History Main / Tontine

-->''"[[SophisticatedAsHell Duh, essentially, we all enter into a contract whereby the last surviving participant becomes the sole possessor of all them purty pictures]]."''
-->-- '''Milton "Oxford" Haas''', ''TheSimpsons'', "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish"

* Seen also in ''TheWrongBox'' by RobertLouisStevenson and Lloyd Osbourne.

* The plot of ''Literature/TheButlerDidIt'' by P.G. Wodehouse features a tontine set up by millionaires for their sons just before the 1929 stock market crash, and the butler (not Jeeves) manipulating what happens to the lone kids still in the running for the tontine.

-->'' '''Ox''': [[SophisticatedAsHell Duh, essentially, we all enter into a contract whereby the last surviving participant becomes the sole possessor of all them purty pictures]].''
-->- ''TheSimpsons episode 3F19: The Curse of the Flying Hellfish''

* It has been used as recently as ''DiagnosisMurder''.

* Also used in an episode of ''TheSimpsons'', as the quote demonstrates. It's revealed that Abe Simpson and Mister Burns served together during World War II, 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:government officials and the descendant of the person they stole the paintings from arrive and reclaim them for the German. The descendent is not too worried about their safety, either.]]

Originally, a Tontine was an investment where multiple participants would buy in for an equal amount. The entity running the Tontine (usually a bank) would invest the money and pay out dividends. When a participant died, his dividends would be paid out to the remaining members. The last surviving member would receive the entire principal. This trope was commonly used in older murder mysteries, but has since fallen out of favor. This is probably because many tontines are now illegal.

* In ''TheDailyShow'' during the "You're Welcome" session John Hodgeman suggested that they solve national debt problems by making Social Security a tontine. And by making murder legal. Seconds later he attempted to strangle John Stewart.

Examples:
* AgathaChristie used this as a plot in several of her books.
* This was used in an eighth season episode of ''{{MASH}}'' called "Old Soldiers" with Col. Potter. Note that in this case, the tontine was not an investment, but rather a bottle of brandy, to be drunk in a toast by the last surviving member of the group.
* Also used in an episode of ''TheSimpsons'', as the quote demonstrates. It's revealed that Abe Simpson and Mister Burns served together during World War II, 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:government officials and the descendant of the person they stole the paintings from arrive and reclaim them for the German. The descendent is not too worried about their safety, either.]]
* Seen also in ''TheWrongBox'' by RobertLouisStevenson and Lloyd Osbourne.
* It has been used as recently as ''DiagnosisMurder''.

* The plot of ''Literature/TheButlerDidIt'' by P.G. Wodehouse features a tontine set up by millionaires for their sons just before the 1929 stock market crash, and the butler (not Jeeves) manipulating what happens to the lone kids still in the running for the tontine.
* Variant: ElleryQueen's ''LastManToDie'' featured a tontine, but instead of foul play, the last two members died on the same night. Which one died first?

* Deliberately invoked in the novel ''LastToDie'' by James Grippando. A millionaire leaves his considerable fortune in trust with the stipulation that the last surviving member of a particular group of people would inherit the entire amount. He did it because he hated all of the prospective heirs and wanted them to fight one another for the money.
* In DCComics' ''BirdsOfPrey'' #75, we learn that the [[{{Blackhawk}} Blackhawk Squadron]] had a tontine. As with the ''{{MASH}}'' example above, it was in the form of a bottle, and was drunk by the [[FishOutOfTemporalWater time-tossed]] Lady Blackhawk, last surviving member of the squadron.

* ''{{Archer}}'', "The Double Deuce." When members of Wodehouse's old World War I flying squad start dropping dead ([[spoiler: of perfectly natural causes that just happen to look suspicious]]), he suspects that it's because of the tontine they set up. Once word leaks out, Cheryl, Pam and Cyril think about starting an ISIS tontine.

* ''KurosagiCorpseDeliveryService'' has volume 3 in which suicidal and/or people desperately needing money signing on to a game where they make certain changes into their life insurances so that it pays into an escrow account after they die. Since insurance won't pay for suicides, the members of the game has 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.

* The plot of ''TheButlerDidIt'' by P.G. Wodehouse features a tontine set up by millionaires for their sons just before the 1929 stock market crash, and the butler (not Jeeves) manipulating what happens to the lone kids still in the running for the tontine.

* Seen also in ''TheWrongBox'' by RobertLouisStevenson.

* This was used in an eighth season episode of ''[[{{MASH}} M*A*S*H]]'' called "Old Soldiers" with Col. Potter. Note that in this case, the tontine was not an investment, but rather a bottle of brandy, to be drunk in a toast by the last surviving member of the group.

* Seen also in ''The Wrong Box'' by RobertLouisStevenson.

* The very first {{Batman}} story, ''The Case of the Chemical Syndicate''.
* The plot of ''The Butler Did It'' by P.G. Wodehouse features a tontine set up by millionaires for their sons just before the 1929 stock market crash, and the butler (not Jeeves) manipulating what happens to the lone kids still in the running for the tontine.

* Played with for the movie {{Tomcats}}; a group of friends promised each bachelor in the group would put aside money every year in a fund going to the last remaining bachelor. The main character, one of the two left in the contest, has incurred a massive gambling debt in Vegas and must now get his last friend to marry before the casino owner makes good on some very nasty promises. The added hitch is of course that the last friend is still completely happy as a bachelor, and his stated life goal is to have sex with every woman in the world, while never once actually having a relationship.
* Deliberately invoked in the novel ''Last to Die'' by James Grippando. A millionaire leaves his considerable fortune in trust with the stipulation that the last surviving member of a particular group of people would inherit the entire amount. He did it because he hated all of the prospective heirs and wanted them to fight one another for the money.
* In DCComics' BirdsOfPrey #75, we learn that the [[{{Blackhawk}} Blackhawk Squadron]] had a tontine. As with the {{MASH}} example above, it was in the form of a bottle, and was drunk by the [[FishOutOfTemporalWater time-tossed]] Lady Blackhawk, last surviving member of the squadron.
* While it's not an actual literal tontine, the MacGuffin in TheWholeNineYards is a joint account of 10 million dollars between three people, and all three need to be present in order to withdraw the money. Oooor...one person and two death certificates, which, given the relationships between the three people involved (mob boss, mob boss's hitman-turned-police-informer, and the mob boss's hitman-turned-police-informer's ex-wife) is probably inevitable.

* KurosagiCorpseDeliveryService has volume 3 in which suicidal and/or people desperately needing money signing on to a game where they make certain changes into their life insurances so that it pays into an escrow account after they die. Since insurance won't pay for suicides, the members of the game has 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.

* The very first {{Batman}} story, ''Secret of the Chemical Murders''.

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* Figured in the plot of an episode of ''Barney Miller''.

* KurosagiCorpseDeliveryService has volume 3 in which suicidal and/or people desperately needing money signing on to a game where they make certain changes into their life insurances so that it pays into an escrow account after they die. Since insurance won't pay for suicides, the members of the game has 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 last member still alive gets the collective amount gained by the escrow account for a second chance at life.

* KurosagiCorpseDeliveryService has volume 3 in which suicidal and/or people desperately needing money signing on to a game where they pay a specific fee to enter. Once in the game, they need to find the other members of the game and kill them or lead other members to kill the member whose house they have discovered. The last member still alive gets the collective fee for a second chance at life.

* KurosagiCorpseDeliveryService has volume 3 in which suicidal and/or people desperately needing money signing on to a game where they pay a specific fee to enter. Once in the game, they need to find the other members of the game and kill them or lead other members to kill the member whose house they have discovered/ The last member still alive gets the collective fee for a second chance at life.

-->'' '''Ox''': Duh, essentially, we all enter into a contract whereby the last surviving participant becomes the sole possessor of all them purty pictures.''

See also [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tontines_in_popular_culture Wikipedia]].

* Also used in an episode of ''TheSimpsons'', as the quote demonstrates. It's revealed that Abe Simpson and Mister Burns served together during World War II, 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: Mayor Quimby and the descendant of the person they stole the paintings from arrive and reclaim them for the German. He's not too worried about their safety, either.]]

* Also used in an episode of ''TheSimpsons'', as the quote demonstrates. It's revealed that Abe Simpson and Mister Burns served together during World War II, 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: Mayor Quimby and the ancestor of the person they stole the paintings from arrive and reclaim them for the German. He's not too worried about their safety, either.]]

* Also used in an episode of ''TheSimpsons'', as the quote demonstrates. It's revealed that Abe Simpson and Mister Burns served together during World War II, 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.

-->- ''The Simpsons episode 3F19: The Curse of the Flying Hellfish''