History Main / TheArtfulDodger

TheArtfulDodger is like the StreetUrchin, except that instead of being TheWoobie that makes you want to take him up in your arms and care for him, he seems perfectly happy to take care of himself. In RealLife, a child who lives on the streets experiences horrors most of us could not even imagine, but in some fictional works, a child on the street lives a happy-go-lucky life and practically thrives.

He is exceptionally street smart, and can take care of himself better than most adults. He is usually a criminal. Not the poor, innocent child who hates having to steal out of desperation, but the whip-smart trickster. The adult protagonist may feel sorry for him and try to help him at first, but it will usually turn out that the adult actually needs ''his'' help. He often has some sort of unique knowledge or skill that the protagonist needs in some circumstance, such as how to access any part of the city through the sewer system.

Usually male, but there are a few exceptions. This trope is just about the opposite of TruthInTelevision. (Though, Chaos Theory being what it is, something close has probably occurred at least once in human history.)

* The Artful Dodger of ''OliverTwist'' is the TropeNamer.
** The Artful Dodger may be the TropeNamer, but since we last see him [[spoiler: in the process of being deported to Australia,]] he may not exactly be 'thriving' or 'happy-go-lucky'. This troper thinks it could be argued that he's just "TheWoobie" with spunk.

* Terry McGinnis is a potential protagonist example of this trope who 'has' a home. He loves his family and cares for his fellow man, he's snarky and a little cynnical sometimes and he was already a fairly proficient acrobat and fighter before donning the cowl of BatmanBeyond, which just served to enhance the skills he brought to the position.

* The movie version of Toby from ''SweeneyTodd'' was like this.

* Lil' Ragamuffin in ''[[http://www.guttersnipecomic.com Guttersnipe]]'' is a parody of this trope, a street girl fanatically devoted to the "urchin life" and proud of her "unfancy" living situation.

* Nancy of the ''DoctorWho'' episode "The Empty Child" may be considered a subversion. Although she used the clever tricks to survive which are trademark to this trope, she was anything but happy-go-lucky. It could be considered a {{Deconstruction}} of this trope.

* Kimball O'Hara, eponymous hero of Rudyard Kipling's Kim.

* Mike from ''Maximum Ride''. The readers meet him in the first book in New York City. But he proves useful in the third book when he sends a chain message about Fang mission.

* Boxey on new ''Battlestar Galactica'' was going to become this, until the character was written out due to a lack of time for the planned development.
* Liam in ''Tracy Beaker Returns''. Mike collects him from the police station and runs into Tracy who just published her first book followed by this discussion:

* Mission Vao from KnightsOfTheOldRepublic. She's very cheerful, good at picking locks and pockets, looks out for her Wookiee buddy (she's the brains, he's the brawn), an excellent scout (high stealth), and higher on the KarmaMeter than the party's ''Jedi.'' And grew up in one of the filthiest {{WretchedHive}}s in the galaxy despite being of an age, attractiveness level, species, and gender that would have normally railroaded her into slavery and / or prostitution.

* Marco from ''SkiesOfArcadia''.

* Mission Vao from KnightsOfTheOldRepublic. She's very cheerful, good at picking locks and pockets, looks out for her Wookiee buddy (she's the brains, he's the brawn), and higher on the KarmaMeter than the party's ''Jedi.'' And grew up in one of the filthiest {{WretchedHive}}s in the galaxy despite being of an age, attractiveness level, and gender that would have normally railroaded her into slavery and / or prostitution.

[[redirect:ArtfulDodger]]

TheArtfulDodger is like the StreetUrchin, except that instead of being TheWoobie that makes you want to take him up in your arms and care for him, he seems perfectly happy to take care of himself. In RealLife, a child who lives on the streets experiences horrors most of us could not even imagine, but in some fictional works, a child on the street lives a happy-go-lucky life and practically thrives.

He is exceptionally street smart, and can take care of himself better than most adults. He is usually a criminal. Not the poor, innocent child who hates having to steal out of desperation, but the whip-smart trickster. The adult protagonist may feel sorry for him and try to help him at first, but it will usually turn out that the adult actually needs ''his'' help. He often has some sort of unique knowledge or skill that the protagonist needs in some circumstance, such as how to access any part of the city through the sewer system.

He'll probably start out as a pest, but he'll turn out to be one of the Hero's most powerful and stalwart allies when the chips are down. He's characterized by sarcasm, cynicism, skepticism, incredible resourcefulness, and a charming fascination with violence, but in the end he's likely to succumb to the temptation of family life with the Hero and his Girl, even if his life on the street was clearly more Awesome. He's also fairly likely to die by TakingTheBullet for the Hero. In this case, the Hero will retroactively adopt the Kid, for instance by putting his own surname on the Kid's tombstone. Can grow up to become a SatisfiedStreetRat, but the Dodger is more of a trickster where archetypally the Street Rat is more of a cutthroat.

Usually male, but there are a few exceptions. This trope is just about the opposite of TruthInTelevision. (Though, Chaos Theory being what it is, something close has probably occurred at least once in human history.)
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!!Examples

[[AC: {{Film}}]]
* The Feral Kid in ''MadMax II: The Road Warrior''.
* Young Jack Sparrow from ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean''.
* The title character of Disney's ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' (not so much in the original ''ArabianNights''). He seems to be more grown up, but since his age is never revealed, it can be assumed that he is just a teenager of about 17 or 18
* Short Round in ''IndianaJones and the Temple of Doom''.
* ''[[ShanghaiNoon Shanghai Knights]]'' featured one who grew up to be [[spoiler:CharlieChaplin]].
* The movie version of Toby from ''SweeneyTodd'' was like this.
* Wiggins, one of the Baker Street Irregulars, in ''WithoutAClue''.
* Miette, in a way, from ''TheCityOfLostChildren''.
* The Kid from ''DickTracy''.
* Phillipe in ''{{Ladyhawke}}''.

[[AC: {{Literature}}]]
* The Artful Dodger of ''OliverTwist'' is the TropeNamer.
** The Artful Dodger may be the TropeNamer, but since we last see him [[spoiler: in the process of being deported to Australia,]] he may not exactly be 'thriving' or 'happy-go-lucky'. This troper thinks it could be argued that he's just "TheWoobie" with spunk.
* SherlockHolmes had a whole gang of these, called the Baker Street Irregulars, to help him search for things or people all over the city.
* Talen in DavidEddings' ''Elenium/Tamuli'' [[TheVerse 'verse]] has one of these - a street-urchin with enough talents to classify as a borderline Marty Stu (eidetic memory, incredible artistic skills, unbeatable in lockpicking and pickpocketing, highly intelligent, does complicated math in his head despite having little formal education...)
* Parodied in ''Discworld/NightWatch'' with young Nobby (specifically a parody of Gavroche below, since most of the book is a Deconstruction of ''LesMiserables'').
* {{Discworld}} also has The Artful Nudger.
* Jamal from ''TheDrifters''.
* Lyra of ''HisDarkMaterials'' is a rare female example.
** Well, she just ''acts'' like this despite having a good place to stay. Later on, when she really ends up on the street, she finds it's not so fun.
* Kimball O'Hara, eponymous hero of Rudyard Kipling's Kim.
* ''BeyondTheWesternSea'' has two, Fred No-name and Ralph [[MeaningfulName Toggs]].[[hottip:*:"Look at his togs, Fagin," said Charley, putting the light so close to Oliver's new jacket as nearly to set him on fire.]]
* Jimmy the Hand from RaymondEFeist's ''RiftwarCycle''.
* Mike from ''Maximum Ride''. The readers meet him in the first book in New York City. But he proves useful in the third book when he sends a chain message about Fang mission.
* ''HuckleberryFinn'' was pretty much this, though moreso in ''TheAdventuresOfTomSawyer''.

[[AC: LiveActionTV]]
* Nancy of the ''DoctorWho'' episode "The Empty Child" may be considered a subversion. Although she used the clever tricks to survive which are trademark to this trope, she was anything but happy-go-lucky. It could be considered a {{Deconstruction}} of this trope.
* Boxey on new ''Battlestar Galactica'' was going to become this, until the character was written out due to a lack of time for the planned development.
* Liam in ''Tracy Beaker Returns''. Mike collects him from the police station and runs into Tracy who just published her first book followed by this discussion:
-->'''Mike''': See Liam if you want to get on in life, maybe we could have a little less artful dodger and a bit more Tracy Beaker
-->'''Liam''': I am like Tracy we both got nicked (that's arrested for the rest of us).
-->'''Mike''': You published your own book with Cam's money, Tracy how could you?
-->'''Tracy''': Cam's a writer she'll understand. I'll pay her back when the book sells.
-->'''Mike''': Oh, Tracy...
-->'''Liam''': So Mike, I think I'd better stick with the artful dodger thing for now, what do you reckon?

[[AC: Real Life]]
* Colton Harris-Moore, more commonly known as the Barefoot Bandit. He started living in the wild at the age of seven, and would break into vacation homes; stealing blankets, food and water before disappearing into the forest for days. His first conviction for stolen property came at age 12, and by the time he was 13, he had three more. He's suspected of about 100 thefts in Washington, Idaho, and Canada, including bicycles, automobiles, LIGHT AIRCRAFT, and SPEEDBOATS. He most likely learned how to fly small planes by reading aircraft manuals and playing flight simulator computer games. He was captured in the Bahamas: he'd stolen a small plane and flown it down there, then was captured by police after they shot out his speedboat's engine during a FRIGGIN' HIGH-SPEED WATER CHASE. He is nick-named the Barefoot Bandit (or Barefoot Burglar, if you prefer) because he would [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin filch items from stores whilst barefoot]] and painted footprints on the floor to taunt police... In April 2010, 20th Century Fox bought the rights to make a movie about him.

[[AC: TabletopGames]]
* In ''DungeonsAndDragons 4th Edition'', this is a popular build for Rogues. The artful Dodger is dextrous and charismatic, and an ideal build for halflings.

[[AC: Theater]]
* Gavroche of ''[[{{Theatre/ptitlenjisnv3p}} Les Misérables]]''. (His original in the novel is accompanied by too much deconstruction to count as a straight example.)

[[AC: Video Games]]
* Marco from ''SkiesOfArcadia''.

[[AC: Webcomics]]
* Lil' Ragamuffin in ''[[http://www.guttersnipecomic.com Guttersnipe]]'' is a parody of this trope, a street girl fanatically devoted to the "urchin life" and proud of her "unfancy" living situation.

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]
* Tony Toponi from ''AnAmericanTail'' fits this trope well. He's a streetwise orphan mouse who Fievel meets in a sweat shop. After they bust out Tony helps Fievel find his family.
* Dodger from Disney's ''OliverAndCompany'' is on the cusp of this trope; mostly because he's much older (thanks to being voiced by BillyJoel).
* Manic from ''SonicUnderground''.
* Peep from ''{{Jimmy Two-Shoes}}'', who gleefully uses his StickyFingers to rob Miseryville blind.
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** The Artful Dodger may be the TropeNamer, but since we last see him in the process of being deported to Australia, he may not exactly be 'thriving' or 'happy-go-lucky'. This troper thinks it could be argued that he's just "TheWoobie" with spunk.

** The Artful Dodger may be the TropeNamer, but since we last see him in the process of being deported to Australia, he may not exactly be 'thriving' or 'happy-go-lucky'. This troper thinks it could be argued that he's just a "TheWoobie" with spunk.

** The Artful Dodger may be the TropeNamer, but since we last see him in the process of being deported to Australia, he may not exactly be 'thriving' or 'happy-go-lucky'. This troper thinks it could be argued that he's just a "Woobie" with spunk.

** The Artful Dodger may be the TropeNamer, but since we last see him in the process of being deported to Australia, he may not exactly be 'thriving' or 'happy-go-lucky'. This troper thinks it could be argued that he's just a Woobie with spunk.

* Colton Harris-Moore, more commonly known as the Barefoot Bandit. He started living in the wild at the age of seven, and would break into vacation homes; stealing blankets, food and water before disappearing into the forest for days. His first conviction for stolen property came at age 12, and by the time he was 13, he had three more. He's suspected of about 100 thefts in Washington, Idaho, and Canada, including bicycles, automobiles, LIGHT AIRCRAFT, and SPEEDBOATS. He most likely learned how to fly small planes by reading aircraft manuals and playing flight simulator computer games. He was captured in the Bahamas: he'd stolen a small plane and flown it down there, then was captured by police after they shot out his speedboat's engine during a FRIGGIN' HIGH-SPEED WATER CHASE. He is nick-named the Barefoot Bandit (or Barefoot Bandit, if you prefer) because he would [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin filch items from stores whilst barefoot]] and painted footprints on the floor to taunt police... In April 2010, 20th Century Fox bought the rights to make a movie about him.

* Dodger from Disney's ''OliverAndCompany'' is on the cusp of this trope; mostly because he's much older (thanks to Billy Joel).

* Gavroche of ''LesMiserables''. (His original in the novel is accompanied by too much deconstruction to count as a straight example.)

* ''ShanghaiKnights'' featured one who grew up to be [[spoiler:CharlieChaplin]].

* The Kid from DickTracy.

* The title character of Disney's ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' (not so much in the original ''ArabianNights''). He seems to be more grown up, but since his age is never revealed, it can be assumed that he is just a teenager.
** He's about 17 or 18