Gentleman Thief

A Gentleman Thief (or Lady Thief, or Phantom Thief) in the East, is a particularly well-behaving and apparently well bred thief.

Decription
A "gentleman or lady" is usually, but not always, a person with an inherited title of nobility and inherited wealth, who need not work for a living. Such a person steals not in order to gain material wealth, but for adventure; they act without malice. These thieves rarely bother with anonymity or force, preferring to rely on their charisma, physical attractiveness, and clever misdirection to steal the most unobtainable objects — sometimes for their own support, but mostly for the thrill of the act itself.

The phantom thief is superb at stealing while maintaining a sophisticated front and/or a thief's code of honor: Raffles steals mostly when he is especially in need of money; Lupin steals more from the rich who don't appreciate art or their treasures and redistributes it (not unlike a modern Robin Hood); Saint Tail steals back what was stolen or taken dishonestly, or rights the wrongs done to the innocent by implicating the real criminals. Sly Cooper, his gang, and his ancestors specializes in robbing from legit criminals as opposed to innocent bystanders, thus making them vigilantes.

Associations

 * Antihero
 * Gentleman Detective

Manga/Anime

 * Arsène Lupin III (Lupin III)
 * Lupin (Soul Eater)
 * Kaito Kid ("Kaito Kid")

Video Games

 * The Cooper Clan (Sly Cooper series)
 * Sly Cooper
 * Rioichi Cooper
 * "Tennessee Kid" Cooper
 * Sir Galleth Cooper
 * Salim Al-Kupar