Despite a nostalgic romanticisation of gentlemanliness, the fin-de-siècle adventure story raised questions about the concept of heroic masculinity and the licence to act without restraint overseas. Contemporary arguments, which situated the pursuit of knowledge alongside debates on the march of ‘civilisation’, influenced the attitude of the adventurer. The link between civilisation and knowledge legitimatised imperialism but also provided a space to enact a visible gendered performance. This gendered performance includes what is displayed upon the person; imperial power was not just related to action but also reflects an exterior image of Victorian gentlemanliness. Conan Doyle’s adventurers in The Lost World (1912) raise the question of whether endowing the heroic body with weaponry creates a corporeal sign that engenders violence and an interplay between ‘transgression’ and empowerment. Does a militant construction of identity fabricate a license for aggressive performance as part of that gendered act? And is the identity of the adventure hero bolstered by the material items of his adventures abroad or is he displaced by them? The display of material items in the home may serve to reinforce the image of a man as imperial adventurer, but, as the final section questions, are they enough to cement his reputation and his identity as an English gentleman-hero?