History Main / FromCamouflageToCriminal

* ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}}'' features many war veterans turned criminals. Any ''Cyberpunk 2013'' characters can take Military Education in their Lifepaths to increase their starting combat skills. The Solo class is made up almost exclusively of ex-soldiers who became mercenaries-for-hire using their combat training (and their military-grade cyberware).

* ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}}'' features many war veterans turned criminals. Cyberpunk 2013 characters can all take Military Education in their Lifepaths to account for bonuses to combat skills. The Solo class overall is made up almost exclusively of ex-soldiers who become mercenaries-for-hire using their combat training (and their military-grade cyberware).

* ''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 during their youths before becoming outlaws. Nearly every member of the Aldecaldo Clan that V runs into was a Militech soldier before coming home and becoming mercenaries and smugglers. Then, of course, there are the members of the 6th Street Gang. All of whom are ruthless street criminals fanatically loyal to the NUSA and the idea of Reunification.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}}'' features many war veterans turned criminals. Cyberpunk 2013 characters can all take Military Education in their Lifepaths to account for bonuses to combat skills. The Solo class overall is made up almost exclusively of ex-soldiers who've taken their combat training (and their military-grade cyberware).

* ''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 during their youths before becoming outlaws. Nearly every member of the Aldecaldo Clan that V runs into was a Militech soldier before coming home and becoming mercenaries and smugglers. Then, of course, there are the members of the 6th Street Gang. All of whom are ruthless street criminals fanatically loyal to the NUSA and the idea of Reunification.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}}'' features many war veterans turned criminals. Cyberpunk 2013 characters can all take Military Education in their Lifepaths to account for bonuses to combat skills. The Solo class overall is made up almost exclusively of ex-soldiers who've taken their combat training (and their military-grade cyberware).

* ''Video Game/{{Cyberpunk 2077}}'' - 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 during their youths before becoming outlaws. Nearly every member of the Aldecaldo Clan that V runs into was a Militech soldier before coming home and becoming mercenaries and smugglers. Then, of course, there are the members of the 6th Street Gang. All of whom are ruthless street criminals fanatically loyal to the NUSA and the idea of Reunification.

* 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.
* 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.
* Tony Montana of ''Film/Scarface1983'' is a former Cuban Army soldier who gradually becomes a fearsome Miami [[TheCartel cocaine kingpin]], and quickly becomes known for being quite fearless and ruthless to his rivals. Tony's military training could explain his deadly skills with firearms, such as an [[MoreDakka assault rifle]] and {{grenade launcher}} that he uses to [[OneManArmy kill dozens of enemy gangsters]] with in the final battle.

* ''Series/PeakyBlinders'' is about the rise to power of the eponymous gang in Birmingham after WWI. All three Shelby brothers who run the gang are decorated war heroes, and many of their most loyal followers served with them. Their martial skills come in handy on countless occasions.

* ''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.

* ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'':
** Jacket served in Hawaiian conflict as part of the Special Unit called Ghost Wolves along side with Beard before becoming hitman for 50 Blessing terrorist organization attacking Russian Mob associated with Russo-American coalition.
** The Fans from [[VideoGame/HotlineMiami2WrongNumber the sequel]] also served in Hawaiian conflict as separate unit and pose as homicidal vigilante group [[GlorySeeker seeking fame]], inspired by Jacket's vigilante actions in the first game.

** The Fans from [[VideoGame/HotlineMiami2WrongNumber the sequel also served in Hawaiian conflict as separate unit and pose as homicidal vigilante group [[GlorySeeker seeking fame]], inspired by Jacket's vigilante actions in the first game.

** The Fans from sequel count too, they also served in Hawaiian conflict as separate unit who are now posing as homicidal vigilante group in the seek of the fame.

* ImpliedTrope in ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' with Shaojie "Chilong" Zhang. Tell me why the former Chinese Triad member is a better shot than elite soldiers, has several more [[ClassAndLevelSystem levels]] than the new recruits and is a specialist in heavy weapons again?

** Similarly, there is significant concern about the radicalization of US military personnel, with fears that some leaving enlistment can become RightWingMilitiaFanatics 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.

* 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.

* Before he went to work for Viggo Tarasov and the Continental, ''Franchise/JohnWick'' used to work for the military and presumably picked up his very deadly fighting and gunplay skills from them.

* {{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]] Actor Creator/KeanuReeves, who helped write the story, [[WordOfGod confirmed]] that John served in the US military at one point.

* ''Series/TheWire'': It's implied, though never outright stated, that Chris Partlow was a soldier prior to joined Marlo Stanfield's crew, based on his discipline in combat.

* Jacket and the Fans, from ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami,'' are all ex-military turned violent homicidal maniacs.

* ''Film/TheKillingOfAChineseBookie'' has a riff on the concept. Cosmo is a Korean War veteran who's sucked into the underworld to pay off gambling debts. Mobsters strongarm him into doing a contract murder of a Chinese criminal rival, expecting him to [[UriahGambit get killed by the man's bodyguards afterwards]]. Things hit a snag when Cosmo mows through all the Chinese gangsters and lives. The mob then tries to put out a hit on him, but he proves to be much more than they handle. During one confrontation, Cosmo dismisses the mobsters as "amateurs."

** Mara Jade was an Emperor's Hand, a private spy and assassin with limited Force training employed directly by Emperor Palpatine. She ended up as unemployed FormerRegimePersonnel after Endor, eventually falling in with a smuggler named Talon Karrde.

* ''Literature/TakeshiKovacs'' ran with street gangs before enlisting with the UN Protectorate [[SuperSoldier Envoy]] corps, and after mustering out found that the civilian job market for sociopathic killing machines was somewhat limited. With the result that most of the time he worked as a mercenary for criminal syndicates.

** 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."
** Recurring character Brennan was once Military Intelligence, now he's an ArmsDealer.
** 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.
** 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.

** 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.

* Many historians believe that the decision by [[UsefulNotes/ThePope Pope Urban II]] to launch [[UsefulNotes/TheCrusades the First Crusade]] was influenced by the large numbers of landless knights who were turning to banditry at the time, as well. The idea seems to have been that [[UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire Emperor Alexios I Komnenos]]' request for aid was seen as a golden opportunity to get all of these lawless 'nobles' to go fight somewhere ''else'', thank you very much, in exchange for a thawing of relations with the Byzantines and especially the Orthodox Church (and oh, yeah, to fight Seljuk Turks, but as far as Urban was concerned that was mostly just an excuse for the rest). Within a year it had all GoneHorriblyRight, with those same bandits now having carved kingdoms out of territory which was supposed to go back to the Eastern Romans; tens of thousands were dead on all sides; huge numbers of peasants who had gotten lost on the way to the Holy Land during the People's Crusades were wandering Eastern Europe starving and stealing; the Jewish communities of Germany had been massacred repeatedly by groups of Crusaders who took the Cross up but decided to stick to targets closer to home; large swathes of Hungary, the Byzantine Empire, and the eastern Mediterranean had been laid waste; and the relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church had been permanently poisoned. And that's just how it went for the European Christians...

** Zigzagged in the case of Vorenus, who almost does this by ''accident'' in the first season. When Vorenus needs to get a FallenOnHardTimesJob, he thinks he's taking a job to be a bodyguard for Erastes Fulmen, a man he mistakenly assumes to be a respected local merchant but is actually a mobster who wants Vorenus to be an enforcer for him. Vorenus doesn't realize the truth until Fulmen starts trying to beat money out of a "business partner" of his, and Vorenus almost immediately walks out on the job. In the second season, however, Vorenus does become part of the Roman underworld for real, and he lives up to the ruthless stereotype in the description and then some, as the entire Roman underworld come to both fear and loathe him.
** Titus Pullo falls into being a thug/killer for hire in the first season and becomes Vorenus' right-hand man in the second when Vorenus becomes a prominent underworld figure. They also have at least one (and maybe more) fellow legionaries in the mob they lead.

* ''Film/TheKillingOfAChineseBookie'' is a riff on the concept. Cosmo is a Korean War veteran who's sucked into the underworld to pay off gambling debts. Mobsters strongarm him into doing a contract murder of a Chinese criminal rival, expecting him to [[UriahGambit get killed by the man's bodyguards afterwards]]. Things hit a snag when Cosmo mows through all the Chinese gangsters and lives. The mob then tries to put out a hit on him, but he proves to be much more than they handle. During one confrontation, Cosmo dismisses the mobsters as "amateurs."

* Speaking of ''Film/Scarface1983'', the original novel (the one which [[Film/Scarface1932 the 1932 movie]] was based on) also gave 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]].

** [[BoisterousBruiser Titus]] [[DumbMuscle Pullo]] falls into being a thug/killer for hire in the first season and becomes Vorenus' right-hand man in the second when Vorenus becomes a prominent underworld figure. They also have at least one (and maybe more) fellow legionaries in the mob they lead.

** 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 protagonists' UsefulNotes/WorldWarII-era Elco PT boat. [[spoiler:However, 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 offensive he cited and doesn't recognize common GI slang from the period, so his actual background is currently unknown.]]

** 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 protagonists' UsefulNotes/WorldWarII-era Elco PT boat. [[spoiler:However, the commander of the US Special Forces unit Grey Fox realizes after speaking with him that Dutch doesn't recognize common GI slang from the period, so his actual background is currently unknown.]]