Warrior Prince

aka: Warrior King

Edward of Woodstock, the Black Prince.

"I am a warrior! The Saiyan prince! VEEGGEETTAAAAAA!"

— Vegeta, Dragon Ball Z

This is where a member of royalty takes part in battle himself, especially as a commander. This was once quite common, and examples of it can be found from time to time in the present day. It is a favorite of epic and romantic tales and goes back far in the history of literature, back to things like The Iliad. A warrior prince can be a Wise Prince, bravely fighting for his kingdom; he can also be an evil conqueror. While this character always stands a high chance of being a badass it is even more likely in that second case, as the Big Bad exposing himself requires a certain level of badassery.

Common in myth and legend, going back to those Older Than Dirt.

A subtrope of Royals Who Actually Do Something. See also Action Politician, Rank Scales with Asskicking, and Lady of War.

While in many western cultures only princes would go on the battlefield, (and even then there have been some female examples in history) in other parts of the world princesses were just as likely to fight. In those more strict patriarchies where women aren't seen as warriors, they may have to train in secret. This could result in a Pretty Princess Powerhouse. In fiction, it may also be the case that Gender Is No Object and only the Royal Blood matters.

In terms of the ranks of Authority Tropes, the tropes that are equal are The Evil Prince, Prince Charming, Prince Charmless, The Wise Prince, and all Princess Tropes.

The next steps down are The Caligula, The Good Chancellor, Standard Royal Court, and Decadent Court. The next steps up are The Good King, God Save Us from the Queen!, and The High Queen, some of which are still warriors even when they're in charge.

If this Prince takes pride in his heritage, expect him to always use I Am X, Son of Y to introduce himself. A Warrior Prince likely wears ceremonial armor (perhaps a shiny breastplate) and weapons even at court, to indicate his martial spirit. In paintings of him, as this trope's title image shows, he'll have armor and weapons.

Truth in Television, both historically and even in the 2020s, you will see Princes who are serving members of the armed forces and who appear in their dress uniforms and medals at special occasions.

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Other examples:

Comic Books

• In Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld, Amaya "Amy" Winston is the titular princess, and she's skillful at fighting and spellcasting. On Earth, Amaya fought off three jocks who were trying to rape a girl.
• Aquaman still takes time to fight for Truth, Justice, and the ____ way when he's not busy ruling over Atlantis.
• Tempest was a warrior leader too, during the War of the Lights; he became king of Atlantis because he was the only one left. Then he died.
• The DC superhero Geo-Force's civilian identity is Prince Brion Markov of Markovia; his half-sister, Terra, is likewise Markovian royalty.
• Iolande of the Green Lantern Corps would like to be this, and was for a while, but the deaths of the rest of her family meant she had to take the throne. Being the ruler of an entire world leaves little time for ring-slinging.
• The Metabarons are this trope in terms of scale if not title. Originally the inheritor of a barony that encompasses the whole planet, the first Metabaron was given that unique position and title by the Emperor and Empress of humanity for saving their only child. That's the 'prince' part, the 'warrior' part of the equation is this. Each Metabaron is cybernetically enhanced, then augmented by a Cosmic Entity, and barring one have godlike levels of psychic power in order to be the ultimate military force in that universe. One Metabaron slaughters an entire alien universe to save ours while another single-handedly guts a space fleet numbering in the millions in only a few seconds.
• The Mighty Thor Thor, son of Odin, would fit this trope, as his father rules over Asgard and its people (although later on Thor becomes King after his father's death). Thor functions as the premier warrior, paragon, and champion of Asgard and still takes time from godly duties to put in time as Earth's Mightiest Hero and the God of Thunder and Lightning.
• Starfire is a princess of the planet Tamaran, a warrior people known for their conflict with the Gordanians, to whom Starfire was sold into slavery. The experimentation she was subjected to while captive turned out to be a bad idea, as it only made her into a Flying Brick and allowed her to escape and eventually join the Teen Titans.
• Namor was doing this back when he was still only a Prince (and he's still generally referred to as such, despite being the King of Atlantis). This is, almost without exception, the cause of any perceived villainy in his publishing history: it's all either in the name of protecting or avenging Atlantis.
• Wonder Woman:
  • Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman, who is the Amazonian Princess of Themyscira. While she is very compassionate, she's still a Demi-Goddesses who will protect her land with righteous fury. Diana can also be seen as a Rebellious Princess since she left Themyscira to prove mankind was worthy of the Amazons' care. Wonder Woman also upgrades to Warrior Queen if Hippolyta is dead or turned to stone in some continuities, where the monarchy hadn't been abolished before this occurred.
  • Wonder Woman (1987): The Sangtee Emperor is shown to have gained the favor of the populace, prior to their ascension to the throne, with their tactical abilities; transmissions showing them fighting in the thick of it rather than directing the fighting from a protected spot.
• The Shi'ar royal family in X-Men comics. It starts out with the mad emperor D'Ken and his two warrior princess sisters. Then he's overthrown and his sane sister Lilandra takes the throne, leaving his insane sister Deathbird to command the Imperial Guard, with occasional holidays to Earth where she works as a supervillain — when she's not busy usurping Lilandra, anyway, until that one time she succeeded and found that ruling an Empire was boring as fuck. Cue ceding the Empire back — though she is now acting as Regent for Xandra (Lilandra's daughter by Xavier) on the grounds that going after her niece means going through her, having been Lady Macbeth to Vulcan, so perhaps it's just the paperwork that annoys her.
• X-Wing Rogue Squadron: Plourr Illo, a princess who embodies the textbook pop culture image...of a space marine.^note Which she is close to literally being, given that Starfighter Command is a branch of the New Republic Navy that uses army-style ranks and the Rogues do an unusual amount of special operations-type work for fighter pilots...

Comic Strips

• Prince Valiant. His trademark weapon is the Singing Sword. A Viking prince striving to become a knight of King Arthur's court, he's received the best training available in his world and time and become one of the mightiest warriors around.

Fan Works

• Child of the Storm has the Asgardian royal family produce these on a regular basis.
  • Odin was one in his day, while Thor is generally considered to be one of the greatest warriors in the universe (and with good reason) as well as a Wise Prince thanks to Character Development, and even Loki, primarily a sorcerer, is a downright deadly Magic Knight and Asgard's one-man secret service — Dirty Business included.
  • Harry grows into this in the sequel, being a talented swordsman and Magic Knight with the potential for mastery, a multi-talented combatant, a creative tactician, and a lethal Combat Pragmatist.
  • Even the illegitimate members get in on it; Vidar (illegitimate and much older half-brother of Thor, who dropped his claim in relief as soon as Thor was born, former God of Thunder, current spymaster and Badass Santa), and Torunn (illegitimate demigod daughter of Thor, monster huntress supreme even as a mostly mortal warrior, and currently a freaking Valkyrie when part of the job involves killing Eldritch Abominations). It's uncertain if Hela fits the mould, though.
• The Discworld expanded by A.A. Pessimal has several. In The Price of Flight, Crown Princess Esmerelda Margaret Note Spelling of Lancre ^note "Nottie" to her friends flies combat missions with the Air Watch in the fighting over Lancre. She scores enough kills against the Elves to qualify as an Ace Pilot. In Howondaland, the Assassin-trained Ruth N'Kweze fights in the front line in several battles, leads a Zulu Army to victory in Muntab, and at the current point on the timeline is preparing for a brief conclusive civil war to point out to a dissident brother why she will ascend from Crown Princess to Paramount Queen on the death of their father.
• In Purple Days, after countless Groundhog Day Loops, the Dirty Coward who was Prince Joffrey Baratheon matures into a peerless commander, and along with his A Father to His Men mentality, leads to the Stormlords considering him Robert Baratheon reborn.
• In The Bridge any flashback to Godzilla Junior's teenage years before he was the new "King of the Monsters" following his father's death counts, and he counts given he was quick to throw himself into the fray if humans were in danger. During his tutelage under King Kong on Skull Island, the Iwi tribe he rescues from Gaw considers him a prince from a distant land mentored by their "king".
• Dungeon Keeper Ami:
  • The titular character as Keeper Mercury and later Empress Mercury. She might have an army of golems, reaperbots, and hired minions, but she chooses to lead most of her military operations and fight alongside them since she doesn't consider any of her living employees as expendable.
  • Princess Tiger fights in most of Mercury's battles, either as her thrall or as herself along with other youma.

Films — Animation

• Prince Ali Ababwa aka Aladdin, who's got the strength of ten regular men and defeated the galloping hordes, a hundred bad guys with swords... which is all BS as "Ali" is actually just a Le Parkour street urchin who's got a Benevolent Genie helping him out. Aladdin does marry Princess Jasmine though, so he is an official prince at the end.
• The Beast from Beauty and the Beast is a particularly hairy, extremely badass Warrior Prince who's actually less awesome when he's a normal human.
• Princess Merida from Brave is certainly a Warrior Princess with her archery skill, and the heirs to other clans such as Young MacGuffin, Young Macintosh, and even Wee Dingwall are skilled in their own ways.
• Prince Hans of Frozen shows impressive fighting skill when he goes up against Elsa's massive Snowlem. This is not to say that Queen Elsa was sitting the battle out; the only reason she didn't kill Hans' soldiers is because she was talked out of it.
• How to Train Your Dragon has Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the son of the Viking Chief Stoick the Vast. True he wasn't a Warrior Prince at first, being quite the klutzy wuss but when Hiccup tames the Night Fury and hundreds of other dragons as well, gets himself a Flaming Sword and saves his tribe from multiple threats, you bet your ass he becomes this. As Stoick's son and heir, Hiccup does become the Chief due to his father's passing.
• Simba from The Lion King (1994), although he makes the jump to Warrior King by the end of the movie and keeps it throughout the franchise.
• Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid (1989) achieves the warrior part when he kills Ursula in her One-Winged Angel form at the end.
• The titular Moana is a very capable princess aka daughter of the chief and can put a Demi-God like Maui in his place as well as save the world.
• Played for Laughs in Ralph Breaks the Internet as all the princesses (excluding those previously mentioned here) are more capable than they were in the original movies. Special mention to Cinderella breaking her glass slipper to use as a jagged weapon.
• Prince Charming from Shrek 2 is shown to be highly skilled, though he is easily defeated by Warrior Princess Fiona who's proved her mantle since the first movie.
• Prince Phillip (yes he has a name) from Sleeping Beauty is Disney's first Warrior Prince as he fights and kills Maleficent in the climax, albeit getting some help from the Fairies through a magical Cool Sword.
• The version of Donkey Kong found in The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the heir of Cranky Kong, who is depicted as the king of the jungle kingdom. Donkey Kong is the strongest Kong, with Mario having to face him in order to win the permission he, Toad, and Peach need to get the Kongs' assistance in battle, and for most of the fight, Donkey Kong gives Mario quite the walloping.
• The Swan Princess has Prince Derek as The Hero, who takes up his bow and quiver to avenge the ambush killing of King William, and to rescue Princess Odette. There's a Training Montage that shows how fervent Derek is in this endeavor. More telling is that Derek goes to meet the villain with only his Foil sidekick Bromley, instead of a princely retinue or regiment of knights.
• Princess Rapunzel from Tangled like Ariel makes a good case for Warrior Princess being a free-spirited Action Girl, who becomes even more badass in her show.

Films — Live-Action

• DC Extended Universe:
  • Wonder Woman (2017): Princess Diana of Themyscira chooses to leave paradise to fight in World War One and spends the next century fighting all manner of evil as the superhero Wonder Woman.
  • Aquaman: Aquaman has to fight his brother Orm for the throne of Atlantis. Also in this continuity, Mera is a warrior princess of the Atlantean tribe of Xebel and groomed to become queen.
• Dracula Untold: Sultan Mehmet, like the early Ottoman monarchs, is a warlord who is well-versed in armed combat. He also shows a lot of Villainous Valor by fighting the superpowered vampire hero personally in the climax.
• Enchanted has Prince Edward, who demonstrates great sword and Le Parkour skills.
• It's very much a part of the plot of Excalibur that Uther Pendragon is a far better warrior than he is a king. Arthur, while certainly a capable warrior, is also good at actually ruling a nation.
• The Heroic Ones revolves around thirteen princes, which are the adopted sons of a Warlord, battling an enemy army and taking out hordes of opponents on their own. With two of the younger princes, Shih Jing-Si and Li Chun-Xiao, getting their own moments to shine, the former pulling a One-Man Army killing over 60 enemies in one scene to save his father, and the latter battling twenty Elite Mooks sent by the enemy forces to reinforce his brother.
• Thorin in the beginning of The Hobbit. Fíli and Kíli become this after Thorin becomes King Under the Mountain, as they are his heirs. Also a case of Royals Who Actually Do Something.
• A Knight's Tale has England's Edward Prince of Wales, the Black Prince, an acknowledged warrior who comes to respect the would-be knight.

• Sharif Ali in Lawrence of Arabia is great for this. He was a perfect Hollywood version of a romanticised Bedouin warrior-prince, being dignified, honourable, and quite badass.
• Prince Marcus Caprenius from The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines, a Roman Prince and perfectly capable warrior, who is equally skilled with a sword as well as Dual Wielding sticks, which he uses to beat up plenty of pirates in the final battle.
• Marvel Cinematic Universe:
  • The film version T’Challa aka Black Panther is this, unlike his comics counterpart, whose father dies thus making him king instead and he takes up the Black Panther mantle. In Captain America: Civil War, he's already the Black Panther when his father is killed in Zemo's attack on the UN and has been so for years prior.
  • Killmonger from Black Panther is first cousin to the current King of Wakanda and a former black-ops soldier turned mercenary. His idea of a king is a warrior and a conqueror.
  • Gender Flipped Shuri proves to be a Warrior Princess Genius Bruiser in the climax of Black Panther as well as in Infinity War and Endgame.
  • Thor is the crown prince of Asgard and a badass capable of summoning lightning and tearing through dozens of enemies. He's the only hero in the MCU to capably go toe-to-toe with the Hulk, twice. Thor does eventually become king in Ragnarok but he passes the title to Valkyrie in Endgame.
  • Thor's brother Loki is a downplayed example. He's a Magic Knight fully capable of holding his own against multiple opponents and is the reason the Avengers were formed. However, he lacks the sheer power and Blood Knight attitude of his brother and tends to prefer trickery and illusion to accomplish his goals.
  • A Gender Flipped example with their sister Hela, who can summon blades from nothing, effortlessly curb-stomps the entire Asgardian army, and is so badass it takes an outright apocalypse to (maybe) finish her off. She was the spearhead of Odin's conquest of the Nine Realms into the Asgardian Empire.
• The Princess: The titular heroine is one, as demonstrated throughout the film, ably fighting off the evil prince's henchmen - even kicking one out the window of her tower. Initially her father the king is dismayed by her having trained as a warrior since it's unfeminine to him. He accepts it at the end, seeing how she rescued the entire royal family due to her skills.
• Star Wars has Princess Leia Organa, who's the first hero to kill a Stormtrooper, and stops being a Damsel in Distress and kicks more ass once Luke frees her from a cell. She also has the Force, as later movies and EU show.
• The fantasy film, Three Headed Monster, stars a then 21-year-old Cynthia Khan as the Princess of her tribe (who's referred to only as "The Princess") seeking an enchanted sword to battle an evil cult serving the titular three-headed monster. She even gets to battle the monster in the climax wielding said sword, and wins.

Gamebooks

• In Way of the Tiger, the protagonist Avenger turns out to be the sole heir of the Overlord of Irsmuncast. Already a mighty ninja who's killed several of the Worlds Best Warriors in his adventures, he inherits the title and also fights a defensive war soon after.

Live-Action TV

• Game of Thrones:
  • Stannis Baratheon starts off as nobility rather than royalty but he becomes this. Following his brother Robert's death and the revelation that Robert's heir, Joffrey, is actually Queen Cersei's illegitimate son with her twin brother Jaime, Stannis declares himself the rightful king and begins a campaign to take the Iron Throne from the Lannisters. After amassing an army, Stannis attacks King's Landing and almost breaches the city, but is defeated by combined Lannister-Tyrell reinforcements and forced to retreat to Dragonstone. While planning his next move following the deaths of Joffrey Baratheon and Robb Stark, Stannis travels North to Castle Black where he aids the Night's Watch against a wildling attack. He meets Jon Snow, Ned Stark's illegitimate son and seeks his aid in reclaiming the North from House Bolton as Jon is the son of Ned Stark. However, Jon, while he shelters Stannis and his men at Castle Black in gratitude for Stannis's help, is beholden to his Watch vows. Stannis ultimately marches on Winterfell but is defeated by the Bolton forces.
  • Like Stannis, Robb Stark is initially nobility but becomes royalty once he leads the Stark bannermen into war against the Lannisters. He becomes the King in the North by acclamation of his bannermen.
  • Daenerys' long-dead brother Rhaegar Targaryen is also implied as this by Jorah Mormont, who refers to him as "the real Dragon" of the Targaryen family at the time of the Rebellion. Robert turned out to be a far better one when they met, though.
  • Ned Stark, head of the Stark family and Warden of the North, is one of the greatest fighters in Westeros and also wields a great deal of authority. It's right there in his own creed: he who passes the sentence, should swing the sword.
  • Jon Snow, the illegitimate son of Ned Stark and brother of Robb Stark, is regarded as a Living Legend for his accomplishments as a warrior. In Season 6, he is declared the King in the North by the Northern lords, just like his late brother before him. In Season 7, it is revealed Jon is a prince as the hidden trueborn son of Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, Ned's sister. Ned claimed his nephew Jon as his illegitimate child to protect Jon from the fatal wrath of current ruling regime and raised Jon as his own son.
  • Joffrey tries to be this and is very confident about it, despite being liberally slapped around by a man half his size on a fairly regular basis. Everyone else in King's Landing, including his own mother, are rightfully pessimistic about that.
    Joffrey: If my uncle attacks King's Landing I'll ride out to meet him!
    Tyrion: I'm sure your men will line up behind you.
    Joffrey: They say Stannis never smiles. I'll give him a red smile. From ear to ear.
    Tyrion: [as Joffrey leaves] Imagine Stannis' terror.
    Varys: I am trying.
• House of the Dragon:
  • Prince Daemon Targaryen, the younger brother of King is a fearsome Dragon Rider and warrior and ends up leading the armies of the Black faction supporting his niece and wife Rhaenyra's claim to the Iron Throne.
  • Prince Aemond Targaryen is a very skilled swordsman, and rides the biggest living dragon to boot.
• Kingdom (2019): Crown Prince Lee Chang is a capable military commander, though he knows when to listen to his more experienced subordinate officers. He organizes the defense of Sangju against a zombie horde, and is quite skilled with a sword himself.
• The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power:
  • Galadriel is true Elven royalty as her father, Finarfin, was the son of the High King of the Noldor, the second great clan of Elves who journeyed westwards to Valinor. Despite her status, like most Elves, she’s highly proficient in combat when required.
  • Prince Durin IV is the future king of the Dwarven Race, known for their hyper-masculine take on everything.
• Prince Arthur from Merlin. It's a key element to his character since he's far more comfortable in this role than he is in any other aspect of ruling, a trait which is often lampshaded by other characters.
• Chinese political drama NirvanaInFire features the Warrior Prince Xiao Jingyan, the seventh son of the emperor, and a Warrior Princess, Mu Nihuang. Both are capable fighters and generals and have the loyalty of thousands of soldiers.
• Prince Conor from Roar.
• Kahless the Unforgettable and pretty much any Klingon aristocrat after him in Star Trek.
  • Kahless wasn't an aristocrat originally. He became Emperor after deposing the former ruler Molor.
    • In which case he became a Warrior Prince by a method Klingons would approve of.
• Wonder Woman: Wonder Woman is Princess Diana, daughter of Queen Hippolyta, and a powerful, highly trained warrior.

Music

• Angus McFife from Tales From the Kingdom of Fife, who single-handedly retrieves the Hammer of Glory and the Amulet of Justice, tames a dragon, recruits an army of soldiers from the nearby Crail and defeats the evil Zargothrax by throwing him into a pool of liquid ice.

Myths & Religion

• King Arthur is presented as fighting for Camelot in several Arthurian cycles. The ones where he isn't, are typically stories focusing on one of his knights.

• Classical Mythology:
  • Many characters are mighty royals, though they may or may not know about the royalty part.
  • Pretty much every named warrior in The Trojan Cycle is of princely blood. Even Eumaios, Odysseus' swineherd, is a prince who was captured and sold into slavery.
  • Odysseus, in the The Odyssey, fights Cyclops and other foes to get home.
  • Hector fights in defense of Troy in The Iliad. As does his brother Paris, a little.
• Older Than Dirt: Gilgamesh in The Epic of Gilgamesh is a king who becomes a warrior.
• King David as depicted in The Bible. In his youth, he kills the warrior Goliath, and until his coronation as king, he fights in several wars while on the run from King Saul.

Tabletop Games

• In BattleTech the head of state of the Federated Suns is the "First Prince" (the title is applied to both genders); the position requires the individual to have served at least 5 years in the military. Victor Steiner-Davion is perhaps the most iconic recent example, more comfortable in a 'Mech cockpit than warming a throne and overshadowed by his famous father (who himself embodied this trope in his younger years before the death of his older brother forced him to become the Magnificent Bastard the whole Inner Sphere remembers).
• In Exalted, Dragon-Blooded members of the Scarlet Dynasty are expected to be this. A Terrestrial Dynast who can't fight well is likely to be a shame upon their House unless they are an incredibly amazing sorcerer or something.
• The Traveller volume Nobles has a character template for a nobleman in the Imperial Navy.
• Quite common in Warhammer. With Rank Scales with Asskicking and armed with Ancestral Weapon this means that several of them are capable to take down large monsters and demons.
• Warhammer 40,000 inverts this in interesting ways. The nobles and Overlords of many Imperial systems and planets are useless fops who know nothing of fighting, or they're bureaucrats who may be very good at collecting taxes, implementing zoning laws, and negotiating with the Mechanicum, but have no place behind a rifle. The sons of the Emperor himself are the Primarchs, and they are technically all this trope, but their stories don't end well.

Theatre

• William Shakespeare's history plays Henry IV and Henry V feature Prince Hal (the future King Henry V) and his rival Hotspur, who wasn't technically a prince, but is still a member of the aristocracy and set up as a foil to Hal.
• The Merchant of Venice: The Prince of Morocco, one of Portia's unsuccessful suitors. In his introductory scene, he boasts about his prowess as a fighter and his victories on the battlefield.
• Much Ado About Nothing begins with Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon, arriving in Messina after the wars.
• In Tsukino Empire - Unleash your mind -, Prince Shun is also the commander of the second fleet and one of the most powerful Bond Creature users in the empire. That said, despite being a high-ranking military officer, he doesn't act like much of a warrior. He's the same sweet cuddly prince that he always is.
• Westeros: An American Musical: After being crowned King of the North, Robb Stark spends the better part of his reign waging a war.

Web Comics

• Pella Brightwing from Twice Blessed is a deadly pixie warrior princess.
• Girl Genius:
  • Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, son of the Reluctant Ruler of half of Europa, as well as Princess Zeetha of the lost city of Skifander. They're strongly hinted to be siblings.
  • Prince Tarvek of Sturmhalten, heir to the Storm King, turns out to be less incompetent a fighter than his cousin/bodyguard Violetta had thought.
  • Zeetha's been training Agatha Heterodyne in combat, and now that Agatha's claimed her ancestral home of Mechanicsburg...
    Zeetha: You are in serious need of some princess lessons.
    Agatha: Prin— What?! Now?!
    Zeetha: Yes. Now. It's important. You're the new ruler of Mechanicsburg, you need to act like it. [...] First lesson. Every princess needs a battle axe. Here. Use this one [hands Agatha an enormous double-headed axe fit for an archetypal medieval executioner] until we find something more impressive.
    Agatha: Ah. That kind of princess.
    Zeetha: Come on. I saw some armor in a burning museum that's to die for.
• Drowtales is filled with the female variety, Sil'lice being a prime example. She led her entire household into war.
• Last Res0rt has Princess Adharia Kuvoe, Executioner.
• Erfworld:
  • Prince Ansom of Jetstone and his brothers Ossomer and Tramennis all hold officer positions in the Royals' campaign against Stanley.
  • Jillian is a female variant, much to the disappointment of her father who had wanted a son and a philosopher.
• Ennui GO! has Izzy's nephew Max, who became royalty at the beginning of volume 3 after Izzy founded Key Manati.^note More specifically a marquess, as his mother Adelie is a duchess. During the school dance storyline, he took out three kidnappers with a switchblade, then beat a panther with his bare hands (well, technically his foot). And he was only in middle school at the time.
• Princess Princess (2012): Amira is a princess who's a sword-wielding heroine in a military uniform.

Web Original

• The Chaos Timeline has Prince Alasdair, later king Alexander of Scotland, Ireland, Scandinavia, and (shortly) elected king of Poland and Holy Roman Emperor. Later inspires this world's most famous modern fantasy epos.

Web Videos

• Fallen Kingdom: The Prince is the hero, and a deadly fighter.
• Immersion Breakers: The Monarch is a retired adventurer — more specifically, he's a high-level barbarian.
• Mahu: In "Frozen Flame", King Seron is considered to be the best warrior in the entire continent by friend and foe alike. Sadly, his skill with the blade is not matched by his skill as a ruler, a factor that brings revolution to his kingdom and near-extinction to his bloodline.

Western Animation

• Princess Azula, Prince Zuko, General Iroh, and Fire Lord Ozai in Avatar: The Last Airbender. And before Azula and Zuko got into the action, their cousin Lu Ten (Iroh's son) served in the Fire Nation's army.
  • Possibly also Sokka and Katara too, as their father was the chief of the Southern Water Tribe and they were in charge of the village. They never go by any royal titles, however, and aren't treated like royalty by their tribe. Katara even mocks Sokka's attempt to introduce himself as a prince.
  • In Legend of Korra General Iroh II of the United Republic Forces is a Prince of the Fire Nation and is actually more effective on his own after his fleet is devastated by the Equalists' biplanes. Korra's cousin Desna is a capable waterbender and the son of Chief Unalaq, functioning with his twin sister as a Brother–Sister Team. Korra's father Tonraq also used to be one but was disinherited and stripped of his title after a strategic error led to disaster.
• In The Fairly OddParents!, Mark is technically the "warrior prince" of Yugopatamia... but it's pretty much in title only.
• The Dragon Prince: What Callum's expected to become, as Prince of Katolis, though he feels he falls short of those expectations. He does, however, participate in the Battle of the Storm Spire, both in the planning and the fighting, and racks up quite an impressive body count.
• Simba's son Kion, from The Lion Guard, is a straighter example, leading the eponymous guard over the course of the series. Rani also counts, as she leads the Night Pride in protecting the Tree of Life, a job she keeps after her grandmother dies and she becomes queen. Kion and his friends become part of the Night Pride when Kion marries Rani. His successor as Lion Guard leader is Vitani, who also counts as the future king’s sister.
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
  • Shining Armor was already captain of the guards before marrying a princess, and is willing to take on the towering mass of darkness that was King Sombra to protect his sister and her friends.
  • Since the ruling Princesses are Large and in Charge, this seems to be expected of them. Even the Nice Girl Princess Cadance has found herself on the front lines far more than is safe. Being, effectively, a Physical God offsets the danger.
  • Seemingly averted though in the distant past, with neither Princess Platinum nor Princess Amore displaying any ability or inclination towards combat.
• Ōban Star-Racers: Prince Aikka, an alien example. He is a racer who uses his magical bow to defeat his opponents, and he comes from Nourasia, which is invaded by Crogs. He wants to win the Ultimate Prize to save his family and his people.
• Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders does this with Gwenevere herself, as well as her mother, Queen Anya, as the future Queens of Avalon are given the Sun Stone to lead the Jewel Riders for generations.
• The eponymous Samurai Jack is this, being the only child of the Emperor of Japan, trained in numerous forms of combat, and wielding a magic katana in order to combat Aku.
• She-Ra: Princess of Power: Adora and Glimmer, Princesses of Eternia and Brightmoon respectively and high-ranking leaders in The Rebellion, and that's not even counting Adora's Super Powered alter ego, the titular She-Ra.
  • He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983): Adora's brother Adam doesn't really count. While he is quite active in his He-Man persona, as Prince Adam he's considered lazy and useless by those who don't know his secret. Their father, on the other hand, was implied to be in the thick of things during the Horde invasion of Eternia.
• Steven Universe has the Diamond Authority, which are the God Emperors of Homeworld. With the reveal of Rose Quartz, Steven's mother, being actually Pink Diamond, Steven Quartz Universe is essentially gem royalty, and yet is opposed to Homeworld.
• Alex from Super 4 is a prince who left home so he could travel the world fighting the forces of evil.
• Winx Club:
  • Half of the eponymous group fall under this (Stella, Bloom, Aisha, and Roxy), given that they're trained fairy warriors who just happen to be members of royalty in their respective homeworlds.
  • Sky is the crown prince of his homeworld of Eraklyon, as well as being a student of Red Fountain School for Specialists who can fight villains with a Cool Sword pretty well.

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