Rise to power

[Justin Cary]

I'm 300 pages into the book I'm writing and need to come up with ways a character can quickly rise to power. I'm thinking within 10K words or less. Has anyone seen examples of a sudden rise to power in any books they have read, or does anyone have motivations that could explain a quick rise to power?

 

[Feo Takahari]

What rank is this character currently at, in what system, and what do you intend him to ascend to? (The rise of a president can be quite different from the rise of a king.)

 

[Justin Cary]

The character is an apprentice mage but this fact is being kept secret. Right now he is acting as the voice of the wizard leading the fight against demons that have emerged from their underground prison. A loose pact of gangs lead by the wizard are trying to push the attackers out of the city. The wizard has disappeared and so the secret apprentice mage needs to become the leader of the group without letting on that the wizard in charge is gone. He needs to gain power because his mentor has a real chance of not returning. Eventually the apprentice will become a king but right now he is just the messenger to power.

 

[ThinkerX]

There are many examples of this, including some real world ones.

In Game of Thrones, Jon, a young teenage boy, becomes head of the Nightwatch upon being put forth as a compromise candidate by his friend Sam (the position is elected upon the death of the old commander). It helped that Jon was the old commanders squire. Something like this might help:

If the wizards are split into factions, and your MC the protoge of a respected master wizard, they very well could agree to him as a compromise candidate upon the masters death.

 

[Penpilot]

In Game of Thrones, Jon, a young teenage boy, becomes head of the Nightwatch upon being put forth as a compromise candidate by his friend Sam (the position is elected upon the death of the old commander). It helped that Jon was the old commanders squire. Something like this might help:

Dude... spoiler warning please. Arrrgg... I just read the part right before this happens, and it literally spoiled exactly what was about to happen. It's not a big spoiler or that big of a deal because the build up was pointing in this direction, but still... I would have liked to have had the option.

As for the topic at hand. A quick rise to power is dependant on how your world works. What are the rules of how people get to be in power? If memory serves in Star Trek, on a Klingon starship anyone can become the captain by just beating the crap out of the current captain or at least beach-slapping their way up the chain of command.

Look at the silly movie King Ralph. The premise is the whole royal family dies and some distant unknown relative inherits the crown, and hijinks ensue.

Find what hoops your character has to jump through to get to where you need them to be and have them jump through them as fast as you can.

 

[Justin Cary]

As for the topic at hand. A quick rise to power is dependant on how your world works. What are the rules of how people get to be in power? If memory serves in Star Trek, on a Klingon starship anyone can become the captain by just beating the crap out of the current captain or at least beach-slapping their way up the chain of command.

It is a city of gangs and gang like alliances. Mentor character has enough power to hold the alliances but with him gone the apprentice has to try holding the alliances until he can secure power on his own.

What do you think about gaining power by rooting out enemies within. Having him finding those allied to the demons that have infiltrated the alliance and showing skill in espionage? The apprentice could use leverage to breed suspicion where needed and threaten exposure to those that he finds are in the demon camp. Would the ever-present threat of demons around them make finding a strong leader more necessary?

 

[wordwalker]

What seems likely is something like:

Step One: MC has one lucky moment in a fight, investigation, etc-- maybe he's just the one left standing when the dust clears. For a few minutes, everyone hails him as a hero.

Step Two: during those few minutes, one of the gang leaders shouts to the crowd that he should lead them while the wizard is away-- the real reason being that that gangster's rival is close to taking over, but this one thinks he can use the MC as a figurehead, and he also suspects the wizard is gone. (Really a variation of the "compromise candidate" idea.)

Step Three: the MC has to struggle keeping everyone happy, preventing rivals from removing him, and also leading well enough to save the day and earn his place.

 

[Deleted member 2173]

I think the first point to establish is what power structure is the character working within. By looking at that, it can then be determined how the meteoric rise to power can happen. If it's occupational or military, then perhaps many senior officials are put out of commission some how. If it's scholastic or mystical, a sudden understanding or discovery. If it's financial, a once in a lifetime deal is struck. Political? Assassinations, bribes or patrons clear a path. It depends on which pond the character swims to determine which stream they take.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Step Two: during those few minutes, one of the gang leaders shouts to the crowd that he should lead them while the wizard is away-- the real reason being that that gangster's rival is close to taking over, but this one thinks he can use the MC as a figurehead, and he also suspects the wizard is gone. (Really a variation of the "compromise candidate" idea.)

Love this, but fun variation on Step Two: Gangster's rival is close to taking over, so he shouts to the crowd that this promising young kid should step into the wizard's shoes while he is "away" because he thinks the kid will be easier to bump off later, when he makes his own bid for power. He wants to use the kid not just as a figurehead, but a full blown stalking horse, with the idea that he can get in good with him and then betray him when the time is ripe. So he "mentors" the kid, watches his back and takes care of him, but we can all see him for the scumbag that he really is. The question is, does our young protagonist?

 

[Penpilot]

What do you think about gaining power by rooting out enemies within. Having him finding those allied to the demons that have infiltrated the alliance and showing skill in espionage? The apprentice could use leverage to breed suspicion where needed and threaten exposure to those that he finds are in the demon camp. Would the ever-present threat of demons around them make finding a strong leader more necessary?

Sure I think this can work. From what I can glean. Correct me if I'm wrong, the way your leadership structure works is whoever wields "power" in all it's various forms gets to sit in the big chair.

So what you need is for the apprentice to find a form of "power" to wield, whether that's influence by blackmail, by bribery, or by showing his extreme competence, or flashing giant magic ring of death ray doom, it's up to you.

 

[Cronus]

A number of methods spring to mind:

1) The apprentice could state that he now commands in the Master Wizard's stead, and that the Master Wizard has made some discovery about their enemy that demands his attention? If they followed the Master, why should they not then follow his pupil? He might then even use their backing to help him take his master's position if that was in his character. Therefore in this example, he uses deceit.

2) The apprentice could take a bold approach and state he now commands - end of story. Essentially he simply seizes power by opportunity. This depends on how well he can think on his feet, how much presence / charisma he has and how much he is feared - even as a lower level wizard, Raistlin Majere could be intimidating. Power of guile can be superior to power of muscle; so long as he can convince a majority to follow him, he could force the rest to do so (think Apophis's rise from Netu in Stargate). In this example, he is being brutally honest, and leaves no question as to his ambitions.

3) He could be honest and state that the Master Wizard is gone, that he knows what must be done in the Wizard's absence and that they must for all their sakes follow his lead. This may cause dissent, but that can spark more conflict to tap into. The apprentice can deliver this either in desperate honesty or as a threat (my survival is your survival). In this example, in both variants, he is admitting a weakness - he is hoping they follow him, though his manner can be challenging or humble.

There are more...however I my time is limited at the moment, so I will end the post there.

The above depend of course on the temperament and level of desperation of your character; something I admit I know very little about. But perhaps they might be a starting point?