Lovable Rogue: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Lupin III]]'', from the anime of same name. A bit less so in the manga.

* Blue, from ''[[Pokémon Special]]'', fits this description at first. She consistently cheats and lies, and shows absolutely no signs of a conscience or caring for anyone but herself, yet she and the main character manage to remain on almost friendly terms. She gets nicer and gives up thievery by the end of the first arc, but still keeps some lovable and roguish qualities.

* In ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'', the rough and brash thief Tasuki's first appearance consists of kidnapping the heroine Miaka, unleashing [[Goddamned Bats|ghost wolves]] against the heroes who try to stop him, and later faking his own death to avoid joining the heroes. However, he later shows up to [[Kill It with Fire|save the heroes]] from zombies and becomes completely dedicated to their cause, to the point of nearly making a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] on Miaka's behalf.

** Plus, the actual ''thieving'' of Tasuki's thief gang is easy to ignore, since they border on being [[The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything]] anyway (except when they briefly serve as [[The Cavalry]] later in the series, which makes their thieving ''even easier'' to ignore).

* Dark in ''[[D.N.Angel]]'' most definitely fits this trope!

* Miroku from ''[[Inuyasha]]'' has no qualms about lying, drinking, womanizing, conning and stealing, being determined to enjoy life to its fullest, but he later shows that he's also loyal, wise, and is ready to help and protect others even with his own life.

* Nami from ''[[One Piece]]'' is this at the beginning of the series, and still has bits and pieces of this personality as the story progresses.

 

* ''[[Hellblazer]]'': John Constantine sometimes qualifies—if you're watching from a distance. If you're ''personally'' acquainted with him, you'd be more inclined to say that he is a prick, since sometimes his only goal is taking care of his own interests, and he can exploit others ruthlessly. But most of the time he's saving the world, which makes him an [[Anti-Hero]]. A [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|type IV]] at that, with a bit of a [[Jerkass Facade]].

* The snarky outcast drow rogue Downer, the protagonist of the comics ''Downer: Wandering Monster'' and ''Downer: Fool's Errand'' by Kyle Stanley Hunter (formerly published in DUNGEON Magazine). A down on his luck "proven loser" who survives by his wit, quick tongue, quick blade and quick reflexes (and mainly by running the hell away when outnumbered, unless he's sufficiently pissed off that he decides to indulge his inner [[Badass]] and take on a whole bunch of enemies by himself). Although he considers himself an "evil bastard" who puts his own survival first and claims he's "always prepared to be screwed over by his friends", Downer has demonstrated [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|amazing loyalty to friends]] and guild mates on several occasions, and he always pays back his debts. Downer's brother Aristide claims Downer is a "jerk", but then, Aristide is more of a typical drow (read: selfish and cruel) and his viewpoint is questionable. By the end of ''Fool's Errand'', Downer's status has been firmly updated to [[Anti-Hero]].

** From the same series is [[Cunning Like a Fox|Reynard the Fox]], who appears as a Lovable Rogue, who seems to have a self-serving agenda, but then genuinely appears to just want to help. He even points out that being self-serving and helping others are goals that complement each other.

* The Black Fox, a [[Gentleman Thief]] foe of [[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]], has this vibe going for him. So much so that Spider-Man actually lets him escape from their first few encounters because he just can't bring himself to send the Fox to jail.

 

* Lampshaded in the ''[[Death Note]]'' fic ''[[A Cure for Love]]'' when L indirectly calls Light one... [[It Makes Sense in Context|to his face.]] [[Sympathetic Criminal|Mello and Matt]] better qualify.

 

* Definitely [[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]], at least the [[Disney Animated Canon|Disney version]].

* Timon, from ''[[The Lion King]]''.

* ''[[Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas]]'' has Sinbad leading a troop of non-murderous pirates. They're just so awesome they don't need to kill. Except that one bit in the first scene where they did... but eh.

* Flynn Rider from ''[[Tangled]]'' certainly counts; he's dashing, funny and experiences the most [[Character Development]].

* Phil Moscowitz, the hero of the [[Woody Allen]] comedy ''[[What's Up, Tiger Lily?]]'', who identifies himself as a Lovable Rogue when giving his name and occupation and whose lecherous behavior certainly fits the type.

* Han Solo from ''[[Star Wars]]''.

* The Man With No Name, as played by [[Clint Eastwood]] in [[Sergio Leone]]'s ''[[Dollars Trilogy]]'', is a con-man, a thief and a murderer, but dammit, he's just so cool with that poncho of his.

* Rick O'Connell in ''[[The Mummy Trilogy]]''. The fact that he started as a soldier in the [[Legion of Lost Souls|French Foreign Legion]], until his unit was wiped out, only adds to his rogue status.

* Frank Skeffington, the [[Sleazy Politician|crooked big-city machine politician]], is undoubtedly one of these in the movie version of ''[[The Last Hurrah]]''; he is ferociously loyal and would never desert a friend, and if he sometimes uses money or offices to secure political favors, he only does it to help out his constituents. He is slightly more overtly sympathetic in the film than in the book (see "Literature" section below).

* Abu in ''[[The Thief of Bagdad]]''.

* "Professor" Harold Hill, of [[The Music Man]], is this, with a heavy emphasis on the Lovable part (since he's also [[The Charmer]]).

* Private Hook in ''[[Zulu]]''. Note [[Did Not Do the Research]] here; the historical Private Hook was no malingerer, not in any way a disciplinary problem, and fought even more bravely in the battle than the film portrays him as doing. His surviving relatives walked out of the premiere when they saw how he'd been portrayed.

* Jay and Silent Bob from ''[[The View Askewniverse]]''. Sure, [[Stoners Are Funny]], but these two ''sell'' the stuff, and still manage to be funny. Most of the time.

 

* [[Tom Sawyer]] commits petty misdemeanor after petty misdemeanor but generally gets a pass because he's such a charming little rascal.

** Although some of the stuff he does in ''[[The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]'' crosses the line from "petty" to "[[What the Hell, Hero?]]"

* [[Discworld]]:

** Moist von Lipwig is one of these turned [[Boxed Crook]]. There's a bit of [[Deconstruction]] on the idea that he's only conned big businesses and people who deserved it, and never hurt anyone. Mr Pump reckons that, if you add up the amount of harm he's done, it's equivalent to killing 2.338 people, and this really gets brought home when it turns out {{spoiler|his girlfriend lost her job when he defrauded the bank she worked for}}.

* George Cooper, King of Thieves, from the ''[[Tortall Universe|Tortall]]'' books. His title is actually "The Rogue", and he basically runs the thieves' organization throughout the kingdom.

** Also Rosto the Piper in the ''Beka'' books; it looks like {{spoiler|he might be an ancestor of George's}}, so it all makes sense.

* Han "Cuffs" Alister from ''[[The Seven Realms Series]]'' is this.

 

* Bret Maverick, from the aptly named western ''[[Maverick (TV series)|Maverick]]''. Most often Bret is forced to break the law by escaping jail for crimes he's framed of, or commits crimes as part of schemes and cons to outwit those they have wronged him, (stolen his winnings), or his loved ones.

* Del Boy from ''[[Only Fools and Horses]]''.

* Neil from ''[[The Librarians]]'' sees himself as a lovable rogue. No one else does.

* All of the members of ''[[The A-Team]]'' are this since the bad guys are so one-dimensionally horrible, but Face probably fits here the most since he's the slick and charming [[Handsome Lech|ladies' man]] (and [[Con Man]]). The team also fits as a group of [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|Type II Anti-Heroes]].

* Darien Fawkes in ''[[The Invisible Man (TV series)|The Invisible Man]]''. He's a notorious thief who only got caught last time because he tried to revive an old man he thought was having a heart attack (instead, he got [[No Good Deed Goes Unpunished|convicted for attempted rape]]). His brother, an accomplished scientist, gets him out of prison to be the guinea pig for a top-secret project. After Darien gets the [[Applied Phlebotinum|quicksilver]] gland, he can now become invisible at will. A dream come true for a thief. However, he needs regular injections of a counteragent that prevents him from going insane from quicksilver overdose, a deliberate flaw in the gland. Despite now working for a secret government agency, Darien still has plenty of roguish qualities, who loves to use his new ability to sneak into places he shouldn't (like spy on a guard and a nurse getting it on). However, in the series finale, the flaw in the gland is finally fixed, allowing him to be free from the Agency. The first thing he does is rob a place, only to leave the money on the sidewalk when he realizes he's not the same guy anymore.

* [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Lutin]], from ''[[The Legend of Dick and Dom]]'', is introduced in the opening credit voiceover as the heroes' thieving servant. Saves the quest several times with heists, capers and jailbreaks, as well as routinely sabotaging opponents and lifting small items; she's a classic cheeky, sarcastic rogue .

 

* The late [[Eddie Guerrero]] was well known for his "Lie, Cheat, and Steal" lifestyle. But he was so damn charming, he'd usually get away with it, all the while stealing the audience's hearts.

 

* Former French President Jacques Chirac is portrayed this way in the satirical fake news show with puppets ''[[Les Guignols de l'info]]'', being shown to be a shameless liar (he even had another identity as Super Menteur, i.e. "Super Liar") while still remaining highly likable. It's thought this may have actually helped (the real) Jacques Chirac get re-elected.

 

* Harry Lime as he was portrayed in the radio show ''[[The Lives of Harry Lime]]''. He was considerably less lovable in ''[[The Third Man]]''.

 

* There's a good chance that any given Thief/Rogue, Bard, or Swashbuckler you meet in a game of ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' is this kind of character.

** An old maxim of roleplaying states that "A thief or rogue character will never be morally centrist. He will either be a good-natured chap who steals from people who deserve it and is the subject of much affection, or he will be a complete sociopath".

* The [[Planet of Hats|hat]] of the [[Talislanta|Sarista]].

 

* The rogue Autolycus in Shakespeare's ''[[The Winter's Tale|The Winters Tale]]''.

* The Engineer from ''[[Miss Saigon]]''.

* [[Bertolt Brecht]] [[Deconstructed Trope|deconstructs]] this trope in ''[[The Threepenny Opera]]''.

 

* Locke the [[Insistent Terminology|treasure hunter]], from ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'' is pretty much the definition of this trope, though he drifts into being less of a rogue and more of a hero as the game progresses.

* Practically 25% of the world's population in ''[[Skies of Arcadia]]'' is made up of these. Naturally, this includes all the playable characters.

** And as a helicopter.

* Jansen Friedh from ''[[Lost Odyssey]]'' plays this one almost perfectly, with a healthy dose of [[Comic Relief]]. [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] too. And a little bit of [[Butt Monkey]]. He's one of the best characters in the game.

* The two characters in ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' who get a [[Karma Houdini]] fall under this category. For {{spoiler|[[Phantom Thief]] Ron De Lite it's because he's so darn adorable}} and for {{spoiler|Shelly de Killer it's because he's such a classy assassin.}}

** And Kay Faraday, even though she doesn't technically steal anything.

* Zidane Tribal from ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]''.

** The rest of Tantalus probably qualifies too.

* Milanor the Silver Wolf from ''[[Yggdra Union]]'' is the leader of a loosely-knit group of vagabonds, but he also helps the eponymous princess form [[La Résistance|a counter-imperial rebellion]].

* Nathan Drake's interactions with his crew in the ''[[Uncharted]]'' series makes him an lovable and entertaining rogue.

* ''[[Assassin's Creed]]'': Ezio Auditore da Firenze, before he received some hefty [[Character Development]].

* Imoen, {{spoiler|[[Big Brother Instinct|your own little sister]]}}, from the ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'' series definitely qualifies, though she dual-classes into a [[Squishy Wizard]] in the sequel. Her merciless torture at the hands of Jon Irenicus is a vicious [[Player Punch]] and one of the main reason for you to hate Irenicus' guts.

** Yoshimo also works ''hard'' to project this image, although there are [[Foreshadowing|moments]] where it's a little off. From all indications he was 100% this trope prior to {{spoiler|selling his life and soul to Irenicus}}.

* [[Classy Cat Burglar|Kasumi Goto]] from ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', primarily due to her [[Genki Girl|upbeat, energetic nature]] but still [[Tear Jerker|sad]] backstory.

* Sly Cooper from the ''[[Sly Cooper]]'' games definitely falls under this catagory, along with the rest of the Cooper Gang.

** Zevran and Varric also count. One of them is a charming assassin with some degree of conscience, the other is a witty information man.

* Ozan, one of the Signature Heroes of ''[[RuneScape]]'', seems to fit this category well. He happens to be a thief and a liar with an inflated ego... Yet his friendly, fun and charming personality makes him likable despite this. Oh, and he ''is'' a hero (if the term 'Signature Heroes' wasn't enough of a clue).

* ''[[Yakuza (video game)|Yakuza]]''. Despite the fact that the protagonists in the franchise are indeed Yakuza, they're usually decent folks, protecting and helping civilians, especially children, while the actual antagonists are ''complete'' scum.

* In ''[[MapleStory]]'', this applies to any member of the Pirate or Thief class, especially Phantom.

 

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111211110737/http://www.centralcitytower.com/2010/12/character-introduction-ciro.html Ciro] from ''[[Project 0]]''

* Mordekai from the Fantasy theme of ''[[Irregular Webcomic]]'' actually [http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/comic.php?comic=590 insists] [http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/comic.php?comic=1593 on] [http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/2637.html being] [[Insistent Terminology|referred to as]] a ''Lovable Rogue''.

{{color|#ff6ff2|TG: a rogue }}

{{color|#ff6ff2|TG: is bascially robin hood}} }}

 

* Rattrap from ''[[Beast Wars]]''. At one point Optimus Primal is presumed dead during the course of one night. During that time Rattrap takes it upon himself to take over his (much nicer) quarters and replace everything with his own stuff. When he is called out on it, his response is basically "Hey, come on. What do you expect?"

* Bender from ''[[Futurama]]''.

** Wendy, to a lesser extent. While regarded as a [[Nice Girl]] overall she's done a few shady things like abusing her authority as a lifeguard (eventually she was fired for filching from the snack bar, and managed to steal three more bags of chips on the way out), vandalism, and in one of the shorts, stealing a police car.

* Eda from ''[[The Owl House]]'' is very similar to Stan, being a witch who [[Snake Oil Salesman|hawks junk stolen from Earth as "human oddities"]], going so far as to ''literally'' [[Literal Metaphor|sell a bottle labeled "snake oil"]] in the second episode. She is also an [[Eccentric Mentor]] to the protagonist and a [[Jerk With a Heart of Gold]] . Many fans have commented on how she and Stan [[Crossover Ship| could practically be soulmates]], and given as the show is something of a [[Spiritual Successor]] to ''Gravity Falls'', it does make some sense.

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Hired Guns]]

[[Category:Archetypal Character]]

[[Category:Criminals]]

[[Category:Romance Novel Tropes]]

[[Category:The Utterly and Completely Definitive Guide to Cool]]

[[Category:Punk Punk]]