| abstract | - A lot of tropes have origins way back when media was still forming; this is one of them. It might have been an early way to appeal to the masses, or just due to the way aristocrats tended to look down on the general public. But it was then and is now really popular to cast aristocrats as villains. A variety of Meaningful Titles exist - people with feudal titles are very commonly evil. Popular titles are Count, and Baron -- two titles which are rarely seen on a good guy. (Oddly enough, a Countess has a better-than-even chance of being a decent woman.) And though it doesn't show up a great deal, you should break out in a cold sweat when you meet a Viscount. Unless it's Viscount Horatio Nelson. Needless to say, Barons fare the worst in popular fiction, with one notable exception when used as a badass nickname. One major exception: Dukes are usually relatively nice. This may be due to the fact the title was awarded to those who rose to aristocracy as war leaders. Thus, the Duke has a "grass roots" feel to it, and a Badass quality; as well, much like The Good Captain, military titles are generally for good guys. Dukes (and especially Grand Dukes) can be evil if the Hero is a Royal. Often a Duke is scheming to take over the throne himself. Other titles generally have a more neutral feel to them - Earls tend to be good but quite elderly and senile, while it is rare to see a Marquess in anything other than a particularly faithful historical adaptation. Baronets were quite often villains in both Victorian Melodrama and Wodehousian comedy (not to mention the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta quoted above). Queens/Kings may be either good or evil. And, of course, Everything's Better with Princesses (or is it?). The title Lord is somewhat problematic as strictly speaking any British or Irish Peer (other than a Duke or Duchess) would be addressed as such. For instance a character named 'Lord Bloggs', might be the Earl of Bloggs, or the Marquess of Bloggs or so on. The title 'Lord -' is also a favorite of a certain type of supernatural villain (Lords Vader and Voldemort, most famously), but are really a separate trope - normally not real aristocrats, and normally not powerful simply because of their titles. The Prince will almost always be charming, even in the rare cases where that is not actually his name. However, there are two uses of the term. The Prince may be the son of a King, or it may be used to refer to any ruler or leader (re: Machiavelli). If an evil prince ever appears in fiction, be sure to check that it is not in fact the latter. And of course, the Evil Prince may be out to kill the good one. Several of these kind of aristocrats together form a Deadly Decadent Court. If it's an Action Adventure story, you can bet anyone with the title Lady will be a Lady of War. The title Sir is the best of the lot, being martial, unprepossessing, and upwardly mobile. Even actors like to be called Sir. If there's a High Queen, then God Save Us From the Queen. They may be nice enough people Behind The Queenly Mask. Conversely, a Prince is much more likely to be The Wise Prince; compare Fisher King. Don't even get us started on Emperors, Chancellors, and Grand Viziers. Aristocrats are often willing to be polite and even with people of their own rank. Moral Myopia, however, often limits it to fellow aristocrats. Commoners are just out of luck -- especially servants. If they're not actively in charge, expect them to be part of the Omniscient Council of Vagueness. A Regent for Life will pick any one of these titles, especially if they run the People's Republic of Tyranny. In that case, only when the Rightful King Returns will restore harmonious social order to the realm. See also The Baroness. A young aristocrat may fall under Royal Brat. For the modern version of this trope, see Corrupt Corporate Executive, and to a lesser extent, Nouveau Riche. Very prone to Screw the Rules, I Have Money, Screw the Rules, I Make Them, and Screw the Rules, I Have Connections. For more information on the British title system, see Knight Fever. Not to be confused with The Aristocrats, a "stock joke" based on this premise.
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