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Delegation Relay (view source)

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== Film ==
* ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'': "Mind the boat", eventually coming down the parrot, who then passes it on to the mute Mr. Cotton.
* From ''[[Spaceballs (Film)|Spaceballs]]'':
{{quote| '''Skroob:''' (to Dark Helmet) They're getting all their air back! Do something!<br />
'''Dark Helmet:''' (to Colonel Sandurz) Do something!<br />
'''Sandurz:''' (over the PA) DO SOMETHING! }}
* Charlie Chaplin's ''[[The Great Dictator]]'': A huge gun fails to fire properly, and the bullet just drops out of the barrel. The general turns to the colonel and says: "Check the bullet". The colonel turns to the captain and gives the same order. The captain gives the order to the lieutenant. The lieutenant delegates to the private (Chaplin). The private turns to his left... and finds out that there's nobody left to delegate to, so he has to do it himself.
* The Disney Movie ''[[The Cat From Outer Space (Film)|The Cat Fromfrom Outer Space]]'' did this as a running gag several times with a set of Army officers led by Harry Morgan who were chasing the titular cat.
{{quote| '''General Stilton''': *gives command*. Colonel!<br />
'''Colonel''': Captain!<br />
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* ''[[Home Alone]] 2'' did a relay giving Kevin's bag to Kevin, from Mom, to Dad, through all the kids, down to Fuller...who then starts a [[Delegation Relay]] ''back up'' the chain to inform the parents that Kevin missed the flight.
* In ''[[Braveheart]]'' Hamish's Dad gets shot with an arrow. That night, Hamish is handed a red hot poker with the instruction: "You do it. I'll hold him down." Hamish then looks at the poker, and hands another nameless scot the poker and tells him, "You do it. I'll hold him down." The nameless scot then does what he's told and [[Hilarity Ensues]].
* ''[[Silent Movie (Filmfilm)|Silent Movie]]'' has a meeting at Engulf and Devour. After getting some bad news about profits, Engulf orders Devour to punish the other men present. He slaps each of them in turn, only to get slapped himself by the last one. The next time this happens, Devour tries to invoke this trope, slapping only the first man and telling them to "Pass it on". When it gets to the last man, he slaps first, causing the slap to go all the way up the chain to Devour.
 
== Literature ==
* In the ''[[Discworld]]'' novel ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Eric|Eric]]'', during the siege of Tsort, the invading squad unexpectedly discover a small child. The Captain tasks the Lieutenant with guarding the child, who instructs the Sergeant to keep an eye on the kid who tells the Corporal to look after the lad who tells the Private to watch the sprog. The private looks around to see whom he can pass the buck to, and realises that he's the [[Butt Monkey]].
* Another ''[[Discworld]]'' example, in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Guards Guards|Guards! Guards!]]'': Captain Vimes tells Sergeant Colon to (force) open a gate. Colon tells Lance-Constable Carrot to open the gate. Carrot knocks gently to ask the people on the other side to open it.
* In [[Mark Twain]]'s ''[[The Prince and Thethe Pauper]]'', this is not actually played for laughs, but rather used as social satire to show how ridiculously overblown royal ceremonies were in Tudor England.
* In ''[[Land of Oz (Literature)|Ozma of Oz]]'', the Tin Woodsman's army consists of 100 soldiers, only one of whom is not an officer. The one time they actually fight, All the generals give the order to attack, which is then passed down to all the officers of the next rank down, and so forth until every officer has sounded the order to charge in decreasing order of rank, at which point the one private attacks the Nomes.
* In ''[[Harry Potter (Franchise)/Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone|Harry Potter]]'' when the mail arrives one morning, we get this exchange as the Dursleys and Harry are having breakfast:
{{quote| '''Vernon''': Get the mail, Dudley.<br />
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== Live Action Television ==
* The teaser of ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'''s [[Lower Deck Episode]] is one long shot in which we follow the progress of an order from Captain Janeway to the schlub who ends up carrying it out.
* ''[[Ashes to Ashes]]'' uses this amongst a group, when faced with acquiring evidence from a chemical toilet. (Played with in that the ''last'' link in the chain, who's dating the guy in front of her, simply rolls her eyes and tells him to get on with it.)
* ''[[Star Trek: theThe Next Generation]]'' did this in the first episode where the Borg appeared. A Borg appears on the ship observing, as Picard, most of the command, and a [[Red Shirt]] watch. Picard orders Worf to deal with it, then Worf turns to the Red Shirt and tells him to deal with it. With predictable results.
** An unusual instance of [[The Worf Effect|Worf]] being [[Genre Savvy]].
* ''[[The Young Ones]]'' use this when someone has to answer the door.
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== Western Animation ==
* One episode of the ''[[X-Men (Animationanimation)|X-Men]]'' animated series had Magneto and Mystique turn on Apocalypse. In an example of the "for extra fun" variation, the incredibly powerful Apocalypse summons all his henchmen, then tells the reasonably powerful Mr Sinister to kill them. Sinister then delegates this task to Vertigo, whose only power is [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|giving people vertigo.]]
* An episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' has Mr. Burns order a subordinate that a package must absolutely be mailed today. A [[Delegation Relay]] ensues, ultimately ending at Homer, who promptly runs the package back to Mr. Burns's office, who angrily tells Homer that his name is on the ''return'' address.
** Also from ''[[The Simpsons]]'':
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