History Main / ArchivedArmy

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[[quoteright:350:[[Film/NightAtTheMuseumBattleOfTheSmithsonian https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/b81a1777473c9be492f98240cbb0270a.png]]]]

MonsterMash is fun and all, but it's just a little too cheesy. Hey, we've got all these colorful historical figures, why not throw them all together as a QuirkyMinibossSquad?

Justified in different ways: They could be simulacra, clones, or magically reanimated. Or brought forward in time. A SuperTrope to HistorysCrimeWave and related to JuryOfTheDamned and StupidJetpackHitler. Could be the result of [[HistoricalDomainSuperperson superpowered historical figures teaming up]].

See also ArmyOfTheAges, for fighting forces composed of warriors from different eras who aren't famous figures.

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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/{{Drifters}}'' has this on [[GreyAndGrayMorality both sides]] in a [[CrapsackWorld crapsack fantasy world]] - the [[SociopathicHero good]] guys summoned there at the verge of death while the [[OmnicidalManiac bad]] guys were those who historically died tragically.
* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' and its prequel ''LightNovel/FateZero'' is pretty much the mythological version of this, although some (like Gilles de Rais and UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat) were historical people.
** With some exceptions, the heroes summoned were all real people at some point. Their appearance and personality may change based on perceptions, however.
* ''Manga/{{Nobunagun}}'' has the E-Genes, the essence of famous figures ranging from Jack the Ripper to Oda Nobunaga to Mahatma Gandhi extracted at the point of death. Certain people in the present day have inherited these E-Genes and are able to draw out powers based on them (guns for Nobunaga, an axe for Geronimo, gravity control for Isaac Newton, etc.), while also communing with their spirit from time to time.
* ''Anime/ReadOrDie'': The I-Jin are all made up of famous figures from the past, most notably Music/LudwigVanBeethoven. They're cloned.
* ''Manga/SamuraiDeeperKyo'''s concept.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In ''All-Select Comics'' #7, the sorcerer Terdu summons a group of villains from the past, whom he dubs the 'Men of Evil', to battle ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and Bucky. The Men of Evil were Captain Kidd, UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper, Frank and UsefulNotes/JesseJames, Literature/{{Bluebeard}}, Gyp-the-Blood, and three gangsters (names unrevealed) who had died in the electric chair decades earlier.
* One iteration of the Lethal Legion villain team, enemies of Comicbook/TheAvengers, was composed of history's greatest murderers, given superpowers by hell. They were [[Characters/TheBorgias Lucrezia Borgia]], UsefulNotes/LizzieBorden, UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, and [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Heinrich Himmler]]. Lucrezia was codenamed "Cyana", granted [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation blue skin]], AbsurdlySharpClaws coated with [[PoisonousPerson poison]], and a literal KissOfDeath. Lizzie was codenamed "Axe of Violence", granted light red skin, [[ArtificialLimbs her right hand was replaced by a double-headed axe]], and she carried two other double-headed axes used as throwing weapons. Josef was codenamed "Coldsteel", becoming a ChromeChampion with a body made of living steel, granting him SuperStrength and SuperToughness. Heinrich was codenamed "Zyklon", granted a PoweredArmor which allowed him to [[JetPack fly]]. He released DeadlyGas from his mask and gauntlets.
* ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'': One comic has the JSA fighting what appears to be a band of villains out of history: UsefulNotes/{{Nero}}, Goliath, Captain Kidd, Cesare Borgia, UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan and UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun. It turns out to be one guy (a guard at a wax museum) masquerading as all these figures. However he succeeds in killing the entire male membership of the Society in that issue. [[ComicBookDeath They get better]].
* Kid Eternity had could summon heroes from history as his superpower, along with invisibility. There was also his evil counterpart, Master Man, who could summon villains from history.
** In a crossover with ''[[{{ComicBook/Shazam}} Captain Marvel]]'', Dr. Sivana revived several villains to oppose them. It didn't work out--Benedict Arnold betrayed him, as not even the British liked him for his treachery.
* In ''ComicBook/KnightAndSquire'' #3, UsefulNotes/RichardIII is resurrected and he proceeds to resurrect England's other 'bad' kings: [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfNormandy William II]], [[UsefulNotes/KingJohnOfEngland John]], [[UsefulNotes/EdwardTheFirst Edward I]], and UsefulNotes/CharlesI. The monarchs are granted genetically enhanced superpowers and each leads a criminal army to take over a different part of the UK.
* This was the gimmick of Creator/MarvelComics villain Immortus. He would summon someone from out of the time stream (usually someone who could work as a suitable contrast to whomever he was fighting at the time) to act as his champions. The FridgeLogic that pops up when he summons Hercules, who's got an ongoing career as a superhero in modern times, got addressed by claiming they aren't ''really'' the historical characters, just duplicates. Also he's just a possible future version of Kang the Conqueror using advanced technology.
* ''ComicBook/RequiemVampireKnight'':
** Dracula keeps the heads of UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat, UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar, Saladin and a future Martian conqueror to plan his strategies.
** The elite vampires (people who committed great atrocities in life) include UsefulNotes/ElizabethBathory (Dracula's wife), UsefulNotes/{{Nero}}, UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun, and UsefulNotes/MaximilienRobespierre. [[spoiler:If you're wondering why UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler isn't there, he's a kind of superweapon: when killed, all his victims AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence.]]
** Ghouls did evil while persuading themselves they did good. Their ranks include Edgar J. Hoover and Oppenheimer.
** The Archeologists did evil ForScience, it's implied one of them was Josef Mengele.
* The ComicBook/SevenSoldiersOfVictory once fought a villain with a time machine who brought forward UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat, UsefulNotes/{{Nero}}, UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan, UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun, and UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte to serve as commanders in his army of conquest.
** He deserves credit for effort, though Nero is perhaps not the most obvious of choices.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In ''[[http://dragonblond_04.tripod.com/fanfictions/MotherMayI.htm Mother, May I (Take Over The World)]]'' ({{MSTing}} [[http://cardcaptor_schlueter.tripod.com/Card_Captor_Science_Theater_3000-Episode_19.htm here]]), a [[SoBadItsGood hilariously bad]] FanFic, the world's most evil people -- among them UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein, Hitler, [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Pikachu]], and an increasingly bemused Martin Luther King, Jr. -- take over the world.
* ''Fanfic/XCOMResurrection'' has the [[VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown XCOM Project]] bringing back historical warriors in order to fight aliens. The first squad consists of UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc, UsefulNotes/SimoHayha, UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan, and [[Literature/RagnarLodbrokAndHisSons Ragnar]] [[Series/{{Vikings}} Lothbrok]]. They also get UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla to head up the science department.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* The second ''Film/NightAtTheMuseum'' movie features animated statues of UsefulNotes/IvanTheTerrible, UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, and UsefulNotes/AlCapone as henchman to the {{Big Bad}}, an Egyptian King. [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]] and [[Series/SesameStreet Oscar the Grouch]] tried to join in as well, but are rejected (Vader because of aesthetic and Oscar because he isn't actually evil).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/TheNightsDawnTrilogy'' features an invasion from TheLegionsOfHell in a SpaceOpera setting... A disproportionatly large portion of whom hail from the 20th century, potentially leading to massive {{Narm}} on the reader's part. There were enough people from other eras (past and future) so that (apart from the [[RuleOfFunny multiple Elvises]]) it could plausibly just be a statistical blip. And one of them's [[UsefulNotes/AlCapone Al freakin' Capone]].
* In "Literature/SorcererConjurerWizardWitch", the villain magically animates waxworks from Madame Tussauds' Chamber of Horrors, including Burke and Hare, Dr Crippen, Charlie Peace, George Joseph Smith (the "Brides in the Bath" killer) and -- this being the ''Literature/DiogenesClub'' universe -- [[Literature/TheHoundOfTheBaskervilles Rodger Baskerville]] and Literature/VarneyTheVampire.
* In ''Literature/TimeRiders'', the team are joined by the likes of UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln and the apparent Myth/RobinHood. However, they can't stay permanently.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* One episode of ''Series/LoisAndClark'' involved clones of Al Capone, as well as Bonnie and Clyde and John Dillinger. They were cloned by a scientist who wanted to prove evil wasn't genetic, and apparently turned out to be wrong.
* ''Series/RedDwarf'': The episode "Meltdown" features a war between robot duplicates of the greatest and the worst people in history in an abandoned theme park.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Savage Curtain". The Hero team is Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln and Surak of Vulcan. The villain team is UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan, the Klingon Kahless, Colonel Green and the MadScientist Zora. Everyone except Kirk and Spock are actually alien rock creatures masquerading as humanoids.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* In the Gamescience adventure ''The Future King'', Doc Holliday, UsefulNotes/{{Nostradamus}}, Creator/BruceLee, Harald Hardraada, Owen Glendower and Cyrano de Bergerac are gathered together to find and wake King Arthur.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' expansion "Mothership Zeta" has you team up with several cryogenically-preserved warriors on the alien spaceship: a military doctor from Operation Anchorage, a contemporary slaver, a wild west cowboy, and a samurai.
* In ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' spin-off game ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'', TimeTravel lets an incarnation of Link and Zelda battle alongside heroes (and villains) from the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Era of the Hero of Time]], [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess the Era of Twilight]], and [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword the Era of the Sky]]. The developers have said it's basically ''Zelda'''s version of ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Toukiden}}'' has Mitama, the spirits of heroes devoured by oni across the ages that have been freed by Slayers. Slayers can commune with these spirits to gain special powers and the PlayerCharacter has the unique[[note]]One non-combatant NPC shares it.[[/note]] power of communing with a very large number of them.
* If you stretch it a bit, this is basically the concept of the ''VideoGame/WarriorsOrochi'' series -- bringing together legendary warriors from China's Three Kingdoms Period, others from Japan's Warring States Era, and a few guys from mythology for good measure -- just so Orochi can have a decent challenge. Certainly, a teamup of Masamune Date, Lu Bu and [[Literature/JourneyToTheWest Sun Wukong]] invokes the same sort of feeling...
* The Nexus in ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm'' does this, pretty much literally, but with simulacra of characters from Blizzard's various [=IPs=]. Their fighting skills, personalities and such are translated into the Nexus albeit somewhat imperfectly. They have been chosen to fight these battles on behalf of the shadowy rulers of the Nexus: such as the Grave Keeper and the Lady of Thorns. You and your friends can assemble your QuirkyMinibossSquad, to fight with an opponent's similar squad. To make your squad extra quirky, you can summon alternate-universe versions of some characters: which may have very different looks and themed powers, or even different voices. The alternate universes tend to have wacky themes like Professional Wrestling, Christmas, or Robots: meaning even the characters from more GrimDark settings can get silly skins. Other times a character will get a new skin because of AscendedFanon: like Jaina's Dreadlord skin.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* The eponymous Chitra of ''Webcomic/{{Chitra}}'' is rewarded for completing quests in the RPGMechanicsVerse she's been [[{{Isekai}} isekai'd]] into with coupons for pulls in [[LootBox The Gods' Exclusive Gacha System]]. Prizes from the gacha are attractive male supporters to aid her in administering and expanding her territory. The high-level prizes are all in-universe famous warriors, mages, and strategists from the past; like Radelk the famous Warrior Butler, Tyrex the Battle Mage, and Tornian "the genius war strategist and military tactician". (While its not made clear how so many historically important figures ended up sealed away in magical gems dispensed as prizes from a celestial slot machine, awaiting the day when a new master would summon them into service, there are also various [[ArmyOfTheAges average soldiers and tradespeople]] from the past available as lower-level prizes.)
* In the old comic ''Webcomic/LifeOfRiley'', when Jezebel strikes against her opponents in an all-out paintball war ([[ItMakesSenseInContext it's a long story]]), she uses the memories of various souls that have fallen to her over the ages. The first few eras - your Caesars, your Napoleons, et cetera - weren't all that effective against modern tactics. Eventually, though, she moved onto ''blitzkriegs'', which ... also weren't that effective in the end, but for different reasons.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* This is the idea behind ''WesternAnimation/CloneHigh'': TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness has cloned many of history's greatest leaders to rule the world somehow.
* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' when [[HoloDeckMalfunction the Holo-shed malfunctions]] and UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun, UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper, [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Professor Moriarty]], and Evil Lincoln become real and attack Kif and Amy.
* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'' had an episode where Johnny brought back several historical figures, including UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun and a caveman, to create the most powerful hockey team.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** Parodied in a ''WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror'' short, where UsefulNotes/BillyTheKid leads a gang of historical villains, including the most evil German in history -- Kaiser Wilhelm!
** Another ''Simpsons'' example, though this one's just a brief throwaway: when Homer and Mr. Burns are stuck in a cabin together, Homer says he has "power... political power!" and we see a ghostly team of historical figures (including the ActualPacifist UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi) brandishing weapons.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpiderMan1967'' has a bad guy bring wax figures of UsefulNotes/JesseJames, UsefulNotes/{{Blackbeard}}, and an old-timey executioner to life to fight Spider-Man.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperGlobetrotters'', the Time Lord assembled "the greatest criminals in history" into a gang.
* There's an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'' titled "Creator/LeonardoDaVinci and His Fightin' Genius Time Commandos!", featuring a team of famous inventors, including da Vinci, UsefulNotes/ThomasAlvaEdison, UsefulNotes/JohannGutenberg, George Washington Carver, and the cavewoman who invented the wheel.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' episode "[[Recap/TheVentureBrosS2E4EscapeToTheHouseOfMummiesPartII Escape to the House of Mummies Part II]]" has the Venture crew inexplicably team up with UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}}, UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud, and Creator/EdgarAllanPoe (and a time-duplicated Brock Samson). It's never quite explained how the team-up happened, [[UnInstallment as it is the second part of an episode for which the first part was never made]].
* ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' had these as Jack Spicer's army in a time travel episode: UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun, UsefulNotes/{{Blackbeard}}, most likely UsefulNotes/BillyTheKid or some other famous western villain, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Jack Spicer's first-grade teacher]]. (Don't be fooled, she's the worst of the bunch.)
[[/folder]]
----

* One iteration of the Lethal Legion villain team, enemies of Comicbook/TheAvengers, was composed of history's greatest murderers, given superpowers by hell. They were [[Characters/TheBorgias Lucrezia Borgia]], UsefulNotes/LizzieBorden, UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, and [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Heinrich Himmler]]. Lucrezia was codenamed "Cyana", granted [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation blue skin]], AbsurdlySharpClaws coated with [[PoisonousPerson poison]], and a literal KissOfDeath. Lizzie was codenamed "Axe of Violence", granted light red skin, [[ArtificialLimbs her right hand was replaced by a double-headed axe]], and she carried two other [[AnAxeToGrind double-headed axes used as throwing weapons]]. Josef was codenamed "Coldsteel", becoming a ChromeChampion with a body made of living steel, granting him SuperStrength and SuperToughness. Heinrich was codenamed "Zyklon", granted a PoweredArmor which allowed him to [[JetPack fly]]. He released DeadlyGas from his mask and gauntlets.
* A ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' comic has the JSA fighting what appears to be a band of villains out of history: UsefulNotes/{{Nero}}, Goliath, Captain Kidd, Cesare Borgia, UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan and UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun. It turns out to be one guy (a guard at a wax museum) masquerading as all these figures. However he succeeds in killing the entire male membership of the Society in that issue. [[ComicBookDeath They get better]].

* ''Manga/{{Nobunagun}}'' has the E-Genes, the essence of famous figures ranging from Jack the Ripper to Oda Nobunaga to Mahatma Ghandi extracted at the point of death. Certain people in the present day have inherited these E-Genes and are able to draw out powers based on them (guns for Nobunaga, an axe for Geronimo, gravity control for Isaac Newton, etc.), while also communing with their spirit from time to time.

* The ComicBook/SevenSoldiers of Victory once fought a villain with a time machine who brought forward UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat, UsefulNotes/{{Nero}}, UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan, UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun, and UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte to serve as commanders in his army of conquest.

* The Nexus in ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm'' does this, pretty much literally, but with simulacra of characters from Blizzard's various IPs. Their fighting skills, personalities and such are translated into the Nexus albeit somewhat imperfectly. They have been chosen to fight these battles on behalf of the shadowy rulers of the Nexus: such as the Grave Keeper and the Lady of Thorns. You and your friends can assemble your QuirkyMinibossSquad, to fight with an opponent's similar squad. To make your squad extra quirky, you can summon alternate-universe versions of some characters: which may have very different looks and themed powers, or even different voices. The alternate universes tend to have wacky themes like Professional Wrestling, Christmas, or Robots: meaning even the characters from more GrimDark settings can get silly skins. Other times a character will get a new skin because of AscendedFanon: like Jaina's Dreadlord skin.

Justified in different ways: They could be simulacra, clones, or magically reanimated. Or brought forward in time. Related to HistorysCrimeWave, JuryOfTheDamned and StupidJetpackHitler.

%% Image selected per Image Suggestion thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1452266899092104700
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.

* ''Anime/ReadOrDie'': The I-Jin are all made up of famous figures from the past, most notably Music/LudwigVanBeethoven. They're cloned.

* ''Manga/{{Drifters}}'' has this on [[GreyAndGrayMorality both sides]] in a [[CrapsackWorld crapsack fantasy world]] - the [[SociopathicHero good]] guys summoned there at the verge of death while the [[OmnicidalManiac bad]] guys were those who historically died tragically.
* ''Manga/{{Nobunagun}}'' has the E-Genes, the essence of famous figures ranging from Jack the Ripper to Oda Nobunaga to Mahatma Ghandi extracted at the point of death. Certain people in the present day have inherited these E-Genes and are able to draw out powers based on them (guns for Nobunaga, an axe for Geronimo, gravity control for Isaac Newton, etc.), while also communing with their spirit from time to time.

* The ComicBook/SevenSoldiers of Victory once fought a villain with a time machine who brought forward UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat, UsefulNotes/{{Nero}}, UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan, UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun, and UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte to serve as commanders in his army of conquest.
** He deserves credit for effort, though Nero is perhaps not the most obvious of choices.

* A ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' comic has the JSA fighting what appears to be a band of villains out of history: UsefulNotes/{{Nero}}, Goliath, Captain Kidd, Cesare Borgia, UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan and UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun. It turns out to be one guy (a guard at a wax museum) masquerading as all these figures. However he succeeds in killing the entire male membership of the Society in that issue. [[ComicBookDeath They get better]].
* In ''Knight and Squire'' #3, UsefulNotes/RichardIII is resurrected and he proceeds to resurrect England's other 'bad' kings: [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfNormandy William II]], [[UsefulNotes/KingJohnOfEngland John]], [[UsefulNotes/EdwardTheFirst Edward I]], and UsefulNotes/CharlesI. The monarchs are granted genetically enhanced superpowers and each leads a criminal army to take over a different part of the UK.
* In ''All-Select Comics'' #7, the sorcerer Terdu summons a group of villains from the past, whom he dubs the 'Men of Evil', to battle ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and Bucky. The Men of Evil were Captain Kidd, UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper, Frank and UsefulNotes/JesseJames, Literature/{{Bluebeard}}, Gyp-the-Blood, and three gangsters (names unrevealed) who had died in the electric chair decades earlier.

* This was the gimmick of Creator/MarvelComics villain Immortus. He would summon someone from out of the time stream (usually someone who could work as a suitable contrast to whomever he was fighting at the time) to act as his champions. The FridgeLogic that pops up when he summons Hercules, who's got an ongoing career as a superhero in modern times, got addressed by claiming they aren't ''really'' the historical characters, just duplicates. Also he's just a possible future version of Kang the Conqueror using advanced technology.
* One iteration of the Lethal Legion villain team, enemies of Comicbook/TheAvengers, was composed of history's greatest murderers, given superpowers by hell. They were [[Characters/TheBorgias Lucrezia Borgia]], UsefulNotes/LizzieBorden, UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, and [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Heinrich Himmler]]. Lucrezia was codenamed "Cyana", granted [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation blue skin]], AbsurdlySharpClaws coated with [[PoisonousPerson poison]], and a literal KissOfDeath. Lizzie was codenamed "Axe of Violence", granted light red skin, [[ArtificialLimbs her right hand was replaced by a double-headed axe]], and she carried two other [[AnAxeToGrind double-headed axes used as throwing weapons]]. Josef was codenamed "Coldsteel", becoming a ChromeChampion with a body made of living steel, granting him SuperStrength and SuperToughness. Heinrich was codenamed "Zyklon", granted a PoweredArmor which allowed him to [[JetPack fly]]. He released DeadlyGas from his mask and gauntlets.

* In "Literature/SorcererConjurerWizardWitch", the villain magically animates waxworks from Madame Tussauds' Chamber of Horrors, including Burke and Hare, Dr Crippen, Charlie Peace, George Joseph Smith (the "Brides in the Bath" killer) and -- this being the ''Literature/DiogenesClub'' universe -- [[Literature/TheHoundOfTheBaskervilles Rodger Baskerville]] and Literature/VarneyTheVampire.

* ''Series/RedDwarf'': The episode "Meltdown" features a war between robot duplicates of the greatest and the worst people in history in an abandoned theme park.
* One episode of ''Series/LoisAndClark'' involved clones of Al Capone, as well as Bonnie and Clyde and John Dillinger. They were cloned by a scientist who wanted to prove evil wasn't genetic, and apparently turned out to be wrong.

* In the Gamescience adventure "The Future King", Doc Holliday, UsefulNotes/{{Nostradamus}}, Creator/BruceLee, Harald Hardraada, Owen Glendower and Cyrano de Bergerac are gathered together to find and wake King Arthur.

* If you stretch it a bit, this is basically the concept of the ''VideoGame/WarriorsOrochi'' series -- bringing together legendary warriors from China's Three Kingdoms Period, others from Japan's Warring States Era, and a few guys from mythology for good measure -- just so Orochi can have a decent challenge. Certainly, a teamup of Masamune Date, Lu Bu and [[Literature/JourneyToTheWest Sun Wukong]] invokes the same sort of feeling...

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' when [[HoloDeckMalfunction the Holo-shed malfunctions]] and UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun, UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper, [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Professor Moriarty]], and Evil Lincoln become real and attack Kif and Amy.
* ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' had these as Jack Spicer's army in a time travel episode: UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun, UsefulNotes/{{Blackbeard}}, most likely UsefulNotes/BillyTheKid or some other famous western villain, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Jack Spicer's first-grade teacher]]. (Don't be fooled, she's the worst of the bunch.)

* There's an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'' titled "Creator/LeonardoDaVinci and His Fightin' Genius Time Commandos!", featuring a team of famous inventors, including da Vinci, UsefulNotes/ThomasAlvaEdison, UsefulNotes/JohannGutenberg, George Washington Carver, and the cavewoman who invented the wheel.
* This is the idea behind ''WesternAnimation/CloneHigh'': TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness has cloned many of history's greatest leaders to rule the world somehow.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperGlobetrotters'', the Time Lord assembled "the greatest criminals in history" into a gang.
* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'' had an episode where Johnny brought back several historical figures, including UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun and a caveman, to create the most powerful hockey team.

* ''Series/RedDwarf'': The episode "Meltdown" features a war between the greatest and the worst people in history (technically, robot duplicates thereof, from a now-abandoned theme park).

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Savage Curtain". The Hero team is Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln and Surak of Vulcan. The {{Villain}} team is UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan, the Klingon Kahless, Colonel Green and the MadScientist Zora. Everyone except Kirk and Spock are actually alien rock creatures masquerading as humanoids.

* ''Film/BedknobsAndBroomsticks'' has a variant of this. In order to fight off a German force that secretely landed in England (the story being set in 1940), witch-in-training Eglantine Price uses a magic formula to animate objects in a museum that's somehow filled with war outfits from 11th century Norman mail armors to 18th century red coats, with medieval plate armors in-between. Said animated outfits seem to be inhabited by the spirits of those who once wore them.

* In the ''Literature/DiogenesClub'' story "Sorcerer, Conjurer, Wizard, Witch", the villain magically animates waxworks from Madame Tussauds' Chamber of Horrors, including Burke and Hare, Dr Crippen, Charlie Peace, George Joseph Smith (the "Brides in the Bath" killer) and -- this being the ''Diogenes'' universe -- [[Literature/TheHoundOfTheBaskervilles Rodger Baskerville]] and Literature/VarneyTheVampire.

* The second ''Film/NightAtTheMuseum'' movie features animated statues of UsefulNotes/IvanTheTerrible, UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, and UsefulNotes/AlCapone as henchman to the {{Big Bad}}, an Egyptian King.

* One iteration of the Lethal Legion villain team, enemies of Comicbook/TheAvengers, was composed of history's greatest murderers, given superpowers by hell. They were [[Characters/TheBorgias Lucrezia Borgia]], UsefulNotes/LizzieBorden, UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, and [[Characters/NaziGermany Heinrich Himmler]]. Lucrezia was codenamed "Cyana", granted [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation blue skin]], AbsurdlySharpClaws coated with [[PoisonousPerson poison]], and a literal KissOfDeath. Lizzie was codenamed "Axe of Violence", granted light red skin, [[ArtificialLimbs her right hand was replaced by a double-headed axe]], and she carried two other [[AnAxeToGrind double-headed axes used as throwing weapons]]. Josef was codenamed "Coldsteel", becoming a ChromeChampion with a body made of living steel, granting him SuperStrength and SuperToughness. Heinrich was codenamed "Zyklon", granted a PoweredArmor which allowed him to [[JetPack fly]]. He released DeadlyGas from his mask and gauntlets.

* In ''Knight and Squire'' #3, UsefulNotes/RichardIII is resurrected and he proceeds to resurrect England's other 'bad' kings: [[TheHouseOfNormandy William II]], [[UsefulNotes/KingJohnOfEngland John]], [[UsefulNotes/EdwardTheFirst Edward I]], and UsefulNotes/CharlesI. The monarchs are granted genetically enhanced superpowers and each leads a criminal army to take over a different part of the UK.

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' and its prequel is pretty much the mythological version of this, although some (like Gilles de Rais and UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat) were historical people.

* ''Manga/{{Drifters}}'' has this on [[GreyAndGrayMorality both sides]] at a [[CrapsackWorld crapsack fantasy world]] - the [[SociopathicHero good]] guys summoned there at the verge of death while the [[OmnicidalManiac bad]] guys were those who historically died tragically.

** Dracula keeps the heads of UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat, Creator/GaiusJuliusCaesar, Saladin and a future Martian conqueror to plan his strategies.

[[folder:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

* ''{{Manga/Drifters}}'' has this on [[GreyAndGrayMorality both sides]] at a [[CrapsackWorld crapsack fantasy world]] - the [[SociopathicHero good]] guys summoned there at the verge of death while the [[OmnicidalManiac bad]] guys were those who historically died tragically.

[[folder:ComicBooks]]

* A ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica comic had the JSA fighting what appeared to be a band of villains out of history: UsefulNotes/{{Nero}}, Goliath, Captain Kidd, Cesare Borgia, UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan and UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun. It turned out to be one guy (a guard at a wax museum) masquerading as all these figures. However he succeeds in killing the entire male membership of the Society in that issue. [[ComicBookDeath They get better]].

[[folder:{{Fanfic}}]]
* In ''[[http://dragonblond_04.tripod.com/fanfictions/MotherMayI.htm Mother, May I (Take Over The World)]]'' ({{MSTing}} [[http://cardcaptor_schlueter.tripod.com/Card_Captor_Science_Theater_3000-Episode_19.htm here]]), a [[SoBadItsGood hilariously bad]] FanFic, the world's most evil people - among them UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein, Hitler, [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Pikachu]], and an increasingly bemused Martin Luther King, Jr. - take over the world.
* ''FanFic/XCOMResurrection'' has the [[VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown XCOM Project]] bringing back historical warriors in order to fight aliens. The first squad consists of UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc, UsefulNotes/SimoHayha, UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan, and [[Literature/RagnarLodbrokAndHisSons Ragnar]] [[Series/{{Vikings}} Lothbrok]]. They also get UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla to head up the science department.

[[folder:{{Film}}]]

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]
* ''Literature/TheNightsDawnTrilogy'' features an invasion from TheLegionsOfHell in a SpaceOpera setting… A disproportionatly large portion of whom hail from the 20th century, potentially leading to massive {{Narm}} on the reader's part.
** There were enough people from other eras (past and future) so that (apart from the [[RuleOfFunny multiple Elvises]]) it could plausibly just be a statistical blip. And one of them's [[UsefulNotes/AlCapone Al freakin' Capone]].

* In the ''Literature/DiogenesClub'' story "Sorcerer, Conjurer, Wizard, Witch", the villain magically animates waxworks from Madame Tussauds' Chamber of Horrors, including Burke and Hare, Dr Crippen, Charlie Peace, George Joseph Smith (the "Brides in the Bath" killer) and - this being the ''Diogenes'' universe - [[Literature/TheHoundOfTheBaskervilles Rodger Baskerville]] and Literature/VarneyTheVampire.

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]

[[folder:TabletopRPG]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]
* If you stretch it a bit, this is basically the concept of the ''VideoGame/WarriorsOrochi'' series - bringing together legendary warriors from China's Three Kingdoms Period, others from Japan's Warring States Era, and a few guys from mythology for good measure - just so Orochi can have a decent challenge. Certainly, a teamup of Masamune Date, Lu Bu and [[Literature/JourneyToTheWest Sun Wukong]] invokes the same sort of feeling...

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* Parodied in a ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons: WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror'' short, where UsefulNotes/BillyTheKid leads a gang of historical villains, including the most evil German in history -- Kaiser Wilhelm!
** Another Simpsons example, though this one's just a brief throwaway - when Homer and Mr. Burns are stuck in a cabin together, Homer says he has "power... political power!" and we see a ghostly team of historical figures (including the ActualPacifist UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi) brandishing weapons.

* ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' had these as Jack Spicer's army in a time travel episode: UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun, UsefulNotes/{{Blackbeard}}, most likely UsefulNotes/BillyTheKid or some other famous western villain, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Jack Spicer's first-grade teacher]].
** Don't be fooled. She's the worst of the bunch.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpiderMan1967'' had a bad guy bring wax figures of UsefulNotes/JesseJames, UsefulNotes/{{Blackbeard}}, and an old-timey executioner to life to fight Spider-Man.

* One episode of ''Series/LoisAndClark'' involved clones of Al Capone, as well as Bonnie and Clyde.

* In the ''Literature/DiogenesClub'' story "Sorcerer, Conjurer, Wizard, Witch", the villain magically animates waxworks from Madame Tussauds, including Burke and Hare, Dr Crippen, Charlie Peace, George Joseph Smith (the "Brides in the Bath" killer) and - this being the ''Diogenes'' universe - [[Literature/TheHoundOfTheBaskervilles Rodger Baskerville]] and Literature/VarneyTheVampire.

* In ''ComicBook/RequiemChevalierVampire'' Dracula keeps the heads of UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat, Creator/GaiusJuliusCaesar, Saladin and a future Martian conqueror to plan his strategies.

* In ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' spin-off game ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'', TimeTravel lets an incarnation of Link and Zelda battle alongside heroes (and villains) from the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Era of the Hero of Time]], [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess the Era of Twilight]], and [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword the Era of the Sky]]. The developers have said it's basically ''Zelda'''s version of ''Film/TheAvengers''.

* In ''Knight and Squire'' #3, UsefulNotes/RichardIII is resurrected and he proceeds to resurrect England's other 'bad' kings: [[TheHouseOfNormandy William II]], [[UsefulNotes/KingJohnOfEngland John]], [[UsefulNotes/EdwardTheFirst Edward I]], UsefulNotes/CharlesI, and. The monarchs are granted genetically enhanced superpowers and each leads a criminal army to take over a different part of the UK.