History RankScalesWithAsskicking / VideoGames

* In ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore: For Answer'', the world is pretty much ruled by a group of arms-manufacturing megacorporations that resolve disputes using HumongousMecha. Guess what two of the [=CEOs=] of these corporations do to earn pocket money... yep, that's right. Semi-justified as both of them exclusively use their own respective corporations' products in combat, thus serving as walking (or rolling) advertisements.

** Ezio from ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'', now a Master Assassin, is a better fighter than any of the Assassins he recruits, and even more kickass than in ''2'' when he was younger and didn't have the authority. His position gets much more solidified in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations''.
** Largely averted in the first ''VideoGame/{{Assassins Creed|I}}'' when it comes to your targets; they're powerful and influential people, but (unless there's a good reason for it), usually (and logically) less difficult to fight than their guards.
** Played straight with Robert de Sable. Living up his title of the Grandmaster of the Knight Templars, the guy is a monstrous tank on two legs and it takes a lot of time and energy to just even hurt him.

* Partly played straight but mostly averted in ''Franchise/DragonAge'' games. King Maric Theirin of Ferelden was pretty badass. However, as the novel ''Stolen Throne'' indicates, he was a wimp for a good portion of the book before circumstances forced him to grow into a badass. He was officially crowned king later. Inverted with Loghain Mac Tir, who became a nobleman ''because'' of his badassery. The novel ''Calling'' reveals that Duncan, the head of the Grey Wardens in Ferelden, also earned his position.
** Averted in'' VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' with Viscount Marlowe Dumar of Kirkwall, who is a politician, not a fighter. The Arishok, though, is the most skilled and toughest of all the Qunari in Kirkwall. Played straight with Prince Sebastian Vael of Starkhaven, who can handle himself pretty well and is a crack shot with a bow.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':

* The entire ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' series operates off of this trope. Ordinary soldiers are cannon-fodder. Only enemies ranked Lieutenant or higher are any sort of a challenge, while master Strategists like Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang kick ass with the best of them. The Kings of the Three Kingdoms are, of course, packing boss-level HP whenever you meet them on the battlefield. This is particularly noticeable in various scenarios that allow you to face them ''before'' they became kings at much lower power. All player-characters are ranked Lt. General at the very least, and their rank increases as they level up. All of the titles you can attain have 'General' in it somewhere, though.
** Averted when it comes to Dong Zhuo, who's portrayed as a relatively weak coward who's [[TheDragon Dragon]] Lu Bu not only far outshines him, but everyone else in the series [[WorldsStrongestMan in sheer might.]] The various emperors that officially lead Wei are also treated as weak and ineffectual (with the exception of Cao Pi in the brief window of time he seized control of the throne before his death.)
* In ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriorsOnline'', this is a much more straight example. lowly mooks still die by the hundreds. Named characters, or characters named by their rank if you are facing the non-specific kingdoms that have little importance in the story of the three kingdoms, are stronger than mooks, but still pushovers. Your character, starting at "guard" working his way up, can (not necessarily will) kick all kinds of ass, and the musou generals, who are the original characters from the game, are the strongest out there, and have many special abilities as backup, including backup. As a player character gets higher ranked, they can use more powerful weapons, meaning that they will get many bonuses to facing a lower level character if they use that ability.

** Throughout the series, this applies to the ranks of the Daedra. As you go up through the levels of [[OurDemonsAreDifferent lesser Daedra]], they generally get more intelligent and overall more dangerous. At the top are the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Princes]], the outright most powerful of the Daedric spirits. While [[BadassNormal any mortal of sufficient skill]] can defeat any form of lesser Daedra, a Daedric Prince at full power could annihilate a mortal without a second thought. In the rare cases where a mortal directly contends with a Daedric Prince, said Prince is either [[WorfHadTheFlu weakened]] (such as manifesting on Mundus where metaphysical laws typically weaken their power), is WillfullyWeak to intentionally give the mortal a chance ([[EgoManiacHunter Hircine]] is a fan of this), or said mortal has been [[EmpoweredBadassNormal empowered]] by one of the [[SaintlyChurch Divines]] or another Prince. Even then, the Princes (like all Daedra) possess CompleteImmortality. If their physical form is slain, their spirit simply returns to Oblivion to reform. Princes have been [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu battered, beaten, banished]], and even [[HijackingCthulhu fundamentally changed]], but ''nothing'' in the setting has ever been able to actually kill one.
*** This is exemplified by Molag Bal, the Daedric Prince of [[TheCorrupter Domination and Corruption]]. His servants, both mortals and the lesser denizens of Oblivion know better than to disobey or disrespect Molag Bal. Those who do tend to end up with a FateWorseThanDeath.

* In ''VideoGame/FarCry6'', it is ''explicitly'' stated that this is how [[BigBad Castillo's]] military works:
--> '''Dani:''' There's the officer in charge.
--> '''Raiza:''' Alvarez has the key to the armory. Careful, Dani. He's higher rank -- In Castillo's army that means he's better trained, quicker with the trigger, and a tough motherfucker.

** ''VideoGame/FatalFury 2'' brings us Wolfgang Krauser, Geese's half-brother and the latest in a line of bodyguards to various European nobility. He has his own bodyguard, Lawrence Blood, but Krauser really doesn't need him: he's strong enough on his own.
** Likewise, [[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters Rugal Bernstein]] has two secretaries, Vice and Mature, who also function as his bodyguards. Like Krauser, Rugal doesn't really need them, as he once took out an ''entire company'' of Heidern's troops before beating Heidern himself to a pulp. Then he killed Heidern's family for the lulz. It was also implied at one point that he had beaten both Geese and Krauser one-on-one.

* ''VideoGame/TrailsSeries'':
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'': If a named military character has at ''least'' a rank of "captain", you'd better believe they're going to back it up in combat [[NeverBringAKnifeToAGunFight no matter how antiquated their choice of weaponry is]], and the higher their rank the more badass you can expect them to be. Brigadier General Cassius Bright in particular has such a fierce reputation as a OneManArmy that the villains' entire plot in the first game hinged on him being out of the country on other business [[StoryBreakerPower just so he wouldn't effortlessly crush the insurrection all by himself.]]
** In the world of Zemuria as a whole some of the most powerful characters are in the military or have a military background (which makes sense, considering they have years of experience that are boosted even further by Combat Orbments), most notably in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'' is Commander Aurelia Le Guin, [[RedBaron The Golden Rakshasa]], commander of the Provincial Army of [[TheEmpire Erebonia]] and a strong contender for title of WorldsStrongestWoman.
** This is [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-Zagged]] when it involves [[NebulousEvilOrganization Ouroboros]]. While their hierarchy seems to be more formal and about who's "in the know" (only the Seven Anguis are in direct contact with the [[GreaterScopeVillain the Grandmaster]]) rather than their power, some such as [[KnightInShiningArmor Arianrhod]], an Anguis, play it straight, while some Enforcers like [[BloodKnight McBurn]] are evidently far more powerful than most of the Anguis.

* In ''VideoGame/MaxPayne2'', the "boss" criminals (Kaffman, [[spoiler:Cowboy Mike]], and BigBad [[spoiler:Vlad Lem]] can all survive more bullets than the standard mooks, but the difference is barely noticeable. Kaffman has something like 4x as much health as a standard mook, but that just means he goes down after several shots instead of just a couple. Likewise, [[spoiler:Vlad]] only has somewhat more health than a normal enemy, but you fight him in an elaborate PuzzleBoss arena.
* The ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' series had both Big Boss and his predecessor, The Boss. Both initially handled by the storylines as villains, both incredibly powerful warriors, and both far more complex than any of the games' heroes could have guessed.
** Spinoff ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' has this once again, with the higher-ups of the PMC you fight along the whole game also being tremendously powerful cyborgs, one power-armored master swordsman and [[spoiler:one HumongousMecha-driving, {{Nanomachine}}-infused PersonOfMassDestruction, who gets another dose of this trope by being a senator as well. And he's running for ''President'']].
* The bizarre mecha game ''VideoGame/MetalWolfChaos'' has this as its central premise. You play as the president of the United States in a super-powerful MiniMecha trying to liberate the U.S. following a military coup led by the [[EvilChancellor vice president]] who, naturally, also has a MiniMecha.
** Justified, however, since both of them are veterans of the Arizona Conflict, with president Michael Wilson even receiving Medal of Honor for his actions in it.
* In a similar vein to ''Metal Wolf Chaos'', ''VideoGame/LiberationMaiden'' places players in the role of the HumongousMecha-piloting President of New Japan (who happens to be a high school-aged young woman).

* Lord British is NighInvulnerable in most of the ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' games. [[LordBritishPostulate There's usually a way to kill him, though]].

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} Online'', this trope is taken to its logical end point; the ONLY difference between new characters and end game characters is their rank. Naturally rank allows access to better items and skill, but the fact is that a newly minted mage has the same "power" as one who can duel a greater daemon and win.

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' series, most of the high-ranking Yakuza bosses are usually capable of putting up a far better fight than any of the generic grunts, with characters that are stated to be either lieutenants or [[TheDon head of their own clans]] typically being boss fights.

** Averted and played straight by [[BrainInAJar Mother Brain]] and played straight by the rest of the Pirates. Mother Brain can't even attack in the first game, but is protected by indestructible turrets and has [[MadeOfIron immense durability]] and a HealingFactor. In ''VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission'', she lost the healing factor but gained an attack, and in ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' she is attached to a HumongousMecha that can wipe the floor with Samus, requiring a DeusExMachina to defeat. For the rest of the Pirates, higher rank usually nets better equipment, like the Pirate Commander's indestructible armor and personal teleporter. Weavil, a Pirate [[FourStarBadass General]] (the same rank as Ridley, actually), has armor on par with Samus' and wields a miniature nuclear reactor ''in his crotch''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':
** A side quest in ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' finds the player scavenging the ruins of a DC museum in search of UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln artifacts. One such antique the player can find is "Lincoln's Repeating Rifle", a gold-plated weapon that fires .44 Magnum bullets and ''easily'' outclasses most other weapons in the "Small Guns" category. Honest Abe was '''packin'''', folks. Somewhat TruthInTelevision, Lincoln's family had to hunt for their own food and he always kept himself up to date with developments in ordnance technologies.
** Talon Company's leader, Commander Jabsco, who's armed with a rocket launcher and can survive more damage than a Deathclaw (the toughest "non-boss" mob in the game, not counting the expansion packs), and the truly insane General Jiang Wei, who carries a lightsaber and (depending on player level) can have more health than any other mob in the game, including the 15-foot tall Super Mutant Behemoth.
** Averted in the game's main plotline, though, as BigBad President Eden is [[spoiler: a supercomputer with no combat capabilities]], and his TheDragon Colonel Autumn turns out to be only marginally tougher than a standard soldier.

** In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' the player can have the Courier play on this trope, doing the Wild Card main quest will allow the Courier to take control of New Vegas himself/herself, and involves stopping both the NCR and Caesar's Legion from taking control of Hoover Dam and taking New Vegas for themselves, as well as killing, or disabling Mr. House to take control of the Vegas strip from him.
** Caesar's Legion goes both ways on this trope. Caesar himself is no stronger than his EliteMook guards. Legate Lanius, his second in command, is one of the strongest things in the game. Vulpes Inculta, the leader of the Frumentarri, is on-par with a Prime Legionary at best, and Lucius, third in command of the Legion, is also no stronger than any of Caesar's EliteMook guards. However, Centurions, the field commanders, have the best combat skills of any type of soldier in the Legion and carry the best equipment, including named characters like Aurelius.
** The New California Republic generally averts this; their leaders are leaders and their soldier are soldiers. Similar to Caesar, General Oliver is no stronger than an EliteMook (though this is due to him simply having a regular uniform and a revolver). However, this is thrown to hell in the ''Lonesome Road'' DLC with Colonel Royez, a power armor wearing badass who has boss-level health, 100 points in every combat skill, and a [[{{BFG}} Plasma Caster]]. He's only accessible if you decide to [[MoralEventHorizon nuke the NCR]].
** The ''Lonesome Road'' DLC also adds Gaius Magnus, who's apparently one of the highest-ranking members of the Legion since he wears the same armor as Lanius. He has many of the same attributes as Royez, only he wears slightly worse armor and wields a [[GatlingGood Minigun]] instead of a Plasma Caster. [[FridgeLogic It makes you wonder why they didn't send either of these guys to Hoover Dam...]]
*** [[FridgeLogic Because they're each guarding the most vital supply line of their respective faction. Ulysses said it himself; without their supply lines, the NCR or Legion can't hold Hoover Dam long-term.]]

** One of the [[BonusBoss Optional Bosses]] requires this trope to explain his very existence. Rupee, the leader of a legendary band of desert-bandits, inherited the position from his recently-deceased father. He's maybe 8 years old, scrawny, cowardly, and wears NerdGlasses. His hulking [[TheDragon bodyguard]] practically has to DRAG him into battle. But when it comes down to the actual fight, he's got an immense pile of HP and an arsenal of powerful magical attacks (mostly, but not solely, support-spells.) Worse yet, once you wear his HP-bar down past the halfway point he TurnsRed and starts dishing out powerful physical attacks that deal far more damage than anything his aforementioned bodyguard could hope to inflict, virtually always causing a OneHitKill. Notably, those special attacks are prefaced by his NerdGlasses turning into ScaryShinyGlasses...

* Subverted with the ZOE squadron pilots in ''VideoGame/AceCombat 2''. The Captain gets an F-14, the Major gets an F/A-18E and the Colonel gets an F-22. Seems to be holding up so far, right? Well... the General gets a relatively dinky F-15S. Then the Commander, who would be pretty low on the totem pole by UsefulNotes/CommonRanks, is the FinalBoss with the ADF-01 superfighter that is as capable as one would expect a non-[[AnticlimaxBoss Anticlimax]] FinalBoss to be.

* Used freely, like most tropes relating to superheroes and supervillains, in the ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' and ''VideoGame/CityOfVillains'' MMO:

* In ''VideoGame/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms VII'', higher officer classes can command more powerful armies, and higher general ranks get more tactical points. And since [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership officer classes are determined by "deeds," and the quickest way to up your deeds marker (barring exploits) is through kicking ass in battle, while the AI usually assigns general ranks by WAR skill,]] you can bet that a 1st Class Supreme General will be an absolutely fearsome opponent, whether man-to-man or commanding on the battlefield.

Before getting into specific examples, it's worth noting that AuthorityGrantsAsskicking is exactly why the [[BossBattle bigger, badder, tougher enemy at the end of the level]] was called the "Boss" to begin with, hence the sheer size of this page.

* In the classic {{FPS}} ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'', several of the final bosses take advantage of this, including Dr. Schabbs (one of the rare examples of a MadScientist using this trope), at least one Nazi General, and of course, [[StupidJetpackHitler Adolf Hitler]], who naturally takes this to extremes: Not only has he [[StupidJetpackHitler somehow acquired]] [[PoweredArmor an armored battle-suit]] mounted with [[GunsAkimbo quadruple]] {{Gatling g|ood}}uns, once you've blasted it enough, he pops out -- [[SequentialBoss and continues to fight]], with Gatling GunsAkimbo, while [[MadeOfIron ignoring the hail of bullets you're throwing at him]]. Not to mention the fake Hitlers you meet before you face him, which have a unique weapon: Flamethrowers. [[ManOnFire Nasty, nasty, nasty...]]

** Spinoff ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' has this once again, with the higher-ups of the PMC you fight along the whole game also being tremendously powerful cyborgs, one power-armored master swordsman and [[spoiler:one HumongousMecha-driving, {{Nanomachine}}-infused PersonOfMassDestruction, who gets another dose of this trope by being a senator as well]].

Before getting into specific examples, it's worth noting that AuthorityEqualsAsskicking is exactly why the [[BossBattle bigger, badder, tougher enemy at the end of the level]] was called the "Boss" to begin with, hence the sheer size of this page.

** This is justified by the Tasen Commanders and Elites having superior weapons and power armor. In the case of the Komato, it's more AsskickingEqualsAuthority, since the strongest and most skilled Komato get upgraded to the highest ranks... but they also get equipped on promotion with Berserker cybernetics, Annihilator exoskeletons, or even General Tor's [[HumongousMecha Eidolon exoskeleton]], which is [[ThatOneBoss the nastiest machine in existence.]] The only character who invokes this trope ''without'' justifying it with superior equipment is Asha, leader of the Assassins, who holds his rank by dint of skill and not gear.

* In ''VideoGame/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms VII'', higher officer classes can command more powerful armies, and higher general ranks get more tactical points. And since [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority officer classes are determined by "deeds," and the quickest way to up your deeds marker (barring exploits) is through kicking ass in battle, while the AI usually assigns general ranks by WAR skill,]] you can bet that a 1st Class Supreme General will be an absolutely fearsome opponent, whether man-to-man or commanding on the battlefield.

** Inverted in ''VideoGame/StarcraftII''. All units start out at some basic rank that [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority increases based on the number of kills they have.]]

** [[CloneArmy Grineer]] commanders and officers are universally more powerful than the regular soldiers that serve them. This is generally because, being [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority in addition to ascending in their empire's hierarchy]], successful soldiers can also afford to use [[{{Cyborg}} cybernetic augmentations]] to both repair their decaying bodies (allowing them to live longer, like [[EvilOldFolks Captain Vor]]) and make themselves more powerful, imposing, and dangerous (like [[GeneralRipper General Sargas Ruk]] or Councillor Vay Hek, both of whom are heavily augmented and hard to kill).

* In ''VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense'', leaders of the aliens are tougher than soldiers, who in fact aren't even more badass than the various non-combat specialists. The rare commander is badasser yet. Some races' leaders even get special abilities. ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' extends this to humans, too, [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority as promotion to higher ranks comes with learning new special abilities and gaining better stats]]. The reverse is also true in the remake, as promotions are earned exclusively through kills. This means that the highest-ranking X-COM soldier is also the one who has killed the most aliens.

** Walhart in ''Awakening''. He fought his way to becoming ruler of the Valmese Empire. He has a skill that nullifies his horseback and armor weaknesses, and [[InfinityPlusOneSword only he can use the Wolf Berg.]]

* ''Little Tail Bronx'':

** Averted in the [[KillEmAll genocide run]] when it turns out [[spoiler: the monster most capable of kicking the protagonist's ass is a lowly sentry infamous for barely doing his job, and who does nothing to get in your way or fight you in any other run. In comparison, Asgore ''does'' turn out to be a pushover.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'':

* In ''VideoGame/TailConcerto'', Waffle fights against the numerous members of the [[SkyPirate Black Cats Gang]], lead by Alicia, Stare, and Flare (also known as The Pris Sisters). They are also fully capable in fighting on the front lines, wrecking havoc, trying to impeed Waffle's progress with giant mechas, and kidnapping Princess Therria without much hassle. Alicia gets a special mention, as she goes as far as to try and fight Waffle mano-a-mano towards the end.

* In ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'', the bosses are ranked in the UAA according to their ranking as an assassin. While this trope is played straight in both games with the higher-ranked assassins [[spoiler:(Bad Girl, Jeane, and Henry in the original game; Alice and Jasper Batt Jr. in the sequel)]], it also tends to be subverted at times: higher ranked assassins like Destroyman and Capt. Vladimir tend to be easier compared to lower assassins like Shinobu, Margaret, and Ryuji. It could be possible that Shinobu, Margaret, and Ryuji were still cutting their way up to a higher rank when Travis came along.

* ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' gives us a good few examples in the series in the form of playable characters like Zato-1 (leader of an [[MurderInc Assassins' Guild]]), Kliff Undersn (a commander within the Holy Order who was able to go toe-to-toe with Justice during the Crusades, to the point that the latter actually saw him as a WorthyOpponent of sorts), the aforementioned Justice, Chipp Zanuff (president of a small nation as of ''Xrd''), Ky Kiske and Leo Whitefang (two of the three Kings of Illyria, the former moreso [[spoiler:due to him becoming part-Gear]]).

*** [[spoiler: By the end of the main quest in Azim Steppe, The Warrior of Light, regardless of your race, the khagan of the Xaela. While the Mol will rule in your absence (as officially, you fought on their behalf), strictly speaking you're the one in charge and a number of NPCs change their tune to reflect this. And half the reason they respect you is because of the mountains of ass you kicked during the Naadam.]]

** If a named military character in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'' has at ''least'' a rank of "captain", you'd better believe they're going to back it up in combat [[NeverBringAKnifeToAGunFight no matter how antiquated their choice of weaponry is]], and the higher their rank the more badass you can expect them to be. Brigadier General Cassius Bright in particular has such a fierce reputation as a OneManArmy that the villains' entire plot in the first game hinged on him being out of the country on other business [[StoryBreakerPower just so he wouldn't effortlessly crush the insurrection all by himself.]]

** This is [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-Zagged]] when it involves [[NebulousEvilOrganization Ouroboros]]. While their hierarchy seems to be more formal and about who's 'in the know' (only the Seven Anguis are in direct contact with the [[GreaterScopeVillain the Grandmaster]]) rather than their power, some such as [[KnightInShiningArmor Arianrhod]], an Anguis, play it straight, while some Enforcers like [[BloodKnight McBurn]] are evidently far more powerful than most of the Anguis.
* In ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' game ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'', the Captains seem to be the only mooks that are capable of attacking and defending.
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', Urbosa is Chief of the Gerudo and is also their strongest warrior.

** On the [=NPC=] side we have the president of Zepp, Gabriel, who not only mentored [[GentleGiant Potemkin]], he on two separate occasions managed to fight the likes of [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Slayer]] and Bedman to a standstill (and in the case of the latter, actually managed to capture him!).

* ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' gives us a good few examples in the series in the form of playable characters like Zato-1 (leader of an [[MurderInc Assassins' Guild]]), Kliff Undersn (a commander within the Holy Order who was able to go toe-to-toe with Justice during the Crusades, to the point that the latter actually saw him as a WorthyOpponent of sorts), Chipp Zanuff (president of a small nation as of ''Xrd''), Ky Kiske and Leo Whitefang (two of the three Kings of Illyria, the former moreso [[spoiler:due to him becoming part-Gear]]).

* ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' gives us a good few examples in the series in the form of playable characters like Zato-1 (leader of an [[MurderInc Assassins' Guild]]), Chipp Zanuff (president of a small nation), Ky Kiske and Leo Whitefang (two of the three Kings of Illyria, the former moreso [[spoiler:due to him becoming part-Gear]]).
** On the [=NPC=] side we have the president of Zepp, Gabriel, who on two separate occasions managed to fight the likes of [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Slayer]] and Bedman to a standstill (and in the case of the latter, actually managed to capture him!).