History Main / TheHighwayman

** [[TheAllegedCar Alleged cars]] are sometimes named Dick Turpin, because they hold up traffic. (One example: Newt's car in ''GoodOmens''.) Your choice whether or not you think that's relevant. His modern reputation is a major HistoricalHeroUpgrade, as while lots of highwaymen were known as gentlemanly in their own time, his contemporary reputation was as a [[CompleteMonster cut-throat.]]

* ''MontyPython'' had the highwayman Dennis Moore. It goes without saying that he wasn't very good at it.
** Most of his efforts involve breaking into fancy parties and stealing flowers; after he works out what he is doing wrong he redistributes wealth in such a way as to turn the poor downtrodden people into the new rich overlords, after which he tries to equally divide up the belongings of the people he robs.

* RunningWild song "White Masque" depicts a folk hero type, who robs lords and marquises.

* The dashing highwayman, and specifically the romanticisation of Turpin, is [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]] in ''HorribleHistories'' with an Adam Ant parody:

* The dashing highwayman, and specifically Adam Ant's version is [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]] in ''HorribleHistories'':

[[folder:Theatre]]

* On ''{{Shrek}} 2'', Shrek, Donkey and Puss in Boots resort to highway robbery to [[spoiler:procure clothes for Shrek, who has turned into a human and is now too small for his ogre clothes.]]

-->''He'd a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,''
-->''A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin;''
-->''They fitted with never a wrinkle: his boots were up to the thigh!''
-->''And he rode with a jewelled twinkle,''
-->''His pistol butts a-twinkle,''
-->''His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.''

** Most of his efforts involve breaking into fancy parties and stealing flowers; after he works out what he is doing wrong he redistributes wealth in such a way as to turn the poor downtrodden people into the new rich overlords, which I choose to interpret as a commentary on the failure of communism.

* One of PoulAnderson's Hoka stories mentions that one of the Hokas has taken to dressing up as Dick Turpin and gets hanged every week. (Hanging doesn't actually kill Hokas; it's just one of the many things they adopted from human history and pop culture.)

* In {{Doctor Who}} episode ''The Visitation'', Richard Mace. He declares he is really an actor forced to this.

-->''I'm the [[TheDandy dandy]] highwayman, who you're too scared to mention.''
-->''I spend my cash on looking flash and grabbing your attention.''
-->-- ''Stand and Deliver'', Adam and the Ants

* Macheath and his cronies in ''The Beggar's Opera'' (the inspiration for the DarkerAndEdgier ''TheThreepennyOpera'') are all highwayman, with Macheath being loosely based on Jack Sheppard and his father-in-law Peachum on Jonathan Wild. Macheath's name is a MeaningfulName ("son of the heath" i.e. "son of the open road")

Highwaymanning became less attractive as a career with the development of toll roads (which are [[OlderThanTheyThink older than some people realise]]) and steam trains (which get robbed under [[TrainJob a different trope]]). In works written recently, highwaymen tend to appear as [[{{Parody}} parodies]] or [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructions]] more often than they are played straight.

Can someone add the highwayman from Runescape?

* In the [[TheFilmOfTheBook film]] version of ''AnneOfGreenGables'', Anne does a dramatic recitation of the poem by Alfred Noyes.

-->- ''Stand and Deliver'', Adam and the Ants

* ''The Toby Man'' by Dick King Smith is a childrens book about a young boy who becomes a highwayman with the help of talking animals.

** [[TheAllegedCar Alleged cars]] are sometimes named Dick Turpin, because they hold up traffic. (One example: Newt's car in ''GoodOmens''.) Your choice whether or not you think that's relevant. His modern reputation is a major HistoricalHeroUpgrade, as while lots of highwaymen were known as gentlemanly in their own time, his contemporary reputation was as a cut-throat.

* The ''{{Discworld}}'' series has a lot of highwayman scenarios played for laughs. The most common is for the travelers to turn the tables and rob or otherwise get the better of the highwayman.

At times, highwaymen were seen as glamorous. For various reasons (including the fact that they often rode horses) they were considered a cut above common bandits. A proper highwayman, instead of being scruffy and furtive, was dashing and debonair - truly the GentlemanThief of armed robbery. Some of them were built up as folk heroes ("...[[JustLikeRobinHood just like Robin Hood!]]"), and they have also been stock LoveInterests in romance novels (perhaps because AllGirlsWantBadBoys?). In certain types of story, it's also quite likely that [[SecretIdentity secret identities]] will be involved - voluminous cloaks and nocturnal tendencies make it relatively easy for a prominent RichIdiotWithNoDayJob to conceal who they are, or for a [[SweetPollyOliver woman to avoid being known as such]].