History Main / MookCommander

* The ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' games feature Great Generals, who can't fight on their own but acts as a support unit that gives a powerful buff to allies. In ''IV'', they can be attached to a unit to give them an XP bonus and special promotions. In ''V'' and ''VI'', they give a combat bonus to all nearby land units within 2 tiles.

* The games ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' ''IV'' and ''V'' feature "Great Generals." In IV, the Great General can be attached to a unit to give him better upgrades and status buffs. In V the Great General gives status buffs to units within a couple tiles. In both games, the Great General doesn't fight by himself and is killed if attacked by himself.

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* Captain Winters from ''VideoGame/{{Payday2}}'' has three efects while he is deployed on the battlefield: increasing the spawn rate of SWATTeam, providing said SWATTeam with damage resistance, and preventing the assault wave to end until he is defeated.

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** One of the most pivotal cases of this is ''Thracia 776'''s Saias, generally regarded in-universe as one of [[FourStarBadass the best tacticians in the world]]. For comparison: the most stars any other player unit can have is two, for a 6% boost. Your average lategame boss will have three, for a 9% boost. Particularly plot-relevant types, like [[FinalBoss Veld]], [[TheDragon Raydrick]], and [[NobleTopEnforcer Reinhardt]], will have four or five. Saias, when fought as an enemy, boasts ''ten'', which provides a 30% boost to the hit and dodge rates of every single enemy. Mercifully, he only occurs as a boss in two maps, and in both of them, he is either only there for a few turns, or he can be forced to leave. Sadly, upon his HeelFaceTurn, he goes down to three stars if recruited: still considerable, and more than any other player unit, but not quite the game-changer he was when menacing you. [[ThisIsGonnaSuck Have fun with]] [[ThatOneLevel Chapter 22]], where Saias (10 Stars), Reinhardt (5 Stars) and Coen (4 Stars) all show up at once, giving every Mook +57 Hit and Avoid.

** One of the most pivotal cases of this is ''Thracia 776'''s Saias, generally regarded in-universe as one of [[FourStarBadass the best tacticians in the world]]. For comparison: the most stars any other player unit can have is two, for a 6% boost. Your average lategame boss will have three, for a 9% boost. Particularly plot-relevant types, like [[FinalBoss Veld]], [[TheDragon Raydrick]], and [[NobleTopEnforcer Reinhardt]], will have four or five. Saias, when fought as an enemy, boasts ''ten'', which provides a 30% boost to the hit and dodge rates of every single enemy. Mercifully, he only occurs as a boss in two maps, and in both of them, he is either only there for a few turns, or he can be forced to leave. Sadly, upon his HeelFaceTurn, he goes down to three stars if recruited: still considerable, and more than any other player unit, but not quite the game-changer he was when menacing you.

** One of the most pivotal cases of this is ''Thracia 776'''s Saias, generally regarded in-universe as one of [[FourStarBadass the best tacticians in the world]]. For comparison: the most stars any other player unit can have is two, for a 6% boost. Your average lategame boss will have three, for a 9% boost. Particularly plot-relevant types, like [[FinalBoss Veld]], [[TheDragon Raydrick]], and [[NobleTopEnforcer Reinhardt]], will have four or five. Saias, when fought as an enemy, boasts ''ten'', which provides a 30% boost to the hit and dodge rates of every single enemy. Mercifully, he only occurs as a boss in two maps, and in both of them, he is either only there for a few turns, or he can be forced to leave. Sadly, upon his HeelFaceTurn, he goes down to three stars if recruited: still considerable, and more than any other player unit, but not quite the game-changer he was in his youth.

* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'': In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776'', and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', bosses are more pronounced than other games due to the implementation of authority stars. Depending on the number of stars, bosses will give extra hit and avoid to their troops and the enemy will ''always'' have more authority stars than yours. While in ''Genealogy'', the bosses can only provide the buff within 3 range, the others provide the buff just by existing, thus killing them quickly will shift the equilibrium to your favor.

* ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings II'': The traits of your army's commanders positively or negatively influence the effectiveness of any flank they're placed in command of. For example, a commander with Holy Warrior will give your soldiers a 30 percent boost against religious enemies, while a commander with Craven gives penalties to army morale.

* ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' features enemy Mook Commanders in the form of the ADVENT Officers, who are sometimes also called ADVENT Captains. They have thicker armor, better marksmanship, and overall superior stats to their ADVENT Trooper brethren; however, their danger lies in their ability to mark specific XCOM soldiers, which makes every single ADVENT Trooper nearby target that soldier. They can be ''lethal'' early-game, when XCOM soldiers can't survive more than one or two hits from an ADVENT magnetic rifle.

* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'': ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776'', and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' is more pronounced with their bosses than other games due to the implementation of authority stars. Depending on the number of stars, bosses will give extra hit and avoid to their troops and the enemy will ''always'' have more authority stars than yours. While in ''Genealogy'', the bosses can only provide the buff within 3 range, the others provide the buff just by existing, thus killing them quickly will shift the equilibrium to your favor.

* The Alto Angelos in ''Franchise/DevilMayCry 4'' are definitely this to Bianco Angelos. Being led by an Alto significantly improves their coordination and increases their agressiveness; any good strategy guide will recommend to take the Alto down first in those fights.

** The Kodo Beast unit has a passive ability called "War Drums", which is essentially an aura that makes surrounding orc units deal more damege to their opponents.

* In ''TableTopGame/Warhammer40000'', more powerful Tyranids can control and direct the less intelligent weaker ones, making them more dangerous.

For cases where the morale benefit is bestowed from a stationary source, see FieldPowerEffect.

* In ''TableTopGame/Warhammer40K'', more powerful Tyranids can control and direct the less intelligent weaker ones, making them more dangerous.

** The role of {{Commissar}}s in the Imperial Guard is to ensure morale, accuracy, and general enthusiasm by blowing out the brains of panicking soldiers.

While obviously not magical in real life, an inspiring commander in a battle situation can motivate his troops to fight harder and be more resilient in the face of setbacks. Taking such a commander out can shake the troops confidence, but also act as a BerserkButton causing them to do their very best to destroy the enemy who attacked their leader.

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* ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'', because its fantasy setting is based on Strategy Games, mentions commander units that bolster nearby allies.

* In the first ''{{Drakengard}}'', enemies with a yellow dot next to their LifeMeter are designated squad commanders (some of which may be Elite Mooks). The more commanders that are present in a given fight, the more aggressively they (and other Mooks) attack.
* In ''ZoneOfTheEnders 2'', some enemies have a [[PowerGlows glowing]] "COMMANDER" designation, which allows them to activate a party formation with nearby units, giving the other units a noticeable boost in attack and defense power (and overall aggressiveness).
* The Alto Angelos in ''DevilMayCry 4'' are definitely this to Bianco Angelos. Being led by an Alto significantly improves their coordination and increases their agressiveness; any good strategy guide will recommend to take the Alto down first in those fights.

* ''HyruleWarriors'' has rally captains appear in certain missions in Adventure Mode. These captains instantly boost the morale of every enemy on the field, including giant bosses. Defeating them instantly reverts the morale back to normal, which is a necessity when going up against the aforementioned giant bosses.

* In ''TronTwoPointOh'', after reaching a certain score threshold dark blue Commander units start appearing on the board, and all other opponents move and attack faster until the Commander is defeated.

* ''{{Elsword}}'': the Glitter Commander can command nearby Glitter Troops into making a strong and nigh impenetrable formation: the Protectors on the front blocking advances and frontal attacks with their shields, the Spearmen sticking their spears to the air, anticipating aerial attacks, and the Snipers doing long-range attacks from behind the formation. Occasionally the Pounders may also help with their hammers to create mini quakes that throw their enemies off balance.

* In ''CommandAndConquer 3: Tiberium Wars'', Nod's basic Infantry squads can be upgraded to have a "Confessor" in the squad who will improve the combat power of not only the squad's members, but all nearby units. The combat buff ability was reused for the Black Hand faction in the ''Kane's Wrath'' ExpansionPack in the form of "Confessor Cabals" (entire squads of Confessors), the Purifier (a Mech with flamethrowers on it) and the Voice of Kane (a statue of Nod's leader).
* ''{{Warzone 2100}}'' allows the player to develop and utilize a "Command Turret" on the battlefield -- while its only effect as a weapon is ScratchDamage, it offers a few improvements over manual unit grouping, such as an accuracy boost for all attached units and the ability to call in covering fire from stationary artillery batteries back at base.
* ''DawnOfWar'': the Tau faction features the Ethereal Commander, which provides a morale bonus for all Tau units. The Imperial Guard allows squads to purchase Commissars that provide a similar bonus.

* ''VideoGames/RiseOfNations'' has the General, an unarmed unit which provides nearby military units with bonuses to armor, as well as possessing a number of useful tactical powers. The ''Thrones and Patriots'' ExpansionPack adds the Patriot, a unique version of the General who gains additional powers based on your government type and is immune to sniping and bribing.

* Hurlock Alphas in ''DragonAge: Origins'' provide some nasty buffs for their lesser Darkspawn subordinates.
* The Toad Lady from ''FinalFantasyIV.'' She appears with a six toads that cast the Toad spell at her command...''only'' at her command. And since they have no other abilities, taking her down renders them completely harmless.
* In ''BreathOfFire'' IV, the platypus-like Wakwak enemies would sometimes space out and do nothing, but another type of Wakwak could command the grunts to attack you, with the "Command" skill. Even with it, Wakwaks are basically still Goombas. The skill itself could also be used to counter "confused" status.

* The games [[{{Civilization}} Civilization IV and V]] feature "Great Generals." In IV, the Great General can be attached to a unit to give him better upgrades and status buffs. In V the Great General gives status buffs to units within a couple tiles. In both games, the Great General doesn't fight by himself and is killed if attacked by himself.

* ''PlantsVsZombies 2: It's About Time''

* ''BattleForWesnoth'' units with the leadership ability make adjacent lower-level allies deal more damage.
* This is how the "CO Zone" mechanic works in ''AdvanceWars: Days Of Ruin.'' It's only excepted by Tabitha, who needs to rack up some damage before she can expand her Zone beyond the lone unit she's in.

* In ''Warhammer40K'', more powerful Tyranids can control and direct the less intelligent weaker ones, making them more dangerous.

* ''{{Erfworld}}'', because its fantasy setting is based on Strategy Games, mentions commander units that bolster nearby allies.