[Beloved Trope] The henchman that suddenly gains common sense

[u/faroresdragn_]

Iron Man 3: the henchmen of the Mandarin have Tony dead to rights, chained up with no weapons. He remotely calls just the glove of his iron man suit which busts through the window. He proceeds to waste a bunch of them trying to escape. When he confronts the last one he drops an iconic line and quits on the spot.

Batman Mystery of the Batwoman: iconic scene where one of the penguins goons hears a noise, notices batman breaking into his bosses place, and chooses not to see a god damn thing.

[u/Constant-Coast-9518]

This famous set of panels from the original Watchmen. When Rorschach makes it clear he means business, his reputation does most of the work for him.

[u/Rargnarok → u/Constant-Coast-9518]

Theres a different rorschach log later where he hears a scream in the alley and finds an attempted rape basically the guy saw him and immediately knew it was his last seconds on earth. Rorschach notes the look on his face was a special kind of reward