History Literature / Spenser

* {{Hypocrite}}: Lillian Temple in ''Hush Money'', a somewhat pompous and disdainful leftist academic Spenser encounters while investigating why his client, a conservative-leaning African-American, was denied tenure by the university. Even after Spenser uncovers evidence that she deliberately sabotaged his tenure hearing because she didn't consider him [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad politically correct]] enough [[spoiler: by lying that he was having a homosexual affair with a student despite having ample reason to believe that he was heterosexual -- because she was cheating on her boyfriend with him]], he still marvels that she manages to find a way to twist the situation so that she can act with pious self-righteousness about it.

A short series based upon the characters, "Spenser: For Hire," aired on prime time television in the [[TheEighties 1980s]], starring Creator/RobertUrich as Spenser, with Creator/AveryBrooks as Hawk. Urich and Brooks reprised the roles for a series of TV movies on Lifetime (''The Judas Goat'', ''Ceremony'', and ''Pale Kings and Princes'', among others) later on.

Later TV movies on A&E - ''Small Vices'', ''Thin Air'', and ''Walking Shadow'' - replaced Urich with Joe Montegna, and Brooks with Shiek Mahmoud-Bey and Creator/ErnieHudson, with Creator/MarciaGayHarden as Spenser's LoveInterest Susan Silverman. The movies, unlike most episodes of the show, are each based directly upon one of the novels.

* WellDoneSonGuy: Several families, usually leading to the central conflict of a particular book, but the most regular one is between Joe Broz, and his son Gerry. Gerry believes he's as tough as his father, and Joe certainly ''wants'' Gerry to take over his "business", but it becomes obvious that Gerry doesn't have what it takes. (It gets to where Joe's "shooter", Vinnie, quits rather then be deal with the family drama.)

* StraightGay: Tedy Sapp is an ex-Airborne weightlifter and nightclub bouncer with a black belt in karate, and on par with both Spenser and Hawk for sheer badass potential. He actually dyes his hair a very bright blond in order to gay himself up a bit.

* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: Most of Spenser's adversaries have enough honor of their own that they try to avoid hitting him through Susan, but the one time somebody tried going after him while she was around, Susan waited until their backs were turned and knocked a guy out with a rock she pried out of a nearby garden arrangement. She also ends up dealing with Spenser's StalkerWithACrush in ''Hush Money'' by giving her a good left hook in the face and promising that, if the women ever comes near Spenser again, she won't be so restrained next time.

* ''Someone to Watch Over Me'' (2021): Mattie Sullivan from ''Lullaby'' intends to become an investigator herself, but her first case--reclaiming a lost backpack and laptop from inside an exclusive nightclub--turns out to be much more complicated than expected. Enter Spenser.

* {{Expy}}: Raymond Chandler wrote a critical essay in 1950 called "The Simple Art of Murder," which codified many of the "rules," as he saw them, for writing a detective story's protagonist. When writing the Spenser stories, Robert Parker treated "The Simple Art of Murder" like an itemized checklist, and was heavily influenced by Chandler besides. As such, Spenser as a character bears more than a few similarities to Philip Marlowe, although the two are both products of their respective times.
** It's probably not a coincidence that both Marlowe and Spenser share names with 16th-Century English poets.

* GroinAttack: In ''Promised Land'' a female martial artist lands one on Spenser, but he's been on the receiving end enough times to shake it off and knock her on her ass, where he then tells her not to rely solely on that trick.

* GeniusBruiser: Spenser is repeatedly described by other characters as looking like a generic Irish thug; he's tall, has a weightlifter's build, and you can tell just by looking at him that he used to be a boxer (among other things his nose has been repeatedly broken). He's also a talented, mostly self-taught gourmet cook; possesses an EncyclopaedicKnowledge of English literature; and knows a great deal about psychology that he's absorbed from Susan.

* ChurchOfHappyology: HELIOS, in ''Angel Eyes''. Spencer even name-drops Creator/LRonHubbard for the comparison.

* OnlyOneName: Spenser has a first name, but it's never been revealed to the reader. According to Parker, it's because Spenser was initially meant to be named after his first son, but Parker figured that would be unfair to his second son. Eventually, Parker just decided to keep it a mystery (he tells a client his first name in ''Stardust'' without the reader finding out what it is), although it's not a secret to the characters. Just about everyone he knows just calls him Spenser.
** That being said, Hawk has a real fondness for "Jack" when addressing Spenser.

* ScaryBlackMan: Hawk, though a certain part of it is cultivated intentionally.

A short series based upon the characters, "Spenser: For Hire," aired on prime time television in the [[TheEighties 1980s]], starring Robert Urich as Spenser, with Creator/AveryBrooks as Hawk. Urich and Brooks reprised the roles for a series of TV movies on Lifetime (''The Judas Goat'', ''Ceremony'', and ''Pale Kings and Princes'', among others) later on.

* WellDoneSonGuy: Several families, but the most regular one is between Joe Brose, and his son Gerry. Gerry believes he's as tough as his father, and Joe certainly ''wants'' Gerry to take over his "business", but it becomes obvious that Gerry doesn't have what it takes. (It gets to where Joe's "shooter", Vinnie, quits rather then be deal with the family drama.)

* UnreliableNarrator: Spenser, when referring to his looks, is more of an Ironic Narrator. He describes himself as looking like Cary Grant (and in later novels Tom Cruise), but most other characters seem to view him as the Irish ex-boxer tough he is. He also refers to his irresistible smile, but mostly in the context that he can't understand why it's not working on whichever woman he's trying to sweet talk.

* WorthyOpponent: After Spenser manages to arrest Rugar, the Gray Man, in ''Small Vices'', he appears twice more, in ''Cold Service'' and ''Rough Weather''. In both subsequent books, he and Spenser treat one another like old rivals whenever they meet, rather than embittered enemies. (It ''may'' help that Rugar views Spenser as 'the one that got away, and Spenser having a [[TheChessmaster decent plan]] to capture him in return and use him to go after someone else.) They also each recognizes that their counterpart has certain rules in what they do; part of the "fun" is working with and around them.

* WorthyOpponent: After Spenser manages to arrest Rugar, the Gray Man, in ''Small Vices'', he appears twice more, in ''Cold Service'' and ''Rough Weather''. In both subsequent books, he and Spenser treat one another like old rivals whenever they meet, rather than embittered enemies.

* AmusingInjury: Spenser's constant self-depreciating inner monologue tends to turn any injury he incurs into this. The champion example is when he gets shot with a small-caliber handgun in ''The Judas Goat''. If you ask Spenser, it was a slight wound to the "upper thigh"; ask the doctor who treated him, and he was shot in the arse.

* LongList: In ''Small Vices'' Spenser is describing how Susan is making a beet risotto and then lists all the equipment and vegetable scraps she's used and left on the counter, which is some editions takes up nearly half the page. He ends it by saying she's not exactly a "clean as you cook" type.

Spenser used to be a cop, but was quickly bounced from the force for being insubordinate. He now works as a private investigator in Boston. With his [[BlackBestFriend best friend]] [[PsychoSidekick Hawk]] for backup, and occasional psychological consultation from his girlfriend [[IrishmanAndAJew Susan Silverman]], Spenser's cases tend to start off simply before spinning wildly out of control.

* BlackBestFriend: Spenser's best friend Hawk first enters the series as an antagonist, but starting with ''The Judas Goat'', he assists Spenser in many cases. In some of the books, Hawk comes across as the sidekick, albeit one who is just as competent as Spenser if not moreso, but later novels have evened the playing field dramatically. In ''Double Deuce'' and ''Cold Service'', Spenser is essentially a supporting character in Hawk's book.

* MadeOfIron: Averted, especially in the earlier books which is somewhat ironic considering he's also a BoringInvincibleHero. Spenser is pretty much unstoppable in a fight, but if he ''does'' take serious damage, especially being shot, it's portrayed with almost brutal realism. He takes hours to be capable of continuing with a case after being hit on the head in ''Looking For Rachel Wallace'' and is pretty clearly at least mildly concussed. When he is shot in the very first novel (''The Godwulf Manuscript''), a small-caliber wound to his side that "only" breaks a rib and tears some muscles puts him in the hospital for two days. Further shootings in ''Judas Goat, Widening Gyre, Valediction, Pastime,'' and especially ''Small Vices'' and ''Cold Service'' also show Spenser or Hawk needing time to recover from their wounds, often including hospital stays.

* BoringInvincibleHero:
** Spenser hasn't been so much as seriously injured in a book since he was nearly killed in ''Small Vices'', which was published in 1997. It's a rare opponent that can so much as slow him down, and you can count the fights he's actually lost over the course of the series on the fingers of one hand. If Hawk is also involved in the fight, it is generally indicated that you would need an armored division to stop them.
** Ace Atkins' continuation of the series seems to be trying to avert this without going too far away from Parker's depiction. Spenser still wins most of his fights, but it takes more effort from him, and he takes a bit more damage as well, when he used to be practically untouchable.

2020 sees a new ''Spenser'' movie for the first time in 19 years, Creator/PeterBerg's ''Spenser Confidential'', starring Creator/MarkWahlberg as Spenser and Creator/WinstonDuke as Hawk. A Netflix original, it's ''extremely'' loosely based on both the Spenser universe (Spenser is an ex-con, Hawk is a much younger ex-fighter, Susan is wholly absent) and Atkins's book ''Wonderland''.