History Main / PantyThief

[[quoteright:350:[[Anime/RanmaOneHalf https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2c205b7d893ef3692781ede1e0d8d719.jpg]]]]

An individual -- almost always a pervert of some kind -- who steals and collects women's (or girls') underwear, usually worn/used. Almost always presented as a reprehensible individual and usually an enemy of the hero, and just as frequently played for laughs. They can be divided into the StalkerWithACrush -- who steals a specific person's underwear as part of a general stalking campaign--and the indiscriminate, compulsive underwear thief--who usually doesn't engage in more serious sexual offenses and is more likely to be treated as a comic figure. One might call such a character a "knicker nicker".

* ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'' has an arc in which Koro-Sensai is framed as a compulsive Panty Thief and his class have to try to prove him innocent. (It ends up being one of the manga's most spectacular MoodWhiplash twists, as it turns out to be part of one of Shiro's elaborate and ruthless attempts to kill him, and the arc ends with Shiro committing an exceptionally brutal YouHaveFailedMe which many fans consider his MoralEventHorizon moment.)

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', [=SpongeBob=], Patrick and Mr. Krabs go on a "panty raid". It is near midnight, however, so Mr. Krabs does not realize until it is too late that the person they are stealing panties from is his own mother.

* ''Manga/TimeStopBrave'': Kuzuno Sekai's first on screen use of his ability to [[TimeStandsStill stop time]] is to steal Niña's panties off her body, while they were in different jail cells. After teasing her for wearing [[GoofyPrintUnderwear teddy bear panties]], he returns them just as quickly.

-->'''Lauren:''' ''(snatching her panties back)'' You have got to stop ''doing'' that!
-->'''Dyson:''' I did not teach her to do that.

* "In the Middle of the Night" from the ''Music/OneStepBeyond'' album by Music/{{Madness}} is about a sixty-three year old newsagent who just so happens to be an underwear thief, beginning his raids at 8pm. He sees his own picture in the newspaper and books it.

* Black Bump, A Feca Demi-God in ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'', collects underwear from all over the World of Twelve. His explanation ([[CloudCuckooLander if you can call that]]) is that underwear are the most intimate piece of clothing, and thus something akin to a "soul" of their owner. He has a whole temple where his collection is proudly exposed and stored. A rather rare example in that he collects from both males and females. However, [[EveryoneHasStandards he draws the line]] at ''children's'' underwear.

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' featured an episode with Numbahs 1 and 2 believing that the training bra belonging to Numbah 5's older sister is actually [[FunWithAcronyms Battle Ready Armor]]. What starts out as a misunderstanding, after stealing and trying it, turns out to be real near the end. It has since been used by teen villains all series, both female ''and'' male, even though some still see their initial form to be ridiculous.

* On ''Series/{{Degrassi}}'', Connor is revealed to be one of these. This is used so he can be PutOnABus in season 11.

Usually this is an anime trope (due to the fact that in Japan, clothes lines are predominant while the West uses dryers), but Western culture has independently produced the college prank of panty raiding (which has been out of fashion since the sexual revolution of the sixties). Panty raids are usually perpetrated by ''groups'' of perverted young FratBro males, rather than just one guy.

Usually this is an anime trope (due to the fact that in Japan, clothes lines are predominant while the West uses dryers), but Western culture has independently produced the college prank of panty raiding (which has been out of fashion since the sexual revolution of the sixties). Panty raids are usually perpetrated by ''groups'' of perverted young males, rather than just one guy.

* In ''Liiterature/GargoyleOfTheYoshinagas'', there's a scene in which Kaitou Hyakushiki literally steals the undies off of two people in front of a crowd.

* The StalkerWithACrush Kuroko from ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex''. It's only shown in the anime counterpart of the spin-off ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'', though. On one occasion, she somehow stole Misaka's swimsuit from a locked container. While she IS a teleporter, it's not clear how she managed to get past the lock. A few minutes after revealing her theft of the swimsuit, Kuroko took the trope [[PowerPerversionPotential to its logical extreme]]: using her ability, she ''teleported Misaka's underwear right off of its owner''.

* Oolong from ''Franchise/DragonBall'' is an offender. It was stated by Puar that he was kicked out of [[VoluntaryShapeshifter Shapeshifting School]] for stealing the teacher's panties. He even saves the day by stealing Emperor Pilaf's wish from Shenron; Oolong swoops in and wishes for "panties off a hot babe" to prevent Pilaf from wishing for world domination.
* Shinji Kazama from ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' is forced to do this when some upperclassmen steal one of his possessions and ransom it for a pair of Kaname's panties.
* In ''LightNovel/GargoyleOfTheYoshinagas'', there's a scene in which Kaitou Hyakushiki literally steals the undies off of two people in front of a crowd.

* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'': In one of the [=OVAs=], the Occult Research Club faces against a former priest who steals women's underwear, which he uses for his experiments to create a PhilosophersStone. [[ItMakesSenseInContext He then transforms into an underwear monster capable of controlling women's bras and panties while they wear them]].

* Kazuma from ''Anime/KonoSuba'' is an odd case. His [[VideoGameStealing Steal skill]] is ''supposed'' to steal a random item from the target based on his Luck stat. However, when he tries it out for the first time on the girl who taught him the skill (with her consent), he ends up [[KleptomaniacHeroFoundUnderwear unintentionally stealing the panties she was wearing]]. As it turns out, his extremely high Luck stat means that when he targets women, he steals their panties almost every time. He (and everyone who knows him) soon comes to expect this result, pushing him into this trope.

* Rudeus of ''LightNovel/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation'' steals a pair of Roxy's unwashed panties before she leaves and forgets to return them. He protects them carefully, referring to them as the "Divine Artifact". [[ItMakesSenseInContext At one point Rudeus is wearing a pair of panties on his head and a knight accuses him of stealing them from the captive princess]]. Rudeus takes offense as they are [[spoiler:his wife's panties]].

* ''LightNovel/{{Shimoneta}}'':

* Happôsai from ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' is the patron saint of all panty thieves. This OldMaster even developed some martial art techniques around panty-thieving and peeping.

* [[EverythingsBetterWithPenguins Penguin #1]] from ''Anime/{{Penguindrum}}'' uses ''a fish rod'' to steal panties in episode 10.

* ''Webcomic/KarateBears'' are not [[http://www.karatebears.com/2012/01/panty-raid.html above this.]]
* In-game in ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' of ''[[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft Years of Yarncraft]]'', it's a quest. Of [[CuteMonsterGirl sorority demon girls]].

* Akatsuki from ''LightNovel/AestheticaOfARogueHero''. He also steals brassieres off girls' wearers with no problem.

** Notably, the thief doesn't steal them because he's a pervert. The panties he's seeking are a prop used in Trucy's magic act (she pulls various objects out of them like how a magician would typically pull objects out of their hat), and the culprit, a "man of science", was desperate to find out how they worked. However, he didn't know where Trucy lived, so he just went around stealing all the panties he could get his hands on hoping to get lucky and find the right pair. Or at least that's his excuse.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': When SCP-261, a magic vending machine, dispensed a package of edible underwear, the log simply notes "Items confiscated. Current whereabouts unknown."

** Notably, the thief doesn't steal them because he's a pervert. The panties he's seeking are used in Trucy's magic act, and the culprit, a "man of science", was desperate to find out how they worked... however, he didn't know where Trucy lived, so he just went around stealing all the panties he could get his hands on hoping to get lucky and find the right pair.

* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'': In one of the [=OVAs=], the Occult Research Club faces against a former priest who steals women's underwear, which he uses for his experiments to create a PhilosophersStone.