History Main / RookieRedRanger

[[caption-width-right:350:The young swordsman D'artagnan (pictured here with a musket) joins the experienced fighters Porthos and Aramis as a swashbuckling member of ''[[Literature/TheThree Musketeers The Three Musketeers]]''.

[[caption-width-right:350:The young swordsman D'artagnan (pictured here with a musket) joins the experienced fighters Porthos and Aramis as a swashbuckling member of the Three Musketeers]]

%%* [[spoiler: Kyrie]] in ''Anime/SandsOfDestruction'', though you don't know that until the last episode.
%%* Matsumoto from ''Manga/SpecialDutyCombatUnitShinesman''. He's also the only one to think of red as a good sentai color in the first place.
* Joe Shimamura, the titular ''Manga/{{Cyborg 009}}''. As the ninth prototype, he's the most recently converted member of the team; while the other eight have all had time to adjust and adapt to what's been done to them, he's literally thrown into the midst of their escape attempt with no idea what's going on and has to be brought to speed on the fly. He also happens to be the most powerful, as the organization learned as they worked. [[spoiler: And the later cyborgs just keep getting stronger with each new model...]]
* This can also apply to Ash in the original season of ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}''. He is a beginning trainer just starting his journey when he gathers together his first group of friends, who, incidentally, are experienced Gym Leaders.
* Amu Hinamori of ''Manga/ShugoChara'' is an interesting case: She's the last to join the Guardians, but the first to reach full power.
%%* Koji Kabuto in ''[[Anime/ShinMazinger Shin Mazinger Z]]'' is basically this.

* In ''Manga/MissionYozakuraFamily'', Taiyo becomes the current patriarch of the Yozakura family by marrying Mutsumi. However, his inexperience means that he's often getting pointers from his new siblings while leaving the actual leadership to Mutsumi.

* The second ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'' series, ''Tokyo Mew Mew a la Mode,'' features a protagonist called Berii who replaces the original leader of the Mew Mew girls. Berii has the DNA from two different animal species, unlike the other girls who only have one species per person. She's made the leader of the team as soon as she joins them, even though any other member would have had more experience. For that reason, she's not universally loved by the Mew Mew fandom.

* ''Anime/JewelpetTwinkle'': Akari Sakura, TheHeroine, is the last person to enroll at the magic school; the rest of her classmates have been there for a while already. Nonetheless, at the end of the show, it's her who has become the most powerful and who wins the highest honors.
* ''Manga/DontMeddleWithMyDaughter'': Clara is the newest member of N.U.D.E.[[note]]acronym for: "Next Ultimate Defense Exports"[[/note]], having been with them for about a year by the time the series starts. She's the new "Eighth Wonder" and strives to live up to the original's legacy; not knowing the original was her mother. In fact, she's the only one in the organization who doesn't. Still, despite her naivety and relative inexperience, she's the strongest superheroine they have; making her their best chance [[NebulousEvilOrganization against Blowjob.]]

* ''Anime/MacrossDelta'': Freyja initially doesn't seem particularly powerful....before managing to rival ''Mikumo'' for sheer power despite being a NaiveNewcomer. [[spoiler: This becomes a plot point when Freyja is the only singer capable of breaking [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Mikumo's]] hold over the galaxy due to Roid's AssimilationPlot, and subsequently does so]]. For bonus points, Freyja's primary color as part of Walkure is also red.

%%* The early issues of the ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' show in an origin story that Princess Sally had been leading a band of Freedom Fighters for a while before she and Sonic first met. Then again, Sally remains the team leader who gives Sonic his marching orders.
%%** The Genesis Arc (and most likely the post-CosmicRetcon) seems to go back to this.

* In ''Fanfic/LightningOnlyStrikesOnce'', while technically not the most powerful, [[spoiler:Wells essentially takes on a leadership role for the other twelve ambassadors when he’s appointed as Skaikru’s Ambassador to the Coalition while Clarke and Lexa are absent. He maintains this authority over the other twelve ambassadors even after Lexa and Clarke return, albeit through a process of explaining everything calmly and rationally until they go along with it; Wells argues that he only fell into the position of leader because Skaikru don’t have a history with the other clans so nobody resents him for some past slight and thus find it easier to follow his orders]].

* In ''Fanfic/AvengersInfiniteWars'', while Celeste Morne is a relatively new member of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, she and Doctor Strange are each awarded the status of master of the Sanctums of London and New York respectively after defeating Kaecilius and Karness Muur (although Celeste is an experienced Jedi Shadow even if she's new at practising magic).
* Invoked in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11577880/1/Train-Of-Consequences Train of Consequences]]'', where [[Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue Carter]] convinces the other Red Rangers to have [[Series/PowerRangersWildForce Cole Evans]], who was the leader of the most recent team, as the leader of the mission to stop the Machine Empire, as a way of showing that no matter the amount of experience, a ranger can make the difference.

* Aang in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. While he's the youngest in terms of ''biological age'' (appearing as a 12-year-old when in fact, [[OlderThanTheyLook he's technically the oldest of the group in terms of actual age]][[HumanPopsicle due to spending a century frozen in an iceberg]]), he's also seen the most of the world, and is the most powerful, since he's a master airbender compared to Katara's rudimentary waterbending and Sokka's...[[TheTeamNormal boomerang]].

* Aang in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. While he's the youngest ([[HumanPopsicle despite also technically being the oldest]]), he's also seen the most of the world, and is the most powerful, since he's a master airbender compared to Katara's rudimentary waterbending and Sokka's...[[TheTeamNormal boomerang]].

** ''Series/PowerRangersJungleFury'' had it deconstructed with Casey assigned to be one of the Order of the Claw's guardians, even though he was just a "cub" with years less training than Theo and Lily, and thus, constantly worries about [[CantCatchUp not catching up]].

** ''Series/DoubutsuSentaiZyuohger'': Yamato Kazakiri was human who stumbled across the world of Zyuland, and met four guardians who had the training and skills to fight against the Dethgaliens.

** Officially, since the [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]] has trouble playing nice with others 3/4 of the time, the other founders once mentioned that they transferred the official 'Founder' status that the Hulk would normally have to Rogers.

* In ''Fanfic/AvengersInfiniteCrisis'', while Celeste Morne is a relatively new member of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, she and Doctor Strange are each awarded the status of master of the Sanctums of London and New York respectively after defeating Kaecilius and Karness Muur (although Celeste is an experienced Jedi Shadow even if she's new at practising magic).

** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' takes this UpToEleven, as the PlayerCharacter is something of a PhysicalGod, being able to achieve small scale [[RealityWarper reality warping]] by ''shouting at it''. (On top of being one of the greatest [[FighterMageThief warriors, mages, and/or thieves]] in the game world as well.)

** ''Series/MashinSentaiKiramager'': While the rest of the team are celebrities in their respective fields, Juru was the last to be recruited and is simply an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent. Yet he was assigned as leader since he was chosen by the Red Kiramei Stone, and Red has traditionally always been the Kiramagers' leader. For his part, Juru is well aware of how out-of-place he is in this regard and lacks some confidence because of it.

* In ''Videogame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', the Trooper starts off as the newest recruit to Havok Squad. After the prologue, all but you and the resident SergeantRock end up defecting to the Empire and General Garza promotes you as the new commander in order to deal with the defectors.

** The Warrior of Light of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' begins the story as a fresh-faced adventurer who'd recently made a name for themselves in one of the three city-states of the Eorzean Alliance. Their exploits and ChronicHeroSyndrome get them invited into the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, who have been working from the shadows for years to take on the primal, Garlean, and Ascian threats. It isn't long before the Warrior gains a reptuation as the strongest of them all along with notoriety as the [[Redbaron eikon-slayer]] responsible for felling one primal after another.

** Marcus of ''Anime/DigimonSavers'' was hired by DATS specifically because of this - within less than a day of meeting Agumon, he had already manged to activate his D.N.A. and evolve him, taking down a rampaging Cockatrimon where seasoned agent Yoshi was [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything pretty much useless]]. Upon witnessing this, Sampson remarked that he absolutely needed someone like Marcus ''because'' of his ability to do that so quickly. After some consternation with Thomas, Marcus eventually becomes the de-facto leader of their DATS field team PowerTrio.

* Too many to list. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Often but not always]] a sign of favoritism or MarySue.

* The ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'' series had planned a SpinOff series about a team of construction machines. In the PoorlyDisguisedPilot episode Jack, who was to be the main character, is introduced to the rest of the pack machines.

** In ''Series/PowerRangersBeastMorphers'', Devon has some martial arts skills and is able to hold his own against Blaze in a fight, but he only became Red Ranger by being in the right place at the right time. In contrast, Ravi was actually picked to be a Ranger and had been trained as such, and Zoey was a candidate for the position even if she came up short in the final selection. But when villains attack and incapacitate two of the three people that were actually designated to be Rangers, you work with what you've got. Devon becomes team leader when the others concede the position to him, after he confronts them on the fact that their bickering over trying to claim the job has started getting in the way of their duties. Even then, he isn't a ''good'' leader at first, and has to learn to take his team's advice instead of trying to make all the calls on his own.

** ''Series/TokumeiSentaiGobusters'': Hiromu joins the team later because his sister wouldn't let him train with the others; though he does train on his own.

** 2018 - In week 3, Baker Mayfield leads the Cleveland Browns to a 21-17 victory against the New York Jets, their first since Christmas 2016.

** Tagiru of ''Anime/DigimonXrosWarsTheYoungHuntersLeapingThroughTime''. He'd been on the Xros Heart basketball team for a while, but he had no idea that the other two members were part of a different kind of team. He doesn't really act as the leader of the team [[spoiler:until the CrisisCrossover finale where Taiki is wounded and the responsibility of joining the other five legendary heroes (including the aforementioned Davis, Marcus and Takato) in combating Quartzmon is up to him.]]

%%* The early issues of the ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'' comic book show in an origin story that Princess Sally had been leading a band of Freedom Fighters for a while before she and Sonic first met. Then again, Sally remains the team leader who gives Sonic his marching orders.