History Main / JustAGangster

* In ''Film/TheLongGoodFriday'', the LondonGangster Harold Shand strives to become a respectable and legitimate businessman through land speculation aided by some American mob contacts. This goal is undermined when his project starts being attacked and his men killed. Harold ''[[WrongGenreSavvy thinks]]'' he's experiencing a case of this- suspecting treason from his men and believing TheIrishMob is attempting to muscle in. However, he's actually being targeted by the IRA during UsefulNotes/TheTroubles.

-->'''Number Two:''' Over the last thirty years, Virtucon has grown by leaps and bounds. About fifteen years ago, we changed from volatile chemicals to the communication industry. We own cable companies in thirty-eight states. In addition to our cable holdings, we own a steel mill in Cleveland. Shipping in Texas. Oil refineries in Seattle. And a factory in Chicago that makes miniature models of factories.

* ''Film/{{Casino}}'' deals with this trope and shows how it happens. The mob's skimming operation in Vegas runs on a front of legitimate business and they hire Ace "Sam" Rothstein to be the man who runs things while Nicky Santoro serves as "the muscle". Ace is a "good earner" and a ConsummateProfessional, as such he improves efficiency in the casino, improves business and innovates on entertainment and by increasing the income, he increases the money the mob skims off. Nicky Santoro being TheBrute and mob enforcer resorts to more traditional means by doing a series of daring heists across the city and attracting a lot of heat. Eventually, the [=FBI=] gets involved and the Mob decides to KillEmAll to wipe away traces of evidence. [[spoiler:"Ace" Rothstein survives because as he notes at the end, he is still a good earner while Santoro gets brutally killed]].

** Ben King managed to raise his street gang, the Vice Kings, to a state of semi-legitimacy, focusing more on the operation of his legal (but still rather corrupt) record label than his illegal prostitution and gambling rings and using his connections to city councilors, judges and the chief of police to keep the Vice Kings out of the spotlight. His lieutenant [[TheDragon Warren Williams]], on the other hand, feels that schmoozing politicians is a waste of time and demands an all-out gang war whenever the Saints come up. [[spoiler:It's for these reasons that he feels that King's gone soft and [[TheStarscream tries to take over]] late in the VK story arc.]] What's interesting is that Warren is King's "numbers guy" and the front manager of his record label, and would be in the best position to profit from a turn to legitimacy, but because [[YoungGun he's young, brash and feels that he's got something to prove]], he can't see that.

** Ben King managed to raise his street gang, the Vice Kings, to a state of semi-legitimacy, focusing more on the operation of his legal (but still rather corrupt) record label than his illegal prostitution and gambling rings and using his connections to city councilors, judges and the chief of police to keep the Vice Kings out of the spotlight. His [[TheDragon Dragon]] Warren, on the other hand, feels that schmoozing politicians is a waste of time and advises an all-out gang war whenever the Saints come up. [[spoiler:It's for these reasons that he feels that King's gone soft and tries to take over late in the VK story arc.]] What's interesting is that Warren is King's "numbers guy" and the front manager of his record label, and would be in the best position to profit from a turn to legitimacy, but because [[YoungGun he's young, brash and feels that he's got something to prove]], he can't see that.

'''Warren:''' Yo, fuck that. (''pulls out a gun'') ''This'' is what gives us power!\\

** ComicBook/LexLuthor is the biggest offender. He was originally a diabolical mastermind and MadScientist whose inventions begged the question why he would try and kill ComicBook/{{Superman}} or rob banks. In the Post-Crisis continuity, Luthor became a CorruptCorporateExecutive and tech-magnate, yet he still devoted time, money and resources to killing Superman, the Justice League and other endeavours. He even became US President, and held a MaskOfSanity for a while before he ''tried to kill Superman again''. Luthor insisted that without Superman he would be the great hero and "cure cancer". Yet during ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'' when Superman was missing for a year, Luthor once again lapsed into villainy and on his return, Superman asked "Where's the cure for cancer, Lex?" .

-->''Dushane:'''This is us, ain’t gonna be no cosy nine-five, no fuckin’ nice little house with a picket fence and all of that comfortable shit bruv, it ain’t happening.

** ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' demonstrates that Saul himself has shades of this. James [=McGill=] had ample opportunities to be a legitimate lawyer or businessman, and would probably have been very successful due to his talents and intelligence. However, the irresistible thrill of being a conman and crooked lawyer meant he couldn't be happy working on the right side of the law.

* In ''Film/AustinPowersInternationalManOfMystery'' Dr. Evil, thawed out after thirty years as a HumanPopsicle, wants to return to his "TakeOverTheWorld" criminal activities but is told that his organization's front business Virtucon is much more profitable. The RunningGag throughout all three films is Number Two trying to convince the Doctor that corporate evil is the kind of evil which pays better, but the man's love of BondVillainStupidity doesn't just translates into a love for over-complicated [[DeathTrap death traps]].

--> '''Dink''': This isn't [[TheRoaringTwenties the Four Kings]]. No hiding out behind a steel door and a peephole, this is big business. We deal with banks, lawyers and a Dun and Bradstreet rating. The world's gone right past you, Frankie. In TheRoaringTwenties, you were great. In TheThirties, you might have made the switch, but today you're finished, as dead as the headlines the day you went to prison."

* Unusual example in ''ComicBook/TheSuperiorFoesOfSpiderMan''. The gangster Tombstone loves his daughter, Janice, and has invested in her education including law school (in which she has excelled) in part because he wants her to become an AmoralAttorney providing his organization with a legitimate front. However, Janice would rather be a supervillain acting in the open- not because she's violent or crazy, but essentially because she wants to break the glass ceiling of the criminal underworld and sees being [[TheManBehindTheMan The Woman Behind The Man]] as counterproductive.

* In ''Film/AustinPowersInternationalManOfMystery'' Dr. Evil, thawed out after thirty years as a HumanPopsicle, wants to return to his "TakeOverTheWorld" criminal activities but is told that his organization's front business Virtucon is much more profitable. The RunningGag throughout all three films is Number Two trying to convince the Doctor that corporate evil is the kind of evil which pays better, but the man's love of BondVillainStupidity doesn't just translates into over-complicated traps.

** The top figures in the Barksdale drug empire are Avon Barksdale and his friend since childhood, Russel "Stringer" Bell. At the end of Season 1 Avon is arrested on goes to jail, leaving Stringer as the acting head of the group. During that time Stringer, who has always been the more intellectual of the two and more interested in the legit world, comes to realize that the Barksdales cannot survive by continuing Avon's style of constant warring with other gangs and attempting to seize control of the streets, so he makes peace with the various rivals of the Barksdale group and pushes the gang both towards legitimate investments and becoming the supplier for drugs to all the gangs in the city, rather than just another gang peddling drugs on the corners. By the time Avon gets out of prison Stringer seems tantalizingly close to the legitimate business world he's been dreaming of, but Avon is dead set on still being an old school gangster and has no use for Stringer's ambitions. That disagreement, combined with a powerful new gang that challenges the Barksdales to a MobWar, results in [[spoiler:Stringer getting killed, Avon going back to jail, and the Barksdale empire collapsing entirely.]]

--> '''Dink''': This isn't [[TheRoaringTwenties the Four Kings]]. No hiding out behind a steel door and a peephole, this is big business. We deal with banks, lawyers and a Dun and Bradstreet rating. The world's gone right past you, Frankie. In TheTwenties, you were great. In TheThirties, you might have made the switch, but today you're finished, as dead as the headlines the day you went to prison."

* During an early episode of ''Series/BurnNotice'', Michael is hired to save a local neighborhood from Concha, a cruel gangster who is demanding outrageous amounts of [[ShameIfSomethingHappened protection money]] from residents. Eventually it's revealed that Concha is deliberately setting the prices too high to afford, as she has a scheme to drive residents out, buy up the vacated properties through seemingly unrelated businesses, and then make millions when the area is targeted for urban redevelopment, and as far as anyone will know she'll just be a real estate developer turning the area around. Her [[OlderSidekick older and more traditional dragon Diego]] disapproves of the scheme and Concha's callous readiness to [[LackOfEmpathy kill anyone who gets in her way]], including [[AndYourLittleDogToo their entire family too]]. Michael cuts a deal with Diego to help get rid of Concha if Diego and the rest of the gang leave the neighborhood and find someplace else to run their rackets.

** ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' demonstrates that Saul himself has shades of this. James McGill had ample opportunities to be a legitimate lawyer or businessman, and would probably have been very successful due to his talents and intelligence. However, the irresistible thrill of being a conman and crooked lawyer meant he couldn't be happy working on the right side of the law.

** ComicBook/LexLuthor is the biggest offender. He was originally a diabolical mastermind and MadScientist whose inventions begged the question why he would try and kill ComicBook/{{Superman}} or rob banks. In the Post-Crisis continuity, Luthor became a CorruptCorporateExecutive and tech-magnate, yet he still devoted time, money and resources to killing Superman, the Justice League and other endeavours. He even became US President, and held a MaskOfSanity for a while before he ''tried to kill Superman again''. Luthor insisted that without Superman he would be the great hero and "cure cancer". Yet during ComicBook/{{52}} when Superman was missing for a year, Luthor once again lapsed into villainy and on his return, Superman asked "Where's the cure for cancer, Lex?" .

** ComicBook/LexLuthor is the biggest offender. He was originally a diabolical mastermind and MadScientist whose inventions begged the question why he would try and kill ComicBook/{{Superman}} or rob banks. In the Post-Crisis continuity, Luthor became a CorruptCorporateExecutive and tech-magnate, yet he still devoted time, money and resources to killing Superman, the Justice League and other endeavours. He even became US President, and held a MaskOfSanity for a while before he ''tried to kill Superman again''. Luthor insisted that without Superman he would be the great hero and "cure cancer". Yet during ComicBook/52 when Superman was missing for a year, Luthor once again lapsed into villainy and on his return, Superman asked "Where's the cure for cancer, Lex?" .

** ComicBook/LexLuthor is the biggest offender. He was originally a diabolical mastermind and MadScientist whose inventions begged the question why he would try and kill ComicBook/{{Superman}} or rob banks. In the Post-Crisis continuity, Luthor became a CorruptCorporateExecutive and tech-magnate, yet he still devoted time, money and resources to killing Superman, the Justice League and other endeavours. He even became US President, and held a MaskOfSanity for a while before he ''tried to kill Superman again''. Luthor insisted that without Superman he would be the great hero and "cure cancer". Yet during ComicBook/{{52}} when Superman was missing for a year, Luthor once again lapsed into villainy and on his return, Superman asked "Where's the cure for cancer, Lex?" .

** ComicBook/LexLuthor is the biggest offender. He was originally a diabolical mastermind and MadScientist whose inventions begged the question why he would try and kill ComicBook/{{Superman}} or rob banks. In the Post-Crisis continuity, Luthor became a CorruptCorporateExecutive and tech-magnate, yet he still devoted time, money and resources to killing Superman, the Justice League and other endeavours. He even became US President, and held a MaskOfSanity for a while before he ''tried to kill Superman again''. Luthor insisted that without Superman he would be the great hero and "cure cancer". Yet during ComicBook/{{FiftyTwo}} when Superman was missing for a year, Luthor once again lapsed into villainy and on his return, Superman asked "Where's the cure for cancer, Lex?."

** ComicBook/LexLuthor is the biggest offender. He was originally a diabolical mastermind and MadScientist whose inventions begged the question why he would try and kill ComicBook/{{Superman}} or rob banks. In the Post-Crisis continuity, Luthor became a CorruptCorporateExecutive and tech-magnate, yet he still devoted time, money and resources to killing Superman, the Justice League and other endeavours. He even became US President, and held a MaskOfSanity for a while before he ''tried to kill Superman again''. Luthor insisted that without Superman he would be the great hero and "cure cancer". Yet during ComicBook/{{FiftyTwo}} when Superman was missing for a year, Luthor once again lapsed into villainy and on his return, Superman asked "Where's the cure for cancer, Lex".

* ''Franchise/GrandTheftAuto'' has a running conflict between gangsters who broaden their horizons and go into other areas, and those who want to stick to what they're good at:

* In ''Film/AustinPowersInternationalManOfMystery'' Dr. Evil, thawed out after thirty years as a HumanPopsicle, wants to return to his criminial activities but is told that his organization's front business Virtucon is much more profitable.

A character who is Just A Gangster is someone who either passes up or actively resists opportunities to reform. The reasons for this may vary: some may feel that going legit is dreaming too big and trying to reach unattainable goals, others do it because being a gangster is [[BecauseImGoodAtIt the only thing he was ever good at]] and he recognizes that [[NoPlaceForMeThere he'll just be out of place in the legit world]], or because they believe wholeheartedly in DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster and EvilFeelsGood.

-->--''Series/TheWire''

* VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag deals with pirates rather than gangsters and is set in the Carribean during UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfPiracy. Most of the pirates are former Privateers and honest sailors who eventually went rogue because of poor pay and terrible conditions. They set up a Pirate Republic in Nassau, with Benjamin Hornigold hoping that this experiment in democracy will eventually lead them to give up on their criminal origins. As time goes on however it becomes obvious that this is just a pipe dream:

* Franchise/GrandTheftAuto has a running conflict between gangsters who broaden their horizons and go into other areas, and those who want to stick to what they're good at:
** VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity has Tommy Vercetti who was a mob hitman who wants to make a transition into legitimate business, while his mob bosses back in Liberty City wanted him to remain as a gangster. Lance Vance is likewise not as competent in civilian endeavors, so [[spoiler:they turn on Tommy and Tommy ends up killing them both]].
** VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas has this conflict in the hood. CJ sees no hope in the old community-oriented gang represented by his elder brother Sweet, because they don't make enough money and can't compete with the drug dealing Ballas gangs. His friends, Big Smoke and Ryder, also agree but where [[spoiler:they betray Sweet and CJ and go into the drug business, CJ works as a freelance mercenary]] doing jobs for the Triads, the US Government and eventually becoming a legitimate entertainment mogul, though at [[spoiler:Sweet's request, he returns to his gangster ways to reclaim the hood]].
** VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV and its two expansion pack also explores it. Niko Bellic laments that it's unlikely he'll ever be anything more than a hitman and thug, since it's all he's ever known. In [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheBalladOfGayTony The Ballad of Gay Tony]], Luiz actually likes being a club manager and dislikes doing gangster work even if he is good at it. The most tragic case is [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheLostAndTheDamned The Lost and the Damned]], the Lost MC club are stuck in a timewarp of TheFifties and are little more than thugs for other gangs. The one time Johnny Klebitz tries to fix things, he ends up destroying the club.
** VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV has Michael who is an ex-gangster bored by StepfordSuburbia, while Franklin is a ghetto hood who, like CJ, wants to move up the crime ladder and work for bigger scores. Trevor however is entirely conformtable being a gangster and wouldn't dream of being anything else.
* ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'': Ben King managed to raise his street gang, the Vice Kings, to a state of semi-legitimacy, focusing more on the operation of his legal (but still rather corrupt) record label than his illegal prostitution and gambling rings and using his connections to city councillors, judges and the chief of police to keep the Vice Kings out of the spotlight. His [[TheDragon Dragon]] Warren, on the other hand, feels that schmoozing politicians is a waste of time and advises an all-out gang war whenever the Saints come up. [[spoiler:It's for these reasons that he feels that King's gone soft and tries to take over late in the VK story arc.]] What's interesting is that Warren is King's "numbers guy" and the front manager of his record label, and would be in the best position to profit from a turn to legitimacy, but because [[YoungGun he's young, brash and feels that he's got something to prove]], he can't see that.
-->'''Warren:''' Great, now we got yo' crack ass friends trippin'. Like I said, fuckin' with City Hall is a waste of time.\\

'''Warren:''' Yo, fuck that. *pulls out a gun* ''This'' is what gives us power!\\

** Likewise Johnny Gat prefers the random mayhem and heist than the franchise the saints has become in the third game. That's why the Boss is in charge even with less seniority since Gat is too HotBlooded to even do the simplest non violent side of being a gangster and the Boss is too much of a friend to outright defy.

* ''Series/TheWire'': The Trope Named.