History Main / MonsterLord

* ''TheDarkTower'' series by Steven King has a couple of examples. The Low Men are ratlike creatures who rank lower than the Taheen, which are more or less humans with animal heads, and the whole bunch turns out to be led by ancient vampires. Among the vampires themselves, there are a couple of weak echelons made up of people converted to vampirism by the ancients, who are again the Monster Lords.

[[caption-width:330:Even [[EvilIsSexy sexy]] vampiressess realize the value of keeping "homely" friends nearby.]]

* In Exalted [[TheFairFolk The Fair Folk]] lords and other aristocrats are vastly different from small faeries.

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* ''{{Guyver}}'' has this in the Zoalords, Hyper-Zoanoids, and bog standard [[{{Mook}} Zoanoids]].
* The {{Youkai}} in ''InuYasha'' fit this, specifically InuYasha's father was a Lord of all the Inu-Youkai and had non-Inu Youkai vassals.
* The Abyssal Ones in ''{{Claymore}}'', the strongest among the Awakened Beings and Yoma. In particular, Isley of the North, who rallies an army of lesser Awakened Beings to assault Pieta.

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* {{Chaotic}} the ant-like Danians have the battle masters that command the common foot soldiers (often in the BadBoss kind of way) and then the queen that rules over all of them.

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* ''{{Doom}}'' 2 has the Arch Vile, which is not only the most powerful non-boss monster, but also the most human in its appearance.

Frequently, the Monster Lord will be TheManBehindTheMonsters. Even though not human, they will look human-like because the process of climbing the EvolutionaryLevels ladder raised them higher up on the BishonenLine. Of course, if there's a rung above Monster Lord, it'll probably be a OneWingedAngel and make them monstrous again.

Some monster or non-human species have [[DeadlyDecadentCourt aristocracies]] with {{Blue Blood}}s that just so happen to actually have [[AlienBlood blue blood.]] And rarely, lowborn monsters (frequently [[ViralTransformation former humans]]) can aspire to earn such titles with "heroic" deeds, political savvy, or by dint of AsskickingEqualsAuthority. Beyond that though, some Monster Lords are physiologically different from rank and file {{Mook}}s. Maybe the species as a whole has a caste system, and over time the leaders have become a different "[[OurMonstersAreDifferent race]]" that is more powerful by nature. Other monster races may have a life cycle where old or "mature" mooks become lords if they grow really powerful, use a magic ritual, or they have a ''really'' strong willpower.

The net effect is that the Monster Lord is a KingMook with a few extra bells and whistles. In videogames, their "sprite" will likely be wholly unique, not a palette swap. Their children/infectees will likely be stronger than other mooks, have an easier time becoming a Monster Lord, or naturally be born one. They will usually become a HiveQueen or have great PsychicPowers over the lesser monsters, especially ones they create. And of course, they will be [[EliteMooks physically stronger]], [[SuperPoweredMooks tougher, and faster.]]

Frequently, the Monster Lord will be TheManBehindTheMonsters. Even though not human, they will look human-like because the process of climbing the EvolutionaryLevels ladder raised them higher up on the BishonenLine. Of course, if there's a rung above Monster Lord, it'll probably be a OneWingedAngel and make them monstrous again.

** ''Magic'' has these all over the races, and they used to even have the creature type "Lord." The type has been lost, but the effect remains. Goblins, Soldiers, and Elves are popular choices for lords because of their consistent focus on a group mentality, but there have been lords for Vampires, Merfolk, Zombies, Treefolk, Saprolings, Elementals, Warriors, Faeries, and Beasts.

* MagicTheGathering has this in the Zendikar Block. Only the most powerful vampires can convert people into true vampires by draining their blood, but lesser vampires can create zombies (called nulls) by draining the blood completely from a target. This power doesn't come up much in the game, but it is there in the fluff. The picture for this page features a vampire and some follower nulls.

* In ''Farscape'' the Scarran ruling class looksfar more humanoid than the "horse faced" variety the series introduced first.
** The Scarrans shown earlier in the series could well have been some form of hybrid used for long range scouting missions and the like. Scorpio's origin story would seem to indicate the Scarrans were interested in (forcibly) creating hybrids with other species when possible in order to create individuals with the unique abilities of other races to serve in the Scarran Empire.

* Vampires in ''{{Blade}}'' have two "classes", born and turned. Born vampires are the aristocrats, stronger and faster and longer lived than "peasant" turned ones. This fuels Frost to rebel in the first film.

Some monster or non-human species have [[DeadlyDecadentCourt aristocracies]] with {{Blue Blood}}s that just so happen to actually have [[AlienBlood blue blood.]] And rarely, lowborn monsters (frequently [[ViralTransformation former humans]]) can aspire to earn such titles with "heroic" deeds, political savvy, or by dint of AsskickingEqualsAuthority. Beyond that though, some Monster Lords are physiologically different from rank and file {{Mook}}s. Maybe the species as a whole has a caste system, and over time the leaders have become a different "[[OurMonstersAreDifferent race]]" that is more powerful by nature. Other monster races may have a life cycle were old or "mature" mooks become lords if they grow really powerful, use a magic ritual, or they have a ''really'' strong willpower.

* ''Starcraft'' has a justified variant of this with Kerrigan. She's more human than the rest of the Zerg because she is an infected human.
* ''Doom'' 2 has the Arch Vile, which is not only the most powerful non-boss monster, but also the most human in its appearance.