History Main / KlingonPromotion

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14293135/1/Witch-Wizard-Gnome Witch Wizard Gnome!]'' Rotgut, a mining goblin, kills a disgraced account manager, grabs the keys around the victim's neck and wears them himself.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}''. In the Third Imperium's history, there was a period where naval admirals would kill the current Emperor and take the title themselves. They were called the "Emperors of the Flag". In 2nd Edition ''[=MegaTraveller=]'', Archduke Dulinor assassinated Emperor Strephon and tried to take his place, but failed.
** The "Right of Assassination" was established centuries earlier after Porfiria, chosen by lot by a secret meeting of the Imperial Moot, assassinated and succeeded Cleon III, who was the Third Imperium's equivalent to [[TheCaligula Caligula]]. However, ascension by assassination still required the approval of the Moot, which the Flag Emperors and Dulinor did not have.

* ''ARG/OmegaMart'': [[spoiler:Cecelia Dram]] overthrew [[spoiler: her father]] and took over Dramcorp for herself, via pushing him into the Source Well (and turning him into the ethereal being that is periodically heard in Omega Mart itself).

* In ''ComicBook/MagicPowder'', the orcish clans have a very simple promotion system - you kill someone and then you get to take their spot in the hierarchy until someone else kills you. This is how Gundel became the head of the orc clans, and when he's killed in the first issue, his lieutenants immediately slaughter each other to determine who will become the new boss.

** General Lukin pulls this in Chapter 12 of the sequel ''Ghosts of the Past'' when his MaskOfSanity slips off [[spoiler: and he executes President Volodya, becoming (through his patsies) the ''de facto'' ruler of Russia]].

-->'''Saul''': The practice of apprentice killing mentor is not limited to Dark Jedi. I fully expect you to kill me once you are settled in, but I'll have the comfort of knowing I have a competent officer running things — which is more than I can say for my current crop of groveling idiots.

-->'''Gilda''': So, we're arranged into... well, prides or packs, the meaning is the same. Your village is a pack, your county is a pack formed of the village higher-ups, and so on up to Imperial level. You can move up in two ways – either by election, which is sort of a contest of strength of mind, or by combat, which is a contest of strength of body. Elections are kinda recent, historically speaking. Anyway, you can only challenge either way within a pack. So if Joe Average Gryphon wanted to become Emperor, he'd start at the village level. If he won there, he'd be a member of the county pack, and could move up there, and so on.” Gilda coughed. “I have an unfair advantage. I'm... sort of a member of the Imperial family. That counts as a pack, too. Mind you, the pack leader usually has a band of sworn talons who he can have kick the arses of any potential challenger, so he doesn't have to spend the whole day fighting. In practice, successful challenges involve those sworn talons either stepping aside or getting whupped en masse – and either way, we as a species tend to be alright with that.
* The Reapers of ''Fanfic/ProjectHorizon'' (RecursiveFanfiction of Fanfic/FalloutEquestria) work like this. As of chapter 18, two of the protagonists, Rampage ({{Immort|ality}} SociopathicHero) and [[spoiler: Blackjack (IdiotHero protagonist)]], have earned the title, though the latter [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt did it by accident]].

* Done accidentally by [[spoiler: Ishida Uryuu]] in the ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/TheWorldInBlackAndWhite''. [[spoiler:During the ryoka invasion, various butterflies result in him killing Mayuri in a one-to-one fight, which about half the Twelfth Division was watching via the surveillance system, leading to the 'Kenpachi rule' being invoked, much to Ishida's shock]].

* In ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'', BigBad ProfessionalKiller Scaramanga takes over [[spoiler: Hai Fat's business corporation this way, by shooting him with his Golden Gun and steals the [[McGuffin Solex Agitator]] as well. An assistant to Hai Fat arrives shortly after Scaramanga kills Hai Fat]]. Scaramanga then leaves [[spoiler: Hai Fat's]] office and makes a BondOneLiner of his own:
-->'''Assistant''': What happened?\\
'''Scaramanga''': [[spoiler: Mr. Fat]] has just resigned. I'm the new chairman of the board.\\

'''Scaramanga''': He always did like that mausoleum. Put him in it!

* It's revealed that the BigBad in ''Film/{{TurboKid}}'' [[spoiler: is a robot]] and killed the previous warlord to take his name and title. It's easier for him to do this because [[spoiler: he was made in his likeness.]]

** Later [[spoiler: the Vice President tries to assassinate the President, but gets caught. And then the President is tricked into making King Radical the new VP and he manages to succeed.]]

** Averted: [[spoiler: Kell intervenes in a fight between Herd Thinners CEO R.L. and Executive Frank Mangle. R.L. and Mangle are seriously injured and, because she was the "last man standing" (as it were), ''she'' is promoted to CEO of Herd Thinners. And later on, R.L. reveals he let her keep the position uncontested to make repairs to the company while he recovered from his injuries, then promptly fires her with his connections to the board of directors and shareholders. Many of Kell's supporters quit on the spot with no regards to their hard-earned positions, and would go on to work at Kell's new company.]]

* ''Webcomic/LegendOfTheBlueDiamond'': Family members of the monarch of Tahzinii can challenge them to fight for the throne. [[spoiler: Akela challenges Ekala in this way to keep her from hurting others and becomes queen.]]
* ''Webcomic/LookingForGroup'': The appointed king of TheEmpire is always the [[spoiler: elf]] who is closest to the Royal Crown when the last wearer dies by any means. Hence a fallen hero who uses the most depraved means of assassination is immediately worshipped because the crown is at his feet. And then subverted when Richard fucks with ALL the nobility (Royal Crown becomes an ArtifactOfDoom).

* In ''Webcomic/{{Pacificators}}'', [[spoiler: the Spanish Princess Belinda [[SelfMadeOrphan poisoned her father for the throne]].]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Swords}}'': The Sword Tapir defeats Joyeuse in the final round of the Swor'nament...and according to a past royal decree, since Joyeuse was Queen of Hiltshire at the time she was defeated, that meant that the Sword Tapir was now the new king of Hiltshire. [[spoiler: After her initial shock, Joyeuse takes the loss of her title in stride, deciding to leave Hiltshire and go find Harpe instead.]]

** [[spoiler: As of "Frost and Fire", Flame Princess has become Flame Queen after usurping her father. She also is running a better ship as well, judging how she enforces a "Tell the truth" rule as well.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'' Offdensen makes it very clear to Melmord that this was the only way Melmord would become sole manager of Dethklok: he'd have to kill Offdensen first. [[spoiler: Melmord fails and dies instead.]]

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1229302/4/Deceptions Deceptions]]'' at Seekers Academy whoever kills the Shadow Master becomes the new Shadow Master and therefore head of the school. The current Shadow Master has held the position for five years, which is longer than the headship of the twenty previous Shadow Masters put together.