The Evil Prince: Difference between revisions

A very common subtrope is to have the Evil Prince as ''[[Cain and Abel|brother]]'' to the king, who tends to be his [[The Good King|polar opposite]] and utterly oblivious to [[Devil in Plain Sight|his brother's true nature]]. This is usually pretty bad news for the children of the king, as Evil Princes traditionally make [[Evil Uncle|rather poor uncles]].

 

 

The main basis of this belief is that because a ruler is illegitimate, they are automatically evil and that the only "good ruler" is a legitimate one. People tend to forget that a legitimate prince is more likely to be [[Royal Brat|spoiled and grow up uncaring for the plight of others]] or [[A God Am I|grow up believing themselves to be one step away from God]]. The fact that [[The Caligula|a certain psychopathic Roman emperor was LEGITIMATELY given the throne]] really undercuts the idea that legitimate monarchs really are "better". Or perhaps the main point of the assumption is simply the belief that almost any law is better than [[Asskicking Equals Authority]]. Or that someone who cheerfully disposes of their brothers and/or father is unlikely to rule with kindness.

 

 

See also [[Aristocrats Are Evil]], [[The Baroness]], [[Evil Uncle]], and [[Evil Chancellor]].

 

== Anime & Manga ==

* Most all of the princes in ''[[Code Geass]]'' are manipulative mass murderers raised by [[The Empire|the Holy Britannian Empire's]] Darwinistic ideals to scheme and fight against each other for the throne... with the exception of the mellow 1st Prince Odysseus, AKA [[Fan Nickname|Prince Valium]]. {{spoiler|Schneizel}} is the prince that tries to overthrow his father and take the throne. {{spoiler|Lelouch}} is the one that succeeds, though he did it for {{spoiler|revenge rather than the throne}}. And to {{spoiler|save the world}}, but that's besides the point. And he ''did'' {{spoiler|take the throne afterwards}}, but that was completely unrelated.

* The original ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'' has two: Gihren Zabi, who is more properly the son of the [[Evil Chancellor]] but {{spoiler|kills his father (with a [[Wave Motion Gun]], no less) in order to seize power}}, and Char Aznable himself. Char is arguably not ''quite'' evil; he's just trying to {{spoiler|avenge his father by killing the [[Evil Chancellor]] and ''his entire family''}}...

** Kycilia Zabi had no objections to {{spoiler|1=assassinating her older brother in mid-battle and taking control of Zeon, but this was mostly in revenge for the aforementioned [[Wave Motion Gun|Wave Motion Gunning]] of their father. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJN4-dZBNa4 Then Char decapitates her with a bazooka]}}. The whole series was...very messy for the Zabi family.

** He wasn't the last possible heir. He found some of the others and made them act as [[Body Double|body doubles]]. He was the only one to ever be publicly acknowledged as heir instead of being executed as unsuitable, however.

* Almost everyone in ''Adarushan no Hanayome'' assumes main character Alexid to be one of these. He's called the "Black Demon" for his apparent savagery in battle, he consistently wears dark clothing, and {{spoiler|his mother was a commoner}}. {{spoiler|Even his ''mentor, who raised him,'' believed Alexid harbored resentment towards his older brother the king and harbored ambitions to take the throne. This culminated in his mentor trying to kill him.}} The truth is the complete opposite. Alexid truly loves his brother and is actually ''terrified'' by the prospect of taking over the throne since he doesn't have the same knack for ruling a country.

** And for the kicker he's still one of AKD's [[Karma Houdini|premiere knights]], commanding a sizable detachment of the Royal Guard, First Easter Mirage Corps Green Left Wing, consisting of heroic sociopaths just like him. In fact, his current princely title was given him ''after'' that story with the rebellion. He's just that useful.

* Xanxus of ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]''. Subverted because he's {{spoiler|adopted so he couldn't be the next boss of the Vongola after all}}. And also Belphegor. {{spoiler|His brother Rasiel is supposed to be the next king. Belphegor killed him because of this. In the Future Arc Rasiel shows up alive and reveals that he is just as evil, that he was also planning to assassinate Belphegor and that they tried their plans on the same day}}.

* ''[[Classic Disney Shorts|Mickey Mouse and the World to Come]]'' has Nikolai of Illustania, who took charge of the kingdom when his father became old and ill and decided to ruin the [[Ghibli Hills|pristine landscape]] with industry as well as assist international criminal the Rhyming Man in a scheme to literally change the face of the globe.

* Bron from ''Scion'' began this way {{spoiler|before killing his father and becoming king himself}}.

* In ''[[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]'', Blackfire is first in line to inherit the position as Queen, but the fact that she was born without the superpowers that are common on her planet make her seem weak, so her younger sister Starfire becomes first in line. This does not sit well with Blackfire, who then [[Complete Monster|sells her into slavery]] to get rid of her.

* The Yellow Bastard from ''[[Sin City]]'' fits this trope [[Up to Eleven|and then some]]. As the son of a sadistic senator and heir to the most powerful (and evil) family in the country, he has carte-blanche to do whatever he likes. [[Squick|It includes preying on children.]]

 

== Films ==

* Louis Mazzini, (eventually) Duke of Chalfont, the cheerfully amoral [[Villain Protagonist|'hero']] of ''[[Kind Hearts and Coronets]]''.

* Lord Rathbone from ''[[Shanghai Noon|Shanghai Knights]]''.

* Prince Nuada in ''[[Hellboy II]]: The Golden Army''. He has the sympathetic aspect of fighting for his realm's survival, but his tactics are ''so'' extreme that ''everybody'' argues against him.

* Subverted in ''[[Thor]]''. Loki shows all signs of being the evil prince, who wants his brother and father out of the way so that he can have the throne except for one thing..... he doesn't want the throne. He never intended for his Thor to be banished to Earth or for Odin to fall into the Odinsleep, but they did and the throne just dropped into his hands.

{{quote| '''Loki:''' I never wanted the throne! I only ever wanted to be your equal!}}

** Prince Conall Blaine Cluim Uthyr Haldane is the eldest son of Prince Nigel Haldane and terminally jealous of his cousin King Kelson and Kelson's foster brother Dhugal, Earl of Transha. He takes secret instruction in using the Haldane powers, which are only supposed to wielded by the reigning monarch. He puts ''[[Fantastic Drug|merasha]]'' in Dhugal's flask while traveling on a quest for Camber's relics. He seduces the woman Kelson wants to marry. He {{spoiler|attacks his father and leaves him in an arcane coma}}. He ultimately {{spoiler|challenges his cousin to a duel arcane at his treason trial}}. By the way, his second name was also that of a Festillic king; [[What Did You Expect When You Named It?|coincidence? Maybe not]].

** Mahael and Teymuraz are this (as well as being [[Evil Uncle|evil uncles]]) to Liam-Lajos in ''King Kelson's Bride''. One or both of them are widely suspected of suspected of disposing of Liam's elder brother Alroy previously.

** In the book, each of the three princes that survive their father (including Primus) had killed one of their brothers; Septimus had killed two. Before the book ends, Septimus had killed a third and was quite peeved that someone had Primus killed first as he now had to avenge his dead brother instead of kill him.

*** In the book, the father is quite peeved at the inadequacy of this generation: his father had been, properly, down to one son by the time of his death. He says as much in the movie as well and even helps arrange for Septimus to off another one before he dies.

* In Tolkien's ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' we have Ar-Pharazôn, last King of Númenor, usurped the throne by the less usual method of marrying the rightful heiress and then forcibly reducing her role to that of his consort. There's also the example of Maeglin, the nephew of King Turgon of Gondolin, who betrays the city to Morgoth partially to gain rulership over it, but mostly because he [[Incest Is Relative|wants to marry his cousin]]. That she already has a husband and son doesn't stop him -- he just plans to off them first.

* Several Princes vying for Oberon's throne in the [[Chronicles of Amber]] by [[Roger Zelazny]]. Describing the exact intentions of the Nine would spoil most of the intrigue, but be prepared that some "evil" guys will be redeemed and some "good" ones will reveal themselves evil to the core.

* Prince Serg of [[Lois McMaster Bujold]]'s ''[[Vorkosigan Saga|Shards of Honor]]'' was sufficiently nasty that his father was forced to [[Offing the Offspring|kill him]] rather than let him succeed to the throne.

** A subplot in ''A Civil Campaign'' deals with this on a lesser scale. Richars Vorrutyer had done everything up to and including possible murder to insure his cousin Count Pierre died without issue and left him the heir apparent. He thought Pierre's [[Femme Fatale|younger sister Donna]] using an old rule to secure a three month stay on his confirmation and heading offplanet before the late Count was in the ground was of no consequence...and was rather put out when Pierre's [[Gender Bender|younger brother Dono]] returned to Barrayar to claim said seat by right of blood.

*** This was actually the rule in the Real Life Ottoman Empire, and was fine with the populace for several generations until the early death of a sultan resulted in the execution of several child princes. This was a bit much for Turkish sensibilities and after that reign sultans locked their brothers up instead. This proved convenient when the current ruler succumbed without providing an heir.

* ''[[Redwall]]'' has both Evil Princes and Evil Princesses. In ''Mossflower'' Tsarmina Greeneyes usurps the throne from her brother (displaying ultimate ignorance of point #3 in the [[Evil Overlord List]]), and in ''Marlfox'' various members of the seven offspring of the titular villainous royal family are constantly attempting to backstab their siblings and mother.

* Dagnarus of the [[The Sovereign Stone]] Trilogy was second in line for the throne. He didn't hate his father or try to take the throne away from him, but he did both for his elder brother, Helmos.

* [[Wheel of Time]]:

** Luc apparently thought he was going to be the king of Andor, despite it only ever having ''Queens''. Luckily, he mysteriously disappeared before this could happen.

** In the first trilogy, {{spoiler|Prince Ancar of Hardorn arranged for his father's murder}} so that he could become king sooner. He went on to be a [[Complete Monster|sadistic bastard]], who tortured people for fun, drove his own country into ruin and then invaded his neighbors.

** When Prince Thanel of Rethwellan finds out that he can't be crowned king of Valdemar without first being Chosen to become a Herald (which requires being a [[Nice Guy|genuinely nice person]]), he tries to murder his wife, Queen Selenay, so he can become Regent for their daughter Elspeth.

 

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* Lanny from ''[[Pair of Kings]]''; presumably a prince, because he was to have been king before Boomer and Brady came along.

 

* Prince Luca Blight from ''[[Suikoden II]]'' fits this trope to a T. He is probably more evil than all of the other princes listed here combined. [[Downplayed Trope|Yet he notably lacks one of the most common traits - he didn't kill his father.]] While he may eventually have wound up killing his dad, he certainly didn't seem to have any immediate plans to do so. All ''Luca'' did was slaughter the equivalent of his country's version of the Boyscouts/Army Cadets wholesale as an excuse to restart a pointless war, sadistically abused and murdered hordes of peasants along with a couple of major characters, traumatised a little girl into becoming the game's resident [[Cute Mute]] and generally acted like a complete Khorne-wannabe. It was {{spoiler|''Jowy'', one of the game's protagonists, that had been planning to murder the king and usurp the throne from practically the beginning of the main plot proper - and succeeded.}} It adds another interesting dimension, though, that {{spoiler|Luca knew about the plot from the beginning and was coaxing Jowy along (he knew Jowy drank some Antitoxin before poisoning himself for the blood-exchanging ritual with the king). Hell, that could've been a test of character and loyalty he gave Jowy}}.

* The sociopathic villains of both ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' and ''[[Final Fantasy XII]]'', Seymour and Vayne both qualify (although they aren't exactly princes, they still are the inheritants of enormous power). Vayne even goes so far as to systematically assassinate his older siblings for the throne. As an interesting twist with the trope being downplayed: it's heavily implied that all of Vayne's actions are aiming for {{spoiler|Larsa, his ''younger'' brother, to inherit the throne, so that Larsa (and Archadia) are free from the Occuria and [[Screw Destiny|can control their own destiny]]}}. The goal he accomplishes. Whether he meant it to happen the way it did is still debated by fans.

* Ashnard from ''[[Fire Emblem]]'': ''Path of Radiance''. Unusual in that he was only distantly related to the previous king; ''a lot'' of people had to die for him to take the throne.

** ''Radiant Dawn'' explicitly shows him cutting down the king, although that was to break the curse Ashnard setup to kill everyone else before it killed him.

** {{spoiler|Continuing the tradition, Ashnard's long-lost son (who would probably be just as evil himself were it not for the [[Morality Pet]] and [[Victorious Childhood Friend]] aspect) has a direct hand in his defeat and death at the end of the game. Averted in that said son was part of the Good Guys and had no knowledge of being a part of a royal lineage at all.}}

{{quote| '''King''': What are you doing, son?<br />

'''Arthas''': [[Face Heel Turn|Succeeding you,]] [[Self-Made Orphan|father]]. }}

** In an interesting variation, ''none'' of those accidents hit his actual competitor for the throne; rather, they hit the ones responsible for deciding between the two.

*** If you lead Archibald to victory, he also has Roland imprisoned for life rather than killing him. [[Even Evil Has Standards|It would seem he stops short of actual fratricide]].

* Bhelen of ''[[Dragon Age]]: Origins'' arranges to have his older brother Trian killed and his other sibling (the PC, if they've chosen the Dwarf Noble Origin) blamed for the murder and exiled to the Deep Roads. He is also implied to have poisoned his father, blackmails half of the nobles into choosing him, uses false evidence to discredit his opponent (who was his father's choice for heir), and attempts to launch a coup if his bid for the throne fails. {{spoiler|Interestingly, picking him as king is better for the dwarves in the short run as Bhelen imposes social reforms and opens Orzammar to human trade, which with some help from Ferelden leads to the darkspawn being pushed far back and several lost Thaigs recovered. He eventually dissolves the [[Deadly Decadent Court]] altogether and rules as a tyrant with support from the lower classes.}}

* Morgeilen {{spoiler|aka The Father}} from the [[King's Quest II]] [[Fan Remake]].

 

== Webcomics ==

* Thief in 8BitTheater is an inversion of this, he's evil, and he's a prince, but [[Even Evil Has Loved Ones|totally loyal to his father]], it's just the rest of the world he's prepared to screw over for pocket change

* Averted with Kyo in [[Evil Not Worth It]], although Kelli fits this trope to a T.

 

 

== Web Original ==

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* In the [[Disney Animated Canon]]:

** Scar from ''[[Disney Animated Canon|The Lion King]]'' kills his brother and tries to kill his nephew.

* [[Prince Charming]] from the ''[[Shrek]]'' movies is intended more as a parody of the traditional [[Knight in Shining Armor|fairy tale good prince]], but fits this role very well in ''Shrek the Third''.

** Played straight with the current Fire Lord, Ozai, who killed his father {{spoiler|(or had his wife kill him)}} and then usurped his older brother Iroh as heir. However, also ''averted'', in that Ozai's daughter Princess Azula, is not only one of few Evil Princesses, she consistently proves herself [[Daddy's Girl|loyal to her father]] at significant risk to her life and cheerfully passes up golden opportunities to usurp him. Whether she was acting out of actual affection, habitual/conditioned obedience, or simple disinterest in taking the throne herself ''yet'' is a matter of debate among fans.

*** At show's end, it is plain that Azula loves her father as much as her screwed-up mind is capable of loving anyone. Not only that, {{spoiler|she gets the one reward every [[Bastard Understudy]] wants, the crown. She ''was'' to be crowned Fire Lord Azula, until Zuko came back to dish out some destiny-cooked justice on her}}. She could have had it all if her best friends betraying her didn't [[Villainous Breakdown|seriously shake her]]. However, {{spoiler|the title and position of Fire Lord was summarily reduced to something between a hollow gesture and a bad joke by her father assuming the position of [[A God Am I|Phoenix King]] and going forth to [[Moral Event Horizon|remove the Earth Kingdom from the map]]}} and Azula knew it.