History Main / FakeKing

Rarely seen in the same country as the EvilChancellor and rarely a FinalBoss -- though they can be a significant one -- a good, often beloved ruler or other authority figure has been replaced by a doppelganger of some kind with horribly evil intentions. The FakeKing exploits the country's people and resources to further his nefarious agenda. He often isn't very subtle, but you don't get much in the way of disobedience except from the heroes; everyone else just remarks on how the king is acting funny or has changed. The replacement usually happens before the story starts. It could be seen as the lazy way to become a VillainWithGoodPublicity, or for the EvilTwin to star in a TyrantTakesTheHelm story. Many RolePlayingGames use this setup and the inevitable exposure of the usurper and [[RightfulKingReturns restoration of the real king]] as a rather forgettable FetchQuest.

While this specific FakeKing plot is arguably a DeadHorseTrope in console [=RPGs=] by now, the general trope of replacing a good authority figure with an evil one through VoluntaryShapeshifting, [[GrandTheftMe possession]], the existence of an EvilTwin, cloning, illusion magic, or some other form of AppliedPhlebotinum is considerably older and potentially more varied. The key points are that the authority figure is known as a real person and that he or she gets replaced by a look-alike who makes things worse -- a villain disguised as the king.

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* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' combines the FakeKing concept with the EvilChancellor to yield the Fake Chancellor. [[spoiler:Twice. And the second time was explicitly out of revenge for the first time.]]

* In ''VideoGame/EndlessFrontier'', the heroes don't encounter a FakeKing, 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.

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* {{Discussed}} in 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.)

* Not quite a ''king'', but ''[[SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Sam & Max]]: Abe Lincoln Must Die!'' features a fake President who turns out to be a hypnosis device (a ''literal'' puppet ruler).

* In ''Film/TheDarkWorld'', 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 ''Film/TheDarkWorld'', [[Characters/MCULoki 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:[[Characters/MCUThor Thor]] arrives to put an end to his negligence, self-aggrandizement and poorly enacted plays]].

* One of the plots in the ''Literature/TheVicomeDeBragelonne''. A conspiracy attempts to replace King Louis with his identical twin.

* One of the plots in the [[Literature/TheThreeMusketeers Man in the Iron Mask]]. The king is replaced by his twin Louis.

* In ''Film/TheDarkWorld'', [[Characters/MCULoki 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 an episode of ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' based on ''Film/TheManInTheIronMask'', "The Duck in the Iron Mask."

** One of the ''Fushigi Yuugi'' novels (and its AnimatedAdaptation), ''Suzaku Hi Den'', plays rather interestingly with the concept. [[spoiler: Hotohori is TheEmperor of Konan, but the one who ''really'' should be in the throne is his half-brother Tendou. After an assassination attempt from Hotohori's StageMom Motaiko, Tendou was sent away with the intention of keeping him safe until he was ready... but then both Motaiko and the then-Emperor died, and Hotohori was stuck as the leader of the nation (when in reality his birthright isn't as strong) while Tendou (alias the rightful heir) was stuck as a commoner.]]

* In ''LightNovel/TheTwelveKingdoms'', Princess Joei takes up the role to usurp Youko's rightful place as the sucessor of her sister Joukaku.
* As eventually revealed, Mashiro in ''Anime/MaiOtome'', who 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 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 first of ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games, ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena Arena]]'', begins in a prison where the player learns in a dream that the Emperor is an impostor and the real one is trapped in Oblivion, and must chase all over Tamriel for pieces of the Chaos Staff to defeat him.

* ''The7thSaga'' has an ExcusePlot largely involving this trope.

* In ''TheTwelveKingdoms'', Princess Joei takes up the role to usurp Youko's rightful place as the sucessor of her sister Joukaku.

* [[http://www.adventurers-comic.com/d/0253.html Parodied]] in ''Webcomic/{{Adventurers}}!'': Karn meets a chancellor and immediately defenestrates him, on the GenreSavvy 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.

* Teikun Ō from ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth 2''. [[spoiler: The real Teikun was assassinated years ago by a hitman and replaced with a fake. The fake and his comrades planned to then kill the hitman, which led to the BigBad of the game killing the fake to repay the hitman for saving his life as a child.]]

"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."''''

* 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.

* In some 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 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 mortality and died as a human centuries before the game takes place.]]

->''My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my dungeon.''

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* Many adaptations of ''Film/TheManInTheIronMask'' involve an inversion of this plot -- an evil king being replaced by his secret good twin.
* ''Film/{{Dave}}'' centers on an inversion of this plot: a bastard President goes into a coma and a look-alike is asked to stand in for him -- a look-alike who makes a much better president.
* 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 under cover.
* ''Film/TheGreatRace'' takes time out from the actual race to send up ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda''. The villain, Professor Fate, gets to be the one who looks just like the king-to-be.

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

* In ''VideoGame/EndlessFrontier'', the heroes don't encounter a FakeKing, 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 visted was inhabited by the Einst, one of the {{Big Bad}}s of the VideoGame/SuperRobotWars games. The Einst presumedly killed him and created an EvilKnockoff in its place. Said knockoff returned to the EndlessFrontier 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.