History Main / PassedOverPromotion

* In ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' episode "[[Recap/KingOfTheHillS2E13SnowJob Snow Job]]", when Buck Strickland experiences a heart attack, he asks Hank to "watch [his] dogs" until he's better. At first Hank thought Buck meant he was in charge of the propane company, only to discover that Strictkand [[LiteralMetaphor meant his actual pet dogs]], and Lloyd Vickers, [[RememberTheNewGuy who has apparently been with the company the whole time]], is in charge because he has a business degree. That said, the decision ends up being a mistaken when Vickers' PointyHairedBoss tactics [[RemovingTheCrucialTeammate ends up costing the company their HazMat certified truck drivers]][[note]]due to propane being a hazardous substance, only those with a special license are allowed to drive such trucks[[/note]] at the height of the winter season.

* ''Film/SeventeenAgain'' also had this at the beginning of the movie.

* In ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' episode "[[Recap/KingOfTheHillS2E11SnowJob Snow Job]]", when Buck Strickland experiences a heart attack, he asks Hank to "watch [his] dogs" until he's better. At first Hank thought Buck meant he was in charge of the propane company, only to discover that Strictkand [[LiteralMetaphor meant his actual pet dogs]], and Lloyd Vickers, [[RememberTheNewGuy who has apparently been with the company the whole time]], is in charge because he has a business degree. That said, the decision ends up being a mistaken when Vickers' PointyHairedBoss tactics [[RemovingTheCrucialTeammate ends up costing the company their HazMat certified truck drivers]][[note]]due to propane being a hazardous substance, only those with a special license are allowed to drive such trucks[[/note]] at the height of the winter season.

* In ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHills'' episode "[[Recap/KingOfTheHillsS2E11SnowJob Snow Job]]", when Buck Strickland experiences a heart attack, he asks Hank to "watch [his] dogs" until he's better. At first Hank thought Buck meant he was in charge of the propane company, only to discover that Strictkand [[LiteralMetaphor meant his actual pet dogs]], and Lloyd Vickers, [[RememberTheNewGuy who has apparently been with the company the whole time]], is in charge because he has a business degree. That said, the decision ends up being a mistaken when Vickers' PointyHairedBoss tactics [[RemovingTheCrucialTeammate ends up costing the company their HazMat certified truck drivers]][[note]]due to propane being a hazardous substance, only those with a special license are allowed to drive such trucks[[/note]] at the height of the winter season.

* Subverted and simultaneously played with on the Series ''Series/{{Blackish}}''. Anthony Anderson's character is clearly being setup for this to happen to him. He's supremely overconfident, as the boss is announcing the promotion he's moving his desk to the proper place. And in the end, he does get the promotion... just not to the position he wanted.

** In ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' Harry Kim ends up stranded in the Delta Quadrant on his very first day of Starship duty as an Ensign, and is clearly a wide-eyed newbie. Over the years he evolved into a master engineer, a holographic technology expert, a veteran of dozens of conflicts, and an integral part of the crew. He was never promoted beyond Ensign. Even in a real-life navy, after 7 years of exceptional service he should've at least gotten 2 promotions to full Lieutenant and possibly even a 3rd to Lieutenant Commander, and Starfleet's MildlyMilitary natural usually results in promotions coming ''faster'' would be the case in real militaries. This would be even more the case in wartime, and ''Voyager'' saw rather a lot of combat over the course of its journey home, particularly fighting essentially a one-ship war against [[TheDreaded the Borg]] at times. Due to the StatusQuoIsGod nature of the series, he rarely showed any signs of bitterness, even with his best friend being made a lieutenant on his first day despite being a criminal who was dishonorably discharged from Starfleet, and then later demoted back to ensign and later promoted back to lieutenant again ''for no apparent reason.''

* A lot of Anakin Skywalker's resentment towards the Jedi in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequels stem from this trope. In ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', he shows frustration at not being a Jedi Knight, which he feels is long overdue. He doesn't get that until during The Clone Wars. In ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', there's added resentment when he's given a seat on the Jedi Council (which Obi-Wan points out is something very rare, seeing how young he is), yet ''isn't'' given the rank of Jedi Master (which is ''also'' unprecedented for a member of the Council).[[note]]This resentment was later [[{{Retcon}} retroactively justified]] due to the events of ''WesternAnimation/TheCloneWars''. Late in the series, Ahsoka is framed for bombing the Jedi Temple, and the Council votes to expel her from the Order for political expediency. When her name is cleared, she is offered reinstatement, alongside a promotion to Knight, which meant Anakin would likely have been promoted to Master (successfully training a Padawan to the rank of Knight is generally seen as proof that a Knight is ready for promotion to Master). However, she declines, leaving the Order instead, costing Anakin his promotion.[[/note]]

* In ''WebVideo/PokemonRedFanmade'' seeing Bruno being promoted to the Elite Four in his place is [[FreudianExcuse one of the many humiliations that led Giovanni to villainy]].

* In ''Film/HalloweenEnds'', Allyson, having become a nurse at the hospital, was in line for promotion to directing nurse. Unfortunately, the job ended up going to her colleague Deb because [[SleepingYourWayToTheTop she was in a relationship with their boss]].

* Captain Series/BarneyMiller was up for promotion to Inspector a few times, but until the SeasonFinale never made it. In the aftermath of one snub (in sixth-season finale "[[Recap/BarneyMillerS6E22 Fog]]") his detectives try to comfort him by blaming themselves by embarrassing the squad: Harris with his book; Dietrich by being arrested; and Wojo with his habit of arresting people for non-crimes.

* ''ComicBook/{{CaptainMarvel|MarvelComics}}'': This trope plays into the origin of Monica Rambeau -- despite being a very competent lieutenant, she was passed over multiple times for the position of captain of the harbor patrol. The harbormaster claims her way of working is too unorthodox and not "by the book"; Monica claims sexism, since those who were promoted were men. She ends up quitting after becoming Captain Marvel and having her first heroic adventure.

* Exaggerated in ''WesternAnimation/TheAwesomes'', where Malocchio Jr., in spite of being personally responsible for the majority his firm's revenue, isn't promoted when somehow everyone else in the office simultaneously gets the big promotion he was hoping for.

* This trope plays into the origin of the [[ComicBook/MonicaRambeau Monica Rambeau Captain Marvel]] -- despite being a very competent lieutenant, she was passed over multiple times for the position of captain of the harbor patrol. The harbormaster claims her way of working is too unorthodox and not "by the book"; Monica claims sexism, since those who were promoted were men. She ends up quitting after becoming Captain Marvel and having her first heroic adventure.

** Occasionally moves are made in the opposite direction to avert this trope. In 2019, the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force announced that the High Year of Tenure, the maximum length of service allowed for an Airman at any particular paygrade, had been adjusted, allowing someone at the rank of Staff Sergeant (a relatively low NCO grade) to stay in long enough to retire with 20 years of service, allowing the Air Force to retain experienced technicians who lack the ability or inclination to be effective leaders at higher levels. Then again, a few years previously, the High Year of Tenure had been adjusted in the opposite direction, causing a number of more experienced senior NCOs to unexpectedly be notified of their impending retirement.

* Taken to brutal extremes in one episode of ''Series/HomeImprovement'' where it was mentioned that Jill had a meeting at the office where she had worked for four years, with her thinking she was going to get promoted. Not only did she ''not'' get promoted, but the meeting was to tell her that ''she was being laid off''.

* Not exactly a promotion, but involving much the same dynamic, is the episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' where Homer becomes determined to do something remarkable after being passed over for Worker of the Week yet again; it begins with Homer certain he'll get the award this time, because literally everyone else in the company has had their turn -- and then the award is given to ''an inanimate object'' instead.
** In one episode, Homer is describing his assistant to his wife. Later in the episode, she asks about the guy again and Homer says, "You mean my supervisor?" as the assistant was presumably promoted to Homer's equal, then to his supervisor.
** In the first future episode, a near-retirement age Homer is shown still working his job in Sector 7G, with Milhouse (who would have joined the plant ''decades'' after Homer) as his supervisor.

Contrast DecliningPromotion when the character instead rejects an offered promotion.

'''George Sr:''' It isn't? ''(buries his face in his hands)''I have the worst fucking attorneys.

* ''Fanfic/AGoodCompromise'': Another captain in Captain Tyria Sark's task force, Merdok, apparently had several years seniority over her but was passed over in favor of the only very recently promoted Tyria because he wasn't certified to command in combat (he command's the fleet's hospital ship, ''[=McCoy=]''). Tyria warns her own chief medical officer not to step on his toes.

* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'': In the pilot, Michael Bluth is convinced he's going to become the head of the Bluth Company -- so convinced that he doesn't even think something might be wrong when his father says the new CEO is "the sexiest creature he's ever laid eyes on". Turns out that George Sr knows that he's in trouble with the SEC and makes his wife the new CEO because he (erroneously) believes that a husband and wife can't be prosecuted for the same crime.

* Subverted and simultaneously played with on the Series ''Series/{{Blackish}}''. Anthony Andersons character is clearly being setup for this to happen to him. He's supremely overconfident, as the boss is announcing the promotion he's moving his desk to the proper place. And in the end, he does get the promotion... just not to the position he wanted.

** In ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' Harry Kim ends up stranded in the Delta Quadrant on his very first day of Starship duty as an Ensign, and is clearly a wide-eyed newbie. Over the years he evolved into a master engineer, a holographic technology expert, a veteran of dozens of conflicts, and an integral part of the crew. He was never promoted beyond Ensign. Even in a real-life navy, after 7 years of exceptional service he should've at least gotten 2 promotions to full Lieutenant and possibly even a 3rd to Lieutenant Commander, and Starfleet's MildlyMilitary natural usually results in promotions coming ''faster'' would be the case in real militaries. Even moreso in wartime, and ''Voyager'' saw rather a lot of combat over the course of its journey home, particularly fighting essentially a one-ship war against [[TheDreaded the Borg]] at times. Due to the StatusQuoIsGod nature of the series, he rarely showed any signs of bitterness, even with his best friend being made a lieutenant on his first day despite being a criminal who was dishonorably discharged from Starfleet, and then later demoted back to ensign and later promoted back to lieutenant again ''for no apparent reason.''

** The Grumbel's where the strip is set was allowed to have a stockroom supervisor since 2011 but Stuart never revealed that because that would mean promoting Cooper, who he loathes. He also had no intention of telling Marla about it either, at least until Cooper quit, because he knew she'd immediately promote him. She ends up finding out anyway in 2013 from one of the other store managers and promptly promotes him. Josh would later use this knowledge as ammo to try to drive Cooper out of Grumbel's by making him feel unappreciated, but Cooper doesn't rise to the bait.
** A common frustration of Marla's in the early days of the comic was that not only was she constantly passed over for promotion to store manager, but then had to ''train'' the person that got the job she wanted. Jerry, the district manager at the time, is a misogynist, which very likely played a factor in her lack of promotion, a factor regional director Lara Silver noticed when interviewing Stuart, saying she hoped he would be more progressive. Marla eventually is promoted to store manager when Stuart is promoted to district manager (ironically, right when she was considering leaving Grumbel's entirely to start her own business). Her experience in this trope is why she refused to even consider hiring someone from outside the store to be stockroom supervisor and forcing Cooper to train him, as she found it insulting.

** "Dog Gone People," where a Hal Smith-voiced Elmer Fudd [[note]](Arthur Q. Bryan had died two years earlier)[[/note]] is asked by his boss, Mr. Crabtree, to look after his dog, Rupert, for the weekend while out of town on a business trip, and that his job status ("you could go up ... or down") rides on how well he treats Rupert. Elmer believes that this could mean becoming vice president of the company he works for ... but in the end, going "up, up, up, up" means painting the flagpole. (Rupert, the dog, gets the promotion to vice president.)

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobSquarepantsMovie'': The position of manager of the Krusty Krab 2 goes to Squidward, not Spongebob. Despite Squidward's apathy and Spongebob being Employee of the Month many times over, Mr. Krabs refuses to let Spongebob be manager because "he's a kid". He gets it at the end after saving all of Bikini Bottom from Plankton's final scheme. [[spoiler:And, in case you're wondering, the movie is considered the GrandFinale for the series, so all the episodes and movies after that is considered ''before'' the movie.]]

* This is precisely what happened in the case of UsefulNotes/BenedictArnold. Despite being a clever and daring commander in the early years of the American Revolution, he was repeatedly passed over for promotion. With the added insult of his more politically connected superiors claiming credit for the battles that he had won. That and his debt to the Continental Congress caused him to attempt to sell out West Point, in exchange for money and a place in the British military.
** Ironically, there is a good case to be made that this was ''also'' the reason why UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington decided to betray the British by leading the American Revolution and helping establish the United States. Washington had performed very well while serving in the North American theater of UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar (what Americans remember as the French and Indian War), but he was still blamed for his actions at the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jumonville_Glen Battle of Jumonville Glen]], which opened up the North American theater in the first place. For this reason he was never promoted beyond the rank of colonel and, some believe, this snub factored into his decision to join the Revolution two decades later.

* Captain Series/BarneyMiller was up for promotion to Inspector a few times, but until the SeasonFinale never made it. In the aftermath of one snub his detectives try to comfort him by blaming themselves by embarrassing the squad: Harris with his book; Dietrich by being arrested; and Wojo with his habit of arresting people for non-crimes.

* ''Series/{{Columbo}}'': In "Make Me A Perfect Murder", this is related to Key Freestone's motive for murdering her secret boyfriend Mark [=McAndrews=]. When Mark is given a promotion to a position in New York, he doesn't give her his old position because, in his words, she "doesn't make decisions", she "makes guesses". At her current position as assistant network executive, he admits she's the best there is, but [[ThePeterPrinciple he doesn't think she has the skills to take over his job.]] After his death and she temporarily takes over his position, Mark is proven right when Kay screws up so badly the network head decides she should go, though he at least offers her a chance to leave on her own terms so as to spare her the embarrassment of being fired.

For some reason, Bob does not get the promotion. It could be because the boss simply thought Bob wasn't ready or that someone was more qualified. It could simply be a case of office politics. Perhaps Bob was just too good in his current position to be moved out of it, and the boss knew about and was [[DefiedTrope trying to avoid]] ThePeterPrinciple (but can run into TheDilbertPrinciple in the process).

** Ironically, there is a good case to be made that this was ''also'' the reason why UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington decided to betray the British by leading the American Revolution and helping establish the United States. Washington had performed very well while serving in the North American theater of UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar (what Americans remember as the French and Indian War), but he was still blamed for his actions at the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jumonville_Glen Battle of Jumonville Glen]], which started the war in the first place. For this reason he was never promoted beyond the rank of colonel and, some believe, this snub factored into his decision to join the Revolution two decades later.