The Highwayman: Difference between revisions

''His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.''|''[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Highwayman_(Noyes) The Highwayman]''}}

 

 

At times, highwaymen were seen as glamorous. For various reasons (including the fact that they often rode horses) they were considered a cut above common bandits. A proper highwayman, instead of being scruffy and furtive, was dashing and debonair - truly the [[Gentleman Thief]] of armed robbery. Some of them were built up as folk heroes ("...[[Just Like Robin Hood|just like Robin Hood!]]"), and they have also been stock [[Love Interests]] in romance novels (perhaps because [[All Girls Want Bad Boys]]?). In certain types of story, it's also quite likely that [[Secret Identity|secret identities]] will be involved - voluminous cloaks and nocturnal tendencies make it relatively easy for a prominent [[Rich Idiot With No Day Job]] to conceal who they are, or for a [[Sweet Polly Oliver|woman to avoid being known as such]]. Popular in [[The Cavalier Years]], where the English Civil War is often blamed for their being ''forced'' to take up the occupation.

== Comic Books ==

* [[Hawkman]] foe the Gentleman Ghost was a highwayman before he was hanged (and became a ghost).

 

== Film ==

* In ''[[Barry Lyndon]]'', Barry is robbed at a roadside by Captain Feeney and his son. The whole exchange is very polite.

* Ken Follet's ''[[The Pillars of the Earth]]'' and ''[[World Without End]]'' both feature scenes with highwaymen.

 

== Literature ==

* Numerous romance novels. To take just one of many examples, Barbara Cartland's ''The Lady and the Highwayman'' seems to be comparatively well known (they made a movie of it, at least).

* The ''[[Discworld]]'' series has a lot of highwayman scenarios played for laughs. The most common is [[Mugging the Monster|for the travelers to turn the tables]] and rob or otherwise get the better of the highwayman.

** Casanunda, dashing swordsman, gentleman of fortune, and dwarf, has occasionally been a highwayman, although he finds it hard to get taken seriously. People say "I say, it's a lowwayman! A bit short, are we?" and he has to shoot them in the knee. He generally tells his targets to "Kneel and deliver".

** Both books also have Casanunda demonstrating how ''sensible'' highwaymen get through such situations - by making friends with the wizards in the first one and staying the hell away in the second.

* [[Rafael Sabatini]] wrote many stories about highwaymen, including several concerning the fortunes of a charming rogue who called himself "Captain Evans". (And, well-separated over the course of his career, at least three variations on a plot in which a clever but unpleasant person gets the better of a highwayman, robs ''him'', and then gets caught red-handed with the loot and arrested as the highwayman.)

* ''The Toby Man'' by [[Dick King-Smith]] is a childrens book about a young boy who becomes a highwayman with the help of talking animals.

* Steven Brust's ''[[Dragaera|The Phoenix Guards]]'' series includes a number of highwaymen. One of the main characters also becomes a famous highwayman.

 

 

* Highwaymen appear twice in ''[[Blackadder]]''.

** In the first series, Blackadder assembles the seven most evil men in the kingdom, one of whom is a highwayman. He uses the "your money or your life" line, but once he has the money, corrects the "or" to "and".

I was no Prince Charming,

Nothing dandy about me. }}

 

== Music ==

* Irish folk song "Whiskey in the Jar" is about a highwayman who is betrayed by his woman.

 

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* Highwaymen are a character occupation choice in ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' tabletop RPG, complete with horse and classiness. Ironically, one of the base occupations best suited to enter the class is the road warden, a horseback riding, gun-toting patrolman.

 

== Theatre ==

* Macheath and his cronies in ''[[The Beggar's Opera|The Beggars Opera]]'' (the inspiration for the [[Darker and Edgier]] ''[[The Threepenny Opera]]'') are all highwayman, with Macheath being loosely based on Jack Sheppard and his father-in-law Peachum on Jonathan Wild. Macheath's name is a [[Meaningful Name]] ("son of the heath" i.e. "son of the open road").

 

== Video Games ==

* Randomly-generated [[Petting Zoo People|Khajiit]] highwaymen show up in ''[[The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion|The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion]]'', though they're not very gentlemanly; completing certain quests, triggering a one-use [[Good Bad Bug]] or actually being poor (defined as carrying less than 100 gold and wearing clothing worth less than 10 gold combined) means there's only a ''chance'' that they won't attack you. They're also a bit infamous in the fandom for always demanding 100 gold from you, even if (due to [[Level Scaling]]) they're wearing expensive [[Rainbow Pimp Gear|Glass armor]] that they could sell for way more.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* The [[Classic Disney Short]] ''The Robber Kitten'' is about a kitten who dreams of being a highwayman. He runs away from home and finds out the hard way how unglamorous and dangerous it is to be one.

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

* [[wikipedia:Jack Sheppard|Jack Sheppard]], known for being a [[Lovable Rogue]] and his skill at escaping prison, and an inspiration for many fictional versions.

* Claude Duval certainly earned the gentlemanly part of the trope. Known for being exceedingly polite to his victims (always tipping his hat to the ladies and once returning a silver bottle to a baby who was crying) he was visited by many ladies upon his capture. He also had the words [[The Charmer|"Here lies Du Vail, reader, if male thou art, Look to thy purse; if female, to thy heart Much havoc hath he made of both; for all Men he made stand, and women he made fall." inscribed on his tombstone.]]

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Steal This Index]]

[[Category:Criminals]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Highwayman, The}}