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| 3 | %% |
| 4 | [[quoteright:300:[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/skyrim_thief_1_780.jpg]]]] |
| 5 | [-[[caption-width-right:300:[[http://sia-chan.deviantart.com/art/Stealing-in-Skyrim-302715374 Image]] by [[http://sia-chan.deviantart.com/ Sia-chan]]]]-] |
| 6 | |
| 7 | ->''It's not "Stealing." It's "Adding to my Inventory."'' |
| 8 | -->-- '''Ben''', ''VideoGame/BenThereDanThat'' |
| 9 | %% |
| 10 | %% One quote is sufficient. Please place additional entries on the quotes tab. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | As much as the motto for the FPS is, "[[ShootEverythingThatMoves If it moves, shoot it]]," the motto for the AdventureGame and RolePlayingGame is, "When it's dead, loot it." or "Take everything that isn't [[EmptyRoomPsych nailed down or too heavy]], and anything that can be pried loose is not considered nailed down." (The latter advice appeared in the general strategy section of Creator/{{Infocom}}'s manuals.) |
| 13 | |
| 14 | When gaming began, and pretty much every game was DungeonCrawling, this made sense. The hero was typically at least tangentially a treasure hunter, so looting ancient caverns and crypts was part of the job description. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | When games started to move into different modern settings, though, the need to [[MacGyvering MacGyver up]] a solution to a puzzle from [[ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest found items]] remained, and thus it stayed necessary to pick up everything you could find, especially since absolutely essential items were {{Permanently Missable|Content}} unless you grabbed them [[InventoryManagementPuzzle while you still could]]. In populated environments, this makes the hero come off as a bit of a kleptomaniac. It doesn't help when the games, in an attempt to encourage the player to explore and TalkToEveryone, hides useful items here and there all over the towns and caves. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | Fortunately, hardly anyone ever notices. In fact, as you wander around the world, particularly in [=RPGs=], you will repeatedly just [[TrespassingHero waltz uninvited into every house in the town]], [[RewardingVandalism smash the breakable items]] and loot it ''right before the owner's eyes'', and simply be told "[[WelcomeToCorneria There are many guards in the castle.]]" Be careful, though. [[KleptomaniacHeroFoundUnderwear You might just find something untoward...]] |
| 19 | |
| 20 | See also NinjaLooting, StickyFingers, and VideoGameStealing. Contrast ShopliftAndDie. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | ---- |
| 23 | !!Examples: |
| 24 | %% |
| 25 | %% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks! |
| 26 | %% |
| 27 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[folder:Action Adventure]] |
| 30 | * In ''VideoGame/BlossomTalesTheSleepingKing'', most houses have a treasure chest ripe for the taking, and no one cares if you make off with all of it. Grandpa actually [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this by saying that the hero "loves taking things that don't belong to her!" |
| 31 | * Lampshaded in the [=PS2=]/Xbox "remake" of ''VideoGame/TheBardsTale'', right towards the beginning. After opening his first chest, the narrator will comment on how horrible it is that The Bard is stealing, and the two will engage in a brief argument over it. Helpfully, all of the "junk" that The Bard finds (wanted posters of himself, animal hides, etc) will be automatically converted into silver, since the game understands that most... okay, ''all'' players would just sell those items at the store for money. |
| 32 | ** The Bard from ''VideoGame/TheBardsTale'' insists that he is not this trope, but that he takes items for safekeeping against others of this trope. The narrator doesn't buy it. |
| 33 | * ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': |
| 34 | ** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'', a Wind Tribe lady tells you she has so many Kinstones she wishes somebody would take some, explaining why you can go through ''her'' house, at least. Doesn't explain how you got away with all the thieving and vandalism you will have inevitably done already though... |
| 35 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' does try to break Link's habit of taking anything that isn't nailed down and guarded by Hyrule's entire army. You can walk up to the stand selling apples and take one, but Link will say he sees better looking apples at another stand and put the one he has back. If you go to the other stand he'll say the other ones look better, so you'll never actually get an apple. Of course he still destroys every pot and loots every treasure chest he can get his hands on. |
| 36 | ** Subverted in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker''. When you enter the house of a wealthy man on Windfall Island you are confronted with a row of beautiful expensive vases that [[EverythingsBetterWithSparkles even sparkle]]! However, if you smash one, not only do you not find an item hidden within, you are also chastised by the owner of the vases and warned to not break any more. If you ''do'', not only do you not get any rupees, you are forced to pay a fee relative to the number of vases you destroyed. If you wreck all his jars and you have no money to pay, he'll be more upset that he has to pay to replace the vases with his own money. [[http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h245/DRCEQ2/VG/Nintendo/Linkinvades.jpg When it comes to Link, it's best if you just act like nothing happened...]] |
| 37 | ** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'' it is possible to steal from the shopkeeper near the starting location by making him look away and then run out. However the game immediately reminds you that stealing is bad and you should feel guilty now. If you go into the shop again, the shopkeeper will kill you with a DeathRay - also, everyone in the village will call you ''thief'' from now on. Additionally, if you try going through things in people's houses, Marin will call you out on it, asking if you always look in other people's drawers. |
| 38 | ** The very first puzzle in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'' requires you to break into and rob the treasure vault of the kindly old man who just took you in, thus gaining an item necessary for you to travel north and kill wildlife in order to reach the town to the east. Why? Because it's better than waiting for a BrokenBridge to be fixed. In fact, when you make it to the town, the bridge is already fixed. Nice going. |
| 39 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' tries to break this habit as well. You can open the cabinet in your Knight Academy dorm room for a free blue Rupee, but opening other people's cabinets rewards you with the message "You really shouldn't look through other people's things..."[[note]]If you look in Zelda's cabinet late in the game, there is a heart piece. But this is long after all the other times you get scolded for looking in people's cabinets.[[/note]] Since the surface has been going through an apocalypse for a few thousand years at this point in the timeline, there are no houses to vandalize, but you ''can'' break the pots in an ancient temple holding something very, very important and plot-related (protip: one of them always contains a fairy). There are hardly any pots in the residential quarters of Skyloft. Even sitting in other people's chairs gets you called out (Gortram scolds you for sitting in his chair, Fi says that [[DeadpanSnarker you really should find that thing you were looking for before you take a rest]]). Most notably, breaking the chandelier with the heart piece on it in the Lumpy Pumpkin gets you a hilarious facial expression from the owner, a good talking-to, and [[SideQuest unpaid work]] [[WorkOffTheDebt until you pay the thing off.]] |
| 40 | ---> '''''WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?''''' |
| 41 | ** There is an actual canon justification for the kleptomania, however, from ''Minish Cap''. Link isn't actually stealing anything other than the pots themselves; there are tiny gnomes invisible to adults that hide money, useful items, and treasure under grass and bushes, in pots, and in chests for heroes to find, including pots, chests, and bushes belonging to other people. |
| 42 | *** Not in ''all'' cases, however, as with the woman who hides rupees behind a ConcealingCanvas safe in ''A Link to the Past''. |
| 43 | ** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', shockingly valuable items such as fancy weapons and chests full of rupees can be found in spots where civilians were obviously having them stored, yet Link can loot them nonetheless. It's at least justified at the Stables, where the managers say that they leave useful items laying nearby for travelers. |
| 44 | *** A recurring method of discovering hidden Koroks involves placing an item in an empty offering bowl which is usually located with several others containing the item that needs to be offered, usually an apple. It's petty, but there's nothing stopping Link from taking the rest of the offered goods once he's been granted the Korok Seed. |
| 45 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' you can set off ''bombs'' in people's houses to get food or coins from the ensuing wreckage. Since this game evolved from ''Zelda'', it's expected. |
| 46 | * ''VideoGame/{{Solatorobo}}'' normally allows Red to poke about unmolested anywhere he likes, including at an orphanage. However, searching Vanille's bed will result in [[KleptomaniacHeroFoundUnderwear him finding some underwear]], and his sister Chocolat telling him to not stare at it. |
| 47 | [[/folder]] |
| 48 | |
| 49 | [[folder:Action RPG]] |
| 50 | * In ''VideoGame/BioShock1'', the player's character at one point can eat a candy bar on a table next to [[spoiler:a Little Sister, in Tenebaum's safe house. The Little Sister says "That's mine!" in a quiet, indignant voice. If you eat the other candy bar on the table, she loudly says "Hey!"]] |
| 51 | ** You can also loot just about any dead body (including what is presumably the corpse of [[spoiler:your own mother]]) and their weapons, as well as any container, from crates, suitcases, handbags, cabinets, shelves, safes, cash registers... makes you wonder exactly what memories your character had [[spoiler:"tattooed into his mind" when he was administered the mental programming plasmid.]] At one point in Haphaestus, Andrew Ryan will mock you for wandering around his city, breaking and looting. |
| 52 | * During the peaceful segments of ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'', you can go through shops, and certain items (mostly cash registers, and one time a rare shotgun) are highlighted in red. Taken them is considered stealing and will set the local cops on you. However, the majority of the time, even before the place goes to Heck, you can grab anything with impunity. Including stuff that's nailed down and/or on fire. |
| 53 | * In ''VideoGame/DeusEx'', while thieving (and tampering with peoples' computers, etc) wouldn't actually make friendlies go hostile, it would earn you a lot of dirty looks and irritated remarks. |
| 54 | ** The only places in the game where this isn't true is Paris, where breaking into a house while the police or civilians are there to see you will invoke the wrath of the police and alert the [[spoiler:[=MJ12=] troops]] in the area. Using lock picks in front of certain people, such as the [=MJ12=] troops in Versalife during your first visit will cause them to attack you. |
| 55 | ** Lampshaded in one instance. As you bust into a locked hotel room, Icarus contacts you and suggests you "observe your motivations for breaking the arbitrary laws of the current government". |
| 56 | ** Averted in its mod, ''VideoGame/TheNamelessMod''; stealing in front of [=NPC=]s will cause them to sound alarms or attack you. |
| 57 | ** Also averted in [[VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar the sequel]], where if you get caught breaking and entering, stealing, or hacking, the guards and/or other NPC's will turn hostile. |
| 58 | * In ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'', the player character is the head of security for his company. You can run around breaking into offices and stealing all manner of things, but you'll start receiving e-mails concerning the break-ins and eventually realize that you've created a huge web of paranoia and nobody suspects you because you're the head of security who they trust to find the culprit. In fact, they trust you so much they send you the codes to their own offices - making it even easier for you to pick them clean. |
| 59 | ** After you visit the police station, you'll eventually run into a few cops freaking out about the same thing. They're more worried some gangbanger knows where their families live. |
| 60 | ** Aside from that, the game seems to expect you to steal absolutely everything from everyone at all times. [[note]]The KarmaMeter is apparently solely tied with how many people you kill and all it does is flavor a few lines of the game's ending monologue.[[/note]] Basically, if you're allowed to be standing where you are, you have unlimited rights to anything you can get your hands on short of attacking and hacking. |
| 61 | *** At one point you are in a ruthless mob boss' lair and he has a [[{{BFG}} Laser Rifle]] lying next to him. You can "borrow" the weapon while he is staring right at you and he doesn't even bat an eye. It makes logical sense that he ''might'' lend it to you for your next task, but there's no dialog or anything. It might as well be yours. |
| 62 | * ''VideoGame/DeusExMankindDivided'' plays things similarly to its predecessor. Hacking in front of armed [=NPCs=] is still a no-no, but for the most part, unless the player is already in a hostile area they can pick up anything around them with at most a grumble from nearby witnesses. |
| 63 | ** The player can pretty much openly wander around Task Force 29 headquarters hacking computers and stealing anything not nailed down. However, this behavior will eventually attract the attention of the agency's resident white hat hacker, who will call them out on it. |
| 64 | ** Oddly, one of the two arms dealers in Prague does not have their weapon cache designated as a hostile area. This means as long as the dealer and his bodyguards/goons don't see the player actually breaking into the room, they are free to take whatever they want in full view of everyone - they can even turn around and sell the arms dealer his own inventory! [[BerserkButton Try to take any of the credit chips scattered around the apartment, however...]] |
| 65 | * ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'' is about as bad as this as ''Terraria'' listed below. You can explicitly break into people's houses, search their beds, shelves and appliances for items or traps, break said appliances down for resources, and then tear the whole house down to its foundations... Then dig up the foundation, too. But then again, 90% of the world population is gone and you are running one of the only safehouses, atleast in the co-op mode. |
| 66 | ** You ''can'' do much of the same in Battle Royale, but the closing storm and the fact that other players can find you by the trail of disappearing buildings do put a damper on things. |
| 67 | * 10tons's ''Jydge'' features a character that's a cross between ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' and ''Franchise/RoboCop''. The Jydge will self-destruct if it accidentally kills an innocent. However the "Jydge" program can always use extra funds, so your law enforcement cyborg is allowed to "confiscate" money from slain criminals and "their" loot boxes (hmm...funny how criminals have loot boxes all over the mansion of their wealthy hostages). The Jydge can also hack public [=ATMs=] and once you hack some money from that, you can blow the [=ATM=] up for even more cash. Additionally the Jydge can help itself to collectible items found in hidden corners of Edynburg. |
| 68 | [[/folder]] |
| 69 | |
| 70 | [[folder:Adventure Game]] |
| 71 | * Most works of InteractiveFiction require you to steal everything you can find, including most Creator/{{Infocom}} games. However, Infocom's early wordplay-themed game ''VideoGame/NordAndBertCouldntMakeHeadOrTailOfIt'' parodied this in the final stage, "Meet the Mayor": Given a six-pack and a list of "pretenses" (such as "The world is flat" and "2+2=5"), the player must "TAKE BEER UNDER FALSE PRETENSES". |
| 72 | ** In Infocom's ''VideoGame/{{Trinity}}'', you actually have to steal a gnomon off a sundial in the middle of a crowded Kensington Gardens. |
| 73 | * This applies to just about all of {{Creator/Sierra}}'s adventure games, most famously VideoGame/KingsQuest. King Graham even has a famous saying: "Pick up anything that is not nailed down, and if it is, look for loose nails or boards." The [[AllThereInTheManual Companion Guide]] attributes this saying to his father. |
| 74 | ** In ''VideoGame/KingsQuestI'', inside an impoverished couple's hut, there is a prominent fiddle on the other side of a tricky-to-navigate floor. If you cross the gaps and reach the lute successfully, attempting to take it yields the admonition "You cannot take their last possession!" This despite the ''manual'' explaining that you should take everything that's not nailed down. [[spoiler:You can take the fiddle -- ''after'' you give the couple a bowl that magically fills with soup and they offer it to you in gratitude.]] |
| 75 | * Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/AdVerbum'', where the protagonist's task is to help clear out a house that's due for demolition. The intro has you being told that you've been chosen on the basis of your previous adventure game experience, and explicitly instructed to grab everything that isn't nailed down. |
| 76 | * Initially [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in ''VideoGame/{{Anchorhead}}'', as you're an every(wo)man-style character. |
| 77 | --> > get machine\ |
| 78 | You're not here to burglarize the place. |
| 79 | * Ashley Robbins of the ''VideoGame/AnotherCode'' games is no stranger to snatching up whatever she thinks she could use. It's passable in the first game, as the place she's investigating has been abandoned for fifty years, though D does comment at least once how weird her habit is. In the second game, with more people to interact with, she does at least pay for stuff (on her dad's credit) and ask permission first. |
| 80 | * Total aversion in ''VideoGame/BelowTheRoot''. Unless it is on a public walkway, you need to find the owner and ask nicely. You also had limits on what you could carry, dictated by the character's strength stat. Pomma couldn't carry much at all. |
| 81 | * Parodied in ''Crazy Old Bag Lady'' where the goal is to locate the mythical Golden Trolley which can hold much more useless junk than your average supermarket trolley. |
| 82 | * In ''VideoGame/TheDarksideDetective'', [=McQueen=] frequently has to make off with other people's belongings to solve puzzles. He takes a pragmatic attitude to this, although he disapproves of Dooley's suggestions on the subject of making off with stuff that isn't needed for a puzzle but might be worth some money. |
| 83 | * Lampshaded in the fourth ''VideoGame/DaymareTown'' game, where one of the first areas in the game is a cave where someone lived. After you rummage through a cardboard box and leave, the owner suddenly comes back and [[TrespassingHero calls you out on going into her house uninvited]]. |
| 84 | * In the old ''VideoGame/DejaVu1985'' games, you could ''literally'' pick up everything that wasn't nailed down ''too'' hard. Books? Check. Flowerpot with dead flower? Sure. ''Board nailed over a window?'' Just yank it loose and stick it in your coat, it might come in handy. Since there were quite a few items you actually needed to win, but you don't know which ones the first time, you tended to pick up literally everything, just in case. |
| 85 | * Deconstructed in ''VideoGame/{{Deponia}}''--Rufus feels justified in taking anything that will aid his schemes because [[ItsAllAboutMe he's extremely self-centered]] (though later on he gets more valid reasons). His neighbors resent him for it, [[spoiler:and at one point it lands him in jail.]] |
| 86 | * Lampshaded in the first ''VideoGame/{{Discworld}}'' CD ROM game. Rincewind needs to help himself to virtually everything that can be moved in every location he visits as most of them will prove useful later on. If you speak to Nobby the City Watchman at the gate during Act I, he mentions there's been a few strange thefts around town recently. |
| 87 | * Lampshaded a bit heavy-handedly in ''Ditch Day Drifter'': |
| 88 | -->*Some* adventure games would try to impose their authors' misguided sense of ethics on you at this point, telling you that you don't feel like picking up the key, or you don't have time to do that, or that it's against the rules to even possess a master key, much less steal one from some other student's pants that you happened to find in a laundry, or even more likely that you are unable to take the key while wearing that dress. However, you're the player, and you're in charge around here, so I'll let you make your own judgments about what's ethical and proper here... |
| 89 | * ''VideoGame/FantasyQuest'' takes this to near-{{deconstruction}} levels. As with many adventure games, you take anything not nailed down. Newspapers reveal that the world's inhabitants interpret this as a crime spree and start exchanging tips for safeguarding their homes. ("Does your house have a door? Can you lock it?") |
| 90 | * ''VideoGame/HopkinsFBI'' requires the protagonist, an [[UsefulNotes/AmericanLawEnforcement FBI]] agent investigating a serial killer, to commit theft to catch him. For some reason, one place he must steal from is ''his fiancée's'' apartment. He must also recover $20 of stolen money from a group of bank robbers and ''spend it'' on cinema tickets. |
| 91 | * ''VideoGame/HorseTalesEmeraldValleyRanch'', for the sake of verisimilitude, has gardens and neatly tied woodpiles in [=NPCs=]' yards. However, it doesn't have the [=NPCs=] react in any way when you take their stuff (and doing so is more-or-less required to start your own farms, because there are no shops). This is justified in the case of blueprints, however- the local craftswoman is an eccentric sort who explicitly gives you permission to take the blueprints she's stored in chests everywhere, because she won't be able to find them again and you will make good use of them. |
| 92 | * Kyle Hyde in ''VisualNovel/HotelDuskRoom215'' certainly takes some things he shouldn't with him (like a crowbar from a toolbox that isn't his). Other times he might just look at stuff. [[spoiler:There is a point in the game where carrying stuff that doesn't belong to you will result in a Game Over screen.]] |
| 93 | * Jess is a literal example in ''VideoGame/JurassicParkTheGame''. She was spending her weekend on the island with her father after committing shoplifting. Throughout the story, she kept on stealing things from other characters, including a pair of binoculars from Hammond, a pack of cigarettes from Dr. Sorkin, and [[spoiler: the can of shaving cream containing the dinosaur embryos from Yoder]]. |
| 94 | * The protagonists of ''VideoGame/JonssonliganJaktenPaMjolner'' are a gang of con men and actual thieves, so this is a given. Harry may lampshade this when picking up a pair of scissors, stating that he doesn't have any use for them only to verbally shrug and take them anyway. While most of the items you pick up do get used for the gang's signature comedic heists, your bag ''will'' contain quite a few items that never got used by the end.[[note]]If you investigate a cash register, the leader of the gang [[PetTheDog will refuse to steal the money, though.]][[/note]] |
| 95 | * Averted in the Creator/LucasArts game ''VideoGame/{{Loom}}'': you can only carry ''one'' item, your weaving staff (and you don't even have that all the time). |
| 96 | * In ''VideoGame/LostPig'', the custodian of the Place Underground has [[DiscussedTrope several grumpy things to say about earlier encounters with the type]], and [[spoiler:the LastLousyPoint is awarded for ''not'' acting like one, and putting stuff back how it was when you're done with it]]. |
| 97 | * The old ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'' games literally force you to pick up everything you can find because it will become useful later, often as part of some complicated crazy scheme that requires using several items in concert... the challenge is figuring out how. Fortunately, our hero Guybrush has [[HyperspaceArsenal unlimited carrying space]] in his trouser pockets or under his jacket. There's even room for the live monkey and the 10' extensible banana plucker. |
| 98 | ** ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge'' makes a subtle joke about this: one island has a wanted poster for your character listing a variety of thefts (and other misdemeanors) performed by Guybrush as the game progresses. A certain book in the library also contains the definition of a kleptomaniac, eliciting a "Hmm..." from Guybrush and at the end of the game a possible answer to a question is "I stole a bunch of stuff and caused two huge explosions." |
| 99 | ** In Guybrush's case this is an actual rule, not simply something he does for problem-solving. According to Guybrush in the narrative walk-through of [[VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland the third game]], the Pirate Handbook officially states that "pirates by principle have to steal everything that isn't nailed down (and if you can find a way to remove the nails and steal it, do so)." At one point in the third game, you actually do get to remove the nails from something, but you can't steal it anyway. The ''nails themselves'' come in handy, though. |
| 100 | ** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland'' this is lampshaded by Guybrush asking someone if he can take an empty bucket. She asks him what he's going to do with it, and he says he doesn't know. She asks him why he would want to take it, then, and his response is "Because it's there, I guess." |
| 101 | * Lampshaded in ''Murder on the Orient Express'' (the game), when a steward on the train remarks that lots of things have mysteriously gone missing. The Player Character, whose inventory is filled with everything from handkerchiefs to a large bowl of orange juice, responds by suggesting that "maybe someone had a good reason for taking it?" |
| 102 | ** Games based on Agatha Christie novels play with this, though you don't have to pick up everything, are not allowed to go through people's luggage when they are present, and when you do, you mostly find clothing -- and some item, such as a postcard or book, which has [[LawofConservationofDetail some]] [[ChekhovsGun significance]]. Interestingly enough, in the first one ''And Then There Were None'', the player character also demonstrated the psychic ability to know which objects he would need later, and which would "draw unnecessary attention to [his] snooping." |
| 103 | * In ''VideoGame/MysteryCaseFiles: Dire Grove'', you need to break into several buildings as you search for the missing students. However, at one point you crack open a safe containing a key (which you need) and a stack of cash. Clicking on the cash will cause the game to scold you. |
| 104 | * Played completely straight throughout the ''VideoGame/NancyDrew'' series, and then lampshaded in the 29th game, ''The Silent Spy'': |
| 105 | -->'''Ewan:''' You might want to ease up on the stealing.\ |
| 106 | '''Nancy:''' I'll give them back. I'm just investigating.\ |
| 107 | '''Ewan:''' [[SarcasmMode Sure.]] Avoid ''investigating'' any big-ticket items during your visit. I really hate the embassy people. |
| 108 | ** The 16th game subverts this. Players can pick up Lou's snowshoes, but when they try to leave the room he'll show up and ask what they're doing. [[spoiler:Nancy does eventually obtain showshoes, but she must do so legitimately- and Lou's pair is just a RedHerring with no relation to the plot at all.]] |
| 109 | * Parodied in ''Packrat'' which refers to the main character as "an adventurer with a discerning eye." |
| 110 | * ''VideoGame/ThePerilsOfAkumos'': After stealing just about everything you see, you really shouldn't be surprised once a shady cabal approach you to join their illegal dealings. |
| 111 | * ''VideoGame/PrisonerOfIce'' stars a Lieutenant in the British Royal Navy investigating a [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraftian]] mystery involving ice-covered crates and an insane man who's babbling nonsense. Apparently, this requires the Lieutenant to repeatedly commit theft ''in his own base''. |
| 112 | * The shepherd in ''VideoGame/OedipusInMyInventory'' will even steal from the throne room ''while the queen is talking to him.'' |
| 113 | * ''VideoGame/RandalsMonday'': [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]], as Randal actually is a kleptomaniac. |
| 114 | * Lampshaded in ''The Reliques of Tolti-Aph'', where an attempt to memorize a scroll with the "circumvent lock" spell produces the following message: |
| 115 | -->Under the terms of the recent Sorcery Millennium Property Act, all magic-users are now hypnotized to make it impossible for them to learn certain spells connected with the breaking or circumvention of locks or other devices intended to protect property. Like all magic-users, you resent the implication that you are some kind of kleptomaniac, and regard this as an outrageous infringement of your personal liberty. Especially since these are the same people who go on and on about the right to bear "apocalyptic fireball" wands! Tsk. |
| 116 | * LampshadeHanging in one of the ''[[VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Sam And Max]]'' games, ''Reality 2.0''. Sam goes to steal some binoculars, on the grounds he needs them more than the owner. Max remarks that that's a pretty flimsy justification for stealing, and Sam agrees. After a pause, they decide to steal them anyway. |
| 117 | ** This trope was lampshaded again in ''Bright Side of the Moon'', where Harry Moleman at the moon's gift stand comments that "some people will steal anything that isn't bolted to the floor"-- at which point Sam adjusts his tie nervously. |
| 118 | ** Also exaggerated -- in ''Night of the Raving Dead'', you can pick up an ink ribbon, but it doesn't actually do anything. No puzzles, no Easter eggs, nothing. It's plain and simple taking it because it's there. |
| 119 | ** And averted in ''Beyond the Alley of the Dolls'', where you can click on several important-looking scrolls in a room, but told they're useless. |
| 120 | * The first ''VideoGame/SimonTheSorcerer'' game had tons of items you'd accumulate, most of which were used maybe ''once'', and then stayed in your inventory instead of being lost. There are two times in the game where you (thankfully) lose your possessions though, and the assorted crap forms a HUGE pile. |
| 121 | * ''VideoGame/StrongBadsCoolGameForAttractivePeople'': While it's entirely in-character for [[CardCarryingVillain Strong Bad]] to go around randomly stealing his neighbors' possessions, the game still occasionally lampshades this trope. |
| 122 | -->'''Strong Bad:''' Takin' Marzipan's balloons, and I don't know why... |
| 123 | * The "take everything that isn't nailed down" comment is parodied in the text adventure game ''VideoGame/ThyDungeonman'', in which there's a flask in a room which IS nailed down, and if you forcefully attempt to take it, the game tells you it was a [[LoadBearingBoss load-bearing flask]], and the dungeon collapses on you. |
| 124 | * Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/TheTrailOfAnguish'': |
| 125 | -->"I hope I don't look funny carrying around all these items," you say.\ |
| 126 | He squints for a few seconds before he sees them. Then he replies, "Nah, it's okay. Everyone's on an adventure of some sort, after all." You nod, only now noticing that he's somehow concealing a bicycle, a bungee cord, and a horse in his pocket. Looks exciting. |
| 127 | * Played with in ''VideoGame/ZorkGrandInquisitor'', where one of the puzzles involves getting your hands on a six-pack of canned mead, which is protected by the burglar alarm at a store. To get the mead, you have to turn up the volume on a nearby [[CannedOrdersOverLoudspeaker propaganda-spouting speaker]] until [[CacophonyCoverUp it drowns out the burglar alarm]]. |
| 128 | * Averted in ''VideoGame/ReturnToZork'', which, unlike the rest of the ''VideoGame/{{Zork}}'' series, expressly punishes the one act of theft you can commit: taking Pugney's bra box before he says you can have it will cause the Guardian to appear and [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment wipe your inventory to]] [[UnwinnableByDesign render the game unwinnable]]. |
| 129 | [[/folder]] |
| 130 | |
| 131 | [[folder:Card Battle Game]] |
| 132 | * ''VideoGame/TouhouLostBranchOfLegend'': Implied by the "Thief"-ThemeNaming contributors to the Score / EXP tally. Only one of which can be gotten each run: |
| 133 | *** Thief: 50 points: |
| 134 | ----> Have more than 20 Exhibits. |
| 135 | *** Grand Theft: 100 points |
| 136 | ----> Have more than 30 Exhibits. |
| 137 | [[/folder]] |
| 138 | |
| 139 | [[folder:Fighting Game]] |
| 140 | * ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception'' allows you to walk into people's huts, open their treasure chests, and abscond with the goodies. You can also beat up most townspeople with little repercussions. In fact, the only crime the game will ever punish you for is [[spoiler:staying out past curfew in orderrealm]]. |
| 141 | [[/folder]] |
| 142 | |
| 143 | [[folder:First Person Shooter]] |
| 144 | * The ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' series has chests/safes/boxes/lockers you can open and loot the ammo/gun(s)/money stored inside. Then there's the ammo in the refrigerators, mailboxes, washing machines...and toilets (giving a new meaning to the term "ammo dump"!)... |
| 145 | ** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by the New Haven resident standing outside the gun shop, who complains that his gun is missing, and notes, "Seems like a lot of things have gone missing lately. Makes you wonder." |
| 146 | ** In fact, ''Claptrap's New Robot Revolution'' happens because the Vault Hunters' constant looting and selling have ruined Pandora's economy, thus leading Hyperion to hire the Interplanetary Ninja Assassin Claptrap to take care of the problem. |
| 147 | * Enforced in ''VideoGame/InPursuitOfGreed'' - your playable characters are all raiders, mercenaries and thieves who ''enjoys'' looting and killing for wealth, with your motto being "If it's moving around, kill it. If it's not nailed down, steal it". |
| 148 | * ''VideoGame/PAYDAYTheHeist'' - You're a [[VillainProtagonist professional bank robber]]. In addition to the main quest, your character can grab money and gems that are found in reasonable places - bank offices, unorganized narcotics labs, fancy jewel cases, and Franz-Jaegar safes. In the sequel, there's an entire mission dedicated to stealing small loot from bank's safe deposit boxes. |
| 149 | * ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'' - There's a heist named Four Stores in PAYDAY 2 that consists entirely of swiping small valuables such as cash from registers in order to prove a point to a client's competitor. There are usually a few small safes the players can drill if they're so inclined, but it's usually better to just grab the bare minimum and run. |
| 150 | * Looting everything you possibly can is usually a given in the ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' and ''VideoGame/BioShock'' games, as most of their settings have been abandoned after a big disaster, save for the warped and confused mutants still roaming the place. ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'', however, goes off the deep end, as you still get to loot everything in sight, but it's ''during'' the disaster, and some of the items and their locations can come off as disturbing. Like the chance to take a banana from a trash can, or finding (we are not making this up) fresh-from-the-oven baked potatoes in a toilet. Naturally, fanart has made fun of this fact, among many others. |
| 151 | [[/folder]] |
| 152 | |
| 153 | [[folder:[=MMORPGs=]]] |
| 154 | * In ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsOnline'', you now can steal from bookshelves, dead adventurers, mushrooms, cabinets, and the standard breakables. You get bonus XP for breaking crates and barrels. |
| 155 | ** A good strategy for cash strapped new players is *Smash everything in sight*. Along with getting a Vandal XP bonus, smashed crates and barrels often hide potions, money, and ranged ammunition or throwing weapons. |
| 156 | * ''VideoGame/RuneScape'': |
| 157 | ** There's a house in inhabited by an old man who will scold [=PCs=] for breaking and entering, then kick them out before they get the chance to do any looting. |
| 158 | ** There's a thieving SKILL, but it doesn't help in that case, and for example, trying to steal from a stall while the owner of said stall is right in front of you will only result in him screaming for guards, and you have to wait before you can sell what you stole. It's a great skill to have in general, though, and can be used to crack safes, pick locks, and unlock many non-violent alternatives in a few chests... which almost invariably leads to the player stealing everything in sight. |
| 159 | * Played with in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft: Mists of Pandaria''. Groundskeeper Wu asks players to bring him several rattan switches; they grow around the area, but a nearby merchant has already collected several. If you take the ones Yao the Collector has, he will get angry and threaten you; after taking the last one, Yao just laughs and commends you on your skill, doing nothing to stop you. |
| 160 | ** Every {{NPC}} has a loot table, except for children. If you are a rogue, you can pick any {{NPC}}'s pocket while in stealth: at the risk of them noticing your presence (thus breaking you out of stealth). Most just have a few coins on them, but occasionally they have other random things (which might or might not be useful, or worth money). Bookshelves will often contain books (usually with interesting, or just hilarious text), and desks will often have letters or maps on them or in drawers. Many {{NPC}}s have chests. It is always worth checking to see whether they are open. Even if they aren't open, a rogue or an engineer can try to pick the lock. Pretty much every chest can be opened and looted. Be careful though, some are trapped. |
| 161 | [[/folder]] |
| 162 | |
| 163 | [[folder:Platform Game]] |
| 164 | * In ''VideoGame/SpongebobSquarepantsBattleForBikiniBottom'' and TheMovie, you can randomly destroy items like chairs, and tables for absolutely no reason at all. Actually, destroying some stuff ''rewards'' you with socks or golden spatulas, the {{MacGuffin}}s of the games. Weirdly, when smashing a TV while Mermaid Man is watching, you are granted a sock. |
| 165 | [[/folder]] |
| 166 | |
| 167 | [[folder:Roguelike]] |
| 168 | * ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'': |
| 169 | ** Reynauld the Crusader, one of the two heroes you are guaranteed to start with, always starts with the Kleptomania quirk. This means that at random he will pocket treasure that you find in dungeons or collect from slain enemies, while giving off a NotSoInnocentWhistle. Unsurprisingly, removing this quirk is one of the first things veteran players do when starting a new playthrough. |
| 170 | ** You can literally have this when a hero develops the "Kleptomaniac" flaw. They will randomly steal the contents of any "treasure" curio you encounter, and that loot is gone. It's recommended to cure this quirk as quickly as possible. |
| 171 | ** The Grave Robber tends to constantly be stealing supply items from the Hamlet and is implied to be the reason why you have to sell back your provisions instead of storing them. One of her camping skills has her reluctantly cough up some of the stuff she's stolen in hopes that it will help the expedition survive. |
| 172 | [[/folder]] |
| 173 | |
| 174 | [[folder:Role Playing Game]] |
| 175 | * Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/{{Anachronox}}'', where the player's party can break into a room. Once inside, an NPC will assume that they are there to steal everything he owns, and tells them to go ahead and that he won't report them. |
| 176 | * In ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'' it is very very rewarding to play as a thief. Once you get your skills high enough, everything is yours for the taking. That shop is selling magickal weapons at cutthroat prices? Wait until it's dark, turn on prowling, break in, lockpick the shop's chest and its entire inventory is yours for the taking. If they're silly enough to leave their gold in there you can take that too. Oh and shops change inventory with each passing day. So you can keep doing this again and again to basically get infinite potions/scrolls/whatever you want for free. Handily enough this applies to their gold as well. You'll be disgustingly rich in no time. Pickpocket is also great. Don't want to be someone's errand boy? With a high level you can literally steal the clothes(and weapons and jewelry and boots and...) off of someone without them noticing. This applies to their unique and powerful equipment and quest relevant items. |
| 177 | * ''VideoGame/{{Atelier Annie|Alchemists of Sera Island}}'' actually ''inverts'' this trope. Your friends will drop by your workshop to chat and request things of you, and many of them visit by breaking in while you're out or busy and often raid your pantry for snacks in the process. Kyle is the greatest B&E offender, while Beaux holds the food-stealing crown. |
| 178 | * ''VideoGame/BaldursGate''. Some items were free for the taking, and others (marked in red) would cause the guards to be summoned if any NPC (this literally meant "any NPC" -- a lone cat qualified as a witness) observed you taking them and you failed your thieving rolls. This was particularly annoying because there was little consistency to it; if you really wanted to take anything that could be taken, a lot of reloads were in order. |
| 179 | ** You could overcome this by knocking the entire household unconscious with unarmed attacks. You could then loot to your hearts content, and even come back later and the recovered inhabitants wouldn't show any signs of remembering you beating them unconscious and them waking up with all their valuables stolen- EasyAmnesia perhaps. |
| 180 | ** In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'', the designers acknowledged this and restored the Kleptomaniac Hero to glory. Except when pickpocketing and stealing from shopkeepers, almost any item could be taken again with impunity by a good thief, even if the owner was around to see you pinch it. |
| 181 | * Exemplified in ''VideoGame/BlueDragon'', where you can go through entire towns and dungeons, looting the contents of every set piece you find, as well as the occasional chest. Worse yet, there is an NPC who rewards you based on the amount of times you ''fail'' to find anything in set pieces. |
| 182 | ** Why did I find 10 Gold in a cooked fish? Why is there 100 exp in a medical machine that doesn't work anymore? Why is it that in a game of magic, bat people, and shadow monsters, my suspension of disbelief is shattered by finding 2 Skill Points in a flower pot!? |
| 183 | * ''VideoGame/BreathOfFire'' |
| 184 | ** In the original ''VideoGame/{{Breath Of Fire|I}}'', there was a chest in Auria that, when opened, caused the homeowner to call the cops on you. You could never take the contents. |
| 185 | *** Another woman in the same town asks, "What are you doing in my house?" when you talk to her. It's presented as a town of rich people, which might explain why everyone's so touchy about you touching their stuff. |
| 186 | ** In ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIII'', if Nina is in the party and Rei tries to search her room in the castle, she stops him demanding to know why he thinks he is allowed to do so. His response is, "You know I am a thief". (In fact, the main character has this excuse as well, since he was also raised by thieves.) This is especially notable as the game allows the characters to search every single shelf, bookshelf, wardrobe, cabinet, shipping crate and trunk in the ''entire game'', often yielding small amounts of cash and early-game items. |
| 187 | ** ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIV'' subverts this; while you can still swipe things out of drawers, it causes you to lose "Game Points", which are vital for the main character's Dragon forms. |
| 188 | * Played straight in ''VideoGame/ChronoCross''. Though there is one instance where this behavior is LampShaded by Karsh, who scolds the player if they try to loot the chest in his room while he's ''sitting right there''. He'll let you loot it, but only after pestering him a lot. |
| 189 | ** The same thing happens on Zoah's room. However, no matter how many times you try, he will not let you open it. Coming back to the mansion and you still can't open it. [[spoiler: You must have Zoah on your party in order to open this box because it has his level 7 tech.]] |
| 190 | * ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' doesn't stop you from picking up Marle's pendant before talking to her or eating an old man's lunch right off the table (which you probably will do without thinking twice about it if you're grinding for Silver Points), but these actions come back to haunt you as points against your character when you are put on trial for "kidnapping" Marle. |
| 191 | * During a funeral in ''VideoGame/CosmicFantasy 2'', you can walk up to the coffin and take the heirloom sword meant to be buried with the guy. While his family is standing right there. They don't notice. |
| 192 | * ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' lampshades this: if Leah is in your party and you enter her room at the inn, she will react uncomfortably. She'll be downright appalled if you read her journal, which is an [[NoticeThis absurdly oversized]] book sitting on her desk. (Journals and correspondence can often be found on corpses and among people's possessions, and contain material which, while not usually indispensable to gameplay, usually deepens the plot. Also, there are [[CosmeticAward achievements]] based on reading enough of them.) She'll also object if you take her into Cain's house while he isn't home. |
| 193 | ** Further lampshaded in ''[[ExpansionPack Reaper of Souls]]'', where you can find a reformed member the coven you spent much of the base game fighting against. He needs help accessing a store room of ill-gotten gains amassed by the coven that was accomplished by good old-fashioned grave robbing and corpse defiling; "Things [[PlayerCharacter you]] would never do", in his own words. |
| 194 | * In ''VideoGame/DivineDivinity'', you can take anything that isn't nailed down, and a few things that are, but more often then not the owner of the house or tavern (alive or otherwise) will refuse to help you, beat you up and take back what you stole (sometimes with the rest of your money), and occasionally will keep attacking you until one of you is dead. |
| 195 | * In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', it's more prevalent if you're a rogue, but there are still plenty of chests and dead bodies to loot. It's mostly played straight, but you're occasionally called on it. If you fail a pickpocketing save you may be confronted by the authorities, and the mad hermit in the forest will attack if you try to steal from him. And if you steal in Haven [[spoiler: the town turns hostile]]. |
| 196 | ** Bonus points for picking the locked chest in the estate of Arl Eamon (a nobleman you're staying with) ''while he silently watches.'' |
| 197 | ** In the Mage Origin, you can take a black magic staff from the repository. You can admit to taking it or lying about it when asked by First Enchanter, and if you admit it, you can give it back or insist on keeping it. |
| 198 | ** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in both of the sequels. In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', while this is still the case, an encounter with a former companion of the Warden [[spoiler:namely Zevran]] has them encourage you to finish looting the bodies before initiating the cutscene, and in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' Sera snarks that Grey Wardens were mostly "an excuse for your stuff to go missing". |
| 199 | * All of the ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' games. |
| 200 | ** In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestI'', the guard of the royal treasury says, "A real hero wouldn't steal." But he doesn't do anything to stop you. |
| 201 | ** In the remakes of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'', one of the [[PersonalityPowers personality determining]] [[SecretTestOfCharacter tests]] involves the hero getting arrested when they're caught stealing a purse of coins from a house. Ironically, in this instance, you were actually ''asked'' to go inside and pick it up, and can point out the supposed 'owner' who asked you during the trial. |
| 202 | ** With a single exception in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV''. Rummaging through a dresser leads to you being framed and imprisoned. Just that one dresser though, as you can spend the rest of the game raiding people's private property. |
| 203 | ** Leads to a bit of Fridge Hilarity in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'' which introduced cabinets, pots, dressers and chests that respawn. Someone's replacing everything you stole and you just keep coming back for more. Truly the Celestrian is king of Kleptomaniac Heroes. |
| 204 | ** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestBuilders'': You can take ''everything'', including the kitchen sink. Furniture, plants, decorations, ovens, forges, the contents of treasure chests and the chests themselves... You can even take the doors and windows from buildings, hell you can take the entire building, from floor to roof!(After breaking it down into parts, that is.) |
| 205 | * Parodied in ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'', where the heroes can get items out of... well, trashcans. Yes, even food items. The game also lets you steal from a self-service food cart, but not without a fight. |
| 206 | ** Also lampshaded in ''[=EarthBound=]''. Cookies are healing items; a character sitting in a room full of gift-wrapped boxes informs you that he made cookies for everybody. Take the cookies from the boxes and he asks, reasonably enough, "How could you?" |
| 207 | ** There's also an NPC in Summers who talks about how weird it is that people "on important adventures" break into people's houses and check their furniture for valuables. |
| 208 | ** The ''[[Videogame/EarthBound1994 Mother 2]]'' manga mocks gamers who walk around pressing A in front of everything [[http://earthboundcentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/m7.jpg on this page]]. (The third panel shows Ness trying to "Check" the drawer, with the text "No problem here" on the bottom, imitating the game's verbage.) |
| 209 | ** ''VideoGame/Mother3'' goes as far as placing presents out in the open that... fart. If you're lucky they might play some new music or launch some fireworks. |
| 210 | *** It also subverts this on two occasions, but both with the same item. In Chapters 2 and 3, one of the Tazmily Village residents is given a big bag of money by Fassad, which he then puts in the well. You can then walk up to the well and take it...only for the game to tell you that you put it right back. {{Justified|Trope}} in that at that particular part of the game, in Chapter 2, you live in a society where money is pretty much nonexistent, and in Chapter 3, you're being controlled by Fassad who would probably shock you into next Tuesday if you took it before he was ready. |
| 211 | * ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' |
| 212 | ** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'': |
| 213 | *** Has a few interesting takes on this trope. Most houses are locked, with doors that can be picked or bashed in (the former sometimes attracts guards, the latter always does). In both locked and unlocked buildings, one might find untended piles of random loot on the floor (which can be taken without consequence), and crates (which can be broken into, but raise a "This is a crime, are you sure you want to?" prompt on attempting). |
| 214 | *** ''Daggerfall'' plays with this trope in shops, where "Steal" is an option next to "Buy". If the low success rate on such thefts isn't to your liking, it is also possible to break in after the shop closes, to clear off the shelves like any other inventory. Or, for no risk at all, it's possible to loiter inside a shop until after it closes and loot to your heart's content. |
| 215 | ** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'': |
| 216 | *** Despite some measures (like alert shopkeepers and guards being posted in some higher-value shops) being put into place, this is still pretty much encouraged by the game itself. (Which is especially true for those in the actual ThievesGuild.) |
| 217 | *** Unlike later games in the series, all merchants will buy stolen goods (unless you stole it from THEM, in which case they will recognize it as theirs.) The items will be marked as stolen, so they will be confiscated by guards if you are caught. However, [[FailedASpotCheck dropping the stolen items on the ground before the guard gets to you will prevent them from being confiscated]]. Simply pick them back up after you've paid your bounty and you're good to go. |
| 218 | *** Unfortunately, a quirk of the game engine discourages stealing stuff that isn't unique or gold (which doesn't count for this): instead of marking a specific instance of an item as stolen, it marks the base item as stolen — in other words, steal a Grand Soul Gem, and all Grand Soul Gems you acquire are regarded as stolen. Luckily, if you avoid run-ins with the law (or, as mentioned above, drop your stolen items before talking to the guards,) this is largely a non-issue unless you attempt to sell the stolen items back to the person you stole them from. |
| 219 | *** The Census and Excise office where you start the game has a built-in area out of sight where the player will acquire their first weapon, lockpicks, food, beverages, light source, and book. Even better, until you are officially released by the Captain and given your orders, you will not get a bounty for anything you steal in plain sight of the guards. Simply pick up anything you wish to steal and then set it on the ground before the guard gets to you. He'll reprimand you for stealing it, but there are no other consequences. Simply pick the stolen item back up when you're done and it's yours! You can acquire a very valuable Limeware Platter and a key to the Seyda Neen warehouse, which contains even more stuff to steal, with this method. It's entirely possible that the only merchant in town won't have enough gold to buy it all from you, necessitating some bartering. |
| 220 | *** An early Balmora Mages Guild quest will have Ajira call the resident enchanter Galbedeir down to the bottom floor so you can switch out one of her soul gems with a fake. This leaves every other soul gem (including one filled grand soul gem worth 60,000 gold) completely unguarded. The only draw back to stealing them is that Galbedeir will recognize ALL soul gems as stolen after that point, so you will no longer be able to use her enchanting service. |
| 221 | *** The ''very first'' Ald-Ruhn Thieves Guild quest will have you stealing an item from the neighboring Mages Guild. All of the mages inside will clear out, leaving only one inept guard who is easily killed by even the lowest leveled players. The mages will stay gone until you complete the quest, so feel free to loot the entire place from top to bottom, making several trips if you have to. |
| 222 | *** With the Telekinesis spell (or potion or enchanted item), it's possible to hide behind any object or wall and steal ''everything'' off a shop's shelves, and the shopkeeper won't mind as long as he doesn't see you - despite the items vanishing into thin air right in front of his eyes and you being the only other person in the shop. |
| 223 | ** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'': |
| 224 | *** Contains a large number of items that can be stolen and sold for money. However, stolen items can only be sold to special "fence" {{NPC}}s (how a shopkeeper can suspect that an item is stolen when you got from a little shack in the middle of the forest at the other side of the world is another matter entirely), and if an NPC sees you stealing an item he will call the guards, who will try to arrest you. Additionally, the game world contains great amounts of "clutter" -- items which may have theoretical value to the [=NPC=]s who own and use them but have no resale value, so that the protagonist cannot make money from looting them. This fact spawned several user-made modifications, which "corrected" this mistake. |
| 225 | *** The game tries to make stealing in shops harder than in ''Morrowind'' by making shopkeepers walk around in order to keep you in sight at all times. Note the word used is ''walk'' - not ''run''; the shopkeepers are all very slow, so the player can just time thefts carefully and the shopkeeper will be none the wiser. This can in fact be exploited in larger shops with staircases or other natural barriers - you can lead the merchant away from their items to a spot where they can't see take them, then run back quickly and steal it all. The items are also often kept in close proximity to the shopkeeper's main shelf, so that there's no way in which you can steal them without getting noticed. However, merely hitting said objects with an arrow will launch them away, so you can just get them somewhere the shopkeeper can't see, then quickly run there and steal everything before he can walk in visual range. Or just come in when the shop keep is asleep/away... like a real thief. |
| 226 | *** The Thieves Guild encourages (and sort of forces) you to be this. The only way to advance in rank and get more quests is to prove your worth as a thief by fencing a certain amount of gold worth of stolen stuff. Unless you like taking risks (or have access to accessories to give you [[{{Gamebreaker}} 100% Chameleon]]) you won't be finding many high-value items, so you'll make most of your cash by grabbing any "owned" item of value that isn't nailed down. |
| 227 | ** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'': |
| 228 | *** Tries to correct the problem of the walking shopkeepers: now they'll run everywhere to keep you in their sight. This problem can be fixed by... putting a bucket on their heads. Remember, if line-of-sight is obstructed they won't notice missing items, and apparently [=NPC=]s in ''Skyrim'' are perfectly OK with strangers adorning them with large, heavy items. |
| 229 | *** ''Skyrim's'' Thieves Guild also has several different mission types for thieves to complete. Some jobs involve stealing specific items, while some, like "bedlam" jobs, involve just grabbing anything you can steal without getting caught, to remind everyone in the land that the Guild is still around and is not to be messed with. |
| 230 | *** It also makes the player's kleptomaniac tendencies a JustifiedTrope. The player is Dragonborn, you see, a mortal born with the soul of a dragon. Paarthurnax explains that this not only grants you access to the dragons' [[MakeMeWannaShout Thu'um]], but it also makes you prone to draconic personality flaws, like wanting to [[HairTriggerTemper fight over anything]] and being driven to dominate - and, apparently, also kinda making you want to gather your own DragonHoard. In this case, it could be said all gamers are Dragonborn: [[ShootEverythingThatMoves killing every monster you come across]], [[ItsUpToYou completing every quest you come across]] (including and especially ones that will give you perks like land ownership in return), and taking all the stuff [[RuleOfThree you come across]] are practically ingrained in gamer culture from the time one can hold a controller. |
| 231 | *** Even if the player completely abstains from the Thieves Guild questlines, or even stealing items in general, much of the Last Dragonborn's income from dungeon crawling amounts to grave robbing. |
| 232 | *** Speaking of dungeon crawling and grave robbing, there's all of one random sidequest where you get [[WhatTheHellHero called out for this]] if you loot an ancient burial mound while the mound's owner is ''right there''. An option you can pick to defuse the situation is to reason it's payment for helping him out, since a few ancient knick-knacks and bags of gold is small potatoes to the problem you're helping with (A necromancer trying to raise the man's entire ancestral line), which he begrudgingly accepts. |
| 233 | * ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy 3'', being an AffectionateParody of [=RPGs=], naturally lampshades this when [[OnlySaneMan Natalie]] gets annoyed at how Matt and Lance steal everything that's not nailed down. Eventually, she gives up trying, and ''4'' takes this trope to its logical extreme; they are making a living as common bandits. Naturally, newcomer Anna gets annoyed with the others' kleptomania as well. |
| 234 | * Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/EternalSonata'', after attempting to take from yet another barrel Polka says: |
| 235 | -->'''Polka''': I wonder why it's so hard to resist looking inside these barrels? |
| 236 | * Games in the ''VideoGame/{{Exile}}'' series by Creator/SpiderwebSoftware (and their remakes by the same company, the ''VideoGame/{{Avernum}}'' series) allow you to pick up virtually everything, but some items are labeled as "not yours". Taking these items hurts your reputation and can instantly make the town's guards hostile to you even if you're not seen. ([[GoodIsDumb The guards also have a special stat that instantly makes them three times more dangerous when they're hostile to YOU than when they're defending townsfolk from monsters]]!) Except in ''Avernum'' where you can safely pick up the stuff after overriding the warning if no non-hostile NPC is in line of sight. After a while players learn to reflexively close doors they've gone through out of habit, on the off-chance there may be any useful "not yours" items they want. |
| 237 | * In ''Videogame/{{Fable}}'', you'll be arrested if you pick up an item belonging to someone else. Since shopkeepers display their items on counters, accidentally picking one up instead of interacting with the owner happens annoyingly often. You'll have to go into stealth mode to try and satisfy your kleptomania. |
| 238 | ** Getting the shopkeepers drunk helps with the shoplifting process. |
| 239 | ** Owning the shop does too. |
| 240 | * In the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series, the main character can search most bookshelves and drawers with impunity, but if you try to search certain containers while their owner is in view, they won't let you, and will even attack you if you try it repeatedly. It also isn't advisable to trespass in people's homes or businesses for very long, they'll assume you're up to no good and attack. On the other hand, there's tons of stuff in the post-apocalyptic wasteland that isn't considered "owned" by anyone, so you don't have to be a thief to collect things like a magpie. |
| 241 | ** In the early games, it was very difficult but not impossible to steal from shopkeepers and sell them their own wares back until they ran out of money, and even if you sold them the same unique item over and over, they wouldn't catch on. Nowadays vendors have special store inventory containers that are inaccessible without console commands, though any goods on display in the shop itself are still vulnerable. |
| 242 | ** Lampshaded in a dialogue choice in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'': |
| 243 | --->'''The Chosen One:''' What do I ''want?'' I don't really know. Most of the time I ignore my quest and walk into the homes of others, riffling through people's shelves... |
| 244 | ** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', stealing anything "owned" by another character will make you lose karma points (unless said owners are slavers, in which case you aren't punished), and if the owner catches you doing it, they'll take back what you stole. Do it enough [[ShopliftAndDie and they'll attack you]]. Then their neighbors will also call you out for it. Thankfully, balancing out the karma loss is as easy as giving drinking water to beggars until you're considered a good guy again. |
| 245 | ** In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', one possible way to handle blundering into a standoff is to say you're just there to loot a room, in which case a thug will tell you to carry on. |
| 246 | *** The ''Old World Blues'' encourages kleptomania with the special crafting stations in the Sink, the player's base of operations during the adventure. Various AI [=NPCs=] there will convert specific kinds of junk into useful items or crafting components, making empty bottles, burned books or toasters worth looting. |
| 247 | ** It's worth noting that stealing absolutely ''everything'' in these games is a bad idea - ''Fallout 3'' and ''New Vegas'' in particular are filled with heavy, nigh-worthless atmospheric clutter that can't even be considered ShopFodder. |
| 248 | ** ...But in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', total kleptomania is back with a vengeance. ''Everything'' in the Commonwealth can be broken down for scrap and used to build [[DesignItYourselfEquipment weapon mods]] or [[AHomeownerIsYou settlements]], so after clearing a site of raiders or mutants, you'll probably find yourself returning to collect every last broken telephone, clipboard or toy car. Granted, some materials (like wood and steel) are so ubiquitous you'll ignore them before long to focus on the rarer stuff. The games even has a feature where you'll select which base components to search for, and any object made of them it specially marked. Your companions will lampshade your kleptomania, and you can even come across enemy [=NPCs=] marveling over some nutcase they ran into who collected desk fans. |
| 249 | * All the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games, although ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' acknowledges this with a gag wherein a homeowner becomes annoyed that Cid has just taken one of the potions in his cabinet. |
| 250 | ** Also in ''Final Fantasy VII'' if you don't steal something from a little boy that is sleeping in his bed (you're going to hell for even thinking about it) he gives you something better the next day. |
| 251 | *** Also in ''Final Fantasy VII'': "Hey! Don't come barging into my house and be opening up my freezer! Didn't your mother ever teach you that?" |
| 252 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' has a similar scene where an old man berates Squall for stealing his life savings. [[spoiler:This is actually a ''bad'' thing gameplay-wise, as his house also happens to have a clean-running faucet that functions as an unlimited, free full-heal for your party. If you take his money, he no longer lets you use it.]] |
| 253 | ** It's worth noting that in the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI first game]], you can take items from Matoya's cave before she gets her crystal eye back. In other words, you're ''[[WhatTheHellPlayer robbing the blind]]''. |
| 254 | ** They attempted to justify it in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' : ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' by saying that all those treasure chests contained Shinra Property, so as a SOLDIER, it is your job to take them back. |
| 255 | *** A small mission in ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' made Zack get the keys from monsters he accidently set loose (ItMakesSenseInContext) and he can take all the loot in the prison cells. There is the option to check the toilets, but Zack refuses, saying "no way is he going to check there". |
| 256 | ** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'', TheHero is a thief, so he's naturally kleptomaniac. A notable example however goes to Vivi, a child Black Mage who can spend his intoduction chapter looting multiple stuff from other people's gardens, shelves, beds, displays, and even their ''chimneys''. This includes the infamous "Grandma's Savings", amounting to a measly 9 gil. Nobody minds you stealing from the old lady, and you're never punished, not even by Granny herself [[ApatheticCitizens who is standing across you at the time]]. |
| 257 | * Spiderweb Software's ''VideoGame/{{Geneforge}}'' uses a similar system to ''Avernum''. |
| 258 | * In the ''VideoGame/GloryOfHeracles'' series your party members will [[WhatTheHellPlayer reprimand you]] if you try to steal stuff from people's homes. Choosing to steal anyway will lead to punishment, with severity depending on the game. |
| 259 | * In ''VideoGame/GloryOfHeraclesIII'', if you have any party members alongside you while stealing, you'll lose Trust, which determines how often companions will heed your orders in battles. |
| 260 | * In ''VideoGame/GloryOfHeraclesIV'' stealing merely increases the "bad event" counter on your save file. There's no way to decrease it, so it acts as a mark of shame of sorts. |
| 261 | * In ''VideoGame/GloryOfHeraclesDS'' stealing lowers your Luck, as the game helpfully informs you. There's no LuckStat in the status, but it very well may be hidden. |
| 262 | * Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/GoldenSun,'' where two actual thieves said that the townsfolk were asking for it because [[YourDoorWasOpen they'd left their doors wide open]]. |
| 263 | ** Also parodied with [[KleptomaniacHeroFoundUnderwear a lady's silk negligee]]. Which Isaac apparently [[PantyThief tries to steal]]. |
| 264 | ** Used in a sad way in ''The Lost Age'': when looking through the tidalwave-hit coastal city of Alhafra, you can find the local [=NPC=]s raiding pots for loose change so they can buy dinner for their families. |
| 265 | * The ''VideoGame/{{Gothic}}'' series has a simple rule. If you weren't seen or the item in question is not in an area where anyone has claimed ownership (like a dungeon), if you take it, it's yours. However, if you are seen, you will get your ass kicked by the aggrieved party and almost certainly every guard in the area. |
| 266 | ** The ''Gothic'' series certainly ''allows'' TheHero to act on his thieving tendencies, but the owner of the house will hear the rummaging and come running in (no matter how far away he or she initially was) and attack if you refuse to stand down. The fact that every NPC in the vicinity - including those you have to avoid killing - chips in is an extra deterrent. |
| 267 | ** However, if too many things around the town disappear, the guards will take notice and give you a warning. If stuff keeps disappearing despite the warning, prepare to fight the entire town. |
| 268 | ** Dead people or hostile people during a siege no longer own anything and their possessions are up for grabs. |
| 269 | * ''VideoGame/HolyUmbrella'' gives the player free rein to search people's houses for money and items to take. |
| 270 | * In ''VideoGame/IcewindDale'' a high enough lock pick skill reveals a note in Hrothgar's chest. It's a note warning you that the town treats theft as Serious Business. Not that he minds you taking the few other things in his room. |
| 271 | ** In ''Icewind Dale II'' it's quite hilariously lampshaded; in the final dungeon if you happen to be carrying around dead bodies (there are some that can be put in your inventory) you can intimidate a late game boss by showing them to him. |
| 272 | *** You need, point of fact, a dead woman, a dead man, and a dead cat. The boss will (rightfully so) consider you to be utterly deranged and let you pass without incident. The cat is also used in an early conversation near the start of the game: |
| 273 | ---->'''Anson:''' Eh, what the hells are ye carrying a dead cat around for, then?\ |
| 274 | '''[[HelloInsertNameHere Player Character:]]''' I was kind of hoping it might be the solution to someone's problem and that I could learn something from the experience. I guess not this time.\ |
| 275 | '''Anson:''' If I were you -- thank the Gods I'm not -- I'd get out of the cold before your brain freezes anymore than it has. When a fool goes to carrying a dead cat around, that's when you need to start asking yourself some serious questions. |
| 276 | *** He's wrong about that last part, of course: you can take this subplot further and eventually get some XP for your cat carcass carrying. |
| 277 | *** In addition, there's a short early side-quest that rewards you for stealing from an unconscious NPC. The catch? [[spoiler:The item you steal is a note to your party, explaining that the NPC is a seer and predicted you would steal from them. They're not angry about it in the least, because they also happen to need your help.]] |
| 278 | * In ''VideoGame/HonkaiStarRail'', [[PlayerCharacter the Trailblazer]] has a fixation on opening every single treasure chest they can get their hands on. In one sidequest, they're explicitly vexed and angry when told not to rummage through other people's things. When they try again on the same chest, now moved to a different location, they're on the verge of tears when they have to restrain themselves from prying it open. Even trash cans look like chests to them, as the Trailblazer can't help but dig their hands in to pull out any remotely interesting scraps they can find. |
| 279 | * In ''Videogame/JadeEmpire'' you can loot all you like, though on at least one occasion an NPC will [[WhatTheHellPlayer call you out]] on stealing his stuff while he was away. You can choose whether you want to return the money to him or not. |
| 280 | * In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', Goofy mentions "Adventuring Rule #8 - check every corner of a new place!" |
| 281 | * ''VideoGame/KnightBewitched'': While the party opens chests regardless of who the owner might be, Uno goes a step further [[spoiler:when he reveals that he stole Halonia's legendary Sylvans sword shortly after Alduin and the king arrested Ruth]]. |
| 282 | * ''VideoGame/KnightEternal'': Dylan can steal an ether from his aunts Ruth and Gwen's house, but if he does so, Ruth and Gwen will chew him out for it. |
| 283 | * In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' you can loot and steal to your hearts content without garnering any [[KarmaMeter Dark Side Points]], but while robbing an occupied apartment on Taris the family there will beg you not to hurt anybody and tell you to just take whatever you want. There is, however, one subversion in the game: If you attempt to open any of the wicker baskets in the Sand People Enclave (''Any'' of them) the tribe will turn on you and attack you for stealing from them. In the sequel, ''The Sith Lords'', robbing an apartment on Citadel Station will cause its owner to [[WhatTheHellHero appear and berate you for looting his apartment]], leaving you to either kill him or leave and apologise. However, even after the apology he does not ask for his stuff back. |
| 284 | ** In fact, the ExpandedUniverse actually considers one of these moments (from ''The Sith Lords'') as ''canon''. The Jedi Exile can pick up [[spoiler:Nihilus's mask]], which he drops after being defeated. Thanks to that, [[spoiler:Nihilus's spirit in the mask is able to survive and carry on GrandTheftMe much later on.]] |
| 285 | * Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/LostOdyssey'': Innkeepers kindly inform you that everything in their inn is complimentary and you're welcome to take anything you find, despite the fact that you can pull down hundreds of gold, which is several times what it costs to stay there. One wonders how they stay in business. |
| 286 | ** Similarly, in one cozy family home that you stomp into, the mother of the household tells you to keep anything you find stuck in the pots or bookshelves, because her kids like to stash "weird stuff" around. In this context, "weird stuff" means piles of gold coins and useful potions. |
| 287 | * Taken to ridiculous extremes in the ''VideoGame/{{Lufia}}'' series, where only [[VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals Maxim]] couldn't descend into outright ''grave-robbing'': |
| 288 | ** TheHero of ''VideoGame/LufiaAndTheFortressOfDoom'' can loot stuff from people's homes. This includes stealing one of Lufia's dresses. It's also possible to "obtain" a sword from [[spoiler:Guy]]'s WeaponTombstone right after he dies! |
| 289 | ** Wain in ''VideoGame/LufiaTheLegendReturns'' can waltz into shops through the back door and take anything in the chests behind the counter. Oh, and he can take an engagement ring from ''a person he just watched die during their wedding''! |
| 290 | ** Eldin in ''VideoGame/LufiaTheRuinsOfLore'' can find a hefty chunk of change hidden in a naughty book. He can also find three bags of money in some bushes. Bushes...that are right next to three graves. |
| 291 | * In ''VideoGame/MagiNation'', hero Tony Jones at one point expresses his dissatisfaction that "I go through all the trouble to break into strangers' houses, but there's never anything good inside! Inconsiderate strangers!" |
| 292 | * ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' does this in a bigger way than most: once you look inside a container, it is literally impossible to exit the container interface without looting everything inside. Curious players that look inside other people's things are ''forced'' to steal everything! Naturally, no one ever cares, but given the roleplay-centric emphasis of the game, it's rather surprising to run into such an immersion-breaker. |
| 293 | ** People also never seem to mind if you hack their computers or FIRE YOUR GUNS WILDLY IN THE AIR. Granted, Spectres aren't held responsible by the law, but still, you'd expect some citizens to have a reaction to you stealing their stuff, or get scared of the mad man firing guns randomly into crowded areas (sadly you can't shoot anybody that isn't a hostile). |
| 294 | ** It gets very, very odd in the sequel, which has streamlined the loot system to involve only credits, medigel, metals, and research plans. Lootable safes, [=PDA=]s, and computers containing credits are everywhere, and the game mechanic that rewards taking the time to hack them open continues to be at odds with immersion. In one of the first planets, you enter a quarantine zone with a lot of empty apartments. Most players loot everything in sight. At one point you can even convince some refugees that you are here to rescue them, then hack their safe while they watch silently. Then you come across some other looters, who you can chastise for being despicable looters. You then proceed to a medical clinic set up for the plague victims. A background character comments on the despicable looters and their despicableness. You can then proceed to swipe valuable metals and medigel from the clinic, all without anyone batting an eyelid. A lampshade hanging is all but expected but never occurs. Perhaps the writers meant to keep this bit of HypocriticalHumor deliciously subtle. You also never get called out for scavenging credits from a ship belonging to the poorest race in the galaxy, even by a member of said race who ''has'' to be on that mission, although given that without your involvement they'd be blowing it out of the sky to protect the rest of the Flotilla, maybe they just feel it's fair payment for services rendered. |
| 295 | ** And sometimes it's just strange, period. One mission involves exploring ancient ruins of a long-abandoned Quarian colony. In one room you find an "ancient wall safe"—which has, yes, credits in it. |
| 296 | ** It gets parodied later on though, when you run into Conrad Verner. |
| 297 | --->'''Shepard''': So...you just wander the galaxy, righting wrongs?\ |
| 298 | '''Conrad''': Hey, don't say it like that! I talk to people, y'know? Ask them if they have big problems that only I can solve. You'd be surprised how many people are just waiting for someone to talk to them. ''(looks around)'' Sometimes I poke through crates. You know, for extra credits. |
| 299 | ** ''Videogame/MassEffect2'': Research activities require mining planets and collecting the metals necessary to buy upgrades, which you do by scanning planets and firing off probes—regardless of whether the worlds are colonized or who actually owns the mining rights. Though since Cerberus are terrorists involved in everything from torturing autistic men to control the Geth, to genocide of aliens, why would they worry about a piddly little thing like that? |
| 300 | ** Parodied in the Kasumi DLC, where part of her loyalty quest involves searching through a room for DNA samples. You can look through the couch; you don't find DNA, but you ''do'' find a credit chit. Worth one credit. Shepard pockets it anyway. |
| 301 | ** Continues into ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', although thoughtfully, if you miss some of the items you can pilfer, you can buy most of them at the Spectre terminal later. Since you get an XP payout for grabbing medigel when your stockpiles are full, you actually level up faster by robbing the first-aid kits in areas under heavy attack! On one occasion, you do run into a krogan who chews you out for taking his shotgun, but he decides to loan it to you, then thoughtfully bites it in the next cutscene. |
| 302 | *** And eventually parodied in the Citadel DLC, where, while [[spoiler:fighting through the hijacked Normandy,]] you can "Salvage" the ''favorite coffee cup'' of one of your own security guards for three credits. |
| 303 | * In ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce'', Geo frequently pilfers battle cards, computer backgrounds, and the like from random items around the place, including the houses of his closest friends. Also, some releases swap the GameBreaker Blank Cards with money, including the ones hidden in Bud's and Zack's bedrooms, leading to a situation where Geo is basically stealing $20 bills from them. |
| 304 | * ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'': |
| 305 | ** The games have items stashed in all manner of chests, crates, boxes, sewer drains, and corpse-pockets. It's all lootable. There's only one time, in the 4th game, when an NPC will stop you from looting his chest. If you persist, he spawns as a monster and very likely kills you. |
| 306 | ** Of course, all chests are booby trapped, with very few exceptions, so you're encouraged to have a character in your party with the Disarm skill. Many chests in certain dungeons will summon its guardians when opened. (If an important chest seems poorly guarded, it's almost a given.) In the seventh game, the chests are ''very'' heavily trapped in the area around and in Stone City, and a few are empty. One has loads of treasure in it, but it teleports you to an island in the center of the area with a horde of magogs and gargoyles. |
| 307 | ** This Trope is encouraged in the tenth game of the franchise, where the [=PCs=] are Raiders, a shady cross between adventurers, treasure hunters, and thieves. The second part of the Raiders' code says that treasure is treasure, and that a Raider should take it without concern for its purpose or where it came from. If you can't use it, take it anyway; you can sell it to someone who can. |
| 308 | * Appears more or less constantly in ''Videogame/NeverwinterNights''; occasionally they have characters who will tell you you can take whatever you want, but just as often someone will be sitting there talking quite amiably with the man/elf/gnome/whatever who just klepto'd everything he owned that could fit handily in a Bag of Holding. |
| 309 | ** In the expansion ''Hordes of the Underdark'', stealing items in certain areas results in an [[CharacterAlignment alignment shift]] towards Chaotic, which depending on your class choices can range from harmless to absolutely devastating. (For example, you can only level in paladin and monk classes if you are lawful.) |
| 310 | ** In [[Videogame/NeverwinterNights2 the sequel]] you can pick pocket very good items from various characters who show no concern if they catch you. |
| 311 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Nox}}'', the character is generally able to destroy and loot anything that's possible to destroy or loot, even in friendly towns and cities. In fact, in one room, the character walks in and a woman says something to the effect of "What are you doing in my house?" But if the character opens a chest, he can take a few hundred gold, and [[ApatheticCitizens she just stands there]]. |
| 312 | * ''VideoGame/OkikuStarApprentice'': Referenced when Okiku tries to enter locked houses: |
| 313 | --> (This door is locked.)\ |
| 314 | (What, am I going to barge in and take everything that isn't nailed down?)\ |
| 315 | (What kind of low-life would do [[red:that]]?) |
| 316 | * In ''VideoGame/PathfinderKingmaker'' and ''VideoGame/PathfinderWrathOfTheRighteous'' outside of occasional plot-points, it's assumed the player will steal everything not nailed down without anyone objecting. This dissonance is made apparent early in both games. In the first discussion is held over whether to take gold from their ally's armory, but none is required over whether it's right to solve a statue puzzle to open up and loot their secret treasure vault. In the second the player is encouraged to call someone out for robbing a corpse that they are most likely either about to or have already looted themselves without comment. |
| 317 | * Parodied in ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarIV'', where searching cabinets in most houses caused the main character to remark "It's not nice to open cupboards in other people's houses without their permission!" or something similar. |
| 318 | ** A similar remark would appear in ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' as one of the randomly generated lines you get upon opening a neighbor's drawers or cabinets. |
| 319 | * Averted in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment''. {{NPC}}s will be confused and offended when you casually walk into their house with your armored entourage, and will attack you if they see you swiping their stuff. Some of them even put traps on their various containers to prevent. Seems a bit paranoid, though the apparent lack of door locks to their houses might explain it. Also you cannot sell stolen goods. At all. Even if they were stolen on another plan of existence, every shop-owner in the universe will somehow tell and refuse to accept them. That leaves you with the option to sell them gear obtained otherwise, then steal it back to make it trully yours. |
| 320 | * The ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' video games practically ''require'' the main character to take whatever they can find. Sometimes it ''has'' to be taken to move forwards in the plot. |
| 321 | ** A quite odd example comes from the item Leftovers. This incredibly rare item makes your Pokémon recover a certain percentage of its HP every turn. How do you find it? By searching in a trash can. Or where a [[BigEater Snorlax]] was sitting. [[{{Squick}} Ewwwww...]] |
| 322 | ** At least later generations put the focus less on stealing, but random [=NPC=]s tend to be strangely generous to someone who just barged into their house, and anything outside of houses is still fair game. |
| 323 | ** In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'' the player can get a medal for checking out enough empty trash cans just to see if there was something inside them. |
| 324 | * Commented on in ''VideoGame/{{Quest 64}}''--one nobleman in Limelin notes that the houses of noblemen are filled with treasures and other valuables, making it difficult to clean. Naturally, this being an RPG, you can head right upstairs and help yourself to them. |
| 325 | * [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''VideoGame/{{Robopon}}''. A townsman actually says: "You can even go into someone's house without permission and take things! Here we have a law called what's mine is yours! I really don't have an opinion on the law, but it's strange!" |
| 326 | * The game ''VideoGame/{{Sacred}}'' follows this trope - you can open any container in any area with no consequences. Add in the fact that the contents' value increases as your level does and can be further boosted by certain abilities and items that increase your chance of finding more valuable loot you can end up with a barrel inside a peasant's hovel containing hundreds or thousands of gold pieces or a valuable magic item worth thousands. When you factor in quest rewards can include magic items as well, finding a farmer's sheep can result in being given XP, 2000 gold pieces and a magic sword as a common result - never mind the ludicrous nature of that. |
| 327 | * In ''VideoGame/SecretOfEvermore'', a woman in the first village you reach says you should take everything from the gourds and pots in all the huts, since you'll probably end up helping them in the long run, and several families in Ivor Tower outright offer their goods to you since they figure you'll need it on your adventure. |
| 328 | ** There is exactly one chest in the entire game you are not supposed to loot. If you wait, the owner will later thank you for it, teach you the otherwise unobtainable Lance formula, sell you alchemic ingredients from there on out, and even give you the stuff in the chests! This is the ''only'' time this happens in the game and, while one of the people in the house says their brother hates it when people touch his stuff, if you go for the loot before talking to him you'll get no feedback whatsoever that you missed anything. |
| 329 | * In the first chapter of the first scenario of ''VideoGame/ShiningForceIII'', your party's stay in the floating city of Saraband goes somewhat sour and you're forced to take refuge in the nearby village of Balsamo. Upon entering the house next to the inn, Synbios is immediately confronted by one of the residents who is sick to the back teeth of troops letting themselves in, searching and making a mess, but curiously makes no mention of them taking anything (though it could be implied). She does, however, back down and let Synbios do as he likes because he's "kind of cute", as long as he promises "not to make a mess"... allowing Synbios to read their books, and liberate the residents of 5 gold coins from the adjacent shelf. |
| 330 | * In ''VideoGame/ShiningTheHolyArk'', at the first village you can search one of the houses where you find 1 coin under a bed. If you talk to the NPC in the house they say that you shouldn't be taking stuff from peoples houses but seeing as you went to so much trouble getting that 1 coin you can keep it because you clearly need it more. |
| 331 | * And again, in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', as demons no longer drop macca nilly-willy, you may be forced to sink pretty low to drum up some cash, up to assaulting other humans, "fundraising" mid-battle, or even binding enemy demons and mugging them. Some demons are disgusted with Flynn's cavalier attitude and sheer greed. |
| 332 | * Lampshaded in one SideQuest in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney''. A demon sends you to harass another demon for stealing his food; when you confront the thief, he snaps that you have no room to judge. The protagonist, who is actually ''under orders'' from the science lab to pick up everything he sees, [[SilentProtagonist silently]] concedes the point. |
| 333 | * ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIf'' plays a nasty variant. In the World of Greed, the room just before the boss is littered with treasure boxes. However, the boss' strength is linked to your own greed. Ignore the boxes and the boss will be a diminutive fox you can step on. Take everything and you'll find yourself facing a titanic EldritchAbomination. |
| 334 | * ''VideoGame/{{Summoner 2}}'' has a particularly interesting example in Mas Raldo's basement. "We mustn't steal from Mas Raldo. Unless we have to," Maia says, as she (you) looks at one set of crates. Then she opens a chest. Guess you had to. It is a quest item, to be fair, but you don't know that yet. |
| 335 | * The microgame collection ''[[http://www.skipmore.com/freegames/synopsis/synopsis.html Synopsis Quest]]'', a pastiche of [=JRPGs=], has one game which references this. [[spoiler: When instructed to "Act like a Hero", the correct response is to wander into someone's house and check all their furniture for loot.]] |
| 336 | * ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' [[LampshadeHanging hangs a lampshade on this]] a few times. Firstly, in one of the hotel rooms in Capua Nor, you can inspect a drawer and receive the following caption: ''"You found 500 Gald! ...Let's put it back..."'' Of course, the fact that there are several knights in the room watching you may explain this restraint. |
| 337 | ** Then, in Dahngrest, you can inspect the toilet in one of the prison cells. Your character responds "Found an Apple Gel in the toilet. [[WhatTheHellPlayer No way am I picking that up!]]" |
| 338 | * In the town Louran in ''VideoGame/{{Terranigma}}'' you can give a man the advice to take his money with him, when he dies, then rob his grave when the town turns out [[spoiler: to be a zombie town]]. |
| 339 | * In the early ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' games, {{NPC}}s would attack or call the guards if you took things from their homes while they were in the same room; it was possible to sneak in after they'd gone to bed to burgle unnoticed. In the later games, the hero, having become the focal point of Britannian religion and being bound to uphold the principles of good moral character, will be chided and possibly abandoned by his own party if he attempts to steal, though in ''VideoGame/UltimaVII: The Black Gate'' it is possible to do so unpunished through a flaw in the game engine. |
| 340 | ** Don't be silly. In ''VideoGame/UltimaVII: The Black Gate'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT7bHFKDkLM Iolo was the thief]]. |
| 341 | ** The guards summoned were easily the toughest enemies in the game, too. Which [[FridgeLogic raises the question]], why wasn't Lord British sending them off to save the world instead of you? |
| 342 | ** By ''VideoGame/UltimaIX: Ascension'', kleptomania had essentially become the Avatar's ninth virtue. You could take anything in front of its owner and never suffer any consequences. At all. Ever. You could even sell a shopkeeper his own goods back to him after stealing it right in front of him. |
| 343 | ** Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/UltimaVIIPartII: Serpent Isle'' when, during a (rigged) trial, one of the prosecutors cites the Avatar's habit of going through people's stuff as suspicious activity. To be fair, it is pretty weird. |
| 344 | * ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' normally averts this by not allowing the player to pick up any object that isn't a [[HyperactiveMetabolism healing food item]], weapon, armor or the occasional key, and many residences cannot be entered by the player at all. However, in a Genocide Run, you can enter shops whose keepers have fled, and the normal "Buy" and "Sell" options will be replaced with "Take" and "Steal." One note tries to dissuade you from just taking their stuff, but even having that option available means you've already committed more serious crimes. |
| 345 | * In ''VideoGame/VampiresDawn'' looting every drawer in every house you find doesn't even lower your humanity score; it counts as a found secret. |
| 346 | * One particularly nasty treasure chest in the second half of the Sega CD RPG ''VideoGame/{{Vay}}'', affectionately named the "Gold Vortex" by [[Creator/WorkingDesigns translators]], will suck away '''all''' of the gold you've earned if you're foolish enough to open it. Naturally, it looks like all of the other chests in town, which usually hide good stuff. GuideDangIt! |
| 347 | ** And the NPC standing right next to the chest specifically tells you not to open it, making it also an example of SchmuckBait. And if you talk to him after opening it, he scolds you for not listening. |
| 348 | * ''Videogame/TheWitcher'': Played absolutely straight -- the first thing you usually do upon entering a house is hold ALT to highlight any interactive objects and then run around stealing the owner's food, clothes, valuables and books before talking to them. |
| 349 | * [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''VideoGame/YouAreNotTheHero''. The game is about a woman following the heroes to get back what they took from her. Unfortunately, the game [[BrokenAesop screws it up pretty badly]], as Petula can freely loot ''everyone else's'' stuff without so much as a HypocrisyNod. |
| 350 | * ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' has the entire in-game economy built on claiming stuff from dead enemies, treasure chests, random objects in corridors and so on. Of course, as the rightful Heir to the Darkest Estate, most of what your heroes are finding is probably yours to begin with, and the only reason you didn't have it already was because of the thing where your Ancestor woke up Cthulhu and left the entire place a twisted nightmare landscape. You can also have Heroes with the actual Kleptomania trait; it's considered possibly the worst in the game, because Heroes afflicted with Kleptomania 1) make the loot vanish without trace and you're never getting it back, and 2) don't even wait to use inventory items, leading to them continually being bled, blighted, diseased, stressed, afflicted with new and more annoying quirks, maimed or otherwise inconvenienced by whatever it was they stupidly stuck their head into while checking for anything shiny. Notably, Reynauld, one of the starting heroes, ''always'' has this Quirk, meaning many players invest in the Sanitarium early to have it "corrected" out of him if they want to use him in any serious manner. |
| 351 | * In ''VideoGame/RavenswordShadowlands'', you can steal plates and pitchers from [=NPCs=]' houses, and break into a handful of houses. |
| 352 | * ''VideoGame/TheWorldIsYourWeapon'': While most RPG heroes can loot items from houses, Weaco can loot everything in the houses, including the houses themselves! She can also pick up objects anywhere in general, though some objects cannot be picked up until she clears dungeons. Fortunately for the player, [=NPCs=] will not be angered if all their stuff is taken, though in some rare cases, their dialogue will change. |
| 353 | [[/folder]] |
| 354 | |
| 355 | [[folder:Shoot Em Up]] |
| 356 | * Though not an aspect of gameplay, [[VideoGame/{{Touhou}} Marisa Kirisame]] is well known for stealing things from others, using her short lifespan [[Really700YearsOld compared to those around her]] as an excuse: she reasons that they can always take their things back once she's dead, which shouldn't take too long from their point of view... Did we mention that she steals stuff in order to uncover the secrets of eternal life, meaning that not even her previous "excuse" is actually valid if she gets what she wants? |
| 357 | [[/folder]] |
| 358 | |
| 359 | [[folder:Simulation Game]] |
| 360 | * In ''VideoGame/TheSims3'', a sim with the Kleptomaniac trait will steal anything they can get their hands on. There's even a lifetime wish for ''50,000 simoleons worth of stolen goods''. |
| 361 | [[/folder]] |
| 362 | |
| 363 | [[folder:Stealth Based Game]] |
| 364 | * In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'', Ezio can empty the pockets of an entire crowd by just walking through them. However, this will increase the [[KarmaMeter Notoriety Meter]], which will cause [[VideogameCrueltyPunishment guards to be more vigilant]]. |
| 365 | ** There is even an Achievement/Trophy for pickpocketing called, would you believe, "Kleptomaniac" |
| 366 | ** Also, looting dead or stunned enemies will result in disapproving murmurs from the crowd and, possibly, hostility from the guards. Then again, the guards will become suspicious of you if you just happen to be in the vicinity, even if you're not the one responsible for the bodies. Carrying an entire arsenal may have something to do with it. |
| 367 | ** In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' Haytham shows disgust at the idea of looting dead bodies when one of his men suggests the idea. Which is made extremely funny when the player is making him loot said dead body as he is saying this. |
| 368 | * In the ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' series Snake/Raiden can pick up dead bodies and drop them to shake out items, ammo, and sometimes weapons. In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', Snake can also hold somebody up by aiming at their back without being noticed and proceeding to frisk them. Snake comments on feeling like a graverobber in the first Solid game. |
| 369 | * Done in ''Videogame/{{Dishonored}}'', where you can take nearly anything and it is converted into money which is spent on various goodies from {{NPC}}s. Almost necessary for a pacifism run as you need to buy a LOT of sleep bolts. Even funnier when you consider the size of some things, most notably paintings being almost twice the size of you. |
| 370 | ** Taken to a hilarious extreme in one of the first missions, when your target is taking the captain of the guard to show him the portrait he had done, and it's gone (if you went to that room in advance). |
| 371 | ** Or when in the mansion of one of the richest families in Dunwall, people see you stealing and comment that they take everything they can find since they figure it won't be missed. |
| 372 | -->'''Noble''': Go ahead, take it. Everyone does. I had a servant sew me an extra pocket. |
| 373 | ** In the sequel, ''Videogame/{{Dishonored 2}}'', this trope continues to be played straight as you can outright loot... your own possessions (technically), as you embezzle royal vaults early in the game while leaving Dunwall. {{Justified|Trope}}, however -- Corvo, for example, outright states that he needs all the cash he can get to bootstrap retaking the throne. Emily is the Empress so when playing as her it's literally her own choice to take whatever she wants. |
| 374 | * Pretty much all of the ''[[Franchise/{{Hitman}} Hitman games]]'' have Agent 47 be this when collecting items. Most of the items you collect are, of course, used for knocking people out or killing them, but the later games do let you pick up intel and certain objects to help further your goals. |
| 375 | [[/folder]] |
| 376 | |
| 377 | [[folder:Strategy Game]] |
| 378 | * Blood Ravens in ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar II'' "[release] from the chapter's vaults" heaps of gear clearly marked as belonging to other chapters. For the most part, they were thought lost by the original chapter and/or "recovered" by the Blood Ravens under vague circumstances. For the least part... |
| 379 | -->'''[[http://dow2.info/w/index.php?title=Wargear:Pistol_of_Baal description]]''': The crimson teardrop icon of the Blood Angels chapter is carved into the grip of this Mk III bolt pistol. Blood Raven armorers claim this dates from a ceremonial exchange of arms between the two chapters in M37. Blood Angel archivists have no records of any such exchange. |
| 380 | * Unlike its predecessor, there are no more items that are actually attended by an NPC in ''VideoGame/JaggedAlliance: Back in Action'', so you can loot everything. The text description for an item called 'Family Heirloom' found in a locked house reads "[[LampshadeHanging A bunch of valuables that was obviously hidden with the purpose of you finding it so you can sell it and raise some money for the good cause]]." |
| 381 | [[/folder]] |
| 382 | |
| 383 | |
| 384 | [[folder:Survival Horror]] |
| 385 | * ''VideoGame/DeadIsland'': If it's not nailed down, grab it! Deodorant, soap, nails, rags, Floater meat, doesn't matter. Just pick it up and put it into your modding bag. |
| 386 | ** SpiritualSequel ''VideoGame/DyingLight'' continued this necessary tactic, as well as a heroic version of this trope; by killing and stealing from the gang members that are hogging all of the airdropped relief packages, you can give them to the survivors that desperately need them. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, you get orders to destroy the first zombification-slowing medicine crates that you find in the game. You do not find any more]]. |
| 387 | * ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' is literally built around this trope. In this series, a key has the exact same potential for unlocking a new area as, say, a bag of fertilizer, but it can be justified since many games happen during a ZombieApocalypse, and you can argue that during one, taking things scattered around is not really stealing, and some games take place in seemingly abandoned locations. |
| 388 | * ''Franchise/SilentHill'' does this as well. Survival Horror Rule: If it [[ConspicuouslyLightPatch ain't pre-rendered]], it's important. Good thing the protagonists have a HyperspaceArsenal (bar a few glaring exceptions). |
| 389 | ** Parodied in [[VideoGame/SilentHill3 the third game]]: You can find an item in a toilet, but Heather (understandably) refuses to touch it. |
| 390 | * ''[[VideoGame/{{STALKER}} The STALKER series]]''. If it's in a stash, take it. If it's on a corpse, take it. If it's on the ground, take it. If someone's holding it, ''shoot them dead'', '''then take it.''' [[EverythingTryingToKillYou You'll need it.]] Most of the best weaponry (the unique gear that typically far surpasses anything else you'll find) is usually being held by someone, and getting it usually involves a question of just how much of an utter bastard you're willing to be to get better gear. |
| 391 | [[/folder]] |
| 392 | |
| 393 | [[folder:Visual Novel]] |
| 394 | * Lampshaded in the {{RPG}} VisualNovel ''Monster Girl Quest'': |
| 395 | --> '''Alice''': Walk into people's houses and take things...? Are you a thief or something? |
| 396 | --> '''Luka''': There have been some who have abused that privilege. I don't think someone like that is a true hero, though. |
| 397 | * ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney Trilogy'': |
| 398 | ** Phoenix will snatch up anything that looks like it might help him in his court cases (and a few things that [[ChekhovsGun seemingly don't]]). Apparently, this does not count as theft by the law system in their world. A lot of these things are even things that would be too big to fit in Phoenix's pockets. It's ''possible'' that a lot of these are just ''pictures'' of the evidence, but... |
| 399 | ** This is parodied in the first game in case 3, when Maya grabs a copy of a map for Global Studios and Wendy Oldbag demands 50 cents for the map. Phoenix ignores her. |
| 400 | ** Maya also steals a vital poster in the second game, and the key card later in 1-3 - it's Lampshaded at that point: "Let's steal it!" "Borrow. You mean borrow." Ema also persuades Phoenix to steal evidence, except that stealing stuff while Ema's around is ''scientific''. |
| 401 | ** Based on a comment by Wright in game 3 case 2, this has gotten Phoenix some bad karma, seeing as how he is one of the series's {{Butt Monkey}}s. |
| 402 | ** Godot (from ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'') shares this trait; he thinks the "safest place for crucial evidence" is his pocket. |
| 403 | ** As does Edgeworth; his satchel is the safest place he knows. [[spoiler:Godot is present when Edgeworth says this line chronologically prior to Godot's use, meaning that Godot probably stole the trope, and line, from Edgeworth.]] |
| 404 | ** In case 2-4 (''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyJusticeForAll'') Edgeworth manages to grab a ''life-sized stuffed bear''. It doesn't disappear from the room, sure, but the game actually says, "Stuffed bear snatched up by Edgeworth", leading to the hilarious mental image of him wrestling it out the door while Phoenix just stands there and gapes. |
| 405 | ** This is actually acknowledged in 1-5, when you have to [[spoiler: present the evidence hidden in Gant's safe]]. He even says that he's going to press charges, so Phoenix learns his lesson. It's doubtful that this went very far, considering how that trial went, though... |
| 406 | ** Averted in the ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'' series, as whenever Edgeworth finds something, he will often jot it down in his organizer rather than take it, possibly because some of the pieces of evidence are part of crime scenes. |
| 407 | ** Lampshaded in the ''Miles Edgeworth Case Files'' manga. Franziska asks Edgeworth for the criminal record of a defendant she's prosecuting. Edgeworth suggests that she could just have taken it, but she says she "would never imitate the foolishness of a certain sham defense lawyer". |
| 408 | [[/folder]] |
| 409 | |
| 410 | [[folder:Wide-Open Sandbox]] |
| 411 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', the correct reaction to seeing valuable resources on the other side of a lava lake isn't A: build a path above it or B: Cool it down and walk across, it's C: Cool the lava down and mine it for obsidian, then climb over to the other valuable resource. In a more traditional sense, villages often have a "blacksmith chest" with some useful items you can steal with no consequences, and if the town has a library you'll probably want to smash all their bookshelves to get books for enchanting. You can also steal their crops, though digging up ''all'' of them for yourself is generally considered bad form. |
| 412 | * ''Videogame/RedDeadRedemption'' allows you to loot dead bodies for money. In fact, one side mission has you chasing down a bandit for stealing from the general store in Armadillo: if you choose to kill him, you search the man's body and return the stolen money to the owner. Also, you may open chests and drawers pretty much anywhere they're present (yielding you money and ammo), but if you do so outside of your safe houses, you get a wanted level for stealing, no matter if someone saw you or not. |
| 413 | * ''Videogame/{{Terraria}}'': Found a shrine made of golden bricks containing a treasure chest inside a jungle? You can take the treasure inside the chest, then use your pickaxe to take the chest itself, then use said pickaxe to ''dismantle the shrine'', and take that too. |
| 414 | ** Hell, if you're determined enough and have enough inventory space (and you probably do, especially if you have the [[BagOfHolding Piggy Bank]]), you can dig up ''entire biomes'' and plop them down somewhere else. Advanced players do this to make farming for certain materials easier. So yeah, go ahead and take the ''whole damn jungle'' while you're at it! |
| 415 | [[/folder]] |
| 416 | |
| 417 | !!Non-video game examples: |
| 418 | |
| 419 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 420 | * In ''Manga/GoodbyeImBeingReincarnated'', when Yuuya tries to loot Lucielle's lingerie drawer, she acts offended at first but then decides he is the "Great Hero of Legend" after all, believing that it's standard operating procedure for heroes to enter houses unannounced and steal and break everything that isn't nailed down. |
| 421 | * Parodied in the RPGEpisode of ''Anime/HareGuu'' where Haré opening a treasure chest in a random house results in him getting beaten up for stealing. |
| 422 | * Kazuma from ''Literature/KonoSuba'' might be one of these as one of the first skills he learnt upon being reincarnated was "Steal" which he has used to pluck flying cabbages from the sky, acquire a Dullahan's head in the middle of a battle and grab the underwear from women. |
| 423 | * ''Manga/MagicalCircleGuruGuru'': |
| 424 | ** The "hero" actually introduces another character who wants to be a hero to the idea of stealing herbs from homes, which backfires on the second character. This anime plays with other tropes, including a scene at the end where [[spoiler:the characters defeat everything except the final boss, then leave without fighting him.]] The manga does defeat the final boss, in a much longer story. |
| 425 | ** The "hero" (male protagonist) obtained the title "Hero/Brave" from the king using an ancient artifact to determine who will be the hero to find the [=GuruGuru=] Mage and defeats the revived BigBad, and thought that the title is his job, but later in the story, when the protagonists have to do a job test, the person giving the test states that "Hero" is not a job, but a title, and guess what, the hero's job is "Thief". |
| 426 | * Referenced in ''Maou na Ano Ko to Murabito A'' where people from the normal everyday are born with "personalities" that align with RPG roles, such as mage, demon lord, and villager, and they go to "work" performing these roles in other realities, the main character's childhood friend is a "Hero". Because of this, she feels it is perfectly just to sneak into his room and go through all his things, leaving it a mess, just to find his porn and get rid of it. |
| 427 | * ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'' is an AffectionateParody of [=RPGs=] and the protagonist Lina Inverse did this often. Although she said it didn't belong to the bandits she stole from in the first place, later she mentions feeling an itch to attack bandits and steal the loot. |
| 428 | * ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' has Naofumi Iwatani do this due to his [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe Legendary Shield]] being a MorphWeapon that is able to unlock additional forms and new abilities based on whatever item he absorbs into the Shields' emerald: be it parts from similar Monsters ('''Orange Balloon, Yellow Balloon, and Red Balloon Shields'''), different parts from the same Monster ('''Chimera Meat, Leather, Bone, and Viper Shields''' all from the Chimera Wave Boss Monster), or even from normal everyday items ('''Pickaxe Shield''' from a broken Pick Axe, '''Book Shield''' from a compounding book, and '''Sharpening Shield''' from a Whetstone). Naofumi even [[SkillScoresAndPerks manages to master the beneficial abilities of certain shields by having them equipped before falling asleep]] in order to gain Uptime with them and fully master their unlocked abilities as an active passive even when the respective Shields' not equipped (Such as maxing out proficiency with the '''Bioplant''' and '''Mandoragora Shields''' to use their ''Plant Analysis'' and ''Plant Modification'' abilities to allow him [[GreenThumb to modify plant seeds to accelerate plant growth and increase nutritional values]] in order to help out a starving village.) |
| 429 | ** Arguably all Legendary Weapons have this ability hardwired into them to allow for their wielders to be Kleptomaniacs, but unfortunately the other Three Heroes [[IRejectYourReality are too set in their ways to understand this]]. |
| 430 | *** [[HeroesPreferSwords Ren]] preferring to only [[ItemCrafting use the monster parts as crafting materials]] and his sword as a Crafting Table and instead grinds out the proficiency of certain Swords to max [[EnergyDonation only to invest the accumulated points into his newest unlocked Sword to raise its power]] and never touch the older sword ever again: not bothering to utilize Uptime with weaker Sword variants to increase his proficiency in their passive beneficial skills that he could use. |
| 431 | *** Itsuki preferring to only use the acquired materials as Experience Points to put into his PointBuildSystem for his [[JobSystem Job Class]] and only takes in new Bows he finds based on [[PowerEqualsRarity the weapons' overall rarity]] through [[PowerCopying Weapon Copy]], leaving him [[ExcaliburInTheRust unwilling to touch lesser bows or materials]] that could be used to unlock more unique abilities for his Bow. |
| 432 | *** Motoyasu is arguably the closest to a Kleptomaniac of the three due to his method of [[EvolvingWeapon empowering the baseline stats of an existing Spear variant to maximum]] based on [[RareCandy the quality of materials that the Spear absorbs]] and how compatible that material is with the Spear in-question through a process of trial-and-error, however this means that he only goes for highest-quality materials instead of more commonplace ones that could offer unique traits when unlocked and refined. |
| 433 | * Justified in ''Literature/SkeletonKnightInAnotherWorld.'' The protagonist, while raiding the stronghold of a rich slave-trader, comes accross his gold reserves (read: a huge pallet of gold boullion). He pilfers the whole thing so the slaver can't pay any of his minions or hire mercenaries. |
| 434 | [[/folder]] |
| 435 | |
| 436 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 437 | * Beast from the ComicBook/UncannyXMen is developing into quite the thief as he's taken to helping himself to a BattleTrophy or two, such as the 2nd Silver Samurai's katana, and also he'll steal interesting pieces of technology. Thieving X-Men like Gambit and Fantomex get a kick out of stealing anything that's not nailed down and in some comics, Domino will take the time to loot enemy locations for money and valuable items. |
| 438 | [[/folder]] |
| 439 | |
| 440 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 441 | * Since ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'' is about a group of tabletop RPG players that embody almost all gaming tropes, this trope is par for the course. It's probably best captured in one of the early strips, "Five Green Towels", in which the group has their first adventure since acquiring a BagOfHolding and strip the dungeon of everything -- including the furniture, soiled handkerchiefs and toenail clippings. |
| 442 | * ''ComicStrip/{{Nodwick}}'': The adventuring party fits this description. They'll loot ''anything'' from a dungeon, including the statuary. This is not appreciated by their poor henchman Nodwick, who invariably has to schlep several tons of worthless junk back home. (In this reality, henchmen have SuperStrength, but only when lifting things that their employers designate as "loot".) |
| 443 | [[/folder]] |
| 444 | |
| 445 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 446 | * A large number of {{Magical Girl}}s in the Italian remake of ''Fanfic/BattleFantasiaProject'' are prone to [[RobbingTheDead strip the bodies of fallen allies and enemies of anything useful]] (and in fact [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Mami]] and [[Franchise/SailorMoon Sailor Venus]] insist their allies must do it ''with them'' if they happen to fall in battle), with Venus also picking up Eudial's Fire Buster II and giving it to Naru for defence [[WeirdnessMagnet the next time she gets attacked from a monster]] ([[GenreSavvy Shadow Galactica just happened to be about to attack her]], even if finding out about her past encounters made them change their minds). Among those who aren't this in canon or are [[OriginalGeneration original characters]], it's {{Justified}} for [[OriginalGeneration Star Reverie]] (as she has no other mean to support herself), [[ComicBook/{{WITCH}} Will Vandom]] (who has picked it up from [[OriginalGeneration her brother]], who is former military. Soldiers in the field ''do'' have this habit), [[ComicBook/{{WITCH}} Cornelia Hale]] (whose mother was revealed as [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTVSpecials Megan William]]'s secret identity. As Megan had all reasons to do it when stranded in the Pony world, it's likely Cornelia got it from her) and [[ComicBook/{{WITCH}} denizens of Meridian]] (who, when they did it, were ''dirt poor'' due the tyrant they were in the process of overthrowing being a crappy administrator. Elyon vowed to make it unnecessary as soon as she took over), but the others play it straight. |
| 447 | * ''Fanfic/FalloutEquestria'': |
| 448 | ** Calamity can hardly resist the urge to scavenge every single container he comes across. Everyone in his posse lampshades it at least once, including himself. This isn't that different from how many people play the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' games. |
| 449 | ** While Calamity represents the "keep everything [[CrazyPrepared just in case you need it later]]" mindset of players, Littlepip represents the "open every lock and loot everything in sight" mindset. It's repeatedly lampshaded that she's apparently the only pony in the Wasteland with any lockpicking skills whatsoever. |
| 450 | --->'''Velvet:''' When other colts and fillies decided to try new things in an effort to provoke their cutie marks into showing, they'd try soccer. Or ballet. Littlepip? She tries to invent the art of breaking into other ponies' private things. |
| 451 | * ''Fanfic/CyclesUponCycles'': Shepard (of ''Franchise/MassEffect''), comes from his enhancements as a Spectre (the ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'' variety), which usually results in a few eccentricities. Most of the time he doesn't even realize he's doing it, though he does get the occasional urge for more blatant thieving. |
| 452 | * ''Fanfic/TheSteepPathAhead'': Luise and Saito pretty much get all their gear this way. Either from the dead they find lying around ([[DueToTheDead though they'll at least bury them]]) or robbing the people who attack them (usually after a ForcedSleep spell). |
| 453 | * ''Fanfic/FreakinGensokyo'': Brad stuffs his BagOfHolding with stolen clothes and furniture, and is showing no signs of tiring. |
| 454 | * John in ''Fanfic/SoYouArentAsHumanAsYouThoughtYouWere'' steals lab equipment from his university, and Tupperware from IKEA, among other things. |
| 455 | * Marinette in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/series/1500734 KleptoMariac]]'' has the impulse to steal whenever she is under heavy stress, especially from who she likes and trusts. |
| 456 | * ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'': Since Haara doesn't wear clothes, she's often forced to loot useful items from buildings, vehicles, or campsites when the situation calls for something she can't craft with her woodworking proficiency. She also frequently must steal a dropped weapon when her current one gets confiscated or destroyed. |
| 457 | * ''Fanfic/PokemonTarnishedGold'' is a {{Creepypasta}} about a copy of ''VideoGame/PokemonGold'' [[AnotherSideAnotherStory where the rival, Silver is now the protagonist]]. Since Silver already did canonically steal his StarterMon, he is depicted as one of these, with him gaining most key items by stealing them, often after a HopelessBossFight. |
| 458 | [[/folder]] |
| 459 | |
| 460 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 461 | * ''Film/TheKillingBox'': Corporal Dawson and the survivors of his unit are fairly plucky characters who are fine with forming a truce with the Union to fight the zombies, but Dawson sheepishly reveals that they looted the bank and several homes in a nearby town. |
| 462 | [[/folder]] |
| 463 | |
| 464 | [[folder:Gamebooks]] |
| 465 | * ''Literature/LoneWolf'': Maybe he's not as bad as some video-game heroes, but still, Lone Wolf always has the option to thoroughly check for loot wherever he goes. It's part of the InventoryManagementPuzzle, as many items, precious or not, won't come into play and just waste space in the backpack. Nonetheless, if you want to drag along that heavy bag of silver nuggets or that ingot of platinum for the rest of the adventure, you can! The Kai monastery can always need some rebuilding/refitting, after all. |
| 466 | * ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' pretty much runs on this trope. You will find all sorts of seemingly useless knickknacks that you wouldn't have any reason to take with you. Take them anyway, as many of them often prove to be exactly what you need at any given moment. |
| 467 | [[/folder]] |
| 468 | |
| 469 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 470 | * ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': The Dragon's Lair Mercenary company has codified this trope. Rule number 6 is "not all that glitters is gold but it could still be worth a lot of money" and number 7 follows "so grab it (gold) whenever you can". |
| 471 | * ''Literature/{{Mogworld}}'', a book focusing on [=NPC=]s in an MMORPG, lampshades this. Turns out local villagers are not very fond of adventurers, and among their long list of complaints against them is this. |
| 472 | -->"Knocking on your door at all hours of the day and night, wanting to rummage through your drawers for potions and loose change." |
| 473 | * The ''Literature/Overlord2012'' LN has an innkeeper remind guests that other people's rooms are off-limits. Perfectly redundant for normal people, but this ''is'' a world with a strong resemblance to an MMO, with all the ProtagonistCenteredMorality that implies. |
| 474 | [[/folder]] |
| 475 | |
| 476 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 477 | * Dave Lister from ''Series/RedDwarf'' has a tendency to steal things. In his backstory, he has stolen cars and the contents of an entire hotel room and during the series proper, he's stolen Rimmer's shirt, a bottle of champagne from his future self, and ''[[RefugeInAudacity Adolf Hitler's briefcase]]''. |
| 478 | [[/folder]] |
| 479 | |
| 480 | [[folder:Podcasts]] |
| 481 | * ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneBalance'''s Tres Horny Boys are almost always up to steal whatever they can. Notably, Taako loots Merle's dead cousin's corpse for shoes while Magnus distracts Merle. |
| 482 | * In ''Podcast/InStrangeWoods'', the writer/reporter Brett Ryback brushes into this when he takes and opens a private letter from Howl, the subject of his investigation, to Sandra when the latter tells him not to. |
| 483 | [[/folder]] |
| 484 | |
| 485 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 486 | * This trope is such a fundamental stipulation in virtually all tabletop role-playing games that even systems with CharacterAlignment don't penalize a LawfulGood character for stripping the clothing off corpses found lying by the road so they can sell the second-hand clothes to get a few [[GoldSilverCopperStandard copper pieces]] closer to buying a slightly more powerful magic sword. |
| 487 | * ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': |
| 488 | ** In the Living City campaign, gold was in such short supply at one point that some players began cutting locks out of doors, in order to sell them for extra money. |
| 489 | ** The trope is discouraged, however, in the third edition sourcebook ''Oriental Adventures'', which includes an honor system that penalizes those who steal from the dead. |
| 490 | ** The original ''TabletopGame/TombOfHorrors'' had adamant and mythril doors, to prevent you from trying to [[DungeonBypass break them down]]. Enterprising players realized that if they could pry these doors off their hinges, they could [[ShopFodder sell them for an amazing sum]]. The remake, therefore, [[ObviousRulePatch goes into great detail to explain]] that the doors are just ''magically hardened'' to be ''as strong'' as adamant and mythril, but are actually ''made'' of ordinary cheap metals. |
| 491 | ** ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' attempted to avert this with the Kender. When creating the setting, they realized that they had to have room for a Good race [[PlanetOfHats that specialized in]] the Thief class, but if a race (like halflings) was composed of career thieves, then [[FridgeLogic why would the other Good races let them be around?]] Their solution was to create a race that had no concept of ownership, and stole things for fidgeting or fun without any malicious intent. Ironically, this created [[TheScrappy one of the most loathed races ever]], because while a halfling will steal from enemies out of practicality, [[ChaoticStupid a kender will steal from anyone for no reason]], and while the Kender might mean no harm by their thieving behavior, a ''player'' could easily use their tendencies as an excuse to act like a {{Jerkass}} toward their party members. Add in the fact that said characters also try to cause as much trouble as possible (because the character is "bored"), and are near useless in diplomatic and puzzle-solving situations, and they have the reputation of being the most annoying character concepts for other players at the table to have to deal with. Players who want to create Kenders often forget that the original authors wrote their Kender character to be tolerated by the other members of his group by author fiat; no such guarantee is in play for the other players at the table. |
| 492 | ** ''[[HalfHumanHybrid Half]]''-kender is in the spot of having a worse in-universe reputation, but being better off in terms of not being disruptive at the table -- they get the kender finger-filching curiosity, but the human ability to recognise the concept of ownership and a longer attention span. The end effect is a race regarded as "stealth kender" (acting like kender, but not looking like one so you know to protect your things), but in reality more likely to ''resist'' the urge to just pick up things, and if they don't significantly more likely to remember where they picked it up ''and put it back''. |
| 493 | * ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The Blood Ravens Chapter of Space Marines are [[Memes/TabletopGames memetically]] this. This stems from their original appearances in the ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' video games, where the Blood Ravens can equip relics that are explicitly other Chapters' property, including Primarch relics and Adeptus Custodes gear, with vaguely suspicious explanations for having them in their armory. To hear the fans tell it, the Blood Ravens steal every useful bit of equipment they can find, even things that ''should'' be [[ImpossibleThief downright impossible to steal]] (the ammunition from enemy weapons, entire armored divisions, the Blackstone Fortresses, Abaddon's arms, the lost Primarchs, Bjorn the Fell-Handed...). |
| 494 | [[/folder]] |
| 495 | |
| 496 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 497 | * Huey and to a lesser extent Calamity of ''WebAnimation/NoEvil'' seem to have a streak of kleptomania, the former stealing the cast's scarecrows, and the latter "borrowing" (and never returning) many a thing on occasion. |
| 498 | * Namechecked in WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation's review of ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'', as one of the symptoms of adventure game heroes. |
| 499 | [[/folder]] |
| 500 | |
| 501 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 502 | * Thief from ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' does this early on in the series just to prove a point about his character (as if it wasn't obvious.) |
| 503 | -->'''Black Mage:''' Didn't the pirates take everything already?\ |
| 504 | '''Thief:''' They left everything that was nailed down. I did not. |
| 505 | * Naturally, appears in ''Webcomic/{{Adventurers}}'' The homeowner's lack of objection is justified: |
| 506 | -->'''Commoner #1:''' And you didn't stop him... because...?\ |
| 507 | '''Commoner #2:''' Hello! His sword is as big as '''me'''. |
| 508 | * Used for humorous effect in [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/darthsanddroids/episodes/0071.html this]] ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'' strip. It's rather a [[https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/1851.html running gag]] for Jim. |
| 509 | %%* Parodied in [[http://www.hejibits.com/comics/one-mans-trash/ this]] ''Webcomic/{{Hejibits}}'' comic. |
| 510 | * Encouraged in the video game-like sections of ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', even though you usually don't have an inventory. Occasionally explanations are offered: |
| 511 | -->"Chests are everywhere in this lab, and people find it all too tempting to sneak their personal belongings into them for safe keeping. That is, until the goods are stolen shortly after by those who can't resist looting every chest they encounter, which is everybody." |
| 512 | * Deconstructed in [[http://thenoobcomic.com/comic/422/ this comic]] of ''Webcomic/TheNoob''. Long story short, [[QuestGiver quest givers]] have to hide their barrels each time a player visits. Gets bonus points for also giving a valid explanation to TakeYourTime. |
| 513 | * The eponymous character of ''Webcomic/{{Sarab}}'' loots his kill in an [[MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame MMORPG]]. |
| 514 | * Parodied in [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comics/stolen-pixels/6501-Stolen-Pixels-123-Her-Story this]] ''Webcomic/StolenPixels'' strip about ''VideoGame/VelvetAssassin'', where you gain XP by swiping random junk owned by Nazis, where her "Crowning Achievement" was stealing Himmler's left boot. |
| 515 | [[/folder]] |
| 516 | |
| 517 | %%[[folder:Web Original]] |
| 518 | %%[[/folder]] |
| 519 | |
| 520 | [[folder:Web Videos]] |
| 521 | * Hilariously parodied, and [[DeconstructiveParody deconstructed]] in ''Website/CollegeHumor'' Original [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kedjhnguKhc RPG Heroes are Jerks]]. |
| 522 | * Parodied in ''WebVideo/CollegeSaga''. In his dorm room, the hero acquires items "Roommate's Car Key", "Roommate's Passport" and "Roommate's Credit Card". And then the roommate attacks the party for being thieves. |
| 523 | * WebVideo/JesseCox is notorious for doing this during otherwise straightforward [=RPGs=]. In short, if the facility to loot objects exists, he will exploit it constantly -- much to the frustration of his fanbase. As an example, the designers of ''Videogame/BioshockInfinite'' littered the bodies of your fallen enemies with low-strength restoratives for your health and salts. These objects also appear commonly in the world design -- since you have no inventory, they have to be offered almost constantly. Eating a few such items will restore you to full health. ''Jesse'', however, tracks down and devours every last food item one by one. While already at full health and salts. In areas he might need to backtrack through later. ''While recording an [[NonActionGuy action Let's Play.]]'' |
| 524 | * ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment'': |
| 525 | ** Spoony sometimes makes fun of this in games, such as during his review of ''VideoGame/PhantasmagoriaAPuzzleOfFlesh'' -- in which the main character is an office worker. |
| 526 | --->'''Spoony:''' What does it say about me as a person that my first instinct is to rifle through her desk for useful objects? |
| 527 | ** One chapter of his ''Videogame/FinalFantasyX'' review ends with him looting an apparently endless supply of potions from a chest (one at a time). The next video starts with him still doing this, and he now has a long white beard and wonders why [[IdiotHero Tidus]] doesn't just take the whole chest. Later on he turns this into HypocriticalHumor by suggesting that the characters loot the bodies of some disaster victims, pointing out that Tidus apparently has no problem stealing from the living. |
| 528 | * Most members of the LetsPlay/{{Yogscast}}, such as LetsPlay/SimonLane, LetsPlay/LewisBrindley and LetsPlay/HannahRutherford, all have a habit of stealing items and loot even when it might not be the best idea. The only exception in the group would appear to be LetsPlay/DuncanJones, who is more focused during his and Hannah's playthrough of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5''. |
| 529 | * Nott from Campaign 2 of ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' is extremely fond of stealing things like buttons, jewelry, and other valuables. |
| 530 | ** Fearne in the third campaign did this while not even being a Rogue initially! It apparently runs in the family, as her own mother tried to rob her while Fearne was doing the same. |
| 531 | * ''WebVideo/{{Dream}}'' tries to loot everything useful he can from the villages he finds in Minecraft Manhunt, if he finds a village. Any other world-generated building which has useful items works as well. |
| 532 | * If Josh from ''WebVideo/LetsGameItOut'' can steal in games, expect it to be amusing. Especially in ''Hydroneer'' where he consistently figures out ways to shoplift despite the developers adding patches to prevent this, to the point when they add an in-game WantedPoster for him. |
| 533 | [[/folder]] |
| 534 | |
| 535 | %%[[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 536 | %%[[/folder]] |
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