History Main / OverrankedSoldier

* The entire Philippine military in the historical movies ''Film/HeneralLuna'' and ''Film/GoyoAngBatangHeneral'' is filled with these, largely because it was hurriedly created as an ad-hoc [[LaResistance rebel army]] [[OccupiersOutOfOurCountry fighting first the Spanish and then the American colonisers]]. General Jose Alejandrino in the second movie discusses how he doesn't think there is a single proper soldier in the ranks, bar the first film's General Antonio Luna who actually has a military education and knows what he's doing (though in RealLife it was apparently still considered short of serious military training, being more of a hurried crash-course—and when he first joined the Revolution in 1898, he certainly had almost none of the combat experience many officers under him had already amassed since 1896), as they're either political appointees or capable but generally out of their league. For example, General Gregorio Del Pilar in the sequel has his rank at the age of ''24'' and is given command over an entire province with his detractors saying that this appointment is because he's the president's loyal attack dog. (In RealLife the Revolutionary Army had even younger generals—Manuel Tinio was promoted to that ''at 20'', and still he survived the entire Revolution and Philippine-American War ''and'' lived far longer than del Pilar.)

* The entire Philippine military in the historical movies ''Film/HeneralLuna'' and ''Film/GoyoAngBatangHeneral'' is filled with these, largely because it was hurriedly created as an ad-hoc [[LaResistance rebel army]] [[OccupiersOutOfOurCountry fighting first the Spanish and then the American colonisers]]. General Jose Alejandrino in the second movie discusses how he doesn't think there is a single proper soldier in the ranks, bar the first film's General Antonio Luna who actually has a military education and knows what he's doing (though in RealLife it was apparently still considered short of serious military training, being more of a hurried crash-course), as they're either political appointees or capable but generally out of their league. For example, General Gregorio Del Pilar in the sequel has his rank at the age of ''24'' and is given command over an entire province with his detractors saying that this appointment is because he's the president's loyal attack dog. (In RealLife the Revolutionary Army had even younger generals—Manuel Tinio was promoted to that ''at 20'', and still he survived the entire Revolution and Philippine-American War ''and'' lived far longer than del Pilar.)

* Captain Stently on ''Series/BrooklynNineNine''. He spent ''nine years'' in police academy (which is supposed to be a six month program) and essentially bumbled his way through the ranks all the way to captain, which he earned by going to a drug bust instead of a dermatology appointment and surprising the kingpin so bad that he shot himself. He's aware of his own incompetence and inexperience, and is content to let the Nine Nine do whatever they feel is most important.
* In ''Series/TheOrville'', Xelayans are a {{Heavyworlder}} species who possess SuperStrength, but because they are also {{Proud Scholar Race Guy}}s they seldom join the Union Fleet. As such, on those rare occasions when a Xelayan does enlist they tend to end up being quickly overpromoted, as their physical capabilities make them so effective as soldiers regardless of competence in other areas. The Orville's first security chief Lt. Alara is in her early twenties and has been in the Fleet for only a few years, but has a rank and job more appropriate for someone with at least ten more years experience, something she is keenly aware of and insecure about. Her [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute replacement]] Lt. Talla is noticeably older, more experienced and more sure of herself.

* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamAGE'', Lt Commander Natola Einus, Captain of the ''Diva'' in Generation 3, is a mixture of 1, 3 and 5. She's a Lieutenant given an accelerated promotion she did not earn so she could be given command of a mothballed battleship as an act of petty spite against both her (over perceived Nepotism) and the retired hero who requested that the ship be launched so he could access some of its special systems despite her youth, lack of time in grade, or the fact that she had yet to serve on a ship in ''any'' capacity, much less a command one. Her being totally unqualified for her command is blatantly obvious to everyone on the ship (including herself), to the point that when she first manages to make an intelligent command decision for herself instead of deferring to someone she outranks, everyone on the bridge is ''shocked''.

* Part of the satire in ''Film/StarshipTroopers'' is the fact that Rico rockets up the ranks because his superior officers keep dying. He's a Private at the start of the mission on Planet P, then gets promoted to Corporal, then acting Sergeant, and finally Lieutenant within the span of a day. "Fresh meat for the grinder" indeed. Carmen and Zander are watch officers within a year of their joining the fleet. Carl is the only one who seems suited to his rank (Colonel) after going through Military Intelligence training, though his young age still stands out among the older Psi-Corps officers. (Perhaps Psi-Corps rank is mostly ability-based.)

* Part of the satire in ''Film/StarshipTroopers'' is the fact that Rico rockets up the ranks because his superior officers keep dying. "Fresh meat for the grinder" indeed. Carmen and Zander are watch officers within a year of their joining the fleet. Carl is the only one who seems suited to his rank (Colonel) after going through Military Intelligence training, though his young age still stands out among the older Psi-Corps officers. (Perhaps Psi-Corps rank is mostly ability-based.)

* ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'': In one episode, [[ActualPacifist Lifeline]], Dial-tone and Shipwreck suddenly find themselves promoted to the rank of Colonel, outranking everyone except General Hawk. Predictably, the Joes are thrown into chaos with Lifeline turning them into more of a CASEVAC force than a fighting force, Shipwreck turning into TheNiedermeyer and Dial-tone plagued by indecision. General Hawk returns, demotes all three back to their original rank and reveals that the whole thing was Cobra hacking into personnel records and sewing chaos.

* The ''Franchise/DocSavage'' novels. Four of Doc's aides had high military rank during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI: Major, Lt-Colonel, Colonel and Brigadier 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.

* ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'':

** In ''Film/TopGunMaverick'' after 34 years Maverick is a captain who is only kept on due to Iceman's protection who by then is the commander of the Pacific Fleet, and his insane qualifications including the only active pilot who has dogfight experience. Even without the reckless stunts he still pulls, the fact that he hadn't made it past Captain after 34 years would have removed him from the Navy by this point due to the US Military's "Up or Out" policy.

** In ''Film/TopGunMaverick'' after 34 years Maverick is a captain who is only kept on due to Iceman's protection who by then is the commander of the Pacific Fleet, and his insane qualifications including the only active pilot who has dogfight experience. Even without the reckless stunts he still pulls, the fact that he hadn't made it past Captain after 34 years would have removed him out of the Navy by this point due to the US Military's "Up or Out" policy.

** In ''Film/TopGunMaverick'' after 34 years Maverick is a captain who is only kept on due to Iceman's protection who by then is the commander of the Pacific Fleet, and his insane qualifications including the only active pilot who has dogfight experience.

** In ''Film/TopGunMaverick'' after 34 years Maverick is a captain who is only kept on due to Iceman's protection who by then is the commander of the Pacific Fleet, and his insane qualifications including the only active pilot who has dogfight expierence.

* In ''Series/TheOrville'', Xelayans are a {{Heavyworlder}} species who possess SuperStrength, but because they are also {{Proud Scholar Race Guy}}s they seldom join the Union Fleet. As such, on those rare occasions when a Xelayan does enlist they tend to end up being quickly overpromoted, as their physical capabilities make them so effective. The Orville's first security chief Lt. Alara is in her early twenties and has been in the Fleet for only a few years, but has a rank and job more appropriate for someone with at least ten more years experience, something she is keenly aware of and insecure about. Her [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute replacement]] Lt. Talla is noticeably older, more experienced and more sure of herself.

* On Star Wars Dark Times, a reddit based Star Wars roleplay, the bridge crew supervisor (and effective 3IC) of the ISD Evictus is a 6”4’, one eyed, one armed, 24 year old Lieutenant Commander named Calvin Tiberiusolis who can’t remember anything before 14 BBY.

* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' has several ranking soldiers within the NOL, but four of the named officers have no business being in their given posts were it not for the villainous conspiracy that put them there.

** Lastly, we have Hazama himself, hard as that is to believe. [[spoiler:His utter disrespect for his supposed "superiors" is because he (or rather, Yuuki Terumi) is the one who ''founded'' the NOL in the first place]].

** By ''Videogame/MassEffect3'', depending on who survived Viremire, First Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko becomes a Major and Gunnery Sergeant Ashley Williams transfers from being a standard Marine to the Navy and is promoted to Lieutenant Commander. Both of them end up only one rank below the series protagonist Commander Shepard

* ''Series/PrivateBenjamin'' had an episode where Judy was mistakenly promoted to Major, then to Brigadier General, just in time for a war games exercise.

** Suzaku Kururugi is promoted from Private to Warrant Officer (a full ten ranks) literally overnight and only a couple months later is a Major, despite being only seventeen at the time and his formal education ending when he was nine. The first promotion is justified as being a bribe by Cornelia, the current Viceroy of Area 11 and General of the Army.

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 [[ArtisticLicenseMilitary did not research the plausibility of the character possessing said rank.]]