History Main / ResurgentEmpire

* UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia viewed itself as the successor to the Byzantines and by extension Rome, due to having become Eastern Orthodox due to Byzantines and the Tsars were descended from the Last Emperor's niece. Although their fights with the Western European powers would distract them, a pet project of the Tsars was to defeat the Ottoman Empire and reclaim Constantinople and the other Byzantine lands such as Egypt. They never managed to claim the City of Tsargrad as the Russians called it, but their efforts did lead to the Balkans and Greece's independence from the Ottomans. Modern Russia is itself one, with the debate being if they are one for Tsarist Russia or Soviet Union.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': The First Order is the successor state of the Galactic Empire ruled by Palpatine, which fell in disarray following his death and reorganized itself while hiding in the Unknown Regions. In ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'', [[spoiler:Palpatine is revealed to have survived and vows to restore his old empire as the Final Order which incorporates the First Order with his own forces, albeit as true Sith empire]].

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', completing the Crimson Flower route ends with [[spoiler:the [[TheEmpire Adrestian Empire]] successfully unifying Fódlan once again by conquering the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and the Leicester Alliance, states which had previously seceded from the empire over the course of the past thousand or so years, thus restoring the empire to its full glory]]. Surprisingly, this was technically a means to an end for [[spoiler:Edelgard, whose foremost intent is to shatter the control the Church of Seiros has on the continent in order to facilitate her plans for continent-wide reform of what she views as a broken system. Leicester was conquered because the remaining leaders with votes seceded to Edelgard after she defeats Claude, whether he's killed or spared (and Edelgard's entire reason for even attacking Leicester was the safe assumption Claude would attack Adrestia's flank while warring with Faerghus). Meanwhile, Faerghus made the unfortunate mistake of siding with [[SinisterMinister Rhea]], whose burning of Fhirdiad leaves Faerghus too weak to ever recover without the Empire taking control]].

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', completing the Crimson Flower route ends with [[spoiler:the [[TheEmpire Adrestian Empire]] successfully unifying Fódlan once again by conquering the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and the Leicester Alliance, states which had previously seceded from the empire over the course of the past thousand or so years, thus restoring the empire to its full glory]]. Surprisingly, this was technically a means to an end for [[spoiler:Edelgard, whose foremost intent is to shatter the control the Church of Seiros has on the continent in order to facilitate her plans for continent-wide reform of what she views as a broken system. Leicester was conquered because the remaining leaders with votes seceded to Edelgard after she killed or spared Claude (and Edelgard's entire reason for even attacking Leicester was the safe assumption Claude would attack Adrestia's flank while warring with Faerghus), and Faerghus made the unfortunate mistake of siding with [[SinisterMinister Rhea]], whose burning of Fhirdiad leaves Faerghus too weak to ever recover without the Empire taking control]].

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': The Orcs led by Morgoth lost the war against the alliance of Men, Elves and Valar. Galadriel mentions in her OpeningMonologue that with the help of Sauron they multiplied in the dark again. Yet, nobody can find their whereabouts, and Galadriel herself spends centuries trying to find them and Sauron, while in the Southlaands, Gil-galad has a faction of Silvan Elves watching of the Southlanders to make sure they don't join forces with Orcs again. Everybody's efforts are rendered to nothing, because the Orcs manage to build their strength back in secret and turn the Southlands into their homeland without Sauron's help.

* ''Series/BabylonFive'': As the series begins, the Centauri Republic is a VestigialEmpire with much less power and territory than it had in its glory days. Londo's machinations and dealings with the Shadows result in the re-conquest of the Narn and a series of other expansionist wars. However, it does not end well for either the Centauri generally or Londo in particular.

* ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'': In the ''Titans'' Campaign, Atlantis is rebuilt and remade into its own civilization after it's utter destruction by [[spoiler:[[BigBadDruumvirate Gargarensis and Poseidon.]]]]

* ''Fanfic/EarthsAliensHistory'': Following the Reaper War, Marshal Daena T'Drak seeks to reverse the Asari Republics' cultural stagnation and decline in importance on the galactic stage, by means of [[MilitaryCoup seizing power]] from the Matriarchs and reforging the Republics into the Asari Empire, with her as the first Empress. She then takes steps to build up the economy and military, joining the Romulan-led [[TheAlliance Pact of the Raptor]] and quickly making the Asari one of the bloc's most prominent members.

* UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia viewed itself as the successor to the Byzantines and by extension Rome, due to having become Eastern Orthodox due to Byzantines and the Tsars were descended from the Last Emperor's niece. Although their fights with the Western European powers would distract them, a pet project of the Tsars was to defeat the Ottoman Empire and reclaim Constantinople and the other Byzantine lands such as Egypt. They never managed to claim the City of Tsargarde as the Russians called it, but their efforts did lead to the Balkans and Greece's independence from the Ottomans. Modern Russia is itself one, with the debate being if they are one for Tsarist Russia or Soviet Union.

** If Vyatka under Tsar Vladimir III or Chita under Tsar Mikhail II unites Russia, it can restore the Russian Empire. This is also what [[Characters/TNOTaboritsky Sergey Taboritsky]] of Komi ''attempts'' to do, but it [[TheNecrocracy backfires in the worst possible way]][[note]]The Holy Russian Empire is nominally a regency under Tsarevich Alexei Nikolayevich, who was murdered as a boy in 1917. In truth, the Empire is a monstrosity headed by a completely AxCrazy RegentForLife who believes that Alexei is the KingInTheMountain who will return when Russia is "purified".]][[/note]].

** If Vyatka under Tsar Vladimir III or Chita under Tsar Mikhail II unites Russia, it can restore the Russian Empire. This is also what Sergey Taboritsky of Komi ''attempts'' to do, but it [[TheNecrocracy backfires in the worst possible way]][[note]]The Holy Russian Empire is nominally a regency under Tsarevich Alexey Nikolayevich, who was murdered as a boy in 1917. In truth, the Empire is a monstrosity headed by a completely AxCrazy RegentForLife who believes that Alexei is [[HesJustHiding Just Hiding]] and the KingInTheMountain who will return when Russia is "purified".]][[/note]].

* The [[UsefulNotes/LetatCestMoi Second French Empire]] established by Napoleon III. The first one was established and ruled by his uncle Napoleon Bonaparte until his eventual defeat in Waterloo and the Bourbon monarchy being restored. After another French Revolution overthrew that monarchy and established a second republic, his nephew Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte was elected president and launched a coup d'état in 1851 that eventually allowed him to become the new Emperor (he styled himself as the Third because he acknowledged his cousin Napoleon II's term, even though he never ruled France and died very young). It was in his interest to reassert French influence in Europe and throughout the world (such as UsefulNotes/{{Mexico}} and UsefulNotes/{{Lebanon}}) via diplomatic relations and relying less on the strength of arms like his uncle had done. Needless to say, it went poorly for him in the Franco-Prussian War.

* The Cardassians in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' attempt to recover from a series of devastating blows from the Klingons and the Maquis by allying with the Dominion and waging war on the rest of the Alpha Quadrant. This goes ''horrifically'' for them: the Dominion uses them primarily as cannon fodder, trades away large swathes of their territory to the Breen, and eventually attempts to exterminate their entire population when the Cardassians finally recognize their mistake and try to help the Federation Alliance.
* ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'': T'kuvma seeks to reunite the Great Houses of the Klingon Empire, which has long been fractured. Though he dies very early into the series, his death inspires others to carry his legacy on.
* The ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' two-parter "Year of Hell" features an alien commander using a ship capable of manipulating time to [[RetGone wipe out his people's enemies]] and restore the Krenim Imperium to a system-spanning superstate. However, because time is a harsh mistress, [[ButterflyOfDoom any change he makes has dire unforeseen consequences]].

* ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'': If a socialist warlord reunifies Russia, it can restore the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. If Vyatka under Tsar Vladimir III or Chita under Tsar Mikhail II unites Russia, it can restore the Tsardom of Russia. If Rurik II of Kemerovo reunifies Russia, it can establish the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Galicia–Volhynia Kingdom of Rus]], effectively reviving the ancient [=Muscovite/Kievan=] Rus culture.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'', a Fallen Empire is an extremely powerful and technologically-advanced AI-controlled empire that fell into decay before the game began. They can re-awaken if they are provoked or decide that a nearby empire poses a significant threat to them. They can also re-awaken to help defend the galaxy against an [[ApocalypseHow endgame crisis]], and there is a special event called the War in Heaven where two re-awakened Fallen Empires will declare war on each other.

** ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'' has the Minutemen, a loose confederation of farms and settlements who help and protect each other, roughly fashioned after the colonial Minutemen.

*** In Shura's ending in all three routes, his homeland of Kogha, which was destroyed by the kingdom of Mokushu under Kotaro, is rebuilt, with Shura becoming its new governor in his solo ending.

* [[TheWarOnTerror ISIS]] established itself as a caliphate and their plan was to unite all the Islamic world under their rule, as well as reclaiming areas that were ever under Muslim control in history (UsefulNotes/{{Spain}}, UsefulNotes/{{Portugal}}, UsefulNotes/{{Greece}}, the Balkans, UsefulNotes/{{Israel}}, the UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}}). There was even [[https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/indiatoday/images/story/201508/map-story_647_081015061820.jpg a map showing how far their aims spread]].

* In early date starts of ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings'', Byzantine Empire is reduced to swaths of lands around Constatinople (and an update even made several countries simply being a tributaries instead of an outright sovereign). Successfully conquer holy lands would cause Byzantine to reform the Church back to the Orthodoxy, make Catholic a heresy, and push Byzantine as ''the'' Christian superpower. Conquer more of Italy and Byzantine can declare themselves ''the'' Roman Empire, denounce Holy Roman Empire a pretender, gain casus belli to conquer Roman Empire historical borders, and goes even further than Alexander the Great by invading India.

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', completing the Crimson Flower route ends with [[spoiler:the [[TheEmpire Adrestian Empire]] successfully unifying Fódlan once again by conquering the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and the Leicester Alliance, states which had previously seceded from the empire over the course of the past thousand or so years, thus restoring the empire to its full glory]]. Surprisingly, this was technically a means to an end for [[spoiler:Edelgard, whose foremost intent is to shatter the control the Church of Seiros has on the continent in order to facilitate her plans for continent-wide reform of what she views as a broken system. Leicester was conquered because the remaining leaders with votes seceded to Edelgard after she killed or spared Claude, (And Edelgard's entire reason for even attacking Leicester was the safe assumption Claude would attack Adrestia's flank while warring with Faerghus), and Faerghus made the unfortunate mistake of siding with [[SinisterMinister Rhea,]] whose burning of Fhirdiad leaves Faerghus too weak to ever recover without the empire taking control]].

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': The First Order is the successor state of the Galactic Empire ruled by Palpatine, which fell in disarray following his death and reorganized itself while hiding in the Unknown Regions. In ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'', [[spoiler:Palpatine is revealed to have survived and vows to restore his old empire as the Final Order which incorporates the First Order with his own forces]].

* Played with in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' when, in ''Discworld/MakingMoney'', an army of several thousand unstoppable super-golems is revived and brought to Ankh-Morpork. Romantic and somewhat reactionary thinkers, nostalgic for the Good Old Days, speculate about how this new asset could be weaponised and used to make the rest of the Discworld take Ankh-Morpork very seriously ''indeed''. Lord Vetinari, who is happy to preside over a state consisting only of the City and its immediate environs, squelches this idea.

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', completing the Crimson Flower route ends with [[spoiler:the [[TheEmpire Adrestian Empire]] successfully unifying Fódlan once again by conquering the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and the Leicester Alliance, states which had previously seceded from the empire over the course of the past thousand or so years, thus restoring the empire to its full glory]]. Surprisingly, this was technically a means to an end for [[spoiler:Edelgard, whose foremost intent is to shatter the control the Church of Seiros has on the continent in order to facilitate her plans for continent-wide reform of what she views as a broken system]].

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', completing the Crimson Flower route ends with [[spoiler:the [[TheEmpire Adestrian Empire]] successfully unifying Fódlan once again by conquering the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and the Leicester Alliance, states which had previously seceded from the empire over the course of the past thousand or so years, thus restoring the empire to its full glory]]. Surprisingly, this was technically a means to an end for [[spoiler:Edelgard, whose foremost intent is to shatter the control the Church of Seiros has on the continent in order to facilitate her plans for continent-wide reform of what she views as a broken system]].

* The ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' two-parter "Year of Hell" features an alien commander using a ship capable of manipulating time to [[RetGone wipe out his people's enemies]] and restore the Krenim Imperium to a system-spanning superstate. However, because time is a harsh mistress, [[ButterflyOfDoom any change he makes could have dire unforeseen consequences]].