History Main / FakeKing

* ''ComicBook/TheWarlordDC'': Deimos used an IdenticalStranger to usurp Travis Morgan's position as Warlord of Skartaris.

* ''Literature/MajipoorSeries'': A usurpation of this sort (carried out by [[VoluntaryShapeshifting the Metamorphs]], no less) drives the plot of ''Lord Valentine's Castle''. (FridgeLogic: The Metamorphs were the original inhabitants of the planet, [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything who were cruelly dispossessed by the invading humans and confined to small areas of their original homelands in a tragic story not even vaguely reminiscent of the history of the American Indians]]. Given that they could impersonate any member of the planet's (decidedly hierarchical and not very democratic) government, you have to wonder why it took them ''fourteen thousand years'' to come up with the plot in the first place.)

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': The King of the Walls, King Fritz, is a PuppetKing. The true ruler is [[spoiler:Rod Reiss, who is the father of Krista Lenz, aka Historia Reiss. After the military performs a coup and Historia kills her father after he becomes a titan, she becomes the queen, with the military occupying governmental positions.]] Ironically, [[spoiler:the false king had the true last name of the Royal Family, originating from Ymir Fritz, the progenitor of the titans, before the family members inside the Walls changed it to Reiss.]]
* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Mr. 2 Bon Clay impersonates the king to get everyone in Alabasta to fight. Only one kid notices this, and he's too injured by Baroque Works to tell anyone.
* As eventually revealed, Mashiro in ''Anime/MyOtome'' was passed off as the surviving princess after the attack that killed the King and Queen while the real princess ([[spoiler:Nina Wang]]) was spirited off elsewhere. Subverted given that she's allowed to remain on the throne anyway due to her CharacterDevelopment and the real princess never attempts to take the throne from her even after learning of her true heritage, and it's implied [[spoiler:that she may be a descendant of the ''original'' Queen of Windbloom, since the two look nearly identical]].
* The head of Telomere replaced Princess Mina Tepes in ''Manga/DanceInTheVampireBund'' after a massive attack on the Bund. This was facilitated by her not only looking and [[TheNoseKnows smelling]] like the VampireMonarch in question but being able to compel those blood-bound to her.
* ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'' uses the trope at least twice:
** The prequel ''Manga/FushigiYuugiByakkoSenki'' has one of these [[spoiler:and it's the local BrokenBird Neiran, the protagonist of ''Manga/FushigiYuugiByakkoIbun''. She willingly usurps Suzuno's place as the Priestess of Byakko because [[DarkAndTroubledPast she's been so abused and mistreated ever since childhood]], she sees this as a chance to [[RagstoRoyalty finally have a decent life where everyone will respect her]].]]
** One of the ''Fushigi Yuugi'' novels (and its AnimatedAdaptation), ''Suzaku Hi Den'', reveals that none other than [[spoiler:'''Hotohori''']] is one of these. [[spoiler:The one who ''really'' should be in the throne is Hotohori's older half-brother, Tendou, but after an assassination attempt from Hotohori's StageMom Motaiko, he was sent away with the intention of keeping him safe until he was ready.. However, both Motaiko and the then-Emperor died, and Hotohori was stuck as a mix of LonelyRichKid and TheEmperor whereas [[HiddenBackUpPrince Tendou]] was stuck as a commoner.]]

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': During the "Endgame" StoryArc, [[BigBad Dr. Robotnik]] replaced King Max with a robot double as part of his plan to finally defeat the Freedom Fighters.

* In the ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' doujin, ''The Silence of the Rabbits'', it is revealed that [[spoiler:Eirin made a clone of herself to handle her experiments, but the clone went evil, incapacitated her and took her place. The clone wanted to kill Eirin and take over completely, but couldn't because Eirin is a Hourai immortal and cannot be killed in the normal fashions. So she trapped Eirin in a jar while she tried to come up with a poison powerful enough to kill Hourai immortals. But sadly for her, Eirin thought one step ahead and based her template off the Udonges, so there was no way that the clone could ever have surpassed the original]].

* Later from Creator/{{Disney}}, ''WesternAnimation/MickeyDonaldGoofyTheThreeMusketeers'' saw Captain Pete of the royal guard pulling a similar stunt, substituting one of his own henchmen for Princess Minnie.
* ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'': King Candy stole the throne from Vanellope before the events of the movie, erasing everyone's memories to fit. He's actually Turbo, having reskinned himself.

* Many adaptations of ''Film/TheManInTheIronMask'' involve an inversion of this plot -- an evil king being replaced by his secret good twin.

* The novel and movie ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda'', on which ''Dave'' was based, also uses an inversion, where the hero impersonates his identical cousin the King of {{Ruritania}} while the latter is imprisoned by TheEvilPrince. He is a much better person and leader than the real king, who is dissolute and incompetent, but he ultimately helps restore the real king to the throne. (Although at several points he debates allowing the villains to kill the real king before foiling their schemes -- but mostly because he's in love with the king's fiancee.)
* ''Film/GIJoeRetaliation'' picks up where the original film left off, with Zartan impersonating [[spoiler:the President of the United States]]. He does a good job hiding his identity from the public while keeping the real [[spoiler:President]] locked up in a room guarded by disguised Cobra agents. What makes it even more scary is that while he never does too much to arouse suspicion, this version of Zartan is clearly a lunatic psychopath who gets his kicks out of creating mayhem, suffering, and destruction. One really has to wonder if Cobra Commander was the only thing keeping him in check while he was undercover.

* In ''Film/{{Metropolis}}'', the mad scientist Rotwang replaces leader-of-the-people Maria with a robot.

* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': Serizawa scornfully calls Ghidorah a false king when it takes over as Alpha of the Titans [[spoiler:when they realize he's an invasive alien and not an Earth-based lifeform]].

* At least two ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' stories involve this, or at least the idea of doing it. Apparently, Vetinari just has that effect on people.
** There might be just one story where an actual Vetinari impersonation is an important plot point (''Literature/TheTruth''), and one more (''Literature/MakingMoney'') where it happens as a more minor element. However, attempted coups of one kind or another have been the villain's goal so often in the series that ''Making Money'' [[LampshadeHanging hangs a lampshade]] on this trope by having an entire ward of a mental hospital populated by people suffering from [[NapoleonDelusion Vetinari Delusion]].
* Terry Brooks' ''Literature/TheBlackUnicorn'' has this exact plot, but puts a fresh take on it by telling the story from the real king's point-of-view.
* Robert E. Howard's ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' story "Literature/AWitchShallBeBorn" has Queen Taramis of Khauran replaced by her EvilTwin sister Salome. Salome treats the kingdom's farmers like slaves and excessively taxes city dwellers, all while doing her level best to break Taramis.
* OlderThanPrint: There is an old Jewish legend about King Solomon capturing Asmodeus the Demon King. Eventually Asmodeus tricks Solomon into letting him out of the cell -- then impersonates Solomon and exiles him.
* In some Franchise/CthulhuMythos fiction, the Veiled King (who was only briefly mentioned in Creator/HPLovecraft's own ''Literature/TheDreamQuestOfUnknownKadath'') has the following backstory: the proper king was decadent and had shown disrespect to gods and went to openly mock them. He returned, wearing veil forever. In reality, he has been replaced by a race of beings, who enforced harsh but reasonably fair laws. The exiles from the society are secretly captured and used for their breeding program (which, Cthulhu Mythos being what it is, involves mosquito men and semi-sentient grubs).
* The FairyTale [[http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/327.htm "The Blue Parrot"]] features a kind young king named Lino who has his clothes stolen and given to the dwarf Rabot. Rabot turns himself into Lino and starts acting rudely towards the servants and almost marries Lino's beloved Hermosa. Lino is turned into a parrot.
* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''Literature/ProsperosDaughter'' trilogy, the legend of Solomon and Asmodeus is true. Solomon, near the end of it, took advantage of it to go to Hell and do a lot of damage to them, because they all took him for Asmodeus.
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's Literature/{{Kull}} story "The Shadow Kingdom", the Snakemen do this.
-->''"Kings have reigned as true men in Valusia," the Pict whispered, "and yet, slain in battle, have died serpents--as died he who fell beneath the spear of Lion- fang on the red beaches when we of the isles harried the Seven Empires. And how can this be, Lord Kull?\\

"Thus--the true kings died in secret--as you would have died tonight--and priests of the Serpent reigned in their stead, no man knowing."''
* A usurpation of this sort (carried out by [[VoluntaryShapeshifting the Metamorphs]], no less) drives the plot of ''Literature/LordValentinesCastle.'' (FridgeLogic: The Metamorphs were the original inhabitants of the planet, [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything who were cruelly dispossessed by the invading humans and confined to small areas of their original homelands in a tragic story not even vaguely reminiscent of the history of the American Indians]]. Given that they could impersonate any member of the planet's (decidedly hierarchical and not very democratic) government, you have to wonder why it took them ''fourteen thousand years'' to come up with the plot in the first place.)
* OlderThanFeudalism: In the Armenian folktale ''Literature/AraTheHandsome'', after failing to resurrect Ara with her magic the Queen Semiramis finds a look-alike in her harem to take his place, convincing the public that he'd been resurrected so that the war between Armenia and Assyria can end. Although one should note that this version of the tale mainly became popular after Christianity took hold in the 300s CE, before that the story commonly went that the resurrection was successful.
* One of the plots in the ''Literature/TheVicomteDeBragelonne''. A conspiracy attempts to replace King Louis with his identical twin.
* [[Literature/MarcusDidiusFalco Lindsey Davis]]' ''The Third Nero'' is set in Rome in the 80s AD. A ''third'' pretender has arisen claming to be the Emperor Nero and wanting his Empire back. The narrator[[SnarkKnight Flavia Albia]] notes that even though enough people are still alive who remember Nero, the fact his lonerly death was witnessed by few gave rise to the myth that he fled Rome waiting for the time to be right to come back. People actually hope he'll return in triumph, depose the current paranoid sociopath on the throne, and restore an era of peace and prosperity. Albia notes that people are so desperate under Domitian's reign that they'll believe ''anything'', whilst forgetting that Nero was a mad sociopathic sadist.

* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS20E6TheKingsDemons The King's Demons]]", which involves King John being replaced by a mind-controlled robot. Interestingly, the villain does nothing about the real King John; he just tours the counties, alienating local lords, while the king remains in London, utterly oblivious. [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot Not that much is made of this.]]
* Sylar, the villain of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', has attempted to TakeOverTheWorld by assuming the identity of the President of the United States. Twice!

* In the ''TabletopGame/{{BattleTech}}'' universe, the head of one successor state, Hanse Davion, was replaced by a brainwashed double organized by an enemy successor state in [[http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Operation_Doppelganger Operation Doppelganger.]]
** Done by Thomas Marik. After surviving a bomb attack, Thomas was grievously injured but was saved by bionic implants. Thomas was then replaced with a body double as cyborgs are scorned in the Free Worlds League, Thomas would become the Master of the Word of Blake, while his double would take his place. He later used this knowledge, in revealing his true identity and that of his stand-in to fracture the FWL.
* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' campaign setting of D&D King Kaius III of Karrnath is being impersonated by his great-grandfather Kaius I, who also happens to be a vampire.
* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Ironclaw}}'' module "The Lost Heir of the Rinaldi" the recently deceased king of House Rinaldi's surviving heir has gone missing and there are two different people who might be the prince. One seems perfectly sane while the other is a non-verbal vagrant in tattered clothes, [[spoiler:it's the latter, the former is an imposter hypnotized by a [[PsychicPowers Green mage]].]] The novelization ''Scars'' stars a bounty hunter hired by the former prince to capture the latter, [[spoiler:however she turns out to be the king's illegitimate daughter and recognizes her half-brother when she sees him.]]

* Shows up in the ''Adventures'' arc of Toys/{{Bionicle}} where Makuta swaps places with Turaga Dume, ruler of Metru Nui in order to perform a crucial part of his EvilPlan.

* ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireII'' features a variation on this. [[CloudCuckoolander Tapeta]] is the prince of Fort Nageur; unfortunately, he's shiftless, irresponsible, and a hopeless romantic, and he's been abroad for quite some time (much of it spent [[ForcedTransformation transformed into an even]] ''[[ForcedTransformation bigger]]'' [[ForcedTransformation frog]]). By the time he comes back as part of Ryu's party, an impostor has taken his place: said impostor claims that Tapeta is impersonating ''him'' and has him arrested. And the kicker? The people of Fort Nageur ''knew'' that Tapeta was the real deal; they just ''didn't care'', on the grounds they were probably better off with the phony.
* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' combines the Fake King concept with the EvilChancellor to yield the Fake Chancellor. [[spoiler:Twice. And the second time was explicitly out of revenge for the first time.]]
** Also subverted when the king starts acting like a dick. (More of a dick than usual, anyway). People do comment on his strange behavior... but it's the aforementioned [[spoiler:Fake Chancellor]] trying to throw you off the trail.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':

** The original ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' had [[spoiler:Astos]] who was pretending to be a king so he could trick you into getting him the crown from the Marsh Cave.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'', we have a fake princess. Who eats rats. And demands sex from TheHero.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'': The King of Baron was murdered and replaced by Cagnazzo, one of the archfiends of Golbez.

* In ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar'' and its remakes, the leader of the floating city of Vane, Lemia Ausa, is replaced by [[TheDragon Xenobia]], a servant of the Magic Emperor. The real Lemia is imprisoned in the dungeon with a [[ManInTheIronMask mask that blocks her memories]].
** The sequel, ''VideoGame/LunarEternalBlue'' and ''[[VideoGameRemake Eternal Blue Complete]]'' take it up a level with a fake ''Goddess''. [[spoiler:The real Goddess Althena gave up her immortality and died as a human centuries before the game takes place.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' played with this with the leaders of Sei-an City; the game (and [[NinjaButterfly Issun]]) hint that Queen Himiko is behind the Emperor's illness and the city's curse, when in fact [[spoiler:Ninetails, using the appearance of Priestess Rao (who he killed previously), infected the Emperor and caused him to exhale the evil mist that caused the curse.]]
* ''VideoGame/PokemonXDGaleOfDarkness'' takes this up to eleven: Cipher doesn't just replace the mayor of a city, they systematically ''replace the city's entire population''. Fortunately, the player gets tipped off by a message found in the mayor's office, and by the six members of the GoldfishPoopGang disguising themselves as the same person at the same time.
* ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver''[=/=]''Crystal'' and their remakes (''[=HeartGold=]''/''[=SoulSilver=]'') also used this trope with Goldenrod Radio Tower's Director, being replaced by Team Rocket Executive Petrel in an attempt to get the Johto region to practically worship Team Rocket and Giovanni, it failed thanks to the player of course.
* The plot of ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia2: The Shadow and the Flame'': once again, the Prince must SaveThePrincess from BigBad Jaffar, who has magically disguised himself as the Prince.
* ''VideoGame/SecretOfMana'' used it for the king of a ''republic''.
* Yaridovich in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG: Legend of the Seven Stars'' takes this trope to its logical extreme: He replaced ''everyone in Seaside Town'', fooling exactly no one. Then he proceeds to send Mario and Co. into a FetchQuest to recover the [[MacGuffin Star Piece]] currently in possession of [[{{Pirate}} Jonathan]] [[ThreateningShark Jones]] in the [[GangplankGalleon Sunken]] [[DownTheDrain Ship]] and then he just waits for the MacGuffinDeliveryService to arrive.
** This trope comes up again in Nimbus Land, where Valentina tried to pass off her giant henchman Dodo as the missing prince Mallow.

* ''VideoGame/The7thSaga'' has an ExcusePlot largely involving this trope.
* Not quite a ''king'', but ''VideoGame/{{Sam and Max|FreelancePolice}}: Abe Lincoln Must Die!'' features a fake President who turns out to be a hypnosis device (a ''literal'' puppet ruler).
* According to Babelfish translations of [[http://homepage2.nifty.com/ofu/gb/montaku/ the one Japanese fansite]] of the Japan only Game Boy Color game ''VideoGame/KakurenboBattleMonsterTactics'', it's the explanation of [[spoiler:King Klein's evil look]].

* In ''VideoGame/EndlessFrontier'', the heroes don't encounter a Fake King, but learn that a war between Formido Heim and Elfetale was caused by one of these. King Stahl of Formido Heim had discovered technology to travel to [[AnotherDimension different dimensions]] and proceeded to make use of it. Unforunately, the first world he visited was inhabited by the Einst, one of the {{Big Bad}}s of the VideoGame/SuperRobotWars games. The Einst presumably killed him and created an EvilKnockoff in its place. Said knockoff returned to the Endless Frontier and declared war in order to fulfill the Einst's goals. It wasn't until ten years into the war that leaders of the Orchestra Army, Formido Heim's main force, realized the true nature of their "king". The army rebelled and eliminated the fake, and sued for peace, while not telling the world why the war happened.
* In ''VideoGame/SonicAndTheBlackKnight'', King Arthur has suddenly become an evil tyrant and the titular BlackKnight. [[spoiler: He turns out to be an illusion created by Merlina's father some time ago.]] The real King Arthur turns out to be [[spoiler: Sonic himself]], but none of those behind the fake knew this.
* Happens in ''VideoGame/RomancingSaGa: Minstrel Song'', and was working fairly well thanks to the leader in question's rampant {{Lawful Stupid}}ness. While others comment on his strange behavior, only his daughter realizes that he's been replaced and recruits the heroes to help her; seems everyone else was just so ''used'' to him being a {{Jerkass}} with MoralMyopia that his declaring war on an ally just because he doesn't like the way she's protecting her [[CosmicKeystone Fatestone]] didn't seem ''too'' out of character...
* Copy-X, ''VideoGame/MegaManZero's'' BigBad KnightTemplar, replacing ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' as the ruler of Neo Arcadia. Notable that he was created for noble purposes (reflected in his creator), and he ''[[ObliviouslyEvil thinks]]'' [[ObliviouslyEvil that he's doing the right thing...]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Alundra 2}}'', the EvilChancellor Baron Diaz imprisons the king and has him replaced with ''a wooden manikin''. Probably the only reason the population falls for this is because the only people other than the nobles in the resistance who actually see the 'king' work for Diaz.
* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', [[spoiler:the King Garon who started the war with Hoshido is actually a BlobMonster impersonating him]], though this is only explicitly revealed on the ''Conquest'' route. Played with in that [[spoiler:unlike most examples, the real king is DeadAllAlong, the monster imposter is possessing his corpse.]]
* Teikun Ō/Di-Jun Huang, president of Zheng Fa, from ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth 2''. [[spoiler:The real president was assassinated years ago by a hitman hired by the president's own BodyDouble, who thought that since he was the one out there putting his ass on the line, he should have the power to go with it.]]
* ''VideoGame/Persona5'' has the ruler of [[spoiler: the Velvet Room, Igor,]] replaced by an impostor. Few enough people interact with him that it avoids the usual pitfalls of the trope.

* [[http://www.adventurers-comic.com/d/0253.html Parodied]] in ''Webcomic/{{Adventurers}}!'': Karn meets a chancellor and immediately defenestrates him, on the assumption that he's been replaced by a monster. It turns out that was the real chancellor; the monster assigned to replace him was out sick.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', King [[TheChosenOne Marcus]] is kidnapped and the [[LivingShadow Shadow]] impersonates him to lure [[TheLadette Ax]] into a trap. It also happens to Ax, who has become a Sultana, later on when [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Vaetris]] ambushes her and sends her into the VoidBetweenTheWorlds to her apparent demise, after which she shapeshifts into Ax and assumes her identity in order to manipulate the Alliance and Sultan [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Khalid]].
* {{Discussed}} in ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic's'' review of ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess''--the villain wants to take over the kingdom by turning Odette into a swan, then blackmailing her into marrying him. But if he has shapeshifting, why not turn himself into her father, or turn a minion into Odette and marry her instead? (He ''does'' turn his minion into Odette later, but not for that reason.)

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' based on ''Film/TheManInTheIronMask'', "The Duck in the Iron Mask."
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' has [[LizardFolk a shapeshifting lizard]] impersonate [[EmperorScientist Princess Bubblegum]], PlayedForLaughs.
** Another episode shows a "kingdom" of [[CuteKitten Cute Kittens]] in boxes where the Box Prince has been usurped by an imposter, ''also'' PlayedForLaughs.
* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', the season 2 [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E25ACanterlotWeddingPart1 two-parter]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E26ACanterlotWeddingPart2 finale]] provides us with Princess Cadance acting snobby and demanding in the first part (which is nothing like what Twilight remembers her to be), and the truth behind her behavior in the second part. As it turns out in the second part, [[spoiler:the real Princess Cadance was imprisoned and subsequently replaced by Queen Chrysalis who saw her wedding as an opportunity to weaken Canterlot's defenses so she could conquer it with ease.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'': The Conductor [[spoiler:is not actually the Conductor. She's a passenger, like Tulip, who ripped the real Conductor, [[ReallyRoyaltyReveal One-One]], out of the Train's motherboard and took control of it in order to use its manufacturing abilities to create a train car that replicates [[TheLostLenore her dead husband]].]]

* According to Babelfish translations of [[http://homepage2.nifty.com/ofu/gb/montaku/ the one Japanese fansite]] of the Japan only Game Boy Color game [[spoiler:Kakurenbo Battle Monster Tactics]], it's the explanation of [[spoiler:King Klein's evil look]].

* Happens completely by accident in ''Anime/TurnAGundam'' when Queen Dianna does a TwinSwitch with her IdenticalStranger Kihel Heim and war breaks out before they could switch back, meaning for a good portion of the series an impostor was ruling the Moon. This would have some consequences later, as Kihel-as-Dianna's insistence on a peaceful solution with Earth leads to a mutiny against the real Dianna once they switch back. [[spoiler:By the end of the series, they make the switch permanent, as Dianna is much happier living as a commoner, and Kihel is much happier being in a position of power where she could help people.]]

* ''Film/GIJoeRetaliation'' picks up where the original film left off, with Zartan impersonating [[spoiler:the President of the United States]]. He does a good job hiding his identity from the public, while keeping the real [[spoiler:President]] locked up in a room guarded by disguised Cobra agents. What makes it even more scary is that while he never does too much to arouse suspicion, this version of Zartan is clearly a lunatic psychopath who gets his kicks out of creating mayhem, suffering, and destruction. One really has to wonder if Cobra Commander was the only thing keeping him in check while he was under cover.

* In ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'', Loki strips Odin of his memories and banishes him to Midgard. In the next four years, he rules Asgard while impersonating his father, until in ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' [[spoiler:Thor arrives to put an end to his negligence, self-aggrandizement and poorly enacted plays]].

* In some Franchise/CthulhuMythos fiction, the Veiled King (who was only briefly mentioned in Creator/HPLovecraft's own ''Literature/TheDreamQuestOfUnknownKadath'') has the following backstory: the proper king was decadent and had shown disrespect to gods and went to openly mock them. He returned, wearing veil forever. In reality he has been replaced by a race of beings, who enforced harsh but reasonably fair laws. The exiles from the society are secretly captured and used for their breeding program (which, Cthulhu Mythos being what it is, involves mosquito men and semi-sentient grubs).

-->''"Kings have reigned as true men in Valusia," the Pict whispered, "and yet, slain in battle, have died serpents—as died he who fell beneath the spear of Lion- fang on the red beaches when we of the isles harried the Seven Empires. And how can this be. Lord Kull?\\

* OlderThanFeudalism: In the Armenian folktale ''Literature/AraTheHandsome'', after failing to resurrect Ara with her magic the Queen Semiramis finds a look-alike in her harem to take his place, convincing the public that he'd been resurrected so that the war between Armenia and Assyria can end. Although one should note that this version of the tale mainly became popular after Christianity took hold in the 300's CE, before that the story commonly went that the resurrection was successful.

* [[Literature/MarcusDidiusFalco Lindsey Davis]]' ''The Third Nero'' is set in Rome in the 80's AD. A ''third'' pretender has arisen claming to be the Emperor Nero and wanting his Empire back. The narrator[[SnarkKnight Flavia Albia]] notes that even though enough people are still alive who remember Nero, the fact his lonerly death was witnessed by few gave rise to the myth that he fled Rome waiting for the time to be right to come back. People actually hope he'll return in triumph, depose the current paranoid sociopath on the throne, and restore an era of peace and prosperity. Albia notes that people are so desperate under Domitian's reign that they'll believe ''anything'', whilst forgetting that Nero was a mad sociopathic sadist.

** Done by Thomas Marik. After surviving an bomb attack, Thomas was grievously injured but was saved by bionic implants. Thomas was then replaced with a body double as cyborgs are scorned in the Free Worlds League, Thomas would become the Master of the Word of Blake, while his double would take his place. He later use this knowledge, in revealing his true identity and that of his stand-in to fracture the FWL.

* ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireII'' features a variation on this. [[CloudCuckoolander Tapeta]] is the prince of Fort Nageur; unfortunately, he's shiftless, irresponsible and a hopeless romantic, and he's been abroad for quite some time (much of it spent [[ForcedTransformation transformed into an even]] ''[[ForcedTransformation bigger]]'' [[ForcedTransformation frog]]). By the time he comes back as part of Ryu's party, an impostor has taken his place: said impostor claims that Tapeta is impersonating ''him'' and has him arrested. And the kicker? The people of Fort Nageur ''knew'' that Tapeta was the real deal; they just ''didn't care'', on the grounds they were probably better off with the phony.

** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'': Queen Dowager pretends to be the mother of the current King of Coburg, and takes complete advantage over him, performing acts such as destroying TheHero's DoomedHometown, recruiting monsters as soldiers, and executing anyone who defies her.

** Again this trope turns up twice in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'', the first with a moody girl in Bloomingvile [[spoiler:who happens to a doll affected by a Fygg who is replacing the dead girl.]] The second is with a vizier to the king [[spoiler:who turns out to a Sluggernut from WoodCreek area effected by a Fygg.]]

* ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' plays with this trope a great deal. [[spoiler:Early on, you are lead to believe that Emperor Sun Hai is somehow being controlled by his sinister adviser, [[TheFaceless Death's Hand]]. Once you reach him, though, you learn that Death's Hand is merely a puppet of Sun Hai, who is still very much in control of his own faculties despite being dead, and must defeat the Emperor... just in time for another villain to actually step out of the shadows and assume control of the Empire, pretending that Sun Hai still rules.]]

* Yaridovich in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG: Legend of the Seven Stars'' takes this trope to its logical extreme: He replaced ''everyone in Seaside Town'', fooling exactly no one. Then he procedes to send Mario and Co. into a FetchQuest to recover the [[MacGuffin Star Piece]] curently in possession of [[{{Pirate}} Jonathan]] [[ThreateningShark Jones]] in the [[GangplankGalleon Sunken]] [[DownTheDrain Ship]] and then he just waits for the MacGuffinDeliveryService to arrive.

* In ''VideoGame/ShiningTheHolyArk'', the King is being possessed by an evil spirit for apparently no reason pertaining to the plot. Bonus points for ?the king is acting strangely? comments from the villagers and for removing the popular and good Sage/Advisor and replacing him with a scary, hated and clearly evil Witch/Advisor.
* In ''VideoGame/EndlessFrontier'', the heroes don't encounter a Fake King, but learn that a war between Formido Heim and Elfetale was cause by one of these. King Stahl of Formido Heim had discovered technology to travel to [[AnotherDimension different dimensions]], proceed to make use of it. Unforunately, the first world he visited was inhabited by the Einst, one of the {{Big Bad}}s of the VideoGame/SuperRobotWars games. The Einst presumably killed him and created an EvilKnockoff in its place. Said knockoff returned to the Endless Frontier and declared war in order to fulfill the Einst's goals. It wasn't until ten years into the war that leaders of the Orchestra Army, Formido Heim's main force, realized the true nature of their "king". The army rebelled and eliminated the fake, and sued for peace, while not telling the world why the war happened.

* In ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'', the heroes, originally from two sides of a ForeverWar, discover that their respective queens are [[RottenRoboticReplacement robots]] created by the Consuls, the supposed subordinates of the queens who are in-fact TheManInFrontOfTheMan, and the real queens need to be located and rescued. [[spoiler:The queens just happen to be [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1 Melia]] and [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2 Nia]], who have {{previous|PlayerCharacterCameo}}ly appeared in prior games, therefore mixing this trope with {{Superdickery}} towards fans of the previous games, making them think it was a RogueProtagonist situation before the reveal.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'': The Conductor [[spoiler:is not actually the Conductor. She’s a passenger liked Tulip who ripped the real Conductor, [[ReallyRoyaltyReveal One-One]], out of the Train’s motherboard and took control of it in order to use its manufacturing abilities to create a train car that replicates [[TheLostLenore her dead husband]].]]

* The FairyTale "[[http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/327.htm The Blue Parrot]]" features a kind young king named Lino who has his clothes stolen and given to the dwarf Rabot. Rabot turns himself into Lino and starts acting rudely towards the servants and almost marries Lino's beloved Hermosa. Lino is turned into a parrot.

** It tried it again in Nimbus Land, where Valentina tried to pass off her giant raven henchman Dodo as the missing prince Mallow.

* In the ''TabletopGame/{{BattleTech}}'' universe, the head of one successor state, Hanse Davion, was replaced by a brainwashed double organized by an enemy successor state in [[http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Operation_Doppelganger Operation Doppelganger]].

** The prequel ''Manga/FushigiYuugiByakkoSenki'' has one of these [[spoiler: and it's the local BrokenBird Neiran, the protagonist of ''Manga/FushigiYuugiByakkoIbun''. She willingly usurps Suzuno's place as the Priestess of Byakko because [[DarkAndTroubledPast she's been so abused and mistreated ever since childhood]], she sees this as a chance to [[RagstoRoyalty finally have a decent life where everyone will respect her]].]]
** One of the ''Fushigi Yuugi'' novels (and its AnimatedAdaptation), ''Suzaku Hi Den'', reveals that none other than [[spoiler: '''Hotohori''']] is one of these. [[spoiler: The one who ''really'' should be in the throne is Hotohori's older half-brother, Tendou, but after an assassination attempt from Hotohori's StageMom Motaiko, he was sent away with the intention of keeping him safe until he was ready.. However, both Motaiko and the then-Emperor died, and Hotohori was stuck as a mix of LonelyRichKid and TheEmperor whereas [[HiddenBackUpPrince Tendou]] was stuck as a commoner.]]
* Happens completely by accident in ''Anime/TurnAGundam'' when Queen Dianna does a TwinSwitch with her IdenticalStranger Kihel Heim and war breaks out before they could switch back, meaning for a good portion of the series an impostor was ruling the Moon. This would have some consequences later, as Kihel-as-Dianna's insistence on a peaceful solution with Earth leads to a mutiny against the real Dianna once they switch back. [[spoiler: By the end of the series, they make the switch permanent, as Dianna is much happier living as a commoner, and Kihel is much happier being in a position of power where she could help people.]]

* ''Film/GIJoeRetaliation'' picks up where the original film left off, with Zartan impersonating [[spoiler: the President of the United States]]. He does a good job hiding his identity from the public, while keeping the real [[spoiler: President]] locked up in a room guarded by disguised Cobra agents. What makes it even more scary is that while he never does too much to arouse suspicion, this version of Zartan is clearly a lunatic psychopath who gets his kicks out of creating mayhem, suffering, and destruction. One really has to wonder if Cobra Commander was the only thing keeping him in check while he was under cover.

* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': [[spoiler: Ashfur]] possesses the body of Bramblestar, the leader of [=ThunderClan=], when he loses [[CatsHaveNineLives one of his lives]], in order to take control of the Clan and drive it apart by harshly punishing cats that break the warrior code.

* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Ironclaw}}'' module "The Lost Heir of the Rinaldi" the recently deceased king of House Rinaldi's surviving heir has gone missing and there are two different people who might be the prince. One seems perfectly sane while the other is a non-verbal vagrant in tattered clothes, [[spoiler: it's the latter, the former is an imposter hypnotized by a [[PsychicPowers Green mage]].]] The novelization ''Scars'' stars a bounty hunter hired by the former prince to capture the latter, [[spoiler: however she turns out to be the king's illegitimate daughter and recognizes her half-brother when she sees him.]]

** Again this trope turns up twice in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'', the first with a moody girl in Bloomingvile [[spoiler: who happens to a doll affected by a Fygg who is replacing the dead girl.]] The second is with a vizier to the king [[spoiler: who turns out to a Sluggernut from WoodCreek area effected by a Fygg.]]

* ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' plays with this Trope a great deal. [[spoiler:Early on, you are lead to believe that Emperor Sun Hai is somehow being controlled by his sinister adviser, [[TheFaceless Death's Hand]]. Once you reach him, though, you learn that Death's Hand is merely a puppet of Sun Hai, who is still very much in control of his own faculties despite being dead, and must defeat the Emperor... just in time for another villain to actually step out of the shadows and assume control of the Empire, pretending that Sun Hai still rules.]]

** The sequel, ''VideoGame/LunarEternalBlue'' and ''[[VideoGameRemake Eternal Blue Complete]]'' take it up a level with a fake ''Goddess''. [[spoiler: The real Goddess Althena gave up her immortality and died as a human centuries before the game takes place.]]

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', [[spoiler: the King Garon who started the war with Hoshido is actually a BlobMonster impersonating him]], though this is only explicitly revealed on the ''Conquest'' route. Played with in that [[spoiler: unlike most examples, the real king is DeadAllAlong, the monster imposter is possessing his corpse.]]

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' doujin, ''The Silence of the Rabbits'', it is revealed that [[spoiler:Eirin made a clone of herself to handle her experiments, but the clone went evil, incapacitated her and took her place. The clone wanted to kill Eirin and take over completely, but couldn't because Eirin is a Hourai immortal and cannot be killed in the normal fashions. So she trapped Eirin in a jar while she tried to come up with a poison powerful enough to kill Hourai immortals. But sadly for her, Eirin thought one step ahead and based her template off the Udonges, so there was no way that the clone could ever have surpassed the original]].

* ''[[ComicBook/AmUlet Amulet]]'': The Elf King is actually [[spoiler: dead, and his corpse is possessed by the voice of the stone, an alien agent named Ikol]].
* In one ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'' story, Daisy becomes the queen of a kingdom, but a duck named Minerva, who looks exactly like her [[EvilBrunetteTwin but with black hair]], gets her locked up and disguises herself as Daisy to take her place.
* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'', during the "Endgame" StoryArc, [[BigBad Dr. Robotnik]] replaced King Max with a robot double as part of his plan to finally defeat the Freedom Fighters.
* In ''ComicBook/TheWarlord'', Deimos used an IdenticalStranger to usurp Travis Morgan's position as Warlord of Skartaris.

** Done by Thomas Marik. After surviving an bomb attack, Thomas was saved by bionic implants. Thomas was then replaced with a body double as cyborgs are scorned in the Free Worlds League. Thomas would become the Master of the Word of Blake, while his double would take his place. He later use this knowledge, in revealing his true identity and that of his stand-in to fracture the FWL.

** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames Oracle of Ages]]'' pulls a similar trick -- the sorceress Veran possesses the titular oracle, and goes back in time to manipulate the queen as an advisor (and later possess her, too). It results in a similar situation to the usual Fake King plot.

* ''[[ComicBook/AmUlet Amulet]]'': The Elf King is actually [[spoiler: dead, and his corpse is possessed by the voice of the stone, an alien agent named Ikol]].