Well here we meet another controversial organization for my thesis. This one may be the most unique within my argument. That said, before we begin I will create a few logical points to tie this guild to the mercenaries that we have already discussed.
First, there are a high number of mercenaries within this group. These include, but are not limited to: Contra, Tax Collector, Asylum, Debt Collector, Centurion, Drownyard, Wendigo, Binary, Mortuary, Watchman (the bloody leader), etc…, just to name a few. The fact that the leader is a member of the Brotherhood of Mercenaries should be enough to categorize them here alone. This would be justified by the concept that if the Watchmen is a mercenary, then everything he does and supports would have to be both within his code, as well as strictly for the credits and not based on opinion.
With that said, for those non-believers, keep reading for more reason. There are a number of interesting things happening within this group, and I am not just talking about the 3 members of the Grimm present. I will one day publish a paper on them as well (for they are truly fascinating). I hope that instead of marking me as a target it will be a point of pride for them, but only my grave or lack thereof will truly display their feelings.
The second piece of evidence comes from the definition of a bounty hunter as found within Wakipedia:
a person who pursues a criminal or fugitive for whom a reward is offered.
There are several points to this definition that deserve our attention. First, it states “a” criminal. It does not mention allegiance, personal views, religion, ethnicity, or any other form of extra information. From this definition, if a reward is posted for a then they should be open game for any Bounty Hunter. Please note that this implies that if there is a reward, regardless of who offers it, Bounty Hunters should be looking for the offender. Given that this group of hunters operates internationally, this implies that they should take bounties from other countries, as well as individuals and groups. If you have the money, you should be able to put it up. I mention this because it sounds oddly familiar to the definition of a mercenary. Almost a specialized mercenary, possibly one whose code (for whatever reason) includes the stipulation that they only go after living and guilty (in terms of the law) targets.
Now I know what you might be thinking, and yes it is not stated that Bounty Hunters have to maintain a code of ethics regardless of what of observations seem to reveal. I would argue that we have proven the “modern” mercenary doesn’t either! That said, I’m not trying to prove that Bounty Hunters are “wrong” in what they do, but simply that they are linked. By the stipulations regarding the “code” of their organization, I believe that this categorizes them as mercenaries. You certainly have the right to disagree, but this is my paper and my deduction.
When taking my deduction into account we can look at this organization under the microscope of the mercenary (as its leader likely does being a self-proclaimed mercenary). Through this we can quickly see fault. In fact, even if we do not look under that lens and simply look at it directly from a Bounty Hunter’s viewpoint, we can still find fault within this group. Sure, most of them wear appropriate attire and would classify as a professional. However, when was the last time they took a bounty from the UCAS? How about Ares? Maybe Aztlan? Hmm…. We know they accept bounties from the Patriots and SOTC. They even seem to take some from the Hand if they put them out (not including any of their own members, specifically Asylum). Seems as though they are selective about the location putting out the reward.
I believe this to be the damning point to their own classification. Even if we assume they are not a group of mercenaries (though I believe they are), they are certainly not true Bounty Hunters. They are highly skilled, (mostly) professional killers who have perfected the art of hunting the “ultimate” prey. Their moniker too must change, and as with most revolutions this will likely spiral to change the modern mercenary as well.
