Nick Carter, King of Detectives, was based out of an apartment on Madison Avenue in New York City and later out of Manchester. He was the son of detective Sim Carter, who taught him investigation techniques from a young age, and turned him into a fine physical specimine. Nick took on one of his father's cases, disguised as his father, to locate Mabel Livingston, the daughter of a banker. In the course of the investigation, his father was murdered. Nick felt compelled to follow in his father's footsteps.

Soon after his first case, Nick married Ethel Dalton and had a son named Ralph. Ralph was kidnapped by Nick's enemies and and taken to the Asian kingdom of Kurm, forcing Nick to travel half way around the world to save him. Ethel was later murdered in a hit ordered by a jealous Dazaar. It doesn't seem that Nick ever re-married. There are mentions of him having two children, possibly twin sons.

Nick generally kept a low profile and was a master of disguise. In fact, he spent so much time in disguise, only the people closest to him actually knew what he looked like. He used a few standard alternate identities including Detective Harvey Jones, Joshua Juniper and Thomas "Old Thunderbolt" Bolt (a shaggy old country detective).

Nick carried a tool kit and simple disguises with him at all times. He also kept guns up his sleeves, on spring activated devices, in addition to two other revolvers. He rarely drank or smoked, he would never swear, and he was not fond of pretense. Although only 5'4", he was tough and athletic, with at least one early description stating that he could "lift a horse with ease, and that too, while a heavy man is seated in the saddle" and "he can place four packs of playing cards together, and tear them in halves between his thumbs and fingers." He was nicknamed, "The Little Giant."

Nick had considerable resources, starting his own detective school, and owning several houses and a yacht called "The Gull." His mansion on Madison Avenue acted as a headquarters for his detective agency, and was even designed to hold prisoners that Nick wasn't ready to run over to the police. In the early days, Nick and his friends sometimes operated a little outside the law, breaking into places and searching them without a warrant and things of that nature.

Nick tracked down many master criminals, including his arch-enemy Dr. Quartz, Zanoni, The Woman Wizard, Dazaar, The Arch-Fiend, Zigomar, Raffles (Lord Lister), Fantômas and Al Capone. Other enemies included Baroness Latour, Burton Quintard, Dan Derrington, The Danley Brothers, The Bulwer Sisters, Jimmy Duryea, Scylla the Sea Robber and Zanabyah, among many, many others.

All published appearances of Nick Carter from before January 1, )-(95)}} are public domain in the US.

* The Old Detective’s Pupil; or, The Mysterious Crime of Madison Square by Nick Carter (1886)
* Wall Street Haul; Or, A Bold Stroke For A Fortune (1887)
* Fighting Against Millions; Or, The Detective in the Jewel Caves of Kurm (1889)
* Nick Carter Detective Library, No. 1: The Solution of a Remarkable Case (1891)
* Nick Carter Detective Library, No. 2: Nick Carter’s Quick Work Or, A Queen of Counterfeiters (1891)
* The Mystery of St. Agnes' Hospital (1893)
* * The Diamond Dealer’s Dilemmaby Nick Carter (ss) ''New York Weekly'' February 8 1896
* The Crime of the French Café and Other Stories (1900)
* Nick Carter’s Pullman Plot, or, Following a Chance Clew (nv), ''Nick Carter Weekly'' June 21 1902, "
* With Links of Steel (1904)
* *The Four-Fingered Glove by Nick Carter (1904)
* The Great Spy System (1907)
* A Woman at Bay (1907)
* An Uncanny Revenge, by Chickering Carter (by Samuel C. Spalding) (na) ''Nick Carter Stories'' December 26 1914
* The Call of Death, by Chickering Carter (by Frederick W. Davis) (na) ''Nick Carter Stories'' January 2 1915
* The Suicide, by Chickering Carter (by Frederick W. Davis) (na) ''Nick Carter Stories'' January 9 1915
* Half a Million Ransom by Chickering Carter (by Frederick W. Davis) (na) ''Nick Carter Stories'' January 16 1915
* *Won by Magic by Chickering Carter (by George C. Jenks)(na) ''Nick Carter Stories'' March 27 1915
* The Secret of Shangore, by Chickering Carter (by George C. Jenks) (na) ''Nick Carter Stories'' April 3 1915
* Straight to the Goal, by Chickering Carter (by George C. Jenks) (na) ''Nick Carter Stories'' April 10 1915
* The Seal of Gijon, by Chickering Carter (by George C. Jenks) (na) ''Nick Carter Stories'' April 24 1915
* * The Pressing Peril by Chickering Carter (by Frederick W. Davis) (na) ''Nick Carter Stories'' May 8 1915
* The Sultan’s Pearls, by Chickering Carter (by George C. Jenks) (na) ''Nick Carter Stories'' June 5 1915
* An Unsolved Mystery, by Chickering Carter (by Frederick W. Davis) (na) ''Nick Carter Stories'' June 19 1915
* A Network of Crime, by Chickering Carter (by Frederick W. Davis) (na) ''Nick Carter Stories'' July 17 1915
* * Paying the Price by Chickering Carter(by Frederick W. Davis) (na) ''Nick Carter Stories'' June 26 1915,
* The Forced Crime, by Chickering Carter (by George C. Jenks) (na) ''Nick Carter Stories'' August 7 1915
* Blood Will Tell, byChickering Carter (by Frederick W. Davis) (na) ''Nick Carter Stories'' September 4 1915
* A Human Counterfeit, by Chickering Carter (by Frederick W. Davis) (na) ''Nick Carter Stories'' September 11 1915
* The Blue Veil, by Chickering Carter (by Frederick W. Davis) (na) ''Nick Carter Stories'' September 18 1915
* Driven from Cover, by Chickering Carter (by Frederick W. Davis) (na) ''Nick Carter Stories'' September 25 1915
* The Yellow Label; or, Nick Carter and the Society Looters, biy Nick Carter (by Samuel C. Spalding) (sl) ''Detective Story Magazine'' November 5 1915, etc.
* The Amphitheater Plot, biy Nick Carter (by Samuel C. Spalding) (sl) ''Detective Story Magazine'' December 5 1915, etc.
* Death in Life, biy Nick Carter (by Samuel C. Spalding ,[?]) (sl) ''Detective Story Magazine'' April 5 1916, etc.
* The Cleopatra Bracelet, by Sergeant Ryan (by George C. Jenks) (ss) ''Detective Story Magazine'' April 20 1916
* Seeing Through a Ghost, by Sergeant Ryan (by George C. Jenks) (ss) ''Detective Story Magazine'' May 5 1916
* Double-Crossed, by Sergeant Ryan (by George C. Jenks) (ss) ''Detective Story Magazine'' May 20 1916
* Through the Tubes, by Sergeant Ryan (by George C. Jenks) (ss) ''Detective Story Magazine'' July 5 1917
* Nick Carter’s Sealed Crime, biy Nick Carter (by George C. Jenks) (sl) ''Detective Story Magazine'' August 23 1924, etc.
* The Fifth Shot, biy Nick Carter (by George C. Jenks) (nv) ''Detective Story Magazine'' October 18 1924
* Nick Carter’s Triple Clew, biy Nick Carter (by George C. Jenks) (nv) ''Detective Story Magazine'' December 6 1924
* The Gold-Spoon Clew, biy Nick Carter (by George C. Jenks) (ss) ''Detective Story Magazine'' February 21 1925
* Nick Carter’s Double Poison Mystery, biy Nick Carter (by George C. Jenks) (nv) ''Detective Story Magazine'' April 11 1925
* Dr. Quartz Returns, by Chickering Carter (by Johnston McCulley) (nv) ''Detective Story Magazine'' December 11 1926 [''Doctor Quartz'']
* Nick Carter Corners Doctor Quartz, by Nick Carter (by Johnston McCulley) (nv) ''Detective Story Magazine'' December 25 1926 [''Doctor Quartz'']
* Nick Carter’s Danger Trail, biy Nick Carter (by Johnston McCulley) (nv) ''Detective Story Magazine'' January 22 1927 [''Doctor Quartz'']
* Nick Carter and the Shadow Woman, biy Nick Carter (by Edward L. Bacon) (ss) ''Detective Story Magazine'' January 29 1927
* Nick Carter and the Black Cat, biy Nick Carter (by Edward L. Bacon) (ss) ''Detective Story Magazine'' April 2 1927
* Nick Carter Dies, biy Nick Carter (by Edward L. Bacon) (ss) ''Detective Story Magazine'' May 14 1927

* Nick Carter, le roi des détectives (1908)
* Les nouveaux exploits de Nick Carter (1909)
* Zigomar contre Nick Carter (1912)
* The Hotel in Chicago (1920)
* The Passenger in the Straitjacket (1922)
* Women Who Commit Adultery (1922)
* Only One Night (1922)

*All published appearances of Nick Carter from before January 1, )-(95)}} are public domain in the US.
*Nick Carter was a pen name at Street & Smith used by Edward L. Bacon (fl. 1900s-1920s), William G. Bogart (1903-1977), John A. L. Chambliss (1906-1991), John R. Coryell (1851-1924), Frederick W. Davis (1858-1933), Frederic Van Rensselaer Dey (1861-1922), Thomas Henderson (fl. 1930s), W. C. Hudson (1843-1915), George C. Jenks (1850-1929), Dennis Lynds (1924-2005), Thomas Calvert McClary (1909-1972), Johnston McCulley (1883-1958), William L. Rohde (1918-2000), Martin Cruz Smith (1942- ), Samuel C. Spalding (1878-1962), John Stevenson (1926-1994), Manning Lee Stokes (1911-1976), George Warren (1934-2009) & Richard Wormser (1908-1977), with many of his narratives being in the first person, some stories did not have identified authors..
*Chick Chickering Carter, or simply Chick, was a juvenile sidekick who later carried on Nick Carter's legacy. Chickering Carter was also used as a pen name at Street & Smith, like Nick, employed by Frederick W. Davis (1858-1933), George C. Jenks (1850-1929) & Samuel C. Spalding (1878-1962).
*Nick Carter first appeared in the story paper New York Weekly (Vol. 41 No. 46, September 18, 1886) in a 13-week serial, "The Old Detective's Pupil; or, The Mysterious Crime of Madison Square"; the character was conceived by Ormond G. Smith, the son of one of the founders of Street & Smith, and realized by John R. Coryell. Coryell retired from writing Nick Carter novels and the series was taken over by Frederick Van Rensselaer Dey, who wrote 1,076 novels and stories from 1890 until his suicide in 1922. The character proved popular enough to headline its own magazine, Nick Carter Weekly. The serialized stories in Nick Carter Weekly were also reprinted as stand-alone titles under the New Magnet Library imprint. By 1915, Nick Carter Weekly had ceased publication and Street & Smith had replaced it with Detective Story Magazine, which focused on a more varied cast of characters. There was a brief attempt at reviving Carter in 1924–27 in Detective Story Magazine, but it was not successful.
*In 1937, Nick Carter starred in a newspaper strip by Brazilian Renato Silva in the comic book ''O Suplemento Juvenil''.
*Nick Carter is considered one of the characters that inspired Doc Savage, also released by Street & Smith. Like Carter, Savage was trained by his own father in several areas. Henry Stone, the protagonist of Philip Wylie's ''The Savage Gentleman'' (1932), shares this same past. While Nick and Doc follow a heroic path, fighting crime and becoming icons of pulp literature, Henry, though equally prepared, faces personal and existential dilemmas, without assuming the traditional heroic role.

*Wikipedia
*[http://www.comicvine.com/nick-carter/29-62816/ ComicVine]
*[https://www.comics.org/feature/8889/ GCD]
*[https://www.oocities.org/jessnevins/carter.html Jess Nevins I]
*[http://jessnevins.com/pulp/pulpc/carter10.html Jess Nevins II]
*[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/4161 Project Gutenberg]
*[http://gadetection.pbworks.com/w/page/7930181/Carter%2C%20Nick gadetection]
*[https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/47972.Nick_Carter GoodReads]
*[https://detectivenickcarter.omeka.net/ The Nick Carter Detective Series]
*[http://www.philsp.com/homeville/CFI/l00017.htm#A7 Galactic Central]
*[http://www.guiadosquadrinhos.com/personagem/nick-carter/3495 Guia dos Quadrinhos]
*[https://thrillingdetective.com/2020/04/20/nick-carter/ Thrilling Detective]
*[http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/nick-carter/ Fantastic Fiction]
*[http://www.manybooks.net/authors/cartern.html Manybooks]
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