Villainous Princess

aka: Evil Princess

Her crimes include: Arson, Murder and Immodest Clothing.

"Now that the Demon King is dead, the only possible threat to the royal family is you, Hero. Even though you could've just obediently became mine, my stupid yet cute puppet... I'm making you realize how serious of a crime it is to reject me, the Princess!"

— Princess Victoria, The Hero Who Seeks Revenge Shall Exterminate With Darkness

Princesses in fiction come in many varieties but are almost always on the side of good. Thanks to the influence of the Princess Classic trope, originating from fairy tale princesses and popularized by the famous Disney Princess franchise, princesses are often defined by their kindness, and even more unconventional archetypes like the Tomboy Princess, Rebellious Princess, and Pretty Princess Powerhouse are typically benevolent characters. Kings and Princes are as likely to be good as they are evil, and The Emperor is usually a villain, but evil female rulers will typically be queens or empresses, as in Good Princess, Evil Queen.

The Villainous Princess, on the other hand, is a rebuke of this rule: a princess who serves as a villain. They tend to fall into two types: the overtly antagonistic ones, and the Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who seems to fit the image of a Princess Classic but is hiding their true nature. They can be ruthless, cunning, tyrannical, and total psychopaths underneath their image, but just as often they can be Anti Villains who care for their people or have some other sympathetic motivation.

Sister Trope to The Evil Prince(ss), with the difference that The Evil Princess is specifically gunning for the throne and kills her parents and/or rivals for this purpose, while a Villainous Princess is often a royal version of Daddy's Little Villain, although they can overlap. Also note that they have to be actual royalty to qualify; the Alpha Bitch who is an Honorary Princess is not this trope.

See also Aristocrats Are Evil, the more general tendency for nobility to be villains in fiction. Compare Mafia Princess.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Code Geass: Princess Cornelia li Britannia is a ruthless general of Britannia and one of the main antagonists of Season One. She helps enforce the draconian rule of her family and orders massacres on those who do not comply with the regime. Her sisters are more benevolent by comparison.
• CosPrayers: Princess Takitsu, seemingly the benevolent daughter of Amaterasu, is actually an Omnicidal Maniac goddess.
• Cross Ange: Princess Sylvia, sister of the heroine Ange, is a Decoy Damsel who is secretly in league with Embryo and Julio. Though she is an Anti-Villain who was deceived by them into thinking that the oppression of Norma is right, and Ange eventually sets her straight.
• Dragon Ball Z: Princess Snake is a Filler villain who appears in Goku's journey across the Snake Road. At first she offers Goku food and shelter in her castle but then demands he stay as her husband. When he reveals he is already married she transforms into a giant snake and tries to eat him.
• Dragon Half: Princess Vina is The Rival to the heroine Mink who wants her Love Interest, Dick Saucer, for herself and repeatedly gets in Mina's way with the help of her father King Siva.
• Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics: The unnamed princess from "The Six Who Went Far", is every bit as greedy and cruel as her father.
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Kycilia Zabi is the only daughter of Sovereign Degwin of the Principality of Zeon, and like her other siblings is a staunch militarist bent on conquering the Earth Sphere.
• Princess Kushana of Tolmekia is a major antagonist in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. She's a cold, ruthless warmonger who invades the peaceful Valley of the Wind and approves the killing of its bedridden king. Violence tends to be her answer to every conflict and she arrogantly insists on resurrecting a monstrous bioweapon to destroy the Toxic Jungle, even though in the past this nearly destroyed the world and just ending up enraging the Jungle's giant insects. The people of the Valley are surprised to learn she's a princess, because she's "nothing like [their] princess", the compassionate and noble Princess Nausicaa. It's worth noting that Kushana isn't portrayed as completely evil though; Nausicaa notes that most of her actions seem to be driven by fear, and in the end Kushana learns her lesson and peacefully departs the Valley.
• Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World: Elletear Lou Nebulis IX is a tragic example of this trope with a Freudian Excuse. She was born as the first princess of the Nebulis Sovereignty and worked hard so that she could give equality to all the Astral Mages with weak Astral Spirits like herself. However, because she was born with a laughably weak astral spirit, no one gave her a chance to become Queen, so she decided "To hell with it!" and plotted to burn the Sovereignty to the ground.
• Powerpuff Girls Z: Alpha Bitch Himeko Shirogane turns into Princess when hit with black chemical X rays, making her a princess-themed villainous Attention Whore who opposes the Powerpuff Girls.
• Princess Tutu: Princess Kraehe, the evil alter ego of Rue, is the Princess of crows and Dark Magical Girl, as well as Daddy's Little Villain to the Raven, who tries to stop the titular heroine from recovering the pieces of Mytho's heart. Though she eventually does a Heel–Face Turn.
• Redo of Healer: Both Jioral sisters are this.
  • Princess Flare Algrande Jioral, who summoned Keyaru from his world, proceeds to turn him into a slave and supports the evil reign of her father, King Proum Jioral. Though she is much nicer when turned into Freia.
  • Princess Norn Clatalissa Jioral is even worse. For one thing, her mistreatment of Flare is a major reason why Flare became the way she was, and she constantly schemes to aid her father's oppressive rule and spark War for Fun and Profit. Like Flare, she is nicer when turned into Ellen, but even then her sociopathic nature peeks through occasionally.
• The Rising of the Shield Hero: The anime version of Princess Malty Melromarc is one of the most infamous examples in anime. Among her crimes, she gets Naofumi falsely accused of rape, forces him into a rigged duel that nearly costs him an ally, joins a conspiracy to further demoralize Naofumi, and repeatedly attempts to kill her more benevolent younger sister to have the throne for herself. Later, it's revealed that she's essentially a Serial Killer. And these are just in the first three story arcs alone. She continues to get worse.
• The Big Bad of Sailor Moon S: The Movie is Princess Snow Kaguya, an alien who has frozen entire planets solid and aims to add Earth to her collection.
• Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle has the princesses of the Lords' Faction, a remnant of the Old Arcadia Empire who want to restore the Old Empire and get back in power, working with Prince Fugil Arcadia to do so.
  • Princess Listelka Rei Arshalia is the nominal leader of the Lords' Faction who masterminds the plot to Take Over the World.
  • Princess Aeril Vi Arcadia downplays it heavily as she is the Token Good Teammate of the faction, but she still aids them in their mass-murdering plans, at least until she learns their real intentions and does a Heel–Face Turn.
  • Princess Hayes Vi Arcadia is the worst of the lot, an Ax-Crazy maniac and Royal Brat who sparks a war with Atismata and kills many innocents, intending to make the world worship her.
  • Princess Arshalia Rei Arcadia was less bad than Listelka and Hayes in that she wasn't a power-hungry maniac, but she was a Well-Intentioned Extremist who tried to manipulate everyone's memories to make everyone forget their hatred towards the nobility, and let loose the dangerous Sacred Eclipse so Fugil could defeat it and look like a hero, restoring the family's reputation.

Films —Animated

• Shrek the Third: Rapunzel turns out to be The Mole on Prince Charming's side as his Queen of Far Far Away and plays the princess in his play.
• Princess Namaari from Raya and the Last Dragon is Princess Raya's archrival and the main opponent towards the protagonists. However, she is only antagonistic because she too is trying to save her own kingdom, but for the wrong reasons and ultimately performs a Heel–Face Turn to help the heroes finally defeat the Druun destroying their kingdoms.

Films — Live-Action

• Hercules (1983): Princess Adriana is Daddy's Little Villain to King Minos who helps him usurp Thebes and attempt to Take Over the World. She also tries to sacrifice Princess Cassiopeia to Hera and drug and rape Hercules.
• The Monkey Goes West: In the second movie, Princess Iron Fan, the titular princess is a cruel tyrant who rules with an iron fist with her husband, the Bull Demon, which Sun Wukong the Monkey King must overcome in order to obtain her enchanted fan.
• The Mummy (2017): Princess Ahmanet is a princess-flavored Nepharious Pharaoh who killed her father and infant brother for the throne, and is raising an army of the dead to Take Over the World.
• Thor: Ragnarok: Hela was this during Asgard's imperial days under the tutelage of her father Odin, helping him conquer whole realms and drown them in blood and tears. However, while Odin had a change of heart, Hela continued in her ways, and ultimately threw a coup against him. Fortunately, Odin was far more powerful than her and sealed her away in Hel. With Odin's death, she escapes and attempts to restart the conquest.

Literature

• Altina the Sword Princess: In volume 4, Princess Margaret Steelheart causes a Succession Crisis in High Britannia by usurping the throne from designated heir Princess Elizabeth, and then invades the Belgarian Empire, for no other reason than her own boredom with the world.
• The Bad Unicorn Trilogy: Princess the Destroyer is a unicorn, and an actual princess. She's a sadistic monster who kills creatures for fun, and she serves as The Heavy of the first book, even providing its Antagonist Title. However, she makes a Heel–Face Turn in a later book when the heroes show her The Power of Love.
• "The Blue Bird" contains both this trope and a Princess Classic. The villainous princess is the ugly Truitonne, who tries to undermine the happiness of her pretty stepsister Florine and steal her beloved.
• The Hero Laughs While Walking the Path of Vengeance a Second Time: Princess Alesia summons Kaito to her world as the hero who will defeat the Demon King. Once he does, she betrays him. She is also The Caligula who enslaves her citizens for being poor and persecutes non-humans.
• The Hero Who Seeks Revenge Shall Exterminate With Darkness: Princess Victoria has Raul slay the Demon King and then betrays and kills Raul for her own sadistic amusement and continues to torture and even rape some of her agents, especially Sandra if they "fail" her.
• The Necklace Of Princess Fiorimonde: The titular princess is renown for her beauty, which causes her subjects to assume that she's a good-hearted Princess Classic. But her beauty is in fact a result of dark magic, which she secretly learnt from a Wicked Witch. When her father decides that the princess should marry, Fiorimonde conspires with the witch to curse her suitors and transform them into beads for her necklace.
• Overlord (2012) has Princess Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself or Re-Estize. Intelligent and manipulative, Renner presents herself as a sweet and benevolent princess but is secretly a sadistic sociopath who would not hesitate to kill her own subjects if they anger her, or if it benefits her in some way. The only person she has any affection for is Climb, whom she regards as a puppy rather than his own person, and whom she intends to keep as a chained-up Sex Slave. This eventually culminates in Renner abandoning her humanity and becoming an Imp, after selling out her entire kingdom to Ainz.
• Redwall: In Triss, the main antagonists are the Pure Ferrets, an evil royal family. The Heavy of the book is Princess Kurda, who leads the royal guard in an attempt to recapture the heroes, who are escaped slaves. Kurda's brother, Prince Bladd, accompanies her, but he is not nearly as cruel or ambitious as her. The Big Bad is technically their father, King Agarnu, but Agarnu is so lazy and spineless that he has very little effect on the story.
• The Rising of the Shield Hero:
  • The original web novel version of Princess Malty Melromarc initially appears to protagonist Naofumi as a beautiful and kind princess, until she robs him and makes a False Rape Accusation, ruining his reputation. She then goes on to betray and use everyone around her, and causes chaos everywhere she goes. It is eventually revealed that she is a fragment of the goddess Medea Pideth Machina, who created her and other fragments specifically to spread chaos for her amusement.
  • The Light Novel version of Princess Malty Melromarc is even worse than her other versions. As usual, she starts off by making a False Rape Accusation towards Naofumi and betrays everyone around her, but she also turns out to be selling female companions into slavery, sexual or otherwise. Eventually, she instigates a bloody coup and uprising that kills many so she can usurp and murder her mother, taking the throne for herself. Notably, she also lacks the web novel version's Alas, Poor Villain death, and the backstory of having been created by Medea, meaning she is doing this of her own free will.
• Sword of Truth: Princess Violet of Tamarang is only ten years old, but anyone she takes a disliking to is prone to end up being tortured and/or beheaded on her orders, sometimes for no reason except her own amusement.
• Tearmoon Empire: The Villain Protagonist, Mia Luna Tearmoon, was at the beginning of the story a very selfish princess whose numerous misdeeds included abusing her servants and neglecting serious disasters affecting her empire like the plague and famine, all because of her inflated ego, which resulted in her empire overthrowing her and sentencing her to death by guillotine. However, she gets resurrected eight years back in time for a chance to turn her behavior and misdeeds around and avoid repeating the same outcome, with the narrative poking fun at her Secretly Selfish tendencies every now and again. Her efforts appear to be working, as her bloodstained diary changes the future events that unfold prior to her upcoming execution.
• Wings of Fire: Princess Blister intentionally let her mother, Queen Oasis, die so she could take the throne for herself, and started the war of SandWing Succession, aiming to kill her sisters so she can become queen.
• The Witch of Knightcharm: Lily, one of the new Scholomance recruits, revels in her plans to use her ancestral magic to brutally conquer the world and then promote herself to the rank of 'princess.'

Live-Action TV

• Adjutant Shiima from Dengeki Sentai Changeman is the Princess of the planet Amanga and a lieutenant in the Gozma invasion force. Though she's not so much evil as being forced to serve under threat of her planet being destroyed, and because she's been brainwashed.

Music

• The music video for LIP×LIP's "LOVE&KISS" has the two leading characters be brought to a kingdom where a tyrannical princess is making the citizens' lives a living hell. When she is challenged by the heroes, she sends in her dragon to make mincemeat of them. It turns out that she was Brainwashed and Crazy thanks to a magical jewel she wore, and upon the destruction of a similar gem on the dragon, she is broken free of her corruption and immediately makes amends.
• Evillious Chronicles: In the Daughter of Evil series, the titular Princess Riliane Lucifen d'Autriche is the spoiled and wrathful princess of the Kingdom of Lucifenia. Nicknamed the Daughter of Evil, she horribly mistreats her servants and twin brother Allen and has Allen carry out genocide on the Women of Green because a prince she courted chose one of them over her. It is only after Allen sacrifices himself to save her life does she reflect on her villainous nature, regretting what she did and going to live in solitude as a nun.
• The song "Betrayer" by German Symphonic Metal band Xandria is about a princess who leads the brave knights bodyguarding her to their deaths so that she can gain wings.

Video Games

• Brave Hero Yuusha: Princess Lorica is one of The Puppeteer's minions and Evil Counterpart to Princess Glynn who wants to prove that she is the better princess and tries to kill the party.
• Child of Light: Queen Umbra's two daughters, Crepusculum and Nox, are her Co-Dragons. Nox in particular stands out as a depraved sociopath by forming a close sisterly bond with Aurora and fighting alongside her as an ally, only to lure her into a trap in an attempt to kill her, all while taking a sick pleasure in mocking the little girl for her innocence.
• Default Dan: As part of its nature as an Inversion of a typical Super Mario Bros. Platform Game, instead of the nameless Princess being kidnapped by the turtle monster, the princess kidnaps the turtle monster. From there, Default Dan has to rescue his turtle monster friend from her.
• Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey: The Big Bad, Princess Zara, was a princess who was banished from her kingdom for refusing to learn princesses' virtues. She commands the Bogs which take over the worlds of other princesses as she believes no one else deserves to be a princess if she can't be one.
• Fire Emblem Heroes: Princess Veronica is the princess of the Emblian Empire and the Big Bad of Book I who wants to conquer the Kingdom of Askr. In Book II, she teams up with King Surtur to destroy Askr and defeat the heroes, though she ends up betrayed and ultimately does a Heel–Face Turn.
• Kaima: Princess Ezel seems to be a benevolent princess, but is actually the one who really caused the impending apocalypse by devouring the souls of her subjects and trying to destroy the world so she could conquer other worlds. She goes on to be the True Final Boss of the game.
• In Kameo: Elements of Power, the elven princess Kalus sided with Thorn, king of the trolls, and helps him kidnap the rest of her family when her rightful claim to the throne was passed onto her adoptive sister Kameo.
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds: Princess Hilda, the Lorulean counterpart to Princess Zelda, is revealed to be a Well-Intentioned Extremist who sent Yuga to kidnap Zelda and the Seven Sages as part of her plan to steal the Hyrulean Triforce and save her kingdom from ruin. She does a Heel–Face Turn after Yuga reveals he was using her and betrays her.
• Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time: Princess Shroob is the leader of the Shroobs and guiding their Alien Invasion, and is as cruel as can be towards the Toads. Her sister, Elder Princess Shroob, is just as tyrannical.
• Minoria: Princess Poeme is the leader of the witches who are invading the Holy Kingdom and killing anyone who comes in their path. Her sister, Princess Amelia, is in fact even worse, as her oppression of the witches is what drove Poeme to villainy in the first place.
• Normy's Beach Babe-O-Rama: In the second stage, "England 1447", Persephone, the Goddess of Sunshine has been captured by Princess Cuffy so that Cuffy can work on her tan, and Normy's goal for this stage is to rescue Persephone. Cuffy uses magic powers in her battle against Normy, such as firing lightning bolts at him and turning herself into a dragon.
• Wadanohara: Princess Totsusa is the leader of the enemy kingdom invading the Blue Sea Kingdom and is a Cute and Psycho bunny girl with a boning knife. She serves as the Evil Counterpart to Princess Uomi. However, Princess Mikotsu, Uomi's sister, is even worse, as she tricked Totsusa into waging war on Uomi so that she can take the throne as she tried to in the past, which resulted in her getting sealed away in the Sea of Death, the Eldritch Location she controls.

Visual Novels

• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice: Downplayed with Princess Rayfa Padma Khura'in- she's one of the main rivals to the heroes alongside prosecutor Nahyuta, and an arrogant Royal Brat who plays a big role in sending potentially innocent people to their deaths. But she never does anything outright evil, seems to be unaware of the real extent of the damage she is doing (since she is a child), and is at worst a Villainy-Free Villain who does a Heel–Face Turn in the end.
• Slay the Princess: The titular Princess, according to the Narrator, is a manipulative monster who will destroy the world if she escapes the cabin, and you must slay her by any means necessary. The truth is a bit more complicated; while most versions of her are indeed this, a few are not, and the true Princess, the Shifting Mound, is the embodiment of change who will end the world because that is her nature. Even then, she can be convinced to spare the world by giving up her (and your own) divinity.

Webcomics

• Princess Sara as portrayed in 8-Bit Theater wants to be a villain, and since she's one of the few rational and sane characters in the story, ends up trying to mentor Garland (who's portrayed as a Harmless Villain) in the ways of evil. In practice she never actually ends up being an antagonist to the protagonists (who are all far worse than her).
• Princess Anevka Sturmvoraus of Girl Genius is a treacherous madwoman (so in other words a typical member of House Sturmvoraus) ... if you can even call her a woman (or even still alive) with all the cybernetics. The novels mention that when she gets angry she sometimes kills whoever is nearby. Anevka finds herself even worse when she becomes yet another vessel for the Other and carries on her villainy.

Western Animation

• Avatar: The Last Airbender has Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, a sociopath who acts as one of the Gaang's most dangerous foes. She is very cunning and manages to outsmart the Gaang numerous times, is a Dark Action Girl who puts up quite a fight as well, and is fully supportive of her genocidal father Big Bad and the ruthless conquests that the Fire Nation is doing in general.
• Avengers Assemble: Princess Zanda, a Shapeshifter in league with the Shadow Council, uses her abilities to take on Black Widow's form and frame Black Panther for the seeming death of Captain America.
• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002): Evil-Lyn is the daughter of King Nikolas Powers and Queen Maligna Powers, and thus technically the Princess of Zalesia. She is also an Evil Sorceress serving Skeletor.
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: As explained in the show's first episode, Princess Luna's jealousy turns her into the villainous Nightmare Moon and she becomes the Big Bad of the two-part introductory episode. Fortunately, she gets reformed when the Mane Six eventually turn Luna back to her old self.
• Before Nightmare Moon, My Little Pony 'n Friends had Princess Porcina, a Pig Woman Vain Sorceress who planned to turn the ponies into reflective glass. However, when she sees the ponies in person she realises she can't go through with her evil scheme and makes a Heel–Face Turn.
• Rainbow Brite: The Dark Princess is a recurring villain of the franchise and perhaps the biggest enemy of the titular heroine and her team. In The Star Stealer, she is the greedy Big Bad who enslaves her people and is willing to destroy all existence just to get her hands on a diamond planet. She returns as the villain of the reboots as well.
• Sofia the First: Princess Ivy was banished from her kingdom after trying to overthrow her elder sister, and subsequently seeks to take over another kingdom.

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