From the moment he shone a spotlight on Australia's incessant sledging 12 years ago, Graeme Smith has done things with a sense of confidence and defiance in terms of what was the natural order.
To the benefit of South Africa's all-conquering cricket side, now searching for a new captain after Smith's shock retirement after day three of the Test series decider in Cape Town, they've followed and it's worked incredibly well.
English captains came and went during Australia's recent decline in world cricket, but Smith has been a near-constant concern for the side over the past 10 years.
No longer.
"This has been the most difficult decision I have ever had to make in my life," Smith said in a statement after informing teammates of his unexpected decision.
Smith is playing his 117th and final Test at Newlands, the same venue where he made his Test debut in 2002 at age 21.
An infamous interview with a local magazine followed, which did away with the 'what happens on the field, stay's on the field' mantra.
Smith explained how Matthew Hayden "stood on the crease for about two minutes telling me that I wasn't f****** good enough", how Brett Lee vowed to "f****** kill" him and Shane Warne repeatedly swore at him.
It didn't wash with anyone in the Australian team, and would come to define his unyielding approach to the two sides' oft-heated rivalry.
Smith was appointed captain the following year, a title he would hold for 109 Tests to be the game's longest-serving skipper ever.
There were plenty of battles with Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke to follow, and he got the better of many.
The 33-year-old was a no-nonsense operator who typified South Africa's success - not one of his 27 Test centuries came in a loss.
Smith set an incredible standard over the past five years.
South Africa's most recent Test series loss at home came in March, 2009.
The No.1 spot on the ICC's Test rankings has not been up for grabs since August, 2012 - and it will remain that way even if Australia win the ongoing clash in Cape Town.
He lifted the Proteas to a landmark Test series win over Australia in 2008-09, the nation's first home series loss in almost two decades, and famously came out to bat at the SCG with a hand that had been broken by Mitchell Johnson.
The one achievement missing is a home Test series win over Australia, and barring a staggering collapse from the tourists on Tuesday that will remain the case.
In the current series, he has averaged 8.4 and struggled, dating back to the infamous dismissal at Centurion where Johnson made him look like a tailender with a fearsome bouncer.
He dropped Clarke on 26 on Saturday, a sharp chance but an error that proved costly as his counterpart added another 135 runs.
The signs were there.
Now, after 9,262 Test runs at 48.49 and a total of 347 international matches, the Irish citizen is expected to spend more time with a 19-month-old daughter in his wife's homeland.
AB de Villiers is the Test side's vice-captain and most obvious successor, although Faf du Plessis is skipper of the national Twenty20 team and his leadership is highly rated by Cricket South Africa.
