History Main / MilitaryMaverick

* Most smaller White armies in the [[RedOctober Russian Civil War]] consisted from mostly these types. Ataman Semyonov and Baron von {{Ungern-Sternberg}} come to mind.

A Military Maverick is one of those service members who often [[BigBookOfWar breaks the rules]], and regularly annoys superiors: but he/she generally prevails in the end, just because they broke the rules in the first place.

If they're still competent commanders despite regarding following orders as optional, they might also be a ColonelBadass, a SergeantRock, and sometimes even a FourStarBadass.

A Military Maverick is a service member who often [[BigBookOfWar breaks the rules]], regularly annoys their superiors: but he/she generally prevails in the end, just because they broke the rules in the first place.

Consider them the armed forces counterpart of the CowboyCop.

This trope exists largely because of the RuleOfCool. For in real life, the military needs people they can be certain will ''stop'' fighting when ordered, just as much as they need people who will ''start'' fighting when ordered. The primary purpose of order and discipline in the military, apart from doing what you're told, is to learn self-restraint, after all.

Consider them the armed-forces cousins of the CowboyCop.

Military personnel who break all [[BigBookOfWar the rules,]] annoy their superiors, but generally win because they break the rules. Existing largely because of the RuleOfCool, as in real life, the military needs people they can be certain will ''stop'' fighting when ordered just as much as they need people who will ''start''. The primary purpose of discipline is to learn self-restraint, after all. (They will occasionally face ReassignedToAntarctica, because the writers know that's where the next trouble will break out.)

However, apparently it ''is'' TruthInTelevision to some extent. When Richard Dean Anderson asked General Michael E. Ryan (U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff 1997-2001, who once appeared on ''Series/StargateSG1'' playing himself) whether there were really colonels like Jack O'Neill, Ryan replied, "yes, and worse." Note that the higher your rank, the more likely you are to get away with it. There are no privates like Jack O'Neill. Or at least, if there are right now, give it a few days.

Still, most instances of this would have far more consequences in RealLife than fiction (so does everything). You might get away with disobeying orders on rare occasions and under unusual circumstances, but doing so to the point of recklessness is a good way to end your military career with a court martial at best and a firing squad at worst. [[DontTryThisAtHome So it goes without saying...]] Note that these folks are much more common and tolerated in non-professional insurgent armies and during civil wars, where the entire society goes bananas.

* Deconstructed in ''PacificRim''. Most action films portray disobeying or contesting orders as a positive trait, but the opposite happens early on in the storyline when Raleigh and Yancy ignore Stacker's orders for them to stay in the Miracle Mile outside of Anchorage. Instead, they venture 10 miles out to sea in order to save a small fishing boat, which gave [[{{Kaiju}} Knifehead]] the advantage of deeper water. Coupled with their cocky attitudes, this ultimately leads to Yancy's death and Gipsy Danger's destruction. It also marks the end of the Golden Age of the Jaegers, eventually leading to the [=PPDC=] only possessing three Jaegers when they attempt to take the Breach.

* Deconstructed in ''PacificRim''. Most action films portray disobeying or contesting orders as a positive trait, but the opposite happens early on in the storyline when Raleigh and Yancy ignore Stacker's orders for them to stay in the Miracle Mile outside of Anchorage. Instead, they venture 10 miles out to sea in order to save a small fishing boat, which gave [[{{Kaiju}} Knifehead]] the advantage of deeper water. Coupled with their cocky attitudes, this ultimately leads to Yancy's death and Gipsy Danger's destruction. It also marks the end of the Golden Age of the Jaegers, eventually leading to the [[=PPDC=] only possessing three Jaegers when they attempt to take the Breach.

* Deconstructed in ''PacificRim''. Most action films portray disobeying or contesting orders as a positive trait, but the opposite happens early on in the storyline when Raleigh and Yancy ignore Stacker's orders for them to stay in the Miracle Mile outside of Anchorage. Instead, they venture 10 miles out to sea in order to save a small fishing boat, which gave Knifehead the advantage of deeper water. Coupled with their cocky attitudes, this ultimately leads to Yancy's death and Gipsy Danger's destruction. It also marks the end of the Golden Age of the Jaegers, eventually leading to the [[PPDC=] only possessing three Jaegers when they attempt to take the Breach.
** It's specifically mentioned by Chuck Hansen that one of the main reasons the Jaeger Program had been decommissioned was because of mediocre and reckless pilots. Chuck's contempt for Raleigh stems directly from his maverick and ScrewThisImOuttaHere tendencies, which he believes have hurt the [=PPDC=] in the past and could possibly do it again in the future.

Military personnel who break all [[BigBookOfWar the rules,]] annoy their superiors, but generally win because they break the rules. Existing largely because of the Main/RuleOfCool, as in real life, the military needs people they can be certain will ''stop'' fighting when ordered just as much as they need people who will ''start''. The primary purpose of discipline is to learn self-restraint, after all. (They will occasionally face ReassignedToAntarctica, because the writers know that's where the next trouble will break out.)

* Elizabeth Beurling of StrikeWitches fame is a maverick herself, taking little heed to the brass and disobeying them at almost every turn (from simple things like smoking and going to the pub late at night to more complex things like refusing to use the new striker units), she is rather skilled in combat and has no ranged weapons instead just uses her kukri and cuts up enemy soldiers, grant she does have a rather gloomy personality to her. The girl has got issues but she can hardly care less.
** Not surprising given she was at least somewhat based on the real life maverick George Beurling; although he was rather a different kind of Maverick. After failing to join the Canadian Air Force, and the Finnish air force, he hopped on a ship and went to England to try and enlist in the RAF in which he was successful. He was regarded as high strung, brash, and outspoken, and he also never smoked or drank (which when you're a fighter pilot makes you a maverick...). He was a skilled pilot but rejected a commission at first and was reprimanded for attacking targets without permissions several times. He was also known as a loner in the air and was written up for stunting as well. He was eventually discharged even before the war ended more or less for being a pain in the ass.

* Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, USN from ''Film/TopGun''.
** "Your ego is writing checks your body can't cash."
** "You don't have time to think up there. If you think, you're dead."

** John Sheppard from ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', though to a lesser extent.
*** One of memorable moments in Sheppard's background is his conduct in Afghanistan, when he disobeyed direct orders and took his helicopter to rescue his friends, whose helicopter was shot down. Not only did he fail to save them, but he was court-martialed and nearly kicked out of the Air Force (in an AlternateUniverseEpisode, he was), instead being relegated to taxi duty. The only reason he was even allowed to accompany the Atlantis mission is because of luck and skill. He was flying O'Neill to the Ancient outpost when a rogue Ancient drone tried to shoot them down. Sheppard's skill with performing a HighSpeedMissileDodge with a non-combat helicopter got him noticed by O'Neill. Still, the mission's military commander Colonel Sumner didn't like Sheppard for his past.

* A possible real-life example (it's disputed how true this is) would be many of the Polish pilots in the Battle of Britain. Prone to recklessness and spamming the radio with discussions in Polish on the parentage of their German opponents (who they, for obvious reasons, loathed), they were responsible for 12% of the Luftwaffe kills in that battle, despite being only 5% of the pilots.
** That being said, the RAF handbook was often ignored even by British pilots. For example, the rules stated that machine guns' should be zeroed (that is, the bullets would cross the path of the guns from the other wing) at 600m to allow newbie pilots to attack from a safe distance. But to be most effective, it needed to be at 200m, so many pilots from different nations changed them.

* [[Series/TwentyFour Counter-Terrorist agent Jack Bauer]] is [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique the epitome of this trope.]]
* [[{{NCIS}} Jethro Gibbs]] doesn't cross the line with his agency's directives, unless he has to. Or needs to. Or ''feels like it''. Quite frankly, it's amazing that Gibbs has a ''job'' sometimes.
* [[TheXFiles Special Agent Fox Mulder]] is considered odd by most of the FBI and outright disliked by a few. However, he is also known to be one of the best detectives and crime solvers in the whole Bureau.

-> '''Wedge''': "I'm usually pretty good about taking orders."
-> '''Iella''': "If occasionally reinterpreting them rather thoroughly."
--> ''[[ComicBook/XWingSeries Starfighters of Adumar]]''

* MI6 Agent 007, aka Commander JamesBond. Spies tend to play things by ear as a rule, but Bond seems to revel in doing things that will give Q, M, and the British government a heart attack. The fact that he [[SavingTheWorld saves the world]] with clockwork regularity tends to offset this.

* In [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Edward Elric's]] early years as a State Alchemist, Roy Mustang made good use of his sense of honor and knack for trouble-making by sending him in the general direction of cowboy-prone situations with rumors of the Philosopher's Stone surrounding them.

* If it is a cousin of the CowboyCop then ClintEastwood has to be here somewhere. Gunny Highway from ''HeartbreakRidge'' fits pretty well. At least the part of annoying your superiors. And isn't there some sort of regulation that forbids the [[DrillSergeantNasty drill instructors]] from firing live ammunition at their recruits?

However, apparently it ''is'' TruthInTelevision to some extent. When Richard Dean Anderson asked General Michael E. Ryan (the Air Force Chief of Staff, who once appeared on ''Series/StargateSG1'' playing himself) whether there were really colonels like Jack O'Neill, Ryan replied, "yes, and worse." Note that the higher your rank, the more likely you are to get away with it. There are no privates like Jack O'Neill. Or at least, if there are right now, give it a few days.

** Averted when, during the pilot episode remake/movie, he refused promotion to be second-in-command of the first ship being sent out to investigate Minbari space. He did so because he knew the CO was known to be overaggressive during tense diplomatic situations and he did not want to be in a position where he'd have to stand up to him for the ship's own good. The ship instead left for Minbari space with a much more jellyfish-spined XO, the captain got into a tense diplomatic situation where he became overaggressive, and we all know what happened after that.

--> ''[[XWingSeries Starfighters of Adumar]]''

* Wedge Antilles, in the StarWarsExpandedUniverse, is a major one of these. He's led Rogue Squadron into defecting (temporarily) from the New Republic itself.[[hottip:*:Despite his extremely public resignation, one of his superiors "forgot" to file the paperwork...along with covertly providing Wedge with the equipment he needed...and thus ''retroactively'' made his actions an officially sanctioned mission.]] He was ready to leave again during ''Starfighters of Adumar'', when faced with the choice of doing what was ordered or what was right. But he and the Rogues are the best of the best, delivering the impossible, and they do get called on their behavior. Wedge created [[XWingSeries Wraith Squadron]], an entire squadron of misfits specifically organized for unconventional warfare after seeing how the fleet had become hamstrung by being forced into the role of legitimate government (see the Space section)--and, though not even thirty, found himself feeling like a tired old man when confronted with their antics and tactics.

* In ''Webcomic/FarFromHome'', [[http://mightymartianstudios.com/2011/05/03/ffh-sci-fi-webcomic-bubble/ the lieutenant made a paper airplane out of a briefing]]. Hence, [[ReassignedToAntarctica the scouting mission]].

->"Breaking the rules is just one of Space Captainface's many job responsibilities. And let's not forget bucking the system, rabble-rousing, and assaulting superior officers."
-->''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', [[http://www.homestarrunner.com/careerday.html "Career Day"]]

* Teana Lanster at the start of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikerS''. Unlike most examples, the series went for a far less positive potrayal of this type of character. Teana's Maverick nature almost caused a friendly fire incident during their second mission and her adamant refusal to listen to the advice and orders of her superiors [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan required several officers to beat the idea into her head]] that being reckless just for the sake of personal pride is a quick way to get you and your comrades crippled or killed. It was only when Teana toned down the Maverick nature of hers did she [[TookALevelInBadass begin to be truly efficient in battle]].

* In MassEffect3, a turian general Adrien Victus is widely mistrusted by the turian military for using unconventional and "dishonorable" tactics. He ends up as the leader of the turians [[spoiler:after everyone else above him in the line of succession is killed by the Reapers]] and turns out to be pretty good at it, if still unconventional by supporting such measures as [[spoiler:curing the krogan genophage to secure their assistance]].

** According to CiaphasCain ('''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!'''), [[ChickenWalker Sentinel]] pilots are this, as they spend a lot of time operating independently behind enemy lines, leading to mysterious vox failures when receiving orders they don't agree with. Cain himself regularly has to deal with these guys, notably Trooper Magot, PsychoLesbian and perennial discipline problem.

* RainbowSix as of Vegas and onward stopped being soldiers who did everything in their power to keep the peace while minimalizing the body count of civilians to having to shoot cops just to stop them from detonating a bomb and ultimately throws the guy off the bridge anyway.

* ''Film/DownPeriscope'' is pretty much based on the idea of the main character playing the part of this trope. In particular, one of his crew is deliberately trying to be as big a nuisance as possible so he'll be discharged, because he really doesn't want to be in the Navy but his dad's an Admiral and won't hear of it.