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Well, Lumen, we are tossing about a lot of labels without thoughtful definition. 

Does this help?

Dictatorship and monarchy can both be benevolent or despotic, but in terms of the continuum I envisage they are one and the same in as much as they both envisage one person with all of the power whom the masses are unable to dislodge at will. Democracy is defined only by the exact opposite characteristic--one way or another, the will of the people gets to select its leader or leaders. Historically, I think monarchy/dictatorship does tend towards despotism/tyranny, and it was for that reason that I accepted Tyranny as equivalent, but theoretically monarchy/dictatorship can be benign...indeed, it is not uncommon for them to start out benevolent.