History Literature / Raffles

* AmbiguouslyGay: Raffles and Bunny, who have lots of HoYay. Raffles is based on LGBT activist George Ives and, to a lesser extent, on Literature/OscarWilde, and is described as associating with the latter's aesthetic movement — [[RealMenWearPink but being surprisingly macho]].

* AttendingYourOwnFuneral: [[spoiler:Done by Raffles after he fakes his death in "The Old Flame"[[.

%%* {{Adorkable}}: Bunny
* AffablyEvil: Raffles ''is'' this trope---he's charming, funny, a good friend to have and a very valuable man to have on your side in a tight pinch...and an unrepentant thief.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Raffles and Bunny, who have lots of HoYay. Raffles is described as associating with Oscar Wilde's aesthetic movement and dressing according to that fashion, [[RealMenWearPink but being surprisingly macho]].
* AntiHero / VillainProtagonist: Raffles varies between the two

* DisguisedInDrag: Bunny does this in The Rest Cure.

* GentlemanThief: One of the first, although Raffles steals because he needs the money- he couldn't keep up his front as a gentleman-of-leisure without the profits from his crimes.

* HeroAntagonist: Inspector Mackenzie of Scotland Yard.

* KilledMidSentence: [[spoiler:It's not only been the best time I ever had, old Bunny, but I'm not half sure-]]

* OlderThanTheyLook: Bunny is implied to look quite young. In Mr Justice Raffles, when explaining he and Raffles knew each other from school, Camilla Belsize comments that she'd thought Raffles would have been a little before his time. After the TimeSkip he is described as having a moustache that can only be seen in certain lights despite being in his 30s by now.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Bunny's real name is only ever mentioned in one story; The Last Word. (It's Harry)
* OriginsEpisode: ''Le Premiere Pas'', the fourth story of the first collection, is a WholeEpisodeFlashback where Raffles recounts his first-ever theft.

* TallDarkAndSnarky: Raffles
* TheWatson: Bunny, of course.

* PromotedToLoveInterest: In Creator/GrahamGreene's play ''The Return of A.J. Raffles'' as well as Kim Newman's ''Literature/TheHoundOfTheDurbervilles'', Raffles and Bunny are depicted as a couple.

* HeroicDimples: [[https://66.media.tumblr.com/983e1ad82ec51f7fa3280137af5644b3/tumblr_nbwvzcw6iy1sr1ki0o2_500.gif Raffles]] in the 1930 version, although much more of an anti-hero because he is officially retired but decides to do OneLastJob after Bunny commits suicide to escape a huge gambling debt.

* BlackandGrayMorality: While Raffles is presented as AffablyEvil, some of his victims are no saints, and could be said to deserve some comeuppance...[[spoiler: a crooked South African diamond magnate, an unscrupulous Australian land baron, and a brutal, brutish American prizefighter all fall into this category.]]

The ''Raffles'' stories have been adapted for various media. Six ''Raffles'' films came out between 1917 and 1939; the best remembered is probably the 1939 version that featured Creator/DavidNiven and Creator/OliviaDeHavilland, directed by Sam Wood. It was one of Niven's first starring roles. In 1975, there was a British made-for-TV movie which led to a ''Raffles'' television series. In addition, there was a BBC Radio 4 series broadcast from 1985 to 1993.

* MasterOfDisguise: Raffles, in a dept to Sherlock Holmes.

* {{Seme}}[=/=]{{Uke}}: Again, the pair aren't explicitly gay, but Raffles and Bunny fit rather well into these respective tropes.

The ''Raffles'' stories have been adapted for various media. Six ''Raffles'' films came out between 1917 and 1939; the best remembered is probably the 1939 version that featured Creator/DavidNiven and Creator/OliviaDeHavilland, and was Niven's first starring role. In 1975, there was a British made-for-TV movie which led to a ''Raffles'' television series. In addition, there was a BBC Radio 4 series broadcast from 1985 to 1993.

* UsefulNotes/TheSecondBoerWar: Raffles and Bunny both fight in this war in the story "The Knees of the Gods".

* VerbalIrony: The inspector grouses about the Cracksman's exploits, saying "if it wasn't for him I'd be watching the cricket match," while gesturing to the TV that is showing A.J. Raffles playing in the cricket match. (The most surprising thing about this scene is that it shows a character watching sports on TV in 1939. If this isn't the first film showing a character watching a television program, it must be one of the first.)

* AdaptationalHeroism: Tends to happen to Raffles a lot.

* PromotedToLoveInterest: In Graham Greene's play ''The Return of A.J. Raffles'' as well as Kim Newman's Literature/{{The Hound Of The Durbervilles}} Raffles and Bunny are depicted as a couple.

The ''Raffles'' stories have been adapted for various media. Six ''Raffles'' films came out between 1917 and 1939; the best remembered is probably the 1939 version that featured Creator/DavidNiven and Creator/OliviaDeHavilland, and was Niven's first starring role.. In 1975, there was a British made-for-TV movie which led to a ''Raffles'' television series. In addition, there was a BBC Radio 4 series broadcast from 1985 to 1993.

!!!Contains examples of:

* Main/{{Adorkable}}: Bunny

* {{Cricket}}: Raffles is a professional cricketer and spin bowler, if an amateur cracksman.
* DependingOnTheWriter: While Hornung intented Raffles to be a throuroughly unsympathetic character, the association of him with the GentlemanThief trope meant he came to be seen as similar to Literature/ArseneLupin or Literature/TheSaint. Barry Perowne, who wrote Raffles stories after Hornung's death, took this perception and ran with it, to the extent that a parody by John L. Breen has Hornung's Raffles and Perowne's Raffles as seperate characters.

The ''Raffles'' stories have been adapted for various media; a number of ''Raffles'' films came out between 1905 and 1939. In 1975, there was a British made-for-TV movie which led to a ''Raffles'' television series. In addition, there was a BBC Radio 4 series broadcast from 1985 to 1993.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:The series ends with both Raffles and Bunny getting shot in the Second Boer War. Raffles dies and Bunny becomes an invalid.]]
* DrivenToSuicide / InterruptedSuicide: How it all begins. After losing all his money and facing disgrace, Bunny comes to Raffles to ask for help. When Raffles explains that he doesn't have any money either Bunny tries to kill himself but Raffles stops him.

* SecondBoerWar: Raffles and Bunny both fight in this war in the story The Knees of the Gods.
* {{Seme}} / {{Uke}}: Again, the pair aren't explicitly gay, but Raffles and Bunny fit rather well into these respective tropes.

* GaolTime: [[spoiler:Following The Gift of the Emperor Bunny spends some time in prison.]]

* DependingOnTheWriter: While Hornung intented Raffles to be a throuroughly unsympathetic character, the association of him with the GentlemanThief trope meant he came to be seen as similar to ArseneLupin or Literature/TheSaint. Barry Perowne, who wrote Raffles stories after Hornung's death, took this perception and ran with it, to the extent that a parody by John L. Breen has Hornung's Raffles and Perowne's Raffles as seperate characters.

* UnbuiltTrope: While Raffles isn't the first GentlemanThief, he comes from an era where people weren't as accepting of criminal heroes (who got away with it), and so he reads like a nastier version of the GentlemanThief we are familiar with (ArseneLupin is the straighter version of that trope).

* OlderThanTheyLook: Bunny is implied to look quite young. In Mr Justice Raffles, when explaining he and Raffles knew each other from school, Camilla Belsize comments that she'd thought Raffles would have been a little before his time. After the TimeSkip he is described as only being able to grow a peach fuzz moustache despite being in his 30s by now.

* TheSyndicate: The Black Hand, which featured in two of the later stories, The Fate of Faustina and The Last Laugh, and were a staple of Victorian melodrama in general.

''Raffles'' is a series of stories by E.W. Hornung[[note]], Creator/ArthurConanDoyle's brother-in-law[[/note]], starring A. J. Raffles, GentlemanThief. Intended as a sort of dark reflection of Sherlock Holmes, rather than an asocial BunnyEarsLawyer who works toward law, Raffles is a seemingly respectable gentleman who commits crimes, and rather than the bluff Watson, he is assisted by ''his'' chronicler, "Bunny" Manders, something of a CowardlySidekick.

{{Raffles}} is the GentlemanThief protagonist of a series of stories by E.W. Hornung, [[SherlockHolmes Arthur Conan Doyle's]] brother-in-law. Intended as a sort of dark reflection of Sherlock Holmes, rather than an asocial BunnyEarsLawyer who works toward law, Raffles is a seemingly respectable gentleman who commits crimes, and rather than the bluff Watson, he is assisted by ''his'' chronicler, "Bunny" Manders, something of a CowardlySidekick.