Basic Trope: Someone comes to a position of power because of their mother's efforts.
- Straight: Lady Alice's scheming gets her son Prince Bob on the throne.
- Exaggerated: Lady Alice murders a dozen people to get her son Prince Bob on the throne.
- Downplayed: Lady Alice is a key supporter of her son's claim, and she talks a few people into supporting him, but she doesn't singlehandedly get him on the throne.
- Justified:
- Alice, as a woman in a patriarchal realm, cannot wield power in her own name, but she can do so in her son's name.
- Being the king's mother is a powerful position in its own right—for example, Alice and Bob live in the Ottoman Empire, and as the mother of the sultan, Alice will be the valide sultan: effectively his queen, and the most powerful woman in the empire.
- Alice is a good parent, and she's very supportive of her son in everything he does, including—but not limited to—coming to power.
- Inverted:
- Lady Alice schemes to prevent her son from becoming king.
- After a Ruling Family Massacre, the only survivor, young Prince Bob, is made king. Lady Alice then adopts him.
- Lord Bob's scheming makes his mother, Lady Alice, queen.
- Gender Inverted: Lord Bob schemes to make his daughter, Princess Alice, queen.
- Subverted: Lady Alice is scheming around court, talking up her son Bob to various powerful people. The camera always cuts away right as these conversations get to the chase, but we know Alice is ambitious. At the end of the episode, it's revealed that she's wants to make her son … a general.
- Double Subverted: That's just phase one of her plan. Once Bob has more experience, then she'll make him king.
- Parodied:
- Alice schemes to put Bob in a position with no more than Authority in Name Only, such as Puppet King.
- Bob is completely indifferent to the prospect of becoming king. It's all Alice's idea and handiwork.
- Zig-Zagged:
- King Bob the Nth has a Multiple-Choice Past. Some versions have his mother helping him ascend to the throne, others don't.
- Lady Alice's support for and control over Bob's campaign for the throne fluctuate. Lady Alice promotes Bob's candidacy for the throne, then backs Lord Charlie when he challenges Bob; then she backs Bob again in his bid to oust Charlie.
- Averted:
- Bob is Conveniently an Orphan, with no mother to help him rise to power.
- Bob, a Self-Made Man, came to power purely by his own doing.
- Bob doesn't become king for any reason.
- Enforced: The story is Historical Fiction, based on a piece of history where this really happened.
- Lampshaded: "Alice, this plan to make Bob king—is it for him, or is it for yourself?"
- Invoked: When Bob decides to usurp the throne, his first action is to ask his mother for help.
- Exploited: Charlie knows Lady Alice is scheming to get her son Bob on the throne, and he believes she will succeed, one way or another. However, Bob would be a terrible ruler, so Charlie kills Bob. With him dead, Lady Alice will make her younger, more competent son David king.
- Defied: Lady Alice gets caught and executed for treason.
- Implied: We never meet Lady Alice or Prince Bob, but during a Succession Crisis, he's mentioned as a possible heir and someone remarks, "His mother is ambitious."
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: "That's Bob's mom, Lady Alice. She wants him to be the next king." "Of course she does."
- Deconstructed:
- Lady Alice is a Stage Mom to Bob, and she put a lot of pressure on him. As a result, they have a strained relationship. After Bob becomes king, Alice tells him everything he should do and puts more pressure on him than ever. She only ever thought of his kingship as her means of rule, it never occurring to her that after he became king, he would suddenly have more power than she and he wouldn't have to obey her. King Bob realizes this before she does, and uses his new power to exile—or perhaps even execute—his mother.
- Alice gets her son Bob made king. Once he's king, he gets assassinated by a powerful rival. Alice is stricken with grief and guilt for putting him in that situation.
- Reconstructed: King Bob then thinks "My God, What Have I Done?", especially after he realizes Lady Alice had insight on one or more crucial matters he doesn't but to which he must attend. He releases Alice (if he imprisoned her) or resurrects her (if he executed her) and makes her a royal adviser.
- Played for Drama: King Bob feels burdened by his new responsibilities and angsts about not having wanted nor even worked for them or the position that carries them.
- Played for Laughs: Lady Alice is no less a nagging mother to Bob once he's king than she was before.
With your mother's help, you can go back to Mother Makes You King and take power.
