List of fictional heirs apparent who never acceded

This is a list of fictional characters who were legally heirs apparent, but never acceded to the throne or title to which they were entitled. This may be because they died before inheriting it, the throne was abolished, a usurper took the inheritance, or they simply chose not assert their birthright. While claiming a birthright can be a powerful motif in literature, some stories instead draw upon the tragedy or frustration of not being able to claim a title to which a character seemed destined to succeed.
;In Greek mythology
* Hector was the eldest son of King Priam of Troy, but the Trojan War saw Hector's death and the city's destruction, with nobody succeeding Priam.
** Astyanax, Hector's son, survives the war, but fear that he will try to avenge his father's death leads the Greeks to kill the child.
;In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth
* Míriel was heir to her father Tar-Palantir, King of Númenor, being his only child, but the throne was usurped by her cousin Ar-Pharazôn, who married her to solidify his claim. He allowed Miriel to be styled Ar-Zimraphel, the title of a ruling monarch, but she did not rule.
* Both Anárion and Isildur perished along with their oldest sons, thus being succeeded by younger children.
* Ornendil was the son of King Eldacar of Gondor; he was killed when his father was deposed by Castamir the Usurper.
* Thráin son of Thrór was heir to the throne of Erebor, but the kingdom was destroyed by the dragon Smaug. Thráin's son Thorin Oakenshield eventually reclaimed the kingdom and the throne shortly before his death.
* Boromir is introduced at Rivendell as the elder son of Denethor II, Ruling Steward of Gondor, but is killed on the return journey. The restoration of Boromir's companion Aragorn to the throne of Gondor after Denethor's suicide put an end to the Stewards' rule but Boromir's brother Faramir retained the office as well as being created Prince of Ithilien.
* Théodred was the only child of Théoden, King of Rohan, but died in the First Battle of the Fords of Isen during the War of the Ring. When Théoden lay dying during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, he appointed his sister-son Éomer as king.
;Blackadder
* is the Prince of Wales in the reign of (the fictional) King Richard IV of England. In the final episode of the first series, Prince Harry, King Richard, and the entire royal family are poisoned, and an ambitious King Henry VII takes the throne and writes them out of history.
* George, Prince of Wales, who historically was Prince of Wales from 1762 to 1820 and ruled as King George IV of the United Kingdom from 1820 to his death in 1830, is killed in a duel in the final episode of the third series, with his confused father Mad King George III mistaking his butler Edmund Blackadder for the prince, suggesting that Blackadder was actually the one on the throne in the 1820s.
* A similar character (again played by Hugh Laurie) returns in the fourth series: the Hon. George Colhurst St Barleigh is the heir to a viscountcy, but dies in the final episode along with the whole main cast while fighting in the Great War.
;Other
* Prince Hamlet, as the only child of King Hamlet, was a likely choice to succeed to the Danish throne, although the reason he was passed over in favour of his uncle Claudius is not explained in .
* Farad'n of House Corrino is the only grandchild of Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV in the , and thereby his heir (his mother Wensicia being one of five daughters to the emperor). The emperor is deposed by Paul Atreides, and although Farad'n married Paul's granddaughter Ghanima and their children are to continue the Atreides line, he effectively surrenders House Corrino's imperial claims.
* Erimem is an ancient Egyptian princess chosen to succeed her father Amenhotep II as Pharaoh in the Doctor Who audio play The Eye of the Scorpion; when a female Pharaoh proves too controversial, Erimem allows Thutmose IV to rule, instead joining the Doctor as his companion (with Peri).
* Elphaba is titled the "Thropp Third Descending" in the second part of Gregory Maguire's Wicked, indicating that she is heir to her great-grandfather the Eminent Thropp after the deaths of her grandmother and mother. In an unusual pattern, explained by her Granny (the Eminent Thropp's wife), the title descends if at all possible only to females, making Elphaba heiress apparent to the title. Her disappearance to the West of Oz some time before her great-grandfather's death allows her sister Nessarose to assume power in her place. (In the musical adaptation, Elphaba and Nessarose's father is the Governor of Munchkinland instead.)
* Peter is the name of the son and heir of Andreas, last king of the fictional Isle of Sodor, as mentioned in Rev. W. Awdry's The Island of Sodor; Its People, History and Railways. He is killed, aged 23, along with his father, in 1263 at the Battle of Largs.
In A Song of Ice and Fire Rhaegar Targaryen was the crown Prince of Westeros while his father was the "Mad" King Aerys II. Rhaegar, along with the rest of his family (except Viserys and Daenerys) were killed during Robert's Rebellion.

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