Accidental Anarchists: Rogues sparking a revolution

Hi book besties! 

Today I'm so excited to be sharing with you all a compiled list of my favorite character archetypes, i.e.  a Thief or crafty person, a little stab-happy and menace-on-Earth characters. These are your Kaz Brekker leader of the heist crews, your charming pickpockets, your con artists. 

It makes you wonder why such characters are so appealing, doesn’t it?

These thief/con-man characters walk the very interesting line between being despicable villains and righteous heroes (and they use it like a jump rope). They have questionable morals, as they are mostly self-serving and by legal definition, criminals– yet their charm, likeability, and the quintessential underdog appeal serves to endear them to us. Oftentimes you’ll find these characters full of snark, wit and cunning, but also with a strong belief in protecting their own. There's also something to be said about an “eat the rich” element that comes in.

Witnessing that complex contradiction of being law-breakers while adhering to a personal moral code that renders them painfully human makes for an incredibly engrossing read. 

This particular list shares not only my favorite of these rogue characters, but fictional criminals whose actions snowball into kingdom-wrecking consequences. It all would start with a simple enough heist, but end up in political (and sometimes, religious) chaos. This is a fresh twist on rogues that focuses on criminals whose actions spiral into political chaos—think “butterfly effect” meets “heist gone wrong”. 

There’s a darkly ironic appeal, isn’t there? We love unintended consequences, like a pickpocket who steals the wrong thing and triggers a revolution. Making mischief, with a dash of political intrigue. The gap between the character’s goals (wealth, survival) and the outcome (political apocalypse) is tragic and comical at once.. . 

Read on to find out about some very fun unintended consequences… 

​​⚠️ Spoiler Alert! This post contains mild to moderate spoilers for Mistborn, The Lies of Locke Lamora, and Red Seas Under Red Skies. I’ll try not to ruin any major twists, but if you’re a total newbie to these series, proceed with caution!

1. Kelsier from Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson- 

   
   

Kelsier is possibly the more unlikeable sort, because he is so obnoxiously powerful and frustratingly close-lipped about his plans. No matter how deeply he cares for his crew and his mentee, Vin (the main character of the series, btw), he refuses to share the entirety of his plans with anybody. He's an incredible schemer who, despite being "on the good side," moves people around like they're pieces on a chessboard.

"I'm being honest," Kelsier replied. "I plan to overthrow the Final Empire."

Described by the author himself as a “psychopath”, Kelsier is the perfect charmer on the surface, with a knack for duplicity and disguise. It might remind you of Locke Lamora a bit, but Kelsier’s motivations for being the leader of a heist crew stem more from resentment and a sense of vengefulness for the nobility, rather than the joy in the act of thieving that Locke derives. Locke has his reasons for hating the nobility, and we do slowly see him get exposed to the oppressions and extravagance of the noble class of different kingdoms, as he sees in the 2nd book in the island of Vel Verazzo. But the extent and viciousness of hatred and anger that resides within Kelsier for the nobility is more strongly a part of his personality, and therefore drives his actions. 

Unlike the chaotic spirals of Locke’s cons, Kelsier’s rebellion was deliberate—but even planned revolutions have unexpected fallout.

Regardless, his IQ level and ambition are scary, and I love him for it.

2. Locke Lamora from Lies of Locke Lamora

   
   

No character has baffled me more with their ingenious ability to get into bigger and bigger messes every time, and manage to get out of them by a hair's breadth, in the words of Locke Lamora himself, "by a bit of strutting jackassery". 

Lamora is the chief of all con artists ever born or will ever be born. He could put Odysseus to shame and have Athena adopt him as her child. Spending time with Locke Lamora through those three books, you break into unstoppable peals of laughter, your brains spins with the twists and turn, and things manage to get even worse than you ever though they could, but it's all good because we only gotta "wait until Jean shows up." 

Locke Lamora and Eugenides bear the similarity of associating thievery and deception with a divine entity. It’s hard to point out where the influence and belief of an apparent God of Thieves and Miscreants is stronger. In both series, there is an aspect of giving a kind of offering or tribute to the god that watches over their kind, often seen in scenes where the characters seem to get out of a tight spot by a sheer stroke of luck. 

“If he had a bloody gash across his throat and a physiker was trying to sew it up, Lamora would steal the needle and thread and die laughing.”

True to the theme of this list, wherever Locke goes, he leaves governments and ruling councils a wreck. In his quest to pull off the most impossible con, he leaves the nobility scrambling in confused and clutching their purses.  

3. Eugenides from the Queen’s Thief by Megan Whalen Turner-

It would be criminal not to have included him on this list (get it?), actually, because Eugenides or Gen is the epitome of the disgustingly competent, secretly compassionate and an out-and-proud diva who can drive the most sane person nuts trying to keep track of him. Gen puts his enemies through hell, even if he has to go through it himself. He's such an unpredictable character, because you're constantly trying to see past the front that he puts up in front of people as part of his public persona. 

Eugenides is loyal to his cousin and sovereign, the Queen of Eddis, and falls in love with the Queen of Attolia. His machinations in a three-way war between neighbouring kingdoms while trying to keep a hungry colonizer at bay land him in the unlikely position of being married to the Queen, hence becoming the King of Attolia. 

“Better to trust in the moon's promises than in the word of the Thief of Eddis. He was famous in three countries for his lies.”

The trilogy takes you through a journey of Gen dealing with emotional and political turmoil, sometimes in his element and sometimes completely out of it. Gen, the Queen’s Thief felt invincible. Eugenides, the King of Attolia is hopelessly in love and completely out of place in a new land and is treated like an unwanted imposter. I loved how he revels in taking advantage of people who underestimate him. No matter how prepared you are going into this series, you will be taken aback. 

Each moment serves to enamor the reader with the complexity of his character, his struggle to accept this identity for himself and the new political developments that span multiple kingdoms happening around him. 

4. Kaz Brekker from Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

I hardly have to say much here, do I? This list wouldn't just be complete without him. Kaz is not charismatic, he's ruthless and intimidating. Though he won’t ever admit it (but we’re getting there), he cares very deeply for his crew and will go to unimaginable lengths to protect them. 

In terms of his notoriety, his feats include breaking into the most heavily guarded Fjerdan prison to break out a prisoner, manipulating an entire nation’s worth of sugar stocks and making a deal with the Ravkan King. 

He may not have dethroned a King, but the Kaz’s crews did manage to cause a financial crisis that rivals the worst real-life stock market crashes. 

5. Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennet

Sancia is a gentler soul than the other people on this list, yet no less ingenious and courageous. Intimately familiar with the grueling and appalling conditions that the lowest of the people of Tevanne have to live in, Sancia knows things need to change about the people in power. She just doesn't expect herself to be in the center of the pandemonium that ensues. Armed with a device that’s adorably close to an animal companion, an eccentric inventor and his assistant, and a guard from the corrupt Merchant Houses themselves, Sancia sets out to fight forces wholly out of her league, with powers she can’t even fathom. 

6. Lila Bard from A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Lila Bard has an impressive career trajectory, but if I go into details, I’ll give you spoilers, so suffice it to say that Lila Bard is a lot more than just a thief with a few good tricks. 

In fact, if all the characters in this list have a fight without magic, Lila would undoubtedly come out on top. She is a devil with a knife, has an incredible survival instinct, luck on her side, and doesn’t hesitate to play dirty.  

From being a common street urchin, she infiltrates parallel dimensions, sneaks into a magical tournament, shoots a Prince in the leg, and becomes the captain of a pirate ship. Talk about a diversified portfolio.

If you have read some of these you'll know that by the end of the books, two of them rule their own kingdoms, the rest have brought down the collapse of one or more monarchs, or are wanted criminals in the rest of the world and one of them even unknowingly starts a religion where he’s the God.

These criminals didn’t set out to make history—but history had other plans. Who’s your favorite accidental anarchist?

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