power corrupts theme

Someone who was decent gains power and because of the power becomes nasty.

21 total · 7 choice · 6 major · 8 minor

StoryLevelMotivation
ds94x09 choice Kor and Work became drunk on the thoughts of the power that would come from ruling the Klingon Empire
movie: All the King's Men (1949) choice Willie Stark started out as an idealistic, morally upright, campaigner for the people. When he realized that he was being outmaneuvered by his unscrupulous political adversaries he decided to become more Machiavellian himself. He became a populist, and was soon elected governor. However, as time went on it became evermore obvious that he was using blackmail, pork-barrel dealings, hired goons and suchlike dirty and corrupt tricks.
tng1x10 choice Riker utterly corrupted by Q
tos1x01 choice Gary Mitchell :: Gary is a textbook example
tos1x07 choice Charlie Evans :: superpowers turns Charlie into spoiled brat
tos2x22 choice Henoch :: Henoch but not Sargon
tos3x12 choice power corrupted Parmen among other Platonians
ic1976e06 major Tiberius became exceedingly decadent as emperor, going so far as to have had a wild sex party in the palace.
movie: Algol: Tragedy of Power (1920) major Robert Herne is so corrupted by power that he refuses to give the perpetual energy machine for to the people for the betterment of humanity
movie: Throne of Blood (1957) major as Washizu rose in rank we saw him become even more cruel, suspicious, and erratic