History Main / FriendInTheBlackMarket

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' has Spyke in the first game, and Murch in the second. Both are literal {{Street Urchin}}s who hang in a back alley. They offer their various services at premium price (the in-universe reason for Spyke getting replaced is actually because he earned more than enough money to retire), amongst them being "obtaining" clothing the player asks him to get, selling it at three times the store price. Better to not ask him where he gets those.

* Mundungus Fletcher in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' starts out this way, as the guy brought in to help the Order get information on dark dealings (and to get the Weasley twins illegal goods), but his role in the story develops.

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' has Spyke, a literal StreetUrchin who's known to hang in a back alley. He offers various services at premium price, amongst them being "obtaining" clothing the player asks him to get, selling it at three times the store price. Better to not ask him where he gets those.

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

* Al Capp's ''ComicStrip/LilAbner'' had Available Jones, who could provide anything from a safety pin to a battleship, for a price.

* Varric's seat in the Merchants' Guild is treated as basically being this in ''[[Fanfic/TwiceUponAnAge All This Sh*t is Twice as Weird]]''. When the Inquisition needs a large supply of lyrium in a short amount of time, they have him reach out to his undercity contacts to get it. The actual bill of sale is presented in one chapter, only to have Varric - who is [[DirectLineToTheAuthor the story's editor]] - remove it and state his objections to the author including it.
-->'''Editor’s note:''' Scholar, ''I'' don’t read my mail from the Merchants' Guild – why should anyone else have to look at it?
* ''FanFic/ThePiecesLieWhereTheyFell'': [[spoiler: "Father" Evergreen Road, who poses as a priest of Luna, is really a fraud using his position as a cover for receiving and selling stolen goods. He's also robbed the temple where he works, selling off its physical assets and using the money to fund his habits of drinking, women and gambling.]]
* In the ''FanFic/InquisitorCarrowChronicles'', Severus Snape keeps a very small, private business dealing with illegal healing and fertility potions. Dumbledore consults him to learn of less morally inclined potioneers who might be linked to Augustus Crabbe.

[[folder:Film]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* Both Radar and Klinger from ''[[Series/{{MASH}} M*A*S*H]]'', who use their wits to get anything the hospital needs. (Klinger getting the job when Radar is discharged.)

--->"You'd be surprised what a priest can get away with."
* ''Series/BabylonFive's'' G'kar deals with... not really a friend, but a man he knows who deals in black market weaponry, which he needs for the [[LaResistance resistance on Narn]]. The dealer is selling him for far more than the weapons are worth. G'Kar should know, because he sold many of those very weapons to Earth during the Earth Minbari War fifteen years earlier. In this case, the quality of the merchandise is guaranteed with the understanding that what G'kar will do to the dealer if it isn't will be unpleasant.

-->'''Lily:''' You always say you "know a guy". How many guys do you know?
-->'''Uncle Eddie:''' I know about 75 guys.

-->Crier: We've got stuff we're not even allowed to sell, people. Only at Mick & Ralph's.

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' series, [[ScrewPolitenessImASenior Crazy Earl]] serves this role after he is DemotedToExtra in ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'', continuing this practice into ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel''.

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Haley was able to arm LaResistance in Azure city by [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0531.html purchasing smuggled weapons through the black market]].
* In ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', whatever it is the Other Warriors need, Rogue "knows a guy". It turns out the guy in question is [[spoiler: Thief]].
[[/folder]]

* While Bubs of ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' may mostly be an {{Honest John|sDealership}}, he ''also'' sells stuff on the black market--and his black-market merchandise are more legitimate, higher-quality products than anything he sells at his store.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In ''Machinima/FreemansMind'', Gordon occasionally muses that his friend Eddie can help him with some sort of illegal activity, whether it be pawning a large supply of weapons, procuring human skulls, or obtaining fake identification.
* In Chapter 2 of ''WebVideo/TFSAtTheTable'', Ezra and Eloy encounter a wind genasi known as Legitimate Larry, who has apparently closed and opened his shop again six times. He sells them some very elaborate and impressive equipment, but is also very hard to talk down from his extortionate prices. Later on, the party also discover he has a bounty on his head from the Adventurer's Guild in Rite. Ezra and Eloy, however, [[RPGMechanicsVerse rolled so badly]] on their first meeting that they trust Larry implicity. Ironically, this has lead to him being a very useful resource for them sometimes.
-->'''Zito, addressing Ezra:''' Legitimate Larry? No way this dude isn't legitimate, it's ''in his god-damn name''.

Personality wise, like Honest John, they can fit anywhere into the CharacterAlignment spectrum. (Although the fact they deal in quality products usually puts them at least chaotic neutral.) If the character is part of the hero team, then they'll usually be Chaotic or Neutral Good. In a war situation, they also tend to [[ScrewTheWarWerePartying screw it and party]], unless the action is centered on the military in which case they'll be [[TheScrounger doing this work on the side]].

[[quoteright:[[ComicStripLilAbner 350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/available_jones.jpg]]]]

%%* Sgt. Bilko in ''Film/SgtBilko''

* [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClank Ratchet]] can buy a lot of black market gear during the course of his adventures, from weapon mods to hypnosis gadgets to [[InfinityPlusOneSword giant overpowered weaponry.]]

* ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim's]]'' own [[WizardingSchool College of Winterhold]] has Enthir, a Wood Elf who frequently handles the shadier dealings at the college. Notably, the missions that involve him involve getting something he traded away back from bandits, necromancers, or even vampires, one mission for the Thieves Guild (for whom he will act as a fence upon completion,) and he is the only merchant that reliably sells [[{{Necromancy}} black soul gems]].

* Private Walker, the spiv in ''Series/DadsArmy'' tends to deal in goods of questionable origin. Since the show is set in WW2 England a lot of his business is in food since rationing at the time limited the availability of food.
* In Series/AlteredCarbon, we meet a friendly one who runs a front as a candy-peddling street vendor. He sells some wicket powerful guns.

* ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim's]]'' own [[WizardingSchool College of Winterhold]] has Enthir, a Wood Elf who frequently handles the shadier dealings at the college. Notably, the missions that involve him involve getting something he traded away back from bandits or necromancers, one mission for the Thieves Guild (for whom he will act as a fence upon completion,) and he is the only merchant that reliably sells [[{{Necromancy}} black soul gems]].

%%* Private Walker, the spiv in ''Series/DadsArmy''.

* [[VillainousGlutton Krew]] is this in ''Franchise/JakAndDaxter'' to the [[LaResistance Underground]] but he'll sell them out if the price is high enough.

* The Finn, of William Gibson's ''Literature/SprawlTrilogy''. The Finn is a rare example of a smart one, who practices smart discretion and proves more than capable of defending himself when attacked. The Finn long surpasses the general life expectancy of this character type in most stories. Due to the nature of the depicted cyberpunk society, it's debatable wether he can be considered a friend, though.

* In ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'', you meet several: Trip, the disaffected, twitchy, TripleShifter pawn-shop manager; Mercurio, the sixtysomething ghoul in a [[OlderThanTheyLook thirtysomething body]] who can get "anything anyone wants at any time"; Slater, night shift convenience store worker, so bored in his SoulSuckingRetailJob that he sells guns on the side; and Tseng, very definitely ''not'' a Chinese army veteran, vendor of herbal remedies that sometimes have a superficial resemblance to automatic weapons.

* Recurring character Bubba Rogowski of Creator/DennisLehane's ''Literature/KenzieAndGennaroSeries'' is a former Marine who specializes in obtaining lots of illegal weapons and tech, and has put lives mines through his entire warehouse apartment to deter unwelcome guests. He's also something of a PsychoForHire and a ManChild who can barely read, but he's been friends with Patrick since they were kids and will kill anyone who messes with him. His profession doesn't come without consequences, however, and in one book he's absent because he's in jail for getting caught with an unregistered handgun.