Shakespearean regicide guys, ranked by how well they would do in the place of Henry Bolingbroke:
1. Claudius- Hamlet is a very specific an unusual situation. Claudius is an actual capable politician, a cold blooded murderer, and he actually wants the crown+ he has the power of love on his side. He's not getting exiled, he's stealing the crown on his own, he's rising a well adjusted Hal, and can sleep with himself 9 out 10 nights.
2. Henry Bolingbroke- you've seen the play. Our boy made it to old age, got to sleep 1 out of 10 nights, raised a deeply troubled Hal.
3. Macbeth- doing everything Bolingbroke did in R2, only he also kills Northumberland and many other people. I don't think he could handle being a widower. He's getting himself assassinated before the end of 1H4, he's not sleeping at all, but his Hal would be surprisingly pretty good.
4. King John- He could pull the deposition off, but He is losing at the first uprising against him. Goes as well as KJ went. He's bellow Macbeth because I think Macbeth would make some better choices. He has absolutely no problems sleeping, and I think Hal would benefit from having a gay father.
5. Richard III- Hm. I'm not sure he'll get a long well enough with Northumberland for them to do a deposition together. He's probably pulling a Kind Hearts and Coronets- which he canonically can pull off. Like Macbeth his problem is that he's an actual tyrant and if he's not getting himself murdered, he does have a pretty bad mental break coming. He's sleeping but ghosts keep giving him horrible nightmares. He loses his hores.
Honestly I think we get the worse Hal out of him. They are too similar.
6. Brutus- Probably doing the deposition better, definitely doing it in a way that would get him more public favor (especially considering there isn't a Mark Antony to turn the people against him this time). Man just does *not* want the crown and I don't think he could convince medieval England to establish a republic. Mortimer might get the crown in this situation? I don't Brutus would be happy with any outcome. Sleeping with himself 5/10 nights.
Can you imagine trying to raise Hal as a stoic?
I like the implication that Portia would be Hal’s mom in the last scenario
