History Main / GentlemanAdventurer

'''Othar:''' Why, ''I'' am '''[[LargeHamTitle OTHAR TRYGGVASSEN]], ''[[TropeNamer Gentleman Adventurer!]]'''''\\
'''Sanaa:''' [[OhCrap Uh oh.]]

* Creator/BrianBlessed: When he isn't shouting in films or shouting on the television, he's trying to climb up Mount Everest. He's also boxed with the Dalai Lama.

* ''Series/DrSynTheScarecrow'' is an Oxford scholar who somehow turns out to be a peerless swordsman, horseman, navigator, and criminal gang leader.

* Series/DrSynTheScarecrow is an Oxford scholar who somehow turns out to be a peerless swordsman, horseman, navigator, and criminal gang leader.

* ''Literature/BulldogDrummond''

* Bilbo and later Frodo in ''Literature/TheHobbit'' and ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. Neither of them had obvious means of support, and they lived relatively well. Neither wanted adventure at first, but after some prodding found they had a talent and a taste for it. Contrast this to Frodo's companions Merry and Pippin, who were both heirs to working farm estates, and Sam, who was an actual handyman/laborer. We never find out much about Fatty Bolger's source of income.

Practically all contemporary examples are deconstructions, in which the character turns out to be [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain bigoted]], [[MilesGloriosus cowardly]], and an utter {{Jerkass}} if not evil.

->'''Prisoner''': But who in blazes is ''that?''\\
'''Othar''': Why, ''I'' am '''[[LargeHamTitle OTHAR TRYGGVASSEN]], ''[[TropeNamer Gentleman Adventurer!]]'''''\\
'''Sanaa''': [[OhCrap Uh oh.]]

Practically all contemporary examples are deconstructions, in which the character turns out to be [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain bigoted]], [[MilesGloriosus cowardly]], and an utter JerkAss if not evil.

Bears little or no relation to the original meaning, which was what might now be called "venture capitalist" - someone "venturing" their own money on a business venture

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* Arsène Lupin III of ''Characters/LupinIII'', gentleman thief. He's such a discerning burglar that he once broke into someone's house only to leave a note letting the owner know that he would return once the reproductions were replaced with something worth stealing.
** Probably a ShoutOut to the original ''Literature/ArseneLupin'', who did the exact same thing.
* Similarly, the Kaitou Kid of ''MagicKaito'' returns each gem he steals, as he is looking for one in particular. He's also known to be quite charming and gentlemanly, even once cracking a safe for one of his enemies to save their trapped dog at no cost.

[[folder: Comics ]]

-->'''Fort:''' We were adventurers!
-->'''Robo:''' You guys don't ''look'' like adventurers.
-->'''Fort:''' Adventure was more a hobby. We're ''writers'', really.

[[folder: Film ]]

* Film/JamesBond is in this tradition but in a darker direction - there is a comment in either ''Film/CasinoRoyale'' or ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'' that he is done playing "Cowboys and Indians", which [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this type of character's outlook.
** Of course, his determination to get out of the spy business never sticks.
** In [[Literature/JamesBond the novels]] at least, the desire to quit playing Cowboys and Indians actually referred to his decision to quit having fun catching field agents and to start striking directly at SMERSH, the subsection of the KGB that enforced undying loyalty to the Soviet Union. This was right after the fear that SMERSH was after her drove [[spoiler:Vesper]] to suicide in ''Literature/CasinoRoyale''.
* ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' seems to suggest that "Doc" Brown is a subversion. He was rich enough to own a huge mansion in 1955, but by 1985 he's a recluse living in a garage (the mansion burned down according to a newspaper article seen in the opening) and says he spent his entire family fortune to pay for his TimeTravel experiments.
** By the second film, he's acquired a briefcase full of cash from different eras. Considering his objection to Marty using future knowledge to bet on sports, how he acquired this money is unexplained.
* George (Jane's boss) in ''[[TwentySevenDresses 27 Dresses]]'' is actually a very well-done modern version of this character.
* At one point, [[OBrotherWhereArtThou Emmet]] describes himself and Delmar as adventurers. They are not, however, gentlemen. Just gentle men.
* The hero of ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBaronMunchausen''.

[[folder: Literature ]]

* RichardHannay in John Buchan's novels.
** ''Some'' of the novels. In others, he's a hard-working officer in the war and Intelligence doesn't have an easy time getting him away from active service. Which may be a subversion of this trope. Hannay's so annoyed about it.

* The Time Traveler in ''TheTimeMachine''.
* Mr. Toad from ''TheWindInTheWillows''.
** Or so he'd describe himself. The rest of the world regards him as a UpperClassTwit.

* [[Literature/TheSaint Simon Templar]], although most of the money he has was [[PayEvilUntoEvil extracted from crooks he'd taken down]].

* [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/BulldogDrummond Bulldog Drummond]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* The Doctor from ''Series/DoctorWho''. The Third Doctor specifically evokes the trope. He doesn't worry about money, and although he worked as UNIT's scientific advisor for several years, he considered it a way to pass the time and save people instead of a job. The Eleventh Doctor implied that taking over Craig Owens' job while he lay ill was one of his first, if not ''the'' first, regular jobs in his 900 years.
** Captain Cook of ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E4TheGreatestShowInTheGalaxy The Greatest Show in the Galaxy]]'' is the evil underside of this trope. He talks big and has a great personal style, but he's a DirtyCoward who's always willing to let others die in his place and exploit his [[spoiler: werewolf]] companion.
* Dixon Bainbridge of ''TheMightyBoosh''.

* Higgins from ''MagnumPI'', in his younger days. In fact, he seemed to fit an extraordinary amount of adventuring into a comparatively short time...
** In point of fact his stories when compared to each other sometimes give the impression that he was on opposite sides of the world at the same time. Despite the slight implausibility of this Higgins is very much a RetiredBadass.
* Mr. Fuddle of TurkeyTelevision was one of these in the same sense as Commander [=McBragg=] below.

[[folder: Music ]]

* SteamPunk chap-hop musician ProfessorElemental evokes this sort of character.

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* Being a game set in the style of pulp serials, WhiteWolf's ''TabletopGame/{{Adventure}}!'' allows you to play as this as a type of Heroic build.

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Modern example in ''[[VideoGame/PennyArcadeAdventures On The Rainslick Precipice Of Darkness]]'': [[PennyArcade Tycho and Gabe]]. Although they certainly run a detective agency (Startling Developments!), they certainly don't seem to have too many clients. Indeed, the entire plot of episode one begins with them following a very large robot out of ''curiosity''.

* [[FinalFantasyVI Setzer Gabbiani]], although in reality this is all a smokescreen to cover up the fact that [[spoiler:he is a nihilistic DeathSeeker who blames himself for the death of his fiancee, and would rather catch bullets instead of ladies' handkerchiefs until he meets the party.]]
* The recurring Gentleman trainer class from the Franchise/{{Pokemon}} games. They have a tendency to use Pokémon based on loyal pets, such as Growlithe.
* The boxer Dudley has become this in the ''StreetFighter'' series, as a contrast to the thuggish M.Bison (Japan)/Balrog (North America).

* ''Franchise/TombRaider''

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* Othar Tryggvassen, '''GentlemanAdventurer!''' of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''. On the flip side, he's also a WellIntentionedExtremist AntiVillain who intends to deal with the whole '[[ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder sparks]] issue' in a rather [[GottaKillThemAll pointed and non-discriminatory fashion]].
** For those not familiar with the series, that means ''himself included.''
*** [[NoPlaceForMeThere Himself last]].
* NerfThis has this as a core concept.
* Jade's grandfather from Webcomic/{{Homestuck}} appears to have been this.
** His [[spoiler: AlternateUniverse self]] can be considered this trope in training.

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* Thaddeus of TheLeagueOfSTEAM is actually a ''Gentleman's'' Gentleman adventurer.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Commander [=McBragg=] from ''TennesseeTuxedoAndHisTales''.
** [[ItMakesSenseInContext Or so he]] [[MeaningfulName claims...]]
* Does [[TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack Lord Nicklebottom]] count as a subversion?
-->''"I am no gentleman; I am AN ADVENTURER!"''
* Comicbook/{{AQUAMAN}} on ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' easily falls under this. Although he takes his kingly duties seriously, AQUAMAN actively looks for various adventures, and spends all his time ''not'' adventuring by boisterously recounting his various exploits to whoever happens to be standing next to him - complete with Hardy Boys-esque titles.
* TheWildThornberrys's Sir Nigel Archibald Thornberry, who maintains a gentlemanly disposition even when interacting with vicious jungle animals. In fact, he was knighted by the Queen of England just before leaving to film his nature program, "Nigel Thornberry's Wild World".

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* TruthInTelevision: TheodoreRoosevelt.
* CharlesDarwin, who JumpedAtTheCall. And promptly was seasick for the rest of the next few years. When he got back to England, he never left again, and busied himself with experiments in his garden and documenting the sex lives of barnacles, among other things.

** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mallory George Mallory]], who probably summed up this trope with his reply to the question of why he wanted to summit Mount Everest:

* George Gordon, Lord Byron: Poet, Aristocrat, [[ByronicHero Infamous]] JerkAss womanizer, and by virtue of this trope... a national hero in a country that absolutely had nothing to do with his own.
** Albania?
** Greece.
*** Mercilessly deconstructed. Byron actually had none of the training necessary to be even mildly effective as a soldier or military commander, and his romanticized idea of heroic warfare was met with the [[WarIsHell far harsher realities]]: [[RealityEnsues he died of septicemia without ever taking the field.]] One could argue that his celebrity status led to AcquiredSituationalNarcissism, and he thought he would be great at warfare by virtue of being great at everything else, but things ended [[BreaktheHaughty differently than they did in his poems]].

* BrianBlessed: When he isn't shouting in films or shouting on the television, he's trying to climb up Mount Everest. He's also boxed with the Dalai Lama.

* The unnamed protagonist of ''Rogue Male'' appears to be one of these. Apparently just for the fun of it, he tries to see if he could get into a position to assassinate a dictator (implied to be Hitler), but is captured and brutally tortured. His experiences afterward resemble a much darker version of Buchan's ''The Thirty-Nine Steps'', until it turns out that he is an UnreliableNarrator with motives very different from any thirst for adventure. [[spoiler: The dictator's regime murdered the hero's probably Jewish girlfriend, and he really ''was'' trying to kill him. The book ends with the hero preparing for another attempt.]]

'''Sanaa''': [[OhCrap Uh oh.]]\\
--''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', "Othar!"

* JamesBond is in this tradition but in a darker direction - there is a comment in either ''Casino Royale'' or ''From Russia With Love'' that he is done playing "Cowboys and Indians", which [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this type of character's outlook.

** Well... in the novels at least, the desire to quit playing Cowboys and Indians actually referred to his decision to quit having fun catching field agents and to start striking directly at SMERSH, the subsection of the KGB that enforced undying loyalty to the Soviet Union. This was right after the fear that SMERSH was after her drove Vesper to suicide in Casino Royale.

* Polly of ''ComicBook/PollyAndThePirates'' has a father who definitely falls under this category. He even makes his entrance being lowered on the ladder of a hot-air balloon.

* ''TheStainlessSteelRat'' once wrote a paper on this trope. He held that society moving past the stage where a man could be both a respected member of society (Gentleman) and totally apart from society (Adventurer) forced individuals to choose which they wanted to be, and stay with that choice for the rest of their lives. [=DiGriz=] himself chose to be outside of society, as a thief.
* Bilbo and later Frodo in ''Literature/TheHobbit'' and ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. Neither of them had obvious means of support, and they lived relatively well. Neither wanted adventure at first, but after some prodding found they had a talent for it, and a taste for it. Contrast this to Frodo's companions Merry and Pippin, who were both heirs to working farm estates, and Sam, who was an actual handyman/laborer. We never find out much about Fatty Bolger's source of income.

* JamesCameron: for a given definition of "Gentleman," at least. Ever since ''Film/{{Titanic}}'' he's taken on deep-sea exploration and photography as his hobby.

* ProfessorLayton spends his first game solving an inheritance issue (and lots and lots of puzzles) without any thought for reward or concern for expense. He certainly qualifies as a [[QuintessentialBritishGentleman gentleman]], although whether he's an adventurer depends on how dangerous you think matchstick puzzles are. [[spoiler: Extremely, as it turns out.]]
** Certainly he exhibits some elements of an adventurer. Aside from puzzles, he is a skilled fencer, and regularly makes his own way out of dangerous situations, [[spoiler:such as using what's lying around to create a homemade glider and a ''machine gun''.]]
* Modern example in ''[[PennyArcadeAdventures On The Rainslick Precipice Of Darkness]]'': [[PennyArcade Tycho and Gabe]]. Although they certainly run a detective agency (Startling Developments!), they certainly don't seem to have too many clients. Indeed, the entire plot of episode one begins with them following a very large robot out of ''curiosity''.
* The main character of ''HenryHatsworthInThePuzzlingAdventure'', pictured above, is a QuintessentialBritishGentleman example.

* The Jackal in ''TheDayOfTheJackal'' is supposed to be the EvilCounterpart of this kind of character.

* [[FinalFantasyVI Setzer Gabbiani]], although in reality this is all a smokescreen to cover up the fact that [[spoiler: He is a nihilistic DeathSeeker who blames himself for the death of his fiancee, and would rather catch bullets instead of ladies' handkerchiefs until he meets the party.]]

Practically all contemporary examples are deconstructions, in which the character turns out to be [[PolitcallyIncorrectVillain bigoted]], [[MilesGloriosus cowardly]], and an utter JerkAss if not evil.

* Rudolph Rassendyl in ''ThePrisonerOfZenda''

* Arsène Lupin III of ''LupinIII'', gentleman thief. He's such a discerning burglar that he once broke into someone's house only to leave a note letting the owner know that he would return once the reproductions were replaced with something worth stealing.
** Probably a shoutout to the original Literature/ArseneLupin, who once did the exact same thing.

* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'' has [[QuintessentialBritishGentleman Sir Hammerlock]]. He claims to be exploring the planet to add entries to his ever-expanding almanac of Pandoran flora and fauna. Pandora still manages to occasionally frustrate him to the point of SophisticatedAsHell, though. His ex-boyfriend Taggart however is more of a GreatWhiteHunter who fights the local creatures with his bare fists.

* GreenArrow started out this way. When he then lost his fortune, he suffered an identity crisis over whether he'd been superheroing out of a legitimate desire to do good, or just for fun. He thereafter became a much more passionate and socially-conscious do-gooder.
* Polly of ''PollyAndThePirates'' has a father who definitely falls under this category. He even makes his entrance being lowered on the ladder of a hot-air balloon.
* RichieRich's butler Cadbury loves to reminisce about his escapades with his former employer Sir Ruddy Blighter, "adventurist and time-waster extraordinaire."
* Charles Fort and Creator/HPLovecraft in ''AtomicRobo''

* Being a game set in the style of pulp serials, WhiteWolf's ''[[TabletopGame/TrinityUniverse Adventure!]]'' game allows you to play as this as a type of Heroic build.

* And let's not forget Sir Nigel Archibald Thornberry, who maintains a gentlemanly disposition even when interacting with vicious jungle animals. In fact, he was knighted by the Queen of England just before leaving to film his nature program, "Nigel Thornberry's Wild World".

* ''Franchise/TombRaider'': Come on, Lara Croft is totally this kind of character...