History Main / DumpsterDive

* In ''VideoGame/Chulip'', your main character can look garbage cans and dumpsters for loot that can include a sweet potato to eat. But be careful, sometimes you can end up with poopy on your hand which does damage to your fragile heart. At least you can sell the poopy afterwards...

* In ''VideoGame/Chulips'', your main character can look garbage cans and dumpsters for loot that can include a sweet potato to eat. But be careful, sometimes you can end up with poopy on your hand which does damage to your fragile heart. At least you can sell the poopy afterwards...

[[folder:Film]]
* In ''Film/TheNeverendingStory'', Bastian is cast into a dumpster by his classmates. Reversed in the final scene when the three bullies run from Falcor and escape into the same dumpster.
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[[folder:Music]]
* The music video to the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNtORr6RsJ4 "Remains"]] features the "Human Doll" being thrown out by her "Owner" after she is burnt, whereupon a homeless man pulls her out of the dumpster and the two walk away, hand-in-hand. Its somewhere between sweet and creepy.

* In ''MySims: Agents'', you need to do this to find clues for cases.

* In ''VideoGame/TheSims 2'', sims who have a sloppy personality are able to rummage through bins, while in ''TheSims 3'', sims who are members of the police can look through others' rubbish bins for evidence.

* Dr. Zoidberg from ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' often rummages the dumster for food, and in some episodes he appears to actually ''live'' in it.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BeeAndPuppycat'', this is how Bee really got Puppycat's presents for him when she claims the pet store she used to work at is going out of business.

* The ''{{Seinfeld}}'' episode "The Bottle Diposit" features a montage of Kramer and Newman collecting various empty bottles and cans, including resorting to dumpster diving, to collect refund money for recycling them.
* The {{Dollhouse}} episode "Briar Rose" begins with a homeless man digging through a dumpster....only to understandably freaked out upon the discovery of a ''human hand''.

* In ''TheSims 2'', sims who have a sloppy personality are able to rummage through bins, while in ''TheSims 3'', sims who are members of the police can look through others' rubbish bins for evidence.

* ''{{Megatokyo}}'': Largo does this to find computer components.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{SpongeBob SquarePants}}'' episode "Missing Identity" revolved around Spongebob trying to locate his missing identity (actually his name tag), eventually leading to him and Patrick looking for it in the dumpster behind the Krusty Krab. In the end, it's subverted [[spoiler: because it turned out that Spongebob had his shirt on backwards the whole time along with his name tag.]]

Dumpster dives tend to show up three ways in fiction. The first is the homeless person going in to get leftover food,useable items or metal goods like pop cans to sell for money. The second is average characters going in because they dropped something and have to retrieve it. Crime shows are the prime source of the third, which is going in to get evidence, weapons or even a body. Often leads to finding a MacGuffin or PlotCoupon. If played for laughs, the character may wind up being picked up with the trash and carried away. The aftermath often involves complaints about the smell, which sometimes even several showers can't remove.

Compare and contrast with TrashLanding, though that in itself is not a Dumpster Dive. That's when the character happens to land in a Dumpster or other trash, while Dumpster Dive is going into the Dumpster intentionally to get something.

LiteralJunkFood is a subtrope.

Examples:

Compare and contrast with TrashLanding, though that in itself is not a DumpsterDive. That's when the character happens to land in a Dumpster or other trash, while DumpsterDive is going into the Dumpster intentionally to get something.

* This is how a Junk Man[=/=]Rag And Bone Man such as those seen on ''Series/SteptoeAndSon'' & ''Series/SanfordAndSon'' gets much of his wares.

[[folder:Video Game]]

* In the ''MySims: Agents'' videogame you need to do this to find clues for cases.
* in online game Billy Vs. Snakeman, people who are in a village, and have access to Burgerninja content, can do this as an ingredient hunt for combine-able items that later help later on.

* {{Megatokyo}}: Largo does this to find computer components.

--> '''Waste Collector 1''': "Batman... dumpster diving?"
--> '''Waste Collector 2''': (''[[SeenItAll shrugs]]'') "A fella's gotta eat."
* The ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' episode "Missing Identity" revolved around Spongebob trying to locate his missing identity (actually his name tag), eventually leading to him and Patrick looking for it in the dumpster behind the Krusty Krab. In the end, it's subverted [[spoiler: because it turned out that Spongebob had his shirt on backwards the whole time along with his name tag.]]

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