History Main / TheEmperor

* [[Characters/StarWarsEmperorPalpatine Emperor Palpatine]] (Creator/IanMcDiarmid) of ''Franchise/StarWars'' is probably the archetypical example, being an EvilOverlord, the series' main BigBad, and an incredibly powerful Sith Lord famous for blasting people with lightning and being a formidable lightsaber duelist.

* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' has a few villains that fit this trope:
** The first season of ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' has Rita Repulsa, who her minions frequently call her the Empress of Evil. The second season introduces Lord Zedd, who, in his first appearance, proclaims to be the 'Emperor of all he sees'. Later the two villains form an UnholyMatrimony.
** ''Series/PowerRangersZeo'' starts with Rita and Lord Zedd being chased away by the evil Machine Empire. Like the British Empire in Real Life, the monarchs of this political body, Mondo and Machina, call themselves king and queen, rather than emperor and empress.
** ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'' reveals that above mentioned empires (along with a band of space pirates) are mere vassals of the DimensionLord Dark Specter, who leads the United Alliance of Evil and proclaims to be the Monarch of all Evil himself, thus also fitting type 1 of this trope. [[spoiler: Strangely enough, when Astronema takes over after Dark Specter's destruction, she is proclaimed to be the queen of all evil, rather than empress.]]
** ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'' has Emperor Gruum as BigBad and ruler over the Troobian Empire [[spoiler: until it is revealed Gruum has a ManBehindTheMan in the form of Omni the Magnificence, which is a huge godlike being rivaling Dark Specter in terms of size and power.]]

* Considering a good chunk of evil factions in ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' are Empires (or at least, [[InNameOnly called an "Empire"]], it's natural that many of factions are led by Emperors.
** ''Series/KagakuSentaiDynaman'''s Emperor Aton is the earliest example, leading the Tailed-People Clan Jashinka Empire.
** ''Series/ChoushinseiFlashman'' has the ''Great'' Emperor Ra Deus, who's invaded many different planets albeit mainly just to obtain more HumanResources for his EvilGenius Lee Keflen to use to create more monsters.
** ''Series/HikariSentaiMaskMan'' has Earth Emperor Zeba, ruler of the Underground Empire Tube, who in fact meets the actual definition of a Emperor as Tube is shown to be made up of several different tribes.

* The [[TrueFinalBoss Shadow Emperor]] is an extremely powerful form of The Emperor, who rules from [[ManBehindTheMan behind the scenes]] with much [[Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli Machiavellian scheming]], delegating much of his powers, and almost always has a [[HiddenAgendaVillain hidden agenda]]. Though they are usually not as physical as {{Blood Knight}}s like the EvilOverlord, they will probably have hidden magic or PsychicPowers. [[Franchise/StarWars Emperor Palpatine]] (who was originally a President Charisma) and [[Anime/CodeGeass Charles zi Britannia]] are prime examples. Of all these types, the Shadow Emperor will be the most likely to try and obtain {{immortality}}. He's likely to be TheGhost for at least the first part of the story, usually operating through {{Mooks}} or TheDragon.

* Emperor Vakudos from ''[[http://alaxr274.deviantart.com/gallery/37280372 Hottie 3: The Best Fan Fic in the World]]'', later his daughter "Princess Lotora" becomes empress.
** In the SpinOff, [[http://fanfiction.wikia.com/wiki/Hottie_x_Supetastic_6:_March_Madness Hottie x Supetastic 6: March Madness]], Princess Jody declares herself Crowned Princess and Empress after converting the Anti-Monitor's body (from ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'') into her new throne.

* The BigBad of ''[[FanFic/TheEquestriaChronicles Legends of Equestria]]'' is a being known only as The Emperor, leader of a race of highly advanced reptilian beings and ruler of a world-wide empire of which Equestria is merely "a speck".

* Harry Potter in ''FanFic/KingOfKingsRulingOverRulers'' is crowned as the Roman and Russian Emperor in the wizarding world.

* Manga/EDENSZERO: Poseidon Nero is part of the Oración Seis Galáctica who unlike the others rules openly in the Aoi Cosmos. His minions take any meddling on his planets as an open challenge to his authority, and they treat his decrees as those of an absolute ruler. His son and heir Poseidon Shura [[spoiler: becomes emperor in Universe Zero]].

* In the [[UsefulNotes/TarotCards Tarot]] the Major Arcana usually include the Empress (III) and the Emperor (IV). While encarnating different and opposite ideas (the Empress fecundity and feminity and the Emperor power and masculinity), they share to be represented seated in thrones holding symbols of power.

* Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV appears in ''Film/DunePartTwo'', played by Creator/ChristopherWalken. He was TheGhost in ''[[Film/Dune2021 Dune: Part One]]''.

* During the Dark and Middle Ages, UsefulNotes/{{Europe}}an rulers who called themselves "emperor" were specifically invoking UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire. The UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire ''was'' the Roman state so their claim was obvious, the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire laid claim to the former Roman empire in the West which (initially) they contested with [[UsefulNotes/{{Istanbul}} Constantinople]] (indeed, Charlemagne was originally crowned for the Pope's own purposes: partly over the Iconoclasm controversy with Empress Irene, partly to make Rome independent of Constantinople), the Russian Tsars and Ottoman Sultans both claimed to be Byzantine successors (both monarchs had imperial Byzantine blood), and Serbia and Bulgaria both based it at least partially on Roman/Greek traditions - though Bulgaria had had imperial ambitions since at least the early 9th century and claimed the title during the 10th. This practice continued until nearly the present day: until the mid-twentieth century, there was always at least one European ruler (and sometimes several) in power whose title invoked Caesar, UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}}, or some derivation thereof.
** Only in later eras did the title become removed from a continuation of the Roman Empire, and became used when a country was really frickin' big or powerful, prime examples being Mexico, Brazil, and [[UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte Napoleonic France]]. (When Napoleon declared himself Emperor, it aggravated Music/LudwigVanBeethoven something fierce - he had dedicated his third Symphony, ''Eroica'', to Napoleon when he appeared to be a liberator of the people, but scratched out that dedication so fiercely that the pen ripped through the page.) Other times it was used to make a political point: the [[UsefulNotes/PrussianKings Kings]] of UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} declared themselves [[UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany German Emperors]] to make themselves higher-ranked than other German kings (like the one of Bavaria) without having to demote them (the German unification after the UsefulNotes/FrancoPrussianWar being conducted by integrating the existing German states into a federal structure rather than starting from scratch), three of them reigned (Wilhelm I, Frederick III and UsefulNotes/WilhelmII, altough Frederick III reigned only four months and died of an illness); Napoleon III did it to link his regime to that of his uncle; the rulers of Austria needed a new title after the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire disappeared and didn't want to step down in rank; Queen Victoria had herself declared Empress of India to make it clear that Britain was more powerful than Germany (and because she didn't want to be outranked by her daughter, who had married the heir to the German throne)[[note]]Victoria strongly considered the title of "Empress of Great Britain, Ireland and India" and officially upgrading the United Kingdom itself into an empire, but her Prime Minister, UsefulNotes/BenjaminDisraeli, convinced her that merely adding "Empress of India" to her existing title of "Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" would be more acceptable to the public.[[/note]]; and a couple others besides. However, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Bedel_Bokassa Jean-Bédel Bokassa's]] short-lived Empire was little short of a farce.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' has Karl Franz of TheEmpire, one of the few benevolent figures in the setting, a savvy ruler, and a military genius who leads from the back of his griffon while wielding the titular [[DropTheHammer warhammer]]. Other emperor figures include Lord Settra The Imperishable of Khemri, who is able to boss around the ''other'' [[{{Mummy}} Tomb Kings]], and the dragon-riding Witch King Malekith of the Dark Elves, who is a real [[ParentalIncest momma's boy]].

** Only in later eras did the title become removed from a continuation of the Roman Empire, and became used when a country was really frickin' big or powerful, prime examples being Mexico, Brazil, and [[UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte Napoleonic France]]. (When Napoleon declared himself Emperor, it aggravated Music/LudwigVanBeethoven something fierce - he had dedicated his third Symphony, ''Eroica'', to Napoleon when he appeared to be a liberator of the people, but scratched out that dedication so fiercely that the pen ripped through the page.) Other times it was used to make a political point: the [[UsefulNotes/PrussianKings Kings]] of UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} declared themselves [[UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany German Emperors]] to make themselves higher-ranked than other German kings (like the one of Bavaria) without having to demote them (the German unification after the UsefulNotes/FrancoPrussianWar being conducted by integrating the existing German states into a federal structure rather than starting from scratch), three of them reigned (Wilhelm I, Frederick III and UsefulNotes/WilhelmII, altough Frederick III reigned only four months and died of illness); Napoleon III did it to link his regime to that of his uncle; the rulers of Austria needed a new title after the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire disappeared and didn't want to step down in rank; Queen Victoria had herself declared Empress of India to make it clear that Britain was more powerful than Germany (and because she didn't want to be outranked by her daughter, who had married the heir to the German throne)[[note]]Victoria strongly considered the title of "Empress of Great Britain, Ireland and India" and officially upgrading the United Kingdom itself into an empire, but her Prime Minister, UsefulNotes/BenjaminDisraeli, convinced her that merely adding "Empress of India" to her existing title of "Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" would be more acceptable to the public.[[/note]]; and a couple others besides. However, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Bedel_Bokassa Jean-Bédel Bokassa's]] short-lived Empire was little short of a farce.