Good Guy Bar

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
"Time for a round of 'My crew sucks more.' Who's first?"

The heroic alternative of the Bad Guy Bar, the Good Guy Bar is a place where heroes and do-gooders go to unwind after hours. Since the heroes might normally be on different squads or teams, the Good Guy Bar allows heroes who don't normally meet to do so, whether to talk shop or simply commiserate with like-minded peers.

Unlike the Bad Guy Bar, a Good Guy Bar can come in a wide variety of forms, whether a stereotypical seedy dive, a posh nightclub or a five-star restaurant. The more elegant locations will be used when the author wants to emphasize (or subvert) the virtuous nature of the heroes. If the Good Guy Bar spans time and space, it may double as an Inn Between the Worlds.

Many Good Guy Bars have an implicit agreement to allow villains to patronize, so long as they don't start trouble — after all, tolerance is traditionally a heroic virtue. Such places will have a strictly enforced neutrality agreement to keep everyone from fighting each other.

If more than half the show's action takes place here, it's also a Tropacabana.

See You All Meet in An Inn for when this sort of establishment serves as the jumping-off point for an adventure. Also see Local Hangout.

Examples of Good Guy Bar include:

Anime and Manga

Comic Books

  • Astro City has two such locations:
    • Bruiser's Bar & Grill is a rowdy place run by a retired superhero that serves beer, popcorn and a spirited atmosphere for superbeings who want to hang out and indulge in some good-natured roughhousing.
    • Butlers is a super-secretive club whose clientele and employees are tightly screened. Regular dinner parties are held where heroes arrive in formalwear for tranquil evenings together.
      • Subverted in the story "Dinner at Eight"; when Samaritan and Winged Victory go out for dinner, they deliberately avoid established Good Guy Bars to get away from "shop talk". They use their civilian identities and go to a burger joint instead.
  • Clark's in the Wildstorm Universe; the Expy owner won't serve anyone until they show secret ID.
    • In the Wildstorm Universe, there's also the Wolfshead's Pub in London, where England's supernatural community like to meet. Superheroes are also welcome.
  • Common Grounds is a limited series named after a chain of coffee shops, where superheroes and supervillains meet in a neutral, non-confrontational manner.
  • The Marvel UK Transformers Generation 1 comic book series introduced Maccadam's Old Oil House, a place where Transformers of all allegiances could indulge in black-market lubricants, gambling and gossip in (relative) peace. It has since appeared in every Transformers continuity in one form or another, culminating in an appearance in the Transformers Animated cartoon.
    • It has a private room for dead Optimuses and Megatrons to hang out in during their dead time. They take turns using it, of course.
  • When Guy Gardner from DC Comics had his Vuldarian powers, he ran a superhero bar in New York called Warriors. After becoming a Green Lantern again, he relocated it to Oa as The Big W.
  • Kadie's from Sin City. Not so much of a Good Guy Bar as it is an Anti-Hero Bar since the main protagonists, Marv and Dwight, frequent the establishment. Not to mention that this is where a few major side characters work as well.
    • Additionally, it's known as a well-behaved bar, a rarity for Sin City, possibly the safest place in the city as a whole. This is because Marv really doesn't like it when someone bothers the girls.
  • Time In A Bottle, the British supers' pub in Paul Cornell's Knight & Squire. Merlin's truce magic makes it a haven for heroes and villains. In the first issue an Anti-Hero disrupts the magic, leading to a Bar Brawl.
    • In the final issue the heroes and villains work together to trick The Joker into entering. The Truce Magic doesn't prevent you stripping someone of weapons. And then they turn it off...
  • The Oblivion Bar caters to magic users and is featured prominently in Shadowpact as the team's headquarters since the owner of the bar is one of its members. While the Bar allows anyone from angels to demons entry, neutrality is strongly encouraged. It helps that the bartender can telekinetically choke anyone who causes trouble.
  • In Marvel Comics, the Bar With No Doors has been open since World War II as a tavern for those with magic-based powers; as the name implies, there are no physical means of access, one needs to use teleportation or intangibility powers to get inside. Patrons who frequent it include Doctor Strange, the Scarlet Witch, and Brother Voodoo. Not exclusively a Good Guy Bar, as some Bad Guys show up now and then, but Loki isn't allowed there anymore after an agument with Count Kaoz caused a brawl that wrecked the place.

Fan Works

Film

Literature

  • The Star Trek Expanded Universe "Captain's Table" novels use one as a framing device; the Captain's Table is an Inn Between the Worlds that only captains (of any type of vessel) are able to enter. Drinks are "paid" by having the captain tell a story to the other patrons.
  • Sten has The Western Eating Parlor II, which is a Shout-Out to the clandestine savvy.
  • Not a bar, per se, but Honor Harrington loves to take her crew to dine at Dempsy's. Though she usually foots the bill, as it is possibly the most expensive restaurant in the universe.
  • The Ace of Trumps from Wild Cards.
  • The Bucket, the unofficial pub of the City Watch in Discworld. Being coppers, the Watch prefers to avoid shop talk there, giving Mr. Cheese the quietest patrons on the Disc. Indeed, robbing the Bucket (especially when Angua is present) is legally classified as attempted suicide.
  • McAnally's Pub in The Dresden Files, which caters to both sides equally. The 'peaceful' side of things is enforced by it being a truce zone under Fae law. While The Dresden Files does have twinkly-wee Tinkerbell-type faerie, Fae law is written and enforced by the Queens. Annoying them is not a good idea.
  • Callahan's Place, the focus of multiple novels, allows bad guys in as long as they behave themselves. Lady Callahan's place, which includes a bar and a lot more, has the same policy but it doesn't work out that way at all.
  • The vampire bar "The Raven" in the Toronto of Forever Knight. It's a neutral zone and a goth haven.
  • Talisman in The Delta Drifters. Lucia's friends and co-workers are seen playing poker there in the first chapter.
  • Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's also implied that the Big Bang Burger Bar at the other "end" of the universe is one as well.
  • The Draco Tavern, which appears in several Larry Niven short stories.
  • The Three Broomsticks pub in Hogsmeade in the Harry Potter books.
  • The Hole In The Wall tavern in Septimus Heap, where several meetings of the characters occur.

Live-Action TV

  • The British sitcom No Heroics takes place in The Fortress, a superhero bar with three rules: "No Masks, No Powers and No Heroics". The show also mentions The Stronghold, a Bad Guy Bar equivalent.
  • The Road House in Supernatural is a place where the good guys meet; given the ambiguous morals of the protagonists, it might be closer to a Bad Guy Bar instead.
  • The Wire has Kavanagh's, the bar where McNulty and Bunk regularly go to drink, and where the Irish wakes are held.
  • Caritas on Angel caters to good and neutral folks, as well as normal people. Popular for the drinks and the psychic karaoke. Had magical protection to maintain its neutrality.
  • The Waterfront Bar in Homicide: Life on the Street, which was also the staff hangout.
  • The King Kamehameha Club in Magnum, P.I..
  • The Railway Arms, for Life On Mars and Luigi's, for Ashes to Ashes.
    • In the finale of Ashes to Ashes, the Railway Arms is a really good guy bar - it's the gateway to Heaven.
  • Another example is the bar Sam Beckett finds himself in during the last episode of Quantum Leap.
  • Ten Forward in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Quark's in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
  • Power Rangers had the Angel Grove Juice Bar for the first few seasons, and many of the later seasons had a similar equivalent. This trope is also sometimes used in Super Sentai, such as the "Dinosaur Curry Bar" in Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger.
  • McRory's pub used to be Nate's father's office. Now it's where Leverage Consulting and Associates meet their clients.
  • Danny's from Quincy.
  • Rookie Blue has The Black Penny, where all the cops hide out after each episode.
  • The German Space Patrol series has the Starlight Casino, where fleet and GSD personnel of all ranks congregate to chat, flirt, talk shop and dance in some very odd "futuristic" dances. The Orion crew can usually be found here off-duty and has a fleet-wide reputation for its alcohol intake. The Starlight has a glass roof through which you can see the tropical fish in the sea above.
  • Tales of the Gold Monkey has the titular Gold Monkey Bar, which also served at various times as the Local Hangout, Bad Guy Bar, and/or Wretched Hive.
  • Several establishments on Babylon 5, most notably Earhart's (reserved for EarthForce personnel and their guests), the Eclipse Cafe (part of The Zoccalo, the station's marketplace), and the Fresh Air Cafe (a fancy restaurant).
  • In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Bronze is a nightclub that is popular among teenagers in Sunnydale, (Cordelia says it is "the only club worth going to around here") the Scoobies included. Unfortunately, it is located at "the bad part of town" (near the shipping docks and railway tracks), and while the patrons are good guys, supernatural predators have often targeted the place, a big reason why Buffy goes there.
  • In Walker, Texas Ranger, semi-retired Texas Ranger C.D. Parker ran C.D.'s Bar and Grill which the rangers and Alex Cahill frequented until his death Later revealed to have been murdered by ricin poisoning by the series final villain, Lavocat in the Season 9 episode, "The Avenging Angel", causing the business to close.

Tabletop Games

  • "Brubecks" in Traveller.
    • In the volume Sword Worlds it describes soldier's clubs in which Sword Worlder humans and Aslan in Darrian service meet and tell yarns. The two groups come from states that tend to end up on opposing sides but when there is no war on, they often meet and mingle.
  • "Chez Régis" in In Nomine Satanis/Magna Veritas, where angels and demons can drink without fighting each other.
  • While inns and taverns abound in the Forgotten Realms (for obvious reasons) , some stand out:
    • The World Serpent Inn mentioned in several sourcebooks was built in its own demiplane by an archmage from Toril, Arcane and Illithid as a neutral ground when Sigil turned out to be too violent and inconvenient for quiet business and rest. Not only is it connected to many worlds, but (unlike Sigil) is accessible to powers, and some gods visit it to relax and chat with creatures they deem interesting. It's a Good Guy Bar since no one wants to annoy peacefully grazing deities, and some clients in a common room can turn out to be gods on a tea-break. And even if there aren't any, The Bartender is an avatar himself—if some god just likes to meet new people and thinks it's funny, why not?
    • Old Skull Inn in Shadowdale is one of the most famous pubs in Toril; it's known for the honesty of its staff, and many groups of legendary heroes got their start here. Elminster himself, Shadowdale's most famous resident, has been seen here occasionally. There is also the Yawning Portal inn in Waterdeep, which while not strictly a good guy bar is very much a bar for adventurers — the Yawning Portal had one of the most convenient entrances to Undermountain, Waterdeep's premier dungeon, and was owned by a retired adventurer powerful enough to ensure anyone wanting to cause trouble better wait until they took the trip down to Undermountain.

Video Games

  • City of Heroes has Pocket D, an extradimensional club where heroes, villains, and regular people can all go and hang out — sort of a demilitarized zone, a la Casablanca. It's part tiki bar, part casino, part rave and part handy cross-town teleport station, among other things. It even features a miniature ski resort.
  • Telma's Bar in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Inside are a bunch of hapless soldiers that stand around all day doing nothing but also La Résistance meets up there and offers advice to Link.
  • World of Warcraft has a number of neutral locations.
    • Goldshire, on the Alliance side, is the place to be if you want to be retarded without smelling wet tauren.
  • The first place you visit in Final Fantasy XIV after arriving in Limsa Lominsa. It's also where you can take guildleve quests.
  • Skies of Arcadia has a few; a hidden one in the bowels of Pirate Isle, the tavern on Sailors Island but the best one is when you can build your own on Crescent Isle and find your own crew just chilling out.
  • Spinda's Cafe from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky.
  • StarCraft II The cantina on the Hyperion, complete with an arcade machine and a jukebox hanging from the ceiling. Raynor is in another bar in the beginning on Mar Sara and it looks like said bar is actually his headquarters. Of course, since he has only a handful of troops on-world and his staff is literally a holographic head in a box, he doesn't need much.
  • Each of the Mass Effect games has at least one of these. Mass Effect 1 has Flux (contrast with Chora's Den), Mass Effect 2 has Eternity on Illium and the Dark Star on the Citadel (contrast with Afterlife on Omega), and Mass Effect 3 has Purgatory (this time with no Bad Guy Bar equivalent). True to the "letting villains in" part of the trope, Purgatory ends up being the new "home" of Aria T'Loak, now-former pirate queen of Omega. She finds it "too uptight" for her tastes.
  • In Final Fantasy VII, there's Seventh Heaven, a bar and restaurant in Sector 7 owned by Tifa and where the members of Avalanche (including Cloud) hang out and discuss their plans. The specialty of the house is the Cosmo Canyon, a drink named after the area where Avalanche was founded.

Web Comics

  • Bard takes place in such a bar. It's of the type that allows villainous people to patronize, so long as they don't start a fight...which unfortunately happens more often than the staff would like. It's a good thing they hired a centaurian nocturn for a bouncer.
  • Ridley's Bar from Planet Zebeth.
  • The Cross Time Cafe web comic exists to let webcomic characters meet up outside their own continuity.
  • The Bar of Justice in League Of Super Redundant Heroes, although bad guys are welcome too; the place is often presented as a Truce Zone.

Web Originals

Western Animation

  • Disney's House of Mouse is a G-rated version. It also lets in villains, so long as they refrain from any villainy.
  • The Comet Club from the animated version of The Tick.
  • "Louie's" from Tale Spin. Gains extra awesome points for being a giant tree on a tiny island, accessible only by seaplane.
  • The Winx Club hang out in the Frutti Music Bar.
  • The Weenie Hut from SpongeBob SquarePants
    • The Krusty Kraby tends to be a regular gathering place for everyone besides Plankton.
  • In Codename: Kids Next Door, there's Lime Ricky's, a speakeasy that was opened after the adults made soda illegal for kids under the age of 13, complete with a soda-addicted villain named Mr. Fizz acting as an evil version of Eliot Ness. Numbuh Two beat his ass good, but whether they actually put him out of business or not isn't clear; one thing for certain: Lime Ricky's was still in business in a later episode.
  • PG-rated example, Sweet Justice ice cream parlor in DC Super Hero Girls, a Local Hangout for the cast members, although a few bad girls (like Harley) patronize it too. The pilot episode involves the heroines fighting to protect the place from Lexcorp's attempts to demolish it. Babs manages to construct her own Batcave under it, which the eponymous team uses as their base from then on.

Real Life

  • In World War II Allied officers in North Africa would use Shepheard's Hotel for this purpose. The Royal Hawaiian did the same for American submariners in the Pacific; in fact the Comsubpac, Admiral Lockwood arranged to have it on reserve for the Navy as a way to be A Father to His Men.
  • London coffeehouses in the eighteenth century were places like this. Though they primarily served coffee rather then strong drink and thus were not bars in the strictest sense.
  • Many large military installations will have bars nearby that are largely frequented by military personnel. Some places will have entire business districts set aside for doing business with them. Whether they are Good Guy Bars or Bad Guy Bars will depend largely on your opinion of said military personnel, and how well or poorly they behave when out partying it up.
  • The In and Out of London is one of the most famous Service officer's clubs in Britain. It is an extremely posh place with numerous rooms and portraits of the Badasses that happened to be members at one time or another.
  • The Eagle and Child otherwise known as the "bird and baby", was a pub frequented by several Oxbridge intellectuals, most famously C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Dorothy L. Sayers.
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