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{{trope}}
{{quote|''I always thought you were like a... well, slave's the wrong word, but... really? Mother ''pays'' you?''
|'''Sterling Archer''' to '''Woodhouse''', ''[[Archer]]''}}
Many servants are deeply attached to the person (or family) they work for. The old retainer is indeed often elderly, and his service has often been long, but the essential trait is his loyalty and propriety. He identifies his interests with those of his employer, regards himself as slighted by any injuries to him, and strives mightily to keep things going properly.
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* In [[Child Ballad]] 6 ''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch006.htm Willie's Lady]'', the family household sprite Belly Blind advises Willie how to defeat his mother—a "[[Wicked Witch|rank witch]]"—in her attempt to [[Death by Childbirth|kill his wife in childbed]].
* In some variants of [[Child Ballad]] 53 ''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch053.htm Young Beichan]'', the family household sprite Belly Blin warns Isobel that her lover is about to marry another woman. (Yes, there ''is'' a certain pattern to those names.)
== Comic Books ==
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* [[Iron Man|Tony Stark's]] butler Jarvis, especially when he is put in charge of maintaining [[The Avengers (Comic Book)|Avengers Mansion]]. He opts to remain in Tony's service, even after being severely injured in a vicious attack by the Masters of Evil.
* ''[[Doctor Strange]]'': Wong has remained his manservant from the beginning. He also instructed Strange in the martial arts; as Strange declared at one point(referring to his learning martial arts from Wong), "In some ways, Wong is my servant. In others, he is my master."
== Fairy Tales ==
* In [[The Brothers Grimm (creator)|The Brothers Grimm]]'s ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140405134935/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/6faithfuljohn.html Faithful John]'', the dying king orders Faithful John to prevent his son from going into a certain room. When this fails and the new king falls in love with a portrait he sees there, Faithful John accompanies him, and when he learns of perils, protects the king and his bride at the price of looking like a madman. Finally, to avoid execution, he explains, and is turned to stone.
* In [[Joseph Jacobs]]'s ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20130718140257/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/donkeyskin/stories/tattercoats.html Tattercoats]'', Tattercoats is ignored by her grandfather and abused by all the servants, except for one faithful nurse, who looks after her all the time she is growing up.
* In ''[http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/116.htm The Black Thief and the Knight of the Glen]'', it is an old servant woman who tells the knight that {{spoiler|the thief's last tale is true, and furthermore that the knight is the baby he saved during it}}.
== Fan Works ==
* [[Undocumented Features|For every Dessler, there is a Dragonaar]].
== Film ==
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* ''[[Fearless (film)|Fearless]]'': The personal servant Huo Yuanjia had as a child is still there to tend for the abandoned family estate when Huo comes back after years of self-imposed exile.
* Clifton, faithful valet to down-on-his-luck movie star George Valentin in ''[[The Artist]]''. {{spoiler|He remains steadfast to Valentin even after being hired by Peppy Miller.}}
== Literature ==
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* For '''Oldest''' Old Retainer ever, I nominate Jenkins, the robotic butler in Clifford D. Simak's novel, ''City''. He serves the Webster family and their descendants faithfully for... oh, at least 10,000 years. Probably more like half a million.
* NDR-113, better known as Andrew, serves several generations of the Martin family before gaining emancipation in [[Isaac Asimov]]'s story, "The Bicentennial Man" (expanded to novel-length as ''The Positronic Man'' by Asimov and [[Robert Silverberg]], and adapted to film as ''[[Bicentennial Man]]'', starring [[Robin Williams]]).
* [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'':
** Willikins, the Ramkin/Vimes family butler
** [[The Igor|Igor]] in
*** Actually, Igor was willing to tolerate it up to a point, but when Count Magpyr started his [[Villainous Breakdown]] Igor decided it was time to bring back the old count.
* Butler of ''[[Artemis Fowl]]''. The Butlers have worked for the Fowls for generations, and Butler also has a strong personal loyalty to Artemis.
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* Coram in the [[Tortall Universe|Song of the Lioness]] quartet was this to the Trebond family. He served as Alanna's man-at-arms while she was a page and for the first couple of years of her knighthood, and acted as steward when Alanna's father died. In the last book, ''Lioness Rampant'', Buri reveals that her family has served [[Rebellious Princess|Thayet's]] mother's family for generations.
* In [[Jane Austen]]'s ''[[Persuasion]]'', after Louisa's injuries in Lyme, the old family nursemaid goes to nurse Louisa.
* In [[P. G.
▲== Live Action TV ==
* Baldrick to [[Blackadder|Lord Blackadder]]. [[Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist|Naturally]], this earns him no favours whatsoever:
{{quote|'''Blackadder''': You're fired.
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* Uncle Pete from [[Damages]]. Tom introduces him as "the one who really runs things around here" which is the kind of patronage you'd expect from a law firm partner towards someone from the domestic staff. But as it turns out, it may actually be true. Not only is he in on every plot and scheme that goes down, but he talks to Patty in a way that suggests that he actually has some dominance over her.
* Mrs. Hall the loyal housekeeper from ''[[All Creatures Great and Small]]''
* Teula Tuileta or "Kumu" in [[Magnum P.I. (2018 series)|the reboot of ''
* ''[[Upstairs, Downstairs]]'' is practically made of this trope. But especially notable are Mr Hudson and Mrs Bridges.
* Jiiya, from ''Kamen Rider Kabuto'', fits this role.
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* ''[[The Palace]]'' had Jeremy, a footman with a particular devotion toward Queen Charlotte.
* Niles from ''[[The Nanny]]''. His father was the butler for the previous generation of the Sheffield family. Niles grew up alongside Max, and even followed him to America.
== Recorded and Stand-Up Comedy==
* On Vivian Stanshall's comedy LP, [[wikipedia:Sir Henry At Rawlinson End|Sir Henry At Rawlinson End]], the butler to the Rawlinson family is "Old Scrotum, the wrinkled retainer".▼
== Tabletop Games ==
* [[Tabletop Roleplaying Games]] set in the [[New World of Darkness]] allow a merit called "Retainer", which may well be this depending on when the player purchases it. Depending on how many dots they put into the merit said retainer can range in competence from [[The Jeeves]] to [[Bumbling Sidekick]].
▲== Theater ==
* Anfisa, in [[Anton Chekhov]]'s ''Three Sisters'' is too old and feeble to be much good as a servant anymore, but is kept on out of loyalty, until the brother's new wife starts running the house.
* Same goes to Firs in ''The Cherry Orchard''. {{spoiler|He's left behind after Madame Ranevskaya and Co. have to go, and actually ''dies'' onstage as the orchard trees are cut down.}}
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* Zazu in [[The Lion King]], even more so than in the original animation. At one point he consoled Mufasa regarding Simba's rebellious streak; "I seem to recall a young lion cub, more willful than wise. And ''he'' achieved some prominence."
* A standard trope in Greek tragedy (appears in e.g. [[Aeschylus]]'s ''[[The Libation Bearers]]'' and [[Euripides]]'s ''[[Medea]]''. A direct line exists from these to characters such as [[Romeo and Juliet|Juliet's Nurse]].
== Video Games ==
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* Impa appears to be this to Zelda (and, presumably, King Harkinian) in ''[[The Legend of Zelda CDI Games]]''.
== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[The Specialists]]'', [http://thespecialistscomic.com/page-85/ Henry gets the butler rather than his father on the phone]—though the butler assures him they are both [[So Proud of You]].
▲* On Vivian Stanshall's comedy LP, [[wikipedia:Sir Henry At Rawlinson End|Sir Henry At Rawlinson End]], the butler to the Rawlinson family is "Old Scrotum, the wrinkled retainer".
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Elders]]
[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
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