Karmic Thief: Difference between revisions

The Karmic Thief's actions are "[[Caper Rationalization|justified]]" because they're being done to someone that is seen as deserving it. This turns the thieves into heroes for whom the audience can cheer more easily. If the thieves are themselves poor, the story might contain implicit themes of class conflict.

 

 

This is a [[Sub-Trope]] to [[Caper Rationalization]] and is often a case of [[Pay Evil Unto Evil]]. Compare also to the [[Lovable Rogue]], where the emphasis is on the likability of the thief rather than the idea that all his victims deserve their fates.

 

{{examples}}

* In ''[[Lupin III]]'', Lupin's schemes mostly focus on him stealing something from someone rich and powerful. It is usually obvious from the beginning that his targets are corrupt, tyrannical, or exploitative. Even when they seem initially seem nice or affable, they will be eventually be unveiled as evil.

 

* In ''[[Serenity]]'' Mal Reynolds and crew take a job which involves stealing a [[Law Enforcement, Inc.|corporate security payroll]]. It's a job hurting [[The Empire|The Alliance]] from a probably corrupt corporation, so they're [[Jerkass Victim]]s, but Mal has no intentions of handing out his crew's cut to the poor. Well, except that the poor and the crew of ''Serenity'' have a lot in common.

 

* At one point, [[Artemis Fowl]] chooses to focus his efforts solely on stealing from the wealthy and corrupt. However, he explicitly says he is not aiming to be [[Just Like Robin Hood]].

* In ''Not a Penny More, Not A Penny Less'' by Jeffrey Archer, a group of people who have been swindled by a con man band together to steal from him exactly the amount he took from them.

* ''[[The Stainless Steel Rat]]'' refuses to steal from anyone but rich corporations that are insured against theft, though once he is recruited by the Special Corps, he turns his skill against various villains.

* Moist von Lipwig from [[Discworld]] claimed himself to be this trope, more than once. In the light of that we get to know about his career, his pretensions appear a little hollow, though.

 

== [[Live-Action TV]] ==