View source for How the Character Stole Christmas

{{trope}}
{{quote|''Are those cave-kids gonna whimper when they find out I kooped all their toys! Hahahahaha! Merry Koopa Christmas, boys and girls!''|'''Bowser Koopa''', the ''[[Super Mario World (animation)|Super Mario World]]'' [[Christmas Episode]]}}

Any story in a show that is a take on ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (novel)|How the Grinch Stole Christmas]]'' (even if it's a different holiday).

Basically, a villainous character attempts to stop a beloved holiday from coming by stealing all the material elements of the occasion. However, he is stunned to see that all his victims care about is the holiday's true spiritual significance, which he could not affect. At that, the villain is so profoundly moved that he has a change of heart, returns all his loot without punishment and is welcomed to celebrate the occasion with his victims.

The story isn't in the public domain, but as long as they are clear parodies, the plot isn't violating any copyrights.

A [[Sub-Trope]] of [[Whole-Plot Reference]] (so anything less than the plot is merely a [[Shout-Out]]).

Compare [[Yet Another Christmas Carol]] and [[It's a Wonderful Plot]].

Not to be confused with [[The Grinch]], which is just a character type.
{{examples}}

==  Fanworks ==
* ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' fanfic: [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2718340/1/How_the_Question_Stole_Christmas How the Question Stole Christmas].
* The fanfilm [http://www.theforce.net/fanfilms/shortfilms/howsithstole/index.asp How the Sith stole Christmas]. Thank whatever (non)deity you pray to they didn't call it [[Star Wars Holiday Special|How the Sith stole Life Day]].


==  Live Action TV ==
* ''[[Just Shoot Me]]'' had "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__lvMe9Cbo8 How the Finch Stole Christmas]"
* A ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' episode entitled "How Lily Stole Christmas." Narrator Ted, relating the story to his teenaged children, [[Narrative Profanity Filter|substitutes "grinch"]] for "[[Country Matters|A Very Bad Word]]." Lily, upset over being called a c---, takes away all the Christmas decorations.
* ''[[Malcolm in the Middle]]'' had one where Lois took away Christmas until the boys behaved themselves, which they did, [[Too Good to Last|until they decided to sneak behind her back to open the presents]].
* ''[[The X-Files]]'' had "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas", continuing their tradition of rather morbid Christmas episodes by having Mulder and Scully go ghost-hunting on Christmas Eve. What they don't know is that the ghosts are real, are they're under a murder-suicide pact, and are desperate to get another couple to re-enact it.
* [[The Grinch|Sue Sylvester]], in "A Very ''[[Glee]]'' Christmas".


==  Radio ==
* Radio's ''The Bob and Tom Show'' had the skit "The Griswold Who Stole Christmas", in which co-host Tom Griswold steals the presents from the show's other regulars.


==  Webcomics ==
* ''[[Penny Arcade]]'''s Christmas 2009 story arc is [[Dungeons & Dragons|How the Illithid stole Lolthmas]].
* ''[[The New Adventures Of Queen Victoria]]'' is [http://newadventuresofqueenvictoria.com/strips/big/naqv091222.gif currently] [http://newadventuresofqueenvictoria.com/strips/big/naqv091222.gif doing a] parody with [[Osama Bin Laden]].
* ''Insonicnia'''s special "How The Eggman Stole Christmas", with a twist: Eggman planned to steal everything while wearing a Santa suit as camouflage... and then literally steal the holiday away by re-delivering the gifts as himself to make people think he was the one who sent them in the first place and thus make himself popular.


==  Web Originals ==
* [[Image Boards|/co/]] has produced "How the [[Watchmen (comics)|Rorschach]] Stole Christmas" and "How [[Green Lantern|Larfleeze]] Stole Christmas"
* [[Image Boards|/a/]] has produced [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB01uKJbl0I How the] [[Umineko no Naku Koro ni|Battler]] [http://archive.easymodo.net/cgi-board.pl/a/thread/29016052 stole Witchmas]{{Dead link}}.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140109021127/http://www.collegehumor.com/article:1811807 How Growing Up Stole Christmas]


==  Western Animation ==
* Homer from ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' has stolen Christmas a few times, though he had good reasons...
{{quote|'''Homer''': You're a smart one, Homer J.,
You're as crafty as a skunk.
You'll make everybody happy when they're rid of Flanders' junk,
Homer Ja-a-ay.
I'd call you a double bacon genius-burger,
And just a little drunk! }}
* A less direct example is [[Super Mario Bros.|Bowser]] in the ''[[Super Mario World (animation)|Super Mario World]]'' Christmas episode.
* There was [[Show Within a Show|one short TV parody]] called "How the Grinchy-Poo Stole Christmas!" from the ''[[South Park]]'' episode, "Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!" Also some characters from the episodes "Cartmanland" and "Woodland Critter Christmas" parody some [[Incredibly Lame Pun|"lines"]] they borrowed from ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!"
* From 2002 to 2005, [[Nickelodeon]] ran a series of shorts parodying the classic 1960s Christmas specials with the Nicktoon characters every December. One segment, titled ''How the You-Know-Who Stole the You-Know-What!'', featured Angelica from ''[[Rugrats]]'', as "Grinchelica", stealing all the candy from the other Nicktoon characters.


==  Unsorted Examples ==
* The [[Christmas Episode]] of ''[[Princess Tutu Abridged]]'', entitled [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKtbVMihglQ How Drosselmeyer Stole the Abridged Series].
* ''[[Brawl in the Family]]'' has a [http://www.brawlinthefamily.com/?p=255 take].
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series|Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series]]'' has [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAVxdJSJ3rE How the Thief King Stole Slavemas].
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gyoz5HHPy8 How the Stritch Stole Christmas]. About Elaine Stritch.
* ''[[FoxTrot]]'' did one where Jason wrote a story casting his mother as "Mrs. Grinch", a cheapskate who wouldn't buy expensive enough presents for the "Kids down in Kidville". Instead, she replaces all the cool game consoles with [[Lethal Chef|nutritious health bars]].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110821044344/http://www.themadmusicarchive.com/song_details.aspx?SongID=411 "How the Grinch Stole Hanukkah".]
* Alex himself does it in guest comics in ''[[Captain SNES]]''. He's mostly doing it to screw with the censor-slash-narrator who wants him to get into the holiday spirit in precisely the way it thinks is best, '''whether he likes it or not''', and he ends the series with a [[Take That]] at the narrator that stuns it so much that it stops censoring him.
* [[The Joker]] did this during [[The Long Halloween]]. [[Monster Clown]] playing [[The Grinch]] just because [[Attention Whore|he wanted some attention]]? [[Funny Moments (Sugar Wiki)|Hell yes!]]
* Parsee from the ''[[Touhou Project]]'' [http://walfas.org/flash/parsee_christmas.swf Steals] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qS1kqhhebw the Precious Christmas].
* Back when Newt Gingrich was Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the [[Capitol Steps]] did "How the Ging-Grinch Stole Congress."
* ''[[The Angry Video Game Nerd]]'' did this for the 2010 [[Christmas Episode]], where the Nerd steals everyone's good games and replaces them with bad ones. {{spoiler|The gamers down in Gameville all laughed at the bad games.}}
* [[The Nostalgia Critic]] review of ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas (film)|The Grinch]]'' (the Jim Carrey version) is played up like a parody of the original story. He's not trying to steal Christmas, but their enjoyment of that movie.
* How [[Umineko no Naku Koro ni|Battler]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB01uKJbl0I Stole Witchmas].

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Stock Parodies]]
[[Category:Christmas Tropes]]
[[Category:Whole-Plot Reference]]
[[Category:Shout-Outs Index]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]