History Main / RoyalDecree

* On ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'', King Julien issues a decree that anyone who touches the royal feet will be banished from the kindgom forever. None of the other animals take it seriously, except for poor Mort, to whom the decree was issued for in the first place. After much hijinks and a near-death experience, Julien "undecrees" the decree.

* In Disney's ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'', the Duke gives one of these to start the search for Cinderella using the glass slipper. This means that the Prince will have to marry ''someone'' soon.

[[caption-width-right:340:"By order of his royal majesty, [[VideoGame/ZeroWing all thine bases are now belong to he]]!"]]

* On ''ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'', King Julien issues a decree that anyone who touches the royal feet will be banished from the kindgom forever. None of the other animals take it seriously, except for poor Mort, to whom the decree was issued for in the first place. After much hijinks and a near-death experience, Julien "undecrees" the decree.

->''"We have arrived, and it is now that we perform our charge. In fealty to the God-Emperor, our undying Lord, and by the grace of the Golden Throne, I declare Exterminatus upon the Imperial world of Typhon Primaris. I hereby sign the death warrant of an entire world, and consign a million souls to oblivion. May Imperial Justice account in all balance. The Emperor Protects."''

->''"We have arrived, and it is now that we perform our charge. In fealty to the God-Emperor, our undying Lord, and by the grace of the Golden Throne, I declare Exterminatus upon the Imperial world of Typhon Primaris. I hereby sign the death warrant of an entire world, and consign a million souls to oblivion. May Imperial Justice account in all balance. [[Irony The Emperor Protects]]."''

->''"We have arrived, and it is now that we perform our charge. In fealty to the God-Emperor, our undying Lord, and by the grace of the Golden Throne, I declare Exterminatus upon the Imperial world of Typhon Primaris. I hereby sign the death warrant of an entire world, and consign a million souls to oblivion. May Imperial Justice account in all balance. The Emperor protects."''

* Played for laughs in the [[VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss Jade's Story]] chapter of [[TalesSeries Tales of Fandom 2]], in which Emperor Peony wants to go out into the city to investigate a possible coup being plotted against him, but Jade and Guy (quite reasonably) won't let him. The solution? Imperial Decree declaring that Jade and Guy are to accompany him into the city, which is met with exasperated obedience. (Anise too, but technically Peony doesn't have authority over her, so she was just tagging along for fun.)

* Kelson dictated terms to the Mearan Pretender in ''[[{{Deryni}} The King's Justice]]'' in one of these. Dhugal (who was related to her by marriage) entered Laas and read the decree to her and her advisors. He was frequently interrupted by questions from Caitrin and Judhael about the fates of their kin in the Mearan army.

[[caption-width-right:340:"By order of his royal majesty, all thine bases are now belong to he!"]]

* In the ''Literature/BookOfEsther'', King Ahasuerus drunkenly requests that his wife, Queen Vashti, come to his party wearing her crown to show off her beauty. She refused the request, and he got mad. His advisors raised concerns that the women of the Persian Empire would rebel against their husbands and upset the social order, so they pressured him to divorce her and write a decree stating that the man is the head of the household. He complies, and sends his wife away. A few days later, he feels bad, but since there was no taking back a royal decree in the Persian Empire, there was nothing he could do. The advisors then take beautiful young virgins from all over the empire for him to choose as his next queen.

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->''"We have arrived, and it is now that we perform our charge. In fealty to the [[GodEmperor God-Emperor]], our undying Lord, and by the grace of the Golden Throne, I declare [[EarthShatteringKaboom Exterminatus]] upon the Imperial world of Typhon Primaris. I hereby sign the death warrant of an entire world, and consign a million souls to oblivion. May Imperial Justice account in all balance. [[{{Irony}} The Emperor protects]]."''

[[quoteright:350:[[TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/royal_decree1.jpg]]]]

* Disney's ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'' (1950). The Duke reads a decree.
-->'''Grand Duke:''' All loyal subjects of his Imperial Majesty are hereby notified by royal proclamation in regard to a certain glass slipper. It is upon this day decreed that a quest be instituted throughout the length and breadth of our domain, the sole and express purpose of said quest to be as follows: That every single maiden in our beloved kingdom, without prearranged exception, shall try upon her foot this aforementioned slipper of glass. And should one be found upon whose foot said slipper shall properly fit, such maiden shall be acclaimed the object of this search and immediately forthwith shall be looked upon as the one and only true love of His Royal Highness, our beloved son and heir, the Noble Prince. Said Noble Prince will humbly and upon bended knee beg, request, or if need be, implore said maiden, that they grant her hand in marriage. Whereupon, should the aforementioned maid look with favour upon his suit, then shall the happy couple pledge their troth. And in due course, upon the inevitable demise of His Most Gracious and August Majesty, the King, succeed to the throne, there to rule over all the land as King and Queen of our beloved kingdom.

->''We have arrived, and it is now that we perform our charge. In fealty to the [[GodEmperor God-Emperor]], our undying Lord, and by the grace of the Golden Throne, I declare [[EarthShatteringKaboom Exterminatus]] upon the Imperial world of Typhon Primaris. I hereby sign the death warrant of an entire world, and consign a million souls to oblivion. May Imperial Justice account in all balance. [[{{Irony}} The Emperor protects]]. ''
-->--'''Ordo Malleus Fleet''', ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar II: Retribution''

[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' (1939). The Wizard gives instructions to the people of the Emerald City just before he takes off in his balloon.
-->'''Wizard:''' And I hereby decree that until what time, if any, that I return, the Scarecrow, by virtue of his highly superior brains, shall rule in my stead, assisted by the Tin Man, by virtue of his magnificent heart, and the Lion, by virtue of his courage! Obey them as you would me!

* In the ''SantaClausIsCominToTown'', Burgermeister Meisterburger makes a decree that outlaws Toymakers and toys in a {{Ruritania}}-like town. Because he's a jerkass (and in charge for some reason, which is strange given that he focuses all his attention on his rather silly rule rather than actually handling the affairs of his town).
* ''Film/{{Gullivers Travels|2010}}'' features it in the first part.
* The cut-off decree in ''{{Shrek}}'' counts.
* In ''Film/{{Nosferatu}}'' (1922), the town council decrees people are forbidden from transporting plague victims to the hospital to avoid spreading the disease. Since it's a silent film, a town crier is shown banging a drum, and the proclamation is shown on a TitleCard.

* In Creator/DavidEddings' ''TheElenium'' series, Sir Sparhawk presents a document to the Royal Council:

* In the ''BookOfEsther'', King Ahasuerus drunkenly requests that his wife, Queen Vashti, come to his party wearing her crown to show off her beauty. She refused the request, and he got mad. His advisors raised concerns that the women of the Persian Empire would rebel against their husbands and upset the social order, so they pressured him to divorce her and write a decree stating that the man is the head of the household. He complies, and sends his wife away. A few days later, he feels bad, but since there was no taking back a royal decree in the Persian Empire, there was nothing he could do. The advisors then take beautiful young virgins from all over the empire for him to choose as his next queen.

* In ''DanceInTheVampireBund'', Mina Tepes, queen of the vampires, uses this to kill a lesser vampire.

* In the ''SantaClausIsCominToTown'', Burgermeister Meisterburger makes a decree that outlaws Toymakers and toys in a {{Ruritania}}-like town. Because he's a jerkass (and in charge for some reason, even though we don't really know what his position or status is).

* The page quote comes the TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} game ''DawnOfWar 2: Retribution'', when a nameless Inquisitor invokes {{E|arthShatteringKaboom}}xterminatus.

-->--'''Ordo Malleus Fleet''', ''DawnOfWar II: Retribution''

->''We have arrived, and it is now that we perform our charge. In fealty to the [[GodEmperor God-Emperor]], our undying Lord, and by the grace of the Golden Throne, I declare [[EarthShatteringKaboom Exterminatus]] upon the Imperial world of Typhon Primaris. I hereby sign the death warrant of an entire world, and consign a million souls to oblivion. May Imperial Justice account in all balance. [[{{Irony}} The Emperor protects]]. ''\\
\\
''''

* ''DungeonsAndDragons'':

* In ''{{Traveller}}'', the Emperor reserves the option to issue an Imperial Warrant which overrides normal law and custom and proclaims that the holder be treated as if he was the emperor within the parameters written on the warrant. Usually this is for special missions especially those that might require jackbooting a lot of ObstructiveBureaucrat s. For instance, during the Fifth Frontier War, the Archduke Norris used an Imperial Warrant to engage in a mass firing of incompetent admirals in the Imperial navy.

* In DavidEddings' ''TheElenium'' series, Sir Sparhawk presents a document to the Royal Council: