Badass Princess

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Try to put this damsel in distress...we dare you.

"What, you think a feudal warlord's daughter just sits around arranging flowers all day?" —Usagi Yojimbo RPG

Chances are, you're probably familiar with the typical concept for a princess, aren't you? They get abducted by some Big Bad, and helplessly wait for a brave and charming hero to come and rescue them. Then, they fall in love with this hero, and they get married, and live happily ever after. Chances are, you might see this concept so many times, you might get tired of it, whether you regard it as repetitive, sexist, or both.

This is pretty much the total opposite. These are examples of princesses that become brave and headstrong warriors instead of relying on any to protect them. At times, they would serve as the sidekick to the hero, instead of the Damsel in Distress, even if they do fall in love with him, like a princess traditionally would. And sometimes, they would serve as the hero altogether.

Her outfits will also vary, ranging from a simple frock, to a Mini-Dress of Power, to a Pimped-Out Dress, to even a Battle Ballgown.

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 an forth. An evil Badass Princess (with an equally evil father) will probably be Daddy's Little Villain.

Compare Badass Damsel, Warrior Prince, Silk Hiding Steel, Tomboy Princess, Kicking Ass in All Her Finery.

Contrast Princess Classic, Faux Action Girl.

Examples of Badass Princess include:

Anime and Manga

• Murder Princess has a princess who is not a badass, but a Freaky Friday Flip makes her switch bodies with a bounty hunter.
• Pretty much every chapter 'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess features the protagonist’s magic sword saying that the princess is a badass warrior who held the position of “Commander of the third legion of the imperial army” and has been forced to live a rather austere life (except luxury food), which is supported with very brief flashbacks. In the present however, the princess pretty much does nothing except cave-in to her captor’s interrogations.
• Hime of Princess Resurrection.
• Outlanders has Princess Kahm, who fights for the man she loves instead of the other way around.
• Princess Mei Chang from Fullmetal Alchemist (manga and Brotherhood) is definitely this, combined with Cute Bruiser and Badass Adorable.
• Definitely Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, sometimes a Badass Pacifist, sometimes just a regular Action Girl. Kushana is a rather more war-like example.
• In Magic Knight Rayearth, Princesses Tatra and Tarta of Chizeta, as well as Asuka of Fahren, are definitely these. And so is the evil side of Princess Emeraude.
• Cagalli, the Rebellious Princess of the Orb Union in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, is an exceptional Humongous Mecha pilot, and the only non-Coordinator known to be able to enter the SEED mode.
• The original Mobile Suit Gundam features Sayla Mass, former princess and Ace Pilot of The Federation, as well as a shockingly evil example in Princess Kycilia Zabi of Zeon. Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn adds Mineva Lao Zabi who dedicates everything to end the long conflict.
• Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune, princess of the kingdom of Saillune, from Slayers
• 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 Belkan War, and worshiped as a Christ-like figure.
• And of course 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 Strawhat 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.
• Princess Cornelia from Code Geass.
  • At one point, so does her sister Euphemia. Unfortunately she was being mind-controlled to commit genocide.
  • Also, Nunnally in the "Nightmare of Nunnaly" manga.
• 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.
• Although not action-oriented, Princess Lala of Deviluke is no slouch in combat with her main weakness being her tail.
• 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.
• Himeno from Prétear.
• Usagi "Sailor Moon" Tsukino. One commentator noted that she "is a fist of iron inside a fluffy bunny hand puppet and doesn't know it."
  • Also the rest of the Sailor Senshi, who are eventually revealed to be princesses in their own right.
• Princess Allura/Princess Fala from Voltron/GoLion is this at time. Other times she is a Faux Action Girl.
• 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.
• Leonmichelle from Dog Days.

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 the Hedgehog animated series) leads the Freedom Fighters, fighting alongside them and Sonic himself.
• Princess Kavatah in Megalex. She leads her troops into battle personally.

Fan Works

• One Kim Possible fanfic turns Kim into this as a cross between Xena: Warrior Princess and Red Sonja.

Film

• 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.
• Princess Tamina in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
• Neytiri from Avatar.
• 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 Kida in Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
• Princess Peach is a serious Action Girl in The Super Mario Bros Movie; to give just one example, she is only willing to let Mario come with her if he can complete the Deadly Training Area which she herself proceeds to demonstrate.

Literature

• Princess Eilonwy from Chronicles of Prydain participates in several of the final battles.
• Though not specifically a "princess", Eowyn from The Lord of the Rings is the niece of King Theoden, the granddaughter of his father King Thengel, and rides into battle to take out the leader of the Ringwraiths.
  • 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 Theodred, her brother is named Theoden'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.
  • Also, Luthien from The Silmarillion is 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.
• Andrin Calirath of the Hell's Gate series. Believe me, it is In the Blood.
• Selenay and Elspeth in Mercedes Lackey's Heralds of Valdemar novels.
• Aerin-sol from The Hero and The Crown
• 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.
• In the Star Wars Expanded Universe, as much as in the films, Leia Organa is impressive. In terms of righteous fury, she's definitely inherited something from her father.
• The Princess Series by Jim C. Hines runs on this trope: Danielle Whiteshore (nee De Glas), Talia Malak El-Dashat and Ermellina Curtana are all decidedly badass in their own unique ways.
• Jessica in Dune
• Shakuntala in the Belisarius Series. When the master assassin Rao came to rescue her from the palace she was imprisoned in the first volume, he smashed into her chambers to find that she has crushed the throat of one guard and was in the process of breaking the other's neck with her bare hands... or at least trying to.
• Ashlin in The Bone Palace by Amanda Downum. She's naturally a warrior, and only reluctantly a Princess.
• Miya Black, Pirate Princess.
• 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! Not to mention 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 basically 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).
• Kris Longknife is a princess and a badass Space Navy officer.
• 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 Laurana from Dragonlance. She single handedly takes out the immensely powerful Dragon Highlord Feal-Thas, delivers a Shut UP, Hannibal lecture via arrow to the arm to Dragonarmy general Bakaris, and wins the Battle of the High Clerist's Tower by successfully controlling a Dragon Orb, despite not having any magical training. She proves so badass that Lord Gunthar Uth Wistan gives her command of his armies, at which point she also becomes a Four-Star Badass as the Golden General.
• 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.
• Chenaya in Thieves' World series - cousin of Kadakithis, who trained with gladiators and can outfight any of them. Of course, she's also seriously messed up in the head.
• In Honor Harrington the most badass of all the princesses was Michele Henke. She wasn't officially a princess but she was a close relation of the queen so that is good enough.
  • The Queen's stepdaughter, Ruth, was a hacker and a spy and took part in encouraging a slave revolt on Torch.
  • Abigail Hearns was the daughter of a Steadholder on Greyson. As Steadholders act more like Manticoran Nobles than sovereigns (though they do have authority in their own area) she would be more equiv to a Manticoran Duchess. But she was officially the daughter of a Head of State. She was an officer in the Grayson Space Navy seconded to the Royal Manticoran Navy and took part in a number of actions including some grisly away missions.

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, and being a descendant of Valen. And of course being a Badass.
• Syfy's Tin Man miniseries has two of them.
• Mei, Princess of the Risha tribe, is Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger's pink ranger and is no slouch when it comes to combat. She's also a Master of Disguise.
  • Super Sentai as a whole is rather fond of this trope with Tsuruhime from Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, Natsuki from Go Go Sentai Boukenger, Kaoru from Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, and Ahim from Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger.
  • While they're not royalty, Engine Sentai Go-onger has Go-on Princess, a spin-off of the Girl Group, G3 Princess.
  • On the villain side, Chouriki Sentai Ohranger/Power Rangers Zeo has Princess Multiwa/Archerina, daughter of the rival family to the main villains. Kousoku Sentai Turboranger has Violent Demon Princess Jarmin.
  • Astronema from Power Rangers in Space was adopted as this, being next in line to rule the United Alliance of Evil.
  • In Hikari Sentai Maskman, major villain "Prince" Igam is revealed to be a woman and would therefore count under this trope.
• Princess Deirdre was one of the Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog.
• Snow White in Once Upon a Time was exiled to the forest by her wicked stepmother, and became a bandit, meeting Prince Charming by robbing his carriage! Her daughter? Well, Emma started out hunting bail-jumpers in Boston and recently was elected sheriff of Storybrooke over the mayor's objections.

Tabletop Game

• Amazoness Princess in the Yu-Gi-Oh! game; if her name doesn't prove it, the card itself will.

Video Games

• Sonic the Hedgehog: Blaze the Cat, essentially a pyrokinetic Lady of War from another dimension with some serious issues. 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 Waltz, as the name implies, is loaded with princesses who are total badasses.
• 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) and stands for her nation no matter what.
• Estelle from Tales of Vesperia. While she does get abducted for a time, she stands tall in the heat of battle.
• 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 Lakche, 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 Tiltyu of Freege though she meets a really sad end.
  • Don't forget Princess Lachesis 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 Bridget 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 Altenna, a Lady of War Dragon Rider from Thracia. Actually from Manster, as she's the long-lost sister of Prince Leaf of Lester.
  • Thracia 776 gives us Fallen Princess Miranda of Alster, a Hot-Blooded Magical Girl Warrior. Leaf's childhood friend Mareeta is the Fallen Princess of Rivough, but she doesn't really seem to acknowledge it and chooses to go Walking the Earth instead.
  • There's also Lyn from The Blazing Sword, who was the princess of the Lorca tribe in the Sacae plains and a noblewoman from Sacae.
  • Once she throws away the Distress Ball, Princess Lilina from Fuuin no Tsurugi becomes a Magical Girl Warrior version.
  • And the three princesses from Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones: Eirika (Lady of War), Tana (Plucky Girl → Lady of War) and L'Arachel (White Magician Girl → Magical Girl Warrior).
  • Elincia from Fire Emblem Tellius joined the ranks when she Took a Level in Badass at the end of Path Of Radiance.
• In Mortal Kombat, Kitana is so badass, she isn't afraid to kill. In Mortal Kombat 11, she manages to unite the Shokan, Tarkata, and Osh-Tekk into one kingdom, becoming The High Queen.
• 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.
• 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.
  • [[spoiler: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 defenceless while Wolf Link attacks them, and even throwing a large Beast Ganon across the room, leaving him vulnerable.
• Princesses Peach and Zelda in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
• All three playable female characters in Odin Sphere are this.
• Lenna, Krile, and Faris from Final Fantasy V.
• Princess Rozalin of Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories starts out like a Princess Classic, but when taught how to fight, she becomes a formidable fighter, with such moves as pulling a Gatling gun out of thin air and blasting away. And that's not even taking into account her past life as a demon overlord the God of All Overlords.
  • Also, Princess Sapphire in Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice.
• Hildegard Von Krone from Soul Calibur 4.
• Marle from Chrono Trigger.
• 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.
• World of Warcraft examples:
  • Dwarven princess Fanny Thundermar; here would-be fiance (it's an Arranged Marriage falls in love with her after seeing her kill three ogres with her bare hands.
  • Mizrael is presented initially as a princess who needs rescue, pleading for help from her prison via several obelisks she can communicate from. Thing is, she's been corrupted by the Old Gods, and when freed, will reward her chivalrous savior with death. As in, she's the last boss of the quest line. By the way, she's a titan princess who harnesses powerful earth magic and not exactly a slouch, but freeing her a little too early with help from the Quest Giver gives you a better chance.
  • Princess Theradas - the last boss of Maraudon - subverts almost every Trope usually associated with princesses. She huge (being an earth elemental), is really fat (but Acrofatic, and really ugly (having three heads). Still, she fits this Trope, and will demolish you if you aren't careful.
  • In Battle for Azeroth, Talanji is this to the Zandalari, up until after the Battle of Dazar'alor. Her father's death in that battle causes her to ascend and become The High Queen.
• Angela from Seiken Densetsu 3 is forced to Take a Level In Badass (becoming a Squishy Wizard in the process) because the Queen and her Evil Chancellor would have sacrificed her to an evil god otherwise; she later forms a Battle Couple with Duran.
• Ashe from Final Fantasy XII faked her death so she could continue fighting for her people. She is also a Politically-Active Princess.
• 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.
• In the Super Mario franchise, this Trope has been applied to Peach, Daisy, or both:
  • Peach (or rather, Toadstool, as she was called at the time) was first Promoted to Playable way back in Super Mario Bros. 2.
  • Even more so, Super Princess Peach, which 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.
  • 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 finale of the game, 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.
  • Peach is also the protagonist of the upcoming (March 2024) Princess Peach Showtime! which promises levels with Peach taking the spotlight as a Pirate Girl, Anime Chinese Girl (who knows Kung Fu), Chef of Iron, Amateur Sleuth, Ninja, and Cowgirl.
  • While Daisy rarely gets to play the hero outside of Super Smash Bros, many fans have theorized that she is even more badass than Peach, and possibly a much more competent monarch. After all, she has only been kidnapped once and Tatanga has yet to attempt a second invasion of Sarasaland.
  • Peach and Daisy are playable in Super Mario Wonder; multiplayer mode even allows two players to form a Tomboy and Girly Girl team. The developers claim they decided to include Peach and Daisy because their daughters (who playtested the game) kept arguing over who got to use Peach!
• Princess Monica Raybrandt of Dark Cloud 2. 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 against Emperor 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, leaps headfirst into personal duels with The Dragon, and is willing to break her own period's time-travel laws just to help out Max in his post-game quest. 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.
• Farah from Prince of Persia is this.
• Rosella of Daventry: 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, 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, and arguably the human female noble, even though she's the daughter of a teyrn (duke). Though one possible ending open only to the human female noble is becoming Queen of Ferelden.
• Though not exactly a princess, the Krogan female 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 Wrexes shotguns and blasts them all away, stating that she doesn't need babysitting. She's still a Krogan after all.
• Although she becomes a Damsel in Distress 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.
• Silk FOX in Jade Empire.
• Etrian Odyssey III has the Princess class, who boast the Royal Lineage trait. While their exact background, personality and abilities is left up to the player's imagination, any given Princess (or Prince) has ultimately chosen to challenge the extremely dangerous Labyrinth and everything that lies within, including the infamous FOEs. Their natural skills make them solid choices on their own, and they can always subclass as a Ninja, Pirate, Gladiator or any other class one wishes.
• 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 it gets worse, 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.
  • Himi of Yamatai also counts. Imagine a small child waking up after what's implied to be days of fainting and convulsing, and immediately taking off with a pack of complete strangers to go save the day.
• Reco from the Mushihime-sama series (roughly translates to Insect Princess) goes through four CAVE 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 Alicia from Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria starts out meek and reluctant to fight, but eventually takes many levels in badass.
• 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!
• Imperial Princess Sardia of Vanguard Bandits regularly clashes heads with the extremists of her faction and heads out in her own personal mech to deal with traitors to the Empire.
• 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.
• The heroine of Princess Crown.
• 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, has the theme "Septette for a Dead Princess", which if taken literally would apply this trope to her and her sister Flandre. Remilia is an endboss. 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 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. Yorihime can summon gods, and managed to take out several powerful characters in succession. Fandom hates them both.
• Eruca, the Gun Twirling rebel leader of Radiant Historia.
• The Ausalian Queen, from HAM. She is a Bare-Fisted Monk with Robotic Legs and Super Strength.
• 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.

Webcomics

• Princess Pella Brightwing from Twice Blessed single-handedly takes out two constructs the size of houses that come after her, then calmly sits down to dig through her bag for a healing potion while the warforged titan she defeated blows up just feet away from her.
• Princess Raeka from Samurai Princess Saves damsels in distress, stabs giant monsters, and stops evil-doers. All while sporting a royal title.
• Girl Genius among the other students on Castle Wulfenbach had Her Highness Zulenna Luzhakna, Princess of Holfung-Borzoi, who turned out to be a good fencer, if inexperienced and somewhat overconfident.
  • Sleipnir O’Hara, who joined other students on a rescue mission, later eloped with another student on an adventure and quite enthusiastically used a hybrid of bagpipes and flamethrower.
  • 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 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.

• Princess Pi constantly wins battles and overcomes enemies with no assistance from others. It helps that she was born physically invulnerable.

Web Original

• Silver Serpent of the Whateley Universe. Her father is the dreaded Asian supervillain Iron Dragon, and she is apparently the first child if 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

• Disney is rather fond of princesses in general, and quite a few are the badass type:
  • In the Disney Afternoon Aladdin cartoon series, Jasmine elevated to this standard to the point where she actually participated 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.
  • Mulan. Dresses as a boy and joins the Chinese army. Nuff said.
  • Cinderella; not very badass in the original film, not badass at all in the critically panned Cinderella II: Dreams Come True, but in Cinderella III: A Twist in Time, WATCH OUT. She's a freakin' ninja in this one, where her Evil Stepmother has Made Wrong What Once Went Right and she manages to infiltrate the royal palace with her wits, luck, and resourcefulness, kicking serious butt.
  • In 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.
  • And of course, the way all of them work as a team in Ralph Breaks the Internet. Cinderella goes so far as to break one of her glass slippers to use as a shiv!
• 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.
• Avatar: The Last Airbender: Azula counts as a rare evil example. She has made a life out of enforcing her father's tyrannical law in the worst ways possible. Even a Villainous Breakdown doesn't make her easy to defeat.
  • 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. And even 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 Third Take 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 Illana 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 Arch Enemy, Princess Kale [her aunt]. Kale took up dark sorcery to Take Over the World. Gwen and crew are pretty much all that can stand up to Kale's attempts, especially after Kale took out Merlin.
• Adventure Time's Princess Bubblegum, without a doubt.
  • There was a Warrior Princess, until she turned into Ghost Princess.
  • And now we have the insanely powerful Flame Princess.
• She-Ra, 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.
• As a followup to the above Voltron example, Voltron Force gives us an Older and Wiser Allura (who, despite still serving as The Chick of the Five-Man Band, takes a more active role in combat, even fearlessly facing down a Back from the Dead Lotor without the help of the Lions), as well as her niece, the very Ninja-esque Larmina.
  • As of "Roots of Evil" she's now a badass Queen.
• Princess Bula of ReBoot 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.
  • As demonstrated during the season 2 finale, threaten her subjects, and she won't hesitate to try and fry your ass, with a Frickin Laser Beam. Even if she did lose, definite badass points.
  • Princess Cadence handles herself pretty well, too.
• 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.
• From Disenchantment, Princess Princess Tiabeanie Mariabeanie de la Rochambeaux Grunkwitz (you can call her Bean) of Dreamland. Not the most beautiful of princesses nor the most extravagant, and something of a rebellious tomboy, but certainly badass.
• Charlie Morningstar from Hazbin Hotel is Princess of Hell, combining this trope with Badass Pacifist.

Real Life

• Aethelflaed, The Lady of the Mercians: the daughter of Alfred the Great who joined with her brother to inflict a defeat upon the Danes.
  • 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.
  • She's also the only royal in the world to ever win an Olympic medal (silver, for equestrian events).
• Kahena, the leader of an alliance of non-Muslim 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 themselves.
  • One of those sons was Richard the Lionheart.
    • Another one was King John, but the third one was actually an OK king.
• Noor Inayet Khan: Sort of. She was from a long deposed line of Indian Royalty and her father was happy enough to be a Sufi teacher rather than a monarch. She was known for writing children's books. She volunteered for the SOE during World War II even though she had scruples about encryption as she had been taught not to lie. Communications Officer Leo Marks managed to help her find an "I'm a prisoner" signal that would satisfy her conscience. She was betrayed by a mole, and ended up dying in a concentration camp but is remembered as a hero for her bravery.
• 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.
• Tamar of Georgia.