History PlayingWith / PsychoforHire

* '''Exaggerated''': Bob works for free as long as he's allowed to kill people however he wants and whenever he wants.

* '''Enforced''': This story is about a shadowy organization often has jobs with unthinkable requirements, knowing some of the things they do, the audience has come to expect many of the employees to be more then a little unpleasant to work with.

* '''Enforced''': Bob gets his jobs from Serial Killers R Us. (See below)

* '''Enforced''': Bob get's his jobs from Serial Killers R Us. (See below)

* '''Enforced''': Bob get's his jobs from a psycho-for-hire agency, that only employees psychos!

* '''Enforced''': ???

** Bob owed more money to the mob than he could possibly pay back. Because of his formidable appearance, they put him to work collecting money for them. Over time, it was clear that he had a reluctant talent for hurting people. Eventually, he becomes a full-time assassin, but he can't live with himself after seeing what he has become. [[ConditionedToAcceptingHorror Eventually, Bob begins losing his mind, and accepting his role as a killer with manic glee]]. This addiction to violence prompts him to take on freelance jobs long after his debt to the mob has been repaid, and he can only vaguely remember the compassionate man he once was.

** Bob owed more money to the mob than he could possibly pay back. Because of his formidable appearance, they put him to work collecting money for them. Over time, it was clear that he had a reluctant talent for hurting people. Eventually, he becomes a full-time assassin, but he can't live with himself after seeing what he has become. Eventually, Bob begins losing his mind, and accepting his role as a killer with manic glee. This addiction to violence prompts him to take on freelance jobs long after his debt to the mob has been repaid, and he can only vaguely remember the compassionate man he once was.

* '''Subverted''': A SmugSnake hires Bob on the recommendation that he is completely insane. Only to find out that Bob is barely coherent and unable to carry out an assassination with any dependability.
* '''Double Subverted''': Then Bob stabs the SmugSnake in the neck, and tells him he was the target all along while [[PsychoticSmirk grinning]].

* '''Invoked''': The BigBad wants an assassin who isn't just in it for the money, and who was crazy enough that any testimony he gave about who hired him wouldn't hold up in court.
* '''Exploited''': The BigBad is facing some budget cuts, so he stops paying Bob first, since Bob will just keep working for the hell of it.

** The BigBad avoids hiring any assassin who doesn't regard it as "just business."

* '''Played For Laughs''': "Machete Bob" is hired. The Contractor's instructions are "I need you to kill...", before he can finish, Bob yells "Okay!" and decapitates everyone in the room. Then congratulates himself on a job well done, and asks the contractor's headless body for his fee.

* '''Exploited''': ???

* '''Justified''': The order that Bob trained with brainwashed all of its studenets into becoming psychopathically sadistic.
* '''Inverted''': Bob is a [[PunchClockVillain surprisingly stable individual]] who sees killing as a business transaction and a necessary evil.

* '''Deconstructed''': Bob owed more money to the mob than he could possibly pay back. Because of his formidable appearance, they put him to work collecting money for them. Over time, it was clear that he had a reluctant talent for hurting people. Eventually, he becomes a full-time assassin, but he can't live with himself after seeing what he has become. Eventually, Bob begins losing his mind, and accepting his role as a killer with manic glee. This addiction to violence prompts him to take on freelance jobs long after his debt to the mob has been repaid, and he can only vaguely remember the compassionate man he once was.
** Alternatively: Bob's over-enthusiastic sadism and bloodlust mean that he gets himself and his employers killed or captured when a saner enforcer would have succeeded.
* '''Reconstructed''': Bob is completely nuts and needlessly sadistic, but he's also [[BunnyEarsLawyer competent]], and has his niche; he's called when his boss wants somebody not quietly eliminated, but blatantly ''slaughtered'' as a gruesome warning to others.
* '''Zig Zagged''': Bob likes both the money and the violence equally. Hence, he may accept the job for any of both depending on the situation.

* '''Averted''': Bob does not enjoy violence, so he never hurts anyone.

* '''Defied''': Bob's violent tendencies are noticed early and treated.

* '''Played For Laughs''': "Machete Bob" is hired. The Contractor's instructions are "I need you to kill...", before he can finish, Bob yells "Okay!" and decapitates everyone in the room. Then congratulates himself on a job well done, and asks the contractor's headless body for his fee.
* '''Played For Drama''': Bob slowly comes to realize that channeling his homicidal impulses towards specific, often deserving targets might be the only way to keep from killing everyone in sight.

* '''Downplayed''': Bob is a brutal thug who enjoys hurting people. However there's more to his character beyond that, and he's sane enough to follow reasonable orders and to understand that he needs money to survive.

'''Basic Trope''': An assassin who kills because they enjoy it. The money is secondary.
* '''Straight''': Bob loves killing people, and becomes a hitman to make money off it.

* Downplayed: Bob is a brutal thug who enjoys hurting people. However there's more to his character beyond that, and he's sane enough to follow reasonable orders and to understand that he needs money to survive.

* '''Conversed''': "You'd think that character would be too dangerous to be worth it."

** Alternatively: Bob's over-enthusiastic sadism and bloodlust mean that he lacks the care and professionalism you'd want in a hitman. He's not exactly subtle and tends to leave a giant mess behind.

* '''Justified''': Bob was always a generally sadistic person. He was eventually hired to kill someone, discovered it was a perfect fit for him, and continued as an assassin.
** But isn't that pretty much the definition of the trope?

* '''Discussed''': ???

* '''Exaggerated''': Bob will cut peoples heads off for a penny each.

* '''Subverted''': A SmugSnake hires bob on the recommendation that he is completely insane. Only to find out that Bob is barely coherent and unable to carry out an assassination with any dependability.

** Alternatively: Bob's over-enthusiastic sadism and bloodlust mean that he lacks the care and professionalism you'd want in a hitman. He's not exactly subtle and tends to leave a giant mess behind.

* '''Reconstructed''': ???

* '''Discussed''': "He's not in it for the money, he just likes killing."
* '''Conversed''': "Why would you hire a lunatic?" "Because he'll go above and beyond to get the job done."

* '''Parodied''': Bob puts an ad in the paper reading "Murderous Lunatic Will Throw Chainsaws At Whoever You Want For A Quarter Each. 50% Off If You Let Him Skin Them Alive."

* '''Inverted''': Bob is a completely normal person who sees killing as a business transaction and a necessary evil.

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