaping passengers who until now had no idea a robbery was in progress. |
| 88 | * ''Film/TheATeam'': The 2010 film version plays with this by having the team pursuing a small briefcase full of plates for printing United States bills; as well as initially stealing a shipping container full of the product of the counterfeiters' operation. |
| 89 | * In an outtake scene from ''Film/AustinPowersInternationalManOfMystery'', Number 2 offers Austin a billion-dollar bribe this way. Austin [[HearMeTheMoney flips through one stack of bills]] and says he's $832 short. Number 2 explains that he had to buy the briefcase as well. They then argue over who should have to pay for the briefcase until Dr. Evil gets fed up and dumps Number 2 into the fire pit. |
| 90 | * ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'' has a scene where Doc pulls out a suitcase labeled "Emergency Cash" - this suitcase has labeled collections of period-era money (and future money as charge cards.) |
| 91 | * Played with in ''Film/{{Beerfest}}''; the German Beerfest team is willing to play for the von Wulfhausen beer recipe with one of these, but they brought a briefcase full of German Euros, which the Americans mistake for TabletopGame/{{Monopoly}} money. The Germans start arguing among themselves that they should've brought the now-obsolete [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Mark Deutsche marks]]. |
| 92 | * The script for ''Film/{{Beethoven}}'' features one of these, but the actual cut of the film replaced it with a rather less impressive brown envelope of notes. |
| 93 | * ''Film/TheBigLebowski'' features a BriefcaseFullOfMoney as the [[AMacGuffinFullOfMoney McGuffin]]; [[spoiler:Or is it? The Dude deduces that the eponymous false millionaire has planted a False MacGuffin in an attempt to rid himself of his unfaithful Trophy Wife.]] Later in the film, the ransom is paid with a suitcase [[spoiler:that Walter filled with his dirty clothes]]. |
| 94 | * In ''Film/BrewstersMillions1985'', the first order Monty Brewster (Creator/RichardPryor) gives his newly hired head of security is for the man to go into the vault and collect $2 million in cash "for whatever expenses come up." The guard is later seen hauling around a single locked briefcase that he keeps handcuffed to his wrist. |
| 95 | * ''Film/BringMeTheHeadOfTheMachineGunWoman'': The Machine Gun Woman's employers pay her with a briefcase full of cash during the meeting at the stockyard. |
| 96 | * Subverted and lampshaded in ''Film/TheBrothersBloom'': "Only Russian mafia men and Hollywood spies deal in large briefcases full of money. YOU get a certified check." Later, the Russian mobster Diamond Dog turns up with a briefcase full of money. |
| 97 | * ''Film/{{Casino}}'': The Outfit's skim operation at their Las Vegas casinos. Once a month, a bagman goes to Las Vegas, fills up a briefcase with cash from the count rooms, and then takes the money back to Chicago or Kansas City, where it's distributed amongst the families, divvied up by their ownership shares in the casinos. |
| 98 | %% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample * How Frank stays liquid in ''Film/CatchMeIfYouCan''. |
| 99 | * In ''Film/CircusOfFear'', Mason arrives at the circus carrying a suitcase containing a quarter of a million pounds. After he is murdered, Gregor finds the case and keeps moving about the circus is an effort to keep it hidden. |
| 100 | * ''Film/{{Cliffhanger}}''. The plot involves a mid-air heist of several cases of uncirculated $1,000 bills, but things go wrong and the crates get dumped in the Rocky Mountains. Fortunately the cases have {{tracking device}}s attached in case of a plane crash, so the villains kidnap some mountain rescue climbers to help track them down. |
| 101 | * ''Film/TheConIsOn'': When Sidney sells out Harry and Peter to Irina for the price on their heads, she pays him with a briefcase full of cash. |
| 102 | * In ''Film/TheCriminal'', Johnny buries the suitcase full of money from the racecourse robbery in an empty field. This becomes the MacGuffin driving the action in the second half of the film. |
| 103 | * In ''Film/{{Deewaar}}'', Samant pays Vijay for the information about the gold delivery with one of these. |
| 104 | * In ''Film/DisasterOnTheCoastliner'', a con man stores large amounts of money in the briefcase he uses to carry his disguises. |
| 105 | * In ''Film/DodgeballATrueUnderdogStory'', the briefcase is opened to reveal a single, lonely stack of bills. Even funnier is the fact that the man offering says that it's $100,000, which is more money than is shown. $100,000 would require ten 100-deep stacks of $100 bills. |
| 106 | * ''Film/DumbAndDumber'' characters, Lloyd and Harry, travel to Aspen to deliver a Briefcase Full of Money to Mary Swanson, initially believing that it's merely forgotten luggage. When they do discover the money, they quickly spend all the money and fill the briefcase with [=IOUs=]. |
| 107 | * In ''Film/{{Fargo}}'', one of the kidnappers buries a suitcase full of ransom money in the snow, then gets killed soon afterwards. The suitcase was never retrieved in the film, and because Creator/TheCoenBrothers claimed in the film that it was BasedOnATrueStory, some people actually went to Minnesota and tried to find the suitcase. This is ridiculous, because not only did the Coen Brothers later retract their statement, but the suitcase was ''buried in the SNOW'', which means that if it was real, it would have been revealed and found right after the next spring thaw. |
| 108 | * ''Film/{{Freerunner}}'' has the prize in the classic Halliburton case. |
| 109 | * ''Film/GunsGirlsAndGambling'': After she secures the mask, The Blonde demands that both The Chief and The Rancher come to the station with $1,000,000 in cash. They both comply and each arrives with a briefcase containing the specified amount. |
| 110 | * In ''Film/HailCaesar'' the ransom cash is carried not in a briefcase, but a valise, which can't quite shut properly, so Eddie Mannix uses Hobie Doyle's belt to hold the bag shut. [[spoiler: Hobie then [[CheckovsGun spots the valise with his belt]] at a restaurant and follows Bert Gurnie, who's carrying it. In the end [[AllForNothing Gurnie accidentally drops the bag in the Pacific Ocean]] while [[ItMakesSenseInContext trying to board a Soviet submarine]].]] |
| 111 | * In ''Film/{{Hitman}}'', 47 uses such a briefcase to pay off an arms dealer. He's secretly rigged it with an explosive charge, which he triggers when his cover has been blown and he needs a distraction. |
| 112 | * ''Film/JamesBond'': |
| 113 | ** ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly''. Bond witnesses TheDragon paying off a hitman, who casually tosses a wad of bills to a girl from his PaidHarem. After the hitman is killed and his guards are busy chasing Bond, TheDragon takes the briefcase back, even [[EvilIsPetty snatching the wad of bills off the girl]]. |
| 114 | ** In ''Film/LicenceToKill'': |
| 115 | *** the LawmanGoneBad is paid a suitcase of cash for helping Sanchez escape US custody. [[LaserGuidedKarma Bond later uses it to knock him into a shark tank]]. The movie actually shows how heavy the case is. Sanchez even explicitly says that it is $2,000,000 in $20 bills. |
| 116 | *** Later on in the movie, Bond goes to a bank manager saying he wants to make a deposit. The manager politely asks why the tellers downstairs can't handle this when a porter enters and puts down Bond's huge case with a loud ''thump''. Cue immediate fawning from the manager. |
| 117 | ** ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'': In the ColdOpen, Bond retrieves a massive pile of cash, which then explodes in Sir Robert's face when he goes to inspect it at the heart of [=MI6=] headquarters. |
| 118 | ** Subverted in ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' when Bond adds a C4 charge into the lining of a briefcase full of diamonds which then end up buried in TheDragon's face when Bond sets it off. |
| 119 | ** ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006'' has them pop up a few times. Literal examples are seen at the beginning and end in the hands of Le Chiffre's clients and Mr. White, respectively. The banker for the high stakes poker game also has a briefcase, though his contains not cash but a portable online banking terminal. |
| 120 | ** ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'': Bond nicks a special casino chip from a ProfessionalKiller and when he cashes it to the matching casino, he gets €4 million in a briefcase. The briefcase becomes an ImprovisedWeapon when he is ambushed not long after. |
| 121 | * In ''Film/JudasKiss'', the hapless accountant Walters is sent scurrying all around New Orleans carrying the aluminium briefcase with $4 million for Dyson's ransom, before eventually being ordered to throw it out of a train window as they pass over a bridge. |
| 122 | * In ''Film/KillBill'', a suitcase filled with one million dollars also contains a highly poisonous black mamba. |
| 123 | * ''Film/TheLeagueOfGentlemen''. Hyde's planning even includes the identical suitcases everyone is provided with so they can depart with their share of the loot (he insists that everyone receive an equal share). There's an OhCrap moment when Padre's suitcase breaks open in front of someone not involved in TheCaper, but fortunately he's too drunk and stupid to realise what he's looking at. |
| 124 | -->'''Bunny:''' Off for a dirty weekend, eh?\ |
| 125 | '''Padre:''' No, just a well-earned rest.\ |
| 126 | '''Lexy:''' You speak for yourself--I'm off for a dirty year! If I live that long. |
| 127 | * ''Film/ALifeLessOrdinary'' features a suitcase of money. ''Shallow Grave'', ''Trainspotting'', and ''A Life Less Ordinary'' are the first three films directed by Creator/DannyBoyle, who would later direct ''Film/{{Millions}}'', which also features a scene involving a large bag of money. |
| 128 | * In ''Film/MeanGuns'', Marcus finds a pair of briefcases that contain the $10 million cash prize being offered to the last three survivors of a 100-person free-for-all in a prison. He takes them and leaves behind a booby-trapped case that later blows the top of a woman's head off. |
| 129 | * The island governor in ''Film/McHalesNavy'' is bribed with a briefcase full of cash. |
| 130 | * ''{{Film/Moonwalkers}}'': The film starts when a small-time band manager is accidentally given a briefcase that was meant to bribe Creator/StanleyKubrick into filming the moon landing. Then LondonGangster's get involved. |
| 131 | * Used in ''Film/OceansEleven'' [[spoiler:as a way for the con men to empty the vault: the fake SWAT team enters with duffel bags full of red light district flyers and swaps them with the duffel bags full of cash in the vault their confederates packed. [[HollywoodDensity The fact that the bags would weigh about 300 pounds each when full of cash, and not much less when full of low-grade paper flyers]] is glossed over.]] |
| 132 | * In ''Film/OnceUponATimeInMexico'', at a payoff between two characters, one of them hands the other his fee... in a metal lunchbox. Slightly lampshaded, as the character then comments he was unable to find a small enough suitcase for the sum of money the other had requested. Indeed, almost every time this trope is used in the film it is via a lunchbox full of money. In one case, it is shown that this is enough money to pay for [[spoiler:the President's aide to betray him to the Barillo Cartel]]. The exception is the end of the film, where there is so much money shown that it fills the protagonists' guitar cases, with enough left over to stuff their jackets with. |
| 133 | * Throughout ''Film/PrairieFever'', Olivia is carrying a carpetbag full of the cash she took off Monte when she ran away from him. |
| 134 | * A variation occurs in ''Film/PulpFiction'': the MacGuffin in [[ThirdLineSomeWaiting Vince and Jules's plotline]] is a suitcase. We don't see what's in it, but it contains something belonging to local crime boss Marsellus Wallace. All we know is that it is extremely valuable and impressive (so much so that it bathes everything before it in a diffuse golden glow) but we never get to see precisely what it is. |
| 135 | * ''Film/TheResistanceBanker'' |
| 136 | ** LaResistance get wind of the fact that the German occupiers are planning to stop the circulation of large denomination bills, ostensibly to crack down on the BlackMarket. So they have to use their banking contacts to exchange all the money in their war chest for small bills before the deadline. Cue a montage of couriers exchanging satchels of money. |
| 137 | ** During TheCaper to steal treasury bonds from the Dutch Central Bank, there's a HeyWait when the [[TheQuisling President of the bank]] notices the briefcase Gijs is carrying the bonds in is English, which should be illegal in Nazi-occupied Holland. He passes it off as a family heirloom. |
| 138 | * ''Reversal of Fortune'' is a documentary tracking what a homeless person would do if they came across $100,000. The money was put into a suitcase for a homeless person to find. When a man did find it, he initially left it behind, believing that it was drug money he'd be killed over. The TV crew had to explain that he could have it as long as he allowed them to film him spend it. |
| 139 | * In ''Film/Scarface1983'', Tony Montana and his crew use a local bank as a money-laundering operation and regularly haul in enormous duffel bags crammed with cash from selling drugs. The bank manager is glad to see them at first, but soon [[OhCrap loses that enthusiasm once he realizes just what he's gotten himself into]]. |
| 140 | * In ''Film/SchindlersList'', by the time Schindler has to close down his Krakow factory, he has enough cash to fill several suitcases. He bribes Goeth with one of them in order to get permission to build a new factory/camp in Brinnlitz and move his workers there. |
| 141 | * Except it's a suitcase, the main plot point of ''Film/ShallowGrave'' after the drug addict/thief dies the group of friends decide to keep the money and go about removing the body. Then some other criminals come about looking for the money. |
| 142 | * In the Russian comedy ''Film/ShirliMyrli'' a diamond is found so big that, if sold, it would pay all of Russia's national debt AND allow all of its citizens to take a luxurious vacation for several years. When the bad guy sells it, specifically requesting cash, the mooks roll into the room a wheeled wardrobe full of bills. |
| 143 | * In ''Film/TheSiege'', a mule comes into the country carrying a Halliburton containing $9,990 in ten-dollar bills, so as to avoid a law stating that any international transport of $10,000 or greater in small bills must be declared in advance. Tony Shalhoub's character adds a ten from his wallet so the FBI can grab him anyway. [[spoiler:This gets turned around on him when a similar loophole enables the military to detain his son through racial profiling]]. |
| 144 | * ''Film/{{Snatch}}'' features this as the stolen diamond is placed in an attache case secured by wire to Franky's arm. When Franky is captured by the Yardies, Boris the Blade asks for Franky and his case for 10 grand. When the Yardies say no deal, Boris executes Franky and then asks for the case again. The Yardies then say that Franky was the only one who knew the combination to the case. Undeterred, Boris chops Franky's arm off, removes the wire, takes the case, and leaves the Yardies with Franky's body. |
| 145 | * In ''Film/SpeedRacer'', Cruncher Block presents one to the Semper Fibre racing team to bribe them into targeting Speed and his Mach 5 for the upcoming race. Parodied with the other teams, upon which he presents briefcases full of whatever they covet the most regardless of whether or not it makes sense to put them in briefcases, such as animal pelts. |
| 146 | * Priest the drug dealer collects a Briefcase Full Of Money in ''Film/SuperFly''. He is smart enough to switch it out with another briefcase full of laundry before the {{dirty cop}}s come and try and take it from him. |
| 147 | * ''Film/TigerCage'' II: The film's plot is kicked off when the protagonist gets his hand on one of these. Unfortunately the briefcase belongs to the mob after a case of money laundering, and he will have to shoot and fight his way out. |
| 148 | * In ''Film/TradingPlaces'', Beeks demands the final part of his payment for the orange crop report be made in cash in a parking garage. The Duke brothers bring it in a briefcase, slide it across the floor, and get the report thrown to them -- [[spoiler:not realizing that it's a fake or that Billy Ray Valentine is impersonating Beeks]]. |
| 149 | * ''Film/{{Trainspotting}}'' features a briefcase of cash in the final heroin deal sequence. The filmmakers discuss this trope in the DVD commentary. |
| 150 | * In ''Film/{{UHF}}'', RJ Fletcher is seen with one of these as he prepares to try and buy U62, but the deal was cancelled, so he didn't get to use it. Weird Al mentions on the DVD that he cut a scene where RJ and his son fight over the briefcase and it flies open into a crowd. |
| 151 | * For some reason, every other time money changes hands in ''Film/{{Vabank}}'', it's in a neat package. |
| 152 | * ''Rogue Assassin'' (aka ''Film/War2007'') |
| 153 | ** After carrying out a successful hit for a Triad boss, a beautiful woman shows up with a briefcase of money to pay the eponymous assassin. While Rogue is examining the money, she strips off and steps into the shower, making it clear [[BetterLivingThroughEvil she's part of the payoff]]. |
| 154 | ** Rogue has been [[spoiler:PlayingBothSides and--after killing the Triad boss--gets given a similar briefcase by the Yakuza boss. Lying on top of the money however is a file of surveillance photos proving his treachery, and the boss's goons promptly put guns to Rogue's head.]] |
| 155 | ** At the end of the movie, Rogue sends a couple of aluminium briefcases to [[spoiler:family members of the Triad and Yakuza bosses he's killed. The wife of the Triad boss gets a valuable statuette. The daughter of the Yakuza boss (who wanted the entire family of the Triad boss killed) gets her father's head.]] |
| 156 | * ''Film/TheWayOfTheGun'' overtly subverts the trope. When Parker and Longbaugh demand $15 million ransom in mixed bills, Jeffers yells, "You know how much that's going to weigh? Try a couple thousand pounds!" Even with the money in hundreds, it takes up three gigantic duffle bags. |
| 157 | * In ''Film/WhiteSands'', an undercover FBI agent commits suicide with a briefcase containing $500,000, and Ray's attempts at investigating get the briefcase stolen by criminals, forcing him to go undercover to get the money back. |
| 158 | * A NoodleIncident in the opening credits of ''Film/{{Zombieland}}'' shows a businessman fleeing from a burning car chased by two zombies, [[MoneyIsNotPower heedlessly throwing away his briefcase of money]]. According to the DVD commentary this is apparently something the Director of Photography came up with on the day, because he through all those bills flying in the air [[RuleOfCool would look amazing]] in SlowMotion. |
| 159 | [[/folder]] |
| 160 | |
| 161 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 162 | * ''Literature/TheBadPlace'': The duffel bag Frank hauls around contains MultipleIdentityIDs and bound twenties and hundreds, he estimates roughly $150,000. |
| 163 | * ''Literature/BigendBooks'': Book 2 (''Spook Country'') discusses a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] of this trope in detail at the climax of the novel, when Tito uses his LeParkour skills [[spoiler:to camouflage the contamination of a '''cargo container''' full of cash with radioactive material.]] When it comes to transporting ridiculous amounts of cash to fuel a GovernmentConspiracy, a briefcase just won't do. |
| 164 | * Subverted in ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'': In response to Danglars boasting that he could loan the Count a million francs at a moment's notice, the Count reveals he always carries a million francs with him in bearer bonds. Two of them, which are small enough to fit in his calling-card case. |
| 165 | * ''Danger sur les Gratte-ciels'' (''Peril on the Skyscrapers''): In this French kid novel, the teenage window washer protagonist indulges in joyriding and one night finds such a briefcase (whose contents he eyeballs at half a million dollars) in the car he just stole. When the gangsters track him down, they send him a note containing only "500100", which he understands as the exact amount therein. |
| 166 | * ''Literature/{{Dexter}}'': In the fifth novel, Deborah is presented with a case of money by a rich family seeking revenge for their daughter's kidnapping. She doesn't take it. Dexter mentions that it really is insultingly small anyway, only being about half a million dollars. |
| 167 | * ''Literature/JediAcademyTrilogy'': In ''I, Jedi'', Corran Horn mentions how he'd once walked into a drug kingpin's office to arrest him. The man pulled out a briefcase with a million credits, more cash than Corran had ever seen in his life, and said it was all his if he'd walk away. [[WhatYouAreInTheDark Corran refused the offer and arrested him anyway]]. |
| 168 | * ''Literature/JohnPutnamThatcher'': Book #17 (''Double, Double, Oil and Trouble'' opens with the delivery of a $1.5 million ransom payment, which fills four briefcases. However, given that the ransom demand specified small bills [[note]]for a 1970s novel, this would have meant ones, fives, and tens, ''maybe'' a few twenties[[/note]], that's probably a reasonable bulk. |
| 169 | * ''Literature/SergeStorms'' (by Creator/TimDorsey): Three books in the series (set OnlyInMiami) follow a variety of wacky yet violent criminals (as well as a few unsuspecting {{Muggles}}) who chase after a suitcase containing $50 million in cash, which a ConMan ripped off from an insurance company that was actually a front for TheCartel. |
| 170 | * ''Literature/TheWitches'' (by Creator/RoaldDahl): At one point, the Grand High Witch tells the assembled witches of England: |
| 171 | --> "I have brought with me six trunks of English banknotes, all new and crisp. And all of them home-made." |
| 172 | * ''Literature/{{Wyatt}}'': In book 1 (''Kickback''), Wyatt is hired to steal a briefcase full of money that is intended as a bribe for a SleazyPolitician. |
| 173 | [[/folder]] |
| 174 | |
| 175 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 176 | !!!'''In General:''' |
| 177 | * This is a staple on a number of game shows: |
| 178 | ** While the briefcases in ''Series/LetsMakeADeal'' actually just contain a card with a dollar amount on it, the allusion to this trope is clear. |
| 179 | ** The same trope concept is used in ''Series/DealOrNoDeal'', which centers around the contestant's attempts to pick out the briefcase containing the $1,000,000 grand prize. One episode, however, ''did'' feature briefcases full of actual money, during one of the Banker's offers; the contestant expressed a dislike for cheques, insisting that he receive his winnings in cash, and the Banker obliged by sending down a few staffers with cash when issuing one offer. The contestant, after much contemplation, passed on that particular offer. |
| 180 | ** The basic objective of the game show ''Series/TakeTheMoneyAndRun'' for the team of two civilians is to find a safe spot to hide a briefcase containing the $100,000 cash prize, after which the opposing team of two police detectives have 48 hours to try and track down the briefcase and take it for themselves. |
| 181 | ** ''Series/SchlagDenRaab'' uses this to represent the ProgressiveJackpot of €500,000. The suitcases vary in size, and there may be more than one suitcase. |
| 182 | ** In fact, many game shows used such a prop. Many of them, like the one in ''Series/SaleOfTheCentury'' (which itself also includes a standard one in its intro), were clear, so you could see the money in them (though it was usually just prop money, or, as could be seen quickly as a FreezeFrameBonus, stacks and stacks of...one-dollar bills). |
| 183 | ** If a player gets all ten questions in the bonus round of ''Series/{{Debt}}'', LovelyAssistant "Mr. Clean" brings one in, per the offer of having their winnings ''doubled'' by the final question. Not just having the debt paid off, but also that amount won ''in cash''. |
| 184 | ** Parodied on ''Series/ThirtyRock'', where Kenneth has an idea for a game show where models all have briefcases, but one of them is full of gold. Cue a shot of the first episode being produced, where the contestant quickly picks the model who's struggling to hold up her briefcase... |
| 185 | ** The main objective of ''Series/{{Interceptor}}'' is to find the keys to two backpack-like briefcases - one containing weights, the other containing £1000. Two obstacles stand in their way: a [[RaceAgainstTheClock strict time limit]], and more importantly [[StalkerWithoutACrush the Interceptor]], who's out to stop the contestants by zapping the IR receptors on the briefcases (causing the locks to jam). |
| 186 | |
| 187 | |
| 188 | !!!'''Series:''' |
| 189 | * A sci-fi variation in ''Series/AlteredCarbon''. At the start of Season 2, a man walks into a BadGuyBar with a briefcase and announces he's come to pay the protagonist Takeshi Kovacs. Instead of money, the case only holds a card-sized device holding [[WeWillSpendCreditsInTheFuture untraceable credits]]. The reason for the briefcase is explained when it explodes after he walks out of the bar during the inevitable BarBrawl over the contents (which were actually palmed by the owner in the confusion). Unfortunately he didn't kill the real Kovacs, who's waiting for him outside. |
| 190 | * ''Series/Annika2021'': The murder victim in episode 2.2 was paroled from prison with £70 of pocket money. The cops track her to a swanky hotel where they find a satchel with £20,000 in it. |
| 191 | * Discussed in the season 7 opener of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', when two criminals exchange a USB drive with $400,000 worth of various cryptocurrencies on it in lieu of physical money. One laments the disappearance of this trope, while the other one is happy to see it go. |
| 192 | * Many episodes of ''Series/TheATeam'' ended in drug deals gone bad or other situations in which the Team has just won the firefight and packed the bad guys off to jail. But what happened to the bag of money the villains left in that motel room? The subtle inference is that the Team got to keep it. |
| 193 | * ''Series/{{Banshee}}'': |
| 194 | ** Proctor gives Sanchez's manager a satchel filled with thousands of dollars as payment for agreeing to have the championship fight in Banshee. Clay Burton later comes to "repossess" it after the fight falls through. |
| 195 | ** Sugar takes a bag containing $125,000 from the Camp Genoa Heist to a friend who owns a boxing club. It later turns out it is [[spoiler:payment to support the man's family, as Sugar gave the man's father brain damage in a boxing match back in the day. Job later discovers Carlos Sr. has been dead for years, and his son has been playing Sugar, and promptly beats his ass and retrieves the bag]]. |
| 196 | * ''Series/Batwoman2019''. In "If You Believe In Me I'll Believe In You", Kate Kane is captured and is being sold off at an AuctionOfEvil which her stepsister Mary is able to infiltrate as the heir to Hamilton Dynamics seeking to buy Batwoman's high-tech Batsuit. The crime boss running the auction notes that Mary's suitcase is way too small to hold the $10 million she says she has. Mary explains that the suitcase only has a plausible $2.5 million, and that the rest will be wired to whatever account he wants upon delivery. |
| 197 | * ''Series/BionicWoman'' managed to liven up the trope a bit by using a briefcase full of bearer bonds which, while definitely a more practical way to carry around a large sum of money, still isn't a very good idea. |
| 198 | * ''Series/BlakesSeven'': "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS4E10Gold Gold]]" has a different twist on the fake money version. The money is indeed in the case, but it's in a currency that's just been rendered invalid because the planet that issues it has been taken over by the Terran Federation. |
| 199 | * Walter White and Jesse Pinkman in ''Series/BreakingBad'' sometimes have sums of money that would warrant a briefcase, but partly because they're inept (at least at the beginning) and partly because the sight of Jesse, at least, carrying a briefcase would ''scream'' "drug money" to everyone who saw him, they usually use backpacks and duffel bags instead. Later, the amount of money becomes so large that it requires first a ''shipping pallet'' and then ''seven giant barrels''. By that point, Walt has given up counting the extent of his fortune. By the time it reached shipping pallet levels even Skyler, who as a bookkeeper one might expect to be inclined to precision in such matters, has started estimating the total based on ''weight'' instead of attempting to actually count it. |
| 200 | ** Mike keeps a satchel full of cash and a loaded gun in the trunk of a car located in an Albuquerque airport's long-term parking, just in case he has to escape. |
| 201 | * ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'': When Jake finds out that Terry's wife is pregnant, he decides to repay him the 2300$ he owes this way. Problem is, it takes a LOT of bills to fill a briefcase, so they're all singles. |
| 202 | * ''Series/{{Columbo}}'': In "[[Recap/ColumboS01E01 Murder by the Book]]", Ken Franklin brings the woman who is blackmailing him $15,000 in a briefcase and she comments that it is more cash than she has ever seen in her life. After he murders her, he pays the money back into his account. This sort of withdrawal and re-deposit, when timed with her murder, is enough to raise a red flag with Columbo. |
| 203 | * ''Series/CutthroatKitchen'' has Alton Brown walk in with one filled with $100,000 in eight stacks of $12,500. Each of the four competitors gets two stacks for $25,000. During the course of the show, they use the cash to buy items to sabotage their opponents during each of three rounds and give Alton some of that back after each round (or all of it if they're eliminated that round). The winner keeps what cash didn't get spent in the auctions, so money management is important; buying disadvantages early can hurt you if you don't keep enough for the later auctions. |
| 204 | * ''Series/Daredevil2015'': In "[[Recap/Daredevil2015S2E4PennyAndDime Penny and Dime]]", Frank Castle has stashed money he stole off the Kitchen Irish in a briefcase placed in the trunk of his camper van. He's also rigged it up with a bomb to kill the two grunts unfortunate enough to get sent to retrieve it. |
| 205 | * ''Series/DeathInParadise'': In "Erupting in Murder", Mayor Richards arrives at the observatory with a briefcase containing $5 million withdrawn from his secret bank account [[spoiler:that is intended as a bribe to get the observatory to change the exclusion zone around the volcano]]. |
| 206 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E11TheLodger "The Lodger"]], the Doctor, temporarily separated from the TARDIS, pays for renting a room in a flat with £3,000 in a paper bag. This causes his landlord Craig's friend Sophie to wonder if he's a drug dealer. |
| 207 | * In an episode of ''Series/EverybodyHatesChris'' the homeless person and local crazy man Kill Moves has a briefcase full of money and we don't know where it came from. He spends on finding a gift for his mother. At the end, [[spoiler: it turns out that his mother was filthy rich and always gave him a briefcase full of money when he visited]]. |
| 208 | * In an episode of the Chris Elliot sitcom ''Get a Life'', he is bribed with the hefty amount of five dollars, leading to scenes of him parading his newfound cash around town. At one point he tries to buy a car and opens a briefcase containing the solitary five-dollar bill. |
| 209 | * The second series of ''Series/Kingdom2007'' features Simon Kingdom's duffel bag of cash, which he prepared to flee from police, debts, and a threat to his life. Lyle takes £100,000 of it in a briefcase to post bail after Simon's arrest, and [[spoiler: the duffel bag floating in flood waters at the end of series 2 is the first sign of Simon's death. He claims that the money had belonged to his late father, and that there's more hidden in the Kingdom house.]] |
| 210 | * In the ''Series/LieToMe'' pilot episode, Dr. Lightman's suspicious behavior and BriefcaseFullOfMoney are a test of Transportation Security Administration profiler Ria Torres's abilities. After he and Dr. Foster end their hiring pitch, they leave behind the briefcase. When Ria calls them on the "forgotten" item, Lightman says nonchalantly that's her hiring bonus. The scene can also be seen as a bit of a ShoutOut to Creator/TimRoth (Lightman) being well-known for [[Film/ReservoirDogs two Tarantino films]] [[Film/PulpFiction with important suitcases]]. |
| 211 | * In one episode of ''Series/{{Lost}}'', we see Sawyer run a con in which he "accidentally" knocks open a briefcase full of cash, intriguing his mark. In a later episode, we see him do it again, except the mark laughs at how obvious the con is, and discovers the "money" is just newspaper with bills on top. Doubly subverted, though, because this turns out to be [[KansasCityShuffle exactly what he wanted to happen]]. |
| 212 | * ''Series/LukeCage2016'': Duffel bags are used to store Cottonmouth's money on the shelves of a storage room at Mariah Dillard's office in Crispus Attucks. |
| 213 | * [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''Series/TheMiddleman'': |
| 214 | --> '''Wendy:''' If action movies from the '90s taught us anything, it's that no good can come from anyone of Eastern European descent carrying or exchanging a shiny metal briefcase! |
| 215 | * In ''Series/MoneyHeist'', the group fills a large shipping truck with the cash they print during their occupation of Spain's Royal Mint and the logistics of moving around the heavy packs of banknotes are shown in detail. But this trope is played straight when the Professor has the crew convince many of the hostages to work with them in exchange for each cooperating hostage getting a case full of several hundred thousand euros delivered to an intermediary of their choice after the heist. |
| 216 | * In ''Series/TheNewMikeHammer'' episode "Murder Me, Murder You", Mike has to bring a briefcase of money to the people holding his daughter hostage. To guard against the VillainOfTheWeek just killing him and taking the money, he transports it in an embassy briefcase used for transporting secret documents, designed to [[SelfDestructMechanism incinerate the contents]] if not opened correctly. For after the incineration device is disarmed, Mike has his .45 pistol hidden under the stacks of money and retrieves it while the minion is checking a bill to see if it's counterfeit. |
| 217 | * The pilot episode of ''Series/MrLucky'' features a ''suit''case which the main characters stuff full of money in preparation for fleeing the country. Unfortunately, they're intercepted and forced to use the money-filled case as a bribe instead. |
| 218 | * One episode of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' had the villain planning a terror attack by tainting $100,000 in one-dollar bills with a contact poison and randomly distributing them all over the DC Metro area. The money fills a large duffel bag. |
| 219 | * In ''Series/PerfectStrangers'', Larry is trying to sting counterfeiters and tries to fake this trope where only the top of the stacks are money. Hilarity ensues when Balki tries to show how the plan would fail. |
| 220 | * ''Series/PersonOfInterest''. At the beginning of "Super", Harold Finch goes to a morgue with a critically wounded John Reese who had been shot at the end of the previous episode. He tells the coroner that he knows that the man is a brilliant surgeon who hadn't practiced medicine since immigrating to the US because he couldn't afford the fees involved in getting certified to practice in the US (he was sending most of his money to his family overseas). Finch then produces a large handbag full of cash and says "Stitch him up, no questions asked, and you can be a doctor again." |
| 221 | ** Averted with The Briefcase; which initially held a Fabergé egg and which was then filled with solid-state computer memory cards to transport the Machine's source code. |
| 222 | * ''Series/TheProfessionals'' |
| 223 | ** In "Kickback", a briefcase holding half a million pounds is to be used to pay for a hit, only to be stolen by a RogueAgent who knocks out the courier, pours lighter fluid over another briefcase with the fake stacks of bills version (he sacrifices a real stack of bills which he scatters around the room), then [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident turns on the gas and leaves a lighted candle on the desk]] and then legs it with the money before the [[FieryCoverup whole place blows up]]. |
| 224 | ** In "The Untouchables", an Arab diplomat is photographed by [=CI5=] handing over a briefcase of money to pay for a contract murder. Of course the photograph proves nothing, but Bodie (posing as a corrupt [=CI5=] agent) insisted the money be Swiss francs, leaving a money trail as the diplomat had to make special arrangements to get the money converted after the banks have closed. And the man he thinks he's paying for a hit is actually part of a radical political group opposed to his GloriousLeader, whom [=CI5=] tip off about his treacherous underling. |
| 225 | * Parodied on ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' when O'Brien and Bashir attempt to gain entrance to Quark's game of Tongo (A Ferengi gambling game). When Quark explains that the game is not played for small amounts, O'Brien holds up the briefcase to show that he and Bashir are serious, and have the money to back up their interest. However, after Quark explains that buy-in is five strips of latinum ([=DS9=] never established a definitive exchange rate, but one strip of latinum appears to be approximately equal to $10) O'Brien carefully opens the case so that none of the Ferengi can see inside it, and it is revealed to the viewer that the (extremely large) case only has ''six'' strips of latinum total. |
| 226 | * In ''Series/TeenWolf'' Isaac receives a briefcase of money from the Yakuza. However because the actual purpose of the meeting is to stall while the others carry out their plan, he proceeds to lose whatever suaveness he'd managed to assemble and start awkwardly counting the bills individually with the speed of someone who has never done it before. |
| 227 | * When the trio is mistaken for a fence by a pair of jewel thieves in ''Series/ThreesCompany'', they attempt to bluff the thieves by handing them an empty briefcase as payment for a satchel of stolen diamonds. |
| 228 | * On the ''Series/TopGear'' Vietnam special, the presenters were each given [[RidiculousExchangeRates 15 million dong]] to buy a vehicle: a shoebox full of bundles of bills. While initially delighted at having "inches of money," they quickly discovered this was worth only about US$1,000. They had to settle for used motorbikes instead of the luxury cars they were expecting. |
| 229 | ** This was put startlingly into perspective when James May inquired as to the price of a baseline Fiat 500 and got ''560,000,000'' in response. This would equate to--at the time the show was filmed--just over US$37,000. Given Clarkson's allusion to a ''"200% import tax"'' (though likely an exaggerated percentage), the steep price for a car perhaps worth around US$20,000 in the West seems to have been handily explained. |
| 230 | * Three skits in ''Series/TriggerHappyTV'' involve these briefcases. In one a character walks up to some street performers and drop an open briefcase full of money into the hat. In another, a character dressed like a covert spy tries to hand off the briefcase to an unsuspecting man on the street in exchange for the "dossier". In the third, a character confronts a random stranger in a parking garage by sliding a briefcase to him and begging him to let his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI32CUmLk_E family go]]. |
| 231 | * Subverted on ''Series/VeronicaMars''. In the season 2 finale, Kendall just gets a several-million-dollar windfall as the result of [[spoiler:Cassidy's suicide.]] She then walks into Keith's office with a briefcase and tries to offer him a job. When he refuses, she shows him the contents of the briefcase -- which the audience doesn't get to see -- and he agrees to take it. A few episodes into season 3, we learn that the briefcase actually contained a van Gogh painting, not cash. |
| 232 | * ''Series/WhiteCollar'': |
| 233 | ** Subverted in "Front Man", in which Neal and Mozzie run a scam to obtain a titanium briefcase filled not with cash, but high-limit credit cards. |
| 234 | ** In "Withdrawal", four bank robbers use briefcases to carry away their loot. But Neal realizes that the total amount stolen couldn't have fit into the eight cases seen on the security video. [[spoiler:Implying the existence of a ''fifth'' robber, whose share was left hidden inside the bank.]] |
| 235 | ** In "Unfinished Business", the MacGuffin is a set of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai_bond "Samurai Bonds"]] - '''''extremely''''' high-value non-government Japanese bearer bonds: |
| 236 | --->'''Neal''': The bonds are transferable?\ |
| 237 | '''Diana''': No title. Whoever holds ‘em owns ‘em.\ |
| 238 | '''Jones''': Each certificate is worth two hundred grand.\ |
| 239 | '''Neal''': So a stack of a hundred million dollars is '''this''' thick.\ |
| 240 | ''(Neal holds his finger and thumb less than an '''inch''' apart)'' |
| 241 | * On ''Series/TheWire'', Drug dealer Marlo Stanfield tries to pay with a briefcase full of money, but Spiros rejects the money because it's "dirty," which Marlo mistakenly thinks is a comment on the physical condition of the money. When Marlo returns with a briefcase full of cleaner bills, Spiros explains to Marlo that he meant that the money was from the streets, but he decides to do business with Marlo anyway because Marlo was persistent. |
| 242 | [[/folder]] |
| 243 | |
| 244 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 245 | * Subverted in the [[WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}} Dethklok]] song "Briefcase Full of Guts," in which Nathan Explosion describes harvesting people's organs to "sell them back and raise the price/make a profit off your interests''[...]''" So it's not full of "money," per se, but it can ''become'' money. |
| 246 | * Plays an important role in "The Road Goes On Forever" by Music/TheHighwaymen: |
| 247 | -->Sonny met the Cubans in a house just off the route\ |
| 248 | With a briefcase full of money and a pistol in his boot |
| 249 | * In the music video for "Sell Out" by Music/ReelBigFish, a record executive uses a briefcase full of cash to tempt the band into quitting their jobs at a burger joint and going into showbiz. |
| 250 | [[/folder]] |
| 251 | |
| 252 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 253 | * The ''Cash 'n Guns'' expansion ''More Cash 'n More Guns'' has one of these as a loot item--But it needs a key. These two items are worth $25,000 each at the end of the game if both are held by players that are still alive. |
| 254 | * Every ''TabletopGame/{{Continuum}}'' spanner starts their new life with a big stack of bills, usually in multiple briefcases. An exception in that the briefcase or briefcases almost never include the full amount of money, and the Moneychangers usually just provide the equivalent currency in credit or direct deposit. The briefcase is used just to make sure that the point sinks in, and that spanners don't try something stupid. |
| 255 | * Quite a few ''TabletopGame/{{Fiasco}}'' playsets have "[portable container] full of [valuable thing]" somewhere in the Objects category; two out of the four playsets in the corebook contain either briefcases or suitcases full of money or bearer bonds in them, as do many of the non-core ones. |
| 256 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' has the "portable money transfer device" ''standardized''. Everyone uses sturdy USB drive-like devices called "[[WeWillSpendCreditsInTheFuture credsticks]]" for money, and these come in two flavors. "Personal" credsticks are basically just biometric debit cards. "Certified" credsticks (also known as "checksticks") can be used by whoever picks them up, and have ''absolutely no limit'' on how much currency they can store -- essentially cyberpunk bearer bonds. These are what {{Mega Corp}}s regularly use to pay player characters for deniable operations, and demonstrate fairly well why bearer bonds are so rare and regulated in RealLife. |
| 257 | [[/folder]] |
| 258 | |
| 259 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 260 | * In ''Theatre/{{Urinetown}}'', Caldwell tries to end the rebellion by offering Bobby a suitcase full of cash. |
| 261 | [[/folder]] |
| 262 | |
| 263 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 264 | * ''VideoGame/BuckshotRoulette'': Your reward for winning the final round is a briefcase full to the brim with money. The exact amount you get varies depending on how many times you failed a round and how many times you used the beer and cigarette items, with a maximum score of 70,000 dollars in the regular game mode while you can go for far more in the "Double or Nothing" mode. You also get to keep the shotgun. |
| 265 | * ''VideoGame/DeadRising2'' has a few of these in casinos - in addition, several characters will use the outbreak as an excuse to fill their briefcases with money. If Chuck throws one at a zombie, it will break and spew out $1,800. Snobby rich guy Woodrow Rutherford refuses to part with his briefcase and uses it to smack zombies around if they get too close to him. |
| 266 | ** They show up in [[GaidenGame "Off the Record,"]] strewn around the casinos, carried by some of the survivors, and very early in the game, Frank West photographs T.K. giving one to a [[ZombieAdvocate C.U.R.E. member]] as well as bomb to set lose [[ZombieApocalypse a zombie horde on the people of Fortune City, Nevada.]] |
| 267 | * Parodied in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4''. After Dante and Trish are done helping Lady, the latter gives the former pair a briefcase. Trish opens it to find just a small roll of cash and complains. |
| 268 | * In ''VideoGame/EvilGenius'' your construction workers carry the gold for purchases to and from the dock in briefcases. |
| 269 | * Since paper money is worthless in the setting of ''VideoGame/FarCry2'', these briefcases are used to store rough cut diamonds instead. |
| 270 | * ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'': |
| 271 | ** In the final mission of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'', Claude presents one such briefcase to [[BigBad Catalina]] in exchange for Maria's safe release. |
| 272 | ** The introduction cutscene for ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity'' has Tommy's associates carry a pair of money briefcases to a drug deal. The deal is promptly ambushed and the briefcases stolen, leaving Tommy with nothing to his name. |
| 273 | ** In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'', Niko and Johnny partake in a deal with the KosherNostra and are presented with a briefcase of cash in exchange for a valuable batch of diamonds. When [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheBalladOfGayTony Luis]] intervenes and shoots up the deal, Johnny takes the briefcase for himself and runs off on his own. |
| 274 | * In ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'', Chowchilla Charlie asks Manny to retrieve a suitcase of money from Maximino's cat race club, claiming that he put it up for collateral but wants it back because the race was fixed. Manny doesn't bother to clarify how Charlie knows exactly ''where'' his money is or why he's sure that it's still in the suitcase. Things then get complicated, because [[spoiler:the suitcase actually contains the Number Nine train tickets -- and as Manny realize later, they're counterfeit, and the suitcase itself was apparently stolen from the BigBad Hector who sells them for profit]]. |
| 275 | * ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'' had a couple of missions with characters carrying these as payments for hits or deals. 47 has the option to take the money for himself as a bonus objective or to rig them up with RU-AP mines to assassinate his target. |
| 276 | * In ''VideoGame/HoneyIJoinedACult'''s introduction CutScene, the Cult of the Space Fish is raided by the police. Their leader can't be charged with anything and is told to get out of town; he obliges after fetching his over-stuffed briefcase of cash so he can get MagicPlasticSurgery and start again. |
| 277 | * In ''VideoGame/Interstate76'' vigilante Taurus finds one of these in the wreckage of a destroyed gang safehouse. He comments that it must be a pay off for something. His partner, a [[NewMeat green vigilante]] named Groove asks how Taurus can be sure, to which Taurus says "Cuz' a suitcase ain't a ''BANK'', Groove!" |
| 278 | * In ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'', you may open a briefcase to find either a stash of [[GlobalCurrency meat]] or "fat stacks of cash"... which aren't of any use except as ShopFodder. Though the stacks of cash briefly found a use in the Crimbo 2008 quest for bribing members of the Penguin [[TheMafia Mafia]]. |
| 279 | * ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' - In the add-on episode "The Passing", finding one of these (with some handguns for you to take, too) in a bar is an EasterEgg. Depending on what character you're playing, you'll get a different reaction: for instance, when playing as [[ConMan Nick]], you'll get the quip "I like how this guy packs!", while Coach will react by singing the "suitcase full of pistols and money" line from one of the [[FakeBand Midnight Riders']] songs. |
| 280 | * During the first few levels of ''VideoGame/MadWorld'', you can throw one of these. When it hits, it scatters money everywhere, which will distract any enemies that see it. |
| 281 | * ''VideoGame/MySummerCar'' has one, [[spoiler:which is revealed to you upon driving the local drunkard Jouko home for the fifth time. As you drive him home, he tells you of this after winning a lottery ticket. Of course, you can go on the search for it, and once you find it, you're treated to ''one and a half million marks'', though Jouko claims it's around five mil, so [[FridgeLogic only he knows where the other 3 and a half million marks went]]. However, once you go to sleep after stealing it, you may awaken to Jouko with an axe in your house, who you may knock out or get hacked to death by. If you do knock him out, you're eventually treated to him leaving a SuicideNote back at his home, and him HangingAround at the bridge]]. |
| 282 | * ''VideoGame/Payday2'' has its criminals stuff packs of money (or jewelry, or gold, or...) into duffel bags when liberating them from banks, mob hideouts, and such. Notably, weight is accounted for as well - while carrying a bag of jewelry barely slows the thieves down, carrying money slows them down considerably and removes their ability to jump. Carrying gold practically turns a thief into an armed slug. |
| 283 | * Double subverted in ''VideoGame/Persona5''. The real-world form of {{Yakuza}} boss Kaneshiro's Treasure is thought to contain thirty million yen, but a closer look reveals it's CounterfeitCash with Kaneshiro's face on it. Lucky for the Phantom Thieves, the case the fake money came in is plated with solid gold, so it's still valuable when it's sold. |
| 284 | * The FlavorText for the Anti Corruption 4 initiative from ''VideoGame/RebelInc'' says it reduces Corruption over time by banning the printing of high denomination currency, which [[ImpliedTrope presumably]] makes it harder to fill briefcases full of money to bribe important officials, which would make it a DefiedTrope. |
| 285 | * In ''VideoGame/ScarfaceTheWorldIsYours'' some gangsters will drop these. [[HyperspaceArsenal Where they're keeping them, on the other hand...]] |
| 286 | * Referenced in ''VideoGame/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorldTheGame'', where they can be picked up and used as weapons in a stage based on a filming studio. |
| 287 | * In ''VideoGame/TheSeventhGuest'', Brian Dutton's secret desire for wealth was all but granted by Henry Stauf leaving a briefcase filled to the brim with cash, except it also has a puzzle on top that distracted Dutton, and instead coerced him into following orders from Stauf, [[spoiler: to find the last guest, Tad, and bring him to Stauf on the top floor. He almost succeeded, too, if Edward Knox and Martine Burden hadn't intervened and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard stabbed Dutton with the knife Stauf gave him]].]] In the novel, Dutton recovered for just long enough to see inside the case but died from his wounds before he could make any use of the money. In the game, after he unlocked the case, some toxic substance was laced in the cash that caused Dutton's demise. |
| 288 | * Cases of money are a fairly common bonus item in ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage4''. Mr. Y also tries to bribe the heroes with one filled with cash as well as gold in the scene following stage 2; [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules they refuse, destroy the cash, and run off instead]]. |
| 289 | * ''VideoGame/TalesFromTheBorderlands'' features one of these as the MacGuffin in episode one, "[=Zer0=] Sum". Originally intended as payment for a (fake) Vault Key, it's got ten million dollars in embezzled Hyperion funds in it, and gets stolen by bandits and used as the grand prize for [[WackyRacing Murder Rally 12000]]. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, it gets blown up when Felix sets off the bomb implanted in the briefcase. However, if Fiona warned Felix about the explosion, he'll reveal in episode 5 that he actually faked the explosion and ran off with the money]]. |
| 290 | * In ''VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense'', an agent holding an open briefcase full of money is the [[http://ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=File:BACK13SCR.png background screen]] for financial transactions like buying or selling equipment and hiring or firing personnel. |
| 291 | * ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'': |
| 292 | ** A case filled with 100 million Yen[[note]]about one million dollars U.S.[[/note]] plays a significant role in the plot of ''VideoGame/Yakuza4''. |
| 293 | ** In ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'', when Kiryu purchases certain pieces of real estate, a brief cutscene plays where he dramatically opens a briefcase full of cash. In Chapter 10, [[spoiler:Tachibana uses a briefcase containing 500,000,000 yen to convince the Tojo clan to call off the manhunt on Kiryu]]. |
| 294 | [[/folder]] |
| 295 | |
| 296 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 297 | * In ''WebAnimation/InanimateInsanity'' Season 1, the ultimate prize of 1 million dollars is held in a briefcase. [[spoiler:The finale ends up having the briefcase be featured as a MacGuffin before ultimately being lost in a frenzied attack on the host, leading the winner to think he lost his prize... but it's then revealed that the money is ''actually'' just being held in the bank and the briefcase is a prop--after all, [[LampshadeHanging what kind of idiot would just have a million bucks in a suitcase]]?]] |
| 298 | [[/folder]] |
| 299 | |
| 300 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 301 | * Spoofed in ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes'', when a multi-million dollar shipment of stolen cash is delivered in a bunch of [[http://eheroes.smackjeeves.com/comics/2133449/ch12-32/ ordinary cardboard boxes.]] |
| 302 | * In ''Webcomic/ExterminatusNow'' [[http://exterminatusnow.co.uk/2012-01-16/comic/the-bookend-of-unimaginable-power/international-man-of-mercenary/ Janus]] hired a [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 squad of mercs]] and a clan of [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles shinobi terrapins]] using briefcases of money, then because he'd gone over budget he next paid a gang of chavs two litres of white lightening and a carton of cigarettes. |
| 303 | * In ''Webcomic/{{Lackadaisy}}'', Morecai uses the density of a briefcase full of money to his advantage when he blocks a shotgun blast. |
| 304 | * In ''Webcomic/MyLifeAtWar'' Henry Macon has a suitcase full of stock certificates, which seems to be just for showing off. |
| 305 | * In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0976.html #976: "Hard Sell".]] Haley tosses the fantasy equivalent (a big bag stuffed full of gold coins) at a shopkeeper because she doesn't want to rob them but is in the middle of a fight and doesn't have time to pay them the right amount. Due to the strange economics of adventuring in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' this takes the shopkeepers from insolvency to being able to retire in luxury. |
| 306 | * In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' Bun-Bun actually requests "[[http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20090813 two briefcases full of money]]" as payment for fighting Oasis. Well, he requested two ''suitcases'' full of money, but those were a little too heavy for Torg, who actually had that kind of money at that point. |
| 307 | * How Schtein in ''Webcomic/StringTheory2009'' is convinced to [[http://www.stringtheorycomic.com/comics/chapter-five/chp5-page-5/ visit Chicago]]. |
| 308 | -->'''Schtein:''' You can't be serious! I refuse! You couldn't '''pay''' me to go in there! |
| 309 | -->'''Abel:''' ''[opens a briefcase full of money]'' |
| 310 | -->'''Schtein:''' Or, perhaps you could. |
| 311 | * In the ''Webcomic/ZokushoComics'' universe it's beginning to look like the only times that briefcases are used, they aren't full of money, but of explosive magic or some other form of trap. |
| 312 | [[/folder]] |
| 313 | |
| 314 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 315 | * In ''WebVideo/PokemonApokelypse'', Giovanni uses this to tempt Ash into taking a fall. |
| 316 | * The ''WebVideo/TribeTwelve'' entry ''Extraordinary Circumstances''. Noah works out the combination for a mysterious briefcase he was given and finds a collection of his dead friend Milo's belongings. Then he notices something else hidden underneath and his jaw drops. The viewer has enough time to imagine something creepy before he reveals it's "just" wads of money. [[spoiler: The weird part is where it came from.]] |
| 317 | * In ''WebVideo/WaldoTheMovie'', when Waldo initially refuses to do the job and says he's long since retired, one of the agents talking to him opens his briefcase to reveal it's full of money. That ends up being enough to convince Waldo to take the job. |
| 318 | [[/folder]] |
| 319 | |
| 320 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 321 | * One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' had the Wattersons trying to return stolen money to the bank by putting them inside a rolling travel bag because that was all they had. |
| 322 | ** Another episode had the police trying to deliver a briefcase with a million dollars to a hijacked school bus, only to drop it, causing the money to spill on the highway and block the view of the other police cars in pursuit, causing a traffic pile-up. They had to get another briefcase full of a million dollars ready. |
| 323 | * In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Stan opens the briefcase upside down, revealing a phone book that was supposed to be hidden under the bills to make it look full. |
| 324 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' has multiple occasions where someone has a briefcase posing as one of these...only to have it turn out to have a single cupcake instead. |
| 325 | ** In Season 8, AKA ''Archer: Dreamland'', the ransom money serving as the MacGuffin for most of the season lampshades this when Cecil, who's the one paying, points out how heavy it is, since it's full of 20$ bills, adding up to 50.000 all in all, and that an envelope full of the rarely used 10.000$ bills would have been much easier. [[spoiler: It's moot anyway since the season finale reveals he just stuffed the case full of weird German incest magazines.]] |
| 326 | * ''WesternAnimation/BlueEyeSamurai''. Heiji Shindo offers the title character 50,000 ryo in a small wooden box (plus a profitable lordship) if she gives up her RoaringRampageOfRevenge. However Shindo has another box containing the severed thumbs of those who have taken up this offer, as surety that they won't pick up the sword against him again. |
| 327 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Duck Tales 2017}}'' episode "The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks," Dewey finds a random, locked briefcase left in the Duckburg Billionaires Club and takes it to make himself look more like a businessman after he gets an internship. Turns out it was full of money ("that place needs better security"). |
| 328 | * Averted in realistic fashion by ''WesternAnimation/GerryAndersonsNewCaptainScarlet'', of all things. On the occasions where the Mysterons find it more convenient to buy the services of a human than to dispose of them in favour of a replicant, they typically pay with a briefcase full of ''diamonds'' instead. |
| 329 | * In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/HarveyBirdmanAttorneyAtLaw'', when Birdman's at a baby shower for his pregnant wife, Phil Ken Sebben gives him a briefcase full of cash. |
| 330 | -->'''Harvey:''' Phil, wow. You shouldn't have! |
| 331 | -->'''Phil:''' Oops, I didn't! (''dumps out the money, then hands back the empty briefcase'') |
| 332 | -->'''Harvey:''' [[SarcasmMode Phil, wow. You shouldn't have]]. |
| 333 | * In the episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' where [[SdrawkcabName Thai]][[EvilTwin log]] is introduced, a ransom for the clone demanded one of these filled with 20 million dollars. Turns out, Thailog orchestrated his own kidnapping and then faked his own death (and apparent destruction of the briefcase) to escape with the 20 million and start his own fortune. |
| 334 | * ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': Daffy Duck is WesternAnimation/BostonQuackie (cartoon of the same name), a secret agent assigned to deliver a briefcase to the Embassy of Slobovia. The briefcase contains a jar of Instant Girl (just add water). |
| 335 | * In ''WesternAnimation/MutantLeague'', Bones Justice gets a therapist to leave by offering her a duffel bag full of money. Unfortunately, the extremely heavy duffel bag turns out to contain his formerly lovestruck teammate, doing some ExactEavesdropping. |
| 336 | * In ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain,'' a doctor with the conclusive proof that would have made Brain's insurance fraud scheme successful is bribed with a briefcase that will "change [his] mind." It contains lingerie. (Make your own conclusion what it will be used for...) |
| 337 | * The ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' episode "The Backstage Rage'' starts with Shaggy and Scooby discovering a violin case full of money. It's the start of a counterfeiting caper. |
| 338 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': |
| 339 | ** Referenced/parodied in "Mayored To The Mob", where [[TheMafia Fat Tony]] gives Mayor Quimby a kickback in the form of a [[ThiefBag bag with a dollar sign on it]]. The mayor says that he'd prefer future kickbacks to come in a nondescript briefcase instead. |
| 340 | ** In "Trash Of The Titans" Mayor Quimby can also recognize a suitcase full of cash by the sound it makes when it opens. |
| 341 | --->'''Garbage Man:''' Where's our paychecks, you bum? My men ain't working another minute till we get paid! |
| 342 | --->'''Homer:''' (''opens briefcase with money inside'') Will cash be okay? |
| 343 | --->'''Garbage Man:''' Will it! |
| 344 | --->'''Mayor Quimby:''' (''opens door and pops head in'') Did I hear a, uh, briefcase opening? |
| 345 | ** "Marge Gets A Job" had Smithers attempt to hire singer Tom Jones by showing him a briefcase full of money. When Tom refuses, Smithers opens a second briefcase and it sprays him with knockout gas. |
| 346 | ** Referenced again in 'The President Wore Pearls' where Homer, after winning big at the school's faux casino, asked for his winnings in cash and suitcases to carry it. |
| 347 | ** In "Burns Verkaufen Das Kraftwerk", the Germans who buy the plant use a briefcase full of cash, which apparently contains not only enough cash to buy Springfield Nuclear Power Plant but also will have enough left over to buy the Cleveland Browns. |
| 348 | ** In "Homer vs. Dignity", Homer is given a briefcase of money to buy a rare Spider-Man comic [[spoiler:and then eat it in front of Comic Book Guy]]. |
| 349 | ** In "Brother From Another Series", Sideshow Bob's brother Cecil has one of these when he tries to escape with the money he embezzled from a dam project, leaving his brother to die inside when it collapses, along with Bart and Lisa. Problem is, he tries to hit Bart with it when they struggle on top of the dam, causing it to open and make him lose all the cash over the edge. |
| 350 | * An episode of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' has Tweek's dad trying to be bought out with an ordinary, empty briefcase. When he turns the offer down, the investor whips out good-old-fashioned-bags filled with $500,000 cash, which he also turns down. |
| 351 | * Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/SquirrelBoy'', when the protagonist is bribed into taking the blame for several pranks with a briefcase... that is revealed to be empty. As the protagonist is a squirrel, he considers the briefcase a good payment anyway. |
| 352 | * ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': In "Tiger Millionaire", Steven's eponymous wrestling persona uses a briefcase full of play money to distract his opponent in the ring while his tag-team partner Amethyst (AKA Purple Puma) goes in for the kill. |
| 353 | * Parodied in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/StrokerAndHoop''. The briefcase itself isn't included in the deal; the middleman got it as a graduation present and it has a lot of sentimental value to him. Besides, the deal was "fifty thousand dollars", not "fifty thousand dollars ''and a briefcase.''" Stroker has to stuff all the money in his jacket and pockets -- and the money's all in five-dollar bills so he wouldn't have to go to the trouble of making change. He ends up losing most of it in a chase. |
| 354 | * An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TimonAndPumbaa'' involves the duo accidentally acquiring a suitcase full of money that was stolen by Criminal Quint ($1,290,000 in unmarked bills, to be exact). Pumbaa wants to return the suitcase to its rightful owners, whereas Timon wants the money for himself. |
| 355 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' franchise, this is how the prize money is delivered. However, it usually gets stolen by a rogue contestant [[spoiler:(Ezekiel in TDWT and Heather in TDRI)]] or comically destroyed [[spoiler:whether it's eaten by a shark or burned in a volcano]]. |
| 356 | * Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' where Rusty tries to pay Monarch for Hank and Dean's ransom with a bag full of photocopied money. Monarch calls him out for being too cheap to spring for the double-sided copies. |
| 357 | [[/folder]] |
| 358 | |
| 359 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 360 | * The million-dollar grand prize of the World Series of Poker is traditionally paid in cash. Before the final round, the prize is hauled out to the playing floor. In ordinary cardboard boxes. |
| 361 | * The video gaming site [=ScrewAttack=] holds an annual "Iron Man of Gaming" in which the winner gets a briefcase-sized package of real money. [[http://www.screwattack.com/files/images/WinnerHarrisonFluster.preview.jpg They're all one-dollar bills.]] |
| 362 | * ''How Much Is Inside?'' decided to show what [[http://www.cockeyed.com/inside/million/million.html a million (fake) dollars in a briefcase entails]]. |
| 363 | * Victor Suvorov, a real-life Soviet spy, wrote in his semi-autobiographic book how they used a sneak glance of a hidden compartment in a case in order to recruit agents. The trick was that they showed a relatively small (or rather, shallow) compartment which is easy to conceal, full of new shining bills, but the actual payment was in older cash. |
| 364 | * Photos from a [[http://binscorner.com/pages/r/raid-on-a-mexican-drug-lord.html Raid On A Mexican Drug Lord]] show stacks of money in all corners of the house, filling ''multiple'' filing cabinets, and '''18''' Briefcases Full Of Money proper. |
| 365 | * According to one of the former band members, when Black Sabbath first became well-known their producers actually gave them several of these to go buy drugs with. Hey, it was TheSeventies... |
| 366 | * According to the book ''Only in America: The Life and Crimes of Don King'', this was one of legendary boxing promoter Don King's tactics when signing a new boxer. King would present the (usually poor and uneducated) young boxer with more cash than he had likely ever seen in his life as an inducement to sign... and also as a distraction. The relative pittance of up-front cash served as misdirection from the fact that King would also be taking a much larger percentage of the boxer's future earnings than other promoters would. |
| 367 | * A briefcase full, not of banknotes, but of bearer bonds (which are as good as money) was the subject of the world's biggest mugging; At 9:30 AM on May 2nd, 1990, John Goddard, a 58-year-old messenger with money broker Sheppards, was mugged at knifepoint on a quiet side street in the city of London. Mr. Goddard was taking Bank of England Treasury bills and certificates of deposit from banks and building societies. In total, he was carrying ''292 million'' pounds sterling, or '''378 million dollars.''' The thieves made it look like a [[UnintentionallyNotoriousCrime random mugging]] in the hope of giving themselves more time to launder the bonds before they could be canceled. It was the financial equivalent of an EmptyQuiver; the news that the case was in the wind brought criminal syndicates from around the world to London to try to participate in the money laundering. All but two of the 301 bond certificates were eventually recovered; scattered across the UK, the US, Ireland, Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, and Germany. The thief who did the mugging was eventually found shot dead; while several of his co-conspiractors were arrested and sentenced to lengthly prison terms. The search for the case was allegedly the inspiration for ''Film/Ronin1998''. |
| 368 | * While not a briefcase, anybody visiting the small museum at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago can have their picture taken next to a plexiglass case containing one million dollars. |
| 369 | * In May 2021, [[UsefulNotes/ScotlandYard The Metropolitan Police]] broke a drug-money laundering operation, seizing some £5 million of case, when they observed a suspect [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome struggling to carry the bags full of high-grade paper]]. |
| 370 | * In a bizarre episode that would later be described as "Franchise/JamesBond-esque" in the press, in 1985 UsefulNotes/NewJersey State Senator [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Friedland David Friedland]] [[FakingTheDead faked his own death]] by drowning, escaping from the situation in a scuba suit and a literal briefcase stuffed with cash. |
| 371 | * During the 1973 military coup in Chile, the head of treasury during Allende's term took refuge in the Finnish embassy, and came with a briefcase full of newly printed money from the mint, still in uncut sheets. A few days later, on the treasurer's birthday, one of the embassy staff presented him with a pair of scissors as a birthday gift. |
| 372 | * In Bulgaria, when the communist regime fell in November 1989, according to urban legend, the Communist party's top brass handed state capital in the form of a number of those to as many as 3000 people who became millionaires and entrepreneurs overnight, allowing those assets to remain in hands affiliated with the old regime even after they had formally stepped down. This number of people allegedly included a lot of young sportsmen (wrestlers and boxers) who became TheMafiya of the country. |
| 373 | [[/folder]] |
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