History RankScalesWithAsskicking / LiveActionTV

* In ''Series/{{Castle}}'', Captain Roy Montgomery is usually seen in his office calling the shots, but in the Season 3 finale, he kicks all kinds of ass. He manages to [[spoiler:kill three hitmen with precision before they can even get their weapons out. Although Lockwood manages to fatally wound him, Montgomery is still able to kill the last hitman with a hidden gun in his sleeve]].

** Throughout both franchises, Red Rangers are often depicted as the best fighters of the team and have the most powerful gear. And depending on the season, there are cases where the ranger is stronger than all his companions put together.

* Nobu Yoshioka, in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Netflix-borne ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'' series, is a leading criminal in Hell's Kitchen, and is revealed in the second season to have been the acting leader of the organization known as "The Hand". He is also an inescapably badass ninja, proficient with multiple melee weapons, who was ''winning'' his duel with TheHero until the nascent Daredevil got clever about it. (Considering what the audience learns about The Hand in the second season, this may circle back to a case of AsskickingEqualsAuthority, as their earliest incarnation as a group reportedly began with them killing their original master.)

* ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand'': Often seen in Roman leaders. Glaber is a strong fighter, while Crassus and Caesar are both outstanding. Even Batiatus manages to kill a gladiator, though he's a NonActionGuy. The gladiators, on the other hand, follow AsskickingEqualsAuthority.

** Throughout both franchises, Red Rangers are often depicted as the best fighters of the team and have the most powerful gear.

* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'': Played straight in "Corporate Warriors." A company had training sessions for its higher ups. Two of them beat each other, two of them got into a fight at a pool hall so heated they were running on the ceiling, and one of them assassinated a man by hanging from a tree and doing an upside down DiagonalCut through the man's neck. The head stayed on until the cops came.

* ''Series/TokusouSentaiDekaranger''[=/=]''Series/PowerRangersSPD'': Deka Master/Shadow Ranger. Leader of the SpacePolice on Earth, he's easily the most badass Ranger on the planet... or, given what we see of his higher-ups, the whole organization. Seriously. The core five actually start slacking off when he becomes SixthRanger, and he has to remind his own troops [[HelpingWouldBeKillstealing he's not going to bail them out of every fight.]] As an example, the character once deflected machine gun fire. ''Using a sword.''

* ''Series/{{Zorro}}'': The various evil ''commandantes'', starting with Commander Monastario, are the only members of the army who can last more than a minute in a swordfight against Zorro. Not that they ever ''win'', of course, but at least they can give him a workout, unlike the rank-and-file soldiers (including Sergeant García), who just get humiliated even when outnumbering the masked outlaw.

* Franchise/PowerRangers: Starting after Lord Zedd was introduced, the BigBad of the season always seems to be the best fighter of them all.

** The title character, Buffy Summers. She's the most combat-capable of the Scoobies. When she left at the end of season 2, the Scoobies picked up the slack without her, and got curb-stomped by common vampires. It got to the point that, after Buffy's death in season 5, the Scoobies actually had to reactivate and reprogram the Buffybot to make ''any'' dent in Sunnydale's demon population.

** Also in the series ''Angel'', it does at first straight. Angel himself a vampire and over two hundred years old, and thus the strongest fighter, and at the same time the leader. In the first season, it is even so that he goes into battle, while the others do only "office work". But from the fifth season and in the comics it is inverted because others join him, which are just as strong as he, or even more, such as Spike, Groo, Illyria, Connor and Faith.

** Even with "Wolfram & Hart" it is playing straight. Because the staff are mostly humans (in the fifth Season also vampires and demons), but their bosses, the senior-partners, are powerful demons.

** Similar to his book counterpart, Euron Greyjoy is known to be the most dangerous figure in the Iron Islands and gives the Ironborn real menace, showing intelligence, cunning, ambition, combat prowess, and competence. This is further established in the show where Euron is credited with the raid on Lannisport in the first rebellion, then he further cements on this during his assault on Yara's Iron Fleet by killing two of the Sand Snakes, capturing Yara himself, and overall taking out half of Danaerys' alliance in one fell swoop.
* This seems to be the case in ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** The high-ranking main characters (who, more often than not, are officers in the virtually pacifist Federation Starfleet) all seem pretty handy in a punch-up. Kirk's martial arts "skills" are legendary, and at various times he takes on big lizard guys and genetically engineered supermen. It's very noticeable in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', where the crew of the eponymous space station regularly kick the asses of [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Klingons]] and [[SuperSoldier Jem'Hadar]] when it comes to a hand-to-hand brawl (Sisko's Q-punch has to rank pretty far up, too). [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] for Dax and Worf, maybe (who at least have the martial arts credentials to back up what we see on screen), and Kira as well (she spent fourteen years fighting for her life in the Bajoran Resistance, what did you think would happen?) and Starfleet training ''is'' pretty well-rounded, but where did Sisko learn to use a ''bat'leth''? (Probably from Curzon Dax, the Federation ambassador to the Klingons.)
** Speaking of Klingons, there's the ''Next Generation'' episode where Worf is trying to defend his family honor, and his second is taken out. As a replacement he chooses not a seasoned Klingon warrior, not a fellow security officer, not the clearly able-bodied Riker, but old, bald Captain Picard. When he gets jumped by two Klingons later [[spoiler:he fatally stabs one of them before help arrives.]] This may partially be because Patrick Stewart is no slouch himself. Go rent ''Excalibur'', which was a break out film role for both him and Liam Neeson, and check him out in the armor. Or ''I, Claudius'' for that matter. The man may have gotten older but he he looks like he could take Riker in a fist fight. PragmaticAdaptation of the actor, perhaps.
** Especially egregious in the two-part episode "Chain of Command," where Picard, Crusher, and Worf covertly infiltrate a Cardassian facility. This would be like asking a naval O-6 skipper to do a job normally performed by Navy Seals.
** In his younger years (and again when he's sent back in time), Picard gets into a BarBrawl with some Nausicans. Bear in mind that this is a MadeOfIron race of guys who like to throw knives at each other for fun.
** One could argue that all Star Fleet officers would be likely to have a myriad of skills because, in Roddenberry's future, you don't "need" to do anything and do what you do in order to improve yourself as a person. If you were given full freedom to do anything, especially with a holodeck, you'd probably be in great shape and know some very exotic martial arts. Sulu was into fencing, Riker was into "Anbo-jitsu" (that blind stick fighting thing he did with his dad), and we see several other officers playing difficult sports. Things like that would make you pretty handy in a fight. Also, in Starfleet, there seems to be a philosophy of fighting in a way that is effective, but avoids killing, something that takes even more skill and discipline.
** Also consider that self-defense was pretty much required training at the Academy. In one of the novels, a class is taught covering not only human but Klingon and Vulcan martial arts (pacifists they may be, but any culture that thought up the Nerve Pinch is pretty dangerous).
** The Vulcans became pacifists only relatively recently in their history. Keep in mind this is the same race that earlier split with one faction becoming the ''Romulans'', who are a close-second to the Klingons in their level of aggression. The whole "logic used to suppress emotions" schtick is outright stated to be a (mostly) constructive response by the Vulcans to their inherently violent nature. In the TOS episode "Amok Time" Kirk and Spock are manipulated into the ''kal-if-fee'', a duel with traditional Vulcan weapons that wouldn't have looked out of place in the Middle Ages on Earth. Such duels are provided for as part of the Vulcan marriage ritual when the prospective bride wants to back out... meaning that not only can Starfleet officers generally (and Kirk in particular) kick ass hand-to-hand, but ''every Vulcan male'' has trained with these weapons in the event such a duel is called by their prospective consorts!
** We also see T'pol teaching Vulcan martial arts to a group of miners to defend themselves against Klingons, specifically focusing on moves to counter the Klingons' preference for oddly-shaped blades.
** In the ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' episode "Blood Oath", for all the guards protecting The Albino, he himself was the only one who put up a fight.
* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'': Played straight in "Corporate Warriors." A company had training sessions for its higher ups. Two of them beat each other, two of them got into a fight at a pool hall so heated they were running on the ceiling, and one of them assassinated a man by hanging from a tree and doing an upside down DiagonalCut through the man's neck. The head stayed on until the cops came.

* Ben from ''Series/{{Lost}}'' seems to have elevated to this status during season 4. Added to the fact he's the MagnificentBastard he was in Seasons 2 and 3, in Season 4 he [[spoiler:is the one who takes out Keamy, that season's BigBad]].
* In ''Series/TwentyFour'' the villains get deadlier the higher up the villain authority ladder you go.
* ''Series/TokusouSentaiDekaranger''[=/=]''Series/PowerRangersSPD'': Deka Master/Shadow Ranger. Leader of the SpacePolice on Earth, he's easily the most badass Ranger on the planet...or, given what we see of his higher-ups, the whole organization. Seriously. The core five actually start slacking off when he becomes SixthRanger, and he has to remind his own troops [[HelpingWouldBeKillstealing he's not going to bail them out of every fight.]] As an example, the character once deflected machine gun fire. ''Using a sword.''
* ''Series/{{Alias}}'' plays this trope fairly straight. While the mooks Sydney/Vaughn/other agent fights are easily deterred, usually the Big Bad/episode mini-Bad has some freaking sweet skills. And in the later seasons, when Jack became [[spoiler:head of APO]], the trope took effect. Check out the episode "Nightingale".
* ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''. Both Admiral Adama and Colonel Tigh are capable of some serious butt-kicking, as seen in TheMutiny episodes. President Roslin on the other hand, while quite ruthless, only handles a weapon [[KillMeNowOrForeverStayYourHand on one occasion]]. And she manages to miss at point-blank range.
* On ''Series/UltimateForce'', Colonel Aidan Dempsey reliably kicks a lot of arse when called upon, most notably in the episodes "Dead Is Forever", "Never Go Back" and - particularly - "Charlie Bravo". In the latter, he strides through a gunfight, casually taking one-handed potshots at rebels, while exhorting his local counterpart to "Pretend you're an officer and get your men in order!"

* Subverted in an episode of ''Series/TheSandbaggers'' where the head of the Secret Intelligence Service, Neil Burnside, "James bloody Bond" -- is mugged by some hoods while walking about late at night.
* Just about every ruler from the 1998 ''[[Series/{{Merlin 1998}} Merlin]]'' series, including Uther, Arthur, and most impressively, Vortigern, who is aging and past his prime but still a force on the battlefield.
* And in the other ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'', we have King Uther, getting up there but still able to kick butt in the tournaments. Even if Arthur ''did'' let him win. Arthur kinda fits this too.
* ''Series/TrueBlood'' plays it straight with Godric, Eric, and Russell Edgington, but totally subverts it with Sophie-Anne [=LeClerq=], who apparently relies on luck more than anything. In the third season Eric points out that he only lets her kick him around because of his respect for her rank; [[spoiler:when he switches sides, Sophie-Anne is ''screwed.'']] She is shown to be much stronger than Bill, though, until [[spoiler:he is revealed to have brought a SWAT team armed with wooden bullets]]. Averted with Bill himself, after he is crowned King of Louisiana.
* In ''Series/{{Castle}}'', Captain Roy Montgomery is usually seen in his office calling the shots, but in the season 3 finale, he kicks all kinds of ass. He manages to [[spoiler:kill three hitmen with precision before they can even get their weapons out. Although Lockwood manages to fatally wound him, Montgomery is still able to kill the last hitman with a hidden gun in his sleeve]].
* Darken Rahl in ''Series/LegendOfTheSeeker'' is a skilled swordsman and a sorcerer. He is also the ruler of the most poweful [[TheEmpire empire]] in the world (as far as he knows, at least; the series was cancelled before the discovery of the Imperium) Admittedly, he is not as skilled in magic as Zedd, but he is able to beat Richard the first time they meet in battle. In another episode, he effortlessly kills several Sisters of the Dark, despite them being EliteMooks (in the books, at least). Averted with most other rulers.
* The Headmaster from ''Series/TowerPrep'' is quite capable of kicking ass.
* In ''Series/TheSopranos'', all of the capos and bosses in the mob are either capable fighters and killers, or they used to be in their younger days before they rose so high that they no longer need to get their hands dirty.
* This is how the leader of werewolf society is determined in ''Series/{{Bitten}}'' along with a hefty dose of KlingonPromotion.
* ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand'': Often seen in Roman leaders. Glaber is a strong fighter, while Crassus and Caesar are both outstanding. Even Batiatus manages to kill a gladiator, though he's a NonActionGuy. The gladiators, on the other hand, follow AsskickingEqualsAuthority.
* The short lived tv series ''Series/{{Space Rangers|1993}}'' featured a race of ProudWarriorRaceGuy aliens whose society ran on this trope. The heroes insulted one of their princes which led to a ritual fight to the death and the human diplomat handling contact explains that among the aliens government positions are handled by mortal combat rather than by birthright so the fact that the alien they insulted is a prince means he must be one of the best fighters from his planet.
* ''Series/BlackSails''- In the third season, the new governor of Nassau, Woodes Rogers, is shown to be well-dressed, polite, considerate of others, and well spoken- and if need be, in combat, is quite ready to throw down on more-or-less equal footing with the likes of Charles Vane. Of course, being a war veteran and former privateer himself doesn't hurt...
* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' are the archangels the rulers of the sky, at least Michael and Raphael. And archangels are obviously much stronger than ordinary angels.
** Even with the [[http://supernatural.wikia.com/wiki/Demons demons]] the strongest seem also to be the leader among them. Demons with black eyes are rather weak (compared with demons, they are still more than humans), demons with red eyes are significantly stronger, yet really powerful demons which very often lead the lesser demons, have mostly yellow or white eyes.
** Even the monsters like vampires, werewolves and shapeshifters have their "Alphas". In addition, smaller groups are usually lead by the strongest member.
* Nobu Yoshioka, in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Netflix-borne ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'' series, is a leading criminal in Hell's Kitchen, and is revealed in the second season to have been the acting leader of the organization known as "The Hand". He is also an inescapably badass ninja, proficient with multiple melee weapons, who was ''winning'' his duel with TheHero until the nascent Daredevil got clever about it. (Considering what the audience learns about The Hand in the second season, this may circle back to a case of AsskickingEqualsAuthority, as their earliest incarnation as a group reportedly began with them killing their original master.)
* In ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', businessman and [[TheMafiya mobster]] Konstantin Kovar is a very efficient fighter, capable of beating and subduing [[Comicbook/GreenArrow Oliver]] in hand-to-hand combat without any of his men needing to interfere.

* ''Series/{{Banshee}}'':
** Lucas Hood is the sheriff and the most competent fighter in the entire department.
** Proctor also falls under this as he gives Hood a run for his money.
** Chayton is probably the king of this trope.
** Rabbit is the one exception to this rule. While he does not have physical prowess, his ruthlessness allows him to maintain his power.

* Played straight in an episode of ''Series/{{CSINY}}''. A company had training sessions for its higher ups. Two of them beat each other, two of them got into a fight at a pool hall so heated they were running on the ceiling, and one of them assassinated a man by hanging from a tree and doing an upside down DiagonalCut through the man's neck. The head stayed on until the cops came.

* Played straight in an episode of ''Series/CSINewYork''. A company had training sessions for its higher ups. Two of them beat each other, two of them got into a fight at a pool hall so heated they were running on the ceiling, and one of them assassinated a man by hanging from a tree and doing an upside down DiagonalCut through the man's neck. The head stayed on until the cops came.

* Nobu Yoshioka, in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Netflix-borne ''Series/{{Daredevil}}'' series, is a leading criminal in Hell's Kitchen, and is revealed in the second season to have been the acting leader of the organization known as "The Hand". He is also an inescapably badass ninja, proficient with multiple melee weapons, who was ''winning'' his duel with TheHero until the nascent Daredevil got clever about it. (Considering what the audience learns about The Hand in the second season, this may circle back to a case of AsskickingEqualsAuthority, as their earliest incarnation as a group reportedly began with them killing their original master.)

** One could argue that all Star Fleet officers would be likely to have a myriad of skills because, in Roddenberry's future, you don't "need" to do anything and do what you do in order to improve yourself as a person. If you were given full freedom to do anything, especially with a holodeck, you'd probably be in great shape and know some very exotic martial arts. Sulu was into fencing, Riker was into "Anbo-jitsu" (that blind stick fighting thing he did with his dad), and we see several other officers playing difficult sports. Things like that would make you pretty handy in a fight.