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The Gambler: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"The sound of rollin' dice to me is music in the air,''
'''Cause I'm a gamblin' boogie man, although I don't play fair!''
''It's much more fun, I must confess, when '''lives''' are on the line,''
''Not mine, of course; but yours, old boy! Now that'd be just fine."''
|'''Oogie Boogie''', ''[[The Nightmare Before Christmas]]''}}
The gambler follows a card (or dice) theme, uses cards, dice, darts, [[Heads or Tails|coins]] and gambling implements as weapons, and is very well-versed in blackjack, [[Poker]], craps, and all sorts of casino games. They rely much more on luck and cunning than on skill and outright power, and very seldom take it too hard on the occasions they lose, usually due to believing it was due to chance.
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For ''actual'' gamblers, see [[The Gambling Addict]] or [[Professional Gambler]].
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* The Gambling King from ''[[
** Subverted ''so hard'' in that the Gambling King is an idiot who can only win against small children and the feeble-minded (i.e., Soun, but also Ranma, who can't keep a poker face to save his life
** The "holding grudges" thing isn't really as bad as it sounds, though. Considering that he, a
** Ranma and many other characters
*
** That said, his day job is a magician.
* Duke Devlin in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' follows a dice motif. Joey's deck gradually accommodated a few chance cards to balance his lack of powerful cards. There were a few times where either luck was not in his favor, or it was to the opponent's benefit.
* Tubalcain Alhambra from ''[[Hellsing]]'' OVA and manga is a vampire whose powers revolve around playing card-theme.
* Monaco from ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' is a rare female example. [[Justified Trope]] because... well, [[Moe Anthropomorphism|it's]] ''[[
** She's joined by [
* Allen Walker from ''[[D
* The D'Arby brothers from ''[[
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* [[The DCU]]'s Gambler is a [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] villain and [[Master of Disguise]] who gets by mostly on luck. His grandfather was a riverboat gambler and bandit, and the primary inspiration for his villainous turn. He committed suicide after losing at a rigged casino. His grandchildren, the second Gambler and Hazard, follow much the same gimmick, though Hazard has luck ''powers''.
** Also from [[The DCU]] is Double Down, a hard luck professional gambler who was cursed. Now he can turn his skin into [[Death Dealer|razor sharp, magic playing cards]], and speaks in gambling metaphors and puns.
** The Royal Flush Gang has always had a playing card motif, but not so much gambling... Except the ''[[Justice League]]'' version, who first appeared in an episode that took place entirely in [[Las Vegas]]. They were also [[Shout
* ''[[A Hundred Bullets]]'' has an entire story arc is devoted to a dice throwing conman named Chucky.
* ''[[Justice Society of America]]'' foe Roulette is a rare female version.
* [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]] villain Chance is a mercenary who doesn't charge for his services-rather, he bets his fee against the odds of his success. If he fails in his mission, he pays his employer rather than the other way around. Not that he isn't above other wagers too; to give one example, when taking a taxi while out of costume:
{{quote|'''Chance:''' I'd like to be at Riverside and 73rd in five minutes, my good man, but I doubt this vehicle is capable of such a feat.
* In the [[Silver Age]] [[The DCU|DC Universe]], two gambling aliens named Rokk and Sorban force [[Superman]] and [[The Flash]] to race to the edge of the galaxy and back, so they can settle a bet on which one is fastest. To keep things interesting, they imprison the rest of the [[Justice League]], and promise to destroy the home city of the loser. (It turns out these are actually two of the Flash's arch-enemies, disguised as the aliens--who are back on their home planet betting on volcanic eruptions.)▼
'''Cabbie:''' Wanna bet?
'''Chance:''' Actually... I do...}}
:* Shift to a panel with the cabbie flooring it, and then to Chance's apartment four minutes and 30 seconds later; seems he lost $500 on that one.
▲* In the [[Silver Age]] [[The DCU|DC Universe]], two gambling aliens named Rokk and Sorban force [[Superman]] and [[The Flash]] to race to the edge of the galaxy and back, so they can settle a bet on which one is fastest. To keep things interesting, they imprison the rest of the [[Justice League]], and promise to destroy the home city of the loser. (It turns out these are actually two of the Flash's arch-enemies, disguised as the
== Film ==
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** You forgot about the actual one-armed bandits. Complete with guns.
** Sort of subverted in that he's the most unambiguously evil in [[Blue and Orange Morality|Halloween]] [[Dark Is Not Evil|Town]].
* Ace, one of the gunfighters in the Quickdraw Tournament in ''[[The Quick and
* The protagonists from the [[God of Gamblers]] series are all...well, gambling masters. It's never shown specifically what tricks they use except for one guy who's a psychic that simply changes the cards to his favor [[Department of Redundancy Department|with psychic powers]], but it's presumably counting cards. In one movie, the [[Big Bad]] used a computer to count the chances, which was countered by the protagonist using a black toothpick to fool the overhead camera.
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* Matrim Cauthon from the ''[[Wheel of Time]]'', a compulsive gambler famously known for his luck that when he becomes a general dice are on his standard.
** Mat is almost a subversion of this, noting that he's ''so'' supernaturally lucky that games of chance don't really qualify as gambling. He's naturally pretty good, but a side effect of his [[Weirdness Magnet]] trait ramps this [[Up to Eleven]], so much so that none of his friends will play cards or dice with him.
* Le Chiffre from about all versions of ''[[
== Live Action TV ==
* Pro wrestling example (though perhaps more of a subversion): [[WCW]] had [https://web.archive.org/web/20111027064247/http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/g/gambler.html The Gambler], a generic-looking wrestler whose only references to his alleged gimmick were 1) a satin ring jacket with "The Gambler" embroidered on the back, and 2) playing cards that he flashed at the camera before his matches. In later years he upgraded his ring attire, actually dressing as a riverboat gambler, but his perennial [[Jobber]] status kept him from portraying the character with any more depth than that.
** Before The Gambler was Vinnie Vegas, who wrestled in WCW in 1992, using a finisher called Snake Eyes which [[The Undertaker]] still uses to this day. Vinnie was briefly part of Harley Race and [[Diamond Dallas Page|DDP]]'s stables before leaving WCW to become...[[Kevin Nash|Diesel]].
== Music ==
* [[Kenny Rogers|You got to know]] [[Know When to Fold
* [[Gorillaz]] song "Sweepstakes" turns [[Big Bad]] Sun Moon Stars into a villainous gambler, playing with the lives of the people who make bets with him.
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* Card Shark from ''Dark [[Champions]]''
** And Blackjack from ''European Enemies''
* Third edition ''[[Dungeons
== Video Games ==
* Setzer, from ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'' uses cards, dices, darts and slots in his attacks. His airship is named Blackjack. And he joins the party by losing a (rigged) coin toss. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb2lnpKtl9k#t=2m13s This clip] shows how badass a Setzer can be: he's a wispy, Silver-Haired [[Bishonen]] that sails his airship at top speed, unfazed by the wind as he stands at the rudder, who ''destroys a heavily-armed gunship'' by tossing a few sharpened cards at it. Ante up, indeed.
** ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' has no distinct character classes, but Cait Sith can be considered a Gambler for the fact that his two [[Limit Break
** ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'''s Wakka is normally [[Fantasy Character Classes|the ranger of the group,]] being the only character capable of using long-range weapons. His [[Limit Break|Overdrive]], however, involves spinning three reels to give him an attack with an added element or effect.
** In ''[[Final Fantasy X
** ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'' has Corsairs, who are gambler ''[[
** And the Trickster class in ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics
* Oswald of ''[[The King of Fighters]]'' uses playing cards to cut his opponents. The names of his special moves are the names of suits and some cards. The name of his Leader Desperation Move is Joker, and one of his special moves hits, ideally, 21 times (an important number in blackjack, a card game). Furthermore, his color scheme is the one of playing cards: Black suit, red shirt (not [[Red Shirt|that kind]] of red shirt) and glasses, white hair, and yellow tie for the details in the figure cards.
** Just to drive the Gambler point home, he has a move called Ace that could either do very little damage and expose him terribly to his enemies, or done right, end with [http://youtube.com/watch?v=O4HQnR5IRg8 these].
*** This even extends into the game's ''soundtrack'': "Joker" is the New Hero Team's theme (Oswald is on this team, by the by), "Queen" is the Rival Team's Theme, "King" is Adelheid's theme, and "Jack" is used for some sub-bosses.
* Sneff, from ''[[
* In ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'', gambling is a frequent bad habit of [[Super Robot Wars Compact 2|Kyosuke Nanbu]]. He doesn't really use card-based attacks, but his [[Humongous Mecha]]'s strongest attack is called "Trump Card" and his [[Catch Phrase]] is ''"[[Million-to-One Chance|I don't mind betting]] [[I Like Those Odds|on the tough odds]]!"''. Of course, "the devil's luck" is practically his superpower, and he's frequently [[No One Could Survive That|seen surviving impossible odds]]. Presumably, [[Fanon]] dictates he doesn't do too badly in poker either.
** What's odd about Kyosuke's luck is it's mostly a plot-centered mechanic: it only kicks in during scripted events, and isn't a game mechanic like the "Luck" Spirit Command or the "Lucky" pilot skill other characters carry.
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* Genjuro Kibagami of the ''[[Samurai Shodown]]'' series of fighting games uses gambling as his sole source of income. He is, apparently, an avid player of Hanafuda, and cards from the game figure heavily (though it would seem figuratively, at times) into many of his moves.
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]] II'' - Luxord, the Gambler of Fate fits this trope to a T. He uses cards and his power to control time to engage Sora in a very unorthodox time-based battle. He also possesses an advanced vocabulary and a classy British accent, which give him an air of sophistication.
** The same goes for the [[The Heartless|Nobodies]] under his command - the appropriately named [[Exactly What It Says
** Setzer also appears as a cameo in KHII, but he doesn't this trope.
* One of the three semi-final bosses of ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog|Shadow the Hedgehog]]'' is an Eggman robot called the Egg Dealer, which selects its attacks slot-machine style... a fact that can easily be turned against it.
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* A custom car set in a ''[[Need for Speed]]'' title has the four aces as a paint job.
* Ronfar from ''[[Lunar 2 Eternal Blue Complete|Lunar: Eternal Blue]]'' uses dice and cards in some of his special attacks. Interestingly, he used to be a priest before indulging in games of chance.
* Nero from ''[[
* Tai Ho, member of the 108 stars of destiny in the first two ''[[Suikoden]]'' games. An unapologetic [[Deadpan Snarker]], you must prove your luck to him via gambling in order to advance the plot of at least one of the games, and in the second game you must beat him at gambling in order to recruit him.
* Patty Fleur, of the ''[[
* Claire Majoram in ''[[
* [[Super Mario Bros.|King Boo]] seems to have a love of gambling. In his debut in [[
* In ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'', Nick used to do this before the infection hit.
* In the [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPG]] ''[[
* Johnny from ''[[Guilty Gear]]'' is one. He attacks using coins and his Instant Kill move turns the opponent into a Joker card before he slices them in half. Additionally, some of his move names have a gambler motif to them.
* Twisted Fate of ''[[League of Legends]]'' is an assassin with abilities named after gambling terms, many gambling-related quotes, and throwing cards as his primary weapon. One of his signature abilities is picking between three cycling colored cards to determine his next attack's effect. His ultimate ability shows the opponent's hand, so to speak, by [[Defog of War|revealing all enemy locations]] and allowing him to teleport a huge distance to either ambush a lone foe or escape from impending danger.
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== Web Comics ==
* ''[[Homestuck]]'': [[Homestuck
** Although in her case, it's not really much of a gamble because [[Winds of Destiny Change|she has all the luck]]. [[Memetic Mutation|ALL of it]].
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** The Gambler is a street-level foe of Battlecat who has an [[Idiosyncrazy|obsession with games of chance]] and commits gambling-themed crimes.
* Renard of ''[[Oktober]]''.
* Tetras in ''[[
== Western Animation ==
* Poker-Face, from ''[[
** Wait...if they change to match what he's thinking about, doesn't that actually defeat the point of a poker face?
*** He wore sunglasses, which may just lead to further questions.
* In one episode of ''[[
* Ezekial Clench of ''[[Samurai Jack]]'' was a [[Wild West]] style villain with a slight playing card motif; The spurs on his boots were shaped like spades, he had a card in his hat... Oh, and his cybernetic hands, the wrists of which had the playing card suits on them. The hands had a special ability depending on which suit was facing up. He's also a bounty hunter, and on the run from his ex-wife, so luck is a big deal to him.
* On ''[[
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:The Trickster]]
[[Category:Villains]]
[[Category:
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