History Main / GentlemanDetective

* S. S. Van Dine's Literature/PhiloVance is a private investigator and member of the upper echelons of New York society. He's an expert in many fields, including art, music, fencing and racing. He also wears a monocle and affects an English accent.

%% * S. S. Van Dine's Literature/PhiloVance

%% * ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
%% ** In ''Literature/TheTruth'', William de Worde is a cross between this and IntrepidReporter. He is estranged from his rich family though.
%% ** The Ankh-Morpork City Watch ''technically'' has a couple of these among its ranks, though they tend to be rather more grubby than most examples of this trope. And in the Watch it doesn't matter how gilded you are, Sam Vimes will see to it you're copper to the core.
%% *** Angua may be a werewolf, but she's also the daughter of a baron. She had an elder brother who would have inherited the title, but he dies during the events of ''The Fifth Elephant'', leaving her the presumed heir.
%% *** Sally von Humpeding, like basically all Discworld vampires, has a full name and title that takes up several pages. She still prefers being a copper though.

* Creator/NgaioMarsh's Roderick Alleyn is the son of a baronet who abandoned a comfortable future in diplomacy to take a "lower class" job as a policeman.

%% * Creator/DorothyLSayers' ''Literature/LordPeterWimsey'' is another archetype. Younger brother of a duke, he was educated at Eton and Oxford, he is notably eccentric, and collects 15th Century books as a hobby.

%% * Creator/NgaioMarsh's Roderick Alleyn.

* [[Series/InspectorLynley Detective Inspector Thomas "Tommy" Lynley]], 8th Earl of Asherton. He is counterbalanced by his partner, the [[WorkingClassHero working-class]] Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers. She is not impressed by his wealth, title or police rank, and lets him know this at every opportunity.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':

*** Vimes himself is descended from "Stoneface" Vimes, commander of the Watch back in his day, and important enough to have a coat-of-arms, though it was rescinded when he [[spoiler:executed Ankh-Morpork's last king]]. Vimes himself is now a fairly straight example, as he is both the richest man in the city since marrying Lady Sybil Ramkin, and his service to the city has had him raised up to the level of Duke and ambassador.

%% *** Captain Carrot, who basically [[OpenSecret everyone knows]] is actually the heir to the Ankh-Morpork throne. Good luck getting him to acknowledge that fact, though. His adopted dwarf father is also technically a "king", though among dwarfs this is less a noble title and more like "chief mining engineer".
%% *** [[AmbiguouslyHuman Nobby Nobbs]], believe it or not, though you'd be hard pressed to find someone who fits the molds of "gentleman" and also "detective" less. ''Feet of Clay'' reveals that he's the Earl of Ankh ([[ImpoverishedPatrician not that any money or property remains]]), his lineage proven by a ring he inherited from his father. Vimes deduces that this was a scheme by the book's villain, and the ring was probably stolen...but Nobby has several other such heirlooms implying that it may be true after all.

* Benoit Blanc (Creator/DanielCraig) in ''Film/KnivesOut'' is an AffectionateParody, and the subject of an InUniverse New Yorker profile titled "The Last of the Gentlemen Sleuths". His exact background is unknown, though he does talk like a member of Southern aristocracy.

* While he's an inspector instead of a detective, Ninzaburou Shiratori from ''Manga/CaseClosed'' has the rest down to a T. He's TallDarkAndHandsome, comes from a rich background, is very much a SharpDressedMan, and he's quite the gentleman towards women [[spoiler: and specially to his VictoriousChildhoodFriend, Sumiko Kobayashi.]]

Wiki/TheOtherWiki has a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentleman_detective page]] on this trope. See also MysteryFiction and DetectiveFiction.

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Some versions of ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'', particularly those that lean toward the [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism idealism end of the scale]].
[[/folder]]

* Creator/DorothyLSayers' ''Literature/LordPeterWimsey'' is another archetype. Younger brother of a duke, he was educated at Eton and Oxford, he is notably eccentric, and collects 15th Century books as a hobby.
* E.C. Bentley's Philip Trent (acknowledged by Creator/DorothyLSayers as a model for Lord Peter)
* The Lady's nephew Robert in Mary Elizabeth Braddon's ''Literature/LadyAudleysSecret''.

* Creator/AgathaChristie's Tommy Beresford, Colonel Race, and Literature/HerculePoirot.
* Leslie Charteris's Simon Templar, a.k.a. Literature/TheSaint.
* Michael Arlen's Gay Falcon.
* Creator/RandallGarrett's Literature/LordDarcy.
* Creator/NgaioMarsh's Roderick Alleyn.
* Margery Allingham's Literature/AlbertCampion.
* S. S. Van Dine's Literature/PhiloVance
* Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's Literature/AgentPendergast.

** In ''Literature/TheTruth'', William de Worde is a cross between this and IntrepidReporter. He is estranged from his rich family though.
** The Ankh-Morpork City Watch ''technically'' has a couple of these among its ranks, though they tend to be rather more grubby than most examples of this trope. And in the Watch it doesn't matter how gilded you are, Sam Vimes will see to it you're copper to the core.

*** Angua may be a werewolf, but she's also the daughter of a baron. She had an elder brother who would have inherited the title, but he dies during the events of ''The Fifth Elephant'', leaving her the presumed heir.
*** Captain Carrot, who basically [[OpenSecret everyone knows]] is actually the heir to the Ankh-Morpork throne. Good luck getting him to acknowledge that fact, though. His adopted dwarf father is also technically a "king", though among dwarfs this is less a noble title and more like "chief mining engineer".
*** [[AmbiguouslyHuman Nobby Nobbs]], believe it or not, though you'd be hard pressed to find someone who fits the molds of "gentleman" and also "detective" less. ''Feet of Clay'' reveals that he's the Earl of Ankh ([[ImpoverishedPatrician not that any money or property remains]]), his lineage proven by a ring he inherited from his father. Vimes deduces that this was a scheme by the book's villain, and the ring was probably stolen...but Nobby has several other such heirlooms implying that it may be true after all.
*** Sally von Humpeding, like basically all Discworld vampires, has a full name and title that takes up several pages. She still prefers being a copper though.

* As noted above, C. Auguste Dupin, who appears as your partner and friend in the PC mystery game series ''VideoGame/DarkTales''.
* The Hildibrand questline of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' gives us two examples: Briardien, who plays this trope quite straight, and Hildibrand Manderville, who tries to be this ([[SmallNameBigEgo and thoroughly thinks he's successful]]) but is more like a chivalrous CluelessDetective.

* Benoit Blanc (Creator/DanielCraig) in ''Film/KnivesOut'' is an affectionate parody, and the subject of an in-universe New Yorker profile titled "The Last of the Gentlemen Sleuths". His exact background is unknown, though he does talk like a member of Southern aristocracy.

* While he's an inspector instead of a detective, Ninzaburou Shiratori from ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' has the rest down to a T. He's TallDarkAndHandsome, comes from a rich background, is very much a SharpDressedMan, and he's quite the gentleman towards women [[spoiler: and specially to his VictoriousChildhoodFriend, Sumiko Kobayashi.]]

* Creator/RogerMoore as ''Series/TheSaint''. Moore basically plays (with his characteristic suavity) a rich unemployed "adventurer" and amateur detective who hangs around in casinos and hotel lobbies waiting for the week's plot to arrive.

* ''Literature/ArseneLupin'' is not only a GentlemanThief, but also a detective from time to time.

* In ''Discworld/TheTruth'', William de Worde is a cross between this and IntrepidReporter. He is estranged from his rich family though.

*** Then there's Captain Carrot, who basically [[OpenSecret everyone knows]] is actually the heir to the Ankh-Morpork throne. Good luck getting him to acknowledge that fact, though. His adopted dwarf father is also technically a "king", though among dwarfs this is less a noble title and more like "chief mining engineer".

* It's not clear if Literature/NeroWolfe came from a rich family or if he's a self-made man, but otherwise he fits this trope to a tee: He's extremely wealthy, has a reputation for being a gourmet, and only leaves his house rarely and under protest--notably, once for a show involving his favorite hobby, growing orchids.

* Benoit Blanc (Creator/DanielCraig) in ''Film/KnivesOut'' is an affectionate parody, and the subject of an in-universe New Yorker profile titled "The Last of the Gentlemen Sleuths".

** The Ankh-Morpork City Watch ''technically'' has a couple of examples among its ranks, though they tend to be rather more grubby than most examples of this trope. And in the Watch it doesn't matter how gilded you are, Sam Vimes will see to it you're copper to the core.

*** [[AmbiguouslyHuman Nobby Nobbs]], believe it or not, though you'd be hard pressed to find someone who fits the molds of "nobility" and also "detective" less. ''Feet of Clay'' reveals that he's the Earl of Ankh ([[ImpoverishedPatrician not that any money or property remains]]), his lineage proven by a ring he inherited from his father. Vimes deduces that this was a scheme by the book's villain, and the ring was probably stolen...but Nobby has several other such heirlooms implying that it may be true after all.

* The ''Paul Temple'' detective series, broadcast on Creator/{{BBC}} radio between 1938 and 1968, features a gentleman detective who solves crimes too baffling even for Scotland Yard, assisted by his wife "Stevie" and his [[BattleButler manservant]]. Thought to be too anachronistic and old-fashioned when it ended in 1968, it has been periodically revived in updated one-off specials and short runs between 2006 - 2013.

* Creator/AgathaChristie's Tommy Beresford and Literature/HerculePoirot.

* ''Franchise/ProfessorLayton''. He's actually an archaeologist by trade, not a detective, but his "notable eccentricities or unusual hobbies" as mentioned in the intro are puzzles, meaning he gets into some mysteries. He also makes it a point to be a proper gentleman to everyone he meets.