History Main / MookCarryover

* In ''Series/{{Stargate SG-1}}'', it's normal for a Goa'uld to take over a fallen Goa'uld's troops (even if ''he'' killed the former owner of the army. The soldiers see the Goa'uld as gods, and so wouldn't rebel against ''any'' of them.) Apophis shows up with Sokar's "Red Guard" as well as his usual Serpent Guard after he makes the rival who'd captured him pay for [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim not just shooting him]], and Hathor's second appearance has some of Apophis' Serpent Guards along with the Horus Guards you'd expect her to have. (She's known to use {{Brainwashing}}, though.)

* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' had the Enforcers; Finn, Ratso, and Chow (and sometimes Hak Foo), who were always brought in by the current seasons big bad. Valmont, Shendu (possessing Valmont), Daolon Wong, Tarakudo, and finally Shendu's son Drago. The latter [[AvertedTrope averts it however]], by firing them not long after.

* Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick: Tarquin and Malack are the general and high priest of the empire of blood. If and when their ruler is killed, they'll just go to work for the next one as their skills are valued. This keeps them employed, and Tarquin out of the spotlight, as if he were officially in charge he'd have more people after his head. The arrangement as it stands allows him to manipulate behind the scenes, and the more conquests happen, the more of the land he manipulates.

* Webcomic/OrderOfTheStick: Tarquin and Malack are the general and high priest of the empire of blood. If and when their ruler is killed, they'll just go to work for the next one as their skills are valued. This keeps them employed, and Tarquin out of the spotlight, as if he were officially in charge he'd have more people after his head. The arrangement as it stands allows him to manipulate behind the scenes, and the more conquests happen, the more of the land he manipulates.

** This is actually a pretty common trope in the Mario series. Oftentimes you'll notice SuperMarioBros mainstay mooks working for BigBads that have deposed Bowser as the game's antagonist. In a variation, they may just be [[UndergroundMonkey different versions]] of these same enemies themed for the new antagonist in question.

* Lobo, the hulking henchman played by Tor Johnson in ''BrideOfTheMonster'' shows up again under a different Big Bad in ''Night Of The Ghouls'', heavily scarred and apparently undead.

* Not a exactly a textbook example, but when [[WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime Airachnid]] was put in stasis, Megatron and the Decepticons were quick to appropriate her [[TheJuggernaut Insecticon]] hive for their own use.

* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' had the Enforcers; Finn, Ratso, and Chow, who were always brought in by the current seasons big bad. Valmont, Shendu (possessing Valmont), Daolon Wong, Tarakudo, and finally Shendu's son Drago. The latter [[AvertedTrope averts it however]], by firing them not long after.

* ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' had Lord Zedd usurp Rita Repulsa as the series villain, but he kept all of Rita's old henchmen under his employ. He even upgraded the Putties to be [[EliteMooks tougher]], provided nobody hit the [[WeaksauceWeakness obvious emblem target]] [[ForMassiveDamage on their chests.]]

[[BigBad Big bads]] die. That is a fact of a story......[[TheBadGuyWins most]] [[DownerEnding of]] [[YankTheDogsChain the]] [[InvincibleVillain time.]] That being said, when the BigBad dies too early in the story's narrative, when due to the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil, a KlingonPromotion, or being on the wrong end of EvilerThanThou, it quite expected that a new guy will somehow take his place, usually with his own {{Mooks}} to do his dirty work.

Except sometimes not.

MookCarryover is when Mooks of the previous BigBad (TheDragon, TheEvilGenius, TheDarkChick, or just the GoldFishPoopGang) end up working for the new guy. How they managed to avoid death by either the hand of TheHero or their new boss varies: [[TheStarscream they may have betrayed their own boss,]] [[NotQuiteDead or were only mostly killed by the hero, and pitched their resume to the new guy.]] [[TheMole Or they may have been always working for the new blood, and just pretending to be loyal to the other one.]] Whatever the case, they are a familiar face among a bunch of new villains. This trope can be considered the Inversion of ReplacementMooks.

Whether they are still effective or not depends on which they [[VillainForgotToLevelGrind remembered to keep their skills sharp,]] [[JokeCharacter assuming they were very skilled in the first place.]]

!!Examples

[[folder: {{Comics}}]]
* The mooks of the ''{{Thunderbolts}}'' are just guys in cool armor with guns. When Swordsman bribes/hires a bunch of them for himself, while staging a coup against Norman Osborn, he spraypaints them in his colors. They don't last long, but they are mooks who get a palette swap and a new boss.

[[folder: {{Film}}]]
* Jaws somehow survives being dropped into a shark tank in the middle of the ocean at the end of ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe''. When the original [[TheDragon Dragon]] is killed in ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'', Jaws is hired as his replacement.

* Lobo, the hulking henchman played by Tor Johnson in ''BrideOfTheMonster'' shows up again under a different Big Bad in ''Night Of The Ghouls'', heavily scarred and apparently undead.
* Throughout the course of ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', many of the mobsters goons turn to TheJoker (after some "auditions").
* ''Franchise/StarWars'' has an interesting one. The clones were created by the Jedi, and they continued to serve the [[strike: Republic]] Empire, and one Jedi in particular. Also, pretty much all the Imperials in the ExpandedUniverse who don't fall under DefectorFromDecadence.

[[folder: {{Literature}}]]

* In ''{{Mistborn}}'', after [[spoiler: [[EvilOverlord the Lord Ruler's]]]] death, many of his most powerful minions, notably [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Koloss]] and [[ImplacableMan Inquisitors]], start working for new BigBad [[spoiler: Ruin]]. Justified in this case because the Lord Ruler created these beings and built a psychic "back door" into them so that he could always control them; with him out of the way, the far more powerful [[spoiler: Ruin]] was equally capable of exploiting said "door". His human minions are a much more mixed bag, with some joining the heroes and others various BigBadWannabe kings.
* Across Creator/JRRTolkien's Middle-Earth, many of the same creatures that once served [[{{Satan}} Morgoth]] transferred their loyalty to [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Sauron]] when he took over as BigBad. In this case, that would be because Sauron was TheDragon to Morgoth, so most of these minions would have been used to taking orders from him anyway.

[[folder: LiveActionTV]]
* ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' had Lord Zedd usurp Rita Repulsa as the series villain, but he kept all of Rita's old henchmen under his employ. He even upgraded the Putties to be [[EliteMooks tougher]], provided nobody hit the [[WeaksauceWeakness obvious emblem target]] [[ForMassiveDamage on their chests.]]

* At the end of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' Season 1, she kills TheMaster, but the Annointed One is still around to be the BigBad of Season 2 -- except early in Season 2, Spike comes along and kills ''him'', taking over his operation.
* Officer Braca (later Lieutenant) in ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' was second-in-command to most of the series' big bads, in order. He just kept trading up.
* ''Series/TwentyFour'' after Erwich is killed by his superior, his remaining goons turn to him.
* In ''Series/StargateSG1'', it's normal for a Goa'uld to take over a fallen Goa'uld's troops (even if ''he'' killed the former owner of the army. The soldiers see the Goa'uld as gods, and so wouldn't rebel against ''any'' of them.) Apophis shows up with Sokar's "Red Guard" as well as his usual Serpent Guard after he makes the rival who'd captured him pay for [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim not just shooting him]], and Hathor's second appearance has some of Apophis' Serpent Guards along with the Horus Guards you'd expect her to have. (She's known to use {{Brainwashing}}, though.)

[[folder: VideoGames]]
* ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheUnwoundFuture'' has the "worked for the true villain" kind.
* Revolver Ocelot. Throughout the first three games (''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater''), he is working for the BigBad as TheDragon. And at the end, he reveals that he was really working for someone else (and the Third game is a {{Prequel}}, so he's be at this for a while. This changes in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', where he finally decides it's time to be the big bad himself. [[GoodAllAlong Except he's not.]] It's complicated because it's Ocelot.
* ''EpicBattleFantasy'' has mooks from the first two games appear in the third game as Akron's mooks.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}'' you're invoking this trope by taking control of the previous Overlord's tower and minions. [[spoiler: The final level sees him turn up to reclaim them, forcing you to regain their loyalty the old fashioned way.]] In fact there have been a whole chain of Overlords over the years, but they all use the same sort of Minions and even a couple of the same individuals
* ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' and its SNES sequels has passed the BigBad baton from Belger's Mad Gear Gang (the first game) to an international subsidiary of Mad Gear run by Belger's (previously unknown) [[TheDragon Dragon]] Retu (2) to Black and his Skull Cross Gang (3). Regardless of the main villain, [[GiantMook the Andore family]] is always under the employment of these gangs, and as such, are the only recurring enemies throughout the series.
* In ''DigitalDevilSaga'', Bat is originally a mook working for a Tribe you are fighting to defeat in order to form an alliance with them, but then later joins another Tribe and then kinda sort of does his own thing (becoming a Big Bad in his own right).

[[folder: WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' had the Enforcers; Finn, Ratso, and Chow, who were always brought in by the current seasons big bad. Valmont, Shendu (possessing Valmont), Daolon Wong, Tarakudo, and finally Shendu's son Drago. The latter [[AvertedTrope averts it however]], by firing them not long after.

** For a more villainous example, a number of Phobos' named minions decide to form a group called [[AvengingTheVillain the Knights of Vengeance]] under the guidance of new BigBad Nerissa. She continues to use them until she's powerful enough to create a QuirkyMinibossSquad that's entirely her own.

* Throughout the course of ''Film/TheDarkKnightSaga'', many of the mobsters goons turn to TheJoker (after some "auditions").

* In ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'', Bat is originally a mook working for a Tribe you are fighting to defeat in order to form an alliance with them, but then later joins another Tribe and then kinda sort of does his own thing (becoming a Big Bad in his own right).

* ''Star Wars: ComicBook/Legacy'', when Darth Krayt dies, the entire Sith Empire works for Darth Wyyrlok for a while.

* ''StarWarsLegacy'', when Darth Krayt dies, the entire Sith Empire works for Darth Wyyrlok for a while.
* [[SinCity Manute]] goes to work for Wallenquist after Ava Lord's death.

* Throughout the course of the ''DarkKnight'', many of the mobsters goons turn to the joker (after some "auditions").
* ''StarWars'' has an interesting one. The clones were created by the Jedi, and they continued to serve the [[strike: Republic]] Empire, and one Jedi in particular. Also, pretty much all the Imperials in the ExpandedUniverse who don't fall under DefectorFromDecadence.
* In ''Film/XMenFirstClass', Magneto inherits Sebastian Shaw's henchmen after his FaceHeelTurn.

* Across JRRTolkien's Middle-Earth, many of the same creatures that once served [[{{Satan}} Morgoth]] transferred their loyalty to [[TheLordOfTheRings Sauron]] when he took over as BigBad. In this case, that would be because Sauron was TheDragon to Morgoth, so most of these minions would have been used to taking orders from him anyway.

* ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' had Lord Zedd usurp Rita Repulsa as the series villain, but he kept all of Rita's old henchmen under his employ. He even upgraded the [[{{Mooks}} Putties]] to be [[EliteMooks tougher...]] provided nobody hit the [[WeaksauceWeakness obvious emblem target]] [[ForMassiveDamage on their chests.]]
** ''MahouSentaiMagiranger'' has Vancuria, who was immortal and couldn't be killed anyway. So when a new villain took control of the Infershia army, she always stuck around. In fact, because of said immortality, and a HeelFaceTurn, she outlasts almost all of them. The other Dragon, Wolzard, was similar, though he did go rogue a few times, and the various Infershia leaders used the same army of {{Mooks}}. ''PowerRangersMysticForce'' did the same thing.
** The Bibi soldiers from ''TensouSentaiGoseiger''.
** In ''Film/KaizokuSentaiGokaigerTheMovieTheFlyingGhostShip'', nearly all the mooks from all over the SuperSentai franchise appear as a single army.
* At the end of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' Season 1, she kills TheMaster, but the Annointed One is still around to be the BigBad of Season 2 -- except early in Season 2, Spike comes along and kills ''him'', taking over his operation.

* ''TwentyFour'' after Erwich is killed by his superior, his remaining goons turn to him.
* In ''StargateSG1,'' it's normal for a Goa'uld to take over a fallen Goa'uld's troops (even if ''he'' killed the former owner of the army. The soldiers see the Goa'uld as gods, and so wouldn't rebel against ''any'' of them.) Apophis shows up with Sokar's "Red Guard" as well as his usual Serpent Guard after he makes the rival who'd captured him pay for [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim not just shooting him]], and Hathor's second appearance has some of Apophis' Serpent Guards along with the Horus Guards you'd expect her to have. (She's known to use {{Brainwashing}}, though.)

* ''ProfessorLaytonAndTheUnwoundFuture'' has the "worked for the true villain" kind.
* ''MetalGearSolid'' has an interesting case in Revolver Ocelot. throughout the first three games, he is working for the BigBad as TheDragon. And at the end, he reveals that he was really working for someone else (and the Third game is a {{Prequel}}, so he's be at this for a while. This changes in the 4th game, where he finally decides it's time to be the big bad himself. [[GoodAllAlong Except he's not.]] It's complicated because it's Ocelot.

* In ''{{Overlord}}'' you're invoking this trope by taking control of the previous Overlord's tower and minions. [[spoiler: The final level sees him turn up to reclaim them, forcing you to regain their loyalty the old fashioned way.]] In fact there have been a whole chain of Overlords over the years, but they all use the same sort of Minions and even a couple of the same individuals
* ''FinalFight'' and its SNES sequels has passed the BigBad baton from Belger's Mad Gear Gang (the first game) to an international subsidiary of Mad Gear run by Belger's (previously unknown) [[TheDragon Dragon]] Retu (2) to Black and his Skull Cross Gang (3). Regardless of the main villain, [[GiantMook the Andore family]] is always under the employment of these gangs, and as such, are the only recurring enemies throughout the series.
* In ''DigitalDevilSaga'', Bat is originally a mook working for a Tribe you are fighting to defeat in order to form an alliance with them, but then later joins another Tribe and then kinda sort of does his own thing (becoming a Big Bad in his own right).
* In ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Bowser's Inside Story]]'', Bowser encounters a few Monty moles who used to work for him. Turns out they've gone over to Fawful's side.

* In ''[[Film/XMen X Men: First Class]]'', Magneto inherits Sebastian Shaw's henchmen after his FaceHeelTurn.

* ''MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' had Lord Zedd usurp Rita Repulsa as the series villain, but he kept all of Rita's old henchmen under his employ. He even upgraded the [[{{Mooks}} Putties]] to be [[EliteMooks tougher...]] provided nobody hit the [[WeaksauceWeakness obvious emblem target]] [[ForMassiveDamage on their chests.]]

----

* Jaws somehow survives being dropped into a shark tank in the middle of the ocean at the end of ''TheSpyWhoLovedMe''. When the original [[TheDragon Dragon]] is killed in ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'', Jaws is hired as his replacement.

* ''StarWarsLegacy'', when Darth Krayt dies [[spoiler:[[IGotBetter but eventually gets better]]]], the entire Sith Empire works for Darth Wyyrlok for a while.

* A flashback in an episode of ''TheVentureBrothers'' reveals that Henchman 24 previously worked for Phantom Limb (the then henchmen 9, the future Monarch, promises to make him his Henchman #1 someday). As they all are part of the larger Guild of Calamitous Intent, it's implied that a henchman might switch villains during the course of their henching career.
* In ''{{WITCH}}'', at the end of season 1, a large number of Phobos' orcs defect to rebels, as Phobos didn't treat them terribly well, either. Come season 2, and the orcs now make up a major part of Elyon's army.

* The character Ogre in ''RevengeOfTheNerds'' shows up in the sequel in a different chapter of the Alpha Beta fraternity. The brothers he had in the original film are all gone, apparently defeated.

* Throughout the course of the ''DarkKnight'', many of the mobsters goons turn to the joker.

[[AC: {{Comics}}]]

[[AC: {{Film}}]]

[[AC: {{Literature}}]]

[[AC: LiveActionTV]]

[[AC: VideoGames]]

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' had the Enforcers; Finn, Ratso, and Poi, who were always brought in by the current seasons big bad. Valmont, Shendu (possessing Valmont), Daolon Wong, Tarakudo, and finally Shendu's son Drago. The latter [[AvertedTrope averts it however]], by firing them not long after.

* In ''{{WITCH}}'', at the end of season 1, a large number of Phobos' orcs defect to rebels, as Phobos didn't treat them terribly well, either. Come season 2, and the orcs now make up a major part of Elyon's army.

* ''MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' had Lord Zedd usurp Rita Repulsa as the series villain, but he kept all of Rita's old henchmen under his employ. He even upgraded the [[{{Mooks}} Putties]] to be [[EliteMooks tougher........]] provided nobody hit the [[WeaksauceWeakness obvious emblem target]] [[ForMassiveDamage on their chests.]]
** ''MahouSentaiMagiranger'' has Vancuria, who was immortal and couldn't be killed anyway. So when a new villain took control of the Infershia army, she always stuck around. In fact, because of said immortality, and a HeelFaceTurn, she outlasts almost all of them.
** The Bibi soldiers from TensouSentaiGoseiger.

* ''ProfessorLayton [[ProfessorLaytonAndTheUnwoundFuture and the Unwound Future]]'' has the "worked for the true villain" kind.

* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' had the Enforcers; Finn, Ratso, and Poi, who were always brought in by the current seasons big bad. Valmont, Shen du possessing Valmont, Dao Lon wong, King of the Shadow Kahn Tarakudo (I think that was his name), and Finally Shen Du's sone Drago. The latter [[AvertedTrope averts it however]] by firing them not long after.
** Inverted with the Shadowkhan, who are introduced as the EliteMooks of Shen-Du, but are revealed to have orignally served Tarakudo; Shen-Du basically stole them.

* Jaws somehow survives being dropped into a shark tank in the middle of the ocean at the end of ''TheSpyWhoLovedMe''. When the original [[TheDragon Dragon]] is killed in ''{{Moonraker}}'', Jaws is hired as his replacement.