History Main / PrincelingRivalry

** During the Qing dynasty, the Kangxi Emperor's initial heir Yinreng proved to be ....inadequate[[note]]Things were further complicated by the fact that the Kangxi Emoperor ruled for ''six'' decaades. Thus, Yinreng could be forgiven for being impatient...[[/note]]. After Yinreng, his (half)brothers took part in a power struggle to determine the next heir. In the end, Yinzhen won aand later became the Yongzheng Emperor.

** The Sui and Tang dynasties were a notoriously lethal time for crown princes. Sui Wendi's first crown prince Yang Yong was deposed in favour of his brother Yang Guang. The first emperor of Tang, Emperor Gaozu, had a particularly large problem with this trope; his sons Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin and Li Yuanji fought for the throne, as Li Shimin (Emperor Taizong) was considered more capable than his older brother Li Jiancheng, [[SuccessfulSiblingSyndrome which made him feel threatened]]. This culminated in the infamous Xuanwu Gate Incident, where Li Shimin [[CainAndAbel killed both of them]] and forced Gaozu to abdicate. Li Shimin's formal sons Li Chengqian and Li Tai engaged in this trope until Li Chengqian attempted to [[GenerationXerox kill Li Tai and overthrow Li Shimin.]] Li Shimin's successor Li Zhi(Emperor Gaozong) had a problem with crown princes; however this time it was his wife UsefulNotes/WuZetian's machinations rather than the siblings fighting. Li Zhi's son Li Xian (Emperor Zhongzong) also had bad luck with his sons. His eldest formal son was killed by Wu Zetian over a private discussion, and his eldest son by birth was accused by Li Xian's wife of being TheStoolPigeon. His actual crown prince was killed in a failed coup after Li Xian's daughter humiliated him, wanting to be made crown princess. Thankfully [[AvertedTrope averted]] by Li Xian's brother Li Dan's (Emperor Ruizong) sons Li Chengqi and Li Longji; Li Chengqi gave up the crown prince position to Li Longji, who was more capable than him, and the two brothers had a good relationship[[note]]When Chengqi died in January 742, Longji (by then already Emperor; his posthumous name is Xuanzong) posthumously honored his brother as an emperor, and Chengqi was granted the posthumous name "Rang" ("yielded", as in "the emperor who yielded")[[/note]].

** The Sui and Tang dynasties were a notoriously lethal time for crown princes. Sui Wendi's first crown prince Yang Yong was deposed in favour of his brother Yang Guang. The first emperor of Tang, Emperor Gaozu, had a particularly large problem with this trope; his sons Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin and Li Yuanji fought for the throne, as Li Shimin was considered more capable than his older brother Li Jiancheng, [[SuccessfulSiblingSyndrome which made him feel threatened]]. This culminated in the infamous Xuanwu Gate Incident, where Li Shimin [[CainAndAbel killed both of them]] and forced Gaozu to abdicate. Li Shimin's formal sons Li Chengqian and Li Tai engaged in this trope until Li Chengqian attempted to [[GenerationXerox kill Li Tai and overthrow Li Shimin.]] Li Shimin's successor Li Zhi had a problem with crown princes, however this time it was his wife UsefulNotes/WuZetian's machinations rather than the siblings fighting. Li Zhi's son Li Xian also had bad luck with his sons. His eldest formal son was killed by Wu Zetian over a private discussion, and his eldest son by birth was accused by Li Xian's wife of being TheStoolPigeon. His actual crown prince was killed in a failed coup after Li Xian's daughter humiliated him, wanting to be made crown princess. Thankfully [[AvertedTrope averted]] by Li Xian's brother Li Dan's sons Li Chengqi and Li Longji; Li Chengqi gave up the crown prince position to Li Longji, who was more capable than him, and the two brothers had a good relationship.

!!General
* Pick a Chinese series set in ImperialChina. ''Any'' Chinese series set in ImperialChina. If it has anything to do with the imperial family then you can be sure you'll find no shortage of princes (and occasionally princesses) plotting against each other and the emperor.
* Ditto with South Korean series set pre-1910. Any time two or more princes appear some of them are bound to be plotting against each other.

!!Examples:

** Liu Ziye, Liu Jun’s son, hated Liu Ziluan, his half-brother, due to Liu Jun’s excessive ParentalFavouritism of him. When Liu Ziye took over after his father’s early death he forced Liu Ziluan to commit suicide. He was only nine and Liu Ziye killed his brother and sister. The rest of Liu Ziye’s brothers were all killed in some way by Liu Yu, their uncle. Liu Zishang, Liu Ziye’s full brother, was forced to commit suicide by Liu Yu, for allegedly being violent and taking part in Ziye’s tyranny, though it’s unknown what exactly[[WrittenByTheWinners (if anything)]] he did. Liu Zixun, Ziye’s half-brother, was executed aged ten due to being part of a rebellion. The rest of Liu Ziye’s brothers were then all put to death by Liu Yu, all as children.

** Li Shimin, the Taizong Emperor of Tang, and Li Jiancheng, his brother, never got on. In the Xuanwu Gate Incident, [[CainAndAbel he ambushed his brother,]] who was allegedly plotting against him, and his younger brother Li Yuanji, killed their sons as well, and forced his father to make him crown prince.

* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': Initially, Princess Rhaenyra is the only surviving child King Viserys I Targaryen had with his consort Aemma, and after Aemma's death, he makes Rhaenyra his heir to the throne instead of trying to have a [[HeirClubForMen male heir]] again. Nonetheless, Viserys lets the Hightowers have almost completely their ways with his reign the minute he chooses to remarry with Alicent Hightower, and sires four children with her including three males. This plants the seeds of a major and deadly SuccessionCrisis, as the Hightowers pull off a [[TheCoup coup]] to crown the oldest male son of Viserys and Alicent, Aegon, as soon as Viserys is dead, and Rhaenyra cannot accept her right to the throne be usurped, and thus a war begins.

* A chain of sorts in Sacha Guitry's ''Le diable boiteux''. First the Comte d'Artois is shown checking up on his elder brother Louis XVIII very often, clearly expecting him to die soon. Then, when he ascends the throne as Charles X, his cousin Louis-Philippe does the same to him (though in Charles' case, he is dethroned before dying).

* In ''{{Anime/Voltes V}}'', [[spoiler: Emperor Zambajil of [[HumanAliens Planet]] [[TheEmpire Boazania]] wants his nephew, [[WarriorPrince Prince Heinel]], dead because he is the true heir to the throne. Zambojil himself ascended to the throne by knocking [[TheGoodKing Heinel's father]] out of the game through dirty means, and intends to get rid of [[ObliviousToHatred Heinel]] by sending him to command an AlienInvasion against Earth. To his frustration, his nephew is actually quite [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership competent at warfare]] and just won't die]].

SubTrope to SiblingRivalry and MurderInTheFamily. SisterTrope to CainAndAbel. Annoyed at being SpareToTheThrone, the younger brother usually becomes an EvilPrince, who then becomes an EvilUncle to any of the first born's children. One of the few plot tropes where the younger sibling is the evil one in the family.

** ''Film/BlackPanther2018:'' T'Challa / Black Panther, the son of the deceased king and N'Jadaka / [[spoiler:Killmonger, the son of the former king's younger brother]] contest for the throne of Wakanda. [[spoiler:T'Challa has no idea Killmonger even exists after his father has killed Killmonger's father and has covered it up. Killmonger challenges T'Challa to a ritualistic duel, nearly kills him, and seizes the throne. In the end, T'Challa returns, mortally wounds his rival, and reclaims his place as the rightful king.]]

* Subverted in ''Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy''. At the end [[spoiler:Shasta]] just discovers he is really Prince Cor of Archenland and will inherit the throne, being 20 minutes older than his twin brother Corin. Cor apologizes to him for [[UnexpectedSuccessor unexpectedly taking the throne from him]], but instead [[RebelPrince Corin]] cheers because he ''didn't'' want to be king; as a prince, he won't have to worry about responsibility and will get to keep having fun. He only gets angry and threatens to beat up Cor when Cor ''insists'' on giving him back the throne.

* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': Initially, Princess Rhaenyra is the only surviving child King Viserys I Targaryen had with his consort Aemma, and after Aemma's death he makes Rhaenyra his heir to the throne instead of trying to have a [[HeirClubForMen male heir]] again. Nonetheless, Viserys lets the Hightowers have almost completely their ways with his reign the minute he chooses to remarry with Alicent Hightower, and sires four children with her including three males. This plants the seeds of a major and deadly SuccessionCrisis, as the Hightowers pull off a [[TheCoup coup]] to crown the oldest male son of Viserys and Alicent, Aegon, as soon as Viserys is dead, and Rhaenyra cannot accept her right to the throne be usurped, and thus a war begins.

* ''Series/MagnificentCentury'', a soap opera based in the life of Suleyman TheMagnificent, uses this quite a bit among Suleyman's sons (which is TruthInTelevision, as seen below). The two eldest Princes, Mustafa (Strong Firstborn, mothered by Suleyman's first wife Mahidevran) and Mehmet (Smart Secondborn, mothered by Suleyman's second and most beloved wife, Roxelana/Hurrem), are particularly bad at this.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' has Hausen as the strong firstborn, and Lundgren as the smart, plotting second born. Lundgren thought he would just wait it out until Hausen died naturally after Hausen's only daughter eloped. But when word spread that Hausen's long lost granddaughter Lyn was coming to claim her rightful throne, Lundgren started poisoning Hausen to speed up the process before she arrived. Totally backfires when Lyn kills Lundgren and Hausen makes a full recovery from the poisoning.

* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': Initially, Princess Rhaenyra is the only surviving child King Viserys I Targaryen had with his consort Aemma, and after Aemma's death he made Rhaenyra his heir to the throne instead of trying to have a [[HeirClubForMen male heir]] again. Nonetheless, Viserys lets the Hightowers have almost completely their ways with his reign the minute he chooses to remarry with Alicent Hightowers, and sires four children with her including three males. This plants the seeds of a major and deadly SuccessionCrisis, as the Hightowers pull off a [[TheCoup coup]] to crown the oldest male son of Viserys and Alicent, Aegon, as soon as Viserys is dead, and Rhaenyra cannot accept her right to the throne be usurped, and thus a war begins.

* ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}''. King Hamlet was the firstborn who was a warrior king with some implication in the text that he wasn't the most likable guy; Claudius, the second-born, is the smart and charming plotter. [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready Claudius murders King Hamlet and Prince Hamlet ends up trying to avenge his father's murder]].

* ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} is the strong firstborn who, in most incarnations, is betrayed by his younger half brother Orm/Ocean Master. But this being a classic comic book character, he escapes the peril and puts Orm behind aquatic bars.

* In ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda'' the whole plot revolves around Duke Michael's attempt to usurp the throne from his elder half-brother prince Rudolf. However, there are enough hints through the novel to indicate that "Black" Michael might have been as evil as it seems at first sight, given that he has the support of the poor people of the capital and the countryside around Zenda, and even Prince Rudolf's supporters aren't too thrilled about having that lazy drunk on the throne.

* ''Series/TheGlamorousImperialConcubine'' plays with this trope. Of the two sets of princes -- Qi You, Qi Yun and Qi Xing in one family; Lian Cheng and Lian Xi in another -- none of them are on bad terms with their brothers at first. Instead their mothers are rivals and are constantly scheming on their sons' behalf.

* One ''Series/MidsomerMurders'' episode has the younger brother of an aristocrat try to murder him via SwordFight, less for the title and inheritance than his mistress (the brother's wife). AllForNothing anyway, since the wife cheerfully informed her now ex-lover that she was part of the aristocracy now, and not about to waste her time with him. Note that the husband had already committed several murders by this point, one of them an IgnoredEnamoredUnderling reporting the wife infidelity on the wedding day, in the name of preserving the family reputation.

* ''Series/QueenForSevenDays'' has an initially one-sided version. At the start Lee Yeok looks up to Lee Yung, while Lee Yung hates Lee Yeok and thinks he's planning to overthrow him. Lee Yung's actions [[SelfFulfillingProphecy lead to Lee Yeok actually planning to overthrow him]].

** While she is smaller, and a schemer, and evil, Azula is also stronger than her older brother Zuko who should be OverlordJr but is instead a TokenGoodTeammate to his evil family and rightful heir. Azula never really indicates that she has designs on the throne for herself until [[spoiler: Zuko does a HeelFaceTurn and leaves the family and]] it's about to be handed to her, but she always made sure that if anything went wrong in the family, Zuko would get the blame from the beginning.

** Qin Shi Huang never left proper succession instructions or designated a crown prince because he believed he was immortal. When he [[DeathByIrony died of mercury poisoning caused by his ‘immortality pills’]] his eldest son Fusu was the natural successor. However his son Huhai, with help from [[EunuchsAreEvil Zhao Gao]] and [[EvilChancellor Li Si,]] forged an edict from Qin Shi Huang telling Fusu to commit suicide, which he did.
** The War of Eight Princes during the Jin Dynasty is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Eight different members of the Sima family went to war with Sima Yan’s developmentally disabled successor Emperor Hui, and eliminated each other and the emperor one by one.
** During the Liu Song dynasty, two of Emperor Wen’s sons, Liu Shao and Liu Jun, staged a coup and killed their father and many of his allies, including [[SelfMadeOrphan Liu Jun’s mother.]] Liu Shao then began to execute many of his cousins. Before he could do much however, another brother, Liu Jun(a different character to Liu Shao’s ally), staged a rebellion, and had both Liu Shao and Liu Jun beheaded with their sons, and forced their concubines and daughters to commit suicide. Liu Jun also forced several other brothers to commit suicide.

** Gao Yang and Gao Yan of Northern Qi both tried to defy this trope, but ended up unsuccessful. On his deathbed, Gao Yang asked the ambitious Gao Yan to [[TemptingFate spare his son Gao Yin on his deathbed.]] When Gao Yin took the throne, he was soon deposed in a coup and Gao Yan took the throne. Gao Yan [[ILied murdered Gao Yin two years later]] when his magicians told him that the city Gao Yin lived in had an imperial aura. Gao Yan, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone wrecked by guilt,]] soon fell off his horse. His son Gao Bainian was only five at the time and worried he would be overthrown by his brother Gao Zhan, passed the throne to Gao Zhan and told him [[HistoryRepeats not to kill his son.]] Three years after taking the throne, Gao Zhan decided to frame Gao Bainian of rebellion. When Gao Bainian arrived at the palace, Gao Zhan ordered his guards to beat his nephew almost to death, then had him beheaded. He was eight years old. Gao Zhan also murdered several other brothers and nephews on flimsy charges during his reign.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemElibe''. In ''Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword'', Hausen as the strong firstborn, and Lundgren as the smart, plotting second born. Lundgren thought he would just wait it out until Hausen died naturally after Hausen's only daughter eloped. But when word spread that Hausen's long lost granddaughter Lyn was coming to claim her rightful throne, Lundgren started poisoning Hausen to speed up the process before she arrived. Totally backfires when Lyn kills Lundgren and Hausen makes a full recovery from the poisoning.

* ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood'': Prince John has his attendant Sir Hiss hypnotize his brother King Richard into embarking on a years-long crusade so that John can rule, at first ostensibly in Richard's name, but as time passes increasingly in his own.

** "The Dance of the Dragons" was largely down to this. Viserys I declared Rhaenyra, his daughter from his first marriage, heir partially due to the actions of his ambitious and roguish brother Daemon Targaryen (who later [[IncestIsRelative married Rhaenyra]] after her first husband's death, which he may have arranged). This caused problems when Viserys married again and produced sons, who got on very poorly with Rhaenyra and her sons from her first marriage (though it is very likely they were the result of an affair). When Viserys died this led to a massive civil war, which killed nearly all the Targaryens and dragons, Rhaenyra finally being fed to the dragon of her eldest half-brother Aegon II and after his death the throne passing to Rhaenyra's eldest son by Daemon.

** During the Liu Song dynasty, two of Emperor Wen’s sons, Liu Shao and Liu Jun, staged a coup and killed their father and many of his allies, including [[SelfMadeOrphan Liu Jun’s mother.]] Liu Shao then began to execute many of his cousins. Before he could do much however, another brother, Liu Jun(a different character to Liu Shao’s ally), staged a rebellion, and had both Liu Shao and Liu Jun beheaded with their sons, and forced their concubines and daughters to commit suicide. Liu Jun forced several other brothers to commit suicide.
** Liu Ziye, Liu Jun’s son, hated Liu Ziluan, his half-brother, due to Liu Jun’s excessive ParentalFavouritism of him(he became one of the most powerful men in the kingdom aged seven). When Liu Ziye took over after his father’s early death he forced Liu Ziluan to commit suicide. He was only nine and Liu Ziye killed his brother and sister. The rest of Liu Ziye’s brothers were all killed in some way by Liu Yu, their uncle. Liu Zishang, Liu Ziye’s full brother, was forced to commit suicide by Liu Yu, for allegedly being violent and taking part in Ziye’s tyranny, though it’s unknown what exactly[[WrittenByTheWinners (if anything)]] he did. Liu Zixun, Ziye’s half-brother, was executed aged ten due to being part of a rebellion. The rest of Liu Ziye’s brothers were then all put to death by Liu Yu, all as children.
** Gao Yang and Gao Yan of Northern Qi both tried to defy this trope, but ended up unsuccessful. On his deathbed, Gao Yang asked the ambitious Gao Yan to [[TemptingFate spare his son Gao Yin on his deathbed.]] When Gao Yin took the throne, he was soon deposed in a coup and Gao Yan took the throne. Gao Yan [[ILied murdered Gao Yin two years later]] when his magicians told him that the city Gao Yin lived in had an imperial aura. Gao Yan, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone wrecked by guilt,]] soon fell off his horse. His son Gao Bainian was only five at the time and worried he would be overthrown by his brother Gao Zhan, passed the throne to Gao Zhan and told him not to kill his son. Three years after taking the throne, Gao Zhan decided to frame Gao Bainian of rebellion. When Gao Bainian arrived at the palace, Gao Zhan ordered his guards to beat his nephew almost to death, then had him beheaded. He was eight years old. Gao Zhan also murdered several other brothers and nephews on flimsy charges during his reign.