History Main / Tontine

* Was a key plot element in an episode of ''Series/TheSundayMysteryMovie'', wherein a group of men pooled their money and started a tontine back in the 1930's. They were all now very elderly and the surviving members were dying due to "accidents." It was revealed that the grandson of one of them was getting rid of the others so that when his grandfather died, he'd inherit the money. When caught he angrily observed that the tontine was a stupid idea, as when the last survivor collected the money he'd be too old to enjoy it.

* Used in the ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in 'The Curse of the Flying Hellfish'". It's revealed that Abe Simpson and Mr. Burns served together during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, and their squad (the Flying Hellfish) acquired a set of priceless German paintings, with the agreement that the last member of the Hellfish to die would get them. It ends when [[spoiler:just as Abe manages to claim the paintings by "discharging" Burns, the State Department shows up, confiscates the painting and presents them to a descendant of their original German owner for diplomatic purposes. The descendant is not too worried about their safety, either.]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''Manga/TheKurosagiCorpseDeliveryService'', volume 3: suicidal and/or people desperately needing money sign on to a game where they make certain changes to their life insurance, so that it pays into an escrow account after they die. Since insurance won't pay for suicides, the members of the game have to get murdered - by other people playing the game. The players need to find the other members of the game and kill them, or lead other members who are more comfortable with murder to kill the ones whose house they have discovered. The game ends when about two-thirds of the original group dies and the rest gain an equal share of the collective amount gained by the escrow account for a second chance at life.

* One figured into the last adventure about the practically unknown Golden Age hero, the Whistler. A group of people who all happened to be named after historical figures had one between themselves, and someone was murdering them to collect on it (the guy named after Julius Caesar).

[[folder:Film]]

* In the British/German 1959 production ''Ten Seconds to Hell'' (aka ''The Phoenix''), a German team [[BombDisposal defusing bombs]] in post-war Berlin put half their salaries in a fund to be used by whoever survives the next three months in the job.

* The ''Literature/DoctorSynTheScarecrow'' book "The Amazing Quest of Doctor Syn" involves one member of a tontine trying to wipe the others out.

** There's another Creator/ElleryQueen story where three Civil War veterans have a tontine to decide ownership of a fortune they discovered during the war. The grandchild of one of the men finds out and plots to murder the other two, not realizing that the "fortune" is in Confederate money.

* Variant: In ''Literature/TheLastMansReward'' a group of neighborhood kids living in the same temporary apartment building buys a box of baseball cards at a garage sale, which contains many rare and valuable cards. They hide it in a cave, and the last kid to move out of the apartment building gets to keep the whole box.

* One of the cases in ''Franchise/SherlockHolmes: Consulting Detective'' involved the murder of a Waterloo veteran, and there was mention of a tontine involving the survivors of that battle, thus implying that the killer might be one of the other surviving veterans (There weren't many left, seeing as this takes place roughly eighty years after the battle) or an heir of one of the other veterans. [[spoiler:The killer was actually the brother of the deceased's former mistress, who was seeking revenge for the dishonor of his sister and did not care about the tontine one way or the other.]]

* In ''VideoGame/WestOfLoathing'', while exploring the (re)Boot Hill cemetery, you can learn about a tontine established by three members who apparently all died at the same time, and as a result, the reward lies hidden somewhere. It's possible for the player to solve the puzzle and claim the treasure.
* ''VideoGame/SniperElite5:'' One of thé enemies you can scan brings up the message "Daniel Redler: Has a tontine running with friends from school. Is quite confident he'll win it."

* Used in the ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in 'The Curse of the Flying Hellfish'". It's revealed that Abe Simpson and Mr. Burns served together during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, and their squad (the Flying Hellfish) acquired a set of priceless German paintings, with the agreement that the last member of the Hellfish to die would get them. It ends when [[spoiler:just as Abe manages to claim the paintings by "discharging" Burns, the State Department shows up, confiscates the painting and presents them to a descendant of their original German owner for diplomatic purposes. The descendant is not too worried about their safety, either.]]

* A quick visit to the ''Series/HarpersIsland'' Wiki shows that this was one the early theories about why the killings would be taking place, due to the fact that around half of the cast had attended college together. The theory was debunked by the end of the first episode, and definitely by the second, [[spoiler: when virtually none of the killings had involved any of the college-age cast.]]