History Main / StolenGoodReturnedBetter

** In ''Film/BackToTheFuture1'', Marty [=McFly=] steals a kid's scooter, ripping off the handles so it's just the board. When he gives it back, it's the world's first skateboard.
** He does something similar in the future of ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'', ganking a Franchise/{{Barbie}}-branded {{hoverboard}} from a little girl. When he goes to return it, she lets him keep it because she found Griff's high-end, rocket-propelled "Pit Bull" instead.

* In an early episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', Team Rocket steals a Ditto belonging to the professional impersonator Duplica, only to discover that it cannot mimic faces properly. They promptly whip it into shape, and when Duplica and the protagonists show up to steal it back, Duplica gives them heartfelt thanks for helping Ditto overcome its problem.

** In ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', Marty [=McFly=] steals a kid's scooter, ripping off the handles so it's just the board. When he gives it back, it's the world's first skateboard.

* ''Literature/TheFamousFive'': In ''Five Have Plenty of Fun'', Jo [[borrows BorrowedWithoutPermission]] Dick's bike, and spring cleans it, before bringing it back.

* In ''VideoGame/RhythmThiefAndTheEmperorsTreasure'', the elusive [[PhantomThief Phantom R]] is infamously known for stealing from famous art galleries (usually the Louvre), but the biggest mystery rivaling his true identity is why he bothers to return an art piece he recently stole. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that as Raphael, he came up with the Phantom R persona after finding out that his missing father had a secret vault in their apartment which is full of famous artwork. The reason for this was because Raphael's father was an expert in forgery who made perfect replications of said artwork which he would later steal and swap for sale on the black market to pay for Raphael's medical bills. As Phantom R years later, Raphael planned to steal back the forgeries and return the true articles in their place.]]

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]

[[folder:Film]]

* In the ''Literature/JudyMoody'' book ''Judy Moody Gets Famous,'' Judy steals all the broken and damaged dolls from a hospital waiting room/playroom, fixes them up using her personal collection of doll parts, and returns them dressed in miniature hospital gowns and wearing casts. An article is later published in the newspaper that features the hospital thanking the "Phantom Doll Doctor" for their help.

** A variation in thata "kleptomaniac" has stolen a number of small objects from the students staying in a hostel. When she confesses, the thief admits that she destroyed most of what she stole, but she gives those she stole from enough money so they can buy new things. The students are pleased, both because she was generous in estimating how much their things were worth, and because most of them would rather have had the money anyway.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', the Hive takes over the Titans' (filthy) Tower. By the time the Titans retake it, the Hive have cleaned it up and alphabetized their [=CDs=]. Beast Boy and Cyborg are appalled since now they can't find anything, and they were saving [[ItCameFromTheFridge that blue mold]].

* There is an {{Urban Legend|s}} that says Creator/FredRogers' car was once stolen. When the thieves discovered whose car it was, they returned it with an apology note and all the damage they had done repaired. Some variations of the legend also say that the car was detailed upon return with a few coats of car wax. ''{{WebSite/Snopes}}'' covered it [[http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/rogerscar.asp here]].

* In ''TabletopGame/InNomine'', this is the modus operandi of Kyriotates, angels who manifest by possessing human bodies. (And animals, and in some cases plants and machines.) They suffer dissonance if they leave the host in a worse condition than when they "borrowed" it, so they'd rather be safe than sorry and put in some extra effort. Their demonic counterparts, the Shedim, couldn't care less about their host and take pleasure in corrupting it.

* A variation in the Literature/HerculePoirot novel ''Literature/HickoryDickoryDock'': a "kleptomaniac" has stolen a number of small objects from the students staying in a hostel. When she confesses, the thief admits that she destroyed most of what she stole, but she gives those she stole from enough money so they can buy new things. The students are pleased, both because she was generous in estimating how much their things were worth, and because most of them would rather have had the money anyway.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* This happens to pretty much all the Gundams in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' (except for Heavyarms). OZ recovers Wing and Sandrock after they [[SelfDestructMechanism self-destruct]], and when they're stolen back, they're in much better condition (Wing has [[WorthyOpponent an explanation]], Sandrock not so much). Deathscythe and Shenlong get badly damaged and captured in space, but the Gundam Engineers (who have been captured by OZ) [[MidSeasonUpgrade upgrade]] them in secret before handing them back to the boys.
* In an early episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', Team Rocket steals a Ditto belonging to the professional impersonator Duplica, only to discover that it cannot mimic faces properly. They promptly whip it into shape, and when Duplica and the protagonists show up to steal it back, Duplica gives them heartfelt thanks for helping Ditto overcome its problem.

* ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'': In episode 15, the Digidestined's D-tectors are stolen by Toucanmon. Two episodes later, they find them in the hands of a Datamon on the Autumn Leaf Fair. Tommy/Tomoki is able to win them back from the Datamon by winning a game for him, and upon doing so learns that Datamon added the Beast Spirit of Ice to his D-Tector.
* Subverted in ''StandAndDeliver'', when teacher Escalante thinks his crappy old Beetle has been stolen by students at his school. They have actually taken it to fix it up.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comicbooks]]
* The old Creator/MarvelComics series ''The ComicBook/NewWarriors'' played with this a bit. The character Silhouette stole an [[MySuitIsAlsoSuper Unstable Molecule costume]] from [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Reed Richards]] (she could meld into the shadows for teleportation but would [[BlessedWithSuck always lose her clothes in the process since they can't meld with her]], forcing her to find something with less {{Fanservice}}). She shed her old costume and stole the new one, feeling guilty about the situation afterwards. She tried to return it to Richards, but he was fine with the situation and ended up tweaking it slightly for her... and offering to make further costumes for her in the future.
* ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'': In a variation on both this and GoneSwimmingClothesStolen, Leetah and Nightfall leave their clothes on a branch while [[HoYay dancing in the moonlight]]. While they do, the seamstress Moonshade surreptitiously removes their clothes from the branch and replaces them with new ones.
* In ''Batman '66: The Lost Episode'' (based off an unproduced script written by none other than Creator/HarlanEllison), Two-Face steals a nearly complete set of ancient Chinese plates from a museum, only to return the set with the missing piece when his coin comes good-heads up.

* This happens to Woody in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2''. Not only does his arm get sewn up, but the antique toy detailer makes sure he looks absolutely brand new.

* In the ''Literature/{{Wyatt}}'' novels by Garry Disher, whenever Wyatt steals a car, he always leaves it in a parking lot with a full tank of petrol.

* In the ''Literature/JudyMoody'' book ''Judy Moody Gets Famous,'' Judy steals all the broken and damaged dolls from a hospital waiting room/playroom, fixes them up using her personal collection of doll parts, and returns them dressed in miniature hospital gowns and wearing casts. An article is later published in the newspaper that features the hospital thanking the "Phantom Doll Doctor" for their help.
* In the ''Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo'' novels, Mike Stearns used to steal cars for joyriding, and everyone in the area knew it. But nobody ever officially filed a complaint, because he always washed the cars and refilled the gas tanks before returning them.

* ''Series/TheSopranos'': Dr. Melfi is having trouble with her car, and with the mechanics who are fixing it. When Tony learns this during one of his therapy sessions, he has her car stolen, fixed, and returned that night. She's grateful, but not happy about it.
* Played with in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0qXf5c6v5k this segment]] from ''The Unpleasant World of Penn & Teller''. Creator/StephenFry reluctantly parts with his expensive watch, which Creator/PennAndTeller proceed to improve. Specifically (and in order), the watch becomes waterproof, shock-resistant, [[spoiler:smashed to bits, capable of holding 50 phone numbers, and fish-proof]].

* An episode of ''Series/{{Castle}}'' has a variation involving a squatter: He breaks into people's apartments while they're on vacation so he can live there for a while, but always leaves the place exactly as he found it except for general repairs about the place and an appreciative bottle of wine in the fridge.
* Michael and the rest of his TrueCompanions from ''Series/BurnNotice'' often have to steal cars as part of their various plans to help their [[VictimOfTheWeek Client of the week]]. While those cars aren't always improved by the crew using them, it is revealed several seasons into the show that they've been having Michael's mother Madeline "find" all these missing cars and report their location to the police in order to make sure they get returned to their owners, usually no more than a day or two after taking them. She eventually wins an award.
* A variant occurs in ''Series/{{Leverage}}''. The team is hired by a charity who discovers that their investment broker has stolen from them and gone into hiding. When they find him, they discover he's actually a pretty decent guy and he had stolen the money because he knew he could quadruple it if he used tricks and back-channels.

[[folder:Roleplaying Games]]

* In the classic text-adventure game ''VideoGame/{{Zork}}'', one of the treasures you find is a jeweled egg... but if you let the thief (i.e., Lucien Kaine) steal it, when you find his lair later, you find that the egg has been opened, and it contains a golden singing bird--much more valuable!
* In ''[[VideoGame/LastHalfOfDarkness Shadows of the Servants]]'', a dark creature snatches a voodoo doll from you, tearing its neck in the process. The same doll turns up later in another room, and removing its now-loosened head reveals a key you need.
* It is very possible to do this to {{NPC}}s in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' with enough ranks in Pickpocket, Smithing and Enchanting.

* {{Inverted|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/CaveStory''. You get your first weapon, the Polar Star, by stealing it from the hermit gunsmith. If you return to him later in the game, he angrily takes the Polar Star back--but calms down when he notices how much wear and tear is on the gun now. Genuinely impressed that you put his weapon to such good use, he upgrades the Polar Star into the Spur and gives it back to you. If you traded it away in exchange for the Machine Gun or the Snake and talk to the gunsmith, he laments that someone stole a gun from him and it wasn't even complete yet, hinting at the possibility of being able to get it upgraded later if you keep it with you.

* A variant appears in ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheUnwoundFuture''. His car isn't stolen, ''exactly'', but Don Paolo has taken the Laytonmobile and given it some modifications. [[spoiler:These modifications are useful to the point of being necessary for Layton to rescue his adopted daughter, who has been kidnapped by the BigBad.]] Allegedly, this is the specific reason that Don Paolo did what he did.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', the Hive takes over the Titans' (filthy) Tower. By the time the Titans retake it, the Hive have cleaned it up and alphabetized their [=CDs=]. Beast Boy and Cyborg are appalled since now they can't find anything, and they were saving [[ItCameFromTheFridge that blue mold]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', the Headmaster steals [[{{Jerkass}} Sentinel Prime's]] [[GrandTheftMe body]] and, while he has his hands on it, upgrades it.

* ''WesternAnimation/DanVs:'' In [[Recap/DanVsS1E18DanVsDan "Dan vs. Dan"]], when Dan finally gets his life and apartment back from the imposter, he's thankful that the Fake Dan cleaned up the place. A quick cut to ten minutes later, [[TrashOfTheTitans and the apartment is somehow just as messy as before.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'', Sam steals his neighbor's truck, claiming it to be "borrowing" — he ''did'' intend to return it, after all. Florence works on it for a while before returning it. [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff300/fv00213.htm It runs a bit better afterward.]]
* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'': [[https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2018-01-04 Captain Kaepu]] finds himself with a bunch of "uninvited guests" on his ship[[note]]He's aware that some of the more xenophobic members of his homeworld might hold him responsible for them being there, until the happy later realization that they didn't give him a choice[[/note]], and in reassuring him they just want to "borrow" some of his ship's equipment;
--> "Don't worry, captain. You'll have a better fabber, and we ''still'' won't want your ship.
--> "Tomorrow, though? [[spoiler:You'll be the captain of the ship where ten thousand dead people came back to life.]]"
[[/folder]]

* In the Wyatt novels by Garry Disher, whenever Wyatt steals a car, he always leaves it in a parking lot with a full tank of petrol.

* A variation in the Literature/HerculePoirot novel ''Hickory Dickory Dock'': a "kleptomaniac" has stolen a number of small objects from the students staying in a hostel. When she confesses, the thief admits that she destroyed most of what she stole, but she gives those she stole from enough money so they can buy new things. The students are pleased, both because she was generous in estimating how much their things were worth, and because most of them would rather have had the money anyway.

* There have been incidents of stolen lawn ornaments like gnomes, eventually returned to the owner with a book of photographs showing the gnome in distant and exotic locations, if the photographs aren't sent from the location itself. The practice was a key part of the movie ''Film/{{Amelie}}'', as described above, which helped popularize it.

* There is an {{Urban Legend|s}} that says [[Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood Fred Rogers]]' car was once stolen. When the thieves discovered whose car it was, they returned it with an apology note and all the damage they had done repaired. Some variations of the legend also say that the car was detailed upon return with a few coats of car wax. ''{{WebSite/Snopes}}'' covered it [[http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/rogerscar.asp here]].

* In ''Discworld/ThiefOfTime'', Lobsang steals a witches' broom to get to Ankh-Morpork in time to do something about the Glass Clock. At the end of the book he uses the time-altering powers of the Time Monks to make the broom newer than it was before returning it.

* In ''Film/{{Amelie}}'', Amelie "borrows" her retired father's garden gnome and gives it to a stewardess friend of hers, with the instructions that the stewardess take photos of the gnome at famous landmarks and mailing them back to Amelie's father, in a effort to get him out of his doldrums. This is something that does happen in real life, and the movie helped popularize the practice.

* In ''[[Literature/{{Temeraire}} Victory of Eagles]]'', a group of dragons leaves their breeding ground with the intent to join the regular army. Their regular food arrives more or less continuously at the breeding grounds, and they can't wait for it...so they "requisition" cows and sheep from farmers as they go. Lawrence, who is trying to track this group down, has to deal with a number of irate farmers...and then he meets a farmer who's been found by the dragons' drovers, following along with the dragons' original herd of food animals, and is quite happy with the better-fed and healthier replacement cows he's been given.

* In ''[[Literature/Temeraire Victory of Eagles]]'', a group of dragons leaves their breeding ground with the intent to join the regular army. Their regular food arrives more or less continuously at the breeding grounds, and they can't wait for it...so they "requisition" cows and sheep from farmers as they go. Lawrence, who is trying to track this group down, has to deal with a number of irate farmers...and then he meets a farmer who's been found by the dragons' drovers, following along with the dragons' original herd of food animals, and is quite happy with the better-fed and healthier replacement cows he's been given.

* {{Inverted|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/CaveStory''. You get your first weapon, the Polar Star, by stealing it from the hermit gunsmith. If you return to him later in the game, he angrily takes the Polar Star back--but calms down when he notices how much wear and tear is on the gun now. Genuinely impressed that you put his weapon to such good use, he upgrades the Polar Star into the Spur and gives it back to you. If you traded it away in exchange for the Machine Gun or the Snake and talk to the gunsmith, he laments that someone stole a gun from him and it wasn't even complete yet, hinting at the possiblity of being able to get it upgraded later if you keep it with you.
* In ''VideoGame/RhythmThiefAndTheEmperorsTreasure'', the elusive [[PhantomThief Phantom R]] is infamously known for stealing from famous art galleries (usually the Louvre), but the biggest mystery rivalling his true identity is why he bothers to return an art piece he recently stole. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that as Raphael, he came up with the Phantom R persona after finding out that his missing father had a secret vault in their apartment which is full of famous artwork. The reason for this was because Raphael's father was an expert in forgery who made perfect replications of said artwork which he would later steal and swap for sale on the black market to pay for Raphael's medical bills. As Phantom R years later, Raphael planned to steal back the forgeries and return the true articles in their place.]]

* In the mid 1990s, a disillusioned mid-level bank employee staged a real life BavarianFireDrill caper which led to him walking out the front door of his former place of employment with over $1,000,000 in a duffelbag. When tracked down several years later thanks to the ImprobablyCoolCar he bought as his one splurge, however, he was ultimately able to gain a reduced sentence and make a settlement with the bank allowing his family to keep some of the money and much of the property he had purchased: Through otherwise conservative spending and some savvy investing, he had actually turned his bloodless $1 million dollar caper into a $12 million dollar diversified portfolio, allowing him to make full recompense for his single crime, plus interest.

[[/folder]]
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