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Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Difference between revisions
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* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s ''[[Eisenhorn]]'' novels, Inquisitor Eisenhorn's retinue includes in their number: a gunslinging pilot, an aging scholar who's literally addicted to knowledge, an ex-cop, an anti-psychic prostitute, and a flamboyant {{spoiler|cyborg}} starship captain. And that's just the first novel.
** In his [[Ravenor]] novels, Inquisitor Ravenor, though starting with a retinue, adds a [[Street Urchin]], an arbite who was targeted by the Chaos forces for knowing too much, and a [[The Medic|doctor]] who is working illegally because of having lost his license by caring for people not allowed to be treated and falsifying records to get the supplies he needs.
* [[Sandy Mitchell]]'s ''[[Dark Heresy]]'' novels have the Angelae Carolus, comprising among their number an ex-cop, a fanatic assassin, a cyborg who spends a lot of time contemplating the oddness of human speech patterns, a pair of Imperial Guardsmen who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Inquisitor Carolus'
* ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' series has quite a few examples, though it's usually a mix of Badass and misfit. Perrin and his band of Two Rivers men, Cha Faile, the rebel Aes Sedai, The Kin, and especially the first band of main characters in the first book.
* In [[Sandy Mitchell]]'s [[Ciaphas Cain]] novel ''Duty Calls'', Inquisitor Vail's retinue already includes a former commissar/member of a penal regiment, and a former arbite who had, while undercover, imploded a criminal organization with a judicious murder and frame, and picks up a food vendor who had stumbled into some knowledge of the Inquisition
** In ''Death or Glory'', Cain whips together "Cain's Liberators" from the tattered remnants of the PDF armies and civilians on the continent overrun by orks. Including getting all their [[The Medic|medical attention]] from [[Closest Thing We Got|a vet]].
** In ''For the Emperor'', the ragtag band of court-martialed soldiers offered amnesty in exchange for their services function as a well trained military unit. So much so that even two of them who were specifically court-martialed for trying to kill one another were able to work together without incident... [[Dangerous Deserter|at least between each other]].
* Gav Thorpe's [[Warhammer 40000]] ''Last Chancers'' novels fit this trope to a dark and bloody tee, being made up of the scum and villainy of the Imperium.
* [[Poul Anderson]]'s ''[[Operation Chaos]]'' ends with the narrator considering the Ragtag Bunch of Misfits that had literally gone [[To Hell and Back]]. He concludes that it's the devil who has no sense of humor; God must love to laugh.
* [[Lois McMaster Bujold]]'s Dendarii Mercenaries were a pretty ragtag bunch when Miles first created them in ''[[Vorkosigan Saga|The Warrior's Apprentice]]''.
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*** It should also be noted that the people they recruit can be of any social status or have any kind of occupation, too. For instance, one member of Amberley Vail's retinue used to be a former fast food seller.
**** Mordechai Horst ends up temporarily recruiting a prostitute desperate to escape from the societal role she was forced into as a guide. And his boss inducted a pair of Guardsmen simply because they were eyewitnesses to a major breach of security, and the pilot whose shuttle they were shot down in just because.
**** The pilot's previous superiors had unreasonably high standards and would've grounded him forever because a huge gunship shot down his unarmed shuttle -- but he's an incredibly skilled pilot whom only imbeciles would ground. He landed the shuttle safely, in a very tight space, despite the damage that meant it couldn't stay in the air. '''That's''' why Inquisitor Finurbi recruited him; to not waste that kind of ability.
* ''[[Blood Bowl]]'' gives us the Motley Horde, a Blood Bowl team that fits this
* '''Every''' ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' party ever, with few exceptions. See also the [[Video Games]] section and how they talk about the various RPGs; this is where they got the idea. It's possible to coordinate a non-ragtag adventuring party with some pre-game work, but a Ragtag Bunch of Level 1 Misfits spontaneously joining up for mutual adventure and profit is the default assumption.
* A lot of Solar, Abyssal and Infernal circles in ''[[Exalted]]'' would qualify. For Solars, if you're a reborn god-king with about half the world gunning for him, you tend to associate with others who can help you punch that half the world in the face. Infernals and Abyssals tend to end up in these through a mix of that desperation and the details of the assignments they receive from their bosses.
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