History Main / IControlMyMinionsThrough

* Ferretina of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' controlled the lapinemoths by offering them [[spoiler:free insurance]]. And it worked.

-->'''Goomblast:''' "[Lucrezia] treated effryvun like dey vos her ''servants''. Treated der Jaegers like leedle petz -- no -- like dey vos ''property''. Ve put op vit her ''only'' becawze ve iz ''[[BestServedCold patient]]''... und becawze Master Bill vos in ''[[DatingCatwoman luff]]''. '''''[[SuddenlyShouting But der Jaegers is not leedle petz!]]'''''"

* Dio Brando of ''Franchise/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' is willing to use every trick in the book to recruit minions. Want money? Name your price. Want sex? Male or female, he's totally willing. In an emotionally vulnerable position and looking for guidance? Dio's happy to show the way. Still don't want to join? Well, we've got [[MindControl flesh buds]] for that.

*** [[TheHeavy Cinder Fall]] desires power above all else, so Salem serves as a mentor to her, granting her power and teaching her how to properly use it.

* ''FanFic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': Traditionally, Keepers go for fear, money, sadism, and corruption. Naturally, this is one of the problems Ami faces when she becomes the newest Keeper.

** Salem, the BigBad, proves herself to be a flexible leader and uses different methods to coerce or guide those who follow her.

*** [[TheChessmaster Cinder Fall]] desires power above all else, so Salem serves as a mentor to her, granting her power and teaching her how to properly use it.

*** [[TheHeavy Cinder Fall]] desires power above all else, so Salem serves as a mentor to her, granting her power and teaching her how to properly use it.

*** [[TheDragon Arthur Watts]] serves because Salem appreciates his talents and lets him act against his enemies. He is the only person seen yet far who has survived speaking to her disrespectfully, and she trusts him with the most [[EvilGenius vital and delicate]] of her plans. Thus, a mixture of Respect, Kindness, and Agenda, tempered by actual trust. Arthur knows full well that Salem just kills or abandons anybody who disappoints her, so he strives to never do so.

* DIE! DIE! DIE FOR [[Comicbook/{{Darkseid}} DARKSEID]]! And the people of Apokolips obey, out of a combination of Fear, Sadism, Power, Divine Right, and Indoctrination. He has also used Corruption and/or Mind Control on occasion as well, but those tend to be less permanent.

* ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'': Evil Sonic/Scourge the Hedgehog, Sonic's MirrorUniverse [[EvilTwin counterpart]], is a big fan of Fear and Power. He controls the Anti-Freedom FightersSuppression Squad and Destructix by beating them and making them terrified of him. In fact, this is how he controls most people he works with, as Jules-Prime notes. When confronted by someone who won't back down to his threats or let themselves be cowed by him, Scourge [[DirtyCoward folds like a lawn chair]].

* In ''LightNovel/{{Overlord}}'', Ainz controls the minions of Nazarick through fanatical loyalty. Due to their original nature as NPC creations of his guild, when they were brought to life in the New World they all worship him as a Supreme Being and are utterly devoted to him body and soul. The only things that can sway them are their loyalty to their creators (if any NPC had to choose between Ainz or their creator they would choose their creator) or [[spoiler:as seen with the case of Shaltear]] Downfall of Castle and Country, a World Item with the power to dominate the mind of any being. Ainz nonetheless doesn't want to rely on this entirely and tries his best to be a BenevolentBoss to them. One of the ways Emperor Jircniv is EntertaininglyWrong about Ainz is that he ''thinks'' Ainz is a tyrant who controls his minions through fear and thus believes there's a chance to turn someone in Nazarick against Ainz. Demiurge already predicted this and finds this hilarious.

* In ''LightNovel'', Ainz controls the minions of Nazarick through fanatical loyalty. Due to their original nature as NPC creations of his guild, when they were brought to life in the New World they all worship him as a Supreme Being and are utterly devoted to him body and soul. The only things that can sway them are their loyalty to their creators (if any NPC had to choose between Ainz or their creator they would choose their creator) or [[spoiler:as seen with the case of Shaltear]] Downfall of Castle and Country, a World Item with the power to dominate the mind of any being. Ainz nonetheless doesn't want to rely on this entirely and tries his best to be a BenevolentBoss to them. One of the ways Emperor Jircniv is EntertaininglyWrong about Ainz is that he ''thinks'' Ainz is a tyrant who controls his minions through fear and thus believes there's a chance to turn someone in Nazarick against Ainz. Demiurge already predicted this and finds this hilarious.

* In ''LightNovel'', Ainz controls the minions of Nazarick through fanatical loyalty. Due to their original nature as NPC creations of his guild, when they were brought to life in the New World they all worship him as a Supreme Being and are utterly devoted to him body and soul. The only things that can sway them are their loyalty to their creators (if any NPC had to choose between Ainz or their creator they would choose their creator) or [[spoiler:as seen with the case of Shaltear]] Downfall of Castle and Country, a World Item with the power to dominate the mind of any being.

* In ''LightNovel'', Ainz controls the minions of Nazarick through fanatical loyalty. Due to their original nature as NPC creations of his guild, when they were brought to life in the New World they all worship him as a Supreme Being and are utterly devoted to him body and soul. The only things that can sway them are their loyalty to their creators (Ainz's fellow guild members) or [[spoiler:as seen with the case of Shaltear]] Downfall of Castle and Country, a World Item with the power to dominate the mind of any being.

[[folder:Comic Book]]

* [[GeniusBruiser Professor]] [[LargeHam Ratigan]] from ''Disney/TheGreatMouseDetective'' appears to use Fear (his response to minions who upset him is to feed them to his cat), Sadism (his minions are genuinely enthustiastic about the next evil caper), and Money on his henchmen while using Kindness on his cat.

* [[PresidentEvil President Shinra]] of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' rules through Money. After he's violently retired by [[BigBad Sephiroth]], his son Rufus takes over, and a new rule of Fear begins. (He actually [[LampshadeHanging references this]] in his introductory speech!)

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'', it is revealed that [=LeBlanc=] keeps her minions with kindness, helping them when they were down-and-out. This only partly explains why they risk their lives in battle for her, of course. [[PresidentEvil President Shinra]] of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' rules through Money. After he's violently retired by [[BigBad Sephiroth]], his son Rufus takes over, and a new rule of Fear begins. (He actually [[LampshadeHanging references this]] in his introductory speech!)

* Ghetsis of ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' leads Team Plasma with variations on Loyalty — most of the grunts follow because of his Agenda, his son was Indoctrinated, and he apparently saved the Shadow Triad from something long ago, so they follow him because of Kindness. It's stated/suggested in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Crystal]]'' that Pokémon take on the characteristics of their trainers, and will follow orders because they want to make that trainer happy, whether his/her intentions are good or bad.

-->--'''Rufus Shinra''' upon his takeover of [[MegaCorp the Shinra Electric Power Company]], ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''

* Faramir brings it up as a DiscussedTrope concerning the "Fear" and "Indoctrination" bit in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings''.

* And sometimes no one knows. In "A Boy And His Dog", Vic (the boy) and Blood (the dog) see the leader of a roving gang go nuts and stomp one of his own men to death. Through their telepathic link, Vic asks why anyone would follow a lunatic like that. Blood (clearly the brains of the operation) answers "I don't know. Charisma?"

** [[ComicBook/XWingSeries Ysanne Isard]], [[TheSpymaster head of Imperial Intelligence]] and de facto ruler of the Empire for a time after Palpatine's death, primarily used Fear of [[YouHaveFailedMe deadly punishment for failure]], whether against the minions themselves or their [[IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure loved ones]], but was also adept at using MindControl to break down prisoners into {{Manchurian Agent}}s, as well as Revenge to motivate specific assets - she let Kirtan Loor know that Corran Horn, a rival from their time in [[SpacePolice CorSec]], had joined Rogue Squadron when tasking him to destroy them, then leaked information so Horn would know Loor killed Horn's former partner, giving Loor additional incentive to deal with his enemy. But as other villains pointed out, the huge drawback of Isard's leadership style was that her minions had no rosy future to look forward to, only the certainty that at some point they'd screw up and she'd kill them. This led some of her subordinates to abandon her when Isard tried her hand at running a war and [[MotiveDecay started prioritizing sating her thirst for revenge rather than rationally pursuing her faction's interest]], contributing to her eventual downfall. Another problem was Isard's disinterest in using Authority to rule, resulting in her [[ThePlan plan]] to destroy the New Republic by letting them capture Coruscant after seeding the world with a SyntheticPlague targeting non-humans - if it had worked, it might have splintered the Rebellion apart, but its first step involved ''surrendering the Imperial capital'', a huge blow to loyalist morale. Ultimately, Isard was focused on destroying the Rebels through any means necessary, not preserving the Empire, which was why she had to ''rent'' capital ships from other Imperial warlords rather than requisitioning them.

--->'''Azula''': It’s because [[EliteMooks they]] haven’t made up their minds. They’re waiting to see how this is going to end. [[WindowsOfTheSoul I can see your whole history in your eyes.]] [[SelfMadeMan You were born with nothing. So you had to struggle,]] [[TheChessmaster and connive,]] and claw your way to power, but true power, the divine right to rule, is something you’re born with. The fact is they don’t know which one of us is going to be sitting on that throne and which one is going to be bowing down. [[IKnowYouKnowIKnow But I know and you know.]] (sits on the throne) Well?

** '''[[{{Blackmail}} Coercion]]:''' The villain has a hold on someone that they can leverage to make someone do whatever they wish, be it a threat to some loved one that they've kidnapped, having their hands on something the minion needs to survive or would die if they lost (such as a lich's SoulJar). The best way to get this kind of minion to turn on the villain is to remove the hold that the villain has on them, such as by rescuing those under threat or getting back what the villain has.