History Main / PsychoForHire

Instantly identifiable by their EvilLaugh, at least one unusual [[WeaponSpecialization signature weapon]], a flashy style, and a tendency to play with their victims like a cat. Many of them, the less-restrained ones, are AxCrazy and often wield axes. When on the side of the Good Guys, they are invariably the TokenEvilTeammate.

** [[Characters/{{Hydra}} Viper]] from ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' might just be the crowning example of this. She's so AxCrazy that the ''[[Characters/MarvelComicsRedSkull Red Skull]]'' [[TheSociopath of all people]] won't work with her, if only because his actions usually have some kind of purpose, whereas she just likes killing and hurting as many people as possible.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' gives us Herr Trigger, one of OSI's (former) most-wanted assassins. Something he has over the other two most-wanted is that he is a [[CombatSadomasochist gun fetishist]] and kills simply for sexual pleasure. Most of his dialog is a creepy, ecstatic laugh.

* ''Film/CharleyVarrick'' has Molly, the ruthless enforcer dispatched by the TheMafia to recover their money inadvertently stolen by a gang of small-time bank robbers.

* Dennis in the ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobSquarePantsMovie''. Plankton describes him as "a vicious, cold-blooded predator" mere seconds before his first scenes. When about to kill [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick, he openly cheers, "I ''LOVE'' this job!", while laughing maniacally.

* Leon Powalski from the ''VideoGame/StarFox'' games.
** Pigma Dengar is implied to be one of these as well during the Bolse mission in ''Star Fox 64''. While he may express his motives as being for the money, his opening line when Star Wolf attacks Star Fox on Bolse makes it very clear that he also absolutely enjoys killing people as well.
-->'''Pigma Dengar:''' Daddy screamed REAL good before he died!

* Killer Frost from ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' is explicitly described as such by Gorilla Grodd in ''Secret Society''. While the rest of the members have direct motivations (Grodd wants revenge on the League, Giganta is [[UndyingLoyalty unwaveringly loyal]] to Grodd, Parasite has it out for Superman, Sinestro has a vendetta against the Green Lantern Corp, Shade wants free reign to commit his crimes, and Clayface wants to be human again), Killer Frost is only along for the ride because she enjoys killing people.

%% Please do not add a picture to this page. Even if it's a joke.
%% In the past, it has only led to people constantly replacing it with their favorite example.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'' series gives you the option of being a Psycho For Hire through your actions as the player, though it's heavily discouraged.

A hired agent who is in it [[ForTheEvulz for the killing and torturing]]. There doesn't need to be killing involved; they like doing unpleasant things to people and it just so happens that there are people willing (and dumb enough) to pay them to do something they'd probably do for free. That paycheck they get at the end of the day is completely incidental; they get a huge kick out of doing violent and explosive stuff to complete strangers. On the pro side, you could say they love their job.

* Mandy a recurring antagonist from ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]''. She's a more sane version of it though, coming off as a ProfessionalKiller. Unusually for this trope, this works in the heroes' favor. On Day 4 Jack notes that she's a hired gun, not a believer in the terrorist's goals, so if cornered she'd make a deal rather than commit suicide. [[spoiler:He's right. She makes a deal for a Presidential Pardon, and is one of the few characters to survive the series]].

* At the end of the pilot episode of ''Series/DarkMatter2015'', the protagonists, who are suffering from total amnesia after coming out of stasis aboard their ship, discover that [[spoiler:they used to be a [[TheDreaded Dreaded]] crew of these, frequently hired by corrupt MegaCorps to do their dirty work when they want plausible deniability; in this case, to wipe out the mining colonists on the planet below so that Ferrous Corp can take it over. [[AmnesiacDissonance Rebelling against their pasts]], they decide to [[TheMagnificentSevenSamurai protect the colonists instead]]. Through the rest of the series, they continue to do some mercenary jobs (it's hard to find other sources of revenue when you're a wanted outlaw), but of a less murderous nature]]. There are several others like them in the galactic underworld as well.

* A lot of the later demons in ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}''.
* At the end of the pilot episode of ''Series/DarkMatter'', the protagonists, who are suffering from total amnesia after coming out of stasis aboard their ship, discover that [[spoiler:they used to be a [[TheDreaded Dreaded]] crew of these, frequently hired by corrupt MegaCorps to do their dirty work when they want plausible deniability; in this case, to wipe out the mining colonists on the planet below so that Ferrous Corp can take it over. [[AmnesiacDissonance Rebelling against their pasts]], they decide to [[TheMagnificentSevenSamurai protect the colonists instead]]. Through the rest of the series, they continue to do some mercenary jobs (it's hard to find other sources of revenue when you're a wanted outlaw), but of a less murderous nature]]. There are several others like them in the galactic underworld as well.

** Jubal Early from the episode "Objects in Space". At first he just seems like a somewhat quirky and oddly philosophical BountyHunter, but that goes out the window when he casually threatens to rape Kaylee as an intimidation tactic. A nut job who used to torture animals as a child and terrified his own mother, he tries to insist that hurting people is simply a necessary part of the job. However, as mentioned in the page quote, River's psychoanalysis reveals Early became a bounty hunter expressly so he ''could'' dominate and hurt people for a living.
** Inverted in "The Train Job": there the psycho ([[TheMafiya Niska]]) hires ''them''! Niska's first [[TheDragon Dragon]], Crow, is a straight example, a PsychoKnifeNut who shares his boss's love of hurting people. After the ''Serenity'' crew default on their job because the target turns out to be medical supplies people in Paridiso badly need, Crow forgoes Mal's offer of simply returning the advance money Niska had paid them and [[StupidEvil opts to threaten him instead]] (while captive and being made to stand next to the ship's turbine) by saying [[WeWillMeetAgain he'll return]] and "[[TheLastThingYouEverSee the last thing [Mal] will ever see]] is [his] blade." Mal's response is a small "Darn" before kicking him into the turbine. The next captive henchman lined up there is much more agreeable.

--->'''Bullseye:''' I'm going to need to [[ADateWithRosiePalms pleasure myself]] now. You might want to leave the room.\\

** Xenia Onatopp from ''Film/GoldenEye''. In addition to [[MurderousThighs squeezing people to death with her legs]] [[DeathBySex during sex]], the [[CombatSadomasochist insane glee with which she carried out the massacre scene]] at Severnaya has been compared to orgasm, to the point where one may wonder if she was wielding an assault rifle or a sex toy. Given the expression her employer Ourumov has watching this, he's wondering the same thing.

'''Bennett:''' They offered me a hundred grand. You want to know something? When I found out I could get oeYay my hands on you, I said I'd do it for nothing.

A hired agent who is in it [[ForTheEvulz for the killing and torturing]]. There doesn't need to be killing involved; they like doing unpleasant things to people and it just so happens that there are people willing (and dumb enough) to pay them to do something they'd probably do for free. That paycheck they get at the end of the day is completely incidental; they get a huge kick out of doing violent and explosive stuff to complete strangers. On the pro-side, you could say they love their job.

The BloodKnight also enjoys himself without much purpose, but he just loves the fight, although both could overlap. The CombatSadomasochist also enjoys hurting others, but differs in that they ''also enjoy being hurt.'' The SociopathicSoldier can be extremely similar to this trope, but is retained by a single employer, usually his nation's armed forces.

In most works that feature such characters, the psycho in question will make it quite clear to potential clients that murder is their calling. Despite this, it's not uncommon for them to get saddled with a job that outlines an explicit NoHarmRequirement (rather than say, a ConsummateProfessional who are much better at this). Despite being aware of their psychopathic nature, a client may find their skillset nonetheless ideal for the job and demand that the quarry in question be unharmed. As you can expect, the Psycho for Hire is ''rarely'' enthusiastic about taking on such a job. If they're not outright forced into the job, they often will only even consider cause they [[OnlyInItForTheMoney they need the reward offered]]. In the end they may even end up [[DefiedTrope defying]] the requirement and try to kill the target anyway.

Contrast the more realistic SerialKiller, who doesn't flaunt it, and the less realistic HeroicComedicSociopath who hangs around heroes and whose sadistic games are treated as wacky hijinx for the sake of comedy. As various examples of the latter may testify, it is all too possible for a character to sit on the fence. If the Psycho isn't for hire, he's doing it ForTheEvulz. The all but canonical alignment for these characters are NeutralEvil; ChaoticEvil characters of this type usually go [[SerialKiller "freelance"]]; and LawfulEvil is typically [[PrivateMilitaryContractors more]] [[ProfessionalKiller professional]].

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': Wyald is an ape-like Apostle who serves the King of Midland as the leader of the Black Dog Knights, an ArmyOfThievesAndWhores consisting of the most heinous condemned criminals in Midland. No one knows where he came from or how he got in prison in the first place, but when the King of Midland announced the creation of the Black Dog Knights, Wyald stepped forward from the assembled criminals and asked to be made leader if he could prove himself the strongest. With the King giving his assent, Wyald proceeded to kill the next-strongest guy in a gruesome and inexplicable way, after which no one dared to challenge his authority. Under Wyald's leadership the Black Dog Knights quickly became infamous for RapePillageAndBurn, visiting their depravities on the king's subjects as well as the enemies, but because of their military usefulness the King kept them garrisoned on the frontier, far away from the population and the regular army. Wyald lives by a motto of hedonism, "enjoyment and excitement", which for him includes things like raping a teenage farm girl, chopping her to pieces along with her whole family, and sticking their body parts on pikes. He is also a BadBoss, forcing his men to throw away their lives in suicidal attacks because they know he will kill them for showing the slightest instinct for self-preservation or hesitating to do whatever he orders, no matter how stupid and unreasonable. The fact that he allowed himself to be imprisoned in the first place and continues to serve the king of Midland despite his monstrous power suggests that he plays along for the fun of it, and he doesn't mind the arrangement as long as he's allowed to rape and slaughter as much as he wants.

* Sir Luciano Bradley, the Knight of Ten, from ''Anime/CodeGeass''. A textbook {{Sadist}} at heart, [[BloodKnight he specifically states that he joined the army so that he would be allowed to kill a lot of people without being punished for it]]. Bradley doesn't have ''a single line of text'' where he isn't insulting, threatening or otherwise expressing a desire to hurt someone. He is also [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain incredibly racist towards the Japanese]], and is even implied during his first meeting with Kallen Kozuki that he would most certainly [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rape her]], given the chance. [[HateSink All this combined makes him a truly loathsome character.]]

* In ''Literature/DateALive'' most of DEM Wizards are trained to become Wescott's loyal fanatics who voluntarily obey what he says, while money may or may not be a secondary need. Best example are [[AxCrazy Jessica Bailey]] and [[TheDragon Ellen]] [[PsychoSupporter Mira]] [[BloodKnight Mathers]].

** Tao Pai Pai charges 10 billion Zeni per kill, but nonetheless loves killing people. Hell, the ''very'' first thing he says to Goku is "Pleased to kill you."

** Gauron who actually had to be restrained from killing the pilot on an airplane he was hijacking, even when none of the other terrorists ''could fly the plane''. He's been shown to also [[TriggerHappy shoot and kill]] his employers when they say things that irritate him. Furthermore, while utilizing a Lambda Driver seems to drive another terrorist into a [[AxCrazy kind of delusional psychosis]], Gauron doesn't seem at all changed by his experiences with it, suggesting he's ''already'' that crazy. Add in his [[spoiler:intentionally brutal execution and gruesome display of Sousuke's comrades]] just to [[InLoveWithYourCarnage attempt to "wake up" the perfect killing machine he remembers Sousuke being]], and the psychosis is rather clear. However, his sheer ''personality'' while doing this (such as utilizing his infamous "bang" finger pose to trigger his AS's Lambda Driver) have had some people torn between whether he's in MoralEventHorizon territory or an utter badass.
** Gates, Gauron's replacement in Amalgam's antagonist role from ''The Second Raid'', is also like this, with a RunningGag being [[YouHaveFailedMe his random killing off of his own men]] for any number of reasons. Also, his last words before his death? "I could use a haircut" while [[spoiler:his mech is being vaporized around him by the Arbalest's Lambda Driver]]. If not for his [[InformedAbility apparent combat skills]], one'd wonder why Amalgam'd hire someone MORE unstable than Gauron. It's an example of AdaptationDistillation. In the original novel he was a nondescript goon who didn't even had a name, and was known only by his Amalgam codename -- Mr. Kalium. The whole psycho thing was invented by the animation team.

** Alucard himself qualifies big-time -- he's a vampire, by his own admission worse than what he fights, a nightmarish sadist who loves to terrify and then rip his enemies apart (frequently eating them) with totally overwhelming power, and he's got an impressive EvilLaugh of his own. But he's an unusual example in that he works for the good guys, and that he is unambiguously, ''absolutely'' loyal to his boss, Integra. Which just means he massacres threats to her with even greater glee.

** For starters, most high level Marines aren't generally very nice people.

* Karasuba from ''Manga/{{Sekirei}}'' is the only consistent member during all three incarnations of the Discipline Squad, because she [[CombatSadoMasochist genuinely LOVES]] killing. That she gets the perks of being [[MegaCorp MBI's]] top enforcer is only icing on the very bloody cake. She combines this with the BloodKnight, since the stronger the opponent she faces, the more [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence fun]] she'll have killing them. While Minaka is the more traditional, scheming BigBad that controls the Sekirei Plan......she could be considered the ''true'' villain of the series, having been established as the FinalBoss from the beginning. Her ultimate goal is to use the power gained from [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne victory]] to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy the world]].

** It's rather tragic one: [[spoiler:He comes from a world where there are no passions, no-one desires or fears anything, and death is just an irrelevant abstraction. Then he comes to Lux, and sees who people who truly ''care'' about living, due to being under a constant threat of violent death. He falls so much in love with this feeling, and thinks that the people of Lux don't appreciate it enough, that he decides to share his own newfound passion with everybody by starting a war that will swallow the entire city, allowing him to witness it's overflowing lifeforce in the fullest.]]

** ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': Judge Death was originally one of these when he signed up for his AlternateUniverse's equivalent of the Judges so he could make a living out of killing people. In fact, this extends to the rest of the Judge force in his dimension: their recruitments posters actually advertised "Kill anyone you like (within reason)" as a bonus for joining. This is eventually subverted when he makes himself Chief Judge by [[TheStarscream killing his predecessor]], as he considers life in general to be a crime and is thus obsessive in [[OmnicidalManiac exterminating all of it]].

* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' has Demolitia and the Unholy Alliance, who enjoy their work too much to be PunchClockVillains and not classy enough to form MurderInc.

*** On the flip side, Lobo always keeps his word, and completes the contract to the letter. Meaning that if the contract had said 'not kill me with the weapon', Lobo would have left him alive. But you have to be careful with the words, as shown when he was forced to bring a certain person to Vril Dox only to discover it was his fourth grade teacher, the one person he wanted dead above everyone in the universe: Lobo brought her to Vril Dox alive (and legless), but as soon as Vril Dox said she was in his care Lobo killed her, as Dox had said nothing about leaving her alive ''after'' completing the job. Bear in mind that Vril Dox is just about the only person in the universe who Lobo will listen to.

** Their French counterparts, ''Les Hommes Mysterioux'', are this almost to a man, consisting almost entirerly of characters from French pulp fiction such as The Nyctalope, Zenith The Albino, and Fantomas. The only mildly heroic member of this group is GentlemanThief Literature/ArseneLupin.

** [[Characters/{{Hydra}} Viper]] from ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' might just be the crowning example of this. She's so AxCrazy that the ''[[Characters/MarvelComicsRedSkull Red Skull]]'' [[TheSociopath of all people]] won't work with her, if only because his actions usually have some kind of purpose, where as she just likes killing and hurting as many people as possible.
** Bullseye from ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}''. In an appearance in Daniel Way's ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'' comic, he even mentions that he rarely spends the money he makes from his hit jobs. He is actually extremely rich by this point, but rather than use it, he continues to be a hit man because he likes it.

** Unsurprisingly, given the DarkerAndEdgier nature of the series, ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX'' features these characters in ''droves'', the most noticeable being [[ScaryBlackMan Barracuda]] and Bullseye. The latter takes this trope even further than his mainstream-universe counterpart does, with his psychotic side being even ''less'' picky about the death and destruction caused in carrying out his contracts than in his other incarnations.

* ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'': Noriko "The Blood Princess" has had homicidal tendencies since childhood and uses random slayings as morale boosters for her slaves. It's implied that her master, an unseen ManipulativeBastard, would love to be rid of her if it weren't for her "usefulness". [[spoiler:It's revealed that she's the ultimate [[TheUnfavorite Unfavorite]], having been rejected by her "step" and biological fathers. This is somewhat tempered by the fact that she killed said fathers by poisoning and back-stabbing, respectively, and she's telling this to her the favorite half-sister while beating her half to death.]]

* ''Fanfic/HarmonyTheory'' Charisma is a pretty pink pegasus that just so happens to have a literal talent for killing. Her talent constantly tells her the best ways to kill every living thing in her general vicinity, giving her the ability to take on physically stronger opponents, like griffons and dragons, while giving her a very good feeling every time she kills something. But this has also caused her to become a AxCrazy DarkActionGirl, who's urge to kill is forever present, whether she wants it to or not, and can not interact with the rest of pony society. After a stent in the Solar special forces, Charisma went rogue and became the dragon to criminal mastermind Max Cash. She's also the PsychoExGirlfriend to Trail Blazer.

** Grand King Ghidorah destroys planets ForTheEvulz and thus joined due to the offer of causing mass destruction. He takes it a step further by outright admitting he was ''never'' under mind control by the various alien races he's been under the 'control' of: he merely allowed them to ''think'' he was because it benefited him.

** Sheik is Zelda's EnemyWithin. She likes nothing more than to make her enemies hurt and watch them bleed out. ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' tournaments don't allow people to die, though they still feel pain during the fight, so Sheik uses this to her advantage. She can inflict as much damage as she likes wih no fatalities, and it's all allowed in the tournament.

* Willard Stenk from ''WesternAnimation/MissingLink'' is a hunter infamous for stalking and killing every kind of animal under the sun. As it turns out, he's not above working as an assassin either, and shows obvious relish in his work. Even after [[spoiler:his employer dies]] in the climax, Stenk makes one final attempt to murder the heroes anyway, admitting he's not doing it for the money, but out of "shallow, self-centered pride."

* ''Film/Batman1989'': Jack Napier is this before his transformation into the Joker, as he's a mob enforcer with dreams of being a mob boss, but Lt. Eckhardt points out that his AxCrazy tendencies make it extremely unlikely for his to succeed [[TheDon Grissom]] in running Gotham.
* Hazar in ''Film/BigGame''. The man has no view on religion, politics or ethnics and hunts Moore down mainly for the kicks. The fact that he wants to stuff the president and put him in his TrophyRoom reinforces the impression.

* Burke from ''Film/BlowOut'' is hired by a conspiracy to stop a governor from running for president. He accomplishes this by shooting out the tire on his car, causing it to crash, killing him and nearly killing the call girl he was with. Then, to eliminate the witness and throw off suspicion for the reasons behind her death, [[SerialKillingsSpecificTarget he poses as a serial killer and starts murdering women that look like her]]. The kicker is that Burke wasn't hired to do ''any'' of this. He was just supposed to blackmail the candidate with pictures of himself and the call girl, not kill him, and even after the [[EvenEvilHasStandards conspiracy fires him for his actions]], he still goes through with his serial killer plan. Though Burke tries to maintain an affect of a professional just trying to accomplish a job, it's clear he's only using that as an excuse to act on his deranged desires.

** {{Subverted|Trope}} in ''Film/RaisingArizona''. Nathan Arizona offers a reward for the return of his kidnapped child, which attracts the attention of evil bounty hunter Leonard Smalls. Smalls threatens to find the child and sell him on the blackmarket unless Arizona pays him much more money than the reward. Arizona makes it clear that he won't be bullied.
** Gaear Grimsrud from ''Film/{{Fargo}}'' is a classic example. He is a demented psychopath who is completely apathetic and taciturn throughout the movie, even when he is committing cold blooded and often graphic murder.

* Tin-Tin, Funboy, T-Bird and Skank, Eric Draven's targets of vengeance from ''Film/TheCrow'', who do particularly brutal jobs for the city's kingpin, Top Dollar. In something of a subversion of the trope, Top Dollar is [[ForTheEvulz far more evil]] than even these psychotic killers.
* Bullseye in ''Film/Daredevil2003'', who kills people even during his offtime, and volunteers to murder Daredevil for free.

* In ''Film/TheDevilsRejects'', Sheriff Wydell hires the a pair of psychotic bounty hunters called the Unholy Two and sics them on the AxeCrazy, mass-murdering Firefly family. The Unholy Two are so badass that they actually win the showdown without breaking much of a sweat.
* In ''Film/DickTracyVsCueball'', Percival Priceless, Simon Little and Mona Clyde hire Cueball to do their dirty work and steal the diamonds coming in the ship. Cueball proves to be a loose cannon and kills the courier. Cueball has a HairTriggerTemper and a distinctive method of killing: strangling his victims with his hatband.

* Kobus from ''Film/District9''. Employed by MNU, nothing would make his day more than getting to kill some aliens and considers himself lucky to even get paid to do so. He even says to Christopher that he loves watching them die.

* In ''Film/{{Gamer}}'', Hackman slaughtered a dozen people on the outside just so he could be locked up and enjoy all the death he can cause in the battlefield of ''Slayers''. He teams up with Castle for the sole purpose to get free reign to murder Kable and anyone else he feels like.

* Waingro, from ''Film/{{Heat}}''. He is hired to work with [=McCauley's=] team, but is kicked out because of his psychopathic tendencies and impulsive killings. Waingro goes rogue, kills a prostitute (it is implied that he has done this several times before) and is hired by SmugSnake Van Zant to bring down [=McCauley's=] team.

* Nathan Wallace from ''Film/RepoTheGeneticOpera'' works as a Repo Man, a legal assassin hired by Gene Co to repossess organs with surgical precision from people who are delinquent in their payments. He's also a tragic example of this trope, since he was manipulated into becoming a Repo Man by Gene Co's founder after the latter murdered Nathan's wife. While Nathan can become a sadistic, psychopathic killer with the flick of a scalpel, the Repo Man persona almost seems like a split-personality, and off the clock he's a loving father who's consumed by guilt and self-loathing.
* ''Film/ReservoirDogs'': Mr. Blonde is described as having gone berserk during the robbery, and [[EvenEvilHasStandards the other robbers take him to task]] for being a "psychopath" instead of a "professional." The "ear" scene is one of the most sadistically twisted scenes in film history. He even managed to disturb his own actor, thanks to an [[IHaveAFamily ad-lib]] by his victim. Ultimately [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]], as the fact that Blonde is completely AxCrazy leads to far too many problems for his employers than they can handle, and his associates would never have done a job with him if they knew, because someone who enjoys what he does ''that'' much is just inherently unpredictable.

* ''Film/Spawn1997'': Jessica Priest is an even darker assassin than Al Simmons (aka Spawn). She seems to be in it mainly for the joy of hurting people, as Simmons balks at how she always leaves a huge bodycount of innocent bystanders on her missions. Later, she sadistically burns Simmons to death on their boss Jason Wynn's orders.

* Udaybhan Singh Rathore from Bollywood film ''Film/{{Tanhaji}}'' has a perpetual [[PsychoticSmirk grin]] on his face which only widens when he is killing or torturing someone. Even the Mughals who are no saints, are shocked by some of his actions. [[spoiler: During the end, when he is being thrown off a cliff while being tethered to a cannon, he still has a crazy grin on his face.]]

* ''Film/{{Wanted}}'' has a particularly nasty case of this in a man named Max Petridge, whose signature assassination technique is to break into his target's home and tie them down to a chair. The target's loved ones are ForcedToWatch while he [[KillItWithFire burns the victim alive]]. Afterwards, he brands his initials onto the back of the family member's necks so that they will never forget what he did to them.

* The Glanton Gang from ''Literature/BloodMeridian'', a mercenary gang who've been hired by the Texan state to collect Apache scalps in exchange for bounties. The vast majority of the gang are bloodthirsty psychopaths, and not only are they led by John Joel Glanton, a man who's killed so much he's gone insane, but the group is being corrupted even more by Judge Holden, a man so evil that it's implied he might not even be human. Unsurprisingly, the group goes rogue and begins to rape, loot and kill everything in their path, whether Native Americans, Mexican civilians, or Mexican and American soldiers.

** For an example, the Hashashin from ''Literature/AngelsAndDemons''.

* In ''Literature/{{Coma}}'', the bad guys hire a hitman to kill medical student Susan Wheeler when she gets a whiff of their [[OrganTheft black-market organ scheme]]. He is specifically instructed to make it look like a rape/mugging gone bad, and when he is told this, it is stated that he absolutely relish the idea of sexually assaulting Susan -- Susan herself notes that he seems to savor the fear he's creating as he stalks her.

** Mister Teatime in ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'' is one of the most infamous examples. A certifiably deranged member of the Guild of Assassins, rather than killing cleanly and dispassionately for payment as the Guild teaches, Teatime views money as a distraction, takes [[PsychopathicManchild child-like joy]] in his work and spends his free time thinking of ways to assassinate "imaginary" figures. During one assignment he nailed his target's dog to the ceiling, murdered the man's defenseless servants and then made sure his target was dead by checking his breath with a mirror ''after'' the man's head was several feet from his body. The leader of the Guild, Lord Downey, who doesn't have morals but does have [[EvenEvilHasStandards standards]], is so repelled by Teatime that he planned on having him killed until he realized Teatime's corkscrew of a mind might be just the instrument needed when the Guild is commissioned to inhume the Hogfather.

* The ''Literature/{{Hurog}}'' series has [[spoiler: Bastilla]]. Technically a mindcontrolled slave, but it is stated that the person actually enjoys violence, and would not want to be freed.

* Zara from ''Literature/TheNovaChronicles'' is a heartless sadist who's only motivations are money and pleasure. She delights in killing and has no limits to who she targets. The bloodier a mission the wider her grin at debriefing.

* Messrs. Croup and Vandemar from Creator/NeilGaiman's ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}''. They're a pair of {{Humanoid Abomination}}s that do freelance work for the sheer joy of the torturing, killing, and causing widespread destruction. Their latest job, before being hired to massacre Door's family, was destroying a monastery and killing everyone within. They, in turn, hire Mr. Ross to do a spot of work for them, and later Mr. Varney. Croup and Vandemar prove themselves to be far out of the latter two's leagues, however, as Ross is essentially used as canon fodder, and Varney [[spoiler:is implied to be eaten alive by Croup for failing them.]]

* The GiantSpider Ungoliant in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', Morgoth's accomplice in the Darkening of Valinor. Morgoth is terrified of her and only his fire-whip wielding legion of Balrogs can keep her under control.

** Many warriors, especially those employed by Tywin Lannister. Specifically there's the Clegane brothers. The elder brother, Gregor, "The Mountain That Rides," is a hulking horror, driven into a perpetual rage by migraines and painkillers, and spends the vast majority of his time killing and raping his way across the kingdom. The soldiers he surrounds himself with -- the Mountain's Men, Raff the Sweetling, Chiswyck and [[TortureTechnician the Tickler]] -- are of a similar disposition, becoming soldiers so they can loot, kill and rape to their heart's content. Relatively more sympathetic is Sandor Clegane, a brutal thug with some {{Wangst}} issues, who insists that all knights are psychos for hire by default, but like to pretend otherwise. He sums this trope up nicely with, "Killing is the sweetest thing there is." [[spoiler:Though Sandor actually does go through some character development into a slightly better person.]]
** The Brave Companions are an [[PrivateMilitaryContractors entire sellsword company]] comprised of these. Initially they work for Tywin Lannister before defecting to Roose Bolton for a better offer. They're initially led by Vargo Hoat, who earned his reputation as "the Crippler" by chopping off captives' hands and feet [[ForTheEvulz for his own amusement.]] The rest of the band consists of a MonsterClown, serial rapists and child killers. It's telling that the most "sympathetic" member of their group is a PedophilePriest who rapes and murders boys, but at least [[ReluctantPsycho feels remorse over it.]] After Hoat's death, a faction led by Rorge, one of most AxCrazy individuals in the series, goes on a senseless crusade of [[RapePillageAndBurn raping, pillaging and burning]] as a band of outlaws.
** House Bolton starts out as the Stark family's own psycho-for-hire bannermen, which is somewhat interesting as the Starks are generally good guys and the Boltons are now considered the TokenEvilTeammate of the North, due to their fond family history of [[FlayingAlive flaying their enemies alive.]] [[spoiler:Unfortunately for the Starks, the Boltons are TheStarscream and betray them at the Red Wedding, and now Roose Bolton is Warden of the North.]]

** One notable one would be Asajj Ventress, Count Dooku's Dark Acolyte and general all-round murderous underling. She numbers her Jedi kills and [[spoiler:became obsessed with Obi-Wan, to the point of first keeping him prisoner in what looked almost like a gimp mask to stop his powers, then continually hunting him whenever he was near.]]
** ''Literature/TalesOfTheBountyHunters'': Bossk really fits the bill. While he's paid for bounty hunting, this is really just a side benefit as Bossk loves harming and killing other beings, especially Wookies (whose pelts he's collected). It's part of his religion even, since he follows the Scorekeeper, a goddess named who rewards hunters depending on how well they hunt and the number of kills they get according to its tenets.

** Leo Bonhart became a bounty hunter so he could get paid to do what he loves most in the world: [[BloodKnight fight and kill]]. Bonhart has a reputation of professionalism, but this comes across as an InformedAttribute since he betrays every employer he has during the final two books. He's actually planning on [[RetiredMonster retiring because of old age]], but this doesn't stop him from being as ludicrously sadistic as possible to his latest target, the 16-year-old Ciri, and he ends up obsessed with being the one to kill her after [[InLoveWithYourCarnage seeing her in action]].

* Mandy a recurring antagonist from ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]''. She's a more sane version of it though, coming off as a ProfessionalKiller. Unusually for this trope, this works in the heroes favor. On Day 4 Jack notes that she's a hired gun, not a believer in the terrorist's goals, so if cornered she'd make a deal rather than commit suicide. [[spoiler:He's right. She makes a deal for a Presidential Pardon, and is one of the few characters to survive the series]].

** Marcus, Spike's hired torture expert, from the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode [[Recap/AngelS01E03InTheDark "In the Dark"]]. Spike ''thinks'' he's averting a sudden but inevitable betrayal by hiring someone solely interested in torture and indifferent to the Gem of Amara; but fails to realize that Marcus quite naturally knows that a ring that [[DaywalkingVampire makes vampires invincible]] will let him commit greater acts of torture (not to mention [[PedoHunt pedophilia]]). Spike promptly gets betrayed.

** Rorge and Biter join the Lannister army... with the likes of the Mountain and Polliver they fit right in. Polliver makes it very clear that his loyalties to the Lannisters and the King are only maintained because they allow him carte blanche to murder, torture, rape and thieve his way across Westeros.
* Elle Bishop from ''Series/{{Heroes}}''. Ended up being a deconstruction. It turned out the higher-ups at Primatech thought she was too unstable, the only reason she kept her job was because her father insisted. After Bob was killed, Angela immediately fired her.
* ''Series/{{Justified}}'' has had a few. There's Billy Mac, an ex-boxer who likes taking the chance to beat up black people. There's Fletcher Nix, a Dixie mafia hitman who forces his victims to play a {{sadist}}ic game before he kills them. There's the late Tommy Bucks, who put dynamite in a man's mouth to prove a point. And of course there's Wynn Duffy, Dixie Mafia middleman and certifiable psychopath who is purported to have once sewn a man's face to a soccer ball, though CharacterDevelopment sets in after he spends a season or two working with some particularly AxCrazy individuals that ''considerably'' mellows him out, to the point he ends up being considered the Dixie Mafia's VoiceOfReason. Apparently, he realized being a psychopath wasn't a very lucrative job position (in fact, mellowing out resulted in him stepping up in the criminal world).

* [[ManipulativeBastard Moriarty]] on Series/{{Sherlock}} is referred to as the "consulting criminal" -- he's made a a career out of solving problems for people, frequently in lethal ways. He does this for fun rather than money, and sells out several former clients as part of his first "game" with Sherlock.

* Chris Flannerly of ''Series/{{Underbelly}}'' was certifiably off his rocker. He aims to be the biggest killer in Australia. He takes credit for the killing of horse race robber Ray Chuck before earning his reputation by going on a killing spree for the highest bidder. He eventually takes out contracts for racing identity George Freeman, before it is realised the hitman is too dangerous to live. Experts say the real life Flannerly was either accurately portrayed or a lot worse.
** 'The Runner' and 'The Driver' (their names could not be given due to the concurrent court case), whose claim to fame was to kill Jason Moran in front of their kids, would also qualify. Specifically when the Runner thinks his wife is having an affair he first tracks down who he thinks she is with, only for the teenager to not only be taken into protection by the police but is the wrong man, after trashing his house he beats and rapes his wife.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': Szuriel, the [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse Horseman of War]] is what happens when a being of near divine status adopts the mentality of a typical psycho for hire. Szuriel hires out her daemons as mercenaries to mortals, demon lords, archdevils, and anyone else who is willing to pay. These campaigns inevitably result in war crimes, genocide, and the eventual betrayal and destruction of both sides, because Szuriel doesn't care about causes or contracts -- only violence and the theft of souls.

** All Chaos [[SuperSoldier Space Marines]] actually. In every edition they only get crazier. Literature/CiaphasCain ('''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!''') lampshades it on being informed that a Chaos army is believed to have [=CSMs=] as advisors, since he can't imagine them giving any advice other than "kill them all".

** One of the most prominent examples of this would be Adam Smasher, a FullConversionCyborg under the employ of [[EvilInc Arasaka]]. He's considered so violently psychotic that [[InsanityImmunity he's unaffected by the detrimental effects of Cyberpsychosis]] and has a clause in his contract specifically guaranteeing that he'll only take jobs that ensures maximum collateral damage. Statistically, his Empathy stat [[BrokeTheRatingScale isn't even given a proper number]] and is simply listed as [[LackOfEmpathy "Yeah, right..."]]

* ''Videogame/DiscoElysium'' has the Krenel mercenaries, a squad of [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain racist]] [[AxCrazy lunatics]] with a long rap sheet of warcrimes to their names who sell their talents to corporate interests. In-game, their squad commander (who was the only one capable of wrangling them in) was killed, which led to them going rogue to exact a "Tribunal" on the locals that they blame for his death. Defied however in the case of [[spoiler:the player character]], who in the end is explicitly stated to ''not'' be an assassin for the mob because he's far too unstable to be used in that capacity.

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, the Dark Brotherhood, an illegal [[MurderInc organization of assassins]] whose membership mostly takes a sadistic glee in killing and who practice a ReligionOfEvil. They [[EqualOpportunityEvil accept anyone]] willing to kill on command and who has shown at least some skill in doing so. This eclectic mix of talented killers still tends to [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits be very effective at what they do]], right up to having [[TheKingslayer assassinated the Emperor of Tamriel]]. They're joinable in ''Daggerfall'', ''Oblivion'', and ''Skyrim'', and their questlines provide many opportunities for the PlayerCharacter to be one of these as well.

* Kefka Palazzo from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' starts out in the game as a particularly heinous Psycho For Hire, performing such acts as setting a castle filled with inhabitants on fire simply as an act of persuasion, to single handedly causing the [[OmnicidalManiac genocide of a kingdom]] (including his own men), simply for the sake of amusement. Eventually, through betrayals and an EarthShatteringKaboom, he [[DeityOfHumanOrigin evolved]] into an even more heinous BigBad, vaporizing entire cities with his WaveMotionGun and attempting to annihilate ''everything'' because he thought that [[NietzscheWannabe it was pointless to let it exist anyway]].
* [[MadScientist Professor Hojo]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. He does numerous experiments on humans, and how he does it is worse then it sounds. He's likes hurting people far more then money, highlighted when he actually tries to keep the [[WaveMotionGun Sister Ray]] from killing [[BigBad Sephiroth]].

* The ''VideoGame/JaggedAlliance'' series is full of these, although there are far fewer psychos than mentally "stable" mercs. It is also notable that between the second and third installment in the series, when A.I.M. becomes a high-profile and almost respectable organization, most of the outright certifiable people on the roster are quietly dropped.

-->'''Col. Leo Kelly''': Unusually Ruthless Reuban, crazy Reuban, trimmer of the family tree...you can call him whatever you want, but ''I ain't working with him''!
-->'''Corp. Len Anderson''': Unusually Ruthless Reuban has given this business a bad name! I won't work beside him!

* Lynch from ''VideoGame/KaneAndLynch'' is a deconstruction. Lynch is a fairly realistic (if extreme) example of a person who suffers from schiophrenia with psychotic episodes, meaning he will have episodes where he becomes extremely violent, and has difficulties understanding what's real and what's in his head. He very much enjoys killing when he has an episode, but the aftermath, when he has to calmly face what he's done, can become very ugly.

** In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', the ante is upped by adding a NewAndImproved line of droids called HK-50s. They may seem harmless at first, until you learn that [[spoiler:every last one of them is out to kill you]]. "But anonymous contributor," you might ask, "how does that make them psychotic? ''Everything'' is out to get you in [=KotOR=]" That may be true, but recall this line: "[Mocking query]: Coortaaaa... Coorta, are you dead ''yet?''"
* In ''VideoGame/MechWarrior 2 Mercenaries'', one of the pilots you can hire is described as being this. Given the ArtificialStupidity of computer controlled characters, the only real difference between him and any of the other available pilots is some {{narm}}-filled battle crys.

** It's safe to say Prometheus had plans simply to destroy the other Mega Men and, most likely, Model W as part of his scheme, but he went batshit by his own madness after losing to Grey/Ashe. Before the fight in ''Advent''...

** Also, Psycho Mantis from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', who explicitly states that he wasn't interested in a revolution, only in killing as many people as he possibly could.

-->'''La Clown:''' But I never thought... losing would mean dying. I think I'm about to die. Snake, Flemming is in the underground hangar. He could be activating Metal Gear and deciding on a target for its nuclear warhead as we speak. To get to the hangar, you'll have to open a door in the north part of this section, and go down the ladder.

* In ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' Makarov is described as this. He's the world's greatest terrorist who only cares about money and power. Specifically, his EvilPlan is for Russia to rule ''all'' of Europe, with him as it's Tsar. Failing that, he has no qualms about nuking those countries he cannot conquer.

** Travis himself counts, too, as he sees his murders not as a job, but a HOBBY. As if being an Otaku wasn't expensive enough!

* Akechi Mitsuhide from the video game ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara''. Casual fans are shocked seeing this kind of AlternateCharacterInterpretation since Mitsuhide is the guy often receiving the HistoricalHeroUpgrade, since Nobunaga is always often the villain. Strangely, even Nobunaga is also villainous here.

** Pigma Dengar is implied to be one of these as well during the Bolse mission in ''Star Fox 64''. While he may express his motives being for the money, his opening line when Star Wolf attacks Star Fox on Bolse makes it very clear that he also absolutely enjoys killing people as well.

* Bounty hunter Solo from ''VideoGame/{{Strider}}'', specially in the [[VideoGame/Strider2014 2014 entry]]. While in the [[VideoGame/StriderArcade first two games]] he's a ConsummateProfessional more interesting in finishing a contract and keeping his reputation as the strongest, the 2014 game added a much more sadistic personality to the mix, exemplified by him taunting Hiryu mid-battle about not entertaining him enough and being generally disappointed by his performance, as well as breaking into a rather jarring EvilLaugh occassionally. Once he's defeated and half-heartedly brought back to life, he goes full AxCrazy, fully obssessed over killing Hiryu for his previous defeat.

** Luca Blight from ''VideoGame/SuikodenII'' fits the standard archetype, but does his work strictly pro bono and is, in fact, the BigBad. He is widely regarded as one of the [[FortheEvulz evilest]], cruelest and [[{{Sadist}} most sadistic villains]] in video game history. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLVDD5W8ltE This scene]] makes this trait abundantly clear.
** Childerich from ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'' is also an example, which has garnered criticism to his character because of his resemblance to Luca, right down to using (as a shout out) his infamous "Die pigs!!" line when killing people.

* Everyone in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''. In a game chock full of mercenaries with "interesting" personalities, we start with the Scout, an aggressive twerp who badmouths everyone he comes across and enjoys beating up others with his bat. The Soldier is a cross of a DrillSergeantNasty and CloudCuckoolander with a bazooka. The Heavy cheerfully laughs as he mows people down and converses with his miniguns and things he pulls out of a lunchbox. The Engineer gets a little too jolly when his machines kill people. The Demoman is a Scottish drunkard with a propensity for blowing things up. The Sniper thinks he's a [[ColdSniper utter professional]] but he enjoys his work and spits out insults far too much for that. The Medic sees healing as unrewarding in comparison to harming others, and is morbidly fascinated with human suffering. The Spy ''is'' an actual professional who nonetheless mocks his victims with a jaunty cackle. Finally, the Pyro is an ObliviouslyEvil {{pyromaniac}} who legitimately doesn't know that they're killing anyone and thinks they're instead spreading rainbows and joy, though this doesn't make them any less enthusiastic about getting out there into a place that they ''do'' know harms them to spread that fire around.

* In ''VideoGame/WayOfTheSamurai 2'', the local Big Bad, Hanzaemon Takenuma, has a Psycho For Hire named Kyojiro Kagenuma. She scares the ka-britches our of everybody, wields the most scary sword in the game, has two ridiculously overpowered attacks, and will -- in several endings -- continue to haunt the player after the BigBad has been defeated. Often referred to as a 'Mad Dog', though never to her face. Call her O-Kyo at your own peril.

* Skoll of ''Webcomic/CryHavoc'', while well payed for her services as a mercenary, seems to be mainly motivated by a psychotic glee in killing people.

** And for the competition, we have the Savoy Siblings and Mordecai. Mordecai especially, although he would would probably challenge that assertion, being a ConsummateProfessional instead of a gleeful sadist.

* [[InTheHood Grim]] [[SinisterScythe Reaper]] in ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' seems to be working for HYDRA for the sole reason that he likes killing, fighting, terrorizing etc. In his own words: "Finally... someone to hurt".

** Even going on a rampage on his ''own planet'' just for the heck of it.

** Scaramouche is a RoboticPsychopath who remorselessly slaughtered an innocent village filled with men, women and children.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' gives us Herr Trigger, one of OSI's (former) most-wanted assassins. Something he has over the other two most-wanted is that he is a [[CombatSadomasochist gun fetishist]] and kills simply for the sexual pleasure. Most of his dialog is a creepy, ecstatic laugh.

** While Solf J. Kimblee leans more towards being a SociopathicSoldier, the [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist 2003 anime adaptation's]] version is primarily one of these. The 2003's take on Envy likely qualifies as well, as he freely admits that he only works for Dante because of the opportunities to kill and hurt people.
*** Envy could have been lying, though, as Envy is wont to do, and the anime never really covered Envy's backstory, or his relationship with Dante. We know his true identity, and... pretty much nothing else.

** The ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "The Magnificent Ferengi" gives us Leck, an Eliminator. Eliminators are Ferengi assassins, seen as psychos by the rest of the Alliance because they like the killing more than the latinum they earn from it.

* Accelerator from ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' begins like this but changes to {{Sociopathic|Hero}} AntiHero when he picks up [[MoralityPet Last Order]]. He still prefers to brutally and painfully kill opponents with crazed laughter instead of sparing them but then again, [[WhatYouAreInTheDark it's not like he brings the girl with him into the battle zone]].

* In ''LightNovel/DateALive'' most of DEM Wizards are trained to become Wescott's loyal fanatics who voluntarily obey what he says, while money may or may not be a secondary need. Best example are [[AxCrazy Jessica Bailey]] and [[TheDragon Ellen]] [[PsychoSupporter Mira]] [[BloodKnight Mathers]].

* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDxD'': Freed Sellzen, ''big time''. While initially seeming to just be a KnightTemplar, it's ultimately revealed that he only joined the Church and became an Exorcist because it'd allow him to slaughter things and slake his bloodlust without consequence; he doesn't even believe in God, and never did.

* ''LightNovel/SeireiGensoukiSpiritChronicles'': Lucius Orgueil and his mercenary group, the Heavenly Lions, are a bunch of sadists who like to use their power to torment those weaker than them, even when they're not getting paid for it. While on the payroll of Proxian agent Reiss, they attack various royals from other countries and enjoy the chaos they cause in their operations.

* Sir Luciano Bradley, the Knight of Ten from ''Anime/CodeGeass''. Similar to the Kimbley example above, he specifically states that he joined the army so that he would be allowed to kill a lot of people without being punished for it. Bradley doesn't have ''a single line of text'' where he isn't insulting, threatening or otherwise expressing a desire to hurt someone.

* The Shichinin-tai (Band of Seven) from ''Manga/InuYasha'', especially [[VillainousCrossdresser Jakotsu]] and [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Suikotsu]] (when dominated by his evil side). Even Bankotsu, their leader, casually admits that his only goal in life is to kill as many people as possible and even offers to help his subordinate Renkotsu become lord of his own castle by force should the man wish to leave their mercenary organization and "settle down".

* Hunter J from ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}''. She's an utterly ruthless poacher-for-hire willing to sic an army of henchmen and Pokémon comparable to those of the Elite Four [[WouldHurtAChild on children]] if they get between her and a valuable Pokémon. She will only relent in her merciless attacks if she captures her prey or if her employer cancels the job.

* ''Lightnovel/FullMetalPanic'':

* Schwartz of ''Anime/WeissKreuz'' start out as a team of four Psychos For Hire, since they are the {{Evil Counterpart}}s of the four HitmanWithAHeart protagonists. That they turn on every single one of their employers before the end of the first series illustrates the dangers of employing Psychos For Hire.

Most are mercenaries, the handful who aren't are summoned and controlled with AppliedPhlebotinum. They are almost never the BigBad, because [[SanityHasAdvantages unstable maniacs don't make good or interesting plotters]] (usually). The BigBad often has contempt for them for precisely this reason. Note that the EvilOverlordList discourages hiring such individuals, as they "tend to do dumb things like even the odds to give the other guy a sporting chance." In fact, it's hard to understand why any intelligent BigBad would hire these guys, given their tendencies to attract attention by killing vast numbers of innocent bystanders, turn down easy chances to kill the hero because "[[JustToyingWithThem it wouldn't be fun]]", and [[TheStarscream turn on their bosses]] because of [[HairTriggerTemper trivial or imagined "insults"]] or just ForTheEvulz. Not every Psycho For Hire is an unstable lunatic, though -- beware the mercenary who has managed to focus their love of violence into [[ConsummateProfessional total professionalism]] in a job they adore.

* ''Literature/VirtualLight'': Good ''lord'', [[CorporateSamurai Loveless]]. He's a [[ProfessionalKiller ruthless assassin]] who [[KickTheDog never misses a chance to inflict needless pain and suffering]]. He kills a man by [[CruelAndUnusualDeath pulling his tongue through a hole in his throat]], uses banned nanotech handcuffs that tighten when struggled against to the point of causing severe bleeding, shoots dead Chevette's friend Sammy Sal, and makes it [[ShamefulStrip painfully obvious]] that [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil he's going to rape Chevette]] when he corners her and Rydell two-thirds of the way through the book, presumably before killing both of them horribly. Ultimately though, [[LaserGuidedKarma his depravity leads to his downfall]] -- in the latter scenario he arrives when the protagonists are both asleep, and could very easily have killed them both while retrieving the glasses, [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat but since he was determined to rape and torture]], he waits until they wake up, which allows them to escape.