Basic Trope: A monarch engages in officially sanctioned polygamy, having more than one legal wife and several concubines that are off-limits to any man.
- Straight: King Bob the Nth's palace has a collection of hot consorts, sex slaves, trophy wives, female servants and many, many children living in absolute seclusion from outsiders except for him, his sons, male relatives and the eunuch guards.
- Exaggerated:
- Literally, every adult woman in King Bob's domain is married to him and he may invoke his right to claim her... whether she likes it or not.
- Every prince, nobleman, general and high-ranking officer is allowed to have an harem of their own.
- Emperor Bob has a large harem consisting of Queens and noblewomen from the various realms he subjugated and conquered.
- Downplayed:
- King Bob surrounds himself with concubines, but they are just for the show and not an actual institution.
- King Bob has a number of noblewomen living in his palace. While none of them are obligated to have sex with him, doing so will give their families more power and influence.
- Justified:
- King Bob is an decadent ruler that wants to show off his power and virility by displaying his great number of wives, demonstrating his ability to get and keep whatever he wants.
- The laws of his culture allows him to have an unlimited number of consorts in order to ensure that he has heirs to secure his dynasty, and they are usually kept in seclusion so that he knows for certain any born children are really his.
- Inverted: King Bob has only one consort, but she is the one that has several officially sanctioned paramours.
- Gender Inverted: Queen Alice has many young pretty boys from across the realm for her pleasure.
- Subverted: King Bob is being attended by several female servants, but it turns out he is gay.
- Double Subverted: He does have an harem of several pretty boys locked up in a sex dungeon for his pleasure.
- Parodied: King Bob's life is portrayed like an harem-comedy anime with all the usual cliches associated with it.
- Zig Zagged: Bob has no interest in his official harem because they distract him from his military conquests. His women also have a degree of independence, being allowed to leave the palace and having their own lives, jobs and even their own significant others, but sometimes when Bob summons them, they need to Lie Back and Think of England...
- Averted:
- King Bob has zero sex drive or is just asexual.
- King Bob is in a monogamous relationship with Queen Alice.
- Enforced:
- This is an work heavily inspired by Orientalist themes which the author wishes to incorporate. This means Deliberate Values Dissonance at at play - specially regarding any unwilling concubine.
- Several beautiful women often dressed like odalisques locked up out of any men's reach is easy fanservice.
- If King Bob is evil, its an good way to establish his despotism and sexual incontinence by taking several wives.
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: King Bob marries princesses from different kingdoms to incorporate their territories into his empire.
- Exploited: The many children sired by Bob's harem can be used as easy bargaining chips secure his allegiance with others through arranged marriages.
- Defied: Bob decides that having an harem is not worth the trouble because of the dynastic dispute this would cause in the long-term.
- Discussed: "Doesn't it sound like a massive double standard that men can have any women they want but not the opposite?"
- Conversed: "You know, harems in fiction are never like the real thing when you read the history books."
- Implied: Bob is sometimes shown sleeping with a different woman each night in his bed.
- Deconstructed: Bob's harem is portrayed like a viper's den with many of his wives fighting each other for his favor so that they can become the Top Wife. This naturally leads to others being caught in the crossfire, including innocent concubines and children.
- Reconstructed: Bob actually encourages this behavior because he wants to have a merciless and brutal wife that has no compunctions walking over others so she can rule by his side in Unholy Matrimony.
- Played for Drama: The harem women realize that they are treated like broodmares and objects by their lord husband and angst about their lack of freedom within his palace and being tied to a man they loathe, specially the ones that were forced to join the seraglio against their will since they fear they will be regarded Defiled Forever. The story explores their living nightmare since they have to deal with emotional, physical and sexual abuse from him.
- Played for Laughs: All of Bob's wives and concubines are portrayed as controlling and nagging hens in many different ways, making him one hell of an Henpecked Husband.
Return to the forbidden part of the Imperial palace here
