History Main / PassedOverPromotion

* A lot of Anakin Skywalker's resentment towards the Jedi in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequels stem from this trope and his InferioritySuperiorityComplex. In ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', he shows frustration at not being a Jedi Knight, which he feels is long overdue despite most Padawans taking over a decade to complete their training. He doesn't get that until the start of the Clone Wars, putting him at the low end of 11 years. In ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', there's added resentment when he's given a seat on the Jedi Council (which Obi-Wan points out is something very rare, seeing how young he is), yet ''isn't'' given the rank of Jedi Master (which is ''also'' unprecedented for a member of the Council).[[note]]This resentment was later [[AuthorsSavingThrow retroactively justified]] due to the events of ''WesternAnimation/TheCloneWars''. Late in the series, Ahsoka is framed for bombing the Jedi Temple, and the Council votes to expel her from the Order for political expediency. When her name is cleared, she is offered reinstatement, alongside a promotion to Knight, which meant Anakin would likely have been promoted to Master (successfully training a Padawan to the rank of Knight is generally seen as proof that a Knight is ready for promotion to Master). However, she declines, leaving the Order instead, costing Anakin his promotion.[[/note]]

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'':
** "Dog Gone People," where a Hal Smith-voiced Elmer Fudd [[note]](Arthur Q. Bryan had died two years earlier)[[/note]] is asked by his boss, Mr. Crabtree, to look after his dog, Rupert, for the weekend while out of town on a business trip, and that his job status ("you could go up... or down") rides on how well he treats Rupert. Elmer believes that this could mean becoming vice-president of the company he works for... but in the end, going "up, up, up, up" means painting the flagpole. (Rupert, the dog, gets the promotion to vice-president.)

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobSquarepantsMovie'': The position of manager of the Krusty Krab 2 goes to Squidward, not Spongebob. Despite Squidward's apathy and Spongebob being Employee of the Month many times over, Mr. Krabs refuses to let Spongebob be manager because "he's a kid". He gets it at the end after saving all of Bikini Bottom from Plankton's final scheme. [[spoiler:And, in case you're wondering, the movie is considered the GrandFinale for the series, so all the episodes and movies after that are considered to have taken place ''before'' the movie.]]

* Maybe the most notorious example in Entertainment: Creator/{{Disney}} studio chief Creator/JeffreyKatzenberg had long wanted be NumberTwo of the entire Walt Disney Company, and started lobbying for it the ''day'' after incumbent Frank Wells died in a helicopter crash. When CEO Creator/MichaelEisner refused (instead folding Wells' responsibilities into his own job) and then fired Katzenberg for pressing the issue, Katzenberg furiously sued for breach of contract ''and'' sought out Creator/StevenSpielberg [[StartMyOwn to found]] Creator/{{Dreamworks}}.

* A lot of Anakin Skywalker's resentment towards the Jedi in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequels stem from this trope. In ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', he shows frustration at not being a Jedi Knight, which he feels is long overdue. He doesn't get that until during The Clone Wars. In ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', there's added resentment when he's given a seat on the Jedi Council (which Obi-Wan points out is something very rare, seeing how young he is), yet ''isn't'' given the rank of Jedi Master (which is ''also'' unprecedented for a member of the Council).[[note]]This resentment was later [[AuthorsSavingThrow retroactively justified]] due to the events of ''WesternAnimation/TheCloneWars''. Late in the series, Ahsoka is framed for bombing the Jedi Temple, and the Council votes to expel her from the Order for political expediency. When her name is cleared, she is offered reinstatement, alongside a promotion to Knight, which meant Anakin would likely have been promoted to Master (successfully training a Padawan to the rank of Knight is generally seen as proof that a Knight is ready for promotion to Master). However, she declines, leaving the Order instead, costing Anakin his promotion.[[/note]]

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''; in the prequel book ''Start of Darkness'', future BigBad Xykon got his career as a villain started as a mid-level officer for an EvilOverlord. When time came for a NumberTwo to be named, he was in competition with a powerful sorceress and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking game designer Keith Baker]], and was outraged when ''both'' of them got the promotion and left him behind. The sorceress he could understand, but when he asked why a non-evil {{Muggle}} like Baker was chosen the Evil Overlord said it was because they had cunning and an understanding of strategy that Xykon lacked, and his "shoot first and ask questions later" approach to villainy would never get him far. Still pissed off, Xykon quit and struck out on his own, though like his former boss warned he never amounted to much more than a wandering thug until meeting [[VisionaryVillain Redcloak]] and learning about [[EldritchAbomination the Snarl]].

* In the book and Creator/{{BBC}} TV series ''Series/HouseOfCardsUK'', Francis Urquhart turns to evil when he is passed over for promotion.
* The same goes for Francis "Frank" Underwood in ''Series/HouseOfCardsUS''.
* Lt. Commander [=McKeon=]'s situation in the Literature/HonorHarrington book ''On Basilisk Station'' -- he has been the executive officer of the ''Fearless'' for years and had hoped to succeed the captain when he moved on, but he is old for his rank and resents the fact that Honor received the command instead of him. She is younger, higher-ranked, and more charismatic than he, and seems to be the embodiment of what he is not as an officer. [[spoiler: He gets over it by the end of the book, and in a much later novel dies a Rear Admiral.]]
* ''Literature/JudgeDee'': a Chinese general accuses another general of treason when he's the one betraying. This trope is given as the reason he was resentful of the younger general.
** Several high-ranked functionaries discuss this trope when looking to reward Dee for a particularly troublesome case. Give a man a promotion too early, it fosters [[AmbitionIsEvil ambition]], given too late, it fosters bitterness and resentment. They settle for a copy of an Imperial edict.

* In ''Literature/AngelInTheWhirlwind: The Oncoming Storm'', Kat's first officer Commander William [=McElney=] is considerably older than her with much more time in the service, but he's a commoner and not a native of Tyre. Understandably he resents being passed over in favor of nobles pulling strings, but Kat manages to win him over: she didn't want the promotion yet, either, and goes out of her way to not step on his toes and pay attention to his advice.

* ''Literature/BazilBroketail'': Despite his impressive achievements and the many decorations he earned, Relkin remains a lowly dragonboy for the entire series. This is not without a reason, though. It is heavily implied that he would have been promoted to full dragoneer and put in charge of the 109th by the end of book three or at the beginning of book four if not for the fact that his reputation was permanently marred when [[spoiler:he and Bazil undertook an illegal rescue mission -- aimed at releasing the wild dragoness (Bazil's mate) and her children -- during which Relkin killed a civilian (merchant Dook, who abducted said dragons) and was charged with murder]].

* In SoBadItsGood film ''Film/TheRoom'', Lisa starts cheating on Johnny after he fails to get promoted. Though in his defense, [[{{Narm}} the computer industry is very competitive]].

->'''Francis Urquhart:''' You will remember, Prime Minister, that some months ago, we talked about the possibility that, after the election, there might be a senior ministerial post...
->'''Prime Minister:''' Yes, yes, I do remember that... ''[{{Beat}}]'' Things do change so very quickly in politics, Francis.

** In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Tapestry", Q shows Picard an alternate reality where he never got into an Academy-days fight with three surly Nausicaans that quickly gave him a knife through the heart, hence he didn't need a replacement mechanical one. In that alternate timeline, Picard made it only to Lieutenant Junior Grade, regularly passed over by his superiors because they felt he showed no evidence of drive and ambition, never took risks to do what he felt was right. And, in this world where he never faced death like that, and later on always played it safe... they were right.
** In ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' Harry Kim ends up stranded in the Delta Quadrant on his very first day of Starship duty as an Ensign, and is clearly a wide-eyed newbie. Over the years he evolved into a master engineer, a holographic technology expert, a veteran of dozens of conflicts, and an integral part of the crew. He was never promoted beyond Ensign. Even in a real-life navy, after 7 years of exceptional service he should've at least gotten 2 promotions to full Lieutenant and possibly even a 3rd to Lieutenant Commander, and Starfleet's MildlyMilitary natural usually results in promotions coming ''faster'' than would be the case in real militaries. This would be even more the case in wartime, and ''Voyager'' saw rather a lot of combat over the course of its journey home, particularly fighting essentially a one-ship war against [[TheDreaded the Borg]] at times. Due to the StatusQuoIsGod nature of the series, he rarely showed any signs of bitterness, even with his best friend being made a lieutenant on his first day despite being a criminal who was dishonorably discharged from Starfleet, and then later demoted back to ensign and later promoted back to lieutenant again ''for no apparent reason.''

->'''Prime Minister:''' Yes yes, I do remember that... ''[{{Beat}}]'' Things do change so very quickly in politics, Francis.

* During his formative years in ''Recap/StartOfDarkness'', a young Xykon from ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' got passed over for a position as one of two CoDragons (and BastardUnderstudy) during his days of minioning for an EvilOverlord. The Overlord noted that the candidates who actually did get the job did so because they did not "show the strategic ability of a rabid wombat".
* ''ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}}'': This trope plays into the origin of Monica Rambeau -- despite being a very competent lieutenant, she was passed over multiple times for the position of captain of the harbor patrol. The harbormaster claims her way of working is too unorthodox and not "by the book"; Monica claims sexism, since those who were promoted were men. She ends up quitting after becoming Captain Marvel and having her first heroic adventure.

* ''Comicbook/DoctorStrange'': The relative newcomer Stephen Strange became the Ancient One's closest disciple, and eventually his successor as Sorcerer Supreme, supplanting Karl Mordo, who had been there longer (but who proved to be a DeceptiveDisciple). In some tellings, Mordo turned to evil because he was passed over in favor of Strange.
* During his formative years in ''StartOfDarkness'', a young Xykon from ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' got passed over for a position as one of two CoDragons (and BastardUnderstudy) during his days of minioning for an EvilOverlord. The Overlord noted that the candidates who actually did get the job did so because they did not "show the strategic ability of a rabid wombat".

* In the Creator/PTDeutermann crime thriller ''Literature/TrainMan'', two passed over officers are in charge of a train shipping captured Soviet bloc nuclear weapons west to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. One of them is an army major, who has been passed over three times for promotion to lieutenant colonel, but is being allowed to serve for one more year, so he can complete twenty years of service and retire with full benefits. He seems to take this in stride. The other is an army spec ops colonel who was previously part of the White House National Security Council staff, but had screwed up big before, and was passed over for a generalship. He is therefore a micromanaging ControlFreak who wants to do whatever it takes to do this assignment right and salvage his career.

* When Captain Tagon in ''WebComic/SchlockMercenary'' finds himself in charge of multiple ships in his mercenary company, his recently un-retired father, [[RetiredBadass former]] [[FourStarBadass General Tagon]] points out that he's well due to promote himself. Captain Tagon respectfully declines, because he doesn't know how to ''be'' a Commodore. ...but the elder Tagon ''does''.