History Main / RoguishPoacher

** In ''Literature/{{Pyramids}}'', Pteppic spends some time under the wing of a roguish poacher, whom his absent-minded father mistook for his tutor. The main thing he learned was how to operate a "punt-bow", a device that can turn a flock of ibises into a heap of pâté.

* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' opens with Katniss and Gail hunting outside their District's perimeter in order to feed their families, which is described as a harshly punishable crime.

* In ''Literature/AClashOfKings,'' the second ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' book, Arya travels with a group of Nights Watch recruits which includes two pleasant-natured poachers named Koss and Kurz. The two men keep the group fed (Koss takes down larger animals with a bow and arrow while Kurz uses his bare hands) and never try to escape while out foraging. After being fatally wounded, [[spoiler:Kurz]] passes on his hunting techniques and survival skills to his younger companions.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The infamous Twin Foxes -- Albert Ebenezer Fox (1857-1937) and Ebenezer Albert Fox (1857-1926) were notorious poachers based around Stevenage just north of London. They never went poaching together so that they couldn't be caught together, and also that one could pretend to be the other in order to provide alibis. Interestingly, they were the sons of a relatively prosperous small farmer, so they didn't need to poach for food, at least at the beginning. Whilst they were mostly successful, both Foxes did complete a few small prison sentences, usually for possession of poaching equipment rather than being caught in the act. The Twin Foxes were immortalized in a pub in Stevenage -- which has sadly closed -- and are now commemorated in the Twin Foxes housing estate in nearby Knebworth.
[[/folder]]

* ''Film/CrocodileDundee'' fits the archetype pretty well. He's allegedly a fisherman who runs a safari business in Australia's Northern Territory, but in the first movie a barfly calls him a "bloody croc poacher," and while Mick punches him out for it, it does seem to be an open secret in Walkabout Creek, where he's generally well-liked.

* Creator/RoaldDahl's book ''Literature/DannyTheChampionOfTheWorld'' where the poacher, Danny's father, is a good guy and a GuileHero, showing a germ of the character of ''Literature/FantasticMrFox''. The bad guy is the man who owns the land they live on, who is a pompous, heartless, cruel man. It probably helps that the animals being poached are [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute pheasants]] being readied for an upcoming hunt, and so are due to die whatever happens. It also helps that the father comes up with increasingly [[ZanyScheme clever ways of going about it]] and the landlord keeps trying to find more and more trivial ways to force the family to sell their gas station, so that you have to root for them, regardless of your stance on hunting, trespassing, and poaching. The events of the book actually end up ''saving'' most of the birds, largely by accident.

Naturally, in RealLife, it's more complicated than this. For example, how to classify a poor hunter poaching endangered animals on a game reserve in order to sell bushmeat, ivory, luxury furs, etc., on the BlackMarket would be much more open for debate. But fiction is usually [[BlackAndWhiteMorality more willing to take sides]].

Naturally, in real life it's more complicated than this -- how to classify a poor African hunter poaching endangered animals on a game reserve in order to sell them as black-market bushmeat would be much more open for debate. But fiction is usually [[BlackAndWhiteMorality more willing to take sides]].

* ''Film/TheHungerGames'': Katniss Everdeen hunting illegally to feed her starving family and coincidentally sticking it to TheMan.

* French movie ''Film/NiVuNiConnu'' (1958) stars Creator/LouisDeFunes as Léon Blaireau, a sympathetic poacher who's pitted against Parju, a [[MeddlesomePatrolman Meddlesome Forest Guard]] and gamekeeper. Mr. Bluette, the prison director, calls Blaireau a "Rural Bohemian" but the mayor angrily reminds that he is still a poacher. Much to his dismay, Blaireau is incredibly popular in the village since he brings most of the game and fishes...

** In ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'', the boy Robin finds trapped up a tree by some soldiers is accused of shooting a deer. When asked by Robin (after chasing the Sheriff's men away and branding himself an outlaw) the boy confirms it's true (although Robin doesn't seem to care either way).
** ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'' has Robin similarly rescue a boy from the guards. And later, Robin barges into Prince John's castle and plops down a poached boar right on his table.
--->'''Robin:''' No, that's a wild pig. ''[points at Prince John]'' THAT's a wild bore.

* British propaganda film ''Film/WentTheDayWell'' has Bill purves the local poacher as a genial old man who gets along well with kids and isn't portrayed negatively during a scene where he's trying to outwit the local policeman. And later is a heroic figure during the conflict.

* Creator/RoaldDahl's book ''Literature/DannyTheChampionOfTheWorld'' where the poacher, Danny's father, is a good guy and a GuileHero, showing a germ of the character of ''Literature/FantasticMrFox''. The bad guy is the man who owns the land they live on, who is a pompous, heartless, cruel man. It probably helps that the animals being poached are [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute pheasants]] being readied for an upcoming hunt, and so are due to die whatever happens. It also helps that the father came up with increasingly [[ZanyScheme clever ways of going about it]] and the landlord kept trying to find more and more trivial ways to force the family to sell their gas station that you have to root for them, regardless of your stance on hunting, trespassing, and poaching. The events of the book actually end up ''saving'' most of the birds, largely by accident.

** In ''Literature/{{Pyramids}}'', Pteppic spends some time under the wing of a roguish poacher, whom his absent-minded father mistook for his tutor. The main thing he learned was how to operate a "punt-bow", a device that can turn a flock of ibises into a heap of pate.

* Black George in ''Literature/TheHistoryOfTomJonesAFoundling'' is a gamekeeper on an estate (the guy supposed to stop poachers) but also does some poaching himself--a combination of feeding his family and being a (lovable) scoundrel. At the end of the novel, the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue indicates he was ultimately [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_transportation transported]] for his crimes.

* "Longdog" by ShowOfHands, thus inspiring the band's FanCommunityNickname. A longdog is a variety of sighthound popular with hare and rabbit coursers, and the hero's ownership of one is used as circumstantial evidence to send him to jail.

* "Longdog" by ShowOfHands, thus inspiring the band's FanCommunityNickname. A longdog is a variety of sighthound popular with hare- and rabbit-coursers, and the hero's ownership of one is used as circumstantial evidence to send him to jail.

* {{Defied|Trope}} by Music/JethroTull's song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXvl01MR-ac The Whaler's Dues]]"; the whalers see themselves as this, but the song points out they work for an industry that's almost rendered a number of species of these majestic creatures almost extinct, if not entirely.

* According to [[Series/ToastOfLondon Steven Toast]], fellow actor [[Series/{{Bergerac}} John Nettles]] has had to become one after falling on hard times.

As an inversion of EvilPoacher, some older works, particularly {{fairy tale}}s and FolkMusic, pitch a LoveableRogue Poacher against an [[AristocratsAreEvil Evil]] [[FeudalOverlord Fatcat Landowner]] in a [[Literature/PeterRabbit Peter Rabbit-vs-Farmer MacGregor]] kind of relationship.

Naturally, in real life it's more complicated than this -- how you would classify a poor African hunting protected bushmeat would be much more open for debate. But fiction is usually [[BlackAndWhiteMorality more willing to take sides]].

As this guy is still a criminal, he'll either have a SympatheticInspectorAntagonist, the police/sheriff will be [[DirtyCop in the pockets]] of the CorruptHick landlord, [[JustFollowingOrders or even both]].

* Black George in ''Literature/TheHistoryOfTomJonesAFoundling'' is a gamekeeper on an estate (the guy supposed to stop poachers) but also does some poaching himself- a combination of feeding his family and being a (lovable) scoundrel. At the end of the novel, the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue indicates he was ultimately [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_transportation transported]] for his crimes.

* {{Defied|Trope}} by Music/JethroTull's song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXvl01MR-ac The Whaler's Dues]]"; the whalers see themselves as this, but the song points out they work for an industry that's almost rendered a number species of these majestic creatures almost extinct, if not entirely.

%%* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
%%** Carter the Poacher in ''Literature/LordsAndLadies''.
%%** In ''Literature/{{Pyramids}}'', Pteppic spends some time under the wing of a roguish poacher, whom his absent-minded father mistook for his tutor.

%%* The traditional English folk song "The Lincolnshire Poacher".

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** Carter the Poacher in ''Literature/LordsAndLadies''.
** In ''Literature/{{Pyramids}}'', Pteppic spends some time under the wing of a roguish poacher, whom his absent-minded father mistook for his tutor.

* The traditional English folk song "The Lincolnshire Poacher".

* The German song "Das Jennerwein-Lied", a romanticised tale of RealLife FolkHero Georg Jennerwein.

Whereas the Evil Poacher is an EgomaniacHunter out for endangered "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charismatic_megafauna charismatic megafauna]]", the Roguish Poacher hunts [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute prey animals]] like rabbits, fish, and game birds (the only quarry the two might compete over are deer). Where the Evil Poacher is a GlorySeeker who wants to put trophies on his walls, the Roguish Poacher wants to feed his family and maybe scratch a living selling the meat and skins.

* As seen in the PageImage, foxes are often depicted as the animal version of this in several folk songs. One of the most notable is "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fox_(folk_song) The Fox]]", a 15th-century Middle English song about, well, a Fox who steals a goose from a local farmer to feed his family.

Whereas the Evil Poacher is an EgomaniacHunter out for endangered "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charismatic_megafauna charismatic megafauna]]", the Roguish Poacher hunts [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute prey animals]] like rabbits, fish and game birds (the only quarry the two might compete over are deer). Where the Evil Poacher is a GlorySeeker who wants to put trophies on his walls, the Roguish Poacher wants to feed his family and maybe scratch a living selling the meat and skins.

* The aforementioned ''Literature/FantasticMrFox'', who combines this with CarnivoreConfusion by stealing chickens from industrial-scale farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean.

* San Francisco Bay illegal fishermen and oyster pirates in Creator/JackLondon's 1905 ''Tales of the Fish Patrol'' are in a somehow sporty competition with authorities over fishing resources. London does not shy from portraying them as quick to beat, shoot or [[KnifeNut stab]] people, but, at the same time, they are mostly trying to feed themselves and their families, rules be damned.

* The imfamous Twin Foxes -- Albert Ebenezer Fox (1857-1937) and Ebenezer Albert Fox (1857-1926) were notorious poachers based around Stevenage just north of London. They never went poaching together so that they couldn't be caught together, and also that one could pretend to be the other in order to provide alibis. Interestingly, they were the sons of a relatively prosperous small farmer, so they didn't need to poach for food, at least at the beginning. Whilst they were mostly successful, both Foxes did complete a few small prison sentences, usually for possession of poaching equipment rather than being caught in the act. The Twin Foxes were immortalized in a pub in Stevenage -- which has sadly closed -- and are now commemorated in the Twin Foxes housing estate in nearby Knebworth.

Whereas the Evil Poacher is a GreatWhiteHunter out for endangered "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charismatic_megafauna charismatic megafauna]]", the Roguish Poacher hunts [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute prey animals]] like rabbits, fish and game birds (the only quarry the two might compete over are deer). Where the Evil Poacher is a GlorySeeker who wants to put trophies on his walls, the Roguish Poacher wants to feed his family and maybe scratch a living selling the meat and skins.

Whereas the Evil Poacher is a GreatWhiteHunter out for endangered "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charismatic_megafauna charismatic megafauna]]", the Roguish Poacher hunts [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute prey animals]] like rabbits, fish and game birds (the only quarry the two might compete over are deer). Where the Evil Poacher is a GlorySeeker who wants to put trophies on his walls, the Roguish Poacher wants to feed his family and maybe scratch a living selling the meat and skins. If the two come into conflict, you might have a case of EvilVersusEvil.

* ''Film/TheHungerGames'': Katniss Everdeen hunting illegally to feed starving family and stick it to TheMan? Check.