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A story about a hero confronting a villainous organisation whose members became ever tougher as he closes in on the leader counts as Authority Equals Asskicking. A story about a contender rising through the hierarchy by kicking the asses of his rivals counts as Asskicking Equals Authority. The distinction depends on what type of story you're telling. Not to be confused with Authority Equals Asskicking, which often overlaps with this trope. For an especially delicious twist, the leader of such a group will be an X hater (misogynist, racist, anti-human, whatever) and of course, a person from said group will beat them sooner or later and earn control of the tribe. If a Mighty Whitey manages to defeat one of them (indeed, the plot often requires that he does this) the majority will acknowledge him as the new leader. One thing they have going for them is that they acknowledge the same strength in outsiders, as well. (It's a good thing they don't usually switch to the villains' side when the hero loses that second act skirmish.) These types will benefit both from their Darwinian upbringing and The Power of Friendship to easily massacre most enemy mooks.
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If they aren't evil, then expect them to swear everlasting fealty to the hero once he bests their leader in combat. Grunts will usually be sociopathic enough for the heroes not to feel bad about killing, but you can expect them to be especially easy to turn with displays of kindness because Machiavelli Was Wrong. It's especially likely for there to be one or two Starscreams hovering near the main bad guy. The Leader of such a group is usually the Big Bad/ Big Good and has Authority Equals Asskicking up the wazoo.