"So you've usurped your noble brother/half-brother's throne and your control is complete. Seems like the thing to do is to kill him and bury the corpse in a pauper's grave. But you're a nice Evil Overlord, so you opt simply to throw your brother, the one person who could cast your authority to rule your entire empire into doubt, into prison (or a monastery) and forget to tell anyone that he's your brother. Of course, the hero discovers that the noble half-brother is still alive and frees him, restoring order to the kingdom, making the reader ask \"Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?\" before the hero shows up? Sometimes this is justified on the grounds that shedding Royal Blood has side-effects, or that the land will suffer if the rightful king dies. The essential criteria for this Plot trope: \n* Noble prisoner \n* The fact that you are keeping him or refusing to let him go is kept secret from the guards and/or the people at large \n* Releasing the prisoner would put the overlord's reign (or plans to reign) in jeopardy. Examples of Man in the Iron Mask include:"@en . . "So you've usurped your noble brother/half-brother's throne and your control is complete. Seems like the thing to do is to kill him and bury the corpse in a pauper's grave. But you're a nice Evil Overlord, so you opt simply to throw your brother, the one person who could cast your authority to rule your entire empire into doubt, into prison (or a monastery) and forget to tell anyone that he's your brother. Sometimes this is justified on the grounds that shedding Royal Blood has side-effects, or that the land will suffer if the rightful king dies. The essential criteria for this Plot trope:"@en . . "Man in the Iron Mask"@en . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .