History Main / TheEvilPrince

* ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'': Commodus, though he had something of an excuse. His father, rather than passing on emperorship to him, as had become commonplace [[note]](at least in the world of the movie -- in Imperial Rome, it was relatively common for an Emperor to choose an adoptive heir as opposed to a blood one; look at Julius, Augustus and Marcus Aurelius himself)[[/note]], was going to give it to Maximus, who in turn was going to use it to put power back into the hands of the Senate and restore the Republic.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Joffrey actually ''subverts'' this trope. Yes, he's a RoyalBrat and an evil king but he legitimately has nothing to do with his predecessor's death. His ''sole'' sympathetic moment is his distraught moment at the deathbed of the man he considers his father. His [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen conniving mother]] actually orchestrated the king's death so she could [[MotherMakesYouKing put her son on the throne]].

** In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Prince Zuko subverts this trope entirely as even before his DarkAndTroubledPast is revealed it is clear that he is loyal [[WellDoneSonGuy to a fault]] towards his father the EvilOverlord. It is only after two and a half seasons of CharacterDevelopment, [[spoiler: IOW when he makes a HeelFaceTurn and becomes the Sixth Ranger[=/=]TheAtoner,]] that he seeks Ozai's overthrow, and still only for the purpose of ending the war. While he does become Fire Lord, it was never the true reason for his decision. In fact, [[spoiler:he initially ''rejected'' the prospect of leading the Fire Nation, because he believed [[NoPlaceForMeThere there'd be no place for him once his father is overthrown]].]]
** Played straight with the current Fire Lord Ozai, who killed his father [[spoiler: (or had his wife kill him)]] and then usurped his older brother Iroh as heir.
** However, also ''averted'', in that Ozai's daughter Princess Azula, is not only one of few Evil Princesses, she consistently proves herself [[DaddysGirl loyal to her father]] at significant risk to her life and cheerfully passes up golden opportunities to usurp him. Whether she was acting out of actual affection, habitual/conditioned obedience, or simple disinterest in taking the throne herself ''yet'' was a longtime matter of debate among fans. At show's end, it is plain that Azula loves her father as much as her screwed-up mind is capable of loving anyone. Not only that, [[spoiler: she gets the one reward every BastardUnderstudy wants: the crown. She ''was'' to be crowned Fire Lord Azula, until Zuko came back to dish out some destiny-cooked justice on her]]. She could have had it all if her best friends betraying her didn't [[VillainousBreakdown seriously shake her]]. However, [[spoiler: the title and position of Fire Lord was summarily reduced to something between a hollow gesture and a bad joke by her father assuming the position of [[AGodAmI Phoenix King]] and going forth to [[MoralEventHorizon remove the Earth Kingdom from the map]]]] -- and Azula knew it.

* Crown Prince Sincline from ''Anime/{{Golion}}'', whom himself is a [[spoiler:half-breed spawn of a human and whatever creature Daibazaal is]].

* ''Anime/CrossAnge'': Angelise Ikaruga Misurugi's younger brother, Julio Asuka Misurugi, is shown to have plotted to usurp and dethrone his siblings even before Ange was revealed to be a [[AntiMagic Norma]]. [[spoiler:At the midpoint of the series, he leads a genocidal purge on the [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores Paramail Companies of Arzenal]] - [[DidNotThinkThisThrough the army that unwillingly risked their lives to protect the world by piloting Norma-only mechas to kill DRAGONs]] - [[EvilIsPetty just so he can kill off Ange for good.]]]]

* British comedians love to make jokes about Prince Charles being one of these and frequently trying to assassinate the Queen.

See also {{Patricide}}, AristocratsAreEvil, TheBaroness, EvilUncle, and EvilChancellor. If an Evil Prince already has the throne and is trying to keep the rightful heirs off of it, see RegentForLife. Regardless of how thorough they are in killing off rivals, there's usually a HiddenBackupPrince with better credentials.

** In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Prince Zuko subverts this trope entirely as even before his DarkAndTroubledPast is revealed it is clear that he is loyal [[WellDoneSonGuy to a fault]] towards his father the EvilOverlord. It is only after two and a half seasons of CharacterDevelopment, [[spoiler: IOW when he makes a HeelFaceTurn and becomes the Sixth Ranger[=/=]TheAtoner,]] that he seeks Ozai's overthrow, and still only for the purpose of ending the war. While he does become Fire Lord, it was never the true reason for his decision. In fact, [[spoiler:he initially ''rejected'' the prospect of leading the Fire Nation, because he believed [[NoPlaceForMeThere there'd be no place for him once his father is overthrown]].

* ''Anime/VoltesV'': Prince Heinel of [[InterplanetaryNation Boazan]] seeks to invade Earth. He doesn't bat an eye at murdering humans and enslaving them as long as it's for Boazanian honour. He is willing to kill billions in his crusade for world domination, and once the humans he associates with outlive their usefulness to him, he has them killed as well. He views humans as primitive beings, and enjoys manipulating them for his own goals. Heinel is notably more merciful to those under him that are of Boazanian blood, but he still has Jangal imprisoned for failing to defeat Voltes V.

* Many, ''many'' characters in Creator/WilliamShakespeare, but Claudius (''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}''), Macbeth (''Macbeth'') and Richard, Duke of Gloucester (''Richard III'') are the three most prominent. Don John from ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'' might count as well, although he's more interested in messing with the life of his brother than taking power (during the play -- he's said to have rebelled ''before'' the play). About half of the examples in other media come from works that are, to a greater or lesser extent, based on these villains.

Traditionally, there wasn't a lot of Evil Princesses (though they are slightly more common in modern media as a subversion of the PrincessClassic trope). One explanation is that, perhaps because of [[PrincessClassic the very strong influence of fairy tale (and]] [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney) heroines]], [[WomenAreWiser princesses are generally]] [[FemalesAreMoreInnocent seen as good characters]]. Another explanation is that royal daughters are usually not in the line of succession and have nothing to gain by disposing of their rivals. However, since in fiction [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen queens can be evil]], the odd evil princess often turns out to be a total tyrant if she's ever successful in taking the throne for herself. (Note, however, that most evil queens tend to be kings' consorts and not princesses inheriting the throne.)

* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': Daemon Targaryen also proves to be a subversion. While it's clear in his EstablishingCharacterMoment that he covets the throne that his older brother Viserys sits on, deep down he does desire his brother's approval and balks at the idea of harming a member of his own family. Rather than being an EvilUncle to Rhaenyra, who Viserys names his successor over Daemon, he ''marries'' Rhaenyra and is very sad when Viserys dies.