Line #48 Main/VillainRecruitmentSong


1	->''A special offer for today, I'll tell you what I'll do''\
2	''All those who sign without delay will get a free tattoo''\
3	''For it's like money in the bank''\
4	''Come on, join up and I'll be frank''\
5	''Unless you do, you'll walk the plank!''\
6	''The choice is up to you!''
7	-->-- "The Elegant Captain Hook", ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan''
8
9	The villain has the hero in his clutches. Escape is impossible. Will he shoot the hero? Boil him in oil? Throw him into a pit of fire ants with sugar cubes glued to his head?
10
11	No, the hero won't get off that easily. This villain is going to [[AnythingButThat ...sing!]]
12
13	That's right--the villain doesn't want to kill the hero. He wants the hero to [[RivalsTeamUp join him]]. Furthermore, he wants the hero to [[WeCanRuleTogether join him voluntarily]], so he bombards the hero with propaganda via musical number.
14
15	Generally, this offer will either be rejected outright or result in a temporary FaceHeelTurn unless dealing with a character other than the protagonist or with a tragedy, in which case it might just fully work.
16
17	Subtrope of VillainSong. Related to but not to be confused with VillainLoveSong. Villain Love Songs are...[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin well, love songs]], whereas Villain Recruitment Songs try to persuade the hero to join with the villain simply because it's in their best interests.
18	----
19	!!Examples
20
21	[[foldercontrol]]
22
23	[[folder:Fanfiction]]
24	* Eddy has one in the ''FanFic/CalvinAtCamp'' episode "Jason Fox TheMusical."
25	[[/folder]]
26
27	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
28	* In the DarkReprise of the VillainSong "How Could I Refuse?" from ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAsThePrincessAndThePauper'', [[EvilChancellor Preminger]] convinces [[TheGoodQueen Queen Genevieve]] to marry him to keep the kingdom from collapsing of bankruptcy and starvation.
29	* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King\|1994}}'': "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkU23m6yX04 Be Prepared]]" is about Scar recruiting the hyenas for his plan to kill Mufasa.
30	-->"Stick with me, '''and you'll never go hungry again!'''"
31	* "The Elegant Captain Hook," from ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan''. With the Lost Boys captured, the pirates tell them to join their ranks. Which actually ''works'', until [[TeamMom Wendy]] persuades the boys otherwise.
32	* "Welcome to the Forty Thieves," in ''WesternAnimation/AladdinAndTheKingOfThieves'', although it's really more of a "[[KlingonPromotion you accidentally joined]], try to leave and we'll kill you" song.
33	** There was also the song "Are You In Or Out?", sung by [[TheDragon Sa'luk]] after he assumes control of what's left of the Forty Thieves once all but 7 of them have been arrested. The song is unique in that it's a ''re''-recruitment song; the thieves have already banded together, it's just that Sa'luk wants them to follow him again.
34	* WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends special WesternAnimation/JourneyBeyondSodor has one of these in the form "Hottest Place In Town." In it, Frankie and Hurricane make the Steelworks sound like a great place to work. It even includes the line "And before you know it, you'll be joining us in our song" before Thomas joins in towards the end.
35	* From ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'', "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SDrqa-eTXU&feature=related Blame Canada]]" could count, though the [[MoralGuardians Mothers Against Canada]] were more {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s than outright villains, although Sheila almost crossed the line before her HeelFaceTurn at the very end. (They accidentally release the BigBad, [[spoiler:Saddam Hussein]], by bringing enough intolerance into the world to open the portal to Hell.)
36	* "Just Say Yes" from ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH2TimmyToTheRescue''. A BrainwashedAndCrazy Martin tries to convince his little brother to join his side. The song is just as insane as the experiments made him.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
40	* ''Film/MuppetTreasureIsland'' has "Professional Pirate," in which Long John Silver tries to convince Jim Hawkins to join his pirate crew and let them use his compass to find the buried treasure, explaining that pirates are just misunderstood and really, "members of a noble brotherhood".
41	* ''Film/AbsoluteBeginners'' has several characters who qualify as antagonists, but the only one who gets a song (entitled "That's Motivation") is Vendice Partners, an advertising executive who convinces the idealistic photographer protagonist to join him in the business of selling dreams and selling out via a DisneyAcidSequence. This results in a temporary FaceHeelTurn until the hero learns that Partners and the other antagonists are all in on an evil scheme. Music/DavidBowie played Vendice, wrote the song (lyrics [[http://www.teenagewildlife.com/music/st/AB/TM.html here]]), and got third billing in the credits -- all with good cause.
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
45	* The ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods'' song "No One Is Alone" became this when Satan (played by frequent Stephen Sondheim musical performer Creator/MandyPatinkin) used it as part of his temptation of Monica in the ''Series/TouchedByAnAngel'' episode "Netherlands".
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Theater]]
49	* "I Can't Do It Alone" from ''{{Theatre/Chicago}}'' counts as this, though the situation is inverted: Velma is recruiting Roxie (herself a VillainProtagonist), because Roxie is in the better position, and Velma needs help.
50	%%* "Join Us" -- ''Theatre/EvilDeadTheMusical''
51	* "Everybody's Got the Right", the opening number from ''Theatre/{{Assassins}}'', features the Proprietor convincing the various assassins to attempt to kill the president of the United States.
52	** [[spoiler: "Take a Look, Lee/November 22, 1963" has the assassins themselves convince Lee Harvey Oswald into shooting JFK.]]
53	* "Hey, Little Songbird" and "When the Chips are Down" from ''Theatre/{{Hadestown}}'' has Hades and the Fates entice Eurydice to take the train way down under the ground to the titular city.
54	* In ''Theatre/{{Heathers}}'' when Veronica has doubts about ditching her best friend Martha, [[GirlPosse the Heathers]] sing "Candy Store" to show Veronica what she'd miss out on by choosing Martha over them.
55	* In ''Theatre/JasperInDeadland'', Mr Lethe's song "Awful People" is about him trying to get Jasper to supply the Living World with water from the river Lethe, so that Mr Lethe can expand his rule beyond Deadland.
56	* ''Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors'' has "Feed Me (Git It)," in which Audrey II tries to get Seymour to feed him more blood by promising him anything he desires.
57	** "Mushnik and Son" -- Mr. Mushnik attempting to convince Seymour to let him take him in as his son, so as to keep him in the flower shop --could qualify as well, depending on your interpretation.
58	* In ''Theatre/MeanGirls'' [[GirlPosse the Plastics]] musically request Cady to sit with them at lunch in "Meet the Plastics", the official invite to join their clique.
59	* "Lovely Ladies" in ''Theatre/LesMiserables'', where the homeless, despairing Fantine is surrounded by a chorus of prostitutes aggressively telling her to give in to the inevitable and take up their trade.
60	* "When You Had Left Our Pirate Fold" (aka "A Paradox") from ''Theatre/ThePiratesOfPenzance'' is an example, though Ruth and the Pirate King are not trying to ''convince'' Frederick to (re)join them, oh no no no, they're merely pointing out the unusual circumstances and the exact wording of Frederick's apprenticeship (he's bound to the pirates until his twenty-first ''birthday'', and he was born on the 29th of February), and leaving the rest to his [[HonorBeforeReason "Sense of Duty to which we have never yet appealed in vain".]]
61	* "Wonderful" in ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'' is [[VillainWithGoodPublicity the Wizard's]] attempt to convince [[WellIntentionedExtremist Elphaba]] to abandon her cause and join him. She ''almost'' falls for it.
62	[[/folder]]
63
64	[[folder:Video Games]]
65	* In ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankUpYourArsenal'', Ratchet and Clank find a music video of IdolSinger Courtney Gears' newest song "Death to Squishes", a song asking all robots in the galaxy to rise up against all the organic lifeforms there and [[FantasticRacism exterminate them]], confirming that she is working for the game's BigBad Dr. Nefarious.
66	[[/folder]]
67
68	[[folder:Web Original]]
69	* "Bad Horse" from WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog.
70	** Played with in the reprise, when it becomes more threatening: Bad Horse still says "neigh" to Dr. Horrible's joining the ELE, and now he can only get in by killing someone. "There will be blood, it might be ''yours."''
71	[[/folder]]
72
73	[[folder:Western Animation]]
74	* The ''WesternAnimation/ChalkZone'' episode "Chalk Queen" has Skrawl sing a reprise of his VillainSong devoted to convincing Penny to side with him in his latest scheme against Rudy.
75	* ''WesternAnimation/DonkeyKongCountry'' gives us two. When DK was once hit with amnesia, both Kaptain Skurvy and King K. Rool take advantage of this by convincing him that he's one of them. This includes Skurvy singing "The Mirror Never Lies" and K. Rool singing "One Of Us".
76	* ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcakeBerryInTheBigCity'' episode "Peculiar Purple Partner", in one last attempt to eliminate Strawberry Shortcake as a competitor to his pieshops, The Peculiar Purple Pieman sings "Everything You've Ever Wanted", where he convinces her to work for him under the guise of helping her finally accomplish her dream of becoming a successful baker.
77	[[/folder]]

Context Main / VillainRecruitmentSong