King Incognito: Difference between revisions

If this character isn't that good at passing for common, he may be [[Rich in Dollars, Poor In Sense]].

{{examples}}

** Also, [[Obfuscating Stupidity]], even if the falling-over-and-demanding-food thing was later Ling's [[Something Only They Would Say]] in a plot-relevant way. {{spoiler|It helped that his teeth stopped being pointy when he was in control.}}

* Usagi, Mamoru and Chibiusa of ''[[Sailor Moon]]''. Though to be fair, the former two were only a royalty in their past lives and of Kingdoms that have been defunct for an unknown amount of time and weren't aware of this until after the series starts. The latter is a [[Kid From the Future]] where Usagi and Mamoru have become Queen and King of the earth and is known to be a princess in her time.

* In ''[[The Heroic Legend of Arslan (Literature)|The Heroic Legend of Arslan]]'' [[Anime]], Arislan is hoping to get some information out of some prisoners his forces recently captured, so he disguises himself as a servant and arranges things so that he gets assigned to deliver food to each of the prisoners he's most interested in. Estelle/Etoile confides in the "servant" that she has heard that Arislan is a [[Complete Monster]]. He responds by feeling the top of his head. When she asks him why, he replies that he's checking to see if he has horns, giving away his identity.

* Queen Dianna in ''[[Turn a Gundam (Anime)|Turn a Gundam]]'' is incognito amongst the Earthrace for most of the story, due to a practical joke she played getting more than a bit out of hand (she switched places with an [[Identical Stranger]] and they were separated before she has a chance to switch back). The leaders of the Earthrace do become aware of her situation, as does her personal bodyguard back with the Moonrace, but the general public on both sides has no idea.

* In Kurosawa's ''The Hidden Fortress'' (which later went on to influence ''[[Star Wars]]''), a princess and a general of a defeated kingdom disguise themselves as peasants in an attempt to smuggle themselves and their kingdom's treasury to safety.

** One of the princess's servents also dies in her place earlier in the movie (off camera). Look familiar?

** Played with in that his disguise fools no one, and his opponent backs out of the tournament rather than risk the king's wrath. William, on the other hand, has no compunctions about challenging him.

*** The disguise worked fine, as William faced "Sir Thomas Colville" in the previous tournament without realizing who it was. Even Adhemair, who was running commentary for Jocelyn during that joust, had no idea who Colville was the first time around. It just didn't stay a secret in the next tournament.

*** And, of course, {{spoiler|<s>Prince Mildain</s> Elphin the bard}} from the sixth game.

* Princess Nadia of ''[[Chrono Trigger (Video Game)|Chrono Trigger]]'' disguises herself and takes on the pseudonym Marle in order to see the Millenial Fair. It's only after they're sucked into the past that the heroes figure out who she really is when [[Identical Grandson|she's mistaken for her ancestor Queen Leene]].

** Not at first for {{spoiler|Tetra}}. She has no clue about her royal lineage in the first game, but then she continues to disguise herself as her normal {{spoiler|Tetra}} persona at the end of the first and the whole second.

*** I got the impression she was having more fun as {{spoiler|Tetra}}.

*** Well, would you rather be {{spoiler|princess of a vanished land, or a pirate?}} [http://hail-nekoyasha.deviantart.com/art/The-Pirate-s-Life-or-Not-29083290 This comic] sums it up nicely.

* ''[[Final Fantasy XII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XII]]'' is full of these. {{spoiler|Lord Larsa starts out pretending to be a mysterious boy named "Lamont", Princess Ashe masquerades as Amalia, and Judge Zecht forfeits his rank and title and becomes the Pirate King Reddas. Baltheir was also a Judge in the past and gave it up long before the game started}}

* In ''[[Final Fantasy VI (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VI]]'', by Post-cataclysmic Edgar. The heroes, having met him before, see right through the ruse. After several denials, he finally fesses up.

* After the Battle of Worcester Charles II spent six weeks attempting to flee the country (including in one instance an afternoon spent hiding in an oak tree), dressing as a regular citizen as he did so. He did usually have allies with him, who would help him move on and point to who could help him (including many Catholics, hence his general appreciation toward them later - and death bed conversion), but he also had to stand up to scrutiny to those not in the know and occasionally be almost by himself, even talking with Commonwealth supporters about that rogue Charles Stuart. He is said to have seen the time as quite character making for him.

** What kind of character was that? From what I've read he was mainly a selfish drunken lech, whose only virtue was that he was too lazy to be a tyrant.

* Sigismund of Luxemburg loved doing this. He preferred having fun over his kingly duties and often snuck out dressed as a commoner whenever he wanted to party.

** Inspired by his predecessor's odd habit, Mathias Corvinus would occasionally travel dressed as a commoner. Rumours also claim he did some vigillante work this way. One particular story even made him into a thief, due to a fortune teller telling him that he will die the following day if he doesn't break into somebody's house - he broke into the home of one of his advisors, and came across a conspiracy to assassinate him.

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]

[[Category:King Incognito]]