The difference between Napoleon and the others was the scale of his ambitions and the speed with which he went for them. Since you mention Bernadotte, he got lucky in getting the throne of Sweden, when he had a chance to challenge for power in France in 1799-1803 he failed to take the opportunity and just grumbled and conspired rather ineffectively.
There were many men who would have liked to take power after the Revolution, (most of them went to the guillotine) and probably a few who liked the idea of being First Consul but I suspect there was only one who wanted to be an Emperor and considered it achievable.
It was that level of self-belief (coupled with genuine organisational talents, the ability to choose his tools and a gift for self-publicity) that got him to the top. It may have helped that most of the potential opposition had already been guillotined and the remaining politicians were survivors rather than achievers.

regards,

Susan