Loyal to the Position: Difference between revisions

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''Unto my dying day, Sir.''

''That whatsoever King may reign,''

''I will be the Vicar of Bray, Sir!''~~|'''The Vicar of Bray'''}}~~

''I will be the Vicar of Bray, Sir!''

|'''The Vicar of Bray'''}}

Suppose that we live in [[The Kingdom]]. Our wise king hires a treasurer—to mint coins, balance the Kingdom's budget, raise revenue, borrow funds cheaply, and all of the other [[Boring but Practical]] essentials of keeping the Kingdom running. Our treasurer does an exemplary job.

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* Dolores Umbridge from the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' books. First she very thoroughly implements the policies of a Minister of Magic who is in utter denial regarding the resurrection of Voldemort. When we meet her again a few books later, she works ''for'' Voldemort! A less clear-cut example than most on this page, however, since she's so sadistic that it's highly likely she's in it more for the abuse of power than the job in itself.

* In the ''[[Discworld]]'' series:

** In ''[[~~Discworld/Pyramids|~~Pyramids]]'', High Priest Dios has always served whoever is currently the Pharaoh. [[Time Abyss|Always.]]

** In ''[[Pyramids]]'', High Priest Dios has always served whoever is currently the Pharaoh. [[Time Abyss|Always.]]

** In ''[[~~Discworld/~~Night Watch|Night Watch]]'', a number of people are mentioned as being turned out on the replacement of Lord Winder with Lord Snapcase (including the food taster), but the change affects the servants very little, as someone is always needed who knows where the brooms are kept.

** In ''[[Night Watch (Discworld)|Night Watch]]'', a number of people are mentioned as being turned out on the replacement of Lord Winder with Lord Snapcase (including the food taster), but the change affects the servants very little, as someone is always needed who knows where the brooms are kept.

** In addition, Mr. Slant the zombie lawyer, who is in some cases an antagonist and more helpful in others (having been a lawyer for so long, he is closer to [[True Neutral]] than most others).

* Valharik, the captain of the guard in Melnibone, upon Yyrkoon's taking of power in the first novel of ''[[The Elric Saga]]'', betrayed his mistress Cymoril, Elric's [[Love Interest]], and took her to her tower. He cut down one of his own men who tried to defend her against Yyrkoon, and on Yyrkoon's orders, he fed the poor guy to Cymoril's slaves. When Elric takes back the Ruby Throne from Yyrkoon, Valharik explains that he serves the Ruby Throne, no matter who sits upon it. Needless to say, Elric doesn't buy this, and in a truly ruthless move, he sentences Valharik to execution, with his flesh to be fed to Yyrkoon at the feast that Elric plans to hold.

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== [[Real Life]] ==

* In theory, how it's supposed to work in democracies where the leader is routinely changed out every so many years. The military and the various groups of people who make the government function who ''aren't'' elected or cycled out after a few years are expected (and required, under sworn oath, in many cases) to be loyal to whoever replaces their boss, regardless of politics. The civil servant administrative tradition (as used in, e.g. the UK, Canada, France) is a well-known user of this trope.

** However, it generally applies to the lower levels; in Canada at least, it's not unusual for Deputy Ministers (the civil service position directly below the cabinet minister) to be pensioned off when the governing party changes. It's also not unusual for civil servants to be shifted from on ministry to another under the same government, for any number of reasons, especially as ministers (who are politicians) also get shuffled between different cabinet positions fairly regularly.

** However, it generally applies to the lower levels; in Canada at least, it's not unusual for Deputy Ministers (the civil service position directly below the cabinet minister) to be pensioned off when the governing party changes. It's also not unusual for civil servants to be shifted from one ministry to another under the same government, for any number of reasons, especially as ministers (who are politicians) also get shuffled between different cabinet positions fairly regularly.

** In the US, there are comparatively more appointed positions in the civil service, so there's a greater number of changes in terms of who has what positions.

* The US Military (and many around the world, for that matter) frequently rotate officers and soldiers to new assignments every few years to enforce this (as well as other reasons, such as benefits to professional development). This concept, as applied to any work environment, is a mark of professionalism.

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[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

[[Category:Authority Tropes]]

[[Category:Servant Tropes]]

[[Category:Characters As Device]]

[[Category:Politics Tropes]]

[[Category:Loyal to the Position]]

[[Category:Loyalty Tropes]]