In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals for their use. His myth has been treated by a number of ancient sources, in which Prometheus is credited with (or blamed for) playing a pivotal role in the early history of humankind.

The picture shows Prometheus bound and punished on a mountain where an eagle eats of his flesh little by little everyday.

Tantalus is known for having been welcomed to Zeus’ table in Olympus, like Ixion. There he too misbehaved, stole ambrosia, brought it back to his people, and revealed the secrets of the gods. In a different story, Tantalus was blamed for indirectly having stolen the dog made of gold created by Hephaestus (god of metals and smithing) for Rhea to watch over infant Zeus. Tantalus’ friend Pandareus stole the dog and gave it to Tantalus for safekeeping. When asked later by Pandareus to return the dog, Tantalus denied that he had the dog, saying he “had neither seen nor heard of a golden dog.” According to Robert Graves, this incident is why an enormous stone hangs over Tantalus’ head. Others state that it was Tantalus who stole the dog, and gave it to Pandareus for safekeeping.

The Greeks of classical times claimed to be horrified by Tantalus’ doings; cannibalism, human sacrifice and parricide were atrocities and taboo. Tantalus was the founder of the cursed House of Atreus in which variations on these atrocities continued. Misfortunes also occurred as a result of these acts, making the house the subject of many Greek Tragedies.

Tantalus’ punishment, now proverbial for temptation without satisfaction (”tantalising”), was to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches. Whenever he reached for the fruit, the branches raised his intended meal from his grasp. Whenever he bent down to get a drink, the water receded before he could get any. Over his head towers a threatening stone, like that of Sisyphus.

Hermes, in Greek mythology, is the Olympian god of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of orators and wit, of literature and poets, of athletics, of weights and measures, of invention, of commerce in general, and of the cunning of thieves and liars.

In Greek mythology, Autolycus was the son of Chione and Hermes. He was the father of Anticlea (who married Laertes of Ithaca and was the mother of Odysseus), and of several sons, of whom only Aesimus is named.

Autolycus was a renowned thief (skills passed down from his father, the God of Thieves) and wrestler (which he taught to Heracles). Autolycus stole the cattle of Sisyphus and the helmet that his grandson, Odysseus, eventually wore during the Trojan War. Autolycus was one of the Argonauts.He is also supposed to have been the one who took Eurytus’ (see Eurytus main article) mares (or cattle), leading to the murder of one his sons, Iphitus, in Heracles’ hands.

Thief is a series of first-person computer games where the player takes the role of Garrett, a thief in a fantasy/steampunk world resembling a cross between the Late Middle Ages and the Victorian era, with some primitive technology thrown in. The series consists of Thief: The Dark Project (1998), Thief II: The Metal Age (2000) and Thief: Deadly Shadows (2004). An expanded version of Thief: The Dark Project, titled Thief Gold, was released in 1999 and features three extra maps and several bug fixes.

Black Cat (Felicia Hardy) is a Marvel Comics anti-hero and one-time foe and ex-girlfriend of the Spider-Man. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Keith Pollard, she first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #194 (July 1979). The Black Cat is a skilled (and reformed) cat burglar who is currently an occasional crime fighter and adventurer. She is one of Spider-Man’s notably few costumed love interests.

Arsène Lupin is the name of a fictional gentleman thief who appears in a book series of detective fiction / crime fiction novels written by French writer Maurice Leblanc, as well as a number of non-canonical sequels and numerous film, television, stage play and comic book adaptations.

Catherine Ann Archer, better known as Cate Archer, is a video game character in the No One Lives Forever game series. She is the main character in The Operative: No One Lives Forever and No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy In H.A.R.M.’s Way. She is also featured in Contract J.A.C.K., an official prequel to the second game. In the No One Lives Forever universe, she is a covert operative for British-based anti-terror organization, UNITY.

A.J. (Arthur J.) Raffles is a character created in the 1890s by E. W. Hornung, a brother-in-law to Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Raffles is, in many ways, a deliberate inversion of Holmes — he is a “gentleman thief,” living in The Albany, a very upscale address in London, playing cricket for the Gentlemen of England and supporting himself by carrying out ingenious burglaries. He is called the “Amateur Cracksman,” and often, at first, differentiates between himself and the “professors” — professional criminals from the lower classes.

Oliver Twist is the first novel in the English language to center throughout on a child protagonist and is also notable for Dickens’ unromantic portrayal of criminals and their sordid lives. An early example of the social novel, the book calls the public’s attention to various contemporary social evils, including the workhouse, child labour and the recruitment of children as criminals. The novel may have been inspired by the story of Robert Blincoe, an orphan whose account of his hardships as a child laborer in a cotton mill was widely read in the 1830s.

Ali Baba is described in the adventure tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, part of The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights). Some critics believe that this story was added to The Book of One Thousand and One Nights by one of its European transcribers, Antoine Galland, an 18th-century French orientalist who may have heard it in oral form from an Arab story-teller from Aleppo. However, Richard F. Burton claimed it to be part of the original Book of One Thousand and One Nights. This story has also been used as a popular pantomime plot—perhaps most famously in the pantomime/musical Chu Chin Chow (1916).

The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders is a 1722 novel by Daniel Defoe. The full title of the novel tells the story:

The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, Etc. Who was born in Newgate, and during a life of continu’d Variety for Threescore Years, besides her Childhood, was Twelve Year a Whore, five times a Wife (whereof once to her own brother), Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv’d Honest and died a Penitent. Written from her own Memorandums.

The Grinch is a popular cartoon character created by Dr. Seuss. He first appeared in the 1957 children’s book, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. Due to the immense fan-following of the book, a television special was produced in 1966 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s MGM Animation/Visual Arts studio, and directed by Chuck Jones. Eleven years after this was made, Seuss responded to the fan request for more by writing “Halloween Is Grinch Night”, a straight-to-television Halloween special to be aired on CBS. It was also well received, and like its predecessor, was awarded at the Emmy awards. In 1982, five years after the last special, Marvel green-lit “The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat”, which was also produced by Dr. Seuss, under his real name, Ted Geisel. Again another hit for television, the special garnered two Emmy awards.

Sly Cooper is the star of the Sly Cooper video game series (the first game in the series is known as Sly Raccoon in Europe, but the character’s name remains the same in both versions) as the main character and hero of three platform games developed by Sucker Punch Productions for the Sony PlayStation 2. He is voiced by Kevin Miller in all three games. In the Japanese releases of the first two games, he is voiced by Tomokazu Seki.

Robin Hood is a figure in archetypal English folk tales. Many accounts of Robin Hood, though not the very earliest, bear a striking similarity to accounts of the life of Fulk FitzWarin, a Norman noble who was disinherited and became an outlaw and an enemy of John of England. In the oldest legends the outlaw’s enemy is the sheriff due simply to his profession, but in later versions the sheriff is despotic and gravely abuses his position, appropriating land, levying excessive taxation, and persecuting the poor. In some tales the antagonist is Prince John, based on the historical John of England, who is seen as the unjust usurper of his pious brother Richard the Lionheart. In the oldest versions surviving, Robin Hood is a yeoman, but in some later versions he is described as a nobleman, the earl of Loxley (or Locksley), who was unjustly deprived of his lands. In other stories, he has served in the crusades, returning to England to find his lands pillaged by the dastardly sheriff. In some tales he is the champion of the people, fighting against corrupt officials and the oppressive order that protects them, while in others he is an arrogant and headstrong rebel, who delights in bloodshed, cruelly slaughtering and beheading his victims.

In modern versions of the legend, he is famous for robbing the rich to provide for the poor and fighting against injustice and tyranny. His band consisted of “seven score” (140) group of fellow outlawed yeomen – called his “Merry Men”. Robin Hood and his band’s tales are usually associated with the area Sherwood Forest and Nottinghamshire, though most historians point towards him having been a Yorkshire man. He has been the subject of numerous movies, books, comics and plays.

Zidane Tribal is the protagonist of Final Fantasy IX. Playful and flirtatious, Zidane displays little of the sullenness associated with previous Final Fantasy protagonists. Zidane has shoulder-length blonde hair and a prehensile monkey-like tail, as witnessed in game when Zidane hangs from his tail to evade Steiner. In trance form Zidane’s hair becomes longer, and his clothing is replaced with thick fur covering his body. It is not revealed whether or not he has fur under his clothing when not in trance form. Zidane is identified as a thief.

Manic the Hedgehog was a character in the TV series Sonic Underground, that took place in an alternate universe. Here, Manic is Sonic the Hedgehog’s brother, on a quest with Sonic and his sister Sonia to find their mother, Queen Aleena Hedgehog.

Locke Cole, one of the main characters playable in Final Fantasy VI, is a thief, though he personally prefers to identify himself as a “treasure hunter.” In the Japanese versions of the game, his name is spelled Lock Cole. In the Japanese and GBA versions, his job class is given as “Adventurer”. Locke’s special skill, Steal, allows him to steal various items from enemies. After equipping a relic called “Thief Glove,” Locke’s Steal ability turns into Capture. The Capture command steals from an enemy and also inflicts physical damage on its target in the process. The relic was renamed as “Brigand’s Glove” and “Capture” became “Mug” in the Advance remake.

The Hamburglar is a fictional character used in marketing campaigns for McDonald’s restaurants. The character was originally introduced as part of the McDonaldland campaign in 1971, aimed at young children. He is also know as Dozer is some parts of the world. The commercials typically followed the same plotline: the Hamburglar steals McDonald’s hamburgers, Ronald McDonald devises a plan to trick him, and everybody gets their hamburgers back. He dresses in a black-and-white striped shirt and pants, a red cape, and a wide-brimmed hat. Hamburglar was portrayed by actors Frankie Delfino and Tommy Vicini. His vocabulary consisted of nothing other than, “Robble, robble, robble.” The voice was originally provided by Howard Morris. Although he is a thief, he is still considered a friend of Ronald McDonald and the rest of the McDonaldland gang, who appear to tolerate his kleptomania as an eccentricity.

Lupin III is an anime and manga media franchise created by Kazuhiko Kato under the pen name of “Monkey Punch”. The franchise follows the adventures of a gang of thieves led by Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief of Maurice Leblanc’s series of novels. Lupin and his gang travel throughout the world to steal treasures and escape from the law.

It Takes A Thief 1960 series starred Robert Wagner as Alexander Mundy, a smooth, sophisticated playboy and super-burglar. Discovered by a secret government agency called the SIA, Mundy cuts a deal to get out of prison by working for the SIA. His burglary skills come into play as he is assigned missions in exotic locales. During the third season, Fred Astaire guest-starred as Mundy’s father, Alister, himself a burglar, and who says at the beginning of each episode: “I’ve heard of stealing from the government but not for the government.” Also appearing in the series was Malachi Throne as Mundy’s SIA superior (he was replaced in the third season by Edward Binns).

Source: Wikipedia List of Thieves

Bruce Reynolds was the ‘brains’ behind the ‘Great train robbery’ in 1963 in which a gang robbed £2.4 million. He was a career criminal who liked the high life and drove an Aston Martin. An accomplished housebreaker and jewel thief, he formed the team that ‘took the train’ with friends Buster Edwards, Gordon Goody and driver Roy James amongst others. The robbery remained the most significant heist in British criminal history until the Brinks Mat robbery in 1983. Reynolds went on the run in the aftermath of the Great Train robbery, living under various aliases abroad. He spent considerable time in South America before returning to Britain, where he was tried and sentenced to ten years. Since his release in 1979, he has enjoyed a moderately high profile as a media ‘former criminal’ celebrity and his autobiography ‘The Autobiography of a Thief’ was generally well received.

Born Ronald Edwards, Buster Edwards was a former boxer, nightclub owner, and member of the gang that committed the Great Train Robbery. He was captured in 1966 and sentenced to 15 years in jail. After his release in 1980 he later ran a flower stall outside Waterloo Station. He was played by Phil Collins in the 1988 film Buster. He committed suicide by hanging in 1994.

Ronald Arthur Biggs is an English prisoner who is known for escaping from prison after his minor role in the Great Train Robbery of 1963 and for being on the run for many years. He eventually settled in Brazil but voluntarily returned to the United Kingdom in 2001.

Adam Worth was a German-born gentleman criminal. A Scotland Yard detective named Robert Anderson gave him a nickname, “the Napoleon of the criminal world”,[1] and he is commonly referred to as “the Napoleon of Crime”. It has been widely speculated that Arthur Conan Doyle used Worth as the prototype for Sherlock Holmes’s nemesis, Professor Moriarty.

Francois Villon was a French poet, thief, and vagabond. He is perhaps best known for his Testaments and his Ballade des Pendus, written while in prison. The question “Mais où sont les neiges d’antan?”, taken from the Ballade des Dames du Temps Jadis and translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti as “Where are the snows of yesteryear?”, is one of the most famous lines of translated secular poetry in the English-speaking world.

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were notorious outlaws, robbers and criminals who travelled the Central United States during the Great Depression. Their exploits were known nationwide. They captured the attention of the American press and its readership during what is sometimes referred to as the “public enemy era” between 1931 and 1935. Although this couple and their gang were notorious for their bank robberies, Clyde Barrow preferred to rob small stores or gas stations.

Henry More Smith was a confidence man, master puppeteer, hypnotist, seer, liar, and above all else a superlative escape artist. Chains, handcuffs, shackles, even made to fit iron collars could not hold him. Henry More Smith’s genius so deeply impressed the authorities that he received a pardon on condition he would leave New Brunswick and never return when he was caught a second time for horse theft.

Richard “Dick” Turpin is a legendary English rogue and the most famous historical highwayman. In life Richard Turpin was a violent man who committed offences such as deer stealing, burglary, highway robbery, and probably murder. He was executed in York. After his death, as “Dick” Turpin, he became the subject of legend, romanticised in English ballads and popular theatre of the 18th and 19th century, and later in film and television of the 20th century, as the dashing and heroic highwayman. There is considerable divergence between the history and legend of Turpin.

Ishikawa Goemon was a legendary ninja warrior and bandit hero who stole gold and valuables and gave them to the poor. There is little historical information on Ishikawa’s life, and thus he has become a folk hero, whose background and origins have been widely speculated upon. He is notable for being boiled alive after a failed assassination attempt on Toyotomi Hideyoshi. A large iron kettle-shaped bathtub is now called a Goemon-buro.

Source: Wikipedia List of Thieves