History Literature / TheStainlessSteelRat

* TheFamilyThatSlaysTogether: A non-lethal version; Jim returns from his TimeTravel adventure to find his two baby boys have grown up in his absence and been educated in the criminal arts by his mother.

* ArmedBlag: Jim and Angelina keep robbing banks for fun after joining the Special Corps.

* CoversAlwaysLie: As demonstrated by [[https://speakertoanimals.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/stainless-steel-rat.jpg this one]]. Jim generally doesn't run around in space-armor and really doesn't like using guns.
** Except in that novel he does make use of a spacesuit and a .75 recoiless handgun, which is what he appears to be carrying.

* BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood: Most people with criminal tendencies are caught and 'treated' early in life. Treated meaning having your personality ''wiped'' and replaced with a state-sanctioned one! For an otherwise humane civilization, this little crime against humanity strikes a jarring note. Angelina has supposedly been implanted with an artificial conscience, but it's not the real mind-wipe: her husband frequently has to restrain her enthusiasm for torture and killing. This is mostly talk however -- when push comes to shove she recoils from the monster she used to be and does not kill. Although [[BerserkButton mess with her family]] and [[MamaBear all bets are off]].

* ''You Can Be the Stainless Steel Rat'' was a ChooseYourOwnAdventure gamebook.
* ''The Return of the Stainless Steel Rat'' was a BoardGame published by Creator/{{SPI}} in their magazine ''Ares''.

!!''The Stainless Steel Rat'' series contains examples of:

* HadToComeToPrisonToBeACrook: The Stainless Steel Rat tried to deliberately [[InvokedTrope invoke]] this trope, hoping to learn the tricks of the trade from real criminal minds. Of course, he quickly realizes his mistake: [[spoiler:He won't find any criminal masterminds in prison, because they don't get caught.]]

* TakeThat: The books where Jim is conscripted into the military and subjected to all its mindless indignities, bureaucratic inanities and Neanderthal NCO's are Harrison's personal revenge against the US Army Air Corps, in which he was a draftee during WW2.

* TakeThat: The books where Jim is conscripted into the military and subjected to all its mindless indignities, bureaucratic inanities and Neanderthal NCO's are Harrison's personal revenge against the United States Marine Corps, in which he was a draftee.

* MasterOfDisguise / FullBodyDisguise: In a universe of ubiquitous surveillance and paranoid secret policemen this is a basic survival technique, ranging all the way up to full body surgery.

* CoversAlwaysLie: As demonstrated by the page image. Jim generally doesn't run around in space-armor and really doesn't like using guns.

[[quoteright:301:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rat1_7996.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:301:Breaking the rules, and loving it!]]

* AIGettingHigh: At the end of ''[[Literature/TheStainlessSteelRat The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted]]'', the victory party has everyone drinking, except for the resident AI, who has a robot pour some electrolyte into a dry battery. It starts slurring words very quickly.

** It appears that planets, back in colonisation days, were claimed by monocultural ethnic groups. Thus a planet occupied by a troll-like alien life form discovers its [[TheTroubles very Irish, Gaelic-speaking former owners are now fighting a guerilla war to kick them out]]. Elsewhere a planet colonised by Spanish-speaking South Americans inevitably becomes a corrupt BananaRepublic ruled by TheGeneralissimo. And the Grey Men speak Japanese.

That is, until a heist goes wrong, and Jim finally gets caught. Not by the police -- nor by intergalactic law enforcement. He gets caught by the Special Corps, an organization that uses criminals to catch criminals (headed by Harold Peters Inskipp [[note]] a.k.a. "Inskipp the Uncatchable", formerly the greatest criminal in the galaxy until he was forcibly recruited the same way and eventually became the top guy[[/note]]. See, Jim is a TechnicalPacifist who sincerely believes that it's wrong to kill people [[note]]non-lethal violence is fine [[/note]], including bad guys and people who might be trying to kill ''him''. This puts him head and shoulders above the kind of villains that this organization deals with, who are perfectly willing to kill people, sometimes ''en masse''. And, well, if you need to deal with a mass-murdering supervillain and the local police force isn't even equipped to handle a simple bank robbery, who better to forcibly recruit than the less dangerous sort of criminal?

* AbsentAliens: Several of the early books claim humans are the only sentient species. Then, in ''The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You,'' it turns out the far side of the galaxy is inhabited by several dozen extremely unpleasant-looking ones. After some initial strife, they make peace with the humans - and become unimportant for the rest of the series.

That is, until a heist goes wrong, and Jim finally gets caught. Not by the police -- nor by intergalactic law enforcement. He gets caught by the Special Corps, an organization that uses criminals to catch criminals (headed by Harold Peters Inskipp -- a.k.a. "Inskipp the Uncatchable", formerly the greatest criminal in the galaxy until he was forcibly recruited the same way and eventually became the top guy). See, Jim is a TechnicalPacifist who sincerely believes that it's wrong to kill people (non-lethal violence is fine), including bad guys and people who might be trying to kill ''him''. This puts him head and shoulders above the kind of villains that this organization deals with, who are perfectly willing to kill people, sometimes ''en masse''. And, well, if you need to deal with a mass-murdering supervillain and the local police force isn't even equipped to handle a simple bank robbery, who better to forcibly recruit than the less dangerous sort of criminal?

** It appears that planets, back in colonisation days, were claimed by monocultural ethnic groups. Thus a planet occupied by a troll-like alien life form discovers its [[TheTroubles very Irish, Gaelic-speaking former owners are now fighting a guerilla war to kick them out]]. Elsewhere a planet colonised by Spanish-speaking South Americans inevitably becomes a corrupt BananaRepublic ruled by TheGeneralissimo.