Asskicking Leads To Leadership / Real Life

• This is Truth in Television for a major part of human history. Many leaders came into power by kicking out the region's current leader, then doing the same to anyone who might try to challenge them later. (Although it's usually the army doing the asskicking rather than the individual leader.)
  • It is said that when Alexander the Great was asked to whom the succession would go, he replied "to the strongest." ^note  This may actually be the product of Self-Serving Memory by those who witnessed his death. The most logical successor of Alexander was named Krater'oi, but he was not there when he passed away. Those who were claimed Alexander had said that he left his empire to 'krat'eroi' (the strongest), with the only difference being the placement of the accented vowel. Krater'oi initially submitted to Perdiccas, who became regent of Alexander's son in the court intrigues that followed, but then Krater'oi was killed in a rebellion apparently started by Perdiccas' marrying Alexander's sister in a bid for power. Of course no one ever figured out who was the strongest until the Romans came along and showed everyone, thus becoming The Empire.
  • Along the Scottish Border that was pretty much how the clans worked too. See The Steel Bonnets
  • Attila the Hun was the leader of the Huns because he was the strongest of them all.
  • In ancient Ireland, chieftains were required to be of sound body — if a king lost his arm or leg, he was expected to step down, since obviously he could not lead his armies or protect his people.
  • In the Soviet Army, this was the way of selecting the non-commissioned officers. Justified, since the enlistment was based on conscription, with all non-commissioned officers being conscripts, and the materiél was both very heterogeneous and overall education, especially in the Islamic republics, was generally low. Led often into serious Gung Holier Than Thou situations.
• Perfectly in line of this trope, Russians and Europeans with this mindset fell easy prey to Mongols' Hordes from the East who put military discipline and coordination first, allowing them to use highly advanced tactics (in addition to other advantages).
• Pick any animal species organized by packs or herds, and their social order will generally be ranked accordingly, with the strongest male exerting the most influence, both with regards to the pack as a whole, and with regards to the available females. As mentioned above, this included humans for most of our history.
  • The term "pecking order", in fact, originates from hens. Yes, even female chickens will fight to establish dominance. The alpha hen in a flock will frequently pull out the feathers of lower-ranked hens, often drawing blood. And since they usually attack the head, pecking out of subordinate hens' eyes is not unknown.
  • Wolf packs were previously thought to follow a hierarchy of alpha, beta, omega, etc., determined by fighting amongst themselves. Turns out that this is mostly limited to zoos, whereas wild packs consist of a mated pair and their offspring. The hierarchy among pups within a pack does follow this trope, but the parents remain the undisputed alphas, and at about two years old, a litter disperses to form packs of their own.
    • Though atypical, this can even happen with domestic dogs: if their owner fails to establish authority by the dog's standards, the dog may declare themselves "pack leader" and refuse to be trained.
  • The Leader of any horse herd is the dominant mare. She chooses routes and takes the best drinking/feeding. The stallion's role is to drive stragglers along and stay at the edges, guarding against threats. Taking down threat after threat wears on the stallion. Sometimes he'll allow a younger stallion to join him, though it means he'll eventually be displaced, thus making for a sith apprenticeship. However, the position of stallion is dependent on the collective graces of the mares- if they don't like a stallion they might gang up to attack him and drive him away even if he's the strongest around.
  • Chimpanzees subvert this trope as often as they play it straight. The dominant male of a troop is often the best fighter, but if he's not skilled at troop politics and tries to be too much of a bully, other males might team up to attack him together, using superior numbers to make up for being individually less powerful. This usually results in two or three males being co-dominant fore a time, often with the more dominant individual being one that's better at making friends with the rest of the troop rather than being the best fighter.
• Warrant Officers in the United States military are part this and part Genius Bruiser. You get to be a warrant officer by being more skilled in your Military Occupational Specialty than an E-9 (highest ranking enlisted) in that specialty is supposed to be. Unlike regular commissioned officers, warrant officers don't need college degrees (though many have them anyway). Although outranked by regular commissioned officers, they still rate salutes from enlisted members, and can even be made company commanders in specialty units.
• Among the Ijaw clans of southern Nigeria, the cultural period before the rise of war-canoe houses and kingship (dated usually as 17th Century) is known as the "Heroic" or "Warlord" period. Basically, clans rallied behind strong fighters who organised them along war-making lines (levies of warriors from each family, garrisons). The top warriors in each clan ruled in council under the strongman, who could be deposed for failure in warfare, or a challenge to single combat. Many of the founding warlords have been elevated to deity status, becoming "patron saints" of combat and national cult heroes for their clans (Fenibeso for Okrika, Egbesu for many of the central Ijaws).
• Democratic Elections are (sometimes) a more civilized form of this. When you think about it they are a non-violent Combat by Champion involving an exchange of insults until the one whose reputation has been least destroyed gets the privilege of taking office and being blamed for all the evils of the world for his entire term. In any case it is about giving power to the one who was victorious in a contest.
• This trope is a nice summation of the fascist worldview. In the 1930s and '40s, when it was also sometimes referred to as "Realism" in relation to foreign policy, Orwell summed it up with a supposed quote from Germany's "Iron Chancellor" Bismark: when asked if a failure in foreign policy had been caused by being too harsh to a defeated enemy, Bismark was supposed to have replied "No, it was clearly caused because we weren't harsh enough".
• William Marshall was one of the most important English military commanders and at the end of his life the regent of the kingdom. While his father and elder brother had held the office of Marshall, he was sent to France as a child, where he eventually became one of the greatest champions in knight tournaments. He first got a foot into politics when he was chosen as the personal coach for the son of the king of England, because he was the greatest fighter in all of Europe! Even in his 70s he still fought in major battles, which probably helped him a lot in being chosen as the regent for the infant king after the death of King John.
• This was how Henry IV, Edward IV, and Henry VII became King of England, securing their throne on the battlefield and eliminating opponents through violence. This is deconstructed by contemporary history, however, in that basing the legitimacy of rule on this means the king can find it difficult to pursue a non-war oriented governance policy, which either a) keeps your reign in conflict and breed resentment throughout it, or b) it gets you killed in the end. Notably, Henry V (son of Henry IV) found that the best way to avert this is the Genghis Gambit.
  • For that matter, it's how William the Conqueror became King of England. A French duke who'd never lived in England, while he was a cousin of the childless King Edward the Confessor, William was far from being his most obvious heir. Even his status as Duke of Normandy previously had to be secured by force since he was the illegitimate son of the previous duke. Edward's son-in-law Harold Godwinson was instead crowned as the next king, so William invaded England and defeated him in battle to seize the throne. one account even claims that William personally killed Harold on the field of battle, but this is considered highly unlikely and most accounts say Harold died after being shot in the eye by one of William's archers.
• In the United States, many candidates for President cite their military service as part of their qualifications. The U.S. Constitution states that the President is Commander in Chief of the country's military, so theoretically military experience is important for tha part of the President's job. Notable Presidents who were war heroes include George Washington as the Ur-Example, while other notable veteran Presidents include Dwight D. Eisenhower, Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, and Theodore Roosevelt. A full list of Presidents' military service is here.
  • On the other hand, a lack of military service, or at least claims of exaggeration or lying about it, can be a detriment. One of the reasons for John Kerry's defeat in the 2004 election is considered to have been how other Vietnam veterans accused him of falsifying his exploits in the war. George W. Bush and many other Republican leaders were also called "chickenhawks" for their eagerness to go to war despite most of them not having actually served. Barack Obama and Donald Trump were also criticized by their political opponents for their having never served in the military.
• Two examples from Nazi Germany:
  • Adolf Hitler won an Iron Cross First Class and an Iron Cross Second Class during the First World War. Having those decorations helped to give him the confidence to stand up to the generals during the Second World War. However, he never achieved high rank and some German generals who did achieve high ranks often viewed him with contempt. When German field marshal Friedrich Paulus was losing badly against the Soviet Union at Stalingrad and Hitler ordered him to commit suicide, Paulus replied that "I have no intention of shooting myself for that Bohemian corporal," a derisive nickname several other German generals had for Hitler. Notably, Hitler achieved power due more to his charisma and political skills rather than any actual military ability, which became painfully clear with some of his decisions during the war.
  • Hermann Goering's main qualification for being in charge of the Luftwaffe was that he had been a successful fighter pilot in the First World War. However, the skills required to lead a small group into combat are not the same as those required to lead a large organisation.
• Before founding the Fascist Party, Benito Mussolini had fought in World War I as a bersagliere (Italy's shock troops, best known for their good aim and toughness), being promoted to corporal for valour in combat and often volunteering for the most dangerous missions until the bomb-thrower he volunteered to use blew up on his face.
• Daniel Inouye was a Medal of Honor recipient who received said award for the insane badassery he pulled during the Italian Campaign of World War II (including slaughtering several German soldiers after having his arm blown off by a grenade). After the war, he went to be elected to the US Senate, becoming both the longest-serving senator in history and the President pro tempore of the United States Senate. His reputation as a war hero obviously helped him here.

---