| abstract
| - Every leader has their own personal style, their own spin on how to get, maintain, and lead supporters, and villains are no exception. Here are the ways evil leaders like the Evil Overlord, Big Bad, or even a petty crime boss lead, control or coerce their Evil Minions, Mooks, henchmen, and The Dragon to do their evil bidding. In no alphabetical order, they are:
* Authority: The Big Bad is a legitimate authority figure within an organization, such as an army, and his minions are under him on the organizational chart. The minions may or may not be aware of his true objectives, but follow him because it's their job to do so. The General Ripper, Hanging Judge, and leaders of The Remnant are examples of this. An Engineered Public Confession that proves he has betrayed the interest of the organization can bring him down, as can going through his superiors (if he has any), otherwise replacing him, or an Enemy Civil War with other branches of service.
* Corruption: The Big Bad decides that rather than recruit from those interested, he'll instead make an applicant pool by means of The Dark Side, Being Tortured Makes You Evil, More Than Mind Control, or the dreaded chocolate chip cookies of doom! To undo this usually requires an I Know You Are in There Somewhere Fight, but those corrupted tend to be harder to break free (and for the villain to control) than Mind Control below.
* Fear: The bad guy controls their Mooks with good old Machiavellian Fear. Because Authority Equals Asskicking, he will use threats of violence on them and/or their loved ones. So the mooks are in no way evil, just working under threat of violence. Heroes can break this form of control in different ways. One is to rescue the hostages, beat up the Big Bad (thus proving him to be weak and "harmless"), convincing the mooks of the Power of Friendship, or demonstrating that it is he who should be feared. If the odds turn against a particular villain, there's also the chance of the mooks getting their own back.
* (Fanatical) Loyalty: Of course, nothing beats blind loyalty in minions. The minions are loyal for one or more of the following reasons:
* Agenda: The villain has a plan where Utopia Justifies the Means, and the mooks heartily agree in the guise of Well Intentioned Extremists or Black Shirts.
* Acceptance: The mooks are poor, ugly, diseased, mutants, or an entire caste/race/nation of people who are marginalized. The villain shows that Dark Is Not Evil by giving them a home, relief, and promises of justice and equality (which often overlaps with Agenda). Mind, he may just be lying because Equal Opportunity Evil means more minions.
* Indoctrination: The mooks are trained from birth and taught to love, fear, and obey the villain. In all of these cases, the best way to undo support is to expose (or frame!) the bad guy as a Straw Hypocrite.
* Kindness: The villain has personally helped, rescued, or enfranchised the minion or one of their loved ones, who follows him out of gratitude. The villain may have done this altruistically as a Pet the Dog, in an attempt to get their loyalty, or it was completely unintended (but they accept their fealty anyway).
* Revenge: If the good guys have hurt someone, offering them a chance for revenge works wonders. Even better, some Big Bads pin their crimes on the heroes and then get those hurt to sign up.
* Respect: The minions genuinely respect and admire the villain. Usually because the villain is charismatic, an effective leader, or they just think he's a great guy overall. These minions are the least likely to betray the villain, but they may pull a Mook Face Turn if something happens to destroy their respect for him.
* Money: Money is a valid super power after all, and the bad guy hires Punch Clock Villains to do his evil bidding. Being motivated by filthy lucre (or having Signed Up for the Dental), the best way for heroes to cause a mass desertion is either to outbid the bad guy or bankrupt him.
* Love: The Big Bad is an emotional manipulator, The Vamp, or has More Than Mind Control / Love Is in the Air as a power. Or they actually love and inspire love in others. All her minions do evil out of love.
* Mind Control / Remote Control: Of course, loyalty is such a finicky thing. It takes ages to create, can be crumbled in seconds, and requires continuous upkeep. Some villains decide to take loyalty (and free will) out of the equation with mind control, and/or robotic minions. The downside is that they can be Turned Against Their Masters and/or shut down by pulling a plug.
* Sadism: The bad guys follow the Big Bad because he gives them a way to indulge their vices, be it hurting people, fighting, killing, mad scientific experiments, or just plain being cruel to other people. They particularly love orders from the Big Bad that give them free rein to do whatever they want, usually to some chosen victim. It's unlikely that the hero can offer them more than the Big Bad, but if they can manipulate either side into Even Mooks Have Loved Ones or a Villainous Demotivator, betrayal will ensue.
* Fear Of Losing Privileges: The villain ensures loyalty by stating that the heroes want to do things like free their slaves and reduce their political power -- this generally only works if the evil minions are part of a noble class. Unless the heroes have more money than Mammon, they're not going to be able to provide compensation for their loss of status even if the outcome is fair. Of course, since they're motivated by prideful greed, select Elite Mooks can be convinced to turn against the Big Bad if doing so would (temporarily, hopefully) give them greater privileges.
* Birthright: The Big Bad has some sort of birthright (for example, he's some sort of feudal warlord) and the mooks are bound to him by a code of honor/duty. Usually The Caligula or God Save Us From the Queen. Only outright assassination or a coup d'etat from a good sibling can stop them.
* Power: Asskicking Equals Authority or some other such variant; the Big Bad is followed because he is the strongest. Can be undone if The Hero manages to defeat him or otherwise proves himself powerful enough in some other fashion, though obviously this only works if the Big Bad possesses godlike abilities.
* Divine Right: Godhood, either fake or genuine, or a mixture when a false god has genuine supernatural power of a different kind. Alternatively, may be a Dark Messiah faking/actually possessing either divine or Satanic backing. Doesn't necessarily matter if they are Good or Evil; they will sometimes be worshipped and followed purely because they are divine.
* Being The Lesser Evil: In a world with Black and Grey Morality, the Evil Overlord gets assistance from the population because they're fighting against Eldritch Abominations, genuine Complete Monsters, or worse. What's a little slavery and torture compared to complete non-existence? If the heroes can't immediately provide a better alternative, i.e. they really do need the Less Evil Side's assistance, a Conspiracy Redemption may be in order. See also Stock Evil Overlord Tactics. Examples of I Control My Minions Through... include:
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