History Main / KingmakerScenario

->''"In a room sit three great men: a king, a priest, and a rich man with his gold. Between them stands a sellsword, a little man of common birth and no great mind. Each of the great ones bids him slay the other two. 'Do it,' says the king, 'for I am your lawful ruler.' 'Do it,' says the priest, 'for I command you in the names of the gods.' 'Do it,' says the rich man, 'and all this gold shall be yours.' So tell me -- who lives and who dies?"''
-->-- '''Varys''', ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''

* In ''Literature/TheInheritanceCycle'', Orik's election to king comes down to this. He (favoring support for the Varden against Galbatorix and the Empire), Íorûnn (motivation unknown), and Nado (favoring withdrawal of support for the Varden) are the three frontrunners for the position, with each having backers of their own. After an assassination attempt on Eragon's life ends in Vermund of Az Sweldn rak Anhuin being removed, Orik forces through a vote for the kingship. After ten votes, Nado and Orik each have five votes, with Íorûnn and her backer Hreidamar both having yet to cast their votes. With dwarven policy being that if a deadlock remains after a round of voting, the candidate with the fewest votes is removed and voting recommences, and so Íorûnn essentially cannot simply vote for herself. So she instead has Hreidamar and herself cast their votes for Orik, noting that they needed t stand together against Galbatorix or be annihilated, regardless of their feelings for the Varden.

* Subverted by Yrael from the ''Literature/OldKingdom'' series in the backstory. [[BigBad The Destroyer]] and the Seven Bright Shiners were evenly matched in their war over whether the world would exist and have life; Yrael was weaker than both sides on his own, but was enough that whichever side he choose would win. However, he refused to join either side, earning NeutralityBacklash from both; when the Seven eventually won and [[SealedEvilInACan sealed the Destroyer in a can]], they made Yrael SealedEvilInATeddyBear, and forced him to serve the [[BadPowersGoodPeople Abhorsens]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'', Starscream manages to find himself in such a scenario. He has [[spoiler:the keys to reactivate Cybertron]], but he has no army to enforce his will or any ability to play this to his political advantage. So he's forced to pick a side. [[spoiler:He picks the Decepticons, using the keys to regain Megatron's favour and forgiveness]].

* ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'': One of the requirements for the GoldenEnding is to get Governor Lum voted out by the six-person Council, of which each member needs to be individually convinced. Among them, Antecedent has a opinion of Lum that is mixed enough that she won't vote against him on her own, but should at least three other members of the Council be confirmed to want to do so, she'll go along with their decision. Beacause of this, Antecedent's vote can only be secured once three others have been.

* The TropeNamer, Richard, Earl of Warwick, is a supporting character in ''Series/TheWhiteQuee'' where he serves as something of an AntiVillain after his falling out with Edward IV. He may oppose the king and his wife, who is the protagonist of the series, but he comes off as honorable, thoughtful and brave, and he's not portrayed as wrong for feeling unappreciated and insulted by Edward. Edward sees him as a WorthyOpponent and takes no pleasure in his death.

* In the ''Manga/DeathNote'' [[SleazyPolitician Political]] [[AlternateUniverseFic AU]] ''Fanfic/ThoseWhoStandForNothingFallForAnything'' [[DudeWheresMyRespect L doesn't get the respect he deserves]] because he's openly gay but he has enough power and influence to greatly help Light's career.
* The basic plot of ''Fanfic/TheKeysStandAlone''. Everything seems to have stalled between the Power Groups competing to bring down the Black Tower, so the four are brought into the mix and told to throw their support behind one of the groups. The four aren't powerful enough to bring down the Black Tower themselves, but they have enough power that their support should tip the scales in someone's favor.

* ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly''. Both Angel Eyes and Tuco know the name of the grave site - Blondie is initially disadvantaged as he only knows the name on the grave itself, but will eventually become the Kingmaker and the other two know this. After Angel Eyes finds out Tuco's half of the secret, the film spends a little time watching the two fighting over who gets Blondie. (He sides with [[spoiler: Tuco in the end,]] but out of choice. No-one gets to tell the Man With No Name what to do.)

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' is built around this. Early in the game, Corrin has to choose to side with their biological family or the family they were raised with; this decision tips the odds in favour of their chosen side, [[FactionSpecificEndings ultimately leading to that country winning the war]] and that side's older brother being crowned king. Corrin can also [[TakeAThirdOption refuse to pick a side]], in which case {{everybody lives}}, both sides come together to defeat the real enemy, and [[GoldenEnding both older brothers get to be kings]]. Reflecting this, Corrin's epithet is 'crux of fate'.
* Happens in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', where the [[BigFirstChoice seemingly innocuous choice of which house Byleth chooses at the beginning of the game]] and the far more nocuous choice of [[spoiler:whether to side with Rhea or Edelgard]] at the end of one version of Chapter 11 determines who wins the war at the end of it. That said, [[spoiler:the Silver Snow and Verdant Wind endings result in Byleth becoming ruler of a unified continent, Azure Moon places them in a position of power as Archbishop of the Church of Seiros, and both Azure Moon and Crimson Flower allow them to marry the ruler of the continent and become their consort]].

* In ''Literature/TheInheritanceCycle''', Orik's election to king comes down to this. He (favoring support for the Varden against Galbatorix and the Empire), Íorûnn (motivation unknown), and Nado (favoring withdrawal of support for the Varden) are the three frontrunners for the position, with each having backers of their own. After an assassination attempt on Eragon's life ends in Vermund of Az Sweldn rak Anhuin being removed, Orik forces through a vote for the kingship. After ten votes, Nado and Orik each have five votes, with Íorûnn and her backer Hreidamar both having yet to cast their votes. With dwarven policy being that if a deadlock remains after a round of voting, the candidate with the fewest votes is removed and voting recommences, and so Íorûnn essentially cannot simply vote for herself. So she instead has Hreidamar and herself cast their votes for Orik, noting that they needed t stand together against Galbatorix or be annihilated, regardless of their feelings for the Varden.

* While not official, it is very common in a ''TabletopGame/{{Monopoly}}'' game for a player to just hand over all his savings and property to another and leave the game.
** In a more official capacity, sometimes a player who's ahead will be shut out of trades because the other players don't like said player; instead, they choose to deal with a second player who has a chance of winning. At least one Monopoly ''championship'' was decided in exactly this manner.

** Viserys gives her the final word on the crisis of the Velaryon succession, and she confirms Corly's wishes to make Lucerys and not Vaemond the heir to Driftmark.
** She ultimately casts her lot with the Blacks on the crisis of the Targaryen succession after Otto Hightower's coup crowns Aegon II. It's even discussed InUniverse beforehand and brought up as part of the reason for the Hightowers imprisoning Rhaenys as quickly as possible following Viserys's death. With Rhaenys, Rhaenyra has a clear advantage and thus a good chance to strike first, making war a certainty; without Rhaenys, Alicent is hopeful that Rhaenyra can be persuaded to negotiate instead.