Line #63 Main/MoneyToThrowAway


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12	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/Batman1989 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2urber5.png]]]]
13	[[caption-width-right:350:A man so generous it will put a smile on your face.]]
14
15	->''"What's wrong? Even if it were not a monstrous sin to steal sacred property of Rome, you then ride through the streets on a litter, shouting and singing and broadcasting your theft to all and sundry!"''
16	-->-- '''Vorenus''', ''Series/{{Rome}}''
17
18	A character has just acquired a vast sum of money. Maybe he won the lottery, inherited a fortune, or knocked over a bank. Instead of safely investing his newfound wealth, buying something nice, or doing anything even remotely useful with it, he instead tosses handfuls of cash at anyone lucky enough to be walking by. Implies the character literally has more money than he knows what to do with. It might also be part of a MoneyFetish.
19
20	A variation can happen in a ChaseScene, where a character throws out money for the crowd to block his pursuers, often for the rule of ThrowingTheDistraction. For people who weaponize coins as weapons see AbnormalAmmo and ImprobableWeaponUser.
21
22	Compare MoneyToBurn. See also MoneySlap and ConspicuousConsumption.
23	----
24	!!Examples:
25
26	[[foldercontrol]]
27
28	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
29	* In ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'' and ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'', Mikoto Misaka's signature Railgun attack has her use her electrical powers to propel a coin at several times the speed of sound. Of course, she can use anything made of metal for this, but coins are convenient. Some close-ups show she's not actually using coins but game arcade tokens which she buys by the bucket load. Presumably the bulk discount means that its cheaper than using an equivalent number of coins.
30	* Used by Near to get away from a mob in ''Manga/DeathNote''. It's mentioned that this used up most of his funds, but it's not really important.
31	* One villain in ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' uses a gun that fires rolls of coins. She's a socialist trying to make a political statement by murdering a stock market shark who used most of his profits to surround himself with gold bullion, thus intending to give him an ironic death.
32	* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'':
33	** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]'': In the fight against J. Geil, Kakyoin manages to trick his Hanged Man by forcing it to go to the shiny surface of a coin he flipped high into the air to drew a crowd's attention. Polnareff's Silver Chariot intercepts it on the way and bisects it vertically; destroying it and leaving J. Geil himself crippled and helpless.
34	** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]'': Shigechi tries to do this in an attempt at getting a woman's attention, only for Josuke and Okuyasu to tell him that he's taking the hustle too far.
35	** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun Steel Ball Run]]'': Subverted. When given a huge amount of money that needs to be used before sunset, Gyro considers giving it freely to anyone, only to realize Sugar Mountain's {{transflormation}} will immediately take effect if someone doesn't accept it willingly.
36	** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureJoJolion JoJolion]]'': Zaihei's Milagro Man inflicts anyone with a PlagueOfGoodFortune to receive endless amount of cash that will kill them, and only by tossing away the money until someone unknowingly takes one of the cursed bills to remove the effect.
37	** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureTheJoJoLands The JoJoLands]]'': Wanting to test the capabilities of the mysterious lava rock the team acquired, Usagi tosses a twenty dollar bill that had been touched by the rock. After Paco suddenly got a twenty dollar refund for a bad drink, it confirms their theory that the lava rock attracts money.
38	* In ''Anime/KillLaKill'', Kaneo Takarada's mooks wield machine guns that fire money.
39	* Happened in manga and anime of ''Manga/{{Kochikame}}''. Ryotsu manage to manipulate the bonus payroll system on the computer to give himself a ridiculous amount. Later while he's on pursuit by the police and local store-owners whom he owes money to, he throws some of his cash at the crowd to hold them off. In other chapters, Ryotsu ends up losing his bonus pay or his get-rich-quick vendor profits whenever he gets into an accident which ends up losing his money to a crowd from a high place.
40	* ''[[Anime/TheCastleOfCagliostro Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro]]'' opens with Lupin and Jigen robbing a Monte Carlo casino, only to throw it out onto the highway after they realize every bill they've stolen is counterfeit. It's implied by Jigen that they are still spendable but this is Lupin and Jigen we are talking about.
41	* ''Manga/YuiKamioLetsLoose'': In Chapter 7, Kiito throws some money to distract the students in the school's indoor basketball court as he chases Yui in Black, who was running around in a NavelDeepNeckline swim parka.
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Comic Books]]
45	* ''WesternAnimation/DynomuttDogWonder'': Dynomutt and Blue Falcon once chased thieves who robbed a charity event until they dropped the loot to avoid capture. It's later revealed the dropped money came from a bank robbery and the thieves couldn't spend it because the authorities knew the series number of every bill so they pulled that trick hoping they'd be long gone by the time the authorities found out the recovered money came from the bank robbery. If not for [[SpannerInTheWorks Blue Falcon exchanging part of the recovered money for unrelated purposes]], it might have worked.
46	* ComicBook/TheJoker does it in a [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' story; throwing coins out of the back of a stolen armoured car and causing a horde of kids to run into the street and block the path of the Batmobile.
47	* [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Scrooge McDuck]] once ran for town treasurer and reluctantly conceded he'd need to spend money to advertise his campaign. He then went to Donald's for suggestions but didn't find anyone there. Fearing someone might steal that money, Scrooge hid it at some vase, failing to realize it wasn't a vase but a tuba, and then left to look for Donald. Donald then returned and decided to play the tuba to advertise Scrooge's campaign, unknowingly throwing away the money. Well, it did bring voters. However, it was never mentioned in any story again.
48	* In ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'' comic book story "The Finance Smurf", the Smurfs near the end when they decide to leave the village to found another one elsewhere toss all their money back to the titular character, leaving him with a sizable amount of wealth, but [[LonelyAtTheTop with nobody to share his good fortune with]].
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Fan Works]]
52	* In the Creator/HansVonHozel story ''Eurovision Song Contest 2010'' Switzerland makes gold rain from the ceiling. [[{{ArtisticLicenseEconomics}} This somehow fixes Greece's economy]].
53	* In ''Fanfic/HeroicMyth'', Bell wins a massive amount of casino chips thanks to his [[BornLucky innate Luck skill]] before [[ThrowingTheDistraction intentionally knocking them]] over to get the nearby adventurers and gods to pounce on them. This distracts the Ganesha Familia long enough for Ryuu to finish her battle with Terry Cervantes' goons and rescue the girls enslaved in the VIP area. Luckily for Bell, this doesn't dent his bottom line despite losing tens of millions of Valis, as he'd already cashed in an enormous number of chips earlier.
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Films — Animation]]
57	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'': When Aladdin becomes a prince, he throws out gold coins to the poor, since he was poor up until this point. He does this again at the beginning of ''Return of Jafar'', though that wasn't his own money, he had just stolen it from a bunch of thieves.
58	* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', Abby throws a stack of 5 and 10 dollar bills into the air one by one in celebration during the panda hustle montage.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
62	* ''Film/TheArtOfTheSteal'': When Nicky is attempting to persuade Crunch to undertake OneLastJob, he tries to prove that it is not about the money by taking the cash he just stole by being a PercussivePickpocket and tossing it into the air as he storms off. However, as he does so, he mutters to himself:
63	-->''There has to be a cheaper way to do this.''
64	* ''Film/BabylonAD'': Toorop is offered a million dollar cash bribe to abandon the women he's protecting. He's clearly tempted for a moment, then he knocks the bag in the air and uses the subsequent money scramble to escape with his clients.
65	* The first ''Film/{{Batman\|1989}}'' movie: Shortly before the movie's climax, Joker throws away a lot of money to people. Admittedly, it isn't ''real'' money. It is just a ploy to get the residents of Gotham into the fresh air so the Joker can poison them all.
66	* In ''Film/BatmanForever'', when Two-Face makes his final toss of the coin to determine whether or not to kill Batman near the end, Batman throws a handful of coins in Two-Face's direction to cause him to fall to his doom down the long shaft.
67	* ''Film/TheBigEasy''. When he realizes he's been caught accepting bribe money, Detective Remy [=McSwain=] tosses the cash to the crowd in the bar and [[EatTheEvidence eats the envelope it was given to him in]].
68	* ''Film/BlackPanther2018''. During the casino battle, Ulysses Klaue inadvertently blasts a safe with his ArmCannon, sending money flying through the air. He says gleefully, "I made it rain!"
69	* ''Film/DrMabuseTheGambler'': The eponymous villain hands a huge amount of money to a grateful beggar, who doesn't know that the cash is virtually worthless thanks to Dr Mabuse's manipulation of the stock market.
70	* In the Creator/LouisDeFunes movie ''La Folie des Grandeurs'' (''Film/DelusionsOfGrandeur''), the VillainProtagonist Don Salluste has just taxed a village dry, mostly in the form of coins and precious metal items. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj-ZEtrhzvA#t=38 His manservant sabotages the carriage]] and tells the villagers to follow them, so that when Don Salluste helps himself to "his" share of the taxes and puts them in the back, they fall into the road.
71	* The title characters of ''Film/FunWithDickAndJane'' also create a distraction by throwing money. From the looks of it, several thousand dollars worth of money. Even their pursuers stop for a cash grab.
72	* Used to distract the crowd at the club in ''Film/TheMask''.
73	* In ''Film/TheMagicChristian'', incredibly rich Guy Grand builds a giant heated vat which he fills with many £1, £5 and £10 notes-- and also urine, excrement, and animal blood-- and posts a sign saying "Free Money Here." Lots of people dive in.
74	* ''Film/MajorGromPlagueDoctor''. Our hero is introduced running through a cloud of rubles flying out the back of a stolen armoured car he's chasing (on foot). The robbers then shut the door before they lose the lot. A deliberate version occurs when the vigilante Plague Doctor dumps a pile of money and bullion around a corrupt banker before blowing her up and sending it scattering across the street. He then opens her bank vault and encourages the Russian people to help themselves to the wealth she stole.
75	* There's a bit in the movie of ''Film/MinorityReport'' where a psychic is guiding the main character as he's being pursued. They pass a homeless man, and the psychic says to scatter a few coins in front of him. Our hero does so, the homeless man bends over to pick them up, and their pursuers trip over him.
76	* ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'': After a wad of cash [[PocketProtector saves Bond from a dagger]] during a ChaseScene, he tosses the damaged dough aside, where it lands in a beggar's bowl. He finally evades his pursuers by throwing the rest of his gambling wins up in the air, causing the crowd to swarm across the road.
77	* In ''Film/OutrageousFortune'', two drug dealers bribe the protagonists with a lunch box full of money to get them to go away; after they use it to bribe a cabbie and buy airplane tickets, they throw the rest of it behind them in a crowded waiting room to get everyone to rush for it in order to delay the government agents chasing them.
78	* ''Film/ThePunisher2004'': Frank Castle appears to be RobbingTheMobBank, but we then see him using a HollywoodGlassCutter to cut a hole in the window, which he forces the mobsters to throw the money through onto the street outside. The two goons guarding the lobby only realise what's happening when everyone in the building rushes outside to grab the falling cash. He does keep some of the money though, and leaves it for [[TrueCompanions his friends who risked their lives to protect him]] in the course of the movie.
79	* ''Film/RaceToWitchMountain'' has a variation. When Jack Bruno, Dr. Friedman, Sara, and Seth are cornered by agents in the casino where the UFO convention is taking place, Sara makes every slot machine a jackpot winner. The group then uses this confusion to make their escape from the agents.
80	* In ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', Franchise/IndianaJones throws a handful of change at panhandlers mobbing him.
81	* At the end of ''Film/ReindeerGames'', Ben Affleck's robber character puts most of the money he received from the Indian casino heist in the mailboxes of every house on his way to see his parents. He never wanted the money in the first place and it has caused nothing but misery for him.
82	* In ''Film/RoboCop3'', [=McDaggett=] throws money into the street, forcing [=RoboCop=] to stop his car to avoid hitting the children who run up to collect the money.
83	* In ''Film/SantaFake'', Pat tosses the money he stole from the mob into the air while running from a pair of enforcers in the mall. The ensuing distraction helps him get a lead on them while they're blocked off.
84	* ''Film/{{TENET}}'': Because WeNeedADistraction, the protagonists hijack a cargo-carrying 747 on the ground at Oslo airport and taxi it into the building they're planning to break into, setting off the halon gas system so the staff have to evacuate the vaults. To create further chaos, they blow a hole in the hull and scatter its cargo of gold bullion on the runway, forcing the police to stop and secure the area and also creating confusion over [[InfractionDistraction whether it was an act of terrorism or a heist gone wrong]]. One member of the team is shown [[NotSoAboveItAll tucking a gold bar into his vest]] before shoving the rest onto the runway.
85	* In ''Film/TheThreeMusketeers1993'', the heroes use this ploy to block pursuers, after discovering a great deal of money in the Cardinal's carriage (which they appropriated).
86	* A variant shows up at the end of one short from Film/TheThreeStooges, ''Sing a Song of Six Pants''. They go through a wad of $100 bills, then come across a $50. 'Huh, who put that in there?' Shemp crumples it and tosses it aside, with Larry and Moe waving disdainfully. Then they remember what it really is.
87	* In the 2006 French film ''Film/TheTigerBrigades'', Bonnot the anarchist scatters a sackful of government bonds to watching bystanders and tells them to help themselves. Not because his gang needs it to escape from the robbery they've just committed, but because he wants the officials to know he wasn't after the money, but after the ledger he pocketed -- and also because [[spoiler:he knows the bonds are actually worthless]].
88	* Moby does this in ''Film/WheelsOnMeals'' to escape pursuit; throwing a handful of cash into the air which attracts a crowd of homeless people, which he and his friends then hide in the middle of.
89	* ''Film/TheWonderfulStoryOfHenrySugar'': Upon realizing that using one's enhanced concentration to cheat at cards makes the gambling victories meaningless and empty, Henry takes the 30,000 pounds he's won and makes it rain from his balcony, causing chaos down below.
90	* A NoodleIncident in the opening credits of ''Film/{{Zombieland}}'' shows a businessman fleeing from a burning car chased by two zombies, [[MoneyIsNotPower heedlessly throwing away his briefcase of money]]. According to the DVD commentary this is apparently something the Director of Photography came up with on the day, because he through all those bills flying in the air [[RuleOfCool would look amazing]] in SlowMotion.
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Gamebooks]]
94	* At the end of the ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' book, ''Literature/ArmiesOfDeath'', your army is vastly outnumbered and outmatched by the forces of chaos, at which point you're given the option to continue fighting (which ends with you getting killed) or ordering your men to throw all your gold into the air and into the battlefield. Doing so will cause a massive distraction as the orcs, goblins, hobgoblins and trolls begin scrambling for the gold, to the point of fighting each other allowing your army to counter-attack.
95	[[/folder]]
96
97	[[folder:Literature]]
98	* ''Literature/TheBrotherhoodOfTheConch'': In ''The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming'', the spoiled prince Mahabet throws fistfuls of silver coins from his elephant into the grateful crowd. He starts throwing the coins in front of the elephant so people will almost get trampled for his amusement. When he gets bored, he dumps out all the coins in a pile on the ground, causing a human stampede.
99	* Done very well in the Creator/RoaldDahl novella "Literature/TheWonderfulStoryOfHenrySugar", in which the title character begins as an UpperClassTwit but then studies for months and gains the ability to see through playing cards. Although his initial interest in the skill is greed-driven, after he breaks the bank at a casino he starts throwing his winnings off his balcony and into the street, realizing it has all suddenly become meaningless. At this point, a police officer almost arrests him for creating a public nuisance and scolds him for wasting money that way, which provides the impetus for Sugar to devote his life to philanthropy.
100	* In a book, later a [[TheFilmOfTheBook film]] ''Literature/IServedTheKingOfEngland'' by Creator/BohumilHrabal the main character Jan [[MeaningfulName Dítě]] amuses himself by throwing away spare change and watching people crawling on all fours just to collect it. Late in the story, he's a millionaire and decorates his hotel by sticking money bills on the wall, just for the world to see he has so much money that he doesn't know what to do with it. Then he gets arrested by the communist party for having too much money (‘stealing from the working class’) after he brags about how much he has when they don't believe him he's a millionaire.
101	* In the book ''Literature/TheMagicChristian'' (and TheFilmOfTheBook), incredibly rich Guy Grand builds a giant heated vat which he fills with many $100 bills-- and also urine, excrement, and animal blood-- and posts a sign saying "Free Money." Lots of people dive in in the movie, and it's implied they do in the book as well.
102	* In the ''Literature/MarcusDidiusFalco'' series, Falco and his father are being pressured by AllDevouringBlackHoleLoanSharks to pay money owed by a deceased member of their family. The Falcos turn up at the loan shark's house banging cymbals and announcing loudly that they intend paying off the money in front of witnesses, then empty the coins onto the street, whereupon the loan sharks have to scramble to pick it up before the neighbours. In another book, it's mentioned how Nero would throw packages to the crowd during games, enjoying the greedy scramble as the audience fought for the prizes within. Two gladiator owners ended up becoming bitter rivals because one of them pushed aside his friend and grabbed the prize, which was the deed for an expensive villa.
103	* In the ''Franchise/{{Mistborn}}'' novels, one of the possible [[{{Whatevermancy}} Allomantic]] powers is to throw their weight against that of a metal object at range. If the metal is heavier, or better secured to the ground, the Allomancer is pushed away. If the metal is lighter, or the Allomancer is better secured, the metal gets pushed away. [[MeaningfulName There's a reason Allomancers who only have this power are called Coinshots.]]
104	** At least once, [[RagsToRiches former street rat]] Vin expresses her discomfort with throwing away money, in her InternalMonologue, but only when she's using it for NotQuiteFlight (Which is why she eventually switches to using horseshoes). In combat, she knows money does her no good if she doesn't live to spend it.
105	* A hilarious scene from the ''Literature/RossOCarrollKelly'' novels has two young, rich snobs drive to a poor area of Dublin, throw €10 notes out the window and yell "AFFLUENCE!", laughing at the locals scrambling for the cash.
106	* In the short story "Journey to the Centre of Chaos" in ''Tales of the Shadowmen, Vol. 1'', [=JimGrim=] creates a distraction in a crowded marketplace by tossing a handful of copper coins into the air and yelling "Gold!".
107	* In the between wars arc of the ''Literature/Timeline191'' novels, the Hitler Expy throws away a million dollar bill during a rally as a way of poking fun at the Confederacy's economy and its out of control inflation - the bill he had thrown away had the buying power of a pre-war ''one'' dollar bill at best.
108	* In the ''Literature/TimeScout'' book, ''Wagers of Sin'', Skeeter and Marcus need a distraction. It works.
109	* In ''Literature/UseOfWeapons'' the protagonist does this to help establish his cover story/because he thinks it will be fun. We never quite find out.
110	* Edo-era police officer Literature/ZenigataHeiji, originally created by novelist Nomura Hodou, was so famous for throwing ''zeni'' (literally, coins) at criminals to stop them that [[StevenUlyssesPerhero the character was named for it]]. Japanese works will frequently give him a ShoutOut for similar tactics (his jutte, his other [[WeaponSpecialization weapon of choice]], sometimes gives this ability when equipped in ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games; ''Franchise/LupinIII'' features his descendant, who's capable of throwing handcuffs with similar accuracy).
111	* In ''Literature/{{Zeroes}}'', while fleeing from pursuit, Mob throws about two thousand dollars worth of bills into the air. Combined with her ability to manipulate the emotions of crowds, this allows her to escape in the chaos.
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
115	* ''Series/BarneyMiller'': A man is arrested for throwing money out of his apartment window. He had won the lottery and was sick and tired of all the appeals for money he was getting so he decided to just throw it to the masses. During the same episode Barney is informed that his apartment building is going condo and has to either buy his apartment or move out. The perp tries to give him the money to buy, but Barney can't accept.
116	* ''Series/BionicWoman'' (2007 remake). In "The List" Jaime is doing a HostageForMcGuffin trade. She ends up hitting the BigBad with a bag containing $8 million which bursts open, causing enough chaos for them to escape the sniper he's got them under. But they get $4 million back, "which means I got it for half price."
117	* ''Series/BlakesSeven'':
118	** In "Gold," our heroes discover that the BriefcaseFullOfMoney that they risked their lives for (10 billion in Zerok currency) has been rendered invalid thanks to the machinations of [[BigBad Servalan]]. They toss the now useless notes in Avon's face, and the episode ends on him [[LaughingMad laughing maniacally]].
119	** In "Weapon," TheChessmaster hired by Servalan receives a report revealing a SpannerInTheWorks that will cause his plan to fail. Realising he has to [[RunOrDie abandon everything and flee]] before [[YouHaveFailedMe Servalan returns]], he gives away his expensive [[SmartPeoplePlayChess chess computer]] to the officer who brought him the report and (inadvertently) saved his life.
120	* ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett''. After [[SlaughterhouseFight fighting the boss of a slaughterhouse and his goons]], Series/TheMandalorian finds the slaughterhouse workers blocking his exit, all of them wielding sharp cleavers. Mando points out that there's a pile of New Republic credits on the table of their late boss [[HonorBeforeReason that the Mandalorian has left untouched]], and they can have it if they let him pass unmolested. Given that Mando is holding their boss's head in a sack and has just demonstrated he's a OneManArmy, they wisely take up the offer.
121	* In ''Series/BreakingBad'', Jesse, during a breakdown in which his house basically turned into a crack den, once tossed an armful of cash into the air for drug addicts to fight over. Later on, after he gets even ''more'' broken, he follows the exact trope description - throwing his drug money out of a car window, unable to bear what he did getting it.
122	* In the ''Series/BroadCity'' episode "Just the Tips," Ilana has made so much money as a waitress at a fancy restaurant that she rents a limo and throws money from the skylight.
123	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. Spike takes Buffy out for a night of drinking at a demon bar [[IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten where he's gambling for kittens]]. When he's caught cheating, he invites Buffy to beat the other demons up. Buffy has no interest in a BarBrawl so she just upends the [[VisualPun kitty]] and walks out while the demons are trying to catch the kittens.
124	-->'''Demon:''' Hey, the money's getting away!\
125	'''Buffy:''' Scamper! Be free!
126	* ''Series/{{Copper}}'': In "A Morning Song", the Druids start their assault on the precinct by having a naked man run into the station house, throwing handfuls of cash at the police.
127	* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'':
128	** In "Brooklyn 'Til I Die," a man tosses handfuls of high value gambling chips into the crowd to create a distraction to allow him to escape the casino. [[spoiler: This turns out to be part of a role-playing game.]]
129	** In another episode, a bartender throws the cash from a tip jar into the crowd to hinder the cops from getting to him while he runs out the back door.
130	* ''Series/{{CSIMiami}}: in one episode an outlaw couple had their getaway thwarted by the drawbridge going up, and decided to fling their money around while waiting for the cops - the merriment ends when the rising bridge reveals a hanging corpse.
131	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': [[Recap/DoctorWho2006CSTheRunawayBride "The Runaway Bride"]] has a variant of the chase scene version, in that it's not ''his'' money: The Doctor sonics a cash machine to spit out banknotes in order to create a distraction.
132	* ''Series/EretzNehederet'': The MoneySong "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUMl58i4m0w Gaza's sky is black but Qatar is always sunny]]" features the leaders of Hamas living it up in a luxury hotel in Qatar while Gaza is being bombed, tossing money around and spending it on ConspicuousConsumption.
133	* Jayne Cobb did this before he joined the crew on ''{{Series/Firefly}}'', when robbing a magistrate named Higgins. [[spoiler:Thing is, [[AccidentalHero he wanted to keep the cash, but after some antiaircraft fire, he had to lose some weight in his skiff]], and he'd already tossed his partner overboard.]] The people in the city under him hailed him as a hero, of course.
134	* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'': In "Red Hood," the Red Hood tosses the cash he has just stolen from the bank to a crowd of pedestrians so that they block the street and stop the police getting through. Tossing cash into the air then becomes a trademark of the Red Hood Gang.
135	* The opening of the second episode of ''Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1981'' describes how the planet Earth had a problem - that most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were posed for the problem, most of which involved the movement of small green pieces of paper, which was odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy. A businessman (CreatorCameo by franchise creator Douglas Adams) is shown going to a bank and acquiring a number of said small green pieces of paper. The narration continues that many were increasingly of the idea that they'd made a mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. Some said that even the trees had been a bad move and that no one should ever have left the oceans. At which point the businessman (shown stark-naked from the rear), heads into the ocean, tossing away his small green pieces of paper as he goes.
136	* Parodied in ''Series/TheITCrowd''. Denham Reynholm wants to impress his associate by displaying a disregard for cash, but lacks any actual money to throw away, so he borrows a £20 note from Roy so he can defenestrate it.
137	* ''Series/LostGirl''. In "Caged Fae," Bo robs a bank only to throw away the money outside a nightclub. At first it appears she committing crimes ForTheEvulz, but then we discover [[GetIntoJailFree she's planning to get caught anyway]], so wouldn't have been able to keep the money.
138	* ''Series/{{Lucifer\|2016}}''.
139	** Lucifer is not impressed by a street performer posing as a fire-and-brimstone preacher, so he gives the man a glimpse of his NightmareFace. The man flees in panic throwing away his collection tin, the money from which is immediately gathered up by an appreciative audience, who then applaud Lucifer's "act."
140	** Lucifer says he not only does this, he also [[MoneyToBurn sets the money on fire]] as well just to enjoy people's reactions.
141	** Detective Chloe Decker is chasing a bagman around a corner, only to find herself running through a cloud of money with the bag abandoned on the ground, as [[StealthHiBye Lucifer and Amenadiel have snatched him.]]
142	* ''Series/TheMagician'': Tony does it in "The Man Who Lost Himself." Having grabbed the stolen loot from the bad guys, he releases the bundles into the wind, forcing the crooks to stop chasing him in order to grab it. [[spoiler:He actually pockets the real cash and releases bundles of stage money to distract them.]]
143	* ''Series/MajorCrimes'': In "Moral Hazard," a spree killer uses an air cannon to fire thousands of dollars into the courtyard of a hotel, hoping to lure in victims so he can shoot them.
144	* Happens in an episode of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' while the team's chasing a terrorist in a train station. Too bad the money's poisoned. Tony laments the fact that all the money has to be burned.
145	* ''Series/{{Nichols}}'': In "The Indian Giver", Flying Fox is making a RunForTheBorder having stolen Nichols motorcycle while Nichols chases him on a horse. Flying Fox tosses a chunk of the money he conned off Ma Ketcham into the air: forcing Nichols to choose between retrieving the money or catching Flying Fox. Nichols stops to pick up the cash.
146	* At end of the ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses'' Christmas special "To Hull and Back" Del Boy throws away £15,000 thinking it's counterfeit. It's not.
147	* ''Series/PersonOfInterest''. In "Brotherhood" two children who've stolen a stash of drug money realize Finch is following them. They place a wad of bills on a subway grating, which blows the money all over the street.
148	* ''Series/{{Rome}}'':
149	** Quintus Pompey and his men turn up at the house of Lucius Vorenus, demanding to know what he's done with the gold taken from Rome's treasury. Vorenus is quite truthfully denying he knows about any gold [[NotHelpingYourCase when Pullo turns up on a litter, dressed in fine clothes and tossing coins in the air]]. After sizing up the situation, Pullo tosses another handful of gold coins so Pompey's thugs start scrabbling for them, giving Vorenus the chance to pound Pompey's head into the table. When Pullo suggests they take the money and run, Vorenus has to point out that Pullo fulfilling this trope means that all of Rome knows that he has the money, so they'll never get away with it. Pullo then has to hand the gold over to Caesar.
150	** In the first episode the spoils of war in Gaul have been brought back to Rome, and Caesar's legionaries are shown throwing gold jewelry to the cheering crowd. Opponents of Caesar are disquieted by the sight, aware that he's currying favour with the populace.
151	* ''Series/{{Sliders}}''. One episode opens with the group arriving in a San Francisco that's just struck black gold. One man is walking around throwing money into the air by the wadful, which the group grabs as much as they can of before sliding.
152	* In an episode of ''Series/{{Southland}}'', two cops have to chase a bank robber who is tossing handfuls of cash out behind him, which complicates the pursuit. It turns out he fully expected to get caught, but wanted to redistribute some the wealth before he was.
153	* In the pilot episode of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', the crew are negotiating with an alien race on a [[MarsNeedsWater planet with no water]]. They beam down three large containers of water to show their good faith, but when negotiations look like breaking down they shoot a hole in the containers and beam up while the aliens are scrabbling to collect the water before it spills.
154	* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', Sisko, acting the part of a the "high roller" in a holographic casino heist, starts throwing money into the air in order to distract the mob goons onto the crew.
155	* Parodied in ''Series/StellaUS'', where Michael, Michael and David become fabulously wealthy [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext from farming the floor of their apartment]], and celebrate by tossing wads of cash out of a limousine. They later find the bank has foreclosed on the apartment because they threw away ''all'' of their money and couldn't pay off their loan.
156	* In Brazilian soap opera ''Series/SuaveVeneno'' (''Mild Poison''), there was a young man who was about to become a millionaire because of a contract to play professional soccer. His father didn't even wait until the money came before throwing away cash. It bit him back when it was revealed the would-be-soccer star had a tumor that destroyed his career, nullifying the contract.
157	* In the "Inheritance" episode of ''Series/SWAT2017'', bank robbers block the SWATTeam vehicles as they make their getaway by throwing money out onto the street, filling the road with crowds of people trying to grab the cash.
158	* Subverted in Season 2 of ''Series/TheWire''. Ziggy throws the money Niko's given him for his role in their drug dealing out the window of Niko's car, not because it's so much but because he's angry Niko isn't letting him take a more active role[[note]]For good reason on Niko's part[[/note]] in the operation.
159	* When Creator/DonaldTrump bought ''Series/WWERaw'' he showered the crowd with hundred dollar bills.
160	[[/folder]]
161
162	[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
163	* ''Literature/TheBible'': In the Literature/BookOfZechariah, the titular prophet is given his wages for being a shepherd, and God tells him to throw it to the potter, which serves as a prophecy for when Judas Iscariot in the New Testament, after he betrays Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, throws it back to the priests he conspired with to do the job, and they use it to buy a potter's field to bury strangers in.
164	[[/folder]]
165
166	[[folder:Video Games]]
167	* ''VideoGame/ANNOMutationem'': Lin, a KnowledgeBroker in Noctis City, tosses several [[WeWillSpendCreditsInTheFuture credits]] towards his two girlfriends after they've entertained him at the [[CoolestClubEver Nocturne Maze]].
168	* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' uses the ChaseScene variation. You can do this to distract the various peoples of the city, either to distract guards or to block a pursuer's path.
169	* Justified in ''VisualNovel/{{Bustafellows}}''. When exposing Ortega for his crimes, Limbo opens a suitcase full of dirty money, sending all the bills flying into the ocean, while being watched live by hundreds of viewers. Teuta is surprised he would waste all that money. Limbo then reveals to Teuta that the money in the suitcase was swapped with fake bills so the group could split the real money amongst themselves while still appearing gallant for arresting a corrupted official for the watching audience.
170	* ''VideoGame/CusterdsQuest'': You have to throw a coin at a crowd of peasants to distract them early on. It starts such a ruckus because it is worth year's wages.
171	* In ''VideoGame/{{Elona}}'', a random event you can get while walking around is an encounter with a rich man throwing coins everywhere. Even in the depths of high-level dungeons. The amount of money you get is proportionate to the amount you are currently carrying, so you'll get a decent amount of gold if you were carrying 1000000 GP, but barely anything if you were only carrying a few thousand.
172	* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'':
173	** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoLibertyCityStories'' has a mission where a woman hires you to destroy some armoured cars and the money within. Toni does question the waste before he goes for it though.
174	** In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoOnline'' the player can choose an emote they can perform witha button push and to celebrate winning a race or a death match, one of which is "Make it Rain" which takes $1,000 of the player's cash to throw around bills from a stack.
175	* A variation in ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' is Komachi, who uses coins as danmaku projectiles - [[BulletHell and plenty of them]]. On one hand, as the immortal [[TheFerryman Ferrywoman]] of Gensokyo, she probably has an ample supply. On the other, [[TheSlacker she hardly ever works to collect them]].
176	* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
177	** Samurai in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' can toss coins to deal damage, with higher number of gold thrown boosting damage accordingly. Most players tend to abuse this ability to easily kill the final boss, as by the final battle, they literally have no more need for money.
178	** Other games include a similar ability, though its usefulness varies. (For example, in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears'', while a Black Magic user can easily hit the initial damage cap at middling levels, Gil Toss fails to scratch 3000 at level 99, which is just sad.)
179	* In ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'', the confusion status effect has a random chance of making a party member decide to "waste money". Which translates to throwing away a large chunk of your money (complete with an animation which surrounds them with bank notes). Oddly enough, monsters under the effect do the same thing (although not with your money, fortunatly).
180	* In ''VideoGame/{{Pikuniku}}'', the preferred [[BreadAndCircuses distraction technique]] of Mr. Sunshine is to literally rain ''"FREE MONEY!!"'' down on the citizens of the island, whenever they start to question why his giant robots are [[CrapsaccharineWorld sucking up all their natural resources]]...
181	* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'' for the NES, every use of the bow costs one Rupee. If you run out of Rupees, the bow is useless until you find more.
182	* The Pay Day attack in ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', which will net you extra Pokédollars (double or quintuple the user's level per use, depending on the generation) at the end of the battle.
183	* In ''VideoGame/Road96'', one sequence involves riding with Stan and Mitch after they have successfully robbed a bank. A cop is hot on their tail and the hitcher ends up throwing the stolen cash at the cop until he stops to gather it up for himself. By the time this happens, [[YankTheDogsChain the only thing left in the loot bag is a lotto ticket]].
184	* In ''VideoGame/RobinHoodTheLegendOfSherwood'', this is a technique to cause a distraction. Robin (and some other characters) can throw away a bag of gold. The bag rips and all bystanding guards are more than happy to [[GoldFever abandon their posts to collect the coins]], even knock each other out.
185	* ''VideoGame/SimCity 4'' lets you live out this trope by driving down the streets in the mayoral limo, throwing money (straight from the public coffers) to boost your mayor rating.
186	* Yoshimitsu (the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'' one) does this in some of his endings as part of his heroic, folk-hero bandit motif.
187	* In ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'', the protagonists can unlock the ability to toss out a shower of bills in order to distract the various thugs (and passing pedestrians or "civilians" as the Yakuza call them) trying to pick a fight with you.
188	[[/folder]]
189
190	[[folder:Western Animation]]
191	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'':
192	** The episode "Joker's Millions." Hopefully most of the money Mistah J was tossing was the counterfeit stuff King Barlowe had tricked him with.
193	** This also happens in "The Terrible Trio," with the wealthy trio throwing out the takings from their latest robbery to slow down the pursuing Batmobile.
194	* In the second episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', "Terror on Dinosaur Island", Plastic Man bombards Gorilla Grodd's henchapes with the loot he's swallowed for safekeeping, by punching himself in the stomach and spitting it out.
195	* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' had a greedy archeologist seeking a magical Egyptian ring that would awaken the Sphinx and reveal a massive treasure trove underneath it. He succeeds, and starts gleefuly pawing through the pile of thousands of diamonds... and one ruby. He says "How'd this get in here?" and throws it away.
196	* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'': In "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. [=McDuck=]", when Scrooge buys a mysterious potion, the contents cause him to flip between himself and a wildly un-thrifty persona that throws away his money.
197	* A variation in the ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' episode "Crime and Nourishment" where Garfield discovers a world of little green [[Franchise/TheSmurfs smurf]] like men who use Italian food as money and eat dollar bills for food. He's being chased by a mob of them and throws away the rest of his lasagna to slow them down.
198	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', Verrick tosses money out to distract guards while escaping the Northern Water Tribe.
199	* Parodied on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. Monty Burns, wanting to become popular, throws ''silver dollars'' at passersby, causing a lot of property damage and numerous injuries. This is a parody of John D. Rockefeller who was probably best known in his later life for the practice of giving dimes to children wherever he went... including, canonically, [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Scrooge McDuck]]. Earlier in the same episode beloved billionaire Arthur Fortune tosses out dollars to the people at his mall grand opening.
200	* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{SpongeBob SquarePants}}'' episode "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS2E5WormyPattyHype Patty Hype]]", [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick earn so much money that they don't know what to do with it at first. They try [[MoneyToBurn burying, shredding, and burning it]] before deciding to open a "Free Money" stand, where fish queue to receive bags of money.
201	-->'''Fish:''' I'm getting back in line!
202	* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', Steven decides to change his wrestling persona to Tiger Philanthropist, who gives all of Tiger Millionaire's money away. This often takes the form of showering his opponents in money, [[BondOneLiner telling them to use it to pay their medical bills.]]
203	* In Creator/HannaBarbera's ''WesternAnimation/YippeeYappeeAndYahooey'', there was a story where the King was rather unpopular and one of the title characters suggested throwing money away but the King quickly vetoed the idea.
204	[[/folder]]
205
206	[[folder:Real Life]]
207	* A highway robber in 17th century got away from militia soldiers chasing him by throwing some of his coinage behind him. It proved a canny business expense as his pursuers stopped to pluck up the money and he got away.
208	* In the 60s, Abbie Hoffman and some associates got to the upper floor of the New York Stock Exchange and started throwing dollar bills onto the trading floor, trying to start a riot and make a statement about the country's obsession with money.
209	* In 2007, [[https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/spawning-a-bundle-of-rosser-wannabes-top-snob-takes-to-stage-26314834.html stories in Ireland]] emerged of wealthy young readers of the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series, [[ComicallyMissingThePoint completely oblivious to the satire]], emulating the lead character (see "Literature" folder) by tossing money out of their car windows in working-class areas of Dublin and shouting "AFFLUENCE!"
210	* The practise of doing this at a strip club is known as "making it rain". Music/{{Drake}} once did so with [[https://www.mtv.com/news/x8f815/drake-makes-it-rain-50k-north-carolina-strip-club $50,000]].
211	[[/folder]]

Context Main / MoneyToThrowAway