History Main / RightfulKingReturns

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': [[spoiler: In Season 3, the new Levi Squad discovers that Historia Reiss' family is the real royal family, and the real power behind the throne. After the military enacts a coup against the false king and his advisers, they ask Historia to take the throne in his stead to give the coup legitimacy. It works, once she delivers the killing blow against her father, the Founding Titan.]]

* The years 1814 and 1815 in France saw no less than ''three'' such returns. First Louis XVIII returned, with historical legitimacy on his side (he was Louis XVI's brother, after all). Then Napoleon, using support from the people and the army, ousted the Bourbons and reclaimed the throne for a hundred days. Then he had to abdicate again after his crushing defeat at Waterloo, prompting Louis XVIII to return a second time.

** Deconstructed in the Westerosi SuccessionCrisis. Several of the claimants to the Iron Throne see ''themselves'' as this (Stannis is the rightful heir of the former King Robert who claimed his throne by conquest; Viserys and Daenerys are the children of the king before Robert, Aerys II Targaryen, and the scions of a royal line that had ruled the realm for centuries; [[spoiler:Aegon is Aerys' grandson, thought to have been killed as a baby; although ''this'' Aegon may well be an imposter descended from a long-established, exiled, cadet branch of Targaryens, the Blackfyres, who claim decent from Daemon Blackfyre, who they say was the only true heir of King Aegon IV from about eight or nine decades back]]). The modern Targaryens are thoroughly swept up by this trope, believing their return to the throne will inevitably unite their people and restore peace to the realm. However, it's frequently shown throughout the series that there's not necessarily any correlation between right to rule, ability to rule, ability to win a civil war, or public reputation. Exemplified by Viserys Targaryen. While the last son of King Aerys and claiming he is the rightful King, he is a massive jerk who abuses his sister, sells her as a wife to Khal Drogo, and arrogantly treats everybody as below him. Finally, he threatens to take Daenerys back and cut their child out, at which Drogo promises him a crown of gold [[spoiler:and pours molten gold over their head.]]

* Given a slightly more cynical twist in the 2018 ''VideoGame/{{Battletech}}'' game, where the protagonists are PrivateMilitaryContractors hired by Kamea, a queen-in-exile ousted in TheCoup, to re-take her kingdom. While she is a morally better person than the EvilUncle who usurped her, ultimately the throne is only te-taken through a brutal CivilWar and Kamea muses in the end that history is WrittenByTheWinners; this trope is just what it will look like in retrospect once nothing but stories of the campaign are left.

* Averted by Wilhelm II, the last Kaiser of UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany. When ThoseWackyNazis took power in the 1930s, Wilhelm hoped that the German monarchy would be restored with his grandson becoming the new Kaiser. Unfortunately, UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler had nothing but contempt for Wilhelm, whose leadership he blamed for Germany's defeat in UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne. When Wilhelm expressed his hope that Hitler would restore the German monarchy, Hitler said "WhatAnIdiot" to his valet. Hitler's responses to Wilhelm's petitions and congratulations were usually DamnedByFaintPraise, when he even bothered to reply at all.

-->-- '''Creator/TerryPratchett''', ''Literature/GuardsGuards''

* In Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood'', everyone (except for Prince John) desperately wants King Richard to return from war and reclaim the throne from his greedy brother.

* In ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuestTheRealAdventures'', it turns out that Hadji has RoyalBlood, and was to become the Sultan of [[SimSimSalabim Bangalore]], except his evil uncle and cousin killed his father, locked his mother up, and tried to kill ''him'' to take the throne, back when Hadji was just a little kid. Of course, he didn't die; he was saved by Pasha the Peddler and eventually adopted by Dr. Quest, which Pasha facilitated in the original series. Later, with the help of the Quest Team, he saves his mother and takes back his throne.

* Played with in the Hindu epic ''Literature/Ramayana''. The titular Rama is designated Crown Prince heir to the throne, but has to abdicate and exile himself for 14 years, because of a promise his father had made. His half brother Bharat is forced to rule as regent until Rama returns. Although by all accounts, Bharat was a competent ruler, everyone in the kingdom want Rama back.

** The most infamous and one of the most [[NightmareFuel horrific examples imaginable]]. [[TheCaligula Sergey Taboritsky]] wishes to restore [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Nikolaevich,_Tsarevich_of_Russia Alexei Romanov]] as Tsar of Russia, which of course is impossible as Alexei was murdered by the Soviets as a boy. The mad regent [[KingInTheMountain treats Alexei as a divine entity who will return only when Russia is "pure"]], which leads to Khmer Rouge-esque purges of all kinds of people across the country -- academics, the poor, criminals, racial minorities, etc. [[spoiler:And then [[DoomsdayClock when the clock strikes twelve]], Taboritsky realises that Alexei is dead and not coming back, and things get even ''[[FromBadToWorse worse]]'']]. In an example that would make Taboritsky roll in his grave, Alexei II[[note]]or rather, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Goleniewski Michael Goleniewski]], who in real life pretended to be Alexi[[/note]] can come to power [[spoiler: in [[Characters/TNOTaboritsky a post-Taboritsky Russia]].]] instituting the exact opposite ideas that Taboritsky promoted.
** Vyatka, which consists of forces loyal to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duke_Vladimir_Kirillovich_of_Russia Vladimir Kirillovich]], the real life candidate who likely would have been crowned in real life had the monarchy had been restored after the USSR's dissolution[[/note]]. However, his claim is sullied by the fct that Vladimir and his forces only entered Vyatka in the first place because of the Germans, who forced him to lead a force against Soviet remnants during a war in the 1950s [[IHaveYourWife by holding his wife hostage]]. Vladimir's entire story arc in Russia has him overcoming his past and truely trying to usher in a better future for Russia.

* The ''VideoGame/HeartsOfIron 4'' AlternateHistory mod ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'' has one of the most [[NightmareFuel horrific examples imaginable]]. [[TheCaligula Sergey Taboritsky]] wishes to restore [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Nikolaevich,_Tsarevich_of_Russia Alexei Romanov]] as Tsar of Russia, which of course is impossible as Alexei was murdered by the Soviets as a boy. The mad regent [[KingInTheMountain treats Alexei as a divine entity who will return only when Russia is "pure"]], which leads to Khmer Rouge-esque purges of all kinds of people across the country -- academics, the poor, criminals, racial minorities, etc. [[spoiler:And then [[DoomsdayClock when the clock strikes twelve]], Taboritsky realises that Alexei is dead and not coming back, and things get even ''[[FromBadToWorse worse]]''.]]
** In more positive examples of this trope from the same mod, it's also possible for Russia to have the monarchy restored under other kings - either under Vyatka, which consists of forces loyal to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duke_Vladimir_Kirillovich_of_Russia Vladimir Kirillovich][[note]]the real life candidate who likely would have been crowned if, for some reason, the monarchy had been restored[[/not]]; Chita, which consists of Whites who prop up [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Michael_Andreevich_of_Russia Michael Andreevich][[note]]in real life, Michael's legitimacy was disputed by many, including the aforementioned Vladimir, in part due to him being the product of a morganic marriage[[/note]]; and in a more outlandish example, Rurik III[[note]]obviously not an actual member of the Rurik dynasty, but rather, Soviet General [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolay_Krylov_(marshal) Nikolay Krylov], who apparently went insane after being on the receiving end of a mutiny on top of a defeat by anarchists[[/note]]. And in an example that would make the aforementioned Taboritsky roll in his grave, Alexei II[[note]]or rather, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Goleniewski Michael Goleniewski], who in real life pretended to be Alexi[[/note]] can come to power [[spoiler: in a post-Taboritsky Russia]], instituting the exact opposite ideas that Taboritsy promoted.

* Season 1 of Series/VikingsValhalla ends with [[spoiler: the villains seemingly winning, only a very pissed [[RetiredBadass king Sweyn Forkbeard]] to appear with his fleet intent on taking the villain's head for attempting to make Norway independent]].

* In what is probably the most recent attempt to invoke this trope, a French physicist called Andre Gardes claimed that he, not Christopher Beaumont, was the rightful Seigneur of Sark (a small island in the English Channel under the feudal sovereignty of the British monarchy). In 1990, after several failed attempts to get anyone else to help with his plan, Gardes put up posters announcing that he was taking over the island by force at noon the next day, and then took up position outside the Seigneur's manor with a semiautomatic rifle. Sark's volunteer constable managed to subdue Gardes and he was briefly imprisoned in Guernsey. A year later, Gardes came back and tried to do the same thing again, but was arrested in Guernsey trying to get on the ferry to Sark.

* Tsar Simeon II of Bulgaria was [[AChildShallLeadThem only six when he took the throne]] in 1943, and was exiled three years later after the [[DirtyCommunists Soviet-backed]] transitional government held a plebiscite to end the monarchy. He spent his childhood hopping around the Mediterranean, became a successful businessman in Spain, and generally just lived his life... until [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp the communist government of Bulgaria collapsed with all the others]]. Simeon--now styling himself Simeon Sakskoburggotski ("Saxe-Coburg-Gotha", using the name of his royal house[[note]]Yes, the same as UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor before UsefulNotes/WorldWarI[[/note]] as his surname)--founded a political party and led it to victory in the 2001 elections, with Sakskoburggotski himself becoming Prime Minister. This is one of the few times a hereditary monarch has ever gone on to become a democratically elected head of government. It even fits the "situation in the country improves" bit of the trope--he appointed a cabinet of technical experts (though their actual competence is disputed) and Bulgaria grew and ran smoothly during his tenure. However, the Bulgarian voters grew tired of the massive corruption which his government was widely accused of and also how most of the growth seemed to flow to the rich, and left his party in second place in the 2005 elections (although the party ended up participating in a grand coalition led by the Socialists), and then wiped them out entirely in 2009 and Simeon retired from politics.

[[folder:Religion]]
* The original Jewish concept of the messiah was that a descendant of David would return to resume the dynasty, making it an example of this trope. Since this is one common interpretation of passages in ''Literature/TheBible'' (including as far back as the prophetic book of Hosea).
* UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}, who Christians believe to have fulfilled the aforementioned role of a MessianicArchetype, and who according to the Book of Revelation will do it ''again.'' He incidentally is also a descendant of David, fulfilling the Jewish prophecy.
* Jesus' second coming in ''Literature/TheBible'' is in part to fulfill his role as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'': After the murder of his family, the rulers of Whitestone, Percival de Rolo became the rightful heir as SoleSurvivor of the massacre. He eventually returns to the city and brings down the usurpers with the help of his friends/adopted family, Vox Machina. The epilogue reveals that he took his place as Lord de Rolo.

* Elyon in ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}''.

* Tsar Simeon II of Bulgaria was [[AChildShallLeadThem only six when he took the throne]] in 1943, and was exiled three years later after the [[DirtyCommunists Soviet-backed]] transitional government held a plebiscite to end the monarchy. He spent his childhood hopping around the Mediterranean, became a successful businessman in Spain, and generally just lived his life... until [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp the communist government of Bulgaria collapsed with all the others]]. Simeon--now styling himself Simeon Sakskoburggotski ("Saxe-Coburg-Gotha", using the name of his royal house[[note]]Yes, the same as UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor before UsefulNotes/WorldWarI[[/note]] as his surname)--founded a political party and led it to victory in the 2001 elections, with Sakskoburggotski himself becoming Prime Minister. Incidentally, this is the only time a hereditary monarch has ever gone on to become a democratically elected head of government in ''any'' nation. It even fits the "situation in the country improves" bit of the trope--he appointed a cabinet of technical experts (though their actual competence is disputed) and Bulgaria grew and ran smoothly during his tenure. However, the Bulgarian voters grew tired of the massive corruption which his government was widely accused of and also how most of the growth seemed to flow to the rich, and left his party in second place in the 2005 elections (although the party ended up participating in a grand coalition led by the Socialists), and then wiped them out entirely in 2009 and Simeon retired from politics.