History Main / BenevolentMageRuler

* Paul Atreides and his son Leto II in ''Franchise/{{Dune}}''. Though how "good" they are is debatable, considering how many billions died during the [[Literature/DuneMessiah jihads of Paul's Fremen]] and how [[Literature/GodEmperorOfDune Leto played tyrant]] in order to get people to leave the stagnant core worlds and scatter throughout the universe. They have the ability of [[{{Seer}} prescience]] and conscious control over their bodies to an [[MasterOfYourDomain improbable level]]. And of course Leto II merged with a sandworm and became the TropeNamer for GodEmperor.

* ''Literature/{{Spitfire}}'' has the nation of Voswain, whose entire history comprises this trope all the way back to its founder: Ruzena the Briar Queen, who invented a method of arcane study and invention that unified the scattered people of the land and brought them prosperity.

* ''Literature/SecondApocalpyse'': Kellhus becomes a cross between this and a SorcerousOverlord. His rule is brutal, but it's entirely devoted to saving the world from an AncientConspiracy.

* ''Literature/Spitfire'' has the nation of Voswain, whose entire history comprises this trope all the way back to its founder: Ruzena the Briar Queen, who invented a method of arcane study and invention that unified the scattered people of the land and brought them prosperity.

* In the ''Literature/DeptfordMice'' books, the Starwife is a squirrel queen who possesses incredible magical powers. While she is known for her fiery temper, she is well-meaning and everything she does is for the good of all.

* Jonathan IV of Conte becomes king of {{Literature/Tortall|Universe}} in the fourth book of ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'', ''Lioness Rampant''. Jon was born with magic and uses it throughout the series, most notable when Duke Roger threatens the kingdom, Jonathan uses the Dominion Jewel, brought to him by Alanna, to counteract Roger's spells.

* In ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'', several Supreme Chancellors of the Galactic Republic were also Jedi Knights. In fact, there was a 400 year period when the Republic was ruled by ''only'' Jedi chancellors. All of them were this trope, and the Republic lived another thousand years because of their leadership.

* ''Literature/TheDragonKnight'' is a baron who's also a magician (albeit a low-level one, since being a feudal lord means he can't dedicate his life to magecraft).
* The Farseer dynasty in Creator/RobinHobb's ''Literature/RealmOfTheElderlings'' saga are psychically gifted with a variety of powers. Whether they fall here or under SorcerousOverlord depends on the monarch: Kings Shrewd and Verity are definite examples of TheGoodKing, while Regal is a prejudiced asshole and part of the first trilogy's BigBadEnsemble.
* ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'':
** The backstory, detailed in the ''Mage Wars'' trilogy, features the conflict between reluctant leader Urtho, the Mage of Silence, and would-be world conqueror [[SorcerousOverlord Ma'ar]]... along with its world-shattering aftermath.
** The founder of Valdemar, the eponymous King Valdemar, also counts. (His Queen was a sorceress as well.) To ensure that all future rulers would also be benevolent, he wove a magic spell and combined it with a prayer to every god he'd every heard from, resulting in the [[BondCreatures Companions]] and the creation of the titular Heralds.
* ''Literature/{{Belgariad}}'': Belgarion of Riva is Rivan King, Overlord of the West, and a powerful sorcerer. And a good guy.
* Subverted with King Kethel and Queen Tathilya in Literature/TheQuestOfTheUnaligned. They're the rightful rulers of the realm of Caederan, the most powerful mages in the Realm, and benevolent enough to make fine rulers. The problem is that they are too "[[BlowYouAway air]][[TheDitz headed]]" to realize that by favoring wind over the other three elements, they've thrown the whole kingdom out of whack.
** Played completely straight with [[spoiler: their son and daughter-in-law, Crown Prince Alaric and Princess Laeshana.]]
* In the Web Serial ''Literature/FlightOfTheGodkinGriffin'' Shraeven, a newly conquered province of the [[TheEmpire Godkindred Kingdom]] that still considers itself a country, has nobility who are chosen by the gods instead of by bloodline, indicated by markings on their body and wielding of ElementalPowers as [[ReligionIsMagic gods are the sole source of magic in this setting]]. Angharad, the new governor of Shraeven looks like she is being set up to make Shraeven independent and be their new queen as god after god marks her. [[spoiler: But after destroying the physical form of the Godkindred's GodEmperor she gives rulership of Shraeven to her "native guide" (and lover) Ragna, and becomes Priest-Sorcerer-Queen of the Godkindred instead.]]

* Vond the warlock from Creator/LawrenceWattEvans' novel ''[[Literature/{{Ethshar}} The Unwilling Warlord]]''. Vond gains access to tremendous magical power and easily conquers several small kingdoms, creating an empire. But Vond is not a bad ruler: for example, he helps peasants to grow crops with his magic. He mostly plays with his warlockry, spends time with his harem (assembled without any coercion), and delegates the "boring stuff" to the ruling council. [[spoiler:And then it gets kinda doubly subverted, when the Calling - every warlock's bane - catches up with him...]]

* ''Literature/TheSilerianTrilogy'': The fire mage Yarhdans used to be this for Sileria. Elalar's son is prophesied to be the next one, with both fire ''and'' water magic, uniting the Guardians and water lords.
* ''Literature/TheCrimsonShadow'': Brind'Amour (an old wizard who is a just, kind man), after he becomes king of Eriador.

* ''Literature/SecondApocalpyse'': Kellhus becomes a cross between this and a SorcerousOverlord. His rule is brutal, but it's entirely devoted to saving the world from an AncientConspiracy.
* ''Literature/NightWorld'' has Hecate Witch-Queen and her daughter Hellewise Hearth-Woman (Hecate's ''other'' daughter and Hellewise's twin Maya...[[EvilSorceress eh, not]] [[MonsterProgenitor so much]]).
** Hecate was the Queen of the [[WitchSpecies Witches]]; her title is even [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin right there in her name]]. By all accounts, she was a good and wise ruler, who is revered by witches to this very day. She notably fought against the dragon shapeshifters to free both witches and humans, the latter of whom the dragons had enslaved. She spared the youngest dragon princess, who was only a toddler, instead [[OrcRaisedByElves raising her amongst the witches]] in the hopes she would be kinder than her brethren.
** Hellewise served as the ruler of the witches after her mother's passing, though it's unclear if she inherited Hecate's title of queen along with her position, as she's never exactly addressed this way. She is depicted as a caring, compassionate leader who gave her own life to protect her people; she also created a law preventing witches from harming humans with their powers, encouraging the two species to live in harmony.
* ''Literature/TheToughGuideToFantasyland'': One of the Good Queens is a magic user who's very concerned with what's right and swiftly joins the heroes after they alert her to bad things going on in her country.

* [[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Millennial_King The Millennial King]] was created by /tg/ when the board wondered why there seemed to be no good {{Necromancer}}s. The titular king [[BadPowersGoodPeople uses his undead minions to eliminate the need for menial labor]] and respects the right of his people to refuse undeath. This is usually not a problem, as there are [[HundredPercentAdorationRating no shortage of volunteers.]]

* The Magic Kingdom Levianta in the Franchise/EvilliousChronicles was ruled by a female prophet named Maria Moonlit before going on a search to select ''another'' Benevolent Mage Ruler, a powerful sorceress who could help save the country. The selection process didn't end well.

* Toyosatomimi no Miko from ''VideoGame/TouhouProject'' (who happens to be based on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Sh%C5%8Dtoku Prince Shoutoku]]) likes to style herself as this.

* [[Literature/{{Belgariad}} Belgarion of Riva]] is Rivan King, Overlord of the West, and a powerful sorcerer. And a good guy.

* [[Literature/LandOfOz Princess Ozma]] is a good and magical ruler of a fairyland. Glinda of Quadling Country and [[DependingOnTheWriter Locasta/Tattypoo]] of Gillikin Country (the Good Witches of South and North) are also examples. But there are just as many examples of wicked magic users as good ones, such as the East and West witches, Princess Langwidere, and Coo-Eh-Oh. The only thing they have in common is that women tend to be more ''effective'' rulers in Baum's canon.

* The Pharaoh was like this in ''Manga/YuGiOh''. The ability to summon your spirit creature is rare. The ability to summon your own, and seal and release other people's, was a power only he and his court possessed. An the Pharaoh himself was the only one able to call out the gods themselves.

* The ''Series/OnceUponATime'' season 7 ends with Regina, the [[HeelFaceTurn former Evil Queen]] and the most powerful mage in the series world at that point, becoming one of these by casting a spell based on love to bring the Realms of Story together in Storybrooke, which was ''originally'' [[PlaceWorseThanDeath her trap for the fairy-tale inhabitants]] but eventually became a beloved home base. She's even declared "the Good Queen" by one of her former enemies.

** In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemElibe Fire Emblem: Binding Blade]]'', if the LadyOfBlackMagic in training Lilina makes it to the end, she's said to have become the very wise and powerful Duchess of Ostia, who manages to lead the Lycian League into becoming the Kingdom of Lycia. As a plus, if she marries Roy via an A support, they grow into a RulingCouple and lead Lycia together.

* ''Literature/TheCrimsonShadow'': Brind'Amour, after he becomes king of Eriador.

* ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity'': Mizzamir serves as one to Natodik, which he apparently rules.
* ''Literature/WorldsOfShadow'': [[spoiler: Pel]] becomes one for the world of Faerie.

* In the Web Serial ''Literature/FlightOfTheGodkinGriffin'' Shraeven, a newly conquered province of the [[TheEmpire Godkindred Kingdom]] that still considers itself a country, has nobility who are chosen by the gods instead of by bloodline, indicated by markings on their body and wielding of ElementalMagic as [[ReligionIsMagic gods are the sole source of magic in this setting]]. Angharad, the new governor of Shraeven looks like she is being set up to make Shraeven independent and be their new queen as god after god marks her. [[spoiler: But after destroying the physical form of the Godkindred's GodEmperor she gives rulership of Shraeven to her "native guide" (and lover) Ragna, and becomes Priest-Sorcerer-Queen of the Godkindred instead.]]

** As is only natural for a WitchSpecies, the leaders of the [[OurElvesAreBetter Altmer (High Elves)]] tend to be such rulers. Powerfully skilled in magic, they also tend to be benevolent toward their own subjects (though the races of Men [[ScrewYouElves may disagree]]). Queen Ayrenn from ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline'' provides an exceptional example.

* Many of the spellcasters from ''Series/OnceUponATime'' possess varying levels of authority, usually as queens.

* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower'' had Castaspella, Queen of Mystacor and Angella, Queen of Bright Moon. She Ra/Adora and Glimmer also had magical abilities, but they're [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses princesses.]]

* At the end of ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9901020/1/A-Warm-Blizzard A Warm Blizzard,]]'' a ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' fanfic, [[spoiler:[[AntiHero Prince]] [[HeelFaceTurn Hans]]]] is revealed to be a [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinetic]] as a counterbalance [[AnIcePerson to Elsa's cryokinesis]], and [[spoiler:uses it to thaw her out after a witch cast a spell on her. When he was a child, a [[{{Depowered}} magical binding was put in place]] [[PowerNullifier so he won't be able to use his fire powers]], but a magical scissor removes this binding. He and Elsa later become Arendelle's magical RulingCouple.]]

* Elsa in ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' ends up as this due to her [[AnIcePerson ice powers]].

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius'' has Empress Sanaki of Begnion. She's seen in ''Path of Radiance'' but in ''Radiant Dawn'' she is a mage type class capable of using all classes of magic, and quite the wise ruler despite her age.

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' has [[spoiler: the BlackMage Leo in the ''Birthright'' path, who becomes King of Nohr after the death of the actual Crown Prince (Xander) and the abdication of the rightful succesor (Princess Camilla), plus Princess Elise's HeroicSacrifice.]]

* In the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'', several Supreme Chancellors of the Galactic Republic were also Jedi Knights. In fact, there was a 400 year period when the Republic was ruled by ''only'' Jedi chancellors. All of them were this trope, and the Republic lived another thousand years because of their leadership.