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Villain Recruitment Song

 Villain Recruitment Song
type
FeatureClass
 Villain Recruitment Song
label
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song
page
VillainRecruitmentSong
 Villain Recruitment Song
comment
The villain has the hero in his clutches. Escape is impossible. Will he shoot the hero? Boil him in oil? Throw him into a pit of fire ants with sugar cubes glued to his head?
No, the hero won't get off that easily. This villain is going to ...sing!
That's right—the villain doesn't want to kill the hero. He wants the hero to join him. Furthermore, he wants the hero to join him voluntarily, so he bombards the hero with propaganda via musical number.
Generally, this offer will either be rejected outright or result in a temporary Face–Heel Turn unless dealing with a character other than the protagonist or with a tragedy, in which case it might just fully work.
Subtrope of Villain Song. Related to but not to be confused with Villain Love Song. Villain Love Songs are...well, love songs, whereas Villain Recruitment Songs try to persuade the hero to join with the villain simply because it's in their best interests.

Examples
 Villain Recruitment Song
fetched
2023-10-13T08:15:33Z
 Villain Recruitment Song
parsed
2023-10-13T08:15:33Z
 Villain Recruitment Song
processingComment
Dropped link to DarkReprise: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Villain Recruitment Song
processingComment
Dropped link to TheDragon: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Villain Recruitment Song
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_13b6da8c
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_13b6da8c
comment
"Bad Horse" from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.
Played with in the reprise, when it becomes more threatening: Bad Horse still says "neigh" to Dr. Horrible's joining the ELE, and now he can only get in by killing someone. "There will be blood, it might be yours."
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_13b6da8c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_13b6da8c
featureConfidence
1.0
 DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog
hasFeature
Villain Recruitment Song / int_13b6da8c
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_23d2ea71
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_23d2ea71
comment
Donkey Kong Country gives us two. When DK was once hit with amnesia, both Kaptain Skurvy and King K. Rool take advantage of this by convincing him that he's one of them. This includes Skurvy singing "The Mirror Never Lies" and K. Rool singing "One Of Us".
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_23d2ea71
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_23d2ea71
featureConfidence
1.0
 Donkey Kong Country
hasFeature
Villain Recruitment Song / int_23d2ea71
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_28c6afce
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_28c6afce
comment
Thomas & Friends special Journey Beyond Sodor has one of these in the form "Hottest Place In Town." In it, Frankie and Hurricane make the Steelworks sound like a great place to work. It even includes the line "And before you know it, you'll be joining us in our song" before Thomas joins in towards the end.
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_28c6afce
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_28c6afce
featureConfidence
1.0
 Thomas & Friends
hasFeature
Villain Recruitment Song / int_28c6afce
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_2bca217e
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_2bca217e
comment
The Into the Woods song "No One Is Alone" became this when Satan (played by frequent Stephen Sondheim musical performer Mandy Patinkin) used it as part of his temptation of Monica in the Touched by an Angel episode "Netherlands".
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_2bca217e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_2bca217e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Into the Woods (Theatre)
hasFeature
Villain Recruitment Song / int_2bca217e
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_338be055
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_338be055
comment
Muppet Treasure Island has "Professional Pirate," in which Long John Silver tries to convince Jim Hawkins to join his pirate crew and let them use his compass to find the buried treasure, explaining that pirates are just misunderstood and really, "members of a noble brotherhood".
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_338be055
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_338be055
featureConfidence
1.0
 Muppet Treasure Island
hasFeature
Villain Recruitment Song / int_338be055
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_3b7e691d
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_3b7e691d
comment
"Welcome to the Forty Thieves," in Aladdin and the King of Thieves, although it's really more of a "you accidentally joined, try to leave and we'll kill you" song.
There was also the song "Are You In Or Out?", sung by Sa'luk after he assumes control of what's left of the Forty Thieves once all but 7 of them have been arrested. The song is unique in that it's a re-recruitment song; the thieves have already banded together, it's just that Sa'luk wants them to follow him again.
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_3b7e691d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_3b7e691d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Aladdin and the King of Thieves
hasFeature
Villain Recruitment Song / int_3b7e691d
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_4fc1c922
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_4fc1c922
comment
"Wonderful" in Wicked is the Wizard's attempt to convince Elphaba to abandon her cause and join him. She almost falls for it.
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_4fc1c922
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_4fc1c922
featureConfidence
1.0
 Wicked (Theatre)
hasFeature
Villain Recruitment Song / int_4fc1c922
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_610a28dd
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_610a28dd
comment
"The Elegant Captain Hook," from Peter Pan. With the Lost Boys captured, the pirates tell them to join their ranks. Which actually works, until Wendy persuades the boys otherwise.
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_610a28dd
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_610a28dd
featureConfidence
1.0
 Peter Pan
hasFeature
Villain Recruitment Song / int_610a28dd
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_74795739
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_74795739
comment
"When You Had Left Our Pirate Fold" (aka "A Paradox") from The Pirates of Penzance is an example, though Ruth and the Pirate King are not trying to convince Frederick to (re)join them, oh no no no, they're merely pointing out the unusual circumstances and the exact wording of Frederick's apprenticeship (he's bound to the pirates until his twenty-first birthday, and he was born on the 29th of February), and leaving the rest to his "Sense of Duty to which we have never yet appealed in vain".
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_74795739
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_74795739
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Pirates of Penzance (Theatre)
hasFeature
Villain Recruitment Song / int_74795739
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_79c00bf7
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_79c00bf7
comment
In Heathers when Veronica has doubts about ditching her best friend Martha, the Heathers sing "Candy Store" to show Veronica what she'd miss out on by choosing Martha over them.
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_79c00bf7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_79c00bf7
featureConfidence
1.0
 Heathers (Theatre)
hasFeature
Villain Recruitment Song / int_79c00bf7
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_7e1563ba
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_7e1563ba
comment
From South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, "Blame Canada" could count, though the Mothers Against Canada were more Well Intentioned Extremists than outright villains, although Sheila almost crossed the line before her Heel–Face Turn at the very end. (They accidentally release the Big Bad, Saddam Hussein, by bringing enough intolerance into the world to open the portal to Hell.)
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_7e1563ba
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_7e1563ba
featureConfidence
1.0
 South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
hasFeature
Villain Recruitment Song / int_7e1563ba
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_8516bd41
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_8516bd41
comment
"I Can't Do It Alone" from Chicago counts as this, though the situation is inverted: Velma is recruiting Roxie (herself a Villain Protagonist), because Roxie is in the better position, and Velma needs help.
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_8516bd41
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_8516bd41
featureConfidence
1.0
 Chicago (Theatre)
hasFeature
Villain Recruitment Song / int_8516bd41
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_8ee278fb
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_8ee278fb
comment
The ChalkZone episode "Chalk Queen" has Skrawl sing a reprise of his Villain Song devoted to convincing Penny to side with him in his latest scheme against Rudy.
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_8ee278fb
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_8ee278fb
featureConfidence
1.0
 ChalkZone
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Villain Recruitment Song / int_8ee278fb
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_8f8df73b
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_8f8df73b
comment
The Lion King: "Be Prepared" is about Scar recruiting the hyenas for his plan to kill Mufasa.
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_8f8df73b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_8f8df73b
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1.0
 The Lion King (1994)
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Villain Recruitment Song / int_8f8df73b
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_97218fa4
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_97218fa4
comment
In Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, Ratchet and Clank find a music video of Idol Singer Courtney Gears' newest song "Death to Squishes", a song asking all robots in the galaxy to rise up against all the organic lifeforms there and exterminate them, confirming that she is working for the game's Big Bad Dr. Nefarious.
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_97218fa4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_97218fa4
featureConfidence
1.0
 Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (Video Game)
hasFeature
Villain Recruitment Song / int_97218fa4
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_978b53a9
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_978b53a9
comment
In Mean Girls the Plastics musically request Cady to sit with them at lunch in "Meet the Plastics", the official invite to join their clique.
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_978b53a9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_978b53a9
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1.0
 Mean Girls (Theatre)
hasFeature
Villain Recruitment Song / int_978b53a9
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_9ab064e6
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_9ab064e6
comment
"Lovely Ladies" in Les Misérables, where the homeless, despairing Fantine is surrounded by a chorus of prostitutes aggressively telling her to give in to the inevitable and take up their trade.
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_9ab064e6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_9ab064e6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Les Misérables (Theatre)
hasFeature
Villain Recruitment Song / int_9ab064e6
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_a47889a2
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_a47889a2
comment
"Hey, Little Songbird" and "When the Chips are Down" from Hadestown has Hades and the Fates entice Eurydice to take the train way down under the ground to the titular city.
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_a47889a2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_a47889a2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Hadestown (Theatre)
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Villain Recruitment Song / int_a47889a2
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_ac03a2dd
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_ac03a2dd
comment
Little Shop of Horrors has "Feed Me (Git It)," in which Audrey II tries to get Seymour to feed him more blood by promising him anything he desires.
"Mushnik and Son" — Mr. Mushnik attempting to convince Seymour to let him take him in as his son, so as to keep him in the flower shop —could qualify as well, depending on your interpretation.
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_ac03a2dd
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_ac03a2dd
featureConfidence
1.0
 Little Shop of Horrors (Theatre)
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Villain Recruitment Song / int_ac03a2dd
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_bd0fe632
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_bd0fe632
comment
Eddy has one in the Calvin at Camp episode "Jason Fox The Musical."
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_bd0fe632
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_bd0fe632
featureConfidence
1.0
 Calvin at Camp / Fan Fic
hasFeature
Villain Recruitment Song / int_bd0fe632
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_c08b8d75
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_c08b8d75
comment
"Just Say Yes" from The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue. A Brainwashed and Crazy Martin tries to convince his little brother to join his side. The song is just as insane as the experiments made him.
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_c08b8d75
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_c08b8d75
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue
hasFeature
Villain Recruitment Song / int_c08b8d75
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_d11c45fe
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_d11c45fe
comment
In Jasper in Deadland, Mr Lethe's song "Awful People" is about him trying to get Jasper to supply the Living World with water from the river Lethe, so that Mr Lethe can expand his rule beyond Deadland.
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_d11c45fe
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1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_d11c45fe
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1.0
 Jasper in Deadland (Theatre)
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Villain Recruitment Song / int_d11c45fe
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_ef1b1670
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_ef1b1670
comment
Absolute Beginners has several characters who qualify as antagonists, but the only one who gets a song (entitled "That's Motivation") is Vendice Partners, an advertising executive who convinces the idealistic photographer protagonist to join him in the business of selling dreams and selling out via a Disney Acid Sequence. This results in a temporary Face–Heel Turn until the hero learns that Partners and the other antagonists are all in on an evil scheme. David Bowie played Vendice, wrote the song (lyrics here), and got third billing in the credits — all with good cause.
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_ef1b1670
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1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_ef1b1670
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1.0
 Absolute Beginners
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Villain Recruitment Song / int_ef1b1670
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_f71832a5
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_f71832a5
comment
"Everybody's Got the Right", the opening number from Assassins, features the Proprietor convincing the various assassins to attempt to kill the president of the United States.
"Take a Look, Lee/November 22, 1963" has the assassins themselves convince Lee Harvey Oswald into shooting JFK.
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_f71832a5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Villain Recruitment Song / int_f71832a5
featureConfidence
1.0
 Assassins (Theatre)
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Villain Recruitment Song / int_f71832a5

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Villain Recruitment Song
processingCategory2
Music Tropes
 Villain Recruitment Song
processingCategory2
Musical Number Index
 Villain Recruitment Song
processingCategory2
Villains
 Movie Night At Freddy's (Fanfic) / int_8e575f83
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Chicago / int_8e575f83
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) / int_8e575f83
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Mario4812LikedTropes3
seeAlso
Villain Recruitment Song
 Julie and the Phantoms / int_8e575f83
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Assassins (Theatre) / int_8e575f83
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Heathers (Theatre) / int_8e575f83
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Heathers: The Musical (Theatre) / int_8e575f83
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Jasper in Deadland (Theatre) / int_8e575f83
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Little Shop of Horrors (Theatre) / int_8e575f83
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Sera Myu (Theatre) / int_8e575f83
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper / int_8e575f83
type
Villain Recruitment Song
 ChalkZone / int_8e575f83
type
Villain Recruitment Song