Arthur J. Raffles
"Of course it's very wrong, but we can't all be moralists, and the distribution of wealth is very wrong to begin with."
The titular character, a famous cricketer who moonlights as a Gentleman Thief.
- The Ace: Raffles is a strikingly handsome man, a successful thief, a famous sportsman, an excellent painter and soldier, and so charismatic that he tends to draw the attention to himself wherever he goes.
- Adaptational Heroism: In every adaptation, he is a much less villainous figure than he is in the books.
- Affably Evil: Charming, witty, a good friend to have and a very valuable man to have on your side in a tight pinch...and an unrepentant thief who occasionally flirts with the idea of more serious crimes, like murder.
- Ambiguously Bi: Raffles has had several female paramours, but his relationship with Bunny can also be read as more than platonic friendship.
- Anti-Hero / Villain Protagonist: He varies between the two depending on the story. At one point, Bunny notes that he tends to downplay Raffles's villainy in his memoirs.
- The Atoner: He enlists in the army to give something back to the country. It does not end well.
- Attending Your Own Funeral: Done by Raffles after he fakes his death in "The Old Flame".
- Born Lucky: Raffles often notes his extraordinary good luck, although he does run out of it eventually.
- Caper Rationalization: In general, he rationalizes his criminal lifestyle thusly: "The distribution of wealth is very wrong to begin with". He also justifies some of his crimes in particular (e.g. it's okay to steal from the guests, but not from the hosts; or it's okay to steal from the hosts if they've been treating him like the help; it's fine to kill a blackmailer, etc.)
- Challenge Seeker: Despite being a thief, he isn't interested in easy money.
- The Charmer: He's very charismatic, to the point of being very conspicuous in social situations.
- Coat, Hat, Mask: His typical attire when on the job.
- Combat Pragmatist: Chloroforming people, hitting people on the head, throwing women around...if there's a way to fight dirty, he'll do it.
- Death Seeker: He wants the glory of dying on the battlefield — and he gets it.
- Depending on the Writer: How much of a villain and/or jerkass he is.
- Disease Bleach / Prematurely Grey-Haired: After the Time Skip.
- Downer Ending: He is killed in the Boer war while Bunny watches, wounded and helpless.
- Dressing as the Enemy: He once saves Bunny by dressing up as a policeman and "arresting" him.
- Everyone Has Standards: Raffles will not steal from a home while he is a guest there (stealing from other guests is OK by him, though); he will not cheat at games; he will not betray a fellow thief, even one who's blackmailing him (he despises blackmailers); and in many ways, thieves or no, he and Bunny retain most of their late-Victorian upper-class code.
- Evil Counterpart: To Sherlock Holmes; where Holmes is an eccentric, anti-social force of good, Raffles is a charming criminal welcomed in polite society.
- Faking the Dead: Twice.
- The Fatalist: He believes that matters of life or death are "on the knees of the gods".
- Gentleman Thief: An Unbuilt Trope that later inspired more straight examples. He is a gentleman thief by appearances only, as he's not a upper-class man and is severely lacking in funds, and thus needs to steal in order to pay his bills.
- Hair-Contrast Duo: Dark-haired, cynical and imaginative — to Bunny's blond, idealistic and pragmatic.
- The Hero Dies: It's a fakeout the first two times...but then it happens for real.
- Icy Blue Eyes: Much like Holmes, Raffles has penetrating, steely eyes.
- I Have Many Names: Some of his more long-standing aliases are Mr. Maturin and Ralphnote Manders.
- Important Haircut: Raffles used to have a mustache, but he shaved it off after his first heist.
- Invincible Hero: Averted, numerous times; quite often the antagonist of the story will get a drop on him or thwart his plans one way or the other.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: As abrasive and villainous as he is, he's not an amoral fiend, and at the very least genuinely cares for Bunny.
- Indy Ploy: He often runs into complications when on the job, at which point he has to make a new plan on the fly.
- Karmic Thief: On occasion, he robs people who are really asking for it.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: "It's not only been the best time I ever had, old Bunny, but I'm not half sure-"
- Last-Name Basis: Bunny only ever calls him "Raffles", while Raffles addresses Bunny by his boyhood nickname.
- Living a Double Life: By day, he's a famous athlete; by night, he's a Phantom Thief.
- Lovable Rogue: For all his villainy, Raffles is a sympathetic character — partly because the reader sees him through the eyes of Bunny, who idolizes the man.
- Loves Secrecy: He tends to keep Bunny in the dark about his plans, which bites the duo in the ass on multiple occasions.
- Mad Artist: Raffles likens himself to an artist, and while he does burgle for the funds, his primary motivation is his compulsive desire to steal.
- Manipulative Bastard: He can often talk others — especially Bunny — into doing his bidding.
- Master of Disguise: Much like his inspiration Sherlock Holmes.
- Nerves of Steel: He never loses his cool, outside of situations where his nearest and dearest are threatened with death.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: He's based not only on Holmes, but also on two of Hornung's close friends: cricketer and LGBT activist George Ives and, in appearance and fashion, on Oscar Wilde.
- Not So Stoic: He's distraught and possibly on the verge of tears when Bunny is shot during a battle. He also flies into a berserker rage when his lover Faustine is murdered.
- Obfuscating Disability: Post-Time Skip, Raffles takes full advantage of his grey hair and often pretends to be an invalid confined to a wheelchair when in public.
- Pastimes Prove Personality: He plays cricket, which the media considers a sport for highly intelligent, smug people. See Rule of Symbolism for details.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Raffles often steals from nasty, new-money people, and he attempts to murder a blackmailer at one point.
- Phantom Thief: Steals high-class items (including works of art), has a code of honor, and is meant to be admired (despite his flaws).
- Posthumous Character: He's dead by the time Bunny starts chronicling their exploits.
- Protagonist Title: Of Mr. Justice Raffles and the compendium of the stories as a whole.
- Redemption Equals Death: Raffles goes off to fight in the Boer War, thinking it's about time he gives something back to his country. He gets shot and killed.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The cold, calculating Blue to Bunny's impulsive, impatient Red.
- Refuge in Audacity: His modus operandi whenever his plans go awry.
- The Resenter: The (middle-class) Raffles is bitter that his cricket skill is his only ticket into polite society; oftentimes, the nobles treat him no better than the help when they engage his services for the team.
- Rule of Symbolism: While he's an all-around excellent cricket player, his specialty is slow bowling — which, as opposed to fast bowling, relies on skill and deception.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The manly to Bunny's sensitive.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: He's described as fashionable, and close in looks to the aesthetic movement that Oscar Wilde belonged to.
- Smoking Is Cool: Raffles famously favors Sullivan cigarettes to the point that, when returning to London after being lost and presumed dead, he doesn't dare smoke them, since he was so well-known to love that particular brand.
- Tall, Dark, and Snarky: To a T.
- Wicked Cultured: He will often quote from poets, authors and philosophers.
- With Friends Like These...: Raffles is often cruel and dismissive towards Bunny, but he is also unwaveringly loyal towards him.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: He knocks himself out in "The Return Match" to avoid suspicion of helping a criminal escape.
- Younger Than They Look: During the Time Skip Raffles' hair turns prematurely white and he is described as having aged 20 years.
Harry "Bunny" Manders
"I was afraid I wrote neither well enough nor ill enough for success."
The narrator of the stories, an aspiring author and journalist who aids Raffles in his exploits. He went to the same public school as Raffles (albeit several years his junior).
- Affectionate Nickname / Embarrassing Nickname: "Bunny" is an unflattering cricket term for an extremely incompetent batsman (which is what Bunny was in his schooldays); however, Raffles's use of it seems to be affectionate rather than condescending, and Bunny doesn't seem to mind being referred to as such.
- Ambiguously Bi: Bunny did have a fiancée before his life of crime, but his all-encompassing obsession with Raffles (and jealousy over the latter's romantic entanglements) code him as this.
- Coat, Hat, Mask: His typical attire when on the job.
- Combat Pragmatist: His fights have included chloroforming his victims and hitting them from behind.
- The Conscience: Bunny acts like this to Raffles, curbing his more villainous impulses.
- Con Men Hate Guns: Unlike Raffles, Bunny is normally unarmed during the duo's burglaries.
- Cowardly Lion: He's timid and tries to avoid violence and danger — but when push comes to shove, he is forever by Raffles's side in the latter's escapades.
- Deuteragonist: Much like the original Watson.
- Disguised in Drag: In "The Rest Cure".
- Distressed Dude: He is often threatened or held hostage as leverage against Raffles.
- Downer Ending: Raffles dies in battle while Bunny can only watch, helpless and delirious with pain. Bunny is left emotionally and physically scarred by the experience, and his reputation is forever ruined by his stint in prison and his association with Raffles.
- Driven to Suicide / Interrupted Suicide: How it all begins. After losing all his money and facing disgrace, Bunny comes to Raffles to ask for help. When Raffles explains that he doesn't have any money either, Bunny tries to kill himself, but Raffles stops him and offers him a job.
- Evil Counterpart: To John Watson.
- Evil Makes You Ugly: Lampshaded and averted; Bunny notes that his life of crime and his stint in prison have done nothing to rob him of his youthful good looks and his innocent-looking face.
- Extreme Doormat: He can't say no to Raffles, although the latter does occasionally resort to dirty tactics like alcohol to get Bunny to comply.
- Falsely Reformed Villain: After doing time in prison, he tries to make a decent living (via writing about prisons for magazines); however, before long, he goes back to his life of crime.
- Flanderization: While nowhere near as cunning or ruthless as Raffles, Bunny is clever, able to think quick on his feet, unafraid to use violence when it suits him, and is volatile, conflicted and emotionally unstable — traits that are absent from most adaptations, which downplay Bunny's intelligence and turn him into a source of comic relief.
- Green-Eyed Monster: He becomes one in "The Gift of the Emperor", when Raffles starts courting a young lady.
- Hair-Contrast Duo: Blond, idealistic, pragmatic Bunny and dark, cynical, imaginative Raffles.
- Heroic BSoD: He never recovers emotionally after Raffles is killed.
- Hero-Worshipper: Towards Raffles, about whose appearance and skills Bunny tends to wax lyrical.
- Impoverished Patrician: Bunny came into wealth some years before the start of the story, but he squandered it all and is forced to rely on journalism and theft to support himself.
- Indy Ploy: He's not as good at this as Raffles, but he will make new plans on the fly when the situation calls for it.
- I Should Write a Book About This: The stories are presented as Bunny's memoirs.
- Most Writers Are Writers: Bunny is a journalist by profession.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: His appearance is based on Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas, whereas circumstances of his stint in prison are based on those of Oscar Wilde.
- Older Than They Look: Bunny looks ages younger than Raffles, despite being only a couple of years his junior; much reference is made to his youthful, innocent face. After the Time Skip he's described as having a mustache that can only be seen in certain lights despite him being thirty at the time.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Bunny's real name is only ever mentioned in one story: "The Last Word". (It's Harry.)
- Plucky Comic Relief: Especially prominent in adaptations.
- Pretty Boy: Unlike Raffles, who, while handsome, has "singular" features, Bunny is conventionally and anonymously good-looking, and feminine enough that he can pass for a woman when in drag.
- Promoted to Love Interest: Some of the pastiches — e.g. Graham Greene (Author)'s play The Return of A.J. Raffles and Kim Newman's The Hound of the D'Urbervilles — explicitly depict Raffles and Bunny as a couple.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The impulsive, impatient Red to Raffles's cold, calculating Blue.
- Refuge in Audacity: Much like Raffles, Bunny will fall back on this ploy if things go south.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Many of the details of Bunny's prison stint are based on the experiences of Hornung's close friend Oscar Wilde; like Wilde, Bunny later campaigns for penal reform via a series of magazine articles.
- Self-Deprecation: He normally downplays his part in the crimes and his skill as a writer and poet. Even his abominable cricketing (which is bad enough to earn him an unflattering nickname) is revealed to be not that terrible: when he takes part in a Players vs Gentlemen match, he is far from the worst player on the field.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The sensitive to Raffles's manly.
- Sidekick: Specifically a Cowardly Sidekick — to Raffles, from their schooldays and onward.
- So Okay, It's Average: In-Universe, Bunny worries that his writing is neither good nor bad enough for success.
- Undying Loyalty: He will go to hell and beyond for Raffles, and is willing to abandon all of his moral principles for the man. Most notably, after Raffles's death, he chooses to honor and glorify the latter's name in his memoirs, at detriment to his own (already ruined) reputation.
- Unreliable Narrator: Lampshaded; in Bunny's own words, "I have omitted whole heinous episodes. I have dwelt unduly on the redeeming side."
- The Watson: Unsurprisingly, since he's based on the original.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: In "The Rest Cure", he's apparently fairly convincing as a woman.
Inspector Mackenzie
One of the few recurring characters in the stories, Mackenzie is a particularly capable Scotland Yard policeman.
- Brave Scot: Very Scottish and very brave.
- Expy: Of Inspector Lestrade.
- Hero Antagonist: As the policeman who hunts down our criminal protagonists.
- Inspector Lestrade: Subverted; he ends up outsmarting Raffles and putting Bunny in prison.
- The Stoic: He is a dour, serious man.
- The Unfettered: He is very, very committed to catching the perpetrator of a string of brazen robberies and his determination pays off.
Dr. Theobald
A recurring character in The Black Mask stories, Dr. Theobald is the physician overseeing the health of Mr. Maturin (aka Raffles).
- The Alcoholic: Bunny often sees him hiding flasks and decanters in his study.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: He's not a villain, but he is technically a con man bleeding a client (Raffles) dry.
