History Main / ArmyOfThievesandWhores

* 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.

** To save Nico Robin from Enies Lobby, the Straw Hats ally themselves with two unlikely factions; first, the Franky Family, a gang of bounty-hunters who the Straw Hats became enemies with in Water-7 because they stole the pirates' money. Their boss Franky was also taken by the [=CP=] Second are three of the Galley-la Shipbuilding company's top three foremen, who came along to take vengeance after the [=CP9=] tried to assassinate their boss. Coming along are Kokoro's family; Kokoro herself, a LadyDrunk, her CheerfulChild granddaughter Chimney and her pet rabbit-who-acts-like-a-cat Gonbe, and finally Yokozuna, a giant sumo-wrestling frog. During the siege on Enies Lobby, Usopp convinces the island's giant gatekeepers Omoi and Kashii to swap sides. In short, it's an small army consisting of pirates, bounty-hunters, shipwrights, sea-train workers, a giant frog, and two giant warriors.
** During his escape from Impel Down, Luffy manages to upend the entire system and collects a small army of hardened criminals.
** This trope is the reason why the four most powerful pirates are known as the Four Emperors; They don't have a single crew, but ''entire fleets'' to throw at their problems. When Whitebeard goes to Navy Headquarters to rescue Ace, he doesn't just bring his own crew- which is so big that it needed four ships to ride- but also a few dozen other pirate crews allied with him.

** In the Third Act of the Wano Arc, the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance that attacks Kaido's stronghold on Onigashima consists of the [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Straw Hat Pirates]], the Heart Pirates led by DeadlyDoctor Trafalgar Law, assembled fighters of Wano, which includes various bandits and gangsters, and the warriors of the [[BeastMen Mink Tribe]]. Helping the Alliance are the Kid Pirates led by the violence-prone Eustass Kid, [[EleventhHourRanger newly-minted Straw Hat]] and former Warlord Jinbe, Ex-Whitebeard Marco the Phoenix and [[spoiler:[[DefectorFromDecadence Kaido's]] "[[TomboyPrincess son]]" [[AntagonisticOffspring Yamato]]]].

** In the Third Act of the Wano Arc, the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance that attacks Kaido's stronghold on Onigashima consists of the [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Straw Hat Pirates]], the Heart Pirates led by DeadlyDoctor Trafalgar Law, assembled fighters of Wano, which includes various bandits and gangsters, and the warriors of the [[BeastMen Mink Tribe]]. Helping the Alliance are the Kid Pirates led by the violence-prone Eustass Kid, Ex-Whitebeard Marco the Phoenix and [[spoiler:[[DefectorFromDecadence Kaido's]] [[TomboyPrincess "son"]] [[AntagonisticOffspring Yamato]]]].

** During the Dressrosa Arc, the gladiators from the tournament for the Mera Mera Fruit form one to take down Doflamingo for his treachery. The pirate Cavendish even points out that Doflamingo's actions have basically united an otherwise uncooperative bunch of outlaws, renegades, and champions from across the seas into a cohesive force dedicated to destroying him. After everything is said and done, [[spoiler:all of them decide to throw their weight behind Luffy for his efforts, giving the Straw Hats an army of ''5,600'' pirates]].

** In the Third Act of the Wano Arc, the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance that attacks Kaido's stronghold on Onigashima consists of the [[DeckOfWildCards Straw Hat Pirates]], the Heart Pirates led by DeadlyDoctor Trafalgar Law, assembled fighters of Wano, which includes various bandits and gangsters, and the warriors of the [[BeastMen Mink Tribe]]. Helping the Alliance are the Kid Pirates led by the violence-prone Eustass Kid, Ex-Whitebeard Marco the Phoenix and [[spoiler:[[DefectorFromDecadence Kaido's]] [[TomboyPrincess "son"]] [[AntagonisticOffspring Yamato]]]].

** It should be noted that both sides made heavy use of conscription, it's just that they had different systems. Prussia used short term compulsory service, so that every man above a certain age was required to serve in the military for a brief period of time before then being sent off to the reserves, meaning that when war broke out their "conscripts" had all recieved proper military training. This model, which was pioneered by the Prussians, was fairly common in continental Europe by the Franco-Prussian War. France, meanwhile, had until recently conscripted men by ballot and had them serve longer periods. They were in the process of reforming the system to be closer to the Prussian model, but they hadn't finished by the outbreak of war. Making matters worse, the conscripts could only serve in France proper during peacetime, meaning large amounts of their actual professional soldiers were busy in their various colonies.

* The Continental Army in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution started out as this. It was made of people who didn't have any experience of warfare, who didn't have any strong officers who could inspire strong discipline among them, many of them deserted the "army" to go back to their families and farms and didn't return in weeks. It suffered from lack of food, uniforms, and ammunition, bad language and diseases were infecting the army so hard that hardened UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar veterans were shocked by it, most of the soldiers only fought the revolution half-heartedly, alcohol was consumed in great volumes, etc. It's said that when UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington got to see the "army" he had accepted command of, he had a HeroicBSOD for half an hour before he started cleaning it up.

* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': This becomes the fate of the [[CannonFodder bridge crews]]. Being sent to the Bridge Crews is often regarded as a FateWorseThanDeath, a punishment restricted to only the biggest outcasts and criminals of the Alethi Army. ''Literature/TheWayOfKings'' follows [[BrokenAce Kaladin]] who takes up the mantle to train [[BadassCrew Bridge 4]] in the ways of combat with hope that they'll ultimately escape when the time is ripe. When the time comes in the form of a gambit pulled off by their superiors in leaving a rival army to die in haste, Bridge 4 sacrifices their chance at freedom in order to [[BigDamnHeroes save said army]], ultimately putting them in favor of the general, who frees not only Bridge 4, but every other bridge crew in thanks. He offers them all a job as body-guards to protect his family and the king in addition, outright looking over their various criminal pasts.

* 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.

* ''VideoGame/TheDivision'' has the Rioters, regular citizens stuck in New York after the Dollar Flu and fed up with the government's response that they lash out at anyone, regardless if they're a [[BullyingADragon maximum ilvl Agent.]] The Rikers fit the bill more being prison escapees who gladly commit any atrocity ForTheEvulz. ''VideoGame/TheDivision2'' reveals that they only got worse since their leader, [=LaRae=] Barret, was killed by the NY Agent.

->"The French system of conscription brings together a fair sample of all classes; ours is composed of the scum of the earth — the mere scum of the earth."
--> -- UsefulNotes/TheDukeOfWellington on the British Army

* ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'': [[spoiler:[[BigGuy Brick]]]], of all people, is the leader of such an army on Thousand Cuts, and the most likely to have the dirtiest, most bloodthirsty bandits with at least a common goal. He is obliged to [[WhatMeasureIsAMook let you kill them though]], because [[BrutalHonesty they're]] [[TooDumbToLive stupid]].

* ''VideoGame/TheDivision'' has the Rioters, regular citizens stuck in New York after the Dollar Flu and fed up with the government's response that they lash out at anyone, regardless if they're a [[BullyingADragon maximum ilvl Agent.]] The Rikers fit the bill more being prison escapees who gladly commit any atrocity ForTheEvulz. ''2'' reveals they only got worse now that their leader, [=LaRae=] Barret, who's killed by the NY Agent.

* [[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 comic tie-in to the first game, Peter Randall (who would later become the division's general) was 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 he'd either be dead or in prison.
* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'': The Umbrella Corporation has multiple mercenary units. The Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service, first introduced in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'' is comprised largely of convicts, including death row inmates. While their stated goal was to rescue personnel trapped in Raccoon City, it's revealed in-game that the real reason Umbrella sent them in was [[RedShirtArmy so they'd get slaughtered]], allowing the corporation to evaluate the military applications of their various monsters.

* In ''VideoGame/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).

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.

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

* ''Fanfic/PleaseStopEatingTheHellButterflies'': Before ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' canon pretty much confirmed it, the story had the Gotei 13/Thirteen Court Guard Squads as this, though with less "everyone is a monster pointed in the right direction," and more "Yamamoto has three types of employees: the BunnyEarsLawyer, the crazy ones he wants gone, and a few [[OnlySaneMan sane exceptions]]."

* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': In the second book of ''Literature/TheHanSoloTrilogy'', the smugglers (few of whom have military training, although many have fought pirates and Navy patrollers), con artists, mercenaries, and honest traders with no combat experience who have relatives on Nar Shadda form a ragtag militia fleet that nonetheless scores some heavy blows against the invasion force seeking to raze their home.

* Victoria's newborn army in ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''. She basically turned whoever she could find. It doesn't work.

* 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.

* ''FanFic/AndSoWeFight'': Zant calls the Ravager army this trope almost completely verbatim in the Twilight Realm. [[InsultBackfire Ishaka is only upset]] that Zant forgot to include the fact that the Ravager army [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs has "thievin' whores" in it as well]].

* ''FanFic/AnISOTInGrimdark'': Inverted. The Renegade German faction adopts one of these from the Dark Elves, but to everyone's surprise quickly turns it around into a professional and effective military force, thanks in no small part to proper discipline, training, tactics, and weaponry.

* ''FanFic/PleaseStopEatingTheHellButterflies'': Before ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' canon pretty much confirmed it, the story had the Gotei 13/Thirteen Court Guard Squads as this, though with less "everyone is a monster pointed in the right direction," and more "Yamamoto has three types of employees: the BunnyEarsLawyer, the crazy ones he wants gone, and a few [[OnlySaneMan sane exceptions]]."

* ''FanFic/WeaverNine'''s Society is a dodgy group of outcasts, criminals, and fugitives forged into one of the most dangerous organizations on earth and united under Weaver's leadership. They are regarded as terrorists by most of the world and joining automatically grants a Kill Order. Based in Kenya and suspected to be the real power controlling most of Africa, they are classified as an S-class threat by the Protectorate.

* The Ravagers in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' 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.

* The Player's army in every ''VideoGame/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.

* The Exiles of ''Videogame/WildStar'' are composed mostly of this, not that they have much choice in the matter.