Romani people in fiction

Many fictional depictions of the Romani in literature and art present Romanticized narratives of their supposed mystical powers of fortune telling, and their supposed irascible or passionate temper paired with an indomitable love of freedom and a habit of criminality. Critics of how Romani people have been portrayed in popular culture point out similarities to portrayals of Jewish people, with both groups stereotyped negatively as wandering, spreading disease, abducting children, and violating and murdering others.[1]

Gypsy Fortune Teller by Taras Shevchenko.

Romani people were portrayed in Victorian and modern British literature as having "sinister occult and criminal tendencies"[2] and as associated with "thievery and cunning",[3] and in English Renaissance and baroque theatre as incorporating "elements of outlandish charm and elements which depict [them] as the lowest of social outcasts," connected with "magic and charms," and "juggling and cozening."[4] In opera, literature and music, throughout Europe, Romani women have been portrayed as provocative, sexually available, gaudy, exotic and mysterious.[5] Hollywood and European movies, as well as popular music and other forms of pop culture, have promoted similar stereotypes.[6][7][8][9][10]

Particularly notable representations of Romani people appear in classics like Carmen by Prosper Mérimée and adapted by Georges Bizet, Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Miguel de Cervantes' La Gitanilla. The Romani were also heavily romanticized in the Soviet Union, a classic example being the 1975 Tabor ukhodit v Nebo. A more realistic depiction of contemporary Romani in the Balkans, featuring Romani lay actors speaking in their native dialects, although still playing with established clichés of a Romani penchant for both magic and crime, was presented by Emir Kusturica in his Time of the Gypsies (1988) and Black Cat, White Cat (1998). Another realistic depiction of Romanies in Yugoslavia is I Even Met Happy Gypsies (1967).

Literature
  • 1596: A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare – Which includes the lines "Sees Helen's beauty in the brow of Egypt" ("Egyptian" was used to refer to the Romani people of England). Here, Theseus is imagining the face of a lover can make the dark-skinned gypsy look like Helen of Troy, a great beauty.[11][12]
  • 1600: As You Like It a pastoral comedy by Shakespeare – He uses the word "ducdame" (Act II, Sc. 5), possibly a corruption or mishearing of the old Anglo-Romani word dukka me or (I foretell or I tell fortunes).[13][14]
  • 1603: Othello by Shakespeare – Desdemona's handkerchief a gift to Othello's mother is a gift from an "Egyptian charmer" who can almost read the thoughts of people.[15]
  • 1611: The Tempest by Shakespeare – Caliban, the only human inhabitant of the mythical island, is thought to be named after the word Kaliban meaning "black" or "with blackness" in Anglo-Romani.[16] As the first Romani immigrants arrived in England a century before Shakespeare wrote The Tempest, it is thought he may have been influenced by their exotic looks.[14][15]
  • 1613: Miguel de Cervantes' novel La Gitanilla
  • 1631: Ben Jonson's play Bartholomew Fair. A comedy set in London's Bartholomew Fair where a band of Romani entertain a crowd.
  • 18th century: William Wordsworth's Vagrant Muse. A young homeless woman is welcomed by a band of Gypsies who take her in and offer her charity and companionship.
  • 1722: Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders. Moll's earliest memory is of wandering "among a group of people they call Gypsies or Egyptians" in England.

19th century
  • 19th century: Guy de Maupassant's short stories. Romani appear in several short stories by the French writer.
  • 19th century: John Clare's Vagabond in a Native Place. A selection of poems romanticizing the lives, culture, and wanderings of the English Gypsy people.
  • 1815: Jane Austen's Emma. Gypsies make a brief appearance in Emma as children who bait Harriet in a lonely lane. Austen's description of the Gypsies is romanticized.
  • 1815: Walter Scott's novel Guy Mannering.
  • 1823: Scott's novel Quentin Durward. Called Bohemians.
  • 1831: Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame
  • 1835: Karel Hynek Mácha’s novel Cikáni (Gypsies; because of problems with a censorship, it was published only in 1857).
  • 1841: Charles Dickens's The Old Curiosity Shop. Describes the first literary mention of an English Romanichal vardo or wagon.
  • 1845: Robert Browning's "The Flight of the Duchess," loosely inspired by the English ballad The Raggle Taggle Gypsy. A Duchess runs away from her husband after speaking with an old Gypsy woman.
  • 1845: Prosper Mérimée's short story "Carmen", upon which the opera was based.
  • 1847: Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff is described as looking like a gypsy and is presumed to be one by several characters, although this is never confirmed.
  • 1847: Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. English Romanies visit Thornfield Hall as fortune tellers.
  • 1853: Matthew Arnold's "The Scholar Gypsy". A poem based on a legend recounted by Joseph Glanvill in The Vanity of Dogmatizing (1661), on the thoughts and reflections of Gypsies' relationship, belief in, and relationship with God.
  • 1853: Józef Ignacy Kraszewski's "Chata za wsią (Polish)" "The Cottage behind the Village." Realistic depiction of gypsies in Poland in the 1800s.
  • 1856: Elizabeth Barrett Browning's verse novel Aurora Leigh. Marian Erle is Rom.
  • 1857: George Borrow's novels Lavengro and The Romany Rye
  • 1860: George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss. The protagonist Maggie runs away to Gypsies, but decides she has gone out of her depth. They do not harm her, but the episode darkly prefigures the steps that she will take in adulthood.
  • 1891: J. M. Barrie's novel The Little Minister. A young Scottish minister falls in love with a wild Gypsy girl.
  • 1892: Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes story, "The Adventure of the Speckled Band". Dr. Grimesby Roylott is established as being friendly with a group of wandering Romani, and gives them permission to encamp om his estate. At the start of the story, Holmes speculates that there will be a connection between the death of Helen Stoner's sister and the Romani (among other things). When Dr. Watson questions what the Romani might have done, Holmes responds that he cannot imagine. Dr. Watson responds with "I see many objections to any such theory", which Holmes admits to also seeing. In the end, the Romani are shown to have had no involvement in the death of Helen's sister. The story ends with Holmes admitting his mistake, noting that it shows "how dangerous it always is to reason from insufficient data".
  • 1892: Maxim Gorky's short story "Makar Chudra" (Макар Чудра). A love story between the gypsy girl Rada and the horse thief Zobar.
  • 1897: Bram Stoker's Dracula. Features a group of Romanies working for the Count.

20th century
  • 1902: E. Nesbit's Five Children and It. The children run into a band of English Gypsies on the road.
  • 1908: Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Toad, owner of Toad Hall, an impulsive and conceited character, buys a horse-drawn English Gypsy vardo. Toad later trades a stolen horse to a Gypsy for food.
  • 1911: Saki's short story "Esme" (included in The Chronicles of Clovis). Features a degrading depiction of a Gypsy child that is used to foreground the heartless nature of the English aristocrats.
  • 1926: D. H. Lawrence's The Virgin and the Gypsy. A young Romani hero is a useful antidote to a rigid social class system.
  • 1930: Hermann Hesse's novel Narcissus and Goldmund. Features a Romani girl called Lisa.
  • 1943–1978: Malcolm Saville's Lone Pine books. A Gypsy family (Reuben, Miranda and Fenella) are friends and allies of the Lone Pine Club's members especially of the club's vice captain Petronella Sterling.
  • 1940: Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls. Featured a Romani named Rafael.
  • 1946: The Ursitory, the first novel by the French writer (of Romani ethnicity) Mateo Maximoff is published in France. The English-language edition (published in England in 1949) claims it to be "the first novel ever written by a Gypsy."
  • 1947: The Nancy Drew Mystery Story The Clue in the Old Album. Some of the main characters are Gypsies.
  • 1951: Hergé's The Adventures of Jo, Zette and Jocko comic book Destination New York. Features several Romani characters in a very sympathetic manner.
  • 1956: Dodie Smith's The Hundred and One Dalmatians. After escaping from Cruella De Vil's country house, the dogs are nearly trapped by an old Gypsy woman who wants to sell them. Her horse helps the dogs escape again.
  • 1957: Ian Fleming's James Bond novel From Russia, with Love. Set in a Gypsy encampment in Turkey, features a fight to the death between two Gypsy girls vying for the affection of the same man.
  • 1958: Elizabeth Goudge's The White Witch. Features a description of the lifestyle of the Romnichals of the UK during the civil war.
  • 1963: Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin comic book The Castafiore Emerald. Features several Romani characters and a few Romani words. This graphic novel is very sympathetic to the Romani characters.
  • 1967: Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude.
  • 1969-1981: Swedish writer and Romani civil rights leader Katarina Taikon publishes her series of autobiographical children's book about Romani girl Katitzi.
  • 1971, 1972: Martin Cruz Smith's Gypsy in Amber and Canto for a Gypsy.
  • 1972: Rumer Godden's children's book The Diddakoi (also published as Gypsy Girl). Winner of the Whitbread Award. Adapted for television by the BBC as Kizzy.
  • 1975: Roald Dahl's children's book Danny, the Champion of the World. A young boy lives with his father in a traditional English vardo, although it is unclear if the protagonist Danny and his father are themselves Romanichal and admire the culture or prefer the lifestyle.
  • 1978–present: The Star Wars expanded universe books. A race of aliens known as the Ryn possess many stereotypical Gypsy traits, including clan family structures, wanderer natures, reputations as thieves and more.
  • 1981, 1988: Robertson Davies's novels The Rebel Angels and The Lyre of Orpheus. Feature major characters who maintain Romani traditions, including the care and repair of musical instruments, in modern Canada.
  • 1983: Tim Powers' novel The Anubis Gates. Features a band of Romanies led by Egyptian magicians and utilizes quite a few expressions from the Romani language.
  • 1984: Stephen King's novel Thinner. Includes the classic plot device of the Romani curse. It was also made into a movie.
  • 1984-2013: Robert Jordan's fantasy series The Wheel of Time features a race of Romani-like people called the Tinkers, who travel in caravans and practice strict pacifism.
  • 1985: Charles de Lint's novel Mulengro. Contemporary fantasy portrayal of the Romani and their cultural myths.
  • 1986: Robert Silverberg's Star of Gypsies. A sci-fi epic about the King of the Romanies searching out the long lost Romany home star system.
  • 1987: Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series. The latter half features the Romani in a hugely positive light, most prominent in Being A Green Mother.
  • 1987: John Crowley's Ægypt cycle. Much of the narrative of unfolds from an encounter with a Gypsy fortune-teller, and revolves around the question of why people believe Romanies can tell the future.
  • 1987: Isobelle Carmody's Obernewtyn series. A fantasy fiction novel about the land of men and beings destroyed by what they call the "Great White". This story includes many Gypsies, and how the townspeople are very jealous of their very good living.
  • 1988–present: Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series. Features a fictional race of people based loosely on the Romani, even to the extent of using Romani language; most prominent in the Vows and Honor books.
  • 1992: Joe Gores's novel 32 Cadillacs. The DKA investigate a network of American Romani criminals.
  • 1995: The Parsley Parcel by Elizabeth Arnold is a children's novel set among Gypsies in the English New Forest and was the basis for a seven-part Gypsy Girl TV series in 2001.
  • 1995-2000: Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Features a nomadic race called the "Gyptians". Gyptians are roughly the equivalent of Gypsies in our universe, with the exception that they use narrowboats in place of caravans. Throughout the books they are portrayed as good and kindly people.
  • 1996-2001: Tad Williams's Otherland series of science fiction books. A Romani character and references to Romani appear as nomads who disregard the borders of an advanced virtual reality cyberspace.
  • 1999: Bernard Ashley's novel Johnnie's Blitz features a Gypsy family.
  • 1999: Ana Castillo's novel Peel My Love Like an Onion.
  • 1999: Thomas Harris's novel Hannibal. A member of a seemingly Romani band of travellers is hired by Inspector Pazzi to pickpocket Hannibal Lecter, in order to lift a fingerprint.
  • 1999: Joanne Harris's novel Chocolat (and the 2000 film based on the novel), features a group of French river gypsies.
  • 1999–2003: In the Star Wars New Jedi Order series of books, the Ryn race are inspired by the Roma.

21st century
  • 2001: Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Legacy series of fantasy novels. Includes the Tsingani, based on the Roma.
  • 2001: James Herbert's novel Once. A wiccan called Nell Quick is described as alluring and dressed in the manner of a Gypsy woman. She is noted for her extremely beautiful looks and raven-colored dark hair. The novel never fully explains her origins or if she is connected to the Gypsies.
  • 2003: Louise Doughty's novel Fires in the Dark. A boy from a group of nomadic Kalderash Roma, born in a barn in rural Bohemia in 1927, grows up during the Great Depression and the rise of Nazism, is interned in a camp and escapes to take part in the Prague Uprising of May 1945.
  • 2005: Isabel Allende's novel Zorro. Features a clan of Romanies who ally themselves with the titular hero in post-Napoleonic Spain.
  • 2005: Edith Layton's novel Gypsy Lover. Daffyd, the illegitimate son of a noblewoman and a Gypsy, returns to England from a penal colony in Botany Bay to pardon and clear the name of his adopted father the Earl of Egremont.
  • 2006: Louise Doughty's novel Stone Cradle charts one family's path through persecution and tragedy, asking, can the Romany spirit survive in a century that no longer has space for them?
  • 2006–present: Rob Thurman's Cal Leandros novel series. The lead character and his brother are both half-Romani on their mother's side.
  • 2007: Lisa Kleypas's novel Mine Till Midnight and its companion Seduce Me at Sunrise. Feature two half-Romani male protagonists.
  • 2007: Nikki Poppen's The Romany Heiress. The heir to the Earl of Spelthorne is captivated by the arrival of a beautiful Gypsy shows up on his doorstep claiming to be his deceased parents' long lost daughter.
  • 2007: Colum McCann's novel Zoli. Explores the life of a fictional Slovak Romani artist.
  • 2007: Paulo Coelho's novel The Witch of Portobello. The character Athena's biological mother is a Gypsy.
  • 2007: In Sally Gardner's novel The Red Necklace, the main character Yann and his companion Têtu are Gypsy along with the antagonist Kalliovski.
  • 2007: Deanna Raybourn's Lady Julia Grey series (Silent in the Grave, Silent in the Sanctuary, Silent on the Moor, Dark Road to Darjeeling, Dark Inquiry) feature Nicholas Brisbane as the protagonist. Brisbane is the son of a reprobate Scottish nobleman and a Gypsy woman with the power of sight. Throughout the series, a number of Gypsy characters feature prominently.
  • 2007, 2008: Kate Wild's teenage/young adult novels FightGame and FireFight. Thrillers with a science fiction overtone featuring a young Gypsy protagonist called Freedom Smith.
  • 2008: James Rollins' novel The Last Oracle. Cmdr. Gray Pierce must stop a rogue group in Russia from using autistic savant Gypsy descendants from being used as weapons.
  • 2010: Sonia Meyer's novel Dosha, Flight of the Russian Gypsies. About Romani in the 1950s Soviet Union.
  • 2010: Levi Pinfold's children's book The Django (2010), inspired by Romani musician Django Reinhardt
  • 2011: Stef Penney's novel The Invisible Ones. Ray Lovell, a small-time PI of Gypsy descent, is hired to investigate the disappearance of a Romani woman, 7 years previously.
  • 2013: Cazzarola! Anarchy, Romani, Love, Italy by Norman Nawrocki, features an entire Romani family and camp living in Rome, Italy. Talks about the persecution and discrimination the Romani face in Europe.
  • 2015: Linda De Quincey's novel Roma: Charlie and Poppy. The tale of an orphaned Romany child who is adopted by an abusive mother and falls for his adoptive sister who lifts his spirits as he plans his escape.

Other media
  • Georges Bizet's 1875 opera Carmen.
  • The Cirque du Soleil traveling show Varekai takes its name from the Romani language and the characters represented on stage are loosely based on the nomadic way of life associated with the Romani people.
  • Warhammer Fantasy includes an ethnic group of humans, the Strigany, who are often referred to as gypsies. They conflate the Romani with Romanians: the Strigany are from the same geographical area as Romania, and negative stereotypes about the Romani people are justified against the Strigany, who are persecuted for vampire worship and sometimes actually enabling the Undead.
  • The Curse of Strahd supplement for Dungeons & Dragons includes a fantasy version of the Romani, the Vistani. Early printings portrayed the Vistani in a stereotyped light.[17]

Songs
  • "Zigenarvän" (Eng: "Gypsy Friend". 1969) - Agnetha Fältskog (later of ABBA fame): featured on the album Agnetha Fältskog Vol. 2, the song tells of a young woman's visit to a Romani camp. The young woman finds herself drawn to the Romani camp one night. The light from their fire leads the way. From a distance, the young woman can hear their laughter, singing and music. She attends a Romani wedding, and dances with the bride's brother (whom she falls in love with). She returns the next day, only to find it gone. The young woman is left wondering if it was all just a dream. The song was the album's biggest hit, but its overly romantic lyrics became the source of controversy. Its release coincided with a heated debate about Romani people in the Swedish media, and Fältskog was accused of deliberately trying to make money out of the situation by writing the song.

Music videos
  • "Rock 'n' Roll Children" (1985) - Dio: a young couple, both aspiring rock musicians, seek shelter from a rainstorm in an antique store, after an argument. The store is run by a Romani-esque mystic (Ronnie James Dio), who keeps out of their sight. The couple go into a closet, entering another world, where they are separated. Through a crystal ball, the mystic observes the couple, while they're being subjected to discrimination, exclusion, and demands from others to give up their way of life and culture. After the couple are reunited, and rekindle their love (while hostile people begins to circle around them), the mystic smashes the crystal ball onto the floor, releasing them from the other world.
  • "Who's That Girl" (1987) - Madonna: Madonna goes to visit a Romani fortune-teller. The fortune-teller shows Madonna a tarot card, with a moving (cartoon) image, and mysteriously disappears.
  • "Love to Hate You" (1991) - Erasure: the video features a group of female dancers, wearing Romani dress.
  • "Ain't It Funny" (2001) - Jennifer Lopez: Lopez comes across a Romani camp, where a fortune-teller reads her future. Young Romani women comes and makes over Lopez into one of them. In the camp, Lopez finds an irresistible man, and falls in love with him. She then performs a flamenco-influenced routine.

Comics

DC Comics
  • Dick Grayson (a.k.a. Robin and Nightwing) was established to be of Romani descent in 2015.[18]
  • Nimue Inwudu (Madame Xanadu) is a Romani mystic and fortune teller. Madame Xanadu has the appearance of a stereotypical Romani fortune teller who wears dangly earrings.[19]
  • Cynthia Reynolds styles herself after the stereotypical image of Romani women and adopts "Gypsy" as her superhero identity. In her first appearance, the character is introduced as a petty thief, and a trickster.[20] In 2013, a revamped version of the character is shown acquiring her alias from Amanda Waller, who tells her "You seem to prefer a more nomadic existence. That makes you something of a trans-dimensional... gypsy.".[21]
  • Tora Olafsdotter (Ice) was originally presented as a princess of an isolated tribe of magic-wielding Norsemen. In the 2010 series Justice League: Generation Lost, that origin is revealed to have been a lie. It is revealed that Tora was born Romani. Her grandfather was the leader of a clan of Romani criminals in Norway. When Tora began manifesting her cryokinetic powers, her parents feared that her grandfather would try using her for crime, and fled from the clan. Tora had made up her previous origin story, upon becoming a superhero, to make herself more acceptable to the world (stating that heroes come from better stock than her).[22][23]

Film & Television Adaptations
  • The animated TV series Justice League Unlimited (2004-2006) features Cynthia Reynolds/Gypsy as a recurring, non-speaking, background member of the Justice League. The character dressed in the stereotypical image of Romani women.
  • The Smallville season six episode "Crimson" (aired February 1, 2007), features a guest character named Star, who dresses in Romani-esque clothing. Star gives Lois Lane a lipstick (partially made from Red Kryptonite), that causes Lois to fall madly in love (obsessed) with Clark Kent. In one scene, Star claims to be psychic, and says Clark's name (despite no one having told his name to her), while also (accurately) predicting that Lois and Clark will eventually become a couple. She is also shown to run a New Age-style shop. When Henry James Olsen (older brother of Jimmy Olsen) seeks her out, and asks if Star's got a counter agent for the lipstick, Star happily gives it (made from Green kryptonite) to him. Star is established to have made both the lipstick and counter agent herself (using different types of kryptonite).[24] Within the context of the series, Green kryptonite was well-established to have a mutagenic effect on humans, granting them different superhuman powers, including telepathy[25][26] and precognition.[27][28]
  • The 2010 animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths features an evil version of superheroine Cynthia Reynolds/Gypsy, from an alternate universe. This version goes by "Gypsy Woman", and dresses in the stereotypical image of Romani women.
  • The animated TV series Young Justice features Nimue Inwudu (Madame Xanadu) as an occasional guest character. The series changes Madame Xanadu to African-American.
  • In the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises, Tom Hardy portrays the terrorist Bane. In the comics, Bane is Latino, which Hardy is not. Fearing possible objections to that, Hardy and Christopher Nolan decided to change Bane to Romani.[29]
  • The CW TV Series The Flash features Cynthia/Gypsy in a recurring role, played by Jessica Camacho. She is the daughter of Breacher (Danny Trejo). Cynthia and Breacher are both depicted as Latin. Cynthia is said to have taken the moniker "Gypsy" to make herself sound moody and mysterious.[30]
  • The 2019 Swamp Thing TV series features Nimue Inwudu (Madame Xanadu). Nimue is portrayed by Jeryl Prescott, with the character being changed to African-American.
  • Madame Xanadu will headline her own streaming series on HBO Max, as a part of DC Extended Universe. Filmmaker Angela Robinson will be writing and spearheading the series.[31] It is unknown if Madame Xanadu will be depicted as Romani in the series.

Marvel Comics
  • Superheroes (originally supervillains) and twins Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch) and Pietro Maximoff (Quicksilver) have had several origin stories over the decades. In 1979, the twins were revealed to have been raised by Romani couple Django and Marya Maximoff, as part of their tribe. Their biological mother was established to be a Romani woman named Magda.[32] In 1982, the twins biological father was revealed to be the Jewish mutant Magneto.[33] In 2014, Marvel Comics retconned the twins origin. Their biological parents were no longer Magda and Magneto. In 2016, the twins were revealed to be the children of Natalya Maximoff (an earlier Scarlet Witch), a Romani woman and sister of Django Maximoff.[34] In the late 1990s, artist George Perez gave Scarlet Witch a new costume, that put an emphasis on her Romani identity (explained in-universe as her feeling more in tune with her Romani heritage).[35] She would also wear civilian clothes, that visually highlighted her ethnicity.[36][37][38] Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were introduced as reluctant members of the supervillain team the Brotherhood of Mutants. They had joined to team, after Magneto had saved Wanda from an angry mob (after she had set fire to a building, with her powers, by accident), leaving the twins in his debt.[39] About a year after their original introduction, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver became members of the superhero team the Avengers.[40] While Quicksilver's come and gone from the team over the years, Scarlet Witch has been a longtime Avengers mainstay, having even served as leader of the team.
  • Canonical origin of the supervillain Doctor Doom of the Romani people, and was driven to his nominally villainous actions as a response to the persecution of his family. As dictator of the fictional nation of Latveria, Doom has taken a special interest in the welfare of Gypsies, as that is his heritage, and often that race is first to be taken care of in a manner similar to Saddam Hussein showering his Tikriti tribe with benefits.
  • Cynthia Von Doom, who was the mother of Doctor Doom, and a Romani witch.
  • Meggan of the superhero team Excalibur was born to a band of Romanies in England. She was expelled when they saw that she was a shapeshifter, and believed her to be a demon.[45]
  • Margali Szardos, the foster-mother of Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler) of the superhero teams Excalibur and X-Men, is a French Romani sorceress.
  • Superheroine Amanda Sefton (real name Jimaine Szardos), also known as Daytripper and the second Magik, the daughter of Margali Szardos. Like her mother, Amanda is a Romani sorceress.
  • Astrid Mordo, the daughter of Baron Mordo, with a Romani woman named Lilia Calderu.
  • Elena, the Romani great-grandmother of superheroes Colossus (Piotr Rasputin) and Magik (Illyana Rasputina), and supervillain Mikhail Rasputin. Elena was one of the many lovers of Grigori Rasputin (the great-grandfather of Colossus, Illyana, and Mikhail).[46]
    • Colossus (Piotr Rasputin) is a mutant, and a member of the superhero teams Excalibur and X-Men.
    • Magik (Illyana Rasputina) is a mutant and a capable sorceress, who've been a member of the superhero teams New Mutants and X-Men.
    • Mikhail Rasputin is a mutant supervillain, and former Cosmonaut.
  • Lianda, a Romani healer, and vampire. In the 15th Century, a dying Vlad Dracula was placed in her care. As punishment for his persecution of the Romani people, Lianda turned Dracula into a vampire.[47]
  • Nocturne (Talia Wagner), a mutant superhero, and the daughter of Nightcrawler and the Scarlet Witch, from an alternate universe.

Film & Television Adaptations
  • The animated TV Series Fantastic Four (1994-1996) features Dr. Doom in a recurring role. Flashbacks shows Doom being the son of a doctor and scientist, who would use his skills to help a Romani tribe in Latveria. The Romani are shown living in a camp, and depicted as simple folk who take the medical science of Doom's father for magic, and believe him to be a sorcerer. In one scene, three Romani men attempt to rob, and murder, Doom's father. Dr. Doom labels the Romani "superstitious fools".[48] In one episode, Dr. Doom is shown to have a loyal Romani henchwoman in his service.[49]
  • The animated TV Series Iron Man (1994-1996) features Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch as a regular, and as a member of the superhero team Force Works. Scarlet Witch is only referenced as being Middle European.[50] In the first season, Scarlet Witch had a German accent, in the second season she had a Russian accent.
  • X-Men: The Animated Series (1992-1997)
    • A flashback in the season four episode "Nightcrawler" (aired May 13, 1995), shows a newborn Kurt Wagner being rescued by a Romani couple, after his biological mother (Mystique) left him for dead in a river. The Romani couple adopted Kurt as their own, and raised him as part of their small circus.
    • The season four episode "Family Ties" (aired May 4, 1996) explores the origin of recurring characters Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. They are established to have been raised by Romanian Romani couple Django and Marya Maximoff, after they were brought to the Maximoffs as newborns. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver learn that they are the biological children of Magneto, and his wife Magda (not identified onscreen as Romani). A flashback depicts the Maximoffs as living in a house, as opposed to the stereotypical caravan.
  • Alan Cumming portrays Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler in the film X2 (2003). Kurt is depicted as a German, former circus performer, who was the victim of mind control by the film's villain. After being freed, he joins the X-Men. The role of Kurt Wagner was later recast with Kodi Smit-McPhee, who portrayed a younger Kurt in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) and Dark Phoenix (2019). When first introduced in X-Men: Apocalypse, he is depicted as wearing Romani-esque clothing (upon coming to America, he gets different clothes), and a victim of an underground arena (which forces captured mutants to fight each other to the death). Kurt is rescued by Mystique (unlike in the comics, not indicated to be his biological mother), and joins the X-Men.
  • Daniel Cudmore portrays Colossus in the films X2 (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). Colossus is a minor character in the films (even after becoming a member of the X-Men), and no backstory is provided for the character.
  • Julian McMahon portrays Victor von Doom in the films Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007). No reference is made to Victor being of Romani heritage. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer indicates that Victor hails from Latverian aristocracy.
  • In the 2011 film Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Danny Ketch is depicted as the son of a Romani thief named Nadya Ketch.
  • Evan Peters portrays Peter Maximoff (an adaptation of Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver) in the 20th Century Fox movies X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), and Dark Phoenix (2019). In X-Men: Days of Future Past, Peter is depicted as a petty thief, who lives with his mother and little sister (in the extended Rogue Cut, a second sister is referenced). In X-Men: Apocalypse, Peter is established as being the son of Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto), making him half-Jewish. What ethnicity Peter's mother hails from is never touched upon.
  • Elizabeth Olsen portrays Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise (with Aaron Taylor-Johnson portraying Pietro Maximoff in the films Captain America: The Winter Soldier (post-credit sequence) and Avengers: Age of Ultron). As of her Disney+ limited series, WandaVision, no reference has been made to Wanda (and her twin brother) being of Romani heritage. In the WandaVision episode "All-New Halloween Spooktacular!", Wanda dresses up as a "Sokovian fortune-teller" (an outfit based on the classic Scarlet Witch costume from the comic books) for Halloween. Avengers: Age of Ultron introduces and depicts Wanda and Pietro as having been willing members of Hydra. Hydra is a fictional organization, that Captain America: The First Avenger introduced as the former science division of the Nazi Party. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were adapted for the Marvel Cinematic Universe by Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (For information on the depiction of Romani on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and its spin-off, see under Television.) The casting of Elizabeth Olsen (a blond white woman) was met with backlash from fans, who felt that the character was being ruined by removing her Roma heritage.[51]
  • Stefan Kapičić voiced Colossus (the character appears through CGI) in Deadpool (2016) and Deadpool 2 (2018). While Kapičić's role is bigger than the Daniel Cudmore version, no backstory is provided for the character. In the films, Colossus tries to recruit Deadpool into the X-Men, and teaching him the morality of being a superhero.
  • The television series Legion (2017-2019) depicts Gabrielle (the mother of series protagonist David Haller) as Romani (and, by extension, David Haller).[52] In the comics, Gabrielle is Jewish.[53] (For further information, see under Television.)
  • Anya Taylor-Joy portrays Illyana Rasputin in the film The New Mutants (2020). Outside of being established as being a former victim of child trafficking,[lower-alpha 1] the film gives no backstory on Illyana. The trauma of her past as a trafficking victim is shown to have made Illyana distant and hostile towards others, though she gets close to the other young mutants at the institution (where they're all kept prisoners), even willing to save the others in the end. Throughout the film, Illyana is shown having a purple dragon hand puppet named Lockheed. During the climax, Illyana magically transforms Lockheed into a real dragon.

Other
  • In the web comic The Science Table Comic, Alex, one of the recurring characters, is a gypsy and is adorned in what is stated by another character as his "Traditional native garbs."
  • Katerina Donlan of Gunnerkrigg Court is referred to as "gypsy" by another character. Tom Sidell, the comic's author, confirmed she is half-Roma, her mother belonging to the gitano ethnical group.

Anime and manga
  • In the anime Blood +, it is implied that the character Haji is Roma. However, he was bought from his caravan at a young age and does not identify as such thereafter.
  • In the anime Cowboy Bebop, the character Faye Valentine claims to be one of the Romani people, though this is later dispelled through her own personal flashbacks.
  • In the anime Kaze to Ki no Uta, Serge Battour is the orphaned son of a viscount and a beautiful Roma woman.
  • In the Code Geass OVA spinoff, Akito the Exiled, the main cast of characters encounter a group of elderly Romani.
  • The Fullmetal Alchemist movie, Conqueror of Shamballa, features Romani women in Pre-Nazi Germany.

Video games
  • The videogame Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King features Romani characters Kalderasha, named after the Kalderash, and his daughter Valentina.
  • In the videogame Psychonauts and its sequel, Psychonauts 2, The main character, Razputin Aquato, and his family are Romani.
  • In Assassin's Creed: Revelations, courtesan NPCs are replaced by Romanies which act as moving hiding spots and can be used to distract guards.
  • The Crimson Skies character Nathan Zachary has claimed Romani heritage.
  • The four protagonists of Mother Russia Bleeds are all referred to as Romani (their background is vague, but they were apparently raised in an impoverished Roma camp somewhere in Russia).
  • The videogame Bohemian Killing features a Romani protagonist guilty of murder, who has to try and convince the jury he didn't do it.
  • In Koudelka, the main protagonist Koudelka Iasant is a Romani young lady from Wales.

Television
  • In the television series Car 54, Where Are You episode "The Gypsy Curse" (aired November 12, 1961), Maureen Stapleton plays a Romani matriarch telling fortunes from a storefront in Toody and Muldoon's precinct. Stereotypical jokes abound. She lifts a guy's wallet, the father is a layabout, the children don't go to school, they pack up and move to another storefront in short order, etc.
  • The Dennis the Menace episode "Dennis in Gypsyland" (aired November 4, 1962), featured a group of Romanies who visited Dennis's town, were accused of theft, and almost inveigled police Officer Murphy into marrying one of their women, to whom he had offered bread at dinner.
  • In The Andy Griffith Show, episode 182 in the sixth season is titled "The Gypsies" (aired February 21, 1966). A family of Romanies (one of whom is played by Jamie Farr) places a curse on the town of Mayberry.
  • The Canterville Ghost (1974) Television dramatization - Based on the (1887) short story by Oscar Wilde. An English gypsy group are suspected of kidnapping a girl but are innocent and join in the search.
  • M*A*S*H (1972–1983):
    • In "Hawkeye Get Your Gun" (aired November 30, 1976), Max Klinger (Jamie Farr) attempts to get out of the army by claiming to be "Zoltan, King of the Gypsies", and dresses up in stereotypical Romani clothes. Colonel Potter (Harry Morgan) questions how Klinger could be Romani, when he's Lebanese. Klinger insists that he was stolen from the Romani people by two ruthless Lebanese peasants, who raised him as theirs (and have now admitted to the truth). Potter does not buy the story. Klinger, refusing to give up, says that: "Now I know why the sound of violins set my blood on fire. Why I'm so attracted to storefront windows. Why, when I smell paprika, I face towards Budapest. Why I have the urge to roam". Klinger spends the rest of the episode pretending to be a Romani fortune-teller, and claims to be "Working on a plan to turn the motor pool into a Gypsy caravan". In one scene, Major Burns asks Klinger where some tape is. Klinger assures Burns that "Just 'cause I'm a Gypsy doesn't mean I stole it".
    • In "Yessir, That's Our Baby" (aired December 31, 1979), Klinger states that he understands babies. He adds: "It's the Gypsy in my soul".
    • In "Settling Debts" (aired December 6, 1982), Colonel Potter tells the story of how he and his wife, Mildred, bought their house. He recalls that it had been Mildred's idea to buy one (previously, they had been living in rented houses on military bases). According to Colonel Potter, Mildred had "said that she was tired of livin' like a Gypsy".
  • Swedish mini series Katitzi (1979-1980), which aired on SVT2, is an adaptation of writer and civil rights leader Katarina Taikon's autobiographical children's books, about Katitzi (played in the series by Sema Sari), a young Romani girl in Sweden (during the first half of the 20th century). Janne ”Loffe” Carlsson portrayed Katitzi's father, while Monica Zetterlund portrayed her stepmother. Taikon co-wrote the scripts, with Romani singer (and fellow activist) Hans Caldaras providing the music.
  • In Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock (1983-1987), the sentient anthropomorphic Trash Heap refers to herself as a 'gypsy Trash Heap' when she performs her only act of magic. The character "The Old Gypsy Woman" appears in several episodes.
  • In The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes episode "The Speckled Band" (aired May 29, 1984), the vandering Romani tribe (that Dr. Grimesby Roylott allows to stay on the grounds of his estate) plays a bigger role than in the original short story. In the short story, they are only mentioned, and briefly serve as a red herring in regard to the death of Helen Stoner's sister. In the episode, the tribe is introduced as thieves, and shown moving around the grounds of the estate with shotguns. Dr. Watson, rather than Sherlock Holmes, speculates that the Romani tribe might've had some involvement in the death of Helen's sister. Unlike in the short story, this theory does not spark instant objects from either Holmes or Watson.
  • In the MacGyver episode "Thief of Budapest" (aired May 18, 1990), MacGyver helps a Romani family escape from the KGB.[55]
  • In the 'Allo 'Allo! episode "René of the Gypsies" (aired March 9, 1991), René and Edith visit a stereotypical Romani camp outside of the village, where they ask the Great Romany (the tribe's leader and a fortune-teller) to hold the tribe's annual fair in the village (intended as a cover for a Resistance operation). When the Great Romany reads Edith's palm, he becomes convinced that Edith is the long-lost Romani princess Romana (who, like Edith, had been left on a doorstep, and had an identical mark on her palm). However, he quickly changes his mind, upon hearing Edith's terrible singing voice (while Romana's mother had a great voice). He concludes that Edith's probably a distant cousin of Romana (noting that the tribe have left a lot of babies on doorsteps). The Romani tribe agrees to do the fair, but cancels after seeing a bad omen (a cat walking backward). Still needing the cover for the Resistance operation, the Resistance members dress up as Romani and hold the fair themselves. 'Allo 'Allo! is set during the German occupation of France during World War II, with the episode making no reference to Nazi antiziganism. The occupying Germans both gives permission for the fair, and happily attend it. Upon learning that she was likely born Romani, Edith expresses an attraction toward the Romani way of life, which she sums up as "Living here in the open air, singing round the campfire every evening".
  • In the Married... with Children episode "Psychic Avengers" (aired March 1, 1992), the Bundy family sets up a scam psychic hotline called Madame Zelda. When their business grows large, they come into conflict with Madame Inga (Candice Azzara), a stereotypical Romani fortune-teller from Sweden, who is a real psychic. Madame Inga places a curse upon the Bundy family. Transforming them into monkeys, while their dog is transformed into a human.
  • The Simpsons (1989–present):
    • In "Lisa's Wedding" (aired March 19, 1995), Lisa Simpson is shown her future by a Romani fortune-teller. The fortune-teller specializes in foretelling doomed romances.
    • In "Bart Carny" (aired January 11, 1998), a traveling carnival comes to Springfield. In one scene, Moe Szyslak has his fortune told by a Romani fortune-teller. The main plot of the episode revolves around a carny father and son duo (possibly Romani), who are depicted as con artists, and steals the Simpson house.
    • In "Simpson Tide" (aired March 29, 1998), Milhouse Van Houten comes to school with an earring. Principal Skinner tells Milhouse that earrings are specifically forbidden by the school's dress code. When Skinner notes that people of Romani heritage are excepted from this rule, Milhouse claims to be Romani, which Skinner asks him to prove. In a faux Transylvanian accent, Milhouse says: "I 'vant' to suck your blood!". Skinner corrects Milhouse: "That's a vampire. But, uh, they're also covered".
    • In "Treehouse of Horror XII" (aired November 6, 2001), the Simpson family visit a Romani fortune teller. After Homer destroys the fortune teller's business, she places a curse on him (causing Homer's loved ones to be transformed or killed). In retaliation, Homer sics a leprechaun on the fortune teller. To Homer's surprise, the leprechaun and the fortune teller fall in love. At the end of the story, Homer and Marge attend their wedding (other guests include Kang and Kodos, hobgoblins, fairies, dragons, hobbits, ogres, with Yoda officinating the wedding). Marge (whom the curse has left covered in hair from head to toe) remarks that "The best thing about a Gypsy wedding is I'm not the hairiest woman here". When the fortune teller and the leprechaun first meet, they instantly start having sex. After they've just gotten married, they start doing it again, in full view of the wedding guests.
    • In "Treehouse of Horror XIII" (aired November 3, 2002), The Simpson family and Ned Flanders hold a séance in the hope of communicating with the spirit of Maude Flanders. Marge dresses up as a Romani fortune-teller.
    • In "The President Wore Pearls" (aired November 16, 2003), Lisa is elected student body president at Springfield Elementary. She declares an intention to take back the playground from the Romani people. The episode then cuts to a stereotypical Romani family, living on the Springfield Elementary playground. When two students are playing with a frisbee, a Romani man takes it mid-air and says "Is our frisbee now".
  • In the television film Young Indiana Jones: Travels with Father (aired June 16, 1996), a 10-year-old Indiana Jones visits Russia in 1909, with his family, and runs away with Leo Tolstoy. On their journey, the duo hitches a ride with a traveling Romani tribe, and spend the night in their camp. During the night, Imperial Cossack troops (that the government uses to rid themselves of undesirable ethnic groups) attacks the camp and kills many of the Romani people there. Indiana and Tolstoy barely make it away alive. They seeks refuge at a church, only to almost be cast out by an antiziganistic priest, who mistake them for Romani.
  • 1997 Greek television series Whispers of the Heart (Greek: Ψίθυροι Καρδιάς) was about a rich architect who falls in love with a young beautiful gypsy girl. It aired in 1997 and it is one of the most popular, Greek television series.
  • On the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003), Romanies in 19th Century Romania place a curse on the vampire Angelus to punish him for the murder of a teenage Romani girl (said to have been as "dumb as a post"), by restoring his human soul (and by extension, his conscience) and forcing him to feel guilt for his crimes. Angel was doomed to misery until he could enjoy a moment of pure happiness. It is later revealed that these Romanies were members of the Kalderash tribe and that the character Jenny Calendar, actually Janna of the Kalderash, is a member of the tribe, who was sent to ensure the continued suffering of Angel. In an analysis of the treatment of Romani people in literature and media, Nikolina Dobreva asserts that the show deserves to be criticized for associating Romani with curses and primitivism, for stereotyping the Romani people as "irrevocably foreign" in clothing and speech, and for perpetuating the persistent air of mystery surrounding them. Dobreva, however, praises the character of Jenny Calendar, writing in 2009: "Jenny’s character, despite the reversion to a few stereotypes, is arguably one of the most multi-faceted and positive representations of a female Gypsy in the past 20 years. In sharp contrast to all other Gypsy portrayals, she is technologically savvy, and, instead of resorting to incantations or obscure rituals, is able to create a computer algorithm that would make possible the restoration of Angel’s soul."[56]
    • In the episode "The Girl in Question" (aired May 5, 2004), of the spin-off Angel (1999-2004), the character of Ilona Costa Bianchi (Carole Raphaelle Davis) comments on the Romani people. She says that "The Gypsies are filthy people", who uses spells. Angel makes no objections to Ilona's comments. Whenever she mentions the Romani people, Ilona spits out of disgust.[57]
  • Futurama (1999-2013) features a recurring character called "Gypsy-Bot" (voiced by Tress MacNeille), a fortune-telling robot, whose design is based on the stereotypical image of a Romani fortune-teller. In the episode "Godfellas", the character is hinted at not really being psychic, when she responds to a question with "What am I, psychic?".
  • The Chilean telenovela Romané (2000) features the life of the Romani in the north of Chile.
  • The television series WB television series Charmed episode "The Eyes Have It" (aired October 20, 2002), depicted Romanies, referred to as "gypsies", as practicing a magical craft similar to those of modern-day witches. Much like the star witches in the series, Romanies possess supernatural powers and pass down family Books of Shadows.
  • A 2002 episode of The Twilight Zone features a female Romani.
  • In the HBO series Carnivàle (2003-2005), the characters of Sophie and her mother Apollonia are said to be Roma.
  • In the House episode "Needle in a Haystack" (aired February 6, 2007), Dr. House and his team must treat a 16-year-old Romani boy with respiratory distress. The boy's parents (who are established as having made their son drop out of school, and work for them) are played up as being anti-science and hostile towards outsiders (to the extent that they can't touch people who aren't Romani). The Doctors have to lie and distract the parents, in order to be able to examine and treat the boy. Dr. Foreman is critical of the parents, whom he feels are wasting their son's potential, and offers to help him get a job at the hospital. The boy rejects the offer, because none of the Doctors treating him are married (convincing the boy that the same would happen to him, unless he goes home with his family).
  • In the Heartbeat episode "Danse Macabre" (series 17, episode 16. Aired July 27, 2008), a group of Romani arrives in Aidensfield. When one of them is spotted by a local shop owner, the shop owner tells her daughter not to serve him. The shop owner says: "I'm not having Gypsies in my shop". When a 15-year-old girl named Natalie disappears from a house, the butler of the house blames the Romani and states that "Gypsies steal children". However, PC Joe Mason (Joe McFadden) dismisses that notion as something that only happens in fairytales. In an ironic twist, Natalie is revealed to be a Romani child (her father's among the newly arrived group, and she ran away to see him), whom the butler had taken from her family years earlier.
  • Lark Rise to Candleford, Series 2 Episode 1 (aired December 21, 2008) — A BBC costume drama. The village is haunted by the spirit of a young English Romany girl who drowned in the local lake.
  • In the television show Criminal Minds, the fourth-season episode "Bloodlines" (aired January 21, 2009) depicts a family of Romani who kidnap little girls to marry their sons. During the abductions, the family also murders the parents of the girls. Penelope Garcia discovers that they've been doing this since, at least, 1909. In addition to kidnapping little girls, the Romani family is depicted as being highly superstitious, nomadic (living out of an RV), and as being thieves (with David Rossi stating that a lot of Romani people make their living as petty thieves). The Romani family are apprehended by the FBI, but the episode ends with another Romani family (the father of which is implied as being one of the first family's sons) getting ready to commit the same acts as them.
  • In the Family Guy episode "Not All Dogs Go To Heaven" (aired March 29, 2009), a cutaway gag references Stephen King's Thinner. In the cutaway, Britney Spears is cursed by a Romani man, who touches her cheek and says "Thicker".
  • Ashes to Ashes Series 2, Episode 2 (aired April 27, 2009) — A British television police drama series set in the 1980s. A police officer tries to clear her name when she is involved in the accidental death of an English Romanichal. She uncovers a premeditated plot to murder him. The episode does include some stereotypical elements as the plot unfolds; namely the plot device of an old Romani clairvoyant and friction between the police and the Romani camp. However these stereotypes are turned on their head as the local doctor who was obsessed with the victim's wife is found guilty of poisoning and elements of police corruption. A supporting principal character is revealed to be part Romani.
  • In the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Lost Traveller" (season 13, episode 9. Aired November 30, 2011), the detectives investigate a missing Romani boy.
  • The character Willa Monday on the TV show The Finder (2012) is a Romani juvenile delinquent.
  • In the Agatha Christie's Poirot episode "Dead Man's Folly" (aired October 30, 2013; an adaptation of the novel of the same name), the character of Sally Legge dresses up, and plays a Romani fortune teller (called "Madame Zuleika") for a summer fête. She pretend reads Poirot's future over a crystal ball, but quickly drops the theatrics, due to a mix of Poirot's questions (regarding the murder hunt, where Sally was originally going to play the murder victim, until others insisted that she'd tell fortunes instead) and Sally's own disinterest in doing this activity.
  • In the How I Met Your Mother episode "Coming Back" (aired September 23, 2013), Barney Stinson reveals why he is constantly horny: the Stinson Curse. In 1807, in Moscow, his ancestors ran over an old Romani woman. The Romani woman pointed at them and said: "hornier". Cursing the male members of their family to constantly be horny (and unable to find satisfaction in committed relationships). After she's cursed them, the old Romani woman is shown magically transforming into a seductive young Romani woman, whom Barney's ancestor is unable to resist.
  • The television series Hemlock Grove (2013–2015) features a family of Romani.
  • The BBC television series Peaky Blinders (2013–present) revolves around protagonist Tommy Shelby and the Shelby crime family who are of Romani heritage. It also features the Romani Lee family which includes main character Esme Lee, who marries one of the Shelby brothers.
  • The television series Legion (2017–2019) centers around protagonist and mutant David Haller (based on the Marvel Comics character), whom the show depicts as being half-Romani. David is the son of mutant Charles Xavier and his wife, Gabrielle (Stephanie Corneliussen), a Romani Holocaust survivor. Charles and Gabrielle met in a mental hospital, after World War II, where they were both patients. Gabrielle had been rescued from the camps, but had lost her entire family and the trauma of the Holocaust had left Gabrielle catatonic. With his telepathy, Charles managed to get her out of that state. The two became close (helping each other get better), fell in love, and left the hospital together. Afterwards, they got married and had their son David. Gabrielle is depicted as a loving wife and mother (and a regular 1940s housewife), who struggles with the trauma of the Holocaust, when Charles leaves her alone for a while, to seek out the mutant Amahl Farouk.[58][52] In the comics, Gabrielle was a Jewish Holocaust survivor.[53]
  • On the television Series What We Do in the Shadows (2019–present) the character of Nadja is a Romani Vampire.
  • The television series 1883 (2021–2022) centers on a wagon train led by Shea Brennan (Sam Elliott), in the 1880s. Most of the people taking part in the wagon train are European immigrants, who have come to start a new life in Oregon. Among the immigrants is Noemi (Gratiela Brancusi), a young Romani woman, who has come to America with her husband and their two sons. When bandits attack the wagon train's camp, Noemi's husband is among the people killed, leaving her a widow.[59] Out of desperation (scared and fearful of her, and her sons, future), Noemi offers herself up as a wife to the widowed Brennan, but he turns her down. Together with Thomas (LaMonica Garrett), Brennan does set out to help Noemi, seeing her struggling without her husband and facing antiziganism from some of the other immigrants.[60] Over the course of the journey, Noemi becomes more self-sufficient, teaching herself how to hunt and use a rifle. She also becomes close to and romantically involved with Thomas,[61] despite some initial reservations from Thomas (due to him being a black man, thus unable to marry Noemi).[62] After two of the other immigrants, Josef and his wife, are injured and unable to drive their wagon, Noemi offers and drives their wagon for them. Together with Josef (whose wife passes away), Noemi and her sons, are the only ones of the immigrants to make it to Oregon. Noemi, her sons, and Thomas settles in the Willamette Valley.[63]

Film

Romani characters are frequently depicted in werewolf films, including Maleva the fortuneteller (Maria Ouspenskaya) in The Wolf Man and the Romani clan of female werewolves in Cry of the Werewolf.

YearTitleCountryNotes
2021 The Cursed US Set in late-19th century France, town leaders including the local baron organize the decimation of a Romani clan which dispute ownership of land within their sphere of influence. Before dying, the last of the gypsies set a curse on their families, and terrifying events ensue. A pathologist investigates alleged animal attacks and missing children.
2019Gipsy QueenGermanyCenters around a Romani immigrant, from Romania, who is an unmarried mother (which caused her to be disowned by her father) and supports herself, and her children, by working as a cleaner in Hamburg. Upon discovering a boxing ring, she starts to box again, having done it growing up.
2019Doctor SleepUSThe spirit Dick Hallorann implies that the film's antagonists, a cult of psychic vampires, began as a group of Romani.
2018Carmen & LolaSpainA love story of two Romani lesbians.
2014-2019John Wick (franchise)USDir. : Chad Stahelski. John Wick (aka Jardani Jovonovich), is a Belarussian Ruska Roma.
2012The Dark Knight RisesUSRomani villain - Bane.[29]
2011Ghost Rider: Spirit of VengeanceUSDanny Ketch is the son of Mephistopheles, and a Romani thief named Nadya Ketch.
2011Sherlock Holmes: A Game of ShadowsUSThe film's female lead, Madame Simza Heron (Noomi Rapace), is Romani. Simza is searching for her brother, who've come under the influence of Professor Moriarty. Simza joins forces with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, after they seek her out at a Romani camp in France. When first introduced, Simza is shown to be working as a fortune teller. When an assassin, sent by Moriarty (fearing that her brother's told her something about his plans), tries to kill her, Simza proves herself a skilled fighter and knife thrower. In a conversation with Holmes, Simza reveals herself to once having been a member of an anarchist group (as had her brother), but had left when it had become too radical for her and her brother. After Moriarty commits an act of terror in Paris, Simza spots members of the National Gendarmerie questioning members of the public. She becomes nervous, due to her (being Romani) not having papers. Simza's tribe allies itself with Holmes and Watson, helping them across borders and delivering Moritarty's notebook to Dr. Watson's wife. Together with Holmes and Watson, Simza sets out to prevent her brother from committing an assassination, that could cause spark a war between the nations of Europa.
2010The WolfmanUSA group of Romani are camped outside a town in the film and blamed by the townspeople for the death of the main character's brother. The main character visits a fortune teller among them named Maleva, played by Geraldine Chaplin, who informs him of his brother's curse. Later on the titular Wolfman rampages in their camp.
2009Drag Me to HellUSDir. : Sam Raimi. Horror. An ambitious bank worker incurs the wrath of an elderly Romani woman (Sylvia Ganush), played by Lorna Raver, who places an ancient curse on her.[64]
2009KorkoroFranceA Romani family travels the roads of Vichy France during the Second World War. They learn that a new law forbids them from being nomadic. Depicts the rarely documented subject of Porajmos (the Romani Holocaust).
2008KhamsaFranceThe main character, Marco/Khamsa is half-Romani, half-Algerian. Most of the main characters are his Romani relatives, who live together in a camp in the city.
2008Filth and WisdomUK
Ukraine		Ukrainian Rom lives in London
2008Stone of DestinyUKScottish nationalists bury the Stone of Scone in a field. They return to find a Romanichal camp, and one barters with the Romany leader for the stone.
2006Children of MenUK
US		Features a gypsy woman called Marichka in the refugee camp. At one point when she is trying to help the mother and baby escape, Marichka and the woman engage in a tug of war with the baby, recalling the stereotype of gypsies stealing babies. Based on the P.D. James novel.
2006TransylvaniaFranceItalian girl pursues a gypsy violinist across Europe.
2006The Indian and the NurseCzech RepublicRomani nurse and non-Rom in love.
2005Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of ShamballaJapanRomani character Noa is pursued by Nazis.
2004Van HelsingUSKate Beckinsale plays Anna Valerious, a Princess whose father is identified as having been King of the Gypsies.
2003Japigia Gagi Roma StoriesItalyDocumentary by Giovanni Princigalli who lived one year in an illegal camp of Roms of Romania emigrated in Italy
2003HolesUSRomani friend.
2002SwingFrance
Japan		Max becomes friends with Swing, a boyish Romani girl, who shows him nature and takes him to exuberant music evenings.
2001Brotherhood of the WolfFranceSet during the French Revolution, the film features a group of Romani bandits and a witch as antagonists.
2001Gypsy WomanUKStarring Jack Davenport and Neve McIntosh.
2000ChocolatUK
France		Johnny Depp plays Rom love interest of mysterious chocolatier Juliette Binoche.
2000The Man Who CriedUK
France		Johnny Depp portrays Rom in France.
2000GeppettoUSTV Remake.
1998Train de VieFrance et alA group of fleeing Jews meet up with a large group of Roma.
1998Black Cat, White CatSerbiaRomani central characters.
1998The Red ViolinCanadaThe Romani takes the red violin across Europe from Vienna to Oxford over a century.
1997Gadjo diloFranceFrench lives with Romanies in Romania.
1997The HunchbackNew ZealandTV adaptation.
1996ThinnerUSMan cursed by Romanies after killing one. Early in the film, a young Romani woman pulls up her skirt, in public, and shows the main character her underwear.
1996The Hunchback of Notre DameUSAnimated adaptation.
1995Dracula: Dead and Loving ItUSAnne Bancroft portrays Madame Ouspenskaya, a parody of Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya), the Romani woman in The Wolf Man and Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man.
1995HauntedUKStarring Aidan Quinn and Kate Beckinsale, an old Romanichal fortune reads the palms of two characters.
1993Latcho DromFranceThe journey of the Romani people told through musicians and dancers of India, Egypt, Turkey, Romania, Hungry, Slovakia, France and Spain.
1992Bram Stoker's DraculaUSDracula's henchmen are gypsies.
1988Time of the GypsiesYugoslaviaTelekinetic Romani in realistic community at home, and in Italy.
1988The Raggedy RawneyUKStarring Dexter Fletcher and Zoë Wanamaker, about a young soldier who falls in with a gypsy camp.
1986Tras el cristalSpainDir.: Agustí Villaronga.
1983Angelo My LoveUSAll-Romani cast; dir.: Robert Duvall.
1982Corre, gitanoSpainRomanies from Granada and Seville.
1982The Hunchback of Notre DameUK
US		TV adaptation.
1979TsyganUSSRRomani's child was adopted by a Russian woman; after 17 years, a single old Romani man appears in the village and gains the respect and love of the boy, disturbing the peace of the family (Цыган).
1978King of the GypsiesUSGypsies in New York City come into conflict with modernity as they use ancient traditions to select their new king. Starring: Judd Hirsch, Eric Roberts, Susan Sarandon, and Brooke Shields.[65]
1977Count DraculaUKDracula's henchmen are gypsies.
1977The Hunchback of Notre DameUKTV adaptation.
1976Rosy DreamsCzechoslovakiaRomani and non-Romani lovers, societies.
1975Tabor ukhodit v NeboUSSRFree-spirited Gypsy central characters; US title: Queen of the Gypsies. Loosely based on short stories ("Makar Chudra" and "Old Izergil") by Maxim Gorky.
1970Count DraculaSpain
Italy
Germany
UK		Dracula's henchmen are gypsies.
1969The Valley of GwangiUSA tribe of gypsies try to dissuade the main characters from stealing prehistoric animals from the titular "Lost Valley" for their circus on the grounds that they will suffer a curse. Later, a member of the tribe frees the title character Gwangi from his cage.
1967I Even Met Happy GypsiesYugoslaviaRealistic Romani central characters.
1966Sky West and CrookedUKInspired by the novel The Gypsy and the Gentleman by D. H. Lawrence. A young girl played by Hayley Mills finds happiness and friendship with a young English Romany played by Ian McShane.
1963From Russia with LoveUKJames Bond in Gypsy camp in Turkey. Two Romani girls, both in love with the same man, fight each other either to the death (the fight is interrupted by an outside attack) or until one of them surrenders (with the loser being forever banished from the tribe). The local MI6 chief, Ali Kerim Bey (Pedro Armendáriz), identifies this act as "the Gypsy way". Bey notes that if both girls quit the fighting, the tribe's elders will decide which of the two gets to marry the man. However, the two girls are shown being unable to control themselves, when the non-violent option is given to them.
1961Babes in ToylandUSBarnaby's henchmen sells Tom (Tom Sands) to a Romani tribe (having heard that Romani people buy babies, and figure they might do the same for young Tom). Barnaby later hire the same tribe to provide entertainment for a wedding. The tribe performs a musical number, which romanticises Romani life. Among the tribe is Floretta, an old Romani fortune-teller, who reveals herself to be Tom in disguise.
1958Touch of EvilUSRomani fortune-teller.
1956The Hunchback of Notre DameFrance
Italy		Sound adaptation.
1955The Night of the HunterUSDrama.
1951My Favourite SpyUSComedy.
1950Gone to EarthUKRomani love interest.
1949SingoallaSweden
France		Romani people are depicted as uncivilised thieves. The film features many Romani actors (including future civil rights leader and writer Katarina Taikon), who all regretted participating in a racist movie.[66]
1949Black MagicUS
Italy		Romani character Balsamo in France.
1949The Queen of SpadesUKRussian gypsies.
1948The Loves of CarmenUSRita Hayworth is Carmen.
1948Secret Beyond the DoorUSMexican gypsies.
1947Folket i SimlångsdalenSwedenBased on Fredrik Ström's 1903 novel of the same name. Romani men are depicted as drunkards and fighters, who are prone to pulling out knives. Romani women are depicted as seductive, and ready to jump into bed with anyone.
1947Golden EarringsUSMarlene Dietrich is Hungarian Gypsy in Germany
1946CaravanUKAmerican marries Gypsy in Spain.
1944House of FrankensteinUSDr. Gustav Niemann and Daniel comes across a Romani camp, where Daniel falls in love with the Romani dancing girl Ilonka. Police officers drive away the Romani people, for stealing in the nearby village of Vasaria. When Ilonka refuses to give all the money, that she earned from dancing to the Romani man Fejos (and threatening to tell the police, that the stealing was done by him), he whips her. Daniel comes to her rescue and takes the unconscious Ilonka with him and Dr. Niemann. Ilonka does not return Daniel's feelings and falls in love with Larry Talbot. She becomes devoted to Larry, even after learning that he is a werewolf. Understanding that Larry's curse brings him nothing but misery, Ilonka forges a silver bullet. She tries to shoot him but cannot bring herself to it. Moments later, Larry transforms into the Wolf Man, and mortally wounds Ilonka. In self-defense, Ilonka shoots the Wolf Man, killing him. With the last of her strength, Ilonka crawls over to Larry and dies embracing him. Her death turns Daniel against Dr. Niemann.
1944Cry of the WerewolfUSRomani werewolves.
1944Gypsy WildcatUSRomani love interest.
1943I Mörkaste SmålandSwedenPotentially one of the most racist movies ever made in Sweden. A group of Romani moves into an empty cabin, against the wishes of the cabin's owner. The Romani are shown to steal, and do minor work for the local farmers (who fears what might happen, if they refuse the Romani). In the end, the farmers have had enough, and throw out the Romani (and their stolen goods). The film presents it as justice having been done.[67]
1943For Whom the Bell TollsUSRomani character Rafael in Spain.
1943Frankenstein Meets the Wolf ManUSAfter Larry Talbot is brought back to life, he seeks out Romani fortune-teller Maleva. Maleva takes pity on him, promising to take care of him and treat him like if he was her own son. Maleva travels with Larry to the villager of Vasaria, in hope of finding Dr. Frankenstein, who might be able to cure Larry. Larry turns into the Wolf Man and kills a girl. Angry villagers corners Maleva, who is arrested, but later released to help Baroness Elsa Frankenstein and Dr. Frank Mannering finding both Larry and The Frankenstein Monster.
1941The Wolf ManUSRomani fortune-teller. The film's main character becomes a werewolf, after being bitten by a werewolf (who was Romani).
1940PinocchioUSRomani villain - Stromboli (identified as Romani by "Honest" John Worthington Foulfellow).
1939The Hunchback of Notre DameUSSound adaptation.
1937HeidiUSGerman gypsies.
1936The Bohemian GirlUSComedy.
1935The Bride of FrankensteinUSThe Monster tries to get some food from gypsies.
1934The Little MinisterUSThe heroine poses as a romani.
1927The UnknownUSRomani love interest.
1923The Hunchback of Notre DameUSRomani woman Esmeralda helps the Hunchback. A flashback shows the infant Esmeralda being kidnapped by two Romani women. She is established as later having been bought from them by Clopin.
1917The Darling of ParisUSAdaptation of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. In this version, Esmeralda is depicted as a wealthy girl whom gypsies kidnapped at birth. The film ends with Esmeralda having been reunited with her wealthy family.
1916The VagabondUSEdna Purviance plays a young woman, who had been abducted by a Romani tribe when she was a young girl. The tribe uses her as a servant, with the Chieftain whipping her mercilessly. The Tramp (Charlie Chaplin), a begger, rescues her. During their escape, Chieftain attempts to drown the Tramp. Chaplin was himself of Romani heritage, which might have influenced the creation of the Tramp.[68]
1915CarmenUSGeraldine Farrar is Carmen.
1913The Gypsy QueenUSComedy short.
1913The Student of PragueGerman EmpireRomani love interest.
1905Rescued by RoverUKRomani villain: a begger woman, who steals a baby.[69]
1905EsmeraldaFranceThe oldest adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

See also

Explanatory notes
  1. Studies have found that most victims of human trafficking are members of ethnic minorities.[54]

References
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  2. Bardi, Abigail R. (2007). The Gypsy as Trope in Victorian and Modern British Literature. p. 65. ISBN 978-0549452898.
  3. MacKay, Marina, ed. (2009). The Cambridge companion to the literature of World War II. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-0521887557.
  4. (eds), Paola Pugliatti & Alessandro Serpieri (2008). English Renaissance scenes: from canon to margins (1. Aufl. ed.). Bern: Peter Lang. pp. 293–295. ISBN 978-3039110797. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  5. Reed, Toni (1999). Button, Marilyn Demarest (ed.). The foreign woman in British literature: exotics, aliens, and outsiders (1. publ. ed.). Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. pp. 152–155. ISBN 978-0313309281.
  6. Segal, [edited by] Vasiliie Demos, Marcia Texler (1994). Ethnic women: a multiple status reality. Dix Hills, N.Y.: General Hall. p. 52. ISBN 978-1882289233. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  7. Smith, Jerilyn. The marginalization of shadow minorities (Roma) and its impact on opportunities (Thesis). p. 90.
  8. Smith, Paul Julian (2000). The moderns: time, space, and subjectivity in contemporary Spanish culture (1. publ. ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 181. ISBN 978-0198160007.
  9. Malvinni, David (2004). The Gypsy caravan: from real Roma to imaginary Gypsies in Western music and film. New York, N.Y.: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415969994.
  10. Brunvand, edited by Jan Harold (1998). American folklore: an encyclopedia. New York: Routledge. p. 743. ISBN 978-0815333500. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  11. The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Joseph Allen Bryant
  12. When Romeo Met Juliet by Leslie Dunkling
  13. As You Like It by William Shakespeare Editorial Review - School Library Journal vol. 55 iss. 3 p. 171 (c) 3 January 2009
  14. E. K. Chambers. William Shakespeare: A Study of Facts and Problems, 2 vols., (Vol. 1, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1930)
  15. Shakespeare's Caliban: a cultural history by Alden T. Vaughan, Virginia Mason Vaughan 1993 Cambridge University Press
  16. Albert Kluyber, "Kalis and Calibon", trans. A. E. H. Swain. Englische Studien XXI (1895): 326-28; John Holland A Hystorical Survey of The Gypsies (London printed for the author 1816) p. 148; B.C. Smart and H. T. Crofton, eds., The Dialect of The English Gypsies 2nd ed., London 1875. p. 92.
  17. Marshall, Cass. "Wizards of the Coast is addressing racist stereotypes in Dungeons & Dragons". Polygon. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
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  19. Eury, Michael (2018). Back Issue #106. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 64.
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  21. Justice League of America's Vibe #2 (May, 2013)
  22. Justice League: Generation Lost #12 (October 2010)
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  25. "Obscura". Smallville. Season 1. Episode 20. 14 May 2002. The WB.
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  27. "Hourglass". Smallville. Season 1. Episode 6. 20 November 2001. The WB.
  28. "Hereafter". Smallville. Season 3. Episode 12. 4 February 2004. The WB.
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  33. Vision and the Scarlet Witch Vol 1 #4 (February, 1983)
  34. Scarlet Witch Vol 2 #4 (May, 2016)
  35. Avengers Vol 3 #8 (September, 1998)
  36. Avengers Vol 3 #1 (February, 1998)
  37. Avengers Vol 3 #5 (June, 1998)
  38. Avengers Vol 3 #10 (November, 1998)
  39. X-Men Vol 1 #4 (March 1964)
  40. Avengers Vol 1 #16 (May, 1965)
  41. Fantastic Four Vol 1 #240 (March, 1982)
  42. Vision and the Scarlet Witch Vol 2 #12 (September, 1986)
  43. Avengers West Coast Vol 2 #52 (December, 1989)
  44. Avengers: The Children's Crusade #2-3 (Marvel Comics, 2011).
  45. Mighty World of Marvel #14-15 (UK)
  46. X-Men: Colossus Bloodline #1 (November, 2005)
  47. Dracula #2 (July, 1973)
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  49. "Doomsday". Fantastic Four. Season 2. Episode 26. 24 February 1996. First-run syndication.
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  51. Abad-Santos, Alexander (3 October 2013). "The Problem With 'The Avengers' Casting Scarlet Witch as a Blonde". The Atlantic. Retrieved 19 March 2022.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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  56. Dobreva, Nikolina (2009). The Case of the Traveling Dancer: Romani Representation from the 19th Century European Literature to Hollywood Film and Beyond, University of Massachusetts (Ph.D. dissertation), pp. 209–213
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  59. "Behind Us, a Cliff". 1883. Season 1. Episode 2. December 2021. Paramount+.
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  62. "The Crossing". 1883. Season 1. Episode 4. January 2022. Paramount+.
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  64. Sumner, Don (2010). Horror Movie Freak. Krause Publications. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-4402-0824-9. Drag me To Hell directed by Sam Raimi gypsy.
  65. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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