Con artists and snake oil sellers, tricksters and flat-out criminals. They weave their way through our songs and bookshelves, as both heroes and villains.
Any of their stories can be turned on their head, or turned inside out, for another look.
At the recent — and inaugural — BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival, two writers came together to examine their own stories and those of the people they had met professionally.
Matthew Benns is editor-at-large at the Daily Telegraph. His latest book is Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (HarperCollins) — a history of Australia's con men and women and swindlers.
Tim Watson-Munro is a criminal psychologist, expert witness and academic who has also found himself on both sides of the justice system. His memoir is called Dancing with Demons (MacMillan).
They joined Kate Evans on stage to talk "criminal minds".