History Main / ThievesGuild

** There's a small-time one in ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'', a shout-out to Fritz Leiber as the code word to let <CHARNAME> inside is "Fafhrd".

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' has one both in ''Baldur's Gate'' and ''Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn'', in the first there is even a shout-out to Fritz Leiber as the code word to let <CHARNAME> inside is "Fafhrd". Two rival Thieves Guilds, one staffed by cutthroat thieves, the other by vampires, play a prominent role in the second game.

** ''TabletopGame/TheDelversGuideToBeastWorld'' has the Thieves' Army. Originally an ''actual'' ArmyOfThievesAndWhores during the Invader War, General Vincent realised that his people were being forgotten again once the war was over, and decided to use the military training and regimen to ensure that they got the support they needed, whether anyone was going to fund it voluntarily or not. The Thieves' Army expects any criminal in a town they occupy to "join, leave, quit or die", and maintain popularity with the commoners by discouraging most violent crimes (and are genuinely completely opposed to slavery. The most violent crimes commited by the Army are ''against'' slavers). The Veterans' Union in Louvain is practicaly an ''official'' Thieves' Army headquarters.

* ''VideoGame/{{Majesty}}'' has an unusual example of this in the Rogue’s Guild, which is a single organized group of "Rogues" for hire by the local crown (the player character). The Rogues essentially work as another type of hero, very cheap to hire, and easily motivated by rewards and bounties, but quick to flee from trouble. They tend to steal from the locals and marketplaces, which doesn’t actually hurt the crown much because the Rogues Guild pays taxes as well. If the crown/player chooses, they can “extort” the guild for money in a pinch – the Rogues will break into the kingdom’s buildings and quickly steal all the taxable income, but keep a cut of roughly a third for themselves. This takes much less time than the usual process of using Tax Collectors, but nets less money in the process.

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->''"...the [Thieves'] Guild was given an annual quota which represented a socially acceptable level of thefts, muggings and assassinations, and in return saw to it in very definite and final ways that unofficial crime was not only rapidly stamped out but knifed, garroted, dismembered and left around the city in an assortment of paper bags as well."''
-->-- '''Creator/TerryPratchett''', ''Literature/EqualRites''

Often, the legitimate powers that be will turn a blind eye to the guild's dealings, as long as the members lay off certain targets (e.g. nobles). Sometimes, the thieves' guild is more powerful than the recognized authority. There could easily be a civil war if the balance of power shifts or the authorities want something, however. If more than one guild begins to operate in town, the fantasy equivalent of a MobWar can easily break out.

* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': The Rogues pay dues, have health plans and even consider themselves a branch of [[WeirdTradeUnion Keystone Local 242.]]

* Some of Creator/AndreNorton's ScienceFiction novels have a Thieves' Guild [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!]]:
** ''Literature/Catseye1961'': Troy manages to avoid joining, but he sees a man who did on his first day on the job, and further involvements ensue.
** ''Literature/ForerunnerForay'': the protagonist, Ziantha, was a member of the Guild who had PsychicPowers.
** ''Literature/TheZeroStone'': the protagonist, Murdoc Jern, was the adopted son of an appraiser who had retired from the Guild.
%%* ''Literature/ArabianNights'': The Forty Thieves of ''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves''.
* ''Literature/{{Below}}'': The city of Eswell has a Thieves' Guild that encompasses a wide area, including surrounding villages. The four highwaymen who are roped into the quest are all members. So is the locked-up forger whose fake treasure map kindles the quest.
* ''Literature/TheBlackMagicianTrilogy'' has a fairly structured organisation with a strong [[HonorAmongThieves sense of honor]]. An important plot element in the sequel is that someone is murdering many of the top thieves and causing the structure to break down.
* ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'': The thieves' guild is called the Sisterhood of the Night. The Whistlers, a family who had been common line soldiers until they were blacklisted after a sister's treason, bullied the Sisterhood into training them to be a whole team of thieves with soldier training. Another character is very surprised to hear the 'bullied' part, but it's apparently possible.
* ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath'': The first book, ''God Stalk'', features a city and Thieves' Guild based quite admittedly on Lankhmar. The thieves fall into the ranks of apprentices, journeymen, and masters, with the guild ruled by a guild lord known as the sirdan. Among the masters, there are "landed masters" and "landless masters"--the landed masters are assigned districts of the city as their territories, and only they can vote in guild matters or train apprentices. There are also the Five Courts, where stolen goods are taken. There, a small fee known as the "guild duty" is levied. The city's laws about theft are kind of weird, and guild members are considered respectable citizens unless they get caught in possession of a stolen item, at which point they face penalties ranging from fines to the loss of a finger, hand, or [[FlayingAlive the whole of one's skin]].
* ''Literature/TheCrimsonShadow'': Montfort has one, though Oliver and Luthien don't join (the latter worries they might drive them out, though it never appears). It remains unclear if other thieves they meet are members.
* ''Literature/TheDeedOfPaksenarrion'' has a thieves' guild; the guild, and one particular member of it, play significant roles in the climactic plot sequence.

* ''Literature/TheElenium'' and ''Literature/TheTamuli'': Each major city seems to have its own head-of-the-underworld, and each of the bosses know and keep in contact with the other bosses, and they meet every so often at the central city of the continent. The organization is loose, but they exchange favors and services for each other; one aspect is "thieves' sanctuary" -- a thief can go to another territory and ask to be kept safe. The local boss is entitled to refuse, but has to answer to the thief's own boss at the next meeting of the council. An unsatisfactory answer may result in a cut throat. Another is a wider fencing service -- goods stolen in one city may be too hot to sell locally, so they ship them to another city where the local guild can fence the goods for them.

* Creator/TamoraPierce:
** ''Literature/CircleOfMagic'': There are organized street gangs, like the one that raised Briar, but not an organized guild. Mostly they steal and get in wars with each other. The closest thing to a guild is in the city that Briar grew up as a child, where the Thief-Lord had several gangs stealing for him.
** ''Literature/TortallUniverse'': There's a thieves' guild (the Court of the Rogue) in more than one major city. While they do some pretty terrible things, they're regarded as a necessity for order, since they re-distribute wealth to the poor, and keep some degree of order on the thieves, murderers and prostitutes.

* ''VideoGame/GothicII'': The Thieves' Guild is an OddlySmallOrganization that dwells in an AbsurdlySpaciousSewer. Lares serves as a [[OneManArmy One Man]] ThievesGuild in ''Gothic III''. Kinda.

* ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar'': Spies and assassins are hired from taverns and inns but you can enhance their training by building a Thieves' Guild, which becomes available if you repeatedly hire assassins and spies from that settlement. Interestingly, the game notes that these Guilds are actually built and sanctioned by your government to train agents in not only bypassing but also improving security. As a result, any town with a Thieves' Guild in it becomes notably harder to infiltrate with assassins or spies.
* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'' gives you the option of siding either with or against the previously mentioned Shadow Thieves of Amn at about the midpoint of Act I.

* ''VideoGame/TalesofVesperia'': There's made mention of the [[VideoGame/TalesoftheAbyss Dark Wings]] being the Thieves Guild of Terca Lumireis.

* ''VideoGame/SonicRiders'': In the first game's backstory, the Babylonians were a race of [[AncientAstronauts aliens]] who crash landed on Earth. It was they who created the technology from which [[HoverBoard Extreme Gear]] evolved. The Babylonians also developed a reputation as thieves and robbers. Their crimes incurred the wrath of the gods, leading to their home Babylon Garden being buried near the Sand Ruins while the Babylonians were scattered across the world.

** Ironforge has the Hidden Circle, which in contrast to SI:7 is more at odds with the law and is plotting a heist from King Magni Bronzebeard's strip mining operations.

* The Thieves' Guild and Assassins' Guild in ''Comicbook/XMen''
* The Rogues from ComicBook/TheFlash pay dues, have health plans and even consider themselves a branch of [[WeirdTradeUnion Keystone Local 242.]]
* This was extended to TheSyndicate and its involvement in the Las Vegas gambling scene during Creator/PeterDavid's run on ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk''. At one point, the Hulk gets a job as a bouncer for [[NeighborhoodFriendlyGangsters Michael Berengetti]], a wiseguy who blends his illegal dealings with his legitimate casino operations. When rival wiseguy Tony Gold wants to set up shop in Vegas, Berengetti orders him out of town, alluding to the "understanding" he and the other local casino bosses have with the authorities. So long as Berengetti and the other bosses only act within certain unwritten boundaries, the authorities leave them alone. In turn, Berengetti and the other bosses also get to take steps to "protect" their local market from outside competitors like Gold.
* ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'': In "The Cornucopia Caper", the planet Cornucopia is ruled by an alliance of criminal guilds, each one responsible for a different area of criminal activity: thievery, kidnapping, blackmail, hijacking, etc.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/OldWest'', there exists the Gunslinger Court. It's sort of a hierarchy among outlaws founded in order to keep the outlaws from tearing each other apart. Only those outlaws who are best at what they do are accepted as members, allowing them to contact each other for special jobs when needed. [[AntiHero Rattlesnake Jake]] is the founder and the highest member in the pecking order, being known as the GrimReaper of the West. Other known members are his second in command Reth ("the Carpenter"), the third in command Delilah Rangler ("the [[NamesToRunAwayFrom/{{Colors}} Scarlet]] Kiss"), Irvin Worst ("the [[BreathWeapon fire breather]]"), Johan Quall ("the fickle thief") and Kepper ("the [[DeviousDaggers knife nut]]"). In the second half of the story, the BigBad assists the upstarts in injuring Jake, giving room to contest for leadership.

* In ''Film/{{M}}'', a Criminal Union (mostly made up of thieves, like the leader Safecracker) ally themselves with the local Beggars Union to catch a child-killer. This is mostly because the resulting police crackdowns are bad for business, but they also claim that [[EvenEvilHasStandards even they won't tolerate a man who kills children.]] (A case of TruthInTelevision, as Creator/FritzLang noticed that a local criminals' union offered to help the police catch one of the serial killers he based the film on.)
* The "Five Rats" of ''Film/KingCat'' is a band of five thieves whom are sworn brothers, led by Bai Yutang the "Brocade-Coated Rat", and they had an army of thieves serving under them.
* ''{{Film/Mythica}}'': There was one operating underneath Marek's home city hiding in the sewer tunnels, where they hoarded priceless ancient documents that prove vital to Marek saving the world.
* The High Table in the ''Franchise/JohnWick'' series is a mysterious council that consists of 12 criminal masterminds who are in-control of [[TheSyndicate the criminal element that spans several continents, if not the entire world]]. Implied to have been descended from TheHashshashin, all mob-lords, assassins, career criminals and anyone associated with the Continental Hotel chain answers to them and are duly punished without mercy if they violate the HonorAmongThieves code they live by or in anyway show defiance to them.

* The Jhereg Organization of ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'' contains almost all organized crime in the Dragaeran Empire, including assassinations, illegal goods, untaxed gambling and lending, and thievery and selling stolen goods.
* OlderThanSteam: Miguel De Cervantes, of ''Literature/DonQuixote'' fame, wrote the short story ''RinconeteAndCortadillo'', which has the two eponymous characters joining one of these. It has been posited as the TropeMaker.
* Fagin's gang of pickpockets in ''Literature/OliverTwist''.
* A thieves' guild figures big in Creator/DavidEddings' ''Literature/TheElenium'' and ''Literature/TheTamuli''--actually, each major city seems to have its own head-of-the-underworld, and each of the bosses know and keep in contact with the other bosses, and they meet every so often at the central city of the continent. The organization is loose, but they exchange favors and services for each other; one aspect is 'thieves' sanctuary'--a thief can go to another territory and ask to be kept safe. The local boss is entitled to refuse, but has to answer to the thief's own boss at the next meeting of the council. An unsatisfactory answer may result in a cut throat. Another is a wider fencing service - goods stolen in one city may be too hot to sell locally, so they ship them to another city where the local guild can fence the goods for them.
* The Mockers in ''Literature/TheRiftwarCycle''.
* Creator/DianaWynneJones's ''Literature/DarkLordOfDerkholm'', which is set in a world that's been forced to adopt all the Fantasyland cliches for the benefit of the tourists, obviously has a Thieves' Guild. Interestingly, though, it turns out to be an authentic institution that's been around since before the whole tourism thing started.
* Fritz Leiber's ''Literature/FafhrdAndTheGrayMouser'' stories have a Thieves Guild in the city of Lankhmar. This is certainly the TropeNamer and probably the TropeMaker, although borderline examples occur earlier.

* Creator/ElizabethMoon's ''Literature/TheDeedOfPaksenarrion'' has a thieves' guild; the guild, and one particular member of it, play significant roles in the climactic plot sequence.
* There's a Caste of Thieves in the city-state of Port Kar on ''Literature/{{Gor}}''.
* Some of Creator/AndreNorton's ScienceFiction novels had a Thieves' Guild [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!]]:
** ''Literature/ForerunnerForay'': the protagonist, Ziantha, was a member of the Guild who had PsychicPowers.
** ''Literature/TheZeroStone'': the protagonist, Murdoc Jern, was the adopted son of an appraiser who had retired from the Guild.
** ''Literature/{{Catseye|1961}}'': Troy himself manages to avoid joining, but he sees a man who did on his first day on the job, and further involvements ensue.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** The Guild of Thieves, Cutpurses and Allied Trades and the Ankh-Morpork Thieves' Guild in is a sophisticated example. [[MagnificentBastard Lord Vetinari]] legalized them as one of his first acts upon becoming Patrician, reasoning that a police force would have to work harder to reduce theft, while the thieves' guild would have to work ''less''. The system works fairly well--a customer can be robbed in the safety and comfort of their own home at the start of the year and afterwards walk the streets without fear (or with less fear than usual, this being [[WretchedHive Ankh-Morpork]]). The Guild has little tolerance of unlicensed theft, and won't cause too much trouble to the city now that they've become respectable and [[TheChessmaster Vetinari]] [[ShameIfSomethingHappened knows where they live, who their wives are, and where their kids go to school]]. The head of the Guild is even one of the most important members of the city council (including important nobles and guild leaders), and in ''Literature/FeetOfClay'' someone even speculates that the head of the Thieves Guild might be interested in being the next Patrician with the implication this is actually possible. In fact, when the Watch is in need of extra manpower he shows up to help.

** Though the page quote is an example of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, as the later books' Thieves' Guild would never commit any assassinations. Killing of an unlicensed thief, possibly, but not murder for money, because [[MurderInc the Assassins' Guild exists]] and wouldn't look kindly on the Thieves' Guild trying to do their job.
* In ''[[Literature/GentlemanBastard The Lies of Locke Lamora]]'', it's never called the Thieves' Guild, but virtually all of the thieves, cutpurses, burglars, con men, and related sorts were "the Right People." They gave the Capa a cut of their profits, and in return were part of his "Secret Peace": as long as they didn't steal from the nobles, they were relatively safe from the Duke's police forces.
** This is also subverted in the same book. Chains refers to the Gentlemen Bastards as [[spoiler: 'nothing less than a fucking ballista bolt right through the heart of Vencarlo's precious Secret Peace']]. As a Priest of The Crooked Warden, the thirteenth God that most Thieves commonly pray to, Chains interprets the Warden's second mandate of [[spoiler:"the rich remember"]] as an instruction to [[spoiler: steal from the rich in violation of the Secret Peace]].
* The ''Literature/TortallUniverse'' has a thieves' guild (the Court of the Rogue) in more than one major city. While they do some pretty terrible things, they're regarded as a necessity for order, since they re-distribute wealth to the poor, and keep some degree of order on the thieves, murderers and prostitutes.
* The Literature/CircleOfMagic universe has organized street gangs, like the one that raised Briar, but not an organized guild like Tortall's. Mostly they steal and get in wars with each other. The closest thing to a guild is in the city that Briar grew up as a child, where the Thief-Lord had several gangs stealing for him.
* In ''Literature/TheNightAngelTrilogy'', the Sa'Kagé is a particularly strong version of this.
* In ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'', the city of Palanthas has a Thieves' Guild, though this is noted to be unusual. The Palanthians actually take a sort of perverse pride in it, as they feel their guild thieves are higher class than thieves in other cities that don't have guilds.
* The Forty Thieves of the ''Literature/ArabianNights'' story ''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves''.
* The thieves' guild of ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' is called the Sisterhood of the Night. The Whistlers, a family who had been common line soldiers until they were blacklisted after a sister's treason, bullied the Sisterhood into training them to be a whole team of thieves with soldier training. Another character is very surprised to hear the 'bullied' part, but it's apparently possible.
* The Other Guild of the Fifth Millennium series by [[http://www.baen.com/author_catalog.asp?author=smeier Shirley Meier]] and Creator/SMStirling operate JustLikeRobinHood, stealing from rich targets and then giving the money to the poorer elements of society. Membership in The Other Guild is secret, with their members actually being enrolled in a different guild, usually as merchants.
* ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity'': Arcie was once guildmaster of one, and most cities apparently had them, although some only had competing independent gangs.
* The city of Eswell in ''Literature/{{Below}}'' has a Thieves' Guild that encompasses a wide area, including surrounding villages. The four highwaymen who are roped into the quest are all members. So is the locked-up forger whose fake treasure map kindles the quest.
* ''Literature/TheCrimsonShadow'': Montfort has one, though Oliver and Luthien don't join (the latter worries they might drive them out, though it never appears). It remains unclear if other thieves they meet are members.
* The Ink in ''Literature/SkateTheThief'' fills this role, having a hand in all theft and extortion operations in [[CityOfAdventure Caribol]], even fighting a MobWar in the past to insure their monopoly on crime.
* ''Literature/TheToughGuideToFantasyland'': They are the most organized body in Fantasyland, with every city having branches that easily communicate to each other, but having independent hierarchies. All kinds of thieves except muggers are in their ranks. They all claim to hate violence, though nonetheless they're proficient fighters. The group is also organized [[WeirdTradeUnion just like a normal guild]], with apprentices, journeymen, masters and a Guildmaster with a name like The Faceless Man or The Gentleman. Heroes will at some point meet with the Guildmaster after being led blindfolded to his lair. His face will be hidden, and he'll have them look after a young thief they've met in return for the Guild's aid. This thief will be a great member of the Tour, with suggestions that he is the Guildmaster's son.
* ''Literature/SwansBraidAndOtherTalesOfTerizan'': Terizan joins up with the Oreen thieves' guild by getting into their sanctum without being caught, something no one ever managed before. Their leaders, the three Tribunes, are quite impressed and offer her membership immediately. No thief is deemed worthy if they can't find its hidden headquarters by just looking on their own before sneaking in. The Tribunes continue to appear, with each story being set off by them giving Terizan an assignment.

* In ''{{Series/Crusade}}'', Dureena is a member of the Thieves Guild, who run pickpocketing, thievery, con jobs, and larceny, but nothing violent, nothing that will alert security.
* Iron Simon's criminal gang in ''Series/ThievesOfTheWood'' are above the law because they round up and enslave homeless people to build the Mayor's roads.

** In [=AD&D=] specific settings took over issues that belonged to them, so ''The Complete Thief's Handbook'' provided a generic guide: this outlined the relationship with political, social and economical factors and expounded the variants of structure and internal policy for such guilds.

** Arguably the most famous ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' thieves' guild are the Shadow Thieves of Amn, from the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms''. Though as mentioned above, later editions have had the shadow thieves expand their business to a whole variety of crimes including smuggling and assassinations.
** An interesting variation occurs in a couple of game settings, including the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' city of Greyhawk in the World of Greyhawk and Port Blacksand, the City of Thieves from the ''Literature/FightingFantasy Gamebooks'' series. In both cases, the Thieves' Guilds are actively involved in the government of the cities they operate in and contribute to its daily life. While both guilds have their own internal feuds and divisions, certain social conventions exist that keep the Guilds' internal struggles from harming the city at large. In Greyhawk's case, a high-ranking member of the Guild is the ''Lord Mayor''.
** In ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' Sharn's four major criminal organizations are more like [[GenericEthnicCrimeGang ethnic gangs]], given the pulp-influenced DungeonPunk setting.
* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' gives us the Cateran mercenaries' guild in Mercadia.

* Downplayed with The Guild in ''TabletopGame/HeroRealms''. While a powerful faction of smugglers, rogues, and assassins, it doesn't control all criminal activity. The player could be an independent Thief, and the Necros cult pretty much still preys in the alleys and slums of the setting.

* The play ''Theatre/SheikRattleAndRoll'' has the Forty Thieves of the Literature/ArabianNights being unionised. In a scene set in a harem, they discover that the harem girls and eunuchs are also unionised, leading to an exchange of cards for the Amalgamated Thieves and Rogues Union, the Amalgamated Harem Girls and Dockers, and Amalgamated Eunuchs and Bacon Slicers (at which point every male character on stage crosses their legs. It's that kind of play).

* Franchise/TheElderScrolls:
** In ''[[Videogame/TheElderScrollsArena Arena]]'' they were a non-joinable faction that provided opposition for some [[RandomlyGeneratedLevels randomly generated quests]].
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'' you could join them.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'' has two — the Imperial Thieves Guild and the non-joinable, xenophobic, native [[TheSyndicate Camonna Tong]] — and in fact, one of the main points of the Thieves Guild questline is its war against the Camonna Tong. Note that here, the Camonna Tong is equivalent to TheMafia, whereas the Thieves Guild has a mostly strict "no kill" policy, practices HonorAmongThieves, and even has some [[JustLikeRobinhood Robinhood-like]] traits.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' has one. Official government policy is to deny its existence. Of course, this is probably a ploy of the Guild, considering the number of public officials who take bribes to look the other way.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' has one. Unfortunately, they're a darker shade of gray and not as Robin Hood-esque as in past games. They've resorted to making threats, shaking down merchants, and even having people falsely imprisoned. Thankfully they still have the standard of not killing people, but it's mostly because it's [[PragmaticVillainy bad for business]] ("A dead man can't pay...") and it only applies to targets (they don't mind you killing hired muscle). They're only a [[TheRemnant remnant]] of what they once were with influence only in [[WretchedHive Riften]] by the time of the game, but the player can participate in jobs that can help spread their influence to the other holds, allowing them to bribe guards and gain fences for stolen goods. Ultimately, though, in order to reestablish the Guild to its former glory, the player has to [[spoiler: break the bad luck curse that's befallen the Guild by recovering the stolen SkeletonKey and restoring the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] Nocturnal's favor to the Guild]].
* ''VideoGame/Fallout1'' had the Thieves' Circle, led by a man named Loxley who idolized Robin Hood and took his name (Robin of Loxley), even going so far as to [[{{Fauxreigner}} fake a British accent]]. He gives the player a quest to steal a necklace from the head of the Water Merchants as initiation into the Guild, and if completed he rewards them with 3000 caps and an electronic lockpick.
* The ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' series considers a Thieves' Guild a home away from home for Thieves on the go. WeirdTradeUnion jokes surround them, and it's often part of the Thief player character's mission to track down their local Guild, or at least find those friendly to thieves. There are three guilds to be found: two active ones in [[VideoGame/QuestForGloryI Spielburg]] and [[VideoGame/QuestForGloryV Silmaria]], and an abandoned one in [[VideoGame/QuestForGloryIV Mordavia]]. There's ''technically'' one in [[VideoGame/QuestForGloryII Shapier]], but it doesn't have a guild hall or hidden base, being more loosely knit to avoid scrutiny.
* ''[[VideoGame/ThiefTheDarkProject Thief Gold]]'' has one. Ironically, they are the title thief's enemies; he works alone, doesn't like answering to authority, and they tried to kill him a few times. Naturally, he steals from them (while cleverly making it look like two high ranking officials within the organization stole from each other to cover his tracks).
* The collection information in ''[[VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness Disgaea DS]]'' indicates that the Netherworld has one.
* The Blackguards in ''VideoGame/VacantSky'' are a form of this trope. Of course, they take this to a new level, incorporating piracy, pillaging, and necromancy.
* In ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar'', spies and assassins are hired from taverns and inns but you can enhance their training by building a Thieves' Guild, which becomes available if you repeatedly hire assassins and spies from that settlement. Interestingly, the game notes that these Guilds are actually built and sanctioned by your government to train agents in not only bypassing but also improving security. As a result, any town with a Thieves' Guild in it becomes notably harder to infiltrate with assassins or spies.
* These also exist in the ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series, and are often necessary to obtain certain critical supplies. The tinker class also seems to function as something of a stand-in for most games' Rogue class.
* The Department of Shadowy Arts and Crafts, from ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing''.
* The rogues in ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' aren't just members of a thieves' guild, they're apparently members of a ''[=thieves'=] religious monastic order''. They're also not thieves...
* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'', [[LovableRogue Ezio]] has to team up with the Thieves' Guild of Venice. Turns out, [[spoiler:their leader, Antonio, is an Assassin himself.]]
** In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'', one of the anti-Borgia factions in Rome is a Thieves Guild that is run by the mysterious master thief [[spoiler: who's also an Assassin]] La Volpe ("The Fox"). Ezio helps Volpe establish a proper guildhall disguised as an inn and can undertake missions for them to help undermine a rival Borgia-backed Thieves Guild called the Cento Occhi.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'':
** The city of Stormwind has SI:7, which is kinda like a rogue's guild, but pays its dues to the city and its rulers by acting as its spies and assassins.
** Ironforge has the Hidden Circle, which in contrast to SI:7 is more at odds with the law and is plotting a heist from King Magni Bronzebeard's strip mining operations.
** The Shattered Hand clan in Orgrimmar has become an integral part of Thrall's Horde, acting as assassins and training aspiring rogues to ensure orc and troll safety.
** The Deathstalkers serve as the Forsaken's rogues' guild, also doubling as a PraetorianGuard for Varimathras and Sylvanas.
** Ravenholdt is a neutral guild that only takes in the best rogues, thieves and assassins into its fold.
* In ''VideoGame/TalesofVesperia'' there's made mention of the [[VideoGame/TalesoftheAbyss Dark Wings]] being the Thieves Guild of Terca Lumireis.
* Guilds for thieves, assassins, and rogues all exist in ''VideoGame/RagnarokOnline'' for job-changing purposes, though you don't really see the NPC's working together in large numbers. Hilariously, said members are alarmed when being conversed with Knight/Crusader or [[HolierThanThou Priest/Monk]] player character.
* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Gothic}} Gothic II]]'', ThievesGuild is an OddlySmallOrganization that dwells in an AbsurdlySpaciousSewer. Lares serves as a [[OneManArmy One Man]] ThievesGuild in ''Gothic III''. Kinda.
* ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana'' has the Nevarl Thieves' Guild, a band of formerly good-natured thieves who suddenly desire to become a nation-conquering kingdom, thanks to [[spoiler:the guild's leader and most other members being brainwashed by one of the villains, Belladonna]].
* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', Kirkwall's major Thieves Guild is The Coterie. During their first year in Kirkwall, Hawke can work for either The Red Iron Mercenaries or Athenril's Smugglers, depending on their choices. Other criminal gangs encountered are the Carta, the Raiders of the Waking Sea, Guard Pretenders, Redwater Teeth, Sharp's Highwaymen, Invisible Sisters, Dog Lords, the Undercuts, Slave Hunters, Followers of She, Crimson Bloodragers, most of whom Hawke will eradicate for the Friends of Red Jenny. Yeah, Kirkwall is ''[[WretchedHive that]]'' kind of town!
* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' you can perform a job for the Friends of Red Jenny, but it's not until ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' that you find anything about them. They're made up of lower-class people with no central leadership with a goal of getting back at nobles that they've got a grudge against. They carry out everything [[BreadEggsMilkSquick from harmless but embarrassing pranks to theft to the occasional assassination]].
* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'' gives you the option of siding either with or against the previously mentioned Shadow Thieves of Amn at about the midpoint of Act I.
* In ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings II'' a thieves guild may form in one of your provinces if you have a poor steward or a high budget deficit. Their presence decreases your income.
* In ''VideoGame/KultHereticKingdoms'', thieves in the city of Kyallisar are generally under the rule of a thief master. The authorities don't go after the thief master as strongly as they could, partly because the thief master generally keeps the worst parts of the criminal underworld suppressed better than the authorities could. When the protagonist arrives, there's a civil war between two people who want the post, and she can be tasked with ensuring the triumph of one candidate (the authorities don't care which) to stabilise things again.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has one that functions as law enforcement in the seedier dealings of Limsa Lominsa. After the player character elects to become a Rogue there, their quest line generally revolves around dealing with other bands or gangs caught breaking the 'code' that loosely unify the various factions under a common set of rules. It's gradually revealed how a proper group of rogues goes about keeping things in check that Limsa Lominsa's actual law enforcement can't.
* Joining the Thieves' Guild is a requirement in ''VideoGame/WizardsAndWarriors [[ColonCancer 3: Kuros: Visions Of Power]]''. To gain the guild's abilities, Kuros is required to recover a statue and pass the guild's trial. There are three levels of membership, each of which has a different ability. Level 1 gives Kuros a dagger similar to his shortsword Knight form, but allows him to move faster. Level 2 gives a [[CrowbarCombatant crowbar]], which is the same combat-wise, but bestows even faster moving speed and allows Kuros to enter certain windows. Level 3 gives a SkeletonKey, which has no offensive capabilities whatsoever, but is the fastest class in the game and can open every door and window without the need to buy keys.
* In ''VideoGame/RavenswordShadowlands'', there's a hidden one working in secret within the main town. One quest requires you to locate it and destroy it.

* Lampshaded and subverted in ''Webcomic/ErrantStory'', where the mercenary guilds in Farrel can work on either side of the law, according to the principle of supply and demand, as Jon [[http://www.errantstory.com/2005-08-05/397 explains]]. This give Sarine a marvelous opportunity to play DeadpanSnarker, which, of course, she puts to good use, only to have Ellis volley it right back to her.

* The Thieves' Guild in ''Webcomic/AModestDestiny'', also double as something of an assassins' guild, employ {{Ninja}}s, and [[AlLThereInTheManual according to bonus material, were invented to balance out the economy]].
* Haley of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' used to be a member of one. She was reinstated after some AggressiveNegotiations, but near-immediately turned around and gave a vicious resignation message in the form of murdering her nemesis and stealing her magic items. Turns out, an organization of criminals tends to be a WretchedHive, and after her CharacterDevelopment Haley wants nothing more to do with them.
* In ''Webcomic/SnowByNight'', Jassart and Blaise have formed their own little rook guild that has wards, people who pay the rooks so they can keep from getting robbed. One of the reasons the two are going after the PhantomThief is because the culprit has stolen from their ward, Claudine, as well as the wards of other guilds.

* {{Website/Neopets}} has had one since the early days of the site. Its most prominent appearance was in the Hannah and the Ice Caves plot, where they were the antagonistic side. Their second prominent appearance was in the War of the Obelisk plot, where they're one of six sides you are able to join.

* ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'' often features a Thieves' Guild working in Agrabah. One episode had Jasmine [[{{ItMakesSenseInContext}} trying to steal something to prove herself that she could be a "street rat" like Aladdin]]. She gets caught by a thief... [[{{BaitAndSwitch}} who then hands her his card and tells her she has 30 days to obtain a Guild permit]].

** The headquarters itself is located in a BadGuyBar called The Skull and Dagger
* The Shadowsteppers from ''WesternAnimation/{{Fangbone}}'', who are based on the kinds of thieves Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian often encountered in his adventures. They're every bit as likely to help Fangbone protect [[{{Macguffin}} Venomous Drool's toe]] as they are to try and take it from him.
* Boris Badenov of ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'' is a card-carrying member of Local 12 of the Villains, Thieves and Scoundrels Union.

* The ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' series considers a Thieves' Guild a home away from home for Thieves on the go. WeirdTradeUnion jokes surround them, and it's often part of the Thief player character's mission to track down their local Guild, or at least find those friendly to thieves. There are three guilds to be found: two active ones in [[VideoGame/QuestForGloryI Spielburg]] and [[VideoGame/QuestForGloryV Silmaria]], and an abandoned one in [[VideoGame/QuestForGloryIV Mordavia]].
* ''[[VideoGame/ThiefTheDarkProject Thief Gold]]'' has one. Ironically, they are the title thief's enemies. Naturally, he steals from them (while cleverly making it look like two high ranking officials within the organization stole from each other to cover his tracks).

** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' has one. Unfortunately, they're a darker shade of gray and not as Robin Hood-esque as in past games. They've resorted to making threats, shaking down merchants, and even having people falsely imprisoned. Thankfully they still have the standard of not killing people, but it's mostly because it's [[PragmaticVillainy bad for business]] ("A dead man can't pay...") and it only applies to targets (they don't want you killing hired muscle). They're only a [[TheRemnant remnant]] of what they once were with influence only in [[WretchedHive Riften]] by the time of the game, but the player can participate in jobs that can help spread their influence to the other holds, allowing them to bribe guards and gain fences for stolen goods. Ultimately, though, in order to reestablish the Guild to its former glory, the player has to [[spoiler: break the bad luck curse that's befallen the Guild by recovering the stolen SkeletonKey and restoring the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] Nocturnal's favor to the Guild]].

* In VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft, the city of Stormwind has SI:7, which is kinda like a rogue's guild, but pays its dues to the city and its rulers by acting as its spies and assassins.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/OldWest'', there exists the Gunslinger Court. It's sort of a hierarchy among outlaws founded in order to keep the outlaws from tearing each other apart. Only those outlaws who are best at what they do are accepted as members, allowing them to contact each other for special jobs when needed. [[AntiHero Rattlesnake Jake]] is the founder and the highest member in the pecking order, being known as the GrimReaper of the West. Other known members are his second in command Reth ("the Carpenter"), the third in command Delilah Rangler ("the [[NamesToRunAwayFrom/{{Colors}} Scarlet]] Kiss"), Irvin Worst ("the [[BreathWeapon fire breather]]"), Johan Quall ("the fickle thief") and Kepper ("the {{knife nut}}"). In the second half of the story, the BigBad assists the upstarts in injuring Jake, giving room to contest for leadership.

* ''VideoGame/SonicRiders'': In the first game's backstory, [[AncientAstronauts the Babylonians were a race of aliens who crash landed on earth. It was they who created the technology from which [[HoverBoard Extreme Gear]] evolved. The Babylonians also developed a reputation as thieves and robbers. Their crimes incurred the wrath of the gods, leading to their home Babylon Garden being buried near the Sand Ruins while the Babylonians were scattered across the world.

A type of WeirdTradeUnion, though a thieves' guild is usually more important to a story than most examples of that trope. Compare with MurderInc. The working language of such a guild is typically a ThievesCant.