History Main / TrenchcoatBrigade

----

* Castiel from ''{{Supernatural}}'' was influenced by Constantine's image. Though he's not British and doesn't smoke (as far as we know), he does wear a trenchcoat and is morally dubious, [[OurAngelsAreDifferent even though he's an angel]].

Members of the Trenchcoat Brigade are those characters who are strongly influenced by, inspired by, or out and out copies of the character of JohnConstantine, first introduced in 1985 by Vertigo Comics. He has all of the above characteristics, as well as being British, blond, and pretty much a loner.

* The movie version of John in ''{{Constantine}}'' just barely qualifies. He has the DarkAndTroubledPast, the trenchcoat, which he generally does not wear.

* A recent addition to the brigade is Jimmy Stark, antihero of Richard Kadrey's {{Sandman Slim}}. Ragged & snarky, with a dark past and hellish powers; wearing a black silk trenchcoat with no irony, and smoking Maledictions, the cigarettes from Hell.

* Replace Trenchcoat with Leather Jacket and voila, you have Stark, from ''SandmanSlim.''

* Spike in ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' really, really wants to be one of these after his HeelFaceTurn.

* Marv from ''SinCity'' is this trope in its darkest shade.
** Then again, every protagonist wears a trenchcoat in that series. FrankMiller loves this trope.

* Marv from ''SinCity'' is this trope in its darkest shade. (see picture).

* Rodney Skinner (when he's visible) in the movie version of ''TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen''

[[AC:TabletopGames]]
* The Iron Kingdoms setting for {{Dungeons and Dragons}} features the Greatcoat, which gives you a small armor bonus. This bonus stacks with any but the heaviest armor, and the penalties are virtually nonexistent. As a result, it's not unusual to see entire parties sporting greatcoats, from the tank to the thief to the wizard.
* {{Shadowrun}} had a similar stacking system if you could be deemed to be able to wear both pieces of armour at the same time. This meant a number of characters could be seen sporting lined coats above their tailored armoured jackets.

* The TropeMaker is, of course, [[HellBlazer John Constantine]] of VertigoComics. He first appeared in ''SwampThing'' and spun-off into his own series some years later. (''SwampThing'' showed the title character and John Constantine both active in the CrisisOnInfiniteEarths, although Constantine had only a ''very'' small role in the actual miniseries.) TropeNamer "Trenchcoat Brigade" was coined in the ''BooksOfMagic'' LimitedSeries by NeilGaiman. There was even a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trenchcoat_Brigade four issue mini-series]]. Constantine was created by AlanMoore based on his idea of "creating a character who looked like Sting", although Sting did not tend to wear trenchcoats or smoke (at least in public).
** In ''BooksOfMagic'' and the eponymous LimitedSeries, Constantine was teamed with DC characters ThePhantomStranger, [[OccultDetective Doctor Occult]], and Mister E; The Trenchcoat Brigade functioned as something of a mystical/magical JusticeLeague.
* Though many writers have wanted to use Constantine in their series, DC has always [[ExecutiveMeddling denied them]] for fear of disturbing the "realism" of ''Hellblazer'', even though Constantine (technically) inhabits the DCUniverse, where a number of these {{Expies}} also reside. So, instead, various analogues and homages to John have appeared.

** GrantMorrison wanted Constantine to become a recurring character in his ''DoomPatrol'', but couldn't, so he created Willoughby Kipling. However, instead of looking like Sting, he looks like Richard E. Grant from ''Withnail & I''.

----

->"Just what the world's been waiting for. The Charge of the Trenchcoat Brigade."

--> -- '''[[{{Hellblazer}} John Constantine]]''', ''{{Books of Magic}}''

* Damien from Nightschool. He doesn't have stubble, but when you can[[spoiler:''stop bullets from reaching your skin, break bones by thinking about it, and can flatten NYC'']] then you can be a nitpicker.

* Fitz Kreiner, from the DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse. Being GenreSavvy, he seems to know it, too. He smokes, wears a leather coat most of the time and a trench coat some of the time, swears more than basically anyone he knows, has PermaStubble (because he's bad at shaving), and is a lower-middle-class Londoner and a [[GuileHero Guile]] {{Sidekick}}. He's also basically NeutralGood and quite sweet and sensitive, but most characters, upon first meeting him, distrust him.

** To elaborate a bit on this guy, EVERYONE, including Manfred von Karma respect this guy, even if only grudgingly. He's one of only three known people Franziska won't ever whip. To the fan community, he's Ace Attorney's very own Chuck Norris.

* The Iron Kingdoms setting for Dungeons and Dragons features the Greatcoat, which gives you a small armor bonus. This bonus stacks with any but the heaviest armor, and the penalties are virtually nonexistent. As a result, it's not unusual to see entire parties sporting greatcoats, from the tank to the thief to the wizard.
* Shadowrun had a similar stacking system if you could be deemed to be able to wear both pieces of armour at the same time. This meant a number of characters could be seen sporting lined coats above their tailored armoured jackets.

<<|HeroTropes|>>
<<|SelfDemonstratingArticle|>>
<<|{{Tricksters}}|>>

* The movie version of John in ''{{Constantine}}'' just [[AdaptationDecay barely qualifies]]. He has the DarkAndTroubledPast, the trenchcoat (which he generally does not wear), and smokes (until the end of the movie, where he [[spoiler:''chews gum'']]), but he's not blonde, British, and is much less snarky and disheveled.
** Not to mention a repentant Catholic, rather than a complete dysthiest. And he doesn't even pronounce his own goddamned name right. (It's Constan-TINE, TINE, not bloody Constan-TEEN.)
*** Though the pronunciation is likely a side effect of his being American. Various dictionaries do provide the "-teen" pronunciation first.

** To elaborate a bit on this guy, EVERYONE, including Manfred von Karma respect this guy, even if only grudgingly. He's one of only three known people Franziska won't ever whip. To the fan community, he's Ace Attorney's very own Chuck Norris.

* Detective Badd from ''AceAttorney Investigations'', whose ragged trenchcoat is pockmarked with bullet holes from all the times he's been shot at. He doesn't smoke, though--he just makes [[SweetTooth constantly sucking on lollipops]] look cool.

* [[TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]] has definite shades of this. Considering John Constantine has been around since 1985,and JimButcher (the author of the Harry Dresden books) is a self-proclaimed fan of the series, the real question is whether it is a case of "influenced by", "inspired by", or ''CaptainErsatz''.
** While Harry Dresden THINKS he's this, he's actually [[SpiderMan Peter Parker]] in a [[strike:trenchcoat]] duster. Though he's basically said as much ("I follow the Tao of Peter Parker," anyone?)
*** SpiderMan is very rarely a MagnificentBastard; Dresden has always had some elements of that and in recent books has earned a lot more. SpiderMan is very rarely occult, but the occult is all Dresden does. SpiderMan is very far up the idealistic side on the SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes; Dresden ranges from type 2 to type 4. Dresden isn't a perfect match for the TrenchcoatBrigade, but he definitely has more in common with Constantine than Parker.

*** While Harry Dresden THINKS he's this, he's actually [[SpiderMan Peter Parker]] in a [[strike:trenchcoat]] duster. Though he's basically said as much ("I follow the Tao of Peter Parker," anyone?)

* Detective Badd from ''AceAttorney Investigations'', whose ragged trenchcoat is pockmarked with bullet holes from all the times he's been shot at. He doesn't smoke, though--he just makes constantly sucking on lollipops look cool.