History Main / MoreSeniorSubordinate

* ''Fanfic/ThisBites'': Following the events of Whiskey Peak, Luffy picks Cross (who joined in between Arlong Park and Louge Town) to be the Third Mate (essentially the fourth-in-command after him, Zoro, and Nami) along with the role of tactician for his ability to plan out attacks during the last attacks. When asked by Luffy if they are okay with a more rookie member being picked for command over them, Usopp thinks it over and in his fake bravado says he "abdicate" the position of third mate while Sanji says that he's fine with it as long as Cross doesn't screw up on his job.

[[folder:Western Animation]]

** In ''Echoes of Honor'', the seniormost officer on Hades is Commodore Jesus Ramirez, who, due to prolong therapy, reached his rank when Honor, also ranked commodore, was a preteen. This would normally mean he would take command of the planned PrisonBreak, but he cedes that right to Honor since her knowledge of space combat is several decades more current than his.

** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'': After Warden-Commander Duncan and the rest of the Grey Wardens fall in the Battle of Ostagar, Alistair remains technically the most senior Warden in Ferelden, but passes effective command on to the freshly-recruited PlayerCharacter instead, explaining that he is not much of a leader (and his "seniority" is all of a whopping six months, so he doesn't really know much more than they do anyway). This proves to be a prudent decision, as the ''Darkspawn Chronicles'' DLC shows that had [[ForWantOfANail the Warden died]] and Alistair remained in charge, the latter would not have managed to defeat the Blight, despite coming tantalizingly close.

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

** In ''Echoes of Honor'', the seniormost officer on Hades is Commodore Jesus Martinez, who, due to prolong therapy, reached his rank when Honor, also ranked commodore, was a preteen. This would normally mean he would take command of the planned PrisonBreak, but he cedes that right to Honor since her knowledge of space combat is several decades more current than his.

* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'': In ''Mission of Honor'', right before the Battle of Spindle, Vice Admiral Khumalo formally turned tactical command over to Commodore Terekhov. Partly this was for the practical reason that Terekhov's flagship was better suited to running a [[MacrossMissileMassacre Manticore Missile Massacre]] than Khumalo's outdated ship, but mostly it was because "Augustus Khumalo was too self-honest to pretend he was in Aivars Terekhov's league as a combat commander".

In most organizations, when a leadership position opens up, the most senior member or members (where "more senior" means "enjoying a higher standing in the organization's formal or informal hierarchy", not "biologically older") rise up to take over it. This trope is about such veterans who voluntarily let a more junior member take charge, remaining in a subordinate role themselves despite their seniority, usually because they deem their own leadership skills insufficient or just inferior to the newbie's. In VideoGames, the rookie is often the PlayerCharacter, while the senior subordinate is a mentor-type NPC and/or a CrutchCharacter.

--> -- ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins''

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* ''Series/TheOffice'': Dwight Schrute, and his insistence that his unofficial position of "Assistant to the Regional Manager" somehow made him "Assistant Regional Manager" at Dunder Mifflin. [[spoiler:Eventually subverted in the series finale when he is promoted to Regional Manager.]]

** Immediately before the ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' novel ''For the Emperor'', the 296th and 301st Valhallan Regiments were almost destroyed by a Tyranid attack, and so were salvaged by merging the two together. One of the many reasons why this went poorly was that the colonel had less combat experience than the major: Colonel Regina Kasteen's 296th had been a garrison support regiment whereas Major Ruput Broklaw's 301st had been a planetary assault formation. However, Kasteen had three days' seniority over Broklaw--a phrase here meaning it took her immediate superiors three days fewer to be eaten by tyranids than his.

* Immediately before the ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' novel, two Valhallan regiments were almost destroyed by a Tyranid attack, and so were salvaged by merging the two together. One of the many reasons why this went poorly was that the regiment's colonel has less combat experience than the major, but had three days seniority. It is implied that this is because the colonel's commanders died faster than the major's, giving her a faster field promotion.