History Main / FromCamouflageToCriminal

* Creator/AlPacino has (coincidentally) played this type of character on three separate occasions:[[note]](Al Pacino has never been a soldier or criminal in real life.)[[/note]]

* ''Scarface'' gives this backstory to its rising criminal kingpin named Tony. Notably, it not only explains his greater expertise at killing (and his trademark scar) but also gives him a convenient amount of anonymity, as a newspaper [[ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated mistakenly reported him killed in action]].

* {{Implied}} with Film/JohnWick, a HitmanWithAHeart whose back tattoo includes a variant of the motto of the 3rd Marine Regiment: "Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat" instead of "Fortes Fortuna Juvat".[[note]]"Fortune favors ''he'' who is bold" as opposed to "Fortune favors ''those'' who are bold"[[/note]]. Before he went to work for Viggo Tarasov and the Continental, John used to work for the military and presumably picked up his very deadly fighting and gunplay skills from them. Actor Creator/KeanuReeves, who helped write the story, [[WordOfGod confirmed]] John's military service.
* Film/WrathOfMan: Jackson's gang is a group of disgruntled ex-soldiers who have turned to a life of crime. They start with a fairly amateur home invasion but then use their military training to plan more complex armored truck roberries. However, one of them turns out to be a SociopathicSoldier who murders two guards and a bystander.

* UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution had the Doan Boys, a gang of loyalist raiders who attempted to hurt the patriot war effort through robbery and sabotage. They continued their criminal activity for several years after the war ended, but their motives had changed to profit.

* In the aftermath of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, several veterans in both Germany and America went on to form armed militias and gangs:
** During Prohibition, there were numerous bootleggers who cut their teeth in the trenches of Europe.
** In the Weimar Republic, several German veterans formed the ''Freikorps'' and ''Sturmabteilung'' militias to rob and terrorize leftists, Jews, and other groups that they blamed for Germany's defeat. These gangs would later join the Nazis and participated in the failed Beer Hall Putsch coup.

* Los Zetas, one of the most feared and ruthless [[TheCartel Mexican drug cartels]], was founded by deserters from the Mexican Army special forces.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Dorner_shootings_and_manhunt Christopher Dorner]], was a Navy marksman and an Los Angeles police officer before targeting LAPD members in targeted shootings.
* US Army veterans Timothy [=McVeigh=] and Terry Nichols perpetrated the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing Oklahoma City bombing]], a truck-bomb attack on a federal office building that stands as the deadliest terrorist attack in US history, apart from 9/11.

** Similarly, there is significant concern about the radicalization of US military personnel, with fears that some leaving enlistment can become [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic Right Wing Militia Fanatics]] and use their military training in crime, domestic terrorism, or direct attacks on the government. For instance, a number of those arrested for participating in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_United_States_Capitol_attack 2021 attack on the US Capitol]] were former military members, such as Jake “[=QShaman=]” Angeli and Ashli Babbitt, who served in the Navy and Air Force respectively.
* While British colonial accounts of the notorious [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuggee Thuggee]] phenomenon in India tended to portray it as a bandit cult that adhered to a vaguely Hindu ReligionOfEvil, modern scholars increasingly believe that the Thugs were closer to this trope; many soldiers who had fought in the service of Indian princes found themselves discharged and unemployed after the British conquest, which forced them to turn to highway robbery to survive. That Thugs were known to organize themselves according to military-style rankings supports this interpretation.

** Sonny Wortzik in ''Film/DogDayAfternoon'' tries to keep the police from storming the bank by saying that he and his cohort were in the Army in [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnsm]], and have no problem getting violent with the hostages. While at the time it seems like a desperate bluff, later on, he is seen showing some of the hostages how he learned to march and handle a gun during training. His relationship with the hostages makes it pretty clear he doesn't intend to hurt them, however.

** Sonny Wortzik in ''Film/DogDayAfternoon'' tries to keep the police from storming the bank by saying that he and his cohort were in the Army in UsefulNotes/{{Vietnam|War}}, and have no problem getting violent with the hostages. While at the time it seems like a desperate bluff, later on, he is seen showing some of the hostages how he learned to march and handle a gun during training. His relationship with the hostages makes it pretty clear he doesn't intend to hurt them, however.

** Sonny Wortzik in ''Film/DogDayAfternoon'' tries to keep the police from storming the bank by saying that he and his cohort were in the Army in Vietnam and have no problem getting violent with the hostages. While at the time it seems like a desperate bluff, later on, he is seen showing some of the hostages how he learned to march and handle a gun during training. His relationship with the hostages makes it pretty clear he doesn't intend to hurt them, however.

* Creator/AlPacino has played this type of character on three separate occasions:
** Michael Corleone from ''Film/TheGodfather'' was a [[SemperFi US Marine captain]] in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, and although he had wanted to avoid getting entangled in the "[[TheMafia family business]]" in the past, once he does get involved with it, he proves shockingly effective and ruthless in ways his other criminal rivals are completely unprepared for.

* ''ComicBook/TheThirdKryptonian:'' In the BackStory, Karsta and many of her friends in the Kryptonian Stellar Navy became pirates and mercenaries after the navy was disbanded. Returning home would have cost them the powers they gained under yellow suns, as well as their cherished lifestyles as soldiers. However, many of them eventually returned to Krypton or retired to more peaceful lives.

** Season 3 episode "[[Recap/TheXFilesS03E07TheWalk The Walk]]" focuses on a disgruntled Gulf War vet who can astral project and plans to use his ability to murder his superior officer's family
** Season 4 episode "[[Recap/TheXFilesS04E16Unrequited Unrequited]]" focuses on a disgruntled Vietnam vet who can effectively turn invisible by exploiting people's ocular blind-spots and intends to use it to assassinate a major military official. (Noticing a pattern here?)

** Similarly, there is significant concern about the radicalization of US military personnel, with fears that some leaving enlistment can become [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic Right Wing Militia Fanatics]] and use their military training in crime, domestic terrorism, or direct attacks on the government. For instance, a number of those arrested for participating in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_United_States_Capitol_attack 2021 attack on the US Capitol]] were former military members.

** Lagoon Associates' BaldBlackLeaderGuy Dutch is said to be a Vietnam War swift-boat veteran, and puts his skills to use at the helm of the smuggler/pirate protagonists' UsefulNotes/WorldWarII-era Elco PT boat. [[spoiler:Caxton, the commander of the US Special Forces unit Grey Fox, realizes after speaking with him that Dutch says he was part of a unit that didn't participate in an operation he cited and doesn't recognize common GI slang from the period. Later chapters suggest Dutch does in fact have military experience, he's just lying about the details.]]

* Bambi "Buck" Hughes of ''VideoGame/FarCry3'' used to serve in the Australian military, which you'd think would make him an AwesomeAussie. Except, he proved to be an AxCrazy {{Sadist}} who enjoyed hurting the enemy [[SociopathicSoldier more than was healthy]], so he was dishonorably discharged. He now works as a [[PsychoForHire mercenary]] under [[AmoralAfrikaner South African slaver and drug kingpin]] Hoyt Volker. And to make him even scarier, he's also a SerialRapist, [[DepravedHomosexual specifically he rapes other men]], [[spoiler:just like Jason Brody's friend Keith, who he's keeping as a SexSlave]].

* Rolento from ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' is a former member of a fictional Special Forces unit who is in charge of the weapons plant that supplies the Mad Gear gang. ([[FridgeLogic Although strangely for a gang that has its own weapons factory, they generally attack you with knives and lead pipes instead of guns.]]) After crossing over to the ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' universe, in some of his endings, he starts his own criminal organization, looking to recruit other militant characters, and in others, he has a [[VideoGame/MetalGear Big Boss-esque]] dream of creating an ideal nation for soldiers.

*** The Slavers from the ''Comicbook/ThePunisherMAX'' arc of the same name are hardened soldiers/war criminals from the Bosnian war. The fact that they've actually had to fight for their lives puts them above the average Mafia goons and even have Frank on the ropes for a while.

* ''Series/TheBlacklist''

* While British colonial accounts of the notorious [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuggee Thuggee]] phenonmenon in India tended to portray it as a bandit cult that adhered to a vaguely Hindu ReligionOfEvil, modern scholars increasingly believe that the Thugs were closer to this trope; many soldiers who had fought in the service of Indian princes found themselves discharged and unemployed after the British conquest, which forced them to turn to highway robbery to survive. That Thugs were known to organize themselves according to military-style rankings supports this interpretation.

** Really, most of the Overwatch cast is this, with special mentions to Gabriel Reyes, aka Reaper, Morrison's right-hand man who CameBackWrong; and [=McCree=], who was actually [[TradingBarsForStripes a criminal before joining Overwatch]], was reformed, and then forced back into hiding.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* While British colonial accounts of the notorious [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuggee Thuggee]] phenonmenon in India tended to portray it as a bandit cult that adhered to a vaguely Hindu ReligionOfEvil, some modern scholars now believe that the Thugs were actually closer to this trope; many soldiers who had fought in the service of Indian princes found themselves discharged and unemployed after the British conquest, which forced them to turn to highway robbery to survive. That Thugs were known to organize themselves according to military-style rankings supports this interpretation.

*** The symbiote itself was bred to be an Agent of the Cosmos -- a member of an order of noble warriors dedicated to maintaining peace across the universe -- but was corrupted into a bloodthirsty predator by its first host.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}}'' features quite a lot of war veterans turned criminals. Some of the series' most important background characters all qualify. The Solo class is made up almost exclusively of ex-soldiers who became mercenaries-for-hire using their combat training (and their [[{{Cyborg}} military-grade cyberware]]). Any ''Cyberpunk 2013'' character can even take Military Education in their Lifepaths to increase their starting combat skills.

* ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' - much like its TTRPG predecessor - features many war veterans turned criminals. The game's protagonist and deuteragonist V and Johnny Silverhand (respectively) were both soldiers long before they became outlaws. Nearly every member of the Aldecaldo Clan that V runs into was a Militech soldier before they all became mercenaries and smugglers. Then, of course, there are the members of the 6th Street Gang - all of whom are ruthless street criminals who are fanatically loyal to the NUSA and the idea of Reunification.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}}'' features quite a lot of war veterans turned criminals. Some of the series' most important background characters all qualify. The Solo class is made up almost exclusively of ex-soldiers who became mercenaries-for-hire using their combat training (and their [[Cyborg military-grade cyberware]]). Any ''Cyberpunk 2013'' character can even take Military Education in their Lifepaths to increase their starting combat skills.