History Main / RookieRedRanger

* There have been several ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' series where the Red Ranger is last one of the FiveManBand to join up.

** In ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce'', Taylor, Alyssa, Max and Danny were actively fighting monsters for a year, six months, six months, and two months respectively before Cole even joined up. And Cole's a RaisedByNatives orphan who made his way from South America to Turtle Cove by boat. He's not just new to superheroics, he's new to ''modern civilization''. The only reason he's the leader is that his patron Wild Zord outranks the others, and Taylor spends a lot of time bitter about it since she was the leader before he showed up and she actually knows ''how'' to lead.

** ''Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive'', Mack was the only one who wasn't meant to be on the team as his father intended to be the Red Ranger himself. Mack only got his morpher after everyone else, and even then, it was to save his dad from a group of foot soldiers. After proving himself, his father allowed him to continue as the Red Ranger and leader of the team.

** ''Series/MashinSentaiKiramager'': While the rest of the team are celebrities in their respective fields, Juru was the last to be recruited and is simply an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent. Yet he was assigned as leader since he was chosen by the Red Kiramei Stone, and Red has traditionally always been the Kiramagers' leader. For his part, Juru is well aware of how out-of-place he is in this regard and lacks some confidence because of it. Admittedly though, while the other 4 were far more experienced in life than him, being a year to a few years older and being very competent and well-known people compared to him not even being out of school yet they had only actually gained their powers a few days prior and the battle he meets them on was their first deployment barring some training missions beforehand. And had Fire (the stone who chose him as his partner) not conveniently missed him during the initial recruitment drive, he would have been brought on at the same time they were.

*** Yuri's case is an interesting one as she isn't resentful towards Tsubomi for being leader, she's resentful to her, Erika [[spoiler:and Itsuki]] for being Precure because of her arrogance leading to them being activated in the first place. Once she ultimately gets over it, she becomes a ''lot'' more kinder to them.

* While ComicBook/CaptainAmerica is the most famous leader of ''ComicBook/TheAvengers,'' it's often a surprise to both readers and occasionally other characters that he wasn't a founding member in the core Marvel timeline (he actually didn't join until issue #4). The reader confusion is helped by his being a founding member in most other timelines, such as ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'' or in the various animated series and the [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse MCU]]. Justified since he honed his skills in World War II and is the most natural leader, despite being a relative newcomer.

* In ''Fanfic/LightningOnlyStrikesOnce'', while technically not the most powerful, [[spoiler:Wells essentially takes on a leadership role for the other twelve ambassadors when he's appointed as Skaikru's Ambassador to the Coalition while Clarke and Lexa are absent. He maintains this authority over the other twelve ambassadors even after Lexa and Clarke return, albeit through a process of explaining everything calmly and rationally until they go along with it; Wells argues that he only fell into the position of leader because Skaikru don't have a history with the other clans so nobody resents him for some past slight and thus find it easier to follow his orders]].

** In ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'', Touma finds himself the newest member of an order of knights called the Sword of Logos after a sacred sword appears before him. While he's willing to join them in their fight, most of the other knights in the order don't quite know what to make of him; and at least Ogami is openly skeptical of how much good a ''writer'' is going to be.

* In the ''Franchise/UltraSeries'', the Ultra's human identity is usually the also the newest member of the defense team. The trend began with ''Series/UltraSeven'', in which Dan joins Ultra Garrison in the first episode shortly after meeting them.

* NHL player Sidney Crosby was touted as the next Wayne Gretzky prior to joining the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005. At the time, the Penguins were pretty much an entire team of mooks on ice so Crosby was instantly thrust into the role of their main goal-scorer. To further drive him into this, he was named [[TheLancer Alternate Captain]] in his rookie season and Captain the following season, becoming the youngest one in NHL history at the time. This lead to [[Series/HockeyNightInCanada Don Cherry]] famously stating "[[EnsignNewbie An 18-year-old kid]] says he's going to give us ideas. What, from the Quebec League, he's going to give them ideas? Come on. That's ridiculous." Then he lead them to a Stanley Cup, and then he helped lead Canada to an Olympic gold medal.

* The PlayerCharacter and protagonist of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' is recruited into the [[ImpartialPurposeDrivenFaction Grey Warden order]] in the prologue and soon rises to be the informal leader of (the remains of) the organization in Ferelden, after all senior order members perish in battle. The PC's leadership is finally formalized in the ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]]'' expansion, where they are appointed the Warden-Commander of Ferelden, despite barely being a member of the order for a couple years. It's fairly believable in ''Origins'' since there's only ''one'' other Warden in Ferelden, and while he's technically the senior Warden, he hasn't been a Warden that long either. More importantly, he's not the kind of person who likes giving orders and prefers to be a follower.
** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' the RightManInTheWrongPlace PlayerCharacter that eventually becomes the Inquisitor isn't really inexperienced as they're a skilled warrior or mage at the onset, however, no matter their backstory they've never really been a leader before (the elf mage origin was the [[NumberTwo First]] to the leader of their clan and they're probably the ''most'' qualified of the various potential Inquisitors). Having the Mark that can close the Breaches that are threatening to destroy Thedas means that everyone quickly begins looking to them, including the OrderReborn that is being formed to do the saving. Your former interrogators turned allies all but thrust the position on you because A.) as far as the rest of Thedas is concerned you were chosen by [[CrystalDragonJesus Andraste]] to do said world-saving and B.) [[spoiler: they were already looking for someone to lead the Inquisition to stop the Mage-Templar War and since the [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins Warden]] and [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII Hawke]] aren't available...]]

** The Warrior of Light of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' begins the story as a fresh-faced adventurer who'd recently made a name for themselves in one of the three city-states of the Eorzean Alliance. Their exploits and ChronicHeroSyndrome get them invited into the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, who have been working from the shadows for years to take on the [[PhysicalGod primal]], [[TheEmpire Garlean]], and [[ReligionOfEvil Ascian]] threats. It isn't long before the Warrior gains a reputation as the strongest of Scion of all along with notoriety as the [[RedBaron eikon-slayer]] responsible for felling one primal after another.

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'', Ike is suddenly promoted to leader of the Greil Mercenaries, despite almost everyone else having more experience than him. Justified in the fact that Greil was his father, and Ike was going to eventually inherit the group if Greil hadn't perished. This actually is a sore point for two characters who leave the squad as a result. Later events prove that Ike was indeed worthy of the promotion.

* ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngelII'': Kazuya Shiranami starts out fresh out of his training under Forte Stollen, who drops him off at the Luxiole to join the Rune Angel Wing under the command of Tact Mayers. While his ship, the Brave Heart, isn't too powerful by itself, its ability to combine with the other Emblem Frames makes him a crucial member of the team. Shortly after, due to jamming on the communications that renders them unable to relay orders from the Luxiole's bridge, Tact decides to delegate the duty of command on Kazuya, who despite his doubts quickly proves himself to be effective at it, and ends up officially appointed as the squad's leader. This is reinforced when another of the members, Lily C. Sherbet, quickly defers to him despite officially outranking him (he's an Ensign while she's a Lieutenant).

* Evan is this in the ''Heroes of Maple'' blockbuster arc of ''VideoGame/MapleStory''. He's barely into his teens by the time of story, but is fighting alongside five other [[LivingLegend Living Legends]] from several centuries ago. Nevertheless, he ends up being TheLeader, much to his own surprise and embarrassment while he tries to live up to the legacy left behind by his predecessor, [[TheAce Freud]].
* Zero joining LaResistance in ''VideoGame/MegaManZero''. The other members look up him as a field leader (Ciel, the actual leader, is more of a pacifist) because he's a legendary hero.
* In ''VideoGame/Persona3'' this is somewhat downplayed with the protagonist joining the team halfway through its roster.[[labelnote:Explanation]]Out of the final nine-to-ten-man roster of SEES, there are three founding members (one of whom had left the team prior to the events of the game before later rejoining), a veteran RobotGirl who joins later on, a girl who joined before the protagonist but had no combat experience, a guy who joined shortly after the protagonist, and three more newbies who join two to four months after the protagonist.[[/labelnote]] However, the team had already existed for a few years by the time the protagonist joined and they're made field leader only a couple of days after joining, ultimately resulting in them having the second-most authority of the team overall.

* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsJudgment'' has the main character Touya Shun who is a relative newcomer to the team, and to mecha combat in general.

* Sydney of ''{{Webcomic/GrrlPower}}'' has an unprecedented suite of super powers available to her due to her powers coming from a set of mysterious orbs she found (or they might have found her), rather than having been born with those powers. Additionally to that, her knowledge of comics and superheroes make her great at figuring out situations with super enemies. Thus despite being a recruit, Sydney ends up getting a major role in many missions anyway.

** Miss Martian joins the Team [[AffirmativeActionGirl after their first adventure]], and at that point had only been on Earth [[NaiveNewcomer for about a month]]. Nevertheless she has [[SuperPowerLottery the most superpowers]] and is eventually revealed to have psychic abilities [[UnskilledButStrong even greater]] than the norm of her species. [[RotatingProtagonist She's not really the protagonist more than anyone else, though]]. [[spoiler: She becomes Team leader by the start of the third season, but by then the Team is DemotedToExtra]].

* This is how the Canadian military works with regards to new officers. A 2LT fresh on the job will be put in charge of a regiment of troops, many of whom will be older and far more experienced than said officer, and yet the officer is in charge. The officer's 2IC, a WO with years of experience, is meant to serve as his HypercompetentSidekick to not only mentor the officer but also keep him in line... but said officer will ''still'' have final say in decisions.

* In ''VideoGame/Persona3'' this is somewhat downplayed with the protagonist joining the team halfway through its roster [[labelnote:Explanation]]Out of the final nine-to-ten-man roster of SEES, there are three founding members, a veteran RobotGirl who joins later on, a girl who joined before the protagonist but had no combat experience, a guy who joined shortly after the protagonist, and three more newbies who join two to four months after the protagonist.[[/labelnote]] and a few years after its creation. However, the protagonist is made field leader only a couple of days after joining and they have the second-most authority of the team overall.

* In ''VideoGame/Persona3'' this is somewhat downplayed with you joining the team halfway in its roster [[labelnote:Explanation]] Out of the final the nine to ten-man roster of S.E.E.S, there are three founding members, a veteran RobotGirl who joins later, two people join at the same time as you, and three more newbies join two to four months after you.[[/labelnote]] and a few years after its creation, however you are instantly made field leader the moment you join and have the second most seniority out of the team.

* In ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'', Touma finds himself the newest member of an order of knights called the Sword of Logos after a sacred sword appears before him. While he's willing to join them in their fight, most of the other knights in the order don't quite know what to make of him; and at least Ogami is openly skeptical of how much good a ''writer'' is going to be.

* From ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats'', Lion-O had the misfortune of being a [[YoungerThanTheyLook twelve-year-old in a twenty-four-year-old's body]], thanks to [[PlotRelevantAgeUp a malfunctioning cryosleep pod]]. He adapted pretty well, all things considered (the sanity of his teammates placing him in charge before the trials to prove his capability as leader can be questioned, however).
* On ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', Miss Martian joins the Team [[AffirmativeActionGirl after their first adventure]], and at that point had only been on Earth [[NaiveNewcomer for about a month]]. Nevertheless she has [[SuperPowerLottery the most superpowers]] and is eventually revealed to have psychic abilities [[UnskilledButStrong even greater]] than the norm of her species. [[RotatingProtagonist She's not really the protagonist more than anyone else, though]]. [[spoiler: She becomes Team leader by the start of the third season, but by then the Team is DemotedToExtra]].

** There are only four defense team-centered series that avert this: the original ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'' (Hayata was Science Patrol's NumberTwo), ''Series/UltramanTiga'' (Daigo was already a member of GUTS at the beginning of the series, though he was the last member to join barring [[MissionControl Yazumi]]), ''Series/UltramanX'' (Daichi was already a member of Xio, but generally worked in the scientific division instead), and ''Series/UltramanZ'' (Haruki was already a member of STORAGE and trained as a HumongousMecha pilot). Musashi Haruno from ''Series/UltramanCosmos'' is a subversion as he was already a member of EYES' parent organization SRC when the series starts but joined EYES in the second episode.

** ''Series/OhsamaSentaiKingOhger'': Gira was the final one of the five to become a King-Ohger as, unlike the others, he was not a monarch that received the powers through birthright (Hymeno, Rita, and Kaguragi),or being elected like Yamna. Still, Gira was recognized by God Kuwagata as the true heir of the powers after Rascules, the king of Shugoddam, proved to be a tyrant. Also, Gira is the one who slowly gets the monarchs to start working together as a proper team and not on a loose alliance term.
** ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'' deconstructs this trope, but not with Takeru. [[spoiler:As it turns out, he's just the BodyDouble to the REAL 18th head of the Shiba Clan, Kaoru, who enters late into the conflict and formally takes over. This was expected from the very beginning, so Takeru doesn't fight for the position but now loses purpose in life, as well as the vassals he had come to call his friends. The morale of the vassals themselves also suffers hard, especially after Kaoru's {{Jerkass}} retainer causes Genta to walk out as well. It doesn't take long for Kaoru to realize that she was naive to think she could just slip into Takeru's role without problem. Since it was Takeru, not her, who showed up to meet the vassals at the very start, their teamwork and strength were built around ''him''. After getting Genta back into the team and earning his forgiveness and respect, Kaoru later reinstates Takeru as the leader, even legally adopting him to make it official, despite the fact that he's older than her.]]

* When the PlayerCharacter of ''VideoGame/Persona3'' is named official field leader of SEES, he (or she, in the PSP UpdatedRerelease) isn't ''quite'' the newest member, but might as well be thanks to being a NewTransferStudent on top of being new to SEES and the concepts of Personas and the Dark Hour. After your senpai Akihiko heals up and rejoins the front line, he opts to let things stand, partially because he wants to focus on training against the shadows, and partially because he admits to having very little experience in fighting as a group. The matter isn't even brought up by the time Mitsuru joins the front lines, as the MC has been leading the team for several months, and doing a darn good job at it. Mitsuru still acts at the ''strategic'' leader, but follows orders in the combat team.

* Aang in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. While he's the youngest in terms of ''biological age'' (appearing as a 12-year-old when in fact, [[OlderThanTheyLook he's technically the oldest of the group in terms of actual age]] [[HumanPopsicle due to spending a century frozen in an iceberg]]), he's also seen the most of the world, and is the most powerful, since he's a master airbender compared to Katara's rudimentary waterbending and Sokka's...[[TheTeamNormal boomerang]].
* Callum from ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince''. He's younger and less experienced than everyone besides Ezran. However, his intelligence and strength of character made him a de-facto leader, and his potential with magic lets him quickly catch up to the other heroes.

** Daisuke Motomiya of ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' ("Davis" in the English dub) is a zigzagged example. He was introduced as the first of the new generation to receive a digimon partner and a digimental, and even [[TheIdolsBlessing received Taichi's goggles as a blessing]] and an act of PassingTheTorch. Despite this, the show also frequently cast him as a NoRespectGuy and ButtMonkey and introduced several new members alongside him so he was not the only NaiveNewcomer. Despite this, however, he remains the group's most consistent driving force and their {{Determinator}} in chief.

* ''Franchise/OnePiece'': Despite being the captain, Luffy is one of the youngest and most childish members of the crew, often requiring other members to mention even the simple basics of pirating. His main strengths lie in his charisma and strength to compensate.

[[folder:Toys]]
* Generally Averted in ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}''. Of the three Toa Teams the story follows, all the members were either equally experienced (The Toa Mata/Toa Nuva, who retained their skills in spite of their amnesia), or equally inexperienced (The Toa Metru/Toa Hordika, none of whom had any combat experience). In the case of the Toa Inika/Toa Mahri, their leader, Jaller, was actually one of the ''[[InvertedTrope most]]'' experienced, being a military veteran; the only member of that team to without some kind of adventures to their name [[note]] The others included another soldier, a famous athlete, a former chronicler, and an inventor who built the weapons that helped win the Bohrok War [[/note]] was Matoro, a former translator, and the [[AnIcePerson Toa of Ice]].
[[/folder]]

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'': Tidus (the PlayerCharacter) is introduced as a star blitzball player, getting him added to the hopelessly awful Besaid Aurochs team on the strength of his spectacular Sphere Shot ability. And while Tidus himself is genuinely skilled, the ''player'' isn't, and learns everything about the game just before the match. Fortunately, winning is easy, and even if you lose, the only difference is whether Wakka is holding a trophy in the following cutscene.
** Averted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' with Vaan, who serves as a point-of-view character (he is the first playable character after the prologue and represents the entire when wandering around towns) but it is clear that once the party assembles, Princess Ashe is the true leader, making most of the big decisions on the quest.
** The Warrior of Light of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' begins the story as a fresh-faced adventurer who'd recently made a name for themselves in one of the three city-states of the Eorzean Alliance. Their exploits and ChronicHeroSyndrome get them invited into the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, who have been working from the shadows for years to take on the [[PhysicalGod primal]], [[TheEmpire Garlean]], and [[ReligionOfEvil Ascian]] threats. It isn't long before the Warrior gains a reptuation as the strongest of Scion of all along with notoriety as the [[RedBaron eikon-slayer]] responsible for felling one primal after another.

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
* Part of the entire point of ''Film/CrimsonTide''. Lt. Commander Hunter is replacing the USS Alabama's XO, who has appendicitis. Naturally, most of the crew (except for Weps) doesn't really have any sense of loyalty toward him.

* Literature/HarryPotter is this in the earliest installments of the series, as he's initially the most inexperienced Wizard among his circle of friends, despite being the ''de facto'' leader due to his natural bravado and his reputation as "The Boy Who Lived". The Pureblood Ron Weasley grew up around Magic all his life, and has a detailed knowledge of the Wizarding World despite his lack of formal training, while the Muggle-born Hermione Granger spends several months successfully practicing Magic on her own before she even gets to Hogwarts. Because he was raised by his Wizard-hating Aunt and Uncle, Harry remains almost completely clueless about Magic until he actually starts his classes.

[[folder:LiveActionTelevision]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* This can also apply to Ash in the original season of ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}''. He is a beginning trainer just starting his journey when he gathers together his first group of friends, who, incidentally, are experienced Gym Leaders.

* ''Anime/JewelpetTwinkle'': Akari Sakura, TheHeroine, is the last person to enroll at the magic school; the rest of her classmates have been there for a while already. Nonetheless, at the end of the show, it's her who has become the most powerful and who wins the highest honors.

[[folder:Film]]

* Neo is arguably this trope in ''Film/TheMatrix''; he still adheres to the official chain of command where Morpheus and Trinity are his official superiors, but his status as the One grants him a degree of independence, and he takes the lead in Morpheus's rescue in the first film even before his powers have manifested.
* Part of the entire point of ''Film/CrimsonTide''. Lt. Commander Hunter is replacing the USS Alabama's XO, who has appendicitis. Naturally, most of the crew (except for Weps) doesn't really have any sense of loyalty toward him.
* The Reboot ''Film/StarTrek2009'' has Kirk acting in this role, as he takes command of the ''Enterprise'' during a crisis while still officially in the Academy because the official captain (Pike) has been captured and the official first officer (Spock) has been relieved of command due to him being emotionally compromised.
* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'' has Po the Dragon Warrior, having proven himself, fights with the Furious Five and for all his remaining naivety, he has proven an asset to the team.
* Justified in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome''. [[spoiler:Even though the Raimi-verse Spider-Man and Webb-verse Spider-Man have more solo experience than the MCU Spider-Man, they still name him commander because he's the only one who has actually worked in a formal team before.]]

* d'Artagnan and ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers''.
* In ''Literature/SoonIWillBeInvincible'', one of the two viewpoint characters is Fatale, a rookie {{cyborg}} superhero who is asked to join the most famous superteam in the world. Much is made of the fact that she's so new on the scene that many people can't pronounce her name right (and the villain keeps forgetting it entirely).
* Vin from ''Franchise/{{Mistborn}}'' was a new recruit to Kelsier's thieving crew; the other members were all much more experienced and familiar with each other.

* Lance-Constable Carrot of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch in ''Literature/GuardsGuards'' fits the "most powerful member" aspect, being a very muscular new recruit to a fairly unfit Watch, who comes with his own CoolSword. And it only takes him [[Literature/MenAtArms two books]] to become Captain Carrot, and outrank everyone except Commander Vimes (and that was only because he specifically asked for someone else to be put in charge because he worried that it would be too easy for him to command them).

* "Most powerful" is up for debate, but with Cameron Mitchell becoming the leader of [[Series/StargateSG1 SG1]] for seasons nine and ten, he definitely fits. However, thanks to a liberal dose of RememberTheNewGuy and the personalities of the original characters, he is accepted into the group immediately.
** It should also be noted that Mitchell was initially appointed to and expected to assemble a completely new SG-1 after the original team chose to 'retire' and pursue other career paths after the downfall of the Goa'uld; he only became the leader of the original team when they were all recalled to action to face the new threat of the Ori.
* As another ''Stargate'' example, John Sheppard of ''Series/StargateAtlantis''; while his rank made him the second-in-command of the military forces of the Atlantis expedition and he possesses the strongest natural form of the Ancient gene discovered on Earth, making him uniquely qualified to operate Ancient technology, he only learned that the Stargate even existed in the pilot episode of Atlantis a few weeks before going to Atlantis, by which point the Stargate Program had been preparing for the expedition to Atlantis for weeks if not months and the program itself had been in operation for almost a decade.
* Any MedicalDrama where the protagonist is introduced as a new medical intern or resident.
* Kenji Narukami, from ''Series/MadanSenkiRyukendo'', is the second person to become a super-powered Madan warrior and join SHOT, an organization created to destroy demons. However, he is far less experienced and professional than his colleague, Fudou Juushirou, but still gets all the fancy power-ups and most of the spotlight.

* In ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'', Touma finds himself the newest member of an order of knights called the Sword of Logos after a sacred sword appears before him. While he's willing to join them in their fight, most of the other knights in the order don't quite know what to make of him; and at least Ogami is openly skeptical of how much good a ''writer'' is going to be.

[[folder:VideoGames]]
* As ''VideoGame/TheWonderful101'' is in part a love letter to ''Sentai''/''Power Rangers'' series, the main protagonist Wonder Red follows this tradition, having only been an agent for a year--yet easily the most efficient of all the Wonderful One-Double-Oh. This causes friction with Wonder-Blue, who is the more experienced agent yet is relegated to Red's NumberTwo. Another reason he's put in charge is because the enemy attack is focused on his assigned {{Protectorate}} of Blossom City.
* Used in ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers of Time/Darkness/Sky'': TheHero and their Partner join the Wigglytuff Guild as its newest members, allowing for introductions and for the player to be taught all about Treasure Town and the ins and outs of exploring mystery dungeons.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek''
** ''VideoGame/StarTrekBridgeCommander'' provides a couple of interesting cases for this, depending on who you view as the "Main character". Commander Larsen says in her first Log entry that while the player controlled character spent many years as a first officer, he'd only been on [[CoolStarship The USS Dauntless]] for four months. Larsen herself is the newest member of the Dauntless' crew, and she is often considered TheHero of the game's FiveManBand.
** ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' combines this with a hefty dose of EnsignNewbie. The player character is given command of a starship at the rank of ''Ensign''. The game attempts to justify this by saying that the player is the only officer left, and by the end of the tutorial, you're at least promoted to Lieutenant (not much better).
*** The circumstances for this vary between each faction. The Federation player gets it due to circumstances (pre-Season 8, it was because of a Borg invasion, post-Season 8 [[spoiler:it's because you're forced to kill the Klingons and your captain after the captain gets kidnapped by said Klingons)]]... if you play the tutorial. If you don't, they just say that you did ''so well'' on your Starfleet Academy tests that they're bumping you up that high. The Klingons use, natch, KlingonPromotion, while the Romulans pretty much force you to gather a crew and use a very old starship.

* When the PlayerCharacter of ''VideoGame/Persona3'' is named official field leader of SEES, he (or she, in the PSP UpdatedRerelease) isn't ''quite'' the newest member, but might as well be thanks to being a NewTransferStudent on top of being new to SEES and the concepts of Personas and the Dark Hour. After your senpai Akihiko heals up and rejoins the front line, he opts to let things stand, partially because he wants to focus on training against the shadows, and partially because he admits to having very little experience in fighting as a group. The matter isn't even brought up by the time Mitsuru joins the front lines, as the MC has been leading the team for several months, and doing a darn good job at it. Mitsuru still acts at the ''strategic'' leader, but follows orders in the combat team.
* [[VideoGame/ShinSuperRobotWars Ryusei]] [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration Date]] is the last member to join the original [=SRX=] Team. He's pretty much the ''de facto'' leader of the group, mostly because [[LeaderFormsTheHead his machine is the head]] of their team's CombiningMecha SuperRobot, acting as its main pilot.
** Kyosuke Nanbu is this to the ATX Team. Excellen, Sanger, and Bullet is already a member before Kyosuke joined the team. In the end, not only he ended up s the ''de facto'' leader of the team, he is the acting commander of the player army.
* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsJudgment'' has the main character Touya Shun who is a relative newcomer to the team, and to mecha combat in general.
* Zero joining LaResistance in ''VideoGame/MegaManZero''. The other members look up him as a field leader (Ciel, the actual leader, is more of a pacifist) because he's a legendary hero.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** Throughout the series, the PlayerCharacter in the various [[SidequestSidestory guild and faction quests]] is almost always this. In each game, it is possible for the player to catapult from total newcomer to head of the faction within just a few in-game weeks. This is especially jarring with some of the political factions where some [=NPCs=] have spent years or even decades getting to their respective positions, only to have the PC leap past them in terms of rank. AsskickingLeadsToLeadership and, sometimes, ChallengingTheChief play into this. Given that your character is one of the biggest ass-kickers around, it serves to justify it somewhat.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'': The PlayerCharacter is something of a PhysicalGod, being able to achieve small scale [[RealityWarper reality warping]] by ''shouting at it''. (On top of being one of the greatest [[FighterMageThief warriors, mages, and/or thieves]] in the game world as well.)
* Seth, the main character in ''VideoGame/AtlantisTheLostTales'', is the newest recruit of the Queen's Companions and the hero of the story.
* The PlayerCharacter and protagonist of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' is recruited into the [[ImpartialPurposeDrivenFaction Grey Warden order]] in the prologue and soon rises to be the informal leader of (the remains of) the organization in Ferelden, after all senior order members perish in battle. The PC's leadership is finally formalized in the ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]]'' expansion, where they are appointed the Warden-Commander of Ferelden, despite barely being a member of the order for a couple years. It's fairly believable in ''Origins'' since there's only ''one'' other Warden in Ferelden, and while he's technically the senior Warden, he hasn't been a Warden that long either. More importantly, he's not the kind of person who likes giving orders and prefers to be a follower.
** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' the RightManInTheWrongPlace PlayerCharacter that eventually becomes the Inquisitor isn't really inexperienced as they're a skilled warrior or mage at the onset, however, no matter their backstory they've never really been a leader before (the elf mage origin was the [[NumberTwo First]] to the leader of their clan and they're probably the ''most'' qualified of the various potential Inquisitors). Having the Mark that can close the Breaches that are threatening to destroy Thedas means that everyone quickly begins looking to them, including the OrderReborn that is being formed to do the saving. Your former interrogators turned allies all but thrust the position on you because A.) as far as the rest of Thedas is concerned you were chosen by [[CrystalDragonJesus Andraste]] to do said world-saving and B.) [[spoiler: they were already looking for someone to lead the Inquisition to stop the Mage-Templar War and since the [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins Warden]] and [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII Hawke]] aren't available...]]
* Kyuu in ''VideoGame/RakenzarnTales'' is eventually nominated brigade leader despite not being the strongest (at first) or even being native to Rakenzarn. This is due to his being able to take command of the situation, being smart and savvy enough to handle the situations he's thrown into and make sound decisions.

* Evan is this in the ''Heroes of Maple'' blockbuster arc of ''VideoGame/{{MapleStory}}''. He's barely into his teens by the time of story, but is fighting alongside five other [[LivingLegend Living Legends]] from several centuries ago. Nevertheless, he ends up being TheLeader, much to his own surprise and embarrassment while he tries to live up to the legacy left behind by his predecessor, [[TheAce Freud]].
* The PlayerCharacter is this in [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft ''World of Warcraft: Legion'']], where the player joins one of twelve more-or-less long-standing organizations based on their class and immediately becomes the leader of whichever one is picked for them.
* ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngelII'': Kazuya Shiranami starts out fresh out of his training under Forte Stollen, who drops him off at the Luxiole to join the Rune Angel Wing under the command of Tact Mayers. While his ship, the Brave Heart, isn't too powerful by itself, its ability to combine with the other Emblem Frames makes him a crucial member of the team. Shortly after, due to jamming on the communications that renders them unable to relay orders from the Luxiole's bridge, Tact decides to delegate the duty of command on Kazuya, who despite his doubts quickly proves himself to be effective at it, and ends up officially appointed as the squad's leader. This is reinforced when another of the members, Lily C. Sherbet, quickly defers to him despite officially outranking him (he's an Ensign while she's a Lieutenant).

* By extension of D'Artanian, ''WesternAnimation/DogtanianAndTheThreeMuskehounds''.

* Aang in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. While he's the youngest in terms of ''biological age'' (appearing as a 12-year-old when in fact, [[OlderThanTheyLook he's technically the oldest of the group in terms of actual age]] [[HumanPopsicle due to spending a century frozen in an iceberg]]), he's also seen the most of the world, and is the most powerful, since he's a master airbender compared to Katara's rudimentary waterbending and Sokka's...[[TheTeamNormal boomerang]].

* ''WesternAnimation/SuperRobotMonkeyTeamHyperforceGo'': [[TheHero Chiro]] is actually the team's ''second'' leader, after the original had a FaceHeelTurn long ago. The rest of the team are all veterans by a vaster degree compared to him.
* In ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', [[TookALevelInBadass Lars]] becomes the captain of the [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Off Colors]], despite being just a human teenager [[spoiler: (even if an [[EmpoweredBadassNormal empowered]] one after [[CameBackStrong coming back to life]])]] surrounded by [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld thousand years old gems]]. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] because it's his gemless body allows him to [[StealthExpert infiltrate facilities]] and [[KleptomaniacHero steal things]] protected by [[CripplingOverspecialization gem-detecting systems]].

** ''Series/OhsamaSentaiKingOhger: Gira was the final one of the five to become a King-Ohger as, unlike the others, he was not a monarch that received the powers through birthright (Hymeno, Rita, and Kaguragi),or being elected like Yamna. Still, Gira was recognized by God Kuwagata as the true heir of the powers after Rascules, the king of Shugoddam, proved to be a tyrant. Also, Gira is the one who slowly gets the monarchs to start working together as a proper team and not on a loose alliance term.

** In ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce'', Taylor, Alyssa, Max and Danny were actively fighting monsters for a year, six months, six months, and two months respectively before Cole even joined up. And Cole's a RaisedByNatives orphan who made his way from South America to Turtle Cove by boat. He's not just new to superheroics, he's new to ''modern civilization''. The only reason he's leader is because his patron Wild Zord outranks the others, and Taylor spends a lot of time bitter about it since she was the leader before he showed up and she actually knows ''how'' to lead.
** In ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'', Sky, Bridge and Syd had been going through training for a good while before [[JustLikeRobinHood Jack and Z]] were drafted into the Ranger program as the Red and Yellow Rangers. Justified since Sky, who would otherwise have been first in line for leadership, failed a SecretTestOfCharacter and Commander Cruger realized he'd go on an ego trip if he ''did'' become leader. It takes him quite a while to get over it. It should also be noted that Jack didn't even realize that being the Red Ranger meant he was supposed to be the leader at first, and Cruger doesn't hesitate to temporarily relieve him of command when he lets that realization send him on an ego trip himself. [[spoiler:In the epilogue, after Jack retires because he prefers charity work, Sky [[PassingTheTorch becomes the new Red Ranger]].]]

** ''Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive'', Mack was the only one who wasn't meant to be on the team as his father intended to be the Red Ranger himself. Mack only got his morpher after everyone else and even then, it was to save his dad from a group of foot soldiers. After proving himself, his father allowed him to continue as the Red Ranger and leader of the team.
** ''Series/PowerRangersJungleFury'' had it partially deconstructed with Casey assigned to be one of the Order of the Claw's guardians, even though he was just a "cub" with years less training than Theo and Lily. This lead to concerns about [[CantCatchUp not catching up]]. Thankfully though, he proved to be a fast learner for many of the new skills, and his instincts end up making him a well rounded leader, though the diffuse team structure also doesn't put a lot of pressure on him.
** ''Series/PowerRangersMegaforce'' mirrored ''Mystic Force'' in having Troy as the new kid in town, recruited for superhero duty alongside two best-friend pairs who were already acquainted. He does initially mention that he has reservations about being picked to be team leader right off the bat, but he quickly proves himself and it doesn't come up again after the premiere.
** ''Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge'' plays with this trope. Tyler, the Red Ranger, was the third person to find his Energem and was followed by Shelby and Riley. Chase and Koda were the first two Rangers that bonded with their Energems and were recruited by Kendall Morgan, with the three mentioned earlier joining a while later. Despite that, Tyler still leads the team because Chase is an unfocused womanizer, Koda is a caveman with very few experience in the modern world, Riley never expressed interest in being the leader, and trying to make Shelby the leader would be the last thing on Kendall's mind.
** In ''Series/PowerRangersBeastMorphers'', Devon has some martial arts skills and is able to hold his own against Blaze in a fight, but he only became Red Ranger by being in the right place at the right time. In contrast, Ravi was actually picked to be a Ranger and had been trained as such, and Zoey was a candidate for the position even if she came up short in the final selection. But when villains attack and incapacitate two of the three people that were actually designated to be Rangers, you work with what you've got. Devon becomes team leader when the others concede the position to him after he confronts them on the fact that their bickering over trying to claim the job has started getting in the way of their duties. Even then, he isn't a ''good'' leader at first and has to learn to take his team's advice instead of trying to make all the calls on his own.

** Averted in Season 2 of ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'', when the original Red, Yellow, and Black Rangers were [[PutOnABus sent to a peace conference]], and three teenage martial arts experts joined the team in their place. Rocky was a Rookie, and the Red Ranger, but doesn't count for the trope because the leadership role was passed to established Ranger Tommy instead of the newcomer.

** ''Series/ResshaSentaiToQger'': The five [=ToQGers=] were already friends and were drawn into the conflict at the same time, but Right was the last to get his changer since he was separated from the others at first. Downplayed since the time difference amounts to something like five minutes; and a few episodes later the team decides that they don't need a formal leader anyway.
** ''Series/DoubutsuSentaiZyuohger'': Yamato Kazakiri was human who stumbled across the world of Zyuland, and met four guardians who had the training and skills to fight against the Deathgaliens. Though while the other 4 were trained guards, they only actually gain their Zyuohger powers at around the same time. Yamato is still technically the last to transform, but only by about a minute or so.
** ''Series/MashinSentaiKiramager'': While the rest of the team are celebrities in their respective fields, Juru was the last to be recruited and is simply an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent. Yet he was assigned as leader since he was chosen by the Red Kiramei Stone, and Red has traditionally always been the Kiramagers' leader. For his part, Juru is well aware of how out-of-place he is in this regard and lacks some confidence because of it. Admittedly though, while the other 4 were far more experienced in life then him, being a year to a few years older and being very competent and well known people compared to him not even being out of school yet they had only actually gained their powers a few days prior and the battle he meets them on was their first deployment barring some training missions beforehand. And had Fire (the stone who chose him as his partner) not convieniently missed him during the initial recruitment drive he would have been brought on at the same time they were.
** ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'' deconstructs this trope, but not with Takeru. [[spoiler:As it turns out, he's just the BodyDouble to the REAL 18th head of the Shiba Clan, Kaoru, who enters late into the conflict and formally takes over. This was expected from the very beginning, so Takeru doesn't fight for the position, but now loses purpose in life, as well as the vassals he had come to call his friends. The morale of the vassals themselves also suffers hard, especially after Kaoru's {{Jerkass}} retainer causes Genta to walk out as well. It doesn't take long for Kaoru to realize that she was naive to think she could just slip into Takeru's role without problem. Since it was Takeru, not her, who showed up to meet the vassals at the very start, their teamwork and strength were built around ''him''. After getting Genta back into the team, and earning his forgiveness and respect, Kaoru later reinstates Takeru as leader, even legally adopting him to make it official, despite the fact that he's older than her.]]

** ''Series/DoubutsuSentaiZyuohger'': Yamato Kazakiri was human who stumbled across the world of Zyuland, and met four guardians who had the training and skills to fight against the Dethgaliens. Though while the other 4 were trained guards, they only actually gain their Zyuohger powers at around the same time. Yamato is still technically the last to transform, but only by about a minute or so.

** Inverted in ''ChoujinSentaiJetman''; Ryu had prior military experience and was the only one empowered with Birdonic energy before the Vyram appeared. The others, all civilians, need training to master their Birdonic powers.

* As ''VideoGame/TheWonderful101'' is in part a love letter to ''Sentai''/''Power Rangers'' series, the main protagonist Wonder Red follows this tradition, having only been an agent for a year--yet easily the most efficient of all the Wonderful One-Double-Oh. Another reason he's put in charge is because the enemy attack is focused on his assigned {{Protectorate}} of Blossom City.

** Throughout the series, the PlayerCharacter in the various [[SidequestSidestory guild and faction quests]] is almost always this. In each game, it is possible for the player to catapult from total newcomer to head of the faction within just a few in-game weeks. This is especially jarring with some of the political factions where some [=NPCs=] have spent years or even decades getting to their respective positions, only to have the PC leap past them in terms of rank. AsskickingEqualsAuthority and, sometimes, ChallengingTheChief play into this. Given that your character is one of the biggest ass-kickers around, it serves to justify it somewhat.

[[caption-width-right:350:The young swordsman D'artagnan (pictured here, left, with a musket) joins the experienced fighters Porthos and Aramis as a swashbuckling member of ''{{Literature / The Three Musketeers}}''.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:The young swordsman D'artagnan (pictured here with a musket) joins the experienced fighters Porthos and Aramis as a swashbuckling member of ''Literature / The Three Musketeers''.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:The young swordsman D'artagnan (pictured here with a musket) joins the experienced fighters Porthos and Aramis as a swashbuckling member of ''[[{{Literature / The Three Musketeers}} The Three Musketeers]]''.]]