History Main / MilitaryMaverick

** There's also that as doctors directly commissioned (and apparently conscripted) from civilian practice, most of the cast of ''M*A*S*H'' can ''afford'' to be utterly indifferent about damage to their military careers -- they don't have any careers to damage. So long as they can actually avoid being caught in a major felony or committing ''medical'' malpractice, there's really not much they need to worry about in the long run. It's instructive to note that the one regular army doctor on the cast, Colonel Potter, is ''not'' a maverick...much.

* [[UsefulNotes/RobinOlds Colonel Robin Olds]], a World War II vet who fought in Vietnam, his unconventional leadership style and tactics got results but infuriated his leadership. Despite this, he had a very low tolerance for people or organizations who could not meet standards and perform their jobs. Being a Military Maverick didn't mean you stopped being ''military'', after all.

* Not a lot of Marines on this list, but two that fit, both from DC Comics' ''Comicbook/{{Hitman}}'', are Tommy "Hitman" Monaghan and Natt "The Hat" Walls of the United States Marine Corps. Tommy ends up killing two fellow Marines with a sniper rifle (Don't worry, they [[PayEvilUntoEvil had it coming....]]) They ingeniously, if messily, MakeItLookLikeAnAccident and get away with it. Later, during Operation Desert Storm, Tommy and Natt accidentally kill several British S.A.S. troops in a "friendly fire" incident. They get away with that too. Well, [[LaserGuidedKarma for a few years, anyway]].

* Ensign (later Lieutenant Lower Grade) Beckett Mariner of ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'' is a {{deconstruction}} of this sort of person. She's been in Starfleet for years, so much that she could have been a captain of her very own starship. However, she hates the red tape and bureaucracy of Starfleet and the Federation so much that she decides to do things on her own and fights tooth and nail to ''not'' be promoted. This has frustrated her higher-ups greatly. However, between a TenMinuteRetirement and her own promotion by someone who wasn't going to play her games anymore, she has started to wonder why she's doing such things.

* Creator/DerekRobinson's character of CH3, in ''A Piece of Cake''. An American pilot and soldier of fortune who for political reasons is posted to Hornet Squadron in time for the Battle of Britain, he becomes unpopular not just for having more combat experience than all the British pilots put together, he is highly critical of the British command a tactical philosophy. It doesn't help that experience proves him right, although not before several pilots are killed in action.

* Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, USN from ''Film/TopGun'' (later designated as Captain [[Film/TopGunMaverick in the sequel]]). "Your ego is writing checks your body can't cash." -- "You don't have time to think up there. If you think, you're dead." Maverick's tendency to ignore rules and abandon his wingmen to do things his way is his key flaw, and reining those issues in is the essence of his CharacterDevelopment. The sequel also shows the consequences of it: he only served as a TOPGUN instructor for two months before his unorthodox style proved unacceptable (whether he was transferred or left willing isn't stated), almost forty years later he's still just a Captain (Iceman meanwhile has become an Admiral), and multiple Admirals express a desire to kick him out of the Navy. The only reason he ''hasn't'' been discharged is that Iceman, the Admiral of the Pacific Fleet, is supporting him.

** There's also that as doctors directly commissioned (and apparently conscripted) from civilian practice, most of the cast of ''M*A*S*H'' can ''afford'' to be utterly indifferent about damage to their military careers -- they don't have any careers to damage. So long as they can actually avoid being caught in a major felony or committing ''medical'' malpractice, there's really not much they need to worry about in the long run. It's instructive to note that the one regular army doctor on the cast, Colonel Potter, is ''not'' a maverick. Much.
** TruthInTelevision to a large degree, even today; the U.S. armed services have enough of a need for medical personnel that they are given more leeway about their (lack of) military bearing than would be tolerated in combat soldiers/sailors/airmen. Crystallized in a saying going back to Korea if not earlier: "There is nobody as un-military as a military doctor."

* To be honest, the Australian Armed Forces, as a whole, during WWI. We HATED being ordered around by British officers (partially because [[WeHaveReserves we were being used as cannon fodder]] against Turkish soldiers; in interviews with the last surviving Australian soldiers from WWI, some noted they sounded more scornful of the British Officers than the Turkish soldiers they were actually fighting) and, as such, ignored them. A lot.

* If it is a cousin of the CowboyCop then Creator/ClintEastwood has to be here somewhere. Gunny Highway from ''Film/HeartbreakRidge'' fits pretty well. At least the part of annoying your superiors. And isn't there some sort of regulation that forbids the [[DrillSergeantNasty drill instructors]] from firing live ammunition at their recruits?
** Well, if there is, there'd be two outs: He isn't a drill instructor, and he isn't firing *at* them; he's firing at places he's told them not to be.

** The signal was giving him permission to retreat, not ordering him to, and his commander sent it knowing full well that Nelson would ignore it if his situation was still tenable. Still an example, for the attitude if not the action.

* ''VideoGame/ArmyOfTwo'' somewhat takes on the Black Hawk Down example; the first mission is set back when Rios and Salem were Rangers, and their initial awe at the sight of Phillip Clyde [[RuleOfCool whooping ass with his bare hands and free running]] is tangible. Unlike the Delta operators from ''Black Hawk Down'', he's ''very'' condescending to them and [[AxCrazy rather homicidal]].

* Axton in ''Videogame/{{Borderlands 2}}'' was a former Commmando in the working for the Dahl Marines. Emphasis on "former" because he was facing the firing squad due to his GloryHound ways and his preference for doing things that were "awesome" instead of following orders. The incident that got him kicked out involved a mission to protect a dignitary from terrorists -- only he allowed the dignitary to be kidnapped by terrorists, trailed them back to their hideout, and blew it up, with the dignitary still inside.

* ''VideoGame/RainbowSix'' as of ''Vegas'' and onward stopped being soldiers who did everything in their power to keep the peace while minimalizing the body count of civilians to having to shoot cops just to stop them from detonating a bomb and ultimately throws the guy off the bridge anyway.

** Now, now, let's not forget [[VideoGame/Halo3ODST Corporal Kojo "Romeo" Agu]], whose only reason for not being kicked out of the military yet is because of his sniping skills.

* ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'': Captain America called on all military personnel to ignore their orders from above, take a weapon, go to the site of the Chitauri alien invasion and start firing. ScrewTheRulesItsTheApocalypse

* In ''LightNovel/HeavyObject'' the protagonists Qwenthur and Havia -- a civilian student studying Objects and a radar analyst -- often ignore or disobey orders in order to take down enemy Objects. They're a massive headache for Frolaytia, their commanding officer, and during reassignments were even ''bigger'' headaches for other commanders. The only reason they haven't been kicked out of the military yet is that their government is terrified they'll defect to another supernation.

* This was kind of Ariel Sharon's thing, with variable results. In the early stages of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, his overconfidence and tendency to attack without orders led to disaster, with a considerable portion of Israel's entire tank corps falling prey to Egyptian ATGMs and RPGs, while his failure to cover the flanks of his adjacent commanders' units critically weakened their positions against the Egyptian assault; he only escaped being relieved of command due to [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections his political connections]]. Later on in said war, after the Egyptians were thrown onto the defensive after suffering massive losses in the central Sinai,[[note]]due to Egyptian president Sadat [[ExecutiveMeddling ordering them to advance beyond their protective SAM umbrella, exposing themselves to Israeli air attack in the process, in order to try to relieve the pressure on the Syrian troops retreating headlong from the Golan Heights]][[/note]] Sharon managed to redeem himself somewhat when his... stretching of orders played a critical role in Israel's ultimate victory against Egypt. In TheEighties, though, the pendulum swung back yet again, as his habit of leaving superiors in the dark and going far beyond his mandate as Minister of Defense played a large part in the fiasco of the Israeli involvement in the Lebanese Civil War.

Still, most instances of this would have far more consequences in RealLife than in fiction (and so does everything). Note that the higher up you are in the chain of command, [[CynicismTropes the more likely you are to get away with stuff]]. There are no recruits and privates who can get away with acting like a Military Maverick in fiction does. Or at least, if there are right now, give it a few days. You might get away with disobeying orders and regulations on rare occasions or under unusual circumstances, but doing so to the point of recklessness is a good way to end a military career with a plain and simple dismissal at best or capital punishment at worst. [[DontTryThisAtHome So it goes without saying...]]

* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'': Jethro Gibbs doesn't cross the line with his agency's directives unless he has to. Or needs to. Or ''feels like it''. Quite frankly, it's amazing that Gibbs has a ''job'' sometimes.

* Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, USN from ''Film/TopGun'' (later designated as Captain [[Film/TopGunMaverick in the sequel]]). "Your ego is writing checks your body can't cash." -- "You don't have time to think up there. If you think, you're dead." Maverick's tendency to ignore rules and abandon his wingmen to do things his way is his key flaw, and reining those issues in is the essence of his CharacterDevelopment.

* Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, USN from ''Film/TopGun'' (later designated as Captain [[Film/TopGunmaverick in the sequel]]). "Your ego is writing checks your body can't cash." -- "You don't have time to think up there. If you think, you're dead." Maverick's tendency to ignore rules and abandon his wingmen to do things his way is his key flaw, and reining those issues in is the essence of his CharacterDevelopment.

* Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, USN from ''Film/TopGun''. "Your ego is writing checks your body can't cash." -- "You don't have time to think up there. If you think, you're dead." Maverick's tendency to ignore rules and abandon his wingmen to do things his way is his key flaw, and reining those issues in is the essence of his CharacterDevelopment.

* John Sheppard from ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' and suffers far more consequences for it than O'Neill. His military background was built on this as in Afghanistan he disobeyed direct orders and took his helicopter to rescue his friends. Not only did he fail to save them, but he was court-martialed, nearly kicked out of the Air Force (in an AlternateUniverse he was) but was literally ReassignedToAntarctica instead.