History Main / WorkingForABodyUpgrade

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017'', [[TheDragon Tempest]] [[HandicappedBadass Shadow]] works for the [[BigBad Storm King]] because he promised to heal her broken horn in exchange for her aid in conquering Equestria. [[spoiler:She turns on him when he gloats that [[ILied he had no intention of living up to his end of the deal]].]]

* The earlier games play with this trope with the "Human+" mechanic. If you go too far into debt, your character is [[NonStandardGameOver "volunteered"]] into [[PlayingWithSyringes Human+ experiments,]] giving them a new lease on life and an increasing number of perks, like being able to fire heavy weapons without crouching. While there are no in-game penalties other than it being irreversible and considered cheating by most players, occasionally you'll encounter another Human+ subject in a mission who [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul wasn't so lucky.]] In a way, you're working to ''[[InvertedTrope avoid]]'' this fate.

* The earlier ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore'' games play with this trope with the "Human+" mechanic. If you go too far into debt, your character is [[NonStandardGameOver "volunteered"]] into [[PlayingWithSyringes Human+ experiments,]] giving them a new lease on life and an increasing number of perks, like being able to fire heavy weapons without crouching. While there are no in-game penalties other than it being irreversible and considered cheating by most players, occasionally you'll encounter another Human+ subject in a mission who [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul wasn't so lucky.]] In a way, you're working to ''[[InvertedTrope avoid]]'' this fate.
** ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore6'' has ''every'' AC pilot be cybernetically augmented in some way by their employers. The only one that explicitly isn't, Rusty, refuses to say where he got his augmentations. The player character, C4-621, apparently has brain damage from the process, and is working with Handler Walter to try to cure it.

* The hacker protagonist of ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' is hired to hack into a complex artificial intelligence system as a BoxedCrook; however, an additional motivation for him is receiving a military-grade neural implant.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': In ''Literature/{{Changes}}'', Harry agrees to become [[spoiler: Queen Mab's Winter Knight]] in exchange for having his broken back repaired, so he can [[spoiler: rescue his daughter from the Red Court]]. Notably, if he ever tries to [[spoiler: go against Mab's word or laws[[, his broken back will return until he stops or corrects his course. He's already got the body, but he's never going to ''not'' be working for it.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': In ''Literature/{{Changes}}'', Harry agrees to become [[spoiler: Queen Mab's Winter Knight]] in exchange for having his broken back repaired, so he can [[spoiler: rescue his daughter from the Red Court]].

* Cassian of Creator/KaoriYuki's ''Manga/CountCain'' works for [[NebulousEvilOrganization Delilah]] because he never physically grew past eight or so, and their MadScience experiments are the best hope he has going for [[NotGrowingUpSucks finally getting an adult body]]. [[spoiler: [[MadScientist Doctor Disraeli]], his superior in the organization, does eventually transplant his brain into an adult body, but no thanks to Delilah except in that it introduced them.]]

* The origin story for the IneffectualSympatheticVillain Overdrive in ''ComicBook/SuperiorFoesOfSpiderMan'' reveals that he received his powers and became a villain because of this. Overdrive was/is a huge superhero fanboy but after unsuccessfully trying to get powers by replicating an origin story (i.e. getting bitten by a radioactive spider), he decided to pursue his other interest of race car driving. Following an accident, he was visited in the hospital by the villain Mr. Negative who offered him superpowers in exchange for working for Negative (and owing him a debt for his powers). Overdrive agreed, having the idea of starting out as a supervillain so that later on he could [[InvokedTrope invoke]] a HeelFaceTurn (he actually uses the term "face turn") and be welcomed with open arms by The Avengers and Spider-Man.

* In ''WebOriginal/{{Mortasheen}},'' [[PunyEarthlings humans]] are considered to be (barely) sapient vermin, not even worth eating. They only manage to survive the PollutedWasteland Earth has become by living in an ancient motor pool loaded with futuristic TankGoodness and guarded by a huge [[MechaMooks robot army]], fittingly called "Tank-Town." Humans who wander into the monster-haunted, toxic, irradiated ForbiddenZone that constitutes the titular city consider it a ''step up'' to be spliced with bug DNA or have their genes messed around with to turn them into a {{Mons}}ter, beholden to a zombie or bug-person.

** In [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]], the homunculi work for [[spoiler:[[BigBad Dante]]]] because they were promised human bodies.

** Shepard himself works with the Illusive Man, among other reasons, because he was responsible for Shepard coming BackFromTheDead [[WeCanRebuildHim through cybernetic augmentation]], and even made a point of avoiding adding a RestrainingBolt even though he could.

Not exclusive to villainous employers, but good examples aren't often seen, probably due to audiences' expectations of TranshumanTreachery by anyone so altered. A common motivation for TheIgor or the VampireVannabe. Generally this leads to YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness and RewardedAsATraitorDeserves as often as it does to the promised upgrade. Compare IndenturedServitude and SavedByThePhlebotinum. For the more mundane version, see SignedUpForTheDental.