History Main / ReassignedToAntarctica

[[TheLastDJ Moral crusaders]] and other characters that are likely to put HonorBeforeReason may be frequently threatened with this sort of reassignment, or will have it really done to them. At best, whoever orders it simply hopes to have a "troublemaker" out of his or her hair. At worst, they're disposing of someone who [[HeKnowsTooMuch "knows too much"]] by handing them a dangerous posting [[UriahGambit in the hopes it will lead directly to their death]].

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}} 2'': Lh'owon, the abandoned homeworld of S'pht, has since become a Pfhor dumping ground for poor officers and brilliant but belligerent ones. This makes the initial invasion of it [[OneManArmy extremely easy for the player]], until he causes so much damage that the Pfhor Empire sends their best fleet, Battle Group Seven, to deal with him.
* A Silph Co. Scientist mentions that he got transferred to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiksi Tiksi]] Branch in [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, and the remakes]], and implies that this is the reason why he was defecting to Team Rocket during their takeover.
* The backstory for ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' says that the main character was reassigned to Mars for assaulting his superior after the man ordered him to open fire on civilians. [[AllThereInTheManual The manual makes it clear]] that Phobos is considered by [[SpaceMarine space marines]] to be the dullest assignment imaginable, "With no action for fifty million miles, your day consisted of suckin' dust and watchin' restricted flicks in the rec room." Obviously, things didn't go so well.
* In ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', Combine soldiers are threatened with "permanent offworld assignment" if they fail to stop [[OneManArmy Gordon Freeman]]. It is worth noting that at this point, they trap you in a cell block, and suicidally rush you only to get gunned down. It can be assumed that [[FateWorseThanDeath death was a preferable alternative]].
* During the VillainProtagonist campaign of ''[[VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront Star Wars Battlefront II]]'', this happens to the narrator when the prisoners on the Death Star escape and wreak havoc. This seriously pisses off Vader, who consequently then drags the 501st across the galaxy (to a variety of pretty dire planets) to hunt for the missing [[MacGuffin Death Star plans.]] [[spoiler:This, however, eventually turns out to be their "salvation", when the Death Star is destroyed shortly after they leave.]]
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'':
*** Trebonius Artorius, the incompetent Archmage of the Mages Guild in Vvardenfell, is said to have gotten that title as a combination of this trope and KickedUpstairs. He is indeed a powerful [[MagicKnight Battlemage]], which helped him to rise in the ranks initially, but his mainland superiors got tired of his incompetence in managing Guild affairs, so they made him the Archmage in the most backwater district in the Empire to get him out of their hair. He now spends his time letting in [[TheMole badly disguised spies]], giving his underlings (who view him as a PointyHairedBoss) {{Impossible Task}}s, and just generally being petty and immature to those who offend him. If you want his title, you'll need to [[ChallengingTheChief beat him in]] a [[KlingonPromotion duel to the death]]... maybe. [[spoiler:There ''is'' a peaceful path to becoming Arch-Mage of Vvardenfell, but it is a bit ambiguous if it leaves you joint Guild Masters or just lets him keep the ''title'' of Arch-Mage as an honorary one.]] Need we remind you that he ''is'' indeed a powerful Battlemage, his flaws aside?
*** In the ''Bloodmoon'' expansion, most or all of the soldiers stationed at Fort Frostmoth are there because of punishment. It's a freezing island filled with werewolves, naked barbarians, tree-women, and undead warriors. One of the first quests in the Bloodmoon main quest reveals [[spoiler:the Imperial Cult priest Antonius Nuncius]] has this attitude to his assignment, and has cooked up a scheme to inflame tensions in the fort in a bid to get reassigned. If you inform on this, Fort Frostmoth's commander remarks that if the schemer had simply ''asked'' he'd have been happy to recommend a reassignment, but now he's going to recommend that [[spoiler:Antonius Nuncius']] assignment to Frostmoth is extended indefinitely...
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'':
*** Several of the Mages' Guild Hall leaders are implied to have been assigned as such so that they aren't around the Arcane University. Of particular note is Jeanne Frasoric, the young leader of the Bruma Mages' Guild who is outright called incompetent by her colleagues, and is even noted by [[TheArchmage Traven himself]] to be very annoying. Made even funnier by the fact that Bruma is actually situated in the coldest region of Cyrodiil. Then it becomes kind of sobering when you realize that [[spoiler:her incompetence contributed to her entire guild hall getting slaughtered.]]
*** In the Thieves Guild storyline, the PlayerCharacter {{Invoke|dTrope}}s this to get a zealous guard captain reassigned from the capital to the distant city of Anvil, where he can't interfere with the Guild. {{Downplayed|Trope}} despite said captain's fury at the assignment, since it puts him in charge of the local Countess' personal guard, a position [[spoiler:selected by the Countess' estranged husband, who knew that the captain could be trusted to keep her safe]].
* In Activision's ''VideoGame/{{BattleZone|1998}}'', if you fail a particular mission, you are to be reassigned to Mars' polar region.
* In ''VideoGame/RadiantHistoria'' Viola was reassigned to the Sand Fortress for being to popular. Unusually for the trope, the Sand Fortress is of genuine strategic importance and sending a decorated general there makes perfect sense. [[spoiler:Sure her popularity didn't help, but she was also close to uncovering Hugo's ElCidPloy. Her popularity meant he couldn't just make her disappear, so he used his command authority to kick her back to the front lines. Whether by enemy forces or stalling out her IncurableCoughOfDeath, the problem would take care of itself.]]
* ''VideoGame/WingCommander'':
** [[PlayerCharacter Christopher Blair]] gets demoted and ReassignedToAntarctica between the first and second games when nobody believes his claim that Kilrathi stealth fighters destroyed the ''Tiger's Claw''. [[spoiler:He's proven right by the end of the second game.]]
** In a bad ending after failing at a specific mission, Blair can find himself reassigned there *again* and can only sit in despair as news comes in that the ''Concordia'' has been destroyed. [[spoiler:The ''Concordia'' is destroyed ''anyway'' at the beginning of ''Wing Commander III'', meaning that it's doomed either way, if that makes you feel better...]]
* In the adventure game ''VideoGame/{{KGB}}'' (also known as ''Conspiracy''), this can be your ending if you annoy your higher-ups in the KGB. And this is the most lenient NonStandardGameOver, mind you.
* ''VideoGame/LuminousArc'': It takes a bit of figuring out, but this is apparently what Kingston did to Heath when the latter started to get too suspicious, creating a program to raise war-orphans as child soldiers to get him out of the way for almost a decade. [[spoiler:Naturally, [[ReassignmentBackfire he shot himself in the foot by doing this.]]]]
* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'':
** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps'', a side mission that involved recruiting Raikov revealed that, because of [[BadBoss his abusing his power as a Soviet GRU Major by beating personnel up]], they sent him to the San Hieronymo Peninsula after the Soviets abandoned their men for the SALT talks, and things got worse when Gene took over the chain of command at the base on San Hieronymo.
** It is implied in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' that Coldman, the CIA Director prior to the aftermath of Operation Snake Eater, being made the CIA Station Chief of Central America was a result of this trope, [[TheExile Exile]], and KickedUpstairs due to his involvement in creating the Virtuous Mission and Operation Snake Eater.
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'': Skull Face was one of Cipher/The Patriots' best cleaners and assassins until he grew resentful of Big Boss hogging all the credit. He led an unsanctioned mission to strike at Big Boss, and Zero reassigned him to an ethnic cleansing bioweapons laboratory in Africa as punishment, which caused the ethnicity-conscious hitman to snap, starting the plot.
%%* A possible ending for [[spoiler:Norman Jayden]] in ''VideoGame/HeavyRain''.
* Happens to [[spoiler:Cole Phelps]] in VideoGame/LANoire after [[spoiler:his affair with a German singer]] is brought to the attention of the public. Of course, being [[spoiler:the protagonist, it turns into a ReassignmentBackfire of ''epic'' proportions]].
* ''VideoGame/SuikodenIII'': It's made clear to [[NonActionGuy Thomas]] that the Zexen Confederacy has sent him to oversee the struggling Budehuc Castle just to get him out of the way. In his case, the only thing he's really done to warrant this treatment is ''exist'', given that [[spoiler:he's the [[HeroicBastard illegitimate son]] of a Zexen council member]].
* Although no one is threatened with reassignment there, Camp Golf is meant to be treated this way in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', as Boone mentions that it's "The only resort in New Vegas that no one wants to get sent to."
* Lyude, from ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos'' was reassigned to Nashira, because he unfortunately was too much of a decent human being.
* ''Franchise/BlazBlue'':
** In ''VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift'', [[spoiler:Hazama has Makoto assigned to Ikaruga to keep her from interfering with his plan to {{mindrape}} Noel and Tsubaki. The fallout of this plot is still in the air, but unlike all his other gambits, pulling off his work with those two is all the good he's getting out of this one. The negative fallout starts from one simple fact -- ''she's alive and reunited with Noel!'' [[labelnote:More]]In ''Slight Hope'', Makoto visits the ''Wheel of Fortune'' timeline and witnesses some of its events, including a battle with Hazama himself, before Rachel sends her back to the active timeline. The rest of the fallout is likely to be explored in the next game.[[/labelnote]]]]
** ''VideoGame/BlazBlueChronophantasma'' shows the results. [[spoiler:Makoto was a mole for Sector Seven and this reassignment allowed her to pass tons of information to her employers that they wouldn't have otherwise had access to. This, and her shenanigans in ''Wheel of Fortune'' (keeping in mind Hazama remembers alternate timelines) means she's on a very short and prestigious list of people that [[CardCarryingVillain Terumi]] will not risk toying with -- if he can't had her over to Relius immediately, [[NoNonsenseNemesis he'll just try to off her]].]]
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'': General Williams was the commanding officer who led the Marine Garrison on the colony of Shanxi during the First Contact war. Infamously, he was forced to surrender to the Turian invaders due to low supplies for both his troops and civilians, no immediate aid or reinforcements, and turian ships bombing the planet form orbit. Despite the justified reasoning for his decision, General Williams was turned into a scapegoat by the Alliance military and made into a pariah in Alliance society as "The only human ever to surrender to aliens". As a result, the entire Williams family was essentially blacklisted from the Alliance. While members of the family were still allowed to enlist, both Ashley and her father were unfairly maligned for being part of the Williams family. Both were given terrible postings, inconsequential assignments, and were constantly being passed over for promotion.
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'':
*** In the opening cutscene, the ''Normandy'' is scouting a remote space sector for signs of Geth activity -- a task that, as Joker comments, was only given to them to keep Shepard's crew and their knowledge of the impending Reaper invasion away from the still-ignorant majority. The geth were never the source of the first game's conflict and Shepard's superiors know that -- but they want to keep it under wraps.
*** A bit later, due to Shepard's newfound ties to Cerberus and because of their repeated claims about the Reapers, the Citadel Council agree to reinstate Shepard's Spectre status, under the provision that they limit their movements and jurisdiction ''only'' to the Terminus Systems. Luckily for Shepard, this is ''[[ReassignmentBackfire exactly]]'' where they need to be to stop the Collectors from attacking human colonies.
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': Listening Post X-19 can be found near what was once the Rachni homeworld and is described as this due to the fact there has been no sentient life in the star cluster for over 2000 years.
* Detective Adachi of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' was reassigned to Yasoinaba after an unspecified incident. By his account it was a minor slip-up, [[spoiler:though considering his actions in-game one can assume that the actual reason was much more serious.]] His social link in the UpdatedRerelease reveals more: [[spoiler:it was something minor, or rather, a lot of minor things. Apparently he's always had the motivation issues he demonstrates in Inaba, including slacking on his paperwork and not treating his superiors with due respect. It turns out acting like TheMillstone to a busy metropolitan police force is a fantastic way to get reassigned to the boonies without anyone going to the trouble of firing you.]]
* In ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire,'' Minister Sheng gets "promoted" to govern Tien's Landing, a small, middle of nowhere, and unimportant town. Sheng claims this is because his superior wanted him out of the way so Sheng couldn't take their job, but it's just as likely to be because he's a whiny Wangst douche. If you like, you get him out of his slump to the Imperial City and a possible promotion or [[VideogameCrueltyPotential drop him in it with a powerful judge]] to advance your own plans.
* In the JustifiedTutorial of ''VideoGame/XBeyondTheFrontier'', the flight controller will [[WhatTheHellPlayer warn you off if you shoot at the Terran mothership]]. He'll eventually threaten to send you to a radar station in Alaska. Do it again and you get a NonStandardGameOver.
* In ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'', Alfonso gets removed from his patrol detail of the bustling Mid-Ocean trade routes and reassigned to a station in the economically-important but extremely isolated Ixa'taka. While Ixa'taka is home to a vibrant society with its own rich history and culture, the Valuan Empire sees it as little more than uncivilized savages living in trees, so it's definitely this trope.
* This is heavily implied to be the reason for the titular ''[[VideoGame/SpaceStation13 Space Station 13's]]'' existence.
* After failing three missions in a row in ''VideoGame/{{Wings}},'' the player gets demoted to a lowly trooper in the trenches. Even considering the high casualty rate among fighter pilots, this sounds like a death sentence and definitely is one of few bad endings.
* In ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'', it's very heavily implied that Prince [=LaCroix=] was sent to 're-take' Los Angeles for [[AncientConspiracy the Camarilla]] as a way of punishing him. Los Angeles has not been Camarilla territory, even nominally, for nearly a century, and is the centre of a low-intensity war between the Anarchs of the California Anarch Free State and the Sabbat who are pushing up through Mexico. [=LaCroix=] was also rather pointedly not given the troops or the financial backing to make any headway. As it is, he's stuck with a hollow title, subordinates who openly disrespect him, and a sphere of influence that all but stops on the doorstep of his office building.
* In ''VisualNovel/RisingAngels'', Natalie starts the game having just returned from a long solitary posting to a listening post in a swamp. She didn't like it at all, and is very glad to be back doing "real" work on a refreshingly solid, metallic ship. She considers it an injustice that she got sent there when "inferior" classmates got better assignments (and often failed at them). It's not stated, but it's not impossible that she got sent there for just such an attitude.
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'': Helena was kicked out of the CIA and assigned to the Secret Service because [[spoiler:[[BigBrotherInstinct she shot her sister's abusive boyfriend in the leg]].]] If you think it's stupid that Helena was given ''the most elite and prestigious security detail in US law enforcement'' as punishment... [[FridgeBrilliance you're onto something]]. [[spoiler:[[BigBad Simmons]] assigned Helena as a weak link in the President's security detail so that he could kidnap her sister and blackmail her into helping assassinate the President]].
* ''[[VideoGame/RebelAssault Rebel Assault II]]'' has a cutscene in which an Imperial officer threatens an inattentive stormtrooper with transfer to "a refuse barge, where you'll stay for the next 20 years," for any further lapses in concentration. Amusingly, neither notices until far too late that Rebel agents are stealing one of the top secret Imperial fighters they're guarding.
* ''VideoGame/TotalWar'' series:
** In almost all the historical entries, as the [[BadassFamily ruling family of your faction]] expands, it is inevitable that [[BigScrewedUpFamily a few members will come along with several detrimental traits and no redeeming qualities]]. Rather than allow them to sit around [[InTheBlood polluting your family line with their negative traits]], [[LosingTheTeamSpirit decreasing the morale]] of your soldiers as [[GeneralFailure Generals]], and/or [[CorruptCorporateExecutive embezzling and causing unrest in your cities as governors]], you have two options to deal with them: this trope or pull a UriahGambit. Since even the worst Generals still get a bodyguard unit of tough heavy cavalry, it can be more beneficial to leave them alive. Simply send them to far reaches of your territory and have them build a fort. They can simply sit and act as a unit of heavy cavalry guarding the frontier.
** ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammerII'' has several Legendary Lords start their campaigns far from their nominal holdings. While the [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist]] reason is to give them all growing room, Creator/CreativeAssembly often uses this trope to justify it:
*** Morathi starts the game to the south of the Druchii holdings, far from her jealously-controlled fortress of Ghrond. Her opening narration states that she let Malekith banish her there after a spat since she wanted to establish a foothold anyway.
*** Malus Darkblade starts both campaigns in Lustria, pretty much exactly at the opposite corner of the map from the one territory he holds, which is in Dark Elf territory where it belongs. He actually gets the choice of staying in Lustria to fight a nomad campaign from his Black Arc funded by selling off his native holdings, or disbanding the expedition for a traditional Dark Elf campaign by bribing his superiors to let him return back to said Dark Elf territory.
*** Nakai the Wanderer starts Mortal Empires far to the north, in Norscan territory, generally a place Lizardmen have no business being. The explanation is the Slann teleported him where he was needed most[[labelnote:More realistically]]The more traditional Lizardman lands (such as Lustria) were already densely-populated and more map space wouldn't be added until a later patch. Nakai's mechanics also ignore habitability and encourage him to spread his faction's settlements wide, making him the only Lizardman Lord who could have a playable campaign anywhere else.[[/labelnote]].
*** Repanse de Lyonesse starts her campaigns in the middle of an errantry war in the Khemrian desert, half a map away from Brettonia proper, with the province of Lyonesse under the control of a vassal. Of course this is the point of an errantry war, but the breathtakingly elitist Brettonian nobility have been known to uses excuses like this to get rid of peasants who "rise above their station" to become a knight -- such as Repanse. Repanse herself has dialogue indicating she'd rather be literally anywhere else, showing that she's totally aware of this.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'': It's not like [[HellholePrison Titania]] offered much opportunity for career advancement to begin with, but after failing to stop Velvet escaping at the start of the game, Oscar Dragonia isn't heard from for over half the game -- talking to certain {{Non Player Character}}s reveals he'd been disciplined by being assigned milk runs in the boonies. When you do see him again, he's being handed a dead-quiet governor position on Yseult, a far-flung island chain (allegedly) better known as a honeymoon destination than for strategic importance. When the player party screw that up for him, he gets reassigned to a barely-inhabited marshy shithole in the middle of nowhere, armed with a prototype device that he's more or less told will kill him when activated.
** Incidentally, his post at Yseult was originally held by his half-sister Teresa Linares, who was ''also'' sent there as a punishment following her fight with Velvet's crew at her original post, Hellawes.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Hitman|2016}}'', the target in the mission "The Chameleon" is a MasterOfDisguise currently impersonating a general to gain access to an air force base. At one point he can be heard threatening a guard that if he doesn't become more co-operative he'll find himself shoveling penguin guano at [=McMurdo=].
* In ''VideoGame/TheDarksideDetective'', the Darkside Division is the least respected and most poorly funded branch of Twin Lakes Police Department, with only two officers. The junior officer, Dooley, is mentioned to have been assigned to the DSD after his ditziness caused one disaster too many. (According to supporting materials, the senior officer volunteered to serve in the DSD, but only because he misunderstood what "DSD" stood for.)
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'': Between the captain of the local guard not knowing what color an emerald is (though otherwise he's at least competent at daily duties and takes his job of hunting down criminals seriously), and the corrupt consul hardly being the brightest bulb, it's pretty clear that Mor Ardain has been using Gormott as a dumping ground for people they don't want at home. Though over the course of the game this changes, due to [[spoiler:Mor Ardain itself slowly becoming uninhabitable, which is why they took over Gormott in the first place]]. At least one NPC [[InvokedTrope got himself reassigned on purpose]], reasoning that doing so was probably safer and easier than being posted in an actual war zone.
* ''Videogame/SunlessSkies:'' If you join up with the Ministries and make too many cockups, you'll get reassigned to the head of the Department of Well Exploration. Sounds bad enough, but in this universe Wells are {{Unrealistic Black Hole}}s that imprison nightmarish things even the stars could not get rid of and that, to be quite honest, only ''you'' are bold and insane enough to even approach, let alone dive in, in the first place. They get you very, very far out of the way on that one.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManX'': This was [[AnIcePerson Chill Penguin's]] reason for joining up with [[BigBad Sigma's]] original revolt; he was sick and tired of his dead-end assignment "piddling around on the South Pole with nothing to do" and wanted something more exciting, making this a ''literal'' example. Of course, it's unclear if his assignment was due to poor behavior beforehand or just stereotyping (he ''is'', after all, a penguin Reploid with ice powers, which all but screams "Antarctica assignment" since he was practically made for the post).
* Clancy from ''VideoGame/DeepFear'' got demoted to the Big Table for "one little mistake": [[spoiler:firing a missile from a submarine and sinking a passenger ship in disputed waters before a war]]. Naturally, [[ItsAllAboutMe he thinks he shouldn’t have been assigned there]], and [[spoiler:it (among other factors) leads directly to his VillainousBreakdown near the end of the game]].
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'': Aurelia Le Guin and [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsFromZeroAndTrailsToAzure Randy Orlando]] received "[[AnOfferYouCantRefuse offers]]" to join Thors Military Academy's branch campus as staff, so that the government could continue to make use of their skills while also keeping an eye on them and separating them from their closest comrades. Le Guin describes the branch campus as a whole as a "trash bin" where the government can place people with "problematic" backgrounds, as even most of the students there were prevented from attending the main campus, where the crown prince would be attending.
* ''VideoGame/PathfinderWrathOfTheRighteous'' gives us Daeran, an amoral hedonist and a Count related to the Queen who accompanies you as you try to save your city from a demonic invasion for sport. He has life-saving healing powers, but only accompanies you on a lark. His own staff and guests are killed by demons in front of him, and he's not moved by anger or sadness or compassion for them; he just decides fighting demons would be fun for a bit. After that, he has no plans other than feast, have sex with AnythingThatMoves, and run off to the next revel as soon as he's bored with the adventure. He's present when mysterious forces imbue you with extreme powers and gets similar gifts, but sets off to squander them with three elven prostitutes while the rest of the country fights an existential war against a literal demonic invasion. Rather than let his new, awesome, life-saving powers go to waste, LadyOfWar and FourStarBadass Queen Galfrey drops this on him, and the laws and mores of his kingdom do not let him say no:
-->Queen Galfrey: "No matter. I trust you will forgive your sovereign for the rather brusque summons. Especially when you learn what prompted it." The queen makes a stately gesture in your direction. "As you are aware, (Player Character) has recently been appointed my Knight-Commander of the Fifth Crusade. I spent a long while pondering who to appoint to the highly sensitive post of Commander's Field Attaché and Advisor Plenipotentiary Without Portfolio. Congratulations, Count."
* ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'': The first party member Ichiban gains is Koichi Adachi, a former detective who's currently a pencil pusher at the DMV. He explains later that he was attempting to draw light to a wrongful conviction on his last case, but his former boss [[DirtyCop Horinouchi]] covered up the evidence and busted Adachi down to the DMV because exposing the information would have threatened Horinouchi's promotion to Tokyo PD Commissioner.
* ''VideoGame/TheHex'': As punishment for helping Chandrelle and Dark Lord Vallamir destroy the ''Secrets of Legendaria'' game, Lazarus Bleeze is reassigned by Irving to become a SpaceMarine in the ''Vicious Galaxy'' series, which Lazarus has heard bad things about.
[[/folder]]

*** Morathi starts the game to the south of the Druchii holdings, far from her jealously controlled fortress of Ghrond. Her opening narration states that she let Malekith banish her there after a spat since she wanted to establish a foothold anyway.
*** Malus Darkblade starts both campaigns in Lustria, pretty much exactly at the opposite corner of the map from the one territory he holds, which is in Dark Elf territory where it belongs. He actually gets the choice of staying in Lustria to fight a nomad campaign from his Black Arc funded by selling off his native holdings, or disbanding the expedition for a traditional Dark Elf campaign.
*** Nakai the Wanderer starts Mortal Empires far to the north, in Norscan territory, generally a place Lizardmen have no business being. The explanation is the Slann teleported him where he was needed most[[labelnote:More realistically]]The more traditional Lizardman lands were already densely-populated and more map space wouldn't be added until a later patch. Nakai's mechanics also ignore habitability, making him the only Lizardman Lord who could have a playable campaign anywhere else.[[/labelnote]].
*** Repanse de Lyonesse starts her campaigns in the middle of an errantry war in the Khemrian desert, half a map away from Brettonia proper, with the province of Lyonesse under the control of a vassal. Of course this is the point of an errantry war, but the breathtakingly elitist Brettonian nobility have been known to uses excuses like this to get rid of peasants who "rise above their station" -- such as Repanse. Repanse herself has dialogue indicating she'd rather be literally anywhere else.

* In ''VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift'', [[spoiler:Hazama has Makoto assigned to Ikaruga to keep her from interfering with his plan to {{mindrape}} Noel and Tsubaki. The fallout of this plot is still in the air, but unlike all his other gambits, pulling off his work with those two is all the good he's getting out of this one. The negative fallout starts from one simple fact -- ''she's alive and reunited with Noel!'' [[labelnote:More]]In ''Slight Hope'', Makoto visits the ''Wheel of Fortune'' timeline and witnesses some of its events, including a battle with Hazama himself, before Rachel sends her back to the active timeline. The rest of the fallout is likely to be explored in the next game.[[/labelnote]]]]

* Chor Tempest in ''Anime/{{Simoun}}'' gets assigned to ''Messis'', a mediocre border patrol AirborneAircraftCarrier, after failing to properly protect their previous base of operations, ''Arcus Prima''.
* The title teacher in ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' is relocated far north in one episode. For some reason his students are already waiting at the new school.
* In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', Giovanni repeatedly threatens to reassign the Team Rocket trio to Antarctica. At the beginning of ''Battle Frontier'' he ''does''. The only reason they're still following Ash is because Giovanni has long since stopped caring about them. [[spoiler:Until the final episode of ''Sinnoh League Victors'', when he decides that he has a use for them and reassigns them to Unova. They proceed to actually act competent for much of the beginning of ''Black & White'' before reverting to their old selves.]]
* Trigger-happy SmallGirlBigGun Kome Sawaguchi from ''Manga/BlueSeed'' points to this trope when the team commander asks here to exercise a little self-control. "If I could control myself, I never would have been assigned to this unit!"
* In ''Manga/CodenameSailorV'' Inspector Wakagi ends up being (temporarily) transferred to Siberia (somehow it's within the jurisdiction of the Tokyo Police. [[LampshadeHanging He too wonders how or why]]) by his Superintendent-General for being beaten by Sailor V at solving a case too many times.
* ''Manga/TwentiethCenturyBoys'' features a chapter about Chouno aptly titled "Officer at the End of the Earth."
* The crew of the ''Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor'''s ship gets shipped off to the "galactic boonies" in the second quarter of the series. The series averts ReassignmentBackfire though, as almost nothing relevant to the war with the Raalgon occurs until they're on their way back.

** In ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'', Roy gets sent to the North between the end of the series and [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemistTheConquerorOfShamballa the movie]] [[spoiler:after killing Pride.]].

* In ''Manga/TegamiBachiLetterBee'', [[spoiler:Lag is reassigned to the Cold Letter division, being forced to deliver letters that have sat a long time without being delivered, because the new director doesn't like his trying to become Head Bee, the position that he also wants]].
* The main characters in ''Anime/SoundOfTheSky'' appear to have been assigned to an area with very little going on around them, although no real reason is given as to why they were assigned there.
* Happens to Anabuki Tomoko in ''Anime/StrikeWitches''. For some reason, TheAce and the star of the propaganda movie is transferred to the middle of nowhere in Suomus and then having to raise a squadron out of some misfits. Naturally, she's pissed off.
* In order to protect ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' from [[BigBad Tobi]], the Allied Ninja Army has him sent to an [[TurtleIsland obscure island]] with the 'mission' of documenting the island's giant animals, as well as taming the 9-tailed fox. It flops when Naruto [[TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne senses]] the war going on outside and shows ''why'' they had to resort to trickery.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Marine Grand Line Fifth Branch, more commonly known as G-5, is one of several Marine Bases located around the ''One Piece'' world. As indicated in the name, G-5 is located in the Grand Line, specifically in the second half, the New World, and is infamous for being a dumping ground for Marines who have proven themselves to be inept, insubordinate, or otherwise incapable of acting how a Marine should. Overall, the Marines of G-5 are quite notorious for behaving more like pirates and gangsters than actual Marines, to the point that many of them gleefully enjoy torturing prisoners using numerous extremely cruel methods. Naturally, such an infamous location is just the place someone like Smoker would want to go to, not only to improve himself and get stronger, but also to lie in wait for the Straw Hat Pirates to return from the TimeSkip.
* ''Franchise/{{Patlabor}}'': This befalls Captains Gotoh and Shinobu, prior to the start of the OVA continuity. Both were assigned duty at SVU's headquarters, which sits on reclaimed land that's practically out in the middle of nowhere.
** In Gotoh's case, he was too observant for his superiors liking, so they reassigned him where he couldn't ruffle any feathers; not knowing, [[BatmanGambit it was exactly what he wanted]]. [[spoiler:It leaves him free to operate [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure as he sees fit]], without any of [[ObstructiveBureaucrat their bureaucratic bullshit]] slowing him down.]]
** Shinobu shares the same fate, albeit [[OldShame for a different reason]]. ''Anime/Patlabor2TheMovie'' reveals that [[spoiler:she had an affair with her instructor, while she was a student at the Tsuge Institute, [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten which created a scandal]]. It wasn't long before word of the affair reached the top brass, forcing her to settle for a position with Special Vehicles]].
* ''Anime/PhantomQuestCorp'': U Division is understaffed with a grand total of ''only three'' employees. One of whom is an elderly man who seems to be passing time until retirement (or death), the other's a spinster with a HairTriggerTemper, and Detective Karino, whose desk is shown to be buried under a mountain of paperwork. So it's no wonder that he often outsources his extra assignments to Phantom Quest.
* In ''Literature/KyoKaraMaoh'', Geiganhuber's punishment for [[spoiler:his FantasticRacism and actions that led to the death of Lady Julia]] was to be sent in search of a magical artifact which had long been lost in human lands, effectively a more dignified way of exiling him.
* ''Literature/TheDevilIsAPartTimer'' has Satan under the threat of being sent to Greenland as punishment for not living up to sales figures.

-->'''Ching:''' ''[while serving drinks]'' Of course, Your Majesty. It’s an honor to serve.\\

* The listening posts on the fringes of the Sol system in ''Fanfic/RedFireRedPlanet'' play a theoretically extremely important role in protecting the heart of the Federation, but in practice they're viewed as a dead-end assignment because they see very little action. Although that's exactly why Operations Specialist, Second Class Kybok likes working there.
* This is basically what happens to the rainbowface in ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' fanfiction ''[[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/TheSevenHunters The Seven Hunters]]'' when they are stationed on Earth. This is a slight inversion of the trope, however, because the rainbowfaces actually want to be stationed on Earth.
* Played with at the start of ''Fanfic/TheWrongReflection''. After Eleya apparently set off a political shitstorm back home during Tuvok's conference, her ship gets posted to Deep Space 9 to get her away from Earth. The tricky part's that it worked in her favor since it meant she could attend her sister's wedding.
* Navy of the Isles in ''Fanfic/WhatAboutWitchQueen'' treats being send to Westerguard as this, despite the island being important in Isles' economy. The are some reasons for it. The locals, Weste, aren't all that fond of the Islanders, the place is seen as the virtual end of the world by people on the other islands, and the weather is always stormy, cloudy or rainy. Not to mention that the Navy actually dumps people it doesn't like to see there, which might not be the wisest thing to do in a long run.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8831374/7/The-Power-of-the-Press The Power of the Press]]'' "Evan Black"'s real identity (Franchise/HarryPotter) is being kept so secret that Minister of Magic Amelia Bones has the Unspeakable who did the research on "Evan" sent to Station Zebra in Antarctica to investigate Yeti rumors until further notice.

* Creator/AAPessimal's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' fic ''Bungle in the Jungle'' deals with the political fallout at the end of the canonical novel ''Literature/{{Snuff}}''. Lucinda Rust, sister of Gravid, cannot be inhumed by order of the Patrician. But the Guild of Assassins chooses to reassign a embarrassing liability as resident Guild representative to a distant tropical plague-pit.
* The canonical ruler Prince Heinrich of Zlobenia is made insecure by one of his Army generals being not only a popular leader who tends to win his battles, but also a younger son of the Romanoff family. Heinrich is also aware that Zlobenia is one of ''those'' countries which came into existence when the former [[UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} Rus Empire]] broke up. Zlobenia[[note]]explicitly likened to the Austro-Hungarian Empire which shattered after a destructive war[[/note]] is a potentially unstable country with a dozen different ethnicities which only holds together because everybody hates the Borogravians more than they hate each other. The biggest single ethnicity is Rus. And the Romanoffs used to be the Tsars. Heinrich dispoes of a rival by sending Grand Duke General Casimir Romanoff to distant [[UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica Rimwards Howondaland]] as Ambassador.
* In the ''My Little Pony'' FanFic "FanFic/WeRentTheNight", Trixie Lulamoon is given the choice of joining The Night Guard or facing prison, after the Alicorn Amulet incident. Cut to six months later, at which point she is has been shipped off to a remote guard outpost with only half a dozen guards, on the isolated island community of Wash Margin. As it turns out, ''all'' of the guards stationed there were ReassignedToAntarctica for various reasons (knocking over The Princess's cake and blaming it on her bird, hitting on a princess, etc) .
* In ''FanFic/{{Webwork}}'', Agent Jones is placed in charge of the new [[AntiMagicalFaction Section 0]]... which currently consists of three agents (him included), and operates out of one of Section 13's repurposed ''closets''. Viper [[LampshadeHanging asks what he did to deserve this]]; he notably refuses to give details, but apparently his [[NoodleIncident last mission]] didn't go so well.
* In ''[[http://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-30534-5/ShadowMaster+The+Passing+of+the+Shades+of+Black.htm The Passing of the Shades of Black,]]'' a cadet for the WesternAnimation/MenInBlack is shown to have been sabotaging her fellow cadets in order to improve her chances of making field agent. Rather than have her neuralyzed and sent back to the Air Force, the higher ups take Xander's suggestion of giving her an assignment she'll hate. She ends up as the liaison to the alien race in charge of the porn industry with the offer that if she lasts five years without incident, she'll be made second in command of the Intelligence Division (which is three or four steps away from her dream job of becoming a Branch Director).
* ''FanFic/ThisBites'': The PR disaster that was Enies Lobby causes Sengoku to reassign every Marine that follows "[[KnightTemplar Absolute Justice]]" to the New World to wage war against the Four Emperors and keep them out of the public eye before they make things worse than they already have. Among these Marines include Admiral Akainu and Vice-Admiral Onigumo. For all his faults, Sengoku despises the doctrine of "Absolute Justice" and wanted to dishonorably discharge/imprison those in question (specifically Akainu), especially since that would be the easiest and fastest way to fix this mess, but the Corps needs their abilities too much in face of the rising crime rate.
* In the ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' fanfic '[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4936328/1/Mistress-Ciel Mistress Ciel]] by Archaon, Ciel goes back in time via MentalTimeTravel to make things better. One of the first things she does? Send Elpizo to a post in Antarctica. Better than killing him, though, right?

* In ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged'', this is the basis for Kirito and Asuna's "vacation" in Episode 10. Their guild leader Heathcliff is about to undertake a vital diplomatic mission to gain access to Floor 75, and so sends Kirito to Floor 22 because he's afraid the little {{Jerkass}} will do something to "piss someone off and kill thousands." Asuna is assigned to be his guard, as there’s only a slightly smaller risk of her doing the same thing. Heathcliff does at least try to spin the whole thing as a honeymoon of sorts.
* ''Fanfic/EarthsAlienHistory'': After engineering a border war between the [[TheAlliance Terran Treaty Organization]] and the Invincible Ctarl-Ctarl Empire which [=TeTO=] wins, Aisha Clanclan is removed as ambassador to [=TeTO=], and later she's assigned to TheArk sent to Andromeda just to get her out of their hair.

** Trixie initially thinks being assigned to Ponyville is a case of this, not helped by finding letters from the previous occupant telling her as such (and the occupant before him, and the occupant before them, and so on), causing her to try and spite Princess Luna by making the next twenty-four hours miserable for everyone around her. Then Luna tells her this ''isn't'' the case -- she was asking for more authority, so Luna gave her more authority. Trixie just didn't think things through, like the fact that ''of course'' her first posting would be a small town.
*** Gets slightly less funnier when Corona makes an appearance a few minutes later, and thinks Trixie really has been assigned to Antarctica, due to a mix-up.
*** [[spoiler:At the end of the story, Luna admits that she was lying about that and the posting ''was'' meant to punish Trixie -- Ponyville being so unimportant and out-of-the-way that it would've been a total dead-end for Trixie's political career.]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Ripples}}'', the Guard commander responsible for destroying Sonder Hill against orders is reassigned as warden of [[HellholePrison the Underwater Mines]]. And on top of that, Van considers having an "[[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident accident]]" arranged for him at some point later on.
* The oneshot ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11757317/1/Winter-Has-Come Winter Has Come]]'' revolves around Kristoff being banished to be a part of the Night's Watch off in Castle Black. The official record is that he was a rapist, but the real reason is that he learned of [[BrotherSisterIncest Queen Elsa and Princess Anna's less-than-sisterly relationship]].
* In ''Fanfic/AllGuardsmenParty'' the players encounter a group of Commissars who have been permanently assigned to a Penal Legion training camp. Not to the legion, but the ''camp''. Apparently they were previously attached to an army which managed to desert in its entirety without them noticing.

*** When Andes Primus is later slated for terraforming and colonization, the Death World [[MeaningfulName Polar]] is selected as its replacement.

* ''Fanfic/ChasingDragons'':
** Gerold Arryn serves as [[TheSpymaster Master of Whispers]] for the first few years of Stannis' reign, but after failing to see the Red Viper Rebellion coming he's dismissed and sent back to the Vale to head up law enforcement in Gulltown. And when he screws that up with [[PoliceBrutality heavy-handed policies]] that nearly lead to revolt, he's sent off in quasi-exile to fight the mountain clans.
** For sleeping with an Old Faith member while undercover, and therefore making himself of questionable loyalty in the eyes of some, Ser Harry Flash is assigned to temporarily join the Order of the Sea in the Iron Islands.
* ''Fanfic/MoreThanMeetsTheEar'': Blackbolt was at one point a model Decepticon who was seen as an example for all others to follow. One day, Megatron himself assigned her to a mission to assassinate Optimus Prime, but she failed, and was reassigned to guarding a Decepticon research facility, which eventually lead to her defecting from the Decepticons after Maestro and Subwoofer infiltrated the facility to break Sweetie Bot out from it.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13715486/6/A-Pinch-of-Salt-A-Dash-of-Magic?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=E1yVtWjO8EQTt5yLT_QBktAsvkVviasaaWhRKgelT2o-1643002371-0-gaNycGzNCRE A Pinch of Salt, A Dash of Magic]]'' Umbridge makes such a nuisance of herself that Minister Fudge sends her to a diplomatic station in the Amazon.
* ''Fanfic/RiseOfTheMinisukas'': When Kaji arrives to his regular bar in T-3 to get loaded and discovers that 1) the Noir Minisuka likes to drink (seltzer) here and 2) there are patrons that try to hit on her (regardless of the fact she is eight inches tall), Kaji tells the bartender who told him this latter tidbit that the Minisukas are thirteen years old, he considers Asuka a daughter, and the bartender better tell him the names of everybody who tried to hit on her so he will make sure they get sent to the worst bases NERV has. The bartender does so.
* ''Fanfic/ASupeOfAMan'' features a rare sympathetic example of this trope: Aunt Mary sends Clark to work on the West Coast, an area without any Supes because she's terrified if he works in New York, Homelander might kill him in a fit of envy.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14130473/7/The-Legacy-of-Merlin The Legacy of Merlin]]'' when Dumbledore prevents Minister Fudge from firing the hit-wizards who attacked his wife before he became Minister, he sends them to a Muggle town in Russia, which they can leave only if somebody else screws up badly enough.
* ''Fanfic/ShadowsOverMeridian'':
** {{Downplayed|Trope}} in Chapter 7, where Elyon essentially banishes Caleb and the other rebels from the castle, assigning them to patrolling the city and surrounding area instead, both to express her anger at his recent actions and to try and [[AHouseDivided deescalate tensions between the rebels and guards]].
** Sult, one of the commanders of Elyon's northern army, is a former Phobos loyalist who switched sides shortly before the end of the war. As such, it's speculated that part of the reason he was shipped up north was a decision made by suspicious rebels to get him out of the capital.
* In ''[[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/a-nerubians-journey-warcraft-si.1042773/page-278?post=93647283#post-93647283 A Nerubian's Journey]]'', a particularly troubles Quel'thalas magister gets reassigned to the Banditry Bureau and is blatantly told that not only is the bureau a dumping ground for problem children, but that the prince's intervention on her behalf is the only thing allowing her even that much. While a great deal of high elves do agree with her that the idea they're ultimately descended from trolls is nonsense, her destroying a lecture hall in the foreign kingdom of Dalaran over the suggestion results in several complaints from various kingdoms.

* In the ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'' 1st edition campaign ''The Enemy Within'', the adventurers at one point save the life of an Imperial Elector Count... and learn a lot of embarrassing secrets about his court. So as a "reward" they get sent to Kislev, which is the fantasy equivalent of ''Russia''...

* Happens all the time in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech''. Two notable examples include Aidan Pryde, a Clan Jade Falcon commander who was transferred to the destroyed Falcon Guard (which due to a humiliating defeat was considered nothing but a dumping ground for failures) and Caradoc "Doc" Trevena, a Lyran officer who got sent to the Coventry militia by a commander who took his lack of promotions as a sign of incompetence (in fact, Trevena had been refusing promotions because he was very good at doing the job he had at his current rank: training squads to combat effectiveness). Notably, both of these managed to be enormous {{Reassignment Backfire}}s when these disparaged and otherwise ignored Mechwarriors end up being linchpins in saving the Jade Falcon retreat at Tukayyid and saving the vital factory planet of Coventry from Jade Falcon invasion, respectively, and showing their detractors what-for, usually by watching said detractors [[IgnoredExpert get killed by not listening to good advice]].

* During the VillainProtagonist campaign of ''[[VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront Star Wars Battlefront II]]'', this happens to the narrator when the prisoners on the death star escape and wreak havoc. This seriously pissed off Vader, who consequently then dragged the 501st across the galaxy (to a variety of pretty dire planets) to hunt for the missing [[MacGuffin Death Star plans.]] [[spoiler:This, however, eventually turns out to be their "salvation", when the death star is destroyed shortly after they leave.]]

*** In the ''Bloodmoon'' expansion, most or all of the soldiers stationed at Fort Frostmoth are there because of punishment. It's a freezing island filled with werewolves, naked barbarians, tree-women, and undead warriors. One of the first quests in the Bloodmoon main quest reveals[[spoiler:the Imperial Cult priest Antonius Nuncius]] has this attitude to his assignment, and has cooked up a scheme to inflame tensions in the fort in a bid to get reassigned. If you inform on this, Fort Frostmoth's commander remarks that if the schemer had simply ''asked'' he'd have been happy to recommend a reassignment, but now he's going to recommend that [[spoiler:Antonius Nuncius']] assignment to Frostmoth is extended indefinitely...

* In ''VideoGame/WingCommander'', [[PlayerCharacter Christopher Blair]] gets demoted and ReassignedToAntarctica between the first and second games when nobody believes his claim that Kilrathi stealth fighters destroyed the ''Tiger's Claw''. [[spoiler:He's proven right by the end of the second game.]]

* In the adventure game ''VideoGame/{{KGB}}'' (also known as ''Conspiracy''), this can be your ending if you annoy your higher-ups in the KGB.
** And this is the most lenient NonStandardGameOver, mind you.

* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps'', a side mission that involved recruiting Raikov revealed that, because of [[BadBoss his abusing his power as a Soviet GRU Major by beating personnel up]], they sent him to the San Hieronymo Peninsula after the Soviets abandoned their men for the SALT talks, and things got worse when Gene took over the chain of command at the base on San Hieronymo.
* It is implied in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' that Coldman, the CIA Director prior to the aftermath of Operation Snake Eater, being made the CIA Station Chief of Central America was a result of this trope, [[TheExile Exile]], and KickedUpstairs due to his involvement in creating the Virtuous Mission and Operation Snake Eater.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'': Skull Face was one of Cipher/The Patriots' best cleaners and assassins until he grew resentful of Big Boss hogging all the credit. He led an unsanctioned mission to strike at Big Boss, and Zero reassigned him to an ethnic cleansing bioweapons laboratory in Africa as punishment, which caused the ethnicity-conscious hitman to snap, starting the plot.
* A possible ending for [[spoiler:Norman Jayden]] in ''VideoGame/HeavyRain''.

* In ''Webcomic/{{SSDD}}'' Tessa was assigned to station E11, orbiting Uranus, for ordering Tin-Head to disassemble her commanding officer's car (while drunk). [[http://www.poisonedminds.com/d/20060406.html Earlier]] ([[WholeEpisodeFlashback chronologically]]), when she was considering volunteering for the SuperSoldier implants field test she envisioned herself being assigned to: the arctic, a desert, and a really boring post if she refused the offer.

* The Website/SCPFoundation files make occasional use of this. For displaying either egregious stupidity or horrific disregard for common decency (i.e. rearranging the furnishings of a young blind girl for a laugh), Foundation staff can be reassigned to Keter duty. Keter is the classification used for objects or beings that show an active, intense hostility towards human life, civilization, or existence itself. As they often require incredibly precise and challenging means of containment to prevent wholesale destruction, staff members on Keter duty have a VERY short life expectancy.

* ''WesternAnimation/DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines'': In the episode "Have Plane, Will Travel," the General assigns the Vulture Squadron to a tiny island in the Pacific theater. After another typical unsuccessful round of trying to stop the pigeon, the General reassigns the Squadron...to the moon.

* Marvin from ''WesternAnimation/MartinMystery'' was reassigned to a Center base in Antarctica, largely as an excuse to have a WholePlotReference to ''Film/TheThing1982''.
* In ''WesternAnimation/MiloMurphysLaw,'' [[TimePolice Cavendish and Dakota]] discover that their mission to protect pistachios in the present was basically this: the two are seen as so incompetent that they were given the least important assignment that the Time Agents had, which amounts to "preserve this thing that the boss liked eating as a kid." The second season has them lose even ''that'' job after trying to convince their boss about the events of the season premiere, and the duo ends up getting a job as janitors picking up alien trash in the present day with a different time police organization.
* This trope is discussed in the WesternAnimation/PrivateSnafu cartoon, ''The Outpost'', an attempt to debunk soldiers' gossip that assignment to remote locations was a punishment. It was no coincidence that the cartoon was made in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the most geographically encompassing conflict in human history.

* On ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'', after Clover finally found the perfect boyfriend, fellow WOOHP agent Blaine, he was reassigned to WOOHP's Australian division.

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersRobotsInDisguise2015'': After the Restoration of Cybertron, pretty much all of the then-deceased Optimus Prime's supporters were blacklisted by the High Council, with the justification being the damage they had caused to the planet during the war. For example, Bumblebee is delegated to being a lowly security guard, while Ratchet is forced to remain in exile on Earth. Even once he's resurrected, Optimus stays clear of Cybertron in order to find out what the High Council are up to. When Bumblebee and his team are assigned to hunt down the escaped prisoners of the Alchemor on Earth, it becomes even more of an example as it serves to keep him off Cybertron. This ends up becoming a massive case of ReassignmentBackfire, as not only does Bumblebee's team accomplish all that they were tasked to do, they also manage to expose the fact that [[spoiler:[[MoleInCharge the entire High Council were in fact a Decepticon Cell]] and thus overthrow them]].

For what it's worth, the real-life US military facility in Antarctica ([=McMurdo=] Sound) is staffed by volunteers... you ''can't'' get Reassigned To Antarctica. (You can, however, get reassigned to places that make you ''wish'' you were in Antarctica, such as Fort Polk.) The Japanese actually have a succinct word for this act: ''matsurikomu'' (祭り込む), which is translated to "place an obnoxious person in an out-of-the-way post to be rid of him."[[note]]but is written with kanji meaning "worship" and "pack into a group", making it an intersection of this trope with KickedUpstairs by way of JapanesePoliteness.[[/note]]

* DeskJockey - Someone who works a desk job associated with a more action-oriented profession. Not intended as punishment, but frequently feels like Antarctica when the character was formerly on the frontlines and [[TheChainsOfCommanding would still rather be carrying out orders than giving them]]

(Incidentally, the picture shows actual Royal Marines occupying [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockall Rockall,]] which really is a lump of rock sticking up in the middle of the Atlantic. The UK government claims it because it gives it territorial rights to the sea around it. The Marines don't have to stay there long, thankfully.)

* A US Air Force general was flying home from Europe on Christmas Eve, anxious to spend the holidays with his family. Unfortunately, his pilot informed him that the lavatory system needed to be cleared due to weight restrictions. Also, the only airfield available was in Greenland, at an obscure field near the Arctic Circle. As the general impatiently waited, an lowly Airman trudged out in an ancient pumper truck and began to pump out the system, hampered by a snowstorm and sub-zero weather. As the man did his unfavorable work, the general shouted out the window to hurry the job so he could get back to the States. Not seeing his tormentor, the Airman shouted back, "I'll be finished when I finish!" The general shouted, "Front and center, airman!" and starting to berate him about his poor job and attitude. The airman raised his hand and said, "Look, general! I'm an Airman, pumping human waste out of a plane, on Christmas Eve, in Greenland during a snowstorm! What else can you do to me?"

** ''VideoGame/MassEffect: General Williams was the commanding officer who led the Marine Garrison on the colony of Shanxi during the First Contact war. Infamously, he was forced to surrender to the Turian invaders due to low supplies for both his troops and civilians, no immediate aid or reinforcements, and turian ships bombing the planet form orbit. Despite the justified reasoning for his decision, General Williams was turned into a scapegoat by the Alliance military and made into a pariah in Alliance society as "the only human ever to surrender to aliens". As a result, the entire Williams family was essentially blacklisted from the Alliance. While members of the family were still allowed to enlist, both Ashley and her father were unfairly maligned for being part of the Williams family. Both were given terrible postings, inconsequential assignments, and were constantly being passed over for promotion.
** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'':

** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' Listening Post X-19 can be found near what was once the Rachni homeworld and is described as this due to the fact there has been no sentient life in the star cluster for over 2000 years.

* At the start of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation is tasked with finding [[TheChosenOne the Avatar]] to restore his honor after he spoke out of turn in a war council and subsequently refused to fight back in the ensuing ceremonial duel with [[AbusiveParents his father]]. Ostensibly it's an important duty, but given the fact that the Avatar is widely believed to have died over a century ago, plus Ozai's BrutalHonesty about [[TheUnfavorite Zuko being a disappointment to him]], it's pretty obvious that the whole thing is actually just a SnipeHunt meant to keep Zuko out in the backwaters of the world and away from anything important. [[spoiler:Leads to a particularly epic ReassignmentBackfire when Zuko's experiences in his exile eventually cause a HeelFaceTurn that helps bring Ozai's reign crashing down.]]

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'':
** In the opening cutscene, the ''Normandy'' is scouting a remote space sector for signs of geth activity -- a task that, as Joker comments, was only given to them to keep Shepard's crew and their knowledge of the impending Reaper invasion away from the still-ignorant majority. The geth were never the source of the first game's conflict and Shepard's superiors know that -- but they want to keep it under wraps.
** A bit later, due to Shepard's newfound ties to Cerberus and because of their repeated claims about the Reapers, the Citadel Council agree to reinstate Shepard's Spectre status, under the provision that they limit their movements and jurisdiction ''only'' to the Terminus Systems. Luckily for Shepard, this is ''[[ReassignmentBackfire exactly]]'' where they need to be to stop the Collectors from attacking human colonies.
* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' Listening Post X-19 can be found near what was once the Rachni homeworld and is described as this due to the fact there has been no sentient life in the star cluster for over a thousand years.

* {{Downplayed|Trope}} in ''Fanfic/ShadowsOverMeridian''. In Chapter 7, Elyon essentially banishes Caleb and the other rebels from the castle, assigning them to patrolling the city and surrounding area instead, both to express her anger at his recent actions and to try and [[AHouseDivided deescalate tensions between the rebels and guards]].

* ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'': The first party member Ichiban gains is Koichi Adachi, a former detective whose currently a pencil pusher at the DMV. He explains later that he was attempting to draw light to a wrongful conviction on his last case, but his former boss [[DirtyCop Horinouchi]] covered up the evidence and busted Adachi down to the DMV because exposing the information would have threatened Horinouchi's promotion to Tokyo PD Commissioner.

(In rarer cases, this is used as a [[LaserGuidedKarma Karmic punishment]] for antagonists whose actions don't ''quite'' merit death or prison, particularly [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Obstructive Bureaucrats]] that were JustFollowingOrders. Expect these to be delivered via offhand mention in a WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue.)

** Shinobu shares the same fate, albeit [[OldShame for a different reason]]. ''Anime/Patlabor2TheMovie'' reveals that she had an affair with her instructor, while she was a student at the Tsuge Institute, [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten which created a scandal]]. It wasn't long before word of the affair reached the top brass, forcing her to settle for a position with Special Vehicles]].

* ''Anime/{{Patlabor}}'': This befalls Captains Gotoh and Shinobu, prior to the start of the OVA continuity. Both were assigned duty at [=SVU's=] headquarters, which sits on reclaimed land that's practically out in the middle of nowhere.
** In Gotoh's case, he was too observant for his superiors liking, so they reassigned him where he couldn't ruffle any feathers; not knowing, [[BatmanGambit it was exactly what he wanted.]] [[spoiler:It leaves him free to operate [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure as he sees fit]], without any of [[ObstructiveBureaucrat their bureaucratic bullshit]] slowing him down]].
** Shinobu shares the same fate, albeit [[OldShame for a different reason.]] The second film revealed she [[spoiler:[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patlabor_2:_The_Movie had an affair with her instructor,]] while she was a student at the Tsuge Institute, [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten which created a scandal.]] It wasn't long before word of the affair reached the top brass, forcing her to settle for a position with Special Vehicles]].

* In ''LightNovel/KyoKaraMaoh'', Geiganhuber's punishment for [[spoiler:his FantasticRacism and actions that led to the death of Lady Julia]] was to be sent in search of a magical artifact which had long been lost in human lands, effectively a more dignified way of exiling him.
* ''LightNovel/TheDevilIsAPartTimer'' has Satan under the threat of being sent to Greenland as punishment for not living up to sales figures.

** In [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]], Roy gets sent to the North between the end of the series and [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemistTheConquerorOfShamballa the movie]] [[spoiler:after killing Pride.]].

* In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, Giovanni repeatedly threatens to reassign the Team Rocket trio to Antarctica. At the beginning of ''Battle Frontier'' he ''does''. The only reason they're still following Ash is because Giovanni has long since stopped caring about them. [[spoiler:Until the final episode of ''Sinnoh League Victors'', when he decides that he has a use for them and reassigns them to Unova. They proceed to actually act competent for much of the beginning of ''Black & White'' before reverting to their old selves.]]

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Marine Grand Line Fifth Branch, more commonly known as G-5, is one of several Marine Bases located around the One Piece world. As indicated in the name, G-5 is located in the Grand Line, specifically in the second half, the New World, and is infamous for being a dumping ground for Marines who have proven themselves to be inept, insubordinate, or otherwise incapable of acting how a Marine should. Overall, the Marines of G-5 are quite notorious for behaving more like pirates and gangsters than actual Marines, to the point that many of them gleefully enjoy torturing prisoners using numerous extremely cruel methods. Naturally, such an infamous location is just the place someone like Smoker would want to go to, not only to improve himself and get stronger, but also to lie in wait for the Straw Hat Pirates to return from the TimeSkip.

* ''LightNovel/TheDevilIsAPartTimer'' has the threat of being sent to Greenland as punishment for not living up to sales figures.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'': A RunningGag among the crew of the ''Cerritos'' is that Starbase 80 is a terrible place to work. Even Mariner, the MilitaryMaverick who is used to spending nights in the brig, is [[AnythingButThat aghast]] when Ransom threatens to transfer her there if she steps out of line. He later admits that it was an empty threat, and that [[EveryoneHasStandards even he]] wouldn't subject someone to that kind of punishment. So it comes as quite a shock to him later that year when Captain Freeman actually does transfer Mariner there in a fit of [[MisplacedRetribution misplaced rage]]. Exactly how Starbase 80 came to be such a hellhole is never made clear, but the one glimpse the audience sees of it paints it as a [[GreenIsGross pretty gross place]] with poor morale and discipline.

When a character is transferred to a remote and/or unpleasant outpost as punishment for annoying the higher-ups for some reason (bad job performance, personality conflicts, or perhaps ''good'' job performance that a superior finds [[KlingonPromotion threatening]]).

The others there are often a RagtagBunchOfMisfits at best, since their BackStory will always include a reason to have been sent there too. This is often the [[BackStory explanation]] of why a response to a new danger which first appeared at such a remote outpost is so feeble, allowing the threat to swell to the proportions it will later assume: the characters there are a mostly useless and rotten lot. Of course, sending TheHero there almost always guarantees a ReassignmentBackfire.

* The Wiki/SCPFoundation files make occasional use of this. For displaying either egregious stupidity or horrific disregard for common decency (i.e. rearranging the furnishings of a young blind girl for a laugh), Foundation staff can be reassigned to Keter duty. Keter is the classification used for objects or beings that show an active, intense hostility towards human life, civilization, or existence itself. As they often require incredibly precise and challenging means of containment to prevent wholesale destruction, staff members on Keter duty have a VERY short life expectancy.

* Officially, The Tick in ''Fanfic/TheTickvsMyHeroAcademia'' is in Japan on his own initiative, but to the Americans this is the trope they want to be in play. When Endeavor requested his return, the American response was a paper with "NO GIVE BACKSIES" printed on it.

* ''FanFic/TheWeaverOption'':

* Blackbolt in ''Fanfic/MoreThanMeetsTheEar'', was at one point a model Decepticon who was seen as an example for all others to follow. One day, Megatron himself assigned her to a mission to assassinate Optimus Prime, but she failed, and was reassigned to guarding a Decepticon research facility, which eventually lead to her defecting from the Decepticons after Maestro and Subwoofer infiltrated the facility to break Sweetie Bot out from it.