History Main / LoyalToThePosition

* The song "The Vicar of Bray," about an English priest who switches denomination to match that of the current king during [[TheHouseOfStuart the]] [[TheEnglishCivilWar turmoil of]] [[OliverCromwell the seventeenth]] [[TheHouseOfHanover century]].

* The song "The Vicar of Bray," about an English priest who switches denomination to match that of the current king.

* Anastas Mikoyan, a Soviet public servant and politician who started his career under Lenin, survived Stalinism from beginning to end, went through Khruschev's reforms and survived a coup against him and finished his career under Leonid Brezhnev. There was even a saying about him: ''From Ilyich (''Lenin'') to Ilyich (''Brezhnev'') without cardiac arrest and paralysis (От Ильича до Ильича без инфаркта и паралича) (Ot Ilyicha do Ilyicha bez infarkta i paralicha'' .

* Anastas Mikoyan, a Soviet public servant and politician who started his career under Lenin, survived Stalinism from beginning to end, went through Khruschev's reforms and survived a coup against him and finished his career under Leonid Brezhnev. There was even a saying about him: ''From Ilyich (''Lenin'') to Ilyich (''Brezhnev'') without cardiac arrest and paralysis (От Ильича до Ильича без инфаркта и паралича)''.

* Gateway, an Aborigine who appeared in ''{{X-Men}}''. He spent most of his time in quiet meditation, but he also had the power to open portals, and would do so for ''anyone'' who requested it, no questions asked.

* In ''DemolitionMan'', Dr. Cocteau's assistant blindly serves whoever's in charge.

* Gateway, an Aborigine who appeared in ''Comics/XMen''. He spent most of his time in quiet meditation, but he also had the power to open portals, and would do so for ''anyone'' who requested it, no questions asked.

* Gateway, an Aborigine who appeared in ''Comics/TheUncannyXMen''. He spent most of his time in quiet meditation, but he also had the power to open portals, and would do so for ''anyone'' who requested it, no questions asked.

* Gateway, an Aborigine who appeared in ''TheUncannyXMen''. He spent most of his time in quiet meditation, but he also had the power to open portals, and would do so for ''anyone'' who requested it, no questions asked.

* Gladiator of the Shi'Ar Imperial Guard in MarvelComics. He serves the ruler the Shi'ar Empire, whether that's [[TheEvilPrince D'Ken]], [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Lilandra]] or [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Deathbird]]. Eventually, [[TheCaligula Vulcan]] proves too much for him, and following Vulcan's death, [[spoiler: he reluctantly takes the role of Emperor himself]].

* Gladiator of the Shi'Ar Imperial Guard in MarvelComics. He serves the ruler the Shi'ar Empire, whether that's TheEvilPrince D'Ken, ReasonableAuthorityFigure Lilandra or GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Deathbird. Eventually, TheCaligula Vulcan proves too much for him, and following Vulcan's death, [[spoiler: he reluctantly takes the role of Emperor himself]].

* Charon, the ghoul bodyguard from ''{{Fallout 3}}'', serves whomever hold his contract. He's initially loyal to the ghoul Ahzrukhal, but if you do a certain job for Ahzrukhal, you can get the contract in return, along with Charon's service. At which point Charon will ask to be excused for a moment and go kill Ahzrukhal.

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', this is what Tarquin pretends to be, serving a succession of rulers. However, he's actually TheChessmaster ruling as EvilChancellor.

* In ''StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', Odo served the Cardassians and the Federation, not necessarily out of a loyalty to them but out of a desire to keep order.
* ''Doctor Who,'' "The Invasion of Time": On Gallifrey, the Vardans invade and take over. Castellan Kelner serves the Vardans. [[spoiler: The Vardans are replaced by the Sontarans. Kelner obeys the Sontarans without missing a beat.]]

* In ''ASongOfIceAndFire'', Varys is probably the best example, holding his position as spymaster under the Targaryens, the Baratheons, and the [[spoiler: Lannisters.]]
** The maesters are assigned to a castle and have to remain there, serving whichever lord happens to have seized power that week.
** The Kingsguard is expected to guard the king, no matter who he is or how he came to the throne. After King Aerys the Mad had the throne taken from him by Robert in a bloody civil war, Jaime Lannister is reviled as an oathbreaker, while Barristan Selmy is respected as a good and honorable knight. The reason being that Jaime sided with Robert's rebellion by killing Aerys (a truly horrific king), while Barristan stayed loyal to Aerys until the end, and went on to serve Robert once he took the throne.
* Dolores Umbridge from the ''HarryPotter'' books. First she very thoroughly implements the policies of a Minister of Magic who is in utter denial regarding the resurrection of Voldemort. When we meet her again a few books later, she works ''for'' Voldemort! A less clear-cut example than most on this page, however, since she's so sadistic that it's highly likely she's in it more for the abuse of power than the job in itself.

* In ''OrderOfTheStick'', this is what Tarquin pretends to be, serving a succession of rulers. However, he's actually TheChessmaster ruling as EvilChancellor.

* In theory, how it's supposed to work in democracies where the leader is routinely changed out every so many years. The military and the various groups of people who make the government function who ''aren't'' elected or cycled out after a few years are expected (and required, under sworn oath, in many cases) to be loyal to whoever replaces their boss, regardless of politics. The civil servant administrative tradition (as used in, e.g. the UK, Canada, France) is a well-known user of this trope.

* A good {{Real Life}} example was the French statesman [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talleyrand Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord]]. He was a bishop under Louis XVI, held various posts in the governments of the French revolutionary period from 1789, was {{Napoleon Bonaparte}}'s Foreign Minister and was then brought back to be Foreign Minister after 1815 when Napoleon had been defeated and the Bourbon monarchs had returned. He is famously quoted as saying: "Regimes may fall and fail, but I do not." He achieved this by making sure he always backed the stronger side, even when this involved blatantly betraying his current employer. Napoleon once called him "shit in silk stockings."

** The Kingsguard is expected to guard the king, no matter who he is or how he came to the throne. After King Aerys had the throne taken from him by Robert in a bloody civil war, Jaime Lannister is reviled as an oathbreaker, while Barristan Selmy is respected as a good and honorable knight. The reason being that Jaime sided with Robert's rebellion by killing Aerys, while Barristan stayed loyal to Aerys until the end, and went on to serve Robert once he took the throne.

** He probably called him that ''after'' they had a political split over the Peninsular War. He wasn't as bad as all that, and he was quite talented, which just as much as his flexible principles is why everybody kept hiring him as senior staff. He got a worsened rap in England after ''TheScarletPimpernel'' got popular--the series has a really nasty villain based on him.

* In ''{{Kickassia}},'' Fritz Von Baugh appears to be this way as first, but it soon becomes clear he's trying to stir up resentment towards WebOriginal/TheNostalgiaCritic so he'll be overthrown.

** However, it generally applies to the lower levels; in Canada at least, it's not unusual for Deputy Ministers (the civil service position directly below the cabinet minister) to be pensioned off when the governing party changes.

* Interesting semi-subversion: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Edgar_Hoover J. Edgar Hoover]] was director of the (American) FBI for nearly forty years, till his death in 1972, despite starting as a WellIntentionedExtremist and progressively turning into a KnightTemplar, because (legend has it) he had too much dirt on everybody in a position to get rid of him. (J. Edgar Hoover is probably the most recently deceased RealLife example we should have on this one, though.)
* This is TruthInTelevision for many countries; whether the leader is replaced via democratic elections, hereditary positions or internal politics you can bet that there's an entire administration's worth of clerks, bureaucrats and other civil servants who will just start accepting their new orders (this varies, for example in the USA a new president usually shuffles around the old administration, while in Britain, the Prime Minister will replace the old cabinet with his own but keep all of the civil servants).

* The US Military (and many around the world, for that matter) frequently rotate officers and soldiers to new assignments every few years to enforce this (as well as other reasons, such as benefits to professional development). This concept, as applied to any work environment, is a mark of professionalism.

* In theory, how it's supposed to work in democracies where the leader is routinely changed out every so many years. The military and the various groups of people who make the government function who ''aren't'' elected or cycled out after a few years are expected (and required, under sworn oath, in many cases) to be loyal to whoever replaces their boss, regardless of politics.

* The civil servant administrative tradition (as used in eg the UK and France) is a well-known user of this trope.

* In ''{{Kickassia}},'' Fritz Von Baugh appears to be this way as first, but it soon becomes clear he's trying to stir up resentment towards TheNostalgiaCritic so he'll be overthrown.

* The US Military (and many around the world, for that matter) frequently rotate officers and soldiers to new assignments every few years to enforce this (as well as other reasons/benefits to professional development). This concept, as applied to any work environment, is a mark of professionalism.