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10[[quoteright:349:[[Anime/CrossAnge https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fallenprincess_6.png]]]]
11[[caption-width-right:349: From [[RichesToRags princess to prisoner]].]]
12
13->''"To have learnt to live on the common level\
14Is better…\
15To be rich and powerful brings no blessing;\
16Only more utterly\
17Is the prosperous house destroyed, when the gods are angry."''
18-->-- '''Nurse''', ''Theatre/{{Medea}}''
19
20She's got everything: brains, good looks, perfect hair, shiny white teeth, and a body most people would kill for. Of course, this genetic good fortune comes with social perks -- so it is that our beautiful heroine is on the cheerleading squad of her local school and dating a hunky jock who is team captain. She also does her best to avoid the nerds and outcasts, though usually just because she can't afford to lose status in her peers' eyes rather than because she's a bully. This is usually emphasized by making her best friend the AlphaBitch.
21
22But then something happens. Her family [[ImpoverishedPatrician loses its fortune]], she turns out to be TheChosenOne, gets covered in [[RadiationInducedSuperpowers radioactive]] [[GreenRocks green goo]] that gives her [[FreakLabAccident superpowers]], or whatever. For whatever reason, the very thing that makes her a hero also makes her an outcast. Now she sits [[HowTheMightyHaveFallen on the outskirts of her school's peer groups]] with [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits a rag-tag bunch of fellow "losers"]]. At first she regrets not being able to rejoin the cool "jet set", but her drop in status opens her eyes to the goodness and decency of the people she once rejected. She becomes a better person, the geeks get a cool friend and all of them save the world and solve mysteries together.
23
24Alternatively, the Fallen Princess can be a secondary character who's initially portrayed as the AlphaBitch, but is [[LovableAlphaBitch revealed to be insecure or to have other sympathetic traits that make the audience like her]], prior to her taking a leap down in the social strata.
25
26This trope appears a lot in science fiction and fantasy shows since their target audience is generally exactly the same kind of geek outcast that the princess ends up hanging out with. Thus they can simultaneously [[AllGuysWantCheerleaders fetishize the cheerleader image]] while assuaging their perceived audience by confirming their beliefs that all cheerleaders (and people in the higher strata of the school system) are [[SlobsVersusSnobs stuck up snobs]], with few exceptions. It also lionizes the viewer by showing the geeks to be more interesting and "cool" in their own way than the cliques. Of course, the character doesn't ''have'' to be a cheerleader for it to work -- just someone who's in a clique of [[TheBeautifulElite attractive, desirable, and deeply unpleasant people]].
27
28Also ''could'' work perfectly with [[RoyalBlood actual princesses]] (or just an [[BlueBlood upper-crust]] heroine). A low-life "peasant" or modern equivalent may fall in love with her. But in a random wave of unsurprising angst, says this line, most of the time word-for-word:
29
30"She's a princess… and I'm… [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} just a street rat…]]"
31
32[[SuddenlySuitableSuitor If a miracle doesn't interfere]], he will then give up completely.
33
34Compare the {{Ojou}} and BreakTheHaughty, and contrast AlphaBitch and KingOfTheHomeless. PrincessInRags is a similar character, but while the Fallen Princess has her eyes opened by her loss of status and adapts to her situation, the Princess in Rags doesn't, remains arrogant and will keep fighting to regain what she lost until the bitter end, but without becoming wiser in the meantime.
35
36----
37!!Examples:
38[[index]]
39* FallenPrincess/AnimeAndManga
40* FallenPrincess/FanWorks
41* FallenPrincess/{{Literature}}
42* FallenPrincess/LiveActionTV
43* FallenPrincess/VideoGames
44* FallenPrincess/WesternAnimation
45[[/index]]
46
47[[foldercontrol]]
48
49[[folder:Comic Books]]
50* Jadina in ''ComicBook/LesLegendaires''; she was originally princess of the Kingdom of Orchidia, but her relationship with her parents started to be strained when she refused an ArrangedMarriage to instead become an adventurer and form a team of heroes with a knight that shares her ideals. After said team accidentally provoked a magical incident that turned everyone on the planet into children, she was banished from her kingdom, disowned, and forced to live like a peasant until she and her friends decided to reform the team despite their HeroWithBadPublicity status.
51[[/folder]]
52
53[[folder:Fairy Tales]]
54* In "Literature/AdalminasPearl", this is the main plot. Adalmiina's fall is very hard, too: she goes from a spoiled, ultimately intelligent, extremely beautiful, [[RichBitch unbelievably rich]] princess to literal rags in a moment ([[AWizardDidIt A faerie godmother did it]].), and also loses her looks, smarts, and even her memory.
55* Creator/TheBrothersGrimm's fairy tales have some of these:
56** The main character from "Literature/KingThrushbeard" is a princess who is such an AlphaBitch that she doesn't consider any of her suitors worthy of her hand. Eventually, her frustrated father forces her to marry a poor peddler. One HumiliationConga and a "MyGodWhatHaveIDone" later, the peddler is revealed to the eponymous king, whom the princess had mocked earlier, and who officially marries her once she has stopped being a RichBitch and become a better person.
57** The protagonist from "Literature/TheSixSwans" is a princess who must run away after her six brothers were turned into swans, trying to fulfill the huge tasks that will lead to her undoing the spell ''and'' attempting to put herself outta the reach of their WickedStepmother. The brothers also count, as they're princes stripped from their human forms for years.
58** In "Literature/MaidMaleen", the titular princess is imprisoned in a tower by her father, who hopes to force her into accept an arranged marriage. When Maleen breaks out of the tower, her father's kingdom has been destroyed, and she finds herself wandering around the countryside and living off nettle leaves until she manages to get a job as a scullery maid.
59* The above mentioned "The Six Swans" has several similar variations ("The Twelve Wild Ducks", Hans Christian Andersen's The Wild Swans", etc.) with near-identical plots involving a Fallen Princess who struggles to release her also fallen ''and'' now bewitched brothers from spells.
60* In ''Literature/CatherineAndHerFate'', Catherine, the beautiful only child of a rich merchant, chooses to be happy in her old age rather than her youth. And then she finds that she can be very, '''very''' miserable and poor in her youth.
61[[/folder]]
62
63[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
64* WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}, though she doesn't know she's one due to TraumaInducedAmnesia.
65* WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} was more of a noble girl than princess, but had lived a life of happy luxury before her father remarried and then died, the family wealth was squandered, and she was abused and forced to become a servant by her WickedStepmother.
66* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' features a Fallen ''Prince'', in the form of Simba: Once a naive, curious cub, now a [[ItsAllMyFault guilt-ridden]] lion who's [[HeroicBSOD lost faith in himself]]. Fortunately, he's encouraged by his father's spirit (and getting beaned in the noggin with a stick) and pulls through.
67* [[WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs Snow White]] was born a princess but, like Cinderella, was forced to do the chores, dress in rags, and never leave the castle by her WickedStepmother and local Witch, who hoped to ruin her good looks. After nearly being murdered, she's forced to go through the scary forest and hide out in a cottage, where she takes over housework for the Dwarves. After the death of the Witch and being given a TrueLovesKiss, she probably reclaimed her birthright with the help of the Prince ''and'' reinforced it by marrying said Prince.
68* In ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'', [[spoiler:Vanellope]] is revealed at the end to have been this.
69[[/folder]]
70
71[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
72* ''Film/TheAdventuresOfGalgameth'': Prince Davin is forced to disguise himself as a peasant to escape the evil knight El El, who murdered the king and usurped his throne as regent.
73* The movie ''Film/{{Heathers}}'' revolves around the sole non-Heather member of a clique of girls named Heather, who, with the help of an attractive but weird loner, decides to get back at them for their bullying ways with pranks which, though initially innocent, quickly turn into a killing spree.
74* A variation happens to Cady in ''Film/MeanGirls'' where she's a loser to start the film off, then she becomes the AlphaBitch and realizes how much that life sucks before going back to her original self. Also happens to Regina who discovers that the whole school actually hates her but then reforms, joining the field hockey team to work on her anger issues. The end implies that she is a bit nicer as well. Janis used to be popular, but her reputation was destroyed by a rumor and she now willingly embraces outsiderdom.
75* Glinda in ''Film/OzTheGreatAndPowerful'', her father, the King of Oz, is murdered after being poisoned by [[WickedWitch Evanora]], who frames Glinda with the crime of {{Patricide}}, forcing her to flee from the Emerald City to the South.
76* Lilli in ''Film/SnowWhiteATaleOfTerror''. She's forced to run away and try and live in the wild.
77[[/folder]]
78
79[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
80* According to UsefulNotes/{{Kabbalah}} mysticism, the Shekhinah ("Presence"), a feminine divinity, was cast out when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and now wanders the world disconsolate. Jewish fairytales involving exiled princesses may be seen as metaphors for this idea.
81* In Myth/JapaneseMythology, a girl named [[https://justanimeforum.net/threads/japanese-culture-princess-hachikatsugi.5389/ Hachikatsugi-hime]] ("the princess with a wooden bowl hat") runs away from her rich household after the death of her mother and the arrival of a WickedStepmother. She ends up working as a maid for another rich family, [[UptownGirl then the son of her bosses falls for her]]... [[spoiler: The wooden bowl hat hides a BagOfHolding with the stuff Hachikatsugi needs to bypass her boss' ParentalMarriageVeto and become a princess again.]]
82[[/folder]]
83
84[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
85* ''TabletopGame/FabulaUltima'': One of the introductory ''Press Start'' adventure's premade characters is Lavigne Fallbright, a princess who lost her family and kingdom to the invading empire of Elonia. She now fights to prevent other nations from suffering the same fate as her homeland.
86[[/folder]]
87
88[[folder:Visual Novels]]
89* Lucette from ''VisualNovel/CinderellaPhenomenon'' starts out as a cold-hearted princess who treats everyone around her with contempt. She becomes cursed by a witch to go from RichesToRags with almost everyone losing their memories of her being the crown princess and the rest of the story focuses on her long, slow journey to learn how to perform three good deeds to break her curse.
90* Shirogane Le Bel Sakuya can fit into this trope, or "Fallen Prince" anyway, in ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend''. He is the young, arrogant heir to the powerful noble Le Bel family and is a wealthy, prideful brat with a love of music, which has been [[FantasyForbiddingFather forbidden to him by his father]]. His route consists of a rather gentle BreakTheHaughty[=/=][[DefrostingIceQueen Defrosting Ice King]] as he comes to depend more and accept different things from the heroine, including the idea that he can and should pursue his passion. In the perfect route when he tells his father, at the end, [[spoiler:he is disowned and has to live with the heroine [[ContemporaryCaveman in a cave]] on some straw... but he performs in concerts]].
91* Visual novels under the ''VideoGame/PurpleMoon'' banner. Try to make friends with the AlphaBitch, and ''every single time'', something will backfire and make her hate you.
92[[/folder]]
93
94[[folder:Web Comics]]
95* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' this [[https://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/comics/958 apparently happened]] to Princess Voluptua at some point in her youth. Her feelings about the experience seem mixed.
96* In ''Webcomic/NoRestForTheWicked'', it comes as a great blow to November to realize that Princess Colette really doesn't believe her to be a princess because of her rags. Of course, Colette married the Marquis de Carabas, further proof that her BlueBlood-dar is out of order (unlike November's).
97[[/folder]]
98
99[[folder:Web Animation]]
100* ''WebAnimation/TheMostPopularGirlsInSchool'': The Season 2 finale reveals Deandra’s backstory before she came to Overland Park High School. She used to be not only a student at the rival Atchison High, but she was head cheerleader and one of the most popular girls in school, if not the most popular of them all. But after an incident involving Pop Rocks triggered a poorly-timed PottyEmergency, her reputation went down the toilet, pun intended, and she transferred out in disgrace.
101[[/folder]]
102
103[[folder:Web Original]]
104* Aki from ''Literature/SailorNothing''. [[spoiler:Her Yamiko destroys her popularity by announcing to the school how Aki really feels, like Himei being her one real friend and how the Fashion Club exploits people. This ends up being beneficial to Aki in the long run. While she's disgusted by the Yamiko's method, Aki's nevertheless grateful to finally be free of the Fashion Club and all the other trappings of popularity that were making her miserable.]]
105* Phase, of the Literature/WhateleyUniverse. Once a member of the richest family in the world, he becomes a mutant and gets kicked out. He ends up at [[SuperheroSchool Whateley Academy]] hanging with the RagTagBunchOfMisfits that is Team Kimba.
106** Jadis (codename She-Beast) probably counts, too. She had to leave her fancy Montessori school as a child when it came out that her dad is the notorious supervillain Dr. Diabolik.
107[[/folder]]
108

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