Talk:Henchman

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This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, now in the public domain.

Had a go at 'tidying it up' Kevinb 20:09, 12 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Good job! I'd say the cleanup tag isn't needed anymore. --pie4all88 23:40, 12 Sep 2004 (UTC)

[edit] True or false??

True or false: the gender-neutral equivalent of this masculine term is known by some registered Wikipedian. 66.245.116.184 20:14, 12 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Mediaeval women did not act as a subordinate official or groom. There would be no politically correct equivalent. Avalon 21:04, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Added contradict tag

I added the tag because, as I explain in the edit summary, the relationships numbered 1 and 3 appear to be the same to me, but they cast different people as henchmen. I'm not sure how #1 describes a henchman if this is not what's happening. Is the "senior ally" described in #1 the henchman to someone who is not particularly villainous? If so, I don't think they're really a henchman in that sense. In #3, is Scaramanga really a henchman simply because he is available for hire? I don't know all the answers, but it seems to me that rewrites need to occur. I'm not sure that the tag I chose is the correct one, and the article still clearly needs a decent bit of work, but this section in particular strikes me as confusing and unclear. Croctotheface 08:14, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. The Henchman as supervillains section seems, to me, to be Original Research. It also tells us little about henchman, and seems to confuse henchman with "anyone who works for a villain." The very idea of a henchman as a supervillain contradicts the articles first statement that henchmen are "expendable adherents of the main villain, always ready to do the master's bidding, to kill or be killed, kidnap, or threaten, as needed" I vote the entire "Henchman as Supervillain" section be deleted. Sir Isaac Lime 08:43, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Removed Henchman as Supervillain

Removed the Henchman as Supervillain portion. It was unsourced, completely original research, added nothing to the overall discussion of what a henchman is, and, as noted above, contradicted itself. If anyone can think of a reason to put some of it back, please do so, and explain. As it is, I just don't think it added anything.

For the record, I removed the following text:

The most common type of henchmen are either as the obedient, loyal-till-death footsoldier of the chief villain (eg. Imperial Stormtroopers) or, alternatively, as a more specialised, flesh-out character with their own abilities (eg. Oddjob, Jaws, and so forth from the James Bond movies) who, despite being on more equal ground with the main characters, usually ends up being killed by the hero (or villain) of the story. It is possible, however, for a henchman to become a major villain in his own right, and even to be as great - perhaps even greater - a threat as the main villain. Generally, there are three ways in which this happens: 1. The henchman represents a senior ally/ business partner of the story's main villain, and hence is on equal ground with them, or perhaps is even the authority figure. They are still a henchman, but not of the arch-villain. Occasionally, when plans go awry, this type of henchman will eliminate the main villain, to avoid leaving any trails back to their true masters (though the reverse has been known to happen, eg. the Chinese agent Mr Ling from Goldfinger). Examples include Yassen Gregorovich from Stormbreaker, 2. The henchman is presented as a fully fleshed-out, rounded character in his own right with a history and agenda that may be separate from the chief villain, and often has a previous relationship with one or more of the story's hero characters. This usually works best in stories which are epic in nature eg. trilogies, quadrilogies, serials etc., with the henchman being encountered more often than the chief villain, especially the beginning and middle of the story, in order to develop the character further. In such stories the henchman's master is still a considerable threat, and they often fear him, but they nonetheless posess plans and ambitions which other henchmen often do not. Examples include Guy of Gisbourne in many variants of Robin Hood legends, Darth Vader from Star Wars, Randall Flagg from Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and some versions of the Black Dalek and Cyber-leader from the British sci-fi series Doctor Who. 3. The henchman is the chief villain of the story. Although they work for a villain he/she is either too weak, too stupid or perhaps even too moral to properly control their henchman, who is usually smarter, more violent, and more talented than their master, and usually realize this. Often they are hired killers or soldiers who become attracted to the money or power of their new boss, and either work their way up the ladder or simply kill them and take their place. Most importantly, the history with the hero is usually theirs, and in any case they are portrayed as the one who is the most threatening to them. Examples include Scaramanga from The Man with the Golden Gun (who kills his employer Hai-Fat), Frank from Once Upon a Time in the West, or Tim Roth's character in The Musketeer.