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{{worktrope}}
{{quote|''"Ha! Legendary guardian? I was just a boy. A boy about your age actually. I wanted to change the world too, but I changed nothing. That [[Arc Words|is my story.]]"''|'''Auron''', ''[[Final Fantasy X]]''}}
|'''Auron''', ''[[Final Fantasy X]]''}}
 
So, here you are, the top of your field. You felled countless enemy commanders, slew a dragon, worked up to your rank by the sweat of your brow, and became the envy of everyone. That's why you're the main character!
 
Wait, what's this? Despite your illustrious career, something disastrous just happened. You've been demoted and now you're working for some young, shiny hero instead! Hold on--weren't you the main character?
 
Sorry, but [[Decoy Protagonist|you're not the main character]].
 
The '''Quickly -Demoted Leader''' is established as a powerful character, but then is immediately made to serve under the hero. This happens to provide the hero with the companionship of someone with much more experience and might put him in a position of authority quickly. If too [[Genre Savvy]] of their position, the [[Quickly -Demoted Leader]] can easily become [[The Resenter]].
 
Possible reasons this character has lost his position:
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May overlap with [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]]. If resentful, the character may insist he's [[Still the Leader]].
{{tropelist}}
 
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* ''[[Bleach]]'' is extremely guilty of this, with Rukia being depowered after literally five minutes of her showing herself to the main character and then spending the rest of the [[Story Arc]] being useless and even becoming a [[Distressed Damsel in Distress]] afterwards, triggering a [[Rescue Arc]]. Eventually her drop in power is revealed to have been part of the plot. Her subsequent fights make it seem she [[Took a Level Inin Badass]] although it's really her fighting at normal strength.
* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' introduces Yuuno so you can watch him get his butt kicked, turn into a ferret, and hand over magic casting and monster fighting duties to our heroine.
* ''[[Prétear]]'' puts an entire [[Cast Full of Pretty Boys|harem]] of experienced capable male warriors behind an inexperienced teenage girl. Because she's [[The Chosen One]] and apparently their powers are rather ineffective without being able to merge with said girl. Subverted somewhat because {{spoiler|this did not go well for the ''last'' girl who had to be the Pretear. One [[Face Heel Turn]] later and our male heroes use the exact same methods to find the new [[Prétear]]}}. You think they'd learn.
* In possibly one of the few inversions in existence, [[Gundam Seed Destiny]] gives us Shinn Asuka's relationship with Athrun Zala. With war breaking out again between the Earth and the [[PLAN Ts]]PLANTs, Athrun reenlists and in spite of getting a shiny new Savior Gundam does pretty much nothing for the greater part of the series, playing second fiddle to [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|a well-meaning but flawed soldier]]. ''Then'' it becomes more apparent Shinn has been being manipulated magnificently by the evil [[Chessmaster]] chairman of ZAFT, and Athrun goes back to the actual hero group, and ends up owning Shinn in the final battle.
* The Monk in [[Eureka Seven]] qualifies for this. He's supposed to be a very powerful [[The Force|"attuned"]] person to the will of the Earth (actually trained for this), and can even destroy large buildings. But he's arrogant, not interested in explaining almost anything he does and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|doesn't even bathe]]. He's also the [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]]. These all pail however in comparison with his history of {{spoiler|being in Renton's position and [[Failure Is the Only Option|failing]]}} for no explained reason, unless he was the {{spoiler|corralians'}} own, intended [[Quickly -Demoted Leader]].
** Holland Novak is a MUCH better example of this. He is the leader of Gekko State, but was rejected by Eureka as her partner, and greatly [[The Resenter|resents]] and physically abuses [[The Hero|Renton]], who does become Euraka's partner.
* In the ''[[Southern Cross]]'' arc of ''[[Robotech]]'', Sean starts out as the commander of the [[Humongous Mecha|ATAC]] unit, but when [[The Chosen One|Dana]] comes along, fresh out of the academy, he gets busted to private due to a combination of his own terrible discipline record and Dana [[Screw the Rules, I Have Connections|having family connections in the brass]].
* Kiritsugu Emiya in the ''Fate'' series. Played with in that the prequel ''[[Fate/Zero]]'' has him as the protagonist and actually shows us how he became the [[Quickly -Demoted Leader]]: {{spoiler|failing to fulfill his wish, failing to destroy the Grail, and being cursed to lose his powers and die after mentoring [[The Hero|Shirou]] for five years.}}
 
== [[Film]] ==
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** In the Black Fleet Crisis, he's too busy finding his mother {{spoiler|even if it is a con.}}
** In the ''Hand of Thrawn'', he's busy saving Mara, who he marries at the end.
*** The last two are subversions, because while everyone is busy saving the Republic from a major threat, Luke go to isolated regions, not much caring. And in the end he is the one who finds something to save the day. Yeah, while he was the only one not searching.
** Subverted in the Corellian trilogy, where he plays matchmaker for Lando.
** Also subverted in the New Jedi Order, since Luke and Mara have an active sex life which leaves them distracted.
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** Your efforts don't go unrecognized, as you do get a huge statue in Bruma for saving the city, and yes, it is ''you'', not a generic statue. You will at least be remembered as, probably, [[The Obi-Wan]] played straight.
** In the sequel, Skyrim, there is a book about what happened. History is a bit fuzzy on the details but the player character is remembered for a dizzying mix of heroic deeds while the son is only really known for his [[Heroic Sacrifice]].
* Orca in the [[.hack]]// games is Kite's best friend and [[mentor]] in The World. He's quickly data -drained and spends the rest of the first game series in a coma, thus setting up the plot.
* ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' has quite a few characters like this.
** The end of the first game also has {{spoiler|Edgeworth's mentor}} behind bars.
** This even counts for flashbacks: {{spoiler|Diego Armando}} in the third game took over the mentor duties over one of his collegues when the actual mentor failed to show up for her first case. He ended up hooking up with her... {{spoiler|and then being poisoned to almost-death by her [[Ax Crazy]] cousin.}}
** In ''[[Apollo Justice]]'', {{spoiler|Apollo actually puts his own mentor in jail}} in the first case. It would appear that in this universe, taking on a rookie attorney is the fastest way to end either your career or your life.
* ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' quickly puts Cloud in charge of AVALANCHE and the [[Older and Wiser]] Barret Wallace under his command. Of course, Barret is [[Boisterous Bruiser|not necessarily the most reliable of mentors.]]
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** Also, Auron clearly has no interest in taking the leading role. Perhaps because {{spoiler|[[Dead All Along|the dead shouldn't lead the living]]}}.
* ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]]'' has Marche's mentor Montblanc gladly hand over the keys to the clan after a single tutorial battle.
* ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics a 2A2]]'' does the same thing with Cid, though he's actually given a plot reason to back down from leadership. He still hands over the clan to Luso who, like Marche, is actually a normal schoolboy with little combat experience.
** Although, to be fair, luso kinda lends himself to being charismatic/somewhat endearing and full of potential, even if Cid is unimpressed it does help to gain new members.
* ''[[Live a Live]]'' subverts the hell out of this with Hash and Uranus, with an [[It Got Worse]] / [[Wham! Episode]] combo.
* Titania of ''[[Fire Emblem]] Path of Radiance'' is first Ike's mentor and boss, and after his father [[The Obi-Wan|dies]], she becomes Ike's subordinate. Unlike many examples of this trope, Ike's youth and inexperience is actually a source of conflict and some of the mercenaries quit over it (Ike ''himself'' thinks this is too sudden). Titania and those that remain do so by choice. Titania also doesn't get demoted - she still has her "second-in-command" position, she just changed bosses.
* ''[[Growlanser]] II'' includes several returning characters from ''[[Growlanser]] I''. Many of them, including the first game's hero, end up [[Overrated and Underleveled]], serving under the command of the new main character - who just recently graduated from the military academy. The game even [[Lampshade|lampshades]] this in the script, in a brief scene where the ''[[Growlanser]] I'' hero reassures the ''[[Growlanser]] II'' hero that he'll do fine despite his relative inexperience.
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** It's even worse in the JP-only prequel, where she's a hopeless drunk who hangs around in the basement drinking and {{spoiler|attempts suicide at one point.}}
* Captain Anderson in ''[[Mass Effect]]'' is your commanding officer at the beginning of the game, but once you become a Spectre he steps down and takes a desk job because a Spectre must have their own ship and the ''Normandy'' is too awesome not to give to the first human Spectre. (Though [[Fridge Logic|you'd think]] that they'd just reassign Anderson to a different ship.) However, at the end of the game {{spoiler|you have an option of making him the first human Council member}}.
** A few discussions imply that while Anderson could get another posting, he'd rather take the desk job and be able to support Sheppard rather than leave him alone to deal with Ambassador Udina. Later events in the games prove him right.
*** It's also implied Anderson has been on the Citadel for several years serving in an advisory role.
* In another [[BioWare]] game, ''[[Dragon Age]]'', {{spoiler|Teirn Loghain has this done to him for killing the King and undermining the war efforts. Another choice is to have him killed, of course.}}
* ''[[Wild ArmsARMs 3]]'' strangely takes the two ''most'' experienced party members, Jet and Clive, and demotes them both to taking orders from Virginia, a complete newbie at combat, let alone Drifter work, as soon as everybody's tutorial is finished. Pretty much because they like her pep talks.
** Not that Jet will admit it.
*** It should also be noted that while they follow her orders, they do so only if they agree with them. In several instances they flat out refused to do something Virginia proposed on the grounds of it being unforgivably dumb and suicidal and steered her towards a more reasonable choice without making it look like they were taking charge. In the end, the de facto leader is Clive, as Virginia near-constantly defers to his authority when he disagrees with her, because she trusts his judgment more than her own.
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*** Even without this, Iroh knows that keeping Zuko away from his father (and he's only allowed to go back to his father if he captures the avatar) is the only thing that can make him a better man.
** Either subverted or not technically this trope in that you meet him after his demotion and in fact before he is established as being demoted in the first place. You don't get a hint that he was ever in a higher rank than Zuko (rather than just being a teacher to a nephew who is at a higher rank simply because he's also the Prince of the Fire Nation) until 3 episodes in.
** Interestingly, in season 1 he appears as the [[Quickly -Demoted Leader]] from the Fire Nation. And what is he asked to do in the [[Grand Finale]]?
** Anyway, Iroh is the [[Eccentric Mentor]], not the Obi-Wrong, because he's ''aware'' that it's not his job to save the world. So he is the mentor to Zuko, but knows his place. Obviously he used [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] to keep Zuko from succeeding because he wanted to open Zuko's eyes about the wrongness of Fire Nation. But even after {{spoiler|Zuko's [[Heel Face Turn]]}}, he will send everyone on the fronts they are needed, and counts on Aang to win the decisive battle.
 
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Quickly Demoted Leader{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:PagesCharacters needingAs more categoriesDevice]]
[[Category:Mentors]]
[[Category:All the Tropes Superhero Team]]
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