A servant is an individual who acts as an assistant to another, either by chosen vocation or by some type of mental or physical enslavement. Servants may range in type from professional assistants to ordinary butlers (who are almost always guilty of something), to indentured personnel. In a negative connotation, servants may also be referred to as lackeys, cronies or henchmen.

In the horror genre, the most infamous example of such a servant is the hunchbacked misanthrope Ygor from Frankenstein fame. Only slightly well less-known is Renfield, the insect devouring crazy-pants from Dracula. On the TV series Dark Shadows, the character of Willie Loomis served as a reluctant servant to Barnabas Collins.

On the TV comedy series Mr. Belvedere, Christopher Hewitt played Mister Lynn Aloysius Belevedere, the butler to the Owens family. Another TV butler of note is Joseph Marcell's Geoffrey - butler to the Banks family from the 1990-1996 sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

In superhero fantasy, super-villains will often employ random thugs as henchmen. Though they do receive payment for services rendered, this income is usually but a fraction of what their employer may hope to gain through whatever scheme they are involved with at the time.

Types of servants

Butler

A butler is a hired member of an estate, generally male, who is in charge of all matters and personnel in regards to housekeeping and upkeep. A butler manages the day-to-day affairs of the cooking and cleaning staff as well as other hired help such as groundskeepers.

Housekeeper

A housekeeper is a hired individual charged with maintaining cleanliness and order of an estate. They may or may not have additional staff members who work under them. The are often referred to as maids or maidservants. Duties may include cooking, cleaning, laundry, and minding any children that may live on the property. In some cases, a housekeeper may actually live on the estate itself.

Groundskeeper

A groundskeeper is in charge of maintaining the external property of an estate. This includes maintenance, cutting, pruning and seeding of the lawn, as well as plants and shrubbery. A groundskeeper may also be charged with maintaining the family's pool if one exists.

Slave

A slave is an individual who is considered the legal property of another person. In the United States, slavery was a common practice, particularly amongst Southern land owners up until the mid 19th century. Slave owners made slaves work on plantations, usually under harsh and violent conditions. All of the slaves in the United States at this time were of African descent, though most of them were actually born in the country. Slavery was abolished following the American Civil War.

Coolie

Coolie is an old form informal term referring to slaves or indentured servants found in the regions of South Asia such as China and the Philippines.