Hardboiled Detective: Difference between revisions

 

* Hannibal King from [[Marvel Comics]] is a [[Our Vampires Are Different|vampiric]] hardboiled detective.

* Dr. Occult from [[The DCU]] is a hardboiled [[Occult Detective]].

* From the [[Batman]] universe, Harvey Bullock is usually one of these.

* The nameless protagonist of ''Potter's Field'' by [[Mark Waid]] is another.

* The DC comic character ''[[Ms. Tree]]'', created by Max Allan Collins, is a relatively rare female hardboiled detective.

* Steve Ditko loved Hardboiled Detectives, and his two (very similar) characters Mr. A and [[The Question]] are objectivist takes on the Trope.

 

* ''[[The Maltese Falcon]]'' features [[Humphrey Bogart]] as Sam Spade, one of the most iconic hardboiled detectives of all time, seeking revenge for the death of his partner and hunting for a [[MacGuffin|missing statuette]].

* Jake Gittes in [[Roman Polanski]]'s ''[[Chinatown]]'' is an homage to the archetype.

* Hoyle from the surreal and cerebral Noir/SF crossover ''[[Yesterday Was a Lie]]'' is a distaff version, with fedora, trenchcoat and all, trying to find a missing scientist.

* Louis Simo from ''[[Hollywoodland]]'' is a deconstruction loosely based on a real detective, Milo Speriglio.

** Stout had another, much smaller and less popular series starring Tecumseh Fox, who was much more the straight hard-boiled type.

* Mickey Spillane's ''[[Mike Hammer]]'' was an early, over-the-top, ultraviolent, [[Knight Templar]] example who is often credited with helping turn the genre into a parody of itself.

* [[Neil Gaiman]] wrote some short stories featuring [[Lawrence Talbot]], the Wolfman, as a hardboiled private investigator. "Only the End of the World Again" is one.

* The [[Marcus Didius Falco]] series starts out as the hardboiled detective [[Recycled in Space|Recycled In]] [[Ancient Rome]] (though he mellows as the series goes on). Living centuries before Noir was invented makes him amusingly [[Genre Blind]].

* ''[[Spenser For Hire]]'' was a rarity; a [[Hardboiled Detective]] with an even harder-boiled partner.

* Michael Garibaldi of ''[[Babylon 5]]'' has flashes of this from time to time. Picked up, bizarrely enough, by G'Kar of all people.

* ''[[The Electric Company]]'''s [[Punny Name|Fargo North, Decoder]] was as hard boiled as a kid's show could show.

* ''[[Kamen Rider Double]]'' uses this concept as its main motif. Protagonist Shotaro Hidari very much wants to be hard-boiled but is too emotional, leading his friends to dub him "half-boiled"; eventually he realizes that [[The Heart|this is a strength]]. Each two-episode [[Story Arc]] [[Book Ends|begins and ends]] with him doing a [[Private Eye Monologue]], and the second half starts with [[String Theory|a corkboard diagram showing the character relationships]].

** His [[Mentor Occupational Hazard|late mentor]] Sokichi "Boss" Narumi, on the other hand, had [[Ensemble Darkhorse|much more]] [[Memetic Badass|success]] modeling himself on the Chandler-esque ideal of manliness. Chandler is name-dropped in [[The Movie]], and Sokichi named the young man who would become Shotaro's partner after [[Philip Marlowe]].

* In a [[Storybook Episode]] of ''[[Fringe]]'', Walter casts Olivia as this.

 

== Newspaper Comics ==

 

* In addition to the [[Neil Gaiman]] example above, [[Lawrence Talbot]] also headined a short-lived webcomic in this vein, complete with trenchcoat, fedora, and [[Private Eye Monologue]].

 

== Video Games ==

* Scott Shelby from the game ''[[Heavy Rain]]'' is an aging, asthmatic retired-cop-turned-PI who's on the edge of hardboiled. (Softboiled?)'

** [[Kamen Rider Double|Halfboiled.]]

 

== Western Animation ==