Machiavelli Was Wrong/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: Ruling by fear doesn't work as well as ruling with love.

  • Straight: Alice rules with an iron fist. She is surprised when Charlie Heel Face Turns to Bobs' side.
  • Exaggerated: Alice throws Charlie in jail for leaving a speck of dirt on his weapon, he escapes and joins Bob, who was waiting outside.
  • Justified: Charlie realizes that even if he manages to survive in Alice's care, he'd still rather be happy with Bob.
    • Charlie dislikes or even hates being controlled this way.
  • Inverted: Alice is actually the better ruler, and her people are happier.
  • Subverted: Bobs' forces look like they'll win the war, when they are overwhelmed at the last moment by Alice's reinforcements.
  • Double Subverted: Bob has a new weapon, which blows the enemies to pieces. (Particularly valid if the weapon runs on The Power of Love.)
    • Fearing Alice's reputation and not wishing to be captured, Bob's forces fight even harder at the sight of Alice's reinforcements and manage to win the day.
  • Parodied: Alice yells at Charlie. As he leaves the throne room he is stopped by a Bob recruiter, who promises they won't threaten his friends and family like Alice. And they'll give him cookies.
  • Deconstructed: Rule by fear dosen't work because people are too afraid to do anything - including their jobs. Everything that needs to be done ends up done half-assedly or not at all, technological progress stagnates, and art... let's not even mention that.
  • Reconstructed: But then Alice breaks them, saying that Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped.
  • Zig Zagged: At first Alice appears to be a loving ruler, but it soon turns out that she actually rules through fear. It is then found out she is doing this for the good of the people. It is later found out that many people have figured it out, and love her anyway.
  • Averted: It is unknown what kind of leaders Alice and Bob are, as neither one of them is shown actually leading.
    • Alice and Bob are leaders of groups where the people have no choice but to follow them.
    • Both Alice and Bob are tyrants or well-loved, and neither is better or worse in terms of kindness.
  • Enforced: "If we have Alice be nice no one will want to see her lose, as we have to make her more evil."
  • Lampshaded: "Don't you know you can't win? We have the power of friendship on our side!"
  • Invoked: Alice says, "It comes with the job, sorry. You have to fear someone up here."
  • Defied: Alice knows what would happen if she causes her people to fear her, so she makes sure to treat them kindly.
  • Discussed: "If this was a novel Alice would lose just because she's cruel. But we're going to have to fight hard to defeat her."
  • Conversed: "Well, Alice might have the upper hand now, but did you see what she did to poor Charlie? She'll lose in the end."
  • Played For Laughs: Alice gives out cool and unusual punishments to her people, and is defeated by one of those punishments.
  • Played For Drama: Alice loses the war, and realises she had become evil along the way.

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