Commander Contrarian: Difference between revisions

[[File:peachicoffee_4232.png|link=Peachi|thumb|400px|[[Persona 4|The protagonist]] gets [[Disproportionate Retribution|coffee thrown]] [[Exact Words|in his face]] [[Tempting Fate|for the last one]].]]

''I'm against it!''|'''[[Marx Brothers|Groucho Marx]],''' ''Horsefeathers''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7cry-4pyy8 Here.]</ref>}}

* 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.

** Ten years later, during the [[Hand of Thrawn]] duology, Pellaeon, through hard work and [[You Are in Command Now|by outliving his superiors]], is the Empire's Supreme Commander, and Captain Ardiff is his [[Commander Contrarian]].

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

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

** In a more straight example, the New Republic High Council's [[Commander Contrarian]] is Councilor Fey'lya, a self-absorbed self-appointed Dark Side's advocate, but for the purposes of empowering himself, not improving the Council's ideas. He's a proponent of [[Divided We Fall]].

** 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.

** 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..

* 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 ==