History Main / LoyalToThePosition

* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', Odo served the Cardassians and the Federation, not necessarily out of a loyalty to them but out of a desire to keep order.

* In ''Film/{{Thor}}'', Heimdall ''says'' he's this, but when [[spoiler:Loki]] takes command momentarily, he shows he is actually loyal to Asgard, not just to whoever is in charge (although he sticks to [[LiteralGenie the letter]] of his new ruler's orders until the betrayals become unsubtle).
* In ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'', the [[AmazonBrigade Dora Milaje]] are sworn to serve the king of Wakanda, whoever that may be. As a result, they agree to follow Killmonger after he seems to have killed T'Challa in ritual combat. However, when T'Challa is revealed to still be alive, thereby leaving the challenge for the throne unresolved, Killmonger's refusal to finish the fight honorably causes them to reassert their loyalty to T'Challa.

** The maesters are assigned to a castle and have to remain there, serving whichever lord happens to have seized power that week. Grand Maester Pycelle is the last member of the original royal council to remain, sticking out even the wildest excesses of [[spoiler:Cersei's regency]].

* In ''Film/BlackPanther'', the [[AmazonBrigade Dora Milaje]] are sworn to serve the king of Wakanda, whoever that may be. As a result, they agree to follow Killmonger after he seems to have killed T'Challa in ritual combat. However, when T'Challa is revealed to still be alive, thereby leaving the challenge for the throne unresolved, Killmonger's refusal to finish the fight honorably causes them to reassert their loyalty to T'Challa.

* Obsidian and Strika in ''Wesaternanimation/BeastMachines'' don't particularly care what Megatron is up to; they simply serve whoever rules Cybertron, and when Megatron is [[NotQuiteDead apparently]] destroyed, they seriously consider siding with the Maximals. Thrust calls them out on this, arguing that if they're loyal to everybody, can they truly be loyal to anybody?

* Charon, the ghoul bodyguard from ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', serves whomever holds 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.

* A sidequest in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' has the [[PlayerCharacter Inquisitor]] encounter a group called the Blades of Hessarian and learn of the rules by which anyone may challenge the current leader for his position in a DuelToTheDeath. As it turns out, the current leader has been making the Blades - normally a sort of [[ChurchMilitant religious militia]] - raid the Storm Coast like bandits, and most of the Blades hate the guy, but they keep following him because nobody has succeeded in ousting him through a formal challenge. The Inquisitor can do so and become the new leader, whereupon the Blades promptly swear their loyalty.

* In the now-closed MMO ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'', Ghost Widow is bound to the material plane by her loyalty to [[EvilEmpire Arachnos]] as an organization. As long as the organization exists in some form, she cannot be permanently banished. This doesn't mean she's loyal to anyone specific in the organization. In fact, she's often treated as a borderline AntiVillain who openly dislikes her CoDragons Captain Mako and Black Scorpion and only pays lipservice to [[BigBad Lord Recluse]] himself.

* In ''Film/BlackPanther'', the [[AmazonBrigade Dora Milaje]] are sworn to serve the king of Wakanda, whoever that may be. As a result, they agree to follow Killmonger after he seems to have killed T'challa in ritual combat. However, when T'challa is revealed to still be alive, thereby leaving the challenge for the throne unresolved, Killmonger's refusal to finish the fight honorably causes them to reassert their loyalty to T'challa.

Suppose that we live in TheKingdom. Our wise king hires a treasurer -- to mint coins, balance the Kingdom's budget, raise revenue, borrow funds cheaply, and all of the other BoringButPractical essentials of keeping the Kingdom running. Our treasurer does an exemplary job.

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* Obsidian and Strika in ''Wesaternanimation/{{Beast Machines}}'' don't particularly care what Megatron is up to; they simply serve whoever rules Cybertron, and when Megatron is [[{{Not Quite Dead}} apparently]] destroyed, they seriously consider siding with the Maximals. Thrust calls them out on this, arguing that if they're loyal to everybody, can they truly be loyal to anybody?
** This comes up a decent amount among the baddies of the Transformers franchise. Should TheStarscream succeed in taking over, there will be many who will then unquestioningly follow their orders. Should their old boss come back, they will go back to serving them. An example would be Soundwave from TransformersPrime.

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* In China's [[ThreeKingdomsShuWeiWu Three Kingdoms]] period, Chen Deng was known for serving Tao Qian, then Liu Bei, then Lu Bu, then Cao Cao. Yes, some people think that four unrelated rulers indicates ChronicBackstabbingDisorder. But there's another way of looking at it: he first served Governor Tao Qian of Xu, then his successor Governor Liu Bei of Xu, then the unreliable Lu Bu (who had seized control of Xu), and finally Cao Cao, who ruled multiple provinces (and conquered Xu). As a bonus, his father Chen Gui also served with him -- and, before the four, Chen Gui served the Han Empire (which, naturally, included Xu!).

* Dolores Umbridge from the ''Literature/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. [[spoiler: And when Voldemort is killed and overthrown, the resistance aren't very understanding of the crimes she committed under the regime. WordOfGod says they threw the book at her but good.]]

* ''JudgeDee'': Judges are moved to a different position in a different province every few years, to avoid complacency and corruption settling in.

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

** Varys is probably the best example, holding his position as spymaster under the Targaryens, the Baratheons, the [[spoiler: Lannisters, and then the Targaryens--well, ''a'' Targaryen, not that there are many left--again.]] Treasurer Petyr Baelish does so too, until he decides it's prudent to get the hell out of Dodge, but in his case it's more naked self-serving ambition than loyalty to anything.

* Gladiator of the Shi'Ar Imperial Guard in MarvelComics. He serves the ruler of 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]].
* Gateway, an Aborigine who appeared in ''ComicBook/{{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 China's [[ThreeKingdomsShuWeiWu Three Kingdoms]] period, Chen Deng was known for serving Tao Qian, then Liu Bei, then Lu Bu, then Cao Cao. Yes, some people think that four unrelated rulers indicates ChronicBackstabbingDisorder. But there's another way of looking at it: he first served Governor Tao Qian of Xu, then his successor Governor Liu Bei of Xu, then the unreliable Lu Bu (who had seized control of Xu), and finally Cao Cao, who ruled multiple provinces (and conquered Xu). As a bonus, his father Chen Gui also served with him -- and, before the four, he served the Han Empire (which, naturally, incldued Xu!).

Compare ProfessionalButtKisser. Related to IFightForTheStrongestSide and MyCountryRightOrWrong.

->''And this is law, I will maintain''

->''I will be the Vicar of Bray, Sir!''

* 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''). It helps that he was always more of a technocrat [[VetinariJobSecurity working the essential state functions]], leaving ''the politicking'' to the others, and, being an Armenian, [[SlaveToPR he was a display case]] of the Soviet Union's self-professed interntionalism and multiculturalism.

* A curious inversion happens in the original ''WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats}}''. Mum-Rah is a servant of four evil entities called the Ancient Spirits of Evil, and gains his powers from them. However, as Snarf discovered, these four beings will grant the same powers to ''anyone'' who enters the burial chamber and requests it. (Possibly they have a weird sense of humor or are capable of outright betrayal, but then, they ''are'' evil.)

* A good RealLife 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 UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte'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, probably 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 ''Literature/TheScarletPimpernel'' got popular--the series has a really nasty villain based on him.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
** Varys is probably the best example, holding his position as spymaster under the Targaryens, the Baratheons, and the [[spoiler: Lannisters.]] Treasurer Petyr Baelish does so too, until he decides it's prudent to get the hell out of Dodge, but in his case it's more naked self-serving ambition than loyalty to anything.
*** Except that in the books, Varys has clearly been shown to have his own agenda for the throne,[[spoiler: with 90% of the plots being set in motion by either him or [[MagnificentBastard Littlefinger]].]]
** The maesters are assigned to a castle and have to remain there, serving whichever lord happens to have seized power that week. Grand Maester Pycelle is the last member of the original royal council to remain, sticking out even the wildest excesses of [[spoiler:Cersei's regency]].
** 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. Despite this, both of them remain in their positions under the new regime. Ironically, Selmy eventually wonders if Jaime had been right all along.

** Varys is probably the best example, holding his position as spymaster under the Targaryens, the Baratheons, and the [[spoiler: Lannisters.]] Treasurer Petyr Baelish does so too, until he decides it's prudent to get the hell out of Dodge, but in his case it's more naked self-serving ambition than loyalty to anything.