Warrior Prince / Literature

• Agent of Vega: Agent Pagadan is royalty on her own world (describing herself at one point as "High Queen of Lar-Sancaya") and a ruthless, effective Zone Agent.
• Played With in Animorphs, where the Andalites use "prince" (and War Prince) as a military title, rather than a statement of royalty. Hence while Elfangor is a prince but his younger brother Ax is still just an aristh (cadet).
• Caitlys in The Arts of Dark and Light. She is the granddaughter of a king, rather than daughter, and so not in the immediate line of succession, but still a princess — and while not professional military either, she is a trained reserve officer pilot who can fight if she has to, whether with weapons or magic.
• Quite normal in the setting of the Barsoom novels, although there are also many (villainous) rulers who are dirty cowards instead. The ultimate example is of course John Carter, the Warlord of Mars, which title means basically "biggest badass on the planet."
• The hero of Battleblade Warrior is the Prince of Vymorna, a kingdom at war with a hostile race of Lizard Folk, who goes on a lengthy quest to save his kingdom, fighting hordes and hordes of evil lizard men, traversing a swamp loaded with monsters, defeating an undead warrior-king and finally summoning The Armiesof Heaven to wipe out the lizard men army.
• Numerous examples in the work of David and Leigh Eddings. The Belgariad features Kings Anheg of Cherek, Korodullin of Arendia, Cho-Hag of Algaria, Taur Urgas of Cthol Murgos, and later King Belgarion of Riva and Zakath, Emperor of Boundless Mallorea. At one point, Garion rides up and down between two armies, using his magic to scare the frack out of both of them and getting the leaders to call the fight off. Okay, his use of weather magics almost caused another ice age, but still.
• The Belisarius Series had tons of these. There's Rana Sanga, Eon, Rao and Shakuntula, several of the Persians, and so on.
• The Bible:
  • King David. True, he's an inversion of this trope as he killed 200 Philistines to obtain his Awesome Moment of Crowning and become King Saul's son-in-law, having been born a common shepherd. Regardless, he continued to serve as a soldier even after becoming a prince.
  • And then there's Jesus — Prince of Peace, Savior of the World, and slayer of armies in a single sword swipe. What? He's the Son of God!
• Black Crown: King Valerius Milvian in 'Black Crown' commands troops and fights on the battlefield. The Lords are shown to be able to hold their own in 'Schism' as well.
• This is largely why Mark becomes Prince Consort of Tasavalta at the end of the Books of Swords. Originally, he and Princess Kristin were forbidden from marrying by the nobles and the court because Mark was a commoner. Then it was revealed that Mark was a son of the Emperor, so they decided it was okay after all. Except that the Emperor in these books is not actually the ruler of any country, and was widely believed to be nothing more than a wandering clown; the very term "children of the Emperor" usually referred to paupers, fools, and orphans. On top of that, Mark was a bastard son of the Emperor in any case. What really happened was that the Tasavaltan army decided that they wanted a real warrior on the throne.
• In The Bridge Kingdom Archives the 12 daughters of king Silas of Maridrina have been trained to be warriors and assassins, and they are very good at what they do. Princess Ahnna of Ithicana is also a warrior, mostly because their country is always in danger and everyone fights.
• The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian in, well, Prince Caspian. He leads his motley rebellion on the battlefield, although he's not much older than the "heroes of old" who have come to assist him.
• Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain:
  • Gwydion, Prince of Don in Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain novels, who is also The Wise Prince and a Supporting Leader. Justified, as he's "the prince" because he's the High King's war leader. The books also have Fflewddur Fflam, Warrior Poet king.
  • The final book in the series gives us an inversion in the case of Taran. He becomes a great warrior who lead an army of his own, and afterwards was named the next High King of Prydain.
• Each and every Princeps of Alera in Codex Alera. The children of the other High Lords also qualify to a degree; notably Crassus and Maximus, who are respectively Lord Antillus's heir and his illegitimate son and both of whom hold critical positions in the military. It helps that all of the High Blood are ludicrously powerful furycrafters. And extra special points to Gaius Octavian, a badass with or without any furycrafting abilities at all and the sort of commander who, to quote Fidelias, men would follow into a leviathan's gullet. Octavian even kills the Vord Queen personally at the climax of the battle with the Vord. If that doesn't qualify him for this trope, nothing will.
• A Court of Thorns and Roses:
  • Tamlin far preferred studying war and training with swords to learning to rule a court, so he struggles a lot with the position forced on him.
  • Rhysand was trained in war by his mother's Illyrian people, and actually fought in the Great War over 500 years ago.
• His Royal Highness Prince Nigel Cluim Gwydion Rhys Haldane, Prince Regent and Duke of Carthmoor, as depicted in the Deryni works. The "Iron Duke" is a skilled military tactician and a natural-born leader who inspires confidence and respect in his soldiers as well as in the pages and squires he trains at the Haldane Court. He was part of the expedition against the Marluk (a Festillic Pretender to the throne of Gwynedd) as well as the campaign against Wencit of Torenth in High Deryni. Nigel also functions much as an American Vice President, presiding over Gwynedd's court when Kelson is dealing with Mearan rebels, travelling on his quest for Saint Camber's relics, and when he attends Liam-Lajos' enthronement in King Kelson's Bride.
• Carrot Ironfoundersson, the last remaining descendant of the kings of Ankh in Discworld, who instead of claiming his right to rule (Lord Vetinari already does a very good job at that, and many, including possibly Carrot, have an issue with him having a 'right' to rule in the first place), prefers to remain in his position as Captain of the City Watch.
• Gilthanas in the Dragonlance Chronicles. His younger sister Laurana is also a Pretty Princess Powerhouse. Laurana earns her title of the Golden General by kicking draconian butt and capturing or killing their officers and then proves to be a brilliant commander who leads the Whitestone Army to repeated victories over the Dragonarmies.
• Dune. The prequel novels add even more. Paul's grandfather Paulus personally led troops in battle on Ecaz, along with his friend Dominic Vernius, Earl of Ix. This dates back to Xavier Harkonnen during the Butlerian Jihad who comes from a noble house.
• Aileron, the elder prince in Guy Gavriel Kay's The Fionavar Tapestry, contrasting with his younger brother Diarmuid who is more of a dandy, albeit a cool one.
  • Well they're both warriors, Diarmuid even fighting the champion of the Big Bad (he loses, but puts up a good fight). The difference is that Aileron is a soldier.
• It's quite normal in Forgotten Realms, but Cormyr has a Warrior Princess — Alusair, who loved to go kicking asses and scoring cool guys adventuring whenever possible, even if her family wasn't too happy about this. Usually taking some elite troops for good company, but why not...
• Grïgnyr of Ecordia: A Retelling of The Eye of Argon: Carthena, a skilled warrior woman, turns out to also be a princess.
• Grent's Fall: Osbert's goal for his sons, while Osbert himself is definitely a warrior king.
• Crown Prince Janaki chan Calirath is fulfilling the tradition of his family by learning what it's like to be a soldier, and ends up organizing a successful defense against enemy attack, even knowing (thanks to precognitive abilities) that doing so means he will die.
• All over the place for the Honor Harrington series, beginning with the crown Prince of Manticore who was a naval officer, to Honor herself, as Steadholders are heads of state. Abigail Hearns, who goes into service in the Royal Manticoran Navy, is the daughter of a Steadholder, and thus technically a princess. Queen Berry Zilwicki's sister Helen is also a naval officer. The Imperial Andermani Navy is commanded by the Emperor's first cousin as well.
• In Laurels and Gold, a short story by Anastasia Kharlamova, Meredith's brother King Anatole is weak-willed and sickly, so it's Meredith who personally leads the royal troops and crushes a nation-wide rebellion. The ending reveals that a) Meredith is a she, b) she may or may not have made some strategic mistakes on purpose to ensure her brother got killed by the rebels before she defeated them.
• Wirr ofThe Licanius Trilogy is unafraid to get his hands dirty, both when he is travelling incognito and when he eventually leads the armed forces of Andarra in the conflict against Desriel.
• The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess: Princess Anisphia Wynn Palettia learned the fundamentals of combat from the royal knights, and continued to refine her own form in actual battle and with the use of various magical tools to compensate for her being a Muggle Born of Mages. She holds high rank in the Adventurer's Guild and when surrounded on all sides by monsters, a younger adventurer is stopped from interfering because he'd only get in her way. A major reason she obtained these skills was so that she could claim the various materials from the monsters adventurers fight for her Magitek research.
• Prince Roger of the March Upcountry series, against the desires of his bodyguards. Very much to their surprise, he's a good one, and towards the end is fighting more to protect them than they him. He is assisted by Rastar Komas Ta'Norton, the alien Prince of lost Therdan, who joins Roger as a mercenary, and Rastar's cousin Honal.
• Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn: Prince Josua is the leader of the armies of the Big Good. He rides into battle with his troops and lays siege to his evil brother’s castle.
• This is to be expected of all the local princesses in "No Need for a Core?" as it is tradition is to train all the royal children to the maximum of their ability, whether in war or magic. Results may vary for princesses of other nations.
• Old Kingdom:
  • Touchstone/Torrigan was, in his time, the illegitimate son of the last queen and a member of the Royal Guard. Also, after "Sabriel" when he becomes king, he is often shown fighting and, in "Goldenhand," leading an army in battle. As a berserker, he can sometimes be an extreme example of the trope.
  • Sameth can also be considered an example of this trope as he is a prince and does battle the Dead multiple times throughout the series.
• Considering that he not only killed a dragon with absolutely no magic and battled several hundred fire-spiders but also later defeated a hoshek before learning how to use his magic, (For reference, the last time someone had become hoshek, they'd basically leveled half the country before finally being taken down), Alaric from The Quest of the Unaligned probably counts. It probably helps that before discovering he was a prince, Alaric had been trained as a member of the First Tonzimmiel Security Force, something in between a policeman and a mercenary.
• The Reynard Cycle: Duke Nobel, who personally leads his men into battle throughout the series. We never see him fight on page, but the fact that he manages to survive the Battle of the Samara implies that he has at least Taken A Few Levels In Badass.
• The Vampire Princes in The Saga of Darren Shan participate in battles. After the war begins in book 7, the only ones of the five Princes who remain in the mountain stronghold instead of leading battles are Darren, a child, and Paris, who is over 800 years old and fading. This is also one of several reasons many vampires opposed the idea of making Kurda a prince — as he says, the princes are usually the biggest, strongest vampires, and though Kurda did prove to be a strong fighter, he wasn't like most vampires who brag about their valor and crave a fight — in fact, he disliked that quality of his people and knew it would bring their downfall.
• the secret lives of Princesses:
  • Princess Hot-Head was wounded in the battle of Atlanta, and is friends with Amazons.
  • Princess Babbling Brooke uses her terrible chattering as a weapon of war.
• Every Prince of Leah in the Shannara series. Ander Elessedil of the Elves combines this with The Wise Prince in Elfstones.
• A Song of Ice and Fire: The series is full of them, both in current events and the backstory.
  • Robb Stark leads the war against the Lannisters from the front.
  • Rhaegar Targaryen pulled double duty as The Wise Prince, though he did so posthumously.
  • Daeron I and Maekar I were both skilled warriors, as were Aegon I and Maegor I, who along with Aegon II had dragons.
  • Robert I led men into battle during the Greyjoy Rebellion and was one of best warrior in the world at the time.
  • Daemon Blackfyre was a royal claimant and possibly the best warrior of all time.
  • Although not strictly royalty Jaime Lannister is the heir to one of the leading families in the kingdom and the greatest warrior in the world.
  • Maegor and Maekar established great reputations while they were still princes.
  • Maekar's older brother Baelor was even better but died before becoming king.
  • Aegon II's younger brother Aemond and uncle Daemon were never in line to inherit to inherit and fought heroically in the Dance of Dragons.
  • Stannis Baratheon is a master tactician and possessed of incredible fortitude and willpower.
  • Lewyn and Oberyn Martell, although only Princes in the sake of being brothers to a non-independent ruler whose title is traditionally that of Prince, are still referred to by the title and are both quite lethal.
• The Stormlight Archive: Since the Alethi are a Proud Warrior Race, the vast majority of their upper class are powerful fighters. Most of the highprinces are Frontline Generals, as are their sons. Dalinar Kholin and his son Adolin (but not his son Renarin) are the ones we see in action the most, but Smug Snake Sadeas is one as well. And Dalinar's dead brother Gavilar was a warrior king, considered one of the best duelists in the world.
• Since it's about the War of the Roses, The Sunne in Splendour has several characters who are warrior princes. The protagonist Richard of Gloucester (the future Richard III) is a brilliant warrior who serves his brother, King Edward IV. Edward himself was a warrior prince who seized the throne for himself based on his military prowess. Their enemy, Edouard of Lancaster fancies himself a warrior prince but fails to live up to his own fantasies.
• Everyone in Fiona Patton's Tales of the Branion Realm. Includes women due to unisex titles.
• Tolkien's Legendarium: Middle-Earth is full of these guys of all three major Free Peoples.
  • In The Silmarillion nearly the entire House of Finwë is composed of Elven Warrior Princes. Finrod Felagund fits the type perfectly, being a Reasonable Authority Figure who goes out with a Heroic Sacrifice, killing a Savage Wolf with his bare hands. Fëanor & Sons... are much less reasonable, but no less Warrior Princes. Eärendil, the closest the House of Finwë has to half-elven royalty, is no slouch, having slain the greatest winged dragon single-handedly while piloting his flying ship.
  • The Lord of the Rings is certainly not missing this trope either, with Aragorn the Heir of Isildur, Boromir and Faramir (who are practically royalty), and the royal house of Rohan. Legolas is also a prince, the son of King Thranduil of Mirkwood. Even Pippin and Merry might count: Pippin's the heir to the Took, who's the closest thing the Shire has to a head of state, and Merry's the heir to the Master of Buckland, another prestigious title.
  • Dwarves in all three ages often had warrior-kings and warrior-princes. Examples include Azaghâl in The Silmarillion and Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit.
• Tortall Universe: It is expected that the king of Tortal becomes a warrior by training to become a knight. After Jonathan becomes a knight, he goes to war in "In the Hand of the Goddess."
• Villains by Necessity: Fenwick, one of the heroes, is a proud knightly prince and a champion for the forces of light.
• Vorkosigan Saga:
  • Emperor Gregor in The Vor Game is this Played for Laughs. He runs away from his duties as The Emperor, and gets involved in a local power struggle. He is, for the most part, a Sheltered Aristocrat, but because of his experience in Barrayar's Decadent Court, he actually does perform rather well. He is not cowardly at least and he does manage to outwit a local mercenary's scheme.
  • Aral and Miles are closer in some ways, Aral having the "traditional" warrior prince personality while Miles seems to fit a bit awkwardly even though he is very effective. Both of these however aren't close enough to the throne to exactly be called princes though they have a somewhat close relation^note Aral being a great-nephew of a previous Emperor, Ezar Vorbarra and come from the highest non-royal category of the Vor caste.
• Gawain and Galad from The Wheel of Time, though neither ends up fighting for their country in the end.
  • Rand might also count, being the son of Queen Tigraine and half brother of Galad. His skills as a warrior are certainly impressive at least, as he personally slays at least one Forsaken in combat.
• Wonder Woman: Warbringer: Diana is, per usual, a princess and a trained Amazon warrior who fights to protect others.