open/close all folders
Film — Live-Action
French agent: This is a dangerous mission, and some of you will die. But remember, in a world gone mad, you will die for a principle that you all hold close to your heart. Money!
Mercenaries: Viva franc! Viva deutschmark! Viva dollar! Viva numbered bank account in Switzerland!
Mercenaries: Viva franc! Viva deutschmark! Viva dollar! Viva numbered bank account in Switzerland!
Back on Earth, these guys were Army dogs, Marines, fighting for freedom. Out here they're hired guns, taking the company's money.
— Jake Sully, Avatar
Nile How many shooters on site?
Copley: At least thirty. Their boss, Keane, is ex-Special Forces.
Nile What kind of CEO rolls round with his own personal army?
Copley: These days? Most of them.
Literature
So what's wrong with being a mercenary? Is your war worth fighting? If it is, then why does it matter who fights it for you? Aren't we imbued with the righteousness of your cause when we take up arms for you? Would you rather your own men and women died to make the point? And if your war is so noble, so necessary - why aren't you fighting it for yourself? Think of all that before you spit on us, aruetii.
— Jaster Mereel, Star Wars: Order 66 - A Republic Commando Novel
We're not something wriggling with too many legs that you found in your sleeping bag. The proper tone of voice is Mercenaries! — with a glad cry.
— Miles Vorkosigan, The Borders of Infinity
Live-Action TV
Ryder Stahl: We're security consultants, not mercenaries.
Subtitles: RYDER STAHL — MERCENARY
Subtitles: RYDER STAHL — MERCENARY
— Burn Notice, "Breaking and Entering"
Music
Roland was a warrior
From the Land of the Midnight Sun
With a Thompson Gun for hire
Fighting to be done
The deal was made in Denmark
On a dark and stormy day
So he set out for Biafra
To join the bloody fray
Through '66 and 7
They fought the Congo War
With their fingers on their triggers
Knee-deep in gore
The days and nights they battled
The Bantu to their knees
They killed to earn their living
And to help out the Congolese
From the Land of the Midnight Sun
With a Thompson Gun for hire
Fighting to be done
The deal was made in Denmark
On a dark and stormy day
So he set out for Biafra
To join the bloody fray
Through '66 and 7
They fought the Congo War
With their fingers on their triggers
Knee-deep in gore
The days and nights they battled
The Bantu to their knees
They killed to earn their living
And to help out the Congolese
— Warren Zevon, "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner"
Poetry
These, in the day when heaven was falling,
The hour when earth's foundations fled,
Followed their mercenary calling,
And took their wages, and are dead.
Their shoulders held the sky suspended;
They stood, and earth's foundations stay;
What God abandoned, these defended,
And saved the sum of things for pay.
The hour when earth's foundations fled,
Followed their mercenary calling,
And took their wages, and are dead.
Their shoulders held the sky suspended;
They stood, and earth's foundations stay;
What God abandoned, these defended,
And saved the sum of things for pay.
— A.E. Housman, "Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries"
Tabletop Games
Occasionally, Uncle Sam needed something doing in a place where Uncle Sam shouldn't be, and you answered your country's call... or anyone else's country, for that matter, so long as the money was good. The mercenary's creed: In Gold We Trust. You made some fun friends, too - you can call in favors from tinpot generals and two-bit dictators from Cambodia to Columbia, and you have enough dirt on the great and the good back home to ensure a peaceful retirement if you ever get old and tired.
— The Mercenary character template, Vampire: The Masquerade - Clanbook: Assamite
You people do well at war because you treat it as a religion. We do well because we treat it as a business. It is just a matter of outlook.
Video Games
Aloy: "Freebooters?" What are those?
Erend: I guess you could say we were mercenaries - warriors for pay. Except a lot more loyal than that makes us sound. Avad couldn't have taken down his father without our metal and muscle. And now some of us serve proudly as his personal Vanguard.
Erend: I guess you could say we were mercenaries - warriors for pay. Except a lot more loyal than that makes us sound. Avad couldn't have taken down his father without our metal and muscle. And now some of us serve proudly as his personal Vanguard.
Mercenaries don't care about sides or politics, they care about getting paid.
— MechCommander 2 intro cutscene
Snipin's a good job, mate! Challenging work... out of doors... I guarantee you'll not go hungry, 'cause at the end of the day, 'long as there's two people left on the planet, someone is going to want someone dead.
— The Sniper, Team Fortress 2
"We're just suppliers. We don't create the market for war. Didja think that every battle in history was all part of some big ol' conspiracy? BULLSHIT! War is just part'a who we are. Why fight it? Anyway, none of this will matter in three hours. Demand for PMC's is about to skyrocket. Like the good ol' days after 9/11!
— Sundowner, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Web Animation
I wouldn't say I'm mean, I just get paid to do mean things.
— Tex, Red vs. Blue
What has the games industry have against PMCs? Is it the "murder for profit" thing? Oh, like you're perfect, games industry.
— Yahtzee, Zero Punctuation
Webcomics
Tagon: Mister Grizzly, my men and I may not be nice people, but we're not bad people. We're hardworking, honest, and true to our word.
Ozvegan Griz: And sometimes you're bound by your word to kill people.
Tagon: But they're almost always bad guys and we only do it for the money.
Ozvegan Griz: And sometimes you're bound by your word to kill people.
Tagon: But they're almost always bad guys and we only do it for the money.
Every client is one missed payment away from being a target.
— Maxim #49
of The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries, Schlock Mercenary
of The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries, Schlock Mercenary Web Original
Alucard: So what's with the pride meeting?
Integra: They're a mercenary group contracted to replace all the men we lost in the Valentine-
Alucard: Hold on, are these guys French?!
Integra: We were forced to post mortality rates. They were the only ones who applied.
Alucard: We are seriously scraping the bottom of the barrel here.
Integra: They're a mercenary group contracted to replace all the men we lost in the Valentine-
Alucard: Hold on, are these guys French?!
Integra: We were forced to post mortality rates. They were the only ones who applied.
Alucard: We are seriously scraping the bottom of the barrel here.
—Hellsing Ultimate Abridged Episode 3
Real Life
I say, then, that the arms with which the prince defends his state are either his own, or they are those of mercenaries, or auxiliaries, or mixed troops. The mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous, and if anyone has a state founded on the arms of mercenaries, he will never be stable or secure, because they are disunited, ambitious, without discipline, disloyal; bold among friends, among enemies cowardly; without fear of God, without faith in men; and your ruin is deferred only as long as the assault is deferred; and in peace you are plundered by them, in war by the enemy. The reason for this is that they have no love or any motive that keeps them in the field other than a little bit of salary, which is not enough to make them willing to die for you. They are quite willing to be your soldiers as long as you are not waging war, but when war comes, then it is: retreat or run away. I should not have to expend much effort to demonstrate this, since the present ruin of Italy is caused by nothing other than its having relied for many years on mercenary armies. These once enabled some men to get ahead, and they did appear courageous among themselves, but when the foreigner arrived, they showed themselves for what they are.
To provide a highly professional and confidential military advisory service to legitimate governments.
To provide sound military and strategic advice.
To provide the most professional military training packages currently available to armed forces, covering aspects related to sea, air, and land warfare.
To provide advice to armed forces on weapon and weapon platform selection.
To provide a total apolitical service based on confidentiality, professionalism, and dedication.
To provide sound military and strategic advice.
To provide the most professional military training packages currently available to armed forces, covering aspects related to sea, air, and land warfare.
To provide advice to armed forces on weapon and weapon platform selection.
To provide a total apolitical service based on confidentiality, professionalism, and dedication.
— Mission Statement of Executive Outcomes
As long as there is man, there will be violence.
As long as there is violence, there will be war.
And as long as there is war... we will always have a job.
As long as there is violence, there will be war.
And as long as there is war... we will always have a job.
— Anonymous
