History Main / ReasonableAuthorityFigure

* The Grand Councilwoman from ''Disney/LiloAndStitch'' is rather reasonable for being the head of the [[TheFederation Galactic Federation]], although like most aliens, she believes Pleakly when he tells her to spare Earth from destructions because mosquitos are endangered.
** She's also willing to give Stitch a chance to speak for himself when he's intially introduced at Jumba's trial, rather than outright condemning him. Then at the end of the film [[spoiler:she expresses regret at having to take Stitch in after he's shown to have calmed down and matured somewhat, and seems rather satisfied when [[LoopholeAbuse Lilo provides a loophole]] as to why the Grand Councilwoman can't take Stitch]].

[[folder:Film]]

* The president in the ''TheDayAfterTomorrow'' became convinced of the meteorologists' prediction of impending doom and ordered the evacuation of the southern United States.

* The doctor from ''OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest'', while bearing in mind that he's dealing with a load of crazy people, is very kind and agreeable with them.

* The general in ''TheIronGiant'' attempts to understand the situation and not assume the worst when confronted with a giant alien robot. Unfortunately, the FBI agent on the scene happens to be a complete bigot, and goes out of his way just to provoke the Iron Giant into retaliation.

* ''[[HisFairAssassin The His Fair Assassin trilogy]]'' has Duchess Anne, the young but extraordinarily level-headed royal served by the protagonist leads.

* "[[HisFairAssassin The His Fair Assassin trilogy]]" has Duchess Anne, the young but extraordinarily level-headed royal served by the protagonist leads.

* "[[HisFairAssassin]]" has Duchess Anne, the young but extraordinarily level-headed royal served by the protagonist leads.

* Carol Saroyan from "{{Bones}}", also DaChief, is very reasonable (albiet exasperated) with her team of squints. While she feels like the OnlySaneWoman, she respects the work her colleagues do and assists them accordingly.

* Duke Gareth in ''[[TortallUniverse Song of the Liones]]'' was one, being strict and authoritative but at the same time, understanding and kind. Despite giving Alanna a stern lecture for beating up a boy who had ruthlessly bullied her (even breaking her arm at one point), he had supported her (even telling her privately that Ralon deserved to be thrashed) and was secretly pleased that she managed to do it on her own.

[[folder:Live Action TV]

Heroes like the IgnoredExpert have a hard enough time dealing with [[DyingLikeAnimals idiotic peasants]], but their deepest problems invariably come from the antagonistic local authorities, who are dead set on ignoring their warnings and running them out of town because it's politically expedient.

Which makes the existence of the Reasonable Authority Figure all the rarer. Fully aware that MachiavelliWasWrong, he'll listen to those "[[RagtagBunchOfMisfits crazy kids]]" when they say there's a fugitive nearby, and actually logically consider their arguments and not discard them out of hand. However, their openness to the heroes' ideas doesn't mean they'll follow AgentMulder's crazy ideas blindly. Often, they'll ask for [[WeNeedToGetProof proof]] and facts rather than follow baseless accusations, but even then, they'll usually humor the heroes and go check out their theories; whether it pans out or turns into a [[NotSoImaginaryFriend dead end]] depends on how far along the story is.

Usually LawfulGood. Generally the person characters must BringNewsBack to. And the chain of command that goes past the basic CommandRoster. The RebelliousRebel is motivated by loyalty to him.

Noteworthy because, if the hero does manage to convince them, can help FightingForSurvival. But they may have to ShootTheDog as part of their position. Being in a position where you are responsible for millions and do not think that AMillionIsAStatistic can be quite hard.

'''This position means that they can often end the story very quickly unless other obstacles intervene. Which means [[HowToStopTheDeusExMachina they usually do intervene.]]'''
# They're made [[ConservationOfCompetence inaccessible]] by the ObstructiveBureaucrat and EvilChancellor who has it in for the heroes, trying to stop them getting an audience or [[MaliciousSlander outright lying]] to destroy their arguments and [[ClearMyName reputation]]. Barring this, the ReasonableAuthorityFigure might just be plain [[BeleagueredBureaucrat busy, overworked, or under-funded]] and might not have the time or resources to adequately solve the hero's problem as quickly as he or she would like.

# If he is not the absolute ruler, InterserviceRivalry and DividedWeFall can be a problem even after you persuade him. Indeed, that you speak with this character may induce his rivals to regard you as an enemy, or at least to undercut you in hopes of ensuring that ''their'' favorites succeed in your place.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'''s Lord Vetinari is one deep down, though for his own reasons he hides it well. Vimes also fits the trope; his incorruptibility is so famous that suggestions to bribe him are tkane as jokes.

* [[EccentricMentor Dumbledore]] of ''HarryPotter'' fame is perhaps too easygoing when it comes to Harry, but considering the trouble he tends to attract, it pays to listen when Harry says basilisks/death eaters/trolls/whatever are mucking about.
** Albus Dumbledore is one of the few authority figures in the ''HarryPotter'' universe who is consistently not evil ''and'' [[TheChessmaster on the ball]] as far as what's going on, and therefore knows well enough to trust the heroes (and occasionally bail them out of school trouble when it's convenient).

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* Col. Potter on {{Series/Mash}} ''is'' this trope. His decisions are always the right ones, and he's not afraid to yell at the DesignatedHero when he happens to be in the wrong.

** [[TheThrawnTrilogy Grand Admiral Thrawn]] is one of the bad guys (although [[AffablyEvil not strictly evil]]) and [[YouHaveFailedMe executed a tractor beam operator]] for failing to catch Luke's ship, and then lying to Thrawn about not having performed training that could have kept the tractor beam emitter from eating a torpedo, and attempted to shift the blame to another -- but in a later book he promoted a new tractor beam operator who had failed to catch another ship Luke was on because although the guy had failed, he'd tried new method and accepted responsibility when the tactic didn't work. He also treated his second-in-command and occasional CommanderContrarian with respect.

* ''Series/ICarly'' features Principal Franklin, the principal of Carly's school. He's not strict at all, once getting Carly and her friends out of detention, and even giving Carly a reprieve when her friend hacked into the school's computer to change her grades. This may be [[HandWave partially explained]] by the fact that the principal is a big fan of Carly's webshow, and she wouldn't be able to do the show if she were spending all her time in detention.

* Principal Geraldine Waxelplax from ''TheFairlyOddparents''.

* ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'' has Mrs. Twombly, the littlest pet shop owner, helping out Blythe Baxter on certain situations.

* The BelisariusSeries features Malwa noble Damodara, who starts off reasonable in actually listening to Rana Sanga's concern that they're being played by Belisarius, and then covers up the Rajput king's failure in capturing Belisarius because he accepts that anyone would have fallen for the BatmanGambit which was used.

* Minamo Kurosawa, the P.E. teacher, from AzumangaDaioh.

Which makes the existence of the Reasonable Authority Figure all the rarer. Fully aware that MachiavelliWasWrong, he'll listen to those "[[RagtagBunchOfMisfits crazy kids]]" when they say there's a fugitive nearby, and actually logically consider their arguments and not discard them out of hand. However, their openness to the heroes' ideas doesn't mean they'll follow AgentMulder's crazy ideas blindly. Often, they'll ask for [[WeNeedToGetProof proof]] and facts rather than follow [[StabTheSalad baseless accusations]], but even then, they'll usually humor the heroes and go check out their theories; whether it pans out or turns into a [[NotSoImaginaryFriend dead end]] depends on how far along the story is.

* General Hawk from ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra''.

* In ''Cheer!'', Mr. Madison is considered nice and well-liked by his students. He's the one the girls go to for help when they find that the class president was chained up in the Student Council room, and when we see him teaching, he tries to make obscure math formulas interesting before admitting that the students can forget them after the test.