Limited Advancement Opportunities: Difference between revisions

Contrast [[Rank Up]], when a character does get promoted on show.

== Anime and Manga ==

** Though in the epilogue of ''StrikerS'' it is revealed that Nanoha declined a promotion to remain as a Captain and a training officer. Signum, however, despite only being a 2nd Lieutenant in [[Striker S]], catches up to Nanoha in rank by [[Vi Vid]].

* Followed in ''[[Full Metal Panic]]'' with Sousuke, who, throughout the entire series, despite being incredibly competent and single-handedly saving the day numerous times, stays a [[Almighty Janitor|sergeant and receives no promotions]]. Most likely, however, he actively avoids moving up ranks, and apparently prefers to simply [[Obfuscating Stupidity|keep a low profile]] and do his work. Another possibility is that his organization is [[Genre Savvy]] enough to know that to promoted him would take him out of situations that only he can resolve. Interestingly, Mao gets promoted to second in command (despite not doing ''nearly'' as much as Sousuke).

== Comic Books ==

* [[Judge Dredd]] frequently turns down the Chief Judge's job, as it means taking him off the streets and leaving him with a lot of paperwork.

* ''[[Star Trek Enterprise (TV)|Star Trek Enterprise]]'' takes the cake. In the (not so) [[Distant Finale]] (which was actually a holodeck simulation), we see that everyone has ''remained at the same rank''. The crew of humanity's first ever Warp-5 ship, that basically opened up the rest of the galaxy for Earth, saved the planet numerous times, made a ton of allies, and intimidated both the Vulcans and Klingons, and NO ONE has gotten a '''single promotion'''. The only mention we get is that Archer has been ear-marked for Admiral.

* [[Unbuilt Trope|Surprisingly]], this trope was [[Averted Trope]] in the continuity of ''[[Star Trek the Original Series (TV)|Star Trek the Original Series]]'', including the animated series and the movies:

** Spock begins in the original pilot "The Cage" as a mere Lieutenant, is a Lieutenant Commander and First Officer in the first season, becomes a full Commander by the second season, and has reached the rank of Captain by ''[[Star Trek II the Wrath of Khan (Film)|The Wrath of Khan]]''.

** Bones goes from Lieutenant Commander to full Commander in the movies, and by the time of his [[The Cameo|cameo]] in the TNG pilot, is an Admiral.

** Chekov has the largest (and fastest) chain of promotions, starting off in the second season as an Ensign and making it to full Commander in time for ''[[Star Trek II the Wrath of Khan (Film)|The Wrath of Khan]]''.

** Uhura goes from Lieutenant to Commander in the same timeframe.

** Even Yeoman Rand, an enlisted crewman, eventually becomes an officer. Due to several costuming and scripting errors, it's unclear ''how'' high she rises in the ranks, but let's be generous and make her Lieutenant Commander and First Officer, as depicted in the ''Voyager'' episode "Flashback".

** Subverting this particular trope with the TOS crew created another sort of problem. By [[Star Trek V the Final Frontier (Film)|Star Trek V]] The ''Enterprise'' had three crew members--Kirk, Spock, and Scotty--who held the rank of captain. It was also non-canonicly suggested that Mr. Sulu had been granted command of the ''Starship Excelsior'' by this time, but retained his commander rank until he actually transferred to the vessel; making him an unofficial fourth captain.

== Radio ==