History Main / StolenGoodReturnedBetter

** This also happens in Oracle of Ages from the "VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames", when traveling to the island where the third dungeon is located, Link is caught in a storm and washes up on the island unconscious, the island's inhabitants, lizard like creatures known as Tokay, take all of Link's gear while he's out and run away forcing him to recover the gear through a trading quest and a few mini-games, however the one item Link doesn't recover is his shield, he must buy a new one, until later in the game when you have the mermaid suit which allows Link to swim in the dangerous waters around the island, he can travel to a cave on the back of the island where he finds the Tokay who took his shield, and gets it back polished up into an Iron Shield, or Mirror Shield if playing with the password feature.

** This also happens in Oracle of Ages from the "VideoGame/TheLegendoOfZeldaOracleGames", when traveling to the island where the third dungeon is located, Link is caught in a storm and washes up on the island unconscious, the island's inhabitants, lizard like creatures known as Tokay, take all of Link's gear while he's out and run away forcing him to recover the gear through a trading quest and a few mini-games, however the one item Link doesn't recover is his shield, he must buy a new one, until later in the game when you have the mermaid suit which allows Link to swim in the dangerous waters around the island, he can travel to a cave on the back of the island where he finds the Tokay who took his shield, and gets it back polished up into an Iron Shield, or Mirror Shield if playing with the password feature.

** This also happens in Oracle of Ages from the "VideoGame/Zelda Oracle Games", when traveling to the island where the third dungeon is located, Link is caught in a storm and washes up on the island unconscious, the island's inhabitants, lizard like creatures known as Tokay, take all of Link's gear while he's out and run away forcing him to recover the gear through a trading quest and a few mini-games, however the one item Link doesn't recover is his shield, he must buy a new one, until later in the game when you have the mermaid suit which allows Link to swim in the dangerous waters around the island, he can travel to a cave on the back of the island where he finds the Tokay who took his shield, and gets it back polished up into an Iron Shield, or Mirror Shield if playing with the password feature.

** This also happens in Oracle of Ages, when traveling to the island where the third dungeon is located, Link is caught in a storm and washes up on the island, the island's inhabitants, lizard like creatures known as Tokay, take all of Link's gear away forcing him to recover it through a trading quest and a few mini-games, however the one item Link doesn't recover is his shield, he must buy a new one, until later in the game when you have the mermaid suit which allows Link to swim in the dangerous waters around the island, he can travel to a cave on the back of the island where he finds the Tokay who took his shield, and gets it back polished up into an Iron Shield, or Mirror Shield if playing with the password feature.

* ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'': In episode 15, the Digidestined's D-tectors are stolen by Toucanmon. Two episodes later, they find them in the hands of a Datamon on the Autumn Leaf Fair. Tommy/Tomoki is able to win them back from the Datamon by winning a game for him, and upon doing so learns that Datamon added the Beast Spirit of Ice to his D-Tector.

* In ''ComicBook/Batman66: The Lost Episode'' (based off an unproduced script written by none other than Creator/HarlanEllison), Two-Face steals a nearly complete set of ancient Chinese plates from a museum, only to return the set with the missing piece when his coin comes good-heads up.

* A variant where something is stolen but replaced with something at least arguably better is done in ''Film/TheSandlot''. One day while his stepfather is away on business, Smalls is playing baseball with his friends and they lose the ball. Desperately wanting to keep playing, Smalls goes into his stepfather's bedroom and grabs a ball kept there, which was autographed by none other than Creator/BabeRuth. Smalls, being a NaiveNewcomer to the game of baseball, doesn't realize who Babe Ruth is or the value in the ball when it too inevitably gets lost in the yard of a neighbor with a [[AngryGuardDog notorious (and huge) dog]]. All his friends go through enormous lengths to try to retrieve the ball, but it winds up destroyed. Fortunately, the owner of the house is kind enough to give Smalls his ball signed by not only Babe Ruth but the entire Yankees team to replace it, which does a lot to placate his stepfather when the business trip is over.

** And inverted when a diamond ring is stolen then found, because the diamond was replaced by a cubic zirconium.

* In ''Literature/ThiefOfTime'', Lobsang steals a witches' broom to get to Ankh-Morpork in time to do something about the Glass Clock. At the end of the book he uses the time-altering powers of the Time Monks to make the broom newer than it was before returning it.

* A variant occurs in ''Series/{{Leverage}}''. The team is hired by a charity who discovers that their investment broker has stolen from them and gone into hiding. When they find him, they discover he's actually a pretty decent guy and he had stolen the money because he knew he could quadruple it if he used tricks and back-channels.
* In an episode of ''Series/MichaelBentinesPottyTime'', a thief steals [[MonumentalTheft Nelson's Column, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty]]. It turns out the thief was actually having them cleaned as a gift to the governments of the United Kingdom, France and the USA and returned them in 'as-new' condition.

* In an episode of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', Nog "borrows" General Martok's supply of bloodwine to complete a trade for needed starship parts. Martok is understandably pissed, but is mollified when he gets back bloodwine of a much finer vintage.

* In ''Videogame/{{Dragon Quest V}}'', your sword can be "stolen" by a creepy old lady who lives in one of the dungeons of the game and offers to let you and your new bride spend the night. While your wife does have doubts as to whether or not it's a good idea to take up the old hermit on her offer, doing so results in a special cutscene. You wake up in the middle of the night unable to move due to a magical spell, and you and your wife hear ominous grinding sounds from the next room. It turns out the old woman had used magic on you to ensure you have a good nights sleep and spent hours sharpening your sword.

* In ''VideoGame/RhythmThiefAndTheEmperorsTreasure'', the elusive [[PhantomThief Phantom R]] is infamously known for stealing from famous art galleries (usually the Louvre), but the biggest mystery rivaling his true identity is why he bothers to return an art piece he recently stole. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that as Raphael, he came up with the Phantom R persona after finding out that his missing father had a secret vault in their apartment which is full of famous artwork. The reason for this was because Raphael's father was an expert in forgery who made perfect replications of said artwork which he would later steal and swap for sale on the black market to pay for Raphael's medical bills meaning that most of the artwork currently being displayed publicly are actually fakes. As Phantom R years later, Raphael planned to steal back the forgeries and return the true articles in their place.]]

* The [[spoiler:first]] victim of Case 5 of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'', Archie Buff, was an AdventurerArchaeologist-cum-PhantomThief who stole many valuable historical artifacts. However, he was motivated purely by academic interest, and would return them once his studies were complete, often having restored them in the process.

** In "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings", Fry switches hands with the Robot Devil, but is eventually forced to switch them back.

* In the mid 1990s, a disillusioned mid-level bank employee staged a real life BavarianFireDrill caper which led to him walking out the front door of his former place of employment with over $1,000,000 in a duffel bag. When tracked down several years later thanks to the ImprobablyCoolCar he bought as his one splurge, however, he was ultimately able to gain a reduced sentence and make a settlement with the bank allowing his family to keep some of the money and much of the property he had purchased: Through otherwise conservative spending and some savvy investing, he had actually turned his bloodless $1 million caper into a $12 million diversified portfolio, allowing him to make full recompense for his single crime, plus interest.
* In [[https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/940lya/reddit_whats_the_most_chaotic_good_thing_youve/e3idq6b/ this]] Reddit anecdote, when the user was in grade-school, a bully stole his Game Boy Color with his copy of ''Pokémon Red,'' then gave it back with a Mew added to it through a cheating device.
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* An episode of ''Series/{{Castle}}'' has a variation involving a squatter: He breaks into people's apartments while they're on vacation so he can live there for a while, but always leaves the place exactly as he found it except for general repairs about the place and an appreciative bottle of wine in the fridge.