The Political Officer: Difference between revisions

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* Muruta Azrael from ''[[Gundam Seed]]'' serves this role on the ''Dominion''. While officially just an "observer" from some committee, he's in fact head of the Blue Cosomos terrorist group. He's really there to make sure his plans go right, even undermining the ship's Captain.

** In ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'' Rey Za Burrel plays a similar, though more subdued role on the ''Minerva'', keeping the crew—and particularly Shinn—on the track that Chairman Durandal wants them on.

 

== Comic Books ==

* In a manner of speaking, the Sith Lords in ''[[Star Wars Legacy]]'' fill a similar role. Though not part of the Imperial Military hierarchy, they oversee military units to ensure they serve the will of the [[Big Bad]] and [[Evil Overlord]] Darth Krayt. Complete with an [[Warhammer 40,000|"Oops, sorry sir"]] fragging of Darth Maleval by disgruntled stormtroopers.

 

== Film ==

* ''[[The Hunt for Red October]]'' has a [[Obstructive Bureaucrat|political officer]] accompanying Captain Ramius (who is actually trying to defect). To keep him from making more problems, Ramius 'has him fall into the corner of a desk'.

* Several political officers are seen [[We Have Reserves|shooting anyone attempting to retreat]] in the movie ''[[Enemy at the Gates]]''.

 

== Literature ==

* [[Star Wars]]: the [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Political_Reliability_Observer Political Reliability Observer]

* Putin (no, [[Name's the Same|not]] ''[[Name's the Same|that]]'' [[Name's the Same|Putin]]) in the book and film of ''[[The Hunt for Red October]]'', who is murdered by Ramius at the beginning.

** Actually, it might be quicker to say that almost ''all'' Citizen Commissioners that we meet for more than a chapter or two subvert the trope by turning on their government and collaborating with the fundamentally decent officers they are supposed to be reigning in.

** In the short story "Fanatic" a political officer state that the many Citizen Commissioners become allied with their naval counterparts. Also, several members of the Committee of Public Safety know this; but it is ignored since the Commissioners use this connection to motivate the navy. Also, only the surface relationship is seen, the Committee never bothers asking if the Commissioner also loathes the government. [http://honorverse.wikia.com/wiki/Fanatic], [http://honorverse.wikia.com/wiki/People%27s_Commissioner]

* [[Charles Stross]]'s story ''Missile Gap'' has Misha Gorodin as the zampolit assigned to [[Yuri Gagarin]]'s ship on the [[Star Trek|"five-year mission"]] to explore [[Flat World|the disk-shaped world]] where human civilization [[Alien Space Bats|has been transplanted]].

** Oddly, the identities of Borogravian political officers seems to be a secret - Strappi's status is just rumoured at first, until [[The Reveal]]. As such they're probably more of a cross between this trope and [[State Sec|Stasi-esque]] informants, presumably to avert the inherent risk of [[Unfriendly Fire|fragging]] that comes with the role.

* Barrayar has political officers in the early parts of the [[Vorkosigan Saga]]. Admiral Aral Vorkosigan notoriously murdered his own particularly scheming one with his bare hands on his flag bridge during the invasion of Komarr, and only dodged serious consequences (other than a demotion to Captain) due to his bloodline. Later, another political officer tries to murder him in return.

* ''[[Grunts!]]'': Having spent a lot of time reading over the political philosophy texts in Dagurashibanipal's hoard, Marine Razitshakra turns into Marine Commissar Razitshakra, complete with [[Commissar Cap]] and Russian Army greatcoat, monitoring her fellow orcs for "idealogical instability".

 

* One major sign of EarthGov's slide into dictatorship was the assignment of a political officer to ''[[Babylon 5]]''. A very [[Good-Looking Privates|hot female political officer]]. Who can go from fully clothed to stark naked in the time it takes someone to turn around (neat trick).

* In the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' episode "Face of the Enemy", Troi is disguised as a Tal'Shiar officer who fills this role on a Romulan warship. [[Alternate Character Interpretation|It could also be said that this is also her role on the Enterprise]].

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** The presence of the Commissars in Astra Militarum is an integral part of command structure. Even when Duke Severus seceded from the Imperium, he found it easier to secretly prepare his own corps of Ducal Legates to replace the Commissars ([https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2013/6/14/the-path-of-the-traitor/ see here]) than to remove Political Officer positions altogether and overhaul the army to work without them.

** One or the other angle can be emphasised [[Depending on the Writer]] - minor character commissars are more likely to be [[Bad Boss]]es, while [[Gaunt's Ghosts|Ibram Gaunt]] fits the "benevolent commissar" mold, and [[Ciaphas Cain]] is a pure pragmatist who has caught on to the fact that overzealous commissars tend to die in combat suspiciously far from the front line.

** Catachans, being fiercely independent badass jungle fighter Ramboes, even have a special rule ("Oops, sorry sir!") in which if a commissar is attached to them, you must roll before the game starts to find out whether or not he suffered an "unfortunate accident".

** Most [[Badass]] of them all is Commissar Sebastian J. Yarrick. He lost an arm in battle with an Ork Warboss and retorted by ''decapitating the Warboss'', only "allowing himself the luxury of passing out" after the battle was won. He then had the Warboss's Power Klaw converted into a prosthetic for his own missing arm, powered (presumably) by the sheer badass he radiates. The Orks have immortalized him in fearful legends, believing that he cannot be killed and that a single glance from him brings death. On hearing the latter part of this legend, Yarrick decided that if the Orks believed he had an evil eye, the by the Emperor he would HAVE an evil eye. He then proceeded to PLUCK OUT HIS OWN EYE AND HAVE IT REPLACED WITH A LASER-SHOOTING BIONIC EYE. The short version? This man makes ''Orks'' wet themselves.

** ''[[Dawn of War]]'' plays the trope straight: the ''Winter Assault'' tutorial specifically mentions that the Guardsmen are [[Red Shirt|simple humans fighting against the worst monstrosities of the universe]], hence why they break so easily. Attaching a commissar to a squad however makes that squad near-immune to morale: not even a flamethrower will make them run. If they do break anyway, the commissar has the ability of executing a random soldier to instantly restore squad morale. And they happen to be [[Badass Normal|awesome melee fighters]] to boot... but only three can be deployed at a time.

* Commissar Dottski from ''Up Front''. He adds +1 morale to everyone in his group ("in the Red Army, advance is less dangerous than retreat") but if any man in the group becomes pinned, draw a card to see who the commissar is watching. If he's watching the pinned soldier, BAM! Dottski takes out his pistol and executes the man. Germans score victory points for KIA.

** The name Dottski was a reference to the Dotts, the owners of the game publisher. (Many of the other soldier names in the game were also references to the game designers and playtesters.)

 

== Video Games ==

* Major Lebedjev from ''[[World in Conflict]]: [[Expansion Pack|Soviet Assault]]''.

* Commissar Letlev at the beginning of the Soviet campaign in ''[[Call of Duty|Call of Duty 2]]''. However, he was portrayed more as a gently chiding and often hilarious but still tough training officer and the only threats of being shot for cowardice came not from him but from regular officers. Except if you mess around instead of shoot a teddy bear for target practice like he ordered.

 

== Real Life ==

* The [[Red October|Civil War-era]] Red Army is the Trope Codifier for these guys. They also played a large role early during WWII, only to be deactivated in 1942 when a reliable structure of regular commanding officers was established: commissars were left responsible for propaganda and otherwise looking after attitude of commanders and troops, but prohibited from getting underfoot otherwise (to mess with operation planning, first of all), which "coincidentally" was when Red Army stopped suffering major defeats. Later the guys were renamed "zampolits" (political assistants) or "politruks" (political guides) and became little more than advisors to commanding officers and lectors on Communism among soldiers. After [[The Great Politics Mess-Up]], they were further nerfed and now are known as "educator officers", completely depoliticized and acting more like army psychologists than anything else.

* Dmitri Furmanov, the commissar attached to Chapaev's troops, wrote the book that gave Chapaev lasting fame. Later he became the epitome of the benevolent commissar after the release of [[The Movie]] about Chapaev. Later, he experienced [[Memetic Mutation]] (along with Chapaev and [[The Lancer|Petka]]) and became a recurring character in [[Russian Humour]].

* When Rome was a republic, the senior officers of the roman army were apointed by the senate, or directly elected by the people's assembly. Many politicians were also generals, like Ceasar. There are a few other historical periods when the officers were elected: At the beginning of the french revolution, in some republican units during the spanish civil war...

* The British Army on the Northwest Frontier(Afghan border) in Victorian times had an officer with a similar title. In a subversion he was not their as a watchdog over the general but got the title because he was part of the Indian Political Service. His function was to keep the general up to snuff on the sociology and politics of local tribes, and his duties are better described as intelligence advisor then as what is normally implied by the title.

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[[Running Gag|*BLAM!*]]

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Dirty Communists]]

[[Category:Useful Notes/Russia]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Political Officer, The}}