My thesis takes an interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of power, relying on the works of thinkers such as Max Weber, Bertrand Russell, John R. P. French and Bertram H. Raven, giving the theoretical background of the paper. Accordingly, the first chapter focuses on the notion, forms and sources of power based on the theories and models by the authors. The second chapter approaches it from a more legal point of view highlighting the difference between legitimacy and illegitimacy, the limits of power, and tries to identify several criminal acts in relation to power such as white-collar crime, corruption, or violence. Finally, the last chapter attempts to explore the psychological effects of exerting power on the possessor’s character, life and environment. Furthermore, I intend to analyze the mentioned issues and the representation of power through three American literary and cinematic works centering around characters who may be considered as power-hungry psychopaths in their own peculiar ways: Francis Ford Coppola’s underworld epic of a Mafia family The Godfather (1972), HBO’s recent series Succession (2018) following the life of a powerful but dysfunctional dynasty, and Bret Easton Ellis’s infamous novel about the madness of the Manhattan elite American Psycho (1991).