Everything's Better with Princesses/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: Princesses make any given series that much better just by the virtue of being princesses.

  • Straight: Princess Mary is one of The Hero Bob's Love Interests, as well as the nominal ruler of their homeland.
  • Exaggerated: Princess Mary Sue is absolutely revered by all who lay eyes upon her and lauded as the most pure, beautiful and amazing member of the royal family they've ever had the pleasure of serving.
  • Justified: The show is an adaption of a fairy tale or a series about a royal family, so it would be odd if no characters were princesses.
  • Inverted: God Save Us From the Queen
  • Subverted:
    • Princess Mary is a Mafia Princess. She knows full well where her lavish lifestyle comes from and she doesn't see anything wrong with it, much to Bob's dismay.
    • Princess Mary might be a princess but she's more of a Royal Brat than a Princess Classic
  • Double Subverted: Despite her lavish upbringing, Mary is still a kind, caring person.
  • Parodied: Princess Mary is a dim-witted Shallow Love Interest, barely attached to reality.
  • Deconstructed: Princess Mary must go to insane lengths to maintain her image; the constant lessons and strict controls that keep her perfect in the public eye leave her no time for herself. Her brother Thomas, feeling neglected, becomes The Evil Prince and creates even more machinations and complications that Mary must deal with.
  • Reconstructed: Despite all of this, Mary actually is a really good person who truly loves her country and her people.
  • Zig Zagged: Princess Mary is introduced as the heir to the throne of an ancient kingdom, but we eventually find out she was just being delusional and that such kingdom hasn't ever existed. But then we find out she was really a princess of another kingdom... Except, she technically isn't because an usurper queen is on the throne right now. So the heroes have to defeat her to reclaim Mary's right to the throne.
  • Averted:
    • The show is set into an alternative medieval period where royalty was discarded in favor of democracy.
    • Alternatively: There is royalty. There just doesn't happen to be a princess at the moment.
  • Enforced: "We needed to establish a link with the royal family early on to justify the king's favor that occurs later on; so we decided that Mary joining the adventurer's group would be a good way to do it"
  • Lampshaded: "To make it clear princess, don't expect to receive special treat from us just because of your status; we are adventures, not servants" "My poor feet are aching... Would you be so kind to carry me on your back for a few miles?" "Yes, your highness!"
  • Invoked: Convinced by her friends, Alice masquerades as Princess Mary with the hope of gaining the favor of a friendly king.
  • Defied: The Big Bad systematically exterminated all the royalty descendants to avoid someone trying to reclaim his throne.
  • Discussed: "I'm not worried about Mary joining our fellowship. If the bards' tales have taught me anything, it's that princess always come very handy into this crusades against evil."
  • Conversed: "I kinda like princess Mary; she's a quite good athlete, a fine singer, a neat actress, and a rather good swordsman. However, does she ever do anything remotely related to royalty?"

Back to Everything's Better with Princesses

Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Everything%27s_Better_with_Princesses/Playing_With?oldid=936023"