Friend in the Black Market: Difference between revisions
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Compare and Contrast [[Honest John's Dealership]] who also sells products at a premium... except theirs are of lesser quality. [[The Scrounger]] is likely to either be this trope or to have dealings with him.
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== Comic Books ==
* The Penguin could fit into this trope; while his main merchandise is information for [[Batman]], he also does a ''lot'' of shady business. Because Batman's a poor [[Incredibly Lame Pun|tipper]].
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* Sid Carter in ''Carry On Matron''.
* Sgt. Bilko in ''[[Sgt Bilko]]''
* Joseph in ''[[Au
== Literature ==
* Recurring character Bubba Rogowski of [[Dennis Lehane]]'s [[Kenzie and Gennaro Series]] is a former Marine who specializes in obtaining lots of illegal weapons and tech, and has put lives mines through his entire warehouse apartment to deter unwelcome guests. He's also something of a [[Psycho for Hire]] and a [[Man Child]] who can barely read, but he's been friends with Patrick since they were kids and will kill anyone who messes with him.
* Mundungus Fletcher in ''[[Harry Potter and
* Rhett Butler from ''[[Gone with the Wind]]'', who [[Screw the War, We're Partying|lives quite well despite the late unpleasantness]]. (He is a privateer, after all.)
* In Neuromancer and it's two sequels, there's "The Fynn", a blackmarket dealer that appears regularly to sell equipment and information to the protagonists. Due to the nature of the depicted cyberpunk society, it's debatable wether he can be considered a friend, though.
== Live
* Private Walker, the spiv in ''[[Dad's Army|Dads Army]]''.
* Both Radar and Klinger from ''[[M*A*S*H (television)]]'', who use their wits to get anything the hospital needs. (Klinger getting the job when Radar leaves)
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* CPO Pertwee in ''[[The Navy Lark]]''
== Tabletop Games ==
* Fairly common in Cyberpunk and Space Opera genres.
* ''[[Dark Heresy]]'' has a system of Contacts, which includes this. They can help with things like information (serve as simple informants, perform inquiry via their own acquaintances, Lore skills, divinations from a psyker...), items (discount, improved Availability) or various favours. XP cost of an individual Contact who's both reliable and has very useful capabilities may be significantly greater than that of a Talent significantly improving relationship with a whole Imperial organization or other widespread group. Unreliable ones cost less, but this can earn the Acolytes additional troubles.
== Video Games ==
* This arises as a gameplay mechanic in an awful lot of video games (especially [[RPG]]s) where the shopkeepers expect the heroes to cough up the dough even when the world is about to end. After all, [[Adam Smith Hates Your Guts]]. It fits this trope more than Honest John as at least they sell you legitimate items.
** [[Diablo|Except that little snotrag Wirt.]]
* The ''[[Spyro the Dragon]]'' series has Moneybags, who will perform various services for you for, "*
** You
* [[Ratchet and Clank|Ratchet]] can buy a lot of black market gear during the course of his adventures, from weapon mods to hypnosis gadgets to [[Infinity+1 Sword|giant overpowered weaponry.]]
* [[Soul Brotha|Drebin]] in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'' is named for ''[[The Naked Gun]]'' character due to what he sells; 'naked guns' - the arms he sells are not ID-Locked, and so can be used by anybody, which comes in very handy for Snake. Also plays the [[Big Damn Heroes|Big Damn Hero]] at times, and serves as [[Mr. Exposition]] in relation to the backstories of [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|the Beauty and the Beast Corps.]]
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