Con Crew

Sometimes, The Con can be carried out by a single person - the Con Man - especially if it's a simple confidence scheme. Other times, there's just too much work for one person to do, or the particulars of the con are such that a group of people are needed to have any chance to pull it off.

Enter the Con Crew. Possibly in a Slow-Motion Pass-By when walking past The Mark; in this type of story, they know who he is, but he doesn't know who they are.

In the Hollywood version of the Con Crew, each member has a well-defined role. In Real Life, members of a con crew still have specialties, but aren't necessarily confined to them.

The Fixer

Nowadays, the fixer is the stage manager for the crew. Maybe "properties (props) director" or "set designer" would be better analogies. This is the person the Con Man goes to if he needs a thing to do his thing. Call up your Fixer if you need a Big Store, for example, or a convincing counterfeit, or squibs for the blow-off, or ... well, anything. The weirder, the better. Live jackalopes a specialty.

Other uses of the term Fixer include: Note that in all cases, the Fixer makes the Con Man's life easier.
 * Gangster films from the forties called lawyers "fixers" - see Amoral Attorney or The Consigliere.
 * A gangland type (sometimes called a Bag Man) who specializes in resolving conflicts between gangs may also be called a fixer, as are people who interface with law-enforcement to put the "fix in."

The Roper

The roper moves The Mark into The Tale, frequently by simply being an attractive woman. Much like a cowboy ropes in a cow that's straying from the herd so that she doesn't get away, the Roper "ropes in" the mark that's straying from the con so that he doesn't get away. The roper can have a mark lined up, but not have The Tale to tell, so is in need of a Con Man, or can be dispatched by the Con Man to bring in a specific target.

The Shill

In this context, this is an accomplice who falsely "approves" the proposition in such a way that his "support" encourages The Mark to go for the deal. A good shill gives the impression that they are going to grab all the goodies, so the The Mark had better move fast, with an increased bid.

Other uses of the term Shill are listed at The Shill.

The Napier

A Napier is a specific kind of shill who plays a wealthy, gullible fool. The Con Man finds someone avaricious (the mark) to "help him take down" the Napier. The mark sees the big, juicy target, and bankrolls the play. Conman and Napier fade away with the bankroll.

The word 'napier' may have something to do with Lord Napier. In any case, it means "fool".

Other Specialists

Some roles can be filled by people with special skills - The Driver can get the Con Crew to and from the site of the con, The Cracker or the Playful Hacker can get background on the mark, and so on - but these people rarely if ever actually take a direct role in the con.

Not to be confused with people who run Fan Conventions.

examples go here

additional categories go here