Princess Curls



An easy way to tell if a female character in Japanese media is of high social standing is to not look for a crown or an Ermine Cape, but to look at the front of her head. Specifically, look for two curled locks of hair draping the sides of her face. If she has these, she either is high class or acts like it.

Needless to say, this is pretty much mandatory for the Ojou. Some Elegant Gothic Lolitas also sport this hairstyle. It also often overlaps with Mega Twintails.

Also known as "drill hair", and derived from the ringlets hairstyle, popular in Roman times. For the distinctly Japanese princess' hairstyle—straight black with level bangs and ear locks—see Hime Cut.

Now despite the name, being an actual princess is not required for this. Princess Curls are usually a type of twintail, but unlike typical twintails, they do not indicate youthfulness.

Do not confuse them for the sideburns Orthodox Jewish men wear, called peyot (pronounced "pay-ott") (peyos, pronounced "pay-ohs," if you're Ashkenazi).

A Sister Trope to Mega Twintails.

Contrast Tomboyish Ponytail.

Anime and Manga

 * Pacifica Casull, the title character of Scrapped Princess (shown above).
 * Elgala from the Excel Saga manga. When she first appears, she's actually dirt poor like the rest of the ACROSS girls, but she acts like a wealthy debutante nonetheless.
 * In the anime, there's a one-shot corporate heiress that also sports corkscrew curls.
 * Rosemariné from Kaze to Ki no Uta has these... even though he's a guy. Angeline also has these.
 * B-Ko from Project A-ko.
 * Lynn Minmay from Super Dimension Fortress Macross is one of the earliest examples, if not the first.
 * Hexakazura, The Dragon to Miya in Koi Koi 7.
 * Shione in Mamoru-kun Ni Megami no Shukufuku Wo.
 * Reika in Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun.
 * Isuzu Emi from Tenjou Tenge.
 * Simoun's Dominura sports a rather impressive pair that stay curly, even with bed-head.
 * Chizura Naba from Mahou Sensei Negima.
 * Juri Arisugawa from Revolutionary Girl Utena.
 * Rika Shiraki from Bible Black.
 * Vanilla from Galaxy Angel.
 * Also doubles as a drill.
 * Athena(or A-Tan) from Hayate the Combat Butler.
 * Male example- Magnificent Bastard Andrea Cavalcanti  sports just one of these in his perfect blond hair in Gankutsuou, the Animated Adaptation In Space of The Count of Monte Cristo.
 * Lumiere from Kiddy Grade.
 * Chérie Belmondo from Gash Bell.
 * Montmorency in The Familiar of Zero.
 * Saki from To LOVE-Ru has twin drills, as well as little Odango atop her head!
 * Ayumi Himekawa from Glass Mask. Not so much in the 2005 series: the curls are noticeably simplified, leaving her with simply wavy hair.
 * Kanaria, Hinaichigo, and Shinku from Rozen Maiden all have variations on this style. Suiseiseki has Regal Ringlets, instead.
 * Marie Antoinette from Rose of Versailles, quite possibly the classic example.
 * Hermione from Romeo X Juliet.
 * Martina, a minor antagonist from Slayers NEXT.
 * When the entire Ouran High School Host Club crossdresses as women, the Hiitachin brothers sport this hairstyle.
 * Izumi, the closest Princess Nine has to a real princess, wears a short version of this style.
 * Illumina in Transformers Victory.
 * Kihel Heim in Turn A Gundam.
 * Fukiko "Miya-sama" Ichinomiya in Oniisama e...
 * Mileina Vashti, one of the new Bridge Bunnies in season 2 of Mobile Suit Gundam 00, sports a truly massive pair of Princess Curls worn in high Girlish Pigtails, desu!
 * Her fellow bridge bunny Feldt Grace sported these during the first season, worn in low pigtails.
 * Ryuuka Jihiyou, the next head of the fabulously wealthy and powerful Jihiyou family in Hanaukyo Maid Tai.
 * The bemonocled Caterina Sforza in Trinity Blood
 * Mitsuki from Full Moon o Sagashite occasionally sports these when she's not transformed. Then there's one time where she keeps these when transformed.
 * Saaya Yamabuki of Shugo Chara! sports these, although she isn't a princess, she certainly acts like she's the best thing since sliced bread. She's actually less popular than the main character, Amu, although she acts like Amu is well below her.
 * Akira Kogami from Lucky Star at one point takes to wearing actual drills in her hair in an attempt to emulate the style.
 * "D-D-Drill! D-D-D-D-Drill!"
 * Gunnery officer Obama (not that one) in Kurogane Pukapuka Tai.
 * Fala of GoLion, even if they look like sideburns at first glance.
 * Isabella from Paradise Kiss, to go with her victorian lady look.
 * An unusual inversion of this trope comes from Princess Princess in which Kaoru Natasho sports the infamous curl cut despite BEING A MAN!!! More curious is the fact that no one ever so much as mentions it as being odd...
 * Miyako (Rolling Bubbles) from Powerpuff Girls Z.
 * Retsu Unohana from Bleach has long hair which frames the sides of her head. It also braids in front of her body, either a subversion, or a reference to another trope.
 * Elyse from My Balls has horns in her true "devil" form that turn into Princess Curls in her human form.
 * Curious subversion in Gundam Wing, where the only female character who sports them is actually the Frontier Doctor and Team Mom of the cast, Sally Po.
 * Ichinensei ni Nacchattara: Miho, the elementary school Rich Bitch.
 * Elizabeth in Black Butler has these. Also, when Ciel had to crossdress he sported some Twin Tails with Princess Curls at the bottom.
 * Sernia Flameheart from Ladies versus Butlers!! has a particularly exaggerated case of these.
 * Lenalee Lee once uses these in D.Gray-man, after being subjected to Go-Go Enslavement thanks to Road Kamelot.
 * Katanagatari's Togame goes for broke by combining these with a Hime Cut and Rapunzel Hair. Oh, she's also a White-Haired Pretty Girl. Now what do think the odds are she's a main character?
 * Letuchaia from Kiddy Girl-AND has a more subtle variety, but she compensates for it with her attitude.
 * Himiwari and Ame-Warashi from xxxHolic both sport these, although Ame-Warashi's are closer to the real thing, with Himiwari's slipping somewhere this and Girlish Pigtails.
 * In Aim for The Ace, Reika has a long, wavy blonde ponytail and two curls framing her face that allude to her ojou upbringing.
 * Houzuki and Bonbori in Otome Youkai Zakuro have really elaborate drill-curls.
 * Beatrice sports an elegant blonde pair.
 * The recently introduced Lady of War Anastasia in Claymore.
 * Mami Tomoe from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, who wears her curls in Girlish Pigtails to boot.
 * Princess Charlotte from Berserk.
 * Neo Queen Serenity, Chibiusa and ChibiChibi from Sailor Moon.
 * When Vivio was first introduced in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, she didn't have these at first, but after she, the two locks of hair by her face curls up in this style. By the time of StrikerS Sound Stage X, she's taken to wearing her hair in this manner full time. When Olivie Segbrecht, , finally had her appearance revealed in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid, she's also shown sporting this hairstyle.
 * Masako Natsume from Mawaru Penguindrum.
 * Sayoko Kyogoku from Swan. She usually wears her hair in a ponytail, but the curls are there nonetheless.
 * Dwarf princess Ymir from Queens Blade.
 * Neito Mitotsudaira from Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon. Five HUGE ones. And by huge, I mean ankle-length]].
 * Iyaritikki in Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica has her hair done up in multiple long drills.
 * Adelicia in Rental Magica two curls in the front and four in the back.
 * Domino from Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns.

Film

 * Princess Victoria and other noblewomen in The Young Victoria.
 * You could miss it if you don't know what you are looking for. Princess Bala from Antz is the only Ant that has curled antennae.
 * Milady de Winter in The Three Musketeers 2011.

Literature

 * Annabeth Chase is described as having princess curls in Percy Jackson and The Olympians, though whether Riordan's definition of princess curls fits this trope is unclear.
 * Belinda in Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock has symmetrical Princess Curls that fall down the back of her neck. And then one day they get cut...
 * Archduchess Antonia of The Royal Diaries, Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles purposely told her hairdresser to let one long curl fall down upon her collarbone, which she began to wind around her middle finger as she talked to the king.

Live Action TV

 * The original Rich Bitch Nellie Olson from Little House On the Prairie has hair styled into ringlets that frame her face and cascade down her shoulders with a large bow at the crown. Karin Kanzuki of Street Fighter fame is supposedly based on Nellie.
 * Ahim de Famille/GokaiPink from Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger sports these.

New Media

 * Teto Kasane, the most notable/popular UTAUloid, has a hot pink "twin drill" hairstyle.

Video Games

 * Capcom seems to like this hairstyle, as at least seven characters from their collection of games sport them:
 * Yurika Kirishima from the Rival Schools series has two ridiculously overdone curls. Supplemental material states that it takes two hours for her hair to set. Hair like hers is usually used for piercing the Heavens.
 * Rich Bitch Karin from Street Fighter Alpha 3 has them.
 * Princess Pride from Rockman.exe/Megaman NT Warrior/Mega Man Battle Network bears almost unnoticeable examples. Which enter into the exaggeration realm when she Cross Fuses with Knightman.exe.
 * Luna from Mega Man Star Force, who gives Yurika a run for her money in curl size and complexity
 * Regina Berry from Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All.
 * Apollo Justice has two rare male examples: the Gavin brothers, Kristoph and Klavier.
 * Rose Bernstein from The King of Fighters has these. No real social status, but she's the Rich Bitch daughter of Rugal Bernstein, so...
 * The eponymous character has an unusual variant of this in her true form at the end of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, in that the two curls are tied together around her neck like some kind of brooch. The other eponymous character has a variation of them as well: they're not curled, per se, but there are two braids of hair tied up in lots of ribbon.
 * Princess Zelda herself usually has some variation on this, particularly in recent cartoonier games in which they're lightning-bolt-shaped. Naturally, this includes.
 * Rich Bitch Mila from The Wind Waker has these.
 * The Fairlions, otherwise known as Gothlolions of Super Robot Wars Original Generation 2 are Humongous Mecha with these. I mean, they were custom-built for an actual princess and her best friend, but come on. Oh, and the curls fire lasers.
 * Amy, Raphael's foster daughter from the Soul Calibur games, has these.
 * Ditto Ashlotte, robotic gothic lolita bonus character from Soul Calibur IV.
 * Abelia, a character in Soul Calibur III's Chronicles of the Sword mode, has these as well. She certainly fits the look.
 * The "Create a Fighter" mode in SCIII and SCIV offers this for female characters.
 * Viola from Soul Calibur V is also set to join the princess curls club.
 * Aerith Gainsborough from Final Fantasy VII.
 * Oerba Dia Vanille of Final Fantasy XIII.
 * Petra Johanna Lagerkvist of Arcana Heart 2.
 * Luviagelita Edelfelt from Fate/hollow ataraxia, to the point that it applies to 95% of her hair.
 * The Archer class in many Nippon Ichi strategy games.
 * Susie Evans from Valkyria Chronicles.
 * Bianca in Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon
 * Rosalia in Angelique.
 * Misha in Katawa Shoujo. She doesn't have the attitude, though.
 * Maria Balthasar from Xenogears.
 * Surprisingly, almost none of the women in Gaia Online seem to sport Princess Curls, except maybe Ruby after the Art Shift. Gino Gambino, on the other hand...
 * Gino recently got an Important Haircut. The princess locks remain.
 * In a flash back in Persona 3 FES's The Answer, Mitsuru has these.
 * Rui Yamase from Lux-Pain
 * Yuni from Dance Dance Revolution; they're every bit as rich and showy as Yuni herself.
 * Reika from Ouendan 2.
 * Subverted in Rule of Rose, where the only curly-haired girls are overweight Amanda and Meganekko Meg, both who are in less prestigious positions of the Aristocrat Club than the straight-haired Eleanor and Diana.
 * Black Sister/Uni from Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 has these when she transforms.

Web Comics

 * Cypress's Mother from Last Res0rt... but that's a lot of hair for a lizard!
 * Megatokyo: Miho wears her hair this way during the (first) whole "Cave of Evil" debacle, and also in this slightly different image.
 * Rare male example. Franken from Noblesse used to sport this until Art Evolution kicked in.
 * As an oddly feminine detail on an otherwise masculine character, The Boss from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater has subtle princess curls behind her ears. Her redesign for the 3DS moves them to the front but makes them much shorter.

Western Animation

 * Lulu Moppet from Little Lulu.
 * The Simpsons: Taffy in the "Homer Scissorhands" subplot.

Real Life

 * In Europe many royalty used hot curlers to have ringlets. The men too in the Stuart times.
 * It was a popular look in Lolita fashion during the eighties. It's fallen out of style since, but a lot of people still love it. It's really hard to do without a wig though. Rag curls can look like it, though.