The Princess Diaries

Kaguya Nanbu is the Princess of Kagura Amahara, but her family tree is filled with royals and warriors alike. Though sheltered and somewhat naïve, she still trained extensively with her colossal sword and took the time to develop her inherited mystical arts. On her 18th birthday, she decided to undergo a cultural “coming of age” journey across the Frontier in an attempt to expand her horizons. When she got involved in a conflict over the Frontier’s very existence along the way, she was willing to put her own life on the line to protect the world from war. Kaguya refers to herself as the “sword that cleaves evil” and bravely fights back against alien forces, but she also makes a lot of friends during her pilgrimage. She is jokingly referred to as the “Dairy Princess” (for obvious reasons), but Kaguya proves her mettle.

After invading the Kingdom of Edenia, the Outworld emperor Shao Kahn forced their queen into marriage and took Princess Kitana as his daughter. With a fighting style that merged seduction and violence, the corrupted princess served as a personal assassin for many years. Shao Kahn became increasingly disappointed with her performance, however, and began making evil clones with her DNA in an attempt to replace her with someone more ruthless. It was around this point that Kitana realized that she was merely a pawn. Sadly, it took nearly 10,000 years for her to reach this conclusion! She helped Shao Kahn in his quest to conquer the realms and was on the wrong side of history for 100 centuries, but the moment she had some competition for daddy’s attention, she switched her allegiance. How self-important can you get?

Princess Devilotte de Deathsatan IX is a spoiled brat and the daughter of a pirate king. Even though she is the next in line to the Helldorado throne, Devilotte still spends her days engaging in villainy. With her two lackeys by her side, Devilotte travels through space in a giant mecha looking for other mecha to steal. One could assume that Devilotte simply wants to add to her personal mecha collection, but she also aims to spread destruction and chaos through the entire universe. Her enemies don’t always taker her seriously, but her mecha grants her tremendous agility and access to futuristic firearms. She proudly refers to herself as the “Beautiful Flower of Evil” and the “Evil Empress of the Heavens” and often takes a stand against justice. She’s almost as self-important as Kitana is, but at least she stands for something.

The “Prince” in the 2008 version of Prince of Persia is really just a nameless thief who struggles to keep one jump ahead of the breadline. Elika, in contrast, actually has royal blood coursing through her veins. As the Princess of Ahura and a servant to the god of light, Elika is tasked with keeping the dark god Ahriman within his prison. Unfortunately, her father is corrupted by power and decides to release Ahriman into the world. While escaping from her father’s soldiers, Elika enlists the help of the “Prince” and works with him to restore the once-fertile lands to their original state. The Prince is able-bodied and courageous, but Elika is the star of the show. She literally throws the Prince through the air to increase his mobility and is constantly using her magic to save him when he falls. Maybe they should have named the game Princess of Persia.

When the King of Wolfkrone fell into madness and was sentenced to live in isolation, his daughter ascended to the throne and was burdened with the responsibilities of adulthood. As regent, Hildegard disciplined herself to become emotionally and physically stronger. With wisdom beyond her years, she led her army on the front lines of battle. Using a short sword for quick attacks and a spear to deliver damage from afar, she fought with nobility and cunning grace. A lot can be said about her bravery, but the most remarkable thing about Hilde is how sensible she is. By the time she made her debut in SoulCalibur IV, the series had developed a reputation for its scantily-clad characters. Most of the ladies she fought with were dangerously close to popping out of their meager outfits, but Hilde kept things real with a practical suit of armor.

Jade is a fearless princess who chooses to live the life of a warrior. She trained with young knights as a child, and she’d rather compete in fighting tournaments than sit on a throne. The martial arts master is adept with claws, spears, and her bare hands, and her flashing kicks are an important part of her repertoire. Her sex appeal is arguably her most effective weapon, however. Her elegant beauty allows her to charm even the most malevolent monsters. It’s hard to mount a defense against a young woman in hotpants who’s constantly blowing kisses and attacking with her butt. This is especially true when she’s dressed in fishnets stockings and bunny ears. Jade is more than just a pretty face, and her mental toughness parallels her physical strength. Incidentally, her mother died at a young age, so Jade has always tried to be self-reliant.

Garnet Til Alexandros XVII was heir to the throne, but she opted to leave her comfortable life after noticing a bizarre change in her mother’s behavior. The Queen was becoming increasingly aggressive and militaristic, so Garnett staged her own kidnapping on her sixteenth birthday and fled from the kingdom. Adopting the alias “Dagger” to conceal her identity, Garnet set forth with a merry band of adventurers and began to experience life beyond the castle walls. Garnet’s upbringing had made her elegant and refined, but the worldly experience she gained during her adventure allowed her to truly evolve as a person. Although Garnet accepts that she will one day be queen, she knows that she will always be herself. She could have merely accepted the life that was presented to her, but her fierce independent streak allowed her to forge her own destiny.

It’s not uncommon for princesses to feel cut off from the world, so there was nothing especially unusual about Princess Nadia’s decision to sneak out and attend the Millennial Fair. Adopting the name Marle to conceal her royal status, the princess quickly made new friends and enjoyed the fair like a typical civilian. She left the castle looking for excitement, but she got more than she bargained for when a serendipitous event kick-started an epic adventure through time. When it was all said and done, Marle met her ancestors, battled dinosaurs in prehistoric times, and befriended robots in a post-apocalyptic future. More significantly, she stopped her friends from dying, saved the world from a parasitic alien, and even mended her relationship with her father. Her entire journey would have never happened if she wasn’t so spunky and rebellious.

With one obvious exception, Zelda is arguably the most famous of all video game princesses. It’s a little unfair to count her as a single character, however, since Zelda is actually a name that has been shared by many different princesses over many generations. Early Zelda games depicted the Hylian Princess as a stereotypical damsel-in-distress, but her role was expanded greatly as the series evolved. In different games, Zelda has played the role of a mysterious ninja, a sassy pirate captain, and a ghost who could possess her enemies. Regardless of the era she lives in or the specific role she falls into, Zelda is a reincarnation of a goddess and has divine blood running through her veins. When imbued by the power of the Triforce, Princess Zelda is granted untold wisdom and a myriad of mystical abilities.

As Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach understands the importance of being a public figure. Even though she resides in an iconic castle, she spends most of her time outside of it. She races go-karts, participates in tennis tournaments, and even protects her kingdom against invading forces. She certainly keeps herself busy. I’ll concede that she gets kidnapped more often than any of the other princesses on this list, but I’m not entirely convinced that she needs saving in the first place. She has proven on many occasions that she’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself and is resourceful enough to make a weapon out of almost anything. Frying pans? Umbrellas? Toads? Her butt!? Her unpredictable emotions!? You name it, Peach has probably used it to attack her enemies in one way or another.