History Main / DivineRightOfKings

** It's mentioned that the Fire Nation was formerly more of a constitutional monarchy, with a group of sages retaining a large amount of political authority and acting as a check against the Fire Lord. Sozin eventually removed all of their power and made the Fire Lord position one of absolute authority. In keeping with the Fire Nation's SocialDarwinist viewpoints, Divine Right is often [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership backed by combat ability]]; members of the aristocracy are encouraged to duel one another, with the Royal Family being expected to be, by their nature, the best at it. We never actually find out whether this is true; while they are undeniably formidable, we never see them fight a non-royal master like Jeong Jeong to confirm whether they truly are the best.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': Amon claims that the divine right granted to the Avatar by the spirits has been rescinded, and that he has the new right to bring balance to the world by destroying all benders. He then proves it by [[DePower removing the bending powers of a number of criminal captives]]. [[spoiler:He's actually an incredibly powerful waterbender combining bloodbending with chi-blocking to essentially surgically block a bender's chi permanently. Though he does believe his own claims about bending being evil, the spirits have nothing to do with it.]]\\\Since ''Legend of Korra'' takes place in what's [[SchizoTech (more or less)]] this universe's version of the twentieth century, there's a noticeable backlash against the concept of Divine Right in the world and its practice is beginning to die out, except in its application of the Avatar, who is the reincarnation of a divine figure herself. After Amon's defeat, Republic City institutes a democratically elected president. The Northern Water Tribe operates under a hereditary monarchy system, but the Southern Water Tribe (which is noticeably more modernized and less traditional) elects its leaders. The Earth Kingdom is still ruled by a (selfish and cruel) monarch, but many of its citizens are unhappy with this system and increasingly discuss how it's become an outdated concept. This gets PlayedForDrama in the final season when the BigBad (a charismatic military leader) uses this argument to de-legitimize the claim of the Earth Kingdom's next heir (a friendly, harmless, egocentric and incompetent guy), and appoints herself autocratic leader of the country. [[spoiler:After the BigBad is defeated, the heir decides to step aside and let the Earth Kingdom reorganize into a democracy.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'': The Divine Mandate government type works along these lines, with a bonus to slavery tolerance and reduced resettlement costs. The advanced version, Transcendent Empire, upgrades the ruler's divine right to GodEmperor status.

* Deconstructed in ''FanFic/EmbersVathara'', as the Fire Lord was originally just [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership the title held by the strongest Fire Sage]] until Avatar Koshi bound the spirits of the Fire Nation to [[MoreThanMindControl force every single fire nation citizen to be loyal to the then-current Fire Lord's bloodline.]] As the Avatar, she's considered to have the rights of a god, and thus Kyoshi assumed this trope would naturally occur from her mandate. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Unfortunately, this decision led directly to Sozins' rule just a few generations later, as well as extreme corruption and madness to flourish within the Fire Nation's governing body.]]
* A literal case in ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls''. [[GenderInvertedTrope Celestine Lucross]], [[TheHighQueen High Elf Queen]] of Eostia, is the current holder of the title "Goddess Reborn", with the RoyaltySuperPower it ensues, as a result of receiving [[OurGodsAreDifferent gentle Laurendau]]'s favour. As such, Celestine is regarded as GodEmperor.
* In ''Fanfic/ThisBites'', Nefertari Vivi admits she's always ''known'' she was meant to rule. Not just because she was raised to rule as the Princess of Alabasta, but she always knew her fate to rule as if it were a natural instinct. Vivi is descended from one of the twenty kingdoms that founded the World Government, but ''This Bites!'' further proves her right to rule by revealing [[spoiler:she is one of the rare few in the world to possess [[AwesomenessIsAForce Conqueror's Haki]], and is one of the fewer still to possess the [[CompellingVoice Sovereign's Will]]]].

* In ''Film/RobinHood2010'', Robin Longstride and England's barons make a deal with King John that they'll follow him into battle against a French invasion if he agrees to sign a charter limiting his power as king. After the battle, John goes back on his word, invoking divine right, and declares Robin an outlaw for impersonating a nobleman. This by the way is an anachronism and historical license, since Divine Right is not, strictly speaking, a medieval concept.
* In ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'', Arthur recounts how he was gifted Excalibur by the Lady of the Lake and that by divine right this makes him the King of England. The literal Mud-farmer he recounts this to calls this out for the InsaneTrollLogic that it is and explains that supreme executive power such as those of monarchs like him is done through social contract by the citizenry and not magic and divine declaration.

* Parodied in ''Literature/TenSixtySixAndAllThat'', in which the Divine Right of Kings, as explained by UsefulNotes/CharlesI, said that:
-->(a) He was King, and that was right.
-->(b) Kings were divine, and that was right.
-->(c) Kings were right, and that was right.
-->(d) Everything was all right.
* In ''Literature/AConfederacyOfDunces'', in which arch-reactionary Ignatius J. Reilly, who [[BornInTheWrongCentury pines for medieval Europe despite living in 1960s New Orleans]], is challenged by his [[OppositesAttract arch-leftist]] girlfriend Myrna Minkoff to come up with a means of becoming politically involved. He comes up with an idea to elect a president by divine right.
* In the ''Literature/{{Deryni}}'' works, King Kelson Haldane very specifically distinguishes his "Haldane" powers from those of ordinary Deryni and associates them with his right to rule. He's quite explicit about this when testifying before Archbishop Cardiel in the matter of Duncan [=McLain's=] marriage.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/FoundationSeries'': "Literature/TheMayors": The ScamReligion set up by the Foundation props up the petty kings ruling the neighboring Four Kingdoms by affording them a measure of divinity. However, when Prince Regent Wienis of Anacreon tries to conquer the Foundation, Mayor Hardin reveals that Terminus can revoke that divine right and turn the devout populace against them.

* In ''Literature/ThePowderMageTrilogy'' this is known as Kresimir's Promise. The god Kresimir established a number of bloodlines as the rightful rulers of the various kingdoms. If one of the bloodlines is removed from the throne, Kresimir would return and destroy the nation who dared to defy his will. The king of Adro is extremely wasteful, weak minded and LethallyStupid and Field Marshal Tamas decides to remove him from power and execute the entire royal family and most of the aristocracy. Tamas then discovers that Kresimir's Promise is not just a story told to keep the common people in line, and that the country's enemies are planning to summon Kresimir so he can fulfill the Promise and destroy Adro.

* ''Literature/TrashOfTheCountsFamily'' [[PlayingWithATrope plays with]] this trope with the Roan royal family, the Crossmans. They have golden hair and blue eyes as "proof" that they were blessed by the Sun God. Nothing says that this is proof of their right to rule, but it definitely legitimizes it. And the Crossmans have managed to rule the oldest Kingdom on the continent since the time it was founded, so it must mean something to the people.

* ''Literature/QuintaglioAscension'': The Quintaglio royal family bases their legitimacy on being descendants of Larsk, who's believed to be God's prophet.
* Discussed in ''Literature/UnderHeaven''- Kitai is seen as the pinnacle of known civilization, and the Emperor is the pinnacle of the ruling dynasty. To criticize his rule is to show a lack of confidence in his rule, the achievements of their country, or both. That said, if it can be shown that the government is growing weak (as Roshan attempts during the story), then it's the duty of a good Emperor to stand aside so his replacement can start fixing things.

* This is a major plot element in ''Series/{{Kings}}'', which is set in a sort of PresentDay SettingUpdate with the modern western-ish nation-state of Gilboa ruled by an absolute monarchy, as it loosely adapts various stories from the Bible about Judaic monarchs. King Silas Benjamin rose to power with explicit consent from God, or so he claims from a story where he was given a divine message when [[PrettyButterflies butterflies flocked on his head to form a crown]]. His conflict with his protegé David is based on the fact that the latter is his prophesied successor, and Silas himself worries that he has [[GodIsDispleased fallen out of favor with God]].
* Charles attempts to invoke it in ''Series/TheWindsors'', but William and Kate tell him he can't believe in this concept and science at the same time.

* The song "Carolus Rex" by Music/{{Sabaton}} is about Carolus declaring he has this trope and believing it so fanatically that it comes close to AGodIAm, thinking that being king makes him an agent of God's will who is destined for greatness.

** Saul was specifically chosen by God to be king...until [[GodIsDispleased he ticked God off]], at which point He had a boy named David secretly anointed as Saul's successor. God says that there will never be any true kings outside of David's descendants; Christians and Jews both agree that the Messiah has to be from his family. However, only about half of the Davidic kings managed to keep God's favor, and the fact that they eventually got overthrown by Babylon ([[RightfulKingReturns with the promise of being restored one day]]), plus other calamities over the years, shows that this trope isn't a blank check to do whatever you want.
** In the book of Romans, Paul writes "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment." (Romans 13:1-2, ESV) This bit tends to be rather tough for modern-day Christians, especially when, say, a President is elected who appears to be antithetical to Christian beliefs. One popular interpretation is that God's playing a long game, so even if He allows someone horrible to take office now, it will ultimately lead to a net positive result somewhere down the line. It's also not a call for blind obedience, as working to change the government through legal means doesn't necessarily count as "resisting the authorities".

* In the aptly named ''TabletopGame/{{Birthright}}'' setting, several deities perished during the battle at Mount Deismaar, several millennia ago. The spilled blood of those deities intermingled with that of their witnessing mortal followers witnessing, granting a divine spark that they passed to their descendants via potent abilities called Bloodlines. Since then, Blooded mortals who carry this small trace of divinity have been the rulers of Cerilia (and most of the upper class) more often than not.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' the elected kings of the high elves must pass unharmed through the [[SacredFire Flame of Asuryan]], their god, to be judged worthy of rule. While he appears to largely accept the choice and the ceremony has not prevented the coronation of kings who are reckless, feckless, or otherwise poor stewards of the country, this is not an empty ritual and when Malekith murdered his way to the throne he barely managed to throw himself back out of the fire, hideously burned.

* In a dramatic speech to the assembled members of Parliament, the character of [[RealPersonFic Prince Charles]] in ''Theatre/KingCharlesIII'' argues that he was "born and raised" to rule the country, monarchy and authority making up an intrinsic part of his being. He claims that as the king he is answerable to all citizens of the United Kingdom for all his life, while the members of the Parliament are answerable only to their constituents and only during their elected terms:

* A particular example in ''VideoGame/EldenRing'': The Elden Lord is the de-facto ruler of the Lands Between, and likely the world itself, and effectively ascend to divinity at the same time they ascend to royalty. However, to become Elden Lord, you most not only be chosen by God, you must ''marry'' God, in this case Queen Marika the Eternal, vessel of the [[CosmicKeystone Elden Ring]] itself. She can also strip away that title and power just as easily, as First Elden Lord Godfrey found out. [[spoiler:And then it's revealed that Marika herself is also subject to this, as the reason she's allowed to become a physical god is because she was chosen by the Greater Will, a divine cosmic entity, and she has potential successors in the forms of the Empyreans who are similiarly chosen.]]
* All of the recognized Cyrodiilic [[TheEmperor Emperors]] of Tamriel in ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' (the Alessian, Reman, and Septim dynasties) claim DivineParentage from Akatosh, the [[DragonsAreDivine draconic]] God of Time and [[TopGod chief deity]] of the [[SaintlyChurch Eight (later Nine) Divines]] pantheon, in the metaphysical sense (imbued with "Dragon Blood"), dating back to Akatosh's [[BargainWithHeaven covenant]] with St. Alessia, [[FounderOfTheKingdom founder]] of the First Empire. In addition to the [[RoyaltySuperpower patronage of the Divines for the Empire]], these Emperors serve as {{Barrier Maiden}}s, sealing and protecting Mundus (the mortal plane) from Oblivion. And the founder of the Septim dynasty is commonly believed to have ascended as the [[DeityOfHumanOrigin god Talos]].

* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic VI'' has "The Mandate of Heaven" as its subtitle and a major plot point is that after a series of disasters, the people of Enroth start to believe that the Ironfist dynasty has ''lost'' that mandate. Interestingly, despite this obvious Chinese influence Enroth is otherwise a pretty classic Medieval ''European'' Fantasy Kingdom (although it ''is'' by far the largest country on the planet).
* The Divine Mandate government type in ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' presumably works along these lines, with a bonus to slavery tolerance and reduced resettlement costs. The advanced version, Transcendent Empire, upgrades the ruler's divine right to GodEmperor status.

* Deconstructed in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII''. [[spoiler:Sure, Princess Ashe is guided and favored by the gods themselves, but the gods are ''assholes'' and would rather she NukeEm than be a benevolent ruler.]]

* Played with in a very meta sense on the ''LetsPlay/DreamSMP''. [[BigBad Dream]] believes that he should be the ultimate authority of the server because it was ''his'' server to begin with and sees the infinite lands of the SMP as his property, and considers L'Manburg's secession from the "Greater SMP" as [[{{Hypocrite}} an act of tyranny]], even though secession was never against the server rules to begin with. However, the lands of the SMP have existed long before Dream came into the picture (as seen in many ''Tales From the SMP'' episodes that [[FieldTripToThePast took place in the past]]) and the SMP is only Dream's in the sense that Dream the ''content creator'' is the one owning it, so the closest approximation for Dream the ''character's'' opinion on the "ownership" of the server would be this trope mixed with his own ControlFreak tendencies, perhaps with a slight dash of his pride and eventual [[AGodAmI god complex]] thrown into the mix.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': Amon claims that the divine right granted to the Avatar by the spirits has been rescinded, and that he has the new right to bring balance to the world by destroying all benders. He then proves it by [[DePower removing the bending powers of a number of criminal captives]]. [[spoiler:He's actually an incredibly powerful waterbender combining bloodbending with chi-blocking to essentially surgically block a bender's chi permanently. Though he does believe his own claims about bending being evil, the spirits have nothing to do with it.]]
** Since ''Legend Of Korra'' takes place in what's [[SchizoTech (more or less)]] this universe's version of the twentieth century, there's a noticeable backlash against the concept of Divine Right in the world and its practice is beginning to die out, except in its application of the Avatar, who is the reincarnation of a divine figure herself. After Amon's defeat, Republic City institutes a democratically elected president. The Northern Water Tribe operates under a hereditary monarchy system, but the Southern Water Tribe (which is noticeably more modernized and less traditional) elects its leaders. The Earth Kingdom is still ruled by a (selfish and cruel) monarch, but many of its citizens are unhappy with this system and increasingly discuss how it's become an outdated concept. This gets PlayedForDrama in the final season when the BigBad (a charismatic military leader) uses this argument to de-legitimize the claim of the Earth Kingdom's next heir (a friendly, harmless, egocentric and incompetent guy), and appoints herself autocratic leader of the country. [[spoiler:After the BigBad is defeated, the heir decides to step aside and let the Earth Kingdom reorganize into a democracy.]]
* Emperor Belos from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' claims that his right to rule comes from being able to hear the voice of [[GiantCorpseWorld the Titan whose corpse makes up the Boiling Isles]]. How legitimate this claim is is yet to be seen, but he's willing to put words in the Titan's mouth at the very least. [[spoiler:Unsurprisingly, it’s revealed in “Hollow Mind” that he’s just a genocidal, puritanical fraud and that his claims are nothing more than calculated lies, as he was able to manipulate the Boiling Isles population with {{False Flag Operation}}s and brainwashing propaganda. Of course it's also implied some of the advice he claimed he was taking from the Titan actually came from the Collector, who is a cosmic, god-like figure]].

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

** Since ''Legend Of Korra'' takes place in what's [[SchizoTech (more or less)]] this universe's version of the twentieth century, there's a noticeable backlash against the concept of Divine Right in the world and its practice is beginning to die out. After Amon's defeat, Republic City institutes a democratically elected president. The Northern Water Tribe operates under a hereditary monarchy system, but the Southern Water Tribe (which is noticeably more modernized and less traditional) elects its leaders. The Earth Kingdom is still ruled by a (selfish and cruel) monarch, but many of its citizens are unhappy with this system and increasingly discuss how it's become an outdated concept. This gets PlayedForDrama in the final season when the BigBad (a charismatic military leader) uses this argument to de-legitimize the claim of the Earth Kingdom's next heir (a friendly, harmless, egocentric and incompetent guy), and appoints herself autocratic leader of the country. [[spoiler:After the BigBad is defeated, the heir decides to step aside and let the Earth Kingdom reorganize into a democracy.]]
* Emperor Belos from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' claims that his right to rule comes from being able to hear the voice of [[GiantCorpseWorld the Titan whose corpse makes up the Boiling Isles]]. How legitimate this claim is is yet to be seen, but he's willing to put words in the Titan's mouth at the very least. [[spoiler:Unsurprisingly, it’s revealed in “Hollow Mind” that he’s just a genocidal, puritanical fraud and that his claims are nothing more than calculated lies, as he was able to manipulate the Boiling Isles population with {{False Flag Operation}}s and brainwashing propaganda]].

* A particular example in ''VideoGame/EldenRing'': The Elden Lord is the de-facto ruler of the Lands Between, and likely the world itself, and effectively ascend to divinity at the same time they ascend to royalty. However, to become Elden Lord, you most not only be chosen by God, you must ''marry'' God, in this case Queen Marika the Eternal, vessel of the [[CosmicKeystone Elden Ring]] itself. She can also strip away that title and power just as easily, as First Elden Lord Godfrey found out.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5193644/1/Time-Braid Time Braid]]'' has [[spoiler: Naruto]] be the current holder of the Mandate of Heaven, meaning he's destined to one day rule the world and gets help from various divine powers to back it up. The Mandate itself is a spiritual seal making him imperious to demonic corruption.

* Deconstructed in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII''. [[spoiler: Sure, Princess Ashe is guided and favored by the gods themselves, but the gods are ''assholes'' and would rather she NukeEm than be a benevolent ruler.]]

* Emperor Belos from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' claims that his right to rule comes from being able to hear the voice of [[GiantCorpseWorld the Titan whose corpse makes up the Boiling Isles]]. How legitimate this claim is is yet to be seen, but he's willing to put words in the Titan's mouth at the very least. [[spoiler: Unsurprisingly, it’s revealed in “Hollow Mind” that he’s just a genocidal, puritanical fraud and that his claims are nothing more than calculated lies, as he was able to manipulate the Boiling Isles population with {{False Flag Operation}}s and brainwashing propaganda]].

* The Roman Emperors would occasionally associate themselves with gods in official works [[note]] The Aeneid, whose protagonist was the son of the goddess Venus, was believed to have been commissioned by the Julio-Claudian to be a way of legitimizing their rulership. [[/note]], but most would stop short with outright calling themselves such. They did however invoke the concept of ''cultus'', which held that the Roman Emperors ruled with divine sanction. Some Emperors would be deified posthumously, which their successors would hold up as further indication of the right to rule.

* Deconstructed in ''FanFic/EmbersVathara'', as the Fire Lord was originally just [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority the title held by the strongest Fire Sage]] until Avatar Koshi bound the spirits of the Fire Nation to [[MoreThanMindControl force every single fire nation citizen to be loyal to the then-current Fire Lord's bloodline.]] As the Avatar, she's considered to have the rights of a god, and thus Kyoshi assumed this trope would naturally occur from her mandate. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Unfortunately, this decision led directly to Sozins' rule just a few generations later, as well as extreme corruption and madness to flourish within the Fire Nation's governing body.]]

** Vorin religion teaches that the lighteyes are marked for rule by the Almighty due to their light-colored eyes, and the darkeyes are marked for service. It is possible for a darkeyes to become a lighteyes, but only by capturing one of the astonishingly rare Shardblades, which hasn't happened in living memory. Dalinar's visions imply that all current lighteyes are descended from the first darkeyes who stole the Blades left behind by the Knights Radiant when they disbanded, meaning it's all little more than AsskickingEqualsAuthority writ large.

** It's mentioned that the Fire Nation was formerly more of a constitutional monarchy, with a group of sages retaining a large amount of political authority and acting as a check against the Fire Lord. Sozin eventually removed all of their power and made the Fire Lord position one of absolute authority. In keeping with the Fire Nation's SocialDarwinist viewpoints, Divine Right is often [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority backed by combat ability]]; members of the aristocracy are encouraged to duel one another, with the Royal Family being expected to be, by their nature, the best at it. We never actually find out whether this is true; while they are undeniably formidable, we never see them fight a non-royal master like Jeong Jeong to confirm whether they truly are the best.

* The song "Carolus Rex" by ''Music/{{Sabaton}}'' is about Carolus making the claim and believing it so fanatically that it comes close to AGodIAm, thinking that being king makes him an agent of God's will who is destined for greatness.

** ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'': The Steel Ministry teaches that when [[GodEmperor the Lord Ruler]] used his divine powers to take over the world, only his closest friends stood by him. These friends and their descendants were granted Allomancy and noble titles, while everyone else was enslaved as the skaa. For a thousand years, the nobles ruled over the skaa with absolute authority, allowed to rape and murder (even ''required'' to murder in some cases) with impunity. Even the skaa rebels fighting to overthrow the government occasionally wonder if it is ''right'' that they do so, since the Lord Ruler is God, and he determines what is right. It should be noted that the Lord Ruler doesn't actually care if anyone believes in his religion or not; [[PhysicalGod he is fully capable of killing literally every person in the world by himself if need be]]. He only cares that they obey.

* As an example of UnbuiltTrope, Literature/TheBible has God disliking the idea of his people forming Kingdoms, and the first Jewish kings suffered as a result, with some wondering if obeisance to the King was a form of idolatry or not.

** ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' (the original show): [[MagnificentBitch Azula]] references this, claiming that the reason [[EvilChancellor Long Feng]] lost to her in the bid for control of Ba Sing Se is because he lacked "the divine right to rule". An unusual example in that it's not totally clear whether either of them really believe this, or indeed whether it matters if they do; Azula's extremely high level of competence makes any "divine right" a moot point as she can win through her own skill, and she had thoroughly beaten Long Feng by this point so his apparent acceptance of what she says could just be an acknowledgement of her victory. However, there are subtle hints that, for all [[TheManBehindTheMan the string-pulling manipulations]] Long Feng and the [[SecretPolice Dai Li]] engage in under the naive and oblivious Earth King, they are not able to completely free themselves from the cultural baggage of living under a theoretically divine ruler, giving them a predisposition to submit to a royal figure, especially one as formidable as Azula.

** Despite the French Revolution, the concept of divine right was revived in the 19th century as a cornerstone of the reactionary order established during the Concert of Europe. In that era, absolutist monarchs emphasized that as monarchs were God's chosen rulers, adopting a constitutional monarchy would interfere with the direct relationship between ruler and subject that God had ordained. This kind of absolutism was abandoned in Western and Central Europe after the UsefulNotes/RevolutionsOf1848--whose main lasting achievement was forcing most European monarchs to adopt constitutions of some kind, even if they were mostly just window-dressing for continued royal power. However, UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia was spared revolution in 1848, and after the assassination of the reformist Emperor Alexander II in 1881, doubled down on the divine right thing. Of course, the last emperor Nicholas II's insistence on his divine right was a major factor in [[UsefulNotes/RomanovsAndRevolutions his ultimate]] [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober downfall]]....

* UsefulNotes/TimurTheLame was a notable Muslim warlord that declared himself as being a conqueror "ordained by God" as he could not take the title of caliph, since it was currently taken by the Abbasids and it was limited to the Prophet's tribe.

* Emperor Belos from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' claims that his right to rule comes from being able to hear the voice of [[GiantCorpseWorld the Titan whose corpse makes up the Boiling Isles]]. How legitimate this claim is is yet to be seen, but he's willing to put words in the Titan's mouth at the very least. [[spoiler: Unsurprisingly, it’s revealed in “Hollow Mind” that he’s just a genocidal, puritanical fraud and that his claims are nothing more than calculated lies, as he was able to manipulate the Boiling Isles population with FalseFlagOperations and brainwashing propaganda]].

* Deconstructed in ''FanFic/{{Embers}}'', as the Fire Lord was originally just [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority the title held by the strongest Fire Sage]] until Avatar Koshi bound the spirits of the Fire Nation to [[MoreThanMindControl force every single fire nation citizen to be loyal to the then-current Fire Lord's bloodline.]] As the Avatar, she's considered to have the rights of a god, and thus Kyoshi assumed this trope would naturally occur from her mandate. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Unfortunately, this decision led directly to Sozins' rule just a few generations later, as well as extreme corruption and madness to flourish within the Fire Nation's governing body.]]

* Though a few more ambitious pharaohs would proclaim themselves literal gods, the [[UsefulNotes/AncientEgypt Ancient Egyptians]] had something similar to the Chinese in that the pharaoh was, if nothing else, the gods' appointed representative on Earth, and as such, his role was to maintain Ma'at (order). As Ma'at was the lynchpin of Egyptian religious and social belief, to defy the pharaoh was to defy ''the very notion of divinely ordained universal order itself''.

* The Sunni/Shia schism in Islam started as a SuccessionCrisis after the death of Muhammad. The Shia faction believed that God had invested the Prophet's bloodline, represented by his son-in-law Ali, with the right to rule, while the Sunnis wanted an ElectiveMonarchy.

One of the most popular and common idea is The Divine Right of Kings, the idea being that God appointed Kings, Queens and Emperors as His earthly representatives, therefore defying them is defying God's will. TheGoodKingdom and TheEmpire exists because God willed it as the ideal earthly form of government. Most royal bloodlines used some variant of this rule to justify their power. This concept was especially prevalent in European nations where rulers in France, England, Russia and other nations were deeply invested with their respective religious organizations, and obeisance for royalty was invoked as part of the religious ceremonies. In history, the divine right evolved over a period of contentious exchanges between Church and State. The Church formerly exercised all rights to legitimize the authority of kingdoms in Western Europe, driving many to seek favor and leverage over the Pope. The Kings gradually eroded the power of the Church to enforce their decrees. The Divine Right was the final contract between crown and church, designed to eternally validate the other in the eyes of the people and for all its ancient sounding name, it was specifically a product of the Early Modern Era: between UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance and UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment. It was first promulgated by [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfStuart King James I of England]] and later UsefulNotes/LouisXIV of France.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5193644/1/Time-Braid Time Braid]]'' has [[spoiler: Naruto]] be the current holder of the Mandate of Heaven, meaning he's destined to one day rule the world and gets help from various divine powers to back it up. The Mandate itself is a spiritual seal making him imperious to demonic corruption.

* Emperor Belos from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' claims that his right to rule comes from being able to hear the voice of [[GiantCorpseWorld the Titan whose corpse makes up the Boiling Isles]]. How legitimate this claim is is yet to be seen, but he's willing to put words in the Titan's mouth at the very least.

** It's mentioned that the Fire Nation was formerly more of a constitutional monarchy, with a group of sages retaining a large amount of political authority and acting as a check against the Fire Lord. Sozin eventually removed all of their power and made the Fire Lord position one of absolute authority. In keeping with the Fire Nation's SocialDarwinist viewpoints, Divine Right is often backed by combat ability; members of the aristocracy are encouraged to duel one another, with the Royal Family being expected to be, by their nature, the best at it. We never actually find out whether this is true; while they are undeniably formidable, we never see them fight a non-royal master like Jeong Jeong to confirm whether they truly are the best.

** Since ''Legend Of Korra'' takes place in what's [[SchizoTech (more or less)]] this universe's version of the twentieth century, there's a noticeable backlash against the concept of Divine Right in the world and its practice is beginning to die out. After Amon's defeat, Republic City institutes a democratically elected president. The Northern Water Tribe operates under a hereditary monarchy system, but the Southern Water Tribe (which is noticeably more modernized and less traditional) elects its leaders. The Earth Kingdom is still ruled by a (selfish and cruel) monarch, but many of its citizens are unhappy with this system and increasingly discuss how it's become an outdated concept. This gets played for drama in the final season when the BigBad (a charismatic military leader) uses this argument to de-legitimize the claim of the Earth Kingdom's next heir (a friendly, harmless, egocentric and incompetent guy), and appoints herself autocratic leader of the country. [[spoiler:After the BigBad is defeated, the heir decides to step aside and let the Earth Kingdom reorganize into a democracy]].

One of the most popular and common idea is The Divine Right of Kings, the idea being that God appointed Kings, Queens and Emperors as His earthly representatives, therefore defying them is defying God's will. TheKingdom and TheEmpire exists because God willed it as the ideal earthly form of government. Most royal bloodlines used some variant of this rule to justify their power. This concept was especially prevalent in European nations where rulers in France, England, Russia and other nations were deeply invested with their respective religious organizations, and obeisance for royalty was invoked as part of the religious ceremonies. In history, the divine right evolved over a period of contentious exchanges between Church and State. The Church formerly exercised all rights to legitimize the authority of kingdoms in Western Europe, driving many to seek favor and leverage over the Pope. The Kings gradually eroded the power of the Church to enforce their decrees. The Divine Right was the final contract between crown and church, designed to eternally validate the other in the eyes of the people and for all its ancient sounding name, it was specifically a product of the Early Modern Era: between UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance and UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment. It was first promulgated by [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfStuart King James I of England]] and later UsefulNotes/LouisXIV of France.

* ''Webcomic/{{Blindsprings}}'': The Orphics, a WitchSpecies, claimed that they needed to be in charge to satisfy the spirits and keep both the land and the magic alive. All this is true. Unfortunately, only Orphics can see spirits, so the common people assumed that they were just lying to justify their rule. It certainly didn't help that the ruling family was caring less and less for their kingdom as time went on, instead amusing themselves with trinkets made by the new academic magic. The first academist eventually used these trinkets to overthrow and execute[[labelnote:*]]Official history is similar to the Romanovs, mentioning they were executed because their partisans had got a little too close to their prison.[[/labelnote]] all of them except one, who escaped with the spirits.

** Since Legend Of Korra takes place in what's [[SchizoTech (more or less)]] this universe's version of the twentieth century, there's a noticeable backlash against the concept of Divine Right in the world and its practice is beginning to die out. After Amon's defeat, Republic City institutes a democratically elected president. The Northern Water Tribe operates under a hereditary monarchy system, but the Southern Water Tribe (which is noticeably more modernized and less traditional) elects its leaders. The Earth Kingdom is still ruled by a (selfish and cruel) monarch, but many of its citizens are unhappy with this system and increasingly discuss how it's become an outdated concept. This gets played for drama in the final season when the BigBad (a charismatic military leader) uses this argument to de-legitimize the claim of the Earth Kingdom's next heir (a friendly, harmless, egocentric and incompetent guy), and appoints herself autocratic leader of the country. [[spoiler:After the BigBad is defeated, the heir decides to step aside and let the Earth Kingdom reorganize into a democracy]].

* ''Literature/TheTwelveKingdoms'': The rulers are divinely chosen and revelaed by means of the Kirin. One effect of this is less reverence for the gods, as the rulers are human and fallible.

* As an example of UnbuiltTrope, Literature/TheBible has God disliking the idea of his people forming Kingdoms, and the first Jewish kings suffered as a result, with some wondering if obeisance to the King was a form of idolatory or not.