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{{trope}}
[[File:TheFagin_2422.jpg|link=Oliver! (Theatre)|frame|''I am reviewing, the situation...'']]
 
A crook who takes in children, usually [[Street Urchin|orphans]] and has them steal for him, usually through pickpocketing, the [[Short Con]] or both. Like the original Dickens character, this trope is subject to two distinct interpretations. Sometimes, the character will be a [[Lovable Rogue]] and will be presented as essentially giving the children the best life possible. On the other hand, other versions of this are [[Evil Mentor|cruel exploiters]] and function similarly to the [[Orphanage of Fear]]. Less sympathetic examples may qualify as a [[Babysitter From Hell]].
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Expect to find [[The Artful Dodger]] among his crew. If the Fagin's charges grow up successfully, they will likely become [[Satisfied Street Rat|Satisfied Street Rats]]. Related to the [[Thieves' Guild]]. The children involved automatically qualify as a [[Tyke Bomb]].
 
The trope is named after Fagin, a character from [[Charles Dickens (Creator)|Charles Dickens]]' ''[[Oliver Twist]]'' who is so associated with this trope that his name is actually next to it in the dictionary. He even fufills both interpretations, depending on the media he's in.
{{examples}}
 
== Comic Books ==
* [[Punny Name|Fay Gunn]] from the ''[[Batman (Comic Book)|Batman]]'' comics
* Provost from ''[[Runaways]]''
* ''[[The Phantom (Comiccomic Stripstrip)|The Phantom]]'' once encountered such a man leading crew of pickpockets in Africa in the "Black Fagin" storyline.
* The Shadow King from [[Marvel Comics]] was this before he made the mistake of challenging [[X -Men|Professor Xavier]].
* ''[[Red Sonja]]'': As a teenaged thief, Sonja worked for one named Jubal.
* ''[[Fagin The Jew]]'' is a sympathetic retelling of Fagin's story from Fagin's point of view by [[Will Eisner]].
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== Film ==
* Maman of ''[[Slumdog Millionaire]]'' [[Bait the Dog|initially seems to be the nice version]] who takes in children to sing for money on the streets. {{spoiler|[[Complete Monster|But he blinds them to make them look more sympathetic]].}}
* ''[[Dick Tracy (Filmfilm)|Dick Tracy]]'' (1990): "Steve The Tramp" has "Kid" steal for him. Dick Tracy tracks Kid back to Steve's shack and beats Steve up, freeing Kid.
* ''[[The City of Lost Children]]'': This is the octopus' side job.
* Bart (played by [[Bob Hoskins]]) from ''[[Danny the Dog]]'' is a revolting horror of a "man" who raised a Chinese-boy to manhood (played by [[Jet Li]]) ''as an attack dog'' to help him kill and extort money in Glascow, London.
* The Shredder from the 1990 ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Filmfilm)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' movie essentially ran the Foot Clan this way. The Foot Clan was made up of teenage orphans and runaways who were trained in the art of ninjitsu and instigated a massive New York crime wave.
* [[Robin Williams]] character in ''[[August Rush]]''.
* [[Charlie Chaplin]] in ''[[The Kid]]'' is of the [[Papa Wolf]] variety. He uses his adopted son to drum up his business as a glass salesman by having him run around town breaking windows.
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== Literature ==
* The original is Fagin of ''[[Oliver Twist]]''. Because of the [[Unfortunate Implications]] of the anti-Semitism in his portrayal, he's often been adapted (e.g., in ''[[Oliver! (Theatre)|Oliver]]'') into a more benevolent/morally gray character than he was in the novel. A number of critics looking at the original Fagin have noted that he has more than a whiff of the pedophile about him.
* In ''[[Gentleman Bastard|The Lies of Locke Lamora]]'', Locke encounters both versions as a child. The first criminal who took him in, the Thiefmaker, was more of the evil version, but he ends up selling Locke to Father Chains, who is very clearly inspired by the positive takes on Fagin.
* In the [[Heralds of Valdemar]] novel ''Take a Thief'', Skif falls in with a group of young thieves led by an adult man (Bazie), who is unfortunately crippled; he gives them food, shelter and lessons (both educational and in how to be a good thief) in exchange for helping him out with his daily life and stealing for him.
* ''[[The Thief Lord]]'' centers around, well, the Thief Lord and his gang of orphans and runaways. Subverted in that the Thief Lord turns out to be a kid himself, and {{spoiler|not actually an orphan/runaway, but a rich kid stealing petty items from his dad's house}}.
* Referenced in the ''[[Temps (Literature)|Temps]]'' short story "Sortilege and Serendipity" by Brian Stableford when the hapless hero, whose job is testing Talented kids, is [[Mistaken Identity|mistaken for]] the super criminal known as the Taxman, and finds himself spinning a yarn about being a Fagin-figure using his work to recruit powered youngsters into his gang. He briefly wonders why he's never actually done this, before remembering that all the kids he works with are [[Bratty Half-Pint|mouthy pains-in-the-neck]] with [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|useless powers]].
* Subverted in one ''[[Batman]]'' short story: Batman ''thinks'' the Penguin is kidnapping kids from troubled backgrounds to lead them into a life of crime. He's actually giving them a decent education and a pleasant childhood so they can grow up to be outstanding members of society ... who owe him a huge favor.
* Sergeant Rumpkin in ''[[Beyond the Western Sea]]'' falls somewhere between the two versions. It's ambiguous how much he cares for the boys independent of the money they bring him; however, the worst thing we see him do is chide Toggs and {{spoiler|made vague threats about Fred, who betrays the gang.}}
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== Live Action TV ==
* In ''[[Leverage]]'' Parker's mentor Archie Leech can be argued as one. He took Parker in and made her steal for him as well as trained her as his 'legacy'-the best thief in the world. He also displays some of the [[Papa Wolf]] tendencies, calling Parker 'kiddo' and even referring to himself as Parker's father. However, the last one is deconstructed: he never took the young Parker home to his white picket fence family, fearing she won't fit in, making the older Parker a sort of [[Emotionless Girl]].
* One episode of ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]'' features Bertha, a seemingly kind and motherly woman who takes in homeless children - until it's revealed she is using them in her scheme to win money from rigged boxing matches. She also {{spoiler|sells the kids into slavery}} at the end of her tours.
* In ''[[Neverland (TV)|Neverland]]'', [[Sy Fy]]'s miniseries reimagining / [[Origin Story]] for ''[[Peter Pan]]'', Hook started out as one of these in London's East End, with Peter and the future Lost Boys being the children in question.
 
 
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== Western Animation ==
* The Sewer King from ''[[Batman: theThe Animated Series]]'' episode "The Underdwellers" is [[Complete Monster|very much the evil version]].
* In the ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (Animationanimation)|Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]'' episode "Adventures in Squirrelsitting", Fat Cat considers raising the two squirrel girls as his own heirs before deciding it'd be too much trouble and ordering them tossed into [[Death Trap|the canning machine]].
* There was an episode of ''[[Futurama]]'' in which Bender played this role when he bought an entire orphanage. In typical fashion, he ends up loving the orphans much to his chagrin.
* The version of Fagin in the Disney film ''[[Oliver and Company]]'' does this with animals.
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