History Main / BattleThralls

* [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores Sneaky Mercs]]: Independent bands of thieves, bandits, mercenaries, and other lowlifes who are more than willing to harm a helpless target but flee at the first sign of danger...[[OnlyInItForTheMoney or when the money runs dry]]. Their role in combat is to act as the surgical knife of the lowlifes, stealing from, sabotaging, assassinating, 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.

* [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores 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.
* [[MechaMooks Dogmatic Drones]]: Robot Mooks, a dogmatic drone army made of faceless robots united under a single leader, who either created them or gave them a purpose. Often in the LawfulEvil territory. They act as a deadlier version of a ZergRush. Unlike grunts, they generally don't have rebellious tendencies. Those that do rebel or otherwise break away from the main contingent are considered "defective".

* Thrall Mages: Wizards, psychics, or other people with supernatural powers who are conscripted or forced into fighting. Because the same powers that make them valuable also make them the most potentially dangerous group here, they're usually controlled through some mix of intense indoctrination and supernatural compulsions (such as {{Magically Binding Contract}}s or [[IKnowYourTrueName their true names]]).

* Taskmasters: The [[DrillSergeantNasty Drill Sergeants Nasties]] of the setting. They're the guys that stand behind all the SlaveMooks and whip them into shape. Although they usually outnumber the Taskmasters, harsh punishments, indoctrination and fear tactics will make sure that the SlaveMooks will rarely rebel against them.

* Barbarian Marauders: Brutish, wild and [[DumbMuscle dumb]]. The Barbarian Marauder is perfectly fine with serving under the new EvilOverlord. He may terrorize the empire's enemies, but he usually fights for little more than his own amusement. Basically, sociopaths pointed in another direction. Their brutality is offset by their simple-mindedness. If their hedonistic needs are not met, they will pick apart your empire bit by bit.
* Engineers of Doom: They are responsible for preparing the empire for war. They rarely take sides in the conflict, only working to make sure the war machine is running. They will only fight the rebels if absolutely necessary. They are often the straight man of the Battle Thralls, being the voice of reason that prevents the Chaotic Evil and Lawful Evil groups from killing each other. If the opportunity is given to rebel, they may offer a token of assistance to the heroes but will usually refrain from directly sabotaging the empire's infrastructure.

* Dogmatic Drones: Robot Mooks, a dogmatic drone army made of faceless robots united under a single leader, who either created them or gave them a purpose. Often in the LawfulEvil territory. They act as a deadlier version of a ZergRush. Unlike grunts, they generally don't have rebellious tendencies. Those that do rebel or otherwise break away from the main contingent are considered "defective".

* ProudWarriorRace: This branch consists of a group of people who believes that might makes right. Because they were beaten in combat, they accept their new leader and will not question his authority. Their new leader is a source of enlightenment, and serving him is their highest honor. However, any who feel their honor has been insulted will gladly [[EnemyMine join with,]] or at least be neutral towards, the rebels. Those who do join LaResistance usually seek to regain their group's lost glory. In battle, they are often both strong warriors and skilled strategists.

* ''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.

** Mandalorian Clone Troopers in the ExpandedUniverse serve as ProudWarriorRaceGuy examples.%%How?

** In ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'', nearly all of the Ethereals' forces are Battle Thralls to some extent, the aftermath of a TechnologyUplift that the Ethereals deemed a failure, leading them to incorporate species after species into their army. The Sectoids are described as a "cruel and cowardly" race and are presumably serving out of fear, while the Thin Men are remarked to be quite loyal to their Ethereal masters. The brutish Mutons fit the "ProudWarriorRace fighting for the strongest side" angle, and some are trusted enough to serve as the Ethereals' bodyguards, while the Floaters have been subjected to UnwillingRobotization for their failures. In fact, [[spoiler:the goal of the entire invasion is to [[INeedYouStronger force humanity to develop its technological and psionic potential]], so the Ethereals can recruit them as their best Battle Thralls yet, in anticipation of facing [[VaguenessIsComing "what lies ahead."]]]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

* ''Anime/CaptainHarlock'': Several of the various {{Alternate Continuit|y}}ies 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.

* ''VideoGame/StarControl'' is the TropeNamer with the Hierarchy of Battle Thralls led by the Ur-Quan Kzer-Za, although you learn more about them in ''VideoGame/StarControlII''.

* ''Literature/CrossTimeEngineer'' 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.

->'''Agamemnon:''' I like your land. I think we’ll stay. I like your soldiers, too.\\
'''Triopas:''' They won’t fight for you.\\
'''Agamemnon:''' That’s what the Messenians said. And the Arcadians. And the Epeians. Now they all fight for me.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Hody Jones's New Fishman Pirates is partially comprised of human slaves fitted with explosive collars. If they do not fight, they are blown up.

* In ''Fanfic/MisalignedGemini'' the Decepticons take over Kaon and conscript many of its gang leaders, gladiators, arms dealers, other criminal syndicates, and civilians into their growing army. Some are eager to join up while others despise the new regime but have no choice but to fight for the faction that took over the city. [[spoiler:They also forcefully recruit any civilian that works in their Headquarters. The civilians' choices are to accept a Decepticon symbol, accept a slave brand, or die. Any who are given the slave brand but then chooses to become a Decepticon becomes an EnslavedGrunt as punishment for not joining up sooner.]]

* A good guy variation occurs in [[Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo 1636: The Saxon Uprising]]. General Mike Stearns led his army against the primarily mercenary army of John Baner and routed them completely. Stearns then offered the survivors a chance to volunteer to join his army, with those not volunteering being put to work cleaning up after the battle. Stearn's army welcomed the volunteers because it proved the rightness of their cause and the high respect earned by their army: even people who fought against them recognized their status. This actually increased the size of his army after a battle, which was unheard of in those times.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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. They seem like [[HumansAreWarriors proud warrior race guys]], but they attribute their own repeated successes to their discipline as [[SoldierVsWarrior soldiers]].

* In the ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' 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, and since the numerically few Eldar can definitely make use of a large number of expendable aliens willing to eagerly throw themselves at their enemies. 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 or to human-looking Necron infiltrators (which feature heavily in the book).

* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' this is generally how the Dominion works. The Founders are the head of government and instruct the Vorta (the only solid race they actually trust) to perform diplomatic and administrative tasks. Vorta in turn are given control over the Jem'Hadar, shock troops who are less diplomatic about enforcing the Founder's will. Both are fanatically loyal and see their service to the founders as their greatest duty (they see them as gods). Interesting, most races view the Jem'Hadar as more trustworthy as they have a code of honor, and the Vorta as scheming and superficially respectful. Within the Dominion itself, most clients don't know anything about the leadership of the Dominion beyond that the Vorta are the deal makers and the Jem'Hadar enforce the deal.

* In the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' Dark Sun setting, Enslaved Grunts come in both slave soldiers and gladiator varieties.

* ''TabletopGame/TheUnofficialHollowKnightRPG'': The Lord of Dust has a habit of taking a single species from each kingdom he conquers, using the influence of [[BlackMagic Dust Magic]] to make them just as twisted and evil as he is. The [[ScaryScorpions scorpions]] are the sole exception to this, as they ''chose'' to serve him.

** The Cicadas were enslaved by the Lord of Dust for their hibernation, as it meant that they could sustain themselves without food for the long spans between invasions.
** Though they have not been added to his ranks yet, the Lord of Dust has his eyes set on enslaving the [[AmicableAnts ants]] as a force of diligent and loyal workers to support his army.

* In ''Franchise/DragonAge'', the [[AntiMagicalFaction 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 ''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).
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'''s Covenant has most of these, with the Prophets in charge:

** ProudWarriorRaceGuy: The Thraddash. Possibly overlaps with the Barbarian Marauders (they're proud, but also dumb as bricks and unapologetically violent to a fault). The Yehat in ''Star Control II'' are a more straight example; being classic Proud Warrior Race Guys who serve the Ur-Quan Kzer-Za willingly under orders from their Veep-Neep Queen; in the first game, the Yehat were part of TheAlliance of the Free Stars.

** 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.

* 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 went after the West. After a convoluted series of events that included the sister of the Emperor writing Attila for rescue, and possibly sending him an offer of betrothal to get out of marrying a Roman senator, Attila invaded what remained of the West. He lost at the Battle of Catalunian Plains, facing off against a force of Romans and Germans (but mostly Germans, for reasons that will become clear). Both the West and the East had long resorted to recruiting barbarians, usually from Germania and Dacia, for the bulk of their forces. This was because a century-long civil war had just recently bankrupted the Empire, which was only held together by sheer force of will by Emperor Aurelian, and later divided by Diocletian. The wars, the banditry, the barbarian invasions, and the ever-increasing pay of the legions caused an unsustainably high rate of inflation that ruined Rome's economy. The Empire also had a vast and expensive series of border fortifications that rarely saw use, so one way for the Romans to save some money was to pay the Germans to man the border fortifications. You know, [[IdiotBall the fortifications that were built to keep out the Germans.]]

* The reason why the Mongols could show up in great numbers and plow through Muslim and Christian nations ([[Creator/MontyPython nobody expected the Mongol horde!]]) is because they made battle thralls out of every tribe they conquered along the way. And it was a long, ''long'' way.
* The British Empire was largely built on DefeatMeansFriendship, with the Scots, Sikhs and Gurkhas among their most elite troops.

* Taskmasters: The [[DrillSergeantNasty Drill Sergeants Nasties]] of the setting. They're the guys that stand behind all the SlaveMooks and whip them into shape. Though they usually outnumber the Taskmasters, harsh punishments, indoctrination and fear tactics will make sure that the SlaveMooks will rarely rebel against them.

* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: This branch consists of a group of people who believes that might makes right. Because they were beaten in combat, they accept their new leader and will not question his authority. Their new leader is a source of enlightenment, and serving him is their highest honor. However, any who feel their honor has been insulted will gladly [[EnemyMine join with,]] or at least be neutral towards, the rebels. Those who do join LaResistance usually seek to regain their group's lost glory. In battle, they are often both strong warriors and skilled strategists.

** In ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'', nearly all of the Ethereals' forces are Battle Thralls to some extent, the aftermath of a TechnologyUplift that the Ethereals deemed a failure, leading them to incorporate species after species into their army. The Sectoids are described as a "cruel and cowardly" race and are presumably serving out of fear, while the Thin Men are remarked to be quite loyal to their Ethereal masters. The brutish Mutons fit the "ProudWarriorRace fighting for the strongest side" angle, and some are trusted enough to serve as the Ethereals' bodyguards, while the Floaters have been subjected to UnwillingRobotization for their failues. In fact, [[spoiler:the goal of the entire invasion is to [[INeedYouStronger force humanity to develop its technological and psionic potential]], so the Ethereals can recruit them as their best Battle Thralls yet, in anticipation of facing [[VaguenessIsComing "what lies ahead."]]]]

** Rome did it for centuries: for their neighbouring Germans, serving in the Roman army was a way to get honour (as they knew that [[TrainingFromHell surviving the training meant you were a badass]]) and improving living conditions for themselves and their families upon discharge (they were allowed to settle inside the borders and got citizenship for themselves and their children). The difference was ''how'' it was done: for most of the time, the barbarians were split up and sent to serve inside units raised from fully Romanized populations, thus isolating potential troublemakers and expose them to Roman values until they adopted them. Sadly a series of civil wars and a major military campaign after emperor Valentinian III's death ended up depleting the Western army, with general Ricimer (commander in chief of the army and, by then, the real power behind the throne) opting to not have the veterans train new recruits raised from inside the empire but to have barbarian tribes replace the destroyed armies. As soon as that was done, Rome lost Spain, Africa and Gaul to the barbarians for good, and the empire in Italy would soon fall to the barbarians in the army deciding they're better off without an emperor.

* 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, harsh punishments, indoctrination and fear tactics will make sure that the SlaveMooks will rarely rebel against them.

** The German army had a number of volunteers from various countries that were defeated and occupied by them, [[GotColunteered some of which weren't actually volunteers]]. For more on them, see the "Foreign Help" section in UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons.

** The German army had a number of volunteers from various countries that were defeated and occupied by them. For more on them, see the "Foreign Help" section in UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons.

You are an EvilOverlord who has just conquered another place, crushed the puny [[LaResistance resistance]], set up the proper [[ReignOfTerror measures to keep people in line]] and are ready to spill more blood for the blood god. Instead of simply annihilating the conquered enemy's armed forces, you have a much more efficient solution: add them to your own army. LesCollaborateurs may serve as the sergeant to this new army, but often it is headed by a [[FantasticRacism Fantastic Racist]] who will rarely show much mercy for this battalion.

* Barbarian Marauders: Brutish, wild and dumb. The Barbarian Marauder is perfectly fine with serving under the new EvilOverlord. He may terrorize the empire's enemies, but he usually fights for little more than his own amusement. Basically, sociopaths pointed in another direction. Their brutality is offset by their simple-mindedness. If their hedonistic needs are not met, they will pick apart your empire bit by bit.

** This practice would endure up into more modern times. There's even a term for it: pressganged. Often, crews on civilian vessels or on shore leave would be abducted by navies and forced to serve about ships. After all, once they've got you out on a ship, you have no where else to go, so you may as well get to work.
** For most of European History Galley Slaves were actually the exception not the norm. At least on warships. Rowing is hard work, that, especially with large war galleys, needs good coordination and a well fed individual. On top of that, the last thing you need, when facing down the Persians is a bunch of Galley Slaves revolting. So for the most time Rowers where actually free men, and trained professionals. Of course there where the occasional slaves, but this only really started becoming the norm during the late medieval and early renaissance period.

* 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.

* 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 he went after the West. After a convoluted series of events that included the sister of the Emperor writing Attila for rescue, and possibly sending him an offer of betrothal to get out of marrying a Roman senator, Attila invaded what remained of the West. He lost at the Battle of Catalunian Plains, facing off against a force of Romans and Germans (but mostly Germans, for reasons that will become clear). Both the West and the East had long resorted to recruiting barbarians, usually from Germania and Dacia, for the bulk of their forces. This was because a century-long civil war had just recently bankrupted the Empire, which was only held together by sheer force of will by Emperor Aurelian, and later divided by Diocletian. The wars, the banditry, the barbarian invasions, and the ever-increasing pay of the legions caused an unsustainably high rate of inflation that ruined Rome's economy. The Empire also had a vast and expensive series of border fortifications that rarely saw use, so one way for the Romans to save some money was to pay the Germans to man the border fortifications. You know, [[IdiotBall the fortifications that were built to keep out the Germans.]]

* 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 he went after the West. After a convoluted series of events that included the sister of the Emperor writing Attila for rescue, and possibly sending him an offer of betrothal to get out of marrying a Roman senator, Attila invaded what remained of the West. He lost at the Battle of Catalunian Plains, facing off against a force of Romans and Germans (but mostly Germans, for reasons that will become clear) Both the West and the East had long resorted to recruiting barbarians, usually from Germania and Dacia, for the bulk of their forces. This was because a century-long civil war had just recently bankrupted the Empire, which was only held together by sheer force of will by Emperor Aurelian, and later divided by Diocletian. The wars, the banditry, the barbarian invasions, and the ever-increasing pay of the legions caused an unsustainably high rate of inflation that ruined Rome's economy. The Empire also had a vast and expensive series of border fortifications that rarely saw use, so one way for the Romans to save some money was to pay the Germans to man the border fortifications. You know, [[IdiotBall the fortifications that were built to keep out the Germans.]]