History Main / TheMainCharactersDoEverything

** Apparently {{enforced|Trope}}, according to the DVDCommentary for [[spoiler:"[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E1WhoShotMrBurnsPartTwo Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part 2)]]"]]; one writer suggested that [[spoiler:the shooter be Barney]], but it was decided that it should be [[spoiler:someone from the family (it's Maggie)]].
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E17HomerTheSmithers Homer the Smithers]]", Mr. Burns tries to force Smithers to take a vacation. Smithers appears to agree, though looks on his own to find someone too incompetent to handle his job so he can get back to it immediately -- but then his computer doesn't bother narrowing down from 714 "finalists", to which he decides, "nuts to this, I'll just go get Homer Simpson." Lampshaded in the DVD commentary as an excuse to get to this trope.
** {{Deconstructed|Trope}} in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E18TheDayTheViolenceDied The Day the Violence Died]]", in which the episode sees that Bart is seemingly on the verge of saving the Itchy and Scratchy studio from bankruptcy, only to see that a look-alike named Lester beat him to the punch. Lisa teasingly tells Bart, "It looks like you might have a little competition all of a sudden," only to learn afterward that Lester has his own brainy sister named Eliza. Then it turns out that the two kids not only additionally saved Apu Nahasapeemapetilon from spending time in jail for public nudity (which Bart and Lisa were working on during the brief moment they gave up on saving Itchy and Scratchy), but Lester also reunited Krusty with his estranged wife (which Bart was unaware of). The episode ends with Bart and Lisa finding the fact that they aren't the ones who saved the day for once unsettling.
--->'''Lisa:''' I don't understand it. We're ''always'' the ones who solve these problems.

** In the first episode of ''Unlimited'', it's explicitly stated that one of the reasons the Justice League expanded its membership so much was so that it could avert this trope. There wasn't any need to have Superman or Green Lantern deal with a situation that could be handled by Green Arrow or Stargirl, letting the heavy hitters stay in reserve to deal with the major problems.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', members of the Family tend to get involved in affairs of other characters, with varying degrees of [[JustifiedTrope justification]]. One blatant example is in "Eight Misbehavin'", where Homer helps Apu steal back his children from the Zoo, with no explanation given except possibly that Homer is up for any kind of hijinks.
** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in "Lisa's Date with Density", where Chief Wiggum says "You know, in most cities, the Chief of Police doesn't even go out on calls like these."
** In "Insane Clown Poppy" Krusty picks Homer out of several people for parental advice, and after Krusty bets and loses his daughter's violin to the mob and has to get it back, the Simpsons are inexplicably the first people he goes to for help. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d:
-->'''Krusty:''' You'd really help me take on the mob?\\
'''Homer:''' For a casual acquaintance like you? Absolutely.
** Similarly in "The Lastest Gun in the West," Marge explains to a confused Buck that she's helping him solve his alcohol problem because "I just naturally assumed it was some of my business." He responds "nobody's even told me your name yet."

*** In "Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment", Prohibition gets started because Bart drinks at the Saint Patrick's Day Parade, and Homer works to reverse it.
*** In "Sweets and Sour Marge", Homer indirectly, and Marge directly, causes the sugar ban, and Homer works to reverse it.
** Apparently {{enforced|Trope}}, according to the DVDCommentary for [[spoiler: "Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part 2"]]; one writer suggested it should be [[spoiler: Barney]], but it was decided that it should be [[spoiler: someone from the family. (It's Maggie.)]]
** From "Homer the Smithers", Mr. Burns tries to force Smithers to take a vacation. Smithers appears to agree, though looks on his own to find someone too incompetent to handle his job so he can get back to it immediately - but then his computer doesn't bother narrowing down from 714 "finalists", to which he decides, "nuts to this, I'll just go get Homer Simpson." Lampshaded in the DVD commentary as an excuse to get to this trope.
** {{Deconstructed|Trope}} in "The Day the Violence Died", in which the episode sees that Bart is seemingly on the verge of saving the Itchy and Scratchy studio from bankruptcy, only to see that a look-alike named Lester beat him to the punch. Lisa teasingly tells Bart, "It looks like you might have a little competition all of a sudden," only to learn afterward that Lester has his own brainy sister named Eliza. Then it turns out that the two kids not only additionally saved Apu Nahasapeemapetilon from spending time in jail for public nudity (which Bart and Lisa were working on during the brief moment they gave up on saving Itchy and Scratchy), but Lester also reunited Krusty with his estranged wife (which Bart was unaware of). The episode ends with Bart and Lisa finding the fact that they aren't the ones who saved the day for once unsettling.

** In "Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington", the Simpsons motivate Krusty to run for Congress so he could shift the air flight traffic away from their house. When it turns out Krusty has no actual power within Congress, the Simpson family, with guidance from Walter Mondale, take matters into their own hands by attaching Krusty's airline rerouting bill to a more popular bill and preventing two congressmen from objecting to it (with Bart blackmailing one of them and Homer drinking the other under the table).

->''"Ramirez, use the remote-controlled Predator missiles!"''\\
''"Ramirez! Use your laser designator to call in artillery on those vehicles!"''\\
''"Ramirez, get that briefcase... what's left of it."''\\
''"Ramirez, get on that minigun!"''\\
''"Ramirez, get on that sniper rifle!"''\\
''"Ramirez, use some of this ordnance to take out the enemy vehicles!"''

* In Creator/TherinKnite's ''Literature/{{Echoes|2014}}'', Adem and the rest of Night Team One are the "premier" team at EDPA, meaning they get called in to work any cases deemed high priority by the organization. Since the books revolve around a series of escalating "high priority" cases, Night Team One ends up doing everything, all the time, from things ''far'' beyond their collective skill sets to the marginally important tasks that would usually be relegated to lower-ranked agents.

* This was present in ''LARP: The Battle For Verona'', where the main characters, a group of [=LARP=]ers, instruct the US Army on how to repel Mongolian invaders using Medieval technology. The fact that these are young people who get together on weekends to play games ''instructing dedicated military personnel'' breaks the suspension of disbelief quite quickly.

* Justified in ''Literature/TheLostFleet'' series; having managed to get home from a disastrous raid on the enemy rear with a high percentage of his fleet intact, recently recovered HumanPopsicle and ''very'' reluctant legendary war hero John Geary is immediately sent off on another mission as far from his home nation -much to his own considerable displeasure- as possible because he scares the living daylights out of his political leadership; relations between the military and the government have become exceedingly strained thanks to a century of brutal and bloody warfare, and there was already a serious threat of a coup before a man who is FamedInStory as some hybrid of Admiral Nelson and Captain America came back from the dead. It also doesn't hurt that he's just about the only really competent fleet commander they have ''left'' at this point, because casualties have been so appalling that training and experience are in short supply.

* In Creator/MikhailAkhmanov's ''[[Literature/ArrivalsFromTheDark Retaliation]]'', the main character, Captain Paul Richard Corcoran, is the commanding officer of a SpaceNavy frigate. He spends about half the novel actually commanding the ship, and the other half boarding a suspicious alien ship or making a secret landing onto a hostile alien planet. The novel tries to justify this by his unique nature: he's a HalfHumanHybrid with PsychicPowers, who is uniquely qualified to sense and contact alien races. Additionally, while infiltrating the alien planet, he pilots one of their small ships, something only he can do due to his alien parentage. He's also a trained SpaceMarine, having started out as one (he also used to be a SpaceFighter pilot, although, at least, the novel doesn't show him doing that outside of a {{Flashback}}). Apparently, it's quite common in this 'verse to start out as a SpaceMarine, only to end up eventually commanding a ship and then an entire fleet. In the sequel, ''Fighters of Danwait'', his descendant Sergey Valdez, is a retired SpaceNavy commander, whose last posting in the fleet was that of a heavy cruiser's second pilot (a fairly prestigious posting, since this 'verse's heavy cruisers are what battleships are in American sci-fi). Valdez now serves as a mercenary, commanding a three-man patrol ship for a HigherTechSpecies of TechnicalPacifists. He is both TheCaptain and the pilot of the ship, while the other two crewmembers are the gunners (which is what their postings used to be in the SpaceNavy before the peacetime cutbacks). And yet, when it's time to board enemy ships, all three grab weapons and rush in like true SpaceMarines.

* Literature/TheSwordOfTruth series: If Richard didn't do it, and Kahlan didn't do it, then the action in question is by definition evil, because no one else on the side of good has any agency whatsoever. Becomes slightly ridiculous when an ancient wizard ancestor of Richard who was so powerful and dangerous that there was an entire civilization founded on keeping him and his flawless future-vision locked up, and a second civilization based on exploiting the technology invented to keep him that way escapes dramatically from confinement to... kind of faff around in the background aimlessly for a couple books, and maybe make a pass at an old woman or two. Little help with the oncoming super-evil empire of doom would have been nice, granddad.

* In ''Series/{{Stingray|1964}}'', the title craft is supposedly the fastest, deadliest, most advanced submarine in the world, crewed by the two most elite aquanauts. Despite the many hostile underwater races and other threats from the world's oceans, Stingray is nevertheless always available to go on treasure hunts, to investigate wild rumours and to patrol oyster beds.
* ''{{Series/Thunderbirds}}'': Officially, International Rescue has agents all over the world, and Lady Penelope is strictly the London Agent. Yet, she's the only agent shown to have a direct video connection to IR headquarters, and whenever IR needs something investigated, no matter where in the world, she and her butler Parker are always the ones they call upon.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'': Season 2. The main character is an 11-year-old girl, and as per usual, she is at least somewhat involved in pretty much everything important that happens to the group. Sometimes the trope is entirely justified, for example when someone small and/or lightweight is required. Sometimes the player is even allowed to [[LampshadeHanging call the other characters out]] for sending a child to do a dangerous task. It's lampshaded at one point when the main human villain points out she's the only credible threat in her group, simply due to the others' [[AdultsAreUseless sheer incompetence]]. Sometimes played entirely straight.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Parodied by ''WebComic/SchlockMercenary'': in an arc [[AffectionateParody affectionately parodying]] ''Series/{{CSI}}'' the Grissom {{Expy}} is [[https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2004-05-08 told off by his supervisor]] for trying to interrogate Schlock since as a crime scene investigator he has no business interrogating suspects.
* While the main cast of ''WebComic/ExterminatusNow'' is less of a RagtagBunchOfMisfits and more of a DysfunctionJunction, as compared to the occasionally contrasted [[TheAce "A team"]] of the Mobian Inquisition, or even it's [[DestructiveSaviour "C team"]], they keep being send on sensitive missions, even when their commander [[UriahGambit isn't trying to kill them off for blackmailing him]]. [[LampshadeHanging Gets lampshaded]] when Lothar [[http://exterminatusnow.co.uk/2014-02-15/comic/tangled-web/scout-and-about/ wonders if their commander even has other teams.]] [[spoiler: Ironically, this is the one arc where the C-team [[BigDamnHeroes actually comes in to bail the protagonists out]].]]

[[folder:Web Original]]

* ''Webcomic/IWasKidnappedByLesbianPiratesFromOuterSpace''. Spoofed when the characters are having a MissionBriefing, and someone points out that if everyone's here, ''who's flying the ship?!'' They promptly crash.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' when something needs to be done in ISIS it's only limited to the core 8 cast members doing something about it, the rest of the other nameless employees in the office do nothing but just be there to show how busy the office is.
** By early Season 3 it becomes clear that ISIS, despite being a dedicated spy agency, only has three active field agents: Archer, Lana, and Ray (and the latter actually began life as a support agent in his first appearance, before being {{Retconned}} into fieldwork). This becomes obvious when Ray is apparently struck by a life-changing injury and Malory feels she has no choice but to promote Cyril to field agent, after roughly six hours of bad training from Archer that took place maybe two years ago, to cover his cases.

** And now as of Season 6 the main 8 cast members literally do everything, since everyone else [[spoiler:left ISIS after it got shut down by the CIA and weren't there when Malory got it back]].
** This trope is {{Lampshaded}} in "Drastic Voyage: Part 1". [[spoiler:Slater]] insists on sending Pam, Cyril, Krieger, and Cheryl on the mission even though they're not field agents because he knows no matter what he does they'll somehow find a way to get into the field anyway.
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Team Avatar (plus Iroh) become the only game-changers in the Hundred-Year War. Even more in the finale, when [[spoiler: Aang stops Ozai from destroying Ba Sing Se and then rest of the Earth Kingdom ({{Justified|Trope}} because he's the [[DeityOfHumanOrigin Avatar]]); Zuko and Katara are the only ones who wrest Azula from becoming Fire Lord despite her becoming increasingly unpopular in the Fire Nation; Sokka, Toph and Suki are the only ones putting any effort neutralizing the ''rest'' of the airships attempting to raze the Earth Kingdom; and Iroh is the only one who can assemble the White Lotus to take back Ba Sing Se from the Fire Nation, this being more egregious because Ozai's entire plan to burn down the Earth Kingdom is in response to the Earthbender rebellions, but Bumi (among the White Lotus) is the only one seen to be actively liberating Ba Sing Se.]]

* Used both ways in ''WesternAnimation/TheDreamstone''. The Land of Dreams is protected by a population of magical Wuts and the omni-powerful wizard, the Dream Maker, while Viltheed consists of the EvilSorcerer Zordrak and his enormous army of Urpneys. Despite this, most episodes narrow the feud down to "[[KidHero Rufus and Amberley]] vs [[TerribleTrio Sgt Blob, Frizz and Nug]]", with other characters only ever coming into the fray when one of them is genuinely on the ropes. While this is Lampshaded frequently in the villains' case (Frizz and Nug are usually the only ones who can be dragged into a mission), the heroes' reasoning seems based on pure suspension of disbelief (though one episode shrewdly implied the Noops were aware they always get handed the dirty work).
* On ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', Timmy seems to be the only kid with fairies who makes wishes that alter reality. Mainly because the others are implicitly too sensible to make the boneheaded mistakes Timmy does to twice a week. When Chloe was introduced to share Cosmo and Wanda, she made big mistakes too.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' called "12-and-a-half Angry Men", the jury in Mayor West's trial consists entirely of A-list and B-list characters. This includes Brian - a dog.
** And Joe, a precinct cop, serves as the bailiff. Though this is hilariously lampshaded.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', the Planet Express team gets commissioned to do various improbable things, such as in "A Big Ball of Garbage", where they are put in charge of planting a bomb on the titular ball. Flimsily {{justified|Trope}} by reference to the fact that they're the only people willing/contractually obligated to take on such a suicidal mission.
* While ''Franchise/GIJoe'' had hundreds of characters (about one per every task that might need doing), mainly due to never featuring ''all'' of the characters in any one episode, it was extremely common to see one specialist doing the job of another. In particular, nearly every member of the team was apparently qualified in flying modern jet fighters, and did so often. Perhaps this is why they ended up causing so much damage to the cities they were assigned to protect from Cobra.
* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Grossology}}'', very little focus is put on Grossologists other than Abby and Ty.
* On ''WesternAnimation/InsideJob2021'', the main characters are constantly doing field operations to maintain the [[ConspiracyKitchenSink various conspiracies they're in charge of keeping in place]], despite the fact that most of them are departmental heads at Cognito Inc. who have countless people under them that they can order to do these tasks instead. Ridley in particular is high enough on the corporate leader that ''everyone else'' reports to her, while she reports directly to the CEO, with her main goal throughout the series being to become CEO herself.

* Played with in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''. Main character and "world's greatest detective" Batman doesn't find any evidence at a crime scene, and suggests minor character The Atom come to find anything he might've missed. However, he apparently doesn't find anything either.
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'': In the first episode, it's explicitly stated that one of the reasons the Justice League expanded its membership so much was so that it could avert this trope. There wasn't any need to have Superman or Green Lantern deal with a situation that could be handled by Green Arrow or Stargirl, letting the heavy hitters stay in reserve to deal with the major problems.

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'': In the first episode, it's explicitly stated that one of the reasons the Justice League expanded its membership so much was so that it could avert this trope. There wasn't any need to have Superman or Green Lanturn deal with a situation that could be handled by Green Arrow or Stargirl, letting the heavy hitters stay in reserve to deal with the major problems.

* ''Film/StarTrekGenerations'' starts with the Enterprise B facing an emergency during a maiden voyage where Kirk, Scotty, and Chekov are guests of honor. Kirk modifies the ship's deflector, Scotty beams up the refugees, and Chekov is the temporary doctor. Part of this was because the Enterprise only has a skeleton crew on board - it was only intended to be a short trip for propaganda purposes before it was returned to base, more thoroughly equipped, and properly crewed.
* In ''[[Film/StarTrek2009 Star Trek]]'', the main cast does nearly everything because everyone else either doesn't show up, dies, or is incompetent. Bones is made Chief Medical Officer when his superior dies in Nero's first attack on the ''Enterprise''. "Helmsman [=McKenna=]" never shows up, thus Sulu becomes the pilot. A linguistics officer proves incapable of distinguishing Romulan and Vulcan, thus xenolinguistics expert Uhura quickly earns his job. Then, the transporter room staff prove similarly incapable of locking on to Kirk and Sulu when they're falling without a chute, and Chekhov quickly runs to the transporter room, shoves them out of the way and does their job for them. Kirk and Sulu are in that situation because they and the Chief Engineer were all chosen for a combat mission instead of ''Enterprise'' security, even though they're all bridge crew and Sulu is already the ''backup'' pilot. When Chief Engineer Olsen proves to be [[spoiler:a RedShirt]], [[spoiler:Scotty, who came aboard mid-voyage,]] ends up taking his place. Finally, Kirk winds up [[spoiler:becoming ''Acting Captain'' despite having never been meant to be on board in the first place, due to Pike being captured and Spock becoming emotionally compromised]].

* An odd case with ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' is the characters of Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny. In part they subvert this trope, since they are technically many characters despite being essentially identical. However, other police and nurses (who we see on occasion actually do exist) pretty much never get to do anything of consequence. Good luck advancing when your entire industry is dominated by one family.

* Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire: Despite the books having tons of characters, there are a few examples where there is a definite shortage of required administration. Eddard Stark is the Lord Paramount of the North, a region the size of about half of South America, yet his administration seems to be just six people: himself, his wife Catelyn, Maester Luwin, Captain of the Guards Jory Cassel, Master-Of-Arms Rodrick Cassel, and Steward Vayon Poole. For a much worse example, Varys runs a spy network of hundreds or thousands of individuals scattered all around the world and they all report directly to him. That's like having the CIA composed of the Director and a few thousand Field Agents. It's amazing he has time to get involved in all of these conspiracies personally.

** That said, ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' plays the trope largely straight. First, the main cast rescues Han themselves without any outside aid from the Rebellion or otherwise. Then, once Han is unfrozen and the group reunites with the Rebels, Han, despite having previously stated his intent to leave the Rebellion on Hoth and having not been involved with any prior planning into the Endor mission, is assigned command of the strike team to destroy the Death Star's shield generator, and chooses most of the main characters for his command crew. Once on Endor, the main characters are quickly split up from the strike team, and do the heavy lifting in stopping scout troopers and recruiting the Ewoks. During the final battle, the strike team is quickly captured by the Imperials and are out of focus during the final battle, in favor of the main cast and the Ewoks. Meanwhile, Lando Calrissian, despite having only been part of the Rebellion for less than a year after the downfall of Cloud City, is one of the primary leaders of the assault on the Death Star, is the one to realize they've been led into a trap and saves the fleet, and leads the assault on the station's main reactor.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' plays with this over the course of the franchise, though is mostly able to avert this thanks to numerous characters with [[SmallRoleBigImpact small but important roles]]. For the Imperials, you never see any command officer fighting in combat, except for Vader, who is outside the normal line of authority and more often a FrontlineGeneral, and General Veers during [[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack the Battle of Hoth]] (which helped point out the dangers of a frontline general when, in both old and new continuities, he's nearly killed when a damaged snowspeeder [[TakingYouWithMe kamikazes into his AT-AT's cockpit]]). With the Rebels, slightly more is done by high-level people, though again only in situations where it would be likely and many of those earned those ranks in earlier battles (Han and Lando promoted to General). Though Han swiftly being given command of the critical Endor strike team shortly after being unfrozen in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' stands out in this regard, with Han notably choosing all the main characters for his shuttle's "command crew" -- the rest of the strike team does little of note during the film. For the most part, on both sides, you see admirals, generals, [[CallARabbitASmeerp moffs]], and even the Emperor only giving orders.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' plays with this over the course of the franchise, though is mostly able to avert this thanks to numerous characters with [[SmallRoleBigImpact small but important roles]]. For the Imperials, you never see any command officer fighting in combat, except for Vader, who is outside the normal line of authority and more often a FrontlineGeneral, and General Veers during [[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack the Battle of Hoth]] (which helped point out the dangers of a frontline general when, in both old and new continuities, he's nearly killed when a damaged snowspeeder [[TakingYouWithMe kamikazes into his AT-AT's cockpit]]). With the Rebels, slightly more is done by high-level people, though again only in situations where it would be likely and many of those earned those ranks in earlier battles (Han and Lando promoted to General). For the most part, on both sides, you see admirals, generals, [[CallARabbitASmeerp moffs]], and even the Emperor only giving orders.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SkylandersAcademy'', Team Spyro (Spyro, Steath Elf, Eruptor, Jet-Vac and Pop Fiz), despite being a new team of Skylanders in-universe, are the only ones who participate in most battles, teach classes, and are generally the only ones that Master Eon calls and spends more time with them. All other Skylanders are side characters or Skylander cadets in the AlternateContinuity of this series

* ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'': Thomas is a short-range locomotive with his own branch line to run. Yet from series 3 onwards, running his branch line was about the only thing he hardly ever seemed to do. The same could be applied to any of the main characters.
** This is further amplified from Season 8 onwards with the concept of the Steam Team being introduced. Most of the episodes in the future seasons put one of those characters in focus, which causes some character regression or derailment in some cases. This also leaves other established characters pushed in the sidelines or left out entirely.
** While this problem was slightly alleviated in Seasons 17-21, it resurged in Season 22 onwards due to the Steam Team overhaul. The special "Steam Team to the Rescue" shows how much seems to now rely on the seven. Despite the numerous count of engines, the majority of the workload is shown to be done by the seven Steam Team engines, especially during the final scene at Brendam Docks. There are engines who work the Brendam Branch Line, but they're never shown helping there. Only when the Steam Team gets involved does the pile-up get resolved.
** Granted, this is a FranchiseOriginalSin dating back to the [[Literature/TheRailwaySeries original books]]; WordOfGod explained that there are over 80 engines on Sodor, most of whom we've never seen.

-->-- '''Sergeant Foley''' to [[PlayerCharacter Private James Ramirez]], ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2''

In RealLife, the various members of an organization have very well-defined jobs, which include a specific set of responsibilities and a limited amount of authority. Each member is restricted to performing only a specific set of activities. This system, called "departmentalization", allows the organization to train each member in one set of tasks, allows each member to focus on those tasks, and prevents members from stepping on each other's toes while doing their jobs. Departmentalization is a key aspect of many organizations (particularly large ones), including police, military, medical, governmental, educational and even commercial organizations.

In fiction, however, organizations are rarely depicted in this fashion, particularly when it comes to main characters who are members of said organization. Instead of having a restricted set of responsibilities and authority, [[TitleDrop The Main Characters Do Everything]]. They will often be seen doing [[RuleOfDrama whatever tasks are important to the story]] or interesting to watch, regardless of whether they would logically have the clearance, ability, or even the need to do those things themselves. Furthermore, any figures of authority in the organization will rarely show an interest in maintaining any departmentalized structure, often ordering our main characters to act outside conventional boundaries. In many cases, we'll see [[GhostExtras a lot of people milling about in the background doing nothing]], because the Main Characters are already doing ''their job''.

On some shows, the situation will be even more skewed: A main character is actually a figure of authority, but is frequently seen performing the jobs of his underlings -- particularly [[RiskingTheKing putting himself into dangerous situations]]. Real-world Departmentalized organizations often go to extreme lengths to keep the higher-ups out of danger, letting expendables do the dirty work. In fact, superiors are often explicitly discouraged from taking a "hands-on" approach entirely (even when they are more qualified for a task than their underlings), whereas in fiction this notion seems to be almost non-existent.

This trope usually happens because writers are faced with a tough dilemma: If our main characters were realistically limited to the scope of their own jobs, [[BoringButPractical things could get very boring very quickly]]. How interesting would it be to watch TheCaptain pushing papers and managing his crew all day? How many interesting stories can revolve around watching the doctor diagnosing patients in his little office? [[note]]There are also RealLife reasons for a TV show to do this -- you're already paying your main cast top-dollar per episode. They also ''want'' to be on screen -- they did [[PayingTheirDues boring roles]] for years before landing this gig. The audience notices if these characters aren't around. Other shows would like to woo your actors away for their own casts. You have to put them on when you can to make sure you are getting your money's worth and your actors and fans are happy. The easiest way to do it is by using this trope. As for hiring lesser-known actors to do those roles, they need to be paid, too... and if they're on the show every week they'll want better pay and higher billing.[[/note]]

It is important to note that [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools this trope is only a tool]], often being considered one of the many AcceptableBreaksFromReality. It helps reduce the introduction of [[FlatCharacter Flat Characters]] that carry out the menial tasks, and keeps the main characters in focus throughout the episode.

This trope is closely related to GhostExtras, since the two tropes are almost always played together. Expect the main character(s) to be an OmnidisciplinaryScientist, SuperDoc, or DoAnythingSoldier (it's usually an excuse to let him Do Everything). OneRiotOneRanger is an extreme application of the trope. CommandRoster practically guarantees the trope. Also connected to RedShirt; if you're in a series where The Main Characters Do Everything, and suddenly you see someone else participating in the main action, they might be there only [[SacrificialLamb for purposes of a sudden death.]] Can overlap with CriticalStaffingShortage if it's acknowledged that there ''should'' be more people than just the main characters doing things, but they're the only people on hand.

** This is mentioned as one of the reasons why the batarians have failed to advance as far as the other species. Apparently, batarian commanders and other authority figures indulge in excessive micromanagement to the detriment of their society.

** Played straight with any technological task not specifically flagged for a teammate to do. You can never assign Tali or Kasumi to bypass a door, it has to be Shepard. Hacking a computer system, even with Tali or Legion standing next to you - Shepard again!

** In the Omega DLC, only an Engineer Shepard will be able to quickly reroute power. All of the others will struggle.
** ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'': The Pathfinders were intended to handle exploration, diplomacy, research, and combat, in roughly that order. In-game, you do all that plus odd jobs for anybody who needs help, though in fairness many of those fall under diplomacy (helping allies). It's explained that Alec Ryder, the PC's father, invented the Pathfinder role, but he died before he had a chance to do anything with it. Alec was formerly an N7, the same as Shepard; this trope is apparently part of their training. You, as the most prominent Pathfinder, get to define the limits of the role... and apparently it includes doing odd jobs for everyone.

* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidV'', despite being the leader of an entire private army, Big Boss/Snake still does most of the important missions by himself (or with a singular buddy). It can be somewhat excused by Big Boss being the best stealth operative there is, but even during missions where the objective doesn't require stealth (such as Episode 9 of ''The Phantom Pain''), Big Boss never brings any extra soldier to back him up or get the mission done quicker. This gets silly when Metal Gears are involved, as Big Boss has to fight an entire HumongousMecha by himself with his army at best giving air support. On a logistical level, Diamond Dogs also can't seem to source basic military hardware like mortars, requiring Boss to steal them from an actual army.

* The ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' series mostly follows this trope, but zig-zags a bit now and then. From ''VideoGame/{{Grand Theft Auto|Classic}}'' until ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' (2001) the trope was averted, as the protagonist was for the most part totally without support or allies, or simply was the only individual capable of handling the situation. For example, III's protagonist, Claude, was basically a thug who was just out to make a buck while trying to avoid the police, other criminals, and other enemies, taking the opportunity for revenge every now and then when they arose. He seemingly had no aspirations to be anything more than a psycho for hire. But from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity'' (2002) on (with the odd break like ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoLibertyCityStories'' (2005) and such), protagonists like Vice City's Tommy Vercetti became criminal kingpins or such during the course of their stories, having dozens of henchmen at their disposal for doing tasks. But the nature of the game demanded that scenarios be designed where only the Boss could undertake any actual missions, such as said mission might be of a personal nature in some manner, or a matter of honor, or only the protagonist had the skill or competence to do the job, or he is simply a BloodKnight, getting a psychopathic thrill from carnage and/or killing.

** Averted in the Suicide Mission in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', however. If you don't pick the correct specialists for each role ([[spoiler:Tali, Legion or Kasumi for the vent; Jack or Samara for the barrier; Garrus, Miranda or Jacob to lead secondary fireteams]]), people ''will'' die.

* Somewhat comically deconstructed in ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemptionII''; turns out, when you make the protagonist run a PlayingBothSides scheme by himself, eventually said parties are going to ''notice'' that the one guy who helps them showing up doing things for their enemies, and they're going to be mad at the gang who tried to trick them both. [[DidntThinkThisThrough Not one Dutch's best plans, there]].

* Tjis is a common problem in most roleplaying games, especially D&D. Why is the high level wizard sending the low level party to retrieve an item for them, when they could teleport there, nuke everything, and be back home in about 5 minutes? Sometimes there are justifications, but usually it just needs to be ignored.

* In ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim'', a disproportionate number of events of worldwide importance seem to involve the core cast of characters in some way. For example, the reason why [[JustSoStory there are two large holes in the moon]] is because [[spoiler:Todd Ingram punched them into it with his bare fists to impress Ramona and Envy (respectively for each hole)]].

!! Examples:

* In ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim'', a disproportionate number of events of worldwide importance seem to involve the core cast of characters in some way. For example, apparently the reason why [[JustSoStory there's holes in the moon]] is because [[spoiler:Todd Ingram punched them into it with his bare fists to impress Envy]].

* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''LightNovel/HeavyObject''- Qwenser and Hevia are supposed to be maintenance team members and comment on this fact frequently when they're repeatedly assigned to combat roles.

* ''Manga/MonsterMusume'': Kimihito and his BalancedHarem aren't even government workers, but they're still dragooned into doing all sorts of work for the Department of Demihuman Relations. This is because Ms. Smith is fairly lazy (in her defense, she's also heavily overworked and underpaid) and likes to push whatever work she can onto Kimihito. Heck, she's the one who made him host a monstergirl in the first place, as she just dumped Maii onto him instead of assigning her to a family who'd actually volunteered for the Interspecies Exchange Program. Kimihito brings up how inappropriate it is for him to be doing such things all the time, but Ms. Smith manages to guilt him into going along with everything anyway.

* Played straight in ''VideoGame/Battlefield3'' when Sgt. Miller (tank commander) blows a road block and takes out an IED under gunfire, because the bomb squad guy is too cowardly to do it. His loader lampshades it by saying "you ought to collect that guy's salary, dude. You just did his job". Not to mention as well that Miller being the commander is abstracted into gameplay as him [[CrewOfOne directly controlling all movement, aiming and shooting]] while the rest of the crew just comments on what's happening. Averted, however, by switching to Miller, Lt. Hawkins ([[GuyInBack weapon systems officer]] for a Super Hornet) or Dima (Russian GRU) for scenes the primary protagonist, Sgt. Blackburn (Marine Recon), was not at or could not feasibly do.

* Played straight in ''VideoGame/Battlefield3'' when Sgt. Miller (tank driver) blows a road block and takes out an IED under gunfire, because the bomb squad guy is too cowardly to do it. His partner lampshades it by saying "you ought to collect that guy's salary, dude. You just did his job". Not to mention, as well, that while Miller is supposed to just be the driver, [[CrewOfOne he's also controlling the cannon at the same time]]. Averted, however, by switching to Miller, Lt. Hawkins ([[GuyInBack weapon systems officer]] for a Super Hornet) or Dima (Russian GRU) for scenes the primary protagonist, Sgt. Blackburn (Marine Recon), was not at or could not feasibly do.

* The ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' series repeatedly has soldiers who are not only capable of using every piece of military equipment imaginable, but repeatedly ordered to use weapons that, by their military rank, they should not be let anywhere near. Of course, this is almost inevitably in some sort of highly-critical emergency with no one else available - there is at least one occasion where someone else actually is tasked to do something (such as destroying some tanks with a Javelin in an early ''[=CoD4=]'' level) only to immediately take a bullet to the face, leaving the player to do it instead.
** This becomes more apparent in the ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' games. Private Ramirez in the second game is ordered to use anything from sophisticated Predator drones to rocket launchers to plastic explosives like C4, and Private Allen is tasked with being a DeepCoverAgent in a Russian terrorist cell. Allen at least possibly has the excuse, flimsy as it may be, that he's drafted into Task Force 141 because he does really well in "The Pit", [[spoiler:and that he's not really ''meant'' to accomplish anything other than [[DeceasedFallGuyGambit get killed and implicate America in a massacre]].]] Ramirez really doesn't. This went to the point that "Ramirez! Do everything!" [[MemeticMutation became a meme]].

** {{Deconstructed|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/CallofDutyInfiniteWarfare''. The player character Nick Reyes's inability to delegate, despite being a starship captain, is actually pointed out and treated as a character flaw rather than a gameplay mechanic -- and it repeatedly bites him in the ass. The character tic is justified in game that Reyes was originally started the game as a lowly lieutenant and small-squad leader before getting an emergency field promotion to become the captain of a spaceship--the man literally do not know how to lead from the rear. And in the end, all of Reyes's attempts to put himself in the line of fire so his crew does not have to risk themselves was rendered moot when he had to sacrifice his entire crew to pull off a vital (but suicidal) final stand.
* Jim Walls (who wrote ''Police Quest'') also wrote ''VideoGame/CodenameIceman'', where he takes the trope up a couple of notches. In this game you are playing Westland, a CIA agent instructed to go halfway around the world aboard a [=USN=] nuclear submarine in order to infiltrate Tunisia by sea and carry out a hostage rescue ''[[OneRiotOneRanger all by yourself]]'', preventing a war with the Soviet Union. If this wasn't enough, Westland is also a Commander in the Navy and a skilled nuclear submarine pilot -- so naturally he gets to pilot the sub several times during the game and even takes command when the Captain gets injured in a silly accident. But the game truly takes the cake when Westland has to personally inspect and repair a malfunctioning torpedo tube (''manufacturing spare parts himself'' in the machine shop!), otherwise the sub gets sunk during the next combat scene. It should be noted that this is a case of MinimalistCast; only a handful of crewmembers are ever shown to be on-board the sub - a Los Angeles-class submarine - supposedly run by a crew of 130.

* ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' justified this. Most of the time when Hornblower is doing something, he's of a rank lower than captain. Once he becomes a captain and higher, he's less likely to get involved himself. On one occasion, he's forced to go on a mission because one of the Lieutenants on it would out-seniority his preferred choice, his own Lt. Bush. Bush himself is decidedly unhappy about his beloved boss risking his life. And at least once, after reaching higher than Captain, he admits to himself that [[LampshadeHanging he simply wants to and there's no one there to stop him]].