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Unexpected Successor: Difference between revisions
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During the State of the Union, the President usually sends a member of his Cabinet far away in case the Capitol gets blown up, as the "designated survivor." Usually this is someone who no one would notice actually showing up, like the Secretary of Agriculture. When the Capitol ''is'' blown up, the Secretary of Agriculture must go from teaching farmers how to grow peanuts to running a country. [[Hilarity Ensues]].
See also [[Twenty-Fifth Amendment]]. [[Super-Trope]] of [[Spare to
{{examples}}
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* Friedrich IV, [[The Emperor]] in ''[[Legend of Galactic Heroes]]'', was fourth in line to the Imperial Throne, with the three front of him both much better politicians and much more ambitious. Friedrich, believing that he'd never get anywhere near the throne, spent his youth being a wastrel and a careless hedonist until events in the [[Deadly Decadent Court]] made all prior claimants unsuitable. Even as Emperor, his lack of preparation or even desire for the throne colours much of ruling decisions.
* {{spoiler|Natsue Hatamoto}} from [[Detective Conan]]. Sure, {{spoiler|her [[Disappeared Dad]] was the eldest son of the Hatamoto family}}, but it was expected that {{spoiler|the second son/Natsue's uncle Jouji}} or {{spoiler|her uncle Kitarou (as the eldest daughter/Natsue's aunt Mariko's husband)}} would get the family riches, or even {{spoiler|her older sister Akie}}...
* {{spoiler|Eva Ushiromiya}} in ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro
** Kinzo Ushiromiya himself is one of these too.
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== [[Comic Books]] ==
* The graphic novel ''Give Me Liberty'' by Frank Miller. After the death or incapacitation of everyone higher up in the line of succession, the Secretary of Agriculture, Howard Nissen, assumes the presidency.
* Margaret Valentine in ''[[Y:
* In ''[[V for Vendetta]]'', following massive social upheaval, the monarch of Great Britain is "Queen Zara." Zara Phillips is currently thirteenth in line for the Crown (although when the comic was written, she was only sixth).
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** Also, Johnny English himself only gets promoted to field agent because every single other field agent gets killed.
* In ''Stardust'', after the king dies, his sons kill each other so the remaining one can take the throne. They all end up dead, but Tristan's mother reveals that she is the king's only daughter, meaning that Tristan is the only surviving male heir and thus, the new king.
* This is the fuel that drives the plot of Mr. Deeds (and by that virtue [[Mr. Deeds Goes to Town]]). Upon the untimely [[Family-Unfriendly Death|freezing-at-the-top-of-Everest]] of Preston Blake, the entirety of Blake Media and its [[
* Michael Corleone was [[Unexpected Successor]] to the Corleone clan in [[
* Used as a one-off joke/[[Take That]] at the end of ''[[My Fellow Americans]]''. {{spoiler|Because they were corrupt and caught,}} The President and Vice President both resign. Former Presidents Kramer and Douglas (the protagonists) realize that that means the Speaker of the House is next in line, and Douglas remarks "Oh no, not '''him!'''". At the time of filming, the speaker was Newt Gingrich.
* ''[[Kull The Conqueror]]'' starts with the eponymous barbarian (played by [[Kevin Sorbo]]) being denied in joining the king's army, as all of them are noble-born. Then the king goes berserk and murders most of his successors before being mortally wounded by Kull. While the captain of the guard and a nobleman bicker over who should claim the crown, the king decides that all three should be punished and gives the crown to Kull before dying (believing that Kull will hate being king). The priesthood approves, and, suddenly, the captain of the guard must bow down before a barbarian he has just rejected from the army.
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* <s>Ermintrude</s>Daphne from ''[[Nation]]'' by [[Terry Pratchett]] spends her childhood being told by her grandmother that she needs to learn how to behave like a lady; if 138 people die, her father will become King of Great Britain and Ireland. One outbreak of Russian Influenza later...
** When the Gentlemen of Last Resort come with the news that her father is now king, she asks nervously if her grandmother had done anything...silly.
* In the novel ''[[
* Also briefly mentioned in Gaiman's story, "We Can Get Them For You Wholesale".
* ''Deep Six'' by Clive Cussler. The Secretary of State becomes the Acting President.
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* ''Trinity's Child'' by William Prochnau. As the result of a nuclear attack on the U.S., the Secretary of the Interior assumes the Presidency. Later, the President is found to still be alive, and a power struggle ensues.
* ''Warday'' by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka. After a nuclear attack, the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury (the highest ranking remaining official) becomes President.
* ''[[Worldwar
** This is several years after Washington, D.C., is nuked by the [[Lizard Folk|Race]] near the start of the [[Alien Invasion|invasion]], eliminating much of the succession line, including the VP.
** A sort-of case in the ''Colonization'' series, taking place 20 years after ''Worldwar'' with Vyacheslav Molotov, who is the leader of the Soviet Union after Stalin's death. In [[Real Life]], Molotov never wanted to lead the country, although he was temporarily a member of a triumvirate. Additionally, Heinrich Himmler is the new führer of the Greater German Reich after Hitler's death, although that is not unexpected.
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** Daenerys Targaryen has taken to calling herself "The Queen Across the Water", and has assumed the mantle of the Targaryen heir apparent in exile after her older brothers and nephew are each killed before they could assume the throne from their father/grandfather, King Ayres Targaryen II. As Dany hasn't reclaimed the realm of Westeros yet (the possibility of it even happening is still very much in doubt) she's more of an [[Unexpected Successor]]-in waiting.
*** In ''A Dance with Dragons'', we learn that {{spoiler|her nephew, Aegon Targaryen, actually survived and has been living in hiding, which makes ''him'' first in line for the Targaryen succession, as the eldest male descent of the last Targaryen king. This all only makes Dany ''even more'' unexpected.}}
* In ''[[I, Claudius]]'', Caligula is dead, and some of the conspirators who killed him are killing every member of Caligula's family they can find. The last thing they expect is the Praetorian Guard to declare Caligula's harmless uncle Claudius emperor.
* Prince Roger of the ''[[Prince Roger]]'' series is behind two siblings and his brother's kids in line for the throne. Then while he's marooned on a backwards planet {{spoiler|all of them except his mother are assassinated and she's raped both physically and [[Mind Rape|mentally]] until she can't carry out the business of government.}} By the end of the series, he takes the throne.
* The Balitang family in Tamora Pierce's ''[[Tortall Universe|Daughter of the Lioness]]'' books- the line of succession in the Copper Isles goes as follows (based on the beginning of ''Trickster's Choice''): Oron, Hazarin, Dunevon, Mequen Balitang. When {{spoiler|Oron dies from old age and Hazarin becomes king,}} the fact that Mequen's in line to the throne becomes a lot more important. When {{spoiler|Hazarin dies and Mequen is murdered, his (toddler) son Elsren becomes next in line to the throne. Things go downhill from there.}}
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** In the prequel ''Polgara the Sorceress'', the whole hidden Rivan line of succession Polgara spends half her life protecting flows from a youngest grandson, the sole survivor of a slaughtered royal family. Subverted in that he doesn't actually get to rule; they need to hide him and his descendants.
* ''Inferno'' by Roger [[Mac Bride]] Allen. Political wags had joked that nobody would assassinate the governor of the planet, Chanto Grieg, because the designated successor to the office was widely expected to be the equivalent of the Speaker of the House in the USA: President of the Legislative Council Shelabas Quellam, a man widely known to be good-natured but completely ill-suited to the office of Governor were he to ascend to the office. But Governor Chanto Grieg of the planet Inferno is indeed assassinated. Imagine the look of surprise on everybody's face when Chanto Grieg's will is officially read by his lawyer. The next Governor of Inferno is actually {{spoiler|Sheriff Alvar Kresh}}. Suffice it to say that Grieg knew what he was doing.
* In ''[[
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* King Airyglyph in ''[[Star Ocean Till the End of Time]]'', who was known as Airyglyph the Unlikely.
* Ashnard in ''[[Fire Emblem]]: Path of Radiance'' killed his father and everyone who was ahead of him in order to get the throne of Daein, starting from fairly far down the line of succession. The sequel claims he killed everyone else of by {{spoiler|making his father sign a blood contract, then invoking it, everyone but his father died randomly in what people thought was a plague}}. This is unpopular among the fanbase as it seems to have been thrown in there to demonstrate the power of the {{spoiler|blood contract}} (which was never mentioned in the first game), and takes away from Ashnard's personality of loving to kill people firsthand.
* In ''[[Betrayal
* GDI Director Redmond Boyle in ''[[Command and Conquer]] 3'' was originally the the GDI Treasurer, and was the only ranking member of GDI government not on the ''Philadelphia'' when it was destroyed. However, it is revealed in the [[Expansion Pack]] that Kane purposely manipulated events so that Boyle would become Director.
* This can happen to the player in ''Shogun: [[Total War]]'', and possibly its sequels. Because of the way that births of heirs, aging, and succession are modelled, if you fail to manage your family properly, odd stuff can happen. Only the player's current character can die of old age or sire children, and the chance is random on any turn with penalties for age. For instance, the 90-year-old uncle of the current Daimyo, immune to age since he's not the head of the family, could be the only one left if the Daimyo's sons all die in battle or assassinations. He succeeds the throne when his 60-some year old nephew dies, and then himself dies the next turn on a random old-age roll buoyed up by 30 years of penalties, ending the game.
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* [[The Elder Scrolls Four|The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion]] has a good example of this; [[The Emperor]] [[Patrick Stewart|Uriel Septim]] was assassinated, along with all four of his sons. However, he has an unknown illegitimate son - Martin Septim - who becomes Emperor after you deliver the [[Requisite Royal Regalia]]... and then [[Escort Mission|deliver Martin]]. Though {{spoiler|he has to make a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] before he is formally declared Emperor by lighting the Dragonfires, leaving the throne empty.}}
* The player character in the ''[[Mechwarrior]]'' reboot is fourth in line of succession for his family, the planetary rulers, and ends up becoming a lazy, party-loving [[Jerkass]] as a result. Then the rest of his family is assassinated and he suddenly finds himself in the front lines...
* Happens twice in the same country in ''[[
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Used as a gag in the ''[[
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'':
** Azula becomes very briefly Fire Lord in the end of Season Three (though the coronation gets interrupted just before she's actually crowned). As far as we are given to understand their succession scheme, she is the lowest in the entire line of Sozin: the youngest ''and'' a girl, though since she's also the only girl born into the family in the period we see we don't find out how much that impacts her eligibility. It doesn't seem and isn't treated as odd because she was the only one left anyway. But ten years earlier? The succession evidently ran Azulon --> Iroh --> Lu Ten --> Ozai --> Zuko --> Azula. Sixth and last in line. After this we have to go to pretty distant cousins who never appear, given Sozin and Azulon were apparently only children.
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