History Main / TheConsigliere

* Wilson in ''Series/DadsArmy'' ("[[CatchPhrase Do you think that's]] ''[[CatchPhrase wise]]'', [[CatchPhrase sir?"]])

** Among the duties of Maesters [[note]]omnidisciplarian scholars[[/note]] assigned to castles is to advice lords of said castles on any topic covered in their studies.

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': Due to the extremities of Rick Sanchez more immoral actions, Morty Smith fluctuates between this and the SourSupporter. It doesn't help he's a more ineffective case of the trope, since he regularly finds himself ignored by Rick or shot down by the likes of Beth or Birdperson who blindly enable him. Akin to the trope however, Morty is too indispensable to just throw aside, contradicting or not, and Rick will often feel obliged to at least half-ass an excuse why he is (supposedly) wrong.
* Waylon Smithers in many instances tries to be such to Mr Burns in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', either correcting the latter's long outdated logic, or trying to appeal for a more pragmatic approach to some of his {{Evil Plan}}s. This straight up got him fired in the "Who Shot Mr Burns?" two-parter, where Smithers desperately objected to Burns' diabolical scheme to block the sun.

* ''Series/TheSopranos'': Silvio Manfred Dante serves as Tony Soprano's consigliere. He's not a bad one either, often giving Tony good advice (contrary to many actual ''consiglieri'' in today's Mafia, who tend to be shameless ass-kissers). At one point he tells his wife Gabriella that there'd been talk of promoting him to boss instead of Tony when the role opened up, but he always saw himself as a consigliere, not a boss. When Silvio has to serve as "acting boss" for a time while Tony is indisposed, he is distinctly uncomfortable.

** Eddard Stark serves as this to his friend, King Robert, who self-admittedly neglects the day-to-day running of his kingdom.
** Davos and Melisandre act as co-consiglieri to Stannis, often providing very conflicting advice. Whether it's battle tactics, politics, or just an opinion in general, Stannis places great trust in Davos. Following Stannis's death, Davos becomes this for Jon Snow.

** Janos Slynt makes himself the right-hand-man of Alliser Thorne in Season 4.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}''. The consigliere of the Mafia Finnigan family of Seattle is Albert "Uncle Al" Cavalieri.

** Young gangster Jimmy Darmody has two consiglieres; his mother, Gillian (who is also a LadyMacbeth), and Leander Whitlock, a CoolOldGuy who also advised his father.

** Davos and Melisandre act as co-consiglieres to Stannis, often providing very conflicting advice. Whether it's battle tactics, politics, or just an opinion in general, Stannis places great trust in Davos. Following Stannis's death, Davos becomes this for Jon Snow.

* Consigliere is one of the Mafia roles in ''VideoGame/TownOfSalem''. Functionally, it acts as the EvilCounterpart to the Investigator role, being able to spy on the other townsfolk and determine their roles, but while an Investigator can only narrow down a target's role to a small handful of possibilities, a Consigliere will determine their exact role with 100% certainty. It's thus also possible for the Consigliere to bluff and claim to be a benevolent Investigator if under suspicion. Because Consiglieres can get the most information in the Mafia, but [[NonActionGuy cannot attack themselves]], they usually serve as advisers to their Godfathers and Mafiosos.

* Surprisingly ''not'' true for the most part in UsefulNotes/TheMafia. Most real-life consiglieres are almost always low-level soldiers with legitimate or near-legitimate backgrounds who can represent the boss in non-criminal matters and sitdowns with other mob families. In the post-wiretap era, most "advisers" are shameless ass-kissers.

* ''VideoGame/Extrapower'': Daitoku Igor serves this position for the Forcestar household. A capable army general in his prior career with the combat experience to pilot any mech or vehicle, he now serves as Forcestar's butler and gives him wise advice for both the battlefield and daily life. When he's kidnapped partway through the events of ''[[VideoGame/ExtrapowerStarResistance Star Resistance]]'' to be brainwashed into Dark Force's advisor Big Eagle in ''[[VideoGame/ExtrapowerAttackOfDarkforce Attack of Darkforce]]'', he becomes an indespensible part of Dark Force's command staff, tempering his punishments against Sunny Day and Funny Face's frequent foul-ups to keep both Dark Force and his subordinates on their respective tasks in conquering the Earth. Even after his rescue and upon facing Dark Force in the field of battle, he gives Dark Force one final piece of tactical advice, to which Forcestar admits Dark Force should pay attention to as Daitoku's advice has never been wrong before.

A NumberTwo who is the Number One's voice of reason. Their advice is valuable to the boss because they're usually right, which puts them in a unique position to [[HonestAdvisor "Speak Truth To Power"]] when other staff might be scared to contradict the boss. This kind of job security is largely self-reinforcing -- [[VetinariJobSecurity the boss won't fire him because he needs]] [[HonestAdvisor his uniquely honest advice]], but he only has the freedom to be honest because he knows the boss won't fire him. Often the [[TheSmartGuy smartest guy]] [[TheEvilGenius in the room]], or just a [[TheConscience calming influence]] to a HotBlooded boss. There's a high likelihood of his being a [[AmoralAttorney retained lawyer.]]

* In ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'', Maiza seems to play something like this role to the Martillo crime family.

* The Virtuous Woman in [[Literature/TheBible Proverbs 31]]. She is described as an efficient administrator and merchantess managing the affairs of a rich Jewish household and hustling through the bazaar.

** ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'': Wilson Fisk has a consigliere in season 1 in the form of James Wesley. Wesley also handles Fisk's personal affairs, like his scheduling, and even supports Fisk's personal dating life when his criminal partners disapprove. Fisk views him as being [[LikeASonToMe the closest thing he has to a son]], such that he's willing to order a hit on Karen Page after she admits to murdering him.

* ''Series/TheDefenders2017'': Each of the heroes generally tends to have some minders to act as voices of reason to them, and even a few villains.
** ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'':
*** Foggy Nelson and Karen Page grow into the consigliere role after learning Matt's secret.
*** James Wesley functions as one to Wilson Fisk, and is often the face of the organization while Fisk is operating in the shadows.
** ''Series/{{Luke Cage|2016}}'': Hernan "Shades" Alvarez functions as one to Harlem's gangsters, although unlike Wesley, his loyalty can waver and he'll jump ship if he thinks his bosses aren't taking his advice seriously. He eventually ends up working for Mariah Dillard, the only boss who actually considers him useful.

* Silvio Dante has this role, literally and figuratively, in ''Series/TheSopranos'' crime family. He's not a bad one either, often giving Tony good advice (contrary to many actual ''consiglieri'' in today's Mafia, who tend to be shameless ass-kissers). At one point he tells his wife that there'd been talk of promoting him to boss instead of Tony when the role opened up, but he always saw himself as a consigliere, not a boss. When he had to serve as "acting boss" for a time while Tony was indisposed, Silvio was distinctly uncomfortable.

* Leo [=McGarry=] in ''Series/TheWestWing'' is the most prominent example in the series for President Jed Bartlet, both as Chief of Staff in Seasons 1-6, and as an advisor later in Season 6. Leo always addresses Bartlet respectfully as "Mr. President", but is the White House staffer who most consistently goes toe-to-toe in arguments with him when he feels Bartlet is making a wrong decision. Invoked when Leo calls himself a "wartime consigliere" to Toby in "The Leadership Breakfast". In the pre-series timeline Leo was also this to Jed while he was just a candidate for president as his campaign manager, something which Josh Lyman mirrors to Matt Santos in the latter's presidential campaign in Season 7. Bartlet recognizes the importance of having a good Chief of Staff to back him up in handling the duties and responsibilities of the Oval Office when he talkes with Agriculture Secretary Tribby, who is selected as the designated survivor for one State of the Union address:

* Leo [=McGarry=] in ''Series/TheWestWing'' is the most prominent example in the series President Jed Bartlet, both as Chief of Staff in Seasons 1-6, and as an advisor later in Season 6. Leo always addresses Bartlet respectfully as "Mr. President", but is the White House staffer who most consistently goes toe-to-toe in arguments with him when he feels Bartlet is making a wrong decision. Invoked when Leo calls himself a "wartime consigliere" to Toby in "The Leadership Breakfast". In the pre-series timeline Leo was also this to Jed while he was just a candidate for president as his campaign manager, something which Josh Lyman mirrors to Matt Santos in the latter's presidential campaign in Season 7. Bartlet recognizes the importance of having a good Chief of Staff to back him up in handling the duties and responsibilities of the Oval Office when he talkes with Agriculture Secretary Tribby, who is selected as the designated survivor for one State of the Union address:

'''Tribby:''': Yes, sir.\\

* Leo [=McGarry=] in ''Series/TheWestWing'' to President Jed Bartlet, both as Chief of Staff in Seasons 1-6, and as an advisor later in Season 6. Invoked when Leo calls himself a "wartime consigliere" to Toby in "The Leadership Breakfast".
** Josh Lyman to Matt Santos.

* Albert Speer was probably the closest to this trope in UsefulNotes/NaziGermany. He was one of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler's most trusted and competent (and [[OnlySaneMan sanest]]) friends, and the man who strengthened Germany's war effort from 1942. Germany would have probably lost UsefulNotes/WorldWar2 sooner without him (and the damage to Germany would have been worse if not for Speer quietly countermanding Hitler's SaltTheEarth orders wherever he could).
** Worth noting that this [[DatedHistory popular image]] of Speer is based mainly on [[UnreliableNarrator his own, incredibly self-serving, accounts of the Third Reich]]. More recent historical analysis suggests he overstated his role as a competent moral advisor and resistor to Hitler quite a bit...

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': Keeping with the mafia equivalence, Hank the halfling is this to Bozzok's [[TheDon Don]], ensuring the smooth running of the ThievesGuild by handling the bureaucratic part.

* In ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'', Siegfried Kircheis and Paul von Oberstein are this for Reinhard von Lohengramm, with Kircheis being Reinhard's childhood friend that equals or possibly surpasses his talent but lacks his ambition and acting as a conscience, and Oberstein being an extremely intelligent and amoral man who desires to reform the Empire but, realizing he lacks the charisma, swore himself to serve Reinhard who shared his goal and had the talent and charisma to reach the top.

** Of course, this is based mainly on [[UnreliableNarrator Speer's own, incredibly self-serving, accounts of the Third Reich]]. More recent historical analysis suggests he overstated his role as a competent moral advisor and resistor to Hitler quite a bit...

* Avi in Film/JohnWick serves this role to his boss [[BigBad Viggo]], advising him and trying to keep him from doing anything rash.

** ''Series/LukeCage2016'': [[Creator/TheoRossi Hernan "Shades" Alvarez]] functions as one to Harlem's gangsters, although unlike Wesley, his loyalty can waver and he'll jump ship if he thinks his bosses aren't taking his advice seriously. He eventually ends up working for Mariah Dillard, the only boss who actually considers him useful.

* One of the Mafia roles in ''VideoGame/TownOfSalem'' is the Consigliere, whose main role in the mafia is to spy on the other townspeople and find out their roles. Functionally, it acts as the EvilCounterpart to the Investigator role, but while an Investigator can only narrow down a target's role to a small handful of possibilities, a Consigliere will determine their exact role with 100% certainty. It's thus also possible for the Consigliere to bluff and claim to be a benevolent Investigator if under suspicion. Because Consiglieres can get the most information in the Mafia, but [[NonActionGuy cannot attack themselves]], they usually serve as advisers to their Godfathers and Mafiosos.