History Literature / GentlemanBastard

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: The Spider, alone in a room with Locke, jab him with a poisioned needle and shows him the antidote, offering it in exchange for his cooperation. The problem being the Spider is [[spoiler:an old woman]] alone in a room threatening a healthy young man. Rather than playing along, Locke punches them in the face, takes the antidote and leaves.

* BanOnMagic: The bondsmagi prohibit magic beyond a certain complexity outside their order. They tolerate alchemy, however.

* BandOfBrothels: After a group of women murdered a particularly loathsome pimp, they decided to take management into their own hands. After a short but brutal war with other gangs trying to regain control, the two major Camorri brothels established themselves as long term fixtures of Camorr's underworld. Even ''[[TheDon Capa Barsavi]]'', who murdered dozens of rivals to become the sole remaining Capa, makes a point of not interfering with their business. They ''do'' still pay him tithe as part of the Right People of Camorr, but at a significantly lower percentage than any other gang in the city.

* ''The Mage and the Master Spy'' (forthcoming)

* SecretlyWealthy: In the first book, despite possessing a fortune, the gang poses as an only moderately successful group of cat burglars. This is partly out of necessity (revealing that they were stealing from the nobility would be a death sentence due to the secret peace), and partly because they don't really have anything to buy with it -- they just enjoy planning and executing heists.

* TagalongKid: Locke, literally- the Thiefmaker bought thirty orphans at the beginning of ''Lies'', and Locke attaches himself to the group without anybody noticing (aside from the Thiefmaker) or caring.

* BandOfBrothels: After a group of women murdered a particularly loathsome pimp, they decided to take managment into their own hands. Some gang leaders tried to regain control, but after a short but brutal gang war, the two major Camorri brothels established themselves as long term fixtures of Camor's uderworld. Even ''[[TheDon Capa Barsavi]]'', who murder dozens of Capas, makes a point of not interfering with their buisness. They ''do'' still pay him tithe as part of the Right People of Camor, but at a significantly lower percentage than any other gang in the city.

* UnproblematicProstitution: The Camorri prostitutes rebelled, murdered a bunch of pimps, and fought a gang war for their independence, successfully forming two of the most feared gangs in the city. Unsurprisingly with the ladies themselves in charge pay is better, working conditions are vastly improved, and customers are held to far higher standards of behavior. While not necessairly glamorous, every indication we get is that the situation is about as good as the ladies of Camorr could ask for.

* BandOfBrothels: The Camorri brothels are intimidating enough that even ''[[TheDon Capa Barsavi]]'' doesn't dare interfere with them. They still pay him for his assistance, but at a significantly lower percentage of profits than any other dues paid by the gangs under his rule.

* EverythingsEvenWorseWithSharks:
** Sharks are considered holy to the goddess of death.
** Camorr, being a WretchedHive filled with canals, has a lot of its culture built around sharks. They're used in gladiatorial games, their teeth are death warrants in the underworld, and one is used [[spoiler:in the Gray King's coup against Capa Barsavi]].
** Requin, one of the big nasties in the second book, has a name that means "shark" in French.

* AnAxeToGrind: Jean's twin hatchets, the Wicked Sisters.

* DarkSkinnedBlonde: Dona Sofia Salvara.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Readers tend to enjoy the sound of the names. Locke Lamora's name is noted in the text as having a nice ring to it.

* BattleButler: Conte, the Salvaras' manservant, is an old soldier and very proficient KnifeNut.

* KnifeNut: A great many characters use knives as their primary weapons, from hoodlums to bodyguards. Locke, in particular, favors stiletto blades in his sleeves or shoes. He also mentions that the Sanzas are good with knives.

* SingleTargetSexuality: Sabetha for Locke. It's suggested that [[spoiler:it's his previous life's love for his wife transferred onto a new red-head]].

* TooCleverByHalf:
** Locke is straight-up called this on more than one occasion.
** When Bug's first genius plan is going exactly as planned, the book describes his desperate fleeing as a lesson in what "too clever by half" actually means.

* WilliamFakespeare: GeniusBruiser Jean is a big fan of and likes to quote an in-universe playwright and poet named Lucarno. While the excerpts we get aren't direct quotes from Shakespeare, the general style is very Shakespearean, as are the titles of his plays, and he's obviously used in-story in part [[AuthorAppeal because of the author, Scott Lynch's love of Shakespeare]].

* WomenAreWiser: Dona Sofia is one of the ''only'' people to suspect there's something off about Locke's scam without the assistance of an army of spies at her beck and call and it's her concerns that alert the Spider that the Thorne of Camorr is close to being caught. Later, Sofia is the one who figures out how to neutralise the Wraithstone statues.

* BiggerBad: The third book implies the existence of one; apparently whatever force destroyed the Eldren may still be around, and much of what the Bondsmagi do is based around keeping it from returning.

* FauxActionGirl: Quite a few of the women in the first book fall under this despite the narrator assuring us that "women of Camorr should be underestimated at great peril to one's health", they tend to get quite easily dispatched by male opponents. [[spoiler: Nazca is Capa Barsavi's daughter but she gets easily StuffedIntoTheFridge by the Grey King and delivered to her father in a barrel of ''horse piss'', no less. The girl thieves of Locke and Jean's childhood quickly retreat when Jean makes it clear he WouldHitAGirl and then the Berangias sisters, who are meant to be formidable elite soldiers, are only seen either fighting sharks or a target who wasn't expecting them to attack him (Capa Barsavi) - the moment they go up against a named character, Jean manages to defeat them despite it being two-on-one.]]

* StuffedIntoTheFridge: [[spoiler:Nazca's corpse is stuffed into a barrel of horse urine and delivered to Capa Barsavi.]]

* PayEvilUntoEvil: The sacking of Salon Corbeau.

* RealityEnsues: The Bondsmagi have a simple rule: should one of them be murdered, they will kill the murderer horribly. Locke and Jean attempt some LoopholeAbuse by [[spoiler:cutting the Falconer's fingers and tongue off to prevent him from using magic, but leaving him alive to be spared from retribution]]. As you might expect, the Bondsmagi are still quite upset enough about this situation to want vengeance.
** Bug flips out when an armed assassin shows up at the Gentleman Bastard's lair and tries to attack him with what is essentially a glorified slingshot. He gets a crossbow bolt to his neck for his troubles and dies.
** Locke attempts to convince two different clerks at a magistrates building to let him "borrow" their clothes so he can once again pose as Lukas Fehrwright. One refuses because it's unprofessional and the other one thinks it's a prank. He ends up having to steal the clothes of the owner himself.

* ''The Bastards and the Knives'' contains the first two novellas:

* SpanishPrisoner: The Gentleman Bastards pull variations of this scam on Don and Dona Salvarra in the first book, claiming that they need funds to bring brandy into Camorr in return for a healthy cut of the profits once imported.

** Other chapters in the series are told in a similar manner, such as the chapter where the Gentleman Bastards initiate the [[SpanishPrisoner Don Salvara Game]]. It flips back and forth between the staged mugging and the events leading up to it, the former from both the older gang members' and Bug's points of view.

* BeeAfraid: The second book has giant wasps that are used as a torture/execution method. It's also a capital offense to import these wasps into some areas.

** The chapter where Locke masquerades as a Midnighter (secret cop) who tells the Salvaras about his {{Spanish Prisoner}} gambit is told this way. The beginning of the conversation is told from Don Lorenzo's perspective, without revealing to the reader who the Midnighter really is. This is followed by a description of Locke dressing up as a Midnighter, and we see the rest of the conversation from Locke's perspective. Then we see how Calo and Locke broke into the Salvara's manor to surprise the Don in the first place.

* ''The Thorn of Emberlain'' (forthcoming October 2021)

* ComplexityAddiction: Locke could live a comfortable life off the profits of simple theft, but where's the fun in that? Instead, he goes for plans that ''start'' at "TooCleverByHalf" and get more complex from there. Even when he was a kid, he would throw half of Camorr into chaos just to make his daily theft quota.

** [[spoiler: Patience] is revealed at the end of the third book to have actually loved [[spoiler: Falconer, even though she herself knew his death would be necessary and she betrayed him herself.]] Falconer is shown to be a sadistic, self-serving monster, but he genuinely loves [[BondCreature his bird familiar]] [[LoyalAnimalCompanion Vestris]].