Reasonable Authority Figures in Fan Works.
Crossovers
- In Avenger Knight, Commissioner Gordon recognises that the Hulk is fighting against the alien invasion and Nick Fury trusts Batman enough to let him go after the Scepter. Fury has also been turning a blind eye to Batman's activities over the past decade, recognizing that he's one of the few things keeping Gotham standing and keeping the incredibly dangerous criminals and terrorists there from turning their attention to the outside world.
- In Blue Moon, despite the Watcher's Council's traditional approach to the idea of a Slayer becoming a vampire, after meeting the Cullens Giles expresses satisfaction that they are not like traditional vampires and it is 'safe' for Bella to become like them after her wedding to Edward if she wishes.
- In The Bridge (MLP), quite a few of the higher-ups in Equestria are this, by logic of they wouldn't be in power for a long term without it.
- Princess Celestia might as well be this trope personified, having a millennium of experience and being forced to "grow up" very quickly after the Nightmare Moon incident. She managed to defuse an entire civil war from even happening with logic and comedy of all things as she knew force would only make things worse.
- Princess Luna is less experienced than her sister and can be a bit quick to the trigger if the situation seems dire, but once she knows who's on the side of good she unfailingly helps them.
- A good chunk of the elected officials like Mayor Mare and numerous nobles like Fancy Pants also keep a level head even with the chaos and confusion caused by the kaiju being revealed. Even Archduke Blueblood, while very haughty and smug, works to keep the situation as calm, rational, and clear as possible.
- The Dragon Emperor Prometheus in The Chronicles of Utopia Volume II
can always be counted on by the people around him to have a cool head on his shoulders and consider their words carefully before making a decision. Even when a major faction in his Empire seeks to stage a coup, he still considers things carefully and checks everything out before taking them on rather than flying off the handle in a rage. - In Contact at Kobol, while they are not the primary Colonial leaders as they were in canon, William Adama and Laura Roslin come across as this in scenes dealing with the Colonies’ leaders discussing the situation with the Tau'ri, each one recognising where the Tau’ri are coming from and offering a counter-argument to their associates’ expressed desires for war, even if they remain loyal to their people.
- Cycles Upon Cycles: Primarch Fedorian is this when Kerrigan announces her plans to absorb the Krogan into the Zerg and remove the genophage. While Matriarch Benezia is condescending about the whole thing and Dalatrass Lintron spends the whole meeting panicking, Fedorian is upset but realizes that the Koprulu Alliance has always kept their word, so they can be trusted here.
- An Extraordinary Journey:
- While they don’t trust the Cylons, after the Ori attack the Colonial fleet, Adama and Roslin accept their appeal for surrender, even if they make it clear that both sides will have to live on separate planets.
- When the Colonials, Cylons, and the SGC make a return visit to Kobol, Natalie (the Number Six leading the Cylons) asks that the Colonials give any Cylon found on Kobol a chance to surrender as they won’t know about the current situation, but accepts that the others will have a right to defend themselves if the Cylons fight back.
- Fate Revelation Online:
- Diabel (who survived his canon death due to Shirou) becomes the leader of the biggest guild in the game and the unofficial leader of the entire playerbase. He commissions news reports when needed, taxes the Front Line players (that is, the richest) to support the poor, and helps organize everything from mental health to child care. He sees himself as the "leader of the hostages," and works to balance playing Kayaba's sick game with not giving in too much. He's effective enough that Kayaba never has to directly intervene as he did in canon.
- Most of the Front Line guild leaders are like this, though Diabel is most certainly the best. Klein gathered a group of friends and launched a Magitek revolution, Lind is a bit competitive but takes her role as the leader of the tanks very seriously, Hanzou is weird but an incredible scout, and even Illya is an invaluable resource due to her magical knowledge—as long as you're willing to put up with her casual cruelty, she's a wonderful teacher. Diabel also notes that one of the few upsides of Illya's abrasive personality is that it makes him look much more reasonable in comparison.
- In Fractured, a Mass Effect/Star Wars/Borderlands crossover we get the usual inversion of the Citadel Council alongside extra-galactic newcomers like Admiral Adam Grayson. The Local Cluster Council and Federated Cluster Union appear to be this compared to the aforementioned Council because they recognize the Reapers as a legitimate threat as well. In the sequel, Admiral Allison Nimitz replaces Grayson in the military version of the trope, while Grayson becomes a Big Good bureaucrat who tries to push the Council in a less Head-in-the-Sand Management direction. Urnot Wrex remains one for his entire species—continually urging them away from pure Blood Knight tendencies. Wolf Schmidt offers plenty of assistance through advanced technology but considering he works for the Republic Intelligence Service he may have an ulterior motive.
- Guardians, Wizards, and Kung-Fu Fighters: Drake is the most sensible of the Rebellion's leaders by a significant margin, not that he has much competition. It says a lot that that remains true even after it's revealed that he's The Mole for Charles Ludmoore.
- In Harry Potter and the Alien Reality, when the British Government learn about the SGC during the program's first year in operation, Sir John Kerr, the British Ambassador to America, comes to the SGC and offers General Hammond a very reasonable deal to ensure that Britain keeps the Stargate Program secret. In return for a sizeable British presence on the base (including a British officer to act as General Hammond’s second-in-command, albeit sharing that authority with Jack O’Neill) and access to any technology developed by the program, the British government will cover 30% of the SGC’s expanded operating budget.
- In Harry Potter and the Ice Princess, despite his own plans for Harry, once Dumbledore is informed that Harry has become a ward of Arendelle, he accepts this decision and even accepts the Hogsmeade form signed by the King and Queen for Harry (after confirming it was only signed after they became his guardians).
- If Wishes Were Ponies: The UK government has no clue how to deal with not only being contacted by a world full of talking, magical ponies where things like magic and monsters are commonplace but with the realization that a secret society of (largely bigoted) magic users has existed under their noses for centuries. That said, they (namely Castor Searle) are pragmatic and professional in all of their dealings and manage to put the UK on good terms with Equestria despite the many differences. They even willingly allow Twilight to legally adopt Harry Potter, and manage to begin breaking some of Dumbledore's long-held (and incorrect) views about Muggles.
- It's Always The Quiet Ones: When Luna accuses two girls of stealing her mother's pendant, Professor Flitwick scolds them and Professor Snape for insulting her.
- In the Jackie Chan Adventures and W.I.T.C.H. crossover fanfic Kage (part of Project Dark Jade, like Queen of All Oni), Himerish is willing to give Jade the benefit of the doubt rather than assume the prophecy he saw involving her was inevitable. This continues into the fan sequel Shadows over Meridian, where while angry and disappointed when he learns exactly how Elyon and the Guardians treated Jade when she first arrived on Meridian, he doesn't chew them out on it like Luba. He also still believes that the prophecy can be averted, and is open to diplomatic means of dealing with Jade.
- Roderick Asta, the mayor of Riverdeen, has the best interests of his city's inhabitants at heart and is willing to cooperate with Phobos, especially after the prince offers respite to the recent problems stirred up by the fanatical rebel soldiers who're preventing him from informing Elyon about their harassment of his citizens.
- In The Lost Kingdom, the Blood King at least has the potential to be this, even if he still commits some relatively petty acts with his power. On the one hand, his treatment of Kilgharrah amounts to Disproportionate Retribution, as he cursed Kilgharrah to witness the end of his species simply because the dragon took part in a failed rebellion centuries ago, and even now takes action basically guaranteed to humiliate the dragon even after Kilgharrah has suffered for centuries. On the other hand, on a more personal level, when Dyson explains that he and his allies came to the kingdom to ask for the Blood King’s help curing their friend after Bo falls victim to a curse, the Blood King is impressed at the lengths they have gone to on Bo’s behalf and assures Dyson that he will cure Bo even if she turns out not to be his lost granddaughter, observing that she must be special to have inspired such loyalty.
- In A Man Like No Other, Steve Rogers serves as this to the new Avengers led by Katniss Everdeen/the Mockingjay, in contrast to Coin's attempt to control them; after the revolution, the new President of Panem allows the Avengers relatively free reign to deal with other problems in the country.
- Metagaming?:
- Bolvar Fordragon and Jaina Proudmoore both listen to Harry's explanation of Blood Magic before passing judgement on his usage of it. Though Bolvar is uncomfortable with the idea, he nonetheless follows Jaina's lead as that's the very reason he asked for her expertise.
- Elune proves to be so active in helping that Harry quickly admits to outright liking her despite his normal disdain for religion and gods. First, she gives Harry the benefit of the doubt despite sensing how dark he is. Second, her moonwells help rejuvenate both her followers and their alliesnote . Finally, Elune gifts Harry (through Luna) a chunk of metal from Azeroth's main moon and blesses his forge so he can create powerful enchanted weapons for a pair of night elves he's befriended. During the actually forging process, Elune uses her to keep Harry strong throughout the task, though she doesn't involve herself in the actual forging as it's not one of her domains.
- Mythos Effect:
- Primarch Quentius is literally the only Turian leader who realizes that trying to force the New Earth Federation to give up arcanotech (effectively gutting their military and technological bases) in favor of Element Zero technology and submitting to the Citadel Council as an associate race will not only cause a war but that it's a war they can't win.
- Prior to that Captain Jorus asks his commanding officer why they simply didn't warn the humans not to open a dormant Mass Relay instead of blowing up their ships. He's further frustrated when ordered to invade Shanxi, stating it will only escalate the situation.
- The Council itself, other than Sparatus, likewise realize that going to war with the NEF is a bad idea, and when it breaks out, keep their people out of it, making it clear that it's the Turians' problem, not theirs.
- The NEF leadership, in spite of how the mess started, was willing to open negotiations for a lasting peace, and even after the Asari envoy completely screwed up the conference, they were still willing to continue, although with the Turians directly.
- In The New Man: An Adam Smasher SI, David discovers to his shock that Adam is a hyper-competent, no-nonsense master of his craft who gives fantastic advice on more than just combat and corrects his shortcomings without being abusive. He even compares him favorably to the memory of Maine. Part of this is thanks to Uriel coaching Adam on social interaction, but not solely.
- The New Recruit: Both Agent Coulson and Nick Fury prove to be this. While it's their responsibility to find Matt Garetty before the rest of the government learn what happened in Seattle, Coulson treats Matt more like a lost scared kid (which he is) instead of a crazed and dangerous criminal (which he isn't). This approach, obviously, is what gets Matt to willingly join SHIELD. They even agree with his terms for joining (as they were all easily arranged or would likely have happened anyway).
- New Stars: Like in canon, Ed Mercer and Kelly Grayson (along with a majority of the Admiralty) are this.
- In The Odyssey Resurgence, despite the devastation caused by the Harvesters, Earth Defence Force's key leaders- including David Levinson, ex-President Thomas Whitmore, current President Elizabeth Lanford, and General Adams- all listen to and acknowledge the displaced General Landry's advice about finding alien allies in their universe. In return, when the alternate Thor comes to Earth to meet with Lanford and Whitmore to ask if either of them can speak for Earth when appealing to the Asgard for help, Thor accepts Lanford's explanation that Whitmore is the best-qualified person Earth can spare for negotiations after the devastation caused by the latest Harvester attack and assures her that he will support Whitmore's appeal to the Asgard High Council.
- In Over the Horizon, Lee Adama is explicitly this when an exploration team from the SGC arrive on Kobol and are captured by an expedition from the Twelve Colonies after they're mistaken for pirates; Lee is the only member of the team on Kobol willing to listen to the others' protests that they're from Earth and help the SGC make contact with Galactica to explain the situation.
- Point Me at the Skyrim: Test aside, Jarl Balgruuf was willing to listen to Victoria's plights despite her poor reception from the Whiterun guards and Irileth.
- SAPR:
- Ironwood qualifies as this for the Atlesians, giving them leeway to do what needs to be done and when dolling out punishments for wrongdoing always does so in a way that will be a learning experience for his students, as befitting his position as not only the supreme commander of Atlas's military but also the headmaster of its academy. In a break with canon he also orders rigorous cyber-security checks after Cinder infiltrates the CCT, completely circumventing the virus subplot of the original show.
- Though this is initially in doubt, Sunset eventually comes to realize that Ozpin is this as well.
- “Time’s Razor” soon establishes Laura Roslin and William Adama (Battlestar Galactica (2003)) as this in their dealings with the dimensionally displaced USS Defiant (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). When Admiral Cain tries to attack the Defiant and order the crew to submit for interrogation even though they’ve done nothing but help the Colonials against the Cylons, Captain Sisko has Cain transported off her ship and sent to sickbay for psychiatric evaluation. Once he has explained his actions to Roslin and Adama, both not only agree with Sisko’s reasons, but Roslin subsequently promotes Adama to Admiral so that he has the authority to better coordinate their efforts on behalf of the Colonial fleet.
- "The Turn", a crossover between Animorphs and The Mighty Ducks features Tanya musing that Wildwing would probably be this if he and the other Ducks hadn't been captured by the Yeerks early on. When the Animorphs end up on an Andalite spaceship and are initially dismissed by the ship's tactical officer, Tanya observes that if Wildwing was free and had the chance to meet the Animorphs he would have at least listened to Jake as he would recognise that Jake is the one with more knowledge of the Yeerk threat (Tanya privately muses that Wildwing wouldn't like the idea of children having to take point in a war, but she regards that as a separate issue).
- In Twice Chosen, once Rita has been defeated, Zordon agrees that the former Tributes can act against Panem’s current government despite Rangers typically not getting involved in local politics, as he recognises that the current society is too corrupt to continue. However, he insists that the Rangers should not use the zords to attack regular Peacekeepers, and the Rangers are also forbidden to take power themselves if they succeed.
- The Unexpected Rookie: Optimus Prime, Doc Hudson, and Sheriff all prove to be this, as the three of them manage to reign in the chaos that naturally arises when the Radiator Springs crew and the Autobots spend too much time together.
- "we'll bury these old ghosts here" looks at the characters of Brooklyn Nine-Nine in the aftermath of the Snap (Avengers: Infinity War), with the survivors including Holt, Jake, and Rosa. When the dusted are restored to life, Holt remains in control of the situation even when he had no idea such a restoration would be happening, delivering the following announcement to the precinct as soon as he can;"“If you believe it is 2018, welcome back. You’ve been dead for five years and have somehow miraculously been returned to life. No, I do not know why. Yes, we have redecorated in your absence. To those who know we are in 2023, stop squawking like roosters. You are professionals. Please remain standing and await my further instructions."
- In the Zootopia/The Flash (2014) crossover fic "Zootopia: Lightning", Mr Big is presented as a criminal version of this, as he serves as a kind of confidential informant for Nick and Judy when dealing with relevant cases that occur completely outside the norm for criminal activity. When the visiting Barry Allen wonders if Judy and Nick are ever concerned about being corrupted by that kind of association, Judy affirms that Mr Big recognizes that they’re useful allies to have in such unconventional cases and is also aware that she and Nick are too moral to be corrupted, which ensures he’ll never try that in turn.
- In Queen of Diamonds, while he was presented in canon as a good person but potentially eccentric as a ruler, the Sultan gets a chance to show more political skill here, such as explicitly telling Jafar that a good leader doesn't blame his subordinates for his failure when he learns that Razoul is in the dungeons for failing to find Jasmine's "abductor" in time. Later on, the Sultan listens to all arguments when he learns that there are two children in Agrabah’s dungeon, even if he genuinely disapproved of the act. After the final confrontation, when Genie apologises to the Sultan for his actions while Jafar held his lamp, the Sultan immediately affirms that he understands that Genie had no choice but to obey Jafar's commands, and also affirms that he will appoint Jasmine his official heir regardless of whether or not she marries (even if he also accepts her choice of Aladdin).
- Joyce Summers in Hurt Me is furious with Buffy and Xander for having unprotected sex and lays down some ground rules for their relationship. Most notably, they have to use protection from now on, stating that they're both sixteen and they really don't want to be parents at their age. Also, they can't have sex in the house while she's there. She's fully aware that a pair of teenagers will sneak off to have sex anyway so she's not going to waste her time trying to stop them.
- The Council in The Zeppo in Mind start generously paying the Slayers and the Scoobies once it's made clear that they're the reason the world hasn't ended yet and covers their various expenses so long as they keep fighting the good fight. As Giles put it, even the stuffiest of bureaucrats recognize the need to help those who keep the world spinning and that it's hard to hold down a job when you also have to save the world regularly.
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Game Mod, Beyond Skyrim: Bruma, has Bruma's Captain of the Guard, Adius Villius, is a patient, level-headed, polite, and overall friendly man, who assists the player on quite a few of the Bruma related quests, and covertly helps with hiding Bruma's Talos worshippers from the local detachment of Thamlor agents. Unfortunately, he is eventually found out by the Thalmor, who arrests him. Though alternatively, the Talos worshippers can be convinced to keep an extra low profile and stop worshipping Talos for the time being. Adius understandably feels conflicted about this, but he recognizes that it ultimately keeps the Thalmor away.
- What About Witch Queen? has one for each nation: Queen Elsa of Arendelle tries to use diplomacy instead of trying to freeze the entire conflict and plunge her nation into very cold war, Queen Lisa of Southern Isles is savvy enough to recognize an Evil Prince when she sees one, and scout captain appears to be the Only Sane Man among Weselton officers.
- Abraxas (Hrodvitnon):
- Colonel Diane Foster. Unlike Admiral Stenz, she learns more from her mistakes and she's open-minded. She decides to follow Mariko's advice that no one but Monarch should get their hands on Ghidorah's or Monster X's DNA after what Foster saw of the Artificial Zombies created from Ghidorah's DNA. She also looks to Mark Russell for ideas and advice before the Final Battle.
- Dr. Houston Brooks appears to be the one in charge at Monarch Outpost 61a monitoring Mothra, but the atmosphere among him, the Chen sisters, the Russells, and other humans at the outpost feel like a fair council. He also gets help from an outside source on researching Thor's galdr.
- Godzilla is one as the King of the Monsters. Despite his old hatred of Ghidorah, he keeps his reservations in check and doesn't jump to any conclusions in Chapter 9 when first meeting Monster X, and he not only hears out his Queen Mothra but also outright presses Thor for an explanation of what Monster X is.
- In Harry Potter and the Nightmares of Futures Past, most of the time the time-travelling Harry has to subtly manipulate the authority figures in his life to try and make them do the right thing, such as making false claims about childhood memories to get Dumbledore to consider the possibility of Sirius's innocence. However, Kingsley Shacklebolt is swiftly established as one in his own right when he learns the circumstances of Harry's rescue from the Dursleys, as here Harry was seriously beaten by Vernon, Kingsley ignoring the issue of the flying car and making it clear that he recognises that Ron's use of magic in the rescue (Mobilicorpus to move Harry from his bed to the car) was necessary to prevent further injury.
- In The Power of Seven, once Arthur and Molly learn about the reason for Harry's unconventional new relationships- he is now involved with seven girls at once (including Ginny) as part of a ritual to destroy the horcrux within him without just killing him- they take some time to think over everything before they conclude that Harry and Ginny are each old enough to make their own choices and accept the consequences of such an unconventional relationship.
- Princess of the Blacks: Madam Marchbanks tries to do what's best for Hogwarts and its students. Unlike Dumbledore, she harshly punishes students who horribly endanger others regardless of house, listens to the Head Boy and Girl's suggestions, and is willing to change policies if it's in Hogwarts' best interest. Unfortunately for her, she's not Dumbledore so close to half the school is dead set against her. Such actions include giving Fred and George four weeks detention for a prank that left several students injured after they offer no defense beyond "It was funny." She also allows Snape to hire a couple 7th year students to teach 1st and 2nd year potions, something Dumbledore flat-out refused to do.
- Luna's father tells Jen about how Bellatrix was a False Friend to him in school, causing Jen to assume he's trying to tell her to stay away from Luna. Xeno corrects Jen that he isn't holding her parentage against her; he's simply informing her that he doesn't trust her.
- Flitwick has been attempting to cultivate this image ever since Jen exposed the bullies in his House. He makes a point of no longer helping McGonagall with her duties as it kept him from helping his Ravenclaws.
- Averted with McGonagall who (unlike every other Head of House) is actually shown to be less trusting of her prefects, frequently demanding they do more, such as set up a study session or supervise a club.
- Scrimgeour is willing to overlook a few misdemeanors Jen committed while fighting Voldemort, though he does note a colleague of his wouldn't.
- Amelia is willing to work with Dumbledore and has suspended his arrest warrant until Voldemort has been dealt with. Should he toe the line until then, she won't press charges. Otherwise, she'll arrest him in a heartbeat.
- Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody refuses to act against Jen when it's obvious he doesn't have all the relevant information, citing that if it doesn't put you at risk to get more information, only an idiot thinks he knows enough. Moody compares doing otherwise to "sticking [his] head into a room before knowing if something's going to chop it off".
- Professor Slughorn in Wind Shear shows a great deal of levelheadedness and understanding, especially in comparison to Professor McGonagall, when it comes to Harry Potter. Harry's first lesson for his 7th year students in Defense Against the Dark Arts is to have them attempt to escape a trio of earthen constructs which he charmed to inflict no damage. Slughorn calmly discusses the matter with Dumbledore and admits that, given the current brewing war and that none of the students were injured, he's only bringing up the students' concerns while withholding his own judgment for now. McGonagall first storms into Harry's office to shout at him for his actions, then goes to Dumbledore (still shouting) about it when Harry dismisses her arguments.
- The Parts We Play:
- In an interesting way, Seneca Crane is this, starting with the minor detail that, unlike many Capitol residents being overly keen on touching a pregnant Katniss without caring about her opinion, Crane actually asks Katniss’s permission to do so. When having dinner with the families of the remaining Tributes, Crane asks for their thoughts on the Games and seems to genuinely listen to their suggestions for changes that might be made to future Games, such as adding secret stashes or a second Cornucopia so that lower-ranking Tributes could find resources themselves rather than relying solely on the original Cornucopia and gifts from sponsors (although he notes that such changes can’t be used for the upcoming Quarter Quell as it takes too long to design a field to make changes this soon).
- In as much as any of the past Victors have any authority, Finnick in particular is presented as this, having no problem assisting Haymitch in keeping an eye on Peeta during the Games when Haymitch is occupied, even though Peeta killed the female Tribute from Four in the opening bloodbath.
- The Victors Project: When Blight's father volunteers him against his will, Mayor Lourdes senses something is wrong and tries to stop it before Eamon quickly confirms Blight as the tribute.
- Queen of All Oni: When Nameless realizes that Jackie and the rest of the J-Team aren't evil, he quickly allies with them to stop the evils sealed in the Vault of Endless Night from escaping. Jackie lampshades that unlike the last MacGuffin Guardians (the Three Sages), he's actually willing to listen to them and work together.
- "Law and Disorder" opens with Kim being arrested for stealing the transportulator from Doctor Dementor and being faced with legal charges from Ron's cousin Reuben. However, when the case finally reaches trial, an attack by Shego and Drakken that is fought off by Kim prompts the judge to dismiss all charges, declaring that Kim clearly belongs out in the world doing what she does best rather than in jail for allegedly stealing from a known criminal.
- Destiny Intertwined: The Elder Guardians are this. When Hayze is nearly executed for trying to leave Warfang, they step in, making him a "prisoner" within the Temple where they have jurisdiction and lying about having him whipped in exchange. While Hayze does have to wear a collar to prevent him from leaving, he is treated the same as anyone else in the Temple.
- Enough Rope: Despite how they treated him, Tony Stark does his best to help out most of the rogue Avengers. In particular, once Clint calls him, Tony first apologizes for not keeping him appraised of things regarding the Accords then offers his help to get Clint a plea deal and makes sure he knows what Clint wants out of it, such as whether Clint wants to retire again or if he wants to be an international or United States only hero.
- Tony's Girl: Isiah Bradley (Ross' replacement on the Sokovia Accords Central Committee) asks Tony Stark to hold Wanda at the Avengers Compound, despite Tony's misgivings, because the last time Wanda was imprisoned, her rampage upon getting loose left nearly thirty guards permanently traumatized and one of them later committed suicide. While Bradley agrees that the compound isn't a prison nor meant to be one, the Avengers are the only ones who can currently handle Wanda if she breaks loose, and he's only asking Tony to keep her there temporarily until the UN can find a more permanent solution.
- What If: After taking over leadership of the Avengers, Colonel Rhodes refuses to play favorites (Steve notices that Rhodes tends to get angrier with Tony than anyone else despite being his friend) and spends some time trying to make Steve is second in command until Steve determine he's not actually suited for military life. Unlike Rhodey, Steve can't diplomatically speak with police or handle criticism from the UN who weren't present during a given mission. During the events of Spider-man: Homecoming, rather than continue to chew him out for screwing up, Rhodes takes the time to explain to Peter why the older Avengers insist on keeping him out of combat situations and is the reason Tony explains the "Training Wheels" protocol to him.
- Downplayed and discussed in Burning Bridges, Building Confidence. Principal Damocles is shown to be more reasonable than Ms. Bustier, being utterly taken aback when he learns about her blatant favoritism and Blaming the Victim. She gets suspended for this, pending an investigation, and while both girls involved in the incident are punished, he comes down much harder on Alya as the instigator. However, Cole's mother sees him as an Accomplice by Inaction, as he ignored the problem until his hand was forced on the matter, and she sees him as more concerned about the school losing face than anything else.
- Feralnette AU plays with this through Principal Damocles. Typically, his Selective Enforcement leaves much to be desired for everyone but Lila, who previously manipulated him into expelling Marinette on false charges. During the Birds of a Feather arc, she gets another shot at getting her favorite target kicked out again... only this time Damocles actually listens to Marinette's side of the story, hearing her out rather than letting Lila control the narrative. However, it's soon revealed that this isn't because he learned his lesson from the last time. No, he's favoring Marinette because her interest in boxing reminds him of his own youth, along with the little detail that Chloé made clear that if he expelled Marinette again, she'd sic her father on him.
- Leave for Mendeleiev: Unlike her Foil Ms. Bustier, Ms. Mendeleiev proves to be a tough but fair teacher who refuses to allow any bullying or harassment. When Chloé attempts to follow Marinette into her new classroom to prove that she can't get away from her that easily, Mendeleiev shuts her efforts down and makes very clear that she will not be cowed by her petty threats.
- In Miraculous: The Phoenix Rises, a Crapsack World where virtually all Adults Are Useless, there's Morgan's guardian Marvin Wilson. A fairly simple individual whose understanding of Morgan and her friends' struggles, patient, good in emergencies, and a protective parent of his adoptive daughter Moof. While he's reasonably concerned for Morgan given her secret antics, he's also aware of the horseshit accusations of her as a stalker.
- In The One to Make It Stay, Master Fu repeatedly demonstrates just the sort of patient support that Marinette requires. When she confesses to him how recent developments have made it harder for her to trust her current roster of temporary holders, rather than berate her for 'choosing poorly', he praises her willingness to address these matters instead of trying to fix them by herself or denying that anything is wrong. When she later balks at calling upon the Fox, Turtle, or Bee, he introduces her to the Zodiac Miraculous. Even when Luka figures out that she's Ladybug, he admits that the situation isn't ideal, but reassures her that he doesn't blame her while looking for a way to help address the problem.
- The fics Requiem and Gift from the God respectively feature Pharaoh Amenhotep and Queen Ahhotep learn that 'Nefer' was actually a woman; "Requiem" has Nefer-Tina survive long enough after Scarab's attack to explain herself to the pharaoh and "Gift" sees the Queen being visited by the goddesses Isis, Nephthys and Meskhenet to tell her of the future of her son's spirit. Regardless of the source of their information, the pharaoh and the queen each conclude that Nefer-Tina's service and skills in life outweigh this single lie and treat her as just as much of a Guardian as the other three.
- Prophetic: Ms. Joke stops by Izuku's apartment after the attack on Hosu, citing that he shouldn't be alone after such a traumatic experience. Once she learns that Inko abandoned Izuku, she accepts his pleas to not bring it up in court yet and instead offers for him to come live with her. Once six months pass, any court case against Inko will be an Open-and-Shut Case of child abandonment and Izuku can go over his options from there.
- Whispered Tribulation: Principal Nedzu, in sharp contrast to Aizawa. When he discovers that Aizawa and two other teachers went behind his back to accost, capture and interrogate Izuku, wrongly suspecting him of working for the League of Villains, he immediately intervenes. While the ongoing investigation forces him to keep Izuku in custody, he prevents Aizawa and his cohorts from torturing a 'confession' out of him, insisting that they wait until they can hold an interview with someone who's got a Living Lie Detector Quirk present. He also makes clear that the only reason he didn't immediately fire the three involved is because of the investigation; once it's completed, he serves dismissal papers to each of them and ensures Aizawa is given a psych evaluation while Vlad and Snipe are arrested.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- A Diplomatic Visit:
- Ambassador Swift-Pad, who is generally patient and understanding. Even when he does get angered, he does his best to explain why he was angered, and to teach the one responsible how to ensure they don't make him angry over the same issue again.
- Queen Tegmina is one of the most welcoming of the changeling queens introduced in chapter 25 and is more than willing to join in giving Twilight information on changeling matters.
- The Alpha is stern but fair, and willing to hear Twilight out. He is also able to calm her when he sees his words are starting to upset her.
- Chapter 1 of the sequel, Diplomat at Large, has Granny Smith - she hears Slice n' Dice’s story and is appalled at how her family reacted.
- Escape from the Moon: In the sequel The Mare From the Moon, Princess Celestia is one, accepting Spliced's gesture of fixing her broken nose in the spirit that it was meant, and being willing to hear her out about her past. However, upon hearing about her past, Celestia and Luna have a private conversation on their thoughts on Spliced, recognize the danger she poses and agree to handle her with extreme care.
- The Flash Sentry Chronicles:
- Grand Hoof, as the oldest living Royal Knight, often acts as their leader and makes decisions for the group. He also took on Flash as his apprentice when he was just a child, despite having lived on the streets most of his life, because he saw great potential in him.
- Soarin acts as one as second-in-command of the Wonderbolts. He is still perfectly friendly to those around him and is able to call out Spitfire when he knows that she is making a mistake.
- Friendship Is Magical Girls: When the Neighpon government starts to get an inkling of the Secret War between the mahoushoujo and the Changelings, the Chrysanthium Empress advises her ministers to not take any drastic measures against the girls until such time as they know what's actually happening, so as to avoid complicating matters or harming innocents.
- Mirror's Image: Celestia, as in canon. However, as flashbacks and the Princesses' own testimony prove, she wasn't this when she was younger, punishing and banishing ponies for minor slights, or even just irritating her. And by punishing, she usually just turned ponies to stone. And that's before the Fantastic Racism, the violence, or how she treated her old student, Chrysalis.
- A Moon and World Apart:
- After Sunset accidentally causes a panic when she sends a letter back home and triggers the Lunar Republic's magic-detectors because of the sheer power of the spell as a result, Shining Armor quickly takes charge of the situation. While his fellow security officers tried to have Sunset arrested on the spot and wanted to take her and Spike into custody, Shining is far more understanding, calmly but firmly questioning her and Spike on the spot, confirming that they're telling the truth, and letting them off with a warning not to do that again until they can recalibrate the sensors to account for it.
- Captain Flash Sentry of the Royal Guard is also reasonable after a near-clash in the Royal Palace that had the guards on both sides pointing weapons at their counterparts, calmly and privately talking things out with his opposite number afterward and confirming what he already suspected (that they were just doing their jobs and reacting with how their training said they should), and having a friendly discussion on their duties in general.
- The Pieces Lie Where They Fell:
- Principal Celestia, who is not only willing to give the group information, but employment at the school while they try to figure things out.
- In the sequel, Picking Up the Pieces, Deputy Commissioner Iron Gates is far more reasonable about a comparatively minor violation of rules than her superior; she's more interested in taking down any actual corrupt Guards who were abusing their position.
- Captain General Gentle Step becomes one and immediately orders her fellow Guards to help the Element Bearers once she finds out they're actually the good guys and are being framed by the real villain.
- The Pony POV Series has many of them:
- Celestia, as is to be expected, is this, generally acting in the absolute best interests of her subjects. Luna is a bit more harsh, but ultimately also this trope.
- Cadence is very kind and polite, both to her subjects and to her guard detail.
- Shining Armor is a firm Captain of the Harmony Guard, but is a kind and just one. His squad comes to consider him and each other True Companions and are genuinely enraged when they discover Chrysalis has brainwashed him into her slave, and if Cadence hadn't saved him, they were going to give it a shot.
- Most of the rulers Shining and Cadence meet on their world tour count. Including the Actual Pacifist Mother Deer, the Deer's true ruler.
- Queen Tiamat and King Bahamut, the Gods and Rulers of the Dragons, view their entire species as their children and are generally kind and good to their allies as well (of which Celestia and Luna are included). Though Queen Tiamat wasn't always this trope and needed to grow into it, while Bahamut always was.
- The Pantheon in general are lawful (the Alicorns) or chaotic (the Draconequi), but all of them are almost entirely good (with the exception of the Outer Concepts, but even they aren't very evil) and just desire to make life in the universe thrive and when encountered by mortals generally act respectful and nice.
- Havoc, the male Elder of the Draconequi, is relatively this. While he is the Anthropomorphic Personification of Fear itself and the Warden of Tartarus, he's generally polite, hears mortals out when he actually talks with them, and gives straight answers. He's also the Big Good for the CMC's journey during the Rumors Arc, doing his best to help them stop Discord's endgame plan. His wife is much less reasonable, but she's also the personification of Endings, and thus normally doesn't do much of anything until the end of the universe where she eats what's left after Heat Death happens. Even then, she's also the End of Suffering and hates the concept of suffering without end.
- The Alicorn Elders, Fauna Luster and the Father of All Alicorns, are the personifications of Empathy and Wisdom respectfully, with Fauna Luster literally being the mother of all creation and the Father being HEAVEN, so both naturally are this. Both answer questions without complaint, treat beings they meet with respect and kindness, and generally are kind and benevolent.
- The Stars Ascendant is about Celestia questioning whether she truly remains one after seemingly destroying Twilight Sparkle's confidence.
- In canon, Tsunade was this to an extent. In Guilt of Innocence, she is even more so:
- She not only acknowledges Sasuke Uchiha is a flight risk but acts to solve the problem before it's too late. Namely, at a very vulnerable moment in Sasuke's life. Even while buried in paperwork and directing the village's reconstruction, she takes her time to have a personal talk with Sasuke.
- Regarding Sasuke's mission, Tsunade gives him a special scroll that acts basically as a text messaging app through which he can report whatever he learns, get some news about the village and his friends, and vent when the horrors of Orochimaru's lair become too much. Additionally, she made sure to include Kakashi in the briefing since he is the only adult in charge of Sasuke.
- Later, when Sasuke's mission finally comes to an end, she gradually releases the news of Sasuke's mission so as to avoid unnecessary panic, prevent Sasuke to get attacked by an uninformed ninja, and let the village acknowledge him as a hero. Finally, she promotes him to ANBU operative as a reward.
- Finally, she acts earlier on her distrust of Danzo. When she catches wind that he's acted behind her back, she doesn't just confront him in a meeting with the other Elders. She also has Sasuke (disguised as an ANBU operative) use his Sharingan to register any slip or suspicious behavior.
- Koharu and Homura in The Scorned Son (unlike most portrayals that paint them as corrupt and/or Jerkasses) calmly listen to Sasuke's well reasoned and thought out argument of why he shouldn't be teamed with certain people (Naruto, Sakura, and Ino chief among them), then investigate the academy themselves to see if his argument is valid. As a result, they not only change the planned team structures but also advise the Hokage to restructure the academy in general due to slipping standards.
- Because Good Feels Good, Anko comes off as this instead of her usual Blood Knight portrayal in A Teacher's Glory. As she says, she's charged with not just teaching her students ninja skills, but proper behavior as well.
- True Potential:
- Contrary to his usual depiction in fanon, Hiashi Hyuuga is one. While he begins distant as usual, his views begin to change during the pitched match between Neji and Hinata. After the Invasion, he personally begins training the two, in hopes of convincing the clan elders to change traditions on the Cursed Seal.
- In a similar vein, Koharu and Homura are shown to be reasonable, if strict, in the limited screen time they get.
- Doing It Right This Time turns Gendo into one of these, to a point. He's got his own agenda that takes priority over everything else, but he's enough of a pragmatist to realise that working with the heroes is going to get him further than working against them.
- This Bites!:
- Smoker proves to be this by listening to Cross while he speaks of the corruption in the Marine Corps, and actually gives him a weapon to help him prove that "decent pirates" also exist. This is the germ that leads to the creation of the New World Masons.
- Iceburg quotes the trope by name as part of why he worked with the World Government.
- In Supernova, one of the Marine officers is notably reluctant to assign bounties to the Straw Hat crew given that so far they'd only gone after other pirates or horribly corrupt marines.
- Ths US and Canadian governments get this portrayal in Emergence. After learning about the existence of four superhuman teenage girls from another world, they aren't eager to dissect them, and are willing to help them find new identities and learn from them, even if one of them butchered several NAVY Seals.
- White Sheep:
- General Ironwood. He does the best he can with the facts presented to him and would be perfectly happy to give up Yang Xiao Long (who he semi-accidentally kidnapped), and he would be even happier to give her up when he is told that this would prevent the Grimm from ever attacking Atlas again. Unfortunately, propaganda about Atlas' invincibility means that the Council can't capitulate without looking weak to the people. He finally finds a way to fake a war with the Grimm to allow Atlas to save face while also getting peace in the end.
- Jacques Schnee, Weiss' father, surprisingly. Yeah, he's an asshole, but he's a predictable asshole. As long as your plans increase his profits, he doesn't particularly care what your goals are. The heroes get him onboard by offering him mining rights in the dust-rich Grimmlands, and when world peace is declared he retires, leaving the company in Weiss' hands.
- In The King Nobody Wanted, King Stannis tries to be this. How successful he is varies greatly depending on who you ask.
- In Robb Returns, Eddard Stark, upon learning about the incoming threat of the Others, is willing to make a deal with the Wildlings/Free Folk so that they can settle south of the Wall, even though he knows every one of his northern bannermen has a great dislike (if not hate) of them.
- Similarly, Mance Rayder, who intended to bring his people south of the Wall in order to better defend it, is willing to kneel to Eddard just so that he will help them.
- "A Road Not Taken" features Jack, Daniel, and Sam being childhood friends rather than meeting as adults. During this time, Daniel’s social worker, Janice Drake, is very understanding of his unconventional circumstances, trying to help Daniel get adopted and assisting his continued contact with Jack and Sam, to the extent that one family placement fell apart because they objected to Daniel having ‘military contacts’ even though he had shown no interest in joining the military himself and Janice Drake recognises the importance of his friends to Daniel’s well-being.
- In Turning Point, the future Tok'ra Egeria makes a point of being this to her subjects, acting more as a benevolent queen than the totalitarian ruling style of other Goa'uld. As a particular example of this, she refuses to just change rules she doesn't like the moment they're inconvenient for her but instead allows her subjects to make appeals to change certain rules if the situation arises. After Daniel (who is currently officially a slave in her palace) kills a free man who was threatening a woman he was obsessed with, Egeria would have been obliged by her existing rules to have Daniel killed, but various friends and family of the woman Daniel saved make an appeal to Egeria on his behalf, and Egeria retroactively alters her rules so that a slave can kill a free man if it is done in defence of another free person.
- In the What You Already Know series, despite having received a dose of ‘propaganda’ from Kinsey, President Hayes patiently listens to all of Daniel Jackson’s counter-arguments to Kinsey’s attempts to portray the SGC in general and SG-1 in particular as incompetent idiots. While Kinsey continues to try and press his anti-SG-1 agenda after the meeting, Hayes ends up forming such a high opinion of Daniel that he arranges for the archaeologist to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom and even muses that Daniel would receive the Congressional Gold Medal if it wasn’t for the inconvenience that the entire Senate would need to be told about the Stargate program for that to be permitted. As the series concludes, Hayes also agrees to Daniel and Sam’s request that, as a reward for the SGC’s victory over the Goa’uld, he grants Jack and Janet special dispensation to pursue a relationship despite Jack now being Janet’s commanding officer.
- Supreme Chancellor Obi-Wan Kenobi: An obscure law states that sitting members of the Jedi Councilor are Senators. A minor Senator, upset over the long war and Palpatine's incompetence in extending it, makes use of this to get Obi-Wan voted in as Supreme Chancellor. All his friends agree that he's going to be the best Supreme Chancellor the Republic has ever seen, and he's going to hate every second of it. Obi-Wan himself is shocked that while the Vote of No-Confidence in Palpatine is fairly close, the simultaneous vote to put him into power if the first motion passes never dips below seventy percent. They are proven right though, as not only does Obi-Wan put into motions to ensure it is actually possible to negotiate peace with the Separatists, but begins airing and dismantling all the legislature meant to take power from the senate and give it to the chancellor.
- Tarkin's Fist: President Jonathan Harris starts as this, listening to his staff and military advisors and relying on their advice to make decisions. He rarely dithers and looks for practical solutions to the problems he is presented with.
- In Crystal Gem Academy, Rose does not blame Steven's handler when the boy gets into a nearly fatal accident and reassures her that she won't be punished.
- Riding a Sunset:
- Optimus Prime is this, much like in canon. He agrees to set up the Autobot base near Brighton Falls so the 'bots can keep Charlie's family safe, and to share some Cybertronian technology with the U.S. government in exchange for allowing them to stay in the U.S. That said, he refuses to give them any of their weapons, as he knows that the country is in the middle of the Cold War and that bringing in alien weapons would possibly start World War III.
- Agents Fowler and Burns. While Burns wasn't very nice to Charlie and 'Bee in the film, here he's doing all he can to make sure that the Autobots are safe on Earth, though he (along with Fowler) stick to the rules and make sure that the aliens' stay is as legal and clean as possible. The two even make sure that Charlie is recognized as the official liaison for the Autobots, rationalizing that the 'bots are more willing to trust her (and that she trusts them) more than any other human.
- In Turning Red: Secrets of the Panda, Howard Mitchell is somewhat this. While still working for Jason as his second-in-command, he is a lot more honest and well-meaning than his boss, and only tries to kill people (including members of the Lee family) if he has no other option.
- In Before The Dawn, after the destruction of the Volturi and the subsequent vampire meeting in Forks, Tia is chosen as the head of the new leading coven, as she is shown to be open-minded and willing to listen to others, even experimenting with drinking animal blood where Aro refused to consider it (she does note that she's not planning to make the switch permanent, but Carlisle appreciates that she tried it out at least).
Others
- In the Uplifted series Erwin Rommel qualifies. As does Gerald Langer. Rommel is self-explanatory, especially in regard to his real-life actions, while Langer quite successfully manages the quarians and the first contact.
- Enemy of My Enemy gives us two: Administrator Amanda Jennings and Shipmaster Vtan 'Arume. Helped by the fact that the latter saved the life of the former's young daughter.
- In the fanfic Co-op Mode, the coach at Winslow is an odd variant of this, as he's not actually a good coach, being more interested in self-gain and personal success than his actual job - the man asked James if he would pass a Tinkertech drug test just in case he could enter the team for crying out loud - but as James is conducive to his goals, he ends up looking like this.Coach Shane: I'll be honest here. I don’t approve of steroids. But with the girls' track team bringing home medals, Blackwell wants the other teams to earn some trophies. If our football team doesn't start winning games, she’s going to make me do weekend training for the guys. And that would cut into my weekend plans. I think I can turn you into a decent running back or a passable lineman, but there's no point if you're going to get disqualified. So. Can you pass a drug test?
- In The Tainted Grimoire, Judgemaster Cid waits for proof of Vaticus' crimes before taking action against him.
- In the My-Otome fanfic, Oneesama, Miss Maria comes off as one. When Shizuru kicks off the plot by giving a Skinship Grope to her prospective room attendant Natsuki, Miss Maria tells Shizuru that she could expel her if she felt it necessary, but she won't because she believes Shizuru is a better person than that. Her alternative punishment- not allowing Shizuru to select a room attendant until she gains Natsuki's forgiveness- is meant to humble Shizuru, teach her a lesson, and get her to approach Natsuki as herself, not under the persona she's adopted as top student of her grade.
- Surprisingly, in soulless shell (Redwall), Leif is one. When a girl is accused of trying to kill one of his advisors, Councilman Arnold, whom she says raped her, he hears her out, tricks Arnold into confessing his guilt, and sentences him to death while exonerating her.
- Most of the Angel leaders in Sonic X: Dark Chaos, except for Metatron. They don't want the Metarex war to escalate, and immediately realize that Dark Tails is the biggest threat to the galaxy.
- In Mega Man: Defender of the Human Race, Governor Cochran and Governor Deacon, as well as President Henry, have helped and are helped by Mega Man at times.
- In the Saki doujin, So Hold My Hand One More Time, Masae Atago, coach of the Senriyama mahjong team, is this. In a flashback, she understands Toki's decision to withdraw from the individuals because of her health, saying that it's common for school aces to not go on to the individuals. Masae then tells Toki that she's mistaken if she thinks herself weak, advising her to believe in her strength, a lesson Toki comes to realize over the course of the doujin.
- In Origin Story, after Alex and Louise Harris are asked to leave a diner for picking a fight with a homophobic customer, the Sheriff's Deputy outside walks them to their car and advises them to get a hotel at the next exit so they won't have to deal with more bigots.
- The mayor of Luffy's village in A Different First Crewmember holds off on calling Garp when the Red Hair Pirates first show up and instead offer them all the village's money if they'll leave peacefully. Luckily, Shanks and the rest just want to unwind for a while and are even willing to pay for all the food and alcohol they consume.
- In the Worm fanfic Recoil, Taylor has encountered few enough Reasonable Authority Figures in her own time. When she comes back to the past, she finds:
- Nina Veder, part-time ship's doctor and psychiatrist, who takes her under her wing and sees about trying to find out who she really is (not going to happen) and fitting her back into society.
- Principal Woodbine of Winslow High School, a direct contrast to Principal Blackwell of her own time.
- Major (and then Lt Col) Brian Hamilton of PRT Intelligence, her boss and father figure.
- A Brighter Dark: Garon can count as one as, given his genuine affection for his children and his willingness to be up-front and honest to any and all questions. Despite many uncomfortable things about his actions, it is clear that he always has solid motivation for what he does.
- Note however that Good Is Not Soft.
- Rosario Vampire: Brightest Darkness:
- The elder angel who serves as Rason and Gabriel's superior is initially the only angel besides Rason willing to give monsters a chance and arranges for Rason to attend Yokai Academy to prove his point.
- Hothorne Tamaka, the director of the HDA. Unlike most of the others, he actually does believe that some monsters can be good and meets with Moka and Akasha in Act VI to negotiate. This contrasts him with his predecessor Jenner Rythmore, a Jerkass General Ripper who came right out and said he was just waiting for any possible excuse he could use to declare open war on the monster world.
- In The Outside, Aikuro (a tutor) slides between this and the closest thing that Ryuuko has to a Parental Substitute. He cares for her well-being and is worried about how much of an effect Satsuki's care has on her but does put his foot down when he feels need be, however, he did let plenty slide before that (i.e., not reporting Satsuki to social services sooner).
- Haruka in Love Hina: Like It Could Have Been initially tells Kitsune that she'll be evicted if she doesn't have her rent paid by the end of the month, including the three months back rent she owes, but when the due date comes and Kitsune is only a little short, she gives the younger woman an extra month to pay it off, knowing she'd been working her ass off.
- In Danny Phantom fanfic Resurrected Memories: Both Mr. Lancer and Mrs. Murray seem to be good at their jobs and only want what's best for their students.
- All Guardsmen Party: The Rupert, much to everyone's surprise. The Rupert tries his best to be a Benevolent Boss, but his Sheltered Aristocrat upbringing and the guardsmen's firm belief that officers without scars get others to do the dying puts up a barrier between them. The squad comes around when they realize he is both a good field officer and willing to listen to people with lower rank but more experience, and eventually decide that as character flaws go, it could have been a heck of a lot worse than "excessive idealism". When the Rupert's idealism gets his arm shot off by a heretek Magos he declines promotion, cementing the squad's respect, and the second time he shows up, they're genuinely happy to see him, though they still think he grumbles too much when they cause collateral damage
