History Main / StraightForTheCommander

* ''Film/ThePatriot'': This is a DiscussedTrope. Col. Benjamin Martin intentionally targets British officers first in his irregular guerrilla campaigns to sow confusion among the British regulars. He discusses it with his opponent General Cornwallis during a neutral meeting, with the latter calling it uncalled for. Martin questions what would be an "acceptable" level of hostile intent during warfare, and Cornwallis' states his concern is to [[OfficerAndAGentleman maintain order and prevent atrocities committed by leaderless armies]]. Martin refuses to change his tactic as long as other British officers like Col. Tavington engage in pointless brutalities that violate the Laws and Customs of Warfare, and Cornwallis concedes the point.

* ''Series/{{BurnNotice}}'' uses this strategy several times. Referenced directly in a side plot of the pilot, where Michael Westen recommends it to a kid who is targeted by a group of bullies at his school.

* The fallout of this trope is directly responsible for the ascension of Hanse Davion to the throne of the Federated Suns in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech''. His older brother, First Prince Ian Davion, directly led a counter-attack during the Third Battle of Mallory's World, but in spite of being an excellent Mechwarrior and piloting an ''Atlas'' besides, he was identified and killed in single combat by Yorinaga Kurita. Ironically, House Kurita won the battle but ultimately lost the war. The news of the Prince's death on Mallory's World almost turned the campaign into a rout, but Hanse Davion revealed himself to be a far more clever and capable leader than his late brother, and managed to keep his realm steady against the subsequent Kuritan threat for decades.

** An Accidental case lead to the Kentares Massacre and Draconis Combine losing the First Succession War. Coordinator Minoru was overseeing the campaign on Kentares but was wearing a standard DCMS Colonel's uniform. Latha Pischel, a Davion Sharpshooter saw a Colonel out in the open and took the shot, not realizing who he had just killed. The Coordinator's son was already mad and went even madder with grief and ordered the entire Planet massacred by hand. Over 50 million people were killed either by katana or small arms. Comstar personnel on the ground broke their organizations rules for neutrality and smuggled out video of the mass executions, resulting in massive demoralization for the DMCS, and provoking Davion from wavering and ready to break to [[UnstoppableRage a highly motivated force who refused to let that happen to the rest of the Federated Suns]].

Be warned, however, that the commander might be [[FakeWeakness expecting this]] and [[AuthorityGrantsAsskicking may be way scarier than any of his soldiers]], especially if his army uses KlingonPromotion or he is a ColonelBadass or FourStarBadass! A DespairGambit might be helpful in this case.

* A valid tactic in ''VideoGame/WarlordsBattlecry 3'' is to go straight for the commander -- since he's the initial builder unit and able to capture resource sites, taking him out will seriously hamper the enemy activities, possibly even crippling the AI side completely, if they have no alternative builders or heroes. Just watch out, some heroes fully enforce AuthorityGrantsAsskicking and can kill the hell out of that initial fighting force if not properly built and managed.

** Momonosuke and the Nine Red Scabbards quickly realize that, even though on paper Orochi is the one holding Kaido's leash as Shogun of Wano, the truth is that Wano will never be free as long as Kaido still stands; as such, they plan the Onigashima Raid around the goal of taking Kaido's head rather than Orochi's. Kaido, being of the same mind, promptly removes Orochi [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness when the latter is no longer a concern to his plans]] and declares that he will move his base of operations to the Flower Capital. The Raid begins shortly after, with the Scabbards ignoring Kaido's right-hand men and making a beeline for the Emperor in a surprise attack.
*** [=CP0=] observe the battle and agree that it won't matter how many of Kaido's subordinates the alliance takes down as long as Kaido and his officers are able to continue fighting.

Be warned, however, that the commander might be [[FakeWeakness expecting this]] and [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking may be way scarier than any of his soldiers]], especially if his army uses KlingonPromotion or he is a ColonelBadass or FourStarBadass! A DespairGambit might be helpful in this case.

** This is standard operating procedure when dealing with an Ork "Waaagh!" A Waaagh (combination mass migration, holy war, and pub crawl) only comes together when a Warboss is strong and charismatic enough, and killing him all but ensures that the inevitable squabble for leadership among his subordinates fractures the Waaagh. Of course, since a [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority Warboss]] is a 12-foot-tall mountain of muscle with stunning anger management issues, this is easier said than done. Da Orks themselves will also often try this on their enemies, as 1) any Warboss worth his salt would relish the chance to pit himself against his opposing counterpart, and 2) if he wins, it lets him pilfer his enemy's nice hat.

* A valid tactic in ''VideoGame/WarlordsBattlecry 3'' is to go straight for the commander -- since he's the initial builder unit and able to capture resource sites, taking him out will seriously hamper the enemy activities, possibly even crippling the AI side completely, if they have no alternative builders or heroes. Just watch out, some heroes fully enforce AuthorityEqualsAsskicking and can kill the hell out of that initial fighting force if not properly built and managed.

* ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'': Trying to win a mission by capturing the enemy HQ is basically this trope.

* A variation in ''VideoGame/NintendoWars'' where victory can be achieved with HQ Capture on most maps.

* The standard Modus Operandi for just about every general in ''Manga/{{Kingdom}}''.

!!Examples:

[[folder:Real Life]]
* In UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball, this is basically the whole idea behind the 'sack', with the commander being the quarterback.
* The reason that British infantry officers stopped wearing swords in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI was not so much because the swords weren’t useful, but rather because German snipers could identify an officer by him wearing or waving around a sword, and shoot him first. The cavalry didn’t have this problem because all of the troopers used swords, not just the officers.
* In modern times, concern about snipers using this very tactic has led to the phasing out of identifying marks for officers, with inconspicuous rank insignia, and salutes by soldiers of lower rank expressly discouraged. So, BlingOfWar is now no longer worn on frontlines, only in safe and peaceful places. [[ShootTheMedicFirst Medics have had the same problem]], even though [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar shooting them is generally a war crime]] (of course, in today's wars, often one side or another doesn't care about the laws of war -- hence the problem).
* [[UsefulNotes/RichardIII King Richard III]] attempted this at the Battle of Bosworth Field. With the battle starting to tip against him, Richard spotted Henry Tudor and his party riding off towards the army of Lord Stanley, which at this point of the battle was hanging off to the side, neutral. Richard took the men around him and went after Henry. Henry's bodyguards fought Richard's men off, Stanley's army finally interceded on behalf of Henry Tudor, and Richard was cornered and killed. Tudor became King Henry VII.
* This was a frequent strategy of UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat. He would hold his personal forces and bodyguards in reserve until an opening appeared wherein he could go straight in and kill the enemy general. He used this quite effectively against the Persians, scaring Emperor Darius III into fleeing the field. (This was often necessitated by his substantial numerical inferiority. No matter how brilliant his tactics, he knew that sooner or later the much larger enemy forces would wear his men down unless he could take out the enemies' commander.)
** Bonus points to Alexander for invoking ''and'' [[DefiedTrope defying]] the trope '''at the same time and in the same battle''' with his famous RousingSpeech at Gaugamela: different authors gave different versions, but the gist of it was, "should you kill the Persian High King, we would win the battle; should they kill me, we'd just have one less lance in this battle".
* In the last battle of "el Cid Campeador" / "el mio Cid" this was the fear of his wife as she prepped the corpse so the soldiers wouldn't lose morale by learning that their commander was down. This made him TropeNamer for the ElCidPloy.
* Often times the Commander, being as such, had access to better armor (he may be the only one outside his honor guard to have ''any'', depending on the historical moment), so they were the ones that were harder to kill off.
** Averted in the fall of Constantinople when The Last Emperor Of Rome tore the imperial insignia from his armour and charged forward (at the enemy who outnumbered them by more than 12:1 overall) with his men, making this trope impossible.
* In 1943 U.S. military intelligence intercepted a message stating that Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy, would be flying from point A to point B at a certain time. The Americans successfully intercepted the plane and shot it down, killing Yamamoto, the architect of [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII the attack on Pearl Harbor]].
* From the UsefulNotes/WarsOfTheRoses: The First Battle of St. Albans was a battle between armies of thousands, but ended as a decisive Yorkist victory when the Duke of York's men went straight for the Duke of Somerset and killed him. The total number of casualties was less than 100.
* During UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the allies initially wanted to assassinate UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler to end the war. Then they realized that doing so would [[NiceJobBreakingitHero allow a better commander to take his place and only make things worse]], [[GeneralFailure since Hitler was a bad general and getting worse.]] They ''did'' successfully assassinate UsefulNotes/ReinhardHeydrich in 1942, as he was considered far too dangerous, such as kickstarting the Holocaust, and far too efficient at managing occupied territories for the benefit of the German war machine. The way the Nazis reacted to that ultimately led to further assassination attempts being called off. Still, independent of what the Allies thought, various people tried to kill Hitler -- they just all failed, giving Hitler who believed himself to be chosen by Destiny an even bigger chip on his shoulder.
* Notably failed to work with Admiral UsefulNotes/HoratioNelson during the battle of Trafalgar, as the English fleet went on to destroy the French even after his critical injuries.
* Similarly failed to work with Admiral Yi Sun-sin in the Battle of Noryang. His Korean fleet and Chinese allies were routing the Japanese fleet that outnumbered them around 3 to 1 when Yi was struck by a stray bullet. Well aware of his trope, the dying Yi's final order was to conceal his death and maintain the pursuit. His son and nephew quickly pulled him into his cabin before the rest of his flagship's crew could notice, and the latter [[ElCidPloy put on Yi's armor and returned to the deck, loudly beating the war drum so it would look like the admiral was still in command]].
* Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, 1212. The Christian forces were half the Muslim's. Instead of engaging them directly, the Christians took a long detour through a mountain passage [[ContrivedCoincidence they had just discovered]] and went straight for the tent of the Almohad Caliph, which was guarded by chained SlaveMooks. The Caliph escaped, but his massive army was rooted out and the Almohad empire in Spain essentially destroyed.
* The textbook example is probably the Battle of Otumba (1520) during the UsefulNotes/SpanishConquestOfTheAztecEmpire. The Spanish and Tlaxcaltec survivors of the Noche Triste were moving east to Tlaxcala when they were cornered by an Aztec army that, according to the ''lowest'' estimates, outnumbered them 10 to 1. They had lost their cannons in Tenochtitlan and had little gunpowder and only 13 horses left. However, UsefulNotes/HernanCortez knew from previous battles that if he killed the Aztec commander and captured it, the Aztecs would consider themselves defeated and retire, as that was how battles were decided in Mesoamerica. Cortés led a cavalry charge through the Aztec lines, and one of his soldiers, Juan de Salamanca, managed to kill the commander and capturing his standard and feathered helmet. The fact that this was the first cavalry charge ever seen by the Azecs contributed to Cortés' victory: up to that point, the Spanish had used their horses in front of them as pack animals only and the Aztecs had no idea they could be used in war, so when the charge happened their shock was multiplied. The success allowed the Spanish and their allies to retire to Tlaxcala, where they rebuilt their forces before attacking Tenochtitlan again the next year. Right around the same time, the Aztecs were being decimated by [[ThePlague smallpox]] timely caused by a Spanish slave lost during the Noche.
* The idea of a decapitation strike in nuclear warfare essentially involves the destruction of targets which are known to be the location of individuals with launch authority to their own nuclear warheads. The idea only really became feasible when delivery systems with very low warning times (such as submarine-launched missiles) or observability (such as stealth bombers) became available. It didn't last long for two reasons: first, a number of responses (such as devolving launch authority when senior leadership was unreachable) were implemented in response. Second, numerous potential problems were identified with an approach like the enemy managing to order a launch before they could be destroyed or a "headless chicken" scenario[[note]](professional military strategists prefer the term "spasm war")[[/note]] where a country just lashes out with nuclear weapons at every possible suspect in a chaotic fashion. Russia even created a special emergency control device to facilitate this "headless chicken" launch, known as the Perimetr (a.k.a. the Dead Hand).
* The French attempting this strategy is the reason why they ''lost'' the Battle of Agincourt. So many knights tried to capture Henry V (mainly because they were hoping for a literal king's ransom) that they got in each other's way, resulting in the entire cavalry charge being one big easy target for the English archers, after which the unhorsed knights got [[MuckingInTheMud bogged down in the thick, sucking mud]], many of whom then got trampled to death by the knights who hadn't been unhorsed yet.
* Deliberately [[InvokedTrope invoked]] at the UsefulNotes/BattleOfLepanto, where both flagships fired a single cannon shot before the clash to reveal their position to their enemy; the two flagships then locked bows for a vicious seesaw fight as more and more galleys piled onto the melee in the center. Despite nearly being overrun during the battle, Don John led his men to storm the Ottoman flagship, where Ali Pasha was killed, his head raised on a pike, and the banner of the Holy League raised over his flagship, thus breaking the morale of the Ottoman center.
* During UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, in the Pacific Theatre, Japanese officers were often picked off with ease by snipers. After all, they only had to look for the guy who had a conspicuous scabbard by his hip, as katana don't make for very good concealable weapons.
* This was how Texas won its independence from Mexico. After defeating a numerically superior Mexican force at [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Jacinto San Jacinto]] in a sneak-attack CurbStompBattle, the Texans found and captured the Mexican general Antonio López de Santa Anna the next day, after having tried and failed to retreat. The Texan commanders forced Santa Anna to sign the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaties_of_Velasco Treaties of Velasco]] establishing the independence of the Republic of Texas -- much to the chagrin of Mexico's infuriated leadership, who saw the treaties as having been signed under duress and would continue to lay claim to Texas (either in whole or in part) until the UsefulNotes/MexicanAmericanWar.
* During the American Revolution, particularly at the Battle of Saratoga, colonial sharpshooters would specifically target British Officers knowing it would render their subordinate formations ineffective. Many of the German and British military leaders considered this to be in very bad taste as Napoleonic warfare on the European continent at that time period highly discouraged such tactics.
* According to historical records from the UsefulNotes/ThreeKingdomsShuWeiWu period, a Wu general named Ding Feng was famous for this. His standard tactic in battle was to identify the enemy general that was holding the enemy's banner, then charge right for that general and kill him. He managed to survive doing this several times and was rapidly promoted to being one of the most powerful and prominent generals in the kingdom.
* Modern command ships are designed/ retrofitted to be fairly durable, stealthy and fast so they can avoid this trope. Most designs feature no real offensive armament but incorporate excellent point defenses.
* The attempts of the CIA to assassinate UsefulNotes/FidelCastro were legion. Whether all of them actually occurred is anybody's guess, but due to their sheer number, some of them must've been real. Castro of course died peacefully after retiring from decades of power, having outlived many, many of his would-be assassins. Castro once told UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin that the only reason he was still alive was because he personally managed his security detail instead of letting some StateSec official do it for him.
* The story goes that after one too many assassination attempts against him ostensibly ordered by Moscow, UsefulNotes/JosipBrozTito sent back a letter to the effect "Stop or we will send one, and we'll only have to send one". It worked.
* It's suggested that King Harold Godwinson may have actually died this way rather than infamously [[EyeScream taking an arrow in the eye]]. In the earliest records of the Battle of Hastings, [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfNormandy Duke William]] would lead a squadron of knights targeting Harold, [[NoKillLikeOverkill first impaling him with a lance, decapitating him, disemboweling him and finally chopping off his leg]] [[note]] which in medieval terms is euphemistic for his [[GroinAttack penis getting chopped off]] [[/note]].
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* The textbook example is probably the Battle of Otumba (1520). The Spanish and Tlaxcaltec survivors of the Noche Triste were moving east to Tlaxcala when they were cornered by an Aztec army that, according to the ''lowest'' estimates, outnumbered them 10 to 1. They had lost their cannons in Tenochtitlan and had little gunpowder and only 13 horses left. However, the Tlaxcaltecs pointed UsefulNotes/HernanCortez to the Aztec commander carrying the standard and told him that if he captured it, the Aztecs would consider themselves defeated and retire, as that was how battles were decided in Mesoamerica (other versions attribute this info to Cortes's Aztec mistress, La Malinche). Cortés led a cavalry charge through the Aztec lines, killing the commander and capturing his standard and feathered helmet. The fact that this was the first cavalry charge ''ever'' on the American continent contributed to Cortés' victory: up to that point, the Spanish had used their horses as pack animals only and the Aztecs had no idea they could be used in war, so when the charge happened their shock was multiplied. The success allowed the Spanish and their allies to retire to Tlaxcala, where they rebuilt their forces before attacking Tenochtitlan again the next year. Right around the same time, the Aztecs were being decimated by [[ThePlague smallpox]].

* Deliberately [[InvokedTrope invoked]] at the Battle of Lepanto, where both flagships fired a single cannon shot before the clash to reveal their position to their enemy; the two flagships then locked bows for a vicious seesaw fight as more and more galleys piled onto the melee in the center. Despite nearly being overrun during the battle, Don John led his men to storm the Ottoman flagship, where Ali Pasha was killed, his head raised on a pike, and the banner of the Holy League raised over his flagship, thus breaking the morale of the Ottoman center.

* In ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder'' German commanders can call for reinforcements if they're alerted to your presence; taking them out unseen is the best tactic.

* ''VideoGame/{{Tyrant}}'': Some cards have a skill called fear, which means it ignores the opposing assault and attacks the commander directly. Some of the top decks use this and works because every battle pits 2 {{keystone arm|y}}ies against each other.

* During UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the allies initially wanted to assassinate UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler to end the war. Then they realized that doing so would [[NiceJobBreakingitHero allow a better commander to take his place and only make things worse]], [[GeneralFailure since Hitler was a bad general and getting worse.]] They ''did'' successfully assassinate UsefulNotes/ReinhardHeydrich in 1942, as he was considered far too dangerous, such as kickstarting the Holocaust, and far too efficient at managing occupied territories for the benefit of the German war machine. [[KillThemAll The way the Nazis reacted to that]] ultimately led to further assassination attempts being called off. Still, independent of what the Allies thought, various people tried to kill Hitler -- they just all failed, giving Hitler who believed himself to be chosen by Destiny an even bigger chip on his shoulder.

** This is standard operating procedure when dealing with an Ork "Waaagh!" A Waaagh (combination mass migration, holy war, and pub crawl) only comes together when a Warboss is strong and charismatic enough, and killing him all but ensures that the inevitable squabble for leadership among his subordinates fractures the Waaagh. Of course, since a [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority Warboss]] is a 12-foot-tall mountain of muscle with stunning anger management issues, this is easier said than done. Da Orks themselves will also often try this on their enemies, as 1) any Warboss worth his salt would relish the chance to pit himself against his opposing counterpart, and 2) if he wins, it lets him pilfer his enemy's NiceHat.

* In Literature/TheBookOfMormon, [[FourStarBadass Captain Teancum]] manages to bring an end to a destructive war with the Lamanites by sneaking into their commander's tent and assassinating him in his sleep. [[UpToEleven Then he wins the next war the same way,]] although [[TakingYouWithMe he's captured and killed the second time.]]