History Main / ThePoliticalOfficer

* Revell's WW2 Red Army Infantry contains 50 figures representing Russian [=WW2=] infantry in summer uniforms. Among an impressive range of figures is an unarmed officer wearing a different-styled uniform in commanding pose who, when you study the mode of dress closely, turns out to be an NKVD political commissar.

* Film/K19TheWidowmaker, being set aboard the Soviet Union's first nuclear submarine, has a political officer whose function is not only to monitor the officers and crew, but to assist in the launch of the boat's nuclear weapons and to provide periodic "lessons" in the evils of capitalism, reminding the crew "Series/WhyWeFight".

* Major Lebedjev from ''VideoGame/WorldInConflict: [[ExpansionPack Soviet Assault]]'' is depicted as a shrewd pragmatist who is more concerned with the overall success of the Soviet invasion of the US mainland than with the troops' blind obedience to the party line. Once it becomes obvious that the invasion has failed, he backs Colonel Orlovsky in his decision to retreat to the coast and to evacuate. Ironically, [[spoiler:one of the Orlovsky's overzealous subordinates, Captain Malashenko, then shoots him for treachery. While Lebedjev publicly praises him to save face, he covertly arranges for the most radicalized units to be put under Malashenko's command and sent on a suicide raid on Seattle, while the main remnant of the Soviet force makes its way to the evac point]].

* Series/StargateSG1: Major Davis is introduced as the official liaison between Washington and the SGC and later with other nations on Earth. Despite the main element of his role being a BearerOfBadNews who shows up when a crisis threatens the entire planet he is treaty sympathetically by the main characters and shows himself to be a capable, reasonable and heroic officer when required.

* The Loyalty Officer in ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}''. Their loyalty is directly to Friend Computer, not the Team Leader. (Although the nature of ''Paranoia'' is such that neither of them are likely to be all that loyal.) Things get [[ComedicSociopathy particularly entertaining]] if they're secretly a member of a [[FlockOfWolves particularly treasonous secret society]], or [[ChaoticNeutral Friend Computer reassigns the Mandatory Bonus Duties in the middle of the mission]].

* ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'' has Chi Fu, an Imperial bureaucrat attached to Shang's unit. He's extremely annoying, has little faith in Shang because he thinks Shang got his promotion through nepotism, and suggests killing Mulan for being a woman ''after'' she just saved everyone's lives.

* The 1991 Czech comedy ''Tankový prapor'' (Tank Battalion) has TheNeidermeyer version. After the soldiers get drunk and sing a subversive song, he threatens to have them all arrested, but 'accidentally' falls into a sewer and drowns. The next day the commanding officer reveals that before this incident he'd written a report on the protagonist that would have ended his chance of university, [[AFatherToHisMen but he tears it up instead]].

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': [[TheNeidermeyer Corporal Strappi]] from ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'', a particularly loathsome example. He takes cruel delight in bullying his soldiers (to the point that one of them throws up whenever he starts yelling), talks big about patriotism, and when it looks like he's actually going to get sent to the front, wets himself and deserts. Oddly, the identities of Borogravian political officers seems to be a secret -- Strappi's status is just rumoured at first, until TheReveal. As such they're probably more of a cross between this trope and [[StateSec Stasi-esque]] informants, presumably to avert the inherent risk of [[UnfriendlyFire fragging]] that comes with the role (and indeed, the squad were fairly openly planning to do this at the first opportunity before he deserted). The finale reveals he was actually there to investigate the paperwork irregularities around the Sergeant in a relatively mundane InternalAffairs operation, and when his actions come to light (not just the desertion but his general conduct) he's put up on official charges himself.

The Political Officer is an officer attached to a unit, usually outside the regular chain of command, who ensures that the regular soldiers and officers obey orders and [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies conform to the government's ideology]]. Theoretically this is a means of 'civilian' control over the military, but in practice the focus is on keeping the military loyal to the government and its principles -- even at the people's expense.

* Muruta Azrael from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' serves this role on the ''Dominion''. While officially just an "observer" from some committee, he's in fact the head of the Blue Cosomos terrorist group. He's really there to make sure his plans go right, even undermining the ship's Captain, who eventually turns on him.

* Tom Sharpe’s apartheid-era South African satires ''Literature/RiotousAssembly'' and ''Literature/IndecentExposure'' feature Luitnant Verkramp, who is much feared and distrusted because of he is believed to be an agent of BOSS (although whether this is actually true, is open to question given that Konstabel Els, in particular, is believed to be of mixed race and well known for his enthusiasm for inter-racial intercourse, consensual or otherwise).

* The Chinese film ''Assembly'', which takes place during and after [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors the Chinese civil war of 1946-49]], has two political officers, both on the Communist side. The first one dies in combat after effectively leading an attack on a Nationalist-held town, and this so enrages the protagonist Captain Gu Zidi that he tries to have the Nationalist prisoners executed (his soldiers refuse to shoot, likely because they could simply recruit the poorly led and demoralized Nationalists into the Communist army instead). In the aftermath, he is posted to a more dangerous battlefield and requests a new political officer to stop him making that sort of mistake again. The new man is a former teacher, whose main qualification is being able to read and write, rather than any sort of ideological rigour, and while is unused to the rigor of combat, is still enormously popular with Gu's men.

** Most badass of them all is Commissar Sebastian J. Yarrick. He lost an arm in battle with an Ork Warboss and retorted by ''decapitating the Warboss'', only "allowing himself the luxury of passing out" after the battle was won. He then had the Warboss's Power Klaw converted into a prosthetic for his own missing arm, powered (presumably) by the sheer badass he radiates. The Orks have immortalized him in fearful legends, believing that he cannot be killed and that a single glance from him brings death. On hearing the latter part of this legend, Yarrick decided that if the Orks believed he had an evil eye, then by the Emperor, he would HAVE an evil eye. He then proceeded to PLUCK OUT HIS OWN EYE AND HAVE IT REPLACED WITH A LASER-SHOOTING BIONIC EYE. The short version? This man makes ''[[BloodKnight Orks]]'' [[HorrifyingTheHorror wet themselves]]. There's also something of a self-reinforcing cycle thanks to Orks possessing magical ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve abilities.
** Ultramarines novel series features a commissar that was actually terrified of his regiment colonel. This is rather strange, given that commissars stand outside of command structure and officially outrank anyone in their regiment and have legal right to shoot you if they feel like it after filling in some minor amount of paperwork.
** The Death Korps of Krieg are such MartyrdomCulture due to trying to atone for past misdeeds, that Commissars assigned to the Korps are said to have never executed any of them, and instead had to ''rein in'' their tendency to perform [[SenselessSacrifice Senseless]] or StupidSacrifice. When the Commissars actually tell you to stay alive, you know your priorities are... interesting.

* Valery Sablin, who led a mutiny in 1975 on board the Soviet frigate ''Storozhevoy'' (a "Krivak"), aiming to sail it from Riga to Leningrad and incite a revolution against a regime that he felt was failing. A crew member escaped, alerted the authorities and the ship was stopped in international waters with the aid of Yak-28 "Brewer" bombers (they considered using Tu-16 "Badgers" but realised that launching anti-shipping missiles into a crowded shipping line was a dumb idea). The captain regained control of the ship just before the Yaks actually did some serious damage and Sablin was arrested. He was convicted of treason and shot. This was one of the incidents that inspired ''Literature/TheHuntForRedOctober''.

* ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar''
** The ''Winter Assault'' tutorial specifically mentions that the Guardsmen are [[RedShirt simple humans fighting against the worst monstrosities of the universe]], hence why they break so easily. Attaching a commissar to a squad however makes that squad near-immune to morale: not even a flamethrower will make them run. If they do break anyway, the commissar has the ability of executing a random soldier to instantly restore squad morale and increase firing rate for all nearby squads. And they happen to be [[BadassNormal awesome melee fighters]] to boot... but only three can be deployed at a time. Two commissars in the last two expansions are specifically mentioned to be watching the Governor-General for signs of weakening resolve.
** Taken to ridiculous extreme in second game. At max experience level, shooting one soldier will make your entire army do twice as much damage, run faster than a land speeder and be completely invulnerable to all forms of damage. And there is a trait that makes execute cool down less than its duration.
* Commissar Holt from the ''VideoGame/FinalLiberation'' game. Bitchslaps planetary governors when they forget certain details like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOi3CzZjV0M who's in charge, what gubernatorial duties entail, or rank.]]
* Major Lebedjev from ''VideoGame/WorldInConflict: [[ExpansionPack Soviet Assault]]'' is depicted as a shrewd pragmatist who is more concerned with the overall success of the Soviet invasion of the US mainland than with the troops' blind obedience to the party line. Once it becomes obvious that the invasion has failed, he backs Colonel Orlovsky in his decision to retreat to the coast and to evacuate. Ironically, [[spoiler:one of the Orlovsky's overzealous subordinates, Captain Malashenko, then shoots him for treachery. While Lebedjev publicly praises him to save face, he covertly arranges for the most radicalized units to be put under Malashenko's command and sent on a suicide raid on Seattle, while the main remnant of the Soviet force makes its way to the evac point]].
* Commissar Letlev at the beginning of the Soviet campaign in ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty 2''. However, he was portrayed more as a gently chiding and often hilarious but still tough training officer and the only threats of being shot for cowardice came not from him but from regular officers. Except if you mess around instead of shoot a teddy bear for target practice like he ordered.
** On the other hand, the first Soviet mission in the original ''Call of Duty'' had you covering a sniper while he put down a commissar that was machine-gunning fleeing Soviet soldiers.\\
\\
And the next mission plays it straight: a few dozen soldiers charge at a German line of machine guns with the commissars watching from behind and shooting you if you ever move in a direction that leads away from the enemy (even if you try to collect ammo from dead friendlies).
** ''World at War'' features Commissar Markhov, who mostly yells patriotic/bloodthirsty encouragement through a megaphone, but can occasionally be seen joining the front lines with a submachine gun in hand.
** ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDuty Call of Duty: Finest Hour]]'''s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv2ONRJ9tMQ Commissar Viktor Durasov]].
* Confessors of ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberiumWars'' serves as these for Nod. They serve both as intelligence and religious officers, guiding and educating Militants in the field. In-game, Confessors are an upgrade: they increase the Milita squad's effectiveness.
* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'' features the [[BlackHelicopter Twinblade helicopters]], each one co-piloted by a Soviet commissar. While they don't serve this function in-game, [[AllThereInTheManual the fluff]] mentions that their original purpose was to patrol the edges of battlefields and shoot any Soviet deserters.

The famous notion of commissars being empowered to shoot cowards stems from Stalin's 28/7/1942 'No Retreat' Order issued in response to the German 1942 Summer ''Blau'' Offensive to take the Caucusus, which forbade any military unit from retreating without orders (which in that operation were subsequently given by Operational-level commanders acting against Moscow's impractical orders to launch counter-offensives instead, to the Germans' dismay). Though neutered in effectiveness through losses [[note]]Dedicated and often rather young Communists tended to gravitate to the job, and if anything were a little ''too'' eager to 'Repel The Fascist Invader'. This cycle was self-perpetuating, with the losses requiring constant replacement [[/note]] and official nerfing by the end of the war[[note]]The probably most infamous part of the order, mandating that rearguard units be posted behind the frontline to shoot retreating men, was withdrawn after three months due to commanders resenting [[FascistButInefficient that they were forced to make desperately needing manpower]] ''not'' fight the enemy[[/note]], civilian women in Germany were advised to yell 'Commissar' when facing rape by Soviet soldiers because commissars would arrive and either stop the soldier or (in some cases) execute them. There is little doubt that Stalin's February 1945 orders mandating decent treatment of civilians stemmed from concerns about national prestige and foreign relations, not altruism, but it helped codify the notion that commissars were given to shooting their own soldiers.

Such posts usually exist because the Government or the StateSec [[RightHandVersusLeftHand want a way of curbing the military's power and promoting their own agenda]]. If the former, it is because [[ArmiesAreEvil the military]] is a threat to the legitimate government and so the political officers are 'good guys' for keeping them in line. However, the latter depiction is far more common. In this portrayal the Government and/or the StateSec view the military as a threat to their own power and so (team up to) use the Political Officers to keep it in-line, just as in the RealLife three-way power struggle between the Party/Government, StateSec, and Military in the USSR and the two-way struggle between the Party/Government and the Military in the PRC.

%% Thus, do NOT add an image without going through Image Pickin’ first.

-->-- '''Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt''', ''Literature/GauntsGhosts''

The Political Officer is an officer attached to a unit, usually outside the regular chain of command, who ensures that the regular soldiers and officers obey orders and [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies conform to the government's ideology]]. Theoretically this is a means of 'civilian' control over the military, but in practice the focus is on keeping the military loyal to the government and its principles - even at the people's expense.

* In a manner of speaking, the Sith Lords in ''ComicBook/StarWarsLegacy'' fill a similar role. Though not part of the Imperial Military hierarchy, they oversee military units to ensure they serve the will of the BigBad and EvilOverlord Darth Krayt. Complete with an [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} "Oops, sorry sir"]] fragging of Darth Maleval by disgruntled stormtroopers.

* One is, naturally, present aboard the flagship of the Soviet fleet in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' (he's the guy the captain calls "zampolit", which is short for "'''zam'''estitel' komandira po '''polit'''icheskoy chasti" - "commander's deputy for political matters"). He ends up being mind-controlled by Charles to fire a missile at the Soviet transport ship to prevent the Americans from starting WorldWarThree. The captain commends him for his actions and immediately has him arrested, which the sailors do gladly.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': [[TheNeidermeyer Corporal Strappi]] from ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'', a particularly loathsome example. He takes cruel delight in bullying his soldiers (to the point that one of them throws up whenever he starts yelling), talks big about patriotism, and when it looks like he's actually going to get sent to the front, wets himself and deserts.
** Oddly, the identities of Borogravian political officers seems to be a secret - Strappi's status is just rumoured at first, until TheReveal. As such they're probably more of a cross between this trope and [[StateSec Stasi-esque]] informants, presumably to avert the inherent risk of [[UnfriendlyFire fragging]] that comes with the role (and indeed, the squad were fairly openly planning to do this at the first opportunity before he deserted). The finale reveals he was actually there to investigate the paperwork irregularities around the Sergeant in a relatively mundane InternalAffairs operation, and when his actions come to light (not just the desertion but his general conduct) he's put up on official charges himself.

* In ''Literature/RedStormRising'' we see a few political officers. They are almost invariably incompetent - when the Soviet forces in Iceland are [[spoiler: about to be mauled by an Anglo-American task force and need to surrender]], General Andreyev gets rid of his political officer by seizing on a throwaway remark the ''zampolit'' made about "true courage" by giving him a rifle and ordering him to the front, to inspire the men to some more "true courage".

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''L ''Literature/CiaphasCain'': Commissar Ciaphas Cain, '''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM''', is actually an aversion. While a great many commissars are the shoot-the-men-if-they-get-rowdy type who happily pull rank (they technically outrank anyone who's not a senior commissar, Inquisitor, or SpaceMarine) to ensure regulations are followed, he carefully cultivates bonds of camaraderie with the troops under him so he's less likely to suffer an "unfortunate accident" (see Catachans below). His position of trust and ability to act outside the chain of command has been what enabled him to save the day several times.
* A minor recurring character in the ''Literature/{{Worldwar}}'' series is a Soviet NKVD officer who spends much of his time explaining why certain actions are necessary to preserve communism, justifying them by using the Marxist dialectic.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'':
** Commissars are [[BadassLongcoat longcoat-wearing]], [[CommissarCap conspicuously-hatted]] political officers attached to [[BadassNormal Imperial]] [[RedshirtArmy Guard]] armies and [[SpaceNavy Imperial Navy]] ships. Interestingly, they feature elements of both the "eastern" and "western" stereotypes in that they are inspirational badasses who are calm under fire and lead by example, but can and will mercilessly shoot soldiers who fail to meet their stringent standards. One or the other angle can be emphasised DependingOnTheWriter - minor character commissars are more likely to be the [[MemeticMutation memetically-stereotypical]] trigger-happy {{Bad Boss}}es; while [[Literature/GauntsGhosts Ibram Gaunt]] fits the "benevolent commissar" mold, and Literature/CiaphasCain (HERO OF THE IMPERIUM) is a pure pragmatist who has caught on to the fact that overzealous commissars [[UnfriendlyFire tend to die in combat suspiciously far from the front line]]… [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation maybe]].

* There is a story about a shipwrecked Soviet sailor who was rescued by an American ship. When he saw an officer with a cross on his lapel, he asked why. When told that this was the Chaplain, he asked, "What's a Chaplain?" When he heard the explanation he said, "Interesting. Does he also act as Political Officer?" He was shocked to learn that the US Armed Forces ''didn't have'' political officers - their Two Party-State may have been united by a bipartisan ideology, but couldn't possibly have created a workable power-sharing arrangement for appointing party members to promote American Values in the military (under conscription the military's loyalties were more evenly split, but the all volunteer military leaned Republican).

* Creator/GeorgeMacDonaldFraser explains, in ''Literature/McAuslan'',, in a vivid and memorable way, exactly why the British Army doesn't have political officers and why if it did they would prove utterly ineffectual. "Orientation" of soldiers tends to be insisted on by [[TheBrigadier out of touch senior officers]] who express shock and consternation at the lack of political acumen of the Other Ranks. And who consequently demands the troops be steered with at least ''some'' awareness of why they are in uniform, and of the social and cultural values that they are defending. "Orientation", in practice, tended to be led by dogsbody junior officers who were not especially good at it. It also tended to happen as the last scheduled duty of the week on a Friday, when most men's thoughts turn to weekend leave. And as Fraser's alter ego Lieutenant Dand [=McNeill=] discovered, trying to explain the history of the Reformation and religious dissent (upon which Scottish liberty is based) to an audience drawn equally from Glasgow Protestants and Glasgow Catholics led to a massive pitched brawl. [=McNeill=] also observed that no soldier on earth has a bullshit detector more acutely tuned than the British, as well as a strong aversion to being told what to think.

* Modern ideological dictatorships tend to have these guys in no small number. Communist regimes are perhaps the most obvious, but ThoseWackyNazis and even Chiang Kai-Shek's KMT had them. This is also OlderThanYouThink, with their introduction early in UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars by the Revolutionary government. Any general that failed in battle could expect to meet La Veuve (the Widow, i.e. the Guillotine).

* While the Soviet Union is the most obvious example, it was not the only modern dictatorship (communist or otherwise) to use political officers. Ironically enough, the Nazis established their own variant as the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII war]] went on and gave them increasing amounts of power over time, although they still never became as common or as powerful as their Soviet counterparts sometimes did. Maoist China, Communist Vietnam and their Vietcong counterparts, Republican Spain during the Spanish Civil War, and, Saddam's Iraq also had their own variants, as did many others.

* The Chinese film ''Assembly'', which takes place during and after the Communist/Nationalist civil war, has two political officers. The first one dies in combat, and this so enrages military officer Captain Gung Du that he tries to have the Nationalist prisoners executed (his soldiers don't shoot). In the aftermath he is posted to a more dangerous battlefield, and requests a new political officer, to stop him making that sort of mistake again. The new man is a former teacher, whose main qualification is being able to read and write, rather than any sort of ideological rigour.

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* Film/K19TheWidowmaker, being set aboard the Soviet Union's first nuclear submarine, has a political officer whose function is not only to monitor the officers and crew, but to assist in the launch of the boat's nuclear weapons and to provide periodic "lessons" in the evils of capitalism, reminding the crew "Series/WhyWeFight."

* In ''Literature/TheQuantumThief'' the chen copy clan has served this function since the [[NoodleIncident Dragon Wars]], acting as observers on all Sobornost ships so that inter-Founder conflicts don't get in the way of larger Sobornost goals.
* ''[[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Star Wars]]'': the [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Political_Reliability_Observer Political Reliability Observer]]
* Putin in ''Literature/TheHuntForRedOctober'', who is murdered by Ramius at the beginning. Oddly enough, it is implied that he was actually a decent man. The reason Ramius killed him was because he couldn't be trusted. [[NecessarilyEvil Cold-hearted, yes]]. [[IDidWhatIHadToDo But rational under the circumstances]].
** A sub sent to catch the ''Red October'' is running flat out when its reactor develops a small fault. The technician wants to fix it, but the political officer won't allow any time to be wasted when in service of the Motherland. As a result of such patriotic zeal the problem [[ExplosiveOverclocking escalates]], the reactor [[FailsafeFailure melts down]] and the whole sub sinks with all hands.
* In ''Literature/RedStormRising'' we see a few political officers. They are almost invariably incompetent - when the Soviet forces in Iceland are [[spoiler: about to be mauled by an Anglo-American task force and need to surrender]], General Andreyev gets rid of his political officer by seizing on a throwaway remark the ''zampolit'' made about "true courage" by giving him a rifle and ordering him to the front, to inspire the men to some more "true courage."
* Another Russian example appears in ''Literature/WorldWarZ''.

* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'': The People's Commissioners of Haven's second regime fit this to a tee. Their dampening effect on the competence of "elitist, recidivist" officers (who were liable to get shot, along with their entire extended families, for the slightest imagined disloyalty or failure in battle-based on the French Revolution) was half the reason Manticore won that war. Most of the political officers that have significant time on screen, however, tend to work ''with'' their assigned personnel instead of against them, as generally {{Reasonable Authority Figure}}s. Some even go beyond that, [[spoiler:actively concealing outright treasonous activities and planning, including ultimately overthrowing the Committee for Public Safety and restoring the original Republic of Haven.]]
** And even further beyond ''that'', [[spoiler: some of the commissioners not only become friends of the officers they are supposed to oversee, but in the most famous case, become ''lovers'' -- and one of the most touching love stories of the whole series, to boot!]]
* Creator/CharlesStross's story "Missile Gap" has Misha Gorodin as the zampolit assigned to UsefulNotes/YuriGagarin's ship on the [[Franchise/StarTrek "five-year mission"]] to explore [[FlatWorld the disk-shaped world]] where human civilization [[AlienSpaceBats has been transplanted]].
* [[TheNeidermeyer Corporal Strappi]] from ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'', a particularly loathsome example. He takes cruel delight in bullying his soldiers (to the point that one of them throws up whenever he starts yelling), talks big about patriotism, and when it looks like he's actually going to get sent to the front, wets himself and deserts.

* Barrayar has political officers in the early parts of the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga''. Admiral Aral Vorkosigan notoriously murdered his own particularly scheming one with his bare hands on his flag bridge during the invasion of Komarr, and only dodged serious consequences (other than a demotion to Captain) due to his bloodline. Later, another political officer tries to murder him in return.
** It is implied that while the outcry was intentionally high, he was demoted only to keep the official face on the thing, political officers being a rather new institution and just another tool in the [[MagnificentBastard Ezar's]] box.
* ''Literature/BrokenAngels'' by Creator/RichardKMorgan. The [[PrivateMilitaryContractors Wedge]] are kept under the surveillance of a political officer, so to avoid any problems with him they forcefully addict him to "the wire", threatening to withhold it if he causes trouble. The political officer gets his revenge [[spoiler:when his surveillance reveals the protagonist is planning to kill his former colleagues -- he 'forgets' to inform the Wedge commander of this.]]
* ''Literature/CiaphasCain'': Commissar Ciaphas Cain, '''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM''', is actually an aversion. While a great many commissars are the shoot-the-men-if-they-get-rowdy type who happily pull rank (they technically outrank anyone who's not a senior commissar, Inquisitor, or SpaceMarine) to ensure regulations are followed, he carefully cultivates bonds of camaraderie with the troops under him so he's less likely to suffer an "unfortunate accident" (see Catachans below). His position of trust and ability to act outside the chain of command has been what enabled him to save the day several times.
* In ''Literature/FalkenbergsLegion'', the Soviet-backed International Brigades sent to the Santiago Civil War are controlled by Political Officers. Very much in the Soviet zampolit style, the one featured takes on the Western stereotype.

* A democratic variant in Creator/IanDouglas's ''Literature/StarCarrier'' series with the Senate assigning their "political liaisons" to fleet carriers in order to make sure their orders are carried out. In the first book, Admiral Alexander Koenig ends up at odds with John Quintanilla, the Senate's liaison to the ''America'', who keeps criticizing Koenig's orders and the overall battleplan, even though Koenig's wasn't the one who came up with it. Koenig ends up kicking Quintanilla out of the CIC, which later has political repercussions. For someone who's supposed to "liaise" with the military, Quintanilla doesn't even know how this 'verse's method of FTL works. Naturally, the author only does this for an AsYouKnow exposition.

* In ''Literature/{{Blindsight}}'', protagonist Siri Keeton is a synthesist sent into a FirstContact situation. His job is to translate jargon and create a framework between several specialists in very different disciplines, and is also responsible for 'dumbing it down' and reporting on the crew's progress for the baseline humans in charge back on Earth. The crew's biologist refers to him as 'Commissar' because of it, and is only partway joking.
* A minor recurring character in the ''Literature/{{Worldwar}}'' series is a Soviet NKVD officer who spends much of his time explaining why certain actions are necessary to preserve communism, justifying them by using the Marxist dialectic.

* The Literature/{{Boojumverse}} story "Mongoose", by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear. Izrael Irizarry has an OhCrap moment when the political officer for the SpaceStation he's clearing of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s turns up and starts asking awkward questions. Subverted when Colonel Sadhi Sanderson turns out to be a ReasonableAuthorityFigure who doesn't ask about his MysteriousPast, but is more interested in helping Izrael do his job.
* ''[[Literature/TheThreeBodyProblem The Dark Forest]]'', by Cixin Liu, includes a rare example of a heroic political officer who actually accomplishes things by being good at being a political officer.
* The ''Literature/FallenEmpire'' novella "Discovery and Flight" features a political officer who both functions as a morale officer and loyalty inspector and (possibly) a spy on his superiors. To his credit, he [[spoiler:spends the battle comprising most of the novella encouraging the gunnery crews at great risk to his own life.]]
* In ''Literature/TheMachineriesOfEmpire'', every Hexarchate moth has a Doctrine officer (or at least had in Jedao's times) to make sure there's no heresy brewing among the crew.
* Tom Sharpe’s apartheid-era South African satires ''Literature/RiotousAssembly'' and ''Literature/IndecentExposure'' feature Luitnant Verkramp, who is much feared and distrusted because of he is believed to be an agent of BOSS (although whether this is actually true, is open to question given that Konstabel Els, in particular, is believed to be of mixed race and well known for his enthusiasm for inter-racial intercourse, consensual or otherwise)
* Creator/GeorgeMacDonaldFraser explains, in ''Series/McAuslan'',, in a vivid and memorable way, exactly why the British Army doesn't have political officers and why if it did they would prove utterly ineffectual. "Orientation" of soldiers tends to be insisted on by [[TheBrigadier out of touch senior officers]] who express shock and consternation at the lack of political acumen of the Other Ranks. And who consequently demands the troops be steered with at least ''some'' awareness of why they are in uniform, and of the social and cultural values that they are defending. "Orientation", in practice, tended to be led by dogsbody junior officers who were not especially good at it. It also tended to happen as the last scheduled duty of the week on a Friday, when most men'd thoughts turn to weekend leave. And as Fraser's alter ego Lieutenant Dand [=McNeill=] discovered, trying to explain the history of the Reformation and religious dissent (upon which Scottish liberty is based) to an audience drawn equally from Glasgow Protestants and Glasgow Catholics led to a massive pitched brawl. [=McNeill=] also observed that no soldier on earth has a bullshit detector more acutely tuned than the British, as well as a strong aversion to being told what to think.

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** Commissars are [[BadassLongcoat longcoat-wearing]], [[CommissarCap conspicuously-hatted]] political officers attached to [[BadassNormal Imperial]] [[RedshirtArmy Guard]] armies and [[SpaceNavy Imperial Navy]] ships. Interestingly, they feature elements of both the "eastern" and "western" stereotypes in that they are inspirational badasses who are calm under fire and lead by example, but can and will mercilessly shoot soldiers who fail to meet their stringent standards. One or the other angle can be emphasised DependingOnTheWriter - minor character commissars are more likely to be the [[MemeticMutation memetically-stereotypical]] trigger-happy {{Bad Boss}}es; while [[Literature/GauntsGhosts Ibram Gaunt]] fits the "benevolent commissar" mold, and Literature/CiaphasCain (HERO OF THE IMPERIUM) is a pure pragmatist who has caught on to the fact that overzealous commissars [[UnfriendlyFire tend to die in combat suspiciously far from the front line]]...[[AlternateCharacterInterpretation maybe]].

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[[folder: Web Original]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

--> ''"Soldiers, we have come to avenge you, and [[FieldPromotion to give you leaders who will marshal you to victory. We have resolved to seek out, to reward, and to promote the deserving]]; [[YouHaveFailedMe and to track down all the guilty, whoever they may be]].... All commanders, officers, and agents of the government are hereby ordered to satisfy within three days the just grievances of the soldiers. After that interval we will ourselves hear any complaints, and [[ToThePain we will offer such examples of justice and severity as the Army has not yet witnessed]]."''
-->-- '''Louis Antoine de Saint-Just''', an actual bulletin from UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution.

* The Loyalty Officer in ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}''. Their loyalty is directly to Friend Computer, not the Team Leader. (Although the nature of ''Paranoia'' is such that neither of them are likely to be all that loyal.)

** UsefulNotees/NorthKorea for example uses their Political Officer corps, besides their typical job in a Communist army, as an efficient way to get the sons of high-ranking officials into prestigious and cushy but ultimately harmless positions so that the actual command is left for people with talent.