Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / CarnivalOfKillers

Go To

1%%
2%%
3%%
4%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
5%%
6%%
7%%
8%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1630688333020956600
9%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
10%%
11[[quoteright:325:[[ComicBook/IHateFairyland https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ihf1.png]]]]
12%%
13A Carnival of Killers occurs when a villain either hires the best assassins from around the world and sends them after the hero, or puts out [[PriceOnTheirHead an open contract on the hero's head]] that attracts a variety of assassins. A typical Carnival of Killers will involve a large collection of assassins with radically different styles (e.g., a ColdSniper, a MadBomber, etc.), and sometimes will include last season villains that have since fallen below the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil's current threshold. The assassins may work together, albeit with a tendency to [[NoHonorAmongThieves eventually betray each]], or be in [[MeleeATrois open competition]] from the outset.
14
15In a story that wishes to evoke an "international" flavor, all the killers may make no secret of their creepy foreignness and might even [[CultureEqualsCostume dress as mildly absurd ethnic stereotypes]]. It's not unusual for some of them to be political radicals or even [[TerroristsWithoutACause terrorists]] who are taking a break from their usual "hobbies."
16
17Compare LegionOfDoom and QuirkyMinibossSquad. Not comparable to CircusOfFear, unless being chased by the world's top assassins posing as clowns is the hero's worst fear.
18
19Compare and contrast RagtagBunchOfMisfits, who are usually the protagonists and/or the focus of the story who are just as radically different individually as this trope.
20
21----
22!!Examples:
23
24[[foldercontrol]]
25
26[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
27* Describes the rest of the world for anyone who puts on the Number 2 Headband in ''Anime/AfroSamurai'': Afro routinely fought gangs of heavily armed killers determined to take the headband from him, even when he was just minding his own business.
28* ''Manga/AkameGaKill'' is a subversion of the usual formula since the CarnivalOfKillers are the protagonists. Night Raid accepts assassination contracts on the corrupt and powerful.
29* ''Manga/AkumaNoRiddle'' is about a girl who's the target of twelve assassins, until one of them decides to defend her instead. From that on, it's "only" eleven.
30* In ''Manga/{{Arachnid}}'', Alice Fuji is made the target of such a game by an organization of insect-themed assassins. However, the reward for killing her gets increased for every assassin that dies, implying one purpose of this is to set them against each other and weed out the weak members of the organization.
31* The many and various groups and individuals trying to kill Bambi and retrieve the stolen child in ''Manga/BambiAndHerPinkGun'', which include a gang of smuggling truckers in rigs bigger than most battleships, a powerful mafia family, a posse of biker cowboys, a cyborg luchadore, and psychopathic rock star Gabba King.
32* In ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', we have the "Bakiraka" an elite group of Kushan Assassins led by Silat. Then there's the "Black Dog Knights", a [[ArmiesAreEvil not so elite group of murdering scum]] led by the biggest murdering scumbag of them all: Wyald. Both are employed by the King of Midland to track down the outlawed Band of the Hawk.
33* Happens twice in ''Manga/BlackLagoon'', once in response to the Vampire Twins, and once in response to Greenback Jane. In the second example, one of the episodes of the arc is even called "The Roanapur Freakshow Circus". (It sums up [[BlackAndGreyMorality a lot]] about ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' when you point out that several of the characters involved then end up working '''with''' the heroes in the "Baile de la Muerte" arc.)
34** It sums up more when you realize that two of the characters defending the target during the second carnival participated in the first.
35* The aptly-named "[[Recap/ChainsawManInternationalAssassins International Assassins" story arc]] from ''Manga/ChainsawMan'' plays with this in typically offbeat, subversive faction. Of the four assassin units hired to capture protagonist Denji, [[spoiler:one is taken out [[DroppedABridgeOnHim largely by accident]], the second [[EnemyMine forms a temporary alliance]] with the protagonists against a common enemy, and the third party turns out to actually be a non-sentient puppet for the [[TheManBehindTheMan fourth and most insidious assassin]], who then becomes the common enemy the second allies with the protagonists against.]]
36* Happens in the Yorknew City Arc of ''Manga/HunterXHunter''. After the Phantom Troupe has proven to be too much for the Mafia to handle alone, by killing their PraetorianGuard, the Elders call in the most famous assassins in the world to finish them off, including [[spoiler: Killua's father and grandfather]].
37* The villains in [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Part 3]] of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' embody this concept. The main villain, Dio, hires a group of assassins in order to kill the heroes, or at least slow them down long enough for him to reach his full strength. These assassins come from all over the world, have a large variety of backgrounds (one habitually crashed planes and trains ForTheEvulz, one was a habitual gambler) have a large variety of ways in which they kill (stealing your soul by beating you in a high stakes game, killing you in your dreams, or simply shooting you with a gun with seeking bullets), include some incredibly strange individuals (including a sentient sword, a bird, and a ''baby''), and some even embody stereotypes (like Hol Horse, a modern-day cowboy).
38** [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Part 4]] contains a lighter version of this. The early villains were all empowered by one man, but his goal wasn't to assassinate the heroes and most of the early villains fought the heroes for their own reasons. This changes in the latter half of the story, where the new villain's father is empowering people on the fly in order to find someone who can stop the heroes from tracking down his son. This ends up including such characters as a gangster granted the power to drain people's life forces, a cat that comes back from the dead as a plant, a kid who can steal your energy by winning in rock-paper-scissors, and a man who can fold you into paper if he sees your fear.
39** [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Part 5]] contains its own variant, where the group of assassins are all from a mafia family that the protagonists ''also belong to''. The heroes want to overthrow the boss and create a [[NeighbourhoodFriendlyGangsters nicer mafia]], but they're tasked with guarding the boss' daughter who becomes a target for everyone else. While the villains mostly belonging to a single Italian gang means less variety in certain aspects, the villains still showcase a wide variety of approaches and designs.
40* Frequently ended up on the wrong end of Oogami Itto's sword in ''Manga/LoneWolfAndCub''. Hired by the Yagyu clan, until the situation got desperate enough [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade that they revealed themselves to wear this mantle as well.]]
41* A favorite trope of ''Franchise/LupinIII'':
42** The ''Anime/LupinIIITheItalianAdventure'', plays with it by having the colorful group of assassins include Goemon. They are secretly assembled by a rising Italian politician to kill a ruthless African dictator. [[spoiler: Turns out the politician just wanted unrestricted access to the dictator's oil fields, and he has his own mole within the assassins turn on their cohorts to keep his secret.]]
43** ''Anime/LupinIIIPart5'' plays the trope straight in the first part of the series when the [[UsefulNotes/TheDeepWeb dark web site]] Marco Polo sets a wild band of killers on Lupin as revenge for him stealing the hacker behind their success.
44* The [[PsychoForHire Seven Warlords of the Sea]] in ''Manga/OnePiece'' — to a degree, as not all of them are antagonistic towards [[TheHero Luffy.]] [=CP9=] probably counts as a straighter example, and they're actual assassins as opposed to the Warlords...
45** Baroque Works plays this straight. Oddly enough, until the Alabasta Arc, neither of them knew the identities of the other members (besides their partner) or even their ''leader''.
46* ''Manga/SpyXFamily'': [[HitmanWithAHeart Yor]] is assigned to protect Olka Gretcher and her infant son from dozens of assassins sent to kill them as they escape Ostania on a cruise ship. Hilariously, at one point, two such assassins attempt to invoke this trope by introducing themselves in a hammy fashion, [[FakeUltimateMook only to get cut down immediately.]]
47-->'''Esmerelda, Master of Wires:''' Now you face Esmerelda, Master of Wires!\
48[''Yor kills her'']\
49'''King of Chakrams:''' I am the King of Chak-\
50[''[[KilledMidsentence Yor kills him]]'']
51* The second half of the anime ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' is about Vash trying to stay alive while keeping the 12 Gung Ho Guns at bay as they come at him.
52* In ''Manga/UntilDeathDoUsPart'', one of these was called against Mamoru by Edge Turus. Notable in that the "target" then [[spoiler:spread the word that he'd be in a certain location at a specific time, and when they gathered there, took out the assassins all at once]].
53* In ''Manga/{{Yaiba}}'' the Seven Revenant Swordsmen summoned by Onimaru during the Ryuujin Orbs arc, who are all famous warriors from the past, including monks, ninjas, samurai, and a WarriorPoet assassin.
54[[/folder]]
55
56[[folder:Comic Books]]
57* The first story arc in ''All-Star Batman'' (not the Frank Miller one) has Batman targeted by one after Two-Face puts a bounty on him. Notable participants include Killer Moth, Firefly, Killer Croc, and Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum. [[spoiler: Also a variety of ordinary citizens, the Gotham P.D. and ''Alfred Pennyworth'', all of whom Two-Face is blackmailing to some extent. And then Penguin, Black Mask, and Great White Shark join in by hiring the [=KGBeast=] to kill Batman ''and'' Two-Face.]]
58* ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} was subject to one of these in ''[[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers Spotlight]]'' #24-25 when Crossfire put a bounty on his arm.
59* One of the ''Franchise/{{Batman}} Versus Franchise/{{Predator}}'' mini-series had this running as B plot. An open bounty on Batman brought a variety of hitmen to Gotham to attempt to collect.
60* ''ComicBook/ButtonMan'': When Harry's leverage on Senator Jacklin becomes useless after the latter's death, the Voices organize a massive game by sending thirteen other Button Men to go after Harry in a cross-country hunt. They get into each other's way to get to Harry a bunch of times, which is handily exploited by him.
61* In the "Run Like Hell" arc in ''ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}'', the Penguin puts out a $1 million contract on Selina's head. This attracts a large number of Gotham's costumed criminals out of the woodwork to take a shot at her.
62* In the 14th issue of ''Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}'', after word spreads about Ka-Zar's vibranium medallion, a motley crew of "agents from every nation and killers without a nation", in addition to the Plunderer and the police, all start gunning for Ka-Zar and Daredevil.
63* In the ComicBook/{{New 52}} series of ''ComicBook/HarleyQuinn'', a $2 million bounty is placed on Harley's head, bring a veritable army of hired killers out of the woodwork to try to claim it.
64* ''ComicBook/IHateFairyland'': In Issue #15, a group of Fairyland's best mercenaries are hired to kill Gert before she can finally make her way home. They [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou briefly argue over who gets to kill her]], but that's brought to a quick resolution when they're told that they'll all be paid equally regardless of who finishes her off.
65* In the "6 Gun War" arc in ''ComicBook/JonahHex'', Quentin Turnbull recruits a variety of assassins from around the world to bring him Jonah's head, including an Irish boxer, a Persian assassin, a Masai lion-hunter, and a Mexican DualWielding machetes.
66* The Gray Riders, a group of twelve mercenaries and assassins hired to hunt down and kill Red Sonja in the ''[[ComicBook/RedSonja Legends of Red Sonja]]'' mini-series.
67* In ''ComicBook/{{Lex}}'', a secret society aims to dispense justice where they think the legal system has failed. Their chosen method is to capture serial killers and other interesting types and offer them the choice of working for them or death. The comic's main team is a diverse group of assassins, including a gentleman bomber, hacker, SM-mistress, and Punisher-like ex-cop. By the third album, an escalating conflict with TheMafia makes Lex concentrate its forces and they call in every killer they control. Technically, Lex aims to be the good guys, but their morality is questionable and their assets approach can be quite brutal.
68* ''ComicBook/MarvelFanfare'' #10-#12 had ComicBook/BlackWidow dealing with a GenderEqualEnsemble of six, internationally diverse assassins employed by the main villain. They were:
69** N’kama, a South African Zulu warrior.
70** Deadshot Darrance, an EgomaniacHunter who had switched from hunting big game to [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame hunting humans for more profit]].
71** The Iron Maiden, a former Russian agent who [[UnknownRival who had been living in the Black Widow’s shadow for years]].
72** Laralie, an American rodeo performer who was [[KnowsTheRopes very good with a rope]].
73** A Chinese female martial artist who went by the code name of Black Lotus.
74** And Kono, a Japanese Sumo wrestler.
75* This happened to ''ComicBook/MoonKnight'' a few times too. One incident had "the Council of Five" hire five assassins, including a sniper called Ice, a demolitions expert going by Boom-Boom, a knife specialist called Shiv, and a nunchaku-wielding martial artist going by Dragon.
76** Another case involved Moon Knight trying to protect two businessmen from a trio of assassins called Gun, Fist, and Blade. In a twist, the assassins turned out to be the good guys, the businessmen were millennia-old cultists who had to regularly sacrifice children to keep their immortality.
77* An early arc in ''[[ComicBook/ThePunisher Punisher: War Zone]]'' had the New York mob hiring the seven best assassins in the world to hunt down the Punisher. Such things are something of an occupational hazard for The Punisher.
78** Deconstructed in ''ComicBook/ThePunisherWelcomeBackFrank'', where a gangster employs three badass killers to take out the Punisher. The first guy is a Martial Arts expert "with a black belt in anything you care to name." Punisher says that he [[{{Understatement}} "knows a little myself"]], but settles on simply shoving the guy onto a subway track. The second guy is some kind of Neo-Cowboy Gunslinger, famous for a firefight with a police officer, where he ducked the bullet fired at him and shot the cop dead. The Punisher riddles him with an UZI. [[note]]("Dodged a bullet. Not thirty.")[[/note]] Lastly we have an ex-Marine sniper and [[UsefulNotes/TheGulfWar Desert Storm]] veteran. [[CarFu Punisher runs him over with a car.]]
79* ''ComicBook/RedRobin'' introduces the Council of Spiders, a spider-themed carnival of killers that decides to take on ''another'' carnival of killers, the League of Assassins.
80* ''ComicBook/TheScorpion'': In ''The Mask of Truth'', Cardinal Trebaldi puts a 1,000 gold coin price on the Scorpion's head. Every assassin in Rome tries to claim it.
81* These groups get sent after the ''ComicBook/SecretSix'' all the time. In fact, the roster of the Six themselves read as a veritable carnival of killers:
82-->Deadshot: World-class marksman with a death wish.\
83Catman: Feral tracker and knife expert.\
84Scandal: Strategist with a healing factor and great at close combat.\
85Ragdoll: Contortionist and thief with surgically augmented flexibility.\
86Cheshire: Assassin and poison expert with a penchant for killing members of her own family.\
87Knockout: Superhumanly strong former gladiator and enforcer for an evil space god.\
88Parademon: Mindless drone of aforementioned evil space god who gained sentience.\
89Jeanette: Practically immortal banshee dominatrix with super strength.\
90Mad Hatter: Head wear and Lewis Carroll-obsessed murderous dwarf with mind-control technology.\
91Bane: Legendary mercenary who's been on and off an experimental steroid that makes him insane.\
92Fiddler: Genius musician who kills with hypersonic violin.\
93Harley Quinn: Crazed psychologist, gymnast, and Joker's ex-girlfriend.
94* In ''ComicBook/{{Silverblade}}'', Vermillion hires a trio of assassins to hunt and kill Milestone for his SnuffFilm. He even holds auditions, and disposes of the one who [[YouHaveFailedMe doesn't make the cut]]. The three selected use a [[EnergyWeapon laser]], an [[EnhancedArchaicWeapon electrified sword]], and a [[FireBreathingWeapon flamethrower]].
95* In the ''ComicBook/SinCity'' tale, ''Hell and Back'', the protagonist deals with one assassin after another. All of the assassins belonged to the same guild, however.
96** Also done in the first story. Marv has to deal with a SWAT team, two hitmen, a cannibal SerialKiller, and a group of federal agents all assigned to take him down.
97* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': The ''ComicBook/{{Identity Crisis|1998}}'' storyline is about Spider-Man being framed for murder with a $5,000,000 bounty on his head, dead or alive. Eventually, he assumes several different costumed identities so he can keep up the superhero game without being harassed, but before he thought of that he was fighting off dozens of bounty hunters every day. The guys after the 5 mil ranged from mundane gun nuts and thrill-seekers (like the Hunters) to professionals (like Shotgun) to actual costumed villains (like Override and Aura).
98* In ''[[ComicBook/TeenTitans Teen Titans Annual #2]]'', a mob boss hires one to protect him from the [[VigilanteMan Vigilante]] and kill the Titans. It included [[PyroManiac Scorcher]], [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Spear]], [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Bazooka]], [[PoweredArmor Tanker]], Slasher and Cheshire (the only one to survive/catch on and make subsequent appearances.)
99* In ''World's Finest'' #8, a mob boss puts an open contract on the ComicBook/{{Huntress}}'s life, causing a large number of assassins to start targeting Helena in an attempt to collect.
100[[/folder]]
101
102[[folder:Comic Strips]]
103* In his final appearance in the ''ComicStrip/DickTracy'' strip, "Big Boy" Caprice created an open contract: an offer of one million dollars to anyone who killed Tracy. This led to multiple attempts on Tracy's life. (New writer Max Allan Collins used this storyline to kill off Moon Maid, CreatorsPet of the series; killed by a car bomb meant for Tracy.)
104[[/folder]]
105
106[[folder:Fan Works]]
107* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/45976684/chapters/115726618 Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat]]'', [[Manga/MyHeroAcademia All For One]] decides to significantly augment the suffering Izuku Midoriya is undergoing after all the villains in Japan have escaped and he has driven society to its knees by placing the biggest bounty [[Franchise/JohnWick the High Table]] has ever seen: $280 million and three [[BloodOath Markers]] to anybody who captures Midoriya alive. The result: anybody who can commit murder or is a major schemer in the ''John Wick'' film series coming to Mustuafu with full intent of catching Deku and getting the money and the power to command [[PersonOfMassDestruction All For One]] thrice. And one of said killers is the Baba Yaga himself...
108* ''Fanfic/LostToDust'': A bounty is put on Yang Xiao Long and several bounty hunters attack her group, including Billy the Kid and Beowulf.
109* ''Fanfic/TheNewAdventuresOfInvaderZim'': In Season 2, Episode 3, [[PsychoSupporter Nyx]] decides that the best way to help Zim is to eliminate Dib, and so puts an open bounty on him, causing several alien bounty hunters to descend on Earth in search of him. Among them are a [[SpiderPeople Spider Person]] TrapMaster, a centaur with SuperSpeed, a Vortian CombatPragmatist, a cyborg BloodKnight, and a working pair of a robot and a flying goblin. This all ends when Zim finds out about the contract and, [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou enraged by it]], orders Nyx to call it off, which she does.
110* ''FanFic/TheWeaverOption'': The pirate captains/admirals of Pavia are a disparate bunch and would happily kill one another given the chance. Despite this they will all answer the call of Duke Sliscus when he summons them, if only so he won't slaughter them and their crews.
111[[/folder]]
112
113[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
114* ''Film/AccidentMan'': After Mike kills Cliff, Big Ray orders the rest of the MurderInc crew to hunt down and eliminate Mike. This consists of [[FromCamouflageToCriminal ex-special forces soldiers]] BashBrothers Mick and Mac; MasterPoisoner Poison Pete; [[TheSmartGuy finesse killer]] Finicky Fred; and [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]] wielding [[TheVamp vamp]] Jane the Ripper.
115* In ''Film/AlitaBattleAngel'', as the titular protagonist starts growing to become a problem for the BigBad, a group of cyborg bounty hunters and criminals, all with their own unique armaments, is hired to assassinate her in the course of a [[BloodSport Motorball]] match.
116* ''Film/TheAssassinationBureau'' is about a member of a CarnivalOfKillers who challenges his fellow assassins by putting a bounty on himself. [[spoiler: Things do not bode well for those other assassins.]]
117* ''Film/AustinPowers'': Among the various killers hired by Dr Evil are [[Film/{{Goldfinger}} an Asian man using his shoe to kill people named Random Task]] and a vaguely Middle-Eastern man who angers Dr Evil but will just not die.
118* The Red Triangle Circus Gang in ''Film/BatmanReturns'' is about as literal as this trope can possibly get. True to their name, they are indeed ex-circus performers and continue to dress as clowns, acrobats, and various other circus people while serving as the Penguin's shock troops, apparently because [[WrestlingDoesntPay Crime Doesn't Pay]]. More to the point of this trope, they function as a sort of highly anarchic guerrilla fighting force with every weapon known to man: machine guns, rocket launchers, ninja weapons, and various incendiary devices.
119* ''Film/{{Birds of Prey|2020}}'': After Harley goes to retrieve Cassandra from the police station, Sionis posts a $500,000 bounty for bringing Cassandra to him alive and sends it to every hired gun in Gotham, who converge on Harley and her cargo.
120* Invoked for laughs in ''Film/BlazingSaddles'':
121-->'''Hedley Lamarr:''' I want rustlers, cutthroats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswogglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass-kickers, shit-kickers, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking METHODISTS!]]
122* In ''Film/BringMeTheHeadOfTheMachineGunWoman'', gang lord Che Longana puts a bounty of 300 million pesos on the head of the Machine Gun Woman, which attracts all kinds of killers; from common street thugs to elite hitmen.
123* The Superposse in ''Film/ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKid'', which includes Indian tracker Lord Baltimore and lawman Joe [=leFors=] and which has been paid to stay on the trail of the outlaws till they are dead.
124* ''Film/TheCarRoadToRevenge'': Not as classy as many other examples of this trope, but Telar offers bounties on anyone who brings him the car, the girl, or the chip. As these bounties include free access to his arsenal of weapons, and free cybernetic enhancements, every gang in the city mobilizes in an attempt to claim them.
125* ''Film/ChaiLaiAngelsDangerousFlowers'': Recognizing how useless his own thugs are, Dragon hires a group known as the Five Nation Bounty Hunters to take out the Chai Lais. The group consists of a ScaryBlackMan, [[KatanasAreJustBetter a meido wielding a katana]], a martial artist with a bladed staff, and [[MartialArtsAndCrafts a rhythmic gymnast wielding ribbons as weapons]].
126* The bounty hunters in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', although the only one who actually gets anywhere with hunting the occupants of the Millennium Falcon is [[EnsembleDarkhorse Boba Fett]].
127* In ''Film/FlagOfIron'', an old Shaw Brothers kung-fu film, the main character is hunted by the Ten Killers of the Underworld. One of the killers is The Accountant who uses a weaponized abacus. Another is a HitmanWithAHeart who ends up aiding the hero.
128* In ''Film/TheGrandDuel'', most of the {{Bounty Hunter}}s chasing after Vermeer for the $3,000 reward are little better than hired killers, and none of them have any intention of bringing him alive.
129* In ''Film/GunsGirlsAndGambling'', a motley cluster of outlaws, fortune hunters, assassins, frat-boys, Elvis impersonators, and 21st Century cowboys seek a prized Apache war mask that's been swiped from an Indian casino.
130* ''Film/GrossePointeBlank'': Martin Blank, a disenchanted hitman, attends his high school reunion only to cross paths with an assassin union who thinks he's trying to steal their hit. The hitmen we see are mostly just {{mook}}s, though Blank and the union leader do conversationally mention some colorful assassins.
131%%* ''Film/InspectorGadget2''.
132* ''Film/JohnWickChapter2'': Retired killer John Wick has OneLastJob where he helps an old associate, and this ends with him having a large bounty on his head through his former guild. Earlier in the film, an open bounty was also put on his head by the villain, resulting in Wick having to deal with killers gunning after him on every street corner. This theme continues in ''Film/JohnWickChapter3Parabellum'', which deals with John Wick trying to survive the aforementioned massive bounty on his head, and ''Film/JohnWickChapter4'', where John has a chance to get the bounty lifted... but only if he makes it to a certain place by a certain time, and the villain has a vested interest in making sure that John arrives late if at all.
133* In ''Film/KillBill'', the protagonist is a former member of a Carnival of Killers, all with their own specializations and codenamed after different snake species. She ends up massacring most of the other members on her way to, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin kill Bill]], the leader of the organization.
134* The finale of ''Film/TheLastDragon'', where Bruce Leroy fights off everyone from a wrestler with a white Mohawk to an acid bath murderer...
135* In ''Film/MacheteKills'', Mendez puts a $10 million price on his own head, and $20 million on Machete's, causing a veritable army of freelance killers to assemble between them and the US border. These include DirtyCop Sheriff Doakes; Desdemona and her gun-toting prostitutes; and MasterOfDisguise el Chameleon.
136* Pretty-boy gangster Dorian Tyrell promises $50,000 to whoever can kill the title character in ''Film/TheMask'' (no mean feat, since the green-faced creature is practically immortal).
137* In ''Film/MastersOfTheUniverse'', Skeletor hires a group of mercenaries to follow He-Man and the others to Earth to recover the Cosmic Key. They consist of the MasterSwordsman Blade, the [[BeastMan Beast Man]], the [[LizardFolk reptilian Saurod]], and the [[HookHand hook-handed Karg]]. When they fail in their first mission and return empty-handed to Skeletor, [[YouHaveFailedMe he kills Saurod and forces Evil Lyn to join them]].
138* Film/TheThreeStooges face one in ''The Outlaws Is Coming''. The eponymous outlaws called in to wipe out the heroes are Rob Dalton, Wyatt Earp, Johnny Ringo, UsefulNotes/BillyTheKid, UsefulNotes/JesseJames, UsefulNotes/BatMasterson, Cole Younger, Wild Bill Hickock, and Belle Starr.
139* ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'':
140** In ''Film/ThePinkPantherStrikesAgain'', Dreyfus demands that Clouseau be killed or he will destroy the world. Several nations send assassins to kill Clouseau at Oktoberfest in Munich, only for the assassins to wind up killing each other by accident or to stop their rivals from getting the credit.
141** In ''Film/RevengeOfThePinkPanther'', the main villain's henchman hired a whole Carnival Of Killers. When the BigBad saw them, he said "are these the men you have hired to kill Clouseau?" The henchmen replied he had hired these men to kill Mr. Chong. The CarnivalOfKillers had been hired merely to test the skills of the real killer they were sending after Clouseau…
142* The Hassansins in the ''Film/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime'' who comprise of; a man that controls snakes, a man that shoots darts, a guy with two deadly whips, and finally a guy that throws explosives.
143* [[Creator/ChowYunFat John Lee]], the protagonist of ''Film/TheReplacementKillers'', is being chased by a group of assassins that are vying for his position, after [[HitmanWithAHeart he refused to perform a hit]] on [[RevengeByProxy the young son of the cop who killed his former employer's son]], while Lee attempts to get back to China to save his family from the vengeance of the mob boss.
144* The lineup of killers sent to kill Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger in ''Film/TheRunningMan'' includes a homicidal hockey player, a chainsaw-wielding biker, an opera-singing lightning-man, a pyromaniac with a jetpack, and a wrestler/fitness TV show host. Although, he doesn't confront the latter for real.
145* In ''Film/{{Sherlock Holmes|1932}}'', Moriarty imports a cadre of ruthless foreign killers from New York, Paris, Berlin, and Madrid to help him eliminate Holmes and take over the London underworld.
146* ''Film/ShootEmUp'': Smith and Oliver get pursued by every freelance assassin in the city (which is a surprisingly high number).
147* The eponymous characters in ''Film/{{Slashers}}'', which include [[HillbillyHorrors Chainsaw Charlie]], [[SinisterMinister Preacherman]], [[DeadlyDoctor Doctor Ripper]], [[{{Pirate}} Pirate Pete]], [[MonsterClown Slasho the Clown]] and... [[TheGenericGuy Switchblade Sam]].
148* The whole premise of ''Film/SmokinAces'' is that a huge bounty is placed on a mob rat and a whole lot of colorful assassins swarm on his location at the same time trying to collect.
149* This premise is repeated in ''Film/SmokinAces2AssassinsBall'', except this time the target is an FBI analyst who has a massive price placed on his head several days before his impending retirement.
150* ''Film/ThingsToDoInDenverWhenYoureDead'' — the reason our protagonists are dead is that they know they can't survive long against a Carnival Of Killers sent by Creator/ChristopherWalken.
151* ''Film/TheUmbrellaCoup'': Several hitmen line up to get a shot at Grégoire but he manages to foil all their attempts on his life.
152* ''Film/BossLevel'' has its protagonist [[Creator/FrankGrillo Roy]] hunted by one while trapped in a GroundhogDayLoop with no idea why either situation is happening to him. His day starts with a suited guy with a machete trying to stab him awake, followed minutes later by another mowing the apartment down with a minigun from an helicopter, and then the assassins only get weirder and more lethal after that.
153[[/folder]]
154
155[[folder:Literature]]
156* The Carnivale in ''Literature/AgentG: Infiltrator'' is a literal example of this. Albeit, the name just reflects that they tend to be more colorful than other assassins, giving themselves badass names and being less careful about collateral damage than other groups.
157* ''Literature/BestServedCold'':
158** For one of her assassinations, Monza and co. hire a bunch of performers/killers, including a juggler/killer and a [[InstrumentOfMurder band of killers]].
159** When Duke Orso finds out that Monza is still alive, he has the best assassins and bounty hunters brought to him and offers them a big reward for killing her.
160** Monza and her group would be a CarnivalOfKillers themselves were they not the protagonists: lead by a [[PrivateMilitaryContractors mercenary]] with a [[TheDreaded terrible reputation]] (Monza herself), the group has a BarbarianHero (Shivers), a MasterPoisoner (Morveer) and [[PerkyFemaleMinion apprentice]] (Day), a freelance TortureTechnician and InformationBroker (Vitari), a [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder backstabbing]] [[PrivateMilitaryContractors mercenary]] (Cosca), and a [[GoodWithNumbers number-obsessed]] mob enforcer (Friendly).
161* ''Literature/TheDestroyer: The Last Alchemist'' had an interesting variation of this. TheDragon as part of his backstory participated in an open contract on a crimelord. After he killed the target, he was given a job as the personal assassin of the BigBad who had placed the contract simply to find a suitable person for the position. The trope appeared in a few other books in the series as well.
162* In ''Kill Dusty Fog!'' by Creator/JTEdson, General Trumpeter offers a $1,000 bounty on the head of Captain Dusty Fog, despite this being against the rules of war. Several guerrillas make attempts to claim the bounty before Dusty decides to confront Trumpeter directly.
163* ''Literature/MonsterBloodTattoo'': Europe and Rossamund have to fight their way through a number of hired killers at the midpoint and at the climax of Book Three.
164* In ''Literature/NobodyLivesForEver'', the dying leader of SPECTRE places (literally) a prize on the head of Literature/JamesBond, which brings opportunistic killers from various organizations after him. [[spoiler:However, SPECTRE has no intention to pay any of them, and instead uses them to find and herd Bond to their base in Florida, where they are going to claim his head by themselves with a guillotine]].
165* This is what happens in ''Literature/NoCountryForOldMen'' after Moss steals the money. He has numerous Mexican mooks, ProfessionalKiller Carson Wells, and PsychoForHire Anton Chigurh after him.
166* In the Creator/RogerZelazny book ''Literature/{{Roadmarks}}'' the antagonist declares a "Black Decade" on the protagonist, legally permitting ten attempts to kill him. Agents may be employed... and so ten highly skilled assassins/hunters have been hired from the entire range of Earth's histories (including alternate pasts and futures). This includes an assassin robot, a genetically enhanced and cybernetic super-soldier, and a martial arts master.
167* In Creator/MatthewReilly's ''Scarecrow'', Majectic-12 sets a bounty on the 15 people who could possibly foil their plan. Various groups respond, including Professional {{Bounty Hunter}}s, [[HiredGuns Mercenaries]], [=AWOL=] Military Units, {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s...
168* In ''[[Literature/TheGolgothaSeries The Shotgun Arcana]]'', Ray Zeal has a horde of serial killers, rapists, and cannibals working for him. Among them is a demigod and one of the Thuggee.
169* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', Tywin Lannister employs a carnival of killers for "foraging" missions, which is essentially sending armed men to plunder and murder the enemy's peasants. His troupe includes a mercenary gang called the Brave Companions but nicknamed the Bloody Mummers, which is almost literally a carnival of killers, right down to a MonsterClown, the fool Shagwell who kills people for not laughing at his jokes. In fitting with the spirit of the trope, the group is also extensively multicultural, and individual members often have their own signature derangements. They are led by Vargo Hoat, his long beard and helmet with horns lead to him being nicknamed the goat. However he's a sadistic psychopath who enjoys cutting off limbs, and even his laughable SpeechImpediment is sinister, due to it coming from him catching a disease from raping someone.
170* In ''Literature/TheSpiritThief'', as the combined bounty for Eli, Nico and Josef eventually exceeds 600,000 gold standards, everyone and their dog is out to get them, including master swordsmen, unnoticeable men, spiritualists, League of Storms, random bounty hunters and one very angry empress.
171* ''Literature/SpySchool'': In ''Spy School: Project X'', a bounty on Ben attracts many professional and amateur killers. They include most of the recurring villains from earlier books, a Mafia goon, a pilot in a stolen military jet, an eyepatch-wearing woman who legally changed her name to Myrtle Combat, an arrogant couple who drive a sports car and wear bodysuits, two hunters who believe a ConspiracyTheory the BigBad started claiming that Ben is an evil alien (which eliminates any moral qualms they have about HuntingTheMostDangerousGame), a ninja, a woman who looks like a suburban mom, a woman in a fancy gown, and a man dressed like ''Film/MadMax''.
172* ''Franchise/Warhammer40000'': In the ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' book ''Sabbat Martyr'', the plot centers on the Ghosts defending the reincarnated saint Sabbat from nine would-be assassins, dispatched against her by the ArcVillain Enok Innokenti. They range from a lone wolf ColdSniper, to alien mercenaries, to a psyker and his attendant CreepyTwins, and culminates in a berserk Chaos Dreadnought.
173[[/folder]]
174
175[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
176* In the ''Series/TheAmazingExtraordinaryFriends'' episode "Quality Time", Renfield hires the 'world's greatest super assassins' (the Invisible Ninja, Captain Tardy, Geyser Girl, and the Easter Bunny) to eliminate the Friends.
177* ''Series/TheATeam'':
178** The episode ''Deadly Maneuvers'' had a syndicate of crime lords pay Major Douglas Kyle to assemble a DreamTeam of mercenaries to hunt down the A-Team.
179** The episode "[[Recap/TheATeamS4E17WaitingForInsaneWayne Waiting for Insane Wayne]]" had Insane Wayne and his team of mercenaries-for-hire who the team briefly impersonates then ends up fighting.
180* ''Series/BabylonFive'' had another protagonist example. In "[[Recap/BabylonFiveS05E20ObjectsInMotion Objects in Motion]]", Garibaldi learns, but can't prove, that the board of Edgars Industries is trying to have him assassinated. As part of his response, he arranges to put large bounties on all their heads if anything happens to him or Lise.
181* ''Series/{{Barry}}'': VERY briefly used in "a nice meal" when Hank hires the F.U.B.Ks (Four Ultimate Badass Killers), consisting of a knife fighter, an explosives expert, an ex-Special Forces operative, and a sharpshooter. He sends them to take care of Fuches... who promptly sends their boxed heads back to Hank's office.
182* Unusually used in the ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' episode "[[Recap/BlackadderS1E6TheBlackSeal The Black Seal]]", where it's the ''[[VillainProtagonist protagonist]]'' who assembles a team of the biggest bastards in all of England (including himself, naturally) to carry out a fiendish plan. [[spoiler: They all turn on him in favor of an even BIGGER bastard by the end of the episode.]]
183* ''Series/{{Blindspot}}'': In the Season 3 episode "Clamorous Night", [[DragonAscendant Roman]] puts a hit on the FBI team. The only specifically unique assassin in the group is one who likes using poisons; the rest stick to good old-fashioned guns and knives.
184* There was an episode of the 80s ''Series/BretMaverick'' TV series where an author who writes westerns hires a Carnival of Killers to take out professional gambler Bret Maverick, so he'd have an ending to his latest book that's more exciting than "And he retired with a saloon and a cattle ranch."
185* At least Once A Season on ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. For example, in season 2:
186-->'''Dalton''': Uh, yes, but... The Order of Taraka, I mean... isn't that overkill?
187-->'''Spike''': No, I think it's just enough kill.
188** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E5Homecoming Homecoming]]", the Carnival Of Killers is combined with HuntingTheMostDangerousGame. Several killers are hired to hunt Buffy and Faith (accidentally replaced by Cordelia), including Cain the werewolf hunter, vampire Lyle Gorch and his wife Candy, and the blade-throwing demon Kulak.
189** A nice subversion is in the episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E7Angel Angel]]", where the Master hires the Three, three apparently badass vampires to take down Buffy. In their first encounter with her, she manages to barely escape with Angel's help (who kills one of them)...and the Master, [[YouHaveFailedMe incensed that they failed]], has Darla kill all of the Three, making their scenes a total of ''two''. They weren't the real threat of the episode; that happened to be Darla herself.
190* In ''Series/TheCape'', the BigBad Chess occasionally hires members of an assassin order called Tarot, each of whom specializes in a different skill. Cain is a poison expert, while the Goggles and Hicks duo (brothers) specialize in surveillance. After one too many failures, Chess refuses to have any more dealings with the Tarot. Ironically, he does this moments before Hicks would have revealed the true identity of [[TheCowl the Cape]]. However, since he no longer works for Chess, Hicks feels no obligation to hand over the information and, instead, uses it to bargain with the Cape for the location of his captured brother.
191* ''Series/DeadMansGun'': In "Death Warrant", John Pike--a ruthless, hard-bitten bounty hunter carrying the Dead Man's Gun--accidentally kills an innocent young man in a shoot-out. The mother of the dead boy puts a bounty on Pike's head, and he finds himself being hunted by every bounty hunter, hired gun, and chancer across three states.
192* Max faces one in the ''Series/GetSmart'' episode "Someone Down Here Hates Me" when KAOS puts a $250,000 bounty on his head (and later ups it to $500,000).
193* ''Series/{{Gunsmoke}}'', In "Reward for Matt", a woman offers a $1,000 reward to the man who kills Matt Dillon after Matt killed her husband while attempting to bring him in for murder. This was a RecycledScript from an episode of the [[Radio/{{Gunsmoke}} radio show]].
194* This is set up in ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' by Alejandro Rivera in "Honor Thy Father", who arranges a break on a prison ship with any and all escapees ordered to kill Gibbs. End result? [[spoiler:''[[EpicFail Only one escapee]]'', who then hires a mercenary to also kill Gibbs for a BatmanGambit, [[AssassinOutclassin but both are offed by him instead]].]]
195* ''Series/ObiWanKenobi''. After her fellow Inquisitors cut Reva out of the hunt for Obi-Wan, she sends out an open contract on Obi-Wan to every bounty hunter in the city. However Reva doesn't think the bounty hunters are good enough to kill or capture the legendary Jedi--it's only meant to flush him out into the open so she can take him down herself.
196* ''Series/PersonOfInterest''
197** In "The Crossing", John Reese and his FriendOnTheForce Joss Carter have to flee an open bounty placed on them by HR, an organisation of corrupt police.
198** In "4C", Reese has to battle five assassins from three different organisations (Mossad, TheCartel, and his former employers in the US government) who are trying to kill the VictimOfTheWeek in four separate ways.
199* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'': In "[[Recap/SherlockS02E03TheReichenbachFall The Reichenbach Fall]]", a group of international assassins appear around Sherlock, although initially they appear to be keeping Holmes alive. Ultimately, it is revealed [[spoiler: they have been hired by Moriarty to kill Holmes' friends if Holmes refuses to kill himself]].
200* ''Series/WhiteCollar'' had one of the ''protagonists'' calling on a carnival of killers, when Mozzie places a six million dollar bounty on Keller who killed one of their friends and was threatening them.
201[[/folder]]
202
203[[folder:Music Videos]]
204* The Aaron Stewart-Ahn video for Music/TheDecemberists' "O Valencia!" features Colin Meloy protecting a woman from assassins.
205[[/folder]]
206
207[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
208* [[Wrestling/StevieRichards Steven Richards]], Thuggin and Buggin Enterprises, [[ForeignWrestlingHeel La RĂ©sistance]], Wrestling/TommyDreamer and Wrestling/{{Batista}} all tried to get the money Triple H was offering to whoever would take out Wrestling/{{Goldberg}} for him.
209* Wrestling/VinceMcMahon issued a contract on Wrestling/DGenerationX (Wrestling/ShawnMichaels and Wrestling/TripleH) in the summer of 2006 when DX was running amok on ''Monday Night Raw''. Both Chris Masters and [[Wrestling/NickDinsmore Eugene]] (who, being a baby{{face}}, [[PragmaticVillainy didn't bear DX any ill will but just liked the idea of getting a reward]]) failed to collect, so Vince enlisted the help of Cuban businessman Armando Alejandro Estrada, who actually succeeded for a time in getting Triple H sent to jail after framing him for having smuggled Cuban cigars into the country. There were even hints that non-wrestling personnel could get involved: Vince boasted that he and his son Wrestling/ShaneMcMahon had access to "unlimited resources", causing DX to retort, [[ImNotAfraidOfYou "Bring in anybody from the street - we don't care."]] Eventually, at ''[=SummerSlam=]'', the [=McMahons=] had Wrestling/BigShow, [[Wrestling/KenAnderson Mr. Kennedy]], and [[NapoleonDelusion King]] [[Wrestling/BookerT Booker]]'s Court (Sir Wrestling/WilliamRegal and Sir Fit Finlay) rough up Shawn and Hunter before Vince and Shane even set foot in the ring - and DX ''still'' won.
210* During 2011, Wrestling/BobSapp sent several "assassins", including Jonathan Gresham, Ryan Genesis, Cho-un Shiryu, Dragon Chen, and Ryoma Li, into Wrestling/DramaticDreamTeam for the purpose of ridding it of Danshoku Dino. Gaylon Summers of GOUGE was the one to finally defeat Dino in a match, but he didn't succeed in making him leave DDT, and Dino eventually did defeat Gaylon for good.
211[[/folder]]
212
213[[folder:Radio]]
214* Was the general idea of the ''Radio/{{Gunsmoke}}'' episode "Reward for Matt". Mrs. Hornby gets pretty mad when Marshal Dillon kills her husband. She offers $1000 to anyone who kills Dillon. The script was later reused for an episode of the ''Series/{{Gunsmoke}}'' TV series.
215[[/folder]]
216
217[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
218* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': While the Officio Assassinorum normally sends one or two agents out to deal with their targets, an especially dangerous opponent can result in the deployment of an Execution Force, which includes assassins from multiple Assassin Temples. As reveal in the ''Literature/HorusHeresy'' novel ''Nemesis'', the very first Execution Force created was given a truly momentous task - assassinate Horus. [[ForegoneConclusion They failed]], with one of their own even noting the odds of victory were below twenty five percent. A second force was deployed to kill Lord Drask (which forms the plot of a spin-off game), while a third one was apparently deployed during the Second Damocles Gulf War to take down high ranking T'au in the conflict. [[spoiler:The Culexus assassin succeeds in killing Aun'va]].
219[[/folder]]
220
221[[folder:Video Games]]
222* A constant theme in the first ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' game is a never-ending stream of bounty hunters and assassins attacking the protagonist. Unusual in that the protagonist didn't do anything to screw the BigBad's plans; all the assassination attempts are simply for [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne him or her existing]].
223* The basic premise behind ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' is that Black Mask put a fifty million dollar bounty on Batman's head, and eight professional killers show up trying to collect, though [[spoiler:Lady Shiva]] and [[spoiler:Deadshot]] are only encountered in side quests missions, and the third side-mission-only mini-boss [[spoiler:Anarky]] is ''not'' one of the eight.
224* In ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseWorldEdition'', the {{Arc Villain}}s of each world region and even a few minor [[MonsterOfTheWeek Killers of the Week]] are [[EliteMooks elite agents]] of the NebulousEvilOrganisation fought throughout the story by the player and the police force they belong to. These include a MorallyBankruptBanker/cult leader committing terrorist acts all over Europe, a ProfessionalKiller with a penchant for PoisonedWeapons, the head of a Russian space organization, a NGO worker laundering and stealing money from disaster charities, a [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinist]] grandma in charge of a DeadlyGame for children, a ProfessorGuineaPig experimenting on humans, a diamond heiress smuggling jewels for the organization, [[TheMole and even a member of the police force]].
225* Subverted in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins''. [[TheDragon Arl Howe]] approached [[MurderInc the Antivan Crows]] about assassinating the Grey Wardens, but since it's considered in poor taste (and often suicidal) to go after members of that order, only Zevran stepped up to accept the contract. Once he makes his attempt, no more Crows bother the Warden for the rest of the game. [[spoiler: When they do return, it's more because they are after Zevran for failing to get his target]].
226* The [[MurderInc Dark Brotherhood]] in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' has this vibe. Besides the authoritarian, no-nonsense leader, members include a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Werewolf]] booted from the Companions who also happens to be her husband, a [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] and legit badass [[ScaryBlackMan Scary Redguard]], an ancient [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]] [[UndeadChild forever frozen in the form of a little girl]], a [[GrumpyOldMan grumpy old mage]] who favors [[StuffBlowingUp louder and flashier means of killing]], an [[LizardFolk Argonian]] who may be the last member of a line of Argonian royal spies and assassins, a [[MonsterClown murderous jester]] who is [[CloudCuckoolander completely off his rocker]], and their TeamPet, [[SpidersAreScary a Frostbite Spider]].
227* A staple of Creator/Suda51 console games; You play as one of these in ''VideoGame/{{Killer7}}'', and fight your way to the top of a different group in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes''.
228* In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', the gangster Goto hires dozens of bounty hunters to bring in the Player Character. Goto wants you alive, but the people he hired don't pay attention to that part so much.
229* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' consists of a team of these being pitted against another team of them. To wit:
230** A [[{{Southies}} Bostonian]] FragileSpeedster with a penchant for [[BatterUp baseball]].
231** An AxCrazy, not-quite ShellShockedVeteran of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
232** A {{Pyromaniac}} of indeterminate gender and origin.
233** A [[ScaryBlackMan black]], [[ViolentGlaswegian Scottish]] [[EyepatchOfPower cyclopean]] [[MadBomber demolitions expert]] who can swing a mean sword.
234** A [[HuskyRusskie large Russian man]] with a love for [[MoreDakka massive chainguns]].
235** A [[SouthernFriedGenius Texan]] GadgeteerGenius somewhat addicted to [[MoreDakka More Gun]].
236** A [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate sadistic]] [[HerrDoktor German]] [[TheMedic doctor]].
237** An [[LandDownUnder Australian]] [[ColdSniper sni]][[FriendlySniper per]] who uses [[UrineTrouble an ancient martial art]].
238** A French [[TuxedoAndMartini espionage]] [[DoubleAgent agent]] with a variety of [[ShoePhone cloaking watches]].
239* The "Deaths of Chromie" scenario from ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', players have to stop several assassins hired by an unknown master all trying to kill Chromie at the same time. They include a [[FaunsAndSatyrs satyr]], a [[OurLichesAreDifferent lich]], a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent dreadlord]], a [[PowerOfTheVoid Void god]], as well as other undeads, demons and even troops from the player factions, even though all of these people are normally working for wildly different sides at war with each other.
240[[/folder]]
241
242[[folder:Webcomics]]
243* ''Webcomic/CassiopeiaQuinn'': During "The Big Race" arc, Headhunter siccs a small horde of his mercenaries after Cassiopeia, including Clawlossus, Mercy, and Old Salt.
244* ''Webcomic/DeadWinter'': One of the main characters, Monday, is involved in one of these as a subplot.
245* In the [[http://get-medieval.livejournal.com/177949.html Extraterrestrial Mob Assassins]] storyline in ''Webcomic/GetMedieval'', Mafia boss Broat [[http://www.ainself.net/irony/get_medieval/get_medieval0658.gif hires a trio of these]].
246* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'' has the Pursuers, an unaffiliated mob of 108 Guild mercenaries and independent warriors hunting the Key of Kings lodged in Allison's head. While they work together to chase Allison, whenever they get close to actually catching Allison they start killing each other in a free-for-all brawl since only one would be able to actually claim the Key. New Pursuers join up at about the same rate as they get killed, keeping the number constant.
247[[/folder]]
248
249[[folder:Web Originals]]
250* In the backstory of ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' the Slaughterhouse 9 used to act as this for gangs such as the Teeth. By the current story, they seem to have abandoned these side jobs in favor of straight mayhem.
251[[/folder]]
252
253[[folder:Western Animation]]
254* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'', Gin Rummy tells the tale of Bushido Brown fending off a group of these hired by the beef industry to take out Oprah Winfrey, including pastiches of Series/WalkerTexasRanger and Billy Jack.
255-->'''Gin Rummy:''' Apparently only one guy actually managed to get his hand on Oprah's door, they say Bushido Brown kept that hand.\
256'''Ed the Third:''' Dang, I think I just shit myself.
257* The various groups that try to catch ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' after Vlad put out a bounty on him, including the Guys in White and the Extreme Ghostbreakers.
258* This was common enough in ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' that eventually an episode is told from the perspective of the disparate group of {{Bounty Hunter}}s searching for Jack. [[note]]This episode is one of the few instances of Jack using his sword on a living creature ([[DiscretionShot albeit not directly 'on camera']]), an artifact left over from the ''Manga/LoneWolfAndCub'' chapter which [[WholePlotReference it homages almost scene-for-scene. Oddly, Jack is later said to have never taken a (non-robotic) life before a certain point that comes after that fight]].[[/note]] Another example is the endless progression of hunters facing Jack head-on in "Jack and Mad Jack" (most notably, "Crazy Round Man" [[CrossoverCameo and]] [[WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory Huntor]]).
259* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Spoofed in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS20E1SexPiesAndIdiotScrapes Sex, Pies, and Idiot Scrapes]]". Homer becomes a bounty hunter with Ned Flanders as his partner. When Flanders decides to leave the business, their boss tells him his last bounty is Homer himself. And if Flanders won't do it, one of the other hunters will. Cue a room full of thugs, including a knife-wielder, a psychotic man with a chainsaw, a girl with a machine-gun leg, and a grizzly bear practicing the nunchaku.
260-->'''Ned Flanders:''' I'm sure they're all competent professionals, but you'd best leave it to me.
261* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros''' third season, Jean-Claude [=LeTueur=], Russel "Go-Fish" Sturgeon, and Herr Trigger are hired to track and kill Brock. [[spoiler:All of them manipulated by Molotov Cocktease into getting killed by Brock so that her Black Hearts assassins agency would be the only game in town for high-profile assassination jobs.]]
262* In the ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' episode "[[Recap/WanderOverYonderS1E8TheBallTheBounty The Bounty]]", Lord Hater gets tired of Peepers' repeated failures at capturing Wander and Sylvia and hires three bounty hunters to do the job: Rongroffle the Huntress, Killbot 86, and... a potted plant (one that turns out to be of the [[ManEatingPlant man-eating variety]]).
263* The ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' episode "Infiltrator" deals with the heroes protecting a scientist from a group of assassins. However, all of the assassins are working for the same group -- the League of Shadows -- and operate as a team with zero infighting.
264[[/folder]]

Top