History Main / TheGoodChancellor

* Despite not having any official position (and that's purely because Arthur is extremely WrongGenreSavvy), {{Series/Merlin}} qualifies for this trope quite well. He's TheConfidant who the guest star of the week is far likely to give help to and take advice from than any other member of the cast, foils Arthur's ill-informed plans while encouraging his good traits, and helps the oppressed magical people. It's extremely telling that when [[SpoiledSweet Princess Mithian]] wanted to marry Arthur, she went to Merlin to ask for his support, noting that Arthur valued his opinion above all others. This was after being in Camelot for a total of one day.

* In ''IClaudius'' (and in history), there is Narcissus and Claudius' other freemen. They might or might not count as evil (they were ruthlessly protective of their man, after all), but they were loyal to Claudius.

* While he's technically the seneschal of Vigil's Keep, Varel functions as this trope in the Awakening expansion for DragonAge: Origins. Prior to the start of the story, Varel was imprisoned by [[CompleteMonster Arl Rendon Howe]] for attempting to counteract the worst of his lord's atrocities. When the Grey Wardens are awarded the arling of Amaranthine, he is re-appointed as seneschal and is a helpful ally.

* In LFrankBaum's [[Literature/LandOfOz Oz books]], the Scarecrow takes up this position for Ozma.

* Konrad Adenauer, the BadassGrandpa chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. He led Germany through the postwar reconstruction, beat down both Fascist and Communist threats, brought Germany into world politics, and restored German prosperity in the Economic Miracle.

* A case could be made for Lord Varys from ASongOfFireAndIce. He may be a conniving, sneaky MagnificentBastard who is rightly distrusted by... well, ''everyone'' in Kings Landing. An yet, on the eve of Ned Stark's execution, Varys is his only visitor, brings him water and keeps him informed of the happenings in the court. When questioned by Ned about who he serves, his response is simply "the realm."

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* In ''[[{{Discworld}} Interesting Times]]'', Twoflower ends up as the Prime Minister of the Agatean Empire, replacing an evil chancellor, despite not knowing what to do. Discworld runs on narrativium (the implication is that someone who ''did'' know about it would become evil), but luckily Twoflower is WrongGenreSavvy: he thinks he's in a heroic fantasy, not a CrapsackWorld satire.

* Joseph, from the book of Genesis in TheBible.

* In the [[HorusHeresy past]] of ''WarHammer40000'', Malcador the Sigillite. The Emperor's right-hand man and regent when away from Terra, he is the greatest politician, administrator, and (non-PhysicalGod) human psyker of all time, as the Emperor is the [[PsychicPowers greatest]] [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking everything]] [[EmperorScientist else]].

In terms of the ranks of AuthorityTropes, the tropes that are equal are TheCaligula, EvilChancellor, StandardRoyalCourt and DeadlyDecadentCourt. The next step down is TheBrigadier. The next steps up are TheEvilPrince, PrinceCharming, PrinceCharmless, WarriorPrince, TheWhitePrince, TheWisePrince, and all PrincessTropes.

* General Afir in ''MomAndDadSaveTheWorld''. He is notable in that, while his evil boss (along with everyone else on the planet) is an idiot, he's reasonably competent ''and'' isn't all that interested in destroying the Earth.

* Lord Admiral Aral Vorkosigan was appointed Regent for five year old Emperor Gregor in the VorkosiganSaga, serving loyally for fifteen years when most of his enemies thought he would make a grab for the throne. Upon Gregor's ascension to the throne, he stepped down and continued in the role as the Emperor's Prime Minister.

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** It is stated that Denethor was and remained TheGoodChancellor, despite being almost completely overcome with grief and despair in his final days, brought on by the stress of holding together a state in decline, combined with the despair brought on by the death of his wife and oldest son, as well as Sauron's lies. Even at the very end, though, he made showed himself an excellent statesman and soldier, preparing as best he could for war, though he did not hope for victory. For example, the attack against Osgiliath, portrayed in the movies as suicidal, was in fact a brilliantly timed counterattack that took advantage of the enemy's bottleneck (crossing the Anduin river) and the fact that the forces that had crossed had were forced to fan out to secure the city. The counterattack ended up buying Minas Tirith time to prepare, and time to evacuate the civilian population of the land surrounding Minas Tirith (the city itself had long since been evacuated). Perhaps most importantly, Denethor was actually stronger than Saruman, an angelic being, in that he managed to use the palantir extensively without actually being corrupted, though he was not able to control it, allowing Sauron to show him images of unassailable strength, which contributed to his despair.

* In ''{{Fallout}} 3'', Scribe Rothchild can be seen as the Good Chancellor to the Lyon's Pride. He is the one who knows about the nitty gritty details of fighting the Enclave.
** Senior Council Member [=McClure=] served in most regards as this to First Citizen Lynette of Vault City in Fallout 2. He is one of the most prominent politicians of Vault City, behind only the First Citizen herself. He is also much less bigoted, and more willing to listen to reason. It is publically known that he butts heads with her repeatedly, though.

As the EvilChancellor is plotting to control the kingdom by usurping power, the Good Chancellor serves his kingdom or nation with utmost fervour. He follows the King's orders to the letter if the king is noble, and he tries to mitigate the suffering of his people if the king's intentions are of the bad kind. Rarely would he be seen actively opposing the King's actions, since as a LawfulGood person, he must not let ideas like rebellion or jealousy get in the way of running the kingdom in the king's name. This often does not sit well with some rebels, who sees him as a moderate who must lose his head for being a supposed YesMan to the king they want on a pike.

When meeting the heroes, he, not the king, is usually the true person who has information about the situation at hand. The king may know of the secrets, but the Chancellor knows the best answer for them.

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* General Afir in ''{{Mom and Dad Save The World}}''. He is notable in that, while his evil boss (along with everyone else on the planet) is an idiot, he's reasonably competent ''and'' isn't all that interested in destroying the Earth.
* The Grand Vizier in ''TheGoldenVoyageOfSinbad'' has taken over the running of the city since the death of the old caliph and wears a golden mask to hide a face hideously scarred by fire. He is also, however, brave, noble and wise, and a true companion to Sinbad throughout the adventure.

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* In ''TheLordOfTheRings'', the Stewards of Gondor have as their proudest boast that they never made themselves kings, and ruled the city strictly in the name of the King until an heir to the throne returned. Even Denethor, as crazy as he was, never tried to claim the throne.

* In RobertEHoward's King {{Kull}} stories, Kull's vizier Tu fits this trope, helping the mighty but savage warrior navigate the dangerous complexities of royal tradition and Valusia's DeadlyDecadentCourt.

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* ''[[BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'' had Chancellor Malaki, a dedicated servant to Centauri Emperor Turhan. Lord Refa and the other warmongering nobles assassinated Malaki in the wake of Emperor Turhan's death because they wanted to put their own puppet on the throne, and they knew that there was no way Malaki would allow a [[AxeCrazy psychotic megalomaniac]] like Cartagia (the puppet in question) to reach the throne. In the end, of course, they would have been better off keeping Malaki and killing Cartagia...

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* Joseph, from the book of Genesis in TheBible.

* In the [[HorusHeresy past]] of ''[[WarHammer40000 Warhammer 40,000]]'', Malcador the Sigillite. The Emperor's right-hand man and regent when away from Terra, he is the greatest politician, administrator, and (non-PhysicalGod) human psyker of all time, as the Emperor is the [[PsychicPowers greatest]] [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking everything]] [[EmperorScientist else]].

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* Magistrate Lasselle in ''StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime''. He's generally a jerk, but only has the kingdom's best interests in mind.

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* During the Cultural Revolution in China, Zhou Enlai, the Premier of the [[RedChina PRC]] and widely considered to be Mao's NumberTwo, used his authority to save artists, intellectuals, and ancient treasures from the blood-thirsty Red Guards.

* Maio of Bari, the 'amiratus amiratorum' ('emir of emirs' or 'admiral of admirals') and Chancellor of Sicily in the 1150s, was either a Good Chancellor or an EvilChancellor, depending on who you listen to. According to the mysterious chronicler known only as Hugo Falcandus, Maio made public speeches to the effect that if Sicily's king, William I, ordered anything barbarous or cruel, Maio would countermand the orders - making him a Good Chancellor. Amusingly, Falcandus uses these supposed speeches to illustrate that Maio was actually an EvilChancellor, grasping after the king's power.

* Konrad Adenauer, the BadassGrandpa chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. He led Germany through the postwar reconstruction, beat down both Fascist and Communist threats, brought Germany into world politics, and restored German prosperity in the Economic Miracle.

** It is implied that Denethor was TheGoodChancellor until brought down by his FatalFlaw. Not perfect but he did care for his people.

** He even ''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome got a constellation]]'' (Ophiuchus the Serpent-Bearer, just north of Scorpius). [[TheMummy Pity about that]] HistoricalVillainUpgrade though...

* There are two in ''ChronoTrigger'', but they're both kidnapped and replaced with an evil doppelganger.

* Archduke Norris in {{Traveller}}
* In one sample campaign in {{Gurps}} ''Arabian Nights'', there is an NPC whom everyone thinks is an EvilChancellor but is really a [[TheGoodChancellor Good Chancellor.]]

* The various Hands of the King in ''ASongOfIceAndFire'' all seem to be this. Jon Arryn and Ned Stark work very hard to support the rule of King Robert, while Tyrion and Tywin did the same for Joffrey. The only possible exception is the aforementioned Tywin, who helped depose the mad King Aerys, but only after he'd resigned.

* In the original ''ArabianNights'' stories, [[GrandVizierJafar Jafar]], vizier to the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, is portrayed as one of these.