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Create Your Own Hero applies, just an odd example in that "hero" is in the A Lighter Shade of Black sense (the Punch-Clock Villain killing specific people for money vs the paranoid autocrat who kills people because they might try to kill him)
Also giving the thumbs up to Improperly Paranoid pending reasonable Implications that this is is the case (say, the game makes it pretty clear that "have someone killed" is The Generalissimo's default solution to a lot of his problems.)
Awakening the Sleeping Giant would also apply from the sound of things: the dangerous assassin was neutral in the conflict before, but now he's on the side that wants the dictator dead.
Edited by Scorpion451
It would highly depend on context. Self-Fulfilling Prophecy would only work if he's having the assassin killed because he believed they might try to kill him first. Improperly Paranoid would apply if the king thought You Have Outlived Your Usefulness. Create Your Own Hero would probably apply in all cases, at least so long as we sympathize with him in some way; if the player character, that's practically a given.
Also sounds like the hero is Heroic Neutral and then Neutral No Longer.
In a video game, a despotic autocratic ruler (a king or similar), for unclear reasons, attempts to have a known Professional Killer (the player character) killed, but fails. The player character didn't really care before, but now It's Personal and assassinates the ruler in revenge.
Would any of these apply to the king's initial action that set off the chain of events? And for that matter, is there anything besides these worth considering?
Improperly Paranoid — It seems likely, but it was never confirmed whether paranoia was the motivation.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy — There was never any prophecy, just that the king's actions caused what he was trying to prevent.
Create Your Own Hero — The killer has a Sympathetic P.O.V. but is scarcely a "hero".
Edited by KD