History Main / TyrannicalTownTycoon

The Tyrannical Town Tycoon is always a Big Fish in a Small Pond, content to dominate their little fiefdom without much [[TakeOverTheWorld greater ambition]]. Often times they are able to get away with their crimes because nobody in the big city or state capitol notices what's going on out in the countryside. If a hero is unable to defeat Potter and his family by [[Film/RoadHouse1989 kicking]], most times just [[IntrepidReporter getting word out]] will be enough to summon TheCavalry.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Mr. Burns is a caricature of this trope that can be PlayedStraight or PlayedForLaughs DependingOnTheWriter. It is implied many times that he is above the law and controls many aspects of the local economy including the ability to plunge the city into darkness, but at the same time is routinely called to account by various regulators and lacks the ability to effectively threaten people.

* Played with in ''Literature/{{Holes}}'' - Charles "Trout" Walker was the son of the man who owned the town next to the lake where the story is set. An EntitledBastard and overgrown SpoiledBrat because his father owned the town, he tried to force a relationship with the local {{schoolmarm}} Kate Barlow. When she rejected his advances, [[MurderTheHypothenus he murdered the man Kate loved]].

* Played with in ''Literature/{{Holes}}'' - Charles "Trout" Walker was the son of the man who owned the town next to the lake where the story is set. An EntitledBastard because his father owned the town, he invokes this trope and tires to force a relationship with the Schoolteacher Kate Barlow. When he's rejected, he murders the man Kate loved.
* ''Literature/IStopSomewhere'' has Caleb and Noah's father, who beats his wife yet is wealthy and well-connected within their town as he makes money off the amount of abandoned houses, buying them up after foreclosure.

* ''Series/TheATeam'' seemed to go up against these kind of antagonists in a majority of their episodes and might even serve as the modern day TropeCodifier.

* Almira Gulch from ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' owns an entire county, and threatens to bring a damage suit against a farm because of a small dog barking at her.

* Miss Gulch from ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''. Threatens to bring a damage suit against a farm because of a small dog.

He owns the waterworks, the railroad, [[TabletopGame/{{Monopoly}} and the hotel on Baltic Avenue]]. His family held the deed of every square inch of the CompanyTown since the day it was founded. And if you cross him, he'll not only burn down your house, but throw your mother out of work and send your best friend to the morgue. Forget about going to the police, [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney because he owns them too]]. Your only hope is to somehow recruit [[KnightErrant that stranger]] with the [[DarkAndTroubledPast mysterious past]], or, if you can find them, [[HiredGuns some mercenaries]].

The Tyrannical Town Tycoon is the capitalist successor to the previous class of [[BlueBlood landed gentry]] that used to fill the same role. Naturally there are [[TruthInTelevision numerous examples]] that helped inspire the trope and made such figures highly salient to everyday people. Often portrayed as a [[EvilOldFolks Patriarch (or Matriarch)]] of an extended (often EvilColonialist in some settings) family that can serve as their muscle, they often succeed in completely cowing the entire town into accepting their villainy, even in societies where one wouldn't expect it.

* Demonstrated in ''WesternAnimation/TheLorax'' with Thneedville, which comes off as a serene, self-sufficient town, but is actually being pocketed and controlled by Aloysius O'Hare. The town's mayor and a CorruptCorporateExecutive, he takes advantage of the polluted air surrounding the town in order to sell "clean air" to the residents to make a fortune. He has the entire town monitored with surveillance equipment and uses goons to try and silence any talk that he deems could be a threat to his immoral enterprise.

As a result of these developments, more modern works usually need to {{HandWave}} away the growing unlikelihood of a major businessperson being confined to one town by claiming that the person actually has a massive business empire outside it ([[OffscreenVillainDarkMatter which probably remains completely offscreen]]), but they care about this town in particular for some reason (e.g., it being their hometown). That said, this trope is still acceptable in {{PeriodPiece}}s set in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when the TyrannicalTownTycoon was a relevant figure in small-town life.

* One of the WebOriginal/SCPFoundation submissions for the "001" spot is that the Factory, one of the recurring bad guys of the setting, was the first anomaly the Foundation ever investigated, and that it was a CompanyTown led by a Tyrannical Town Tycoon with an interest in mad science and the occult.

More modern works usually need to handwave away the growing unlikelihood of a major businessperson being confined to one town by claiming that the person actually has a massive business empire outside it ([[OffscreenVillainDarkMatter which probably remains completely offscreen]]), but they care about this town in particular for some reason, i.e., it being their hometown, etc.

More modern works usually need to handwave away the growing unlikelihood of a major businessperson being confined to one town by claiming that the person actually has a massive business empire outside it (which probably remains completely offscreen), but they care about this town in particular for some reason, i.e., it being their hometown, etc.

The Tyrannical Town Tycoon is the capitalist successor to the previous class of [[BlueBlood landed gentry]] that used to fill the same role. Naturally there are [[TruthInTelevision numerous examples]] that helped inspire the trope and made such figures highly salient to everyday people. Often portrayed as a [[EvilOldFolks Patriarch (or Matriarch)]] of an extended family that can serve as their muscle, they often succeed in completely cowing the entire town into accepting their villainy, even in societies where one wouldn't expect it.

While once popular in all forms of media, the Tyrannical Town Tycoon is on its way to becoming a DiscreditedTrope, at least in the developed world. [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Corrupt executives]] working for [[MegaCorp large corporations]] have stepped in to take their place, as the RealLife local businesses that once influenced small town life have been bought up by [[AlwaysABiggerFish larger and larger players]] whose wealthy owners don't even bother to live near the communities they are destroying.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Creator/{{Fox}} executive Roger Ailes tried doing this to his adopted hometown of Garrison, NY. [[http://nymag.com/news/features/roger-ailes-loudest-voice-in-the-room/ See here for more detail on the venture]].
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': Doug Dimmadone[[note]]Owner of the Dimmsdale Dimmadome![[/note]] is a rich businessman with [[HatOfAuthority a stetson]] that's usually ridiculously tall, who owns a good deal with Dimmsdale. Several episodes have him as an antagonist being able to boss the city around to him financial whims.

* Ed Wuncler I from ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'' is a billionaire whose family has effectively controlled the city of Woodcrest since it was founded in the 19th century. [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney He is so absurdly wealthy]] that [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections he can always bribe the authorities]] to allow the Wuncler family and their friends to do whatever the hell they want, [[KarmaHoudini no matter how illegal it is]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': Doug Dimmadone is a rich businessman with [[HatOfAuthority a stetson]] that's usually ridiculously tall, who owns a good deal with Dimmsdale. Several episodes have him as an antagonist being able to boss the city around to him financial whims.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Mr. Burns is a caricature of this trope that can be PlayedStraight or PlayedForLaughs DependingOnTheWriter. It is implied many times that he is above the law and controls many aspects of the local economy including the ability to plunge the city into darkness, but at the same time is routinely called to account by various regulators and lacks the ability to effectively threaten people.