History Main / MillitaryRankSuperheroVillainNames

[[quoteright:234:[[ComicBook/TheMultiversity https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ltmarvel_9.jpg]]]]

Basically, the tendency of heroes and villains to have names that start with Captain, Major, General, Sergeant, etc., especially when it's doubtful that the character even has that military rank. Or has even been in the military.

SuperTrope of TheGoodCaptain and CaptainSuperhero. Related to ColonelBadass.
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!!Examples:
[[AC:Privates]]
* Private Iron from ''ComicBook/TopTen: The Forty Niners''
* Private HIVE from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans''
* Private Warr
* When Captain Cold was de-aged to his early teens, he took the name Private Cold.

[[AC:Corporals]]
* [[PunnyName Corporal Punishment]], Newt's character in Nitro's superhero game in ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable''.

[[AC:Sergeants]]
* Wrestling/SgtSlaughter
* Sarge Steel is interesting, because of FlipFlopOfGod. Either he was a sergeant during his time in the military and the nickname stuck with him or his actual first name is "Sargent".
* Sergeant Superior, one of the Actioneers from ''ComicBook/TheAstoundingWolfMan''.
* Sergeant Stomp from ''ComicBook/TheIntimates''
* Sgt. Marvel of ''Comicbook/TheSavageDragon''
* Sgt. States, ''ComicBook/JackStaff'''s CaptainErsatz version of Captain America [[spoiler: who is actually an evil vampire]].
* Sgt. Strike

[[AC:Lieutenants]]
* Gym Leader [[ShockAndAwe Lt. Surge]] of ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', though he's apparently an actual American military veteran.
* Lieutenant Liberty, one of the superheroes fantasized about by ''Insane Jane''
* In the MarvelUniverse, the NYPD's Code: BLUE is called in to deal with superhuman threats, and can thus be considered superheroes in their own right. Their leader is Lt. Stone
* ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'': There were three other Billy Batsons (Fat Billy, Tall Billy and Hill Billy)who could gain the powers of Captain Marvel, but only if they all said the word "Shazam!" at the same time. They were known as the Lieutenant Marvels.

[[AC:Commanders]]
* Commander Steel of the ''ComicBook/AllStarSquadron''. Two of his grandchildren tried to keep his legacy going, but out of respect to the fact that he really was a commander in the Marine Corps they went by Steel and Citizen Steel, respectively - averting and ''in''verting the trope.
* Commander Kraken, though as leader of a band of pirates he'd technically be a Captain.
* Commander Capitalism, a prominent member of Capes, Inc.
* Minor ''{{Wolverine}}'' foe Commander Courage is not only a supervillain, not only a real Lieutenant-Commander in the Belgian army, but his real name is Guillaume Courage.
* As if to mock us, Captain Cold shows up here ''again'' with a 25th Century LegacyCharacter known as Commander Cold - and another one in the ''853rd'' century!
* Commander Power from ''ComicBook/CommonGrounds''
* ''VideoGame/CommanderKeen''.
* "Commander Cash" was an in-universe comic book superhero on ''Series/RobocopTheSeries''.

[[AC:Captains]]
* See TheGoodCaptain and CaptainSuperhero for countless heroic examples.
* Captain Boomerang
* Captain Cold, an enemy of ComicBook/TheFlash
* In ''Manga/DragonBallZ'', Captain Ginyuu holds a quick job interview to find replacements for the lost members of his QuirkyMinibossSquad. One of the candidates tries to invoke this trope but accidentally "outranks" the captain and gets punted over the horizon for his insolence.
* Captain Dynamic
* Captain Valor, a villainous tribute to Captain Marvel.
* Captain Steel, archenemy of ''Judo Girl''.
* Captain Metropolis from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''.
* Kapitan Krieg, ''ComicBook/JackStaff'''s greatest enemy
* ComicBook/CaptainAtom, who actually held the rank of captain in the air force before being promoted to major.
* Heck, Wiki/ThisVeryWiki has CaptainGeographic, CaptainPatriotic, CaptainEthnic---you get the idea.

[[AC:Majors]]
* Major Disaster, foe of ''ComicBook/GreenLantern''.
* Major Glory from ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory''
* Major Victory of the Force of July
* Major Force, a villain of ComicBook/CaptainAtom and perpetrator of the original StuffedInTheFridge moment.
* Ursa Major. And yes, he really does hold the rank of Major.
* ''ComicBook/MajorBummer'' averts this while trying to play it straight - the title isn't the hero's superhero name, but it's intended to sound like it is.
* Major Mapleleaf from ''ComicBook/AlphaFlight''.
* Major Maxim, one of the primary antagonists of ''ComicBook/DangerGirl''
* Major Havoc, a teammate of Comicbook/{{Empowered}}'s on the Superhomies.
* Major Battle, a member of the Brute Force from ''Comicbook/TheSavageDragon''
* Major Minor, a minor (shut up) member of the Circus of Crime
* Major ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}, who naturally hails from an alternate universe
* On the Robocop TV show, Major Market was the sidekick of in-universe super hero Commander Cash.
* [[Franchise/GhostInTheShell Motoko Kusanagi]] is commonly referred to as simply ''[[MajorlyAwesome The Major]]'' in any incarnation of the franchise.[[note]]How she received the nickname is told in the at least two mutually exclusive ways. In ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandaloneComplex'' she was said to be issued her rank in an express BattlefieldPromotion in exceptional circumstances, her being essentially a civilian hacker of unclear origins, while in ''Anime/GhostInTheShellArise'' though she serves in a Special Forces unit, her rank was entirely ordinary. The ''[[Manga/GhostInTheShell original manga]]'' and Oshii's Movies simply gloss it over. Anyway, she ''always'' retires from the military before joining the [[SecretPolice Section 9]], making her rank [[RedBaron just a nickname]].[[/note]]

[[AC:Colonels]]
* Colonel America in the ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies'' AlternateContinuity.
** In the UltimateUniverse, the only person besides Cap to survive the Super-Soldier treatment is Colonel Abdul al-Rahman, or simply "The Colonel."
* Colonel Lilliput from ''ComicBook/TopTen'', inspired in no small part by General Jumbo
* Colonel Computron
* Colonel Brass, a minor Franchise/{{Batman}} villain.
* Another minor enemy of Franchise/{{Batman'}}s is Colonel Sulphur
* Speaking of Batman, early issues of ''Detective Comics'' featured a back-up about Colonel Blimp.
* Colonel Bravo, father of [[ComicBook/{{Youngblood}} Shaft]]
* Colonel Future, a pre-Crisis foe of Franchise/{{Superman}}

[[AC:Generals]]
* In Wrestling/{{WCW}}, [[Wrestling/BillDeMott Hugh Morrus]] went by "General Hugh G. Rection" for a while when he led the Misfits In Action (MIA). His cohorts were "Major Gunns", "Private Stash" (Van Hammer), "Lt. Loco" (Wrestling/ChavoGuerreroJr), "Corporal Cajun" (Lash [=LeRoux=]) and Sgt. A-WOL (The Wall).
* Pro wrestling managers Wrestling/GeneralSkandorAkbar and General Adnan.
* They've called the cruel Russian environment "General Winter" and then some. This is because the winter has kept invaders away with frightening success.
** General Winter is given villainous human form in ''TabletopGame/SilverAgeSentinels''
* [[Videogame/StreetFighter General M. Bison]]
* General Glory
* Many Generals in comic books are likely to be actual generals - and most are antagonistic. General Sam Lane, General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, General Dru-Zod, General Wade Eilling, General Demetrius Lazer...
* The General, a minor ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' villain obsessed with military history and strategy. For the record, he's a very young man who even went by "Li'l General" in his early appearances. He later became a nemesis of ComicBook/{{Robin}}.
** Wade Eilling is mentioned above, but in Post-Crisis continuity he simply started calling himself "the General" after being turned into a colossal monster man.
* Classic ''Comicbook/DoomPatrol'' foe General Immortus
* General Jumbo (from ''ComicBook/TheBeano'') and his ''ComicBook/JackStaff'' Captain Ersatz General Tubbs. Jack Staff and Captain Cold are sharing a good laugh right about now.
* General Wolfram, a wolf man with a Nazi theme.
* General Disarray from ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''.
* General Immortus, foe of the ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol''.
* General Glory, one-time member of ComicBook/JusticeLeagueInternational.
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* In Wrestling/{{WCW}}, Wrestling/HughMorrus went by "General Hugh G. Rection" for a while when he led the Misfits In Action (MIA). His cohorts were "Major Gunns", "Private Stash" (Van Hammer), "Lt. Loco" (Chavo Guerrero), "Corporal Cajun" (Lash [=LeRoux=]) and Sgt. A-WOL (The Wall).

[[AC: Privates]]

[[AC: Corporals]]
* Corporal Punishment, Newt's character in Nitro's superhero game in ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable''.

[[AC: Sergeants]]

[[AC: Lieutenants]]
* Lt. Surge of ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''.

[[AC: Commanders]]

[[AC: Captains]]

[[AC: Majors]]

[[AC: Colonels]]

[[AC: Generals]]

* Colonel Brass, a minor Franchise/{{Batman}}'' villain.

* The General, a minor ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' villain obsessed with military history and strategy. For the record, he's a very young man who even went by "Li'l General" in his early appearances.

* Major Mapleleaf

* Colonel Brass, a minor Batman villain.
* Another minor enemy of Batman's is Colonel Sulphur

* Corporal Punishment, Newt's character in Nitro's superhero game in ''ComicStrip/KnightsoFTheDinnerTable''.
[[/folder]]

* Major {{Deadpool}}, who naturally hails from an alternate universe

* In ''DragonBallZ'', Captain Ginyuu holds a quick job interview to find replacements for the lost members of his QuirkyMinibossSquad. One of the candidates tries to invoke this trope but accidentally "outranks" the captain and gets punted over the horizon for his insolence.

* Heck, ThisVeryWiki has CaptainGeographic, CaptainPatriotic, CaptainEthnic---you get the idea.

* ''Major Bummer'' averts this while trying to play it straight - the title isn't the hero's superhero name, but it's intended to sound like it is.

* Captain Cold, an enemy of TheFlash

* Private Iron from ''TopTen: The Forty Niners''

* Colonel Lilliput from ''TopTen'', inspired in no small part by General Jumbo

** General Winter is given villainous human form in ''SilverAgeSentinels''

* Colonel Bravo, father of [[{{Youngblood}} Shaft]]

* In ''DragonBallZ'', Captaing Ginyuu holds a quick job interview to find replacements for the lost members of his QuirkyMinibossSquad. One of the candidates tries to invoke this trope but accidentally "outranks" the captain and gets punted over the horizon for his insolence.

* General Jumbo (from ''TheBeano'') and his ''ComicBook/JackStaff'' Captain Ersatz General Tubbs. Jack Staff and Captain Cold are sharing a good laugh right about now.

* Sergeant Superior, one of the Actioneers from ''TheAstoundingWolfMan''.

* Major Maxim, one of the primary antagonists of ''DangerGirl''

* CaptainAtom, who actually held the rank of captain in the air force before being promoted to major.

* Major Force, a villain of CaptainAtom and perpetrator of the original StuffedInTheFridge moment.

* Commander Power from ''CommonGrounds''

* Colonel America in the ''MarvelZombies'' AlternateContinuity.

* "Commander Cash" was an in-universe comic book superhero on Robocop: The Series.

* Major Disaster, best known for [[StuffedIntoTheFridge fridging]] [[ComicBook/GreenLandtern Kyle Rayner]]'s girlfriend.

* Major Disaster

* [[Franchise/GhostInTheShell Motoko Kusanagi]] is commonly referred to as simply ''[[MajorlyAwesomeThe Major]]'' in any incarnation of the franchise.[[note]]How she received the nickname is told in the at least two mutually exclusive ways. In ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandaloneComplex'' she was said to be issued her rank in an express BattlefieldPromotion in exceptional circumstances, her being essentially a civilian hacker of unclear origins, while in ''Anime/GhostInTheShellArise'' though she serves in a Special Forces unit, her rank was entirely ordinary. The ''[[Manga/GhostInTheShell original manga]]'' and Oshii's Movies simply gloss it over. Anyway, she ''always'' retires from the military before joining the [[SecretPolice Section 9]], making her rank [[RedBaron just a nickname]].[[/note]]