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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne

381 statements
69 feature instances
52 referencing feature instances

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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne	comment	Usually, the Regent for Life is the bad guy. We say usually because in these stories the rightful heir to the throne is usually a heroic figure, a nice if inexperienced youngster, or at least a decent guy who can actually claim legitimacy. While The Usurper is portrayed as greedy, power-hungry, and brutal, willing to exploit the regency to earn the prestige and influence to take power, at any cost. Problem is, sometimes the positions are reversed. The heir has the automatic advantage of legitimacy, but what if he's evil? Or just jaw-droppingly incompetent? Or jaw-droppingly incompetent and evil? Even if he is competent, what happens if the kingdom is facing a terrible crisis it would take a much better leader to deal with? This is the rare Succession Crisis in fiction where the rightful heir to the throne is absolutely not the person for the job. It can be the end of a regency (which now has, for the genuine sake of the realm, to be extended) or it can be the king dying and the heir turning out to be a childish charlatan or, even worse, actively malicious. In this situation, the other claimant has all the qualifications but none of the claim, making for a far more complex (and potentially grey) story. This trope can also extend into the overthrow of an evil or incompetent monarch, but only cautiously, it has to be another monarch replacing it rather than a non-monarchial La Résistance movement. This trope allows for an easily set up villain; since the late 1970s, most of the developed world has lived in democratic times and, unlike in the 1940s and beforehand where there were overt or implied religious overtones to rulership, being "in line to the throne" is not believed to make you deserving and capable of leadership. Setting up a character as someone who is born for the throne but has none of the skills or personality for the job makes for an easy Evil Overlord or other evil dictatorial figure for the hero to fight. Used as more than a cheap set up for a villain, this tool sets up a Socialist/Social-Liberal Aesop; its not the circumstances you are born into which should decide your position in life, but who you are as a person and how you react to those circumstances, and a system which bases its system of leadership selection around lineage is bound for failure. Historically, in Real Life, however, this trope is a mixed blessing at best. True, your current king may be an improvement, but he has set a precedent that the throne belongs to whoever can connive his way into it — often enough without the excuse that the current king is worse than he is. It can set the stage for decades if not centuries of civil war. Compare to Sketchy Successor.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_11b7db91	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_11b7db91	comment	Earl of Lemongrab of Adventure Time is this. He's a dysfunctional, socially inept, mentally maladjusted, overly-sensitive, obnoxious, rude failed science experiment who has the right to the throne of the Candy Kingdom because Princess Bubblegum made him specifically to be her replacement if something should happen to her. He's not evil - just a butt - but he obviously doesn't know what he's doing when he's ruling a kingdom.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_16fc4335	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_16fc4335	comment	Played with again in Oathbreakers from the Heralds of Valdemar series. The throne of Rethwellen is empty. The King's eldest son and designated heir is poised to take it, and he's a right bastard; the younger Spare to the Throne was an irresponsible philanderer but matured after running away to avoid being murdered by his brother and is now leading a rebellion to take the crown. The twist comes in with the fact that the Crown Prince is not necessarily the legitimate heir; ever since the enchanted Sword that Sings that's supposed to choose the king was stolen, the other members of the royal family vote on who gets the throne. If the protagonists can find the sword in time, and if it does indeed choose the younger brother, then the rebellion will have morality and legality on its side.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_18c0192b	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_18c0192b	comment	In the Farseer trilogy, Prince Regal declares the MIA Prince Verity dead in order to have legitimacy for his reign.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_1cbc1a59	comment	In Dragonheart, Prince Einon is a Spoiled Brat of a prince that thinks making war is fun. The first time he tries to participate in such an endeavor, during a peasant uprising, he almost dies; the result of this is that he's gifted with half the heart of a dragon. During the same peasant uprising, his father (a similarly nasty piece of work, especially to judge by the novelization of the film) is killed, making Einon a spoiled juvenile brat of a king with half a dragon's heart. He's functionally immortal so long as the dragon with whom he shares a heart remains alive, he's got the political power of the kingship allowing him to do pretty much anything he wants, and he grows up to become a full-blown sadist who happily cracks down even harder on the peasantry and personally abuses almost everyone around him. The alternative ruler would have been his mother, the kindhearted and sympathetic queen, but she just had to save her child. She quickly realizes what a mistake this was, and spends a large part of the next several years trying to undermine his worst plans, up to and including hiring dragon slayers to hunt down his benefactor.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_2192aeb3	comment	Fire Emblem: In Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, Agustria has recently gone from the wise King Imuka to his son Chagall thanks to a little royal patricide. Although Imuka was able to keep the four fractious lords in line, Chagall's very first order is disobeyed by almost all of them (with Eldigan riding to the capital in an attempt to talk sense, Macbeth taking advantage of war to raid the citizens, and Clement refusing to get involved at all). Only Boldor obeys, and then only because it suits his own agenda. It isn't until his kingdom is on the point of being conquered that Chagall realizes the Big Bad he's following only saw him as a useful idiot. Additionally, Chagall lives in paranoia and resentment of Eldigan, the one lord who is genuinely loyal to him, and may eventually have him executednote depending on player actions just for trying to point out that Agustria is not going to win a second war with Grannvale. However, the game also deconstructs typical answers to this trope, in that Sigurd's immediate response is to send his troops through Agustria and depose Chagall, which only succeeds in sending the kingdom even further into chaos and making everything worse. In Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, after spending the first chapter getting the "legitimate" heir on the throne of Daein (Pelleas), he turns out to be a kindhearted person... but very, very unfit for reigning, plus easily manipulated for the purpose of creating a world war. But in a subversion, Pelleas isn't really the real heir in the end, and the "legitimate" heir (Soren) never finds out. After Pelleas either reveals that he's not the legitimate heir or is tragically killed, depending on the path the player takes through the story, Daein winds up being run by the person who was actually the legitimate heir of the neighboring country of Begnion, Micaiah; she did find out the truth, but her Child Prodigy little sister Sanaki had been running the place pretty well, and she considered Daein her home more than Begnion. And if Pelleas is alive, he's said to have willingly left the throne to Micaiah to become one of her advisors, a "work" that fits him much better than actually being the King. It's implied that this trope is the reason Princess Camilla abdicated her claim to the throne in the Birthright route of Fire Emblem Fates: she believed herself to be this compared to her Teen Genius younger brother, Prince (now King) Leo, since their older brother Xander is now dead.note Which makes it interesting that one of Camilla's alts in Fire Emblem Heroes is a Camilla that did become queen, implying that in one timeline she decided she was fit enough to rule...or that she didn't have a choice but to rule.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_2268b84d	comment	In Shrek the Third King Harold dies, meaning that Fiona, and by extension Shrek, are rightful heirs to the throne. Neither really wants this position, especially Shrek, so he goes on a quest to find Fiona's teenage cousin, Arthur.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_22d74b2e	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_22d74b2e	comment	The Redwall book Mossflower has this in the form of Tsarmina Greeneyes. While her father Verdauga had a stern but fair rule, Tsarmina, his cruel and impulsive daughter, poisoned him in order to take the throne for herself. As Verdauga began to ail, Tsarmina took over and began demanding more than the woodlanders they ruled could produce. This caused the woodlanders to run from their rule, and so Tsarmina demanded more and more until eventually the castle and garrison is facing starvation because of her misrule. Her brother Gingivere most likely would have made a far better ruler, being kind and fair, but Tsarmina's cruelty and idiocy see the kingdom's downfall.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_2372359	comment	The Belgariad: Played with. Silk, or rather, Prince Kheldar, is the nephew of the childless king Rhodar of Drasnia and heir apparent to the throne. However, Silk likes and is good at trade and espionage, and is well aware that he would be a catastrophically bad ruler, to the point that one of the few things that genuinely frighten him is the thought of having to succeed his uncle. That his uncle is one of the handful of people he genuinely likes and respects is only icing on the cake. When Queen Porenn finally gives birth to a healthy baby boy, Silk and the rest of Drasnia sigh with relief.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_253e45cd	comment	The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell has Arthur as King Uther's Heroic Bastard son and Mordred as King Uther's legitimate but treacherous grandson. Unfortunately, Arthur is far too Lawful Good to make himself Regent for Life.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_25757379	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_25757379	comment	In the Bardic Voices series, Kestrel was the rightful king of Birnam after his uncle deposed his father, and the uncle has been sending assassins after the poor kid ever since despite the fact that he was suffering from Identity Amnesia thanks to a severe fever he caught while fleeing. It turned out that the father was taxing the people heavily and wasting it on personal luxuries while the uncle was ruling the kingdom wisely, and had been a neglectful father at best on top of that, and once Kestrel found out what was actually going on he couldn't Abdicate the Throne fast enough. And likely would have at the very beginning of the palace coup if his uncle had bothered to ask, for that matter.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_2d165a50	comment	In Ōoku: The Inner Chambers a Gender Flipped Shogun Tsunayoshi and one of her attendants Emonnosuke discuss the 'mandate of Heaven' theory mentioned below under Real Life. By the end of her reign Tsunayoshi believes herself to be this trope, and would welcome someone to kill her. It's unclear if she got her wish or if another trope motivated her murder.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_2f92f79b	comment	Richard III used this excuse for usurping the throne from his nephew Edward V — the latter was a child and so unfit to rule. The real Richard also cast doubt on Edward's legitimacy.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_383c39a5	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_383c39a5	comment	With This Ring: King Orin of Atlantis thinks that this is the situation in the city-state of Venturia, after the death of Queen Clea; her daughter Ptra was abducted from her in controversial circumstances at a young age, and has been raised in the city of Aurania, never even seeing Venturia since that time. To his consternation, however, it turns out that the Venturian crown is only usually hereditary, and the monarch actually has the right to appoint a successor — which Clea did, choosing one of her senior administrators who is both selfless and competent. (King Orin is upset because he's trying to increase Atlantis' centralisation, which Clea and her successor oppose; Ptra, raised in a different environment, likely would have supported his agenda.) It nearly sparks a civil war, before a referendum reveals that the populace overwhelmingly supports Clea's choice.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_468bebb0	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_468bebb0	comment	Discworld: Played With in Mort. There's nothing wrong with Princess Kelli, but she's destined to be an "average" queen. Meanwhile, Fate has decreed that her Evil Uncle, upon assassinating her, will unify the Sto Plains and usher in a century of peace. Mort (who saved her from the assassination) is dismayed at the unfairness of him being a "better" ruler even though he's evil. In Wyrd Sisters, Tomjon, the true heir to the throne of Lancre, has no interest in becoming king and wants to continue his acting career. The witches put Verence up as an alternative, claiming that he is Tomjon's half-brother, which is true. They see no need to point out that their shared parent wasn't the previous king but the queen, who got lonely while the king was fooling around with the peasant girls. Guards! Guards! introduces Carrot, who's the rightful heir to the throne of Ankh-Morpork — he's got a special sword, a Birthmark of Destiny, a natural charisma that would make even Morporkians break out in Spontaneous Choreography, and fulfills a prophecy about the king's return. The thing is, the prophecy never said anything about the true king taking the throne when he returns. Instead, Carrot joined the Ankh-Morpork City Watch and fell under the mentorship of Sam Vimes, a By-the-Book Cop and strict anti-monarchist, and Carrot has also noted that the city's current Patrician, Lord Vetinari, is doing an exceptional if cynical job running the place. So Carrot has never actually pressed his claim to the throne, even though everything about the Theory of Narrative Causality would indicate he'd be a perfect king because he'd prefer it if people followed orders because they were the right orders, and not just because Carrot "is good at being obeyed." That said, Carrot's not above using the implication of his Rightfulness to push the Patrician in certain directions for the benefit of the city.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_46d2ce9d	comment	The Man in the Iron Mask has King Louis XIV of France, who is bankrupting the country with unpopular wars and keeping many mistresses. His brother Philippe is kept prisoner to prevent him from claiming the throne.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_4f6c4ec5	comment	In Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn, Prince Bryan looks like a gorgeous handsome hero, but as you get to know him over the years, you realize that he's going to be a bratty jerkass king and a terrible husband to the narrator's sister, to whom he's engaged. Adding to the fun, the guy's very paranoid about being poisoned, so getting rid of him may be difficult.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_51f359bf	comment	Queen Anne's Legacy: To Catholics and many Protestants, Edward (Henry VIII's son by Jane Seymour) has a more legitimate claim to England's throne than his older half-brother Ambrose (Henry's son by Anne Boelyn), and is Henry VIII's true heir. Unfortunately for those people, a combination of his mother's smothering, Henry's favoritism of his older brother, and a overall sheltered upbringing means Edward grows up to be something of a self-centered Royal Brat who is completely unprepared to deal with the realities and sacrifices of rulership, on top of being a fervent Protestant that is obsessed with destroying all Catholicism in England. All in all, someone who no one with a lick of sense would ever want to be king, regardless of religion. When Edward finally decides to rebel against Ambrose, he struggles to find support in part because of this.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_526d4c5c	comment	Knights of the Old Republic: Your crew has to sort out a crisis on Kashyyyk (the Wookiee homeworld). Turns out Zaalbar is the younger son of the local chieftain Freyyr, exiled because he attacked his older brother Chuundar (and used his claws, a major taboo among Wookiees) after learning that Chuundar conspired with Czerka to have his own people harvested as slaves. Chuundar justifies this by saying Czerka has the resources to burn their forest to the ground, Czerka supplies weaponry and technology, and if a few villagers (including political enemies) get shipped off-world in chains, then it's a fair deal. He also sent his father into exile to keep the arrangement intact. Your actions determine how the mess pans out.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_52b6c04d	comment	A double dose in The Prisoner of Zenda. The legitimate ruler, Rudolf, is a drunken boor who is unpopular with the people. The Usurper, Black Michael, isn't the most charming or popular guy either, but at least he's competent and respected. But the impostor, Rudolf Rassendyl, puts them both to shame and would make a better king than either of them, prompting young von Tarlenheim's quote at the head of this page.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_5b075d7c	comment	Played with in Fable III. The player character is the younger sibling of the current king, who has turned out to be an absolute tyrant. The main focus of the game is to organize a rebellion and usurp the throne. But then there's a Halfway Plot Switch, you find out why your older brother was behaving that way, and as the new monarch it's now your turn to make the tough decisions.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_5cf2cc92	comment	Prince George in The Palace, though only in a potential sense. In Episode 8, Princess Eleanor starts a rumour about King Richard's possible illegitimacy so that he will be forced to take a paternity test before his coronation. She knows that if he is indeed illegitimate, she will become queen, as the Prime Minister would never allow the supremely unsuitable George to be Britain's head of state.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_5e150650	comment	In Exalted, the Realm is on the edge of civil war with the Scarlet Empress vanished. The Empress' eldest and most powerful child, Mnemon, would be a shoo-in for the throne (despite the fact that the Realm has no rules for succession; the Empress is supposed to be immortal), except for one thing: she's an absolute bitch at best, and Ax-Crazy at worst (Depending on the Writer). About the only thing the other factions can agree on is that Mnemon is not the one they want to take the Scarlet Throne, leading to it being occupied by an absolutely ineffectual Regent until someone decides to claim it for themselves.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_5fdebb9f	comment	Phillipa Gregory's The Cousins' War Series plays with this, portraying the Wars of the Roses from multiple points of view. Edward IV rightfully sees Henry VI as unsuited for the throne and a weak puppet king, so like his father before him, he has pressed his own claim to the throne. Henry's wife, however, sees Edward as an impulsive, immature Pretender who has usurped her son's rightful place, and on top of that Edward's brother George pretty much agrees with Margaret except he thinks he's the right one to replace Edward so he spreads rumors that Edward is not legitimate. Then, when Edward dies, his brother Richard finds evidence that Edward's marriage was invalid, giving Richard an excuse to take the throne from his Royal Brat of a nephew...and so forth. And then of course, there's Margaret Beaufort, who thinks her son Henry Tudor has been chosen by God to replace all of these people.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_5fdebb9f	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Cousins' War Series	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_5fdebb9f
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_60425b68	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_60425b68	comment	Guardians, Wizards, and Kung-Fu Fighters presents Elyon as this. She is the rightful heir to the Meridian throne both due to succession laws and due to possessing the Heart of Meridian. However, her selfish views on what makes a princess and her self-delusions about Phobos (whom she continues to trust and support) mean that as of this writing, she's currently ill-equipped to actually rule (even if she is still a vastly superior choice to Phobos).
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Guardians, Wizards, and Kung-Fu Fighters (Fanfic)	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_60425b68
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_625f8f3	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_625f8f3	comment	In The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Narsus and Daryum believed that Arslan deserved to be the king rather than his father who is a Glory Hound or his cousin who is the legitimate heir but has his anger issues and the thirst for revenge that can lead to disaster. While there is a question on Arslan’s legitimacy, it didn’t matter to his followers because his selfless and pacifist nature are good qualities of a king and that he will bring peace to both Pars and Lustinia.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_625f8f3	featureApplicability	1.0
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_625f8f3	featureConfidence	1.0
The Heroic Legend of Arslan	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_625f8f3
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_629cd094	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_629cd094	comment	Played with in Dragon Age: Origins, where Alistair, the resident Hidden Backup Prince, does not want to be king because he sees himself as this. He's got only the best of intentions, but he's rather convinced that he would be a terrible king. Subverted in that, if the player character forces the issue and insists he take the throne, he turns out to be an excellent ruler. The Dwarves are embroiled in a Succession Crisis, with Harrowmont, who was a close friend of the king opposing the scheming and vicious Prince Bhelen solely to prevent him from being the King since he sees him as this. Subverted if Bhelen becomes king: He rules as a benevolent dictator who brutally purges all of his enemies, including all of Harrowmont's surviving family in sequels but is also a progressive ruler who gives rights to the lower class.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_629cd094	featureApplicability	-0.3
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_629cd094	featureConfidence	1.0
Dragon Age: Origins (Video Game)	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_629cd094
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_64d851c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_64d851c	comment	Henry VI Part 1 Charles VII of France retakes his throne from the minor Henry VI with the help of Joan of Arc.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_64d851c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_64d851c	featureConfidence	1.0
Henry VI Part 1 (Theatre)	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_64d851c
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_64d851d	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_64d851d	comment	Henry VI Part 2 Richard, the Duke of York points out that Henry IV's claim was probably illegitimate, believes that he has a stronger claim to the throne, and conspires to rebel against King Henry. His son Edward completes the job in Henry VI Part 3
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_64d851d	featureApplicability	1.0
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Henry VI Part 2 (Theatre)	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_64d851d
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_6a8aff51	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_6a8aff51	comment	In The Stormlight Archive, King Elhokar of Alethkar does his best, but he is a Horrible Judge of Character, paranoid, too sheltered by Dalinar acting like a Regent for Life, and painfully aware that he's not a good king no matter how hard he tries. His older sister Jasnah is The Ace, but Alethi primogeniture rules that she's out of the line of succession, even when it becomes increasingly clear who the better ruler would be. It takes his death in Oathbringer and an ongoing apocalypse to get her on the throne, and she rapidly shows how much better she is even with Alethkar being under active siege.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_6a8aff51	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Stormlight Archive	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_6a8aff51
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_6ccb82e2	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_6ccb82e2	comment	Averted in Henry IV, Part 1, and Henry IV, Part 2. Prince Hal (the Prince of Wales) hangs out with lowlifes and is complicit in a robbery, but later defeats Henry "Hotspur" Percy who has rebelled against Henry IV in part 1. In Part 2 he reconciles with his dying father then arrests his former companions.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_6ccb82e2	featureApplicability	-1.0
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Henry IV, Part 1 (Theatre)	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_6ccb82e2
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_72146c5e	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_72146c5e	comment	In The Granite Shield, the rulers of a fantasy England are entirely legitimate, but also apostates who deny their divine status. A vicious civil war develops when a Royal Bastard is born and raised in the proper faith.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_72146c5e	featureApplicability	1.0
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Tales of the Branion Realm	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_72146c5e
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_72262aee	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_72262aee	comment	Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Fire Nation seems to have a system where the firstborn is the heir, but the reigning Fire Lord is allowed to pass him over if he chooses. Zuko, who is honorable even when he is a villain, is Ozai's oldest child, but eventually gets rejected in favor of his psychotic sister, Azula, forcing him to challenge her for the throne in the finale. In the Sequel Series, The Legend of Korra Queen Hou-Ting of the Earth Kingdom was assassinated by the Red Lotus in Book 3. Republic City wanted to set up Hou-Ting's nephew, Prince Wu, as the new Earth King. However, Wu a friendly, harmless, egocentric, and incompetent man child. On Wu's coronation day, Kuvira pointed out that Wu would be a Puppet King and declared herself the ruler of the Earth Empire. At the end of the season, Wu himself decides to reform the Earth Kingdom into a democracy, as even he realized he would be a bad leader.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_72262aee	featureApplicability	1.0
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_72262aee	featureConfidence	1.0
Avatar: The Last Airbender	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_72262aee
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_7d67d66e	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_7d67d66e	comment	Richard II was this due to his capricious incompetence, and was eventually deposed by his cousin who would become Henry IV.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_7d67d66e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_7d67d66e	featureConfidence	1.0
Richard II (Theatre)	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_7d67d66e
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_7de1376e	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_7de1376e	comment	In Wyrd Sisters, Tomjon, the true heir to the throne of Lancre, has no interest in becoming king and wants to continue his acting career. The witches put Verence up as an alternative, claiming that he is Tomjon's half-brother, which is true. They see no need to point out that their shared parent wasn't the previous king but the queen, who got lonely while the king was fooling around with the peasant girls.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_7de1376e	featureApplicability	1.0
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Wyrd Sisters	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_7de1376e
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_7e9d1a6c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_7e9d1a6c	comment	In earlier drafts of Frozen where Elsa was a Tragic Villain, her subjects would have considered her this as part of her Freudian Excuse. The full version of the Cut Song "We Know Better" has them spreading malicious rumors about her powers and darkly hinting that they won't allow her to become queen.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_7e9d1a6c	featureApplicability	1.0
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Frozen (2013)	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_7e9d1a6c
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_83d41855	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_83d41855	comment	As Gargoyles portrayed Macbeth in various flashbacks as much closer to actual Scottish history (aside from the living gargoyles and various uses of magic) than Shakespheare's play did, King Duncan was a tyrant, while his cousin Macbeth was a good king who only killed and overthrew Duncan after Duncan attacked Macbeth's domain first. Unfortunately, as in real life, it didn't last once Duncan's son eventually came back to return the favor.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_83d41855	featureApplicability	1.0
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Gargoyles	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_83d41855
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_84986bf9	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_84986bf9	comment	In RuneScape, a returning rightful king has done some unpleasant things in his attempts to claim his birthright. The nature of these things suggests that he is perhaps not the most benevolent potential ruler.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_84986bf9	featureApplicability	1.0
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_84986bf9	featureConfidence	1.0
RuneScape (Video Game)	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_84986bf9
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_89ce309d	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_89ce309d	comment	Macbeth: After Macbeth usurps the throne of Scotland, Macduff seeks out the rightful heir Malcolm, but despairs when Malcolm describes himself as a lustful, avaricious bastard who'd become The Caligula if he were crowned. Subverted when Malcolm admits that it was made up as a Secret Test of Character to ensure that Macduff truly wanted to put a worthy man on the throne, then joins Macduff's rebellion.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_89ce309d	featureApplicability	-0.3
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Macbeth (Theatre)	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_89ce309d
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_8aa7c509	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_8aa7c509	comment	Star vs. the Forces of Evil: In season 3 it's revealed that Queen Eclipsa's daughter Meteora was rejected by Eclipsa's ex-husband for being half-monster and was switched with a peasant girl named Festivia by the Magical High Commission. This means the (still-living) Meteora is the legitimate heir to Mewni's crown. And while Meteora would've probably grown to be a good queen if raised as one, as-is she's become a cruel villain who wishes to "reclaim" her throne by stealing the souls of all her subjects. In the supplementary guide The Magic Book of Spells, Jushtin was set to inherit the throne, but due to the matriarchal nature of the Butterfly family, was forced to abdicate when his sister Solaria was born. Except all evidence proves that he would have been a better choice — while he was a charismatic and likable young man whose later status as a diplomat secured two powerful allies for the kingdom, she was a genocidal, war-hungry psychopath who ignored all options that would result in a peaceful resolution. Had she not died in battle, the "Total Annihilation Spell" that Solaria was in the process of creating would've killed not only all of the monsters but also probably all of the Butterfly Kingdom's non-Mewman allies (since Demons, Pony Heads, and Seafolk are clearly are biologically inhuman, but are arbitrarily designed as non-monster species simply because they're allies). Dirhhennia was also disinherited in favor of Crescenta because of her poor magic abilities, mental issues, and obsession with spheres. It's hard to say if she would have been a bad ruler (as she didn't seem to be very interested in ruling anyway) but Crescenta was a petty manipulative tyrant...so she couldn't have been any worse.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_8aa7c509	featureApplicability	1.0
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Star vs. the Forces of Evil	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_8aa7c509
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_8d26774c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_8d26774c	comment	Played with in The Black Swan. While Queen Clothilde is evil, she's also a pretty good ruler. Her son Siegfried, the rightful king, is an incompetent moron with zero skills in politics or diplomacy (though admittedly, that's mostly because his mother raised him to ensure he wouldn't become a threat to her power).
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_8d26774c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_8d26774c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Black Swan	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_8d26774c
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_90e2f673	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_90e2f673	comment	BattleTech: Inverted with Thomas Marik. Probably the most capable leader the Free Worlds League ever had. He has no relation to the Marik family, and was a Body Double for the real Thomas Marik, who may or may not have been involved in running the League at all. Caleb Davion became the First Prince of the Federated Suns after he killed his father Harrison Davion when informed that his cousin Julian Davion would be named the rightful heir. Caleb promptly made a series of increasingly bad military choices that has led to the Federated Suns being in more danger of being conquered by its enemies than it ever has been before, and then was killed fighting the Draconis Combine. Julian is now returning to take the crown himself and presumably attempt a Big Damn Heroes moment.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_90e2f673	featureApplicability	1.0
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_90e2f673	featureConfidence	1.0
BattleTech (Tabletop Game)	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_90e2f673
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_93aaa684	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_93aaa684	comment	The Accursed Kings: After Phillip IV's death, his borderline Manchild eldest son Louis X takes the throne. He is quickly removed by the machinations of his aunt Mahaut, as is his son, to put his much more competent brother Phillip V, who also disinherits Louis' daughter Jeanne by way of salic law (the Frankish law in the Sales region held that titles could not be inherited through women). He's a good king, but the book skips ahead to his death a few years later, when he has only daughters and so the very law he used to secure his place requires that the throne go to his (just as bad as Louis) brother Charles. Charles also dies, leading to Phillip IV's newphew Phillip de Valois taking the throne, but Phillip IV's daughter Isabelle pushes her son Edward III as king of both France and England. While there's no question that Edward III is a competent ruler, none of the French want to be ruled by an Englishman, and so begins The Hundred Years War. Note that in reality, Louis died of natural causes and the idea of retroactively applying the salic law to the whole of France to justify excluding Edward appears to have been a Shakespearian addition, it wasn't actually mentioned in the court records of the time.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_93aaa684	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Accursed Kings	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_93aaa684
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_97bb943d	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_97bb943d	comment	Commodus from Gladiator. While his father Marcus Aurelius is preparing to revoke Commodus' right of succession (partially because he sees that Commodus is an Inadequate Inheritor), his death prevents him from going through with it, thus Commodus is technically his legitimate successor. Although admittedly said death happens because Commodus murders him.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_97bb943d	featureApplicability	1.0
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Gladiator	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_97bb943d
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_9d47a2a2	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_9d47a2a2	comment	A Song of Ice and Fire: Robert's rebellion against King Aerys Targaryen: no question Aerys is the rightful king, but he also has this nasty habit of burning people alive. This would have been averted in the case of his eldest son Rhaegar (at least as far as most of our POV characters believe), had Robert not killed him in the rebellion's final battle. After the rebellion, Ser Barristan gave this as a justification for why he accepted Robert's pardon and served him: while Aerys's son Viserys may have been the rightful king, he was also "his father's son" in many unfortunate ways. Following both Viserys' and Robert's deaths and Barristan's dismissal by King Joffrey, he reassesses his loyalties once more and goes over to Daenerys. Mentioned as part of the backstory in the discussion of what happened after the death of King Maekar. Maekar's oldest two sons both had children, who technically should have been ahead of their uncles in the line of succession, but who were considered "unacceptable" for various reasons. Renly tries to invoke this trope to justify taking the throne for himself. He has no legal claim, but he thinks he would be a better king than either of his nephews or his dour older brother. Subverted in that we really have no evidence that Renly would make a good king other than his own and his lackeys' belief. For example, Loras says of him, "He was the king that should have been. He was the best of them" — but that's his boyfriend talking. The few unbiased opinions we're privy to are much more skeptical about him: basically, he's charismatic and charming, but has nothing else going for him. It is also quite probable he knew his eldest brother Robert's children were not Robert's but sat on the information until it benefited him to publicise it. Tyrion Lannister spends much of the second book trying to make the kingdom a better place despite Joffrey, a sadistic Royal Brat who executes and tortures people for his own enjoyment. Joffrey's regent, Tyrion's sister Queen Cersei, is no better, and Tyrion actually resorts to drugging her with a laxative to keep her out of his way for a day. When their father Tywin shows up to take his place as Hand of the King and de facto regent, he may be a grade-A Jerkass, but his Pragmatic Evil approach still makes him a far sight better for the realm than Joffrey. The people who accept Joffrey and his siblings' illegitimacy generally view Stannis as the legitimate heir to the throne. While he would certainly make a better king than Tommen, he is a stubborn, self-righteous and inflexible man and he would not hesitate to sacrifice all and everything in Westeros to make sure what he sees as "the right thing" happens. His rule would be inaugurated by a bloodbath in which the nobility would suffer heavily, though the realm would probably be a much better place for the smallfolk. Later on, Stannis proves his mettle when he listens to Ser Davos define what a real king does: Stannis then responds by travelling to the Wall and saving the Night's Watch, in marked contrast to the Lannisters, who try and influence the Night's Watch election, Tywin even mentioning the Wildlings getting past the Wall might help their cause. In the backstory, the supporters of Daemon Blackfyre in the Blackfyre Rebellion saw King Daeron II ("Daeron the Good") as this. They were believers in Asskicking Leads to Leadership and preferred a warrior-king to the bookish but good-hearted Daeron. Daeron's father Aegon IV was also an example of this. He's historically known as "The Unworthy" due to his penchant for hedonism, promiscuity (he boasted of having slept with 900 women), petty cruelty, and just incompetence in general. Unfortunately, his better-loved younger brother Aemon the Dragonknight had become a knight of the Kingsguard, taking him out of the line of succession. Ironically, Aegon's father Viserys II was a very competent ruler who had served as Hand for his brother and nephews...but it is suspected his son poisoned him a year after Viserys succeeded to the throne. Fire & Blood also has the two kids of Aegon the Conqueror, Aenys and Maegor. Aenys is the first-born, but generally weak-willed and too eager to please, a bad thing when you need someone to solidify a dynasty in it's early stages. Maegor, meanwhile, is an Ax-Crazy kind of guy with a fondness for solving every single problem with murder.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_9d47a2a2	featureApplicability	-0.3
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A Song of Ice and Fire	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_9d47a2a2
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_9e2f90f4	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_9e2f90f4	comment	In One Piece, Wapol is the king of Drum Island but is such a Jerkass and The Caligula that he forced any doctor that didn't work for him personally off the island so the people would have to beg to him for treatment. When he fled the island when it was attacked by pirates, the people were happy to see him go. So happy that the idea of him returning puts the island into a panic.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_9e2f90f4	featureApplicability	1.0
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_9e2f90f4	featureConfidence	1.0
One Piece (Manga)	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_9e2f90f4
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_9fc6d946	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_9fc6d946	comment	Fire & Blood also has the two kids of Aegon the Conqueror, Aenys and Maegor. Aenys is the first-born, but generally weak-willed and too eager to please, a bad thing when you need someone to solidify a dynasty in it's early stages. Maegor, meanwhile, is an Ax-Crazy kind of guy with a fondness for solving every single problem with murder.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_9fc6d946	featureApplicability	1.0
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_9fc6d946	featureConfidence	1.0
Fire & Blood	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_9fc6d946
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_a535581a	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_a535581a	comment	Played with in The Emperor's New Groove. Kuzco isn't a very good ruler, and no one seems to miss him while he's gone, but Yzma isn't exactly any better.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_a535581a	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Emperor's New Groove	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_a535581a
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_a68c19b8	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_a68c19b8	comment	In Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, Agustria has recently gone from the wise King Imuka to his son Chagall thanks to a little royal patricide. Although Imuka was able to keep the four fractious lords in line, Chagall's very first order is disobeyed by almost all of them (with Eldigan riding to the capital in an attempt to talk sense, Macbeth taking advantage of war to raid the citizens, and Clement refusing to get involved at all). Only Boldor obeys, and then only because it suits his own agenda. It isn't until his kingdom is on the point of being conquered that Chagall realizes the Big Bad he's following only saw him as a useful idiot. Additionally, Chagall lives in paranoia and resentment of Eldigan, the one lord who is genuinely loyal to him, and may eventually have him executednote depending on player actions just for trying to point out that Agustria is not going to win a second war with Grannvale. However, the game also deconstructs typical answers to this trope, in that Sigurd's immediate response is to send his troops through Agustria and depose Chagall, which only succeeds in sending the kingdom even further into chaos and making everything worse.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_a68c19b8	featureApplicability	1.0
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Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War (Video Game)	hasFeature	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_a68c19b8
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_a9cb14fc	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_a9cb14fc	comment	In Ravenloft, the father of Nova Vaasa's Prince Othmar stipulated on his deathbed that a Regent should rule until Othmar was fully an adult, then specified that his son (whom he knew to be greedy, power-hungry, and ruthless) not be considered "adult" until he was considerably older than Vaasi custom dictated. Othmar did claim the throne eventually and has proven to be as corrupt of a ruler as his father had feared.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_a9cb14fc	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_aaede8b9	comment	In Magi: Labyrinth of Magic, the King of Balbadd says on his deathbed that he wants Alibaba, his youngest, illegitimate child, to take the throne instead of his eldest, Ahbmad; while Alibaba probably would have been reluctant anyway, the ensuing events cause him to flee the kingdom for several years. Ultimately, he overthrows Ahbmad but turns Balbadd into a republic. There's also a middle son, Sahbmad, but he's a Nervous Wreck with agoraphobia; he does help with the resistance against Ahbmad, but at one point Ahbmad actually threatens him by pointing out what Sahbmad would actually have to do if he tried to steal the throne away, which leaves Sahbmad completely terrified.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_b0af5a0e	comment	The country Ravka in The Grisha Trilogy is led by king Alexander III and his eldest son prince Vasily is his heir. However, the king is a rather incompetent, selfish leader and his son Vasily is exactly the same. Prince Nikolai uses this incompetence to convince people to support him as the heir over his brother Vasily. Nikolai has no legitimate claim to the throne since he is the king's second son (and also heavily rumored to be illegitimate), but he is way more competent than his brother and father and also very popular with the people and more importantly the military. Eventually Vasily dies in an unrelated event and Nikolai blackmails his father into abdicating, exiles his parents and becomes the new king. In the sequel series The Nikolai Duology, Nikolai proves to be a pretty good king, improving the lives of the small folk, modernising the military and keeping the country together despite the instability caused by the previous king. In a case of Surprisingly Realistic Outcome, however, people immediately start using the rumors that he's a bastard to try and replace him with a Lantsov cousin, and when they find good enough proof (his mother decides to testify) he realizes he can't overcome the issue. Instead he abdicates and convinces the Ravkan nobles to elect a new monarch, just as they elected the first Lantsov—essentially legitimizing the wrongful heir process, but taking himself off the board.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_b30ae4db	comment	Game of Thrones: Renly invokes this trope when trying to convince Ned Stark to support his coup for the throne, claiming his complete lack of legitimacy is less important than his own ability to rule. Viserys Targaryen also proves to be that: After his father was killed for being The Caligula, he became obsessed with getting his crown back from the traitor and usurper Robert Baratheon at any cost, proving not much better than his father, so most people were happy to accept Robert as king. Varys admits Stannis has the best claim to the throne, but that he can literally imagine nothing worse than Stannis sitting on the iron throne — which Varys says during Joffrey's reign. Varys says this not due to Stannis' principles but due to his reliance on (and service to) the dark arts. This ultimately proves very accurate, as Stannis goes on to become a Fallen Hero who loses his honor, his dignity, his family and ultimately his life.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_b370ddd1	comment	In the first film, Thor initially isn't ready to be king of Asgard because he's an immature, impulsive prat. By the second film, he's gained the maturity and wisdom required to be king but has matured enough to realize that he doesn't have the necessary ruthlessness, and voluntarily gives up his claim to the throne. He'd much rather be facing evil, protecting the innocent, and fighting the good fight than sacrificing others and having them die for him, however necessary it might be. And the throne is kept by Odin... or rather, Thor's mischievous and deceptive adoptive brother Loki posing as him. And then the third offers a much straighter version of the trope: Odin dies, and thus comes his first born Hela, an Omnicidal Maniac who decides to exercise her right for the throne through all the force (starting by exiling both Thor and Loki) and bloodshed possible.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_b63df301	comment	In A Rake by Starlight, the new Baron Tylaris is lazy and borderline incompetent (although he is smarter than he appears, that's not saying much), not to mention that he murdered his father. In an interesting twist, the rebels' plan is to create someone who has a better claim to the throne.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_b7b5e290	comment	The Haldane Restoration in Katherine Kurtz's Deryni novel Camber of Culdi. A younger son of the House of Furstan gets a small force from his father the King of Torenth, gathers other landless younger sons who don't fancy celibacy, and they overthrow the House of Haldane in neighbouring Gwynedd. After 80 years, the Festil-Furstan dynasty has degenerated, such that the latest ruler practices murderous tyranny and brother-sister incest. Camber and his family discover the last Haldane in a monastery, remove him from the cloister, get his vows dispensed, marry him to a ward of Camber's, activate psionic/magical powers in him, and help him overthrow the tyrant — and the new King never forgives them for it, leading to the terrible anti-Deryni backlash of the next several books.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_bed14674	comment	In the supplementary guide The Magic Book of Spells, Jushtin was set to inherit the throne, but due to the matriarchal nature of the Butterfly family, was forced to abdicate when his sister Solaria was born. Except all evidence proves that he would have been a better choice — while he was a charismatic and likable young man whose later status as a diplomat secured two powerful allies for the kingdom, she was a genocidal, war-hungry psychopath who ignored all options that would result in a peaceful resolution. Had she not died in battle, the "Total Annihilation Spell" that Solaria was in the process of creating would've killed not only all of the monsters but also probably all of the Butterfly Kingdom's non-Mewman allies (since Demons, Pony Heads, and Seafolk are clearly are biologically inhuman, but are arbitrarily designed as non-monster species simply because they're allies).
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_c02ce5b4	comment	House of the Dragon, a prequel to Game of Thrones, has this as the central conflict — King Viserys named his daughter Rhaenyra as heir, but his second wife has been trying to invoke this trope to get her eldest son with Viserys, Aegon, named heir. Ironically, all evidence indicates that Aegon would fit this trope, as while Rhaenyra is shown making multiple blunders due to her age and stubbornness, Aegon is totally disinterested in ruling (having been fine with his status as the Spare to the Throne) and is also a depraved Royal Brat and a Serial Rapist. Rhaenyra's second son, Prince Lucerys "Luke" Velaryon, feels he's this as heir to Driftmark, the Velaryon's main stronghold. Aside from the fact that he's not biologically a Velaryon (as his official/adoptive father Laenor Velaryon is homosexual and his biological father is Ser Harwin Strong), he's also understandably daunted that he's expected to succeed Corlys Velaryon, the most famed sailor in Westerosi history, as the commander of the greatest naval power in the world when he gets seasick at the mere sight of a boat. The issue is rendered moot when Lucerys is Eaten Alive in the season finale, beginning the Dance of the Dragons.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_d0c38d2d	comment	A Day With Bowser Jr: Bowser Jr is the heir to the Koopa throne, even he's the youngest among his brothers. The actual heir should be Ludwig. Or so we think; in Two Koopas for a throne (part 3), it's revealed that Ludwig and the other Koopalings are Bowser's biological nephews, not his kids, making Junior Bowser's only true son.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_d564aa82	comment	In the sequel series The Nikolai Duology, Nikolai proves to be a pretty good king, improving the lives of the small folk, modernising the military and keeping the country together despite the instability caused by the previous king. In a case of Surprisingly Realistic Outcome, however, people immediately start using the rumors that he's a bastard to try and replace him with a Lantsov cousin, and when they find good enough proof (his mother decides to testify) he realizes he can't overcome the issue. Instead he abdicates and convinces the Ravkan nobles to elect a new monarch, just as they elected the first Lantsov—essentially legitimizing the wrongful heir process, but taking himself off the board.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_d6e2146d	comment	Lord Wynton from Diablo III: Reaper of Souls is the rightful heir to the throne of Westmarch due to being of the bloodline of Rakkis, the founder of Westmarch. The main problem is that he's also an opportunistic bastard who seeks to murder King Justinian IV in order to claim his throne, plans on being even worse toward anyone who seeks to challenge his rule, and is doing this while Malthael's Reapers are going about on a genocidal rampage against humans in Westmarch, essentially making an already horrific situation even worse. It is little wonder that the Nephalem decides that he needs to be put down when they meet.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_db30cf92	comment	Warrior Cats: In Into the Wild, Brokenstar was the rightful leader of ShadowClan, but he was a completely malicious monster, who attempted to destroy the other Clans and killed kits. He eventually had to be driven out and replaced with Nightpelt, an elder. In Follow My Leader, one of the short stories in Code of the Clans, a dying SkyClan leader, Beechstar, names his son Maplewhisker as his successor. However, Maplewhisker is totally incompetent, and nearly kills many of his warriors before he is saved by Robinwing, a SkyClan warrior who makes him step down in favour of a better choice.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_e10d2c9	comment	Queens of Mewni: Like canon, Dirhhennia was forced to give up her claim in favor of Crescenta. Unlike canon though, Crescenta underwent Adaptational Nice Guy(thanks to this being written before The Magic Book of Spells was published), really was better suited to be queen than Dirhhennia, and there seems to be no hard feelings about the abdication. Many considered Princess Venus to be unfit for the throne due to her promiscuity, and many wondered why Queen Galaxia never disinherited her, particularly as Galaxia had clairvoyant powers and could see the future. Galaxia claims she was unable to see her daughter's future. Some speculate that Galaxia saw what would happen if Venus didn't take the throne, and decided Venus taking the throne was the lesser of two evils. Part of the anxiety Sky felt during her brief reign is because she knew some nobles regarded her as this and would have preferred her sister Etheria (who was briefly regent) as queen, but she didn't know just how many nobles preferred her. It's implied this anxiety, along with a lifetime of animosity between the two, is why Sky named Comet her daughter's regent as she died from complications of childbirth.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_ef6880c5	comment	In Long Live the Queen, Crown Princess Elodie's actions can paint her this way in the eyes of Arisse, the Duchess of Lilah. She's influential enough to be regarded by many in the kingdom of Nova as their second queen, and, up to a certain point in the game, she quietly observes how Elodie carries herself as a potential ruler. If she decides that Elodie would make for a weak queen, Arisse may garner the support of nobles from other duchies and declare civil war against her.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_ef7b3325	comment	In one Fantastic Four story, the team put Latveria's hereditary ruler, Prince Zorba, back on the throne, only for him to be as bad or worse than Doctor Doom. When they overthrew Zorba, Doom managed to take power again. Well, at least he's good to his people, sometimes. The Fantastic 4 were unaware at the time, but the reason Doom was Latveria's ruler was because he overthrew Zorva's father, Vladimir Fortunov, because he was an evil and opressive ruler, a Nazi sympathizer and a persecutor of Latveria's Romani population (Victor and his family are Romani).
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_f1bd343d	comment	The Raven Tower Discussed regarding Mawat, the famously Hot-Blooded heir to the Raven's Lease. His temper was one of the factors that led to the Council appointing his uncle as Lease instead of him, in hopes that a few more years or decades as Heir would let him mature a bit.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_f236a7c7	comment	Damodara in the Belisarius Series.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_f9b9dfe4	comment	In Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, after spending the first chapter getting the "legitimate" heir on the throne of Daein (Pelleas), he turns out to be a kindhearted person... but very, very unfit for reigning, plus easily manipulated for the purpose of creating a world war. But in a subversion, Pelleas isn't really the real heir in the end, and the "legitimate" heir (Soren) never finds out. After Pelleas either reveals that he's not the legitimate heir or is tragically killed, depending on the path the player takes through the story, Daein winds up being run by the person who was actually the legitimate heir of the neighboring country of Begnion, Micaiah; she did find out the truth, but her Child Prodigy little sister Sanaki had been running the place pretty well, and she considered Daein her home more than Begnion. And if Pelleas is alive, he's said to have willingly left the throne to Micaiah to become one of her advisors, a "work" that fits him much better than actually being the King.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_fb2991d8	comment	On Justified Theo Tonin is The Don of the Detroit Mob and everyone is too scared of him to challenge his rule. However, Theo's son, Sammy Tonin, is widely considered to be weak and incompetent and many of Theo's lieutenants would love to replace him as heir apparent. Quarles thinks of himself as Theo's adopted son and sees himself as the proper inheritor. However, his habit of abusing and torturing male prostitutes is too much for Theo to handle and he banishes Quarles from Detroit. Quarles tries to regain his position but is foiled when he runs afoul of Boyd and Raylan. Theo's right-hand man, Nicky Augustine, is the next potential usurper but he also makes the mistake of going after Raylan and Sammy uses this to discredit Nicky and then have him killed. When Theo is forced to flee the country, Sammy is finally put in charge and is so incompetent that the once ultra-powerful Detroit Mob falls apart and is destroyed by its rivals.
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The Wrongful Heir to the Throne / int_fe5f7909	comment	Guards! Guards! introduces Carrot, who's the rightful heir to the throne of Ankh-Morpork — he's got a special sword, a Birthmark of Destiny, a natural charisma that would make even Morporkians break out in Spontaneous Choreography, and fulfills a prophecy about the king's return. The thing is, the prophecy never said anything about the true king taking the throne when he returns. Instead, Carrot joined the Ankh-Morpork City Watch and fell under the mentorship of Sam Vimes, a By-the-Book Cop and strict anti-monarchist, and Carrot has also noted that the city's current Patrician, Lord Vetinari, is doing an exceptional if cynical job running the place. So Carrot has never actually pressed his claim to the throne, even though everything about the Theory of Narrative Causality would indicate he'd be a perfect king because he'd prefer it if people followed orders because they were the right orders, and not just because Carrot "is good at being obeyed." That said, Carrot's not above using the implication of his Rightfulness to push the Patrician in certain directions for the benefit of the city.
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

The Wrongful Heir to the Throne	processingCategory2	Royalty and Nobility Tropes
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne	processingCategory2	Villains
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne	processingCategory2	Will and Inheritance Tropes
Code Geass / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Search (Comic Book) / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Les LÃ©gendaires (Comic Book) / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
My Inner Life / Fan Fic / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Guardians, Wizards, and Kung-Fu Fighters (Fanfic) / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Nymeria's War (Fanfic) / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Shadows over Meridian (Fanfic) / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Kings of Winter (Fanfic) / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Caligula / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Kagemusha / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Greatest Story Ever Told / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Prisoner of Zenda / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Thor: Ragnarok / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Thor: The Dark World / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Fire Emblem (Franchise) / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Hohenzollern Empire (Lets Play) / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Bardic Voices / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Black Leopard, Red Wolf / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Dalziel and Pascoe / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Deryni / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Earth's Children / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Legend of the Galactic Heroes / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Magic Kingdom of Landover / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Magpie Murders / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Pay Me, Bug! / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Polar Nights: Cast into Darkness / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Railhead / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Summers at Castle Auburn / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The French Lieutenant's Woman / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Goblin Emperor / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Pillars of Reality / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Prisoner of Zenda / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
LouisXIV	seeAlso	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Hanasakeru Seishounen (Manga) / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Ōoku: The Inner Chambers (Manga) / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
The Royal Tutor (Manga) / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Edward the Seventh / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
House of the Dragon / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Richard III (Theatre) / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Choice of Games / Videogame / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Dark Parables / Videogame / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Black Wolves Saga (Visual Novel) / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Funbag Fantasy (Visual Novel) / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Senren * Banka (Visual Novel) / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Wars of Frozen Flames (Web Animation) / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Twisted Translations (Web Video) / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Impure Blood (Webcomic) / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne
Justice League: Throne of Atlantis / int_f009b51c	type	The Wrongful Heir to the Throne

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