Trope:Authority Equals Asskicking


 * Jame:I'm not asking who'd win in a fight, I'm asking if the Czar outranks the mayor.
 * York: And you don't think those issues are related?
 * — Terror Island

The higher a character is in his hierarchy, the better he is in a fight. This goes double for non-protagonists.

In the real world, soldiers are usually promoted for their leadership and management skills, not for their fighting prowess. If anything, senior ranking soldiers tend to be worse at fighting than the rank-and-file, because they are generally older, and they do not train as much because they are not expected to actually engage in combat. There are exceptions, but they usually don't put themselves In Harm's Way.

And yet, in many works of fiction, especially video games, the opposite is true. The higher someone's rank, the deadlier he is in personal combat. A sergeant can kick a grunt's ass. A captain can kick a sergeant's ass. A general can kick everybody's ass. The "boss fight" at the climax of a game will often be against the literal boss of the enemy army.

Common examples of this trope include General Ripper, Colonel Badass, the Diabolical Mastermind, the Corrupt Corporate Executive, The Evil Emperor, The Evil Prince and President Evil. Among the good guys, the Rebellious Princess benefits from this one enough to be a competent mage despite her sheltered life, and President Action can bring a whole new meaning to "political armtwisting." The Mad Scientist is more likely to go One-Winged Angel, but he can still invoke this trope if he's got a large enough cadre of mutants, henchmen, and/or combat robots at his disposal. The Evil Overlord will always take advantage of this, sometimes via Kingpin in His Gym. It is almost always the way of things with supernormal creatures like Demon Lords and Archdevils.

In video games with named and Palette Swap enemies, this trope sometimes results in the player fighting squadrons consisting entirely of generals near the end of the game, with no lower-ranked units in sight.

The Almighty Janitor is an inversion, who is far more powerful than his lowly rank would imply. The Desk Jockey is a different inversion, who has been promoted out of the field into authority. Compare You Can Barely Stand. See also Large and in Charge, Izchak's Wrath, Royals Who Actually Do Something, and Fixed Relative Strength.

Not to be confused with Asskicking Equals Authority, which happens when the strongest fighter is the guy in charge because he is the strongest fighter. Of course, the two can overlap.

Example
Used A LOT in Oseainox:
 * Linyoa and Daniel Marment were undoubtably the people with the most authority and Osea... and they both just so happened to be master swordsmen, quite possibly the best in Osea in fact.
 * Hardly uncommon: Nikolaos Seltyiel was also an extremely skilled fighter
 * Sarah the Pirate Lord was less an example of Authority Equals Asskicking but rather Asskicking Equals Authority. She began as a pirate and used this to make herself into the Queen of Leasath.
 * Sparklelord's asskicking is explained in universe as he is supposedly the immortal avatar of a god.