History Main / IntrepidMerchant

* In the ''ArabianNights'': Sinbad the sailor.

An Intrepid Merchant is a merchant that goes to the far corners of his world, bravely seeking profit. He is a treasure-hunter but the treasure is not hidden, it is in the bazaar waiting for him after he has crossed the deserts, mountains, seas, or [[RecycledINSPACE trackless gulfs of space.]] The chief characteristic of an Intrepid Merchant is that he is both a merchant and an adventurer. He buys and sells like any other trader. The difference is that he goes to far distant markets to find what he is looking for. (May be fond of InHarmsWay - after all, the more dangerous it is to get at something, the rarer and, therefore, more valuable it's likely to be.)

* Vikings could switch from being {{Pirates}} to IntrepidMerchant s to being [[ProudWarriorRace warriors]] without missing a beat. They could even do that in the same voyage.

** He built a multi-''billions'' dollars MegaCorp thanks to his adventures, he's past the intrepid merchant: he's an intrepid ''mogul''

* Ali in the Koei simulation game ''UnchartedWaters 2: New Horizons''.

An Intrepid Merchant is a merchant that goes to the far corners of his world, bravely seeking profit. He is a treasure-hunter but the treasure is not hidden, it is in the bazaar waiting for him after he has crossed the deserts, mountains, seas, or [[RecycledINSPACE trackless gulfs of space.]] The chief characteristic of an Intrepid Merchant is that he is both a merchant and an adventurer. He buys and sells like any other trader. The difference is that he goes to far distant markets to find what he is looking for. (May be fond of InHarmsWay.)

* Most settings of ''DungeonsAndDragons'' [[{{Understatement}} aren't quite nice safe places]], be it ''{{Spelljammer}}'' or ''DarkSun'' -- thus there are merchants hauling cargo through anything, and sometimes a {{sourcebook}} about them.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/merchant.png
[[caption-width:302:Curasias in [[http://shapequest.deviantart.com/art/Shape-Quest-02-05-120721285 Shape Quest]]]]

** Who was actually based on a real person - a ''Chinese'' sailor, and Muslim, who traveled as far as ''Venice'' to bring back goods to China - only to have his deeds dashed from all records of Chinese history. Talk about {{Lostalgia}}.

* PoulAnderson's TechicHistory: The Nicholas van Rijn stories. In one of these stories, van Rijn's protege David Falkayn quotes a poem (attributed to Flecker, who's the source of the page quote above) which describes this sort of character:

* PoulAnderson's "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_van_Rijn Nicholas van Rijn]]" stories.
** In one of these stories, van Rijn's protege David Falkayn quotes a poem (attributed to Flecker, who's the source of the page quote above) which describes this sort of character:

This trope is OlderThanFeudalism, dating back in poetry, folklore and history to at least SinbadTheSailor, continuing as a staple of adventure fiction until the present day, and finding its way into science-fiction almost as soon as the genre came into existence. It migrated to role-playing games, especially ''{{Traveller}}'', in which it is one of the main player character types. Inevitably the Intrepid Trader found new territory to explore in computer games, appearing in ''{{Elite}}'', ''WingCommander: Privateer'', ''EveOnline'', ''Vendetta Online'' and many others.

* Phlebas the Phoenician from the ''The Waste Land'' by [[TSEliot T. S. Eliot]].

* Silas Fennec in [[{{Ptitlen9ir3dhv}} China Miéville's]] ''Literature/TheScar''.

* In {{CJCherryh}}'s AllianceUnion series the Merchanter's Alliance is made up of families of interstellar merchants that [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin formed an alliance]] and became both a major power and the sole means of commerce for the other two powers.

* Most settings of ''{{Dungeons and Dragons}}'' [[{{Understatement}} aren't quite nice safe places]], be it ''{{Spelljammer}}'' or ''DarkSun'' -- thus there are merchants hauling cargo through anything, and sometimes a {{sourcebook}} about them.
** In ''ForgottenRealms'' you don't know whether the next caravan will be raided by a dragon, Zhents or mere goblins. But a special mention must be given to "enterprising entepreneur, Aurora the Eclectic", ex-adventurer and founder of all-goods retail chain with its ''[[FictionalDocument Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue]]''.

** The same for the {{spiritual successor}}s -- ''[[WingCommander Wing Commander: Privateer]]'', ''{{Eve Online}}'', ''{{Freelancer}}'', ''InfinityTheQuestForEarth'', ''Jumpgate'', ''VegaStrike'', the EscapeVelocity series and the [[{{X}} X series]]

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* Hober Mallow in IsaacAsimov's ''{{Foundation}}''.

* Rogue Traders in the ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' universe. They also got [[RogueTrader a spin-off RPG dedicated to them]].

** Who was actually based on a real person - a ''Chinese'' sailor, and Muslim, who traveled as far as ''Venice'' to bring back goods to China - only to have his deeds dashed from all records of Chinese history. Talk about Lostalgia.

* In the ''ArabianNights'': Sinbad the sailor

** Mahbub Ali, an Afghan horse-trader [[spoiler:and more than that]] in ''Kim''. Well, if his caravan is ambushed and shot at ''twice'' in one season, it's unusual, but not quite shocking.

* Silas Fennec in China Mieville's ''The Scar''.

* ''SpiceAndWolf'': Although the story begins when Horo the wolf goddess hitches a ride in the protagonist's cart, the series primarily follows a fairly ordinary medieval merchant, whose experiences manage to be interesting without seeming unrealistic, traveling company aside.

** The same for the {{spiritual successor}}s -- ''[[WingCommander Wing Commander: Privateer]]'', ''{{Eve Online}}'', ''{{Freelancer}}'', ''InfinityTheQuestForEarth'', ''Jumpgate'', ''Vega Strike'', the EscapeVelocity series and the [[{{X}} X series]]

* [[ResidentEvilFour HELLO STRANGER! WHATTAYA BUYIN'?]]

When a whole culture has this as it's [[PlanetOfHats Hat]], it is a ProudMerchantRace .

[[caption-width:302:Curasias in [[http://www.shapequest.net/?id=84 Shape Quest]]]]