Parker (Leverage)

Parker is a thief on the show Leverage, one of the criminals recruited by washed-up insurance agent Nate Ford to join his crew of modern-day Robin Hoods. Like most characters on the show, there's a lot of gaps in her backstory. We do know that she has been a thief since childhood, that she had a mentor with the improbable name of Archie Leach (Richard Chamberlain), and that she lived some of her life in foster care. We don't know if Parker is her first name, her last name, or an alias.
Parker is a woman who presents herself with what is, for US television, a very nontraditional gender performance as well as an awkward socialization. John Rogers, the show runner, has made several comments about limiting the number of times Parker wore a dress on the show."my badass uber-thief is a blonde we put in a dress precisely once a season" Tap Out Job Post Game John Rogers on Kung Fu Monkey, accessed April 3, 2011 A running joke in several episodes is her unfamiliarity with high-heeled shoes. 
Fans got to see where Parker lives in the episode, The Inside Job. Her "lair" is a nearly unfurnished windowless warehouse-style building with a stockpile of her favourite foods. 
She expresses a comfort level with violence very close to Eliot Spencer's.
==Fandom==
Parker is a quirky, unusual character, with a very unusual background. Fan reaction to her is largely positive, often because of her nontraditional femininity and her unusual socialization. Many fans choose to read her as asexual, non-neurotypical, or a survivor of abuse to account for various aspects of her characterization on the show. 
Parker has a friendly relationship with both Alec Hardison and Eliot Spencer, and the three appear as a cohesive unit in canon and in gen works and as a threesome in many poly-themed works. 
In the early days of the show, there was some one-sided UST between her and Alec Hardison, but Parker seemed entirely oblivious and disinterested. Many fans jumped on the Alec/Parker ship anyway, but at first there was actually more Eliot/Parker fic around. Eventually the show made the UST a lot less one-sided and a self-declared dating relationship developed between Parker and Hardison. The popularity of Alec/Parker has risen along with the increase in attention to the ship in canon.
The femslash ship of Parker/Sophie is also popular, and there's a small number of fanworks pairing Parker with the friend she made as Alice White, Peggy, as well as Parker/Maggie and Parker/Tara. 
==Example Fanworks==
===Fanart===
* by greentealycheejelly, 2024
===Fanfic===
*The Not Your Teaching Tool Job by BlackEyedGirl. Parker doesn't understand why it has to be more complicated than: "I want to be with you, I just don't want to sleep with you." It's everyone else who has the problem. (Parker as a biromantic asexual).
*Like You Want To Believe by notthebigspoon. Parker/Peggy.
*Fall Stories by thingswithwings. Parker (Alice)/Peggy, Parker/Sophie. Parker likes being Alice, but she likes being Parker too.
*Faint Heart Never Won Fair Lady by hackthis. Parker/Maggie. 
*The Underwire Job by brown_betty and Emerald Woman. Parker/Hardison, eventually a Parker/Hardison/Eliot threesome). Parker recruits Eliot to help her get her man.
===Meta===
* (2011)
===Other===
==References==
Category:Leverage