By sheer bad luck, Hamlet is named the older twin and Claudius the younger, but they both look at each other and know their parents chose wrong: Hamlet has a decent head for policy, but it is Claudius with a face for politics, though of course their features are identical. Put Hamlet in front of a crowd and he just becomes a lost, fumbling mess, so on the worst days when he knows he just can’t handle it, he begs his brother to take his place and save the speech or gala or treaty with his considerable charm, and Claudius in turn prays he won’t get addicted to the feeling of having people pay attention to him.

The day Hamlet asks him to help get Gertrude to fall in love with him is the day Claudius knows someone’s heart is going to get broken, but though he knows how to steer people to his advantage, he never could deny his brother anything.