Supporting Leader: Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''Aragorn:''' Draw out [[Big Bad|Sauron]]'s armies. Empty his lands. Then we gather our full strength and march on the Black Gate.<br />

'''Eomer:''' We cannot achieve victory through strength of arms.<br />

 

 

[[The Brigadier]] and [[The Captain]] may be his underlings. The heroes who actually defeat the [[Big Bad]] may also be in his or her chain of command, but they're more likely to be an independent force of their own; their personal struggle is usually for the [[Golden Snitch]] while the [[Supporting Leader]] keeps the [[Big Bad]] from winning by default.

* Admiral Lindy Harlaown, {{spoiler|and later Hayate,}} in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]''.

* [[Colonel Badass|Roy Mustang]] in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''.

* Kunimitsu Tezuka from [[The Prince of Tennis]].

* Holland Novak from ''[[Eureka Seven]]''.

* In ''[[Star Blazers]]'' / ''[[Space Battleship Yamato]]'', Admiral Gideon fills this role taking on the Comet Empire's main space fleet while the Hero's ship is engaging a smaller task force. This of course leads to the Hero's ship being the only one to survive.

* Griffith from ''[[Berserk]]'', sort of. [[Big Bad|It's complicated]].

* Toraji in ''[[Innocent Venus]]''.

** Piccolo and Vegeta from ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' seem to fall into this role [[Death Is Cheap|whenever the hero is dead.]]

* [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] in season 1 of ''[[Sonic X]]''. Let's not kid ourselves. Chris is the main character there.

== Card Games ==

 

 

== Comic Books ==

* Captain Music (AKA Nat Wolff of [[The Naked Brothers Band]]) from [http://alaxr274.deviantart.com/gallery/33810717 Super Milestone Wars]

** Matt Keene (AKA Captain Wii) from the sequel. Also Aragorn, the former [[Trope Namer]].

* [[Puella Magi Oriko Magica|Oriko]] takes this role in ''[[Stars Above (Fanfic)|Stars Above]]''... in the 2013 timeline, at least.

 

 

* Mace Windu, Mon Mothma, Yoda, and Admiral Ackbar from the ''[[Star Wars]]'' films.

* Hector Barbossa in "[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]." At the climax of ''At World's End'', as Jack seeks out the Dead Man's Chest and fights Davy Jones for it, Barbossa engages the ''Flying Dutchman'' itself. Hector gets some real zippy one-liners in the process.

* The Black Fox in ''[[The Court Jester]]''.

* Ardeth Bey in the first two [[The Mummy Trilogy|Mummy movies]].

* Madmartigan in ''[[Willow]]'' is something of an expy Han Solo who eventually leads the rebel army while Willow takes care of the [[Big Bad]].

* In ''[[Casablanca]]'', Victor Laszlo. The [[Bittersweet Ending|resolution to the romantic plot]] revolves entirely around Rick acknowledging that Victor is way, way more important than he is.

* ''[[The Gamers|Dorkness Rising]]'', the group groans when [[Game Master]] Lodge introduces [[Mary Sue|Sir. Osric]] as the accompanying NPC that will [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad|hog all the glory]]. {{spoiler|Subverted when he is [[De-Power|De Powered]] and subsequently killed, leaving them to figure out the [[Final Boss]] by themselves.}}

* In ''[[Inglourious Basterds]]'', Lt. Aldo Raine could be seen as this, since he leads the [[Heroic Sociopath|"good"]] [[Sociopathic Soldier|soldiers]] in a [[Pay Evil Unto Evil]] Rampage that plays into Shosanna's more personal revenge plot. [[Alternate Character Interpretation|It's all in your point of view, really.]]

* Stella Yamada of [[Lemonade Mouth]]. She's the one who's in charge of the band, You might as well have her the main character and lead singer of the band than Olivia.

 

 

** In broader terms, Gandalf's entire reason for being could be considered this. As a Wizard sent to Middle-earth by the gods, his role was to oppose Sauron and his influence and to aid those opposing him. He often acts as [[The Chessmaster]] and [[The Man Behind the Man]] but also gets down and dirty himself.

* Prince Gwydion from the ''[[Prydain Chronicles]]'', a fairly similar character to Aragorn himself.

* Lord Mhoram in ''[[Chronicles of Thomas Covenant]]''.

* Sam Anderson from [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[Starman Jones]]'' fits the trope perfectly.

* Colonel Graff in [[Ender's Game]], anyone?

** In some ways, Will ([[The Hero]] of the second book) becomes the Aragorn to Bran in the fourth book. While the story is still told from Will's point-of-view, most of what is actually accomplished in the book is entirely Bran's doing.

* Another example of the "child protagonists" type - Konstam Khan in ''[[The Homeward Bounders]]''. He's genuinely noble and heroic, and the [[Five-Man Band]] wouldn't have a hope of winning against Them without him, but it's not his story.

* Professor McGonagall in ''[[Harry Potter|The Deathly Hallows]]'' leads the defense in the Battle for Hogwarts to give the [[Power Trio]] the time to find the final horcrux, even though she has to trust Harry by his words alone.

** Also Neville Longbottom, yes ''that'' [[Butt Monkey|Neville Longbottom]], served as this amongst his classmates while Harry spends most of the book searching for horcruxes.

** Some people are slowly coming to the assumed realization that the entire Song of Ice and Fire series is essentially just a massively complex telling of how {{spoiler|Jon Snow is secretly the son of Ned's sister Lyanna and Rhaegar Targaryen, and thus the rightful heir to the throne. Which would imply the entire series is simply a [[Rightful King Returns]] scenario in which the rightful king shall return and the land be made whole - making Jon the true protagonist of the series, and EVERYONE ELSE who even remotely seems like a major player is actually an Aragorn (or something worse).}}

* Mark and Courtney of ''The Pendragon Adventure'' in ''The Soldiers of Halla.''

* Bigwig from [[Watership Down]]. He faces off against the [[Big Bad]] in the Burrows, and Woundwort actually thinks ''he's'' the [[Big Good]]. Turns out he's just buying time for Hazel's plan to come into fruition.

* Bluestar in ''[[Warrior Cats]]'': The Original Series. She usually sends [[The Hero|Fireheart]] off to do important tasks while she holds off the villains long enough for him to complete them. And, in ''[[Omen of the Stars]]'', {{spoiler|Ivypool}} seems to be taking this role.

== Live Action TV ==

 

* In some early episodes of the original ''[[Doctor Who]]'' series, the Doctor was an Aragorn for companion characters such as Ian Chesterson, although the Doctor was clearly the main protagonist. This was most likely because the first actor to play the Doctor, William Hartnell, was elderly (or close to it) and mostly unsuitable for physical action. As a result,the Doctor would do the thinking, planning, and handle the purely cerebral battles with the villains, while a younger companion took care of the physical action as necessary. This was especially true near the end of Hartnell's tenure when his health was failing. Actually, according the the original series bible for the show, the role of the Doctor was initially intended to be secondary to the companions Susan, Ian and Barbara. But then again, the initial format was intended to be more of an educational show than an actual sci-fi series.

** By the Third Doctor era, [[The Brigadier]] was this. It was usually a case of UNIT holding off the [[Monster of the Week]] while the Doctor deals with the [[Big Bad]], or the Master, or both.

** Jack is generally this to the Doctor, whenever he turns up.

* [[Kamen Rider Dragon Knight|Kamen Rider Wing Knight/Len]] has become one of them for being a cool leader.

* ''Jason of Star Command''; Commander's Canarvin (James Doohan) and Stone (John Russel) were this to the titular Jason.

 

== Video Games ==

 

* In ''[[Metroid Prime]] 3: Corruption'', the Galactic Federation commander, Admiral Dane, serves this role, showing up to send Samus off on a special mission as the rest of his forces fight the bulk of the Space Pirates. In fact, this happens twice, on two consecutive missions.

* The Griffon in [[American McGee's Alice]]. He gathers the allies Alice has met and has them storm the castle while Alice goes to face the Queen. {{spoiler|Too bad you would soon have to take his place.}}

** Arguably, it could be said that Martin is the hero, and ''the [[Player Character]]'' is in fact the Aragorn, and this is most likely how the in-universe historians will record it. {{spoiler|Especially considering that Martin is ultimately the one who defeats [[Big Bad|Mehrunes Dagon]] in a [[Heroic Sacrifice]]. So could this be considered a case of multiple, alternating examples?}}

*** You actually can be the one who defeats Mehrunes Dagon if you use [[Lethal Joke Item|Wabbajack]]. {{spoiler|Martin gets himself killed anyway.}}

** In [[World of Warcraft]], almost any friendly NPC that appears after the very beginning of a dungeon is this. In the Halls of Stone, for example, in the Icecrown instances, Jaina or Sylvanas is leading a bunch of regular soldiers on a covert mission into the backdoor to the citadel, and your party is just a group of elite, irregular forces helping.

** The Halls of Stone makes the player characters The Aragorn when your only role in-story in the second half of the place is to protect Brann Bronzebeard long enough for him to hack into the Titans' [[Magitek|computer]] and deactivate the defense systems you're fighting.

* Takeda Shingen from ''[[Sengoku Basara]]'' a [[Hot-Blooded]] [[Cool Old Guy]] and mentor to one of the protagonists. Though not a main character, he is easily one of the most powerful and influential, and holds a lot of sway over Yukimura.

* [[The Ace|Flynn]] from ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]'' fits this trope, as he is always one step behind the heroes, providing them with aid as Captain of the knights.

* One could make a case for {{spoiler|Ocelot}} of the ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' series. {{spoiler|He'd been scheming to take down the Patriots, and without him as a diversion for the Patriots' wrath, it's questionable whether Snake and co would have lasted as long as they did, much less saved the day. And, yes, this was all according to Ocelot's plan.}}

** Snake himself is the Aragorn of ''Metal Gear Solid 2.'' Raiden gets the lion's share of the gameplay, but it is clear that he is inferior to Snake and Snake is busy being awesome off-screen.

* If the [[Big Damn Heroes]] moment is to be taken as this, then The Group from ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'': ''[[Twilight Princess]]'' serves this role to a certain extent.

* [[Dragon Age]] Origins starts out with [[The White Prince|King Cailan Theirin]] and [[The Obi-Wan|Duncan]], continues with Arl Eamon, and, finally concludes with either {{spoiler|Alistair}} or {{spoiler|Queen Annora}} fulfilling this role, depending on the player's choices.

** Before the final battle, the player can also choose {{spoiler|one of the remaining party members to stay behind and lead a brief gaiden encounter}}

* Leo, Ladius, Thoma, and Duran are this to Rex in ''[[Agarest Senki]]''.

 

 

== Web Comics ==

* Ciro in ''[[Project 0]]''

 

== Web Original ==

 

* Both Chief of Security Franklin Delarose (a decorated soldier) and Headmistress Elizabeth Carson (better known as superheroine Lady Astarte) got a chance to be a [[Supporting Leader]] in the Halloween stories set at [[Super-Hero School]] Whateley Academy in the [[Whateley Universe]], when an unstoppable super villain led a small army against the school.

 

== Western Animation ==

 

** Ultra Magnus crosses this with [[Big Good]] in ''[[Transformers Animated]]'', leading the Autobots' military forces in back-and-forth skirmishes at the fringes of the galaxy while the heroes thwart the Decepticon plans on Earth.

** After Zuko joins the Gaang and officially becomes a protagonist, the role goes to Iroh, who leads an army to reconquer Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth King while the Aang is fighting Ozai.

*** The [[Grand Finale]] pretty much gives this role to all the supporting characters; Zuko and Katara go to the Fire Nation to ensure that he is ready to ascend to the throne (and deal with Azula), Iroh leads the army which reclaims Ba Sing Se, and Sokka, Toph and Suki go to sabotage the airship fleet, all ensuring that everything that comes after Aang beating Ozai will be positive.