Line #63 Main/ReassignedToAntarctica


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rockall.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:They must've screwed up ''big time'' to deserve this. \
3	[-(UK claims Rockall, 1955)-] ]]
4
5	->''"Three years ago you assaulted a superior officer for ordering his soldiers to fire upon civilians. He and his body cast were shipped to Pearl Harbor, while you were transferred to Mars, home of the Union Aerospace Corporation."''
6	-->-- The ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' instruction manual
7
8	When a character is transferred to a [[BleakBorderBase remote base]] and/or unpleasant outpost as punishment for annoying the higher-ups for some reason (poor job performance, personality conflicts, or perhaps ''good'' job performance that a superior finds [[KlingonPromotion threatening]]).
9
10	[[TheLastDJ Moral crusaders]] and other characters that are likely to put HonorBeforeReason may be frequently threatened with this sort of reassignment, or will have it really done to them. Whoever orders it usually hopes to have a "troublemaker" out of his or her hair. If they're disposing of someone who [[HeKnowsTooMuch "knows too much"]] by handing them a dangerous posting in the hopes it will lead directly to their death? [[UriahGambit That's a different situation]].
11
12	The others there are often a RagtagBunchOfMisfits at best, since their BackStory will always include [[DarkAndTroubledPast things they did in the past]] to have been sent there too. This is often the [[BackStory explanation]] of why a response to a new danger which first appeared at such a remote outpost is so feeble, allowing the threat to swell to the proportions it will later assume: the characters there are a mostly useless and rotten lot. Of course, sending TheHero there almost always guarantees a ReassignmentBackfire.
13
14	(In rarer cases, this is used as a [[LaserGuidedKarma Karmic punishment]] for antagonists whose actions don't ''quite'' merit death or prison, particularly [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Obstructive Bureaucrats]] that were JustFollowingOrders. Expect these to be delivered via offhand mention in a WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue. It's also a possible punishment for failure if you're in a bad guy organization and occupy a VolatileSecondTierPosition.)
15
16	For what it's worth, the real-life US military facility in Antarctica ([=McMurdo=] Sound) is staffed by volunteers... you ''can't'' get Reassigned To Antarctica. (You can, however, get reassigned to places that make you ''wish'' you were in Antarctica, such as Fort Polk.) The Japanese actually have a succinct word for this act: ''matsurikomu'' (祭り込む), which is translated to "place an obnoxious person in an out-of-the-way post to be rid of him."[[note]]but is written with kanji meaning "worship" and "pack into a group", making it an intersection of this trope with KickedUpstairs by way of JapanesePoliteness.[[/note]] If the reassignment literally takes the character to Antarctica, expect an EerieArcticResearchStation.
17
18
19	!!Compare with:
20	* DeskJockey: Someone who works a desk job associated with a more action-oriented profession. Not intended as punishment, but frequently feels like Antarctica when the character was formerly on the frontlines and [[TheChainsOfCommanding would still rather be carrying out orders than giving them]].
21	* TheExile: Someone who is forced to leave their home and never return for offenses either real or imagined.
22	* FromNewYorkToNowhere: Being busted down from the big city to some podunk town in the sticks.
23	* KickedUpstairs: The new job appears not to be a punishment to those on the outside, but the hero knows ''exactly'' what's been done to them.
24	* LockedAwayInAMonastery: Not only banished to an out-of-the-way place, but also required to take a vow or oath that limits their behavior.
25	* PersonaNonGrata: Rather than being sent to a specific place, the punishment involves being kicked out and forbidden to return.
26	* PlaceWorseThanDeath: A place that has a reputation for being absolutely horrible to live or work in.
27	* PostInjuryDeskJob: A character is assigned to a support position after an injury, often to their frustration.
28	* PromotedToScapegoat: A character is put into a high position as part of a scheme.
29	* PunishmentDetail: The punishment is the assigned task rather than the location.
30	* PutOnABus: A character is sent elsewhere to remove them from the ongoing narrative, but in a way that they have a (slim) chance to come back.
31	* RemittanceMan: When your own family sends you away with the promise of financial support provided you ''stay'' away.
32	* SentencedToDownUnder: Specific to 1800s England; a person's punishment is being sent to Australia.
33	* SnipeHunt: A rather less permanent case of PunishmentDetail.
34	* TradingBarsForStripes: Whatever you did could or did land you in jail, or could even get you the death penalty, so joining the military might be a better option. Or it might be the punishment; You may not get a say in the matter.
35
36	Incidentally, the picture shows actual Royal Marines occupying [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockall Rockall,]] which really is a lump of rock sticking up in the middle of the Atlantic. The UK government claims it because it gives it territorial rights to the sea around it. The Marines don't have to stay there long, thankfully.
37
38	----
39	!!Example subpages:
40	[[index]]
41	* ReassignedToAntarctica/ComicBooks
42	* [[ReassignedToAntarctica/LiveActionFilms Films — Live-Action]]
43	* ReassignedToAntarctica/{{Literature}}
44	* ReassignedToAntarctica/LiveActionTV
45	* ReassignedToAntarctica/VideoGames
46	* ReassignedToAntarctica/RealLife
47	[[/index]]
48
49	!!Other examples:
50
51	[[foldercontrol]]
52
53	[[folder:Advertising]]
54	* The first major ad campaign for the Mercury Villager minivan in the early 90s was centered around a fictional car company whose CEO watched the success of the Villager unfolding with an envious eye. In one commercial, two of the company executives are discussing the situation, and executive #1 mentions how the CEO now wants his company to design a minivan with the same special features as the Villager. Executive #2 jokes that in that case, the CEO should just buy a Villager. Unfortunately, the CEO [[RightBehindMe happens to walk up behind him]] just as he says it. In the closing scene, the now former executive #2 is answering telephones in the mail room.
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
58	* ''Manga/TwentiethCenturyBoys'' features a chapter about Chouno aptly titled "Officer at the End of the Earth."
59	* ''Anime/{{Aggretsuko}}'': After Ton refuses to lay off members of his staff to cut costs, new CEO Himuro "promotes" him to a new department that is essentially Ton sitting in a dingy room at the warehouse with nothing to do. The isolation eventually gets to Ton and he quits, though Himuro's ousting at the end of Season 4 does lead to him getting his old job in Accounting back.
60	* Trigger-happy SmallGirlBigGun Kome Sawaguchi from ''Manga/BlueSeed'' points to this trope when the team commander asks here to exercise a little self-control. "If I could control myself, I never would have been assigned to this unit!"
61	* In ''Manga/CodenameSailorV'', Inspector Wakagi ends up being (temporarily) transferred to Siberia (somehow it's within the jurisdiction of the Tokyo Police. [[LampshadeHanging He too wonders how or why]]) by his Superintendent-General for being beaten by Sailor V at solving a case too many times.
62	* ''Literature/TheDevilIsAPartTimer'' has Satan under the threat of being sent to Greenland as punishment for not living up to sales figures.
63	* ''Manga/FromEroicaWithLove'':
64	** Major Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach in likes to threaten his men with a transfer to Alaska should they fail in their job. He follows through on this threat at least once.
65	** Misha gets sent to Siberia around the same time.
66	* ''Franchise/FullmetalAlchemist'':
67	** In the [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist manga]], it occurs twice: Mustang's team is scattered to different parts of Amestris, and Olivier Armstrong is transferred to Central after it becomes clear they know a bit too much about the military's inner workings. Both result in ''major'' ReassignmentBackfire.
68	** In ''Anime/{{Fullmetal Alchemist\|2003}}'', Roy gets sent to the North between the end of the series and [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemistTheConquerorOfShamballa the movie]] [[spoiler:after killing Pride.]].
69	* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'':
70	** The manga ''Gundam Legacy'' (which focuses on [[TheGreatestStoryNeverTold Greatest Stories Never Told]] about GaidenGame characters) has an almost literal example. In the final story arc, Ford Romfellow[[note]]from the game ''Encounters in Space''[[/note]] and Agar[[note]]from ''Zeonic Front''[[/note]] defy their [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Titans]] superiors to help stop a plot by Zeon die-hards that would have resulted in the destruction of the Zeon home colony, Zuum. In punishment, they're demoted to Ensigns and shipped off to the ass-end of the world; Ford has an "[[Creator/LaurelAndHardy another fine mess you've gotten me into]]" attitude, but Agar is surprisingly upbeat -- either because he knows they did the right thing, or because their company includes the cute BridgeBunnies Noel Anderson[[note]]from ''Lost War Chronicles''[[/note]] and Miyu Takizawa.[[note]]Ford's old teammate, who takes every opportunity to razz him[[/note]]
71	** This trope is also why Bright Noa (and later on, along with his Londo Bell group, despite his reputation and service to the Earth Federation, is called "the Eternal Captain." The top brass of the EFSF aren't particularly keen on giving greater publicity or promotions to someone associated with (in)famous Newtype Gundam pilots.
72	** In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'', Carta Issue gets a high-ranked position due to her family name and commands the Outer Earth Orbit Regulatory Joint Fleet. The position is actually an antiquated relic and she was given it to keep her out of the way. (It does not stop her from acting as though she is the lynchpin in Earth's defenses and throwing what authority she does have around in the hammiest way possible.)
73	* In the anime of ''Literature/TheHeroicLegendOfArslan'', after [[spoiler:freeing himself from Lusitanian captivity and rumors of Arslan being adopted are spreading]], Andragoras ordered Arslan to go to the coastal regions to gather 50,000 men for the war effort and not to return unless he has the men. Everyone effectively realized the king is basically exiling and banishing his son in all but name.
74	* The crew of the ''Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor'''s ship gets shipped off to the "galactic boonies" in the second quarter of the series. The series averts ReassignmentBackfire though, as almost nothing relevant to the war with the Raalgon occurs until they're on their way back.
75	* In ''Anime/IzettaTheLastWitch'', the Emperor of Germania relocated the Commanding Officers who were in charge of a battle that resulted in them on the receiving end of a CurbStompBattle. Their destination were the prison camps, plus all of their lands and possessions being taken away as an alternative to execution. Justified as the officers and surviving soldiers had info about the OutsideContextProblem that took away their victory and [[PragmaticVillainy executing them would be a waste]].
76	* This is how Shuchiin Academy in ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' deals with troublemakers -- any student whose conduct embarrasses the school [[SinsOfTheFather and their family]] will be shipped off to some remote corner of the world. [[spoiler:It's implied this is what happened to Ogino when Kaguya told the [=VIPs=] the truth about the incident that happened between him and Ishigami.]]
77	* Frequently happens in ''Manga/{{Kochikame}}'' as a running gag, including the very first episode. When Ryotsu and his colleagues mess up, they are relocated to the police stations in distant places like Hokkaido, Addis Abeba and other mock-up places. There are even several episodes which take place there.
78	* In ''Literature/KyoKaraMaoh'', Geiganhuber's punishment for [[spoiler:his FantasticRacism and actions that led to the death of Lady Julia]] was to be sent in search of a magical artifact which had long been lost in human lands, effectively a more dignified way of exiling him.
79	* ''Anime/LycorisRecoil'' starts with Takina being demoted and transferred to the cafe [=LycoReco=] as punishment for disobeying orders during a mission. Episode 3 also suggests this happened to [[spoiler:Chisato, as neither she nor her boss Kusunoki are on friendly terms]], though it's unclear what happened to cause it.
80	* In order to protect ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' from [[BigBad Tobi]], the Allied Ninja Army has him sent to an [[TurtleIsland obscure island]] with the "mission" of documenting the island's giant animals, as well as taming the 9-tailed fox. It flops when Naruto [[TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne senses]] the war going on outside and shows ''why'' they had to resort to trickery.
81	* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Marine Grand Line Fifth Branch, more commonly known as G-5, is one of several Marine Bases located around the ''One Piece'' world. As indicated in the name, G-5 is located in the Grand Line, specifically in the second half, the New World, and is infamous for being a dumping ground for Marines who have proven themselves to be inept, insubordinate, or otherwise incapable of acting how a Marine should. Overall, the Marines of G-5 are quite notorious for behaving more like pirates and gangsters than actual Marines, to the point that many of them gleefully enjoy torturing prisoners using numerous extremely cruel methods. Naturally, such an infamous location is just the place someone like Smoker would want to go to, not only to improve himself and get stronger, but also to lie in wait for the Straw Hat Pirates to return from the TimeSkip.
82	* ''Franchise/{{Patlabor}}'': This befalls Captains Gotoh and Shinobu, prior to the start of the OVA continuity. Both were assigned duty at SVU's headquarters, which sits on reclaimed land that's practically out in the middle of nowhere.
83	** In Gotoh's case, he was too observant for his superiors liking, so they reassigned him where he couldn't ruffle any feathers; not knowing, [[BatmanGambit it was exactly what he wanted]]. [[spoiler:It leaves him free to operate [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure as he sees fit]], without any of [[ObstructiveBureaucrat their bureaucratic bullshit]] slowing him down.]]
84	** Shinobu shares the same fate, albeit [[OldShame for a different reason]]. ''Anime/Patlabor2TheMovie'' reveals that [[spoiler:she had an affair with her instructor, while she was a student at the Tsuge Institute, [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten which created a scandal]]. It wasn't long before word of the affair reached the top brass, forcing her to settle for a position with Special Vehicles]].
85	* ''Anime/PhantomQuestCorp'': U Division is understaffed with a grand total of ''only three'' employees. One of whom is an elderly man who seems to be passing time until retirement (or death), the other's a spinster with a HairTriggerTemper, and Detective Karino, whose desk is shown to be buried under a mountain of paperwork. So it's no wonder that he often outsources his extra assignments to Phantom Quest.
86	* In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', Giovanni repeatedly threatens to reassign the Team Rocket trio to Antarctica. At the beginning of ''Battle Frontier'' he ''does''. The only reason they're still following Ash is because Giovanni has long since stopped caring about them. [[spoiler:Until the final episode of ''Sinnoh League Victors'', when he decides that he has a use for them and reassigns them to Unova. They proceed to actually act competent for much of the beginning of ''Black & White'' before reverting to their old selves.]]
87	* The title teacher in ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' is relocated far north in one episode. For some reason his students are already waiting at the new school.
88	* Chor Tempest in ''Anime/{{Simoun}}'' gets assigned to ''Messis'', a mediocre border patrol AirborneAircraftCarrier, after failing to properly protect their previous base of operations, ''Arcus Prima''.
89	* The main characters in ''Anime/SoundOfTheSky'' appear to have been assigned to an area with very little going on around them, although no real reason is given as to why they were assigned there.
90	* ''Manga/StarStrikeItRich'': After getting in a fight with her boss and beating him up half to death, Ichika is reassigned from the anti-organized crime unit to the juvenile division to restrict her. Part of her motivation for helping Valkirya is getting back to her old job.
91	* Happens to Anabuki Tomoko in ''Anime/StrikeWitches''. For some reason, TheAce and the star of the propaganda movie is transferred to the middle of nowhere in Suomus and then having to raise a squadron out of some misfits. Naturally, she's pissed off.
92	* In ''Manga/TegamiBachiLetterBee'', [[spoiler:Lag is reassigned to the Cold Letter division, being forced to deliver letters that have sat a long time without being delivered, because the new director doesn't like his trying to become Head Bee, the position that he also wants]].
93	[[/folder]]
94
95	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
96	* ''ComicStrip/BeetleBailey'':
97	** Lt. Sonny Fuzz has been reassigned to places along the lines of Antarctica (perhaps literally there, too) a couple of times, though we've never seen him actually end up there.
98	** It is sometimes implied that General Halftrack was put in charge of Camp Swampy because he's too incompetent to manage anything more important.
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Fan Works]]
102	* In ''Fanfic/AllGuardsmenParty'' the players encounter a group of Commissars who have been permanently assigned to a Penal Legion training camp. Not to the legion, but the ''camp''. Apparently they were previously attached to an army which managed to desert in its entirety without them noticing.
103	* ''Fanfic/ChasingDragons'':
104	** Gerold Arryn serves as [[TheSpymaster Master of Whispers]] for the first few years of Stannis' reign, but after failing to see the Red Viper Rebellion coming he's dismissed and sent back to the Vale to head up law enforcement in Gulltown. And when he screws that up with [[PoliceBrutality heavy-handed policies]] that nearly lead to revolt, he's sent off in quasi-exile to fight the mountain clans.
105	** For sleeping with an Old Faith member while undercover, and therefore making himself of questionable loyalty in the eyes of some, Ser Harry Flash is assigned to temporarily join the Order of the Sea in the Iron Islands.
106	* ''Fanfic/ACrownOfStars'': Invoked in chapter 2 when Ching makes such a terrible quip that Daniel jokes that kind of puns will get her exiled to Antarctica.
107	-->'''Ching:''' ''[while serving drinks]'' Of course, Your Majesty. It's an honor to serve.\
108	'''Daniel:''' And puns like that will get you promoted and possibly exiled to Antarctica.
109	* Creator/AAPessimal's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
110	** The fic ''Bungle in the Jungle'' deals with the political fallout at the end of the canonical novel ''Literature/{{Snuff}}''. Lucinda Rust, sister of Gravid, cannot be inhumed by order of the Patrician. But the Guild of Assassins chooses to reassign a embarrassing liability as resident Guild representative to a distant tropical plague-pit.
111	** The canonical ruler Prince Heinrich of Zlobenia is made insecure by one of his Army generals being not only a popular leader who tends to win his battles, but also a younger son of the Romanoff family. Heinrich is also aware that Zlobenia is one of ''those'' countries which came into existence when the former [[UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} Rus Empire]] broke up. Zlobenia[[note]]explicitly likened to the Austro-Hungarian Empire which shattered after a destructive war[[/note]] is a potentially unstable country with a dozen different ethnicities which only holds together because everybody hates the Borogravians more than they hate each other. The biggest single ethnicity is Rus. And the Romanoffs used to be the Tsars. Heinrich disposes of a rival by sending Grand Duke General Casimir Romanoff to distant [[UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica Rimwards Howondaland]] as Ambassador.
112	* In Chapter 7 of the ''Series/DoctorWho'' fanfic ''Devotee of Augustus'', [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10630391/7/Devotee-of-Augustus "The Galactic Council"]], Callidus Dominus and Funos decide to get rid of four members of the Malphan Ministers Council who support an alliance with the Daleks by having a re-shuffle of Planetery Governors and making them the Ministers of Rylosh, Qol, Grit, and Hushyt, four planets "that required a lot of management and had notoriously poor secrets security", hoping they'll be too attend the council, make schemes, and even if they do they'll be found out. [[spoiler:Unfortunately it turns out their information hasn't been extensive enough and Malpha ends up joining the Galactic Council with the Daleks.]]
113	* ''Fanfic/EarthsAlienHistory'': After engineering a border war between the [[TheAlliance Terran Treaty Organization]] and the Invincible Ctarl-Ctarl Empire which [=TeTO=] wins, Aisha Clanclan is removed as ambassador to [=TeTO=], and later she's assigned to TheArk sent to Andromeda just to get her out of their hair.
114	* In ''Fanfic/IceAndFire'', Suzaku ends up being transferred to the Middle East after he caused a scandal by dancing with Princess Euphemia at a ball. It's there that he ends up meeting Lelouch, and becoming one of his greatest assets and best friends.
115	* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14130473/7/The-Legacy-of-Merlin The Legacy of Merlin]]'' when Dumbledore prevents Minister Fudge from firing the hit-wizards who attacked his wife before he became Minister, he sends them to a Muggle town in Russia, which they can leave only if somebody else screws up badly enough.
116	* In the ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4936328/1/Mistress-Ciel Mistress Ciel]]'' by Archaon, Ciel goes back in time via MentalTimeTravel to make things better. One of the first things she does? Send Elpizo to a post in Antarctica. Better than killing him, though, right?
117	* ''Fanfic/MoreThanMeetsTheEar'': Blackbolt was at one point a model Decepticon who was seen as an example for all others to follow. One day, Megatron himself assigned her to a mission to assassinate Optimus Prime, but she failed, and was reassigned to guarding a Decepticon research facility, which eventually lead to her defecting from the Decepticons after Maestro and Subwoofer infiltrated the facility to break Sweetie Bot out from it.
118	* ''Fanfic/MythosEffect'': This is heavily implied to be the fate of the Asari diplomat who completely ruined the peace negotiations with the New Earth Federation because she decided to meld with the human diplomat as opposed to just talking to them.
119	* In ''[[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/a-nerubians-journey-warcraft-si.1042773/page-278?post=93647283#post-93647283 A Nerubian's Journey]]'', a particularly troubles Quel'thalas magister gets reassigned to the Banditry Bureau and is blatantly told that not only is the bureau a dumping ground for problem children, but that the prince's intervention on her behalf is the only thing allowing her even that much. While a great deal of high elves do agree with her that the idea they're ultimately descended from trolls is nonsense, her destroying a lecture hall in the foreign kingdom of Dalaran over the suggestion results in several complaints from various kingdoms.
120	* In ''[[http://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-30534-5/ShadowMaster+The+Passing+of+the+Shades+of+Black.htm The Passing of the Shades of Black]]'', a cadet for the Franchise/MenInBlack is shown to have been sabotaging her fellow cadets in order to improve her chances of making field agent. Rather than have her neuralyzed and sent back to the Air Force, the higher ups take Xander's suggestion of giving her an assignment she'll hate. She ends up as the liaison to the alien race in charge of the porn industry with the offer that if she lasts five years without incident, she'll be made second-in-command of the Intelligence Division (which is three or four steps away from her dream job of becoming a Branch Director).
121	* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13715486/6/A-Pinch-of-Salt-A-Dash-of-Magic?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=E1yVtWjO8EQTt5yLT_QBktAsvkVviasaaWhRKgelT2o-1643002371-0-gaNycGzNCRE A Pinch of Salt, a Dash of Magic]]'' Umbridge makes such a nuisance of herself that Minister Fudge sends her to a diplomatic station in the Amazon.
122	* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8831374/7/The-Power-of-the-Press The Power of the Press]]'' "Evan Black"'s real identity (Franchise/HarryPotter) is being kept so secret that Minister of Magic Amelia Bones has the Unspeakable who did the research on "Evan" sent to Station Zebra in Antarctica to investigate Yeti rumors until further notice.
123	* ''Fanfic/RainbowDoubleDashsLunaverse:''
124	** Trixie initially thinks being assigned to Ponyville is a case of this, not helped by finding letters from the previous occupant telling her as such (and the occupant before him, and the occupant before them, and so on), causing her to try and spite Princess Luna by making the next twenty-four hours miserable for everyone around her. Then Luna tells her this ''isn't'' the case -- she was asking for more authority, so Luna gave her more authority. Trixie just didn't think things through, like the fact that ''of course'' her first posting would be a small town. Gets slightly less funnier when Corona makes an appearance a few minutes later, and thinks Trixie really has been assigned to Antarctica, due to a mix-up. [[spoiler:At the end of the story, Luna admits that she was lying about that and the posting ''was'' meant to punish Trixie -- Ponyville being so unimportant and out-of-the-way that it would've been a total dead-end for Trixie's political career.]]
125	** The ''actual'' Antarctican posting of the Lunaverse is the Griffon Embassy, since the Griffons are a fractured bunch of nation-states, and the one the embassy is posted on ''really'' has a grudge against Equestria. The embassy is the dumping ground of the politically inept, the stupid, and a vanishing few victims of politics. [[spoiler:During "Voice of the Sun", this backfires, since so many of the staff are well-aware they've been reassigned they're willing to turn traitor for power, leaving the genuinely good and helpful out-manned.]]
126	* The listening posts on the fringes of the Sol system in ''Fanfic/RedFireRedPlanet'' play a theoretically extremely important role in protecting the heart of the Federation, but in practice they're viewed as a dead-end assignment because they see very little action. Although that's exactly why Operations Specialist, Second Class Kybok likes working there.
127	* ''Fanfic/RiseOfTheMinisukas'': When Kaji arrives to his regular bar in T-3 to get loaded and discovers that 1) the Noir Minisuka likes to drink (seltzer) here and 2) there are patrons that try to hit on her (regardless of the fact she is eight inches tall), Kaji tells the bartender who told him this latter tidbit that the Minisukas are thirteen years old, he considers Asuka a daughter, and the bartender better tell him the names of everybody who tried to hit on her so he will make sure they get sent to the worst bases NERV has. The bartender does so.
128	* ''Fanfic/ShadowsOverMeridian'':
129	** {{Downplayed\|Trope}} in Chapter 7, where Elyon essentially banishes Caleb and the other rebels from the castle, assigning them to patrolling the city and surrounding area instead, both to express her anger at his recent actions and to try and [[AHouseDivided deescalate tensions between the rebels and guards]].
130	** Sult, one of the commanders of Elyon's northern army, is a former Phobos loyalist who switched sides shortly before the end of the war. As such, it's speculated that part of the reason he was shipped up north was a decision made by suspicious rebels to get him out of the capital.
131	* This is basically what happens to the rainbowface in ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' fanfiction ''[[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/TheSevenHunters The Seven Hunters]]'' when they are stationed on Earth. This is a slight inversion of the trope, however, because the rainbowfaces actually want to be stationed on Earth.
132	* ''Fanfic/ASupeOfAMan'' features a rare sympathetic example of this trope: Aunt Mary sends Clark to work on the West Coast, an area without any Supes because she's terrified if he works in New York, Homelander might kill him in a fit of envy.
133	* ''Fanfic/ThisBites'': The PR disaster that was Enies Lobby causes Sengoku to reassign every Marine that follows "[[KnightTemplar Absolute Justice]]" to the New World to wage war against the Four Emperors and keep them out of the public eye before they make things worse than they already have. Among these Marines include Admiral Akainu and Vice-Admiral Onigumo. For all his faults, Sengoku despises the doctrine of "Absolute Justice" and wanted to dishonorably discharge/imprison those in question (specifically Akainu), especially since that would be the easiest and fastest way to fix this mess, but the Corps needs their abilities too much in face of the rising crime rate.
134	* ''Fanfic/TheTickvsMyHeroAcademia'': Officially, The Tick is in Japan on his own initiative; but when Endeavor requested his return, the American response was a paper with "NO GIVE BACKSIES" printed on it.
135	* ''Fanfic/TheWeaverOption'':
136	** Andes Primus, a Feral World with nothing of value, is a dumping ground for the Imperium's various organizations. Scapegoats, lunatics, the annoying, and personnel just unlucky enough to be associated with a scandal get sent here to keep them out of the way. The Ulm 2nd was exiled to garrison duty here after their [[GeneralFailure Lord Commander failed so badly he was executed]] while Tech-Priest Dragon was in the same region as a Heretek factorum.
137	** When Andes Primus is later slated for terraforming and colonization, the Death World [[MeaningfulName Polar]] is selected as its replacement.
138	** Pius Hoth viewed his assignment as Cardinal to a sparsely populated sector as this. Everything about the assignment offended him, most especially the lack of donations for him to skim off of, leading to him turning to Chaos.
139	** Nostradomus Vandire is a Terran noble who failed to find independent success or ingratiate himself to his well-connected and short-tempered father, eventually getting shuffled off to the distant Nyx sector.
140	* In ''Fanfic/{{Webwork}}'', Agent Jones is placed in charge of the new [[AntiMagicalFaction Section 0]]... which currently consists of three agents (him included), and operates out of one of Section 13's repurposed ''closets''. Viper [[LampshadeHanging asks what he did to deserve this]]; he notably refuses to give details, but apparently his [[NoodleIncident last mission]] didn't go so well.
141	* In the ''My Little Pony'' {{Fanfic}} ''Fanfic/WeRentTheNight'', Trixie Lulamoon is given the choice of joining The Night Guard or facing prison, after the Alicorn Amulet incident. Cut to six months later, at which point she is has been shipped off to a remote guard outpost with only half a dozen guards, on the isolated island community of Wash Margin. As it turns out, ''all'' of the guards stationed there were Reassigned to Antarctica for various reasons (knocking over The Princess's cake and blaming it on her bird, hitting on a princess, etc.).
142	* Navy of the Isles in ''Fanfic/WhatAboutWitchQueen'' treats being send to Westerguard as this, despite the island being important in Isles' economy. The are some reasons for it. The locals, Weste, aren't all that fond of the Islanders, the place is seen as the virtual end of the world by people on the other islands, and the weather is always stormy, cloudy or rainy. Not to mention that the Navy actually dumps people it doesn't like to see there, which might not be the wisest thing to do in a long run.
143	* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13218646/11/Who-Is-Harry-Potter Who Is Harry Potter?]]'' Bill is sent to Iceland by Gringotts as punishment for being compulsion-charmed to try to talk Harry into being Sorted into Gryffindor.
144	* The oneshot ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11757317/1/Winter-Has-Come Winter Has Come]]'' revolves around Kristoff being banished to be a part of the [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire Night's Watch off in Castle Black.]] The official record is that he was a rapist, [[spoiler: but [[HeKnowsTooMuch the real reason is that he learned of]] [[BrotherSisterIncest Queen Elsa and Princess Anna's less-than-sisterly relationship]].]]
145	* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Ripples}}'', the Guard commander responsible for destroying Sonder Hill against orders is reassigned as warden of [[HellholePrison the Underwater Mines]]. And on top of that, Van considers having an "[[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident accident]]" arranged for him at some point later on.
146	* Played with at the start of ''Fanfic/TheWrongReflection''. After Eleya apparently set off a political shitstorm back home during Tuvok's conference, her ship gets posted to Deep Space 9 to get her away from Earth. The tricky part's that it worked in her favor since it meant she could attend her sister's wedding.
147	[[/folder]]
148
149	[[folder:Films — Animation]]
150	* ''WesternAnimation/AprilAndTheExtraordinaryWorld'': After losing the Franklins, Pizoni is demoted from inspector to agent, and told that from now on he is not allowed anywhere near scientists. He is restricted to arresting tramps and vegetable thieves
151	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Klaus\|2019}}'': Jesper is assigned to man the post office on the desolate Arctic circle island of Smeerensburg, populated primarily by two feuding clans who aren’t particularly interested in correspondence, and tasked with delivering 6,000 letters in a year or he loses his job with the postal service. Because his father, the postmaster general, got sick of him abusing his family connection to lazily skate by.
152	* Inverted in ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens'', where the staff members at the Antarctic outpost ''deliberately'' took the position to avoid having to actually do anything.
153	* ''Film/OsmosisJones'':
154	** As the film begins, the titular white cell has been assigned to patrol Frank's mouth after a bad incident. ("I should be out in the veins fighting disease, not up in the mouth on tartar control!") Later, the mayor threatens to demote him further by sending him to the next nosebleed.
155	** At the end, [[spoiler:the mayor has been ousted and is now working on the rectum.]]
156	* In ''WesternAnimation/PlanesFireAndRescue'', [[spoiler:the obnoxious Park Superintendent gets reassigned to Death Valley after diverting water supplies from the firefighters to the hotel sprinkler system nearly gets everybody killed (including the Secretary of the Interior).]]
157	[[/folder]]
158
159	[[folder:Gamebooks]]
160	* In the ''Literature/LoneWolf'' book ''The Deathlord of Ixia'', Captain Lanza commands a fort near the frozen wasteland of Ixia (populated by TheUndead) because he killed the son of a noble in a drunken brawl. Most of the garrison, in fact, probably ended here for similar reasons.
161	-->His posting here had been his punishment for a drunken brawl in a Vadera tavern in which he had killed, albeit in self-defence, the brutish elder son of Haglar, the mayor of the city. At his court-martial he had been allowed to choose his fate -- command of the notorious Azgad Island garrison, or death by hanging. Lanza readily admits that there have been times when he has felt that he made the wrong choice.
162	[[/folder]]
163
164	[[folder:Jokes]]
165	* A US Air Force general was flying home from Europe on Christmas Eve, anxious to spend the holidays with his family. Unfortunately, his pilot informed him that the lavatory system needed to be cleared due to weight restrictions. Also, the only airfield available was in Greenland, at an obscure field near the Arctic Circle. As the general impatiently waited, a lowly Airman trudged out in an ancient pumper truck and began to pump out the system, hampered by a snowstorm and sub-zero weather. As the man did his unfavorable work, the general shouted out the window to hurry the job so he could get back to the States. Not seeing his tormentor, the Airman shouted back, "I'll be finished when I finish!" The general shouted, "Front and center, airman!" and starting to berate him about his poor job and attitude. The airman raised his hand and said, "Look, general! I'm an Airman, pumping human waste out of a plane, on Christmas Eve, in Greenland during a snowstorm! What else can you do to me?"
166	[[/folder]]
167
168	[[folder:Radio]]
169	* In ''Radio/TheMenFromTheMinistry'', Sir Gregory frequently threatens to reassign One and Two to the Outer Hebrides.
170	* In ''Radio/TheNavyLark'', this is pretty much how the crew of ''HMS Troutbridge'' was assembled. The Admiralty's apparent thought process was to keep all the screw-ups and schemers in one place -- namely one broken-down frigate. Given the [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} mental capacities]] of some of the admirals, though, this policy has [[HilarityEnsues the expected result]].
171	[[/folder]]
172
173	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
174	* Happens all the time in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech''. Two notable examples include Aidan Pryde, a Clan Jade Falcon commander who was transferred to the destroyed Falcon Guard (which due to a humiliating defeat was considered nothing but a dumping ground for failures) and Caradoc "Doc" Trevena, a Lyran officer who got sent to the Coventry militia by a commander who took his lack of promotions as a sign of incompetence (in fact, Trevena had been refusing promotions because he was very good at doing the job he had at his current rank: training squads to combat effectiveness). Notably, both of these managed to be enormous {{Reassignment Backfire}}s when these disparaged and otherwise ignored Mechwarriors end up being linchpins in saving the Jade Falcon retreat at Tukayyid and saving the vital factory planet of Coventry from Jade Falcon invasion, respectively, and showing their detractors what-for, usually by watching said detractors [[IgnoredExpert get killed by not listening to good advice]].
175	* ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'':
176	** When the devils want to do this, the place they have is a Blood War battlefield called the Stinging Sands of Minethys. This place in Carceri used to have strategic value millennia ago, but since then, both sides of the war have long forgotten why they were fighting over it, and the fighting has degenerated into tedious, grueling trench warfare. The fighting here is pointless, because no progress has been made by either side in over a thousand years, and the devils only persist because pride prevents them from letting the demons have it. Devils send subordinates here as a punishment.
177	** Bel is an odd example of this. He was a big power player in infernal politics, but after a major shakeup, he was assigned the role of being the Archduke of the First Layer. On paper, this was a big promotion, but the Archduke of the First Layer happens to have the job of commanding the Blood War. Bel's [[FourStarBadass actually very competent at this,]] and it's an important job, but it occupies him so much that he doesn't have any time to try to advance his own career or plot against his superiors. It doesn't help that most of the other Archdukes see him as an upstart, and therefore are content to have him as far away as possible.
178	* In the ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'' 1st edition campaign ''The Enemy Within'', the adventurers at one point save the life of an Imperial Elector Count... and learn a lot of embarrassing secrets about his court. So as a "reward" they get sent to Kislev, which is the fantasy equivalent of ''Russia''...
179	[[/folder]]
180
181	[[folder:Theatre]]
182	* This is why not to have sex with [[FemmeFatale Hedy]] in ''Theatre/HowToSucceedInBusinessWithoutReallyTrying''. The company president is after her as well, and there are plenty of jobs open in Venezuela ...
183	[[/folder]]
184
185	[[folder:Web Animation]]
186	* ''WebAnimation/EtraChanSawIt'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SO4bNMwFDE Akamatsu]] was sent to the countryside by Tachibana after he tried to kick a pregnant Tsutsuji while he was drunk.
187	* ''WebAnimation/MangaAngelNekoOka'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1Ragu-w1H4 Akira]] is a manager who gets transferred to a small, failing branch of his company because he was demoted from a larger branch by his superior for complaining about an unreasonable order. He refuses to return to his old branch because he feels comfortable with his new place.
188	* ''WebAnimation/MangaCharacterSprinklers'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGKdEQ4Bh1k Yuto]] is transferred into a branch in the countryside by his boss Hayakawa just because he doesn't like Yuto for being attractive to his favorite hostess. It turns out that Hayakawa was manipulating Yuto's evaluation so he could get rid of him, this causes him to get himself demoted and transferred overseas.
189	* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'':
190	** In "The Reconstruction" we learn that at some point after "The Blood Gulch Chronicles", Church was reassigned to watch over an empty base. He loved it, as there was no one to bother him. [[spoiler:It later transpires that his assignment to Blood Gulch was one of these as well; As the Alpha AI, Project Freelancer needed a place to safely hide him from the Meta.]]
191	** In "The Revelation" that [[spoiler:everyone in the Red and Blue armies are this; the two sides consist of the [=UNSC=]'s worst soldiers, who are used as training dummies for battle simulations, all while thinking they are fighting a real war.]]
192	** In Season 14, Agents Idaho, Iowa, and Ohio, the worst of Project Freelancer, were basically abandoned on a frozen planet. There, they meet a trio of Charon Industries troops who are in the same boat.
193	* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' has Special Operative [[TheNapoleon Caroline Cordovin]], who claims to have been placed in charge of the Argus military base for her "wit and tenacity". Her SitcomArchNemesis Maria Calavera immediately counters that it was probably because her commanding officers wanted her irritating, fanatical self as far from Atlas as possible.
194	[[/folder]]
195
196	[[folder:Web Comics]]
197	* In ''Webcomic/{{Far from Home\|MightyMartianStudios}}'', [[MilitaryMaverick the lieutenant made a paper airplane out of a briefing]]. Hence, the scouting mission.
198	* Used in [[http://www.agirlandherfed.com/woodpulp/1.1205.html this page]] of ''Webcomic/AGirlAndHerFed'' as [[BewareTheNiceOnes a more credible class of threat]] from an ActualPacifist with {{Technopath}} resources.
199	* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'':
200	** Tarvek had Violetta [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110909 reassigned to Mechanicsburg]] because she "wasn't ''good enough''"... [[{{Subversion}} supposedly]]. [[spoiler:Actually Tarvek pulled strings to have her sent there in order to save her life, because someone had been assassinating the Smoke Knights assigned to protect him, and he didn't want her to die doing a job she hated.]]
201	** Baron Wulfenbach employs Castle Heterodyne for this purpose, albeit with more direct lethality than most examples. Repairing and researching the Castle from the inside out is the job given to convicts considered too dangerous for a conventional prison... and guarding those prisoners is punishment duty for lousy Wulfenbach employees.
202	* In ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}'', Rumisiel is assigned to the 5th Branch of [[CelestialBureaucracy The Celestial Filing Dept]], the lowest rung of the heavenly ladder whose job is basically to take files out, read them, and put them back, in the hopes of keeping him from doing any damage. Unfortunately he is such a screw up it backfires.
203	* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
204	** The Sapphire Guard has a tendency to send [[KnightTemplar Miko]] on missions that require spending months in foreign lands, due to her... abrasive personality. Doing so has seriously harmed the Sapphire Guard's image, though.
205	** Durkon was sent to the human lands and ordered to stay there until he was called back, in an attempt to prevent a prophecy that he would bring disaster when he returned. As such, the dwarves responsible had no intention of ever letting him return. Recent events show that [[spoiler:this was a SelfFulfillingProphecy, as forcing him out was the catalyst for buried resentment towards his clan, giving his vampiric side something to draw on and reason to side with Hel]].
206	* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', Riff was briefly reassigned to Alaska for pissing off his boss; because he'd never previously held down a nine-to-five job, he didn't know that it was possible to just quit without blowing up the factory. Besides, it beat being transformed into a gnome.
207	* In ''Webcomic/{{SSDD}}'', Tessa was assigned to station E11, orbiting Uranus, for ordering Tin-Head to disassemble her commanding officer's car (while drunk). [[http://www.poisonedminds.com/d/20060406.html Earlier]] ([[WholeEpisodeFlashback chronologically]]), when she was considering volunteering for the SuperSoldier implants field test she envisioned herself being assigned to: the arctic, a desert, and a really boring post if she refused the offer.
208	* Colonel Vron in the scifi webcomic ''Webcomic/StarTrip'' is on a mission to hunt the shapeshifting {{Deuteragonist}} Khut, a nearly hopeless task that his species, the Taikese, have been unable to accomplish for the past millennium. He was assigned the job mainly to keep him out of the way, motivated by classist discrimination against him.
209	* ''Webcomic/{{Widdershins}}'' has Voss sent [[http://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/may-20th-2014/ to Nepal]] after he badly mishandles a situation in the Prussian military. His "mission" is to check the status of the magical anchor of Chomolungma, a.k.a. Mount Everest. It's right where they left it. [[spoiler:Moreover, he releases a powerful, hostile spirit through the anchor, so he actually ''bungles'' his make-work project.]]
210	[[/folder]]
211
212	[[folder:Web Original]]
213	* In ''Literature/FromWintersAshes'', the story begins with this trope, the unlucky protagonist is sent to a seeming {{Punishment Post}} in the high arctic, to join a {{Ragtag Bunch of Misfits}} that are surprisingly competent. {{Reassignment Backfire}} ensues.
214	* In ''Literature/DecadesOfDarkness'', an AlternateHistory timeline, being transferred to the West African colony of Whydah is considered this for members of the American military. The American State Department's equivalent assignment is Liberia.
215	* In ''Literature/RedsARevolutionaryTimeline'' the United American Socialist Republics became Stalin's go to dumping ground for those too popular to kill.
216	* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': From [[http://whateleyacademy.net/index.php/823-absinthe Absinthe]], when an employee is offending someone higher in the corporate ladder:
217	-->"I will personally see to it that you are permanently assigned to bumfuck Alaska."
218	[[/folder]]
219
220	[[folder:Websites]]
221	* The ''Website/SCPFoundation'' files make occasional use of this. For displaying either egregious stupidity or horrific disregard for common decency (i.e. rearranging the furnishings of a young blind girl for a laugh), Foundation staff can be reassigned to Keter duty. Keter is the classification used for objects or beings that show an active, intense hostility towards human life, civilization, or existence itself. As they often require incredibly precise and challenging means of containment to prevent wholesale destruction, staff members on Keter duty have a VERY short life expectancy.
222	[[/folder]]
223
224	[[folder:Web Videos]]
225	* In ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged'', this is the basis for Kirito and Asuna's "vacation" in Episode 10. Their guild leader Heathcliff is about to undertake a vital diplomatic mission to gain access to Floor 75, and so sends Kirito to Floor 22 because he's afraid the little {{Jerkass}} will do something to "piss someone off and kill thousands." Asuna is assigned to be his guard, as there’s only a slightly smaller risk of her doing the same thing. Heathcliff does at least try to spin the whole thing as a honeymoon of sorts.
226	[[/folder]]
227
228	[[folder:Western Animation]]
229	* In the two-part ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Stan of Arabia", Stan is reassigned to a post in Saudi Arabia after screwing up his supervisor's anniversary roast party, and naturally his family goes with him. It doesn't go well.
230	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}'': Caitlyn treats being assigned to guard her family's tent at the Progress Day festival as this since she wants to be out there solving crimes, not herding drunks.
231	* In the third season of ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'', [[InsistentTerminology Nikolai Jackov, head of the KGB]] is transferred to SIBERIA when cyborg Barry takes over. Jackov defects to ISIS instead.
232	* At the start of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation is tasked with finding [[TheChosenOne the Avatar]] to restore his honor after he spoke out of turn in a war council and subsequently refused to fight back in the ensuing ceremonial duel with [[AbusiveParents his father]]. Ostensibly it's an important duty, but given the fact that the Avatar is widely believed to have died over a century ago, plus Ozai's BrutalHonesty about [[TheUnfavorite Zuko being a disappointment to him]], it's pretty obvious that the whole thing is actually just a SnipeHunt meant to keep Zuko out in the backwaters of the world and away from anything important. Leads to a particularly epic ReassignmentBackfire when Zuko's experiences in his exile eventually cause a HeelFaceTurn that helps bring Ozai's reign crashing down.
233	* ''WesternAnimation/DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines'': In the episode "Have Plane, Will Travel", the General assigns the Vulture Squadron to a tiny island in the Pacific theater. After another typical unsuccessful round of trying to stop the pigeon, the General reassigns the Squadron... to the moon.
234	* At the end of Season 2 of ''WesternAnimation/{{Detentionaire}}'', [[spoiler:Lee Ping]] gets expelled from school, and his furious mother states that he's going to be transferred to a school in either Alaska or Siberia -- whichever one's colder and has more polar bears.
235	* ''WesternAnimation/DevilMayCare'': "The Shipment" reveals the secret origins of Hell -- God created Hell as a dumping ground for everything and everyone who annoyed Him, and then tricked the Devil into running the place because He got tired of the Devil's creative suggestions.
236	* In an episode of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Dilbert}}'' cartoon, two teams within Dilbert's company (his team and that of the one-off villain Lena) are pitted against each other to finish a task, with the team that fails being reassigned to [[PlaceWorseThanDeath Albany, New York (cue an image of a desolate, snowy waste)]].
237	-->'''Lena's newly-severed head:''' Well, better this than Albany.
238	* Literally what happens to MilitaryMaverick Yuri Stavrogan in ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad'': he gets sent to Antarctica right after he gets promoted to an squad commander. Unfortunately for him, the Neosapien breeding facility they are assigned to investigate is, in fact, the highest security Neo installation on the planet at the moment ([[spoiler:because it researches [[SuperSoldier Neo Lords]]]]), and his entire squad is wiped out.
239	* ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'', "Rooster Revenge": Roy has played a practical joke on Orson, who vows revenge but is secretly pulling off a ParanoiaGambit. Shortly thereafter, an inspector, who appears to be Orson in a PaperThinDisguise, arrives on the farm. Roy just mocks him and ''begs'' to be sent to the South Pole, even trying to throw mud on the "inspector". After the inspector falls into Orson's waller, the ''real'' Orson walks up. As Roy contemplates this turn of events with [[OhCrap a horrified look on his face]], the inspector declares that he really will banish Roy. As Roy runs away in panic, the inspector turns out to be [[spoiler:Lanolin in disguise]].
240	* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeRenegades'' opens with two hapless Cobra guards standing in front of a remote bunker in the middle of a frozen wasteland. A brief conversation between the two reveals that they were both assigned there due to previously failing to prevent the Joes from getting into secure areas. Naturally, the Joes show up again. One wonders where they'll get sent next time...
241	* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'':
242	** Zim ''upgraded'' to this position and it's the RunningGag of the series. Zim is the definition of SmallNameBigEgo and has no idea that the planet isn't a "good" assignment -- in fact, it was little more than a thinly disguised suicide mission. The Tallest sent him out on this "important mission" [[SnipeHunt not even knowing there was a planet in the vicinity (Earth's location is labeled on their hi-tech star map with a sticky note that has "Planet?" written on it)]]. They fervently hoped that he would die looking for a non-existent location. When it became clear there really ''was'' a planet there, they're happy to just let him stay there and continue to fail while enduring his constant calls and hoping he gets himself killed in the process.
243	** They're far more blunt when it comes to Skoodge: "You will be assigned to Blorch, home of the slaughtering rat people." [[ReassignmentBackfire Hilariously enough]], [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Skoodge]] manages to be the first invader in Impending Doom II to conquer his planet. The Tallest had already tried to have him killed. [[UnexplainedRecovery Twice.]]
244	* ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'': "Hi-Tech Wreck" had Mr. Spacely threaten to (and almost) reassign George to "Outer Moongolia"[[note]]"Moongolia" is not a typo, by the way.[[/note]] Fortunately, George's AI co-worker R.U.D.I. convinces Spacely to give George his job back... by ''[[BewareTheNiceOnes threatening to destroy the Spacely Sprockets factory]]''.
245	* Happens twice in ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo''. Once when Johnny is given to a ''foster family'' in Antarctica, and again when he joins the army and ends up accidentally blowing up the training camp by cleaning the latrines with nitroglycerin.
246	* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' implies that a lot of the antagonistic "[[KnowNothingKnowItAll experts]]" the Hills and their neighbors frequently encounter (ie. Anthony "Twig-Boy" Page from the pilot, with a repeat appearance in "Junkie Business") are in Arlen, Texas simply because they're too self-important to find work anywhere else.
247	* Marvin from ''WesternAnimation/MartinMystery'' was reassigned to a Center base in Antarctica, largely as an excuse to have a WholePlotReference to ''Film/{{The Thing\|1982}}''.
248	* In ''WesternAnimation/MiloMurphysLaw'', [[TimePolice Cavendish and Dakota]] discover that their mission to protect pistachios in the present was basically this: the two are seen as so incompetent that they were given the least important assignment that the Time Agents had, which amounts to "preserve this thing that the boss liked eating as a kid." The second season has them lose even ''that'' job after trying to convince their boss about the events of the season premiere, and the duo ends up getting a job as janitors picking up alien trash in the present day with a different time police organization.
249	* This trope is discussed in the ''WesternAnimation/PrivateSnafu'' cartoon "The Outpost", an attempt to debunk soldiers' gossip that assignment to remote locations is a punishment. It was no coincidence that the cartoon was made in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the most geographically encompassing conflict in human history.
250	* Done literally on ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' in the ''Slimer!'' segment "Scareface". Goolem and Zugg invade the Sedgewick Hotel to order around the ghosts and Slimer tries to get rid of Goolem and Zugg by impersonating Goolem's boss and Zugg's uncle Scareface. They find out about Slimer's deception as soon as the real Scareface shows up, but Goolem gets himself and Zugg in trouble by attacking the real Scareface due to mistaking him for Slimer in disguise. Goolem and Zugg's punishment is that they get banished to the South Pole.
251	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'', the narrator explains that the army tried to do this to Captain "Wrong-Way" Peachfuzz, but thanks to a typo in the paperwork, he ended up inadvertently assigned to the intelligence services.
252	* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' focusing on the parasites living on Spunky, Bloaty the tick invites his ill-tempered boss to dinner to stay on his good side. The second his boss enters the room he shouts "YOU'RE FIRED!" (which he quickly explains was just a VerbalTic due to how often he fires people) then warns Bloaty that he can, on a whim, reassign Bloaty to the Colon Mines.
253	* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' Mr. Burns gives Homer and two other lunkhead employees the duty of watching the company bee while a nuclear inspection is going on, thus hiding them away in the basement where the inspectors won't witness their incompetence. Homer is the only one of the three not to question what's happening.
254	* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'': A RunningGag among the crew of the ''Cerritos'' is that Starbase 80 is a terrible place to work. Even Mariner, the MilitaryMaverick who is used to spending nights in the brig, is [[AnythingButThat aghast]] when Ransom threatens to transfer her there if she steps out of line. He later admits that it was an empty threat, and that [[EveryoneHasStandards even he]] wouldn't subject someone to that kind of punishment. So it comes as quite a shock to him later that year when Captain Freeman actually does transfer Mariner there in a fit of [[MisplacedRetribution misplaced rage]]. Exactly how Starbase 80 came to be such a hellhole is never made clear, but the one glimpse the audience sees of it paints it as a [[GreenIsGross pretty gross place]] with poor morale and discipline. It's so bad that as soon as Mariner sets foot on the Starbase, she resigns.
255	* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'':
256	** Holly Blue Agate is abrasive and insulting to her inferiors, excessively butt-kissing towards her superiors (to the point where it even annoys them), and none too competent. She's also the supervisor of the remote Human Zoo, in charge of a bunch of unruly and sometimes defective Gems in what is essentially a memorial to someone most Gems haven't even heard of. These two facts are probably related. Naturally, she doesn't see it this way, often [[SmallNameBigEgo lecturing others on how important her position is]].
257	** The Quartzes under her command don't seem to be much better; several of them are defective and they have [[ImmortalImmaturity the attitudes of rowdy teenagers.]] Their caste role (frontline combat) is also incredibly unsuited to their position (caretaking a PeopleZoo). It's probably not coincidental that a related Gem caste (the Rose Quartzes) appears to have been completely decommissioned, nor that they seem to have been the few surviving servants of the person the aforementioned memorial was for.
258	* ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'': In "From Here to Machinery", Professor Martin Torque sells robot pilots to Shere Khan [[JobStealingRobot that end up putting regular pilots like Baloo out of commission]]. However, when Khan discovers that by refusing to deviate from their flight plans, the robots end up making their planes easy prey for air pirates. After Baloo manages to save Khan from the pirates by taking over as his pilot, regular pilots are back in business, and Torque gets relocated to Thembria, where he is left desperately attempting to market his robots as maids.
259	* On ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'', after Clover finally finds the perfect boyfriend, fellow WOOHP agent Blaine, he is reassigned to WOOHP's Australian division.
260	* About half of the main cast in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated''. Bumblebee and Bulkhead were assigned space bridge repair detail as punishment for an incident in boot camp (though Bulkhead didn't mind), while Optimus himself was installed as their captain because it was the highest position he qualified for after the Elita-1 incident.
261	* ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersRobotsInDisguise2015 Transformers: Robots in Disguise]]'': After the Restoration of Cybertron, pretty much all of the then-deceased Optimus Prime's supporters were blacklisted by the High Council, with the justification being the damage they had caused to the planet during the war. For example, Bumblebee is delegated to being a lowly security guard, while Ratchet is forced to remain in exile on Earth. Even once he's resurrected, Optimus stays clear of Cybertron in order to find out what the High Council are up to. When Bumblebee and his team are assigned to hunt down the escaped prisoners of the Alchemor on Earth, it becomes even more of an example as it serves to keep him off Cybertron. This ends up becoming a massive case of ReassignmentBackfire, as not only does Bumblebee's team accomplish all that they were tasked to do, they also manage to expose the fact that [[spoiler:[[MoleInCharge the entire High Council were in fact a Decepticon Cell]] and thus overthrow them]].
262	* Brock Samson's assignment as the Ventures' bodyguard in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' is one of these, for asking too many questions about the Guild of Calamitous Intent. Hunter Gathers was reassigned to Guam for the same reason. It's important to note that this all happens in a flashback. In the present, Brock is content in his job as bodyguard, Gathers went rogue, and the Guild is basically a club that lets eccentrics pretend to be supervillains. [[spoiler:In Season 4, both Brock and Gathers work for SPHINX and take care of the ''actual'' threats to the public.]]
263	* ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'': As part of his EstablishingCharacterMoment, Prince Lotor defeats and seemingly pardons Commander Throk, a rival Galra warlord who opposed his rise to power, in front of the entire Galra army. The next scene shows him in private ordering his BodyguardBabes to transfer Throk out to the Ulippa System to "rot with the ice worms".
264	* The explanation for why the famed Commodore Tolwyn is babysitting a bunch of space cadets in ''WesternAnimation/WingCommanderAcademy''.
265	* Ranger Smith often threatened to send ''WesternAnimation/YogiBear'' to either Siberia or the St. Louis Zoo if he didn't behave.
266	[[/folder]]

Context Main / ReassignedToAntarctica