Discussion Main / StandardEvilEmpireHierarchy

Lately whenever I watch episode 18 of Code Geass I can't help but think the organization structure for the Black Knight laid out in that episode is kind of a Good Counterpart to this Trope.

The Emperor: Zero with his Black King look.

The Right Hand: C.C. who has no official position but is the closest to Zero

The General: Tohdoh which should be self explanatory

The Guard: Ohgi since this job often puts him in charge of the home base

The Security Officer: Detard who was placed in charge of espionage

The Oddball: Rakshatta who's the Scientist and the one neither Britannian or Japanese

The Man Behind The Man: Kyoto, sorta

And then Kallen would be the Counterpart to Suzaku who has Hero tropes going for him even though he's fighting for the Evil Empire.

Edited by MithrandirOlorin

I've come to think of a position that should maybe be added is something for a type of Propaganda Minister, or being in charge of controlling the media. Fictional evil empires modeling themselves on the Nazis will typically need a Joseph Goebbels.

Hide / Show Replies

Should we add the Alvarez empire from fairy tail

Hide / Show Replies

I would like to make an updated rewrite of the One Piece World Government.

The Emperor: Five Elder Stars (Gorosei) is a keep.

The Right Hand: Changing Cipher Pol to Commander in Chief Kong, as his authority is second only to the Gorosei, and oversees both Cipher Pol, Government Workers, Shibukai, Impel Down, and Marines. He really fits this role the best, although he is not seen much in the story. Still unsure if I should bring up his former Fleet Admiral status.

The General: Fleet Admiral of the Marines, Sengoku, since he was very prominent head of the marines, and Sakazuki, in spoiler tags, after the timeskip.

The Guard: Starter villain Morgan, and Magellan of Impel Down. Although I would like to just keep Magellan, as Impel Down does serve a role in keeping powerful criminals incarcerated.

The Security Officer: Cipher Pol fills this role the best: Espionage, assassinations, law enforcement, and in CP 0's case, accommodating the World Nobles.

Oddball: The Seven Warlords of the Sea is a keep. Vegapunk may also be considered this due to the mystery surrounding this yet unseen character. he is clearly not behind the Gorosei, but his influence is still felt within the story, and the government.

The Man Behind the Man: The World Nobles/Celestial Dragons, since recent chapters reveal Vegapunk was coerced by the World Government, and the Nobles themselves consider themselves above the law, are descendants of the 20 kingdoms that founded the World Government.

What do you think? I'll probably begin the changes on a later date.

Edited by SinisterHoodedFigure2

Hux is called a General but his narrative function is clearly more modeled after Tarkin, he trope Codifier for The Gaurd.

I see a new position was added recently, The Security Officer.

Tarkin is clearly the Trope Codifier for The Gaurd, in fact the description on this page only fits Tarkin perfectly, anyone else designated the Gaurd fails to fit in some way.

I feel should be mentioned how sometimes a Governor (a likely position to play the Guard role) will have their own version of the Hierarchy on a smaller scale. For example Cornelia in Code Geass, has her Right Hand in Gilferd, a General in Daltan, Jeremiah sort of played a role smiler to the Gaurd, and Earl Asplin is certainly an Oddball. Suzaku is the Counterpart to Kallen, and Cornelia herself is a Counterpart to Lelouch though his ultimate Counterpart is Schniezal.

I added The Silmarillion, I think Morgoth's Empire kind of fits this Trope better then Sauron's latter one did.

For Final Fantasy games, the first 2 I think of when I think of The Empire are II and VI. But they don't have characters for each of the positions. In II The Dark Knight is the Right Hand and sort of Evil Counterpart, Borghen is a general in position but function more like The Gaurd narratively (Final Fantasy II is very Star Wars inspired, and I kind of see Borghen as Tarkin), and there is no Oddball. In VI Kefka is the Right Hand but has a more traditionally Oddball position, Ultros could be viewed as the oddball role too. Leo plays The General pretty Straigt, but there is no Guard unless I'm forgetting something.

Edited by MithrandirOlorin

If one of the characters is responsible for running propaganda for The Emperor, which position do they qualify for?

"Think like a man of action, act like a man of thinking, and don't be a dumbass." Hide / Show Replies

There are no real life examples here, but also no warning explicitly forbidding them, so I'm not sure if it's ok for me to add some.

The origins of this Trope definitely come form duplicating the way real Empires have been run, or at least the way they've been viewed. Rome and Nazi Germany being the most popular models.

For Rome, The Emperor was Caesar obviously.

The Right Hand would typically by the Preatorean Prefect (Seganus, Macro and Tigelinus being notable examples) but perhaps sometimes just a Senator or Patrician who was a very talented Sycophant.

The General would be an actual General, sometimes one would be given special power to deal with a special conflict, Germanicus was the most notable example of that.

The Guard could easily be a Governor of a Province, especially Judea's in Biblical stories.

If the Evil Counterpart isn't fallen under another setting, then just a skilled Roman Solider or Centurian, or a sleazy Roman politician, or a Greedy Roman Aristocrat.

The Oddball could be any number of Non Romans to become close to the Emperor, some of whom lead bizarre cults, it wouldn't be surprising for a Religious work to give this role to Simon Magus. But could also be a Mistress of the Emperor, or even his wife, who's a Femme Fatale or The Vamp.

I don't currently remember enough about Nazi Germany structure to speculate. Fictional stories will often replace everyone but Hitler himself as the Emperor with their made up Nazi Supervillian and Nazi Noblemen.

If one wanted to break up the executive Branch of the US government that way.

The Emperor: The President

The Right Hand: Chief of Staff, despite how much people might want to put the vice President here.

The General: Secretary of Defense (Even though the Title implies the Gaurd)

The Security Officer: CIA Director, or NSA Director. I actually kind of see most Vice Presidents who weilded actual power as being this, Bush 1under Reagen and Cheny under Bush 2.

The Gaurd: Most difficult to think up

The Oddball: White House Chaplin, or perhaps First Lady.

Man Behind the Man: Wallstreet, and others of the top 1% like the Rockefellers.

Edited by 65.29.233.157