History Main / MerchantPrince

* The leaders of Goblin society in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' are known as Trade Princes, usually the most business savvy, greedy and ruthless of the lot.

* ''The Republic'' DLC for ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings II'' adds a new system of government based primarily on the real-life examples in Italy. Whichever Patrician takes control during succession is the one with the most prestige, [[OlderIsBetter age]], and invested cash.

* In ''Literature/A Song Of Ice And Fire", the city of Pentos revolves around this, with the magisters(wealthy merchants and cheesemongers)choosing from among the forty families the Prince of Pentos. However, the Prince has the unfortunate detail attached to their title that if anything goes wrong(trade goes bad, a drought happens, etc;), the Pentoshi sacrifice them to appease the gods(one of the Pentoshi princes was sacrificed for accepting peace terms with other lands that were seen as unfavourable by his people from Jaeherys I Targaryen). And the title of "Prince"is not one a person can refuse or pass upon by law.

** In the novel ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', Reacher Guilt is a powerful merchant and conman who is attempting to use his wealth and power to displace the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork.

** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', dwarf companion Varric Tethras is described as one in his specialization. The full story is a bit more complicated - he comes from a noble family that was exiled to the surface for their father's crime. His brother is obsessed with restoring his house's former glory, while Varric is content with the life of a successful KnowledgeBroker who occasionally shoots people. He's one of the most well-connected men in Kirkwall, and possibly one of the richest. He finds actual finance rather dull by comparison and avoids Merchant Guild meetings if at all possible.

Not to be confused with ''Literature/TheMerchantPrincesSeries'', which, despite the name, doesn't really feature the trope.

!Examples:

* In the first ''Literature/{{Foundation}}'' novel (which was reprinting stories previously published in SF magazines) the final story is "The Merchant Princes." The Foundation has become a merchant of technology, and rules the Four Kingdoms surrounding it through a religion based around their advanced technology. This method has proved less successful in advancing the Foundation's sphere of influence, however. Hober Mallow, the "Merchant Prince" of the story, uses technology brokering to enhance the Foundation even further by turning it into a literal commercial empire.

* In Literature/TheBible Lydia the purple dye merchantess was one of the first gentile converts to Christianity from Greece. As purple was a high end luxury product(at least the equiv to the more exotic perfumes on the modern market, perhaps more when you account for travel hazards and sumptuary laws at the time), one must conclude she was a powerful figure. And given the patriarchal society she lived in she probably overcame a number of obstacles making her an even more impressive figure; possibly she was the [[GrandeDame matron]] of a local dynasty who was serving [[YouAreInCommandNow as family head]] on the death or incapacity of ThePatriarch. That is speculation though.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' ForgottenRealms setting. The country of Amn is ruled by the Council of Six, each a merchant-king with more money than they can spend. In descending order of seniority they are the Meisarch, Tessarch, Namarch, Iltarch, Pommarch and Dahaunarch.

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* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', use of the in-game codex and chats with some [=NPCs=] reveal that the country of Antiva, while nominally a monarchy, is effectively a plutocracy- ruled by a dozen or so merchant princes with personal armies, vast resources and a heaping helping of the local assassin order, the House of Crows.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', dwarf companion Varric Tethras is described as one in his specialization. The full story is a bit more complicated - he comes from a noble family that was exiled to the surface for their father's crime. His brother is obsessed with restoring his house's former glory, while Varric is content with the life of a successful KnowledgeBroker who occasionally shoots people. He's one of the most well-connected men in Kirkwall, and possibly one of the richest. He finds actual finance rather dull by comparison and avoids Merchant Guild meetings if at all possible.

* Luca Trask in ''Space Viking'' is named Prince-Viceroy of Tanith for pillage and plunder, but he decides trade is more profitable than pillaging and builds Tanith into the center of a powerful insterstellar alliance.

* A modern example: the oligarchs of [[TheNewRussia 1990s Russia]]. These ''nouveau riche'' capitalists were the power behind the [[VodkaDrunkenski ever drunk]] Boris Yeltsin.

-->Creator/RudyardKipling, ''The Mary Gloster''

* Prince William of Ceta in ''[[Literature/ChildeCycle Dorsai!]]''. Using his business talents, William managed to acquire enough political power to de facto rule a ''planet''. His title of "Prince" was given to him from one of the nations on this world. [[spoiler: And managing to manipulate the interstellar market, almost conquered all of inhabited space.]]

* In the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'', the entire system of Jackson's Whole is run by a set of corrupt merchant princes, including Baron Ryoval, Baron Bharaputra and Baron Fell. (The title is honorary.) The only reason they're not considered criminals is that they have all the power, and no other system can enforce its rules on Jackson's Whole.
** The Toscane's of Komarr (along with pretty much the rest of the Komarran oligarchy) are a more benign version of this. They are a shipping dynasty that controls large portions of their planet's trade. Emperor Gregor first met his wife Laisa when she was visiting the Barrayaran court as a lobbyist for Komarran trade interests.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'': {{Rogue Trader}}s are aristocratic merchants given practically free rein by the Imperium of Man. As in they can do anything from trade with Xenos to outright piracy.

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** The trend is continued in SMAC's SpiritualSuccessor ''VideoGame/CivilizationBeyondEarth'' with no less than three of the eight faction leaders (Suzanne Fielding, Élodie and Hutama) having corporate backgrounds and using their corporate power to become rulers of their respective nations.

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* CEO Nwabudike Morgan in ''SidMeiersAlphaCentauri''. While of African royalty and rich on Earth, he had none of that when he was reawakened on the starship ''Unity''. Despite not having any official position in the mission, Morgan managed to worm his way into the leadership and gather a large following in the few days he was awake before the Landing, set off to Planet with his followers, and [[OneNationUnderCopyright create a powerful faction]] only with his own talents.

* The leaders of Goblin society in ''WorldOfWarcraft'' are known as Trade Princes, usually the most business savvy, greedy and ruthless of the lot.

** The Toscane's of Komarr (along with pretty much the rest of the Komarran {{oligarchy}}) are a more benign version of this. They are a shipping dynasty that controls large portions of their planet's trade. Emperor Gregor first met his wife Laisa when she was visiting the Barrayaran court as a lobbyist for Komarran trade interests.

** The Toscane's of Komarr are a more benign version of this. They are a shipping dynasty that controls large portions of their planet's trade. Emperor Gregor first met his wife Laisa when she was visiting the Barrayaran court as a lobbyist for Komarran trade interests.

* One of the arcs of ''Film/NoobLeConseilDesTroisFactions'' consists of a player using her fortune to create a shortage in much-needed materials, slowly put them back on the market at an inflated to put her whole faction in her debt, then use that debt to pressure the ''de facto'' highest ranking player into PassingTheTorch in her favor.

* One of the arcs of ''Film/NoobLeConseilDesTroisFactions'' consists of a player using their fortune to create a shortage in much-needed materials, slowly put them back on the market at an inflated to put her whole faction in her debt, then use that debt to pressure the ''de facto'' highest ranking player into PassingTheTorch in her favor.

-->''Not counting the Line and the Foundry, the yards and the village, too,\\