History Main / PromotionNotPunishment

* ''WesternAnimation/AngelWars'': As an angel-in-training, Paladin breaks an important piece of equipment that's the key to defeating a powerful demon named Discord who was ''so'' dangerous, he almost took over a whole angelic fleet. Paladin manages to come up with a plan to survive the situation, [[spoiler:killing Discord and freeing the heavenly fleet in the process]], but expects an upbraiding and punishment for having broken something that was supposed to be unbreakable. Instead, he gets a KirkSummation about what he did ''right'', and earns his wings.

-> ''"But if you pull a stunt like that again I'll court martial you ... or I'll promote you. Either way you'll be in a lot of trouble."''

----

!!Examples

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

'''Commander I:''' (''raises his hand in front of Takihara silencing him'') Now then, your disciplinary action will be as follows: you are henceforth relieved of your duty as Buddy Police Boy Wonder and reassigned as the leader of the newly formed Buddy Police Youth Division.\\
'''Tasuku:''' (''surprised gasp'')\\

'''Tasuku:''' (''bows down'') I do. Thank you.
* Happens repeatedly to Dana Sterling in the ''Southern Cross'' chapter of ''[[Anime/{{Robotech}} Robotech.]]'' Her whole shtick is being a [[BunnyEarsLawyer Bunny Ears Soldier]] whose behavior can seem maddeningly erratic but whose tactical instincts are consistently better than those of her superiors. Luckily for her, her immediate superior, General Emerson, recognizes that fact. (It probably helps a lot that, according to the ExpandedUniverse material, he's also her godfather who practically raised her.)

* In ''Comicbook/{{Lucifer}}'', the demoness Lys takes damned soul Christopher Rudd as a lover. Soon, he discovers that her preferred drug, "Pain," is made from the concentrated pain of his former fellow torture victims in Hell, and what's worse, she makes him inhale it himself. (Because he's human, it causes him agony, not pleasure.) Rudd gets revenge on her by tricking her into inhaling Pain he's made from ''emotional'' pain of the damned, thus making her feel constant regret and guilt. When Lys complains to her father, Lord Arux, he responds that Rudd helped avert a rebellion against him, so instead of punishing him, he's promoting him to duke.

[[folder:Fanfic]]
* In ''FanFic/GiftOfADiamond'', Holly Blue Agate ordered all of the gems at the zoo to stay put while she discusses with Blue Diamond on a drop in the oxygen supply for the humans there. [[MilitaryMaverick Instead of following orders and potentially leaving the zoomans to suffocate, Steven led the other quartz to retrieve the zoomans and take them to safety.]] Holly Blue Agate tells Blue Diamond about the incident, insisting that he was "defective" and must be shattered immediately. When Steven admits that all of this was true, Blue Diamond instead rewards Steven by making him the new caretaker of the zoo while demoting Holly Blue to janitorial duty for jeopardizing the safety off the zoomans. This is treated as a lesson to Blue Diamond's court not to doubt Rhodonite.

--> See where this horrible little habit of thinking for yourself and making intelligent decisions gets you, Sergeant Romanoff?

** At the end of ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'', Kirk actually experiences a subversion. After [[Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock stealing the Enterprise and subsequently blowing it up]] in the [[ArsonMurderAndLifesaving process of stopping the Earth from being destroyed and saving the humpbacked whales from extinction]], he and his bunch manage to almost completely duck the surefire court-martialing and dismissal from Starfleet. Instead, Kirk is demoted from Admiral back down to Captain, [[{{Unishment}} a role both he and his superiors prefer him in.]]
* Played with in ''Film/SpiesLikeUs''. The two ''think'' that they're being subjected to this trope when they're caught cheating on the foreign service exams and subsequently promoted to intelligence gathering. Turns out, their superiors just want to use them as decoys so two actual agents can infiltrate. [[spoiler: ReassignmentBackfire ensues when they actually complete the mission for the original two agents.]]
* PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/OfficeSpace''. Initech hires consultants to figure out which employees to fire. When asked about his recent slacking off, [[HypnoFool Peter]] tells the interviewers exactly just how pointless and unsatisfying his current day job is and generally how screwed up his employer company is. He expects to be fired for this. The interviewers are so impressed by this, they put him on the fast track to promotion. Instead, two of his hardworking coworkers get laid off.

* When Kania attempts to blackmail an undercover intelligence officer in ''Film/CKDezerterzy'', it ends up in a ThreatBackfire and this. Apparently, the officer mistook the blackmail for an attempt to BluffTheImpostor.
* In ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia'', when Lawrence returns from Aqaba, the British General points out that he acted without orders only to then promote him to Major.
* In ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'', Stephen steals books on astral projection from Kamar-Taj's library using his sling-ring (something he is not allowed to do). Wong (the librarian) tells the Ancient One who, rather than punishing him for this, instead introduces him to the Mirror Dimension so that he can practice more advanced magic without destroying anything.

* ''Literature/TheInheritanceCycle'':
** The dwarf Orik gets a punishment in name only after he defies the Twins in rescuing Eragon and his companions from drowning, and then preventing them from reading the minds of the group as well. The Twins complain at length to Ajihad about it. Ajihad then removes Orik from the Varden's direct service, before appointing him as Eragon's personal guide. This means Orik is now exempt from the Varden's rules, but has been made Eragon's guide in a dwarven city and been given access to whatever Eragon needs (which is left intentionally vague).
--->'''Eragon''': He just placed you in a powerful position, didn't he?\\
'''Orik:''' *grinning* That he did, and in such a way that the Twins can't complain about it.
** Roran in ''Brisingr'' ends up getting both. Nasuada has him whipped for his disobeying of a direct order (from an incompetent superior, who ends up getting demoted) in order to save the lives of the men he had just been put temporarily in command of. But she gives him his own unit, which means he reports directly to Nasuada and no one else. Keep in mind he just joined the Varden not long before and has only a handful of missions under his belt.

* ''Literature/FullDisclosure:'' Outgoing President Ericson gives Natural Resources Secretary Mike Fong a prestigious federal judgeship after efforts to impeach him (which where began by Fong) fail. But while this is partially out of respect for Fong's good intentions, Ericson is primarily motivated by [[spoiler: needing an example to prove to President Frenlingheusen that he isn't biased against everyone who tries to force him out of the White House, so that Frenlingheusen will take his warnings about Bannerman's bad character seriously.]]

* ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall''. At the end of ''Lady Knight'', Kel disobeys orders and crosses the Scanran border to try and rescue her kidnapped refugee charges. When she returns, she is 'punished' for her desertion by being put in charge of a new and bigger refugee camp. This is helped by the fact that Wyldon realised that he asked too much of her by ordering her to abandon her people, particularly when she was chosen for the duty in the first place because she would care about them. (She is also given a ''very'' large budget, the military's quiet apology for leaving the first camp without enough to defend itself.)

* ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar''. Kerowyn in ''By the Sword'' has a long-term variant. When faced with an incompetent mercenary Captain who is planning a suicidal charge she breaks with her Contract – effectively exiling herself from her Company – and flees before her Captain has a change to retaliate. She clears it with the Guild and is excused, but is then only able to get a job as a tavern bouncer. Several weeks later she is jailed for attacking a drunken city guard in self-defence, but people speak up in her defence and she is released, although with no hope of continuing her job. When she comes out, she is faced with the remains of the Company who have finally caught up with her... only to be told that her leaving had prompted them to vote out their Captain and they want her as their replacement.
* Beregond from the ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' books. During the siege of Minas Tirith, he deserted his post and killed the porter with the keys to the Silent Street, as well as two members of the Guard. However, he only did this to protect Faramir from a premature funeral pyre, and only slew the others because [[PoorCommunicationKills they would not listen to him]] and attempted to kill him first. After the crowning of King Elessar, Beregond is brought before the new King. King Elessar spares him from execution because of the circumstances but discharges Beregond from the Guard and orders him out of Minas Tirith... so that he may be reassigned to Faramir's newly-formed personal Guard in Ithilien as its captain.
* At the end of the first book in ''Literature/TheGuardiansOfTimeTrilogy'', Ethan expects to be expelled from the [[TimePolice Guard]] for abandoning his friends for the start of the crucial battle and breaking their prime rule of non-interference with history by rescuing King Richard. Instead, it turns out that he was merely [[YouCantFightFate following the promptings of]] TheProphecy, and he is granted his wings (teleportation) – the highest honor the Guard can bestow and a sign of trust, and something he has been wanting since before the start of the book.
* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', when Egwene is formally raised Amyrlin – for the second time – her first act is to call Silviana before her. Everyone thinks that it is to personally punish her for the punishment beatings she administered to Egwene during her capture. Egwene chides the others for thinking that of her, and instead commends Silviana for [[MyMasterRightOrWrong doing her duty]] – and [[SuddenPrincipledStand later speaking out against Elaida further treatment of her]] – and makes her her Keeper. This goes a long way towards healing the rifts both between the Tower and rebel Aes Sedai, and the Red and other Ahjas.

-->Simon, his teeth pressed into his lower lip, released the stress to say, "At a guess, those would be the fellows who grew up in earthquake country, Guy." And after another minute, under his breath, as the evacuation continued more sporadically, "The ones still inside, you'll want to commend. The ones outside, those are the ones I'd promote..."
* Commander Blaine gets one of these at the beginning of ''Literature/TheMoteInGodsEye'' for leading his [[SpaceMarine marines]] in a coup de main against a rebellious planet's [[DeflectorShields shield generator]]. If he had failed the admiral would have had no choice other than orbital bombardment, killing most of the population and dooming what remained to a slow death by starvation. In the end, Blaine's action was successful, so he was promoted and given command of a battlecruiser
* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', Davos was a lifelong smuggler who smuggled vital supplies into Storm's End during a siege. He's now Sir Davos Seaworth, and one of Stannis Baratheon's most trusted advisors. In this case, he got a promotion ''and'' punishment for his life of crime at the same time, by having one joint of each finger on his left hand removed. But that seems relatively lenient by the standards of Westeros, and it certainly doesn't seem to bother Davos. He'll argue with anyone who suggests it's unfair.
* Discussed in ''Literature/{{Strata}}''. Kin Arad sentences the perpetrators of a nuclear-disarmament-protesting plesiosaur to a remarkably mild punishment; she then all but openly congratulates them and tells them of her own even more spectacular act of rebellion. It turns out that everyone does something of the sort, and if they do it well enough they're more likely to be promoted than fired.
* In ''[[Literature/HonorHarrington The Shadow of Saganami]]'' Captain Aivars Terekhov deliberately set things up so that his actions leading up to the Battle of Monica and its aftermath could be disavowed and he himself made a political sacrifice. He expected to be relieved from command and his career destroyed at a minimum, with an arrest and court-martial being entirely possible. But in ''[[Literature/HonorHarrington Storm from the Shadows]]'' he returns to the Talbott Cluster as ''Commodore'' Aivars Terekhov - and then is awarded a knighthood and the Parliamentary Medal of Valor for his actions.
* ''Franchise/StarWars: Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'': Luke Skywalker has just escaped the Empire again, and Imperial commanders are known for [[YouHaveFailedMe executing subordinates for failure]]; even Thrawn himself had killed the last guy who let Skywalker get away. But to everyone's shock, this time Thrawn promotes the one responsible - where the previous underling had screwed up something he was trained for and tried to blame his superior officer, this one had shown good problem-solving skills (even if his solution didn't work) and took responsibility. Thrawn ''likes'' competence, as well as people who don't pass the buck.
* Horace, apprentice knight in ''Literature/RangersApprentice'' temporarily travels under the guise of a full knight in Book 3 at [[MilitaryMaverick Halt]]'s insistence, so as to appear more intimidating to the scruffy, half-trained warriors he comes across. After he returns home, for his role in [[spoiler: stopping the Temujai and rescuing Cassandra]], [[TheGoodKing King Duncan]] announces that he's decided to "rectify this irregularity." He then personally knights Horace on the spot.
* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in ''Literature/WingsOfFire''. Winter breaks all of the [=IceWing=] codes of honor when rescuing his brother Hailstorm, but his father Narwhal, who's temporarily in charge of the rankings, promotes him to the highest in the [=IceWing=] rankings, saying that he might have broken the rules but he succeeded in rescuing another [=IceWing=] and that is more important. But it turns out [[spoiler:his real reason for promoting him was because he couldn't believably promote Hailstorm his normal position on top of the rankings right away, and his seventh birthday when the rankings would be mostly fixed was coming up soon, but he knew that putting Winter first and Hailstorm last would force them to fight to the death in the Diamond Trial when Hailstorm turned seven years old, and the more competent Hailstorm would easily win.]]
* There is a book from the Literature/{{Xanth}} series where a roc who had spent centuries loyally tending to an egg that would eventually hatch into the next Simurgh, an immortal bird who oversaw all of Xanth. Despite everything she's done to protect the egg, the roc is put on trial for a small mistake she made once. She is found guilty, and her sentence is to take care of the newly hatched chick, and her ability to fly has been enhanced beyond that of any roc, she is allowed anything she needs from anyone in Xanth so long as it is necessary for caring for the chick, and if anyone tries to hurt her, they will be sentenced to a fate worse than death. For all her hard work, she has been promoted to one of the most powerful positions in all the land!

* ''Franchise/StarTrek''
** In ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' Admiral Kathryn Janeway violates nearly 154 rules by traveling back in time and swindling the Klingons. The fact that her actions get Voyager home nearly 15 years early and, with added technology as a bonus, results in her past self getting a promotion... [[KickedUpstairs to Admiral, along with a nice safe desk job on Earth.]]
** Discussed in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' – "The Die is Cast". See the page quote.
** In fact, the first time this is really averted for a main character in ''Star Trek'' would have to be Michael Burnham in ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery,'' who, in the premier, violates orders, commits insubordination, assaults her captain and finally commits mutiny by attempting to take command... and realistically gets sent to prison for life. [[spoiler:It doesn't stick,]] of course.
* ''Series/{{MASH}}''
** A similar line is used in where Klinger is threatened with this. In his continued efforts of trying to get a discharge from the Army by running around in dresses, among other things, Frank, at one point, says to him, "I've warned you, that crazy stuff's ''not'' gonna wash with me! The next time I find you in a floppy hat, or a brassiere... I'll ''promote'' you!" (Ironically, Klinger ''was'' eventually promoted from Corporal to Sergeant.)
** In another episode, Potter is upset that Mulcahy was passed up for promotion again, and tells Klinger to try to contact the Pentagon. Or at least ''try'', as that's not exactly easy to do. Klinger manages to do it by bluffing operators and lying about his identity, causing Potter to remark, "I don't know whether to arrest you or promote you!"
** Frank Burns goes AWOL in Tokyo at the start of Season 6, distraught over Margaret Houlihan's marriage to a different Army officer. He causes such a ruckus that the MP's arrest him and send him for psychiatric evaluation. Later, Hawkeye and B.J. learn that the charges against him have been dropped, and he's been promoted (from Major to Lt. Colonel) and reassigned to a VA hospital stateside.

** In a subversion, however...he makes it clear that if they ''themselves'' screw up...he'll eat them alive. In short, DoWrongRight.
* Lucius Vorenus gets this toward the end of the first season of ''Series/{{Rome}}''. He gets a pretty unambiguous order from Caesar to let Pullo be punished for murder - only to ignore that order, intervene in Pullo's death-by-arena punishment and get him out alive. Caesar summons Vorenus to him when he hears of this, giving every impression of being about to punish him harshly - only to make him a Senator of Rome. Everyone in the room, except Caesar, is completely shocked.
* ''Series/TheWestWing'': When the White House deputy communications director Sam Seaborn gets his ass handed to him by [[BlondeRepublicanSexKitten Ainsley Hayes]] on a debate show, Leo, the Chief of Staff, summons Ainsley to his office. She thinks she's there to be reprimanded and starts in on a long-winding speech about how wrong that is when Leo interrupts her to offer her a job in the White House Counsel's office.
-->'''Leo''': The President likes smart people who disagree with him.

* After disobeying orders in ''VideoGame/RainbowSixVegas 2'' in order to take down the BigBad, [[ArsonMurderAndLifesaving your superior chews you out over it over the radio. He ends it by disguising a promotion as a firing.]]
* The final Fighters' Guild quest in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' has you working with a disgraced former guild-member and single-handedly bringing down the Blackwood Company by assaulting their headquarters. After you report your success to the Guildmaster, she tells you that for your reckless actions, you are to be stripped of your position as her second in command... because she will be stepping down and offering you her title.

* Vulpes Inculta, a character in ''Videogame/FalloutNewVegas'', has this as part of his backstory. During a skirmish between Caesar's Legion and a hostile tribe, Vulpes broke ranks and led a charge through a hole in the tribe's defences, [[StraightForTheCommander captured the tribe's chieftain and forced the rest of the tribe into surrender.]] Vulpes' Centurion petitioned Caesar for the right to execute him for disobeying orders, but Caesar recognised Vulpes' cunning and tactical knowledge and instead had him transferred into the Frumentarii, the Legion's network of spies, where he eventually became their leader.

* In the finale of ''[[VideoGame/WingCommander Wing Commander 2]]'', Admiral Tolwyn chews out the player character for stealing a valuable fightercraft and going out on an unsanctioned mission to destroy the Kilrathi's headquarters in the Enigma Sector... then gives him a three-grade promotion for pulling it off.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'':
** In the episode, ''A Friend in Need'', Jack worries that Ms. Jenny will be cross with him after holding up a bridge to save Thomas from falling off it (Also bending his arms as a result). However, it's this very act that gets him accepted as the newest member of The Pack.

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'': In ''Crossfire'', Megatron departs to face off [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Airachnid]], and forbids his new subordinate, Dreadwing, from following. When Megatron is defeated and about to be killed by the Autobots [[MeleeATrois who have also been lured there]], Dreadwing arrives with reinforcements and busts him out. Megatron then comments Dreadwing would "make a fine first lieutenant" when the latter apologizes for his disobedience.

* ''WesternAnimation/AngelWars'': As an angel-in-training, Paladin breaks an important piece of equipment that's the key to defeating a powerful demon named Discord who was ''so'' dangerous, he almost took over a whole angelic fleet. Paladin manages to come up with a plan to survive the situation, [[spoiler: killing Discord and freeing the heavenly fleet in the process,]] but expects an upbraiding and punishment for having broken something that was supposed to be unbreakable. Instead, he gets a KirkSummation about what he did ''right'', and earns his wings.

* Argonaut Software showed off a proof of concept method to defeat the UsefulNotes/GameBoy's CopyProtection mechanism in front of Nintendo staff members during the 1990 Consumer Electronics Show. Surprisingly enough, rather than being subject to legal action given Nintendo's history of aggressive litigation, Nintendo was so reportedly impressed that they employed Argonaut as a second-party who helped develop an enhancement chip for the SNES to add polygonal 3D capabilities to the console. [[VideoGame/StarFox And the rest, as they say, is history.]]

* There is a book from the Literature/Xanth series where a roc who had spent centuries loyally tending to an egg that would eventually hatch into the next Simurgh, an immortal bird who oversaw all of Xanth. Despite everything she’s done to protect the egg, the roc is put on trial for a small mistake she made once. She is found guilty, and her sentence is to take care of the newly hatched chick, and her ability to fly has been enhanced beyond that of any roc, she is allowed anything she needs from anyone in Xanth so long as it is necessary for caring for the chick, and if anyone tries to hurt her, they will be sentenced to a fate worse than death. For all her hard work, she has been promoted to one of the most powerful positions in all the land!

* In Creator/AAPessimal's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' tale ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12321109/29/Gap-Year-Adventures Gap Year Adventures]]'', misfit noblewoman and Air Police Constable Olga Romanoff has assiduously been avoiding promotion for as long as she has served in the Air Watch, arguing the hassle involved simply isn't worth an extra handful of dollars every month. Her role involves a lot of travel, often acting independently of the chain of command and having to make decisions on the spot without being able to consult her superiors first. [[Fanfic/GapYearAdventures On a trip to Howondaland]], she thinks on her feet and takes a course of action that causes Vetinari to raise his eyebrows and steeple his fingers. He notes that her decision is broadly in keeping with stated Ankh-Morporkian foreign policy vis-a-vis preventing too many wars flaring up in that continent, but hints that she may well have exceeded the level of authority reasonably available to a mere Air Constable. He elects to punish her with the promotion she expressly does not want. Sam Vimes agrees and points out that being fast-tracked to Watch sergeant, then after that to Lieutenant in charge of the Pegasus Service, involves ''lots'' of distasteful and nasty time-consuming fatigue duties like having to attend Watch senior officers' meetings. [[note]]WordOfGod is that this fits the wider chronology better than the author consciously realised - not that long after the events described in GYA, the Air Watch end up [[Fanfic/thePriceOfflight fighting a real war as an Air Force]], which demands a clear-cut chain of command with a Commanding Officer at the top.[[/note]]

* In Creator/AAPessimal's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' tale ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12321109/29/Gap-Year-Adventures Gap Year Adventures]]'', misfit noblewoman and Air Police Constable Olga Romanoff has assiduously been avoiding promotion for as long as she has seerved in the Air Watch, arguing the hassle involved simply isn't worth an extra handful of dollars every month. Her role involves a lot of travel, often acting independently of the chain of command and having to make decisions on the spot without being able to consult her superiors first. [[Fanfic/GapYearAdventures On a trip to Howondaland]], she thinks on her feet and takes a course of action that causes Vetinari to raise his eyebrows and steeple his fingers. He notes that her decision is broadly in keeping with stated Ankh-Morporkian foreign policy vis-a-vis preventing too many wars flaring up in that continent, but hints that she may well have exceeded her authority. He elects to punish her with the promotion she expressly does not want. Sam Vimes agrees and points out that being fast-tracked to Watch sergeant, then after that to Lieutenant in charge of the Pegasus Service, involves ''lots'' of distasteful and nasty time-consuming fatigue duties like having to attend Watch senior officers' meetings. [[note]]WordOfGod is that this fits the wider chronology better than the author consciously realised - not long after the events described in GYA, the Air Watch end up fighting a real war as an air Force, which demands a clear-cut chain of command with a Commanding Officer at the top.[[/note]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'': One episode sees [[HighPoweredCareerWoman Charlotte's]] BeleaguredAssistant Jonathan forced to babysit the kids, and especially entertain [[EnfanteTerrible Angelica]] by doing whatever she says. Jonathan, who's sick of Charlotte's shabby treatment, decides to hunt around the house to find something to use as blackmail and eventually discovers an embarrassing videotape of her wearing a mudmask and generally looking horrible. When Charlotte returns, Jonathan gloats that he's going to bring her down...only for Charlotte to be legitimately impressed by his scheming ("Finally showing some initiative!") and offer him a promotion and raise for his sneakiness, much to his surprise and delight.

[[folder:Film –- Animated]]

[[folder:Film –- Live-Action]]

* ''Franchise/StarWars: Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'': Luke Skywalker has just escaped the Empire again, and Imperial commanders are known for [[YouHaveFailedMe executing subordinates for failure]]; even Thrawn himself had killed the last guy who let Skywalker get away. But to everyone's shock, this time Thrawn promotes the one responsible - where the previous underling had screwed up something he was trained for and tried to blame his superior officer, this one had shown good problem-solving skills (even if his solution didn't work) and took responsibility. Thrawn ''likes'' competence.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'':

* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in ''Literature/WingsOfFire''. Winter breaks all of the [=IceWing=] codes of honor when rescuing his brother Hailstorm, but his father Narwhal, who's temporarily in charge of the rankings, promotes him to the highest in the [=IceWing=] rankings, saying that he might have broken the rules but he succeeded in rescuing another [=IceWing=] and that is more important. But it turns out [[spoiler:his real reason for promoting him was because he couldn't believably promote Hailstorm his normal position on top of the rankings right away, and his seventh birthday when the rankings would be mostly fixed was coming up soon, but he knew that putting Winter first and Hailstorm last would force them to fight to the death in the Diamond Trial when Hailstorm turned seven years old, and the more competent Hailstorm would easily win.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'' is the page quote for ArsonMurderAndLifesaving; [[WesternAnimation/MulanII the sequel]] shows that she has become one of the Emperor's trusted officers (if a non-standard one) and is entrusted with the safety of his daughters.

** Orik gets a punishment in name only after he defies the Twins in rescuing Eragon and his companions from drowning. The Twins complain at length to Ajihad about it. Ajihad then removes Orik from the Vaden's direct service, before appointing him as Eragon's personal guide, which would ensure that Orik was in even more of a powerful position than he had been before. This is lampshaded.

* Roran in ''[[Literature/InheritanceCycle Eldest]]'' ends up getting both. Nasuada has him whipped for his disobeying of a direct order (from an incompetent superior, who ends up getting demoted ) in order to save the lives of the men he had just been put temporarily in command of. But she gives him his own unit, which means he reports directly to Nasuada and no one else. Keep in mind he just joined the Varden not long before and has only a handful of missions under his belt.

* Subverted with Roran in ''[[Literature/InheritanceCycle Eldest]]''. He ends up getting both. Nasuada has him whipped for his disobeying of a direct order (from an incompetent superior, who ends up getting demoted ) in order to save the lives of the men he had just been put temporarily in command of. But also she gives him his own unit which means he reports directly to Nasuada and no one else. Keep in mind he just joined the Varden no long before and has only a handful of missions under his belt.

* Joker from the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series gained his position as the ''Normandy'''s pilot by hijacking it during a test-flight and demonstrating that he was a better pilot than the guy who was originally intended to fly it. If the setting wasn't so MildlyMilitary, he'd have probably earned himself a sentence in a military prison instead. It's implied that he almost was arrested anyway, but the ReasonableAuthorityFigure who was in charge of the ''Normandy'' recognized the talent and made him the helmsman.

* ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'' is the page quote for ArsonMurderAndLifesaving; the sequel shows that she has become one of the Emperor's trusted officers (if a non-standard one) and is entrusted with the safety of his daughters.

* Deekin Scalesinger from ''Videogame/NeverwinterNights: Shadows of Undrentide'' was a kobold who being trained by the white dragon Tymofarrar as the next sorcerer-chieftain of his clan, but at the first sign of battle [[LovableCoward he hid and left his clan-mates to be killed]]. The other kobolds naturally wanted Deekin executed for his cowardice, but Tymofarrar found the slaughter hilarious and decided that Deekin could serve him as a jester instead (a post which Deekin prefers since it has a much greater life expectancy than a chieftain).

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''. [[Discworld/GoingPostal [=Albert Spangler=]/Moist von Lipwig]] is captured for fraud and hanged... to within half an inch of his life. [[ManipulativeBastard Vetinari]] then [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse offers him the position of Postmaster]], knowing that his specific skills are what is needed to get the Post Office up and running again.