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Parker

 Parker
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TVTItem
 Parker
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Parker
 Parker
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Parker
 Parker
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Parker is a fictional character created by Donald Westlake. He is the main protagonist of 24 of the 28 novels Westlake wrote under the pseudonym Richard Stark.A ruthless career criminal, Parker has almost no traditional redeeming qualities, aside from efficiency and professionalism. Parker is cold, methodical, and perfectly willing to commit murder to get what he wants. He's not a psychopath, however, as he neither enjoys nor is repulsed by murder; pragmatically, he generally leaves bystanders alive because he knows the police look harder for murderers than for thieves. (Double cross him in any way though, and he absolutely will not hesitate to end your life.) His first name is never mentioned in the novels, and there are many details about him which remain unknown. Four of the novels were adapted into comics by Darwyn Cooke for IDW Publishing before his untimely death.The novels in the Parker series are: The Hunter (1962, aka Point Blank (1967), Payback) The Man With the Getaway Face (1963, aka The Steel Hit) The Outfit (1963) The Mourner (1963) The Score (1964, aka Killtown) The Jugger (1965) The Seventh (1966, aka The Split) The Handle (1966, aka Run Lethal) The Rare Coin Score (1967) The Green Eagle Score (1967) The Black Ice Score (1968) The Sour Lemon Score (1969) Deadly Edge (1971) Slayground (1971 — First chapter shared with The Blackbird, a novel in Westlake's Alan Grofield series) Plunder Squad (1972) Butcher's Moon (1974) Comeback (1997) Backflash (1998) Flashfire (2000, aka Parker) Firebreak (2001) Breakout (2002) Nobody Runs Forever (2004) Ask the Parrot (2006) Dirty Money (2008)
 Parker
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2024-03-09T15:01:11Z
 Parker
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2024-03-09T15:01:11Z
 Parker
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Dropped link to ShaggyDogStory: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Parker
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Dropped link to TheMafia: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Parker
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Parker / int_115259c6
type
Taking Over the Town
 Parker / int_115259c6
comment
Taking Over the Town: In The Score, Parker is recruited to lead a crew to take over and loot a small copper mining town. The town has a curfew, which makes things easier, as the crew only has to take over the police station, the fire station, and the telephone exchange—the only places manned all night—before launching their assault.
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Parker / int_115259c6
 Parker / int_1237828f
type
Anyone Can Die
 Parker / int_1237828f
comment
Anyone Can Die: Parker himself obviously always makes it out. The series is not shy about bumping off anybody else, though.
 Parker / int_1237828f
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1.0
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Parker / int_1237828f
 Parker / int_128e9efd
type
Honor Among Thieves
 Parker / int_128e9efd
comment
Honor Among Thieves: Parker has a rigid code of honour, in that A) he will absolutely not double-cross another professional criminal with whom he is working, unless B) if anyone tries to double-cross him, Parker will unhesitatingly undertake to exact a thorough and brutal revenge.
 Parker / int_128e9efd
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Parker / int_128e9efd
 Parker / int_1520ad7e
type
Jumping Off the Slippery Slope
 Parker / int_1520ad7e
comment
Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Several times. Notable example include Melander's gang (who take Parker's share of the money but do plan to return it after it helps them finance a bigger score), Menlo from The Mourner and Nick Dalesia in the opinion of the others after he kills a cop while breaking out of custody.
 Parker / int_1520ad7e
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Parker / int_1520ad7e
 Parker / int_176a6683
type
The Social Expert
 Parker / int_176a6683
comment
The Social Expert: Affably Evil Frank Farran is this to the Tyler mob, having friends in criminal organizations across both the city and the country. Due to these contacts, he knows enough to tell Al Lozini it would be a bad idea to fight Parker (once he hears his name) when he's willing to deal, and later he is kidnapped by Parker specifically for this reason, as he knows all the inner workings of the mob and can be interrogated about how to hit their locations.
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Parker / int_176a6683
 Parker / int_18733eb2
type
Take Off Your Clothes
 Parker / int_18733eb2
comment
Take Off Your Clothes: In Flashfire, Lesley tells Parker that she is not interested in him sexually and has no desire to get naked in front of him. He then tells her that she has to. He is checking to see if she is wearing a wire.
 Parker / int_18733eb2
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Parker / int_18733eb2
 Parker / int_1989b0c
type
Comic-Book Time
 Parker / int_1989b0c
comment
Comic-Book Time: The Parker novels span 46 years and are usually set at around the time they were published; Parker himself remains a grizzled fortyish throughout. There were some references to his military service (and bad conduct discharge) in World War II in the first few novels, which are later ignored. It helps that he is given very little backstory, so there's not much to retcon. (And his backstory is, in fact, never retconned ... it's just never mentioned in later novels. One could make the argument that Parker is simply immortal.)
 Parker / int_1989b0c
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Parker / int_1989b0c
 Parker / int_19fc58a2
type
A Lighter Shade of Black
 Parker / int_19fc58a2
comment
A Lighter Shade of Black: Parker, a Villain Protagonist, is an amoral thief. However, he is pragmatic. He would kill to get what he wants, but he would not do it if it was unnecessary because he knows that the police put more effort in hunting murderers than thieves. Some books like The Sour Lemon Score or Deadly Edge, put him against complete psychos who rape and kill on a whim. A few occasions, Parker invokes this while killing a mobster when knowing that someone more reasonable towards leaving Parker alone will take his place.
 Parker / int_19fc58a2
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Parker / int_19fc58a2
 Parker / int_1bae1961
type
TheHeist
 Parker / int_1bae1961
comment
The Heist: Most of the novels revolve around some kind of heist.
 Parker / int_1bae1961
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Parker / int_1bae1961
 Parker / int_1c79ae8c
type
Those Two Guys
 Parker / int_1c79ae8c
comment
Those Two Guys: Wiss and Elkins, although, interestingly, they aren't explicitly this in the first book and only seem to have started working together so much afterwards. By Butcher's Moon, it's prominent enough that its mentioned their children are dating and will probably get married.
 Parker / int_1c79ae8c
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Parker / int_1c79ae8c
 Parker / int_20860a0e
type
Punch-Clock Villain
 Parker / int_20860a0e
comment
Punch-Clock Villain: Frequently. It's most notable in The Outfit where Bronson's employee Mr. Quill explains to him that most of their people view themselves as simple working stiffs, rationalizing their crimes by saying that all big corporations break the law. He says that if those employees were persuaded that they were in fact criminals, utterly divorced from society, then nine out of ten of them would quit on the spot and find a legitimate job. Bronson is not pleased to hear this, especially when advised that killing the employees who screwed up would be viewed as excessive itself and cause mass resignations.
 Parker / int_20860a0e
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Parker / int_20860a0e
 Parker / int_21bf4878
type
Decapitation Presentation
 Parker / int_21bf4878
comment
Decapitation Presentation: At the end of The Man With the Getaway Face, Parker unzips a travel bag to show May the severed head of Wells: proving that he has upheld his end of the bargain and Wells is dead.
 Parker / int_21bf4878
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Parker / int_21bf4878
 Parker / int_225b682
type
Throw-Away Guns
 Parker / int_225b682
comment
Throw-Away Guns: In The Outfit, Parker knocks out a hitman by throwing his revolver into his face because he doesn't want to risk shooting in a crowded hotel where the gunshot is likely to attract the attention of the law.
 Parker / int_225b682
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Parker / int_225b682
 Parker / int_230d64
type
Screw the Rules, I Have Money!
 Parker / int_230d64
comment
Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Several of Parker's targets.
 Parker / int_230d64
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Parker / int_230d64
 Parker / int_2562da69
type
Great Escape
 Parker / int_2562da69
comment
Great Escape: The first third of Breakout is dedicated to Parker organising a Great Escape from Stoneveldt.
 Parker / int_2562da69
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Parker / int_2562da69
 Parker / int_2cd322e4
type
Shoot the Builder
 Parker / int_2cd322e4
comment
Shoot the Builder: In The Man With the Getaway Face, a criminal on the run returns to the underworld plastic surgeon who changed his face and murders him, as the surgeon was the only one to know what his new face looks like. This causes problems for Parker, who is another client of the surgeon, as the surgeon's staff start hunting down past clients for revenge. In Flashfire, Julius Norte, the man Parker is buying a fake ID from, is attacked by a hitman sent by a previous client (implied to be a former drug dealer) out to eliminate anyone who knows his new identity. Parker speculates that the client also got plastic surgery and then probably killed the doctor. The guy even sends hitmen after Parker in case Norte told him anything. This turns out to be a Revealing Cover Up and gets the client caught by the FBI after the police capture one of his hitmen.
 Parker / int_2cd322e4
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Parker / int_2cd322e4
 Parker / int_2dc0d2bf
type
Hidden Depths
 Parker / int_2dc0d2bf
comment
Hidden Depths: Even some of the most antagonistic characters usually get some depths. Cal Dennison from Ask the Parrot is the first one to figure out Parker’s identity as the fugitive, referencing Poe in the process. Marcaontoni in Breakout is a racist who overestimates his own abilities, but as his chapter POV reveals he didn’t plan on trying to cheat Parker or Brandon out of their shares (unlike so many similar characters) and he and his regular accomplices have a True Companions vibe. While Captain Haradawl in Flashfire is a pretty nasty, highly racist Right-Wing Militia Fanatic he did train his men pretty well based on how well they do against the hitmen they stumble across trying to kill Parker.
 Parker / int_2dc0d2bf
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Parker / int_2dc0d2bf
 Parker / int_2df13927
type
Prefers Rocks to Pillows
 Parker / int_2df13927
comment
Prefers Rocks to Pillows: Arguably Joe Skimm from the second book, who buries most of his money and lives in cheap motels.
 Parker / int_2df13927
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Parker / int_2df13927
 Parker / int_2f187e89
type
It Works Better with Bullets
 Parker / int_2f187e89
comment
It Works Better with Bullets: In Comeback, Parker unloads Liss's shotgun while Liss is sleeping. This saves his life when Liss double-crosses him. In Flashfire, Parker breakers into Melander's hideout and misaligns all the firing pins in the gang's automatics, and drains all of the powder from their shotgun shells. This ends badly for Melander and his gang when they pull these weapons when the police storm their hideout.
 Parker / int_2f187e89
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Parker / int_2f187e89
 Parker / int_31f7c194
type
Super Window Jump
 Parker / int_31f7c194
comment
Super Window Jump: In The Sour Lemon Score, Parker escapes from George Uhl's ambush by diving through the farmhouse window when Uhl shoots Bernie Weiss. The house is so dilapidated that he takes most of the most of the window frame with him.
 Parker / int_31f7c194
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Parker / int_31f7c194
 Parker / int_3763bcf8
type
False Rape Accusation
 Parker / int_3763bcf8
comment
False Rape Accusation: In The Outfit, Parker turns down an offer of sex from the wife of one his cronies. She later claims that Parker raped her in an attempt to goad her husband into killing him.
 Parker / int_3763bcf8
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Parker / int_3763bcf8
 Parker / int_3ae5bcf1
type
Trojan Ambulance
 Parker / int_3ae5bcf1
comment
Trojan Ambulance: In The Seventh, Parker is part of a seven-man crew who successfully rob the gate receipts from a stadium on college football Saturday. The getaway involves one of the crew driving a stolen ambulance into the stadium and parking it with other ambulances attending the game. After the robbery, they load the loot and several of the crew into the ambulance and drive out.
 Parker / int_3ae5bcf1
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Parker / int_3ae5bcf1
 Parker / int_3b4bd0b4
type
Killer Cop
 Parker / int_3b4bd0b4
comment
Killer Cop: The corrupt main antagonists of Backflash, Butcher's Moon, and The Jugger all go down this path.
 Parker / int_3b4bd0b4
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Parker / int_3b4bd0b4
 Parker / int_3c111ce6
type
Pistol-Whipping
 Parker / int_3c111ce6
comment
Pistol-Whipping: In The Sour Lemon Score, Parker's opening move in the bank heist is to cold cock the bank guard with his pistol hard enough to knock him out when he turns to look at the distraction.
 Parker / int_3c111ce6
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Parker / int_3c111ce6
 Parker / int_405b0c46
type
Armed Blag
 Parker / int_405b0c46
comment
Armed Blag: Several. They never quite go as smoothly as Parker would like.
 Parker / int_405b0c46
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Parker / int_405b0c46
 Parker / int_41be2c1b
type
Spoiler Title
 Parker / int_41be2c1b
comment
Spoiler Title: The title of The Seventh makes it pretty clear what's going to happen when you discover it involves a seven-man job.
 Parker / int_41be2c1b
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Parker / int_41be2c1b
 Parker / int_437e70f5
type
What a Piece of Junk
 Parker / int_437e70f5
comment
What a Piece of Junk: In The Outfit, Parker visits a mechanic who specialises in supplying cars to the underworld. One of the vehicles he shows Parker is a Volkswagen Bug that he has been modifying into a getaway car, with a souped-up engine, reinforced chassis, ballast to allow it to corner properly, etc. The one problem he is having is that he cannot make it sound like a VW. Later in the novel, the reader gets to see the car in action, and he has solved the sound problem, at least at low speed.
 Parker / int_437e70f5
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Parker / int_437e70f5
 Parker / int_43a045de
type
Dropped a Bridge on Him
 Parker / int_43a045de
comment
Dropped a Bridge on Him: Various allies and enemies. Most notable is Caliato. who looks like he's going to be the Big Bad of Slayground. but ends up being the Disc-One Final Boss.
 Parker / int_43a045de
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Parker / int_43a045de
 Parker / int_447d9e50
type
Xanatos Speed Chess
 Parker / int_447d9e50
comment
Xanatos Speed Chess: Often tried by Parker and/or his partners in the aftermath of a complicated heist. How well it works depends on the novel.
 Parker / int_447d9e50
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Parker / int_447d9e50
 Parker / int_46f3f271
type
From Camouflage to Criminal
 Parker / int_46f3f271
comment
From Camouflage to Criminal: Parker served in the army in Europe during World War II before being dishonorably discharged for black marketeering. Although he was probably a criminal before he enlisted (or was drafted), it is implied his time in the service is part of why he is so good with firearms. Due to Comic-Book Time, his military service is not mentioned in the later novels.
 Parker / int_46f3f271
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Parker / int_46f3f271
 Parker / int_48c99e19
type
Death by Adaptation
 Parker / int_48c99e19
comment
Death by Adaptation: Darwyn Cooke made a few changes in his retelling of the events of The Outfit. In the original, accountant/troubleshooter Quill is given a message by Parker, and thereby survives the events at Bronson's mansion. In the graphic novel, Parker decides to eliminate the middleman and deliver the message himself.
 Parker / int_48c99e19
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Parker / int_48c99e19
 Parker / int_49fb5ccb
type
Combat Pragmatist
 Parker / int_49fb5ccb
comment
Combat Pragmatist: Parker.
 Parker / int_49fb5ccb
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Parker / int_49fb5ccb
 Parker / int_4b5817c1
type
Truth Serums
 Parker / int_4b5817c1
comment
Truth Serums: In The Sour Lemon Score, Rosenstein and Brock use a truth serum on Parker to find out what he knows about George Uhl. Parker later uses the same serum (which he discovered when her searched Brock's apartment) to interrogate Uhl about the location of the money.
 Parker / int_4b5817c1
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Parker / int_4b5817c1
 Parker / int_4f4372e9
type
Early-Installment Weirdness
 Parker / int_4f4372e9
comment
Early-Installment Weirdness: In the first installment The Hunter, Parker planned to kill Mal Resnick and take his share as well. Something he'd never do later books. Parker's somewhat different characterization in The Hunter is mainly due to the fact that the story was originally a stand-alone. In both the original and final versions, the end has Parker confronted by some cops who believe he's guilty of one of the few crimes he didn't actually commit in the novel. In the original version, though, the cops shoot and kill him. Editor Bucklin Moon found this ending unsatisfactory but agreed to buy the novel if Westlake would change the ending, have Parker survive and escape, and provide more Parker novels. Westlake changed the ending, but not some of the other events that make Parker's character even darker in this story than in the future ones.
 Parker / int_4f4372e9
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Parker / int_4f4372e9
 Parker / int_51beab21
type
Good Old Fisticuffs
 Parker / int_51beab21
comment
Good Old Fisticuffs: Parker is perfectly willing to use guns, knives, clubs and booby trapped amusement parks as weapons, but he prefers to work with his hands.
 Parker / int_51beab21
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Parker / int_51beab21
 Parker / int_53d45fa8
type
Back-Alley Doctor
 Parker / int_53d45fa8
comment
Back-Alley Doctor: In The Man With the Getaway Face, Parker attends a clinic run by a highly skilled plastic surgeon who was blacklisted in Hollywood due to his former membership of the Communist Party. These days he specializes in providing new faces to members of the underworld.
 Parker / int_53d45fa8
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Parker / int_53d45fa8
 Parker / int_5937a87c
type
No Honor Among Thieves
 Parker / int_5937a87c
comment
No Honor Among Thieves: Many of Parker's heists go astray when one of his partners decides to betray the crew and take the loot for themselves.
 Parker / int_5937a87c
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Parker / int_5937a87c
 Parker / int_5a3b8032
type
The Un-Reveal
 Parker / int_5a3b8032
comment
The Unreveal: The name of the amateur who soured Parker's score in The Seventh. The police discover his identity, and at several points the reader almost learns his name, but something always interrupts the action before it is revealed on the page. The novel ends without the reader (or Parker) ever learning who he actually was.
 Parker / int_5a3b8032
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Parker / int_5a3b8032
 Parker / int_5a40d6a
type
Adaptation Distillation
 Parker / int_5a40d6a
comment
Adaptation Distillation: The Parker graphic novels. The Outfit opens with the heist from The Man With The Getaway Face before swinging into the plot of the book it's titled after, and Slayground features a short story adapted from the finale of The Seventh.
 Parker / int_5a40d6a
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Parker / int_5a40d6a
 Parker / int_5c3206a
type
Ransacked Room
 Parker / int_5c3206a
comment
Ransacked Room: Parker does this to Brock's apartment in The Sour Lemon Score; emptying every drawer, cutting open every pillow and cushion, and breaking open every stick of furniture where something could be concealed. Brock is shocked that someone could be destructive, and regards the apartment as having been raped.
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Parker / int_5c3206a
 Parker / int_5ca80293
type
Pragmatic Villainy
 Parker / int_5ca80293
comment
Pragmatic Villainy: In The Handle, Parker is faced with two Mexican thieves who happened to hit his target first, and hidden a portion of the proceeds. Being short on time, he lets them go, noting that an interrogation would be useless since he doesn't know any Spanish and assumes that they don't understand English. The Outfit decides it is simply easier to make peace with Parker than to risk further losses fighting him, making a business decision to write off the money and personnel Parker has claimed to that point.
 Parker / int_5ca80293
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Parker / int_5ca80293
 Parker / int_5cfa64d0
type
Dashing Hispanic
 Parker / int_5cfa64d0
comment
Dashing Hispanic: Salsa.
 Parker / int_5cfa64d0
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Parker / int_5cfa64d0
 Parker / int_5f52cfcf
type
Intrepid Reporter
 Parker / int_5f52cfcf
comment
Intrepid Reporter: Minor characters from Dirty Money and Backflash.
 Parker / int_5f52cfcf
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Parker / int_5f52cfcf
 Parker / int_60c96f24
type
Portmantitle
 Parker / int_60c96f24
comment
Portmantitle: All of which are One Word Titles as well: The Hunter with its alternate title of Payback. The Score with its alternate title of Killtown. Slayground Comeback Backflash Flashfire Firebreak Breakout
 Parker / int_60c96f24
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Parker / int_60c96f24
 Parker / int_63d861f8
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Even Evil Has Loved Ones
 Parker / int_63d861f8
comment
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: For all his sociopathy, Parker clearly adores Claire. He also seems to have genuinely cared for his wife before she double-crossed him. Mob boss Al Lozini also cares about his family and is frustrated about the harassment they get from reporters.
 Parker / int_63d861f8
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Parker / int_63d861f8
 Parker / int_658f7193
type
Lack of Empathy
 Parker / int_658f7193
comment
Lack of Empathy: Not always but Parker can display this pretty harshly. Notably in The Seventh. after being angrily told by Little Bob Negli, who is chasing and shooting at him, how his (flawed) strategy to recover the money just got the rest of their partners killed or arrested, rather than feel any concern or guilt, all Parker seizes on from that statement is that they’re the last two and he won’t have to split with the others once he kills Little Bob, which won't violate his not-betraying-partners rule since Little Bob is trying to kill him.
 Parker / int_658f7193
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Parker / int_658f7193
 Parker / int_660d1f3e
type
Amusement Park of Doom
 Parker / int_660d1f3e
comment
Amusement Park of Doom: Slayground features an amusement park closed for the winter where Parker is hiding from pursuit. It's when Parker starts MacGyvering the rides into traps for his enemies that it enters this trope, in a rare example of the protagonist being the one to create the park.
 Parker / int_660d1f3e
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Parker / int_660d1f3e
 Parker / int_6d332aea
type
Driven to Suicide
 Parker / int_6d332aea
comment
Driven to Suicide: In The Hunter, Parker's wife, Lynn, tries to kill him (and thought she did) and becomes wrought with guilt. When Parker comes back to find her, she is relieved at first. Considering it's Parker who comes back though, it doesn't last long. He doesn't even say a word to her before smacking her across her face. He doesn't care about her anymore, and only wants to find the man who betrayed him (and made Lynn try to kill him). She still loves him. She tells him that she can't sleep at night without taking pills. She thinks about how she killed him, and wished it was her. Parker offers a single piece of advice. "Take Too Many Pills." In the morning, when he finds her with an empty container in hand, he says "You always were dumb." Poor Joe Sheer, after being tortured by a Small-Town Tyrant after the loot from his heist (which he'd blown on luxuries years ago), and the clients/fingers in Plunder Squad and Backflash.
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Parker / int_6d332aea
 Parker / int_72c07237
type
Swiss-Cheese Security
 Parker / int_72c07237
comment
Swiss-Cheese Security: In The Outfit, Parker is incredulous about how easy it is to break in the mansion of Bronson: a mob boss he has come to kill. He eventually theorizes that Bronson must be so confident in his cover in Buffalo that he doesn't feel the need to have obvious (or efficient) security.
 Parker / int_72c07237
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Parker / int_72c07237
 Parker / int_730d3664
type
Adaptational Angst Upgrade
 Parker / int_730d3664
comment
Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In "Slayground", the first mobster Parker kills is the Number Two of Adolf Lozini, who was Like a Son to Me, but in the graphic novel, the man he kills is Lozini's actual son, causing him a lot more grief and fury.
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Parker / int_730d3664
 Parker / int_737d7dbc
type
Senseless Violins
 Parker / int_737d7dbc
comment
Senseless Violins: In The Outfit, two of the gang who knock over the Outfit's number-running operation are dressed as musicians and carrying burp guns hidden in trombone cases.
 Parker / int_737d7dbc
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Parker / int_737d7dbc
 Parker / int_7453bc5b
type
Spared by the Adaptation
 Parker / int_7453bc5b
comment
Spared by the Adaptation: Three examples in the graphic novel adaptation of "The Outfit". The plastic surgeon who gives Parker a new face isn't murdered, and the chain of events that leads to Parker being discovered by the Outfit is different. Skimm, in a lives longer than the original material but still dies way. He survives being Left for Dead and rats Parker out to The Outfit out of bitterness, for which Parker kills him. Strand, a mob courier who wears a suit full of money and blabbed about it to his brother-in-law (an associate of Parker) was killed by his employers in the original book some time ago for his tendency to talk too much about work, but the graphic novel doesn't mention this.
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Parker / int_7453bc5b
 Parker / int_76d167c0
type
Hazy-Feel Turn
 Parker / int_76d167c0
comment
Hazy-Feel Turn: sometimes, Parker is willing to make truces with people who were trying to kill him a few books ago like Al Lozini and Frank Meaney if there's something in it for both of them.
 Parker / int_76d167c0
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Parker / int_76d167c0
 Parker / int_77414bc2
type
Action Prologue
 Parker / int_77414bc2
comment
Action Prologue: Most of the books begin with some kind of fight or heist. In Firebreak the opening passage is "When the phone rang, Parker was in the garage, killing a man." Butcher's Moon is another notable example, opens with a failed robbery where Parker and his partners Michaelson and Hurley shoot over their shoulders at the police as they run for the tunnel they'd dug.
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Parker / int_77414bc2
 Parker / int_79ba6777
type
Pocket Protector
 Parker / int_79ba6777
comment
Pocket Protector: Parker survives his wife's attempt to kill in The Hunter because her first shot hits his belt buckle. This knocks him down and causes her remaining five wild shots to pass over the top of him.
 Parker / int_79ba6777
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 Parker / int_79ba6777
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Parker / int_79ba6777
 Parker / int_7ac1f1e5
type
Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist
 Parker / int_7ac1f1e5
comment
Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: most of the non-corrupt cops who chase Parker with any chance of success. Gwen Reversa in Nobody Runs Forever and Dirty Money, Turley in Breakout, Dougherty in The Seventh (although it’s undermined a bit as he lets it get personal), Captain Mondale and his men in the last two books, Sheriff Farley in Flashfire, and Moxon in Firebreak ( although its zigzagged in that the subject of his attention is the heist target and his contact with Parker and his partners is more incidental) are all shrewd, dedicated, often charming, law enforcement officers who would be quite happy to put Parker behind bars. Calevecci from Comeback is a hard subversion, being honest, but an incompetent sadist.
 Parker / int_7ac1f1e5
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Parker / int_7ac1f1e5
 Parker / int_7bf14666
type
And Now for Someone Completely Different
 Parker / int_7bf14666
comment
And Now for Someone Completely Different: Fairly consistently, the books will spend the third of four sections being told from the perspective of somebody else in the story before reverting back to Parker. Got to the point where Alan Grofield got his own series of books, one of which crosses over with Parker's.
 Parker / int_7bf14666
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Parker / int_7bf14666
 Parker / int_7c5960bf
type
Hall of Mirrors
 Parker / int_7c5960bf
comment
Hall of Mirrors: In Slayground, Parker, cornered by rival criminals in a closed up amusement park, takes a precaution to assure that he will not end up confused by the Hall of Mirrors. He spraypaints a white line across the mirrors in the Hall of Mirrors. That way, when he does not see the white line, he knows he has the actual person in his sights.
 Parker / int_7c5960bf
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Parker / int_7c5960bf
 Parker / int_7f390ebc
type
Developing Doomed Characters
 Parker / int_7f390ebc
comment
Developing Doomed Characters: Many of the POV characters for a single chapter of the And Now for Someone Completely Different sections of each book, especially members of Parker's gangs. Most notable is The Seventh where only five of Parker's six partners die and all but one of them had a POV section and some good scenes through other characters eyes.
 Parker / int_7f390ebc
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Parker / int_7f390ebc
 Parker / int_7fe06f5
type
Action Girlfriend
 Parker / int_7fe06f5
comment
Action Girlfriend: Ed Mackey's significant other Brenda doesn't take an active part in the heists but is at least as reliable and competent as Ed himself in other areas. Brenda once followed Ed to a meeting out of concern for his safety and dragged him out of a burning building after Ed was ambushed and shot by a gangster and Left for Dead by Parker. In another book, she manages to escape from a double-cross by Parker and Ed's partner and spends the rest of the book showing resourcefulness on the run.
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Parker / int_7fe06f5
 Parker / int_807ceed9
type
Outlaw Couple
 Parker / int_807ceed9
comment
Outlaw Couple: Ed and Brenda Mackey are among Parker's more recurring and reliable companions and work together well. Tommy and Noelle from Plunder Squad as well, although Tommy quits after that novel while Noelle keeps at it.
 Parker / int_807ceed9
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Parker / int_807ceed9
 Parker / int_86b21114
type
Badass Boast
 Parker / int_86b21114
comment
Badass Boast: Parker excels at these, but one standout is in Flashfire when after Sheriff Farley and Parker trade some information and end their Mexican Stand Off Farley says he’ll always wonder if he could have taken Parker, who replies,
 Parker / int_86b21114
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Parker / int_86b21114
 Parker / int_8879db82
type
Badass Crew
 Parker / int_8879db82
comment
Badass Crew: Parker leads several, most notably in the final third of Butcher's Moon and The Score.
 Parker / int_8879db82
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Parker / int_8879db82
 Parker / int_898ff050
type
Villain Protagonist
 Parker / int_898ff050
comment
Villain Protagonist: Parker himself is an unrepentant, profit-obsessed killer who rarely cares when his accomplices die, is willing to torture people, and is willing to threaten a child in one book. He has some Pet the Dog moments and usually faces people worse than he is, but in most crime stories, someone like him would be the Big Bad.
 Parker / int_898ff050
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Parker / int_898ff050
 Parker / int_89dcd4e
type
Small-Town Tyrant
 Parker / int_89dcd4e
comment
Poor Joe Sheer, after being tortured by a Small-Town Tyrant after the loot from his heist (which he'd blown on luxuries years ago), and the clients/fingers in Plunder Squad and Backflash.
 Parker / int_89dcd4e
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Parker / int_89dcd4e
 Parker / int_8ed5c6e4
type
Asshole Victim
 Parker / int_8ed5c6e4
comment
One of the rare times Parker shows mercy against someone who would be an Asshole Victim if he hadn't is George Uhl in The Sour Lemon Score, and yet the next time Uhl appears he's trying to kill Parker.
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Parker / int_8ed5c6e4
 Parker / int_8f9f71a8
type
Crazy Enough to Work
 Parker / int_8f9f71a8
comment
Crazy Enough to Work: Larry Lloyd by the end of Firebeak, when, after the heist is foiled, he drives up to the crime scene, posing as a civilian employee of the house's owner, then hijacks the truck with the stolen artwork being kept as evidence.
 Parker / int_8f9f71a8
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Parker / int_8f9f71a8
 Parker / int_90e31482
type
Laser-Guided Karma
 Parker / int_90e31482
comment
Laser-Guided Karma: Almost anyone on Parker's heist team who seems really despicable, or any murderer outside of his team, is likely to suffer this fate. One downplayed example is Otto Mainzer, a Neo-Nazi member of Parker's string in The Rare Coin Score, who survives to be arrested but pisses off the police so much that they offer total immunity to the other (more sympathetic) robber they captured to testify against Mainzer, and a later book mentions that his sentence was extended after he hit a guard.
 Parker / int_90e31482
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Parker / int_90e31482
 Parker / int_90ff49cb
type
Robbing the Mob Bank
 Parker / int_90ff49cb
comment
Robbing the Mob Bank: In The Outfit, Parker gets sick of the contract The Mafia has placed on him. He contacts all of his independent operator associates and asks them to put into effect any plans they might have had for robbing outfit operations (which is something he had threatened to do at the end of the first novel The Hunter). The third section of the novel details several of these robberies being carried out. The result is so costly to the outfit that they are willing to make peace with Parker and call off the contract.
 Parker / int_90ff49cb
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Parker / int_90ff49cb
 Parker / int_9645fcf2
type
Plethora of Mistakes
 Parker / int_9645fcf2
comment
Plethora of Mistakes: Parker's carefully planned heists seldom go according to plan; usually due to either the greed of his partners or the interference of other criminals.
 Parker / int_9645fcf2
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Parker / int_9645fcf2
 Parker / int_967856d8
type
Hired to Hunt Yourself
 Parker / int_967856d8
comment
Hired to Hunt Yourself: In Comeback, Parker poses as a bounty hunter pursuing the villain who double-crossed him, and is convincing enough that the man they robbed ends up hiring him to capture all of the thieves and retrieve his money (even providing a cash down payment).
 Parker / int_967856d8
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Parker / int_967856d8
 Parker / int_986c3163
type
Mouth of Sauron
 Parker / int_986c3163
comment
Mouth of Sauron: In Butcher's Moon, Frank Schroder, who handles the narcotics side of the local syndicate, remains The Ghost while letting a trusted subordinate represent him at a mob summit.
 Parker / int_986c3163
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Parker / int_986c3163
 Parker / int_9ae0ead1
type
Villains Out Shopping
 Parker / int_9ae0ead1
comment
Villains Out Shopping: Parker's associate Alan Grofield spends most of his time working in an unprofitable theater as an actor, something he greatly enjoys. The last of his four spinoff novels has him meet two other criminals who also have passions beyond crime. One enjoys painting and the other reads a lot of Western novels.
 Parker / int_9ae0ead1
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Parker / int_9ae0ead1
 Parker / int_9b54d536
type
Evil Counterpart
 Parker / int_9b54d536
comment
Evil Counterpart: Well, eviler counterpart. Quittner, a member of the Tyler mob heavily involved in drug-trafficking is eerily similar to Parker in both personality and demeanor, and one of the few organized crime figures who really seems to understand what makes him tick. They never interact though, and Quittner only shows up in the last thirty pages of the book.
 Parker / int_9b54d536
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Parker / int_9b54d536
 Parker / int_9ce83619
type
The Corpse Stops Here
 Parker / int_9ce83619
comment
The Corpse Stops Here: Happens to Parker in The Seventh, when he arrives at his hideout to find his Girl of the Week murdered, and the loot from the most recent heist stolen. A few minutes later, two cops walk in and Parker realizes the killer had waited around until he returned and then called the police.
 Parker / int_9ce83619
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Parker / int_9ce83619
 Parker / int_9d5a2cdf
type
Intimidating Revenue Service
 Parker / int_9d5a2cdf
comment
Intimidating Revenue Service: Parker and most of his associates fear the IRS enough to pay income tax on their stolen money, albeit with fictitious explanations for how they got it.
 Parker / int_9d5a2cdf
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Parker / int_9d5a2cdf
 Parker / int_9fbe06a5
type
Badass in a Nice Suit
 Parker / int_9fbe06a5
comment
Badass in a Nice Suit: Many of Parker's associates, although Salsa and Littlefield might stand out. A lot of hitmen and mob enforcers that Parker clashes with also have this going for them.
 Parker / int_9fbe06a5
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Parker / int_9fbe06a5
 Parker / int_a18fda9c
type
Dumb Muscle
 Parker / int_a18fda9c
comment
Dumb Muscle: Parker tends to avoid these but sometimes they show up as side characters or employees of his enemies, like Ralph Hochberg in The Green Eagle Score.
 Parker / int_a18fda9c
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Parker / int_a18fda9c
 Parker / int_a1b0bde2
type
Revealing Cover-Up
 Parker / int_a1b0bde2
comment
In Flashfire, Julius Norte, the man Parker is buying a fake ID from, is attacked by a hitman sent by a previous client (implied to be a former drug dealer) out to eliminate anyone who knows his new identity. Parker speculates that the client also got plastic surgery and then probably killed the doctor. The guy even sends hitmen after Parker in case Norte told him anything. This turns out to be a Revealing Cover Up and gets the client caught by the FBI after the police capture one of his hitmen.
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Parker / int_a1b0bde2
 Parker / int_a65288e2
type
Ascended Extra
 Parker / int_a65288e2
comment
Ascended Extra: Several heisters, such as Nick Dalesia, Dan Wycza, Salsa and Noelle Braselle appear in more secondary roles in one book before achieving a rise in prominence for a later one.
 Parker / int_a65288e2
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Parker / int_a65288e2
 Parker / int_a70223
type
Karma Houdini
 Parker / int_a70223
comment
Karma Houdini: If Parker is just stealing something, he'll generally get away clean with no repercussions, although not without trouble. If Parker commits murder, it comes back to bite him.
 Parker / int_a70223
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Parker / int_a70223
 Parker / int_ab8e26e2
type
Slipping a Mickey
 Parker / int_ab8e26e2
comment
Slipping a Mickey: Parker gets slipped a mickey by the middleman Brock when he shows up asking questions about Rosenstein and Uhl in The Sour Lemon Score.
 Parker / int_ab8e26e2
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Parker / int_ab8e26e2
 Parker / int_aba51fc7
type
Nazi Nobleman
 Parker / int_aba51fc7
comment
Nazi Nobleman: The villain of The Handle.
 Parker / int_aba51fc7
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Parker / int_aba51fc7
 Parker / int_ac2094ca
type
Red Shirt
 Parker / int_ac2094ca
comment
Red Shirt: At least one per book.
 Parker / int_ac2094ca
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Parker / int_ac2094ca
 Parker / int_b14ce563
type
Pinned to the Wall
 Parker / int_b14ce563
comment
Pinned to the Wall: The Seventh opens with Parker arriving back at the apartment he is using as a hideout to find the girl he was sharing it with stabbed with a sword that has gone through her and the headboard of the bed to pin her to the wall.
 Parker / int_b14ce563
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Parker / int_b14ce563
 Parker / int_b39b84ee
type
Fiery Coverup
 Parker / int_b39b84ee
comment
Fiery Cover-Up: George Uhl does this in The Sour Lemon Score after he murders his two co-conspirators: burning down the farmhouse where the murders took place. He knocks the teeth out of the corpses before setting the fire to make identification of the bodies almost impossible.
 Parker / int_b39b84ee
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Parker / int_b39b84ee
 Parker / int_b4ac1655
type
Molotov Cocktail
 Parker / int_b4ac1655
comment
Molotov Cocktail: Parker uses a Molotov cocktail to firebomb a gas station to create a distraction for a bank robbery at the start of Flashfire.
 Parker / int_b4ac1655
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Parker / int_b4ac1655
 Parker / int_b64b1fc1
type
Left for Dead
 Parker / int_b64b1fc1
comment
Skimm, in a lives longer than the original material but still dies way. He survives being Left for Dead and rats Parker out to The Outfit out of bitterness, for which Parker kills him.
 Parker / int_b64b1fc1
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Parker / int_b64b1fc1
 Parker / int_b905c10c
type
The Alcatraz
 Parker / int_b905c10c
comment
The Alcatraz: Stoneveldt in Breakout has this reputation. Parker is told multiple times that no one has ever escaped from there. Played with in the sense that it's not due to the facility's overall defenses, but rather that it's basically a transfer point to other prisons — no one's there long enough to formulate a plan.
 Parker / int_b905c10c
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Parker / int_b905c10c
 Parker / int_b9918c48
type
Nobody Here but Us Statues
 Parker / int_b9918c48
comment
Nobody Here but Us Statues: In Slayground, Parker sits in a wax museum display and his pursuers fail to notice him.
 Parker / int_b9918c48
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Parker / int_b9918c48
 Parker / int_bbe740e2
type
Tyrant Takes the Helm
 Parker / int_bbe740e2
comment
Tyrant Takes the Helm: Happens several times in Butcher's Moon after the mob boss who Parker is able to work with gets murdered in a coup. First the new boss, then The Dragon, then another member of the gang all wrestle power from each other and all come across as this trope.
 Parker / int_bbe740e2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_bbe740e2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_bbe740e2
 Parker / int_bc74ef27
type
Berserk Button
 Parker / int_bc74ef27
comment
Berserk Button: In Butcher's Moon, Parker's accomplice Hurley spends a lot of his scenes spewing rage towards Morse, a colleague who sold them the plans to a jewelry store without including the alarm system.
 Parker / int_bc74ef27
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_bc74ef27
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_bc74ef27
 Parker / int_c2676b00
type
Jurisdiction Friction
 Parker / int_c2676b00
comment
Jurisdiction Friction: In the final book, a bounty hunter who recovered and turned in the body of a man Parker killed invokes this, saying the reward is being delayed due to multiple agencies having posted rewards on the man, while another had him wearing a wire (which was the reason Parker killed him) and that now they're squabbling over who should pay the reward.
 Parker / int_c2676b00
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_c2676b00
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_c2676b00
 Parker / int_c26ebed4
type
Finagle's Law
 Parker / int_c26ebed4
comment
Finagle's Law: Especially in the later books, almost inevitably something no amount of planning could anticipate hits Parker from the side.
 Parker / int_c26ebed4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_c26ebed4
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_c26ebed4
 Parker / int_c313d43a
type
True Companions
 Parker / int_c313d43a
comment
Marcaontoni in Breakout is a racist who overestimates his own abilities, but as his chapter POV reveals he didn’t plan on trying to cheat Parker or Brandon out of their shares (unlike so many similar characters) and he and his regular accomplices have a True Companions vibe.
 Parker / int_c313d43a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_c313d43a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_c313d43a
 Parker / int_c3c7d2e5
type
Criminal Procedural
 Parker / int_c3c7d2e5
comment
Criminal Procedural
 Parker / int_c3c7d2e5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_c3c7d2e5
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_c3c7d2e5
 Parker / int_c601fc37
type
Professional Killer
 Parker / int_c601fc37
comment
In Firebreak the opening passage is "When the phone rang, Parker was in the garage, killing a man."
 Parker / int_c601fc37
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_c601fc37
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_c601fc37
 Parker / int_c93a6560
type
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice
 Parker / int_c93a6560
comment
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: The Seventh opens with Parker arriving back at the apartment he is using as a hideout to find the girl he was sharing it with stabbed with a sword that has gone through her and the headboard of the bed to pin her to the wall.
 Parker / int_c93a6560
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_c93a6560
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_c93a6560
 Parker / int_cc86a5a1
type
Ballistic Discount
 Parker / int_cc86a5a1
comment
Ballistic Discount: The Outfit contains a story about what happened to a young thug who attempted to pull this on an armourer who provides guns to the underworld. He boasted about what he was planning so much that word got back to the armourer. He handed the thug a gun that was rigged to blow up in his hand when he fired it.
 Parker / int_cc86a5a1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_cc86a5a1
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_cc86a5a1
 Parker / int_ce27dc3f
type
Protagonist Title
 Parker / int_ce27dc3f
comment
Protagonist Title: Also a One-Word Title, for the title of the series, and the alternate title for Flashfire, which is Parker.
 Parker / int_ce27dc3f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_ce27dc3f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_ce27dc3f
 Parker / int_ceec4df5
type
Roaring Rampage of Revenge
 Parker / int_ceec4df5
comment
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: The Hunter is about Parker going after his wife and partner who double-crossed him and left him for dead. Butcher's Moon features Parker assembling an army and ruthlessly killing most of the criminal infrastructure of a small city.
 Parker / int_ceec4df5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_ceec4df5
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_ceec4df5
 Parker / int_cf92fea8
type
Cassandra Truth
 Parker / int_cf92fea8
comment
Cassandra Truth: Sheriff Farley in Flashfire is the only cop to realize Parker’s involvement in the robbery, but can’t convince the rest of the local authorities of this.
 Parker / int_cf92fea8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_cf92fea8
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_cf92fea8
 Parker / int_d080f396
type
The Napoleon
 Parker / int_d080f396
comment
The Napoleon: Little Bob Zelig in The Seventh. Less than five feet tall, Zelig has a serious case of 'small man's syndrome', and Parker notes that he deliberately says things that no taller man could ever get away with. He even picks fights with Parker which, as his boyfriend points out, is tantamount to suicide. After he finally snaps and starts trying to kill Parker, Parker dispassionately shoots him in the back of the head.
 Parker / int_d080f396
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_d080f396
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_d080f396
 Parker / int_d0f0a80d
type
One-Word Title
 Parker / int_d0f0a80d
comment
One-Word Title: Also a Protagonist Title for the series, but also the books which are this trope are also Portmantitles for being compound words: The Hunter with its alternate title of Payback. The Score with its alternate title of Killtown. Slayground Comeback Backflash Flashfire, which is also a Protagonist Title for its alternate title of Parker. Firebreak Breakout
 Parker / int_d0f0a80d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_d0f0a80d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_d0f0a80d
 Parker / int_d45c0b86
type
Refuge in Audacity
 Parker / int_d45c0b86
comment
Refuge in Audacity: The Score features Parker and a team robbing an entire town in one night. The Green Eagle Score features Parker heisting a payroll from an Air Force base. Butcher's Moon has a team of thieves Parker assembles strike multiple Outfit targets in one night before assaulting their headquarters.
 Parker / int_d45c0b86
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_d45c0b86
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_d45c0b86
 Parker / int_d495c874
type
Lawful Evil
 Parker / int_d495c874
comment
Lawful Evil: Parker is methodical, self disciplined and performs some pretty unsavory tasks. He has more of a sense of honor than the miscreants he works with. Averted in The Hunter where his character was somewhat irrational and used brutality more than necessary. Somewhat justified in that he might be suffering from PTSD from his near death experience.
 Parker / int_d495c874
featureApplicability
-1.0
 Parker / int_d495c874
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_d495c874
 Parker / int_d52d28b6
type
Hypocrite
 Parker / int_d52d28b6
comment
Hypocrite: The Hunter has a pretty egregious example. Parker is pretty damn pissed that Mal nearly killed him and took his cut (not to mention his wife). Of course a few seconds before his wife shot him, he was off to kill Mal off and take his cut.
 Parker / int_d52d28b6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_d52d28b6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_d52d28b6
 Parker / int_d7ecbd57
type
You're Insane!
 Parker / int_d7ecbd57
comment
You're Insane!: Parkers initial reaction to realizing that Edgars wants to rob all the businesses in a whole town in one night in The Score, but he gets persuaded to do it anyway. In Backflash he has a similar reaction to reading the planners manifesto and realizing that he had them rob a river boat casino just so he'd be able to latch onto that as proof that gambling attracts crime.
 Parker / int_d7ecbd57
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_d7ecbd57
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_d7ecbd57
 Parker / int_db9940c4
type
Famed In-Story
 Parker / int_db9940c4
comment
Famed In-Story: Parker has quite the reputation among the underworld by the events of Butcher's Moon.
 Parker / int_db9940c4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_db9940c4
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_db9940c4
 Parker / int_ddf56e0a
type
Amoral Afrikaner
 Parker / int_ddf56e0a
comment
Amoral Afrikaner: Several of the villains from The Black Ice Score while not actual Afrikaners, are from another colonized African country that recently throw out the Europeans, with these characters trying to steal the money that could fund a candidate who might let them back in.
 Parker / int_ddf56e0a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_ddf56e0a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_ddf56e0a
 Parker / int_e0fb1d9f
type
Bad Habits
 Parker / int_e0fb1d9f
comment
Bad Habits: Parker dons clerical garb when he opens a series of bank accounts in Flashfire.
 Parker / int_e0fb1d9f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_e0fb1d9f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_e0fb1d9f
 Parker / int_e16cd24e
type
Know When to Fold 'Em
 Parker / int_e16cd24e
comment
Know When to Fold 'Em: None of The Outfit besides Bronson object to the idea of a truce with Parker, and Al Lozini also comes to this conclusion after being harassed for the first section of Butcher's Moon.
 Parker / int_e16cd24e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_e16cd24e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_e16cd24e
 Parker / int_e54f93d5
type
Never Bring a Knife to a Fist Fight
 Parker / int_e54f93d5
comment
Never Bring a Knife to a Fist Fight: Parker is arguably more dangerous without a weapon than with one.
 Parker / int_e54f93d5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_e54f93d5
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_e54f93d5
 Parker / int_e567510d
type
Determinator
 Parker / int_e567510d
comment
Determinator: Nothing — absolutely, positively nothing — will stop Parker once he puts his mind to accomplishing something (usually vengeance). And he's coldly, calmly unrelenting ... and he always has a plan. In The Hunter, he goes to war against The Mafia — that's the whole, entire Mafia across the whole, entire country — in order to regain money he believes he is owed. By the time of The Outfit, Parker is such a thorn in their side (he's already killed several of their bosses) that the Mafia decides it is easier to make peace with Parker than keep fighting him. He's that focused, that determined, and that good at what he does...Parker is absolutely someone you do not want to get on the bad side of, for any reason, ever.
 Parker / int_e567510d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_e567510d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_e567510d
 Parker / int_e96b33b9
type
Loose Lips
 Parker / int_e96b33b9
comment
Loose Lips: The undoing of more than one of Parker's carefully planned heists.
 Parker / int_e96b33b9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_e96b33b9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_e96b33b9
 Parker / int_ea8ba51d
type
No Full Name Given
 Parker / int_ea8ba51d
comment
No Full Name Given: Parker's first name is never revealed. It's an open question as to whether "Parker" is even his real name.
 Parker / int_ea8ba51d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_ea8ba51d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_ea8ba51d
 Parker / int_eb0d7317
type
Men of Sherwood
 Parker / int_eb0d7317
comment
Men of Sherwood: The Right-Wing Militia Fanatic group in Flashfire are an odd combination of Accidental Hero and Villain of Another Story. They're a pretty vile bunch, but when they stumble across two hitmen trying to murder a wounded and defenseless Parker, they gun down the hitmen and save Parker's life, displaying perfect marksmanship and discipline as they form a firing line and have the same number of men shoot at each hitman (none of the militiamen miss) without flinching, even as the hitmen shoot back and kill two militiamen.
 Parker / int_eb0d7317
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_eb0d7317
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_eb0d7317
 Parker / int_eb81c601
type
Big Damn Heroes
 Parker / int_eb81c601
comment
Big Damn Heroes: By Parker of all people, in Butcher's Moon.
 Parker / int_eb81c601
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_eb81c601
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_eb81c601
 Parker / int_eb8f64a6
type
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
 Parker / int_eb8f64a6
comment
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Parker's not a hero and he doesn't do good deeds, but in The Jugger he is not setting out with the intent to commit any crimes in particular and actually ends up ridding a small town of a corrupt sheriff. These actions result in blowing his legitimate cover identity, which leaves him broke and in a very bad spot for some time. Morris going to warn Parker and Claire about the men picking off members of their latest heist crew in Deadly Edge has him walking right in on those men. One of the rare times Parker shows mercy against someone who would be an Asshole Victim if he hadn't is George Uhl in The Sour Lemon Score, and yet the next time Uhl appears he's trying to kill Parker.
 Parker / int_eb8f64a6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_eb8f64a6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_eb8f64a6
 Parker / int_eeb86ce6
type
Good Samaritan
 Parker / int_eeb86ce6
comment
Good Samaritan: A slightly more morally gray version than usual comes from Marty form Breakout, who gives a hitch-hiking Parker a ride and due to being an ex-con himself lies for him when they stop at road block.
 Parker / int_eeb86ce6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_eeb86ce6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_eeb86ce6
 Parker / int_f1492605
type
Redemption Equals Death
 Parker / int_f1492605
comment
Redemption Equals Death: Occasionally. Notably, Chambers in The Score, who is one of the least likable group members but dies trying to keep the Psycho Party Member from killing a bunch of innocent firemen.
 Parker / int_f1492605
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_f1492605
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_f1492605
 Parker / int_f6b30338
type
Murder Is the Best Solution
 Parker / int_f6b30338
comment
Murder Is the Best Solution: Both enemies and allies of Parker can use this (sometimes this turns into a Revealing Cover-Up). Zulf Masters in Flashfire stands out as the worst offender. To quote Parker,
 Parker / int_f6b30338
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_f6b30338
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_f6b30338
 Parker / int_f98356f
type
Right-Wing Militia Fanatic
 Parker / int_f98356f
comment
Right-Wing Militia Fanatic: In Flashfire, Parker is saved from a pair of hitmen when they run across the Christian Renewal Defense Force on maneuvers in the Everglades. The hitmen try to kill the CRDF to eliminate the witnesses and get gunned down.
 Parker / int_f98356f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_f98356f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_f98356f
 Parker / int_fc4f5f19
type
Go-Karting with Bowser
 Parker / int_fc4f5f19
comment
Go-Karting with Bowser: Near the end of Butcher's Moon, Dan Wycza gets distracted from the job for a while when he discovers that the casino manager he's holding hostage is a fellow health nut and they spend a while comparing opinions before it's time to go.
 Parker / int_fc4f5f19
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_fc4f5f19
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_fc4f5f19
 Parker / int_fccd06b6
type
Beware the Nice Ones
 Parker / int_fccd06b6
comment
Beware the Nice Ones: Even the most Affably Evil heisters are generally capable of cold-blooded murder. In The Black Ice Score the same is true of Manado, Fortumesca and Gonor; the three well-mannered, somewhat idealistic Africans Parker works with to rob their corrupt soon-to-be Former Regime Personnel of the country's looted treasury. Antagonists who fit this trope include Auguste Menlo and, at least in his first appearance, Adolf Lozini.
 Parker / int_fccd06b6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_fccd06b6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
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Parker / int_fccd06b6
 Parker / int_name
type
ItemName
 Parker / int_name
comment
 Parker / int_name
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parker / int_name
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parker
hasFeature
Parker / int_name
 Parker / int_name
itemName
Parker

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Parker
hasFeature
Amusement Park of Doom / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
And Now for Someone Completely Different / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Armed Blag / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Back-Alley Doctor / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Bad Habits / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Ballistic Discount / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Criminal Procedural / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Decapitation Presentation / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Divorced Installment / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Fiery Coverup / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
From Camouflage to Criminal / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Gangster Fiction / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Great Escape / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Hall of Mirrors / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Honor Among Thieves / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
It Works Better with Bullets / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Left for Dead / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Long-Running Book Series / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Loose Lips / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Men of Sherwood / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Molotov Cocktail / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Mouth of Sauron / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Never Bring a Knife to a Fist Fight / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
No Full Name Given / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
No Honor Among Thieves / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Nobody Here but Us Statues / int_cbf77664
 Parker
seeAlso
Parker
 Parker
hasFeature
Pinned to the Wall / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Pistol-Whipping / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Pocket Protector / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Ransacked Room / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Right-Wing Militia Fanatic / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Robbing the Mob Bank / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Secret Identity / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Senseless Violins / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Shoot the Builder / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Slipping a Mickey / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Super Window Jump / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Swiss-Cheese Security / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Take Off Your Clothes / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Taking Over the Town / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
The Alcatraz / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
The Caper / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
The Corpse Stops Here / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
The Napoleon / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
The Syndicate / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Throwing Your Gun at the Enemy / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
Truth Serums / int_cbf77664
 Parker
hasFeature
What a Piece of Junk / int_cbf77664