Basic Trope: Advancement by assassination.
- Straight: Chancellor Albert is displeased with how King Eric rules Tropestan, so he kills Eric and claims the throne.
- Exaggerated:
- Albert doesn't just kill Eric; he also takes out Queen Erica, Prince Ericson, and anyone loyal to the now-deceased king.
- Bob from Accounting sets off a bomb that takes out the entire Tropestanian government so that he can take charge.
- Downplayed:
- Albert has King Eric imprisoned or exiled.
- Prince Ericson was already next in line for the throne. He hastens the process.
- Killing the King to earn the throne is allowed if done as a sanctioned duel, and the King has no obligation to accept such a challange.
- Justified:
- Eric is Royally Screwed Up, and getting rid of him is the best way to save Tropestan from his mismanagement.
- Tropestan is a warrior culture which naturally assumes Asskicking Leads to Leadership; a king who allows himself to be killed is too weak to rule.
- "Chancellor" Albert is actually King Eric's bastard son — as Eric's eldest child, he should have first crack at the throne, but was never considered part of Eric's bloodline because he isn't a member of the royal family.
- Inverted:
- You Have Failed Me.
- King Eric is tired of ruling, so he kills Chancellor Albert and fills his vacant seat, abdicating the throne to the next in the line of succession.
- Chancellor Albert avoids taking power after King Eric is killed when he's given the chance so it doesn't look like he was responsible.
- Subverted: Albert considers killing King Eric after he screws something up, but changes his mind.
- Double Subverted: Until Eric screws up again, and Albert decides that enough is enough.
- Parodied:
- As soon as Eric is crowned king, Chancellor Albert holds a raffle to see who gets first dibs on assassinating him, while Minister Richard organizes a betting pool on how long it will take before the deed is done.
- Eric's head is stoved in by a frenzied boar. Without missing a beat, the Boar is made the new king.
- Zig Zagged: Chancellor Albert tries to kill King Eric, but Eric fights back and kills him. Minister Richard then makes an attempt on Eric, but Councilor Thomas intercepts and kills him. When Eric fails to show any gratitude, Thomas decides that he's a jerk and kills him, thus becoming the new king.
- Averted: Eric is a highly competent and well-loved king, so nobody tries to kill him.
- Enforced: King Eric is meant to be a Sacrificial Lion; when Evil Chancellor Albert kills him, it's a sign that things have gotten Darker and Edgier.
- Lampshaded: "Albert's going to see King Eric…and he's holding a knife. Nice knowing you, Eric."
- Invoked: Minister Richard tells Albert that as Chancellor, one of his duties is to kill King Eric if he proves incompetent—and that time has come.
- The Ascendant king Albert codifies it into law that a person of noble blood can challenge him in combat for the throne.
- Exploited: When Minister Richard learns of Albert's plans to kill King Eric, he pledges his support to Albert, hoping to be rewarded by the new king.
- Defied: When Albert steps up to kill Eric, Councilor Thomas steps up to defend his king and kills Albert.
- Discussed:
- "Boy, Tropestan would be a lot better if someone got rid of King Eric."
- Recruiting anyone who assassinates the king is state policy. The logic behind it is that anyone who can assassinate ''our'' king could probably take over the country single-handed anyway.
- Conversed: "See the way Albert's looking at King Eric? Things aren't gonna end well between them."
- Implied: Chancellor Albert goes to meet with King Eric. Shortly thereafter, news gets out that Eric is dead and Albert is the new king.
- Deconstructed:
- Chancellor Albert kills King Eric and claims the throne—only he's a worse ruler than Eric was.
- Despite being just and competent, Albert has a huge amount of trouble actually ruling his kingdom, as all his co-conspirators are too worried about being killed off to help him. Furthermore there is a Succession Crisis soon after he comes into power, as Albert has no actual claim to the throne besides killing it's previous owner.
- King Eric was incredibly well-liked and Chancellor Albert immediately gets labeled a heartless monster for killing him. The people rebel against him to avenge their fallen king.
- A Proud Warrior Race with this trope as a policy is far less effective than they could be because being good at assasination does not equate to being good at running a tribe.
- Due to this mindset...it's no secret the gloves off are as people are stabbing and killing each other left and right in a gang war for being top dog.
- Reconstructed:
- So Councilor Thomas kills him, and proves to be a better king than his predecessors.
- Albert swore an oath never to kill his conspirators, and immediately sets out a campaign of good works post-assassination. He is so adored in comparison to Eric that everyone quietly ignores he's not of noble blood, and he's swiftly married into the blood line, giving him legitimacy.
- The resulting civil war destabilized the country and leaves it ripe for invasion-Which is what David, The Corrupter and The Man Behind Albert intended the whole time.
- Any inefficiencies caused by this form of government is worth it, given as the Proud Warrior Race lives in such an hostile environment that the fighting skills of the leader are more important than any other leadership skill.
- Played For Laughs: After Chancellor Albert kills King Eric, Fred the Minstrel composes a song about it, the gist being that nobody liked Eric and everyone's happy that he's dead.
- Played For Drama: Albert kills Eric and becomes the new king, but Eric's loyalists refuse to accept him, and civil war breaks out.
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