History Main / RoyalBlood

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', the Orzammar SuccessionCrisis puts you in the dilemma of choosing between a radical Royal Blood heir and a more reasonable mere-noble successor named in the late king's last will. The twist is that [[spoiler:the royal heir is very progressive but tyrannical and the other sucks as a ruler]]. Also, after the Landsmeet, you have to decide between making [[spoiler:Alistair]] king, thus preserving the Royal Blood, or confirming the IronLady Anora (the widow of King Cailan) as queen. Thankfully, there is a [[TakeAThirdOption third option]] here: persuade the two of them to marry so they can have their cake and eat it, too. There is even a fourth option, if your character is a human of noble blood... have one of them marry you! You just need to be suave enough.

*** It's a ''big'' part of the canon in the fourth game, in which not only are there just Sigurd and Celice, who are lords, but various ''other'' members of the royalty or descendants of the crusaders. This also ties into the BigBad Julius's blood, as well as the GameBreaker Julia's. [[spoiler:Because their father Alvis and mother Diadora had the right amount of royal blood in them, Julius would inherit all the Loputoso's blood while Julia would inherit all of Naga's. Unfortunately, in order to get this union, their father Alvis had to be tricked into marrying his half-sister Diadora - without knowing.]]

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' those with royal blood on either side of the war are able to use Dragon Veins to manipulate the environment. Allegedly, this is due to being descended from dragons (the Dawn Dragon for the Hoshidan royals, the Dusk Dragon for the Nohrian royals, [[spoiler: and the GreaterScopeVillain for the Avatar]]. Note that it ''is'' possible to give non-royals the ability by giving them First Blood, but actually ''getting'' said First Blood [[NintendoHard is a pain in the butt.]]]

* In Creator/DorothyLSayers' LordPeterWimsey novel ''Have His Carcase'', the murder victim was convinced he had Royal Blood. [[spoiler:The murderers used it to lure him to his death]]. His blood ended up being an important clue [[spoiler:He was a haemophiliac and also Russian (cf Alexei Romanov hence his belief) so when Harriet discovered the corpse covered in fresh blood he wasn't at all recently dead as they thought]].

* ''FruitsBasket'': Sohma Ayame's [[LargeHam elaborate explanation]] of why he had to have long hair invoked this trope.

* Done every which way in Creator/LloydAlexander's ''Literature/ChroniclesOfPrydain''. Most notably, there's the matter of the sword Dyrnwyn, which bears an inscription explaining that gets quoted early in the series as ''Draw Dyrnwyn, only thou of royal blood''... The heroes give the blade to their friend Prince Gwydion, who is able to use it because he does indeed fit the description - except that the sword's runes have been mistranslated. It's actually ''Draw Dyrnwyn, only thou of noble worth''... While that still applies to Gwydion, it also opens the door for someone else to use the sword later.

* In Creator/RobertEHoward's ConanTheBarbarian story "Literature/ThePeopleOfTheBlackCircle", Yasmina is very proud of hers. It makes the BreakTheHaughty all the more humiliating.

* In Creator/CSLewis's ''TheMagiciansNephew'', Jadis treats with contempt the notion that Uncle Andrew could be anything but a king: Royal Blood and magic go together. Whoever heard of commoners being magicians? Whether this is AuthorityEqualsAsskicking or -- in light of her ruthless use of magic for power -- AsskickingEqualsAuthority is not clear, but she certainly treats it as the former.

* Arguably, the ''entire human race'' can claim at least some strain of royal blood. It's been stated that most everyone in the Western world is descended from Charlemagne. This is because with every generation going backwards through time, your number of ancestors doubles - you have two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, etc. - and the population of the world has been such that it would be almost impossible for an individual to not claim at least one royal ancestor. [[http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/05/the-royal-we/2497/ The concept is explained in detail here.]]

* Poked fun at in one of the ''GarrettPI'' novels, when Morley grumbles about the ArrangedMarriage his elvish relatives tried to foist off on him. His would-have-been fiancee lost interest, but his ''own'' family kept nagging him to try to win her back, as her family has RoyalBlood ... which, Morley snarkily points out, applies to nearly every elf alive, given how randy elvish royals have always been.

* Mocked in ''FinalFantasyTactics''.

* Played very straight in Katherine Kurtz's {{Deryni}} books. Faced with a [[TheCaligula tyrannical king]] Camber's family track down the last descendant of the ''previous'' royal house (which was overthrown three generations ago)... and when they find him minding his own business as a celibate monk under a vow of silence, they [[MoralDissonance kidnap him in the dark of night]], hold him prisoner for nearly a year, force him to marry at swordpoint, and use mental and magical coercion to make him into a king. The resulting three centuries of persecution for the Deryni might be viewed as karma.

* In Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin's ''[[Literature/EarthseaTrilogy A Wizard of Earthsea]]'', Ged found an old man and woman stranded on an island. In ''The Tombs of Atuan'', Tenar explains that they were a prince and princess, the last of their family, whom the God Emperor had abandoned at sea as infants as he feared to kill those of Royal Blood. They don't get a happy ending.
** That is debatable, with all its draw backs life as castaways is at least peaceful.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* In the ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehog'' series, the Acorn bloodline plays a number of important parts in the story, though it was mostly so Sally could use a powerful artifact of her family's. An interesting plot point was made, though, when Sally's brother Elias stepped up to the throne - their mother, Alicia warned that his wife's child could never be a princess because he didn't sire her. He's more than happy to make sure she never takes up the throne.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

* ''Film/{{Stardust}}'' has their royalty reappear as ghosts if they die before the next king is crowned (which they likely will, because it's a family tradition to bump the male siblings off, and the last man standing gets the crown). Unfortunately, their ghosts look the same way they did at their time of death, [[spoiler:which makes it awkward if you got killed while in the bath]]. They also are apparently ''literal'' Blue Bloods. [[spoiler:Or at least, that would explain why Septimus isn't surprised at all to see his brother dead in a bathtub, with his throat slit and a blue bloodstain down his front. On the other hand, Septimus doesn't seem fazed by much of anything, except the sight of Robert de Niro in drag, so it's possible that he's just generally unflappable.]] They're from AnotherDimension.
** [[spoiler: Tristan is actually the rightful king, inheriting the royal blood from his mother, Lady Una.]]

--> '''Friar Tuck:''' (''horrified'') He takes a bride of royal blood.
--> '''Little John:''' Aye. And with [[UsefulNotes/RichardTheLionheart King Richard]] gone, he'll be after the bloody throne.

[[folder:Legend]]
* KingArthur could only pull the sword from the stone because he was secretly the son of Uther Pendragon.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* Series/BabylonFive: the Triluminaries are attuned to the genetic inheritance of Valen. [[spoiler: Imagine the Grey Council's shock when it responds to the Human Jeffrey Sinclair.]]
** Not so to us, considering we knew [[spoiler: he ''was'' Valen,]] but generally a WTF moment to them.
* In the Series/DoctorWho episode ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E4TheKrotons The Krotons]]'', leadership is hereditary. Selris' objection to being deposed is due to this, and after his death, his son speaks of how he shall have to deal with the other man.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV''

* In 'Webcomic/'TheBeastLegion'' , the prophecy explains that only one from the royal bloodline will be the one to stare Evil in face & fight for hope. Xeus is a direct descendant of the bloodline of Minos Kings of Lithopa.

* The whole Royal Bloodline thing is a plot point of sorts in the initial ''TenchiMuyo'' OVA series. It's mostly used to confirm that Tenchi is actually related to the then-thought long lost Prince Yosho, and thus a member of the Juraian Royal Family. It doesn't sit well with Emperor Azusa.

* ''Film/{{Stardust}}'' has their royalty reappear as ghosts if they die before the next king is crowned (which they likely will, because it's a family tradition to bump the male siblings off, and the last man standing gets the crown). Unfortunately, their ghosts look the same way they did at their time of death, [[spoiler:which makes it awkward if you got killed while in the bath]]. They also are apparently ''literal'' Blue Bloods. [[spoiler:Or at least, that would explain why Septimus isn't surprised at all to see his brother dead in a bath-tub, with his throat slit and a blue bloodstain down his front. On the other hand, Septimus doesn't seem fazed by much of anything, except the sight of Robert de Niro in drag, so it's possible that he's just generally unflappable.]] They're from AnotherDimension.

--> '''Little John:''' Aye. And with [[UsefulNotes/RichardTheLionhearted King Richard]] gone, he'll be after the bloody throne.

* KingArthur, who could only pull the sword from the stone because he was secretly the son of Uther Pendragon.

* In Creator/CSLewis's ''TheMagiciansNephew'', Jadis treats with contempt the notion that Uncle Andrew could be anything but a king: Royal Blood and magic go together. Who ever heard of commoners being magicians? Whether this is AuthorityEqualsAsskicking or -- in light of her ruthless use of magic for power -- AsskickingEqualsAuthority is not clear, but she certainly treats it as the former.

* In Christopher Stasheff's ''[[Literature/AWizardInRhyme Her Majesty's Wizard]]'', the Queen is truly infallible when it comes to public matters as queen -- whatever she says essentially becomes true. When she confers virtues (such as bravery) on a knight, the knight visibly gains those virtues. It only works on issues of policy or governance, being tied more into Divine Right. When the issues become personal, all bets are off.

** Noctis is the Crown Prince of Lucis, the only kingdom with a working crystal. The kings of Lucis are the only ones who can maintain the crystal barrier around the kingdom, and can summon weapons out of thin air.
** Lunafreya is the former princess of Tenebrae, who was stripped of her title when Niflheim took over her kingdom. However, she becomes an important political figure anyway as history's youngest Oracle, gaining the power to commune with the gods — an ability that was passed down through her bloodline.

* [[AllTrollsAreDifferent Trolls]] with [[AlienBlood fuchsia blood]] in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', such as [[SpoiledSweet Feferi]] and [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen the Condesce]] are granted special abilities as the ruler of the species. These include the ability to commune with an EldritchAbomination [[spoiler: and its masters]], protection from said EldritchAbomination's BrownNote, SuperStrength, and [[TheAgeless biological immortality]]. The Condesce has also lived so long, she managed to [[spoiler: develop the MindControl powers that are normally exclusive to lower blood castes]].

->''The hands of the king are the hands of a healer, and so shall the rightful king be known.''

** Seems to apply for any Dragonborn Emperor, as the protection worked for Empress Alessia (Dragonborn) and her line, Emperor Reman (Dragonborn) and his line, and Emperor Tiber (Dragonborn) and his line.

** To illustrate this point, a student doing a simple project into lineages managed to prove that every single American President, with the sole exception of UsefulNotes/MartinVanBuren, is descended from King John of England. (Yes, this includes UsefulNotes/BarackObama, through his distinctly Anglo mother.) As if to highlight this further, Van Buren is also the only President to whom English was a second language (he was Dutch and had Dutch as a first language).

** To illustrate this point, a student doing a simple project into lineages managed to prove that every single American President, with the sole exception of Martin Van Buren, is descended from King John of England. As if to highlight this further, Van Buren is also the only President to whom English was a second language.

* In ''Temeraire'', Laurence is revealed to be a distant descendant of the Plantagenet line. This is enough proof for the Chinese to allow him to be Temeraire's companion, albeit reluctantly and mostly because Temeraire would not be swayed.[spoiler: Later on, he is actually adopted by the Chinese emperor and treated as a prince upon his return to China many years later!]

[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/TheLastCommand'': General Sergius, Tzar's cousin.
* ''Film/TheCourtJester''.

* ''Film/{{Stardust}}'' has their royalty reappear as ghosts if they die before the next king is crowned (which they likely will, because it's a family tradition to bump the male siblings off, and the last man standing gets the crown). Unfortunately, their ghosts look the same way they did at their time of death, [[spoiler:which makes it awkward if you got killed while in the bath]]. They also are apparently ''literal'' Blue Bloods. [[spoiler:Or at least, that would explain why Septimus isn't surprised at all to see his brother dead in a bath-tub, with his throat slit and a blue bloodstain down his front. On the other hand, Septimus doesn't seem fazed by much of anything, except the sight of Robert de Niro in drag, so it's possible that he's just generally unflappable.]] They're from AnotherDimension.
** [[spoiler: Tristan is actually the rightful king, inheriting the royal blood from his mother, Lady Una.]]

* In ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'', this is part of the reason that the Sheriff of Nottingham wants to marry Lady Marian, cousin of the King.
--> '''Friar Tuck:''' (''horrified'') He takes a bride of royal blood.
--> '''Little John:''' Aye. And with [[UsefulNotes/RichardTheLionhearted King Richard]] gone, he'll be after the bloody throne.

Royal Blood! It's real, it's significant, and only the person who's really got it is suitable for the throne. Obviously required for the RightfulKingReturns. In {{Fantasy}}, may actually [[RoyaltySuperPower endow the person with magical powers]], giving additional meaning to the term MacGuffinGirl, or even be required [[FisherKing by the land]] (and, unfortunately, making it useful in BloodMagic). Features even in SF for a FeudalFuture. And when it comes to being OfferedTheCrown, Royal Blood may encourage them to choose you.