The League Of Shadows Batman Begins (2005)
"Every time a civilisation reaches the pinnacle of its decadence, we return to restore the balance"
Assisting: Led by Henri Ducard and working for Ra's al Ghul.
The Henchmen: A group of ninjas whose mission is to fight crime and injustice. Bruce Wayne trains as one of them, becoming Ducard’s star pupil, and they bring about the film’s climactic battle as Ra’s al Ghul orders them to destroy Gotham in punishment for its criminal ways.
Why They're The Best: Anyone who trained with Batman is obviously awesome, but we don’t really get to see much of the ninjas themselves at work, with the story focusing instead on the relationship between Ducard and Wayne. Mind you, if we did see them, they wouldn’t be good ninjas, would they?
Monteros soldiers The Mask Of Zorro (1998)
"I'm sorry that I could not protect this country from the peasants who have overrun it"
Assisting: Don Rafael Montero.
The Henchmen: Simple guards and soldiers whose only real reason for appearing in the film is to up the quota of swordplay scenes.
Why They're The Best: Well, they've got spirit, that's for sure. Though they're never a match for the mighty Zorro, they try their best. We'll ignore the fact that they’re not even a match for Anthony Hopkins older, slower Zorro.
Red programs Tron: Legacy (2010)
"I created the perfect system!"
Assisting: Clu 2.0
The Henchmen: These are programs loyal to Clu. They don’t believe in users (considering them blasphemy) but they work under Clu’s command, which is to just generally perfect The Grid and despatch of corrupt or rogue programs.
Why They're The Best: Considering that Sam Flynn can waltz into The Grid for the first time and pretty much defeat them all at their own games, we’ll go out on a limb and say that that they aren’t really very good at their job. But just look at their shiny red suits. Fashion points all round.
Hydras forces Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
"If a head is cut off, two more will take its place"
Assisting: The Red Skull
The Henchmen: Soldiers that work for an advanced science branch for the Third Reich. They manage to capture an entire squadron of soldiers.
Why They're The Best: They are as effective as a troop of trained soldiers should be and those ones with the flamethrowers certainly look menacing. That two-handed salute of theirs is a bit weird though.
The White Witchs army The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (2005)
"If it's a war Aslan wants, it's a war he shall get"
Assisting: The White Witch
The Henchmen: Various creatures and monsters gathered from across Narnia by The White Witch to fight Aslan’s Army.
Why They're The Best: They're awesome mythical creatures! They fight well but are ultimately defeated when a resurrected Aslan appears and kills the White Witch, proving that henchmen are only good while they have a clear leader.
Mangalores The Fifth Element (1997)
"We are warriors, not merchants"
Assisting: Industrialist Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg and The Great Evil.
The Henchmen: A warrior race that hire themselves out as mercenaries. They have the ability to shapeshift parts of their body, which is good because they are generally considered to be ugly brutes. Zorg hires them to dispose of the element stones that can stop the The Great Evil appearing.
Why They're The Best: They are clearly strong and can put up a good fight but, rather predictably for their appearance, they’re also pretty dumb…
Franks goons Kick Ass (2010)
"I always wanted to say this. Say hello to my little friend!"
Assisting: Head gangster Frank D’Amico.
The Henchmen: A gang formed of goons with names like Big Joe, Stu and corrupt cop Vic Gigante. When renegade crusader Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) tries to tackle Frank’s criminal empire, he orders his mooks to take him out. They have very little success until Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) drops him in it.
Why They're The Best: They're more comical than all-out terrifying, but the sight of Stu handling a bazooka is incredible.
Joker's goons The Dark Knight (2008)
"So which one of you fine gentlemen would like to join our team?"
Assisting: The Joker
The Henchmen: Mostly nameless henchfolk. The Joker seemingly has a never ending supply of unidentified thugs and crazies to do his bidding.
Why They're The Best: They may be no match for Batman, but these goons are wild and unpredictable.
It's confirmed that at least one of them is an escaped Arkham inmate - but surely most of the people in Mr J's employ are criminally insane. Who else would work for a villain who has no interest in money?
Still, you can't argue with their success rate. It's only when Joker goes it alone that he really runs into bother.
General Garza's forces The Expendables (2010)
"How did two obvious professionals pass right through security personnel, kill 41 soldiers and get away"
Assisting: General Garza
The Henchmen: The men and soldiers fighting on behalf of Vilena’s dictator. When Garza hears that the Expendables are coming to presumably kill him, he orders his men to paint their faces ready for a fight and defend his compound.
Why They're The Best: Considering they’re up against the combined awesome might of 80s and 90s action blockbusters, the men do surprisingly well to hold their own. Not necessarily scary, but certainly respectable.
The Foot Clan Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
"You are here because the outside world rejects you"
Assisting: Shredder
The Henchmen: Most ninja groups in films are easy to despatch, but the Foot, who are responsible for an underground crime ring, have their first run in with one of our eponymous turtles when they ambush Raphael on a rooftop - and they beat him.
Why They're The Best: They're clearly skilled fighters, even if they ultimately prove ineffective without the guidance if secondary villain Tatsu.
