History Main / StealTheSurroundings

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Talespin}}'', Baloo, Wild Kat, and an archaeologist discover a lost pyramid, but end up leading the Sky Pirates to it. When the archaeologist voices her concern about the pirates, Baloo dismissively says "[[TemptingFate What are they going to do? Take the whole pyramid?]]". Just as they find their way out, they see the Iron Vulture above using strong cables to tote the entire pyramid out of the ground.

[[CaptainObvious Important stuff is usually protected]], making it pretty hard for a thief to just waltz into a place and steal what they want: {{Safecracking}} will take too long, the PasswordSlotMachine is too slow, the structure is too strong to ShootOutTheLock and they'll be detected as soon as they try to [[HollywoodHacking hack into the terminal]]. But wait, why even bother trying to steal ''just'' what they want? They can grab everything surrounding their target, and figure things out once they get the hell out of there. Frequently, [[MonumentalTheft an entire]] ''[[MonumentalTheft building]]'' [[MonumentalTheft will be stolen]], in one way or another.

* ''Film/TheItalianJob'' does this twice: once with a standard safe and once with an entire armored truck.

!!Examples

* In ''Series/{{Warehouse13}}'', Leena's entire bed and breakfast had to be moved into the warehouse and rebuilt outside because of an artifact painting that couldn't be removed from the house. The bedrooms of dead agents are also put into storage in case their personal belongings are needed again.

[[folder:Film]]

* Used in ''Film/{{Revolver}}'' when Avi, Zeke and Jake steal Macha's safe where the MacGuffin (drugs) is being kept. The safe is stated to be nigh-impenetrable, so they just rip it right out of the wall and take their sweet time breaking into it later.
* ''Film/{{Zoolander}}'' - Hansel is tasked to get a vital piece of information out of a computer. Unfortunately, he can't figure out how to do so, as he is ''too stupid to turn one on'', let alone perform HollywoodHacking. Instead, he just takes the entire computer(an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMac_G3 IMac G3]])... and smashes it to pieces on the floor in front of a crowd, thinking that the data is literally IN the computer and will spill out like a pinata. (Fortunately for our heroes, the original owner of the computer has a backup.)
* ''Film/BatmanForever'' has a ColdOpen with Two-Face using a helicopter to pull a bank vault out of a building.

* In ''[[Film/TheFastAndTheFurious Fast Five]]'', Dom and Brian decide to rob a corrupt senator in Rio de Janeiro by using Hobbs' armored vehicle to crash through a wall, hooking the safe up to their cars with a pair of tow cables and literally yanking it out before driving away. Dom then proceeds to use it as a ''battering ram'' to destroy the cars the corrupt police are using before the crew escapes.

* In ''Film/ForAFewDollarsMore'', El Indio and his gang bomb the cabinet with the safe inside out of the El Paso bank and move it to their hideout where they can crack the safe without being disturbed.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'', Miles breaks into Alchemax and logs into their head scientist's computer to steal files required to shut down the Super-Collider. [[RealityEnsues He can't find them on her poorly organised desktop.]] As he's running out of time, he just takes the whole computer [[ComputerEqualsMonitor and monitor]] with him.

->'''''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlD5NBnzFhE THEY'RE TAKING THE VAULT!!]]'''''

[[folder:Comics]]
* The ''WebAnimation/{{Gobelins}}'' comic has a bodybuilder goblin try to pull the Sword in the Stone out. At first it look like he succeeded, hoisting the sword above his head, but then it's shown he ripped the entire rock it was attached to out of the ground, which then crushes him.
* A staple of ''ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon'', used to establish the competence of a thieving BigBad. In one album, a particularly crafty gang of car hijackers routinely make their hits on manned vehicles, stealing everything ''except'' the seat and the steering wheel, ''without the driver noticing''.

* The driving question of ''ComicBook/AtomicRobo: The Ghost of Station X'''s B-plot; how and ''why'' would someone steal a small house from Bletchley Park, and leave absolutely no paper trail? The culprit turns out to be [[spoiler:[[AIIsACrapshoot ALAN]]]], who relocated the house (which contained [[spoiler:his central CPU]]) to an uninhabited island off the coast of Japan, where he would set the next stage of [[ThePlan his plan]] into motion.

* The ''StarWars''[=/=]''Franchise/StarTrek'' crossover fic ''{{Fanfic/Conquest}}'' has the Rebels rescuing people from a prison complex. They tow the entire complex into transports, flee, and storm it once safe.

[[folder: Literature]]
* Donald E. Westlake's novel ''[[Literature/{{Dortmunder}} Bank Shot]]'' does this one better. In it, a gang steals an entire '''bank''' in order to crack the safe! The bank had temporarily relocated to a trailer while the bank building was being renovated.
* Happens in the ''Franchise/{{Mistborn}}'' novel ''Literature/TheAlloyOfLaw'', when [[spoiler: Miles used a crane to steal loaded train cars right off the tracks and replace them with empties]].
* In the ''Literature/DoctorWhoMissingAdventures'' book ''State of Change'', it's revealed that the parallel Earth the Doctor and Peri have spent the book exploring was created when a cosmic entity attempted to copy the TARDIS console. It not only copied the console, but a large portion of its surroundings -- ie, Earth.
* A characteristically absurd example in ''Literature/TheRestaurantAtTheEndOfTheUniverse'', where a Frogstar fleet shows up and flies off with the Guide's headquarters building to get their hands on Zaphod, who was inside at the time.

[[folder:Live-Action Television]]

* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Smith and Jones" features an entire building being transported to the moon so the MonsterOfTheWeek can locate a single person.

* On ''Series/{{Glee}}'', Puck ends up in juvie when he drives his mom's Volvo through the front of a convenience store and drives off with the ATM.
* On ''Series/TheLostRoom'', Joe needs an Object stored in a safe. He sticks the safe in the Room and resets it, causing the safe to vanish and leaving the Object inside behind.
* The "steal the safe" variant happens in the ''Series/AliasSmithAndJones'' series.
* An episode of ''Series/BlackBooks'' had Manny install a needlessly obtuse security door after the shop was robbed. Later in the episode, the thieves had come back overnight and stolen the security door.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* The B-plot in ''ComicBook/AtomicRobo and the Ghost of Station X'' is the investigation of a stolen house. No, not a house that was stolen from, an entire house vanishing overnight, leaving behind only some ''really'' weird wiring.
--> '''Dr. Martin''': ''You rob a bank with a note and a candy bar in your coat pocket. You don't drag the ''whole vault'' down the street.''
** Turns out [[spoiler:the house stole itself(0_o) - the twenty-foot wide and forty-foot tall central processor of UsefulNotes/AlanTuring's AI superproject was inside, and it requisitioned a really big truck and an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_Beluga Airbus Beluga]] to ship itself out of the country]].

-->'''Snake:''' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HydpVlJh1C0 I'm taking this thing to Mexico!]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop'' episode "Hair-Raising Harness Race", Penelope takes refuge in a shack filled with explosives. The Hooded Claw lassos the shack, with Penelope still inside, and has the Bully Brothers drag it onto a railroad track.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/RicochetRabbit'' short "Cactus Ruckus" a Literature/JackAndTheBeanstalk-type giant outlaw robs the bank by picking it up and taking it to his hideout at the top of a giant cactus.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', Peggy gets her money back from a con artist by stealing the safe with his ill gotten gains from his motel room. It turns out the safe was planted in the room by Peggy through a hole in the wall.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'', Magica de Spell comes to steal a magic harp Scrooge recently found at an archaeological dig. Scrooge locks the harp in a drawer, then throws the key in his vault, which has a combination lock. Magica simply tells him, "You won't give key? Then ''I'' take desk!" She does, and a ChaseScene ensues.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Talespin}}'', Baloo, Wild Kat, and an archaeologist discover a lost pyramid, but end up leading the Sky Pirates to it. When the archaeologist voices her concern about the pirates, Baloo dismissively says "[[TemptingFate What are they going to do? Take the whole pyramid?]]". Just as they find their way out, they see the Iron Vulture above using strong cables to tote the entire pyramid out of the ground.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimatioon/Talespin'', Baloo, Wild Kat, and an archaeologist discover a lost pyramid, but end up leading the Sky Pirates to it. When the archaeologist voices her concern about the pirates, Baloo dismissively says "[[TemptingFate What are they going to do? Take the whole pyramid?]]". Just as they find their way out, they see the Iron Vulture above using strong cables to tote the entire pyramid out of the ground.

[[CaptainObvious Important stuff is usually protected]], making it pretty hard for a thief to just waltz into a place and steal what they want: {{Safecracking}} will take too long, the PasswordSlotMachine is too slow, the structure is too strong to ShootOutTheLock and they'll be detected as soon as they try to [[HollywoodHacking hack into the terminal]]. But wait, why even bother trying to steal ''just'' what they want? They can grab everything surrounding their target, and figure things out once they get the hell out of there. Frequently, an entire ''building'' will be stolen, in one way or another.

-->'''Snake:'''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HydpVlJh1C0 I'm taking this thing to Mexico!]]

* The above fictional examples of taking data off of a computer by stealing the whole system and working on it later have a great deal of TruthInTelevision in them. There are several ways of defeating system security on most systems, mostly be booting off of a system cracking disk (usually using Linux) or by plugging the hard drive into another system for analysis. Both are common methods used by forensic computer technicians. Both can be made extremely awkward to use, but once you have the physical system in hand, it is almost inevitable that anything not protected by physical booby traps is going to be compromised. For this reason, any competent penetration tester will attempt to gain access using [[BavarianFirDrill "social engineering"]] tactics as well as electronically.

* The above fictional examples of taking data off of a computer by stealing the whole system and working on it later have a great deal of TruthInTelevision in them. There are several ways of defeating system security on most systems, mostly be booting off of a system cracking disk (usually using Linux) or by plugging the hard drive into another system for analysis. Both are common methods used by forensic computer technicians. Both can be made extremely awkward to use, but once you have the physical system in hand, it is almost inevitable that anything not protected by physical booby traps is going to be compromised.

* The same concept (just substitute the verb "steal" with "shoot") is used in ''[[WesternAnimation/DragonsRidersOfBerk Dragons: Race to the Edge]]''. When the dragon hunters capture Heather and Windshear in their "dragon proof" chains, Hiccup reasons, "If we can't blast the chains, blast the winches!" It works. The bad news is that the hunters fix that weakness next season -- when they catch Meatlug and Fishlegs, the winch is made of the same metal. Hiccup reminds them, "But that wood deck isn't!" One blast later, Meatlug's flying away with the chain and winch dangling from her leg.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''' ''TabletopGame/TombOfHorrors'' is a variant: the titular Tomb is SchmuckBait with very little treasure, loads of {{Death Trap}}s, and a SoulEating [[OurLichesAreDifferent demilich]] at the centre. However, the ''doors'' are made of precious {{Fantasty Metal}}s. After a fair few adventuring parties pried them off their hinges and made off with a fortune in adamantium and {{Mithril}}, later editions revised it so the doors are common steel with cosmetic enchantments and {{Reinforce Field}}s.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''' ''TabletopGame/TombOfHorrors'' is a variant: the titular Tomb is SchmuckBait with very little treasure, loads of {{Death Trap}}s, and a SoulEating [[OurLichesAreDifferent demilich]] at the centre. However, the ''doors'' are made of precious FantastyMetals. After a fair few adventuring parties pried them off their hinges and made off with a fortune in adamantium and {{Mithril}}, later editions revised it so the doors are common steel with cosmetic enchantments and {{Reinforce Field}}s.

* ''Fanfic/ShadowchasersAscension''; BigBad Jalie Squarefoot realizes that removing the ArtifactOfDoom he requires from the vault of Tabnari is impossible (the fortress was built around said artifact, which is far too big to fit through the door of the vault, teleportation magic doesn't work there, and ''all'' demonic magic is suppressed) so his plan involves stealing the fortress itself with a giant airship. [[spoiler: ([[DidntThinkThisThrough His plan has two flaws, however]]. One, Tabnari ''is'' prepared for such an act, its magic quickly attempting to sabotage the airship's magical engines. Second, Jalie underestimates of the powers of its guardian, Unity of Rings, who is also more than willing to destroy Tabnari rather than let the Lich-Fiend steal it; while Jalie does succeed, his physical body is destroyed, and the three days he requires to reform it gives the good guys a window of opportunity.)]]

* CarmenSandiego, being ''the'' original ImpossibleThief, regularly steals locations such as Ancient Rome's Forum and the Mason-Dixon line. Why? Because she can!

* In the ''WesternAnimation/RicochetRabbit'' short "Cactus Ruckus" a JackAndTheBeanstalk-type giant outlaw robs the bank by picking it up and taking it to his hideout at the top of a giant cactus.

* Once in a while, ComicBook/{{Diabolik}} finds easier to do this. Usually it's just some large safe (even if the owner of the safe is GenreSavvy enough to have it bolted to the floor or encased in the wall. Diabolik doesn't steal the floor or the wall, but considers penetrating them as an entertaining game, and in at least one occasion stole a bolted-down safe by making it ''fly''), but in one occasion he saw that the only way to steal a large cargo of gold was to steal the train it was on and ''did just that'' (this was reproduced in the movie ''Film/DangerDiabolik'', see below for details).

* The page quote from ''ComicBook/AtomicRobo'' refers to the driving question of ''Ghost of Station X'''s B-plot; how and ''why'' would someone steal a small house from Bletchley Park, and leave absolutely no paper trail? The culprit turns out to be [[spoiler:[[AIIsACrapshoot ALAN]]]], who relocated the house (which contained [[spoiler:his central CPU]]) to an uninhabited island off the coast of Japan, where he would set the next stage of [[ThePlan his plan]] into motion.

->''You rob a bank with a note and a candy bar in your coat pocket. You don't drag the ''whole vault'' down the street.''
-->--'''Dr. Martin''', ''ComicBook/AtomicRobo and the Ghost of Station X''

-->--''[[Film/TheFastAndTheFurious Fast Five]]'', where Creator/VinDiesel does exactly that.