I fought against the Duke in the Great Wall War. I was betrayed by Tim. I went into the lower levels and destroyed the mosquitoes, and I faced Sister Sisto to save my child. Never once did I try to take power. But I was wrong. You don't need a hero. What The Wall needs is a queen! I will finally take the seat of power. You want my help!? Then bow!
— Cherie, Solar Opposites: "Terry's Big Cleaning Day"
Depending on whether you believe that leaders are born, not made, or leaders can be developed, the concept of leadership is arguably one of the most esoteric. Even Webster's dictionary refers to a leader as "one who leads or commands a group, organization, or country", which does nothing more than define "who" they lead. There is no such thing as a perfect leader, and those who end up being leaders tend to have significant weight attached. Leaders of people, leaders of industry, spiritual leaders do not actively seek out leadership, making it almost paradoxical. In a sense, much like heroes, leaders will be chosen when the time is right. Usually, they will accept their responsibility and title immediately, and... well, that's that.
This trope however, focuses on those characters who, for a long time, declined leadership positions, but eventually through extraordinary circumstances, like a Godzilla Threshold or Batman Grabs a Gun, either resignedly accepted or decided to face their destiny. We don't need to delve into how they led as a leader, that's an entirely different trope, rather, the focus is on an individual who previously, or repeatedly turned a leadership role down.
A subtrope of Reluctant Ruler. Obviously a character has to decline a promotion or refuse the call to be The Leader first in order for this trope to take effect. In some cases, their reasoning is based on The Peter Principle, that in their current role, they are the best, but as a leader, they will be substandard.
This is also Truth in Television, as many potential leaders refuse promotions either because they don't want the greater responsibilities or they believe they are not cut out for it.
Compare to You Are in Command Now, where one is made leader because the higher ups have died, and Klingon Promotion, where one is made leader because they killed the higher ups.
As many of these examples are spoilery, they will be unmarked.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- New Game!: While Hifumi is the most senior of Eagle Jump's rank-and-file digital artist by far (the next most senior is several years junior to her), her problem with social anxiety caused her to refuse any kind of promotion for several years. However, with the departure of Kou, the company has no alternative but to promote her to supervisory positions in several projects: first to chief character designer, then to the art director.
Comic Books
- Batman: Battle for the Cowl ends with Dick Grayson, who has spent most of his adult life trying to avoid becoming Batman's successor, reluctantly taking up the cowl, because Gotham needs a Batman and Tim Drake is too young and Jason Todd is too unstable.
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century opens with Janni Diver, the daughter of Captain Nemo, trying to make a life for herself in London, not wanting to follow in the family business of piracy. After enduring a lot of racism, sexism, and rape, the first book ends with her grudgingly taking command of the Nautilus and leading a rampage in London before departing to plunder the rest of the world.
Films — Live-Action
- The Godfather: Although Don Vito Corleone had hoped that Michael would avoid being involved in the Corleone crime family and even stated his desire to see him become a senator or a governor, Barzini's plot against the Corleone family which nearly killed Vito, and Fredo's weakness pushed Michael to get involved in the family business. Even after he fled to Sicily, his brother Sonny's murder eventually brought him back, where, eventually he took his revenge on the heads of the Five Families and the conspirators against the Corleones. At the end of the film we see the Corleone associates greet Michael as "Godfather", implying that he had finally ascended to the head of the Corleone family.
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Aragorn is Isildur's heir to the Throne of Gondor, and, given Isildur's decision to let evil continue by not throwing the Ring of Power into the fires of Mount Doom, opted instead to avoid his destiny to be the ruler of men, feeling that he would succumb to the same temptation. As such, he opted for a life as a Dunedain Ranger. Further complicating things was Denethor's refusal to step aside as steward of Gondor, and Boromir's hostility towards Aragorn during the fellowship. It wasn't until the Battle for Minas Tirith that Aragorn finally took up Isildur's sword and fulfilled his destiny.
- The Shoes of the Fisherman: A variation and inversion: Archbishop Kiril Lakota spends 20 years in a Soviet work camp, but is freed by the Soviet premier on the heels of a potential conflict with China that could escalate to nuclear war. When he goes to Rome, he is immediately promoted to cardinal by the Pope. Despite his request to receive a simpler mission, the pope refuses this. Shortly after the pope dies suddenly, at the papal conclave, a contentious series of deadlocked votes force the cardinals to elect Kiril as the new pope using spontaneous acclamation. Though Kiril pleads for them not to do this, he ultimately accepts the role of Pope, taking his own name.
Cardinal Leone: You must answer now. Do you accept election?Kiril: I accept. And may God have mercy on me.
- Star Trek: Generations: Kirk gives this advice to Picard when the two meet, as Kirk had chafed under the administrative and desk work of being an admiral saying that Picard being a captain of the flagship is where he can best make a difference in the galaxy.
Literature
- Arcia Chronicles: Throughout book one, The Dark Star, Duke René Arroy of Eland is prompted again and again to take the crown of Eland from his corrupt nephew, but he consistently refuses, as he still harbors hope of retiring from politics and going back to being a simple ship captain. It is only after witnessing first-hand the power of the Cult of Roigu that René acquiesces that he needs all the power he can get to fight them, deposes his nephew, and takes up the crown himself at the end of the first book.
- Hayven Celestia: At the end of Traitors, Thieves, and Liars Gert, whom Ateri had been grooming as his successor as captain of the White Flower II, refuses to take the job after he's forced to kill someone in a covert mission. Leading to Tesko becoming captain in the sequel The Captain's Oath. However, in the epilogue of the third book, Chain Unbroken, Gert finally accepts a commission as captain, of the newly captured pirate ship Jet Black Sword.
- I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level: Beelzebub (not the famous one; just a demon named after the former) had been voluntarily staying at the bottom-tier of the agricultural ministry of the demonic realm for 1,500 years, earning a reputation for being the Almighty Janitor. She was elevated to head the said ministry because all potential candidates for the post were found to be corrupt.
- The Lord of the Rings: Justified when Aragorn, heir of the long-lost royal bloodline, returns to Gondor. Although he's generally acknowledged as the rightful King, Aragorn defers his claim to the throne in order to avoid any leadership upset or Succession Crisis in the middle of the War of the Ring. He accepts the crown from the Steward soon after the war ends.
- In Outpost by Sergey Lukyanenko when things go downhill and Striker, two of his fellow squad members and one mercenary are the only people left at large, several times they ask Striker to take command and he refuses, reasoning that he doesn't have what it takes to be a leader. When, after going through botched rescue attempt, discovering the mercenary's true agenda and assuming the severity of the situation, he finally takes up the role, stating that he had to experience firsthand what he did, to change himself. Too bad it's just before things get really ugly.
- X-Wing Series: Wedge Antilles spends the first seven books Declining Promotion to general because he wants to stay in the cockpit rather than be chained to a desk. He finally accepts in Isard's Revenge after Admiral Ackbar points out to him that many of his subordinates in Rogue Squadron are taking it as an example and refusing deserved promotions themselves.
- Warrior Cats:
- In Bluestar's Prophecy, Oakheart is offered the deputyship (second-in-command and successor to the leader) when his brother becomes leader but declines it because he feels he hasn't earned it yet. Due to other books that came out prior, we know he eventually accepted.
- In the eighth arc, A Starless Clan, Frostpaw believes in the second book that Owlnose is meant to be the next leader of RiverClan, but he backs out when she brings him to the Moonpool for his ceremony since he feels he's not cut out for leadership. At the end of the arc, the actual next leader, Icewing, chooses Owlnose as her deputy, explaining that she knows he's learned a lot since then and she thinks that he's ready for it, and he accepts.
- The Wheel of Time: Cadsuane is such an individualist that she once disappeared for ten years to avoid being elected leader of the Aes Sedai. In the series Dénouement, after the position is vacated due to Heroic Sacrifice, four senior Aes Sedai corner her and make it very clear that it's her turn, much to her dismay.
Live-Action TV
- Blue Mountain State: Through the first two seasons of the show, Alex Moran was content with being the backup quarterback, putting in little effort during practice unless pushed out of his comfort zone. This drew the ire of his coach Marty Daniels and team captain Thad Castle. Although he did get sporadic starting opportunities in his freshman and sophomore years due to injuries, in his junior year Moran finally was thrust into the starting role — and by extension, temporary team captain duties with Radon Randell suffering a career-ending shoulder injury and Thad being suspended as a result of his arrest after the national championship. Moran initially resisted citing a preference to redshirt, a decision that was supported by the new offensive coordinator. It wasn't until Thad and Coach Daniels's wife Debra showed him the perks of the starting QB role and put his head straight regarding how much Daniels believed in him that he realized that he should be the starting quarterback.
- One recurring plot point in Star Trek: The Next Generation was that Riker, being an exemplary officer, was given multiple chances to captain his own starship. However, he would constantly refuse as his ideal captaincy was on-board the Enterprise-D and, even then, he felt wrong doing so because the one time he was captain, it was because Picard was temporarily assimilated into the Borg and it didn't feel right. By the time of Star Trek: Nemesis, he is ultimately forced into the captaincy of the USS Titan or he'd never become a captain.
Theatre
- Julius Caesar (Shakespeare): In Act I, Scene ii, as told by Casca to Brutus and Cassius, Caesar is offered a crown by Antony three times, only for him to reject it all three times. However, Casca dismisses this as mere theatrics before the people of Rome meant to conceal his ambition: he says that each of Caesar's rejections of the crown was "gentler" than the one before, indicating his belief that Caesar was ambitious.
Toys
- Transformers: Both the toy and expanded bios of G1 Ultra Magnus note that he'd make a perfectly competent leader of the Autobots, as his combination of intelligence, daring, courage, compassion, and raw power make him an excellent commander. Ultra Magnus himself doesn't see it that way, however, and often downplays his own leadership qualities. At best, he's content in his role as City Commander in charge of the Autobot fortress city of Autobot City and its guardian/ living core Metroplex. In The Transformers: The Movie, he reluctantly accepts the role of Autobot leader when a dying Optimus Prime directly appoints him his successor, but by the time of the third season of the cartoon, he's happily accepted the role of Number Two to Rodimus Prime.
Video Games
- Implied in Transformers: War for Cybertron when Optimus assumes command of the disorganized and demoralized defenders of Iacon in the first chapter of the Autobot campaign. When he insists his command is only temporary (as he's currently seeking the MIA Autobot leader Zeta Prime), Ratchet meaningfully repeats the word "temporarily?" and in response, Optimus changes the subject. Even when Optimus is able to recover Zeta's body and returns it to the Autobot Council, he still attempts to insist that they take charge until the Council Head bluntly demands to know if Optimus still intends to hide away from his responsibilities. Left with no other choice, Optimus finally accepts his role as Optimus Prime, so-called "The Last Prime".
Web Videos
- Critical Role: Downplayed. Percival de Rolo, eldest surviving heir to the throne, initially turns down ruling Whitestone after helping to free it from the Briarwoods, since he still had to much too do with Vox Machina and didn't see himself as fit to rule. He instead established a council to rule the city, similar to that of the capital of Emon. After the end of the campaign, however, he becomes part of said council as one of its noble members.
Western Animation
- Gargoyles: Flashbacks to ten years before our heroes were cursed, the future Hudson is the current leader, but is getting older and slower, so the future Demona thinks that the future Goliath should take over. Goliath keeps refusing, not wanting to betray or disappoint Hudson. It takes Hudson losing an eye in battle for him to realize that it's time to step down and tell Goliath to succeed him.
- Solar Opposites: Cherie repeatedly turned down overtures from the denizens of The Wall to become its sole leader. However, despite forming a democratic government, the political struggles of the Wall and the Bowinian Church resulted in her and her daughter escaping to the backyard. When she was called upon again to help fix the water crisis perpetrated by Albert, she again declined citing the need to protect her daughter and not wanting to get involved in politics. Later however she came in to save Montez, Gavin, and Sophia from Albert and his Basketballburgh guards. After the backyard caught fire, burning down Basketballburgh, destroying the grass, and leaving the Backyard desolate, Montez wonders who would take over as leader, citing the power vacuum and the desperation of the people. Cherie finally relents, demanding that the Wall denizens bow to her and treat her like a queen, if they want her help.
- Star Trek: Lower Decks: A variation; Beckett Mariner spends most of the series trying to avoid being promoted, preferring to stay an ensign. She is called out for her stagnation by choice, first by Captain Ramsey in "Much Ado about Boimler", then by Ma'ah in "The Inner Fight". In "Dos Cerritos" however, she gets her first glimpse of what it's like to be a captain, as the USS Cerritos is sucked into a dimensional rift that shows her counterpart, Becky Freeman, as captain of the Cerritos. As it turns out, her reservations about being a captain are somewhat vindicated as her alt-dimension counterpart (who became the captain of the Cerritos in a Noodle Incident) is a stern, militaristic jerk who terrorizes her crew through tossing them in the brig for anything that ticks her off (including being courteous), but who secretly plots to replace Mariner, wanting to be carefree and insubordinate again. Becky knocks out Mariner and takes her place, forcing Mariner to act as the captain for the alt-Cerritos while showing to the crew that her leadership style is vastly different and more compassionate from her counterpart's.
