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(Import from TV Tropes TVT:Main.BakerStreetRegular 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Main.BakerStreetRegular, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license) |
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''At this moment there was a loud ring at the bell, and I could hear Mrs. Hudson, our landlady, raising her voice in a wail of expostulation and dismay.''<br />▼
[[File:Watson-and-the-Irregulars.png|link=Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century|200px|thumb|"Eyes and brains, Watson. Also, the Baker Street Regulars can search for clues where we can't go."]]
''"By heavens, Holmes," I said, half rising, "I believe that they are really after us."''<br />▼
''"No, it's not quite so bad as that. It is the unofficial force - the Baker Street irregulars."''<br />▼
▲{{quote|''At this moment there was a loud ring at the bell, and I could hear Mrs. Hudson, our landlady, raising her voice in a wail of expostulation and dismay.''
▲''"No, it's not quite so bad as that. It is the unofficial force - the Baker Street irregulars."''
''As he spoke, there came a swift pattering of naked feet upon the stairs, a clatter of high voices, and in rushed [[Street Urchin|a dozen dirty and ragged little street Arabs]]. There was some show of discipline among them, despite their tumultuous entry, for they instantly drew up in line and stood facing us with expectant faces. One of their number, taller and older than the others, stood forward with an air of lounging superiority which was very funny in such a disreputable little scarecrow.''|'''[[Sherlock Holmes]]''' in ''The Sign of the Four'' (Doubleday p. 126)}}
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Your first run in with the Baker Street Regular is likely while he is [[Snooping Little Kid|searching through the hero's home or office]] or [[Street Urchin|stealing something to eat because he cannot afford it]]. If he is not related to the hero in any way, expect him to have no family, except for maybe a sibling or two, but he is almost always the eldest, and almost always male. If he is an orphan, after scratching his back a couple times, expect him to be forever indebted to you and to get you out of a sticky situation in the nick of time, but don't expect him to just leave. You're stuck with him.
After you manage to win the respect of the Baker Street Regular, he will be an invaluable tool and assistant to your group. Life on the street is going to make him able to hear rumors that you won't be able to while you are out on your investigations. He is always good at hiding, especially in situations where the [[Big Bad]] is nearby. Expect him to have a [[Brats
If he is an orphan, by the end of the story, more often than not, the detective and his love interest end up his surrogate parents, if not flat out adopting him (and any siblings or close friends he has). Other tropes that you are likely to find a
The Baker Street Regular is a pun on the [[Trope Namer]], the Baker Street Irregulars, who were a network of orphaned street urchins that had been under the employment of Sherlock Holmes to gather rumors, gather clues, and do various odd jobs, in which he made sure to pay what was, [[Mundane Luxury|to them, an outrageous sum of money]] for their discretion and loyalty.
{{examples
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Subverted in ''[[
* In ''[[Detective Conan]]'', Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko, the Detective Boys. They're even referred to as Baker Street Regulars in an arc.
** They ''literally'' play this when they entered the [[Cyberspace]] [[Victorian
* As the plot approaches the end of ''[[Slayers|Slayers Next]]'', one of these attempts to pickpocket the party, but eventually joins them and befriends Martina. Brilliantly subverted, as {{spoiler|he's the [[Big Bad]].}}
== [[Film]] ==
* Charlie Chaplin in ''[[Shanghai Knights]]''.
* Short Round in ''[[Indiana Jones and
* The street urchin Toto in ''[[American Ninja|American Ninja 2]]'', who never forgets to demand money for service rendered.
* The kid Manco pays to keep tabs on Mortimer in ''[[For a Few Dollars More]]'' fits the bill.
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* Akechi Kogoro had several as well, including Yoshio Kobayashi, [[Shotacon|who later became famous for something else entirely]].
* ''[[Solar Pons]]'' has the Praed Street Irregulars.
* Nobby Nobbs is introduced in ''[[
** Sometimes members of the Beggar's Guild, although largely adults and therefore on the very fringes of the trope, act as this for Lord Vetinari as one of many information-gathering channels (it's implied that someone who may in some small way be connected to him spreads rumors that he pays for information, so that they'll come volunteer it to him instead of him needing to send someone looking). It's implied Vimes occasionally gets information from them as well.
* Ostap Bender from Ilya Ilf and Eugene Petrov's ''[[The Twelve Chairs]]'' employed them to track one of the titular, possibly treasure-holding chairs.
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== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==
* Dick Tracy, Jr, from ''[[Dick Tracy]]'' is one of the examples of a street urchin who gets adopted. Also appears in the film.
* ''[[Modesty Blaise (
== [[Theatre]] ==
* Billy, the page boy to William Gillette's [[Sherlock Holmes (
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Lilly in ''[[Ceville]]''.
* Luke and, to a lesser extent, Flora in the ''[[Professor Layton]]'' games are variations on this trope. Flora mostly fits in the sense of being {{spoiler|an orphan who gets adopted by the protagonist}}. Luke plays the trope almost straight; however, his parents are still alive and perfectly comfortable financially, and he must {{spoiler|surrender the post at the end of the third game, when the family moves overseas}}. In fact, it's thanks to his parents that Luke is hanging
* Brynn from ''[[Dreamfall]]'' acts this way towards April.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Kit Cloudkicker in ''[[
* [[Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century]] had Wiggins, Tennyson, and Deidre as pictured here.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Youngsters]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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