Retired Monster: Difference between revisions

Monsters who don't retire, or come out of retirement and continue to be evil in old age, can become [[Evil Old Folks]]. [[Sub-Trope]] of [[Karma Houdini]], due to the fact that very few of this type of character are found in jail. Compare the [[Retired Badass]], one of several good counterparts, and the [[Retired Outlaw]], which may occasionally overlap. Contrast [[The Atoner]].

 

 

{{examples}}

* Despite settling down on Earth and attempting to save it on several occasions, Vegeta of ''[[Dragon Ball]] Z'' has never explicitly been shown to express any guilt, angst or shame for his decades long life of murder, tyranny and genocide.

** During the Buu saga, he makes this speech about how he ''wanted'' to go back to the days when he was a cold-hearted, ruthless brute who thought of nothing but causing pain and suffering to others. An episode earlier, when he {{spoiler|becomes Majin}}, he proclaims to the Supreme Kai, "No! I am not innocent!" He knows he's an evil monster and is not ashamed of it.

*** This is, of course, because he feels he's gone "soft" and that he could—and should—be stronger than he is. By returning to the old state of mind, he believes he'd be able to use his full power.

* ''Claimed'' by Evangeline in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]''. [[Noble Demon]] attitude aside, it's actually not entirely incorrect: She ''has'' killed people and shows no remorse for anything she's done in the past.

* Tomoe from ''[[Kamisama Kiss]]'' used to be a ruthless demonic murderer, bandit/warlord before the Land God Mikage recruited him to be his familiar. He still isn't exactly a nice guy (just ask Kurama, Mizuki or anybody else who has ever pissed him off) and sometimes dreams of going back to the 'good old days.'

 

== Comic Books ==

* In ''[[Preacher (Comic Book)]]'', Gunther Hahn, the Angel of Death and, at the end of the story, {{spoiler|the Saint of Killers}} all qualify.

* A future, senile version of [[Doctor Doom]] appearing in [[X Factor]] has faded away into a quiet life in his empty, decaying castle attended to by robot servants. But he still builds the occasional [[Death Ray]] in his more lucid moments.

 

== Films ==

* William Munny of ''[[Unforgiven]]'' is one of these, in a deconstruction treatment of Clint Eastwood's Western anti-hero roles. While it doesn't seem like he necessary ''enjoyed'' killing, in his youth as a bandit, Munny was a cold blooded mass murderer. The events of the movie bring him out of retirement. English Bob could also be considered one of these. While at present, he plays the role of [[Remittance Man]] and is a sort of celebrity, it's indicated that he was previously employed killing Chinese laborers for the railroads, and the truth behind his gunfighter exploits is that he was a dishonorable [[Combat Pragmatist]].

* [[Christopher Walken|Vincenzo Coccotti]] of ''[[True Romance]]'', who hasn't killed anybody...since 1984. {{spoiler|Until now.}}

 

== Literature ==

** Part of this is [[Characterization Marches On]]. His past was mentioned only in the earlier books, when his characterization was less pleasant.

* Alex [[Character Development|becomes this]] in the last chapter of ''[[A Clockwork Orange (novel)|A Clockwork Orange]]''.

* Sergeant Bothari in The ''[[Vorkosigan Saga]]'' is a fairly sympathetic example of this, having a tramatic and abusive childhood which left him with no sense of self, instead mirroring however others wanted him to be. He had a truly horrible and abusive childhood, with the result that he ended up with no sense of self, and would be whatever others wanted him to be. Bothari is undisputably a sociopath, and when under the command of a sadistic officer, regularly followed orders to rape and torture prisoners. However, following a [[Sudden Principled Stand]], he ends up as a trusted bodyguard/ [[Psycho Sidekick]] of Cordelia and Aral Vorkosigan, as Cordelia is able to convince him to believe in an image of himself as an honorable soldier- and he doesn't really feel guilt for his past actions, as he sort of convinces himself that they didn't happen. His lack of true remorse is showcased ''The Warrior's Apprentice'', in an incident where Miles [[Dirty Business|had no choice]] but to let Bothari perform the [[Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique]] on an enemy soldier. Miles notes Bothari's unhealthy eagerness to obey this order, and Bothari proceeds to torture the man to death with sadistic glee.

* Spiff from ''[[The Borribles]]'' appears to be a [[Cool Old Guy|grandfatherly]] (as much as the eternally-prepubescent Borribles can be) [[Retired Badass]] who never leaves his home, but with the right motivation he comes out and modern Borribles learn quickly why he earned the name [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|"Spiff the Spifflicator"]] during the reign of Queen Victoria.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

** In one episode the protagonists meet a Cardassian seems to have had a similar background involving a forced labour camp... or did he? {{spoiler|er, yes, but he was the filing clerk pretending to be the camp commandant after being driven mad by guilt and was trying to air the atrocity out for all to see and get himself executed as penance}}

** Supporting character Garak, who is an example of the 'got caught and exiled' variety.

*** Not sure if he fits the trope exactly, since he does seem to regret some of the things he did {{spoiler|(as he found out after torturing Odo, and his speech after the Dominion War ends)}} even if he never actually says sorry.

** Also the man who did the exiling, Enabran Tain, Garak's superior {{spoiler|and father}} and the man who ran the Obsidian Order for twenty years. He actually comes out of retirement and forges an alliance with the Tal Shiar to strike at the Dominion preemptively. This doesn't end well.

* ''[[Babylon 5]]'': Deathwalker. Though she still remained a [[Complete Monster]], she just wanted to get everyone else to do her dirty work.

* Samson Gray, Sylar's father, on ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]''. A sadistic murderer who retired to live a quiet life as a taxidermist because he just got bored of killing. {{spoiler|Until Sylar showed up with the power of healing, and thus immortality.}}

* Grimm gives us several literal examples of this trope, monsters who have retired into quiet, suburban lives. The most prominent being [[Big Badass Wolf]] Monroe, who starts out as this but is eventually driven to a [[Heel Face Turn]].

* {{spoiler|Granny}} in ''[[Once Upon a Time (TV series)|Once Upon a Time]]'', who used to be [[The Big Bad Wolf]].

 

== Music ==

And if I could go back and make my amends

I'd make all those mistakes again

 

** Fhjull Forked-Tongue, an unrepentant devil who was tricked into signing a [[Deal with the Devil|deal with an angel]] that obligated him to do good. This got him thrown out of the hellish hierarchy, mutilated, and led to him hiding out in a place where NO ONE could find him just so that he doesn't have to actually abide by the contract (which roughly says "Give charity to anyone who asks.")

* ''[[MadWorld]]'' states that {{spoiler|Jack was this, being the former Grand Champion of the Deathwatch games, only quitting due to being tired of the games. He does come out of retirement since he's sent to save the Mayor's daughter (until he learns she was never in any actual danger, and that in fact the Mayor and several of his friends set up the whole [[Damsel in Distress]] ploy for their own entertainment) and later to take down the games with the help of XIII.}}

** This is actually debatable. {{spoiler|The game implies that Jack does feel tired of the killing because he doesn't enjoy what he does. The only reason he doesn't feel bad about his past actions is because he only killed people as horrible as him.}} That said, {{spoiler|he does seem to care about normal people and doesn't want them to experience the hell he has.}}

* Certainly Travis in [[No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle|No More Heroes 2 Desperate Struggle]]. He doesn't even remember the first assassin he killed when his brother comes for revenge. Well, he is this to a point...{{spoiler|he most likely still hasn't gotten past how he dishonored Holly Summers by not killing her in battle when she wanted such a fate.}} Otherwise, he doesn't care to get back into the games until {{spoiler|Bishop}} is killed and Sylvia "convinces" him, perfectly fine with his pathetic lifestyle. It's mainly because killing has become boring to him after killing the best of the best. He does regret {{spoiler|killing Matt's cheerleaders}} but that and {{spoiler|Holly}} seem to be is only two regrets.

 

* Dan of ''[[Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures]]'', has a mother who <s>might be</s> is this. Dan has never known her except as his and his half-sister's loving mother, so he was pretty [http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_814.php shocked] to find out what she [http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_811.php used to be like].

* Mr Garrott (the eldest), from ''[[The Adventures of Wiglaf and Mordred|Wiglaf and Mordred]]''. The patriarch of an entire family of [[Complete Monster|complete monsters]], that employs people who could be supervillains in their own right as household staff. Just how terrifying he can be is demonstrated when, while [[Curb Stomp Battle|he expresses his displeasure with several members of the household staff]], it [http://liliy.net/wam/archive/viewer-discretion-advised/ cuts] to two characters who were watching him discipline members of the staff, one asking, "Is it over yet!? I'm not supposed to be seeing this stuff live! I read about it later! He's supposed to be retired!" Meanwhile, the other person watching comments on how, asides from the gray hair, Mr Garrot has not changed at all since retiring thirty years ago.

 

* Succubus matriarch Blacksky from ''[[The Return (fanfic)|The Return]]'' who believes world domination is just too boring these days.

* In the Eridanus Galaxy online web game [[Imperium Nova]], the Vampire Count Sergio Von Carstein announced his retirement at the age of 74 after a number of evil acts, including brutally suppressing several human and vampire rebellions, engineering a plague so he could reanimated the corpses to work his farms, attempting to brutally murder several fellow nobles, hooking up hundreds of thousands of humans to blood extraction machines, creating a gigantic zombie horde out of a military cemetery, and a career in organized crime.