History Main / ReasonableAuthorityFigure

* Captains Kyoraku and Ukitake from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' are this. Unlike the Head Captain Yamamoto, (who follows Central 46 orders to the letter, and embodies blind obedience to tradition above all else), these two will take the time to listen to progressive mindsets from their subordinates and non-combatants give a fair audience to the accused, and even [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight defy tradition and law]] when the situation calls for it. Byakuya also becomes a variation of this after Ichigo helps him resolve an issue he had with two conflicting vows that was the reason he had been compelled to support Rukia's execution despite not wanting her to die.

* Jack McCoy from LawAndOrder is the very definition of tough but fair while he usually dishes out harsh punishments they are proportional to the crime. It is only after the opposition attempts some shifty defense that he goes all gung ho. For example McCoy once prosecuted a an unrepented drunk driver for killing three pedestrians. McCoy went Knight Templer to convict this driver, hiding witnesses, hide evidence; it is only when McCoy sees that the driver truly regrets his actions that McCoy changes his mind and submits the flight attendant's statement at trial, prompting a plea bargain. Furthermore his underlying motivation is a sincere desire to see justice done. To that end he looks at the fact meticulously, there have been a number of innocent defendants who only had their word to back up their claim. If it wasn’t for McCoy they would be in Jail.
** This came back to bite McCoy in the butt later on in the series once his name got into the text books. Genra suavy defense attorney’s new something was up if a plea was to lenient.

** 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]].

* In the {{Fanfic/Uplifted}} series Erwin Rommel qualifies. As does Gerald Langer. Rommel is self explanatory, especially in regards to his real life actions, while Langer quite successfully manages the Quarians and the first contact.

** Also in the third game, the Quarian Admiralty board members [[spoiler: aside from Tali]] include one who is supportive of Shepard's attempts to broker peace with the geth, one is who is hesitant but willing to listen, one who is strongly opposed, and one who is batshit insane.

*** "A Bird in the Hoof", in which her reaction to Fluttershy's well-intentioned bird-napping of her pet to nurse it back to health is primarily to chide Fluttershy for not asking about the bird, [[spoiler:a phoenix on the tail end of its rebirth/death cycle]], in a CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot.

* Captain Roy Montgomery in ''{{Castle}}'' is incredibly tolerant of Richard Castle's presence in the unit and remarkably willing to accommodate his theories and viewpoints on the cases he and Detective Kate Beckett investigate; this is partially because of pressure from higher-ups regarding the positive press that comes from having a bestselling mystery writer base a character on one of his police detectives, but he also appears to genuinely respect Castle's abilities and like the man personally. He also acts as a [[FatherToHisMen father figure]] to his detectives, particularly Beckett.

* In ''Annals of the Literature/BlackCompany'', the Lady [[InformedVillany may be evil]], but she also fits this trope nicely. Admittedly, she does get [[FateWorseThanDeath somewhat cross]] with underlings who work against her, but she'll forgive (what's left of) them if she learns that the accusations were false.

** Most of the Watch are personally loyal to Vimes. A fair number follow him when he [[spoiler:turns in his badge]] in ''Jingo''. As one officer says, when your back's against the wall, Mister Vimes is right behind you.

** [[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 a new method and accepted responsibility when the tactic didn't work. He also treated his second-in-command and occasional CommanderContrarian with respect.

* In the second book of HilariBell's ''Literature/KnightAndRogue'' series, Michael and Fisk are surprised to find the local sheriff is willing to get their side of the story before summarily running them out of town on the say-so of an important official. [[spoiler:Though he still makes them leave once the book's over.]]

* In Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs's ''[[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars Thuvia, Maid Of Mars]]'', Thuvia refuses to have a prince who laid hands on her arrested, despite the gravity of the crime, because it would mean war.

* In CharlesStross's ''[[Literature/TheLaundrySeries The Atrocity Archives]]'' and sequels, Angleton may count, despite being the scariest person in the Laundry. Exercising his authority frequently falls afoul of obstacle #4, above. Oh so much.

* Duke Gareth in ''[[TortallUniverse Song of the Lioness]]'' 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.

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

* Bishop Peregrino in ''[[EndersGame Speaker for the Dead]]'' first seems like a Bible-thumping fanatic dead-set on kicking the "infidel" Speaker out of Lusitania as soon as possible, including declaring Ender to be TheDevil himself. He still has plenty of reservations, but the events of the book have Peregrino mellowing and developing a level of respect for Ender, even if he doesn't agree with his methods (such as revealing embarassing personal information to everyone instead of just to the bishop and God in confession). Additionally, Ender revealing that he was baptised as a child helps the bishop accept him into their Catholic community. He also agrees to [[spoiler:rebel against the Starways Congress]] in order to save [[spoiler:Miro]].

* ''Literature/ExilesViolin'':

* In AndreNorton's ''Literature/IceCrown'', Princess Ludorica conceeds that her grandfather is right to use her as a tool for their kingdom's safety.
* In ''[[TheEnchantedForestChronicles Dealing with Dragons]]'', [[spoiler:Kazul]] becomes one of these. [[spoiler:She knows that Cimorene is a level-headed person, so when Cimorene goes to Kazul - newly crowned as King of Dragons - saying that wizards tried to sabotage the coronation trials and the dragon Warog was behind it, Kazul is more than happy to listen. When Warog repeatedly tries to discredit Cimorene by insisting that her story is preposterous, Kazul calmly points out that he hasn't pointed out a single thing to back up that statement.]]

* ''{{Series/Mash}}'': Col. Potter's decisions are always the right ones, and he's not afraid to yell at the DesignatedHero when he happens to be in the wrong.

* In ''[[TheEnchantedForestChronicles Dealing with Dragons]]'', [[spoiler:Kazul]] becomes one of these. [[spoiler:She knows that Cimorene is a level-headed person, so when Cimorene goes to Kazul - newly crowned as King of Dragons - saying that wizards tried to sabotage the coronation trials and the dragon Warog was behind it, Kazul is more than happy to listen. When Warog repeatedly tries to discredit Cimorene by insisting that her story is preposterous, Kazul calmly points out that he hasn't pointed out a sing thing to back up that statement.]]

* Baron Wulfenbach of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' runs a ruthless dictatorship. He allows his subjects to parody or even mock him in the press, and generally he only uses lethal force when the need for it becomes obvious. A very reasonable dictator.\\\
He has two rules: The devices of the [[BigBad Other]] must immediately be turned over to him for study, and nations/city-states are not allowed to go to war with each other. That's it. If he's even ''taxing'' his vassals, it's not enough that any of them as much as mentioned it so far. So the nobles are trying to dethrone Klaus mainly because he won't let them kill each other. Wherever Klaus collects his revenue, he uses it, aside of keeping crack troops, to build and maintain roads, schools, and hospitals.\\\
When he took hostages from the royal families to ensure that they didn't go to war with their neighbors, he didn't ignore them or abuse them. Instead he got the best nanny he could and proceeded to educate them out of being potential {{Royal Brat}}s and into RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething, [[KingIncognito his own son]] being among them. Also the novelization mentions that he passed an equivalent of a Civil Rights act, forbidding discrimination against [[PatchworkMen constructs.]]\\\

* Lord Capulet in ''RomeoAndJuliet''. It depends on the adaptation.

* ''WatershipDown''. 'The Threarah', the Chief Rabbit of the Sandleford warren, who appears to be the ObstructiveBureaucrat-type when he dismisses [[WaifProphet Fiver's]] warning out of hand. Holly later reveals that his reasoning was actually quite logical -- most prophets are frauds, and even if they're genuine the warren would have lost more rabbits from a mass evacuation than a flood or from hunters. Tragically the oncoming disaster is more massive than The Threarah could imagine or Fiver could explain coherently.
* Chief Wyatt Porter in the ''OddThomas'' novels knows quite well about Odd's psychic gifts, and consults him whenever he can (i.e. as long as he eventually has enough evidence to back him up in courts and whatnot).

** The ''XWingSeries'' gives us an example in Wedge Antilles. When Myn Donos had a HeroicBSOD, he helped cover it up. Later, when Myn [[spoiler: fired on Lara for the destruction of Talon Squadron, and shot a torpedo at another pilot]], he was taken off duty, but not actually written up, though there was a testing period while Wedge decided whether or not to do so. And when Myn realized that the fighters were going into a trap, Wedge called them off, even though he couldn't see how and they lost two in doing so.

** Pellaeon surely counts by the ''HandOfThrawn'' duology, when he's basically got Thrawn's old rank, albeit commanding the forces of a [[VestigialEmpire much smaller Empire]]. He happens to KnowWhenToFoldEm, is protective of his people, and treats his own CommanderContrarian the way Thrawn treated him. Oh, and he's trying to make peace with the New Republic, and sees efforts by various Imperial elements to make it look like the New Republic has refused as what they are: [[FalseFlagOperation a trick]]. ...Really, by that point he's not remotely one of the bad guys.

* In GrahamMcNeill's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Literature/{{Ultramarines}} novel ''Nightbringer'', the governor. Although things have gone badly under her, Barzano preempts a vote of no confidence because she seems to be the best. And she faces the troubles with equinamity and an effort to fix things.

* In the second book of HilariBell's ''KnightAndRogue'' series, Michael and Fisk are surprised to find the local sheriff is willing to get their side of the story before summarily running them out of town on the say-so of an important official. [[spoiler:Though he still makes them leave once the book's over.]]

* Each book in ''ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' tends to have exactly one character in this position. They usually don't last very long.

* In Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs's ''[[JohnCarterOfMars Thuvia, Maid Of Mars]]'', Thuvia refuses to have a prince who laid hands on her arrested, despite the gravity of the crime, because it would mean war.

* In ''Annals of the BlackCompany'', the Lady [[InformedVillany may be evil]], but she also fits this trope nicely. Admittedly, she does get [[FateWorseThanDeath somewhat cross]] with underlings who work against her, but she'll forgive (what's left of) them if she learns that the accusations were false.
* In CharlesStross's ''[[TheLaundrySeries The Atrocity Archives]]'' and sequels, Angleton may count, despite being the scariest person in the Laundry. Exercising his authority frequently falls afoul of obstacle #4, above. Oh so much.

* King-Emperor John IV, from S.M. Stirling's novel, ''ThePeshawarLancers''. The cannibalistic Satanist Russian Empire has bred a lineage of seeresses who can see the consequences of any possible action? Your evidence is pretty convincing. Maybe you hero-types should go do something about it.

* In JosephaSherman's ''Literature/TheShiningFalcon'', Finist. So frustrating to Ljuba.

* [[HisFairAssassin The His Fair Assassin trilogy]] has Duchess Anne, the young but extraordinarily level-headed royal served by the protagonist leads.
* [[HeroOfAnotherStory Sheriff Pangborn]] from Creator/StephenKing's ''TheDarkHalf.'' After the villain George Stark leaves a bloody fingerprint at a crime scene that perfectly matches local writer Thad Beaumont, Pangborn arrives to arrest Thad. But when Thad produces an ironclad alibi, Pangborn believes him and does all he can to help catch Stark. Pangborn later gets to be TheHero in ''NeedfulThings.''
* Special Agent Tilly from ''[[TheDresdenFiles Changes]]''. He turns off the recording tape during his interrogation of Harry, at Harry's request, and is willing to listen to and calmly evaluate what Harry says to him about the supernatural. He also handles himself very well during the [[spoiler: Red Court attack]].

* Leonard Stecyk in ThePaleKing.

* In the Conan story; Literature/TheGodInTheBowl: The Inspector, Demetrius, comes across as one. Despite advocating the more brutal methods that the guards have, he gives Conan a fair chance to explain himself, easily seeing past Conan's lies, and investigates instead of arresting him on the spot (partly because they couldn't take Conan, but also because he suspected it wasn't Conan). Near the end, when the nobleman who hired Conan to steal something in the citadel is found, Demetrius easily deduces that he hired Conan, and sincerely said that, if given the word, he would let Conan go, and cover this whole incident up to protect the nobleman's reputation, explaining that debt (the motive) is nothing to be ashamed of. The AristocratsAreEvil trope is in effect, and the man denies all the allegations, causing Conan to fly into a murderous rage, Demetrius still makes it out with a wounded leg, and when the real murder culprit is revealed, the titular god, the narration makes it clear that Demetrius would have stayed to investigate it, but wounded and bleeding badly, he opts to run with the rest of the guards.

** Viscount Marlowe Dumar was one as well, being a [[ApparentlyPowerlessPuppetmaster stabilizing figure]] in the otherwise unstable political climate of Kirkwall focused on making sure things ''don't'' go to hell. [[spoiler:Eventually, he's killed by the Arishok in his takeover of the city.]]

* Every authority figure in ''NightOfTheLepus'' accepts that monsters are rampaging without question, and all immediately spring into action. Which is rather unreasonable in and of itself - not a single person ever stops and says "Giant Man Eating Rabbits? You can't be serious!?"

* In ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'' and ''Ghostbusters 2,'' the mayor is willing to listen to the characters about the bizarre events in his city. In the first one, Venkman gets his cooperation by appealing to his political ambition ("If we can stop this thing, ''you'' will have saved the lives of millions of registered voters"). In the sequel, when he realizes the eponymous characters have been thrown into the loony bin by his EvilChancellor he immediately has them released and him fired respectively.

* Arthéon from ''Franchise/{{Noob}}'' seems to be this. Notably, he and his RagtagBunchOfMisfits guild end up involoved in the second novel's plot because he was willing to follow a lead given by a random player nobody else was listening to.

* One of the first tasks in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' is to go to Balgruuf, the local Jarl (leader of the region), to warn him about the rampaging dragon. Now, dragons have seemingly been extinct for hundreds of years. Most people don't think they exist any more. But upon hearing the firsthand account of the dragon attack, Balgruuf immediately accepts it, sends soldiers to reinforce undefended towns, and puts his guards on alert. And when it's revealed that the player is Dovahkiin, he instantly recognizes their importance and endeavors to help you in any way possible. Late in the primary storyline, if you backed him up during the civil war and protected Whiterun, he will only be ''slightly'' reluctant to agree to [[spoiler: risk his castle and city by deliberately luring Odahviing into his castle to trap it.]]