Rarely seen in the same country as the Evil Chancellor and rarely a Final Boss -- though they can be a significant one -- a good, often beloved ruler or other authority figure has been replaced by a doppelganger of some kind with horribly evil intentions. The Fake King exploits the country's people and resources to further his nefarious agenda. He often isn't very subtle, but you don't get much in the way of disobedience except from the heroes; everyone else just remarks on how the king is acting funny or has changed. The replacement usually happens before the story starts. It could be seen as the lazy way to become a Villain with Good Publicity, or for the Evil Twin to star in a Tyrant Takes the Helm story. Many Role Playing Games use this setup and the inevitable exposure of the usurper
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| - Rarely seen in the same country as the Evil Chancellor and rarely a Final Boss -- though they can be a significant one -- a good, often beloved ruler or other authority figure has been replaced by a doppelganger of some kind with horribly evil intentions. The Fake King exploits the country's people and resources to further his nefarious agenda. He often isn't very subtle, but you don't get much in the way of disobedience except from the heroes; everyone else just remarks on how the king is acting funny or has changed. The replacement usually happens before the story starts. It could be seen as the lazy way to become a Villain with Good Publicity, or for the Evil Twin to star in a Tyrant Takes the Helm story. Many Role Playing Games use this setup and the inevitable exposure of the usurper
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| - Rarely seen in the same country as the Evil Chancellor and rarely a Final Boss -- though they can be a significant one -- a good, often beloved ruler or other authority figure has been replaced by a doppelganger of some kind with horribly evil intentions. The Fake King exploits the country's people and resources to further his nefarious agenda. He often isn't very subtle, but you don't get much in the way of disobedience except from the heroes; everyone else just remarks on how the king is acting funny or has changed. The replacement usually happens before the story starts. It could be seen as the lazy way to become a Villain with Good Publicity, or for the Evil Twin to star in a Tyrant Takes the Helm story. Many Role Playing Games use this setup and the inevitable exposure of the usurper and restoration of the real king as a rather forgettable Fetch Quest. (For some reason, the usurper never takes the advice of the Evil Overlord List item quoted above and resorts to just killing the king to really complicate the matter.) While this specific Fake King plot is arguably a Dead Horse Trope in console RPGs by now, the general trope of replacing a good authority figure with an evil one through Voluntary Shapeshifting, possession, the existence of an Evil Twin, cloning, illusion magic, or some other form of Applied Phlebotinum is considerably older and potentially more varied. The key points are that the authority figure is known as a real person and that he or she gets replaced by a look-alike who makes things worse -- a villain disguised as the king. If a hero stands in for the king, it's Emergency Impersonation. Examples of Fake King include:
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