Top 5 Worst Rulers | Top 5 Tuesdays

Hello again! It’s Tuesday, and of course that means it’s time for a Top 5 post. Top 5 Tuesdays and their topics are brought to you by Shanah @ the Bionic Bookworm. Check out her blog, she’s awesome, and this page for the list of topics for May!

This is such an interesting topic! I never really think about all the rulers I’ve read in books as a whole, but a few horrible ones popped into my head pretty quickly. I hope you enjoy the list!

Queen Levana – The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

When I first started thinking of potential people I could include on this list, Levana was the first one that came to mind. She’s the worst! She’s manipulative, unfeeling, and seems to have no love in her heart for anyone but herself.

My least favorite thing is that Meyer felt the need to write a novella from her point of view to give us an origin story for her to, I guess, a make her a little more sympathetic, but I felt this was totally unnecessary and I even say so in a different post I wrote on unnecessary things, which you can check out in the link below!

Related Post: | The Totally Didn’t Book Tag |

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President Snow – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I wouldn’t be surprised if I see Snow on any other lists. He’s just so terrible!

Not only does he go back on his word, but he has no problem continuing the tradition of having kids kill kids just because of some past infraction. He also appears to have no remorse for the things he does. I think he’s also so creepy!

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Cersei Lannister – A Song of Ice & Fire by George R.R. Martin

I think Cersei just might top this list, really, in terms of evil people. She’s very conniving and has no problem with killing anyone and everyone because she’s unwilling to give any ground.

Also, she has no love for anyone but herself and her twin brother. The fact that she’s so hateful, and can’t admit when she’s wrong just makes her the worst ruler. She doesn’t care about the people she rules, she just wants things her way.

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King Claudius – Hamlet by William Shakespeare

I think killing your brother to get his throne is a pretty terrible way to start your rule as king…and Claudius is terrible in other ways, besides.

He tries to have his nephew Hamlet killed because he knows Hamlet suspects him, he accidentally poisons his wife, the list goes on. Pretty crappy guy and a terrible ruler.

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The White Queen – Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis

I remember being really afraid of the White Queen when I was younger and I read this series. She’s just so cold and unfeeling. She treats all creatures, animals and humans alike, with cruelty and violence. Also, she kills Aslan (a stand-in for Jesus, so…) which is the worst! She’s evil and she took over a land that wasn’t hers to begin with, enslaving some and turning others to stone. Pretty horrible.

Thoughts & Thanks!

Well, that’s the list! What do you think of the awful rulers I’ve chosen? Perhaps some of them have made it onto this list. Let’s chat about it in the comments! I’d love to know what you think about them.

Thank you for reading this post. And, as always, happy reading!