History Main / MachiavelliWasWrong

** [[Characters/GameOfThronesTywinLannister Tywin Lannister's]] character arc serves as a closer examination of the trope (and TruerToTheText of Machiavelli's political theory, too). While Tywin ticks nearly all stereotypical fictional boxes of the trope (preferring fear over any overt affection--[[FreudianExcuse seeing as shallow shows of it is what ruined his father Tytos's rule]]), he falls fatally short of an important aspect: Avoiding being ''hated'', mainly as Tywin couldn't care less if anyone likes him. While Tywin is pragmatic enough to make a point of honoring debts and trying to maintain allies, his focus on being feared often wins out, leading him to come down hard on any enemies. With House Lannister running roughshod of nearly every significant major and minor player in the Seven Kingdoms, there was no shortage of people to band together against them--leaving the future of his House in terminal decline once he's gone and they no longer have his savvy and reputation to save them. Of course, even if he had lived, the fact that the Lannisters had long since gone broke meant it was only a matter of time before they fell.

** [[Characters/GameOfThronesTywinLannister Tywin Lannister's]] character arc serves as a closer examination of the trope (and TruerToTheText of Machiavelli's political theory, too). While Tywin ticks nearly all stereotypical fictional boxes of the trope (preferring fear over any overt affection--[[FreudianExcuse seeing as shallow shows of it is what ruined his father Tytos's rule]]), he falls fatally short of an important aspect: Avoiding being ''hated'', mainly as Tywin couldn't care less if anyone likes him. With House Lannister running roughshod of nearly every significant major and minor player in the Seven Kingdoms, there was no shortage of people to band together against them--leaving the future of his House in terminal decline once he's gone and they no longer have his savvy and reputation to save them. Of course, even if he had lived, the fact that the Lannisters had long since gone broke meant it was only a matter of time before they fell.

* Putin and Russia in general, hoo boy. They mainly planned to use the fear of losing the gas pipeline to stem the potential aid to the Ukrainian government; not only did it fail to be effective, the hatred they gathered from enabling the atrocities of their army and the Wagner mercenaries turned the world against them entirely so much they are unable to largely lie to the world, much less their populace, and can only pacify the people by force. They also have defectors in the form of the Freedom of Russia Legion.

* Somewhat of a subtle overtone in ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars''. While ThePowerOfLove is a huge part of why the Predacon Black Arachnia eventually defects to the heroic Maximals, another major reason was the fact that Megatron (despite being a MagnificentBastard) is a firm believer in keeping his troops in line through fear. For someone as free-spirited as Black Arachnia, Megatron's desire for absolute control chafed.

* Putin and Russia in general, oh boy they mainly planned to use the fear of loss of the gas pipeline to stem the potential aid to the Ukrainian government, not only did it fail to be effective, the hatred they gathered from enabling the atrocities of their army and the Wagner mercenaries turned the world against them entirely so much they are unable to largely lie to the world much less their populace and can only pacify the people by force, they also have defectors in the form of the Freedom of Russia Legion.

* Invoked by Caduceus in Campaign 2 of ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' during his [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech speech]] [[spoiler:Trent Ikithon]]:

* Putin and Russia in general, oh boy they mainly planned to use the fear of loss of the gas pipeline to stem the potential aid to the Ukrainian government, not only did it fail to be effective, the hatred they gathered from enabling the atrocities of their army and the Wagner mercenaries turned the world against them entirely so much they are unable to largely lie to the world much less their populace and can only pacify the people by force, they also have defectors several Russian soldiers In the form of the Freedom of Russia legion.

The trope name comes, obviously, from the popular reputation of Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli's ''Literature/ThePrince'', which is often paraphrased as saying that it is better to rule by fear than by love. People (and fictional villains) often forget an important thing Machiavelli pointed out, however -- it is preferable to be both feared ''and'' loved, choosing fear over love only when you can't have both, and that in any event it is vital to avoid being ''[[ZeroPercentApprovalRating hated]]'', since if you are hated people will be willing to suffer just to oppose you. Best of all is to command obedience through ''respect''. In essence, it'd be more true to form to say "Machiavelli was right" if not for this popular misunderstanding.

* Played with in ''Manga/FromEroicaWithLove''; the antagonist Klaus is both feared and loved. He is gruff with his men, expecting perfection from them, and is constantly threatening to send them off to Alaska if they fail (and he actually goes though with it at least once), but he also acts like [[HypocriticalHeartwarming he's the only one allowed to insult them]] and lets them known that they aren't just {{Red Shirt}}s, admittedly by yelling at them.

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'' has TheDon of Passione, Diavolo, whose goal to rule [[NoOneSeesTheBoss from complete anonymity]] ends up accomplishing nothing besides turning pretty much his entire organization against him, specifically because he leads through fear and otherwise makes no attempt to make his underlings respect him. When his squad of top assassins send two of their members to find out more information about him, he just mails them back to their headquarters in pieces, burning bridges with all of his elite hitmen simply for questioning him. On top of that, the brutal and insane lengths he's willing to go to to secure the anonymity he wants [[spoiler:culminating in tricking Bucciarati's group into helping him murder his own long-lost daughter (who for the record knows nothing about him anyway)]] just leads to another group under him betraying him.

--> '''Leo:''' [UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat] was a brilliant tactician, and a brutal tyrant. A good ruler must be nothing less.

* ''Fanfic/EquestriaGirlsFriendshipSouls'': Definitely subverted by [[SatanicArchetype Tirek]] and the Arrancar. In the DeathWorld that is Hueco Mundo, the reason that Las Noches and the Espada haven't devolved into petty in-fighting is because ''no one'' can question the [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership Hollow King and Primera Espada]] when he puts his foot down and all are in fear of his wrath and power. The only person in Las Noches who could possibly challenge him is the Dos Espada Chrysalis, and even she admits while their battle would destroy the whole city fortress he would still win as things are. Despite this, Tirek used both his power and his people's fear to forge them into a competent faction and the closest thing the Hollows have to a government/ruling body. Without him Hueco Mundo would basically be squabbling weaker factions of Arrancars and Vasto Lordes carving out territories while being vulnerable to attacks from the infinitely more organized Soul Society and Quincy, and while definitely feared and envied he is not a ''hated'' king as he understands the value of powerful subordinates and does not go out his way to treat them cruelly or make life worse for them just because. [[spoiler:Adagio Dazzle]] even admits he's actually a competent ruler and there are certainly worse options even among the Espada to be his replacement, even as she schemes to either gain enough power to break away to form her own faction or possibly topple him.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'': The Autobots show concern, and reverence for [[AFatherToHisMen Optimus Prime]] even in his dying moments when he’s a liability to them. This is contrasted with [[BadBoss Megatron]] who when wounded, has to [[AintTooProudToBeg beg]] [[TheDragon his second in command]] Soundwave just not to leave him behind. When his Decepticon minions realize they could [[ColdEquation jettison the wounded]] on [[AutomatedAutomobiles AstroTrain]] to make him go faster, Megatron is ThrownOutTheAirlock despite his pleas, no one lifting a finger to help him.

* This quite aptly describes the difference between Vito and Michael Corleone in ''Film/TheGodfather''. Vito built his criminal empire with an equal mixture of fear and respect, Michael doesn't quite seem to grasp that fear isn't all a Don needs and ends up in ruins.

* ''Theatre/{{Rope}}'': {{Played with}}. [[spoiler:This is a rare variety where the proverbial "Machiavelli" himself admits he was wrong. Rupert has always felt distant toward his other people, and has tried to cope with it through rhetoric about how murder is an art form that only the few should be allowed to practice. But when he finds that his own student was pointlessly murdered by his two other students ''inspired by that rhetoric'', it turns his stomach and proves to him that no one has the right to decide who lives and who dies.]]

* A big part of why villains in ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'' tend to fail. Not only do hated oppressors have a harder time governing, they produce stronger and more numerous Named opponents. While Black is a brilliant tactician and Malicia is an equally brilliant politician, the real reason that they have done as well as they have is because they have worked to improve quality of life rather than just intimidate their followers through force of arms.

** Lord Havelock Vetinari acknowledges that you don't have to be feared ''or'' loved... [[VetinariJobSecurity just irreplaceable]]. Although anyone claiming to be unafraid of him is either lying, insane or [[IdealHero Captain Carrot]].
** Several villains show that VetinariJobSecurity isn't foolproof either: occasionally the ruler ''will'' be presented with an adversary who is too stupid to be afraid of him ''and'' too stupid to understand the consequences that getting rid of him would have. It is mentioned in ''Literature/FeetOfClay'' that no-one ''sane'' has ever tried to kill Vetinari, but a lot of people have tried and keep trying.
* Extensively examined but never explicitly mentioned in ''Literature/TheBartimaeusTrilogy'' in the relationship between Bartimaeus and Nathaniel, and the contrast between it and the relationship Bartimaeus had with his former master [[PosthumousCharacter Ptolemy]]. Also near the end their relationship improves significantly, mostly because Nathaniel starts treating him with the respect Bartimaeus deserves. He even compares Nathan to Ptolemy near the end. In fact, in the end, [[spoiler:Nathaniel sacrifices himself to save Bartimaeus]], something unthinkable for most magicians.

** ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'': Grand Admiral Thrawn understands the distinction, but also adds to it the difference between fear and respect. He doesn't execute underlings for failings that are not their fault; he's lethally stern but not murderous, and he commands his men more through respect than either fear or love. That said, he also is entirely willing to use terror tactics against the Nogrhi, and uses mind control on his own men without remorse.

* PlayedWith in ''Literature/{{Dune}}'': the Harkonnens clearly ruled Arrakis through fear and Duke Leto capitalized on that by portraying himself as a far kinder ruler to gain the people's love and adoration. Not that it did him any good when his popularity aroused the other Houses' jealousy and the Harkonnens invaded and re-captured the planet. And the Baron's BatmanGambit to pacify the populace of Arrakis after recapturing it--letting his least favorite nephew Rabban rule Arrakis as cruel despot, so that his favorite Feyd would be more welcomed when he takes over--was straight out of Literature/ThePrince, and might have worked had Paul not provoked the Fremen into going on a Jihad.

* British statesman Lord Chesterfield wrote in ''Literature/LettersToHisSon'': "a private man who can hurt but few, though he can please many, must endeavor to be loved, for he cannot be feared in general." - "But this truth from long experience I assert, that he who has the most friends and the fewest enemies, is the strongest; will rise the highest with the least envy; and fall, if he does fall, the gentlest, and the most pitied." (letter 181 and 184)

** The Lannisters, who rule primarily by fear, are despised by the smallfolk. On the other hand, the smallfolk completely adore the Tyrells (with PrincessClassic Margaery as TheFace), who spend time with them, hand out food donations and the like. Renly Baratheon, who was fostered by the Tyrells, had a similar philosophy in his brief campaign to become king and thus had a lot of support among the peasantry.

** Stannis himself was able to walk the fine line between respected and disliked. He isn't the most charming individual, and is willing to use a religion that encourages fanaticism to its followers. Still he has a strict code of honor, and always listens to his advisors who give him reasonable and pragmatic advice. When Night Watch call for help against the Wildlings, and the Others, he is only one who heeds their call and make his way to North. Eventually he starts a campaign in conquering the North from the Boltons, and this results in several Northern houses to pledge their aid to him, as they consider him to be a better option than the sadistic Boltons.

* A secondary [[AnAesop Aesop]] to the chapters of ''Literature/UncleTomsCabin'' set on [[TheSociopath Simon Legree's]] plantation is that rule by fear stops working when the tyrant fails to break a subject's spirit. Legree is unable to destroy Tom's faith and character, and Tom supplies a desperately-needed ray of hope for the rest of Legree's slaves.

* In ''Series/BreakingBad'' Walter decides to stop cooking meth for his distributor Gus Fring, and Fring is asked by [[TheDragon Mike]] why he doesn't directly threaten Walter to continue his work (either with the threat of exposing his identity as 'Heisenberg' to the DEA, or with good old-fashioned violence). Gus responds that fear is not a proper motivator in their business; instead, he finds far more success in playing to Walter's [[FatalFlaw pride]]. But when Walt turns out to be too unpredictable and arrogant to control in this manner (able to manipulate Gus into a position where he's unable to kill him), Gus is forced to fall back on fear to keep him in line. [[spoiler:Played straight all the same; when Gus threatens to murder Walt's family, and his children, it finally makes Walt desperate enough to take extreme measures in getting rid of him, leading to Gus's downfall.]]

* In ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', MagnificentBastard Scorpius takes care to reward his useful mooks (most particularly his eventual pseudo-[[TheDragon Dragon]] Braca). Of course, they're ''still'' scared of him, because [[FateWorseThanDeath horrible things]] happen to his enemies and prisoners, but he's the lesser of several evils, and as a result his minions are very loyal indeed.

** This seems to be the general ethos of House Tyrell. Loras thinks Renly would make a good king because the smallfolk like him and he would rule through love and respect rather than through strength and fear. In a case of InformedAttribute, the minute the North and Riverlands hear of his claim, they denounce Renly for usurping Stannis on the line of succession, and declare Robb Stark King in the North. Margaery tries this in Season 3 with the people of King's Landing by being kind and generous to the poor, causing them to adore her. This makes them a {{foil}} to the Lannisters, who are utterly ruthless and will trample over anybody if it means getting more power for the family, to the extent where it ultimately works against the Lannisters because everyone hates them and [[spoiler:the Tyrells are quickly growing powerful enough to rival them. By Season 4 they marry into the royal family. However, come Season 7, several of their bannermen, including Lord Randall Tarly, their most loyal bannerman, turn against them and support Cersei Lannister out of xenophobia because Daenerys Targaryen has come with an army of foreigners. Highgarden, their seat, is burned, and their line is ended. It is rather convoluted writing, though.]]

** PlayedWith with Roose Bolton. Roose understands that ruling only through fear and tyranny is a good way to get people to rise up against you. Especially since the only reason he is Warden of the North at all is because he usurped the senior House Stark, and other noble houses in the North still hold allegiance to them. Tyranny only works if you have the numbers to back up your threats.
---> '''Roose:''' We can't hold the North with terror alone.

** An even better example exists in Malvina Hazen and her control of Clan Jade Falcon, along with her interpretation of the Mongol Doctrine--that is, terrify enemies with overwhelming force and sheer barbaric depravity. While it worked in some cases, encourging some planets to surrender out of fear, it also caused rebellions to constantly crop up by people who felt they had nothing left to lose and for Jade Falcon to be hated by ''everyone'' on a scale not seen since the Word of Blake Jihad. By the time Malvina was finally put down, Jade Falcon had nearly annihilated itself, and ultimtely ended up subordinate to their hated rivals Clan Wolf.

* While the Machiavelli seen in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' never actually states any beliefs like this outside of mild cynicism, it is shown that the Borgia's reign of oppression has no chance against Ezio's more enlightened perspective. He does however openly criticize their methods, so they clearly didn't read his book -- which may have been due to the fact that it was written fifteen years after the game's start and quite a few events of the game obviously inspire him to turn his worldview around and write the actual ''Literature/ThePrince'' rather than TheThemeParkVersion. In fact, Machiavelli implies that the subject of ''The Prince'' is actually Ezio, not Cesare, and exemplifies its true message: while the Borgias are hated tyrants, Ezio is feared and loved by the people of Rome, and welcomes every Assassin recruit with the statement, "The liberation of Rome has begun."

** Played straight in ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar''. Chivalrous generals (ones that fight fairly, release prisoners, keep taxes low and city happiness high etc) give cities a bonus to happiness and population growth when they're stationed in them, and they give a morale bonus to troops when on the battlefield. Dreaded generals (ones that hire assassins, raises taxes, execute prisoners etc) give a public order bonus in cities, but it's just not as effective.

* ''Webcomic/MobPsycho100'': Shigeo Kageyama is a 14-year-old boy with psychic powers. He chooses not to hurt others with his psychic powers, even his enemies, because it is against his morals. He tries to win a battle with another enemy rationally until he gets pressurized to aggression, but that is rare for him. In battle, the emotions he displays at 100% are mostly positive emotions, like confidence, gratitude, friendship and trust.

* In ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'', Eddy tries to "rule" the cul-de-sac with respect, but on occasion he's resorted to fear (see: the episode where he lies and tells everyone that his brother's coming home). It doesn't really work because everyone knows he's a greedy {{Jerkass}}, which results in him (as well as the other Eds) being the local punching bags. [[spoiler:Eddy's brother is much more successful at this, as shown in the previously mentioned episode, though he's an astronomical Jerkass far beyond anything Eddy ever did. This trope kicks in in [[WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddysBigPictureShow the movie]] when the kids see how badly Eddy's brother treats him, as well as Eddy apologizing for acting like a jerk, which finally wins him the respect of the other children and sees his brother getting some well-deserved comeuppance.]]

* This can play out in ''any'' popular uprising against a dictator who ruled through fear, but becomes more hated than respected.
* Avoided with the books written by the titular Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli - unlike characters this trope is about, Machiavelli thought that the most important thing is to avoid hatred, and that the most effective way to remain in power is to use both fear and love - like most great rulers did. ''Literature/ThePrince'' was mostly about means to avoid assassination, [[RevolvingDoorRevolution all too common]] in Italian city-states of the time, assuming it was ever meant to be good advice rather than political satire.

* During UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the Italian commander-in-chief Luigi Cadorna ruled his troops with harsh discipline, unnecessary punishments, and the threat of being gunned down by the barrier troops if they didn't attack, the only exception being the ''Carabinieri'' (military police, who were acting as said barrier troops) and the Third Army (led by the Duke of Aosta, a relative of the king, second in the line of succession and AFatherToHisMen). When the Austro-Hungarians broke through at the Battle of Caporetto, the soldiers of the Second Army shot their officers, routed the ''Carabinieri'' and started retreating, discussing whether to start the revolution then and there or just return home and transforming the defeat in a CurbStompBattle, with the Third Army forced to retreat before being surrounded. To better drive home the point, when Cadorna was replaced with Armando Diaz (a pupil of the Duke of Aosta, and AFatherToHisMen like him), the soldiers (who during the retreat had also seen Italian civilians running from the invaders) stopped retreating and ''stopped the invasion cold'', while the First Army, that included forces raised from local populations and was supported by enough artillery to realize Cadorna was a WellIntentionedExtremist (and was less tormented by the ''Carabinieri'' for that), resisted.
* This was the end of the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Brigades Brigate Rosse]]'' (Red Brigades) terrorist group: feared enough that one man could rob a bank by walking in and telling the director he was from the Red Brigades (to this day it's unknown if it was a bluff from a lone robber or an actual member of the Brigades), their murder of popular right-wing politician Aldo Moro alienated them from both parts of their left-wing support base and ''their own founders'' (who had been already caught and convicted years before), who provided the police and the ''Carabinieri'' with the information they needed to track down and arrest numerous members of the Brigades and cut off some of their sources of revenue. Their reprisal murders that targeted, among others, a popular leftist union leader, only caused further hatred and even defections from members that had grown to despise the Brigades' indiscriminate violence more than they hated the Italian government, and the Italian magistrates (who offered lowered sentences and protection to any defectors and kept their word) and police forces were finally able to dismantle the previously unassailable organization thanks to the defectors' information.

* Putin and Russia in general, oh boy they mainly planned to use the fear of loss of the gas pipeline to stem the potential aid to the Ukrainian government, not only it failed to be effective, the hatred they gathered from enabling the atrocities of their army and the Wagner mercenaries turned the world against them entirely so much they are unable to largely lie to the world much less their populace and can only pacify the people by force, they also have defectors several Russian soldiers In the form of the Freedom of Russia legion

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Azula believes "fear is the only reliable way" to control people, and it always works for her. Then Mai turns around and [[EtTuBrute betrays her]] because she loves Zuko. Ten seconds later, Ty Lee also betrays her to save Mai from Azula's retribution. Azula considered both Mai and Ty Lee to be her "best friends" (read: the ones most under her control), and their betrayal out of love for others leads directly to her VillainousBreakdown.

* In the final episode of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', [[spoiler:this trope is played very straight when Aku tries to crush the hopes of any would-be resistance by broadcasting Jack's execution on television. It has the opposite result he intended, with an ''army'' of Jack's allies assaulting his palace in a RoaringRampageOfRescue. That said, because only Jack's sword can harm him, Aku is still a OneManArmy against them.]]

* Putin and Russia in general, oh boy they mainly planned to use the fear of loss of the gas pipeline to stem the potential aid to the Ukrainian government, not only it failed to be effective, the hatred they gathered from enabling the atrocities of their army and the Wagner mercenaries turned the world against them entirely so much they are unable to largely lie to the world much less their populace and can only pacify the people by force, they also have several Russian soldiers In the form of the Freedom of Russia legion

* Putin and Russia in general, oh boy they mainly planned to use the fear of loss of the gas pipeline to stem the potential aid to the Ukrainian government, not only it failed to be effective, the hatred they gathered from enabling the atrocities of their army and the Wagner mercenaries turned the world against them entirely so much they are unable to largely lie to the world much less their populace and can only pacify the populace by force

* {{Deconstructed}} in ''Literature/HowARealistHeroRebuiltTheKingdom''. Protagonist Souma Kazuya was a humanities undergrad before being TrappedInAnother World as the King of Elfrieden--previously ruled by a king who was likable but no great master of rulership, before he betrothed the summoned hero Souma to his daughter and abdicated--and has extensively studied ''Literature/ThePrince'' among other historical texts. His narration often quotes Machiavelli directly, including explaining the popular misunderstandings of its various theses and why Souma's actions are TruerToTheText and what makes them superior courses of action. In essence, this series argues that ''Literature/ThePrince'' is a very ''good'' guide to rulership ''if'' you study it well enough to actually understand it properly: for example, "cruelties" are a useful tool, but you ''must'' wield them precisely, decisively, and ''rarely'', [[spoiler:as Souma does when he concludes the CivilWar arc by having a remaining cabal of nobles who conspired against him extrajudicially killed by his secret service]].

* {{Deconstructed}} in ''Literature/HowARealistHeroRebuiltTheKingdom''. Protagonist Souma Kazuya was a humanities undergrad before being TrappedInAnother world as the King of Elfrieden--previously ruled by a king who was likable but no great master of rulership, before he bethrothed the summoned hero Souma to his daughter and abdicated--and has extensively studied ''Literature/ThePrince'' among other historical texts. His narration often quotes Machiavelli directly, including explaining the popular misunderstandings of its various theses and why Souma's actions are TruerToTheText and what makes them superior courses of action. In essence, this series argues that ''Literature/ThePrince'' is a very ''good'' guide to rulership ''if'' you study it well enough to actually understand it properly: for example, "cruelties" are a useful tool, but you ''must'' wield them precisely, decisively, and ''rarely'', [[spoiler:as Souma does when he concludes the CivilWar arc by having a remaining cabal of nobles who conspired against him extrajudicially killed by his secret service]].

** The Lannisters, who rule primarily by fear, are despised by the small folk. On the other hand, the small folk completely adore the Tyrells, with Margaery at the forefront, who spend time with them, hand out food donations and the like. Sansa also comes to this conclusion after spending time with paranoid queen mother Cersei.

** Then there are the various Northern Houses, who love their liege lords the Starks. They loved the Stark family so much that they, lord and commoner alike, are prepared to march through blizzards or bone-chilling cold in a state of near starvation, or keep on fighting even when all hope is faded, for the sake of the Starks. Even after being [[spoiler:usurped by the Boltons, the North would not bend the knee to them, and House Manderly[[labelnote:*]]Which actually was originally an Andal noble house that was adopted by the Starks into the North after being usurped from their homelands further south[[/labelnote]] are conspiring against the Boltons to bring the Starks back as liege lords]].

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'' has TheDon of Passione, Diavolo, whose goal to rule [[NoOneSeesTheBoss from complete anonymity]] ends up accomplishing nothing besides turning pretty much his entire organization against him, specifically because he leads through fear and otherwise makes no attempt to make his underlings respect him. When his squad of top assassins send two of their members to find out more information about him, he just mails them back to their headquarters in pieces, burning bridges with all of his elite hitmen simply for questioning him. On top of that, the brutal and insane lengths he's willing to go to to secure the anonymity he wants [[spoiler: culminating in tricking Bucciarati's group into helping him murder his own long-lost daughter (who for the record knows nothing about him anyway)]] just leads to another group under him betraying him.

* In ''Film/ABronxTale,'' the question "Is it better to be loved or feared?" is openly discussed between the young protagonist C and his mobster mentor Sonny. Sonny had read Machiavelli during a stint in jail and is well aware that the key thing is to not be ''hated''... [[spoiler: Unfortunately for Sonny, killing people tends to lead to their kin developing a hatred for the murderer.]]

* ''Film/BigFatLiar'': [[AnAesop The film's lesson]] is that being a self-serving liar will ''not'' work out in the long run. After using a web of lies to get out of trouble, Jason is dumped into summer school when his parents and teacher [[CryingWolf don't believe him when he says that some Hollywood producer stole his homework]]. That producer, Marty Wolf, has spent his whole life being a lying, [[BadBoss abusive jerk to his employees]]. [[spoiler: When Jason plans one last glorious revenge scheme, [[TheDogBitesBack all of his employees]] jump at the chance to do it]]. The specific moment when [[spoiler: Wolf's secretary turns on him is when Wolf gets Jason arrested, [[UngratefulBastard despite Jason helping him out]]]].

* The [[TheEmpire Malwa Empire]] in the ''Literature/BelisariusSeries'' depends on fear and oppression in order to rule, as the superhuman artificial intelligence guiding them, Link, has no use for compassion or any similar emotion, thinking them pointless. Belisarius, on the other hand, while ruthless when he has to be on the battlefield, uses kindness and mercy with as much efficiency and effectiveness as he does sword and lance. [[spoiler: In the end, what brings the Malwa and Link down isn't Belisarius's brilliance on the battlefield; it's the alliance he's built up through acts of kindness, trust, and uniting people for the greater good.]]

* In ''Series/BreakingBad'' Walter decides to stop cooking meth for his distributor Gus Fring, and Fring is asked by [[TheDragon Mike]] why he doesn't directly threaten Walter to continue his work (either with the threat of exposing his identity as 'Heisenberg' to the DEA, or with good old-fashioned violence). Gus responds that fear is not a proper motivator in their business; instead, he finds far more success in playing to Walter's [[FatalFlaw pride]]. But when Walt turns out to be too unpredictable and arrogant to control in this manner (able to manipulate Gus into a position where he's unable to kill him), Gus is forced to fall back on fear to keep him in line. [[spoiler: Played straight all the same; when Gus threatens to murder Walt's family, and his children, it finally makes Walt desperate enough to take extreme measures in getting rid of him, leading to Gus's downfall.]]

* Taking the Open Palm Path in ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' lets you throw this one ''right'' in the face of the BigBad. [[spoiler: Sun Li knocks out your party and traps you in a mind prison. You summon your friends to help fight off the demons of doubt and fear...even Sagacious Zu, who gave his life in a HeroicSacrifice at the 2/3 mark of the story. After breaking out, Sun Li is left scraping his jaw off the floor - ''eat it,'' "Glorious Strategist"]] Closed Fist characters can get through just the same, but [[spoiler:if they've killed their party members in order to steal the Water Dragon's power, they'll have more demons of doubt to fight]], and thus a more difficult time.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', your companions get bonuses of different kinds depending on whether they like you or not, based on a sliding friendship-rivalry meter. Usually ([[SubvertedTrope but not always]]) the more useful bonus is on the Friendship end of the scale. [[spoiler: Also, if you don't get the right companions into the right areas on the meters, you might wind up having to kill some of them in the endgame.]]

* In ''VideoGame/HorizonZeroDawn'', [[TheUnfettered Sylens]] admonishes Aloy about the "folly" of Trust and that mutual interest is a far better framework of alliance. However, after all his usage, disposal, and betrayal of people... he is alone, and he himself was betrayed. Meanwhile, [[TheFettered Aloy]] has earned the adulation, trust, and loyalty of many within the Nora Sacred Lands and Carja Sundom, culminating in her winning the day at the Battle of The Alight with all those aforementioned rallying to her, [[spoiler: succeeding at cleaning up Sylens's mess as well.]]

* ''Webcomic/MobPsycho100'': Shigeo Kageyama is a 14 year old boy with psychic powers. He chooses not to hurt others with his psychic powers, even his enemies, because it is against his morals. He tries to win a battle with another enemy rationally until he gets pressurized to aggression, but that is rare for him. In battle, the emotions he displays at 100% are mostly positive emotions, like confidence, gratitude, friendship and trust.

* Invoked by Caduceus in Campaign 2 of ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' during his [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech speech]] [[spoiler: Trent Ikithon]]
--> '''Caduceus:''' May I say, before you go... I think perhaps you are one of the most powerful mages that I've ever had the pleasure to be in the presence of. And for this I would offer a gift: I think it has been a long time since anyone has pointed out to you that [[BullyingADragon you're a fool]]. [[MiseryBuildsCharacter Pain doesn't make people.]] [[ThePowerOfLove It's love that makes people. The pain is inconsequential. It's love that saves them.]] And you would know that, but you have none around you. You said so yourself. You surround yourself with lies and deception. And I wish for you, in the future, to find someone who will mourn you when you are gone. [[WithAllDueRespect Respectfully]].

* Inverted in the "Justice Lords" episodes of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''. [[spoiler:In the alternate world where the Flash died and the Justice League became an authoritarian force, the populace were in fear of the Justice Lords. Even Hawkgirl brings up the fact that nobody seemed to like them anymore. [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans However, while the world is not exactly paradise, the Justice Lords do have things under control much better than the Justice League.]]]] In the end, [[spoiler: they are defeated when one of their own, Justice Lord Franchise/{{Batman}} betrays them ''because'' they rule through fear and tyranny]].

* Generally held out in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech''. Rulers who are oppressively authoritarian are usually end up hobbling their nation as a result, such as Hohiro Kurita I, whose "Dragon Renewal" policies ended up crippling his industrial base so hard that the Draconis Combine was a hotbed of depression, dissent, and crappy workmanship for decades after his assassination. By contrast, more even-handed rulers such as Katrina Steiner (the properly named one circa 3009, not her granddaughter who took her name) ended up with a strong popular support base and thriving market economies (some estimates say up to ''triple'' the GDP of their neighbors in the Combine).

** The kicker? Alderaan was a Core World known for artisans, philosophers, rich traditions, [[OneHundredPercentAdorationRating was respected by many interplanetary governments across the Galaxy]], and was one of the founding worlds of the previous Galactic Republic and a prominent member of the Galactic Empire. [[MoralEventHorizon Tarkins' destruction of Alderaan definitely sealed the Empire's fate.]] [[EvenEvilHasStandards Palpatine was shocked when he heard of what Tarkin did,]] he had agreed to have the Death Stars' Superlaser fired upon '''''a''''' world [[PragmaticVillainy as a demonstration of its destructive power]]; but he didn't think that Tarkin would use it on such an important Core World. Anger over the atrocity sent a ''lot'' of neutral worlds and a fair number of Imperial worlds over to the Rebel Alliance. Nascent rebellions on other worlds, instead of being cowed into fear, figured [[DoNotGoGentle "Screw it! If we're dead anyway, might as well die for a reason!"]] The fragmented rebellion [[RememberTheAlamo now had an atrocity to rally behind and unite them]], and a ''ton'' of [[HeelFaceTurn Ex-Imperial officers]] and ''[[GenocideBackfire pissed-off Alderaanian expats]]'' automatically signed up; looking to avenge their lost world and families. [[NiceJobFixingItVillain Nice Job Breaking It, Tarkin]]! Even better; [[spoiler:one of those Alderaanians was the head gunner of the Death Star's main weapon]]. As Leia says in the ''Radio/StarWarsRadioDramas'':

* ''Fanfic/EquestriaGirlsFriendshipSouls'': Definitely subverted by [[SatanicArchetype Tirek]] and the Arrancar. In the DeathWorld that is Hueco Mundo, the reason that Las Noches and the Espada haven't devolved into petty in-fighting is because ''no one'' can question the [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority Hollow King and Primera Espada]] when he puts his foot down and all are in fear of his wrath and power. The only person in Las Noches who could possibly challenge him is the Dos Espada Chrysalis, and even she admits while their battle would destroy the whole city fortress he would still win as things are. Despite this, Tirek used both his power and his people's fear to forge them into a competent faction and the closest thing the Hollows have to a government/ruling body. Without him Hueco Mundo would basically be squabbling weaker factions of Arrancars and Vasto Lordes carving out territories while being vulnerable to attacks from the infinitely more organized Soul Society and Quincy, and while definitely feared and envied he is not a ''hated'' king as he understands the value of powerful subordinates and does not go out his way to treat them cruelly or make life worse for them just because. [[spoiler:Adagio Dazzle]] even admits he's actually a competent ruler and there are certainly worse options even among the Espada to be his replacement, even as she schemes to either gain enough power to break away to form her own faction or possibly topple him.

* In the final episode of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', [[spoiler:this trope is played very straight when Aku tries to crush the hopes of any would-be resistance by broadcasting Jack's execution on television. It has the opposite result he intended, with an ''army'' of Jack's allies assaulting his palace in a RoaringRampageOfRescue.]]

* In ''Film/IronMan1'', during his demonstration of the Jericho missile, Tony Stark asks whether it is better to be feared or respected, answering his hypothetical question with, "I say, is it too much to ask for with both?" Later, after he escapes the Ten Rings with his prototype Iron Man armor (and realizes that his own weapons were being sold to America's enemies), he takes the side of "respect" and makes plans to steer Stark Industries away from the arms business.