History Main / BrokenTreasure

* Subverted in ''[[Manga/{{BECK}} BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad]]'': Ryusuke gives Koyuki an old guitar, which he later claims was given to him by his friend Eddie from the band Dying Breed. Later, Koyuki accidentally drops it off a bridge and watches it get run over by a passing truck. A few episodes later, he gets it fixed, but then it gets broken ''again'' by Rikiya. We find out in the same episode that [[spoiler:the guitar that Ryusuke gave to Koyuki wasn't Eddie's guitar after all]].

* Subverted in ''[[Manga/{{BECK}} BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad]]'': Ryusuke gives Koyuki an old guitar, which he later claims was given to him by his friend Eddie from the band Dying Breed. Later, Koyuki accidentally drops it off a bridge and watches it get run over by a passing truck. A few episodes later, he gets it fixed, but then it gets broken ''again'' by Rikiya. We find out in the same episode that [[spoiler:the guitar that Ryusuke gave to Koyuki wasn't Eddie's guitar after all]].
* In an episode of ''Manga/MinamiKe'', Chiaki and Kana break a rabbit necklace belonging to Haruka. They scramble to get other characters to find a replacement.

* In ''Film/{{Bean}}'', Mr. Bean sneezes on the famed painting "Whistler's Mother", then blots it with his handkerchief, only to realize that [[OhCrap his hanky is stained with ink from a leaked pen.]] So he wipes the painting with a cleaning chemical, which removes the ink from the painting...[[FromBadToWorse and the paint from the canvas]]. He finally replaces the painting with a poster he artificially aged, and hangs the ruined original in his bedroom back in England.
* ''Film/PsychOut'': Jenny and Steve's mother was a cruel, hate-filled woman who delighted in coming up with inventive new punishments. One day she took Jenny's box of personal treasures, made her scream and beg for it, and then threw it into the furnace anyway. [[spoiler:This traumatized Jenny so badly that she went deaf.]]
* ''Film/KeepOffMyGrass'': When Jerry leaves Suze for Twila, Suze gets revenge by lighting the giant candle shaped like a naked woman that Jerry made.
* ''Film/TheDrummerAndTheKeeper'': [[spoiler:During Gabriel's final manic episode, he breaks into Christopher's institution and sets his beloved LEGO mansion on fire, causing Christopher to suffer a HeroicBSOD. During Gabriel's next few months in the mental hospital, he spends part of his trust fund on LEGO sets so he can rebuild Christopher's mansion, then has it sent to him as part of his efforts to make amends to everyone he hurt during his episode.]]
* In the 1925 silent film ''Film/StageStruck'', Creator/GloriaSwanson's character accidentally ruins one of her love interest's shirts, and she buys a new one to replace it. He has no clue and marvels at how the laundry place manages to make his old shirts look so new.
* ''Film/DancingTrees'': During a meltdown, Martha breaks a vase belonging to Nicky. Nicky is upset because her grandmother gave it to her. She tries to fix it, but can't figure out how to get the pieces to fit back together, and considers just throwing it out. But then Martha glues it together for her, and does such a good job that it looks like it was never broken.

* The short story "Literature/TheNecklace" by Creator/GuyDeMaupassant has a nasty deconstruction: a proud and greedy woman of modest means borrows a friend's emerald necklace so she can look fancy at a formal dinner party. She loses the necklace and spends a large sum to buy a replacement rather than admit the loss to her friend. She and her husband are ruined by the act, and spend the next ten years paying back debts: they ruin their health and she loses her beauty. Eventually, she sees her happy and healthy friend walking on the street and pours her heart to her, to which the friend, aghast, replies that her original necklace was fake and not worth very much at all. (The replacement was ''real.'')
* ''Literature/EthanFrome'': Ethan and Zeena don't have the best of marriages, what with Zeena being a hypochondriac shrew; but during a visit from Mattie (whom Ethan likes), the cat is startled and breaks her wedding gift (a bowl), signifying that their relationship is in ''serious'' trouble.

* A variation occurs in the ''Literature/ElephantAndPiggie'' book "I Love My New Toy!" Piggie is madly in love with a strange new toy she's received; when Gerald throws and breaks it, Piggie becomes furious. The crisis is averted when [[spoiler:a passerby identifies it as a "break-it-fix-it toy" that's ''intended'' to be repeatedly broken and mended.]]

* In the ''Series/SesameStreet'' picture book ''Bert and the Broken Teapot,'' Bert is minding Hooper's Store for David when he accidentally breaks David's special teapot, which was [[MementoMacGuffin a gift from the late Mr. Hooper.]] After failing to get it fixed or find a replacement, Bert tells the truth and apologizes, and David [[EasilyForgiven easily forgives him]], telling him the story of how he broke Mr. Hooper's cookie jar as a boy.

* ''Series/{{Frasier}}''
** Played with in an episode in which Frasier meets an elderly, blind fan of his who reveals that he took the doctor's advice to keep something sentimental of his wife close by after her death - a mask that she had made of her face once. Frasier accidentally breaks it, and spends most of the episode attempting to fix it without the blind fan noticing. He actually manages to fix it covertly, but guilt finally gets the better of him and he confesses what has happened. Far from being angry, the blind fan genially waves it off and notes that he's broken it several times himself - he is ''blind'', after all.

* ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'' did this with George's prized Steve Garvey signed baseball. His son took it to practice with and the dog chewed it up.
* ''Series/MamasFamily'': When ironing Fran's brand-new dress that she plans to wear to an important banquet, Mama accidentally burns a hole it. She and Ellen run to the store to buy a replacement, but it doesn't fool Fran: the new dress is full of tucks and looks more like a parachute than a dress.
* Several times in ''George and the Dragon''. In one episode, George grinds up Gabrielle's WWII medals. In another episode, George breaks Gabrialle's records (big black round things that make music when placed in a thing called a record player).
* In ''Series/{{Community}}'', when she breaks a limited-edition DVD in "[[Recap/CommunityS3E09FoosballAndNocturnalVigilantism Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism]]", Annie is [[DefiedTrope persuaded against]] the usual plot of trying to replace it, on the basis that her telly-addict roommate has [[GenreSavvy seen all those sitcoms before]]. So instead, she resorts to FakingAndEntering and it gets blamed on the landlord until she steps forward.
* In an episode of ''Series/TheCosbyShow'', Cliff loses his neighbor Jeffrey's drill. Apparently, not only did the drill have all sorts of great features, but (according to Jeffrey's daughter) it was a gift from his late father and was kept in its own drawer, marked "Drill".
-->''"If you don't find it, are you going to cry?"\\
"No, ''[laughs]'' no, I'm not going to cry."\\
"I bet my dad will."''
* An episode of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' involves one of the most valuable of such "treasures" imaginable: a Mars rover that Howard secretly and mistakenly allows to be driven into a ditch. Unable to get the rover out of the ditch, he resorts to erasing all evidence of his association with it. At the end of the episode, it turns out that the rover found possible evidence of life in the ditch... an amazing scientific discovery for which Howard can never get credit.

* In ''Series/ModernFamily'', Phil breaks Jay's model lunar lander and struggles to repair it before Jay comes home. The whole thing plays out as an homage to the ''Apollo 13'' crisis, with Phil getting instructions from his dad over the phone (who even goes on "radio silence" for a while) and a very tense moment at the end as the last piece is glued into place.

* In ''{{VideoGame/Utawarerumono}}'', Hakuoro ends up accidentally breaking Touka's doll and desperately tries to get it fixed. Then Oboro breaks it again as Touka walks in, resulting in a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown from her.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}''

* Parodied by ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', twice. Once, Fry eats what he believes is jerky, [[IAteWhat only to find out it's a mummified, ancient Pharaoh.]] The Professor is furious, because ''he'' was going to eat that mummy! The second time, Dr. Zoidberg breaks a tiny piece of the Professor's model ship in a bottle and frantically tries to repair the damage. Each attempt only makes it worse, until the bottle and ship are both smashed to pieces. Zoidberg resorts to framing Fry, then toward the end tries to commit honorable ritual suicide. The joke is, the whole thing is worth $10. To Zoidberg this is a mighty, irreconcilable debt, but Fry is barely annoyed. But the sword with which Zoidberg attempts suicide turns out to be worth $5,000, and it gets ruined by Zoidberg trying to stab himself through his tough shell.
--> '''Host''': That sword cost ''five thousand [[strike:DOLLARS]] [[JustAStupidAccent DORRU]]!''
--> '''Zoidberg''': Fry did it!

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': In "Tiny Timmy!", Timmy accidentally breaks his parents' $10,000 vase. It turns out that they bought it for only $1, meaning they'll be getting $9,999 in insurance...much to Vicky's frustration, as she was planning on breaking the vase and blaming Timmy for it.
-->"WE'RE RICH...''ER!''"
* ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'': In the short "Mickey's Big Break", Mickey and Donald accidentally wreck a framed photo of Minnie and Daisy, prompting them to go through shenanigans that lead to them dressing like their girlfriends and having Goofy take a picture of them to replace it. At the end, after the boys confess everything to the girls, they admit they've always hated the picture and proceed to put up a new frame with a photo of them taken earlier in the day.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'', a statue of Madame Foster gets broken and much time and effort is expended attempting to repair it. It turns out that Foster has dozens of copies of the thing, because they're always getting broken.

* Parodied by ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', twice. Once, Fry eats what he believes is jerky, [[IAteWhat only to find out it's a mummified, ancient Pharaoh.]] The Professor is furious, because ''he'' was going to eat that mummy! The second time, Dr. Zoidberg breaks a tiny piece of the Professor's model ship in a bottle and frantically tries to repair the damage. Each attempt only makes it worse, until the bottle and ship are both smashed to pieces. Zoidberg resorts to framing Fry, then toward the end tries to commit honorable ritual suicide. The joke is, the whole thing is worth $10. To Zoidberg this is a mighty, irreconcilable debt, but Fry is barely annoyed. But the sword with which Zoidberg attempts suicide turns out to be worth $10,000, and it gets ruined by Zoidberg trying to stab himself through his tough shell.
--> '''Host''': That sword was worth ''ten thousand [[strike:DOLLARS]] [[JustAStupidAccent DORRU]]!''

"No, ''[laughs]'' no, I'm not going to cry."

[[folder: Puppet Shows]]

[[folder: Visual Novels ]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

-->-- '''Troy''', ''Series/{{Community}}'', "Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism"

[[folder: Anime & Manga ]]

* In ''Anime/{{Eyeshield 21}}'', Sena accidentally damages Monta's most prized possession, a baseball glove he received from his lifetime idol Masaru Honjou. The fact that Monta was in the middle of a HeroicBSOD about facing Honjou's son Taka at the Christmas Bowl didn't help, and he gets into a fight with Sena. They finally manage to resolve it in the end, with Sena [[WellIntentionedReplacement frantically looking for a replacement glove]]... and ending up with a whole box of ''football'' gloves sent in by all the receivers and corner backs Monta had faced so far.

* In an episode of ''Manga/MinamiKe'', Chiaki and Kana break a rabbit necklace belonging to Haruka. They scramble to get other characters to find a replacement. {{Hilarity Ensues}}.

[[folder: Films -- Live-Action]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV ]]

* In ''Series/{{Community}}'', when she breaks a limited edition DVD Annie is [[DefiedTrope persuaded against]] the usual plot of trying to replace it, on the basis that her telly-addict roommate has [[GenreSavvy seen all those sitcoms before]]. So instead, she resorts to FakingAndEntering and it gets blamed on the landlord until she steps forward.

--> "If you don't find it, are you going to cry?"
--> "No," (laughs) "no, I'm not going to cry."
--> "I bet my dad will."

[[folder: Newspaper Comics ]]

Cousin to the DeadPetSketch, this plot involves one of the main characters accidentally breaking or losing another character's [[PricelessMingVase treasured item]] or CharmPoint while they're away. Now they must repair it, get it back, or get a new one before the other character comes back and sees what happened.

A common subversion is for the plot to end with a StormInATeacup moment. This is frequently the other character, in the end, explaining that the item wasn't as valuable as the first character thought -- in fact, it's nearly worthless. A more sappy variation is for the other character to come back, find the broken item, see the attempts to fix it, and forgive the first character, saying that they aren't angry or upset because [[ThePowerOfLove love is more valuable]] than the material thing.

[[/folder]]

A common subversion is for the plot to end with a MilhollandRelationshipMoment. This is frequently the other character, at the end, explaining that the item wasn't as valuable as the first character thought - in fact, it's nearly worthless. A more sappy variation is for the other character to come back, find the broken item, see the attempts to fix it, and forgive the first character, saying that they aren't angry or upset because [[ThePowerOfLove love is more valuable]] than the material thing.

See also DeadPetSketch, LostWeddingRing, DoomedAutographedItem, and NeverLendToAFriend. Can lead to the creation of a WellIntentionedReplacement. Often the cause of a StormInATeacup plot.

See also DeadPetSketch, LostWeddingRing, DoomedAutographedItem, and NeverLendToAFriend. Can lead to the creation of a WellIntentionedReplacement.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Film -- Live-Action]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode "Clarissa is Cracked", D.W. borrows Grandma Thora's old china doll Clarissa for a week, but she's very rough with the doll and later breaks her by accident. D.W. doesn't fully understand the consequences of her actions until her father explains how Thora got Clarissa and how much Clarissa means to her. Luckily, Mr. Ratburn is able to fix Clarissa since he has experience with fixing up his puppets.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekLowerDecksS2E03WellAlwaysHaveTomParis We'll Always Have Tom Paris]]", Tendi is tasked by Dr. T'Ana to bring her a Caitian libido post when it looks like the Dr. is in heat. Tendi brings Mariner along to make it a girls' trip but then Mariner accidentally breaks the post. Wacky hijinks ensue as they try to get it fixed but must ultimately abandon the quest and report back to Dr. T'ana. Mariner stages an accident to make it seem as though she broke the post so Tendi doesn't take any blame, but as Tendi is apologizing for the broken post, Dr. T'Ana just dumps the broken pieces on the floor as she was only interested in the box. As a [[CatFolk cat person]], she just wanted the box to play [[FurryReminder "If I fits, I sits"]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'' episode [[Recap/StarTrekLowerDecksS2E03WellAlwaysHaveTomParis We'll Always Have Tom Paris]], Tendi is tasked by Dr. T'Ana to bring her a Caitian libido post when it looks like the Dr. is in heat. Tendi brings Mariner along to make it a girls' trip but then Mariner accidentally breaks the post. Wacky hijinks ensue as they try to get it fixed but must ultimately abandon the quest and report back to Dr. T'ana. Mariner stages an accident to make it seem as though she broke the post so Tendi doesn't take any blame, but as Tendi is apologizing for the broken post, Dr. T'Ana just dumps the broken pieces on the floor as she was only interested in the box. As a [[CatFolk cat person]], she just wanted the box to play [[FurryReminder "If I fits, I sits"]].

* In ''Series/{{Community}}'', when she breaks a limited edition DVD Annie is [[DefiedTrope persuaded against]] the usual plot, on the basis that her telly-addict roommate has [[GenreSavvy seen all those sitcoms before]]. So instead, she resorts to FakingAndEntering and it gets blamed on the landlord until she steps forward.