History Main / AlmightyJanitor

* ''LincolnHeights'', both Eddie and Jenn Sutton work as a police officer and Nurse, respectively. Eddie has spent 12 years as just a low level beat cop but is clearly capable of being a sergeant or even detective. He actually purposely doesn't test for those positions, knowing that a promotion would take him off the street and put him behind a desk where he wouldn't do much good to the community. His family could certainly use the extra pay. Jenn is more understandable as she most likely would of gone to school to become a doctor, or at least a Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant, but became pregnant at a very young age and never went to college.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groom_of_the_stool The Groom of the Stool]] was literally just the guy who wiped the king's ass but in practice became the most powerful courtier because he always had access to the King. Also, when the king is one his ''throne'', the guy has nothing else to do except listen to you.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groom_of_the_stool The Groom of the Stool]] was literally just the guy who cleaned the king's ''toilet'' but in practice became the most powerful courtier because he always had access to the King.

-->'''Mycroft:''' "For goodness sake! I occupy a minor position in the British Government."
-->'''Sherlock:''' "He IS the British Government."

* While not exactly as low as a Janitor and technically high ''ranking'', Optimus Prime of ''TransformersAnimated'' is in charge of a group of lowly Space Bridge repairmen after screwing up somehow when he was applying for the Elite Guard, respected only by his team. He lacks self-esteem and wants to be a hero more than anything. He's working on it. This has led some to call him "Maintenance Prime", after an insult given to him by [[JerkAss Sentinel]] [[TheNeidermeyer Prime]].

* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'':
** One of your migrants is a High Master level Lye Maker? Too bad you don't need soap yet (or [[GoodBadBugs lye production is broken again]]), it's refuse hauling duty for you pal.
** Also, military dwarves on a month of leave. Sure, they may only be good at hauling stuff right now, but they're still decked out in a *Steel Breastplate* and are only a few days away from training his axe skills up to master.
* ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireDragonQuarter'': Ryu. In a world where your place in society is determined by your D-ratio, Ryu has the depressingly low D-rank of 1/8192. As it turns out though, that D-ratio indicates the chances of a person bonding with a dragon; Ryu beats the odds and proceeds to carve a path of destruction all the way up the chain of command, eventually defeating a trio of 1/4-rank {{Physical God}}s.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'':
** Ramza spends the entirety of this game as a squire, quitting the royal military academy and going rogue before ever obtaining noble title like the rest of his family has/had. He also misses out on acquiring all the awesome holy sword abilities that come with knighthood which every other character who is an actual knight (including his former best friend Delita) possesses. That said, while he may only be a squire he is a monstrously powerful squire who goes on to stop a bloody and pointless war and [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu saves the world from no less than six Eldritch Abominations]].
** Also, his squire class is one of the strongest classes in the game, thanks to a couple of unique abilites he gets, plus equipment other squires can't use.

* No matter how many people and {{Mons}} you kill, you're still a mere apprentice magician as far as the [=NPCs=] in ''VideoGame/{{Geneforge}}'' are concerned.

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'': In one of these games, you fight [[TheJudge Eiki Shiki, Yamaxanadu]]. As Cirno, the [[RuleOfCool ICE FAIRY]]. Even Eiki comments on how strong she is, despite being only a fairy.
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'':
** The BonusBoss is an elevator attendant. In a Jackie O. hat. [[spoiler:It's Elizabeth,]] and she will ''wreck you''.
** This is lampshaded in her playable appearance in ''Persona4Arena'', where the title she is given is "The Lethal Elevator Attendant". For [[GameplayAndStorySegregation obvious reasons]], however, her power is toned down considerably in order to make her competitively viable. [[spoiler:Until you face her in [[SNKBoss Score Attack Mode]], that is...]]
** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' has [[spoiler: Igor's assistant Margaret]]. Also, the game's true final boss [[spoiler:is the gas station attendant from the very beginning of the game, actually [[BigBad the goddess Izanami]] in disguise.]]
* ''VideoGame/TheGodfather'': In the game, while AuthorityEqualsAsskicking is largely in effect, almost all of your levelable skills come from Respect levels gained by free-roaming rather than the plotline promotions up the Family's ladder. This means that your rank can still be "Outsider" while you're already far more accomplished than any number of enemy Underbosses.
* ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'':
** Isaac is effectively a space janitor; sent to fix the Ishimura's communications array, but [[spoiler:being roped into saving the universe from alien zombies]]. He does end up 'fixing' the communications array, at least enough to send a message through it.
** Probably a JustifiedTrope given that, well, an engineer on a spaceship has to be ready to tackle ANYTHING that can go wrong on a spaceship in a moment's notice, and a LOT can go wrong on a spaceship, and very quickly. Seriously, just look at the armor he wears: Isaac's suits are rated by how dangerous the environment he'll be working in, and the least effective would be combat armor in most situations, and the best armor he gets is only a single step down from military grade combat armor. The "weapons" Isaac uses are tools that are designed to do anything from cutting through the hull of the ship (plasma cutter) to cutting through live power cables (ripper), and he had to be trained with ALL of them so he could handle any problems that come up. Isaac wasn't just any engineer, he was an engineer trained SPECIFICALLY for when things went seriously wrong on a spaceship, meaning he was the guy that was always sent in when things went horribly horribly wrong, so unlike most of the unfortunate engineers on the Ishimura, he was wearing his suit from the get-go, and trained to be able to handle any number of extreme situations (although probably not alien zombie monsters), which is why he survived when so many others died.
* ''TonicTrouble'': This ''very'' obscure game features a literal janitor: the alien simply known as "Ed".
* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'': While not quite almighty, the snowman janitor in the Lair of the Ninja Snowmen is just as powerful and ninja-y as the rest of the snowmen there:
-->''In the icy wastes of Mount [=McLargehuge=], where the most elite of ninja snowman assassins are trained, even the guy who mops the dojo floor is fully capable of kicking your ass. Try not to bleed on the floor -- you'll only make him angrier. ''
* ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'':
** After fighting through the Battle Company of Castelia City, you get the singular opportunity to face [[SubvertedTrope the chairman]] of the Battle Company, Janitor Geoff. (And as you might expect, one Pokemon he uses is Trubbish.)
** During ''Black'' and ''White'', he really is the chairman, [[KingIncognito he just likes pretending to be the janitor]]. However, in ''Black 2'' and ''White 2'', he's retired as the chairman to actually become the janitor full-time and give advice to the new chairman (his grandson), henceforth playing this trope straight.
** Both games actually have quite a few Janitor Trainers, and some are tougher than Geoff. Not to mention that there are a lot of Trainers in the game with unlikely professions, like Clerks, School Kids, Nursery Aides, Chefs, Maids, and even Preschoolers. Some of them that you encounter after completing the main storyline have Mons that rival even the ones used by Bosses.
* ''RatchetAndClank'': Has an odd example of this. The plumber appears in almost every series, giving little tips and the like to help Ratchet along. However, occasionally he appears to know WAY more than he's letting on, such as when, in one game, he says "See you next year," alluding to his appearance in the next game, and telling Clank that [[spoiler: "I wouldn't risk any more than six minutes," right before Ratchet dies, and Clank must face himself with the choice of saving his best friend, or letting him die and avoid potentially harming time and space. He remembers the advice, goes back six minutes, and no disasters occurred. Who knew a plumber knew so much about time and space?]] or that Clank would need to know the information anyway? In fact, he was originally voiced by [[{{Scrubs}} THE Janitor]].
* ''NoMoreHeroes2'': Nathan Copeland is an assassin ranked second from the bottom out of a whopping 51 combatants, but is easily more skilled, agile, and powerful than nearly half the killers above him. Justified, as he says he simply joined the ranks and hung around at the bottom waiting to [[BloodKnight fight Travis.]]
* ''DawnOfWar 2'': Cyrus is a veteran of multiple campaigns and has served two decades in the [[EliteArmy Deathwatch]], and could easily make a much higher rank if he sought it, but is content with being a scout sergeant in charge of training the chapter's initiates. The reason for this is because Cyrus' unorthodox (though often highly successful) tactics has made him unpopular with several of his peers and superiors, but by remaining in charge of training he is able to ensure that all the generations of space marines he trains will be molded to his way of thinking.

* ''AirForceDelta Strike'': Features Pops, the wise and insanely buff Almighty Mechanic.
* ''LiberalCrimeSquad'': You have dancers and yoga instructors. They all have very high Agility, strengh and Health, making them even [[UnskilledButStrong tougher]] than agents.
* ''CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'': Comrade Dasha, the intelligence officer / VoiceWithAnInternetConnection of the USSR. Despite her relatively lowly position as a coordinator, in the Soviet campaign she ends up running the show alongside the player thanks to [[YouAreInCommandNow everybody else]] [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder betraying one another]]. In the canonical Allied ending, meanwhile, she uses her status as "[[LoopholeAbuse technically a civilian]]" to avoid getting locked up along with the other Soviet leaders and becomes ''de facto'' head of LaResistance.
* ''VideoGame/{{Assassins Creed I}}'': Subverted with Altair. While not "largely immune to the whims of the higher-ups", after he [[WhatTheHellHero royally screws up]] he is stripped of his rank and the privileges that come with it, effectively starting from the ground up despite having previously attainted the title of ''Master Assassin''. He spends the majority of the game being a badass, trying to earn his status back and eventually gets there... [[PlotTwist sort of]].
* ''VideoGame/WingCommander II'':
** Col. Christopher Blair gets demoted to Captain after the loss of the Tiger's Claw in that game's prologue, relegated to a desk job on a remote outpost. That doesn't stop him from kicking ass when the Kiltrathi come knocking on his door (despite Admiral Tolwin's efforts to keep him pinned down) and eventually defeating them, and getting his rank back.
** He then tries this voluntarily between ''[=III=]'' and ''[=IV=]'' after singlehandedly defeating the Kilrathi by retiring to a life of a farmer on a remote desert planet. It doesn't work out and he goes back in action in ''[=IV=]''.
* ''VideoGame/EscapeFromStMarys'': Agnelo the handyman seems to be the real man in charge.
* ''{{Dustforce}}'': A rather literal example, as you are playing extremely athletic janitors who display insane parkour ability.
* ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 4 A Promise Unforgotten}}'': Though Valvatorez was once the powerful and widely feared Tyrant, [[HowTheMightyHaveFallen he is now just a simple Prinny Instructor]] -- a Prinny Instructor who [[MakaiKingdom The Most Badass Frickin' Overlord in All the Cosmos]] considers a WorthyOpponent.
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'': According to a sarcastic Hawke, this is what being the Champion of Kirkwall entails. Despite ascending to the nobility and later becoming the Champion, Hawke refuses to get themselves into a position of actual authority, preferring to run things from the ground, as this gives them the freedom to act without going through political red-tape. By Act III, this is actually given as the reason why the nobles want Hawke as the new Viscount, because instead of political posturing, they are the only person who actually manages to get things ''done''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Oddworld}}'': Meet Abe, meat packing slave and former Employee of the Month turned savior of the Mudokon race (well, [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential maybe]]). He also has psychic mind powers that can open portals made of birds and [[MindControl control his enemies]].
* ''Space Station 13'': The Janitor position comes with a free Haz-Mat suit. Captain's garb and Detective's trench coat are both nice, but when the radiation storm rolls around they won't do much good.
* ''VideoGame/FutureWars'': The hero is a window washer, who stumbled upon his employer's dark secret and ended up fighting aliens in the past and future.
* ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'': The in-game character encyclopedia explicitly says that the royal court of Kaocho would get nothing done if not for Meisa, who appears to be a scribe otherwise (not quite a janitor, but definitely not a position of rank).

* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'', one of your migrants is a High Master level Lye Maker? To bad you don't need soap yet (or [[GoodBadBugs lye production is broken again]]), it's refuse hauling duty for you pal.

* Ryu in ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireDragonQuarter''. In a world where your place in society is determined by your D-ratio, Ryu has the depressingly low D-rank of 1/8192. As it turns out though, that D-ratio indicates the chances of a person bonding with a dragon; Ryu beats the odds and proceeds to carve a path of destruction all the way up the chain of command, eventually defeating a trio of 1/4-rank {{Physical God}}s.
* The ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore'' series always had rankings, but it isn't until ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore: Master of Arena'' that you can fight each other. In that game, the lowest ranking ones, even after the post-story unlockables are very weak. Along came ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore 2'' and ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore 3''. In ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore 3'' and the sequel ''Silent Line,'' the arena also features a post-story unlockable enemies. The catch is that the lower in the rank they go, ''the tougher they are'', so much so that in ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore 3,'' there's an email challenging you to defeat the bottom-most opponent while giving you the GameBreaker OP-I (albeit you need to train it properly first), just to give you a slight, repeat, ''slight'' edge over the opponent. To further hammer the point home, the email added "you may be considered unfair should you choose to use the equipment I provided."

* Glenn is one of the best, if not ''the'' best, optional character you can recruit in ''VideoGame/ChronoCross.'' But despite being a dual-sword wielding bad ass with familial connections to the higher-ups, his only real job seems to be guarding the resident DistressedDamsel during her walks about town. No explanation is ever given as to why this is or why a bratty ten-year-old girl is his commanding officer: with recognition like that, no wonder he betrays the Dragoons.

* In ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', the Nu is an odd example of this. In the palace of Zeal Nus serve as janitors, and you can steal their 'Mop' weapons. However, the self-proclaimed God of War's ultimate form at "The End of Time" is a Nu, and Nus are surprisingly capable fighters; as well as having out-of-this-worldly knowledge.
* Ramza spends the entirety of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' as a squire, quitting the royal military academy and going rogue before ever obtaining noble title like the rest of his family has/had. He also misses out on acquiring all the awesome holy sword abilities that come with knighthood which every other character who is an actual knight (including his former best friend Delita) possesses. That said, while he may only be a squire he is a monstrously powerful squire who goes on to stop a bloody and pointless war and [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu saves the world from no less than six Eldritch Abominations]].

* The backstory of the nameless SpaceMarine in the original ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' is [[AllThereInTheManual explained in the game's README file]]. He as Janitor made an impressive painting on the wall in one of the hospital rooms.

* Gordon Freeman from ''{{Half-Life}}''. Yeah, he's a BadassBookworm, but his doctorate is in theoretical physics, not {{ninj|a}}utsu, and the resonance cascade happened on his first day in the Anomalous Materials laboratory. He's fairly low on the totem pole.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'', the PlayfulHacker Yukebacera ranks as a common Tasen Soldier and looks like one. He's also, bar none, the most badass Tasen around and one of the toughest fighters of any race. To put it in perspective, he's the fastest NPC in the game, and has the most weapons aside from the final boss.
* In ''{{MDK}}'', the main character, Kurt Hectic, who saves the Earth is a janitor. Admittedly, though, a janitor with a sweet suit containing a very powerful sniper rifle. The main thing about him is that he would much rather [[ReluctantHero keep his job as a janitor than be a hero]].
* Likewise, in the Creator/{{Infocom}} game ''VideoGame/{{Planetfall}}'', the player starts off as an Ensign, Ninth Class (assigned to swabbing the deck); in the sequel, you've been promoted ... you're sent to pick up a load of "Request for Stellar Patrol Issue Regulation Black Form Binders Request Form Forms." Whether this is better or worse than being a janitor is left to the reader.
* Cruller from '' VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' could be a subversion: while he acts as the camp's janitor (and groundskeeper, and chef, and lifeguard...), [[spoiler: he's actually one of the most powerful Psychonauts around. He just has a multiple personality problem that can only be cured when he's in the vicinity of large hunks of [[AppliedPhlebotinum Psitanium]].]]

* Roger Wilco of the ''SpaceQuest'' series of adventure games -- a ''literal'' janitor who never goes anywhere in terms of rank or popularity even after saving Xenon multiple times.

* In the cell phone game ''VideoGame/SurvivingHighSchool,'' Buck the Janitor features prominently in multiple side episodes, including one where he helps catch the person who's bought all of the tea so no one can have any, and another where he helps a nerd become a janitor-ninja (using a mop as his weapon), defeat the bully, and win the girl. All this is only if you do it right. He also is apparently low-level psychic (he communicates telepathically with one character at one point).
* One of the many, many {{Bonus Boss}}es in ''VideoGame/WildArms3'' is the legendary fighter, Bad News. He's incredibly difficult to take down and has a ton of HP, second only to the two forms of the ultimate BonusBoss of the game, Ragu O Ragla. His SecretIdentity? Ortega, the clerk at the counter of the arena where you fight him. He doesn't even bother to take off his flannel shirt and apron to fight you. ''He doesn't have to.''
** Justified in that he was a former champion of the very arena he works at. So he's really more of a RetiredBadass.
* Kariya from '' VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' qualifies as well. He's a field agent only because he has declined several promotions to the management. True to form, his fighting skills rival those of the top brass, and the Player Characters are appropriately hesitant about fighting him.
* In one of the ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' games, you fight [[TheJudge Eiki Shiki, Yamaxanadu]]. As Cirno, the [[RuleOfCool ICE FAIRY]]. Even Eiki comments on how strong she is, despite being only a fairy.
* The BonusBoss of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}''? An elevator attendant. In a Jackie O. hat. [[spoiler:It's Elizabeth,]] and she will ''wreck you''.

* In ''VideoGame/TheGodfather'' game, while AuthorityEqualsAsskicking is largely in effect, almost all of your levelable skills come from Respect levels gained by free-roaming rather than the plotline promotions up the Family's ladder. This means that your rank can still be "Outsider" while you're already far more accomplished than any number of enemy Underbosses.
* In ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'', Isaac is effectively a space janitor; sent to fix the Ishimura's communications array, but [[spoiler:being roped into saving the universe from alien zombies]]. He does end up 'fixing' the communications array, at least enough to send a message through it.
** Probably [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] given that, well, an engineer on a spaceship has to be ready to tackle ANYTHING that can go wrong on a spaceship in a moment's notice, and a LOT can go wrong on a spaceship, and very quickly. Seriously, just look at the armor he wears: Isaac's suits are rated by how dangerous the environment he'll be working in, and the least effective would be combat armor in most situations, and the best armor he gets is only a single step down from military grade combat armor. The "weapons" Isaac uses are tools that are designed to do anything from cutting through the hull of the ship (plasma cutter) to cutting through live power cables (ripper), and he had to be trained with ALL of them so he could handle any problems that come up. Isaac wasn't just any engineer, he was an engineer trained SPECIFICALLY for when things went seriously wrong on a spaceship, meaning he was the guy that was always sent in when things went horribly horribly wrong, so unlike most of the unfortunate engineers on the Ishimura, he was wearing his suit from the get-go, and trained to be able to handle any number of extreme situations (although probably not alien zombie monsters), which is why he survived when so many others died.
* The ''very'' obscure game ''TonicTrouble'' features a literal janitor: the alien simply known as "Ed".
* While not quite almighty, the snowman janitor in the Lair of the Ninja Snowmen in ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' is just as powerful and ninja-y as the rest of the snowmen there.

* After fighting through the Battle Company of Castelia City in VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite, you get the singular opportunity to face [[SubvertedTrope the chairman]] of the Battle Company, Janitor Geoff. (And as you might expect, one Pokemon he uses is Trubbish.)

* RatchetAndClank has an odd example of this. The plumber appears in almost every series, giving little tips and the like to help Ratchet along. However, occasionally he appears to know WAY more than he's letting on, such as when, in one game, he says "See you next year," alluding to his appearance in the next game, and telling Clank that [[spoiler: "I wouldn't risk any more than six minutes," right before Ratchet dies, and Clank must face himself with the choice of saving his best friend, or letting him die and avoid potentially harming time and space. He remembers the advice, goes back six minutes, and no disasters occurred. Who knew a plumber knew so much about time and space?]] or that Clank would need to know the information anyway?
** In fact, he was originally voiced by [[{{Scrubs}} THE Janitor]].
* Nathan Copeland of NoMoreHeroes2 is an assassin ranked second from the bottom out of a whopping 51 combatants, but is easily more skilled, agile, and powerful than nearly half the killers above him. Justified, as he says he simply joined the ranks and hung around at the bottom waiting to [[BloodKnight fight Travis.]]
* Cyrus in ''DawnOfWar 2'' is a veteran of multiple campaigns and has served two decades in the [[EliteArmy Deathwatch]], and could easily make a much higher rank if he sought it, but is content with being a scout sergeant in charge of training the chapter's initiates. The reason for this is because Cyrus' unorthodox (though often highly successful) tactics has made him unpopular with several of his peers and superiors, but by remaining in charge of training he is able to ensure that all the generations of space marines he trains will be molded to his way of thinking.
* ''{{X-COM}}'' can have this thanks to randomly generated stats. So let's suppose you hire a group of rookies, one of them with no reflexes and who just got his grade from the ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy. So you keep him in the base for Psi-lab screening. Having not seen any fight, he is still a rookie among his fellow generals and lieutenants. Results come, showing a [[OneStatToRuleThemAll psionic strengh]] of [[GameBreaker one hundred]]. The lowest possible guy in the hierarchy is potentially able to MindControl any alien his squad will come across. While staying inside the craft.
* AirForceDelta Strike features Pops, the wise and insanely buff Almighty Mechanic.
* In LiberalCrimeSquad, you have dancers and yoga instructors. They all have very high Agility, strengh and Health, making them even [[UnskilledButStrong tougher]] than agents.
* Comrade Dasha, the intelligence officer / VoiceWithAnInternetConnection of the USSR in ''CommandAndConquerRedAlert3''. Despite her relatively lowly position as a coordinator, in the Soviet campaign she ends up running the show alongside the player thanks to [[YouAreInCommandNow everybody else]] [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder betraying one another]]. In the canonical Allied ending, meanwhile, she uses her status as "[[LoopholeAbuse technically a civilian]]" to avoid getting locked up along with the other Soviet leaders and becomes ''de facto'' head of LaResistance.
* Subverted with Altair from ''VideoGame/{{Assassins Creed|I}}''. While not "largely immune to the whims of the higher-ups", after he [[WhatTheHellHero royally screws up]] he is stripped of his rank and the privileges that come with it, effectively starting from the ground up despite having previously attainted the title of ''Master Assassin''. He spends the majority of the game being a badass, trying to earn his status back and eventually gets there... [[PlotTwist sort of]].
* Col. Christopher Blair in ''VideoGame/WingCommander II'' gets demoted to Captain after the loss of the Tiger's Claw in that game's prologue, relegated to a desk job on a remote outpost. That doesn't stop him from kicking ass when the Kiltrathi come knocking on his door (despite Admiral Tolwin's efforts to keep him pinned down) and eventually defeating them, and getting his rank back.

* Though Valvatorez of ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 4| A Promise Unforgotten}}'' was once the powerful and widely feared Tyrant, [[HowTheMightyHaveFallen he is now just a simple Prinny Instructor]] -- a Prinny Instructor who [[MakaiKingdom The Most Badass Frickin' Overlord in All the Cosmos]] considers a WorthyOpponent.
* According to a sarcastic Hawke in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', this is what being the Champion of Kirkwall entails. Despite ascending to the nobility and later becoming the Champion, Hawke refuses to get themselves into a position of actual authority, preferring to run things from the ground, as this gives them the freedom to act without going through political red-tape. By Act III, this is actually given as the reason why the nobles want Hawke as the new Viscount, because instead of political posturing, they are the only person who actually manages to get things ''done''.
* Meet [[VideoGame/{{Oddworld}} Abe]], meat packing slave and former Employee of the Month turned savior of the Mudokon race (well, [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential maybe]]). He also has psychic mind powers that can open portals made of birds and [[MindControl control his enemies]].
* In ''Space Station 13'' the Janitor position comes with a free Haz-Mat suit. Captain's garb and Detective's trench coat are both nice, but when the radiation storm rolls around they won't do much good.
* The hero of ''VideoGame/FutureWars'' is a window washer, who stumbled upon his employer's dark secret and ended up fighting aliens in the past and future.
* ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'''s in-game character encyclopedia explicitly says that the royal court of Kaocho would get nothing done if not for Meisa, who appears to be a scribe otherwise (not quite a janitor, but definitely not a position of rank).

* As of the end of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'''s third season, the CrystalDragonJesus of [[TheChurch the Saint Church]] is studying in one of their schools as an "ordinary" elementary student. But she fits right in, since two of her classmates are about as powerful as she is! (See Vivid)

** Sergeant Jackrum from ''Discworld/{{Monstrous Regiment}}''. He is introduced as a simple, fat sergeant who is part of the last recruitment party in the ass end of nowhere. He soon makes it clear to his squad that a sergeant must be more competent than any officer if they want to keep their men alive and must manipulate the officer into making the correct positions. We then later find out that he is also TheDreaded to all opposing forces and has saved the lives of over a third of the top brass making him the most powerful solider in the army. He has also had over 50 years to learn every trick in the book and add a few of his own ideas to said book making him also the most competent solider as well.

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', the eponymous character has remained a genin (the lowest possible active duty rank) throughout the entire series so far. However, he is prone to ignoring any rules or orders that he doesn't like, and gets away with it by virtue of personal connections with the brass and being one of the strongest ninjas in the Hidden Leaf.

** Of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, both Boa Hancock and Sir Crocodile had (or in Crocodile's case, have) considerably smaller bounties than their fellow Warlords (80 and 81 million respectively). Then again, these bounties are (or were) inactive and by no means fully reflective of their capabilities, as it is shown that both were capable of combating some of the strongest pirates and marines in the New World during the Paramount War with ease. This is, of course, barring Blackbeard (who had no bounty), and [[spoiler:Buggy]], who is an [[InvertedTrope inversion]].

*** The distinction is even simpler than that; Granny is an incredibly powerful witch, and expects everyone she meets to ''know'' that, at all times, so she invariably behaves as though she is an incredibly powerful witch[[hottip:*:even when, theoretically, she wants them to think she is old and senile because it serves her purpose to be old and senile right now]]. Nanny, by contrast, is ''also'' an incredibly powerful witch, but she has the invaluable skill of ''knowing when to turn it off''.

* In the Literature/VorkosiganSaga, the [[TheSpymaster head of]] [[StateSec ImpSec]] traditionally[[hottip:*: It technically only happens twice. "Something that happens twice" is the working definition of a tradition on Barrayar, though.]] holds the rank of a mere Captain. Admirals, Generals, and Vor Lords tend to follow their orders anyways.

* While not quite almighty, the snowman janitor in the Lair of the Ninja Snowmen in ''KingdomOfLoathing'' is just as powerful and ninja-y as the rest of snowmen there.

** Of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, both Boa Hancock and Sir Crocodile had (or in Crocodile's case, have) considerably smaller bounties than their fellow Warlords (80 and 81 million respectively). Then again, these bounties are (or were) inactive and by no means fully reflective of their capabilities, as it is shown that both were capable of combating some of the strongest pirates and marines in the New World during the Paramount War with ease. This is, of course, barring Blackbeard (who had no bounty), and Buggy, who is an [[InvertedTrope inversion]].

* Of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, both Boa Hancock and Sir Crocodile had (or in Crocodile's case, have) considerably smaller bounties than their fellow Warlords (80 and 81 million respectively). Then again, these bounties are (or were) inactive and by no means fully reflective of their capabilities, as it is shown that both were capable of combating some of the strongest pirates and marines in the New World during the Paramount War with ease. This is, of course, barring Blackbeard (who had no bounty), and Buggy, who is an [[InvertedTrope inversion]].

** At the start of the series [[EvilCounterpart Blackbeard]] was one of these, serving little more then a GiantMook with no bounty under [[WorldsStrongestMan Whitebeard]] for decades. A while before the story starts, he is nominated to take over a vacancy as commander of the 2nd Division, but passes it up, saying he has no such ambition, and the position is given to [[PlayingWithFire Ace]]. Considering that the top 4 Division commanders of Whitebeard are his strongest fighters, and Blackbeard had no Devil Fruit powers at the time, this says something about him. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], as it turns out that all he wanted was the [[CastingAShadow Yami-Yami Fruit]], killing Thatch of the 4th Division for it, then fleeing, making his own crew, capturing Ace, cashing in, becoming one of the [[PsychoForHire Seven Warlords of the Sea]], and revealing that he has a lot of ambition, and this is just the start of them.

* In ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'', the incredibly BadAss superpowered ninja protagonist, feared throughout the underworld as "[[BadassNickname The Black Shinigami]]", can usually be found working at a menial job as part of an undercover assignment. This can lead to... amusing situations. For instance, once, when he was working as a waiter, he got attacked by a violent drunk with a [[GrievousBottleyHarm broken bottle]] who didn't want to pay his tab. [[CoverblowingSuperpower Hei's dodging skills were so epic]] that someone nearby decided that, "It's true - [[AllChinesePeopleKnowKungFu all Chinese people are martial arts masters...]]"

* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5706942/1/MWDC_Harry_Potter_and_the_Guardians_Light Harry Potter and the Guardians of Light]] is a fic where to the author, ARGUS FILCH is the EnsembleDarkHorse of ''Literature/HarryPotter''. It makes sense that somebody who cleans up the messes of young magic wielders would be skilled, this is taken to extremes. As in, he runs a side job out of Hogwarts [[BadassNormal selling magical fire arms]] to the likes of JohnConstantine no less. And when Quirrel sends not just one troll but an [[BadassArmy army]] into Hogwarts, when they get beaten back guess who cocks his gun dramatically and heads off into the forbidden forest to hunt down the survivors?

* "Yohnny the Yanitor" from ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' gets so fed up with the title character staying behind to work after school, forcing him to stay late as well, that he turns the whole school into an obstacle course to get revenge. Though he lost, so to speak, he had some [[BadassNormal badass]] skills for a janitor.

** By the end of [[LongRunner the third segment of the series]], Loki encounters a field trip from said school, in a zoo, during a pitched battle with alien invaders and [[ThoseWackyNazis pseudo-Nazis]], while dressed in the... very villainous-looking hero costume Tony made him for the occasion, and saves the group [[RefugeInAudacity via actual rhinoceroses]] before running off to defeat some evil airships. When he comes back to sort them out afterward, the headmistress promises him his job back. (He'd lost it due to being kidnapped by SHIELD eight weeks previously and thus not turning up for work.) This means that as the fourth fic starts, an action figure of him as the Avengers' 'magical consultant' is about to start being produced, and he's working as a school custodian in a building where everyone is fully aware that he's a powerful alien wizard. This removes some of the incognito factor of the trope, but must make the experience of having a clean school one of which the occupants are unusually aware.

** Sergeant Jackrum from ''Discworld/{{MonsterousRegiment}}''. He is introduced as a simple, fat sergeant who is part of the last recruitment party in the ass end of nowhere. He soon makes it clear to his squad that a sergeant must be more competent than any officer if they want to keep their men alive and must manipulate the officer into making the correct positions. We then later find out that he is also TheDreaded to all opposing forces and has saved the lives of over a third of the top brass making him the most powerful solider in the army. He has also had over 50 years to learn every trick in the book and add a few of his own ideas to said book making him also the most competent solider as well.

**** When Poly first sees Commander Vimes, Duke of Ankh-Morpork and second only to the Patrician in terms of power in and around Ankh-Morpork she assumes he is simply a grubby sergeant making rude faces behind Lord Rust. This is made more amusing as the events of Monsterous Regiment take place shortly after Night Watch

** In ''PaperMario'', there's Parakarry the clumsy Paratroopa mailman. He later joins your team and manages to kick major ass in battle, ultimately being one of the most useful party members in the game.

*** Captain Smoker's CowboyCop tendencies are implied to be the reason he had the rank he did at the start of the series, considering he's a massively skilled combatant with [[NighInvulnerability Logia powers]](Notably, the only other Logia users shown in the Marines are ''Admirals''). This is even pointed in the Enies Lobby arc, when several Marine Captains are sent after the exhausted Straw Hats; despite it being pointed out that they share the same rank as Smoker, they are a lot easier to take down. However, averting one of the conventions of this trope listed above, Smoker actually has been gaining promotions as the story progresses, first to Commodore after his second major appearance, and [[spoiler: becoming a Vice-Admiral after the TimeSkip]].

!!Examples

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

Compare HyperCompetentSidekick, who is similar to the AlmightyJanitor in terms of being the one who really gets things done, but still has to do what the boss says. The AlmightyJanitor is largely immune to the whims of the higher-ups and can disregard them at will. Compare and contrast SculleryMaid, who may or may not dabble with being an AlmightyJanitor, but comes into her real power outside the scullery. When the AlmightyJanitor does things right and people know it but he ''still'' doesn't get promoted, there is overlap with LimitedAdvancementOpportunities. A secretary is also a common recipient of this trope. Contrast AuthorityEqualsAsskicking, OverrankedSoldier.

* When Series/{{House}} was a child in Japan, he witnessed doctors asking for medical advice from what looked to be a literal AlmightyJanitor. It turns out the guy was a medical genius who worked as a janitor because he was a Burakumin (an untouchable). House says this is the reason he became a doctor. The man wasn't liked, but he was respected; "Because he was right."

** Returned to again in the Season 8 premiere, where the AlmightyJanitor is a prison inmate working as a janitor.

** A good example of just how much of an AlmightyJanitor he is the two parter, "The Storm" and "The Eye" in Series One, where he manages to hold off an occupying force of Genii soldiers in Atlantis ''single-handed'' by outsmarting them at every turn. All the while, while managing to disable key systems so they can't follow him and still find time to accomplish his other objective, rerouting the lightning rod grounding stations to power the City's shield to protect it from an incoming hurricane that covers roughly 20% of the planet's surface.

** The AlmightyJanitor in ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore 2'' is known as Mattheas. He pales in comparison to ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore 3'''s janitor, Exile (who, by the way, [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard uses a special extension part to make himself invisible to radar and render your weapons unable to lock onto him so he can whittle your AP down with near impunity]]), but is far and away the most skilled AI Raven you'll face in the game. He packs two of the most powerful weapons available. One could argue that his AC has some noticeable flaws, considering that by simply waiting out Exile's stealth part, and to begin with the frame parts for said AC are actually weak in defense, he is cake.

* AirForceDelta Strike features Pops, the wise and insanely buff [[AlmightyJanitor Almighty Mechanic]].

** Though, in HKP's case, he's not so much an AlmightyJanitor as he is an IdiotHero with a HyperCompetentSidekick.

* Court clerks, especially the Clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States, could be considered as a form of an AlmightyJanitor. Though officially a clerical position, they have the power to decide which cases get heard. The clerks may do all the case research, write and revise decisions from the judge's notes, and likely learn exactly how to manipulate their assigned judge. Makes one wonder how much they manage to do. Also, clerks are practicing lawyers, and so are especially dangerous.

** There is a bit of American military wisdom that states that while the officers are in ''command'' of the military, it's the [[SergeantRock NCOs]] who ''run'' the military, making the NCO corps in general a sort of collective AlmightyJanitor.