Just Like Robin Hood: Difference between revisions

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== Anime and Manga ==

* There was a cat burglar in an early episode of [[Fullmetal Alchemist (~~Anime~~)|the 2003 anime version]] of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (~~Manga~~)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' that claimed she did this.

* There was a cat burglar in an early episode of [[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|the 2003 anime version]] of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' that claimed she did this.

* ''[[Kaitou Saint Tail]]'' did a variation of this, but was ''very'' careful to only steal already stolen items, and return them to the people they were stolen from.

* In ''[[The Daughter of Twenty Faces]]'', the [[Gentleman Thief]] Twenty Faces is portrayed to some degree like this, although the primary motive for his actions is to set right the wrongs caused by war, such as recovering national treasures that were looted.

* Although he always starts our for himself, ''[[Lupin III]]'' can sometimes lapse into this when presented with a good enough cause, it's part of the reason why he's so broke all the time despite being the world's greatest thief.

* Thor from ''[[Saint Seiya]]'', before becoming one of the Ansgard Saints.

* Risty from ''[[~~Queens~~ Blade]]'' robs nobles and gives the gold to orphanages.

* Risty from ''[[Queen's Blade]]'' robs nobles and gives the gold to orphanages.

* In ''[[Solty Rei]]'', Rose Anderson and her brothers steal to provide medicine and other essential supplies to the cities 'unregisted' people, who legally cannot buy anything.

== Comicbooks ==

* Felicia Hardy/Black Cat from ''[[Spider Man]]'' has had periods like this.

* Felicia Hardy/Black Cat from ''[[Spider-Man]]'' has had periods like this.

** As did Selena Kyle/Catwoman of ''[[Batman]]''.

* In ''[[Elseworld|Batman: Golden Streets of Gotham]]'', Batman is Bruno Vanekow, a railroad worker whose parents die in a fire similar to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. He dons a bat costume and becomes a self-styled Robin Hood, stealing from the city's [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|rich and powerful]] and donating to charity.

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== Films -- Animated ==

* In the second Disney ''[[Aladdin (Disney)|Aladdin]]'' movie, Al is shown robbing Abis Mal in order to spread the gold and jewels he stole among the people.

* In the second Disney ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' movie, Al is shown robbing Abis Mal in order to spread the gold and jewels he stole among the people.

** Al also gives a pair of kids the bread at the beginning of the original movie.

** And in the series this is a what takes up a good portion of his spare time.

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== Films -- Live-Action ==

* The hackers in ''[[Sneakers]]'' did this back in the 60s. The ending implies that Robert Redford's character has returned to his old ways.

* Happens in ''[[Ghost (~~Film~~)|Ghost]]'', when Sam donates the stolen money to charity.

* Happens in ''[[Ghost (film)|Ghost]]'', when Sam donates the stolen money to charity.

* The remake of ''[[Fun ~~With~~ Dick and Jane]]'' focuses largely on a plot by the eponyma to steal a corrupt CEO's savings (which he had in turn swindled from his own employees), and eventually set up a pension plan with the money.

* The remake of ''[[Fun with Dick and Jane]]'' focuses largely on a plot by the eponyma to steal a corrupt CEO's savings (which he had in turn swindled from his own employees), and eventually set up a pension plan with the money.

* In ''[[Tension At Table Rock]]'' the hero is a former outlaw infamous for killing his partner who was famous for being just like Robin Hood, even though in actuality the dead man only gave away a small proportion of his proceeds and when one of his robberies got someone killed, he would murder some innocent bystander and claim that was member of his gang who broke the rules by killing someone.

* When the ''[[Time Bandits]]'' ran into [[Just Like Robin Hood|Robin Hood]] they are dismayed that he volunteered them to become this. "He's obviously a dangerous man, unbalanced if you ask me. Giving away what isn't even his!"

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* Erle Stanley Gardner (the creator of ''[[Perry Mason]]'') has a few short stories protagonized by Lester Leigh, a [[Rich Idiot With No Day Job]] who solves crimes, steals the profits from the criminals, and uses them to fund charities.

* As might be expected from her philosophical outlook, [[Ayn Rand]] considered [[Robin Hood]] deeply evil, and created an "inverse Robin" in [[Atlas Shrugged|Ragnar Danneskjold]] who pirated relief shipments to various failing socialist states and gave it back to those who had earned it. Ragnar explicitly states that his motivation is to erase the false idea of Robin Hood.

* The outlaws in ''[[The Last Unicorn (~~Literature~~)|The Last Unicorn]]'' aspire to this, but later one of them admits that they actually rob the poor (who can't fight back) to pay off the rich (who therefore tolerate their presence).

* The outlaws in ''[[The Last Unicorn (novel)|The Last Unicorn]]'' aspire to this, but later one of them admits that they actually rob the poor (who can't fight back) to pay off the rich (who therefore tolerate their presence).

* In one of the ''[[Myth Inc]]''. books, there's a group of men with the same names as Robin Hood's crew (Robin, John, Alan, Tuck, etc.) who have been robbing royal tax collectors. The heroes go into town to investigate and actually end up unknowingly talking to some of the men in the group, who are naturally very nervous and refuse to tell them anything about the robbers. The heroes can't figure out why no one will talk to them and theorize that the gang must be splitting the take with the locals.

* The title character in ''The Tale of Hong Gildong''.

* Mentioned in ''[[Ronja the ~~Robbers~~ Daughter ~~(Literature)~~|Ronja the Robbers Daughter]]'' by [[~~Astrid Lindgren (Creator)|~~Astrid Lindgren]]: when Mattis (the robber chief and Ronja's father) defends himself by claiming that he only robs the rich and gives to the poor, the oldest bandit - much to Mattis' annoyance - confirms that indeed they give to the poor ... once every ten years.

* Mentioned in ''[[Ronja the Robber's Daughter|Ronja the Robbers Daughter]]'' by [[Astrid Lindgren]]: when Mattis (the robber chief and Ronja's father) defends himself by claiming that he only robs the rich and gives to the poor, the oldest bandit - much to Mattis' annoyance - confirms that indeed they give to the poor ... once every ten years.

* Parodied by Cohen the Barbarian in [[Discworld]], who robs from the rich "because the poor haven't got any money." (Although since his men nearly always spend their money, it does typically end up in the hands of the poor, provided one considers taverns and brothels "the poor.")

== Live-Action TV ==

* Mentioned in ''[[~~Black Adder~~]]'', where a notorious highwayman is described as being ''half-way'' to being the new Robin Hood - he steals from the rich, but hasn't gotten around to giving to the poor yet.

* Mentioned in ''[[Blackadder]]'', where a notorious highwayman is described as being ''half-way'' to being the new Robin Hood - he steals from the rich, but hasn't gotten around to giving to the poor yet.

** Then there's that one time that he met the ''actual'' Robin Hood, and promptly got him shot by his own merry men for being an insufferable git that doesn't pay them anything for their work.

** In the first season, the [[Carnival of Killers|band of the six most evil men in England]] that Prince Edmund assembles seem like [[Evil Counterpart|evil counterparts]] of Robin and co. One of them, Three-fingered Pete, is an archer who dresses like Robin (and is introduced killing a competitor in an archery contest who might actually be Robin). The lecherous Friar Bellows is an obvious counterpart to Tuck, and the murderous dwarf Jack Large is used to allude to Little John. It's also worth noting that one of the members is a Guy de Glastonbury (shades of Guy of Guisbourne) and Prince Edmond himself smacks of the traditional portrayal of King John.

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** Woody Guthrie applied a similar [[Historical Hero Upgrade]] in his song "Pretty Boy Floyd", patterning it after the folk song "The Ballad of Jesse James"; the latter actually includes the line "He robbed from the rich and gave to the poor".

* In ''It Ain't a Crime'' by the House of Pain, one of the lines refers to Johnny being an outlaw and thinking its fun because it's sorta like Robin Hood.

* [[Genesis (~~Music~~)|Genesis]], "The Battle Of Epping Forest":

* [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]], "The Battle Of Epping Forest":

{{quote| To save my steeple, I visited people

And for this I'd gone when I met Little John

His name came, I understood

When the judge said, "You are a ''robbin' hood''." }}

* [[~~Aqua (Music)|~~Aqua]]'s song "My Oh My" is about a [[Everything's Better ~~With~~ Princesses|princess]] who's looking for a prince on a white horse...and finds him in a bandit outside the castle walls, but he's [[Married to ~~The~~ Job|too busy for love]]:

* [[Aqua]]'s song "My Oh My" is about a [[Everything's Better with Princesses|princess]] who's looking for a prince on a white horse...and finds him in a bandit outside the castle walls, but he's [[Married to the Job|too busy for love]]:

{{quote| Gotta steal from the rich

when they don't know I'm comin',

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* The music video for "Say Say Say", by [[Michael Jackson]] and [[Paul McCartney]] has them scamming people with a fake "super strength elixir"... only to donate the profits to an orphanage.

* [[The Ramones]]' ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7DykTWuVKE Howling At The Moon (Sha- La- La)]''

* [[Eazy E]] is ''[[Averted Trope|not]]'' like [[Robin Hood]], 'cause he wants more: steal from the rich, hang with the poor.

* [[Eazy-E]] is ''[[Averted Trope|not]]'' like [[Robin Hood]], 'cause he wants more: steal from the rich, hang with the poor.

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* Kyle in ''[[Lunar Silver Star Story Complete|Lunar: The Silver Star]]'' (and remakes) is a bandit chief who runs a [[Monster Protection Racket]]...but he's chivalrous about it. [[Double Standard|He doesn't charge women and children]]. (He charges the men double.)

** In ''[[Lunar 2 Eternal Blue Complete|Lunar 2]]'', Nall ends up leading a gang of orphaned children who may or may not rob passing travelers. The game is vague about this.

* In ''[[~~Skies of Arcadia (Video Game)|~~Skies of Arcadia]]'', all [[Sky Pirates]] attack ships, but only the Black Pirates attack unarmed ones. Blue Rogues will only fight armed ships (in practice this amounts to [[The Evil Empire]] and the aforementioned Black Pirates), and they use the loot to both keep themselves afloat and to help folks who need it. {{spoiler|Nothing is mentioned as to what they do when [[The Evil Empire]] turns over a new leaf after the game's end, but the fans have [[Fanon|plenty of opinions]] on that.}}

* In ''[[Skies of Arcadia]]'', all [[Sky Pirates]] attack ships, but only the Black Pirates attack unarmed ones. Blue Rogues will only fight armed ships (in practice this amounts to [[The Evil Empire]] and the aforementioned Black Pirates), and they use the loot to both keep themselves afloat and to help folks who need it. {{spoiler|Nothing is mentioned as to what they do when [[The Evil Empire]] turns over a new leaf after the game's end, but the fans have [[Fanon|plenty of opinions]] on that.}}

* Kay Faraday (self-proclaimed 'Second Yatagarasu' and [[Highly-Visible Ninja]]) in ''[[Ace Attorney|Ace Attorney Investigations]]'' refers to the Yatagarasu as a "modern-day Robin Hood". The original Yatagarasu stole documents revealing corrupt dealings and sent them on to the media to be exposed. While Kay is flamboyant and dramatic about her work, the real Yatagarasu is {{spoiler|dead, evil, and mostly concerned with finding Faraday's murderer rather than showing off. [[Collective Identity|Yes, at the same time.]] }}

* In ''[[Maple Story]]'', in the Sand Bandits line of missions, you are tricked into thinking you are doing this by a band of not-so-virtuous desert bandits, and you are recruited by a band of actually virtuous bandits to [[Double Caper|steal back what you helped them take and spread it among the poor]].

* Yoshimitsu in ''[[Soul Calibur]]'' and his descendant in ''[[Tekken]]''.

* A borderline example is the "Robbin' Hood" monster from ''[[The Legend of Zelda (~~Video~~ ~~Game~~)|The Legend of Zelda]]'', in that it steals from the rich (i.e. you) and, er, drops the money on the ground.

* A borderline example is the "Robbin' Hood" monster from ''[[The Legend of Zelda (video game)|The Legend of Zelda]]'', in that it steals from the rich (i.e. you) and, er, drops the money on the ground.

* The Dawn Brigade from ''[[Fire Emblem]]: Radiant Dawn''. Interestingly an example that behaves like Robin Hood actually did, stealing from the tyrannical occupying government and giving to the citizens that it was taken from.

** Pahn and the Dandelion Thieves from Fire Emblem Thracia 776

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== Webcomics ==

* Parodied in ''[[Order of the Stick ~~(Webcomic)~~|Order of the Stick]]'', when Haley has a talk with another member of her old Thieves' Guild:

* Parodied in ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'', when Haley has a talk with another member of her old Thieves' Guild:

{{quote| '''Hank''': That was your dad's schtick, wasn't it? Rob from the rich, give 40% to the poor?

'''Haley''': 40%, '''after''' reasonable expenses.

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== Western Animation ==

* The short lived ''[[Spider Man]]'' series on MTV featured a saboteur who attacked Empire State University in order to stop the administration from forcefully evicting the people whose houses they'd acquired. He's seen a a hero by pretty much everybody in the show, and Spider-Man is seen as a bad guy for being forced to hunt him down (since he's breaking the law regardless). In an interesting characterization, he is portrayed for [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|having a valid cause but extreme methods]].

* The short lived ''[[Spider-Man]]'' series on MTV featured a saboteur who attacked Empire State University in order to stop the administration from forcefully evicting the people whose houses they'd acquired. He's seen a a hero by pretty much everybody in the show, and Spider-Man is seen as a bad guy for being forced to hunt him down (since he's breaking the law regardless). In an interesting characterization, he is portrayed for [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|having a valid cause but extreme methods]].

* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''- Jet leads a group of bandits who look like like traditional "merry men" and rob from Fire Nation citizens. Somewhat uniquely, he is actually presented somewhat negatively, being a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] who initially has no problem with beating up a weak old man simply because he's a Fire Nation citizen.

** He is willing to flood a village to get rid of Fire Nation troops. It doesn't work, because Sokka warns the villagers in time and is backed up by the aforementioned old man, whom Sokka had tried to help.

* In one episode of ''[[~~Codename Kids Next Door|~~Codename: Kids Next Door]]'' involved Robin Food, who stole from the young (school lunches) to feed the old, much to the annoyance of the senior citizens he was supposed to be cooking for, because they couldn't chew it.

* In one episode of ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'' involved Robin Food, who stole from the young (school lunches) to feed the old, much to the annoyance of the senior citizens he was supposed to be cooking for, because they couldn't chew it.

* The supervillain Angry Archer in ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' jokingly tells Wreck-Gar that he robs the rich to feed the poor--namely, himself. Wreck-Gar, being fifteen minutes old and not all that sane in general, thinks that this is awesome.

* In ''[[Batman ~~the~~ Animated Series]]'', Catwoman commits her robberies to fund animal reserves and conservation efforts. However, her actions are clearly portrayed as wrong, and she doesn't get off easy - she's caught, convicted and sentenced to five years' probation on her second or third appearance. (This aspect of Catwoman's character takes a backseat to other motives, however - with the episode ''Catwalk'', we see that she wanders the streets and robs people not just for funding, but out of a desire for what she thinks of as "freedom".)

* In ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'', Catwoman commits her robberies to fund animal reserves and conservation efforts. However, her actions are clearly portrayed as wrong, and she doesn't get off easy - she's caught, convicted and sentenced to five years' probation on her second or third appearance. (This aspect of Catwoman's character takes a backseat to other motives, however - with the episode ''Catwalk'', we see that she wanders the streets and robs people not just for funding, but out of a desire for what she thinks of as "freedom".)

* Karl-Bertil Jonsson in the Swedish animated short ''Karl-Bertil Jonssons julafton''. He's 14 and works part-time in a post office, and since he idolizes Robin Hood, sends rich people's Christmas gifts to poor people instead of to the addressees. This outrages his rich father (who, according to the narration, "was [[Take That|one of those people]] who believe that anyone who willingly gives something away must be a Communist") but eventually earns him the admiration of the community, at least until the end of the film.

* Thoroughly subverted on the ''[[Beetlejuice (~~Animation~~)|Beetlejuice]]'' cartoon in an episode-length parody of the [[Robin Hood]] stories. Beetlejuice starts out this way, robbing the evil Sheriff of Rottingham and giving the riches to the poor...at least until he gets greedy and begins keeping all the wealth for himself. This leads the Sheriff and the poor peasants to patch up their differences and form an [[Enemy Mine]] alliance against Beetlejuice.

* Thoroughly subverted on the ''[[Beetlejuice (animation)|Beetlejuice]]'' cartoon in an episode-length parody of the [[Robin Hood]] stories. Beetlejuice starts out this way, robbing the evil Sheriff of Rottingham and giving the riches to the poor...at least until he gets greedy and begins keeping all the wealth for himself. This leads the Sheriff and the poor peasants to patch up their differences and form an [[Enemy Mine]] alliance against Beetlejuice.

* Spoofed in ''[[El Tigre]]''. Grandpapi tells Manny and Frida about a legendary ''bandito'' called Ruben Hood, who stole from the rich...and just that. When Manny asks whether or not Ruben gave to the poor, Grandpapi just stares at him in [[Evil Cannot Comprehend Good|confusion.]]

* Parodied/Inverted in ''[[Flushed Away]]'', where Roddy (a rich rat) steals Rita's boat (Rita being a poor rat) after a misunderstanding, causing her younger brother to quip that it's "like Robin Hood in reverse."