History Main / MyopicConqueror

A Myopic Conqueror is a variant of TheConqueror who is only interested in the conquering, and not anything after.

Compare and contrast a HordeOfAlienLocusts, who aren't interested in ruling a place after invading it and only exploit its land and people for their resources.

* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers:'' Kang the Conqueror runs into this quite a bit. He likes conquering, but finds the administration part once he's done conquering tediously dull. Meanwhile, his other-self Rama-Tut is okay with it, but generally prefers a smaller place to rule.

--> '''Taskmaster:''' You hear [[WeatherManipulation that boom?]]\\

* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs Warhammer 40K]]'': When it comes to conquering and destroying worlds, Davik Thune is devastatingly effective, inflicting CurbStompBattle after Curb-Stomp Battle on the Republic and Separatists alike. When it comes to actually ''holding'' said conquered worlds, he leaves much to be desired. For example, he led the offscreen conquest of Planet Axum, something that most conventional militaries would have considered a strategic nightmare for the same reasons as Coruscant (heavily defended CityPlanet in the heart of enemy territory, has a hostile population certain to outnumber any invaders by orders of magnitude, and its planetwide LayeredMetropolis is too labyrinthine for any unfamiliar invaders to effectively navigate). Thune took over Axum virtually [[OvernightConquest overnight]] on a whim through sheer brute force without any prior planning, preparation work, or even knowledge of what world he was invading. However, where the cracks start to show is in how he subsequently went about occupying Axum, leaving behind only a token garrison with a piddly three ships to defend his newly-conquered holdings. This is despite ''knowing'' how close Axum is located to the Republic's capital planet and that the Republic has thousands of warships in their navy preparing to counter-invade.

** Daenerys Targaryen realizes she had become this sort of ruler after one of the states she liberated on Essos suffers from chaos and an uprising after she moves on to her next conquest. She comes to realize that although her ultimate goal is to reclaim the Iron Throne in Westeros which is her birthright, it'll all be for naught if her base of power falls apart before she gets there. She thus spends a significant portion of her time ruling and ''trying'' to create stability in the city of Meereen before resuming her campaign toward Westeros.

** With war and violence hardwired into their biology, [[SpaceOrcs Orks]] are more interested in invading than ruling worlds. Being irrepressible scavengers, Orks will usually make use of conquered worlds and facilities to strengthen their own armies, but don't really care about anything beyond building up their forces for the next fight.
** Before their 5th Edition {{rewrite}}, the [[MechanicalLifeform Necrons]] only woke up to purge all life from their planet and surrounding systems, or abduct populations for mysterious purposes, before going back to stasis without any intention of ruling the areas they attacked.

** In both games, the Eldar simply leave once their purpose is achieved (taking out the Necrons, as well as the other enemies present on the planet/system), though leaving behind a few hidden waygates if they should need to return.

** Sombron, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage'', aims to become a MultiversalConqueror, but freely admits every world, and all the death and destruction he brings to it, is merely a "stepping stone". [[spoiler: What he's actually doing is moving from world to world until he happens to hit one where the Zero Emblem still exists.]] In his mind, leaving each world a baren husk in search of a means to travel to the next doesn't matter, as he doesn't plan on staying there. The heroes [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse call him out on this]] before the final battle, especially since he treats [[AbusiveParents his own children]] a similar way.

* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'': Shao Kahn is the long-serving ruler of Outworld, and a MultiversalConqueror who captures other realms mostly through invasion, but also through subterfuge when necessary. Kahn is an entirely [[ItsAllAboutMe self-absorbed ruler]] whose goals only serve to satisfy his own lusts, whims, and ego. Though he and his supporters claim that his conquests are for the glory of Outworld, talking to anyone who's been in his service long enough to see his uglier side will have them reveal that this isn't the case. Shao Kahn's conquests do ''nothing'' to help Outworld or its people, and in a lot of ways make things worse for them. For instance, if he conquers a world with subjects that make for better warriors or slaves, his first order will be for them to [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness kill the ones he no longer needs]]. To drive the point home, in his ending in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon Armageddon]]'', he successfully conquers every other realm in existence, only to go [[VictoryIsBoring insane with boredom]].
* ''Videogame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope:'' Göring's plans tend towards either this, or an invocation of this. His reasoning is that the Reich was at its best during the war and the conquests and all throughout the bloodshed, triumphant at every turn. And even when losing, they were still doing better than the current Reich, which is falling the hell apart thanks to [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome reality coming down like a ton of bricks upon them]]. From this, he takes not the conclusion that maybe he should try and fix things, but rather that the only solution to restore greatness is to [[ForeverWar wage eternal war, and conquer everything there is, so that the glory may last forever]]. From there, it's a succession of what the players would call [[SarcasmMode REALLY GOOD IDEAS]] as Göring implements plans to fight everyone in Europe, then minor powers elsewhere, then superpowers;. This path ends in either Germany collapsing so badly that the civil wars get recursive, or an apocalyptic thermonuclear exchange; there is no victory for him in the end.

** According to Cerys an Craite, the late Bran Tuirseach was a High King that wasn't very good at keeping the Skellige Islands stable. She says that his rule was an endless cycle of dissatisfied and complaining people, who quieted down when Bran led the Skelligans on another successful raid on neighboring islands and villages, returning with riches and slaves, only for said complaints to slowly creep back later.

* ''VideoGame/TotalWar'': This can happen in just about every entry in the series if the player isn't careful. Gobbling up territory is nice, but almost always comes with major penalties; overextend too much and your lands will be suffering public order problems and your military stretched too thin to be ready for counterattacks. It's a much better idea to expand steadily, consolidating your new holdings along the way.

* DoubleSubverted in ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' special ''[[Recap/ThePowerpuffGirlsSpecial1 The Powerpuff Girls Rule!]]'': Mojo Jojo gets the episode's MacGuffin, making him ruler of the world. He has brilliant, utopian plans that he ''[[TheExtremistWasRight accomplishes instantly]]'', but within a day gets so bored he goes on a crime spree to get the Girls to fight him again.

Maybe they're a ProudWarriorRaceGuy or BloodKnight to the extreme, where an [[AnarchoTyranny endless cycle of violence and conquest is exactly what they want]]. Maybe they were once a [[TheGeneralissimo powerful fighter or military leader]] who turned out to be TheCaligula once they were given rule of the nation. Maybe they're a SocialDarwinist who isn't interested in actually ruling the "weak", instead waiting for the day a new challenger steps up to [[KlingonPromotion try to take their throne]]. An even darker example is a SuperSoldier, MasterComputer, or [[RobotSoldier robot army]] that is conditioned only to destroy and, once the original enemy is wiped out, [[RobotWar immediately turns toward another group]] or even [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters their masters/creators]].

* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs Warhammer 40K]]'': When it comes to conquering and destroying worlds, Davik Thune is devastatingly effective, inflicting CurbStompBattle after Curb-Stomp Battle on the Republic and Separatists alike. When it comes to actually ''holding'' said conquered worlds, he leaves much to be desired. For example, he led the offscreen conquest of Planet Axum, something that most conventional militaries would have considered a strategic nightmare for the same reasons as Coruscant (heavily defended CityPlanet in the heart of enemy territory, has a hostile population certain to outnumber any invaders by orders of magnitude, and its planetwide LayeredMetropolis is too labyrinthine for any unfamiliar invaders to effectively navigate). Thune took over Axum virtually overnight on a whim through sheer brute force without any prior planning, preparation work, or even knowledge of what world he was invading. However, where the cracks start to show is in how he subsequently went about occupying Axum, leaving behind only a token garrison with a piddly three ships to defend his newly-conquered holdings. This is despite ''knowing'' how close Axum is located to the Republic's capital planet and that the Republic has thousands of warships in their navy preparing to counter-invade.

* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs Warhammer 40K]]'': When it comes to conquering and destroying worlds, Davik Thune is devastatingly effective, inflicting CurbStompBattle after Curb-Stomp Battle on the Republic and Separatists alike. When it comes to actually ''holding'' said conquered worlds, he leaves much to be desired. For example, he led the offscreen conquest of Planet Axum, something that most conventional militaries would have considered a strategic nightmare for the same reasons as Coruscant (heavily defended CityPlanet in the heart of enemy territory, has a hostile population certain to outnumber any invaders by orders of magnitude, and its planetwide LayeredMetropolis is too labyrinthine for any unfamiliar invaders to effectively navigate. Thune took over Axum virtually overnight on a whim through sheer brute force without any prior planning, preparation work, or even knowledge of what world he was invading. However, where the cracks start to show is in how he subsequently went about occupying Axum, leaving behind only a token garrison with a piddly three ships to defend his newly-conquered holdings. This is despite ''knowing'' how close Axum is located to the Republic's capital planet and that the Republic has thousands of warships in their navy preparing to counter-invade.

* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs Warhammer 40K]]'': When it comes to conquering and destroying worlds, Chapter Master Davik Thune is devastatingly effective, inflicting CurbStompBattle after Curb-Stomp Battle. When it comes to actually ''holding'' said conquered worlds, not so much. For example, he led the offscreen conquest of Planet Axum, something that most conventional militaries would have considered a strategic nightmare for the same reasons as Coruscant (heavily defended CityPlanet in the heart of enemy territory, has a hostile population certain to outnumber any invaders by orders of magnitude, and its planetwide LayeredMetropolis is too labyrinthine for any unfamiliar invaders to effectively navigate. Thune took over Axum virtually overnight on a whim through sheer brute force without any prior planning, preparation work, or even knowledge of what world he was invading. However, where the cracks start to show is in how he subsequently went about occupying Axum, leaving behind only a token garrison with a piddly three ships to defend his newly-conquered holdings. This is despite ''knowing'' how close Axum is located to the Republic's capital planet and that the Republic has thousands of warships in their navy preparing to counter-invade.

-> ''"Yes, strength. King Robert was strong; he won the rebellion and crushed the Targaryen dynasty. And he attended three Small Council meetings in seventeen years of ruling, and he spent his time whoring, hunting, and drinking until the last two killed him. So, we have a man [...] who thinks winning and ruling are the same thing."''
-->-- '''Tywin Lannister'''. ''Series/GameOfThrones''

* Paradox Interactive's grand strategy games like ''VideoGame/EuropaUniversalis'' and ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings'' have this happen as well. Overextension too rapidly can lead to various internal issues like rebellions, or external issues like Napoleon-style coalitions against you that it takes a very great deal of effort to win if you don't put in the time and effort into stabilizing your realms.

* Lord Hater from ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' usually just lands on a planet, kicks out the leader, plants a flag and a statue of himself, and calls it a day. The episode "The Axe" shows that he's just lost most of the planets he's conquered because he failed to leave a battalion behind to defend them.
* DoubleSubverted in ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' special ''[[Recap/ThePowerpuffGirlsSpecial1 The Powerpuff Girls Rule!]]'': Mojo Jojo gets the episode's MacGuffin, making him ruler of the world. He has brilliant, utopian plans that he ''accomplishes instantly'', but within a day gets so bored he goes on a crime spree to get the Girls to fight him again.

* ''WebComic/SluggyFreelance'': In "Holiday Wars", [[HairRaisingHare Bun-bun]] embodies this trope knowingly and without having a problem with it. After several of the [[Anthropomorphic Personification]]s of the holidays have been messing with him on and off for years, he decides to go to war against them, steal their powers, and TakeOverTheWorld by becoming a PhysicalGod with all their holiday powers. However, he's perfectly fine with not having a plan beyond this:

** Robert Baratheon was a renowned warrior and leader who marched his armies to King's Landing and defeated a dynasty that had ruled for over 300 years. Immediately after seizing control, however, he left his Hand and Small Council to handle the ruling of the empire while he indulged in personal vices. He neglected his duties so much that he even failed to legitimately impregnate his own wife and failed to notice that "his" children were the result of an extramarital affair [[{{Twincest}} with her own twin brother]]. This is because Robert never wanted to be King in the first place, just to recover his betrothed Lyanna, but his [[TheCaligula insane predecessor]] forced his hand by declaring him and his allies to be outlaws. To top it off, Lyanna died prematurely and the circumstances of the civil war meant that Robert was now indebted to House Lannister, forcing him into an ArrangedMarriage with a woman he despised.