History Main / EverythingsBetterwithPrincesses

''Everything's Better with Princesses'' may refer to:

* GoodPrincessEvilQueen, for such a character pair of contrasts.
* GratuitousPrincess
* PrincessProtagonist
* RagsToRoyalty

* PrincessProtagonist

* GoodPrincessEvilQueen, for a such a character pair of contrasts.

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1480711512070426100
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
%%
[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/DisneyPrincess https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/disney_princess_redesign_26.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:They've been making the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon better since 1937.]]

->''"For a princess is an elegant thing,\\
Delicate and dainty as a dragonfly's wing.\\
You can recognize a lady by her elegant air,\\
But a genuine princess is exceedingly rare!"''
-->-- ''Theatre/OnceUponAMattress'', "Many Moons Ago"

You've turned on the latest kids' TV program, and look, there's a girl in a [[PrincessesPreferPink pink]], [[PimpedOutDress floofy dress]] with a wand -- and she's got [[CoolCrown a tiara]] and sometimes a [[PimpedOutCape pretty cape]] trimmed with [[PrettyInMink ermine]]. Whether she's TheCutie, an ActionGirl, a MagicalGirl, TheLeader of LaResistance, or whatever you can think of, there's one very strong possibility: she's {{royal|Blood}}ty; specifically, a princess.

After years of exposure to the [[PrincessClassic classical princess]] we have this interpretation that princesses have it easy. They don't have to work (that's their [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething parents' job]]!), they get everything they want (money and power go a long way) and, in girls' series, they have [[MerchandiseDriven very marketable wardrobes]] (blame the ErmineCapeEffect). Being a "princess" may not even affect the plot in any meaningful way, and the audience may get the sense that princessdom is just a quick way to give a female character a sense of specialness, with no pesky obligations to a family or kingdom that might get in the way of having adventures.

Usually, if she's got powers, she's TheChosenOne, and it's all [[RoyalBlood because of her lineage]]. [[ShelteredAristocrat Her sheltered life has left her ill-prepared to cope with real adversity]]. This is usually true even if she grew up in a [[ChangelingFantasy commoner family]] to [[RagsToRoyalty hide from her enemies]] -- perhaps frailty is in the blood.

She'll likely be the WhiteMagicianGirl to showcase her gentleness and purity, while also keeping her away from the front lines and [[BeautyIsNeverTarnished unsightly bruises]]. On the other hand, if she's [[PrettyPrincessPowerhouse surprisingly good in a fight]] despite her sheltered upbringing, it might be because AuthorityEqualsAsskicking. Her weapon of choice will likely be a RegalRapier.

Any kingdom worth the name has a princess. If that's the case, expect a violent conflict with her AloofBigBrother, TheEvilPrince, and/or the EvilChancellor. She will likely have [[LadyAndKnight a personal knight]] to assist her in such conflicts, be her {{Love Interest|s}}, etc.

By the way, do not expect princes to be given anything like the same sympathy as their sisters (more so in modern works). They are very often either outright [[TheEvilPrince bad]] or [[DumbIsGood well meaning but stupid]]. The exception is TheWisePrince, who is likely to have more royal duties because of [[HeirClubForMen certain historical perspectives]]. If this princess has sisters, odds are good to see TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry.

Note that you rarely see any minor [[BlueBlood nobles]] as lead female characters, nor any young [[TheHighQueen queens]]. If she's a royal, she's the princess. Her [[RoyallyScrewedUp sketchy genetic makeup]] will be avoided altogether, and you won't see a single Habsburg chin around. Though in real life, princesses can be any age, princesses in fiction are usually children or teenagers, and are almost never older than 25, let alone middle-aged or elderly. The perfect age for an ArrangedMarriage plot to kick in!

Oftentimes, [[PrincessesRule she is the 100%]] ''[[PrincessesRule ruler]]'' [[PrincessesRule of a region]]. This is sometimes {{justified|Trope}} by the region in question being a principality rather than a kingdom.

It is something of a DeadHorseTrope due to literally ''centuries'' of overuse, and having become firmly recognised as a {{Common Mary Sue Trait|s}}. Despite this, due to the GrandfatherClause, [[MostFanficWritersAreGirls teenage girls]], and [[StockParody how easy it is to parody]], plenty of princesses will appear in the pages yet to come.

This is also why many tropes have "princess" in the name, even though a princess isn't required (just a common example).

A SuperTrope to:
* TheChiefsDaughter (directly descended from the tribe's ruler, instead of a monarchy)
* PoliticallyActivePrincess (gets just as involved with the ruling as the monarch(s))
* PrettyPrincessPowerhouse (you think she's weak and helpless, but she will kick your butt)
* PrincessPhase (girls wanting to be a princess)
* PrincessClassic (your stereotypical princess)
* PrincessesRule (the princess is on the throne, instead of the heir)
* RebelliousPrincess (somethings expected of the princess, and she's [[DefiedTrope defying it]])
* TomboyPrincess (she's a royal {{Tomboy}})

Compare DaddysLittleVillain (who can often be a princess)

See also PrinceCharming, KnightInShiningArmor, TheHighQueen
----
!!Examples
[[index]]
* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses/AnimeAndManga
* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses/ComicBooks
* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses/AnimatedFilms
* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses/LiveActionFilms
* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses/{{Literature}}
* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses/LiveActionTV
* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses/VideoGames
* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses/WebComics
* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses/WesternAnimation
[[/index]]

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Board Games]]
* Shogi, commonly known as Japanese chess, is notably lacking in the queen piece that western chess features. However, one variant of the game features a piece called "the princess", which basically acts like a queen. This variant is called ''Okisaki'' -- which means ''princess''.
* Princess Lolly from TabletopGame/CandyLand. Due to this trope, her mother Queen Frostina was demoted to princess, even though she is a wife, mother, and presumably Regent of Candy Land in the absence of King Candy.
* The game "Pretty Pretty Princess" was all about this trope, as players had to collect the RequisiteRoyalRegalia that would allow them to be crowned princess before their opponents.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Card Games]]
* The ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' card game has Princess [[MagicalGirl Pikeru]] and Princess [[DarkMagicalGirl Curran]], a pair of weak magicians that once they go through a "trial", become considerably stronger and their respective card effects double in power.
* The ''TabletopGame/SmashUp'' expansion, Pretty, Pretty Smash Up, has princesses as one of the factions.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* Princess Camille, who is ComicStrip/LittleNemo's dream playmate.
* Aleta, wife of ComicStrip/PrinceValiant, tends to be more of TheHighQueen type, despite being married to a prince. However, their daughters Karen and Valeta count as princesses, as would their daughter-in-law Maeve and granddaughter Ingrid.
* Princess Gwen from ''ComicStrip/TheWizardOfId'', who is often courted by Sir Rodney.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fairy Tales]]
* A staple of many fairy tales, especially those by the Brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault, and Madame d'Aulnoy.
* In ''Literature/TheWhiteDove'', the dove is really a kidnapped and transformed princess.
* In ''Literature/TheKingWhoWouldBeStrongerThanFate'', the beautiful daughter of the king is fated to marry the young man, a slave's son. She is so taken with him that when she realizes that he carries an order for his own execution, she changes it to one for their marriage.
* In ''Literature/BootsWhoMadeThePrincessSayThatsAStory'', the princess continually lies, and never declares that anyone else's story is a lie.
* In ''Literature/SoriaMoriaCastle'', Halvor rescue three princesses, all beautiful.
* In ''Literature/TheFireBirdTheHorseOfPowerAndThePrincessVasilissa'', the Tsar will marry only the princess, though he's never met her.
* Averted in ''[[http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/369.htm The Little Soldier]]'', where the princess, Ludovine, is the main antagonist. She takes advantage of the protagonist, John, by breaking promises, using sleep-inducing gifts, and stealing money from him. John eventually rejects her and settles for an honest commoner.
* In ''Literature/SleepingBeauty'', part of the premise is that the king and queen had fertility issues, so they are very grateful to have any princess at all to take up the throne after them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* Averted with Princess Jody, the BigBad of ''[[http://fav.me/d4a27sp Super Milestone Wars]]''.
* Princess [[FanFic/MarissaPicard Marissa Amber Flores Picard Gordon]], heir to the Throne of Essex.
* Several princesses can be found in ''[[http://dorksidefiker.livejournal.com/148547.html That Damn Mpreg]]'', ranging from Rebecca Altman-Kaplan, who eventually abdicates her position in favor of her younger brother to Princess Surdani of the Inhuman Royal Family, who eventually becomes Queen due to one brother being insane and the other brother refusing to be exposed to the Terrigen Mists.
* Marina and Magalie, princesses of the Aequori [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent mermaids]] and [[spoiler:Sierra]], the Princess of Nadir in ''Fanfic/KeepersOfTheElements''. Why must they be princesses? Because one doesn't find many constitutional republics in {{high fantasy}}.
* Averted in ''[[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/Legionnaire Legionnaire]]'', where the Khans have a literally religious hatred for Equestrian princess.
* In [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8608709/1/Lost-Boys Lost Boys]], this trope pulls double duty. Kairi is not only a Princess of Heart, like in canon, but adopted princess of Disney Castle. Since the Destiny Islands were destroyed before Radiant Garden fell, the charm Aqua gave her ended up taking her to King Mickey and Queen Minnie, and things went from there.
* In [[FanFic/EquestriaAHistoryRevealed Equestria: A History Revealed]], Celestia supposedly argues with Chrysalis on the virtues of being called a princess rather than a queen. Chrysalis quickly disagrees with this on a logical standpoint which leads to an argument.
** As a My Little Pony fic, covering the history of Equestria, many princesses also appear in the fic as well.
* ''Fanfic/TheVow'' (a ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' fanfic) includes as one of the main characters Lady Lianne, a gentle [[SwansASwimming swan]] noble, who's [[{{Expy}} based on]] the below mentioned [[WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess Odette]]. She becomes Gongmen City's ruler for twenty years, and she's called "The Swan Princess" by the admiring people.
* ''The Bug Princess,'' the sequel to ''Fanfic/{{Cinderjuice}}'', continues the vague fairy tale theme of the first story, although it's not until close to the end that the reader finds out who is being referenced in the title.
* fernwithy's ''Literautre/TheHungerGames'' stories have OCStandIn Cashmere nickname The Fairy princess (although it isn't used often) due to her arena having been based on a fairy tale setting.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* The Coup "Wear Clean Draws", the rapper Boots Riley gives advice to his daughter:
-->"Tell your teacher princesses ''are'' evil/how they got all the money is they kill people"
* Inverted in "[[Franchise/EvilliousChronicles The Story of Evil]]", in which the "Daughter of Evil" Riliane, though technically a ruling queen, [[PrincessesRule prefers to retain the title of Princess]]. She is a spoiled RoyalBrat, a tyrant, and a GreenEyedMonster. [[spoiler: Of course, she gets better after she loses her brother and kingdom, but since she's no longer a princess, she never gets a chance to be the trope.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Professional Wrestling]]
* Wrestling/ChristinaVonEerie, seen working with Wrestling/{{AAA}}, Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}}, Wrestling/{{WSU}} and other promotions, uses the {{Red Baron}}ess, "The Punk Princess."
* In the ''{{Wrestling/Wrestlicious}}'' promotion, there were two characters - Maui the Hawaiian Island Princess and [[AnIcePerson Autumn Frost]] the Ice Princess - presumably because their characters wouldn't be complete without the title.
* Misaki Ohata, seen in Wrestling/ProWrestlingZero1, Wrestling/MichinokuProWrestling and SHIMMER, among many others, is the Princess of Submissions.
* Jessie Kay is one of pro wrestling's purest examples. Despite claiming to hate [[RealWomenDontWearDresses all things girly]] she's [[NapoleonDelusion convinced]] she's the princess of [[{{Joisey}} Vorhees Township]] and should therefore be waited on accordingly.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* In ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' Martian city states are usually principalities and the setting is full of deposed royalty seeking to retake the thrown and courtly rulers holding onto power against the invading hordes of Nazis and their own families, all while looking fabulous as they do it. About half of them are female.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* ''Theatre/{{Aida|Verdi}}'' features one secret princess as the slave of another princess.
* Princess Winifred the Woebegone from ''Theatre/OnceUponAMattress'' (see the page quote) can swim the moat, scale the castle walls, lift weights, arm wrestle, drink you under the table, sing like a sousaphone, and dance everyone in the palace to exhaustion ... but just [[Literature/ThePrincessAndThePea one little pea]] can ruin her evening.
* In [[Theatre/TheLittleMermaid the Broadway adaptation]] of ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'', Eric decides to hold a singing contest in an attempt to find the woman whose voice he fell in love with, which is doomed to failure because [[LateArrivalSpoiler that woman is Ariel, who sold her voice]]. The contestants are, according to Grimsby, "Every princess in the kingdom" - which begs the question of, if they're princesses, why Eric isn't related to them or at least already familiar with who they are.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theme Parks]]
* Ride/{{Disney|ThemeParks}} believes firmly in the truth of this trope, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars a year. They even have the "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique", in which little girls who are visiting the theme parks can get a "princess makeover" that includes tasteful makeup, getting their hair done, and dressing up in a gown themed after their favorite Disney Princess.\\\
Little boys who want to dress up as the heroic princes (who, if one remembers, were ''also'' a part of the action that made the Disney princesses famous) were, to coin a phrase, "shit out of luck" for many years. The stylists didn't offer any treatment for them, because (as one ten-year-old boy was overheard saying, outside of the Magic Kingdom's "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique", "Disney doesn't care about little boys. They only like little girls.") The Boutique eventually did start trying to attract both genders by offering a knight-themed makeover for boys.
* Ride/WeekiWacheeSprings. All the mermaids are called "princesses." The few mermen are called "princes."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Toys]]
* {{Franchise/Barbie}} plays a princess in some of her movies. Plus some of the dolls are named as though she is a princess, like the [[WinterRoyalLady "Winter Princess"]] line.
* ''Toys/EverAfterHigh'' has a number of princesses running around, with two official princesses in the initial lineup (Apple, successor to Snow White, and Briar, successor to Sleeping Beauty). Raven and Ashlynn should technically be princesses, but are not treated as such, because of Ashlynn's RagsToRiches narrative and the [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen nature]] of Raven's deposed mother. Even in-universe, the school believes that "everything's better with princesses"; only princesses (and possibly princes) can be on the Legacy Day planning committee, they staff the student council exclusively until Maddie decides she'll run for president, and they get first pick of the classes. Raven mentions that it's rare that she's allowed to take music, her favourite class, since it usually only goes to princesses (unless, presumably, your fairy tale requires you to take it).
* All the Generation 3 Franchise/{{My Little Pon|y}}ies are princesses. ''[[http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp05282008.shtml Something Positive]]'' isn't entirely sure how that works. The DirectToVideo special ''[[http://www.hubworld.com/watch/610729116001 The Princess Promenade]]'' reveals that making everyone a princess was just a way for Wysteria to get out of being the (rather [[RagsToRoyalty arbitrarily chosen]]) princess herself.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* The title character of ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' (literally, "Moon Princess"), Arcueid Brunstud, is the princess of the [[NatureSpirit True Ancestor]] [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]]. Though she follows hardly any of the usual tropes, her title actually makes an odd amount of sense, since she was created by the nobility and had extremely limited freedom and a particular defined purpose in life (well...[[EmpathicWeapon to hunt down and kill fallen True Ancestors]], that is). Of course, Princess is still her formal title, despite being possibly the last (and certainly the last royal) True Ancestor still alive ([[spoiler:having killed the other ones herself]]). Her title of Princess (and more importantly, Brunstud) comes from the fact that she's the closest thing the True Ancestors were able to make to a clone of their progenitor, Crimson Moon Brunstead, the Type spirit of the Moon, and that her ability to summon Castle Brunstud is proof that one day Type Moon will revive in her body. Unless her pseudo little sister Altrouge Brunstud, who can also summon Castle Brunstud, does it first.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Justified in ''Literature/DecadesOfDarkness'', since the first part is in the time when royal marriages were real diplomacy.
* Emerald of the ''WebOriginal/DeviantartExtendedUniverse'' certainly fits the trope with her elegance and poise. It is even possible the setting is a principality specifically because of this trope. But Emerald is actually a PoliticallyActivePrincess and has a lot of responsibility as the leader of a small country. She acknowledges in "The Wanderer" that the traditional ideas of accessories and finery are only a small part of her job.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life]]
* Though she is technically a chief or queen, Boudicca is referred to as a {{Warrior Prince}}ss.
* Prinsesstårta (prin-SESS-TOHR-tuh), otherwise known as Swedish Princess Cake, was originally called Grön tårta (Green Cake) when it appeared in ''Prinsessornas Kokbok'' in 1948. It is said that the three young princesses loved the cake so much [[http://semiswede.com/2011/09/21/princess-cake-demystified-prinsesstarta/ it was named after them]].
%% note: while "semiswede" writes the pronounciation differently, this is how a Swedish language speaker would pronounce it.
* {{UsefulNotes/Pocahontas}} was presented to the English as a princess - despite the Native American chieftain system not working that way. John Rolfe's parents were even alarmed at this, worrying that he had married too far above his station.
* As the RealLife section of PrincessesRule notes, "prince(ss)" was the ubiquitous term for sovereign rulers in general, regardless of whether they were a sovereign prince(ss), a duke/duchess, or the literal "child/relative of a king" as in the modern sense. People also often forget that countries weren't necessarily united under a single ruler, as one "country" (depending on the size) might be split into several or even dozens of petty-kingdoms, all with their own princesses and high-nobles--and when you bring in ''tribal'' rulers like chiefs and clan-leaders, that would mean even ''more'' "princesses" running around.
[[/folder]]

* RebelliousPrincess (there's some expected aspect of being a princess, and she's [[DefiedTrope defying it)

* ''Theatre/{{Aida}}'' features one secret princess as the slave of another princess.

A SuperTrope to PrincessClassic, PrincessesRule, PrettyPrincessPowerhouse, PrincessPhase, PoliticallyActivePrincess, TomboyPrincess, RebelliousPrincess. If your princess doesn't hail from a well-organized kingdom but from a faraway village, she's TheChiefsDaughter.

* Inverted in "[[Music/{{Vocaloid}} The Story of Evil]]", in which the "Daughter of Evil" Riliane, though technically a ruling queen, [[PrincessesRule prefers to retain the title of Princess]]. She is a spoiled RoyalBrat, a tyrant and a GreenEyedMonster. [[spoiler: Of course, she gets better after she loses her brother and kingdom, but since she's no longer a princess, she never gets a chance to be the trope.]]

* ''Franchise/EverAfterHigh'' has a number of princesses running around, with two official princesses in the initial lineup (Apple, successor to Snow White, and Briar, successor to Sleeping Beauty). Raven and Ashlynn should technically be princesses, but are not treated as such, because of Ashlynn's RagsToRiches narrative and the [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen nature]] of Raven's deposed mother. Even in-universe, the school believes that "everything's better with princesses"; only princesses (and possibly princes) can be on the Legacy Day planning committee, they staff the student council exclusively until Maddie decides she'll run for president, and they get first pick of the classes. Raven mentions that it's rare that she's allowed to take music, her favourite class, since it usually only goes to princesses (unless, presumably, your fairy tale requires you to take it).

[[caption-width-right:350:They've been making the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon better since 1938.]]

Any kingdom worth the name has a princess. If that's the case, expect a violent conflict with her AloofBigBrother, TheEvilPrince, and/or the EvilChancellor. She will likely have [[LadyAndKnight a personal knight]] to assist her in such conflicts, be her LoveInterest, etc.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

[[folder:Literature]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]

[[folder:Music]]
* The Coup "Wear Clean Draws", the rapper Boots Riley gives advice to his daughter:
-->"Tell your teacher princesses ''are'' evil/how they got all the money is they kill people"
* Inverted in "[[Music/{{Vocaloid}} The Story of Evil]]", in which the "Daughter of Evil" Riliane, though technically a ruling queen, [[PrincessesRule prefers to retain the title of Princess]]. She is a spoiled RoyalBrat, a tyrant and a GreenEyedMonster. [[spoiler: Of course, she gets better after she loses her brother and kingdom, but since she's no longer a princess, she never gets a chance to be the trope.]]

[[folder: Professional Wrestling]]
* Wrestling/ChristinaVonEerie, seen working with Wrestling/{{AAA}}, Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}}, Wrestling/{{WSU}} and other promotions, uses the {{Red Baron}}ess, "The Punk Princess."
* In the ''{{Wrestling/Wrestlicious}}'' promotion, there were two characters - Maui the Hawaiian Island Princess and [[AnIcePerson Autumn Frost]] the Ice Princess - presumably because their characters wouldn't be complete without the title.
* Misaki Ohata, seen in Wrestling/ProWrestlingZero1, Wrestling/MichinokuProWrestling and SHIMMER, among many others, is the Princess of Submissions.
* Jessie Kay is one of pro wrestling's purest examples. Despite claiming to hate [[RealWomenDontWearDresses all things girly]] she's [[NapoleonDelusion convinced]] she's the princess of [[{{Joisey}} Vorhees Township]] and should therefore be waited on accordingly.

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* In ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' Martian city states are usually principalities and the setting is full of deposed royalty seeking to retake the thrown and courtly rulers holding onto power against the invading hordes of Nazis and their own families, all while looking fabulous as they do it. About half of them are female.

[[folder:Theater]]
* ''Theatre/{{Aida}}'' features one secret princess as the slave of another princess.
* Princess Winifred the Woebegone from ''Theatre/OnceUponAMattress'' (see the page quote) can swim the moat, scale the castle walls, lift weights, arm wrestle, drink you under the table, sing like a sousaphone, and dance everyone in the palace to exhaustion ... but just [[Literature/ThePrincessAndThePea one little pea]] can ruin her evening.
* In the Broadway adaptation of ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'', Eric decides to hold a singing contest in an attempt to find the woman whose voice he fell in love with, which is doomed to failure because [[LateArrivalSpoiler that woman is Ariel, who sold her voice]]. The contestants are, according to Grimsby, "Every princess in the kingdom" - which begs the question of, if they're princesses, why Eric isn't related to them or at least already familiar with who they are.

[[folder:Theme Parks]]
* Ride/{{Disney|ThemeParks}} believes firmly in the truth of this trope, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars a year. They even have the "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique", in which little girls who are visiting the theme parks can get a "princess makeover" that includes tasteful makeup, getting their hair done, and dressing up in a gown themed after their favorite Disney Princess.\\\
Little boys who want to dress up as the heroic princes (who, if one remembers, were ''also'' a part of the action that made the Disney princesses famous) were, to coin a phrase, "shit out of luck" for many years. The stylists didn't offer any treatment for them, because (as one ten-year-old boy was overheard saying, outside of the Magic Kingdom's "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique", "Disney doesn't care about little boys. They only like little girls.") The Boutique eventually did start trying to attract both genders by offering a knight-themed makeover for boys.

[[folder:Toys]]
* {{Franchise/Barbie}} plays a princess in some of her movies. Plus some of the dolls are named as though she is a princess, like the [[WinterRoyalLady "Winter Princess"]] line.
* ''Franchise/EverAfterHigh'' has a number of princesses running around, with two official princesses in the initial lineup (Apple, successor to Snow White, and Briar, successor to Sleeping Beauty). Raven and Ashlynn should technically be princesses, but are not treated as such, because of Ashlynn's RagsToRiches narrative and the [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen nature]] of Raven's deposed mother. Even in-universe, the school believes that "everything's better with princesses"; only princesses (and possibly princes) can be on the Legacy Day planning committee, they staff the student council exclusively until Maddie decides she'll run for president, and they get first pick of the classes. Raven mentions that it's rare that she's allowed to take music, her favourite class, since it usually only goes to princesses (unless, presumably, your fairy tale requires you to take it).
* All the Generation 3 Franchise/{{My Little Pon|y}}ies are princesses. ''[[http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp05282008.shtml Something Positive]]'' isn't entirely sure how that works. The DirectToVideo special ''[[http://www.hubworld.com/watch/610729116001 The Princess Promenade]]'' reveals that making everyone a princess was just a way for Wysteria to get out of being the (rather [[RagsToRoyalty arbitrarily chosen]]) princess herself.

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* The title character of ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' (literally, "Moon Princess"), Arcueid Brunstud, is the princess of the [[NatureSpirit True Ancestor]] [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]]. Though she follows hardly any of the usual tropes, her title actually makes an odd amount of sense, since she was created by the nobility and had extremely limited freedom and a particular defined purpose in life (well...[[EmpathicWeapon to hunt down and kill fallen True Ancestors]], that is). Of course, Princess is still her formal title, despite being possibly the last (and certainly the last royal) True Ancestor still alive ([[spoiler:having killed the other ones herself]]). Her title of Princess (and more importantly, Brunstud) comes from the fact that she's the closest thing the True Ancestors were able to make to a clone of their progenitor, Crimson Moon Brunstead, the Type spirit of the Moon, and that her ability to summon Castle Brunstud is proof that one day Type Moon will revive in her body. Unless her pseudo little sister Altrouge Brunstud, who can also summon Castle Brunstud, does it first.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Justified in ''Literature/DecadesOfDarkness'', since the first part is in the time when royal marriages were real diplomacy.
* Emerald of the ''WebOriginal/DeviantartExtendedUniverse'' certainly fits the trope with her elegance and poise. It is even possible the setting is a principality specifically because of this trope. But Emerald is actually a PoliticallyActivePrincess and has a lot of responsibility as the leader of a small country. She acknowledges in "The Wanderer" that the traditional ideas of accessories and finery are only a small part of her job.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life]]
* Though she is technically a chief or queen, Boudicca is referred to as a WarriorPrincess.
* Prinsesstårta (prin-SESS-TOHR-tuh), otherwise known as Swedish Princess Cake, was originally called Grön tårta (Green Cake) when it appeared in ''Prinsessornas Kokbok'' in 1948. It is said that the three young princesses loved the cake so much [[http://semiswede.com/2011/09/21/princess-cake-demystified-prinsesstarta/ it was named after them]].
%% note: while "semiswede" writes the pronounciation differently, this is how a Swedish language speaker would pronounce it.
* {{UsefulNotes/Pocahontas}} was presented to the English as a princess - despite the Native American chieftain system not working that way. John Rolfe's parents were even alarmed at this, worrying that he had married too far above his station.
* As the RealLife section of PrincessesRule notes, "prince(ss)" was the ubiquitous term for sovereign rulers in general, regardless of whether they were a sovereign prince(ss), a duke/duchess, or the literal "child/relative of a king" as in the modern sense. People also often forget that countries weren't necessarily united under a single ruler, as one "country" (depending on the size) might be split into several or even dozens of petty-kingdoms, all with their own princesses and high-nobles--and when you bring in ''tribal'' rulers like chiefs and clan-leaders, that would mean even ''more'' "princesses" running around.
[[/folder]]

Usually, if she's got powers, she's TheChosenOne, and it's all [[RoyalBlood because of her lineage]]. Her sheltered life has left her ill-prepared to cope with real adversity, [[ShelteredAristocrat so don't expect her to be much of a hero]]. She'll likely be the WhiteMagicianGirl at best. This is usually true even if she grew up in a [[ChangelingFantasy normal family]] to [[RagsToRoyalty hide from her enemies]] -- perhaps frailty is in the blood.

On the other hand, if she's [[PrettyPrincessPowerhouse surprisingly good in a fight]] despite her sheltered upbringing, it might be because AuthorityEqualsAsskicking.

Any kingdom worth the name has a princess. If that's the case, expect a violent conflict with her AloofBigBrother, TheEvilPrince, and/or the EvilChancellor.

By the way do not expect princes to be given anything like the same sympathy as their sisters (more so in modern works). They are very often either outright [[TheEvilPrince bad]] or [[DumbIsGood well meaning but stupid]]. If this princess has sisters, odds are good to see TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry.

Something of a DeadHorseTrope due to literally ''centuries'' of overuse, and having become firmly recognised as a {{Common Mary Sue Trait|s}}. Despite this, due to the GrandfatherClause, [[MostFanficWritersAreGirls teenage girls]], and [[StockParody how easy it is to parody]], plenty of princesses will appear in the pages yet to come.

* In Literature/SleepingBeauty, part of the premise is that the king and queen had fertility issues, so they are very grateful to have any princess at all to take up the throne after them.

Any [[TheKingdom Kingdom]] worth the name has a princess. If that's the case, expect a violent conflict with her AloofBigBrother, TheEvilPrince, and/or the EvilChancellor.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Franchise/SailorMoon''
** The title character turns out to be Princess Serenity, for whom everyone had been searching. In the [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]] and TheNineties English dub of the [[Anime/SailorMoon anime]], all the other senshi were princesses, too.
** There's Princess Kakyuu in ''Sailor Stars''. One gets the impression that the Sailor Soldiers exist to protect their planet's Princess, because when Kakyuu gives up her life to protect the Starlights from Galaxia in the anime, they go on a [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge suicidal bumrush at the Big Bad to avenge her]]. [[spoiler:Ironically, at the end they are the ONLY characters to survive without the help of Sailor Moon's [[MessianicArchetype revival powers]].]]
** There's also [[ItWasHisSled Sailor Moon's daughter]], Chibi-Usa, who is heir to both the Moon and Earth Kingdoms, with a name to fit: Princess Usagi Small Lady Serenity Tsukino.
** There's an odd aspect to this in the 90s anime, in which, whenever Usagi needs to unlock new powers or tap into the full potential of the Silver Crystal, she always transformed into ''Princess'' Serenity, despite the fact that she rarely needed to do so in the manga, and after the second arc always transformed into ''Neo-Queen'' Serenity when she did need to do so. It's almost like the 90s anime is enforcing the trope.
* In several ''Anime/MazingerZ'' series there is at least one princess:
** ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'': Maria Grace Fleed, sister to [[spoiler:[[TheHero Duke Fleed]]]] was a SpoiledSweet {{Tsundere}}, {{Warrior Prince}}ss and mecha pilot. Princess Rubina a TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth FieryRedhead was daughter of BigBad King Vega and [[spoiler:Duke Fleed's fiancee]] ''attempted'' to convince everyone to stop the war and find a peaceful solution to the conflict.
** ''Anime/GodMazinger'': Princess Aira, who ruled the kingdom of Mu alongside her father.
** ''Manga/NewMazinger'': Princess Krishna a DamselInDistress Major Kabuto met when he was accidentally thrown in another dimension. She was trying to keep her kingdom together after her father got murdered in an ambush.
* ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'' has another princess brigade, with seven nations being ruled by princesses who themselves answer to a spectral queen who rarely shows up. At least they're RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething.
* ''Anime/FushigiboshiNoFutagoHime'', starting with the titular twins and encompassing most of the main cast. The marketing was all over this, tiaras and all: the publicity events were even called "Princess Parties" and they gave out kingdom seals.
* [[Creator/HayaoMiyazaki Miyazaki]] has this trope everywhere, seen in ''Manga/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind'', ''Anime/CastleInTheSky'', ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'', ''Anime/PonyoOnTheCliffByTheSea'' and ''Anime/TheCastleOfCagliostro''.
* Mako from ''Anime/MahouNoMakoChan'' is the daughter of the King of the Sea.
* Mint from ''Anime/MagicalAngelSweetMint'' is the princess of the show's DreamLand.
* Princess Silver from ''Anime/YumeNoCrayonOukoku'' is the princess of the Crayon Kingdom.
* ''Anime/MagicalPrincessMinkyMomo'' even has it right there in the title.
* ''Anime/PrincessComet'' is the princess of Harmonica Star. Unsurprisingly, she dresses [[PrincessesPreferPink all in pink]].
* In a variation on the frequent "MagicalGirl as princess" theme, Himeko of ''Manga/HimeChanNoRibon'' is an otherwise ordinary MagicalGirl with an AlternateUniverse counterpart who's a [[PrincessesPreferPink pink-wearing]] princess.
* ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'', while not having any real royalty among its cast, thoroughly explores the stereotype and one of the main plotlines focuses on the titular protagonist trying to decide whether she wants to become "[[{{Ojou}} a princess]]" or "[[{{Bifauxnen}} a prince]]". The series is also famous for postulating that all girls are princesses but there aren't enough princes for everyone.
** An alternative interpretation is that both princes and princesses are childish and false ideals, and that the way to grow up is to move past them. So no, [[InvertedTrope not everything is better with princesses]].
* ''Anime/DaiMahouTouge'' is a twisted, savage, yet strangely hilarious subversion of the stereotype.
* ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCure''
** In an odd twist, the princess was a typical cute, mostly useless DamselInDistress... and the ''mascot creature''. Hikari from season two, however, filled this role more traditionally, despite being (somewhat) a Queen.
** Elsewhere in the ''Anime/PrettyCure'' franchise, ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5'' added a Princess among an influx of royals. Yes, they were also mascot creatures.
** In TheMovie of ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5'', the girls and the mascots visit "Princess Land", a theme park where the female patrons all get to wear ballgowns and pretend they're princesses. As you would expect, it seems to be a very popular place.
** ''Anime/SmilePrettyCure'' gave the second power-up in the series the name "Princess Form".
** Both ''Anime/SuitePrettyCure'' and ''Anime/HappinessChargePrettyCure'' have actual princesses as heroines - Ako Shirabe/Cure Muse and Hime Shirayuki/Cure Princess, respectively. However, while Ako's quite the badass, Hime puts [[Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure Tsubomi]] to shame in being pathetic. And then there's her mysterious DarkSecret...
** ''Anime/GoPrincessPrettyCure'' features, as you guessed it, Princess Pretty Cures. But despite being known as such, only one of the four has royal blood: [[spoiler:Prince Kanata's [[HeelFaceTurn recovered]] sister]] Towa Akagi/Cure Scarlett.
* Thanks to the title, ''Anime/PrincessTutu'' seems like it'd play this trope straight... particularly since the main character Duck (or Ahiru) turns into the eponymous MagicalGirl. ''But'' the show subverts this with an Aesop that [[spoiler:Duck has to accept the person she truly is, and eventually has to give up the ability to become both Tutu ''and'' a girl (she's an actual bird)]]. The DarkMagicalGirl Princess Kraehe has a difficult home life as well (... to say the least). When Princess Kraehe shows up, [[RealityWarper Herr]] [[MadArtist Drosselmeyer]] comments "Two heroines? That simply ''won't'' do."
* Averted in ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha''. Like many MagicalGirl shows with a fantasy bent, female royals exist, in this case, from [[TheEmpire Ancient Belka]]. However, unlike many MagicalGirl shows with a fantasy bent, they are not princesses. Instead, [[PersonOfMassDestruction they are Kings that possess massive destructive capabilities]] [[WarriorPrince that make them symbols of power that lead their country to war]]. Yeah, the title of King [[SheIsTheKing seems to be unisex for Ancient Belka]]. [[spoiler:The main character adopts the {{clone|Jesus}} of one of them as her kid]]. That said, ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaVivid'' reveals that they are still referred to as Princesses before they take the title of King. The Saint family, at least.
* ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'': Henrietta is the ''perfect'' princess... but she doesn't spend much of the story as one, quickly becoming Queen and staying that way.
* In ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', the [[ShrinkingViolet shy]] and [[NaiveEverygirl innocent]] princess Charlotte serves as Griffith's {{Love Interest|s}} and MealTicket in his quest to have his own kingdom. For the setting and for the purposes of the plot, having a princess is as good as it gets. For the purposes of the happiness and welfare of her kingdom, on the other hand? Even though she's a PrincessClassic, the fact that she falls for a ManipulativeBastard and eventual DarkMessiah means her impact on the story is unlikely to be positive in the long run.
* The Six Flowers of the Hibiscus Shield (magic fairies living in Orihime's hair clips) became the Six Princess Shielding Flowers in the English dub of ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''.
* ''Anime/CodeGeass''
** The show largely subverts the stereotype, seeing Britannian princesses (three, thus far) fight and experience all cruelties of war just like their brothers. Euphie seemed to fit, with her naivety and struggle for peace, which only made her subversion the cruelest of all. Though what they did to Nunnally was pretty sick, too. Cornelia, who doesn't even start off well. She's [[TheBaroness vicious (and a virulent racist)]] from the get-go. Even if she does have a soft spot for Euphemia.
** Kaguya also fits, though not literally being a princess, she is the highest ranking of the surviving Japanese noblewomen, delicate, though spirited, with all the personality of a traditional fictional princess, and the head of the NAC, which governs the Japanese "on behalf" of the Britannain Prince/Princess in charge of Area 11. Though she's not said to suffer as much as the Britannian Princesses, all of her family are dead, and [[spoiler:by the end of the series, she is the chairwoman of the UFN -- composing of the countries of at least half the world - though at the cost of her self-declared husband]].
* ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'' has some princesses who fit the stereotype and some who don't.
* Hyatt in ''Anime/ExcelSaga'' is apparently a princess of some alien race, but this is never elaborated further in the series.
* ''Anime/{{Grenadier}}'' contains a notable aversion: its young female royal is a crowned Empress, not a princess.
* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' successors like toying with the notion - if it's not a princess, it's either a princess-in-exile or a daughter of an important official (usually either a scientist or government official) - and it's not uncommon for the princess to be the [[ShipTease love interest]] of a major character, either[[note]]In fact, of all the series that this trope applies to, the only princess who is NOT a love interest for a character in the show she appears in is Kycillia Zabi[[/note]]:
** This probably goes back to ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', whose Sayla Mass (real name: Artesia Som Deikun) is a princess-in-exile of TheKingdom-like Republic of Zeon founded by her father. By the time of ''MSG'', however, the former Republic is taken over by the villainous [[EvilChancellor Zabi]] family and transformed into a "[[TheEmpire Principality]]", so her heritage doesn't do her any favor. Although Sayla doesn't really count considering her father was a democratic leader, and Zeon only became a monarchy after her father died.
*** There's also Kycillia Zabi, who subverts the trope in a big way, being ''more'' coldblooded & ruthless than all but one of her brothers.
** ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]'' and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ Gundam ZZ]]'' have Mineva Zabi, the last member of the Zabi family. She also features prominently in the [[Gundam Unicorn]] novel, and other (non-canon) adaptations. Initially Mineva is just a puppet, being seven years old and ruthlessly manipulated, but eventually she grew up nicely to help uncover the Laplace Box and stop the Third Neo Zeon War. By the way, how is she considered a princess? She's the last surviving Zabi, she should be queen even if she does need Haman as [[EvilChancellor a regent]]. She's still a princess because Zeon is principality, not a kingdom. The ruler of a principality has the title of "prince" or "princess", depending on gender.[[note]]In many languages, notably German as pre-unification Germany included many principalities as well as kingdoms, different words are used for the prince or princess who's reigning monarch of a principality and a prince or princess who's merely the relative of a king or queen and thus somewhere in the line of succession of a kingdom. In English, though, the distinction can only be determined through context.[[/note]]
** ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam F91]]'' has Cecily Fairchild, aka Berah Ronah.
** ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Victory Gundam]]'' has Shakti Kareen.
** ''[[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G Gundam]]'', the first show with a new continuity, also brings the first real princess, the very {{Moe}} Maria Louise of Neo France.
** Relena Darlian (real name: Relena Peacecraft) of the Sanc Kingdom in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]]''. Like Sayla, she is exiled, too, and comes with an [[TheEvilPrince evil brother]]. [[spoiler:And like Sayla, her brother makes frequent trips through the FaceHeelRevolvingDoor.]]
** ''Anime/TurnAGundam'': Diana Soreil is not a princess; she's the Queen.
** ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Gundam SEED]]'' has two subversions: Cagalli Yula Athha is a legitimate but RebelliousPrincess of Orb Union, while Lacus Clyne is not real royalty but her father is the chairman of the PLANT's supreme council. . She is also [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl much more lady-like than]] [[{{Bifauxnen}} tomboyish]] Cagalli. [[note]] [[AllThereInTheManual Lacus is a real royal]] but just too minor for it to matter [[/note]].
** ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'' drives it to the extreme with Marina Ismail, arguably, an {{Expy}} of Relena and Lacus and an ''elected princess of a constitutional monarchy''.
** ''Anime/GundamReconguistaInG'' has Aida Surugan, who was the daughter of the commander of the Amerian Army. [[spoiler: She's actually adopted, though her real parents were a disgraced political family from the Moon.]]
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'' has Kudelia Aina Bernstein, who while the daughter of an elected Martian leader, she usually plays the trope straight.
** Fact: it's easier to list those ''Gundam'' series [[Anime/AfterWarGundamX with]][[Anime/MobileSuitGundamAGE out]] a princess or two, than those with them.
* ''Manga/MurderPrincess'' is yet another subversion. The real princess of TheKingdom of Forland is a gentle {{Ojou}} but soon [[FreakyFridayFlip switches bodies]] with the most badass ActionGirl in history, who proceeds to kick much ass and become the titular character.
* Pacifica in ''Literature/ScrappedPrincess'' is a subversion as she is a pure-blood princess but must endure very harsh conditions, starting with the small fact that almost the entire world population believes that her head on a stake is a good idea...
* Sakura in ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'', and side-characters Tomoyo and Emeraude.
* ''Manga/MartianSuccessorNadesico'' spent a whole episode late in the series establishing that [[LittleMissSnarker Ruri]] was [[ChangelingFantasy actually the princess]] of a cheap imitation (literally TheThemeParkVersion) of Switzerland. This episode was never referenced again, not even in Ruri's next PreviouslyOn narration in which she's too embarrassed to explain it. Also played with in the same episode, when she attempts to research the concept and hits a MagicalGirl series with her first search. Her response is to narrow the parameters.
* Lord Genome, immortal ruler of ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'''s pseudo-[[TheEmpire Empire]], sired little human girls just for the sake of having a princess around. Lord Genome's princesses were born naturally from his relationships with girls hand-picked because of their special genetics. The result we see, Nia, hits this trope pretty damn hard in title, attitude, appearance, and [[DamselInDistress usefulness]] (except for the fact that she is HotBlooded like NOBODY's business).
* Guess who's a real princess in ''Anime/MaiOtome''? Not Mashiro, who is crowned queen in the third episode. Not even [[spoiler:Nina, the real heir to Windbloom's throne]] (who never claims it). It's actually [[spoiler:Mai, whose brother is the prince of Zipang]] -- a fact often overlooked. And Mashiro is a subversion, not just because she's spoiled, but because everyone expects her to be responsible, and when she abuses her power, it never ends well.
* Sasami seems to embody this trope the most in the ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' universes. Aeka also has her moments, but isn't quite as sweet.
* Dianeira in ''Anime/HeroicAge'' somewhat averts the trope. She's portrayed as pure and a borderline Messiah, but has a limited wardrobe, plot-relevant powers, and has had to do diplomacy and give people orders.
* There's a few of these in ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'', with the most prominent being Princess Amelia, a princess of the influential kingdom of Saillune. She's rather [[CuteClumsyGirl klutzy]] and a bit [[LargeHam overzealous]] and in over her head, but she's an amazing case of ModestRoyalty - kind, a willing fighter, and always enjoying traveling with her friends. There's also her [[RichBitch opposite]], Princess Martina, [[spoiler:and her long-lost sister, Princess Gracia, otherwise known as Lina's old traveling companion, Naga the Serpent]].
* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima''
** Konoka is technically the princess of Japan, though obviously that doesn't mean very much these days. Still, her heritage combined with the fact that her father (who is from the non-royal line, by the way) is the head of the Kansai Magic Association means that she has a ''lot'' of money and influence.
** Arika, the princess of the kingdom of Ostia. She later becomes a Queen.
** [[spoiler:Asuna]] is also revealed to be a princess.
* ''Manga/FlameOfRecca'' has Yanagi, who Recca declares is his princess at the beginning of the series, and this becomes her nickname from then on. Later on in the manga, we learn that [[spoiler:she's the reincarnation of a real princess named Sakura, who once knew Recca's father]].
* {{Deconstructed|Trope}} in ''Manga/RoseOfVersailles'', as UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette thinks this trope is how she should live, which adds a lot of {{Irony}} to the series. How much she did in actual history is a matter of debate, but let's put it this way: Marie Antoinette liked to go to the countryside. She thought it was lovely and idyllic. Problem: No one was particularly interested in disabusing her of this notion. So when she got there, it would be a sanitized version of the real thing; the cows were scrubbed, there wasn't a pat to be seen, chickens got fresh hay every hour on the hour (for pooping on, I mean), and such peasants as might have been lurking around were pretty clean and well-fed too. So when the news came that the peasants were revolting because they had no bread, it's almost a wonder that she didn't actually say [[BeamMeUpScotty a certain famous, if inaccurate, expression of her belief that the peasantry had access to sugary confections]]. Also note that this is one of the few series where the lead female, Oscar, ''is'' minor nobility.
* At least one of the female ''Anime/SpiderRiders'' is royal, too.
* ''Anime/GoLion'' (''Anime/{{Voltron}}'') had Princess Fala (Allura), ruler of the planet that Golion protected who'd later go on to pilot the Blue Lion when the original pilot was killed off (or PutOnABus in ''Voltron'').
* Princess Sapphire, the eponymous ''Manga/PrincessKnight''.
* Rather disturbing example in ''Anime/YuGiOh'', in Kaiba's virtual reality video game there is a princess whose appearance is based on Mokuba. (Probably Kaiba {{lampshad|e hanging}}ing Mokuba's DamselInDistress tendencies.) Naturally, ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' had a field day with this.
-->'''Yugi:''' Just what the hell are you anyway? Are you a boy or a girl?\\
'''Joey:''' Maybe it's a shemale. You know, like Bakura.
* Kuro in ''Manga/BlackGod'' is a princess.
* ''Kimi no Kakera'', a manga by the same author as ''Manga/{{Saikano}}'', subverts this trope, stomps on it, drags it through the mud, and shoots it. Icoro, the child princess in the story, has been reduced to little more than a servant to the people of the ruling Politik and Warmonger tribes after a political coup ended the monarchy and her parents disappeared. She bears backbreaking work, little food, and constant cruelty from everyone (including the [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter talking stuffed animal]] that's supposed to be her companion) so that none of it will be forced on her little brother, the prince, who is also blind. The suffering common people that she meets later don't know about any of this, and on hearing she's princess, scorn her for the privilege they believe she enjoys. It's pretty much to the point that her being the princess is the root of all Icoro's problems.
* Guess who Esther Blanchett in ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'' turns out to be in the end. Yes, you got it: [[spoiler:the long-lost heiress to the Albion throne, of all places]].
* Gratuitous princesses are taken to their logical extreme in ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'', where the writers don't let the fact that [[DudeLooksLikeALady Princess Alto]] is neither nobility nor even ''female'' get in the way of making him the series's pretty little RebelliousPrincess.
* In the first installment of ''Anime/ProjectAKo'', C-ko is revealed to be an alien princess.
* ''Manga/{{Yotsuba}}'': When Yotsuba first glimpses tomboy Miura's highrise apartment:
-->'''Yotsuba:''' Miura's house is huge! Are you a princess?!\\
'''Miura:''' Yes. I've been hiding it, but I'm actually a princess. Listen, don't tell anyone, OK? It's a secret.
* The title heroine of ''Anime/NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater'' is a circus acrobat who performs under the stage name of "Princess Nadia", unaware that her OrphansPlotTrinket identifies her as a genuine princess from a lost civilization. Subverted in that Nadia doesn't ''like'' being called "princess" because the word has bad associations for her.
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''
** The manga mostly avoids the trope, but does have one character -- Mei Chang -- who is a daughter of the Emperor of Xing. She's only rarely identified in-story as a princess, however, and almost never acts like one; she's too busy being BadassAdorable.
** In what can only be described as a subversion, there's also [[GeneralRipper Olivier Mira Armstrong]], whose mannerisms are about as un-princessy as you can get while still being a regal LadyOfWar. But in the manga, her men (the Briggs Bears) occasionally refer to her as "the Princess" and "our Queen" as a sign of their love and respect.
* ''Manga/ToLoveRu'' has Lala, Momo and Nana Deviluke, all regularly identified by their titles. And Run Else Jewelria, whose status as a princess comes up less often because she's a less important character.
* Inverted in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' in the one episode when Mimi becomes a "princess" (though she's pretty much self-proclaimed). A bunch of Geckomon need her voice to wake up their lord, she seizes the opportunity to the fullest and milks the poor creatures for all they're worth. She becomes spoiled, betrays her friends and overall acts as a total [[{{Jerkass}} bitch]] until a [[NightmareSequence terrible nightmare]] makes her realize her wrongdoings. Notably that when she is reunited with the Geckomon later in the story (after some CharacterDevelopment), she tells them to stop calling her "Princess".
* In ''Anime/{{Stitch}}'', one of Stitch's cousins, Checkers, could sit like a crown on people's heads and give the wearer the ability to hypnotize those around them into thinking they were a beautiful princess to be obeyed (although in the original American series, it just made those hypnotized see the wearer as royalty).
* ''LightNovel/BodaciousSpacePirates'' has [[PrincessClassic Gruier]] and [[{{Tomboy}} Grunhilde]] Serenity, seventh and eighth daughters of the Serenity royal family, respectively.
* From ''Manga/TheSevenDeadlySins'', there are the three princesses of Liones. From eldest to youngest, Margaret, Veronica, and Elizabeth.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'' has a collection, as well as having a number of princess-esque {{Ojou}} characters (like Kaya or Conis), has had a series of straight-up Princesses as well, with Vivi of Alabasta, Shirahoshi of Fishman Island, and now Violet and Rebecca of Dressrosa. For some inexplicable reason, One Piece princesses (at least crown princesses, since Violet is the exception otherwise) are always 16 when they are introduced. Maybe Oda envisions a PrincessClassic as a teenage girl?
* Historia Reiss from ''Manga/AttackOnTitan''.
* ''Manga/SgtFrog'': The second movie, where Natsumi became a sea princess. Keroro's hairbrained idea to get her back involves dressing the rest of his troops as princesses. And he tries it again in the third movie.
** Momoka gets recast as an actual princess in the ''Musha Kero'' storyline. She is the {{Ojou}}, after all!
** Anime Sumomo displays some princess behavior in her first appearance -- the plotline is basically ''Film/RomanHoliday'' [[RecycledInSpace with a galactic pop star]].
** [[strike:Natsumi]] Princess Summer in ''Keroro RPG''.
* ''Manga/CityHunter'': A good number of stories involve the protection of princesses of fictional eastern and island kingdoms from evil pretenders to the throne. And if they aren't princesses, then they're Ojou of a rich Japanese family, with either Evil Uncles aiming for their heritage, or being in danger of being kidnapped for a ransom.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Princess Diana of Themiscyra, a.k.a. ''Franchise/WonderWoman''. The only thing she has in common with most on this list is the tiara (though she has been known to break out the dress for formal occasions).
* Princess Projectra (Vauxhall-Wynzorr) of the ''ComicBook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}'' is a fabulously rich illusion caster from the treasure-planet of Orando. (Until her homeworld was blown up.) To be fair, though, the first incarnation of Princess Projectra ''did'' eventually become Queen Projectra.
** To drive the point home, when her husband was murdered by his archenemy, Projectra invoked the royal right to execute him, and instead of using her powers to do so, ''she snapped his neck with her bare hands.''
* ''Comicbook/TeenTitans'' has had a surprising number of princesses join their team: Comicbook/{{Starfire}}, [[Comicbook/WonderGirl Donna]], [[SixthRangerTraitor Terra]] and arguably ComicBook/{{Raven}}. {{Parodied|Trope}} [[http://waitingforthet.tumblr.com/post/162429199930/even-barbara-gordons-dad-is-sort-of-like-the-king here]].
* ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'': Although she has no royal blood at all, Princess Powerful [[CuteBruiser would]] [[LittleMissBadass like]] [[WaifFu to]] [[ActionGirl have]] [[PluckyGirl a]] [[ExtraordinarilyEmpoweredGirl word]] [[GenkiGirl with]] [[TokenMiniMoe you]].
* Princess Silvy of Illusitania in the Italian comic storyline ''[[ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse Mickey Mouse and the World to Come]]''.
* [[http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Iolande_(New_Earth) Princess Iolande]] of [[Franchise/GreenLantern The Green Lantern Corps]]
* ''ComicBook/AmethystPrincessOfGemworld''
* ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'' has Princess Sally. There's not much princess-y about her, so probably the only reason she got the title in the first place was this trope (though the comics eventually expanded on this backstory). She was princess of the kingdom before it was taken over by Robotnik so it actually makes sense that she's still princess. She won't become queen until they take back the land and she can be crowned.\\\
In the comics, once they ''did'' take back the land, her parents were revealed to be alive, the powers that be tried to kill her off but got an ExecutiveVeto, and an older brother popped up out of nowhere. Pretty strong evidence of a conspiracy to ''keep'' her a princess. And hilariously, it ended up causing problems down the line when her subjects decided they wanted democracy. It wasn't quite as big a mess as ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' but it did end up with the leader of the revolution (Tails' father) in a swordfight with the current king (Sally's brother) until Sally came in and told them to act like adults.
* Crystal is a princess of the [[ComicBook/TheInhumans Inhumans Royal Family]] due to her sister ComicBook/{{Medusa}} being their queen. She is also a superhero that served as a ComicBook/FantasticFour member and an [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avenger]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* The Franchise/{{Disney Princess}}es are officially, to date:
# Princess Snow White -- ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' (1937)
# Cinderella -- ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'' (1950)
# Princess Aurora -- ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'' (1959)
# Princess Ariel -- ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'' (1989)
# Belle -- ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' (1991)
# Princess Jasmine -- ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' (1992)
# Pocahontas -- ''Disney/{{Pocahontas}}'' (1995)
# Mulan -- ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'' (1998): "[[WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick She hugged royalty, but that's about it]]."
# Tiana -- ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' (2009): Notably, the first one to be created after "Disney Princess" became an official franchise. Her friend Charlotte seems to be a spoof on this mindset. Tiana only became a princess [[spoiler: by marrying a prince]]. And she promptly makes things better by [[spoiler: kissing the enchanged prince, whom she married, and who then becomes human again]].
# Princess Rapunzel -- ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'' (2010). Due to living in a tower in the forest, she didn't know about her royal ancestry... until she gave a burglar a TapOnTheHead with a frying pan, and her life changed forever. Everyone cheers when she returns to her birth parents.
# Princess Merida -- ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'' (2012): First Creator/{{Pixar}} character to be a "Disney Princess". She is something of a RebelliousPrincess, refusing to marry a man just because he won a contest, which one has to admit is not a good method to find a suitable husband for your daughter. She makes everything better for the princes of the neighbouring countries, who weren't very keen on marrying a stranger because of "tradition", either.
# Princess Anna -- ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' (2013): One of two princesses in the movie. Having grown up very sheltered due to an accident in her childhood, she strongly identifies with the princess stereotype. She gets better, though, and eventually saves the country. In a way.
# Queen Elsa -- ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' (2013): Elsa is the first "Disney Princess" to actually be crowned a queen pretty early in the movie. True to the trope, once she's crowned queen, she causes some trouble.
** The reason the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon is stuffed with princesses is actually because they draw so much on fairy tales... but as of the 1990s, they centered merchandising on the princess characters, and you know the rest. Actually, only ''some'' of the princess characters got in; those that had bit parts, were from unpopular movies, or just weren't as marketable were shoved in the back. And they've tried a few times to add non-royals into the line, despite Mulan, Esmeralda, and Alice definitely not being princesses, either to ease concerns that the classic pantheon wasn't dynamic and/or integrated enough (Mulan being the best ActionGirl they could use, since they didn't have one) or to fill out various storybooks, music albums, etc. Pocahontas, another honorary member of the group, actually ''is'', but might not have been considered "classic" when the line was introduced. (That, or her clothes aren't considered pretty enough.) Naturally, this was somewhat referenced in ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'', where those who qualified as "[[MacGuffin Princesses of Heart]]" just happened to be popular characters on both sides of the Pacific. Alice, a non-princess, was in fact added to the list, with the thin justification that she becomes [[TheHighQueen a queen]] in [[Literature/AliceInWonderland the original books]] (and as foreshadowing that another seemingly normal character is also one). Ariel was in fact '''removed''' from the list for ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'', probably because, as a mermaid, she wouldn't be able to leave Atlantica to interact with the larger plot, but she gets to be an ActionGirl GuestStarPartyMember.
** Other commonly forgotten Disney princesses (or queens) include [[Disney/TheBlackCauldron Eilonwy]], [[Disney/PeterPan Tiger Lily]], [[Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire Kidagakash]] (who inherits the throne in the denouement), [[Disney/RobinHood Maid Marian]] (mentioned in the film to be King Richard's niece), and [[Disney/TheLionKing Nala]] (by marriage to Simba). If you stretch, you can also include [[Disney/{{Tarzan}} Jane]] (queen of the jungle), Disney/{{Alice| In Wonderland}} (who becomes a queen in the chess sense in ''Through the Looking Glass''), and [[Disney/{{Hercules}} Megara]] (who originally was a daughter of King Chreon).
** Ironically, the PowersThatBe at Disney have been downplaying the princess element of its films after theorizing that marketing ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' as a Princess movie [[GirlShowGhetto turned away the male demographic.]] This is mainly limited to the films' ''marketing'' and not their actual content, however: ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'' upgrades Rapunzel from a commoner into a princess by birth, ''Disney/WreckItRalph'' turns out to have an unexpected princess in [[spoiler:Vanellope, although she decides that she'd rather be president]], and ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' gives a [[Literature/TheSnowQueen fairy tale]] that originally didn't have a single princess in it ''two'' princess characters (although Elsa is quickly elevated to queen).
** Disney/{{Moana}} is the most recent Disney princess and expected to be added to the official Disney Princess line soon. Her film even lampshades her status in one scene where she insists that she's not really a princess and Maui points out that she ''is'', complete with animal sidekicks.
* Spoofed all over the place in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Princesse}}'' franchise, ''especially'' the third film. (The princesses from that got their own toy line, too, but this seems to be a further parody rather than hypocrisy.)
** '' Princesse: The Musical!'' added one more, making Lord Princesse's mother the princess from ''Literature/ThePrincessAndThePea''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'' - Odette actually is a princess in the original ballet and the film adds the Disney Princess touches to her, giving her a beautiful singing voice, becoming a FriendToAllLivingThings etc. She manages to become a Queen at the end of the film and remains one in the sequels.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlightOfDragons'' has Princess Melisande, the HappilyAdopted foster daughter of the wizard Carolinus. Her being a princess has ''nothing'' to do with the story, and probably the only reason she is one at all is so that the hero can win the heart of a princess like in any proper fairy tale.
* ''WesternAnimation/RainbowBrite'': Averted here, with one of the ''very'' few actively evil princesses. Has a lot of the standard traits ([[Fiction500 wealth]] and [[PrincessesRule sovereignty]], for starters), but she looks like a [[FashionVictimVillain punk rocker]], acts [[RoyalBrat like a five-year-old]] and is after a CosmicKeystone whose absence will [[ApocalypseHow send the universe into an endless winter]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/RugratsGoWild'' Angelica decides that she will become the island's princess. This time the babies have learned their lesson and ignore her but she ends up passing herself off as Princess Angelatiki to [[WesternAnimation/TheWildThornberrys Debbie Thornberry]]. One must wonder why Debbie doesn't question that the island princess is white and speaks perfect English.
* Similarly in ''WesternAnimation/RugratsInParis'' a stage play in Reptarland has a princess as a main character. After seeing it, Chuckie wishes for the princess to be his new mother. Coco La Bouche attempts to exploit this when she hears about it and Chuckie admits that all he wants is a mother who loves him.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'' - while the real Anastasia was royalty, she is recognised as "Grand Duchess" rather than princess.[[note]]The Russian royals called their daughters Grand Duchesses instead of princesses to give the impression that, as imperial royalty, they were of higher rank than a regular princess of a mere monarchy (or than one of the many 'regular' princesses in the Russian nobility, for that matter). The actual title, ''velikaya knyazhna'', is difficult to accurately translate into English.[[/note]] But the film frequently refers to her as a princess just to avoid confusion. In a twist, she also [[spoiler: gives up the title and chooses to elope with Dimitri]].
* Franchise/{{Shrek}} marries Princess Fiona, daughter of the King and Queen of Far Far Away, at the end of the first film. In the second film, she's reunited with her old princess friends, including Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel. The third film doesn't add any princesses to the cast, but [[Myth/KingArthur Artie]] sure is enthused about the prospect of meeting some.
* Teegra in ''WesternAnimation/FireAndIce'' was the Princess of Firekeep, whose purpose at first was being kidnapped, being the hero's love interest and look good in a string-bikini. Thankfully, she avoids being useless by saving herself more than once as well as the hero's life.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017'' adds another princess to the G-4 canon (see below). Princess Skystar is notably the first seapony to be a princess in the franchise [[spoiler: (even if she's really a hippogriff turned into a seapony)]]. She provides help to the Mane Six and even assists them in the FinalBattle.
[[/folder]]

* ''Franchise/StarWars''
** Let's start with Princess Leia. The plot of the series could have been exactly the same were she not a princess (the princess of a planet that [[DoomedHometown is brutally destroyed in the first movie]]!), and yet she is. It doesn't hurt that she is proof that AuthorityEqualsAsskicking... when Luke comes with Han and Chewie to break her out of jail, ''she takes charge of her own rescue'' and gets them safely out of the prison block.
** Padmé from the prequel series was a queen, though, and only that in the first movie. Weirdly, Padmé is specifically an ''elected'' queen, even though she's barely in her teens. One wonders what the ''other'' candidates must have been like. This seems to be common practice on Naboo; Episode III featured an even younger Queen, and according to the EU most Naboo politicians retire at 20, though both Padmé and Palpatine defied this trend. Well, we do get the impression the planet's supposed to be too idealistic for its own good. The EU also gave Padmé a Princess title in her past; she was Princess of Theed (and governing the place at the age of 12!) before she was elected Queen.\\\
In the Expanded Universe, they explain this as Naboo colonists coming from another world, which had (and continues to have) a hereditary monarchy. While the Naboo gave up the government structure, they kept the traditional titles for head of state and other positions despite their elected nature. This is reminiscent of the fact that one of the proposed and rejected titles for the first president of America was "His Elected Majesty".
* In the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'', there's:
** Jedi Princess Kendalina
** Warrior Princess Plourr, X-Wing Pilot
** One-armed Jedi Princess (later Queen) Tenel Ka
* In ''Film/{{Stardust}}'' all the princes (save one) are evil, but their sister the princess is as sweet as can be. The book avoided this. She wasn't exactly evil, but growing up surrounded by vindictive princes and later a vindictive witch made her very shrewd and cold-hearted. [[spoiler:In both versions, she is the hero's mother.]] Possibly justified in that the princes were ''expected'' to kill each other off until there was only one left to inherit the throne. Since girls couldn't rule the kingdom, there was no reason for the princess to be involved in such scheming. Yvaine also bypasses princess and [[spoiler: goes straight to Queen when she marries Tristan]].
* ''Film/BillAndTed'' have a time machine in which they can bag any historical babe they wanted. No points in guessing who they pick.
* The makers of ''Film/DOADeadOrAlive'' probably thought of this trope when they made Kasumi a ninja princess.
* ''Film/AKidInKingArthursCourt'' took out Guinevere and gave the widowed King Arthur ''two'' daughters, Princess Katey and Princess Sarah.
* The Creator/DisneyChannel movie ''Film/PrincessProtectionProgram'' gives princesses... well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin their own protection program]] should they find themselves in danger. Presumably this trope is the reason why [[MenAreTheExpendableGender princes are not mentioned as getting the same privileges]].
* Neytiri from ''Film/{{Avatar}}''. Did she really ''need'' to be TheChiefsDaughter? (To be fair, her place as the successor to the tribe's shaman gave her statement that there had been a sign from Eywa considerable weight, but still.)
* The Princess in ''Film/TheThiefOfBagdad'' -- she's just "the Princess".
* Princess Tamina in ''Film/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime'', who is apparently the princess of a city: one comment by her suggests that for some reason, each woman who guards [[MacGuffin the time-reversing dagger]] is called a princess. The movie seems to imply that her city is an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality independent principality]]. As such the title of the city’s monarch would be princess, especially if only women ascend to the throne.
* Altogether subverted by ''Film/MirrorMask'': The Dark Princess is the EvilCounterpart of the main character, who is an ordinary circus girl.
* In the SoBadItsGood children's adventure film ''Film/QuestOfTheDeltaKnights'', it's revealed that serving wench/implied prostitute Thena is actually the long-lost Princess Athena of a neighboring kingdom.
* Subverted in ''Film/SnowWhiteATaleOfTerror''. The protagonist Liliana is not a princess but merely the daughter of a nobleman. Notably when she hides with the miners, they mockingly call her princess because of her attitude. Eventually calling her "little princess" morphs into a term of endearment for all of them.
* The Creator/JackBlack film ''[[Film/GulliversTravels2010 Gulliver's Travels]]'' certainly has a princess as a prominent character though she's part of the BetaCouple rather than the main protagonist's love interest.
* In ''Film/VanHelsing'' Anna's father is referred to as "King of the Gypsies," which would make her a princess. The blurb on the back of the DVD case even calls her a 'Gypsy Princess,' although the only time she's explicitly called that in the film is by [[TheDragon Aleera]] in a rather mocking tone.
* Although not to the extent of the books (mentioned below), ''Film/ThePrincessDiaries'' combats this trope a little. Mia discovers she is a princess at age 15 and hates the idea. Her friend Lily also lists reasons why she shouldn't choose to become one. A big plot of the movie is how frequently a princess is in the public eye - and Mia has one of her worst moments being caught by the paparazzi. Ultimately, though, she chooses to accept the job and her situation has improved by the sequel.
* ''{{Film/Elizabeth}}'' has people refer to Elizabeth Tudor as "Princess Elizabeth" before she is crowned Queen. In reality she was disinherited at age 3 and was only titled "Lady Elizabeth;" although her father's will did restore her to the succession, it did not restore her princess title.
* {{Averted|Trope}} in ''Film/{{Cinderella 2015}}''. The movie emphasizes the prince choosing Cinderella over other possible princesses. [[spoiler:Moreover, Cinderella becomes a queen, not a princess, upon marriage, since Kit had been made king due to his father's death.]]
* ''Film/ARoyalNightOut'' - Two young ladies going on a drunken night out is funny. But how much better is it if they're two princesses? VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory involving Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret going out to celebrate with the crowds on VE Night.
* ''{{Film/Kingsman}}'': In the first movie, there is a [[SexyScandinavian Swedish princess]] held captive by [[BigBad Valentine]], but she gets rescued by [[TheHero Eggsy]] and promises to... "[[RescueSex reward him properly]]". In the second movie, she becomes his {{Love Interest|s}} and play a bigger role in the story.

* ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' has not one, two, or three, but ten princesses. They indeed make everything better, by being RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething.
* ''Literature/ALittlePrincess''. To clarify, Sara Crewe considers herself to be a princess and looks to various royal women in history as role models. Though her attitude isn't because of her money (she's actually SpoiledSweet), she considers herself to be a princess because she acts grand and dignified, and would never do something vulgar. In one film adaptation, she makes a big speech about how all girls are princesses.
* Averted in ''Literature/EllaEnchanted''. She marries a Prince, yet specifically requests not to be a Princess.
* Creator/LloydAlexander's ''Literature/ChroniclesOfPrydain'': The chatty [[FieryRedhead redhead]] who gets protagonist Taran out of a scrape (and proceeds to irritate him for the rest of the book) in ''The Book of Three'' turns out to be "Eilonwy daughter of Angharad daughter of Regat of the Royal House of Llyr." She's the last surviving member of a royal, magic-wielding bloodline. The complications of her ancestry form the plot of the third book in the series. Justified, somewhat, in that Prydain is based on ancient Wales, which ''did'' have a number of sub-kingdoms united under the rule of a single High King. So finding a stray princess wandering around Prydain was less contrived than it might be in another fictional country. Taran was pretty startled by the revelation, though. He was still getting used to the idea of royalty not always looking (or acting) how he imagined. (There's also the fact that they'd spent most of the book together, and he didn't find out she was a princess until literally the last page because Eilonwy never thought it was important enough to mention.)
* From Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs's works:
** In the ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'' series, Mars has many, beginning with Dejah Thoris, the title character of ''A Princess of Mars''. ''Thuvia, Maid of Mars''. Tara in ''Chessmen of Mars''. Valla Dia in ''The Master Mind of Mars''. And many others. [[RagsToRoyalty Not always evident at first]].
** The ''Literature/{{Amtor}}'' series has Duare of Vepaja, the Venusian princess and Carson Napier's love interest.
** Nah-ee-lah, the title character of ''Literature/TheMoonMaid'', is Princess of Laythe.
* Averted with the ruthless, patricidal/fratricidal Idaan Machi in ''Literature/TheLongPriceQuartet''.
* ''Literature/ThePrincessDiaries'' seems to embrace this, so say the pretty covers and TheFilmOfTheBook. Actually, the books go into a lot of politics and how "IJustWantToBeNormal" is not such an odd complaint if [[ChangelingFantasy you happen to become a princess]]. The protagonist's grandmother especially is used to dash the princess dream; besides the ridiculous self-preserving measures she uses on the titular princess, dear old Grandmere also refuses to let her ex-daughter-in-law invite her own friends to her own wedding, feeling embarrassed by them, and instead invites the likes of Martha Stewart and Coco Chanel. Mia's SoapboxSadie friend is used in contrast to say that the monarchy is outdated and its glamour far too overrated.
* Several feature in ''Literature/TheRunelords'', most prominently [[ProperLady Iome Sylvarresta]] and [[LadyOfWar Erin Connal]].
* In the eleventh book of ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'', spoilt brat Carmelita Spats dresses up as a "tap-dancing ballerina fairy princess veterinarian."
* You want a princess? There's, like, [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters hundreds of princesses]] in ''Literature/WarAndPeace''. There aren't even that many princes. Justified because in Imperial Russia, the title could (and usually did) mean the top rank of non-royal nobility. There were princ(ess)es of Imperial blood, who were actually related to the Tsar, and there were the noble-but-not-royal kind. Royal princesses were usually titled Grand Duchess rather than Princess, the implication of the title being that they ranked ''higher'' than a regular princess. Since other princesses were non-royal, this was accurate. Grand Duchesses were the direct relatives of the Emperor. Indirect ones were titled prince(ss)es of imperial blood.[[note]]The confusion is due to different conventions of translating the Russian terms into other languages. In imperial Russia there were the dignities of ''knyaz'' and ''knyaginya'', which is usually translated as "prince" and "princess", so the higher rank of respectively ''veliki knyaz'' and ''velikaya knyaginya'' correctly should be translated as "grand prince" and "grand princess", not "grand duke" and "grand duchess". In German for instance, which also differentiates between princes and princesses who are merely non-reigning members of a reigning family (''Prinz'' and ''Prinzessin'') and those who actually rule a principality (e. g. the ''Fürst'' and ''Fürstin'' of Liechtenstein), the higher Russian ranks are translated as ''Großfürst'' and ''Großfürstin'').[[/note]]
* Interestingly enough, while ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' features royally-connected ladies like Galadriel, Arwen, and Éowyn, the title "princess" is never actually used, though "prince" is.
* ''Literature/LandOfOz'' series: Oz's Princess Ozma and Princess Dorothy. Ozma is a ruling princess, although Oz is explicitly described as being a kingdom; she makes Dorothy a princess in her own right because of how much the people love her and how much she's helped the realm.
* {{Averted|Trope}} in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime''. Elayne is the daughter of a queen and presumptive heir to the throne of Andor, but though the word "princess" appears exactly once, referenced as an archaic title that had long ago fallen out of use, "Daughter-heir" is used with the same frequency and arrogance.
* In the third ''Literature/BookOfSwords'', Mark rescues a young woman from a cage in Vilkata's camp. No, he was not sent to rescue her nor did he have any idea who she was. Both are seriously wounded, but thanks to ThePowerOfLove (quite literally by summoning Aphrodite) they both survive. And inexplicably, the woman turns out to be the Princess, though she is the top Royal and is obviously in charge, of the lands Mark was sent to. Though neither of them knew it until her people cheer her.
* Princess Marjorie Bruce from ''Girl in a Cage''. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin She, of course, is the girl in the cage]].
* Averted in ''Literature/TheWarGods'' series. Although the main character is technically a prince, he's way way down the list to inherit the throne and WordOfGod states he won't be king. Further he's the son of a king, but the king was chosen from all the tribal chiefs of their people. It gets further complicated with many different cultures and a rash of history that leaves the king of as least one good size country using the title of baron due to the historical king being long dead and no noble above king surviving the Godamerung. So far most of the women saved in the series tend to be lower class being abused by evil royals. And the badass female warriors all have lower class backgrounds.
* Averted in ''The Council Wars'' by none of the good guys having true royals. The government is a republic modeled off Rome.
* Subverted in the book ''Summer Knight'' of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', where [[spoiler:the BigBad turns out to be Aurora, the effectively-princess of the usually-nicer half of TheFairFolk]].
* Princess Irene, the title princess of Creator/GeorgeMacDonald's ''Literature/ThePrincessAndTheGoblin'' and ''The Princess and Curdie''.
-->''While the princess stared bewildered, with her head just inside the door, the old lady lifted hers, and said, in a sweet, but old and rather shaky voice, which mingled very pleasantly with the continued hum of her wheel:\\
"Come in, my dear; come in. I am glad to see you."\\
That the princess was a real princess you might see now quite plainly; for she didn't hang on to the handle of the door, and stare without moving, as I have known some do who ought to have been princesses but were only rather vulgar little girls. She did as she was told, stepped inside the door at once, and shut it gently behind her.''
* Princess Saralinda in Creator/JamesThurber's ''Literature/The13Clocks''.
* Quite literal in ''Literature/ThePhantomTollbooth'', with the Princesses of [[MeaningfulName Sweet Rhyme and Pure Reason]], of the Kingdom of Wisdom. They are apparently high enough in authority that their brothers King Azaz and the Mathemagician, rulers of their own respective countries, appeal to them when there's a dispute... and once they're banished, Wisdom goes to Hell in a handbasket. It's only after they're rescued in TheQuest that the Kingdom becomes sane again... everything ''is'', in fact, better with them in charge.
* In Creator/PatriciaAMcKillip's ''Literature/TheBellAtSealeyHead'', sometimes Emma opens a door and meets up with the Princess Ysabo; they talk, but Emma never dares go into the room for fear the door won't open for her.
* ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'': Liriel Baenre. Of course her kingdom is evil, so she's fleeing it.
* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' has, of course, Princess Ce'nedra. The same author also has [[spoiler:Princess Danae, who's really the Child Goddess Aphrael]] in the Sparhawk novels.
* ''Literature/RangersApprentice'' has Princess Cassandra, who eventually becomes a RebelliousPrincess ActionGirl.
* Creator/BrandonSanderson seems to like princesses. ''Literature/{{Elantris}}'' has Sarene of Teod, a highly competent politician and diplomat (and part-time ActionGirl). In ''Literature/{{Warbreaker}}'' we have Siri, a happy-go-lucky free spirit who gets forced into a marriage with someone everyone thinks is an AGodAmI EvilOverlord. [[spoiler:The truth is rather more complex]]. Her older sister Vivenna is highly intelligent and poised but [[BreakTheHaughty has her illusions about the moral superiority of herself and her nation pretty much torn up]] during the course of the book [[spoiler:though she becomes a better person for it, gaining sympathy for the lower classes she never had before]]. They have a middle sister too, a member of the national religious order who doesn't do a whole lot to advance the plot.
* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia''
** Averted when the two Pevensie girls, Susan and Lucy, become Queens of Narnia in the first book, bypassing Princess altogether.
** We get two quasi-princesses in ''Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy''. Aravis and Lasaraleen are daughters of high ranking officials in Calormen, so they're not technically princesses (their title is "Tarkheena" - female equivalent to "Tarkhan") though Lasaraleen indeed acts like a stereotypical princess. Aravis [[spoiler: eventually marries the heir to the throne of Archenland, making her a princess in the classic sense and presumably eventually a Queen]].
* ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath'': Averted with Jame, who is effectively a princess but is '''never''' mentioned with that title. Jame's father, and later her brother, are both effectively kings but in their culture their rules hold the title of "Highlord." By birth, Jame simply has the title "Lady," the same as all Highborn women. She also holds the title [[spoiler:"Lordan" (the gender-neutral title held by a lord's--including a highlord's--heir) because her brother ''chooses'' to bestow it on her. In their culture, people can pick any relative to be their heir, and female lordan are almost unheard of.]]
* In ''Four Kids, Three Cats, Two Cows, One Witch (maybe)'' when the children are telling their individual stories, both Gerard and Beverley add princesses into theirs. Gerard admits his would work without a princess and says she could just be an heiress or some woman of property. Beverley's story serves to subvert StandardHeroReward so including a princess was definitely intentional with her.
* Definitely ''The Faerie Path'' series by Frewin Jones, where seven main characters are princesses.
* Another aversion comes from Mary de Morgan's ''The Necklace of Princess Fioremonde" about an evil princess who traps her suitors' spirits in the beads of her [[MagicItem necklace]].
* The ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' series, with [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters its protagonists]]' nation of Manticore (and many of its allies) being [[TheKingdom a constitutional monarchy]], has its fair share of princesses.
** The protagonist herself, after she was awarded with a right to found her own steading (a sort of a semi-independent nation in the allied Protectorate of Grayson), has been more of an [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething actual royalty]], but before she had any issue, it was her ([[ItMakesSenseInContext 60 years younger]]) kid sister who was the heir to her steading.
** Admiral Michelle "Mike" Henke, (later) Countess Gold Peak, the protagonist's best friend, is actually a first cousin of Her Majesty the Queen herself through their common grandmother.
** The first member of the Manticorian Royal Family adopted by a treecat was Princess Adrienne, later Queen Adrienne I of Manticore.
** Princess Ruth (the stepdaughter of Queen Elizabeth III's brother Prince Michael) was the first member of the Royal Family to become a spy.
** Lieutenant Abigail Hearns of the Grayson Space Navy is, in all practical terms, a princess, although her ''actual'' title as the daughter of a Steadholder is the far less assuming Miss Owens (Honor's sister Faith was, correspondingly, called Miss Harrington).
** The book ''The Shadow of Saganami'' centers on a ship whose officers included Miss Owens and Midshipman Helen Zilwicki, the stepsister of Queen Berry of Torch ([[ItMakesSenseInContext Helen's dad adopted Berry before she was royalty]]). Their captain observes with a bit of humor that they appear to have a surplus of princesses embarked on this mission.
** Before that, Berry Zilwicki had her own share of the adventures in the ''Crown of Slaves'' with her friend, the aforementioned Princess Ruth Winton, though she wasn't a Queen yet, and it was the very same adventures, in fact, that had led to the Kingdom of Torch's establishment.
* Averted in the ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'' series by David Weber. The lead female character is beautiful, headstrong, and most importantly, spunky, but she's an actual queen.
* Miriamele in ''Literature/MemorySorrowAndThorn'' is the RebelliousPrincess version, fleeing the ArrangedMarriage her JerkAss father attempts to force upon her and becoming part of the desperate struggle against the Storm King's power. She's not bad in a fight, being the archer, and plays a significant role in the redemption of the monk, Cadrach. True to the trope, she's also TheHero Simon's {{Love Interest|s}} and [[spoiler:becomes his queen after his MosesInTheBulrushes reveal]].
* {{Invoked|Trope}} in ''[[Creator/MatthewReilly Seven Ancient Wonders]]'', when the heroes are given cutesy nicknames by a 5-year-old girl. Naturally, she calls her "Princess". Inverted in the sequels, when they meet a real princess.
* In ''Literature/ThePrincessSeries'', the three main characters are the princesses Cinderella, Aurora and Snow White. Also in the second book they fight against Princess Lirea (Ariel the little mermaid).
* Buttercup, in ''Literature/ThePrincessBride'', was a commoner elevated to the status of Princess to be able to wed Crown Prince Humperdink. She proved a quick study in expressing the Royal attitude.
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' story "Literature/BlackColossus", Yasmela.
* There has been a recent trend in religious books geared towards young girls (toddlers to teens) to remind them that they're "God's Special Princess!" Boys are not told they are princes. They are "God's Mighty Warrior!" Make of that what you will.
* Cheerfully played with in the novel ''Literature/TheOrdinaryPrincess''. The title character is the youngest child of a king and queen whose daughters are all named for jewels; she is Amethyst. When her fairy godmother gives her the gift of being ordinary, she becomes perfectly plain-looking and prefers to go by the name of Amy.
* Literature/MiyaBlackPiratePrincess isn't JUST a pirate.
* In ''Cry of the Icemark'', Thirrin starts as a princess, interestingly, we first encounter her out hunting. She does go on to be a warrior queen so your mileage may vary.
* The warlord Manzai from ''[[Literature/{{Spellsinger}} Chorus Skating]]'' evidently believed this in-universe, as he ''collected'' princesses abducted from neighboring countries. The party that freed his collectibles found this trope subverted when their five rescued charges prove to be [[SpoiledBrat quite a handful]].
* Presumably in a parody of the many stories featuring a princess as a DamselInDistress kidnapped by some sort of monster, the ''Literature/MediochreQSethSeries'' mentions that dragons like to collect beautiful virgin princesses, along with gold and shiny things. Of course, nowadays most monarchies have long-since disbanded, but it appears that no-one has told the dragons this: the dragon Deep Ocean in the first book has a kidnapped French girl with no idea that she's technically the first in line to some non-existent throne somewhere.
* In Creator/SeananMcGuire's ''Literature/VelveteenVs'' series, the Princess derives her superpowers from the collective notion of "princess" as held by the little girls of the world.
* The whole purpose of the series of children's books [[http://www.tiaraclub.co.uk/ The tiara club]]
* Creator/TaraDuncan [[ExaggeratedTrope exaggerates this trope]] with all female prominent characters being princesses more or less officially; Tara is an heiress of the [[TheEmperor imperial category]] [[spoiler:(along with her long-lost sister)]]while her friends Sparrow and Fafnir are respectively non-heiress princess and TheChiefsDaughter. The female dragon Charm is later revealed being a princess too, like the demon Sanhexia.
* ''Literature/TheApprenticeRogue'': Deconstructed. This story shows what a real life princess could expect; cloistered to preserve her chastity and then married off for political alliance without her input.
* [[Literature/{{Dragons}} The Last Dragon Chronicles]]: The female Pennykettles are all examples, being descended from royalty. More specifically, [[spoiler:dragon royalty. Technicalities. What can ya do?]]
* The ''Literature/RainbowMagic'' series have the Princess Fairies.
* In ''Literature/TheUnderlandChronicles'', the crawlers refer to Boots as "the princess", and she spends almost all of ''Gregor and the Marks of Secret'' in a princess costume.
* Largely averted in the ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' novels. There is only one central character who is a princesss, Elspeth the heir of Valdemar, and in her case the focus is entirely on the [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething duties and responsibilities]] that weigh on a girl who needs to be prepared to take the throne someday.
* In ''Literature/TheEmpressGame'', the Sakien Empire has no shortage of them, and the titular Empress Game is a gladiatorial combat between them. The protagonist impersonates one (and secretly, ''is'' one from a different place). That said, "princess" is defined fairly broadly — daughters of non-monarchical authority figures (religious leaders, for example) seem to qualify as well as royalty.
* ''Literature/TheElenium'' trilogy:
** Queen Ehlana (who was, of course, Princess Ehlana prior to her father's death).
** Princess Arissa, Ehlana's [[EvilUncle evil aunt]].
** The third book introduces [[spoiler:Ehlana's daughter, Princess Danae]].
* ''Literature/PrincessesOfThePizzaParlor'': Every girl that plays in the game, has a princess for a character.

* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': Cordelia Chase ascends the throne of Pylea within 48 hours. "Off with their heads", indeed.
* ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce'' has Princess Shayla as their mentor. No particular plot-relevant reason for her to be a princess.
* Inverted in ''Series/TinMan'': True, DG is a princess and the best hope of the resistance, but [[spoiler:it's also all her fault that there's a need for a resistance in the first place]]! She also seems to conspicuously lack the floofy dress and tiara. She never wanted to be a princess or even dreamed that she was. She takes after great-grandma Dorothy, who was quite the ActionGirl!
* ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'':
** Xena is a princess in honourary title only. [[spoiler:Revealed in a flashback, Xena's mentor says that Xena will be her "warrior princess" fighting for love, peace, and all that jazz]] -- thus explaining away the show's title.
** Gabrielle, her sidekick, is an Amazon princess, sorta. [[spoiler:She gets to be an actual Amazon princess by the Queen of the Greek Amazons' younger sister and heir transferring her right of caste (a.k.a. princess-hood) to her before dying; she then gets to be Queen further on.]]
* ''Series/TheMysticKnightsOfTirNaNog'' features a FiveManBand of warriors who utilize the elements of earth, air, fire, water and, oddly, forest. Four of the Knights are male, one is female -- Princess Deirdre. She [[ActiveRoyalty takes over her father's duties when he's incapacitated]]. Also, three of the male knights were princes from other kingdoms [[spoiler:including the one they were fighting against]]!
* ''Series/{{Kings}}'' is good for this. In a court filled with adulterers, corruption, misdirection and all manner of levels of deceit, only Princess Michelle cares about the health care of the people and is willing to sacrifice. Unfortunately for her, ''GoodIsDumb''.
* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'':
** The only female in the FiveManBand of ''Series/KyoryuSentaiZyuranger'' is [[GratuitousEnglish Princess]] Mei. The rest of them are titled are Warriors... well, except Geki, who is a [[GratuitousEnglish Prince]].
** Natsuki Mamiya from ''Series/GoGoSentaiBoukenger'' is also a Princess of a Lost Civilization of Lemuria. Except that her kingdom's long gone, buried in the water.
** ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'' also has Princess Ahim de Famille, who's... actually the last survivor of her destroyed clan.
* In ''Series/RedDwarf'', there's inexplicably a princess in the middle of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, apparently there solely so [[TheAce Ace Rimmer]] can [[SaveThePrincess rescue her]] while fighting Nazis. What a guy.
* Delenn in ''Series/BabylonFive'' is a Satai and a descendant of Valen, and just ''acts'' like a princess.
* Played straight in ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'' with Princess Elena, who herself is a {{Deconstruction}} of a TomboyPrincess but is nevertheless called a "princess" despite her father only carrying the title of "lord." It's played even straighter with Princess Mithian, though she's a case of PrincessesRule. Otherwise {{averted}} throughout the rest of the series. High-born ladies such as Morgana and Vivian are referred to as "ladies", despite them being the daughters of kings [[spoiler:though in Morgana's case, her paternity was kept a secret]], and Guinevere is a servant girl [[spoiler:who jumps straight to the title of Queen when she marries Arthur]].
* In ''Series/DiplomaticImmunity'', Leighton's love interest Leilani is daughter to the brother of the king which technically makes her a princess. Leighton must have a thing for princesses because before the show's beginning he had a public indiscretion with one. And in another episode Leighton gets persuaded to join the Aru Tiki order upon hearing that tradition says he would get his pick of beautiful island princesses.
* In ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** A WhatCouldHaveBeen example: in [[http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/Doctor-scripts-attic/story-18411426-detail/story.html#axzz2NWm7EqMh early drafts]] of the first serials, Susan (or rather, Suzanne) was an alien princess.
** Used as a plot point in "The Armageddon Factor". The serial's main protagonist (apart from team TARDIS), Princess Astra, turns out to be [[spoiler:the final segment of the [[MacGuffin Key to Time]], and sacrifices her human form to help the Doctor complete his quest. After the Doctor destroys the Key to Time at the end of the story, the last segment becomes Astra once again]].
* The whole premise of ''Series/PrincessReturningPearl'' revolve around the adventures of the fake princess Xiao Yan Zi (who even becomes a real princess when she gets married to the PrinceCharming) and the real princess Zi Wei.
* One episode of ''{{Series/Charmed}}'' revolved around fairies. Thistle, the fairy being protected by a little girl, is of course a princess too. The episode "A Knight To Remember" Gender Flips this by giving Paige a ''prince'' summoned from the past. In this case, Paige's past life was attempting to exploit this trope by marrying the prince and seizing control of his kingdom. The episode does feature another woman in the past who is referred to as simply "Lady" Julia - though she would presumably become a princess once the sisters saved her.
* Pops up a couple of times in ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch''. When Sabrina is preparing for her wedding she becomes obsessed with being a princess. To the degree that she summons Cinderella for advice. It's also given a Gender Flip in the season 1 finale. Sabrina is locked in a tower by a troll. And it's legal. The only way to save her is if a ''Prince'' rescues her. Said troll does dress Sabrina up like a PrincessClassic though.
* Slater actually gets a Princess for a love interest in an episode of ''Series/SavedByTheBell''. It's somewhat PlayedForDrama as Slater worries that he doesn't fit into her world - but ultimately gets over it.
--> '''Slater:''' I never thought I'd be dating a Princess.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''Princess Natasha: Student Secret Agent Princess'', a flash animation series developed for AOL Kids. Actually, it was Nintendo's idea of turning Princess Natasha into a video game for Game Boy Advance and DS.
* The Princess is a class in the Sega RPG ''7th Dragon''. It appears to be exactly equivalent to the bard-type class in similar games, supporting the other units in the party.
* In ''VideoGame/AWitchsTale'', every land except for Queen Alice's is ruled by a Princess.
* There's Princess Olivia Von Roselia in ''VideoGame/BattleFantasia'', who is very much what you would expect out of a princess, kind-hearted and putting her kingdom above all else! Although she does cross the RebelliousPrincess line a few times, as she does leave the castle, without her father's permission in order to [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething solve the mystery of a bad omen]], as well as consistently denying to return to the castle after being asked by one of her father's best friends, the Bunny Wizard, Watson. Also, considering it's a fighting game, she doesn't seem to mind solving some disputes with violence, despite her kind personality, and she does it well too.
* Monica in ''VideoGame/DarkChronicle'' is a princess. Considering that the first thing we see her do is chopping up Emperor Griffin's men, we can tell [[ActionGirl she's far from helpless]].
* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' has not one, not two, but three different princesses. Rhea of Thorolund is the princess of TheTheocracy. Dusk of Oolacile is the [[LastOfHisKind last of her kind]] after her kingdom was destroyed an untold number of years ago. Princess Gwynevere is the daughter of Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight and ruler of the world.
* ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' gives us demon princess Rozalin in the [[VideoGame/Disgaea2CursedMemories second game]] and human princess Sapphire Rhodonite in the [[VideoGame/Disgaea3AbsenceOfJustice third]]. Of course, Rhodonite has a ([[OneManArmy not]] [[AxCrazy unfounded]]) reputation as an unflinching berserker while Rozalin has a bloody history as [[spoiler:Zenon, the "God of All Overlords"]].
* In ''VideoGame/DisneyPrincessEnchantedJourney'', the game is about Disney Princesses, your character turns out to be the lost princess, and the villain, Zara, is an ex-princess.
* ''VideoGame/EternalSonata'' has Princess Serenade, who is said to be a princess of Forte, even though the region is ruled by a count.
* The third ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'' game has Princesses as one of the playable classes. While [[DistaffCounterpart Princes exist]], Japanese preview media focuses on the Princess as the "default" of that class, featuring her prominently in most advertisements and throwing in her male counterpart almost as an afterthought.
* Need an excuse for over-the-top bloody cartoon violence? Rescue the ''VideoGame/FatPrincess''.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy''
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' has Princess Sarah, not to be confused with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'''s Princess ''Sara''. And in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'', there is the original Princess-slash-LaResistance leader, Princess Hilda.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' has King Giott of the Dwarves and his daughter, Princess Luca (and her terrifying doll collection).
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' has three: Lenna, Krile, and [[spoiler:Faris, who is Lenna's long lost older sister]]. By about the halfway point of the game, they constitute three quarters of the playable characters, making VideoGame/FinalFantasyV probably the most princess-heavy installment of the series.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', Rinoa leads LaResistance, and the others refer to her as a "princess." She's later revealed to be the daughter of a high-ranking member of the occupying country's government.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' has Garnet/Dagger, who has a HeroicBSOD around the same time [[spoiler:she's crowned queen.]] Also add that to the fact that she's revealed [[spoiler: she wasn't born into the royal family. She washed up in Alexandria and happened to look a bit like the deceased princess]].
*** There's an in-universe example. The popular play "I Want To Be Your Canary" features only one female character. She is of course a princess.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'''s Princess Ashe is a {{Deconstruction}}. She's the leader of LaResistance, all right, but can hardly be said to have it easy. She's stuck in a surprisingly realistic depiction of the burdens of a real leader, and is the one who has to make all the hard choices.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' also heavily deconstructs this trope with Princess Ovelia, who, in addition to [[spoiler:not actually being the real Ovelia]], spends much of the game being kidnapped, narrowly avoiding assassination, and being used as a political tool by pretty much every major power in Ivalice. [[spoiler: And things only gets worse in the ending.]] It's safe to say that Ovelia's life as a princess is a thoroughly miserable one.
** Also subverted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesMyLifeAsADarkLord'', in which the playable princess is a dark, um, lady.
* Both averted and played straight in the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series. Put briefly, the series loves its royalty, especially princes and princesses who [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething actually do something]].
** Guinevere in ''Fire Emblem 6'', who becomes a RebelliousPrincess and joins Roy in his quest to stop her [[CainAndAbel embittered and disenchanted older brother]], King Zephiel.
** ''Fire Emblem 8'' has three princesses. One of the main characters, Eirika, is a LadyOfWar Princess and swordwoman from Renais. Her best friend, the [[FragileSpeedster Pegasus Knight]] Tana, is the princess of Frelia. And another friend of hers, [[WellExcuseMePrincess L'Arachel]], is the princess of Rausten.
** Elincia is only a princess in ''Fire Emblem 9''; in ''Fire Emblem 10'', she's TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask, and is crowned at the end of the game. She's surprisingly competent at it given her mostly passive role in ''Path of Radiance''. Sanaki, on the other hand, is both the legitimate empress and the [[spoiler:false]] apostle of Begnion.
** Fire Emblem 1 features a veritable cavalcade of Princesses working in Marth's army, including his sister Elice, the princesses of Macedonia Minerva and Maria, the princess of the Divine Dragons Tiki, and Caeda, Princess of Talys. The third game subverts this with [[StepfordSmiler Princess Nyna]], while its side game, ''Gaiden'', gives us [[spoiler:Celica]], who turns out to be the long-lost princess of Zofia.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' once again gives us a slew of princesses; there's Emmeryn and Lissa, who are [[WarriorPrince Chrom's]] older and younger sisters, respectively, and [[spoiler:there is his future daughter, Lucina. If he marries Sumia or Sully, their daughters, Cynthia and Kjelle, will also be princesses]]. Finally, [[spoiler:the BigBad Validar becomes the king of the Theocracy of Plegia during the game, so this would technically mean that [[PlayerCharacter the Avatar]], if female, would be a princess as well]]. Finally, we get Say'ri, the sword-wielding princess of Chon'sin. [[spoiler: If a Male Avatar marries any of the above, his daughter Morgan would be a princess by birthright.]]
** As for ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', the Avatar, if female, is a princess of Hoshido raised with the royal family of Nohr. 'Princess' is even in her starting class's name! The {{Deuteragonist}} Azura is the opposite of the Avatar: a princess of Nohr raised with the royal family of Hoshido. Speaking of said royal families, in Nohr there's Camilla and Elise, and in Hoshido there's Hinoka and Sakura. If someone marries Leo or Takumi, they'd be princesses by marriage. (Marriage to Ryoma or Xander doesn't count since [[spoiler: they succeed to the throne, making their wives queens by the end of the game.]] Marriage to a male Avatar counts as long as it's not the ''Revelations'' route [[spoiler: for the same reason.) Ophelia is a princess by blood, being Lissa's granddaughter through her father (and Lissa's son) Owain/Odin. A Male Avatar, if married, will produce a daughter named Kana who also has Nohr Princess as her starting class, and a Female Avatar, if married to a man that produces a daughter, can have a daughter who can reclass into Nohr Princess. And if a man marries one of the above royals and produces a daughter, that daughter would be a princess]].
* ''VideoGame/HyperPrincessPitch'' stars a princess, who's also a demigod apparently. Rather then concern herself with affairs of state, her only goal in life seems to be bringing an end to Christmas and causing [[StuffBlowingUp gratuitous explosions]].
* ''VideoGame/InfiniteSpace'' has Princess Glorinda and Katida. Glorinda borders on LadyOfWar given her capabilities as a fleet admiral, and having her as a crew member will increase the damage done by your [[SpaceFighter fighters]]. Katida, on the other hand, is a more classic example of this trope, most notably for filling the role of DamselInDistress and has shades of RoyalBrat. [[spoiler:She can ultimately subvert this trope if you don't recruit her, which gives [[PlayerPunch FAR worse impact]] for the storyline.]]
* ''Videogame/JablessAdventure'' features what we can only assume is a parody of the standard "rescue the princess" plot. Specifically, the princess isn't even mentioned until the game is almost over. Then, after you defeat the final boss, said princess shows up out of nowhere.
-->'''Jables:''' If we've found a jet pack, then we're probably nearing the end of the game.\\
'''Squiddy:''' Oh, I guess you're right.\\
'''Jables:''' Yeah.\\
'''Squiddy:''' On the bright side, you'll get to meet the princess soon.\\
'''Jables:''' I didn't know there was a princess.\\
'''Squiddy:''' Neither did I...
* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' have the "Princesses of Heart" - Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, Jasmine, Alice and Kairi - six young women who each have a heart of pure light. Despite the use of the word "princess" being royalty is not a qualification. Later games in the series explain that they're called princesses because their power can be harnessed to "reign over all worlds".
* ''VideoGame/KingsQuestIVThePerilsOfRosella '': One of the oldest video game examples (and an ActionGirl to boot!) is Princess Rosella of Daventry.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' has Princess Pride [[spoiler:who deliberately averts this trope, as she is working for Gospel. She gets redeemed later though]].
* In ''VideoGame/MitsumeteKnight'', Princess Priscilla Dolphan fits the bill. She's a [[KingIncognito Princess Incognito]] GenkiGirl [[IJustWantToBeNormal who longs for a life as a normal commoner girl]], and is only [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask Wearing The Queenly Mask]] in important receptions for pleasing her beloved father. She of course sports a lot of PrincessTropes (and nicely {{subvert|ed trope}}s or [[PlayingWithATrope plays with]] some of them, see her entry in [[Characters/MitsumeteKnight the game's Character Sheet]]), ''and'' is a NintendoHard character to get the ending of, due to being a Princess.
* Kitana from ''Franchise/MortalKombat''.
* Princess Kumatora in ''VideoGame/Mother3''. [[spoiler:Both straight and subverted - the only reason she's a "princess" is because some people decided that everything's better with them.]]
* All of the female [=PCs=] in ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'' are princesses, although [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething none of them are useless]]. The only one who actually resembled this trope is [[BrattyHalfPint Mercedes]], who [[CharacterDevelopment grows out of it]] and [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]] after she becomes queen.
* ''VideoGame/OgreBattle'' takes this trope literally: a Princess is one of the (if not the absolute) best soldiers in the game, mostly for the fact that every soldier in a unit led by a Princess gets an extra attack. The Princess herself has a powerful, hit everyone, white magic attack, which is also subject to getting an extra by the previous ability.
* The original ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' actually has Alis Landale, who spends the game traipsing around the world in a pink dress with her adorable Musk Cat friend, and doesn't find out she's actually the rightful princess of Algol.. and then immediately subverts it, because her father's been dead for ages, rightfully and explicitly making her a queen (if she wants the throne, anyway).
* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarIII'' has a lineage system, where each chapter ends with the option for the hero to marry one of two potential brides, and the next chapter centers on their offspring. The final chapter includes a character named Kara, who is one of the few female characters to join the party ''without'' actually being a princess, but because there are two potential versions of her depending on the player's marriage choices, the delicate, more-feminine one with healing techniques is still referred to as "Princess Kara" by the fanbase.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Robopon}}'', there's Princess Darcy in the first game and Princess Juliet in the second game.
* Invoked as part of the game's {{Fairytale Motif|s}} in ''VideoGame/RuleOfRose'', as the ruling rank in the Red Crayon Aristocrats is the Princess of the Red Rose, who is supposed to fulfill all the stereotypical princess-tropes. Since the Aristocrats are a DeadlyDecadentCourt consisting solely of young girls, she doesn't quite hold up to them, even if she wasn't an inanimate china doll [[spoiler:or appeared to be one, in any case]]. There's also the game's insistence of calling every single female character save for the protagonist a Princess in the narration.
* Princess Satera from ''VideoGame/ShiningWisdom''. Not only does she get kidnapped she also gets turned into a swan!
* Twin princesses Teri and Tina in ''Snow Brothers'', whose kisses cause the snow to melt from the heroes.
* ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 Sonic 2006]]''
** Subverted with Princess Elise, who decidedly ''did not'' make things better. Even those who did like the game had some inconvenience with it.
** [[LadyOfWar Blaze]], though she's more the DefrostingIceQueen type, and also one of the few new characters ''not'' [[TheScrappy hated by the fanbase]]. It might also be because she was originally shown to be a queen, rather than a princess, and that she debuted in ''VideoGame/{{Sonic Rush|Series}}''.
* Hildegard "Hilde" Von Krone of the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries''. Her main outfit consists of a full suit of armor rather than anything vaguely Princess like (though her alternate outfit is a dress, but it's [[AvertedTrope Not]] [[PrincessesPreferPink pink]]) and duel wields a spear and sword in battle. She's not actually stated to be a princess directly however, rather she's said to be the Daughter of the King of Wolfkrone, who has been driven mad by the Evil Seed, and has since been leading the kingdom in his stead. Her alternate outfit pieces are listed as "Princess ___" however hinting this is her title even if she is acting ruler.
* Compiling a list of all the princesses in the ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' series would take [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters some time]], and comparing them would take fair longer. Consider, though, LadyOfWar [[VideoGame/SuikodenTierkreis Chrodechild]]; the young, innocent, and [[{{Tsundere}} feisty]] [[VideoGame/SuikodenV Lymselia]]; and the archer [[VideoGame/SuikodenIV Flare]], who stands directly between those extremes in terms of personality (and combat efficacy).
* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** Princess Peach is always a princess, even when she's the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. Some adaptations add on a father, but he's mysteriously absent otherwise.
** There's also Princess Daisy. She was kidnapped by Tatanga in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand'' for UsefulNotes/GameBoy, so she actually has her own kingdom. It's called Sarasaland. Unlike Peach though, Daisy is a TomboyPrincess.
** Rosalina plays with this. While she shares the princess design of Peach and Daisy, she's never referred to by any kind of royal title, and her characterization and role fall squarely on that of TheHighQueen.
** {{Inverted|Trope}} by Princess Shroob of ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'', an EvilCounterpart to Peach who is the BigBad of the game.
* Taken to extremes with Princess Shine in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars''. She's not only a ruling princess of the nation of Riksent, but the rest of the world is [[TheFederation one nation!]] It's handwaved by saying that Riksent is a special area, but why don't we see any other leaders except for the President of the Federation?
* There's [[spoiler:Catiua]] in ''VideoGame/TacticsOgre''. Not only is Princess one of the best classes in the game, she gets ''three'' unique classes, more than any other character.
* There's also Estelle from ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'', who meets Yuri and follows him on an adventure in order to warn Flynn about danger. Oh, and also to discover a world outside of the royal palace.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** Princess Zelda seems to suffer chronic ParentalAbandonment. However, in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' her father was somehow removed by Agahnim and "recovered" during the ending sequence. In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' he was just off camera in the scene where Link and Zelda spy on Ganondorf during their first meeting; Hylia only knows what happened to him after that.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' plays with this:
*** While Zelda retains the title of princess through the story, it's only because Zant's invasion occurred right before her coronation ceremony. If it weren't for him, she would have been formally known as Queen Zelda, which explains why Zant goes to her to get the surrender.[[note]]It's worth noting that the game manual for ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'', which uses the ''Twilight Princess'' incarnations of Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf, explicitly refers to Zelda as the Queen of Hyrule.[[/note]]
*** The titular Twilight Princess is apparently the absolute [[spoiler:albeit recently deposed]] ruler of the Twilight Realm. Of interest is the fact that [[spoiler:Midna was apparently elected by the people to serve as the Princess, instead of Zant. A democratic monarchy]]. Note that while "Princess" is not the correct title for the female ruler of a ''kingdom'', it is correct for the female ruler of a ''principality''.
** Something similar applies to ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'': Zelda is not the queen, because she's just a child yet and therefore actually only second-in-command to her [[EvilChancellor Minister, Cole]]. It's unclear if she becomes Queen by the end of the game or if a new Minister is named, due to the original one [[spoiler:being killed in the final battle, along with Malladus.]]
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', she's the only known survivor of the royal line, although [[spoiler:her ancient ancestor, the antediluvian King of Hyrule, is still alive]]. Not that this makes much difference, since [[spoiler:when he dies and leaves her the throne, he '''takes all of Hyrule with him''']]!
** An aversion actually occurs with Zelda's ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' (the very first game in the series on a chronological sense) incarnation, who is ''not'' a princess or royalty, but still an important figure in the story. Makes sense, seeing as the ''Kingdom'' of Hyrule doesn't exist yet.
* Subverted in ''VideoGame/TheWitcher''. Princess Adda is [[spoiler:evil, power hungry, and spoiled. She tries to kill her father and usurp his throne, murder the hero to cover it up and at the end of the day she gets away with it all because of her social standing. She also started her life as a stillborn infant that was turned into a flesh eating monster and still has some leftover personality traits from that time including a taste for raw meat and an aggressive sexual appetite]].
* The ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' series, having an ImprobablyFemaleCast and LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, naturally includes a number of princesses, including Yuyuko (princess of the spirit world), Kaguya (former princess of the moon), the Watatsuki sisters (current princesses of the moon), and Shinmyoumaru (princess of the [[LittlePeople inchlings]]). A couple of other characters may also qualify: fanon has it that Alice may be the daughter of the GodQueen of the demon realm, for instance. However, only the Watatsuki sisters really behave in anything even remotely resembling a princessly manner; Kaguya, despite being a gracious hostess, is more of a sheltered {{Ojou}}; Yuyuko is, depending on who you ask, either TheDitz or one [[ObfuscatingStupidity Obfuscating]] MagnificentBitch, and Shinmyoumaru's princess-ness is so downplayed that you wouldn't know she even was a princess if it wasn't stated outright. From the [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome long-forgotten]] UsefulNotes/PC98 era there is also Kotohime, [[CloudCuckooLander but she thinks she's a cop]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Tsioque}}'' is about a princess who is on her own to rescue herself from the evil Wizard who took over her mother's castle. She doesn't need a prince to save her.
* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' has Princess Cordelia, a figurehead ruler who has passed off responsibility for her nation to the regent EvilChancellor. Her parents, strangely enough, were an Archduke and Duchess: both positions outrank a princess (and, somehow, the Duchess isn't an Archduchess, so their marriage must've been morganatic). Furthermore, Gallia maintains a Royal Guard, which should only apply in a kingdom, not a principality.
* Princess Yggdra from ''VideoGame/YggdraUnion'' is an interesting example. Her parents the king and queen were recently killed in the invasion of her country, and as she's on the run, she doesn't have anyone to coronate her properly. Until midway through the game, where she ''does'' become queen. And the accompanying class change makes her much more kickass.
* Feena Fam Earthlight from ''VideoGame/YoakeMaeYoriRuriIroNa'' is a princess, despite the fact that matriarchal monarchy seems to be an unlikely government type for a country that was founded by humans who had colonized the moon. Royal politics do come into play later in the story, however.
* While ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' doesn't have traditional princesses, There is the mythical Pokemon Diancie, a Rock and Fairy type that has a dress and hair made out of diamonds and is able to produce diamonds instantly. Although it has been referred to as such a princess, it's technically genderless despite its very feminine appearance.
* Only two of the potential party members in ''VideoGame/PuzzleQuest: Challenge of the Warlords'' are female, and one, Serephine, is a princess. She's arguably the most useless of them all, and is possibly ''only'' there because of this trope.
* Played straight and then averted in the ''VideoGame/{{Awakening}}'' series. Princess Sophia, the player character, is formally crowned queen at the end of the fourth game.
* Part and parcel of the FairytaleMotif of the ''VideoGame/DarkParables'' - ''every'' game in the series has at least one princess somewhere in its story. Several of them have multiple princesses.
* In ''VideoGame/CuteKnight'', there are MultipleEndings, three of which involve the main character becoming a princess. [[spoiler:In the 'true' ending, it's revealed that she's the missing eldest child of the reigning king and queen.]]
** In the sequel, ''VideoGame/CuteKnightKingdom'', there are also MultipleEndings for the heroine, two of which involve being a princess and one in which she becomes a queen. [[spoiler:The 'true' ending, "Star Princess," reveals that she is in fact an alien princess from another planet.]]
* The Franchise/DragonAge games have a handful of princesses. Cassandra Pentaghast, Seeker of Truth and Right Hand of the Divine, is a princess of the kingdom of Nevarra, although her RoyalBlood is of absolutely no interest to her. A female protagonist in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' who comes from either the Human Noble or Dwarf Noble background is entitled to be called a princess; the Dwarf Noble is the daughter of the king of Orzammar, while the Human Noble is the daughter of the ruler of a {{principality}} within Ferelden. And if Hawke, in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', is female and marries potential {{Love Interest|s}} Sebastian Vael, she becomes Princess of Starkhaven.
* ''VideoGame/AVeryLongRopeToTheTopOfTheSky'': Princess Yvette joins the party, bringing more elemental and healing magic. After the TimeSkip, [[spoiler:she becomes queen and rules over the kingdom of Avishun]].
* ''VideoGame/DivinityDragonCommander'' offers four princesses as love interests for the main protagonist to [[ArrangedMarriage marry in order to forge a political alliance]] and serve as a RomanceSidequest forging an unique relationship with each one of them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/{{CHEVALIER}}'' ([[http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Chevalier hosted here]]) : Princess Faere in this fantasy adventure is a prime example.
* ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}'': LampshadeHanging on the whole phenomenon is done in the [[http://www.misfile.com/?page=427 2006-03-24 strip]] by James in response to Cassie wearing a top that says "PRINCESS":
--> What's wrong is that you're aspiring to be the medieval world's equivalent of a political bargaining chip and a baby machine.
* Subverted in ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' with the princess taking over the BigBad duties due to the absurd levels of incompetence shown by the rest of the villains.
* Played straight so far in ''Webcomic/LastRes0rt'' with Princess Adharia Kuvoe, complete with OrphansPlotTrinket. Oh, and we forgot to mention, she's blonde with pink fur. Possibly a RebelliousPrincess as well. Given that [[http://www.lastres0rt.com/?p=116 she's in some kind of cahoots with Veled]] in order to go gunning for her throne, she's accelerated a few notches.
* ''Webcomic/ThePrincessPlanet'' is... well, exactly what it says.
* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d pretty thoroughly in [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=010616&mode=weekly the Punyverse]] of ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance''. After all, who would ever have guessed that [[spoiler:Secret Angel Princess-Princess]] is really... Princess Princess-Princess?
-->"Boy, that sounded stupid when I said it out loud!"
* In ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'', maybe 1/3 of the cast is either the daughter, granddaughter, adopted daughter, etc., of an [[http://drowtales.org/~wiki/index.php/Glossary Ilharess]]; plus there is Vaelia, advertised as "An Emberi Princess", and "Queen Liriel Blueberry the Third". Partial aversion as well: only a handful (if that) have personalities that fit this trope.
* The second alien Bob ever met in ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' is the beautiful Princess Voluptua. The first was... ahem, the [[StarfishAliens three-legged talking jellyfish]] she was being [[ArrangedMarriage forced to marry]]. [[{{Squick}} Ew...]] Of course, she's [[spoiler:[[StarfishAliens not really humanoid ''either'']], but they're still physically very different]].
* The first arc of ''Webcomic/IWasKidnappedByLesbianPiratesFromOuterSpace'' is an attempt by the crew to find their long, lost Lesbian Princess. Which they do -- [[spoiler:it's just not the person they expect]]. The second arc appears to be about returning the princess to her mother.
* ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'': You are facing a giant carnivorous eel in an environment that's thicker than water? Yuri Zahard is here to dynamically enter on your face and give you an ultimate sword. You best friend is dying of blood loss, but the exam won't be stopped because of something as trivial as that? Androssi Zahard is here to kick the examiners ass (a legitimate way of making your team pass the exam)! The team's power houses are about to be humiliated and killed? Enter Yuri Zahard with her GlowingEyesOfDoom. Yes, Zahard's Princesses kick ass.
* In ''Webcomic/NoRestForTheWicked'', November really is a princess (specifically, the princess from ''Literature/ThePrincessAndThePea''); unfortunately, no-one believes her, because traveling through the woods on her quest has made her look too ragged. (She can tell who really has royal blood and who doesn't, but that doesn't seem to be a common ability.) She subverts this trope at times and also plays it straight.
* Averted in ''Webcomic/CwensQuest'', where the princess is [[http://www.drunkduck.com/Cwens_Quest/index.php?p=310087 quickly exiled by her father]] and becomes a tough-as-nails fighter to get revenge. Also, later she ends up the very young Queen of the kingdom next door.
* Justified in ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'' with [[spoiler:Jillian Zamussels]], since her side was destroyed by Stanley and the rules of the world mean she couldn't become queen. Of course, that's changing...
* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''
** [[GenkiGirl Feferi Peixes]] is never referred to explicitly as a princess in the comic, but considering that she's next in line to become empress of the galaxy-spanning Alternian Empire, wears a tiara at all times and lives in a giant undersea palace, she belongs on this list.
** In addition to this, every player of SBURB is a prince or a princess of Derse or Prospit, the kingdoms of light and darkness warring in the game. That makes Feferi, accordingly a princess of Derse, a ''double'' princess.
** Another character, [[{{Jerkass}} Eridan Ampora]] also possibly counts as a prince of the same empire (or at least aspires to be by getting in a redrom relationship with Feferi), is also a prince of Derse, and his [[CharacterClassSystem game title]] is the Prince of [[SubvertedTrope Hope]], making him a ''[[UpToEleven triple]]'' prince. Except, as it turns out, [[TheEvilPrince everything's not better with him around]].
* In ''Webcomic/TheDevilsPanties'' Jenni, the main character has, in addition to the traditional Angel and Devil on her shoulder a Pink Princess representing her girlie side.
* Princess Amazia in the ShowWithinAShow in ''Webcomic/PlusEV''.
* Princess Kaira from Webcomic/RestauranteMacoatl might be only princess in name, as the city her family ruled is now abandoned. That doesn't stop the rest of the cast from calling her princess.
* Played straight as an arrow with ''Webcomic/SamuraiPrincess''. If this comic did have a princess or two in it, the comic would probably need a new name.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2004-03-30 when Slick managed smooth, for once, he called Monique "princess".]]
* Laughed at in ''Webcomic/DubiousCompany'''s Evil Tower of Evil story. Princes [[TheDulcineaEffect Daunting and Winsome]] mistake ''Priestess'' Sal and [[GuiltByAssociationGag Tiren]] for kidnapped princesses and are mercilessly disappointed when the girls [[NoGuyWantsAnAmazon dash]] their [[NunTooHoly dreams]]. [[TheFreelanceShameSquad Walter, Leeroy, and Elly]] don't let them off easy either.
* In ''Webcomic/DragonMango'', [[http://dragon-mango.com/comic/chapter03/dm03-19.htm the priestess sticks a sword in the stone because she foresaw the arrival of a princess to change the fate of the world.]]
* In ''Webcomic/CucumberQuest'', [[http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/archive/page-168/ one underling tries]] to give the BigBad a queen instead. The BigBad is not pleased. He needs a ''princess.''
* In ''Webcomic/CommanderKitty'', [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2009/02/01/release-the-princesses/ CK certainly seems]] [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2012/07/29/dreams-really-do-come-true-kinda-sorta/ to believe this.]]
* The Erlking's Daughter (yes, this is her actual title, her name is Aisling) in ''{{Webcomic/Roommates}}'' is a literal fairy princess, who is quite badass and {{ma|sterOfIllusion}}gical... and uses her powers mostly for the noble cause of [[ShipperOnDeck shipping the cast]].
* In ''Webcomic/{{Brutus}}'', not only is Mirabelle a princess "studying undercover" at the school, her friend Narcissa is as well.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Suihira}}'', we have princesses Wahida and Hadima of Iona.
* ''Webcomic/BoundAdventures'': The kingdom of Boundaria is currently ruled by Princess Irina.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', there are [[http://adventuretime.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Princesses more than 30 princesses]]. The main examples are [[AnthropomorphicFood Princess Bubblegum]] and [[SiliconBasedLife Lumpy Space Princess]], but we also have Hot Dog Princess, Slime Princess, Ghost Princess (formerly [[spoiler:Warrior]] Princess), Embryo Princess, and so on to the point of being a RunningGag. And they all have [[AnIcePerson the Ice King]] trying to [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe marry them]]. Subverted with Doctor Princess, in that "Princess" is just part of her name.
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''
** Subverted consistently: Katara's father Hakoda is a tribal chieftain, but not nobility. Azula is a princess, but evil and very active. Toph is from a noble family, though she [[RebelliousPrincess dislikes it]] and is a better fit for the {{The Big G|uy}}irl.
** Played straight with Princess Yue; she's sweet and pretty and pale-haired, with magical moon princess powers; the only thing keeping her life from being perfect is that she's betrothed to a nobleman she doesn't love and that [[spoiler: she dies to sacrifice herself to save the moon spirit]].
* Following Disney tradition, Mira Nova of ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'', [[TheSmurfettePrinciple the only woman on Buzz's team]], is an alien princess. The show takes the {{intangibility}} of her people of more importance than her blue blood, though, and has even been shown to resent her royalty being acknowledged ("Good one, Your Highness!" "Just call me Mira...").
* ''Franchise/CareBears'':
** ''Care Bears: Share Bear Shines'' has Princess Starglo, the mother of all stars.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheCareBearsAdventureInWonderland'' was largely about saving the Princess of Heart.
* Aelita from ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' is nicknamed "Princess" by her friends since early on in Season 1. She has RealityWarper powers on Lyoko, and the unique ability to deactivate the Towers. At the end of Season 2, we learn that she is actually the daughter of the creator of Lyoko... making her indeed the Princess of this virtual world.
* Even ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' has one in the form of Princess Dorathea, who has the ability to turn into a dragon via a pendent. Her life isn't as glamorous as she looks though: she has an abusive [[TheEvilPrince brother]] whom she's stuck doing various slave labor-inducing tasks for.... That is, until her brother kidnaps [[PerkyGoth Sam]], who introduces feminism to the kingdom.
* Princess Candy in ''WesternAnimation/DaveTheBarbarian'' is a {{Deconstruction}} of the trope PlayedForLaughs. She doesn't much want to be ruler, [[IJustWantToBeNormal she'd much rather just be a normal eighteen-year-old girl]]. Normal eighteen-year-old girls hang out with their friends and worry if their outfit will impress boys. Princesses who have been left in charge while their parents fight evil have to rule the country, which is far more time-consuming than most people are inclined to believe and involves an obscene amount of paperwork. It actually gets to the point where she gets so fed up with being robbed of the years of her life where her responsibilities are minimal that she actually abdicates to Dave temporarily so she can just go do stuff.
* Two of the ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer'' specials invoke this: "Dora's Fairytale Adventure" has her journey to become a princess to wake up her {{Sidekick}} Boots from an enchanted sleep, and "Dora Saves the Snow Princess" is not only ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, but has her become the new Snow Princess at the end.
* Averted with Princess Mandie (the second syllable [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast pronounced "die")]] in ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', who is completely AxCrazy. Played straight in an early episode with Princess Protazoa, a singular cell princess. (Princess of what, however, is unclear.)
* In the ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' special, ''Destination Imagination,'' Frankie is referred to as Princess Frankie throughout a majority of the plot by her new imaginary friend, World, who even treats her as such by giving Frankie her own castle made entirely of chocolate and giving her a ball gown and a collection of tiaras. She even acts as the DamselInDistress of the story.
* Princess Calla of ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGummiBears'' is an ActionGirl-in-training. Really, she'd rather be a knight.
* Princess Dawn in ''WesternAnimation/HereComesTheGrump'' is a PrincessClassic whose royal heritage is never really relevant to the plot.
* Just like in the comics, Wonder Woman in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' (''Unlimited'') is the Princess of Themyscira.
* ''WesternAnimation/LadyLovelyLocks'' is a Princess in the show of the same name.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfZelda''
** In the cartoon, there is a rather goofy king, making Zelda's title fitting.
** Furthermore, the fairy Sprite wasn't just any fairy, but proved to be the daughter of the fairy king Oberon. [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Yes, that Oberon]].
* Phantom Girl from ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperheroes'', technically a ''president's'' daughter, but otherwise fits.
* ''WesternAnimation/LoliRock'' features three princesses as the show's protagonists, all from separate kingdoms.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': The land of Equestria was originally going to be ruled by two WingedUnicorn queens, but ExecutiveMeddling made them princesses instead because [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen queens are apparently evil]] and princesses good in the minds of the audience. The show being what it is, they took the concept and ran with it in the opposite direction from the usual. There are a couple other princesses since, but all are automatically RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething, and apparently you can become one by being awesomely accomplished enough. In other words, it's not just about being born royalty and then lounging around looking pretty. Well, except if you're [[PrinceCharmless Prince Blueblood]].
** The first one is [[TheHighQueen Princess Celestia]], resident ReasonableAuthorityFigure with a TricksterMentor streak. The de-facto [[PrincessesRule ruler of Equestria]]. She is also responsible for raising the sun at dawn and lowering it at dusk, and is the teacher of the main character, Twilight Sparkle.
** Her sister is [[DarkIsNotEvil Princess Luna]]. Originally appearing as the [[TheCorruption corrupted]] [[FallenHero Nightmare Moon]], she is redeemed by the power of the [[ThePowerOfFriendship Elements of Harmony]] and once again assumes the position of the second ruler of Equestria. Like her sister, she is a ReasonableAuthorityFigure, only a bit more HotBlooded. She raises the moon at dusk and lowers it at dawn, and presides over all night-related affairs in Equestria.
** In her first appearance, it was unclear what [[ThePowerOfLove Princess Cadence]] was Princess of (considering that she had worked as Twilight Sparkle's babysitter in the past, clearly royal duties were not her first priority). However, in season 3, she becomes the ruler of the Crystal Empire (which had been phased out of existence for about a thousand years due to a curse). Her special ability is to induce and rekindle love in ponies.
** And the newest princess as of season 3 is none other than Twilight Sparkle, the main protagonist. Given that her ability is Magic, she now possibly doubles as TheArchmage of Equestria. As an additional note, when we say "ran with it", we mean that almost every single person with the official title of "Princess" not only fits the definition of "Queen", but could more accurately be called "{{Physical God}}dess [[InvokedTrope who prefers to be called Princess]]" (or "Archmage who prefers etc. etc." in Twilight's case).
** As of Season 6, we now have Princess Ember; a ''[[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons dragon princess]].'' When she becomes ruler of the dragons however, she becomes Dragon Lord Ember.
** Interestingly, "the daughter of a king/queen" is something "Princess", for the longest time, ''never'' used to mean in the MLP franchise (except in ''Tales,'' which is ''so'' SliceOfLife it would change little if the characters were humans living in your town.) In ''FIM'' the 'princesses' are alicorn goddesses (Lowercase-g Mt. Olympus level, mind you, rather than total omnipotence.) and we've even heard "As Celestia is my witness…" and the like more than once. In ''MyLittlePonyG3,'' in "The Princess Promenade," Wysteria became a 'princess' by finding a magic flower that is the symbol of office. This makes her ruler whether she wants to be or not. However, she eventually [[spoiler: coronates ''everyone'' so her friends can be her equals again.]] In "The Runaway Rainbow," G3 Rarity was the "princess" of a ceremony similar to a party or dance's 'king' or 'queen;' she didn't rule anything but ''did'' have an important role in bringing the first rainbow of the year (without which the world loses all color.) G1 has "The Quest of the Princess Ponies," where princesses with 'crowns' that look more like party hats form ''a whole society.'' Their magic wands are stolen by the villain of the week, causing all magic to go haywire. ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'' has the exception, where in "Princess Problems," a HappilyAdopted main cast member is suspected to be the long-lost daughter of a king and queen and doesn't want to leave her family.
*** However, in Season 6 [[spoiler: Cadance and Shining Armor had a daughter, Flurry Heart, making her a princess by birthright. On the ''other'' hand, she's the first naturally-born alicorn in Equestria, and with strong enough powers to require a PowerLimiter, so it's possible she holds the title in the 'traditional' way as well]].
** In the comics, the mirror counterpart to Trixie (an egocentric stage magician) is an alicorn princess of mirror Equestria. And apparently a literal paragon of humility. As mirror Equestria is ruled by Good King Sombra (whose canon counterpart was a sadistic tyrant), Princess Trixie might be declining her rule voluntarily. It's possible she runs a soup kitchen for the destitute somewhere.
* ''Princess'' Ingrid, a member of the OpposingSportsTeam in the French series ''Pierre et Isa''. (A series about the Winter UsefulNotes/OlympicGames.)
* Princess Gwenevere/Starla of ''WesternAnimation/PrincessGwenevereAndTheJewelRiders'' (known as ''Starla and the Jewel Riders'' outside the US). Gwenevere and her {{Archenemy}}/aunt Kale are both princesses. However, Kale is an evil sorceress who wants to rule New Avalon. Gwen and her crew have to stand between Kale and that ambition.
* ''Princess Natasha: Student Secret Agent Princess'', a flash animation series developed for AOL Kids.
* ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot''
** The show subverts this in a game called "Castles and Knights". Since Bob rebooted into a knight, the viewer assumes that Dot has rebooted into the princess and is the damsel in distress. The subversion comes when it's revealed that ''Enzo'' has rebooted into the princess, and Dot rebooted into another knight.
** Princess Bula certainly thinks so. The fact that she's super-strong and an excellent fighter means no one tells her she actually isn't.
* Angelica of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' frequently desires to be a princess as it is one of her father's pet names for her. One episode has her mistakenly think she actually is one thanks to some bad eavesdropping. She plans to move away to live with her "royal" parents but decides to stay at home instead because she can't imagine life without her actual parents. In "Visitors From Outer Space" she goes a step further as one alien offers to make her a Queen of a whole planet.
* Pretty much the entire point of ''WesternAnimation/SeaPrincesses''.
* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower'': Technically, Adora is a princess ([[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 Prince Adam/He-Man's]] twin sister) but the show doesn't play up that aspect of her character (namely because she's the princess of a kingdom on a different planet than the one the show takes place on). Fortunately, Glimmer's around to take up the princessly slack.
* ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'': Not only Sofia herself, but also her stepsister and several other princesses who appear in the series.
* Like the Archie comic, Princess Sally of ''WesternAnimation/SonicSatAM'' hasn't changed her title because her kingdom was taken from her by Robotnik. However, in the pilot episode, Sally states her title is meaningless out in the Great Forest, something mimicked by a robot duplicate in the regular show. This suggests that she ''can'' take the title of Queen, but chooses not to since she doesn't see the point.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': The titular character Star Butterfly is a princess of Mewni, she beats up monsters with her bare fists, and has inherited a magical wand which she can use to destructive effect. Which is also the reason her parents sent her to Earth, so she can learn how to use her power more responsibly.
* The 2009 ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake'' revamp reintroduces the Berrykins, who are ruled by Princess Berrykin (not to be mistaken for the Berry Princess, who took care of the Berrykins, from the 1985 special).
* Kenny [=McCormick=] from ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' [[WholesomeCrossdresser wants to be a princess]], as seen in the Black Friday episodes and ''[[VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth The Stick of Truth]]''. In the second Black Friday episode, he actually becomes a Japanese princess, complete with an AnimeThemeSong.
-->'''Cartman:''' Don't ask why Kenny wanted to be a chick, it's just how he seems to be rolling right now.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'': ComicBook/{{Starfire}} and [[DarkActionGirl Blackfire]] are both princesses of Tamaran, which is less of a kingdom and more of an entire planet. Being HumanAliens of the ProudWarriorRaceGuy variety, [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking both kicks ass]]: Starfire [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething for a living]], and Blackfire [[ForTheEvulz for kicks]]. Except for special occasions, neither wear dresses, and then [[PimpedOutDress frilliness]] is foregone in favor of slink (think LittleBlackDress, but [[PrincessesPreferPink Starfire prefers pink]]).
* Princess Aruzia in ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTeddyRuxpin''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''
** Like its predecessor, the series once again subverts the trope consistently: Eska is creepy, tactless, cruel and has a [[GreenEyedMonster jealous]] [[{{Yandere}} streak]] a mile wide (much to Bolin's chagrin). Asami at first seems to fit the trope to a tee, but aside from being the daughter of a commoner (just one who happens to be a [[spoiler:disgraced, formerly]] wealthy industrialist), she's also not quite as frail as you think she is.
** Interestingly enough, some of Korra's backstory fits the trope to a tee, especially the part with her being TheChosenOne (by virtue of being the Avatar) while living a secluded life in the White Lotus compound. The point is even driven further when you realize that her father is part of the Northern Water Tribe's royal family (though disinherited) technically making her an actual princess. That said, one gets the impression that she would rather be the one rescuing princesses over being a princess herself.
* ''WesternAnimation/ShimmerAndShine'': One of the new characters announced for Season 2 is "a kind genie princess".
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', ''[[ShowWithinAShow The Krusty Show]]'' added the new character Princess Penelope, specifically to [[EnforcedTrope exploit]] this trope.
* The fairytale challenge in the ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Action'' episode "The Princess Pride".
** Ella in ''Pahkitew Island'' looks like a Creator/{{Disney}} Princess.
* One would think this would fit with Professor Princess of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', a cute child-like supervillain obsessed with destroying violent toys. However, [[AllThereInTheManual according to supplementary materials]] she didn't take the title because she wanted to sound cute -- Professor Princess ''is her real name''. (Well, part of it. Her first name is Penny.)
* Not only Amalia Sheran Sharm of ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'''s FiveManBand is an adventurer-princess, there is an early episode entirely devoted to princesses, "Miss Ugly".
* Princess Sara is the rightful heir of Dar-Shan in the short-lived animated series ''WesternAnimation/{{Wildfire}}.''
* ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'':
** Stella is the princess of Solaria. Aisha is the princess of Andros. Galatea is the princess of Melody. Crystal is the princess of Linphea. Amentia is the princess of Downland. Tressa is the princess of the mermaids of Andros.
** Bloom is revealed to be the princess of Domino at the end of season 1.
** Musa is not a princess, but 4kids called her one, so when her not being a princess became important her dad was stated to be a former prince.
** Flora is not a princess, despite her saying she is the princess of Linphea in ''Magical Adventure''.
** Tecna is a princess in the comics, but her status as a princess in the show has not been confirmed one way or the other.
** {{Subverted|Trope}} with Princess Diaspro of Eraklyon, who is a major {{Jerkass}} and occasionally evil.
** {{Subverted|Trope}} with Chimera, who almost became princess of Solaria, but she joined up with Valtor and eventually lost her status.
** [[spoiler:Roxy is revealed to be Queen Morgana's daughter, and thus is the princess of Earth. When Morgana abdicates the throne, she gives it to Nebula because Roxy is too young.]]
* Elyon in ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'' is revealed as a princess fairly early on. She [[LampshadeHanging hung a lampshade on it]] in during the Nerissa arc when, after mediating an endless series of boundary disputes, she remarked that she was getting the "queen" part of being a princess, but missing out on the "princess" part (the Prince Charming, the moonlight balls, etc.).
* The main character of ''WesternAnimation/{{Xcalibur}}'' is a princess. However, considering she wears [[ChainmailBikini slightly impractical body armor]] for the entire show, you'd probably never think about this.
[[/folder]]

* ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'': Henrietta is the ''perfect'' princess... [[SubvertedTrope but she doesn't spend much of the story as one, quickly becoming Queen and staying that way]].

[[caption-width-right:350:They'e been making the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon better since 1938.]]

A SuperTrope to PrincessClassic, PrincessesRule, PrettyPrincessPowerhouse, PoliticallyActivePrincess, TomboyPrincess, RebelliousPrincess. If your princess doesn't hail from a well-organized kingdom but from a faraway village, she's TheChiefsDaughter.

** ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Gundam SEED]]'' has two subversions: Cagalli Yula Athha is a legitimate but RebelliousPrincess of Orb Union, while Lacus Clyne is not a real royalty but de facto the most powerful political figure in the entire Earth sphere. She is also [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl much more lady-like than]] [[{{Bifauxnen}} tomboyish]] Cagalli. [[AllThereInTheManual Lacus is a real royalty]], just too minor for it to matter.

* ''Manga/MurderPrincess'' is yet another subversion. The real princess of TheKingdom of Forland is a weak-willed {{Ojou}} but soon [[FreakyFridayFlip switches bodies]] with the most badass ActionGirl in history, who proceeds to kick much ass and become the titular character.

** And the newest princess as of season 3 is none other than Twilight Sparkle, the main protagonist. Given that her ability is Magic, she now possibly doubles as TheArchmage of Equestria.
** As an additional note, when we say "ran with it", we mean that almost every single person with the official title of "Princess" not only fits the definition of "Queen", but could more accurately be called "{{Physical God}}dess [[InvokedTrope who prefers to be called Princess]]" (or "Archmage who prefers etc. etc." in Twilight's case).
*** It must be noted that Twilight Sparkle ''doesn't'' actually like being called a "Princess"; she seems to find the whole ordeal quite embarrassing.
** As of Season 6, we now have Princess Ember; a ''[[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons dragon princess]].''

Usually, if she's got powers, she's TheChosenOne, and it's all [[NeverASelfMadeWoman because of her lineage]]. Her sheltered life has left her ill-prepared to cope with real adversity, [[DamselInDistress so don't expect her to be much of a hero]]. She'll likely be the WhiteMagicianGirl at best. This is usually true even if she grew up in a [[ChangelingFantasy normal family]] to [[RagsToRoyalty hide from her enemies]] -- perhaps frailty is in the blood.

A SuperTrope to PrincessClassic, PrincessesRule, PrettyPrincessPowerhouse, PoliticallyActivePrincess, TomboyPrincess,BadassPrincess, RebelliousPrincess. If your princess doesn't hail from a well-organized kingdom but from a faraway village, she's TheChiefsDaughter.

* ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath'': Averted. Jame's father, and later her brother, are both effectively kings, but hold the title of ''Highlord'', making Jame '''not''' a princess.