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The Tyrannical Government in Fantasy: When Great Might Makes Right
Sunfire
CONTENTS
Overview
Power is concentrated in either the hands of one person, few people, or a whole lot of folks. How they use it is up to them. People use it for both good and evil, as befits human nature. With power invested in only one person’s hands, it can transform him into an unrecognizable being who’s fallen from grace consumed with only remaining in power. The misuse of power is commonly seen in a tyrannical government in fantasy.
The tyrannical government, unlike many others, is headed by one person: the dictator or tyrant in this case. His word alone is law and everyone who dwells within the lands under his control must obey, lest they be punished. The tyrant relies on brute force and intimidation to keep people in line and to quell any potential uprisings.
Ever fearful of losing his power, the dictator resorts to harsh tactics to control everything within the country from how much food people can eat every day to how much money they take home. Outspoken voices are silenced or exiled and rumblings of dissension are immediately sniffed out.
The tyrannical government in fantasy is a popular choice, appearing in many works across the genre. In regard to worldbuilding, it dominates countries that favor autocratic or dictatorial rule, though it can also appear in those where a monarchy or republic has fallen, being replaced by the man who engineered the previous regime’s demise.
It plays a great role in the story. Serving as the seat of power for the villain, the tyrannical government is antagonistic, working to crush all opposition, which includes the protagonist. Its goal is to rule the world and it’ll stop at nothing to achieve it.
This is number six in the series looking at the various types of fantasy governments. If you’d like to read any other article, you can find it on our blog page.
Breaking Down the Tyrannical Government in Fantasy
A tyrannical government is just another face of an authoritarian regime. It’s led by one person, though the title he goes by varies from world to world. In some, he stylizes himself as a king with powers surpassing that of an absolute monarch. In others, he’s a czar or whichever title he fancies.
All important decisions within the country are made by him and him alone. They range from how to interact with other nations in terms of diplomacy and trade to establishing the economic policies of his home country. He formally has an advisory council though his advisors always agree with whatever decisions he makes, knowing perfectly well that criticizing them will lead to an untimely demise.
Everything that transpires within a tyrannical government in fantasy, the dictator has a hand in. When he issues orders, he expects them to be implemented immediately. Bureaucrats who dawdle wind up losing their jobs or worse still, their lives.
Holding sway over every person who lives within the country he leads, the tyrant relies on several methods to maintain control. A secret police force provides regular reports on people under surveillance and will eliminate the targets if given the command to. Agents continually search for enemies of the state and hold public executions to demonstrate to the mass populace that resistance is futile.
Yet the tyrant is not so mighty he is above fear. He has many enemies, all of whom seek to supplant him though he doesn’t have all their names. Ever fearful, he keeps his ears attuned for word of an enemy growing in influence. Painfully aware that failing to eliminate a rival will only embolden his opponents, the tyrant works overtime to ensure everything’s in position to take him out. Little does he realize that it only hardens the resolve of his adversaries to end him, once and for all.
One major weapon a tyrannical government in fantasy has in its arsenal is propaganda. People and outlets loyal to the tyrant are deployed to delude the mass populace into thinking things are going smoothly within the country. The less people know about how things really are, the lower the chances a rebellion can arise, which increases his grip on power.
The Tyrannical Government in Worldbuilding
Appearing in nearly every world, the tyrannical government is an important part of fantasy. It’s commonly found in countries that have a long history of being ruled by oppressive regimes. Where they’re located doesn’t matter, for it can appear in any part of the world.
A tyrannical government in fantasy is more likely to be found among countries that have an inhospitable environment. Harsh places such as deserts, the frozen tundra, or badlands are prime breeding areas for such regimes to flourish and thrive.
Volatile countries are places where a would-be tyrant can easily seize power and move quickly to cement his position. These nations have trouble maintaining an operational central government for extended periods of time, due to different groups of people constantly jockeying for power. When a dictator takes the reins of power in a troubled country, he brands all opposition enemies and works to eliminate them to prevent them from trying to take him out.
The most interesting places to have a tyrannical government in fantasy are those where their previous regimes collapsed. Places like monarchies or republics are superb as you can show how they fell and were replaced by tyrants. More noteworthy, these places were far more stable than the ones in preceding paragraphs which only reinforces the notion that a dictator can arise in any country in the world.
How do you construct a tyrannical government? Take some inspiration from real-world versions. Look at how they’re structured, even though power flows ever downward from the top. Use them to help you create your own.
Even oppressive regimes have a hierarchy. Work on giving each level their own position and rank. This helps you, the creator, keep track of how it’s structured which makes it easier for you to articulate it clearly to your audience.
Integrating the Tyrannical Government in the Story
A tyrannical government is a tremendous asset to the story. It is the villain’s home base, his organization. It also represents the thing the protagonist is fighting against which makes seeing the stakes clear.
The villain rules his lands with an iron fist and brooks no dissent. He sets his sights on conquering the rest of the world and every action he takes in and around his lands moves him one step closer to his goal. The full weight of his government is deployed to assist him in his grand endeavor.
Typically a tyrannical government is in power some time before the story begins either in the country where the protagonist lives or another nation far off in the distance. Nevertheless, the hero will run afoul of the government and will be considered a minor nuisance or someone worth watching.
The protagonist must continue the remainder of his journey while being pursued by agents loyal to the tyrant, who’s attempting to stop him before it’s too late. As such, he can’t stay in one place too long and throughout the story, he will clash with government agents. Those clashes will occur at key turning points where the outcome will drastically affect everything that comes afterwards.
As the hero gets closer and closer to the final showdown with the tyrant, his agents become more desperate in their efforts to stop him, for he brings something they had long sought to stamp out permanently: hope. A belief that things can change for the better.
The showdown between the protagonist and the villain pits opposing forces against each other: hope and despair, good and evil, freedom and control. The two clash with the fate of the world hanging precariously in the balance, for both know the winner will vanquish the loser. This means if the villain falls in battle, the tyrannical government will cease to exist and freedom will reign supreme.
Tying it all Together
A tyrannical government in fantasy makes it clear who the hero is fighting against. By showing him battling entrenched forces hellbent on controlling everything and pulverizing all opposition, the audience has no choice but to cheer him on. Otherwise, the alternative is much worse.
A dictator sits at the apex of a tyrannical government. He rules with powers that would make an absolute monarch blush and uses coercion and other sinister methods to remain in power. Every command he makes must be followed immediately; those that don’t comply are punished or worse, put to death.
A regime like this one is popular in fantasy because it is the villain’s base of operations, an antagonistic entity that the hero must defeat in order to make things right in the world. The villain and his underlings use nefarious methods to eliminate those who dare oppose their might. This makes for riveting drama from the beginning, all the way to the end.
In worldbuilding, a tyrannical government can appear in any country. However, it’s more likely to be in those full of instability and constant war as opposed to stable and peaceful ones. It can arise in nations where their previous governments fell apart for a number of reasons.
A tyrannical government plays a dominant role in the story. After he begins working against it, it seeks to undermine the hero’s credibility at first before resorting to more draconian measures. The story presents the two sides as polar opposites on a collision course, each side working to defeat the other in a number of skirmishes before the final duel that will determine the fate of the world.
Are you ready to create a tyrannical government in fantasy that your audience can’t wait to see fall?
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Thanks for reading this and until the next time,
Sunfire
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