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* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Adar, being SuperPrototype Orc who kept many of his Elvish features intact, has the advantage of retaining his intelligence and ability to stand in the sun. He is an AffablyEvil AntiVillain who was capable to outsmart from Men to Valar and stay at the top. He is the chieftain of the Orcs, who are feral, animalistic and absolutely morally abhorrent, but still quite loyal to Adar.
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* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Adar, being SuperPrototype Orc who kept many of his Elvish features intact, has the advantage of retaining his intelligence and ability to stand in the sun. He is an AffablyEvil AntiVillain who was capable to outsmart from Men to Valar Maiar and stay at the top. He is the chieftain of the Orcs, who are feral, animalistic and absolutely morally abhorrent, but still quite loyal to Adar.
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[[folder:Live-Action Shows]]
* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Adar, being SuperPrototype Orc who kept many of his Elvish features intact, has the advantage of retaining his intelligence and ability to stand in the sun. He is an AffablyEvil AntiVillain who was capable to outsmart from Men to Valar and stay at the top. He is the chieftain of the Orcs, who are feral, animalistic and absolutely morally abhorrent, but still quite loyal to Adar.
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* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Adar, being SuperPrototype Orc who kept many of his Elvish features intact, has the advantage of retaining his intelligence and ability to stand in the sun. He is an AffablyEvil AntiVillain who was capable to outsmart from Men to Valar and stay at the top. He is the chieftain of the Orcs, who are feral, animalistic and absolutely morally abhorrent, but still quite loyal to Adar.
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* ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'' has to take quite a lot of "lesser evil" options, and her selection of employees is no exception. Her closest advisors are trusted friends who support her efforts to be a good influence on the world, but beneath them are a motley crew of {{Blood Knight}}s, {{Combat Sadomasochist}}s, [[SapientEatSapient cannibals]], magical {{Mad Scientist}}s, worshippers of evil gods, or any combination of the above. She isn't thrilled about any of it, but she does need the help and recognises that they're less dangerous to the world if they're working for her than if they're just running loose.
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* ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'' has to take quite a lot of "lesser evil" "[[LesserOfTwoEvils lesser evil]]" options, and her selection of employees is no exception. Her closest advisors are trusted friends who support her efforts to be a good influence on the world, but beneath them are a motley crew of {{Blood Knight}}s, {{Combat Sadomasochist}}s, [[SapientEatSapient cannibals]], magical {{Mad Scientist}}s, worshippers of evil gods, or any combination of the above. She isn't thrilled about any of it, but she does need the help and recognises that they're less dangerous to the world if they're working for her than if they're just running loose.
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* ''Manga/PopTeamEpic'': In the first season episode "The Dragon of Iidabashi - Pipi's Revenge", Pipimi and Popuko became in these roles when they met in jail and made an alliance ([[ItMakesSenseInContext licking a lemon to sealing it]]) and so they became a {{Yakuza}} and her henchmen as a JapaneseDelinquent, respectively.
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* ''Manga/PopTeamEpic'': In the first season episode "The Dragon of Iidabashi - Pipi's Revenge", Pipimi and Popuko became in these roles when they met in jail and made an alliance ([[ItMakesSenseInContext licking a lemon to sealing it]]) and so they became a {{Yakuza}} and her henchmen as a JapaneseDelinquent, JapaneseDelinquent henchman, respectively.
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* ''Manga/PopTeamEpic'': In the first season episode "The Dragon of Iidabashi - Pipi's Revenge", Pipimi and Popuko became in these roles when they met in jail and made an alliance ([[ItMakesSenseInContext licking a lemon to sealing it]]) and so they became a {{Yakuza}} and her henchmen as a JapaneseDelinquent, respectively.
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-->-- '''Horus''' lamenting how of the [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil eight]] [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Traitor]] [[CombatSadomasochist Primarchs]], only [[BoringButPractical Peturabo]] can be relied on; ''Literature/HorusHeresy''
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-->-- '''Horus''' lamenting how of the [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil eight]] [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Traitor]] [[CombatSadomasochist Primarchs]], eight Traitor Patriarchs, only [[BoringButPractical Peturabo]] can be relied on; ''Literature/HorusHeresy''
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* ''Videogame/NeverwinterNights2'': The two representatives of the [[ThievesGuild Shadow Thieves]], Axel and Moire, have this dynamic if you end up working with them. Moire, the henchwoman, orders you to go on a one-man crimewave throughout the Docks District, and getting her approval requires starting fights with anyone whose actions are a threat to the guild's activities and coercing the city watchmen into [[CorruptCop taking bribes in exchange for turning a blind eye]]. She then orders you to burn down the watch post as a display of the guild's power. Axel, the boss, turns out to be AffablyEvil and an advocate for PragmaticVillainy when you meet him, chews you and Moire out over the fact that burning the watch-post down has started a war between the thieves and the authorities which he desperately wanted to avoid, and insists that you take your orders directly from him in future to limit Moire's ability to cause chaos.
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* ''Videogame/NeverwinterNights2'': The two representatives of the [[ThievesGuild Shadow Thieves]], Axel and Moire, have this dynamic if you end up working with them. Moire, the henchwoman, orders you to go on a one-man crimewave throughout the Docks District, and getting her approval requires starting fights with anyone whose actions are a threat to the guild's activities and coercing the city watchmen into [[CorruptCop taking bribes in exchange for turning a blind eye]]. She then orders you to burn down the watch post as a display of the guild's power. Axel, the boss, turns out to be AffablyEvil and an advocate for PragmaticVillainy when you meet him, chews you and Moire out over the fact that burning the watch-post watch post down has started a war between the thieves and the authorities which he desperately wanted to avoid, and insists that you take your orders directly from him in future to limit Moire's ability to so you aren't helping Moire cause any more chaos.
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* ''Manga/SpyXFamily'': [[ArcVillain The Red Circus terrorist group]], led by Billy Squire, takes a pair of school buses taking the first-grade students of Eden Academy, the school attended by the children of the country's political and financial elite, hostage. While Billy only wanted to take the children hostage in exchange for the freedom of other members of the Red Circus, Vadim, one of his henchmen planned to ram the bus into a government building [[spoiler: and set off a large bomb he brought on board]]. After the SecretPolice kill the members taking the other bus hostage, Billy weighs his options, while Vadim [[TimeForPlanB thinks of his contingency plan]], [[spoiler: to [[TakingYouWithMe set off the bomb when the SWAT team storms the bus]]]]. [[{{Telepathy}} Anya reads their minds]] and [[BreakThemByTalking after she convinces Billy that he didn't mean for things to go this far]], [[KnowWhenToFoldEm he orders that they should turn themselves in to the authorities before anyone gets killed]], and even takes a gun from Vadim when he used it to threaten Anya. After Billy and the other members get off the bus, Vadim drives off, but is stopped by two police armored cars. When he staggers off the bus using Anya as a HumanShield, Martha, Becky's [[BattleButler nanny/butler/bodyguard]] and [[NeverMessWithGranny a woman in her mid-sixties, jumps over the police barricade and zaps Vadim with a tazer before he could get away]].
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* ''Manga/SpyXFamily'': [[ArcVillain The Red Circus terrorist group]], led by Billy Squire, takes a pair of school buses taking the first-grade students of Eden Academy, the school attended by the children of the country's political and financial elite, hostage. While Billy only wanted to take the children hostage in exchange for the freedom of other members of the Red Circus, Vadim, one of his henchmen planned to ram the bus into a government building [[spoiler: and [[spoiler:and set off a large bomb he brought on board]]. After the SecretPolice kill the members taking the other bus hostage, Billy weighs his options, while Vadim [[TimeForPlanB thinks of his contingency plan]], [[spoiler: to [[spoiler:to [[TakingYouWithMe set off the bomb when the SWAT team storms the bus]]]]. [[{{Telepathy}} Anya reads their minds]] and [[BreakThemByTalking after she convinces Billy that he didn't mean for things to go this far]], [[KnowWhenToFoldEm he orders that they should turn themselves in to the authorities before anyone gets killed]], and even takes a gun from Vadim when he used it to threaten Anya. After Billy and the other members get off the bus, Vadim drives off, but is stopped by two police armored cars. When he staggers off the bus using Anya as a HumanShield, Martha, Becky's [[BattleButler nanny/butler/bodyguard]] and [[NeverMessWithGranny a woman in her mid-sixties, jumps over the police barricade and zaps Vadim with a tazer before he could get away]].
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[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
* ''Franchise/DespicableMe'': Gru is a highly competent and intelligent villain, while his Minions, while not psychotic ''per se'', are hyperactive, [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny easily distracted]], and prone to doling out slapstick violence, usually on themselves.
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* ''Franchise/DespicableMe'': Gru is a highly competent and intelligent villain, while his Minions, while not psychotic ''per se'', are hyperactive, [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny easily distracted]], and prone to doling out slapstick violence, usually on themselves.
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* ''Fanfic/WarOfRemnantARWBYAnthology'': [[BigBad Salem]] is transformed into an AffablyEvil WellIntentionedExtremist, so she is rather nice to her subordinates and genuinely wants to rebuild a better world. However, most of the members of her inner circle are not as noble as her. The possibly the worst of them, Dr. Arthur Watts, is a petty and egomaniacal narcissist who will kill anyone in his way to [[EvilIsPetty spite Ironwood and Pietro]]. He openly admits he'd start a war without Salem. The Wendigo is a [[WasOnceAMan Grimm/Human hybrid]] who is a [[SerialKiller serial village slaughterer]] in his spare time and is excessively sadistic with his kills. Cinder Fall initially had a bit of AdaptationalNiceGuy treatment and believes in Salem's cause, but her disfigurement by Ruby causes her to [[TookALevelInJerkass start being more sadistic and vindictive]] like her canon counterpart. Tyrian is still as AxCrazy as in canon. He's a former SerialKiller who fanatically worships Salem like a goddess and is implied to be HearingVoices. Blackheart, while being the [[HarmlessVillain weakest of the faction]], is still a CardCarryingVillain who revels in villainy. Hazel is the OnlySaneMan of Salem's direct subordinates.
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->''"I am a master of broken monsters."''
-->-- '''Horus''' lamenting how of the [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil eight]] [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Traitor]] [[CombatSadomasochist Primarchs]], only [[BoringButPractical Peturabo]] can be relied on; ''Literature/HorusHeresy''
This trope is for when a villain seems to have most of their mental faculties together, but many of their underlings are [[AxCrazy nuttier than squirrel poop]]. A competent villain will be able to keep them all on a leash to be sure that they don't end up endangering their EvilPlan. Otherwise, [[EvilIsNotAToy it can backfire horribly]]. However, the plan may be to cause chaos, so they hire as many troublemakers as possible to stir things up. After all, if one PsychoForHire doesn't do the trick, you might as well get [[CarnivalOfKillers a bunch of them]]. This can even be because the villain [[EvenEvilHasStandards can't find people willing to carry out their plan]], so they have to go to people who would do things like that without blinking or even for fun.
The main aspect is that the main villain is the OnlySaneMan ([[OnlySaneByComparison for all intents and purposes]]), and they need a group of lunatics in their ranks for a reason. Depending on the goals, the villain can still be a BadBoss to them if they screw up one too many times, but they could just as easily be encouraging their acts of destruction, maybe hinting at the idea that [[NotSoAboveItAll they're not as sane as they seem on the surface]].
Note that this trope is generally for a boss having ''multiple'' psychos under their command. While there can be examples with just one psycho henchman, having at least two psychos under the boss's command will qualify it more for this trope.
Compare MoreDespicableMinion and CarnivalOfKillers. If the Henchmen have UndyingLoyalty towards their boss in spite of their craziness, then they are a PsychoSupporter. OverzealousUnderling can be a result of this, and in turn, this may result in a BeleagueredBoss. Depending on just how crazy their henchman are, you can also compare ConservationOfCompetence and SurroundedByIdiots. And if the boss is actually [[BenevolentBoss good to his underlings]], then this can be a case of FriendToPsychos.
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!!Examples:
[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/SpyXFamily'': [[ArcVillain The Red Circus terrorist group]], led by Billy Squire, takes a pair of school buses taking the first-grade students of Eden Academy, the school attended by the children of the country's political and financial elite, hostage. While Billy only wanted to take the children hostage in exchange for the freedom of other members of the Red Circus, Vadim, one of his henchmen planned to ram the bus into a government building [[spoiler: and set off a large bomb he brought on board]]. After the SecretPolice kill the members taking the other bus hostage, Billy weighs his options, while Vadim [[TimeForPlanB thinks of his contingency plan]], [[spoiler: to [[TakingYouWithMe set off the bomb when the SWAT team storms the bus]]]]. [[{{Telepathy}} Anya reads their minds]] and [[BreakThemByTalking after she convinces Billy that he didn't mean for things to go this far]], [[KnowWhenToFoldEm he orders that they should turn themselves in to the authorities before anyone gets killed]], and even takes a gun from Vadim when he used it to threaten Anya. After Billy and the other members get off the bus, Vadim drives off, but is stopped by two police armored cars. When he staggers off the bus using Anya as a HumanShield, Martha, Becky's [[BattleButler nanny/butler/bodyguard]] and [[NeverMessWithGranny a woman in her mid-sixties, jumps over the police barricade and zaps Vadim with a tazer before he could get away]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'': One of their adversarial teams is the Injustice League, a villainous group that includes among its ranks foes from the heroes' respective RoguesGallery. In this case, whenever Superman is leading the JLA, the billionaire and industrialist Lex Luthor assembles the Injustice League to oppose them. In many incarnations, Luthor employs the Joker as a member, who ''is'' known for being criminally insane. In addition, other well-known psychos such as Cheetah, Solomon Grundy, and (DependingOnTheWriter) Gorilla Grodd are among the ranks from time to time.
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[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* ''FanFic/TheBridge'': WordOfGod notes that this was the exact plan of [[spoiler:Bagan]]. He wanted minions that would do what he needed from them easily, so what better way to do that than get people in his forces that would do horrible things on their own? Among his ranks are [[Film/WarOfTheGargantuas Gaira]] (a mutated cannibalistic psychopath), Hedorah (a WalkingWasteland who only lives for destruction), and King Ghidorah (a serial planet-destroyer).
* ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'' has to take quite a lot of "lesser evil" options, and her selection of employees is no exception. Her closest advisors are trusted friends who support her efforts to be a good influence on the world, but beneath them are a motley crew of {{Blood Knight}}s, {{Combat Sadomasochist}}s, [[SapientEatSapient cannibals]], magical {{Mad Scientist}}s, worshippers of evil gods, or any combination of the above. She isn't thrilled about any of it, but she does need the help and recognises that they're less dangerous to the world if they're working for her than if they're just running loose.
-->''She didn't want a murderous psychopathic beast like him! He had slaughtered so many of her goblins! The more rational part of her insisted that [[NecessarilyEvil she wanted to see him in Wemos' employ even less]].''
* ''Fanfic/TheMountainAndTheWolf'': After the Wolf's victims are brought back as hideously mutated champions of the Chaos gods (a CombatSadomasochist, a mindless berserker, etc.), he makes his contempt for them clear, beating down any attempts at rebellion and assigning them to humiliating roles instead of letting them fight (watching the supplies of wine for [[spoiler:Ramsay]], being apprenticed to Sven for [[spoiler:Littlefinger]]).
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[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
%%* ''Film/BlazingSaddles'': While not the most stable individual himself, Hedley Lamarr decides to create an army of [[PsychoForHire Psychos for Hire]].
* ''Film/MadMax''
** First seen in ''Film/MadMax2TheRoadWarrior'' with Lord Humungus, a warlord who wants the oil refinery and chase the group of survivors who already got it as a lair, and commands a gang of renegades even crazier than him, especially TheDragon Wez, a psycho punk who wants them dead, especially when his protegee The Golden Youth is killed by one of them.
** The formula reappeared in ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'' with Immortan Joe, a tyrannic warlord who has under his command the "War Boys", a group of kamikaze riders that are all crazy and don't hesitate to put their bodies on the line to get Joe's work done. Indeed, one of the main characters is Nux, a War Boy who got captured by Furiosa but later changed his ways thanks to LoveRedeems.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/KonoSuba'': Played for laughs, as is typical for the series. When Kazuma has his final showdown with the Demon King, they share a brief moment of camaraderie when the latter mentions what a headache his so-called Demon Generals were. To whit, Wiz often stole things from the castle armory to stock her "shop" (due to her long-standing desire to be a shop-keeper), Vanir enjoyed winding people up to savour their [[EmotionEater negative emotions]], Verdia was a CovertPervert despite his knightly ways... This was part of the reason why the Demon King was perfectly content to allow Wiz to leave and set up shop in Axel so long as she continued to maintain the protective barrier around his castle: it was just one less headache for him to deal with.
* ''Literature/Overlord2012'': Ainz is the only human (originally) among the Guardians of Nazerick, who used to be [=NPCs=] given a short backstory and personality by the players who designed them. Because all these players had severe social issues, every denizen of Nazerick (except one or two) hates humans or at least views them as inferior. The Guardians also look up to Ainz as a living god and model their behavior on what their perception of him would want, even planning a campaign of world domination based on a single sentence he said that he only finds out about three seasons later. Once he does learn about it, he tries to steer things in a more positive direction by creating a kingdom where all species can live in peace.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
** Tiwyn Lannister tends to have many unstable warriors among his ranks. The stand-out examples are the Clegane brothers. Especially Gregor, "the Mountain that Rides," is a hulking brute that spends his time raping and murdering everything he can find. Most of the Mountain's Men are a group of other soldiers who tend to share Gregor's fondness for RapePillageAndBurn.
** The Brave Companions are a group of psychos who often work for others more stable than themselves. While briefly working for Tywin, they also worked for Roose Bolton who, while still TheSociopath, has more of a grasp on PragmaticVillainy.
* ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': Aral Vorkosigan and Bothari are an unusual case; Aral was a hero and Bothari, who worked as his guardsman for over 20 years, was insane and guilty of several war crimes. Bothari had been working for Ges Vorrutyer, who was a sadist and deliberately exacerbated Bothari's insanity. But when Bothari rebelled against Vorrutyer and saved Cordelia's life Aral felt he owed Bothari a debt. He hired Bothari as a guardsman in part because he felt that a structured military life would help Bothari deal with his mental issues.
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[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': It's pointed out that during the Horus Heresy, the Primarchs who flocked to the banner of Horus were the twisted, damaged, or deranged like AxCrazy BloodKnight Angron, DisproportionateRetribution incarnate Perturabo, and Konrad Curze and his PayEvilUntoEvil AllCrimesAreEqual form of "justice". In the ''Literature/HorusHeresy'' books, Horus even laments that all his brothers he actually wants on his side oppose him, while those under his command are barely functional monsters.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Toys]]
* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'': While Megatron's sanity varies according to the continuity, he at the very least commands the Decepticon army. However, since he doesn't particularly care what the Decepticons get up to as long as they do their jobs, that means there are a lot of SociopathicSoldier and PsychoForHire types among their ranks. Some notable examples include [[DysfunctionJunction the Stunticons]] (who all have mental issues and so their [[CombiningMecha combined mode Menasor]] is a berserk beast rather than a warrior), Fangry (who has such a HairTriggerTemper he's been known to mouth off to much more powerful and dangerous Decepticons), and Misfire (a Decepticon who loves to shoot but has aim so terrible that it has been joked he would miss a starship if he was shooting from ''inside'' it).
** From the original toyline, the Firecons are a trio of fire-breathing Decepticon warriors. Cindersaur is a pyromaniac who loves burning things (and is implied to have suffered brain damaged due to inhaling too much toxic smoke), Flamefeather is such a violent idiot that he can't (or won't) be bothered to identify whether whatever he's attacking has an Autobot or Decepticon insignia... and poor Sparkstalker, their nominal commander, is a bona fide criminal genius whose actual area of expertise is breaking into secure computer files. Sparkstalker spends most of his time trying to make sure the other two idiots at least point in the right direction, sometimes having to physically grab them by their heads and turn them around to do so.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/DragaliaLost'': The Agito is led by their NoNonsenseNemesis leader Nedrick, who has a WellIntentionedExtremist goal of granting non-royal people the ability to form [[VoluntaryShapeshifting dragonpacts]], who generally deals with his opposition swiftly and [[TheStoic in a calm, composed manner]], and is portrayed as cold, pragmatic, but also rational in conversations with other characters. The Agito themselves who work under him, however, are a CarnivalOfKillers who fight for very distinct yet [[BlueAndOrangeMorality strange and obsessed]] standards and are more than willing to murder those who represent what they hate. They also have [[TeethClenchedTeamwork poor teamwork abilities]], which all of them acknowledge and only work as a group for pragmatic reasons. Nedrick is fine with this situation mainly because their strength means he doesn't have to look out for them, not valuing much in genuine friendship either. This turns out to also be [[InvokedTrope invoked by the masks the Agito wear]], [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity which not only amplifies their power but their own negative emotions and resentment to the point where it has a role in their madness and bloodlust,]] though they all still used the masks willingly.
* ''VideoGame/Fallout3'': The ''Point Lookout'' DLC has Professor Calvert, a {{mad scientist}}[=-=]turned-{{brain in a jar}} who plots to take over Maryland, lead a local band of lobotomized tribals who worship him as a god. Though in actuality, the professor was merely using a [[{{Hologram}} holographic projector]] as well as his {{telepathy}} to communicate with the tribals, who then [[GodGuise mistook his appearance as a manifestation of a powerful spirit]]. Calvert lampshades this by telling the Lone Wanderer that while he's fortunate enough to have living agents to carry out his plan, he is also frequently frustrated by their misinterpretation of his orders as religious instruction.
* This is the relationship between Geese Howard and Billy Kane in ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' and ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' series, with Geese being a SuperMobBoss who's an Aikido expert, and is a more focused villain centered into get Southtown in his hands, and Billy being his bodyguard who's a vicious punk who can demolish every person who's against his boss. Also in the ''KOF'' series, the henchmen place is interchangeable with the WildCard psychopath Ryuji Yamazaki, and sometimes with Billy being the boss in the cases where he represents Geese in tournaments.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'': The main villain of the first part of the game is an ambitious monarch named Emperor Gestahl, who is waging war against a race of magical beings called Espers. He is helped by his more erratic and unpredictable court jester Kefka Palazzo.
* ''Videogame/FireEmblemFates'': Xander is the comparatively sane crown prince of Nohr. One of his two personal retainers is Peri, a psychotic young woman who enjoys killing.
* ''VideoGame/HalfLife'': The Black Ops are a group of {{Sociopathic Soldier}}s who seem to take too much pleasure in taking out the alien invasion. While Dr. Breen may be a CorruptCorporateExecutive, he isn't ordering the deaths of everyone in the facility for fun since it's all for a goal [[spoiler:either to actually help or use it to his advantage]]. The Black Ops are just a group of sadistic slaughterers.
* ''Videogame/NeverwinterNights2'': The two representatives of the [[ThievesGuild Shadow Thieves]], Axel and Moire, have this dynamic if you end up working with them. Moire, the henchwoman, orders you to go on a one-man crimewave throughout the Docks District, and getting her approval requires starting fights with anyone whose actions are a threat to the guild's activities and coercing the city watchmen into [[CorruptCop taking bribes in exchange for turning a blind eye]]. She then orders you to burn down the watch post as a display of the guild's power. Axel, the boss, turns out to be AffablyEvil and an advocate for PragmaticVillainy when you meet him, chews you and Moire out over the fact that burning the watch-post down has started a war between the thieves and the authorities which he desperately wanted to avoid, and insists that you take your orders directly from him in future to limit Moire's ability to cause chaos.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Video]]
* ''WebVideo/PopCrossStudios'': In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvFNKhaLy3E&list=PLItBjti8LwWHnWDjRbKVIVBhT8OFnUiGI&index=11 Spider-Bat: Night of the Six]], (part of Christian's series making unusual fusions of DC and Marvel characters) Dr. Pamela Octavius (a fusion of Poison Ivy and Dr. Octopus), despite being a criminal mastermind seeking revenge on Spider-Bat, is by far the most level-headed and pragmatic of the titular villain team. Her supporters are all varying levels of violent, mad, and plain eccentric. Clayvolt (Clayface/Electro) is a wannabe actor turned electric clay monster obsessed with carrying out acts of villainy [[AttentionWhore just to get an audience]]. Waylon Systevich (Killer Croc/Rhino) is a [[BloodKnight fight-relishing]] [[TheBrute brute]]. Norman Fries (Mr. Freeze/Green Goblin) is a CorruptCorporateExecutive who can turn into a deranged, [[MadBomber bomb-throwing]] cryokinetic goblin. And by far the worst is Arthur Kasady (The Joker/Carnage), an AxCrazy {{Sadist}} and SerialKiller who gleefully puts off actually killing the Spider just to torture him for as long as he likes, causing him and his boss to butt heads.
-->'''Pamela Octavius:''' [[KillHimAlready Finish him already]]! The longer he has, the more time he has to come up with a plan!
-->'''Arthur Kasady:''' You said if I joined your little band, [[PsychoForHire I could have my fun]]! ''[[TranquilFury So let me have it.]]''
[[/folder]]
----
-->-- '''Horus''' lamenting how of the [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil eight]] [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Traitor]] [[CombatSadomasochist Primarchs]], only [[BoringButPractical Peturabo]] can be relied on; ''Literature/HorusHeresy''
This trope is for when a villain seems to have most of their mental faculties together, but many of their underlings are [[AxCrazy nuttier than squirrel poop]]. A competent villain will be able to keep them all on a leash to be sure that they don't end up endangering their EvilPlan. Otherwise, [[EvilIsNotAToy it can backfire horribly]]. However, the plan may be to cause chaos, so they hire as many troublemakers as possible to stir things up. After all, if one PsychoForHire doesn't do the trick, you might as well get [[CarnivalOfKillers a bunch of them]]. This can even be because the villain [[EvenEvilHasStandards can't find people willing to carry out their plan]], so they have to go to people who would do things like that without blinking or even for fun.
The main aspect is that the main villain is the OnlySaneMan ([[OnlySaneByComparison for all intents and purposes]]), and they need a group of lunatics in their ranks for a reason. Depending on the goals, the villain can still be a BadBoss to them if they screw up one too many times, but they could just as easily be encouraging their acts of destruction, maybe hinting at the idea that [[NotSoAboveItAll they're not as sane as they seem on the surface]].
Note that this trope is generally for a boss having ''multiple'' psychos under their command. While there can be examples with just one psycho henchman, having at least two psychos under the boss's command will qualify it more for this trope.
Compare MoreDespicableMinion and CarnivalOfKillers. If the Henchmen have UndyingLoyalty towards their boss in spite of their craziness, then they are a PsychoSupporter. OverzealousUnderling can be a result of this, and in turn, this may result in a BeleagueredBoss. Depending on just how crazy their henchman are, you can also compare ConservationOfCompetence and SurroundedByIdiots. And if the boss is actually [[BenevolentBoss good to his underlings]], then this can be a case of FriendToPsychos.
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!!Examples:
[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/SpyXFamily'': [[ArcVillain The Red Circus terrorist group]], led by Billy Squire, takes a pair of school buses taking the first-grade students of Eden Academy, the school attended by the children of the country's political and financial elite, hostage. While Billy only wanted to take the children hostage in exchange for the freedom of other members of the Red Circus, Vadim, one of his henchmen planned to ram the bus into a government building [[spoiler: and set off a large bomb he brought on board]]. After the SecretPolice kill the members taking the other bus hostage, Billy weighs his options, while Vadim [[TimeForPlanB thinks of his contingency plan]], [[spoiler: to [[TakingYouWithMe set off the bomb when the SWAT team storms the bus]]]]. [[{{Telepathy}} Anya reads their minds]] and [[BreakThemByTalking after she convinces Billy that he didn't mean for things to go this far]], [[KnowWhenToFoldEm he orders that they should turn themselves in to the authorities before anyone gets killed]], and even takes a gun from Vadim when he used it to threaten Anya. After Billy and the other members get off the bus, Vadim drives off, but is stopped by two police armored cars. When he staggers off the bus using Anya as a HumanShield, Martha, Becky's [[BattleButler nanny/butler/bodyguard]] and [[NeverMessWithGranny a woman in her mid-sixties, jumps over the police barricade and zaps Vadim with a tazer before he could get away]].
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[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'': One of their adversarial teams is the Injustice League, a villainous group that includes among its ranks foes from the heroes' respective RoguesGallery. In this case, whenever Superman is leading the JLA, the billionaire and industrialist Lex Luthor assembles the Injustice League to oppose them. In many incarnations, Luthor employs the Joker as a member, who ''is'' known for being criminally insane. In addition, other well-known psychos such as Cheetah, Solomon Grundy, and (DependingOnTheWriter) Gorilla Grodd are among the ranks from time to time.
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[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* ''FanFic/TheBridge'': WordOfGod notes that this was the exact plan of [[spoiler:Bagan]]. He wanted minions that would do what he needed from them easily, so what better way to do that than get people in his forces that would do horrible things on their own? Among his ranks are [[Film/WarOfTheGargantuas Gaira]] (a mutated cannibalistic psychopath), Hedorah (a WalkingWasteland who only lives for destruction), and King Ghidorah (a serial planet-destroyer).
* ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'' has to take quite a lot of "lesser evil" options, and her selection of employees is no exception. Her closest advisors are trusted friends who support her efforts to be a good influence on the world, but beneath them are a motley crew of {{Blood Knight}}s, {{Combat Sadomasochist}}s, [[SapientEatSapient cannibals]], magical {{Mad Scientist}}s, worshippers of evil gods, or any combination of the above. She isn't thrilled about any of it, but she does need the help and recognises that they're less dangerous to the world if they're working for her than if they're just running loose.
-->''She didn't want a murderous psychopathic beast like him! He had slaughtered so many of her goblins! The more rational part of her insisted that [[NecessarilyEvil she wanted to see him in Wemos' employ even less]].''
* ''Fanfic/TheMountainAndTheWolf'': After the Wolf's victims are brought back as hideously mutated champions of the Chaos gods (a CombatSadomasochist, a mindless berserker, etc.), he makes his contempt for them clear, beating down any attempts at rebellion and assigning them to humiliating roles instead of letting them fight (watching the supplies of wine for [[spoiler:Ramsay]], being apprenticed to Sven for [[spoiler:Littlefinger]]).
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[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
%%* ''Film/BlazingSaddles'': While not the most stable individual himself, Hedley Lamarr decides to create an army of [[PsychoForHire Psychos for Hire]].
* ''Film/MadMax''
** First seen in ''Film/MadMax2TheRoadWarrior'' with Lord Humungus, a warlord who wants the oil refinery and chase the group of survivors who already got it as a lair, and commands a gang of renegades even crazier than him, especially TheDragon Wez, a psycho punk who wants them dead, especially when his protegee The Golden Youth is killed by one of them.
** The formula reappeared in ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'' with Immortan Joe, a tyrannic warlord who has under his command the "War Boys", a group of kamikaze riders that are all crazy and don't hesitate to put their bodies on the line to get Joe's work done. Indeed, one of the main characters is Nux, a War Boy who got captured by Furiosa but later changed his ways thanks to LoveRedeems.
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[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/KonoSuba'': Played for laughs, as is typical for the series. When Kazuma has his final showdown with the Demon King, they share a brief moment of camaraderie when the latter mentions what a headache his so-called Demon Generals were. To whit, Wiz often stole things from the castle armory to stock her "shop" (due to her long-standing desire to be a shop-keeper), Vanir enjoyed winding people up to savour their [[EmotionEater negative emotions]], Verdia was a CovertPervert despite his knightly ways... This was part of the reason why the Demon King was perfectly content to allow Wiz to leave and set up shop in Axel so long as she continued to maintain the protective barrier around his castle: it was just one less headache for him to deal with.
* ''Literature/Overlord2012'': Ainz is the only human (originally) among the Guardians of Nazerick, who used to be [=NPCs=] given a short backstory and personality by the players who designed them. Because all these players had severe social issues, every denizen of Nazerick (except one or two) hates humans or at least views them as inferior. The Guardians also look up to Ainz as a living god and model their behavior on what their perception of him would want, even planning a campaign of world domination based on a single sentence he said that he only finds out about three seasons later. Once he does learn about it, he tries to steer things in a more positive direction by creating a kingdom where all species can live in peace.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
** Tiwyn Lannister tends to have many unstable warriors among his ranks. The stand-out examples are the Clegane brothers. Especially Gregor, "the Mountain that Rides," is a hulking brute that spends his time raping and murdering everything he can find. Most of the Mountain's Men are a group of other soldiers who tend to share Gregor's fondness for RapePillageAndBurn.
** The Brave Companions are a group of psychos who often work for others more stable than themselves. While briefly working for Tywin, they also worked for Roose Bolton who, while still TheSociopath, has more of a grasp on PragmaticVillainy.
* ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': Aral Vorkosigan and Bothari are an unusual case; Aral was a hero and Bothari, who worked as his guardsman for over 20 years, was insane and guilty of several war crimes. Bothari had been working for Ges Vorrutyer, who was a sadist and deliberately exacerbated Bothari's insanity. But when Bothari rebelled against Vorrutyer and saved Cordelia's life Aral felt he owed Bothari a debt. He hired Bothari as a guardsman in part because he felt that a structured military life would help Bothari deal with his mental issues.
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[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': It's pointed out that during the Horus Heresy, the Primarchs who flocked to the banner of Horus were the twisted, damaged, or deranged like AxCrazy BloodKnight Angron, DisproportionateRetribution incarnate Perturabo, and Konrad Curze and his PayEvilUntoEvil AllCrimesAreEqual form of "justice". In the ''Literature/HorusHeresy'' books, Horus even laments that all his brothers he actually wants on his side oppose him, while those under his command are barely functional monsters.
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[[folder: Toys]]
* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'': While Megatron's sanity varies according to the continuity, he at the very least commands the Decepticon army. However, since he doesn't particularly care what the Decepticons get up to as long as they do their jobs, that means there are a lot of SociopathicSoldier and PsychoForHire types among their ranks. Some notable examples include [[DysfunctionJunction the Stunticons]] (who all have mental issues and so their [[CombiningMecha combined mode Menasor]] is a berserk beast rather than a warrior), Fangry (who has such a HairTriggerTemper he's been known to mouth off to much more powerful and dangerous Decepticons), and Misfire (a Decepticon who loves to shoot but has aim so terrible that it has been joked he would miss a starship if he was shooting from ''inside'' it).
** From the original toyline, the Firecons are a trio of fire-breathing Decepticon warriors. Cindersaur is a pyromaniac who loves burning things (and is implied to have suffered brain damaged due to inhaling too much toxic smoke), Flamefeather is such a violent idiot that he can't (or won't) be bothered to identify whether whatever he's attacking has an Autobot or Decepticon insignia... and poor Sparkstalker, their nominal commander, is a bona fide criminal genius whose actual area of expertise is breaking into secure computer files. Sparkstalker spends most of his time trying to make sure the other two idiots at least point in the right direction, sometimes having to physically grab them by their heads and turn them around to do so.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/DragaliaLost'': The Agito is led by their NoNonsenseNemesis leader Nedrick, who has a WellIntentionedExtremist goal of granting non-royal people the ability to form [[VoluntaryShapeshifting dragonpacts]], who generally deals with his opposition swiftly and [[TheStoic in a calm, composed manner]], and is portrayed as cold, pragmatic, but also rational in conversations with other characters. The Agito themselves who work under him, however, are a CarnivalOfKillers who fight for very distinct yet [[BlueAndOrangeMorality strange and obsessed]] standards and are more than willing to murder those who represent what they hate. They also have [[TeethClenchedTeamwork poor teamwork abilities]], which all of them acknowledge and only work as a group for pragmatic reasons. Nedrick is fine with this situation mainly because their strength means he doesn't have to look out for them, not valuing much in genuine friendship either. This turns out to also be [[InvokedTrope invoked by the masks the Agito wear]], [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity which not only amplifies their power but their own negative emotions and resentment to the point where it has a role in their madness and bloodlust,]] though they all still used the masks willingly.
* ''VideoGame/Fallout3'': The ''Point Lookout'' DLC has Professor Calvert, a {{mad scientist}}[=-=]turned-{{brain in a jar}} who plots to take over Maryland, lead a local band of lobotomized tribals who worship him as a god. Though in actuality, the professor was merely using a [[{{Hologram}} holographic projector]] as well as his {{telepathy}} to communicate with the tribals, who then [[GodGuise mistook his appearance as a manifestation of a powerful spirit]]. Calvert lampshades this by telling the Lone Wanderer that while he's fortunate enough to have living agents to carry out his plan, he is also frequently frustrated by their misinterpretation of his orders as religious instruction.
* This is the relationship between Geese Howard and Billy Kane in ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' and ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' series, with Geese being a SuperMobBoss who's an Aikido expert, and is a more focused villain centered into get Southtown in his hands, and Billy being his bodyguard who's a vicious punk who can demolish every person who's against his boss. Also in the ''KOF'' series, the henchmen place is interchangeable with the WildCard psychopath Ryuji Yamazaki, and sometimes with Billy being the boss in the cases where he represents Geese in tournaments.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'': The main villain of the first part of the game is an ambitious monarch named Emperor Gestahl, who is waging war against a race of magical beings called Espers. He is helped by his more erratic and unpredictable court jester Kefka Palazzo.
* ''Videogame/FireEmblemFates'': Xander is the comparatively sane crown prince of Nohr. One of his two personal retainers is Peri, a psychotic young woman who enjoys killing.
* ''VideoGame/HalfLife'': The Black Ops are a group of {{Sociopathic Soldier}}s who seem to take too much pleasure in taking out the alien invasion. While Dr. Breen may be a CorruptCorporateExecutive, he isn't ordering the deaths of everyone in the facility for fun since it's all for a goal [[spoiler:either to actually help or use it to his advantage]]. The Black Ops are just a group of sadistic slaughterers.
* ''Videogame/NeverwinterNights2'': The two representatives of the [[ThievesGuild Shadow Thieves]], Axel and Moire, have this dynamic if you end up working with them. Moire, the henchwoman, orders you to go on a one-man crimewave throughout the Docks District, and getting her approval requires starting fights with anyone whose actions are a threat to the guild's activities and coercing the city watchmen into [[CorruptCop taking bribes in exchange for turning a blind eye]]. She then orders you to burn down the watch post as a display of the guild's power. Axel, the boss, turns out to be AffablyEvil and an advocate for PragmaticVillainy when you meet him, chews you and Moire out over the fact that burning the watch-post down has started a war between the thieves and the authorities which he desperately wanted to avoid, and insists that you take your orders directly from him in future to limit Moire's ability to cause chaos.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Video]]
* ''WebVideo/PopCrossStudios'': In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvFNKhaLy3E&list=PLItBjti8LwWHnWDjRbKVIVBhT8OFnUiGI&index=11 Spider-Bat: Night of the Six]], (part of Christian's series making unusual fusions of DC and Marvel characters) Dr. Pamela Octavius (a fusion of Poison Ivy and Dr. Octopus), despite being a criminal mastermind seeking revenge on Spider-Bat, is by far the most level-headed and pragmatic of the titular villain team. Her supporters are all varying levels of violent, mad, and plain eccentric. Clayvolt (Clayface/Electro) is a wannabe actor turned electric clay monster obsessed with carrying out acts of villainy [[AttentionWhore just to get an audience]]. Waylon Systevich (Killer Croc/Rhino) is a [[BloodKnight fight-relishing]] [[TheBrute brute]]. Norman Fries (Mr. Freeze/Green Goblin) is a CorruptCorporateExecutive who can turn into a deranged, [[MadBomber bomb-throwing]] cryokinetic goblin. And by far the worst is Arthur Kasady (The Joker/Carnage), an AxCrazy {{Sadist}} and SerialKiller who gleefully puts off actually killing the Spider just to torture him for as long as he likes, causing him and his boss to butt heads.
-->'''Pamela Octavius:''' [[KillHimAlready Finish him already]]! The longer he has, the more time he has to come up with a plan!
-->'''Arthur Kasady:''' You said if I joined your little band, [[PsychoForHire I could have my fun]]! ''[[TranquilFury So let me have it.]]''
[[/folder]]
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