The Creon

"One thing I've learned over the years: being the guy in charge also means you're the guy with the biggest target on your back. Whether it's another gang looking to take whatever you've scraped together, or some punk thinking he knows better than the boss, there's always, always someone gunning for you. I don't want that target on me. But, if I can be the guy just behind the guy in charge, that suits me just fine. If I've got his ear, I can steer things in a direction that benefits me, and usually everyone else."

— Porter Gage, Fallout 4: Nuka-World

The Creon is basically the right-hand man, king's (good or evil) advisor, chief general, The Dragon, or other somesuch person of considerable power or influence who is not himself at the pinnacle of the pyramid. He's the second-in-command. However, unlike The Starscream, The Creon is decidedly not gunning for the first spot. Maybe he doesn't want the responsibility; maybe he's just fine where he is; maybe the position leadership is far too stressful or he has seen countless other underlings seize control only to realize that they were unqualified for the job; maybe he respects his boss too much; maybe he values loyalty above all else; or maybe the culture is such that the top spot is just too dangerous a place for a person like him. His job as second-in-command suits him just fine, and even if offered the top spot he just won't take it - regardless of how lucrative the offer.

Creons can be of any morality or personality. Their motivations may be completely selfless or completely selfish. On occasion, a Creon will be perfectly willing for his superior to be replaced by someone else - but not by the Creon himself. Most often however, The Creon will be the best right-hand a leader could ask for.

To qualify as a Creon, the character must have had at least one chance to take all the power for himself, and actively refused to do so, whether for altruism, cowardice, lack of interest in leadership, or any other personal reason. If there was no other choice, and the Creon did in fact have to take the top spot, he must have relinquished it voluntarily as soon as the actual leader returned. The Creon always gravitates back to the second spot on his own accord, rather than being forced to stay there by circumstances, etiquette or regulations.

The Trope Namer is Creon of Thebes from Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, who states quite frankly that he's not interested in being king, and finds it much more pleasant to be the one with the lesser power and not the responsibility.

This trope is the opposite of the Leader Wannabe and The Starscream, who spends almost all their time trying to assume the top spot. The Creon may be The Consigliere, The Good Chancellor, a Sarcastic Devotee, a reliable Dragon-in-Chief or even a Psycho Supporter - there are many options. Contrast with Volatile Second Tier Position, where whoever is the second in command is the person who will be blamed and suffer the consequences if anything goes wrong.

The Hyper-Competent Sidekick is oftentimes this trope.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Daimos:
  • Raiza is this to Richter, being his Torture Technician and head scientist. She's secretly in love with Richter, but he doesn't notice. Her obsession with Richter is so severe that she sabotages anyone else who tries to get close to him, such as Gurney.
  • On Olban's end, there's Georiya, who killed Richter's father and pinned the blame on the humans. He remains loyal to him even when he shouts abuse at him and demeans him.
  Olban (talking about Erika): "Doing well, are you?"
  Georiya: "Oh, yes! Thank you, my lord, since coming to Earth I haven't so much as caught a cold..."
  Olban: "Shut up, you idiot. I haven't the slightest bit of interest in your health problems. I want to know about my flower."
• Monkey D. Garp in One Piece has remained a Vice Admiral in the Marines for decades. He has been offered a promotion to a full Admiral more than once but has always turned it down, the idea being that as an Admiral, he'll have to spend most of his time stuck in an office doing administrative work and tend to the World Nobles, the settings biggest villains, whereas if he remains a Vice Admiral, he can travel around where he wants and only has to answer to people who are on better terms with him than said Nobles.
• Gekkei from The Twelve Kingdoms is a Double Subversion of this trope. Firstly, although he is initially portrayed as loyal to the king, he later leads a rebellion and kills him. The subversion is doubled because it was what he needed to do, and once the revolution is successful he rejects the other officers' pleas for him to take the throne, and is even about to quit his charge after the incident. He then reconsiders and stays in charge - not because he wants to, but because if there's nobody in charge, the kingdom will fall (literally, since each kingdom is ruled by a Fisher King). He is just faithfully holding the throne for the next true ruler.
• Voltes V: The buffoonish Emperor Zambajil has the equally buffoonish Marquis Zaki, his chief inspector. He writes reports for him based on events he observes, but highly exaggerates them, which leads to the deaths of many innocents at his hands. Zaki sarcastically gloats to Prince Heinel that he better perform well in battle so that he can send Zambajil a positive report, but in a twist of Dramatic Irony, Heinel's battle strategy goes horribly wrong and he accidentally kills Zaki instead.

Comic Books

• Batman: Unlike Bruce's other Robins, Tim Drake does not want to become Batman or replace Bruce's position in Gotham whatsoever, instead preferring to work as the Dark Knight's partner. While he's made it clear he'll take on the mantle if necessary he's also made it clear he absolutely hates the idea.
• Outside of Earth 2, where he very much was The Starscream, Steppenwolf of the New Gods is perfectly content with his hunting and leadership of the Parademons.

Fan Works

• Cheating Death: Those That Lived: Bronze Marley has no official position in the Capitol hierarchy and, as a district-born citizen, is ineligible for the presidency, but he is President Snow's closest and longest-lasting advisor and has no greater ambition than to wallow in luxuries whenever Snow doesn't need him. It's likely that Bronze's district citizenship and lack of an official title are the reasons for this stability: he and Snow both know that Bronze couldn't threaten to supplant Snow without a ridiculously complicated and difficult effort for a job Bronze probably wouldn’t even enjoy (given the cumbersome responsibility that comes with it when he already has plenty of luxuries).
• Flames of Regicide: Azula has no desire to become Fire Lord, which as it turns out is because Ozai has twisted her life around serving him to such a degree that she wouldn’t know what to do with the position. When Zuko kills Ozai in self-defense, she wastes no time in making plans for how best to support his reign.
• The King Nobody Wanted: After witnessing his father go through all kinds of degradations to remain a contender for Hand of the King (the highest nonhereditary position in the Seven Kingdoms) and then be horribly executed after getting the job, Rys Chelsted makes it clear that he doesn't ever want the job after his own appointment to the Small Council, which is sometimes a stepping stone to Hand of the King.
  Rys: Father was Master of Coin, King's Hand, and then King's candlestick in turn. A remarkable rise, that I alas, lack the ambition to repeat. Make me your Master of Coin, Your Grace, and if I please you, keep me there, and if I do not, send me back to my home and forget about me.

Films — Animated

• Donatello in TMNT. After Leonardo's departure, Splinter makes Donatello the team's leader, much to the engagement of Raphael.

Films — Live-Action

• Alpha (2018): Despite some Faux Shadowing that the second-in-command of Tau's hunting party is The Starscream, he prevents Tau from going on a suicidal climb down the cliff to recover the body of Tau's seemingly dead son. He tells Tau that their tribe still needs his leadership, while showing no interest in having that leadership for himself.
• In The American President, White House chief of staff A.J. implies he is one when President Shepherd angrily demands to know why throughout his political career, A.J. has never sought office and has always been one step behind him, content to work as a loyal advisor. As A.J. puts it:
  A.J.: Because if I wasn't, you'd be the most popular history teacher at the University of Wisconsin.
• In Death Ring, Egomaniac Hunter Danton Vachs has the slavishly loyal, hyper-competent Dragon Lady Ms. Ling as his second-in-command.
• The Departed:
  • Undercover cop (and aspiring Hyper-Competent Sidekick to The Don) Billy Costigan diverts suspicion from himself by suggesting the existence of a plot against Frank from his subordinates. When Frank asks Billy if he wants to lead, Billy says that he thinks he probably could do it, but doesn't want to be Frank. Perhaps surprisingly for a profession that one would expect to be a breeding ground for starscreams, Frank has no problem accepting that "Heavy lies the crown", with an implied increase in respect towards Billy for recognizing this. Franks's lack of suspicion at this excuse is possibly because he has a genuine Villainous Friendship with Mr. French, who has been totally reliable and never tried to take over.
  • French himself is an example of The Creon, although we never see whether his acceptance of second fiddle is due to a lack of ambition or because he recognizes he wouldn't do as good a job of ruling as Frank.

Literature

• In the last act of 10 LB. Penalty by Dick Francis, George Juliard becomes cabinet minister for Agriculture, Food, & Fisheries, handling the job in a way that makes him viewed as a potential successor to the Prime Minister. However, while he is an ambitious politician, he has enough loyalty to his boss to downplay his profile to avoid making the rest of the government look bad. He also tries to defend the Prime Minister during a cabinet crisis until the minister chooses to resign and gives George his blessing to seek to be his successor.
• Alexander Tagere in the Arcia Chronicles does everything in his power to avoid the crown despite widespread popular support, just like his father Charles before him, as they both believe (correctly) that power corrupts or, at the very least, brings utter misfortune. Unlike his father, however, Alexander is eventually forced to take the throne when it turns out he is the sole remaining legitimate heir.
• Brotherhood of the Rose by David Morrell. John Eliot was offered the directorship of the CIA but turned it down, as it's a political appointment and he'd be replaced when a new government came into power, interfering with the conspiracy that he's involved in. The other members of the Abelard Conspiracy have taken a similar position in their own intelligence agencies.
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid provides a non-leadership example. Though Greg fantasizes about being famous for a good portion of the series, at the beginning of Diper Overlode he decides he'd rather be friends or family with a celebrity so he can enjoy the benefits of their fortune without dealing with the burdens of fame. As such, he spends most of the book trying to help Rodrick with his plans to make his band Loded Diper famous, usually to disastrous results.
• Captain Carrot Ironfounderson in Discworld is this to both City Watch Commander Vimes, and to Lord Vetinari. While Carrot is more than capable of running the Watch, and is (most likely) the rightful heir to the King of Ankh-Morpork, Carrot is content to be a simple policeman while subtly ensuring that both the Watch and city run smoothly. His major misgiving is people would behave not according to the law or a sense of right or wrong, but simply because they're obeying the king.
  • A secondary example is Fred Colon's reluctance to ever be promoted, being simultaneously dismissive of officers and surprisingly honest about his lack of qualifications. When Sam Vimes and Carrots are on temporarily leave, he's thrust in the a position of Captain purely based on seniority. It goes about as badly as anyone could have predicted.
• The Bene Gesserit from the Dune universe do this for many, many centuries. They hold that if you grab supreme power, you're going to fall just as hard. Instead they manipulate power in the known universe from the position of a "trusted advisor" to Emperors and great houses. In addition, much of what they do is a huge breeding program designed to create a super-being to serve as the ultimate emperor and be directly under their control, so even at their greatest moment of triumph they're still not looking for the top position, just to have full control of the person in the top position. Naturally this fails once the super-being comes to existence and basically turns the tables on them.
  • Part of the purpose of the 3,000-year highly oppressive reign of Leto II was to force the Bene Gesserit to get out of the shadows and take over. Millennia later, they have started to do so, controlling dozens of worlds directly. Herbert's notes (thoroughly ignored by the "sequel" writers, whose sequels were in turn ignored by devotees) indicate that the Bene Gesserit, whose internal procedures had long been essentially democratic (if heavily deferential to seniority), were to form the nucleus of a new democratic galactic government.
  • Roderick Corrino is this to his brother, Emperor Salvador. But after Salvador's death, Roderick becomes a very good emperor and ends up ending the war between the Butlerians and VenHold by putting an end to both the fanatics and the MegaCorp after they nearly wipe out one another. He also accepts Norma Cenva's proposal to create the Spacing Guild and forces aristocrats to get their hands dirty.
  • Moneo could fit this in God-Emperor of Dune, Malky even comments to Leto II on how Moneo has never tried to take the "whole shebang" from him.
• The General's President: General Thomas Cromwell is brought to the White House during the middle of a national emergency and told that the beleaguered president is ready to resign as soon as he appoints a new vice-president. He wants Cromwell to be that Vice-President. Cromwell is told that new legislation will allow the president swear in Cromwell as vice-president without the approval of Congress and will also give him unrestricted powers to solve the financial crisis. Cromwell has the opportunity to seize all of that power with nothing standing in his way. Instead, he emphatically refuses and sets out to find someone better qualified for the job.
  Cromwell: I'll accept if it comes to that. But don't do it to me, Charles, unless you absolutely have to. My first name is Thomas, for Christake, not Oliver.
• Harry Potter:
  • Horace Slughorn is described by Dumbledore as never having wanted power for himself (despite being a Slytherin), instead enjoying his influence on former students who still send him thank-you gifts for using his connections to get ahead in life. Harry has a vivid image of a spider twitching a leg here and there to bring a fly closer.
  • To a degree, Dumbledore himself. Though he was the headmaster of Hogwarts, he had also been offered the role of Minister of Magic on more than one occasion. He always turned it down.
• In the Honor Harrington story "Queen's Gambit," Jacob Wundt, the longtime Lord Chamberlain of the royal family, is embarrassed and horrified at the idea of being nominated as royal regent, even as a short-term placeholder.
• John Putnam Thatcher: In Ashes to Ashes, after the head of the Flensburg Parents League community activist group is murdered, two of his main lieutenants display this in different ways: Mary Foster, the organizing genius of the group, declines to step up while Bob Hovarth is shocked to be nominated and feels that Mary is the natural choice. Bob only accepts the job after realizing that Mary's reluctance may be out of fear that she'd be the next victim that it would be cowardly of him to assume a risk he is better prepared to fight than Mary. Actually, it turns out that Mary is the killer and is simply trying to stay Beneath Suspicion, which would fail if she was openly deciding the group's agenda (which she is manipulating to prompt a real estate selling spree so she can buy local buildings cheaply).
• Faramir from The Lord of the Rings is this in the novel: He outright rejects the power that The One Ring could've given him, contrary to his brother Boromir who desired that power (albeit briefly).^note In the movies, Faramir starts out just like his brother, and Frodo has to convince him that the Ring is just too dangerous to wield. Furthermore, whereas Faramir's ancestors (and particularly his father) ruled as Stewards while coveting the kingship, Faramir himself does not covet that title at all: He gratefully accepts the titles of Steward and Prince under Aragorn after the war without so much as a question.
• John Geary, commander of The Lost Fleet, has this attitude towards The Alliance Senate. He's a good fleet commander and leader of men but he has neither the talent nor the patience for politics and takes his oath of service very seriously.
• Matt Jensen: The Last Mountain Man: The Eyes of Texas: Longtime Deputy Wash Prescott outlives four bosses who die trying to tame their unruly town and always refuses to become Town Marshal himself due to being a Lovable Coward who feels that he's too old to survive getting into regular fights with lawbreakers instead of just watching the jail and providing the occasional backup.
• The People’s Choice: Republican Majority whip Connor Doyle is arguably the most competent politician in the novel, but he has no plans for being president himself and works hard to support the party and whoever its candidate is. He ends up the president anyway when Block gets him made Speaker of the House before he and Phelps resign, due to the current speaker of the house being a Democrat. Doyle is shaken by this, but accepts the job, ending the novel on a hopeful note.
• The Pillars of Reality: Two examples appear among the pirate crew in the prequel trilogy. When a misunderstanding makes Captain Mak think Jules wants to usurp his job, she sincerely denies it. She is surprised to learn that she, rather than First Mate Ang (who would rather be permanent first mate no matter who is in charge), is being groomed as Mak's successor but has no desire to step into Mak's shoes for the rest of his natural life. At the end of The Pirate of the Prophecy, Mak suffers a Mentor Occupation Hazard and Jules assumes command while Ang does indeed stay first mate.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Legends of the Brethren Court: Sri Sumbhajee's brother and heir Mannajee may enjoy taking naps on his brother's throne whenever he's left in charge of their palace, but he is uninvolved in the attempts on Sumbhajee's life and doesn't really want to be Pirate Lord due to how dangerous the position is. When Sumbhajee decides to make their other brother his heir instead of Mannajee, Mannajee exclaims, "Oh, thank the gods."
• In A Practical Guide to Evil the Black Knight, Amadeus, took control of the Dread Empire of Praes with the help of his friends, the Calamities and the army he got by uniting many disgruntled tribes of orks and goblins under his banner, yet he gives the throne to his childhood friend, the former bar-maid and imperial courtesan Alaya. He then faithfully serves her as The Dragon for decades, and they make a truly terrifying and effective duo until she eventually betrays his trust.
  • This trait then gets passed on to Catherine, and her eventual patronesses. Her Token Evil Teammate on a leash (meaning traditional evil, in this case) is trusted with enough power to break free and set herself up as a serious threat in her own right tn the course of Cat's plan in Iserre, but chooses to use it as planned rather than seize it for herself. A similar moment happens much later, when a priest has the chance to usurp their god in its own right, but relinquishes it with the line "maybe tomorrow".
• While most Redwall books feature Starscreams among the villainous factions, pirate first mate Slitfang from Triss is fiercely dedicated to his captain, Plugg Firetail, and ignores multiple opportunities to betray him. Slitfang's attitude is likely because almost every other villain with power in the series will torture or kill henchmen over minor slights, inspiring plenty of animosity among their men), while Plugg is A Father to His Men who never does anything worse than kick one bumbling pirate in the rear.
• Marshall Roque Alva in Reflections of Eterna is the main reason the Ollar dynasty still keeps their throne, but he is perfectly fine with just being the first among their generals, actively resists all attempts to put the crown on his head, and will risk his life and honor to protect his sovereign, the current Ollar king. Whether he knows that he is a Rakan (i.e. a descendant of the previous imperial dynasty) by blood and the designated successor to the throne (by the will of the first Ollar king) in case the Ollar line ends is left ambiguous.
• In Robert A. Heinlein's future history, Andy "Slipstick"^note The nickname is perhaps worthy of comment. When Heinlein wrote the stories, every single one of his readers knew that "slipstick" was a slang term for a slide rule. Which itself may need to be explained nowadays; a slide rule was a fairly sophisticated but mechanically simple calculating device used by scientists and engineers in the days before computers and pocket calculators became ubiquitous. Libby earned the nickname for being able to do mental computations extremely quickly and accurately. Libby plays this role to Lazarus Long's captain. Specifically, in Methuselah's Children he is offered command of the ship, as he is the only person aboard who even begins to appreciate how the ship works at all, but he insists that he is not suited to command and prefers to be a staff officer. In that position, he carries out his duties admirably.
• Shadows of the Empire: Black Sun Vigo Vekker isn't the second in command, but one of nine equally ranked lieutenants in an NGO Super Power intergalactic criminal organization. He qualifies otherwise, though, as he's the only one specifically mentioned as being content with his position. In Shadows of the Empire: Evolution, he doesn't push to be Xizor's successor (which does him no good as he's framed for an assassination attempt on the newest Vigo and is targeted himself by Vigo Sprax in retaliation)
• The Silmarillion shows us that Sauron, is actually this. It is because he is goal-oriented, rather than self-indulgent: he wants the world to be in perfect order. He only wants power if he is clearly the one best suited to building and maintaining the New World Order: it is not a goal in itself for him. As long as his goals are met, Sauron does not care what his position is in the pecking order. Indeed, this is one of the reasons he is so dangerous: he is perfectly capable of sincere loyalty to someone else as long as that person is achieving his goals, and thus he can get even very wise people to trust him. Sauron only becomes the Dragon Ascendant when a laundry list of other possible New World Order leaders has been knocked off.
• A Song of Ice and Fire:
  • Ser Kevan Lannister is the non-ambitious yet highly competent younger brother to the powerful Lord Tywin. While set up as a yes-man with no ambition, it is revealed he followed Tywin because he believed his decisions were mostly right. A Dance with Dragons reveals that he fits this trope even better than previously thought; many characters (while acknowledging him as an exceptional Hyper-Competent Sidekick) believed he would be completely lost without someone strong to follow, but in the aftermath of Cersei's Epic Fail at ruling, he takes the reins in his own right (though not in name) and does an excellent job. This is why Varys murders him, to plunge the realm back into chaos.
  • The mighty Tywin Lannister himself is this to King Joffrey and later king Tommen. He even chides Tyrion for calling Joffrey "the most powerful man in Westeros". It's clear that Tywin effectively rules Westeros at this time, but does so on behalf of his grandson(s), i.e. his personal dynasty.
  • Similarly Eddard Stark was quite content to be Lord of Winterfell and rule the North, he never expected this position due to being a second son. When his best friend King Robert asks him to be Hand of the King he is reluctant, and only sees his position as adviser to the King, not realizing that under a lazy and incompetent king like Robert he effectively runs the Seven Kingdoms. Sadly his lack of knowledge on this and his lack of political experience, along with the corruption in King's Landing, lead to his arrest and execution for trying to stop Queen Cersei's family usurping the throne after Robert's death.
  • Barristan Selmy, the former Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, never sought any great political influence and considered doing so the worst thing any Lord Commander could do. After this, he serves as an advisor to Queen Daenerys Targaryen, and only very reluctantly agrees to act on her behalf when she goes missing.
  • in the prequel stories, Grand Maester Munkun becomes Hand of the King after Thaddeus Rowan resigns, but feels unfit to pass judgment over lords and knights due to his vows of service. He resigns as soon as he can.
• Star Wars: The Living Force: Most pirate gangs experience regular leadership changes and have little loyalty amongst the lieutenants, but Zilastra's right-hand man, Burlug, once led their gang before voluntarily stepping aside after recognizing her greater talent and ambition. He serves her faithfully even when their plans go poorly or her choices clash with his own morals and desires.
• In Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias Buckell's The Tangled Lands, Magister Scacz is the jealous last great Magister in the world. He can create a palace in the sky and roast armies with flames out of nowhere. He's addicted to using magic and cares little for day-to-day management of the city of Khaim. However he's happy to leave governance to the Mayor, a murderous and greedy man who won't use magic himself. Scacz is just as evil and likes the Mayor because of those traits. So long as the Mayor keeps purging the city of anyone who tries to use magic, Scacz will loyally do the Mayor's bidding.
• Rebel leader John Kelly in Victoria. A bright tactician and leadership talent who prefers not to lead, recognizing his fellow revolutionist Rumford's lesser experience but greater natural ability. He remains loyal to Rumford and the revolutionary cause throughout, and is happy to take less responsibility as Rumford matures into the leader role.
• The Vorkosigan Saga: Aral Vorkosigan. He does (reluctantly) take the top spot, as Regent of the Barrayaran Imperium, for sixteen years. He then hands off power to the young Emperor, right on schedule. (He does also accept a job as that Emperor's "right-hand man", faithfully serving him for many years more as Prime Minister.)
  The dying Emperor Ezar: [when offering Aral Vorkosigan the job of Regent] And you are the one man — the only man on that list^note of men whom Emperor Ezar claims have "a better right by blood and law to the Imperium of Barrayar than mine"; according to Ezar, Aral Vorkosigan is at the very head of that list who I am absolutely certain, by the scattered remains of Yuri Vorbarra, truly does not wish to be Emperor.
  Aral's son, Miles: [musing to himself about his dad] Admiral Aral Vorkosigan, space master strategist, conqueror of Komarr, hero of Escobar, for sixteen years Imperial Regent and supreme power on Barrayar in all but name. And then he'd capped it, confounded history and all self-sure witnesses and heaped up honor and glory beyond all that had gone before by voluntarily stepping down and transferring command smoothly to Emperor Gregor upon his majority. Not that the Prime Ministership hadn't made a dandy retirement from the Regency, and he was showing no signs yet of stepping down from that.^note He would eventually step down after suffering a heart attack, "retiring" to a "mere" Viceroyalty, and would continue to hold that post until his death from a stroke.
• In Warrior Cats, a Clan leader is an absolute ruler. Their word is law, and they are to be obeyed unto death^note  although being too forceful is considered a sign of poor leadership, because a strong leader can persuade rather than outright order. Graystripe ended up as The Creon to Firestar because he had to temporarily rule in his place, and the power he briefly held over his friends and family terrified him. Afterward, being deputy was enough responsibility for his taste.

Live-Action TV

• Babylon 5: Londo Mollari desperately wants to be this, and gives a near verbatim version of Creon's speech above to his aide Vir after turning down the role that would put him in the prime spot to be the next Emperor. Disingenuous as it may be (he knows that being Emperor will doom him and, for quite a while, his beloved Republic), he still fits the trope.
• Saul Tigh from Battlestar Galactica. He is forced to take command of the fleet briefly when Boomer shoots Adama, but it doesn't go very well and he happily returns command to Adama.
• Two characters from Breaking Bad fit the bill:
  • Mike Ehrmantraut is Gus Fring's Number Two and enforcer. He has no interest in running Gus' empire, preferring to quietly do his job and get paid so he can take his granddaughter to the zoo. So, he's justifiably pissed when Walter assassinates Gus over a petty dispute between them, throwing the whole operation into chaos and necessitating that Mike take on more administrative responsibilities.
  Mike: We had a good thing, you stupid son of a bitch! We had Fring, we had a lab, we had everything we needed, and it all ran like clockwork! You could have shut your mouth, cooked, and made as much money as you ever needed! It was perfect! But no! You just had to blow it up! You, and your pride and your ego! You just had to be the man! If you’d done your job, known your place, we'd all be fine right now!
  • Despite Gus asking him to learn everything he can about Walter's cook so he can replace the man Gus fears is an unstable loose cannon, Jesse Pinkman remains loyal to Walter, to the point where Gus acknowledges that if he has Walter killed, he'll lose Jesse. Jesse eventually grows to hate Walt's guts, but by that time, he's not involved with the enterprise anymore.
• Criminal Minds: Agent Morgan is this. The team's leader, Agent Hotchner, has to strong-arm him into taking the leadership position when the meddling bureaucrats try to break up the team. When Hotchner can return as leader, Morgan is genuinely relieved even though he did a great job as the team's leader. Morgan just hates the pressure of being responsible for other people: understandable since the team regularly risks their life on the job.
• Deus Salve O Rei: Prince Rodolfo is an Upper-Class Twit with no interest in gaining power because he'd have a responsibility to the realm and prefers spending his time partying, drinking and bedding girls instead. He is quite scared about the possibility of being king when his older brother Afonso is presumed dead since he he is aware that he would have been a Sketchy Successor.
• Zoe from Firefly fits this trope perfectly— she's always supportive of Mal, despite having had plenty of opportunities to take over (and possibly being a much better potential captain).
• In a story like Gotham where The Starscream is more the rule than the exception, Butch Gilzean stands out as someone who was fine being the underboss for Fish Mooney and later for Cobblepot even after the brainwashing effects wore off, and for the brief time he was in charge of the underworld, he seemed a bit out of water and less than enthusiastic about the responsibilities.
• Hogan's Heroes: While Sergeant Schultz isn't the second-in-command of the camp, being the senior noncom makes him Colonel Klink's main aide, and a few episodes mention that he could potentially take over the camp one day. This horrifies and exasperates Schultz, due to his laziness and his realization that whoever is Kommandant of the camp will constantly be manipulated, humiliated, and exposed to great danger because of Colonel Hogan's machinations. Of course, the one time a reluctant Schultz is forced into temporary command, he still gets Drunk with Power.
• House of Cards (US) has Frank Underwood's vice-president Donald Blythe. After Lucas Goodwin's assassination attempt puts Frank in the hospital, Blythe becomes Acting President under the 25th Amendment. He shows surprising mettle during his time as acting president (with help behind the scenes by Claire, of course), but has no interest in leading, and is happy to relinquish power when Frank returns.
• Zigzagged on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Dennis usually tries to fill this role for Frank in his various enterprises—acting as the middleman between Frank and the public so Frank's manners, hobbies, or troll-like appearance don't creep people out. It's often subverted because Dennis is not nearly as intelligent or suave as he believes he is, and he therefore commits just a grand a faux pas as Frank would have (when not dealing with other members of the gang, who he can and does play like a fiddle). Regardless, Dennis acts as The Creon in "Sweet Dee Gets Audited", "The Gang Hits the Slopes", and "Wolf Cola: A Public Relations Nightmare" (where he even remarks how he never actually receives any perks from taking on this position).
• Picket Fences: Sheriff Brock is asked to run for mayor in an early episode and is highly tempted by the power and a chance to do more for the town than its current mayor, but he eventually accepts that several recent failures as sheriff make him unfit for higher office.
• This type of Dragon outnumbers most others in Power Rangers; notable mentions:
  • Goldar from Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, whilst not 100% behind Rita Repulsa (except for the first season) is undoubtedly loyal to Lord Zedd.
  • Ecliptor from Power Rangers in Space stands out because he reared Astromena, and yet serves her for the forces of evil.
• Silo: Sam Marnes has been the Silo's top deputy for decades but has no wish to take the sheriff's job from his much-respected boss Becker, and even after Becker's death, Marnes refuses an offer to succeed his friend and plans to retire and become a shopkeeper.
• Silvio in The Sopranos, in his own words, always pictured himself as a behind-the-scenes advisor and, though his wife urges him to consider the possibility of taking over, very much does not enjoy his reluctant role as regent while Tony recovers from his gunshot wound.
• Star Trek: The Original Series:
  • Spock was a clear example of this during the show's original run. He did become Captain of the Enterprise at the start of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, but relinquished command to Admiral Kirk as soon as the mission turned from a shakedown cruise to Serious Business. At the end of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Kirk is demoted from Admiral to Captain (on account of having disobeyed orders in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock), meaning that he and Spock now hold the same rank— yet Spock still remains Kirk's first officer. In fact, they weren't even the only captains (by rank) on the Enterprise-A; Chief Engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott and (briefly) Helmsman Hikaru Sulu (before being transferred to command of the new starship Excelsior) also held that rank. While Kirk did have a decade's worth of seniority over all of them, having so many captains on a single ship was highly unusual.
  • In the episode "Mirror, Mirror", alternate-universe Spock is this too, claiming to have no desire for the Captaincy for the same reasons as the original Creon did— avoiding supreme responsibility while keeping much of the power. Plus, he is minimizing his profile in a society where Klingon Promotion is quite common. Mirror!Spock taking over at the end actually causes a major shift which reverberates throughout the Mirror Universe (unfortunately, to the detriment of his society).
• Commander Riker of Star Trek: The Next Generation is a famous example of this. During the many seasons and movies, he's been repeatedly offered his own command of various starships, yet chose to remain as second-in-command on the Enterprise regardless. He didn't want to be promoted to command of his own ship, because it would be a case of Kicked Upstairs; he'd much rather serve as the second-in-command of a prestigious flagship than command his own tiny ship out in the middle of nowhere. Additionally, it's hinted that Riker wishes to become Captain of the Enterprise, and feels that it would be easier to do so by advancing from first officer to captain, instead of getting shipped elsewhere and hoping he'd get transferred back.
  • In "The Best of Both Worlds", his entire subplot revolves around him learning to accept having command of his own, which he eventually does... only to be right back in the first officer's seat in the next episode (and for another whole decade).^note Out-of-universe, it was uncertain during the filming of part 1 of "The Best of Both Worlds" whether Patrick Stewart was going to renew his contract for the next season. Had he not returned, part 2 would have resulted in Picard's death and Riker becoming the captain of the Enterprise permanently. Whether Commander Shelby (who openly wanted to take the captain's chair from Riker) would have joined the cast, or Data would've been promoted in turn to be the new first officer, is less clear. He even sticks with Picard after the loss of the Enterprise-D instead of taking the opportunity to request command. Eventually, he does decide to accept command of the Luna-class USS Titan.
• On Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Major Kira starts out quite irate that the Federation placed one of their own people in charge after her people had spent decades fighting the Cardassians. She eventually turns around and becomes extremely loyal to Sisko.
  • At the end of Season 6, Sisko leaves the station to do some soul-searching. Sometime before Season 7, Kira receives a promotion to Colonel and also receives command of Deep Space 9. Nevertheless, she refuses to accept Sisko's absence as permanent despite pressure from Admiral Ross, and returns to her previous role as soon as Sisko returns. It should, however, be noted that the station is supposed to be under Federation administration, and Kira is not a Starfleet officer, making Admiral Ross's desire to have her take over quite inexplicable.
• On Star Trek: Voyager, Chakotay starts out as the captain of his own (doomed) ship, making his reassignment to first officer of Voyager something of a demotion. Nevertheless, he immediately becomes one of Captain Janeway's strongest supporters, and even makes it clear to his Maquis that he doesn't want them even thinking about mutiny.
• True Blood has Eric Northman, who is much older and stronger than the queen of Louisiana, but chooses to serve under her instead.
• In The West Wing, President Bartlett summarizes the concept when he tells Josh "I wanna be the guy; you wanna be the guy the guy counts on."

Pro Wrestling

• During Chris Jericho's run as the inaugural AEW World Champion, his Inner Circle associate Jake Hager showed no apparent interest in taking the belt from him, instead content with his position as the group's enforcer, only briefly pursuing the title when Jericho had already lost it to Jon Moxley and was more focused on captaining a feud against The Elite.
• For much of Evolution's run, Ric Flair was content being the Older Sidekick to leader Triple H and mostly focused on keeping the group together so the championship remains on HHH's waist. HHH betraying Flair despite his Undying Loyalty was notably the official end of the stable's (well, Tag Team by that point) original run.

Tabletop Games

• One sample Entitlement in Changeling: The Lost is Office of the Vizieral Counsel. It's an advisory position to the Freehold's ruler that's Loyal to the Position and be neutral from politics. In return, they are granted agelessness and better focus in resisting Derangements.
• Dungeons & Dragons:
  • The leucrotta are Mix-and-Match Critters that were first created by the Demon Lord Yeenoghu, and often end up living in packs alongside Yeenoghu's other creation, the gnolls. Despite being smarter, faster and tougher than a typical gnoll, leucrotta almost never try to lead a gnoll pack, as they feel it risks upsetting Yeenoghu's plans... instead they usually end up being a pet to a gnoll chieftain, allowing the chieftain to use them as steeds and offering tactical advice during battles.
  • Greyhawk: The Demon Lord Graz'zt has an advisor and servant named Verin, who is as loyal to him as it is possible for a demon to be. When Graz'zt was captured by Iggwilv the Witch Queen, Verin took control of his realm and successfully repelled several invasions by Graz'zt's rivals, but willingly stood down and returned power to Graz'zt when his master returned.
  • Forgotten Realms: Jergal is a variant, a former Greater God of the Dead who got bored with power and allowed mortals to steal most of his divinity. Reduced to a demigod, he serves his successor Gods of the Dead as a faithful seneschal, maintaining orderly accounts of each soul's final resting place.
• In the background of Warhammer 40,000, Malcador the Sigilite was the right-hand man to the Emperor of Mankind himself, and managed the entirety of the Administratum, the Office of Assassins and the Knights Errant, the forunners of the daemon hunting Grey Knights. While the Emperor had a more dominant presence managing the military and technological innovation that made the Imperium, Malcador kept the Imperium running through complex bureaucracy that would keep everything united. He also had considerable psychic powers and a very intelligent mind, capable of even defeating Primarchs with his powers. However, he was content with his position, and remained loyal to the Emperor until his death, sacrificing himself to the Golden Throne to give the Emperor time to duel Horus.

Theatre

• The Trope Namer is Creon of Thebes, Son of Menoeceus and brother of Queen Jocasta, a character who appeared in several Ancient Greek Dramas. In Sophocles' Oedipus Rex he defends himself against his brother-in-law Oedipus's accusations of treason by saying quite frankly that he's not interested in being king, finding it much more pleasant to be the one with the power and not the responsibility. However he does become leader of Thebes in Sophocles' Antigone, and sure enough, doesn't do very well. The name "Creon" (Κρέων) is in itself an ironic subversion, since it means "ruler" in Classical Greek. Other Creons (such as Creon of Corinth in Euripides' Medea) tend to simply be straightforward in-charge types representing power, rulership and authority.
  Creon: Would any mortal choose a troubled reign of terrors rather than secure repose, if the same power were given him? As for me, I have no natural craving for the name of king, preferring to do kingly deeds; and so thinks every sober-minded man. Now all my needs are satisfied through thee, and I have naught to fear; but were I king, my acts would oft run counter to my will. How could a title then have charms for me above the sweets of boundless influence? I am not so infatuate as to grasp the shadow when I hold the substance fast. Now all men cry me 'Godspeed!', wish me well, and every suitor seeks to gain my ear if he would hope to win a grace from thee. Why should I leave the better, choose the worse? That were sheer madness, and I am not mad. No such ambition ever tempted me, nor would I have a share in such intrigue.

Video Games

• In Assassin's Creed III, the Aquila's First Mate Robert Faulkner is explicitly described in his bio as having adamantly refused to ever command the ship, despite being more than qualified to do so.
• In Crusader Kings, any powerful direct vassal with the "Content" trait is likely to be this. The trait makes him much more fond of his liege, and thus far less likely to rebel or conspire. Players will often choose to take their vassals' heirs as wards, specifically to try and teach them to become Content - grooming the future generation to be nonthreatening to the liege's title.
• Alistair from Dragon Age: Origins. First, he's the most senior Grey Warden still alive in Ferelden, and should by all rights be the one in command of your party - but instead leaves control to the Player Character and even actively avoids bringing up the issue altogether (you can bring it up though). But much more than that, he doesn't even want to inherit the kingdom because leadership is not his thing; you have to talk him into it, if that's the route you want the game to take.
  • Seneschal Varel from Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening. He is effectively the ruler of Amaranthine while the Warden-Commander (you) is off adventuring, yet maintains his subordinate position.
  • Bryce Cousland, the PC's father if you're playing as a Human Noble, is perfectly content in being the Teryn of Highever and supporting King Cailan. Rumor has it he was offered the crown when King Maric died, but turned it down because he believed someone with Theirin blood should be on the throne.
  • Cassandra and Leliana were, by Dragon Age: Inquisition, essentially Co-Dragons to the pope, investigating the mage/templar war before the tragedy that kicks off the game. Being perhaps the most powerful and senior ranking characters and the Inquisition being largely their making by rights they should lead. Instead Cassandra has no interest in power and Leliana is content to play the puppet master and lead from the shadows, lifting The Inquisitor to power instead. Incidentally Cassandra and Leliana are two of the good choices to become the world's religious leader.
• The Elder Scrolls:
  • In Morrowind, Percius Mercius was formerly the Master of the Fighters Guild in Vvardenfell. However, Sjoring Hard-Heart took over and is leading the Guild down a very dark path as The Mole for the Camonna Tong, to whom he owes a lot of money (implied to be a gambling debt). Percius aids the Nerevarine in overthrowing Sjoring, at which point Percius is perfectly happy to let the Nerevarine run the show.
  • Following the events of Oblivion, Emperor Uriel Septim VII is dead and his only remaining heir, Martin, sacrificed himself to end the Oblivion Crisis. With no Septim on the throne for the first time in nearly 500 years, High Chancellor Ocato takes over as Potentate. As evidenced by Ocato exhausting every other option before taking over, he clearly preferred serving as a Number Two rather than being in charge himself. He performed well in this role, holding the crumbling Tamrielic Empire together for a decade before being assassinated by the Thalmor in a successful attempt to destabilize the Empire.
  • Brynjolf from Skyrim actually can be the Guildmaster of the Thieves Guild, but serves as Mercer Frey's, the current Guildmaster, right-hand man and yours after you complete the Thieves Guild questline and become the new Guildmaster. He even outright tells the Last Dragonborn that he is not interested in being a leader and prefers supporting roles.
• Ensemble Stars!: During the war, Keito was Eichi's right-hand man, his most trusted advisor and top enforcer. However, he did not join fine, the group they were working to empower - instead, he created a new unit Akatsuki which had the sole purpose of supporting fine, and was really an idol unit on paper only. When Akatsuki did start actually putting on performances, Keito as unit leader always held back so Akatsuki would never truly challenge fine. Eventually, due to becoming closer to the others in his unit (and in particular as a result of Souma's positive influence) Akatsuki does become fully independent, but by that point the war is over and they are simply competing with one another honestly. All of this is because Keito never really wanted to be an idol initially - he was really passionate about being a manga artist, but followed Eichi into Yumenosaki out of Undying Loyalty towards him. Similarly, Tsumugi (Eichi's left-hand man) was part of fine, but he never had any intention of challenging Eichi's authority; on the contrary, when he found out that Eichi had also thrown him under the bus as a scapegoat, his only response was to praise Eichi for such an intelligent move. (Eichi, who genuinely believed Tsumugi was using him for selfish purposes, was stunned.)
• Fallout:
  • In Fallout 3, Bob from the Republic of Dave is Dave's son and second-in-command. When the Lone Wanderer tries to convince Bob that he should run for President of the Republic, he refuses saying that he's fine just where he is. However in the same conversation he also says that he does want to inherit the presidency naturally from Dave some day, but only in order to make himself the Republic's dictator.
  • In Fallout: New Vegas, Benny's right-hand man Swank is stated to be "reliable and unimaginative" by Mr. House (IE, he likes his cushy job and is afraid of getting on House's bad side) and if told that his boss is making moves against House will help the player out by letting them carry weapons in The Tops casino and allow you free access into Benny's personal penthouse to snoop around for clues. If Benny dies, he'll happily states that this make him the boss
  • Porter Gage from Fallout 4: Nuka-World has no interest in becoming the Overboss of the Nuka-World Raiders, fearing that he'd be in the crosshairs of any Raider with the slightest inklings of ambition. Instead, he's content to let the Sole Survivor take the role after they kill the previous Overboss, Colter, in gladiatorial combat, and use his experience of working with Raider gangs to help you get comfortable in your new position.
  • Preston Garvey also seems to be this in the base game. He controls a huge portion of the Commonwealth Minutemen's remaining administrative duties, but gave away his actual position as leadership to you a few days after you saved his life and that of his charges. Both Justified and Lampshaded, as Preston admits that while he's not fit to be General, he knows that you are.
• Final Fantasy VII:
  • Cid. While he's older than Cloud, far more learned than Cloud (e.g. a science education and an accomplished pilot as compared to Cloud's Informed Ability) and arguably shouldn't have given Cloud leadership back after Cloud's incident... decided to do so anyway because being The Leader wasn't his thing.
  • Barret eventually becomes this. He's originally the leader of AVALANCHE and gives the orders to Cloud in the game's first act. However, by the time of Cloud's incident, he states that he thought he should be the leader, but realises that he isn't cut out for it.
• Henry Stickmin Series: Comes into play after the Rapidly Promoted Executive ending, where Henry becomes leader of the Toppat Clan. While Reginald starts off desiring to backstab Henry, in two Completing the Mission routes, Toppat 4 Life and Toppat King, he sees Henry put his life on the line for the clan and falls into this trope. He even lampshades it in the latter ending- when put in a situation to dispose of Henry with no witnesses, he refuses it and tells Henry that he's finally earned his respect.
• Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity has Sooga, The Dragon to Master Kohga and second-in-command of the Yiga Clan. Master Kohga is a bit of a bumbling idiot, and would rather spend his time napping and eating bananas than threatening Hyrule, but Sooga remains completely loyal to him regardless, and even sacrifices himself in order to let Kohga escape the Blights. The reason he is so loyal to Kohga is because when he was a young boy, he was almost half-dead and starving when he encountered the Yiga Clan. Master Kohga gave him food and took him under his wing, and thus Sooga is eternally grateful.
  Sooga: Master Kohga! Quickly, make your escape!
  Kohga: I can't split- you're my best lackey!
  Sooga: In that case... I will protect you, even if it costs me my life!
• Mad Max (2015) has Stank Gum, a particularly depraved example of this trope and second in command to the Big Bad, Scabrous Scrotus. He has no aspirations to greater power — as long as he gets to peel his victims like bananas and make accessories out of them, he's perfectly fine with his place in the post-apocalyptic world.
• Persona 4: Yosuke is fine leaving leadership of the party to The Protagonist, even saying he's "cool playing second banana". This makes him a Contrasting Sequel Main Character to Junpei, who, pre-Character Development, was openly jealous of the protagonist and wished he was leader.
• Executive Archer in Pokémon Gold and Silver is the effective leader of Team Rocket after Giovanni went into hiding. However, he is absolutely loyal to his former boss, to the point that his grand plan to hijack a radio tower is so that he can use it to broadcast a plea for Giovanni to return and lead them once more.
• Saints Row: After being killed by the Boss in Saints Row 2 and ending up in Hell's capital city of New Hades, Dane Vogel, former head of Ultor had an epiphany and realized that he was better suited to this trope, being a kingmaker rather than a king himself. So, by the time of Gat Out of Hell, in preparation for the arrival of the Saints upon their mortal deaths, he did everything he could to ingratiate himself including acquiring Lucifer's Cracked Halo to help Johnny and Kinzie topple Satan and rescue the Boss after they were taken captive.
• Sanada Yukimira of Sengoku Basara has all the personal ambition of a rock, having no desire to ever lead the Takeda faction because he finds being Shingen's second in command fulfilling enough. Shingen frequently tries knocking this trait out of him so he'll be a suitable replacement when he's gone.
• Six Ages has the sun god Elmal, who sort of got the role by default after his father's death. At first he was just protecting Yelm's empire from being splintered by various selfish usurpers, but after a while he realized Yelm wasn't coming back. This is why Elmal's people, the Riders, live in many tribes instead of one big city like they used to. Their true king is gone, so everyone can live wherever they want and however they want; Elmal only guides them from a distance. They are free.
• F.A.N.G. in Street Fighter V has an obsession with the number 2 and is proud of his position as Shadoloo's second-in-command.
• Central Officer Bradford from XCOM: Enemy Unknown is the loyal second-in-command to XCOM's mysterious Commander. His chance to take over comes when, canonically, XCOM's HQ falls to the aliens early in the invasion, setting up the Alternate Timeline that you play in XCOM 2. With the Commander MIA and XCOM reduced to a scattered guerilla resistance movement, Bradford assumes command to keep on fighting the aliens, but the moment the Commander is finally located twenty years later, he personally leads the rescue mission, then immediately steps down again to resume his old duties. It's never explicitly mentioned that Bradford doesn't want to lead, but it's clear that everyone including himself knows that the position of Number Two is where his true strengths lie, and he's totally okay with that.
• Shintaro Kazama in Yakuza serves as the Clan Captain of the Tojo Clan after his success in claiming the Vacant Lot from his power hungry Patriarch Sohei Dojima while Masaru Sera is considered the proper chairman as Kazama believed in controlling the Clan from behind the scenes is a more effective way to carry out his agenda than being the actual leader. His influence is great enough that Kazama was allowed to name the successor to the Clan in case Sera dies.

Webcomics

• Thomas in Between Failures outright says on multiple occasions how managers of the store only have 6 months before being fired, and whereas he is the longest running employee and the guy controlling everything with minor recommendations behind the scenes. Not only that, but he was offered multiple promotions and has turned every single one down.
• Feneris The Grey from Evon: He is the only member of The Cabal's inner circle (other than the Big Bad himself, Sevarian The Powerful) comfortable in his position and isn't looking to usurp Sevarian and/or other Cabal members to elevate himself. In fact, he thinks Sevarian's obssession with the title character is a waste of time and resources.
• In The Order of the Stick, Elan's father Tarquin and his team of evil former adventurers (the Vector Legion) have perfected the use and exploitation of this trope. One or two of them will work their way up to being top advisers to promising leaders and serve as the Man Behind the Man. If the nominal leader gets too big for their boots, or their subjects start to chafe under the dictatorial yoke, another member of the group will back a popular coup, kill the old leader, and install a new puppet. Rinse and repeat until your six buddies have controlled an entire continent for decades, despite constant wars and revolutions, all while never appearing to be the actual rulers of anything. Tarquin reunited with his old friends to set up this scheme after having first tried the direct approach and overthrowing a local king to seize the throne for himself. He barely escaped with his life when he was overthrown in turn by another conqueror within the year, and thus realized being the Dragon-in-Chief is much safer.
• In Schlock Mercenary, Chief Warrant Officer Thurl is referred to as one of the most experienced senior officers in Tagon's Toughs. He's also very insistent on not going any higher than Chief Warrant Officer, claiming that he'd quit on the spot if Tagon tried.
• Tower of God: The three Lords Mollic, Joochun and Flux, who govern taking turns while King Jahad is hibernating.
• In Weak Hero, each of the Yeongdeungpo Union heads has a respective Number Two. Though Forrest held little respect for Myles and was happy to take the head spot once he was excommunicated, the rest of the right-hand men are content in their roles; Jack respects Jimmy, Jared is an Opportunistic Bastard who prizes his connection to a Union head more than the position itself, and though not much has been seen of Dean and Kingsley, it can be inferred that they know better than to go against the two strongest fighters of Yeongdeungpo.

Western Animation

• Count Duckula: Igor spent likely centuries in the castle without a boss, but always chose to reincarnate the Count since he wanted him to be in charge and slaughter the peasants. That is why he is loyal to the title hero despite the fact that he hates his friendly disposition and that he spends most of his time trying to make him like his previous masters.
• In The Penguins of Madagascar, Maurice serves King Julien reluctantly, but never even considers taking over — even though he'd be much more capable. At least, except for that time he went mad because of eating (unknown to everyone at the time) spoiled lychee nuts.
• Donatello in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to his older brother, Leonardo. Being the smartest and most level headed of his brothers, he is instantly Leo's right hand man, giving mission intel and creating weapons for the team. Despite being the second youngest, he ranks over his other older brother, Raphael in the command structure due to Raph's quick temper and attitude.
• Transformers:
  • Cyclonus is smart, strong, and sane enough to rule the Decepticons outright or as a power behind the throne, but instead dedicates his life to carrying out Galvatron's every whim. Which is very wise because he saw what Galvatron did to the Trope Namer of The Starscream.
  • On the Autobots' side, we have Optimus's second-in-command, Ultra Magnus. Strong, brave, respected, and honorable to a fault, he's naturally the dying Optimus Prime's first choice to succeed him as leader. Magnus accepts the post very reluctantly, feeling he isn't worthy—and sure enough, he actually doesn't do a very good job because he's too inflexible. Yet when Rodimus becomes leader, Magnus goes back to being second-in-command and excels at it.
  • Soundwave from Transformers: Prime. Officially the communications officer of the Decepticons, he's unofficially Megatron's right-hand man and most reliable soldier, having been with him since the very beginning in the gladiator pits of Kaon. It's hinted that he's actually almost as strong as Megatron, but unlike Starscream he has no desire to usurp Megatron's position.
  • His original namesake from G1 is similar, following either Starscream or Megatron, depending on who's got command at that time.
  • In a bizarre twist, Prime's incarnation of Starscream himself ends up as this in the back half of the series due to Megatron giving him more chances than he feels he deserved and saving his life from Dreadwing, to the point where he's legitimately devastated when Bumblebee kills him in the Season 3 finale. He's back to basics in the follow up series however, out of anger at the revived Megatron disbanding the Decepticons and leaving him at the Predacons' mercy.
  • As the natural Mirror Universe inversion of his self-named trope, the Starscream of Transformers: Shattered Glass (2021) is an unfalteringly loyal lieutenant to Megatron. After he went into Self-Imposed Exile, Starscream sought him out to retake command of the Decepticons because he believed that Megatron alone was equipped to lead them (something that Megatron himself was significantly less confident in).
• Shego of Kim Possible is quite happy being the dragon to Draken, and the one time she does take over due to an alternate future version of herself she finds it too much of a bother and happily goes back to Draken.

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