Line #34 Main/PercussivePickpocket


1	%%
2	%%
3	%%
4	%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
5	%%
6	%%
7	%%
8	%% Image and caption selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1351297177034120200
9	%% Please do not change or remove either without starting a new thread.
10	%%
11	[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_smbc_pickpocket_2_5366.gif]]]]
12	[-[[caption-width-right:350:"Hey, stop him! That guy [[JustTheIntroductionToTheOpposites just stole that suit's man!]]"]]-]
13
14	->''"This fell out of her pocket when I accidentally bumped into her. Took me four goes."''
15	-->-- '''The Doctor''', ''Series/DoctorWho'', [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E2TheBeastBelow "The Beast Below"]]
16
17	In short, a thief pickpockets something off of someone, disguising the act as an accidental bump on the street. The theory goes that a brief, seemingly harmless touch presents all the opportunity a skilled thief needs in order to take what he wants off an unwitting target.
18
19	The marking quality of this type of encounter is that the thief usually tries to make as small a deal about bumping into the victim as possible, hurrying away before the mark realizes what happened. This is usually accomplished by a quick "Sorry" and brisk walk away from the protagonist.
20
21	[[CrashIntoHello Bumping into someone]] in fiction can indicate a wide range of events, from an [[MeetCute early romance]], to [[EstablishingCharacterMoment introducing]] a [[TheKlutz clumsy character]] to showing that the new character is simply prone to [[JerkAss shoving people out of the way]]. What these events all have in common, however, is that it is usually made apparent right away why the collision took place. There are times though when someone will bump into the protagonist, and despite a suspicious amount of attention being given to the moment, the protagonist will play off the event as nothing, and little further attention is given to the collision even though it obviously [[TheLawOfConservationOfDetail happened for a reason]]. In nearly every such case, it is almost guaranteed that the colliding stranger introduced in this scene is a [[FiveFingerDiscount pickpocket at work]].
22
23	There are a couple signals that indicate this trope:
24
25	* The thief tends to have a [[TheLawOfConservationOfDetail disproportionate amount of screentime/attention dedicated to him/her]] for such a brief moment.
26	* The victim tends to brush off the encounter and assumes that [[GenreBlindness it happened for no reason]]. The same goes for any of his traveling companions.
27	* The thief doesn't make a big deal about bumping into the protagonist. The thief doesn't give his name, doesn't try to engage in any extended conversation with the victim, and generally tries to get away from his mark as quickly as possible. In general, the scene is played off to be as seemingly insignificant an event as possible.
28
29	To make it even easier, the thief tends to look shady or untrustworthy in general. If he is a child, you can expect him to be a StreetUrchin. If the stolen item was something [[MacGuffin important to the plot]], you can be certain that the protagonist and the thief will meet again later sometime after discovering the loss of his missing item, having deciphered [[StickyFingers what exactly happened]].
30
31	This ''can'' happen in {{real life}}, but pickpocketing in the real world is usually more complicated than how this trope is typically portrayed in fiction. Professional pickpockets tend to work in groups and employ a variety of hybridized techniques to distract their victims that involve far more than a simple bump on the street.
32
33	While the term "percussion" is usually attributed to the family of musical instruments, as a word it simply refers to the act of one body striking another, hence the trope's name.
34
35	A {{subtrope}} of FiveFingerDiscount. Compare to AffectionatePickpocket, where contact with the mark is achieved in a [[DistractedByTheSexy more forward manner]]. Also compare to ShakeSomeoneObjectsFall, where the action is more aggressive.
36
37	----
38	!!Examples:
39	[[foldercontrol]]
40
41	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
42	* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'':
43	** In "[[Recap/CowboyBebopSession1AsteroidBlues Asteroid Blues]]", Spike lets the bad guy Asimov bump him (actually grab and start to strangle him) in order to steal a vial of the drugs Asimov was carrying.
44	** In "[[Recap/CowboyBebopSession4GatewayShuffle Gateway Shuffle]]", he slips the current bad guy's ''bioweapon vial'' into her own pocket, resulting in it [[ChekhovsGun breaking open in a later scene]] and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard taking her out]] just as she [[OhCrap realizes what happened]].
45	** Another variant occurs in ''Anime/CowboyBebopKnockinOnHeavensDoor'' when Spike slips a listening device into Electra's pocket while fighting her.
46	* ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'': Seita and Gintoki first meet when Seita pretends to accidentally bump into Gintoki and steals his wallet. Hilariously enough, not only does Seita find out that Gintoki wasn't carrying that much money but he also finds out that Gintoki had pick-pocketed him at the same time.
47	* ''Anime/KillLaKill'': When Ryuko Matoi is pickpocketed by a group of street kids, she sees the theft coming and gives them a half-eaten lemon instead of her wallet.
48	* ''Anime/RurouniKenshin'': Yahiko tries to pull this on Kenshin. [[GiveMeBackMyWallet Kaoru catches him in the act]], and when Kenshin gives the kid the wallet anyway, Yahiko [[DontYouDarePityMe throws the money back into his face]].
49	* ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'', Episode 7: Fuu's money bag is stolen in this manner by a {{street urchin}} trying to fence off enough money to pay for his mother's illness. He later gets into a lot more trouble pickpocketing something else, only realizing after the fact that the victim was a gangster and the item he stole was very valuable.
50	* ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'': A little boy does this to Lina Inverse. [[GiveMeBackMyWallet She catches him]] and makes him her slave.
51	[[/folder]]
52
53	[[folder:Comic Books]]
54	* In ''ComicBook/BakerStreet'' #2, Sharon collides with a constable and lifts his keys off him, which she tosses to Domino, who is handcuffed in the back of a police car.
55	* In the ''ComicBook/{{Chick Tract\|s}}'' "Framed!", the opposite happens when a kid bumps into Joe Harris so that one of his accomplices can plant a gun on him.
56	* During a flashback in ''ComicBook/Criminal2006'', veteran pickpocket Ivan tells a young Leo that "the bump is for amateurs". Leo is later shown being able to lift people's wallets [[spoiler:and weapons]] without them ever noticing.
57	* A StreetUrchin attempts this on Mechanika in ''ComicBook/LadyMechanika: The Tablet of Destinies'' #2. It doesn't work.
58	* ''ComicBook/TheOracleCode'': Babs bumps into one of the therapists in order to steal their employee I.D. card.
59	* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
60	** In ''[[ComicBook/SupermansPalJimmyOlsen Jimmy Olsen #25]]'', the ''Planet's'' other staff [[SecretTest are secretly putting Jimmy through a test]] to see if he can make it as a {{foreign correspondent}}; the test involves pretending that they don't know him and he never worked there. Jimmy decides to look in his wallet for ID. Before he can, however, Clark Kent pulls his hat down and bumps into him as a cover to switch the ID at SuperSpeed, forcing Jimmy to come up with another way to prove he's being hoaxed.
61	** In ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfClarkKent'' storyline, Lois Lane steals a policeman's radio phone using this technique when she was on the run in Metropolis and uses the phone to get in touch with "Terrible" Turpin.
62	* In ''Recap/TintinTheSecretOfTheUnicorn'', this is the pickpocket Aristides Silk's default MO.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
66	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTintin2011'': The pickpocket in the 2011 movie.
67	** Or the one in the comic: All the Thompson twins initially remember of him is that they bumped into him.
68	* ''WesternAnimation/TheBadGuys2022'': Mr. Wolf, a master pickpocket, does this to steal an ID card from the police chief for the Golden Dolphin heist.
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
72	* Felix does this in ''Film/The51stState'' to a lawyer, in a police station no less. He does it under the guise of being a confrontational ass, but he gets the key to a really nice car.
73	* Tom Canboro in the ''Film/{{Apocalypse}}'' film series movie ''Tribulation'' disguises stealing a phone out of somebody's pocket with this, and then conveniently distracts his victim by pointing to a passing jogger, saying that he noticed that the jogger doesn't have [[MarkOfTheBeast "the mark"]].
74	* ''Film/TheArtOfTheSteal'': While arguing with Crunch on the street, Nicky bumps into a pedestrian and lifts his wallet. When Crunch asks him why he is still doing that pennyante stuff, Nicky claims it is just to keep his eye in. A few seconds later, he does it to a 12-year old girl and Crunch loses it.
75	* We see the protagonist do this in ''Film/BulletproofMonk'' during Rush Hour on the subway. One pocket turns out to have a handcuff in it, but Kar gets away. Later, the Monk does this to him to return the wallet he just took to its original owner.
76	* Used for a BrickJoke in ''Film/{{Casablanca}}''. At the start of the movie, we see a pickpocket at work. Later the pickpocket bumps into one of the main characters, who frantically checks his pockets to make sure his wallet is still there.
77	* In ''Film/{{Confidence}}'', this is Lily's EstablishingCharacterMoment, as she bumps into Jake after he's just pulled a con, and ends up walking off with his winnings (it also ends up being a MeetCute).
78	* ''Film/{{Eternal}}'': In Venice, a StreetUrchin coming out of an alley collides with Pope and scurries off. Pope only takes a few steps before he realises his wallet is gone, and manages to catch to her before she can escape.
79	* In movies, this trope dates at least as far back as 1912 and ''Film/TheEvidenceOfTheFilm''. In this example, a corrupt stockbroker retrieves $20,000 in bonds by knocking over a messenger boy on the street, switching out packages as they're tangled together on the ground.
80	* ''Film/{{Foolproof}}:'' Sam holds Leo at gunpoint, hinting he should let the heroes quit his service. When he mockingly asks [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets if Sam thinks he'd give her a loaded gun]], she reveals that she pickpocketed the ammo clip from him.
81	* ''Film/GangsOfNewYork'': Amsterdam is pickpocketed by Jenny in this exact manner.
82	* At the end of ''Film/GunsGirlsAndGambling'', it is revealed that [[spoiler:'John Smith' is not Smith's real name. It is an identity he got by stealing the wallet--and the ID--of the man he bumped into in TheCasino at the start of the film]].
83	* In the film ''Film/HarryInYourPocket'', Creator/JamesCoburn plays Harry, the leader of a band of pickpockets. Part of their stealing technique involves bumping into people.
84	* In ''Film/{{Inception}}'', Eames bumps into Fischer and steals his wallet, which he then gives to Cobb so that he can return it to Fischer and thus have an excuse to talk to him.
85	* In ''Film/LaughterInParadise'', Captain Russell shoplifts several strings of pearls in [[GetIntoJailFree an attempt to get arrested]]. As he is headed for the door, he is accosted by a pair of pickpockets: one of whom bumps into him and apologises profusely while the other picks his pocket. Captain Russell is nabbed by the store detectives who search him but cannot find the pearls. When Captain Russell checks his own pockets, he discovers that the pickpockets have stolen not only the pearls but also his wallet.
86	* Inverted in ''Film/{{Lincoln}}''. Lincoln's lobbyists deliberately crash into a Democrat they hope to bribe a vote from, apologize, and help him recollect his papers. It takes a second or two for the Congressman to realize that they're ''piling money into his folder''.
87	* In ''Film/MyBlueHeaven'', Creator/SteveMartin's character Vinnie, an ex-mobster, warns two boys about it at a baseball game. One of the boys waves his wallet while calling the hotdog vendor, and Vinnie tells him not to wave it because a pickpocket will watch where he puts it. Vinnie then demonstrates, bumping into the boy and handing his wallet back a moment later.
88	* ''Film/OceansEleven'': Linus Caldwell's EstablishingCharacterMoment is him doing this to a passenger on the train. When the carriage jolts, Linus "bumps" into the guy and lifts his wallet. During the main heist he and Frank stage a fight next to Terry Benedict so Linus can stumble into Benedict and steal the codes to the vault from his pocket.
89	* In ''Film/OneFootInHell'', Ivers bumps into a drunken prospector in the saloon in Royce City and lifts his poke off him. He is almost caught, but manages to pass the poke off to Mitch.
90	* At the beginning of ''Film/{{Payback}}'', the Porter has just recovered from his wounds and is out on the streets with no money. He spots a man with a passing resemblance to him so he bumps into the man to steal the man's wallet. Porter not only takes the cash but also uses the man's ID to make a number of fraudulent credit card purchases.
91	* In ''Film/RobinHood2018'', Tuck collides with Lord Pemberton and spills a drink on him, using the opportunity to lift his keys at the same time.
92	* In ''Film/ShootOutAtMedicineBend'', Devlin uses a staged collision with Sanders to lift his wallet, and then a second one to plant it on Walters.
93	* ''Film/TheSting''. While Doyle Lonnegan is walking through the train to the poker game, Billie (Gondorff's girlfriend) bumps into him and steals his wallet. He doesn't notice until after he loses big at the poker game and tries to take it out to pay off his debt.
94	* In the ''Film/TheThreeStooges'' short ''Loco Boy Makes Good'', Curly manages to lift $50 and a pocket watch off a debt collector harassing the elderly owner of a hotel in renovations.
95	* ''Film/TradingPlaces'': [[DirtyCop Clarence Beeks]] intentionally bumps into Louis Winthorpe in order to plant evidence into his pocket.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Folklore]]
99	* Subverted in one {{urban legend\|s}}. A jogger is out for his morning exercise when another man bumps into him. He suddenly realizes he doesn't have his wallet and assumes the other man took it. So he chases the man down, shouting "give me that wallet!" Terrified, the man pulls a wallet out of his pocket and gives it to him. When the jogger arrives back home, his wife tells him he'd left his wallet on the dresser.
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Literature]]
103	* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', one character steals some diamonds from someone by bumping into him in the market [[ImpossibleThief despite the fact that he had swallowed the diamonds for safe keeping]].
104	* ''Fraternity of the Stone'' by David Morrell. The protagonist wants to be a spy like his CoolUncle, who gets a Hong Kong StreetUrchin to teach him this technique. In order to graduate, he has to rob the urchin without him noticing. As a distraction, he hires another urchin to throw a fruit at his head.
105	* Raiders of ''{{Literature/Gor}}'': A girl is sentenced to slavery for being a pickpouch (Goreans don't have pockets) of this type. Bosk buys her and insists that she keep her skills sharp by allowing her to steal anything in camp, with the caveat that she must return whatever she steals within an hour or face serious consequences.
106	* Meparik and Crislie’s first meeting in ''Literature/HeraldsOfRhimn'', unbeknownst to Crislie until later, when she notices her missing wallet. Cue Meparik lamenting how few coins she had on her in the next chapter.
107	* ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'': ''Take a Thief'' refers to a two-person version of this as the "shake and snatch". The "shaker" bumps into the mark (fairly hard) on the street, the "snatcher" pickpockets the mark while helping him catch his balance.
108	* ''Literature/OliverTwist'': Happens to Fagin when he runs into a gang of young pickpockets.
109	* ''Literature/TheSaint'': In "The Man Who Was Clever", a mysterious stranger collides with Jerry Stannard in the street, mere seconds before one of UsefulNotes/ScotlandYard collars him for drug trafficking. No one is more astonished than Jerry when the bobbies find nothing on him. Of course, Jerry is eternally grateful when the pickpocket who relieved him of a package of pure cocaine reveals himself to be Simon Templar.
110	* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': A pair of Bothans pull this stunt on Wedge Antilles and Corran Horn in ''[[Literature/HandOfThrawn Vision of the Future]]'', with one of them doing the bumping and grabbing while the other distracts the marks by loudly berating his companion's clumsiness. Corran, a former police officer, is naturally suspicious of the incident but doesn't realize what happened until a little too late (and is incredibly embarrassed at having fallen for it). [[spoiler:Then a lady nearby, whom the two thieves almost ran down in their haste to get away, wanders over and produces the wallets, having returned the favour.]]
111	* In ''The Twisted Thing'', Literature/MikeHammer gets TheGlomp from the murderer, who takes the opportunity to [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets remove the magazine from his Colt automatic]], having realised that Mike is onto him.
112	* ''Supercops Play it to a Bust'' by Dave Greenberg. One of the eponymous supercops makes an undercover drug buy only to be busted by the regular police. His partner arrives on the scene and pulls rank, then pretends to wrestle his partner to the ground while surreptitiously removing the drugs he's just bought. The police then search him and find he's clean, and his partner then produces the drugs and threatens to plant them on the dealers if they're ever seen dealing in this area again. When the drug dealers ask the undercover cop afterwards what happened to the drugs, he says truthfully that he slipped them into the cop's pocket while struggling with him.
113	* Inverted in the ''LIterature/SherlockHolmes'' novel ''The Twelve Thefts of Christmas'' by Tim Majors: [[spoiler: Irene Adler, performing a series of "thefts without theft" as part of a challenge to Holmes, breaks into 221B and steals the strings from his Stradivarius ... and then, before the crime is discovered, bumps into Watson while disguised and drops them in his pocket.]]
114	[[/folder]]
115
116	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
117	* Parodied in an episode of ''Series/AngieTribeca'', when Dr. Scholls gets a ferret out of a cage simply by bumping into the Fish & Game officer holding it. The slow-motion flashback reveals that during the bump she took the cage, swapped the ferret for a box of Pop-Tarts, applied lipstick, gave a passionate kiss to a nearby policeman, returned the cage to the officer, and then apologized for the bump.
118	* ''Series/BabylonFive'': Happens to Sheridan, where the thief steals the comlink.
119	** ''Series/{{Crusade}}'': Happens to Max. Dureena recovers it and tells Max that the pickpocket was clumsy, which is the only reason she took it back.
120	* ''Series/BreakingBad''/''Series/BetterCallSaul:'' In addition to being TheHeavy, Huell appears to have this as his specialty, able to plant and steal objects from people fairly easily for a big slow guy.
121	* 1960s ''Series/Batman1966'' episode "The Joker's Last Laugh". Batman discovers a tiny loudspeaker built into Commissioner Gordon's cufflink. He deduces that the Joker, who is a "master conjurer" (AKA stage magician), brushed into Gordon and switched cufflinks. Batman then reveals that in that single bump the Joker also managed to wrap several feet of an induction-receiving antenna around Gordon's waist and down his left trouser leg! Gordon then remembers that an oddly dressed person did bump into him on the subway that morning, confirming Batman's theory.
122	* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'':
123	** One ColdOpening has Mac catching a pickpocket (who manages to hide his stash before they grab him) just before running into the VictimOfTheWeek. [[spoiler:They later find a security camera video of said pickpocket bumping into their suspect and realise that he stole a camera with vital evidence on it.]]
124	** ArcVillain Shane Casey pulls reverse pickpockets twice in "[[Recap/CSINYS03E11 Raising Shane]];" first by bumping into Sheldon while he's jogging at night and slipping stolen cash into the pocket of his hoodie to frame him, and then by bumping into Mac in a crowd while in disguise to sneak a cell phone into Mac's pocket so he can call the detective.
125	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E2TheBeastBelow "The Beast Below"]], the Doctor does this to Mandy Tanner to get her wallet to give Amy an excuse to look for her. Thing is, he's not especially subtle: it took him four goes, so when Amy goes looking for Mandy, she finds the girl waiting for her because Mandy noticed the attempts.
126	* ''Series/TheEqualizer''. Inverted in "Dead Drop" where the object is to plant something in their pocket, rather than steal it. Jimmy hasn't done this for a while, so another operative helps by gaining the person's attention first. Mickey Kostmayer, who's [[TheGunslinger more comfortable with shooting people]] than the mundane aspects of intelligence work, fumbles this so awkwardly he just gives up and hands it to the person.
127	* In an episode of ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', Mal is rambling on about something, when a kid bumps into him in passing. Without missing a beat, Mal grabs the kid by the collar, [[GiveMeBackMyWallet takes his money out of the kid's hand]], and sends him on his way.
128	* ''Series/TheHardyBoysNancyDrewMysteries'': "Voodoo Doll" has the Hardy Boys wandering the streets of New Orleans during Mardi Gras. As they're distracted by the parades, the camera focuses on a passing woman moving through the crowd & deliberately bumping into them, lifting both brothers' wallets and walking away. It takes the Hardys a few seconds to realize their wallets are gone, and when they try to chase the woman, she's vanished into a nearby bar, kicking off the plot & getting the Hardys involved in the villain's plot against a visiting ambassador.
129	* ''Series/{{Harrow}}'': While trying to find out who framed her in "Aegri Somnia" ("Hallucinations"), Fern deliberately bumps into a pharmacist and lifts his car keys.
130	* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'':
131	** Parker often does this. A key element for her is that her character has no concept of personal space. Interestingly the actress was actually trained in how to do the lifts for real and was told that the key is soft hands, often combined with this trope.
132	** In the second season episode where they face off against a team of rival counterparts, Parker and the other team's master thief get into a competition doing this to the owner of the auction house. Unfortunately, between the two of them, they get a little too aggressive and steal so many things from him in such a short amount of time that he notices (his pockets are suddenly empty, his watch is gone, and his security badge is no longer attached to his jacket) and immediately closes the public viewing, doubles security, and puts the police on alert about a potential pending break-in.
133	* {{Inverted}} on ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' during a {{flashback}} to [[DaChief Vance's]] probie days. Another agent bumps into him and discretely hands him a passport for an op in Amsterdam.
134	* An episode of ''Series/PacificBlue'' apparently had a guy on rollerblades doing this around the beach, but when the officers chased and caught him, he didn't have the stolen wallet on him. [[spoiler:Turns out he only served as a distraction while his partner snatched the wallets from their victims from behind]].
135	* Happens several times in ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', including an electronic example in "Blue Code" where Fusco does this to spoof a magnetic ID card. In "Trojan Horse", Finch comes up with a complicated plan to get a USB stick from an executive, only for Reese to do this trope instead.
136	* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. In "Look After Annie", Bodie bumps into a {{Blackshirt}} leader, then moments later Doyle flashes his warrant card and searches him, finding a small packet of drugs. It's enough to get him locked up for a few hours instead of organising a violent protest march.
137	* In ''Series/SquidGame'', TheGamblingAddict [[LoserProtagonist Gi-hun]] bumps into Sae-byeok while running from his LoanShark, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold and even scrambles to help her up despite being chased]], only to find that she made off with all of his winnings [[OhCrap when he's caught and told to pay up]].
138	* A sci-fi version occurs in the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Random Thoughts". On a planet of telepaths where there's a black market for violent thoughts, someone bumps into B'Elanna Torres and 'steals' her instinctive mental response, which is to [[HairTriggerTemper imagine herself punching him in the face]].
139	* This trope shows up a number of times, along with the other pickpocketing variants, on ''Series/WhiteCollar''.
140	[[/folder]]
141
142	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
143	* ''Starblazer Adventures'', based on the 1970's-80's British science fiction comic book. The "Bump and Grab" stunt allows you to take advantage of a distraction (such as bumping into someone) to pickpocket them.
144	* Creator/{{Chaosium}}'s ''TabletopGame/ThievesWorld'' RPG (1981). The Game Master's Guide to Sanctuary had a plethora of random encounter tables. A couple of the entries had pickpockets bumping into the {{PC}}s in order to steal from them. Other encounters mentioned a {{NPC}} bumping into a {{PC}} so players wouldn't think that everyone bumping into them was a pickpocket.
145	* ''Witch Hunter: The Invisible World''. The Grab and Run talent allows the user to brush into a target and relieve them of their belongings.
146	[[/folder]]
147
148	[[folder:Theatre]]
149	* In the opening scene of ''Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac'', a pickpocket includes this technique in his lesson as he teaches some young trainees the art of pickpocketing while at the theatre.
150	* A skit commonly performed at Boy Scout camps and the like is "The World's Fastest Pickpocket." It consists of two scenes, often framed as a newscast: first the thief and the mark cross paths and briefly bump together in keeping with this trope. Then it's repeated in super slow motion; this time the thief physically assaults the mark, even to the point of literally picking him up and shaking stuff out of his pockets. PlayedForLaughs, of course.
151	[[/folder]]
152
153	[[folder:Video Games]]
154	* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'': Ezio can do this to random people on the streets.
155	** So can [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII Connor]] and [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag Edward]].
156	* ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireII'': Patty does this to you a couple of times.
157	* Chrono of ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' is ''accused'' of doing this to Marle by a KangarooCourt - but in actual fact it was just a CrashIntoHello, and her dropping her necklace was entirely accidental.
158	* A lowlife tries this on Hawke in the first act of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII''. He's not very good at it. Hawke notices immediately, and Varric pins the pickpocket to a wall with a crossbow bolt before telling him just how bad he is at stealing from people.
159	* The Thief in ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsChroniclesOfMystara'' can pickpocket enemies by dashing into them, causing them to drop a small random item (usually a low-value gem).
160	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'': Vaan is shown pickpocketing a random {{Mook}} of the EvilEmpire in an early cutscene.
161	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'': At the end of Chapter 2, a thief, whom we learn in the next chapter is named Colm, bumps into Eirika, upon which he steals her [[MacGuffin Lunar Bracelet]]. Eirika doesn't quite realize what happened until after Colm has escaped, forcing her to pursue him (at the insistence of Seth, who knows the true importance of the bracelet).
162	* ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar'': When you first enter the town of [[OutlawTown Reza]], a bandit runs into you and snatches your [[EscapeRope Dragonwings]] in this manner.
163	* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': During the mission ''The Crime in Progress," a volus on the Citadel accuses a quarian of doing this to him and stealing his credit chit, his story about how she did it getting longer and more ridiculous the longer the mission goes on. The chit was actually forgotten by the volus at the last place he went shopping.
164	* Franchise/{{Pokemon}}:
165	** In the main series, some Pokémon can have Pickpocket, an Ability (passive skill) in which it takes the hold item of any Pokémon that comes in close to attack, provided the Pokémon with Pickpocket isn't already holding an item. The Ability known as Magician is a more direct use of this trope, however, in that Pokémon with Magician takes a hold item of any Pokémon it bumps into while attacking.
166	** In ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon: Gates to Infinity'', a Scraggy does this to the two protagonists after they've retrieved some blue stones from a nearby dungeon. The duo is very GenreBlind about this; they start looking around for dropped stones after they realize they're gone, and when they see the Scraggy again, they think about asking him if he saw where they might have landed.
167	* In ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'', Arthur can run into such a pickpocket while walking into certain establishments, and they'll make off with a large sum of his money unless they're chased down and caught.
168	* In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' you can purchase the ability to do this as an upgrade. [[PowerupLetDown You will never make back the money it costs to buy this ability]].
169	* Colette from ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' has the "Item Thief" and "Item Rover" techs, which let her [[VideoGameStealing steal items from enemies]]... [[CuteClumsyGirl by tripping and falling on them]].
170	[[/folder]]
171
172	[[folder:Web Animation]]
173	* Roman Torchwick of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' does this to Emerald, shoving past her and Mercury to snag a note from her pocket and then showing it off. After their conversation, he reaches for his lighter, and Emerald holds it up while walking away. A rewatch shows that she actually picked his pocket first, using his own shove as cover.
174	[[/folder]]
175
176	[[folder:Web Original]]
177	* A variant in a ''WebVideo/HighRollers2016'' game played by the cast of ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII''. [[FakeAristocrat Astarion]] robs a wealthy man by shoving [[BoisterousBruiser Karlach]] (who is literally [[MyBloodRunsHot burning hot]]) into him; the man and his clothes are lightly burned, and Astarion lifts his purse while pretending to put out the fire.
178	[[/folder]]
179
180	[[folder:Webcomics]]
181	* Bumper from ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'', to the point that [[http://www.dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2006-09-20 it's where his nickname came from.]]
182	* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': A pair of children [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0649.html successfully do this]] to Durkon in a notorious city of thieves (taking, to their surprise, a bag full of diamonds he needed to resurrect a fallen comrade). Later, another pair try it in Sandsedge, [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0673.html but this time the party's own thief]] is there [[GiveMeBackMyWallet watching his back]].
183	* The title image comes from ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'''s The Greatest Pickpocket In The World, who is so talented he can "accidentally" bump into a man, disrobing and kidnapping him from a single bump, and the clothes will walk in humanoid form as if they were still attached to their method of locomotion.
184	* In ''Webcomic/{{Widdershins}}'', Sydney and the King of Thieves have the misfortune to do this to ''each other''. The King of Thieves snags Sydney's wallet, and Sydney's curse activates, stealing the King's mark and making ''him'' the new King, all without even knowing!
185	[[/folder]]
186
187	[[folder:Western Animation]]
188	* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'': In "[[Recap/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteersS1E9TreeOfLife Tree of Life]]", Dr. Blight gets SuperpowersForADay from the tree's sap. When she starts getting the upper hand on Captain Planet, Wheeler and Kwame tackle her. She throws them off easily, but when she wants to refuel on the super sap, she finds that Wheeler picked her pocket. One spray of sap later, Captain Planet retakes the upper hand.
189	* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' special "Whatever happened to Spongebob?", a very [[{{Jerkass}} abrasive citizen]] of [[CrapsackWorld New Kelp City]] accuses [[NiceGuy SpongeBob]] of this. However, [[SubvertedTrope SpongeBob was really just bumping into him]], and the accusations lead the [[EasyAmnesia currently amnesiac SpongeBob]] to believe that he is a jobless bum who steals other peoples wallets.
190	* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'': Ezra Bridger has been shown to do this to Imperial soldiers.
191	** In particular, he does it twice in [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsSparkOfRebellion "Spark of Rebellion"]]: The first time, he pickpockets Imperial officer Grint's comlink. The ''second'' time, near the end, he goes for ''Kanan's lightsaber'', taking advantage of the jolt when the Wookiees' ship undocked from the ''Ghost''. Grint never notices he's been robbed. Kanan most definitely does, although whether he let Ezra steal his lightsaber on purpose or not is up for debate.
192	[[/folder]]
193
194	[[folder:Real Life]]
195	* A real-world variation is used by two pickpockets working in tandem. One does the clumsy bump but doesn't steal anything. The genre-savvy victim ''thinks'' this has happened and reflexively puts a hand in/on the pocket holding his wallet. The second pickpocket spots this, tails the victim, and lifts the wallet without the victim even noticing their presence.
196	[[/folder]]
197

Context Main / PercussivePickpocket