History Main / BattleThralls

** The German army used conscripts from some areas that were conquered and annexed by UsefulNotes/NaziGermany during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, such as [[UsefulNotes/DepartementalIssues Alsace and Moselle]] (taken from UsefulNotes/{{France}}), Germanophone parts of UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}} and UsefulNotes/{{Luxembourg}}, very much against said people's will. For more on them, see the "Foreign-born Conscripts" section in UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons.

* The German army used conscripts from some areas that were conquered and annexed by UsefulNotes/NaziGermany during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, such as [[UsefulNotes/DepartementalIssues Alsace and Moselle]] (taken from UsefulNotes/{{France}}), Germanophone parts of UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}} and UsefulNotes/{{Luxembourg}}, against said people's will. For more on them, see the "Foreign-born Conscripts" section in UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons.

* The German army used conscripts from some areas that were conquered and annexed by UsefulNotes/NaziGermany during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, such as [[UsefulNotes/DepartementalIssues Alsace and Moselle]] (taken from UsefulNotes/{{France}}) and UsefulNotes/{{Luxembourg}}, against said people's will. For more on them, see the "Foreign-born Conscripts" section in UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons.

* In ''Franchise/DragonAge'', the Qunari started using their mages, whom they call "Saarebas" or "dangerous things", as slaves soldier after it becomes apparent that they can't ignore the advantages that magic brings to the battlefield. They are chained up like animals and are kept on a leash with special control rods.

* In ''Franchise/DragonAge'', the Qunari give their mages, whom they call "Saarebas" or "dangerous thing", this treatment after it becomes apparent that they can't ignore the advantages that magic brings to the battlefield. They are chained up like animals and are kept on a leash with special control rods.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': The [[TheEmpire Seanchan]] capture and [[SuperHumanTrafficking enslave female magic-users]] with enchanted leashes that [[MindControl enforce obedience]] and use them in combat. They [[FantasticRacism consider them]] more like {{Attack Animal}}s than this trope.

** An army of Enslaved Grunts pops up late in the show, [[spoiler:controlled by Emperor Lelouch's Geass as part of a deliberate play at ZeroPercentApprovalRating right before pulling a SilentScapegoat]].

* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'' Lloyd, "the earl of pudding" is an Engineer of Doom. Actually he is only interested in machines and doesn't really care much about humans.
** An army of Enslaved Grunts pops up late in ''Anime/CodeGeass'', [[spoiler:controlled by Emperor Lelouch's Geass as part of a deliberate play at ZeroPercentApprovalRating right before pulling a SilentScapegoat.]]
* Several of the various [[AlternateContinuity Alternate Continuities]] of ''Anime/CaptainHarlock'' have the {{Big Bad}}s employ conquered races in their forces; Harlock himself is sometimes [[DefectorFromDecadence turning his back on]] [[VichyEarth a homeworld all too eager to join the ranks of the Battle Thralls that helped conquer it]]. Most of the other Thralls in the franchise are mixes of Enslaved Grunts and Proud Warrior Race Guys.

* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Mandalorian Clone Troopers in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' ExpandedUniverse. (Some Clone Troopers who valued their roots then to the Republic and later the Empire).
* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' background book ''Xenology'', the Ethereals are hinted to have turned the Tau into Battle Thralls for the Eldar since their innate warp resistance meant they can't be controlled by Chaos nor be wary of being manipulated by the Eldar. The source was poetic and symbolic, spread over sources from two races on opposite sides of the galaxy; the interpretation of the text as referring to the Eldar was in-universe and it could equally apply to the Dark Eldar and human-looking Necron infiltrators (which feature heavily in the book.)

* The [[TheEmpire Seanchan]] in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' capture and [[SuperHumanTrafficking enslave female magic-users]] with [[AuthorAppeal enchanted leashes]] that [[MindControl enforce obedience]] and use them in combat. They [[FantasticRacism consider them]] more like {{Attack Animal}}s than this trope.

* In the Cross-Time Engineer series by Creator/LeoFrankowski, the Polish gunboats with SteamPunk weaponry are massacring the Mongol invaders trying to cross the river Vistula, but they just keep coming. The Poles assume the Mongols are NotAfraidToDie, as a Mongol ambassador ordered several of his men to cut their own throats just to prove this point. What they don't know is that the enemy commanders are using Polish prisoners and soldiers from nations they've already conquered as CannonFodder.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''Series/FallingSkies'': In season 4 the Espheni started a new program in converting human children into soldiers, by placing them in reeducation camps and convert them into Espheni. Later they created a new weapon which slowly converts humans into Espheni.

* Clan Warriors in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' are {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s who are expected to, if captured in battle, serve their captors as bondsmen and women. Often they are made Warriors of their capturing Clan and this practice enables Clans to add new genes and Bloodnames to their gene pools. This caused some confusion when they invaded the Inner Sphere, whose major powers typically return prisoners of war to their home nations at the soonest possible convenience.

** The Chaos Dwarfs use orcs and goblins in this role, since they don't have enough Dwarfs to fill out their army, with [[LesCollaborateurs hobgoblins]] serving as Taskmasters.

* The Abyssal Dwarfs in ''TabletopGame/KingsOfWar'' use orc slaves and demonic gargoyles to boost their numbers.

** Enslaved Grunts: The Spathi, a race of cephalopod cowards. The Mycon might also apply here, in the "living bomb" sense - they joined the Ur-Quan Slave Empire in order to gain new worlds to terraform by burying their children into its crust.
*** In general, Kzer-Za policy limits the slave part of it -- a race becoming Battle Thralls is supposed to be a choice ''by that race'' (with the alternative being Slave Shielding), but the choice is final... even if an Umgah practical joke made you think you were choosing to be Slave Shielded.

* ''VideoGame/TotalWar''

* Yuber from ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' is a mix of Barbarian Marauder (he destroyed a whole village because he was bored while waiting), Enslaved Grunt (he can be summoned and will work for the ones responsible for doing so.. at least until he's in danger) and Sneaky Merc (he actively seeks, craves and creates chaos and participates in most wars. However once he feels that he is in danger he will flee, usually by teleporting, and abandon the squad he was commanding and the battle he was fighting).
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'''s Covenant has most of these, with the Prophets in charge:
** The Elites (Sangheili) are the Proud Warrior Race Guys, of course. The Brutes (Jiralhanae) are the Barbarian Marauders. The Grunts (Unggoy) are, well, the Enslaved Grunts. The Jackals (Kig-Yar) are the Sneaky Mercs. The Drones (Yanme'e) are, you guessed it, the Dogmatic Drones (though an organic insectoid form of such). And the Engineers (Huragok) are, naturally, the Engineers of Doom.
* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'': the battle thralls make up a significant part of TheEmpire's military might. Some of them even rise to become the Imperial nobles' right-hand men, such as Radi Jaeger.
** Darcssen finds a special niche amongst Europan battle thralls: as engineers of doom. Just look at the [[VideoGame/ValkyriaChroniclesIII Calamity Raven]] and their advanced death-machines. Heck, even ''[[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth Isara]]'' technically is one: without adoption by the Welkins or her inventions, she would never be considered a full-fledged citizen of Gallia.
* In ''Franchise/DragonAge'', the Qunari give their mages, whom they call "Saarebas" or "dangerous thing", this treatment after it becomes apparent that they can't ignore the advantages that magic brings to the battlefield. They are chained up like animals and are kept on a leash with special control rods.
* Both ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' and ''VideoGame/TheBureauXCOMDeclassified'' feature the main aliens (the Etherials and the Zudjari/Outsiders, respectively) using several other alien races that have previously been conquered by them. The final ''EU'' mission has the BigBad give you a bit of background on each alien race, claiming they have been conquered and turned into loyal soldiers ([[spoiler:by virtue of implants and mind control]]). ''The Bureau'' only really features two conquered alien races being used in combat. The Sectoids are clearly wearing some sort of control collar, and all aliens appear to be jacked into [[HiveMind Mosaic]]. One cutscene has an Outsider playfully administer a PsychicAssistedSuicide on a Sectoid. Also notable that the two battle thrall races in ''The Bureau'' (Sectoids and Mutons) appear to be nearly identical to their ''EU'' versions, at least physically, although the ''EU'' Sectoids are all clones. In fact, [[spoiler:the goal of both BigBad races is to turn humanity into their most promising BattleThralls yet]]. Or turn humanity into BigBad clones/spare bodies.

* In ''VideoGame/GemsOfWar'', one of the troops associated with Darkstone is the Thrall; they're presumably not happy to be fighting, and their special move actually hurts them (in addition to other effects).
* ''Videogame/{{Stellaris}}'':
** If your empire allows slavery, you can conscript your slaves into Slave Armies, which generally work best when under the watchful eyes of [[ThePoliticalOfficer Comissars]] serving as the Taskmasters.
*** The "Utopia" DLC has Battle Thralls as a specific type of slave that are more effective as soldiers but lack the normal resource production bonus other slaves have. However, they are less unhappy than other slaves and can fill Specialist and Ruler-tier jobs, meaning that their overlord doesn’t have to import administrators and enforcers of their own species.
** You can also use 'vassalage' as a peace demand in your wars, which means you can build up an empire of Battle Thralls who you invaded and who very possibly loathe you but nevertheless send fleets to support your future war efforts. The achievement for subjugating three empires in this way is even called 'Battle Thralls.'

*** The "Utopia" DLC has Battle Thralls as a specific type of slavery that reduces their food and mineral production (the usual benefit of slaves), but they're more content with their lot in life than other types of slave.

* [[AnArmyOfThievesAndWhores Sneaky Mercs]]: Thieves, bandits and other lowlifes who are more than willing to harm a helpless target but flee at the first sign of danger. Their role in combat is to act as the surgical knife of the lowlifes, stealing from, sabotaging, or terrorizing their enemies. They may boast about the fact that the empire has allowed lowlifes such as themselves to live instead of executing them.

* Sneaky Mercs: Thieves, bandits and other lowlifes who are more than willing to harm a helpless target but flee at the first sign of danger. Their role in combat is to act as the surgical knife of the lowlifes, stealing from, sabotaging, or terrorizing their enemies. They may boast about the fact that the empire has allowed lowlifes such as themselves to live instead of executing them.

* Near the end of its reign, Rome, the classic VestigialEmpire, was hiring a lot of barbarians, because its own army was depleted. They even hired the Huns at one point to take down the Burgundians. The Huns quickly figured out there was a lot more gold where their paycheck came from, and spent several years shaking down the Eastern Roman Empire, who had fairly unprofessional soldiers. Then UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun got cocky and took on the West. The West had trained soldiers and every BarbarianTribe that Attila had ever wronged on their side. Not surprisingly, Rome won, and Attila died on his wedding night (not of a nosebleed as is commonly thought; his heavy drinking caused a hemorrhage in his esophagus, and killed him with a combination of choking on his own blood and shock) Now here's where Rome made a huge mistake: it let its Western army slack off, and discriminated heavily on the barbarians. Then, the barbarians all teamed up to form TheHorde and carried out what is still considered to be the greatest ever RapePillageAndBurn ever conducted. The raid was so devastating that not only were barbarians all over Europe able to reclaim their land while the Romans just stood there [[WatchingTroyBurn staring at the bonfire they used to call 'home']], but they actually destroyed 400 years worth of technology. DarkAgeEurope ensued.

[[/folder]]

* In ''Literature/RanksOfBronze'' the Galactic Federation allows trade guilds to start wars to secure predatory trade deals with low-tech planets, but they can't use weapons more advanced than those of the natives. So one guild obtains an enslaved Roman legion and makes them fight for them.

* The [[TheEmpire Seanchan]] in ''Literature/WheelOfTime'' capture and [[SuperHumanTrafficking enslave female magic-users]] with [[AuthorAppeal enchanted leashes]] that [[MindControl enforce obedience]] and use them in combat. They [[FantasticRacism consider them]] more like {{Attack Animal}}s than this trope.

* ''WarhammerFantasy'':

* Yuber from ''{{Suikoden}}'' is a mix of Barbarian Marauder (he destroyed a whole village because he was bored while waiting), Enslaved Grunt (he can be summoned and will work for the ones responsible for doing so.. at least until he's in danger) and Sneaky Merc (he actively seeks, craves and creates chaos and participates in most wars. However once he feels that he is in danger he will flee, usually by teleporting, and abandon the squad he was commanding and the battle he was fighting).

** The new Band of the Hawk pulls a reversal on them: Kushan soldiers defeated but not killed by them are thrown on the front lines in a similar manner. However, those that manage to survive three battles are offered the chance to swear their loyalty to Griffith and, if they do so, become full members of the Band of the Hawk.

* In the ''Literature/BelisariusSeries'' the Rajputs and Kushans are ProudWarriorRace guys; both of them defected though the Kushans defected earlier (the Rajputs had to be left so that Belisarius would have someone decent to fight through most of the plot). These two are more {{Worthy Opponent}}s than the rather grim jackboots described above; the Rajputs are aristocratic warriors and the Kushans tough professionals, not totally unlike Romans. Their skill at siegecraft makes them Engineers of Doom as well as a ProudWarriorRace The Ye-tai are barbarian marauders; while brave enough, they tend to be uses as taskmasters, driving the conscripted peasant grunts whose main purpose seems to be to get killed one way or another. The sneaky mooks appear as well in the form of assassins which range from street thugs to ninja-like {{Badass}} [[StealthExpert Stealth Experts]]. Interestingly, the last are what Link seems to trust must.

** The Elites (Sangheili) are the Proud Warrior Race Guys, of course. The Brutes (Jiralhanae) are the Barbarian Marauders. The Grunts (Unggoy) are, well, the Enslaved Grunts. The Jackals (Kig-Yar) are the Sneaky Mercs. The Drones (Yanme'e) are, you guessed it, the Dogmatic Drones. And the Engineers (Huragok) are, naturally, the Engineers of Doom.

* ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}'''s Covenant has most of these, with the Prophets in charge:
** The Elites (Sangheili) are the Proud Warrior Race Guys, of course. The Brutes (Jiralhanae) are the Barbarian Marauders. The Grunts (Unggoy) are, well, the Enslaved Grunts. The Jackals (Kig-Yar) are the Sneaky Mercs. The Drones (Yan-Me) are, you guessed it, the Dogmatic Drones. And the Engineers (Huragok) are, naturally, the Engineers of Doom.

* ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato2199'' uses this trope to perform a CerebusRetcon of how the original changed the skin color of the Gamilas (Gamilons for ''Star Blazers'') after the [[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil first few enemy commanders were defeated]]; the new version has members of other conquered species serving in the Gamilas military.

* Taskmasters: [[DrillSergeantNasty Drill Sergeants Nasty]] UpToEleven. They're the guys that stand behind all the SlaveMooks and whip them into shape. Though they usually outnumber the taskmasters, the SlaveMooks will rarely rebel against them.

* ''Videogame/{{Stellaris}}'' allows you to use 'vassalage' as a peace demand in your wars, which means you can build up an empire of Battle Thralls who you invaded and who very possibly loathe you but nevertheless send fleets to support your future war efforts. The achievement for subjugating three empires in this way is even called 'Battle Thralls.'