History Main / JusttheFirstCitizen

This is a variation of TheEmperor. He's a dictator who controls half the universe with an iron fist. No one dares to oppose him. He can order a planet destroyed and no one will so much as try to object. You will probably expect [[TheMagnificent his title]] to be three pages of BadassBoast. But no. It is short, simple, of no power of its own. But HE gives it power!

* Lorenzo de Medici in ''TheAgonyAndTheEctasy'', as he was in RealLife.

* First Citizen Lynne of Vault City in ''FallOut 2''.

*** [[MemeticMutation It definitely cannot now.]]

* The Mule, from the ''{{Foundation}}'' Series by IsaacAsimov. Controlled half the Galaxy, he was feared, respected, ruler such as not seen for centuries before or after... Yet what was his title? The First Citizen, and nothing more (partly because of his inferiority complex). At least two others claimed the title after the Mule's death, but they were pissants.

** In later books, the highest title, which commanded the most respect, was simply "The Mayor of Terminus". It remained from the times when the Foundation was but a single city, and persisted at least into the times of the Foundation ruling a third of the Milky Way.
** While the head of the Second Foundation is "First Speaker", which is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a literal job-description]]: He gets to talk first at meetings.

* In 1653 the English Parliament offered Oliver Cromwell the crown and, after two weeks of deliberation, he turned it down and instead accepted a republican office with equivalent powers - Lord Protector.

[[AC:{{Real Life}}]]

* Speaking of "emperor," the original title (''imperator'') simply meant "commander" or "general."
* In the Roman Republic, "Dictator" was an actual constitutional office -- but one ordinarily left vacant. After the last king was overthrown, the Roman nobles, jealous and suspicious of each other, always feared one would make himself a de facto king, so they built a lot of checks and balances into the system -- e.g., all magistracies with imperium (a combination of executive and judicial power) were collegial; there were always two consuls, chief magistrates, and they served a one-year term and held power in alternating months. Tribunes of the Plebs, ten of them, each had the power to veto any executive action of any kind. But, if there were a serious military emergency, the Senate would elect a dictator, a sole executive with supreme authority, who could pull all the organs of the ramshackle Republican government in the same direction for the duration. A dictator was not subject to tribunician veto and, unlike other magistrates, was immune to prosecution for his acts in office after stepping down; but his power was limited by time -- a dictatorship could last only six months. The office was designed strictly to deal with foreign military threats; but, in the late Republic, after Lucius Cornelius Sulla defeated Gaius Marius in a civil war, he had himself made dictator -- the first in 120 years -- in absence of foreign threat, for the purpose of revising Rome's constitution to his liking. Later, after Julius Caesar defeated Pompey, he had the Senate make him "Dictator Perpetuo," with no time limit. After Caesar was assassinated, Marc Antony had the dictatorship formally abolished. After Octavian defeated Antony, he declined the title -- but, of course, he held the same power as a dictator, for life.\\

* The first Roman Emperors called themselves simply "The First".
** Or, in Latin, "Princeps". Ironically, this is the origin of the modern title "Prince".
** Deriving from the Republican office of "Princeps Senatus," the senior member of the Senate; like a Speaker of the House. He had the power to summon and adjourn the Senate, decide its agenda, etc.
** In fact, the most famous in RealLife example of JustTheFirstCitizen, Augustus, probably inspired the trope.
** Julius Caesar had his share of Roman titles -- consul, imperator, dictator. But plenty of people had held those titles. His real title was simply his name, "Caesar" -- which, as a result, became synonymous with "supreme ruler".
*** "Caesar" is a ''cognomen'', similar to a {{nickname}} but more enduring and considered a valid part of the person's name. "Caesar" has a meaning similar to "Baldy", which is about as unfitting a title as one can get for the ''de facto'' ruler of the Western world.
**** Actually, "Caesar" means "Hairy", which is still a pretty funny name for a man who started going bald in his 20s. However, it was a ''cognomen'' for his branch of the family, not Caesar personally.
** Speaking of "emperor," the original title (''imperator'') simply meant "commander" or "general."
** Interestingly, in the Roman Republic, "Dictator" was an actual constitutional office -- but one ordinarily left vacant. After the last king was overthrown, the Roman nobles, jealous and suspicious of each other, always feared one would make himself a de facto king, so they built a lot of checks and balances into the system -- e.g., all magistracies with imperium (a combination of executive and judicial power) were collegial; there were always two consuls, chief magistrates, and they served a one-year term and held power in alternating months. Tribunes of the Plebs, ten of them, each had the power to veto any executive action of any kind. But, if there were a serious military emergency, the Senate would elect a dictator, a sole executive with supreme authority, who could pull all the organs of the ramshackle Republican government in the same direction for the duration. A dictator was not subject to tribunician veto and, unlike other magistrates, was immune to prosecution for his acts in office after stepping down; but his power was limited by time -- a dictatorship could last only six months. The office was designed strictly to deal with foreign military threats; but, in the late Republic, after Lucius Cornelius Sulla defeated Gaius Marius in a civil war, he had himself made dictator -- the first in 120 years -- in absence of foreign threat, for the purpose of revising Rome's constitution to his liking. Later, after Julius Caesar defeated Pompey, he had the Senate make him "Dictator Perpetuo," with no time limit. After Caesar was assassinated, Marc Antony had the dictatorship formally abolished. After Octavian defeated Antony, he declined the title -- but, of course, he held the same power as a dictator, for life.\\
On the other hand, {{Cincinnatus}} was dictator, so it worked before then. Some.

* The Mule, from the ''{{Foundation}}'' Series by IsaacAsimov. Controlled half the Galaxy, he was feared, respected, ruler such as not seen for centuries before or after... Yet what was his title? The First Citizen, and nothing more (partly because of his inferiority complex). In later books, the highest title, which commanded the most respect, was simply "The Mayor of Terminus". It remained from the times when the Foundation was but a single city, and persisted at least into the times of the Foundation ruling a third of the Milky Way.

* The original [[UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} Muslim]] state, the Caliphate, was one of these: "Caliph" comes from the Arabic word "''Khalifah''", which is Arabic for "successor" (to the Prophet, that is). Ruling an empire that stretched from Spain to Central Asia, the Caliph was constantly reminded that he was just a half-decent replacement for the plain illiterate orphan who had founded the religion.

** While the head of the Second Foundation is "First Speaker", which is a literal job-description: He gets to talk first at meetings.

**While the head of the Second Foundation is "First Speaker", which is a literal job-description.