Deadly Decadent Court: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

It is a monarch's court where the [[Pride|powerful, yet humble]] [[Blue Blood|nobles]] gather to make decisions [[Aristocrats Are Evil|for the common good.]] Unlike the [[Standard Royal Court]] where the [[Royals Who Actually Do Something|"royals" spend their time idly]], the Deadly Decadent Court is quite serious about its work; [[Evil Tastes Good|taking no pleasure]] in ensuring [[The Hedonist|decadence]] is outside of the judicial courts, hence the name.

They stem from [[Big Screwed-Up Family|esteemed houses]] with [[Royally Screwed-Up|an ancient and deserving history]] who [[Feuding Families|work together]] in their effort [[Obstructive Bureaucrat|to best serve]] [[The Caligula|their beloved king]], [[God Save Us From the Queen|his gentle consort]], and [[The Dung Ages|beautiful country]]—doing [[Cold-Blooded Torture|whatever is needed]] to quell [[La Résistance|threats to it]], [[Rich Boredom|however wearisome it is]]. They're all [[Brother-Sister Incest|like brothers and sisters]], though they must [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|resolve]] [[Divided We Fall|occasional conflicts]]. Their work is made all the easier since they [[Consummate Liar|never lie]], much less [[Betrayal Tropes|betray]] each other. (There is [[Defector From Decadence|an occasional odd-ball though.]] Plus some who [[Home, Sweet Home|sulk]] in [[Arcadia|their ramshackle country homes]]—but they're [[Good Is Old-Fashioned|old fogeys]].)

 

 

But it's not all just work here. With their [[Wicked Cultured|exquisite taste]], the court is [[Evil Is Stylish|quite charming.]] An occasional [[Masquerade Ball]], [[A Fete Worse Than Death|feast]], or [[Gladiator Games|other festivity]] help them relax after a hard day of fulfilling their duty to their [[Gullible Lemmings|loyal citizens]] is done.

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* In ''[[Berserk]]'', it seems like all the major nobles in Midland are out to get Griffith, who ends up as the target of two assassination plots by the jealous nobility. Griffith, however, is no slouch himself, and all of the nobles who take part in the assassinations end up dead.

* In ''[[Code Geass]]'', the Britannian Royal Court comes off as this, given the scheming nobles and [[The Social Darwinist]] [[The Emperor|Emperor]]. The Chinese court has this as well, with the scheming Eunuchs being the Chinese counterpart to the Britannian nobles.

 

* The Russian noble houses in ''[[Nikolai Dante]]'' especially the ruling Makarovs and the Romanovs.

* Most, if not all incarnations of the Hellfire Club in the [[X-Men]] Comics. While they are not technically royality, they try their best to invoke this.

* The Imperial Court of Golgotha, homeworld of [[The Empire]], in ''[[Deathstalker]]'' series by [[Simon R. Green]] is this writ large [[Recycled in Space|IN SPACE]].

** His Forest Kingdom Series and Hawk and Fisher books also feature a wide variety of these. Special mention has to go to the court in ''Blood and Honour'', where they recklessly dally with [[Eldritch Abomination|eldritch abominations]].

** The crop duster comment was actually because a particular set of noblewomen insulted Hospitaller Verity because she was the smallest and plainest person for kilometres around.

* The Japanese Imperial Court in the ''[[The Tale of Genji|Tale of Genji]]'' - and Real Life - was an epitome of this trope. If its members weren't plotting against each other they were having illicit sex with somebody else's wife or mistress.

* In [[Jack Vance]]'s ''[[Planet of Adventure]]'': the Yao people of the Kingdom of Cath. Adam Reith rescues Ylin Ylan, the Flower of Cath, from barbarians, which ends up complicating his life more than it should.

* The court of the Eastern Emperor in Mercedes Lackey's [[Valdemar]] series is a classic example of this. The nobles all live in ridiculous luxury, at one point the Emperor directly lampshades that the Empire must be undergoing an economic crisis 'because the Court nobles have visibly less time and effort to spend on ostentatious grooming displays' (which would not be happening so long as they had any solvency left at all), and the backstabbing is prominent to the point that the Imperial Guard has to be ''mind-controlled'' to prevent subversion, the Emperor doesn't even bother making sure that his cabinet ministers are given a briefing on classified matters because anybody at this level of government who doesn't have a spy system capable of finding out such things on their own is too incompetent to survive, the heir apparent to the throne is openly known to be a retired assassin and nobody cares (indeed, its considered a quite respectable entry on his resume), and your average group of Imperial Advisors can't get through a simple staff meeting without either bribes or blackmail flying every which way across the table.

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* The Masterpiece Theater series ''[[I, Claudius]]'', starring Derek Jacobi and numerous other high-profile British actors. This series, based on a series of novels, recounts the life of Claudius, the awkward fool who would be emperor... and the drama, treachery, and intrigue that happened in the royal household. It's even more intense when you consider that it is based on historical events. But then, truth is stranger than fiction.

* King's Landing in [[Game of Thrones]]. Don't trust anyone, and watch what they're putting in your wine...

 

== Other ==

* [[William Shakespeare]]'s Sonnet 25:

{{quote|''Great princes' favourites their fair leaves spread

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

** Mage caucuses and consilii can veer into this as well.

** The article picture from ''[http://www.weregeek.com/ Weregeek]'' features a perfectly typical Elysium. Medieval decor, biker vampires, Victorian vampires, and Bela Lugosi ripoffs.

* The Various Courts of [[The Fair Folk|Raksha]] in ''[[Exalted]]'' are like the above, and everyone's a [[Reality Warper]] to boot. The Realm's various social organizations come close to this as The Empress valued competition among her underlings and descendants. Heaven is a cross of this and the [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] as its a deadly decadent ''bureaucracy''.

** Pretty much all Exalted types have charms that can encourage or discourage this type of behavior. Abyssals take the cake, however, as they possess a Socialize charm that causes any social group they use it on to devolve into infighting and backstabbing. In other words, they can ''create' a Deadly Decadent Court at will.

* ''[[Ars Magica]]'' covenants are prone to becoming like this when they fall into their Winter phase, with larger, more powerful covenants and Domus Magni being major antagonists because of it. Coeris, the House Tremere home covenant (yes, [[Vampire: The Masquerade|''that'' Tremere]]) is especially ripe for it because of their extremely competitive and cutthroat political policies and general impenetrability by anyone who can't beat them at Certamen.

* The courts of ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|Warhammer Fantasy's]]'' Dark Elves are essentially based on control, cruelty and the dominion of the powerful to exercise utter obedience in those underneath them. The ''Hanil Khar'' is an annual pledge of allegiance to the ruler of a city that regularly features the ''cold-blooded torture'' of any who dare to bring insufficient tribute, with outright execution common to those who ''really'' fail to produce. Keep in mind, this is their ''awards ceremony'' here. Another indicator of the murderous nature of Druchii court life is the rigid etiquette of social space that evolved because the Dark Elves are ''so damn paranoid'' about being straight-up assassinated. Very tellingly, it is measured in sword-lengths. Lowborn Dark Elves may not approach a lord closer than three sword-lengths without being summoned, retainers may remain within two lengths, and lieutenants, trusted retainers and lower-ranking highborn may approach to a single sword-length. Within a sword-length is the most intimate space, and is reserved for lovers, playthings and, very characteristic of the Druchii, ''mortal enemies''. You have to really think about the parties that these guys attended that forced ''this'' sort of system to be adopted.

 

== Theatre ==

* The Aristocrat Club in ''[[Rule of Rose]]'' consists of a bunch of orphaned children playing rich and powerful nobility, complete with constant intrigue and rivalries, accompanied by complex rituals which often involve torture and/or hazing of one another, as well as cruelty against animals.

* In Crusader Kings 2, your court is filled with people conspiring against you, and vice versa. [[Evil Plots]] are a core game mechanic.

 

== Web Original ==

** Even if it sounds strange, The Hittites. The royal court of Hattusa was truly a deadly place- full of relatives ready to betray the king at the first opportunity.

* The court of [[Saudi Arabia]] approaches this, although exile, shaming, and [[Reassigned to Antarctica|reassignment to Antarctica]] are preferred to outright killing; after all, almost all members of the court are (half)-brothers or cousins (being descendants of King [[Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud]]), and the public image of family unity must be maintained. However, by all accounts, the internal politics of the Al Saud are quite dangerous—particularly now that there's a [[Succession Crisis]] due in a decade or so that everyone can see coming from a mile away—and the decadence of the Saudi court is so legendary, [[Arab Oil Sheikh|it has a trope]].

* Probably apocryphal, but worth repeating. The astrologer at Louis XI's of France's court had (quite by accident) accurately foretold the death of someone close to the king. Louis decided to have the unfortunate astrologer executed, but had a last question: "When do you foresee your own death?" The astrologer replied: "That I cannot divine, but it will be three days before Your Majesty's death." After that, the (in real life) superstitious Louis gave the astrologer all possible protection.

* [[The Prince|Machiavelli]] himself strongly recommended that rulers avoid these, as aside from the [[Aristocrats Are Evil|obvious risks]] there's the fact that the high taxes required to support it tend to encourage rebellions.

* [[Adolf Hitler]]'s inner circle was full of people vying to outdo the other - they called it the ''Obersalzburg Kamarilla''.

 

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[[Category:Settings]]

[[Category:Evil Tropes]]