History Main / JusttheFirstCitizen

->'''Atia''': Well congratulations, you're good as king now.\\
'''Octavian''': [[InsistentTerminology First Citizen]].

** This is often justified in fanon by pointing out that she's the personal student of their monarch, and is treated like an envoy from her to the town.

* The first Roman Emperors called themselves simply "The First" (''Princeps'', from which the word "Prince" is derived), after the example of Octavian. The title "Caesar" was of course taken from JuliusCaesar but only applied later to the ruler. Augustus was more of a puppetmaster than an explicit dictator (unlike Caesar), seemingly being given, in the end about a dozen individual powers by the senate. I.e. he was ''de facto'' Emperor, but ''de jure'' just "the first citizen" and the first speaker of the senate.

* In StephenKing's ''TheStand'', [[BigBad Randall Flagg]] refers to himself as [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny "Leader of the People and First Citizen"]] when issuing proclamations.

* Chairman Drek from the first ''[[RatchetAndClank Ratchet & Clank]]'' game. Runs an organisation that may as well run the entire Blarg homeworld, not to mention is in charge of a lot of there military power. Subverted more and more during the course of the game as he keeps getting more and more prefixes until he's "Ultimate Supreme Executive Chairman Drek" despite how he's not actually gaining anything for the title promotion.

* ''GirlGenius'': Despite reluctantly controlling most of Central and Eastern Europe, [[EmperorScientist Klaus Wulfenbach]] seems content with the lowly title of Baron.

* The Patrician of Ankh-Morpork in the {{Discworld}} series, whose title simply means "member of a political family".

->'''Atia:''': Well congratulations, you're good as king now.\\

* Lynette, First Citizen of Vault City in ''{{Fallout2}}''.

* Played for laughs in the case of Tabitha in ''FalloutNewVegas''. As a crazed Super Mutant who controls the "State of Utobitha" (AKA Black Mountain), her self-appointed title is "Best Friend Tabitha".

* MarkTwain's ''Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court'' styles himself [[AC:The Boss]].

* ''StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''. After Gul Dukat takes over the Cardassian government, he retains the title "Gul", roughly equivalent to a colonel or navy captain. Sisko says: "Still calling yourself 'Gul'? I'm surprised you haven't promoted yourself back to legate by now." Dukat responds: "I prefer the title 'Gul'; so much more hands-on than 'Legate'. And less pretentious than the other alternatives: President, Emperor, First Minister..."

* Similarly, in [[StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the Original Series]], Kirk & co. come across a Roman Empire-[[RecycledINSPACE analogue planet]] where Kirk's buddy Captain Merrick has become First Citizen Merikus.

* Big Brother from ''NineteenEightyFour''.

** The von Mekkans are seneschals of Heterodyne Lords, and this responsibility includes running the city. Since Wulfenbach conquered Mechanicsburg, they are heads of the shadow government, holding the title of ''ringers of the Doom Bell''.

* The {{Foundation}} series by IsaacAsimov has a series of powerful offices and personages, all distinct from one another, that match the trope exactly.

Often found ruling a [=~People's Republic Of Tyranny~=].

* In ''AtlasShrugged'', the top U.S. governmental position is "Head of State," and its occupant is always referred to simply as "Mr. Thompson"; unimpressive titles both. It's a matter of speculation exactly why the United States no longer has a president in this AlternateHistory (have they formally abolished the US Constitution?); though Rand said that she wanted characters like Mr. Thompson to seem like mediocrities, and calling him "the President" would have given him a dignity he wasn't supposed to have.
** Supporting the "Constitution was abolished" [[FanWank theory]] is the fact that one character is introduced as "Majority Leader of the National Legislature." The US Congress has ''two'' chambers, so no single person could ever be ''the'' majority leader.
* In the ''CodexAlera'', Alera is ruled over by the First Lord, who is presented as the "first among equals" with the rest of the Realm being ruled by High Lords who preside over each major city, and the First Lord officially being the ruler of Alera Imperia, the chairman of the Senate, and the executive commander of the combined Legions in times of war. Unofficially, the First Lord rules over all of Alera and the High Lords bow to him. This causes trouble when the SuccessionCrisis erupts.

* ''{{Gargoyles}}'' provides a [[ChaoticNeutral somewhat less villainous]] example with Oberon, whose sole title is "''Lord'' of Avalon," even though for all intents and purposes he's a PhysicalGod who rules [[TheFairFolk the Third Race]] as king. His sense of egalitarianism seems especially odd, since as a rule [[AGodAmI he's not exactly humble]].
** WordOfGod is that the title ''is'' Oberon's attempt at humility, and he does consider himself to be humble- he's just too arrogant to be any good at it. The rest of the Third Race puts up with him because their previous ruler, Oberon's mother Queen Mab, was TheCaligula outright, and even Oberon looks good next to her.

* Twilight Sparkle in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is, in theory, just one resident of the town of Ponyville, which has a mayor ([[StealthPun who is, of course, a mare]]). In practice, however, it often seems that Twilight wields the real power in town, while the mayor is a figurehead.

* The title of "Führer", which AdolfHitler adopted when he became leader of the Nazi Party and elevated to a government title when they took power in Germany can be simply translated to "guide", although it is generally translated as "leader", which is more in line with fascist philosophy. Although not even nearly as ubiquitously used as Führer, Hitler also awarded himself a number of bombastic titles over the years designed specifically to invoke this trope, including "First Soldier of the German Reich", "First Worker of the New Germany", and "Supreme Judge of the German People". In something of an overlap with ModestRoyalty, Hitler's ceremonial uniform was also much more staid than you would expect from a man in the process of conquering the world. He wore a plain uniform with only the awards that he earned in WorldWarOne, which looks funny in contrast to, say, Goering, who swanked it up with silks and furs and every medal he could lay his fat hands on.

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* ''GirlGenius'': Despite reluctantly controlling most of Central and Eastern Europe, [[EmperorScientist Klaus Wulfenbach]] seems content with the lowly title of Baron.
** He also uses this to rub everyone's noses in the fact that yes, they're princes and dukes and whatnot, but a minor house was the one that finally fixed everything.
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* ''[[BlakesSeven Blake's 7]]'': First Citizen Hower of planet Obsidian.

* An almost literal example in ''ThePrisoner'', where every citizen of the Village is known by number rather than by name. The official in charge of the Village is known simply as "Number Two."
** The 2009 remake takes it even further, with there actually being no "Number One" and Number Two genuinely being the sole ruler. Apparently, the lack of a "Number One" is to remind the Villagers that they are all public servants, even [[ManipulativeBastard their leader]].

* In the re-imagined ''Series/FlashGordon'' series, Ming is no longer "Emperor Ming the Merciless" who dressed like rulers of Ancient China. Instead, he prefers a military uniform and the self-appointed title of "Benevolent Father". His subjects, though, still occasionally call him "Ming the Merciless" behind his back. His daughter is still called Princess Aura, though.

** Actually somewhat odd as it's clear he has no power, whatsoever. It appears the only reason for keeping him around is to lure other Federation ships to restock their gladiator supply.

-->'''Atia:''': Well congratulations, you're good as king now.
-->'''Octavian''': [[InsistentTerminology First Citizen]].
--->--''{{Rome}}''

* Twilight Sparkle in ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is, in theory, just one resident of the town of Ponyville, which has a mayor ([[StealthPun who is, of course, a mare]]). In practice, however, it often seems that Twilight wields the real power in town, while the mayor is a figurehead.

* JosefStalin [[ZigZaggedTrope zig-zags]] this by playing it straight and averting it at the same time. For all his power, all the control, all the spy networks and the state he built, he was simply the General Secretary of the Communist Party; his rivals during his rise to power jokingly called him "Comrade Card-Index", as the official role of the General Secretary in the early party was keeping the membership rolls. [[hottip:*:Because of Stalin's use of this trope the de facto leader during the history of the U.S.S.R. was always the person filling this post, regardless of whether or not that person was also the Premier.]] Someone stated that a title that would reflect his ''real'' power would have to be something like "Pope of the Communist church; Czar of Russia; CEO of Soviet inc." In addition he also allowed himself to be called simply "Vozhd" (leader/boss) after his fiftieth birthday celebration in 1929, and was given the title "Generalissimus" (the highest possible military rank), although he never wore the insignia. On the other hand, years before becoming General Secretary he did change his birth name from Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili to the Russian equivalent of [[AwesomeMcCoolname Joe Steel]]. During his personality cult he also accepted an immense number of grandiose titles, including "Coryphaeus of Science", "Father of Nations", "Brilliant Genius of Humanity", "Great Architect of Communism", "Gardener of Human Happiness", and many more.

** The title of ''Princeps'' is a contraction of ''Princeps Senatus'', or "First of Senate", that is, its speaker. It was a distinguished, but not very influential office, which is why Augustus actuall started calling himself that, though it did held some key powers.