Line #28 Series/ThievesOfTheWood


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thieves_of_the_wood.jpg]]
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3	''Thieves of the Wood'' is a 2020 television series from Belgium about the adventures of the HistoricalDomainCharacter Jan de Lichte and his band of robbers during the early 18th century.
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5	!!Contains examples of:
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7	* AristocratsAreEvil: Most aristocrats on the show are cold elitists or cruel sadists. The Mayor entertains them by hosting parties for them to literally hunt, rape, and murder peasants.
8	* AbusiveParents: Simon slaps Squint Eyes repeatedly and mocks him for crying, despite him having received a fractured skull from a beating by Tincke.
9	* AllMenArePerverts: The Mayor entertains the nobility by releasing young girls like Anne Marie on the grounds of his estate so his guests can rape them.
10	* AgentPeacock: When Tincke is put in charge of a high class brothel he starts wearing frilly shirts and velvet suits.
11	* AnarchyIsChaos: Both good and evil vagrants flock to Jan's commune. Some believe the BanditClan will improve their lives and change society, but others want to get rich by robbing AssholeVictim aristocrats.
12	* AwfulWeddedLife: Heloise is married to Nicolai, a man she detests. In addition to being a boorish, cowardly brute, she's forced to endure him misrtreating and raping her while desperately holding off getting pregnant.
13	* BewareTheNiceOnes: The Gypsies are BadassPacifist healers and fortune tellers, but can strike terror into the hearts of the unjust.
14	* BlackAndGreyMorality: The Mayor is clearly the BigBad because he profits from slavery, but Jan is a fugitive murderer.
15	* BarefootPoverty: Anne Marie and her sister during their childhood at the OrphanageOfFear.
16	* BullyHunter: Jan shoots the finger off an urchin for harassing Van Erkens' daughter.
17	* ContraceptionDeception: Héloïse secretly uses a makeshift condom to thwart Nicolaï's attempts to impregnate her.
18	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: When Jan is recaptured after surviving his initial hanging, Baru decides to have him crushed to death on the wheel, to make sure he is dead this time.
19	* DarkerAndEdgier: This is not the glamorous, romanticised trope from the old swashbucklers. Being based on true events, life for TheHighwayman was short and brutal.
20	* TheDragon: The Spaniard to Simon, and later Squint Eyes.
21	* DubNameChange: In the English dub, Baru is pronounced Barrow, Tincke is Tinker, Pyck is Peck, and Coffijn is simply referred to as Mayor.
22	* DirtyCop: Many of the watchmen are corrupt and take bribes. Baru puts a lot of effort into stopping this behavior and push his BadCopIncompetentCop department to maximum efficiency.
23	* TheDungAges: Like every Belgian town of the 18th century, the streets are filthy and there are no paved roads.
24	* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: In this case, he is referred to by everyone as "My Lord Mayor".
25	* EvilWearsBlack: The Mayor wears a black suit. So does Baru when he is put in charge after the Mayor's death.
26	* AFatherToHisMen: The general from Wallonia is unusually caring by 18th century standards, and has vowed to bring home as many of his men as possible.
27	* GoodColorsEvilColors: The Belgian city guards wear black coats and orange waistcoats. Jan and his followers wear grey and brown to reflect their grey morality.
28	* GreyAndGreyMorality: The chaotic robber Jan who gives his loot to the poor versus the lawful AntiVillain Baru who opposes torture and demands the {{Outlaw}} receives a fair trial.
29	* GenreSavvy: Baru doesn't believe in silly peasant superstitions like ghosts or curses, but after Dean Peck is killed he insists on being heavily guarded at all times because he suspects that Jan has somehow survived the hanging and returned for revenge.
30	* HeelFaceTurn: Jan survives the hanging because Butcher the hangman performs a tracheotomy on him.
31	* HeelRealization: Butcher is horrified at being forced to hang the innocent Urkens, and decides to make amends by saving Jan.
32	* HumiliationConga: Two of the Mayor's mooks are robbed of their gold, then stripped of their clothes, and finally made to run back to the city naked.
33	* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: The brothel madam is strict, but takes care of the prostitutes under her protection.
34	* IWantGrandkids: The mother of SissyVillain Nicolaï encourages him to force himself upon his unwilling bride.
35	* KingOfThieves: No criminal can deal drugs, run a brothel or break into houses without paying protection money to EvilCripple Iron Simon.
36	* KillItWithFire: The gang covers Coffijn with tar and feathers, and burn him to death.
37	* JustLikeRobinHood: Jan robs Coffijn's minions so the vagrants under his protection can survive in the forest.
38	* TheLancer: Tincke is DangerousDeserter Jan's sidekick.
39	* LeadDetective: SympatheticInspectorAntagonist Baru has the misfortune of being born 200 years too early. His modern methods of police investigation are regarded with disdain and suspicion by the watchmen under his command.
40	* LoveableRogue: Jan is seen as the Belgian equivalent of Myth/RobinHood.
41	* TheMobBossIsScarier: Iron Simon is TheDreaded, and even the watchmen fear him.
42	* MayDecemberRomance: Between the bailiff Baru and the young hooker Anne Marie.
43	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Tincke gives Squint Eyes a fractured skull and disfigured face after he is caught harassing a prostitute.
44	* OldSoldier: HeroAntagonist Baru is a retired army officer who becomes captain of the city watchmen.
45	* PapaWolf: [[spoiler:After Héloïse runs away with Jan in the penultimate episode, Nicolaï goes to look for her at her father's workshop and threatens that his retribution on her will be severe and that Mr. Embo won't see her again. Mr. Embo responds to this by shooting his son-in-law and fleeing to the woods to join Héloïse and Jan's band.]]
46	* ParentalSubstitute: After Anne Marie's job as informer is done Baru acts as a father figure to Anne Marie's HeartWarmingOrphan sister.
47	* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Coffijn regularly hosts depraved orgies with the local nobility where they prey upon vulnerable orphan girls.
48	* RobbingTheMobBank: Jan unintentionally steals Iron Simon's valuable consignment of opium which was being transported on the stagecoach.
49	* SpoiledBrat: Anne Marie snubs Baru's offer of marriage and taunts him for his cowardice.
50	* SelfMadeOrphan: Squint Eyes becomes one after Simon gives him a brutal TheReasonYouSuck speech and strips him of his position of authority within TheSyndicate.
51	* TheStarscream: Simon is murdered by his own son, Squint Eyes.
52	* SinisterMinister: TheVicar Pycke preaches sermons upholding the mayor's corrupt regime, and gets perverse pleasure out of disciplining Nicolaï's wife.
53	* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Vagrancy is illegal in the 1700s, and the homeless are rounded up and forced to build roads and canals for the Mayor. It's a sign of his moral depravity.
54	* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: Baru is initially an idealist who opposed torture and wants to reform criminals through education, but bit by bit he becomes a KnightTemplar LawmanGoneBad out of frustration at Jan's continued defiance. Also he confesses to Anne Marie he helped her out of desire for her and does not handle the rejection by Anne Marie all too well.
55	* TooDumbToLive: Although Baru is an OfficerAndAGentleman, he is not a nobleman. The Mayor and Peck see him as a social inferior and fail to take his warnings seriously about being targeted for assassination.
56	* TheBadGuysAreCops: Although Baru is a decent man, his subordinates oppress the poor and uphold the mayor's tyrannical regime.
57	* ThievesGuild: Iron Simon is TheDon of a criminal gang paid by Coffijn to enslave homeless people.
58	* TortureIsIneffective: The tramp Urkens is a cripple who needs crutches to walk, but when he is brought before the Mayor and accused of robbery he remains DefiantToTheEnd and refuses to implicate Jan.
59	* MaritalRapeLicense: Nicolai decides Heloise "must do as he say" and takes advantage of their marriage to force himself on her.
60	* MoralEventHorizon: Baru undergoes a FaceHeelTurn after the Mayor is murdered and he is given a KlingonPromotion. With his new acquired power and status he does not handle rejection well and breaks his peace promise with Jan, threatens to let Isabel die if Anne Marie doesn't comply and eventually banishes the sisters and tortures Jan to death despite formerly condemning the practice as barbaric.
61	* VillainTeamUp: The LawfulEvil Mayor pays ChaoticEvil Iron Simon and his DragonWithAnAgenda the Spaniard to bring him slaves to work on the road, and they work together to capture Jan because they realise his activities are bad for business.
62	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Most of the townsfolk approve of the Mayor's RepressiveButEfficient regime because he is responsible for envisioning paved roads and a canal that will bring in wealth.
63	* VillainProtagonist: Jan does not see himself as a hero and tells his followers not to call him one because he previously murdered his best friend and deserted from the army.

Context Series / ThievesOfTheWood