Evil Chancellor: Difference between revisions

[[File:Jafar_5583.png|link=Aladdin (Disney film)|frame|[[Captain Obvious|The guy on the left.]]<ref>Not the [[Snarky Non-Human Sidekick|parrot]].</ref>]]

[[Malicious Slander]] is a particular favorite of the [[Evil Chancellor]].

This trope is the [[Evil Counterpart]] of [[The Good Chancellor]]. See also: [[The Evil Prince]], who is usually also after the throne and rather less willing to remain in the shadows. In fantasy settings, will often overlap with an [[Evil Sorcerer]]; if his "official" job is to ''be'' the ruler's personal magic-user, then he's also the [[Court Mage]]. Aspiring backstabbers may refer to the [[Evil Chancellor List]]. If the ruler the [[Evil Chancellor]] "serves" is ''also'' evil, expect overlap with [[The Starscream]].

** Don't forget Haman Karn of ''[[Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam|Zeta Gundam]]'' & especially in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ|Gundam ZZ]]'', who is even named for one of the [[Trope Maker|Trope Makers]], Hamman from [[The Bible|the Book of Esther]].

* [[Star Wars Legacy|Darth Wyyrlok]] is an [[Evil Chancellor]] paired with an [[Evil Overlord]] - and he's an [[Evil Sorcerer]] to boot! {{spoiler|He winds up betraying his Master, but it's something of a subversion of this trope- he does it not (primarily) out of ambition, but from a devotion to Lord Krayt's dream of a unified Galactic Empire which he himself has abandoned to pursue personal goals.}}

* Currently in ''[[The Mighty Thor]]'', Loki is the [[Evil Chancellor]] for the new Asgardian prince Balder who, after a good <s>half-century</s> [[Norse Mythology|millennium and a half of stories]], should [[What an Idiot!|really know better]].

* Doubly subverted in ''[[War and Peace]]'' with Speransky, who most characters assume to be an [[Evil Chancellor]] until Prince Andrei meets with him and finds him to be a pleasant man only concerned for the betterment of Russia. He is later [[Put on a Bus]] when he's discharged from the sovereign's court on charges of corruption and treason.

** Averted in that she does not wish to usurp the throne {{[spoiler| rather, she put him on there since she knew he'd not interfere with her wanton killing}}], and her motives for keeping people so afraid are supposedly that {{spoiler|if they left Nifl, they'd see the [[Scenery Gorn|rotted giantess head]] at Epoch at find out that gods really ''can'' die, and will give them some sort of sovereign power}}. However, {{spoiler|she is slowly losing power since the death of the Red Flower Girl led to [[0% Approval Rating|public outcry]].}}

* Cabbarus in [[Lloyd Alexander]]'s ''Westmark'' manipulates the king's grief over his dead daughter... but it all gets blown sky high when {{spoiler|the daughter turns out to be [[Not Quite Dead]]}}. In the sequel, the king of the next country over has an [[Evil Uncle]] doubling as an [[Evil Chancellor]], too.

* In ''One Good Knight'', part of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series by [[Mercedes Lackey]], there's an [[Evil Chancellor]]. He's lampshaded with a line somewhat like "if the king's advisor was a magician, then according to the Tradition he must be scheming after the throne." Additionally, he and [[God Save Us From the Queen|the queen]] are a [[Unholy Matrimony|couple]]. Of course, he's planning to betray her.

* Variant subversion: In ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'' in Glitzville Grubba the arena owner is portrayed as an eccentric and somewhat dishonest nice guy, while the manager and his assistant, Jolene, is cold and behaves suspiciously. Of course, it turns out that Grubba is a villainous monster who has been draining people's energy to stay young forever, and although Jolene -- true to the trope -- was working to eliminate him, it was because she was the heroine of this arc who had discovered just what Grubba was.

** Played with by Magatha Grimtotem. She has all the trappings of one (suspicious motives, has shown disdain for Cairne and the Horde's new directions, leader of the Taurn's [[Evil Counterpart|Evil Counterparts]]) but hasn't actually ''done'' anything to go against them. Not yet, at least.

* In ''[[Dungeon Siege]] 2'', the leader of the dark wizards was Valdis's [[Evil Mentor]], procedes to become his [[Evil Chancellor]] and Dragon, and {{spoiler|turns out to secretly be the [[Man Behind the Man]] for both Vadis and the player}}.

** Chancellor <s>Zod</s> Valorum is portrayed as (ludicrously over the top) Evil, and he is a Chancellor, but oddly enough, he is not an [[Evil Chancellor]] as defined by this trope, because in the Galactic Senate "Chancellor" refers to the equivalent of President or King, rather than an advisor role, so he's more [[President Evil]].

** One counter-example would be ''[[Dave]]''. Also, in the case of George W. Bush, perhaps the best-known case of where the Vice President was seen in such a role by opponents of the administration, the then-White House Chief of Staff was also often portrayed a kind of evil genius. Another Vice President who has been portrayed that way, especially in conspiracy theories about the assassination of JFK, was Lyndon Johnson, who while he wielded little official power still had a great deal of influence from his time in the US Senate and ''did'' come to the Presidency after the murder of his predecessor. But at other times, especially before the emergence of the office of White House Chief of Staff, a leading member of the President's official or even of his "kitchen" cabinet could easily be seen as an [[Evil Chancellor]]. Thus for a long time during the Lincoln administration Secretary of State Seward was widely believed to be pulling simple Abe Lincoln's strings.

* [[The Golden Voyage of Sinbad]] features a completely good Grand Vizier-albeit one who is currently serving as regent, the Sultan having recently died. The villain is instead an evil prince who is also a wizard--played by [[Tom Baker]], no less