History Main / TheCaptain

The Captain will almost always hold said actual rank, even if their performance would allow the Captain to move up the chain of command. (Also true in non-naval branches of the armed forces (Army, Marines, etc.), since Captain is the highest of the Company Grade ranks, i.e. the officer ranks that participate in actual combat. From Major onward, officer ranks are more administrative.) This is sometimes confused by the naval convention that anyone in command of a given ship is referred to as "captain", no matter their rank (for most vessels smaller than a cruiser, the Captain is [[CommandingCoolness Commander]], and smaller vessels like minesweepers can be commanded by a Lieutenant) — and all other "captains" receive a promotion for the duration of their stay. ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' actually becomes a captain for the first time while still a Midshipman as he is put in charge of a vessel that was captured in battle.

The Captain will almost always hold said actual rank, even if their performance would allow the Captain to move up the chain of command. (Also true in non-naval branches of the armed forces (Army, Marines, etc.), since Captain is the highest of the Company Grade ranks, i.e. the officer ranks that participate in actual combat. From Major onward, officer ranks are more administrative.) This is sometimes confused by the naval convention that anyone in command of a given ship is referred to as "captain", no matter their rank (for most vessels smaller than a cruiser, the Captain is [[CommandingCoolness Commander]], and smaller vessels like minesweepers can be commanded by a Lieutenant) — and all other "captains" receive a promotion for the duration of their stay. ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' becomes a captain while still a Midshipman.

* ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'': Karstodes of the Fab Custodes is actually the rank of Shield-Captain and not only that, he's also one of the Tribunes, the elite of the already elite Adeptus Custodes. As for commanding anyone he ''was'' the leader of his small group but spending ''actual time'' with The Emperor [[spoiler: and meeting Cegorach]] has led his two fellows to become more independent and even oppose him at times.

* ''Church'' in ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'', while the de-facto leader of the titular Blues, is the only one to actually consider himself a Captain, despite their previous Captain's death occurring prior to the start of the series.
** Subverted in an odd way as he's tied for the second lowest rank of either army; he's only a standard Private (along with Donut and Caboose), compared to Minor Junior Private Negative First Class Grif (although he might technically still be a sergeant) and Privates First Class Simmons and Tucker.

* ''Series/{{Farscape}}''. In Season 4, Pilot get tired of getting conflicting orders from everyone and insists they elect a Captain of their RagtagBunchOfMisfits. Instead of the protagonist John Crichton becoming Captain, the majority of votes (including Crichton's) are for D'Argo.

* [[DevilInPlainSight Hiruma Youichi]] of ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}''. The [[ClusterFBomb Foul-mouthed]], [[HyperspaceArsenal Gun-toting]], JerkAss and genius MagnificentBastard who can get practically anything he wants through [[{{Blackmail}} his book of threats]], [[SmartGuy his brains]] or [[TeamPet Cerberus, his dog]]. Oh, and he leads the ultra rookie football team [[spoiler: to winning the most important match of high school football in Japan within 6 months of assembling the players]].

* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'', being a huge mecha crossover, naturally has a couple of their own, including:

** Blessfield Ardygun, patriarch of the Ardygun family [[spoiler:and is succeeded by his daughter Shihomi after a certain incident]] the captains the [[TransformingMecha transformable]] and [[CombiningMecha combining]] battleship Valstork.

* ''Anime/SuperAtragon'' features Captain Hayate, who rarely leaves TheBridge, has his own CatchPhrase and NoIndoorVoice, [[ErmineCapeEffect always wears his full dress uniform]], and sports a BadassBeard.

** Captain Jack Sparrow is either the greatest or worst pirate captain ever. Maybe both. Funny enough, for most of the time, he's not the one in charge, though he'd like to be (and he does manage to get a lot of characters, even enemies to do his bidding).

* The Imperial Navy in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' obviously has captains, but it also has the even more awesome title of Lord-Captain (also sometimes known as flag captain, but that doesn't sound quite as cool), which is reserved for the captain in command of a detachment of vessels. It is a title so awesome even in-universe, that most Rogue Traders refer themselves as lord-captain despite most of them not qualifying on the title(while large Rogue Trader dynasties do have fleets of ships, most of the time they operate independently), and technically since it's a rank in the Navy, which Rogue Traders aren't part of, they wouldn't be able to use it even them. [[{{ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney}} Not that any of them gives a damn]].

* ''Literature/BazilBroketail'': Hollein Kesepton holds a rank of Captain and he is a badass officer, ready to fight alongside his men in the first line if necessary.

-->-- "O Captain! My Captain!" by Creator/WaltWhitman

* None of the ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'' were able to defend themselves from the various wildlife of their native planet were it not for the leadership of Captain Olimar.

* ''[[VideoGame/PuyoPuyo Puyo Puyo Tetris]]'' has Tee, the tactful but powerful Tetris King and the captain of the S.S. Tetra and its crew. He joins Ringo, Amitie, and Arle in trying to set things straight when the Puyo Puyo and Tetris dimensions inexplicably start merging.

*** In fact, in ''SG-1'' and ''Atlantis'', the Captains of most of the Air Force ships like the ''Prometheus'' or the ''Odyssey'' are ranked as Colonel. [[ShownTheirWork This is accurate]], considering that in the U.S. Military, all aerospace operations (presumably including space fleets) are operated by the Air Force.

Not to be confused with the [[Film/TheCaptain German live-action film of the same name]], whose protagonist is decidedly ''not'' this trope.

Do not to be confused with the [[Film/TheCaptain German live-action film of the same name]], whose protagonist is decidedly ''not'' this trope.

** ''Series/UtramanTriggerNewGenerationTiga'' has Seiya Tatsumi, a young charismatic captain who unites people of all ages and places under the GUTS Select movement. He is in charge of directing his team and giving orders with a calm demeanor.

%% Image chosen per Image Pickin' conversation: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1452332638020268200
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[[quoteright:350:[[Film/StarTrekGenerations https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/captain_picard2.jpg]]]]
[-[[caption-width-right:350:"Both parties of the Edit War are within weapons range, sir."\\
"Very good, Mr. Worf. [[AttackPatternAlpha Attack pattern]] Banhammer--''engage''!"]]-]

%% Caption selected per above IP thread. Please do not replace or remove without discussion here: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1404492079030138900

* The Kings in ''{{Anime/K}}'' tend to be this sort of leader, but only Munakata, the Blue King, is referred to as Captain, considering that his clan is the military-styled one.

* Sport anime, based on real life, usually has an extremely talented captain that is so valuable he can change the game's pace simply by just being there.
** Tsubasa Ozora from ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa''
** Mamoru Endou from ''Anime/InazumaEleven'' and his successor, Tenma Matsukaze.
* ''Manga/KurokosBasketball'': The team captains are most of the time someone different than TheAce, being older and more mature than them and have actual leading qualities to keep their teammates in check. As such, they are most often designated with the number 4. Akashi and Hanamiya are the only aces who function as the team captain as they are able to coordinate, instruct and command their teammates.
* Similarly, ''Manga/SlamDunk'' also has team captains who serve as the TeamDad[=/=]BigBrotherMentor and act as the pillar for their teams, like Shohoku's Akagi and Ryonan's Uozumi. However, the two strongest players in Kanagawa, Maki and Fujima respectively, are both this role and TheAce of Kainan and Shoyo respectively.

* The leader of the ''ComicBook/{{Catstronauts}}'' is Captain Meowser.

** Lt. ComicBook/SteveTrevor usually ends up promoted--in the [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Pre-Crisis days]] all the way to General before retireing after the Vietnam War--and has acted as the leader of several military units, including rather secretive ones containing superpowered agents.

* Played with in ''Literature/TheNauticalBalladOfBenBoBohns''. The captain of the ''Will o' the Wisp'' is Ben Bo Bohns, who fits all positive traits ascribed to The Captain but also is, along with his crew, a DeathSeeker. They become [[FlyingDutchman ghosts]].

* Tavi in the ''Literature/CodexAlera'' books. [[spoiler:He begins his service in the legions as a cursor--a spy--in an experimental legion made up of volunteers from different parts of Alera. The First Aleran, as this legion is called, would never attack any one city because there would be officers in the ranks who would not stand for it, and would theoretically be useful as a highly mobile force that could put down trouble as it happened around the realm; in reality, it was pushed through the Senate and came to fruition to serve as an espionage hotbed. This "show and pony" legion was thought of as the ''one'' that would ''not'' see combat in the incipient civil war, but it just happened to be in the way of an invading Canim armada. Ritualists in the aforementioned armada brought down a wall on lightning onto the command tent during a meeting, effectively wiping out the upper echelons of officers and leaving Tavi in charge. He's very good at it, given that he has a functional grasp of the Canish language, society and tactical ability, and that he's a ''very'' flexible thinker and tactician, and ends up being in charge of the most [[BadassArmy battle-ready]] legion in Alera. His ''legionnaires'' adore him and will willingly follow him to their deaths]].

* ''Literature/{{Ramage}}'': Dudley Pope's Captain Ramage regularly leads boarding parties, espionage missions, and anything else that's going, and has several times been picked up wounded (white patch in his hair from being creased across the scalp; kayoed by a giant wood splinter kicked up by a cannon shot; nearly bled to death from a cutlass wound...).
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Captain Vimes [[spoiler:before he's promoted to commander]].
-->"[[Literature/GuardsGuards There's something so dashing about the rank of Captain]]."
** Following Vimes' promotion to Commander, the position of Captain is filled by Carrot Ironfoundersson, which he holds for the rest of the series. Angua eventually gets promoted to this as well.
* Roman praetors in ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus''.

* Captain John Brannigan, in the ''Literature/RevelationSpace'' series by Creator/AlastairReynolds. In addition to being over 700 years old, Captain Brannigan is a mostly cybernetic member of the Ultranauts, a cybernized interstellar space-faring faction. Near the end of ''Revelation Space'', [[spoiler:Captain Brannigan, who has a variant of the Melding Plague (a virus that distorts nanotech machinery, and turns it malignant), is unfrozen, and his nanotech virus takes over the ship, rendering the Captain also his own Cool Ship]]. In Absolution Gap, [[spoiler: he uses as a sort of avatar a 21st-century mechanical spacesuit, and kills invaders of himself by turning walls into spikes, and setting up similar traps]].

* In ''Literature/CaptainFrenchOrTheQuestForParadise'', the titular protagonist is a space trader, who owns a merchant ship. However, he doesn't really have a crew (the ship's computer is smart enough to do everything with the help of the robots). Most of the time, he travels alone, although he gets married (again) at the start of the novel.
* In ''Under Pressure'' (aka ''Literature/TheDragonInTheSea'') by Creator/FrankHerbert, a psychiatrist assigned to a submarine during a tense SpaceColdWar is alarmed by the crew's blind faith in their captain, and when his instruments pick up his DissonantSerenity fears that he's a dangerous religious schizophrenic. He's not, but is simply the one who has best adapted to their conditions.
* Downplayed in ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheSpaceBeagle''. While he runs the ''Space Beagle'', Captain Leeth is not in charge of the expedition itself, so doesn't take the foreground as [[Franchise/StarTrek later spaceship captains]] inspired by this classic sci-fi tale would.

* In ''Literature/KeasFlight'', Brandon is in charge of the optimizing computer Monarch, which controls all the other computers on the ship. Brandon controls everything from navigation to food production to the atmosphere to the artifiical gravity.

* Sheldon Cooper in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' appoints himself captain of the paintball team:
-->'''Sheldon''': Gentlemen, if I may interject, I’ve decided my rank will be captain. If it’s good enough for [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Kirk]], Crunch and [[Series/CaptainKangaroo Kangaroo]], it’s good enough for me.
** Leonard fits the role when it comes to the group's general dynamics, with even Sheldon equating him to Kirk at least once.

%%* The Captain in season 6 of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother''.

*** Carter becomes the Captain of SG-1 in season 8 (when O'Neill isn't with them), and Mitchel takes over the role in seasons 9 and 10.

* UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball puts a much heavier emphasis on the role of captain than most team sports, with the captain wearing a special armband and - officially - being the only player on their team allowed to initiate a conversation with the referee. The role is considered sufficiently important that each team must not only have a captain, but a vice-captain, and often, two more deputies in case the first two are unavailable/not selected. Also unusually, they are almost invariably selected for leadership qualities rather than general talent (meaning that some of the greatest players in the game's history never captained their team).

* Captain Falcon from ''VideoGame/FZero'' fights like a [[OneManArmy few dozen people in one]] and apparently has the title of Captain because he was once a Captain in the Galaxy Police, which means he actually had men at his disposal, once.

* ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'': Karstodes of the Fab Custodes is actually the rank of Shield-Captain and not only that, he's also one of the Tribunes, the elite of the already elite Adeptus Custodes. As for commanding anyone he ''was'' the leader of his small group but spending ''actual time'' with The Emperor [[spoiler: and meeting Cegorach]] has led his two fellows to become more independent and even oppose him at times.
* ''Series/TheCallOfWarr'': Gravesite is the captain of the unit all the characters are from. He's good at making orders, keeping everyone in line, and doing what he thinks is right... [[spoiler:until he starts to go crazy and care more about his movie than his team, which forces Prince to usurp him.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'' is a Captain. Like he could be anything but. For whatever reason, in the Toy Story movies Buzz assumes more of a futuristic KnightInShiningArmor role and the role of the Captain is assumed by Woody. While Woody and Buzz are equals, it is Woody who is the commander in chief of the green army men and who coordinates missions and projects.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Shining Armor, older brother to Twilight Sparkle, is the captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard. Considering that it is the only military force seen in Equestria (as of the end of season 3), his position is equivalent of a real life '''General'''.

* Dodder the gnome from WesternAnimation/BaldmoneySneezewortDodderAndCloudberry starts out as the leader of an expedition to find his lost brother, and ends up in command of a clockwork paddle steamer.
* Shiro of WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender gets promoted to this trope in season 7 with the introduction of Earth's battleship the IGF Atlas. Initially a battlefield promotion due to him being the only Galaxy Garrison officer with any experience commanding a ship in a space battle, he's gained the rank proper by season 8.

** Commander Cassin Young was captain of the fleet repair ship USS ''Vestal'' (AR-4), which was moored alongside the battleship ''Arizona'' on the morning of December 7th. Young was a firm-but-fair leader who drilled his crew to a high standard, even if ''Vestal'' was a lightly-armed support ship not intended for combat. That high standard payed off that morning, when ''Vestal'' was one of the first ships to return fire on the attacking aircraft, with Gunner's Mates bringing her antiaircraft guns into action, while the snipes immediately lit the boilers and got steam up at the first sign of trouble. She was also one of the first to be hit, taking two bombs probably meant for ''Arizona''. One started a fire in the repair ship's magazine, while the Other punched through the ship's bottom and detonated on the shallow harbor bed beneath, miraculously failing to break her keel. Young was on the bridge when ''Arizona'' was sundered by an apocalyptic explosion of her forward magazine alongside his own ship. ''Vestal'' took severe blast damage, her superstructure Swiss-cheesed by shrapnel, and dozens of men topside--including Young himself--were blown overboard. Thoroughly pissed off at having been thrown off his own ship, Young swam back to ''Vestal'', climbed back aboard, and started channeling John Paul Jones. A junior watch officer had panicked and ordered the ship abandoned, the crew were in confusion, though some of the Bosun's Mates were pulling badly-wounded men off of the mortal remains of ''Arizona'', the guns were out of action, and the ship was on fire and taking water. Young countermanded the order to abandon, got the guns firing again, and gave the order to cast off and get underway. With the flooding and fires out of control, Young conned ''Vestal'' two miles northeast and beached her in Aiea Bay. He then sent every man not essential to his own firefighting effort, including all of his divers, to assist other stricken ships in the harbor. Over the next few weeks, Young's crew refloated their own ship, refloated ''California'' and ''West Virginia'', cut through ''Oklahoma'''s hull to pull trapped survivors to safety, and got ''Raleigh'', ''Tennessee'', ''Maryland'', and ''Pennsylvania'' ready to fight again. ''Vestal'' herself never saw the inside of a drydock. Cassin Young was awarded the Medal of Honor, promoted to Captain, and given command of the heavy cruiser USS ''San Francisco''. He would later be killed in action against a Japanese battleship off Guadalcanal. The Navy further honored him after his death by naming a ''Fletcher''-class destroyer after him, which is still afloat and can be visited at the Boston Navy Yard, along with the USS ''Constitution''.

** Edward J. Smith of ''Titanic'', an old school sea captain with an exemplary performance record with a good relationship with his crew. However, he would be forever stained, fairly or unfairly, as a reckless bungler who drove his ship into danger, resulting in a horrific end for over 1500 people on board, [[GoingDownWithTheShip including himself]]. That said, his direction of the evacuation - such as trying to prevent panic, firing constant orders, comforting crew members - brought him eternal respect from many survivors.

** In [[VideoGame/MassEffect1 the first game]], Lieutenant-Commander Shepard is TheCaptain of the ''[[CoolStarship Normandy SR-1]]'' after being promoted from NumberTwo. [[ShownTheirWork This is consistent with the rest of the game]]; in reality, most modern warships are actually commanded by a Lt. Commander/Commander, rather than an actual Captain.
** Shepard fulfills the role again in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', despite no longer technically being in the Alliance (though s/he probably received an offscreen promotion to full Commander in between, [[SavingTheWorld given what happened in the first game]]).
** The quarians of the Migrant Fleet refer to Shepard as ''Captain'' Shepard, despite Shepard pointing out that s/he only ever reached the rank of [[CommandingCoolness Commander]]. It's explained that because s/he commands a ship and is responsible for the lives of their crew, this is Shepard's legal status under quarian law, allowing them the authority to speak as an advocate for their crew in legal matters.

* ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'': [[CatSmile Captain]] [[BadassArmfold Marvelous]] of Gokai Galleon. His [[CloudcuckoolandersMinder crew]] considers him to be [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} insane]] [[RefugeInAudacity weirdo]] and for a good reason, as his [[CrazyAwesome zany schemes]] can get out of the hand quickly. It makes [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking him]] quite competent at his job, though, and they all have a well-deserved VitriolicBestBuds [[TrueCompanions relationship]].

Assuming he is a part of the main cast, The Captain (often along with his senior officers) is often depicted [[TheMainCharactersDoEverything doing things that really should be delegated out to lower-ranked, more expendable personnel]] in order to have some tangible things to do (unlike in real life where officers are often doing lots of important but boring "office work"). However, since there's no drama in conferences, meetings, and paperwork, most writers would rather have him behave unlike a real captain and [[ArtisticLicenseMilitary hope no one notices]]. Often his participation in minor issues serves as CharacterDevelopment, so that when [[MoralDilemma a grave decision has to be made]], he will be able to say "IDidWhatIHadToDo" without alienating the audience in the process.