History Main / RebelliousPrincess

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** Merida from ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'' plays this trope very, very straight. The movie itself, however, is shaping up to be a deconstruction of it.
*** The film itself really only starts this way, and it's really only the mother who Merida is up against (when not getting involved with exciting drinking parties, her father is perfectly okay with much of it and even gave her ''her first bow'' for her birthday). In the end, it's not so much about her getting her way as it is her and her mother getting an understanding of each other's opinions and finding a balance.

In NorseMythology we have Brynhildr, who was a valkyrie and a princess. She defied Odin and let the wrong army win a battle so Odin stipped her of her powers and turned her into a Sleeping Beuty-esque PrincessClassic - [[HillariousInHandsight as a]] [[ValuesDissonance punishment]].

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To the Rebellious Princess, being [[RoyalBlood part of the royal family]] is overrated: You have no control over the path of your life, your responsibilities are numerous and burdensome (or not [[IJustWantToBeNormal burdensome enough]]), you're generally under everyone's thumb, or you're destined to live unhappily in an ArrangedMarriage. The only options are [[ErmineCapeEffect to throw off]] [[PimpedOutDress your frilly dress]] and to run off with the first hero who passes through (in old fashioned stories), or set off for ActionGirl adventures on her own [[KingIncognito on the sly]] (in the modern ones).

* ''Main/{{Kairos}}'' has [[spoiler: Anaëlle.]]

*** Kiara from [[TheLionKing The Lion King: Simba's Pride]]
*** Also Disney/{{Mulan}}, though she's technically not a princess. Mei, Ting-Ting, and Su from the sequel, on the other hand, are a more straight example of this: At the end of the film, rather than marrying the princes that live on the other side of China, they all instead hook up with Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po, respectively.

* According to the adverts, Princess Kyla of the flop movie ''WesternAnimation/{{Delgo}}''.

* Princess Vespa from ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}''
* Subversion: [[StarWars Princess Leia]] may be a rebel, but so is her father Bail.
** But she [[spoiler: (and her twin brother)]] are still rebelling against [[spoiler: their biological father]].
*** The [[http://quaintly.org/july08/princessleiadiaries/ Princess Leia Diaries]] has her rebelling against social norms as well.

* Like with the above, Elizabeth from ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' is a governor's daughter instead of a princess, but shows the usual rebellious princess traits.

* In ''{{Titanic}}'' Rose feels trapped, like an insect in amber, into marrying [[SmugSnake Cal]] for his money so much that she'd rather [[DrivenToSuicide kill herself out of spite.]]
* MirrorMask features an evil one who is willing to destroy the world she's from in order to keep from going back there.

* Princess Alexandra of Romania in the ''Series/{{JAG}}'' episode "Washington Holiday".

* DowntonAbbey: Sybil is a Rebellious Aristocrat, as she's more interested in politics, women's rights and nursing than the wearing fancy clothes and going to parties. She eventually falls in love with the family chauffuer Tom, a similarly rebellious Irish Socialist, and they go to Ireland where they can be together and get married freely.

[[folder:Music]]
* The song "Mercanti e servi" (literally, "Merchants and servants") from Italian band ''INomadi'' ("The Nomads").
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[[folder:Theater]]
* Guinevere in the musical ''Camelot''.
* OlderThanTelevision: Zoradie, heroine of ''TheRoseOfAlgeria'', a 1909 operetta with music by Victor Herbert.
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* In the ''{{Aveyond}}'' series, Alicia Pendragon in ''Ahriman's Prophecy'' can count as this.

* Nalia from ''[[BaldursGate Baldur's Gate 2]]'' follows this trope to the letter, except that she's nobility rather than royalty. She also spouts somewhat condescending quasi-liberal about helping the "less fortunate", but in a world where even the most egalitarian governments tend to be oligarchic and the economy is a sort of capitalism, she's fighting a losing battle. She's also shown as being somewhat of a self-righteous poser. Nalia's character is somewhat vindicated about halfway through the D'Arnise hold quest, where the player character meets her aunt- a woman who is outraged that some of her servants left their posts at the castle ''after trolls attacked and conquered it''. When the player considers that this attitude is in line with what many other noble {{NPC}}s believe, suddenly Nalia's hopeful idealism doesn't sound so bad.
* Jelanda in ''ValkyrieProfile'', and Alicia and Celes in ''Valkyrie Profile 2''
* Eclair in ''LaPucelleTactics''.

* Princess Zelda can fit this trope, depending on the incarnation in question. In some games, she's stated to frequently sneak out of her castle (''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'', for instance), and when her kingdom falls in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', she becomes a Ninja instead of hiding out the old fashioned way. In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', she's known as Tetra, the very un-princessy captain of a pirate crew who dresses like a boy and kicks considerable butt.
** Tetra is something of an aversion, however, since for most of the game she was completely unaware of her own identity.

* While not actually royal, Soon-to-be-Queen Isabel in ''HeroesOfMightAndMagic V'' definitely has these traits early on. The demons are all too aware of it and use it against her.
* Princess Sapphire of ''{{Disgaea}} 3'' believes that the best way to defend her kingdom is to assassinate enemies before they get around to starting a war. The player never meets her parents or advisors, but they've probably told her to stop if they aren't [[AxeCrazy terrified of her]] [[OneManArmy for good reason]].
* From ''VideoGame/ArcTheLad'': Sania of Milmana and Kukuru of Seyra: princesses and wanted terrorists: Sania is not adverse to the idea of blowing up her own capital if this means killing her enemies.

* Jillian Zamussels in ''{{Erfworld}}'' did not get along with her father King Banhammer, and preferred to spend as much time as possible away from home on mercenary missions. After her kingdom fell while she was away, she had no interest in returning home to re-establish it [[spoiler: until politics and circumstances forced her in that direction]].

* Feferi of ''{{Homestuck}}'' is next in line to be the Empress of all [[AllTrollsAreDifferent Trolls]], but she despises the [[FantasticRacism hemospectrum caste system]] their society has and aspires to change it into a more unified and caring system that protects weaker members of the race instead of culling them.

* ''TheLegendOfKorra'' takes place in a time when royalty has more or less been phased out, but Asami Sato still fits this trope's spirit very well. She's the aristocratic, wealthy daughter of the guy who invented automobiles, who has never wanted for anything...but as we see later, when her hometown is being torn apart by revolution, her character is generous and deeply moral- willing to fight against her own family if that is what it takes to keep the fascistic rebels and equally fascistic city leaders from killing innocent people.
** [[spoiler: Korra]] could count as well.

* Jillian, Darth Vegan's daughter from ''JohnnyTest''.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Margaret,_Countess_of_Snowdon Princess Margaret of the UK, Countess of Snowdon]].
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Ferguson Sarah Ferguson aka "Fergie", Duchess of York.]]

* Jen from ''CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon'', though she isn't a princess, but a governor's daughter. She longed for an [[ActionGirl exciting life of adventure]] and didn't want to get married.

*** Also Disney/{{Mulan}}, though she's technically not a princess. Su, Mei, and Ting-Ting from the sequel, on the other hand, are a more straight example of this: At the end of the film, rather than marrying the princes that live on the other side of China, they all instead hook up with Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po, respectively.

*** Kiara from Disney/TheLionKingSimbasPride

* Jelka Tolonen in David Wingrove's ''ChungKuo'' series borders on this, due to an ArrangedMarriage
* [[HeroesWantRedheads Princess Eilonwy]] from the ''PrydainChronicles'', whose outspokenness and rebelliousness at times border on childish brattishness.
** Since Disney created TheFilmOfTheBook with ''TheBlackCauldron'', Eilonwy is also part of the previously listed Disney line-up. Given the above plus the fact that she predates Ariel, the Disney version is OlderThanTheyThink.

* Ista from LoisMcMasterBujold's ''[[Literature/{{Chalion}} Paladin of Souls]]'' would fit this almost perfectly were it not for the detail of being a forty year old widow and ''mother'' of the [[AChildShallLeadThem young queen]]. She started out guilting her keepers [[CoughSnarkCough *cough*]] attendants into permitting her an incognito vacation [[CoughSnarkCough *ahem*]] pilgrimage, and by the end....

* Ce'Nedra from [[DavidEddings David and Leigh Eddings]]' ''{{Belgariad}}'' series certainly has the attitude and the love interest bit down, though she actually loves being a princess -- one of her major problems with marrying Garion was the fact that, as Overlord of the West, he outranked her.\\

* Princess Andromeda (Andie) in the second book of MercedesLackey's ''TalesOfTheFiveHundredKingdoms'' novels. Subverted slightly in that Andie is led to rebellion by her intelligence and virtue, as the Queen and her Chief Advisor have nothing but bad intentions. This is a world where tropes have a force stronger than ''law itself''. [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen The Queen]] and [[EvilChancellor her advisor]] ''couldn't have'' been good, and the book [[LampshadeHanging says so]].
* Princess Cimorene from the ''EnchantedForestChronicles'' - early in the first book, she intentionally gets herself "kidnapped" by a dragon in order to escape her current life and an ArrangedMarriage. Before this she insisted on her teachers teaching her things not normally covered: magic, cooking, politics, fencing, Latin, etc. She also fights off many of the princes and knights to come to rescue her herself to prevent them from bringing her home, and changes her official title (among the dragons) to "Chief Cook and Librarian" to help drive them away.

* Annice of ''Sing the Four Quarters'' by TanyaHuff. Her even ''being'' a bard is the direct cause of her having been legally stripped of royal status [[spoiler: mostly because her brother had a snit fit when she refused the ArrangedMarriage he'd set up in favour of attending the Bardic College - the prince he was setting her up to marry came from a queendom that was ''rabidly'' phobic of bards. The FridgeLogic inherent in his attempt is [[{{Lampshaded}} pointed out near the end of the book]], when the Bardic leader pretty much hits the king over the head with the fact that the bard-hating queendom wouldn't even have considered Annice as an eligible candidate once word of her ability to Sing the kigh got out.]] She and her brother don't talk much, even ''after'' he fixes his mistake and apologizes.
* Anne Dare of Greg Keyes' ''Literature/KingdomsOfThornAndBone'' tetralogy -- though she is thwarted in her rebelliousness first by family members who are actually smart enough to predict her defiance and catch her at it, then by some (well-deserved) guilt-tripping from her friend and maidservant, and finally by, well, reality, in the form of a legion of disasters, tragedies and prophesied battles.
* Aravis of ''[[{{Narnia}} The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and his Boy]]'' -- princess of the Calormene province of Calavar who prefers hunting and riding and scimitar-fighting to what princesses like [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl her best friend]] [[TheOjou Lasaraleen]] are expected to do. Even leaves her home rather than being forced to marry the SmugSnake of the Tisroc's Prime Minister. [[spoiler: Ends up marrying Shasta aka Prince Cor and becoming the Queen of Archenland]].
* Arya Stark from GeorgeRRMartin's ''ASongOfIceAndFire'' is a {{deconstruction}} of this. In order to survive in [[CrapsackWorld Westeros]], she has to become a DarkActionGirl, and eventually progresses to being a cold-blooded SociopathicHero.
* Nerilka of ''[[DragonridersOfPern Pern]]'' isn't a princess, but she's the closest Pernese equivalent. She refuses to sit at home and waste her skills during a devastating plague, quietly leaving to work incognito with the healers instead.
* Both of the "Twice Royal" Balitang girls in TamoraPierce's the ''[[TortallUniverse Daughter of the Lioness]]'' books. Sarai takes the traditional rebellious teenager route, while Dove becomes an actual rebel.

* Aeriel in ''TheDreamlandChronicles'' is a minor {{aversion}}. She is an Amazon Princess so her adventuring doesn't really make her a rebel. What makes her a rebel to her people is that she [[StrawFeminist falls in love with a man]] and is willing to do things for him that her tribe considers dishonorable.
* Princess Laurana from the ''{{Dragonlance}}'' series. Blond, brash, and a teenager (by Elven standards anyway.) She runs away from home to try and win back TheHero even though he has just rejected her and her family disapproves of him for being a bastard half-human. She then becomes a LadyOfWar, even though elven women are not suppose to take up arms. After being reunited with her family, she immediately runs away again, this time to steal a [[AncientArtifact Dragon Orb]], from her father and deliver it to the [[TheAlliance Whitestone Council]] to help them fight the evil [[TheEmpire Dragonarmies]]. She wins the admiration of the highly chauvinistic Knights of Solamnia for her courage and skill in battle and is given command of their army, which she leads to a series of victories through highly innovative and risky tactics. And then, ignoring the advice of TeamDad, Flint Fireforge, she abandons her army to try and rescue her LoveInterest, Tanis, [[spoiler:only to be betrayed and captured by her ArchEnemy, Kitiara.]]
* A rare male version is present in Meghan Whalen Turner's ''[[TheQueensThief Thief]]'' books. [[spoiler: It's Gen, the titular Thief, although the also male Sophos may count as well to a degree.]]
* Jame, the heroine of PCHodgell's ''ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath'', is not happy at all [[RagsToRoyalty when she finds she's a Highborn lady of the highest rank and the sister of the Highlord]]. The rigid gender roles and restrictions chafe and she ultimately rejects them.
* Leeana Bowmaster from DavidWeber's ''[[TheWarGods WarGod]]'' series is the daughter of a Baron rather than a King, but otherwise fits this trope to a T. Doesn't want to dress or act like a traditional noblewomen, is looking to escape an ArrangedMarriage and eventually runs off to join the [[AmazonBrigade War Maidens]].\\

* Milly in ''Baten Kaitos Origins'' is a ShelteredAristocrat who got fed up with the lifestyle and latched on to Sagi. [[spoiler:She's actually not rebellious at all - her father, [[BigBad Baelheit]], sent her after Sagi to spy on him. It does get played straighter later, when she stops giving Baelheit useful information]].

* ''BatenKaitos'' has [[spoiler:Xehla]], who is a rebellious ''queen.'' Milly in ''Baten Kaitos Origins'' is of the rebellious rich sheltered girl type.
** How is she a rebellious queen [[spoiler:when the reason why she left her country was to find a way to prevent the evil god Malpercio from returning and save the world]]? That's pretty responsible action to take for her kingdom. Not to mention that her mother, the previous queen, told her that she would need to take the action if the need arises.
** Subverted with Milly in ''Baten Kaitos Origins'' as [[spoiler:the real reason that she joins Sagi and Guillo is [[TheMole to spy on them and report any important findings back to her father, Baelheit]].]]

* The song "Mercanti e servi" (literally, "Merchants and servants") from Italian band ''INomadi'' ("The Nomads") provides the above quote.

*** Kiara from [[Disney/TheLionKing The Lion King 2]]

* The ''{{Baywatch}}'' episode "Princess of Tides" revolves around a princess escaping her bodyguards to get away from her pampered life.

->'''Rajah:''' *makes a surprised and offended growl*
->'''Jasmine:''' Except you, Rajah! ...I've never even been outside the palace walls.

The Rebellious Princess is usually a teenager, typically brash (since it goes hand in hand with being rebellious), and often blonde and/or has a TomboyishPonytail. If she's not the hero, quite often she's the hero's love interest. This will sometimes invoke MarryForLove not only as another way for her to rebel, but to also get out of an ArrangedMarriage. Sometimes the Rebellious Princess is the WhiteMagicianGirl, but not always: in video games she can also be archer, the BlackMagicianGirl or the LadyOfWar. May also be a PoliticallyActivePrincess.

possibility)

** And since Disney created TheFilmOfTheBook with ''TheBlackCauldron'', Eilonwy is also part of the previously listed Disney line-up. Given the above plus the fact that she predates Ariel, the Disney version is OlderThanTheyThink.

* Princess Stéphanie of Monaco. Her mom, Princess GraceKelly, nicknamed her "WildChild", and for good reason. And that's not even getting into her multiple love affairs, including her terrible relationship with [[ConMan Mario]] [[BitchInSheepsClothing Oliver]] and her ''very'' tempestuous marriage to [[BodyguardCrush her bodyguard]] Daniel Ducruet.

* Mia in ''ThePrincessDiaries'' is ''extremely'' displeased to find out that she's a princess, largely because of all the stereotypes associated with the position. It should be noted that her parents specifically limit the amount of money she's allowed, and her new title requires her to spend years being trained in courtesy and diplomacy by her overbearing grandmother, who she legitimately hates. She grows into the position eventually, but most of the series devotes itself to answering; "What would a shy, anxious teenager with all the responsibilities of royalty and very few of the automatic privileges be like?" Answer: Not very happy.

* Princess Sapphire of ''{{Disgaea}} 3'' believes that the best way to defend her kingdom is to assassinate enemies before they get around to starting a war. The player never meets her parents or advisors, but they've probably told her to stop if they aren't [[AxeCrazy terrified of her]].

* ''The Legend of Korra'' takes place in a time when royalty has more or less been phased out, but Asami Sato still fits this trope's spirit very well. She's the aristocratic, wealthy daughter of the guy who invented automobiles, who has never wanted for anything...but as we see later, when her hometown is being torn apart by revolution, her character is generous and deeply moral- willing to fight against her own family if that is what it takes to keep the fascistic rebels and equally fascistic city leaders from killing innocent people.