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Tyrant Takes the Helm: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
Did your new leader start off their reign by making a speech that included phrases such as [[New Era Speech|"there will be many changes around here"]] or "things will be very different under my command"? If so, then you're in a situation where a [[Tyrant Takes
This is a plot trope relating to a [[Story Arc]] where a character snags a major leadership position of the series, becomes [[Drunk with Power]], and decides that from here on out, things will be run ''their'' way whether you like it or not. The person regularly filling this position, often a [[Reasonable Authority Figure]], will likely be absent during this time (and this new replacement may have had something to do with that.) As would be expected of a tyrannical ruler, expect them to immediately start making "changes" and becoming an instant despot. Common changes made include the elimination of [[Ultimate Job Security]] and the decree that [[All Crimes Are Equal]]. In most cases, the main heroes will have to confront this new ruler and attempt to change things back to normal.
The kind that insists on newly implemented or previously uninforced rules being followed will often be undone by being caught in their own regulations and learning [[Nobody Is Above the Law]]. A common subversion of this trope is the [[Bait and Switch Tyrant]], which occurs when a character who originally appeared to be a new tyrant later turns out to not be that bad after all, and the story reflects that the characters have come to accept the new rules.
Remember, this isn't a trope for describing characters who become tyrants, but for describing a plot point of when (and possibly how) a character takes over for someone else and institutes new rules that are generally disliked by the majority of those affected.
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{{Unmarked Spoilers}}
▲{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Angel Beats!]]'' toys with the trope - Angel is originally viewed as a villainous [[Emotionless Girl]] created by "God" to sabotage the SSS in her capacity as "Student Council President", but {{spoiler|is actually not so different from them}}. Later, when Angel herself falls victim to the SSS' schemes, she {{spoiler|gets fired and is replaced by her deputy who}} becomes a God complex authoritarian, fitting the trope. Later when she is {{spoiler|"promoted" back to her regular position}}, she attempts to play the Tyran to the SSS once more {{spoiler|to buy time for her and Otonashi's [[Batman Gambit]] of making other students disappear}}.
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** In a way its more or less Karma catching up to the girls for mistreating Keitaro (despite the fact that they all eventually got along.)
* ''[[.hack|.hack//Legend Of the Twilight]]'' had the Cerulean Knights taking over after Balmug is fired from System Administration. They ruthlessly hunt down gamers even remotely accused of hacking or of minor offenses (changing the color of the avatar's clothes etc)
* One episode of ''[[Keroro Gunsou]]'' has Tamama being promoted to squad leader, and quickly going mad with power. He ends up [[Lonely
* Averted on [[Naruto]]. When Danzo {{spoiler|is appointed acting Hokage after the Pain's Invasion Arc, he consciously avoids making decisions that would make him unpopular with the populace.}}
* Gouda, the [[Big Bad]] of the second season of ''[[Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex]]'' is a pretty good example of this, coming in and working to undermine Section 9 and turn them into his lackeys.
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* In ''[[Heavyweights]]'', Camp Hope is taken over by Tony Perkus, a fitness fanatic who systematically removes everything fun about the camp and runs the campers ragged with unreasonably harsh exercise programs.
* The plot of the ''[[Dead Like Me]]'' movie is initially driven by the disappearance of Rube in a mysterious fire and the arrival of his shady [[Smug Snake]] replacement who encourages the Reapers to feel free to abuse their powers and cut corners on the job. A bit of a subversion in this case as the hard-nosed by-the-book leader is replaced with a much more laid back one, but it ends up playing out much the same as the Reapers begin to realize the consequences of their irresponsibility (both for themselves and the people around them).
* In the ''[[Richie Rich (comics)|Richie Rich]]'' film, Laurence Van Dough arranges for Richie's parents to be killed so he can take over their estate. He's temporarily foiled by Richie taking over with Cadbury as his proxy, but then frames Cadbury for the Rich's murder. Don't worry, the Riches got better.
* This is pretty much what the Emperor does in ''[[Star Wars]]''. He claims that the current chancellor is unable to handle the crisis at hand and becomes his replacement. He then starts to restructure the Republic into an Empire, for the good of the people and peace in the galaxy. The important difference is that he was the one who created the crisis in the first place.
== Literature ==
* Dolores Umbridge of ''[[Harry Potter and
** She doesn't even try to ''fire'' Hagrid. She tries to ''subdue him as if he were a wild beast'', using a team of Stunners. [[Politically-Incorrect Villain|She treats any "filthy half-breed" like a stupider, lesser being]]. {{spoiler|This proves to be her ''big'' mistake}}.
* When Saruman and Lotho take charge in the "Scouring of the Shire" chapter of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.
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* One of these is basically the major plot motivator in ''[[The Caine Mutiny]]''
* This happens when Prince John usurps [[Richard the Lion Heart|King Richard]]'s throne in many versions of the ''[[Robin Hood]]'' story.
* During the events of Terry Pratchett's ''[[
* In Douglas Coupland's ''[[JPod]]'', this happens twice, although neither of the tyrants is particularly evil. The first one is Steve, who takes over as head of marketing, and promptly attempts to get a cute turtle inserted into the skateboarding game they're designing. He's later {{spoiler|vanished by the Chinese mafia}}, and replaced by Alastair, who turns the game into an edutainment title about a prince and a flying carpet. He frustrates the characters so much that they {{spoiler|find and rescue Steve.}}
* In the third book of the ''[[Septimus Heap]]'' series, Queen Etheldredda the Awful attempts to pull this. She's a ghost, so her ability to do things is somewhat... limited, but she attempts to influence the Princess and her family to various effect. {{spoiler|Those she doesn't like get infected with a dangerous disease via her ugly pet.}}
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* This was part of Baron Harkonnen's plan for ''[[Dune]]'': first have his evil mentat Piter de Vries take control of Arrakis and squeeze every ounce of worth and water out of the people, then have his nephew Feyd swoop in as a big damn hero and win everyone's love and affection. Alas, Piter came down with a bad case of death before he could be put in charge, so the Baron sent his other nephew, the Beast Rabban.
* The plot of ''Gay from China at the [[Chalet School]]'' revolves around this trope. When Miss Bubb, the tyrant in question, takes over as temporary headmistress after Miss Wilson, Miss Annersley and others are injured in a car crash, her fixation on exam results and crackdowns on the girls' free time and privileges makes her very unpopular, to the point where Joey writes a letter begging Miss Wilson to come back. Things comes to a head when she forbids Gay Lambert - who has broken rules on more than one occasion - to see her older brother before he is stationed in Asia, which leads to Gay running away and culminates in Miss Bubb having to resign, to everyone's relief.
* Principal Bottoms from ''[[Diary of a Wimpy Kid|Diary of a Wimpy Kid: No-Brainer]]'' makes changes such as firing the janitors and even ''canceling the school’s contract with the exterminator''. It gets so bad that {{spoiler|''the state has to close down the school''}}.
== Live-Action TV ==
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* The ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' episode "Chain Reaction" is a typical Tyrant Takes The Helm episode. The beloved leader of the SGC, General Hammond, is blackmailed into retiring and is replaced by a General Bauer. Bauer proceeds to break up SG-1, dedicate all the SGC's resources to building a big bomb and privately delivers the "things will be different around here" speech to O'Neill. O'Neill then sets out to get Hammond back and he is, of course, successful by the end of the episode.
** Bauer also screwed up so badly in the episode ({{spoiler|blowing up an uninhabited planet which very nearly meant irradiating the ''entire state''}}) that he probably would have resigned even if Hammond hadn't returned.
* In ''[[
** Likewise with Charles and Hawkeye, although to be fair Hawkeye was faced with a nearly-impossible situation (most of the surgeons gone or incapacitated and a huge influx of casualties). Still, he managed to alienate everyone in camp almost as badly as Burns ever had until Potter returned and smoothed things over.
** Colonel Potter, by contrast, was something of a [[Bait and Switch Tyrant]].
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* ''[[Crossing Jordan]]'' had multiple instances, one with Dr. Jack Slocum and another with Special Prosecutor William Ivers. The latter somewhat redeems himself in a later episode.
* Private Frazer in ''[[Dad's Army|Dads Army]]'' yearns to do this, angling for increased power and responsibility at every opportunity. Ironically, the one time he was temporarily put in charge he proved himself a much more effective leader than Captain Mainwaring. However, in following with the trope, the [[Drunk with Power|power goes to his head]] enough and he becomes enough of a bullying tyrant so that when the positions are returned to normal, no one really minds.
* A curious example appears in ''[[Life On Mars]]'' in the form of DCI Frank Morgan, who temporarily replaces Gene Hunt when the latter is accused of murder. Contrary to the usual Tyrant, Morgan
* Matt Webber in the ''[[MacGyver]]'' episode "Early Retirement".
* Erin Strauss on ''[[Criminal Minds]]''. Though, to be fair, multiple times in the show she seems to come off as ''right'', or even actively trying to help the team. She tries to remove Hotch from his position as Unit Chief (and Hotch later says to Prentiss that, if Prentiss had told Strauss some of the things the team has done, he ''would'' have gotten fired), but later on tells former agent newly joining the team David Rossi that the team is ''Hotch's''. And, instead of finding a way to get rid of Hotch after {{spoiler|he beats George Foyet to death}}, she feeds the team and Hotch lines to ensure that all testimony makes it obvious that Hotch had no choice.
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* Two examples from ''[[Foyle's War]]'':
** The first takes over when Foyle is suspended under suspicion of having committed sedition; he initially seems like a [[Bait and Switch Tyrant]], if a bit of a strict one {{spoiler|until it's revealed that he framed Foyle for sedition on order to get his job, so that he could murder a junior civil servant hiding out in a 'funk hole' hotel nearby whose incompetence he blames for the deaths of his mother and sister in an air-raid}}.
** The second takes over when Foyle resigns, and is disliked by everyone because he seems disinterested and incompetent at the
* "Fixer" Eva Thorne on ''[[Eureka]]'' seems to be a Tyrant so far. Especially with all the [[Enforced Plug]] [[Product Placement]] she's brought in.
** Her role is changed to a more likable one when her past ({{spoiler|and age}}) is revealed.
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** Something of a subversion, too, since he rescued [[The Captain|Picard]] and [[Out-Gambitted]] the Cardassians (a race that has [[Magnificent Bastard]] as [[Planet of Hats|their hat]]). Picard even said he'd be keeping a lot of Jellico's changes.
* An episode of ''[[The Suite Life of Zack and Cody]]'' had Mr. Mosbey fired and replaced by a Tyrant. It was all back to normal by the end of the episode.
* Admiral Cain from [[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|the remade ''
* In ''[[The Wire]]'' Lt. Marimo does this in the fourth season. In a bit of genre-savviness, the bosses who sent him to the unit did so specifically to disrupt the unit, not because they believed he would be a good boss.
* In ''[[Porridge]]'' (episode ''Disturbing the Peace''), Mackay is sent away, only to be replaced by the sadistic Napper Wainwright.
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'''Adele:''' And how am I supposed to do that?
'''Boyd:''' ...The Adele I knew would never ask me that question. }}
** Of course, given [[The
* The secretary Miss Harbottle from ''[[All Creatures Great and Small]]''. She rules the accounts with an iron fist and equates taking money from the cashbox to pay for petty expenses with [[All Crimes Are Equal|embezzlement]]. No wonder she didn't last long.
* Roger Gaffney in ''
* Steve Fleming in ''[[The Thick of It]]''. At first his colleagues are happy to see the back of [[Magnificent Bastard|Malcolm Tucker]] but when they realize how creepy, charmless and bad-tempered his replacement is they decide [[We Want Our Jerk Back|they want their jerk to come back]] from his [[Ten-Minute Retirement]].
* Arguably, Keith Mars when he {{spoiler|regains the position of sheriff}} in ''[[Veronica Mars]]''. While generally a good guy, his {{spoiler|response to underage drinking was way out of proportion to the actual problem}}.
* Mr Howard and Ms. Briggs from ''[[iCarly]]'' turn the school into something out of [[Nineteen Eighty-Four
* This trope could almost be called The Snyder, after Armin Shimerman's role on ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. Snyder replaced Principal Flutie after Flutie was eaten by students possessed by hyenas. While he openly despised pretty much all teenagers, he targeted Buffy and the Scoobie Gang; it was theorized in Season Two that he was working for Mayor Wilkins, but by Season Three [[Aborted Arc|he turned out to be as much in the dark]] [[Weirdness Censor|as the rest of the adult population of Sunnydale]].
* In the ''[[Midsomer Murders]]'' episode "Picture of Innocence
* On ''[[NYPD Blue]]'', the first time Lt. Fancy leaves, his replacement definitely fits the trope. Fancy sees what's going on, and arranges to get her removed and comes back. Subverted when he leaves
* While DCI Jim Keats doesn't outright take leadership of CID, and while he's a lot subtler than your typical Tyrant, his role in ''[[Ashes to Ashes]]'' is that of an authority figure who tries to implement some serious changes, going against the grain and established protocol in an effort to - hopefully - usurp the current leader. {{spoiler|Not only does he fail, he reveals his [[Satan|true nature]]. There have been theories that he's tried to take over before, in the guise of Frank Morgan in ''Life on Mars''.}}
* The replacement Kosh on ''[[Babylon 5]]'', to the point that {{spoiler|Sheridan actually plots his murder.}}
** Also Emperor Cartagia, who turns out to be batshit insane and kills most of his advisers for trivial reasons (and keeps their heads to talk to them). His final plan? To become a god by {{spoiler|letting the Vorlons destroy Centauri Prime}}. The worst part is that Londo helped put him in power, as he and Lord Refa believed they could control him. Boy, did that plan backfire.
* [[I, Claudius|Claudius]] plans to use this gambit by naming Nero his successor; the intent being to let Rome see how dreadful an Emperor can be. Strangely, they all seem to have forgotten how bad things were under Tiberius and Caligula, who preceded Claudius. Once Nero has ruined everything, Claudius's ''true'' chosen successor is to return to reinstate the Republic. [[Foregone Conclusion|Needless to say,]] this does not work out.
* In one episode of [[Even Stevens]], Principal Wexler leaves to pursue a
* An episode of ''[[Primeval]]'' had the imperious Christine Johnson take control of the ARC and force the team into hiding. She was removed from her post by the end of the episode though.
** After the return of Abby and Connor after their 1-year hiatus in the past, they find out that things have changed in the ARC. While James Lester (who is much more caring that he pretends to be) is still formally in charge of day-to-day activities, it's now partly a privately-funded operation with a tycoon named Philip Burton having a lot of say. While he's not exactly a tyrant, he's much more concerned with the anomalies themselves than protecting the people from all the creatures that come through. After he nearly dies thanks to Rex escaping his cage, he orders that all creatures in the ARC be put down, no exceptions. Lester has to blackmail him to reverse the order.
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* In ''[[Power Rangers SPD]]'', Supreme Commander Birdie fires Cruger in one episode due to Cruger's unwillingness to follow Birdie's ideas on strategy. Birdie gets the Rangers, and later ''himself'', into trouble very quickly due to his pride and his "split up the team regardless of circumstances" strategies.
* In one epsiode of ''[[The Slammer]]'', the Governor is arrested and replaced by a new governor, Mr Beltsem. Beltsem is a tyrant who mistreats both the prisoners and the guards, and suffers from 'show biz phobia'.
== Professional Wrestling ==
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== Radio ==
* Remley pulls this ''[[The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show]]'' after he signs his name to Phil's employment contract, but it's played humorously. It doesn't last long:
{{quote|'''Remley:''' From this moment on, I am your leader. You will respect my authority without question and obedience, [[Large Ham|I AM AN ABSOLUTE POWER]]!
'''Band members:''' Heil, Remley! Heil, Remley! Heil, Remley! }}
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* Valtome from ''[[Fire Emblem]]: Radiant Dawn'' was a tyrant of the [[Smug Snake]] variety, and a bit of an odd example given the fact that the old leader was still there; he just was forced to [[Ambiguously Gay|follow Valtome's orders]]. Which included, among other things, sending a significant number of his men into a deathtrap to hunt for corpses. Oh, and [[Moral Event Horizon|sending his personal army to attack Queen Elincia, who had just achieved a ceasefire by willingly disarming herself]].
* In ''[[Fable III]]'', if you're an evil player this is what happens when you usurp your older brother Logan as King. You can be just as bad or even worse of a tyrant than him.
* ''[[
** The point in ''Starcraft'' is not that Mengsk is worse than the government he overthrew, but that he is just as bad: that the only thing changed between the Confederacy and the Dominion was the label. Well, and he has a [[It's Personal|personal grudge against Raynor]].
* His dad was certainly not a charmer, but Rufus Shinra of ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' made it quite clear from his [[New Era Speech]] ('The old man ruled through money, I'll rule through fear') that he was going to be worse. Although {{spoiler|President Shinra destroyed an entire sector of his city, killing untold numbers, just to wipe out a terrorist hideout. Rufus 'died' defending the same city from WEAPON and then resurfaced alive and repentant, if still manipulative, in Advent Children}} ...YourMileageMayVary on whether he was actually worse or not.
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==
* Simon
== Web Original ==
* Played with in the ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' Cheat Commandos toon ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20131030192402/http://www.homestarrunner.com/ccdo7.html 2 Part Episode]''. Admiral Flashfight is unambiguously one of these, but he's actually gotten the [[The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything|Cheat Commandos]] to actually ''do'' something for a change instead of goofing around and [[Go-Karting with Bowser|playing video games with Blue Laser]].
* ''[[A Very Potter Musical|A Very Potter Sequel]]'' has [[Alternate Character Interpretation|a rather different take]] on Dolores Umbridge, involving a couple [[Freudian Excuse
* Maggie from ''[[Chad Vader]]''.
* Simmons from ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'' tries to implement discipline exercises to reinforce his new position of power in Red army when he replaces Sarge. The Red army doesn't respect Simmons enough for this to work, however, and the group as a whole soon works towards getting Sarge back (including Simmons).
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* ''[[The Legend of Korra]]''
** In Season 1, {{spoiler|Tarrlok}} becomes this after ascending to de facto ruler of Republic City. His first action is to impose [[Fascists' Bed Time|harsh curfew measures]] on {{spoiler|non-benders, then cuts off their power to force them outside so he can arrest them.}}
** Season 3's [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"|Earth Queen]] certainly was a tyrant in her own right, but after she stepped down due to {{spoiler|a case of death at the hands of Zaheer}}, Season 4 saw
== Real Life ==
* The earliest real-life tyrant (of Greco-Roman usage) was far different from the usual meaning. It did not specifically imply anything other than the tyrant's rise to power was unconventional. Their morality and application of said power could be bad, good, and in between. The negative connontation came from how the bad examples overshadowed the good and led to it's current status as a negative term.
* One of Niccolò Machiavelli's most famous pieces of advice from ''[[The Prince]]'' was to have a Tyrant Take The Helm in a rebellious territory. The tyrant will crush resistance at the cost of arousing public hatred. Then, when you come in and order the tyrant's beheading, you're left with a pacified province of people who consider themselves indebted to you for eliminating the tyrant.
* Many revolutions and coups throughout history have caused tyrants to come to power.
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