History Main / TheCaligula

* The Centauri Republic's insane emperor Cartagia from ''Series/BabylonFive''. He even sets his planet on a path he knows will probably end with it [[spoiler:[[EarthShatteringKaboom blown into little pieces]]]] because he thinks it'll make a fitting ceremony for [[GodhoodSeeker his ascension to godhood]]. [[spoiler:In the end, soon-to-be Prime Minister Londo and his associates assassinate him.]] The sad irony is that Cartagia was believed to be an ineffectual puppet, whom Lord Refa hoped to use as a figurehead for his control over the Republic. At one point, Cartagia shows Londo his secret room, filled with heads of his "enemies" (mostly, those who disagreed with him or just got on his bad side, one is implied to have been beheaded because he ''had coughing fits''), which he lovingly maintains and talks to.

** There is [[TheParanoiac Cersei]] [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen as Queen Regent]], as well. Not ''quite'' as bad as her son Joffrey when it comes to the pointlessly petty bonkers though (not like that's particularly hard). Although... she is currently being far more effective at ruling spectacularly badly, mainly thanks to being a drunk, spoiled and narcissistic ''adult'' on the throne.

** Visser Three from ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' fits this trope like a glove. In the main series he's an AxCrazy EvilOverlord who executes subordinates at the drop of a hat, meets every threat that comes his way with overwhelming force, and due to being the only Andalite-Controller and having a bastion of EldritchAbomination morphs is a PhysicalGod by the definitions of this series. The prequel Chronicles books show his backstory as a quite sane and capable ManipulativeBastard who climbed from obscurity by studying the Andalites when no one else would. This study led to his obsession with becoming the first Yeerk to infest an Andalite, a goal he eventually reaches. Once he hits that high mark, there's nowhere else to go but down. The Animorphs often conspire to keep him in charge of the invasion, as his leadership makes the Yeerks less effective. For instance, Visser Three is convinced that the resistance are "Andalite bandits". Some of his underlings have begun to suspect they may actually be humans who can morph, but since people who offer unsolicited opinions to Visser Three tend to end up ''sans'' head, they keep this suspicion to themselves. If Visser Three weren't such a Caligula, he might have caught them.

** In ''Literature/{{Remnants}}'' [[CreepyChild Tamara's baby]]. It was ''damaged'' by whatever they were exposed to on the journey over, and grew up quickly into a monster, who led humans and then some of the aliens.

* ''Fanfic/WishCarefully'': After the light side gives him control of Wizarding Britain, Voldemort makes the country into a dystopian state; as a massive ControlFreak, he passes a bunch of draconian laws that require the Dark Mark once wizards come of age, frequently tortures his Death Eaters at random through their Dark Marks, and at one point tortured everyone on the street wearing glasses.

** Among all the possible rulers, Sergey Taboritsky has everyone beat out in terms of pure madness, which what looks like crippling schizophrenia and general psychosis. He's plenty cruel, but he's also convinced the ideal model of Tsardom is something resembling Himmler's own "[[EvilerThanThou The nazis are too liberal for me]]" Burgundian System. Oh, and he thinks Alexei Romanov is the true Tsar and [[HesJustHiding just in hiding for well over fifty years instead of getting shot dead as a child]], and he's just paving the way for his glorious return. And if he reunifies Russia, it gets worse as the strain of having to deny reality's increasing pressure on his government drives him to greater, hallucinating depths of craziness, all represented by a ticking clock. [[spoiler:And when the clock strikes twelve, he finds himself scribbling pure gibberish, shivering in the corner of his room, only to be struck dead by a vision of his Tsar returning, only to turn into a pile of bloodied bones that he just cannot deny; his Tsar is dead, and in being forced to realize it, he outright drops dead. His empire of nightmares [[Characters/TNOTaboritsky following him down to hell not long after.]].]]

* ''Literature/TheTrialsOfApollo'': Caligula himself is actually an aversion, as he regularly employs ObfuscatingInsanity to deal with his enemies. Rather, the true Caligula of the series would be Tarquin; he's a singularly arrogant, bad-tempered tyrant who seized power and ruled through violence, attended by a powerless, captive senate, with a harem of enslaved women around his throne at all times.

** Among all the possible rulers, Sergey Taboritsky has everyone beat out in terms of pure madness, which what looks like crippling schizophrenia and general psychosis. He's plenty cruel, but he's also convinced the ideal model of Tsardom is something resembling Himmler's own "The nazis are too liberal for me" Burgundian System. Oh, and he thinks Alexei Romanov is the true Tsar and just in hiding for well over fifty years instead of getting shot dead as a child, and he's just paving the way for his glorious return. And if he reunifies Russia, it gets worse as the strain of having to deny reality's increasing pressure on his government drives him to greater, hallucinating depths of craziness, all represented by a ticking clock. [[spoiler:And when the clock strikes twelve, he finds himself scribbling pure gibberish, shivering in the corner of his room, only to be struck dead by a vision of his Tsar returning, only to turn into a pile of bloodied bones that he just cannot deny; his Tsar is dead, and in being forced to realize it, he outright drops dead. His empire of nightmares [[Characters/TNOTaboritsky following him down to hell not long after.]].]]

* UsefulNotes/{{Nero}} appears in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'', where Garfield tells the story of the cat who invented lasagna. In the story, Nero is depicted as a VillainousGlutton who imprisons (or in some cases, executes) bad chefs. When the cat's owner (the cat and the owner being {{Expy}}s of Garfield and Jon) is thrown in prison, the cat appeals to the Emperor's appetite, claiming Jon is an excellent chef (even though he isn't) which persuades the Emperor to give him a chance. The cat's idea is that [[NotSoDifferent cats and emperors are very much alike]], lazy, greedy people who like to be waited on, so he figured the Emperor would like what ''he'' likes, and directs his owner to make what is eventually called lasagna. It works; the Emperor loves it and pardons the man.

* In the "[[Franchise/EvilliousChronicles Story of Evil]]" by Music/{{mothy}}, [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Rilianne]] is initially depicted as this: she revels in luxury while her subjects are starving, and when the man she loves falls for a green-haired girl, she [[MurderTheHypotenuse orders the death of all girls with green hair]]. Later songs and [[LightNovel/ClotureOfYellow the novel]] make her a bit more morally nuanced: her selfish behaviour is largely caused by her acceding to the throne as an immature teenager, her murder of the green-haired women was because she was insane with jealousy, and she sincerely loves her twin brother [[spoiler:who lets himself be executed in her place when she is deposed]].

[[TropeNamers Named]] for what is probably history's best known whack-job, [[UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire Roman]] [[TheEmperor emperor]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus,]] better known as UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}} (''Little Boots'', his childhood nickname); remembered for talking to statues, locking granaries, [[RageAgainstTheHeavens declaring war on the god Neptune]] (and "winning", then commanding his soldiers to collect seashells as war-prizes), [[CaligulasHorse making his horse a consul]] (admittedly, this one may have simply been a gesture of spite towards the senate), and [[BreadEggsMilkSquick boning his sisters]]. (Though the veracity of some of these claims is in question, the reputation persists. [[UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}} See here]] for all the details.)

* In the backstory of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, led the Hidden Mist Village during the years of the Bloody Mist, where half of each graduating class was required to murder the other half in cold blood, one of the village's most famous ninja lead a failed coup, an entire Cipher Division being cut down by their own bodyguard was considered proper procedure, and Kisame (the aforementioned bodyguard) even told Yagura to his face that the latter would have him eliminated at some point. Apparently, people thought highly of Yagura, which could be true, because [[spoiler: either Madara Uchiha or Tobi/Obito was mind controlling him the entire time]]. The fact that Yagura was [[spoiler: being controlled by the Akatsuki leader]] has become public knowledge in the Mist Village, as numerous characters have blamed Akatsuki for the Bloody Mist years.

* The World Government of ''Manga/OnePiece'' appears to fall into this, although not the Marines protecting it. The World Government itself is incredibly corrupt and brutal, being major patrons of the mostly pirate-run slave trade and using the Marines for acts of mass butchery to silence those that found out their dirty secrets or could threaten them. The "nobility" of this world is even worse, as the upper-middle class will cheerfully burn an occupied city to the ground to make things look neater for a World Noble's visit and [[NeverMyFault claim it's the poor people's fault]] [[TheSocialDarwinist for being too stupid to be born nobles]]. The highest social class are so batshit insane that ''[[InsaneTrollLogic they wear air bubbles to prevent themselves from breathing the same air as commoners]]'' and [[KickTheDog regularly murder anyone]] [[DisproportionateRetribution they encounter over the very pettiest gripes]].

** A childlike queen who just wants to create a nation where all races of the world can live in peace, accompanied by cheerful sentient objects. How could this go wrong? By having said queen, Charlotte Linlin AKA Big Mom, be a [[LargeAndInCharge giant-sized]] [[AxCrazy sociopath]] who switches between a somewhat reasonable schemer, an [[PsychopathicManChild oversized brat]] with the power of two armies (her pirate army and herself being a OneManArmy) and an uncontrollable berserker who murders everything that gets in her way. She has everyone who lives in her kingdom pay pieces of their SOULS (effectively reducing their lifespan) so she can put them into inanimate objects and bring them to life as her homies, threatens people by saying she'll chop off a loved one's head and send it to them in a box, holds extravagant tea parties where she plans to kill certain guests and have everybody dance on their corpses and eat cake. And to top it all off, she's one of the worst mothers in anime, frequently berating, beating and occasionally killing her 85 children. GodSaveUsFromTheQueen indeed.

*** Chief Judge [[MeaningfulName Cal]] in the story "The Day The Law Died" (collected as ''Judge Caligula'') is, as the name suggests, closely based on the Emperor (even being drawn to resemble Creator/JohnHurt in ''Series/IClaudius''). [[UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}} Caligula]] (allegedly) made his horse a senator; Cal made his goldfish Deputy Chief Judge. Caligula demanded grandiose building projects; Cal expected the citizens to build a mile high wall around Mega-City One in a week. He also argued with deceased former Chief Judges, preserved his execution victims in vinegar, and sentenced the ''[[OmnicidalManiac entire city]]'' to death ''twice''. At least the mile-high wall actually helped protect the city later on.

* In ''Fanfic/StarWarsParanormalitiesTrilogy'', we are given Masochus, easily the [[AxCrazy most]] [[MadScientist unhinged]] of the Valkoran leaders. For starters, he [[FlayedAlive skinned himself down to the bone]] (only retaining some connective, vital and sensory organs; and [[TechnicallyLivingZombie he's still alive]]), and he's done similar things (such as for experiments) to other Valkoran soldiers just because he could. [[ThePowerOfHate He also compulsively hates everything and everyone just to stay alive]]. This is deconstructed in his backstory as a former Sith Lord, as this behavior got him exiled from the [[EvenEvilHasStandards Sith Empire]] after killing too many civilians and soldiers alike for his own amusement. In the present day of the main story, [[BigBad Emperor]] [[EldritchAbomination Valkor]] doesn't mind his insanity as long as it isn't too counterproductive to his long-term goals (and Masochus is actually one of his closest supporters), but even then, the majority of the [[AntiVillain Valkoran Empire]] [[ZeroPercentApprovalRating still hates his guts]].

* The backstory of ''Fanfic/TheSmeetSeries'' has Tallest Laven. After his wife died in childbirth, their smeet dying with her, he went mad with grief and eventually decided that if he couldn't have a happy family, no Irken could. To this end, he outlawed natural reproduction in the Irken Empire, and led a [[ThePurge purge]] of all pregnant Irkenettes and naturally-born smeets.
* Ryuko Kiryuin in ''Fanfic/NaturalSelection'' definitley qualifies. She's moody, violent, and utterly detached from the value of human life. She's also in charge of what should have been a bastion against the Life Fibers and turned it into a den of madness. Every month she throws city-wide slaughter-fests for her own amusement and burned down the Honnouji slums ''twice over''; the first as an act of spite towards her sister, and the second in a fit of rage from being rejected by Mako.
* ''Fanfic/ForTheGloryOfIrk'': [[spoiler: After becoming Tallest,]] [[TheDragon Xia]] is convinced that she's the best there's ever been at her job, but is only interested in doing the "fun" parts (like warfare and ordering people around), while finding the concept of doing actual work boring.

* Kuzco from ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' is one example where the Caligula in question is the ''protagonist'', although he's spoiled, feckless and self-absorbed rather than outright insane. [[spoiler:The plot is about how he gets better and learns to be less selfish.]] The film implies that his being in the trope at the start of the movie was due to Yzma's influence when he was growing up. Yzma plays the trope straight. After throwing him off the throne, she displayed all the traits of a stereotypical Caligula, including outright madness -- like [[FashionVictimVillain decorating the entire palace in hot pink and electric purple!]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'': While he's not exactly the ruler of Paris per se, Frollo is the city's default authority. As he becomes more and more obsessed with Esmeralda, he ramps up his persecution of the Roma, and then starts torching the houses of random people for charges of treason that he essentially made up. Even the common citizens say that he's gone mad. It reaches its peak when he has his men attack Notre Dame in pursuit of Esmeralda and Quasimodo, an institution that everyone in Paris looks up to and which Frollo himself had previously respected. This act allows Phoebus to easily rouse the people of Paris to arms against him.

* King Koo-Koo, the ruler of Loony Land in ''WesternAnimation/RaggedyAnnAndAndyAMusicalAdventure'', is a textbook example of this -- even by the standards of his realm. The only thing in existence he seems to care about is his frustration at being extremely short, which he is determined to fix by granting himself endless opportunities to laugh at other people (since laughing makes him swell up to the size of a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon). To this end, he has his [[TheDragon Dragon]], the crazed knight Sir Leonard Loony, play all kinds of practical jokes on anyone who visits his court (and even keeps an entire wagon full of cream pies on hand for PieInTheFace gags), all the while making his courtiers laugh so hysterically that over time they have degenerated into zany robotic monstrosities. He ultimately crosses the MoralEventHorizon when, in his bid to become the largest being who ever lived, he has a giant squid-monster who is his friend entertain him by trying to [[TickleTorture literally tickle all the good guys to death]].

--> "From this day on, the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish. In addition to that, all citizens will be required to change their underwear every half-hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside so we can check. Furthermore, all children under 16 years old are now... 16 years old!"

* The Roman Emperor Commodus as depicted in ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'' and ''Film/TheFallOfTheRomanEmpire''. Commodus wasn't as bad in real life as he was in either film, but he still wasn't the sort of monarch you'd take home to mother -- he was known to believe that he was the reincarnation of Hercules, and as a result, he cared very little for his administrative duties. He once walked into the Senate with a severed ostrich head, fought as a gladiator in the arena, and is best-known for ending the "Five Good Emperors". Dissatisfied members of the Senate had him eventually assassinated by paying his wrestling buddy to strangle him in the bath.

* Swan, the villainous record producer of ''Film/PhantomOfTheParadise.'' Though he styles himself as an AffablyEvil [[TheChessmaster manipulator]], almost every single decision he makes in the film is made on a whim: his employees are hired, fired or reassigned on the flimsiest of reasons, he imprisons his stars in [[MagicallyBindingContract torturously ironclad contracts]], rewrites the Phantom's music to cater to his own eccentric tastes, and orders his fiancée assassinated at his wedding for the sake of publicity. Worse still, not only is he in complete control of the music industry, [[spoiler: he's also immortal.]]

** Most of the gods portrayed in the series ''Literature/{{Everworld}}'' fit this description perfectly. Almost every god that the main characters encounter, regardless of what mythology they originate from, has an utter apathetic regard for life in general [[JerkassGods (being gods and all)]] and shows a certain degree of sadism, though some of them ('''especially''' Neptune) are simply bat-shit insane.

* Creator/AEVanVogt's ''Empire of the Atom'' and ''The Wizard of Linn'' has most prominent characters as analogues of Roman history, starting with Clane/Claudius. "Calaj" is the obvious Caligula stand in, the grandson of Lydia/Livia and related to Clane and Tews/Tiberius.
* King Ademar of Gorhaut in Creator/GuyGavrielKay's ''Literature/ASongForArbonne'' has rabid dogs tearing each other to pieces before the throne and maids give him blowjobs right in front of a ''very'' discomfitted court, among many other strange hobbies.

** Indeed, [[RoyallyScrewedUp the whole Targaryen dynasty]] had this trope going on multiple times along the way, to the point that Jaehaerys II said that when Targaryens were born the gods flipped a coin between madness and greatness, although this is an exaggeration. Most of them were either [[TheGoodKing good and competent rulers]] like Jaehaerys the Conciliator and Daeron the Good or simply unremarkable, with Mad King Aerys and Maegor the Cruel being the only Caligulas to actually sit the throne, though there were other Caligulas who didn't become king but tended to get away with their excesses because of their family. The fourth King Aegon, known as the Unworthy, was a lecherous FatBastard but not crazypants, while King Baelor the Blessed was not all there but his crazy took the form of extreme piety, peacefulness and charity, so most people remember him as one of the gooduns.

** He's not the king, but Robert Arryn, a six-year-old who still literally suckles his mother's teat and likes to watch "''bad men fly''" (people he doesn't like being thrown from the top of his mountain keep), is the hereditary heir to the title of Lord of the Vale and Warden of the East, essentially putting the keeping of one fourth of the kingdom in his care. And now he's got [[TheChessmaster Littlefinger]] as his chief counselor...although it seems that Littlefinger has made him ''less'' of a brat, teaching him to respect his inferiors at least a ''little'' bit.

*** Modern historians generally agree that Germanicus was actually poisoned on the orders of Caligula's somewhat less insane great uncle Tiberius, so that he wouldn't become his competitor for the throne ([[DysfunctionJunction Julii-Claudii]] ''[[RoyallyScrewedUp were]]'' [[DecadentCourt like that]]), but little Bootsie seems to actually follow his uncle and not his father. Unfortunately for Rome, while Tiberius (probably) was a psychopath and sadist in private life, he was largely [[TheEmperor a shrewd and successful ruler]], Caligula on his part…

* ''Literature/TheReluctantKing'': Nervos the Daft, Vindium's king, was a bloodthirsty lunatic who wasted most of his treasury getting made gold statues of himself, had tons of people near him killed (including family) and entertained himself through having his army pretend to be frogs. Not surprisingly, a group of his nobles and officials killed him.

** There is a widely-mentioned historical case where a Count Vortala [[CaligulasHorse did appoint his horse, Midnight, as his heir]], but there is no indication that Vortala was either crazy or evil. He just did it as a TakeThat to his previous heir, with whom he was having an argument with. "If a horse's ass can be a Count, why not the whole horse?"

* In ''Series/EarthFinalConflict'', Zo'or schemes his way to become leader of the Taelon Synod, but as time goes by he gets more and more out of control, threatens his subordinates, becomes enraged easily and is willing to sacrifice all of Earth for his own ends. Characters explicitly compare him to Caligula.
** As bad as Zo'or was, he was downright restrained when comapred to Howlyn, the main antagonist from Season 5. Right out of the gate he wants to conquer Earth, is violent, short-sighted and genocidal. [[spoiler:He meets his end when he finally take control of an Atavus ship that has been dormant for milenia and ''demands'' they launch it immediatly, without even a basic diagnostic. When trying to take off inevitably wrecks the ship beyond repair, Howlyn keeps screaming at his subordiates to make it fly, until one guy has had enough and kills him.]]

** He's not the king, but Robin Arryn,[[note]]a renamed Robert Arryn[[/note]] a [[AgeLift twelve-year-old]] who still literally suckles his mother's teat and likes to watch "''bad men fly''" (people he doesn't like being thrown from the top of his mountain keep), is the hereditary heir to the title of Lord of the Vale and Warden of the East, essentially putting the keeping of one fourth of the kingdom in his care. And now he's got [[TheChessmaster Littlefinger]] as his chief counselor... [[spoiler: Though, with Littlefinger being executed at the end of Season 7, there's a chance he can get better.]]

** At the end of season 6, Cersei Lannister burns down a significant portion of Kings Landing to wipe out all her enemies in one fell swoop before crowning herself Queen and intending to start another inbred royal line with her brother Jaime. When the new Targaryen-Stark alliance presents her with evidence of the undead army planning to invade the Seven Kingdoms, she pledges to aid their war effort but is really planning to let the continent go to hell and hope that she'll survive it.
** As it turns out, [[spoiler: Daenerys would probably have turned out somewhat like this, as she starts her reign by [[MakeAnExampleOfThem making an example of]] '"the population of King's Landing'', before proceeding to give speeches about freeing the world to her soldiers in the burned-out remains of her capital]].
* ''Series/HorribleHistories'' features several of the worst Roman examples in one song, including the trope namer himself, plus Commodus, Elagabalus and Nero.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E71TheMirror The Mirror]]", as soon as he comes to power, Ramos Clemente proves himself to be extremely irrational, paranoid and blood-thirsty. He sees enemies all around him. As well as ordering mass executions, he becomes convinced that his lieutenants D'Alessandro, Garcia, Tabal and Cristo are plotting against him due to having seemingly foreseen it in the mirror. Clemente throws D'Alessandro off the balcony of his mansion, has Garcia and Tabal executed as enemies of the state and shoots Cristo as he believed that the wine that he offered him was poisoned. When he looks in the mirror and sees only his own reflection, Clemente shoots himself. His reign lasted for only a week.

* ''Series/WonderWoman1975'': Marion Mariposa from “Screaming Javelins” is wildly irrational, violently moody, very intolerant of being told anything he doesn't want to hear, and [[IControlMyMinionsThrough in control of a micronation, submarines and his mercenaries]]. He infiltrates the US by sky diving, kidnaps Olympic athletes in an attempt to gain popularity for his own micronation, [[{{Egopolis}} Mariposalia]], and his ArchEnemy is not Franchise/WonderWoman, but IADC agent [[SecretIdentity Diana Prince]]

** The most infamous of them all is Stefan Amaris of House Amaris, who instigated the Amaris Coup and brought an end to the Star League. Most members of the Houses are known for being paranoid, sadistic and power hungry, and Stefan is the universe's equivalent of Hitler. His entire House was executed for his treason.

** Katherine Steiner-Davion more or less single-handedly caused the fall of the Federated Commonwealth a single generation after her parents's AltarDiplomacy had caused the Commonwealth to arise in the first place. She killed her mother to accomplish this, later had a princess of another neighbouring nation killed for the crime of falling in love with her brother, and would have killed all her siblings if she'd been able. A MoodSwinger who could not stand not having everyone around her be {{Yes M|an}}en, she proved equal amounts vicious and insane. She eventually defected to the Clans, only to be assassinated by ''her own son'' when he realized how dangerous she was.

** ''Theatre/RichardIII''. Starts out a gleeful villain and ends completely insane.

* Pagan Min of ''VideoGame/FarCry4'' is a former Triad drug lord who took over the kingdom of Kyrat and declared himself ruler of it, and it rapidly becomes clear that he is ''not'' a good ruler. Among his many atrocities and war crimes he arbitrarily declared candles illegal and their use punishable by death, kidnapped a celebrity chef and then executed the poor guy after Ajay bails on their dinner at the beginning of the game (apparently thinking the Crab Rangoons not being up to par was the reason he ran off, rather than, you know, Pagan kidnapping him as soon as he entered the country and shooting up his bus) and even once you learn that [[spoiler:he got far worse after the murder of his daughter, Lakshmana]] he himself admits that was just an excuse to keep doing what he wanted.

** Garon of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' wasn't always like this, but is said to have StoppedCaring after he saw his [[MarryThemAll numerous wives]] squabble over the succession to the throne and murder each other and his children. After that he began executing people on the spot for no apparent reason (even in front of [[HarmfulToMinors his youngest daughter]]) kidnapped The Avatar, [[CanonName Kamui/Corrin]], as a baby and raised him or her in near isolation, then when they grew up sent them on multiple [[UriahGambit suicide missions]] and tried to get one of his sons (and the Avatar's adopted sibling) to kill them. The plot of the game is based around his desire to invade the peaceful kingdom of Hoshido and kill their queen due to the troubles in his own country. It's eventually revealed [[spoiler:that the Garon seen during the game is actually his reanimated corpse being controlled by [[BigBad Anankos]], and the real guy was nothing like this.]]

*** [[spoiler: Prince Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd is a rare example of a protagonist Caligula in the making. For most of the Academy phase, Dimitri starts off with personality traits similar to classic ''Fire Emblem'' lords like Marth, being a compassionate young man with an aversion to violence that wants to reform Fodlan through acceptance. However, he is also the SoleSurvivor of a royal massacre that included his father and stepmother, which was later followed up by a genocide against the people of Duscur as a scapegoat. As a result, Dimitri suffers from SurvivorGuilt and frequently has hallucinations of the Tragedy's victims demanding the heads of those truly responsible, and has episodes of sadism when confronting those he believes were involved. When he learns that his stepsister Edelgard is the Flame Emperor (whom he erroneously thinks was involved in the Tragedy of Duscur), he completely snaps and becomes obsessed with taking her head. Five years later on most story routes and after [[GoMadFromTheIsolation living in isolation as a fugitive]], he's still violently unhinged and murdering Imperial soldiers left and right, with people comparing him to [[AxCrazy a beast]]. What little resistance against the Adrestian Empire there is in the Kingdom tries to rally behind Dimitri, but he neglects morale among his own troops and the people suffering in the Kingdom in favor of appeasing the dead, even making death threats towards those questioning his goals. On Azure Moon (his own story route), his allies are questioning if he's mentally competent enough to be leading the fight against the Empire, let alone be the next king of Faerghus, and only follow him because they're fighting for the Kingdom or have mutual enmity towards the Empire. Dimitri only steers away from this dark path and goes on to become TheGoodKing when he realizes that he's only perpetuating an endless cycle of revenge, and only after one of his closest allies dies from a revenge-driven assassination attempt meant for him. On Verdant Wind and Silver Snow however, [[PlayerCharacter Byleth]] and Rodrigue aren't around to reign in his worst impulses, which eventually get him and his followers ingloriously KilledOffscreen.]]
*** On Crimson Flower, [[spoiler: Dimitri doesn't go through SanitySlippage despite being an antagonist to the route's protagonist, Edelgard, thanks to the fact that he wasn't spending five years in isolation, but still seeking revenge. However, Archbishop Rhea goes through it instead after Byleth -- whom she had been treating as a vessel for her mother, Sothis -- chooses Edelgard over her, perceiving it as a betrayal and declares them both heretics against the Church of Seiros. While the Church isn't an official nation in Fodlan, [[NGOSuperpower it still has its own army and a lot of political influence throughout Fodlan's culture]], and is a recognized authority in [[TheTheocracy Faerghus]]. As the story progresses, former Church clergy and even her closest advisor Seteth become increasingly worried about her declining sanity and her obsession with reuniting with her mother, to the point that Seteth and his daughter Flayn [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere flee from Fodlan if they are spared in battle]]. After Dimitri is killed on the Tailtean Plains and the Empire makes their advance on the Kingdom capital of Fhirdiad, she becomes the Kingdom's regent and leads its remaining soldiers. Shortly after taking command, Rhea orders the capital to be set aflame in an unhinged attempt to take out all of her enemies (who actually offered for her to surrender) despite the Kingdom's loyalty to the Church since its founding, and during the final battle, rants about how untrustworthy humans are. However, Verdant Wind reveals that her mother and siblings were massacred by Nemesis and the Ten Elites, and their remains were used to create the Crest Stones and Heroes' Relics. The attack on the Holy Tomb was seen as a mass grave defilement against her family, and Byleth (who was chosen to not only to be a vessel for Sothis, but also bear her respective Crest Stone and Hero's Relic) joining with Edelgard was pouring salt on the wound]].

* Zant from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' plays this trope to a T. [[spoiler: After forcing Midna into exile, he proclaimed himself the new ruler of the Twili, only to be soundly rejected by them. Being the power hungry man that he is, he didn't take it well and turned to Ganondorf in order to enslave his own people against their will.]]

* ''VideoGame/VivaCaligula'' from the Creator/AdultSwim web site is built around being a crazy tyrant and killing everyone you meet in creatively horrible ways.

** The spinoff games, ''VideoGame/FateExtra'' and ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' feature two others from history, {{UsefulNotes/Nero}} in the former and {{UsefulNotes/Caligula}} himself in the latter. The former is obsessed with being loved by her ([[GenderFlip yes, her]]) subjects and while an AttentionWhore and very arrogant, she apparently intended well and was very popular with the common people but not the nobles. Her uncle Caligula, on the other hand, is stated to have been driven mad by the affections of the Moon in this universe and is implied to be a ReluctantMonster who wants the Grail to cure his insanity.

** He also thinks that he invented inventing, started a war to force pacifism on the elves, and was once told he had news and enthusiastically asked "does it involve '''cupcakes'''?" and decided he didn't care when the answer was no, thinks he designed his castle to be four hundred years old, and apparently knew what a robot version of himself was saying even after the robot exploded. If he isn't a [[TheDitz ditz]] then nobody is. Did we mention that he is unable to tell the difference between his daughter and his BeleagueredAssistant Left-Hand-Man Gary? (In case you were wondering, his right-hand-man is a coffee stain called Rodney.)

** Kharla'ggen Vel'Vlozress is monstrously powerful and extremely insane, and has a hobby of [[AndIMustScream turning living people]] [[LivingDollCollector into living dolls]] and altogether has the mental capacity of a young child and no real sense of morality. Despite this she does get a few PetTheDog moments with her adopted sister, Kiel'ndia (who, despite Kharla being the one who turned her mother into a puppet, seems to get that Kharla doesn't really understand and thus doesn't blame her) and it's suggested that if left alone she wouldn't be so bad. It also says something that Kiel flat out ''panics'' when she realizes that Kharla has been introduced to sex via [[TheCorrupter Khaless]], meaning that dolls and toys likely won't be able to satisfy her any longer and so to quote Kiel "We're all fucked. [[NotHyperbole Literally]]."
** Among the Sharen clan, all of whom could qualify at some level, Sarv'swati Vel'Sharen develops into this over the course of the story. It's not so much that she's crazy like Kharla so much as ''extremely'' brutal, exerting what her own sisters call "maniacal" control over her family to the point that after her sister Sil'lice was exiled she executed members of her own family for sympathizing with her, and [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=9437 brutally executes one of her own relatives]] after [[YouHaveFailedMe fails her]] for the last time, and he [[ThisIsGonnaSuck knew what was going to happen]]. She also [[spoiler:was part of a plot to kill her own mother, and was the one who sealed the deal by sealing her in her throne room to die, and covered it up by using a BodyDouble for public function]] and masterminds the idea of Dari'yako, a PenalColony where commoners are sent, and her use of a [[SlaveMooks slave army]] made of conscripted commoners that turns most of the population against her.
** To quote from [[spoiler:Zhor]], Snadhya'rune is the legitimate heir to the empire of the entire Drow race, and would be the undisputed ruler if she was not completely insane. Her first plan to consolidate power was to [[spoiler:found an entire rebel group of demon summoners to assault her capital so she and her sisters could inherit the throne from their less-than-supportive mother]]. She allowed the Saghress to steamroll over her armies and conquer Chel, knowing that they would mismanage their supply routes and starve Chel to near-death, so that she could 'save' them with table scraps from her small farming colonies. At her Felde party celebrating the loss of Chel, she publicly announced her plot to use biological warfare to force Chel to [[DemonicPossession TAINT]] [[ZombieApocalypse EVERYONE]] [[KillEmAll ALIVE]]. And she used speech craft and her own insanity to pose this as a good thing, right in front of her entire collection of potential allies, all while using one of her minion's CompellingVoice powers to make everyone KneelBeforeZod [[{{Narcissist}} just for the ego trip]]. Most of the fandom agrees that she's an actual [[TheSociopath sociopath]].
*** And becomes official in the ''clusterfuck'' that is Chapter 46: [[spoiler:At first, she presents herself as peaceful tyrant... but then she gets one order disobeyed and gets stabbed. She proceeds to go apeshit over being wounded in combat, so her first response is to ''[[VillainousBreakdown scream in complete fury]], [[BitchInSheepsClothing racially denounce the lower class]], and [[BerserkerRage murder all the assassins and allies]]'' within a ten yard radius, and might well have leveled her own palace if she hadn't been stopped by Mel. Later, she declares Kalki, ''[[OffingTheOffspring her firstborn daughter]]'', to be a faulty tool and used a magic grenade in her crown to slowly rip her to shreds without batting an eye]]. Yikes.
* Eridan Ampora (aka "[[MeaningfulName caligulasAquarium]]") from ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' is a member of the royal sea-dwelling troll caste. His primary interests revolve around genocide of the land-dwellers and his many failed efforts at romance. He mostly embodies this trope in his blind self-absorption and poor decision making [[spoiler:until his FaceHeelTurn]].

** Responded to one of Link's practical jokes using bazookas (that shot out hamburgers), missiles and a KillSat.

** ''Literature/PiecingTogetherTheAshesReconstructingTheOldWorldOrder'' has the man known to history only as "the Beast". A far-right American military figure who leads a coup against a leftist administration and installs himself as [[PresidentEvil the new President]], he proceeds to persecute Muslims, crush protesters with soldiers, invade neighboring countries that disagree with him, and finally [[ApocalypseHow nuke the world back into the Dark Ages]]. And as a POV chapter from his perspective shows, he did all this because he honestly believed that everyone who disagreed with him was possessed by demons who secretly ruled the world, and that God had tasked him with purging all of them in nuclear fire.

* That episode of ''WesternAnimation/IAmWeasel'' where the titular character, I.M. Weasel and CloudCuckoolander I.R. Baboon have their brains switched. The now deranged "I.R. Weasel" uses I.M. Weasel's influence to mess up the world (thinking that he's making it better). The now level-headed "I.M. Baboon" convinced him, however, to go on forced retirement before he could do more damage.

** [[spoiler: This winds up doing them in in ''[[WesternAnimation/InvaderZimEnterTheFlorpus Enter the Florpus]]'', since they could have easily escaped the unfathomable chaos that is the titular space anomaly by ''turning away from it.'']]

* ''Series/StargateSG1'': "Lifeboat" has Daniel accidentally end up [[SharingABody sharing his body]] with multiple consciousnesses from a crashed ship. One of them is their ruling Sovereign, who ''[[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem definitely]]'' comes across as one of these.

** Of Aerys's children, his son Rhaegar was a ByronicHero of questionable sanity given his fixation on prophecy and his abduction of Lyanna Stark igniting the civil war, and his daughter Daenerys is clearly sane (with even Aerys's former Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Barristan, certifying that she's nothing like her father), while his other son Viserys was the next Caligula-to-be. The dynastic tradition of BrotherSisterIncest might have had something to do with this, to the point that Daenerys's great-grandfather, the fifth Aegon (who married a non-Targaryen) intended to end this practice and was quite displeased when his children Jaehaerys II and Shaera copied his MarryForLove decision but married ''each other'' and then forced their own children, the aforementioned Aerys and Rhaella, into this themselves against their will because it was foretold TheChosenOne would be born of Aerys and Rhaella's line (which seems to be true, since the most obvious candidates for TheChosenOne in the series are their daughter Daenerys, Jon Snow[[spoiler:, who is likely to be their son Rhaegar's son with Lyanna Stark]], or both).

** Visser Three from ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' fits this trope like a glove. In the main series he's an AxCrazy EvilOverlord who executes subordinates at the drop of a hat, meets every threat that comes his way with overwhelming force, and due to being the only Andalite-Controller and having a bastion of EldritchAbomination morphs is a PhysicalGod by the definitions of this series. The prequel Chronicles books show his backstory as a quite sane and capable ManipulativeBastard who climbed from obscurity by studying the Andalites when no one else would. This study led to his obsession with becoming the first Yeerk to infest an Andalite, a goal he eventually reaches. Once he hits that high mark, there's nowhere else to go but down. The Animorphs often conspire to keep him in charge of the invasion, as his leadership makes the Yeerks less effective.

* ''WesternAnimation/UrbanVermin'' has Ken, a CardCarryingVillain and all-around {{Jerkass}} who made himself a tinpot dictator so he could hoard all the garbage in The Alley for himself, with his skirmishes with his brother being as much childish sibling rivalry as they are a struggle with LaResistance.

* ''WesternAnimation/OhNoItsAnAlienInvasion'': Emperor Brainlius [=III=] is a big fat childish guy more interested in playing around than leading.

** A certain saying claimed that upon the birth of a Targaryen the gods flip a coin between madness and greatness, with Aerys II and Viserys[[note]]technically Viserys III[[/note]] being father-son examples of the proverbial coin landing on the side that isn't "''greatness''". Thankfully, Viserys' exile after his father's death limited the extent to which he could embody this trope, while Aerys II was very much this -- he was known as "The Mad King" and apparently had a penchant for killing people in nasty ways.

** A certain saying claimed that upon the birth of a Targaryen the gods flip a coin, with Aerys II and Viserys[[note]]technically Viserys III[[/note]] being father-son examples of the proverbial coin landing on the side that isn't "''greatness''". Thankfully, Viserys' exile after his father's death limited the extent to which he could embody this trope, while Aerys II was very much this -- he was known as "The Mad King" and apparently had a penchant for killing people in nasty ways.

** There is [[TheParanoiac Cersei]] [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen as Queen Regent]], as well. Not ''quite'' as bad as her son when it comes to the pointlessly petty bonkers though (not like that's particularly hard). Although... she is currently being far more effective at ruling spectacularly badly, mainly thanks to being a drunk, spoiled and narcissistic ''adult'' on the throne.

** Of Aerys's children, his son Rhaegar was a ByronicHero of questionable sanity given his fixation on prophecy and his abduction of Lyanna Stark setting up the civil war, and his daughter Daenerys is clearly sane (with even Aerys's former Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Barristan, certifying that she's nothing like her father), while his other son Viserys was the next Caligula-to-be. The dynastic tradition of BrotherSisterIncest might have had something to do with this, to the point that Daenerys's great-grandfather, the fifth Aegon (who married a non-Targaryen) intended to end this practice and was quite displeased when his children Jaehaerys II and Shaera copied his MarryForLove decision but married ''each other'' and then forced their own children, the aforementioned Aerys and Rhaella, into this themselves against their will because it was foretold TheChosenOne would be born of Aerys and Rhaella's line (which seems to be true, since the most obvious candidates for TheChosenOne in the series are their daughter Daenerys, Jon Snow[[spoiler:, who is likely to be their son Rhaegar's son with Lyanna Stark]], or both).

** Of Aerys's children, his son Rhaegar was of questionable sanity given his fixation on prophecy and his abduction of Lyanna Stark setting up the civil war, and his daughter Daenerys is clearly sane (with even Aerys's former Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Barristan, certifying that she's nothing like her father), while his other son Viserys was the next Caligula-to-be. The dynastic tradition of BrotherSisterIncest might have had something to do with this, to the point that Daenerys's great-grandfather, the fifth Aegon (who married a non-Targaryen) intended to end this practice and was quite displeased when his children Jaehaerys II and Shaera copied his MarryForLove decision but married ''each other'' and then forced their own children, the aforementioned Aerys and Rhaella, into this themselves against their will because it was foretold TheChosenOne would be born of Aerys and Rhaella's line (which seems to be true, since the most obvious candidates for TheChosenOne in the series are their daughter Daenerys, Jon Snow[[spoiler:, who is likely to be their son Rhaegar's son with Lyanna Stark]], or both).

** Indeed, [[RoyallyScrewedUp the whole Targaryen dynasty]] had this trope going on multiple times along the way, to the point that Jaehaerys II said that when Targaryens were born the gods flipped a coin between madness and greatness, although this is an exaggeration. Most of them were either [[TheGoodKing good and competent rulers]] like Jaehaerys the Conciliator and Daeron the Good or simply unremarkable, with Mad King Aerys and Maegor the Cruel being the only Caligulas to actually sit the throne, though there were other Caligulas who didn't become king but tended to get away with their excesses because of their family. The fourth Aegon, known as the Unworthy, was a lecherous FatBastard but not crazypants, while Baleor the Blessed was not all there but his crazy took the form of extreme piety, peacefulness and charity, so most people remember him as one of the gooduns.

** Indeed, [[RoyallyScrewedUp the whole Targaryen dynasty]] had this trope going on multiple times along the way, to the point that Jaehaerys II said that when Targaryens were born the gods flipped a coin between madness and greatness, although this is an exaggeration. Most of them were either [[TheGoodKing good and competent rulers]] or simply unremarkable, with Mad King Aerys and Maegor the Cruel being the only Caligulas to actually sit the throne, though there were other Caligulas who didn't become king but tended to get away with their excesses because of their family. Of Aerys's children, his son Rhaegar was of questionable sanity given his fixation on prophecy and his abduction of Lyanna Stark setting up the civil war, and his daughter Daenerys is clearly sane (with even Aerys's former Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Barristan, certifying that she's nothing like her father), while his other son Viserys was the next Caligula-to-be. The dynastic tradition of BrotherSisterIncest might have had something to do with this, to the point that Daenerys's great-grandfather Aegon V (who married a non-Targaryen) intended to end this practice and was quite displeased when his children Jaehaerys II and Shaera copied his MarryForLove decision but married ''each other'' and then forced their own children, the aforementioned Aerys and Rhaella, into this themselves against their will because it was foretold TheChosenOne would be born of Aerys and Rhaella's line (which seems to be true, since the most obvious candidates for TheChosenOne in the series are their daughter Daenerys, Jon Snow[[spoiler:, who is likely to be their son Rhaegar's son with Lyanna Stark]], or both).

** Indeed, [[RoyallyScrewedUp the whole Targaryen dynasty]] had this trope going on multiple times along the way, to the point that Jaehaerys II said that when Targaryens were born the gods flipped a coin between madness and greatness, although this is an exaggeration. Most of them were either [[TheGoodKing good and competent rulers]] or simply unremarkable, with Mad King Aerys and Maegor the Cruel being the only Caligulas to actually sit the throne, though there were other Caligulas who didn't become king but tended to get away with their excesses because of their family. Of Aerys's children, his son Rhaegar was of questionable sanity given his fixation on prophecy and his abduction of Lyanna Stark setting up the civil war, and his daughter Daenerys is clearly sane (with even Aerys's former Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Barristan, certifying that she's nothing like her father), while his other son Viserys was the next Caligula-to-be. The dynastic tradition of BrotherSisterIncest might have had something to do with this, to the point that Daenerys's great-grandfather Aegon V (who married a non-Targaryen) intended to end this practice and was quite displeased when his children Jaehaerys II and Shaera copied his MarryForLove decision but married ''each other'' and then forced their own children, the aforementioned Aerys and Rhaella, into this themselves against their will (because it was foretold TheChosenOne would be born of Aerys and Rhaella's line).