History Series / TheArtfulDodger

* TheFundamentalist: Captain Gaines. While most of Port Victory originate from Europe and thus are generally Christians, most view their faith rather casually, and even the local priest isn't so dedicated as to not be tempted to convert (and during confessions, he's mostly busy ogling the 1800s-era equivalent of pornography). ''Not'' Gaines, who brings up religious piety quite regularly, and views his duty as the commanding officer of the guard in the Port as a religious duty, to rid evils from the world. As he's also TheMentallyDisturbed, this results in a deep level of delusion, paranoia, and a complete lack of mercy, hanging anyone he deems a criminal. When he learns that his best friend, Darius, has been sleeping with his wife ''and'' has the stolen soldiers' pay (due to Fagin framing him), even though he believes that he's been framed and instead thinks it was Fagin and Dawkins (but can't prove it), he still intends to hang Darius for "whatever charge [he] can think of" as punishment for sleeping with his wife (given Darius is a corrupt cheat who also tried to murder Rotty for mouthing back at him).

* HateSink: Darius Cracksworth, the harbour master, is a corrupt cheat who starts the show off cheating Dawkins at cards then trying to have his hand cut off as repayment of this debt, is sleeping with his best friend's wife, is abusive towards the town's sex workers (and even tries to kill Rotty for standing up to him), and treats his lackeys like shit. When Fagin realises they need to frame someone else for the robbery because there's no way to move the stolen cash, Darius is the first and only choice because he's so much of an asshole nobody would miss him. Notably, while Sneed and Professor [=McGregor=] are pompous and outdated [[EveryoneHasStandards they both demonstrate standards]], while Gaines is an [[TheMentallyDisturbed unstable]] [[TheFundamentalist fundamentalist]] who enjoys hanging people far too much [[WellIntentionedExtremist but still genuinely believes he's righteous and that those he kills are guilty enough to deserve it]], and Red, the local Bushranger, is motivated largely by fighting the EvilColonialist military taking her home. Even [[spoiler:Oliver Twist]], though he steals the gold shipment while planning to leave Fagin and Jack implicated and left to deal with the fallout (on top of having Governor Fox blamed for losing it, and thus losing his position), we know [[spoiler:from the canon he genuinely UsedToBeASweetKid]]. Darius however remains the only antagonist without some standards, or reasons behind his actions other than greed and cruelty. Which makes him becoming a total ButtMonkey in the second half so rewarding to see.
* HiddenDepths: The governor is usually portrayed as a well-meaning but easily manipulated buffoon. And he is, but the start of "The Stitch Up" makes clear he's well aware he's trapped in a loveless marriage, with one daughter that essentially ignores him and another that's a semi-imbecile, and is depressed over all of it - which might explain why he's so massively apathetic most of the time.

* NobleTopEnforcer: Aputi Savea is this for Darius Cracksworth. The big guy is willing to chop hands off for the man and help him cheat at cards, but he makes it clear that it's NotPersonal and is determined to let Flashbang have the fair fight he signed up for in the ring first before going along with Darius' scheme to force Jack into a boxing match.

* MadBomber: It's obvious how Jack's acquaintance Bayani "Flashbang" Rivera acquired his moniker when it's revealed he casually carries multiple explosives under his jacket. He later goes on to explain he lost all sense of smell in [[TheNoodleIncident "the Taiwan explosion"]] by overdoing the gunpowder and lost some of his hearing in Singapore. And [[spoiler:during the heist in the penultimate episode he manages to completely blow his eardrums out with a mountain of fireworks.]]
--->'''Jack:''' There's not really very much "Flash" to your "Bang", is there Flashbang? It's pretty much all "Bang!"

* DemolitionsExpert: It's obvious how Jack's acquaintance Bayani "Flashbang" Rivera acquired his moniker when it's revealed he casually carries multiple explosives under his jacket. He later goes on to explain he lost all sense of smell in [[TheNoodleIncident "the Taiwan explosion"]] by overdoing the gunpowder and lost some of his hearing in Singapore.

* LadykillerInLove: Jack Dawkins. He's shown sleeping with his nurse, Hettie, and outright states he's had a number of other trysts, but it becomes clear he has a mutual attraction with Belle.

* LadykillerInLove: Jack Dawkins. He's shown sleeping with his nurse and outright states he's had a number of other trysts, but it becomes clear he has a mutual attraction with Belle.

* IOweYouMyLife: Aputi Savea starts off the series as Darius Cracksworth's enforcer and therefore antagonistic to Jack who owes Darius money. After Jack saves him from a life-threatening brain injury, he feels indebted to Jack and promises not to hurt him even if Darius were to order it.

* DemolitionsExpert: It's obvious how Jack's acquaintance Bayani "Flashbang" Rivera acquired his moniker when it's revealed he casually carries multiple explosives under his jacket.

* MamaBear: Deconstructed with Lady Jane Fox, despite being otherwise a ReasonableAuthorityFigure. She cares a great deal for her daughters, especially Belle, and so wants to ensure she marries someone "deserving" of her station. So, not Jack Dawkins. However, not only does her need to protect her daughter mean keeping her away from a genuinely good man in favour of pushing her towards UpperClassTwit types, but she also refuses to accept her daughter's genuine medical condition, preferring Sneed's far less serious misdiagnosis because it's more comforting to hear. Her determination to protect her daughter nearly leads to her daughter's death.

* HateSink: Darius Cracksworth, the harbour master, is a corrupt cheat who starts the show off cheating Dawkins at cards then trying to have his hand cut off as repayment of this debt, is sleeping with his best friend's wife, is abusive towards the town's sex workers (and even tries to kill Rotty for standing up to him), and treats his lackeys like shit. When Fagin realises they need to frame someone else for the robbery because there's no way to move the stolen cash, Darius is the first and only choice because he's so much of an asshole nobody would miss him. Notably, while Sneed and Professor [=McGregor=] are pompous and outdated [[EveryoneHasStandards they both demonstrate standards]], while Gaines is an [[TheMentallyDisturbed unstable]] [[TheFundamentalist fundamentalist]] who enjoys hanging people far too much [[WellIntentionedExtremist but still genuinely believes he's righteous and that those he kills are guilty enough to deserve it]], and Red, the local Bushranger, is motivated largely by fighting the EvilColonialist military taking her home. Even [[spoiler:Oliver Twist]], though he steals the gold shipment while planning to leave Fagin and Jack implicated and left to deal with the fallout (on top of having Governor Fox blamed for losing it, and thus losing his position), we know [[spoiler:from the canon he genuinely UsedToBeASweetKid]]. Darius however remains the only antagonist without some standards, or reasons behind his actions other than greed and cruelty. Which makes him becoming a total ButtMonkey in the second half [[KickTheSonOfABitch so rewarding to see]].

* VillainsWant Mercy: [[spoiler:Shot in the chest by Red, a desperate Gaines begs Jack to save him. He doesn't oblige, though it's more out of shock at what's just happened than any explicit cruelty]].

After the events of the novel, the Artful Dodger escaped from prison in England, became a naval surgeon, and then moved to Australia to practice medicine. However, an old acquaintance if his, Fagin, resurfaces, forcing Jack back into a life of crime.

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Jack is this to Sneed, being a far more talented surgeon. Sneed is ''incredibly'' resentful of this, due to Jack's station and poor literacy, but its shown repeatedly that deep down, he ''knows'' he's the better surgeon.

* BlatantLies: Somewhat deconstructed in that while they're usually done humourously, the actual effect of both Jack and Fagin (usually the latter) doing this is usually just DiggingYourselfDeeper with the already suspicious Gaines. A good example comes when Gaines unexpectedly turns up at the hospital asking questions and the two don't have time to coordinate stories. Subsequently, , when he asks an innocuous question about Jack's siblings he plays it safe and says he's an only child. Fagin, on the other hand, can't help himself and says Jack has ''nine'' siblings of various ages with increasingly outlandish names, further raising Gaines' suspicions.

** Her father, partly thanks to Gaines' influence, sees it as an ugly but unfortunately needed excess of force due to the fact the populace are, for the most part, convicts. The arrests being made are against Bushrangers, whose holdups have resulted in the murder of soldiers during many robberies, so while their deaths are tragic, they're not simply innocent victims.

** Belle's sister Fanny is always being upstaged by Belle, embarrassed, and being made the butt of some punchline or other. The man she crushes on (Sneed), loves Belle, her romantic dreams are repeatedly mocked by her sister and her parents essentially treat her as an afterthought. Even her fiance, [[spoiler:Oliver Twist]], turns out to be a criminal in the end.

* CommonalityConnection: Jack clearly empathises with the lower class in the colony due to his background, including the ones he performs surgeries on and the convicts sent to Australia who's fate he's to decide. When performing surgery, though he puts on a show due to it being largely how he's paid in the first place, he takes a moment to quietly, sincerely ensure the patients he's performing on that he ''will'' save them and try to make the surgery go by as quickly as possible to reduce their pain. Meanwhile, when a convict arrives with a particularly empathetic story, he's quick to assign them a comfortable job they're not qualified for but ''can'' learn on the job. This is seemingly part of the reason his boss doesn't like him, as his sense of empathy for such types makes him come off as a liberal and a radical to a particularly conservative environment.

** Sneed is a pompous, classist, egotistical jerk with terrible bedside manner who antagonises Jack (never mind that he all but abandons a patient he mis-performed a surgery on so he can be celebrated for said surgery, and later outs Jack's [[spoiler:inability to read]]), and when Raines questions him about Jack's gambling debt and possible involvement in the soldier's pay, a GenreSavvy viewer might expect him to throw Jack under the bus, especially as they're both competing for head surgeon. Instead, he firstly defends the fact that the surgeons aren't paid and its unfair to judge them for how they support themselves outside of it, and then insists Jack could never be involved in such sordid business. He also makes a point to state the surgery wouldn't be able to function without him, and while he does contradict Jack's alibi [[ItMakesSenseInContext about how he got covered in guts]], it's just him answering truthfully.

* FemaleMisogynist: Belle's sister Fanny expresses these views, as part of her idolising the ProperLady lifestyle. When Belle remarks about how men think they're better than woman, she expresses that they're right, and ''that's'' why they're the ones in charge. Fanny is clearly kind of an idiot, and Belle is quick to point it out.

* TheFundamentalist: Captain Gaines. While most of Port Victory originate from Europe and thus are generally Christians, most view their faith rather casually and even the local priest isn't so dedicated as to not be tempted to convert (and during confessions, he's mostly busy ogling the equivalent of 1800s-era pornography). ''Not'' Gaines, who brings up religious piety quite regularly, and views his duty as the commanding officer of the guard in the Port as a religious duty, to rid evils from the world. As he's also TheMentallyDisturbed, this results in a deep level of delusion, paranoia, and a complete lack of mercy, hanging anyone he deems a criminal. When he learns that his best friend, Darius, has been sleeping with his wife ''and'' has the stolen soldier's pay (due to Fagin framing him), even though he believes that he's been framed and instead thinks it was Fagin and Dawkins (but can't prove it), he still intends to hang Darius for "whatever charge [he] can think of" as punishment for sleeping with his wife (given Darius is a corrupt cheat who also tried to murder Rotty for mouthing back at him).

* HateSink: Darius Cracksworth, the harbour master, is a corrupt cheat who starts the show off cheating Dawkins at cards then trying to have his hand cut off as repayment of this debt, is sleeping with his best friend's wife, is abusive towards the town's sex workers (and even tries to kill Rotty for standing up to him), and treats his lackeys like shit. When Fagin realises they need to frame someone else for the robbery because there's no way to move the stolen cash, Darius is the first and only choice because he's so much of an asshole nobody would miss him. Notably, while Sneed and Professor [=McGregor=] are pompous and outdated [[EveryoneHasStandards they both demonstrate standards]], while Gaines is an [[TheMentallyDisturbed unstable]] [[TheFundamentalist fundamentalist]] who enjoys hanging people far too much [[WellIntentionedExtremist but still genuinely believes he's righteous and that those he kills are guilty enough to deserve it]], and Red, the local Bushranger, is motivated largely by fighting the EvilColonialist military taking her home. Even [[spoiler:Oliver Twist]], though he steals the gold shipment while planning to leave Fagin and Jack implicated and left to deal with the fallout (on top of having Governor Fox blamed for losing it, and thus losing his position), we know from the canon he genuinely UsedToBeASweetKid. Darius however, remains the only antagonist without some standards, or reasons behind his actions other than greed and cruelty. Which, makes him becoming a total ButtMonkey in the second half [[KickTheSonOfABitch so rewarding to see]].

* IllGirl: Lady Belle, who from the beginning is shown suffering chest pains and bouts of dizziness. Her interest in medicine and surgery specifically is seemingly born from her attempts to understand her condition, which in turn turned into an interest in helping others.[[spoiler:In the finale, it's revealed to be an Aortic Aneurism, which at the time was still yet to be treatable, though between Belle's research and his own invention, Jack is able to successfully perform.]]

** Jack himself is a LovableRogue of a surgeon, prone to anger and ego, and holds a lot of resentments. But he's kind to his patients, refuses to take a life or even be involved in such, and is a good hearted man deep down.
** Heavily downplayed with Sneed, to the point its more brass than gold. He's a SmugSnake UpperClassTwit who overcompensates for his resentment towards Jack by dismissing and antagonising him, never mind his demonstrated sexism streak, but he refuses to incriminate Jack in crime, and when the situation matters, he admits Jack is the superior surgeon.
* LadykillerInLove: Jack Dawkins. He's shown sleeping with his nurse and its implied he's had other trysts, but it becomes clear he has a mutual attraction with Belle.
* MamaBear: Deconstructed with Lady Jane Fox, despite being otherwise a ReasonableAuthorityFigure. She cares a great deal for her daughters, especially Belle, and so wants to ensure she marries someone "deserving" of her station. So, not Jack Dawkins. However, her need to protect her daughter not only means keeping her away from a genuinely good man in favour of pushing her towards UpperClassTwit types, but she also refuses to accept her daughter's genuine medical condition, preferring Sneed's far less serious misdiagnosis because its more comforting to hear. Her determination to protect her daughter nearly leads to her daughter's death.
* TheMentallyDisturbed: Captain Gaines, who mixes this with TheFundamentalist to a scary combination. For the most part, he's an overly noose-happy and uncomfortably intense InspectorJavert. But in his confessions, which he apparently makes so often he at one point claims its been ''fourteen hours'' since his last one, he expresses delusional and paranoid beliefs, which fuel his murderous desire to hang pretty much everyone in Port Victory under some degree of criminality. He also shows a weak grasp of reality, believing his adulterous wife was a pious and innocent woman until the influence of the port turned her into an adulterer, and that the smell seeping into town is the result of all the "evil" in the port, rather than the poorly designed sewage tunnels and Ambergris being smuggled underneath. Most problematically, however, is he becomes ''obsessed'' with Jack Dawkins, believing him to be at the heart of every crime going on (which is overestimating both how involved Jack actually is and how willing his involvement is), and as his mental state degrades he becomes even more obsessed with hanging Jack.

** Lady Jane Fox, Belle's mother, who is a ProperLady that is once described as a "Harridan" (essentially, an archaic way of calling her a Karen), yet is softly but notably supportive of her daughter's SpiritedYoungLady nature, and is a touch less judgemental towards Dawkins than the rest of their class are (though only a touch, and when she realises that Belle and Jack are falling for one-another, she firmly warns Jack to stay away from her as she cannot let her daughter marry below her station). She also lampshades how unreasonable Gaines' hangings are, points out the shoddy design of the port's sewer system, and in general is clearly where Belle gets her spirit from. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, it becomes rather Subverted after she catches Jack in bed with Belle, due to the times she massively overreacts, and refuses to take Jack and Belle seriously about their diagnosis of her condition due to the less competent Sneed misdiagnosing her due to his sexism and reluctance to perform a delicate surgery.]]
** Downplayed with her husband. Governor Fox himself is still something of an UpperClassTwit who's got his biases who's clearly out of his debt, and is very much guilty of cronyism with how he runs the Port and is ''very'' easily influenced by Gaines and [=McGregor=], but he still tends to listen to his daughter and his wife when they point out the obvious to him and clearly ''wants'' to be a reasonable authority figure. This is more apparent in their parenting, as Fox is willing to believe Belle about her illness and takes hers and Jack's diagnosis more seriously, and when Jack performs the surgery to save her life, he's notably ''not'' threatening him or demanding the less competent Sneed take over.

* TheScapegoat: Jack, for Professor [=McGregor=] and Sneed early on in the series. In the first episode, the professor in charge of the hospital gets drunk and attempts to perform a delicate surgery on a patient, outright pulling rank on Jack to make him hand the surgery over to him; in his drunkenness, he knicks the wrong artery, and when Jack tries to intervene to save the patient (unsuccessfully), the professor [[NeverMyFault then blames Jack entirely]] for ''distracting'' him and attempts to have him fired, despite Jack being demonstratively the best surgeon in the hospital.

* SpoiledSweet: Belle's sister Fanny is an UpperClassTwit to the core, distinctly not very bright with shades of CloudCuckooLander. Nonetheless, at heart she's a kind girl who cares for her sister in her own strange way, even if she's constantly being rebuffed.

** Jack Dawkins. While as TheArtfulDodger, he was already the best pickpocket in London, fifteen years later he's now a qualified Navy Surgeon and former officer, indicating he's had a serious rank up.

* HiddenDepths: The governor is usually portrayed as a well-meaning but easily manipulated buffoon. And he is, but thehe start of "The Stitch Up" makes clear he's well aware he's trapped in a loveless marriage, with one daughter that essentially ignores him and another that's a semi-imbecile, and is depressed over all of it - which might explain why he's so massively apathetic most of the time.

* HiddenDepths: The governor is usually portrayed as a well-meaning but easily manipulated buffoon. And he is, but thehe start of "The Stitch Up" makes clear he's well aware he's trapped in a loveless marriage, with one daughter that essentially ignores him and another that's a semi-imbecile, and is depressed over all of it.

* TheFundamentalist: Captain Gaines. While most of Port Victory originate from Europe and thus are generally Christians, most view their faith rather casually and even the local priest isn't so dedicated as to not be tempted to convert (and during confessions, he's mostly busy ogling the equivalent of 1800s-era pornography). ''Not'' Gaines, who brings up religious piety quite regularly, and views his duty as the commanding officer of the guard in the Port as a religious duty, to rid evils from the world. As he's also TheMentallyDisturbed, this results in a deep level of delusion, paranoia, and a complete lack of mercy, hanging anyone he deems a criminal. When he learns that his best friend, Darius, has been sleeping with his wife ''and'' has the stolen soldier's pay (due to Fagin framing him), even though he believes that he's been framed and instead thinks it was Fagin and Dawkins (but can't prove it), he still intends to hang Darius for "whatever charge [he] can think of" as punishment for sleeping with his wife (given Darius is a corrupt cheat who also tried to murder Rotty for mouthing back at him, ).

* BlatantLies: Somewhat deconstructed in that while they're usually done humourously, the actual effect of both Jack and Fagin (usually the latter) doing this is usually just DiggingYourselfDeeper with the already suspicious Gaines. A good example comes when Gaines unexpectedly turns up at the hospital asking questions and the two don't have time to coordinate stories. Subsequently, , when he asks an innocuous question about Jack's siblings he plays it safe and says he's an only child. Fagin, on the other hand, can't help himself and says Jack has nine siblings of various ages with increasingly outlandish names, further raising Gaines' suspicions.

* DarkSecret: Jack Dawkins' is that he's ''the'' Artful Dodger, the former leader of Fagin's gang of pickpocketing children from London, having escaped from prison where he was to rot for fifteen years. If his identity got out, he'd be executed as an escaped convict.

* ArmorPiercingResponse: Near the end of "Bully in the Alley" Belle tries to remonstrate with Red (after delivering her baby) by giving her a mini-lecture on their thievery. Red shuts her up by telling her that her family are the biggest thieves in the whole port.

** Belle's sister Fanny is always being upstaged by Belle, embarrassed, and being made the butt of some punchline or other. The man she crushes on (Sneed), loves Belle, her romantic dreams are repeatedly mocked by her sister and her parents essentially treat her as an afterthought.

** Jack flatly refuses to frame Darius for the payroll robbery if it means he'll be hanged, despite his [[HateSink utter suitability for the role]].