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The word Henchman referred originally to one who attended on a horse, that is, a horse groom. Hence, like constable and marshall, also originally stable staff, henchman became the title of a (subordinate) official in a royal court or noble household.
Word history
The first part of the word, which is recorded in English since 1360, comes from the Old English hengest, meaning "horse", notably stallion, cognates of which also occur in many Teutonic languages, such as Old Frisian, German and Dutch hengst. The word appears in the name of Hengest, the Saxon chieftain, and still survives in English in placenames and other names beginning with Hingst- or Hinx-. It was often rendered as Henxman in medieval English.
Young henchmen, in act pages of honour or squires, rode or walked at the side of their master in processions and the like, and appear in the English royal household from the 14th century until Tudor Queen Elizabeth I abolished the royal henchmen, known also as the children of honour.
The word became obsolete for grooms in English from the middle of the 17th century, but was retained in Scottish as "personal attendant of a Highland chief".
It seems to have been revived in English through the novelist Sir Walter Scott, who took the word and its derivation, according to the New English Dictionary, from Edward Burt's Letters from a Gentleman in the North of Scotland, together with its erroneous derivation from haunch. The word is, in this sense, synonymous with gillie, the faithful personal follower of a Highland chieftain, the man who stands at his masters haunch, ready for any emergency. The modern sense of "obedient or unscrupulous follower" is first recorded 1839, probably based on a misunderstanding of the word as used by Scott, and is often used to describe an out-and-out adherent or partisan, ready to do anything.
In popular culture
Henchmen are common in mystery, fantasy, adventure comic books, and adventure novels and movies. They are the expendable adherents of the main villain, always ready to do the master's bidding, to kill or be killed, kidnap, or threaten, as needed. They are either killed by the hero before the master villain is reached, killed by the hero's sidekick in a dramatic battle, or even get killed by the master villain as punishment for failure to comply to orders. Henchmen in this sense are also sometimes called lackeys.
A henchman might also be the non-player character follower of a player character in role-playing games. This henchman will follow the player around and assist in various manners. In fiction such supporting characters are normally tied to the hero by bonds of friendship and loyalty and are usually called sidekicks; the villain's supporters are called henchmen due to the villainous nature of the villain and makes such bonds difficult to establish. Every villain in many television programs, such as Batman, had henchmen who usually dressed in costumes reminiscent of the villain's.
Modern examples
| Henchmen | Villain | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Zarbon and Dodoria | Frieza | Dragonball Z |
| Bebop and Rocksteady | The Shredder | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles |
| Squatt and Baboo | Rita Repulsa | Mighty Morphin Power Rangers |
| Oddjob | Auric Goldfinger | James Bond series |
| Chewy and Gooey | Stickybeard | Kids Next Door |
| Death Eaters | Lord Voldemort | Harry Potter series |
| Ringwraiths | Sauron | Lord of the Rings series |
Sources and references
(incomplete)
See also
Fictional henchmen | Personal care and service occupations | Stock characters
"Henchman"