History Main / ArmyOfThievesandWhores

Less optimistic portrayals will feature "penal battalions" where criminals and the dregs of society such as thieves and whores will be conscripted into the military and sent out as [[WeHaveReserves cannon fodder]], or at least be TradingBarsForStripes (see also BoxedCrook). They will be also be prone to RapePillageAndBurn, because, after all, since it includes hardcore and depraved criminals, this means that terrorizing the populace (preferably from foreign nations), robbing them of their belongings, and keeping prisoners for their own sick amusement is considered normal routine for them (unless there is someone, a TokenGoodTeammate, who can attempt to keep them in check, keyword, ''attempt'').

* ''Series/GekisouSentaiCarranger'': The Bowzocks are pretty much the bad guys from ''Film/BlazingSaddles'' JustForFun/InSPACE, being an army of alien criminals hired to depopulate the Earth [[Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy to make way for a hyperspace highway]].

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': The eponymous team consists of a hyperactive Bostonian hoodlum, an Australian game hunter turned assassin ([[InsistentTerminology not a crazed gunman!]]), a delusional, nigh-anonymous pyromaniac [[TheFaceless dressed in an all-concealing jumpsuit]], a [[BloodKnight crazed civilian & serial killer]] who believes he's a soldier, a chain-smoking French quintuple-agent, [[HerrDoktor a saw-wielding German quack with mad scientist tendencies]], a [[ViolentGlaswegian drunken Scottish swordsman]] & [[DemolitionsExpert explosives expert]], a Russian bear-wrestler with a [[ChainsawGripBFG huge handheld minigun]], and a shotgun-toting GadgeteerGenius Texan with a robot arm. The last one is the sanest of the group, and he ''cut off his own hand to attach a robotic replacement to the stump'', which speaks volumes about the rest.

* ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper'' let's you recruit all sorts of criminals who didn't fit in the Overworld society. [[EvilSorceror Warlocks]] and [[TooKinkyToTorture Dark Mistresses]], then {{Black Knight}}s, [[OurElvesAreDifferent Dark Elves]] and [[LoveableRogue Rogues]] in the sequel.

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': The eponymous team consists of a hyperactive Bostonian hoodlum, an Australian game hunter turned assassin (not a crazed gunman!), a delusional, nigh-anonymous pyromaniac [[TheFaceless dressed in an all-concealing jumpsuit]], a crazed civilian & serial killer who believes he's a soldier, a chain-smoking French quintuple-agent, [[HerrDoktor a saw-wielding German quack with mad scientist tendencies]], a drunken Scottish swordsman & explosives expert, a Russian bear-wrestler with a [[ChainsawGripBFG huge handheld minigun]], and a shotgun-toting GadgeteerGenius Texan with a robot arm. The last one is the sanest of the group, and he ''cut off his own hand to attach a robotic replacement to the stump'', which speaks volumes about the rest.

* The Black Dog Knights of ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'' were made up of the worst criminals of all of Midland. They were so bad that they were sent to a distant prison on the border of the kingdom for their war crimes. They're headed by a nasty piece of work of an Apostle by the name of Wyald, who has the distinction of being the worst {{Serial Rapist}} in the series.
* In ''Manga/BlackClover'', the [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Black Bulls]] are comprised of former delinquents, people who've run away from their homes and people who've been rejected by their families. Somewhat {{justified|Trope}} in that, when [[TheLeader Yami]] was made a Captain and allowed to start his own Magic Knight squad, he explicitly intended to start a squad for people who couldn't belong anywhere else.
* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', the original Gotei 13 consisted of the thirteen most vile and dangerous criminals in Soul Society. The current version has cleaned up their act a bit, but they still have some very colorful characters in their ranks, like Yumichika, the very definition of AgentPeacock, Unohana, a kind healer who scares the absolute bejeebus out of everyone [[spoiler: because she's one of the aforementioned 13 criminals]], the womanizing Kyoraku, and the chronically ill Ukitake. And then there's Kenpachi, who Soul Society hasn't executed only because [[NighInvulnerable they still can't figure out how]], and Mayuri, who ''actually was'' imprisoned, but paroled because, [[MadScientist eccentricities aside]], his loyalty and scientific genius makes him too valuable an asset to do away with.
* In ''Manga/DarkGathering'', Yayoi is building an army of evil spirits, specifically focusing on ones that are powerful and actively malicious. As most of them have large body counts, she can freely threaten them with torture to keep them in line or use their [[VoodooDoll doll bodies to absorb damage dealt to her team]].

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', CorruptCorporateExecutive Gato uses an army of mercenaries and thugs to keep a leash on the general populace in the Land of Waves.

* Askeladd's mercenary band in ''Manga/VinlandSaga'' consists of dregs and raiders who couldn't even find a lord to serve. Thorkell's band is more of a BloodKnight version, consisting of veteran warriors united in their admiration of their commander and their desire to find a good fight. [[spoiler:The two eventually come to blows. Askeladd's group rebels against him, leading Thorkell to [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves kill them all]].]]

* The [[TropeNamers name comes from]] the rebel army raised against the tsar in ''ComicBook/NikolaiDante'', which does indeed consist mostly of robbers, prostitutes, pirates, and various people the tsars have trodden on.
* Each iteration of the ''ComicBook/RoughRiders'' is composed of people who are simultaneously extraordinary and distressingly radical, including mobsters, anarchists, and at least one zombie.
* The protagonists of ''ComicBook/UniversalWarOne'' are the Purgatory squadron, almost entirely made of officers on trial for various crimes. They are given a second chance, but can be sent back to court martial at the slightest sign of reoffending.

* The [[VillainProtagonist Nightmare Pirates]] of ''Fanfic/TheButcherBird'' basically consist of this, being pirates and drawing most of their ranks from smugglers, murderers, criminals, and the various scum of society. [[spoiler: They also end up being part of an even larger example of this trope by forming a massive pirate alliance.]]

* In ''Fanfic/EquestriaDivided'', most of the [[CircusOfFear Cult of Laughter's]] infantry units are either [[MonsterClown psychotic cultists slash clowns]] or [[MindRape insane townsfolk]]. [[OneNationUnderCopyright House Whitegold]], on the other hand, has the Whitegold Militia and Sapphire Sirens units, which are what you get when the thieves and whores get an actual military budget.

* A villainous example in ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls''. Combine [[HiredGuns the biggest and most famous mercenary group]] in Eostia with any traditional AlwaysChaoticEvil fantasy races you can think of (orcs, goblins, ogres, you name it), you have a huge one of these that persists for more than 30 chapters of the story, not including the AbortedArc of Thorn and beyond. RapePillageAndBurn is the main M.O. of this army to realise Vault's dream of a Sex Empire.

* Because he can't recruit enough sailors to risk a voyage to the dangerous island of Colossa, Sinbad in ''Film/The7thVoyageOfSinbad'' has the bright idea to recruit criminals who were sentenced to be hanged. [[spoiler: They almost immediately mutiny and plan on using Sinbad's ship to become pirates.]]
* The narrator of ''Film/BarryLyndon'' describes the lower ranks of the Prussian Army as this.

* Hedley Lamarr organizes an evil version of one of these for the climactic battle in ''Film/BlazingSaddles''.

* In the French war movie ''Film/CaptainConan'' (1996), the title character commands a unit of trench raiders which includes recruits from military prisons. Part of the plot involves a court-martial when several of these soldiers use the skills they've learnt to rob a nightclub.

* [[Creator/NormMacdonald Norm [=MacDonald=]]]'s character from ''Film/DirtyWork'' at the end has a crack team assembled of senior citizens, homeless dudes, and "my loyal army of prostitutes", the latter two of which counted as a ChekhovsGun each.

* The Ravagers in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'' are a motley gang of SpacePirates whose only rule is to steal from everyone. In the climax of the film, they've been convinced to help the heroes take down the BigBad.
* G-rated version in ''Film/MuppetTreasureIsland''. [[spoiler:Most of them turn out to be full-on villains with only Long John Silver standing out as AffablyEvil, except Sweetums, who sides with Captain Kermit.]]

* The Viking band from ''Film/TheNorthman'' is introduced killing a fisherman and his son for no reason. The raid on the Slavic village is even more brutal, featuring wanton violence, including against [[WouldHitAGirl women]] and [[WouldHurtAChild children]], and burning people alive more or less ForTheEvulz.
* In ''Film/TheRibaldTalesOfRobinHood'', Robin's band is comprised of thieves and camp followers, which is even commented on by Prince John.
* In ''Film/RoboCop3'' [=McDaggett=], the boss of [=OCP=]'s armed force, orders the police to assist in evicting the populace of an entire district by force. The officers refuse and resign en masse. [=McDaggett=] decides the city's lowlives will do just fine and proceeds to assemble a small army of them and attack. They're quite successful against the armed resistance, thanks to being equipped with body armor and heavy weapons (plus OCP had a tank), but then [=RoboCop=] shows up and slaughters the lot.
* In ''Film/RockyMountain'', the Confederate soldiers are under secret orders from General Robert E. Lee to meet with outlaw Cole Smith, who allegedly commands 500 bandits, in order to persuade him to bring them into the war on the side of the South.

* The slave army in ''Film/{{Spartacus}}'' qualifies as this trope. In this case, however, the army loses.
* In ''Film/XXxStateOfTheUnion'', to counter the treasonous GeneralRipper's highly trained team of Marines, Darius gathers the local car-jacking outfit and arms them with weapons (then a tank they jacked). It's even lampshaded: "The fate of the free world in the hands of a bunch of hustlers and thieves." Kyle quips back, "Why should tonight be any different?"

* Played with in the Roman army in ''Literature/BelisariusSeries''. While it clearly has quite a few elements of this in it, and sometimes requires [[OffWithHisHead rigorous persuasion]] from Belisarius to keep them from indulging in war crimes, when put to it they can also act in an honorable enough manner to [[WorthyOpponent impress]] [[ProudWarriorRace Rajputs.]]

* Temujin's (Genghis Khan's) forces in ''[[Literature/{{Conqueror}} Wolf of the Plains]]'' starts out as one of these, as he initially builds up his forces by recruiting the various outcasts and nomads who would otherwise have nobody to stand with.
* Another literal example in ''Literature/DarkOnesMistress'', with the ruler's army who are also TheSoulless.
* The army John brings to fight the Crusades in ''Literature/DirgeForPresterJohn''. They're the cream of Pentexore, but they have no idea how to form an actual army.

* Done literally in ''Literature/TheElenium''. With the Church Knights and regular army away to fight the bad guys, the local thieves' guild is recruited to defend the city.
* In the ''Literature/{{Emberverse}}'', Norman Arminger recruits motorcycle gang members into his army to act as enforcers, and become part of his aristocracy, while establishing the Portland Protective Association.
* Gaius Marius' legion in ''Emperor: The Gates of Rome'' is viewed by the more conservative Romans due to Marius abolishing the land requirement for entry, bringing in numerous poor citizens who otherwise would have had no means of supporting themselves. [[AFatherToHisMen And they love him for it]]. In the second book, Spartacus' slave army also qualifies.
* The Ogre Company from ''Literature/InTheCompanyOfOgres'' are all employees of the Brute's Legion who were ReassignedToAntarctica for being the bottom of the barrel. The fact that Ned has to whip them into shape in a year lest his boss eats him is the IncitingIncident of the story.
* Since Marius also appears in the ''Literature/MastersOfRome'' series, his legion fulfills a very similar role and plays a key role in the first book.
* In ''Literature/TheNightAngelTrilogy'', in the second and third books [[spoiler: Logan]] essentially puts this together. Some of them become his bodyguards, others go back to the life they had for a bit, but mostly, he does this to redeem the once crime-ridden country and give it hope for a corruption light future.

* Creator/MichaelMoorcock's short story "To Rescue Tanelorn". Narjhan raises an army of beggars from Nadsokor and leads them to attack the city of Tanelorn.
* Victoria's newborn army in ''[[Literature/Eclipse2007 Eclipse]]''. She basically turned whoever she could find. It doesn't work.
* In ''Literature/UnLunDun'', Deeba's army of rebels starts with the... extreme shoppers, and works its way up from there.
* Deconstructed with the Division Numero Uno in ''Literature/{{Victoria}}''. In this dystopian setting, a near-future America has grown so hopelessly decayed and corrupt that the Federal Government has to supplement its forces with literal deputized gangsters to put down rebellions against it, and the Division is the most famous such unit. It turns out, however, not to be very competent as a military force, degenerating into a [[RapePillageAndBurn drunken rampage]] as it is deployed against the LaResistance in upstate New England, and its excessive brutality ends up alienating most of the government's remaining supporters in the region.
* The 108 Stars of Destiny in ''Literature/TheWaterMargin'' are one of the oldest examples of this trope. Generally, they're a bunch of disgraced noblemen, thieves, killers, pirates, monks, murderers, and bandits recruited from all across China.

* The Bowzocks from ''Series/GekisouSentaiCarranger'' are pretty much the bad guys from ''Film/BlazingSaddles'' JustForFun/InSPACE, being an army of alien criminals hired to depopulate the Earth [[Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy to make way for a hyperspace highway]].
* The eponymous Shtrafbat (penal battalion) of the Russian TV series ''Series/{{Shtrafbat}}''. The first company is made up of criminal convicts and the second company is made up of political convicts. [[DownerEnding Very few survive in the end.]]
* The Maquis in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' and ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' is a milder example. Sure, there are people like Chakotay, Cal Hudson, and Michael Eddington who deeply believe the cause is just and noble. But there are also Starfleet washouts, thieves, headcases, folks with ''severe'' anger management issues, and sociopathic killers. As Chakotay points out when one of his former crew turns out to be the last one, they didn't have the luxury of sending out applications - if you could wield a phaser or fly a ship they'd take you.

* In Christian metaphor [[ChurchMilitant The Church]] is sometimes compared to this, as every member is a repentant sinner; and sometimes at one time a literal thief or a whore.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' adventure [=CM=]1 ''Test of the Warlords''. The domain ruler Longtooth has "Longtooth's Legion", an army of five hundred thieves armed with bows and swords.

* The Capitol faction of ''TabletopGame/MutantChronicles'' has two flavours. The traditional one is the Freedom Brigades, which consists of volunteers willing to trade ten years of brutal service in the solar system's worst hellholes for a clean rap sheet and Capitol citizenship. The other flavour is the Free Marines, Capitol's most famous special forces outfit. In order to be eligible for the Free Marines, you have to have served for at least two years in another special forces unit, been decorated for gallantry under fire at least three times, been recommended for promotion, and been sentenced to death by a court-martial.
* By the time of the last battles in ''TabletopGame/{{Twilight 2000}}'', the U.S. Army was willing to take pretty much anyone they could get, including Soviet defectors and forcibly conscripting locals. By 2000, many regular army units on both sides had degenerated into banditry.
* The ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'' supplement ''Requiem For Rome'' has the Peregrine College, a collection of the vampiric underclass.

* Wargames Atlantic's "Death Fields" miniatures line (with respective rule set still on the works) has the "Cannon Fodder", prisoners of the alien regime that are handed an assault rifle and told to fight for their freedom (and quite probably die trying). Bits options for the models include ExplosiveLeash collars and [[ChainedByFashion manacles with freshly-cut chains]].
* ''Wretched Space'': The default premise has the player characters as members of the Wretched Legion. Criminals and other misfits given a second chance; legionnaires are given a decommissioned freighter (equipped with a handler AI worth more than the ship itself), second-hand gear, [[ExplosiveLeash and an implanted nanobomb controlled by the ship's AI]]. They are then shipped off to the loosely controlled Outer Rim to handle jobs that the regular SpacePolice can't or don't want to. As long as they don't endanger Galactic Federation personnel or equipment, they are allowed to complete their objectives however they see fit. They can arrest or kill any criminals they capture and confiscate their equipment and while their handler AI may place limits on their behaviour, they can usually steal from most inhabitants of the Outer Rim and commit minor crimes with no official punishment.

* In ''VideoGame/AceCombat7SkiesUnknown'', the player character "Trigger" is part of one after [[spoiler:being framed for shooting down a transport carrying ex-Osean President, Vincent Harling.]] This penal fighter squadron is known as 444th AKA the Spare Squadron, and it comprises of criminals, whose planes are adorned with "sin lines" on their tails to denote the severity of their crime(s). They are often used as expendable pawns by the Osean Air Defense Force, being sent on suicide missions on a regular basis. Their home base/prison is set up with fake aircraft and fuel trucks to look like a proper base and divert enemy bombing raids from actual air bases to it, [[HellholePrison and regularly succeeds at this]]. Their commander, [=McKinsey=], is a condescending GloryHound who believes that only he deserves to take credit for the squadron's deeds, not the pilots, and he will send pilots to rot in solitary confinement if they even just look at him the wrong way. Even their assigned AWACS, Bandog, shows little to no respect to the pilots he is assigned to, regularly tossing insults at the pilots while on mission.
* You can assemble one in ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresIII'', either by hiring them from the Saloon building or summoning them as a mercenary group. For some reason, they are more expensive than a conventional army. The Asian dynasties invert this, by hiring the [[TheAtoner Repentant]] version of them from Monasteries. They aren't any better or any worse than the ones summoned from a Saloon, though.
* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'', Ezio Auditore assembles a literal army of thieves and whores (and mercenaries) to oppose the Templars' rule in Venice. He does the same on a bigger scale in Rome against the Borgias in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' (his own mother and sister end up in charge of the biggest brothel in the city) and adds an army of Assassins that he trained to the mix -- people he recruited simply for daring to stand up to the Borgias.
--> ''Ezio, who are the true nobles of Venezia? Men like Carlo Grimaldi and Marco Barbarigo? No! I say we are; the thieves and ''mercenari'' and whores!''

* You essentially recruit one in ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'', although admittedly, "army" is a generous term for your group of 30-40 heroes. Indeed, you start out with two thieves making up your entire party: Dismas is a Highwayman, and Reynauld the Crusader always starts with Kleptomania. Most of your recruits are exiles or otherwise messed up, and more than a few of them are criminals and heretics; it's entirely possible to have a party consisting of a grave robber, a scholar of the forbidden, an exiled barbarian warrior, and a demon-possessed werewolf creature.

* The Courier in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' can assemble one from the various factions in the Mojave, recruiting their support in the Second Battle of Hoover Dam to turn the tide for either the NCR, the Legion, the FEZ, [[spoiler: or [[WildCard themselves]]]].
* The Player's army in every ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' game will be this by the end, though it also includes many nobles and trained soldiers as well. You will recruit anybody, despite their background, who even remotely dislikes the antagonists or is friends with someone already in your group. May be justified depending on the exact game; despite the presence of nobles, the player is rarely in command of any sort of disciplined military force, and when they are, it's usually a mercenary group who really would take on anyone who could earn their keep and be trusted not to kill everyone else.
* In ''VisualNovel/LongLiveTheQueen'', Elodie can grant a mass amnesty to prisoners to fill out her army if Nova is in peril.
* In ''VideoGame/LostTechnology'', the backbone of [[TheSyndicate Alcatraz's]] armies are rogues and pirates.
* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', Shepard can make a deal with Aria T'Loak, an asari crimelord, for one of these. In exchange for helping her get command over the three major mercenary groups of the Terminus Systems, she will send a fleet of said mercenaries and criminal scum to help the war against the Reapers.
* Space Pirate Militia in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'' are made up primarily of captured slaves and criminals forced into service. Their service mostly consists of acting as canon fodder at for the space pirate vanguard, rations for the rest of the space pirates, and anything else which requires disposable bodies.

* At one point in ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'', your character is given command of a unit of Greycloaks, Neverwinter's civilian militia. If you want, you can recruit new Greycloaks by offering amnesty to any criminals who'll join your forces. This will drastically reduce your army's quality though.
* [[ArmiesAreEvil Blackwatch]] from ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'' is implied to be this. They need men willing and able to shoot civilians or even each other on the suspicion of being infected/talkative. In the comic tie-in to the first game, Peter Randall (who would later become the division's general) is shown to be a fairly unhinged platoon leader during the Vietnam War, and in ''VideoGame/Prototype2'', when asked what he would be doing if he wasn't in the unit, a Blackwatch soldier implies that he'd either be dead or in prison.

* In ''VideoGame/SabresOfInfinity'', the Tierran Army becomes this after the first year of war. By this time, they've run out of volunteers, and so they're forced to resort to [[TradingBarsForStripes emptying out the prisons]] to fill the ranks. This leads to your troop (as a Lieutenant) being mostly composed of lower-class conscripts, with correspondingly bad effects on all of the unit's stats.
* In ''Franchise/StarCraft'', approximately 50% of the enlisted in the armed forces of the Confederacy of Man/Terran Dominion are brainwashed criminals (running the gamut from thieves and murderers to the occasional political prisoner).
* The eponymous team of ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' consists of a hyperactive Bostonian hoodlum, an Australian game hunter turned assassin (not a crazed gunman!), a delusional, nigh-anonymous pyromaniac [[TheFaceless dressed in an all-concealing jumpsuit]], a crazed civilian & serial killer who believes he's a soldier, a chain-smoking French quintuple-agent, [[HerrDoktor a saw-wielding German quack with mad scientist tendencies]], a drunken Scottish swordsman & explosives expert, a Russian bear-wrestler with a [[ChainsawGripBFG huge handheld minigun]], and a shotgun-toting GadgeteerGenius Texan with a robot arm. The last one is the sanest of the group, and he ''cut off his own hand to attach a robotic replacement to the stump'', which speaks volumes about the rest.

* The main characters of ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChroniclesIII''. The Nameless includes a repeat arsonist, a convicted murderer, a brothel madame, a con artist, a draft-dodger, a sadistic dominatrix, a trigger-happy alcoholic, and a money-grubbing mechanic. [[ClearMyName The leader is charged with treason]]. What a merry band of undesirables! This is just one of the many, many ways the game is DarkerAndEdgier compared to its earlier installments.
* The Exiles of ''VideoGame/WildStar'' are composed mostly of this, not that they have much choice in the matter.

* The only thing you have to do to join the Raven's Army in ''Webcomic/{{Archipelago}}'' is make a DealWithTheDevil. People willing to do that, however, tend to have little to lose. Their supreme commander, Snow, openly calls them "maniacs, wanderers, lost souls".
* The citizens of [[CitadelCity Mechanicsburg]], ancestral family home of the titular ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' Agatha Heterodyne, descend from the army of thieves and whores who followed the [[TheDreaded Old Heterodynes]]. It's all InTheBlood for them because when the Siege of Mecahnicsburg begins in earnest, the attackers find themselves having to [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20111116#.VM_IRS5FYuc fend off]] surprisingly effective attacks from shopkeepers and artisans in town.
* Frontier HQ's garrison in ''Webcomic/{{Avania}}'' is stated by Captain Schmutzesser to be "the dregs of Avania." The behavior of said men does little to prove him otherwise.

* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', the Union Workers has an army of well-trained thieves, mages, assassins, and the like.
* The CORE in ''Webcomic/{{SSDD}}'' relies heavily on conscripted criminals from its member nations for CannonFodder. Tessa was sentenced to two years for assaulting a police officer, and one of her squadmates was a petty thief.

* From ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', [[spoiler: the [[BigDamnHeroes army besieging Aku's tower]] in the SeriesFinale fits the bill. While some, like the [[BraveScot Scotsman's family]] and the Spartans are trained and skilled fighters, many are simply allies of Jack under Aku's rule with nothing to lose, including [[BadassPacifist Monkey-Boy's tribe]], the [[FreeRangeChildren ravers]], the [[FunnyAnimal dog archaeologists]], the [[HandicappedBadass Blind Archers]], and [[FishPeople the Triceraquins]] with a HumongousMecha thrown in for good measure.]]
* The Gumm-Gumms from ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}'' were originally small, unorganized tribes of barbaric trolls ruled under a king. When [[BigBad Gunmar the Black]] killed that king, he replaced him as their leader and turned them into an organized army set to conquer the world.

** The Night's Watch used to be a universally highly regarded [[TheOrder order]] that was erected to defend Westeros against [[GreaterScopeVillain the]] [[ZombieApocalypse Others]] -- but nowadays, it involves this trope to a large degree. While there are second and third sons and highborn illegitimate sons from noble houses who still join for the sake of duty and honor, most ''other'' members are criminals whose crimes were pardoned in return for joining and many of the willing volunteers are misfits of some sort. Other than the North, where the Night's Watch is still considered a noble calling, most other realms see the Watch as essentially a joke [[SealedEvilInACan because the ancient threat of the Others is believed to be long-gone]] and few believe [[TheCassandra that it actually has returned]]. Consequently, the Night's Watch has become ridiculously underfunded, to the point that they can barely garrison three of the nineteen forts manning the Wall by the time the story begins. In ''A Storm of Swords'', some local prostitutes help the Night Watch fight off a wildling onslaught, making this a quite literal example of the trope. In ''A Dance With Dragons'', Jon adds [[spoiler:wildling warriors and [[ActionGirl spearwives]]]] to the mix in an effort to build up their ranks and help defend humanity (Westeros and wildlings alike) against the ever-approaching threat of the Others.

* The ''Musta Nuoli'' (Black Arrow) battalion of the Finnish Army, led by legendary [[ColonelKilgore colonel Nikke Pärmi]], whose men were volunteer convicts and prisoners. He claimed after the war that the felons and white-collar criminals were excellent soldiers, while political convicts were notoriously unreliable.
** ''Konnakolmonen'' (Crook Three), the 3rd Jäger Company of the Pori Brigade, Säkylä. It is an enhanced discipline unit for those conscripts who have criminal records when conscripted.

** Even the Grey Wardens are less extreme in presentation but ultimately just as inclusive and binding. In theory, anyone can be conscripted -- from blood-soaked psychopaths right out of the hangman's noose and the lowliest slaves to princes, kings, and lords -- and in particular apostate mages (who'd otherwise be executed, lobotomized, or imprisoned) are free to fight right alongside everyone else. Their job is to stand between the darkspawn and the world, giving up everything (lives included) so the realm can exist in peace, and they are equally legendary and reviled for their heroism and absolute ruthlessness. In practice, the order's reputation has dwindled over the years and there are now far fewer high-status Wardens, leaving a fighting force of oddballs, criminals, and peasants sometimes unaware of the sacrifices Gray Warden are expected to make.

In RealLife, this has often been the makeup of armies throughout history. Military life in the ranks was just too distasteful for someone to volunteer for it that didn't find civilian life just as hard unless he was motivated by ideology. When there was no ideological reason and no BarbarianTribe nearby to recruit from, this is what you are going to end up with. The pay was simply not good enough to attract respectable people unless they were from [[OfficerAndAGentleman nobility]]; which sometimes had ''ancestors'' who were part of one of these. On the other hand, assembling them into a [[TrainingFromHell properly trained army]] was a rather hard task not only for reasons of literacy or discipline but also due to the spread of chronic disease in a population with poor or no access to medical care and proper feeding and living conditions. A recruit from the poorest class in the [[UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain Victorian Era]] could be expected to have either latent [[VictorianNovelDisease tuberculosis]], syphilis, gonorrhea, bone diseases, or, worse, ''all of them together'', and in crowded military camps germs are easily spread. (The ordinary peasant recruit of the State army was not much healthier either. The British Army Medical Corps [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boer_Wars#Controversy_and_significance found out in 1899]] ''the majority'' of recruits were unfit for combat, even by the low standards of the time.)

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'': In "[[Recap/DigimonAdventureE27TheGatewayToHome The Gateway to Home]]", the forces [=DemiDevimon=] scrounges up for Myotismon's army are a ragtag band of "junk" Digimon -- Digimon that, in the games, evolve when the player fails to feed their digital pet, exercise them and clean up their... waste. The result is a loose band of slovenly, low-grade Digimon -- slug-like Numemon, shifty Vegiemon, a single turd-like Sukamon, and his Chuumon partner... and two of the heroes in [[PaperThinDisguise crude disguises]]. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome As can be expected from an army scrounged up from the literal leavings of society]], not one of them has the stomach for war and they mutiny ''en masse'' when the going gets tough.

* Deconstructed with the Division Numero Uno in ''Literature/{{Victoria}}''. In this dystopian setting, a near-future America has grown so hopelessly decayed and corrupt that the Federal Government has to supplement its forces with literal deputized gangsters to put down rebellions against it, and the Division is the most famous such unit. It [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome turns out]], however, not to be very competent as a military force, degenerating into a [[RapePillageAndBurn drunken rampage]] as it is deployed against the LaResistance in upstate New England, and its excessive brutality ends up alienating most of the government's remaining supporters in the region.

** And, last but not least, Roman von Ungern-Sternberg - a half-mad Baltic German nobleman who managed to cobble together 2,000 men - of dubious moral quality at best - and take over Mongolia. During his brief rule, he earned the sobriquet "The Bloody Baron". Tired of his cruel treatment towards everyone, his soldiers mutinied and left him to the Reds. After a six-hour show trial, the thoroughly unrepentant "Mad Baron" was executed.