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Fisher King: Difference between revisions
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* In some ancient cultures the king and his personal piety and virility were equated with such things as the success of the crops and life of the land in general. So, in the early ages, the Pharaoh of Egypt [[Squick|masturbated into the Nile]] annually at the festival of ''Shemu'' to ascertain the flood. <ref>Shemu is still celebrated in [[Modern Egypt]] as a general spring festival called ''Shamm el-Nessim'', without the masturbation, thank you. Can you imagine Hosni Mubarak jacking off into the Nile?</ref> It's not entirely surprising that this was [[Truth in Television]], in a sense - succession was rarely a smooth business, and as such, ''any'' king who perpetually managed to hold on to life generally ensured an era of stability and well-being for his people. While no sovereign actually has sympathetic magical control over their lands, good governing generally means stability and well-being for the people, while bad governing means a rough time.
* The ancient Indian epic ''[[Ramayana (Literature)|Ramayana]]'' features a semi-demonic king whose emotions seem to effect the whole world's climate. When he becomes lovestruck, the seasons change rapidly, and time itself stops temporarily.
* Chinese emperors believed themselves to be responsible for the well-being of the land in varying degrees ("The Mandate of Heaven," which even modern communists try not to upset too much- ever see a government official slack off when a Chinese natural disaster strikes?), and thus instituted a number of rituals in which they'd attempt to appease the heavens; some of them apparently have been heard to directly appeal to the gods to [[Take Me Instead!|punish them instead]] during natural disasters. People who worked for the emperor were often [[Genre Savvy]] about this, sending memorials to the Imperial palace about bad omens like solar eclipses in various places (which have been calculated by modern scientists to be impossible at that time and place) simply to politely tell the Emperor that his policies were unpopular in (X) Province.
* [[Oedipus the King (Theatre)|Oedipus the King]], who kills his father, marries his mother and becomes the king of Thebes. This moral stain -- even though he has no idea that ''they'' are his parents -- brings year-long famine to the land.
* [[Older Than Dirt]]: A variation appears in ''[[Inannas Descent to The Netherworld (Literature)|Inannas Descent to The Netherworld]]''. The Mesopotamian fertility goddess Inanna mourned her husband Dumuzi each year when he died. Her grief (and guilt for killing him) transformed the earth into a parched wasteland where nothing could grow. Only the annual return of Dumuzi could cheer her up.
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Video Game/Cythera|Cythera]]'', an old game by [http://www.ambrosiasw.com/ Ambrosia Software], had Alaric the Landking.
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda a Link To T He Past (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda a Link To T He Past]]'' featured The Dark World, a magical dimension which had become dark and corrupt when it fell under Ganon's rule. (Said land also had the ability to turn anyone who ventured ''into it'' into an animal or monster supposedly reflecting their "true nature" - a bully becomes a fanged and horned demon, and an indecisive kid becomes a bouncy pink immobile ball - Link becomes a pink anthropomorphic rabbit for some reason). In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time]]'', Zelda's castle and city become corrupted once Ganon takes control of them.n
* [[Justified Trope]] in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]''; when the evil Zant takes over Hyrule, the land becomes cloaked in perpetual twilight, because he's actually using dark magic to bring the [[Another Dimension|Twilight Realm]] to this plane. Things look pretty bad there, too, what with the sky darker than ever and the inhabitants all gone or {{spoiler|turned into the Shadow Beasts you repeatedly fight}}. Normally, it's actually pretty nice, under its rightful ruler, {{spoiler|Midna,}} the titular Twilight Princess.
* Zelda games are quite fond of this trope, as it applies to ''Ocarina Of Time'', as well. Although it's implied via back story that Hyrule has seen its fair share of civil war, by the time the game takes place the country is lush, thriving, and tranquil. Ganondorf changes all of that.
* The ''[[Legacy of Kain]]'' series does this with the Pillars of Nosgoth - the twist being that not only are the pillars literal pillars, but they're also represented by a person. When the Pillar of Balance is murdered and her lover, the Pillar of Mind (with all the psychic power that implies), goes mad... Nosgoth itself suffers, and suffers more later as a result of {{spoiler|Kain's climactic choice}}.
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[[Category:Older Than Dirt]]
[[Category:Fisher King]]
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