The High Queen: Difference between revisions

[[File:Accolade.jpg|frame|Queen Guinevere [[Knighting|creates]] Sir Lancelot<ref>her eventual lover</ref>]]

 

 

A woman of wealth, power and near-impossible beauty. She always has a calm demeanor and regal bearing. Her very voice, even if it doesn't [[Power Echoes|ring with power]] (and it often does), still lets you know that, in some way, she's probably better than you, even if the lady herself doesn't look down on you at all.

Her beauty can often be so great, [[Modest Royalty|even simple robes look majestic on her]].

 

 

 

 

The presence of a High Queen is sometimes an indication of a [[Matriarchy]].

 

 

In terms of the ranks of [[Authority Tropes]], the tropes that are equal are [[God Save Us From the Queen]], [[The Woman Wearing the Queenly Mask]], [[She Is the King]], [[Iron Lady]], [[The Good King]] and [[President Evil]]. The next steps down are [[The Evil Prince]], [[Prince Charming]], [[Prince Charmless]], [[Warrior Prince]], [[The White Prince]], [[The Wise Prince]], and all [[Princess Tropes]]. The next step up is [[The Emperor]].

 

* The Queen in ''[[Futari wa Pretty Cure]]''.

** Who is, by the way, at least 10 feet high, CGI generated and has the voice of a great Goddess. Oh yes, and she never moves, not even her mouth, she seems to use telepathy. At least until Maxheart, where she's reduced to a plain, 13 years old girl and 12 fairies (because one single girl couldn't possibly hold her awesomeness!)

* The Queen in ''[[Ojamajo Doremi]]''. The one that came before her, Majotourbillion, is the main antagonist of the series.

* Athena in ''[[Appleseed]]'' holds the office of Prime Minister of the City of Olympus, making her more or less the Supreme Leader of the World. She's not just good at her job and very capable of getting other national leaders in line, she's actually a member of a genetically engineered race specifically enhanced to govern humans.

* {{spoiler|Relena Peacecraft}} from ''[[Gundam Wing]]'' tries her hand at this {{spoiler|when she briefly becomes Queen of the World in exchange for the Sanc Kingdom citizen's safety.}} It starts more or less well, but it doesn't really work on the long run {{spoiler|(especially after her brother, Zechs, the new leader of White Fang, declares war on Earth) and the [[Rebellious Princess]] hands the baton to the [[Magnificent Bastard]] Treize and leaves, instead of bowing to the Romefeller group that made her Queen.}}

* Lacus Clyne of ''[[Gundam Seed]]'' and ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]''. In the original Japanese her speech pattern is incredibly formal. She is almost always calm (there are only two times she's very emotional: when her father Siegel is killed, and when {{spoiler|her [[Body Double]] Meer [[Died in Your Arms Tonight|dies in her arms]]}}) and is even nicknamed The Pink Princess and is referred to as The White Queen in ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]''. She is also a [[Yamato Nadeshiko]].

* Helba from [[.hack]] easily qualifies for this. She's a Hacker in ''The World'' who's character stats are maxed out, has the ability to access regions of the game that no normal player would ever be able to access, and plays her name off as the Queen of Darkness mentioned in the lost poem the game was based around. She's not evil though. She prefers to stay behind the scenes to help players out.

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* Depending on the writer and storyline Queen Hyppolita, [[Wonder Woman]]'s mother and ruler of Themyscira, is usually portrayed as this. Even after she is shown going bat-shit crazy and creating an elaborate [[Gambit Roulette]] to humble her daughter and eliminate one of her opponents, she is eventually given an author-saving throw by going into the past and serving as the original JSA's Wonder Woman, returning and relinquishing voluntarily most of her authority to two elected amazons.

 

 

== [[Film]] ==

* Elizabeth I of England was this in [[Real Life]] (as noted below in that category), but various cinematic representations of her don't always fit the bill. One which very much does is her portrayal by [[Cate Blanchett]] in ''Elizabeth: The Golden Age''.

* Queen Susan Pevensie from ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'' becomes this in ''[[Prince Caspian]]'' and will probably grow into this role even more in ''[[The Horse and His Boy]]''.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* Lady Galadriel in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]],'' though technically [[Just the First Citizen|never a queen]]. Explained by her having seen the faces of the Angels, which grants a greater presence; having one of the Three Rings; and being older than ''[[Time Abyss|the sun itself]]'', and thus possessing the wisdom of ''many, many'': about seven or eight millennia.

** Melian from ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' also qualifies. A lesser deity (like Gandalf), older than the world itself, she was Queen of Doriath; her husband Thingol ruled (unfortunately, since he was much less wise than she was) but it was she who protected their realm. [[Master Apprentice Chain|She knew and taught Galadriel]], by the way.

* Kahlan in the [[Sword of Truth]] series, despite the fact that the third of the world she rules loses its sovereignty to the main character, ruler of another third of the world (and her husband (would create lots of intermarital conflict, but those two are just excessive examples of overly perfect people thrown into stupidly contrived bad situations by the fourth book, so it doesn't).

* Queen Morgase in ''[[The Wheel of Time]]''.

** Berelain is a really weird version, at least as portrayed after she stopped chasing Perrin.

* ''[[The Faerie Queene]]'' Gloriana, an [[Expy]] of Queen Elizabeth... [[Second Hand Storytelling|or so we're often told]]. [[Author Existence Failure|The author died]] before ever writing a chapter where the eponymous queen makes an appearance.

* [[Friendly Neighborhood Vampire|Alette]] of ''[[Kitty Norville]]'' certainly counts as this. She's even got the [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]] thing going for her: a very long lifespan to allow her to accumulate wealth and power...and all used [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|to protect and shelter her family]]. Even better, she's set up to look like the [[Rich Bitch]] by the local lycanthropes until we learn she's just [[The Woman Wearing the Queenly Mask]].

* [[Deconstructed Trope|Deconstructed]] by George Martin in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' (of course) with Margaery Tyrell, whose reputation of purity and benevolence is largely the result of having a very PR-savvy grandmother like Lady Oleanna. In reality, while she's more savvy than Sansa Stark and tries to do what she can to {{spoiler|free her "husband" Tommen from his evil mom Cersei's influence}}, poor Margaery is still nothing more than just one more pawn in the Game of Thrones.

** Daenerys Targeryen, on the other hand, may turn out to be the real deal. ''May''. If the preview for the fifth book is any indication, she's definitely going to have to claw her way to this status.

* Rhian in Karen Miller's ''[[Godspeaker Trilogy]]''.

** As for [[Defrosting Ice Queen|warming up]] due to the charms of the hero? Somewhat reversed. She loved the hero since she was a child; convincing him she was no longer a child, overcoming his noble intention not to saddle her with an older husband, and convincing him that he wasn't taking advantage of her youthful infatuation, took a little work. She was... somewhat heavy handed.

** Another example was {{spoiler|Polgara}} from [[The Belgariad]] when she had ruled her own realm in the past.

* Neferet in ''[[The House of Night]]'' has the makings of one, being the high priestess of Nyx as well as being incredibly beautiful (and it's probably not Maybelline). {{spoiler|The fact that she's up to no good (and a wee bit power hungry) puts a damper on this, though.}}

* Queen Selenay and High Priest Solaris in [[Mercedes Lackey]]'s ''[[Heralds of Valdemar]]'' books, especially from a distance. To their closer associates, they also have a strong touch of [[The Woman Wearing the Queenly Mask]].

* Queen Susan "the Gentle" in ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'' was decribed as the most beautiful woman in the world (Narnia, not Earth). The Prince of Calormene did not take it very well when she refused his marriage proposal.

* Thayet from the [[Tortall Universe]]. Empress Berenene from the [[Circle of Magic]] world is this with a wide, [[Beware the Nice Ones|usually hidden but nevertheless well-known]] streak of [[God Save Us From the Queen]].

 

** Series four also introduced Queen Annis, though she was portrayed as slightly older than most versions of this trope.

 

* Deborah from [[The Bible]], fourth Judge of Israel and [[Lady of War]]. So inspirational that her appointed military leader didn't think he could win the impending battle without her.

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* The Scarlet Empress from the RPG ''[[Exalted]]''. (To her subjects. To everyone else in Creation, it's [[God Save Us From the Queen]].)

** Also Merela, leader of the Solar Deliberative for much of the First Age.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* The Goddess Palutena from ''[[Kid Icarus]]''.

* Sun Lian in ''[[Jade Empire]]''.

** In ''[[Twilight Princess]]'', Zant invaded on what would have been her coronation day, according to [[Word of God]].

** It was that very ceremony that Link was going to travel to the capital to attend and present the sword and shield as a tribute from Ordon Village to the new queen. The fact that the village was suddenly covered in Twilight as he's about to embark does a good job establishing the time frame of the background events.

* This trope was BRUTALLY deconstructed in ''[[The Elder Scrolls]] III: Tribunal'', when the local High Queen turned out to be {{spoiler|[[God Save Us From the Queen|a batshit insane, paranoid bitch whom you ended up fighting as the end boss.]]}}

** The goddess Azura may also count, though the 'goodness' part is highly debatable.

* {{spoiler|Xelha}} from ''[[Baten Kaitos]]: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean'' fits this trope quite well, although her kindness comes more from her role as {{spoiler|[[White Magician Girl]]}}.

** Also, Queen Corellia of Anuenue. Not quite as badass as {{spoiler|Xelha}}, but still very much a [[Reasonable Authority Figure]].

* Ming Numara of ''[[Lost Odyssey]]'', the "thousand-year queen" of the country of Numara.

* Yggdra, the eponymous heroine of ''[[Yggdra Union]]'', gradually evolves into a combination of one of these and [[The Messiah]] as she matures.

* Queen Rahna of Silesia in ''[[Fire Emblem Jugdral|Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu]]''. Also {{spoiler|her sucessor, former [[Lady of War]] Ferry, according to the manga and the ''Thracia 776'' game.}}

* Lady Eleanora of Pherae from ''[[Fire Emblem Elibe|Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken]]''.

** And {{spoiler|Princess Guinevere}} from ''[[Fire Emblem Elibe|Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi]]'', after {{spoiler|her brother King Zephiel dies and she's crowned as the first Queen of Bern.}} The same goes to {{spoiler|Princess Lilina of Ostia, either if she rebuilds her lands alone or marries Roy.}}

** Although, at this point, [[Big Bad|Deathwing]] is so [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|absurdly powerful]] himself that when Alexstrasza and him finally fought in Twilight Highlands after the Cataclysm, it reached a stalemate of sorts with her severely wounded to the point that a mere mortal had to carry her off to safety, but yeah she is considered one of the most powerful creatures to ever have ''existed'' (that's about 60,000 years since she became the [[Our Dragons Are Different|Queen of the Dragons]]/Life-binder via the [[Powers That Be|Tit]][[Neglectful Precursors|ans]]); it makes you wonder why she didn't just shit all over the Burning Legion, Lich King, the Old Gods, or even Malygos before the [[Big Damn Heroes]] did all the hard work for her. She ''has'' been pissed off enough to kill and enact revenge, especially when her own literal children are involved -- "Nekrosss... You had them [[Berserk Button|ssslay my children]]! [[Mama Bear|My children]]!" (seconds before eating Nekros).

* ''[[King's Quest]]'': Valanice is the most prominent, but Genesta and Titania also do well here.

** Valanice is a good (as in non-evil) Queen, but she is not presented as a radiant untouchable goddess who is never wrong. The Fairy Queens fit this trope much better.

*** This may not be all there is to it. In a quest edited out of the first game, they were going to reveal that King Cailan was going to divorce Anora and marry Celene, putting her on the throne of a nation her predecessor tried and failed to conquer.

* Queen Alicia II from ''[[The Legend of Heroes Trails in The Sky]]''

* Nimwe of the Seelie, from ''[[A Tale of Two Kingdoms]]''.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]]''. Princess Voluptua pulls off this image quite well. While not especially formal in her demeanor (as most of her immediate court are [[Our Dragons Are Different|dragons]], she's the only one who ''doesn't'' speak in pseudo-Elizabethan highfalute), she always exudes an air of supreme confidence and competence.

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* Octavia Augusta, Caesar of the [[Precursors|Iormunean Imperium]] in the [[Backstory]] of ''[[Open Blue]]'', who was a wise and benevolent ruler. In fact, one of her recorded actions was giving the credit for a well-placed strategic move that she was clearly responsible for to wisdom from their goddess. She was also a [[Lady of War]] who died fighting in defiance of her [[The Empire|empire's]] destruction.

** And in the modern era, Khanzarina Misha of Yaman.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

** Also her mother, the former queen of Atlantis, who is actually shown [[Missing Mom|being sacrificed at the very beginning of the film.]]

* Other heroic Disney queens include:

** Rapunzel's birth mother from ''[[Tangled]]''.

** Queen Clarion from ''[[Disney Fairies]]''.

** Sarabi ([[Disappeared Dad|Mufasa's]] widow and Simba's mother) and later her daughter-in-law, Nala from ''[[The Lion King]]''.

** Note that Celestia differs from standard High Queens in that she's shown to be fairly down-to-earth and mischievous rather than the distant and mighty ruler that is standard for the trope. That doesn't stop most ponies from thinking of her as the usual High Queen though.

** Well, unlike many others who fit this trope, Luna also appears to be a [[Nightmare Fetishist]] because of her role as a [[Physical God]] of night and darkness: she wears a cloak of living bats and her guards (unlike her sister's) looks positively demonic, for instance. {{spoiler|This actually helps her in the end, since the first time she chooses to interact with commoners was on the local equivalent of Halloween; once the ponies realise she isn't really dangerous, they think she looks awesome.}}

* On the subject of ''[[My Little Pony]]'', Rosedust, the queen of the Flutter Ponies, qualifies.

* Queen Lillian from the ''[[Shrek]]'' films.

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

* Queen Cleopatra of Ancient Egypt.

* Queen Zenobia of Palmyra (combined with [[Lady of War]]).

* Empress [[Catherine the Great]] of Russia.

* Empress [[Maria Theresa]] of Austria.

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[[Category:Always Female]]