Line #60 Main/BakerStreetRegular


1	[[quoteright:350:[[Series/SherlockHolmesAndTheBakerStreetIrregulars https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/large_irregularsscene.jpg]]]]
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3	Sometimes, a detective or police officer, no matter how great, simply needs help from time to time. It's no big deal, really. The Baker Street Regular is [[KidSidekick that child]] that finds himself in the situations with the hero, especially the dangerous ones.
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5	Your first run-in with the Baker Street Regular is likely while he is [[SnoopingLittleKid searching through the hero's home or office]] or [[StreetUrchin stealing something to eat because he cannot afford it]]. If he is not related to the hero in any way, expect him to have no family, except for maybe a sibling or two, but he is almost always the eldest, and almost always male. If he is an orphan, [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe after scratching his back a couple times, expect him to be forever indebted to you]] and to get you out of a sticky situation in the nick of time, but don't expect him to just leave. You're stuck with him.
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7	After you manage to win the respect of the Baker Street Regular, he will be an invaluable tool and assistant to your group. Life on the street is going to make him able to hear rumors that you won't be able to while you are out on your investigations. He is always good at hiding, especially in situations where the BigBad is nearby.
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9	The Baker Street Regular is a pun on the {{Trope Namer\|s}}, the Baker Street Irregulars, a mob of orphaned street urchins often employed by Sherlock Holmes to gather rumors, spy, and do various odd jobs. In return for their discretion and loyalty he paid what was, [[MundaneLuxury to them, an outrageous sum of money]].
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11	->''At this moment there was a loud ring at the bell, and I could hear Mrs. Hudson, our landlady, raising her voice in a wail of expostulation and dismay.\
12	"By heavens, Holmes," I said, half rising, "I believe that they are really after us."\
13	"No, it's not quite so bad as that. It is the unofficial force -- the Baker Street irregulars."\
14	As he spoke, there came a swift pattering of naked feet upon the stairs, a clatter of high voices, and in rushed a dozen dirty and ragged little street Arabs. There was some show of discipline among them, despite their tumultuous entry, for they instantly drew up in line and stood facing us with expectant faces. One of their number, taller and older than the others, stood forward with an air of lounging superiority which was very funny in such a disreputable little scarecrow.''
15	-->-- ''Literature/SherlockHolmes: The Sign of the Four'' (Doubleday p. 126)
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17	See also TheInformant, who is usually somewhat older and portrayed rather less sympathetically.
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19	----
20	!!Examples:
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22	[[foldercontrol]]
23
24	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
25	* Subverted in ''Manga/BlackButler''. Doll, aside from not being the eldest (though that is justified due to her elder "siblings" being {{Genre Blind\|ness}}), gives Ciel help, covers for him, and fits this trope to a T [[spoiler: before Ciel goes into an episode and orders for her death.]]
26	* In ''Manga/CaseClosed'', Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko, the Detective Boys. They're even referred to as Baker Street Irregulars in an arc. They ''literally'' play this when they entered the {{cyberspace}} Victorian England AU in the NonSerialMovie ''Phantom of Baker Street''.
27	* As the plot approaches the end of ''[[Literature/{{Slayers}} Slayers Next]]'', one of these attempts to pickpocket the party, but eventually joins them and befriends Martina. Subverted, as [[spoiler:he's the BigBad.]]
28	* As an adaptation of the ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' canon, ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'' has Sherlock Holmes and his Baker Street Irregulars, right on schedule. They assist him in legwork and small information gathering.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Comic Books]]
32	* In the Post-Crisis retelling of his origin, this is how Jason Todd first met Franchise/{{Batman}}. He was trying to steal the Batmobile's hubcaps at the time.
33	* ComicBook/TheNewsboyLegion are nothing if not this trope. Primarily they are this for the ComicBook/{{Guardian}}, but they also work with ComicBook/JimmyOlsen and Franchise/{{Superman}}. Guardian took them in and became their legal guardian in his secret identity.
34	* Marvel Comics had its own Newsboy Legion equivalent in Teen Brigade, a team of ham radio buffs (led by Hulk's buddy Rick Jones) who helped superheroes network. They were actually partially responsible for the founding of ComicBook/TheAvengers.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
38	* Dick Tracy, Jr, from ''ComicStrip/DickTracy'', is one of the examples of a street urchin who gets adopted. Also appears in the film.
39	* ''ComicStrip/ModestyBlaise'': Samantha 'Sam' Brown is an East End kid who attends a martial arts class run by Willie. She and her gang of street urchins sometimes fill this role for Willie and Modesty.
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Fanwork]]
43	* In ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney'' fanfic ''Fanfic/TheGreatAceDetective'', pick-pocket Gina Lestrade is often hired by Herlock Sholmes to find information.
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
47	* Creator/CharlieChaplin in ''Film/ShanghaiKnights''.
48	* Short Round in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom''.
49	* The street urchin Toto in ''[[Film/AmericanNinja American Ninja 2]]'', who never forgets to demand money for service rendered.
50	* The kid Manco pays to keep tabs on Mortimer in ''Film/ForAFewDollarsMore'' fits the bill.
51	* Averted with the Blue Blaze Irregulars in ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossThe8thDimension''. They're not all kids, they're not all urchins or orphans, and there is (according to the book, anyway) a training program, required progress in education, and other requirements.
52	* Subverted in ''Film/TheArrival'' [[spoiler:when the kid who hooks up with the protagonist turns out to be a spy sent by the aliens. In fact, he's an alien himself.]]
53	* ''Film/AWalkAmongTheTombstones''. T.J. provides both street-smarts and computer literacy to the private eye protagonist, who doesn't have any computer skills.
54	* In ''Film/NineteenNinetyFourBakerStreetSherlockHolmesReturns'', Holmes has a run-in with a local street gang and ends recruiting one of them, Zapper, as a contact. At the end of the film, Zapper brings the rest of the gang on board as Holmes' new Baker Street Irregulars.
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder:Literature]]
58	* The Baker Street Irregulars from ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'', who inspired the trope name.
59	** They're of great help even in the first case Watson sees, tracking down a singular cab in the entirety of London.
60	** Deconstructed in the officially approved pastiche ''Literature/TheHouseOfSilk'', when [[spoiler:one of them gets killed, brutally, because they took a mission]].
61	* Akechi Kogoro had several as well, including Yoshio Kobayashi, [[NoYay who later became famous for something else entirely]].
62	* ''Literature/SolarPons'' has the Praed Street Irregulars.
63	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
64	*** Nobby Nobbs is introduced in ''Literature/{{Night Watch\|Discworld}}'' as one of these. Vimes sees Nobby spying on him for a whole slew of people, and begins paying Nobby to, in turn, spy on them.
65	** Sometimes members of the Beggar's Guild, although largely adults and therefore on the very fringes of the trope, act as this for Lord Vetinari as one of many information-gathering channels (it's implied that someone who may in some small way be connected to him spreads rumors that he pays for information so that they'll come volunteer it to him instead of him needing to send someone looking). It's implied Vimes occasionally gets information from them as well.
66	* Ostap Bender from Ilya Ilf and Eugene Petrov's ''Literature/TheTwelveChairs'' employed them to track one of the titular, possibly treasure-holding chairs.
67	* Ben Fischer had apparently started as this in his {{backstory}} in ''Literature/HellHouse'' before his powers awakened.
68	* In ''Literature/TheEagleAndTheNightingales'', Nightingale hires a group of street children to be her eyes and ears.
69	* In ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' while on a secret mission to Mesa, Victor Cachat employees a number of street urchins to serve as spies and couriers. The Mesan organized crime bosses also employ lots of these. And Victor himself served as one to Noveau Paris' criminal elements in his youth.
70	* Varys Kingfisher, the royal spymaster in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', is implied to employ mute (because he had their tongues cut out to prevent idle gossip) yet literate (so they can read secret documents without stealing them) children who wander the sewers and low places of King's Landing as his "little birds."
71	* Maya from ''Literature/GarrettPI'' started out as this, hiring out members of the street gang she leads (the Sisters of Doom) to Garrett for information-gathering tasks. Subverted when she grows up enough to decide she'd rather be his LoveInterest instead.
72	* In the ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' series, Mags rescues gangs of street kids forced to work as thieves for various cruel [[TheFagin men]] and recruits them to unofficially be informants for the Crown (and officially as runners and messenger boys.)
73	* The trope namers appear in ''Literature/ExtraordinaryAdventuresOfTheAthenaClub'', as does an all-''girl'' band of orphans-cum-spies who work for Irene Norton in a similar capacity.
74	* ''Literature/TheInvisibleDetective'': The Cannoniers are a group of kids who supposedly work for reclusive detective Brandon Lake. However, Lake is an InventedIndividual, and [[KidDetective the kids solve the cases themselves]].
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
78	* ''Series/TheAdventuresOfShirleyHolmes'': Shirley and Bo won't hesitate to recruit Alicia, Bart, and/or Stink as this if the case requires their assistance. On rare occasions [[EnemyMine even Molly will become one]] if her goals align with Shirley's.
79	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Lord Varys has an Irregulars network he refers to as his "little birds." These in later days fall into the employment of Qyber, the necromancing dishonored Maester put on the Small Council by Cersei Lannister.
80	* ''Series/ThePretender'' episode "Back from the Dead... Again" has [[TheArtfulDodger Bruno]] who gets recruited by Jarod to help him for the episode.
81	* Fittingly for a reimagining of Sherlock Holmes himself, ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' has Bill Wiggins, a heroin addict who doubles as a chemistry genius. The pilot episode introduces Sherlock's "homeless network," who are an obvious stand-in for the Irregulars.
82	* ''Series/DirkGently'' knows a [[HollywoodHacking Hollywood Hacker]] who happens to be twelve. And gets paid with cigarettes.
83	* ''Series/TheIrregulars'' is a tv show that focuses on the TropeNamers. They are hired by Dr. Watson to help investigate the supernatural goings-on in London.
84	* ''Series/KamenRider'' and ''Series/KamenRiderV3'' had the Boys' Kamen Rider Squad, a fan club consisting mostly of preteen boys who would contact the heroes via radio if they spotted suspicious activity.
85	* ''Series/KamenRiderSuper1'' had the Junior Rider Team, but they were more an example of {{Tagalong Kid}}s, trying to investigate things on their own, getting captured, and needing to be rescued by Super-1.
86	* ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'', who actually ''is'' a detective, has a network of informants he calls the Fuuto Irregulars; however, none of them really fit this trope. The closest it gets is with Queen and Elizabeth, a pair of [[{{Joshikousei}} high school students]] who were already informants for Shotaro before coming to him with a case partway through the series.
87	* ''Series/SherlockHolmesAndTheBakerStreetIrregulars'' is one off Creator/{{BBC}} drama about the titular irregulars investigating the disappearances of some of their members while aiding Holmes, who has been accused of murder.
88	[[/folder]]
89
90	[[folder:Podcasts]]
91	* ''Podcast/RedPandaAdventures'' has Harry Kelly, one of many in the titular masked hero's network of agents [[spoiler: who grows up to essentially become Superman and become the Red Panda's heroic successor]].
92	[[/folder]]
93
94	[[folder:Theatre]]
95	* Billy, the page boy to William Gillette's ''Theatre/SherlockHolmes'', who was adapted from a similar character in the original Holmes novels.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Video Games]]
99	* Lilly in ''VideoGame/{{Ceville}}''.
100	* The Black Ravens Gang in ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheLastSpecter'' is composed entirely of these. In a minor sense, Luke and Flora may also qualify, although they're not street urchins, Flora doesn't help much with the investigations and Luke's parents are still alive and well.
101	* Brynn from ''VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney'' acts this way towards April.
102	* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', Thane would sometimes employ street urchins to gather intelligence for him.
103	* Clara O'Dea and her urchins in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedSyndicate''. Considering the VictorianLondon setting, almost certainly a tip of the hat to the TropeNamer.
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder:Western Animation]]
107	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanGothamByGaslight'' shows Alfred employing the [[Characters/NightwingDickGrayson Ro]][[Characters/BatmanJasonTodd bi]][[Characters/RobinTimDrake ns]] as this trope, unrelated to Bruce saving them from their gang boss at the start of the movie.
108	* ''WesternAnimation/SherlockHolmesInTheTwentySecondCentury'' has the new Baker Street Irregulars: soccer player Wiggins, the Eliza Doolittleish Deidre, and the paraplegic Tennyson (who communicates through electronic beeps only Holmes seems to comprehend).
109	* Kit Cloudkicker in ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin''. Molly can also apply in most episodes she's in.
110	* ''WesternAnimation/MyAdventuresWithSuperman'' brings back the Newsboy Legion, though they are now the Newskid Legion with several female members, including a [[GenderFlip gender flipped]] Flip Johnson.
111	[[/folder]]

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