Line #48 Main/KingOfTheHomeless


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4	[[quoteright:275:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hobo_king.png]]
5	[[caption-width-right:275:You will address him as "Your Homelessness".]]
6
7	->''"All hail the Hobo King."''
8
9	This character is the leader or even "king" of all the homeless, indigent, and castoffs in a city. Either by dint of age, respect, or obstinate madness he has authority over the homeless. The king may be a crime boss type, a mayor who keeps their society running, TheFagin leading a group of street urchins, or an actual king who holds court. Regardless of how much wealth he has, he always stays purposefully poor and in a homeless lifestyle.
10
11	More often than not, {{Muggles}} in the know will respect him and even ask him for help or WisdomFromTheGutter, assuming he doesn't have a higher education equivalent knowledge. Usually these guys are also suffering a mental illness that makes them a CloudCuckooLander. However, an especially beloved king (it helps if they aren't violent) may have their delusion humored by a whole city.
12
13	See also/compare TheFagin and WastelandElder. For a normal king who is now homeless, see FallenPrincess. This trope is almost AlwaysMale, hence the use of masculine pronouns.
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15	----
16
17	!!Examples:
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19	[[foldercontrol]]
20
21	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
22	* In ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' [[spoiler: Chief Aramaki's missing brother]] turns out to be one in an episode near the end of the first season. He's arrested on trumped up charges to get at his brother. In the second season he has a cameo in order to give [[spoiler: [[AntiVillain Kuze]]]] somebody to explain his plan to.
23	[[/folder]]
24
25	[[folder:Comic Books]]
26	* The Creator/JimStarlin ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' miniseries ''[[ComicBook/BatmanTheCult The Cult]]'' features Deacon Blackfire's [[PathOfInspiration evil cult]] of homeless people.
27	* During the Creator/FrankMiller run of ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'' the title character encountered "the King," who ruled the homeless in the New York sewer system in analogy to [[ArchEnemy the Kingpin]] ruling the New York mobs. He even has his own pet SewerGator that [[FedToTheBeast he feeds with those who displease him]].
28	* Marvel also has an evil example, the Tatterdemalion. Originally a member of high society from a rich family, he was swindled out of everything he owned by Las Vegas mobsters, and because a destitute. After being recruited by [[MegaCorp the Committee]] to foster an environment of fear in Los Angeles, he committed random crimes against the wealthy, destroying their material possessions, motivated purely out of envy and hatred towards the system. He has fought heroes like ComicBook/{{Spider Man}}, the ComicBook/WerewolfByNight, and ComicBook/GhostRider.
29	* Calisto (and later Storm), leader of the Morlocks, outcast mutants who live in the sewers of New York.
30	* One ''Franchise/{{Hellraiser}}'' comic has a literal King of the Homeless, holding court in the sewers.
31	* One story in ''ComicBook/TheGoon'' has the term "hobo jungle" taken literally, with the hoboes looking like Amazonian natives. Their king is a long-haired guitar player.
32	* In Creator/DCComics's brief ''Magog'' series there was a villain named Miasma who was basically Bernie Madoff turned into this trope.
33	* In the pages of the ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'', the GoldenAge supervillain Ragdoll eventually becomes one of these, forming a cult around himself that he uses to terrorize Star City and his old nemesis ComicBook/{{Starman}}.
34	* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', The Swell ''thinks'' that he's a King of the Homeless because he leads the Street Arabs gang. In reality, he's a SmugSnake who's only survived as long as he has because the larger gangs didn't see any point in killing him. [[spoiler:This changes after he tries to sell the Runaways to the leaders of the Sinners -- who just happen to be Dale and Stacey Yorkes, two of the Runaways' enemies. After learning that their future selves were killed by the Runaways, the Yorkes decide to liquidate the Street Arabs, destroying The Swell's tiny "kingdom".]]
35	* In ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers'', the Manhattan Guardian spends the first half of his miniseries dealing with a war between ''two'' kings, No-Beard and All-Beard, whose pirate gangs are in a race to find a treasure hidden in the subway system.
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
39	* The Chairman in ''Film/BasnOLudziachStad'' is a crime boss type. Getting rid of him (kinda...) causes much rejoicing.
40	* ''Film/{{CHUD}}'': A.J. runs a homeless shelter, seems to live out of it himself, and refers to the other homeless people as his family or his flock.
41	%% Please help confirm if this is a valid example: * Perry in ''Film/TheFisherKing counts''. When we first see him we get the impression he protects tribes of homeless against anti-bum vigilantes, and may well be held in the role of some kind of leader.
42	* ''Film/JohnWickChapter2'' has the Bowery King, who runs a network of homeless or otherwise downtrodden people throughout New York City.
43	* ''Film/KingOfBeggars'', a {{Wuxia}} movie starring Creator/StephenChow, deals with a main character who quests to become one.
44	* ''Film/MidaqAlley'': Grimy old Zacarias is referred to as "the beggar king". Sure enough, he's later revealed to command an army of beggars and street performers, all of whom give him payoffs mob boss style.
45	* Played for laughs in ''Film/TheMuppets2011'', with hobos carrying off a tied-up Creator/JackBlack while declaring him their King. (It actually does make sense in context. Sort of.)
46	* ''Film/{{Newsies}}'' has the newsboys of New York who live together in boarding houses and live day-to-day by buying the newspapers to sell them to the people. When their prices are raised, Jack Kelly bands them together to go on strike, but to be effective they need every borough of New York, especially Brooklyn which is the territory of Spot Conlon. As the most respected and feared newsie in New York, Jack knows Spot holds the most leverage.
47	* Wilco from ''Film/{{Parasites}}'', a film about a lost motorist being chased through an UrbanHellscape by a horde of homeless people that he and his friends had managed to piss off.
48	* ''Film/SilentMovie'' has a gag where Mel Funn -- having just fallen off the wagon, hard -- buys an absolutely massive wine bottle and stumbles into a back alley. All the homeless in the alley gather around Mel and hail him as "the king of the winos".
49	* Soviet propaganda film ''Film/{{Strike}}'' has such a character, who is actually referred to as the "King". ("My kingdom is limitless.") He mobilizes his army of vagrants to infiltrate the striking workers and cause a disturbance, so the authorities will have an excuse to break the strike with force.
50	* ''Film/{{Tampopo}}'' has the Old Master, a former doctor and expert on ramen who now leads a band of homeless gourmands who dig through the dustbins behind four-star restaurants.
51	* ''Film/UnderTheSilverLake'' has the Hobo King as one of the many weird characters whom the protagonist meets during his investigation.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Literature]]
55	* ''Literature/AccidentalDetectives'': Mean Gene Delaney, the BigBad of ''Lost Beneath Manhattan'' has a lot of phony panhandling operations, at least seven other beggars as henchmen, and a reputation for cowing various people, and forcing them away from his turf. He and his men also aren't above kidnapping young children to make their begging performances look more convincing, which brings them into conflict with Ricky and the others.
56	* ''Literature/TheAreasOfMyExpertise'' discusses the Hobo Kings in some depth. Among other distinctive features, they apparently reincarnate rather like the Dalai Lama.
57	* ''Literature/BloodsuckingFiends'' has a Homeless King in San Francisco, very clearly modeled on Emperor Norton of the same city.
58	* Mack is the ringleader of Doc's bum friends in Creator/JohnSteinbeck's ''Literature/CanneryRow''. He was memorably played by Creator/MEmmetWalsh in TheFilmOfTheBook.
59	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' has Queen Molly, head of the Beggar's Guild. This is PlayedForLaughs; the King or Queen of the Beggars has to be aware of their station, so in ''Literature/GuardsGuards'', Molly's predecessor asks people if they could spare 300 dollars for a civic banquet, or could put him up in a sixteen-bedroom mansion for the night.
60	* There's the Beggar King of Nadsokor from the ''Literature/TheElricSaga''. A whole [[PlanetOfHats city where everyone has the kind of defects]] that characterize [[WretchedHive the worst of the lumpenproletariat beggars]], and the story is about their king stealing Elric's imperial jewels.
61	* Rafi, from James Elroy Flecker's ''[[http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3834/pg3834-images.html Hassan]]'' (1923), is probably the earliest straight example of this trope happening on a large scale: He's rich and conspiring against the Sultan -- this, of course, makes this one OlderThanTelevision.
62	* Clopin in ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' is something along the lines of a beggar king. He is a beggar, conman, and pickpocket, whose skill has earned him the leadership position among the Romani, and lower class citizens. He [[JokerJury decides judgement of Trespassers]] in the Court of Miracles. Clopin's main redeeming factor is [[AFatherToHisMen his genuine concern for all his "subjects"]], and willingness to put his life on the line to help them.
63	* The novel ''The King of Schnorrers'' involves a character who is the leader of professional beggars in London.
64	* Koba is the leader of Echo's homeless in ''Literature/LabyrinthsOfEcho''.
65	* Nikos Kazantzakis portrayed UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} in this fashion in his novel ''Literature/TheLastTemptationOfChrist'', which also carried over to Creator/MartinScorsese's [[Film/TheLastTemptationOfChrist film adaptation]]--not without controversy, of course.
66	* The ''Literature/MatthewSwift'' series has the Beggar King, a character who is the embodiment of this trope — literally, as in-universe, [[ArchetypalCharacter Archetypal Characters]] abound if their trope is famous enough.
67	* ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'' has a whole ''feudal system'' among the denizens of London Below, but there doesn't seem to be any particular overlord. The highest-ranking single person seems to be the Earl of Earl's Court.
68	* In ''Literature/{{Reliquary}}'', Mephisto is the leader of a large community of homeless living in the tunnels under Manhattan. Pendergast and D'Agosta seek his help in navigating the tunnels and finding the den of the Wrinklers.
69	* The Outcaste in the ''Literature/Spaceforce2012'' novels are people who have been convicted of serious crimes by the Taysan Empire, and stripped of their caste -- which means they have no way of earning a living and typically starve to death. In the second book, ''Deadline'', we meet a former royal bodyguard, Calia, who was punished for the heinous offence of marrying a servant, and has organised the rest of the Outcaste into a secret community.
70	* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
71	** In the ''Literature/JediAcademyTrilogy'' Jacen and Jaina Solo got lost in Coruscant's underworld and stumbled into Dakyim's Kingdom, a community of refugees. Their leader was King Onibald Daykim, a former low-level banker who led his fellow bureaucrats into hiding when they earned the Emperor's ire (AllThereInTheManual sources say he went on the run to avoid execution after making a typo that put Palpatine's name on a public list of loan defaulters). After learning the Emperor was dead and the Empire largely collapsed, Onibald decided to remain a king rather than return to banking. He is nice to Jacen and Jaina and returns them to their mother without any trouble.
72	* ''Literature/TheThiefLord'': Title character Scipio, "the thief lord", is the ringleader of a band of runaways and child thieves.
73	* ''Literature/ThievesWorld'': Moruth the Beggar King was the leader of the beggars in the Downwind section of Sanctuary.
74	* In ''Literature/TerraIgnota'', Mycroft doesn't hold any official title, but the other Servicers (people sentenced to slavery as penance for extreme crimes and forbidden from owning property) follow his instructions anyway. Mycroft has protected and fed them and campaigned for more little luxuries for them, so they deeply respect him in spite of [[TheDreaded his reputation]] as [[spoiler:the most infamous serial killer in living memory (now reformed)]].
75	* They show up quite a bit in the {{Wuxia}} genre as leaders of the Beggars' Sect (sometimes also known as the "Beggars' Guild" or the "Hobo Gang"). This being Wuxia, they are known believers of AsskickingLeadsToLeadership in that their leaders are always one of the best martial artists in the setting. The leader of the gang wields a signature weapon known as the "Dog-Beating Staff", and must be well-versed in the techniques to use it, and the "Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms" to be eligible to become the boss. Notable examples include:
76	** Qiao Feng is their leader in ''Literature/DemiGodsAndSemiDevils'' and is one of the youngest and strongest leaders of the Beggars' Sect in his forties. He plays a prominent role as one of the main characters, and there is quite a bit of controversy with his Khitan heritage.
77	** Cheng Pa, the leader of the Beggar's Guild in some of the ''Literature/JudgeDee'' stories. Despite his laid-back personality, he's just as capable a fighter as the judge's henchmen (one scene has him settle a dispute between two beggars by picking them both up and knocking their skulls together). He's also a civil force to be reckoned with: anybody who pisses him off can look forward to an army of filthy hoboes parked on their business' doorstep, driving customers away without any violence or effort on their part. He also has a major crush (hinted to be reciprocated) on a Mongolian wrestling champion, but can't make an official proposal due to his position, while she won't respond to anything but an official proposal.
78	** In ''Literature/TheLegendOfTheCondorHeroes'', the Beggars' Sect are led by Hong Qigong, an old glutton who is also one of the top martial artists in the ''wulin''. It takes quite a few delicious dishes made by Huang Rong (Lotus Huang in the English translation) to teach both her and Guo Jing the special moves of the gang.
79	* ''Literature/OurDumbCentury'' has a small article in 1932 about UsefulNotes/HerbertHoover signing an accord with King Gus II, sovereign of all hobos. Also in attendance were the Duke and Duchess of Junkland, Emperor Lazlo of Trashville, and the ambassador to the Big Rock Candy Mountain.
80	* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'': Kevin Norton, a British hobo, likes to refer to himself as the "Most Powerful Man In The World," a title which absolutely no one besides himself and his dog recognizes. Except of course, [[PhysicalGod Scion]], the ''actual'' most powerful being in the world.
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
84	* ''Series/{{Aibou}}'': There's a whole homeless republic/hippie commune in a section of one of the cities, and its self-appointed President becomes the victim of a crime.
85	* ''Series/BabylonFive'': Byron, leader of the rogue telepaths on the eponymous space station.
86	* An early episode of ''Series/{{Bones}}'' has a murder occur in the flood run-off tunnels underneath Washington, D.C. The primary witness/suspect is a homeless man who lives in the tunnels, and has a clear position of leadership and respect among the homeless community down there. Brennan has to remind Booth that the homeless man does have authority in the tunnels, so Booth can't just rough up or intimidate the guy like he would normally do.
87	* "The Doctor" from the ''Series/CriminalMinds'' episode "Persuader", a vindictive former StageMagician who led a community of homeless pickpockets living in an AbsurdlySpaciousSewer. He attracts the BAU's attention when he begins having followers who tried to leave him killed.
88	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E4DaleksInManhattan "Daleks In Manhattan"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E5EvolutionOfTheDaleks "Evolution of the Daleks"]] features the Hooverville of Depression-era Central Park, where the ''de facto'' leader of the homeless is a wise man [[MeaningfulName named Solomon]].
89	* ''Series/{{Flash Gordon\|2007}}'' has Terek, who leads the mutant Deviates, exiled by Ming from the city. Unbeknownst to Ming and Aura, [[spoiler:he's Ming's son and Aura's brother. He and Aura eventually lead a takeover of the city and try to have their father executed]].
90	* Erg, leader of the Morlocks on ''Series/TheGifted2017''.
91	* ''Series/{{NewsRadio}}'': Jimmy James's nemesis Johnny Johnson, having been ruined in a previous episode, showed up later as "King of the Winos".
92	[[/folder]]
93
94	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
95	* In ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters'' we meet Dregs, who died in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity. Returning from the dead actually cleared up most of his mental difficulties, and he's now the unofficial chief of an krewe of homeless Sin-Eaters protecting the indigent from supernatural predators, and acting as information brokers to other krewes.
96	* The Beggar King, leader of the Beggar Fraternity in ''TabletopGame/LegendsOfTheWulin''. This being a Wuxia game, he's obviously a badass Kung Fu master, and in fact winning a martial arts tournament in which everyone is open to participate is one of the requirements for being the King's successor.
97	* The ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' GaidenGame ''TabletopGame/{{Necromunda}}'' has the special character Redwart the Magnificent, the self-proclaimed King of the mutant and destitute Scavvies who are forced to live in the most polluted and dilapidated areas of the Underhive.
98	* Beggar King is the final tier of Beggar in ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'''s fourth edition, and requires the character to own a begging lair and an army of lesser beggars to do their bidding.
99	* Arguably 'king Derywinki III' in the D&d Module 'Horror on the Hill'. He wears a tattered purple cloak and makeshift crown, claims to be king over a dungeon level that consists of caves with unintelligent monsters and leads a small band of insane berserkers to 'put down rebellions' amid them.
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Theatre]]
103	* In ''Theatre/TheThreepennyOpera'', Peachum is the head of London's Beggar's Guild and is referred to at least once as the Beggar King/King of the Beggars.
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder:Video Games]]
107	* One of the Templar targets that Arno pursues in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedUnity'' is [[NoNameGiven le Roi des Thunes]], translated as "The King of Beggars". [[spoiler: After Arno assassinates him, he's replaced by the Marquis de Sade. Yes, ''[[Creator/MarquisDeSade that]]'' de Sade. Fortunately, he's an ally to Arno and the Assassins.]]
108	* ''VideoGame/FallenLondon'' has the Topsy King, additionally a TalkativeLoon.
109	-->'''Who is the Topsy King?'''\
110	In his own words: "A goden most capering! Hines the walkskies, chanter the powb raggedy men. Dab with viddlo, too, goden!" So there we have it.
111	* Yuri in the ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' DLC is house leader of the [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores Ashen Wolves]] and the ''de facto'' chief of the various outcasts who make up the population of the Abyss.
112	* ''{{VideoGame/inFAMOUS}}'' has Alden Tate of the Dustmen, who are sort of... super-powered homeless that can make junk {{mecha}} and [[GoddamnedBats trash spiders]].
113	* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'': Hodgman the Hoboverlord (named after Creator/JohnHodgman, author of ''Literature/TheAreasOfMyExpertise'') is the ruler of Hobopolis, a giant underground city populated by hoboes of all kinds.
114	* ''VideoGame/Portal2'': In an AlternateUniverse, Cave Johnson became the Hobo King, ruling over the derelict remains of Aperture.
115	--> '''Cave:''' So grab yourself a bowl of slumgallion and a glass of sternly and let me introduce myself. I'm Michigan Slim Cave Johnson. ''(harmonica riff)'' ''I'm the hobo king!''
116	* Spinoff game ''VideoGame/ShadowsOverLoathing'' features Johnny the Hobo King. [[spoiler:He eventually reveals that he plans to found a city for hobos called...Hobopolis. Johnny and Hodgman are one and the same.]]
117	* ''VideoGame/{{Strife}}'' has Weran, the "Rat King", that leads the mutated hobos living in the sewer system of Tarnhill. From the quest he gives, he is clearly in charge of decisions among his people, especially the procurement of food.
118	%%* The Hobo King from ''VideoGame/{{Stacking}}'' (DLC).
119	* Scotchmo from ''VideoGame/{{Wasteland 2}}'' [[spoiler:will, during the epilogue, be elected king of the hobos of Arizona and California if he joined the Rangers and survived the endgame.]]
120	* Francis Bedlam, one of Novigrad´s Undeground Bosses from ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'' rules over the city's beggars, thieves and street urchins from his hideout at Putrid Grove.
121	[[/folder]]
122
123	[[folder:Webcomics]]
124	* ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'' has Archibald, the King of the Hobos, who wears half of a Campbell's Soup can as a crown. He may have actually done some ruling as a hobo king, but that was before he went on adventures, befriended a mummy, became immortal, and took over as mayor of Cumberland.
125	* ''Webcomic/JohnnySaturn'' features a literally underground society that functions surprisingly well, and while they have some main members, John Underhall is pretty much their king.
126	[[/folder]]
127
128	[[folder:Web Videos]]
129	* When reviewing the [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames video game adaptation]] of ''Film/{{Total Recall\|1990}}'', ''WebVideo/JoueurDuGrenier'' finds out there are plenty of hobos who want to kill the main character in an "abandoned" warehouse (it is abandoned in the film, anyway). Then he hilariously elaborates on how to defeat the [[KingMook oversized hobo boss]] he nicknames "King of the Hobos".
130	[[/folder]]
131
132	[[folder:Western Animation]]
133	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' introduced [[CanonForeigner the Sewer King]], who fits the Fagin archetype of this trope.
134	* ''The Santa Claus Brothers'' had one who also thought he was the King of France.
135	* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'' has the Garbageman, a hideous and ruthless villain who dreams of ruling a garbage kingdom with the homeless as his slaves. After he's defeated, the Professor (so named because he used to be a university professor) becomes a good and wise leader to the homeless and gives a valuable [[AnAesop aesop]] on recycling.
136	* Wrecks serves as this to the slumdwellers of Old Gobotron on ''WesternAnimation/ChallengeOfTheGobots.''
137	* Man-E-Faces in ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2021'' was the one-man acting troupe for the Eternos royal court. He was eventually cast out by King Randor's father (who never liked the theater much) and eventually became "King of the Lower Wards", providing shelter, stolen supplies and [[ThePerformerKing entertainment]] to the poor and neglected of Eternos. [[spoiler:After meeting him in person and seeing how much good he was doing for those he neglected, King Randor gives Man-E-Faces true legal authority to continue his good work, naming himself "King of the Above" and Man-E "King of the Below".]]
138	[[/folder]]
139
140	[[folder:Real Life]]
141	* Bruce Lee ([[Creator/BruceLee not that one]]) is a drug dealer and former street fighter who acts as the self-appointed leader and protector of the huge population of homeless, addicts, street kids and other social rejects in Romania's capital city Bucharest. He even rules a community in the underground heating tunnels beneath the city.
142	* The United States has a National Hobo Convention, which elects a king. [[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/23/us/23graham.html Steam Train Maury]], who died in 2006, was for much of his life the King of the Hobos.
143	* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Norton Joshua Abraham Norton]] was not only king of the homeless in San Francisco, but declared himself Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico after losing all his money in a bad rice deal. He seemed to exist on the cusp of homelessness, sometimes living in a boarding house and tolerated by amused high-class citizens who saw him as a source of entertainment for patrons of their establishments.
144	* The Skid Row neighborhood in Los Angeles--often called the homeless capital of the USA--has artist and community organizer General Dogon of the [[FunWithAcronyms Los Angeles Community Action Network]]. He's famous for his [[CoolBike custom low-rider bicycles]] and for [[https://knock-la.com/la-cans-general-drogon-rejects-meaningless-award-from-mayor-garcetti-speaks-to-needs-of-skid-row-52e8e50df81d rejecting an award from Mayor Eric Garcetti and telling him off for doing the bare minimum]]. [[RefugeInAudacity To his face]].
145	[[/folder]]

Context Main / KingOfTheHomeless