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Henchmen
Henchmen

Henchman - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Henchman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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"Robin Shoots with Sir Guy" by Louis Rhead. Illustration to Bold Robin Hood and His Outlaw Band: Their Famous Exploits in Sherwood Forest: Guy of Gisbourne acts as the Sheriff of Nottingham's henchman

The word "henchman" referred originally to one who attended on a horse for his employer, that is, a horse groom. Hence, like constable and marshal, also originally stable staff, henchman became the title of a subordinate official in a royal court or noble household. It is now used primarily to describe a stock character in many adventure stories: the villain's lackey or trusted aide.

Contents

Etymology

The first part of the word, which is recorded in English since 1360, comes from the Old English hengest, meaning "horse", notably stallion, cognates of which also occur in many Germanic languages, such as Old Frisian, German and Dutch hengst. The word appears in the name of Hengest, the Saxon chieftain, and still survives in English in placenames and other names beginning with Hingst- or Hinx-. It was often rendered as Henxman in medieval English.

Young henchmen, in fact pages of honour or squires, rode or walked at the side of their master in processions and the like, and appear in the English royal household from the 14th century until Tudor Queen Elizabeth I abolished the royal henchmen, known also as the children of honour.

The word became obsolete for grooms in English from the middle of the 17th century, but was retained in Scots as "personal attendant of a Highland chief". It seems to have been revived in English through the novelist Sir Walter Scott, who took the word and its derivation, according to the New English Dictionary, from Edward Burt's Letters from a Gentleman in the North of Scotland, together with its erroneous derivation from haunch. The word is, in this sense, synonymous with gillie, the faithful personal follower of a Highland chieftain, the man who stands at his master's haunch, ready for any emergency.

The modern sense of "obedient or unscrupulous follower" is first recorded 1839, probably based on a misunderstanding of the word as used by Scott, and is often used to describe an out-and-out adherent or partisan, ready to do anything.

In popular culture

Henchmen (occasionally henchlings) are common in mystery, fantasy, adventure comic books, and adventure novels and movies. They are the expendable adherents of the main villain, always ready to do the master's bidding, to kill or be killed, kidnap, or threaten, as needed. Often, they are killed by the hero before the master villain is reached, by the hero's sidekick in a dramatic battle, or even by the master villain as punishment for failure to comply with orders. They also may switch sides during the course of the story to ally with the hero. Alternatively, they may be forgotten in the heat of the climax when the master villain is defeated, then killed when they reappear in the denouement for one last scare or even promoted to master villain for a sequel.

Henchmen are often abused and insulted by the villain for their incompetence, or for his pleasure; indeed, some abused henchmen take revenge after the villain's final defeat at the hero's hands, so that the henchman rather than the hero actually kills the villain. Henchmen in this sense are also sometimes called lackeys, toadies, or mooks (with the latter term more often used for lesser minions of the villain).

Not all henchmen are dimwitted, expendable employees of a villain. Sometimes, they may be of an equal social standing or at least have a high intelligence or social standing of their own, thus being valued more like a right hand man. In such cases, they may command groups of more expendable thugs. Being granted a large amount of autonomy, intelligent henchmen often have their own agendas and may also covet the leading villain's position, and they often attempt to betray the villain in order to obtain it.

While the term is masculine, female henchmen are not unheard of. However, many of them typically serve only as the male villain's lover, rather than actively take part in the schemes. Usually, there is, instead, an additional male accomplice for the purpose of criminal business. A female accomplice is more often called a "moll".

A henchman might also be the non-player character follower of a player character in role-playing games. This henchman will follow the player around and assist in various manners.

In fiction, such heroic supporting characters are normally portrayed in a more positive light, tied to the hero by bonds of friendship and loyalty and are usually called sidekicks; the villain's supporters are called henchmen or minions because of their evil nature, which implies that such personal bonds are difficult to establish. However, some darkly comedic heroes have sidekicks of a more subservient nature; though these relationships are often a form of "tough love" or even just a condescending affection, the henchman is in this case usually known as a minion.

Henchman Villain Source
Allan Rastapopoulos The Adventures of Tintin
Killer Kane Princess Ardala Buck Rogers in the 25th Century(role reversal from the original 1930s Buck Rogers serials.
Ardala Valdemar (reimagined as Princess Ardala for the 1979 Buck Rogers TV series) Killer Kane original Buck Rogers serials
General Klytus Ming the Merciless Flash Gordon (1980)
Lucifer Count Baltar Battlestar Galactica
Captain Ginyu Frieza Dragon Ball Z
Roberto Johan Liebert Monster
Piter De Vries Vladimir Harkonnen Dune
Grover Dill Scut Farkus A Christmas Story
Allen O'Niel General Morden Metal Slug series
Bebop and Rocksteady The Shredder Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series
Bob the Goon and Goons The Joker Batman
Buzz and Delete Hacker Cyberchase
Chewy and Gooey Stickybeard Codename: Kids Next Door
Darth stupid Phill and Blad Dumisters
Bitzy and Snitzy Allegra the Crocodile Episodes that feature Allegra in Animalia
Unnamed and Charlie Dr. Two-Brains WordGirl series
Death Eaters Lord Voldemort Harry Potter series
Doctor N. Gin Doctor Neo Cortex Crash Bandicoot series
Flying Monkeys and Winkie Guards Wicked Witch of the West The Wizard of Oz
The dogs Napoleon Animal Farm
Excel, Hyatt and Elgala Il Palazzo Excel Saga
Karl and Theo Hans Gruber Die Hard
Iago Jafar Aladdin
Xenomorphs Alien Queen Aliens
Amanda Young and Mark Hoffman Jigsaw Saw franchise
Harley Quinn The Joker Batman: The Animated Series
Bane Poison Ivy Batman & Robin
Mystique Magneto X-men films
Shenzi, Banzai and Ed Scar The Lion King
Karen Sheldon J. Plankton SpongeBob SquarePants
RandomTask, Mini-Me, Frau Farbissina, Number 2, Scott Evil, Fat Bastard, GoldMember Dr. Evil Austin Powers series
Possum Gator Pack Bat Sylvanian Families
Kronk Pepikrankenitz Yzma The Emperor's New Groove
Lickboot the Lawyer, Dogskate. Capt, Kiddie, Prof. Applecheek, Squawk Aunt Figg Tom and Jerry: The Movie
Card Soldiers and King of Hearts Queen of Hearts Alice in Wonderland
Lawrence and Voodoo Masks Dr. Facilier The Princess and the Frog
Muttley Dick Dastardly Wacky Races and Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines
Devi Devi Piyoko/Pyocola Analogue Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat
Chi-Chi Tony Montana Scarface
Luca Brasi Vito Corleone The Godfather
Nazgûl Sauron The Lord of the Rings
Escargoon King DeDeDe Kirby: Right Back at Ya!
Oddjob Auric Goldfinger Goldfinger
Pain and Panic Hades Hercules (1997 film) and Hercules: The Animated Series
Senior Citi-Zombies Grandfather Operation: Z.E.R.O., Kids Next Door TV movie
The Venom army Andross Star Fox 64
Otis Lex Luthor Superman: The Movie
Fidget Professor Ratigan The Great Mouse Detective
Rey Za Burrel Gilbert Durandal Gundam SEED Destiny
{Lein da shadow Dool and the Dark egg leagon} Dr. Robotnik The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series) and Sonic Underground respectively
Shego Doctor Drakken Kim Possible
Mr. Smee, and the Pirate crew Captain Hook Peter Pan
Waylon Smithers Montgomery Burns The Simpsons
Cecil and the Terwiliger family Sideshow Bob Episodes that feature Sideshow Bob in The Simpsons
President Schwarznegger Russ Cargill The Simpsons Movie
Spicer Lovejoy Caledon Hockley Titanic (1997 film)
Squatt and Baboo Rita Repulsa Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Travis Servalan Blake's 7
Twinrova Ganondorf The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Skull Kid Majora's Mask The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
King Bulblin Ganondorf The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Mr. Chun and Mrs. Chun Captain Bill Fawcett The Pacifier
Shtarker Siegfried Get Smart
Armand and Mr. Richards B.J. Wert Mannequin
Weyoun Female Changeling Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
The Wickersham Brothers Sour Kangaroo Horton Hears a Who!
Directive A-113 and GO-4 AUTO WALL-E
Sugar and Spice Two-Face Batman Forever
Karen and Gretchen Regina George Mean Girls
Xerxes the Eel Mozenrath Aladdin
Zarbon and Dodoria Freeza Dragon Ball Z
#21 and #24 The Monarch The Venture Bros.
Stinkbert Strut Turbo Dogs
Toon Patrol Judge Doom Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Kamek,The Koopalings, Bowser Jr. Bowser Mario series
Xigbar, Xaldin, Saix, Demyx, Luxord Xemnas Kingdom Hearts II
Staff Officer Black, General Blue, General White, General Copper Commander Red Dragon Ball
Alistair Smythe The Kingpin Spider-Man: The Animated Series
Kagura, Kanna, Hakudoshi Naraku Inuyasha
GIR Zim Invader Zim
Pinky Brain Pinky & the Brain
General Klump & Krusha King K Rool Donkey Kong Country
Max The Grinch How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Lock Shock and Barrel Oogie Boogie The Nightmare Before Christmas
No-Neck and Zitzy Ken Urban Vermin
Ivan the Terrible, Napoleon Bonaparte, Al Capone Kamunrah Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian
Reccoa Londe & Sarah Zabiarov Paptimus Scirocco Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
Killer Carface All Dogs Go To Heaven Series
The Crocodile bandits (mentioned in the video game) Tai Lung Kung Fu Panda
Mini Audrey II Pod Offspring Plants Audrey II Little Shop of Horrors in the song "Mean Green Mother From Outer Space"
The Ruffians Professor Pester Viva Pinata
The guards & staff of JETT Records and the people who live in Ian's mansion Ian Hawke Alvin and the Chipmunks and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Klutzy the Crab Herbert P. Bear Club Penguin Missions
Starscream and other Decepticons Megatron Transformers
Starscream, Soundwave, Shockwave and other Decepticons Megatron The Transformers (TV series)
Megatron The Fallen Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Destro, The Baroness,disambiguation needed Tomax and Xamot, Storm Shadow, Major Bludd, Zartan, Dreadnoks, Dr. Mindbender, Firefly Cobra Commander G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
Wart, Mole, Mepps & Snout Fat Cat Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers
Butters Stotch Eric Cartman South Park
Sammy Lucius the VII Jimmy Two-Shoes
Wendell Happy Chapman Garfield (film)
Mary & the ACME Co-Workers Mr. Chairman Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Darth Maul Palpatine Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Jango Fett Count Dooku Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
General Grievous Count Dooku Star Wars The Clone Wars Series And Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith
Grand Moff Tarkin Darth Vader Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Boba Fett Darth Vader Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Jessie, James, Meowth, Wobbuffet, Butch, Cassidy, Professor Namba, Tyson, Domino, Team Rocket Grunt Troopers Giovanni Pokémon (anime)
Boskov Bear, Major Dr. Ghastly and General Skarr Hector Con Carne Evil Con Carne
Bubba Dr. Wasabi Chop Socky Chooks
Hugo Vicktor Vicktor and Hugo
Mint & Lime Herb Ranma 1/2
Prince Lotor (Prince Sincline) King Zarkon (Emperor Daibazaal) Voltron: Defender of the Universe (Golion)
Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Charles F. Muntz Up

Modern examples

The phrase henchman is also used as a pejorative for any sort of political underling or to present others as such. Thus it was is used for associates of President George W. Bush12, e.g. by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.3 Likewise, it was also used against associates of the former U.S. President Bill Clinton.4

Members of the SS, or any of Adolf Hitler's staff, are often called "Hitler's Henchmen"5, a phrase used as the title of a book by Guido Knopp and a television documentary.

See also

References

  1. ^ ZNet |Labor | Bush's "Job-friendly" Economy isn't Worker Friendly
  2. ^ Quit blaming your henchmen, Mr. President. - By Fred Kaplan - Slate Magazine
  3. ^ http://www.politicalgateway.com/news/read/39515
  4. ^ In denial - Clinton evades public blame for sex scandal - Capital Scene - Brief Article | National Review | Find Articles at BNET.com
  5. ^ Hitler's Henchmen

Sources




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