History Main / MookDepletion

** Noted but averted with Xykon, the BigBad Lich, who ''should'' encounter this trope, since [[BadBoss he constantly uses his goblin minions as cannon fodder (in one case, sending tons of them to die in order to form a ramp) or killing them for his own amusement]]. However, "luckily", Xykon and his goblin [[TheDragon second-in-command]], Redcloak, can [[{{Necromancer}} raise the dead]] [[NightOfTheLivingMooks as zombies]].

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'': The opening salvoes of the One Year War saw half of the entire human population wiped out, meaning both the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon faced a severe manpower shortage. This is the justification for why neither side bats an eye at [[ChildSoldiers enlisting young teenagers into their militaries]]; there [[LoweredRecruitingStandards just aren't enough adults to fill the ranks any more]]. In the first episode, the Zeon war hero Char Aznable is sent to raid a Federation base where a secret weapons program is underway that could turn the tide of the war; he is given exactly three soldiers to do this, not including himself.

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* In season 4 of ''Series/PeakyBlinders'', the eponymous gang goes to war with a small group of American Mafia gangsters whose kinsman they killed in the previous season. Since this is a private vendetta, the rest of the Mafia back home doesn't care about this war and any soldier the villains lose cannot be replaced. The main villain knows this and tries to replenish his dwindling number by brokering a lucrative booze deal with the local British gangsters (since the story takes place during the Prohibition), thus getting his bosses to send him more men to defend this new business interest. Unfortunately for him, [[spoiler:the Blinders have foreseen this, which is why they broker their own deal with the American Mafia first so that the reinforcement sent to the main villain will actually turn on him, gloating to his face that he has no one left still loyal to him.]]

* In season 4 of ''Series/PeakyBlinders'', the eponymous gang goes to war with a small group of American Mafia gangsters whose kinsman they killed in the previous season. Since this is a private vendetta, the rest of the Mafia back home doesn't care about this war and any soldier the villains lose cannot be replaced. The main villain knows this and tries to replenish his dwindling number by brokering a lucrative booze deal with the local British gangsters (since the story takes place during the Prohibition), thus getting his bosses to send him more men to defend this new business interest. Unfortunately for him, [[spoiler:the Blinders have foreseen this, which is why they broker their own deal with the American Mafia first so that the reinforcement sent to the main villain will actually turn on him, gloating to his face that everyone loyal to him has completely died out.]]

* In season 4 of ''Series/PeakyBlinders'', the eponymous gang goes to war with a small group of American Mafia gangsters whose kinsman they killed in the previous season. Since only this small group of Mafiosos have a bone to pick with the Blinders, any one of them that dies can't be easily replaced since the rest of the Mafia back home doesn't care about this war. The BigBad knows this and tries to remedy this issue by brokering a lucrative booze deal with the local British gangsters (since the story takes place during the Prohibition) so his superiors back home will send men to protect the deal. Unfortunately for him, [[spoiler:the Blinders have foreseen this, which is why they broker their own deal with the American Mafia first so that the reinforcement sent to BigBad will actually turn on him, gloating to his face that everyone loyal to him has already died.]]

** The Royal Army of Leyndell fought most of the ''other'' armies at one point or the other during two campaigns for Leyndell itself, but they fought defensively with extensive siegeworks and the vast walls of Leyndell itself to protect them. They then engaged in a brutal meatgrinder siege against Rykard's fief of Mt. Gelmir. Consider the Battle of Aeonia mentioned above -- now consider that the most appalling battle of the Shattering is said to be the siege of Mt. Gelmir. Some of the soldiers from that siege are still alive on the Mountain, and most of them have gone totally insane to the point of devouring their fallen comrades' corpses and becoming afflicted by the influence of the Frame of Frenzy.

** The Royal Army of Leyndell fought most of the ''other'' armies at one point or the other during two campaigns for Leyndell itself. They then engaged in a brutal meatgrinder siege against Rykard's fief of Mt. Gelmir. Some of the soldiers from that siege are still alive on the Mountain, and most of them have gone totally insane to the point of devouring their fallen comrades' corpses and becoming afflicted by the influence of the Frame of Frenzy.

** The ''Literature/HandOfThrawn'' duology starts with now Supreme Commander Gilad Pellaeon deciding to sue for peace with the New Republic after a test of a new weapon system for fighting while [[StealthInSpace cloaked]] fails miserably. He comments that at this point, the Empire is down to one shipyard that can't even keep up with the demand for fighters, never mind capital ships, and they're having to buy the former from outside contractors. When one of his Moffs argues that they still have enough strength to threaten the New Republic, Pellaeon counters that they have ''just enough'' strength to make the New Republic completely destroy them if it comes to another shooting war.

** The ''Literature/HandOfThrawn'' duology starts with now Supreme Commander Gilad Pellaeon deciding to sue for peace with the New Republic after a test of a new weapon system for fighting while [[StealthInSpace cloaked]] fails miserably. He comments that at this point, the Empire is down to one shipyard that can't even keep up with the demand for fighters, never mind capital ships, and they're having to buy the former from outside contractors.

* In ''LightNovel/LordMarksmanAndVanadis'', Duke Ganelon has Roland framed for treason and executed after the latter loses the war against the Silver Meteor Army, much to Duke Thenardier's fury as he was one of Brune's strongest generals. Ganelon replies that [[ForTheEvulz he didn't give a damn]].

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** Godrick managed to lose a good chunk of his soldiers due to being a GeneralFailure, especially when he tried to besiege Leyendell. It's also notable that he's been forced to bolster his numbers- where other fiefs have their Lordsworn soldiers and knights wandering around, Godrick has mercenaries, exiles, prisoners, and the occasional press-ganged civilian. And his troops have ''still'' been forced to abandon the Weeping Peninsula to demihumans and misbegotten.
** The Cuckoo Soldiers of Liurnia took great losses not only in the general Shattering, but in the Raya Lucaria vs Caria civil war, with many of them perishing to the defenses of Caria Manor and having their spirits trapped as guardians.
** The Carian royals counted the Carian Knights as their greatest warriors, of which there were fewer than twenty. By the present, only three can still be confronted, and one of them is fought in an [[PrisonDimension Evergaol.]]
** The Redmane Knights of Caelid took serious losses during the campaign against Malenia, which culminated in the Battle of Aeonia unleashing the Scarlet Rot against their home and doing a serious number on the survivors. They're currently fighting their own war to keep the Rot confined to Caelid, and are being slowly ground down from it.
** Malenia's own army, famous for its undefeated campaign until Caelid, appears to have dissolved after the Scarlet Rot was unleashed and returned to the Haligtree as scattered bands of stragglers. A single Cleanrot Knight from her elite core is the only reason she herself made it back home, having carried her comatose body across the Lands Between entirely alone, and others can be fought in odd corners of the continent as if they got lost along the way.
** The Royal Army of Leyndell fought most of the ''other'' armies at one point or the other, including a brutal meatgrinder siege against Rykard's fief of Mt. Gelmir.

** About two-thirds of the way through the ''Literature/NewJediOrder'' series, in ''Destiny's Way'', there's a high-level strategy meeting for the Yuuzhan Vong high command. Supreme Overlord Shimmra chews out his warmasters for their prior WeHaveReserves attitude: after [[PyrrhicVictory suffering enormous losses taking the New Republic's capital of Coruscant]], and the Galactic Alliance just having destroyed a major Yuuzhan Vong fleet to kill a mid-level general (they made the attempt mistakenly thinking it was Shimmra himself), they now have no strategic reserve left, meaning not only can they no longer advance, they don't have enough troops left to hold their conquests. As part of dealing with the problem, he commands every adult member of the warrior caste to immediately get laid, though that of course is too slow to help: at the end of the book the Alliance inflicts a second decisive defeat on the Yuuzhan Vong at Ebaq 9, killing Warmaster Tsavong Lah, and even though the series continues for another five books, after that the military situation is pretty much all downhill.

** About two-thirds of the way through the ''Literature/NewJediOrder'' series, in ''Destiny's Way'', there's a high-level strategy meeting for the Yuuzhan Vong high command. Supreme Overlord Shimmra chews out his warmasters for their prior WeHaveReserves attitude: with the Galactic Alliance just having destroyed a major Yuuzhan Vong fleet to kill a mid-level general (they made the attempt mistakenly thinking it was Shimmra himself), they now have no strategic reserve left, meaning not only can they no longer advance, they don't have enough troops left to hold their conquests. As part of dealing with the problem, he commands every adult member of the warrior caste to immediately get laid, though that of course is too slow to help: at the end of the book the Alliance inflicts a second decisive defeat on the Yuuzhan Vong at Ebaq 9, killing Warmaster Tsavong Lah, and even though the series continues for another five books, after that the military situation is pretty much all downhill.

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'': The opening salvoes of the One Year War saw half of the entire human population wiped out, meaning both the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon faced a severe manpower shortage. This is the justification for why neither side bats an eye at [[ChildSoldiers enlisting young teenagers into their militaries]]; there [[LoweredRecruitingStandards just aren't enough adults to fill the ranks any more]].

** Malenia's own army, famous for its undefeated campaign until Caelid, appears to have dissolved after the Scarlet Rot was unleashed. A single Cleanrot Knight from her elite core is the only reason her comatose body made it back to the Haligtree, having made the journey across the Lands Between alone, and others can be fought in odd corners of the continent as if they got lost along the way.

* ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'': The Sith Empire quickly runs into this when open war breaks out with the Republic. The Republic is bigger and has a stronger economy to start with and has spent the last twelve years nursing a massive grudge over the humiliating defeat it suffered in the last war. The Sith, on the other hand, have spent the last twelve years engaged in standard Sith ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, which they cannot properly stop even after the war restarts, which combines with typical-for-darksiders WeHaveReserves attitudes and tactical cluelessness to quickly give the Republic the upper hand. The entirety of ''Rise of the Hutt Cartel'' takes place with OnlySaneMan Darth Marr leading his forces in a series of [[KnowWhenToFoldEm calculated retreats]] and [[YouShallNotPass holding actions]] in the background while the PlayerCharacter works to conquer Makeb from the Hutts so they can gain new technology to hopefully turn the tide.

* ''Film/{{Solo}}'': [[spoiler:During the climax, Dreydan's enforcers ambush Enfys Nest, based on the info of Han's plan Beckett told him. Turns out that Han expected Beckett to double-cross him and it was actually a BatmanGambit by Han for Enfys Nest to ambush the enforcers. After Dreydan's minions are slaughtered, Han jokes that he hopes that Dreydan didn't dispatch his entire team of enforcers, otherwise he'll be shorthanded]].

** Malenia's own army, famous for its undefeated campaign until Caelid, appears to have dissolved after the Scarlet Rot was unleashed. A single Cleanrot Knight from her elite core is the only reason her comatose body made it back to the Haligtree, having made the journey across the continent alone.

** The Royal Army of Leyendell fought most of the ''other'' armies at one point or the other, including a brutal meatgrinder siege against Rykard's fief of Mt. Gelmir.

Making this even worse is the fact that usually when [[HypercompetentSidekick the one minion]] who [[OnlySaneMan knows where this habit is going to lead]] tries to point it out to their boss, [[TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong they are likely]] the [[IDontPayYouToThink next ones to be offed]].

* As the source material for Power Rangers, ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' also goes down this route:

* ''Franchise/PowerRangers''

** In ''Series/PowerRangersBeastMorphers'', [[spoiler:unlike the Robotrons, which could be made from any inanimate object, it appears that Scrozzle only made a finite number of [[HumongousMecha Gigadrones]][[note]]Something that ''Series/TokumeiSentaiGoBusters'' didn't seem to suffer from[[/note]] as they were all used up before the last Robotron was created. Regardless, by then,
* This is a mainstay of and ''Franchise/SuperSentai''. After going through who knows how many [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monsters Of The Week]], the BigBad will eventually learn that all his monsters [[DefeatEqualsExplosion are gone]], though strangely, he'll still have plenty of footsoldiers. At this point, either the BigBad will finally be ready to enact his master plan or [[LastVillainStand decide to]] stop [[VillainNoLongerIdle being idle]] and the FinalBattle begins. Usually the Big Bad is a OneManArmy, so it won't really matter if he has no more forces... [[NearVillainVictory at first]]. Such examples include:
** Happening at the ''midway point'' of the 1989 Sentai, ''Series/KousokuSentaiTurboranger'', and being an [[InvertedTrope inversion]] to boot. [[BigBad Lagorn]] forced all his generals into using do-or-die plans, and was left with only [[DirtyCoward Zulten]] as a result. [[DidntThinkThisThrough Not having any other options]], he ends up having to recruit two Wandering Boma ([[HalfHumanHybrid half-Boma, half human beings despised by both sides]]) to serve him. Ultimately, Lagorn's demise thanks to the [[MetaMecha Super Turbo Builder]] means the Wandering Boma continue the war against the Turborangers by default, though Lagorn ends up [[CameBackStrong coming back as Neo-Lagorn]] a short time later.

** In ''Series/JukenSentaiGekiranger'', during the FinalBattle with Maku, he sent along the Confrontation Beast Hall's entire army of soldiers to destroy the city, all of which were defeated by the Gekiranger, leaving only one, which was eventually defeated shortly after. Since the Confrontation Beast Hall's monsters were [[MookPromotion Promoted Mooks]], they were unable to produce more of them either. Fortunately, they were able to continue to fight when Long arrived with his own brand of monsters. the stage was set for Evox to begin his master plan to seize the Morphin' Grid, so it was of little bother to him]].

* This is a mainstay of ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' and ''Franchise/SuperSentai''. After going through who knows how many [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monsters Of The Week]], the BigBad will eventually learn that all his monsters [[DefeatEqualsExplosion are gone]], though strangely, he'll still have plenty of footsoldiers. At this point, either the BigBad will finally be ready to enact his master plan or [[LastVillainStand decide to]] stop [[VillainNoLongerIdle being idle]] and the FinalBattle begins. Usually the Big Bad is a OneManArmy, so it won't really matter if he has no more forces... [[NearVillainVictory at first]]. Such examples include:
** Happening at the ''midway point'' of the 1989 Sentai, ''Series/KousokuSentaiTurboranger'', and being an [[InvertedTrope inversion]] to boot. [[BigBad Lagorn]] forced all his generals into using do-or-die plans, and was left with only [[DirtyCoward Zulten]] as a result. [[DidntThinkThisThrough Not having any other options]], he ends up having to recruit two Wandering Boma ([[HalfHumanHybrid half-Boma, half human beings despised by both sides]]) to serve him. Ultimately, Lagorn's demise thanks to the [[MetaMecha Super Turbo Builder]] means the Wandering Boma continue the war against the Turborangers by default, though Lagorn ends up [[CameBackStrong coming back as Neo-Lagorn]] a short time later.

** In ''Series/GoGoSentaiBoukenger'', Ryuuwon's method of making his monsters was to have his footsoldiers fight each other in a ritualistic battle royale to the death, then rewarding the winner (aka the SoleSurvivor) with a transformation. Unfortunately, this cropped up near the end of the series where he had his entire army fight to the death to create his most powerful monster, which was naturally defeated by the Boukenger. Since he was at the limit of his power by that point, he was unable to make anymore and as such was forced to perform a desperate LastVillainStand plan.
** In ''Series/JukenSentaiGekiranger'', during the FinalBattle with Maku, he sent along the Confrontation Beast Hall's entire army of soldiers to destroy the city, all of which were defeated by the Gekiranger, leaving only one, which was eventually defeated shortly after. Since the Confrontation Beast Hall's monsters were [[MookPromotion Promoted Mooks]], they were unable to produce more of them either. Fortunately, they were able to continue to fight when Long arrived with his own brand of monsters.

** In ''Series/PowerRangersBeastMorphers'', [[spoiler:unlike the Robotrons, which could be made from any inanimate object, it appears that Scrozzle only made a finite number of [[HumongousMecha Gigadrones]][[note]]Something that ''Series/TokumeiSentaiGoBusters'' didn't seem to suffer from[[/note]] as they were all used up before the last Robotron was created. Regardless, by then, the stage was set for Evox to begin his master plan to seize the Morphin' Grid, so it was of little bother to him]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6,'' This is essentially how the heroes defeat the BigBad. The heroes can't get to Yokai while he's protected by his swarm of [[MechaMooks microbots]], so they decide to target the bots to reduce his defenses.