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The ruling class are monstrous/supernatural. The literal Blue Bloods, if you will.
This is nominally about supernatural creatures who have their own upper class ( who are very likely to be more powerful than the lower-class supernaturals), but it can include characters who happen to be both supernatural and upper-class, characters who are supernatural because they're upper-class, or characters who are upper-class because they're supernatural. Due to the proud tradition of Asskicking Equals Authority and Authority Equals Asskicking, all four possibilities are likely to be true. Their lower-class subjects can be supernatural, "normal", or a mix of the two.
In some ways, the martial skills of feudal aristocracies (who were often the only skilled fighters at the time) could be compared to the supernatural skills of these elites. There's probably some element of Social Darwinism at work here.
Some ancient cultures believed this to be Truth in Television (or at least the subjects were supposed to believe that), e.g. concerning the Pharaoh of Egypt.
The Super Trope of God Emperor, Top God, Vampire Monarch, Demon Lords and Archdevils, Celestial Paragons And Archangels, and Hive Queen(s) may or not be an example, depending on how they control their underlings. Compare the Monster Lord, who is always part of this upper class. A Monster Knight may also be part of it.
Vampires Are Rich is a Sister Trope (if not a sub trope).
See also The Magocracy, The Necrocracy.
Examples:
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Anime and Manga
- In Bleach, all residents of Seireitei (lit: "The Court of Pure Souls") count as this. It's where all the privileged souls reside in the afterlife. That includes government officials, shinigami, nobles, vassals, peacekeeping forces, and others. Every other soul either resides in Rukongai (lit: "Wandering Soul City") or suffers a Fate Worse Than Death elsewhere.
- In The Twelve Kingdoms, the elites are immortal, can speak any language, and the kings and queens are so strong that killing demons is child's play to them.
Literature
Live-Action TV
- Supernatural has the alphas, who are also the first of their kinds.
- In True Blood, the vampires operate on a feudal system. A Vampire King/Queen claims a territory and appoints sheriffs to administer it for him/her. Usually the most powerful and/or oldest vampire becomes the monarch, however, the position can be reached if a vampire is politically connected with the Authority who seem to be a governing council above the monarchies.
- Vampire Diaries has the Originals, who seem to be the original vampire family. They're the strongest vampires around and can compel lesser vampires to do their bidding. They cannot be killed with standard anti-vampire methods. They're mostly unknown among younger vampires since the Original Klaus hunted down the rest of his family and put them into a suspended state.
- In the Doctor Who serial State of Decay, the Three Who Rule are vampires, feeding off the peasants whom they rule.
- Angel: in the rushed series finale Angel et al. go up against the Circle of the Black Thorn, who are supernatural rulers/elite.
Tabletop Games
- In Exalted, the Scarlet Dynasty, the ruling class of the Realm is composed largely of the Terrestrial Exalted.
- Hell is also organised into a hierarchy of serfs, citizens and Unquestionable.
Videogames
- The maesters of Final Fantasy X are mostly unsent souls who simply aren't interested in giving away their power, even after their deaths.
- In Darkstalkers, the house of Aensland is the ruling family for all of Makai.
- Nippon Ichi games have this to varying degrees in their games. Laharl is a prince, generally respected within his castle. Zetta, who has to regain the kingdom he accidentally destroyed, earns varying levels of respect and obedience from his vassals. He gets none from the vegetables, who thought they were an autonomous collective.
- In the obscure PS2-game Kagero: Deception 2, humans are basically second-class to a nobility consisting of 'Timenoids' - blue-skinned immortals. As the player, you are initially a slave to the Timenoids, but eventually, you must decide whether to help them brutally suppress an emerging human uprising, help La Résistance destroy the Timenoid elite, or just Kill 'em All.
Visual Novels
- In Tsukihime, the True Ancestors don't exactly have a proper hierarchy, but the highest-ranking of the True Ancestors are the ones closest to manifesting the Crimson Moon — Arcueid and Altrouge Brunestud are considered the princesses of the True Ancestors.
Western Animation
- Princesses Luna and Celestia in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, who are the Alicorn rulers of equestria and Physical Goddesses. The rest of the population is composed of simple pegasi, unicorns and Earth Ponies, and while Word of Faust says that the three races can mate with each other, it's obvious that a pegasus and a unicorn won't produce an Alicorn (also, the princesses look more like normal horses than ponies).
- And most of the aristocracy of Equestria appears to consist of unicorns, though not all.
- The Fire Nation's royal family in Avatar The Last Airbender, which includes: Fire Lord Ozai, his wife Ursa, his daughter Azula, his son Zuko, and his older brother, Iroh, known to the rest of the world as "The Dragon of the West".
- That might be more Authority Equals Asskicking. Firebending ability seems to be pretty common in every social stratum of the Fire Nation, the royals are just really good at it.
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