History Main / VigilanteMilitia

* ''Film/MagnumForce'': The gruff but honest detective Callahan investigates a series of murders wherein the victims are repeat felons. Callahan deduces correctly that a band of zealous rookie officers have decided to fight crime by acting as judge / jury / executioner as well as arresting officer. Made worse by [[spoiler:the chief of the detective division]] knowingly covering for them.

* ''Film/WestSideStory2021'': In this version, the Sharks fight to protect the Puerto Rican community from the harassment and petty thefts of the Jets.

* ''Franchise/HarryPotter:'' has the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society of skilled wizards made by Dumbeldore in The {{Backstory}} to combat Voldemort without the constraints of the Ministry of Magic (and presumably before they acknowledged him as a threat).

* Series/ThePurge: While most people take advantage of the Purge to loot and murder, the first season has a group of four women called the Matron Saints who save women from rapists and abusers on Purge night, and then brand said abusers foreheads.

* The Brazilian ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_police_militias Milícias]]'', formed by current or former policemen, firefighters, and military men who were tired of drug gangs, and fighting back to recover their neighbourhoods. However, to maintain their activities, they started extorsion schemes of the locals and providing illegal services gas, cable television, slot machines, smuggled cigarettes, loan sharks, etc, and in some cases even allowing drug traffickers back, going full MotiveDecay. There's also a very strong link between the militias and conservative right-wing politicians, with multiple local and national figures with proven or alleged connections with them (so it also crosses over with RightWingMilitiaFanatic).

* This goes a long way to explaining why Irish terrorist groups enjoyed the support they did from local communities during UsefulNotes/TheTroubles. With the RUC, the official police force, seen as corrupt or compromised, local people looked to the IRA to deal with anti-social crimes such as burglary or minor theft. This was done promptly, efficiently and uncompromisingly, and incidence of burglary dropped a long way towards zero in republican areas.[[note]]instances of people turning up at the local hospitals with serious injuries they were not prepared to discuss shot right up, however[[/note]]. On the other side of the divide, the Protestant terrorist groups displayed a no-tolerance approach to, for instance, drug-dealing.[[note]]At least, with freelance drug-dealers who weren't working for them[[/note]].

* Various locales in India formed of women have formed in response to how poorly many women are treated there, taking revenge on rapists that [[KarmaHoudini escape justice]] or just [[WifeBasherBasher teaching lessons to abusive husbands.]]

* VigilanteMilitia: This version of the Sharks street gang works to protect the rest of their neighborhood from racist toughs.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[CaptainObvious Not the real Batman]]]]

* ''Film/WestSideStory2021''

Your town or city has become infested with crime. The PoliceAreUseless, or [[DirtyCop crooked]], or both. Same goes for [[CorruptPolitician the politicians]]. However, you aren't willing to see your hometown fall into a WretchedHive of scum and villainy so easily. What do you do? Become a VigilanteMan of course!

The Militia's size will vary from work to work. Sometimes they will have a small number of people, while other times they may be the size of an entire army. If the group is one of the larger kind then they may set up a certain way their operatives work depending on their style. They can have their members operate as individuals, or in teams. If they are especially large, they may even be able to operate in places outside their normal city. Perhaps sending people to fight throughout the entire country, or even world. In contrast, smaller teams will usually (though not always) stick together so that they have strength in numbers.

If the members have super powers, then they become a SuperTeam, which can overlap with this trope if they operate without any official government sanction.

* Inverted in ''5 Card Stud''. At the start of the film six men are playing poker. One steps out to use the restroom and while he's gone four of the others discover that the fifth is cheating. This being TheWildWest, the only proper response is vigilante justice: they take him out and hang him. Most of the rest of the film concerns a VigilanteMan ([[spoiler: the hanged man's brother, who is masquerading as a minister]]) hunting down and killing the people involved in the first killing.

* ''Film/{{Andersonville}}'' has an unusual example of this ([[TruthInTelevision based on real life events]] done with actual soldiers). The prison camp is largely ruled over by a gang who steal whatever they can from the rest of the camp and kill those who oppose them. A large group of prisoners led by a man named Limber Jim forms first to protect their territory against the Raiders, and then to strike out and crush them. The main characters are initially loose allies of Jim focused more on planning an escape attempt, but after most of them are recaptured, join Jim's group in earnest prior to the climatic battle.

* ''Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers'': The local bartender and a dozen or so of his customers appoint themselves as one of these when they drive to investigate a blackout and find that the titular serial killer has killed most of the sheriffs department. On one hand, they accidentally kill an innocent man wearing a Halloween mask similar to Michael’s, but on the other hand they do try to evacuate the main characters from the danger zone and some of the surviving members help gun down Michael at the end.

* ''Film/TheLifeAndTimesOfJudgeRoyBean'': Zigzagged. After being beaten and robbed by a group of outlaws, Roy Bean self-appoints himself judge and enlists the group of tired outlaws without their heart in it to serve as marshals. They bring order to the territory, arresting outlaws and building up a community, but they also use the opportunity to line their own pockets with the outlaws loot. Played straighter in the climax when, after being brought to ruin, they go on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the corrupt new boss.

* The ''Film/MysteryMen'' are composed of three Z-list superheroes: Mister Furious, Blue Raja and The Shoveler. When Captain Amazing gets taken out by the villain, these three recruit The Bowler, Invisible Boy and The Spleen to the cause of taking down Casanova Frankenstein.
* The British movie ''Outlaw'' involves a disgruntled veteran whose been wronged by the local criminal element gathering up three other like-minded officials (with two tipsters, including a cop) and trying to strike back at the local crime lord. They experience very little success, don't get along that. By the end of the movie one decides to ScrewThisImOuttaHere and all but one of the others die in an assault against the BigBad (who that one survivor does manage to kill).
* At the end of ''Film/RioLobo,'' many local ranchers who fought in the Civil War show up as TheCavalry for the climatic battle with the corrupt sheriff and his {{Mook}}s.
* ''Seeking Justice'' has Creator/NicolasCage play Will, a man's whose wife Laura is beaten and raped. When he's in the hospital, a man approaches him offering his help to eliminate her attacker without Laura having to endure testifying even assuming that the man is caught. Will reluctantly agrees, in exchange for later doing the deed himself, so the rapist is shot. However, he can't murder the target (a child molester, they say), trying to warn the guy. This instead ends in the man's death accidentally. It's revealed that an entire group of vigilantes are operating in the city, and the man who he was ordered to kill is actually a reporter who had been looking into them (they murdered a whistleblower earlier too). It turns out they've become corrupted by their leader, who has them kill anybody he dislikes or endangers the group, not just real criminals. Even some local cops and reporters are a part of the group, explaining why they haven't been caught.

* ''Film/{{Vigilante}}'': Nick leads a neighborhood vigilante group, of himself and at least three other men, killing or roughing up local drug dealers, killers and rapists, while also making rallying speeches for new recruits at secret gatherings and having plenty of locals tipping him off.
* ''Film/TheWolfman2010'': With the local constable killed by the werewolf early on and the inspector from London focusing on the wrong leads and being quite the AgentScully, many of the townspeople (led by a military veteran and a gamekeeper) take matters into their own hands. First, several of them question/threaten a man who was bitten by the wolf, attempting to detain (or maybe kill) him before the full moon. When that fails, they spend the next few days digging pit traps with a tied up pig as bait and during the full moon wait nearby with guns to try and kill the werewolf. The werewolf proves capable of leaping out of the pit once inside though, easily killing most of its would-be hunters.

* One of the ''EarlSwagger'' novels form the SharedUniverse including the novel that ''Film/{{Shooter}}'' was based on has Earl gathering a DreamTeam of six other gunmen (competitive shooters, Texas Rangers and another WWII vet) to storm a county ruled over by a corrupt sheriff and warden and bring an end to their actions.

* William Johnstone tends to do this in both Western novels (where a CattleBaron or outlaw boss tends to have the local sheriff bought off or browbeaten) and modern day stories, most notably in the books ''Invasion USA'' [[note]] No relation to the Chuck Norris movie mentioned above. [[/note]] and ''Vengeance is Mine'', which involve groups of border vigilantes (made up from ranchers, shopkeepers and such) focused on trying to bring down the murderous local drug cartels who are killing their friends and neighbors.

* The villains of the third ''Literature/StephaniePlum:'' book are a group of these led by [[spoiler:a reverend]], killing drug dealers and pimps, and being approved of by a lot of the community. The problem is that their willing to murder or threaten people who stumble across them as well, and have also allegedly decided to start killing all of the drug addicts to eliminate the demand.
* Deconstructed in ''TheSurvivalist'' series by Jerry Ahern. John Rourke and Paul Rubenstein stop at an abandoned trailer-truck for supplies, only to get arrested for 'looting' by a self-styled vigilante militia who are ready to execute them on the spot until Rourke guns half of them down and makes the rest walk back to their base.

** In "Killer Chat," an investigation into the murder of several pedophiles leads to a group called Parents Stop Predators, who pose as underage girls on chat rooms and try to get pedophiles to arrange to meet the nonexistent underage girls for sex. When they succeed, they turn over their evidence to the authorities. When the pedophiles avoid doing anything actually illegal, the vigilantes urge them to seek counseling and warn the pedophiles' families about their actions.

* ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium:'' The Revachol Citizens' Militia is the local police force, and is effectively a large, well-organised Vigilante Militia. It is accepted by most of the people, and tolerated by the occupying forces, but is semi-official at best.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' has a group known as the Black Fang, formed by Brendan Reed and his two sons, for the sake of killing corrupt Royals and figures. Their forces composed of both people with noble intentions and [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores undesirables]], but they still all fought to stop the corrupt from abusing their power. [[spoiler:When Sonia comes into the picture however and gets with their leader, they end up becoming nothing but pawns for Nergal]].

* The Government can fund one of these in ''VideoGame/RebelInc'', the flavor text outright telling you that funding this initiative means you "Hire and arm local untrained civilians to keep the peace." DeconstructedTrope, as the militias lack of training in policing results in many incidents (decreasing support level), and the whole system is prone to corruption (generating a lot of corruption). {{Reconstruction}}, as the militias are cheap and fast to train and do noticeably slow down the Insurgents, as well as counting towards Security zone concerns and as a security initiative for setting up a luxury hotel. In short, it's a trade-off that may be useful in specific situations.

* ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic''. Republic players on Coruscant have to deal with the Justicars who are a '''bad''' example of this trope. An organization of ex-military personnel who came home after the first war with the Sith Empire to find their homes overrun by violent gangs like Black Sun. They banded together to reclaim the streets on Coruscant's lower levels. At first Coruscant's police were happy to have them around, but then the Justicars began fighting them as well, apparently deciding the government was just as guilty. They have the manpower and firepower to seize control of an entire sector on the lower level, where they impose martial law and arrest, or just execute anyone who breaks their rules, no matter the circumstances. Worse, it's revealed that [[spoiler: they are secretly supported by the Sith Empire]]. Still, they are better then their main enemies, the AlwaysChaoticEvil Black Sun criminal organization.

* The Colombian super-cartels faced the same problem in TheEighties and TheNineties, especially Pablo Escobar's medellin cartel as his terror tactics made him public enemy number one. Los Pepes in particular proved to be a highly effective vigilante militia, having started out fighting communist insurgents in the jungle.
* The Brazilian ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_police_militias Milícias]]'', formed by current or former policemen, firefighters and military man who were tired of drug gangs, and fighting back to recover their neighbourhoods. However, to mantain their activities, they started extorsion schemes of the locals and providing illegal services gas, cable television, slot machines, smuggled cigarretes, loan sharks, etc, and in some cases even allowing drug traffickers back, going full MotiveDecay. There's also a very strong link between the militias and conservative right-wing politicians, with multiple local and national figures with proven or alledged connections with them (so it also crosses over with RightWingMilitiaFanatic).

* The 1981 killing of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_McElroy Ken [=McElroy=]]] in broad daylight in the town of Skidmore, Missouri was a well-publicized example of a whole community going full on VigilanteMan. [=McElroy=] was the local town bully with a 20 year track record of arrests for theft, cattle rustling, seducing and raping underage girls, and intimidating witnesses into silence, but had always managed to avoid jail thanks to his lawyer and the local Sheriff's department being too small and unwilling to confront him. Finally, when [=McElroy=] attempted to murder the local grocer who caught his children shoplifting, the townspeople got fed up and shot him in his pickup truck in the middle of town. All 46 eye witnesses, except for [=McElroy's=] underage wife who was in the truck with him, [[BlatantLies claimed not to have seen who fired the shots]] when questioned by police and federal agents. In the 40 years since the shooting, no one has ever been charged for the killing.
* The Montana Vigilantes tracked ruffians, robbers and desperados in the 1860's and 1870's Montana. Their symbol was "3-7-77", which they painted on the tents and houses of known troublemakers and which is still used today by the Montana Highway Patrol, which elected to put this symbol on their uniform patch on 1956.

* Various locales in India formed of women have formed in response to how poorly many women are treated there, taking revenge on rapists that [[KarmaHoudini escape justice]] or just [[WifeBeaterBeater teaching lessons to abusive husbands.]]

** Taken UpToEleven in ''Film/HalloweenKills''. Following Michael's killing spree in the [[Film/Halloween2018 previous film]], and the police's inability to stop him, ''the entire town'' band together to hunt him down.

* The 1981 killing of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_McElroy Ken [=McElroy=]]] in broad daylight in the town of Skidmore, Missouri was a well-publicized example of a whole community going full on VigilanteMan. [=McElroy=] was the local "town bully" with a 20 year track record of arrests for theft, cattle rustling, seducing and raping underage girls, and intimidating witnesses into silence, but had always managed to avoid jail thanks to his lawyer and the local Sheriff's department being too small and unwilling to confront him. Finally, when he attempted to murder the local grocer who caught his children shoplifting, the townspeople got fed up and shot him in his pickup truck in the middle of town. All 46 eye witnesses, except for [=McElroy's=] underage wife who was in the truck with him, [[BlatantLies claimed not to have seen who fired the shots]] when questioned by police and federal agents. In the 40 years since the shooting, no one has ever been charged for the killing.

* ''ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}'' at one point, while Nightwing is [[AmnesiacHero suffering from amnesia]], a cop finds one of his safehouses with some costumes and equipment and convinces three colleagues to become a team of Nightwings and fill the vacuum left by their vanished protector.

* The ''Film/MysteryMen'' are composed of three Z-list superheroes: Mister Furious, Blue Raja and The Shoveler. When Captain Amazing gets taken out by TheVillain, these three recruit The Bowler, Invisible Boy and The Spleen to the cause of taking down Casanova Frankenstein.

** During the events of ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand'', after the Gotham City Police Department is disbanded, Commissioner Gordon and his most dedicated officers remain behind to provide safety to the people who can't evacuate the earthquake-ravaged city while undermining the super-villains turned warlords one at a time. [[RenegadeSplinterFaction Several of them, led by SWAT officer Billy Pettit, form a splinter group due to feeling that Gordon is too soft, allying with Batman's ally Huntress.]] Pettit gradually begins SlowlySlippingIntoEvil, to the alarm of his more level-headed men.** The Executioners from ''ComicBook/{{Harleen}}'' are a small militia of vigilantes who believe that Batman's no-kill policy is too soft and Arkham itself a CardboardPrison full of monsters who the police are hilariously out of their depth in facing. Thus, they take it upon themselves to [[VigilanteExecution capture and kill criminals]] they deem to be {{Karma Houdini}}s. [[spoiler:They're later revealed to be [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope members of the GCPD who have snapped and gone rogue]], later becoming Two-Face's {{Mooks}}.]]

** While the Punisher tends to be a lone gunman (with the occasional informant or tech support) one arc has him put together a special team of three other fighters he's worked with in the past (along with his regular MissionControl Microchip) to try and take down the Kingpin. At the end of the arc, Kingpin is still standing, two of Punisher's companions are dead, and the third cuts ties with the Punisher afterwards.

** During the events of ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand'', while the Gotham City Police Department is essentially dissolved, many of its members remain in the city to provide a militia that supplies security and law and order for the citizens who couldn't afford to leave after the city-devastating earthquake.
** The Executioners from ''ComicBook/{{Harleen}}'' are a small militia of vigilantes who believe that Batman's no-kill policy is too soft and Arkham itself a CardboardPrison full of monsters who the police are hilariously out of their depth in facing. Thus, they take it upon themselves to [[VigilanteExecution capture and kill criminals]] they deem to be {{Karma Houdini}}s. [[spoiler:They're later revealed to be [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope members of the GCPD who have snapped and gone rogue]], later becoming Two-Face's {{Mooks}}.]]

* A borderline, WifeBasherBasher, example appears in the ''Series/ColdCase'' episode ''A Perfect Day'' where a trio of cops led by Art Baldacci are shown delivering a beating and a warning to a fellow cop whose been abusing his family (and whose wife Art is in love with). Art's dialogue implies that this was a semi-regular occurrence in the days before reliable domestic violence laws, although [[AmbiguousSyntax it's unclear if Art specifically means that he and/or the men who were with him were the ones to do that often, or if different cops did it in different situations depending on their personal involvement in the case.]]

* ''Series/{{Jericho}}'': Following the nuclear explosions and collapse of society, many of the locals (led by the ex-mayor and his family) form a group of volunteers called the Jericho Rangers to serve as protectors for the town and enforce the laws within it.

** The episode ''Indian Wars'' follows a group of Seminoles led by a shellshocked Vietnam veteran conducting commando raids on the drug operation encroaching their reservation.