History Main / OldRetainer

Deep personal affection is likely, but the OldRetainer will not infringe on propriety to display it, though gestures such as YourFavorite are likely. Not, however, FirstNameBasis. Even the children are likely to be addressed as "Master Jack" and "Miss Jill," since one must keep up the proprieties; however, once the child has grown, the servant may continue with "Master Jack" and "Miss Jill" in an interesting mix of TheyCallMeMisterTibbs and FirstNameBasis. An heir who tries to insist on DontCallMeSir will find the atmosphere artic.

The family |(B)(A)(B)(A)GAR(E)(E)(B)| commonly [[RoyalBlood royal]] or [[BlueBlood noble]], and usually is an old and respected family. The ImpoverishedPatrician frequently has one working for him. The OldRetainer can, however, attach himself to a person rather than a family.

The family is commonly [[RoyalBlood royal]] or [[BlueBlood noble]], and usually is an old and respected family. The ImpoverishedPatrician frequently has one working for him. The OldRetainer can, however, attach himself to a person rather than a family.

* As the twenty-first-century spiritual heir to ''UpstairsDownstairs,'' ''DowntonAbbey'' also gets a lot of mileage from this trope. Mr. Carson, the butler, and Mrs. Hughes, the housekeeper, have both given their whole lives to working for the aristocratic Crawley family. Mrs. Hughes gave up her chance to marry, and Mr. Carson says outright of the Crawleys, "They're the only family I've got."

* Ohatsu and Katou from ''SakuraGari'' are pretty tragic versions of the trope, as they're first-rate witnesses of all the tragedies surrounding the Saiki clan. [[spoiler: Sakurako's suicide [[DespairEventHorizon throws Katou over the edge]], as he was ''her'' caretaker and servant much more than the family butler... so he stabs Souma few afterwards. And Ohatsu doesn't have it much easier, as she did know about Sakurako's mom abusing Souma but couldn't denounce her because of what it'd do to the family, and ''that'' left her an emotional wreck.]]
** And in regards to Katou, [[spiler: he actually was ''Sakurako's father'', since he was involved with Sakurako's mom when young. No wonder he's '''pissed''' when the kid commits suicide.]]

* Ohatsu and Katou from ''SakuraGari'' are pretty tragic versions of the trope, as they're first-rate witnesses of all the tragedies surrounding the Saiki clan. [[spoiler: Sakurako's suicide throws Katou over the edge, as he was more her caretaker than the family butler... so he stabs her brother Souma few afterwards. And Ohatsu doesn't have it much easier as she did know about Sakurako's mom abusing Souma but couldn't denounce her because of what it'd do to the family.]]

* In ''TheSecretGarden'', Ben Weatherstaff, the gardener. His mistress had asked him to take care of her roses; after her DeathByChildbirth, his master had locked up the garden, but he climbed the wall to do it.

* John and Elisa Barrymore from [[SherlockHolmes Hound of the Baskervilles]]. John's family, on his account, have served the Baskervilles for generations. OTOH, they've got a secret of their own: [[spoiler: Elisa's younger brother is a murderer that's on the loose, so they're morally obligated to cover up for him]]

** Same goes to Firs in ''The Cherry Orchard''

** Mind you, Oswin is [[YoungerThanTheyLook only in his 30s]] and comments he'd rather be called a gentleman than an old man in a support with Hector. Compared to bona fide geezer Marcus...
** In fact, most {{Crutch Character}}s in the FireEmblem series tend to be such.

Deep personal affection is likely, but the OldRetainer will not infringe on propriety to display it, though gestures such as YourFavorite are likely. (Not, however, FirstNameBasis. Even the children are likely to be addressed as "Master Jack" and "Miss Jill," since one must keep up the proprieties; however, once the child has grown, the servant may continue with "Master Jack" and "Miss Jill" in an interesting mix of TheyCallMeMisterTibbs and FirstNameBasis.)

Even if a valet, he is not prone to NoHeroToHisValet, having had time to see his employer clearly. (Especially if he's watched him grow up.)

Many servants are deeply attached to the family (or person) they work for. The old retainer is often old himself, and his service has often been long, but the essential trait is his loyalty and propiety. He identifies his interests with those of his employer, regards himself as slighted by any injuries to him, and strives mightly to keep things going properly..

* Good old Gabriel Betteredge from Wilkie Collins' ''The Moonstone''

Common in such feudal societies as FeudalFuture, where, indeed, his family may have worked for the employer's for generations.

* What? No mention of the treasure of humanity Jiiya, from ''Kamen Rider Kabuto''?

* TabletopRoleplayingGames set in the new WorldOfDarkness allow a merit called "Retainer", which may well be this depending on when the player purchases it. Depending on how many dots they put into the merit said retainer can range in competence from TheJeeves to TheBaldrick.

* {{Superman}}'s Kryptonian robot servant Kelex, inherited from Jor-El by way of the Phantom Zone, tends the Fortress of Solitude and worries in a detached way about the master. Until Steel's daughter reprograms him with a hip-hop attitude...

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* Odysseus's old nurse in ''TheOdyssey''. [[OlderThanDirt Which means. . . .]]

* Despite already being a man of advancing age - and a battle-scarred veteran with hundreds of battles behind him - by the start of David Eddings' ''The Elenium'', Sparhawk still keeps his old Squire/Manservant, Kurik, around. When one of his companions suggests it might be time to retire the old fellow so he can spend some more time with his family, Sparhawk admits that he can't even imagine it - they've been together so long, he feels as much a part of him as his sword and armor. He also states that he would've had Kurik knighted ages ago ([[BattleButler He regularly tosses the rest of the knights around on the practice-field]], but Kurik is oldfashioned and maintains that a commoner can't become a knight.

* The main character of Kazuo Ishiguro's ''The Remains of the Day'', Stevens, is a stuck-up British butler. He's played by Anthony Hopkins in the film adaptation.

* The Disney movie ''Candleshoe'' features a butler that has served an old woman for years. When she starts to fall on hard times, he fires her gardener--then dresses up as him and takes care of the garden as well, in his stead. When most of her old friends die or move away, he creates another fictional character to dress up as and be her friend. Later on in the movie, it's revealed she's known all along it was him, but allowed him to continue pretending for her so they would both be happy.