History RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething / Literature

* Perry Rhodan, main character in the series''Literature/{{Perry Rhodan}}'' is only able to make the solar imperium, with the Earth at its core, because he is a total Badass, also ''Authority equals asskicking''

* Royalty in Creator/LloydAlexander's ''Literature/ChroniclesOfPrydain'' seem to be actual leaders of the country, as well as, [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking for the most part, badasses]]. A notable example is Prince Rhun, who gives every indication of being a complete doofus, but is actually an enthusiastic and kindly ruler. One of the few aversions is Fflewddur Fflam, the truant bard king with the bright yellow hair; he's a lovable fellow and not a complete doofus, but not exactly a responsible ruler. By his own admission, he's a better bard than he is a king -- and he's not much of a bard. On the other hand, as a warrior he's no phony.

* Garion in ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' is actually a decent king who spends more of his time as an administrator than anything in pomp and ceremony. Most other kings and royalty, and even many aristocrats, in that universe are in a similar position.
** Also occurs -- albeit to varying extents -- in Eddings' ''Literature/TheElenium'' and ''Tamuli'' trilogies. Queen Ehlana of Elenia, though she spends the first two-thirds of the ''Elenium'' trilogy in a magical coma, comes out of it hell-bent on running her kingdom efficiently; she's an exceptional ruler, and later her prince-consort Sparhawk takes on as many of her burdens as he can to help. The Emperor of Tamul pretends to be [[TheDitz a dimwitted, inbred fop]] (mostly to prevent his [[DeadlyDecadentCourt scheming courtiers]] from assassinating him), but it's all ObfuscatingStupidity to hide his genius at being the [[TheChessmaster real power "behind" his throne]].

* In ''Literature/TheShatteredKingdoms'', the Nomas seem to have a rather more relaxed view about kingship than other cultures, and Jachad has no problem heading off into a warzone all by himself to take care of things. (Of course, he has [[PlayingWithFire his magic]].)

* In 2021 of the timeline of the ''Literature/AxisOfTime'' trilogy by John Birmingham, Prince Harry is quite a {{badass}} SAS colonel. After the multinational anti-terror task force he is assigned to is [[TrappedInThePast sent back to]] UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, he becomes quite the celebrity in the contemporary UK.
** ''Princess'' Elizabeth thinks being called 'granny' by a man old enough to be her father is a giggle, but Prince Philip is more than a little intimidated by his {{badass}} grandson.

* ''Literature/PatriotGames'' makes a big thing out of Prince Charles's time in the Royal Navy, and has him being a competent seaman, running around shooting bad guys, and generally being {{Badass}}. The Duke of Edinburgh is portrayed in the same sort of way, although on a much smaller scale as he plays a much more minor role in the story and doesn't get to shoot anyone.

** This is especially true in the ''Lord of the Rings'' movie. Watch through the Battle of Pelennor Fields for a Mûmak death count -- of those onscreen, one of them is taken out by the Dead Men, and only one is taken out by a member of the Fellowship (that would be Legolas, who takes a good minute and a half to do so). Then Théoden kills one (well, leads the killing of one), Gamling kills one (close enough), Éowyn kills one, and Éomer kills ''two''. [[BadAss With one thrown spear.]]

*** At the end of ''The Navigators of Dune'', Emperor Roderick Corrino forces all the nobles in his court to go to a remote village on Salusa Secundus to personally help out with the recovery efforts after a devastating flood. His intent is to make this trope true, after his brother Salvador's incompetent reign. Roderick's own wife Haditha is in charge of the relief efforts, wearing boots, coveralls, and gloves. This is compared to the garishly-dressed nobles, who are afraid of getting their fancy clothes dirty. There are, however, exceptions, such as the newcomers Willem Atreides (who had a normal job back on Caladan before his brother's murder) and Danvis Harkonnen.

** Also occurs -- albeit to varying extents -- in Eddings' ''{{Elenium}}'' and ''Tamuli'' trilogies. Queen Ehlana of Elenia, though she spends the first two-thirds of the ''Elenium'' trilogy in a magical coma, comes out of it hell-bent on running her kingdom efficiently; she's an exceptional ruler, and later her prince-consort Sparhawk takes on as many of her burdens as he can to help. The Emperor of Tamul pretends to be [[TheDitz a dimwitted, inbred fop]] (mostly to prevent his [[DeadlyDecadentCourt scheming courtiers]] from assassinating him), but it's all ObfuscatingStupidity to hide his genius at being the [[TheChessmaster real power "behind" his throne]].

** Carrot ironfoundersson ''could'' assert his destiny as King of Ankh-Morpork if he so chose. Fortunately for Vetinari, he beleives in putting in a decent day's work in a job where he feels he really ''could'' make a difference, pregferring to be a policeman. Vetinari is happy for this agreeable state of affairs to continue indefinitely.

* Lissa Dragomir from ''Literature/VampireAcademy'' is a royal Moroi, certainly a big part of the story and doesn't sit around. [[spoiler:She helps break Victor Dashkov out of Tarasov prison, her spirit powers being the key element of the plan. She trains on how to stake Strigoi and manages to use her training on Dimitri. She is part of Rose's escape plan and works hard to [[ClearTheirName Clear Her Name]]. She investigates the murder of Queen Tatiana Ivashkov]].

* Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian, eventually king of Aquilonia, is as much a badass after ascending to the throne as he was before.

* In Literature/VorkosiganSaga, the chief job of Vor, like most aristocracies is war. However in modern times the Barrayaran forces have plenty of commoners in the officer class. Other duties seem to include judging disputes and investigating crimes and maintaining a paternalistic rule over their respective districts. The Vorkosigans themselves are close enough relations to the Imperial dynasty for Aral to be one time suspected of Imperial ambitions. They conduct social reforms, engage in parliamentary politics, take part in espionage and covert warfare, and improve their own local desmene.

* In ''Literature/{{Noob}}'', the NonPlayerCharacter faction leaders of the Coalition and the Order are shown taking a role in active combat. The Coalition's is the most powerful human character (only the {{Physical God}}s are more powerful than him) and used as TheWorfEffect to show the extent of Tabris' power when the latter is introduced. Keynn Lucans from the Empire hasn't been seen doing much by comparision. However, considering that he's the BioAugmentation-enhanced leader of the technology-oriented faction, Arthéon speculates that messing with him is the last thing a reasonable person would want to do.

* In ''Literature/{{Noob}}'', the NonPlayerCharacter faction leaders of the Coalition and the Order are shown taking place in active combat. The Coalition's is the most powerful human character (only the {{Physical God}}s are more powerful than him) and used as TheWorfEffect to show the extent of Tabris' power when the latter is introduced. Keynn Lucans from the Empire hasn't been seen doing much by comparision; considering that he's the BioAugmentation-enhanced leader of the technology-oriented faction, Arthéon speculates that messing with him is the last thing a reasonable person would want to do.

* Lissa Dragomir from ''Literature/VampireAcademy'' is a royal Moroi, certainly a big part of the story and doesn't sit around. [[spoiler:She helps break Victor Dashkov out of Tarasov prison, her spirit powers being the key element of the plan. She trains on how to stake Strigoi and manages to use her training on Dimitri. She is part of Rose's escape plan and works hard to [[ClearTheirName Clear Her Name]]. She investigates the murder of Queen Tatiana Ivashkov]].

* Many monarchs in Tolkien's Middle-Earth are also active both on and off the battlefield:

*** ''Literature/LegendsOfDune'' also has some nobles taking a pretty active role in governing and military command. The most notable is Xavier Harkonnen. His first appearance has him defending Salusa Secundus from a Cymek attack in a SpaceFighter. His grandson Abulurd was also a capable commander.* Princess Josetta of Welce personally runs her own homeless shelter in ''Literature/ElementalBlessings''.

** Part of the backstory of the origin of the Manticoran government was that the system was set up so that the heir to the throne was constitutionally prohibited from marrying someone coming from the nobility/aristocracy: this meant that heirs always were the daughters or sons of people whose families actually had to work for a living, and hopefully picked up that habit.

* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', king Jakoven does plenty of things. Sadly, those things he does also include assassinating his wife's lovers. (And no, not out of jealousy, [[DepravedHomosexual he's gay.]] He does it because he's paranoid about them gaining too much influence). However, he does not do things he should be doing, like doing something about the bandit problem at the border in the south. That's tactical intention, though. His bastard brother Alizon is later seen doing actually doing the thing, after manipulating Jakoven into giving him the opportunity to do so. Alizon is not royalty, though, being a HeroicBastard.

* The royalty in ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' basically do nothing ''but'' scheming against one another and actually ruling their domains. Court functions and leisure occasions seem to only serve the purpose of furthering their schemes for power.

*** And in general, most nobles - including the Harkonnens - are shown to have a hands-on approach to government, spending as much time with statecraft as they do with leisure. One of the first scenes of ''Dune: House Atreides'' has the Baron Harkonnen himself doing the same sort of inspection of a spice mining operation that Duke Leto did in ''Dune'', both to ensure that everything is being done smoothly, and to better understand how he's making his money.
*** ''Legacy of Dune'' also has some nobles taking a pretty active role in governing and military command. The most notable is Xavier Harkonnen. His first appearance has him defending Salusa Secundus from a Cymek attack in a SpaceFighter. His grandson Abulurd was also a capable commander.* Princess Josetta of Welce personally runs her own homeless shelter in ''Literature/ElementalBlessings''.