History RankScalesWithAsskicking / AnimeAndManga

* ''Manga/GiantRobo'':

*** This is later revealed to extend to the World Government as a whole, and not just the military branches. The Five Elders are already implied to be good at combat from their aspects and armaments, but [[spoiler:they ''all'' have Awakened Zoan transformations when accosted (forcing someone as powerful as ''Sabo'' to flee for his life), and once St. Jaygarcia Saturn actually steps into a battlefield by himself he's nothing less than an actual ''demon'', blowing a man's head off with just a glance and giving Luffy trouble even Kizaru could not. The fact that the Five Elders have a HealingFactor makes them even harder to deal with than the Admirals. Once the other four elders step onto the battlefield, the tides are quickly changing to the Marines' favor.]].

*** This is later revealed to extend to the World Government as a whole, and not just the military branches. The Five Elders are already implied to be good at combat from their aspects and armaments, but [[spoiler:they ''all'' have Awakened Zoan transformations when accosted (forcing someone as powerful as ''Sabo'' to flee for his life), and once St. Jaygarcia Saturn actually steps into a battlefield by himself he's nothing less than an actual ''demon'', blowing a man's head off with just a glance and giving Luffy trouble even Kizaru could not]].

*** This is later revealed to extend to the World Government as a whole, and not just the military branches. The Five Elder Stars are already implied to be good at combat from their aspects and armaments, but [[spoiler:they ''all'' have Awakened transformations when accosted (forcing someone as powerful as ''Sabo'' to flee for his life), and once St. Jaygarcia Saturn actually steps into a battlefield by himself he's nothing less than an actual ''demon'', blowing a man's head off with just a glance and giving Luffy trouble even Kizaru could not]].

* ''Anime/YuGiOh'', Yami Yugi used to be a pharaoh and Kaiba was his High Priest. In the spin-off ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', Jaden is a reincarnated king.

* [[Anime/AngelBeats Yurippe]], the leader of [[LaResistance SSS]], is one of the most competent fighter in the series. Same goes for StudentCouncilPresident and the vice president, Angel and Naoi, who is more or less NighInvulnerable [[TheJuggernaut killing machine]] and a GunsAkimbo sharp shooter, respectively.

** The Führer, King Bradley. Justified by the fact that [[spoiler:he's actually a homunculus with superpowers]]. In his case this was true for [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]], [[spoiler: where he is the strongest homunculus, Pride]]. But in Brotherhood, [[spoiler: where he is the ''second'' strongest, Wrath]], all [[spoiler: being a homunculus did for him was give him the Ultimate Eye]]. His skill, strength, and everything else that made him badass were things he worked to achieve.

* Members of the royalty and nobility in ''LightNovel/CrestOfTheStars'' are obligated to service in the Imperial Navy. The higher one's rank, the greater one's responsibility; members of the royalty are at the top of the scale with many decades of required service.

* The Shogun, aka [[spoiler:Masaomi Kida]] in ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' exemplifies this trope in bad way.

* Averted in ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'': Mithril is led by military officers who let the privates and [=NCOs=] do all the fighting, like in real-life armies. [[spoiler:Amalgam is a straighter example, as only people higher up in the ranks get to drive around in Lambda-driver-equipped Codarls -- and the true masterminds have even better ones.]]

* The third season of ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'' shows us what many of the leaders can do once they get serious.

* True in ''Anime/TowardTheTerra'', where supernatural humans called Mu are led by the strongest of them, combat-wise, despite their overall pasifism. The show's AntiVillain, [[ColonelBadass Keith Anyan]], also follows this trope: as the one and only leader of humanity's military force he can still win in hand-to-hand combat against any member of his elite troops, let alone a regular grunt.
* ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'':You would think a mere Departmental Director would be a middle-aged-man-in-a-suit-with-a-gut type of character. However, if the department in question's the [[ChurchMilitant Department Of Inquisition]], and the director in question is Brother Petros, that'd be the last mistake you'd ever make.
* In ''LightNovel/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'', the royalty and nobility tend to be the focus of the action while commoners make up the {{Mooks}} and RedShirts. This is due to the upper classes having control of the distribution of Drag-Rides, the MiniMecha that are used to fight in the setting, with almost all users of the powerful Divine Drag-Rides being royals or nobles. There may also be a genetic component, as compatibility for Drag-Rides seems to be inherited to some extent.

** In ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'', Vegeta tries to invoke this trope in a moment of sheer frustration.
--->'''Vegeta:''' I'm the prince! I'm supposed to be the best by default!

** Vegeta ''constantly'' invokes this trope, at least in the manga. Whereas Piccolo doesn't seem that bothered with being relegated back, Vegeta is completely obsessed with the fact that as a Prince he should be more powerful than Goku. There's literally nothing he doesn't try to become more powerful than Goku (including ''selling off his soul and willfully condemning himself to Hell''. It's only in the fight against Kid Buu, a few pages before the end, that he finally admits that Goku really is better than him.

* In ''Manga/DrStone'', the village chief of Ishigami Village is chosen by a fighting tournament, with the winner marrying the village priestess, who is the previous chief's daughter. Ultimately defied for the current generation, as Chrome is able to outwit the village's strongest warrior, Magma, through his intelligence and he himself passes out during his match with Senku, leading to Senku being the winner and Senku secures the position by using his own intellect to cure [[IllGirl Ruri]] of her illness.

* ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'':

* The Three Kings of Makai in ''Manga/YuYuHakusho''. Raizen, Mukuro, and Yomi control their own parts of Makai, along with vast armies of warriors, and major influence. The strength of the king is the vast majority of the strength of the entire kingdom, meaning the kings are effectively the only worthwhile fighters (Yomi is smart enough realize and take advantage of it by putting together an elite force with the only job of wearing his opponent down in the lead-up to Raizen's death of starvation making war with Mukuro inevitable). It was explained at the end of the third season that a single S class fighter would be more then powerful enough to casually take over the Earth and possibly destroy it ([[PersonOfMassDestruction Sensui causing an earthquake by simply letting his true power manifest seems to confirm it]]), with the same being true for the Spirit World as well (S-class being the qualification assigned to any fighter too strong for the Spirit World's elite to handle)-and as it happens, each of the Three Kings makes a normal S class look [[UptoEleven tame]] in comparison. No wonder S class fights never happened on Earth.

* Averted in ''Anime/TheHeroicLegendOfArslan''. Though Arslan is a competent fighter on his own, those in his group like Daryun, Gieve and Farangis, are better fighters.

** The Gotei 13 is supposed to be ranked according to capability - the higher the rank, the more badass the shinigami becomes. Captains are NighInvulnerable, unranked foot soldiers are CannonFodder. It is possible to become a captain via KlingonPromotion, but only the [[BloodKnight 11th Division]] uses that method, and produces the most powerful captain (called the Kenpachi) underneath the super-powerful Head Captain. Captains have to be good enough to retain that rank, but the rank system really only confirms a shinigami's minimum power level as there two [[AlmightyJanitor lieutenant-capable]] shinigami of lower ranks ([[BaldOfAwesome Ikkaku]] and [[WillfullyWeak Yumichika]], both of the 11th Division).

*** Interestingly, Creaotor/EiichiroOda once noted that Buggy could have become as strong as Shanks if he applied himself.

*** Interestingly, Oda once noted that Buggy could have become as strong as Shanks if he applied himself.
** Applies to the protagonists, too: Luffy is the captain and the strongest, Zoro is unofficially the firstmate and the second strongest in the crew.

** Most rival gang leaders & captains are this way as well.