Who are the greatest rogues in fantasy fiction?

[Mazra]

Favorite three Rogues from literature:

1.)The Gray Mouser
2.)Silk from the Belgariad
3.)Bilbo

My favorite female Rogue would be Mystique. ;)

[cadamec]

Some of my favorites are:

1. The Grey Mouser
2. Maqroll the Gaviero
3. Felix Jaeger
4. Han Solo
5. Robbin Hood
6. The Musketeers
7. Brigadier Gerard
8. Sinbad
9. Odysseus

[SmiloDan]

Finder Wyvernspur!

[Elbe-el]

Dread wrote:

my top 5 are

1. Slippery Jim D'griz (Stainless Steel Rat- Science Fiction, but the character still works)
2. Silk aka Pince Khelder (The Belgariad)
3. Gray Mouser (Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser)
4. Paul Janus Finnegan (AKA Kikaha the Trickster) from The World of Tiers Books
5. Artemis Entreri the Assassin character from the Drizzt books

and an honorary mention to both Taliesin The Bard by Richard Brittons and
Fflewddur Fflam, of the Chronicles of Prydain as Bards of note.

Dread absolutely wins this thread, but only by getting to it before I could. OF COURSE it's the Stainless Steel Rat in a walk...who among your other paltry selections limbers up in the morning with BOTH 100 push-ups and 100 proof liquor (often at the same time)?

[Kajehase]

Samuel Vimes
Matrim Cauthon
Han Solo

Honourary mentions to the roguish bards
Phèdre no Delaunay, Comtesse de Montrêve
and Moist von Lipwig

[Kajehase]

Going outside fantasy fiction I'd also add

Marcus Didius Falco
Robin Hood
and pretty much all of the Three Musketeers as well as their manservants.
and their nemesis, Lady de Winter, too, obviously.

[SmiloDan]

Kajehase wrote:

Samuel Vimes

Matrim Cauthon
Han Solo

Honourary mentions to the roguish bards
Phèdre no Delaunay, Comtesse de Montrêve
and Moist von Lipwig

Phedre stole the Name of the One God, for the win!

She also seduced a paladin/monk and put a traitor's son in line for the throne--with the blessing of her queen.

[Kajehase]

And that's not mentioning her method for getting the Scottish Irishmen from Britain to come to her country's aid.

[Kirth Gersen]

Has anyone mentioned Poul Anderson's Cappen Varra?

[Cori Marie]

Kitty Pryde, Robin Hood, Tasslehoff Burrfoot, and Arya Stark. And I'm surprised nobody has mentioned our resident Merisiel yet.

[Run, Just Run]

Tigger_mk4 wrote:

Silk, prince kheldar ..... The belgariad.

Han solo and indy jones....who look suspiciously alike if you ask me. i suspect a theres a crime family involved there somewhere..

have not seen someone talk about belgeriad I would say Vella, Silk, from the belgariad, Tyrion(social rouge), Arya, little finger. Sherlock and john, The dr. Robin hood

[drayen]

The Black Company. The whole damn lot of them.

[Kolokotroni]

SmiloDan wrote:

Kajehase wrote:

Samuel Vimes

Matrim Cauthon
Han Solo

Honourary mentions to the roguish bards
Phèdre no Delaunay, Comtesse de Montrêve
and Moist von Lipwig

Phedre stole the Name of the One God, for the win!

She also seduced a paladin/monk and put a traitor's son in line for the throne--with the blessing of her queen.

I am not sure Phedre was a rogue. Not in the fantasy game sense. I'd think of her as a highly specialized bard or something similar.

[rpgsavant]

I have to agree with those who said Moist von Lipwig. He is the consummate con artist to me. He has had so many disguises that he sometimes forgets who he is. And what better con than to con the people into believing in fiat currency?

[SmiloDan]

Kolokotroni wrote:

SmiloDan wrote:

Kajehase wrote:

Samuel Vimes

Matrim Cauthon
Han Solo

Honourary mentions to the roguish bards
Phèdre no Delaunay, Comtesse de Montrêve
and Moist von Lipwig

Phedre stole the Name of the One God, for the win!

She also seduced a paladin/monk and put a traitor's son in line for the throne--with the blessing of her queen.

I am not sure Phedre was a rogue. Not in the fantasy game sense. I'd think of her as a highly specialized bard or something similar.

She had no magic or spells. Maybe some low-level fast healing and/or an immense Constitution.

But the folk of Terre D'Ange are extremely non-magical. All of their magic is tied up in being pretty and sexy.

[Shifty]

If we are continuing the Game of Thrones rogue list:

The Spider.

Littlefinger.

[Viscount K]

The always incredible, sometimes impossible, nearly invincible, usually unimpeachable, and perhaps inevitable, Hieronymus Carl Friedrich von Münchhausen:

Known to the layman simply as Baron Munchausen.

[Dorn Of Citadel Adbar]

The Dread Pirate Roberts, Ged (Earthsea), Zed (Sword of Truth, Thom Merrilin (Wheel of Time), Durzo Blint or Azoth (The Way of Shadows)

[Azixirad]

Grey Mouser, Durzo Blint, Vlad Taltos

[Pippi]

I don't know if anyone else who's read the Malazan series would agree with me placing him in this category, but I think Kruppe winds up being one of my favorite rogues in fantasy.

Mostly because I love Castle of Cagliostro, but Lupin III, famous of anime and manga, based off of Arsène Lupin.

James Bolivar diGriz, The Stainless Steel Rat.

Um... Carmen Sandiego? Sorry. Sorry.

Has anyone mentioned Irene Adler? I've seen Raffles and Moriarty and Holmes mentioned. I think.

[SmiloDan]

Pippi wrote:

I don't know if anyone else who's read the Malazan series would agree with me placing him in this category, but I think Kruppe winds up being one of my favorite rogues in fantasy.

Mostly because I love Castle of Cagliostro, but Lupin III, famous of anime and manga, based off of Arsène Lupin.

James Bolivar diGriz, The Stainless Steel Rat.

Um... Carmen Sandiego? Sorry. Sorry.

Has anyone mentioned Irene Adler? I've seen Raffles and Moriarty and Holmes mentioned. I think.

Have you checked out The Quantum Thief and The Fractal Prince by Hannu Rajaniemi? They feature characters inspired by Arsene Lupin in a post-human, post-singularity 'verse.

[eakratz]

Mocker from Glen Cook's Dread Empire series.

[Rynjin]

Kryzbyn wrote:

Kylar Stern (Night Angel trilogy)

Matrim Cauthon (Wheel of Time)
Varys the Spider (A Song of Ice and Fire)
Artemis Entreri (Any Drizzt book)

These, and add Durzo Blint from Night Angel too.

Though they're really at the very least Ninjas. Still they've got the right attitude at least.

As well, add Tavi, from Codex Alera. Though he eventually takes levels in Fighter and Sorcerer, his core will always be the wily Rogue.

[Pippi]

SmiloDan wrote:

Have you checked out The Quantum Thief and The Fractal Prince by Hannu Rajaniemi? They feature characters inspired by Arsene Lupin in a post-human, post-singularity 'verse.

I haven't! That actually sounds really good. Thank you so much for the suggestion! They are now on "The List". :)

[Shalafi2412]

Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, especially when Daffy finds the Genie of the Lamp.

[Mike Robb]

A real list of rogues (in my opinion ) would be something like this -

5 - Vin, Mistborn books, Brandon Sanderson.
4 - Jack Reacher, Jack Reacher, Lee Child.
3 - Jimmy the Hand, Riftwar Saga, Raymond E Feist
2 - Harry Dresden, the Dresden files, Jim Butcher.
1 - Matrim Cauthon, The wheel of time, Robert Jordan.

[Knoq Nixoy]

Nicomo Cosca (Abercrombie)
Cugel the Clever (Vance)
Tehol (Erikson)
Rodrick and Hrym (Pratt)
Hoid (Sanderson)
Gully Foyle (Bester)
Jalan (Lawrence)
Jean le Flambeur (Rajaniemi)
Varys (Martin)

[MMCJawa]

Lots of good ones already mentioned, but I will also throw in Spike from Cowboy Bebop and Mr Wednesday from American Gods.