History Main / TheTheocracy

* ''VideoGame/Rebuild2'': One possible ending is the Church of the Chosen Ones, where a ZombieAdvocate preaches that zombies are in fact the next stage of human evolution and that their loved ones are waiting for the survivors to join them in undeath. Agreeing with their views in the early game gives a small happiness boost, but once you fully go over to them (by capturing the big graveyard) you're basically done playing as the residents take almost every day off to either bask in the wisdom or their leader, throw themselves over the fence to the zombies, or celebrate that someone else has joined the Chosen Ones. Oddly enough, defending against zombie attacks is still part of the game after you join them, so it's possible to get a GameOver while trying to get the ending.

** Played with on Grayson. Religion infuses Grayson society and law, but Grayson's church no longer holds official power, and the right of the individual to follow their own path is actually a core element of modern Grayson theology. Masada was actually founded by [[TheFundamentalist fundamentalist adherents of the Grayson religion]] who objected to Grayson's reforms. Masada [[UpToEleven took the old rules to new extremes]] such that their allies, the [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny People's Republic of Haven]], [[EvenEvilHasStandards would rather not deal with them if they had any choice]].

* When the Mormons first settled in the Salt Lake area, they established the short-lived State of Deseret, a theocratic state headed by Brigham Young. Following the UsefulNotes/MexicanAmericanWar, the area became part of the United States and the Utah Territory was founded in the region. The Utah Territory then spent some time being a ''de facto'' Mormon theocracy, with Young being the governor of the territory ''and'' the president of the LDS Church. In 1857, the U.S. government decided this wouldn't do and sent in federal troops to force the establishment of a secular, or at least non-Mormon, government. Even after, the church still had major power, having a political wing, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Party_(Utah) People's Party]], an economic wing, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZCMI Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution]] and even a military wing'', the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nauvoo_Legion Nauvoo Legion]]. The last traces of official theocracy were eliminated when Utah became a state in 1896.

* The Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom timeline ''Literature/MaleRising'' has a few theocracies bubbling up across the world as various religious come into contact with liberation theologies and ideas of freedom from oppression, such as the the Kingdom of Samuel the Lamanite (Mormon) in eastern Congo as well as the Fraternal Republic of [[spoiler:Honduras]] (Catholic). It is worth noting that both states arose from poor and/or conflict-ridden regions.

* ''Literature/AfterTheRevolution'': The Heavenly Kingdom is a very clear-cut example, being a fundamentalist christo-fascist nation-state-to-be which is ruled according to strict biblical literalism under the command of a leader known only as "Pastor Mike" (Mike is TheGhost of the book and never makes a direct appearance). The Heavenly Kingdom was heavily inspired by the RealLife ISIS/Daesh. United Christian States of America (made up of most of the Deep South) isn't sufficently characterised by the book but is implied to be more of an oligarchic republic ruled according to bible-inspired law; the fact that Pastor Mike is officially ''persona non grata'' in the UCS implies the UCS is insufficiently Christian to the Heavenly Kingdom (though the UCS still unofficially backs the Heavenly Kingdom). Utah has come under unofficial control by the Mormon Church (to the degree that it's known as 'Mormonland' to much of the US), [[AndZoidberg and the city of Albuquerque has a]] GodEmperor (though little is known of his actual religious decrees outside of his love of boiling people alive).

* ''videoGame/Rebuild2'': One possible ending is the Church of the Chosen Ones, where a ZombieAdvocate preaches that zombies are in fact the next stage of human evolution and that their loved ones are waiting for the survivors to join them in undeath. Agreeing with their views in the early game gives a small happiness boost, but once you fully go over to them (by capturing the big graveyard) you're basically done playing as the residents take almost every day off to either bask in the wisdom or their leader, throw themselves over the fence to the zombies, or celebrate that someone else has joined the Chosen Ones. Oddly enough, defending against zombie attacks is still part of the game after you join them, so it's possible to get a GameOver while trying to get the ending.

** [[TheEmpire The Begnion Empire]] from [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn]] is explicitly a theocracy, where all the members of government hold religious ranks and the Empress is also head of the church.

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* In '' Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender '' the Fire Nation was originally ruled by the Fire Sages, who performed administrative and religious duties, thus becoming an example of both theocracy and [[TheMagocracy magocracy]]. Until one of the Fire Sages gained enough power to declare himself Fire Lord.

* The Lord's Believers in ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'', led by Sister Miriam Godwinson. The ''Alien Crossfire'' expansion also gives us the Cult of Planet, led by Prophet Cha Dawn.

* When the Mormons first settled in the Salt Lake area, they established the short-lived State of Deseret, a theocratic state headed by Brigham Young. Following the UsefulNotes/MexicanAmericanWar, the area became part of the United States and the Utah Territory was founded in the region. The Utah Territory then spent some time being a ''de facto'' Mormon theocracy, with Young being the governor of the territory ''and'' the president of the LDS Church. In 1857, the U.S. government decided this wouldn't do and sent in federal troops to force the establishment of a secular, or at least non-Mormon, government. The last traces of official theocracy were eliminated when Utah became a state in 1896.

** UsefulNotes/{{Afghanistan}} under the reestablished Taliban regime is an unclear case. On the one hand, their rule in the 1990s is such an infamous example that the word "Taliban" has entered the English lexicon as a negatively connotated term for anyone who seems to be in favor of a theocracy, especially an extremist one. On the other hand, over the past 20 years, their governing ideology may have changed somewhat--there's a suggestion that is now less "Sunni Islamic theocracy" as it once was and is more "Pashtun nationalism plus social conservatism ''heavily'' tinged but not governed by Sunni Islamism". As the regime is still in its infancy, it's still not clear how this will shake out.
* The ceremonial co-head of state of UsefulNotes/{{Andorra}} is the Bishop of Urgell, although he doesn't play any part in making policy.
* Saudi Arabia double subverts this. The kingdom's laws are based on the Sunni Wahhabi Sharia, but the kingdom is ruled by a king, with Wahhabi clerics forming the bulk of the judiciary. In simple terms, it's a theocratic absolute monarchy.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Reconstructionism Christian Reconstructionism]] is a movement within some strains of Fundamentalism that believes in Theonomy, the doctrine that civil law should be derived from [[Literature/TheBible biblical law]]. Its critics say there is no real distinction between this belief and Theocracy. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement This is another touchy one]], [[BanOnPolitics of course]].

* UsefulNotes/{{Israel}} in both its modern and classical incarnations has always had Judaism as a central aspect, both in the country's identity and its international policies. Having the idea of theocracy kicking around is inevitable when you bill yourself as "the Kingdom of God", but while classical Israel (and Judah) played this trope dead straight the modern one subverts, double subverts, or plays with it. It's always claimed to be the Jewish State or "Hebrew State", Judaism defines itself as both a nation and a religion, and during the classical period it was ruled as a monarchical theocracy based on an alliance between religious judges and the royal family. Today there are several religious political parties (some of which even have the primaries decided by a council of Rabbis) and various other snippets, like personal law (marriage, inheritance, divorce) is handled by religious courts relating to a person's background (Jewish, Muslim or Christian). However, most modern Zionists were nationalists and emphasized the ethnic aspect, the government is run as a democratic parliamentary republic that has supremacy over religious law and can freely elect non-Jewish members. Including those from Muslim, Arab, and Christian parties, as well as normal parties whose platforms are decidedly not Old Testament.

* Speaking of the Puritans, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_England Commonwealth of England]] that existed from 1649 to 1660[[note]]including the period known as the Protectorate during the rule of the Oliver Cromwell (1653–1658) and, briefly, his son Richard as Lord Protector (1658–1659)[[/note]] is also considered to be a theocracy by some historians. During this period, Parliament passed a great number of religious laws meant to promote "godliness" by strictly enforcing the sabbath, censoring works of art, and suppressing Quakers and Levellers. The Parliament of 1653, formed by the aptly named Praise-God Barebone, was even modeled after the biblical counsel of judges.
** This, however, is complicated by the fact that they also revoked the English Edict of Expulsion, allowing the Jews to return to England after being forced to either leave, convert, or die several hundred years earlier. Cromwell had been convinced that the only way for Jesus to return is for the Jews to be found in all nations, and that England was the only one that didn't have any Jews, so it was done for entirely theological reasons.

** Modern Mormons and modern Utah are pretty secular, besides the compulsary missionary work, but there are isolated towns scattered around the southwestern US where the vast majority of the population, civic authorites and police are members of the FLDS Church, and are essentially mini-theocracies ruled by fundamentalist Mormon law and where polygamy, child marriage, and other practices which the mainstream LDS discarded long ago are still practiced.
* It's [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Juche been argued]] that UsefulNotes/NorthKorea is basically a theocracy at this point, with the cult of personality surrounding the Kim family having mutated into a state religion. If you think this is an exaggeration, consider that people are encouraged to, and do, pray to Kim il-Sung and Kim Jong-il. Also, North Korean children are taught that Kim il-Sung performed miracles, such as turning sand into rice, turning fruits into bombs, and, yes, walking on water. He's also still the "Eternal President" [[TheNecrocracy despite being dead since 1994]]. It can almost be likened to a divine dynasty, down to Kim Jong-Nam, or a crude caricature of the Trinity.
* This was the default state in monarchies for quite a while, even and perhaps especially in Europe (with a dubious long-running alternative being in the Germanies, due to the complicated political organization of the Holy Roman Empire). Of course, in practice it was more "the Church is subordinate to the government", making it a sort of practical inversion (the Church became less of a parallel power structure that could work against the secular government) while formally playing it straighter.

* The self-styled "Islamic State" (aka ISIS, aka ISIL, aka Daesh) is a Sunni extremist group attempting to impose a theocracy in the Middle East, beginning with Syria and Iraq. Their human rights abuses are so extreme that [[EveryoneHasStandards even]] ''[[EveryoneHasStandards Al-Qaeda]]'', [[EveryoneHasStandards of all groups, criticizes them]].

* UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} have some examples[[note]]of course, technically as Buddhists are atheists and do not believe in an actual creator god, the term "'''Theo'''cracy" might not be accurate to describe it. Some scholars coined the term "Buddhocracy" to be more specific.[[/note]]:
** Probably the most well known, the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama is the highest ranking lama of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism and the protocolarian head of the four schools (something like primus inter pares). He is considered the encarnation or avatar of the Buddha Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of Compassion. The Dalai Lamas ruled Tibet whether under Mongol, Qing or independent rule until the Maoist China takeover in 1950. The Dalai Lama was also the constitutional monarch of the Central Tibetan Administration but he relented power and the CTA became more republican-like in the late 2011.
** Bhutan was ruled by the so called ''Dual system of government'' with a Druk Desi (somewhat of a secular administrator) and the Je Khempo (the religious leader) however this system was dropped in 1907 to a full monarchy with the Je Khempo loosing all political (yet not the religious) power.
** Mongolia was ruled for a while between independence and socialist republic by the Bogd Khan who was also the Jetsundamba Khutuktu, the head of the Gelug school in Mongolia, a predominantly Tibetan Buddhist country.
** Thailand's kings are generally seen also as religious figures, sometimes as the encarnation of the god Rama, although one of them proclaim himself to be Buddha.
** The Chogyal or Dharma Kings as the name implies, were the monarchic rulers of modern day Sikkim and Ladakh, now part of republican India, with both political and religious powers.

*** The Adeptus Mechanicus, a seperate political body within the Imperium, is this trope by way of MachineWorship. Their [[IndustrialPlanet Forge Worlds]] are overseen by robed tech-priests, with every aspect of production dedicated, through ritual and prayer, to the Machine-God known as the Omnissiah.

*** The ginormous Imperium of Man is very much a theocracy, given that they have a PhysicalGod as its former leader. However, ever since a prominent Ecclesiarchy member went mad and tried to form his own Imperium within the Imperium, the Ecclesiarchy is no longer allowed to keep "men under arms". [[ExactWords Hence the]] [[AmazonBrigade Sisters]] [[ChurchMilitant of]] [[JoanOfArchetype Battle]]. Also, their priests accompany the Imperial Guard into battle wielding inspiring speeches and eight-foot-long chainswords.

** ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'': Thrane is ruled by the Church of the Silver Flame. Nominally it is still a monarchy, but after a series of events during the Last War the monarchy's ''actual'' power ended up limited to more or less just ruling their own household.

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/FrostPunk https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/frostpunk_new_faith.png]]]]

** The Galactic Empire and several Sith states featured in the ''Legends'' material technically qualifies as this trope since its based around TheForce rather than any specific deities, and their dogmas are based on MightMakesRight. As such, everyone and everything in the Empire is under the complete domination of the Sith who can do ''anything'' they please to non-Sith (rape, kill, enslave, torture), with the military backing up their power. On paper, they are the absolute authority. In practice, the Sith don't care about much outside their own power plays against each other, the military and government officials are too busy kissing up to the Sith or trying to backstab each other to climb the hierarchy in line with Sith ideals of "strength" and "power," and the [[StateSec Intelligence Services]] are left to be glorified janitors. It's no wonder that the Sith Empires tend to implode as soon as they gain any power in the wider galaxy.

* As of 2018, there are two full-on theocracies left in the world:

* A better example might be Afghanistan when it was under the control of the Taliban. They're such an infamous example that the word "Taliban" has entered the English lexicon as a negatively connotated term for anyone who seems to be in favor of a theocracy, especially an extremist one.

Theocracies, in both fiction and RealLife, have a rather bad reputation -- as such, the Theocracy is almost always portrayed negatively, and is offten portrayed as TheEmpire and/or a [[OrderIsNotGood brutal, authoritarian]] {{Dystopia}}n [[TheDictatorship Dictatorship]] that preaches TheEvilsOfFreeWill. Thus a CorruptChurch is often the head of a Theocracy, but not always. See also GodEmperor, where the rulers go one step further to proclaim themselves living gods with a personal religion. Compare ChurchMilitant, where the clergy is badass, but not necessarily the rulers of a country.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** The Galactic Empire and several Sith states featured in the Expanded Universe technically qualifies as this trope since its based around TheForce rather than any specific deities, and their dogmas are based on MightMakesRight. As such, everyone and everything in the Empire is under the complete domination of the Sith who can do ''anything'' they please to non-Sith (rape, kill, enslave, torture), with the military backing up their power. On paper, they are the absolute authority. In practice, the Sith don't care about much outside their own power plays against each other, the military and government officials are too busy kissing up to the Sith or trying to backstab each other to climb the hierarchy in line with Sith ideals of "strength" and "power," and the [[StateSec Intelligence Services]] are left to be glorified janitors. It's no wonder that the Sith Empires tend to implode as soon as they gain any power in the wider galaxy.
** The [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Yuuzhan Vong]] from the ''Literature/NewJediOrder'' play this trope straighter, since they have a {{fantasy pantheon}} with their supreme leader being revered as something between HighPriest and GodEmperor with religion serving as the driving force of their society. Though the priests are only one of the four higher castes, [[ManipulativeBastard Nom Anor]] (who knows a thing or two about how governments work, since his job is to subvert them) explicitly notes that their influence is the only thing keeping the other three ([[BloodKnight warriors]], [[MadScientist shapers]], and [[ObstructiveBureaucrat intendants]]) from turning on each other.
** Also from Legends, the Galactic Republic itself experienced a time as this in supplementary material when it was taken over by a human supremacist cult known as [[CrystalDragonJesus Pius Dea]]. Their first Supreme Chancellor was a fundamentalist who [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything launched a series of military campaigns against aliens initially to fight off aggression from the Hutts, but they soon decay into an all-out war against all non-humans and their rallying cry was]] [[UsefulNotes/TheCrusades "The Goddess Wills It"]]. Their actions end up alienating most of the Jedi Order except for a few dissidents who join the crusades as the [[RenegadeSplinterFaction Order of the Terrible Glare]], while the others left the Republic completely. Democracy was eventually restored in the Seventh Alsakan Conflict by a Jedi-led alliance composed of Alsakan (a world that had disputed Coruscant's supremacy in numerous wars) with its traditional allies, the Republic alien species, the Pius Dea Renunciates with much of the Republic Navy ([[DefectorFromDecadence who had seen the Pius Dea and their Republic for what it actually was]]), other dissidents, and [[EnemyMine the Hutts]].

** Also from Legends, the Galactic Republic itself experienced a time as this in supplementary material when it was taken over by a human supremacist cult known as [[CrystalDragonJesus Pius Dea]]. Their first Supreme Chancellor was a fundamentalist who [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything launched a series of military campaigns against aliens initially to fight off aggression from the Hutts, but they soon decay into an all-out war against all non-humans and their rallying cry was]] [[UsefulNotes/TheCrusades "The Goddess Wills It"]]. Their actions end up alienating most of the Jedi Order except for a few dissidents who join the crusades as the [[RenegadeSplinterFaction Order of the Terrible Glare]], while the others left the Republic completely. Democracy was eventually defeated in the Seventh Alsakan Conflict by a Jedi-led alliance composed of Alsakan (a world that had disputed Coruscant's supremacy in numerous wars) with its traditional allies, the Republic alien species, the Pius Dea Renunciates with much of the Republic Navy ([[DefectorFromDecadence who had seen the Pius Dea and their Republic for what it actually was]]), other dissidents, and [[EnemyMine the Hutts]].

* The [[UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire Eastern Roman Empire]] is an odd example of sorts, in that the line between Church and State was ''very'' thin, with Emperor having influence rivaling the Patriarch. It's also there where the term ''caesaropapism'' emerged.

* The nation of Tibet was this from its ''de facto'' independence in 1912 to the Chinese invasion in the '50s. The country was ruled by the Dalai Lama and his deputy the Panchen Lama[[note]]Among other things, the Panchen Lama is responsible for identifying the Dalai Lama when he reincarnates.[[/note]], and Buddhist clerics held the role of being [[FeudalOverlord feudal overlords]] over the peasantry. After the exile the current Dalai Lama stayed on in charge of [[TheExile the Central Tibetian Administration]] but then relinquished political power to the democratically elected leaders of the CTA in 2011.

* [[ScaryDogmaticAliens The Covenant]] in the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' worship the [[{{Precursors}} Forerunners]] and want to activate the Halos because they think it will allow them to AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence. Their ruling species are even referred to as "Prophets".

* Wallachia in ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017'' is portrayed as an ''de facto'' Christian theocracy where the Church acts as cultural head with the Arch-Bishop, Bishops and lesser priests wielding power over the citizens. There is no mention of an sovereign like a prince or a king to keep the Church under control, and the one secular official we see like the Mayor of Targoviste lives in terror of upsetting them since they could charge him for heresy. Following Dracula's genocidal purge, the Church has taken direct administrative with the Bishop of Gresit serving as both the religious head and acting governor with his [[ChurchPolice secret police made up of his corrupt priests]].

-->-- '''Creator/CSLewis'''

** Also from Legends, the Galactic Republic itself experienced a time as this in supplementary material when it was taken over by a human supremacist cult known as [[CrystalDragonJesus Pius Dea]]. Their Supreme Chancellor was a fundamentalist who [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything launched a series of military campaigns against aliens initially to fight off aggression from the Hutts, but they soon decay into an all-out war against all non-humans and their rallying cry was]] [[UsefulNotes/TheCrusades "The Goddess Wills It"]]. Their actions end up alienating most of the Jedi Order except for a few dissidents who join the crusades as the [[RenegadeSplinterFaction Order of the Terrible Glare]], while the others fought to restore democracy to the Republic.

** The Seven Kingdoms is slipping into this by the events of ''Literature/AFeastForCrows''. To forgive the debt the kingdom owes to the Faith of the Seven, Cersei Lannister is [[StupidEvil manipulated into]] reviving the [[ChurchMilitant Faith Militant]], the military wing of the Faith. The organization quickly set about to stamp out "deviancies" from the kingdom in the name of defending the faith, including prostitution, homosexuality, and adultery. And unlike ordinary septons, who are just as corrupt as anybody, they are very principles-based, and do not bow to the wishes of anyone, including the monarchy itself. The previous Faith Militant, which was disbanded during the early years of the Targaryen dynasty, started a seven-year war over a SuccessionCrisis they did not bless, so one shouldn't be surprised by their stubbornness.