History Main / TheAllegedBoss

Compare AuthorityInNameOnly, BeleagueredBoss, and WeakBossStrongUnderlings.

* Instructor Quistis Trepe from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' is mostly a Type 1, with shades of Type 2 due to her defining character trait -- [[spoiler:that is, her exceedingly unwelcome and unrequited crush on Squall]]. Despite being one of the teachers at an elite paramilitary academy, many students don't particularly like or respect her. Even her trio of obsessed groupies seem to be interested in her only as an object of lust rather than an authority figure. And even if [[spoiler:she hadn't quit, she probably would've been fired for letting Seifer escape from the discipline room after Dollet]].
** Rinoa Heartilly, "princess" of the Forest Owls, is another Type 1.5 for most of the first disc. Squall chews her out for not taking her role as leader of a resistance movement more seriously pretty early on, and even Quistis gets fed up enough with her bubblegum rebellion and half-baked plans to give her a tongue-lashing. As leaders go, Rinoa actually makes Quistis look competent.

Compare AuthorityInNameOnly and WeakBossStrongUnderlings.

* ''Literature/ExpectingToFallIntoRuinIAimToBecomeABlacksmith'': Toral Helan, the protagonist Kururi's father, is the fourth type, a lazy LovableCoward who managed his domain in benign neglect until Kururi got involved. Toral spends most of the story just agreeing to whatever Kururi and the HypercompetentSidekick Lotson say.

* ''Literature/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'': BitchInSheepsClothing King Roland Holfort is too busy being TheCasanova with endless mistresses and occasionally dressing up as a superhero (The Masked Knight) to govern, pushing as much work as possible on his wife Queen Mylene and their BeleagueredBureaucrat ministers. His lack of authority is especially apparent when his SitcomArchNemesis Leon does things like grabbing Roland so he can't escape from his wife's scolding, or punching him without the Royal Guard even flinching.
* ''Literature/TheVillainousDaughtersButlerIllCrushTheDestructionFlags'': Grave Rosenburg is so scared of his daughter Sophia's TroublingUnchildhoodBehavior and influence that he's eventually practically her [[PuppetKing puppet Marquees.]] Something the protagonist Cyril comically remains unaware of despite himself and Sophia being HypercompetentSidekick to the entire estate.

* Beckett from ''Series/{{Castle}}'' is a Type 3 or 4. Her team loves her, but doesn't always obey her orders. Summed up when [[ThoseTwoGuys Ryan and Esposito]] pull a risky and illegal stunt and are surprised when she chews them out.

Compare AuthorityInNameOnly.

-->'''Hawkeye:''' Well, Henry?\\

* Saki Vashtal from ''Manga/{{Area 88}}'': closest to Type 3. While not incompetent, Saki is not an outstanding leader and generally lacks the ability to motivate people to go out of their way to do things for him. The pilots follow orders mostly because it's what they're paid to do. And they can refuse his orders if they can afford the $5000 dock to their pay. In an emergency situation, after the Wolfpack decimated all of the planes at the base, Saki was manipulated into a bargain where he offered to pay prize money, fuel, weapons, and repairs on the ten handpicked pilots that would fly the replacement planes sent by HQ.

** Surprisingly enough, [[spoiler:Touko's sister Mio]] was also a Type 2, taking the fun jobs, such as doing speeches, and giving the rest to the student council, who even had to do the president's summer homework. Ichigaya, who served on the student council on the time, remembers the president fondly, and said he always thought the role was about delegating work.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. In Season 3, Giles is fired as Buffy's [[TheHandler Watcher]] and replaced by Wesley Wyndam-Pryce who is pompous and full of himself, yet a DirtyCoward in the field. The Scoobies and even Giles barely make a token effort at accepting his authority. Fortunately Wesley undergoes CharacterDevelopment in the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' spin-off, so in later seasons whenever he takes charge it's played seriously.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Acting like this in real life (as a wimpy boss ''or'' an insubordinate employee) is an excellent way to get fired. There are some places where hierarchy gets blurred, but you have to be careful.
** That being said, many academic studies of leadership consider types 2 and 4 to be very effective in moderation.
[[/folder]]

* ''LightNovel/ExpectingToFallIntoRuinIAimToBecomeABlacksmith'': Toral Helan, the protagonist Kururi's father, is the fourth type, a lazy LovableCoward who managed his domain in benign neglect until Kururi got involved. Toral spends most of the story just agreeing to whatever Kururi and the HypercompetentSidekick Lotson say.

* ''LightNovel/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'': BitchInSheepsClothing King Roland Holfort is too busy being TheCasanova with endless mistresses and occasionally dressing up as a superhero (The Masked Knight) to govern, pushing as much work as possible on his wife Queen Mylene and their BeleagueredBureaucrat ministers. His lack of authority is especially apparent when his SitcomArchNemesis Leon does things like grabbing Roland so he can't escape from his wife's scolding, or punching him without the Royal Guard even flinching.
* ''LightNovel/TheVillainousDaughtersButlerIllCrushTheDestructionFlags'': Grave Rosenburg is so scared of his daughter Sophia's TroublingUnchildhoodBehavior and influence that he's eventually practically her [[PuppetKing puppet Marquees.]] Something the protagonist Cyril comically remains unaware of despite himself and Sophia being HypercompetentSidekick to the entire estate.

* In the ''US Acres'' segments for ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'', Orson takes so many shenanigans from the other animals on the chin ([[OneOfTheKids and in some cases joins in on them]]), you'd be forgiven for thinking his only seniority over them is being the TeamDad. Odd episodes however reveal he is actually second in command after the unseen farmer. It was treated as a case of OOCIsSeriousBusiness when on at least two occasions, he finally got sick of Roy's heckling and laziness and angrily made clear he's his boss and can and will ''fire him'' if he pushes him too far. Even then, the firing was treated more as a falling out between friends as Roy was seen feeling guilty for being the cause of the tension and in both cases was EasilyForgiven and rehired.

* In the ''US Acres'' segments for ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'', Orson takes so many shenanigans from the other animals on the chin ([[OneOfTheKids and in some cases joins in on them]]), you'd be forgiven for thinking his only seniority over them is being the TeamDad. Odd episodes however reveal he is actually second in command after the unseen farmer. It was treated as a case of OOCIsSeriousBusiness when on at least two occasions, he finally got sick of Roy's heckling and laziness and angrily made clear he's his boss and can and will ''fire him'' if he pushes him too far.

* In ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'', The Custodian who interacts the most with the SuddenlySpeaking Emperor of Mankind is a Type 3 example. He is in fact the [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Captain-General]] of the [[PraetorianGuard Adeptus Custodes]], making him a High Lord of Terra and (theoretically) one of the most powerful figures in the Imperium. He's also the OnlySaneMan of a bunch of MachoCamp, {{Stripperiffic}} lunatics who bully him and ignore his commands, and affectionately refer to him as [[EmbarrassingNickname "Little Kitten."]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': DependingOnTheWriter, era, and/or medium, Bruce Wayne is actually or is [[RichIdiotWithNoDayJob feigning]] any of the four types.

# A boss who acts like a 'proper boss' but actually lacks the power to make the employees always obey him. Often the problem is caused by a few Bunny Ears Lawyer types whom he simply cannot afford to fire.

* DependingOnTheWriter, era, and/or medium [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne]] is actually or is feigning any of the four types.

* In ''Film/IronMan'', Tony Stark is a serious Type 2 -- he's the ''head'' of Stark Industries, but he doesn't ''run'' it. That honor belongs to the queen of [[HypercompetentSidekick Hypercompetent Sidekicks]], Pepper Potts. A couple sequels in, he [[spoiler:recognizes this reality and makes her the ''official'' boss.]]
* In ''Film/StarWarsThePhantomMenace'', Supreme Chancellor Valorum, a Type 3, ''tries'' to get things done, but despite the power his position theoretically has he is stymied at every turn by assorted political factions of {{Corrupt Politician}}s and {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s, as well as the closet [[GalacticConqueror Sith Lord]] that he mistakenly believes is one of his supporters and who has arranged to keep him on the defensive over baseless allegations of corruption while he makes a play of his own for the chancellorship. Even the Jedi Order, while publicly respecting his office, tend to make decisions within their own Council and do not consult him.

* OlderThanRadio, as this trope appears in Charles Dicken's ''Literature/DavidCopperfield. Mr. Jorkins of the law firm of ''Spenlow and Jorkins'' does little beside hide in his office upstairs, with a small desk and a writing pad yellowed in age. Outside the office, Jorkins is a reclusive bachelor who lives in a house needing painting. In effect, for many years Mr. Jorkins chose to leave the running of the firm to his more competent partner Spenlow.
* This is a major theme in ''Literature/AtlasShrugged''. Alleged Bosses are among the book's prime villains, and they are villains precisely because they fail to act like bosses. Case in point: Jim Taggart, who is the president of a large railroad company but is so spineless and incompetent that it's his sister Dagny, the company's Vice President, who actually runs things. James has actual power but it's tempered by not being competent enough to get anything useful done. Basically he's a boss until his sister convinces him that he's heading for disaster and only she can save him.
* At the beginning of ''Literature/BrothersInArms'', Miles Vorkosigan faux-modestly claims to be this, saying that he just plays the part of the Admiral while Commodore Tung does the real work. This isn't complete rubbish -- originally Miles relied on Tung's experience a lot -- but it's not the whole truth, and Elli immediately calls him out on it. It's strongly implied that part of the reason that Tung eventually decided to marry and retire was that he'd come to the conclusion that Miles didn't need him any more and was ready to be the boss in truth.

* Warden Tim White in ''Literature/HollowPlaces.'' As per the intentions of his corrupt employers, he pretty much lets the prison run itself, allowing the guards to become increasingly abusive. He only intervenes when the abuse goes a little too far and starts to leave marks. Asides from that, his job basically consists of bribing local judges and managing logistics. Austin notices popular media websites reflected in his glasses more than once, heavily implying he spends most of his days surfing the web.

* In military thriller ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'', President Warner of the late-stage United States is generally presented as a rather well-meaning but weak ruler, usually under the thumb of the extremists and corrupt insiders in his administration. However, he does show decisive and effective leadership [[LetsGetDangerous on a few occasions]], notably when forcing his hawkish military advisors to stand down in the escalating conflict with Russia.

-->'''Henry:''' Well, I'm afraid this is what you call your command decision. It's "lonely at the top" time. Strictly something for your leader.
-->[Long pause]
-->'''Hawkeye:''' Well, Henry?
-->'''Henry:''' Oh, golly. Whatever you people decide is fine with me.
* Who runs ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' again? [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Morrow, Shepard, and Vance,]] or [[CowboyCop Gibbs?]] Hint: he can only be killed by silver bullets. Maybe. Type 3, and with Vance, it seems to be diverging into Type 4.

* On ''Series/WKRPInCincinnati'', station manager Arthur Carlson. He only has the job because his tycoon of a mother owns the station [[spoiler: and, it's eventually revealed, she's using it as a tax write-off]]. He's a good and decent man, he means well, and the staff all like him OK, but the station is actually run by program director Andy Travis and (in a subtle sort of way) the [[HypercompetentSidekick receptionist]] Jennifer Marlowe.
* On ''Series/TheXFiles'', Walter Skinner is type 3. He eventually gets replaced due to his inability to make Mulder and Scully obey him. Alvin Kersh, the new boss, ''would'' be the same type, since it's not like Mulder, Scully, Dogget, and Reyes listen to him any better, except for the fact that he plays dirty and has better connections within the Bureau than Skinner.

* ''Franchise/{{Noob}}'': [[spoiler:Later in the story, things get so bad in the titular guild that the person in charge ends up being the Kindhearted Simpleton Man Child. At the beginning, the only things he really has going for him as a guild master are his seniority in regards to the other remaining members and that he cares deeply about them. Fortunately, the responsibility turns out to be just what is needed for him to mature a little.]]

* In the ''US Acres'' segments for ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'', Orson takes so many shenanigans from the other animals on the chin ([[OneOfTheKids and in some cases joins in on them]]), you'd be forgiven for thinking his only seniority over them is being the TeamDad. Odd episodes however reveal he is actually second in command after the unseen farmer. It was treated as a case of OOCIsSeriousBusiness when on at least two occasions, he finally got sick of Roy's heckling and laziness and angrily made clear he's his boss, and can and will ''fire him'' if he pushes him too far.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Carl is apparently Homer's supervisor. He mentions this only once matter-of-factly simply to get Homer to stop insulting him, and for the rest of the series acts as Homer's drinking buddy and even joins in on some of his antics. In the episode in which he gets the promotion, he runs Homer beyond ragged by calling him at all hours with an endless barrage of inane requests but Homer eventually forces him to back off and let him be with Marge in peace thanks to Carl sleeping with the wife of ''the President of France'' (who Carl is trying to please) earlier in the episode.

* Who runs ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' again? [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Morrow, Shepard, and Vance,]] or [[CowboyCop Gibbs?]] Hint: he can only be killed by silver bullets. Maybe. Type 3, and with Vance it seems to be diverging into Type 4.
* On ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'' Hetty is firmly in charge of the LA office and the agents know that she will punish them if they get out of line. However, the feeling among some NCIS higher-ups is that she oversteps her authority and treats her superiors as Alleged Bosses (similar to Gibbs). On a smaller note Callen is the senior agent-in-charge and technically the boss of the other agents on his team but while he is the leader, he lets Hetty handle all the boss duties.

** Above Jan is David Wallace, who gives the outward appearance of being a competent boss, but in reality has an extremely difficult time saying no to Michael, preferring to use double speak and mealy mouthed phrases. He also is quite quick to walk back his orders at the slightest pushback. Of course this may be necessary in dealing with Michael Scott, lest he run off to found his own paper company and tank the sales numbers of their most profitable branch.
** Charles Miner seems to be the only person they ever hired who's capable of exercising actual authority, and even then he doesn't have the best judgement. Karen does a decent job of holding down the Utica branch as of Season 4.
* ''Series/TheOfficeUK'' has David Brent who wants to be everyone's friend, isn't actually any good at being a manager and seems more interested in the fact that there's a [[{{Mockumentary}} TV documentary film crew]] in his workplace.

* ''Series/RedDwarf:'' Arnold Rimmer insists that being the highest ranking officer on board, he's in charge. He's the highest ranking officer because everyone else is dead, Dave. Of the other cast members, he had to threaten Lister into obeying in the first series by withholding his cigarettes, the Cat with bribery, and Kryten only obeys because he's programmed to do whatever a human tells him to, no matter how psychotic they are, and even then Kryten gets around that eventually. By series 5, Lister and the Cat are more likely to just ignore Rimmer until he sulks off.

** Same episode also deconstructs this with the revelation that the Space Corp Directive not only outranks Rimmer's decisions, but it actually ranks holograms as having the least power, with the crew even mockingly making apparent they could deactivate him if they wanted to and he would have no say on the matter. This backfires on them however when Rimmer actually studies the Space Corp Directive and uses it to actually gain authority by becoming a RulesLawyer, knowing Kryten will have to defend whatever he says through it.

* Type 4. Within ''Series/TheWestWing'' TrueCompanions, hierarchy and rank tend to get blurred. But ALWAYS Averted with President Bartlett.
-->'''C.J.:''' I'm assigning an intern from the press office to that web site. They're going to check it every night before they go home. If they discover you've been there, [[CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon I'm going to shove a motherboard so far up your ass]]... What?\\

* On ''Series/TheXFiles'', Walter Skinner is type 3. He eventually gets replaced due to his inability to make Mulder and Scully obey him. Alvin Kersh, the new boss, ''would'' be the same type, since it's not like Mulder, Scully and/or Dogget and Reyes listen to him any better, except for the fact that he plays dirty and has better connections within the Bureau than Skinner.

* [[TheHero Rean Schwarzer]] from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel III'' and ''IV'' is mostly a Type 4 with elements of Type 2 where he treats his students as friends and try to get closer with them. While they do respect him, they also are not above disobeying his orders and actually go after him when he tells them to stay put or go with their other fellow students on their exercises while he's off doing jobs on orders from the government.

* In ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'', The Custodian who interacts the most with the SuddenlySpeaking Emperor of Mankind is a Type 3 example. He is in fact is the [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Captain-General]] of the [[PraetorianGuard Adeptus Custodes]], making him a High Lord of Terra and (theoretically) one of the most powerful figures in the Imperium. He's also the OnlySaneMan of a bunch of MachoCamp, {{Stripperiffic}} lunatics who bully him and ignore his commands, and affectionately refer to him as [[EmbarrassingNickname "Little Kitten."]]

* In the ''US Acres'' segments for ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'', Orson takes so many shenanigans from the other animals on the chin ([[OneOfTheKids and in some cases joins in on them]]), you'd be forgiven for thinking his only seniority over them is being the TeamDad. Odd episodes however reveal he is actually second in command after the unseen farmer. It was treated as a case of OOCIsSeriousBusiness when on at least two occasions, he finally got sick of Roy's heckling and laziness, and angrily made clear he's his boss, and can and will ''fire him'' if he pushes him too far.
* ''WesternAnimation/InsideJob2021'': Brett is technically the co-leader of Cognito Inc., sharing the rank with Reagan, however, in practice, he looks and acts much more as Reagan's assistant, being responsible for passing her orders around to their team, helped by his own necessity to be liked. It's worth noting that this actually seems to be his de facto position anyway, since he was brought because Reagan has NoSocialSkills and is terrible at leading people, even if her brain makes her the best decision maker. An episode also reveals that in the company's database, he is considered an unpaid intern.
* Pops from ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' is technically higher in position compared to the other park employees due to being the park owner's son. However he rarely asserts his position, lets Benson run things, and pretty much acts more like a regular co-worker.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Carl is apparently Homer's supervisor. He mentions this only once matter-of-factly simply to get Homer to stop insulting him, and for the rest of the series acts as Homer's drinking buddy and even joins in on some of his antics. In the episode in which he gets the promotion he runs Homer beyond ragged by calling him at all hours with an endless barrage of inane requests but Homer eventually forces him to back off and let him be with Marge in peace thanks to Carl sleeping with the wife of ''the President of France'' (who Carl is trying to please) earlier in the episode.

* Acting like this in real life (as a wimpy boss ''or'' insubordinate employees) is an excellent way to get fired. There are some places where hierarchy gets blurred, but you have to be careful.
** That being said, many academic studies of leadership consider type 2/4 to be very effective in moderation.

* OlderThanRadio, as this trope appears in Charles Dicken's ''Literature/DavidCopperfield. Mr. Jorkins of the law firm of '''Spenlow and Jorkins''' does little beside hide in his office upstairs, with a small desk and a writing pad yellowed in age. Outside the office, Jorkins is a reclusive bachelor who lives in a house needing painting. In effect, for many years Mr. Jorkins chose to leave the running of the firm to his more competent partner Spenlow.

* Misato in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is qualified. Her orders come off as more motherly than bossy, and she acts like a sister at home.

* ''WesternAnime/InsideJob2021'': Brett is technically the co-leader of Cognito Inc., sharing the rank with Reagan, however, in practice, he looks and acts much more as Reagan's assistant, being responsible for passing her orders around to their team. It's worth noting that this actually seems to be his de facto position anyway, since he was brought because Reagan has NoSocialSkills and is terrible at leading people, even if her brain makes her the best decision maker. An episode also reveals that in the company's database, he is considered an unpaid intern.