History Main / AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil

* In ''Literature/BenFortune'', when Ben is accused of illicit drug use after supposedly failing his athletics-mandated drug test, he is brought before the disciplinary committee, a student run judicial council to decide if he should be expelled from school. Student advocates from the school's debate team serve as prosecutor and defense and present a vigorous defense using things like Ben's attendance records and doctor's notes submitted to the school (records that can only be viewed by appropriate school administrators per federal law). Later, when it is revealed that Lena Montgomery and her father conspired to fake evidence of Ben's drug use in hopes of getting him expelled, Lena's case is brought before the same disciplinary committee and she is expelled.

*** The Utena UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn game pumps up the absurdity, by revealing that the only reason the council members have their places at all is that they're the most popular and "prince-like" students in the school. Their jobs on the council are arbitrarily assigned based on their age. Mikki is genuinely shocked at the revelation; Juri just gets pissed.
** Anthy is treated as a honorary member due her role as the Rose Bride and the Councilmembers being the candidates to get engaged to her. As an extension, Utena in the manga is treated as another honorary member due having won the engagement.

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* Taken to its logical extreme in ''BigBangAge''. The Student Union rules not a school but the ''entire country'', enforcing order on the super-powered teenagers of Japan. Its the weakening of their authority that sets the stage for the main plot as factions start infighting.

* In ''Series/KidNation'', the entire city was run by children. Some of the children acted in accordance with this trope.

* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ3X4PxU8nA this]] ''Creator/ProZD'' video, he compares and contrasts student councils in anime vs the real world. In the first, the student council representative is extorting President Biden for funding and has several students and their families put to death because [[FelonyMisdemeanor the students were tardy]]. In the second, the council representative meekly tries asking the others if they want to do a fundraiser.

* In ''KakumeikiValvrave'', after cutting themselves off from the rest of JIOR in the most literal way ever depicted in anime, the Student Council becomes the defacto '''government of an independent nation'''. Eventually, that independent nation goes on to becoming known as the Third Galactic Reich.

* The Yearbook Committee variation is subverted in ''Series/TheWonderYears'', in which Kevin, giving into peer pressure, puts a disparaging quote by the picture of a likable but overweight friend. He agonizes over the effect this will have on his friend, only to find that [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome reality ensues]] when the school administration, learning of the quote, has it removed and tells off Kevin.

** The King of the Playground seems like a mere ceremonial position for popular kids at times, but King Bob has the authority to have kids get swirlies or locked in a box, hold trials,, have the name of any newly transfered student be legally changed to "New Kid", and build structures. He also mentions his predecessors doing things like writing a code of laws and successfully lobbying to the city council for more recess.

** {{Justified}}. The Supreme Five Swords (how the students' council is called at the Private Aiichi Symbiosis Academy) have a lot of power, including the right to carry ''swords'' on campus... Because the ''headmistress is under orders to allow it'', as the owner finds it convenient for reasons so far unknown. It's shown that while the normal teachers don't dare to interfere with their antics the Supreme Five Swords know who is actually in charge, as the one time the headmistress decides to punish their president and another one they just take the punishment. In a variation, it's stated early on they're actually supposed to be the ''Disciplinary Committee'', that after Aiichi became co-ed ended up taking up the students' council's duties alongside rule enforcement... Meaning that there may be an actual yet powerless students' council somewhere.

* {{Justified}} in ''Webcomic/MobPsycho100'', in that their president Kamuro actually ''tricks'' the faculty into giving them this kind of power by engineering a situation they don't really want to deal with and "offering" to do it in their stead, and by the point the faculty realizes what's happening they can't take it back without losing face.

** The King of the Playground seems like a mere ceremonial position for popular kids at times, but King Bob has the authority to have kids get swirlies or locked in a box, hold trials, and build structures. He also mentions his predecessors doing things like writing a code of laws and successfully lobbying to the city council for more recess.

* ''Literature/TheWitchOfKnightcharm'': At the dark magic school Myth/TheScholomance, the top four students are known as the 'elites' and, as a group / council, decide which students are given which class rank. That rank in turn determines everything from the quality of food and equipment other students get to which missions they're assigned. As such, even though the elites are just students, they still control almost every aspect of the other students' lives and can make their lives at the Scholomance easier... or much, much harder. (And shorter).

* Subverted in ''Anime/WeissKreuz [[OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo Gluhen]]'': Koua Academy seems to have an Absurdly Powerful Student Council in the form of "S Class," an elite group of students who, led by EnfantTerrible Toudou, get away with murder and at one point openly declare their control over the school. They get a rude awakening 6 or 7 episodes in when [[spoiler:Toudou discovers he is the TomatoInTheMirror, has a FreakOut, and is murdered by his creator]], after which the protagonists get down to the business of ferreting out TheManBehindTheMan and The Man ''Behind'' TheManBehindTheMan from among the faculty and founders of the academy.

* In ''LightNovel/AsuraCryin'', the student council can give the authorization to kill. Can't get much more powerful than that.

* ''LightNovel/ChromeShelledRegios'': The StudentCouncilPresident is explicitly in charge of the city. Considering that includes its military for fighting giant monsters as well as other cities, that's a pretty big responsibility. He can effectively force students to change their majors if he decides it's in the city's best interest.

* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDxD'': Most of the school's politics seemed to be settled through negotiation between the StudentCouncilPresident Souna Sitri and the Occult Research Club President Rias Gremory. Justified, as most of the senior faculty are devils, and direly outranked by the ''de facto'' heads of two of the three great houses. In fact, since both Rias and Souna have older siblings who are Satans, the balance of power for ''the entire Devil faction'' is filtered through Kuoh Academy's school politics.

--->'''Cecil''' (In reference to "angel" sightings): "The Council would like to remind you that you should not know anything about this. They only tell lies and they do not exist."

* Due to student-teachers conflicts in the 1800s that led to the murder of a professor, the faculty of the University of Virginia are formally banned from punishing their students for academic misconduct. Instead, assigning guilt and punishment is entirely in the hands of a wholly student-run Honor Court (i.e. a full-blown criminal justice system, with juries, judges, and counsels for the prosecution and defense). For most of the history of the U-Va Honor Court, the only punishment available was permanent expulsion (or if the student has already graduated, the retroactive voiding of the degree awarded); serious business indeed.

* ''Literature/TheWitchOfKnightcharm'': At the dark magic school Myth/TheScholomance, the top four students are known as the 'elites' and decide which students are given which class rank. That rank in turn determines everything from the quality of food and equipment other students get to which missions they're assigned. As such, even though the elites are just students, they still control almost every aspect of the other students' lives and can make their lives at the Scholomance easier... or much, much harder. (And shorter).

** In "Links in a Chain of Honor" , the eighth grade student council President has the authority to buy truckloads of foam fingers for the school and is in charge of appointing the sixth grade student council officials rather than let them be chosen by election.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'': The Principal for a Day elections allow the winner to order all-day recess and big parties if he chooses, which the actual principal is helpless to stop.

%%* Subverted and lampshaded in ''Literature/IAmAGeniusOfUnspeakableEvilAndIWantToBeYourClassPresident''.

* {{Justified}} in ''Manga/ArmedGirlsMachiavellism'': the Supreme Five Swords (how the students' council is called at the Private Aiichi Symbiosis Academy) have a lot of power, including the right to carry ''swords'' on campus... Because the ''headmistress is under orders to allow it'', as the owner finds it convenient for reasons so far unknown. It's shown that while the normal teachers don't dare to interfere with their antics the Supreme Five Swords know who is actually in charge, as the one time the headmistress decides to punish their president and another one they just take the punishment. In a variation, it's stated early on they're actually supposed to be the ''Disciplinary Committee'', that after Aiichi became co-ed ended up taking up the students' council's duties alongside rule enforcement... Meaning that there may be an actual yet powerless students' council somewhere.
** Hokkai, Aiichi's twin school, has the Six King Swords to fulfill this trope... [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority By being the best fighters in the school]] (it's possible to enter the Six Kings or even become their leader by defeating the incumbent, as the current leader Nonomura and his predecessor both did). The school's owner is the same as Aiichi (and [[spoiler:Nonomura's sword teacher]]), explaining the very similar system.

* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ3X4PxU8nA this]] ''Creator/ProZD'' video, he compares and contrasts student councils in anime vs the real world. In the first, the student council representative is extorting President Biden for funding and has several students and their families put to death because the students were tardy. In the second, the council representative meekly tries asking the others if they want to do a fundraiser.