Percussive Pickpocket: Difference between revisions

 

A [[Sub-Trope]] of [[Five-Finger Discount]]. Compare to [[Affectionate Pickpocket]], where contact with the mark is achieved in a [[Distracted by the Sexy|more forward manner]].

 

* ''[[Gintama]]'': Seita and Gintoki first meet when Seita pretends to accidentally bump into Gintoki and steals his wallet. Hilariously enough, not only does Seita find out that Gintoki wasn't carrying that much money but he also finds out that Gintoki had pick-pocketed him at the same time.

* ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'': Yahiko tries to pull this on Kenshin. [[Give Me Back My Wallet|It doesn't work]].

* ''[[Slayers]]'': A little boy does this to Lina Inverse. [[Give Me Back My Wallet|She catches him]] and makes him her slave.

 

* ''[[Tintin (film)|Tintin]]'': The pickpocket in the 2011 movie.

** Or, you know, the one in the comic: All the Thompson twins initially remember of him is that they bumped into him.

* ''[[Gangs of New York]]'': Amsterdam is pickpocketed by Jenny in this exact manner.

* In the film ''Harry in Your Pocket'', James Coburn plays Harry, the leader of a band of pickpockets. Part of their stealing technique involves bumping into people.

* ''[[The Sting]]''. While Doyle Lonnegan is walking through the train to the poker game, Billie (Gondorff's girlfriend) bumps into him and steals his wallet. He doesn't notice until after he loses big at the poker game and tries to take it out to pay off his debt.

 

* ''[[Oliver Twist]]'': Happens to Fagin when he runs into a gang of young pickpockets.

* Raiders of ''[[Gor]]'': A girl is sentenced to slavery for being a pickpouch (Goreans don't have pockets) of this type. Bosk buys her and insists that she keep her skills sharp by allowing her to steal anything in camp, with the caveat that she must return whatever she steals within an hour or face serious consequences.

 

* ''[[Babylon 5]]'': Happens to Sheridan, where the thief steals the comlink.

* ''[[Crusade]]'': Happens to Max. Dureena recovers it, and tells Max that the pickpocket was clumsy.

* 1960s ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' episode "The Joker's Last Laugh". Batman discovers a tiny loudspeaker built into Commissioner Gordon's cufflink. He deduces that the Joker, who is a "master conjurer" (AKA stage magician), brushed into Gordon and switched cufflinks. Batman then reveals that in that single bump the Joker also managed to wrap several feet of an induction-receiving antenna around Gordon's waist and down his left trouser leg! Gordon then remembers that an oddly dressed person did bump into him on the subway that morning, confirming Batman's theory.

 

* ''Starblazer Adventures'', based on the 1970's-80's British science fiction comic book. The "Bump and Grab" stunt allows you to take advantage of a distraction (such as bumping into someone) to pickpocket them.

* Chaosium's ''[[Thieves' World]]'' RPG (1981). The Game Master's Guide to Sanctuary had a plethora of random encounter tables. A couple of the entries had pickpockets bumping into the [[PC]]s in order to steal from them. Other encounters mentioned a [[NPC]] bumping into a [[PC]] so players wouldn't think that everyone bumping into them was a pickpocket.

* ''Witch Bunter: The Invisible World''. The Grab and Run talent allows the user to brush into a target and relieve them of their belongings.

 

* In the opening scene of ''[[Cyrano De Bergerac]]'', a pickpocket includes this technique in his lesson as he teaches some young trainees the art of pickpocketing while at the theatre.

 

* ''[[Assassin's Creed II|Assassin's Creed 2]]'': Ezio can do this to random people on the streets.

* ''[[Breath of Fire II]]'': Patty does this to you a couple of times.

* In ''[[Saints Row: The Third|Saints Row the Third]]'' you can purchase the ability to do this as an upgrade.

 

* ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'': A pair of children in Sandsedge [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0673.html attempt to do this to Durkon].

 

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