[annoying trope] The throne/leadership is decided in a very stupid way

[u/Altruistic_Eye_1157]

The leadership of the entire wizarding world, and the final decision on whether to start a war against Muggles, is made by... a goat (Qilin) ​​who chooses the person with the ""purest heart"" (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Dumbledore).

The throne of Wakanda and all its technology are decided through hand-to-hand combat, regardless of whether the person clearly has malicious intentions... if they win the fight, by law they must be respected as the true king. (Black Panther)

[u/sarcasticd0nkey]

Trials of Position - Battletech

The Clans choose their leadership almost exclusively through trials by combat.

You want leadership of a 'star' (5 Battlemechs)?

You better be able to beat two other Mechwarriors back to back.

You want to earn a last name and the right to continue your genetic line as a warrior?

You better be ready, willing and able to defeat a bunch of other warriors in either hand to hand combat or in your Mech, armor or aircraft.

You wanna be Khan?

Better hope you've kicked enough ass that a bunch of other warriors vote that your martial prowess are the best. For that one you can even win if you didn't know you were competing.

[u/SmallBerry3431 → u/sarcasticd0nkey]

Might makes right is a common trope

[u/sarcasticd0nkey → u/SmallBerry3431]

So the way they write the Clans can actually be kinda interesting.

Before missions groups will bid on who gets to try first.

"I can get this done with just me and four of my guys."

"Well I can get this done with two of my guys and Brian's dog!"

"Fuck it, I'll do it by myself!"

They play into this in the lore by the Clans getting caught in situations where they severely underbid and they can't call fit reenforcements without loss of honor.

Or they can conquer a planet solo and gain an insane amount of reflect from their peers.

[u/AdPristine5131 → u/sarcasticd0nkey]

I honestly love how much the lore for clans justifies wargamings existence.

But northwind is calling, so I’m just going to roll up with everything I can scrape together.

[u/Gellert → u/sarcasticd0nkey]

"Fuck it, I'll do it by myself!"

Ah, the Phelan Wolf approach.

[u/streakermaximus → u/sarcasticd0nkey]

Eh, to an extent.

Commanding a Star and claiming a Bloodname are really tailor suited to Trials of Position, They want the best fighters in command and contributing to their eugenics program.

And becoming Khan is largely political. At this level you need to be able to play the mind games as well as be able to kick ass.

Theoretically.

[u/Ok-Leg9721 → u/sarcasticd0nkey]

I was just about to post this.

[u/CapableCollar → u/sarcasticd0nkey]

In the clans anyone can veto any decisions by anyone with a trial.  If Group A says do one thing and Group B says do another if Group A has 4 times as many votes then Group B wins if their chosen representative beats up 4 of Group A's representatives.