Beyond the Fog - The Wandering Detective Trope in Fiction

A cultural commentary on one of the most common yet elusive detective tropes in fiction - The Wandering Detective Trope.

Imagine a tired person in their late 30s. They get a call in the middle of the night. Not a big deal to them because they haven’t slept in the last 12 years. They answer it with a “I know what this call is about” look and hang up with a “This better be good” look on their face. They pull up their uniform, leave their lifeless apartment and drive into the fog. Something about this excites me. What’s not to like about uncovering life-altering mysteries while potentially risking your own life?

Trust me, I’ve watched and read enough fiction to assure you that the main character actually gets a kick out of this. They just pretend to hate their job. So today, I thought we could talk about “The Wandering Detective” trope. One of my absolute favorite tropes, thanks to my Brother who introduced me to it and simultaneously scarred me by making me watch The X-files when I was 8.

#Log 001

Trail

The first common factor is spoiled by their title itself. They are wanderers. They can never be seen at the same place twice. They are constantly on the move from one town to the next, one case to another. You think you saw them this morning but they are deep in the woods by sundown. Did you see their shadow lurking or are you just dreaming?

#Log 002

Illusions

I believe that the reason why the wandering detective almost never says no to an assignment, although they pretend to hate it, is because they are either running from something or trying to get closer to something. Something traumatic has happened to them and they are finding ways to put that behind by over-indulging in something else. It’s trying to find answers to life’s questions. Questions they weren’t able to decode for years. It could be related to another case or it could be their own life. They’re always skeptical. Always vigilant. The most realist ones often appear a little cuckoo to the rest of the world. The irony though is that, while their job relies mostly on figuring out answers to the most deadliest questions, oftentimes, they live clueless, messed up lives.

#Log 003

Static

There’s another common factor among these unassuming characters. It’s their undeniable solitude. Their physical and emotional detachment to their own kind. They just marinate in it. Even if they are with someone, they mess it up. They seem to deliberately maintain a certain level of distance from people. Which makes me wonder if it adds on to their decoding abilities. Does loneliness make them see clearly? Is that why they pick up things others can’t? Because they don’t have other people’s opinions clouding their judgement? And you know what, I’ve always thought it’s best to be like that. Because their jobs are so demanding and risky that they can’t afford to have emotional entanglements. Ever so often they visit their resting place like a dimly lit bar or the garage of a cousin where they go to ground themselves but that’s pretty much it. Call it a defense mechanism, but all these are calculated ways to remove liabilities.

#Log 004

Puzzle

Speaking of liabilities, every wandering detective has an arch nemesis by default. Someone whose wrong-doings are only visible to our hero. They find it so hard to pin them down or gather enough evidence. They end up in a perpetual cat and mouse chase with their nemesis. Sometimes leading them to have cases that remain unsolved for years to come, slowly eating away their brains. Sometimes even driving them insane to a point where they try to find connections in every case they take on. It results in an unfair analysis of the case at hand. 

#Log 005

Rituals

Another interesting aspect is the micro habits that these detectives develop over the years. They are so small but seem to hold a big significance in their lives. Like chewing a specific type of gum or only using their Dad’s vintage pen to take notes. They could be on the verge of danger and they’d still make sure to carry their kryptonites. I’ve wondered many times why they have these little quirks. Did they once close a big case while smoking a particular brand of cigarette that makes them always carry a pack of the same? Or does it just help them think better? Or is it like how actors do it? I’ve heard many actors say they use specific scents to get into the zone for specific characters. Maybe it’s like that. Or, is it just pure need to have control on at least this one little thing when everything else seems to be falling apart? If they have quirks, they can have weird phobias too. Or rather, irrational phobias. Spiders, Heights, sometimes fears as simple as water. Are they because of some cases in their past? One never knows.

#Log 006

Catalyst

And I know how in fiction at least most times these characters are shown as heroes towards the end, sometimes I feel like it’s the exact opposite. Because they are so good at their jobs, they end up uncovering secrets that tear families apart, cause destruction to the whole town and make the locals question their faith. The detective didn’t save anyone, he unloaded a big piece of boulder onto the god-fearing people who tried so hard to escape from it for years. After every heavy episode, I’ve always wondered about how this detective might have changed the lives of the characters in the previous episode. Sometimes for better, most times for worse. Sometimes they are the villain. Because truth be told, what sets them apart is their sense of what is right and wrong. They seem to have it different from the majority. And maybe that’s why they crack stuff nobody else can.

Case closed?