History Main / PuppetKing

This trope could backfire on the puppeteers if they pick the wrong person for the job. A puppet who turns out to be TheChessmaster or a MagnificentBastard and gets a ReassignmentBackfire can seize power for real, turning on his would-be controllers with a vengeance.

** {{Subverted}} by Joffrey, who is installed by Cersei as one but his StupidEvil tendencies mean he goes spectacularly off-script at the end of "Baelor" and leaves his puppetmasters powerless. During their respective tenures as Hand of the King, Tyrion invests no effort to make Joffrey into this trope because he realizes the futility of it and just does things without Joffrey knowing, while Tywin does as he pleases because he can intimidate Joffrey into not interfering. In Season 3 however, Margaery endears herself to Joffrey by playing to his sadistic side and using ObfuscatingStupidity to keep him from realizing she's manipulating him. Cersei disapproves of it, but Tywin is amused by it and lets it happen since at least finally someone is learning to control him. Even in Season 1, Renly and Littlefinger both try to set Joffrey up as a temporary puppet to Ned Stark, only for Ned's Honor to unravel their plans.

* Parodied in ''Series/TheGoodies Rule -- OK?'' with the Goodies setting up a [[LiteralMetaphor literal puppet government]] using the cast of ''Series/TheSootyShow''. Unfortunately things soon get out of hand, culminating in Chequers being demolished by a giant [[WesternAnimation/TheMagicRoundabout Dougal and Zebedee]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': [[Characters/AmphibiaKingAndrias King Andrias]] may appear to be the ruler of Newtopia, (And by extension, the entire titular country), but we see him taking orders from mysterious entity midway through the second season. In the third season, this entity is revealed to be The Core, a MindHive of Amphibia's past rulers and greatest scholars uploaded into a massive computer. The king just happens to be a frontman for the Core.

* In ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', [[spoiler:[[PlayerCharacter V]] discovers a conspiracy in which somebody has been brainwashing [[WretchedHive Night City]]'s new mayor Jefferson Peralez and his wife, implanting them with FakeMemories and altering their personalities with the apparent intent of... [[BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood making them better politicians]]. The player [[AmbiguousSituation never does discover who's responsible]], and has the option of [[TheBadGuyWins letting them go unopposed]] or warning Jefferson. If they go with the former he becomes even more of a ReasonableAuthorityFigure and declares war on homelessness, but in the latter he becomes [[ProperlyParanoid consumed by paranoia]] in an attempt to invoke ThePuppetCutsHisStrings]].

* The villain's plot in ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'' is based around the conspirators who murdered the Empress of Dunwall turning Emily, her daughter, into one of these so that the Lord Regent can rule in her stead. [[spoiler: Then, when they're all dealt with by Corvo, by the Loyalists]]. Hell, the {{DLC}}s for the game are based upon preventing this from happening as well, only in that case [[spoiler: it's due to a GrandTheftMe plot.]]

** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', if [[spoiler: Alistair becomes King while not hardened]] he becomes this. The person with true power can be Anora [[spoiler: if they are convinced to get married, the Warden if they become the Chancellor]] or Arl Eamon. He doesn't seem to care.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' has Emperor Mateus, the ruler of Palamecia. The novelization of the game implies that he and all of the previous Emperors of Palamecia were the puppet kings of Satan. This ends up backfiring when Mateus dies and proceeds to ''[[HellHasNewManagement take over Hell.]]''

* In the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series:

* In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', [[spoiler:N was officially the leader of Team Plasma, a group of {{Well-Intentioned Extremist}}s who intended to separate Pokémon from humans under the belief that the latter group abuses Pokémon, but his advisor Ghetsis was secretly manipulating N and by extension the entirety of Team Plasma so he could take over the planet by being the only one allowed to own Pokémon]].
** In VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon [[spoiler:Ghetsis attempts to do this again with [[BigBad Giovanni]], though he doesn't get as far with this plan as he did with N]].

* The Subspace Emissary mode in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' eventually reveals that [[spoiler: Master Hand (the BigBad of the previous games) is ''literally'' being puppeteered by new villain Tabuu. Ganondorf (the only other villain still standing at that point) immediately turns on him with this revelation, only to be stricken down effortlessly by Tabuu's [[OneHitKill Off Waves]].]]

* ''[[Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender Avatar]]'':

* In ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', the Diamonds are presumed by the lower-ranking Gems to rule the Gem Empire equally, [[spoiler: but in truth, this is not the case. Pink Diamond spent millennia begging her sisters for her own planet to colonize. When they finally decided to do so, they gave her the Earth. Pink assumed that the planet was uninhabited. But when she discovered that it was already brimming with life, she wanted to cease Gem operations on the planet and leave, but her sisters wouldn't allow it. Pink tried her hardest to gain approval to shut down the Earth colony, but the only result was that her sisters took control of the colony while leaving her as a puppet to her oblivious subjects. Finally fed up, Pink decided to [[FakingTheDead stage her murder]] and [[DefectorFromDecadence lead a rebellion against her sisters.]]]]

* ''Literature/TheSagaOfSevenSuns'': Literally built into the Terran Hansa Charter. The Great King is a monarch who acts as the Hansa's public face and is a focus for loyalty, but the Hansa Chairman (a career politician publicly seen as the king's assistant) is the one really calling the shots behind the scenes, and the king has no influence over policy.
* ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'': The President of the Galactic Empire has no actual power, and exists to distract the public from the real leaders. The Emperor is even more useless, being kept in suspended animation for the last ten thousand years so they can still call it an empire[[note]]Which sounds like a blatant TakeThat to ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', except that the book predates the game by several years[[/note]]. The galaxy is really "ruled" by the decisions of a delusional old man in a hut who refuses to believe in anything he doesn't experience empirically.
* ''Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium'':
** ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': King Théoden of Rohan was effectively turned into one puppet until Gandalf snapped him out of it. In the movies, this was due to literal MindControl, while in the books EvilChancellor Wormtongue was "just" a very ManipulativeBastard who used mundane means and the king's advancing age to get actual control of the government handed over to him.
** ''Literature/TheFallOfNumenor'': Sauron is taken to Númenor as a prisoner, but before long he has become Ar-Pharazôn's chief advisor, and he takes even less time to become the real power behind the throne. All he need do is whisper 'Great kings must have their will' in Ar-Pharazôn's ear, and the king will do whatever Sauron wants, convinced that he is doing his will instead of Sauron's.
* ''Literature/TimeOutOfTime'': Tristan acts as the keeper of the market for Balor (who {{Glamour}}s himself into his "Animal Tamer" disguise) in the absence of the Filidh.
* ''Literature/{{Warbreaker}}'': [[spoiler: God-King Susebron]] is an example of one who knows and accepts his own role as a symbol and his priests' role as the actual administrators -- [[spoiler:at least, until his young wife [[PluckyGirl Siri]] convinces him otherwise]].

* UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria is in thrall to the title character in ''Literature/AnnoDracula'' until [[spoiler:her HeroicSacrifice]]. It serves as an interesting analysis of this trope. In a legal and political sense, Dracula is merely Royal Consort, a position that comes with absolutely no actual authority or any special loyalty from the British people. Without influence over Victoria [[spoiler:all of Britain turns on him]].
* In Creator/MercedesLackey's ''Literature/DragonJousters'' series the two sets of royalty in the opposing kingdoms are under the control of the same group of evil magicians determined to keep the war going to they can harvest the life energy of the slain soldiers.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** ''Literature/GuardsGuards'' the goal of the Elucidated Brethren is to set up one of these with themselves holding the reins. The idea is that they will get a chap with the usual characteristics (noble, not too bright, does what he's told), have him seemingly slay a dragon they summoned (and subsequently banish), and reap the rewards. Unfortunately the dragon turns out to be NotQuiteDead, and then things get interesting...
** According to Unseen University's Bursar, all of the Archchancellors are supposed to be this. Seeing almost all of them get killed off by KlingonPromotion before doing anything important, the only thing they needed to do was sign papers. That all came to an end when Mustrum Ridcully was put in charge... along with the Bursar's sanity.
** In ''Literature/{{Pyramids}}'' Pteppic becomes King of Djelibeybi with plans to modernize, only to discover he has doesn't even have the power to pick his lunch. High Priest Dios knows exactly what the king ''should'' be doing and what decisions he ''should'' be making, so he announces the king's commands and everyone nervously ignores Pteppic protesting that he said the exact opposite. He ends up rescuing someone he sentenced to death from his own dungeons and fleeing the country.
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's "Literature/TheScarletCitadel", the villains want to replace Literature/ConanTheBarbarian with one; Conan scorns them for needing an excuse.

** In the same book, we have the Death Eater [[spoiler: Severus Snape]] serving as the new Headmaster of Hogwarts, acting as Voldemort's representative at the school in the wake of his rise to power; though in his case, [[spoiler: [[GoodAllAlong he turns out to have been loyal to Dumbledore all along]]]].
* ''Literature/DaysOfInfamy'', a Creator/HarryTurtledove alternate timeline series, features Japan invading Hawaii following the Pearl Harbor attack. Mirroring the establishment of the puppet emperor Puyi of Manchukuo the Japanese military places a local noble with a dubious pedigree as the new King of Hawaii.
* Emperor Sarabian starts ''Literature/TheTamuli'' as one of these. He has the prestige and the perks, but his VastBureaucracy appropriated all the power generations ago. By the end of the trilogy, his new Elene friends help him take his power back. To maintain this charade, the bureaucrats have tried to make the imperial bloodline as stupid as possible. While the Emperor has many wives the only one who can legally bear an heir to the throne is selected by the bureaucrats based on their stupidity. If the current Emperor or heir shows too much intelligence or initiative, they're assassinated.
* ''Literature/InThePresenceOfMineEnemies:'' After [[ALighterShadeOfBlack Buckliger]] is deposed in a coup, it's pretty blatant that the new official chief of state is a nonentity who is acting as the mouthpiece for the SS.
* In Sinclair Lewis' ''Literature/ItCantHappenHere'', Buzz Windrip is a puppet dictator, with his right-hand man [[TheManBehindTheMan Lee Saranson]] really pulling the strings. Saranson's lust for power drives him to [[spoiler: exile Windrip after an aborted assassination attempt]].

** If Littlefinger's drunken ramblings are to be believed, [[spoiler:he is grooming Sansa Stark, who he is posing as his illegitimate daughter Alayne Stone, to be this for the North, the Vale, and the Riverlands -- and possibly even all of Westeros, if his plan is indeed to covertly take over the whole continent using their combined might.]]

* ''Literature/GarrettPI'' has a Puppet King''pin'' in Chodo Contague, who suffers a debilitating stroke in ''Dread Brass Shadows''. His co-Dragons take over the Outfit for a time by putting words in his mouth; when his daughter Belinda figures it out, she ousts them from power and exploits her comatose father in the same way. (The Dead Man's hinted the current situation may be more complex, but nothing's come of that in the last few books.)
* ''Literature/WarOfTheWorldsGlobalDispatches'': in the story "Foreign Devils", The Guangxu Emperor starts out as this. Officially, he is the leader of China but in reality, prince Tuan has all the power because of his many allies and formidable army. The Martian invasion, which cripples Tuan’s army, provides the emperor with a chance to finally take back power however.
* Dunevon, the four-year-old king of the Copper Isles in the ''Literature/TrickstersDuet''. Rubinyan and Imajane are his regents and take the opportunity to be even more tyrannical than their father was. Later, [[spoiler:kill him so Rubinyan can just take the throne outright. This is defied on the raka side -- after Sarai elopes, Dove takes her place in their plans but makes it ''very'' clear that she is not going to be one of these.]]
* In ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'' Alethkar was multiple nations until it was united by Gavilar. Unfortunately he was killed, a lot of the people currently ruling parts of Alethkar used to rule nations in their own right, and his son Elhokar doesn't have nearly the strength of will his father did. As a result, he's fairly ineffective. In the second book, Gavilar's brother Dalinar starts trying to make the king more of a uniting figure. But between Dalinar's forceful personality and Elohkar's indecision and general lack of competence, even people who ''like'' Dalinar think it just makes the king look like his puppet.
* In ''Franchise/{{DUNE}}'', Emperor Corrino is the absolute ruler of the known universe, but he needs to heed the demands of the Spacing Guild, without them the galaxy will be completely isolated from each other. The Guild demands for the Emperor to kill Paul Atreides, or else Paul will stop the flow of spice in Arrakis which everyone depends on.
* In ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', Emperors Shao and Xian are this. Shan is the puppet of Dong Zhuo, while Xian is the puppet, initially, of Dong Zhuo, but ultimately of Cao Cao. In Wei, Cao Fang, Cao Mao, and Cao Huan end up as puppets of the Simas.
* In the ''Literature/TowersTrilogy'', Farrow is ostensibly run by the hereditary leader Alden Kian-Farrow. In reality, he is addicted to drugs provided to him by the caster Ahrent Altaigh, who makes all the actual decisions.
* Discussed in the fourth ''Literature/{{Noob}}'' novel. Töne Förk is the rightful heir to the Coalition's leadership, but performed a HeelFaceTurn to avoid getting captured and possibly killed by the men of Lorth Kordigän, who took over the Coalition by force. When they meet again, Lorth Kordigän attempts to spin his defection into him abandoning his people. Töne replies that even if Lorth Kordigän had left him alive and let him take his rightful position, he would have probably done everything he could to make him into this trope.
* ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'': Bill Kraft refuses to become the governor of Maine and ''de facto'' leader of Victoria. But since Bill thinks of himself as a Prussian, his friends contact the last heir of the House of Hohenzollern, the Kaiser, who ''orders'' Bill to become the Governor. So, in a book where New England secedes from the rest of the United States, their chosen leader answers to a foreign monarch.
* In ''Literature/{{Destroyermen}}'', the [[TransplantedHumans Empire of New Britain Isles]] (located where Hawaii would be on our Earth) is officially ruled by Governor-Emperor Gerald [=McDonald=]. However, in reality, the Empire is run by the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Honorable New Britain Company]], which primarily makes it money by enslaving women. Not only do the Company higher-ups control much of the navy, but they enforce their control by the presence of their equivalent of ThePoliticalOfficer on each ship, who are, officially, only observers. Except no captain would dare disobey for fear of reprisals and {{Kangaroo Court}}s. Furthermore, the Company higher-ups appear to be in league with the [[ReligionOfEvil Holy]] [[TheEmpire Dominion]] (mainly located in Mexico) and are paving way for a Dom invasion. Only with the help of TheAlliance, the Empire manages to throw off the Company yoke and join the Alliance against the Dominion and the [[LizardFolk Grik]]. Gerald [=McDonald=] once again rules the Empire ([[spoiler:until he's assassinated by his own people, and his teenage daughter Rebecca Anne [=McDonald=] becomes the Governor-Empress. Unlike her father, she's ruthless and completely dedicated to the Alliance cause]]).
* In ''[[Literature/{{Magic20}} Off to Be the Wizard]]'', the late King Stephen and his son King Arthur are this to Merlin. When Jimmy first came to Medieval England (like most time-traveling hackers, he got caught updating his bank account balance), he decided that he would become the mythical Merlin and insists that everyone calls him that. He heads to London and convinces King Stephen to rename the city "Camelot" and his son "Arthur" (born Eustace). Eventually, "Merlin" becomes the ''de facto'' ruler of "Camelot", with the King always going along with his "suggestions". "Merlin" builds a new palace of pure gold and commissions a large statue of [[OurFounder him, Stephen, and Arthur]], with "Merlin" looking more dominant of the three. After Jimmy's defeat by the other wizards, they tell Arthur that he's now free of "Merlin"'s tyranny, only for Arthur to look at him in confusion and ask what he should do now. Since he's never been a true ruler in his life, he has absolutely zero experience in ruling his kingdom.
* The King of France in ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'' is a puppet to Cardinal Richelieu.
* On paper, Grand Vicar Erek XVII of the Church of God Awaiting is the absolute ruler of the temple lands and leader of the dominant (and, at the start of the series, only) church on ''Literature/{{Safehold}}''. In practice, he's so controlled by the Vicars known as the Group of Four that it's a common joke that he demonstrates his independence from his Chancellor by picking what shoes to wear in the morning. The only thing he is ever shown actually doing in the first nine books is delivering a traditional annual State of the Faith address to the senior clergy, which the Group of Four wrote for him. [[spoiler:He's so ineffective that when a coup places Robair Duchairn in the Grand Vicar's throne at the end of book 9, the author couldn't be bothered to mention what happened to the official holder of that position, only the fate of the puppetmasters.]]
* ''Literature/GentlemanBastard'': The Bondsmages of Karthain are casual {{Super Supremacist}}s who make a sport out of throwing the city-state's elections; unknown to the general population, the political parties are functionally indistinguishable except for which Bondsmage faction is manipulating them. Gives a whole new meaning to "political theatre".
* Creator/NKJemisin's ''Literature/InheritanceTrilogy'': In theory, [[TheEmpire the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms]] are jointly ruled by the Nobles Consortium and the Church of [[TopGod Itempas]], with the Arameri family as "advisors". In practice, the Arameri dynasty are ruthless and absolute rulers, their will enforced by four enslaved gods, and everyone knows it.
* This is the ultimate fate of [[spoiler: Rassendyll]] in KJ Charles's PerspectiveFlip romance novel ''The Henchmen of Zenda''. The now-Queen Flavia is the one who actually knows about politics and governing, and also the one who actually cares about doing a good job, so she's the one running the show even though there's a King. [[spoiler: Once she has what she needs from Rassendyll-posing-as-Elphberg, namely the title of Queen Regnant and heirs, he conveniently develops a mysterious illness, although Detchard, the protagonist, has no way of knowing whether it was really murder or just a coincidence.]]
* In ''Literature/TheMentalState'', Commissioner Viceman, a notoriously right-wing official, suddenly starts making a lot of liberal changes to the state prison system. Unbeknownst to his colleagues and even the inmates themselves, his reason for doing this is because he is secretly being blackmailed by one of his own prisoners, Zack State. Once he has the dirt on Viceman, Zack essentially serves as the supreme authority in prison, despite his fellow inmates only ever speculating about just how much he is really responsible for.
* ''Literature/TheLockedTomb: Literature/GideonTheNinth'': Harrow's parents. [[OfCorpseHesAlive Quite literally.]] While they're still the rulers of Drearburh in name, Harrow controls them and everything else in practice. She's been coming up with increasingly elaborate vows (of silence, fasting, etc) for them for years to explain why they never speak or appear anywhere that's not a public event. Harrow started this con to avoid meeting a similar fate--when her parents died, she was only ten, and she knew that if word got out, she would end up somebody's vassal in fact if not name. (Something similar happened to the Fourth House; due to their Barons' tendency to die gloriously and young in battle and leave their titles to literal fetuses, they're more or less an appendage of the more politically influential Fifth House.)
* ''Literature/TheToughGuideToFantasyland'': One variety of bad king is being controlled by the Dark Lord mentally, along with their elite soldiers.
* ''Literature/TheElminsterSeries'': Belaur, the oldest prince of Athalantar, hires many mages to help him secure the throne. However, they're the ones truly in charge afterward, though he doesn't seem to care, being far more interested in [[TheHedonist drinking and bedding beautiful women]].
* ''Literature/AscendanceOfABookworm'': The archduke of Ehrenfest has a complicated relationship with this trope:
** Up to the scene in which archduke's identity is revealed, he was letting his maternal uncle and mother get away with various dubious activities. He spends part of the aforementioned scene announcing that he's putting his uncle and mother under arrest because they have become more trouble than they're worth. It later turns out that one of the archduke's cousin's children was reluctant to become a retainer in the archduke's household because he considered him to be essentially a puppet to his mother.
** After her arrest, many of the archduke's mother's allies are persuaded that the archduke is being manipulated by the man who's closer to being his CloudcuckoolandersMinder and HypercompetentSidekick in reality.
* ''Literature/DarkShores'': Urcon is a dreaded tyrant of Arinoquia, ruling with an iron fist and brutal force. When he is defeated, it turns out he is a frail old man and the actual ruler was one Ashok.
* ''Literature/BazilBroketail'':
** Thrembode attempted to make the prince of Marneri into this, since he's a brain-damaged and easily manipulated fool, so he can be a pawn of Padmasa after becoming king. However, this is thwarted by the witches, who arrange some "accident" for him.
** The people of Kraheen worship Ajoth Gol Dib like a messiah, Kraheen armies fight in his name, and yet he holds no real power. He is just a religious figurehead, used by Padmasa to control the locals.
* ''Literature/TheFifthSeason'': [[TheEmpire Yumenes]] in ''theory'' has an Emperor, but in practice he's little more than an expensive ornament. The bureaucrats--particularly those who control the earthquake-manipulating orogenes--are the ones who really run the show.
* ''Literature/TheSunneInSplendour'': Henry VI is weak-willed and mentally ill, and he is controlled by either his wife or whatever powerful courtier is near him. But when the Earl of Warwick, puts the teenage Edward IV on the throne, he expects Edward to be a puppet and is very wrong.
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': In the young readers novella series ''Literature/TheGloveOfDarthVader'', the Empire is nominally headed by Trioculous, who claims to be Emperor Palpatine's illegitimate son. In actuality, Trioculous is an [[BigBadWannabe incompetent buffoon]] being used as a figurehead by the Central Committee of Grand Moffs, chaired by Grand Moff Hissa, who is himself an UnwittingPawn of the Prophets of the Dark Side.
* ''Literature/TheObsidianChronicles'': The Dukes of Manfort. In reality the Dragon Society runs the city and has for centuries, controlling the Dukes through having their chief advisors be senior members.

* The head of Global Dynamics on ''{{Series/Eureka}}'' is apparently assumed to be this for the Department of Defense. In season 4, this is subtly hinted at being the reason [[spoiler: [[ChewToy Fargo]] landed the job in the altered timeline.]]

-->'''Luc''': [skeptical] Are you ''really'' the Emperor?\\

* ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'': Prime Minister Masakuni Mido ends up as one to [[MegaCorp Namba Industries]]. The moment he refuses to do what they say, [[spoiler:their CEO has him assassinated.]]
* Arthur is seriously flirting with this territory in ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'' due to the constant influence of and his desire to not tick off Agravaine.
* In ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', Darnell is in WitnessProtection for refusal to kill one of these. The puppet king in question was a child, and Darnell [[spoiler: secret agent Harry Munroe]] couldn't bring himself to harm a child.
* Parodied in the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "Smile Time", where the creator of a kid's puppet show is a human being controlled by the literal demonic puppets that act in the show.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'':
*** "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E17APieceOfTheAction A Piece of the Action]]" provides the page quote. The crew find themselves on a planet of gangsters who are constantly fighting one another, and GuileHero Kirk offers to set up someone as a puppet leader of The Federation, which he pretends is TheSyndicate, in order to bring peace to the world.
*** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E21PatternsOfForce Patterns of Force]]", what happens when a Starfleet historian ignores history and tries to bring back the Nazis for a PlanetOfHats? He ends up giving drugged speeches for an EvilChancellor.
** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
*** During the Cardassian occupation of Bajor, they had an occupational government with Bajorans serving as puppet rulers. When the Cardassians left Bajor, the surviving collaborators largely left with them, and were soon after exiled from Bajor.
*** When Cardassia joins the Dominion, they at first install the ambitious [[Characters/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineGulDukat Gul Dukat]] as their puppet ruler, even though he and Weyoun - the Founders' toady-in-chief - try to maintain the illusion that Dukat is ''not'' a puppet ruler. When Dukat loses his sanity and is captured by the Federation, the Dominion installs dull yes-man Damar as leader of the Cardassian Union; he ends up being a puppet controlled by Weyoun. When Damar sees how far Cardassia has fallen under his "leadership," he decides that enough is enough and declares rebellion against the Dominion; the Dominion soon replaces him with another puppet, Legate Broca, who remains unquestioningly loyal to the Founders even when [[spoiler:he's about to be executed after the Cardassian Fleet defects]].
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' has Damien Moreau practically run San Lorenzo, at one point ordering the changing of the banking laws of the country to save himself money, with Ribera as his figurehead. [[spoiler: When the team manage to steal the rigged election from them both they convince Ribera to turn on Moreau in exchange for a comfortable and peaceful retirement]].

** With the death of Sansa's [[spoiler:father, her mother and her brother Robb]], her younger brothers being [[spoiler:presumed dead,]] her sister missing, and her second-oldest brother being [[HeroicBastard illegitimate]] and sworn to the Watch, the Lannisters plan to use her name to take the North by marrying her to Tyrion Lannister.

* In the ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' three-parter, "Look at the Princess", both the Peacekeepers and the Scarrans are conspiring to put a ruler amenable to their interests on the throne of a [[PlanetOfHats neo-feudal planet.]]
** There's also Dominar Rygel XVI, a '''literal''' puppet king.
-->'''Rygel:''' "I'm nobody's puppet!"
* Emperor Lao Tzu from ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' is an almost literal example. When his health deteriorated, his wife Lao Ma (who was also Xena's former mentor/possible lover during her time in China) placed him in a magically-induced coma and proceeded to rule in his name, undoing his tyrannical rule but letting him take credit for the good deeds she accomplished. What makes this almost literal is that she would prop him up in the palace gardens once a month to assure people that he wasn't dead.
* ''Series/{{Rome}}''
** Using this trope [[MagnificentBastard Octavian]] tricks Cicero into making him consul, suggesting that he wants the title out of vanity and that, being so young, he would require Cicero's constant guidance. He quickly demonstrates otherwise by [[AppealToForce marching his legionnaires into the Senate.]]
** Invoked by Cleopatra, who refers to herself as a Puppet Queen in order to present a submissive face to Julius Caesar so it will be in his interest to support her taking the throne, which her brother (a RoyalBrat who is too arrogant to accept the reality that Egypt is a vassal state of Rome) currently holds. However, she has no intention of staying that way. She has a child with Caesar and plots with Marc Antony to have her son inherit the Roman Empire

* ''Series/TheWhiteQueen'': King Henry VI's brief return to the English throne finds him staring vacantly and barely able to talk, while Lord Warwick runs the country.

* The ''TabletopGame/StarWarsRoleplayingGame''. Following Emperor Palpatine's death at the [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi Battle of Endor]], [[TheEmpire the Galactic Empire]] is in total disarray. For the next two years the Rebels, who are now the New Republic, sweep through Imperial territory getting closer and closer to the capital Coruscant. In the midst of this Imperial Admiral Oxtroe realizes that the war is lost and tries to negotiate with the Rebels a compromise that keeps some of the Empire in place. Her plan is to place Palpatine's grand-niece on the throne. However, she's only 11 years old. She would be nothing more than a powerless figurehead (see constitutional monarch) while the New Republic leadership would run the government, including any military forces. Before the negotiations could take place however, [[spoiler: Oxtroe is assassinated, possible by an agent of [[Literature/HeirToTheEmpire Grand Admiral Thrawn]].]]
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', the land of Numeria is ruled by the barbarian king Kevoth-Kul, known as the Black Sovereign. In truth, however, he spends most of his time in a hedonistic drug-addled haze, with the Technic League (the ones supplying the drugs) being the real power. It's something of an open secret, but to say so is to invite a quick death. [[spoiler: The ''Iron Gods'' adventure path for First Edition gives the [=PCs=] the opportunity to break the League's power and help Kevoth-Kul escape his addictions and reclaim true authority. When Second Edition updated the setting to incorporate the events of the 1E adventure paths, this option was confirmed as canon.]]

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* The comic book series ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'' has a literal puppet emperor. [[spoiler:Gepetto, who's still playing humble woodcarver,]] is actually in charge.
* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour:'' Latveria has a Prime Minister (and by implication therefore he's got to have a cabinet of some kind), but since DOOM is the unquestioned lord and master of Latveria, the Prime Minister's job is basically to deal with all the boring fiddly day-to-day details of ruling a country that DOOM can't be bothered with. Exactly ''how'' these Prime Ministers get the job is unclear, but they can be replaced (or ''[[DeadlyEuphemism replaced]]'') whenever Doom feels like it.
* The ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'' comic had a puppet ''dictator''. Originally he was a strong, visionary leader (and of course an evil fascist), but over the course of the story, he slowly withdraws from actually running the country, and though he remains an important public symbol and figurehead, leaving one of his ministers to basically assume real control of the government.
* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'', Elias just can't help but be controlled by someone. The first time, it was Geoffry St. John, who tried to make it so that he and his Secret Service was a much better choice than Sonic and the Freedom Fighters. Second time, Elias' own father Max attempted to be this way, refusing to give up the past.

* ''ComicBook/StarWarsDarthVader'': Queen Trios makes it clear that while she might be Darth Vader's puppet, she's still the absolute ruler of her world and she's entirely willing to follow Vader's methods of asserting her authority. Vader had massacred the previous royal family and left her in charge because a [[TheUnfavourite ruler unprepared for the position]] is easier to control. Trios ends up doing the same with the SoleSurvivor of a family of rebel ore-barons, and looks to Vader for approval of her action. In one scene she even reprimands Vader for undermining her authority in front of her subjects, [[PragmaticVillainy a point Vader concedes.]]

* ''Fanfic/TheParselmouthOfGryffindor'': Cornelius Fudge is a mere figurehead, with Hermione as the power behind the ministerial chair, through his constantly asking for her advice because he has no idea how to deal with any sorts of responsibilities.
* In ''Fanfic/EquestriaAHistoryRevealed'', the LemonyNarrator stumbles upon the fact that the rulers of Saddle Arabia may have been replaced by a more pro-Celestia leadership. [[PlayedForLaughs She doesn't really give this much thought though]], and just moves on. Given that her essay was made to reveal these [[TheConspiracy hidden conspiracies]], and this is the first event she covers that actually has potential to be seen as an actual conspiracy, this seems to be quite the overlook.
* ''[[FanFic/MLPNextGenerationLoveConquersAllAvariceTakesItAll MLP Next Generation: Love Conquers All! Avarice Takes It All!]]'': After Gilda becomes Empress of the Griffons, she finds herself out of her depth and reliant on the "advice" of her brother Nox, who was already manipulating the ongoing war for his own ends under their father Stratus [[spoiler: before [[SelfMadeOrphan killing him]] and becoming a Black Lantern]]. And on top of that, her own military only pays lip service out of [[MyMasterRightOrWrong loyalty to the throne]], and don't respect her authority at all.

* ''Fanfic/DominusMundiTheKingOfKings'' (''Franchise/HarryPotter''): Back when the [[{{Atlantis}} Atlantean Empire]] still existed, there were a few cases when power rested in the hands of the Mother of Sovereignty (a dowager of sorts), the [[GodEmperor Divine Sovereign]] being more of a puppet to his mother than an actual ruler.
* ''FanFic/QueenOfShadows'' plays with this a little. While [[GodEmperor the line of Queens]] are the ultimate authority of the Shadowkhan Empire, most administrative power lies in the hands of the [[CoDragons Circle of Generals]], though the reigning Queen can override them at any time. Also, any attempt to try and actively reduce the Queen into an actually powerless figurehead (like [[AmbitionIsEvil Jirobo]] has been trying to do) is seen as something only [[FantasticRacism lowly humans]] would try to do.
* In the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'', it's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:[[BadFuture Dark World Discord]] has long since been reduced to this. By all outside appearances, he's an EvilOverlord ruling with an iron fist, but he's actually trapped in a GroundhogDayLoop by [[BigBad Nightmare Eclipse]], a [[FutureMeScaresMe potential future Twilight Sparkle]] who turned his VillainWorld into his own personal IronicHell. Discord technically has freedom...but ''only'' if he's doing something Eclipse approves of (basically, something evil she can later hate him for), and she's capable of overlaying his own actions from a previous loop and forcing him to perform them [[AndIMustScream against his will]]. It's gotten to the point Discord has long since performed a HeelFaceTurn but she's keeping him from ''acting'' on it.]]
* ''Fanfic/LostInCamelot'' has Bo claim that Uther is this for her; fae tradition automatically makes Bo the ruler of Camelot as the first fae to take up residence in that territory, but while Bo is willing to defend the kingdom from other fae, since she doesn't want to actually rule anyone she claims to more benevolent fae that she just lets Uther ''think'' he's still in charge, essentially claiming that Uther deals with the boring parts of ruling a kingdom for her.
* In the ''Fanfic/{{Neomorphs}}'' series, after [[BigBad the Visser]] rebuilds the Yeerk Empire into the New Yeerk Order, the Council of Thirteen offers him the position of Emperor. The Visser turns them down, [[JustTheFirstCitizen sticking to his military title]], simultaneously reducing the Emperor (and the rest of the Council) to figureheads, who at best are planetary governors of the Yeerk homeworld. [[spoiler: Later on in the series, it's shown they're pissed about this, and the new Emperor (the Visser's twin) is gathering forces to [[EnemyCivilWar retake control]] from him.]]
* In ''Fanfic/BlackSky'', [[spoiler: that's the reason why Erica Lanza refuses to run for Vongola Decimo Boss in spite of having the bloodline and the Sky Affinity, as she knows she ''would'' become that for Xanxus. She has no problems with that, but she fears to introduce a precedent for "unfit" heirs being taken over by [[RegentForLife more competent subordinates]].]]
* In ''Fanfic/AManOfIron'', Tywin Lannister idly entertains the notion of a Warden of the North being loyal to the Lannisters, as seen when he lets Antony Stark take residence in the Westerlands and become his bannerman. Of course, Antony is far down the succession line, but a man can dream... With the CivilWar looming on the horizon and Jon Snow's adoption by Antony, Tywin feels no qualms about wiping the entire Stark family out and introducing Jon as new Lord of Winterfell. He reasons it would keep the Northern lords happy -- Jon being from the Stark bloodline - [[WrongGenreSavvy while giving the bastard the opportunity to avenge himself]] [[EvilCannotComprehendGood from Catelyn Stark's scorn by supplanting her children]].

* In the PeggySue fic ''Fanfic/RiseOfANewMoon'', [[GenderFlip Luna]] plans to use Clovis to make sweeping policy changes in Japan, [[ToWinWithoutFighting essentially fulfilling her objectives there without needing to face Britannia militarily]] in a war she knows they would lose. He goes along with it, knowing that he's no great administrator and that it would spare him from C.C.'s wrath for all the ColdBloodedTorture she endured under Code-R. [[SpannerInTheWorks Unfortunately, the Blood of the Samurai decide to mix things up a bit.]]
* In ''Fanfic/TheRavensPlan'', after the rebelling slaves and the Second Sons take over Mereen, Daario appoints Hizdahr zo Loraq as ruler of the city. Hizdahr quickly realizes that Daario will be the one really in charge, with him just as a figurehead.
* ''Fanfic/ChasingDragons'': The Norvoshi GovernmentInExile formed by the pragmatic faction after [[TheCoup the reactionaries' coup]] is technically led by the priest known as the Voice of Noom, but Chief Archivist Mycan Banderis quickly reduces him to a figurehead and sets himself up as Chief Minister.
* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/19323070 Catching Bees with Honey]]'': Played for laughs when various nobles start sucking up to Series/{{Merlin|2008}} because they believe him to be the true power behind Camelot's throne.
* ''Webcomic/ToonatopiaTheAnimationInitiation'': King [=SpongeBob=] is really just a figurehead for Plankton, who is pretending to be his own long-lost nicer twin cousin in order to manipulate him.

-->"And who will rule the kingdom? Luciana, the new queen! And who rules Luciana?"

* Averted in ''Film/JackbootsOnWhitehall'' as the King of England is thrown in the Tower of London by the ThoseWackyNazis. This is despite the fact that's he's [[{{UsefulNotes/Supermarionation}} already a puppet king]].
-->"You fools! Don't you know I'm ¾ German?"

** [[spoiler: Played straight with Snoke. ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'' revealed he was a [[OurHomunculiAreDifferent homunculus]] created by the Sith Eternal, ruling the First Order in the Emperor's stead.]]

** In several other nations, mainly Parliamentary Republics, not limited to the aforementioned India, the President has limited executive powers, with the true power falling into the hands of the Head of Government (e.g. Prime Minister and Federal Chancellor). Examples include Germany, Armenia, Hungary, Ethiopia, and Singapore.
*** In the case of Armenia, it used to be that the position of Prime Minister was mainly a ceremonial figurehead, until 2018. Armenia’s current President was appointed by former Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan, who was President for eight years before overseeing constitutional amendments which transferred the power of the President to the Prime Minister and then appointed himself Prime Minister to get around term limits. This didn’t sit well with the public, who forced Sargsyan to resign in a VelvetRevolution; but even with a new public-approved Prime Minister, the constitutional amendment was never changed and the position of President is more like an ambassador.

** Cristina Kirchner is the leader of the Peronist party in Argentina, and she has a big number of supporters, but the authoritarian tendencies of her government, the many cases of embezzlement and the economic failures while trying to apply outdated ideologies made her greatly unpopular and divisive. She left government in 2015, and could run again in 2019. It was unclear if she could win the election, so instead of trying it she run as vice-president under an obscure politician, Alberto Fernandez, who pretended to be moderate. Once in government, she led everything from the government's day-to-day activities, even if still formally being the vice president.

As for what the actual monarch thinks of all this, [[ThePuppetCutsHisStrings they may be trying desperately to get power back]], may be content with the status quo as The Way Things Are Meant To Be, may be [[RoyalBrat too busy having fun to care]], or in some extreme cases may not even know themselves the extent to which they're being played. In some cases, this will be built right into the system of government, though only the highest officials will know that. Often the protagonists will help open the Puppet King's eyes and help him take his government back.

* ''Fanfic/LostInCamelot'' has Bo claim that Uther is this for her; fae tradition automatically makes Bo the ruler of Camelot as the first fae to take up residence in that territory, but while Bo is willing to defend the kingdom from other fae since she doesn't want to actually rule anyone she claims to more benevolent fae that she just lets Uther ''think'' he's still in charge so that he can deal with the boring parts of ruling a kingdom.

* ''VideoGame/DisgaeaDimension2'': The Krichevskoy Group, feeling that Laharl is unfit to be Overlord, decide to use their loyal knight, Barbara, to not only oust him from the throne, but then become this, allowing them to rule the Netherworld through her. Barbara doesn't mind it, but the ''Fall of Overlord Laharl'' [[MultipleEndings ending]] shows how badly this backfires; since Barbara was conditioned her entire life to follow others' orders, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome the inability to think for herself becomes quickly apparent]], and within a small timeframe her group is ousted, causing the Netherworld to fall back into a state of anarchy.

*** When Cardassia joins the Dominion, they at first install the ambitious Gul Dukat as their puppet ruler, even though he and Weyoun - the Founders' toady-in-chief - try to maintain the illusion that Dukat is ''not'' a puppet ruler. When Dukat loses his sanity and is captured by the Federation, the Dominion installs dull yes-man Damar as leader of the Cardassian Union; he ends up being a puppet controlled by Weyoun. When Damar sees how far Cardassia has fallen under his "leadership," he decides that enough is enough and declares rebellion against the Dominion; the Dominion soon replaces him with another puppet, Legate Broca, who remains unquestioningly loyal to the Founders even when [[spoiler:he's about to be executed after the Cardassian Fleet defects]].

* King Dedede provides the ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' series a quite literal example. While ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2'', ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3'', and ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards'' all have the King possessed, ''VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn'' and ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'' takes it one step further by having the games BigBad & [[TheDragon Dragon]] using him as a puppet via [[DemonicPossession Marionette strings]].

* ''Film/TheThreeMusketeers1973'' / ''Film/TheThreeMusketeers1993'': The King of France is a puppet to Cardinal Richelieu.

* In the Film/JamesBond movie ''Film/LicenceToKill'', not only does the drug lord Franz Sanchez have the president of [[BananaRepublic Isthmus]] (quite literally Panama in all but name) Hector Lopez on his payroll, but in one scene reveals that he cut the president's pay in half just to get his attention, and when the president confronts Sanchez, Sanchez writes a check for the correct amount while saying, "You were awfully quiet when I got arrested. Remember, you are only President...[[ImpliedDeathThreat for Life]]."
* ''Film/TheLastEmperor'': Pu Yi as the ruler of Manchukuo under UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan's watch.
* ''Film/ToraToraTora'': Emperor Hirohito is described as being quite opposed to the alliance with Germany and war with America. It also doesn't matter what his opinion of the matter is, as the Cabinet holds all the real power in the government and allow him to attend meetings as a formality.

* Averted in ''Film/JackbootsOnWhitehall'' as the King of England is thrown in the Tower of London by the ThoseWackyNazis. This is despite the fact that's he's [[{{UsefulNotes/Supermarionation}} already a puppet king]].
-->"You fools! Don't you know I'm ¾ German?"
* ''Film/BlazingSaddles'': Played for laughs. The Governor is a childish idiot who regularly ignores his duties to fool around with his SexySecretary, and his cabinet appears to be comprised solely of [[YesMan Yes Men]]. The attorney general, Hedley Lamarr, effectively rules the state because the Governor will sign anything put in front of him. However, on the rare occasions the Governor decides he wants to get something done, Hedley can't openly defy him and has to subvert his will behind the scenes.

** Subverted in the prequels - the Jedi believed Palpatine was a Puppet Chancellor for Darth Sidious. [[TheManInFrontOfTheMan Turns out Palpatine actually was Sidious]]. This was explored further in the novelization, but Mace Windu briefly alludes to it in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith''.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ark}}'': Empress Cathabel of the Storrians, whose title is just in name only, for every single authority of leadership has been delegated to her treacherous advisor, Vizier Baramanda, who's manipulating the Empress into giving him full control over the ''planet''.
* The Sultan in Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'' is completely under the control of [[EvilChancellor Grand Vizier]] Jafar, thanks in large part to a HypnoRay staff. Late in the film, Jafar uses his magic to turn him into a ''literal'' puppet king, Iago operating him like a marionette and quipping "Puppet ruler wanna cracker?"
* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'': It is implied that Emperor Kuzco's narcissistic/self-absorbed behavior was due to Yzma's influence when growing up, meaning she most likely attempted to control Kuzco while on the throne. Unfortunately for her, this backfires, resulting in wanting to directly take the throne for herself by murdering him.

Does not apply to cases like most modern-day monarchies, where the true power lies in elected officials while the monarch is a ceremonial role whose only real job is spreading goodwill. The government has to at least make a show that the ruler is calling the shots to qualify for this trope. Has nothing to do with the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' villain Puppet King, who is an EvilSorcerer with the body of a literal puppet, or puppets used that play the part of kings in PuppetShows, or King Friday XIII from ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood''. Also not to be confused with PuppeteerParasite or PeoplePuppets.

* The ''TabletopGame/StarWarsRoleplayingGame''. Following Emperor Palpatine's death at the [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi Battle of Endor]], [[TheEmpire the Galactic Empire]] is in total disarray. For the next two years the Rebels, who are now the New Republic, sweep through Imperial territory getting closer and closer to the capital Coruscant. In the midst of this Imperial Admiral Oxtroe realizes that the war is lost and tries to negotiate with the Rebels a compromise that keeps some of the Empire in place. Her plan is to place Palpatine's grand-niece on the throne. However, she's only 11 years old. She would be nothing more than a powerless figurehead (see constitutional monarch) while the New Republic leadership would run the government, including any military forces. Before the negotiations could take place however, [[spoiler: Oxtroe is assassinated, possible by an agent of [[HeirToTheEmpire Grand Admiral Thrawn]].]]

** Following the Wano Arc, it appears that [[spoiler:Buggy has set up a new organization that hunts members of the Navy with Hawk-Eye Mihawk and Sir Crocodile serving under him... but in actuality, Mihawk and Crocodile are calling the shots, and Buggy's henchmen and the Navy were just ComicallyMissingThePoint. Mihawk convinces Crocodile to just go with it, as Buggy can serve as their figurehead while being targeted by their enemies]]. It's actually subverted in the end. [[spoiler:While Crocodile and Mihawk are Buggy's superiors on paper, Buggy still ''is'' the one who everyone else in the organization recognizes as the boss and he isn't the total pushover that Crocodile and Mihawk assumed he was. When Buggy disregards Crocodile's and Mihawk's demands by sending the organization into the race for the [[TitleDrop One]] [[{{Macguffin}} Piece]] with a charismatic speech, there really isn't anything Crocodile or Mihawk can do to stop it (Other than continue beating Buggy up, of course)]].