History Main / TheHighKing

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The Great Wolf (Chapter Master) of the Space Wolves works like this. The Space Wolves never accepted the Codex Astartes and maintain their pre-Horus Heresy organisation as an effective Legion split into twelve "Great Companies" lead by a "Wolf Lord", who are largely autonomous and function as a Chapter on their own. The Great Wolf is the overall leader of the Space Wolves, elected by and from the Wolf Lords and functioning as a first-among-equals. The others all largely do what the current Great Wolf, Logan Grimnar, says; mostly out of respect for him personally and because he's been leading the Wolves for longer than most of them have been alive.

* ''TabletopGames/Warhammer40000'': The Great Wolf (Chapter Master) of the Space Wolves works like this. The Space Wolves never accepted the Codex Astartes and maintain their pre-Horus Heresy organisation as an effective Legion split into twelve "Great Companies" lead by a "Wolf Lord", who are largely autonomous and function as a Chapter on their own. The Great Wolf is the overall leader of the Space Wolves, elected by and from the Wolf Lords and functioning as a first-among-equals. The others all largely do what the current Great Wolf, Logan Grimnar, says; mostly out of respect for him personally and because he's been leading the Wolves for longer than most of them have been alive.

** The Sarnor civilization was a collection of city-states, each ruled by its own king, all of whom answered to a reigning High King. Nominally, the High King was supreme ruler of the Sarnori, although usually he didn't wield much real authority over the autonomous lesser kings.

High King is a title derived from historical Britain (with approximate equivalents in several other places), and widely used in fiction. A High King rules a feudal [[TheAlliance alliance]] or [[TheFederation federation]] of states; usually he doesn't manifest direct power over all subjects of his vassal kings, which makes him different from a totalitarian [[TheEmperor emperor]] who is [[BigBrotherIsWatching omnipresent]] in the daily affairs of his subjects. That's why a High King is likely to be good, or even a BigGood. Other similar titles are also possible, although a ''King of Kings'' is often likely to be more of an Emperor, given this trope's associations with Imperial Persia. Or UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}, who is also not a straight example of this trope.

* The UrExample of this trope would be the "King-of-kings" of Assyrian fame, a title that would later be taken by the Persians of the Achaemenid Empire as the ''Shahanshah'' ("shah of shahs"). The Assyrian and later Persian empires were highly decentralized, with local shahs (kings) and satraps (governors) having close to absolute autonomy in their own territories, with the King-of-kings serving as a hegemon in the case of external affairs.

* The paucity of records dating from the time period means we will likely never know for certain, but there may have been a High King of Mycenaean Greece, as reflected in ''The Iliad''.

->'''HIGH KING'' is the top KING of whatever number of COUNTRIES, dukedoms, and principalities the Management pleases. He is a northerly phenomenon and does not occur on all Tours. When he does, he is always GOOD, rather conscientious, and terribly overworked. You will often witness the start of his reign about halfway through the Tour. There will be a long and tedious ceremony in which all lesser rulers swear oaths to the High King. He will then be the one who has to muster an ARMY to fight the forces of the DARK LORD.

May be ruling alongside TheHighQueen, but he is not the SpearCounterpart (which would be TheGoodKing); that trope is about the character, and this is about the title.

* Tsar Vladimir the Conqueror in ''Comicbook/NikolaiDante'' has the official title Tsar of all the Russias, and appears to be the ''de jure'' ruler of Russia plus some off-world colonies. He is also the ''de facto'' ruler of all Earth; while Britain still has a king and there is mention of a triumvirate ruling China, those offices are clearly shown to be subservient to the tsar, and can be replaced at his whim. Indeed, Vladimir himself granted the [[UpliftedAnimal Houses]] of [[KingOfBeasts Numa]], Tantor, and [[Film/KingKong Kong]] dominion over Africa.

* In ''Fanfic/TheConquest'', High King is the title used by the monarch of the Targaryen Empire, due to the relative autonomy of the various regions that make up its territory.

* Celestine Lucross from ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'' is the first among equals of [[TheAlliance the Seven Shields Alliance]], being the one who chose all seven Princess Knights, herself included, to govern their respective territories in Eostia.

* Variant in ''Literature/TheBelgariad'': Garion assumes the title of Overlord of the West (sometimes called Overking), which gives him nominal power over the countries on the "good" side of the continent. This doesn't give him actual rule in those countries (except when there's a politically ugly situation that the local monarch would rather delegate to him instead of trying to resolve it himself - a habit Garion ends up complaining about), but he can order them to mobilise their armies in the inevitable event that the Angaraks finally invade. Similarly, the various schemers on the "evil" side of the world deign to call themselves "Overking of Angarak", but none of them manage to truly achieve that power, except for PhysicalGod [[BigBad Torak]], who is called "[[GodEmperor King and God]]" -- though it is implied that 'Zakath, formerly TheEmperor (though he still has the title) will end up as the real Overking of Angarak eventually, if [[HegemonicEmpire in a looser sense]] than he'd previously intended.
* In ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'', Aslan names Peter High King of Narnia. As such, he has authority over other rulers of Narnia (such as his siblings and King Caspian), but is still under the authority of Aslan, who is himself called the High King above all High Kings of Narnia. Aslan's father, meanwhile, is referred to only a few times in text as the Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea (and is the High King of all worlds including Narnia).
* Creator/DavidWeber's ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' series has this on Grayson, where the title of the highest-ranked Grayson ruler, ''Protector,'' is the English cognate of ''Emperor,'' but his powers more closely resemble this trope. As the series progresses and Queen Elizabeth III's power consolidates in Manticore, she becomes more like this, culminating in the declaration of the Star Empire of Manticore and herself as Empress Elizabeth I (as she generally remains the ReasonableAuthorityFigure, the SEM remains mostly TheFederation despite having trappings of TheEmpire).
* Creator/LloydAlexander's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'' take place in Prydain, a JustForFun/FantasyCounterpart to medieval Wales. Math son of Mathonwy was the High King of Prydain, but he was never shown doing much of anything - that was left up to his heir and warlord, Prince Gwydion. He appeared in the first book to thank the heroes for their efforts against the Horned King, was mentioned in each of the next three books, and appeared shortly before his death in the last book. [[spoiler:Gwydion's own last act as High King, before departing for the Summer Country, is to declare AudienceSurrogate Taran the new High King of Prydain.]]

* Dwarves in Literature/{{Discworld}} consider lower to be better than higher, so they have a Low King who is acknowledged by most dwarves as the most important monarch. In practice he's the only real "king" per se; in most mines the king is more like a mine foreman or senior engineer than royalty. And it's later revealed that [[spoiler:SheIsTheKing]].
* In the Literature/LandOfOz, the rulers of the four countries (Munchkins, Gillikins, Winkies, and Quadlings) are under the ruler of Oz in general, who lives in the Emerald City. At least, this becomes the case after book one, where the Wicked Witches of the East & West were destroyed and replaced. Although in this case, the high ruler is Ozma, who rules under the title of [[PrincessesRule Princess]].
* Creator/JRRTolkien's [[Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium Middle-earth]]:

*** The Teleri Lords had a High King, but he lived in an enchanted forest where nobody could find him. The Vanyar had one as well, Ingwë, and he was accounted the High King of All Elves.
*** The Valar had one as well, Manwë, and he was the High King of All Arda. The war Morgoth started in the Years of the Trees was to depose him, though he never succeeded. Within the mythologies of Tolkien, Ingwë and Manwë are still alive and still rule, but mortal Men have long since abused the power to reach their homeland and no longer can except by complete accident.

* ''Literature/BelisariusSeries'':
** Kungas is addressed as "Great King" by mountain tribesmen. They refuse to call him "king" (because their first obedience goes to their clan chief) but they are satisfied to call him "Great King" because their chiefs obey him.
** Similarly, Eon's title means "King of Kings", as the King of the tribal leaders whose lands make up the Kingdom of Ethiopia.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''
** The Targaryen dynasty conquered all but one of the Seven kingdoms of Westeros (which later joined their rule through marriage), demoted the surviving kings to lords (sometimes called High Lords or Lords Paramount), elevated a couple of formerly-minor lords to Lords Paramount on equal footing with the former kings, and reserved the King / Queen title for themselves.
** Mance Rayder, as King-Beyond-The-Wall is effectively High King of the wildlings, ruling as first-among-equals in a loose confederation of tribal chieftains.
** High King was the most coveted royal title in Dorne until the Rhoynish invasion. The simple title of Prince has been in use ever since.
** The Ironborn used to elect a High King at their Kingsmoot to rule over the other Rock and Salt Kings of the Iron Islands. Since then they went from a single elected monarchy to a hereditary one to becoming lords under the Targaryens.
** Robar II Royce, the last First Man ruler of the Vale, claimed the title of "High King of the Vale, the Fingers, and the Mountains of the Moon" when uniting all the First Men of the Vale against the Andal invasion. After his defeat and the Andals taking total dominance, House Arryn took leadership under the simpler title of just "King of the Vale".
** The Sarnor civilization was a collection of city-states, each ruled by its own king, all of whom answered to a reigning High King. Nominally, the High King was supreme ruler of the Sarnor, though usually they didn't wield much real authority over the autonomous lesser kings.
* In the ''Literature/{{Emberverse}}'', Rudi "Artos" Mackenzie, already the heir-apparent to Clan Mackenzie and the son of the founder of the Bearkillers, marries the heir of the Portland Protective Association and brings several other allies into the fold through diplomacy to form the High Kingdom of Montival. It's a true feudal state, with member states (many of which are ''de facto'' monarchies, but several of which are republics or governed by a council of elders) retaining the lion's share of their local autonomy, but required to contribute military aid to the common good during times of war.
* Kallor the High King is a recurring character in the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' (though it's an in-universe ArtifactTitle, as Kallor is an immortal and it's been ages since he was actually king of anything - he still carts a throne around with him wherever he goes). The usual connotations of this trope are inverted, however, as Kallor during his reign was considered one of the worst tyrants in the setting's history, far worse than any of the characters who've used the title "Emperor", to the point that he destroyed his own empire rather than let the gods take it away from him.
* ''Literature/Birthright2017'': Sabrina's father is officially titled Maharaja. However, it's difficult to tell if he's ''actually'' a High King, or if it's a case of 'title inflation', as was sometimes the case in real-world India.
* ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath'': The people of the Kencyrath consist of nine major houses, plus some minor ones. Each is ruled by a lord, who has a lot of power and autonomy in his own right, and a seat on the High Council. The leader of all the Kencyrath has the title "Highlord".
* In ''Literature/TheQueensThief'' series, it is implied that [[spoiler: Eugenides]] is on his way to becoming this. Teleus calls him "Annux, a king of kings."

* In ''Series/BabylonFive'', the Centauri Emperor is actually this, though the particulars have changed in time:

* The ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'' are divided into independent charters each ruled by a President, but the president of the Redwood Originals appears to hold a kind of “first among equals” positions among the charter presidents.
** The [[Series/MayansMC Mayans]] appear to have a similar system, with a senior and well respected president holding sway over them all. However, the position is independent of charter, as Alvarez, the leader of the Oakland charter, hands it down to Bishop, the leader of the Santo Padre Mayans.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Ironclaw}}'' the Don of House Rinaldi is High King of Calebria as the other three great houses were once independent kingdoms, but by the time of the game it is basically a meaningless title, and the throne is presently vacant following the gruesome murders of the last Don and his eldest son while the other great houses are [[SuccessionCrisis making their own plans]]. One of the first published adventures was to find his missing second son.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' ''Fantasy'':
** The leader of the Dwarf race is The High King, who acts as a spiritual leader to all Dwarfs, and holds the Great Book of Grudges which holds all the grudges in the Dwarfs history which they hope to avenge.
** The Norse also have a title by the same name for the supreme ruler of their country. Being warriors of Chaos, their version is less directly benevolent than the Dwarfen version.

* In ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' Sasonik was the High King of the Lada Range Kingdoms of Venus, bringing about a golden age in culture and technological advancement. His great-granddaughter Sassinisk is attempting to reclaim the title.
* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': On the plane of Eldraine, the Realm is rules by a High King, who has authority over the five smaller Courts. The current High King, Algenus Kenrith, got the title by undergoing the trials of all five courts, to prove that he deserves the title. His wife, Linden, ''would'' have been TheHighQueen, but she only managed to complete four trials, because [[spoiler: she was rasing Algenus' twins after their birth mother killed them (long story)]]. Ironically though, it's implied she's the one who does most of the actual ruling, while Kenrith keeps the Courts united through charisma. The novel ''Literature/TheWilderedQuest'' is about Algenus going missing, and his children having to search for him.
* The First Lord of Star League in ''TabletopGame/{{Battletech}}'' was this trope in all but name. While ostensibly a "first among equals" and only capable of governing with the consent of the council of the five Great Houses, the First Lords commanded the most populous, rich and industrially powerful worlds of humanity and the massive Star League Defence Force and could in practice rule by decree if they wanted. The title was hereditary to House Cameron and passed down patrilinearly until the sixth First Lord was overthrown by his EvilChancellor, Stefan "TheUsurper" Amaris. Amaris immediately crowned himself TheEmperor instead, before being himself overthrown by Cameron loyalists in a massive civil war. The title of First Lord has remained empty ever since, as said civil war destroyed house Cameron and its power base and left the Great Houses free to declare their independence of Star League.
* The kingdom of Sartar in {{TabletopGames/Runequest}} is usually ruled by a Prince, who outranks the several tribal kings and queens (as well as the high priestesses of several important temples, who are also called queens).

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, the province of Skyrim (homeland of the [[HornyVikings Nords]]) is traditionally ruled by a High King. Originally hereditary starting with [[FounderOfTheKingdom Ysgramor]], this practice mostly ended when the last in Ysgramor's line was killed without an heir, causing a SuccessionCrisis. Fifty years of infighting cost the Nords their 1st Era Empire until the Pact of Chieftains ended with the election of a new High King. Ever since, when the High King dies or is otherwise deposed, a "moot" is held by the Jarls of Skyrim to elect a new one. As part of the Cyrodiilic Empire, the High King of Skyrim is subservient to the Emperor of Tamriel. However, shortly before the events of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', pro-independence Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak challenged High King Torygg to a duel for his throne, an archaic but legitimate practice among the ProudWarriorRace Nords. Ulfric won by using the [[LanguageOfMagic Thu'um]] to kill Torygg and, as a result, he and his followers feel that by victory he should be the named the new High King of Skyrim. The Jarls of Skyrim, who vote for the new High King, are torn due to Ulfric's use of the Thu'um being seen as cheating. Eastern Skyrim secedes under Stormcloak's leadership, while western Skyrim (and the Empire) support Torygg's widow, Elisif, for the throne, leading to {{Civil War}}. The PlayerCharacter can resolve the crisis by joining the war on either side, and there's also a GameMod [[http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/41087/ available]] that lets you take the throne for yourself.

* The Lycian Alliance of ''Videogame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'' is a group of fiefdoms each ruled by a Marquess that all answer the the Marquess of Ostia only in times of war. At the end of the game, the Ostian Marchioness Lillina (alongside Roy if they marry) unites them and becomes the High Queen.
* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' Varian Wrynn, King of Stormwind, has become this for the Alliance, though this was mostly done to have an Alliance counterpart to the Horde's Warchief.
** In the Legion expansion, Varian Wyrnn dies and is succeeded as High King by his son, Anduin Wrynn.

* King Samrick of ''Webcomic/CharbyTheVampirate'' rules over his own Kingdom and the Grand Kingdoms of the Alliance which pay him tithes.
* In ''Webcomic/PoppyOPossum'' Kit Darling's father Ren is High King of several small kingdoms ruled by the Darling family, one of 12 High Kings of the Canidae Empire in fact. Though, due to his debilitating illness Kit's older sister Vix is acting High Queen, leaving Kit as the unwilling queen of Vix's Fenneclands.

* In ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'' the planet Eternia is made up of several kingdoms but King Randor is the high king of the whole world.
* The Earth King in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is the head of the entirety of the Earth Kingdom despite smaller kingdoms like Omashu existing within it.
* The tribal chief in ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfKorra'' is technically the head of state of both Water Tribes. While he does have firm executive power in the Northern Water Tribe, the Southern Water Tribe sees him as a figurehead with ceremonial and representative duties, and actual governmental power there is vested in a Council of Chieftains and Elders. This lasts right up until he tries to exercise actual authority in the South, at which point they immediately secede after a brief civil war.

** The hierarchy ran thus: at the bottom was the Rí benn (king of peaks) or rí tuaithe, king of a single ''tuath'' (loosely, "tribe" or "people"). They were roughly analogous to a chief and by the 10th century became ''taísig tuaithe'' ("lords") rather than "kings". Then there was the Rí buiden (king of bands) or rí tuath (king of many tribes) to whom the other ríthe were subordinate[[note]]These kingdoms were roughly equivalent in size to the modern counties[[/note]]. Then there was the rí ruirech (king of overkings) a provincial or semi-provincial king of the five ancient provinces[[note]]Ireland is divided into four provinces - Mumhan (Munster), Laighin (Leinster), Uladh (Ulster) and Connacht - but the Irish word is "cúige", "fifth", and the fifth, missing province is Mide/Meath, which is now mostly part of Leinster. Though real history is never quite that neat - at different times, people considered there to be anywhere between four and eight provinces[[/note]]. And finally there was the Ard Rí (high king), in theory above all of them. Although in practice, the power of the High King varied considerably.

* Indicated in ''{{Film/The Ten Commandments|1956}}'' with the Pharoahs of Egypt Moses grows up under.

*** The Dúnedain kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor worked like this. Arnor was founded by Elendil and Gondor by his two sons Isildur and Anarion, and Elendil was king of Arnor as well as High King over his sons, who were joint kings of Gondor. After Elendil and Anarion were killed, Isildur became king of Arnor while Gondor passed to Anarion's son Menendil and his eventual descendants, though Isildur remained High King of the Dúnedain. Isildur himself was also killed shortly after, but his own line continued. Some millennia later, the last king of Gondor and thus of Anarion's line had gone missing without an heir and Gondor was from then on ruled by Stewards in the king's place, while Arnor had fragmented into three realms which also fell in time. By the end of the book, Aragorn the last heir of Isildur becomes High King of a Reunited Kingdom.

* The First Lord of Star League in ''TabletopGame/{{Battletech}}'' was this trope in all but name. While ostensibly a "first among equals" and only capable of governing with the consent of the council of the five Great Houses, the First Lords commanded the most popolous, rich and industrially powerful worlds of humanity and the massive Star League Defence Force and could in practice rule by decree if they wanted. The title was hereditary to House Cameron and passed down patrilinearly until the sixth First Lord was overthrown by his EvilChancellor, Stefan "TheUsurper" Amaris. Amaris immediately crowned himself TheEmperor instead, before being himself overthrown by Cameron loyalists in a massive civil war. The title of First Lord has remained empty ever since, as said civil war destroyed house Cameron and its power base and left the Great Houses free to declare their independence of Star League.

* In ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'', Aslan names Peter High King of Narnia. As such, he has authority over other rulers of Narnia (such as his siblings, and King Caspian), but is still under the authority of Aslan, who is himself called, the High King above all High Kings of Narnia. Aslan's father, meanwhile, is referred to only a few times in text as The Emperor Beyond The Sea (and is the High King of all worlds including Narnia).

** Settra the Imperishable is King of Nehekhara, but permits the rulers of the many city-states of the land to keep their title of 'king' as well (Nehekhara was only truly united under his rule, and most of the Tomb Kings come from eras where each 'king' only held a single city). When comparing himself to his vassal Tomb Kings, Settra uses the title "King of Kings" instead.