History Main / OverrankedSoldier

Over-ranked Soldier refers to a character whose rank is, quite simply, impossible for him to possess. The character's rank is so high, it breaks the audience's [[WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief suspension of disbelief]]. While the creator might just mean to use the character's rank to show his importance to the work, it shows the creator [[YouFailBasicTrainingForever did not research the plausibility of the character possessing said rank.]]

* ''BlazBlue'' Noel Vermillion is somewhat neurotic for her rank in the NOL, although it's stated to be a result of a combination of AsskickingEqualsAuthority and that as a member of the AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil she was practically guaranteed a reasonable rank. There's also the fact that [[spoiler: [[LivingWeapon Noel]] is [[RobotGirl Mu-12]], and due to her importance got a higher rank than she really deserved (since [[BigBad Hazama]] would need a reason to get her where he needs her).]]

One thing to note: this trope does not refer to rank outside of the traditional structure followed by most of the world's armed forces. Honorary ranks, ranks based on privilege, or self-granted ranks do not count. A nobleman given a high military rank because of his high status, as unfortunate as it might be, is completely plausible, as is a 33 year-old revolutionary leader who is granted the rank of General by his fellow rebels(i.e. Fidel Castro). This trope is specifically about characters in fiction, within traditional military structure, that have a rank way beyond the realm of logic and possibility.

* '''The character is too disruptive''': The MilitaryMaverick will always be an attractive character archetype to audiences, since we tend to root for guys with guts and attitude. However, this works best with characters who are, at best, in the low officer ranks, where he spends more time in the battlefield than in the war room. The armed forces frown on disrespect to the chain of command, and would not give a high rank to such a disruptive soldier, no matter how much of a badass he is. In fact, the soldier's antics would more realistically result in a ''demotion'' instead of a promotion. (Note that Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Arbuthnot Fisher, aka Baron Fisher of Kilverstone, is a RealLife exception to this rule, being an ''incredibly'' controversial sailor who bruised egos everywhere he went and ''still'' rose to the very top of the tree.)

* '''The character is too disruptive''': The MilitaryMaverick will always be an attractive character archetype to audiences, since we tend to root for guys with guts and attitude. However, this works best with characters who are, at best, in the low officer ranks, where he spends more time in the battlefield than in the war room. The armed forces frown on disrespect to the chain of command, and would not give a high rank to such a disruptive soldier, no matter how much of a badass he is. In fact, the soldier's antics would more realistically result in a ''demotion'' instead of a promotion.

* ''DrStrangelove'' General Jack D. Ripper. While his rank is appropriate the authority he holds, he's completely fucking insane.

* The ''{{Halo}}'' series. Miranda Keyes is a borderline case with her rank of Lieutenant-Commander. She is competent, she does her job to the letter, the soldiers under her trust her explicitly, and she always keeps a level head on her shoulders. At the time of her death, [[http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Miranda_Keyes she was twenty-seven years old]].

* ''[[StarTrekEnterprise Enterprise]]'' Tucker is chief engineer of the Enterprise. Canonically, he cannot do '''basic algebra''' (episode ''Shuttlepod One'' for source of that).

* ''{{Futurama}}'' Captain Zapp Brannigan is as [[MilesGloriosus incompetent]] [[TheNiedermeye and cowardly]] as they come, yet the general consensus among the populace is that he's a great hero. He was suspended once and only once, and was only reinstated because the only witness able to testify against him wanted him out of her hair.

One thing to note: this trope does not refer to rank outside of the traditional structure followed by most of the world's armed forces. Honorary ranks, ranks based on privilege or self-granted ranks do not count. A nobleman given a high military rank because of his high status, as unfortunate as it might be, is completely plausible, as is a 33 year-old revolutionary leader who is granted the rank of General by his fellow rebels(i.e. Fidel Castro). This trope is specifically about characters in fiction, within traditional military structure, that have a rank way beyond the realm of logic and possibility.

* In ''MetalGearSolid3'', Ocelot is a Major. At 19 years old. If one charitably assumes that he rose in rank in the least amount of time required to hold said rank, he would have enlisted at around 4 years old. Several characters ''do'' express surprise at this rank, so it's not a simple case of DidNotDoTheResearch. Plus, [[spoiler:he ''has'' been a soldier/spy since he was a child. And being the son of The Boss probably helped.]]
* Jeanne Francoix/Dana Sterling of ''SuperDimensionCavalrySouthernCross/[[{{Robotech}} Robotech: The Masters Saga]]'' begins the series aged 17 and ranked a Sergeant Major, later being promoted to Lieutenant. While the promotion to Lieutenant based on merit is plausible, her initial rank of Sergeant Major is most definitely not, and is even more outrageous than Ocelot's rank. Both because of her age AND her attitude to authority, it'd be totally impossible for her to hold this rank.
* [[ThePhilSilversShow Sergeant Ernie Bilko]] is a Master Sergeant, which is plausible according to his age and responsibilities, but the fact he keeps this rank without being demoted because of his antics borders on [[DeusExMachina divine intervention]].
* Lieutenant Pete "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Maverick]]" Mitchell from ''TopGun''. The stunts he pulls during training make it a miracle he even gets to fly in combat, let alone not be demoted.
* Averted in ''OnePiece'' with Commodore Smoker. He is said by other characters to have the skills of a vice admiral or even an admiral, and he has been able to back it up in the past. However, he was stuck at the rank of Captain for a very long time due to his insubordination with his superiors in the Marines. The only reason he was promoted to Commodore at all was in part of a conspiracy by the World Government--he just happened to be in the area.
** ''One Piece'' does have a number of examples played straight, most notably Vice Admiral Garp, who actively and openly helps pirates, laughs at top-ranked Marines for their mistakes, and recruits from questionable places. He has been offered several promotions to Admiral. However, Admiral of the Fleet Sengoku does sometimes wonders to himself how Garp managed to climb up the ranks with the attitude he has.
* In the ''DocSavage'' novels, four of Doc's aides had high military rank during WorldWarOne: Major, Lt-Colonel, Colonel and Brigader General. Given how late the US entered the war, it seems unlikely that they could have achieved these ranks if they enlisted when the US entered the war. {{Fanon}}, as used by Philip Jose Farmer in his "biography" of Doc Savage, has them enlisting in other nations armies at the start of the war and transferring to the US Army when the US joined. Even then, Ham's Brigadier Generalship is stretching credibility.
* Sub-Lieutenant Phillips in TheNavyLark, is both improbably old for a Sub-Lieutenant (which is the lowest active service officer rank) and improbably incompetent to hold a rank at all having done more damage to Naval property than both world wars.
* In ''RebuildOfEvangelion'' Asuka is eventually given the rank of Captain.
* Tucker in ''[[StarTrekEnterprise Enterprise]]'' is chief engineer of the Enterprise. Canonically, he cannot do '''basic algebra''' (episode ''Shuttlepod One'' for source of that).

* General Jack D. Ripper from ''DrStrangelove'' While his rank is appropriate the authority he holds, he's completely fucking insane.
* Miranda Keyes of the ''{{Halo}}'' series is a Lieutenant-Commander. She is competent, she does her job to the letter, the soldiers under her trust her explicitly, and she always keeps a level head on her shoulders. At the time of her death, [[http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Miranda_Keyes she was twenty-seven years old]].
* [[FinalFantasyVI Celes Chere]] is a ''General'' in the Imperial Army, despite being only eighteen years old.
* In an episode of ''FTroop'', the Hekawi Indian chief is disguised as a trooper so that he can be taken to the fort and treated by the Army dentist. A visiting general takes a liking to "Private Howe" and quickly promotes him through the ranks all the way to Captain!
* The general staff in ''LesTuniquesBleues'' are all ArmchairMilitary who treat their men with a brazen AMillionIsAStatistic mentality. Especially General Stilman is horribly incompetent.
* Noel Vermillion of ''BlazBlue'' is somewhat neurotic for her rank in the NOL, although it's stated to be a result of a combination of AsskickingEqualsAuthority and that as a member of the AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil she was practically guaranteed a reasonable rank. There's also the fact that [[spoiler: [[LivingWeapon Noel]] is [[RobotGirl Mu-12]], and due to her importance got a higher rank than she really deserved (since [[BigBad Hazama]] would need a reason to get her where he needs her).]]
* [[{{Futurama}} Captain Zapp Brannigan]] is as [[MilesGloriosus incompetent and cowardly]] as they come, yet the general consensus among the populace is that he's a great hero. He was suspended once and only once, and was only reinstated because the only witness able to testify against him wanted him out of her hair.
* For Cameron Mitchell of {{Stargate SG-1}} to achieve his given rank of Lieutenant Colonel at the time, he would need to be promoted as soon as he was old enough every single time many of them would need to be [[YouAreInCommandNow field promotions]] as well.
* The LarryNiven-Jerry Pournelle novel ''Footfall'' features a female Army officer who goes from being a Captain (a rank attainable at a relatively young age; the character is introduced when she is only 28 years old) to being a Lieutenant Colonel within the space of three years time. The subversion comes from the fact that she's directly promoted, twice, by the President of the United States, who as Commander in Chief of all American military forces has the right to promote whoever he wants any time he wants for any reason he cares to use.
* Hayate Yagami from ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', Lieutenant-Colonel at 19. Even if you assume she started her career [[ChildSoldiers at nine]] - there are better places to discuss the ValuesDissonance - ten years does not a Lieutenant-Colonel make in a RealLife military barring severely extenuating circumstances. Contrast Nanoha, who's more reasonably a non-Navy Captain.

* The LarryNiven-Jerry Pournelle novel ''Footfall'' features a female Army officer who goes from being a Captain (a rank attainable at a relatively young age; the character is introduced when she is only 28 years old) to being a Lieutenant Colonel within the space of three years time. The subversion comes from the fact that she's directly promoted, twice, by the President of the United States, who as Commander in Chief of all American military forces has the right to promote whoever he wants any time he wants for any reason he cares to use.

* Noel Vermillion of ''BlazBlue'' is rather incompetent to be a lieutenant in the NOL, though it ends up justified [[spoiler:seeing as Noel is Mu-12, and due to her importance got a higher rank than she really deserved.]]

* For Cameron Mitchell of {{Stargate SG-1}} to achieve his given rank of Lieutenant Colonel at the time, he would need to be promoted as soon as he was old enough every single time many of them would need to be [[YouAreInCommandNow field promotions]] as well.

* [[{{Futurama}} Captain Zapp Brannigan]] is as [[MilesGloriosus incompetent and cowardly]] as they come, yet the general consensus among the populace is that he's a great hero. He was suspended once and only once, and was only reinstated because the only witness able to testify against him wanted him out of her hair.

Over-ranked Soldier refers to a character whose rank is, quite simply, impossible for him to possess. The character's rank is so high, it breaks the audience's [[WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief suspension of disbelief]]. While the creator might just mean to use the character's rank to show his importance to the work, it shows the creator [[YouFailBasicTrainingForever did not do the research the plausibility of the character possessing said rank.]]

* CiaphasCain('''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!''') probably fits this trope quite well, considering how damn lucky he gets despite his rather non-heroic look on life.

* ''StargateUniverse'' gives us Ronald Greer, a Master Sergeant in the US Air Force at the age of 20. For reference, he can't have enlisted until he was 18 and Master Sergeant requires a minimum of 16 years of service.

* In ''MetalGearSolid3'', Ocelot is a Major. At 19 years old. If one charitably assumes that he rose in rank in the least amount of time required to hold said rank, he would have enlisted at around 4 years old.

* [[{{Futurama}} Captain Zapp Brannigan]] is as [[MilesGlorius incompetent and cowardly]] as they come, yet the general consensus among the populace is that he's a great hero. He was suspended once and only once, and was only reinstated because the only witness able to testify against him wanted him out of her hair.

* [[{{Futurama}} Captain Zapp Brannigan]] is as [[MilesGlorious incompetent and cowardly]] as they come, yet the general consensus among the populace is that he's a great hero. He was suspended once and only once, and was only reinstated because the only witness able to testify against him wanted him out of her hair.

* Noel Vermillion of ''BlazBlue'' is rather incompetent to be a lieutenant in the NOL, though it ends up justified [[spoiler:seeing as Noel is Mu-12, and due to her importance got a higher rank than she really deserved.]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jeanne_2109.jpg
[[caption-width:350:[[SuperDimensionCavalrySouthernCross Jeanne Francoix]]. [[ImprobableAge Age: 17. Rank: Sergeant Major...]] [[DidNotDoTheResearch Wait, what?!?]]]]

* Miranda Keyes of the ''{{Halo}}'' series is a Lieutenant-Commander. She is competent, she does her job to the letter, the soldiers under her trust her explicitly, and she always keeps a level head on her shoulders. At the time of her death, she was twenty-seven years old.

'''Examples''':

* In ''[[RebuildOfEvangelion]]'' Asuka is eventually given the rank of Captain.

'''Launching this Sunday(I have an Army drill, so it'll take a while :p Thanks for the examples, please give a few more if you can'''

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Shameless self bump.

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Averted in ''OnePiece'' with Commodore Smoker. He is said by other characters to have the skills of a vice admiral or even an admiral, and he has been able to back it up in the past. However, he was stuck at the rank of Captain for a very long time due to his insubordination with his superiors in the Marines. The only reason he was promoted to Commodore at all was in part of a conspiracy by the World Government--he just happened to be in the area.

''One Piece'' does have a number of examples played straight, most notably Vice Admiral Garp, who actively and openly helps pirates, laughs at top-ranked Marines for their mistakes, and recruits from questionable places. He has been offered several promotions to Admiral. However, Admiral of the Fleet Sengoku does sometimes wonders to himself how Garp managed to climb up the ranks with the attitude he has.

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The picture is JustAFaceAndACaption. We need a better one.

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Well, I can't really find any picture that really illustrates the concept, and the caption mentions her rank, which together with the picture shows you she's WAY too young. I think pretty much any picture I used would just be a face and a caption. Would you prefer it not feature a picture at all?

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Well, she obviously looks young; if any of those markings are rank symbols, then it's a legitimate illustration.

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@arromdee: The uniform itself is an officer's uniform, but that would only be known to people familiar to the series. What I wanted to go for is contrast the picture to the caption, the picture showing her youth while the caption mentions her ludicrously high rank.

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For the "too young to have that rank" side of this, we already have ImprobableAge.

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Could still mention it in this article and link to ImprobableAge. Cross-references are good.

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It should be noted that in some military organizations, particularly those from monarchies, members of the nobility frequently have high ranking positions and at times fit this trope.

* In the ''{{Safehold}}'' series, the Corisandian Baron of Barcor is a leader of his own troops despite noticed incompetence. However, he can't be removed without a certain level of political bru ha ha being raised, and so isn't removed until he performs a colossal screw-up.

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In the ''DocSavage'' novels, four of Doc's aides had high military rank during WorldWarOne: Major, Lt-Colonel, Colonel and Brigader General. Given how late the US enetered the war, it seems unlikely that they could have achieved these ranks if they enlisted when the US entered the war. {{Fanon}}, as used by Philip Jose Farmer in his 'biographry' of Doc Savage, has them enlisting in other nations armies at the start of the war and transferring to the US Army when the US joined. Even then, Ham's Brigader Generalship is stretching credibility.

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@sgamer: I think I should clear up this trope: this is when the character is a member of a traditional military organization based on merit and time in service. Being given the rank because of social status is not this trope, since that is completely plausible, as unfortunate as it is. This trope refers to a character who has a high rank against all logic of how a traditional military organization works. A nobleman, no matter how young, who has a high rank because of his status as nobility, is not this trope. A 17 year-old girl who has the rank of Sergeant Major, which is a rank that would take an EXCELLENT soldier over 25 years, countless deployments, constant schooling and recommendations from commanders to reach, is definitely this trope.

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From ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', Hayate Yagami is a Lieutenant Colonel in command of her own regiment in ''[=StrikerS=]'' (age: 19) and the commander of the naval forces of an entire planet in ''Force'' (age: 25), placing her rank close to Admiral. Nanoha herself and Fate were Captains at the age of 19. ''[=StrikerS=]'' actually attempted to justify that by explaining that TSAB (where all serve) is more of a MildlyMilitary SpacePolice than regular army and that its members are [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority promoted according to their magical power]] rather than field experience.

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The illustration is good, but the description need to be tweaked a bit.
* Many of these settings rely on premises different from our world.
* RealLife armies are far from perfect, and there are RealLife examples of all these kinds of things that are here claimed to be impossible in real life.

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Sub-Lieutenant Phillips in TheNavyLark, is both improbably old for a Sub-Lieutenant (which is the lowest active service officer rank) and improbably incompetent to hold a rank at all having done more damage to Naval property than both world wars.

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How improbable is Misato's rank in NeonGenesisEvangelion? Granted, she only gets promoted to Major after saving Tokyo-3, but she's still only, what, 28 years old?

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@dotchan

Not as improbable as Asuka being a commissioned captain in the rebuild.

Actually, given the world Eva is set in with all the political upheavel, nuclear exchanges, mass deaths (upwards of 3Billion), etc and so on I don't find Misato's rank improbable. In times of extreme crisis those with talent and determination (and while Misato's command ability is more an InformedAbility her determination isn't) can advance upwards quite quickly. There were younger officers in high ranks in both world wars because of this.

Oh, and StarTrek examples of Janeway (while it is forgiveable in that the Voyager is her first true command so her suckyness as a Captain is explainable in that there are no senior officers to reel her back in and smack her down, her being promoted to admiral can only be as a result of the greatest single instance of mass perjury in history) and of course Archer and Tucker from Enterprise. Both are utterly incompetent in their positions, and Tucker as chief engineer canonically cannot do basic algebra (episode Shuttlepod One for source of that).

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Another facet of this is a rank being assigned to a character who may have earned it, (such as when [[StarTrek Kirk]] was made an Admiral), but none of the duties they perform reflect that position. For instance, Kirk, whether as an Admiral or a Captain, consistently insisted on leaving the ''Enterprise'' and making first contact with a variety of aliens, something that a lower ranked officer would likely be responsible for. Officers command, after all, and their subordinates are the ones out there risking their lives and going on missions.

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And in Discworld we have Colon and Nobbs who are a sergeant and a corporal and are spectacularly incompetent being lazy cowards (and in the case of Nobby Nobbs a petty thief as well).

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In the discworld Sergeant and Corporal are the third and second rank from the bottom respectively, so I don't think that fits particularly well in this case. It's not a big organization in the first place, plus considering that they are one of the original people in the night watch plus how much it has grown since then, it isn't really that much of a stretch for them to achieve that rank.

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I would expand this into a general "wonky military rankings" trope, and include things like the ColonelBadass that command a single squad of troops (instead of [[CommonMilitaryUnits thousands of men]] like he should be), or an elite infantry squad that conists entirely of commissioned officers. Simply being too young for a given rank is covered by ImprobableAge, methinks.

Also seconding that the image is JustAFaceAndACaption. A good picture would be a child (like, a ten year old) in a military uniform, especially an officer's one. Maybe Mayor Macreedy from {{Fallout 3}}?

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Ciaphas Cain, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM probably fits this trope quite well, considering how damn lucky he gets despite his rather non-heroic look on life.

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* Justified in the novel ''The Horseman on the Roof'', in which the main character is a dashing romantic young man with the rank of Colonel. It's explained early on that his mother is a rich aristocrat who basically bought the rank on his behalf.

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James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) in Star Trek. He corresponds with the first, second and fifth bullet point. He's too young, too maverick-y and doesn't inspire the loyalty or respect of his peers subordinate... probably because they know him.
Also there is General Han Solo and General Lando calrissian from Star Wars.


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LegendOfGalacticHeroes has quite a bit of this: Reinhard was made Fleet Admiral and placed in command of half the Imperial fleet at age 20. Though he had genuine battlefield accomplishments and his sister being a favourite of the Emperor explained his extremely rapid promotion, it is still ridiculously young. Then he creates his own admiralty from officers loyal to him, leading to a group of Vice Admirals in their mid- to late twenties being commanded by the twenty year old brother of the Emperor's favourite concubine.

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I'd disagree on Lando and Han. Apart from anything else they are in a [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters paramilitary]] organisation which is expected to be a bit irregular in terms of ranks and people holding them.

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Is Miles Vorkosigan a subversion? Or does a 17-year-old academy washout as admiral of a mercenary fleet -- several ships and about five thousand personnel -- and keeping the job until almost age 30 fit? (His youthful appearance is handwaved aside via a vague "rejuvenation treatment" claim.)

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Is General Jack D. Ripper from DrStrangelove an example? Appropriate rank for the authority he holds, earned it, completely fucking insane.

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It's worth noting that sometimes RealityIsUnrealistic when it comes to ages and military ranks, particularly during wartime. Average age of a U-boat commander during WW2 was 25. Enoch Powell ended the war as a Brigadier (having begun it as a Private) aged 33. And the [[http://startag.tripod.com/RaborgIntro.html youngest ever sergeant major in the US Army]] (during the 70s, no less) was 19.

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In general, a lot of this is already covered by ImprobableAge (too young/old) and UltimateJobSecurity (too dangerous/disobedient/incompetent).

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Thirding JFC. In fact, I'm going to call non picturable.

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Does [[StarWars Lando Calrissian]] count? While he does prove he deserves it, making General in an organization you betrayed just a year prior seems a bit much.

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Lando probably brought money and connections to the party. Its not hard to see him turning that into a pretty high rank in a paramilitary force like the rebellion. Also he was the administrator of Cloud City and Bespin, so he is used to command and has the skills required. Anyone can be a grunt with a blaster, but a general needs to know how to organise. The rag-tag nature of the rebellion means they are probably pretty well set for grunts, NCOs, and junior officers, but someone who can organise and command is probably a bit rare. Add all that together with his PR value and he's pretty much a shoe-in once he has proved his loyalty (which is pretty much exactly what the mission to rescue Han is. It's Lando's initiation.

FridgeLogic: A PR win if nothing else, because in an insurgency campaign it isn't enough to be the good guys ya gotta make others believe you are the good guys and more importantly people they can do business with. The Empire was probably pissing off all the movers and shakers as Palpatine hoarded more and more power and got more and more capricious so the more of the middle classes the Rebellion can get on side the better. General Calrission is someone that not only can the movers and shakers empathise with, they probably have done business with him at some point. You can just picture how the rebellion framed this:

Here is the owner/administrator of a highly respectable mining and entertainment complex who did everything the Empire asked him to and then some, and the Empire still screwed him over. We the New Republic embrace and welcome this honest citizen to our ranks and to lead our proud patriotic struggle...Do You Want To Know More?

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* ''StargateUniverse'' gives us Ronald Greer, a Master Sergeant in the US Air Force at the age of ''20''. For reference, he can't have enlisted until he was 18 and Master Sergeant requires a minimum of 16 years of service.

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I think the third qualifier (incompetence) should probably be limited to characters presented in the work itself as incompetent. Otherwise this could turn into character [[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike bashing]] very fast.


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I wish to second nrjxll's suggestion two comments above.

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[[FinalFantasyVI Celes Chere]] is a ''General'' in the Imperial Army, despite being only eighteen years old.

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The general staff in ''LesTuniquesBleues'' are all ArmchairMilitary who treat their men with a brazen AMillionIsAStatistic mentality. Especially General Stilman is horribly incompetent.

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@ccoa Is Greer's age ever stated on the show? I've heard that claim before on this wiki, but [[http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Greer his page on the Stargate Wiki]] says "mid 20's" and his actor is 28.

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Noel Vermillion of BlazBlue is rather incomptent to be a lieutenant in the NOL, though it ends up justified [[spoiler:seeing as Noel is Mu-12, and due to her importance got a higher rank than she really deserved.]]

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@Blork: Even if he's in his mid-20s, surely he didn't enlist at the age of 8...

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Lampshaded several time in TokyoBabylon. Subaru Sumeragi is the best medium in all of Japan and the Sumeragi family head, and he's sixteen. Most people don't believe him.

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Correction on the Stargate Universe example, the US military lets you join at 17 with parental approval. It's still completely wrong though.

On the same note, either John Sheppard or Cameron Mitchell (forget which of the two) would have had to get promoted as soon as they were eligible every single time to achieve their rank at their age.

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@Deuxhero

Yeah, but the SG teams are really special forces, with a really special remit. They probably cherry picked high-flyers in Mitchell's case. In Sheppard's, well he got command of SG Atlantis's forces while still a major on the good old YouAreInCommandNow and was promoted due to services rendered.