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Cincinnatus: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote| Kahless said: "Great men do not seek power, they have power thrust upon them."<br />
[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]], ''Tacking into the Wind'' }}
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Subtrope of [[Reluctant Ruler]].
Of course Cincinnatus has to be extremely careful that he doesn't end up as [[Titus Andronicus (
Compare [[The Last DJ]] (the character has the same integrity but often far less power or freedom).
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* Tylor in ''[[Irresponsible Captain Tylor]]'' is given full control of Earth's fleet at one point, but {{spoiler|he doesn't even use it to fight the battle he's ''supposed'' to fight.}}
* In ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'', {{spoiler|after Yuusuke inherits one-third of the Makai from his ancestor Raizen, the first thing he does is talk the other two world leaders into agreeing to a tournament-style election system to replace the warring monarchies. He participates because he's required to, does not win, and promptly goes home to his girlfriend.}}
* Lelouch vi Britannia from ''[[Code Geass]]'', in a way. Soon after he {{spoiler|[[Take Over the World|conquered the entire world]], he organized his own [[Suicide
* Lord Gekkei from [[The Twelve Kingdoms]] leads the revolts against the [[Knight Templar]] King of Hou, but doesn't take over as temporary ruler until the ''kirin'' of Hou is reborn and then able to choose a new king. The noblemen have to insist a ''lot'' to convince him to start re-organizing the ravished lands as de-facto ruler.
* Roy Mustang of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' plans to take this to an extreme: he wants to become Fuhrer of Amestris in order to restore power to the civilian Parliament, after which he intends to step down ''and put himself on trial for war crimes''.
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== Comics ==
* [[Superman]]. He's arguably the single most powerful man on Earth, and in various alternate universes (and on [[Superman:
** Batman once noted, "It is a remarkable dichotomy. In many ways, Clark is the most human of us all. Then he shoots fire from the skies, and it is difficult not to think of him as a god... and how fortunate we all are that it does not occur to ''him''."
== Film ==
* Maximus in ''[[Gladiator (
* [[Lampshaded]] in ''[[The Dark Knight]]'', where Harvey Dent explicitly compares Batman to the Roman dictators and instantly gets called out by Rachel, who says that such a system led to Julius Caesar and the death of anything resembling representative government in Rome.
** Then the creators [[Did Not Do the Research]]. Cincinnatus and those after him were elected dictators; they were just extremely powerful officials with fixed terms of office. Sulla and Caesar appointed themselves dictators; they weren't elected to the position. Comparing those situations is like comparing somebody who's elected President to somebody who appoints himself President without being elected.
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== Literature ==
* In [[Lois McMaster Bujold]]'s [[Vorkosigan Saga]] series, Aral Vorkosigan was appointed regent for the child emperor, and a lot of people expected him to appoint himself emperor at some point. Instead, he ceded power to the emperor when he came of age and even donated a small fortune out of his own pocket to charity, so he'd leave the position of regent with the same level as wealth as he had when he was appointed. He did subsequently become Prime Minister rather than just going home, but not to keep power, only in order to have something to do (because retirement and Aral Vorkosigan Do Not Mix).
* In the [[
** He's also Chief of Naval Operations. He's noble, not an idiot. Being both the civilian and military head of the Navy means he can make sure there isn't another coup.
* Mildly subverted in ''[[War and Peace]]'', in that the Russian emperor Alexander ''did not want'' Kutuzov to become Field Marshal during Napoleon's invasion, and many aristocrats in his court maneuvered behind Kutuzov's back to have him ousted after the danger was past. Kutuzov just liked to read novels though.
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== [[Live Action Television]] ==
* In ''[[
* Mark Anthony promised to follow the example of Cincinnatus when his term as Consul ended in [[Rome]], while negotiating with Caesar's killers to preserve all their titles (and legitimizing Ceasar's will as not that of a tyrant). Unsurprisingly he never planned or had to abide by it after a certain famous speech at Caesar's funeral changed the political landscape to his favour.
* In the season 4 finale of ''[[The West Wing]]'', {{spoiler|Zoey, President Bartlet's youngest daughter, is kidnapped.}} In response, the President acknowledges that he has to step down for the good of the nation. {{spoiler|However, they've just lost their Vice President to a sex scandal, so they have to hand over power to House Speaker Glenallen Walken, a die-hard political opponent.}} And it's held true to form, as {{spoiler|Glenallen and his staff do absolutely nothing non-essential with their power, basically leading the country long enough to find Zoey and then giving it back.}} And of course, {{spoiler|he was rewarded for his patriotism by losing his job as Speaker, too, since he had to resign before he became President.}}
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== [[Web Original]] ==
* In ''[[
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[WITCH (
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