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1[[quoteright:275:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/delinquents.png]]
2[[caption-width-right:275: They're young and already on the streets causing trouble!]]
3->''"Just barely out of school, came from the edge of town\
4Fought like a switchblade so no one could take him down\
5He had no money, no, no good at home\
6He walked the streets a soldier and he fought the world alone"''
7-->-- '''Music/SkidRow''', "18 and Life"
8
9The formal adjective definition of the word "delinquent" describes something or someone who fails in their duty. In its more popular usage, a delinquent is someone (generally a young person) who fails in their "duty to society" by being an anti-social petty criminal. They won't be plotting to TakeOverTheWorld or rob banks and they're more likely to be an AssholeVictim of TheAggressiveDrugDealer than an example. They are, however, likely to [[SkippingSchool refuse to turn up to school]] (or are [[ClassClown disruptive]] if they do), harass people in the street, [[FiveFingerDiscount shoplift]], and drink or smoke while underage.
10
11If the protagonist encounters them, they're probably going to either be bullied by them, or fall in with them. In the later case they'll serve as ToxicFriendInfluence who use [[PeerPressureMakesYouEvil peer pressure]] to encourage the protagonist to join them in their misdeeds (naturally this "friendship" will be short lived, as the protagonist [[CantGetAwayWithNuthin will be caught the moment they try it]] and subsequently be abandoned by them at best or made their {{scapegoat}} at worst). Alternatively, the trope can be played more lightly, with a delinquent acting as a sort of TokenEvilTeammate, or as an outright AntiHero or ByronicHero.
12
13Delinquents have come in many flavors in different times and places, but the stereotype tends to attach itself to [[TheNewRockAndRoll whatever scary new subculture the kids have come up with recently]]: [[GreaserDelinquents greasers]] in [[TheFifties 1950s]] America, [[ScooterRidingMod mods]] and rockers in [[TheSixties 1960s]] Britain, and [[TheQuincyPunk punks]] everywhere since the [[TheSeventies 1970s]]. In all cases, expect some form of DelinquentHair or NonconformistDyedHair.
14
15This trope can overlap with SpoiledBrat, PreachersKid, GangOfBullies (some delinquent groups are bullies) or LowerClassLout (depending on their family background). Expect them to act as {{mooks}} or be the "hat" of a GangOfHats.
16
17Contrast the TragicDropout, who ''does'' drop out of school, but was well-behaved and got good grades while in school. This ''can'' be a Delinquent character's StartOfDarkness, however, depending on just ''what'' was the cause.
18
19For tropes and stereotypes about delinquents in Japan, see JapaneseDelinquents. Please move the Anime and Manga examples to this page.
20
21Subtrope to TeenRebellion.
22----
23!!Examples
24
25[[foldercontrol]]
26
27[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
28* See JapaneseDelinquents.
29[[/folder]]
30
31[[folder:Comic Books]]
32* ''ComicBook/AdventureTimeIceKing'' has the Dark Moon Esbats, a gang of unpleasant but not very powerful young wizards who have stereotypical juvenile delinquent personalities.
33* The main nemeses of the young protagonist in ''ComicBook/OmegaTheUnknown''.
34[[/folder]]
35
36[[folder:Fan Works]]
37* ''Fanfic/ArrestYeMerryGentlemares'': Rainbow is a regular at the Ponyville police station because of Scootaloo, who gets caught for juvenile delinquency very often and Rainbow has to come to pick her up.
38* ''Fanfic/GhostsOfEvangelion'': Shinji and Asuka's daughter Ryuko went through a delinquent phase during her teen years: she dyed her hair dark lavender, had her eyebrow, nose, and tongue pierced, wore ragged clothes and showed a devil-may-care attitude. Her parents sometimes called her a delinquent, but they didn't really mind.
39[[/folder]]
40
41[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
42* ''WesternAnimation/Cars1'' featured the "Delinquent Road Hazards" a quartet of troublemaking young cars composing of Boost, a purple and gray car with rocket boosters as their leader, Wingo, a green and white car with an oversized, multilayered spoiler, DJ, a blue van with speakers all over his body, and Snot Rod, an orange drag racer with an oversized engine.
43[[/folder]]
44
45[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
46* John Bender from ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'', though he's actually a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold pretty nice guy]] when you get to know him.
47* Carmen in ''Film/TheColorOfMoney'' was this before the movie begins. She first met Vincent after she got arrested for driving the getaway car while her (former) boyfriend was robbing his parents' house.
48* ''Film/{{Daredreamer}}'' has the Three-Ds gang cause mayhem around school; they're frequently seen rollerskating to class.
49* The ''Dead End Kids'' series from the 1930s, switching between the main characters and the supporting players, eventually becoming the Bowery Boys (and sliding into BMovie territory) when the actors got too old to play teens. They were somewhat more hard-edged in their film debut ''Film/{{Dead End|1937}}'', in which they assault and rob a rich kid, and one of them has to be stopped from slicing another's face with a knife. In ''Film/TheyMadeMeACriminal'' they are petty criminals (vandalism, burglary) who have been sent out to a date farm in Arizona in order to get straightened out.
50* The teenage leads of ''Film/LordsOfDogtown'' are this: growing up too wild in Venice Beach, California, "the ghetto by the sea", skipping school to surf in the early morning and joy-riding behind buses on their skateboards.
51* The vampire gang in ''Film/TheLostBoys''.
52* ''Film/OverTheEdge'' is basically about what happens when you build a planned community and make no plans for the fact that 25% of the population is under 15.
53* [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstructed]] with ''Film/RebelWithoutACause'', in which the teens act the way they do because they lack competent guidance from adults. In fact, the main character of the film, Jim, ''wants'' to be a good person, except society - including his own parents - is keeping him form being so.
54* In the ''Film/StTrinians'' series, the ''entire school'', including the faculty, are delinquents (with the exception of the occasional NaiveNewcomer who inevitably ''becomes'' one by the end of the movie). The shoplifting, harrassment, drinking and smoking mentioned in this trope's description are '''nothing''' compared to what they get up to.
55* John Connor in ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay''. He skips school to steal from ATM machines, play at the arcade, and ride around on his motorbike playing loud metal music. It's basically him venting his frustrations at being taught from a young age that he'll be the leader of humanity in the Armageddon by (from his point of view) his insane terrorist mother.
56* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'':
57** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'': Quicksilver is a juvenile delinquent whose favourite hobby is [[FiveFingerDiscount shoplifting]].
58** ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': Ororo Munroe and her gang of street urchins steal from market vendors in order to survive.
59[[/folder]]
60
61[[folder:Literature]]
62* OlderThanRadio: Tom and Huck of Creator/MarkTwain's ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfTomSawyer'' and ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfHuckleberryFinn''.
63* ''Literature/BlackboardJungle'', a schoolteacher drama from TheFifties that helped codify this trope; the [[FilmOfTheBook movie adaptation]] was the first major motion picture with a RockNRoll soundtrack.
64* Billy Nolan and his friends in Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/{{Carrie}}''. His girlfriend [[Characters/CarrieChrisHargensen Chris Hargensen]] is also one of these, though the film adaptations downplay it.
65** Creator/StephenKing is fond of this trope, with many versions turning up as bullies and agents of more malevolent forces. Some other examples include Henry Bowers and his friends from ''Literature/{{IT}}''; Ace Merrill's gang in ''Literature/StandByMe''; the three greaser types from ''Literature/SometimesTheyComeBack''; and Buddy Repperton and his group in ''Literature/{{Christine}}''. He subverts the trope with many of his "good kids gone bad" characters, particularly Todd from ''Literature/AptPupil''.
66* Victoria Martin in ''Literature/HanginOutWithCici'' is a [[RareFemaleExample rather hard-to-find female example]], especially considering [[TheSeventies when the book was written.]]
67* In the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series:
68** Most of Slytherin House.
69** By the time of ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'', Dudley spends his days wandering the streets with his gang causing mayhem and terrorizing small children, with his parents none the wiser.
70* Jason and his friends of Creator/RickRiordan's ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' are students at a 'Wilderness School', a BoardingSchool in Nevada for 'bad kids'.
71* ''Literature/MiddleSchool'': Rafe makes a plan to break every school rule in increasingly huge ways.
72* The main characters of the book ''Literature/TheOutsiders'' are a typical greaser gang. Their rivals are the Socs, who are true delinquents that get away with most of their crimes due to being rich.
73[[/folder]]
74
75[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
76* Mac and Charlie from ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' were this as children / teens (and grew up to become [[LowerClassLout Lower-Class Louts]]). Flashbacks to them at the age of 8/9 show their main hobbies as throwing rocks at trains / cats and burning trash.
77* Two companions in ''Series/DoctorWho'':
78** Dorothy "Ace" [=McShane=], an [[TheEighties Eighties]] delinquent who travelled with the Seventh Doctor.
79** Courtney Woods, a [[TheNewTens New Tens]] delinquent who travelled with the Twelfth Doctor. Inkeeping with the show's general anti-establishment vibe, both Courtney and Ace are portrayed positively.
80* ''Series/HappyDays'': Fonzie is a semi-reformed delinquent.
81* ''Series/ICarly'': Sam has been arrested more than once, asks Freddie to hide her backpack when a cop shows up at Carly's apartment, was seen shaking down some kid in the pilot, solves most of her problems with violence, is generally the first (and only) member of the main threesome to suggest criminal action... you get the idea.
82* ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'' has an interesting subversion: Gentarou dresses up like one, but he's the most likable guy out there!
83* Mirabelle of ''Series/TheKicks'' is a frequent rulebreaker and as such, is constantly in detention. Parker, her best friend, is also one of these. They even met in detention.
84* A group is seen in the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' short ''Film/WhatAboutJuvenileDelinquency''.
85* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'': Season 19's "Thick As Thieves" reveals that Alden Parker was a delinquent during TheSeventies. He and Billy Doyle, who later shows up in the episode, were caught stealing a hub cap from a car shop in Philadelphia. In that season's finale, when interviewing his dad, the elder Parker asks Jessica if she knew that his "son is an ex-con." [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten Mr. Parker will always remember]], since Alden is the only child of his to have never served in uniform. That juvenile record prevented him from doing so.
86* ''Series/NorthernExposure'': Chris in the Morning was car thief [[spoiler:and a con]] in his youth.
87* ''Series/OpenHeart'' has Dylan and the group was with before her arrest and community service. Dylan still retains some of the delinquent traits, as they help her sneak around the hospital while she's [[AmateurSleuth sleuthing]].
88* ''Series/StarTrekPicard'': Elnor as a child steals a fruit from a Romulan grocer, so when he's not being directly supervised by the nuns or Picard, he likes a FiveFingerDiscount. This may suggest he became a StreetUrchin after he lost his parents, and he didn't give up the bad habit after he was relocated to Vashti and was taken in by the nuns.
89* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "[[Recap/SupernaturalS10E09TheThingsWeLeftBehind The Things We Left Behind]]", Claire is in a solitary cell in a juvenile center after running away. Later, we see that she is shoplifting and mixed up with a dangerous man, Randy.
90* ''Series/That70sShow'': Hyde is a lifelong delinquent even after he becomes the manager of his own record store.
91* ''Series/GothamKnights2023'': Harper, Cullen and Duela are three youths who live on the street, surviving by theft.
92[[/folder]]
93
94[[folder:Music]]
95* The video for Music/{{Aerosmith}}'s "Livin' On The Edge" depicts several of these.
96* "Bad Kids" by Music/TheBlackLips is about this.
97-->''Bad kids all my friends are bad kids''
98-->''Product of no dad kids''
99-->''Kids like you and me''
100-->''Bad kids ain't no college grad kids''
101-->''Livin' out on the skids''
102-->''Kids like you and me''
103* Music/WeirdAlYankovic parodies this trope in "Young, Dumb, and Ugly"
104-->''We got a reputation 'round these parts''
105-->''We only leave a ten percent tip''
106-->''Sometimes we don't return our shopping carts''
107-->''Stay out of our way and don't you give us no lip''
108[[/folder]]
109
110[[folder:Podcasts]]
111* Jessica from the ''Podcast/CoolKidsTable'' game ''Bloody Mooney'' is a teenage crook.
112[[/folder]]
113
114[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
115* Young Wrestling/GeorgeWagner, before he became GorgeousGeorge, was a delinquent. Being a deliquent didn't stop him from being a baby {{face}} though, [[FaceHeelTurn until]] became AmbiguouslyGay.
116[[/folder]]
117
118[[folder:Radio]]
119* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': In "Sunnydale Finishing School", Miss Brooks' friends think she's going to take a job at the exclusive school - after snoopy Mrs. Davis finds a years-old letter offering Connie employment. Walter Denton seeks to keep Miss Brooks at Madison High School by pretending to undergo a FaceHeelTurn and [[ZanyScheme become a juvenile delinquent.]]
120[[/folder]]
121
122[[folder:Roleplay]]
123* ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'':
124** Hyeon is a rock-and-roll enthusiast who doesn't care about school, plays in a band, drinks and drives, and drags people into ill-advised nighttime ventures.
125** Zia has the style of one, with dyed hair, piercings, punk attire, and a rebellious attitude towards society.
126** Nadine and her {{gang of bullies}}, who terrorise the other kids, smoke, skip school, and are generally anti-authoritarian. The exception is Carlie, who's a genuinely sweet girl who's just enamored with the punk aesthetic.
127* The Bloody Fists in ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'' version two start out this way, but eventually turn into a full fledged criminal gang. Alexander Stevens, leader of the Hellbirds, also qualifies, though he tends to avoid making trouble in the schools themselves.
128[[/folder]]
129
130[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
131* ''Hellcats and Hockey Sticks'', being essentially ''Film/StTrinians'' with the SerialNumbersFiledOff, has the school being just as bad as its inspiration (and that's without taking magic and weird science into account).
132* The Zodiac Order in ''TabletopGame/PsionicsTheNextStageInHumanEvolution'' is basically made of delinquents. Their M.O. is making and dealing drugs, crashing parties, and making as much trouble for the authorities as possible. Artwork in the book depicts them as punks and hippies.
133[[/folder]]
134
135[[folder:Theatre]]
136* "Three Juvenile Delinquents" from Noel Coward's ''Ace of Clubs''.
137* Basically everyone in ''Film/{{Grease}}'', even if they are singing the whole time.
138* The two feuding gangs, the Polish-American Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks, in ''Theatre/WestSideStory''. Each gang even gets a song about it; the Jets have "Gee Officer Krupke," where they mock how every adult offers up different explanations for "delinquent" behavior without actually doing anything about it, while the Sharks have "I Like It Here In America," where the men of the Sharks protest to their girlfriends how xenophobic New York is.
139* Jonny Warner of ''Theatre/ZombieProm'' is ''treated'' as a delinquent. He has a motorcycle, but the most rebellious thing he does is spell his name without the customary "h".
140[[/folder]]
141
142[[folder:Video Games]]
143* The Delinquent Cat from ''VideoGame/TheBattleCats''. His in-game description says he's considered the Bancho of Cat School and dresses with the typical cap and open uniform. His attack animation is also directly inspired by [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure Jotaro Kujo]].
144* ''VideoGame/{{Bully}}''
145** Jimmy himself is one, he is prone to violence, and is expelled from so many schools for being a problematic student (he burned down the last school he was expelled). He is sent to Bullworth as one last chance to help adjust his behavior or face prison.
146** The town of Bullworth features both the Greasers and the Townies as one of the two, delinquent-themed cliques; the former are 50's throwbacks, sport leather jackets, gel their hair, and a tendency to pick fights with anyone who looks at them funny; the latter are AxCrazy thugs who prove to be even more violent than the Greasers, and are the only clique who are downright criminals; one of their members ''attempted'' to burn down a gym, and may have the potential to kill a few people if not for Jimmy's intervention.
147* At the start of "Suffer with me" in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'', Mason and his fellow marines briefly encounter a gang of Panamanian teenagers [[BullyingADragon vandalizing a Humvee]] with a graffiti that translates to "gringos go home". An angry [=McKnight=] throws a beer can at them, only to be stopped by Mason because they aren't worth it.
148* Alex of ''[[VideoGame/{{TCTRPG}} The Colour Tuesday]]'', mostly due to no one taking her [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia synesthesia]] seriously as a kid, and authority figures generally putting her down even for reasonable things. In reality, she's less an actual delinquent and more the [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Girl]] in a world where the adults are morons. [[spoiler: As it turns out, having the adults be pawns of the Others doesn't help matters.]] Alex's status as a rebel is a sign of her destiny to break the control of the Others.
149* The Streetwannabes from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity'' are this, with one of their quotes proclaiming that they are delinquents. Their turf is at Prawn Island and are found loitering North Point Mall at night, often engaging in gunfights against the security guards.
150* ''VideoGame/GrowingUp'': After trying out weed in elementary, Jake becomes a delinquent in middle school and starts his own gang, and the first thing he does is ask you for help in stealing some booze from a beggar. [[spoiler:He chickens out and buys from the store instead, however.]]
151* Chloe from ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange''. She is a troublemaker who does drugs, skips school, steals stuff, and causes a public disturbance. She also has a ''zero'' respect for the disabled as well; StealingTheHandicappedSpot and the Blackwell Handicap Fund meant for people with disabilities. True to this trope, she is a ToxicFriendInfluence to Max, who has no problems with using him as a scapegoat to take the blame off her.
152* Akira, from the near-future chapter of ''VideoGame/LiveALive'', is the very image of a delinquent. He even slouches.
153* The {{Mooks}} of the school level in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes''. Shinobu sort of falls into this until she reforms after Travis defeats her.
154* Riki and Kunio (Ryan and Alex) from the ''Kunio-kun'' (''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'') series, including ''Super Dodgeball''. Also about everyone else. Well, except the shop keepers, waiters, children, the old man at the sauna, Roxy, and Ryan. But still!
155* ''VideoGame/TheSims4'' has the Renegades, a club (or more accurately a clique) composed of delinquents and thugs led by [[AChildShallLeadThem Max]] [[EnfantTerrible Villareal]]. Fittingly enough their activities involve causing trouble for Windenburg.
156* G-Bankaran in ''The Second VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'' is a HumongousMecha shaped like a stereotypical delinquent, piloted by an ''actual'' stereotypical delinquent.
157* Masamune Date and his men from ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara''. Think Sengoku Era biker gang.
158* You play as one named Budi in ''VideoGame/{{Troublemaker}}'', who often went in and out of of juvenile detention. But after breaking rules one time too many, you're then hauled to the Cipta Wiyata Academy, the strictest institution in Jakarta, only to topple the school's ruling council by way of fists.
159* The ZX Spectrum and C64 classic ''VideoGame/SkoolDaze'' has the player controlling Eric, a delinquent schoolboy who has to steal his report card from the school safe to avoid expulsion. The sequel, ''VideoGame/BackToSkool'', has him trying to return a forged positive report card to the safe. Both games allow you to punch people, fire catapults, get other students into trouble, and in ''Back To Skool'', cause chaos by releasing mice and frogs in the school, dropping stink bombs and more. The non-player characters Angelface and Boy Wander also count as delinquents.
160* ''VideoGame/YoungSouls'' downplays this. While the twins - Jenn and Tristan - have this reputation, they don't actively cause trouble around town (not to mention that the pair ''don't'' even run a gang, contrary to earlier accusations, and there's no evidence of them ever using drugs) and are simply foul-mouthed and grumpy. Having a MoralityPet, that is the professor, helps.
161[[/folder]]
162
163[[folder:Webcomics]]
164* ''Webcomic/CashmereSky:'' Arlo becomes this in Volume 2. After recently getting hired at a coffee shop, he makes a cappuccino machine blow up after a (admittedly rude) customer talks down to him, trashing the entire place in the process, and lands himself in a jail cell. He's been there enough times that the station officers are familiar with him and he would've been transferred to prison if Archer didn't keep bailing him out.
165* The focus of Korean webtoon ''Webcomic/WeakHero'' is on the various delinquent hierarchies that exist between the various schools of Yeongdeungpo. When Gray arrives at Eunjang and starts to take down the bullies there, it threatens the entire delinquent standing, and so they all start to converge on him.
166[[/folder]]
167
168[[folder:Web Original]]
169* In ''Script/C0DA'', a flashback reveals that a teenage [[PhysicalGod Vivec]], while dirty and homeless, led such a gang. "They’d do almost anything for money. Kill, steal, [[TheOldestProfession whore themselves out]]. They were catamites with a grudge and a skill set to focus it."
170[[/folder]]
171
172[[folder:Western Animation]]
173* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'': The "Tough Customers" gang is a kid-friendly group of delinquents.
174* Terry [=McGinnis=], the new Batman from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', is a former delinquent. This trait is [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]], however, as it's not brought up until Terry's character arc has been established, so that it doesn't [[NeverLiveItDown take over his characterization]].
175* Roger Klotz and his gang of friends from ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}''. They play pranks on other people, vandalize things, love to bully others especially Doug, and other stuff that falls under this category.
176* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' reveals Suyin Beifong was this in her youth. She skipped school, hung around criminals, and took part in a robbery.
177* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': The teenage dragons Spike meets in Dragon Quest are delinquents, and a fairly nasty bunch too.
178* The Gangreen Gang from ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' is this and more. The time they're sent back to school, in "Schoolhouse Rocked," shows why no school will take them.
179* The "Bad Kids" from ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'', usually consisting of Kurst the Worst (who really doesn't take pride in her mean acts), Mundy, Skeens, Sue Bob Murphy, and Lazy Kid.
180* Lars and his gang from ''WesternAnimation/RocketPower'' are this as well. They commonly play hooky, vandalize houses with toilet paper, and stay up past curfew. They also take delight in picking on the main kids (especially with [[BigBrotherBully Lars to Twister]]). [[AntiHero Otto Rocket]] tends to fall into this category as well considering he is the most rebellious and competitive of the main characters.
181* [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Bart Simpson]], notorious AntiRoleModel of the 90s, is actually a moderate example even InUniverse, probably due to the fact that he has a relatively stable if [[DysfunctionalFamily weird]] family who keep him more or less on the straight and narrow, so that he's never worse than a petty criminal and [[ThePrankster prankster]]. The same can't be said of area bullies Jimbo Jones, Dolph Starbeam, Kearney Zzyzwicz, and Nelson Muntz, who [[DependingOnTheWriter variously]] [[ToxicFriendInfluence take him into their flock]] and [[BullyMagnet beat him up]].
182* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'': [[Characters/TotalDramaDuncan Duncan]] and Mal like to bully, vandalize, seed discord, and cause chaos just because they can. They've been in and out of juvie, which they pride themselves on. Throughout the series, Duncan gets in trouble with the law behind the scenes until he is arrested and sent to jail for blowing up Chris's mansion. Mal obtains a new personality as Mike and lives a normal life until a blow to the head temporarily brings Mal back.
183[[/folder]]

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