Royals Who Actually Do Something: Difference between revisions

See also [[In Its Hour of Need]].

 

 

Contrast [[Idle Rich]], [[The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything]], [[Authority in Name Only]], [[Orcus on His Throne]], [[Adipose Rex]].

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'': Although she doesn't know at the time, Usagi is a princess [[They Fight Crime|who fights evil.]]

** And she later becomes a Queen [[They Fight Crime|who fights evil.]]

* In ''[[Code Geass]]'':

** The Emperor ''strongly'' encourages his children to take up positions of influence (and fly around in a [[Humongous Mecha]]). [[Social Darwinist]] philosophy and all that. However, the Emperor himself rarely takes an active role in running Brittania, considering war and diplomacy to be "mundane affairs" unworthy of his attention. He's a little too busy [[Rage Against the Heavens|trying to kill God]] to worry about that sorta stuff.

* ''[[Windaria]]'': Both [[Warrior Prince]] Roland and [[Badass Princess]] Veronica personally lead their armies.

* Two of the three [[Princesses Rule|ruling princesses]] of ''[[Kirameki Project]]'' do something worthwhile: the eldest is the Commander in Chief of the country's armed forces, and the middle sister is a genius mecha designer and builder. The youngest princess plays with this trope: she ''wants to be'' the Defender of the Realm, but isn't very good at it.

 

* Common in superhero universes. Among others:

** Black Bolt, Medusa, and the rest of the Royal Family of [[The Inhumans]].

** Both [[Aquaman]] and [[Sub-Mariner|Namor]] are kings of their respective versions of [[Atlantis]] (though the latter [[Anti-Hero|not always a hero]]).

*** So what if Namor isn't always a hero? The trope is "Royals Who Actually Do Something", not "Royals Who Actually Do Something Nice".

* [[Green Lantern|The Green Lantern Corps]] includes Princess Iolande of Betrassus, now ruler of her planet since everyone else in the royal family is dead. Iolande, however, much prefers being in the corps.

 

* In ''[[Keepers of the Elements]]'', [[Sassy Black Woman|Queen Tiana]] is the most prominent example of this. She is fluent in a few languages, has been Queen since the age of fifteen and is currently studying Mechanical Engineering at the same time. She also happens to be quite proficient with machines in general and loves riding her flying motorcycle as seen in the scene in which she is introduced.

* Baron Beltorey in ''[[The Tainted Grimoire]]''. For example, when an underground sport was causing harm to civilians, he took measures to minimise the harm and in the process, also turned it into a legitimate sporting event.

 

* [[Disney Animated Canon]] examples:

** ''[[The Little Mermaid]]'', Prince Eric is a competent sailor. Ariel fights Ursula when the sea witch turns her dad into a sea plant and, prior to that, risks drowning to swim to a ship and prevent Ursula from marrying an [[Brainwashed|enchanted]] Eric. Her daughter Melody takes on Ursula's sister in the sequel.

* Stoick in ''[[How to Train Your Dragon (animation)|How to Train Your Dragon]]'' takes his role as chief of Berk seriously and is often the one to lead the charge.

** Of course; they're Vikings. [[Running Gag|It's an occupational hazard.]]

* ''[[Star Wars]]'':

** Princess Leia was of course a key leader in the rebellion. Even though her biological mother wasn't <s>really</s> royalty by inheritance (Naboo being best described as a <s>noble</s> sovereign republic, albeit one with [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|a maximum of two four-year terms for the ruler]]), her <s>foster</s> adoptive mother was part of the Alderaan royal family.

* In [[Robin Hood (2010 film)|Cameron's ''Robin Hood'']] despite being an upcoming [[Big Bad]] for a potential sequel, ''Prince John'' is the first to charge into the siege of upcoming French, eager to prove his worth.

 

* Aerin, heroine of ''[[The Blue Sword|The Hero and the Crown]]'' is a sword-wielding princess who saves her kingdom.

* The royalty in ''[[Dune]]'' basically do nothing ''but'' scheming against one another and actually ruling their domains. Court functions and leisure occasions seem to only serve the purpose of furthering their schemes for power.

** Also, the Low King of the dwarves is, up till his election, a working dwarf.

*** The same could probably also be said of Diamond (the troll king), since he runs a 'Thud' (a dwarven/trollish board-game) Club.

* Princess Raisa actively invokes this trope throughout ''[[The Seven Realms Series]]''. In book one she founds the Briar Rose Ministry, a charity she and her father run that earns money for the people. The Briar Rose ministry not only helps some of her people avoid starvation, but gets some younger people the money they need to go to school ''and'' earns her a very loyal following. [[Chekhov's Gun|(This becomes a very important plot point later on.)]] By book three, she stops caring about making enemies within the government and goes around rectifying serious issues with the way things are done in order to help the people. A good portion of book three is spent on showing her doing this.

* Garion in ''[[Belgariad]]'' is actually a decent king who spends more of his time as an administrator than anything in pomp and ceremony. Most other kings and royalty, and even many aristocrats, in that universe are in a similar position. Also occurs- albeit to varying extents- in Eddings' ''Elenium''.

* The British royal family in ''[[A Certain Magical Index]]'', composed of Queen Elizard, first princess Rimea, second princess Carissa and third princess Villian. They are part of a power triangle that controls Britain (the other two being the Knights and the Church). All of them play important roles in the British civil war, and Carissa fights personally in World War III.

 

* ''Abarenbo Shogun's'' titular character is the epitome of this trope, much to his advisor's chagrin.

* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' has accumulated a few over the years.

* The BBC series ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' shows Prince Arthur to be not only the Camelot's heir apparent, but also the day-to-day commander of the kingdom's armed forces. He not only leads them in battle, but also recruits the knights and oversees their training. He also seems to be the closest thing that the kingdom has to a sheriff or chief of police. If any "crime" occurs, it's usually Arthur that's sent to investigate.

** It's heavily implied that his father King Uther was this as well in his youth. He does prove himself quite handy with a sword.

 

* Nearly any king or prince mentioned in myth will have long careers, primarily as warriors and/or monster-slayers. [[Classical Mythology|Hercules, Achilles, Theseus, Odysseus]], [[King Arthur]], [[Beowulf]], Gilgamesh, all of them were royals.

* The discovery of tea is often credited as being a Chinese emperor who had been practitioner of medicine, and tested many of his experiments on himself. Tea must have been his best discovery.

* [[Older Than Dirt]]: [[The Epic of Gilgamesh|Gilgamesh]] did lots of things after the gods answered his subjects' prayers to get him the heck out of their city and away from their wives.

 

* [[Jerry Lawler|Jerry "The King" Lawler]], even at his advanced age, has been active in the WWE on a semi-consistent basis, including competing in a TLC match against [[The Miz]].

* The King of The Ring tournament which has crowned many superstars over the years. Several King of The Ring winners have gone on to incorporate royalty gimmicks to their characters, such as Harley Race, [[Owen Hart]], Mabel, and [[Booker T]].

* An Arabic example of this trope is The Sultan, played by Rikishi and managed by [[The Iron Sheik]].

 

* Given the [[Crapsack World]] they live in, along with a healthy dose of [[Authority Equals Asskicking]] the royals of the various factions and races in ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' are often the most lethal warriors available to their race.

* Let us not forget the God-Emperor of mankind from the ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' universe. Although ones 'Milage may Vary' as he went out and smote for only a short time and has spent the past ten millennia static on life support, on the verge of death.

** And pretty much every leader of every faction. Ork Warbosses become that way because they really are the biggest, meanest, and usually the smartest Ork in the bunch. Imperial Guard Lord Generals, unlike some of their lesser leaders, are ONLY chosen from the cream of the officer corps, the best of the best. While some governors are incompetent, ''these usually don't survive long.'' Governors are usually Machiavellian in political skill, because there's always someone ready to replace them if they aren't.

* Many of the monarchs and khans in the ''[[BattleTech]]'' universe actively serve in combat, and much of their prestige as leaders is dependent on the skills they show in Mech warfare.

** In Clan society, there ''are'' no nobles that do nothing. Everyone has their own tasks, and rank is only attained via Trials of Position, and while the Khans are the highest rank of the Clans, they're still chosen from those with Bloodnames, which must be earned in a series of combat trials.

* Most ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' settings have [[Authority Equals Asskicking]] and/or [[Asskicking Equals Authority]] as a matter of fact. But even if the land is not under constant attacks or a hereditary [[The Magocracy|magocracy]], expect high-ups to keep their hands (or other appendages) very busy with large-scale juggling. Which applies to ruling monarchs and other [[Blue Blood]] alike.

** ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' has a lot of it. For an example when it's not a plain necessity, Tethyrian lesser royals are accorded duties in whatever branch of power their talents and inclinations allow. Heirs were traditionally well taught to rule, and expected to pick up some of these when coming of age, including specifically the post of Crown Ecclesiastic; which means having to command as an united force [[Church Militant|religious knightly orders]] that theoretically are loyal to the crown and belong to the allied churches, but practically have at best different priorities and at worst cross-purposes—from 15 years old and until the heir claims the crown. House Tethyr had absolute power for over 350 years, was deposed after one greedy and complacent king and some infighting, and still got their [[Rightful King Returns|triumphant restoration]] later.

 

* King K. Rool from ''[[Donkey Kong Country (video game)|Donkey Kong Country]]''.

* When she is not [[Damsel in Distress|getting kidnapped]], [[Super Mario Bros.|Peach]] often helps Mario, such as in ''[[Super Princess Peach]]''.

** ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim|Skyrim]]'s'' in-game lore reveals many personalities of royalty in Tamriel's history being warriors and monster slayers, with the ultimate example being Tiber Septim (aka [[Ascended to A Higher Plane of Existence|Talos]]), the founder of the Tamriel Empire and the Septim Dynasty, who was also one of the earliest known Dragonborn.

* Prince Valerian Mengsk of ''[[StarCraft]]'' is shown to be a [[Badass Bookworm]] trained in Martial Arts and swordsmanship as well as classical knowledge in the books. He's an [[Adventurer Archaeologist]], to boot. He's also definitely taken notes from his father in [[Magnificent Bastard]]ry and by the end of ''[[StarCraft II]]'' {{spoiler|manages to disinfect Sarah Kerrigan [[Enemy Mine|with the help of]] Jim Raynor}}.

* ''[[The Last Remnant]]'' has numerous examples of this (both good and evil). The most notable is David, the Marquis of Athium, who is a very competent and active leader both in the throne room and on the front lines.

* In ''[[Guild Wars]]: Nightfall'', one of the first heroes to join your party and set your characters' plans in motion is Tahlkora, who is revealed to be a princess of Vabbi.

* One of the unlockable playable character in ''[[Cars 2: The Video Game]]'' is you guessed it, the Queen of England!

* {{spoiler|Prince (Later, King) Roan}} in ''[[Grandia II]]''.

 

* The clan nobles in ''[[Drowtales]]'' are universally taught some degree of fighting skills and specialize in either weapon or [[Mana]]-based combat.

* In ''[[Erfworld]]'', [[RPG Mechanics Verse|Royals level up faster, have higher stats, and grant significant leadership bonuses to any units they command]]. Exactly how this works has yet to be revealed.

* ''[[Dreamwalk Journal]]'' (contains NSFW content): Leonurus, humanoid bee queen of Helianthus Hive. When she's not busy ruling she's happy to show her human guests around the Hive, and in a later storyline she takes an active role in the rescue of an ant queen in distress.

 

* In ''[[The Insane Quest of Unfathomable Randomness]]'', Mortal, the Prince of the Blob planet, and Luna, Princess {{spoiler|of Haruvia}}, both are no slouches when it comes to helping the group. {{spoiler|Luna's mother defended her home planet from incoming attackers, but was killed by the original Smoosh.}}

* ''[[Chaos Fighters]]'' has its own share of royal protagonists: Clair and Shefan, a princess and a prince in different countries in ''Route of Land'' along with Selia, a queen and Clair's mother in a side story ''Robbery Assault''. They are all as capable of fighting as other characters.

 

* ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe]]'': Prince Adam is not an example of this trope. He-Man is a completely different person. Stop making stuff up.

** And [[She-Ra: Princess of Power|She-Ra]] is supposed to be Adam's sister? Don't make me laugh.

** Luckily for Eternia, the 2002 version of King Randor successfully redeems his family. In addition to his diplomatic prowess, he is a highly capable swordfighter and former captain of the royal guard.

* In ''[[WITCH (animation)|WITCH]]'', Queen Elyon thought life after her coronation would be all rest and relaxation, but after finding out she actually had to run the kingdom's affairs and deal with its problems, she began longing for the "princess" part of being queen. This all on top of her role as the [[MacGuffin Girl|Heart of Meridian]], giving her powers equal to those of the main heroines combined.

* In ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', Royalty tends to be this more often than not, especially since the war with the Fire Nation made [[Idle Rich|being an idle royal]] a bad idea. Even the demure Princess Yue joins with the Moon spirit to save it. About the only royal who truly didn't fit this was the Earth Kingdom king, who was kept in the dark due to an [[Evil Chancellor]].

{{quote|'''Fox:''' That still doesn't change what you tried to do.

'''Titania:''' What makes you think this wasn't ''exactly'' what I had planned from the beginning? }}

* ''[[Young Justice (animation)|Young Justice]]'': The first thing Queen Perdita of Vlatava does {{spoiler|after her life-threatening heart surgery is take away her supervillain uncle's title and diplomatic immunity. Note that Queen Perdita is about ten.}}

 

* Britain has a number of examples throughout its history. It helps that the modern royal family requires its men to serve two years of military service.

** Prince Harry served in Afghanistan until an Aussie paper blew his cover. He then trained to be a helicopter pilot, at least partly on the principle it will actually allow him to do his job and serve in the front line without placing his unit in danger, because helicopters are a priority target no matter who flies them. Similarly, Prince William, the second in line to the throne, is a qualified air-sea rescue captain. Hardly an easy job at the best of times.

***George V between the wars patronized the British secret service and got it through budget difficulties.

** William IV had served in the Royal Navy and was called "The Sailor King" as a result. Being not a second but a ''third'' son, he had not prepared to be King ''at all'', and did such scandalous things as refuse to use ride the Royal Carriage to his coronation (he walked instead). He was famous for the whole [[King Incognito]] thing, going around London and Brighton unaccompanied to get a proper view of these cities. Although he was just as dissolute as his brothers, he's considered to have been a slightly better king than his predecessor (George IV), but not as good as his older brother Frederick (the Grand Old Duke of York and by the end of the wars a skilled general in the Army) would have been.

*** He also wrote a children's book called ''The Old Man of Lochnagar'' and read it on TV, and makes organic honey. On one occasion he presented a TV documentary about his opposition to insensitive architectural development.

** King James VI of Scotland and I of England had a major interest in demonology and witchcraft, and even wrote his own scholarly texts on the subject. And also a screed against the use of tobacco, something that got a minor nod in the comics miniseries ''[[Marvel 1602]]''. On a more respectable note, he took an active and scholarly interested in the translation of the version of the Bible that bears his name.

** Henry VIII of England was a learned man who, early in his reign, wrote theological pamphlets defending Papal rule against the rising tide of Lutheranism, although the best ones were ghostwritten by Sir Thomas More. The Pope, impressed, granted him the title Defender of the Faith, which remains attached to British monarchs to this day, even after Henry famously severed his ties with the Papacy. He was also a skilled musician. Although the idea that he wrote "Greensleeves" is largely considered a myth, he did write a song called "Pastime With Good Company" that remained popular for a century after his death. Both his second wife, Anne Boleyn, and his sixth wife, Catherine Parr, actively promoted Protestantism. Catherine is also the author of several books.

** [[Richard the Lion Heart]] of England earned his nickname by being a great military leader and leading soldiers to [[The Crusades|battle in the Holy Land]] and Angevin France. It has been asserted by many historians that Richard generally left administrative work to others, though this has been disputed by others. Richard also gained a name in his own time as a [[Warrior Poet|poet and musician]].

** Richard's mother Eleanor of Aquitaine joined her first husband King Louis VII of France to [[The Crusades]]. After her marriage to her second husband King Henry II of England got into trouble, she encouraged her sons to rebel against their father and was therefore locked up most of the end of Henry's reign. At his death, Richard immediately released her and she gained great influence. She ruled England in Richard's name during his absences and made sure the ransom was collected and delivered after his capture. After Richard's death, she supported John's claim to the throne. When she was already eighty, she crossed the Pyrenees to collect one of her granddaughters as a bride for the heir to the French throne.

*** It seems now that Harry is taking after his mother.

** George III of Britain (of American Revolution fame) had a strong interest in farming and encouraged agriculture, even personally visiting his citizens to see their farms for himself. He wrote environmental pamphlets under the pseudonym "Ralph Robinson".

** "Farmer George's" son, Frederick the Duke of York (commemorated in the nursery rhyme) proved himself a surprisingly able administrator as commander-in-chief of the British army during most of the Napoleonic Wars. This is partially attributed to [[My Greatest Failure|the debacle that was his first expedition in Flanders]] (the source of the rhyme), which [[Failure Knight|propelled him to never fail again]]. He is particularly well-remembered for undertaking the first major reform of the British Army, tuning it into a far more effective fighting force.

* Speaking of Britain (or at least England proper), this is also what the local nobility are encouraged to be. In the spirit of ''Noblesse Oblige,'' they were expected by the Crown to actually ''do something'' deserving of their titles, rather than merely act as court filler. This may have helped at least some among the aristocracy to survive and earn the respect of the people, compared (ironically) to France.

**Part of the reason was that in France since Louis IV the monarchy had gone out of its way to make sure the nobility could not raise private armies by forcing them to live in Versailles and exchange ambition for dissolution. Also French took nobility ''way'' to seriously; for instance to get a military commission it was necessary to have legal certificates of several generations none of whom had been "in trade"(meaning actually doing something) whereas in many parts of Europe if your daddy said you were a noble and your neighbors said you were, and you owned an estate, your ancestor could be whomever you wanted.

** King William II of the Netherlands was wounded in action at Waterloo while still crown prince.

** Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands fired Prime Minister De Geer who wanted to make peace with the Germans during WWII. During the war she made frequent radio speeches inciting her people to rebel against the oppressors. She was the first Queen to address U.S. Congress on 5 August 1942, requesting American military aid in exchange for a number of resources from the Dutch overseas territories. Churchill called her the only man in the Dutch government.

* Louis XIV of France, a.k.a. 'the Sun King', despite his reign's image of idle luxury and aristocratic balls, was a noted workaholic who personally administered the business of government for five decades. Many historians have argued that Louis intentionally distracted his court with trivialities so that they would not hinder his work. He was also passionately interested in architecture and landscaping, directly influencing the design of Versailles.

* One of Louis XVI's lasting legacies is all the clocks he made.

*** It's arguable that the Habsburg line in general fills this trope, from soldiers to artists and even ''actors.'' There's a reason why they stayed for so long (after they got the whole [[Royally Screwed-Up|inbreeding thing]] fixed).

* [[The Bible]] has several examples:

{{quote|'''David''' ''(to Saul, and being squeezed tightly by Michal)'': ''198, 199, 200''! I'll take take two of 'em!}}

** King Saul himself personally led most of Israel's military campaigns, and even died in battle by ''intentionally falling on his own sword'' after his arms-bearer refused to stab him.

* One of the most important roles of a monarch is essentially to be a state totem. This is more important then it sounds as it can be difficult for citizens to give loyalty to a state which is a machine, and if there is not a ceremonial monarch, sometimes an ambitious politician will take a more poisonous advantage of these natural instincts. This kind of monarchy is actually quite common, often found with a more concrete autocrat paired with him but sometimes found in what is effectively a republic. The ways this role is played vary according to the customs of a given culture. It is common in Northern Europe, notably Britain for monarchs to devote themselves to philanthropy, aforesaid patronage, keeping of national historical treasures, and the handing out of honors for achievement. In some places the duties can be truly stifling and may involve never being seen in public without regalia, never leaving a sacred space, etc. In fact, where religion plays an important part in culture the distinction between a monarch and a high priest is ambiguous and there may in fact be no distinction.

** The importance of this and other seemingly irrational public (or social to remind of the fact that many are not in fact state sponsored and some are indeed off limits to non-members) institutions is that humanity even in the most complex states has not in fact been psychologically weaned off tribalism, and trying to do so is arguably counterproductive. Sublimating tribalism is a frequent substitute. Similar institutions for this can be lower nobility, chieftainships of kin groups long brought into the system (as in Scotland), private clubs, and the ceremonial aspects of any given occupation, some of which are more inclined to be encrusted with ceremony then others such as military units.

 

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