Minions are, quite simply, your life's Blood to help you advance in the Game. Yes, you get Blood from doing Missions and from Combat, but you've also got those Abilities that require upkeep. So, you need to generate income to cover the cost of that upkeep, to buy MORE Minions and Abilities. You may also need income if you have to put someone on the Hit List (personally for the most part, I find that a waste of good Blood and a way to start a whole round of nastiness, Clan Wars, etc.).

When you started the game and went through the Tutorial, you were guided in buying/dominating your first Minion, a Bum. He will generate 100 Blood per hour. That is NOT going to get you far! The Crypt will also, at the present time, "gift" you at I believe around Level 8 to 10 (can't remember everything!) with a Psychic Minion. She will generate 30,000 Blood per hour. Now you're thinking, wow I'm rich! NO. That will get eaten up really fast as you start accumulating upkeep Abilities.

Certain Minions, bought in the right amount, can also bring you Trophies! Now, Trophies weren't that big a deal to me when they were first introduced, though I will say the Britney Fan Trophy for dominating 5 Escaped Mental Patients is a favorite *giggles madly*. Trophies now bring you 1 Favor Point every time you unlock a new one!! Thank you Zynga :)

The best, most economical way of buying or dominating Minions is in groups of 10. Save up and buy them that way. Why? Because otherwise the cost of the Minion increases each time you go to buy another. And who wants to pay more for buying one or two at a time? Plus, dominating 10 Minions at a time will give you a better Blood flow each hour.

You will unlock the ability to buy different, better and yes, more expensive Minions as you Level up. The Elders will let you know when you've unlocked more on their Level Up message.

Here's a quick image of just a few Minions and what your Income and Blood Flow is, depending again on how many Minions you've dominated and how many upkeep needing Abilities you have:

And just because I'm not sure where to put this, as I didn't see a need for a separate page for Trophies, here's a look at your first few trophies (yes, including the Britney Fan Trophy):