History Main / YesMan

* ''Anime/{{Aggretsuko}}''; the company Retsuko works for is littered with sniveling cronies who love kissing up to the boss, be it Komiya in Accounting (who always agrees with [[MeanBoss Ton]] no matter what) or the entire board of directors (who go along with whatever hairbrained idea the CEO comes up with until [[HypercompetentSidekick Washimi]] steps in with a reality check).
* ''Manga/CesareIlCreatoreCheHaDistrutto'', ScholarshipStudent Angelo finds the Florentine students at the University of Pisa boring because they're all just this to Giovanni de'Medici. They don't feel they have a choice, though -- most of them came to the university in order to get in good with a rich patron and get a good job that way. Giovanni is used to this treatment, so that's what they have to do to get him to remember them. Then Cesare stirs things up by telling Giovanni that Angelo is actually the one most qualified to be supervisor of the project they're planning together, and some of the other Florentines don't take it well at all.
%%* Sanae from ''Manga/HanaukyoMaidTeam''.
%%* Ravi from ''Manga/{{Planetes}}'' comes off this way, but he's well-motivated to keep his job in a relatively heartless corporation.

* Koizumi from ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'' happily agrees with everything Haruhi says, even things like shooting photos of Mikuru in embarrasing poses and outfits (much to Mikuru's dismay) ''and'' kisses her ass like a pro to boot. He will however, try to convince Haruhi of other possibilities, if the situation gets too serious. Because Haruhi is GenreSavvy, he compares it to other fictional happenings, but [[WrongGenreSavvy it doesn't always work out good for him]].

* Siegfried Kircheis is this to his childhood friend, Reinhard von Lohengramm in ''Literature/LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes''. Parodied to the fullest extent in this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1ZE1wA4tc8 bonus video]]. Unlike most examples of this trope, both Reinhard and Siegfried are highly intelligent and competent men who complement each other very well precisely ''because'' they're nearly always on the same page, [[spoiler:making the latter's early death a major blow for Reinhard]].
* In the Tenchi Universe version of ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'', Washu has two doll-sized robot copies of her whose sole purpose is to talk about how great she is.
* Corkus toward Griffith from ''{{Manga/Berserk}}''.
* In ''AudioPlay/SaintBeast'', Pandora clearly disapproves of some of the things Zeus does, but he'll keep being the yes-man because it means he gets a greater share of Zeus' love.
* Jessie's Wobbuffet in ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries''. Its Japanese name, ソーナンス Sōnansu, roughly translates to "That's how it is."
** Similarly Inkay is a pun of "Okay" in English, while it's Japanese name Maaiika, is a play on "Oh, all right". Much like Wobbuffet, James' Inkay in particular is very loyal to Team Rocket.

* ''Manga/OnePiece''
** Baby 5 ''never'' turns down a request, both from her boss and virtually anyone else, due to believing it'll make her useful. At first, it's a RunningGag that's PlayedForLaughs, [[spoiler: [[CerebusRetcon then we realize]] that's she's ''psychologically incapable'' of turning down requests, due to being abandoned by her mother as a child for being "useless". [[BigBad Doflamingo]] and the rest of the [[WithFriendsLikeThese Donquixote Pirates]] find the prospect of someone who'll do anything for them delightful, and don't even attempt to fix this negative aspect of hers.]] Oh, did we mention one of said requests includes [[spoiler: '''''ATTEMPTING TO KILL HERSELF?''''']]
** The Five Elders [[spoiler:act this way toward Imu, the de facto secret leader of the entire World Government. When Imu orders them to test out the Mother Flame superweapon, they suggest using it on a remote, uninhabited region high above the sea. Imu orders them to use it on a heavily populated island kingdom, simply because of its close geographical proximity. The Five Elders immediately agree without question and collectively rationalize it as having been the most logical answer all along.]]
* ''Manga/Overlord2012'':
** Part of Ainz' problem is that each and every one of the servants who were brought over with him view him as their creator and PhysicalGod and cannot even conceive of disobeying or backtalking him, which creates problems when he's genuinely trying to make their lives easier and they only want to serve him. He starts recruiting natives in order to have a different perspective on things.
** One scene in the light novel illustrates his first attempt at getting around this: he creates a Death Knight and uses it to take a poll. Unfortunately, a Death Knight is still a mook (and is extremely aware of this fact), but the denizens of Nazarick ''still'' treat him as the Will Of Ainz Made Manifest, which prevents the poor Death Knight from carrying out his mission properly.
** Averting this is why [[HonestAdvisor Pandora's Actor]] is Ainz's most trusted guardian. He's just as loyal as the others, but he knows Ainz is fallable, and is willing to ask questions and bring up opposing views.
* Subverted with Anne in ''Literature/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom''. Her mother raised her to always defer to authority figures since, as the illegitimate daughter of a baron, her best chance for a good life would have been to curry her father's favor and either be named his heir or be given to a good husband in a political marriage (only for her father to discard her when the burn scars she got from a house fire made the latter option impractical). Of course, someone as nutty and random as Catarina is pretty much impossible to suck up to and it allowed Anne to just be herself and become more of a ServileSnarker.
* Nonna from ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'' affirms that she's this to [[TheNapoleon Katyusha]], but a closer examination reveals that their relationship is [[NotSoAboveItAll nothing]] [[ServileSnarker like]] [[TeamMom that]].
--> '''Katyusha:''' Nonna trusts me completely! If I say that snow is black, she wouldn't dare to call it white! Right?
--> '''Nonna:''' Yes.
* ''Manga/FruitsBasket'': The head maid, Akito's ParentalSubstitute, goes along with what Akito says and does without question, stating that as the head of the family and God of the Zodiac, Akito is free to do whatever she wants. As shown when she confronts Kureno after he breaks Rin out of the Cat's Room where Akito had her confined, she firmly believes ''everyone'' in the Sohma family, especially the Zodiac members, should do the same.

* Donald Menken was one of these for the [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]] in the ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' comics.
* Skeets to Booster Gold, be it his more [[TheStoic stoic]] comic book depictions, or the JerkAss he is in the animated adaptations.
* Possibly The Comedian towards UsefulNotes/RichardNixon from ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}''. The actor described him as one in an interview.
* Parodied in ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' where, thanks to the bad economy, a rich businessman can now only afford to employ "maybe men" who are apathetic about his decisions instead of praising them.
* Josh in ''ComicStrip/{{Retail}}'' was this to Stuart.
** Stuart himself is this to anyone above him. When Jerry was their district manager, he would suck up to him whenever he showed up. Later on, when Jerry quit and named Stuart as his successor, he had to be interviewed by the regional manager, who turned out to have a strong dislike for Jerry. After Stuart found out, he promptly threw him under the bus in order to get the job.

[[folder:Fan Works]]

-->'''Matt''': He's always prissy, sitting at his desk like, 'I'm the king of you' to everyone and then Kira prances in and ol' Miki's literally throwing himself on the ground all, 'Take me up the arse, oh mighty one.' Bloody eejit.
* In ''Fanfic/GettingBackOnYourHooves'', [[BigBad Checker Monarch's]] assistant Helping Hoof is a deconstruction. A large amount of his dialog DOES consist of 'Yes Miss Monarch' to the point he has trouble when she wanted him to say ''no'' for once. The deconstruction comes from the fact that Helping Hoof is like this because he's completely ''terrified'' of his {{Sociopath}}ic boss and [[spoiler:trapped in a DealWithTheDevil by her]] rather than being a suck up.

* ''Fanfic/MegaManReawakened'' has Glyde, particularly to Wily.
* Some ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' fanfics paint Kirishima as a YesMan to justify Bakugou's actions, viewing him as a 'manly' hero. It also deconstructs it when it becomes clear that being a YesMan isn't a good idea.
** In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/50888248/chapters/128559295 MHA Alternate Universe: Embers]]'', his defense of Bakugou, even going as far as saying Izuku ''deserved'' everything Bakugou did to him after the latter was thrown into Tartarus on a life sentence in front of a crowd ends with him destroying Fatgum's reputation, getting expelled and blacklisted from heroics by the HPSC and viewed as more or less an idiot by the general public.
** In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/30763544/chapters/75931718 King of the Misfits]]'', his repeated defense of Bakugou costs him [[WeUsedToBeFriends Mina's friendship]] as well as makes it immensely difficult for him to make any friends in 1A or 1B. The author of the fanfic admits he doesn't outright hate Kirishima if he's not defending Bakugou, but when it's that, he can't stand him.
* In ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'', Odion continues being this to his brother Marik as in the original show. This eventually gets lampshaded when Marik seeks to fit in with Yugi's friends.
-->'''Marik:''' Odion, you're the expert on being bland and one-dimensional. I command you to tell me your secret!\\
'''Odion:''' I don't know. Mostly I just stand here and say, 'Yes, Master Marik'.\\
'''Marik:''' Sweet mamma-jamma! That ''is'' all you do, isn't it?!\\
'''Odion:''' Yes, Master Marik.\\
'''Marik:''' Friggin' layabout! As soon as we get back to Egypt, I'm docking your pay.\\
'''Odion:''' Yes, Master Marik.\\
'''Marik:''' And then it's bye-bye to your Gummi Bears collection!\\
'''Odion:''' [[NotSoAboveItAll Asshole]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'' films and [[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries series]], Mertle is always surrounded by her chorus of Yes girls; "Yeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhh!"
* ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine'' has an interesting variant on this trope with the Blue Meanie Max. He starts out saying "yes" to the Blue Meanie Alpha, which gets him in trouble, at which point he switches to "no" but still means "yes." By the end of the movie the Blue Meanie Alpha wants him to say "yes" but he has just gotten used to saying "no, your blueness" (which he at the last minute switches to "yes, your newness"). [[BadBoss Seems the Alpha takes pride in making his yes man's natural response the wrong answer.]]
** It's more a case of BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad on the Meanies' part. They embody the philosophy of "no," but after being exposed to the Nowhere Man's magic, their leader adopts the word "yes" and everything it entails.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBossBaby'', the titular Boss Baby's underlings include a group of triplets who agree with everything he says.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'': Emmet is very much this at the beginning where he tries to fit in so hard that he's just boring and unmemorable, only saying yes to everything everyone else says.
* Wiggins is this to Radcliffe in ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'', which is why he may come off as [[AmbiguouslyGay gay]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'': No matter how blatantly obvious that Bowser's plan to marry Peach is doomed to fail, Kamek only gives answers that Bowser wants to hear, to the point even Bowser himself doesn't truly believe it because it's too sycophantic in nature.

* ''Film/RobinHood2010'' has an early scene, where the UsefulNotes/RichardTheLionheart is inspecting his encamped troops, and asks a lowly longbowman [[Creator/RussellCrowe Robin Longstride]] if what they did during the Crusades was right and God approved. Robin, after some hesitation, [[AvertedTrope chooses to be honest with his king]], saying that no, the things that they did in the Holy Land did not please God. Richard praises the man for having the courage and integrity to speak honestly to his liege, [[InvokedTrope then condemns him for having the foolishness to tell his liege something he would rather not hear]] and has him thrown in the stockades.
* In ''Film/ChildsPlay2'', the head of Play Pals Toys, Mr Sullivan, has a yes-man who is quickly done in by Chucky.
* In ''Film/{{Coneheads}}'', Eli Turnbull agrees with everything Seedling tells him. [[spoiler: And after becoming a slave on Remulak, treats the High Commander the same way.]]
* And of course, the scene from ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian'' in which Brian is trying to talk the crowd ''out'' of following him.
-->'''[[MessianicArchetype Brian]]:''' Look, you've got it all wrong! You don't ''need'' to follow me...\\
You've got to think for yourselves! You're all ''individuals''!\\
'''Crowd:''' Yes! We're all individuals!\\
'''Brian:''' You're all ''different''!\\
'''Crowd:''' Yes! We're all different!\\
'''[[TheRuntAtTheEnd Man]]:''' I'm not.\\
'''Crowd:''' Shhh!
* From the 1996 live-action remake of ''[[Film/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians1996 101 Dalmatians]]'', this dialogue between Cruella De Vil and her assistant Frederick:

* Alex in ''Film/ThreeTenToYuma1957'' irritates the sheriff by agreeing after every sentence the sheriff says while explaining his plan.
--> "Alex, will you let me finish? Then you can agree."
* {{Discussed}} early in ''Film/CrimsonTide'', when [[TheCaptain Captain Ramsey]] tells his new [[NumberTwo XO Hunter]] that he won't tolerate a kiss-ass. When the main conflict occurs, Hunter proves that he's no kiss-ass.
* ''Film/HerculesReturns''. Sir Michael Kent, boss of Australia's largest cinema chain, has an underling named King. In one scene Kent is venting about the protagonist quitting to open a rival cinema.
-->'''Kent:''' Ungrateful little upstart! ''(DeathGlare at King)'' Say "Yes sir..."
-->'''King:''' Yes sir.
-->'''Kent:''' Listen, King, I want you to--
-->'''King:''' ''(eagerly)'' Yes sir?
-->'''Kent:''' [[SurroundedByIdiots Oh wait till I've finished!]]
-->'''King:''' ''(chastened)'' Yes sir.

* At one point in ''Literature/{{Memory}}'', Miles Vorkosigan briefly tries being a rather literal version of this with Emperor Gregor. It's a good thing for Miles that Gregor is both Miles-Savvy (the two grew up as, effectively, foster-brothers) and very fond of Miles, as Gregor ''really dislikes'' yes-men[[note]]Which is easily explained by the fact that one yes-man from his youth actually ''conspired to kill him''[[/note]], because Miles' attempt consists entirely of repeating "Yes, Sire" after everything Gregor says, until Gregor tells him to stop it. Miles felt constrained to the "Yes, Sire" responses in this situation because Gregor is ostensibly seeking his political opinion, but is in fact just wanting someone -- ''anyone'' -- to tell him to go ahead and marry the girl he loves.
** Miles later observes that his job as Imperial Auditor can be summed up as, "Whatever you say, Gregor."
* Heavily discouraged by ''Literature/ThePrince''. Machiavelli warned that any Prince would be surrounded by flatterers, but in order to encourage the image of the Prince as infallible, he should have advisors whom he trusts to tell him the truth, but only when asked, and only in private. The best form of advisor is one who only thinks of the Prince's interests, rather than his own.
* Kevan Lannister from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' at first appears one to his older brother, Lord Tywin. He turns out to be a subversion, as he actually does think for himself and only agrees with Tywin so often because Tywin usually ''is'' doing the best thing for their House. [[spoiler:By contrast, after Tywin dies, new Regent Cersei expects her uncle to become ''her'' Yes Man and in shocked when he refuses.]] The council she ends up appointing is indeed composed entirely of those people who most successfully appeal to her vanity and paranoia (or whose appointment would most annoy her rivals), and she sees any disagreement from them as rebellion.
* In Creator/PGWodehouse's short story "The Nodder" (one from the Mr.Mulliner cycle), the fictional hierarchy of the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood studio-era Hollywood]] Yes-Men and related professions is explained in ridiculous detail - apparently one distant relative of Mr. Mulliner was a humble Hollywood Nodder:
-->''"The chief executive throws out some statement of opinion, and looks about him expectantly. This is the cue for the senior Yes-Man to say yes. He is followed, in order of precedence, by the second Yes-Man – or Vice-Yesser, as he is sometimes called – and the junior Yes-Man. Only when all the Yes-Men have yessed, do the Nodders begin to function. They nod."''
** And apparently there also exists an underclass known as Nodders' assistants - but [[ItsALongStory it's too complicated]].
* In ''Mossflower'' from the ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'', Tsarmina complains about Brogg being this to her. This doesn't stop her from keeping him a position of power, nevertheless.
--> '''Tsarmina''': Yes, jellybrains. You and Ratflank take them one by one to the ceils.
-->'''Brogg''': Yes, Milady.
-->'''Tsarmina''': Will you stop interrupting me and listen! All anyone ever says around here is 'yes, Milady' or 'no, Milady'.
-->'''Brogg''': Yes, Milady.
-->'''Tsarmina''': Shut up!
* In ''Literature/{{Scoop}}'' by Evelyn Waugh, the closest the ''The Beast'''s foreign editor, Mr Salter, can get to saying that the paper's owner is completely wrong about something is "Up to a point, Lord Copper".
* Discussed in ''Literature/DeathOnTheNile''. Socialite Linnet Doyle approaches Literature/HerculePoirot to hire him to persuade Jacqueline de Bellefort, whose fiance she stole and married, to back off from the campaign of harassment she's been subjecting her to. Poirot refuses and points out politely but firmly that Linnet's own conduct is far from above reproach and her own actions clearly demonstrate that, despite appearances, she feels guilty for what she's done. At a later encounter, Linnet treats Poirot coolly, and Poirot realises to his amusement that Linnet is so used to the people around her acquiescing to and agreeing with her that she's completely unprepared to cope with someone who actually tells her the blunt truth.
* The Dufflepuds in ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'' are a whole group of these to their chief...and to more or less anyone else who happens to talk to them. Even if they hold contradictory opinions to each other. It's very much played for laughs. (The one sort-of exception is if someone tries to tell them they aren't ugly. They will assume the person ''meant'' to say that they ''are'' ugly, and enthusiastically agree with ''that''.)
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': PlayedForLaughs in the last book, when Ron comes back. Hermione is still mad at him, so he takes to agreeing with her on literally everything.

* ''Literature/ThePerfectRun'': The ultimate version. [[spoiler:The Alchemist]] has a SelfDuplication ability, creating unlimited numbers of simulated alternate reality versions of herself. She has limited control over how her duplicates are made, so for example she can make a version of herself that is an expert soldier or physicist, but she can't decide their actual history. She completely fails to realize that every version she creates ''agrees'' with her, deep down, meaning that she's trapped herself in an echo chamber of hundreds of people who would never actually raise objections to any of her terrible plans. By the time the heroes find her, she is flatly ''confused'' when they try to arrest her for her crimes. She simply cannot conceive that intelligent people who benefited from her plans would have a problem with what she did.

* [[spoiler:Grant Ward]], TheMole from Season 1 of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', was a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]], having been conditioned to be a loyal, obedient soldier to the BigBad to the point where he was incapable of being anything ''but'' a Yes Man. When said BigBad goes nuts, TheMole starts acting like a lost puppy with no owner.
* Detective Amy Santiago in ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'' tries so very, very hard to be a Yes Woman to Captain Holt, but is frequently scuttled by both Holt's complete lack of interest in sucking-up and her own ineptitude when it comes to sucking-up.
* Glory's minions on ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''.
** Of course, in all fairness, she wasn't just a boss, she was a GOD!!
* One of Creator/StephenColbert's tactics is to act like a Yes Man to highlight the absurdity of his opponent's position, the most common targets being UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush or Creator/BillOReilly. Of Michael Behe:
-->My guest tonight has been called 'the father of Intelligent Design'. I hope he's ready for five minutes of me nodding approvingly.
** He wasn't.
* ''Series/{{Cheers}}'': has Rebecca who can't seemingly refuse any of her superiors.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E7TheLongGame "The Long Game"]] has an unusual take on the trope. Cathica Santini Kidane is an ambitious, ladder-climbing suck-up who is willing to do whatever it takes to get that promotion to Floor 500. Even after she gets there and realizes the walls aren't made of gold, she seems more upset by the fact that she wasn't promoted years before than anything else. It's implied that ''everyone'' who worked for Satellite 5 was trying to get to Floor 500, but she was the most blatant about it. Interestingly, however, she winds up saving the day by sabotaging the computer systems to kill the Jagrafess.
* ''Series/GetSmart'': One-time villain Dr. Yes (a parody of ''Film/DrNo'') had four of these, two scientists and two mooks, each of whom would say "Yes" in a different foreign language. Any time Dr. Yes gave a command or made a statement, the four would reply "Jawohl", "Oui", "Da", "Si".
* Jerry Ledbetter on ''Series/TheGoodLife'' is a cheerfully unapologetic example of this, shamelessly sucking up to his boss at every opportunity.
* Colonel Klink on ''Series/HogansHeroes'' became a Yes Man whenever a general, any general, showed up. He practically licked the boots of Field Marshals.

%%* Finch on ''Series/JustShootMe''.
* Painfully subverted in the infamous "Amy's Baking Company" episode of ''Series/KitchenNightmares''. It becomes obvious early on that the only reason Creator/GordonRamsay was even brought in was so owners Amy and Samy could be vindicated from the "internet bullies".[[note]] You are correct to shake your head in disbelief; they genuinely thought that the notoriously hot-blooded perfectionist Michelin-starred chef, whose TV persona is entirely built around his furious rants at people who don't take professional cooking seriously enough, would be their Yes-Man against people with entirely legitimate complaints.[[/note]] Instead, Ramsay easily calls their bluff and the viewers see how horrible their store is. Notably, he doesn't even rant at them; having realised that they can't be helped because they just won't listen to anything other than Yes-manning, he delivers a calm and collected TheReasonYouSuck speech and concludes with ScrewThisImOuttaHere.

* The "Twentieth-Century Vole" sketch from ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' has a rich film producer who despises yes men. [[MortonsFork And people who disagree with him]]. Not to mention anyone who's [[TakeAThirdOption indecisive]].[[note]]Splunge![[/note]]
* On ''No, Honestly'' one character was promoted at work to be a "Nod" man: after all the "yes" men said Yes, it was his job to nod. He would need another promotion to become a full on "yes" man.
* ''Franchise/TheOffice'':
** Gareth Keenan from ''Series/TheOfficeUK'' was an obsequious suck-up towards David Brent, the manager. For his part, Brent generally tended to view him as an irritant.
** Dwight Schrute filled this role for Michael Scott in the earlier seasons of ''Series/TheOfficeUS'', with a similar dynamic to the British series, though in later seasons he gradually became more of TheStarscream. In Season 3, after two branches merged into one, Andy Bernard -- the Yes Man for the second branch -- tried to muscle in on Dwight's position, causing a rivalry between the two.
** In both series it's deconstructed, however, as despite their best efforts the boss character (David and Michael), while accepting of the flattery, generally is quite irritated with the yes-man for the most part. Because deep down ultimately both are lonely men with NoSocialSkills who ''actually'' want to develop meaningful relationships with others but have little idea how to go about doing so, forcing them to rely on insincere sucking up as an unsatisfying substitute.
* On ''Series/TheFallAndRiseOfReginaldPerrin'' whenever the boss suggests something ThoseTwoGuys respectively say "Great!" and "Super!".
* Gavin, the CEO of Hooli on ''Series/SiliconValley'' is an overbearing and rather self-involved man whose biggest failing is that he's such a terrifying presence that people are afraid to give him any bad news. This bites him in the ass when he boasts of how his Nucleus program will run a live-stream of a major UFC fight... and none of his underlings have the courage to tell him the program is anywhere from six weeks to six months from actually working.
** After the stream is an epic disaster, Gavin seems to understand what's happening and asks his self-help guru if "I scare people so much that they can't tell me the truth?" Of course, the guru tells him that's not the case.
* In ''{{Series/Smash}}'', the very awesome song "Don't Say Yes Until I Finish Talking" is about a producer's relationship with his yes-men.

** The Founders of the Dominion design the Vorta to be this.
* ''Franchise/SuperSentai''

** The robotic Barizorg to Oiles Gil in ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'', to the point where his CatchPhrase is [[GratuitousEnglish "Yes, boss."]] This trope is justified, as Barizorg is a human converted to a cyborg and programmed with absolute obedience to Oiles Gil.
* Played with in ''Series/TheTerror''. Commander Fitzjames comes off like this early on where Sir John is concerned, but after [[spoiler:Sir John dies]], it becomes more clear that he's just ''completely'' out of his depth and looking for the nearest source of guidance so that he himself will look like he's making authoritative decisions, as well as latching onto Sir John as a [[ParentalSubstitute father figure]] [[spoiler:considering his actual father abandoned him as a child and Fitzjames never really got over it]]. Once he figures out where his own values lie, he starts showing a lot more independent thought, even while still acting as an assistant expedition leader.

* Wrestling/RingOfHonor "Sweet N' Sour Inc." branch members Tank Toland, Wrestling/ChrisHero and Wrestling/LarrySweeney more or less demanded it of Bobby Dempsey. Sweeney once knocked him out to ensure he wouldn't get "no" for an answer.
* Wrestling/CMPunk described Wrestling/JohnLaurinaitis as an example of the "[[ProfessionalButtKisser glad-handing]] [[TalkativeLoon nonsensical]] [[{{Jerkass}} douche-bag]] yes-men" who were going to tell Wrestling/{{Vince McMahon}} everything he wanted to hear. The way he conducted business proved Punk to be accurate in believing this.
* Wrestling/RoderickStrong seemed to respect Rocky Romero but Davey Richards's role in the No Remorse Corps? Yeah, he was basically reduced to this.
* Of her thralls, [[Wrestling/BeckyLynch Rebecca Knox]] and Wrestling/SuYung were the most like this to Sweet Saraya.
* Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon has been accused of this in RealLife. Shortly after she was named Head of Creative in 2002, she began hiring Hollywood TV writers. The story goes that the people on the creative team who had a background in professional wrestling questioned her ideas and decisions so much (she was only 25 years old at the time she got the job, in addition to being the boss' daughter) that she sought to get rid of them and replace them with people who weren't going to question her. This is considered one of the reasons Wrestling/{{WWE}} struggled following the highly-successful Attitude Era.

* Played for as dark as it can get in ''TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression''. [[TheIgor Beholden]] invariably parrot and mirror their Genius's beliefs and worldviews. This is because the process of becoming a Beholden ''strips away the ability to hold views of your own''. A Beholden ''must'' find a Genius to serve, or else they steadily lose the ability to care for themselves - a Beholden without a Genius has a lifespan measured in ''weeks''.

* ''Theatre/CesareIlCreatoreCheHaDistrutto'' has the Florentine students organization at the University of Pisa, who are all this to Giovanni de'Medici.
* Mr. [=McQueen=] to Cladwell in ''Theatre/{{Urinetown}}''. So much.
* In ''[[Theatre/SeventeenSeventySix 1776]]'', Judge James Wilson is the Yes Man to his fellow Pennsylvania delegate, John Dickinson, who is staunchly against American independence. But when the Second Continental Congress favors independence, Wilson breaks away from Dickinson for the very same reason he initially embraced this trope: he ''doesn't'' want to be remembered.
* In ''Theatre/TheMiser'', Valère, working as Harpagon's steward, acts this way in hopes of gaining his trust and marrying Harpagon's daughter.

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' has Yes Man, a [[CheerfulAI consistently happy robot]] programmed to help whoever orders him around. He agrees with whatever you say, tells you what you want to hear, gives you tips [[spoiler: on where his last owner Benny went, and advises you on how to take over Vegas, which was Benny's plan]]. That doesn't mean he ''actually'' agrees with whatever you're saying -- he's just physically incapable of telling you otherwise, even when it's clear in his forced language and strained tone that he very much wants to.
** This is best shown if the player does [[TooDumbToLive something detrimental to his plans]] (not properly dealing with certain factions or deciding to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k9OYIfG8C4&t=5m51s destroy your own Trump Card]]). He'll just say that it ''must'' [[InsaneTrollLogic make sense somehow]] since you ''must'' know what you're doing, and goes along with it even though he's very aware that you just made things worse. The most he can do is point out how you've just made things much more... ''challenging''.
* In ''VideoGame/TheSims3'', one of the lower-level job titles in the Political career track is Yes Man.

* With ''VideoGame/ToontownOnline'' having the Cogs' theme revolve around corporate terms and stereotypes, one of them is the Yesman in the Bossbot corporate ladder. The Yesman's quotes revolve around positivity and not taking no for an answer, yet says them in a way that shows its malicious intent on the Toons. Being a low tier cog in the corporate ladder, and associated with the boss rank, it makes sense for the cog to be positively reaffirming towards its bosses to climb the ranks. Ironically, if you try fighting a Yesman that does not want to battle, they will say "Yesman says NO.".
* Inverted in ''VideoGame/NoituLove 2'', where your boss, Mr. Almond, spends the entire game telling you what a great job you're doing. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-CVtyAp8cY&list=UU3Q13RAmFVfDkYOWnnqFM2A#t=0h20m0s even when you just dropped him on his face!]]

* The Imperial Japanese engineers of ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'' are {{Professional Butt Kisser}}s par excellence, never once disagreeing with orders and declaring every decision to be brilliant. Even the ones that put them in danger simply result in the engineer politely asking to be excused. In other words, the {{Salaryman}} office-politics stereotype PlayedForLaughs.

* Kitten from ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'' is basically a brainwashed idiot whose only function is to be the Emperor's defender and Yes-Man. [[spoiler:His psychical programming is starting to fail, though, as he confesses to Magnus that he starts to have his doubts. It's also worth noting that with him being Captain-General and thus a politician, Yes-Manning is probably the best way for him not to drown in Terra's politics.]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Ysengrin from ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'' is perpetually kissing up to Coyote. [[WordOfGod Word of Tom]] confirms that this is because he loves Coyote very much--though Ysengrin isn't blind to his boss's shortcomings. [[spoiler:Right up to the moment Coyote gives him his strength, upon which Ysengrin brutally kills and devours him before he can even finish his next sentence.]]
* Mister Travis appears in ''Webcomic/LatchkeyKingdom'' for three pages as [[BlueBlood Baron Boron's]] pack mule, during which time he laughs at his not-very-funny story, is used as a chair, and operates the pump for Boron's air gun, with a big smile and lots of flattery the whole time. When he's [[KidnappingBirdOfPrey carried off by a large bird,]] the only words we hear before he leaves earshot are "Sorry, Baron..."

* Smithers on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.
** One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' parodied the concept by giving Burns a team of Yes Men, with Smithers as alpha. On discovering he's suddenly become poor, Burns denounces them all as the yes men they are. They, of course, reply, "Yes, sir!"
** Subverted on a handful of occasions, where Smithers opposes Burns if he feels he needs to:
*** In "Sideshow Bob Roberts", Smithers goes behind Burns' back to blow the whistle on Sideshow Bob's electoral fraud to Bart and Lisa, fearing the consequences for his "[[StraightGay choice of lifestyle]]" if the Republican Bob takes power.
*** In "Who Shot Mr. Burns Pt.1", Smithers tries to talk Burns out of blocking out the sun over Springfield, believing it "crossed the line from everyday villainy to CartoonishSupervillainy". Burns notes the "decline in quality and quantity" of Smithers' toadying, and when Smithers refuses to fall in line, Burns fires him.
* Yes Man (The character's actual billing!) from ''WesternAnimation/KappaMikey''. His main role seems to be getting excited so that Ozu can remain [[TheComicallySerious Comically Serious]]. The poor dude sleeps in a drawer under Ozu's bed.
** Also reversed. When Ozu's brother Brozu visits, Brozu brings with him his own personal "No Man." Whenever someone has something bad happen to him, it's his job to turn {{chibi}} and scream "Oh NO!" in an over-the-top manner.
* On ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Peter becomes the leader of a tobacco company, which comes with a Yes-man android. Peter promptly [[LogicBomb confuses the hell out of it]].
-->'''Company Suck Up:''' Morning, Mr. Griffin! Nice Day!\\
'''Peter Griffin:''' Ehhh, It's a little cloudy.\\
'''Company Suck Up:''' It's absolutely cloudy! One of the worst days I've seen in years! So, good news about the Yankees!\\

'''Company Suck Up:''' Pack of cheaters! That's what they are! I Love your tie!\\

'''Company Suck Up:''' It's awful, it's gawdy, it's gotta go.\\
'''Peter Griffin:''' [pauses] And I hate myself.\\
'''Company Suck Up:''' I hate you, too! You make me sick, you fat sack o' crap!\\

'''Company Suck Up:''' The best there is!\\

'''Company Suck Up:''' [Begins to jiggle] [[LogicBomb But. Not. You. The President. That you. Said hated you. Who loved. Hate Yankees. Clouds.]]\\
[[[YourHeadAsplode Head explodes]], sending gadgets and wires everywhere]
-->'''Parking Director:''' I'll have that fixed for you tomorrow, sir.
* ''Anime/TransformersArmada'''s Demolishor normally functions as one, though he has been known to occasionally have doubts.
** Speaking of ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}''... Lugnut from ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated.'' One has to wonder how well Megatron knew his troops when he wonders if Lugnut is loyal. He is. Loudly. With lots of "for the glory of Megatron!" and "whatever the great and glorious Megatron commands!" So much so that it eventually starts to get on Megatron's nerves.
---> '''Lugnut:''' STASIS LOCK ITSELF COULD NOT DETER ME FROM YOUR GRAND AND GLORIOUS PLAN, OH WISE AND NOBLE MEGATRON!
---> '''Megatron:''' (left optic twitches) Just... Go...
---> '''Lugnut:''' YES, MY LIEGE!
** Also, Inferno, being an insect-bot, to Megatron from ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars:'' "Yes, my Queen!"
* The Jellyspotters from ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' are a team of yes men. Until [=SpongeBob=] proves more worthy than their leader, then they become ''his'' yes men.
** [=SpongeBob=] himself has become a yes man to his boss Mr. Krabs at times over the years.
* ''WesternAnimation/SilverHawks'' has "Yess-Man", lackey to the BigBad Mon*Star.
* Karbunkle from ''WesternAnimation/BikerMiceFromMars''.
* Jared on ''WesternAnimation/{{Superjail}}'' could easily give [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Smithers]] a run for his money.
* Samy Garvin on ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' fills this role for Lucius, although mainly because it's not a good idea to say "no" to [[BadBoss a man who is essentially supposed to be the Devil]].

* ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo'' gives us Slinkman as Lumpus's Yes Man and Chip and Skip as Edward's.
* Dethklok would probably get their albums done quicker on ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'' if their producer Dick Knubbler exercised a stronger hand, but unfortunately he's more than happy to go along with whatever the band wants that day (which usually is not making music). This eventually gets him replaced with Abigail, which starts a chain of events that nearly break up the band.
* ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' antagonist Mr.Dupet has Coglamo lizards as his group of semi-yes man.
* In ''[[WesternAnimation/BlinkyBill The Adventures Of Blinky Bill]]'' episode "Blinky Bill And The Mystery Pollution", Shifty Dingo was this to his older brother Danny, much to his dismay, while also qualifying as a ServileSnarker.
* The Bushwoolies from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePony''. In TheMovie, one of them claims "Bushwoolies agree with everything, all the time!"
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' episode "Mart of Darkness" mostly takes place at a Costco-like discount warehouse, where the various characters interact with one of the clerks giving out free samples of deep-fried cheese logs. Whatever they want the cheese logs to be, she assures them that it's exactly what they are, be it healthy or unhealthy. She even contradicts herself: she assures the Fashion Club that they are calorie-free, right after telling Mr. [=DiMartino=] that they are 1,000 calories apiece and therefore enough to constitute an entire meal.
--> '''Jane:''' Do these contain mercury?
--> '''Saleslady:''' Do you want them to contain mercury?
* From ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'', Percy is this to The Fat Controller in the earlier seasons, often saying the word "sir" more than once whenever spoken to by him.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' the businessman [[CloudCuckoolander Varrick]] is surrounded by these, who are too worried about Varrick being mad to tell him that [[ItMakesSenseInContext the swami he hired can't actually let him levitate.]] When [[NiceGuy Bolin]] innocently states the obvious that Varrick is in fact ''not'' levitating, Varrick instantly takes a liking to him, and by association Asami who was there to do business.
* In ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'', there's Rigger, Hoggish Greedly's sidekick, peppering his speech with yep's.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' special "D.W. and the Beastly Birthday," D.W. has an extended fantasy in which her friends all become monsters in the style of ''Literature/WhereTheWildThingsAre'' and she's the queen. However, they all bow to her whims, and so the only monster on the island she ultimately finds interesting is the one that represents her brother Arthur, simply because he has his own personality and ''won't'' do everything she says.
-->'''D.W.''': You four are just a bunch of yes-monsters.
-->'''Monsters''': Yes, my queen.
-->'''D.W.''': (''sighs'') You're hopeless.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': This is the relationship between the Ventriloquist and Scarface (a ventriloquist dummy who harbors an evil personality):
-->'''Scarface''': Batman's so hot, let's see him swim Gotham Bay in concrete boots.
-->'''The Ventriloquist''': A good idea, Mr. Scarface.
* Taken to the extreme in ''WesternAnimation/Phantom2040'', where all of Sean One's "advisers" are just holograms of himself that blindly praise everything that he says and does.
* In the 2003 animated ''Literature/TheBerenstainBears'', Skuzz and Smirk of Too-Tall's gang tend to automatically agree with anything that he says.

[[folder:Other]]
* A few Persian proverbs play with this trope:
--> Any failing that pleases the sultan is a quality.
--> If at noon the Shah tells you that it is midnight, raise your gaze and admire the stars.
* An old joke:
** The President (of a country or corporation) begins to worry if his advisers are just appeasing him.
--->'''President''': I must ask you this - are you yes-men or not?
--->'''Advisers''' ''(all in unison)'': Noooooooo...
** Alternatively: ''Our president doesn't need a bunch of yes-men beside him. When he says "no", we all say "no"!''
* Joke from an Eastern bloc:
** [Official leader of the county] receives a call from Moscow. During the call says only: "Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. No" and then hangs up. His colleagues then asks him. "How did you dared to say 'No' to them." to which he answers "Well I was asked whether I'm not sick of keep saying 'Yes'."
[[/folder]]

* Modern celebrity often falls victim to Yes Men as well. Creator/KevinSmith recollected his experiences with Music/{{Prince}}. He had surrounded himself with Yes Men who would give into his eccentricities for so long, that he couldn't fathom being told "no." One of his assistants told Smith that if Prince asked for a camel at three in the morning in Vegas, she had better find a camel. If she tried to explain the impossibility of that, he would stare at her blankly.
** Which, in turn, is a proud inheritance of the mantle of Music/ElvisPresley and his Memphis Mafia.

* This can also happen in schools as well, where students can be made to feel that they must agree with anything and everything that the teachers and faculty say[[note]]This can include, but may not be limited to, being forced to accept a punishment that they know is unfair, or otherwise unjust, with the student being punished further if they object.[[/note]], or they'll get punished in some way. This, of course, doesn't teach anything except BlindObedience - as {{Lampshaded}} in ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'''s famous [[https://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/1985/01/27 "Teaching is Dead" strip]].

TheDragon is sometimes the Yes Man, though just as often goes to the opposite extreme. The ProfessionalButtKisser is almost indistinguishable from the Yes Man, except their devotion is to the ''position'' rather than the boss, so they'll treat anyone who gets, steals, or kills for the job the same as their old boss.

** In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/30763544/chapters/75931718 King of the Misfits]], his repeated defense of Bakugou costs him Mina's friendship as well as makes it immensely difficult for him to make any friends in 1A or 1B. The author of the fanfic admits he doesn't outright hate Kirishima if he's not defending Bakugou, but when it's that, he can't stand him.

** General Keitel was this to UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler. He knowingly approved pretty much every single immoral and outright illegal order Hitler gave, always claiming he was JustFollowingOrders. His nickname among some of the other generals around Hitler was 'the nodding ass'.

* This is also a problem in some families, where a son or daughter is never allowed to say no to their parents[[note]]Either both parents, or one parent or the other.[[/note]], even when they know they're wrong about something.[[note]]In the worst case scenario, this can even be one part of an [[AbusiveParents abusive]] relationship.[[/note]] It has also been known to tie in to the (now-discredited) idea that parents (and other grown-ups) are "always right".

* This can also happen in schools as well, where students can be made to feel that they must agree with anything and everything that the teachers and faculty say[[note]]This can include, but may not be limited to, being forced to accept a punishment that they know is unfair, or otherwise unjust, with the student being punished further if they object.[[/note]], or they'll get punished in some way.[[note]]This, of course, doesn't teach anything except BlindObedience.[[/note]]

* Baby 5 from ''Manga/OnePiece'' ''never'' turns down a request, both from her boss and virtually anyone else, due to believing it'll make her useful. At first, it's a RunningGag that's PlayedForLaughs, [[spoiler: [[CerebusRetcon then we realize]] that's she's ''psychologically incapable'' of turning down requests, due to being abandoned by her mother as a child for being "useless". [[BigBad Doflamingo]] and the rest of the [[WithFriendsLikeThese Donquixote Pirates]] find the prospect of someone who'll do anything for them delightful, and don't even attempt to fix this negative aspect of hers.]] Oh, did we mention one of said requests includes [[spoiler: '''''ATTEMPTING TO KILL HERSELF?''''']]

* As of 2023,[[note]]It's hard to write this in a way that doesn't instantly get outdated, but this wording was at least true at some point[[/note]] the year when AI chatbots like [=ChatGPT=] started becoming really intelligent-seeming, at least [=ChatGPT=] would not only keep obeying whatever commands they were given (unless these violated its prudish built-in limitations), but would also agree about and rationalise anything you told it. Well, it might be better than when another prototype chatbot started arguing angrily about the current date...

* As of 2023, the year when AI chatbots like [=ChatGPT=] started becoming really intelligent-seeming, at least [=ChatGPT=] would not only keep obeying whatever commands they were given (unless these violated its prudish built-in limitations), but would also agree about and rationalise anything you told it. Well, it might be better than when another prototype chatbot started arguing angrily about the current date...

* On ''Series/TheFallAndRiseOfReginaldPerrin'' whenever the boss suggests something ThoseTwoGuys respectively say "Great!" and "Super!".

* General Keitel was this to UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler. He knowingly approved pretty much every single immoral and outright illegal order Hitler gave, always claiming he was JustFollowingOrders.
** His nickname among some of the other generals around Hitler was 'the nodding ass'.
** Similarly, Joachim von Ribbentrop's epithet amongst the Nazi high command was "Ambassador Rubberstamp".

[[quoteright:349:[[ComicBook/XMen https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yes_men.png]]]]

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/XMen https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yes_men.png]]]]

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/XMen https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yesmen.png]]]]

* Koizumi from ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' happily agrees with everything Haruhi says, even things like shooting photos of Mikuru in embarrasing poses and outfits (much to Mikuru's dismay) ''and'' kisses her ass like a pro to boot. He will however, try to convince Haruhi of other possibilities, if the situation gets too serious. Because Haruhi is GenreSavvy, he compares it to other fictional happenings, but [[WrongGenreSavvy it doesn't always work out good for him]].

* Subverted with Anne in ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom''. Her mother raised her to always defer to authority figures since, as the illegitimate daughter of a baron, her best chance for a good life would have been to curry her father's favor and either be named his heir or be given to a good husband in a political marriage (only for her father to discard her when the burn scars she got from a house fire made the latter option impractical). Of course, someone as nutty and random as Catarina is pretty much impossible to suck up to and it allowed Anne to just be herself and become more of a ServileSnarker.

* Siegfried Kircheis is this to his childhood friend, Reinhard von Lohengramm in ''Literature/LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes''. Parodied to the fullest extent in this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1ZE1wA4tc8 bonus video]]. Unlike most examples of this trope, both Reinhard and Siegfried are highly intelligent and competent men who complement each other very well, [[spoiler:making the latter's early death a major blow for Reinhard]].