(no subject)
I've been thinking about princesses.
The Halloween costumes on sale for girls still a bit too young for fishnets (under age five, say) look to be about seventy-five percent princess dresses. Which seems like a lot, though I can see the appeal of a pretty dress, and I went as a princess myself one Halloween when I was a kid- I was Princess Leia, in camo pants and wearing my mom's cylindrical hairbrush as a lightsaber because I was Leia from Return of the Jedi, but it was undeniably a princess costume. (Even if nobody had the first clue who I was.)
That led me to thinking: wouldn't it be cool to be able to get stuff done in the style of the Disney Princess merchandising where the princess was Leia? But there are a bunch of Disney Princesses, so you'd need some other princesses to hang out with her, right? So... what other awesome fictional princesses are there?
Leia Organa- Princess of Alderaan. (Or was, before it exploded.) Shoots blaster rifles, slings lightsabers, has the power of the Force, bagged Han Solo, established an iconic hairstyle.
Diana of Themyscira- Princess of Themyscira. Also known as Wonder Woman, a name she earned by defeating like ten jillion other hardened Amazon warriors in fair contest (Recall that Superman became Superman by wandering into Metropolis and deciding that this looked like a nice place to fight crime). Lifts tanks, punches zombie Nazis, decapitates monsters with her tiara, is known across half the galaxy as a champion of freedom.
Dejah Thoris- Princess of Helium. On Mars, and how cool is that? First shows up when the Green Martians capture her off what she says was an airship on a mission of exploration and discovery, so I think it's not too much of a stretch to put her down as "trained scientist and zeppelin pilot." Wears jewelry and, er, pretty much just jewelry. It's very warm on Mars.
Koriand'r of Tamaran- Princess of (three guesses) Tamaran. (Or was, before it exploded.) Also known as Starfire. Is a green-eyed golden-skinned six-foot-six polyamorous alien warrior wearing purple lamee, and not a lot of it. And she has red hair! Wavy red knee-length hair! Basically she is aimed like an arrow to the heart of my inner thirteen-year-old.
Zelda: Princess of Hyrule. I don't actually know anything about her, but my roommate swears she's aces in Super Smash Brothers, so on the list she goes.
Zeetha, Daughter of Chump- Lost Princess of the Lost City of Skifander. Currently on sabbatical from her royal duties, since she can't freaking find Skifander. Is a model of correct princessly behavior ("it apparently involves swords and rescuing princes and such.")
Edited to add:
Serenity of the Moon Kingdom- Superpowers, talking kitties, and hair past her ankles. Oh, and a tiara that doubles as a throwing weapon. She could cross over to the DCU and do target practice with Wonder Woman!
Ozma of Oz- I loved the Oz books when I was in elementary school, but I don't think I've read one since then, and they've all kind of lost cohesion and become one surreal, feverish dream-memory of trackless deserts, people transformed into intricate little jeweled tchotchkes, boys being informed that they were actually girls who had been genderswapped as babies to hide them from assassins, lunchboxes growing on trees, and an army of girl-soldiers in quad-colored skirts. So if that's the place Ozma rules over, she obviously knows what she's doing, is what I'm saying. Also she dealt with the "genderswapped as a baby" thing with remarkable poise, IIRC.
Cimorene- I forget what she was princess of, and anyway she winds up a Queen, but she was still a princess when she headed off to make cherries jubilee for dragons and defeat evil wizards with yesterday's dishwater. Also, when people tell her things like "do not eat anything given to you by the people in the shadowy pagoda," she totally follows that advice, which shows what a good role model she is for all young people considering a career in being a fairy-tale character.
Also some other people I will have to look up!
Who've I missed? And what about Xena? She's a warrior princess, but I'm not sure if she's actually princess of anything.
The Halloween costumes on sale for girls still a bit too young for fishnets (under age five, say) look to be about seventy-five percent princess dresses. Which seems like a lot, though I can see the appeal of a pretty dress, and I went as a princess myself one Halloween when I was a kid- I was Princess Leia, in camo pants and wearing my mom's cylindrical hairbrush as a lightsaber because I was Leia from Return of the Jedi, but it was undeniably a princess costume. (Even if nobody had the first clue who I was.)
That led me to thinking: wouldn't it be cool to be able to get stuff done in the style of the Disney Princess merchandising where the princess was Leia? But there are a bunch of Disney Princesses, so you'd need some other princesses to hang out with her, right? So... what other awesome fictional princesses are there?
Leia Organa- Princess of Alderaan. (Or was, before it exploded.) Shoots blaster rifles, slings lightsabers, has the power of the Force, bagged Han Solo, established an iconic hairstyle.
Diana of Themyscira- Princess of Themyscira. Also known as Wonder Woman, a name she earned by defeating like ten jillion other hardened Amazon warriors in fair contest (Recall that Superman became Superman by wandering into Metropolis and deciding that this looked like a nice place to fight crime). Lifts tanks, punches zombie Nazis, decapitates monsters with her tiara, is known across half the galaxy as a champion of freedom.
Dejah Thoris- Princess of Helium. On Mars, and how cool is that? First shows up when the Green Martians capture her off what she says was an airship on a mission of exploration and discovery, so I think it's not too much of a stretch to put her down as "trained scientist and zeppelin pilot." Wears jewelry and, er, pretty much just jewelry. It's very warm on Mars.
Koriand'r of Tamaran- Princess of (three guesses) Tamaran. (Or was, before it exploded.) Also known as Starfire. Is a green-eyed golden-skinned six-foot-six polyamorous alien warrior wearing purple lamee, and not a lot of it. And she has red hair! Wavy red knee-length hair! Basically she is aimed like an arrow to the heart of my inner thirteen-year-old.
Zelda: Princess of Hyrule. I don't actually know anything about her, but my roommate swears she's aces in Super Smash Brothers, so on the list she goes.
Zeetha, Daughter of Chump- Lost Princess of the Lost City of Skifander. Currently on sabbatical from her royal duties, since she can't freaking find Skifander. Is a model of correct princessly behavior ("it apparently involves swords and rescuing princes and such.")
Edited to add:
Serenity of the Moon Kingdom- Superpowers, talking kitties, and hair past her ankles. Oh, and a tiara that doubles as a throwing weapon. She could cross over to the DCU and do target practice with Wonder Woman!
Ozma of Oz- I loved the Oz books when I was in elementary school, but I don't think I've read one since then, and they've all kind of lost cohesion and become one surreal, feverish dream-memory of trackless deserts, people transformed into intricate little jeweled tchotchkes, boys being informed that they were actually girls who had been genderswapped as babies to hide them from assassins, lunchboxes growing on trees, and an army of girl-soldiers in quad-colored skirts. So if that's the place Ozma rules over, she obviously knows what she's doing, is what I'm saying. Also she dealt with the "genderswapped as a baby" thing with remarkable poise, IIRC.
Cimorene- I forget what she was princess of, and anyway she winds up a Queen, but she was still a princess when she headed off to make cherries jubilee for dragons and defeat evil wizards with yesterday's dishwater. Also, when people tell her things like "do not eat anything given to you by the people in the shadowy pagoda," she totally follows that advice, which shows what a good role model she is for all young people considering a career in being a fairy-tale character.
Also some other people I will have to look up!
Who've I missed? And what about Xena? She's a warrior princess, but I'm not sure if she's actually princess of anything.