Only in It For the Money: Difference between revisions
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[[Incorruptible Pure Pureness|Some heroes do what they do for honor]], [[Glory Seeker|some for glory]], some [[For Great Justice]]. Others are only looking for the cash. This attitude is held by people who are honestly greedy, just need a living, or don't want to act like they care. Characters fitting this attitude are often [[Hired Guns]] and the [[Bounty Hunter]]. In fact, the [[Evil Overlord List]] states that bounty hunters should only be hired for money; those that [[In Harm's Way|love the thrill of the chase]] are too likely to give the prey a chance to get away.
This is a sub-trope of [[Not in This For Your Revolution]]. [[Money, Dear Boy]] is when it happens in [[Real Life]]. Might be a trait of a [[Proud Merchant Race Guy]]. Villains who say this are likely to be [[Punch Clock Villain]]s, and might show that [[Even Evil Has Standards]]. On the other hand it might show they're a [[Greed]]y creep who [[It's All About Me|doesn't care about anyone]]. Contrast the [[Psycho for Hire]], who while equally villainous, has other motivations. Not to be confused with [[Every Man Has His Price]], where the already-rich character feels money can be used to ''solve'' any problem.
{{examples}}
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'''Mr. Nobody''': "At a million dollars a head--plus five for Fisk--it's kind of a no-brainer." }}
* An old friend of [[Star Wars|Han Solo's]] sets him up to be captured by Boba Fett in ''[[Dark Empire]]''. Money was not only ''a'' reason, but the ''only'' reason he betrayed Han. It's pretty sad if you read ''[[The Han Solo Trilogy]]'' prequel novels, in which he also appears, and see what a great friend he used to be before his [[Start of Darkness]].
* In ''[[Mega Man (comics)|Mega Man]]'', Dr. Light mentions having designed several military robots early in his career strictly so he could gain the money and
* [[Taskmaster]] will work for whoever is willing to pay him the most money.
* Paladin (who mostly appears in [[Spider-Man]] titles) is a rare heroic example; at least, he's a mercenary who sides with the good guys more often than not, but never for free.
* [[Lobo]] is a bounty hunter who is willing to bag ''himself'' if someone pays him enough, and he ''has'' done that at least once.
* [[X-Men]] villain the Juggernaut is pretty much the [[Trope Codifier]] for the Trope of the same name; once he starts to walk in one direction, no physical force can so much as slow him down. However, one method that is almost guaranteed to stop him (assuming he's working as a mercenary or assassin and not out for revenge or some other personal reason) is to offer him more money than his current employer is paying him.
== Film ==
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* ''[[Hard Rain]]'': Jim, says this almost word-for-word several times in the film. Even in the end, when Tom thinks Jim helped save his life:
{{quote|'''Jim:''' You just don't get it, do you? (He grabs the money bags and puts them in his boat.)}}
* Providing the quote for this page, Lone Starr from the ''[[Star Wars]]'' lampoon, ''[[Spaceballs]]''. Initially, Lone Starr and Barf are indebted to Pizza the Hutt, and are only willing to rescue Princess Vespa if her father agrees to pay enough to cover it. {{spoiler|They succeed, but then hear that Pizza has eaten himself to death, meaning they can keep the reward for themselves. However, Lone Starr has a change of heart and tells Vespa's father to [[Keep the Reward]] (taking only enough for lunch, gas, and tolls) while telling him not to tell Vespa after he leaves.}}
== Literature ==
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'''Kyra''': Eighty bucks is eighty bucks. }}
* You know all those hysterically insane [[Conspiracy Theories]] presented on the [[Glenn Beck]] show? Beck's admitted that if they didn't bring in the ratings, he'd dump them in a heartbeat because even he knows how loony they are.
** Suspected to also be [[Alex Jones]]' intent. The guy rants about [[Alien Invasion]]s, [[Government Conspiracy]]s, and an inevitable [[Divided States of America|second Civil War]], all of which threatening to cause [[The End of the World as We Know It]], and also uses his show to promote his own line of weight loss and fertility supplements, which he claims will be essential [[After the End]]. [[Does This Remind You of Anything?| It does seem]] [[Medicine Show| kind of familiar to those in the know]] about [[Snake Oil Salesman| a certain type of merchant...]]
* A majority of the villains on ''[[Leverage]]''. Notable examples include Marcus Starke's crew, who as a [[Similar Squad]] provide a strong contrast with the Leverage team (who are motivated equally by cash and a desire to help people), and [[The Brute|Mr. Quinn]], a mercenary hired by Sterling to give [[The Big Guy|Eliot]] the worst beating of his life.
* In the ''[[Masters of Horror]]'' episode "Cigarette Burns", the search for 'La Fin Absolue du Monde' starts out as this for Kirby, to pay off his enormous debts. Later on he becomes increasingly obsessed with the film itself.
* Unlike most ''[[Power Rangers]]'' villains, Broodwing - from ''[[Power Rangers SPD]]'' - was a weapons dealer who only had profit in mind. Seeing as [[Big Bad|Emperor Gruumm]] constantly demanded his work for free, [[You Get What You Pay For|it's little wonder the Rangers defeated his creations with ease]].
== Music ==
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== Tabletop Games ==
* Basic ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' adventure ''The Keep on the Borderlands''. The ogre in the Caves of Chaos will fight for whoever pays him the most money.
* In the ''[[Planescape]]'' setting, yugoloths are usually viewed as greedy mercenaries who will work for ''anyone''. Although, it is rumored that higher-ranking ones have more sinister goals.
** The mercane are like this too, but far less malevolent. One rumor claims they have some sort of racial compulsion to make money.
== Video Games ==
* Mike the mercenary from the ''[[Jagged Alliance]]'' series. In the first game, he makes it clear to the player he only works for money. Come the sequel, he's no longer available to hire at all, and a brief bio on the in-game website where you recruit your mercs implies that he parted ways with the [[Weird Trade Union|Association of International Mercenaries]] because they'd had enough of his ever-increasing salary demands and the accompanying attitude problem. <nowiki>{{Apparently Queen Deidrana was more tolerant of his antics, because he turns up working for her about two-thirds of the way through JA2's campaign.}}</nowiki>
* [[Wario Land|Wario]] in general. Pretty much any time he's trying to do something it's either to get some treasure or the reclaim the stuff stolen from him, and anything else that happens (i.e. saving the world) is a side effect.
* The Goblin Alchemist hero in ''[[Warcraft]] 3'' has "[[And This Is For|For the highest bidder!]]" as his warcry.
* The GLA's hero unit in ''[[Command & Conquer]] Generals'' is implied to work for money rather than to further the cause.
* Almost averted{{Verify|how}} in the ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]'' series. When the Thug Leader is discussing a service with a client {{spoiler|opposed to their current employer}}, he initially declines until he's offered a lot of money.
* ''[[Ace Combat]] Zero'': [[Player Character|Cipher]] and [[Wing Man|Pixy]] initially fight in the Belkan War for Ustio's money, as Pixy regularly reminds us on the radio. In fact, many regular forces comment on this in disdain... until both of them are so feared/revered for their accomplishments that nobody mentions it anymore (especially if you take the Knight route). {{spoiler|The fact that Pixy goes MIA and is replaced with PJ, who is a commissioned Ustio officer, as your wingman probably contributes.}}
* ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' series. One particularly good example is Farina from ''Blazing Sword''. The ''only'' way to recruit her is to have Hector pay her 20,000 gold. In fact, contrary to what might have worked elsewhere in the series, ''not even having her sisters talk to her'' will convince her to join your team! Oh, and once she's on your team, expect her to brag about her pay in her support conversations (besides her sisters and Hector). And just to top it off, her quote during the final battle? Making sure you don't forget her bonus pay!
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* In ''[[Order of the Stick]]'' Haley is apparently only interested in treasure. While she does have a very good reason to gather large amounts of gold, even before then she was greedy. Though she does have a noble streak, and in one case funded a resistance movement out of her own pocket.
* In ''[[Elf Blood]]'', mercenary information saleswoman Carlita Delacroix sells to both sides of the central conflict and is very open about this. She even requests a down payment on information that would ultimately be used to help save a dying client's life.
* In ''[[Sinfest]]'', [
* In ''[[No Rest for The Wicked (webcomic)|No Rest for The Wicked]]'', [http://www.forthewicked.net/archive/01-25.html November, realizing Perrault has no nobility, offers gold.]
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