Authority in Name Only: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

* The Elephant King of Mari Land, in [[Onegai My Melody]].

* The President from ''[[Super Milk-chan]]''.

* Princess Charlotte in ''[[Princess Principal]]'', who has so little authority that she's called a "princess of the air" as opposed to a princess of a particular location. Even her uncle, a mere Duke, has more real power than she has.

 

* President Skroob of ''[[Spaceballs]]''. "I can't make decisions! I'm the president!"

* [[Bill Murray]] as the Mayor of Ember in the movie adaptation of ''[[The City of Ember]]''.

High Macha Of Rashpur: Yes. We're on a waiting list. As soon as there's an opening on the map, we're next. }}

 

* ''[[The Redemption of Althalus]]'': The ruler of Wekti is the ''Natus'', meaning 'father', who has no authority whatsoever but believes himself to be the complete ruler of Wekti. The real ruler is Exarch Yeudon, the leader of the Church.

* In ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' , Zaphod Beeblebrox is the former President of the Imperial Galactic Government. The position's purpose is not to wield power, but to draw attention away from it.

 

* Rare non-kids'-show example: ''[[Gilmore Girls]]''{{'}}s resident [[Control Freak]] Taylor is technically Town Selectman, and is only briefly voted out of office before his replacement becomes sick of all the small-town residents' endless complaining and quits.

** Which brings up another important point about your average [[King of Town]]: as long as you don't do anything to shake their delusions of authority too badly, they'll be so busy enjoying said delusions of authority that you can put them through all sorts of shit real people wouldn't even begin to take. So even if nobody likes them, they can be useful to have around as sort of a idiocy sink (like a heat sink, but for stupidity).

* King Uther in the first few episodes of '[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' season 4. He's still king in name, but Arthur and (to a lesser extent) Agravaine (as [[The Mole]]) are calling the shots since Uther is broken and half mad.

 

* [[Tenacious D|Jables and Kage]] become these [[The Revolution Will Not Be Vilified|after overthrowing]] the [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?|horribly oppressive City Hall]] in the aptly-named song "City Hall". [[Mary Suetopia|They]] [[Drunk with Power|fail]] [[Make It Look Like an Accident|spectacularly.]]

* In [[Hello! Project]] the Leaders and especially Sub-Leaders of groups sometimes act as peacekeepers if there's a falling out between members of their group and on game show appearances they may pick who competes if appropriate. However they are just the [[Face of the Band]], if that, in regards to the actual music.

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* Lord Mishima of ''[[Mutant Chronicles]]'' is nominally the undisputed ruler of the Mishima corporation, and as such one of the six most powerful people in existence. In reality, he's been [[Kicked Upstairs]] to being Mishima's representative in The Cartel, with all important corporate decisions being made by one of his sons, and the only ones who actually obey him are his ten-thousand or so personal retainers.

 

* Cora Hoover-Hooper in the musical ''Anyone Can Whistle''. She demands being treated royally despite having achieved a [[0% Approval Rating]].

 

* King Dedede claims to be the ruler of ''[[Kirby]]'''s land, but the most it gets him is a castle for our pink protagonist to [[Storming the Castle|storm through]] once per game. He seems to have vast independent wealth, but that's about it.

** The [[Kirby: Right Back at Ya!|anime]] [[The Anime of the Game|version]] makes more of a show of it; he even has a Prime Minister (Cabinet Minister) and the dubious loyalty of Meta Knight, but his rule seems to be even more dubious. In one early episode, he actually plants archaeological evidence that his ancestors were royalty. Meanwhile, the ''actual'' Mayor seems to be the legitimate authority figure, while the Prime Minister doesn't seem to ever do anything beyond being the father of [[The Kid With the Leash]].

* Viscount Dumar from ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' should be the most powerful man in Kirkwall, but the word on the street pretty much says Knight-Commander Meredith's the one with the real power. And all around him, extremist clerics, taciturn Qunari and who knows what else threatens his already delicate rule of the powder keg that is Kirkwall and he is unable to do anything about the problems that crop up except to turn to you. A shame, really, since he's the one of the [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]s in the blighted place.

* ''[[Fallout 3]]'' lets you play as one in a couple situations. Upon entering the settlement of Big Town, you're confronted by a guard, who obviously has no idea what he's doing, who asks who you are. One option is to tell him "I'm the king/queen of the wasteland, what's it to you?". Later you can talk to him again, demanding a new greeting speech that acknowledges your title as royalty.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* King Plasto, the villain in one of the original ''[[Superfriends]]'' stories. The opening narration even calls him a "king without a kingdom", although his scheme ''does'' involve gaining the funds and materials to ''build'' one.

 

* [[wikipedia:Emperor Norton|His Imperial Majesty Norton I, Emperor of these United States and Protector of Mexico.]] The citizens of San Fransisco loved this character, and even provided for him.

* Kevin Baugh, President of [[wikipedia:Republic of Molossia|Molossia]]. Here, there's an interesting twist: Molossia is incredibly small, consisting primarily of various properties owned by Baugh, meaning that not a lot of competence is required. Still, he does his best to cultivate good relations with the United States, which completely surrounds Molossia, sending them "aid" every April 15. [[Kickassia|Unfortunately, none of this protects him from film invasion.]]

* In Pre-Norman England the Cinque Ports(five ports because there were originally five) made a treaty with the king to supply ships for defense in return for internal self-determination as well as various and sundry privileges some rather arcane. The royal official in charge of this arrangement was the Warden of the Cinque Ports. After the Conquest the deal was continued because both parties liked the arrangement. After a standing Royal Navy became the core of British naval defense this became obsolete and the Wardenry of the Cinque Ports is mainly a post for retired gentlemen of dignity rather then a serious position.

* He did indeed serve in the U.S. Army, but Colonel Harland Sanders, founder of KFC, was not a Colonel in any military sense. Rather, he was a Kentucky Colonel, a title of honor in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, given by the governor and the secretary of state to individuals in recognition of noteworthy accomplishments and outstanding service to a community, state, or the nation. Sanders was given the honor twice for his work in the food industry. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_Colonel More info on it here.]

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idi_Amin Ugandan dictator Idi Amin] was even worse than Jammehc. His "official" title (self-appointed) was "His Excellency President-For-Life Field Marshal Al Hadj Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, Conqueror of the British Empire and Africa in General and Uganda in Particular". Only one part of that was true, the part about conquering Uganda.