Commander Contrarian: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''[[The Captain|Captain]]! [[With Due Respect]], you can't seriously be considering this, can you?! [[What the Hell, Hero?|What kind of hero]] would do that? It's crazy! Cruel! Stupid! Suicidal! ... you want an alternative? What do I look like, your [[Number One]]? [[Oh, Wait!|Oh, wait...]]''}}

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

 

 

His objections can be born of [[Dying Like Animals|stupidity]], [[Death By Pragmatism|pragmatism]], or [[Strawman Political|politics]], but will almost always be just plain wrong. Even if they aren't, he'll only rarely propose a viable alternate plan of action, and it's almost unheard of for the hero to use it and have it work. If he's persuasive, he'll get the group to [[Never Split the Party|split up and go separate ways]]. Odds are high his group will be monster chow.

Usually the complainer in [[The Complainer Is Always Wrong]]. This can result in a [[Doomed Contrarian]]. Sometimes, however, he's doing this on ''purpose.'' This is called a "[[Devil's Advocate]];" the basic idea is that, even though he may actually agree with the plan himself, he wants to make sure out of principle that the leader doesn't do anything he can't clearly defend against criticism, and might have missed something.

 

 

{{examples}}

*** An even later episode in the S Season showed Raye snapping at Chad for telling people he was her boyfriend (Japanese Rei was simply demanding to know if the rumors that Yuuichirou had beaten up Haruka were true).

* Joe in ''[[Science Ninja Team Gatchaman]]'', especially regarding the Bird Missiles. A rare example of a commander being this is Ken, who argues with Dr. Nambu from time to time and is actually a bit of a hothead.

* Samson from ''[[Kimba the White Lion]]'' acts like this towards Kimba and his father when it comes to their politics.

 

*** Just Deathly Hallows? Most of the conflicts Hermione has with Harry and/or Ron during the series is due to her always disagreeing with them and taking actions that offend them in some manner or just playing nagging them nonstop. Her complaining of Harry during Half-Blood Prince over the book belonging to second [[Titular Character]] seems to be more out of envy for being bested in Potions than actual, reasonable worry. By the end of it, it's pretty clear she's just trying to win the argument for the sake of being right.

* 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.

{{quote|"Trust me, Captain," Pellaeon said, trying hard not to smile as his mind suddenly flashed back ten years. Then, he'd been the earnest captain standing on this same deck, trying in [[With Due Respect|the most diplomatic way possible]] to make his superior see sense in the middle of a tense combat situation. [...] And yet Thrawn had never reprimanded him for his impertinence and lack of understanding. He had merely continued calmly with his plans, allowing the results to speak for themselves.}}

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

{{quote|'''Ardiff''': I'm, ah, sorry if I sounded--

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

** 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.

{{quote|'''Thrawn''': "What it ultimately comes down to is a simple matter of trust. Whether you trust me personally; whether you trust the officers who approved my promotion to the rank of admiral; whether you trust the Emperor and his decision to place me in command here."}}