History Main / KingOnHisDeathbed

* Near the end of ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', King Kashekim is fatally injured by [[spoiler: Rourke]], who then steals the Heart of Atlantis crystal by having Kashekim's daughter Kida merge with it due to her having RoyalBlood, with the intent of having Atlantis destroyed once the crystal is removed. After [[spoiler: Rourke and Helga]] escape with the crystallized Kida and leave Milo and his friends to die with the Atlanteans, Dr. Sweet (who previously witnessed Rourke kill the King) reveals to Milo that King Kashekim is now already about to die. As Kashekim lays on his deathbed, he reveals to Milo that back when he was younger, he out of arrogance mistreated the Heart of Atlantis by turning it into a weapon of destruction, which ultimately backfired due to [[ItCanThink the crystal's sentience]], resulting in Atlantis being destroyed and his wife the former Queen to die by sacrificing herself, causing Kashekim to hide the crystal underneath the palace to prevent Kida from suffering the same fate as her mother. Kashekim then warns Milo that Kida and the crystal must both be returned to Atlantis immediately or else not only will Atlantis be destroyed permanently, Kida if she remains bonded to the crystal too long will die the same way how her mother died as well. Before Kashekim finally dies, he removes his crystal pendant and gives it Milo, essentially making him the new King with the task of saving Kida and Atlantis from being destroyed by [[spoiler: Rourke]], setting the scene for the final battle.

* Near the end of ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', King Kashekim is fatally injured by [[spoiler: Rourke]], who then steals the Heart of Atlantis crystal by having Kashekim's daughter Kida merge with it due to her having RoyalBlood, with the intent of having Atlantis destroyed once the crystal is removed. After [[spoiler: Rourke and Helga]] escape with the crystallized Kida and leave Milo and his friends to die with the Atlanteans, Dr. Sweet reveals to Milo that King Kashekim is now already about to die. As Kashekim lays on his deathbed, he reveals to Milo that back when he was younger, he out of arrogance mistreated the Heart of Atlantis by turning it into a weapon of destruction, which ultimately backfired due to [[ItCanThink the crystal's sentience]], resulting in Atlantis being destroyed and his wife the former Queen to die by sacrificing herself, causing Kashekim to hide the crystal underneath the palace to prevent Kida from suffering the same fate as her mother. Kashekim then warns Milo that Kida and the crystal must both be returned to Atlantis immediately or else not only will Atlantis be destroyed permanently, Kida if she remains bonded to the crystal too long will die the same way how her mother died as well. Before Kashekim finally dies, he removes his crystal pendant and gives it Milo, essentially making him the new King with the task of saving Kida and Atlantis from [[spoiler: Rourke]], setting the scene for the final battle.

* The Skeksis Emperor in ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'', leading to TrialByCombat for his succession.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/edwardiii_0.png]]

->''"Kratistoi."'' [[note]]The strongest.[[/note]]

If the royal power is still lucid, he or she may be desperately [[ThanatosGambit trying to prevent]] the looming anarchy, but hindered by their lack of trustworthy lieutenants. If the illness is such that they are senile, insane, or comatose, they will [[SuccessionCrisis not yet have named their heir]], or left standing orders that make things awkward for everyone, but no one has the authority to rescind them.

* Vladimir Lenin's long, drawn-out death and the struggle for his position ensued amongst several high-ranking Bolsheviks.

** Sky the Weaver, dying to a combination of [[DeathByChildbirth childbirth]] and [[DeathByDespair despair]], in her final act names her younger sister [[spoiler:Comet]] regent for her infant daughter [[spoiler:Moon]], in a bid to ensure the middle sister Etheria didn't try to seize either the regency or the throne.

* A major part of the second season of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}''. The king of Saillune is an old man (who never actually appears on-screen), and various members of the Royal Family are trying to kill off Prince Philionel, the Heir Apparent, so that they can claim the throne.

* Vladimir Lenin's long, drawn-out death and the struggle for his position that ensued amongst several high-ranking Bolsheviks.

* UsefulNotes/HenryVIII's death was so protracted that the courtiers surrounding him had time to rewrite his will completely. Unfortunately they didn't finish in time for Henry to sign it himself so they used a signature stamp on it, which caused all kinds of headaches for both Edward VI and Mary I.

* China's first emperor Qin Shi Huang was this during his last days, obsessing on acquiring the elixir of life. Reportedly, he died from the pills that were supposed to make him immortal, [[DeathByIrony which unfortunately contained mercury]]. Some Chinese adaptations of his life depicts him having any newborns heard within his vicinity immediately executed.

** Alexander actually had heirs in his mentally-challenged half brother Arrhidaeus (Philip III) and eventually his infant son Alexander IV (born several months after his death), but since neither could rule for themselves, his chancellor Perdiccas became regent. However, Perdiccas' attempts to maintain central authority upset the other self-interested generals and he was soon killed invading Egypt after Ptolemy absconded with Alexander's body, thus destroying central authority and allowing the mighty empire to [[BalkanizeMe fragment into warring factions]].

* The inbred King Carlos II of Spain was so sickly that arguably his entire ''life'' was spent close to the deathbed. When he was clearly fading, it spawned an international crisis, since Carlos II as the very last of his dynasty had no clear heirs. Both the Hapsburgs in Austria and the Bourbons of France had strong claims, while King William III of England and others, afraid of France and Spain being united under one monarchy, wanted to at least make sure that Spain and its territories in Italy and the Americas were split among the various claimants. Carlos II willed everything to his Bourbon grand-nephew, Philippe, and to ease tensions King UsefulNotes/LouisXIV of France passed a decree barring Philippe from inheriting the French crown, but a thirteen-year long war, the War of the Spanish Succession, broke out anyway.

* UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat: The story goes that when asked who rule of his empire would fall to, he responded "tôi kratistôi." ([[AsskickingEqualsAuthority "To the strongest."]]) Unfortunately, there was [[SuccessionCrisis severe disagreement]] as to who this meant. An alternate theory is that he said "To Craterus," one of his generals who was not present and the others conveniently misheard. Another version holds that he was unable to speak and thus didn't actually give the iconic response at all, but gave his [[PersonalSeals signet ring]] to another general, Perdiccas, implying endorsement of him.

* In the beginning of ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'', Fiona's father, the king of Far Far Away, is on his deathbed (in frog form), and is trying to get a message about an heir to the throne to Shrek and Fiona. He seems to die three times before [[IncrediblyLamePun croaking]] out the end of the message, then finally dying.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/King_Deathbed_8571.jpg]]

%%* King Guslav in ''Literature/TheFirstLaw''.

* In ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'', Emperor Marcus Aurelius isn't literally on his deathbed, but knows he's old and dying, and so names the hero his heir. This, combined with telling his [[TheCaligula psychotic son]] [[HaveYouToldAnyoneElse before telling anyone else who could confirm it]], leads to him passing the deathbed stage and going straight to [[TheEvilPrince all the way dead]].

* ''Literature/TillWeHaveFaces'': When the King of Glome falls and breaks his leg, the severity of the injury and his ensuing sickness has the palace and the temple convinced that he'll never recover. Without a son, the crown will go to the oldest princess, Orual. Bardia, Fox, and even the newest head priest of Ungit all recognize her authority and pledge to work with her. Orual takes over the management of the kingdom while her father is bedridden and dying, even navigating the country through a tricky little political crisis with the neighboring country of Phars when she [[CombatByChampion duels a claimant to the throne]] as the old king's body is cooling.

** With King Solomon in ''his'' deathbed, years later, his ''successor'' is clear (his son Rehoboam), but whether his successor would be ''accepted'' is another matter entirely, with rumblings of discontent across the land. Things come to a head when Jeroboam, a rival claimant, comes up and asks Rehoboam, more or less, if he would be an improvement on Solomon. Rehoboam famously replies, "My father chastised you with whips...I shall chastise you with scourges!!" To which Jeroboam replied, "To your tents, O Israel!" and ten of the 12 tribes split off to form the northern Kingdom of Israel; the tribes of Benjamin and Judah remain loyal to Rehoboam.

* This is basically what the entire [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Eight_Princes War of the Eight Princes]] in the Chinese Jin dynasty boiled down to: eight princes as well as several members of the Imperial court vying for the regency over the developmentally disabled second Emperor Hui of Jin, born Sima Zhong. The eight princes, all relatives of the Sima clan, battled each other intermittently from 291 to 307--the net result was several dead members of the Sima clan, two dead empresses, and quite a number of dead ministers, and one Sima Yue as the eventual winner for a few years.

--->'''Louis XIII:''' What is your name?
--->'''Dauphin:''' UsefulNotes/LouisXIV.
--->'''Louis XIII:''' Not yet, not yet...

* Prince Humperdinck's father in ''Film/ThePrincessBride''.

* King George V in ''Film/TheKingsSpeech''.

* Occurs in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' halfway through the first book when [[spoiler: King Robert]] is gutted by a boar while hunting and as he lies dying [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen his wife]] immediately starts plotting to secure the throne for [[TheCaligula her son]] but is opposed by TheGoodChancellor (who knows that [[spoiler: the queen's children [[MamasBabyPapasMaybe are not her husband's]])]], setting off the SuccessionCrisis and CivilWar that fills subsequent novels.

* Kicks off the plot in ''Film/{{Stardust}}''. The King of Stormhold summons his four remaining sons to his deathbed, watches approvingly as one of them kills another, and tells the three who are left that he's sending his magical ruby flying off into the land and [[GameBetweenHeirs whoever finds it is his heir]]. He expires immediately, with an earlier line implying that he was keeping himself alive through sheer willpower.