Reasonable Authority Figure / Literature

Reasonable Authority Figures in literature.

---

• 2666: Sammer starts out as one, until he's mistakenly left in charge of the care and eventual disposal of hundreds of Jews originally meant for Auschwitz.
• All The Skills - A Deckbuilding LitRPG: The Legendary-rank leaders of Wolf Moon Hive, Valentina and Whitaker. While Whitaker is a bit of a snob about rarity, they're both dedicated to beating back the scourge and improving Wolf Moon's ability to do so. When they realize Arthur is their last chance to keep the Legendary egg, they flatly ask him what he needs and make quite a few concessions on future policy decisions just to get the ball rolling.
• Alpha and Omega:
  • Lester Stark turns out to be this. He is hesitant to rush to judgment about the End Times prophecies, and is fully willing to admit that he could be wrong. In the end, after seeing Jesus take both the Jewish Messiah and the Islamic Mahdi to Heaven with him, he recognizes that Christianity doesn't have a monopoly on truth.
  • Jamal Ashrawi turns out to be this. When he sees the attempts to stop the Temple restoration backfiring, he concludes that Allah, for whatever reason, wants the project to go forth. When he sees Jesus embrace both the Jewish Messiah and the Shiite Mahdi, he is forced to come to the same realization as Lester, above.
  • All three Messiahs. Chaim is able to rein in Kupferman to an extent, and the collective message of himself, the Mahi, and Jesus are that, although there is evil, the three Abrahamic religions are valid in God's eyes and need to coexist.
• The governor from Animorphs #51 is incredibly level-headed and good at rolling with the punches — see the main page quote.
• Annie on My Mind: The board of trustees. They openly stop every attempt by Ms. Baxter and Mrs. Poindexter of disrespecting Liza during the hearing at the end of the story, then clear her of wrongdoing while also firing Mrs. Poindexter for allowing the charges, plus overstepping her authority. They still do fire Ms. Stevenson and Ms. Widmer as well for supposedly influencing Liza into becoming a lesbian though.
• In the second book of Apparatus Infernum, the local commander for House Magnus is uncharacteristically reasonable, within certain limits. He's arrogant, and is primarily concerned with advancing House Magnus interests (and himself with them), but he gives the protagonists a fair hearing despite having both the legal and military power to ignore them, and realises that the threat in question is serious enough to warrant direct action even though it could drag House Magnus into a war.
• Ascendance of a Bookworm: The setting's society is status-based to the point that nobles are known to get commoners executed just for talking back at them. Due to various circumstances, Myne, the main character, lands a job that is usually given only to people of noble blood. Being sickly seven-year-old with a constitution of five year old, she eventually ends up being guarded by knights who are technically nobles. After one of them reacts to the assignment by trying to physically harm Myne because of the disruption she brought to her workplace and the other fails to stop him, their superior realizes that what has happened is quite serious and accepts that the fault lies partly with his own choice of guards. He even accepts to provide the one piece of compensation Myne asks for: replacing the very expensive set of robes she was wearing when she was attacked, and which got ruined in the process.
• Isaac Asimov's Pebble in the Sky: Deconstructed Trope with Ennius, Imperial Procurator of Earth. Arvardin, Shekt, Pola, and Schwartz warn him about the Zealots' plot. Unfortunately, due to his reasonableness, he doesn't simply take their word for it, and can't act with no real evidence. Unfortunately, his inaction nearly dooms the Empire, but Schwartz resorts to exploiting a hatemonger's bigotry to thwart the Zealots' plan.
• Assassin Fantastic: Supreme Affluent Greene Reid of A Touch of Poison, who deals with a tricky situation with remarkable calm, given the circumstances (mainly, that the Widow Baker nearly poisoned him, but chooses not to, comes to him with proof of the poisoning and a full confession as to how and why she attempted such a thing in the first place).
• Behind the Sandrat Hoax:
  • Chief of Medical Research Quincy Cathcart is introduced responding to Dr. Baumgartner's complaint that Robert Howland is harassing him over irrelevant data about how Sam Matthews survived in the desert. Catchart tells Baumgartner that this data is of great relevance and should be shared, and that Cathcart's Howland's equal and not his superior. Cathcart then follows up on the relevant information and supports conducting scientific tests to prove it and inform the public. When his findings are criticized by the stiff-necked scientific community, he refutes the allegations that his data was flawed in an angry, but logical and thorough, manner. Years later, when he's publicly vindicated and offered a lucrative research grant, he offers it to Howland, who did the actual initial testing under his direction.
  • Colonel Presley J.J. Conrobert and Presley Mark, a pair of New Earth officials, discover Catchart's research while looking into a project about how to keep their men safe from dehydration. They quickly determine that Cathcart was right, easily prove how his superiors came to the wrong conclusion, and ensure that Catchart's research and reputation are vindicated.
• The Belisarius Series features Malwa noble Damodara, who starts off reasonable in actually listening to Rana Sanga's concern that they're being played by Belisarius, and then covers up the Rajput king's failure in capturing Belisarius because he accepts that anyone would have fallen for the Batman Gambit which was used.
• Ben Safford Mysteries:
  • Congressman Ben Safford and his office mates (Elise Hollenbach, Val Oakes, Lamar Flecker, and Tony Martinelli) are hard-working and fair-minded when it comes to investigations and hearings.
  'When a Hollenbach position collided with a moral principle, it was the position that went.''
  • Whoever gets assigned to investigate the murder in each book is almost invariably willing to comfort powerful people, smart at assessing evidence, and humble enough to listen to skilled Amateur Sleuths.
  • In The Attending Physician, newly minted HEW secretary Joseph Buckley is quite fair-minded and quick-thinking.
  Congressman Tony Martinelli: So far Buckley's ben smart enough to take coaching from a regional director and to dodge a [sleazy proposal] thrown at him by some lobbyist. That's not bad going for a rookie.
  • Prior to Unexpected Developments, court martial board member Major Kruger argued for the admission of crucial evidence that was unjustly excluded due to a majority vote. He's also open with Ben while discussing the proceedings and is willing to acknowledge areas in which his expertise is limited.
  • Unexpected Developments also features Undersecretary of Defense Preston Goodrich, who ultimately proves to be a shrewd man who is willing to risk his career for the sake of justice.
• In Bisclavret, the king. When Bisclavret, in wolf form, paws at his stirrup as a petitioner, the king grants him his life, since he petitioned for it.
• The Black Company: In Annals of the Black Company, the Lady may be evil, but she also fits this trope nicely. Admittedly, she does get somewhat cross with underlings who work against her, but she'll forgive (what's left of) them if she learns that the accusations were false.
• The Fairy King from Book of Brownies, who is in the right to banish the three brownies after their mischief inadvertently results in his daughter, Princess Peronel, getting kidnapped by an evil witch. The brownies decide to prove themselves by rescuing the princess and find their inner "goodness", both which they succeed; but unfortunately when the brownies and the princess are recaptured, they are forced to surrender their goodness in exchange for an escape. But nevertheless, once the princess is safe, the Fairy King is more than willing to cancel the banishment and allow the brownies to return, and even allows the brownies to occasionally return and visit the princess in the weekends!
• Boy's Life Fire Chief Mourchette is first seen hovering in the background during an early town meeting and gets one line snapping at Mr. Moultry's racist suggestion to abandon the black community during a flood (which the mayor and deputy mayor also oppose). Much later, he is one of the only people to agree to be deputized when Donny Blaylock's family wants to break him out of jail and replaces J.T. Amory as sheriff after he resigns due to shame about taking bribes from the Blaylock's in the past.
• A Brother's Price: Jerin's mothers and eldest sister are this. Naturally, they are away, selling horses in a neighbouring city and visiting relatives, respectively, when the plot needs to get going. Also, Ren, who despite her reasonableness thinks that she can finish her important business in peace before talking to Jerin as he requested per messenger. Well, she is wrong, and later has a lot of guilt about this.
• Can You See Me?: Tally and the drama teacher, Mrs Jarman, don't get off to a good start. Mrs Jarman is frighteningly loud, and mistakes Tally's attempts at providing helpful suggestions for deliberate rudeness. However, once she realizes Tally is sincere, she follows her advice to speak more quietly, among other things. She refuses to tolerate bullying and does her best to help all the students feel comfortable and express themselves.
• Catwoman: Soulstealer: Commissioner Gordon, as usual. He is a good, sensible man who aids the superheroes fighting crime in Gotham.
• The Chronicles of Prydain:
  • Prince Gwydion is primarily a man of war, but he shows Hidden Depths, wisdom, and compassion, becoming an excellent role model for Taran and often entrusting him with important jobs.
  • King Smoit listens to Taran's advice, and after Book 2, notes that he's shut up his dungeons and tries his hand at talking out problems rather than smashing people's heads together.
  • It's heavily implied that Taran will be one himself after the end of Book 5, as High King.
• Conan the Barbarian:
  • In "The God in the Bowl", the Inspector, Demetrius, comes across as one. Despite advocating the more brutal methods that the guards have, he gives Conan a fair chance to explain himself, easily seeing past Conan's lies, and investigates instead of arresting him on the spot (partly because they couldn't take Conan, but also because he suspected it wasn't Conan). Near the end, when the nobleman who hired Conan to steal something in the citadel is found, Demetrius easily deduces that he hired Conan, and sincerely said that, if given the word, he would let Conan go, and cover this whole incident up to protect the nobleman's reputation, explaining that debt (the motive) is nothing to be ashamed of. The Aristocrats Are Evil trope is in effect, and the man denies all the allegations, causing Conan to fly into a murderous rage, Demetrius still makes it out with a wounded leg, and when the real murder culprit is revealed, the titular god, the narration makes it clear that Demetrius would have stayed to investigate it, but wounded and bleeding badly, he opts to run with the rest of the guards.
  • Conan himself counts during his time as King of Aquilonia. Taxes are lower than anywhere else in Hyboria; noblemen may not abuse peasants; and Conan proposes breaking up the larger estates of the nobility rather than push farther into Pictish territory for more farmland (notable because Conan isn't exactly a fan of the Picts in the first place). Of course, he ends up having to fight off multiple attempts on his life by scheming nobles.
• Cradle Series:
  • Elder Rahm of the Heaven's Glory school is perfectly happy to have Lindon as a student despite him being an Unsouled, makes it clear he knows Lindon cheated his way in but praises him anyway, and offers him a small but honorable job helping to maintain the smallest treasure vault. Lindon feels guilty that he has to rob him on the way out, and asks Yerin not to kill him.
  • Eithan is the highest ranking sacred artist around for quite a long time, but avoids exerting his authority as much as possible. He forgives slights to his honor, gives Lindon and Yerin plenty of instruction, and treats his subordinates well. He claims that his only goal is to have people who can walk his Path beside him.
  • Despite her youth, Akura Mercy ends up being this for her family. Her mother Malice is a Physical God who has far better things to do than listen to petitions. Akura Charity and Akura Fury generally run the family, but they both have their own issues; Charity is too cold for people to actually want to talk to her, while Fury ignores any problem that can't be solved with fighting, and if something does interest him, his solution is inevitably "Don't worry, I'll kill it." Mercy therefore gets a reputation for both being willing to listen and willing to offer real solutions.
• Sheriff Pangborn from Stephen King's The Dark Half. After the villain George Stark leaves a bloody fingerprint at a crime scene that perfectly matches local writer Thad Beaumont, Pangborn arrives to arrest Thad. But when Thad produces an ironclad alibi, Pangborn believes him and does all he can to help catch Stark. Pangborn later gets to be The Hero in Needful Things.
• Sheriff Bannerman in The Dead Zone asks for Johnny to use his psychometry to help solve a series of murders, and readily accepts that he could come up empty, saying "no venture, no gain" more than once. He's sympathetic to Johnny's situation and treats him well (except for one outburst when some exceptionally shocking news is delivered rather abruptly).
• DFZ:
  • Empty Wind, the Spirit of the Forgotten Dead, helps Opal and Nik once Opal explains the situation to him. She apologizes for not just asking for his help in the first place.
  • The Peacemaker, the Dragon of Detroit, is one of the few real authority figures in the DFZ. He has a list of banned substances and items; while they're not technically illegal, no one will go against the Peacemaker by trading them. Much of the plot kicks off because cockatrices are on his list, and Dr. Lyle invented a ritual to make cockatrice eggs. In the end, Opal calls the Peacemaker to save the cockatrice chicks.
• Discworld's Lord Vetinari is one deep down, though for his own reasons he hides it well. Vimes also fits the trope; his incorruptibility is so famous that suggestions to bribe him are taken as jokes.
  • Most of the Watch are personally loyal to Vimes. A fair number follow him when he turns in his badge in Jingo. As one officer says, when your back's against the wall, Mister Vimes is right behind you.
  • The Assassin's Guild refuses to take contracts on either Vetinari or Vimes, as eliminating either of them would be too disruptive to the social order (or at least the Guild claims that's the reason. Vimes suspect that their previous embarrassing failure rate against him^note the Guild could easily assassinate him, but only by breaking their — formal or informal — rules of assassination, and if they did that they would, in their own eyes, be murderers, not Assassins was the main reason — but then again, Vimes consistently underestimates how important he actually is in the city). Sometimes Guild assassins are sent after Vimes, but these are usually the cocky students who need to be taken down a peg or two rather than serious attempts.
• Artemis Butler of the web-novel Domina, despite being a gang lord.
  Butler: I swear that all I want is to safeguard everyone. But this city is all I can control.
• In Dragon Bones, Ward's uncle Duraugh, who is to rule Hurog in Ward's place until Ward is of age, is quite reasonable, sometimes too much so. He would, for example, put the fierce stallion Ward inherited to death. (Ward sees that the horse is only frightened, and trains it to become a Cool Horse, eventually). When, after some adventures, the young generation returns to castle Hurog and tells Duraugh to evacuate the place, he listens and decides that explanations can wait until later.
• The Dresden Files:
  • Special Agent Tilly from Changes. He turns off the recording tape during his interrogation of Harry, at Harry's request, and is willing to listen to and calmly evaluate what Harry says to him about the supernatural. He also handles himself very well during the Red Court attack. Having a latent, unconscious magical talent making him a Living Lie Detector helps.
  • Warden Captain Anastasia Luccio is perfectly willing to listen to Harry when he reports a threat that the White Council has otherwise missed.
  • Amazingly enough, Donald Morgan ends up being reasonable, to a point: he pursues watches Harry because of the latter's previous violation of the Laws of Magic (which, in his extensive experience, is a one-way street to evil megalomania), but when he is told to back off by the White Council, he does. He still doesn't trust Harry, but he doesn't disbelieve him either: during the events of Dead Beat, he is dead set again Harry joining the Wardens, but accepts it when the decision is made, and he listens to Harry's explanation when he believed that Harry just supposedly executed his mentor and lover Captain Luccio. His distrust of Harry is personal and based on literal decades of experience with the misuse of magic, but he never stops being a reasonable authority.
• Earth's Children: Zig-zagged by clan leader Brun when it comes to Ayla. Though his first priority is the Clan's rules and traditions, he does try to help her out on occasion, a notable example being the incident when Ayla is discovered to have been using a sling. Although tradition demands that she be put to death (Clan women are forbidden to use weapons), Brun gives her a chance by only having her be cursed with death for a month, due to believing her skills could be useful to the clan, that her totem wants her to hunt (and thus harming her could anger him) and out of gratitude for using her skill to save his grandson.
• The Empirium Trilogy: King Bastien and his wife, Queen Genoveve, are the ultimate authority in Celdaria and neither of them abuse their power. Even after learning about Rielle's incredible powers- and that her deceit regarding those powers put their son in danger- King Bastien asks Rielle various questions related to her powers and why she kept them secret. When he decrees that she will be undergoing trials to test her abilities, its made clear that he doesn't really want to make that call, but he can't just ignore what she's done.
• Enchanted Forest Chronicles: In Dealing with Dragons, Kazul becomes one of these. She knows that Cimorene is a level-headed person, so when Cimorene goes to Kazul — newly crowned as King of Dragons — saying that wizards tried to sabotage the coronation trials and the dragon Warog was behind it, Kazul is more than happy to listen. When Warog repeatedly tries to discredit Cimorene by insisting that her story is preposterous, Kazul calmly points out that he hasn't pointed out a single thing to back up that statement.
• The Exile's Violin:
  • King Shaun II of Kenesta doesn't squash civil unrest with a heavy hand. Instead, he asks them to select a spokesman to send to an audience with him the next day so he can address their concerns. In the audience itself it crossses into Only Sane Man because he is the only one that recognizes the stupidity in declaring war against a country that they just lost against to reclaim land that never wanted to be part of them.
  • General Colborough is calm, rational and Jacquie notes that when he initates his coup that he is not doing it out of ego or warmongering but because he believes it is the best course of action. When one of his subordinates claims that Jacquie and Clay are spies from another country simply because of a family squable, he says the idea is ridiculous but still wants them questioned because they shouldn'nt have been in a meeting that was arranged solely for locals.
  • Admiral LeBlanc isn't keen on listing to a strange detective saying treasonous and unlikely things, but, given to the strange circumstances and other things that Jacquie points out, she is willing to listen.
• The Hands of the Emperor: The chief of the imperial bureaucracy, Cliopher Mdang, is not only supremely diligent and absolutely incorruptible, but is also willing to listen to everyone's problems equally, at one point changing a prestigious project because of a lowly official's concerns for salmon breeding grounds.
• Harry Potter:
  • Dumbledore is perhaps too easygoing when it comes to Harry, but considering the trouble he tends to attract, it pays to listen when Harry says basilisks/death eaters/trolls/whatever are mucking about. He's one of the few authority figures in the Harry Potter universe who is consistently not evil and on the ball as far as what's going on, and therefore knows well enough to trust the heroes (and occasionally bail them out of school trouble when it's convenient).
  • Professor McGonagall qualifies too (appropriately, since she's Dumbledore's replacement). By the end of The Deathly Hallows, all she needs from Harry is a vague assurance that he's doing something important before she's entirely willing to stage a massive battle just to give Harry the time he needs. On the flip side, if she's chewing you out over something it's usually a pretty safe bet you've done something to earn it.
  • Kingsley Shacklebolt, head of the Auror department at the Ministry and the de facto leader of the Order of the Phoenix, is one of the few Ministry members that believes Dumbledore about Voldemort returning and does all he can to help. He's also a bodyguard to the Muggle Minister and is deeply devoted to protecting those who can't protect themselves. After Dumbledore and Mad-Eye Moody die, Kingsley proves himself so reasonable he even gets along with the Dursleys. Too bad the less reasonable Ministers (Fudge, later Scrimgeour) outrank him until he becomes the new Minister of Magic after the war ends.
  • It's been hinted that Amelia Bones, the Director of Magical Law Enforcement, falling into this category (as shown during Harry's trial in Order of the Phoenix) was a major reason for her possibly becoming Minister... and why Voldemort had her killed.
  • Professors Slughorn, Flitwick, and Sprout all also seem like this.
  • In Prisoner of Azkaban Professor Lupin becomes the first Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Harry's had with a level head. This is exemplified when he rescues Harry from Snape's wrath and covers for him with regards to the Marauder's Map. He then chewed Harry out himself when out of Snape's earshot, because Harry's actions had genuinely been foolish and careless.
  • Even Snape can be this... but only if you're a Slytherin. It seems to be a trend among Heads of House.
  • As a prefect, Hermione adheres to rules and regulations, confiscating banned items and generally having a much better handle on prefect responsibilities than Ron. She even finds a way to temper Fred and George's antics once they cross a line by testing their products on first years by threatening to write to Mrs. Weasley.
  • Ronan seems to be a leader or at least well-respected among the centaurs of the Forbidden Forest, and he's more reasonable than Bane when they find out that Firenze is letting Harry Potter ride his back. He tries to calm down Bane, saying that Firenze only had good intentions. Even if he went against destiny, Ronan hates that the innocent are the first to die.
  • The Muggle Prime Minister seems like he would be one if given a chance — unfortunately, both Fudge and Scrimgeour make it very plain that even if he's supposed to be an authority figure and they're equal in theory, they consider him to be beneath them and not worth listening to.
  • From what we see of her in Dumbledore's memory Mrs. Cole, the matron of the orphanage where Tom Riddle originally lived, is this. She (rightly) suspects that Tom is behind several incidents involving other children, such as killing another boy's pet, but acknowledges that there is no proof that he did anything wrong and despite Tom's opinion of her, does not appear to treat him any differently to the other children in her care.
• He Who Fights With Monsters: Played with; one of the themes is authority figures seeming reasonable, but ultimately having major blind spots just like normal people.
  • Rufus is a mid-ranked adventurer and heir of a prestigious academy. Attaching his name to Jason's lets Jason avoid some major problems early on and climb the social ladder quickly. His main flaw is that he tends to blame himself for any problems his subordinates face.
  • Danielle Gellar is the head of the city's most prestigious adventurer family because she brooks no shirking. Everything they do, they do well, and they insist that all their subordinates are treated fairly. Jason notes that her only real problem is that she isn't quite aware of the problems with a hereditary power system; ultimately, if the head of the family decided to screw everyone under them, there's nothing anyone else could do about it.
  • Thalia Mercer acknowledges her son's failures and selfishness, is much more socially adept herself, and repeatedly puts the good of the city over herself and her family's interests. But she is, ultimately, still a doting mother, and when she finds out that her son was running an illegal False Flag Operation in order to run a man off his land, the worst punishment she'll allow him to receive is a stern talking-to.
  • Elspeth Arella, director of the Adventurer's Society in Greenstone, is dedicated to rooting out the corruption in the local branch no matter the cost. As it turns out, she's been corrupt herself from the start. She merely decided excising corruption was a good platform to rise to power and eventually be promoted somewhere else. When a good deal turns up, she decides to sell a girl to a rapist without a blink.
• The His Fair Assassin trilogy has Duchess Anne, the young but extraordinarily level-headed royal served by the protagonist leads.
• Household Gods: Nicole petitions Emperor Marcus Aurelius to receive compensation for her rape (she's a lawyer, or was back in the modern US) because the rapist was a Roman legionary. However, the Romans' law lacks vicarious liability (the concept that superiors are generally responsible for their inferiors' bad acts) and since he wasn't acting on orders by the government, they're not accountable. Aurelius gives her compensation himself, feeling Nicole deserves it whatever the law says.
• Darius from The Hunger Games was the only Peacekeeper in the series who seemed to have an actual moral compass and willingness to forgive justified criminals.
• I Did NOT Give That Spider Superhuman Intelligence!: Delicious runs a Truce Zone for super-powered individuals who don't look human and want to live away from those who shun them. Delicious enforces the neutrality of the area sternly but fairly. She can make intelligent observations about the state of hero-villain affairs but won't make unilateral decisions for her community.
• Intruder in the Dust: Sheriff Hampton is willing to consider evidence that a black murder suspect is innocent despite the time period and sentiments of the community, and eventually sets a trap to catch the real killer.
• Edgar Rice Burroughs's John Carter of Mars:
  • In Thuvia, Maid of Mars, Thuvia refuses to have a prince who laid hands on her arrested, despite the gravity of the crime, because it would mean war.
  • Later, the Great Jed, U-Thor. He gives Tara advice on defending herself against charges, valiantly defends his stepson A-Kor against A-Kor's own father, the jeddak, and in the end is instrumental in replacing the jeddak with A-Kor.
• Judge Dee: In The Chinese Bell Murders, a group of senior bureaucrats review the sentences Dee has given the various villains of the book, and comment favorably on his efforts against the Corrupt Church. They also approve of his Justice by Other Legal Means strategy of defeating a man who previously bribed his way out of being executed for a series of murders and rapes and make it clear that they would be inclined to commute that man’s death sentence for his current (less serious) crime if not for his past misdeeds.
• In the second book of Hilari Bell's Knight And Rogue series, Michael and Fisk are surprised to find the local sheriff is willing to get their side of the story before summarily running them out of town on the say-so of an important official. Though he still makes them leave once the book's over.
• The Last Days of Krypton:
  • Zor-El is a selfless and innovative mayor, resists Zod's tyranny, and pays attention to his brother's concerns about the safety of Krypton.
  • Councilors Cera-Si and Mauro-Ji can be a little reactionary but generally hear Jor-El out and consider his claims whenever he has the data to back them up. Cera is also the only councilor who actually wants at least some change in their stagnant society.
  Cera-Si: We cannot ignore a problem simply because there's no immediately obvious solution.
  • No-Ton is the only member of Zod's inner circle besides Jor-El to realize how unstable he is and defect. His efforts lead to him becoming part of the new council after Zod is defeated. No-Ton objects to efforts to phase out Jor-El, warns Jor-El about Tyr-Us and his cronies trying to destroy the Phantom Zone and endanger Krypton, and then spends the last few chapters of the book desperately working on a Homeworld Evacuation.
  • Councilors Gal-Eth and Or-Om help lead the resistance against Zod, show concern about the path Tyr-Us and his allies are taking, and join No-Ton's Homeworld Evacuation attempts.
  • Korth-Or initially doesn't believe Jor-El's warnings that trying to destroy the Phantom Zone will doom Krypton, but opposes doing so until they understand the science more. He is also concerned when Tyr-Us and his majority bloc confirm votes without even asking the other five council members.
• Legacy of the Dragokin: Jago does an admirable job managing his city. To demonstrate: he refuses to let the civilians of others cities die or mutate but can't take in too many or they'll all starve. Also, he insists on protocol when letting anyone in or out of Final Shield.
• Legendborn: Nick's father, Lord Davis. He's the previous Scion of Arthur who dotes upon his son and steps in when Sel tries to attack Bree during the first trial. Subverted when it turns out he's a Manipulative Bastard who's opening more demon portals to threaten the Scions and start Camlann so he can control the Order through Nick.
• Lester Leith: On one occasion, one of Sergeant Ackley's bosses realizes that two innocent people have been framed before Leith gets involved in the case, and his subordinates think he's letting himself be played for a sucker. At the end of the story, that same superior refuses to issue an indictment against Leith due to approving of his Just Like Robin Hood crimes, both due to a lack of evidence and because of Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! sentiment.
  Sergeant Ackley: It takes evidence to convict.
  Captain Walker: That is particularly true of a man who has just made a fifty-thousand dollar donation to the Police Protective Association. The net result, Sergeant, is one murderer brought to justice without the expense of a trial for the state to pay; one innocent woman removed from suspicion; one innocent chauffeur, ditto; credit to the police department for having solved a baffling case in record time — and fifty thousand dollars for the wives and orphaned kiddies of brave men who gave their services to the state. This Leith fellow may be a crook as you say. But, Sergeant, if we had about fifty more crooks like him we'd have a city free of crime, and a fund for orphaned kiddos and hungry widows that would make me sleep a lot better of nights. And that, Sergeant Ackley, closes the subject.
• The Little Prince: The King, who has total authority and tolerates no insubordination, but only gives reasonable orders, so that he is always obeyed.
  King: If I ordered a general to turn himself into a sea bird, and the general disobeyed, that would not be the general's fault. That would be my fault.
• In The Long Earth, Jansson becomes a renowned authority on "stepping" and generally does a good job preventing negative repercussions of the sudden discovery of parallel Earths.
• The Martian: Every authority figure at every level is a reasonable authority figure. While the various authority figures do clash over certain decisions, everyone remains calm, rational, and level-headed, arguing based on the facts and weighing each decision carefully. Each has a different set of responsibilities to balance, and each knows when to push an issue and when to give in. The professionalism exhibited by every authority figure is one of the strengths of the book.
  • The one instance when everyone loses their cool is when NASA Director Teddy decides to forego the danger of the Rich Purnell Maneuver in favor of a much more risky plan, due to the number of lives at stake. Flight Director Mitch blows his top and calls Teddy a coward, and storms out of the office, while Venkat and Bruce Ng are stunned and exasperated by the display, and Public Relations Director Annie point-blank tells Teddy that she wishes Mitch had punched him for his cowardice. And then they get back to work.
• The Marvellous Land of Snergs: Despite being portrayed as a ruthless, bloodthirsty tyrant — by a jester and a witch, mind you — King Kiul turns out to be an amicable, fair ruler who is willing to have his mind changed. After calmly listening to Joe and Sylvia's tale, he reconsiders his opinions on the Snergs, and orders the kids are taken care of while they figure out how to send them back home. His fair-mindedness is again demonstrated when Gorbo sneaks into his palace and hits him with a stick: Kiul gets very mad, but he arranges for a proper trial. Realizing Gorbo is a gullible fool who has been taken for a ride, the king decides to forgive him.
• DC Harold Mc Douglas in The Mental State is a surprisingly accommodating prison warden. He is much more willing to go along with Zack's plans to improve the prisoners' quality of life and even serves as the Morality Pet to his lesser officers.
• Monster of the Month Club: Sparrow may be a little obsessive about her lifestyle, but she has her moments, such as relenting and permitting Rilla to keep the kittens in the barn after wanting to send them to an animal shelter, or keep the dog Taco after she finds out Rilla already paid his vet bills. She also wants to get rid of their internet service because of the price when it gets over-used (mainly because of Owl e-mailing anyone with "monster" in their screenname), but when she finds out Rilla was using it to find her long-lost father and had just successfully gotten in touch with him, she agrees to keep it and switch to a different billing plan to cover more usage instead.
• Murder on the Orient Express: Monsieur Bouc/Signor Bianchi, the manager of the train. He immediately calls upon Poirot to solve the murder of Ratchet, and in the book and the 1974 and 2010 versions, he was the one who suggested letting the passengers off the hook, since their victim was truly deserving.
• Nine Goblins: The elven commander. He's not so reasonable he'll just let the goblins go, since they're technically enemy combatants, but he does listen to them and investigate their warnings.
• Noninterference: Queen Sabium is introduced as a patient and humble woman who greatly rewards any common citizens who come up with inventions or ideas to improve the kingdom. After she accidentally becomes immortal and is mistaken for a goddess, she remains humble and seeks to earn the gift she received by running a religion of innovation and tolerance. She also stops her guards from killing a man just because he tried to kill her, but then tells them that they can execute the man to punish his successful murder of one of her loyal servants.
• Chief Wyatt Porter in the Odd Thomas novels knows quite well about Odd's psychic gifts, and consults him whenever he can (i.e. as long as he eventually has enough evidence to back him up in courts and whatnot).
• Old Kingdom: In Clariel, when the title character is unwillingly enrolled in a posh finishing school, the no-nonsense headmistress Ader forces her to admit that she wants to live alone in the woods as a hunter. Mistress Ader surprises her by merely estimating the necessary starting capital and drawing up a class schedule for an aspiring entrepreneur.
  Ader: Many here would consider it too small, a thing to be made fun of. However, all I am concerned with is that we equip you both for the possibility of other futures, and for the one you yourself envisage.
• King-Emperor John IV, from S. M. Stirling's novel, The Peshawar Lancers. The cannibalistic Satanist Russian Empire has bred a lineage of seeresses who can see the consequences of any possible action? Your evidence is pretty convincing. Maybe you hero-types should go do something about it.
• In A Practical Guide to Evil the Black Knight, of all people, is this. Taxes are lower under his regime than they were under the Fairfax monarchs, laws are enforced, and he goes out of his way to make an example out of Governor Mazus. Of course, it's all done with an eye towards preventing future rebellion against the Evil Empire, because he is a Villain so the objective is still Evil.
• The Queen of Ieflaria: The current king and queen of Ieflaria are unfailingly patient with Esofi and Adale, consider themselves servants of the people, and sponsor arts and sciences.
• Ranger's Apprentice has several, but stand-out examples include King Duncan and Ranger Corps Commandment Crowley. While Duncan can be rather rigid sometimes and stands on his dignity, he's also willing to listen to others and admits that he keeps the Rangers around partially because they can stop him from thinking that he always knows best.
  • Crowley, despite being head of an elite force, is shown as always being willing to hear out his subordinate's ideas and opinions, and good-naturedly puts up with Halt's antics and Gilan's Sarcastic Devotee nature.
  • Erak Starfollower is this in both Rangers Apprentice and the sister series, Brotherband. He helps Will and Cassandra escape from slavery, works with Halt to put into place a strategy to defeat the Temujai in Book 4 rather than relying on the Skandians' usual Attack! Attack! Attack!, shortly after becoming Oberjarl uses a bit of Loophole Abuse to help Duncan and Halt out of a sticky situation, and in Brotherband, he is shown to have a soft spot for Hal, the protagonist, stops bullying whenever he can, and though he's very harsh on the Herons for allowing the Andomal to be stolen, he also gives them a chance to bring it back, and shows no resentment or anger when they do — indeed, he chooses them for several missions afterwards.
• Each book in A Series of Unfortunate Events tends to have exactly one character in this position. They usually don't last very long.
  • A definite example would be Montgomery Montgomery from "The Reptile Room". The later books tend to lack this character, or have one offscreen.
• Marcia Overstrand, ExtraOrdinary Wizard, in Septimus Heap zig-zags this trope, varying from a Reasonable Authority Figure in e.g Darke where she immediately comes to the Palace with the other Wizards when alerted to the presence of a Darke Domaine to Not Now, Kiddo in Flyte, when she refuses to believe that Jenna has been kidnapped by her elder brother Simon Heap.
• Skyward: Although she never shows up on screen, Dr. Thior spends the entire book fighting to get the cadets in general, and Spensa specifically, proper care. While she doesn't always read the situation correctly (she gives Skyward Flight a week of medical leave when they want to work hard and keep busy), no one doubts she has everyone's best interests at heart. She even forces the admiral to let Spensa have proper access to the dorms and other base facilities.
• Smaller & Smaller Circles: The Director of the NBI actually sees the killings as a serious threat, and even chews out Atty. Arcinas for screwing up the investigation. Councillor Mariano as well, who lends his own time and resources (in this case, the free dental services he sponsors for street urchins) to help identify the murder victims.
  • Present only in the expanded edition, NBI Deputy Director Jake Valdes, who like Director Lastimosa and Ading Rustia actually considers the Payatas murders a serious concern.
• In the Crapsack World of A Song of Ice and Fire, there are very few leaders like this. However, their survival rate is rarely high due to the nature of the series:
  • Eddard Stark did his best during his tenure as Hand of the King. However, his honor became a weakness which led to his death.
  • Tyrion Lannister did a good job as Hand of the King while keeping tabs on his nephew's brattiness. He was one who managed to keep King's Landing from falling into the hands of Stannis Baratheon during the Battle of Blackwater. Of course it is ambiguous how heroic this is, considering that Stannis is the rightful King and Joffrey is a tyrannical usurper.
  • Regardless of all his flaws, Tywin Lannister is this when he's serving as Hand (not so much as a battle commander). His steady hand is able to balance out the psychopathy of both Aerys and Joffrey, which is largely the reason the Mad King's reign is remembered as a time of peace and prosperity until the very end (after Tywin had already been replaced). However this is up for interpretation. Some more analytical fans have pointed out Tywin has a tendency to take part in needlessly brutal actions (ordering the Riverlands burnt even though he intends them to be ruled by his family), meaning that his plans don't long outlast his death.
  • Kevan Lannister is a decent ruler and leader, who takes into account the problems of the realm and is more of a people person than his brother. This is also the reason why Varys killed him at the end of A Dance with Dragons when Kevan was just starting to fix all the problems that his niece had made.
  • Jeor Mormont is one of these too since he knew very well that the Others had returned and are a bigger threat to Westeros. He even reminded Jon Snow that it doesn't matter on whoever wins the Iron Throne because winter is coming and the victor had to bear the long winter night.
  • Stannis Baratheon first looks like a Principles Zealot, however he is really The Dutiful Son of the Baratheon family. He undergoes Character Development after the Blackwater, appointing the lowborn Davos Seaworth as his Hand over the nobles of his court, and is the only one who answers the Night's Watch's call for help.
• Bishop Peregrino in Speaker for the Dead first seems like a Bible-thumping fanatic dead-set on kicking the "infidel" Speaker out of Lusitania as soon as possible, including declaring Ender to be The Devil himself. He still has plenty of reservations, but the events of the book have Peregrino mellowing and developing a level of respect for Ender, even if he doesn't agree with his methods (such as revealing embarrassing personal information to everyone instead of just to the bishop and God in confession). Additionally, Ender revealing that he was baptised as a child helps the bishop accept him into their Catholic community. He also agrees to rebel against the Starways Congress in order to save Miro.
  • He does slip up in the following book Xenocide, even though he is older and wiser (the book takes place 30 years later). After Quim's death at the "hands" of Warmaker, Valentine warns the bishop and the mayor of the impending riot the likes of which they've never seen, only for both of them to dismiss her advice. Bishop claims that his people are all good Catholics who'd never do something like that. The events of that night make him realize how wrong he'd been, and he makes all of his churchgoers build a new chapel to commemorate all those who died.
• Grumble, the god of the minions in Spells, Swords, & Stealth is fairly casual, as gods go. He does demand Thistle at least appear to offer proper platitudes when they speak. He is a god after all. At the same time, he is perfectly willing to accept a bit of snark. He also takes the time to explain to Thistle why he can't just tell his paladin what's going on in Split the Party and has to rely on vague visions to hint at his goals. In Going Rogue, he explains to Thistle that he and the god of rogues, Tristan, are in conflict over a claim on Eric's soul and explicitly orders Thistle not to try to influence Eric on the matter since, as a matter of faith, the decision must be wholly Eric's own.
• Star Trek Expanded Universe:
  • In the Alternate Timeline that ended with Star Trek: Coda Leonard James Akaar - first introduced in the original series episode "Fridays Child" - is largely presented as a reasonable authority figure in the latter half of the 24th century. Such is his integrity and dedication to the Federation that he takes drastic measures to stop a coup by a power hungry Bajoran who assassinated the previous Federation President and was serving as President Pro Tem.
• Star Wars Legends:
  • The X-Wing Series gives us an example in Wedge Antilles. When Myn Donos had a Heroic BSoD, he helped cover it up. Later, when Myn fired on Lara for the destruction of Talon Squadron, and shot a torpedo at another pilot, he was taken off duty, but not actually written up, though there was a testing period while Wedge decided whether or not to do so. And when Myn realized that the fighters were going into a trap, Wedge called them off, even though he couldn't see how and they lost two in doing so.
  • Grand Admiral Thrawn is one of the bad guys (although not strictly evil) and executed a tractor beam operator for failing to catch Luke's ship, and then lying to Thrawn about not having performed training that could have kept the tractor beam emitter from eating a torpedo, and attempted to shift the blame to another — but in a later book he promoted a new tractor beam operator who had failed to catch another ship Luke was on because although the guy had failed, he'd tried a new method and accepted responsibility when the tactic didn't work. He also treated his second-in-command and occasional Commander Contrarian with respect.
  • Pellaeon surely counts by the Hand of Thrawn duology, when he's basically got Thrawn's old rank, albeit commanding the forces of a much smaller Empire. He happens to Know When to Fold 'Em, is protective of his people, and treats his own Commander Contrarian the way Thrawn treated him. Oh, and he's trying to make peace with the New Republic, and sees efforts by various Imperial elements to make it look like the New Republic has refused as what they are: a trick. ...Really, by that point he's not remotely one of the bad guys.
  • In Galaxy of Fear: The Doomsday Ship, the captain of a luxury cruise starship knows it's a surly employee's fault when the systems go down, rather than Zak's, and lets Zak have access to some records he wants to see. When things start going wrong he proves to feel great responsibility for his men and the crew.
• In Starburst, while T.K. has a reputation as a car thief he’s trying to move on from, his parole officers are willing to recognise that he's a good person who just made some bad choices. Likewise, when he goes on a grieving joyride after the death of his new mentor Leonard Hartson, the arresting officer is aware of the circumstances and affirms she won’t press charges.
• Stinger: Colonel Rhodes, who leads the soldiers tracking down the aliens, is very patient with the locals, never lies or condescends to them after the first act, and prevents an attempt to keep the benevolent Daufin from leaving Earth.
• The Stormlight Archive:
  • Dalinar Kholin is one of the few generals in charge of the Vengeance Pact that will actually listen to his troops. It's one of the things that made him so formidable as The Blackthorn, because he works very well with any of his subordinates.
  • Kaladin is this to a lesser extent, only because he takes charge of Bridge Four. Unlike his commanding officers, who often neglect the bridgemen as arrow fodder, Kaladin considers each and every person's strength. He even makes the man who disagrees with him most his second-in-command to keep himself in line.
  • The Assassin in White is flying around the world, killing leaders. Every time we see what the leaders are up to, it's nothing but civil war and anarchy. Then we come to the Azish, who are sitting quietly around a table, struggling to elect their next leader. The concept of a civil war is simply considered too much paperwork. It comes up again when the Parsh singers regain their minds — they turn out to have been influenced by their resident nation, so while other nations are dealing with their ships being stolen or a rebellion forming, the Azish Parsh sue for backpay and damage, with Azish' Prime apparently negotiating in earnest with them. Given the chance they likely would have worked something out too, had the Fused not forced them to war.
• Sir Richard Blunt in The String of Pearls, the original literary inspiration for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. He's a local magistrate who was already aware of Todd thanks to a time when a woman accused him of stealing her missing husband's shoes, but couldn't do anything about it at the time because everything about it was circumstantial. When Colonel Jeffrey comes to him with suspicions that Todd has done something to his friend Thornhill and possibly to others, Blunt doesn't doubt him for a second and sets up a sting operation, with himself as the bait, which successfully catches Todd trying to murder him. He and two of his officers arrest Todd on the spot and he's hanged for his crimes soon after.
• In the Carl Hiaasen novel version of Striptease, Al Garcia's boss, Lt. Bowman, is this; he lets Garcia alone most of the time to pursue his own leads, and when Garcia finds himself going after Congressman Dave Dilbeck (who assaulted a groom-to-be at his bachelor party, and whose handlers committed two murders to cover that up), Bowman admits while he officially has to tell Garcia he's on his own, unofficially, he hopes Garcia can pull it off.
• Sugawara Akitada: Akitada doesn't use his government position to cause harm, manipulate others to do his bidding, or other abuse his authority.
• In This Immortal, Tatram Yshtigo, Cort Myshtigo's grandfather, is — according to Phil — 'an altruistic administrator of services to the public' and very much aware of the problems with Earth's dependency on the Vegan Combine. He hatches the plan of sending Cort Myshtigo to Earth to survey whether it could possibly govern itself, then arranges things thus that Conrad Nomikos ends up in charge — reasoning that with someone as long-lived and honourable as Conrad there's a good chance that Earth will become habitable again in the long run.
• Tolkien's Legendarium:
  • In The Hobbit, Dáin II Ironfoot admits that all Smaug's victims deserve to be compensated. He and his cousin Thorin are clearly very different.
  • The Lord of the Rings:
    • Éomer listens to what Aragorn has to say when he catches him with Legolas and Gimli in Rohan, and helps them by giving them mounts.
    • Faramir counts. He provides assistance to Frodo and Sam once he learns of their quest (after making them sweat a bit) and shows mercy to Gollum when Frodo vouches for him (though Gollum doesn't realize it).
• Tom Swift: Most of the government officials Tom and his dad market their inventions to have good uses for the devices and are fair-minded about any difficulties. Some, like NASA rep Peter Newell from Monster Machine, even tag along on adventures.
• Tortall Universe:
  • Duke Gareth in Song of the Lioness was one, being strict and authoritative but at the same time, understanding and kind. Despite giving Alanna a stern lecture for beating up a boy who had ruthlessly bullied her (even breaking her arm at one point), he had supported her (even telling her privately that Ralon deserved to be thrashed) and was secretly pleased that she managed to do it on her own.
  • In that same universe, Jonathan, as king, is considered a fair and benevolent ruler. He (technically) lifts the ban on female knights. His queen, Thayet, is an Action Girl that starts her own band of "Riders" to serve the country.
  • It's the same way with his father, for the most part. He's known as Roald the Peacemaker, but he takes it a bit far when he allows a resurrected Duke Roger back into court. Conté kings and queens are generally examples of this trope.
  • Lord Gershom of Haryse in Beka Cooper, who is also Da Chief of Tortall's police force. He can't investigate every case because there are just too many, but he gives Beka all the support he can when he can. It's only because of his political enemies that he has to employ Torture Technicians in the jails rather than actual truth spells.
• The Traveler's Gate: Nearly every Damascan authority figure, despite an intentionally terrible Establishing Character Moment that makes them look like a bunch of Evil Overlords. Malachi caused most of the events of the series by demanding sacrifices from Myria, but the sacrifices were for a good reason and he is perfectly willing to have a conversation rather than fighting someone he believes is an insane zealot; his only major mistake was sending a violent asshole to escort the sacrifices. King Zakareth is practically emotionless and a rather terrible father, but he is a good man doing the best he can in a terrible situation, and ultimately names the kindest of his children as his Successor. Leah herself, when she becomes Queen, quickly rallies her people to survive the rampages of insane gods, and even takes to the field personally on multiple occasions.
• Vikus from The Underland Chronicles, though he's such a Nice Guy Gregor and others don't feel they can always confide in him.
• In Sophie Kinsella's The Undomestic Goddess, Ketterman comes off as cold, severe and off-putting at first, but he is the only one to listen to Samantha and investigate the fraud perpetrated by Arnold Saville.
• Alberta Petrov, Captain of the St. Vladimir's Academy's Guardians from Vampire Academy. She works well with Rose and convinces to resume her studies and graduate.
• Walker's Crossing: Principal Phillips and Ms. Wells try to convince their students that the local Neo-Nazi ideology is wrong with a mixture of caring concern and firm logic.
• Warhammer 40,000:
  • Ciaphas Cain falls under this trope. Despite Commissars technically being outside of the chain of command, he has the authority to execute Colonels and Generals who would otherwise outrank him, if he has good reason to do so. Unlike many of his breed, however, Cain instead prefers to foster friendships and inspire his troops via camaraderie rather than instilling them with fear of his retribution, to the extent that some of them perceive him to be their inspirational father figure.
    • In The Traitor's Hand, Cain winds up dealing with a jealous Obstructive Bureaucrat who ultimately accuses him of attempting to desert during a battle. In a particular bizarre invocation of this trope, the Commissariat of all organizations investigates the claim.... and then not only dismisses it as utterly frivolous, but opens an investigation to determine whether or not said bureaucrat's obstructionism endangered the course of the entire battle by interfering with Cain's activities.
    • Oddly enough most Governors end up as this trope, all but one named Governor in the Cain books wasn't this because that one was a genestealer. Guess the bad ones tend to be killed off.
    • One of the Cain books actually had a short blurb that implied incompetent Governors are quickly dealt with by the Officio Assassinorum.
    • Chris Roberson's Dawn of War II has a wonderfully incompetent governor.
  • In Graham McNeill's Ultramarines novel Nightbringer, the governor. Although things have gone badly under her, Barzano preempts a vote of no confidence because she seems to be the best. And she faces the troubles with equanimity and an effort to fix things.
  • The Governor of Tarsis Ultra in the second Ultramarines book is also one of these — initially more concerned with pomp and ceremony than defences, he is immediately put in his place by the Astartes and Imperial Guard commanders. Rather than (some might say predictably) becoming a sulking villian, he swallows his pride and does what he can to help, becoming a vital administrator of the supply lines, and dies, bravely fighting in a battle he wasn't trained for to set an example to the people.
  • The Ultramarines themselves are this, ruling a mini Empire, Ultramar its one of the best places to live in the Imperium, minus the whole Tyranid invasion a few hundred years ago.
  • In Dead Sky Black Sun, the Lord of the Unfleshed. True, he's a cannibalistic monster with the mind of a little child who strongly considers eating Uriel and his companions, but he's leading the Unfleshed in horrible circumstances, and has no experience with good people who are not the Unfleshed. Once Uriel persuades him, he throws all his forces into a desperate attack.
  • In The Killing Grounds, the Grey Knight Leodegarius. Despite his suspicion and insistence on the ordeals to test Uriel and Pasanius, he is willing to clear them — even acting in a more conciliatory manner after he knows if they are tainted, it was not with their knowledge — and deals with the planet in a straightforward and just manner.
• Bluestar from Warrior Cats, but only sometimes. Given the information she had, she almost always made the best decision, once asking an apprentice to track down a friendly fugitive that General Ripper was definitely going to execute. Unfortunately the general was also the Evil Chancellor, so she was quite blind to his motives, despite repeat warnings from the hero.
  • Firestar too after he becomes the leader.
  • In fact, plenty of leaders can be this on a good day at least. Several examples include Blackstar, but the ultimate one would have to be Tallstar, who's very friendly to Firestar and his Clan (this is explained in Tallstar's Revenge). But after he dies, Onestar (who takes over WindClan after him) averts this trope when he's in a foul mood.
  • Harestar shows to be this in A Vision Of Shadows, even before he becomes leader. He gives herbs to a very sick ShadowClan even after Onestar refused, saying that he won't let innocent cats die. After he becomes the new leader of WindClan, he reminds everyone that Rowanstar doesn't need all the blame for Darktail invading the Clans, saying that the ones who are to blame are Onestar (who ends up redeeming himself by killing Darktail) and Darktail himself. He also lets Jayfeather and Alderheart takes some herbs after ThunderClan suffers from a rockslide.
• Wars of the Realm: Most of the top-level authority figures among the angels fit this trope.
  • General Danick is probably the most obvious example. After Validus gets chewed out by Commander Porthan for endangering a squad of his warriors, Danick steps in to investigate further and ends up recruiting Validus as his understudy.
  • The Archangel Michael is similarly patient with Validus, even coming down from heaven to speak directly to him when he has a burning question.
  • And of course there is Elohim himself, who takes time for even the last and least of the angels.
• Watership Down. 'The Threarah', the Chief Rabbit of the Sandleford warren, who appears to be the Obstructive Bureaucrat-type when he dismisses Fiver's warning out of hand. Holly (himself a reasonable authority figure) later reveals that his reasoning was actually quite logical — most prophets are frauds, and even if they're genuine the warren would have lost more rabbits from a mass evacuation than a flood or from hunters. Tragically, the oncoming disaster is more massive than The Threarah could imagine or Fiver could explain coherently, which leaves the Threarah as an Obstructive Bureaucrat who tries to be this trope.
  • Hazel gradually becomes a pretty exemplary one of these once he becomes Chief Rabbit of the Watership Down warren. His particular skill is in recognizing and helping to develop the specific talents of the other rabbits around him, and with everyone feeling valued, they all prove unswervingly loyal. By this point, he's also grown to appreciate Fiver's prophetic abilities, and developed more-or-less absolute faith in the little guy.
  • Efrafra, despite being a horribly oppressive police state, has one of these in Captain Campion, and even their cruel Chief Rabbit, General Woundwort, has moments of reason, despite ultimately being a pretty bad guy. Captain Mallow was implied to have been one of these, too.
• We Are Legion (We Are Bob):
  • Dr. Landen, the first person Bob meets when he is awakened. While he works for FAITH, he's not a theocrat. He empathizes with Bob's plight, and warns him about the loyalty switches and kill triggers hidden in his code.
  • After Minister Cranston's attempts to control Riker fail, he puts forth a reasonable plan to help other survivors in exchange for special consideration — which is not so much special consideration as it is perfectly fair. It's implied that Homer suggested it, but either way it's a real turn around.
  • Although Butterworth and Riker often butt heads, he has a pretty strong bargaining position. He provided the plans for the colony ships, so his people should be the first to go. His biggest problem is that he gets mad about anything that seems to delay construction. Homer goes behind Riker's back to make a deal to delay the ships slightly so that the Spitsbergen ship can be built faster.
• We Can Remember It For You Wholesale: At the end, Shirley apologizes to Quail for how badly everything turned out to be and assures him things will go better this time.
• Wyst: Alastor 1716 by Jack Vance: The Connatic's staff at Alastor Centrality on Wyst take Jantiff Ravensroke at his word when he tells them he's uncovered a dangerous conspiracy. However, all the pieces don't yet fit together so he's asked to come back when he has the full picture. In the time it takes for him to do this, the two senior Centrality staff are murdered, the one remaining is helpless to intervene, and Jantiff is forced to flee for his life.

---