Deadly Decadent Court/Playing With

Basic Trope: Corrupt nobility abuse their powers for their own selfish ends and entertainment.

Straight: King Goodland has a royal court, but several members are prideful, snobbish nobles-by-blood-only who secretly abuse their power... at least, until they get rooted out and exposed by the heroes.
Exaggerated: Every noble in The Empire is a selfish, power-abusing Jerkass save for the odd Rebellious Princess or Defector From Decadence.
Justified: The House that currently holds court has been in power for centuries and has created an aristocracy and court that are by and large isolated from the lower classes, and have been brought up to hold them in contempt.
Inverted:
- The nobles are genuinely noble people who put the good of all first.
- Everyone is straight with everyone: any bad nobles will readily admit it.
Subverted: The nobles do enjoy gossip and intrigue, but in the end, they genuinely have the best interests of the common man in mind.
Double Subverted: ...At least, that's the facade they put on in public. Behind closed doors, however...
Parodied:
- King Goodland seems not to monitor his court; when he hears about extreme incidents of its decadence such as Duke Bloodlust massacring entire towns of civilians in his "hunts" and forcing a taxidermist at sword-point to mount the heads of the blacksmith from the town he just massacred today and stuff some peasant girls for his "collection," he shrugs them off. After all, the nobles do have a divine right to rule, anyway, and therefore why shouldn't they be allowed to do what they want?
- Alternately, the King doesn't really care when presented with evidence. It's about what he's come to expect of the nobles.
Deconstructed: The Deadly Decadent Court hurts the image of all noblity, even the Royals Who Actually Do Something, who find themselves struggling to gain support from cynical and mistrustful villagers far too used to being kicked around by the so-called-high class.
Reconstructed: ... which eventually leads to a revolution that the Royals Who Actually Do Something quietly back, deposing the cynical nobles and imposing more just ones in their place. The ones that are left, however, are just that much more devious...
Zig Zagged: The nobles' actions and morality vary Depending on the Writer. One day they're ordering entire villages to be burnt down, and the next day they're patiently rebuilding them.
Averted: The members of court are for the most part just regular people. Some are corrupt, but the majority are simply ignorant or genuinely believe that their actions are for the good of whomever.
Enforced: "We need it to be clear that you're not supposed to root for the hot nobles. Have them abuse their privileges."
Lampshaded: "And here comes Duke Bloodlust. He's going to have some commoners fight to the death for his amusement, bet you a silver piece." "No bet."
Invoked: Duke Bloodlust relies on this trope to get people to accept his over-the-top evil persona.
Defied: King Goodland closely monitors the royal court to ensure there's no double-dealing and double-crossing going on.
Discussed: "Why, Duke Bloodlust! You're a member of the court, right? Oh, then I'll bet you'd love to come watch two of my serfs fight to the death over a single copper!"
Conversed: "Jeez, they get a lordly title and next thing you know they're bathing in the blood of virgins."
Played For Laughs: The court is packed with Upper Class Twits who are completely incapable of doing anything more than stand around talking about how rich and amazing they are, and the mere suggestion of work makes most of them instantly faint from shock.
Played For Drama: Magnificent Bastard Lord Webspun has the backing of the worst members of the court, though bribery, Blackmail, and mutual manipulation. Naturally, he doesn't have the best interests of King Goodland or his daughter in mind...

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