Worldsmiths | Fantasy World-Building Resource Book

#8: Government

I swear, political stuff can give you a headache. But it's important to consider especially if there's a war going on in your story between oppositional parties or if your character is involved in a rebellion or is struggling to survive in a world where the ruler's word cannot be disobeyed.

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Who is the ruler and what is their title?

For the "who" part, you might consider thinking a little about their beginning. In your story, how did the current ruler become the ruler? Is it passed down or were they chosen or maybe they had to enter a competition to win the title?

Speaking of title, there are so many different types of titles for leaders and rulers depending on what they do and what level of power they have.

A king, president, alpha, emperor, or maybe the ruler is a woman? Mrs. President? Perhaps a queen or princess? High Priestess? 

Of course, if you're writing fantasy, you don't have to stick to the strict meanings of the titles if you don't want to. In one of my stories, the title "King" is gender neutral. You can also come up with your own titles for the ruler.

NOTE: When coming up with your own titles for subordinates, it would be good to look up some ruling structures in our Earthly world that are similar to your own and see what the different subordinate titles are. You can use the real world as a base for your fantasy world.

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How do the rulers keep order in the government? Who are the subordinates?

If there is a ruler, there must be some type of hierarchy to make sure things get done, right? If you have a king, you might have an army general who takes the order from the king but can't go against it or maybe he can. Maybe the general has almost equal power to the king.

When you think about how order is kept, you have to think about what the subordinates do in the structure because that's how order is kept. Roles given to subordinates, or rules given to subordinates can make or break a structure. Without rules there is chaos, after all. So, that leads to the next question.

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What rules are there in the government? What keeps the structure intact?

There could be rules the subordinates have to follow either rigid or flexible. 

Examples for rules might be that the subordinate has to report to their boss every evening. Or the subordinate must have a microchip implanted so the ruler can keep watch of them. Or the rule might be that the subordinate cannot tell their friends or family what kind of things they do for the ruler. Or maybe there's a dress code? Or maybe the rule is to never look the ruler in the eye.

There might also just be fear. A ruler can incite fear into their subordinates and force them to comply to whatever the ruler wants to do. Think tyranny. Think Darth Vader. Think Voldemort. 

Fear can be in the form of "If you don't do this for me, I have the power to harm your family."

Fear can be in the form of "If you don't do this for me, I can kill you."

Or, it can come from the subordinate themselves: "If I don't comply to this ruler, I will lose my job and not be able to survive."

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How does the government/main ruler fall? What does it take to bring it down?

If your story is more on the long-term side of things, or your story starts at destruction, you might want to think about what can break your government/ruler. What are the holes that can easily smash it to pieces? What can someone do to shatter it? What does it take?

For example, does it take a rebellion uprising? Think of all those dystopian fantasy books or movies where the government is the enemy and the people must rise up to overthrow it. Think The Hunger Games. Or maybe it takes much more than a rebellion uprising. Maybe a full-on war has to happen. Think Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones where full battles have to happen between countries or families. If you don't know those stories, remember The Lion King? Simba had to overthrow Scar. How? A battle.

Or, perhaps, the ruler's trusted sidekick kills him and takes over. "I, the sidekick and weak-looking subordinate, am actually a powerful good guy who was waiting for the right time to strike back."

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What happens in the aftermath? What were the consequences?

If you write a story that ends in battle and decide to talk about the aftermath, consider these questions.

Is there a rule put in place for who becomes the next leader after a downfall? Are there prisoners-o-war? Are there punishments? Who is in charge of treaties and other peacemaking endeavors?

How does the world change?

I find that how a world deals with the aftermath to be one of the most interesting ways to showcase your fantasy world. At a time of change, how do the surviving subordinates or government body respond? Who takes charge and what do they do? Does it get better or does it get worse?

Think of political uprisings in history. A famous one? What happened after the American Civil War? What happened after World War II? How did politics change or not change? Who survived and what did that mean to the world?

Was everyone satisfied with the outcome or were there still some dissatisfied ones? How do their actions affect the world moving forward?