Usurpers

A Usurper is an individual who takes many forms and has many reasons; perhaps they are the scorned relative of some monarch or ruler who believes they should be on the throne, or perhaps they are a member of a court or citizenry that wants more power than they deserve, or perhaps they are just a very sneaky individual looking for trouble.

The common goal of all usurpers is what they wish to achieve, namely the overthrowing of a head villain, hero, or neutral character or organization. Often, an usurper wants to take a position of great power, such as that of king or queen, but some usurpers are content with smaller conquests. They may go to great lengths to achieve their goals and feign loyalty until they are ready to strike.

A sub-type of usurper is "The Starscream", who is often shown as the second-in command or, in the smaller extent, minion of the Big Bad in certain evil organizations. In some cases where the Big Bad believes that The Starscream is very incompetent and doesn't deserve to take their position, it later turns out that The Starscream possesses capacities that make them able to take their position by force.

Classic examples of Usurpers are Macbeth from William Shakespeare's play of the same name, Smaug from The Hobbit, Starscream from Transformers, Scar from The Lion King, Kefka Palazzo from Final Fantasy VI, Vicious from Cowboy Bebop, Zant from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Turbo from Wreck-it Ralph, Koba from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and King Ghidorah from the MonsterVerse.