Detective Inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte is a fictional character created by Australian novelist Arthur Upfield (1890–1964).
[1] Bony is a biracial Aboriginal Australian detective with a reputation for solving difficult cases by finding subtle clues.
Upfield said that he based the character on Tracker Leon, a biracial Aboriginal Australian man who worked for the Queensland Police.
He applies his astounding tracking skills to crime investigation, and has earned a peerless reputation for solving cases.
Occasionally, Queensland's criminal investigation department sends him on assignment to another jurisdiction in Australia, if a murder case there stymies the local authorities.
Bony says that he has been sacked several times for disobeying direct orders from his superiors (most usually Col. Spendor), but adds that he is always reinstated almost immediately.
While working in the late 1920s on his second 'Bony' novel, published in 1931 as The Sands of Windee, Arthur Upfield discussed plot ideas with his outback companions.
New Zealand actor James Laurenson, a white man, played Bonaparte wearing dark makeup.
The pilot film depicted the titular protagonist (here named David John Bonaparte) as the grandson of the original Bony.