<P><B>Love of mindless violence with no regard for personal safety
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<P>Henchmen need to be able to react to any situation. With violence. This is good for two reasons:
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<P>1. Thugs should always resort to killing the person who is mucking about with your plans.
<P>2. In a heated melee, you should be able to escape un-scathed, leaving your henchmen to fight on regardless. If they are obsessed with their own safety, they'll be running too, leaving nobody to distract your attacker.
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<P><B>Lack of imagination
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<P>If your henchmen have imagination, they may try to think for themselves instead of following your orders. You do not pay these people to think. You are the evil genius, so you do all the thinking. Ask them what they think it would be like to fall off a cliff and hit nasty rocks. If they can't come up with an answer, they're in. (You will also know that they won't be afraid to fight around dangerous machinery, shark infested waters etc, as they are too stupid to imagine danger)
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<P><B>Counting
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<P>It's important for your business that henchmen cannot count for two reasons:
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<P>1. Large numbers of armed guards should not intimidate your brutish entourage. If they don't know the odds, they won't care.
<P>2. You can pay them less.