Crocodile

A cold, calculating king who struck when others least expected.

James II of England was a patient, strategic operator who concealed his Catholic ambitions for years before making his move as king, pursuing his agenda with methodical determination despite mounting opposition. He showed little emotional flexibility, pressing forward with policies — such as the Declaration of Indulgence — even when advisors warned of the consequences, revealing the crocodile's characteristic inability to read the room until it was too late. His downfall in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 was less a failure of cunning than of the cold-blooded overreach that undoes calculating predators who underestimate the forces gathering against them.