History Main / IntangibleTheft

* ''ComicStrip/TwistedToyfareTheatre'': The story "Hello Kitty" re-envisions Kitty Pryde's tour of the X-Mansion, including her parents. Professor X introduces Storm, briefly mentioning that she used to be a thief. A quick introduction, and Storm leaves. Hilarity ensues as Storm is accused of stealing Kitty's virginity. ([[https://ludi-ling.tumblr.com/post/123819544384/hello-kitty-by-twisted-toyfare-theatre-in-the Here, you can have a look.]])

* In ''Film/SpaceJam'', the Nerdlucks steal the talent of basketball superstars Larry Johnson, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Muggsy Bogues, and Shawn Bradley.

* In ''Film/AustinPowers: TheSpy Who Shagged Me'', Fat Bastard steals Austin Powers' "mojo" (his libido and sexual prowess) for his arch-nemesis Dr. Evil. It's visualized as a red liquid with little male symbols floating in it.

[[folder:Carmen Sandiego]]

** ''WesternAnimation/WhereOnEarthIsCarmenSandiego'' worked hard to make Carmen Sandiego's seemingly outrageous crimes semi-plausible in their execution. The pilot has her stealing the talent of famous athletes and musicians by using a prototype neural scanner to scramble their nervous systems while overlaying her own with an imprint of their abilities.

* ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'': In ''ComicBook/JLA1997: [[ComicBook/JLATowerOfBabel Tower of Babel]]'', the BigBad [[CurseOfBabel steals human language, first written, then spoken as well]].
* ''ComicBook/{{Loki}}'': In ''Comicbook/LokiAgentOfAsgard'', Loki once stole the Ragnarök. Yes. The event. He wanted to survive the end of the world and it's hard to die in it after you stole it... why yes, it is circular. That's Loki logic for you.

* ''ComicBook/Trinity2008'': The comic has a group of villains perform ever-more elaborate thefts of items as the part of a magical ritual. They steal items related to the Trinity of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman:

* ''ComicStrip/TwistedToyfareTheatre'': The story "Hello Kitty" re-envisions Kitty Pryde's tour of the X-Mansion, including her parents. Professor X introduces Storm, briefly mentioning that she used to be a thief. A quick introduction, and Storm leaves. HilarityEnsues as Storm is accused of stealing Kitty's virginity. ([[https://ludi-ling.tumblr.com/post/123819544384/hello-kitty-by-twisted-toyfare-theatre-in-the Here you can have a look.]])
-->'''Dad''': "Hey...my WALLET!"\\
'''Mom''': "My PURSE!"\\
'''Kitty''': "[[LesYay My VIRGINITY!]] Wow, she's good."

* In ''Film/AustinPowersTheSpyWhoShaggedMe'', Fat Bastard steals Austin Powers' "mojo" (his libido and sexual prowess) for his arch-nemesis Dr. Evil. It's visualized as a red liquid with little male symbols floating in it.
* Creator/ChristopherNolan's ''Film/{{Inception}}'' features a crew of thieves that steal ideas for a living. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], since they do this by reading the subject's mind. In a situation like that, ''all'' you can steal are ideas.

* In the ''Creator/IsaacAsimov'' ''Literature/BlackWidowers'' story "Literature/TheAcquisitiveChuckle," a thief [[spoiler:steals a JerkAssVictim's peace of mind]].
* In ''Literature/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids'', Madame Tarsa's ventriloquist dummies can steal someone's voice and speak with it.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': In ''Literature/InterestingTimes'', Cohen the Barbarian asked if an [[spoiler:omen]] was being used by anyone, and when he was told it wasn't, he declared that he'd stolen it.

* ''Literature/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'': AvertedTrope when the Grinch tries to steal Christmas by taking away all the material trappings of the holiday, and finds the ''spirit'' of Christmas remains intact.
* In ''Literature/{{Momo|1973}}'', the Grey Men trick people into giving them their spare time, and without any time left for leisure, they lose all emotion or purpose in life.

* ''Literature/ThePhantomTollbooth'': The Senses Taker is an ObstructiveBureaucrat who takes away the main character's senses. [[spoiler:The one sense he can't take away, however, is their [[{{Pun}} sense of humor.]]]]

* A story from a book released in Brazil called ''O nome roubado'' (''Literature/TheStolenName'') is about what the title says. A guy comes to a police station claiming his name was stolen, when the delegate asks his name, he tells he said his name was stolen. An investigator catches the thief and asks his name. The thief says his name is Jorge and the man with the stolen name says that's his name. The delegate orders the thief to give the name back and he agrees. Then the thief is asked his full name and he says it's "Goatling hand". The delegate says he asked the name. He says he doesn't have a name, but then the delegate says he said his name was Jorge, but he says that he stole that name, and then he had to give it back.
* In the first ''Literature/TimeOutOfTime'' book, "Beyond The Door", when the Greenman comes into Timothy's house, he takes all the light in the room. Not the light bulbs, the actual light.
* Creator Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''[[Literature/TheUnpleasantProfessionOfJonathanHoag The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag]]'' has a soul stolen. Ted and Cynthia Randall are private detectives who are hired by Jonathan Hoag to find out why he has amnesia about his daily work. The Sons of the Bird steal Cynthia's soul in an attempt to coerce Ted into giving up the investigation, leaving her in a coma.
* In the ''Literature/WaysideSchool'' book ''Wayside School Gets A Little Stranger'', Mr. Gorf arrives at the school to serve as a substitute teacher to Mrs. Jewls's class and [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge get revenge]] for his mother Mrs. Gorf. He sucks up the children's voices with the third nostril in his nose, which allows him to use them; he then calls their mothers and says cruel things, destroying their relationships. Miss Mush, the cafeteria lady, eventually [[BigDamnHeroes saves the day]] by attacking Mr. Gorf with a LogicalWeakness--pepper--that makes him sneeze out the stolen voices.

-->''A stranger called this morning''
-->''Dressed all in black and grey''
-->''Put every sound into a bag''
-->''And carried it away.''

-->''A stranger called this morning''
-->''He didn't leave his name''
-->''Left us only silence''
-->''Life will never be the same.''

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Third Edition'': The legendary thief Andromalius managed to prove his devotion to/prank Olidammara, god of thieves and rogues, by repenting for his crimes on his deathbed, essentially stealing his soul from his own deity. Olidammara was pissed at first, then realized the delicious irony of the deed, but was faced with a conundrum - he'd either have to ruin the joke by accepting Andromalius' soul, or let such a character pass into the realms of another deity. So Olidammara stole the thief's soul from the multiverse, turning him into a Vestige somewhere between life and death, transcending mortality but forever beyond the reach of any god. "Whether Andromalius deemed this result an honor or not remains unclear."
** The Fourth Edition Epic Destiny "Thief Of Legend" is all about being a thief so deft, you can steal things like memories, colors, the princess' smile or the sighs of a maiden. At the highest levels, you even gain the ability to steal your own soul from death, allowing you to come BackFromTheDead.

* Goblin mages in ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyBattle''. The Little Waaagh's Lore attribute meant that a goblin who successfully got a spell off had a one in three chance of stealing one of the opponent's Dispel dice and turning it into a Power die. In other words, goblin mages were capable of half-inching ''game abstractions'' representing general magical defence, and using them to cast spells, presumably after a quick coat of paint and swearing blind that they'd had the die in question for years.

--> "I've stolen things that weren't even '''there'''. [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2004/03/11/episode-393-theifenberg-uncertainty-principle/ This soul exists, so that helps."]]

* In ''WebComic/TheLastDaysOfFOXHOUND'', after their [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind trip through Ocelot's memories]] of the events of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', the members of FOXHOUND who were aware of [[AncientConspiracy the Patriots]] were implanted with a psychic block by Ocelot's subconscious preventing them from referring to the Patriots as such, with the term 'La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo' coming out of their mouths instead. [[{{Telepathy}} Psycho Mantis]] was [[http://www.doctorshrugs.com/foxhound/comic.php?id=302 not happy about this.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In [[Recap/FamilyGuyS11E20FarmerGuy "Farmer Guy"]], the Griffins find that their house has been robbed, and Peter comments that the robbers even stole his sense of wonder. This cues a CutawayGag where Peter watches a rainbow and says "Nope".
* ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicKey'': In "The Sound Monster", the eponymous being is able to remove the sound an object produces (which takes the form of a floating ball of green light). Normally, they only borrow the sound for a few minutes before returning it, but by the time of the episode they'd started accidentally returning the wrong sounds, leading to the island where they live being filled with [[SoundDefect Sound Defects]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': One of Grandpa Simpson's {{rambling old man monologue}}s involves the German Kaiser stealing the word "twenty", forcing the people of Grandpa's generation to say "dickety" in its stead. This is likely a reference to the anti-German sentiment that compelled Americans to rename several everyday things with roots in that language during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, but Grandpa's [[ScatterbrainedSenior extreme senility]] had caused him to misremember things and [[LiteralMinded believe that the word was literally stolen.]]

* In ''ComicBook/JLA1997: [[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmericaTowerOfBabel Tower of Babel]]'', the BigBad [[CurseOfBabel steals human language, first written, then spoken as well]].
* In ''Comicbook/LokiAgentOfAsgard'', Comicbook/{{Loki}} once stole the Ragnarök. Yes. The event. He wanted to survive the end of the world and it's hard to die in it after you stole it... why yes, it is circular. That's Loki logic for you.
* Rubel from ''ComicBook/ThievesAndKings'' has an uncle, [=McGi=], who has performed feats like [[spoiler:retrieving a girl's lost memories.]]
* ''ComicBook/Trinity2008'' has a group of villains perform ever-more elaborate thefts of items as the part of a magical ritual. They steal items related to the Trinity of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman:

* The ''ComicStrip/TwistedToyfareTheatre'' story "Hello Kitty" re-envisions Kitty Pryde's tour of the X-Mansion, including her parents. Professor X introduces Storm, briefly mentioning that she used to be a thief. A quick introduction, and Storm leaves. HilarityEnsues as Storm is accused of stealing Kitty's virginity. ([[https://ludi-ling.tumblr.com/post/123819544384/hello-kitty-by-twisted-toyfare-theatre-in-the Here you can have a look.]])

[[folder:Fan Works]]

* ''VideoGame/Persona5'' revolves around a group of [[PhantomThief Phantom Thieves]] who forcibly reform corrupt individuals by stealing their hearts. Which in this case means visiting metaphysical 'palaces' in the collective unconsciousness, which hide a 'Treasure' that represents their corrupt desire and is guarded by their Shadow. For example, Madarame's desire is to become famous, and so takes the form of the original ''Sayuri'', the portrait that made him rich (and that he didn't actually paint). Once stolen, Treasures can be taken to the real world, and selling them is a good part of the Phantom Thieves' revenue.
* In ''VideoGame/TouhouYouyoumuPerfectCherryBlossom'', the plot revolves around the fact that someone has stolen spring, causing winter to drag on much longer than it should. No explanation is given for how it is possible to steal a season, but it is implied that it is contained within the cherry petals you've been collecting throughout the game.

->''"Stolen... And not just the [=____=]. The word, [=____=]. They stole it, too!"''

->''"Stolen... And not just the [=-----=]. The word, [=-----=]. They stole it, too!"''

* ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'': When the {{curse}} the Gogyosen meant to kill Suzu ends up in [[GenderBender boy-turned-girl]] Matsuri, the result is both a boy and girl Matsuri. The girl Matsuri believes the Gogyosen "stole" [[spoiler:Matsuri's male form from his human body to create a boy Matsuri ayakashi. So while the resulting girl Matsuri is human, she cannot become a boy unless they merge together, and will be permanently female if boy Matsuri is destroyed.]]