Figurehead monarch, as source of legitimity and possibly divine reign, has been the used form of government in several situations and places of history.

There are two basic forms of using puppets as monarchs (rulers, kings, emperors):

• figurehead: the monarch is a puppet of another person or a group in the country, who are ruling instead of the nominal ruler.
• puppet government under a foreign power.

Examples of the first are puppets of shoguns of Japan, Mayor of Palace in Frankish kingdom. A figurehead is a person, usually in a political role, who may hold an important title or office yet executes little actual power. ... A puppet state is a state whose government, though notionally of the same culture as the governed people - owes its existence (or other major debt) to being installed, supported or controlled by a more powerful entity, typically a foreign power. ... In Japanese history, a shōgun (将軍) was the practical ruler of Japan for most of the time from 1192 to the Meiji Era beginning in 1868. ... Mayor of the Palace was an early medieval title and office, also known by the Latin name, maior domus or majordomo, used most notably in the Frankish kingdoms in the 7th and 8th centuries. ...