Commander Contrarian: Difference between revisions

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His objections can be born of [[Dying Like Animals|stupidity]], [[Death By Pragmatism|pragmatism]], or [[Strawman Political|politics]], but will almost always be just plain wrong. Even if they aren't, he'll only rarely propose a viable alternate plan of action, and it's almost unheard of for the hero to use it and have it work. If he's persuasive, he'll get the group to [[Never Split the Party|split up and go separate ways]]. Odds are high his group will be monster chow.

 

 

 

 

* While Rei and Usagi butt heads to the point of childish bickering in ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', the English dub by DiC elevated her counterpart Raye to become this trope. A small complaint from Rei about Usagi's need to learn responsibility (something Rei thought Luna was doing too fast) was changed in one episode to Raye trying to kick Serena out of the Sailor Scouts and escalated to Raye actively bullying an apparently spineless Amy into actually not showing up on a mission out of protest, and Luna, [[Fridge Logic|who you would expect would raise an objection to the most powerful person on the team being stripped of her duties and powers for no real reason]], being willing to go along with it.

** Raye was later strongly implied to have stolen Sailor Moon's Crescent Wand because she didn't trust Serena, which was altered from the original plot that actually showed Usagi giving the wand to Rei because she didn't trust ''herself'' to not give it up to the bad guys while attempting a [[Fake Defector|Fake Defection]] to rescue Mamoru (Darien). Therefore, the scene that followed portrayed the dub's Raye being (apparently) ''willing'' to let Serena die (while Serena mentally pleaded for help) and finally backing down under pressure from her teammates, while the Japanese Rei was actually trying to keep a promise to Usagi and forcing herself to just watch (while Usagi mentally hoped they'd be strong enough ''not'' to rescue her and blow the entire plan).

*** An even later episode in the S Season showed Raye snapping at Chad for telling people he was her boyfriend (Japanese Rei was simply demanding to know if the rumors that Yuuichirou had beaten up Haruka were true).

* Samson from ''[[Kimba the White Lion]]'' acts like this towards Kimba and his father when it comes to their politics.

 

 

== Film ==

*** There's also the whole "Doomsday machine" angle. The "crazy" Commodore Decker in that Original series episode (basically Ahab [[In Space]]), this one's dad.

* Utterly, utterly subverted in ''[[Night of the Living Dead]]'' - the local exemplar of this trope sticks to his guns, and is portrayed as an archetypal contrarian. In the end, however, he is convinced to follow the protagonist's plan - and ends up making a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] when the plan turns out to be tragically flawed. The real kicker then comes when the protagonist, by following Contrarian's original plan, ends up the only survivor {{spoiler|until he's shot by Sergeant Zombie-Hunter at the end.}}

** [[Self-Demonstrating Article|Uh, what]]? Which version of [[Night of the Living Dead]] are you talking about? In the original, Harry's plan does eventually turn out to be Ben's salvation, but he makes no heroic sacrifice- in fact, his cowardice almost gets Ben killed when he {{spoiler|locks Ben out with the zombies, only relenting and letting him in at the last second}}. In fact, his death comes {{spoiler|when he tries to steal the gun from Ben and gets himself shot for it.}} Not to mention that Ben's plan would have worked if they hadn't been so careless with the torch.

* Vader actually has [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Daine_Jir the good kind] in ''[[A New Hope]]''. Daine Jir apparently often called Vader's judgment into question while on missions, but at the same time he was thought to be a model Imperial officer, as he could follow orders explicitly when he saw the sense in them, and he usually accepted Vader's explanation after asking him about his planned course of action.

* Albert Nimzicki, the Secretary of Defense in [[Independence Day]], fits this trope to a T, being a general prick to everyone in the movie until President Whitmore fires him after he uses the president's dead wife's name to try to get his way.

 

*** Just Deathly Hallows? Most of the conflicts Hermione has with Harry and/or Ron during the series is due to her always disagreeing with them and taking actions that offend them in some manner or just playing nagging them nonstop. Her complaining of Harry during Half-Blood Prince over the book belonging to second [[Titular Character]] seems to be more out of envy for being bested in Potions than actual, reasonable worry. By the end of it, it's pretty clear she's just trying to win the argument for the sake of being right.

* In [[The Thrawn Trilogy]], Captain Pellaeon is Grand Admiral Thrawn's [[Number Two|second]], and often plays [[Hold Your Hippogriffs|Sith's Advocate]]. He always reminds his admiral of certain things that need his attention, or might need a second thought, or when he thinks an idea is flawed - and he often does, since Thrawn tends to have [[Military Maverick|strange plans]], goes behind the backs of his subordinates, and likes [[Secret Test of Character|testing him]] and not telling him what he's doing, instead letting Pellaeon see the results and then asking pointed questions and waiting for Pellaeon to figure it out on his own. There's mention of the two of them once getting into a barely-civilized debate over a tactic that Pellaeon thought would require far too much [[Clock King|precision]] to pull off. Pellaeon's wrong often enough to let Thrawn demonstrate his genius, but he's also known to be right, and Thrawn's enough of a [[Reasonable Authority Figure]] to listen every time, even if he doesn't always follow his advice. Pellaeon, in return, comes to trust Thrawn's abilities, so even when he doubts his Grand Admiral he follows his instructions, and he knows when it's better to keep quiet. In other words, Pellaeon is the ideal second-in-command.

*** Complete with a [[Lampshade Hanging]] after his counterintuitive plans work:

'''Pellaeon''': Understood, Captain. Believe it or not, I've been in your place myself. }}

** Another somewhat straight example, also involving Thrawn, can be seen in [[Timothy Zahn]]'s short story ''Command Decision''. Admiral Thrawn has been exiled to the Unknown Regions along with the crew of a Star Destroyer, and its captain is very displeased with this, and how this ''alien'', when encountering a weird new species, does not follow Imperial protocols ''at all.'' Thrawn thanks the captain for his recommendations and goes on with plans that seem to indicate ridiculous weakness. The captain and a general even speculate that Thrawn made some kind of deal and almost mutiny, though when the crunch comes he doesn't. Ultimately Thrawn asks the captain to trust him - and the captain does - and this trust is rewarded when the plan works out really, really well.

** In ''[[The New Rebellion]]'', General [[X Wing Series|Wedge Antilles]] has one of these. He realizes that the opposing fleet is piloted by droids, and he knows that part of the enemy's plan, thwarted just at the start of the battle, was to have his fleet's droids take over ships and turn them against the fleet. So he issues orders for his flagship to fire on but narrowly miss their allied ships, without telling them or anyone else ''why''.

"That you can force me to step down if you can prove I'm unfit. They also state that simply because the commander gives orders you disagree with does not mean the commander is unfit. Fire now, or I'll have you all relieved." }}

*** He is of course correct and things succeed brilliantly, but he also has to stay on the bridge, because he can sense how close his crew is to mutiny.

* Jarlaxle served this role to Matron Baenre when she was planning a war. Bear in mind that in Menzoberranzan, a matron (always a priestess of Lloth, the ruling deity) can have you put to death for disagreeing with her, or contradicting her, or if she feels like it, or if it's Thursday, and Matron Baenre is the most powerful in the city. Apparently, this is inconvenient sometimes, so Matron Baenre had to use someone who knew she wouldn't kill him (Jarlaxle is largely much off the hit list because of how convenient he is and how having him around is better than not having him) to talk her plans out with and having a sounding board.

** Though with a bit more of a nod to military discipline, they do it ''in private'', rather than publicly bracing the captain in front of the crew. Many Commanders Contrarian forget to do this, behaving in ways that would get them in serious trouble with regulations in [[Real Life]].

* [[Flann O Brien]]'s [[The Third Policeman]] features a man who makes it his rule to answer "No" to everything. Those who catch on can resort to asking if he refuses to divulge such-and-such information, and so on.

** Cassie as well; she tends to test the morality of a given plan, where he looks at the practicality.

* ''[[The Mist]]'' had a jerky lawyer as neighbor to the protagonist. After some humanizing exposition at the beginning, he sticks to his skepticism and leads a group of like minded people into the [[Ominous Fog]]. They all die.

* To some extent, the [[Bureau Of Sabotage]] in [[Frank Herbert]]'s [[Con Sentiency]] stories, as it is their mission to interfere with the rest of the government to keep it from becoming too irresistable.

* Quara in books 2-4 of [[Orson Scott Card]]'s ''[[Ender's Game|Ender Saga]]'' to the point where Jane, who tries to argue with her, finally realizes that Quara is simply incapable of "shutting up to save her own life", as Jane calmly explains that she is capable of unintentionally ending Quara's life {{spoiler|during the next FTL jump}}. Quara then proceeds to threaten ''Jane'' (a {{spoiler|[[Physical God]]}}). Miro then explains to Jane that Quara pays for her attitude by being lonely. After all, why would anyone try to seek her company, if they're just going to be insulted and frustrated?

* Senator Kinsey of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' is the poster child for this trope. His purpose in life seems to consist of deliberately choosing the [[Idiot Ball|most stupid course of action possible]] and self-righteously accusing anyone who disagrees with him as having ulterior motives (like his own).

** General Bauer, who briefly takes over Stargate Command definitely comes off as this. He intentionally sets of a Naquadah Bomb on a Naquadah-rich planet against all objections on how dangerous this is, then seems suprised when it causes the entire planet to be destroyed and send deadly radiation back through the Stargate.

** The Quorum of Twelve {{spoiler|and the later ship-based Quorum}} exists only to interfere with whoever is in charge of the government this week.

** Jurgen Belzen, the XO of Pegasus tried to dissuade [[General Ripper|Cain]] from attacking a Cylon staging ground with an undermanned and partially-disabled ship. Incidentally, the show averts the [[Pretty Little Headshots]] trope.

* ''[[Scrubs]]'', episode "My Advice to You":

'''Dr. Kelso''': (to J.D.) Your witness. }}

* Alex Drake plays this role often in ''[[Ashes to Ashes]]''. Particularly notable in two first season episodes - in one she tells Gene to trust his hunch even though all the evidence is stacked against it and follows through to find that the guy he suspected did pull the job. (Notable for being just about the only time Alex was right about anything..) The very next episode she is insistent that Gene shouldn't target a guy for a robbery, even though it becomes increasingly obvious he did it. She remains unapologetic at the end of the episode, even though her handling of affairs resulted in an officer getting stabbed and the suspect being brutally beaten..

* And, of course, [[Monty Python's Flying Circus]] has The Man Who Contradicts People, as well as the [[Argument Clinic]] staffer who keeps crossing the line between argument and contradiction. (No, he doesn't! Yes, he does!)

 

 

== Theater ==

** Depends on the species, ''Turian''.

** And then there's also his stance on the "Reapers". [[Memetic Mutation|They have dismissed that claim.]]

** Morrigan tends toward this as well unless the Warden decides to [[Kick the Dog|wantonly kick every puppy in sight]]. The player can either indulge these tendencies, buy her off with gifts, or stand up to her, allowing for some [[Character Development]]. This stems, of course, from severe [[Mommy Issues]].

* Your party tends to have strong opinions on certain subjects in [[Dragon Age 2]]. Most vocally insist that [[Blood Magic]] is stupid and evil, causing Merrill to take on this role and point out that ''all'' magic is dangerous. Depending on your interaction with her, you can either support her or convince her to give it up.

 

 

== Web Originals ==

 

== Western Animation ==

** Well, it worked. {{spoiler|He was one of the only three characters to survive the entirety of both ''Beast Wars'' and ''Beast Machines''.}}

** Also, before getting into the [[The Starscream|outright betrayal]] he's best known for, the original Starscream seemed to exist only to tell Megatron how stupid his plan was, often without having his own idea. You get the feeling that Starscream really doesn't have his own ideas - if Megs said grass was green, Screamer would say it's purple just to spite him.

* Cera of [[The Land Before Time]] series falls into this trope quite easily. Whether she's just making a snide remark about Littlefoot's latest plan, or getting into an all out fight with him, if there's a plan to be made, there's a flaw for her to point out.

* Brian from ''[[Family Guy]]'' often takes this role, which is lampshaded by Lois.

 

== Real Life ==

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