History Main / DecadentCourt

See EvilChancellor or EvilPrince for the possible cause. For a depraved, unfair court of ''law'', try KangarooCourt.

* ''Literature/{{Technomancer}} by MK Gibson: Demonkind has one of these with the Princes at the top and humanity at the bottom. They constantly fight for power, territory, prestige, and petty revenge.

* The Court of the Taysan Empire in the ''Literature/{{Spaceforce}}'' books is the centre of government for the oldest and most advanced of the three great galactic superpowers. It's ruled by the Empress, who is an absolute monarch, with the Imperial and Noble Castes in attendance. It's heavily implied that a ''lot'' of backbiting and faction wars go on.

** [[AristocratsAreEvil Count]] De Guiche pays a court of {{False Friend}}s who talk about him behind his back, uses [[AristocratsAreEvil Viscount]] De Valvert to abuse lesser nobles, [[TheBeard bullying Roxane]] and [[BullyingADragon Cyrano]], [[DisproportionateRetribution sends one hundred men to punish a poet]], and this trope is constantly discussed by all the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Gascons]] as a proof that De Guiche is [[NoTrueScotsman No True]] [[strike:Scotsman]] [[NoTrueScotsman Gascon]]. Oh, and remember, [[SeriousBusiness you will not go anywhere in this court unless you have wit!]] Subverted In RealLife: De Guiche was one of [[MagnificentBastard Cardinal]] [[ManBehindTheMan Richelieu’s]] collaborators and they transformed France from a poor backward country into [[TheEmpire a continental power]].

* The Nazi high command in ''Downfall'', waiting on a deluded Hitler while fighting rages above.
* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', high king Jakoven thinks his court is this. It is not clear whether he is right, or just paranoid ... the only on-screen backstabber at the court is he himself, with his habit of killing the queen's lovers. (No, not out of jealousy, he appoints them to that position himself. He just thinks they're gaining too much influence). Some nobles occasionally spin some intrigues, but mostly against Jakoven, who has only himself to blame for that political climate. Some off-screen backstabbery is implied, but not dwelled on.

* Most of the action of ''Literature/TheCurseOfChalion'' happens in one of these, with the main character as tutor to the inexperienced but quickly-learning [[GratuitousPrincess royesse]]. As her eyes begin to open to the court's true nature, she says to him "We're under siege here, aren't we?"

Even when these nobles have official titles and duties, expect them to be annoyed at any requests by underlings for them to ''actually do any of the work'' on estate management, administering their lands, treaty signing or diplomacy associated with being the Earl of X or the Duchess of Y. They have far more important things to do, like having their servants open another bottle of vintage Claret and seducing that attractive FrenchMaid.

** Then there's Orzammar, where the Noble Dwarf gets caught up in his younger brother Bhelen's machinations, forcing him to work with Bhelen or his rival Harrowmount. Neither choice is optimal, either. Harrowmount is kind but staunchly conservative, while Bhelan is a Literature/GameOfThrones character but progressive economically and socially.

** Their decadence is expanded upon in ''Series/TheDarkCrystalAgeOfResistance'', in which it's shown they used to be capable of at least ''pretending'' to be benevolent and wise rulers in the presence of their Gelfling subjects, but they dropped the mask when they discovered the Gelflings could be processed into an elixir to restore their youth. The Skeksis would sacrifice many Gelflings in the process, and drive them to near-extinction after a prophecy revealed that a Gelfling would put an end to their reign.

** Their decadence is expanded upon in ''Series/TheDarkCrystalAgeOfResistance'', in which it's shown they used to be capable of at least ''pretending'' to be benevolent and wise rulers, but they dropped the mask when they discovered their Gelfling subjects could be processed into an elixir to restore their youth. The Skeksis would sacrifice many Gelflings in the process, and drive them to near-extinction after a prophecy revealed that a Gelfling would put an end to their reign.

** Their decadence is expanded upon in ''Series/TheDarkCrystalAgeOfResistance'', in which it took a dramatic turn when they started getting addicted to Gelfling essence. The Skeksis would sacrifice many Gelflings in the process, and drive them to extinction after a prophecy revealed that a Gelfling would put an end to their reign.

** The non-renegade Time Lords have been depicted like this ever since Creator/RobertHolmes first took a more cynical view of them in "The Deadly Assassin", and even more so in the DarkerAndEdgier spin-offs. During the first part of the revived series when they were officially dead the Doctor liked to imply that they were [[NostalgiaFilter dedicated and unselfish defenders of the universe]]. At least, until it became a question of "us or the rest of the universe", and they settled on "us" - and as the Doctor explained, when Wilf pointed out how he'd always talked about his people like they were wonderful and amazing, that that was how he ''chose'' to remember them, but he has most certainly not forgotten the reality.

* ''Literature/TheSunneInSplendour'' takes place during the Wars of the Roses, and it portrays Edward IV's court as being filled with wine, feasting, gambling and when the queen is discreetly looking away, lots and lots of loose women. Edward's youngest brother Richard blames Edward's early death on those who enabled Edward's debauchery.

* ''Series/TheTudors'': The court might be even more corrupt than its real-life counterpart, and that's not easy to do...

How the court got that way differs from story to story. More often than not, the source is at the top (i.e. they caught the "rot" from the monarch). An extreme version is if the ruler is bat-crazy amd murderous, like TheCaligula. Conversely, the monarch may be [[TheGoodKing good at heart]], but is ineffectual for any number of reasons (scheming {{Evil chancellor}}s, plots by an [[CorruptChurch evil Cardinal]]), and the various factions end up outcompeting each other in hopes of gaining favor and securing titles, land and treasure.

* ''Fanfic/OneDayAtATimeFanfic'': Gotham's high society is portrayed as a subdued version of this, with various families (minor and major) all scheming over the course of several generations to eventually usurp the First Families, particularly the Waynes, and take control of their fortunes. Not helping the matter is that a fair number of those socialites are/were also members of the [[AncientConspiracy Court of Owls]], who have been ruling Gotham from the shadows for centuries and are a large part of why the city is corrupt. In the first timeline, Jason Todd, upon becoming the official head of the Wayne Family, absolutely refused to involve himself in Gotham politics for several years outside holding an occasional charity ball for the Wayne Foundation almost explicitly because of this trope. It was only after the arrival of Helena Wayne, his father Bruce Wayne's only known living biological heir, that he finally started playing along -- specifically to protect her and her inheritance.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', the royal court of Ivalice, inspired in part by the War of the Roses, who [[GambitPileup manipulate]], [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder backstab]], [[FalseFlagOperation frame each other]], and ally themselves with the LegionsOfHell (wittingly or not) to achieve succession and absolute rule.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'''s House Solidor and the Archadian Council are no better. Including the "join forces with {{Eldritch Abomination}}s" part.

* [[UsefulNotes/EdwardIV King Edward IV]] of England was a WarriorKing, who achieved great victories at the Battle of Towton and the Battle of Tewkesbury, and was the longest serving Yorkist king during the UsefulNotes/WarsOfTheRoses. At 6'4'' he was tall, handsome and affable, and when he wasn't winning political and military victories, he was indulging in wine, food and women with his cadre of male favorites. In short, his ran his court like a Medieval frat house. He famously alienated key allies by marrying for love, but that didn't stop him from taking many mistresses, fathering many bastards, and after he was done with war, eating and drinking himself to an early death that would have far reaching historical consequences.

* [[UsefulNotes/EdwardIV King Edward IV]] of England was a WarriorKing, who achieved great victories at the Battle of Towton and the Battle of Tewkesberry, and was the longest severing Yorkist king during the War of the Roses. At 6'4'' he was tall, handsome and affable, and when he wasn't winning political and military victories, he was indulging in wine, food and women with his cadre of male favorites. In short, his ran his court like a Medieval frat house. He famously alienated key allies by marrying for love, but that didn't stop him from taking many mistresses, fathering many bastards, and after he was done with war, eating and drinking himself to an early death that would have far reaching historical consequences.

* [[UsefulNotes/EdwardIV King Edward IV]] of England was a WarriorKing, who achieved great victories at the Battle of Towton and the Battle of Tewkesberry, and was the longest severing Yorkist king during the War of the Roses. At 6'4'' he was tall, handsome and affable, and when he wasn't winning political and military victories, he was indulging in wine, food and women. He famously alienated key allies by marrying for love, but that didn't stop him from taking many mistresses, fathering many bastards, and after he was done with war, eating and drinking himself to an early death that would have far reaching historical consequences.

* ''Series/{{Revenge}}'': The Hamptons serves as a good contemporary example.

This is a SubTrope to StandardRoyalCourt and AristocratsAreEvil. When less than half of the court acts like this, something (or someone) else may be in play. The "court" may be a similar setting with an aristocratic leader and hangers-on, such as a [[BananaRepublic junta's self-styled emperor]], a Lord of a manor house, a planet's Viceroy in a SpaceOpera, or a [[VampireMonarch vampire lord's coven]] in a castle or old mansion.

How the court got that way differs from story to story. More often than not, the source is at the top (i.e. they caught the "rot" from the monarch). An extrem version is if the ruler is bat-crazy, like TheCaligula. Conversely, the monarch may be [[TheGoodKing good at heart]], but is ineffectual for any number of reasons (scheming {{Evil chancellor}}s, plots by an [[CorruptChurch evil Cardinal]]), and the various factions end up outcompeting each other in hopes of gaining favor and securing titles, land and treasure.

Even when these nobles have official titles and duties, expect them to be annoyed at any requests by underlings for them to ''actually do any of the work'' on estate management, administering their lands, treaty signing or diplomacy associated with being the Earl of X or the Duchess of Y. They have far more important things to do, like getting another bottle of Claret and seducing that attractive maiden.

You see this kind of setting in most stories about long-established royal courts. It is the go-to source for intrigue, [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder backstabbing]] (metaphorically and literally), gratutitous {{fanservice}} scenes of orgies or parties, and illicit affairs. And, face it, you'll need those things if there is going to be any fun in the story at all.

This is a SubTrope to StandardRoyalCourt and AristocratsAreEvil. When less than half of the court acts like this, something (or someone) else may be in play. The "court" may be a similar setting with an aristocratic leader and hangers-on, such as a [[BananaRepublic junta's self-styled emperor]], a Lord of a manor house, or [[VampireMonarch vampire coven]] in a castle or old mansion.

This is a SubTrope to StandardRoyalCourt and AristocratsAreEvil. When less than half of the court acts like this, something (or someone) else may be in play. The "court" may be a similar setting with an aristocratic leader and hangers-on, such as a [[BananaRepublic junta's self-styled emperor]], a Lord of a manor house, or vampire coven in a castle or old mansion.

How the court got that way differs from story to story. More often than not, the source is at the top (i.e. they caught the "rot" from the monarch). An extrem version is if the ruler is bat-crazy, like TheCaligula. Conversely, the monarch may good at heart, but is ineffectual for any number of reasons (scheming {{Evil chancellor}}s, plots by an [[CorruptChurch evil Cardinal]]), and the various factions end up outcompeting each other in hopes of gaining favor and securing titles, land and treasure.

How the court got that way differs from story to story. More often than not, the source is at the top (i.e. they caught the "rot" from the monarch). Conversely, the monarch may good at heart, but is ineffectual for any number of reasons (scheming chancellors, plots and intrigues), and the various factions end up outcompeting each other in hopes of gaining favor and securing rewards of titles, land and treasure.