History Main / LoweredRecruitingStandards

* In the Sith Warrior storyline of ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', your initial mentor comments that this policy recently put into practice within the Sith Academy, due to the heavy losses of the war. In an inversion, your character is one of the elite who is there legitimately (sort of--in a sort-of ironic inversion, your mentor gives you special treatment while trying to prove his point about the lowered standards), while TheRival is one whose presence owes itself to the Lowered Standards.

* Happens in some of the ''StarCraft'' novels. A lot of terran recruits are convincts, so the methods used involve arresting people for flimsy reasons, as well. In at least one case, people were outright kidnapped from colonies, using the brainwashing meant to keep the more violent convicts under control to instead tell them a fake story.

* Happens in some of the ''StarCraft'' novels. A lot of terran recruits are convincts, so the methods used involve arresting people for flimsy reasons, as well.

* In ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'' lack of numbers is the reason that a third class devil like Elsie gets trained and sent to Earth to capture loose spirits; a job previously reserved for the best of the best.

* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffen-SS Waffen SS]] during WorldWarII. Initially membership was open to "[[MasterRace Aryans]]" only in accordance with the racial policies of the [[NaziGermany Nazi state]], but the rules were partially relaxed in 1940, and AdolfHitler authorized the formation of units composed largely or solely of foreign volunteers and conscripts as the war went on. By the end of the war, non-Germans made up more than 50 percent of the Waffen SS.

* Jokingly mentioned by DaveBarry in regards to universities being so desperate for students they now accept people they wouldn't have allowed to work in the boiler room.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Twilight 2000}}'' by the time the game starts in 2000 all the armies in Europe have been taking anyone they can get for years: draftees, left-overs from destroyed allied units, deserters from the other side, even locals.

* In ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'', the war against the Parshendi has been a sufficient drain on the human's manpower that ''ten-year old'' boys are being conscripted.

** A recurring theme in ''Series/{{MASH}}'' was that the bast majority of the US Army (being draftees), were unprepared, unfit, and generally had no business being in a warzone

* In ''{{Area 88}}'', the Asran foreign legion is desperate for fighting men, so it tends to overlook flaws in potential mercenaries, such as inexperience, criminal backgrounds, or psychopathology. They're not too concerned about lack of consent (in Shin's case) or age (in Kim's case) either.

* ''Series/{{Mash}}'' - With the draft on, you get doctors who are against the very war that's being fought.
** A recurring theme in ''Series/{{Mash}}'' was that the bast majority of the US Army (being draftees), were unprepared, unfit, and generally had no business being in a warzone

** A recurring theme in Series/{{Mash}} was that the bast majority of the US Army (being draftees), were unprepared, unfit and generally had no business being in a warzone

* Mentioned in AllQuietOnTheWesternFront: towards the end of the war, younger and younger recruits are being sent to the front with even less training than the protagonists' group received. They comment that they seem so much older now than those kids.

* The StarWarsExpandedUniverse: TheEmpire began supplementing its clone army with recruits, a development which drew criticism from the clones.
** This policy gives us the ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy.

* In the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series, Harry is accepted in the advanced Potions class because the new teacher has lower standards than Snape's.

* In HarryTurtledove's ''{{Worldwar}}'' series, Sam Yeager is a player for a Minor League Baseball team. During the [[WorldWarOne Great War]], he tried to join the Army but was rejected on the basis of having lost all his teeth during the Spanish Flu. After the [[TheReptilians Race]] attacks the US (and many other nations), the Army quickly lowers its standards and starts accepting anyone who's willing to fight. Sam and his manager "Mutt" Daniels (who would normally be too old to fight) join up.

* From professional wrestling, you have the [=nWo=] [[hottip:*:New World Order]] of the WCW. This was one of the things that soured the storyline, causing the eventual implosion of the WCW.

* In the ''TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'' episode [[Recap/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012S1E22PulverizerReturns "Pulverizer Returns"]], it is revealed that the Foot Clan has invoked this trope, due to many of the former members quitting after losing to the turtles so often.

* MASH - With the draft on, you get doctors who are against the very war that's being fought.