History Main / RetiredOutlaw

This trope often overlaps with RetiredBadass and RetiredGunfighter, but doesn't have to. Some outlaws retire specifically because they don't have the {{Badass}} attitude necessary to succeed in the field. Compare IJustWantToBeNormal for a similar mindset. If the outlaw was particularly bad, and shows no remorse for past actions, he may be a RetiredMonster.

* Outlaws who has successfully pulled off that fabled OneLastJob and then try to go directly from "fugitive" to "law-abiding citizen" with no steps in between. Generally this involves StartingANewLife: changing his name, moving to a different territory, or otherwise obscuring his identity. How well this works depends on the story, but usually at least the main characters (who may be their former partners in crime) will discover the retired outlaw's secret.

This trope often overlaps with RetiredBadass and RetiredGunfighter, but doesn't have to. If the outlaw was particularly bad, and shows no remorse for past actions, he may be a RetiredMonster. Some outlaws retire specifically because they don't have the {{Badass}} attitude necessary to succeed in the field. Compare IJustWantToBeNormal for a similar mindset.

* Earl from ''MyNameIsEarl'' tries to do this by creating "good karma" through good deeds, after getting hit by a bus (as a balance for winning the lottery after all his bad deeds). Unfortunately, all the bad karma from before is still conspiring to force him into it. At one point, he loses faith in his list (of things to make up for) and goes back to his criminal practices. He gets hit by a car within a few days.

This trope often overlaps with RetiredBadass and RetiredGunfighter, but doesn't have to. Some outlaws retire specifically because they don't have the {{Badass}} attitude necessary to succeed in the field. Compare IJustWantToBeNormal for a similar mindset.

* LoveFreak Miyu from ''SuperGals'' is a former gang leader. When the show starts she's dating the police officer who arrested her...

* ''[[YoungGuns Young Guns 2]]'' (in one of its great number of historical inaccuracies) portrays Pat Garrett as a Retired Outlaw who was part of Billy the Kid's group before being recruited into being a lawman and hunting Billy for the local authorities.

* ''ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKid'' try to do this by becoming bodyguards. They go back when their legitimate employment comes with a much higher body count.
* ''TheGunfighter'' has two men who do this. One succeeds, the other fails. The one who succeeds becomes a town marshal.

* In ''ShanghaiNoon'', we have Roy O'Bannon, who starts the movie as an outlaw but by the end of the movie he's softened up . The epilogue reveals that [[spoiler:he has become a lawman, and that his real name is Wyatt Earp.]]
* [[spoiler:Ronald]] in ''TheWarriorsWay''.

* Outlaws who has successfully pulled off that fabled OneLastJob and then try to go directly from "fugitive" to "law-abiding citizen" with no steps in between. Generally this involves StartingANewLife: changing his name, moving to a different territory, or otherwise obscuring his identity. How well this works depends on the story, but usually at least the main characters will discover the retired outlaw's secret.

Let's face it, the outlaw life isn't for everyone. Sure, being outside the law gives you freedom, but you face freezing, starvation, getting ventilated by bullets on a regular basis and forget about establishing normal relationships. So some outlaws try to go straight.

* ''Series/AliasSmithAndJones'' has two outlaws trying to retire, but forced into the BoxedCrook role in order to get a pardon.

* Outlaws who try to go directly from "fugitive" to "law-abiding citizen" with no steps in between. Generally this involves StartingANewLife: changing his name, moving to a different territory, or otherwise obscuring his identity. How well this works depends on the story, but usually at least the main characters will discover the retired outlaw's secret.

* ''OnceUponATexasTrain'' has a band of retired outlaws who are reunited for one last job when their leader is finally released from prison.

* Outlaws who try to go directly from "fugitive" to "law-abiding citizen" with no steps in between. Generally this involves changing his name, moving to a different territory, or otherwise obscuring his identity. How well this works depends on the story, but usually at least the main characters will discover the retired outlaw's secret.

* ''RobinandMarian'': At the start of the film, Robin and Little John return to England as this but quickly get drawn back into their old lifestyle when the Sheriff tries to kidnap Marian.

* Both ClintEastwood and MorganFreeman's characters in ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}''.

* Michael in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' starts the game as one of these, having settled down, entered WitnessProtection, and raised a family using his earnings from his past days as a {{bank robber|y}}. However, he's soon drawn back in by both his wife burning through his money and the fact that he doesn't feel fulfilled by "civilian" life.

* Wayne in ''[[{{Mistborn}} Mistborn]]: Literature/TheAlloyOfLaw'' used to be a thief before he accidentally killed a man. He was saved on the brink of being hanged by [[HeterosexualLifePartners Wax]]- a lawman - and ended up becoming a lawman himself, if a bit of a KleptomaniacHero. He still sends half of his wages to the family of the man he killed.

* While most of the fugitives in ''Series/TimeTrax'' continued their criminal activities in the 20th Century, one of them took the chance to get a fresh start and became a lawman. He died helping Lambert take down a present-era criminal. His gravestone had a birth date a century and a half later than the death date, and the inscription "He found his place in time."

* Jericho in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' is a retired raider, although he doesn't seem to be happy living in Megaton. Also, [[spoiler:Billy Creel might have killed Maggie's parents and "adopted" her. Of course that theory comes from Jericho.]]

* While most of the fugitives in ''TimeTrax'' continued their criminal activities in the 20th Century, one of them took the chance to get a fresh start and became a lawman. He died helping Lambert take down a present-era criminal. His gravestone had a birth date a century and a half later than the death date, and the inscription "He found his place in time."

* '' Series/{{CSI}} once had an episode where one of the ringleaders of the Rwandan Genocide moved to America posing as a refugee, trying to put it behind him. It... doesn't work out...

* '' [[Series/CSI]] once had an episode where one of the ringleaders of the Rwandan Genocide moved to America posing as a refugee, trying to put it behind him. It... doesn't work out...

* In ''MysticRiver'' Jimmy Marcus was a juvenile delinquent and later the leader of a fairly sophisticated group of thieves. He retired for good after the combination of going to prison and his wife's death while he was inside, leaving him to raise their daughter when he got out, and now owns a convenience shop in town. Although the younger generation has no idea what he did, some of the neighborhood's older residents have never stopped thinking of him as a thief.