History Main / TheEmperor

* During the Dark and Middle Ages, European rulers who called themselves "emperor" were specifically invoking the Roman Empire. The UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire ''was'' the Roman state so their claim was obvious, the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire laid claim to the former Roman empire in the West which (initially) they contested with Constantinople (indeed, Charlemagne was originally crowned for the Pope's own purposes: partly over the Iconoclasm controversy with Empress Irene, partly to make Rome independent of Constantinople), the Russian Tsars and Ottoman Sultans both claimed to be Byzantine successors (both monarchs had imperial Byzantine blood), and Serbia and Bulgaria both based it at least partially on Roman/Greek traditions - though Bulgaria had had imperial ambitions since at least the early 9th century and claimed the title during the 10th. This practice continued until nearly the present day: until the mid-twentieth century, there was always at least one European ruler (and sometimes several) in power whose title invoked Caesar, Augustus, or some derivation thereof.
** Only in later eras did the title become removed from a continuation of the Roman Empire, and became used when a country was really frickin' big or powerful, prime examples being Mexico, Brazil, and [[UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte Napoleonic France]]. (When Napoleon declared himself Emperor, it aggravated Music/LudwigVanBeethoven something fierce - he had dedicated his third Symphony, ''Eroica'', to Napoleon when he appeared to be a liberator of the people, but scratched out that dedication so fiercely that the pen ripped through the page.) Other times it was used to make a political point: the Kings of UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} declared themselves [[UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany German Emperors]] to make themselves higher-ranked than other German kings (like the one of Bavaria) without having to demote them (German unification being conducted by integrating the existing German states into a federal structure rather than starting from scratch); Napoleon III did it to link his regime to that of his uncle; the rulers of Austria needed a new title after the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire disappeared and didn't want to step down in rank; Queen Victoria had herself declared Empress of India to make it clear that Britain was more powerful than Germany (and because she didn't want to be outranked by her daughter, who had married the heir to the German throne)[[note]]Victoria strongly considered the title of "Empress of Great Britain, Ireland and India" and officially upgrading the United Kingdom itself into an empire, but her Prime Minister, UsefulNotes/BenjaminDisraeli, convinced her that merely adding "Empress of India" to her existing title of "Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" would be more acceptable to the public.[[/note]]; and a couple others besides. However, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Bedel_Bokassa Jean-Bédel Bokassa's]] short-lived Empire was little short of a farce.

* Ganondorf from ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series is arguably this, considering that he repeatedly is shown as ruler of the whole Dark World, a shadow mirror of the game's world.
** He would become one whenever he takes over Hyrule on top of whatever dark realm he had control of at the beginning of the game, otherwise, he's referred to as "The King of Evil" (or "Thieves", before the evil).

** ''Film/{{Napoleon|2023}}''. Portrayed by Creator/JoaquinPhoenix. Features the coronation.

** ''Film/TheEmperorOfParis'' (2018) - Napoleon is featured at the end, portrayed by reenactor Mark Schneider. The title otherwise refers to something else.

* Many films focus on or feature the Emperor of UsefulNotes/{{France}} from 1804 to 1814 (and briefly in 1815), UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte. His coronation, which was famously the subject of a huge painting by Creator/JacquesLouisDavid, is often reenacted.

* Many films focus on or feature the Emperor of UsefulNotes/{{France}} from 1804 to 1814 (and briefly in 1815), UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte:
** ''Film/Napoleon1955''
** ''Film/WarAndPeace1956''
** ''Film/{{Waterloo}}''
** ''Film/TheEmperorOfParis'' - Napoleon is featured at the end, the title otherwise refers to something else.
** ''Film/Napoleon2023''

* One story in ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' involves the Roman emperor Augustus Caesar spending a day [[KingIncognito disguised as a beggar]]. He is rather personable and sympathetic, but may not quite qualify as benevolent: he [[spoiler: plots to undermine the Roman Empire and bring it to an early end, with the implication that he sees this as revenge against his CreepyUncle Julius]].

* The Empress of Taysar in the ''Literature/{{Spaceforce}}'' books rules many worlds as an absolute monarch, and technically owns, personally, 'every rock and stone' on those worlds. It seems that Taysar always has an Empress, not an Emperor.

Of course, just because the trope is titled "The '''Emperor'''" doesn't preclude the existence of actual '''[[DistaffCounterpart Empresses]]''', as some of the examples in both fiction and RealLife illustrate. [[WomenAreWiser An Empress is likely to be depicted more sympathetically than an Emperor]]. Less sympathetic female rulers are more often [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen queens]]. However, some older works do [[HeirClubForMen presuppose]] that the occupant of the throne is always an Emperor, never an Empress Regnant.

* {{Literature/TheBelgariad'': Emperor Zakath of Mallorea is depicted as being effective, ruthless, [[AffablyEvil urbane and civilised]]. He's also somewhat CrazySane, cold and emotionless, fixated on killing Taur Urgas and destroying the entire Murgo race as a prelude [[TakeOverTheWorld to world domination]], firmly believing that he and Garion are on a collision course that will leave one man standing. In ''The Malloreon'', it's implied that he's a DeathSeeker and his past is revealed to be a major plot point; the heroes cannot win without him, but his past prevents him from cooperating. When Garion lectures him about being a good king, Zakath politely points out that it's very easy for Garion to be a good king on a tiny island where he knows most of his subjects by sight, but Mallorea is the largest territory in the world, made up of fractious states, petty kingdoms, and the most vile religion in the world, making it completely impossible for ''anyone'' to be a good king. [[spoiler:As a young man, Zakath was smart, sensitive, wise and all set to become one of Mallorea's greatest emperors. Taur Urgas feared his potential so bought the debts of the family of Zakath's lover in a plot to assassinate him on his wedding night. Only after Zakath was forced to sentence them to death, did he learn that his lover had been completely innocent. He [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone locked himself away]] for a month, where he crossed the DespairEventHorizon and returned as a cold-blooded monster hell-bent on destroying Taur Urgas, all his family, and even his entire race. The only way for the heroes to win is for them to overcome decades of vengeful grief, guilt and self-loathing, so that he finds his way back to becoming a mentally health and emotionally healed human who can help the Prophecy of Light start the process of converting the world to the gospel of the true God of Angarak and, eventually, the entire world... Eriond.]]

* ''Series/Foundation2021'': The Galactic Empire essentially has ''three'' emperors at once, as part of their "genetic dynasty" tradition. Each of the three is a clone of the original Emperor Cleon I, created at different points and thus being at different ages -- Brother Dawn is a child, Brother Day is a man in his prime, and Brother Dusk is an elder. And while strictly speaking they rule as equals, in practice the current Day clone is always the reigning monarch, as Dawn is still learning from experience and Dusk is more of an elder statesman acting as an advisor. [[spoiler: However, it's revealed late in Season 2 that the entire dynasty are actually [[PuppetKing puppets]] of [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Demerzel]], who uses her position as [[EvilChancellor their majordomo]] to manipulate them into following Cleon I'd vision; Cleon XVIII (the Brother Dawn of the season's time period), upon deducing this, refers to her as the "eternal Empress".]]

** Frieza, having spent his entire life at the top of a galaxy-spanning empire, likes to refer to himself as "emperor of the universe" while posturing. He's very much the EvilOverlord type, with his diplomatic skills amounting to "do what I say and ''maybe'' I won't kill you and destroy your entire planet."

* In David Eddings' ''{{Literature/Belgariad}}'', Emperor Zakath of Mallorea is depicted as being effective, ruthless and at first, apparently [[AffablyEvil urbane and civilised]]. Which he is. He's also somewhat CrazySane, cold and emotionless, fixated on killing Taur Urgas and destroying the entire Murgo race as a prelude [[TakeOverTheWorld to world domination]], firmly believing that he and Garion are on a collision course that will leave one man standing. In ''The Malloreon'', it's implied that he's a DeathSeeker and his past is revealed to be a major plot point - the short version is that as a young man, he was smart, sensitive, and wise, all set to become one of Mallorea's greatest and most civilised Emperors. Then Taur Urgas, spotting a potential rival, [[spoiler: bought the family of Zakath's girlfriend to get them to have her murder him. Zakath found out, went berserk, exterminated everyone involved, then found out that his girlfriend was innocent]]. Cue a ''brutal'' HeroicBSOD that lasted for a month, followed by a FaceHeelTurn into a cold-blooded monster who amused himself by sending Taur Urgas pieces of his relatives in jars, with highly insulting notes attached. Even after he performs a HeelFaceTurn after some EpiphanyTherapy, since the Light Prophecy needed the most powerful Angarak monarch in good mental shape to [[spoiler:spread Eriond's gospel]] (which serves as Zakath's karmic payback, since it'll take the rest of his life), he remains this, patiently explaining that he ''can't'' be a conventional [[TheGoodKing Good King]] like Garion; while he's technically Overlord of the West, most of the time Garion only actually rules a medium-sized island and knows many of his law-abiding and dutiful subjects by sight, if not by name. Zakath, by contrast, rules a continent full of fractious states and petty kingdoms, many of which still have strong self-identities and try to secede whenever they get the chance, and has to contend with the influence of the Grolim Church [[spoiler: until the end of ''The Malloreon'']].

* ''Series/Foundation2021'': The Galactic Empire essentially has ''three'' emperors at once, as part of their "genetic dynasty" tradition. Each of the three is a clone of the original Emperor Cleon I, created at different points and thus being at different ages -- Brother Dawn is a child, Brother Day is a man in his prime, and Brother Dusk is an elder. And while strictly speaking they rule as equals, in practice the current Day clone is always the reigning monarch, as Dawn is still learning from experience and Dusk is more of an elder statesman acting as an advisor.

* ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' when Mengsk overthrew the Confederacy, he immediately makes himself as the Emperor of the new [[TheEmpire Terran Dominion]].

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' was the first {{JRPG}} to play with this trope in detail, though it's since become genre standard fare. Emperor Mateus starts out as a typical Big Bad who commands [[TheLegionsOfHell monsters from hell]] and wants to [[TakeOverTheWorld conquer the world]], well, just because. Then the heroes kill him, which has [[NiceJobBreakingItHero unforeseen]] [[FromBadToWorse consequences]]: [[spoiler: his spirit goes to Hell, takes over, and comes back stronger than before.]] The GBA remake adds a sidestory where we learn that [[spoiler:his soul was actually split in half at death, and his 'good' side has not only gone to Heaven, but taken over ''there'' as well.]] LightIsNotGood, indeed.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' likewise features TheEmpire as the main enemy, led by Emperor Gestahl. Until one of his lieutenants, Kefka Palazzo, already a messed-up-in-the-head PsychoForHire, decides to go OmnicidalManiac...
* ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'', which takes place after ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', introduces Weiss. He is the supreme commander of the Deepground forces, and his title in the original Japanese is Emperor.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'':
** Emperor Solus zos Galvus acts as the elderly leader of the Garelan Empire and is the GreaterScopeVillain of the 1.0 storyline. Unlike other examples, [[KarmaHoudini he's never fought and gets to die of natural causes]]. [[spoiler: Or so it seems untill the tail end of the ''Stormblood'' patch quests.]]
** Emperor Varis zos Galvus, grandson of Solus, takes over as the GreaterScopeVillain of whenever the Empire is involved in the plot. [[spoiler: He gets killed by his own son at the end of ''Shadowbringers'', and his death and subsequent succession crisis herald the beginning of the end of the Empire.]]
** Emperor Xande was the first Emperor of the [[AbusivePrecursors Allagan Empire]], who was later resurrected (or cloned, more accurately) within the Crystal Tower. After this event, he turned into a StrawNihilist and made a DealWithTheDevil to [[OmnicidalManiac kill off everyone for their own good]].

* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. When the BigBad, Fire Nation's Fire Lord Ozai decides to promote himself to ruler of the entire world, the title he comes up with is simply "Phoenix King", even though there is already an "Earth King" (and several lesser Earth Kingdom Kings, like King Bumi). This was probably done because "Phoenix Emperor" is way too many syllables to be practical. The Earth King himself is an example of the Benevolent Emperor, though his [[EvilChancellor Grand Secretariat]] is the one who actually rules the country.
* On the other hand, in SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', when Kuvira usurps Earth King Wu, she declares her new nation the Earth Empire, and herself its [[SheIsTheKing Emperor]]. One of the cases where AsskickingLeadsToLeadership, as she conquered her way to the title.

* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'' has [[spoiler:Horde Prime]], Emperor of the Galactic Horde, the true BigBad of the series who rules the entire universe with such impunity and has conquered entire galaxies with his powerful armada.

* Emperor Belos of ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' is the reclusive, shadowy dictator, although the first season finale shows he can more than handle himself in a fight if necessary. He claims to be able to speak to the Titan - the giant creature whose corpse makes up the Boiling Isles - and has used this "divine mandate" to set up a restrictive Coven system that forces everyone on the Isles to practice magic ''his'' way.

This villainous depiction is ubiquitous in Western media. Only in historic plotlines involving the leaders of the real-life [[UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire Roman Empire]] will they get any sympathetic depiction at all, and even then they are usually portrayed as incompetent or otherwise unflatteringly. In contrast, in China, Emperors actually served as legitimate rulers for most of recorded history, and thus Eastern media (particularly Chinese wuxia films, but also occasionally anime) do have the occasional non-evil Emperor. However, if the Emperor is legitimate and non-malevolent, his role in the plot is usually purely as a background character, often serving as an [[AuthorityInNameOnly impotent]] {{foil}} to an EvilChancellor who [[TheManInFrontOfTheMan holds the true reins of power]]; plot-significant Emperors usually serve in the role of BigBad.

* ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'' shows Marcus Aurelius (Creator/RichardHarris) as a Benevolent Emperor, and his son [[KlingonPromotion and successor]] Commodus (Creator/JoaquinPhoenix), [[TheCaligula not so benevolent]]. Much later and still directed by Creator/RidleyScott, Phoenix would play Film/{{Napoleon|2023}}''.

* ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'' shows Marcus Aurelius (Creator/RichardHarris) as a Benevolent Emperor, and his son [[KlingonPromotion and successor]] Commodus (Creator/JoaquinPhoenix), [[TheCaligula not so benevolent]].
* Another Joaquin Phoenix vehicle, ''Film/{{Napoleon|2023}}'', about, well, Emperor of France UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte.

* [[Characters/StarWarsEmperorPalpatine Emperor Palpatine]] of ''Franchise/StarWars'' is probably the archetypical example, being an EvilOverlord, the series' main BigBad, and an incredibly powerful Sith Lord famous for blasting people with lightning.
* ''Film/TheMummyTombOfTheDragonEmperor'' features the Emperor of China (who knows Kung Fu and has superpowers) as the main villain.

* ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'' shows Marcus Aurelius as a Benevolent Emperor, and his son [[KlingonPromotion and successor]] Commodus, [[TheCaligula not so benevolent]].

* Leto Atriedes II, the ''Literature/GodEmperorOfDune''. And before him, his father [[Literature/DuneMessiah Paul]] who usurped the position from [[Literature/{{Dune}} Shaddam Corrino IV]]. Leto especially appears to his subjects to be the EvilOverlord, but thanks to the omniscient narrator viewpoint, readers can see his ultimate goal is actually quite benevolent.

* In ''VideoGame/RomancingSaga2'', the main {{PlayerCharacter}}s are the various emperors/empresses of the Avalon Empire, and a good-natured example of the trope. The player assumes the roles of many different sovereigns over many millennia, culminating in one they get to name themselves, aptly named The Final Emperor/Empress. Throughout the game, the player also has to pick and choose which person gets to succeed the throne every generation.

* In ''VideoGame/RomancingSaga2'', the main {{PlayerCharacter}}s are the various emperors/empresses of the Varennes Empire, and a good-natured example of the trope. The player assumes the roles of many different sovereigns over many millennia, culminating in one they get to name themselves, aptly named The Final Emperor/Empress. Throughout the game, the player also has to pick and choose which person gets to succeed the throne every generation.