History Main / TheFagin

A crook who takes in children, usually [[StreetUrchin orphans]], and has them steal for him, usually through pickpocketing, TheCon or both. Like the original Dickens character, this trope is subject to two distinct interpretations. Sometimes, the character will be a LovableRogue and will be presented as essentially giving the children the best life possible. On the other hand, other versions of this are [[EvilMentor cruel exploiters]] (who usually ''claim'' to be the former) and function similarly to the OrphanageOfFear. Less sympathetic examples may qualify as a BabysitterFromHell or even worse.

Sometimes, just sometimes, The Fagin may actually ''[[EvilVirtues love]]'' the children who work for him like a father, and there are few things scarier than a PapaWolf Fagin, who is ''not'' above using his extensive underworld connections to absolutely torture to death those who harm his children.

Expect to find TheArtfulDodger among his crew. If the Fagin's charges grow up successfully, they will likely become {{Satisfied Street Rat}}s. Related to the ThievesGuild. The children involved automatically qualify as a {{Tykebomb}}. Compare KingOfTheHomeless. See also EvilOrphanageLady.

A crook who takes in children, usually [[StreetUrchin orphans]], and has them steal for him, usually through pickpocketing, TheCon or both. Like the original Dickens character, this trope is subject to two distinct interpretations. Sometimes, the character will be a LovableRogue and will be presented as essentially giving the children the best life possible. On the other hand, other versions of this are [[EvilMentor cruel exploiters]](who usually ''claim'' to be the former) and function similarly to the OrphanageOfFear. Less sympathetic examples may qualify as a BabysitterFromHell or even worse.

A crook who takes in children, usually [[StreetUrchin orphans]], and has them steal for him, usually through pickpocketing, TheCon or both. Like the original Dickens character, this trope is subject to two distinct interpretations. Sometimes, the character will be a LovableRogue and will be presented as essentially giving the children the best life possible. On the other hand, other versions of this are [[EvilMentor cruel exploiters]] and function similarly to the OrphanageOfFear. Less sympathetic examples may qualify as a BabysitterFromHell or even worse.

* Byron Wylie, the founder of Midway Orphanage in the 1990 ''Comicbook/{{Batman}} Comicbook/{{Superman}}: World's Finest'' miniseries ran it as an OrphanageOfFear which trained orphans as criminals. [[spoiler: Long after Wylie was arrested, and [[FakingTheDead apparently died]], one of these orphans grew up to become part of the orphanage staff, still under Wylie's control.]]

* Comicbook/{{Gambit}} was once part of a group of street urchins actually known as Fagin's Mob, which was run by the offspring of an illicit relationship between a member of the ThievesGuild and a member of the Assassin's Guild.

* ''Comicbook/RedSonja'': As a teenage thief, Sonja worked for one named Jubal.

* Yondu, from ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', leads a band of SpacePirates known as the Ravagers, and abducts the young Peter Quill from Earth - first to [[ImAHumanitarian eat him]], but then to raise him as one of his own. [[spoiler:In a lighter take on this trope than most, it's revealed he was hired to bring Peter to his alien father, and decided to spare the kid the experience of being raised by "a jackass". The "eat him" thing was actually a joke, but Quill didn't understand that as a child.]]

* The Sewer King from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE6TheUnderdwellers The Underdwellers]]" is the evil version. Evil enough that Batman briefly considers ''killing'' him.

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* Mary Lou Barebone, from ''Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem'', is "Mother" to a load of orphans, whom she uses, under threat of withholding food, to spread her "witches are real and will kill you" rhetoric across her NYC neighborhood. The fact that most No-Majs (the American term for Muggle, or non-wizarding folk) write her off as a conspiracy theorist doesn't help a lot of the kids.

* Putty Nose, who steers young Tom and Matt into a life of crime in ''Film/ThePublicEnemy'', is actually referred to as a Fagin in the movie. He's the exploiter type, and after he betrays Tom and Matt, Tom takes revenge.

* In ''ComicBook/MsMarvel'': The Inventor hires and kidnaps teenagers to do his bidding, either as foot soldiers or as living batteries for his creations.

* The Falcon from ''Film/StuartLittle2''. He serves as Margalo's adoptive father figure, boss and slave-driver, when she lost her family, Margalo was adopted by Falcon, she became his ArtfulDodger. He assigns her to steal household valuables from the Little family. However, it seems that Margalo cannot concentrate on her assignment as she begins to enjoy her friendship with Stuart. As Falcon loses patience, he threatens Margalo to steal Mrs. Little's ring or else he will kill Stuart.

* ''{{Series/Colony}}'': Solomon, one of the Santa Monica warlords, recruits street children to be thieves for him (and doesn't take "no" for an answer).
* As revealed in ''Series/TheLibrarians2014'' "...And the Christmas Thief". Ezekiel was raised by a female version along with three adoptive sisters. They're almost portrayed as following a ReligionOfEvil, celebrating "Thankstaking" by stealing gifts in honour of [[BadSanta Santa's evil brother]], the Saint of Thieves.[[note]]This is a warped reinterpretation of St Nicholas being the patron of ''penitent'' thieves.[[/note]] However, she's also shown as a petty shoplifter, completely unconnected to the society of master thieves and supercriminals Ezekiel became part of, and therefore totally unaware he has a reputation as the greatest thief in the world. She knows he's reformed, but assumed that was because he was just no good at it. Despite this, she does seem to be the "good" kind; at the end of the episode, Ezekiel says he always knew she loved them, and greed and larceny weren't the only things he learned from her.
* ''Series/MidnightCaller'': Sly, an abandoned teenager, is taken in by a man named Harry who lives in a mansion with his gang of teenage thieves. He has his "family" do all his work for him, including selling the merchandise, so nothing can be traced back to him. [[spoiler:Sly ends up turning him in to the police after he is beaten for messing up a car theft.]]

* Konstantin in ''Series/KillingEve'' is a more highly-respected, meticulous version. He's a member of the Twelve, and he recruited Villanelle, who was a teenager at the time, from prison in Russia for assassin work. He also "handles" Nadia and Diego at least, but it's not made clear if he recruited them too.
* ''Series/{{Hunter}}''. Used as a VillainOfTheWeek and lampshaded by Hunter, though he has to explain what he means as the villain has never read ''Literature/OliverTwist''.
* ''Series/TheEqualizer''. One case involved a mother who was worried her son was being draw into crime. Turns out this trope was involved, with a criminal using the children for the high risk part of the theft. [=McCall=] handles the problem by discrediting TheFagin in the eyes of the children.

* ''VideoGame/TheTraderOfStories Chapter II'' has a gang of {{Dream Stealer}}s who are scrawny homeless kids (you need to be small and light to catch a dream). Their Fagin is actually the villain of the episode.
* ''VisualNovel/MarcoAndTheGalaxyDragon'' has Dosgoro, who bought Marco from a slave market while she was still a child and taught her to steal for him.

* Sanzu the pangolin in the ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaLegendsOfAwesomeness'' episode "Po Picks a Pocket" is the mean version, who convinces the kids who works for him that living in a cave and eating gruel is still better treatment than they'd get elsewhere.
* ''WesternAnimation/BooBoomTheLongWayHome'': Episode 11 features a husband and wife couple of smugglers, who force orphans to help them with their business. Boo-Boom is also drafted into their group, despite attempts from Viola (who, at the time, was also working for them after abandoning the others) to prevent this, but in the end both villains are arrested and all orphans freed from their clutches.
* Despite being an adaptation of this trope's namesake, Fagin from ''WesternAnimation/SabansAdventuresOfOliverTwist'' averts this trope. Instead, he offers homeless people, including children, shelter without forcing them into crime. The only thing Fagin does that is against the law, is give potential members a series of tests, which involve stealing the hat of a royal guard, riding a train without a ticket and turning the Big Ben one hour forward.

* The Shadow King from Creator/MarvelComics was this before he made the mistake of challenging [[ComicBook/XMen Professor Xavier]].
* Comicbook/{{Gambit}} was once part of a group of street urchins actually known as Fagin's Mob, which was run by the offspring of an illicit relationship between a member of the ThievesGuild and a member of the Assassin's Guild.
* ''Comicbook/RedSonja'': As a teenage thief, Sonja worked for one named Jubal.
* ''Fagin The Jew'' is a sympathetic retelling of Fagin's story from Fagin's point of view by Creator/WillEisner.
* In ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' features a brief appearance of the original [[TheArtfulDodger Artful Dodger]], who by the time the story takes place has grown up and [[ChangingOfTheGuard taken over Fagin's role]].
* In ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'', Spider-Man is horrified to discover that The Vulture has become this kind of criminal. He nearly kills him over it.
* Byron Wylie, the founder of Midway Orphanage in the 1990 ''Comicbook/{{Batman}} Comicbook/{{Superman}}: World's Finest'' miniseries ran it as an OrphanageOfFear which trained orphans as criminals. [[spoiler: Long after Wylie was arrested, and [[FakingTheDead apparently died]], one of these orphans grew up to become part of the orphanage staff, still under Wylie's control.]]
* ''ComicBook/BlackMoonChronicles'': As a young elf boy Pilou was bought from a slave merchant by a criminal mastermind who trained children to be pick-pockets for him and ultimately full-time thieves if they were successful. This was just one part of his organization, as most of the criminals working for him were adults. One such thief took a liking to Pilou, mentoring him and protecting him from other boys, and when the mastermind did nothing to break that thief out of jail or prevent his execution, Pilou went after him.
* This is the relationship between ComicBook/{{Diabolik}} and King, as the latter was already a well-affirmed criminal mastermind before the infant that would grow up to become Diabolik was saved from a shipwreck and trained into thieving. A later story revealed he had a very good reason for this, but both King and the only other man who knew have been killed by Diabolik himself in separate occasion, and [[SequelHook nobody knows where King hid the papers that prompted him to take Diabolik in or that they even exist]].
* ''ComicBook/SensationComics'': The criminal only known as "Shark" from issue 75 is a particularly cruel example since he blackmailed and threatened his underage charges into stealing for him and when he realized Franchise/WonderWoman was about to reveal his involvement in the thefts tried to burn down his hideout with the boys bound inside to destroy all evidence and witnesses tying him to the crimes.
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* Putty Nose, who steers young Tom and Matt into a life of crime in ''Film/ThePublicEnemy'', is actually referred to as a Fagin in the movie. He's the exploiter type, and after he betrays Tom and Matt, Tom takes revenge.
* The John Woo film ''Film/OnceAThief'' revolves around the lives of three orphans adopted by a ruthless crime boss, only to raise them as thieves (as the title said) and assassins.
* Maman of ''Film/SlumdogMillionaire'' [[BaitTheDog initially seems to be the nice version]] who takes in children to sing for money on the streets. That is, until we learn that [[spoiler:he blinds them to make them look more sympathetic and thus make him more money.]]
* ''Film/DickTracy'' (1990): "Steve The Tramp" has "Kid" steal for him. Dick Tracy tracks Kid back to Steve's shack and beats Steve up, freeing Kid.

* The Shredder from ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1990'' essentially ran the Foot Clan this way. The Foot Clan was made up of teenage orphans and runaways who were trained in the art of ninjitsu and instigated a massive New York crime wave.
* Creator/RobinWilliams' character in ''Film/AugustRush''. He gets the runaway kids work as street performers and keeps the money.

* Yondu, from ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', leads a band of SpacePirates known as the Ravagers, and abducts the young Peter Quill from Earth - first to [[ImAHumanitarian eat him]], but then to raise him as one of his own. [[spoiler:In a lighter take on this trope than most, it's revealed he was hired to bring Peter to his alien father, and decided to spare the kid the experience of being raised by "a jackass". The "eat him" thing was actually a joke, but Quill didn't understand that as a child.]]
* PlayedWith in ''Film/TheHandmaiden'' with Sook-Hee's aunt, as she genuinely cares for the girl and shows her real affection... but in the same time comes from a family of thieves and makes sure the girl is trained all the possible skills useful in the trade.
* In ''Film/GangsOfNewYork'', Hellcat Maggie is briefly shown being handed a stolen silver candlestick by an urchin.
* Mary Lou Barebone, from ''Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem'', is "Mother" to a load of orphans, whom she uses, under threat of withholding food, to spread her "witches are real and will kill you" rhetoric across her NYC neighborhood. The fact that most No-Majs (the American term for Muggle, or non-wizarding folk) write her off as a conspiracy theorist doesn't help a lot of the kids.
* The French short film ''Le Mozart des pickpockets (2006)'' has two unlucky crooks, Richard and Philippe, who get more or less stuck with a little deaf immigrant boy. Richard soon grows attached to the kid and begins to teach him to read, while Philippe begrudges Richard's insistence that they take care of him... until it turns out by chance that the boy is an exceptionally gifted pickpocket.
* ''Film/LEnfant'': Bruno, who himself doesn't look to be much older than his early twenties, employs schoolboys as thieves who fetch him goods to fence or hock. He also sometimes goes on purse-snatching expeditions in which a boy will snatch a purse from a woman and then jump on the getaway scooter that Bruno is driving.
* The version of Fagin in the Disney film ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' does this with stray animals, mostly dogs. He takes them in and is very kind to them, but he needs them to help him with minor crimes in order to avoid the wrath of LoanShark Bill Sykes.
* ''Film/TheQuest'', Van Damme's character starts the film as the leader of street urchins and pickpockets until he's forced to leave town in a hurry and set the main plot in motion.
* ''Film/SoloAStarWarsStory'': Giant stern snake alien Lady Proxima rules over a gang of child-thieves on the streets of [[IndustrialWorld Corellia]], one of which is orphaned [[WorkingClassHero son of a spaceship-builder]] [[LoveableRogue Han Solo]]. Han and his girlfriend Qi'ra are young adults when the movie starts, but the rest of the gang is either children (thieves) or grown, armed, adults (enforcers).

* The TropeNamer is Fagin from ''Literature/OliverTwist''.

* Referenced in the ''Literature/{{Temps}}'' short story "Sortilege and Serendipity" by Brian Stableford when the hapless hero, whose job is testing Talented kids, is [[MistakenIdentity mistaken for]] the super criminal known as the Taxman, and finds himself spinning a yarn about being a Fagin-figure using his work to recruit powered youngsters into his gang. He briefly wonders why he's never actually done this, before remembering that all the kids he works with are [[BrattyHalfPint mouthy pains-in-the-neck]] with [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway useless powers]].
* Sergeant Rumpkin in ''Literature/BeyondTheWesternSea'' falls somewhere between the two versions. It's ambiguous how much he cares for the boys independent of the money they bring him; however, the worst thing we see him do is chide Toggs and [[spoiler: made vague threats about Fred, who betrays the gang.]]
* Aristedes from Creator/JimButcher's ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' novel ''Literature/GhostStory''. Harry even [[LampshadeHanging points it out]] and is surprised to find that one of the boys, Fitz, [[GenreSavvy has actually read]] Literature/OliverTwist.
* In ''[[Literature/TheHanSoloTrilogy The Paradise Snare]]'', Garris Shrike runs this kind of organization. One of his kids is Han Solo.
** Parodied in that his child-begging operation is overseen by a droid called [=F8GN=].
* ''Literature/AlexRider'' novel ''Russian Rolutte'' has Yassn run into one of these, who even named himself after the TropeNamer.
* ''[[Literature/DoctrineOfLabyrinths The Doctrine of Labyrinths]]'' has Keepers, people who train children under their care to steal and worse. Margot is the more sympathetic type; most thief-keepers, including Kolkhis and the unnamed one who raised Felix, are considerably [[BlackAndGrayMorality nastier]].
* Carroty Kate, in Julie Hearn's novel ''Ivy'', takes in the titular character and trains her to work as a 'skinner', luring other children into secluded areas and stripping them of their clothing, which is later sold.
* ''Literature/JonathanStrangeAndMrNorrell'': Black Joan is mentioned to have run a gang of child pickpockets in Yorkshire. One of them was her son, who grew up to be John Childermass.
* Creator/TerranceDicks wrote a children's series called ''The Baker Street Irregulars'' about a [[KidDetective group of school children who solve crimes]]. In "The Case of the Crooked Kids", they encounter a literal "school for criminals" (who naturally serve as foils for our crime-fighting heroes).

* One episode of ''Series/RobinHood'' features Bertha, a seemingly kind and motherly woman who takes in homeless children - until it's revealed she is using them in her scheme to win money from rigged boxing matches. She also [[spoiler: sells the kids into slavery]] at the end of her tours.

* Carmichael in the ''Series/RipperStreet'' episode "In My Protection".
* Pete Joris in the ''Series/{{Flashpoint}}'' episode "Run to Me" has teenagers doing short cons and bank robberies for him.
* Clare Novak, daughter of Castiel's vessel on ''Series/{{Supernatural}},'' falls in with one of these named Randy. He and some guys threatening him all wind up getting {{kick| the son of a bitch}}ed pretty hard by Dean.
** The young hunter Krissy Chambers and two other kids, Josephine and Aiden, were adopted by a man named Victor when their families were killed by vampires. Victor actually ordered their families' murders, so he could gain their trust by satisfying their desire for revenge and continue to train them to be the ultimate next generation of hunters.

* In ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'', Spiderman is horrified to discover that The Vulture has become this kind of criminal. He nearly kills him over it.

'''Peter Quill''': I'll tell ya why; I was a skinny little kid who could slip into places adults couldn't. Made it easier for thieving.

** Subverted in one ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' short story: Batman ''thinks'' ComicBook/ThePenguin is kidnapping kids from troubled backgrounds to lead them into a life of crime. He's actually giving them a decent education and a pleasant childhood so they can grow up to be outstanding members of society ... who owe him a huge favor.

--> '''Poussey''': You're like a pedophile without the sex.

-->--''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2''

* Dutch Van Der Linde of ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' and its {{Prequel}} ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'' took protagonists John Marston and Arthur Morgan into his gang alongside his partner-in-crime Hosea Matthews when they were street urchins and proceeded to raise them as his own son, teaching them to read and write as well as train them as outlaws who would be completely loyal to him. Due to the character’s AmbiguouslyEvil status, how sympathetic Dutch’s motivations were for this is left open to interpretation. Did he genuinely take them in out of the goodness of his heart or did he just need some kids to do his dirty work for him?
* Played with with Sully from ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'', who quasi-adopted the protagonist Nate when he was fifteen and taught him treasure hunting. However Nate’s biological mom was [[LikeFatherLikeSon one as well]], and he learned a lot from her before her death. Sully also does genuinely love Nate as his own and is upset with him when he comes out of retirement in ''VideoGame/Uncharted4AThiefsEnd'' . All he wanted for Nate was to marry a nice girl and live a normal life and he thinks Nate is throwing it away.

* In ''Film/{{Cartouche}}'', the KingOfThieves Malichot has all the theft job done by his thieves, from children to young men like Louis-Dominique Garthausen (later known as Cartouche), while doing nothing in the field by himself. He [[BadBoss punishes them with his whip]] if they don't bring enough stolen goods or money to him (or if they hide some for themselves). Cartouche puts an end to his reign and methods later on, itroducing more team work in which he contributes and a fairer allocation of stolen resources.

[[folder:Films]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'' has a merchant in the Den who sells the stuff children steal for him. You could [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential kill the kids]] to recover anything they pickpocket from you, but that [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment gets bounty hunters gunning for your head.]] Everyone else in the game will hate you on sight. If you've got the skill, just steal back what they took; Turnabout is fair play.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'' has a merchant in the Den who sells the stuff children steal for him. You could [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential kill the kids]] to recover anything they pickpocket from you, but that [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment gets bounty hunters gunning for your head.]] Everyone else in the game will hate you on sight.

* Played with with Sully from ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'', who quasi-adopted the protagonist Nate when he was fifteen and taught him treasure hunting. However Nate’s biological mom was [[InTheBlood one as well]], and he learned a lot from her before her death. Sully also does genuinely love Nate as his own and is upset with him when he comes out of retirement in ''VideoGame/Uncharted4AThiefsEnd'' . All he wanted for Nate was to marry a nice girl and live a normal life and he thinks Nate is throwing it away.

* ''ComicBook/BlackMoonChronicles'': As a young elf boy Pilou was bought from a slave merchant by a criminal mastermind who trained children to be pick-pockets for him and ultimately full-time thieves if they were successful. This was just one part of his organization, as most of the criminals working for him were adults.

[[folder:Film]]

* The version of Fagin in the Disney film ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' does this with stray animals, mostly dogs. He takes them in and is very kind to them, but he needs them to help him with minor crimes in order to avoid the wrath of CorruptCorporateExecutive Bill Sykes.

* The [[TropeNamer original]] is Fagin of ''Literature/OliverTwist''.

A crook who takes in children, usually [[StreetUrchin orphans]], and has them steal for him, usually through pickpocketing, the ShortCon or both. Like the original Dickens character, this trope is subject to two distinct interpretations. Sometimes, the character will be a LovableRogue and will be presented as essentially giving the children the best life possible. On the other hand, other versions of this are [[EvilMentor cruel exploiters]] and function similarly to the OrphanageOfFear. Less sympathetic examples may qualify as a BabysitterFromHell or even worse.