History Main / UnexpectedSuccessor

** It should be pointed out that the rules of succession can skip lists based on the individual. The President of the United States must be a "natural born citizen"[[note]]The term is undefined, especially on the margins -- there were various edge cases with Presidential candidates born or allegedly born outside the continental U.S. or in territories (e.g. Barry Goldwater who was born in pre-statehood Arizona or John [=McCain=] who was born in the Canal Zone of Panama) but thus far the only people disqualified from the ballot for not meeting this condition have been people who were not US citizens from birth (Abdul Karim Hassan, a naturalized US citizen born a citizen of Guyana, tested this in a series of legal challenges in 2011-2013). And no one has tested before any court, whether [[InsaneTrollLogic being born with assistance from an epidural or C-section disqualifies someone from being "natural born"]][[/note]] (or those born before the adoption of the constitution[[note]]This may or may not have been intended to make it possible for Alexander Hamilton who had been born in the Caribbean to become President, but the point is now obviously moot[[/note]]) but that does not apply beyond the Vice-President in the succession line. It's entirely possible that a cabinet member or the Speaker could be a naturalized citizen, disqualifying them from becoming President, and thus their next in line is moved up in the line. These cases will never be the designated survivor, so it's very unlikely to be an issue beyond pundit speculation about who the designated survivor is prior to the State of the Union starting.

* Alexander III of UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} is a particularly tragic example. His father, Alexander II, never thought that his son, Nicholas Alexandrovich, would have health problems until Nicholas died suddenly. The second son, Alexander, never was considered for the throne, so he never got the education of his brother and thus reversed many of his father's liberalizing reforms, pushing Russia down a more autocratic path.

** It should be pointed out that the rules of succession can skip lists based on the individual. The President of the United States must be a "natural born citizen"[[note]]The term is undefined, especially on the margins -- there were various edge cases with Presidential candidates born or allegedly born outside the continental U.S. or in territories (e.g. Barry Goldwater who was born in pre-statehood Arizona or John [=McCain=] who was born in the Canal Zone of Panama) but thus far the only people disqualified from the ballot for not meeting this condition have been people who were not US citizens from birth (Abdul Karim Hassan, a naturalized US citizen born a citizen of Guyana, tested this in a series of legal challenges in 2011-2013). And no one has tested before any court, whether [[InsaneTrollLogic being born with assistance from an epidural or C-section disqualifies someone from being "natural born"]][[/note]] (or those born before the adoption of the constitution[[note]]This may or may not have been intended to make it possible for Alexander Hamilton who had been born in the Caribbean to become President, but the point is now obviously moot[[/note]]) but that does not apply beyond the Vice-President in the succession line. It's entirely possible that a cabinet member or the Speaker could be a naturalized citizen, disqualifying them from becoming President, and thus their next in line is moved up in the line. These cases will never be the designated survivor, so it's very unlikely to be an issue beyond pundit speculation about who the designated survivor is prior to the State of the Union starting.

* Alexander III of UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} is a particularly tragic example. His father, Alexander II, never thought that his son, Nicholas Alexandrovich, would have health problems until Nicholas died suddenly. The second son, Alexander, never was considered for the throne, so he never got the education of his brother and thus reversed many of his father's liberalizing reforms, pushing Russia down a more autocratic path.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' by George R. R. Martin is rife with examples.
** In the prequels ''Literature/TalesOfDunkAndEgg'', a little boy named Egg is a major character. In the main novels, we learn he became Aegon Targaryen, the Fifth of His Name, King of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men, styled Aegon the Unlikely for assuming a throne no one expected he'd get as he was the youngest son of a king's youngest son, with quite a few of those brothers having kids of their own.[[note]]Another older brother, Aemon, survived to the main novels. He renounced any inheritance by joining the Night's Watch to give his little brother a clearer path to the throne.[[/note]] Aegon proved an excellent ruler though, and given the nature of most of his [[RoyalBrat older brothers]], the Seven Kingdoms came out lucky that time. It's generally accepted that he was the [[RoyallyScrewedUp last decent one.]]
** In the prequel histories, ''Literature/FireAndBlood'', the Dance of the Dragons is set up and ends with unexpected successors:
*** Old King Jaehaerys outlived both his adult sons, and had to hold council to determine which of his descendants would get the throne. Viserys I, son of a second son, is named heir over his female cousin Rhaenys, the daughter of a first son.[[note]]At this time, no rules were yet in place to exclude queen claimants to the Iron Throne.[[/note]]
*** Viserys I's death sparks a brutal civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. At the end of it all, Aegon III is crowned as a preteen after outliving three older half-brothers, three uncles, two cousins and both his parents.
*** Viserys II Targaryen was the youngest of seven children, born to a queen claimant considered an usurper in Westerosi history, and even [[LegallyDead legally dead for five years]] (he was captive in Lys during the Dance and only recovered during the reign of his older brother Aegon III, well after the Dance had concluded and everybody forgot about him). He then served as a court adviser for several decades, but was never considered to become king until his nephew Daeron I died young and it became clear that Daeron's successor, the notoriously pious Baelor I, would die without issue. The nobles were not going to entertain the idea of having another potentially disastrous queen claimant to succeed Baelor, while Viserys was not only experienced in politics but had a healthy male heir, so the choice was obvious. The present-day Targaryens all trace their descent to him.
** In the main novels:
*** King Robert Baratheon hails from a cadet branch of the Targaryen line, so his succession was just as unlikely. By all accounts, he graciously accepted the position of King after he smashed the Targaryen dynasty, but before he could even be crowned, there were a few tense moments when just about anyone -- Ned Stark, Tywin Lannister, or even Jaime Lannister -- could have proclaimed themselves king, but didn't. Then there's also the unfortunate fact the legitimate successor he killed -- Rhaegar Targaryen -- would have been a perfectly decent king compared to his father Aerys, and even more so, Prince Rhaegar's children would have made good heirs, had Tywin Lannister not ordered them killed.
*** In the North, Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell at the start of the books, has five legitimate children, an illegitimate son, and a younger brother. Both Eddard's younger brother and illegitimate son Jon (who wouldn't have inherited anyway) have taken the vows as members of the Night's Watch and are therefore removed from succession. Over the course of the novels, [[spoiler:four of the legitimate kids are killed or presumed dead, while the only widely known surviving one, Sansa, is wed to their enemies the Lannisters]]. To avoid the chance of Lannisters ruling the North and to ensure that a family member of Stark blood familiar with the North will be his successor in case he dies, eldest Robb legitimizes his illegitimate brother Jon Snow and names him heir, who never expected to inherit family lands himself. After [[spoiler:Robb's death]], Jon ''repeatedly turns down'' Stannis Baratheon's offers to legitimize him, out of loyalty to his father's gods, duty to the Night's Watch, and because of Sansa's claim on Winterfell. Although Jon is presently unaware of what Robb did.
*** Daenerys Targaryen has taken to calling herself "The Queen Across the Water", and has assumed the mantle of the Targaryen heir apparent in exile after her older brothers and nephew are each killed before they could assume the throne from their father/grandfather, King Aerys Targaryen II. As Dany hasn't reclaimed the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros yet (the possibility of it even happening is still very much in doubt), she's more of an UnexpectedSuccessor-in-waiting.
*** In ''A Dance with Dragons'', we learn that [[spoiler:her nephew, Aegon VI Targaryen, son of Rhaegar, actually survived and has been living in hiding, which makes ''him'' first in line for the Targaryen succession as the eldest male descendant of the last Targaryen king... maybe. If he really is who he thinks he is, which Tyrion questions. This all only makes Dany ''even more'' unexpected.]]
*** Lord Tytos Lannister, father of Tywin, was the weak-willed third son of Gerold Lannister and never expected to have any power. Then his older brothers met their ends in two separate wars, and The Toothless Lion found himself new Lord of Casterly Rock.

* While there wasn't much left to take charge of by the time he came to power in May 1945, ''[[GratuitousGerman Großadmiral]]'' Karl Dönitz would in 1939 have been a million-to-one-against bet for "leader of Germany when the current hostilities end". For most of Nazi Germany's existence, the assumption was that Hermann Göring, Chief of the Luftwaffe, would be next in the line of succession in the event that Hitler was incapacitated, an understandable observation given his political experience and loyalty to the Nazi cause. But come April 1945, Göring tries to invoke the succession plans upon hearing of Hitler's suicide intentions, and Hitler expels him and calls for his execution out of a sense of betrayal. It is typically believed that Dönitz's subsequent appointment was primarily just to get in one last insult towards Göring, owing to the Nazi's infamous affinity for exploiting {{Interservice Rivalr|y}}ies.

* In the case of Wilhelm II it was not unexpected that he would become Kaiser one day (he was the oldest son of the oldest son of the Emperor) but it did take many by surprise how ''fast'' it happened. In 1888 the old Kaiser, Wilhelm I, who had been born in 1797, died and his son who took the regnal name Friedrich III for Prussian dynastic reasons took over. A lot of liberally inclined Germans hoped for a liberalizing regime of the Anglophile new emperor who was 56 at the time... Unfortunately he was suffering from terminal throat cancer which had been largely kept secret from the public at large. He was dead only 99 days later and his 29 year old son would take over. The [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI consequences]] are well known.

* ''Literature/StarterVillain'': Charlie unexpectedly takes over his Uncle Jake's supervillain business, which is explicitly equated in power to several nation-states. All of Jake's enemies start trying to understand who Charlie is and what to do about him. [[spoiler:That was all part of the plan]].

* ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'': In the Night Vale mayoral election, neither of the two candidates, Hiram McDaniels and The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home, won, the office instead passing to [[spoiler:[[DarkHorseVictory Dana Cardinal]]]].

* The race for Speaker of the House after the 1998 midterm elections created another one caused by fallout of the attempted impeachment of UsefulNotes/BillClinton. It began when - shortly after the midterms left the Republicans with a narrow majority in the House of Representatives - incumbent Speaker Creator/NewtGingrich announced he was resigning both as Speaker and from Congress due to the combination of internal feuding within the House Republicans[[note]]with Ohio Congressman and future Speaker John Boehner attempting to topple Gingrich in 1997[[/note]] and the revelation of Gingrich's own extramarital affair with staffer Callista Bisek; who Gingrich eventually married after his marriage to second wife Marianne ended in divorce; with Bob Livingston, a Louisiana Congressman who chaired the House Appropriations Committee and who had led the charge for Clinton's impeachment with regards to the Monica Lewinsky scandal, announced his candidacy for the position after Majority Leader Dick Armey and Majority Whip Tom [=DeLay=] declined to seek the position. However; just weeks before the vote to make Livingston Speaker was to be held, Livingston learned that ''Hustler'' publisher Larry Flynt had dug up dirt and found a woman that Livingston had [[{{Hypocrite}} had his own affair with]]; resulting in Livingston - after calling for Clinton to resign during the final day of House impeachment hearings - announcing that he would not only stand down as a candidate for Speaker but resign himself within six months of the new Congress (ultimately resigning in March 1999). Ultimately, the position of Speaker ended up going to Illinois Congressman and Chief Majority Deputy Whip Dennis Hastert - which proved HarsherInHindsight when in 2016, Hastert was exposed as having [[PaedoHunt molested several young boys]] during his time as a wrestling coach[[note]]in Livingston's 2018 memoir "''The Windmill Chaser''"; he described the choice of Hastert as candidate for Speaker as "a disaster"[[/note]].

* While there wasn't much left to take charge of by the time he came to power in May 1945, ''[[GratuitousGerman Großadmiral]]'' Karl Dönitz would in 1939 have been a million-to-one-against bet for "leader of Germany when the current hostilities end". For most of Nazi Germany's existence, the assumption was that Hermann Göring, Chief of the Luftwaffe, would be next in the line of succession in the event that Hitler was incapacitated, an understandable observation given his political experience and loyalty to the Nazi cause. But come April 1945, Göring tries to invoke the succession plans upon hearing of Hitler's suicide intentions, and Hitler expels him and calls for his execution out of a sense of betrayal. It is typically believed that Dönitz's subsequent appointment was primarily just to get in one last insult towards Göring, owing to the Nazi's infamous affinity for exploiting [[InterserviceRivalry Interservice Rivalries]].

* While there wasn't much left to take charge of by the time he came to power in May 1945, ''[[GratuitousGerman Großadmiral]]'' Karl Dönitz would in 1939 have been a million-to-one-against bet for "leader of Germany when the current hostilities end".

** It should be pointed out that the rules of succession can skip lists based on the individual. The President of the United States must be a "natural born citizen"[[note]]As no-one with standing has ever sued about this either way, the term is undefined, especially on the margins -- there were various edge cases with Presidential candidates born or allegedly born outside the continental U.S. or in territories (e.g. Barry Goldwater who was born in pre-statehood Arizona or John [=McCain=] who was born in the Canal Zone of Panama) but thus far no-one has actually been disqualified from the ballot or prevented from serving as President for not meeting this condition. And no one has tested before any court, whether [[InsaneTrollLogic being born with assistance from an epidural or C-section disqualifies someone from being “natural born”]][[/note]] (or those born before the adoption of the constitution[[note]]This may or may not have been intended to make it possible for Alexander Hamilton who had been born in the Caribbean to become President, but the point is now obviously moot[[/note]]) but that does not apply beyond the Vice-President in the succession line. It's entirely possible that a cabinet member or the Speaker could be a naturalized citizen, disqualifying them from becoming President, and thus their next in line is moved up in the line. These cases will never be the designated survivor, so it's very unlikely to be an issue beyond pundit speculation about who the designated survivor is prior to the State of the Union starting.

* ''Film/MarsAttacks!''. After the death of all top U.S. officials, at the end of the movie the President's daughter is apparently in charge of the government. Yes, it's a comedy.

* In October 2023, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representives Kevin [=McCarthy=] was ousted by a coalition of [[EnemyMine embittered Republicans and Democrats]], the first time in American history a Speaker of the House was ousted. The Republicans, who held a razor-thin majority in the House, then went through weeks of chaos trying to elect a new Speaker. The two initially obvious successors, Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan, failed to receive enough votes. A number of lesser knowns also tried and failed. Ultimately, the Republicans managed to elect Mike Johnson, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee and the Vice Chair of the House Republican Conference. To be fair, this wasn't entirely "unexpected", as Johnson had been proposed as a compromise candidate for Speaker when the Republicans won the House in the 2022 midterms, but Johnson had initially said he wasn't going to run for Speaker after [=McCarthy's=] ouster.

** The Codex mentions in passing that Admiral Hackett, recently the commander of the Systems Alliance Fifth Fleet, is now the ''de facto'' leader of humanity as a whole, due to his rallying of surviving human forces after the initial Reaper assault, and his leveraging the surviving colonies to get support for [[spoiler: the Crucible]], while trying to delay the Reaper advance. By the end of the game, he is arguably the [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking single most powerful organic being in the galaxy by right of his position]] leading [[spoiler: the combined military forces of the entire Milky Way galaxy]] in the climactic battle.

* ''Literature/StarterVillain'': Charlie unexpectedly takes over his Uncle Jake's supervillain business. All of Jake's enemies start trying to understand who Charlie is and what to do about him. [[spoiler:That was all part of the plan]].