rogues' gallery

Noun

rogues' gallery (plural rogues' galleries)

1. (historical) A set of pictures of convicted or suspected criminals used in law enforcement investigations to help witnesses identify suspects.
   • Near-synonym: lineup
   • If there is good reason [for the police] to suspect him, they take his picture before they let him go, and then they tell him that he must be very careful and behave well, for they have his picture, and will remember him if he does not. Then they put the picture up in the rogues' gallery among the...1866, “Readings for the Young: The Rogues’ Gallery”, in The Christian Treasury […], Edinburgh: Johnstone, Hunter, & Co.; London: Groombridge & Sons, →OCLC, page 323

   Synonyms:

   lineup

2. (broadly) A group of people having the same (usually disreputable) characteristics.
   • In 1919, when Charles E. White began the task of collecting a sort of rogues' gallery of the measurements and family particularities of all makes and models of revolvers and pistols, in the hope of better identification of bullets in murder cases, it seemed a relatively simple enterprise.1925 June 20, Wesley W. Stout, “Fingerprinting Bullets: The Silent Witness”, in The Saturday Evening Post, volume 197, number 51, Philadelphia, Pa.; London: Curtis Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC...
   • By 1859, D. Morier Evans was exhibiting [George] Hudson as the principal character in his rogues' gallery entitled "Facts, Failures and Frauds"; and at the hands of modern economic historians he has been written down as a common swindler.1951 December, Michael Robbins, “John Francis’s ‘History of the English Railway’”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 800
3. (broadly) A set of supervillains associated with a particular superhero franchise.
   • It is still perhaps the most important decade in Spider-Man's comic book career. The 1960s not only saw the birth of the fabled wall-crawler himself, but they also ushered in one of the greatest rogues galleries in the history of comic books.2012, Matthew K. Manning, Tom DeFalco, “The 1960s”, in Spider-Man: Inside the World of Your Friendly Neighborhood Hero, New York, N.Y.: DK Publishing, →ISBN, page 56
   • Both shows have huge, larger-than-life rogues' galleries, unforgettable core casts, and, of course, those banger theme songs.2024 November, Ed Brisson, quotee, “Dynamite Dispatch: Writer Ed Brisson Reflects on the Action-filled Future of the Silverhawks!”, in Joe Casey, Jonny Quest, volume 1, number 4, Mt. Laurel, N.J....