With all the luxury afforded to a princess and all the knights dedicated to her protection, would would have thought the most dangerous person in the castle is the princess herself? Instead of knitting or gossiping, this princess has developed powers or abilities that make her more like a cactus than a delicate flower.
Instead of the Damsel in Distress, this princess' role in the plot is active. She still might fall in love with the hero, as a princess traditionally would, but she'll be fighting next to him instead of crying for help. She could be his sidekick or he could be her sidekick; either way she won't be sitting around waiting for someone else to end the fight.
This trope is a popular choice for writers/readers sick of the passive Princess Classic. This could be because they've seen it too often, find it sexist, both or neither.
Her outfits will also vary, ranging from a simple frock, to a Mini Dress Of Power, Battle Ballgown or even a Pimped Out Dress.
While this and the Rebellious Princess sometimes go hand in hand, they do not equal each other. In fact, a badass princess would often fight because she's loyal to her nation, and would fight to defend it at any cost. Every Badass Princess qualifies as an automatic Royal Who Actually Does Something. If she's kid friendly she'll be a Tomboy Princess. She might be a Lady of War with an elegant weapon or more of an Action Girl who will get her hands dirty, or she might even switch back and forth. An evil Badass Princess (with an equally evil father) will probably be Daddy's Little Villain. Unfortunately, especially thanks to its prevalence in bad fanfiction, some people automatically see this character as a Mary Sue.
Compare Badass Damsel, Warrior Prince, Silk Hiding Steel, Tomboy Princess, Kicking Ass in All Her Finery.
Contrast Princess Classic, Faux Action Girl.
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha has Olivie Segbrecht, a.k.a., Sankt Regina Olivie, a.k.a., the last Sankt Kaiser of the Cradle. In life, she was known as the queen deemed second to none in combat. In death, she was known as the Sankt Kaiser who gave her life to end the Ancient Belka War, and worshipped as a Christ-like figure.
Nefertari Vivi, princess of Alabasta, from One Piece, who leaves her country and infiltrates a group of bounty hunters, making her way up to the top brass, to discover the identity of the ringleader who's planning a coup against her father; lost her cover, she joins the Straw Hat pirates to fight openly against the usurper, and finally manages to stop a civil war by SCREAMING "STOP" IN THE MIDDLE OF A BATTLEFIELD. She's not at the level of the main heroes for strength, but surely she doesn't lack guts.
Asuna and apparently Arika in Mahou Sensei Negima!. Theodora from the Hellas Empire doesn't actively fight, but she does try directing the action too.
Maria Louise from G Gundam evolves from Tomboy Princess into this when she volunteers to destroy a cornerpost rodeated by a lethal forcefield via a molotov cocktail.
Ayeka and Sasami of Tenchi Muyo! fit here. While Ayeka isn't as powerful as Ryoko and Tenchi, standing up to Kagato when the latter was thought dead isn't something to laugh about. Then again, Nine times out of ten, she's arguing with Ryoko, so...
As for Sasami, in the OVA, discounting her bond with Tsunami, she's shown to have a proficiency for staffs great enough to disarm a high-ranking Galaxy Police officer and enough skill to evade said officer's traps. In Tenchi in Tokyo, she was given control of Ryo-Ohki this time around, which dumps its OVA-only humanoid transformation for a mecha transformation, which Sasami shows to really work on the initial Monster Of The Day that showed up.
Princess Mononoke doesn't control an actual kingdom, she does have her own family of wolves and fights pretty epically with a spear.
Relena Darlian/Peacecraft of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing combines this with Badass Pacifist. Stands up to the biggest Badass of the series? Check. Stands up to her own brother? Check. Stands up to the group that wanted to manipulate her and in turn manipulates them? Check.
Oscar from Rose of Versailles can count, though she is a countess rather than a princess.
Princess Sapphire, the eponymous Princess Knight, is likely the Trope Maker in manga and anime. Having been made back in The Fifties by Osamu Tezuka, the series is commonly cited as the main influence for many female writers who would eventually revolutionize the shoujo genre and make this a popular character archetype.
Punie from Dai Mahou Touge who is unstoppable with her magic... and a lot more dangerous if you manage to use an Anti-Magic weapon on her. Her battle cry of 'submission is the princess way' doesn't mean she'll submit to you. It means she knows every submission hold that can break your bones.
Magi - Labyrinth of Magic has a few - Princesses Hakuei and Kougyoku of the Kou Empire, the former of which being a general in the army. Kougyoku starts off as a villain and both are King Candidates. Princess Dunya Mustashim, of the Mustashim kingdom, is another villainous example.
Comic Books
Princess Diana of Themiscyra, a.k.a. Wonder Woman.
Teen Titans: Princess Koriand'r of Tamaran, a.k.a Starfire. Her wicked sister Komand'r (Blackfire) also counts.
In the X-Wing Series comics, Plourr Ilo, a butch-looking female Boisterous Bruiser, turns out to be the last surviving member of Eiattu V's royal family. She never stops being badass.
Princess Sally from the Sonic the Hedgehog Comics (and their accompanying ''Sonic Sat AM animated series) leads the Freedom Fighters, fighting alongside them and Sonic himself.
Princess Adrienne from Princeless. Not only does she decide that doesn't need a prince to rescue her, but she actively mocks a number of the racist and misogynistic tropes present in most fairy tales.
Princess Kavatah in Megalex. She leads her troops into battle personally.
Iolande of the Green Lantern corp was this, being a princess who was chosen to be a Green Lantern. Unfortunately, she had to take up the mantle of Queen since she was the sole survivor of her world's royal family. Her advisors refuse to let her go In Harm's Way, limiting her chances to be badass.
Princess Leia of Star Wars started as the Badass in Distress. She even managed to take out a stormtrooper before getting captured. Through most of the series, she is a prominent and useful fighter, even Go-Go Enslavement doesn't stop her from using the chains binding her as weapons.
She gets it from her mom, former elected Princess of Theed and Queen of Naboo. Padme was in the thick of it during not only the battle of Theed 10 years before the Clone Wars, but during several engagements during that conflict, including Geonosis. She fought in and survived a battle that killed off dozens of Jedi.
In the Pixar film, Brave, Mérida is more than willing to take on a bear that's over twice her size. She eventually decides that she won't let random guys she's never met compete for her hand in marriage. She also has enough skill with a bow and arrow to put Katniss Everdeen to shame.
Hell, her archery would make Hawkeye consider taking notes. And she was a traceuse (female parkour), an accomplished climber, and not a slouch with a sword either. She's one of the most martially adept princesses in Disney Canon, probably second only to Mulan.
There's the film Dragons Fire And Ice. What does female lead Princess Kyra do when she's surrounded by evil orcs? Simple. She kicks their asses. Or burns them.
Princess Sarah from A Kid In King Arthur's Court.
Anna Valerious is a Princess of the Gypsies in Van Helsing, though she's more of a Faux Action Girl throughout the course of the movie.
In The Lion King, Sarabi leads the lioness who do the hunting. It's an informed attribute as it's only mentioned when there's no food to hunt. Nala almost kills Pumbaa and always pins Simba when they wrestle.
Princess Snow White in Snow White And The Huntsman takes command of the Duke's army and leads them into battle against her step-mother, Queen Ravenna.
Vanellope von Schweetz from Wreck It Ralph casually confronts a giant Punch Clock Villain most people are scared shitless of, repeatedly outsmarts The Caligula and his guards who (failingly) hunt her down like an animal, and eventually becomes a Badass Driver with the help of the previously mentioned Punch Clock Villain. She is eventually revealed to be a princess, and she turns down the title to become a president instead. Vanellope is all badass.
A Certain Magical Index has the second royal daughter, Carissa, who possesses an impressive understanding of military strategy and tactics.
Literature
Princess Eilonwy from Chronicles Of Prydain participates in several of the final battles.
Éowyn from The Lord of the Rings is the niece of King Théoden, the granddaughter of his father King Thengel, and rides into battle to take out the leader of the Ringwraiths. Though not technically a princess, she was close enough to count in a rough sense, especially as Rohirrim were a "heroic" society; they may not have been as legalistic about aristocratic terms as one which had evolved into a Vestigial Empire. Also after the death of Théodred, her brother is named Théoden's heir. And at the end of the trilogy she marries Faramir, and Aragorn names them Prince and Princess of Ithilien. She's decided to be a Retired Badass at that point, but it still counts.
Lúthien from The Silmarillionis specifically a princess, and while she doesn't physically fight, between her magical abilities and pure grit (staring down the Physical Gods of Evil and Death in succession just cements it) she more than qualifies as Badass.
Mathilda Arminger of the Emberverse rides with Rudi Mackenzie's war band, and is one of the most effective swords at his back.
Tavia of Tjanath, the heroine of Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Fighting Man of Mars goes through all the usual Burroughs perils, but she's anything but a typical helpless Burroughs heroine.
Princess Thirrin Freer Strong-in-the-Arm Lindenshield, Wildcat of the North from The Icemark Chronicles definitely counts. Not only can she hurl a throwing ax with the best of the Housecarls, but she battled an army of hundreds of thousands led by the wily General Scipio Bellorum and won! She manages to persuade murderous vampires, werewolves, sentient trees and bigass cats to help her in the war, without being eaten!This isn't even mentioning her other moments of badassery from the sequels, either...
She doesn't start off as a princess (except in the story within the story), but Nell from The Diamond Age is definitely a Badass, and more than earns her title.
Bronwyn from Bronwyn's Bane. She's expert with a sword.
The title character in the innovative feminist Fairy Tale classic The Paper Bag Princess, who rescues her prince from a dragon. He then refuses to marry her because she doesn't look beautiful anymore—she had to improvise an outfit, and she tells the ingrate to buzz off and goes off to live her own life.
Snow White in The Sisters Grimm series teaches a self-defense course whose members are called "The Bad Apples".
Susan, Lucy, and Aravis in The Chronicles Of Narnia, though the first two are Queens and the last one is minor Calormen nobility (who later becomes Queen of Archeland).
Fisher from Hawk and Fisher by Simon Green is revealed to be a princess at one point. Which makes sense, as she'd started out as a deliberate Princess Classic subversion in Blue Moon Rising, before running off with the Prince Charming subversion to adopt new identities as Badass Cops.
Parodied in one of the stories in the Chicks In Chainmail anthology, where training academies have sprung up specifically because Badass Princesses are in style. Tough luck for the very, very Princess Classic protagonist.
Princess Cimorene from the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. She learns swordfighting, magic and Latin, and volunteers for a dragon.
Princess Thayet jian Wilima in Lioness Rampant. She's skilled with a crossbow and, along with her bodyguard, takes it on herself to guard a group of refugee children to the safety of a convent.
While most of her badassery was done before she became princess, Princess Dorothy is still considered Oz's heroine and champion.
In Fiona Patton's Branion series, gender is no object, and royal women are knights and do a lot of fighting. In the first book, the Crown Prince's betrothed brings her weapons and squire on their tour of the country and helps fight off an attack on the party. Later, she becomes very angry at him over her pregnancy, because it means she won't be allowed to go with him to war.
The Firebird Trilogy: Firebird, youngest daughter of the Netaian queen, had a choice between going into advanced music studies or going into the military. She chose the military, and has repeatedly demonstrated her fighting skills and courage. She also has no diplomatic skills, contrasting with her sisters, Princess Classic Carradee and Politically Active Princess Phoena.
In A Song of Ice and Fire both Daenerys Targaryen and Arya Stark count. The latter only after her brother Robb Stark declares himself king.
King Arthur's daughter Rhianna in Katherine Roberts' Pendragon Legacy series.
Live Action TV
Xena Warrior Princess is something of an odd case, considering Xena was called a princess, but wasn't of noble birth and never ruled a kingdom.
Gabrielle, on the other hand, is an actual princess of the Amazons.
Lady Morgana from Merlin fits this trope, especially after the season three reveal.
Delenn in Babylon 5, being a member of the Grey Council for part of the series, generally not afraid of anybody or their armada, and being a descendent of Valen. And being a Badass.
Daenerys Taergeryn in Game of Thrones is a princess of the Taergeryn family, who used to rule the Seven Kingdoms. However, the family was overthrown so she and her brother are not technically royal in that aspect. She marries a Khal (warlord) of the Dothraki and becomes his Khaleesi, wherein she turns into a powerful badass and leader. She hatches some dragon eggs and becomes commonly known as "Mother of Dragons," a reference to both her dragon-hatching and her royal ties to the Seven Kingdoms and Taergeryn family. She attempts to take the Seven Kingdoms back from the current rulers.
Also Arya Stark, the daughter of a lord who becomes regent after King Robert dies. She is a very good archer and swordsman, and is depicted throughout the series as a tomboyish rebel. Eventually, she runs away and disguises herself as a boy, going around kicking ass.
Medea of Classical Mythology. She qualified as princess by being the daughter of a king, and qualified as badass by cutting her brother into pieces when he tried to take her away from her fiancee Jason. That was without her magic. With her magic she killed an unkillable bronze giant who threw rocks at her ship. You really wonder why Jason though he could dump her and get away with that...
Sonic the Hedgehog: Blaze the Cat, essentially a pyrokineticLady of War from another dimension with some seriousissues. As if that wasn't enough, her version of Eggman is said to be much crueler than Sonic's, and unlike Sonic, she has no friends to turn to for assistance. And she may or may not have an Eldritch Abomination sealed within her.
Princess Natalia from Tales Of The Abyss is very proficient with a bow and arrow, accompanies Luke and his pals on their journey, helps solve political issues, never gets kidnapped, (okay, maybe once, for about ten seconds) and stands for her nation no matter what.
Fire Emblem has a lot of badass princesses. There's Princess Ayra from the fourth game, with her punishing Ryuuseiken, and she even threatened to kill her "master" if he ever double-crossed her and her charge Shannan. And Ayra's daughter Larcei, who has all of her mother's skills and might pick up good ones from her father as well (depending on who the player chooses for that role). Also Princess Tailto of Freege though she meets a really sad end.
Princess Raquesis and her daughter Nanna. They both start as a weird mix of Action Girl and White Magician Girl, but can properly becomes this with training.
Princess Briggid of Jungby is a subversion, as she was kidnapped as a child and became a Pirate Girl. She never 100% took up the Princess role, as few after being recognizes as such and reuniting with her sister Princess Adean... well, shit happened, which left her amnesiac and traumatised for years.
And then we also have Princess Altena, a Lady of WarDragon Rider from Thracia. Actually from Manster, as she's the long-lost sister of Prince Leaf of Lester.
In Awakening we have Lucina, potentially the most powerful character in the game, and potentially accompanied by Cynthia or Kjelle, neither of whom is a stranger to combat.
In Mortal Kombat, Kitana is so badass, she isn't afraid to kill. (Also qualifies as a Rebellious Princess, as she was working for the Big Bad originally, but later changed sides.)
Until near the end of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Zelda has been disguised as a freakin' ninja; but at that point, she helps unlock the barriers keeping them from escaping the castle, and she helps Link pin Ganon down so he could land the final blow. And during the final confrontations with Ganondorf in The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, she actually battles alongside Link with her light arrows. But she maxes out this trope in The Legend Of Zelda Spirit Tracks, where she possesses Phantoms, and actually fights beside Link, even becoming playable for certain segments.
Midna, the titular Twilight Princess, definitely qualifies as well, given that she helps Link out in fighting enemies as well, paralyzing a group of enemies in an energy field, leaving them weak and defenseless while Wolf Link attacks them, and throwing a large Beast Ganon across the room, leaving him vulnerable.
Yuffie from Final Fantasy VII is the daughter of the Lord of Wutai, and also happens to be a ninja. Who wields a giant shuriken as a weapon, among other large, throwing-oriented pointy things.
Although she acts like a Princess Classic throughout Final Fantasy IX, it is Garnet's idea to escape from her castle, trek across thousands of miles of dangerous territory, and seek political assistance in stopping Queen Brahne.
Also, Princess Sapphire in Disgaea 3. She serves as her kingdom's army. No, she doesn't serve in the army. She doesn't command the army. She is the army.
Alena of Dragon Quest IV can't get her father to approve of her adventuring, so she kicks down her bedroom wall and leaves that way. Something she's clearly done before, given you have to Talk to Everyone in the castle to give the repairman enough time to board it up before making your escape. She even has to save her own fake double at one point of her chapter.
Dragon Quest V has a princess named Madchen Gotha, who can kick people's asses with her ice magic, and can turn herself into a dragon later on. And she's only eight years old.
Super Princess Peach is this trope. Mario and Luigi are captured by Bowser, and Princess Peach has to save them. This is a complete inversion of the typical storyline of many Mario platformers.
Princess Peach in general has been getting a lot of this lately, especially in the RPGs. Let's count:
In Super Mario RPG, Peach joins the party after you rescue her from Booster, and turns out to be an extremely broken healer.
In Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door, Peach is captured, but far from helpless, sneaking out and learning things that can help Mario on his quest. In the latter, she actually steps into the battlefield as a victim of the Shadow Queen's Demonic Possession.
In Super Paper Mario, Peach outright refuses to be the damsel in distress this time and joins you as the second hero, even if you insist she doesn't.
Princess Monica Raybrandt of Dark Chronicle. Not only is she the one who shanghais Max into the adventure, but she's actually the one who performs his Secret Test of Character, comes to his aid more than once, spearheads the counterattack againstEmperor Griffon across two eras, is an accomplished and surprisingly agile Magic Knight with a variety of swords as big as she is and elemental magic and finally leaps headfirst into personal duels with The Dragon. Even the one time she's in distress, it's because Max himself accidentally shot down the enemy airship while she was still on board.
Rosella of Daventry from Kings Quest: Willing to become a Human Sacrifice to save her homeland from a dragon in her first appearance, inspiring her long-lost brother to fight said dragon. In the next game, she takes on a quest in a dangerous and hostile land to save her dad. This involves dodging cave trolls, ogres, a triad of witches, a poisonous snake, escaping from a whale, and then killing a wicked fairy. Her second game? Rescuing an imprisoned king, attacking a were-bear, digging her way out of a volcano, and snapping her boyfriend out of Brainwashed and Crazy.
In Dragon Age: Origins, the dwarf female noble Grey Warden is this. Arguably, so is the human female noble, even though she's the daughter of a teyrn (duke); it's noted more than once that her family, the Couslands, are barely a step down from the actual ruling family in the peerage. Also, one possible ending open only to the human female noble is becoming Queen of Ferelden.
Though not exactly a princess, the Krogan female known as "Eve" in Mass Effect 3 is the only volunteer who survived a series of gruesome experiments to restore her species ability to reproduce, wears a veil, is very soft spoken, and needs to be escorted to an escort ship. When taken from her pod to step into the shuttle, another group of attackers come around the corner, to which she just grabs Wrex's shotgun and blasts them all away, stating that she doesn't need babysitting. She's still a Krogan after all.
Yggdra Union: Although she becomes a Distressed Damsel during an episode, requiring her friend Milanor to go rescue her, Yggdra Yuril Artwaltz fits the trope during all remaining chapters, leading the Fantasinian Royal Army in the retaking of her kingdom, then the invasion of Bronquia, from the frontlines. In between these two campaigns, she even becomes a Badass Queen.
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn has Sveta of Morgal, who among other things hides her status from the heroes for fear they'll think she's involved in the sticky political situations of the plot. Once trouble starts, she joins the party to help end the Grave Eclipse and atone for it on her brother's behalf, culminating in an attempted Heroic Sacrifice... and she's one of the most powerful player characters in the game, even without counting her beast form.
Reco from the Mushihimesama series goes through four Bullet Hell games without appearing to break a sweat. In Bug Panic, when Kiniro is unable to help her, she just picks up miniature versions of her bombs and deals with the enemies on foot.
Princess Shine Hausen of Super Robot Wars. Initially just a simple ruler who was turned Brainwashed and Crazy in the first Original Generation game, once her country's taken over in the second game, she gets herself a mecha, Takes A Level In Badass, and comes back to not only take back her country, but also save the goddamn universe!
The female protagonist of Fable III is the Princess of Albion, who in the game leads a revolution coup to depose her tyrannical brother Logan as King, ending up as the Queen.
Touhou has a handful of princess characters, all of whom kick some serious ass.
PC-98 exclusive Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream had Kotohime, the aptly-themed "Maniacal Princess" who didn't allow her sheltered life or delusions of law enforcement keep her from going head to head with poltergeists, witches, miko, Mima, a pallet-swapped doppelganger, and two scientific geniuses from another universe, armed only with some explosives and a smile. And it's heavily implied that she did this all for the hell of it, and doesn't even have a wish to make when she beats the game.
Remilia Scarlet, Embodiment of Scarlet Devil's titular vampire, does not seem to be actual royalty (though she's definitely The Ojou), but her theme is named "Septette for a Dead Princess", which if taken literally would apply this trope to her and her sister Flandre. Remilia is an endboss with the power to manipulate Fate. Flandre is an EX boss and a certified Person of Mass Destruction.
From Perfect Cherry Blossom is Yuyuko, an immortal ghost that was a nobleman's daughter back when she was alive. Now she's in charge of the local purgatory equivalent. She's one of the most broken characters in the setting, able to kill with a thought, and capable of powerful magic when she wants to give her opposition a chance.
Kaguya-hime of Imperishable Night, an immortal princess from the Moon who challenges our heroines to a fight just for the hell of it. She's an endboss, and responsible for the corrupted moon that prompted the titular unending night. After her defeat by our heroes, she sends them to defeat her equally-immortal rival Fujiwara no Mokou who being the EX Boss (and whose father, Fujiwara no Fuhito, was one of the most powerful noblemen of late 7th/early 8th century Japan) arguably also qualifies.
Silent Sinner in Blue gives us the Watatsuki sisters. Toyohime has what's implied to be a Wave Motion Gun in the form of a fan, and feels confident in a confrontation with Yukari (and is apparently a Reality Warper in her own right, though unlike Yukari she can only manipulate reality on the moon). Yorihime can summon gods, and managed to take out several powerful characters in succession. Fandom hates them both. Especially Yorihime.
Kairi from Kingdom Hearts seems to be on her way to becoming this. She's established as one of the seven Princesses of Heart in the first game. Towards the end of Kingdom Hearts II, she's shown fighting Heartless with a Keyblade given to her by her childhood friend Riku. Birth by Sleep reveals that she got her Keyblade wielding ability from an encounter with Action Girl Aqua as a child. And presently, in the secret ending of Dream Drop Distance, Yen Sid sent for her specifically to train her in combat in order to defend herself against an upcoming threat.
Solely for her appearance in Play Station All Stars Battle Royale, Fat Princess for merely being able to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Kratos or Colonel Radec. While she'd probably rather eat cake than fight, this doesn't stop her from bashing enemies with her Staff of Authority or delivering a potent body slam. In fact, cake is involved in two of her Supers, one in which she crushes anyone in her path to get one.
Melia Antiqua from Xenoblade Chronicles, the crown princess of the High Entia. In gameplay she's the party's Squishy Wizard, having the least HP out of all the characters but being capable of inflicting some serious damage in the right circumstances; while in the story she shows several instances of badassery, like severely hurting the beast that has just killed her guards single-handedly, completing a trial that had killed many of her ancestors, and turning the tides of seemingly lost battles quite a few times.
The Princess from Half Minute Hero. Once she gets her automatic crossbow in her hands, she undergoes a personality shift and becomes a one-woman death machine.
In the Dark Parables series, Princess Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty) becomes this by the fourth game in the series, going from a very understandable Damsel in Distress in the original game to a strong and confident mage who wields powerful plant magic.
Yggdra Yuril Artwaltz from Yggdra Union, the princess wielding a BFSdouble her size who strifes to defeat The Empire and liberates her home country.
Visual Novels
Princess Waltz, as the name implies, is loaded with princesses who are total badasses.
Girl Genius has Zeetha (Daughter of Chump) — lost (she massacred the whole pirate fleet and forgot to leave someone who knew where they met) princess of the equally lost kingdom of Skifander.
Higgs: Where, I'm guessin', you were used to bein' one o' the toughest things around...
Now that her pupil Agatha is the ruler of Mechanicsburg, Zeetha is eager to instruct her in the ways of being a princess.
Zeetha: First lesson, every princess needs a Battle Axe. Here, use this one until we can find something more impressive.
Agatha: Ah. That kind of princess.
Ame Lashiec, the main character of Heart Core, fits this trope preety well with her inhuman durability, magic powers and strengh. Being the daughter of 2 of the most powerfull demons in Asgard has its advantages.
Tower Of God: All of Zahard's Princesses, bar Repellista. They are adopted because they are naturally powerful (or as with Repellista, gifted), they get a Power-Up by receiving Zahard's blood and then proceed to Take A Level In Bad Ass. Or rather, 134 levels. Except Repellista.
Princess Pi constantly wins battles and overcomes enemies with no assistance from others. It helps that she was born physically invulnerable.
In Heart Core, we have our protagonist Ame Lashiec, the Princess of Asgard who is a powerfull magician and was capable of defeating most of the Overfiends singlehandedly.
Web Original
Silver Serpent of the Whateley Universe. Her father is the dreaded Asian supervillain Iron Dragon, and she is apparently the first child of his to have mutant superpowers.
Also, as of winter term, Jobe Wilkins, now the superpowered female child of the King of Karedonia. When stuck in a holding cell full of angry female supervillains, Jobe beat the entire cell into submission.
Western Animation
In the Disney Aladdin cartoon, Jasmine elevates to this standard to the point where she actually participates in a few battles.
Most notably, she opens a can of whoop-ass on Mozenrath after he kidnaps Aladdin.
Even within the movies, King Of Thieves has Jasmine fighting against said thieves fairly well more than once.
Rapunzel from Tangled also counts, even if she doesn't know she's a princess for most of the movie.
Ariel from The Little Mermaid was probably the first badass Disney princess and was most certainly the first to save her prince. The TV series, sequel and her appearance in the Kingdom Hearts video game only solidified her badassery. Ariel was the only female party member in the first game (unless you count Tinkerbell, who was a summon), and knew powerful Fire/Ice/Lightning magic, among others.
Princess Calla, in Disney's Adventures Of The Gummi Bears, fits the trope. Her father holds a tournament of arms to determine which of his knights will be his daughter's protector. She secretly enters the contest - and wins. Furthermore, her father finds out what she did and is deeply impressed enough to publicly proclaim she needs no protector for herself.
While Toph is not exactly a princess, she still is the only child of a very prominent noble family in the Earth Kingdom. Toph is a fantastic Earthbender who is the only one who can bend metal, is almost completely unhampered by her blindness, and fights in underground Earthbending tournaments to pass the time. There's a reason why it's said "Toph isn't blind, she just can't see anything less awesome than herself"!
In X-Men: Evolution, Storm turns out to be the princess of an African tribe. Does that demote her to a helpless Damsel in Distress? No! She's still the same Storm we know and love.
Given that the comic book version was worshiped as a goddess by her tribe, that's no surprise. This is just a backstory that's been modified a little so as to avoid offending Moral Guardian types who would find it blasphemous that a human character was treated as divine.
Teen Titans: Starfire is actually the princess of the planet of Tamaran. Long after she leaves her royal family behind, she remains strong and vigilant.
And since Blackfire is her sister, she would be another evil example.
Princess Fiona from the Shrek movies shows definite badass tendencies, such as fighting off bandits with kung fu and headbutting Prince Charming. In Shrek Forever After, Alternate Universe Fiona gets tired of waiting to be rescued, so she breaks out and becomes leader of La Résistance.
The other princesses in Shrek the ThirdTake a Level in Badass to fight Prince Charming. Especially Snow White, who uses her power to summon woodland creatures to assault Charming's minions. Also, the Queen shows Fiona from which side of the family she got her fighting skills by headbutting through two walls.
She doesn't feel so good after the second wall, though. Understandable since she's getting on in years.
Princess Ilana in Sym-Bionic Titan. Not only does she have a personal suit of Powered Armor and co-pilot the title mecha, she's the first one to run off to fight a gigantic monster sent to kill her to. A monster made of living fire that's been obliterating the city singlehanded. She also demonstrates in the season 1 finale that even if she's not on the same level as Lance, she's still no slouch in hand-to-hand combat.
Rebellious Princess Maya from Adventures Of The Galaxy Rangers. We first see her in Gladiator Games arranged by a two of the more sociopathic members of the Rogues Gallery, having been captured from her home world. After she and the Rangers break free, she goes back and insists on bringing modern technology to her Space Amish people in order to protect them from interstellar threats, even if she has to openly revolt against her own father to do it.
From the same creator: Princess Gwenevere, heiress to the throne of New Avalon and her Archenemy, Princess Kale [her aunt]. Kale took up dark sorcery to Take Over the World. Gwen and crew are all that can stand up to Kale's attempts, especially after Kale took out Merlin.
Adventure Time's Princess Bubblegum, without a doubt. She has the same voice actress as the aforementioned Starfire (except in the pilot). Coincidence?
There was a Warrior Princess, until she turned into Ghost Princess.
And now we have the insanely powerful Flame Princess.
The main character of She Ra Princess Of Power, aka Princess Adora of Eternia. While she did have the option of returning to her home world to rejoin her royal family, she chose to remain on Etheria, fight monsters and every now and then spin-kick Hordak through walls.
Princess Bula of Re Boot is badass enough that no one calls her out on not being a real princess.
Princesses Celestia and Luna from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. They're a pair of Physical Goddesses who over 1000 years ago were able to utilize the Elements Of Harmony to save the world together at least once and Celestia had to save it again from Luna when she turned into Nightmare Moon. Even 1000 years later, Celestia is still pretty Badass. (Though it should be noted that Celestia is "princess"in nameonly.)
As demonstrated during the season 2 finale, threaten her subjects, and she wont hesitate to try and fry your ass with a Frickin' Laser Beam. Even if she did lose, definite badass points, and the only reason that she lost was because the villain had received a massive power boost.
Princess Cadence handles herself pretty well, too. Even when not using The Power of Love to send Queen Chrysalis flying like a kite, she managed to hold up a magic barrier around the entire Crystal Empire. Even exhausted to to dangerous levels, she didn't falter. And when she gets recharged with The Crystal Heart? Well...ask what's left of King Sombra.
And now we have Princess Twilight Sparkle, who's already known to be quite badass.
Princess Lotta Lamour from the Tale Spin episode "The Road to Macadamia". She protects her kingdom from an Evil Chancellor by attacking him and his mooks with a big mallet.
Princess Zelda from the 1989 cartoon The Legend Of Zelda. She did most of the fighting and had to save Link many times.
Bloom, Stella, and Aisha in Winx Club are the princesses of Domino, Solaria, and Andros respectively. They are also powerful fairies that frequently fight and defeat evil witches, wizards, and monsters.
In Gawayn, Princess Gwendolyn is surprisingly kick-ass when she wants to be, despite being shrunk to about six inches tall.
Real Life
Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi in India, who fought for the independence of her realm against the British in India and was killed in battle during the Mutiny.
Example: The Danes attacked her wedding party. She not only organized an effective defense, she rallied the guests and led a counter-attack which drove the attackers off.
Princess Anne of England foiled her own kidnapping attempt by shouting, "Not bloody likely!" to her would-be abductor, but only considered hitting him. She managed to escape unscathed, while a bystander was the one to slug the would-be kidnapper and save her. They even made a TV movie about it.
Kahena, the leader of an alliance of non-Moslem berbers against the Arab invasion.
Gwenllian, a 13th-century Welsh princess who lost her life defending Kidwelly Castle from a Norman invasion.
Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of England. You know you're badass when you can strong-arm the Pope into granting you a divorce from one king, marry another, and then have no less than three of your sons go on to be King.
One of those sons was Richard the Lionheart.
Another one was King John, but the third one was actually an OK king.
Princess Pingyang is an example, although she wasn't technically a princess until after she raised an army to put her father on the throne.
Kurban Djan Datkha, a Kirghiz chieftainess who led Caucausus tribesmen against the Russian invasion in the nineteenth century.
Most XVIII-century Russian empresses were former Badass Princesses that succeeded in grabbing the crown by force. There also was one that didn't succeed.
Katherine of Aragon, Queen of England and first wife of Henry VIII. Though often portrayed as "the chubby one who couldn't have a baby", she more than deserves the title of Badass Princess. She was named Queen Regent and ran the country while he was away - and did so very capably. While Henry was off fighting the French, for example, she managed to utterly defeat a hundred thousand Scots as they invaded England. They must have thought that the country would be a pushover, what with the king and most of his army being overseas. Cut to Katherine sending Henry the torn, bloodied coat of the King of Scots. Ouch.
Back when she was styled Princess of Spain and Dowager Princess of Wales, she was also the first European woman to serve as official ambassador to a foreign court. Her father, King Ferdinand, got rid of the former ambassador at her insistence, and when he didn't have an immediate replacement, he appointed his daughter to do the job. Despite being Henry VII's daughter-in-law, Katherine had been treated very poorly between the death of Prince Arthur and her marriage to Henry VIII (the death of Queen Elizabeth of York left her without any sort of protector in the court), but she turned out to be a skilled politician. During the first decade and a half or so of his reign, Henry VIII would not do anything without her input.
Another queen of England, Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI. Because Henry was an unfit ruler prone to fits of insanity, Margaret had to effectively rule the kingdom in his place and was the de facto leader of the Lancaster side of the Wars Of The Roses. She personally organized the Lancastrian armies and was responsible for several victories before the Yorkist armies began to claim victory. Undaunted, she continued to try to rally troops and fought for the rights of her husband and son until the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471, when her son was killed, which broke her spirit and caused her to give up her cause. Unfortunately these actions caused her to gain a reputation for ruthlessness.
Princess Olga of Kiev, who with a combination of cunning, ruthlessness, and plain taking advantage of people underestimating her for being a woman, managed to devastate and conquer the neighboring kingdom of Dereva who had killed her husband. As Cracked put it when they mentioned how she was canonized as a Saint despite her brutal achievement for helping spread Christianity:
