This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Working Title: Pulling Your Royal Weight: From YKTTW
Kilyle: I feel like, for balance, there should be a line here about why royalty shouldn't be on The Front Lines. I mean, my dad starts lecturing the TV whenever Kirk goes down with the landing party, and I've heard enough of these lectures to understand the concept: In time of crisis, the leader needs to be leading, not cannon fodder. (That it works differently in dramatic environments is no excuse to go putting the one non-expendable crew member in harm's way needlessly.)
Dragon Quest Z: The thing is that it seems like cowardice for the kings and princes and Stay in the Kitchen for the queens and princesses. Chalk it up to Reality Is Unrealistic.
rsm109(-2): Another thing worth considering is the question of whether the morale boost of having the king fight alongside the troops is worth risking the consequences of what might happen back home if he's killed, especially if there's a dispute over succession. It's safe to say that if the king is out fighting battles then it's by definition not a very good time for that kind of upheaval to happen. I'm sure that exact scenario has been played out in fiction and probably in Real Life a few times.
Ouroboros: I changed the image to something more dynamic, the other picture just didn't seem to illustrate the trope very well.
Dragon Quest Z: And I changed it back. Not that a more dynamic picture wouldn't do better, but that isn't dynamic either, and holding the orc head like that says "psycho royalty", not active royalty.
Ouroboros: There's little that says the other image was royalty at all, let alone active. Who is she? What does she do? What is she from? With the other picture you know immediately he's 1 Royalty, 2 Active. the other image doesn't illustrate this, in any way.
Dragon Quest Z: You don't know that, and holding an orc head does not say he's doing something. It just shows he can hold a severed head.
Ouroboros: And she's just standing there in a white dress. she is neither looking authoritative, royal, or active. Do you have eyes? It's clearly a better representation of the trope.
Dragon Quest Z: A puffy turban does not signify royalty, at least not in the conventional sense. And holding a head doesn't signify he did anything. The head could be handed to him. There can be better pictures, but he's just standing there. Do no tell me that is clearly better.
Ouroboros: I'll say it again, it is a better picture. He isn't wearing a turban, he's wearing full plate mail and a crown, did you even look at that picture or just take a glance? And you've yet to convince me why that picture should stay. does this trope even need a picture? I say it shouldn't have one, if they only one you keep insisting on putting up is the crap one of the wan girl in the white dress.
Dragon Quest Z: Honestly, it's the severed head more than anything. Aside from being gross in a way that distracts from this trope, it doesn't show him doing anything but standing around, and the head could have just been handed to him. There's nothing that shows he took the head himself. Now I'll search for something that actually does show an action, not just standing around.
EDIT: I just thought of a good one. Give me some time to get my DVDs.
EDIT EDIT: Okay, the shot of Theoden leading the Riders of Rohan seemed to be doing something.
Ouroboros: That's a damn good picture, we're in agreement.
