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Crimefighting with Cash: Difference between revisions
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(Import from TV Tropes TVT:Main.CrimefightingWithCash 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Main.CrimefightingWithCash, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license) |
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Sometimes a character doesn't have to be [[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|bitten by a radioactive spider]] or [[Superman (Comic Book)|shot to earth from an alien planet]] to be a superhero. Instead, the hero needs only one thing: a lot of money (from just a millionaire to [[Fiction 500]] levels).
Superheroes who don't live an "everyman" life often happen to be [[Rich Idiot With No Day Job|millionaire playboys]] by inheritance to explain where they get their neverending supply of gadgets, hideouts, vehicles, and [[Sidekick|Sidekicks]]. Instead of donating money to charity, they've decided to give back to society by dressing themselves in spandex and buying [[Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?|lasers and boomerangs]] with which to kick the ass of ne'er do wells. If they're a super-genius as well, this will be the result of patenting their brilliant inventions. [[Reed Richards Is Useless|But not anything that will effect lasting social change in the world, like a cure for cancer or an endless supply of food]], because then writers couldn't do very special issues to address political/social problems of the week.
Super teams will often have at least one member who is a Crimefighter With Cash to explain how the team gets their [[Cool Ship]] and other assorted goodies.
Frequently, but not always, overlaps with [[Badass Normal]]. See also [[Rich Idiot With No Day Job]]. Might include simply bribing the bad guys to stop, see [[Cut Lex Luthor a Check]].
{{examples
== Anime & Manga ==
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* Sylia Stingray, founder and leader of ''[[Bubblegum Crisis (Anime)|Bubblegum Crisis]]''' Knight Sabers. They never have to worry about money.
* In an anime example, one of the filler episodes of ''[[Naruto (Manga)|Naruto]]'' featured Naruto having to bodyguard/babysit a rich and spoiled little boy with a fascination with the ninja lifestyle. But rather than be interested in the traditional means of becoming one (training, skill, etc.), he uses money to humorously duplicate other jutsus by way of a large group of greedy henchmen. He would even use made-up hand seals before throwing the cash to achieve the desired effect. For example, after seeing Naruto's shadow clone jutsu, the kid throws a handful of bills into the air for his cash clone jutsu, resulting in several men leaping into action, grabbing the money while dressed in the same clothes and wearing a mask of the kid's face. The Aesop of the episode comes when the kid eventually runs out of cash on hand while being kidnapped, causing his mercenary henchmen to betray him.
* Parodied in ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler (Manga)|Hayate the Combat Butler]]'': Nagi's alter ego [[Paper
* This is the main plot point of ''[[Eden of the East (Anime)|Eden of the East]]''; each one of the Seleção gets a fancy cellphone with 10 billion yen and a [[Voice With an Internet Connection|"concierge"]] who can use this money to do whatever they (the Seleção) want, including assassinating people, bribing the prime minister, subtly disposing of corpses or [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|buying a hotel]]. {{spoiler|They are supposed to use this to "save the country".}}
* Used in an astoundingly direct manner by Near in ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]''. Kira and Misa have him trapped in a building. The only way to escape is out the front door where he will be seen by Misa. In order to avoid being seen he unleashes what appears to be a ton of cash from the top of the building. As the pedestrians go nuts trying to grab the money Near escapes unseen.
* Parodied in one ''[[Excel Saga (Anime)|Excel Saga]]'' episode, where a rich girl who is being targeted for assassination, solves all of her problems with cash. In the end she even attempts to bribe some monster animal, who unfortunately ignores the money and eats her instead.
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** He's ''not'' a mercenary, that's just a scheme to attract clients who deserve his help (he only helps good causes.)
** Similar to Batman, Danny gives huge amounts of money to charity. A recent development in his book is that he's converted Rand International solely into a charitable organization, which he intends to run until he's "Able to die poor."
* The civilian identity (well, one of them, at any rate) of the B-list Marvel hero [[Moon Knight]] is that of a wealthy businessman who owns and operates his own corporation, the money from which he uses to [[Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?|pay for all the fancy weapons and other devices he uses in his war on crime.]] Unfortunately, he is what you call "cash poor," he has wealth but getting a significant portion in cash on short notice is harder than he anticipated when he was facing a ransom demand.
* The only reason that the ''[[Great Lakes Avengers]]'' were able to survive (up until their official status) as a superteam was via Big Bertha's superpowers: her ability to control her body shape. Crimefighting, she grows huge and strong enough to bounce bullets and semis. Day job? Supermodel.
* Kyle Richmond, also known as the superhero Nighthawk, uses his vast fortune to sponsor [[The Defenders]], a second-tier team of heroes. As just one example, when Luke Cage complains that his helping the Defenders is taking away time from his paying work, Richmond offers to put him on retainer and pay him a salary to stay with the team, an offer which Cage cheerfully accepts.
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** Of course, pretty much any high level ''D&D'' character will be absolutely loaded down with magic items. It's all they ever really buy. In universe the party rogue might be a greedy hedonist, but you can bet his player isn't saving up for a mansion and a retinue of servants when there are more pluses to add to his gear. This is [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] (like most gaming tropes) in ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|The Order of the Stick]]'', when Roy explains that they ''can't'' stay in a fancy inn, because it would look suspicious; everyone knows that adventurers never splurge on luxuries, even when carrying around huge sacks of gold. You save it all for magic items.
** The best example may be the 3.5E Artificer. With all but one core item crafting feat, the "craft reserve" (a supply of special experience points that can only be used for item crafting), and the ability to "cull essence" (drain experience out of unneeded magic items into the craft reserve), they have unprecedented and unmatched ability to multiply wealth. Combined with class abilities related to using magic items more effectively or efficiently, the class's unofficial motto among optimizers is, "Anything you can do, I can do better."
** The 2nd Edition ''Al-Qadim'' supplement ''The Complete Sha'ir's Handbook'' introduces the Clockwork Mage. A very versatile class for an imaginative player, although one that needs lots of cash to build [[Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?|All Those Wonderful Toys]].
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* In most [[RPG|RPGs]] this is one of the ways to get powerful. Want that uber-awesome gun? Buy it.
** Especially '[[Allegedly Free Game|free]]' games with micro transactions where you can buy (with real money) the best armor and weapons in the game if you fork over 50 bucks.
* Ezio Auditore of ''[[Assassin's Creed (Video Game)|Assassin's Creed]]''. Granted, he's on a pretty standard [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]. But using his sister as his accountant, he can renovate the family villa back in Monteriggioni. This results in it generating loads and loads of cash, with which one can buy weapons and armor, paintings to decorate said villa (making it more valuable and able to generate even more money), hire allies for various missions, or literally throw at people. He appears to have no day job, outside of [[Murder, Inc.]].
** In ''Brotherhood'', Monteriggioni is destroyed, so Ezio moves to Rome and does the exact same thing on a larger scale.
** And after that in ''Revelations'', he continues this trend owning Constantinople, Istanbul, or whatever name you might give the city, based on your affiliation.
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