History Mooks / LiveActionTV

* The ''Series/{{Batman}}'' RoguesGallery (in the Creator/AdamWest series, at least) employed mooks. A particularly nicely named group were the Penguin's [[FunWithAcronyms Grand Order of Occidental Nighthawks ([=GOONs=]).]]

** ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'' has the Guardians, the robotic police/military of Touto [[CombiningMecha who can combine en masse into big gangly battle mecha]]. At first it seems like a subversion since they only fight Build because he's a HeroWithBadPublicity, but then it's revealed that the evil organization Faust put a Trojan in the Guardians' programming and can take control of them at will.

* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' and ''Franchise/PowerRangers''. Suited guys with metal masks will usually come along with the MonsterOfTheWeek to [[MookChivalry dance around in the background]] while the Power Rangers pick them off. The first time a different kind of these guys are fought, the rangers will have to morph up in order to take them down, but after the first battle which has the rangers figuring out how to defeat them, they can thereafter be fought and taken down without morphing at all. Each villain had a different variety; let's just list the ''Power Rangers'' ones: [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Rita and Zedd]] used Putty Patrollers, which became Tenga Warriors in Season 3; [[Series/PowerRangersZeo The Machine Empire]] used Cogs...[[labelnote:If you care...]] [[Series/PowerRangersTurbo Divatox]] used Piranhatrons while her brother, General Havoc, used Chromites; [[Series/PowerRangersInSpace Astronema]] used Quantrons while the Piranhatrons make a return appearance (and the Rangers used Craterites for training purposes); [[Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy Scorpius, Trakeena, and their generals]] used Stingwingers while Captain Mutiny used Swabbies; [[Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue Queen Bansheera and her minions]] used Batlings; Triskull from the Lost Galaxy/Lightspeed Rescue team-up episodes used Ghouls; [[Series/PowerRangersTimeForce Ransik]] used Cyclobots; [[Series/PowerRangersWildForce Master Org]] used Putrids; [[Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm Lothor]] used Kelzaks; [[Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder Mesogog]] used Tyrannodrones while Zeltrax used Triptoids; [[Series/PowerRangersSPD The Troobian Empire]] used Krybots; [[Series/PowerRangersMysticForce Morticon]] used Hidiacs while Koragg and some of the other, more powerful generals used enhanced Hidiacs called Styxoids; [[Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive Flurious, Moltor, and Kamdor]] used Chillers, Lava Lizards, and Ninja Stuntmen, respectively; [[Series/PowerRangersJungleFury Dai Shi]] used Rinshi; [[Series/PowerRangersRPM The Venjix Computer Network]] used Grinders; [[Series/PowerRangersSamurai Master Xandred]] used Moogers and Spitfangs; [[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce Vrak]] used Loogies; [[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce The Armada]] used X-Borgs and Crushers; [[Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge Sledge, Heckyl & Snide, and later Arcanon]] used Vivix and Spikeballs; [[Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel Galvanax and later Madame Odious]] used Kudabots; and [[Series/PowerRangersBeastMorphers Evox]] used Tronics. Whew.[[/labelnote]]

* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' and ''Franchise/PowerRangers''. Suited guys with metal masks will usually come along with the MonsterOfTheWeek to [[MookChivalry dance around in the background]] while the Power Rangers pick them off. The first time a different kind of these guys are fought, the rangers will have to morph up in order to take them down, but after the first battle which has the rangers figuring out how to defeat them, they can thereafter be fought and taken down without morphing at all. Each villain had a different variety; let's just list the ''Power Rangers'' ones: [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Rita and Zedd]] used Putty Patrollers, which became Tenga Warriors in Season 3; [[Series/PowerRangersZeo The Machine Empire]] used Cogs...[[labelnote:If you care...]] [[Series/PowerRangersTurbo Divatox]] used Piranhatrons while her brother, General Havoc, used Chromites; [[Series/PowerRangersInSpace Astronema]] used Quantrons while the Piranhatrons make a return appearance (and the Rangers used Craterites for training purposes); [[Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy Scorpius, Trakeena, and their generals]] used Stingwingers while Captain Mutiny used Swabbies; [[Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue Queen Bansheera and her minions]] used Batlings; Triskull from the Lost Galaxy/Lightspeed Rescue team-up episodes used Ghouls; [[Series/PowerRangersTimeForce Ransik]] used Cyclobots; [[Series/PowerRangersWildForce Master Org]] used Putrids; [[Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm Lothor]] used Kelzaks; [[Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder Mesogog]] used Tyrannodrones while Zeltrax used Triptoids; [[Series/PowerRangersSPD The Troobian Empire]] used Krybots; [[Series/PowerRangersMysticForce Morticon]] used Hidiacs while Koragg and some of the other, more powerful generals used enhanced Hidiacs called Styxoids; [[Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive Flurious, Moltor, and Kamdor]] used Chillers, Lava Lizards, and Ninja Stuntmen, respectively; [[Series/PowerRangersJungleFury Dai Shi]] used Rinshi; [[Series/PowerRangersRPM The Venjix Computer Network]] used Grinders; [[Series/PowerRangersSamurai Master Xandred]] used Moogers and Spitfangs; [[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce Vrak]] used Loogies; [[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce The Armada]] used X-Borgs and Crushers; [[Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge Sledge, Heckyl & Snide, and later Arcanon]] used Vivix and Spikeballs; [[Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel Galvanax]] and later Madame Odious uses Kudabots; and [[Series/PowerRangersBeastMorphers Evox]] used Tronics. Whew.[[/labelnote]]

* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' and ''Franchise/PowerRangers''. Suited guys with metal masks will usually come along with the MonsterOfTheWeek to [[MookChivalry dance around in the background]] while the Power Rangers pick them off. The first time a different kind of these guys are fought, the rangers will have to morph up in order to take them down, but after the first battle which has the rangers figuring out how to defeat them, they can thereafter be fought and taken down without morphing at all. Each villain had a different variety; let's just list the ''Power Rangers'' ones: [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Rita and Zedd]] used Putty Patrollers, which became Tenga Warriors in Season 3; [[Series/PowerRangersZeo The Machine Empire]] used Cogs...[[labelnote:If you care...]] [[Series/PowerRangersTurbo Divatox]] used Piranhatrons while her brother, General Havoc, used Chromites; [[Series/PowerRangersInSpace Astronema]] used Quantrons while the Piranhatrons make a return appearance (and the Rangers used Craterites for training purposes); [[Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy Scorpius, Trakeena, and their generals]] used Stingwingers while Captain Mutiny used Swabbies; [[Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue Queen Bansheera and her minions]] used Batlings; Triskull from the Lost Galaxy/Lightspeed Rescue team-up episodes used Ghouls; [[Series/PowerRangersTimeForce Ransik]] used Cyclobots; [[Series/PowerRangersWildForce Master Org]] used Putrids; [[Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm Lothor]] used Kelzaks; [[Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder Mesogog]] used Tyrannodrones while Zeltrax used Triptoids; [[Series/PowerRangersSPD The Troobian Empire]] used Krybots; [[Series/PowerRangersMysticForce Morticon]] used Hidiacs while Koragg and some of the other, more powerful generals used enhanced Hidiacs called Styxoids; [[Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive Flurious, Moltor, and Kamdor]] used Chillers, Lava Lizards, and Ninja Stuntmen, respectively; [[Series/PowerRangersJungleFury Dai Shi]] used Rinshi; [[Series/PowerRangersRPM The Venjix Computer Network]] used Grinders; [[Series/PowerRangersSamurai Master Xandred]] used Moogers and Spitfangs; [[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce Vrak]] used Loogies; [[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce The Armada]] used X-Borgs and Crushers; [[Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge Sledge, Heckyl & Snide, and later Arcanon]] used Vivix and Spikeballs; and [[Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel Galvanax]] uses Kudabots. Whew.[[/labelnote]]

* The named warriors of Season 3 of ''Series/DeadliestWarrior'' are always accompanied by four Mooks, who never survive the sim. JesseJames vs. UsefulNotes/AlCapone of Season 2 also had three mooks each, [[spoiler: though it's subverted by there being another survivor alongside Jesse James, who's often speculated to be Jesse's big brother Frank.]].

* The sheriff's men from ''RobinOfSherwood''. The Merry MenOfSherwood killed ten or so per episode. It really got to the point where you had to wonder what kind of recruitment package was being offered.

** In 'Once More With Feeling,' they were also trained dancers.

** And their usefulness is lampshaded in one episode of ''[[PowerRangersOperationOverdrive Operation Overdrive]]''; one of the Big Bads, Kamdor, notes that while he can create monsters, Flurious and Moltor both have armies of foot soldiers. And it's proven earlier in the episode that numbers make a big difference; if the Rangers hadn't shown up, he and his [[TheDragon Dragon]] Miratrix would have likely been defeated. Kamdor subsequently brainwashes a group of stuntmen playing ninjas to fight for himself, but while they help, the spell only lasts for that one episode.

* ''Series/WMACMasters'' had generic ninjas who would be sent into the middle of a match to attack one of the fighters who'd performed some kind of violation, but they were usually little more than a nuisance.

** ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'' has the Guardians, the robotic police/military of Touto. At first it seems like a subversion since they only fight Build because he's a HeroWithBadPublicity, but then it's revealed that the evil organization Faust put a Trojan in the Guardians' programming and can take control of them at will.

* ''Franchise/KamenRider'' has them less often, but a handful of KR series do. They'll often have design homages to the first batch, the Shocker Soldiers in the original series.
** ''Series/KamenRiderDragonKnight'' takes a one-shot monster from ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki'' and mass-produces it.[[note]]You can tell the Ryuki footage because suddenly ''one'' Gelnewt - that's what the red minions are called, it's AllThereInTheManual - is a match for two Riders. It's shortly after we meet Thrust.[[/note]] One of the ''Series/KamenRiderDenO'' movies, made after KRDK's end, then uses them! Yes, it's okay if your head hurts now. The movie was a [[Series/KamenRiderDecade Decade]] crossover, so it could be [[CatchPhrase all Decade's fault]] (in other words, maybe they're really from Ryuki World or even an unseen Dragon Knight World.)
** In the [[MilestoneCelebration 999th and 1000th]] episodes of the Kamen Rider franchise, we get Mookdom taken to its logical conclusion: In ''Series/KamenRiderOOO,'' the main villains create the MonsterOfTheWeek from people's desires. [[spoiler: This one's created from the ''rage'' of a former Shocker Soldier whose name actually ''is'' "Mook",[[note]]Well, a StevenUlyssesPerhero name based on the Japanese term for mook if you want to get technical.[[/note]] who is pissed at the years and years and years of Mooks having their butts handed to them by Kamen Riders. He goes on to spawn a small army of footsoldiers from across franchise history... or rather, Yummies (''OOO's'' monsters) in the form of them.]] Apparently, foot soldier job satisfaction is about as low as you'd expect... but they take pride in it.
** In ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger,'' we get a similar situation (though in a brief sequence), during ''Film/KaizokuSentaiGokaigerTheMovieTheFlyingGhostShip''. The Gokaigers face a multi-seasonal army of grunts who have Mook Pride. When looked down upon as cannon fodder, they insisted that they weren't just goons, they were ''valiant warriors of evil!'' They're told that they ''are'' just cannon fodder, and go on to experience typical mook results when the Gokaigers lay into them. They merge into a giant gestalt Mook, but quickly fall to infighting and get destroyed because, as Captain Marvelous puts it, "Once a mook, always a mook!"

** Franchise/KamenRider has an interesting and evolving relationship with this trope. At first, it was more like other {{Toku}} series, with a campy colorful villain, his MonsterOfTheWeek, and a squad of goons that the hero(es) could usually deal with without even bothering to suit up.[[note]]WhatMeasureIsAMook note: The first grunts, Shocker Soldiers, were actually explicitly reconstructed humans like the monsters, generals, and of course the riders themselves, and they had the human faces to prove it before the full-body-covering suits showed up. They were real people who got real dead when the Rider tossed them off of something high or threw one of their pointy objects back at them. This was quietly ignored long before the end of season one, and the origin of the grunts usually goes unmentioned in later series. However, in any series where every enemy down to MonsterOfTheWeek is a reconstructed human, you've still gotta figure the footsoldiers didn't grow on trees.[[/note]] Plot convenience decided whether they would be surprisingly competent, just a warm-up for the fight against the MonsterOfTheWeek, or even comic relief for even ButtMonkey characters to toss around. No different from the [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Putty Patrol]]. ''Black'' curiously lacked footsoldiers, ''Black RX'' brought them back. Grunts would vanish entirely after Black RX, with none of the 90s movies or first decade of {{Revival}} series having them. However, those series ''did'' have a few mass-produced enemies. They'd get demoted to {{Mooks}} in later appearances.[[note]]For example: the Roaches of Series/KamenRiderBlade were an all-devouring scourge. TheMovie and ''Decade'' makes them {{Mooks}}; in Decade, we even get a KingMook version, the Bossroach. The Raydragoons, Sheerghosts, and Gelnewts of Series/KamenRiderRyuki were just like the MonsterOfTheWeek mirror monsters: wild fauna of the mirror world, not a part of anyone's evil plan, just ''hungry.'' When you get human-sized mass-produced ones, it's less "footsoldier as opposed to monster" and more "school of piranha as opposed to one shark." However, they're mooks in ''Dragon Knight'' and ''Decade.'' In ''Kabuto,'' Worms begin in a generic form called a Salisworm, short for chrysalis. One will molt and become the MonsterOfTheWeek. If you battled a molted Worm, you'd probably be ganged upon by the unmolted ones too - even if none appeared to be around before. Then there are the series where you get two or three monsters of a kind, not so strong as individuals, acting as a collective MonsterOfTheWeek. This was popular in Kabuto.[[/note]] However, it would change with Series/KamenRiderDecade. Between instances of re-using mass-produced monsters as footsoldiers and crossovers with series that always had mooks, apparently ThePowersThatBe decided it was time to dust off this trope. However, it's still with a twist: In post-Decade series, the MonsterOfTheWeek was often acting on its own, being (or working with) a human with a grudge and access to an evil power source. The main villains have a long-term plan that is helped along by manipulating these humans, but doesn't actually hinge on whether or not that kid gets revenge on the girls at his school for rejecting him. Only high level villains have armies of footsoldiers. This means {{Mooks}} aren't comic relief or warm-up for the real fight anymore; the main villain's personal army showing up is how you know things just got ''serious.''
* The idea of mooks as standard monster backup in every fight returns with the Ghouls of ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'', but the villains seem to be GenreSavvy: it hasn't been stated explicitly, but they seem to know the Ghouls really have no chance of defeating Wizard, and just use them to keep him busy while they go after the Gate. The RealLife reason for them is that Kamen Rider Beast must feed on the energy of monsters he defeats; they can't have him finish ''every'' monster from his debut onward, so Beast has Ghouls to snack on as well.
** ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'' does it ''Kabuto-''style: Monsters start in identical basic forms until one molts into the MonsterOfTheWeek. The others keep up the fight.
** ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'' does it the same way. However, there are exactly OneHundredAndEight Roidmudes, including the ones still in their basic state. As such, if a MonsterOfTheWeek Roidmude has basic ones as backup, there will only be two or three. The only battle with an army of basic Roidmudes was one against an OutsideContextVillain whose power was assimilating and making copies of any technology it encountered.
** ''Series/KamenRiderGhost'' has {{Mooks}} that are actually ''not'' the same as the monsters' basic forms, though similar.
** ''Series/KamenRiderExAid:'' Grunts are back to being in almost every fight; each is tailored to the monster it accompanies but the heads stay the same.
** ''Series/KamenRiderBuild:''The Guardians fill this role - initially, it might seem like their role is actually a subversion, being robots instead of living beings, but it's revealed that they're working for Faust, thus playing this trope straight.

** Franchise/KamenRider has an interesting and evolving relationship with this trope. At first, it was more like other {{Toku}} series, with a campy colorful villain, his MonsterOfTheWeek, and a squad of goons that the hero(es) could usually deal with without even bothering to suit up.[[note]]WhatMeasureIsAMook note: The first grunts, Shocker Soldiers, were actually explicitly reconstructed humans like the monsters, generals, and of course the riders themselves, and they had the human faces to prove it before the full-body-covering suits showed up. They were real people who got real dead when the Rider tossed them off of something high or threw one of their pointy objects back at them. This was quietly ignored long before the end of season one, and the origin of the grunts usually goes unmentioned in later series. However, in any series where every enemy down to MonsterOfTheWeek is a reconstructed human, you've still gotta figure the footsoldiers didn't grow on trees.[[/note]] Plot convenience decided whether they would be surprisingly competent, just a warm-up for the fight against the MonsterOfTheWeek, or even comic relief for even ButtMonkey characters to toss around. No different from the [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Putty Patrol]]. ''Black'' curiously lacked footsoldiers, ''Black RX'' brought them back. Grunts would vanish entirely after Black RX, with none of the 90s movies or first decade of {{Revival}} series having them. However, those series ''did'' have a few mass-produced enemies. They'd get demoted to {{Mooks}} in later appearances.[[note]]For example: the Roaches of Series/KamenRiderBlade were an all-devouring scourge. TheMovie and ''Decade'' makes them {{Mooks}}; in Decade, we even get a KingMook version, the Bossroach. The Raydragoons, Sheerghosts, and Gelnewts of Series/KamenRiderRyuki were just like the MonsterOfTheWeek mirror monsters: wild fauna of the mirror world, not a part of anyone's evil plan, just ''hungry.'' When you get human-sized mass-produced ones, it's less "footsoldier as opposed to monster" and more "school of piranha as opposed to one shark." However, they're mooks in ''Dragon Knight'' and ''Decade.'' In ''Kabuto,'' Worms begin in a generic form called a Salisworm, short for chrysalis. One will molt and become the MonsterOfTheWeek. If you battled a molted Worm, you'd probably be ganged upon by the unmolted ones too - even if none appeared to be around before. Then there are the series where you get two or three monsters of a kind, not so strong as individuals, acting as a collective MonsterOfTheWeek. This was popular in Kabuto.[[/note]] However, it would change with Series/KamenRiderDecade. Between instances of re-using mass-produced monsters as footsoldiers and crossovers with series that always had mooks, apparently ThePowersThatBe decided it was time to dust off this trope. However, it's still with a twist: In post-Decade series, the MonsterOfTheWeek often acting on its own, being (or working with) a human with a grudge and access to an evil power source. The main villains have a long-term plan that is helped along by doing this, but doesn't actually hinge on whether or not that kid gets revenge on the girls at his school for rejecting him. Only high level villains have armies of footsoldiers. This means {{Mooks}} aren't comic relief or warm-up for the real fight anymore; the main villain's personal army showing up is how you know things just got ''serious.''

** Starting with ''Series/PowerRangersSPD,'' there is sometimes a multi-layer cannon fodder system where you've got your generic mooks, your rarer but tougher mooks, and even a KingMook that's as good as or even ''tougher'' than the MonsterOfTheWeek. However, expect the higher levels to stop being so tough ''very'' soon after they appear.

** Starting with ''Series/PowerRangersSPD,'' there is sometimes a multi-layer cannon fodder system where you've got your generic mooks, your rarer but tougher mooks, and even a {{Boss Mook}} that's as good as or even ''tougher'' than the MonsterOfTheWeek. However, expect the higher levels to stop being so tough ''very'' soon after they appear.

* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' and ''Franchise/PowerRangers''. Suited guys with metal masks will usually come along with the MonsterOfTheWeek to [[MookChivalry dance around in the background]] while the Power Rangers pick them off. The first time a different kind of these guys are fought, the rangers will have to morph up in order to take them down, but after the first battle which has the rangers figuring out how to defeat them, they can thereafter be fought and taken down without morphing at all. Each villain had a different variety; let's just list the ''Power Rangers'' ones: [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Rita and Zedd]] used Putty Patrollers, which became Tenga Warriors in Season 3; [[Series/PowerRangersZeo The Machine Empire]] used Cogs...[[labelnote:If you care...]] [[Series/PowerRangersTurbo Divatox]] used Piranhatrons while her brother, General Havoc, used Chromites; [[Series/PowerRangersInSpace Astronema]] used Quantrons while the Piranhatrons make a return appearance (and the Rangers used Craterites for training purposes); [[Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy Scorpius, Trakeena, and their generals]] used Stingwingers while Captain Mutiny used Swabbies; [[Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue Queen Bansheera and her minions]] used Batlings; Triskull from the Lost Galaxy/Lightspeed Rescue team-up episodes used Ghouls; [[Series/PowerRangersTimeForce Ransik]] used Cyclobots; [[Series/PowerRangersWildForce Master Org]] used Putrids; [[Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm Lothor]] used Kelzaks; [[Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder Mesogog]] used Tyrannodrones while Zeltrax used Triptoids; [[Series/PowerRangersSPD The Troobian Empire]] used Krybots; [[Series/PowerRangersMysticForce Morticon]] used Hidiacs while Koragg and some of the other, more powerful generals used enhanced Hidiacs called Styxoids; [[Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive Flurious, Moltor, and Kamdor]] used Chillers, Lava Lizards, and Ninja Stuntmen, respectively; [[Series/PowerRangersJungleFury Dai Shi]] used Rinshi; [[Series/PowerRangersRPM The Venjix Computer Network]] used Grinders; [[Series/PowerRangersSamurai Master Xandred]] used Moogers and Spitfangs; [[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce Vrak]] used Loogies; [[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce The Armada]] used X-Borgs and Crushers; and [[Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge Sledge, Heckyl and Snide, and later Arcanon]] use Vivix and Spikeballs, and in [[Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel Galvanax]] uses Kudabots. Whew.[[/labelnote]]

* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' and ''Franchise/PowerRangers''. Suited guys with metal masks will usually come along with the MonsterOfTheWeek to [[MookChivalry dance around in the background]] while the Power Rangers pick them off. The first time a different kind of these guys are fought, the rangers will have to morph up in order to take them down, but after the first battle which has the rangers figuring out how to defeat them, they can thereafter be fought and taken down without morphing at all. Each villain had a different variety; let's just list the ''Power Rangers'' ones: [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Rita and Zedd]] used Putty Patrollers, which became Tenga Warriors in Season 3; [[Series/PowerRangersZeo The Machine Empire]] used Cogs...[[labelnote:If you care...]] [[Series/PowerRangersTurbo Divatox]] used Piranhatrons while her brother, General Havoc, used Chromites; [[Series/PowerRangersInSpace Astronema]] used Quantrons while the Piranhatrons make a return appearance (and the Rangers used Craterites for training purposes); [[Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy Scorpius, Trakeena, and their generals]] used Stingwingers while Captain Mutiny used Swabbies; [[Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue Queen Bansheera and her minions]] used Batlings; Triskull from the Lost Galaxy/Lightspeed Rescue team-up episodes used Ghouls; [[Series/PowerRangersTimeForce Ransik]] used Cyclobots; [[Series/PowerRangersWildForce Master Org]] used Putrids; [[Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm Lothor]] used Kelzaks; [[Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder Mesogog]] used Tyrannodrones while Zeltrax used Triptoids; [[Series/PowerRangersSPD The Troobian Empire]] used Krybots; [[Series/PowerRangersMysticForce Morticon]] used Hidiacs while Koragg and some of the other, more powerful generals used enhanced Hidiacs called Styxoids; [[Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive Flurious, Moltor, and Kamdor]] used Chillers, Lava Lizards, and Ninja Stuntmen, respectively; [[Series/PowerRangersJungleFury Dai Shi]] used Rinshi; [[Series/PowerRangersRPM The Venjix Computer Network]] used Grinders; [[Series/PowerRangersSamurai Master Xandred]] used Moogers and Spitfangs; [[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce Vrak]] used Loogies; [[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce The Armada]] used X-Borgs and Crushers; and [[Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge Sledge, Heckyll and Snide]] use Vivix and Spikeballs. Whew.[[/labelnote]]

** In the [[MilestoneCelebration 999th and 1000th]] episodes of the Kamen Rider franchise, we get Mookdom taken to its logical conclusion: In ''Series/KamenRiderOOO,'' the main villains create the MonsterOfTheWeek from people's desires. [[spoiler: This one's created from the ''rage'' of a former Shocker Soldier whose name actually ''is'' "Mook", who is pissed at the years and years and years of Mooks having their butts handed to them by Kamen Riders. He goes on to spawn a small army of footsoldiers from across franchise history... or rather, Yummies (''OOO's'' monsters) in the form of them.]] Apparently, foot soldier job satisfaction is about as low as you'd expect... but they take pride in it.
** In ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger,'' we get a similar situation (though in a brief sequence), during ''Film/KaizokuSentaiGokaigerTheMovieTheFlyingGhostShip''. The Gokaigers face a multi-seasonal army of grunts who have Mook Pride. When looked down upon as cannon fodder, they insisted that they weren't just goons, they were ''valiant warriors of evil!'' They're told that they ''are'' just cannon fodder, and go on to experience typical results when the Gokaigers lay into them. They merge into a giant gestalt Mook, but quickly fall to infighting and get destroyed because, as Captain Marvelous puts it, "Once a mook, always a mook!"

** Franchise/KamenRider has an interesting and evolving relationship with this trope. At first, it was more like other {{Toku}} series, with a campy colorful villain, his MonsterOfTheWeek, and a squad of goons that the hero(es) could usually deal with without even bothering to suit up.[[note]]WhatMeasureIsAMook note: The first grunts, Shocker Soldiers, were actually explicitly reconstructed humans like the monsters, generals, and of course the riders themselves, and they had the human faces to prove it before the full-body-covering suits showed up. They were real people who got real dead when the Rider tossed them off of something high or threw one of their pointy objects back at them. This was quietly ignored long before the end of season one, and the origin of the grunts usually goes unmentioned in later series. However, in any series where every enemy down to MonsterOfTheWeek is a reconstructed human, you've still gotta figure the footsoldiers didn't grow on trees.[[/note]] Plot convenience decided whether they would be surprisingly competent, just a warm-up for the fight against the MonsterOfTheWeek, or even comic relief for even ButtMonkey characters to toss around. No different from the [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Putty Patrol]]. ''Black'' curiously lacked footsoldiers, ''Black RX'' brought them back. Grunts would vanish entirely after Black RX, with none of the 90s movies or first decade of {{Revival}} series having them. However, those series ''did'' have a few mass-produced enemies. They'd get demoted to {{Mooks}} in later appearances.[[note]]For example: the Roaches of Series/KamenRiderBlade were an all-devouring scourge. TheMovie and ''Decade'' makes them {{Mooks}}; in Decade, we even get a KingMook version, the Bossroach. The Raydragoons, Sheerghosts, and Gelnewts of Series/KamenRiderRyuki were just like the MonsterOfTheWeek mirror monsters: wild fauna of the mirror world, not a part of anyone's evil plan, just ''hungry.'' When you get human-sized mass-produced ones, it's less "footsoldier as opposed to monster" and more "school of piranha as opposed to one shark." However, they're mooks in ''Dragon Knight'' and ''Decade.'' In ''Kabuto,'' Worms begin in a generic form called a Salisworm, short for chrysalis. One will molt and become the MonsterOfTheWeek. If you battled a molted Worm, you'd probably be ganged upon by the unmolted ones too - even if none appeared to be around before. Then there are the cases where you get two or three of a kind acting as a collective MonsterOfTheWeek. This was popular in Kabuto.[[/note]] However, it would change with Series/KamenRiderDecade: the aforementioned mass-produced monster reuse, and crossovers with series that did have grunts, made ThePowersThatBe decide it was time to dust off this trope. However, it's still with a twist: usually, the MonsterOfTheWeek is often acting on its own, as or in concert with a human with a beef and access to a bad power source. The main villains have a long-term plan that doesn't much hinge on whether or not that kid gets revenge on the girls at his school for rejecting him. When the main villains are actually running the show, though, they have footsoldiers as backup. In other words, {{Mooks}} aren't comic relief anymore; the main villain's personal army showing is how you know things just got ''serious.''
* Mooks return with the Ghouls of ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'', but the villains seem to be GenreSavvy: it hasn't been stated explicitly, but they seem to know the Ghouls really have no chance of defeating Wizard, and just use them to keep him busy while they go after the Gate.

* The named warriors of Season 3 of ''DeadliestWarrior'' are always accompanied by four Mooks, who never survive the sim. JesseJames vs. UsefulNotes/AlCapone of Season 2 also had three mooks each, [[spoiler: though it's subverted by there being another survivor alongside Jesse James, who's often speculated to be Jesse's big brother Frank.]].

----> '''O'Neil''': '''''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjlCVW_ouL8 This]]...''''' (lifts a [[FrickinLaserBeams staff weapon]]) ''is a weapon of '''terror'''. It's made to... '''intimidate''' the enemy.'' (throws staff weapon away) '''''This''' (lifts the P90) is a weapon of '''war.''' It is made to '''[[BoringButPractical kill]]''' your enemy.''

* The ''Series/{{Batman}}'' RoguesGallery (in the Creator/AdamWest series, at least) employed mooks. A particularly nicely named group were the Penguin's [[FunWithAcronyms Grand Order Of Occidental Nighthawks ([=GOONs=]).]]

* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' and ''Franchise/PowerRangers''. Suited guys with metal masks will usually come along with the MonsterOfTheWeek to [[MookChivalry dance around in the background]] while the Power Rangers pick them off. The first time a different kind of these guys are fought, the rangers will have to morph up in order to take them down, but after the first battle which has the rangers figuring out how to defeat them, they can thereafter be fought and taken down without morphing at all. Each villain had a different variety; let's just list the ''Power Rangers'' ones: [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Rita and Zedd]] used Putty Patrollers, which became Tenga Warriors in Season 3; [[Series/PowerRangersZeo The Machine Empire]] used Cogs...[[labelnote:If you care...]] [[Series/PowerRangersTurbo Divatox]] used Piranhatrons while her brother, General Havoc, used Chromites; [[Series/PowerRangersInSpace Astronema]] used Quantrons while the Piranhatrons make a return appearance (and the Rangers used Craterites for training purposes); [[Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy Scorpius, Trakeena, and their generals]] used Stingwingers while Captain Mutiny used Swabbies; [[Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue Queen Bansheera and her minions]] used Batlings; Triskull from the Lost Galaxy/Lightspeed Rescue team-up episodes used Ghouls; [[Series/PowerRangersTimeForce Ransik]] used Cyclobots; [[Series/PowerRangersWildForce Master Org]] used Putrids; [[Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm Lothor]] used Kelzaks; [[Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder Mesogog]] used Tyrannodrones while Zeltrax used Triptoids; [[Series/PowerRangersSPD The Troobian Empire]] used Krybots; [[Series/PowerRangersMysticForce Morticon]] used Hidiacs while Koragg and some of the other, more powerful generals used enhanced Hidiacs called Styxoids; [[Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive Flurious, Moltor, and Kamdor]] used Chillers, Lava Lizards, and Ninja Stuntmen, respectively; [[Series/PowerRangersJungleFury Dai Shi]] used Rinshi; [[Series/PowerRangersRPM The Venjix Computer Network]] used Grinders; [[Series/PowerRangersSamurai Master Xandred]] used Moogers and Spitfangs; [[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce Vrak]] used Loogies; [[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce The Armada]] used X-Borgs and Crushers; and [[Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge Sledge]] uses Vivix and Spikeballs. Whew.[[/labelnote]]

** Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger even has Mooks on the side of good with the Kuroko (stagehands. ItMakesSenseInContext.)
** The password for a computer program made by Series/PowerRangersZeo Blue Ranger Rocky was "mook." This password would be visibly typed in by a Machine Empire MechaMook called a Cog in order to steal the software and create the [[MonsterOfTheWeek monster]] Silo.
** The whole concept of Mooks being easy for the heroes to defeat was even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in one episode by [[BigBad King Mondo]], where he complained, "What's the point of building more Cogs when the Rangers are just going to reduce them to scrap metal?!" (This led to a henchman getting an idea which was sort of a new approach, but it still didn't work in the end.)

* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' and ''Franchise/PowerRangers''. Suited guys with metal masks will usually come along with the MonsterOfTheWeek to [[MookChivalry dance around in the background]] while the Power Rangers pick them off. The first time a different kind of these guys are fought, the rangers will have to morph up in order to take them down, but after the first battle which has the rangers figuring out how to defeat them, they can thereafter be fought and taken down without morphing at all. Each villain had a different variety; let's just list the ''Power Rangers'' ones: [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Rita and Zedd]] used Putty Patrollers, which became Tenga Warriors in Season 3; [[Series/PowerRangersZeo The Machine Empire]] used Cogs...[[labelnote:If you care...]] [[Series/PowerRangersTurbo Divatox]] used Piranhatrons while her brother, General Havoc, used Chromites; [[Series/PowerRangersInSpace Astronema]] used Quantrons while the Piranhatrons make a return appearance (and the Rangers used Craterites for training purposes); [[Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy Scorpius, Trakeena, and their generals]] used Stingwingers while Captain Mutiny used Swabbies; [[Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue Queen Bansheera and her minions]] used Batlings; Triskull from the Lost Galaxy/Lightspeed Rescue team-up episodes used Ghouls; [[Series/PowerRangersTimeForce Ransik]] used Cyclobots; [[Series/PowerRangersWildForce Master Org]] used Putrids; [[Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm Lothor]] used Kelzaks; [[Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder Mesogog]] used Tyrannodrones while Zeltrax used Triptoids; [[Series/PowerRangersSPD The Troobian Empire]] used Krybots; [[Series/PowerRangersMysticForce Morticon]] used Hidiacs while Koragg and some of the other, more powerful generals used enhanced Hidiacs called Styxoids; [[Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive Flurious, Moltor, and Kamdor]] used Chillers, Lava Lizards, and Ninja Stuntmen, respectively; [[Series/PowerRangersJungleFury Dai Shi]] used Rinshi; [[Series/PowerRangersRPM The Venjix Computer Network]] used Grinders; [[Series/PowerRangersSamurai Master Xandred]] used Moogers and Spitfangs; [[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce Vrak]] used Loogies; [[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce The Armada]] used X-Borgs and Crushers; and [[Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge Sledge]] uses Vivix. Whew.[[/labelnote]]

* Most of the [[BigBad Big Bads]] in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' had {{Mooks}} of one sort or another. Generally vampires, but the First had its Bringers and Glory had her demons.
*** In 'Once More With Feeling,' they were also trained dancers.
*** Buffy calls the mercenary demon from the episode "Flooded" a mook when he breaks her designer lamp.

* In TheSixties spy series ''TheManFromUNCLE'', THRUSH employs metric tons of {{Mooks}}. They even wear uniforms and have distinct ranks of officers (whether commissioned or non-commissioned is left up in the air) and other ranks, usually distinguished by their uniforms when both types appear.

*** Once the marines wind up at a rebel training camp, they give them [[RareGuns FN-P90s]] and [[SpaceMarine decent training]]. It's the birth of the Free Jaffa Nation!

* Most of the villains in ''{{Firefly}}'' have gangs of hired goons, mercenaries, or thugs to back them up. In particular, Rance Burgess and Adelei Niska seem to have their own personal armies.