The Political Officer: Difference between revisions

Line 29:

== 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 ~~40000~~|"Oops, sorry sir"]] fragging of Darth Maleval by disgruntled stormtroopers.

* 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 ==

Line 63:

** It is implied that while the outcry was intentionally high, he was demoted only to keep the official face on the thing, political officers being a rather new institution and just another tool in the [[Magnificent Bastard|Ezar's]] box.

* ''Broken Angels'' by [[Richard Morgan]]. The [[Private Military Contractors|Wedge]] are kept under the surveillance of a political officer, so to avoid any problems with him they forcefully addict him to "the wire", threatening to withhold it if he causes trouble. The political officer gets his revenge {{spoiler|when his surveillance reveals the protagonist is planning to kill his former colleagues -- he 'forgets' to inform the Wedge commander of this.}}

* Commissar [[Ciaphas Cain]], '''[[Warhammer ~~40000~~|HERO OF THE IMPERIUM]]''', is actually an aversion. While a great many commissars are the shoot-the-men-if-they-get-rowdy type who happily pull rank (they technically outrank anyone who's not a senior commissar, Inquisitor, or [[Space Marine]]) to ensure regulations are followed, he carefully cultivates bonds of camaraderie with the troops under him so he's less likely to suffer an "unfortunate accident" (see Catachans below).

* Commissar [[Ciaphas Cain]], '''[[Warhammer 40,000|HERO OF THE IMPERIUM]]''', is actually an aversion. While a great many commissars are the shoot-the-men-if-they-get-rowdy type who happily pull rank (they technically outrank anyone who's not a senior commissar, Inquisitor, or [[Space Marine]]) to ensure regulations are followed, he carefully cultivates bonds of camaraderie with the troops under him so he's less likely to suffer an "unfortunate accident" (see Catachans below).

* In ''[[CoDominium|Falkenberg's Legions]]'', the Soviet-backed International Brigades sent to the Santiago Civil War are controlled by Political Officers. Very much in the Soviet zampolit style, the one featured takes on the Western stereotype.

* In [[Childe Cycle|Dorsai!]], the Friendlies have "Conscience Guardians" who seek out heresy among their troops. Interestingly enough, the Guardians authority is only over their Chruch members and not foreign mercenaries. In addition, they keep their forces from bickering with each other over issues of religious doctrine, preventing tensions within their army.

Line 75:

== Tabletop Games ==

* Commissars in ''[[Warhammer ~~40000~~]]'' are [[Badass Longcoat|longcoat-wearing]] political officers attached to [[Badass Normal|Imperial]] [[Redshirt Army|Guard]] armies and [[Space Navy|Imperial Navy]] ships. Interestingly, they feature elements of both the "eastern" and "western" stereotypes in that they are inspirational badasses who are calm under fire and lead by example, but can and will mercilessly shoot soldiers who fail to meet their stringent standards. Commissars are hand-picked from Schola Progenium like other elites, have some training and field practice shared with the Storm Troopers, thus by the time they get to work have at least some military experience, as well as confidence they'll need to have more guts under fire than the recruits. ''Usually'' the Guards respect them at least as much as fear, because part of this job is to accompany soldiers into battle and show an example of bravery. In RPG, there's "[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Feared And Loathed]]" trait for the peculiar relationship between some [[State Sec|Internal Security Commissariats]] and PDF - "real" Commissars ''don't'' have this (nor bother to hide their opinion of the spooks who won't show up when the going gets tough). The best Commissars don't need to shoot soldiers, because they are proactive about morale issues. The worst Commissars and/or obstinate ones stuck with more maverick units tend to have "[[Unfriendly Fire|unfortunate accidents]]", however.

* Commissars in ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' are [[Badass Longcoat|longcoat-wearing]] political officers attached to [[Badass Normal|Imperial]] [[Redshirt Army|Guard]] armies and [[Space Navy|Imperial Navy]] ships. Interestingly, they feature elements of both the "eastern" and "western" stereotypes in that they are inspirational badasses who are calm under fire and lead by example, but can and will mercilessly shoot soldiers who fail to meet their stringent standards. Commissars are hand-picked from Schola Progenium like other elites, have some training and field practice shared with the Storm Troopers, thus by the time they get to work have at least some military experience, as well as confidence they'll need to have more guts under fire than the recruits. ''Usually'' the Guards respect them at least as much as fear, because part of this job is to accompany soldiers into battle and show an example of bravery. In RPG, there's "[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Feared And Loathed]]" trait for the peculiar relationship between some [[State Sec|Internal Security Commissariats]] and PDF - "real" Commissars ''don't'' have this (nor bother to hide their opinion of the spooks who won't show up when the going gets tough). The best Commissars don't need to shoot soldiers, because they are proactive about morale issues. The worst Commissars and/or obstinate ones stuck with more maverick units tend to have "[[Unfriendly Fire|unfortunate accidents]]", however.

** 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.

Line 117:

[[Category:Dirty Communists]]

[[Category:Useful Notes/Russia]]

~~[[Category~~:~~The~~ Political Officer]]

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]