History Main / TheStrategist

*** Perturabo of the Iron Warriors was Rogal Dorn's opposite number, the greatest offensive combat engineer in the galaxy. He took grim satisfaction in cracking even the most impenetrable fortresses, and after his FaceHeelTurn, he was chiefly responsible for punching through Dorn's defences during the Siege of Terra. Nobody's quite sure why he's spent most of the past ten thousand years [[OrcusOnHisThrone sitting brooding on his daemon-world]], but it's a fair guess that it's because he knows [[NoChallengeEquslsNoSatisfaction he'll never face a test of his abilities like that again.]]

** Batman often serves this role in the ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica, being the only one without superpowers and usually the only one with common sense. Most of the Bat Family are ActionHero Strategists, though some do tend to skip the strategy part. He even has plans for fighting his fellow Justice League members and is so [[CrazyPrepared prepared for any threats]] that he's even built a Batcave on the moon.
** In ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'', ComicBook/{{Bane}} masterminds a breakout of Arkham Asylum and allows Batman's RoguesGallery to wear the hero down, before attacking. He ''effortlessly'' defeats him, ending with him breaking his back and forever becoming known as "The Man Who Broke the Bat". Unfortunately, adaptations usually reduce him to DumbMuscle.
* ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'': There's a reason why Captain America is one of the most respected heroes in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, aside from being the world's first SuperSoldier. He's one of the world's most brilliant military strategists in history. In "Deadpool Art of War" he outmaneuvers Loki by waiting for his army to get tired before going full force and flanks them using Fury's intel on their movement.

* ''ComicBook/XMen'': ComicBook/{{Cyclops|MarvelComics}} gives Cap a real run for his money. Not only a superb field commander, Cyclops is a brilliant strategist and tactician. Perhaps his masterstroke is the creation of Utopia during ''ComicBook/DarkReign'', where he ''completely'' outmaneuvers and utterly humiliates Norman Osborne and his Dark Avengers, cracks Osborne's VillainWithGoodPublicity standing, and exposes Osborne for the psychopath he truly is.
* ''ComicBook/YoungJustice'': ComicBook/{{Robin|1993}} was the strategist of the team, coming up with clever plans that his teammates often didn't understand or didn't try to follow, which meant his plans had to account for their impulsive behavior. He became an even more effective planner for the team when ComicBook/WonderGirl was elected the new team leader since she understood and could collaborate with him to implement his ideas.

* Kenny is this in the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Best Friends Forever"; he proves so adept at [[IKnowMortalKombat a PSP real-time strategy game]] that Heaven recruits him to lead angelic armies against the hosts of Hell.

** Sokka definitely graduates into this by the start of Book 3, when he comes up with the plan to invade the Fire Nation. Throughout the series, when the question "What's ThePlan?" comes up, the Gaang inevitably turns to Sokka.
** [[TheDragon Princess Azula]] is a villainous example. At 14, she is arguably the greatest strategic mind in the series. Her flawless takeover of Ba Sing Se relied on [[MagnificentBastard her juggling multiple different complications into supreme advantage that all ended up going her way]]. She also planned the defense of the Fire Nation that ended up defeating Sokka's plan (using information she gained in disguise). She's an unconventional example as she's also a brilliant fighter and one of the most physically dangerous villains in the show.

* In Seasons 3 and 4 of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'', Grand Admiral Thrawn is called in to deal with the Rebels and quickly proves himself to be one of these.

* Franchise/{{Batman}} often serves this role in the Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica, being the only one without superpowers and usually the only one with common sense. Most of the Bat Family are ActionHero Strategists, though some do tend to skip the strategy part. He even has plans for fighting his fellow Justice League members and is so [[CrazyPrepared prepared for any threats]] that he's even built a Batcave on the moon.
* There's a reason why ComicBook/CaptainAmerica is one of the most respected heroes in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, aside from being the world's first SuperSoldier. He's one of the world's most brilliant military strategists in history. In "Deadpool Art of War" he outmaneuvers Loki by waiting for his army to get tired before going full force and flanks them using Fury's intel on their movement.
* ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} gives Cap a real run for his money. Not only a superb field commander, Cyclops is a brilliant strategist and tactician. Perhaps his masterstroke is the creation of Utopia during ''ComicBook/DarkReign'', where he ''completely'' outmaneuvers and utterly humiliates Norman Osborne and his Dark Avengers, cracks Osborne's VillainWithGoodPublicity standing, and exposes Osborne for the psychopath he truly is.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'', ComicBook/{{Bane}} masterminds a breakout of Arkham Asylum and allows Batman's RoguesGallery to wear the hero down, before attacking. He ''effortlessly'' defeats him, ending with him breaking his back and forever becoming known as "The Man Who Broke the Bat". Unfortunately, adaptations usually reduce him to DumbMuscle.
* ComicBook/{{Robin|1993}} (Tim Drake) was the strategist of ComicBook/YoungJustice, coming up with clever plans that his teammates often didn't understand or didn't try to follow, which meant his plans had to account for their impulsive behavior. He became an even more effective planner for the team when ComicBook/WonderGirl was elected the new team leader since she did understand and could collaborate with him to implement his ideas.
* In one issue of Creator/AlanMoore's ''Comicbook/SwampThing'', the antagonists want to permanently get Swampy out of their hair. So what do they do? They [[CutLexLuthorACheck pay]] EvilGenius extraordinaire Lex Luthor an obscene amount of cash to merely ''describe'' a machine that will sever the elemental's connection to Earth -- and it works like a charm.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: Etta Candy was the strategist of the Holliday Girls, even on missions that included Wondy and Steve Trevor, since she was the best at coming up with plans that took advantage of each teammate's specialties and their numbers and was good at altering them to fit a changing situation on the fly. On the other hand Wondy's plans usually boiled down to letting herself get captured to figure out the bad guys and Steve liked to quietly sneak around avoiding attention for as long as possible.

* TheStrategist/VideoGames

!!Other examples:

* ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} (Tim Drake) was the strategist of ComicBook/YoungJustice, coming up with clever plans that his teammates often didn't understand or didn't try to follow, which meant his plans had to account for their impulsive behavior. He became an even more effective planner for the team when ComicBook/WonderGirl was elected the new team leader since she did understand and could collaborate with him to implement his ideas.

*** Roboute Guiliman who wrote the Codex Astartes, [[BigBookofWar the main treatise on warfare used by Space Marines]]. Among his superhuman brothers, Guiliman was known for his [[CrazyPrepared excellent and extensive plans]].

* Red Mage is the strategist for the adventuring party in ''Webcomic/EightBitTheatre''... by which we mean that he's the one most likely to blurt out "I have a plan!" and then go on to describe a strategy [[InsaneTrollLogic so utterly idiotic that it's often outright reality-defying]]. According to himself, it's a feature, not a bug: a muti-step plan that is too stupid to succeed at any stage and on any level will make reality go cross-eyed when it tries to figure out what the heck is even going on... Reality either concedes and let the strategies work according to Red Mage's plans or have them spectacularily fail [[RuleOfFunny depending on what option is funnier.]]

* Franchise/{{Batman}} often serves this role in the Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica, being the only one without superpowers and usually the only one with common sense. Most of the Bat Family are ActionHero Strategists, though some do tend to skip the strategy part.

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' has the leaders of the main cast, Ruby and Jaune, though they're more tacticians than strategists. Both quickly grasp the tactical situation, form plans to work according to their advantages and counter possible threats. They're perfectly aware of the capabilities of their teammates and are able to properly coordinate them into achieving feats that can give them the upper hand during an encounter. Of the two, Jaune performs best when he has time to step back and formulate a plan, whereas Ruby tends to come up with her schemes [[IndyPloy on the fly]].
--> '''Ruby:''' I have a plan.\\
'''Weiss:''' You always do.
[[/folder]]

* Bad guy example: Thrust from ''Anime/TransformersArmada'' was summoned to Earth about midway through the series to lend his tactical skills to the Decepticons. Unfortunately, it didn't help much. Although a few of his plans would have worked, if not for a bit of DeusExMachina in the Autobots' favor.
** Before him, there were Obsidian and Strika in ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'', described by Rattrap as the two greatest generals in Cybertronian history.
[[/folder]]

!!Examples:

----
!!Examples:

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/{{The Art of War|SunTzu}}'' is a manual of how to be this trope.
* In ''Literature/TheArtsOfDarkAndLight'', Sextus Valerius Corvus has become a successful general because he realizes that proper planning, intelligence and deployment are the keys to winning a campaign, and is good at the same. He isn't useless or a coward in a more direct fight, but his true talent lies in directing larger wars. Corvus also thinks this is true of the younger protagonist Marcus as an officer: though he will never be the greatest warrior in single combat, he is already an excellent tactician, and appears to have the potential to be a great strategist.
* Subutai in the ''Literature/{{Conqueror}}'' books; he initially draws attention by helping Khasar and Temuge in a brawl. This draws the attention of Genghis Khan, who decides to reward Subutai helping his brothers by putting him in command of an arban. He comes up with several clever plans during the Mongol attacks on Xi Xia and Chin, and by the time Khwarezm has been taken, he is the second most respected man in the nation. Apparently, Subutai was this in real life, too. By the time the Mongols invaded Europe he was 65 years old and so fat he could no longer ride a horse -- so the Mongols loaded him into a cart and carried him to the battlefield because they knew he was worth more than any number of horsemen.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** Rincewind. It is attributed to cowardice, but he often shows more sensible tactical thinking than people who actually want to be in a fight and approach it without delicacy.
** General Tacticus is described as a great military tactician (in fact, on the Disc, the word "tactic" comes from his name). Later military thinkers from the same region consider this ''cheating''.
* In ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' the [[RedBaron Golden General]] Laurana is the brains behind almost all of the [[TheAlliance Whitestone Council's]] victories during the War of the Lance. She devises the plans which win the battles at [[SupervillainLair Icewall Castle]], and the [[DecisiveBattle High Clerist's Tower]], after which she is given command of the Whitestone Army and leads it to repeated victories over the numerically superior [[TheEmpire Dragonarmies]], destroying five separate enemy armies and liberating all of northern [[TheGoodKingdom Solamnia.]]
%%* Jiang Ziya from the Chinese epic ''Fengshen Yanyi'', where he helps the King of Wu found the Shang Dynasty.
* ''Literature/TheHeroicLegendOfArslan'' has Narsus, once a chief adviser and tactician under Andragoras, who was removed from office because he was opposed to the kingdom's practice of slavery.
* While Literature/HonorHarrington initially gains renown as a tactical genius with other Manticoran officers primarily concerned with strategy, when the war against Haven finally ends and Manticore and its allies find themselves facing the massively larger Solarian League, the allied political and military leadership is surprised when Harrington reveals that she had been thinking of the possibility for years and has developed the grand strategy they immediately adopt to survive and win a war with the largest and most powerful entity in human history.
* Peeta Mellark from ''Literature/TheHungerGames''.
%%* Admiral Speer is this in ''Literature/TheHuntForRedOctober''.
* While it's never said outright, this is Gandalf's chief job in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. Faced with a world-ending enemy and flanked by allies more eager to do nothing or fight each other. He has to bully, cajole, and charm the remaining free people into forming an effective bulwark against Sauron, and simultaneously give Frodo a chance to get into Mordor and destroy the Ring, and thus Sauron, for good.
* August from ''Literature/OfFearAndFaith'' plays this role when the party defends a fortress from a massive army of [[LegionsOfHell Nichts]]. Between his strategy and [[ThePaladin North]] and [[BewareTheNiceOnes Phenix]]'s fighting ability, they manage to drive the horde back without any casualties. [[FromBadToWorse At least until]] [[TheDreaded Fear]] [[OhCrap shows up]].
** When August is unavailable during the next arc, Aiden fills this role instead and does a good job of it as well. Considering his limited resources compared to what August had available, he might even be better at it.
* Annabeth in ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' and ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus''. The girl's motto is "always, always have a plan". Kind of a given, since she's the daughter of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy, y'know.
* In ''Literature/ThePrincessBride'' when Inigo and Fezzik are reunited, Inigo wants to find Vizzini and have him plan a way to break into the castle, so that he (Inigo) can kill Count Rugen. However, Vizzini is dead. Then Inigo realizes the Man in Black must have out-thought Vizzini, and "a man who can do that can plan my castle onslaught any day!"
* Celeste from ''Literature/RaiseSomeHell'' takes on this role for her group, standing in the back of battles and using her ability to paralyze the demons to make a bunch of small changes that inevitably snowball in her favor.
* ''Literature/TheRiftwarCycle'': Chumaka lacks the disguise and combat skills of his counterpart Arakasi, being strictly a planner and not a do-er. Nonetheless, he is undeniably brilliant, almost succeeding in [[spoiler:setting his master Jiro on the imperial throne]], anticipating and thwarting counter-strategies, disrupting large portions of Arakasi's spy network, and only failing in the end because [[spoiler:Hokanu of the Shinzawai had learned the truth of his father's assassination, and brought in a force of literal [[TheCavalry cavalry]] to avenge it and kill Jiro]].
* One of the oldest examples is Zhuge Liang, the ancient Chinese adviser from ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms''. He was known as a brilliant statesman and adviser both strategically/tactically and politically, and had a habit of carrying around an elaborate white feather fan -- an accessory which has become a popular symbol of TheStrategist in many other media. One of his most well-known stunts was BluffingTheAdvanceScout -- his forces were in a city that was outnumbered 60 to 1 by Sima Yi's incoming army, so Liang ordered the gates thrown open, sitting on top and playing a lute. Because [[ItOnlyWorksOnce Liang had never bluffed during his military career]], the opposing general said ScrewThisImOuttaHere, smelling a (non-existent) ambush.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' has many military campaigns and strategies but a running theme is that grand strategies run into difficulties, GambitPileup, unforeseen circumstances, and that success comes from both grit ''and'' luck:
** The PosthumousCharacter, Aegon the Conqueror had three dragons which he used to enlarge and maximize his small army to a force that could take over a continent and it almost worked, except for Dorne. The Dornish used a mix of their climate, the bonds between the Martell lords and locals, and avoided giving battle to the dragons and this allowed them to resist being annexed by the Targaryens for more than 150 years. Then Daeron the Young Dragon using a land-army without dragons achieved the impossible and took over Dorne, invading by land and sea simultaneously and forcing a surrender which might have worked had Daeron worked better to integrate the defeated into his kingdom and not made his conquest resemble an occupation.
** Tywin Lannister is a ruthless but very cautious leader who builds his power by means of a CultOfPersonality and as a master of diplomacy and subterfuge. While a capable military commander, he has suffered some defeats and setbacks in the past, such as the humiliating raid masterminded by Euron Greyjoy that destroyed the Lannister fleet during the Greyjoy Rebellion, and he is outfoxed by Robb Stark in the field due to initially [[UnderestimatingBadassery underestimating Robb Stark]] because of [[JustAKid Robb's youth]]. He is however a brilliant OpportunisticBastard who is capable of capitalizing on and maximizing not only House Lannister's advantages, but also even small weaknesses and mistakes made by his enemies, and he brings all the mastery of diplomacy and subterfuge mentioned above to bear in doing so. In the case of the Stark vs Lannister conflict during the War of Five Kings, this means that while Robb is fixated on defeating Tywin through military means, Tywin utilizes his diplomatic and strategic skills to turn disenchanted Stark allies and [[TheStarscream ambitious underlings]] against Robb and turn on the Starks, thus handing victory to Tywin on a silver platter despite never having defeated Robb in battle.
** Robb Stark is both a brilliant tactician and a strategist. In the early part of the War of the Five Kings, he was cunningly able to outfox Tywin Lannister's strategy and hopes for a quick CurbStompBattle by giving him a feint. Robb then turns around and captures Tywin's son, Jaime Lannister instead, netting a valuable hostage who he can use to negotiate a quick end from a favorable position. This would have worked had King Joffrey not killed Ned Stark, which turned a small war into a longer one, where Robb ends up consistently winning every battle. He once again wrongfoots Tywin by failing to fall into his trap of meeting him at Harrenhal by instead marching west. Most of the time, Robb was able to dictate terms of engagement to Tywin and his campaign came undone because of a single TragicMistake on his part: sending Theon Greyjoy to the Iron Islands, and his strategy to undo Tywin came because his subordinate Edmure Tully exceeded his command. However there were numerous other factors that brought him down, such as one of his main commanders Rickard Karstark sending his troops away to hunt for Jaime and another of his main commanders Roose Bolton likely plotting against him from the start.
** Stannis Baratheon is considered the best all-around strategist of Westeros. He defended his castle during TheSiege in the backstory from a hundred times his numbers, won the largest naval battle in Westerosi history at Fair Isle, and mounted two successful amphibious naval campaigns, against Great Wyk and Dragonstone respectively. Even when he was countered by the equally brilliant Tyrion Lannister once Stannis laid siege on King's Landing at the Battle of the Blackwater, Stannis came very close to victory and breaching the city, smashing the enemy force and putting them to rout in a matter of hours (he did have a 2-1 numerical advantage and better-trained troops, but they had a strong defensive position and magical napalm, yet it was STILL a CurbStompBattle in his favor). He would have easily succeeded had it not been for Tywin Lannister's timely alliance with the Tyrells and his fortuitous proximity to the road leading to King's Landing at the time of his defeat at the hands of Edmure Tully. It's even mentioned that his ships were delayed by the winds, meaning that better winds likely would have enabled him to win. Later, Stannis defeats a wildling army in attack, despite being outnumbered 20-1 (his troops are far better trained and equipped, but the sheer ease with which he wins is impressive nonetheless). Currently he's set to pull victory from the jaws of defeat for his numerically superior but massively outmatched force at the Battle of the Ice, most likely by using an ice lake to his advantage against the enemy's heavy cavalry...
** Jon Snow, as a FakeDefector and later, the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, proves to be quite a brilliant strategist as well. As a FakeDefector, he is able to analyze the strengths and shortcomings of the wildlings in order to defend against their leader's plans to attack the Wall. As Lord Commander, Jon's knowledge of wildling customs and culture allows him to both ally with the wildlings so they can defend against the true enemy -- [[ZombieApocalypse the Others]] -- [[EnemyMine together]], and so he can successfully bring them south of the Wall to save them from this threat. He likewise makes plans to help secure sustenance for everyone being sheltered at the Wall through winter (planning glass gardens, managing to get a crucial loan, etc.), makes every effort to study this undead threat so they can better know how to fight it, and institutes reforms to rebuild and strengthen the Wall's defenses. Jon also gives crucial strategic advice to Stannis Baratheon, outlining an effective approach that saves Stannis from an early defeat and allows him to secure alliances with various Northern clans who can fight in [[GrimUpNorth harsh weather conditions]], increasing Stannis's strength military strength in his quest to liberate Winterfell from the Boltons.
* ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'': Grand Admiral Thrawn from Creator/TimothyZahn's ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]] books. He later evolves into a MagnificentBastard when the Empire crumbles after Endor, when he returns from the Unknown Regions and nearly crushes the New Republic single-handedly. The same trilogy also has the very good strategist Garm Bel Iblis, who left the official Rebellion to fight the Empire with his own group after Bail Organa died and Mon Mothma seemed like she was gathering too much power. Eventually, thanks to Han and Leia's efforts, he joined the New Republic.
* ''Literature/WarAndPeace'':
** {{Deconstructed|Trope}} in Pfuel, who believes that there is a mathematics to war, a theory that guarantees success if only its postulates are followed. He has no tolerance for any deviations from this mathematics he's envisioned, despite the fact that plenty of other characters with actual war experience know that war isn't that clean. The Austrian general Weyrother thinks he's this, [[ModernMajorGeneral but comically isn't]].
** Tolstoy had a bit of an ax to grind against officers of German extraction, which also becomes evident in his treatment of Barclay de Tolly (the general and minister of war who had created the Russian army that fought in 1812; he came from the German community of the Baltic provinces of Russia, although, as the name shows, he also had Scottish forbears) and Clausewitz. Also, it is not as if Pfuel (aka Phull) did not have actual war experience, he had served with the Prussian army in wars since the late 1770s.
* The first ''Literature/WarWorld'' book has a story called ''The Deserter'', about a legendary strategist who is being sought by the protagonist because TheEmpire is losing their desperate war with the Sauron SuperSoldiers. But the titular deserter would rather stay and keep his home planet (where his family lives) from fragmenting and balkanizing in the wake of the Empire withdrawing all their troops, so [[spoiler:he fakes his own death, with the protagonist's reluctant complicity]].
* The ZombieApocalypse novel ''Literature/WorldWarZ'' features a South African character named Paul Redeker, whose cold-blooded logic got him kicked out the government. When the zombie threat begins to rise, he is dragged back in, and comes up with an effective but brutal method for preserving a nucleus of government.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Armin in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' is one of the physically weakest characters in the Survey Corps, but eventually finds himself in this role to make up for it.
* Kakuri in ''Manga/{{Bokko}}''. When the small border city of Ryo is threatened by a large invading army, they send a request for help to their ancient allies, the clan of Bokk. They send a single man to save the city. Which he proceeds to do, in spite of seemingly insurmountable problems.
* In ''Manga/Brave10'', Yukimura is always considering the long-term future of Ueda and trying to [[TheChessmaster manipulate things]] to ensure its peace and safety. However, once he meets [[KidSamurai Benmaru]], he realizes the kid might be even a better strategist then him.
%%* ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'' predates them all with Jun Misugi from the Musashi team, who later plays this role for the Japanese team as well.
* ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'' gives us Miria for the Claymores and Isley for the Abyssal Ones. However, since this is ''[[WorldOfBadass Claymore]]'', even the strategists are {{Genius Bruiser}}s that can [[CurbStompBattle curbstomp]] you into jam if they feel so inclined.
* Zero in ''Anime/CodeGeass'': In an [[InvertedTrope inversion]] of the common scenario, he seeks out LaResistance rather than the other way around, and he's a MagnificentBastard on top of that. Played straight with Zero getting Todoh to join the Black Knights. There's also a bit more screwing around in that quite often, he's involved in fights as well. On one occasion, he started a chess game by moving his King. When questioned about it later, he responds, "If the King doesn't lead, his subjects won't follow." It's also good to note that Zero's ulterior ambitions aren't all that different from the resistance, they want to liberate Japan, he wants to overthrow the Empire occupying it, it's largely a matter of scale.
* In ''LightNovel/{{Corsair}}'', Canale is the chief strategist for Preveza, a pirate clan. It's probably the only thing that offers him any protection, as his refusal to actually fight (despite the fact that he's [[HandicappedBadass blind]]) is highly contentious for the other pirates.
* In the early releases, ''Manga/DigimonVTamer01'' and ''Manga/CMonDigimon'', this was how humans earned their keep in a world full of monsters. Later entries into the franchise would [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness change this]] to monsters "{{evol|utionarylevels}}ving" due to human emotions and [[BondCreatures thus partnering to humans to get stronger]]. The protagonists of ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' would ''try'' to come up with tactics, but fail more often than they succeeded, the supporting adult characters later becoming strategists instead. Teru Raku and Masuken Kana of ''Manhua/DigimonDCyber'', Yuu of ''Manga/DigimonNext'' and Toma of ''Anime/DigimonDataSquad'' were strategists but were overshadowed by emotional {{idiot hero}}es who simply relied on evolution. ''Anime/DigimonFusion'' seemed to go back to humans earning their keep by being tacticians angle but then reintroduced evolution and a {{spotlight stealing|squad}} idiot hero named Taigiru.
* ''Eikou no Napoleon: Eroica'', the sequel to ''Manga/TheRoseOfVersailles'', has its fair share:
** The first to appear is, surprisingly, Alain, who has a knack for anticipating the strategies of ''UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte'' of all people; another is Napoleon, who not only did all of historical deeds but also offered a job to Alain upon discovering they had the same idea to dispose of a counter-revolutionary insurgence (with the difference that Napoleon actually had the authority to do the job and Alain was trying a BavarianFireDrill); [[WoodenShipsAndIronMen Horatio Nelson]] took care of frustrating Napoleon's efforts at sea; the French generals Massena and Murat, who acted as Napoleon's [[TheLancer Lancers]] after [[spoiler:Alain's death attempting to kill Napoleon]]; Michael Von Melas, who gave Napoleon a desperate run for his money at Marengo and would have won if Alain didn't anticipate Napoleon's need for more troops and returned at the right moment; Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov, the great Russian general, anticipated Napoleon's tactic at Austerlitz (too bad [[IgnoredExpert the czar ignored him]]), but when Napoleon invaded Russia he outsmarted him every time and, while unable to defeat him in battle, his scorched earth strategy left the invaders helpless when the Russian winter came, ultimately resulting in victory; after Kutuzov's death (and Napoleon's HopeSpot), Carl von Clausewitz in person took care of organizing the Coalition's strategy that led to the victory at Leipzig, the first defeat inflicted to Napoleon on the battlefield; and, finally, the Duke of Wellington, who inflicted Napoleon his final defeat.
** Of all this guys, the ones who fully classifies as this trope (as they are not only very good at war but are also searched and brought out of retirement in the moment of need) are Napoleon, Kutuzov and Clauzewitz: Napoleon had been kicked out of the army for political reasons, only to be recalled in service and given command of the Reserve Army to defeat a royalist insurrection (the insurrection spontaneously imploded when Napoleon started firing artillery inside Paris); general Kutuzov was an accomplished soldier who had fallen out of favor with the czar, Alexander I, and got [[ReassignedToAntarctica reassigned to the war against the Turks]] purely due old age and because combat wounds had disfigured him, but when Napoleon invaded and commander in chief De Tolly screwed up the scorched earth strategy (the lack of engagements was killing the morale of the army) the czar had to call Kutuzov, who restored the morale of the army with a major but inconclusive battle and organizing a guerrilla campaign to further harass Napoleon; Clausewitz was a mere major who had left the Prussian Army and joined Russia to fight Napoleon, but when Napoleon won the early battles of the Sixth Coalition War the Prussians searched him specifically because they knew he had put into theory what Napoleon had done by improvisation, and thus was able to dissect the abilities of Napoleon's army and establish a surefire way to defeat him (four battles later Napoleon was on the run, and had not been captured or killed only because he [[KnowWhenToFoldEm saw he was losing hard and decided to retreat]]).
* Most teams in ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}'' have a player who serves in this role. Usually they're the quarterback and the captain, but not always. Examples include [[MagnificentBastard Hiruma]] of the Deimon Devil-Bats, [[TheChessmaster Takami]] of the Ojou White Knights, [[ManipulativeBastard Marco]] of the Hakushuu Dinosaurs, and [[EvilGenius Clifford]] of the Pentagram.
* ''Manga/FairyTail'':
** First Master Mavis's nickname was "Fairy Strategist". At the Grand Magic Games, she showed it off on the final day.
** In combat, Gray always defeats his major opponents with his wits. He quickly makes a plan how to defeat and executes it.
** Erza often analyzes her opponents' abilities during a battle to find out their weaknesses before choosing the right armor to take advantage of their weak spots.
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
** Heymans Breda is this on [[ColonelBadass Roy Mustang's]] team. Mustang himself is a badass strategist, but recognized that Breda's abilities in this field were well above average, and recruited him for the group.
** Ling Yao is also an excellent strategist and quickly figures out the best way to fight his enemy. His strategy allows him to keep up with even [[OldSoldier Fuhrer Bradley]].
%%* Rain Mikamura mixes this, WrenchWench, ''and'' HotScientist in ''Anime/GGundam''. Other strategists are Ulube Ishikawa and Natasha Zabicov.
* ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex '': Give Daisuke Aramakitwo street punks and he can make a SWAT team look like such fools that the "Special" in "Special Weapons And Tactics" seems to mean they ride to the crime scene in a short bus. Give him his handpicked team of specialists and it won't matter if you're [[EagleLand the world's last super power]] -- YouAreAlreadyDead.
* Out of all the trainers in ''Manga/HajimeNoIppo'', Miguel Zail makes the best use of tactical decisions, always observing the enemy boxer in order to give the right commands. Two other examples for boxers are Kenta Kobashi, who makes up for his lack of boxing talent by studying his opponent beforehand and developing strategies against him and world champion David Eagle, who also uses strategy in his fight, but more on a psychological level.
* Narsus in ''Literature/TheHeroicLegendOfArslan'' plays the trope to a T. He used to be an adviser to King Andragoras III but was expelled from the court because he kept asking the king to abolish slavery. For three years he'd been living in his remote countryside home painting and drinking. When Andragoras is defeated and the kingdom faces occupation, his old friend Daryoon appears at his place with the crown prince and demands that Narsus help them. At first, Narsus wants nothing to do with it, but then he realizes prince Arslan's potential and willingly becomes his adviser and strategist. (Arslan promising him the title of royal painter if he gets back the throne didn't hurt.) Narsus had a very fine control of understanding and manipulating circumstances, sometimes to ludicrous degrees. His debut strategy was to pinpoint the most likely thrust of TheMole's plan to smoke Prince Arslan out of hiding, then counter that by having the prince lure Lusitanian soldiers to his position, which was on a hilltop...near a massive floodgate, which is promptly thrown open to have the Lusitanians' massive numerical advantage washed away.
%%* Naturally, ''Manga/IkkiTousen'' has:
%%** [[EmotionlessGirl Shoukatsuryou Koumei]], the quasi-{{reincarnation}} of Zhuge Liang.
%%** [[{{Meganekko}} Rikuson]] (Lu Xun) fills this role for Nanyou.
%%** [[TheVamp Kaku Bunwa]] (Jia Xu) for Rakuyou.
%%** Wheelchair-bound [[ManipulativeBastard Shibai Chuutatsu]] (Sima Yi) for Kyoushou.
%%* Togame in ''LightNovel/{{Katanagatari}}'' is this; however, she gives herself the title of "strategian".
* Kidou Yuuto from ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven'' is described as a genius playmaker and is often responsible for figuring out how to break through opposing teams' supposedly unbeatable strategies. Fudou Akio and Fidio Aldena also fill this role in the third season, if to a lesser extent.
* Niijima of ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple''. He's the only member of the Shinpaku Alliance (other than the flag-bearer) with no fighting ability. Despite this, his ability to come up with (usually ridiculous) plans to save everyone else from even the direst situations is admirable (even though he's usually the one responsible for the crisis at hand), to the point that even Kenichi's masters are impressed with his strategic ability.
%%* ''Manga/KoutetsuSangokushi'', albeit with just Zhuge Liang (Shoukatsuryou Koumei).
%%** Lu Xun (Rikuson Hakugen).
%%** Zhou Yu (Shuuyu Koukin).
* The Daikenja (aka Murata) in ''LightNovel/KyoKaraMaoh'' was the Shinou's strategist during his first life who helped him win the war against [[BigBad Shoushu]].
* Tanaka Yoshiki seems to like these -- in addition to the Arslan example above, he has Yang Wenli, Reinhard von Lohengramm and Paul von Oberstein from ''Literature/LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes''. Yang is a drunk slob who would much rather laze around and study history than go into battle but he is the smartest strategist in the series, Reinhard is a Napoleon-like conqueror and a genius at military and politics, and Oberstein is a brilliant Machiavellian schemer in Reinhard's service.
* Shiroe in ''LightNovel/LogHorizon'' did not earn the nickname "Shiroe the Strategist" for nothing. His in-game class is an enchanter-type wizard, but his spells are largely supportive and are usually the key to bring his plans to fruition and his allies to victory.
* Ikki Tenryou in the ''VideoGame/{{Medabots}}'' anime, which has a surprisingly-well-developed sense of tactics for a {{Mons}} show. Left to his own devices, Metabee would be stuck in a vicious cycle of PunchPunchPunchUhOh, but Ikki keeps him out of trouble. Ikki likes to use the terrain, such as exploiting a nearby fountain to douse an electricity-wielding opponent and make her electrocute herself, or tricking a heavily-shielded opponent into chasing Metabee over a dune, allowing Metabee to shoot at his legs from below and ignore the shields.
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' has Captain William Sutherland, who devises most of the Earth Forces' battle plans and serves as Muruta Azrael's [[TheDragon right-hand man]].
* The original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' has another evil Strategist in the form of M'quve who created most of Kycillia Zabi's plans, and led the ''[[CoolShip White Base]]'' crew around by the nose during most of their encounters. The end result of M'quve getting annoyed at the ''White Base'' advancing toward his rear positions while he's preparing for the impending Federation offensive on another front? The ''White Base'' crippled by time bombs they had absolutely no idea where they came from. Luckily for them, the only time M'quve actually got serious in dealing with them was when he decided to fight the Gundam, with his tactical skills ultimately proving no match for Amuro's sheer piloting abilities and the encounter costing him his life.
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' has two: Sumeragi Lee Noriega is Celestial Being's tactical forecaster, and her ability to predict the enemy's moves serves the Gundam Meisters ''very'' well during the first season. In the second season, the A-LAWS recruit Colonel Kati Mannequin, a former classmate of Sumeragi's, to serve as their own forecaster; Kati recognizes Celestial Being's tactics almost immediately.
%%* The ''Gundam'' series seems to like making these characters villains: ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'' features one as well. As the secret final boss, no less. And who is he? None other than [[spoiler:Major Urube Ishikawa]].
* ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'': Both William and Sherlock qualify.
** William is TheChessmaster behind all of his CriminalFoundFamily's plans, organizing everything everyone should do, and is so good at it [[spoiler:UsefulNotes/BillyTheKid tries to recruit him to do the job for the US government with the Pinkerton Agency]].
** Against his fellow Strategist, Sherlock is constantly plotting ways to upend The Lord of Crimes schemes and finally foil his plans once and for all.
* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', protagonist Izuku Midoriya is this. Due to growing up without a Quirk to guide him along, he spent obsessive amounts of time pouring over the Quirks and techniques used by others. Because of this, he's an expert at crafting battle plans that draw out the full potential of other's Quirks even after getting one of his own. These plans often involve being CrazyEnoughToWork, like having Uraraka use her GravityMaster powers to make him weightless while another of his classmates uses her OverlyLongTongue to slingshot him after a villain that was outrunning all of them. But this strength is also one of his greatest weaknesses, as his tendency to try and plan ahead slows him down in the midst of a heated fight and those who don't give him the chance to think can overwhelm him.
** Then there's Principal Nedzu, whose Quirk makes him a super-intelligent UpliftedAnimal. During a test where he's pitted against Kaminari and Ashido, both of whom have good combat quirks that can be deadly at close range, Nedzu avoids them without ever even leaving his seat, using a crane with a wrecking ball to set off DisasterDominoes that herd the duo exactly where he wants them to go until time runs out.
** Filler antagonist Saiko Intelli also fills this role during the Provisional License exams thanks to a SuperIntelligence Quirk. She and her squad target Momo Yaoyorozu's group, luring them into a trap which locks them in a sealed room that gradually gets colder and colder. However, while her plan to make Momo use up her creation powers to plug the vents is a very sound one, and very nearly succeeds, she turns out to not be very flexible in her thinking and has nothing prepared when Momo eschews the "safe" tactic for an all-or-nothing offensive strategy.
** [[GreaterScopeVillain Greater Scope Villain]] All For One is an amazing strategist among the League of Villains. He can deter the Quirks of others, by quick observation and genius-level intellect. It's not just his power, that makes him formidable, but also his keen analysis. In fact he was able to break All Might, by merely sharing him the untold truth of his former master. Indeed, All For One is an ambitious planner always appearing as if he's [[CardCarryingVillain hiding something]].
* Although her job isn't advisory, Tsunade of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' was sought by Jiraiya and Naruto for similar reasons and in the same manner. Not surprisingly, Shikamaru seems to have taken this role and has become Tsunade's strategist.
** Shikaku, Shikamaru's dad, is Jounin Commander of Konoha, and is acting as Tsunade's right-hand man, helping to coordinate the movements of various divisions. Not only that, he even creates a perfect strategy that manages to drive the Juubi into a corner.
* Gendo Ikari of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is one. Aside from the examples on his [[MindScrew screwing with]] [[CosmicHorrorStory the plotline]] and [[OmniscientCouncilofVagueness SEELE]], he doesn't just [[TheChessmaster see things coming]], but [[MagnificentBastard he provides the super-subtle pushes that puts people where he wants them]]. He even has the [[ElaborateUndergroundBase layout of NERV nearly randomized]] to discourage intruders. [[spoiler:However, this doesn't work out very well if you're up against people with intimate knowledge of the base or 13 years of planning, or in failing to notice that the one person his plans hinged on was on the verge of rebelling against him and in favor of his son]].
* Sanji in ''Manga/OnePiece'' is this for the Straw Hats, having proven time and time again to be an expert case of TheChessmaster and XanatosSpeedChess player. The Little Garden, Alabasta, Skypeia, Water 7, Enies Lobby, and Zou arcs all have solid examples of him displaying this skill.
%%* ''Manga/ThePrinceOfTennis'' has several strategists of the sports variety: Sadaharu Inui (Seigaku), Hajime Mizuki (Saint Rudolph), Renji Yanagi (Rikaidai), Koharu Konjiki (Shitenhouji), Taichi Dan (Yamabuki).
%%* Kiku Takane from Masami Kurumada's ''Manga/RingNiKakero'', who is this and the CoolBigSis for her little brother Ryuuji.
* Matsu in ''Manga/{{Sekirei}}'' is extremely intelligent but not a fighter like most other Sekireis.
%%* ''Manga/SlamDunk'' has Kenji Fujima, captain ''and'' strategist for Shoyo.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* The first ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'' casts the player as a "special advisor". Nell, Commander-in-Chief of [[{{Eagleland}} Orange Star]] has this reputation in the first three games, but it's implied that her abilities have about as much to do with her [[BornLucky absurd luck]] as her tactical skill. The bad guys have [[TheDragon Hawke]], who does virtually all of Black Hole's tactical heavily lifting. He's so good that, while his subordinates are getting their asses handed to them by the nations they're trying to take over, he's ''single-handedly'' crushing Green Earth, and it takes a coalition of all three of the other nations to stop him.
* [[BigBad Lord Recluse]] of ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' can turn any band of thugs into EliteMooks with some anally precise tactical movments -- which is what lead him to take-over a country with what was originally less than half-a-dozen assassins. In battle this means giving his allies/minions about 10 different buffs passivly, in the narrative this means said epic battle you are engaging in with him... [[InfractionDistraction is just a distraction]].
* The demon Azmodan from the ''Videogame/{{Diablo}}'' franchise is described as one of the finest battlefield commanders in Hell, possibly all of Creation, who has honed his knowledge of warfare through millennia of battles between demons and angels. [[InformedAttribute The key words there being "described as"]]. When you actually get to face his army in ''Videogame/{{Diablo III}}'' most of his forces will simply throw themselves at you and hope to crush you with [[WeHaveReserves sheer numbers]], and while he has a few moments of tactical genius (such as burrowing his forces into a keep and sneak attacking it from below), his habit of [[IShallTauntYou telepathically sending you arrogant taunts]] often results in him giving away his plans before he puts them into action.
** Makes more sense when you consider he is the Aspect of Sin, namely, ''Pride''. He assumes he has already won once he invades Sanctuary, and all that's happening is the mop-up of Sanctuary's remaining defenders, when in fact he's actually battling [[OneManArmy their real army]].
* As leader of the Inquisition's military, this is Cullen's job in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition''. In particular, he advises the [[PlayerCharacter Inquisitor]] about how to successfully breach the defenses of Adamant Fortress, and personally oversees the effort to bring the battle to the Venatori in the Arbor Wilds.
* ''Videogame/DwarfFortress:'' Ever since the Tactics skill got actual use in Worldgen battles, and the player became capable of sending raids off-site, having a dwarf with high level in it to act as this trope is a valuable thing for both NPC empires and your fortress. While the actual process is heavily abstracted, the game tells how far one side outsmarts the other, and the combat rolls are skewed appropriately; a thorough [[OutGambitted out-gambitting]] can lead to even trashy conscripts carving a sizeable dent in an actual army. And skilled, well-equipped warriors at a good Tactician's command can slowly whittle a city to a lifeless ruin with a little insistence.
* The ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' series of games (based on ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms''), has a number of strategist characters that has expanded into an ensemble as the series has gone on:
** Shu has Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Xu Shu, and Fa Zheng.
*** Jiang Wei, true to history, tries to be this but fails pretty miserably.
** Wu has Zhou Yu, Lu Su, Lu Meng (sort of), and Lu Xun.
** Wei has Guo Jia, Jia Xu, Xun Yu, Man Chong, and Xun You. In Wei's hypothetical route in 8, Xu Shu also defects to Wei.
*** Sima Yi was the 'main' strategist for Wei until the Jin faction was introduced, after which point this role was taken by Guo Jia and Jia Xu.
** Jin has Sima Yi and Jia Chong.
*** Sima Yi's sons Sima Shi and Sima Zhao both have an almost innate understanding of tactics, though each with their own flaws. Shi is inflexible, and Zhao is lazy.
** Among the "Other" characters, Chen Gong served as Lu Bu's strategist even as a generic NPC. As of 8: Xtreme Legends, he's been upgraded to a full character and takes a more prominent role as this.
* ''[[VideoGame/ExtrapowerAttackOfDarkforce EXTRAPOWER Attack of Darkforce]]'': Werner on Gerstenbüttel fulfills this role as commander of SPICA, and for the heroes when they combine forces. His tactical experience, intelligence and cool-headedness gives him a privileged position to see the bigger picture in a situation to direct the next course of action.
* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
** The series' first army tactician is Malledus in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight'', a confidant of Marth's father and his adviser during the war. In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem'', Malledus has fallen ill, and his role is replaced by [[CrutchCharacter Jagen]].
** Despite being a TagalongKid, Oifey proves himself a capable strategist in the first half of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar''. In the second part, Lewyn takes over the role.
** August in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776'' is hired by Lewyn to advice Leif and his army. He is later joined by Dryan [[spoiler:until the latter is killed]]. The game also has the court bishop of Velthomer, Saias.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' has the ''player'' themself (by means of a character simply called "the tactician", though their default name is Mark) taking on this role, with the other characters directly addressing and asking them for advice. The tactician refrains from battle and only directs others.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' has [[CrutchCharacter Seth]] act as one, particularly after the route split (in a time where you've finally got an army at your disposal), and his role actually changes depending on which of the two main siblings you're with. With the much less militarily savvy Eirika, he's ''the'' primary tactician (though he is later joined with Innes, who is also a strategist). With Ephraim, who is quite the tactician himself, he's more of an assistant, and the two even debate the proper course of action in the cutscenes.
** Soren in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' serves as the tactician for the Greil Mercenaries.
** The remake of ''Mystery of the Emblem'' places Katarina as the Seventh Platoon's tactician [[spoiler:until she reveals her true allegiance (though she can be turned back to the heroes' side)]].
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'':
*** The customizable Avatar, default name Robin, serves as the Shepherds' primary tactician, to the point that their initial class (which can use [[MagicKnight both swords and magic tomes]]) is even ''named'' "Tactician".
*** The Avatar's child Morgan can also become a Tactician, and is a devoted student of tactics who wants to become a strategist like their parent.
*** Virion is a gifted strategist who's even able to defeat the Avatar in wargames. However, his victories typically have much higher casualties and would be [[PyrrhicVictory unsustainable in a real-life conflict]]; as such, he happily leaves the business of tactics and strategy to the Avatar.
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', Yukimura serves as the primary strategist for the Kingdom of Hoshido; while Iago technically fills this role for the Kingdom of Nohr, Prince Leo is the kingdom's true strategic genius.
** Byleth, the Avatar of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', quickly proves themselves to be one of Fódlan's finest tacticians, and it's ultimately their involvement that decides which faction comes out on top. Additionally, Hubert is the tactician of the Black Eagles house (second only to the Avatar should they join them), [[spoiler:and becomes the chief strategist for the Adrestian Empire after the TimeSkip]].
** The [[PlayerCharacter Summoner]], default name Kiran, from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'' quickly proves themself to be one for the Kingdom of Askr. And since the game is a CrisisCrossover between ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' games, the heroes summoned on Askr rely on the Summoner for strategy during battle. Many characters also speak highly of their strategic abilities, to the point where some claim that their skills rival that of other legendary ''Fire Emblem'' tacticians, such as [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Saias]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Robin]].
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
** [[TheDreaded Thel 'Vadam(ee)]] was considered one of the most dangerous members of the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Covenant]] for this very reason. One of the few advantages Humanity had against the Covenant during the war was how the latter stubbornly refused to use innovative tactics against the former, relying on the sheer technological edge and overpowering legions. Thel 'Vadam was among the few leaders in the Covenant who ignored this handicap by matching/often surpassing the human strategists with unpredictability, leading to multiple victories against them, and he likely would have been one of the driving forces behind humanity's extinction if he hadn't pulled a HeelFaceTurn. This is even more impressive when one realizes the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Sangheili race]] he's a part of usually ostracizes traits like innovation and creativity, yet he managed to develop them on his own.
** On the human side, Admiral Preston Cole is considered one of the main reasons why humanity lasted as long as it did against the vastly superior Covenant; he never lost a major battle, and his battle record is considered even more impressive than those of the [[OneManArmy Spartan-IIs]].
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroTheEternalNight'': Among the trio leading the SkyPirates, Scratch is the main brains of the outfit when it comes to directing the pirates' operations, while Sniff is the one who directs the group during combat. Skabb is instead the DumbMuscle and transportation.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': Commander Shepard is considered this by reputation; [[MultipleChoicePast depending on the background]], s/he could have single-handedly lead an impromptu defense against an army of SpacePirates, single-handedly survived a [[SandWorm Thresher Maw]] on foot, or have lead an army of soldiers into a successful suicide ZergRush victory. In-game, s/he is praised by his/her squadmates and superiors for being [[TheLeader an excellent leader]], though that comes down to the player's skill, especially in the [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 second game]] when you take on the suicide mission. In the ''Omega'' [=DLC=] for ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', notorious and egotistical criminal warlord Aria T'Loak justifies [[YouAreInCommandNow putting herself under Shepard's command]] by saying his/her tactical skill is the reason she brought them along.
* In ''VideoGame/MitsumeteKnight'', [[HandicappedBadass Meehilbis]] [[RedBaron of the Ghosts]] is the strategist of the enemy mercenary brigade, Valpha-Valaharian ; he's so skilled, even when he loses the battle he personnally fights in (even eventually losing his life by your character's hands), he manages to pull off a master BatmanGambit that decimates one third of Dolphan's army, making this battle a PyrrhicVictory for Dolphan.
* ''VideoGame/{{Myth}} 2: Soulblighter'' has you find The Deceiver, an enemy from the first game. He is responsible for a number of seemingly insane plans which both radically improve your side's power and cripple the enemy.
* The lore of the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games is a world of SpiritedCompetitor and BloodKnight monsters where humans earn their keep through superior technology and providing tactics to win battle. In practice, most players just raise one monster to a high level and slaughter all opposition until it runs out of energy. ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' combated this practice by making experience gain proportional to the level of the monsters battling, making raising a monster's level much higher than the opposition a ''very'' time-consuming process, making more players rely on tactics.
* Similarly, ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors'' has several:
** Ieyasu Tokugawa grows into one as he becomes a more skilled general, masterminding his eventual rise to power, culminating in his planning of the Siege of Osaka, ending the last Toyotomi threat to his rule.
** Father and son team Motonari Mori and Takakage Kobayakawa are shown to be so prodigiously talented that they can hold their own against Hideyoshi Toyotomi Hideyoshi himself.
** Hanbei Takenaka and Kanbei Kuroda both count and act as another strategist team.
** Sakon Shima for Shingen Takeda, and then for Mitsunari Ishida.
** Shingen Takeda was feared for his cunning in battle.
** Kojuro Katakura is this for the Date clan. His strategies keep Masamune from getting killed due to his recklessness.
** Masayuki Sanada is said to be one of the great strategists in the Sengoku era. His strategies during the Battle of Ueda Castle gave Hidetada Tokugawa a crushing defeat and prevented him from aiding his father in Sekigahara.
* In ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'', we have Hanbe and Kanbe, strategists of the Toyotomi army (since their boss is better at punching than thinking). Kanbe also has the dubious honor of being titled "The [[SmugSnake Inadequate]] [[GeneralFailure Tactician]]". Otherwise, Kojuro comes up with most of the Date army's strategies, and Motonari is more known for his genius than for his fighting skills.
* In ''VideoGame/StarCraftI'' and its expansion pack ''Brood War'', this is what the player character is. During mission briefings you will routinely be spoken to directly, with Raynor, the Overmind, Fenix, and [[spoiler:Kerrigan]] being particularly fond of doing so. While most of these 'characters' are never referenced outside of your role as them, if you look deep enough into the lore, it becomes clear that your character in the original Protoss campaign is Artanis (a hero unit in ''BW'' and ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'') and that in ''Brood War'' you play as Selendis (another ''[=SC2=]'' hero).
* The ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' series of games has at least one strategist per game, whose help the KidHero must seek out. The Silverbergs are a family of strategists who have helped shape the history of the games. Lucretia Merces, the advisor for ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'', dresses in robes and often carries a feather fan (perhaps as a ShoutOut to her spiritual predecessor, Zhuge Liang). She's also the only strategist in the series with no known connection to the Silverberg family at all.
* In-universe, Listrata from ''VideoGame/WarOfOmens'' is this. As of this update, she has faced a dozen or more enemies, and has beaten them all.
* The original ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' has Welkin Gunther. Who knew a guy who prefers to spend hours watching and drawing animals and plants could make use of his vast knowledge of nature to transform a RagtagBunchOfMisfits in a BadassArmy?
%%* Labyrinthia from ''{{Wild ARMs XF}}''. She even carries around a battle fan, just like Zhuge Liang.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'': Taion is the strategist among the main heroes. He's always the guy thinking ahead, formulating plans, and is usually the first of the group to see through any tricks or traps the enemy tries on them. His default class is even called "Tactician". There is a downside to it though: his natural inclination towards suspicion and caution also means he's the slowest of the group to open up and learn to trust the others.
* In ''VideoGame/YggdraUnion'', Bly is a textbook example. He refuses to go with the Royal Army because he's too old for war and travel, but his granddaughter Mistel goes with you in his place. The Imperial Army has Nessiah, who also serves this role in ''VideoGame/BlazeUnion''; Mistel and Nessiah are both more than willing to take to the battlefield and participate in achieving victory.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* There are lots of real-life examples. But [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talpiot_program the Talpiot Project]] is one of the more interesting. It is almost a RealLife version of [[Literature/EndersGame Battleschool]].
* Contrary to ''popular'' belief (which does not mean ''educated''), Stonewall Jackson was a strategist bordering on GuileHero. He believed that "If [his own men] don't understand what [he's] planning, the enemy will never figure it out." And they never did. This is the man who inspired the phrase [[CrazyEnoughToWork "Crazy like a fox".]]
** This is a quote from the commander of the Union Army:
--> '''General Hooker''': "Jackson's movement, if not an accident, was eccentric and reprehensible, as no-one would be justified in anticipating its success. The movement was an unheard-of one, and under the circumstances, admitted not a ray of probability of successful execution. 99 chances out of a hundred, General Jackson's Corps would have been destroyed. It is for such movements that Jackson will ever be considered an unsafe person to place in command of armies."
** Hooker is the general that '''''lost'''''. Jackson's strategy in this battle resulted in General Lee defeating 135,000 men with a force of only 65,000 (about 2-to-1 against).
*** That is because Lee and Jackson had NervesOfSteel, and were able to press forward with their strategy effectively. While Hooker had (to make an unfairly hyperbolic but revealing comparison) nerves of pasta.
** Fortunately (or unfortunately for the Confederacy) Stonewall Jackson’s propensity to keep everyone in the dark about his plans [[GoneHorriblyWrong led to him being shot by his own troops]].
* While many have dismissed [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar American Civil War]] General UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant as being limited to only WeHaveReserves, he was in reality a handy strategist. His battles in the Eastern Theater of the war and during the Vicksburg Campaign would not have been won just by using raw numbers of troops, no matter what his critics like to say. Furthermore, while Robert E. Lee was a battlefield general skilled in winning individual battles, Grant was a big-picture strategist who could take all his nation's forces in his plans and have the skill and will to use them through a series of battles to most effectively win the war. Indeed, it would be his military reputation as a lauded strategist that would later land him into the presidency.
* As listed above in the ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' entry, the Three Kingdoms era had many, though several famous figures are either overhyped or flatout misrepresented in fiction. Zhuge Liang was a pretty terrible commander and strategist. His two military achievements are having an army surrender to him after his two flank commanders defeated most of it already and "capturing" two counties Cao Cao had purposefully depopulated in order to create a buffer of dead land to make invasions from Hanzhong more difficult to launch and to make a success. He also engaged in harmful cronyism, favouring his political allies over genuinely skilled commanders like Wei Yan.
** Wei had many, like Sima Yi and Jia Xu. Cao Cao himself was a highly accomplished commander who helped revive the then unpopular Art of War, providing an extensive annotation. Guo Jia died fairly young, but was well respected regardless. In later years, Deng Ai was a major force on the Western front with an uncanny ability to predict and intercept enemy movements through his excellent knowledge of terrain.
** Wu had Zhou Yu and Lv Meng among others. While Zhou Yu was instrumental in Sun Ce & Sun Quan's campaigns that lead to the founding of Wu, he died before Jing province could be settled. Lv Meng's lack of scholarship was so notorious he was known as "the country bumpkin of Wu" until Sun Quan encouraged him to take up studying. He then soon became one of Wu's most respected scholars and added tactical genius to his already incredible military ability. [[note]]Two Chinese proverbs were derived from him and his experiences. One was "Wu xia A'Meng" (吴下阿蒙), used to describe an ignorant person, and "Shi bie san ri, dang gua mu xiang kan" （士别三日，当刮目相看）, used to praise someone who has made great improvement since the speaker last saw the person.[[/note]] He won battles without even fighting. He took all of Liu Bei's holdings in Jing from Guan Yu without a single pitched battle or active siege.
** Shu did have some good strategic men, but they died fairly young and longer-lived commanders have been given this reputation by popular fiction. Zhuge Liang was an almost unmitigated failure. His "disciple" Jiang Wei was perhaps worse, if only by virtue of launching even more campaigns against Wei. While Xu Shu did recommend Zhuge Liang to Liu Bei, he never served him in any capacity and the battle with the "Eight Gates Formation" in which he supposedly defeated Cao Ren is pure fiction. He also never rose high in Cao Cao's regime not out of refusal to craft stratagems, but just because he wasn't all that good at his job. Pang Tong is almost certainly overhyped, but Liu Bei's Yi campaign ground to a complete halt with his death, so he was evidently skilled. Fa Zheng likewise died on his first proper campaign, after tricking one of Cao Cao's greatest generals into an ambush and killing him.
** Yuan Shao had several advisors. Perhaps the best was Tian Feng. His ignored advice is said to have been astonishingly accurate, though this may be an exaggeration after the fact. Chen Gong was Lu Bu's chief strategist, though not highly skilled. He had achieved only a middling position in Cao Cao's army and was generally regarded as being too slow in formulating his plans.
* Liu Xiu, Emperor Guang Wu and founder of the Eastern Han dynasty. His victory at the Battle of Kunyang was one of the few examples in Chinese history whereby odds were so stacked against one army, and yet the underdog won. His side, with about 20,000 men, prevailed against approximately 420,000 troops of the Xin Dynasty. He was also known for formulating strategies back in court and sending said strategies to his generals out in the field, and the strategies still helped his troops win the day. Unfortunately, Liu Xiu's policy of acting as his own strategist rather than bringing in others to advise him was copied by many later emperors who lacked his strategic brilliance but were too egotistical to realize it.
* Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, the man who earned his agnomen "Africanus" by beating Hannibal at his own game and turning his own strategy against him. Nuff said. Prior to Africanus, the very concept of using strategy to win battles rather than attacking head-on was considered barbaric in Roman society. He changed that perception, since everybody else failed to beat Hannibal the old-fashioned way. One might call UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar this as well.
** And, naturally, Hannibal himself. Not only did he take a route ''no one'' expected by crossing the Alps and striking Italy from the north end and won numerous battles against Rome, he also took advantage of WeAREStrugglingTogether by deliberately ''not'' sacking the lands of the Roman general that was most effective against him -- leading his compatriots to suspect that his strategy of containment (rather than engaging Hannibal and losing forces) was a result of his having a secret deal.
** Also from the UsefulNotes/PunicWars, Xanthippus. A Spartan mercenary hired by the Carthaginians due the Romans having invaded Africa in the first war, he arrived right after the army at the defense of Carthage, their strongest force, had been routed and the Carthaginians were desperate enough to give him free reign if the peace talks fell through. During the peace talks he reorganized the Carthaginian army with the Hellenistic model, and when the peace talks ''did'' fall through a few months later he led the force he had just retrained to fight the Roman invasion force-and ''annihilated it''. He then went back home for fear of political assassination, but the Carthaginians kept his reforms, allowing them to hold their own in ground warfare against Rome for the rest of the war-and providing Hannibal with the force he needed to come extremely close to breaking Rome.
* The Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus, The Lion of the North, revolutionized warfare in the 17th century with both strategy and organization. He instituted permanent units, assigned a fixed chain of command, and established a philosophy of cooperation among all combatants. Instead of independent action by many different parts, the entire Swedish army now united to fight as a single team. Gustavus's use of supply lines and bases and his integration of infantry, cavalry, and artillery enabled him to form the first truly professional army in military history. Among the many people who studied him as a role model to follow militarily were Napoleon, who quite obviously is another example of this trope.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subutai Subutai,]] one of UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan's "dogs of war", used his strategies and skill as a commander to conquer more territory than any other commander in history, even coordinating attacks on Poland and Hungary, within two days of each other, from five hundred miles away. This was centuries before the telegraph.
* The Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley. Fought all but one of his battles (Vitoria) outnumbered, sometimes drastically, yet never lost a battle, defeated Napoleon, retook the Peninsula, commanded the Allied armies and deprived of almost all of his veterans (they had been sent to colonial outposts worldwide or fell into the category of RetiredBadass) stalemate Napoleon who had many more soldiers, mostly veterans and more artillery. Also, a large portion of the army, the Dutch-Belgian contingent, weren't too keen on fighting the French and left, as well as the Heavy cavalry being stupid (as per usual: they were largely composed of variants on the BloodKnight and UpperClassTwit) and mostly getting slaughtered after refusing to retreat after a successful charge. And he still held on for a day until Blucher arrived with the Prussian army. And he often had to deal with his political opponents in both Spain and London. A complete FourStarBadass.
* It's not a coincidence that UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte had an age named after him, the man fought and won most of his wars against all of Europe.
** Even better: as detailed in the ''Eroica'' entry, Napoleon's first claim to fame saw him having been kicked out of the army (even if not for political reasons but for refusing to serve as infantry general when he was from artillery) and being recalled into service because he was already known as capable and the Convention had nobody competent around.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_von_Bismarck Otto von Bismarck,]] Prussian [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bastard]] qualifies for engineering wars against [[TheEmpire Habsburg Austria]], Denmark, and France, each time manipulating the other side into being the aggressor. The purpose of these three wars? To bring [[UsefulNotes/AllTheLittleGermanies the various scattered Germanic states]] together into a unified nation.
** However, when the actual shooting wars started, that's where Bismarck needed his own strategist, General Helmut von Moltke the Elder. He was a commander who had a flair for developing war strategies that could seemingly defeat anyone, especially with that talent guided by the useful axiom he liked to follow when it is time to improvise, "Strategy is a series of expedients," or as is more popular known, "No plan survives contact with the enemy." Unfortunately, that general was among those pushed for aggressive conquests like France's Alsace-Lorraine region after the victory of the Franco-Prussian War, even when Bismarck suspected doing that would be a source for [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI more trouble with France in the future]].
** And Carl Von Clausewitz, author of ''[[BigBookOfWar On War]]''. His first claim to fame was to study Napoleon's strategies and tactics (that he had experienced on himself, having fought Napoleon at Jena and being captured when the Prussian army was [[CurbStompBattle annihilated]]) and use them to reform the Prussian Army and put in theory what Napoleon had improvised. His second claim to fame, detailed in the ''Eroica'' entry, was the Trachenberg Plan, the strategy he created with Austrian general Radetzky that led to Napoleon's armies being sufficiently weakened in numbers, firepower and morale to be utterly crushed at Leipzing. Other claims of fame came from the battle of Wavre, where he ''ridiculed'' Napoleon's general Grouchy by keeping him busy and away from the battle of Waterloo (where Grouchy's men would have been decisive), and ''On War'', that, while incomplete, is ''the'' BigBookOfWar of Europe.
** [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons Erich von Manstein]] was UsefulNotes/NaziGermany's best strategist, devising the Fall of France and numerous battles on the Eastern Front.
* All of the Prussian entries above owe a debt to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_the_Great Frederick the Great]], who single-handedly elevated the kingdom to a major military power in Europe. Frederick was a kind of martial OmnidisciplinaryScientist: in addition to studying every single facet of war (from mobility to tactics) and reading every book imaginable on historic conflicts, he personally fought in many battles and was able to devise strategies based not only on his vast knowledge, but lived experience. His reputation echoed across European history (German, French, and Russian military strategies were modeled after Frederick's own army), and indeed with some of the entries on this list--Napoleon Bonaparte viewed Frederick as [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter superior to even his own genius]], once remarking at the king's grave: "Gentlemen, if this man were still alive, I would not be here."
* Admiral Fyodor Ushakov was one of the best fleet commanders in the Russian Imperial Navy. How good was he? He never lost a battle or a ship in his naval career, despite frequently facing the Turks who had superior numbers and firepower. Lord Nelson used some of his tactics to win the Battle of Trafalgar. Not that Nelson would admit it, had he survived. In fact, Nelson was so intimidated by Ushakov, he earlier got him sent to Egypt instead of having Ushakov direct the siege of Malta as the more senior admiral. Unfortunately, the new Tsar didn't appreciate Ushakov's skill and had him KickedUpstairs.
* [[UsefulNotes/TheSoundOfMartialMusic Imperial Austria]] had [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Radetzky_von_Radetz Joseph Radetzky.]] How good was he? Well, do you remember the Trachenberg Plan detailed in Clausewitz's entry above? Well, ''he'' was the mind behind it, Clausewitz was ''working for him''. Later, [[OldSoldier in his seventies]], he was the Austrian commander-in-chief in the [[UsefulNotes/WarsOfItalianIndependence First War of Italian Independence]], and, outnumbered, outgunned and deprived of his forward base at Milan by the city's rebellion, he outmanoeuvred the Sardinian-led coalition until it dissolved under its political difficulties, at which point he fought decisively and won.
* Giuseppe Garibaldi. If someone was fighting for freedom, he was there. His greatest claim to fame is the ''Spedizione dei Mille'' (Expedition of the Thousand), that is ''conquering a kingdom with a thousand men and a strategy that had previously failed miserably against the same enemy'':
** the strategy was to land in the Kingdom of Two Sicilies and cause a pro-Italian Unification insurrection, as tried by Carlo Pisacane a few years earlier resulting in ''the people lynching the patriots instead of rising in rebellion''. Pisacane, who was barely known had landed near the capital of Naples, where the government was relatively well-liked, and had been stupid enough to free some convicts to increase his group's numbers. Garibaldi instead landed in Sicily proper, where the people hated the government, and, being Garibaldi, those who were about to attack the mysterious men anyway waited long enough for him to explain why he was there, at which point they rose in rebellion ''[[AwesomenessIsAForce because Garibaldi asked them]]''. After which Garibaldi's small army waltzed around Sicily, increasing their numbers through Sicilian volunteers and ''defections from the government's army'', conquered it, and landed on the mainland, continuing to defeat the government armies and increase his numbers through defections. The last battle was between the last twenty thousands demoralized men of the Two Sicilian army and Garibaldi's force of ''thirty thousand''...
* Field Marshal UsefulNotes/BernardLawMontgomery. He was undeniably a difficult man to deal with; as Churchill [[DeadpanSnarker snarked]], "in victory, [[InsufferableGenius insufferable.]]" He and Patton loathed each other, to the point where part of the reason that Eisenhower (who was frequently exasperated by both) was unanimously made Supreme Allied Commander by the Western Allied leaders was the fact that he was the only person who could manage both of them and keep them pointed in more or less the same direction. However, he was also quite nearly as brilliant as he thought he was, being a patient and methodical general who specialised in logistical campaign warfare. His achievements included singlehandedly turning around the North Africa campaign and outfoxing [[UsefulNotes/ErwinRommel the Desert Fox himself]], making him overstretch his supply lines and manipulating him into a trap at El Alamein. Likewise, while his gloating about it was very much ''not'' appreciated, especially since he rather exaggerated his already significant part, it is universally accepted among experts that his involvement was crucial at the Battle of the Bulge, coordinating a wide variety of isolated holding actions into a set-piece battle.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yi_Sun-sin Admiral Yi Sun-sin]] of the Kingdom of Korea is in a 2-man contest with Horatio Nelson for the position of "greatest naval commander of all time". During the Japanese invasions of Korea, it was ''solely'' thanks to Sun-sin's mastery on the waters that the kingdom was saved, despite [[DecadentCourt political]] [[WeAREStrugglingTogether infighting]] including a Japanese plot that saw him tortured and reduced to the ranks. After his replacement fell into the same trap [[IToldYouSo that Yi had been demoted for NOT falling into]], the Korean court hastily reinstated Yi Sun-sin and, despite his fleet being reduced to only 12-13 ships, he took on a Japanese fleet of 300 ships and ''[[CurbStompBattle/RealLife smashed]]'' it [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Myeongnyang by picking his battleground carefully]][[note]]The Strait of Myeongnyang was known ''locally'' for having a current that shifted every few hours, which negated the Japanese numbers advantage and sent them into disarray when the current shifted, causing their ships to splinter against each other[[/note]]. When the Japanese attempted to retreat from Korea, Yi met them in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Noryang one final battle]], his fleet now around 150 ships (thanks to Chinese reinforcements) but now facing '''500''' Japanese ships. This time, he ''annihilated'' them. Ironically, much like Admiral Nelson later would at Trafalgar, he fell in the battle when he was mortally wounded by a stray bullet, dying in his finest hour. In his career fighting the Japanese over the course of the 7-year war, he fought 23 battles and lost '''none''' (comparably, Nelson only fought 13 recognised battles in his 35 years of service and only 8 were decisive victories). He is still regarded as Korea's greatest hero to this day. The reason it's only a two-man contest?
-->'''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togo_Heihachiro Admiral Togo]]''': (Upon being compared to Admiral Yi) It may be proper to compare me with [[UsefulNotes/HoratioNelson Nelson]], but not with Korea’s Yi Sun-sin, [[WorthyOpponent for he has no equal]].
** ''WebAnimation/ExtraCredits'' did one of their history series on Yi [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ieaDfD_h6s and it is amazing viewing.]]
* Khalid ibn al-Walid, [[RedBaron the Sword of Allah]], is considered one of the greatest generals in history. He never lost a battle in his long career and repeatedly defeated the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires, two of the greatest powers in the world at the time.
[[/folder]]

* Tanaka Yoshiki seems to like these -- in addition to the Arslan example above, he has Yang Wenli, Reinhard von Lohengramm and Paul von Oberstein from ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes''. Yang is a drunk slob who would much rather laze around and study history than go into battle but he is the smartest strategist in the series, Reinhard is a Napoleon-like conqueror and a genius at military and politics, and Oberstein is a brilliant Machiavellian schemer in Reinhard's service.

* Nojiko from ''Fanfic/RipplesInThePond'' is the Straw Hat's strategist despite Evan being the SelfInsert. She's created plans to avert any shenanigans from Whiskey Peak and Little Garden, as well as ways to survive the crazy weather in the first half of the Grand Line, but the former ended up failing ''spectacularly'' due to MurphysLaw taken UpToEleven. Don't believe me? Not only did Evan unknowingly record [[spoiler:Vivi accidentally telling Miss Monday and Mr. 9 Crocodile's secret... ''without them realizing it,'']] he then replayed it to over fifty of the other Baroque Works Agents, plus Vivi and the other Straw Hats who were present... [[spoiler:all with Mr. 13 and Miss Friday being there to witness it]].

** The first to appear is, surprisingly, Alain, who has a knack for anticipating the strategies of ''UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte'' of all people; another is Napoleon (of course), who not only did all of historical deeds but also offered a job to Alain upon discovering they had the same idea to dispose of a counter-revolutionary insurgence (with the difference that Napoleon actually had the authority to do the job and Alain was trying a BavarianFireDrill); [[WoodenShipsAndIronMen Horatio Nelson]] took care of frustrating Napoleon's efforts at sea; the French generals Massena and Murat, who acted as Napoleon's [[TheLancer Lancers]] after [[spoiler:Alain's death attempting to kill Napoleon]]; Michael Von Melas, who gave Napoleon a desperate run for his money at Marengo and would have won if Alain didn't anticipate Napoleon's need for more troops and returned at the right moment; Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov, the great Russian general, anticipated Napoleon's tactic at Austerlitz (too bad [[IgnoredExpert the czar ignored him]]), but when Napoleon invaded Russia he outsmarted him every time and, while unable to defeat him in battle, his scorched earth strategy left the invaders helpless when the Russian winter came, ultimately resulting in victory; after Kutuzov's death (and Napoleon's HopeSpot), Carl von Clausewitz in person took care of organizing the Coalition's strategy that led to the victory at Leipzig, the first defeat inflicted to Napoleon on the battlefield; and, finally, the Duke of Wellington, who inflicted Napoleon his final defeat.

* Most teams in ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}'' have a player who serves in this role. Usually they're the quarterback and the captain, but not always. Notable examples include [[MagnificentBastard Hiruma]] of the Deimon Devil-Bats, [[TheChessmaster Takami]] of the Ojou White Knights, [[ManipulativeBastard Marco]] of the Hakushuu Dinosaurs, and [[EvilGenius Clifford]] of the Pentagram.

* Narsus in ''Literature/TheHeroicLegendOfArslan'' plays the trope to a T. He used to be an adviser to King Andragoras III but was expelled from the court because he kept asking the king to abolish slavery. For three years he'd been living in his remote countryside home painting and drinking. When Andragoras is defeated and the kingdom faces occupation, his old friend Daryoon appears at his place with the crown prince and demands that Narsus help them. At first, Narsus wants nothing to do with it, but then he realizes prince Arslan's potential and willingly becomes his adviser and strategist. (Arslan promising him the title of royal painter if he gets back the throne didn't hurt.) Just to clarify: Narsus had a very fine control of understanding and manipulating circumstances, sometimes to ludicrous degrees. His debut strategy was to pinpoint the most likely thrust of TheMole's plan to smoke Prince Arslan out of hiding, then counter that by having the prince lure Lusitanian soldiers to his position, which was on a hilltop...near a massive floodgate, which is promptly thrown open to have the Lusitanians' massive numerical advantage literally washed away.

* ''Literature/{{The Art of War|SunTzu}}'' is basically a manual of how to be this trope.

* In ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' the [[RedBaron Golden General]] Laurana is the brains behind almost all of the [[TheAlliance Whitestone Council's]] victories during the War of the Lance. She devises the plans which win the battles at [[SupervillainLair Icewall Castle]], and the [[DecisiveBattle High Clerist's Tower]], after which she is given command of the entire Whitestone Army and leads it to repeated victories over the numerically superior [[TheEmpire Dragonarmies]], destroying five separate enemy armies and liberating all of northern [[TheGoodKingdom Solamnia.]]

** The PosthumousCharacter, Aegon the Conqueror had three dragons which he used to enlarge and maximize his small army to a force that could take over an entire continent and it almost worked, except for Dorne. The Dornish used a mix of their climate, the bonds between the Martell lords and locals, and avoided giving battle to the dragons and this allowed them to resist being annexed by the Targaryens for more than 150 years. Then Daeron the Young Dragon using a land-army without dragons achieved the impossible and took over Dorne, invading by land and sea simultaneously and forcing a surrender which might have worked had Daeron worked better to integrate the defeated into his kingdom and not made his conquest resemble an occupation.
** Tywin Lannister is a ruthless but very cautious leader who builds his power by means of a CultOfPersonality and as a master of diplomacy and subterfuge. While a capable military commander, he has suffered some notable defeats and setbacks in the past, such as the humiliating raid masterminded by Euron Greyjoy that destroyed the Lannister fleet during the Greyjoy Rebellion, and he is outfoxed by Robb Stark in the field due to initially [[UnderestimatingBadassery underestimating Robb Stark]] because of [[JustAKid Robb's youth]]. He is however a brilliant OpportunisticBastard who is capable of capitalizing on and maximizing not only House Lannister's advantages, but also even small weaknesses and mistakes made by his enemies, and he brings all the mastery of diplomacy and subterfuge mentioned above to bear in doing so. In the case of the Stark vs Lannister conflict during the War of Five Kings, this means that while Robb is fixated on defeating Tywin through military means, Tywin utilizes his diplomatic and strategic skills to turn disenchanted Stark allies and [[TheStarscream ambitious underlings]] against Robb and turn on the Starks, thus handing victory to Tywin on a silver platter despite never having defeated Robb in battle.
** Robb Stark is both a brilliant tactician and a strategist. In the early part of the War of the Five Kings, he was cunningly able to outfox Tywin Lannister's strategy and hopes for a quick CurbStompBattle by giving him a feint. Robb then turns around and captures Tywin's son, Jaime Lannister instead, netting a valuable hostage who he can use to negotiate a quick end from a favorable position. This would have worked had King Joffrey not killed Ned Stark, which turned a small war into a longer one, where Robb ends up consistently winning every battle. He once again wrongfoots Tywin by failing to fall into his trap of meeting him at Harrenhal by instead marching west. Most of the time, Robb was able to dictate terms of engagement to Tywin and his campaign came undone because of a single TragicMistake on his part: sending Theon Greyjoy to the Iron Islands, and even then his strategy to undo Tywin came because his subordinate Edmure Tully exceeded his command. However there were numerous other factors that brought him down, such as one of his main commanders Rickard Karstark sending his troops away to hunt for Jaime and another of his main commanders Roose Bolton likely plotting against him from the start.

** Tolstoy had a bit of an ax to grind against officers of German extraction, which also becomes evident in his treatment of Barclay de Tolly (the general and minister of war who had basically created the Russian army that fought in 1812; he came from the German community of the Baltic provinces of Russia, although, as the name shows, he also had Scottish forbears) and Clausewitz. Also, it is not as if Pfuel (aka Phull) did not have actual war experience, he had served with the Prussian army in wars since the late 1770s.

* The ZombieApocalypse novel ''Literature/WorldWarZ'' features a South African character named Paul Redeker, whose cold-blooded logic got him kicked out the government. When the zombie threat begins to rise, he is (literally) dragged back in, and comes up with an effective but brutal method for preserving a nucleus of government.

** While it's clear Stannis is not the greatest politician, his strategic ability and talent as a general let him stay in the game. He would've taken King's Landing if it hadn't been for Tyrion's wildfire trick and fiercely organized defense, which delayed his siege long enough for Tywin to arrive with the Tyrells as reinforcements. [[spoiler:Though he finally loses this largely came about through rather contrived writing, with Ramsay Bolton somehow wrecking Stannis' entire war effort with 20 men in a night raid.]]

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' features an entire race of these, who have such a reputation for strategic skill that they have never actually fought a war. Worf instantly points out the FridgeLogic in this.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Battletech}}'' has had numerous examples throughout its long history. The two most well-known examples are probably Hanse Davion ([[CunningLikeAFox known as "The Fox"]]) as an Inner Sphere example and Khan Ulric Kerensky of Clan Wolf: Hanse used political strategy to almost re-unify the Inner Sphere by joining its two biggest realms in marriage and then almost conquering a third, while Ulric was a military strategist whose leadership of Clan Wolf basically amounted to an unbroken string of "BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor" moments for the Crusader factions.

** Alpharius' in-game model has pretty much every single army-boosting rule on it, making him a premier force multiplier. Lore-wise, Alpharius was a brilliant [[ConfusionFu but extremely unconventional strategist]] who saw battles almost entirely on the strategic level and was a master of stacking the deck before battle was even commenced; his main weakness was his ItsAllAboutMe attitude and that, as the last Primarch discovered, he would never get the chance to catch up to his brothers, a fact that Roboute Guilliman rubbed in his face.

* [[BigBad Lord Recluse]] of ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' can turn any band of thugs into EliteMooks with some anally precise tactical movments -- which is what lead him to take-over an entire country with what was originally less than half-a-dozen assassins. In battle this means giving his allies/minions about 10 different buffs passivly, in the narrative this means said epic battle you are engaging in with him... [[InfractionDistraction is just a distraction]].

* ''Videogame/DwarfFortress:'' Ever since the Tactics skill got actual use in Worldgen battles, and the player became capable of sending raids off-site, having a dwarf with high level in it to act as this trope is a valuable thing for both NPC empires and your fortress. While the actual process is heavily abstracted, the game tells how far one side outsmarts the other, and the combat rolls are skewed appropriately; a thorough [[OutGambitted out-gambitting]] can lead to even trashy conscripts carving a sizeable dent in an actual army. And skilled, well-equipped warriors at a good Tactician's command can slowly whittle an entire city to a lifeless ruin with a little insistence.

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' has the ''player'' themself (by means of a character simply called "the tactician", though their default name is Mark) taking on this role, with the other characters directly addressing and asking them for advice. Of course, the tactician refrains from battle and only directs others.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' series of games has at least one strategist per game, whose help the KidHero must seek out. The Silverbergs are a notable family of strategists who have helped shape the history of the games. Lucretia Merces, the advisor for ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'', dresses in robes and often carries a feather fan (perhaps as a ShoutOut to her spiritual predecessor, Zhuge Liang). She's also the only strategist in the entire series with no known connection to the Silverberg family at all.

* Pretty much the role of generals in ''Literature/TheSalvationWar'', with General [[spoiler:of the Armies]] David Petraeus being the ''KING'' of them all. It is notable though that his strategic maneuvers are straight out of the U.S. Army playbook; unlike his real-life role in counter-insurgency, in TSW Petraeus is simply applying established doctrine in unfamiliar circumstances rather than creating any radically new concepts. Notably, though, unlike some other examples, he's clearly a strategist, ''not'' a tactician; [[WordOfGod Author's Word]] has it that he's very good at that, but that's not his role and primary concern. In fact, in TSW, Petraeus is never seen to be carrying a weapon or on the front lines.

* Gorilla Grodd "watches lots and lots of TV" in order to enact his DivideAndConquer plot on the WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague. It nearly works but his strategy [[BondVillainStupidity doesn't include immediately finishing them off]]. This is actually pointed out by Clayface [[spoiler:Martian Manhunter]] that this would always happen in some of the movies he would do. Grodd of course waves him away saying how there's no way it could happen...

* There are of course lots of real-life examples. But [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talpiot_program the Talpiot Project]] is one of the more interesting. It is almost a RealLife version of [[Literature/EndersGame Battleschool]].

** Note, Hooker is the general that '''''lost'''''. Jackson's strategy in this battle resulted in General Lee defeating 135,000 men with a force of only 65,000 (about 2-to-1 against).

* As listed above in the ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' entry, the Three Kingdoms era had many, though several famous figures are either overhyped or flatout misrepresented in fiction. Notably, Zhuge Liang was a pretty terrible commander and strategist. His two military achievements are having an army surrender to him after his two flank commanders defeated most of it already and "capturing" two counties Cao Cao had purposefully depopulated in order to create a buffer of dead land to make invasions from Hanzhong more difficult to launch and to make a success. He also engaged in harmful cronyism, favouring his political allies over genuinely skilled commanders like Wei Yan.
** Wei had many. Most notable were Sima Yi and Jia Xu. Cao Cao himself was a highly accomplished commander who helped revive the then unpopular Art of War, providing an extensive annotation. Guo Jia died fairly young, but was well respected regardless. In later years, Deng Ai was a major force on the Western front with an uncanny ability to predict and intercept enemy movements through his excellent knowledge of terrain.
** Wu had Zhou Yu and Lv Meng among others. While Zhou Yu was instrumental in Sun Ce & Sun Quan's campaigns that lead to the founding of Wu, he died before Jing province could be settled. Lv Meng's lack of scholarship was so notorious he was known as "the country bumpkin of Wu" until Sun Quan encouraged him to take up studying. He then soon became one of Wu's most respected scholars and added tactical genius to his already incredible military ability. [[note]]Two Chinese proverbs were derived from him and his experiences. One was "Wu xia A'Meng" (吴下阿蒙), used to describe an ignorant person, and "Shi bie san ri, dang gua mu xiang kan" （士别三日，当刮目相看）, used to praise someone who has made great improvement since the speaker last saw the person.[[/note]] He was notable for winning battles without even fighting. Most notably, he took all of Liu Bei's holdings in Jing from Guan Yu without a single pitched battle or active siege.
** Shu did have some good strategic men, but they died fairly young and longer-lived commanders have been given this reputation by popular fiction. Zhuge Liang, as noted above, was an almost unmitigated failure. His "disciple" Jiang Wei was perhaps worse, if only by virtue of launching even more campaigns against Wei. While Xu Shu did recommend Zhuge Liang to Liu Bei, he never served him in any capacity and the battle with the "Eight Gates Formation" in which he supposedly defeated Cao Ren is pure fiction. He also never rose high in Cao Cao's regime not out of refusal to craft stratagems, but just because he wasn't all that good at his job. Pang Tong is almost certainly overhyped, but Liu Bei's Yi campaign ground to a complete halt with his death, so he was evidently skilled. Fa Zheng likewise died on his first proper campaign, after tricking one of Cao Cao's greatest generals into an ambush and killing him.
** Yuan Shao had several notable advisors. Perhaps the best was Tian Feng. His ignored advice is said to have been astonishingly accurate, though this may be an exaggeration after the fact. Chen Gong was Lu Bu's chief strategist, though not highly skilled. He had achieved only a middling position in Cao Cao's army and was generally regarded as being too slow in formulating his plans.

* The Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley. Fought all but one of his battles (Vitoria) outnumbered, sometimes drastically, yet never lost a battle, defeated Napoleon, retook the entirety of the Peninsula, commanded the Allied armies and even deprived of almost all of his veterans (they had been sent to colonial outposts worldwide or fell into the category of RetiredBadass) stalemate Napoleon who had many more soldiers, mostly veterans and more artillery. Also, a large portion of the army, the Dutch-Belgian contingent, weren't too keen on fighting the French and left, as well as the Heavy cavalry being stupid (as per usual: they were largely composed of variants on the BloodKnight and UpperClassTwit) and mostly getting slaughtered after refusing to retreat after a successful charge. And he still held on for an entire day until Blucher arrived with the Prussian army. And he often had to deal with his political opponents in both Spain and London. A complete FourStarBadass.

** And Carl Von Clausewitz, author of ''[[BigBookOfWar On War]]''. His first claim to fame was to study Napoleon's strategies and tactics (that he had experienced on himself, having fought Napoleon at Jena and being captured when the Prussian army was [[CurbStompBattle annihilated]]) and use them to reform the Prussian Army and put in theory what Napoleon had improvised. His second claim to fame, detailed in the ''Eroica'' entry, was the Trachenberg Plan, the strategy he created with Austrian general Radetzky that led to Napoleon's armies being sufficiently weakened in numbers, firepower and morale to be utterly crushed at Leipzing. Other claims of fame came from the battle of Wavre, where he ''ridiculed'' Napoleon's general Grouchy by keeping him busy and away from the battle of Waterloo (where Grouchy's men would have been decisive), and ''On War'', that, while incomplete, is pretty much ''the'' BigBookOfWar of Europe.

* Admiral Fyodor Ushakov was one of the best fleet commanders in the Russian Imperial Navy. How good was he? He never lost a battle or a ship in his entire naval career, despite frequently facing the Turks who had superior numbers and firepower. Lord Nelson used some of his tactics to win the Battle of Trafalgar. Not that Nelson would admit it, had he survived. In fact, Nelson was so intimidated by Ushakov, he earlier got him sent to Egypt instead of having Ushakov direct the siege of Malta as the more senior admiral. Unfortunately, the new Tsar didn't appreciate Ushakov's skill and had him KickedUpstairs.

* Field Marshal UsefulNotes/BernardLawMontgomery. He was undeniably a difficult man to deal with; as Churchill [[DeadpanSnarker snarked]], "in victory, [[InsufferableGenius insufferable.]]" He and Patton loathed each other, to the point where part of the reason that Eisenhower (who was frequently exasperated by both) was unanimously made Supreme Allied Commander by the Western Allied leaders was the fact that he was pretty much the only person who could manage both of them and keep them pointed in more or less the same direction. However, he was also quite nearly as brilliant as he thought he was, being a patient and methodical general who specialised in logistical campaign warfare. His achievements included singlehandedly turning around the North Africa campaign and outfoxing [[UsefulNotes/ErwinRommel the Desert Fox himself]], making him overstretch his supply lines and manipulating him into a trap at El Alamein. Likewise, while his gloating about it was very much ''not'' appreciated, especially since he rather exaggerated his already significant part, it is universally accepted among experts that his involvement was crucial at the Battle of the Bulge, coordinating a wide variety of isolated holding actions into a set-piece battle.

** Erza often analyzes her opponents's abilities during a battle to find out their weaknesses before choosing the right armor to take advantage of their weak spots.

** the strategy was to land in the Kingdom of Two Sicilies and cause a pro-Italian Unification insurrection, as tried by Carlo Pisacane a few years earlier resulting in ''the people lynching the patriots instead of rising in rebellion''. Pisacane, who was barely known had landed near the capital of Naples, where the government was relatively well-liked, and had been stupid enough to free some convicts to increase his group's numbers. Garibaldi instead landed in Sicily proper, where the people hated the government, and, being Garibaldi, those who were about to attack the mysterious men anyway waited long enough for him to explain why he was there, at which point they rose in rebellion ''[[AwesomenessIsAForce because Garibaldi asked them]]''. After which Garibaldi's small army waltzed around Sicily, increasing their numbers through Sicilian volunteers and ''defections from the government's army'', conquered it, and landed on the mainland, continuing to defeat the government armies and increase his numbers through defections. The last battle was between the last twenty thousands demoralized men of the Two Sicilian army and Garibaldi's force of ''thirty thousands''...

** August in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776'' is hired by Lewyn to advice Leif and his army. He is later joined by Dryan [[spoiler:until the latter is killed]].

** Soren in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' serves as the primary strategists for the Greil Mercenaries.

*** The customizable Avatar, Robin, serves as the Shepherds' primary tactician, to the point that their initial class (which can use [[MagicKnight both swords and magic tomes]]) is even ''named'' "Tactician".

** The [[PlayerCharacter Summoner]] from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'' quickly proves themselves to be one for the Kingdom of Askr. And since the game is a CrisisCrossover between ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' games, the heroes summoned on Askr rely on the Summoner for strategy during battle. Many characters also speak highly of their strategic abilities, to the point where some claim that their skills rival that of other legendary Fire Emblem tacticians, such as [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Saias]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Robin]].