Authority Equals Asskicking: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

''[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|The higher a character is in his hierarchy, the better he is in a fight.]] This goes double for non-protagonists.''

And yet, in many works of fiction, especially videogames, the opposite is true. The higher someone's rank, the deadlier he is in personal combat. A sergeant can kick a grunt's ass. A captain can kick a sergeant's ass. A general can kick everybody's ass. The [[Final Boss|"boss fight"]] at the climax of a game will often be against the literal boss of the enemy army.

 

 

A strange result of this [[Trope]] happens in [[Video Game|games]] with named and [[Palette Swap|similar]] enemies where more dangerous versions of enemies the player encountered earlier have a higher rank in their name, often resulting in the player fighting entire squadrons consisting entirely of generals near the end of the game with no lower ranked units in sight.

 

The [[Almighty Janitor]] is an inversion, who is far more powerful than his lowly rank would imply. The [[Desk Jockey]] is a different inversion, who has been promoted out of the field into authority. Compare [[You Can Barely Stand]]. See also [[Large and In Charge]], [[Izchaks Wrath]], and [[Distribution of Ninjutsu]]. Not to be confused with [[Asskicking Equals Authority]], though it can explain this trope.

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* The leaders and other high-ranking dogs are always among the strongest fighters in ''[[Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin]]''. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] by this being how it tends to go in groups of wild animals in real life, too.

*** To be fair, he's managed to do just fine on the Grand Line, something that would indicate at least a fair bit of ability. He also has a Devil Fruit that happens to be ''very'' powerful in many situations, as it makes swordsmen utterly helpless against him. While he may not be as powerful as some of the other authority-holders in the One Piece world, he certainly has something going for him.

** Subverted with Iceburg, the mayor and head of the Galley-La company. He is no fighter but he is possibly one of the best shipwrights in the world, which is why so many people respect him.

* ''[[Bleach]]'' uses this quite heavily.

** The Gotei 13 is supposed to be ranked according to capability - the higher the rank, the more [[Badass]] the shinigami becomes. Captains are [[Nigh Invulnerable]], unranked foot soldiers are [[Cannon Fodder]]. It is possible to become a captain via [[Klingon Promotion]], but that's most likely to happen in the [[Blood Knight|11th Division]] and with only two mentioned examples, how common it is even for them is unknown. Even then, these captains have to be good enough to retain that rank. Although this works for the most part, the ranks really only confirm a shinigami's minimum power level as there are a couple of shinigami [[Almighty Janitor|at least vice-captain level in ability]] despite not being ranked as vice-captain ([[Bald of Awesome|Ikkaku]] and [[The Dandy|Yumichika]]).

* ''[[Murder Princess]]'' uses it fairly straight; the most powerful swordsman in the kingdom, possessing [[Implausible Fencing Powers]], and the ''only'' non-[[Red Shirt]] member of the army? The crown-prince, of course... as a matter of fact, the only one who can match him blow for blow, is the titular Princess...

* In ''[[Kiddy Grade]]'', {{spoiler|Eclipse}} is initially believed to be a mere high-ranked administrator and bureaucrat (except for a few hinting flashbacks) until about halfway through the last story arc, she is revealed to possess {{spoiler|G-class ES abilities on par with the [[Lovely Angels|two lead girls]] of the series. And it's justified too; her ability is part of the reason ES members can effectively live forever.}}

** On the other hand, ''his'' boss is just a regular woman. She just bought him and his men out.

* [[Averted Trope|Averted]] in ''[[Hellsing]]''. While Integra is skilled with swords and guns, she's nowhere near as powerful as either of the [[Friendly Neighborhood Vampire|vampires]] [[Kid with the Leash|under her command]] or her [[Battle Butler]]. Enrico Maxwell and <s> Montana Max</s> the Major, despite commanding legions of [[Church Militant]] soldiers and [[Those Wacky Nazis|Nazi]] [[Ghostapo|vampires]] respectively, have little fighting ability at all.

*** In King Bradley's case the above was true for [[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|the 2003 anime version]]. But in Brotherhood all {{spoiler|being a homunculus did for him was give him the ultimate eye}}. His skill, strength, and everything else that made him [[Badass]] were things he worked to achieve.

* The Three Kings of Makai in ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]''. Raizen, Mukuro, and Yomi control their own parts of Makai, along with vast armies of warriors, and major influence. Strength of the king is strength of the entire kingdom, meaning the kings are the only worthwhile fighters. It was explained at the end of the last season that a single S class fighter would be more that powerful enough to casually take over the Earth, and [[Informed Ability|possibly destroy it]]. Same goes for the afterlife as well. Guess what, each of the Three Kings makes a normal S class look [[Up to Eleven|tame]] in comparison. No wonder S class fights never happened on Earth.

* Members of the royalty and nobility in ''[[Crest of the Stars]]'' are obligated to service in the Imperial Navy. The higher one's rank, the greater one's responsibility; members of the royalty are at the top of the scale with many decades of required service.

* ''[[Code Geass]]'' subverts this trope and plays it straight. [[Humongous Mecha]] pilots in Britannia are called knights and those identified are always some level of nobility. Also there is [[Lady of War]] Princess Cornelia. Subverted however in that the ace pilots of the series (Kallen and Suzaku) hold only moderate rank and are not commanders in any sense.

* [[Leader|Lord Genome from]] ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' manages to give a sound thrashing to and nearly defeats the heroes, something which almost none of his underlings came close to. When his mech Lazengann is ruined, he {{spoiler|climbs out and beats Lagann with his bare hands, eventually ripping the arms off.}} One of his direct underlings, Thymilph who is himself (itself?) a leader of many, {{spoiler|fatally wounds Kamina}}. The {{spoiler|Anti-Spiral King}} is the one who has a mech large and powerful enough to fight the heroes' final form ridiculously huge mech equally.

** But deconstructed in the post-[[Time Skip]] human government. The officials are primarily old Team Dai-Gurren members, who showed their ability at asskicking in the war, but when it comes to governance they're generally incompetent. Simon in particular hates the job, the political crap, and would rather be back piloting Gurren Lagann. Rossiu is the only one who seems to thrive in the new order, he's actually good at politics and getting his policies implemented. The trouble is, those policies almost lead to disaster (see [[Alternate Character Interpretation]] for why). So the best asskickers got the highest authority, but proved to be totally unable to handle it.

* Both played straight and averted in ''[[Giant Robo]]''. The heads of the IPO and Big Fire that we see are all enormous badasses, boasting power beyond any of their underlings. However in an ironic twist they are all eventually handed their asses by two characters both less powerful and lower ranked than them, and who turn out to be the real Big Bad's. (A lot can be said for having a bigger gun than everyone else).

** Also played straight when we meet {{spoiler|Big Fire himself, the true leader of the organization which shares his name. The mere ''sight'' of him is enough to fill his generals with absolute, paralyzing terror; no small feat considering that most of them are strong enough to decimate armies single handedly.}}

* ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' is all over the place with this one. On the one hand, Freeza fits this to a T. But then, Emperor Pilaf, Commander Red, Dr. Gero, and Babidi are all aversions to this trope (with the latter 3 being killed off by their [[Dragon-in-Chief|most capable underlings]]. Piccolo and Vegeta are interesting takes. When Piccolo was the "Great Demon King" (and for a little bit after) he was roughly comparable to the protagonist, Goku. Ditto Vegeta during his starkly evil "Prince of Saiyans" phase. But the further assimilated into the hero roster they became, the further from their heritage and titles they got, and the further behind our hero they fell. Piccolo, of course, has a shining moment where he is the strongest fighter present... AFTER FUSING WITH GOD. Vegeta, likewise, recaptures some former glory by magically reinstating his old Saiyan Prince persona.

** In [[The Abridged Series]] by Team Four Star, Vegeta tries to invoke this trope in a moment of sheer frustration.

** Vegeta ''constantly'' invokes this trope, at least in the manga. Whereas Piccolo doesn't seem that bothered with being relegated back, Vegeta is completely obsessed with the fact that as a Prince he should be more powerful than Goku. There's literally nothing he doesn't try to become more powerful than Goku (including ''selling off his soul and willfully condemning himself to Hell''. It's only in the fight against Little Buu, a few pages before the end, that he finally admits that Goku really is better than him.

*** Vegeta first grudgingly admits that Goku is the superior fighter near the end of Goku's fight with Perfect Cell, not during the Buu Saga.

** Most fanfiction set in the [[Naruto]] universe generally follow this rule of thumb as well; for example, in [[White Rain]] (set around seven to eight years after the manga ends), Naruto is the reigning Hokage.

* None of the civilian mermaids we see in ''[[Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch]]'' ever even get to fight, only the princesses.

* ''[[Black Jack]] 21'' featured a particularly inexplicable example - a woman who had previously appeared to be nothing more than a trophy-wife with a pretty face, suddenly turned into a crack shot, hitting several small, remote targets with a handgun, under highly unfavorable circumstances. There's no indication that she ever had any combat- or firearms-training, but she DID just take over her father's [[Ancient Conspiracy]] Organization, so...

* Reinhard von Lohengramm of ''[[Legend of Galactic Heroes]]'' always fights at the frontlines despite being the most important person in the universe. This happens out of his own conviction, but it's also a reason why he's such an [[Leader|incredibly popular leader]]: He doesn't hide behind his soldiers while giving out hypocritical speeches about the need of sacrifices.

* {{spoiler|Raizel}} from [[Noblesse]], who is a supposedly one True Noblesse, the leader of all Noblesse. He won EVERY FIGHT he got into, which all ended in a [[Curb Stomp Battle]].

* In ''[[Burn Up]] Scramble'', the Director spends most of the series as [[Mission Control]] for the Team Warrior [[Amazon Brigade]]. When she actually comes out to fight, {{spoiler|she spends most of it handing the girls their asses}}.

* The third season of ''[[Shakugan no Shana]]'' shows us what many of the leaders can do once they get serious.

* In ''[[Medaka Box]]'', Medaka is the president of the 99th Student Council and one of the most powerful characters in the series. {{spoiler|Inverted by the 100th Student Council. Student Council president Zenkichi claims he is the ''weakest'' member of the council. The General Secretary is the strongest one.}}

 

== Comic Books ==

** In a similar vein, Lex Luthor always keeps himself in excellent physical condition, and can at least competently spar with heroes without super-strength.

*** These days, anyway. When first introduced, and right through the Golden and Silver Ages up until he came up with his first purple-and-green combat outfit, Luthor was overweight. Similarly, in his initial post-Crisis appearances, Lex was suffering the ravages of an over-lavish lifestyle. In both cases, after having his backside repeatedly kicked (literally and figuratively) by [[Superman]], he wised up and shaped up.

** Context is that the "Reagan" getting shot is actually the [[Martian Manhunter]]. The real Ronnie enters in the last panel.

* Funnily enough, inverted with ''[[The Authority]]''. Kicking as much ass as they do (and from an inter-dimensional spaceship, no less) [[Comes Great Responsibility|puts them in a position of great power]], and makes the ''actual'' authorities very twitchy. Given that the team will not hesitate to snuff corrupt officials if it makes the world a better place, you can't blame them.

* Played up to an absurd degree in the backstories of the ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' comic book cast, which favorably compares each of the heroic fictional officers who'd go charging first into battle and prove their authority with asskicking to the pansy sort of military officers who'd just sit back and draw up battle plans (even if that's a far more realistic and sensible use of their skills).

* ''[[A Bridge Too Far]]'' includes a scene in which [[Robert Redford]] participates in a dangerous river crossing. Even though he is a Major, he does a great deal of the asskicking personally. In later interviews, Redford would point out that his character would have been directing the maneuver, and would have only actually fired his weapon in an emergency.

* In ''[[Equilibrium]]'', [[The Dragon|Brandt]] fails to live up to his [[Badass Longcoat]] despite fighting Preston to a standstill in an earlier training match. By contrast, {{spoiler|1=Vice-Counsel DuPont}}, the real leader of Libria, is a bureaucrat who seems harmless without his complement of bodyguards... but actually has [[Gun Kata]] skills almost on par with Preston himself and the ensuing final duel lasts longer than most of Preston's skirmishes with the [[Faceless Goons]]. Then again, there was foreshadowing in that {{spoiler|1=DuPont is earlier glimpsed ''teaching'' a class of gun-kata students.}}

* In the ''[[Ultraviolet (film)|Ultraviolet]]'' film, also directed by Kurt Wimmer, the government's leader {{spoiler|Vice-Cardinal Ferdinand Daxus}} is the hero's most physically dangerous adversary. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] or [[Hand Wave|handwaved]] by the fact that {{spoiler|he was one of the original lab technicians researching and infected by the [[Our Vampires Are Different|hemophage virus]] and used the abilities it granted him to aid his rise to power.}}

* The movie ''[[Air Force One]]'', [[Justified Trope|justified]] or [[Hand Wave|handwaved]] by the fact that [[Our Presidents Are Different|the President was a member of the military]] with an exceptional record. Being played by [[Indiana Jones|Harrison]] [[Star Wars|Ford]] doesn't hurt, either.

* In ''[[The Dark Knight Saga|Batman Begins]]'', Batman utterly owns everyone he fights pretty much instantly, including (leading up to the final fight) 4 ninjas in full body armor who presumably have the same training and skills as he does. However, Ra's al-Ghul, the [[Leader]] of the League of Shadows and Batman's [[Broken Pedestal]] mentor, is able to match Batman blow-for-blow and ultimately "wins" the fight, despite Batman wearing a high-tech suit of hardened combat armor, and Ra's [[Badass in a Nice Suit|wearing what's essentially very nice formal wear]].

* ''[[Quantum of Solace]]'' ends with [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] and {{spoiler|Dominic Greene battling on a collapsing catwalk inside an exploding building which is also [[Incendiary Exponent|ON FIRE]]!}} Greene doesn't exactly do ''well'', but he puts up a much longer and involving fight than you'd expect a 5-foot tall, physically unimpressive corporate suit to do so against the world's most famous British murder machine, especially considering how Bond dispatches mean-looking, highly-trained professional killers ''much'' more quickly on several occasions earlier in the film.

* In ''[[Scanners]]'', Revok is not only the leader of the evil scanner underground, but also one of the two most powerful scanners in the world - which is, of course, how he started the underground in the first place.

* At the climax of ''[[Cliffhanger]]'', effete villain John Lithgow (!) proves to be a match for musclebound Sly Stallone.

* Frank D'Amico in the climax of ''[[Kick-Ass]]'', as foreshadowed by earlier scenes of him practicing martial arts, although he also has a couple of factors tipping the balance in his favor, such as the fact that he's, you know, fighting a ten-year-old girl. Hit Girl previously mows down his Mooks by the dozen in a firefight, but she runs out of ammo by the time she faces D'Amico and is forced to resort to kung-fu fighting him, getting completely thrashed in the ensuing fight. It seems pretty likely D'Amico would have readily died if Hit Girl was maybe a bit older or if, say, he was fighting Big Daddy.

* The main villain is the only one in ''[[The Transporter]]'' to test the hero in a one-on-one fight.

* The Emperor from ''[[The Mummy Trilogy|The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor]]'' was a prodigy in every skill, surpassing all his teachers in [[Elemental Powers|elemental magic]], martial arts, military strategy and pretty much everything else. How he lost to Brendan Frasier and co is a mystery.

* In the 1989 film of ''[[Henry V]]'', as in the original play, King Henry leads his men into battle at Harfleur and Agincourt. In the film, Henry is shown at Agincourt kicking all kinds of French ass.

* [[Resident Evil (film)|Resident Evil]] film series places [[Badass Abnormal]] Albert Wesker as the chairman of Umbrella Corp, thus implying that he was given his superhuman abilities at his own order.

* In Polanski's adaptation of ''[[Macbeth]]'' the eponymous character just destroys a bunch of mooks trying to kill him.

** Morgoth was the greatest of the Valar, and Tulkas came to Arda afterward solely in order to help her other Valar against him. The other Valar combined could defeat Morgoth and drive him away, but not capture him; meanwhile Tulkas was Arda's version of Hercules, and could wrestle Morgoth into submission.

** At one point in ''[[The Silmarillion]]'', one of the last elven princes from the second generation of elves decides he's had it with Morgoth and rides forth to call the devil out. He loses the fight, due to tripping, but Morgoth takes such a beating (leaving [[Scars Are Forever|scars]]) in the process that he never leaves his home again, till the Valar come to drag him out in chains.

** the toughest orc is always in charge, and maintains his place by this ability. This is asskicking equals authority, but it also means you always know which orc you need to watch out for

* The moredhel ([[Our Elves Are Better|dark elves]]) of ''[[The Riftwar Cycle]]'' are tribal, war-like and live in a harsh, cold and barren land. A moredhel isn't considered an adult until they're a hundred years old, and they usually need to live another hundred before they're elegible for the position of clan chieftain - all while surviving in the cold amidst constant bloodshed and starvation, mind you. Thus, if you ever run into a moredhel chieftain, you better believe they're damn hard to kill.

* In [[C. S. Lewis|CS Lewis]]' ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]: Prince Caspian'', Peter's one-on-one sword fight with King Miraz lasts much longer than his fight with Lord Sopesian immediately afterward.

** Additionally, earlier in the book, Edmund defeats Trumpkin the dwarf, a seasoned fighter, in a swordfight. While Edmund's intention may simply be to persuade Trumpkin that he (and, by extension, his older brother) are valuable allies to have during a war, the ultimate effect of Edmund's victory, and Susan's similar victory in an archery contest, is to convince Trumpkin that they are in fact the kings and queens of legend.

** In ''The Magician's Nephew'', Jadis treats with contempt the notion that Uncle Andrew could be anything but a king: commoners are never magicians. This could be [[Asskicking Equals Authority]], in view of her ruthless use of magic for power, but she treats it as this trope.

* Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts and leader of the Order of the Phoenix in the ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' series, is the only one who could kick Voldemort's ass in a duel.

** However, played straight with the Hogwarts professors during the Battle for Hogwarts, when the school's teachers proved themselves more than a little adept at the use of magic in the defense of their students against Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Those who can do, teach, eh?

* Played straight in the [[Urban Fantasy]] environment of the [[Nasuverse]], at least when a character is involved in an organization. The heads of particular divisions in the Magi Association tend to be holding their position due to their overwhelming brilliance. Naturally, this means that the Lords of the Association are scarily powerful. On the other hand, you also have oddities like how the last person on Earth who can use the Unified Language is teaching in a random high school.

** And to get the highest rank of Sky Marshal, one has to go through the ranks of both the Mobile Infantry and the Navy.

** Subverted in [[The Film of the Book]], when they find a general hiding in the freezer while exploring an abandoned fort. He's shown to be completely useless; he's probably suffering from shellshock after seeing his men get their brains sucked out.

* In ''[[Discworld]]'', the Wizards (at least in the earlier books) are an example of this. Progression is by the time-honored "Dead men's pointy boots" system, and the wizards don't usually wait for them to get emptied naturally.

** Of the current cast Archchancellor Ridcully is possibly one of the most powerful combatants on the Disc, and the Patrician is a trained and rather skilled assassin.

** Also you have [[Wolf Man|Canim]] leaders Varg and Nasaug, two of the deadlist hand-to-hand combatants on the continent, and the [[Hive Queen|Vord Queen]], who is far more powerful than any of her spawn. Of course, since the Alerans are practically a [[Proud Warrior Race]], the Canim are ''definitely'' a [[Proud Warrior Race]], and the Vord are a [[Horde of Alien Locusts]] with a [[Hive Mind]] centered ''in'' their queen, all of this makes a certain amount of sense.

** This trope is played with a lot in this series. Alera is in a 20-year succession crisis because the current First Lord has no acknowledged heir and he's getting old, but as we see during the series, he still has [[Person of Mass Destruction|amazing power with furies in his own right]]. Societal hierarchy is not actually based on the power of one's furies, but is strongly influenced by it; for just one example, a bastard will generally have his parent's power with furies but only the status he is born into. The protagonist is considered a freak at first because he is unique in [[The Call Put Me on Hold|not having access]] to ''any'' furies, ({{spoiler|though he gets some slight power at the end of the third book, he remains subpar through the fifth}}) and yet he eventually gets a great deal of authority because he's capable of [[Awesomeness By Analysis]].

** It's probably worth mentioning that the White Council as a whole is portrayed as self-righteous and backwards, so this isn't necessarily a good thing.

** Other example include the Sidhe queens, the Red King, and other similarly powered rulers. Mostly justified in that these are beings who have been alive for thousands of years or more and have had time to build and consolidate power, although people promoted to some of these positions (such as the Summer Lady) essentially immediately become a [[Person of Mass Destruction]].

** And on the vanilla mortal side of things, we have [[Affably Evil|Gentleman]] [[The Don|Johnny]] [[Friendly Enemy|Marcone]], who can hold his own against a Fallen Angel with a Kalashnikov.

* In [[James Thurber]]'s ''[[The 13 Clocks]]'', the duke trusts in his captain of the guard, who has only been defeated once. But a minion points out that the prince who is trying to marry his niece was that one defeat.

* ''[[Prydain Chronicles|The Chronicles of Prydain]]'' is full of royals who not only [[Royals Who Actually Do Something|actually fight things]], but tend to be totally awesome at fighting them. Of particular note are [[Supporting Leader|Prince]] [[The Wise Prince|Gwydion]], King Smoit, King Morgant and King Pryderi, all feared and respected war leaders as well as being mighty warriors in their own right.

* In ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', frequently the most powerful nobleman leading an army is also its more powerful swordsman. During the Dance of Dragons, the royal pretender Aemon Blackfyre was considered undefeatable with a sword. During Robert's rebellion, each side was lead by their strongest fighter: Robert Baratheon and Rhaegar Targaryen. After Robert killed Rhaegar in single combat and won the war, he was elected king. Also, the most powerful noble families breed most of the continent's best warriors. Loras Tyrell, the greatest jouster, Jaime Lannister, the greatest swordsman, and Eddard Stark, the greatest tactician, are all members of Great Houses.

* Justified in ''[[The Book of the Named]]'', Clan leaders can be challenged for their position by any Clan member, and thus must be good at fighting to stay the Clan leader.

* ''Starship Traveller,'' an interactive novel in the ''[[Fighting Fantasy]]'' series, has this. When in combat, non-security personnel have a penalty to their skill rating. The exception is you, the ship's captain. "Your own fighting skills are equal to your professional skills, as befits a true hero."

* [[Beowulf]], from the epic poem of the same name, is an inversion. He's far more kickass than the local king, and becomes king after his amazing feats of [[Badass]] in defense of Hrothgar's land. He still dies against a dragon.

 

== Live Action TV ==

** Speaking of Klingons, there's the ''Next Generation'' episode where Worf is trying to defend his family honor, and his second is taken out. As a replacement he chooses not a seasoned Klingon warrior, not a fellow security officer, not the clearly able-bodied Riker, but old, bald Captain Picard. Picard never gets in a physical battle in that episode, but Worf was either crazy or trusted him to hold his own if it came to that. And he may be right; in other episodes Picard has displayed capabilities much greater than his age would indicate.

*** "Sins of the Father?" He gets jumped by three Klingons and {{spoiler|fatally stabs two of them before help arrives.}}

* ''[[Alias (TV series)|Alias]]'' plays this trope fairly straight. While the mooks Sydney/Vaughn/other agent fights are easily deterred, usually the Big Bad/episode mini-Bad has some freaking sweet skills.

** And in the later seasons, when Jack became {{spoiler|head of APO}}, the trope took effect. Check out the episode "Nightingale".

* On ''[[Ultimate Force]]'', Colonel Aidan Dempsey reliably kicks a lot of arse when called upon, most notably in the episodes "Dead Is Forever", "Never Go Back" and - particularly - "Charlie Bravo". In the latter, he strides through a gunfight, casually taking one-handed potshots at rebels, while exhorting his local counterpart to "Pretend you're an officer and get your men in order!"

* WWE chairman Vince McMahon is frequently booked as a fairly strong wrestler, and is usually the favorite in matches featuring him against anyone below main-event level. Partially [[Justified Trope|justified]] by the fact that McMahon is actually a very muscular person in real life.

* In ''[[Castle]]'', Captain Roy Montgomery is usually seen in his office calling the shots, but in the season 3 finale, he kicks all kinds of ass. He manages to {{spoiler|kill three hitmen with precision before they can even get their weapons out. Although Lockwood manages to fatally wound him, Montgomery is still able to kill the last hitman with a hidden gun in his sleeve}}.

* Darken Rahl in ''[[Legend of the Seeker]]'' is a skilled swordsman and a sorcerer. He is also the ruler of the most poweful [[The Empire|empire]] in the world (as far as he knows, at least; the series was cancelled before the discovery of the Imperium) Admittedly, he is not as skilled in magic as [[Badass Grandpa|Zedd]], but he is able to beat Richard the first time they meet in battle. In another episode, he effortlessly kills several Sisters of the Dark, despite them being [[Elite Mooks]] (in the books, at least). Averted with most other rulers.

 

== Mythology ==

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** In the setting of ''[[Eberron]]'' is a [[Crystal Dragon Jesus|religion named the Silver Flame]] whose leader, Jaela, is a 11-year-old girl ([[Fan Nickname|affectionately nicknamed]] "Loli Pope"). Normally she is a 3rd level cleric, but as long as she stays within the walls of her holy city, she is granted the powers of an 18th level cleric.

** Breland king and local pimp, Boranel, is a 3rd level aristocrat/8th level fighter, outpowering at least 95% of the population of his country. Karnath vampire king with the complex of "I am my grandpa", Kaius, outpowers 99% of the continent at CR 16, based on 11 levels of fighter, a lot of magic items, being a vampire with magic to remove the flaws, and action boost, a almost-exclusive PC trait. Heck, even Queen Aurala from Aundair is fairly tough compared to some people of the army. And she is a pure Aristocrat.

** For that matter, it would be easier to cite ''Dungeons and Dragons'' authority figures that did not enact this trope. After all, Money is Power and high level anythings will have lots of money. This in turn buys them lots of shiny magic items, allowing them to kick the ass of those that will invariably challenge their authority thereby getting more loaded and stronger... By contrast, the lower level sorts just won't hold up above their station, because their right to rule only extends as far as their fist. Which means they'll either get into a [[Curb Stomp Battle]] with the previous owner or some newcomer will fulfill that role.

*** The [[Planescape]] campaign setting occasionally surprised players from other settings when not every authority was extremely high level. Many of the factols were below tenth level, which may be far beyond most mortals but due to typical power creep, many players dismiss this as "low" level. Others, such as Factol Hashkar, are no more powerful than a commoner or two. Some, however, play it straight.

** And [[Asskicking Equals Authority]] usually stands somewhere nearby. As one article of Bazaar of the Bizarre in [[April Fools' Day|April]] [[Dragon (magazine)]] [http://pandius.com/bargitem.html put it]:

* In ''[[GURPS]] Goblins'', something like this is in place as a game mechanic: according to the rules which govern the late Georgian setting, differences in social status affect combat rolls, to reflect divine favoritism and the natural order of things.

* In ''[[D20 Modern]]'', a character's rank is usually tied to the character's level.

** For that matter, all skills in d20 games are tied to level - so a well-trained doctor, for example, will automatically be a better fighter than a Marine right out of boot camp.

** And then they subvert the entire point by declaring the winner to be an Empress who couldn't cut her way out of a balsa wood box with a masterwork katana, because she showed "proper spirit". Well goodness, if that was all it took, why hold a tournament in the first place?

* ''[[Exalted]]''. The Solars were made to be the best at everything, and were given the right to rule the world, with the Lunars and Sidereals below them and the weaker but far more numerous Dragon-Blooded below them. In fact, nearly every faction in the setting follows this rule, with the higher-Essence characters being the leaders.

** Played straight with the Incarnae. The leader of all gods, the Unconquered Sun, is ''literally invincible,'' and his chosen weapon deals infinite damage to anyone in the world. His fellow Incarnae are leaders of their own domains and are similarly powerful.

** Mostly averted in Autochthon. Although the world of Autochthon has it's own Exalted, who are champions of the people, their superiors and the leaders of any given city or nation are mortal. Still, the cities they live in, though subservient to these mortal leaders, are themselves giant Exalted capable of magically empowering the people inside them.

** After The Usurpation, the Sidereals came to embody this trope. Though theoretically weaker than Solars, Sidereals use their privileged position in Creation, complete with access to lost knowledge of sorcery and martial arts, artifacts, and nearly infinite wealth, to the point where even a single hostile Sidereal can become a major problem for a Solar circle.

* ''[[BattleTech]]'' uses this trope in a surprisingly restrained way. As the Inner Sphere is the feudal system [[In Space]], most Great House leaders are accomplished [[Mechwarrior|Mech Warriors]]. Some aren't, being better at diplomacy and/or [[Magnificent Bastard|magnificent bastardry]], but your average Prince, Archon or Coordinator is generally among the most effective [[Mechwarrior|Mech Warriors]] out there. The restraint comes from the fact that 1) aforementioned leaders all get the best of training, equipment and backup, and 2) there are plenty of non-royalty Inner Sphere [[Mechwarrior|Mech Warriors]] who would easily defeat anyone short of a Katrina Steiner, Ian Davion or Takashi Kurita in single combat. And that's not even considering [[The Spartan Way|the Clans]].

** Possibly the <s>king</s> Emperor of this trope is the God Emperor of Mankind, who may or may not be a [[Physical God]] and defeated the vessal of all ''FOUR'' of the Chaos Gods. Unfortunately, he was mortally wounded and put on a permanent life support system called the Golden Throne, but still literally keeps the [[The Empire|Imperium]] together by maintaining the Astronomican with his own power (and many pskyer sacrifices), a psychic beacon which allows faster than lightspeed travel - without which, the Imperium's worlds would fall into confusion and be easy pickings by a tenacious enough invader (or many other invaders...) with no way to work together. Oh, and the Golden Throne produces a metabolism product which is used to make an [[Anti-Magic]] grenade called the Psyk-out grenade. Yes, you heard that right, The Emperor's shit kills psykers.

** Ork hierarchy is literally sorted by size, so it's completely sensible for Da Warboss to be the biggest murder machine on the battlefield for that army. Some relatively philosophical Orks (and the bar is very low here) have reflected on how unclear the human chain-of-command is, because we're "all 'bout da same size."

*** Works both ways for Orks: since their culture (for lack of a better word) and chain of command is based on liberal ass-kickings, the physically strongest Orks tend to lead the rest. For a given value of "lead", of course. More like prod them in a general direction. However, because Ork beliefs tend to [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe|kick the normal laws of physics in the jollies and reshape them in proper Orky ways]], and the belief that "da boss is da strongest an' da meanest" is held by every single Ork in the warband (after all, if he wasn't, he wouldn't be da boss, QED), a high ranking Ork actually [[Large and In Charge|becomes taller and stronger]] over time ''because'' they is da boss.

** Skaven and Ogre hierarchy is determined solely by your ability to kill the former guy to have held the position. In the Skaven's case you have to be sneaky enough to do so, and you are respected (which means feared in Skaven tongue) for being sneaky. Ogres just bash the hell out of eachother. And since food is an important resource in both societies, leaders (who have access to better food and more nurishment) are in better physical health than their underlings. In addition, the positions in the Council of 13 can only be attained by first touching a radioactive stone and survive, then defeat the current placeholder. None of the current Council of 13 has been defeated in 200 years (the average skaven lifespan is 20 years).

*** Similarly, a Dark Elf who holds any title of authority for long will have to be both cunning and strong, to fend off attempts at mutiny or assassination.

** Although whether they're ''physically'' powerful or not, most leaders do have extremely powerful abilities.

** Let's also not forget [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=78594 Lord Konda], who can become bigger than the average dragon, and can't be killed no matter how much damage he takes.

 

 

* Strategy games often make leader units and campaign characters stronger fighters than regular troops.

* In ''[[Streets of Rage]] 2'', you have to fight your way through [[Mecha-Mooks]], monsters, and [[The Dragon]] - Shiva, legendary martial artist - to get to Mr. X. He's just a big dude in a business-suit, but he's nonetheless tougher and more dangerous than any of those preceding him. No small part of this, however, is the fact that he packs an ''assault rifle'', but even close-in, he's [[Pistol-Whipping|no slouch]].

* In the western-themed LucasArts videogame ''[[Outlaws (1997 video game)]]'', the final boss is, in all appearances, just another desperado. But since he's the leader of the gang, you ''will'' need a [[Gatling Good|Gatling]]-[[BFG|Gun]] to take him down. {{spoiler|When he stumbles into ending [[Not Quite Dead]], [[Cutscene Power to the Max|The main character's daughter shoots him with the basic pistol]] }}

* In ''[[No More Heroes]]'', the bosses are ranked in the UAA according to their ranking as an assassin. While this trope is played straight in both games with the higher ranked assassins {{spoiler|(Bad Girl, Jeane and Henry in the original game; Alice and Jasper Batt Jr. in the sequel)}}, it also tends to be subverted at times: higher ranked assassins like Destroyman and Capt. Vladimir tend to be easier compared to lower assassins like Shinobu, Margaret and Ryuji.

* In the classic [[FPS]] ''[[Wolfenstein 3D]]'', several of the final bosses take advantage of this, including Dr. Schabbs (one of the rare examples of a [[Mad Scientist]] using this trope), at least one Nazi General, and of course, [[Stupid Jetpack Hitler|Adolf Hitler]], who naturally takes this to extremes: Not only has he [[Stupid Jetpack Hitler|somehow acquired]] [[Powered Armor|an armored battle-suit]] mounted with [[Guns Akimbo|quadruple]] [[Gatling Good|gatling-guns]], once you've blasted it enough, he pops out -- [[Sequential Boss|and continues to fight]], with [[Gatling Good|Gatling]] [[Guns Akimbo]], while [[Made of Iron|ignoring the hail of bullets you're throwing at him]].

** Not to mention the fake Hitlers you meet before you face him, which have a unique weapon: Flamethrowers. [[Man On Fire|Nasty, nasty, nasty...]]

* In the ''[[Halo]]'' series, Covenant Sangheili (aka Elites) "Zealot" Ship Masters and "Ultra" Spec Ops Commanders have shielding so powerful that Legendary-difficulty ones can withstand a Plasma Pistol charged shot, which instantly destroys the shields of any lesser Elite. They usually also pack one-hit-kill Energy Swords. This is [[Justified]] as Elite promotions are based almost entirely on how many foes they killed and, by extension, how much experience they have on the battlefield, and by the fact that the only thing getting better is their equipment. And supporting mooks (Grunts following the Spec Op Elites) have this nasty tendency to carry around [[BFG|fuel rod cannons]]).

** Brutes work the same way, but just more [[Just for Pun|brutal]]; never mind the kill score, if they topple the pack chief, they get his seat and shiny helmet along with tough shielding (the Elites still stay on top in that aspect), rounded off with a hammer. Yes, a gigantic more-often-than-not OHKO hammer. On higher difficulties, even being licked by its impact shockwave hurts like crap.

** And Mr. Big of ''[[Art of Fighting]]'' ain't no slouch either. He's the head of a Southtown crime syndicate, and wields two Kali Stick-things which he uses to good effect, not only for smashing heads open, but he can create Power Wave-style energy blasts from them. Add a huge, imposing body build to that mix and you have the perfect Don.

** Years earlier in the ''[[Samurai Shodown]]'' universe, we have Gaoh, the leader of a rebel army. He is dangerous, wielding a deadly looking polearm. We haven't even GOTTEN to the fact that he can turn into a demon mid battle.

** Inverted in Starcraft II. All units start out at some basic rank that [[Asskicking Equals Authority|increases based on the number of kills they have.]]

* Perhaps one of the more ridiculous examples is the videogame adaption of ''[[Tomorrow Never Dies]]''. In the movie, the primary villain is merely a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] and doesn't have any exceptional physical abilities. In the game, though, he's one of the final bosses and is able to take about a dozen grenades to the face before he dies.

*** Also, Price demonstrates his extreme badassitude in ''MW2'' when he shoots down a combat helicopter ''with an antipersonnel sniper rifle '''while dodging a minigun ON A FRICKING RUBBER BOAT IN THE MIDDLE OF A MOUNTAIN RIVER'''''. He also has some [[Awesomeness By Analysis|mad hacking skills]], as he {{spoiler|hijacks a Russian nuclear submarine and rigs one of its missile to detonate ''exactly'' above Washington on his own under extreme time pressure.}}

** Call of Duty is rife with this trope, yet still subverts it with Al-Asad {{spoiler|beaten up and summarily executed by Price}} and Victor Zakhaev {{spoiler|commits suicide to avoid capture, which is at least better than Al-Asad}}

* In ''[[Lost Odyssey]]'', Prince/King Tolten wields an unusual variant of this. He's a bit of a wuss, and compared to the two Immortal melee-fighters, his stats aren't impressive. However, BECAUSE he's a member of the Royal Line of Uhra, he's got access to unique and powerful accessories, weapons and skills. Including the [[Awesome but Impractical|Ultimate Hit]] and the [[Infinity+1 Sword|Age of The King]]. Once you put those things together, he actually ends up being a fighter on par with the thousand-years-old main character.

** Unless the Thousand-Years-Old main character learns the "Royalty" skill and takes the King's sword for his own.

* The entire ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]'' series operates off of this trope. Ordinary soldiers are cannon-fodder. Only enemies ranked Lieutenant or higher are any sort of a challenge, while master Strategists like Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang kick ass with the best of them. The Kings of the Three Kingdoms are, of course, packing boss-level HP whenever you meet them on the battlefield. This is particularly noticeable in various scenarios that allow you to face them ''before'' they became kings at much lower power. All player-characters are ranked Lt. General at the very least, and their rank increases as they level up. All of the titles you can attain have 'General' in it somewhere, though.

* Lord British is [[Nigh Invulnerable]] in most of the ''[[Ultima]]'' games. [[Lord British Postulate|There's usually a way to kill him, though]].

* ''[[Valkyria Chronicles]]'' uses this partially. On the side of [[The Empire]], battlefield commanders (probably sergeants or at least corporals) are signified by a red armor, and invariably have more HP and a better chance to dodge bullets. They also hit better, and (somehow) do more damage. However, while your own corporals and sergeants starts out pretty strong - and remain so for the entire game - several of them are eventually surpassed by some of the enlisted troops. Your second-in-command, however, is probably the most powerful unit around, and you yourself (a squadron commander ranked Lieutenant) gets to drive around in a [[Super Prototype]] tank. The truest use of this trope, however, falls to the trio of Imperial Commanders leading the invasion under the direction of [[Evil Prince]] Maximillian. Two of them pose impressive challenges by having access to unique vehicles, as does Maximillian, and the third, well, she just kicks unholy amounts of ass. {{spoiler|And finally, at the very end, Maximillian shows that being ranked prince gives you access to some really nifty toys, and singlehandedly goes up against your entire squadron, including two tanks.}}

* In ''[[The Witcher]]'' both a hunched over old man and a drunk (who in the preceeding cutscene is implied to be able to kill a warrior only because he was sleeping) can take more hits then most of the randomly spawning monsters in the chapter, for no reason other then that they are pillars of the community and (one of the possible) final fight in the chapter. While the fight is not hard by any means, the necessity of this trope is questionable; they are preceeded by a much more climactic boss.

** Also in ''Fallout 3'' is Talon Company's leader, Commander Jabsco, who's armed with a rocket launcher and can survive more damage than a Deathclaw (the toughest "non-boss" mob in the game, not counting the expansion packs), and the truly insane General Jiang Wei, who carries a lightsaber and (depending on player level) can have more health than any other mob in the game, including the 15-foot tall Super Mutant Behemoth.

*** Averted in the game's main plotline, though, as [[Big Bad]] President Eden is {{spoiler|a supercomputer with no combat capabilities}}, and his [[The Dragon]] Colonel Autumn turns out to be only marginally tougher than a standard soldier.

*** And in ''Fallout 2'' you had Frank Horrigan, who was the toughest member of the Enclave. Although completely averted with the President.

** In ''Fallout: New Vegas'' the player can have the Courier play on this trope, doing the Wild Card main quest will allow the Courier to take control of New Vegas himself/herself, and involves stopping both the NCR and Caesar's Legion from taking control of Hoover Dam and taking New Vegas for themselves, as well as killing, or disabling Mr. House to take control of the Vegas strip from him.

* Sometimes averted, sometimes played straight in the ''[[Total War]]'' series. Depending on the traits that a leader possesses, he may be a god of war in human form that can charge into enemy ranks and massacre them easily, capable of striking fear into the hearts of enemies and raises his own army's morale through the roof. Or he can be a hypochondriac wimp that can be killed by being surrounded by peasants armed with pitchforks...

* Every character even loosely associated with the royal bloodline of the Kingdom of Obel in ''[[Suikoden]]'' games will be, at the very least, a competent fighter. This includes the {{spoiler|[[Player Character|player characters]] in [[Suikoden IV|the fourth]] and [[Suikoden V|fifth]] games.}} At some point, it goes beyond being a [[Warrior Prince]]; Obel's royal family apparently [[Lamarck Was Right|passes knowledge of warfare through the genes]].

* This trope is one side-effect of the way ''[[Soul Nomad and The World Eaters]]'' handles unit setup. All units in a "room" fight and move together on the battlefield, and one unit is designated as the Leader. The Leader tends to be more powerful than any other unit in the room, because all the other units contribute a percentage of their stats as a constant bonus to the leader as long as they're alive.

* Played fairly straight in ''[[The Elder Scrolls]] IV: [[The Elder Scrolls Four|Oblivion]]''. Although the Emperor himself is a [[One-Hit-Point Wonder]], {{spoiler|Martin turns out to have extensive knowledge of forbidden magic, not to mention turning into a dragon in the final act. Not bad for an unknown priest in the middle of nowhere.}}

** If you choose to pick [[The Captain|Captain Anderson]] for humanity's council spot, then he definitely counts.

** [[Blood Knight|Zaeed]] was the leader of the [[Private Military Contractors|Blue Suns]] mercenary gang.

** An evil example: [[The Dragon|Saren Arterius]] had his own [[Artificial Limbs|geth arm]], a [[Hover Board]] and managed to fight Shepard to a standstill on Virmire.

** Despite being [[Too Dumb to Live]] and a [[Complete Monster]], Warden Kuril is pretty good with his [[More Dakka|Revenant machine gun]]. He can even fire it one handed and with good accuracy.

** Some [[The High Queen|Asari Matriarchs]] are this - [[Evil Matriarch]] Benezia and her [[Elite Mooks]] being one. On the good side, Matriarch Lidanya, commander of the [[Cool Ship]] ''[[Awesome McCoolname|Destiny Ascension]]''.

** [[The Don|Aria T'Loak]]: "[[Badass Boast|I'm the boss, CEO, queen, if you're feeling dramatic.]] It doesn't matter. [[Absurdly Cool City|Omega]] has no titled ruler and only one rule: [[Precision F-Strike|Don't fuck with Aria]]."

** Admiral Hackett spends most of [[Mass Effect]] as an [[The Voice|unseen]] [[Quest Giver]]. {{spoiler|He leads the Arcturus Fleet in killing Sovereign, ordering his commanders to hold the line at all costs.}} In the second game, we get to see his face. Boy, [[Good Scars, Evil Scars|has he earned that rank]].

** [[The Captain|Captain Kirrahe]] is a pretty good [[The Strategist|strategist]] and a [[Father to His Men]]. He does a good line in [[Rousing Speech|inspiring speeches:]]

** Mordin Solus led a science team, then a mission to [[Crapsack World|Tuchanka]] to create and release a new version of the [[Depopulation Bomb|genophage]]. How good is he? He ''killed a krogan with a pitchfork''.

** [[Eldritch Abomination|Eldritch abominations]] [[Big Bad|Sovereign]] and [[Big Bad|Harbinger]], [[Time Abyss|millions of years old]] mecha-Cthulhus are scarily competent in directing their indoctrinate servan...[[Memetic Mutation|I AM ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL!]]

* The reboot of ''[[Syndicate]]'' seems to follow this pattern. Sergeants are [[Elite Mooks]], the Lieutenant shown in trailers is a miniboss at least and the Colonel in the co-op demo is a boss.

* Pinnacle from [[Dead to Rights]], the corrupt mayor of Grant City who's like a cross between [[Marvel Comics|The Kingpin]] and an evil version of [[Final Fight|Mike Haggar.]] In their [[Let's Play]], [[Slowbeef]] and Diabetus ponder why he even needs a security force when he's a "shaved bear in a pinstriped suit."

 

== Web Comics ==

* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' is a rare example of this rule being used by [[Mad Scientist|mad scientists]]. Most of the Sparks that have appeared in the comic so far have proven to be quite competent fighters - part of this may be justified by them often having a [[Death Ray]] or two in their pockets, but even in unarmed close combat, several Sparks have demonstrated high levels of skill. [[Overlord, Jr.|Gilgamesh Wulfenbach]] demonstrated an ability to smack a BIG [[Super Soldier|Jäger]] around while injured (but [[Berserk Button|flipped out]]). Baron Wulfenbach has also had action hero-level fighting skills, but that may be attributed to his past adventuring with the Heterodyne Boys. The Heterodyne Boys themselves may also, technically, be said to use this, seeing as they were the hereditary rulers of Mechanicsburg. Agatha "doesn't fence", but she's [[Wrench Whack|quite the slugger]] with a 3/17 Occipital Left-Leaning Heterodyne Wrench. Or [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070629 any] heavy [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110711 wrench], for that matter.

** There's also the strong implication that the Baron experimented on himself to keep going in his adventures (much like Othar), and there's the possibility that Gil inherited some of those... improvements.

** Opinion is divided as to [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20091125 how much] of Tarvek's "[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20091130 spoiled aristocrat]" image [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110425 was] [[Obfuscating Stupidity]].

* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' has almost everyone using various forms of [[Super Soldier]] "boosts", but there are some clear examples:

** Kevyn, the second in command, isn't all that tough physically; but between the antimatter-bomb epaulets and just being the [[Mad Scientist]], everybody reacts like he ''could'' kick their asses. Also, he and his sister are good enough at it to surprise the unarmed combat instructor.

* In ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'', being promoted to aristocracy makes a normal demon at least larger and much more powerful, and becoming a Demon Lord grants [[Nigh Invulnerability]] and a fiery [[Battle Aura]] as well as, apparently, [[Super Strength]].

* Subverted in ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'', where Roy mistakenly assumes that Lord Shojo is a high-level paladin when he is, in fact, a non-combatant aristocrat.

* Played with in ''[[Errant Story]]''. The most skilled members of the Ensigerum, a group of [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|warrior/monk/time-mages]], are generally the highest level initiates and newly raised monks as the older members lack recent combat experience and have grown too dependent on magic. The trope is played straight for their leader, Imperatrix Anita, who is without a doubt the deadliest member of the order.

* ''[[MSF High]]'': Any teacher at MSF High has this. Any Legion Queen has this, with access to all ten Legion 'facets'. Principal Kasumi? Don't even ask. Keiri is not to be messed with as well.

 

== Web Original ==

* Used in the Sonic fanfiction ''[[The Mobius Chronicles]]''. The higher in rank Amadeus gets the more ass kicking he does, also the Overlander second in command is one of their most talented fighters.

* ''[[Open Blue]]'''s [[Backstory]] had the Caesars of the [[Precursors|Iormunean Imperium]], who had access to an elixer that boosted their lifespan, physical abilities, and [[Healing Factor]], making them fearsome warriors in battle. Second to them was the [[Four-Star Badass|High Executor]], leader of the [[Praetorian Guard]], who was armed with an [[Ancestral Weapon|ancestral sword]] that could double as a ''[[Wave Motion Gun]]''.

* Xandus, the most powerful villain in the [[Avatar Adventures]] universe, doubles as the Prime Minister of Canada.

* It is revealed in [[Kickassia]] that {{spoiler|Kevin Baugh could teleport and use a sword.}}

* In the [http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=118771 Armageddon] web-novels, this is how both Hell and Heaven operate - rank and power are equal, with Satan and Yahweh being on the top of the heap. When Michael managed to kill Yahweh with the assistance of his conspiracy, he not only increased in power, he gained the ability to confer power on other angels.

* * Lord Opticord in [[Sockbaby]].

* In ''[[The Gungan Council]]'', it's either played straight or [[Asskicking Equals Authority|inverted]] with Masters and Elites. They are regarded as the strongest characters and usually have or are granted many prestigious titles and responsibilities. Can be subverted or even averted for Padawans, Apprentices, and Trainees that roleplay have a high title.

*** And her response to the failure? To turn in her badge, and fight Amon outside the legal system. She hasn't given up yet.

* On ''[[The Oblongs]]'', the mayor is a professional wrestler in a luchador mask who is always introduced as Johnny "the Mayor" Bledsoe.

* True for both sides in ''[[Transformers]]''. Since promotions for the Decepticons seem to be either through murder or treachery, Megatron tends to be one of [[Leader|the most powerful, charismatic and strategic guys around]]. The same goes for Optimus Prime (and Ultra Magnus in ''[[Transformers Animated]]''), although with him it's more that they ''made'' him [[Leader]] because he's the best.

** In the animated movie, Hot Rod gets upgraded from a racecar to a futuristic truck when he was promoted to Rodimus Prime by the Matrix. He got about half again as tall, and upgraded from "pathetic" to "successor of Optimus Prime."

* Numbuh 362, the [[Leader|Supreme Leader]] of the [[Codename: Kids Next Door|Kids Next Door]] organization, was a top stealth agent before she took command, and she can still kick a very respectable amount of ass when the need arises. This was [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|memorably demonstrated]] in th eepisode ''Operation I.T.'' where she {{spoiler|ate her way through a wall of broccoli to take on [[Big Bad|Father]] and made him break down in tears by threatening to force-feed him the dreaded vegetable}}. Also, in ''[[The Movie|Operation: ZERO]]'' she held her own against a senior-citizombified Numbuh 60.

** And, just to underline the trope, she is eventually succeeded as Supreme Leader by {{spoiler|Numbuh 5}}.

* M.O.M. in ''[[Martin Mystery]]'' is extremely acrobatic and good with weapons and gadgets. She was able to pummel a vicious spider monster on one occasion with her bare hands.

* [[Metalocalypse|Charles Foster Offdensen]]. Excelling in hand-to-hand combat is a must when you're the manager of the most popular band (and twelfth largest economy) in the world.

** Lord Trogar of the Gordanians in the episode "Go" was able to simultaneously beat Cyborg, Robin, and Starfire in a fight on his battleship. He was also able to take an energy blast from Raven which knocked out his ship and immobilized his guards without flinching. Makes one wonder why he needed guards in the first place...

* Played for laughs in an episode of ''[[My Gym Partner's a Monkey]]'', when Adam convinces Mr. Hornbill, a lovelorn rhinoceros teacher, to challenge Principal Pixiefrog (who is, well, a [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|pixie frog]]) to a ring fight to prove his masculinity. It turns out this trope is in full effect as Principal Pixiefrog proceeds to wipe the floor with Mr. Hornbill while shouting "who's your principal, Cyrus?!? I said, ''who's your principal?!?''"

'''Jake''': A 2-ton rhino just got his butt handed to him by a 6-ounce frog! Where were you for the past 30 seconds? }}

* ''[[wikipedia:Super President|Super President]]''.

 

== Real Life ==

* In ages past it was common for generals to actually lead their troops into battle, but this was really to better direct the troops in an age before radio. The death of a general in battle often ensured his army's defeat, so this tradition was abandoned as soon as distance command became practical.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Badass]]

[[Category:Authority Equals Asskicking]]