History Main / PetRat

Compare PsychoSidekick. Not to be confused with ACTUAL pet rats (which would be Administrivia/PeopleSitOnChairs).

[[folder: Comic Books ]]
* Judge Fairfax from ''ComicBook/TheFallOfDeadworld'' series was the Chief Judge's "fixer" before the coup d'etat staged by the Dark Judges. This is why Judge Death is interested in turning Fairfax into his fourth main lieutenant.

[[folder: Films -- Live-Action ]]
* Alistair Harper and his gang are hired in this capacity by the government when the existing police force isn't enough in ''Film/VForVendetta''.
* Robert G. Durant and his gang while working for Strack in the 1990 film ''Film/{{Darkman}}''.
* The Brute Squad hired by Prince Humperdinck in ''Film/ThePrincessBride''. Their job is to clear out the Thieves Quarter. And Vizzini and his crew even more so, really.
* The Warden does this to the main character in ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption''.
* Clarence Boddicker from ''Film/RoboCop1987'' is this for the BigBad, as he runs errands for him along with his own criminal businesses.
* Beadle from ''Film/SweeneyTodd''. In the story he does a lot of dirty work for Judge Turpin.

[[folder: Literature ]]
* In the Literature/{{Discworld}} series, competent rulers employ pet rats as a matter of course, though they sometimes find ways to keep them on the books.

** In ''Literature/GoingPostal'', Mr Gryle is Reacher Gilt's killer rat.
* There are quite a few in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' thanks to the feudal nature of the system... although calling "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Mountain That Rides]]" a "rat" is, frankly, not doing [[AxCrazy Gregor Clegane]] justice, for all he does do some seriously dirty jobs for House Lannister beyond simply killing problems as messily as possible. And, then there is the fact that this is the [[IronicName Brave Companions]] aka "[[MonsterClown The Bloody Mummers]]" whole shtick as a "[[PsychoForHire mercenary company]]": trying to get paid to be very psychotic in particular directions. [[EvilIsPetty Lord Walder Frey]] is a notable example of the breed, though. He's certainly a [[SmugSnake very slimy rat]]... who occasionally doesn't even bother to turn up to do his job as a pet [[spoiler: and went on to throw in the towel and become a full-on {{Starscream}}, but only with the help of more powerful backers.]] Even when [[spoiler: switching masters to gain the new job]], he still needs to have one to bolster his own position in the world.
* In ''Literature/TheWitcher'', the main villain, Vilgefortz, is one of the most influential and powerful sorcerers in the world with connections to a lot of the setting's power players. Since he can't dirty his hands personally, he sends out his toadies, Rience and, less frequently, Schirrú, to do his work on the sly.
* Invoked by Graykin in ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath''. Long before Jame is in a position of power, he volunteers for this job knowing that one day she will need someone like him.
* In ''Literature/StrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'', it's speculated that the criminal lowlife Edward Hyde might be this to the well-respected man of medicine, Dr. Henry Jekyll. This, [[ItWasHisSled as you already know]], turns out [[JekyllAndHyde not to be the case]].

[[folder: Live-Action TV ]]
* Michael of ''Series/BurnNotice'' is treated like this at times. A burned spy, nobody wants to be caught employing him, so all of his work is strictly off the book. Even when [[spoiler: the [=CIA=] hires him again]] Michael is warned that he'll take the fall if an op goes bad.

* As Tommy Shelby of ''Series/PeakyBlinders'' becomes more and more respectable over time, even becoming [[spoiler: a Member of Parliament]] at the end of the fourth series, his right-hand man Johnny Dogs becomes this trope, doing a lot of Tommy's dirty work and serving as his link to the RoguishRomani gangs like the Lee Family and the Black Country Boys.

[[folder: Theatre ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]
* Taken literally with Rat from ''WesternAnimation/FantasticMrFox'' who despite being a vermin animal gladly serves the BigBad Frank Bean by being part of his security and going into the sewers to try kidnap Mr. Fox's son and take him to the humans.
* Zipper, Eric Raymond's go-to henchman in ''WesternAnimation/JemAndTheHolograms''

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': Judge Fairfax from the "Fall of Deadworld" series was the Chief Judge's "fixer" before the coup d'etat staged by the Dark Judges. This is why Judge Death is interested in turning Fairfax into his fourth main lieutenant.

[[folder: Film ]]