Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
213,909
edits
Intrepid Merchant: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
m (update links) |
No edit summary |
||
| (10 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown) | |||
Line 2:
[[File:merchant.png|frame|Curasias in [http://shapequest.deviantart.com/art/Shape-Quest-02-05-120721285 Shape Quest]]]
{{quote|''Sweet to ride forth at evening from the wells
''When shadows pass gigantic on the sand,
''And softly though the silence beat the bells
''Along the Golden Road to Samarkand.
''By hotter winds our fiery hearts are fanned:
''For lust of knowing what should not be known
''We make the Golden Journey to Samarkand.
|James Elroy Flecker, "The Golden Road to Samarkand"}}
An '''Intrepid Merchant''' is a merchant that goes to the far corners of his world, bravely seeking profit. He is a treasure-hunter but the treasure is not hidden, it is in the bazaar waiting for him after he has crossed the deserts, mountains, seas, or [[Recycled in Space|trackless gulfs of space.]] The chief characteristic of an Intrepid Merchant is that he is both a merchant and an adventurer. He buys and sells like any other trader. The difference is that he goes to far distant markets to find what he is looking for. (May be fond of being [[In Harm's Way]] - after all, the more dangerous it is to get at something, the rarer and, therefore, more valuable it's likely to be.)
On the less salubrious side of things, this character type can overlap with being a [[Privateer]] or [[Pirate]] (where the risk is the original owner fighting back), a smuggler (where the risk is that you're trading illegally), or even a slave trader.
Line 21 ⟶ 22:
When a whole culture has this as its [[Planet of Hats|Hat]], it is a [[Proud Merchant Race]] .
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* ''[[Spice and Wolf]]'': Although the story begins when Holo the wolf goddess hitches a ride in the protagonist's cart, the series primarily follows a fairly ordinary medieval merchant, whose experiences manage to be interesting without seeming unrealistic, traveling company aside.
Line 28 ⟶ 29:
== [[Fairy Tales]] ==
* In the ''[[Arabian Nights]]'': [[Sinbad the
** Who was actually based on a real person - a ''Chinese'' sailor, and Muslim, who traveled as far as ''Venice'' to bring back goods to China - only to have his deeds dashed from all records of Chinese history.
Line 36 ⟶ 37:
== [[Literature]] ==
* [[Poul Anderson]]'s [[Technic History]]: The Nicholas van Rijn stories. In one of these stories, van Rijn's protege David Falkayn quotes a poem (attributed to "Sanders," a pseudonym Anderson used sometimes) which describes this sort of character:
{{quote|Their
Who raced the wind around the world go reeling home again
With ivory, apes, and peacocks loaded, memories and brags
To sell for this high profit: knowing fully they are Men! }}
* In [[Isaac Asimov]]'s ''[[Foundation]]'', a subculture of these arose as a [[Batman Gambit]] to help spread the [[Path of Inspiration]] the titular society used to control its neighbors. Hober Mallow became known as the "Merchant ''Prince''" for being successful
* Niccolo, the eponymous hero of one of [[Dorothy Dunnett]]'s series of novels.
* Phlebas the Phoenician from the ''The Waste Land'' by [[T. S. Eliot]].
* Leland Gaunt is an evil version in ''[[Needful Things]]''.
* One of Kipling's most beautiful passages is the beginning of "Ballad of The King's Jest". It describes the arrival of Caravans(or "Kafilas") in "The Market Square of Peshawar Town" and goes on from there to show two
** Mahbub Ali, an Afghan horse-trader in ''Kim''. Well, if his caravan is ambushed and shot at ''twice'' in one season, it's unusual, but not quite shocking.
* Silas Fennec in [[China Mieville]]'s ''[[The Scar]]''.
Line 62 ⟶ 63:
* Mal and his crew from ''[[Firefly]]'', though due to the [[Used Future|harsh nature of the show]], they struggle just to make enough money to get by. "Intrepid" doesn't guarantee "successful".
* Cyrano Jones in ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]''.
== [[Music]] ==
*"Caravanserai" by Lorena McKennit is about Middle Eastsrn Merchants
== [[Real Life]] ==
Line 72 ⟶ 77:
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* In [[Traveller]] the players are often Free Traders, buying goods (sometimes the illegal kind) on one planet and selling them on another in an attempt to make their ship's mortgage payments.
* Rogue Traders in the ''[[Warhammer
* Most settings of ''[[Dungeons
** In ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' you don't know whether the next caravan will be raided by a dragon, Zhents or mere goblins. But a special mention must be given to "enterprising entrepreneur, Aurora the Eclectic", ex-adventurer and founder of all-goods retail chain with its ''[[Fictional Document|Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue]]''.
** Welcome to [[Memetic Mutation|Crazy Hassan's Used Camels]]!
Line 87 ⟶ 92:
* This is a playable class in ''[[Ragnarok Online]]''.
* Ali in the Koei simulation game ''[[Uncharted Waters]] 2: New Horizons''.
* In ''[[Elite]]'' in all its versions [[Player Character]] is one of these {{smallcaps|[[In Space]]}}
** The same for the [[Spiritual Successor|spiritual successors]] -- ''[[Wing Commander (video game)|Wing Commander: Privateer]]'', ''[[EVE Online]]'', ''[[Freelancer]]'', ''[[Infinity the Quest For Earth]]'', ''Jumpgate'', ''[[Vega Strike]]'', the [[Escape Velocity]] series and the [[X (video game)|X series]]
** This is the [[Planet of Hats|hat]] of the Teladi in the [[X (video game)|X-universe]] games.
Line 100 ⟶ 105:
* ''[[Final Fantasy XIII-2]]'' has Chocolina, who follows Serah and Noel across ''different timelines''.
* Melnorme in ''[[Star Control]]''. Very useful especially when they come to save your butt if you get stranded in Hyperspace. However, if you do not have credits be prepared for an (un)fair exchange.
* From ''[[Resident Evil]]'':
** ''[[Resident Evil 4]]'' has the Merchant. Possibly a Plagas infected, he nonetheless seems to be a decent guy trying to make a living selling weapons and upgrades. In fact, seeing as he always seems to be one step ahead of Leon, it is possible there is more than one Merchant.
** "The Duke" in ''[[Resident Evil Village]]'', a [[Big Fun]] fellow similar to the Merchant, implied to be an old friend of his. He somehow seems to have a shop in ''each'' of the four Lord's territories.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Curasias from ''[http://www.shapequest Shape Quest]''{{Dead link}} fits this trope perfectly, especially with his [
* Voltar from [[Crimson Flag]] tries to sell the heroes stuff, [http://crimsonflagcomic.com/comic.php?comicID=69 while they're chasing the bad guy.]
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Scrooge McDuck of ''[[DuckTales (1987)]]'', though most of his adventures are simply treasure seeking.
** He built a multi-''billion'' dollars [[Mega Corp]] thanks to his adventures, he's past the intrepid merchant: he's an intrepid ''mogul''.
* [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] by ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'''s [[He Who Must Not Be Named|unnamed]] cabbage seller, who keeps moving around the world to get away from the violence that destroyed his ''last'' cart of wares, only to have the Gaang show up and plow through [[Fruit Cart|his cabbages]] once again.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Characters]]
▲[[Category:Intrepid Merchant]]
| |||