Markup View

Author: Antigone3

Oct 2nd 2012 at 8:38:38 AM

Often a result of the HeirClubForMen, where an incompetent male is in power due to birthright, but his wife/mother/sister is either forced to do the ruling for him, or finds advising him to be the only way she can exercise any power.

* In ''ASongOfIceAndFire'';
** Cersei is the Queen Regent when her son is on the throne, but it's an open secret that she's the one running the show.
** Olenna Tyrell, Mace Tyrell's elderly mother, is strongly implied to be the real brains in Highgarden.
* In ''ThePillarsOfTheEarth'', Aliena is driven by ambition to regain her family's power and vengeance against the people who took it (and killed their father), but frequently has to use her meek and timid brother William to do it because people won't listen to her alone.
* A RealLife example (from the page TheConsigliere, which can overlap with this);
-->Elanor's work at Dover was considerable. There was a continuous flow of messages to and from the Countess who was busy supporting her husband's revolt against the King. She dispatched assistance to him including a certain William the Engineer, who was evidently a specialist in siege weaponry. She procured military equipment for her husband's use, maintained relations with a substantial body of military followers and conducted negotiations with various third parties. Among the visitors who dined with Elanor of Dover, were leading citizens from the port towns of Sandwich and Winchelsea, whose support or assistance she was presumably trying to enlist, and she fostered relations with visiting ambassadors and merchants from overseas...
-->ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Â ''Daily Life In Medieval Europe'' by Jeffery L Forgeng

(I do think the first line of the description should go, as it's misleading. TheManBehindTheMan is closely related, but this trope isn't just "[[TheSameButMoreSpecific That, except she's a woman]]". For example, ''TheDarkKnightRises'' [[spoiler:has a female Man Behind The Man, but I don't think it counts as this trope.]])