History KlingonPromotion / Literature

* ''Literature/RedRising'': [[Spoiler:Mustang holds the severed head of Octavia before the Gold Senate and is proclaimed the new Sovereign]]

* ''Literature/RedRising'': [[Spoiler: Mustang holds the severed head of Octavia before the Gold Senate and is proclaimed the new Sovereign]]

* ''Literature/RedRising'': [[Spoiler:Mustang holds the severed head of Octavia before the Gold Senate and is proclaimed the new Sovereign]]

* ''Literature/RedRising'':[[Spoiler:Mustang holds the severed head of Octavia before the Gold Senate and is proclaimed the new Sovereign]]

* ''Literature/RedRising'':[[Spoiler:Mustang holds the severed head of Octavia before the Gold Senate and is proclaimed the new Sovereign]].

* ''Literature/RedRising'': [[Mustang holds the severed head of Octavia before the Gold Senate and is proclaimed the new Sovereign]].

* ''Literature/RedRising'': [[Spoiler: Mustang holds the severed head of Octavia before the Gold Senate and is proclaimed the new Sovereign]].

* Tharkian society works something like this in the ''Literature/{{Barsoom}}'' novels. If you kill someone of higher rank than you in single combat, you get to take their rank, their stuff, and their name. Downplayed at the highest levels; the jeds and the jeddak don't have to face challengers unless their entire circle of subordinates votes that they are unfit and must prove their right to continue to rule by defeating the challenger.
* In Creator/PaulFeval's ''Literature/TheBlackCoats'' this is the family tradition of the Colonel's family. [[spoiler: Julian does succeed at this over his father]].

* In the Merlin cycle of Creator/RogerZelazny's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber'' series, Merlin's mother "arranges" to have everyone whose place in the line of succession was closer than Merlin's end up dead so she could become [[TheManBehindTheMan shadow ruler.]] Not a direct example, but definitely in the spirit of the Klingon Promotion. [[spoiler:Of course, by the time Merlin becomes King of Chaos, he's no longer under her control.]]

** Because the number of people who can hold any rank in the Unseen University was fixed by tradition, nobody could be promoted unless a slot above them opened up through the death or promotion of a more senior wizard. As a result, creating an open slot by killing a higher-ranking wizard was the preferred means of promotion (via the "Dead Man's Pointy Shoes" rule). The catch, however, is that high-level wizards usually have so many magic wards that they can take a full-on thaumonuclear explosion to the face, forcing them to resort to more practical means, making daily UU living for high-ranking wizards an exercise in forensics.\\
\\
This came to an end, however, when Mustrum Ridcully became Archchancellor and proved [[MadeOfIron nigh unkillable]]; and, Wizards being creatures of laziness, they soon came to realize a less competitive work environment is rather enjoyable. Added to this, now the senior faculty are all settled and long-standing members, they've realized in the old days each one of them would be a target for an up-and-comer; therefore it is in their best interests to act as a group now. It helps that a generation's worth of ambitious wizards killed each other off in ''Sourcery''; the faculty originally brought Ridcully in to lead them because nobody was left who wanted the job.
** There is also a persistent rumor that if a student Assassin manages to inhume one of his teachers, he will be graduated to full member of the Assassin's Guild on the spot. But since it is ''definitely'' known that trying to inhume one of the teachers and ''failing'' will get the student expelled not only from the guild but from life as well, no actual attempts have occurred during any of the books.

** Way back in the first book, the Thieves' Guild apparently worked like this, since the leader's NumberTwo apparently lost an eye to the leader's pet ravens. The narration then tells us the leader is fine with this, never begrudging a man his ambitions.

* This is how the ''Literature/EmpireOfTheEast'' (in Fred Saberhagen's trilogy) keeps its various lords and satraps subservient to the Emperor, apparently; they are so busy competing with each other for their various positions that they never think of allying and overthrowing the Emperor himself. The Emperor tacitly approves of the practice, as several characters note; he will readily accept the service of a Lord who gains his position by disposing of his predecessor since the former occupant was obviously not worthy of the seat in the first place.
* In Jack Chalker's ''Literature/FourLordsOfTheDiamond'' series, the four planets of the Warden Diamond, as a dumping ground for all the sociopaths, criminals, scum, villainy, and political opponents that the interstellar human empire decided weren't worth killing (or mindwiping) use this method for their internal hierarchies. On the one planet where this is frowned on, it still happens if you can frame or con someone higher up the chain of command to make them look bad so they get jailed, demoted, or transferred for being stupid enough to fall for it.
* ''Literature/GhostGirl2021'': It's heavily implied that Scratch murdered Principal McCaffery to take his position.
* Literature/{{Gor}}:

* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': In ''Mockingjay'', [[spoiler:Finnick reveals that President Snow used this trope to get control of the Capitol. He poisoned his rivals and superiors and then drank from the same glass (to ward off suspicion) before downing poorly-made antidotes. That's why he wears roses, to cover up the smell of his chronically bleeding gums.]]

* According to Creator/RASalvatore writer of ''Literature/TheIcewindDaleTrilogy'', this murder-based hierarchy, from among Houses to ''within families'', is what keeps dark elves AlwaysChaoticEvil.

* In ''Literature/JonathanStrangeAndMrNorrell'', the Gentleman with Thistle-down Hair believes that once he and Steven kill the king of England, it will be a simple matter for Steven Black, a black manservant in 19th century England, to become king. This is often how things work in Faerie, and the Gentleman never really troubled to make a distinction between his opinion and reality.
** Comes back at the end of the book when Stephen [[spoiler: kills the Gentleman with Thistle-down Hair and inherits his Faerie kingdom.]]

* ''Market Forces'' by Creator/RichardKMorgan. Executives of the mega-corporations that control the world compete for promotion in road duels. You don't have to ''kill'' the person you're challenging, though a lot of that depends on the corporate culture of whoever you're working for. The custom came about during a time of economic crisis. The economy was fluctuating so badly there was no means of telling who was competent or not, so executives were being laid off just because they were late for work. One executive tried to beat his rival and ended up running them off the road.
* ''Literature/QuantumGravity'' has Demons settling almost anything by fighting, although this only becomes apparent from book two onwards. The most ruthless example comes in book four; Lila had asked Teazle to search Demonia for certain artifacts, and later learns he resorted to killing the heads of countless families, not to mention angry successors, as the only way of finding the things is to claim the treasure by Klingon promotion.
** When she later took over the empire he had raised, she called a meeting of the family heads. The discussion was punctuated by several attempts on her life, and on their failure she promptly, without a backwards glance, ordered the heirs to all the deceased summoned to continue.

* In ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' novel ''The Taggerung'', killing the previous Taggerung means you get this title. Considering the Taggerung is supposed to be the greatest warrior, this isn't easy. [[BigBadWannabe Gruven Zann]] claims to have accomplished this, and it's eventually "confirmed." Ruggan Bor, who also wants this title—and unlike Gruven, has the chops to back up his claim—[[HoistByHisOwnPetard promptly cuts off his head.]]

* In the novel ''VideoGame/StarCraft: Ghost: Nova'', the eponymous character is an extremely-strong [[PsychicPowers telepath]] / [[MindOverMatter telekinetic]] (she can almost literally go nuclear). She runs afoul of a gang leader in the Tarsonis ghetto. After figuring out that she's a very person, he threatens to kill little children if she doesn't work for him. Before that, she "predicts" that he'll be killed by one of his lieutenants (after reading the mind of one doubting lieutenant). Years later, Nova is tracked down by a Ghost Academy recruiter. When the gang leader (who has gone insane over months due to the abuse of a telepathy blocker) is about to shoot him, Nova mind-controls the doubting lieutenant and has him shoot the leader in the head. So, in effect, this is a SelfFulfillingProphecy. The lieutenant becomes the new leader. Trouble is, there isn't much of a gang left after the crazy former leader has killed many of his subordinates for slightest faults (even imagined ones). Also, the gang headquarters is in the process of being raided by Confederate forces. To top it off, this is the day the Zerg invade Tarsonis. Nova barely makes it out alive.
* The Franchise/StarTrekExpandedUniverse specifies that challenging a superior and taking their position by beating them in a fight is only acceptable under specific circumstances. The superior must have demonstrated cowardice, incompetence, or other dishonorable behavior, and the challenger must be qualified for the position.
** The [[Literature/StarTrekMirrorUniverse Mirror Universe]] novel ''Rise Like Lions'' has this happen to change the leadership of nations three times during the course of the story. In two cases, it's the Klingons, who apparently roughly keep to the rules mentioned (with the rather important provisos that you could pretty much always accuse the Regent of incompetence since something is always going wrong ''somewhere'' in the Klingon Empire, and that the Klingons apparently regard any Klingon who can get in a position to formally challenge the Regent as qualified). It's a bit less clear how [[spoiler: Damar]] got away with killing the previous leader of the Cardassian Union by [[ConspicuouslyPublicAssassination shooting him in the back of his head during a speech to the public]] and then taking over the Union since this is both illegal and the sort of thing that sets a bad precedent.
** Invoked in Creator/DianeDuane's ''Franchise/StarTrek'' novel ''Literature/DoctorsOrders'', in which a Klingon starship shows up after Kirk inexplicably vanishes on an alien planet. Not wanting to explain this to an enemy, [=McCoy=] (who Kirk put in charge just before he went missing) instead claims to have killed him in a duel and taken command.
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': In the Literature/XWingSeries novel ''The Bacta War'', the captain of the ''Lusankya'' refuses to surrender, despite his ship being heavily damaged and outnumbered. This captain promotes himself to Admiral then orders his men to crash the Super Star Destroyer into the planet Thyferra, which would kill all 250,000 people on the ship, millions more on the planet, and destroy the sole source of one of the galaxy's most effective medical products. One of his Lieutenants shoots him, promotes himself to Captain, and accepts the surrender offer.

* The Children of the Light in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' have a ritualized dueling ceremony entitled "trial by the light," in which the loser's rank and property are forfeit to the winner. Galad uses this in conjunction with surviving a military EverybodysDeadDave shortly beforehand to skip virtually the entire command structure and go from an unspecified junior rank straight to Lord Captain Commander.

* Subverted in ''Literature/PrinceRoger'': A Boman war-chief is "anointed in the blood of his predecessor", but the actual appointment is by consensus of the war-band, and the killing of the predecessor is in part a [[YouHaveFailedMe punishment for incompetence]] and in part an insurance against cliques forming and leadership becoming uncertain.

This came to an end, however, when Mustrum Ridcully became Archchancellor and proved [[MadeOfIron nigh unkillable]]; and, Wizards being creatures of laziness, they soon came to realize a less competitive work environment is rather enjoyable. Added to this, now the senior faculty are all settled and long-standing members, they've probably realized in the old days each one of them would be a target for an up-and-comer; therefore it is in their best interests to act as a group now. It probably helps that a generation's worth of ambitious wizards killed each other off in ''Sourcery''; the faculty originally brought Ridcully in to lead them because nobody was left who wanted the job.

* In E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman novels, Boskonian culture works this way. When Kim Kinnison poses as a senior Boskonian officer in order to work his way to the top and undermine Boskonia from within in ''Second Stage Lensmen'', he has few problems playing this trope straight since the people he has to kill to do it are his enemies anyway.
** Subverted on two occasions, in which he either has his superior court-martialled and himself promoted to the position instead of doing the deed himself, or pulls favours from the man he would otherwise have killed in order to win a side-transfer and progress his true goal more effectively.

** when she later took over the empire he had raised, she called a meeting of the family heads. The discussion was punctuated by several attempts on her life, and on their failure she promptly, without a backwards glance, ordered the heirs to all the deceased summoned to continue.

* ''Literature/{{Hurog}}'': In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Ward's father gained the inherited title of Hurogmeten by killing his own father and disguising it as a hunting accident. He now fears that Ward, his first-born son, will in turn kill ''him'' to gain the title. Subverted with Ward, who is a GentleGiant and resorted to ObfuscatingStupidity to seem less of a danger to his father.

** Because the number of people who can hold any rank in the Unseen University was fixed by tradition, nobody could be promoted unless a slot above them opened up through the death or promotion of a more senior wizard. As a result, creating an open slot by killing a higher-ranking wizard was the preferred means of promotion (via the "Dead Man's Pointy Shoes" rule). The catch, however, is that wizards usually have so many magic wards that they can take a full-on thaumonuclear explosion to the face, forcing them to resort to more practical means, making daily UU living for high-ranking wizards an exercise in forensics.\\

* This is how the draconic monarchy works in the ''Literature/WingsOfFire'' series, with daughters challenging their mothers for the right to be the queen of each clan. The entire plot to the series is in fact set up when the queen of one clan is killed by a human, leaving her daughters to fight amongst themselves over who has the right to be queen now, and setting off a continent-wide war in the process. [[spoiler: The exception is the [=RainWings=], who, largely being {{Actual Pacifist}}s, have a "rotation" of queens, and when one is challenged, they compete in non-violent ways for the position.]]

* This is how the draconic monarchy works in the ''Literature/WingsOfFire'' series, with daughters challenging their mothers for the right to be the queen of each clan. The entire plot to the series is in fact set up when the queen of one clan is killed by a human, leaving her daughters to fight amongst themselves over who has the right to be queen now, and setting off a continent-wide war in the process. [[spoiler: The exception is the RainWings, who, largely being {{Actual Pacifist}}s, have a "rotation" of queens, and when one is challenged, they compete in non-violent ways for the position.]]