This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Grahamr: So...Can I ask why you used a racial slur to refer to henchmen? I mean it does kind of sound cool but I don't want Italians getting offended because of TV Tropes.Org.
Silent Hunter: There's a great dedication for Guards! Guards! (a Discworld novel), which refers to Mooks. I don't remember the exact quote though.
Robert: It's 'They may be called the Palace Guard, the City Guard, or the patrol. Whatever the name, their purpose in any work of heroic fantasy is identical: it is, round about Chapter Three (or ten minutes into the film) to rush into the room, attack the hero one at a time, and be slaughtered. No one ever asks them if they wanted to. This book is dedicated to those fine men.'
Silent Hunter: Thank you.
Furby100: Does mook rhyme with book or with kook?
Adrian: Mook rhymes with kook. There's an amusing exchange in the Movie "Mean Streets" where a gangster gets called out for being a mook, and it starts a brawl.
Somfin: Finally got an Anime example up. But I'm certain there must be more, especially in supernatural shows.
Does anyone still know where the trope name came from? —Document N
Floating Root Beer: After a quick Google, it seems "mook" actually came from "moke" or "mamaluke", a slur against Italians, and became a slang word for a stupid ineffectual person. It probably became gained this trope's meaning from a Usenet group or a sci-fi fandom.
