Glad I Thought of It

That's why he gets the big bucks!

Finn: Just don't take credit for ideas that aren't yours.
Bufo: Oh... okay.... Good idea.... Glad I thought of it....

— Adventure Time

Bob and Alice have a problem. Bob has a brilliant solution and tells Alice. Alice reacts as if she had thought of it herself.

Bonus points if Alice first criticizes the idea before stealing it. Further bonus points if Bob and Alice are members of a Quirky Miniboss Squad and Alice returns ownership of the idea to Bob after the plan goes Wahoonie-shaped.

A common variation has Alice acting as though she has not heard Bob's suggestion at all, and then repeating it word-for-word as though she had just thought of it. This variation is important: without it, the character who's "glad they thought of it" technically isn't lying — they did think of it, as a consequence of someone else's voicing the idea; what they're lacking is the acknowledgement "...because you said it", and that lack is the essence of the trope. If Alice honestly hadn't heard the plan before independently suggesting it, it's a case of Strange Minds Think Alike.

To add insult to injury, any other participants to the plan will often be quick to bestow fawning praise on Alice for "her" brilliant idea... even if they had also been present to hear Bob suggest it.

Occasionally, if the character coming up with the idea is especially dumb, they may instantly forget that they made the suggestion in the first place, leading to a response of Why Didn't I Think of That?

A common payoff is Stolen Credit Backfire, where the idea turns out to be a bad one and everyone blames Alice for it— or, more insultingly, Alice blames Bob for it.

Compare with Glad You Thought of It, which is to suggest subtly an idea in a way that lets someone else take credit (and perhaps honestly believe that they thought of it themselves), making them more likely to accept and act on the proposal than if you directly advocated it yourself.

Taking it to further extremes is Stealing the Credit, which is when a character is deliberately scheming to rip off the other's hard work. This may end in an An Aesop that Cheaters Never Prosper.

People prone to this are also prone to Never My Fault.

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Examples:

Advertising

• Used in a Domino's commercial. Donald Trump receives a cheeseburger pizza from a delivery guy... and then acts like the cheeseburger pizza — its invention, not ordering it, which was probably his secretary's idea from his reaction — was his idea. And his yes-men compliment him on it. The delivery guy is the Only Sane Man, of course.
• A commercial for FedEx featured a boss repeating an underling's suggestion verbatim but making a hand signal while saying it, which is apparently enough to make it uniquely the boss's idea.
• A commercial for NBATickets.com featured a son showing his dad how another family used the site to get tickets even though the game was sold out. The dad immediately takes credit for finding the site, and buys tickets for the two of them.
  Dad: Your dad's a genius!

Anime & Manga

• Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun: Nozaki's former editor Maeno (emphasis on the former) would constantly take credit for Nozaki's ideas for his manga, often seconds before Nozaki was about to bring it up. He was so annoying about it that Nozaki would refuse to use those ideas out of spite.
  Maeno: [flashback] I just love the new character! Oh man, aren't you glad I came up with that idea?
  Nozaki: [present] After that, I made sure the character never appeared again. I just couldn't love her.
• Pecola: In "Painting Pecola", Pecola suggests painting the town hall with bright colors so that more people will show up when Mayor Papazoni gives his speeches. Mayor Papazoni likes the idea so much that he refers to it as "his" idea.
• In Pokémon: The Series, Cleavon Schpielbunk has the gang help him film a Romeo and Juliet-esque love story in which all of the actors are Pokémon, and, in the middle of the climax, Team Rocket interferes and attempts to abduct the crew. Schpielbunk keeps the cameras rolling as Misty's Psyduck sends Team Rocket blasting off with its psychic powers, and, in the aftermath, claims credit for coming up with this bold new direction for the finale.

Asian Animation

• Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf features this exchange between Darker and some wolf soldiers in the Mighty Little Defenders episode "Tibbie the Woodcutter":
  Wolf soldier #1: Captain, I have an idea. We can get someone to place a big order of matches from Tibbie. Then Tibbie will be too busy making the matches and have no time for the goats.
  Darker: No way! If you ask me, we should hire a contractor to place a big order so she'll be too busy making the matches and have no time left for the goats! I think that's a better way.
  Wolf soldier #1: [leans toward a second wolf soldier's ear] Isn't that the same as what I just said?
  Darker: What? What were you saying?
  Both wolf soldiers: I mean, we have never heard a better way to do it than what you just said!
  Darker: Hmm, okay, okay. That settles it, then.

Comic Books

• Giraffes On Horseback Salad: After it is revealed that the Woman Surreal bathes every day in a bathtub full of fresh small oysters while wearing a stoat wrap, Linda does the same thing... while insisting that this has been her routine for the last three years.
• In Superior Spider-Man (2023), flashbacks reveal that during his time in control of Peter Parker's body, Otto Octavius blatantly takes credit for an idea to control the tritium reaction using a method suggested by Estrella Lopez, one of his research assistants. Unlike in some cases, it's possible that Octavius genuinely thought the idea was his as he wasn't fully paying attention to Estrella's words while lost in his own thoughts, although he would have certainly refused to consider the idea that someone else had an idea before him given his own ego.

Comic Strips

• Calvin and Hobbes: The strip's last multi-week storyline involves Galaxoid and Nebular, two aliens to whom Calvin sold the Earth in a previous arc, complaining about the cold Earth winter and demanding Calvin do something about it. Hobbes removes their Christmas stockings from the fireplace and gives them to the aliens, to which Calvin vehemently protests, since now "Santa can't fill 'em with loot!" Hobbes reassures him that Santa knows they did a nice thing and will work something out, to which Calvin replies, "Hey yeah, I did something good!"
• Dilbert:
  • Dilbert and his co-workers have taken advantage of the Pointy-Haired Boss's habit of doing this several times — suggest something ridiculous, wait for him to steal the idea, try not to laugh in PHB's face.
  • In one strip, Dogbert is helping a guy who wants a career belittling other people. Dogbert suggests that he pursue a career in management and decides to give him the management aptitude test. The guy instantly declares, "Hey, I have an idea! I should pursue a career in management!" Dogbert, of course, replies, "Congratulations, you just passed the management aptitude test."
  • In another strip, when PHB does this to Dilbert's idea, Dilbert attempts to steal it back, to which PHB replies angrily, "I steal that idea to infinity."
• A months-long plotline in For Better or for Worse revolved around Elly trying to save the local theatre. Eventually, she gave up and took her young son Michael along to pack everything away. Michael, amazed by all the costumes, proclaims that they could throw the biggest Halloween party ever. Elly immediately hijacks the idea and helps organize a big celebration, inviting the local officials for a big shin-dig... only for adults, no children allowed. When one of those officials then declares the theatre a local icon and saves it, he proclaims "I've been lobbying for this for months!", leaving Elly gobsmacked and shocked that somebody would take credit for her idea.
• In one MAD "The Lighter Side" feature, one editor at a magazine (apparently MAD itself) pitches an idea his coworker thought up while noting that he has reservations about it. The head editor approves it, and the editor who mentioned it claims that he supported it all along.
• In an early Thimble Theatre comic, Castor Oyle (Olive Oyle's father) is annoyed that the political cartoonist for the newspaper he owns hasn't actually thought up a cartoon in several days. Castor suggests a cartoon showing the mayor as a vulture (a scandal was brewing during this) carrying off sheep, representations of the townspeople. The cartoonist derides this as stupid, before coming up with a comic portraying the mayor as a vulture carrying off sheep. Castor is not amused.

Fan Works

• In the Death Note fic A Cure for Love, during his Memory Gambit, Light discovers a lead as to how Astraea and Kira might be killing when he finds a reference to a Book of Death the Nazis were searching for that is mentioned in an old fairy tale. L dismisses it as rubbish... and then steals Light's research.
• In part 4 of Hard Being Pure, Haeten blatantly steals Astrex's plan.
  Astrex: I say we get in, cover both of her houses and grab her as soon as we see her.
  Haeten: I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!!
  ...
  Ok, here's the plan. We get in, camp at both houses and the first one to spot her kidnaps the girl.
  Astrex: I call plagiarism on my plan. It's not because you changed a few words that it makes it yours.
  Haeten: You have something to say about my plan?!
  Astrex: Not anymore.
• A Running Gag in Series Four of The Lion King Adventures. The Interceptor suggests several ideas to Shocker, who then takes credit for them as his own.
• Resident Evil Abridged: Masterfully done by Wesker to get his subordinate, Chris, to retrieve the passcode key from the aquatic-life testing facility for him:
  Chris: Any idea where it is?
  Wesker: Well, following the trend of this place, probably the most dangerous area possible. On a related note: I happened upon a document about a secret aquatic-life testing facility.
  Chris: ...and I'll bet you want ME to check it out, right...?
  Wesker: [ignoring him] "Absolutely!" you say? Thanks a bunch, Chris. That's what I like about you: a real go-getter. Do be careful to stay in one piece. K thanks bye. [leaves quickly]
• Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series: Inverted in "Marik's Evil Council of Doom #2": Marik refuses to accept that there was anything wrong with his failed evil plan until reminded that Bakura thought of it.
• Zim'sMostLoyalServant:
  • In The New Adventures of Invader Zim and Ruby Pair, Zim has a habit of taking credit for his minions' good ideas.
  • In the former story, Tak also occasionally does this with Tenn after they team up.

Films — Animation

• Brave:
  • When Merida goes back to the stone circle, only to fail to find any wisps, her mother immediately begins following the direction Merida said she'd gone to reach the witch's cottage, logically assuming that, barring magic being used to conceal the path, it should still be there. Once Merida begins recognizing landmarks, she immediately acts as if physically retracing her steps was her idea, and upon finding the cottage again cries, "I did it, I found it!" Her mother's expressions throughout all these are priceless.
  • When Merida gives Elinor's decision to let her marry for love instead of station, Lord Macintosh starts to exclaim how stupid the idea is. After everyone else agrees it's a wonderful idea, he changes his tune and claims "I'm glad I thought of it".
• In Inside Out, when Riley has fallen asleep and they need to get the Train of Thought moving, Sadness suggests waking her up. Joy criticizes the idea, not seeing how they'd do it, then sees Dream Productions and repeats the idea.
  Sadness: Great idea, Joy.
  Joy: Thanks. Come on!
• In The LEGO Movie, when the heroes are trying to work out an escape plan after Cloud Cuckoo Land is attacked by Micro Managers, Emmet rather meekly suggests that they go underwater and is ignored. Batman then loudly suggests the same idea, to immediate and very enthusiastic agreement.
• The Lion King:
  • Timon does this to Pumbaa in The Lion King (1994), the sequel, the interquel and Timon & Pumbaa. Pumbaa never notices. Well, sometimes he does, but he promptly shrugs it off. The first on-screen and most famous example has him deriding Pumbaa's idea for the couple of seconds that it takes him to warm up to it.
    Pumbaa: Maybe he'll be on our side.
    Timon: That's the stupidest thing I ever heard! Maybe he'll... Wait, I've got it! What if he's on our side?
  • Earlier in the original film, Simba does this to Nala after the two manage to escape Zazu. Unlike Pumbaa though, Nala does notice and lightheartedly argues with Simba over who deserves credit about it and Simba immediately admits that it wasn't his but claims credentials for its reenactment instead. The two end up playfully wrestling over it and Nala wins, twice.
    Simba: I am a genius.
    Nala: Hey "genius", it was my idea.
    Simba: Yeah, but I pulled it off.
    Nala: With me!
• In Little Wolf's Book of Badness, Little Wolf suggests to his uncle, The Big Bad Wolf, the plan to dress up as the Granny of Little Red Riding Hood. He takes the idea, credits it to himself, and, when Little Wolf protests, says that if he was truly cunning, then he wouldn't share such ideas.
• From the Megamind video comic extra "The Reign of Megamind":
  Minion: Sir! You- You listened to me?
  Megamind: No... Something you said just happened to make me take action on a plan of my own. Which bore a similarity to your suggestion, but was entirely of my own making.
• In Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension, Candace decides that as an adult, she's too mature to beg her mom to bust her brothers, leading to this exchange:
  Stacy: The irony is that as an adult, you don't need to tell your mom. You can just bust them yourself.
  Candace: That's it, Stacy! I'm old enough to bust them myself!
  Stacy: That's what I just said.
• In Pooh's Heffalump Movie, Roo proposes the "expotition" to capture a heffalump. Rabbit agrees that it's a great idea, takes credit for it, then bans Roo from going because it's too dangerous for little kid like him.
  Rabbit: Oh, yes, the first heffalump expedition in history. Splendid idea. Glad I thought of it.
• In the Disney version of The Prince and the Pauper, this is one of the two things the prince tells Mickey to say in order to pass himself off as a ruler. (The other one is "Guards, seize him!")
• In The Real Story Of Humpty Dumpty, when Glitch the witch asks where she's going to get more eggs, her cat henchman Scratch suggests an egg farm. Glitch replies, "That will never work. I have an idea. Let's get them at an egg farm." Scratch turns to the audience and dryly asks "Now why didn't I think of that?"
• A chain of these happen in Strange Magic. One of Roland's minions suggests using a love potion, which Roland's insulted by, since he thinks that it implies that he can't woo Princess Marianne successfully. When he thinks of other ways to woo her, he "comes up with" the idea to use a love potion. He then tricks Sunny into coming up with the love potion idea and encourages him to make one.

Films — Live-Action

• Airplane! makes a Running Gag out of the following dialog:
  Character 1: Character 2, shouldn't I do X?
  Character 2: [to first character] No, why don't you take care of it?
• All the Troubles of the World: In Chairman Gulliman's second video call, he demands that Hammond design a study for Multivac solving medical probabilities. After the call, Hammond points out to Leemy that a study on Multivac's analysis ability to predict medical problems had been created six months ago, and now the Chairman was going to take credit for the idea of commissioning the study.
• A variant is used in Anna and the King after the king of Siam discovers that the English Prime Minister has referred to him as an "uncivilised savage." The king wants to go to war over the insult (which would have been a disaster for both him and his nation considering England's overwhelming military superiority over Siam), but Anna goes to the king and cleverly manipulates him into realising that diplomacy is a better solution. In a subversion, the king immediately realises that he's been manipulated by Anna but is also wise enough to not only agree with her but also to ask Anna for her advice in a way which makes it superficially seem as though she's guessed his method of diplomacy while she's really telling him the best method to use.
• Used as a Chekhov's Gun in The Brady Bunch Movie. Jan suggests entering herself and the other kids in a performance contest in order to raise enough money for the family to save their home, but is rejected. Much later, Marcia does the same thing and immediately everyone agrees with her... except Jan, who, unlike other uses of this trope, calls them (and specifically Marcia) out for blasting the idea when she originally thought of it first. This also winds up being the last straw for her after constantly being treated as The Unfavorite and causes her to run away.
• Invoked in Django Unchained. Having lost his master Calvin (and considerable influence on his proceedings), Stephen explains to Django that the Candie estate were arguing about how best to kill him, saying he had to work pretty hard to make them think that selling Django to a mining company to be worked to death was their idea.
• Variation from Dune:
  De Vries: Now, as instructed, I have enlightened your nephews concerning my plan—
  Baron Harkonnen: MY plan!
  De Vries: ...the plan to crush the Atreides.
• Used in Hook, when Smee convinces the good Captain to try to get Peter's kids to love him.
• In Inception, the plan centers on invoking this in the mind of the mark. While in the mark's dream, you present him with an idea that he will suborn as his own upon waking up. The key is to make the mark truly believe that he came up with the idea on his own. This is much harder than simply stealing an idea.
• In The Living Daylights, James Bond and the Girl of the Week (a cellist) are escaping when she insists that they go back for her cello. Bond is adamant that they can't risk it, but she gets her way. Later, when they need an improvised sled:
  Bond: Glad I insisted you bring that cello!
• Occurs in Miss Congeniality when Gracie suggests to Eric how he should run his op. Eric immediately orders his team to follow those exact steps and follows it up with, "Yeah, now I'm thinking!"
• Monster Mash (1995) has Igor suggest to Dr. Frankenstein that they give the monster Scott's brain. Dr. Frankenstein dismisses Igor's suggestion before thinking it over and praising himself for the idea of putting Scott's brain into the monster's body.
• Inverted in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; to keep Jefferson Smith from digging too deep into things he doesn't want him to know about, Senator Paine brings up the bill for a boys camp Smith had mentioned in the press. Smith eagerly decides to write it, and when he gets Saunders, his secretary, to help him, Smith insists that it was all Paine's idea.
• Used in Ocean's Eleven, when Danny and Rusty are discussing whether Saul will join their team.
  Danny: You could ask him.
  Rusty: Hey, I could ask him.
• Regarding Pan, the director has stated that "Peter (Pan) has a tendency to claim other people's ideas as his own when they work, and claim they weren't his when they don't."
• Used multiple times in the Danny Kaye film version of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, with Mitty's boss claiming all of Mitty's ideas as something he'd already been planning.
• Said by Br'er Fox a couple of times in response to Br'er Bear's ideas to catch Br'er Rabbit in the "Tar Baby" sequence of Song of the South.
• In Spider-Man 2, J. Jonah Jameson asks his lackey Hoffman for a catchy name to call that freak with eight limbs who has been causing a ruckus. Hoffman suggests "Dr. Octopus", but Jameson shoots it down. Jameson shoots down several more suggestions from Hoffman before declaring that he just thought of the perfect name himself: Dr. Octopus! Hoffman begins to stammer in protest, but then resigns himself to his position as Professional Butt-Kisser and praises Jameson for "his" idea.
• It's the driving plot of the movie Working Girl. Secretary proposes an idea to her boss, who shoots it down and then later submits it as her own.

Literature

• Used dramatically in Animal Farm. Napoleon criticizes Snowball's plan to build a windmill, then claims that he thought of it himself after he runs Snowball off the farm.
• Used intentionally by Ehren ex Cursori in First Lord's Fury. He manages to convince the current (usurping) First Lord to expose himself to a dangerous (and eventually fatal) situation and think it was his own idea.
• Mentioned in Lady Knight. A very green female knight running a refugee camp, Keladry of Mindelan, can't always just give orders and have all of them obeyed immediately, and one of the things she figures out is how to phrase suggestions in ways that let her people think they came up with ideas. It might not be satisfying, but Kel's always been less interested in ego-stroking, more in results.
• The Last Dogs: Max and Rocky show Dandyclaw the poodle and his Enclave dogs about how to use the wagon to carry food and water. In return, he takes credit for the idea, even calling it "the Enclave's wagon", and keeps arranging for Max and Rocky to stay longer. This gets Max to be so fed up that he decides to leave the Enclave with Rocky.
• In Perloo The Bold, Gumpel suggests that Berwig put Senyous at the head of the army, which Berwig accepts with a "how clever of me to think of that."
• In Rise of the Federation: Patterns Of Interference, the Saurian dictator Maltuvis's megalomania has reached the point where he's quite capable of sincerely believing this; yes, his Orion associate may have the one who said the idea, but surely only because he had somehow sensed that Maltuvis was already thinking about it, if not quite consciously yet.
• Very common among the warlords in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but the most prominent is Cao Cao. They will ask their advisors what to do, then when one gives advice they like, they respond "That's exactly what I was thinking!"
• The Russian Space Navy admiral in Harry Harrison's Starworld is known by his subordinates for his little tolerance to criticism (and love of vodka while on duty). As such, his Number Two tries to find ways to contradict his admiral in such a way as to present it as the admiral's own idea, usually with phrases like "Haven't you told me once..." The one time the subordinate openly criticizes the guy, he gets slapped for his efforts.
• Watership Down: The rabbits have been caring for injured seagull Kehaar on the orders of their Chief Rabbit Hazel, who wants to use a bird to find another warren because they don't have any does. So Bigwig pours out their troubles to Kehaar, who comes up with the idea of searching for it himself, whereupon Hazel lavishly praises Kehaar for thinking up such a clever idea.
• Thomas Cromwell invokes this trope in Wolf Hall. He'll make deferential hints to Henry about an idea he has, and a week later Henry will say, "Cromwell, don't you think we should...?" Cromwell doesn't care about credit so long as he has permission to carry out "Henry's" proposal.
• Overlord (2012): The protagonist is trapped in the body of a skeletal lich and must maintain the facade that he is a super-genius playing twelve moves ahead of everyone else. When faced with a problem he has no solution for, a not-infrequent tactic he will employ is to let his underlings examine the issue and try to guess the plan he has supposedly already formulated, then congratulate one of them when they come up with something he can use.

Live-Action TV

• The Adventures of Slim Goodbody: An Evil Duo of puppet villains named Sal Soda and Sarah Heartburn come up with an evil plan that Sal has to explain to Sarah in deep detail — Sarah keeps poo-pooing Sal's idea until he's done explaining it, at which point Sarah thinks that it's brilliant and takes credit for it, to Sal's shock.
• While he doesn't say this exactly, Archie of All in the Family lives up to the spirit of this trope in "Archie Eats and Runs" when Mike suggests that they check to see if Edith served poison mushrooms for dinner, only to immediately have Archie dismiss it and then repeat the idea verbatim to Edith not a second later.
• The Aquabats! Super Show!, in the cartoon segment of "Überchaun!":
  Ricky Fitness: Commander! What if we shrink ourselves and fight them from inside Jimmy?
  MC Bat Commander: Maybe, [discards crowbar] or even better! We can shrink ourselves and fight them from inside Jimmy!
• In the Are You Being Served? episode "The Think Tank", the Ladies and Gents' staff are trying to think up ways of boosting sales in the department. Captain Peacock suggests an in-store fashion show, which Mr. Rumbold summarily rejects and then appropriates as his own idea.
• A Discussed Trope in Attila. Flavius Aetius presents the young Attila's chieftain with one of his men who has been tortured to incite him to attack a rival tribe. Attila accuses Flavius of having inflicted the torture marks himself, but is ignored. When Attila confronts Flavius over his manipulations afterwards, he doesn't deny his actions but says that Attila went about it the wrong way. He should have acted puzzled as to why the wounds of the tortured man hadn't bled (because they'd been inflicted after death) so the chieftain could come up with the explanation himself and thus take credit for being clever.
• A good-natured example occurs in Babylon 5. Commander Ivanova appropriates an extremely obvious solution to a problem that she missed and Dr. Franklin suggested (they need a strong power source, and the planet they orbit houses an immensely powerful machine controlled by an ally), but she is clearly embarrassed that she could miss it, and Franklin is playing along to make her feel better.
• Blackadder:
  • Edmund often does this to Baldrick throughout the series, most notably in the first season, where Baldrick is portrayed as smarter than Edmund. An example occurs in the very first episode, "The Foretelling". Edmund, having become a Prince of the Realm after the death of the previous king, decides to adopt a new nickname. His initial idea is The Black Vegetable. Baldrick suggests that something like The Black Adder might be more awe-inspiring. Edmund then proclaims that he has an even better idea: The Black Adder.
  • Invoked in the Blackadder the Third episode "Ink and Incapability". The Prince refuses to sponsor Dr. Samuel Johnson's Dictionary and insults the man on the way out, but Edmund promises Johnson that he can change the Prince's mind in a few minutes. He does so by telling the Prince that pretending to hate the Dictionary while actually loving it was a brilliant joke, which causes him to instantly adopt this attitude (the entire episode is predicated on the Prince's desire to convince people that he's witty and sophisticated).
• El Chapulín Colorado has as one of his catchphrases "That's exactly what I was going to say" whenever someone comes up with a good idea.
• A Running Gag in Dad's Army. Sgt Wilson will suggest a good idea, then Captain Mainwaring will say, "Yes, I was waiting for you to say that, Wilson." Alternatively, when someone points out a flaw in a plan, Mainwaring will say, "Well done, (name) - I was wondering who would be the first to spot that!"
• Doctor Who:
  • The Fourth Doctor seems particularly prone to this:
    • He does it to Leela in "The Invisible Enemy". She spends the episode telling him to blow up the enemy, only to become indignant when he congratulates himself on his brilliant idea of... blowing up the enemy.
    • In "The Stones of Blood", Romana tells the Doctor to get on with finding the next segment of Key to Time. The Doctor starts to leave, turns back, and tells her that he's decided to go find the location of the next segment of the Key to Time.
    • To Romana again in "City of Death", discussing Paris:
      The Doctor: It's the only place in the world where one can relax entirely.
      Romana: Mm. That bouquet.
      The Doctor: What Paris has, it has a life, it has an ethos, it has...
      Romana: A bouquet?
      The Doctor: ...a spirit all its own. Like a wine, it has...
      Romana: A bouquet.
      The Doctor: It has a bouquet. [Beat] Yes.
  • He even does it to himself in "Twice Upon a Time". The First Doctor tells the Twelfth Doctor to stop waving that silly "sonic screwdriver" around and use his eyes to note something about the Glass Woman (her face is asymmetrical and thus must be based on a real person, not a computer image). Later Twelve takes credit for seeing this, and when the First Doctor objects, Twelve points out that technically they're the same person!
• In the Swedish children's show Dr Mugg, this is a running gag. Captain Filling, the hero, will ask out loud what he can do to stop Dr. Mugg's latest plan. His love interest will propose an idea. He will hijack the idea. She, fawning all over him, will ask how he comes up with such brilliant plans. He will announce "Simple! I just use my brain!" and point to some completely random part of his body.
• The Fast Show had a regular sketch about The Girl Men Can't Hear, in which a group of men, and one woman, are struggling with a problem. The woman suggests a solution, but is completely ignored. Then one of the men suggests exactly the same solution, and the other men tell him how brilliant he is, while the woman asks "Can anyone actually hear me?" and continues to be ignored.
• Friends, Rachel is looking for a roommate and Phoebe's roommate just moved out.
  Rachel: Well, maybe I could be your roommate, Pheebs.
  Phoebe: ...Hey, maybe you could be my roommate!
• In Get Smart, Agent 99 will often suggest a plan, after which Max will re-quote the plan in the same exact words as if it were his own idea... Agent 99 will usually pause for a bit before deciding to humor Max. There is also a variant when Max is asked to explain how or why his brilliant idea will work. He chides the questioner... then asks 99 for the explanation. When 99 supplies it, he closes with something to the effect of "that's how/why my brilliant idea will work".
• Colonel Klink does this all the time on Hogan's Heroes. Colonel Hogan regularly takes advantage of it to manipulate him, often complimenting Klink on the brilliance of his plan.
• Horatio Hornblower, "The Even Chance": Horatio has his first midshipman command. He's supposed to board a taken French ship from a food convoy and bring her to England. He orders his men to put the Frenchmen in irons and assigns them some work. Matthews, his most experienced sailor and The Reliable One, suggests that they need more hands and that they should make the Frenchies do it. Horatio agrees and says it was of course his intention. Now, of course it was. However, he smiles as he says it, which indicates that he gives Matthews some credit.
• Inverted in The IT Crowd, when Moss has a good idea but decides that it's stupid until Jen repeats it, and he congratulates her on having a good idea, while Jen confusedly thanks him.
• In the Swedish comedy show Kenny Starfighter, the titular hero often responds to his kid sidekicks' suggestions of "How about we do X?" with a "No, let's do X". Although he's such a Cloudcuckoolander that it's not clear if he consciously is trying to steal their ideas, or if he didn't listen to a word they said to begin with.
• LazyTown: In "Birthday Surprise", Stephanie suggests that they should throw Sportacus the greatest birthday party ever. Stingy says no to this, and then suggests that they throw Sportacus the greatest birthday party ever.
• Jim from The Office (US) uses this trope sarcastically a couple of times, usually to point out the ridiculousness of said plan. For instance, during a meeting in the episode "Did I Stutter?", Andy proposes to add a bit more zing and pep to their answering machine message in order to energize the company. Jim responds by saying that they should add a newer message with even more zing and pep.
• Our Miss Brooks: Mr. Conklin uses this trope from time to time, usually at Connie's expense. However, being a Dead Pan Snarker, Connie doesn't let this go without remark.
• Power Rangers Zeo:
  • In "Invasion of the Ranger Snatchers", after the Rangers alter the ending of Sprocket's movie, Klank shows that he came up with a new screenplay. Sprocket approves, saying "I'm so glad I thought of it". Klank only has a chance to say "But..." before the Final Battle starts. In fact, this was a Running Gag in the show: Klank and/or Orbus would come up with a plan, Sprocket would take credit for it and any attempt of them insisting that the plan was theirs would be shot down by King Mondo when ordering their silence. Whenever the plan was foiled, Sprocket would quickly deny ownership of the plan and insist that it was Klank's fault for coming up with it, turning his father's wrath on the hapless footman.
  • This is what happens when Finster suggests Lord Zedd used the Power Rangers against Gasket. "That's a brilliant idea, Finster! I'm glad I thought of it!" (Yes, Zedd actually says it word for word.) Finster doesn't mind in the least that Zedd takes the credit, because his suggestion is being acted upon.
• In Wolf Hall, Thomas Cromwell asks Mary Boleyn to get him a real job in Henry's court and says Keeper of the Jewelhouse might do. Shortly afterwards, Anne says that she's decided he should have a job: Keeper of the Jewelhouse. Then, while walking back to his room tipsy, Henry tells Cromwell that he's decided to make him Keeper of the Jewelhouse.
• Happens Twice An Episode in Wonderbug, the first usually boiling down to "Let's get Wonderbug to help", the second being "Let's put on goofy disguises", and the second one usually having a variation. In fact, in at least one episode, the roles of Susan (who usually suggests the idea) and Barry (who steals the idea) are reversed, leaving Barry confused afterwards.

Radio

• Pretty much every higher-up in The Men from the Ministry will take their employees and subordinates' good ideas and claim credit for them, only to blame them if it goes wrong.

Roleplay

• In Dawn of a New Age: Oldport Blues, Nadine and the others have to decide what to do with Josephine when she joins them. Benedict suggests bringing her along, and Nadine shuts him down since she thinks that she's the only one smart enough to make decisions. Then she decides that they're bringing Josephine along.

Theatre

• In 1776, Franklin exploits this so that Richard Henry Lee will get approval to propose independence from Virginia, without Franklin and Adams having to ask him directly and then owe him a favor. It works magnificent-LEE.
  Franklin: If we could think of a Virginian who could go down there and persuade the House of Burgesses...
  Lee: DAMN ME IF I HAVEN'T THOUGHT OF SOMEONE!

Video Games

• In Peter Pan's and Alice's friendship campaign in Disney Heroes: Battle Mode, Alice gets the idea that the pirates may have stolen Peter's missing shadow when he mentions how he'd use invisibility to play tricks on Captain Hook. He responds that that's not a bad idea, then says the trope's name word for word.
• The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning: Early in Dante's Freezer, Sparx suggests loading a catapult with snowballs to knock down an obstacle. When this works, Spyro notes that this was a pretty good idea and then congratulates himself for coming up with it, to Sparx's outrage.
  Spyro: That was a good idea. Glad I thought of it.
  Sparx: You— glad— you— no.
• Persona 4: A non-malicious example arises as the heroes are all discussing the latest developments in their murder investigation, what they signify, and what they should do about it. Chie's only been half-listening to the discussion while thinking it over, and then, as the conversation concludes, she suddenly announces that she's got it all figured out — and proceeds to recite almost exactly what everyone else had just said. It doesn't seem to have been intentional, though she's still immediately called out for it.
• Star Wars: The Old Republic: Inverted, surprisingly enough, in the Sith Inquisitor storyline, when the Inquisitor pretends that an idea they planted in another's mind was their idea.
  Inquisitor: [Force Persuade] How about you just give me the chip now?
  The Veil: Please, Lord, let us join your cult and give you the chip.
  Inquisitor: Excellent idea. I wish I'd thought of it myself.

Visual Novels

• The Fruit of Grisaia: Michiru, a character whose intelligence is nowhere near where she thinks it is, does this on occasion. This tendency of hers is summed up during a conversation in which she tries to give nicknames to her classmates:
  Makina: Look, we've all got diff'rent impressions of each other anyway. How about we just play around with th' name instead?
  Michiru: That's it! Brilliant! We'll play around with his name instead... Heheh, I'm just full of ingenious thoughts today!
  Yuuji: Most of them seem to be shamelessly stolen from Makina.

Web Animation

• The Most Popular Girls in School: When Shay becomes Head Cheerleader in the middle of Season 3, her strategy is to wait for Mackenzie to say something brainy, then steal it for herself. And each time, Mackenzie is not amused. This trope is lampshaded in this fanart.
• The Thwomps:
  Thwhomp 1: What we need to do is to gather all thwomps, and take over!
  Thwomp 2: That's a stupid idea. What we need to do is take over, by gathering all the thwomps.
• Turnabout Storm: Trixie gets Phoenix to explain a hole in her case and then immediately takes his theory as hers. True to character, the Judge is completely oblivious to this.
  Judge: You sure are very bright, deducing something like that, Miss Trixie.
  Trixie: Naturally!
  Phoenix: [inner monologue] Argh! That was my deduction!

Webcomics

• 8-Bit Theater:
  Mob Boss: Good idea. Glad I thought of it.
  Mob Underling: That's why you're the boss. You're not afraid to go vaudeville on a guy.
• In Erfworld, one of Wanda's methods of getting Stanley to do what she wants is to make him think it was his idea.
• Freefall: With how he steals everything else, it's only natural Sam Starfall would steal ideas. In one case he even invokes it, playing a Paranoia Gambit so that the affected parties start coming up with devious plans he could be pulling, so he can steal them and use them.
• Housepets!, when the woodland animals discuss the change in the law at the end of "Heckraiser":
  Truck: What do you guys think about becoming citizens?
  Falstaff: Pfft! And be subjected to laws? That sounds like a raw deal, and I don't mean dumpster sushi!
  Truck: Maybe they wouldn't keep relocating us a hundred miles away, though.
  Falstaff: Or say, maybe they won't keep relocating us a hundred miles away...
  Truck: I just said—
  Falstaff: Truck, start writing down my ideas.
• In RPG World, Evil Soldier #347 suggests that Galgarion join the heroes in disguise. Galgarion promptly fires him... and then brings up the brilliant idea of joining the heroes in disguise!
• An unusual variant occurs in one Schlock Mercenary strip where time travel allows a character to steal an idea from a future version of himself, prompting him to say "I'm glad I will have thought of it."

Web Original

• As seen on Not Always Right, a customer wants to buy a 20-foot piece of wood. As the store does not have them, the shopkeeper suggests buying two ten-foot planks. The customer rejects this idea, but instead offers to buy two ten-foot planks.

Web Videos

• In the Dr Glaucomflecken, video How to Cancel a Surgery the Anesthesiology attending says that the way to get a surgeon to agree to cancel a case is to make them believe it was their idea in the first place.
• A repeated gag in Kickassia. By episode 3, this has become a habit, to the point where Phelous can count down the seconds until the Critic repeats his idea. By the end of the series, they've done tons of different variations on the gag, including the Critic preemptively stealing an idea and having to wait for Phelous to finish his sentence, the Critic hypocritically blaming Phelous for coming up with a bad idea, and Phelous tricking the Critic into suggesting his own beating.
  Phelous: Hey guys, uh, I got a idea. This might seem like a shot in the dark, but what if we'd just used weapons?
  The Nostalgia Critic: Na na, it's a terrible idea. [Beat] Wait! I have an idea!
  Phelous: [sarcastically] Gee, does it involve using weapo—?
  Critic: [very hammy] It involves using weapons!

Western Animation

• Used in The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius episode "Return of the Nanobots":
  Nanobot 2: Oh, if I had the old module back, I'd correct for error like no one ever corrected for error, then the Creator would be pleased with me.
  Nanobot 1: I have it! I'll use the old module to correct for error! Then the Creator will be pleased with me!
  Nanobot 2: Hey! You stole my idea!
  Nanobot 1: I used your idea as a springboard.
  Nanobot 2: You stole my springboard.
• The joke goes full circle with the wizard Bufo in Adventure Time.
  Finn: You don't have to quit your job. Just don't take credit for ideas that aren't yours.
  Bufo: Uh, good idea. Glad I thought of it.
• In Aladdin: The Series, this often happens to Beleaguered Assistant Haroud. Abis Mal will often dismiss his ideas then come up with the same idea himself, although sometimes he'll rephrase it.
• Clyde Crashcup from The Alvin Show takes credit for inventions his assistant Leonardo makes.
• In the episode "The Blame" of The Amazing World of Gumball, Darwin whispers an idea he came up with to Gumball, who immediately passes it off as his own.
  Darwin: Well, I have an idea!
  [Whispers something to Gumball]
  Gumball: Hey, that's a great idea! I'm gonna pass it off as my own.
• American Dad! has an episode where Stan is hosting a telethon to raise the money to pay for terrorist torturing devices. Roger actually came up with the idea of a telethon, but Stan thought it was stupid until it turned out to be a great idea and takes it as his own. Roger plots revenge by sabotaging the stage as the Phantom of the Telethon. In the same episode, it's revealed that Roger went though the same thing with Jerry Lewis.
• An episode of Arthur in which the Tibble Twins annoy DW by imitating the characters from a Power Rangers-esque show they accidentally watched without permission has her complaining about it to Arthur, who suggests that DW just tell them that they're annoying her and her friends with their actions. The next scene has DW explaining the plan to one of her friends, who asks DW if her mom gave her that suggestion, to which DW says that she came up with it all on her own.
• In an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Robin deduces that Crazy Quilt is going to break into STAR Labs. Batman replies "Of course! He must be going to break into STAR Labs!" The implication here isn't that Batman is stealing Robin's idea, it's that he simply isn't listening because he still thinks of Dick as the sidekick.
• This exchange in The Beatles episode "Boys", between the executive of a movie studio and an associate, who pitches the idea of a contest to find a "Mr. Hollywood":
  Associate: They held a contest to find Scarlett O'Hara.
  Executive: It was a failure.
  Associate: They held a contest to find a new Tarzan.
  Executive: It was a failure.
  Associate: Okay, what do we do? How will we find Mr. Hollywood?
  Executive: We'll hold a contest.
• In the second episode of Budgie the Little Helicopter, Chuck wants to take part in a fete, but Lionel shoots down all of his ideas because of the downdraft his rotors would cause. Then Budgie pitches in an idea:
  Budgie: He could fly around the outside of the field, Lionel. Then the folks could see him.
  Pippa: Yes, good idea!
  Lionel: Yes, thank you, Budgie, I'll decide what he can do. You can... you can, uh, fly around the outside of the field.
• The Butt-Ugly Martians episode "Playback/Payback" has 2T Fru-T come up with the idea of preventing the Martians' lack of progress in invading Earth from being discovered by Emperor Bog by replacing the robot's tape with a recording of a staged invasion. B-Bop A-Luna finds it a terrific idea and remarks "Am I a genius or what?"
• This trope is Captain Flamingo's entire "superpower" in a nutshell. He thinks he has a Spider-Sense-like power in the form of a voice in his head that tells him the best course of action, when it's really just his best friend/sidekick giving him suggestions. He's either too deep in thought, too arrogant, or just too stupid to realize that the suggestions are coming from her. Meanwhile, she thinks that he knows the suggestions are from her, and she has a crush on him, so she's quite flattered to be referred to as his superpower. Of course, she can't take all the credit. He usually badly misinterprets her suggestions and does something totally different, which ends up causing some Rube-Goldberg-style chain of events that works out perfectly for him by sheer dumb luck.
• Care Bears:
  • In the 1980s cartoon, Shreeky does this to Beastly as a Running Gag. Here's an example from "The Most Ancient Gift":
    Beastly: A-ha! We could grab those camels and make a getaway!
    Shreeky: I've got a better idea! Let's grab those camels and make a getaway!
    Beastly: Oh, why didn't I think of that?
  • Grizzle does this in an episode of Care Bears: Adventures in Care-a-Lot. UR-2 suggests that he get the Care Bears to like him, and Grizzle falls on the floor laughing. UR-2, unfazed, continues explaining that if the bears like him, they'll trust him, and Grizzle puts the rest of the pieces together. He claims the plan as his own, ignoring UR-2's objections.
• Darkwing Duck: Darkwing does this all the time. He will dismiss his daughter or sidekick's plan. Then he has a great idea that, word for word, repeats the plan he just heard. His daughter Gosalyn will often call him on this. When it's Launchpad's idea, he'll usually get away with it, as Launchpad is too much of a fanboy to realize that it's the exact same plan he just suggested five seconds earlier.
  Launchpad: We could follow this trail of latex that leaked out of the tank, DW.
  Darkwing: Unless of course, we follow this trail of latex that leaked out of the tank!
  Launchpad: Whoa! That guy's amazing!
• Dastardly & Muttley in Their Flying Machines: In "A Plain Shortage of Planes", Klunk suggests to Dick Dastardly that the squadron buy an airplane to replace the planes that crashed. This is also probably the only time Dastardly does not ask Zilly to translate.
• The Dr. Zitbag's Transylvania Pet Shop episode "Food Glorious Pet Food" has Horrifido give the suggestion to Dr. Zitbag that they replace the pet food confiscated by Officer Deadbeat by buying pet food at the grocery store. Dr. Zitbag gives himself credit for the idea, much to Horrifido's displeasure.
• DuckTales (1987), "Where No Duck Has Gone Before": Seconds after Launchpad suggests that one of them should play sick as a distraction, Courage announces that they'll use "the old sickness ploy" to escape from the aliens. Notably, Launchpad doesn't say anything, but unlike with Darkwing, his smirk indicates that he knows that Courage did not come up with that idea on his own.
• Shows up on The Fairly OddParents!, when Timmy brings a dinosaur to show and tell.
  Cosmo: It was my idea!
  Wanda: No, it was my idea.
  Cosmo: Well, it was my idea to take your idea.
• Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends has an episode where Frankie has to buy groceries and her suggestion that they order pizza is rejected. When she comes back, Mr. Herriman, who rejected her idea, tells her that it took her so long to come back that the imaginary friend who moved in at the beginning of the episode suggested ordering a pizza.
• Futurama: Inverted for a laugh in "Crimes of the Hot". After discovering that the world's robot population is responsible for the massive buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, Richard Nixon's Head decides to destroy all of them with an EMP cannon. He sends a message to all of the planet's robots inviting them to a big party on the Galapagos Islands; when the Planet Express crew receives it, Zoidberg loudly puzzles out what it could mean before declaring that it must be a deactivation trap. No one responds, and Leela remarks that the ruse is so painfully transparent that everyone saw through it immediately. So Zoidberg is trying to take credit for an idea that no one bothered to say. The poor guy really can't catch a break.
• In Garfield's Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving dinner is seemingly ruined, so Garfield tries to get Jon to call his grandmother since she's the only one who could potentially salvage things for everyone. Unfortunately, none of the hints he's giving Jon are getting through to him. So finally, Garfield shoves a picture of Grandma Arbuckle in his face.
  Jon: I know! I'll call Grandma! Jon, you're a genius!
  Garfield: ...If he had a brain, he'd be dangerous.
• A lampshaded variation pops up in the Gravity Falls episode "Little Dipper":
  Stan: Soos, this hall of mirrors is your best idea that I'm taking credit for yet.
• In the Iron Man: Armored Adventures episode "Heavy Mettle", we have this exchange between Smug Snake Titanium Man/Justin Hammer and his Voice with an Internet Connection Sasha, when Hammer sees Iron Monger/Obidiah Stane kidnapping Pepper:
  Justin: Look at that, Stane has gone completely loopy! Who needs remote control? I can just sit back and watch the fireworks.
  Sasha: Yes, but if you save that little girl, imagine the press. You'll be a hero and they'll give you the military contract. Forget Mandroids, think about an entire army of Titanium Men.
  Justin: And then I could buy out Stark International! Sasha, do you know who the real brains behind this operation is? Me! Hahahahaha! What an ingenious plan I just came up with! Sasha, you could learn a thing or two from me.
  Sasha: [eyeroll]
• Jimmy Two-Shoes:
  • Whenever Heloise comes up with an idea for a Misery Inc. product, Lucius begins taking credit for it usually before the pitch is finished. It comes back to bite him in the ass a few times, like when Heloise makes him and Samy the first victims of her new Sardiner (a machine that fuses people together) after having enough of his self-credit, or when she tricks him into building a funfair ("Your best idea ever!").
  • Samy, being Samy, has also had Lucius take credit for his ideas to improve Misery Inc's profits.
    Samy: What if you used Jimmy's new catchphrase to sell your fat-based drink?
    Lucius: No, that will never work. [Beat] What if I used his catchphrase to sell my fat drink?!
    [Samy makes an annoyed Aside Glance]
• Kaeloo: The show has a Running Gag where Stumpy and Quack Quack get stuck in a situation, Quack Quack suggests a plan, and Stumpy pretends that he was the one who thought of it.
• In the Looney Tunes short "Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century", Porky Pig (as the Eager Young Space Cadet) decides that the best way to find the elusive Planet X is to follow a row of planets marked A, B, C, etc. Daffy Duck (as Duck Dodgers) first laughs at the idea, and then immediately claims it as his own.
• In the Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures episode "Pirates with Dirty Faces", three young mice end up on a pirate ship and suggest to the pirates that they can get the captain to sleep and thereby start a mutiny by having a slumber party. The first mate finds it a good idea and states, "Glad I thought of it".
• My Little Pony:
  • A variation from My Little Pony: A Charming Birthday:
    Minty: I didn't understand Kimono at first of course, I mean, who understands her at first? "Unity often makes tasks easier to conquer," who understands that?
    Wysteria: We give Kimono one charm bracelet instead of eight?
    Minty: See, I didn't get it either. But then I did! We give Kimono one charm bracelet instead of eight!
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
    • The episode "Over a Barrel" has another variation. Pinkie Pie's suggestion of sharing and caring is insulted by the warring factions' leaders early on, but after this proves to be the right solution to the problem, Twilight Sparkle paraphrases her idea as the day's Aesop.
    • Also happens in "Hearth's Warming Eve", although it's part of a Show Within a Show.
    Pinkie: In the name of the earth ponies, I think I'm gonna name this new place... uh...Dirtville!
    Applejack: How 'bout "Earth"?
    Pinkie: Earth! Congratulations to me for thinking of it!
    • In the episode "Discordant Harmony", Discord does this to himself:
    Discord: Why don't you host the next tea party?
    Discord: I've got it! Why don't I host the next tea party at my place!
    Discord: Hey, that's my idea!
• In the Paw Paw Bears, the henchbears, Slippery Paw and Bumble Paw, will make a suggestion and Dark Paw will repeat it and claim it as his own idea.
• In the story "Dare Duck" from PB&J Otter, Peanut, Jelly, and Flick are lost in the woods and Jelly gets the idea to follow a stream downhill in order to return to Lake Hoohaw. Peanut says it's a great idea and Flick agrees, "Great?! It's perfect! Glad I thought of it!"
• In The Real Ghostbusters, the Slimer! segment "The Dirty Half-Dozen" has Zugg make the suggestion that they lure Slimer into a trap by holding the Ghostbusters hostage.
  Goolem: That's a great idea!
  Zugg: Gee, thanks, boss!
  Goolem: Glad I thought of it!
• This is a Running Gag with Mr. Big, Boris and Natasha's boss in early episodes of Rocky and Bullwinkle. A plan that works is always his plan until the moment it starts to flop, at which point it's Boris's plan. And he always lets Boris know that.
• She-Ra: Princess of Power: Hordak always takes credit for others' ideas in this manner. He also doesn't like it when called out on it. From "For Want of a Horse":
  Hordak: ...to protect my splendid idea...
  Shadow Weaver: [whispering to Mantenna] His idea? It was my idea!
  Mantenna: B-but, Hordak, I thought this was Shadow Weaver's idea.
  Hordak: You know it's funny, I could have sworn I heard someone say something. [presses button to trap door]
  Mantenna: EYIII! [splash — Mantenna falls through the open trap door into the wet basement of the Fright Zone]
  Hordak: Now. Do any of you want to say anything?
  Shadow Weaver & Grizzlor: [headshake]
• Shimmer and Shine: When Zeta is running out of the magic carpet dust she uses to make her scooter fly, her pet dragon Nazboo suggests using flying flour instead. She claims to be the one who thought of it.
• In the Shirt Tales episode "Digger's Three Wishes", after Digger drives off in a limo:
  Pammy: Tyg, Bogey, why don't you fellas go and find out what Digger is up to and let us know.
  Tyg: Hey, like, I got a better idea. Bogey and I will go find out what Digger's up to and you gals cover for us.
  Kip: Isn't that what you just said, Pammy?
  Pammy: Humor them, Kip, humor them.
• In The Spectacular Spider-Man, J. Jonah Jameson both criticizes and selectively hears Peter Parker's suggestion that photos of Spider-Man would sell papers.
• SpongeBob SquarePants:
  • "Welcome to the Chum Bucket" with Plankton and Karen.
    Karen: To get to the SpongeBob, you must show him compassion and understanding. Then he'll give you what you want.
    Plankton: Will you be quiet, I'm thinking! I've got it! To get to the SpongeBob, I'll show him compassion and understanding. Then he'll give me what I want.

  This becomes a Running Gag in the series. Anytime Karen suggests something, Plankton will act like he doesn't understand or it's not important, then say the exact same idea.

  • In another episode we get to see that this can happen due to severe senility rather than ego:
    SpongeBob: What if we help you?
    Mermaid Man: No, no, that's a terrible idea. But what if you help me?
  • "20,000 Patties Under the Sea":
    Squidward: Well, since you can't bring any customers into the Krusty Krab, have you ever thought about bringing the Krusty Krab to the customers?
    Mr. Krabs: Quiet, Squidward, I'm brainstorming! Ooh, ooh! What if instead of bringing customers to the Krusty Krab, we could bring the Krusty Krab to the customers?
• Star Trek: Lower Decks: In "Moist Vessel", Captain Freeman immediately repeats Commander Ransom's idea to assign terrible jobs to Mariner as if it were her idea, which he just goes along with.
  Ransom: Why not reassign [Mariner] to all the worst jobs? That way, transferring would be her idea, not yours.
  Freeman: Well, we could reassign her to all the nastiest jobs on the ship. That way, transferring her would be her idea, not mine.
  Ransom: Brilliant idea. That's why you're the captain.
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars: In "Mercy Mission", R2-D2 and C-3PO are stuck in the underground of the planet Aleen, and have to figure out a riddle about the cavern they're in to get back to the surface. While Threepio loudly muses to himself about what the riddle could be, R2 quickly figures out the answer (water) and activates the mechanism to get out of the room. Threepio quickly assumes he came up with the answer himself, and continues to press the issue for the rest of the episode.
• The Super Mario World episode "Gopher Bash" has Cheatsy Koopa suggest to Koopa that they steal the cave people's crops, forcing them to get food from Koopa. Koopa considers it a brilliant suggestion and remarks, "Glad I thought of it".
• In the TaleSpin episode "Captains Outrageous", Don Karnage sends Mad Dog and Dumptruck into Cape Suzette to kidnap a rich kid and hold him for ransom. When Mad Dog hears about a "super secret anti-pirate weapon"...
  Mad Dog: We can get the kid and the weapon. Ooh, wait till Don Karnage gets a load of this...
  [Mad Dog gets on the radio to explain to Karnage]
  Don Karnage: Two for one... I like it! I like it so much, I must have thought of it myself.
• Blatantly lampshaded in one episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987). After Rocksteady and Bebop screw up again, Krang yells at Shredder for what "your stupid mutants" did, and Shredder responds by asking, "Why is it whenever they do something wrong they're my stupid mutants". Later in the same episode, the pair manage to actually steal the fuel needed to power the Technodrome, and Krang remarks that, "for once my mutants did a good job!"
• Total Drama:
  • In "Full Metal Drama", Beth has to explain to Admiral Lindsay her Hotness how their strategy to optimally cover the stage in paint works. Lindsay is impressed and very happy with this plan she herself came up with. The credit theft leaves Beth unamused, but she lets it slide.
  • Zoey and Courtney come up with the same plan to maximize their chances of finding landmark replicate pieces in "Evil Dread". However, Zoey shares her version first and Courtney doesn't realize it's the same idea as hers and thus tries to overrule her. When Cameron clears up the misunderstanding, Courtney insists they both get credit for the idea and not just Zoey.
  • In "So, Uh, This Is My Team?", Jasmine orders the Pimâpotew Kinosewak to grab material for their shelter, but Scarlett argues that the wheelbarrow is just as important. Her argument is longwinded and technical, so Samey tries to finish for her that they need the wheelbarrow to transport the material. She, however, is interrupted by Amy, who insists it's all her idea in the first place.
• In the Toxic Crusaders episode "Club Fred", Psycho gives a sarcastic suggestion that they prevent the Toxic Crusaders from interfering with their current Evil Plan by sending them on a tropical vacation. Dr. Killemoff seriously considers the idea and takes full credit for it.
• Halvar, the father of Vicky the Viking, incurs in this trope in every episode after his son's brilliant plan saves the day. Played somewhat for laughs since Halvar is a rather rustic chieftain.
• On Wallykazam!, Bobgoblin does this to Hattie several times in "The Explorers Club" when she's part of his club. She gets tired of this and his bossing her around, but doesn't quit simply because she wants to find out what will happen as far as the "chickephant" animal they've been chasing.

Real Life

• In real life cases, this phenomenon is known as cryptomnesia, which is when someone forgets a memory from an outside source, but recall it as if it were an original memory that they thought up. This is usually the result of the ability to properly monitor sources being impaired, causing the brain to focus more on the idea rather than the source. It's not unusual for some people with Asperger Syndrome or another form of autism to do this without realizing it, because in memory the storage of information is more likely to be disconnected from the source of the information.
• Thomas Edison is reputed to have done this several times, mostly notoriously to Nikola Tesla. Of course he had to be a bit more forceful, seeing as people don't like seeing potentially incredibly profitable inventions stolen. This really bit Edison on the butt because Tesla managed to beat Edison in the World's Fair bid and the Alternating Current/Direct Current War. However, Tesla was later awarded the Edison Medal for his accomplishments, which is kind of like getting the last laugh.
• Josef Stalin, when this was politically expedient, brought up in a slightly changed form ideas condemned when they belonged to the rivals or formulated proposals as products of his "counseling with comrades". According to his once-secretary Bazhanov, a few minutes after reading the draft of new Party Charter the first time, he introduced it to Vladimir Lenin as a result of development by "we here in the Central Committee" — of course, this does sound better than "comrades here found one young man with a good project".
• Can be done by politicians when presenting a new bill, which is little more than an old rejected bill written by someone else with a new presentation. The difference can be the times, the wording, the party, who's in charge, etc.
• Subverted at the Open Science Summit 2011. During an open-source science conference, a guy catches a couple of startup entrepreneurs presenting his technology as if it was theirs. His reaction? He climbs on stage, slams the microphone on the ledger, pushes them aside, and finishes the presentation himself by shouting at the audience.
• J. Michael Straczynski recommended using this trope deliberately to deal with Executive Meddling. When the suits turn down your idea in favour of their own suggestion, just do what you were going to do anyway, then later pretend your idea was actually their own and praise them on how great it turned out. By that stage they've forgotten what they originally proposed and are happy to take credit.
• In aviation, radio messages between air traffic control and pilots use a formalized series of phrases to minimize the possibility of misunderstandings (with good reason). Every maneuver or change must be phrased as an instruction from ATC, even if it's something the pilot requested. In this case, though, everyone involved understands that it's just a matter of using standard phrases, ATC isn't really trying to take credit for the pilot's idea.
  Flight 123: This is flight 123 requesting to descend to 5000.
  ATC: Flight 123, descend to 5000.
  Flight 123: Descend to 5000, flight 123.
• In his early days at Warner Bros Animation, Chuck Jones was of the acquaintance of a Russian-American writer named Alex Masianov, whose limited grasp of English or humor (or both) led to his tenure at the studio being a short one - his only work of note was a deranged nursery rhyme about a cat, a dog, a "Mister Hen", and a raccoon, which he seemed to think the animators could magically wring a funny cartoon from. Years later, after the Looney Tunes brand became world-famous, Jones was reunited with Masianov, who showered him with praise, under the impression that his rhyme directly led Jones to create Sylvester, Pluto, Daffy Duck, and Pepé Le Pew as a gesture of friendship (because who else could have come up with such revolutionary ideas as cartoons about cats and dogs?). Jones wasted his breath trying to explain that he hadn't created Sylvester or Daffy, and Pluto came from a different studio entirely, but ultimately relented and let the man believe that he was a significant figure in American animation.

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These are all good examples; glad I thought of them.

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