History Main / PlayfulHacker

* During the LetsPlay/PewDiePie vs. Creator/TSeries competition, two hackers under the aliases of [=HackerGiraffe=] and j3ws3r [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PewDiePie_vs_T-Series#Hackings managed to hack ten thousands of printers]] and print out messages encouraging people to subscribe to [=PewDiePie=] and upgrade their printer security ([[SubvertedTrope highlighting how serious printer hacking can be]]). They also hacked many smart TVs running Chromecast with similar messages. Nest cameras and the Wall Street Journal were hacked also to promote the subscribing to [=PewDiePie=].

* Gwendolen from ''[[Literature/{{Dragons}} The Last Dragon Chronicles]]'' easily fits this trope. Made it all the more awesome because she's an "inanimate" dragon figurine.

* In ‘’WesternAnimation/CarmenSandiego’’, Player is this type of hacker. He specifically calls himself a white-hat hacker when he first talks to Carmen, back when she was Black Sheep.

* Chisame from ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' falls under this when she's not being the [[MetaGuy Meta Girl]]. Eventually, her hacking skills literally become magical when she gains [[MagicalGirl magical girl powers]].

* [[PsychopathicManchild Russia]] of ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' is mentioned in the 2010 Bloodbath and the second [[DeepImmersionGaming Hetalia Fantasia CD]] as "tinkering" with his computer. He says that one of his hobbies is "tweaking" technology, and at one point hacks Finland's audio and cell devices to get them to go off constantly in an attempt at forcing him to spend time with him. He describes [[HollywoodNerd Estonia]] as his rival tweaker, and at one point, Estonia accuses Russia of hacking his blog and turning it into a fansite for himself. [[spoiler: He didn't...and was [[BerserkButton quite upset at Estonia]] [[PipePain for thinking so.]]]]

* Seven from ''VisualNovel/MysticMessenger'' is a hacker who works for a secret intelligence agency and also one of the player's potential love interests.

* Creator/CoryDoctorow's book ''Literature/LittleBrother'' centers around a group of {{Playful Hacker}}s as they are caught and detained under suspicion of a terrorist attack. Interestingly, TheCracker isn't even represented in the book--it's the Playful Hacker versus the evil Homeland Security.

[[caption-width-right:300:And here we have CowboyBebopAtHisComputer]]

* Matsu in ''Manga/{{Sekirei}}''. Unlike most of Minato's other Sekirei who fight directly, she's more often than not seen in working with her computer to provide support as MissionControl, sometimes even hacking the MBI systems to help the others.

''We have the best women for you. Perhaps something cute, petite, and Japanese would be to your liking.''\\

* This drives the plot of ''Film/WhoAmI'', where Ben from a benign hacker group hands sensitive data to TheCracker MRX which results in an informer being killed, making Ben and his group prime suspects.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Georgia "George" Redmond has a strong sense of right and wrong and a lot of energy, the better to keep up with her best friend ComicBook/WonderGirl. She's also the most accomplished hacker in the series.

** Replace 'hacker' with 'cracker' and you have the three guys who make up "The Smoking Gnu" in ''Discworld/GoingPostal''. This being the Discworld, they hack the semaphore-driven "clacks" network, which is a telecommunications system, but without the electricity.
** As of ''Discworld/TheScienceOfDiscworld II'', Hex has also joined the Playful Hacker ranks, as it's hooked up to the semaphore network, has cracked their operations codes, and can slip messages onto the network for free, passing them off as internal signalling. So far as we know, it's only done this to save the UU faculty the expense of sending c-mail messages. Ridcully's reaction to learning this is to ask some serious questions, starting with "Could anyone find out we're doing this?"

** One of the [[PlanetOfHats Hats]] worn by Bothans is that of the hacker (the others are vicious-backstabbing-politician and spy). The Bothan pilot who makes it into [[ComicBook/XWingSeries Wraith Squadron]] is a bit malicious but more or less Playful.

''[[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Seriously, how many times can you walk past without investigating]]?''

* A hacker called [=NeoN=] [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome exposed a Russian company's propagation of the fake antivirus program]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware_Defender MS Antivirus]] and posted their earnings from the fraudulent program. The company's name? UsefulNotes/{{Baka}}software.

* Penelope Garcia from ''Series/CriminalMinds'' would appear to have been this for a few years before being recruited by the FBI. ("Recruited", very possibly, as in "volunteer, [[BoxedCrook or else]]".)

->''"What's more important, the data or the jazz? Sure, sure, "Information should be free" and all that--but anyone can set information free. The jazz is in ''how'' you do it, ''what'' you do it ''to'', and in ''almost'' getting caught without ''getting'' caught. The data is ones and zeroes. Life is the jazz."''

* During ''Anime/LupinIIIDeadOrAlive'', Lupin is able to hack into highly secret government files. As an international thief, he is easily mistaken for TheCracker, however, he doesn't use his computer skills to steal or manipulate people's identity. Lupin's computer skills are used to discover information only.
** ''Series/LupinIIIPartFive'' has Ami, a teenage hacker who could rule the internet with her skillz (sic), but is content to use it to find private places on her school campus and fool criminals with internet filters.

[[folder:Comics]]

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Replace 'hacker' with 'cracker' and you have the three guys who make up "The Smoking Gnu" in ''Discworld/GoingPostal''. This being the Discworld, they hack the semaphore-driven "clacks" network, which is a telecommunications system, but without the electricity.

* Cadel Darkkon functions as this in Catherine Jinks' ''Literature/EvilGeniusTrilogy.'' Slightly subverted, as in the first book Cadel was closer to a [[TheCracker cracker]], given his initially amoral nature--until he met one of the victims of his destructive schemes.

* One of the [[PlanetOfHats Hats]] worn by [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Bothans]] is that of the hacker (the others are vicious-backstabbing-politician and spy). The Bothan pilot who makes it into [[ComicBook/XWingSeries Wraith Squadron]] is a bit malicious but more or less Playful.

* Ender in ''Literature/EndersGame'', who cracks into the desk system in the Battle School and figures out how to send messages under other student's names while preventing other students from using his name. This is only used for pranks, of course, as Ender is only six years old at the time.
** And the computer system is deliberately set up to allow and encourage this sort of competition/play/hacking.

* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'''s Alec Hardison falls under this trope.

* Miniatures game ''TabletopGame/{{Infinity}}'' features hacking as a core mechanic and has several characters that fit the trope: Valerya Gromoz and Isobel McGregor are both young women who became known for their hacking skills while Uhahu and Mary Problems are [[OlderThanTheyLook child-like]] expert hackers that put the former two too shame with both their skills and bratty attitudes.

* The way [[ClassyCatBurglar Kasumi Goto]] meets [[PlayerCharacter Commander Shepard]] in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' is by hacking an advertisement machine to talk to him/her.
-->''Commander Shepard, enter the password and receive a free gift.''
-->''Having trouble with Collectors? Try Kasumi's credit agency.''
-->''We have the best women for you. Perhaps something cute, petite, and Japanese would be to your liking.''
-->''Just enter the password for a fabulous prize worth billions of credits.''
-->''[[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Seriously, how many times can you walk past without investigating]]?''

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Several of them in the Literature/ChaosTimeline.
* Freddie from ''Roleplay/BehindTheVeil'' fits pretty well, despite being born a wolf. Mike Hoffman also has shades of this.

* Dana's hacker abilities help out the ComicBook/LabRats on several occasions and eventually it seems she was able to disable transponder implant which helps her outlast the rest of the group but does not save her.