History Main / KingIncognito

* Paul Atredies does this in ''DuneMessiah''.

** The Duke of Vienna in ''MeasureForMeasure'' spends most of the play disguised as a friar in order to spy on his subordinate, Angelo, who he has left in charge of governing the city. Good thing, too, since Angelo proves to be ruthless and corrupt.
*** Is there a Trope Shakespeare * didn't* use?
**** [[TheZerothLawOfTropeExamples No.]]
***** It's a little known fact that Shakespeare's works include such things as DataVampires, the ClassicCheatCode, {{Trainstopping}}, PersonalityBloodTypes, and AmericaSavesTheDay.

* The Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus is said to have had multiple times dressed as a beggar and traveled around his country to discover and obliterate any injustice he found.

* ''{{Touhou}}'' has the Earth Rabbit, Tewi Inaba. As a mere Mid-Boss, fans interpreted her as a lowly servant. Indeed, based on ''[[http://touhou.wikia.com/wiki/Perfect_Memento:_Reisen_Udongein_Inaba Perfect Memento]]'', it's assumed in-story that she serves under the MoonRabbit, Reisen. Of course, the truth is, Tewi barely listens to Reisen at all. When Reisen finally got frustrated of Tewi in ''[[http://touhou.wikia.com/wiki/Cage_in_Lunatic_Runagate:_First_Chapter Cage In Lunatic Runagate]]'', she asks her master [[TimeAbyss Eirin]] why they even allow Tewi to run around freely in Eientei, only for her master to drop the bomb shell: Tewi's the master of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost where Eientei was built in. Tewi's the leader of all the {{Youkai}} Earth Rabbits that act as their servants. Tewi is the only one that those rabbits would listen to. As Eirin said in her musings:

** Also, [[spoiler: Nibbiler]]

Frequently serves as a DeusExMachina, or can lead to a RightInFrontOfMe moment. KneelBeforeFrodo often results. GodWasMyCopilot and AngelUnaware are the supernatural versions.

Frequently serves as a DeusExMachina, or can lead to a RightInFrontOfMe moment. KneelBeforeFrodo often results. GodWasMyCopilot is the supernatural version.

* Subverted in Alexander Korda's ''[[ArabianNightsDays The Thief of Bagdad]]'', in which the [[EvilChancellor vizier]] convinces the king to walk among his people dressed as a commoner--and then takes over the kingdom in his absence.

* King Ahmad in ''TheThiefOfBaghdad'': After being kept in his palace his whole life, he discovers he's too naive and decides to disguise himself and learn about his people. His EvilChancellor encourages the decision, and kidnaps him soon after. Oops.

This may be a RagsToRoyalty situation, if the king must stay hidden for his own safety. However, it is never a case of a SecretLegacy; the king always knows that he is the king, and is generally plotting the ReturnOfTheKing. If the central character is the King Incognito, then this is IAmWho.

** Also, the recently crowned Yoko goes on a sabbatical like this early on to familiarize herself with her empire.

*** It's enough that you could say it was the hat of The House of Vasa.

* Possibly the most extreme example: in the Malazan Books of the Fallen, a highly competent but otherwise unassuming servant turns out to be ''the Elder God of the sea'' in disguise, who decided to live among humans in an attempt to avert WhoWantsToLiveForever.

* Zeus frequently disguised himself as mortal humans/plants/animals in Greek mythology, making this OlderThanDirt.

*** Norse myth has Odin doing this a lot as well, sometimes accompanied by Loki.
*** Jewish tradition has this as one of the prophet Elijah's favorite tricks too.
*** And Japanese folklore has youkai which fill this role. I suspect there are no bodies of folklore without ''someone'' playing this role.
* According to TheBible, God the Son became a mortal man in order to reconcile with fallen humanity, and even after his return to heaven remains The Son of Man as much as of God.

*** More than one Catholic saint has an encounter like this in their legends. Saint Christopher, ''e.g''., was an ex-GeniusBruiser turned GentleGiant who converted to Christianity after finding out that the CuteShotaroBoy once he helped cross a river was actually Baby Jesus.

* ''{{Persona 4}}'': Remember [[spoiler:the gas station attendant who, other than making your controller vibrate and causing you to feel dizzy, seemed just like any other attendant?]] Well, turns out she's [[spoiler:Izanami, the BigBad and the TrueFinalBoss.]]

* In the third ''ElderScrolls'' game an old man in imperial armor gives you a lucky coin on your way to face the BigBad if you have done certain things in the game. You never see him again, but it turns out he was the spirit of a past emperor that had ascended to godhood. SoYeah

* [[CodeGeass Lelouch, just Lelouch]]. Slight subversion in that he's only a prince, and not even close to being the crown prince. (He's 17th in line for the throne, at least he is at the beginning of the series)

Compare ModestRoyalty. Contrast with ErmineCapeEffect and MockMillionaire.