History Main / ProudMerchantRace

** Egypr under Cleopatra VII (in particular her Ptolemic persona) gives bonuses to trade routes involving her cities, whether she initiates them or another player does. This is part of her overall tendency to cozy up to the strongest empires in the game to keep Egypt safe by encouraging mutual trade and discourage attacking her with force.

** The Gerudo, originally introduced as DesertBandits, are depicted this way in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]''. Their capital is [[MerchantCity a thriving city with multiple stalls for merchants to sell their wares]] (most other towns only have one or two stores), and there's a nearby oasis with even more stores. That's not to say that they've completely abandoned their past as warriors though since they're one of only two races in the game with a standing military.

Compare ProudScholarRace, ProudHunterRace and ProudWarriorRaceGuy for species with different hats.

This trope may overlap with IntrepidMerchant. One difference is that a MerchantCity can be just a place where {{Intrepid Merchant}}s from elsewhere visit whereas a Proud Merchant Race has to conduct trading on its own. As trading long distances is dangerous and outlaws ever present, sometimes a Proud Merchant Race is a ProudWarriorRace as well, or at least a race whose martial prowess is dangerously underestimated. The logical conclusion of such a combination is WarForFunAndProfit.

Compare ProudHunterRace, ProudWarriorRace and ProudScholarRace for species with different hats.

* Creator/CJCherryh's ''[[Literature/ChanurNovels Chanur Saga]]'' has the Hani and their rivals, the Kif, with the [[SpacePeople Spacer]] culture of humans being brought into the mix as the series progresses. The Hani are probably the most straightforward example here because their culture is fairly isolationist and not really looking to expand beyond their home system, making their traders the only ones who have a ''reason'' to leave their homeworld, while the Kif's main hat is more a general vicious opportunism (trade, theft, bullying, piracy… whatever works to one's advantage) and the Mahendo'sat primarily just seem to poke their noses anywhere they feel like.
* Creator/JohnRingo's ''Literature/LegacyOfTheAldenata'' series has the "good guy" alien federation, majority-led by a trader species, The Darhel who subvert this. They were originally a race that fell somewhere between ProudWarriorRace and [[OmnicidalManiac Omnicidal Maniacs]] before the Aldenata changed them to this through genetic engineering that made giving in to their natural tendencies a death sentence.

* The Abh are this along with ProudWarriorRace in ''Literature/CrestOfTheStars''.

** The Mandalorians combine this with ProudWarriorRace. In their early days, they were solely a ProudWarriorRace but after several of their wars of conquest ended in disaster, they turned to bounty hunting and mercenary work to find honor in combat.

* In E. E. Knight's ''Literature/AgeOfFire'' series the Dwarves are divided between those who fit this type like the Diadem Chartered Company and those who fit the ProudWarriorRace type like the Fire Wheel tribe. Each tends to look down on the other.
* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'': Despite the [[ProudWarriorRace formidable reputation]] of their [[WoodenShipsAndIronMen navy]] ([[RecycledInSpace in SPACE!]]), the Star Kingdom of Manticore is this trope in spades: the one thing that makes it possible for them to achieve military superiority over the [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny People's Republic of Haven]] and forge [[TheAlliance a strong alliance]] to bolster their position is the thriving economy produced by their skillful use of the [[AppliedPhlebotinum Manticore Wormhole Junction's]] economic potential.

* In ''[[Literature/TheDarkProfitSaga Orconomics]]'', the Guz'Varda Tribe of the Orcs have turned from a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Warrior Race]] to this under the leadership of Chief Zuthraka. When his son Char fails in the "path of the aggressive seller", resulting in the party thinking that they've been taken prisoner, he roars at him in anger.

* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'': Clan Sea Fox/Diamond Shark affords their merchant caste a high amount of influence compared to the other [[ProudWarriorRace clans]]. Clan Jade Falcon's merchants are also reputed as savvy business men who can get a good deal on anyone. With a Clan saying "As sharp as a Jade Falcon's merchants talons". On the Inner Sphere side of the spectrum, both the Free Worlds League and the Lyran Commonwealth place a lot of emphasis on mercantilism in their societies than militarization, although the former faction does have a much more respectable armed force when compared to the [[GeneralFailure latter]].

** Vikings and Arabs, as presented in ''GURPS Vikings'' and ''GURPS Arabian Knights'' respectively. They are of course both [[ProudWarriorRace other things]].

* ''VideoGame/KultHereticKingdoms'': The Sura seem to be a combination of this and ProudWarriorRace, being a proud ''mercenary'' race. They value strength and prowess, but are very insistent that it be within the framework of a contract, and never given for free. There's a sidequest where the protagonist is able to save a Sura warrior from fatally flunking his trial of endurance, but he'll only accept help if she has been ''hired'' to rescue him--being rescued for non-financial motivations like pity or compassion would be so shameful he'd rather die.

** Gorons have evolved into this over successive games, though their culture is a mix of this and ProudWarriorRace. Not only are they super-powerful rock-eating rock people, but they also are merchants travelling the land, selling their wares to anyone who will buy--whether that be at [[MerchantCity Hyrule Castle Town]], their [[DeathMountain homeland in a volcano]], or even on [[DesertedIsland random islands]] in the Great Sea. Or in [[IntrepidMerchant stranger places]].

* ''VideoGame/StarControlII'':

* ''Franchise/BreathOfFire'': The Manillo are a race of humanoid fishes capable of breathing on land are the ones who play this role in the games. Despite their reputation as a clan of notoriously greedy traders who boast that they will one day control the world's commerce, they do have lines they won't cross: Goby from ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireI'' lost his shop license and his sphere that allowed him to transform into a Big Fish over selling fake Happiness Jars. This really put a dent on his business opportunities and made him a pariah in his clan.

* ''VideoGame/ChildOfLight'' has the Bolmus Populi, who are obsessed with economics and trade. Their town is built on the back of a giant, which allows them to easily sell their products to distant regions. The main quest when you reach their town is to cure the giant of his illness, which prevents him from transporting them around, and from transporting you to the temple where the moon is kept. Another quest is to open the vault where they keep all their gold, which has been locked.

* TabletopGame/HeavyGear: Two of Terra Nova's states are well known as these. On the North there is the United Mercantile Federation, a MegaCorp where votes are bought, and its superior manufacturing abilities allow it to dominate is neighbors. On the South there's the Mekong Dominion, which are ruled by merchant prince's called Taipans, and have the economic leverage to bend to bend the AST to its whims.

* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'': Clan Sea Fox/Diamond Shark affords their merchant caste a high amount of influence compared to the other [[ProudWarriorRace clans]]. On the Inner Sphere side of the spectrum, both the Free Worlds League and the Lyran Commonwealth place a lot of emphasis on mercantilism in their societies than militarization, although the former faction does have a much more respectable armed force when compared to the [[GeneralFailure latter]].