History Main / AFathertohisMen

->'''Portgas D. Ace''': ''"Why do you guys call him 'Pops'...?"''\\

* Robert E. Lee

[[WarHammer40000 http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/commissar_hug_4117.png]]
[[caption-width:330:Not all commissars lead through fear...]]

->''"Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley."''
-->--'''Sun Tzu'''

'''Marco''': ''"Because he calls us 'sons'. The world hates us for what we are, you know? So it makes us happy. Even if it's just a word...it still makes us happy!"''
-->--''OnePiece''

->'''Portgas D. Ace''': ''"Why do you guys call him "Pops"...?"''\\
'''Marco''': ''"Because he calls us "sons". The world hates us for what we are, you know? So it makes us happy. Even if it's just a word...it still makes us happy!"''

->"Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley."

** An antagonistic example is Prince Dozle Zabi, who actually does a badass LastStand in order to get everyone in Solomon out to safety, from his wife and baby girl to the rookies.

* When [[spoiler:Robert E. Lee]] turns out to be unfit for a combat command, General Petraeus alludes to this in assigning him to head a convalescent home for traumatized [[spoiler:"Second Life," aka undead]] [[FishOutOfTemporalWater American soldiers from past wars]].

* Imperial Guard commanders in ''[[{{Warhammer40000}} Warhammer 40,000]] tend to be either this or [[GeneralRipper General Rippers]].

* The title character of LeiningenVersusTheAnts, despite not being military. Even facing a gruesome death from a giant art swarm, Leiningen's plantation workers refuse to abandon him, even when offered an escape route and their full pay to take it. When their only hope comes down to a suicide mission Leiningen takes it upon himself rather then having one of his men attempt it.

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* * The eponymous character of Dispatch's "The General".

* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/u/55667/Erico Erico's]] fanverse for MegaMan features Doctor James Cain of the Maverick Hunters, who the troops revere as a father. For some, such as X and Zero, he's the closest thing to a real father figure they have.

* To become a Hokage in ''{{Naurto}}'', one must care deeply for everyone in the village. [[BadassGrandpa Hiruzen Sarutobi]] loved everyone in his village so much, he gladly died for them. This is what makes [[spoiler:the Uchiha Massacre even more devastating for him personally. He basically have to [[OffTheOffSpring off]] the entire clan to save the village.]]

*** At the same time, he is so oblivious to how beloved he is by his men - and indeed most of the Imperial Army - that, when an assassin tries to kill him, he points out that it would have made more sense to kill other officers or the Planetary Governor, when his death would be devastating to morale.

* Blucher actually called his men "my children" and was called "Father Blucher" by them. The historian David Howarth says that he was able to behave like that largely because he was so old while a younger general would have had to be more distant.

** It is hinted (although never outright confirmed) that Leto deliberately tries to cultivate this image to inspire said loyalty. Considering the GreyAndGrayMorality in Dune, it is entirely possible that Leto only acted that he cared, and that he figured the odds of saving the spice harvester that was about to be swalled by a sandworm was low. YourMilageMayVary.
*** That's not a bad theory and it might even be true. However, [[BecomingTheMask repetitive behavior often becomes a self-perpetuating cycle]]. Even if Leto initially meant to only cultivate an image of loyalty through charity, keeping it up would be hard enough work that it's sure to have rubbed off on him. Given he seems nice enough in private, this is likely true.
*** There's also the prequels, which pretty much straight out say he's LawfulGood to the core. Of course, YourMilageMayVary [[{{Understatement}} violently]] [[{{Discontinuity}} regarding this]].
*** It is of course possible to be fully aware of the effect your natural behavior has on your men and capitalize on it. In other words Leto could have both genuinely cared for his men AND consciously used that fact to secure their loyalty. Or he may have [[BecomingTheMask become the mask]] as suggested above.
*** And of course making a mask for yourself to become could have more idealistic implications. It could mean one actually desires to be something and that one is making a mold for oneself to grow into.

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* ''IronKingdoms'': Captain Phinneus Shae, captain of the Talion. As his crew are all outcasts and wanted by the Cygnaran army for mutiny, he is willing to kill himself against an undead captain, to keep his crew safe.