History Main / LimitedAdvancementOpportunities

* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': At work with the adults characters. Miss Brooks, from near the start, is after the position of Madison High School Head of the English Department. She never gets it; obstructions include blabbermouths sharing the "Party Line" and a nervous nerve-specialist claiming she's overwrought "Noodnick, Daughter of Medic". At least once, Mr. Boynton suffers from this trope; his attempt to be hired as a college professor ends in HilarityEnsues with Miss Brooks trying to masquerade as his mother ("The Wrong Mrs. Boynton). Even Mr. Conklin can't get a promotion; he's the subject of a false scandal in "The Little Visitor", and otherwise embarrassed in "Project X". In the penultimate television episode, "Principal For A Day", Miss Brooks' leadership of Mrs. Nestor's Private Elementary School is short-lived. [[spoiler: Miss Brooks does achieve her actual SeriesGoal, marriage to Mr. Boynton, in TheMovie GrandFinale]].

* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'' posits this as the reason why so many admirals in Starfleet go the InsaneAdmiral route. Sure, they're at the ''top'' of the command chain, but unless they do something big to stand out, they quickly become a forgettable figure giving orders from behind a desk. Hence they take on really, ''really'' ill-advised vanity projects that tend to become catastrophic, [[spoiler:like Admiral Buenamigo's automated ''Texas''-class ships.]]

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': After season one, Geordi and Worf receive promotions in what is best described as a [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness series reorganization]]. After that, no cast member gets a promotion over the seven years the show spans because StatusQuoIsGod. It's frequently made a plot point and lampshaded in the case of Picard and Riker:

* Followed in ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' with Sōsuke, who, throughout the entire series, despite being incredibly competent and singlehandedly saving the day numerous times, stays a [[AlmightyJanitor sergeant and receives no promotions]]. Most likely, however, he actively avoids moving up ranks and apparently prefers to simply [[ObfuscatingStupidity keep a low profile]] and do his work. Interestingly, Mao gets promoted to SRT second in command (despite not doing ''nearly'' as much as Sōsuke).[[note]]This is because officers like Mao are managers, and [=NCOs=] like Sōsuke are specialists. The higher up the chain you go, leadership becomes more important and personal badassery less so.[[/note]]

* In the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse [[Literature/XWingSeries X-Wing series]], Wedge Antilles frequently passes up chances for advancement, preferring the rank of Commander and leading Rogue Squadron to taking a greater role. Eventually, though, he realizes he's being a bit selfish--that he could contribute at a much greater level. Ackbar also notes that for an upcoming campaign, he'll need rank to pull. That, and the fact that some generals are allowed to stay on commanding elite squadrons instead of flying a desk all the time, convinces him. (It's notable he's a general, and one with no small influence over the supreme commander, before he's 30, though.)
** He also got guilted into it when Ackbar told him that his own [[AcePilot pilots]] were likewise refusing promotions, most of them staying as Flight Officers, in order to follow his example--despite being members of Rogue Squadron, twelve of the finest pilots in the galaxy. In a way, the cast did get ripped apart not long after--suddenly-promoted Colonel Celchu stepped in as head of the Rogues, and Wedge took a post on the ''Lusankya'' that hardly allowed him to fly. It got to the point where another character, in an airspeeder driven by Wedge, notes that he seems a lot happier in the air, but had convinced himself that he didn't need to fly. But then, he got sent to Adumar, primarily because of his reputation as an unbeatable pilot. Presumably, since Adumar was an assignment he hadn't wanted and had been given despite intending to take leave, he managed to finagle his way back into flying, since he remained a General but was in command of Rogue Squadron, attached to General Bel Iblis's task force. Later, he flies during the Literature/NewJediOrder and, despite [[ResignationsNotAccepted retiring]], afterward.

** In Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy, Pellaeon was a sixty-year-old captain of an Imperial Star Destroyer. Being unwilling to rule, he just followed the Empire's current leaders and tried to scrape it back together again whenever those leaders inevitably fell, never getting promoted. But as time went on and he outlived those superiors, one of them [[YouAreInCommandNow put him in charge]] before fleeing into obscurity, and so by the Literature/HandOfThrawn duology he was Admiral Pellaeon, the Supreme Commander of the [[VestigialEmpire Imperial Remnant]]. And by the time of the Literature/NewJediOrder series, the Empire has expanded sufficiently that he was promoted again, to the same rank of ''Grand Admiral'' that his late mentor Thrawn had held.
** Invoked and subverted by Face Loran, leader of [[BadassCrew the Wraiths]]. As a fighter pilot, he achieved the rank of Captain before transferring with his unit to Intelligence (which goes back and forth about using military ranks vs. having a civilian intelligence agency's structure). He keeps the rank pretty much for the rest of his career because it's useful to him to have some clout, while not being high-ranking enough to actually matter, thus ensuring that he can "disappear" when need be. Since the higher ranks of Intelligence are a tight-knit community, his lack of rank doesn't affect his actual influence in the slightest. As of Mercy Kill though... [[spoiler: his investigation and rooting out of the last of the Lecersen Conspiracy earns him the post of head of Intelligence. So there's nowhere higher to go.]]

* ''VideoGame/WingCommander'': The one time [[LeroyJenkins Maniac]] makes it past Major, at the end of ''VideoGame/WingCommander IV'' (more in [[Literature/WingCommander the novelization]] than the game), off-screen he gets busted down again. Primarily he stays in the service in spite of this lack of advancement because he's just that damned good, starting his career during a long genocidal war where the Terran Confederation couldn't afford to dismiss him from service. In the fifth game he gets promoted to Squadron Commander, but eventually requests to be busted down again, because he finds he can't handle the extra responsibility.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'' posits this as the reason why so many admirals in Starfleet go the InsaneAdmiral route. Sure, they're at the ''top'' of the command chain, but unless they do something big to stand out, they quickly become a forgettable figure giving orders from behind a desk. Hence the really, ''really'' ill-advised vanity projects that tend to become catastrophic. [[spoiler:Like Admiral Buenamigo's automated ''Texas''-class ships.]]

* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': At work with the adults characters. Miss Brooks, from near the start, is after the position of Madison High School Head of the English Department. She never gets it; obstructions include blabbermouths sharing the "Party Line" and a nervous nerve-specialist claiming she's overwrought "Noodnick, Daughter of Medic". At least once, Mr. Boynton suffers from this trope; his attempt to be hired as a college professor ends in HilarityEnsues with Miss Brooks trying to masquerade as his mother ("The Wrong Mrs. Boynton). Even Mr. Conklin can't get a promotion; he's the subject of a false scandal in "The Little Visitor", and otherwise embarrassed in "Project X". In the penultimate television episode, "Principal For A Day", Miss Brooks' leadership of Mrs. Nestor's Private Elementary School is short-lived.
[[spoiler: Miss Brooks does achieve her actual SeriesGoal, marriage to Mr. Boynton, in TheMovie GrandFinale]].

Contrast RankUp, when a character does get promoted in-show.

* ''Series/{{Suits}}'' plays with this. In the pilot, Harvey is promoted to Senior Partner which highlights his rapid rise through the firm's ranks. It is clear that he aims to become a Named Partner and might even challenge Jessica for Managing Partner. At the same time, Louis is still stuck as Junior Partner which is a major source of frustration for him with various factions using the promise of promotion to lure him to their side. Mike's prospects at the firm are initially presented as being unlimited as long as he does not screw up but then SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome and it becomes clear that the lies that allow him to practice law also make him unpromotable. He needs to keep a low profile unless someone decides to dig into his past and discovers the truth. However, without winning high profile cases he will never make partner.

** Miles O'Brien is brilliant as an engineer, and a hero many times over--and yet we never see him offered a promotion to Master CPO, let alone officer, even when he takes a teaching position at the Academy. This is especially noticeable because he would hardly be promoted away from the setting, the rest of the main characters being officers; rather, his role as the designated NCO and "working man" had to be maintained. But still...no Master to tack onto that Chief? Senior Chief O'Brien is an especially weird case in that the TNG episode "The Enemy" established that he was once the tactical officer aboard the starship ''Rutledge'', is frequently seen in Deep Space Nine's wardroom, and stated that he would have assumed command of the ''Defiant'' if Worf had been killed in "Rules of Engagement". This is justified as O'Brien clearly states that he has no interest in being an officer, and loves his position as Chief Engineer of [=DS9=] (a promotion from his time on the ''Enterprise''). His short stint as a tactical officer may have been out of necessity more than anything, as this was in the middle of the first Cardassian war.

** At the end of the 2010/11 season, Danny Messer took and passed the Sergeant's exam. At the beginning of the current (2011/12) season, Danny had obviously decided to take the position, leave the lab, and become Sergeant Messer. [[spoiler:However, after an incident in which one of his subordinates shot an unarmed man and blamed her actions on Danny, he decided to go back to being Detective Messer and rejoin the lab.]]

* ''Franchise/MassEffect''. Shepard never goes beyond the rank of Commander. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that Shepard was officially reported KIA at the beginning of ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', and spent the entire game post-resurrection officially AWOL, although Hackett was still willing to pass down the Alpha Relay assignment. After said assignment, Shepard submitted to the chain of command and was confined due to the Alpha Relay's explosion killing 300,000 civilians, and was only reinstated due to the extreme circumstances of the Reaper attack on Earth. While it is plausible that Shepard was promoted to full Commander following the events of the first game, there was very little official opportunity for advancement. By the end of the third game Shepard is effectively the Commander in Chief of the entire galaxy (and third in command of the Alliance miltary, it's weird), but still carries the same rank on paper.

* This troper knew a guy in college, who was an assistant manager at an autopart store. When asked if he was going to try to become the store manager, the guy replied that it was unlikely because the current store manager is married to someone who is also a manager of another store of the same chain. The guy could only get promoted it the current manager either quit (unlikely) or got promoted to regional manager. However, company policy prohibits family members from being each other's boss, so neither the manager nor his wife could get promoted unless one of them was willing to be relocated to another region.

* In ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', the show's premise has a built-in excuse for why everyone stays at the same rank: there are no new crewmembers coming aboard, and nowhere for the crew to transfer to. Tom Paris is the exception, given his unique situation.

** The (reluctant) king (and he'd refuse the title) of this trope, however, has to be Vimes himself. When first encountered, he's a captain of the three-man Night Watch, who hide from criminals. The next time we see him he plans to retire after getting married. However, intrigued by the notion of a Watch that truly ''matters'', he accepts the rank of Commander--and, though he has to grit his teeth, the knighthood which goes with it. Later, after stopping a war (by arresting the armies involved) and demonstrating his willingness to do his duty no matter the consequences (by arresting the Patrician), he's made Duke of Ankh, rendering him the most powerful nobleman in the city (save, probably, Vetinari himself, since the evidence indicates he's from a noble family ... his aunt is ''Lady'' Roberta Meserole and he studied at the Assassin's Guild). The reason he fits the trope, despite all these promotions, is that what he actually does hasn't changed all that much ... it's just that he now has the ''authority'' to do it. Vetenari once commented that Vimes maintaining his strong anti-authoritarian streak despite all this is "practically Zen".

* Many jobs have a defined pay band, so no matter how long an employee is in the job or how good a job they do, the only way to earn an official promotion is to apply to and be accepted into a different job that has a higher "rank". Employees may also find themselves "tracked" in that someone in a technical or support position is not able to break onto a management track due to a perceived lack of experience that they can never actually acquire since a prerequisite is ''holding a management position''.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect''. Shepard never goes beyond the rank of Commander. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that Shepard was officially reported KIA at the beginning of ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', and spent the entire game post-resurrection officially AWOL, although Hackett was still willing to pass down the Alpha Relay assignment. After said assignment, Shepard submitted to the chain of command and was confined due to the Alpha Relay's explosion killing 300,000 civilians, and was only reinstated due to the extreme circumstances of the Reaper attack on Earth. While it is plausible that Shepard was promoted to full Commander following the events of the first game, there was very little official opportunity for advancement.

* Averted in ''Literature/HonorHarrington''. The books start with the titular character as a Commander taking her second command. As of book 11, there's literally only one serving military officer who outranks her, the First Space Lord, and that's not a rank but an office. She couldn't get another promotion without receiving ([[TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard yet another]]) political appointment or staging a coup. Most associates have advanced many ranks as well, with the exception of Sir Horace Harkness whose promotion was involved getting the Medal of Honor and being so awesome.
** One of the series' recurring beats is some character or other being promoted to flag rank (the point where you go from directly commanding one ship to strategic command of entire formations or fleets) and reflecting on the bittersweet nature of the promotion taking them away from direct, personal command of a ship.
** Short stories featuring Harrington have filled in some of her backstory, showing promotions: her first post-Academy assignment, being the Executive Officer on one ship (Lieutenant-Commander), and the incident that caused her to be removed from her first faster-than-light capable command.
** Harkness has reached the top of the NCO ranks. He ''can't'' advance any higher without "going mustang" and becoming an officer, for which he has a towering lower-deck disdain (and which usually is very difficult, though in his case probably not so much). That said, he's been stated several times to hold responsibilities equivalent to a Commander's in the new, org-chart-still-being-written LAC wings he serves in; he's basically a chief engineer. Worth noting that everybody still calls him "Chief", even though that is emphatically ''not'' a title that a CWO would normally be entitled to. He gets to keep using it only because he is [[MemeticBadass Sir Horace Harkness]]. Previously, he had been promoted many times, and busted down in rank just as many times (notably, he was passed over for Chief Petty Officer ''twenty times''), for his inability to stay out of trouble or to avoid beating up SpaceMarines.
** Citizen Rear Admiral Lester Tourville apparently spent a great deal of effort trying to avoid getting promoted any higher, due to the increased political oversight that would bring him.
** The extension of lifespan brought about by pro-long has meant that several flag-rank officers have been asked to go to reserve status to open up opportunities for juniors. Presumably in the face of a needed naval build-up they are to be called back.
** The books pay special attention to the trope of officers (especially Captains) ''refusing'' promotions that would take them from hands-on command to desk jobs. Simply put, if you tell the Navy you're not up to the next responsibility it offers you... It agrees '''completely'''. Enjoy civilian life.
** Later books have mentioned that this has become a problem in the Solarian League Navy. The life extension technology means that people can live for centuries has made the pace of promotion (for those without right connections) downright glacial. It's worse in Battle Fleet which hasn't fought an actual engagement in several centuries compared to Frontier Fleet that does see action fighting pirates and others and so does see some turn over. Though in the most recent books that situation is about to change ''drastically''.

* Surprisingly averted in the ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'' series, in which major characters often do get promotions and occasionally this even changes what they can do - for example, Rod "the Rock" Kinnison is promoted to Port Admiral which doesn't allow him to be in the thick of battle anymore (he's '''not''' happy once he realizes this). In the later books, though, the major characters get promoted to Unattached Lensman, whose official job description pretty much reads "Do whatever you think needs to be done and take anything you need in order to do it," so they don't necessarily have to leave the other characters behind.

* [[UnbuiltTrope Surprisingly]], this trope was {{averted|Trope}} in the continuity of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', including the animated series and the movies:
** Kirk is promoted from Captain to Rear Admiral for [[Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture the first movie]] although he's demoted in the fourth movie.
** Spock begins in the original pilot "The Cage" as a mere Lieutenant, is a Lieutenant Commander and First Officer in the first season, becomes a full Commander by the second season, and has reached the rank of Captain by ''[[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan The Wrath of Khan]]''. When Kirk is demoted to Captain at the end of ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'', Spock retains the same rank despite being Kirk's first officer.
** Bones goes from Lieutenant Commander to full Commander in the movies, and by the time of his [[TheCameo cameo]] in the TNG pilot, is an Admiral of an unspecified grade.
** Scotty starts out a Lieutenant Commander, is promoted to full Commander in TAS, and becomes a Captain with much fanfare in ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock''.
** Sulu starts off a Lieutenant, but is Lieutenant Commander in the first movie, Commander by the next and Captain (with his own ship, unlike Spock and Scotty) for ''[[Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry The Undiscovered Country]]''.
** Chekov has the largest (and fastest) chain of promotions, starting off in the second season as an Ensign, being a Lieutenant in ''[[Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture The Motion Picture]]'' and making it to full Commander (and first officer of the ''USS Reliant'') in time for ''[[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan The Wrath of Khan]]''.
** Uhura goes from Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander to Commander in the same timeframe.
** Nurse Chapel's initial rank is never revealed, but she's a full Lieutenant in TAS and a full Commander by ''[[Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome The Voyage Home]]''. Plus she goes from a nurse on ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries TOS]]'' to an M.D. ([[TooManyCooksSpoilTheSoup much to McCoy's annoyance]]) in ''[[Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture TMP]]''.
** Even Yeoman Rand, an enlisted crewman, eventually becomes an officer. Due to several costuming and scripting errors, it's unclear ''how'' high she rises in the ranks, but let's be generous and make her Lieutenant Commander and First Officer, as depicted in the ''Voyager'' episode "Flashback". Even before becoming an officer in ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock'', she was identified in the script as a master chief--which is impressive in itself, being a rate that many [=NCO's=] spend their entire career trying to earn.
** Averting this particular trope with the TOS crew created another sort of problem. By ''[[Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier Star Trek V]]'' The ''Enterprise'' had three crew members--Kirk, Spock, and Scotty--who held the rank of captain. It was also non-canonically suggested that Mr. Sulu had been granted command of the ''Starship Excelsior'' by this time, but retained his commander rank until he actually transferred to the vessel; making him an unofficial fourth captain.

* Averted in ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', where all of the main characters have advanced and been promoted consistently throughout, except where certain characters are happy with their positions or are already at the top. It's discussed repeatedly how Dr. Cox's determination to be (or, less favourably, pretensions of being) TheLastDJ have outright stalled his career.
** It's played with concerning Doug, who's so bad at being a doctor that he has to repeat his residency. Eventually he's employed in the morgue, where the worst he can do is misplace some bodies.

** Likely justified with Peralta, who is both satisfied with being a detective for life, and is hated by the Deputy Commissioner for arresting his son for vandalism.

* Averted in ''Franchise/MassEffect''. Depending on who survived Virmire, in the third game, Ashley has been promoted to Lt Commander (the same rank as Shepard) and Kaidan has become a Major (the Army/Marines equivalent).
** Played straight with Shepard, who never goes beyond the rank of Commander. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that Shepard was officially reported KIA at the beginning of ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', and spent the entire game post-resurrection officially AWOL, although Hackett was still willing to pass down the Alpha Relay assignment. After said assignment, Shepard submitted to the chain of command and was confined due to the Alpha Relay's explosion killing 300,000 civilians, and was only reinstated due to the extreme circumstances of the Reaper attack on Earth. While it is plausible that Shepard was promoted to full Commander following the events of the first game, there was very little official opportunity for advancement.
** It's also not really an issue for Shepard: as a Spectre, the protege of Admirals Hackett and Anderson, (at one point) Cerberus's most impressive field agent, TheCaptain of the now-technically-independent(-ish [[note]]The Alliance took it and modified it between the second and third games, when it was technically private property, albeit of known terrorists[[/note]]) ''Normandy'', and, not least, the galaxy's foremost expert on [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu killing Reapers]], Shepard's importance and influence far outstrip his/her actual rank. By the end of the third game, in spite of his/her lower rank, s/he is essentially seen as one of the three main leaders of the multi-species allied resistance, along with Hackett and Anderson.
** Also averted by several members of Shepard's crew. Garrus in the first game is a low-ranking C-Sec officer, quits to join Shepard, and assuming he survives to the third game, his experience and knowledge in fighting Reaper forces is so highly valued in the Turian military that he has ''generals'' reporting to him. Tali in the first game is known as "Tali'Zorah nar Rayya"[[note]]"nar Rayya" refers to the ship she was born on, the ''Rayya'', as a Quarian must complete their Pilgrimage to properly join the crew of a Quarian ship[[/note]] and is still undergoing her [[RiteOfPassage Pilgrimage]]. In the second game, she is known as "Tali'Zorah vas Neema"[[note]]"vas Neema" means she is a full crew member of the vessel ''Neema''[[/note]] and is a fairly public figure among the Quarian Fleet. Depending on certain actions, in the third game, it's possible she's "'''Admiral''' Tali'Zorah vas Normandy", and is one of the five members of her race's governing council.

* Many jobs have a defined pay band, so no matter how long an employee is in the job or how good a job they do, the only way to earn an official promotion is to apply to and be accepted into a different job that has a higher "rank".
** Employees may also find themselves "tracked" in that someone in a technical or support position is not able to break onto a management track due to a perceived lack of experience that they can never actually acquire since a prerequisite is ''holding a management position''.
* The US Military's "Up or out" policy is designed to avert this, though this wasn't always the case. In the past, promotions were less focused on forcing officers to progress their careers upward. A good example is Eisenhower, who spent 16 years as a major before being promoted to lieutenant colonel. In practice, this means forcing a good portion of personnel to retire, as options are fewer the higher one goes. Below certain levels, one is not even allowed to reach the 20-year mark to qualify for retirement benefits.\\\
In the past, between major military actions, the US military reverted to a skeleton force (essentially a planning and training cadre), designed to be pumped up again with draftees in case of war. Eisenhower and the other WWII generals held low "permanent" ranks in the Regular Army, and "theater rank" in the provisional Army of the United States. With the large and all-volunteer post-Vietnam military, things have changed a great deal.
** As is the Royal Navy's Captain's List. You either got promoted to Rear Admiral after nine years or retire.
** Similar to the military "up or out" policy mentioned above, the [[UsefulNotes/BritishCoppers UK Metropolitan Police]] had a policy for most of the 20th century called "tenure" which was designed to avert this. It pretty much amounted to forcing plainclothes detectives who hadn't significantly improved their careers within a certain period (i.e., somebody who had been a Detective Sergeant for a decade or more without having advanced up to Inspector) to have to go back into uniform. The purpose of this was to stop them from getting complacent, as well as allowing others within the department the opportunity to advance in rank in their wake. It often had the opposite effect, though, as many detectives were said to have chosen to resign rather than face the "indignity" of being put back into uniform. UsefulNotes/ScotlandYard officially abandoned the tenure scheme in the early 21st century.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''
** William Riker waits 16 years to get a promotion. Oh, and said promotion takes place in a deleted scene of [[Film/StarTrekNemesis a movie]]. Riker turns down several promotions along the way, as he prefers being first officer on the flagship rather than captain of some unimportant bucket of bolts.
*** In one of the ''A Time To...'' books (the novel prequels to ''Star Trek Nemesis''), Admiral Janeway chews Riker out for his stalling, pointing out that he's stalled the careers of numerous officers underneath him, and finishes by informing him that this is his last chance to take command of a starship, ''ever.'' If he doesn't take this offer, there ''won't be'' another.
*** It gets {{deconstructed}} in "The Best of Both Worlds". Admiral Hansen notes in the page quote that Riker frequently turning down command opportunities reflects poorly upon him. Commander Shelby outright states that she wants Riker's position and suggests that Riker is holding up the careers of other qualified officers by refusing to move up since First Officer is a necessary springboard to receiving a command. Shelby also states that, after the fleet is built up again, Riker will doubtless have his choice of commands (since he just got done, you know, ''saving the Earth''). It inexplicably never happens.
*** In "The Best of Both Worlds", Riker was promoted to Captain. Count the pips on his collar -- he's got four. Then in "Family", he's back to Commander again. [[FridgeLogic The only explanation]] is that he's somehow engineered a demotion for himself. Maybe he got Troi to say he was psychologically incapable of command or something. It'd explain why it took so long for him to get back to captain again. Why the writers felt the need to demote him is unclear; ''Film/{{Star Trek IV|TheVoyageHome}}'' shows that there's no rule against the ship's commanding officer and first officer both holding the rank of Captain (and the ''Enterprise''-A actually had ''three'' captains, due to Scotty's promotion to "Captain of Engineering" in ''Film/{{Star Trek III|TheSearchForSpock}}''), [[note]]The ending of ''Star Trek IV'' showed Scotty wearing a commander's rank badge again, anticipating his promotion being nullified, but as Kirk was the only one officially punished, the next three films and "Relics" confirmed he kept the promotion[[/note]] and Picard would still have decades of seniority over Riker.
*** Most likely that since Star Trek seems to derive much of its structure from naval traditions, Riker's battlefield commission amounted to little more than a brevet rank. It may have been meant to be made official after the crisis had subsided, but due to Picard's return, Riker kept his old rank. In addition, Spock (who actually captained the ''Enterprise'' after Kirk returned to the admiralty, albeit as a training ship) had served in Starfleet about twice as long as Riker had by the time of "The Best of Both Worlds", and Scotty had been in Starfleet even longer when he was promoted to captain.
** Jean-Luc Picard. He spent 22 years as commander of the ''Stargazer'', followed by 7 years on the ''Enterprise''-D, with 9 years in between. One can see how the production staff would be unwilling to promote characters past their beloved Captain. Picard did however take over the ''Stargazer'' at the rank of Lieutenant Commander. It being a smaller ship, he may have been able to command it at a lower rank, getting promoted to Commander and later Captain during those long years. It's also clear that when he lost his ship the resulting inquiry took more than a few years to clear him of wrongdoing, and even though he was exonerated, having such an incident in his history may make others leery of promoting him.
*** After the events of ''Film/StarTrekGenerations'', it appears that he takes the dying Kirk's advice to heart.
---> '''Kirk''': Don't let them take that chair away from you.
*** Years later Picard would finally accept a promotion to Admiral, because he was called upon to run a massive planetary evacuation project of such magnitude only an Admiral could oversee it. Despite Kirk's words and his own desire to continue exploring as a ship captain he accepted the promotion and left the Enterprise because it was such an important job.
** Ditto for Data, who remained a Lieutenant Commander during the whole run of the series ''and'' the spin-off movies. Arguably, Data's career stalled out because he's an android, and the brass are unsure how he'd perform in a command role. Indeed, the few times he does, he does some pretty unorthodox things. In all seriousness, though, it's implied (sometimes even more than implied) that there's an [[FantasticRacism element of racism]] involved in Data's current rank. It was said prior to his posting on the Enterprise he spent years on a starbase being treated as a computer. This is most blatantly seen in the second half of the "Redemption" two-parter where Data A) had to directly confront Picard in a rare display of ambition/pride in order to get a temporary command and B) upon receiving said command, encountered severe resistance on the part of his temporary XO, well beyond the point of insubordination into outright insolence. Thankfully, it would appear that Data learned from that experience and, upon temporarily commanding the Enterprise a few seasons later, tore his temporary First Officer ([[TheWorfEffect Worf]] in this case) a new one for similar actions. For a being with no emotions, he sure knows how to deliver an ass-chewing when it's justified.
** In the prequel comic to [[Film/StarTrek2009 the 11th movie]], Picard has become Ambassador to Romulus, Riker commands the ''Titan'', and Data is now captain of the ''Enterprise'' itself. It means that Data's gotten further ahead than Riker, as he's now captain of the flagship.
** Creator/WilWheaton has previously detailed how, during contract negotiations, he was offered a promotion for his ''character'' in lieu of a raise in real life. He turned it down.
* The producers of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' had the foresight to introduce Sisko as a Commander, just so he could have a dramatic promotion to Captain later on. By the end of the series this trope still applies, since he's doing the jobs of pretty much the entire admiralty and representing the Federation during planning with their allies. Kira Nerys also had a promotion in-series, from Major to Colonel. In her case, it was a promotion in the Bajoran militia, rather than Starfleet. Kira was also temporarily given the rank of Commander in Starfleet (which is technically lower than her Bajoran rank, but given Starfleet's far greater size, power, and importance, it's effectively a promotion anyway), when she was sent to Cardassia as part of a covert team and assisted the Cardassian underground against the Dominion, since working with a Starfleet officer is politically more palatable to them than working with a Bajoran soldier.
** Miles O'Brien is brilliant as an engineer, and a hero many times over--and yet we never see him offered a promotion to Master CPO, let alone officer, even when he takes a teaching position at the Academy. This is especially noticeable because he would hardly be promoted away from the setting, the rest of the main characters being officers; rather, his role as the designated NCO and "working man" had to be maintained. But still...no Master to tack onto that Chief? If nothing else, the characters' addressing of him would have become hilarious in later years once ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' was released. Senior Chief O'Brien is an especially weird case in that the TNG episode "The Enemy" established that he was once the tactical officer aboard the starship ''Rutledge'', is frequently seen in Deep Space Nine's wardroom, and stated that he would have assumed command of the ''Defiant'' if Worf had been killed in "Rules of Engagement". This is justified as O'Brien clearly states that he has no interest in being an officer, and loves his position as Chief Engineer of [=DS9=] (a promotion from his time on the ''Enterprise''). His short stint as a tactical officer may have been out of necessity more than anything, as this was in the middle of the first Cardassian war.
*** His status is a bit... fuzzy. In early TNG, the lowest rank was Ensign and he was a Lieutenant. When they later decided to make him the token enlisted man they never really bothered to change the habit and the total number of enlisted crew in that era can be counted on one hand. So he's technically an NCO, but somehow has junior officers reporting to him.
** Nog wins for the most number of on-screen ranks with 6, from Cadet all the way to Captain in an episode detailing a possible future.
* In ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', Janeway only became an Admiral after returning to Earth (even though it was most likely the safest way of observing her and stopping her from screwing with the timeline and threatening everything that ever existed. ''Again.'')\\
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{{Justified|Trope}} though, since ''Voyager'' was stuck on the other side of the galaxy with no outside hierarchy to either hand down promotions or move high-ranking ship's officers off into. They also provided both exceptions and further justifications: Tuvok becoming Lieutenant Commander might be said to be overdue, while Chakotay retained his rank through the whole of the series likely because it was an acting rank due to his being Maquis (also, Janeway was only one rank higher than him, and wouldn't be authorized to promote him to Captain, even if she had wanted to). Still, it did seem pretty harsh on Ensign Kim who would probably have otherwise been on the fast-track to command positions but got stuck on the one crappy ship that was isolated from Starfleet. Not even a Junior Grade? [[ResetButton If only they'd done something with this fascinating character dynamic...]]
--->'''Garrett Wang''' (Harry Kim): Despite his lack of promotion over seven years, Kim accumulated enough on-the-job experience to have been able to [[HypercompetentSidekick command his own starship]].
** Emphasizing the point with Harry, his actual role was "Operations Officer", the same as Data from "The Next Generation" who was second in command of the ship. He even regularly took command of the night shift, something otherwise only done by the three most senior officers on the ship. Yet he remains the lowest ranked.
** This issue was addressed in the episode "Nightingale", where Harry got to be acting captain for an alien ship. Of course, being [[ButtMonkey Harry Kim]], he must suffer, so...
** The series finale set in a slightly BadFuture ("slightly" because the Federation still thrives, but many of Voyager's crew had died on the longer journey home), Kim was fast-tracked due to his experience on Voyager, and shot up from Ensign to Captain in under 6 years. (The opening scene takes place 10 years after Voyager had returned home in that timeline, and Kim mentions having just completed a 4-year mission as captain of a new deep space exploration vessel.)
** Also averted in the case of Tom Paris, who bounced up and down from "observer" to full Lieutenant and pretty much everywhere in between (on one memorable occasion, being demoted down to ensign in disgrace).

* This has been (partially) avoided on ''Series/StargateSG1'', in that Captain Samantha Carter was promoted first to a Major, then to Lieutenant Colonel -- though throughout these promotions, she stayed with the same team. In an attempt to decrease Richard Dean Anderson's screen time (he's slowly retiring), his character was promoted to Brigadier General for season 8 and he started running Stargate Command rather than going on missions. In seasons 9 and 10 he heads up Homeworld Security in Washington as a Major General, which leaves him to appear once or twice a season as a guest star.
** In fact, only two regular cast members have not been promoted: Daniel Jackson (a civilian) and Teal'c (technically also a civilian, officially a PrivateMilitaryContractor). Daniel ''did'' get that whole ascension thing going, though, and Teal'c's "promotions" may be the permission to intermingle with human society. Neither, though, is part of the normal US Military structure (formally, at least), so they're not in any position to get promotions.
*** Teal'c is a leader of the Free Jaffa Nations, which makes him like some sort of Senator. Before joining SG-1, he was First Prime of Apophis, which is the highest rank a Jaffa could achieve before that. Also, given that Jackson is more of an Academic than a soldier, it could be said that he considers the chance to study alien cultures and unlocking the secrets of the NeglectfulPrecursors quite the promotion track from where we first saw him (that is to say, recently homeless, and widely seen as a loon by fellow archaeologists).
* Also slightly avoided in ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' where Dr. Weir had Major Sheppard promoted to Lieutenant Colonel just so he could keep his current position as military leader of Atlantis.
** Since [[spoiler:Carter]] appeared in Atlantis in season 4, she was revealed to have [[spoiler:been given her "full eagle", or been promoted to full colonel]].
* In ''Series/StargateUniverse'', O'Neill is now a Lieutenant General (three stars, the second-highest rank an Air Force officer can attain).
* Exception: In the 2000s ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'', many characters have changed ranks and roles throughout the series:
** After the Battlestar Pegasus arrives in the fleet and Admiral Cain is assassinated, Commander Adama finds himself in command of both ships and the President promotes him to Admiral to match the responsibility.
** Apollo, originally CAG aboard the Galactica, finds himself promoted to the rank of major and assigned as Pegasus' XO and later becomes its commander outright. After Pegasus is destroyed he goes back to being Galactica's CAG but retains the rank of major.
*** After he [[spoiler:retires from military service to enter public life]], when the [[spoiler:President was apparently Preznapped, ''he became president of the Twelve Colonies''. It provided an eerie callback to Baltar's claim in season 3 that no one would ever be in charge of the fleet "whose last name wasn't Adama".]] This was amusingly lampshaded near the end of the series, with Lee trying to maintain some authority in both military and political roles, to which Zarek says that he's finding it difficult these days to remember just what Lee's job is.
** Starbuck is promoted from lieutenant to captain and becomes Galactica's CAG when Apollo is reassigned and retains her rank when Apollo returns to the ship.
** "Dee" Dualla goes all the way from Petty Officer 2nd Class to lieutenant, mostly on account of her marrying Apollo.
** Helo, originally a Raptor pilot and lieutenant, is promoted to captain and becomes the ship's Second Officer (and, at times, acting XO).
** Inverted when, after three and a half seasons as Deck Chief, Tyrol is demoted to Crewman Specialist after daring Adama to do it. [[spoiler:His rank got better.]]
* Averted in ''Series/{{CSI}}''. Though the cast has remained more or less constant, their relative rank and internal structure have been adjusted, including Brass's handing over the department to Grissom (and going back to being a detective), the race between Warrick and Nick to achieve CSI 3, and Ecklie's breakup of the team into two different shifts, which prompted the promotion of Catherine Willows to supervisor, and made room in the ranks for Greg to go from lab tech to field agent.
** A particularly nice touch was Grissom making sure that Greg really does want to make the lateral (and downward!) jump from Senior Lab Tech to extremely junior Field Investigator, reminding him that he'll be taking a substantial pay cut and that it will take quite a while to get back to his present level.
** More recently, Catherine taking over Grissom's job, and Nick becoming her second-in-command. And yet, it's the [[Creator/LaurenceFishburne junior CSI receiving top billing]].
** And with the emergence of Ted Danson's character, CSI Supervisor DB Russell, Catherine (and presumably Nick, too) has been demoted. [[spoiler:Of course, this is due to Marg Helgenberger wishing to leave the show during the 2012 season.]]
* The titular characters of ''TheRookies'' stayed wet-behind-the-ears new kids on the beat for the entire four-year run of that series.

* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' nods to it by having Gibbs temporarily retire and promote Tony to lead. Gibbs comes back, demoting Tony although he still got something of a promotion being the Director's personal agent handling covert operations stateside.

*** He is transferred due to his exceptional ability at figuring out how the person died. Ostensibly because he killed so many people as an intern.
* In the eleven-season course of ''Series/{{Mash}}'', only Mulcahy and Klinger get promoted, despite having an episode where Hawkeye, B.J., and Charles serve as the promotion board. Mulcahy actually spends an(other) episode lamenting the lack of advancement opportunity. This is largely TruthInTelevision. Klinger makes Sergeant at some point, which is as high as he can expect to go since outside of very unusual circumstances, non-commissioned officers are rarely promoted to commissioned officers. Not to mention that the main characters are almost all draftees, who wouldn't expect to be promoted to high rank only to lose it in a year's time.
** This was discussed in an episode where the staff learn of a new MASH unit being prepared and they are afraid that they will be split up, even if that presumably came with promotions for the gang. When the evaluator for the staff finally learns of this concern, he makes clear that the 4077th staff is considered too valuable in its current composition to break up.
** They did an episode where Hawkeye and B.J. got Radar promoted as a joke/gift; in the end, Radar begged them to get him busted back down.
*** Radar also gets a "promotion" ... of sorts ... in the episode introducing B.J., where Hawkeye pins his Captain's bars on Radar's uniform and says he's a "new rank they're trying out ... you've heard of Lieutenant Colonels? He's a Corporal Captain." This obviously isn't ''real'', Hawkeye just does it to try to get Radar into the Officers' Club.
** In "Fade Out, Fade In", Hawkeye learns that Frank Burns was actually [[KickedUpstairs promoted]] to Lieutenant Colonel and assigned to a stateside VA hospital after his departure from the 4077th.
** In another episode, a general who happens to be an old acquaintance of Margaret tells her he wants to take her to work for him in Hawaii. The transfer would come with a promotion to lieutenant colonel. She refuses on the basis that the transfer and promotion are rewards for granting the general sexual favors. This appears to be a form of character derailment/development. In earlier seasons, Margaret wouldn't have cared and probably wouldn't have noticed the quid pro quo sexual harassment issue. She would have taken the promotion and would have argued that she deserved it.
* Mostly averted with ''Series/{{JAG}}'' - almost everyone gets promoted at least once.
** Harmon Rabb starts the series as a Lieutenant, is promoted to Lieutenant Commander midway through Season One, becomes a Commander in Season Five, and finally reaches Captain in the second-to-last episode of the series.
** Sarah Mackenzie starts the series as a Major and is promoted to Lieutenant Colonel by the fifth year.
** Bud Roberts starts off as an Ensign, is promoted to Lieutenant JG (and the opening credits) when he joins JAG in the second year, reaches Lieutenant in the fourth season, and is promoted to Lieutenant Commander in Season Nine. When he makes a brief appearance 12 years later in Season 14 of ''NCIS'', he's now a Captain.
** Harriet Sims' career path follows Bud's pretty well, going from Ensign to Lieutenant JG by Season Four to full Lieutenant at the end of Season Six.
** Even recurring characters such as Thomas Boone (first Commander Air Group -- or CAG -- aboard aircraft carrier ''Seahawk'', then a Rear Admiral) and Caitlin Pike (first Lt. JG, later a full Commander) get a promotion or three, albeit offscreen. Episode 200, in addition to promoting Petty Officer Jennifer Coates to Petty Officer 1st Class, even showed a what-if scenario where Cmdr. Alison Krennick, unseen since the first year outside of a flashback to a LostEpisode, was Rear Admiral and heading JAG.
** One example of TruthInTelevision in relation to promotions comes with the final season - upon Adm. Chegwidden's retirement, a new character, Col. Gordon Cresswell, is promoted to Maj. Gen. to fill his position as JAG. A variation comes earlier when the first Secretary of the Navy is forced to resign and a new one is appointed to fill his position.
** Several characters went without promotions however, but these were either due to seniority (Chegwidden), being in a billet with no further advancement (Chegwidden and Cresswell; the post of Judge Advocate is a 2-star terminal appointment), being late additions to the series (Turner), being unpopular with their coworkers (Cmdr. Lindsey, Lt. Singer), or being murdered (Lt. Singer, [[spoiler:''by'' Cmdr. Lindsey]]).
*** One episode has Cmdr. Lindsey up for promotion but Adm. Chegwidden will not recommend him to the promotion board despite Lindsey being a favourite of the old Secretary of the Navy.

** In a nod to how unrealistic this is generally, House's "Fellows" (Cameron, Chase, and Foreman) leave midway through the series and House has to hire a new team. [[spoiler: It doesn't last. Foreman comes back after he gets fired from his new job for doing something House-like, and Chase and Cameron take positions on the surgical team and in the ER at PPTH respectively, so they're still "around" though it takes a while for House to find out about this and start pestering them again.]]
** The new team trickles slowly away too, with the last ones leaving while House is ... away [[spoiler:in jail]] ... between seasons 7 and 8, so when he comes back, his team is just himself and newcomer Park. Unlike earlier seasons, he immediately starts trying to rebuild his team.
** Foreman was given a promotion at one point just so that he technically outranked House and could overrule him, a power he seldom exercised. In between seasons 7 and 8, he was promoted to Dean of Medicine.
** [[spoiler:Dr. Chase]] was promoted to [[spoiler:House's position of Head of Diagnostics]] in the series finale.

* Averted on ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit''. Munch, Olivia and Fin all take and pass the Sergeant's exam over the course of the series. Then after Cragen retires, Olivia takes the Lieutenant's exam to become permanent CO of the squad, and a few years later is promoted up to Captain.

* Averted in ''Series/TheWire''. Throughout the series, several people are promoted, sometimes more than once, including policemen, politicians, and street hustlers.

* Averted on ''Series/BabylonFive''. Ivanova starts the series as a Lt Commander, gets promoted to Commander at the beginning of season two, gets promoted to Captain at the end of Season 4, and has reached flag rank in the series finale which takes place twenty years later. Most other characters with military careers don't get promoted within the military, but do achieve high rank in a non-military field later on. Vir has the biggest promotion over the course of the series - Ambassador's aide to Emperor. Played straight in one of the ExpandedUniverse novels where the man who founded [=PsiCorps=] turned down a chance to ''run for President'' because he felt that would be a demotion.

* Defied on ''Series/ParksAndRecreation''. During Season 6, Leslie is offered a job in the U.S. National Parks Department supervising the midwestern national parks in Chicago. A good portion of the season finale is spent showing why she shouldn't take the job and move - the show couldn't possibly continue because none of the characters would want to or be able to go with her. She then turns the whole thing around and convinces the head of the U.S. Parks Dept that she would actually be able to do the job better if she just stayed in Pawnee. So, she gets a massive promotion and still gets to stay in her hometown. By season 7 ''everyone'' has moved on from the title department, and the only main character still employed by the local government holds the highest unelected position.
* Averted on ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', of all places. Braca's first appearance is at the Peacekeeper rank of Lieutenant[[note]]a Peacekeeper Lieutenant is roughly equivalent to a naval Commander; actual junior officers are literally called Officer[[/note]] and serving as Crais's lackey. At first he remains at this rank once Scorpius takes over, but by season 4 he's been promoted to Captain, a rank he maintains through ''The Peacekeeper Wars''. In the continuation comics, he ultimately attains the rank of Admiral.

* ''Series/{{Suits}}'' plays with this. In the pilot, Harvey is promoted to Senior Partner which highlights his rapid rise through the firm's ranks. It is clear that he aims to become a Named Partner and might even challenge Jessica for Managing Partner. At the same time, Louis is still stuck as Junior Partner which is a major source of frustration for him with various factions using the promise of promotion to lure him to their side. Mike's prospects at the firm are initially presented as being unlimited as long as he does not screw up but then RealityEnsues and it becomes clear that the lies that allow him to practice law also make him unpromotable. He needs to keep a low profile unless someone decides to dig into his past and discovers the truth. However, without winning high profile cases he will never make partner.