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Usually, the late ruler appointed either a close relative, or a senior churchman, hoping their family ties or religious obligations would stop them from intriguing against the true heir, but this seldom works. Sometimes, there is a regency council instead, but that just adds vicious internal politics to the mix.
 
When the heir is of age, the story can go several different ways. Perhaps the regent becomes the [[Evil Chancellor]] and runs the kingdom through deception, manipulation, or some sort of evil control over the ruler. If he's in line for the throne himself, he may become the [[Evil Prince]]. Other times he'll arrange for the true heir to be kidnapped, killed, [[Man in Thethe Iron Mask|imprisoned]], or discredited. If the heir is of the opposite gender, the regent [[Wife Husbandry|might attempt to marry them]]. While such intergenerational political marriages were once common, the Regent's anticipation of the consummation often pushes him over the [[Moral Event Horizon]]. If the regent is already married, or forbidden to marry, he may settle for [[Arranged Marriage|the heir marrying into his family]]. Subtler regents may try to introduce him to drink, drugs, and other pleasures in hopes that he will find decadence more pleasing than ruling; a grown figurehead is no different from a minor.
 
Sometimes the Regent is revealed as having been evil from the start, perhaps even having had a part in killing the old ruler. Sometimes, though, they became corrupted by power instead.
 
And once in a blue moon, the Regent is only called a Regent because [[King in Thethe Mountain|the actual King has been gone for a very long time]], and the people are (at least theoretically) awaiting his [[Rightful King Returns|return]]. Since nobody wishes to disrespect the title of King, the actual ruler of the country is officially merely a regent, but in practice has all the power of a king and isn't usually particularly worried about having to give up power to anyone but his son (or perhaps the next person smart enough to overthrow him).
 
There is also, of course, the possibility that the heir is [[The Caligula|an absolute nightmare]], and the regent being (and using any method towards staying) in power is the only thing keeping the kingdom free from a tyrant. Expect [[Black and Gray Morality]], [[Selfish Good, Selfish Evil]] and other tropes of this nature to kick in as people question the regent's legitimacy (which, admittedly, he lacks) and motives (which may well extend beyond altruistic intentions, especially if his struggles have made him cynical). [[He Who Fights Monsters|This can ultimately]] lead to a horrible situation where [[Black and Black Morality|both heir and regent are monsters,]] forcing a third party to step in.
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== Film -- Live Action ==
* The ''[[Iron Man (Filmfilm)|Iron Man]]'' movie reveals the [[Big Bad]] early on by showing Obadiah Stane to be an example of this.
* The ''[[Ella Enchanted]]'' movie, where Sir Edgar orders Ella to kill his nephew so that he can be king.
* Cardinal Richelieu has elements of this in ''[[The Three Musketeers (1993 (Filmfilm)|The Three Musketeers 1993]]''. (Not so in [[The Three Musketeers (Literaturenovel)|the book]], where he is an [[Evil Chancellor]] but Louis XIII is already grown up.)
* ''[[Batman Begins]]'' has a minor example, as the CEO takes over Wayne Enterprises soon after Bruce loses his parents. Near the end of the film, Bruce simply decides to [[Awesome Yet Practical|discreetly buy stock until he was the majority shareholder.]]
* ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia|Prince Caspian]]'' -- the central plot in the movie, as well as the book.
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** But Vidal Vordarian from the same series is this on steroids, usurping the Vorkosigan regency by force, then declaring his betrothal to the dowager empress, and himself emperor, all in a few weeks. Oh, and before organizing his coup it's implied he was something of an [[Evil Chancellor]], currying favor with the dowager empress.
* Miraz in ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia|Prince Caspian]]'' started out as "Lord Protector" or some other title and slowly took on the title of king by disposing of anyone at Court opposed to him. He raised the true heir, his brother's son Caspian, as his own heir... until he had a son of his own, prompting Caspian to flee the proceeding murder plot.
* Queen Clothilde in [[Mercedes Lackey]]'s reworking of ''[[Swan Lake]]'' (''[[The Black Swan (Literature)|The Black Swan]]'') intends to 'dispose of' her son Siegfried after he marries and conceives an heir.
* The Stewards of Gondor in ''[[Lord of the Rings]]'' were a family of hereditary regents. Good ones, though. Unfortunately, the only one we actually ''meet'' in the books and films alike is Denethor, mentally unhinged by the loss of his favourite son, the hordes of Mordor at his doorstep, and finally by {{spoiler|the [[Evil Overlord]] himself through the seeing-stone which Denethor foolishly thought he could control}}. In the movies, possibly due to [[Flanderization]], he and Boromir both make it very clear that "[[Narm|Gondor has no king. Gondor ]]''[[Narm|needs ]]''[[Narm|no king.]]" The book, at least, implies that he was still loyal enough that he would return the throne to the rightful king, should one ever arrive.
** And in the book, Denethor would have a solid precedent for refusing to give Aragorn the throne: Aragorn's ancestor Arvedui tried to claim the throne of Gondor, and they turned him down.
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== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Prince Joffrey in ''[[Game of Thrones]]'', as detailed above under Literature.
* Jack's rivalry with Kaylie in ''[[30 Rock (TV)|Thirty Rock]]'' has overtones of this. Kabletown is a family-run company, her grandfather is the currrent CEO and Jack wants to steer her towards following her parents into "[[Idle Rich|Trust Fund Kid Syndrome]]" so he can take over the company.
 
 
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== Western Animation ==
* Yzma in ''[[The Emperor's New Groove (Disney)|The Emperors New Groove]]'', although her official title is Advisor. (And in this case, "for life" really carries some weight..)
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'': It's [[All There in the Manual]] that [[Evil Chancellor|Long Feng]] came into power when the current Earth King was coronated at the age of four. Though an adult by the time of the series, the Earth King seems happy letting Long Feng rule over most practical matters, and Long Feng, for his part, is such a [[Magnificent Bastard]] that he's managed to keep the King from even knowing that the Earth Kingdom has been at war for the last ''century.''
 
 
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