History Main / FromCamouflageToCriminal

* ''FanWork/DeathAndTaxes'': While serving in [[GreatOffscreenWar some ambiguous war]], several of Flippy's friends he fought with were sent to their death by his commander, which sent him spiraling down a path of anger and revenge. In the modern day, he terrorizes the cursed town he's trapped in along with the rest of its inhabitants, utilizing torture and fear to get his way.

** Similarly, there is significant concern about the radicalization of US military personnel, with fears that some leaving enlistment can become [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic right-wing extremists]] and use their military training in crime, domestic terrorism, or direct attacks on the government. For instance, a number of those either arrested or killed 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.

* The infamous biker gang [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels Hells Angels]] was founded by UsefulNotes/WorldWarII veterans in 1948.

** [[AxCrazy Trevor Philips]] of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' enlisted in an unspecified Air Force, and was almost done with his training until the head of psychological evaluation [[SociopathicSoldier deemed him unfit for service]], this is used to explain his skill in piloting.

** Occasionally the VillainOfTheWeek will be some flavor of ex-military, and they generally present a much greater danger and more difficult challenge to Team Westen than the crooks and con men they usually deal with. One such case is the ex-Green Berets and Marines operating a heroin ring in the first season finale. Recurring villains are more likely to be ex-military:
*** Michael's EvilMentor Larry was once involved in covert ops, and now he's a FauxAffablyEvil (and ''completely'' psycho) [[PsychoForHire assassin for hire]] whose solution to every problem is "just start killing people and it'll sort itself out."

*** Gilroy went from being involved in black ops for the British government to a RogueAgent who will do any job, for anyone, anywhere in the world if the pay is right and it amuses him enough. These jobs range from assassination to terrorism for hire to selling nuclear secrets on the black market.

* Malcolm Reynolds and Zoe Washburne from ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' were a sergeant and a corporal, respectively, in the Independent Faction army during the Unification War, and are now captain and first mate of a {{Space Pirate|s}}/smuggling crew. Mal likes to insist that "the war's long done; we're all just folk now," but he's still bitter that the Independents lost and will sometimes do things he normally wouldn't (like sheltering River and Simon), just so he can flip the bird to the [[NicknamingTheEnemy purple-bellies]].

This trope is particularly common if the character in question is a ShellShockedVeteran who has been broken by their experiences, a SociopathicSoldier who was clearly a bad apple while in the service, and the ReturningWarVet who finds YouCantGoHomeAgain may be likely to fall into this. Because ElitesAreMoreGlamorous, expect a character doing this to be from a section of the military either known for being unusually badass or flat out from special forces/covert ops.

A companion trope to LawmanGoneBad. Contrast BadgesAndDogTags, when ''policemen'' have an ex-military background. Compare and contrast the {{Privateer}}, who was essentially paid by his nation to become a pirate against another nation's shipping, and the BoxedCrook. The inversions are RecruitingTheCriminal and TradingBarsForStripes, where a character facing prison time or in prison is given the choice of serving in the military instead. May sometimes overlap with FormerRegimePersonnel, RogueSoldier and RogueAgent.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanGothamByGaslight'': [[spoiler:The SerialKiller "UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper" (a.k.a. [[AdaptationalVillainy Commissioner James Gordon]]) is a [[BadgesAndDogTags soldier-turned-cop]]-[[LawmanGoneBad turned-homicidal-vigilante]]. He served as a [[CombatMedic battlefield surgeon]] in the Union Army during the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar. Though he was [[ShellShockedVeteran broken by his combat experiences]], seeing fellow soldiers dying from venereal diseases spread by the {{camp follower}}s drove him further off the edge, instilling him with a violent hatred of prostitutes. After the war, he joined the Gotham City Police Department and eventually rose to the rank of Commissioner, but his [[KnightTemplar extremist views on enforcing law and order]] led him to begin secretly murdering [[DisposableSexWorker prostitutes]], along with other types of people whom he blamed for Gotham's moral corruption. The fact that Gordon is a war veteran with plenty of fighting experience, in addition to being a tall and muscular [[BoxingBattler boxing champion]], allows him to seriously challenge Batman and give him a lot of trouble during their final duel.]]

* The male Lone Survivor can do this in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'''s ''Nuka World'' DLC, going from pre-war United States Army to post-apocalyptic raider gang leader.

* Walter Dicketts went from being a soldier and airman in World War I (having lied about his age - he was only 15 when he enlisted), to being a con man in the 1920s and 1930s, then was recruited by MI5's Bureau XX as a deep cover spy operating in Portugal and Germany during World War II. He would return to his illegal dealing in the years after the war, setting up a Ponzi scheme under an alias only to be caught and sentenced to a four year prison term.

** After Akainu's promotion to Fleet Admiral [[spoiler: Admiral Kuzan]] leaves the Marines and joins the Blackbeard Pirates

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': Kate Beckett's character arc has her dealing with a CorruptPolitician who has a gang of former special warfare operators employed as his personal assassins. [[ItsPersonal One of their victims was her mother]].

** [[AxCrazy Trevor Philips]] of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force, and was almost done with his training until the head of psychological evaluation [[SociopathicSoldier deemed him unfit for service]], this is used to explain his skill in piloting.

* The true identity of the BigBad of ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'' is that of [[spoiler:Ambassador Quercus Alba. Formerly a decorated veteran of the Principality of Cohdopia, Alba was recognized as a war hero who was crucial to many of the principality's military victories. However, during his time as an ambassador for one of Cohdopia's two successor states, the Kingdom of Allebahst, he had begun to use his position to head a sizeable international smuggling ring, and had personally committed at least two murders]].

** One of the Super Rookie pirates X. Drake was once a Rear Admiral in the Marines. [[spoiler:Subverted once he's revealed to be a spy and FakeDefector.]]
** Hody Jones was once part of the Fishman Island's Neptune's Royal Army before he became the captain of the New Fishman Pirates.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Hody Jones was once part of the Fishman Island's Neptune's Royal Army before he became the captain of the New Fishman Pirates. Likewise, one of the Super Rookie pirates X. Drake was once a Rear Admiral in the Marines.

* [[Characters/BreakingBadMikeEhrmantraut Mike Ehrmantraut]] from ''Series/BreakingBad'' and ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' is strongly implied to be this trope in the latter show, which was later confirmed by WordOfGod. He served as a [[SemperFi US Marine]] during the UsefulNotes/VietnamWar, [[BadgesAndDogTags before he joined the Philadelphia Police Department]]. Mike (who was already a fairly [[DirtyCop corrupt policeman]]) eventually [[LawmanGoneBad went rogue]] after his son (who was also a cop) was murdered by his own treacherous partners in the police force, whom Mike then killed for revenge before fleeing to Albuquerque. He eventually found new work as a security guard, enforcer and [[ProfessionalKiller hitman]] for local [[CorruptCorporateExecutive fast-food tycoon / meth kingpin]] [[Characters/BreakingBadGustavoFring Gustavo Fring]], and always conducts his duties as Gus' [[TheDragon right-hand henchman]] with unflinching professionalism. Mike's military/police training can explain all his various fighting skills such as stealth, hand-to-hand combat, and marksmanship with firearms ([[ColdSniper including sniper rifles]]); all of which he frequently uses to successfully take down enemy gangsters in most confrontations, even when he's outnumbered and outgunned by them.

* The title character in ''Series/{{Barry}}'' is a ShellShockedVeteran of Afghanistan; after returning home with PTSD and depression and no applicable civilian skills, he is manipulated by a family friend into becoming a hitman. At the start of the show, Barry's depression is back, and he's looking for a way out of his life of crime. His handler Fuches also served in the military during the Vietnam War, albeit as a cook.
* Both Jimmy Darmody and Richard Harrow from ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'' were WWI soldiers who were hardened by their experiences and alienated from their past friends, family, and society in general. [[HitmanWithAHeart While decent enough in many ways]], they fall into bootlegging and being hardcore gangsters with few, if any moral qualms, and often prove themselves much more competent and deadly than most of the thugs they encounter.

* A few of the gangsters in ''Series/TheSopranos'' have some military background.
** Corrado "Junior" Soprano, one of the [[TheDon leaders]] of the [[TheMafia DiMeo crime family]], was a veteran of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
** Paulie Gualtieri, a [=DiMeo=] underboss, served for a few years in the US Army. Though it's downplayed because he never experienced any wars.
** [[TheMafiya Russian mobsters]] Slava Malevsky and Valery from "[[Recap/TheSopranosS3E11PineBarrens Pine Barrens]]" are both veterans of the [[UsefulNotes/TheChechnyaWars First Chechen War]]. [[HuskyRusskie Valery]] in particular was reportedly such a badass, that [[OneManArmy he allegedly killed 16 Chechen rebels by himself]].
* ''{{Series/Oz}}'':
** Burr Redding, a middle-aged drug dealer and member of the Homeboys prison gang (a faction of black inmates in Oz), also happens to be a {{shell shocked|Veteran}} [[TheVietnamVet Vietnam veteran]].
** Edward Galson is a [[SemperFi US Marine colonel]] who was serving a sentence in Oz after being convicted of [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil raping]] a fellow female officer. Subverted though in that [[spoiler:his military experience didn't make him a more efficient criminal, but rather too arrogant to effectively kill another inmate who kills him instead]].
* In ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'' most of the founding "First 9" were [[TheVietnamVet Vietnam veterans]], and several current members are implied or explicitly stated to have served in the military. In the spinoff ''Series/MayansMC'', a lot of the Mayans are veterans of the UsefulNotes/WarOnTerror.
** A drug cartel made up of veterans appear in one episode of ''Mayans M.C.''. We only see them once, but they're one of the most brutal factions seen on the show, combining their military training with tactics adopted from jihadists.

* The Blacksmith from ''Series/Daredevil2015'' Season 2 is actually [[spoiler:Colonel Ray Shoonover, Frank Castle's former officer. He and some of his most [[AFatherToHisMen loyal men]] became drug dealers after the war and he is partially responsible for the massacre of the Castle family]].
* One episode of ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'' focused on a former military sharpshooter who had had a nervous breakdown and went on a killing spree.
* In ''Series/MayansMC'', a gang made up of UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror veterans shows up in one episode of Season One and the latter half of Season Five. They are major players in the California drug trade; acting as middlemen for TheCartel on the street, and controlling all contraband in the Southern California prison system. They are exceptionally violent, using both military-style tactics and techniques copied from middle eastern terrorists, but also exceptionally loyal to each other; in their first appearance they force E.Z. and Angel to smuggle an Afghan translator who was denied asylum and his wife into the country from Mexico. Despite not being overtly racist, they also apparently control the white supremacist prison gangs and Iron War, a Neo-Nazi tinged biker gang made up of cops and prison guards.
* In ''Series/ThePunisher2017'' series, [[spoiler:Billy Russo was a former squadmate of Frank Castle who later formed a private security group and was a part of the conspiracy that led to the death of Frank's family]]. In Season 2, [[spoiler:Billy leads a few fellow disillusioned veterans in vigilante justice and armed robbery, eventually graduating to a large gang that dominates the New York underworld with military tactics and organization.]]
* ''Series/PeakyBlinders'' is about the rise to power of the eponymous gang in Birmingham after WWI. Arthur, Tommy, and John all served in a tunnelling unit in France, doing arguably the most difficult and dangerous kind of work there is to do on a freaking battlefield. Some of their squadmates end up working with the gang from time to time, like BadassPreacher Jeremiah, literal ShellShockedVeteran Danny, FriendlySniper Barney, and even the intellectual Freddy Thorne. Their recurring ally [[KosherNostra Jewish gangster]] Alfie Solomons also has some service under his belt, as do plenty of other people on the scene. There's a clear disparity between the men who were of conscription age during the war and the characters who never saw the horrors of the battlefield, with Polly blaming most of the boys' ruthless actions on the things they saw and endured in the war. The Shelbys are especially shown to have grown much more organised due to their time in the military, with Tommy's gang leadership position tying into his higher rank in the unit, even though Arthur's older than him. The Blinders, the Lee family, and Alfie are all shown using the same kind of booby traps they used to place in their trenches, with the targets usually recognising the patterns.
* One episode of ''Series/BlueBloods'' features a SympatheticCriminal variant when a group of USMC Iraq War vets robs a bank [[spoiler:to pay for medical procedures for the leader's husband, a squadmate, when the VA won't]]. They run headlong into fellow Iraq vet Danny Reagan, who became an NYPD detective instead (following family tradition).
* Malcolm Reynolds and Zoe Washburne from ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' were a sergeant and a corporal in the Independent Faction army during the Unification War, and are now captain and first mate of a {{Space Pirate|s}}[=/=]smuggling crew. Mal likes to insist that "the war's long done; we're all just folk now," but he's still bitter that the Independents lost and will sometimes do things he normally wouldn't (like sheltering River and Simon), just so he can flip the bird to the [[NicknamingTheEnemy purple-bellies]].

* Played several different ways on ''Series/{{Rome}}''.

** Season 2 episode "[[Recap/TheXFilesS02E04Sleepless Sleepless]]" focuses on a disgruntled Vietnam vet who had no need to sleep and the ability to alter other people's perception and plans to use his abilities to murder everyone involved in the experiment that gave him his powers
** 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 for having left many soldiers in Vietnam as secret [=POWs=] (including him).
* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'':
** John Reese is a former Army Special Forces NCO who then did a stint in black ops with the CIA. He's homeless when he's introduced, but Finch recruits him to be a vigilante.
** One episode revolves around a gang of veterans getting revenge on the government that abandoned them by robbing banks with military precision and stolen military tech, which regularly recruits new vets to replace the ones who acquired enough loot to retire in luxury. Turns out [[spoiler:the "retired" members were actually murdered in secret by the ringleader so he could take their cut]].
* On ''Series/{{Justified}}'':
** Bo Crowder and Arlo Givens served in Vietnam together where they met Drew Thompson, a military pilot. After the war, Bo and Arlo returned to Harlan County and made a living stealing mining equipment while Drew flew drug shipments for the Detroit Mob. When Drew run afoul of Theo Tonin, he stole 2 million worth of drugs from the mob and faked his own death. He was forced to seek help from Bo and Arlo who used the drugs to turn themselves into the crime kingpins of Harlan County. In contrast Drew [[spoiler:became an honest policeman]].
** Bo Crowder's son, Boyd, served in the Iraq War and when he returned home he became a notorious criminal. He later recruited Colton Rhodes, a war buddy of his and a former military policeman to be his second in command. While Boyd came out of the war mostly OK, Colton turned out to be a mess and suffered from PTSD and heroin abuse which made him a highly unstable criminal.
** Hunter Mosley at one point [[spoiler:while discussing how his tenure as a DirtyCop working for the Dixie Mafia was also spent putting down home-grown criminals]] recounts to Raylan Givens an old acquaintance of theirs named Chris Lighter, who served as a Marine before he came back and became a marijuana grower that operated from Kentucky ''all the way to the Virginia border''.
** In season 6, Avery Markham brings in Tigerhawk Securities as his main muscle in his bid to control the soon-to-be-legal marijuana trade in Harlan County. The security company is composed of three veterans who served together in the Iraq War. They still maintain the old chain of command and sometimes even address each other by their old ranks.
* In ''Series/TheNightManager'', BigBad Richard Roper employs a mercenary force that seems to be mostly or entirely composed of former soldiers who like the military life and who are unburdened by excessive morality. His big mistake is thinking that his new employee, Jonathan Pine, is a high-end version of the same type, when in fact, [[spoiler:Pine has [[TheInfiltration a very different agenda]]]].
* Season 2 of ''Series/{{Braquo}}'' revolves around a gang called "The Invisibles", the sole survivors of a Légion Etrangère unit dispatched to Angola, led by [[ColonelBadass Colonel Aymeric Dantin]]. They have turned to blackmail, armed robbery and outright murder in order to get revenge on the French officials who betrayed them, and get enough money to compensate the families of their fallen comrades and then disappear.
* ''Series/TheKillPoint'': The hostage-takers were part of a military unit that saw combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, but were dishonorably discharged after refusing to carry out a SuicideMission. Some of their old comrades later reunite in Pittsburgh to help them stage a break-out.
* ''Series/TheBlacklist'':
** Raymond Reddington, ex-US Navy officer turned criminal after he was framed for being a KGB mole.
** Gaia was formerly a US Navy pilot who saw action in Fukushima before he turned into a pro-environment criminal and terrorist.
* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': Kate Beckett's character arc has her dealing with a CorruptPolitician who has a gang of former special warfare operators employed as his personal assassins. [[ItsPersonal One of their victims was her mother.]]
* ''Series/ColonelMarchOfScotlandYard'': In "The Headless Hat", the mysterious 'Monsieur Z' was a leader of LaResistance during WWII. However, when the war ended, rather than returning, Z stayed in the shadows and used their skills at organization and subterfuge to take control of the Marseilles underworld.
* The {{Villain Protagonist}}s of one episode of ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'' were a pair of Gulf War veterans who had become poachers. They get their comeuppance when a soldier whose platoon had been killed when one of the poachers had ordered a mortar strike in their position lured them into the home of a bunch of vampires living in the Alaskan wilderness.
* ''Series/ZeroZeroZero'': One of the three plotlines follows a squad of counternarco commandos who use brutal methods to hunt down and kill TheCartel. The only problem is that their point man is on the take. When his cover gets blown, he leads his men into joining the very cartel they were nominally fighting and uses their elite military tactics to take the underworld by storm. The story is loosely based on Los Zetas.
* ''Series/{{Arrow}}:
** ''Arrow'''s version of ComicBook/{{Deadshot}} is a former US Army sniper whose [[ShellShockedVeteran traumatic experiences]] resulted in the dissolution of his marriage. After he was imprisoned for drawing a gun on his wife, Lawton was approached by an agent of H.I.V.E. who offered him money and freedom in exchange for killing a man named Andy Diggle and the rest is history.
** On occasion, the VillainOfTheWeek is ex-military, like a crew in season one that robbed armored cars using tactics they picked up in their Special Forces training, or an officer in the second season who supplies his gangster Foster brother with assault rifle shipments.
** As always, Deathstroke is an example, despite his AdaptationNationality. Here, he was an Australian secret agent who turned to mercenary work after a mission went horribly wrong (he lost the woman he loved and was injected with a PsychoSerum that gave him superpowers), and ended up working with several violent criminals and cutthroat corporate executives to terrorise his perceived enemy.
* ''Series/TheWire'': It's implied, though never outright stated, that Chris Partlow was a soldier prior to joining Marlo Stanfield's crew, based on his discipline in combat.
* John Kline in Creator/TheBBC's ''Gangsters'' is a former SAS operative who turned to crime.
* ''Series/LAsFinest'': Duke Ingram is a military veteran who's now a therapist and supposedly helping other veterans with PTSD. However, he really recruits them to be assassins, carrying out hits in LA's Koreatown.
* A number of ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'' villains have some sort of military background prior to turning to a life of crime. Mitch Bolton (Season 3's "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS3E16AndS3E17WarZone War Zone]]"), [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic Bart Hawkins]] (Season 5's "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS5E2Patriot Patriot]]") [[ThoseWackyNazis Stan]] [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Gorman]] (Season 6's "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS6E22TheSoulOfWinter The Soul of Winter]]"), [[BodyguardBetrayal Theodore]] [[MurderDotCom McNeely]] (Season 9's "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS9E16SixHours 6 Hours]]")... just to name a few. Of these villains, however, there is none more notorious and loathsome to earn this dishonorable mention than [[AxCrazy Victor]] [[SerialRapist LaRue]].
* ''Series/LetTheRightOneIn'': A drug dealer's enforcer who hunts down Mark served in the US Army Special Operations.
* ''Series/SWAT2017'':
** "[[Recap/SWATS01E16Payback Payback]]" has the LAPD facing off against a group of ex-Army soldiers who are upset about a private security company double-crossing them after being recruited due to the fact that they're experienced in the field.
** In "[[Recap/SWATS02E06NeverAgain Never Again]]" the robbers turn out to be [[AmazonBrigade a group of female]] [[BadassIsraeli Israeli military veterans]] using their skills against an Israeli criminal syndicate. All of the team are [[WorthyOpponent very impressed by them]].
* ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'': The plot of "[[Recap/StarTrekStrangeNewWorldsS2E1TheBrokenCircle The Broken Circle]]" revolves around a dilithium mine shared between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, guarded by ex-Federation and -Klingon soldiers that have effectively become an organized crime gang, whose share of the profits has been significantly reduced by the reduction in tensions three years on from the war's end. [[spoiler:They attempt to launch a {{false flag|Operation}} attack on a Klingon battlecruiser with a salvaged Starfleet ship in hopes of restarting the war. The ''Enterprise'' foils the attack and is able to convince the Klingons that the Federation wasn't involved.]]
* ''Series/DarkWinds'': Frank Nakia is a highly decorated Vietnam veteran. After coming home, he became involved with murder and bank robbery as part of the radical Buffalo Society.

* Music/DavidBowie's "Running Gun Blues" describes a soldier at the end of the Vietnam War waiting to be picked up and taken home, who decides to turn his skills on desecrating the innocents he still lives among.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Battletech}}'':

* The classic game ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'' featured a number of supervillains who had military backgrounds.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'': A common backstory for shadowrunners, it helps explain ArtificialLimbs and combat implants.

** The real-life Los Zetas cartel serves as a secondary antagonist in a chapter of ''Targets of Opportunity'' detailing the Children of the Worm Cult. The criminal organization began when a group of Mexican Special Forces defected to serve as cartel muscle--an NPC in the scenario is one such member.

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'':

* ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' - much like its TTRPG predecessor - features many war veterans turned criminals. V, the game's protagonist can very well be one (depending on player choices) before becoming an outlaw. Johnny Silverhand (the game's deuteragonist) was also a soldier before becoming an anti-corporate terrorist. Nearly every member of the Aldecaldo Clan that V runs into was a Militech soldier before becoming 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. Adam Smasher was also a former soldier who was [[SociopathicSoldier dishonorably discharged]] before he became an infamous merc and later on a corporate hatchetman.
* In ''VideoGame/LANoire'', the central conflict is around a shipment of military supplies (including weapons and medical grade opiates) stolen by embittered soldiers. [[spoiler:Specifically by members of the protagonist's former unit in Okinawa during World War II (partially because they resented him becoming a decorated cop after they [[UnfriendlyFire fragged him]] when he [[DarkAndTroubledPast ordered them to torch a cave that turned out to be full of civilians]]).]]
* The ''VideoGame/{{Mafia}}'' series:
** Vito Scaletta from ''VideoGame/MafiaII'' served in World War II, and almost immediately upon arriving home, his friend Joe convinces him to resort to a life of crime. When he meets Lincoln in ''III'', he asks him about his experiences in Vietnam. Then again, Vito was always a criminal, as the reason he was in WWII [[TradingBarsForStripes was to avoid going to jail]] after a cop caught him breaking into a store.
** In ''VideoGame/MafiaIII'', PlayerCharacter Lincoln Clay is a Vietnam veteran who joins the black mob in New Orleans upon mustering out.

* 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 (though this [[FridgeLogic makes one wonder]] why a gang that has its own weapons factory generally attacks 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 Shadow Platoon from ''VideoGame/UrbanReign'' is made up of former military men who have been discharged for various reasons.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
** Every turian criminal ever, given their species is a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Soldier Race]] with universal {{conscription}} and a meritocratic military dictatorship.
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' squadmate Jacob Taylor was formerly an Alliance Marine assigned to an elite black ops unit called the Corsairs. He later joined the human-supremacist terrorist organization and NGOSuperpower Cerberus. Zaeed Massani is mentioned to be an ex-Alliance soldier before he became a mercenary.
* ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'': The Cardassian-supremacist True Way terrorist organization draws much of its membership from [[FormerRegimePersonnel unemployed former Cardassian Guard personnel]] (following the Cardassian Union's treaty-imposed military reductions). In [[DummiedOut missions that were deleted in Season 11]], the group devolved to little more than a GenericEthnicCrimeGang after their leader Gul Madred was captured by the PlayerCharacter.
* ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami2WrongNumber'' reveals that Jacket, the protagonist of the first ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'', served in the Hawaiian conflict as part of a Special Unit called Ghost Wolves alongside Beard before becoming a hitman for the 50 Blessings terrorist organization attacking Russian Mob spots associated with the Russo-American coalition.

* ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'': Delford "Iraq" Wade is an Iraq war veteran who made the move to organized crime back home, using the same advanced military training he picked up in "the desert" to train up his gangbanger buddies into a legitimate fighting force. While to the public, he and his crew just look like another wannabe street gang, behind the scenes he's hacking government files and laundering military-grade arms.

* {{Implied|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' with Shaojie "Chilong" Zhang. Why else would the former Chinese Triad member be a better shot than elite soldiers, have several more [[ClassAndLevelSystem levels]] than the new recruits and be a specialist in heavy weapons?
* The male Lone Survivor can do this in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'''s ''Nuka World'' DLC, going from pre-war United States Army to post-apocalyptic raider gang leader.
* The first ''VideoGame/{{Mercenaries}}'' game has the second in command of the [[TheMafiya Russian Mob]] being introduced as a former [=KGB=] agent and implied to at one point to having been Spetznas.
* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag'': Edward Kenway was a {{privateer}} in the employ of the United Kingdom during the UsefulNotes/WarOfTheSpanishSuccession, but when the war ended it left him without a livelihood, and he turned to plain old piracy.
* ''{{VideoGame/Uncharted}}'':
** [[CoolOldGuy Victor Sullivan]] is a former US Navy sailor. After leaving the military, he became a professional thief who travels around the world to find and steal ancient artifacts for a living. [[AntiHero While he's not much of a bad guy]], he knows how to use guns and won't hesitate to shoot at other armed criminals he encounters on his journeys. Sullivan also happens to be a trained pilot, presumably another skill he learned from the Navy.
** Zoran Lazarevic (the [[BigBad main villain]] of ''VideoGame/Uncharted2AmongThieves'') is an infamous [[BalkanBastard Serbian mercenary warlord]] who was a veteran of UsefulNotes/TheYugoslavWars. He also holds a very well-deserved, fearsome reputation as a [[SociopathicSoldier psychopathic war criminal]] who tortured and murdered countless people; and even while living as a wanted fugitive on the lam, he still continues to be just as [[AxCrazy bloodthirsty and merciless]] as he was back then.

* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'': Atton Rand served as a soldier of the Galactic Republic during the Mandalorian Wars, [[spoiler:and defected to Revan's side along with a great number of Republic forces when Revan took on the mantle of the Dark Lord of the Sith. Under Revan, he was part of [[ElitesAreMoreGlamorous an elite special forces unit]] trained to hide their presence from Force users so they could capture or kill Jedi. After deserting from the Sith to avoid having his Force-sensitive nature discovered]], he became a smuggler and scoundrel while blending in with thousands of refugees on Nar Shaddaa that were displaced by both the Mandalorian and the Jedi Civil wars.
* The true identity of the BigBad of ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'' is that of [[spoiler: Ambassador Quercus Alba. Formerly a decorated veteran of the Principality of Cohdopia, Alba was recognized as a war hero who was crucial to many of the principality's military victories. However, during his time as an ambassador for one of Cohdopia's two successor states, the Kingdom of Allebahst, he had begun to use his position to head a sizeable international smuggling ring, and had personally committed at least two murders.]]

* ''VideoGame/AlienSwarm'' inverts this with Wolfe; he was a convict who was turned into a soldier, and because he outperformed the others and [[GoodFeelsGood enjoyed working as a solider]], he permanently joined the Special ops as a soldier and left his criminal life behind.

** The trope picture is Vito Scaletta from ''VideoGame/MafiaII''. He served in World War II, and almost immediately upon arriving home, his friend Joe convinces him to resort to a life of crime. When he meets Lincoln in ''III'', he asks him about his experiences in Vietnam. Then again, Vito was always a criminal, as the reason he was in WWII [[TradingBarsForStripes was to avoid going to jail]] after a cop caught him breaking into a store.

* The Music/SteveEarle song "Copperhead Road" is the story of John Lee Pettimore, who follows in his grandfather's (a [[HillbillyMoonshiner moonshiner]]) and father's (a bootlegger) footsteps after serving two tours in 'Nam by starting up an illegal drugs plantation on the titular road.

* The Music/SteveEarle song "Copperhead Road" is the story of John Lee Pettimore, who follows in his grandfather's (a moonshiner) and father's (a bootlegger) footsteps after serving two tours in 'Nam by starting up an illegal drugs plantation on the titular road.

* After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many now-unemployed members of the former [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets Red Army]] found new work in the [[TheMafiya Russian mafia]]. And they often took their army toys with them... Or so a popular western stereotype can make one believe. In reality, a former army officer trying to fit into a (post-)Soviet criminal organisation would be treated as lowest trash as best and would have a high chance to just die (and possibly raped before it). Now, there were ex-military bands in 90s who tried their luck with criminal activity but they were a thing of their own and did not survived for long. Not to mention that in post-Soviet space term "Russian mafia" is usually used for criminal organizations that were created by Soviet Jewesh immigrants and operate in US as opposed to local organized crime (which IS a very different beast despite western portrayal usually showing them as the same thing/branches of the same criminal network).

* After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many now-unemployed members of the former [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets Red Army]] found new work in the [[TheMafiya Russian mafia]]. And they often took their army toys with them... Or so a popular western stereotype can make one believe. In reality, a former army officer trying to fit into a (post-)Soviet criminal organisation would be treated as lowest trash as best and would have a high chance to just die (and possibly raped before it). Now, there were ex-military bands in 90s who tried their luck with criminal activity but they were a thing of their own and did not survived for long. Not to mention that in post-Soviet space term "Russian mafia" is usually used for criminal organizations that were created by Soviet Jewesh immigrants and operate in US as opposed to local organized crime which IS a different beast despite western portrayal often showing them as the same thing.

* After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many now-unemployed members of the former [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets Red Army]] found new work in the [[TheMafiya Russian mafia]]. And they often took their army toys with them.