Psycho for Hire: Difference between revisions

* Barry The Chopper and The Slicer from ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' are a pair of [[Serial Killer|Serial Killers]]s who were offered a chance at life in exchange for guarding Laboratory 5. Barry in particular makes it very clear that he only accepted the offer for the chance to start cutting people up again.

* Devo The Cursed from ''[[Jo JoJoJo's Bizarre Adventure|Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure]]''.

* The anime ''[[Texhnolyze]]'' has an unexpected Psycho For Hire in {{spoiler|Yoshi}} who murders innocent people and starts gang wars for the sake of amusement. While he may have an ideological purpose behind it all, it is so obscure that it only makes him look all the more hysterical.

** It's rather tragic one: {{spoiler|He comes from a world where there are no passions, no-one desires or fears anything, and death is just an irrelevant abstraction. Then he comes to Lux, and sees who people who truly ''care'' about living, due to being under a constant threat of violent death. He falls so much in love with this feeling, and thinks that the people of Lux don't appreciate it enough, that he decides to share his own newfound passion with everybody by starting a war that will swallow the entire city, allowing him to witness it's overflowing lifeforce in the fullest.}}

* Schwartz of ''[[Weiss Kreuz]]'' start out as a team of four Psychos For Hire, since they are the [[Evil Counterpart|Evil Counterparts]]s of the four [[Hitman with a Heart]] protagonists. That they turn on every single one of their employers before the end of the first series illustrates the dangers of employing Psychos For Hire.

* Perhaps one of the crowning examples is Gauron from ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]!'', who actually had to be restrained from killing the pilot on an airplane he was hijacking, even when none of the other terrorists ''could fly the plane''. He's been shown to also [[Trigger Happy|shoot and kill]] his employers when they say things that irritate him. Furthermore, while utilizing a Lambda Driver seems to drive another terrorist into a [[Ax Crazy|kind of delusional psychosis]], Gauron doesn't seem at all changed by his experiences with it, suggesting he's ''already'' that crazy. Add in his {{spoiler|intentionally brutal execution and gruesome display of Sousuke's comrades}} just to [[In Love with Your Carnage|attempt to "wake up" the perfect killing machine he remembers Sousuke being]], and the psychosis is rather clear. However, his sheer ''personality'' while doing this (such as utilizing his infamous "bang" finger pose to trigger his AS's Lambda Driver) have had some people torn between whether he's in [[Moral Event Horizon]] territory or an utter [[Badass]].

** Gates, Gauron's replacement in Amalgam's antagonist role from ''The Second Raid'', is also like this, with a [[Running Gag]] being [[You Have Failed Me...|his random killing off of his own men]] for any number of reasons. Also, his last words before his death? "I could use a haircut" while {{spoiler|his mech is being vaporized around him by the Arbalest's Lambda Driver}}. If not for his [[Informed Ability|apparent combat skills]], one'd wonder why Amalgam'd hire someone MORE unstable than Gauron.

*** It's an example of [[Adaptation Distillation]]. In the original novel he was a nondescript goon who didn't even had a name, and was known only by his Amalgam codename -- Mrcodename—Mr. Kalium. The whole psycho thing was invented by the animation team.

* ''[[Baccano!]]'' has both the very talkative Ladd Russo, who is technically an assassin even though his killings on the train are strictly pro-bono (and in self-defense!), and Claire Stanfield (aka Vino), who is infamous for leaving unrecognizable remains.

{{quote| '''Tsukiyomi''':...so can I slice up the people on that ship, then?<br />

** Bradley doesn't have ''a single line of text'' where he isn't insulting, threatening or otherwise expressing a desire to hurt someone.

** Decil Galette of ''[[Gundam AGE]]'' is what Yazan and Ali would look like if they were [[Enfante Terrible|Enfante Terribles]]s. A gleefully [[Axe Crazy]] [[Cheerful Child]], Decil views war as one giant game, and all the soldiers under his command as playthings. This attitude does not improve upon his reaching adulthood, and he now [[Expy|resembles]] his two inspirations more than ever.

* ''[[Mnemosyne]]'' features the psychotic Laura, who takes sadistic pleasure in causing as much harm and destruction to her target, Rin, as she possibly can. Of course, she also enjoys harming those close to her as well.

* Wei in ''[[Darker Thanthan Black]]'' is sadistic and violent even by Contractor standards, which is saying something. But then, his power is to [[Bloody Murder|teleport chunks out of anything he's gotten blood on]], so you shouldn't exactly [[Bad Powers, Bad People|expect him to be a nice guy]].

* Accelerator from ''[[ToA AruCertain Majutsu noMagical Index]]'' begins like this but changes to [[Heroic Sociopath]] [[Anti-Hero]] when he picks up [[Morality Pet|Last Order]]. He still prefers to brutally and painfully kill opponents with crazed laughter instead of sparing them but then again, [[What You Are in the Dark|it's not like he brings the girl with him into the battle zone]].

* In the ''[[Daredevil]]'' comic book, the [[Big Bad]] used a Psycho For Hire to make a mob hit look like a random killing. Once, it worked -- butworked—but another time, the Psycho For Hire got carried away, and the whole thing was blown.

** Nemo actually seems fairly emotionally stable, if incredibly pissed off and bitter, at first. Then, at the end of the first book, he busts out the automatic harpoon gun. Quartermain points out that Hyde is actually better than Nemo, ''because you can reason with Hyde.''

{{quote| '''[[Punch Clock Villain]]''': I didn't get involved in this because I'm some sort of cackling super-villain who gets off on hurting people or anything.<br />

{{quote| '''Bullseye''': I'm going to need to pleasure myself now. You might want to leave the room.<br />

* Doctor Phosphorus fills this roll nicely in the ''[[Starman (Comic Bookcomics)|Starman]]'' series.

{{quote| '''Gail:''' ...but those boys in that hunk-of-junk Plymouth, they're one mistake away from seeing what Miho can do. She's been aching for some practice. Things have been so quiet since all the trouble with Marv and Goldie and Cardinal Roark. It broke my heart, seeing Miho so frustrated. I'd have to be made of stone not to give her ''something'' to do.}}

* The twin assassins Siamese, from ''[[Kabuki (Comic Book)|Kabuki]]'': "...we will do silly things to your tender parts..."

* Cheshire from [[The DCU]]. It doesn't get much more psychotic than [[Moral Event Horizon|nuking a small country]] just to prove to the world that you're not bluffing -- andbluffing—and ''[[Evil Laugh|laughing]]'' while it burns.

* [[Deadpool]] is a shining example of this trope. He was once hired to keep [[Spider-Man]] distracted. During that time he tried to blow Spidey up with an exploding pen, blew-up his own feet instead and challenged Spider-Man to a [[Your Mom]] contest. [http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/5/52044/1482436-yo_mamagedon_super.jpg In addition he has yo mama joke so bad that it can kill people.]{{Dead link}} Ultimately he stops when the contract ends, leaving Spider-Man just as confused as anyone else who has ever tangled with him.

* In ''[[Sleepy Hollow (Film)|Sleepy Hollow]]'', before he became the Headless Horseman, the Hessian was a Psycho For Hire for the Redcoats. He wasn't in it for the money, but rather [[Blood Knight|"...for the love of carnage."]]

** Xenia Onatopp from ''[[GoldeneyeGoldenEye (film)|GoldenEye]]''. In addition to [[Murderous Thighs|squeezing people to death with her legs]] [[Death by Sex|during sex]], the [[Combat Sadomasochist|insane glee with which she carried out the massacre scene]] at Severnaya has been compared to orgasm, to the point where one may wonder if she was wielding an assault rifle or a sex toy. Given the expression her employer Ourumov has watching this, he's wondering the same thing.

* Tin-Tin, Funboy, T-Bird and Skank from ''[[The Crow]]'', who do particularly brutal jobs for the city's kingpin, Top Dollar. In something of a subversion of the trope, Top Dollar is [[For the Evulz|far more evil]] than even these psychotic killers.

* Bennett from ''[[Commando (film)|Commando]]'':

{{quote| :'''MATRIX:''' How much are they paying you, [[Face Heel Turn|Bennett]]?<br />

* Simon Phoenix from ''[[Demolition Man]]'', although he is released and controlled rather than hired. He is prevented from killing the big bad by mental tampering {{spoiler|but since it's too specific he can order his newly released pals to do it, which he does not because the Big Bad says he's a pyscho but because the big bad is "an evil Mr. Rogers.".}}.

* Several villains in [[Terry Pratchett]]'s [[Discworld]] series qualify, most notably Mr. Teatime in ''[[Discworld/Hogfather|Hogfather]]'' and Carcer in ''[[Discworld/Night Watch (Discworld)|Night Watch]]'', once he can find someone to hire him. Also Wolfgang, from ''[[The Fifth Elephant]]''. Subverted with Stratford in ''[[Discworld/Snuff|Snuff]]'', as it's solely his psycho-for-hire gratuitous cruelty and murderousness that end up provoking the hero to investigate evil-doing that would otherwise have stayed below the radar.

* Many warriors in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', especially those employed by Tywin Lannister. Ser Gregor Clegane, "The Mountain That Rides," is a hulking horror, driven into a perpetual rage by migraines and painkillers. Vargo Hoat leads an entire mercenary company of child killers, [[Evil Clown|Evil Clowns]]s, and other classy gents who take great pleasure in chopping off captives' hands and feet [[For the Evulz|for their own amusement]]. At one point, a character wonders just how many [[Complete Monster|monsters]] Tywin has working for him. Relatively more sympathetic is Sandor Clegane, a brutal thug with some [[Wangst]] issues, who insists that all knights are psychos for hire by default, but like to pretend otherwise. He sums this trope up nicely with, "Killing is the sweetest thing there is."

** House Bolton starts out as the Stark family's own [[Psycho for Hire]] bannermen, which is somewhat interesting as the Starks are generally good guys and the Boltons are now considered the [[Token Evil Teammate]] of the North. {{spoiler|The Boltons betray them at the Red Wedding, and now Roose Bolton is Warden of the North.}}

** For an example, the Hashashin from ''[[Angels and& Demons]]''.

* In [[Richard K. Morgan]]'s book ''[[Black Man]]'' (aka ''Thirteen'' in the USA), Carl Marsalis is a genetically modified supersoldier called a "thirteen," who works for the government hunting down his own kind. Hard-wired for war, he simply has the need to kill. Since he's an [[Anti-Hero]], however, he never crosses the [[Moral Event Horizon]] and keeps his homicidal urges firmly focused on scumbags.

* The Novel ''Siege'' from ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'' featured an evil shapeshifter Meta. He '''liked''' killing, but he also took money for it, which he spent for various evil things (including buying slaves who he killed ''slowly''. He also slaughtered his last boss.

* From ''[[Warbreaker]]'' {{spoiler|Tonk Fah. His partner [[Magnificent Bastard|Denth]] is an aversion, however -- he has his own goals, and is [[Affably Evil]] and even somewhat sympathetic}}.

* In the Robin Cook book ''Coma'', the bad guys hire a hitman to kill medical student Susan Wheeler when she gets a whiff of their black-market organ scheme. He is specifically instructed to make it look like a rape/mugging gone bad, and when he is told this, it is stated that he absolutely relish the idea of sexually assaulting Susan--SusanSusan—Susan herself notes that he seems to savor the fear he's creating as he stalks her.

** 'The Runner' and 'The Driver' (their names could not be given due to the concurrent court case), whose claim to fame was to kill Jason Moran in front of their kids, would also qualify. Specifically when The Runner thinks his wife is having an affair he first tracks down who he thinks she is with, only for the teenager to not only be taken into protection by the police but is the wrong man, after trashing his house he beats and rapes his wife.

* In ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'', the Jem'Hadar are the mercenaries employed by the Founders. They are kept under control through addiction to a drug controlled by the Founders.

** Actually Jem'Hader are slave soldiers, and seem to be treated tragically by the show rather then focusing on psychopathy. Presumably the Founders programmed them to like causing pain, but they are also often treated as if not quite as honorable opponents in the Klingon or Romulan sense, at least as dedicated soldiers who take pride in their valor and discipline.

* Jamie McDonald of ''[[The Thick of It]]'', Malcolm Tucker's [[Bastard Understudy|lackey]] and attack dog whom Malcolm uses as much by reputation as by actual force. More than once he has convinced someone to get motivated by threatening to call Jamie over.

* In ''[[Noob (TV series)|Noob]]'', one of the characters is a mercenary who joins groups for money and is clearly in for the occasion to kill enemies. A mix of friendship with one of the main group's members and the urge to hit on something will even make her frequently tag along for free as long as she gets to do the latter.

* [[Manipulative Bastard|Moriarty]] on [[Sherlock]] is referred to as the "consultant criminal".

* Dark Eldar in ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'' are a [[Planet of Hats]] of sadistic sociopaths. Creators of Slaanesh who are of a martial bent also fall squarely into this trope (and usually supplement it with playing the [[Mad Artist]] in their spare time as well) because the only missing ingredient for their eternal youth is [[Cold-Blooded Torture|entertainment]].

* Szuriel, the [[Horsemen of the Apocalypse|Horseman of War]] in ''[[Pathfinder]]'' is what happens when a being of near divine status adopts the mentality of a typical [[Psycho for Hire]]. Szuriel hires out her daemons as mercenaries to mortals, demon lords, archdevils, and anyone else who is willing to pay. These campaigns inevitably result in war crimes, genocide, and the eventual betrayal and destruction of both sides, because Szuriel doesn't care about causes or contracts--onlycontracts—only violence and the theft of souls.

* In ''[[Way of the Samurai]] 2'', the local Big Bad, Hanzaemon Takenuma, has a Psycho For Hire named Kyojiro Kagenuma. She scares the ka-britches our of pretty much everybody, wields the most scary sword in the game, has two ridiculously overpowered attacks, and will -- inwill—in several endings -- continueendings—continue to haunt the player after the [[Big Bad]] has been defeated. Often referred to as a 'Mad Dog', though never to her face. Call her O-Kyo at your own peril.

* Most ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' bosses who aren't either [[Magnificent Bastard|Magnificent Bastards]]s or [[Anti-Villain|Anti-Villains]]s fall into this trope.

{{quote| '''La Clown:''' I've never lost to anyone before, but I felt like letting you win this one, just to see what it's like.<br />

'''Snake:''' ...<br />

'''La Clown:''' But I never thought... losing would mean dying. I think I'm about to die. Snake, Flemming is in the underground hangar. He could be activating Metal Gear and deciding on a target for its nuclear warhead as we speak. To get to the hangar, you'll have to open a door in the north part of this section, and go down the ladder.<br />

'''Snake:''' Why are you telling me this?<br />

* Leon Powalski from the ''[[Star Fox (series)|Star FoxFOX]]'' games.

{{quote| '''Pigma Dengar:''' Daddy screamed REAL good before he died!}}

** Archibald was actually preceded by Lubikka Hakinnen from ''SRW Gaiden''. Instead of the Bransteins, though, he targeted Tytti, having slaughtered her whole family ''in front of her eyes''. He would've happily done this to other people, but he just takes extra pleasure if the victim is Tytti. When he got hired by the Shutedonian army, he also takes that job happily since it involves killing, and doesn't mind letting out [[Evil Laugh|Evil Laughs]]s often. {{spoiler|And then, he finally hammers it down in Tytti's breakdowns by killing her would-be-lover Ricardo and inflicted [[Allergic to Love|her fear of starting a new relationship]].}}

* Curtis Blackburn in ''[[Killer 7Killer7]]'', dear God...

* General Viper in ''[[Stella Deus: theThe Gate of Eternity]]'' is this with a touch of [[Axe Crazy]]. Fitting, then, that his weapon of choice is an axe.

{{quote| '''Clyde:''' I'm gonna kill you, cut you open, and go to an aerobics class wearing your intestines for leg warmers!<br />

'''Salem:''' I mean, does that even make ''sense.''<br />

'''Clyde:''' I'm gonna kill you both, drain all your blood, take out your bones, put your body in a big chair with some elves and reindeer, sit on your lap, and tell you all the cool shit I want for Christmas!<br />

'''Salem:''' Clearly, this guy had a messed-up childhood.<br />

**

{{quote| '''Player''': HK-47, can you translate?<br />

'''HK-47''': Analysis: 98% probability that the miniature meatbag's compatriots have been captured and he is asking for our help in remedying the situation.<br />

'''Player''': What about the other 2%?<br />

{{quote| Prometheus: What are you talking about?! It's not over yet! We're still here - the garbage left behind by that scum!<br />

Pandora: We can't get our old bodies back... we can't change our destiny... so we'll hasten the destiny of destruction.<br />

{{quote| Prometheus: It was all a farce! Albert set up everything from the start according to his own plan. He said that Mega Men were the natural evolution of Man?! Don't make me laugh! What an epic sham! ''I'm going to demolish this whole wretched world!'' * [[Critical Existence Failure]] ensues* }}

* Kartikeya from ''[[Wild ArmsARMs 5]]''. Sure, blow up a whole village just for the heck of it!

* Janus Cascade from ''[[Wild ArmsARMs 3]]'' is sort of like this. He's even willing to sacrifice his two comrades to obtain whatever he or the Prophets want.

* Zagi from ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]'' starts off as this, until his sole motivation becomes fighting Yuri.

* Bulleta/B.B. Hood of ''[[Darkstalkers]]''. A bit literal on the "for hire" part. In addition to being a sadistic, deranged sociopath, she's a [[Bounty Hunter]] -- the—the [[All There in the Manual|fluff]] specifically identifies her as a "Darkhunter," a type of bounty hunter specializing in capturing or killing monsters. She ended up summoned to the Majigen because she was considered to qualify as a "monster" by Jedah, despite being completely human... and instantly decided to kill everyone else. Even more unsettling is her innocent demeanor and resemblance to [[Little Dead Riding Hood|Little Red Riding Hood]].

{{quote| '''Jerme''': Such beautiful skin. If I cut you into lovely red ribbons with this, would the pieces be as soft and lovely as silk?}}

** Valter in ''[[Fire Emblem: theThe Sacred Stones|Sacred Stones]]'', a [[Blood Knight]] who cares for nothing but seeing more combat and has an [[I Have You Now, My Pretty|unhealthy obsession]] with the female protagonist.

* In ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' series, the Dark Brotherhood is [[Always ChaoticExclusively Evil|a death cult filled with thrillkillers]] who traditionally accept a fee for their murders. In ''Daggerfall'', ''Oblivion'', and ''Skyrim'', the player gets many opportunities to be the [[Psycho for Hire]].

{{quote| '''Baron Wulfenbach:''' DuPree. When I say the words "Alive and unharmed" - do '''any''' neurons actually '''fire''' in that brain of yours?<br />

'''Captain DuPree:''' Um - No Sir!<br />

{{quote| '''Gilgamesh:''' Your orders are simple - kill anyone who enters [this room], except for Doctor Sun and myself.<br />

'''Captain DuPree:''' [["speaking" in ["[Rebus Bubble|Rebus Bubbles]]s due to a broken jaw] :man: :woman: :little girl: ?<br />

'''Gilgamesh:''' Yes, anyone.<br />

'''Captain DuPree:''' :knife: :gun: :axe: :[[Noodle Implements|cheese]]: ?<br />

'''Gilgamesh:''' Yes, any way you like.<br />

'''Captain DuPree:''' [hugging a [[Your Approval Fills Me with Shame|rather disgusted-looking]] Gil] :"World's Best Boss" trophy:! }}

{{quote| '''Ed:''' ([http://www.megatokyo.com/?strip_id{{=}}743 talking about his head]) It's a head. It works. As long as it can express how much I enjoy killing people, it's all good.}}

** He's gotten somewhat better recently after a [[Vision Quest]], if only because he's realized that if he plays along with the other heroes' rules most of the time, he'll have more free reign when it comes to "stabbing the bad guys" time. He's still not a ''[[Token Evil Teammate|good]]'' person by any stretch, but he may just have moved up from [[Stupid Evil]] to actual [[Chaotic Evil]].

{{quote| "I'm not here to make friends. I show up to kill people...and look good while I do it."}}

* Skoll of [[Cry Havoc]], while well payed for her services as a mercenary, seems to be mainly motivated by a psychotic glee in killing people.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101215055827/http://www.soulgeek.com/comics/zona/2010/12/06/page-418/ This] [https://web.archive.org/web/20101229082715/http://www.soulgeek.com/comics/zona/2010/12/10/page-419/ guy], yeh?

{{quote| '''Lockdown''': ''"You couldn't stop an oil leak! But don't worry... I got everything I wanted from you ''long ago''."''}}

{{quote| '''Lockdown''': ''"If my first act as a bounty hunter was betraying my ''sacred sensei'' then everything I've done since has been easy."''}}

** [[Transformers Prime]] brings us Airachnid. In a nutshell, mix together Lockdown, Rampage, and Tarantulas and put them into the body of a spider-helicopter fembot.

* Hexadecimal from ''[[Re BootReBoot]]''. She sows mayhem mainly for her own amusement {{spoiler|and possibly to get Bob's attention.}}

* The siblings Jackal and Hyena from ''[[Gargoyles]]'' are examples. They're sometimes-teammate Wolf is a borderline example, as he takes the same kind of jobs because he enjoys them, but is more of a [[Blood Knight|vicious brute]] than an outright lunatic. Anton Sevarius is a variation, as a [[Mad Scientist]] for hire who isn't a ''physical'' threat- but his [[Evilutionary Biologist|creations]] are.

{{quote| '''Zim:''' I put the fires out.<br />

'''Tallest Purple:''' You made them worse.<br />

{{quote| '''Zim:''' But I blew up more than the other [[Galactic Conqueror|Invaders!]]<br />

* Due to [[Flanderization]], Vicky from ''[[The Fairly Odd ParentsOddParents]]'' descends into this trope in later seasons.