History Main / TheNeidermeyer

** Subverted by CiaphasCain, naturally, who is GenreSavvy and certainly aware of this trope. He treats his men well and while he does genuinely care about them, he finds comfort in the fact that not being like every other Commissar in the guard greatly reduces his chance of being the victim of friendly fire.
** CiaphasCain, ''[[FakeUltimateHero Hero of the Imperium]]'', actually comments on how a great many Commissars die "heroic deaths" suspiciously far from the front lines. He spent his later years attempting to teach commissar cadets to subvert this trope, with admittedly mixed success (most who are chosen for the Commissariat are simply not the right personality type to be taught how to lead through respect rather than fear). Ciaphas Cain himself certainly wanted to avoid such a fate; "I want to die in a bed, preferably someone else's."

* In the {{Elseworlds}} mini-series ''SupermanAndBatmanGenerations'' by JohnByrne, {{Superman}}'s powerless son Joel Kent becomes this sort of officer and is shot by his own men in Vietnam.

* Brigadier General Fessler from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' might have set a record in shortest time between showing up and being offed by his own troops. In his few pages of life, his only plan of attack in a guerrilla war is to charge, he only thinks of glory for himself, and when the enemy attempts to surrender he refuses, at which point {{Colonel|Badass}} [[AFatherToHisMen Basque]] [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Grand]] has had enough and [[UnfriendlyFire shoots him at point blank range]] [[KlingonPromotion so that he can take command]]. Maes Hughes then deems the shot a stray bullet, at which point everyone agrees (no planning was involved).

* In the ''[[Series/BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'' movie "In the Beginning," General Lefcourt approached then-commander John Sheridan to be the first officer to Captain Michael Jankowski. Sheridan refused, stating that Jankowski was a loose cannon and referenced how so many of his peers thought Jankowski an incompetent risk taker. In a twist, it is revealed that Hague knew this all along and wanted Sheridan to take the job since he needs someone competent to keep Jankowski in line. Then Jankowski started a war with the Minbari over his pride and stupidity, and we know how badly that went. Though to be fair, the Minbari captain was equally pigheaded, even going so far as to disobey a direct order from his government's leader, Dukhat to not take an aggressive stance.

* Crashdown in ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'' attempts to lead a squad on a hostile planet surface. Things go wrong. [[spoiler:He gets two of the squad killed then is shot ''by Gaius Baltar'' when attempting to force a needless suicide mission]].
* ''BandOfBrothers'' had two real-life examples.

* General Melchett from ''[[Series/{{Blackadder}} Blackadder Goes Forth]]''. Melchett is distraught by the death of his pigeon "Speckled Jim", yet blissfully uncaring about the fifty thousand men a week dying in the trenches. His bizarre tactics that help expedite the latter include "doing precisely what we've done eighteen times before" and "climbing out of [the] trenches and walking very slowly towards the enemy". Sadly, both are to some extent TruthInTelevision.

* Captain Crais of ''Series/{{Farscape}}''. Initially, it's indicated that this is the result of RevengeBeforeReason in his pursuit of Crichton for accidentally killing his brother. Flashbacks in "The Way We Weren't," however, reveal that he was always a whackjob and a jackass hated by all around him. When [[BigBad Scorpius]] steps up to take his command away from him at the end of Season 1, none of his officers so much as object, let alone side with him.
* Though he isn't shown on-screen, in the ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' episode "The Message," Mal and Zoe recount an instance where one of their superior officers acted exactly like this. However, in this case, the man was drunk off his rocker, and passed out, at which point one of the troops cut off the man's mustache and glued it to his own face.

* GordonRamsay follows this trope in ''HellsKitchen'', and any of his American-produced shows. ''However'', Ramsay's behavior on the UK original of "Kitchen Nightmares" puts him much more in the ''SergeantRock'' personality trope. He may be harsh on the incompetent or misguided cooks, but he's doing it so the diners get the best experience and the cooks realize their own potential.

* Major Frank Burns, from ''Series/{{MASH}}'' - especially notably because he's an officer and not enlisted personnel or non-comm.

* ''NorthAndSouthUS''. Elkanah Bent treats Orry and George like scum. He gets Orry crippled by Mexican artillery. Orry cripples him, he murders Orry then George hangs him.
* Both of TheSquad's lieutenants on ''OverThere''. The first is nicknamed "Mad Cow" because "it's a disease that rots men's brains." The later one is shot in the back under ambiguous circumstances, with the finale leaving it open whether he was killed by the SergeantRock.
* Lieutenant Spring-Brauner in ''{{Series/Raumpatrouille}}'' has ambitions in this direction - if he could, he would like to replace the ''Orion'''s crew with robots - but luckily he is only General Wamsler's aide-de-camp with no authority of his own.
* Arnold Rimmer from ''Series/RedDwarf'' is a subverted one of these, as though having all the requisite personality traits, he lacks real authority, and the people he does outrank refuse to listen to him. Plus, he's dead already, so fragging's out of the question.

* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': Captain Jeremy Baker. He sends his men into the field for the sole purpose of forcing the enemy to waste bullets cutting them down, and fails to anticipate an ambush...not once, but twice.
* Dr. Kelso is this to the entirety of Sacred Heart Hospital in ''Series/{{Scrubs}}''. However, it is [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] in that he takes it upon himself to be the one they can all hate in order to unite them on a common front. After he retires, he becomes a [[CoolOldGuy pretty nice guy.]]
* Captain Edward Jellico in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' seems like this at the start, but subverts it by the end. Placed in temporary command of the ''Enterprise'', he systematically alienates most of the crew thanks to his hard and uncompromising command style, even having Data replace Riker as NumberOne after Riker keeps resisting his changes. After the first episode, the audience will assuredly hate him, and everything is set up to watch him fail in his mission while the primary Picard-is-captured plot yields the answer, showing him up. The second episode instead has him learn to loosen up just enough to recognize his flaws, and its his tactics that not only win the day, but save Picard in the process.
** ''And'' he makes Troi wear a real uniform instead of her bunny suit, an order Picard never rescinded.
*** To be fair, that may have been an order from Starfleet Command to the effect that all ship's counselors had to wear the standard uniform, and Jellico happened to be the one to break the news (although given his personality, he did so with less tact than one would expect). Neither officer would have the authority to rescind the order in that case.
*** It is also part of Troi's character development; at the beginning, she was a psychologist/social worker practicing on a starship, but after that point she was a Starfleet Officer whose specialty happened to be applied behavioral sciences. (It was shortly after that she takes the exam for promotion to full Commander, and is called "Commander Troi" quite as often as she is called "Counsellor Troi."
** It's worth noting that as a First Officer, it's Riker's job to follow the Captain's orders and not try to undermine their authority, simply because he doesn't like the orders or them personally. Jellico is ''completely'' right for relieving Riker of duty for his repeated insubordination and for unprofessional conduct as befitting an officer. Several episodes have shown that ''Picard'' doesn't stand for this either!
* In ''Series/StargateUniverse'', Colonel Telford is the Neidermeyer in his early appearances. He utterly ignores not only the very immediate and life-threatening problems facing the crew in favor of the rules, but also completely ignores the fact that his [[GrandTheftMe host body]] is in terrible shape the first time around. In the episode "Earth", he usurps Young's command (albeit on orders from higher up) and nearly gets the entire ship destroyed. To add insult to injury, he abandons ''Destiny'' while this happens ([[spoiler:which [[MagnificentBastard Dr. Rush]] had actually expected him to do and thus arranged the whole show just to make him look like an ass]]). Thankfully, this last one does not go unpunished; Young, having learned his lesson, never gives Telford the opportunity to try again, and burns him pretty good back on Earth for his actions.
** General George Hammond from ''Series/StargateSG1'' was originally intended to be such a character, as this was how most commanding officers/superiors were treated in other television shows at the time[[note]]except for DonaldPBellisario's ''Series/{{JAG}}''[[/note]]. After talking with a U.S. Air Force consultant -- who pointed out that a man who rose to Hammond's position wouldn't have got there if he had no respect for his inferiors, and vice versa -- he was rewritten to be the show's ReasonableAuthorityFigure. Multiple times he's shown bending the rules or outright breaking them to get the job done.
*** In fairness, most of his abrasiveness in the first episode is likely due to stress on his part. Until the Stargate reactivated and proved that their were ''more'' hostile aliens out there, he was in charge of watching over a dusty old facility and waiting out until his retirement. He's just as much out of his depth as everyone else and most of Hammond's character arc over the first series is that he's having to quickly [[TookALevelInBadass step up and take charge]] of leading Earth's defence.
* Dwight Schrute from ''TheOffice'' becomes the civilian equivalent whenever he is given even the slightest amount of authority.
** His equivalent (and character model) in the original British series was a Territorial Army soldier (think National Guard) who insisted on his status as Deputy Team Leader after David Brent and who stood on a largely non-existent authority.
* ''The Rifleman'' had an episode where an Army Major was this to his troops '''''and''''' the civilians of North Fork. Fortunately, everyone in North Fork realized how insane his military command was, and his superiors got a message from Lucas [=McCain=] about his incompetence, recalling the Major back to headquarters. However, the Major spun the story, claiming that his superiors needed his command elsewhere, even leaving his Lieutenant with this message: "Lieutenant, remember, the key to command is a firm hand, discipline!" Even more during the episode:

* Lieutenant Charles Marimow in ''TheWire'' is referred to as "The Unit Killer" and a man who "does not toss away talent lightly. He heaves it with great force." At a higher level, both Burress and Rawls are like this to the commanders beneath them, often using the COMSTAT meetings to berate and humiliate them for failing to win the drug war each month.
* ''Series/LastOfTheSummerWine'' had Foggy Dewhurst, a former corporal in the Army. Subverted in that he's now a civilian now, and even when he was in the Army, he was only a sign writer, and thus probably never saw any action. This doesn't stop him from constantly finding reasons to boss Compo and Clegg around, often pretending he's genuinely interested in helping other people. He's so determined to inflict his will on them that on one occasion, he started strangling Compo, completely unprovoked, because he simply ''thought'' he was going to embarrass him. Too bad the vicar's wife saw him...
** Subverted with his predecessor, Cyril Blamire, who was also a corporal in the Army and similar to Foggy - right down to the mustache - but unlike him, Blamire was content with his retirement and, despite bickering constantly, was good friends with Compo and Clegg.

* Douglas [=MacArthur=] was a definite Neidermeyer type, though it was not well known at the time (the US media loved portraying him as AFatherToHisMen). Much like Custer, [=MacArthur=] was more concerned with his personal image than anything else; everything from his famous shades and corncob pipe image to his style of command and administration, from his tenure as Superintendent at West Point to Korea, were designed primarily for his personal glory. As well, he was infamously (within the US Army) apathetic toward the soldiers of his command and only showed favor to toadies. Combine that with his poor grasp of combat tactics and his GeneralRipper attitude, [=MacArthur=] really had no redeeming points.

* The TropeNamer is the blowhard ROTC commander Doug Neidermeyer from ''Film/AnimalHouse''. The WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue reveals that he ended up being shot by his own troops in Vietnam. In the John Landis-directed segment of ''TheTwilightZone'' movie, we even meet the soldiers who shot him.

A commanding officer with a complete lack of respect between himself and the troops. Because of his demonstrated [[GeneralFailure incompetence]], [[MilesGloriosus cowardice]], [[ArmchairMilitary inexperience]], [[WeHaveReserves willingness to sacrifice them]] for [[GloryHound his own glory]] or [[KickedUpstairs to get promoted]], or just being a [[{{Jerkass}} psychotic level hard-ass]], his authority is resented by the men in the trenches, and his orders are only obeyed because chain-of-command says so.

In more [[WarIsHell cynical]] war movies there will be no escape from the petty and obnoxious brute, and the men simply grouse and wait for the day someone on the opposing side will get lucky and catch him in the crosshairs. The troops might even conspire to [[UnfriendlyFire frag him]] if they get tired of waiting for the enemy to do the job.

If he is [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking too tough to frag]], though, the (un)lucky survivor of his tirades will become either a YesMan with no more backbone than he started off with a sense of "loyalty" to him, or TheDragon who seeks to become his successor when he dies/moves on. In a best case scenario, the successor may show much competence and merely view the man as a CynicalMentor or DrillSergeantNasty, but not always. In this case, the other troops will remain as spiteful as ever, but find that the converted will easily take care of any sort of mutiny they try to pull off.

The DrillSergeantNasty is a Neidermeyer -- or [[CynicalMentor just acts like one]] -- with [[TrainingFromHell the purpose of turning recruits into soldiers]]. A SergeantRock may ''act'' like the Neidermeyer but is nonetheless held in high regard because he wouldn't put his men through anything he isn't going through himself.

The polar opposite of this trope is "AFatherToHisMen". In many cases, a GeneralFailure is basically a Neidermeyer with greater rank and thus even more scope for causing damage. If the Neidermeyer is a temporary replacement for the usual ReasonableAuthorityFigure, it may also be a TyrantTakesTheHelm story. A Neidermeyer lacking in authority is GungHolierThanThou.

** The first is Captain Herbert M. Sobel. Sobel is portrayed as a petty tyrant whose harsh training earns him resentment from the men under his command. This is because he isn't tough on them because he cares about them and wants to teach them to survive in war. He's only tough on them because he cares about making himself look good. While he is an effective leader in the garrison environment he proves to be very poor in the field. It is the catastrophic incompetence he shows in combat exercises that causes a number of his [=NCOs=] to flat out refuse to serve under his command. Although his behavior sparked a literal mutiny, some soldiers later admitted that his training methods had been effective in a round-about way.
** The second is Lt. Norman Dike, who is given command of Easy Company during the war. It is implied that he got his position due to his pedigree and family connections, but is himself an "empty uniform" who can only feign competence. As Lipton put it; ''Dike wasn't a bad leader because he made bad decisions. He was a bad leader because he made no decisions.'' In the series, the only thing that holds the unit together is Sergeant Lipton's tireless efforts to maintain morale. After breaking down during an assault, Dike is immediately replaced with the vastly more competent Ronald Speirs.
** And when Dike genuinely tries to give orders... he gets two men killed. And before that, he told the whole company to stop in the open, and later stretched them far without getting anywhere.

* ''GenerationKill'': [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhGIFLWadEU "Follow My TRACERS!"]]
-->'''Marine #1:''' He's got his fucking bayonet out. [[LeeroyJenkins Doing his Rambo thing]].
-->'''Captain America:''' FOLLOW MY TRACERS!
-->'''Marine #2:''' He's shooting at scraps of metal.
-->'''Marine #3:''' Can you believe that fucking retard is in charge of people?
-->'''Captain America:''' Engage those buildings!
-->'''Marine #4:''' Sir, that's more than 3,000 meters away. Range of my .50 is 1830.
-->'''Captain America:''' Move into position! [[AttackAttackAttack Engage! ENGAGE!]]
** It's worth noting the HBO adaptation of ''Generation Kill'', discussed above, for how its portrayal of Captain America is a flagrant (but accounting for production times, probably coincidental) {{Expy}} of Captain Bannon from ''WorldInConflict'', below. Though it isn't saying much, Encino Man loses the tiny amount of sympathy he ''may'' have had in the book, with the actor playing him nailing the concept of the nickname perfectly; a man who's problem isn't lack of experience so much as lack of basic common sense.
** Sgt. Major John "Fucking" Sixta who has more power than either of them -- and uses it to continually insist on personal grooming standards while allowing the company to abandon their ammo supply truck in enemy territory. In the final episode, Sixta [[spoiler:reveals that his psychotic obsession with the men's grooming standards was a GenghisGambit to give them an outlet for their stress.]]

* In ''FullMetalJacket'', Private "Gomer Pyle" blows away [[DrillSergeantNasty Gunnery Sergeant Hartman]], who had [[BreakTheCutie driven him into a psychotic breakdown]]. It's worth noting that, faced with a clearly insane Gomer, Hartman doesn't try to talk him down nicely ... he goes into full-on DrillSergeantNasty mode, ''shouting'' at a person pointing a ''loaded rifle'' at him. It's not made clear whether Hartman thought this was the ''best'' way to deal with the situation or was just unable to think of any ''other'' way of dealing with it. It ''could'' have potentially gone worse than it did, so it's at least possible Hartman made the right call given the circumstances (though not letting things get to that point in the first place would have been even better).

* AdolfHitler. By the end of the War, many of his own men--particularly his generals--wanted him dead more than the Allies due to his repeated strategic blunders (the Allies stopped trying to kill him, fearing someone ''competent'' would take his place). Indeed, a few senior officers such as [[MagnificentBastard Erwin]] [[AFatherToHisMen Rommel]], and also many of them [[OfficerAndAGentleman Junkers]] (contrary to [[NaziNobleman common belief]], the German nobility generally disdained or even outright hated Hitler), participated [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20_July_Plot a plot to assassinate Hitler]] in 1944. [[CaptainObvious It failed]]. [[SarcasmMode On the bright side]], it inspired the film ''Film/{{Valkyrie}}''.
** After the defeat in Stalingrad (a defeat that occurred purely due to Hitler's personal strategic intervention) Hitler went from "makes unreasonable demands and interferes in well made plans" to "detached from reality". The famous stories from his war room are that he would regularly issue orders to units that no longer existed or were so undermanned they might as well not exist, then when his plans didn't work out, would blame the subordinate who was "responsible". Most Generals were lucky enough that they would simply be demoted or put somewhere out of the way (Legendary General Guderian was one example), however some were not so lucky and would be executed for cowardice or "defying orders".
** One well-known story from the war is that when the D-Day invasion began, Panzer groups sat idly by while the Allies invaded. The reason? Because they needed Adolf's ordered permission to get into the battle. He did not until late in the day, because ''he was asleep''. And ''nobody'' wanted to be the one to wake him up and tell him the bad news.
** Hitler has a long history of this kind of behaviour: quite a few sources from World War I show him as being disliked by many of his fellow soldiers, who didn't take kindly to his political ranting and preaching. Despite this, most of them grudgingly respected him for his loyalty to Germany, even if he did have one of the safer positions as battalion messenger.

* Captain Herbert Sobel, former commander of E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101 Airbornee. He was incompetent, petty, a DrillSergeantNasty, and a complete {{Jerkass}}. Many say that his MoralEventHorizon was raiding his troop's rooms and confiscating everything from magazines to non-regulation clothing. When he was replaced, [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing everybody was happy]]. While he was almost universally hated by every man who trained under him, those same men almost universally say that it was Sobel who made E Company into the elite unit it was ''because'' of his {{Jerkass}}, overly harsh treatment. (Yes, the portrayal of him in ''Series/BandOfBrothers'' is widely agreed to be ''perfectly accurate''.)

* This happens often when the former military people end up in the areas, where the less straightforward methods are the norm. A good IT example would be Bob Belleville, Apple's Software Manager for the original Macintosh development team. The guy was an alumnus of the same Xerox PARC lab as were most other Mac people, but his stint in the Navy had shifted his priorities somewhat. He once almost fired one of the critical OS developers over a dispute about the crucial part of software he felt was unneeded, and drove the chief OS architect to tears and filing his resignation (during the critical period of the OS development) because of his supposed ''insubordination''. In both cases only a good chewing out by Steve Jobs himself made him relent somewhat.

** People who've worked for Jobs and left tend to have this view on him, considering his high standards. But since he's led Apple from nearly dead in the water to having more liquid assets than the US government in 10 years, people skirt by this.

*** The RoyalNavy officers, who served as liaison officers, were appalled of the Russian navy brutal discipline and the incompetence of the officers. The Russian navy used corporeal punishments, which had been abandoned already in the Napoleonic times in the Royal Navy. The disaster in the Russo-Japanese war forced the Russian Navy to make reforms.

** In the recently-published book ''The Generals'' by Thomas Ricks, the argument is made that the general officer corps of the US Army is overloaded with Neidermeyers (and several from World War Two to Iraq and Afghanistan are described), and it's only because the competence of the troops, [[SergeantRock NCOs]], and [[FatherToHisMen good junior officers]] that this hasn't become more obvious.
* The term 'fragging' refers to dispatching an unpopular military officer with a fragmentation grenade. The reasoning was that bullets could be traced to individual rifles, but grenades could not, and would destroy other physical evidence. Apparently the process was that a verbal, informal mention of difficulties with officer would be made. The next step was to place a grenade pin on the officer's pillow or other conspicuous place for him to find. If the message still wasn't coming across, a real grenade WITHOUT a pin would be placed in the general vicinity of the officer. In addition, apparently, the standing orders for a squad in Vietnam if their officer was killed was to return to base. Soldiers on a suicidal or otherwise dangerous mission sometimes were able to figure out the math on that one.
* To US Airmen in Tech School (AF advanced training), "Ropes" often fall under this trope. Basically, they are to the USAF what prefects are to British schools - fellow students who who come off as GungHolierThanThou [[RulesLawyer Rules Lawyers]], ''and'' can get you in trouble for [[FelonyMisdemeanor even minor violations]] since becoming a "Rope" gives them a measure of authority to rat their fellow Airmen out to the sergeants.
* [[CheGuevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara]] was like this about half of the time more or less, depending on the source. While he was occasionally known for showing reckless bravery and some decent planning, at other times he was notably incompetent, fled from battle, and generally was a burden to his men. And he was verbally abusive to his men almost all the time and generally showed a disdain for "Bourgeoise tactics" that hardly helped matters at all. He is perhaps most infamously known for his [[LastStand "last stand"]], where according to most accounts he left the rest of his unit to fight it out against the [[BolivianArmyEnding Bolivian forces attacking him]] before surrendering afterwards with two loaded and primed pistols. Though to be fair, he did surrender only after taking two bullets, and his last remaining comrade fought to the end to protect him. Despite leading revolutionaries in Africa, Guevara was overheard to disparage his black fellow travelers, stating that black people did not have the intelligence to make communism work.
* A much-disliked pilot in the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, renowned for bratty manner, overloading his crew with irrational and unnecessary demands, and other failings in human management, insisted his hangar crew rename his plane after his girlfriend. He was not nice about and it and did not ask - he ordered. The irritated crew painted the name "Phyllis" on the nose of his plane as ordered. The pilot pronounced himself satisfied. After a discreet interval, the letters "SY-" were painted in front of the name. The pilot did not notice. Everyone else on the carrier did.

The polar opposite of this trope is "AFatherToHisMen". In many cases, a GeneralFailure is basically a Neidermeyer with greater rank and thus even more scope for causing damage. If TheNeidermeyer is a temporary replacement for the usual ReasonableAuthorityFigure, it may also be a TyrantTakesTheHelm story. A Neidermeyer lacking in authority is GungHolierThanThou.

* Corporal Himmelstoss from ''Literature/AllQuietOnTheWesternFront''. He bullied the squad the movie focused on, and was relocated to WW1's frontlines after "nearly killing a squad of rookies on the muddy field". He doesn't learn any Aesops, though - he just dies. The squad even ambushes him, puts a sack over his head, and beats him bloody in the original book. Also in the movie(s). Himmelstoss later is transferred to the front himself, after maltreating a recruit whose father turned out to have too much influence. He at first performs badly and chickens out of a charge, much to Paul Bäumer's disgust, but when an ''officer'' orders him to advance, Himmelstoss charges wildly. (In the second movie version he then is decorated for bravery and receives an Iron Cross from Kaiser Wilhelm himself). In the novel he makes up with his former victims and while acting as substitute company cook sees to it they get good food (chapter 7).
* Captain Ramsey in ''CrimsonTide'' is an enormous jerk to his entire crew aboard the [[SuperiorFirePowerMissileSubmarines SSBN]] under his command. When informed by his XO, Lt. Comander Hunter that crew morale is low and that they might need some words of encouragement from their beloved captain, Ramsey takes the opportunity to chew them all out over the intercom for being lazy and feckless. Later, Ramsey goes into full blown GeneralRipper mode when he is convinced that his orders to fire the missiles has not been countermanded, despite a cutoff in communications right when the counter-order is sent. He is even ready to start shooting officers when most of the crew mutinies to avert a nuclear apocalypse.

*** Vimes hasn't promoted Fred from Sergeant (or Nobby from Corporal) because despite the fact they're senior to ''almost everybody in the Watch'' (IIRC, Colon even has seniority on His Grace himself), they're perfectly happy in the ranks they hold and '''really''' aren't suited for anything higher anyway.

** Sharpe himself was TheNeidermeyer for a while, after he first became an officer. And yes, [[UnfriendlyFire his men did attempt to kill him]]. Luckily for him, that's easier said than done.
* In the DaleBrown novel ''Sky Masters'', an inexperienced Captain second-guesses his air defence expert and, when one anti-air missile misfires, shuts down the point defence net in his {{Lawful Stupid}}ity, allowing an antiship missile to get through and hit the carrier they were supposed to be protecting.
** If this troper remembers correctly, said misfired missile had actually exploded and was tumbling back towards the launcher - keeping the other launch cells closed was a prudent thing to do; keeping on firing might have risked BOTH ships.

* Captain Fisher, a.k.a. "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Liar Billy Liar]]", in Creator/KimNewman's AlternateHistory novella ''Teddy Bear's Picnic''. He gets fragged by his own troops using a white phosphorus grenade; a practice know as "white saucing". For the record, white phosphorous grenades are thermite, they burn at [[http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m15.htm 5000 degrees]] or so. Not something you want [[NightmareFuel on your]] ''[[NightmareFuel flesh]]''.
* CaptainQueeg of Herman Wouk's ''TheCaineMutiny'', and the movie and play (''The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial'') based on it, could almost be the TropeNamer. It is often used in media as an alternate name for this trope.

** The first is Captain Herbert M. Sobel. Sobel is portrayed as a petty tyrant whose harsh training earns him resentment from the men under his command. This is because he isn't tough on them because he cares about them and wants to teach them to survive in war. He's only tough on them because he cares about making himself look good. While he is an effective leader in the garrison environment he proves to be very poor in the field. It is the catastrophic incompetence he shows in combat exercises that causes a number of his NCO's to flat out refuse to serve under his command. Although his behavior sparked a literal mutiny, some soldiers later admitted that his training methods had been effective in a round-about way.

* General Melchett from ''[[{{Blackadder}} Blackadder Goes Forth]]''. Melchett is distraught by the death of his pigeon "Speckled Jim", yet blissfully uncaring about the fifty thousand men a week dying in the trenches. His bizarre tactics that help expedite the latter include "doing precisely what we've done eighteen times before" and "climbing out of [the] trenches and walking very slowly towards the enemy". Sadly, both are to some extent TruthInTelevision.

* Major Frank Burns, from ''[[Series/{{MASH}} M* A* S* H]]'' - especially notably because he's an officer and not enlisted personnel or non-comm.
** ''M* A* S* H'' also had several Foe of the Week commanders who either [[KarmicTrickster learned a lesson or were otherwise removed from command]] by the doctors.

* ''NorthAndSouthUS'' (the US one). Elkanah Bent treats Orry and George like scum. He gets Orry crippled by Mexican artillery. Orry cripples him, he murders Orry then George hangs him.

---->'''Lister''': So you wiped out the entire population of this planet?
---->'''Rimmer''': You make it sound so negative Lister. Don't you see? The deranged menace that once threatened this world is vanquished!
---->'''Lister''': No it isn't pal, you're still here!

--->'''Rimmer''': Chef? You want to become a chef?
--->'''Lister''': Not really. I just want to become your superior.
--->'''Rimmer''': But a chef? A white hatted ponce? That's not a real officer!
--->'''Lister''': It outranks '''you''', smeg-for-brains!

* Captain Edward Jellico in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' seems like this at the start, but subverts it by the end. Placed in temporary command of the ''Enterprise'', he systematically alienates most of the crew thanks to his hard and uncompromising command style, even having Data replace Riker as NumberOne after Riker keeps resisting his changes. Afte the first episode, the audience will assuredly hate him, and everything is set up to watch him fail in his mission while the primary Picard-is-captured plot yields the answer, showing him up. The second episode instead has him learn to loosen up just enough to recognize his flaws, and its his tactics that not only win the day, but save Picard in the process.
** '''''And''''' he makes Troi wear a real uniform instead of her bunny suit, an order Picard never rescinded.

*** It is also part of Troi's character development; at the beginning, she was a psycholgist/social worker practicing on a starship, but after that point she was a Starfleet Officer whose specialty happened to be applied behavioral sciences. (It was shortly after that she takes the exam for promotion to full Commander, and is called "Commander Troi" quite as often as she is called "Counsellor Troi."

* In ''Series/StargateUniverse'', Colonel Telford is TheNeidermeyer in his early appearances. He utterly ignores not only the very immediate and life-threatening problems facing the crew in favor of the rules, but also completely ignores the fact that his [[GrandTheftMe host body]] is in terrible shape the first time around. In the episode "Earth", he usurps Young's command (albeit on orders from higher up) and nearly gets the entire ship destroyed. To add insult to injury, he abandons ''Destiny'' while this happens ([[spoiler:which [[MagnificentBastard Dr. Rush]] had actually expected him to do and thus arranged the whole show just to make him look like an ass]]). Thankfully, this last one does not go unpunished; Young, having learned his lesson, never gives Telford the opportunity to try again, and burns him pretty good back on Earth for his actions.
** Subverted entirely later on, when it's revealed that [[spoiler:Lucian Alliance brainwashing is largely responsible for his behavior]].
** No he doesn't, after that his suggestions get ignored and the people on the Destiny won't trust him anymore.

** His equivalent (and character model) in the original British series was a Territorial Army soldier (think National Guard)who insisted on his status as Deputy Team Leader after David Brent and who stood on a largely non-existent authority.
* ''The Rifleman'' had an episode where an Army Major was this to his troops '''''and''''' the civilians of North Fork. Fortunately, everyone in North Fork realized how insane his military command was, and his superiors got a message from Lucas Mc Cain about his imcompetency, recalling the Major back to headquarters. However, the Major spun the story, claiming that his superiors needed his command elsewhere, even leaving his Lieutenant with this message: "Lieutenant, remember, the key to command is a firm hand, discipline!" Even more during the episode:

** He attempted to place Lucas Mc Cain, a civilian, under arrest for going behind his back to his superiors about his insane incompetence. (Civilian arrests by military officials are prohibited, if you didn't know.)

* Titular character in Music/RunningWild's "Evil Spirit" who is referred to as a guardian and as a tormentor. After he is swept overboard from his vessel, [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing rejoicement ensues]].
* Played for comedy in both videos by Twisted Sister: In "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT1LXhgXPWs We're Not gonna Take It]]", TheNeidermeyer is an irate dad; in "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRwrg0db_zY&feature=related I Wanna Rock]]", the teacher is one. Either way, the guy ends up as the ButtMonkey. Both roles are played by [[AnimalHouse the original Neidermeyer]], Mark Metcalf. And TheNeidermeyer father appears in one video by Lit.

** a Medal of Dishonor goes to Lord General Lugo, who's first act in ''Honor Guard'' is to order Gaunt and his men to step up their attack timetable to retake a holy temple, which subsequently explodes into a warp vortex (long story). He pins the whole thing on Gaunt, and assigns Gaunt to lead a convoy as punishment. He shows up again in ''Sabbat Martyr'', where he's playing a minor character from his previous appearance as the reincarnated Saint Sabbat. This time, however, fate bites him in the ass when the girl actually '''''becomes''''' the reincarnated saint (again, long story), and he spends much of the rest of the book standing around looking dumbstruck, which for him, is not much of a stretch.

** CiaphasCain, [[FakeUltimateHero '''''Hero of the Imperium''''']], himself actually comments on how a great many Commissars die "heroic deaths" suspiciously far from the front lines. He spent his later years attempting to teach commissar cadets to subvert this trope, with admittedly mixed success (most who are chosen for the Commissariat are simply not the right personality type to be taught how to lead through respect rather than fear). Ciaphas Cain himself certainly wanted to avoid such a fate; "I want to die in a bed, preferably someone else's."

*** Orson Perrault, the commander of the protagonists' air base, is this as well as corpulent, a horrible shot (he doesn't know that [[spoiler:how emptying the magazine into the doorway where the targets ''were'' when the lights went out is a bad idea]]), and without giving [[spoiler:Wardog Squadron and Pops]] a chance to explain themselves he assumes them all to be spies.

* The [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Bleen]] [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Webcomic/Vexxarr leadership tends to operate like this,]] [[YouHaveFailedMe not being used to setbacks]].
-->'''TheEmperor:''' Tell me how your [[AlienInvasion invasion fleet]] came to be destroyed by a group of [[PunyEarthlings inferior monkeys]]
-->'''Bleen soldier:''' Your eminence, the hu-mons have perverted our [[ArtificialGravity repulsor technology]] into [[WaveMotionGun a devestating weapon]].

* Prince Zuko in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' started out as this in the series while hunting for Aang. He eventually got a little better when Iroh told the frew about Zuko's seriously messed up backstory, and Zuko risked his life to save a crewmember in the middle of a storm, allowing Aang to escape in the process, and Zuko and the crew started to respect each other a little, or at least enough for his second in command to stop challenging him to fights to the death.

* Douglas MacArthur was a definite Neidermeyer type, though it was not well known at the time (the US media loved portraying him as AFatherToHisMen). Much like Custer, MacArthur was more concerned with his personal image than anything else; everything from his famous shades and corncob pipe image to his style of command and administration, from his tenure as Superintendent at West Point to Korea, were designed primarily for his personal glory. As well, he was infamously (within the US Army) apathetic toward the soldiers of his command and only showed favor to toadies. Combine that with his poor grasp of combat tactics and his GeneralRipper attitude, MacArthur really had no redeeming points.
* There is one story that the sailors aboard a US Navy vessel were lining up for geedunk(ice cream)when two Ensigns shouted "Make way for officers" and started shoving through. Whereupon [[FourStarBadass Admiral]] [[FatherNeptune Halsey]] who had been waiting his turn patiently with [[AFatherToHisMen every other sailor]] shouted "Get back where you belong!" With appropriate sailorly adjectives no doubt.
* Most recently, [[http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1969602,00.html this officer]]. And how. For the link impaired, Holly Graf’s Neidermeyer behavior includes:
** When approached for advice by a junior officer, Graf allegedly responded with “Don’t come to me with your problems. You’re a fucking department head”, and later “I can’t express how mad you make me without getting violent!”
** Started a (confirmed) drag race with another destroyer that nearly resulted in a collision; the ships came within 300 feet of each other. A photo from the deck of Graf’s ship shows the vessel heading straight toward the other. To make it worse, when the bridge crew went to sound a collision alarm (so all hands could brace and ready repairs), Graf ordered them to not sound the alarm. Such an alarm, after all, would have to be noted in the ship’s logs. That would mean she’d have to explain why she endangered two very expensive ships and a couple hundred lives in a pissing contest
** Tired of delays leaving a port, she ordered that the ship accelerate to 25 knots instead of 10, despite being informed it was dangerous to do so. As a result, the USS ''Cowpens'' ran soft aground and mangled the ship’s propulsion screws. She then allegedly grabbed a British exchange officer by either the throat or the lapels (accounts differ), and began shouting “Did you run my fucking ship aground?!”. She then went on to order the crew to falsify records and claim they were moving at 10 knots.

* Hermann Goering, by 1945, was called the most hated man in Germany beccause of his obsession with fame, glory, BlingOfWar and rampant egomania. Given [[ThoseWackyNazis the competition]] at the time, it's quite an achievement.
* Göring was a perfect example of ThePeterPrinciple. A brilliant AcePilot (22 victories and Blue Max) and a competent wing commander, he found his level of [[GeneralFailure total incompetentness]] as Reichsmarschall.

** To say 'strategic blunders' doesn't quite cover it entirely. After the defeat in Stalingrad (a defeat that occured purely due to Hitler's personal strategic intervention) Hitler went from "makes unreasonable demands and interferes in well made plans" to "detached from reality". The famous stories from his war room are that he would regularly issue orders to units that no longer existed or were so undermanned they might as well not exist, then when his plans didn't work out, would blame the subordinate who was "responsible". Most Generals were lucky enough that they would simply be demoted or put somewhere out of the way (Legendary General Guderian was one example), however some were not so lucky and would be executed for cowardice or "defying orders".

* Captain Herbert Sobel, former commander of E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101 Airbornee. He was incompetent, petty, a DrillSergeantNasty, and a complete {{Jerkass}}. Many say that his MoralEventHorizon was raiding his troop's rooms and confiscating everything from magazines to nonregulation clothing. When he was replaced, [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing everybody was happy]]. While he was almost universally hated by every man who trained under him, those same men almost universally say that it was Sobel who made E Company into the elite unit it was ''because'' of his {{Jerkass}}, overly harsh treatment. (Yes, the portrayal of him in ''Series/BandOfBrothers'' is widely agreed to be ''perfectly accurate''.)

* This happens often when the former military people end up in the areas, where the less straightforward methods are the norm. A good IT example would be Bob Belleville, the Apple's Software Manager for the original Macintosh development team. The guy was an alumnus of the same Xerox PARC lab as the most other Mac people, but his stint in the Navy had shifted his priorities somewhat. He once almost fired one of the critical OS developers over a dispute about the crucial part of software he felt was unneeded, and drove the chief OS architect to tears and filing his resignation (during the critical period of the OS development) because of his supposed ''insubordination''. In both cases only a good chewing out by Steve Jobs himself made him relent somewhat.

* Virtually every officer in the pre-Russo-Japanese war {{Imperial Russia}}n military, because of the brutal means of discipline and strict social class differences. Almost all officers came from the privileged nobility, while the enlisted men were almost all [[SlaveMook force-levied conscripts]]. One particular example was Lieutenant Ippolit Giliarovsky on pre-dreadnought battleship ''Potemkin'', whose uppity, cocky and bullyish behaviour sparked the mutiny onboard immortalized on Sergei Eisenstein's ''Film/BattleshipPotemkin''.

*** It doesn't help that the Soviet military set the standard for placing "politically reliable" (i.e. regime loyal) officers to high command positions over those who possessed real skills. This resulted in the Soviet General Staff becoming top heavy with Neidermeyers who were more concerned with BlingOfWar and [[MilesGloriosus Miles Gloriosusism]] than commanding soldiers effectively, in turn leading to the stereotype of communist militaries being led by [[GeneralFailure General Failures]] who were either fanatical or had gained their position through Party connections (namely through familial relations). An attempted balance for this was capital punishment (such as firing squads) being the standard reprisal for failure; in theory this motivated Soviet commanders not to screw up and do their jobs well, but in practice it was more of an Old Boss to New Boss transitioning that did more harm than good.

* A much-disliked pilot in the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, renowned for brattish manner, overloading his crew with irrationanl and un-necessary demands, and other failings in human management, insisted his hangar crew rename his plane after his girlfriend. He was not nice about and it and did not ask - he ordered. The irritated crew painted the name "Phyllis" on the nose of his plane as ordered. The pilot pronounced himself satisfied. After a discreet interval, the letters "SY-" were painted in front of the name. The pilot did not notice. Everyone else on the carrier did.

** The Russian military makes zero attempt to investigate the deaths of or get autopsies on its recruits, unless they exceed 3 deaths per 500 personnel per month. [[TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch Even so, the investigations are not renowned for their thoroughness or impartiality.]]

** Despite his dress code obsession however, Patton was very much a AFatherToHisMen in every other area.
* Douglas MacArthur was a definite Neidermeyer type, though it was not well known at the time (the US media loved portraying him as AFatherToHisMen). Much like Custer, MacArthur was more concerned with his personal image than anything else; everything from his famous shades and corncob pipe image to his style of command and administration, from his tenure as Superintendent at West Point to Korea, were designed primarily for his personal glory. As well, he was infamously (within the US Army) apathetic toward the soldiers of his command and only showed favor to toadies.

** Tired of delays leaving a port, she ordered that the ship accelerate to 25 knots instead of 10, despite being informed it was dangerous to do so. As a result, the USS Cowpens ran soft aground and mangled the ship’s propulsion screws. She then allegedly grabbed a British exchange officer by either the throat or the lapels (accounts differ), and began shouting “Did you run my fucking ship aground?!”. She then went on to order the crew to falsify records and claim they were moving at 10 knots.

** Graf was such a dick to so many people that the crew supposedly began cheering when another officer arrived relieve and replace her aboard the USS Winston Churchill

* A much-disliked pilot in the royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, renowned for brattish manner, overloading his crew with irrationanl and un-necessary demands, and other failings in human management, insisted his hangar crew rename his plane after his girlfriend. He was not nice about and it and did not ask - he ordered. The irritated crew painted the name "Phyllis" on the nose of his plane as ordered. The pilot pronounced himself satisfied. After a discreet interval, the letters "SY-" were painted in front of the name. The pilot did not notice. Everyone else on the carrier did.

** OnTheFront called him on his uniform obsession multiple times, eventually leading to Patton threatening to shut down ''Stars and Stripes'' altogether to stop troops from reading the strip.
** There is one story that the sailors aboard a US Navy vessel were lining up for geedunk(ice cream)when two Ensigns shouted "Make way for officers" and started shoving through. Whereupon [[FourStarBadass Admiral]] [[FatherNeptune Halsey]] who had been waiting his turn patiently with [[AFatherToHisMen every other sailor]] shouted "Get back where you belong!" With appropriate sailorly adjectives no doubt.

* Virtually every officer in the {{Imperial Russia}}n military, because of the brutal means of discipline and strict social class differences. Almost all officers came from the privileged nobility, while the enlisted men were almost all [[SlaveMook force-levied conscripts]]. One particular example was Lieutenant Ippolit Giliarovsky on pre-dreadnought battleship ''Potemkin'', whose uppity, cocky and bullyish behaviour sparked the mutiny onboard immortalized on Sergei Eisenstein's ''Film/BattleshipPotemkin''.

* Lt. Gorman in ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' certainly qualifies for this, due to his relative inexperience, GeneralFailure at managing the alien attack, [[ArmchairMilitary rear echelon tactics]] and the resulting lack of respect from his troops. Subverted in that while he was a bad officer, later on he tries to apologise for his behaviour, has no trouble submitting command to a more experienced and competent subordinate and shows great personal bravery and tries to save the marine who despised him the most.

* In the original ''Creature Commandos'' stories, Lt. Matthew Shrieve is a lot like this, though he's very much a competent soldier. He's often cruel towards the "monsters" under his authority, and whatever disdain he has for them is all too mutual. He's a dishonest bully who ably shows that regular humans can be just as monstrous as werewolves and vampires -- possibly moreso.

In more upbeat war shows, he's usually forced to learn AnAesop about his awful command style and adjust his behavior in a way that either changes him into [[AFatherToHisMen a likable officer]] or results in his resignation, demotion, or [[ReassignedtoAntarctica transfer to a more suitable post]].

* AdolfHitler. By the end of the War, many of his own men--particularly his generals--wanted him dead more than the Allies due to his repeated strategic blunders (the Allies stopped trying to kill him, fearing someone ''competent'' would take his place). Indeed, a few senior officers, many of them [[OfficerAndAGentleman Junkers]] (contrary to [[NaziNobleman common belief]], the German nobility generally disdained or even outright hated Hitler), led [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20_July_Plot a plot to assassinate Hitler]] in 1944. [[CaptainObvious It failed]]. [[SarcasmMode On the bright side]], it inspired the film ''Film/{{Valkyrie}}''.