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Asherinka
Since: Jan, 2018
11th Sep, 2019 09:42:21 AM
Royal Blood + Really Royalty Reveal
You might also want to check Royalty Super Power, Medical Monarch, Fisher King, Authority Equals Asskicking, Divine Right of Kings, Rightful King Returns.
Edited by Asherinka
As a child, The Chosen One or the Hidden Backup Prince unwittingly reveals their divine right to rule as by instinctively acting like a king. They probably have some combination of:
- An attraction towards artifacts associated with kingship, e.g. as a baby they might crawl onto and sit on a throne when nobody's looking.
- Wisdom Beyond Their Years.
- A borderline-supernatural charisma and an instinctive understanding that they should be in charge, leading them to develop a large group of friends who have Undying Loyalty to them.
- A definitely-supernatural charisma that extends not just to people but to animals as well, making them a Friend to All Living Things.
- If they're The Antichrist or a Dark Messiah, they'll probably display the above alongside Troubling Unchildlike Behaviour.
As most people nowadays don't buy into the idea that certain families have a divinely-ordained right to rule over everyone else, this is mostly a Discredited Trope, although you still occasionally see it crop up in in-universe propaganda or as an Invoked Trope. Also, the "indigo children" pseudoscientific theory and the "Janitor solves an impossible math equation without realizing its significance" cliché might be considered modern variants.
Examples:
- According to Herodotus, Cyrus the Great unwittingly revealed his royal heritage as a child when he had the audacity to slap a nobleman's son while playing a game.
- In propaganda from the Elder Scrolls universe, Reman Cyrodiil was supposedly as intelligent and articulate as an adult even as a newborn.
- In the TV show Marco Polo, the imprisoned child emperor of the Song dynasty has his claim strengthened when he unwittingly sits on Kublai Khan's throne. To prevent people from invoking this trope, Kublai is forced to kill him.
- The "Child of Destiny" event chain in Crusader Kings II has several different examples of this, e.g. you might find that someone tried to assassinate your child with a snake, but the snake ends up harmlessly playing with them.
- SCP-1909 is dangerous because it induces this in people - one child exposed to it almost ended up taking over the Foundation from within via sheer charisma, at age eleven.
Edited by phalanx