History Main / ThePuppetCutsHisStrings

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', [[spoiler:[[FakeUltimateHero Buggy the Clown]]]] accidentally became one of the Four Emperors due to people attributing the creation of the Cross Guild (an organization dedicated to hunting down the Marines) with the real creators [[spoiler:Sir Crocodile and Mihawk]] deciding to keep him as a figurehead to keep heat off of them while ostensibly serving as his lieutenants (which further adds to [[spoiler:Buggy's]] VillainCred) while also making a point of regularly taking their anger out on him. Eventually however, upon learning that his old friend [[spoiler:Shanks]] is pursuing the One Piece and sick of being constantly under bootheels, [[spoiler:Buggy]] decides to publicly declare that the organization will also be joining the hunt for the One Piece, with the puppetmasters being forced to go along with it lest they face a mass mutiny from the now eager crew.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', [[spoiler:[[FakeUltimateHero Buggy the Clown]]]] accidentally became one of the Four Emperors due to people attributing the creation of the Cross Guild (an organization dedicated to hunting down the Marines) while also making a point of regularly taking their anger out on him, with the real creators [[spoiler:Sir Crocodile and Mihawk]] deciding to keep him as a figurehead to keep heat off of them while ostensibly serving as his lieutenants (which further adds to [[spoiler:Buggy's]] VillainCred). Eventually however, upon learning that his old friend [[spoiler:Shanks]] is pursuing the One Piece and sick of being constantly under bootheels, [[spoiler:Buggy]] decides to publicly declare that the organization will also be joining the hunt for the One Piece, with the puppetmasters being forced to go along with it.

* Most of the time, the PuppetKing is just much more capable and strong-willed than expected, and eventually realizes he is able and willing to be a competent ruler without blindly following his shady "advisers"' directives. This may just be personal skills that were not apparent but are revealed when he gets access to his nominal power, or it may be triggered by some dramatic event that makes him [[HeelRealization realize its weakness and cowardice]] and find some new strength. There are many ways this can [[HeelFaceDoorSlam end up]] [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness badly]] [[HeroicSacrifice for]] [[RedemptionEqualsDeath him]].

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', [[spoiler:[[FakeUltimateHero Buggy the Clown]]]] accidentally became one of the Four Emperors due to people attributing the creation of the Cross Guild (an organization dedicated to hunting down the Marines), with the real creators [[spoiler:Sir Crocodile and Mihawk]] deciding to keep him as a figurehead to keep heat off of them while ostensibly serving as his lieutenants (which further adds to [[spoiler:Buggy's]] VillainCred). Eventually however, upon learning that his old friend [[spoiler:Shanks]] is pursuing the One Piece and sick of being constantly under bootheels, [[spoiler:Buggy]] decides to publicly declare that the organization will also be joining the hunt for the One Piece, with the puppetmasters being forced to go along with it.

...except that, to the conspirators' surprise, the man turns out not to play his role nicely. He starts acting on his own, taking his own decisions, disobeying the conspiracy, and sometimes outright opposing those who put him into power. It is frequent that he eventually acquires some form of control over them, the puppeteer and puppet ironically switching roles.

* ''Literature/TheSunneInSplendour'': The Earl of Warwick fully expects the young, immature hedonist Edward IV to be guided by him. Edward shows him otherwise, fostering a historic and dangerous amount of resentment.

So. TheConspiracy managed to do it: they put a PuppetKing on the throne and now rule as TheManBehindTheMan. The puppet was carefully selected to be stupid, ignorant, tractable and totally dependent on them, and yet look like a ReasonableAuthorityFigure to the other people. They now have free rein to enforce their agenda without anyone realizing anything before it's too late.

...except that, to the conspirators' surprise, the man turns out not to play his role nicely. He starts acting on his own, taking his own decisions, disobeying the conspiracy, and sometimes outright opposing those who put him into power. It is frequent that he eventually acquire some form of control on them, the puppeteer and puppet ironically switching roles.

* Most of the time, the PuppetKing is just much more capable and strong-willed than expected, and eventually realize he is able and willing to be a competent ruler without blindly following his shady "advisers"' directives. This may just be personal skills that were not apparent but are revealed when he gets access to his nominal power, or it may be triggered by some dramatic event which makes him [[HeelRealization realize its weakness and cowardice]] and find some new strength. There are many ways this can [[HeelFaceDoorSlam end up]] [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness badly]] [[HeroicSacrifice for]] [[RedemptionEqualsDeath him]].

This trope can feature a clear moral reading grid with the redemptive (and thus good) PuppetKing eventually opposing the evil conspiracy, but is far more likely to have a GreyAndGrayMorality.

** We somehow have this for Palpatine (the "hidden chessmaster" flavour). While never depicted as a weak person, as a chancellor he poses as an efficient but soft-spoken and cautious leader, and he is put into power by a coalition led by Padmé mostly to enforce her policies (and those of her Jedi allies) in a time of trouble. Of course, he secretly engineered the trouble from the beginning just so he could take power, have his own army, exterminate the Jedi, get rid of most of the Galactic Republic's democratic structures and proclaim himself Galactic Emperor.
** This actually happened on a meta level during the production of ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''. The Emperor was initially supposed to be a PuppetKing to his council of regents and administrators, until it was decided that, with Vader's redemption, a final BigBad was needed to tie the story together. The Emperor was thus switched from a weak-willed figurehead to a SorcerousOverlord.

* ''Literature/TheElenium'': Played straight in ''The Tamuli'' by Creator/DavidEddings. The ministers of the Tamul Empire believe their king, the Emperor Sarabian, is an ignorant fool. In fact he's very intelligent, speaks multiple languages, and is almost frighteningly competent after he seizes power from the bureaucracy -- although his competence is displayed mainly in understanding that he should listen to Queen Ehlana and her companions, and follow their advice.

** The Salidar Aes Sedai Hall of the Tower raises [[spoiler: Egwene]] to the Amyrlin Seat because she's young, inexperienced, untrained and without any political power. Since the Hall is split in various factions that can't agree on anyone, this seems like a good compromise, each faction secretly thinking that they can control [[spoiler: Egwene]] and use her against the other ones. A few months later, they realize much to their horror that they have raised one of the most powerful and strong-willed Amyrlin in the history of the tower. This failure can be attributed not to any kind of evil agenda from the Hall, but to their overly proud and disdainful Aes Sedai nature. These old powerful women are so much used to ruling that they have forgotten they can lose their power, and they can't even imagine that a mere 17-something half-trained girl could challenge their authority.
** This happens with Elaida and Alviarin. Initially, after her [[spoiler:coup against Siuan,]] Elaida is the Amyrlin Seat, Alviarin is her Keeper of Chronicles (secretary) and there is no much more to it that it seems (well, except that [[spoiler:Alviarin is the head of the Black Ajah]]). But after [[spoiler:the botched attempt by the Tower to capture Rand,]] Alviarin blackmails Elaida and effectively turns her into her puppet, threatening to spill the inconvenient truth about her failures (which would at the time be enough to have her deposed and probably stilled) if she ever disobeys her. This goes on for a while, then Alviarin leaves for a few months on [[spoiler: Black Ajah]] business. During that time, Elaida manages both to clear herself by putting the responsibility of her own failures on other people, and to discredit Alviarin enough to have her removed as Keeper and destroy much of her influence. When Alviarin finally returns, Elaida is free, she is in control, and she exerts painful revenge on her former blackmailer.

* Depending of the course of action chosen by the player, this can happen in ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' with president John Henry Eden. Eden styles himself the President of the United States and is nominally the leader of the Enclave. When you meet him, you discover [[spoiler:that he is actually an ArtificialIntelligence designed to sound like a ReasonableAuthorityFigure, and]] that he has almost no power and is a puppet of Colonel Autumn, who actually runs all of the Enclave operations. Eden is much more naïve and deluded than bad intentioned, though, and the player can point out that he has no power and is useless, and convince him to finally cut his strings [[spoiler: by destroying himself]].

** The Conspiracy scheme revolves around the Patricians of the Coast taking advantage of the Kingdom's empty coffers by giving the Treasury and the other regions loans with sky high interest rates and then either bleeding the Kingdom dry or offering to cancel all debts in exchange for the throne. If they pass their final objective, the epilogue remarks that the Patricians were surprised to discover their claimant wasn't the obedient puppet they thought them to be.

* In ''VisualNovel/HatePlus'' we have Councilor Ryu. Everyone else in the Council sees him as a weak and unassuming man, if not as a complete idiot. Even his position as Councilor for Captaincy is ridiculed and seen as useless and mostly honorific. That's exactly why he is appointed as Chief Councilor by why what is essentially a conspiracy led by *Mute. Then, by very cleverly using other people's political agenda, he manages to have most of the other councilors replaced by his allies, to create an independant police force which answers to him and not to *Mute, to remove the laws preventing politicians from holding multiple positions concurrently, and finally to get elected as the Ship President in addition to Chief Councilor, effectively becoming a dictator [[spoiler:and killing poor old *Mute]]. In the greatest tradition of evil asskicking, he finally proclaims himself Emperor Ryu and founds a dynasty which will last for centuries of absolute power. In some of the final logs, Ryu proclaims that although he is not the spineless and stupid guy his fellow councilors saw in him, he is not a particularly ambitious man either and he just used the power the conspiracy gave him to begin with. It is also strongly hinted that most of his plotting and grab for power was actually encouraged and planned by his extremely intelligent and devious future wife.

** Lord Shojo, the supreme lord of Azure City, pretends to be an incompetent ruler who talks to his pet cat, but is quite privy to the machinations of the various nobles and political factions.

** Attempted by Lord Tyrinar the Bloody, the previous puppet ruler of the (not-yet-called) Empire of Blood. He tried to make changes that riled up Miron and Tarquin, the puppetmasters who put him on the throne, including a more democratic form of government. Unfortunately that meant he was of little worth to them, and thus he was deposed (and eaten) after a short 11-month reign.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'': Duke Phillips [[spoiler:incorrectly]] learns he is dying, and mentions how his BucketList included telling off his boss. But Jay points out as the CEO, he doesn't have a boss. Jay is then press-ganged into a roleplaying scenario which involves Duke busting into "Jay"'s office and reading him the riot act, complete with pantomiming cutting the proverbial strings.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', [[spoiler:[[FakeUltimateHero Buggy the Clown]]]] accidentally became one of the Four Emperors due to people attributing the creation of the Cross Guild (an organization dedicated to hunting down the Marines), with the real creators [[spoiler:Sir Crocodile and Mihawk]] deciding to keep him as a figurehead to keep heat off of them while ostensibly serving as his lieutenants (which further adds to [[spoiler:Buggy's]] VillainCred). Eventually however, upon learning that his old friend [[spoiler:Shanks]] is pursuing the One Piece and sick of being constantly tortured, [[spoiler:Buggy]] decides to publicly declare that the organization will also be joining the hunt for the One Piece, with the puppetmasters being forced to go along with it.

* Most of the time, the PuppetKing is just much more capable and strong-willed than expected, and eventually realize he is able and willing to be a competent ruler without blindly following his shady "advisers"' directives. This may just be personal skills that were not apparent but are revealed when he access nominal power, or it may be triggered by some dramatic event which makes him [[HeelRealization realize its weakness and cowardice]] and find some new strength. There are many ways this can [[HeelFaceDoorSlam end up]] [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness badly]] [[HeroicSacrifice for]] [[RedemptionEqualsDeath him]].
* It may also be that the apparent PuppetKing was a [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]] in its own right from the beginning, and manipulated TheConspiracy to grab power by [[ObfuscatingStupidity posing as a powerless pawn]]. If things go AllAccordingToPlan, this scenario usually ends up very badly for TheConspiracy.

* Played straight in ''[[Literature/TheElenium The Tamuli]]'' by Creator/DavidEddings. The ministers of the Tamul Empire believe their king, the Emperor Sarabian, is an ignorant fool. In fact he's very intelligent, speaks multiple languages, and is almost frighteningly competent after he seizes power from the bureaucracy -- although his competence is displayed mainly in understanding that he should listen to Queen Ehlana and her companions, and follow their advice.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** The Shogun, Shigeshige used to be loyal figurehead to the Tendoshuu, but starts changing his tune once his uncle is caught up in a massive scandal regarding his past misdeeds. He tries to abolish the shogunate [[spoiler: but pays with his life once the Tendoshuu blackmail one of the Shogun's friends.]]
** [[spoiler: The next Shogun, Nobunobu]] becomes a more willing puppet [[spoiler: and a rather tyrannical one to boot]], but he also changes his tune after seeing the country changing for the better, defies the Tendoshuu [[spoiler: and also pays with his life.]]

* It may also be that the apparent PuppetKing was a [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]] in its own right from the beginning, and manipulated TheConspiracy to grab power by posing as a powerless pawn. If things go AllAccordingToPlan, this scenario usually ends up very badly for TheConspiracy.

** A very straight example with the Centauri emperor Cartagia. Put on the throne by a conspiracy of noblemen believing he's nothing but a dimwitted and weak-willed leach, he not so much cut the strings as [[AxeCrazy hacked them off with an axe while laughing maniacally]] and is on the verge of turning his entire planet into a sacrificial pyre for his own ascension to godhood promised to him by the resident CosmicHorror.

* The eponymous ''Film/{{Dave}}'' impersonates US President Mitchell so his senior staff could reap the benefits of controlling the White House. This continues until Dave learns Mitchell's policies are going to shut down a homeless program and he convenes a budget meeting to slash redundant programs. When the staff tries to stop him, he quite calmly points out he is President and begins actively pushing his own agenda to help the disenfranchised.

* The eponymous Film/{{Dave} impersonates US President Mitchell so his senior staff could reap the benefits of controlling the White House. This continues until Dave learns Mitchell's policies are going to shut down a homeless program and he convenes a budget meeting to slash redundant programs. When the staff tries to stop him, he quite calmly points out he is President and begins actively pushing his own agenda to help the disenfranchised.

* Supplementary materials for ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'' and ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'' reveal that Haman Karn was originally appointed head of [[TheRemnant Axis Zeon]] by the Axis ruling council, as they thought she, 16 years old at the time, would be easy to control. She very quickly proved them wrong, and by the time we see her in the anime, she's cemented herself as the face and ''de facto'' leader of Axis Zeon.
* Relena Darlian in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' was appointed as figurehead of the newly formed World Nation by Duke Dermail in order to deprive her of any real power and rehabilitate the image of the Romefeller Foundation. However, Relena is very quickly able to win over support with her idealistic views, turning her figurehead position into a real one, and ousting Dermail from power, in quite the ReassignmentBackfire.

* The titular Film/{{Dave} impersonates President Mitchell so his senior staff could reap the benefits of controlling the White House. This continues until Dave learns Mitchell's policies are going to shut down a homeless program and he convenes a budget meeting to slash redundant programs. When the staff tries to stop him, he quite calmly points out he is President and begins actively pushing his own agenda to help the disenfranchised.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'',:
** The Salidar Aes Sedai Hall of the Tower raises [[spoiler: Egwene]] to the Amyrlin Seat because she's young, inexperienced, untrained and without any political power. Since the Hall is split in various factions that can't agree on anyone, this seems like a good compromise, each faction secretly thinking that they can control [[spoiler: Egwene]] and use her against the other ones. A few months later, they realize much to their horror that they have raised one of the most powerful and strong-willed Amyrlin in the history of the tower. This failure can be attributed not to any kind of evil agenda from the Hall, but to their overly proud and disdainful Aes Sedai nature. These old powerful women are so much used to ruling that they have forgotten they can lose their power, and they can't even imagine that a mere 17-something half-trained girl could challenge their authority.
** This happens with Elaida and Alviarin. Initially, after her [[spoiler:coup against Siuan,]] Elaida is the Amyrlin Seat, Alviarin is her Keeper of Chronicles (secretary) and there is no much more to it that it seems (well, except that [[spoiler:Alviarin is the head of the Black Ajah]]). But after [[spoiler:the botched attempt by the Tower to capture Rand,]] Alviarin blackmails Elaida and effectively turns her into her puppet, threatening to spill the inconvenient truth about her failures (which would at the time be enough to have her deposed and probably stilled) if she ever disobeys her. This goes on for a while, then Alviarin leaves for a few months on [[spoiler: Black Ajah]] business. During that time, Elaida manages both to clear herself by putting the responsibility of her own failures on other people, and to discredit Alviarin enough to have her removed as Keeper and destroy much of her influence. When Alviarin finally returns, Elaida is free, she is in control, and she exerts painful revenge on her former blackmailer.

* A DownplayedExample on ''Series/BabylonFive''. Captain Sheridan was chosen by [[PresidentEvil the Clark administration]] on the basis of his [[MyCountryRightOrWrong loyalty to Earth]] (including a highly public [[CurbstompCushion incident]] during the Earth-Minbari war where he destroyed one of their war cruisers). Unfortunately for them, after he took command, he wasted no time in establishing that he was loyal to ''Earth'' -- not necessarily the man leading it.
** A very straight example with the Centauri emperor Cartagia. Put on the throne by a conspiracy of noblemen believing he's nothing but a dimwitted and weakwilled leach, he not so much cut the strings as [[AxeCrazy hacked them off with an axe while laughing manaically]] and was on the verge of turning his entire planet into a sacrificial pyre for his own ascension to godhood promised to him by the resident CosmicHorror.

* In ''VisualNovel/HatePlus'' we have Councilor Ryu. Everyone else in the Council sees him as a weak and unassuming man, if not as a complete idiot. Even his position as Councilor for Captaincy is ridiculed and seen as useless and mostly honorific. That's exactly why he is appointed as Chief Councilor by why what is essentially a conspiracy led by *Mute. Then, by very cleverly using other people's political agenda, he manages to have most of the other councilors replaced by his allies, to create an independant police force which answers to him and not to *Mute, to remove the laws preventing politicians from holding multiple positions concurrently, and finally to get elected as the Ship President in addition to Chief Councilor, effectively becoming a dictator [[spoiler: and killing poor old *Mute]]. In the greatest tradition of evil asskicking, he finally proclaims himself Emperor Ryu and founds a dynasty which will last for centuries of absolute power.
** In some of the final logs, Ryu proclaims that although he is not the spineless and stupid guy his fellow councilors saw in him, he is not a particularly ambitious man either and he just used the power the conspiracy gave him to begin with. It is also strongly hinted that most of his plotting and grab for power was actually encouraged and planned by his extremely intelligent and devious future wife.

** This actually happened on a meta level during the production of ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''. The Emperor was initially supposed to be a PuppetKing to his council of regends and administrators, until it was decided that, with Vader's redemption, a final BigBad was needed to tie the story together. The Emperor was thus switched from a weak-willed figurehead to a SorcerousOverlord.
* The titular Film/{{Dave}} continued to impersonate President Mitchell so his senior staff could continue to reap the benefits of controlling the White House. This continued until Dave learned Mitchell's policies were going to shut down a homeless program and he convened a budget meeting to slash redundant programs. When the staff tried to stop him, he quite calmly pointed out he was President and began actively pushing his own agenda to help the disenfranchised.

* We somehow have this for Palpatine in ''Franchise/StarWars'' (the "hidden chessmaster" flavour). While never depicted as a weak person, as a chancellor he poses as an efficient but soft-spoken and cautious leader, and he is put into power by a coalition led by Padmé mostly to enforce her policies (and those of her Jedi allies) in a time of trouble. Of course, he secretly engineered the trouble from the beginning just so he could take power, have his own army, exterminate the Jedi, get rid of most of the Galactic Republic's democratic structures and proclaim himself Galactic Emperor.

So. TheConspiracy managed to do it : they put a PuppetKing on the throne and now rule as TheManBehindTheMan. The puppet was carefully selected to be stupid, ignorant, tractable and totally dependent on them, and yet look like a ReasonableAuthorityFigure to the other people. They now have free rein to enforce their agenda without anyone realizing anything before it's too late.