History Main / NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering

The group can range from an AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil that cannot agree what to do with a problematic bully to a version of TheAlliance where every member country, from TheGoodKingdom to TheRepublic, has a very different idea of how to deal with TheEmpire's war on TheFederation.

* ''Anime/StarDriver'' has Kiraboshi, the local villian organisation, whose single fractions seems to hardly ever get anything done in terms of cooperating. Slightly justified, since most fraction leaders (and lesser members) are overeaeger teenagers... except for a small bunch of adults, who absolutely aren't any better. Needless to say, their record of dealing with their problem (i.e. TheHero) is nonexisting.

* In ''Strange Adventures'', the Weird has the powers of a god, and is using them to destroy the universe. Inside his head are echoes of six beings he has merged with. Together, they could stop him. Unfortunately, three of them think he should use the power for good, and three of them think he should abandon it. So they do nothing. Eventually one of them is convinced to change his mind.

* Also in Marvel, the "Council of Godheads", consisting of the leaders of all of Earth's mythological pantheons, fits this trope to a T. A group of immortals and near-immortals, all of whom possess vast mystical power, with some so powerful that they could pop the Earth like a balloon if they really wanted to. Needless to say they are completely useless and even when multiverse-threatening menaces loom they just stand around showing off their bling and rationalizing why they cannot do anything about the problem. One notable time they did decide to act, during ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet'', they were still useless because Thanos cut them off from the rest of the multiverse ''by accident'' when he unleashed a cosmic shockwave as a result of something completely unrelated.

* The Mobian Royal Council in ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics''. Comprised of former Freedom Fighters (Rotor Walrus and Sir Charles "Uncle Chuck" Hedgehog), Substitute Freedom Fighters (Dylan Porcupine, Hamlin Pig and Penelope Platypus), at least one mother (Rosemary Prower) with the current ruler being the tie breaker. The problem here is that the Substitute Freedom Fighters have varying views (Dylan is easily cowed, Hamlin's still steamed that he was ignored for so long that his choices are seen to be the "right" one in his view, and Penelope doesn't debate) and Rosemary is still suspicious of the crown thanks to her time in space. It got to the point where Rotor up and quit the Council when they voted to kick NICOLE out of New Mobotropolis for her involuntary involvement in the Iron Queen's rule, leading to his replacement, Isabella Mongoose (Mina Mongoose's mother), to step up to the plate and put people in their place... starting with getting NICOLE back after Rotor and his new team made a big chump out of current ruler [[spoiler:Ixis Naugus]]. They were among the casualties of the Genesis Waves bar Rotor and Uncle Chuck.

* ''Fanfic/{{Fractured}}'': The Citadel Council has this hat glued to their heads. They ignore pretty much every threat that comes up: the [[EldritchAbomination Reapers]], a [[WellIntentionedExtremist rather bloody warning]] about an AlienInvasion made possible by [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum technological cross-overs]], and the actual alien invasion itself, [[spoiler:the Flood]]. The Home Galaxy Senate appears to run on this trope like its predecessor, being corrupt, incompetent, and bullied/bought off by seedier elements.
* ''Fanfic/LetTheGalaxyBurn'': The Small Council becomes this as time passes, with the different powers-that-be (mainly the Tyrells and the Lannisters) jockeying for any position of importance, not realizing that the castle is falling around their ears. Varys seems to be only competent/sane one, and he's ''actively plotting the downfall of the Targaryen reign.''

*** Even stranger, the members of the Jedi Council rarely do anything productive in the story. For the bulk of the trilogy, the plot is left in the hands of the protagonists as the Jedi Council resides on Coruscant. Furthermore, they only become active warriors on Geonosis when [[spoiler: Obi Wan gets captured by the [[BigBad Count Dooku]] and when Padme and Anakin fail to rescue him]]. The only other noticable time in which they interact with the story is when Anakin reveals in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' that [[spoiler: Chancellor Palpatine is a Sith Lord. However, Palpatine dispatches the Jedi sent to arrest him with little effort and the council desolves shortly afterward]].

** The White Tower on its own is a great example; all of its full members are incredibly powerful, live for many times a human lifespan, and are so influential that even kings ask them for advice. They could be ruling the world, if they wanted to (and indeed, many people think they do)--if it weren't for the fact that they spent almost all of their time trying to one-up, manipulate or backstab each other, either to further their own personal--and often selfish--agendas (or mess up their colleagues'), or, even more tragic, to soothe their massive egos. Trying to fix this becomes a major headache for Egwene later on.

* Humanity's Golgafrinchian ancestors in ''Literature/TheRestaurantAtTheEndOfTheUniverse'' are such a bureaucratic [=cluster!@#$=] that their invention of the wheel literally gets bogged down in committee pending market research on what color it should be. Justified in this case as they are basically exiles who'd been kicked off their home world for being completely useless. This is what happens when you let marketing executives form committees to find out what people "want" from fire, rather than just inventing it.

* [=StarClan=] in the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' series. They're supposed to watch over and guide the Clans, but especially in the fourth series they tend to be bickering too much to agree on things.

* In ''Brotherhood of the Rose'', the BigBad uses this as an excuse for his ManipulativeBastard actions. As a young CIA agent he'd been told that those above him knew "The Big Picture" and this explained why so many orders seemed confusing and foolish. "Eventually I gained enough rank that I was one of the men in that room, and they were just as stupid and petty as they had appeared."

* ''Literature/TheReynardCycle'': The nobility of the series can't seem to get more than two of them into a room without this happening. Of the two major council meetings depicted so far, one third of the participants leave the proceedings dissatisfied. At one point, Reynard reflects that if the nobles could only put as much effort into fighting their enemies on the battlefield as they do with each other, they would be completely unstoppable. This is all justified by the fact that prior to the events of the first novel, a very long and very bloody civil war had been raging, and there is still a great deal of animosity between various factions and families.
* The Small Council of King's Landing in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' are supposed to be not just the go-to advisers of the king, but the head administrators of the kingdom's equivalent of the arms of the civil service. When they aren't trying to backstab each other, other nobles and concerns... or the king himself (or queen regent, whichever), that is. At the start of the series it isn't too bad; the council members are masters in their disciplines, and the main threat is the King's own indifference towards their good advice until he dies for unrelated reasons. As the series goes on and they all start pursuing their own agendas in the newly chaotic situation, they get traded out as they leave the king's service or leave on other missions. By the fifth book the council has been completely replaced, and the new set are bickering incompetents (though they were deliberately appointed by [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Cersei]] to be that way so that they can't oppose her).

* Creator/GeorgeOrwell, in one of his columns, parodied the furious inactivity of the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations shortly after the organization's founding (1946) by suggesting a new board game whose pieces would consist of "the proposal, the ''démarche'', the stumbling-block, the stalemate, the deadlock, the bottle-neck and the vicious circle."

* In ''Literature/ReapersGale'', book seven of the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'', the Onyx Wizards of the Andara can't seem to agree on anything, detaining Silchas Ruin's party unneccessarily until he pulls rank and tell them where to stuff it. Decision speed isn't helped by them singing their arguments, in which they can't even agree on the tempo and -- as far as Udinaas is concerned -- they're probably arguing about the length of their robes, anyway.

* ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'': Consider that the people running Ygdrasil Corporation are MadScientist, BunnyEarsLawyer, DarkActionGirl and WellIntentionedExtremist. Now guess how long their alliance lasted. Just guess. [[spoiler: If you thought around two third of the story, you are right. There was nothing holding them from tripping each other up after [[OnlySaneMan Takatora]]'s supposed death and effectively tearing the company from the inside out.]]

* The Galactic Federation from ''Series/TheTomorrowPeople1973'', who will spend a lot of time talking about a problem but is reluctant to take action. Due to this, on two occasions Timus had to secretly enlist the aid of the Tomorrow People to deal with two specific problems. However at the end of the final story the Federation decides to chance this.
* The Xindi ruling council in ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'': the B5 security council on a smaller scale. The constant bickering, dithering and ineffectualness, however, was justified by the Reptilian and Insectoid Xindi going behind the other's backs to do their own thing (they themselves being led on by the trans-dimensional beings trying stop the Federation from being formed.)

* The Thirteen Lords of Decay -- the ruling council of the Skaven race in ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'' -- epitomize this trope. Like all Skaven, each council member is constantly scheming, plotting, backstabbing and breaking allegiances to further his own clan's ends and get one over on his rivals (not to mention treading on the ambitions of his underlings, who all want to overthrow him and take his place). Were they united in purpose then the Skaven would undoubtedly have overthrown the surface world long ago, but the vast majority of the council's resources are squandered in the internecine warfare that is the norm for their race.
* The High Lords of Terra in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' take this trope and run with it: Not So Omniscient Council Of Bickering, DecadentCourt, ObstructiveBureaucrat, ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, WeAreStrugglingTogether, the whole works. The only thing holding the Imperium together seems to be inertia and massive [[WeHaveReserves casualties]]. What really holds the Imperium together is that all of its institutions function independently from one another on most levels. So the Planetary Governors keep their own worlds stable, and if threatened by outside forces, they can call for intervention from the Imperial Guard without involving anyone over about sub-sector level. Only extraordinarily large crises call for the High Lords to actually ''do anything'' in a timely manner (and whenever that happens, you can trust the Inquisition Representative on the council to keep them on-task). Of course, at the local level, any kind of crisis tends to result in a big meeting being called between the local politicos, the Guard, the Arbites, the Administratum, the Mechanicus, etc. etc., which devolves into much bickering until the Guard declares martial law and [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim threatens to shoot everybody]] (such as in ''[[Literature/CiaphasCain Caves of Ice]]'', when Major Broklaw of the Guard "[[UnusualEuphemism calls a meeting to order]]" with his [[HandCannon bolt pistol]]).

** This is also how a lot of [[CelestialBureaucracy heaven]] works. The gods and Sidereals could make huge, sweeping changes for the better in Creation, but instead spend most of their time playing political games or arguing over what the best way to help Creation really is, with motivations running the whole gamut from genuinely well-meaning to utterly corrupt. The Sidereals, at least, have the [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity Great Curse]] as an excuse. That said, the Sidereals manage to do quite a bit to protect Creation despite the constant factional politics, to the point that it's scary to think what they might be capable if they actually acted as a cohesive unit.

* The Circle Orboros in ''TabletopGame/IronKingdoms'' strives to maintain the balance between civilization and the wild, and believes civilization has spread too far and needs to be destroyed. However most of the organization is too preoccupied with the circle's internal politics to really get anything done.
* ''TabletopGame/DeviantTheRenegades'' has this with the Web of Pain, the secret network of conspiracies and cabals invested in the creation and hunting of Deviants. Rather than being a smoothly running network with unified goals, nodes in the Web just happen to fall in line with one another and may happen to hate everything that another node stands for. The top secret firm of eugenicists may hate the backwoods cult trying to call down electric angels into their young charges, and vice versa, but they both need to get along to keep the lights on.

** The Orzhov has since shed the Ozbedat in favor of [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Kaya, Orzhov Usurper]], who personally destroyed said council. As guildmaster Kaya has also joined the Gatewatch and helped take the fight to Nicol Bolas and his Dreadhorde.

** When the planet becomes a member of the party (yes, the ''planet''. ItMakesSenseInContext, sorta), the player can use its TractorBeam system to procure out of reach items. The mini-game to activate it plays a bit like Whack-A-Mole, with the player was the OnlySaneMan (relatively speaking) on the council shouting down everyone who stands up to object to using the tractor.

** The High Council of the Covenant in ''{{VideoGame/Halo 2}}'' though a lot of it happens off screen.

** Commander Shepard has very, very bad luck getting any governing body to believe their warnings about rogue Spectres, killer robots and [[spoiler: genocidal sentient spaceships]]. The Citadel Council is infamously reluctant to take a proactive stance on anything, and the Alliance top brass doesn't come off as much better (excepting Hackett and Anderson).

* The [[FictionalUnitedNations Council of Venice]] in ''Videogame/TheSecretWorld'' once held the power to control all of the various secret societies and powerful organizations. Unfortunately, as they centuries passed, they became more corrupt and out of touch, losing their power and falling into politics and infighting and letting the various secret societies take over, particularly TheIlluminati. They still wield great power, but its almost entirely tied up by their corruption and bickering and its up to the benevolent conspiracies and smaller organizations to get things done.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' has many in-universe organizations that act like this, and portrays many real-life organizations as acting like this as well. Expect the phrase "Robble robble robble!" to come up with some frequency.

-->'''[[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]]:''' ''(summarizing)'' "We should do something!" "Should we do something?" "We should do something!" "Should we do something?" "I'm changing!" "We should do something!" BANG! "We should do something!" "Should we do something?" "We should do something." "Should we do something?" YES, YOU SHOULD DO SOMETHING, YOU BORING IDIOTS!

* The Sith Dark Council gets hit with this ''hard'' in ''Videogame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', as most of its members are too busy trying to secure their own power/agendas to actually come together as effective rulers. Strangely, a fair number of Council members themselves, such as Darths Jadus and Marr, explicitly point this out, but to no avail. [[spoiler: This starts to change when Darth Marr really starts assuming control of things around the truce in Shadow of Revan, and changes BIG TIME when the Dark Council is dissolved during the time skip in Fallen Empire.]]

If the heroes take orders from them, their lack of a united front may prevent the protagonists from taking action. Even if there is a ReasonableAuthorityFigure among them, their voice rarely rises above all the bickering. The most interesting thing its members ever do will be [[BloodOnTheDebateFloor using their fists in the debate]].

* Also in Marvel, the "Council of Godheads", consisting of the leaders of all of Earth's mythological pantheons, fits this trope to a T. A group of immortals and near-immortals, all of whom possess vast mystical power, with some so powerful that they could pop the Earth like a balloon if they really wanted to. Needless to say they are completely useless and even when multiverse-threatening menaces loom they just stand around showing off their bling and rationalizing why they cannot do anything about the problem.

* [[TropeOverdosed As usual]], the Literature/{{Honorverse}} has an example.

* In ''Strange Adventures'', the Weird has [[AGodAmI the powers of a god]], and is using them to destroy the universe. Inside his head are echoes of six beings he has merged with. Together, they could stop him. Unfortunately, three of them think he should use the power for good, and three of them think he should abandon it. So they do nothing. Eventually one of them is convinced to change his mind.

** The Time Lords in the classic series are depicted as this in "The Deadly Assassin", although later stories veered more towards DeadlyDecadentCourt. According to The Writer's Tale, Creator/RussellTDavies made the Doctor the LastOfHisKind in the revival because the other Time Lords tended to "spout bollocks" and not much else.

* The High Lords of Terra in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' take this trope and run with it: Not So Omniscient Council Of Bickering, DeadlyDecadentCourt, ObstructiveBureaucrat, ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, WeAreStrugglingTogether, the whole works. The only thing holding the Imperium together seems to be inertia and massive [[WeHaveReserves casualties]]. What really holds the Imperium together is that all of its institutions function independently from one another on most levels. So the Planetary Governors keep their own worlds stable, and if threatened by outside forces, they can call for intervention from the Imperial Guard without involving anyone over about sub-sector level. Only extraordinarily large crises call for the High Lords to actually ''do anything'' in a timely manner (and whenever that happens, you can trust the Inquisition Representative on the council to keep them on-task). Of course, at the local level, any kind of crisis tends to result in a big meeting being called between the local politicos, the Guard, the Arbites, the Administratum, the Mechanicus, etc. etc., which devolves into much bickering until the Guard declares martial law and [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim threatens to shoot everybody]] (such as in ''[[Literature/CiaphasCain Caves of Ice]]'', when Major Broklaw of the Guard "[[UnusualEuphemism calls a meeting to order]]" with his [[HandCannon bolt pistol]]).

** In the second the bickering happened a while before the game and is partly the reason why there ''is'' no Jedi Council. You have to find them and bring them together - or kill them for revenge if you want. If you do reform the council there's no bickering, but they quickly lose the perspectives their time away from the Jedi gave them, and they start repeating the mistakes that led to their dissolution in the first place.

* Just like [[Franchise/MassEffect in canon]], the Citadel Council in ''Fanfic/{{Fractured}}'' and its sequel ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'' has this hat glued to their heads. They ignore pretty much every threat that comes up: the [[EldritchAbomination Reapers]], a [[WellIntentionedExtremist rather bloody warning]] about an AlienInvasion made possible by [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum technological cross-overs]], and the actual alien invasion itself, [[spoiler:the Flood]]. The Home Galaxy Senate appears to run on this trope like its predecessor, being corrupt, incompetent, and bullied/bought off by seedier elements.
* Naruto definitely sees the UN this way ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10917821/28/The-questionable-burdens-of-leadership-of-a-troll-Emperor The (Questionable) Burdens of Leadership of a Troll Emperor]]''. According to him they still haven't stopped arguing over his empire mining the rest of the solar system years after he started. Naruto says he'll die of old age before they decide on anything and he's immortal.

* The ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' universe has the Council Elite of Skyfathers, a variation on Marvel's Council of Godheads. It's a gathering of the heads of all of Earth's pantheons. They only assemble during times of great crisis... and judging by what we see in ''Ghosts of the Past'', they just spend all their time arguing. However, when they ''do'' get their act together they're implied to be genuinely dangerous, with [[spoiler: Jesus]] and Thor warning Harry not to underestimate them - [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass they are far more than they seem, especially if they feel they're being put in a corner]].
* ''Fanfic/{{SAPR}}'': The councils of both Vale and Atlas qualify, but the dysfunction of the Vale council gets especially highlighted.
* ''FanFic/TheSomewhatCrackedMindOfUchihaItachi'': Suna's advisory council mainly do nothing but bicker in-story. The only thing they ever agreed on was who they wanted to succeed Rasa as Kazekage (Elder Chiyo), but she hates politics and promptly told them "screw you", which they had to take as a decline. They made Baki acting-Kazekage instead, and while he's an effective administrator, he can barely do more than that as he lacks the power to permanently take the position, leaving him with little political clout. At one point ''Shukaku'' complains that the Konoha 12 (which consists of a bunch of preteens who are chunin at best) are more productive during their meetings, much to Gaara's amusement.
* In ''Fanfic/LetTheGalaxyBurn'', the Small Council becomes this as time passes, with the different powers-that-be (mainly the Tyrells and the Lannisters) jockeying for any position of importance, not realizing that the castle is falling around their ears. Varys seems to be only competent/sane one, and he's ''actively plotting the downfall of the Targaryen reign.''

* The Mobian Royal Council in ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehog''. Comprised of former Freedom Fighters (Rotor Walrus and Sir Charles "Uncle Chuck" Hedgehog), Substitute Freedom Fighters (Dylan Porcupine, Hamlin Pig and Penelope Platypus), at least one mother (Rosemary Prower) with the current ruler being the tie breaker. The problem here is that the Substitute Freedom Fighters have varying views (Dylan is easily cowed, Hamlin's still steamed that he was ignored for so long that his choices are seen to be the "right" one in his view, and Penelope doesn't debate) and Rosemary is still suspicious of the crown thanks to her time in space. It got to the point where Rotor up and quit the Council when they voted to kick NICOLE out of New Mobotropolis for her involuntary involvement in the Iron Queen's rule, leading to his replacement, Isabella Mongoose (Mina Mongoose's mother), to step up to the plate and put people in their place... starting with getting NICOLE back after Rotor and his new team made a big chump out of current ruler [[spoiler:Ixis Naugus]]. They were among the casualties of the Genesis Waves bar Rotor and Uncle Chuck.

* Just like [[Franchise/MassEffect in canon]], the Citadel Council in ''Fanfic/{{Fractured}}'' and its sequel ''[[Fanfic/SovereignGFCOrigins Origins]]'' has this hat glued to their heads. They ignore pretty much every threat that comes up: the [[EldritchAbomination Reapers]], a [[WellIntentionedExtremist rather bloody warning]] about an AlienInvasion made possible by [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum technological cross-overs]], and the actual alien invasion itself, [[spoiler:the Flood]]. The Home Galaxy Senate appears to run on this trope like its predecessor, being corrupt, incompetent, and bullied/bought off by seedier elements.

* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', this is generally the result whenever multiple factions of parahumans attempt to cooperate, notably when [[NebulousEvilOrganization Cauldron]] attempts to form an OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness between the [[SuperTeam Protectorate]], the [[WellIntentionedExtremist Thanda]], [[HiredGuns Faultline's Crew]], [[ArtificialIntelligence Dragon]], the inmates of [[TheAlcatraz Birdcage]], [[BloodKnight Moord Nag]], [[SmugSnake Saint]], and [[NobleDemon the Undersiders]] to combat the [[OmnicidalManiac Endbringers]]. [[spoiler:It turns out this is deliberate. The alien parasites that give super powers reproduce through conflict, and will influence their hosts to sabotage and betray each other whenever they can. In the end, it takes powerful mind control to get everyone co-operating.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'', Ben unlocks the power of Alien X -- the most powerful alien in Omnitrix, [[RealityWarper who can bend reality to his will]] -- only to find out he is composed of two beings that cannot agree upon anything, even simple things such as movement or returning back to Ben's human form. That's the reason Ben never uses him. When Alien X and its species the Celestial Sapiens appear in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'', this is shockingly averted when the beings inside Alien X notice Paradox. Thanks to a NoodleIncident in the distant past they have a restraining order against Paradox. Thinking that he's violated the arrangement, the two ''immediately'' agree to destroy him.

* ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' depicts [[NationsAsPeople the Allied Powers]] of World War II in this way; each of the five (six if you include [[ShrinkingViolet Canada]]) are so wrapped up in their individual agendas that they never seem to get around to ''actually stopping the Axis'', despite the fact that they're perfectly capable. Particularly noticeable in that their arguments often have nothing to do with the actual war effort -- more often they're about things like [[LoveFreak America]]'s spotlight-hogging, [[TheEeyore England]]'s bad cooking, or [[PsychopathicManchild Russia]]'s general creepiness.

* In ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'' ''Side: Future'', it's revealed the Branch leaders of [[spoiler:the Future Foundation]] are this. They barely work due to TeethClenchedTeamwork, but seem to internally hate each other, and when yet another DeadlyGame breaks out in their HQ, they are quick to split into two opposed factions. [[spoiler:Of course, at least part of this can be traced back to the Chairman being a MoleInCharge.]]

* The scientists from Videogame/FalloutNewVegas' DLC Old World Blues. [[spoiler:This was, at least to some degree, inflicted upon them by Dr. Mobius. His justification for keeping the Think Tank locked in a mental loop is that they're relatively contained in the Big Mountain region instead of inflicting scientific horrors on the rest of the wasteland.]]

* In the ''Literature/{{Nightrunner}}'' series, the [[OurElvesAreBetter Aurënfaie]] Iia'sidra which governs the relationships between the various clans, as well as the external affairs, of the nation of Aurënen. As a fairly large country where a significant chunk of the population can use magic, Aurënen could easily be the dominant power in the region, eclipsing any or all of the neighboring human-ruled lands. But the many clan divisions along with the contentious politics and strong personalities of the clan heads sitting on the Iia'sidra tend to prevent the Aurënfaie from acting as a unified nation.

* The ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' universe has the Council Elite of Skyfathers, a variation on Marvel's Council of Godheads. It's a gathering of the heads of all of Earth's pantheons. They only assemble during times of great crisis... and judging by what we see in ''Ghosts of the Past'', they just spend all their time arguing. However, when they ''do'' get their act together they're implied to be genuinely dangerous, with [[spoiler: Jesus]] and Thor warning Harry not to underestimate me - [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass they are far more than they seem, especially if they feel they're being put in a corner]].

* The High Lords of Terra in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' take this trope and run with it: NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering, DeadlyDecadentCourt, ObstructiveBureaucrat, ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, WeAreStrugglingTogether, the whole works. The only thing holding the Imperium together seems to be inertia and massive [[WeHaveReserves casualties]]. What really holds the Imperium together is that all of its institutions function independently from one another on most levels. So the Planetary Governors keep their own worlds stable, and if threatened by outside forces, they can call for intervention from the Imperial Guard without involving anyone over about sub-sector level. Only extraordinarily large crises call for the High Lords to actually ''do anything'' in a timely manner (and whenever that happens, you can trust the Inquisition Representative on the council to keep them on-task). Of course, at the local level, any kind of crisis tends to result in a big meeting being called between the local politicos, the Guard, the Arbites, the Administratum, the Mechanicus, etc. etc., which devolves into much bickering until the Guard declares martial law and [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim threatens to shoot everybody]] (such as in ''[[Literature/CiaphasCain Caves of Ice]]'', when Major Broklaw of the Guard "[[UnusualEuphemism calls a meeting to order]]" with his [[HandCannon bolt pistol]]).

* The ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' universe has the Council Elite of Skyfathers, a gathering of the heads of all of Earth's pantheons. They only assemble during times of great crisis... and judging by what we see in ''Ghosts of the Past'', they just spend all their time arguing.

* Just like [[Franchise/MassEffect in canon]], the Citadel Council in ''FanFic/{{Fractured}}'' and its sequel ''[[FanFic/SovereignGFCOrigins Origins]]'' has this hat glued to their heads. They ignore pretty much every threat that comes up: the [[EldritchAbomination Reapers]], a [[WellIntentionedExtremist rather bloody warning]] about an AlienInvasion made possible by [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum technological cross-overs]], and the actual alien invasion itself, [[spoiler:the Flood]]. The Home Galaxy Senate appears to run on this trope like its predecessor, being corrupt, incompetent, and bullied/bought off by seedier elements.

*** Even stranger, the members of the Jedi Council rarely do anything productive in the story. For the bulk of the trilogy, the plot is left in the hands of the protagonists as the Jedi Council resides on Coruscant. Furthermore, they only become active warriors on Geonosis when [[spoiler: Obi Wan gets captured by the [[BigBad Count Dooku]] and when Padme and Anakin fail to rescue him]]. The only other noticable time in which they interact with the story is when Anakin reveals in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' that [[Spoiler: Chancellor Palpatine is a Sith Lord. However, Palpatine dispatches the Jedi sent to arrest him with little effort and the council desolves shortly afterward]].

*** Even stranger, the members of the Jedi Council rarely do anything productive in the story. For the bulk of the trilogy, the plot is left in the hands of the protagonists as the Jedi Council resides on Coruscant. Furthermore, they only become active warriors on Geonosis when [[spoiler: Obi Wan gets captured by the [[BigBad Count Dooku]] and when Padme and Anakin fail to rescue him]]. The only other noticable time in which they interact with the story is when Anakin reveals in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' that [[Spoiler: Chancellor Palpatine is a Sith Lord. However, Palpatine dispatches the Jedi sent to arrest him with little effort and the council desolves shortly afterward.]]

*** Even stranger, the members of the Jedi Council rarely do anything productive in the story. For the bulk of the trilogy, the plot is left in the hands of the protagonists as the Jedi Council resides on Coruscant. Furthermore, they only become active warriors on Geonosis when [[spoiler: Obi Wan gets captured by the [[BigBad Count Dooku]] and when Padme and Anakin fail to rescue him]]. The only other noticable time in which they interact with the story is when Anakin reveals in ''Films/RevengeOfTheSith'' that [[Spoiler: Chancellor Palpatine is a Sith Lord. However, Palpatine dispatches the Jedi sent to arrest him with little effort and the council desolves shortly afterward.]]

* The Entmoot in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings: The Two Towers'' spends quite a long time yakking about what to do about Saruman, and the only answer they can all agree on is: nothing. It's not until Merry and Pippin show Treebeard the destruction that Saruman is causing to the forest that Treebeard decides to ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight, and the others follow his lead.[[note]]In the book, the Ents are already aware of Saruman's depredations and still take several days to decide to oppose him, but that ''is'' considered quick by Ent standards. It also appears to be a near-unanimous decision once they get through all the protocol necessary to actually put it to a vote.[[/note]] Of course, this ''is'' fairly justified trope, in that Ents believe in doing things very, very slowly.[[note]]How slowly? An Ent who said "good morning" before an elder had finished greeting him is considered hasty.[[/note]]

* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' the Obzedat, also called the [[TheNecrocracy Ghost Council of Ordhova]], rarely acts but relies on their living servants to keep the organization running and coffers full. Once they're full members of the council they don't need to do anything to keep the position, and rarely do.

-->'''[[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]]:''' ''(summarizing)'' "We should do something!" "Should we do something?" "We should do something!" "Should we do something?" "I'm changing!" "We should do something!" BANG! "We should do something!" "Should we do something?" YES, YOU SHOULD DO SOMETHING, YOU BORING IDIOTS!