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Living In Cinderella’s Shadow: The 5 Best Live-Action Princesses

Daenerys Targaryen

2) Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones – I struggled trying to arrange the last two princesses on this list.  On the one hand, Daenerys’ story is far from concluded (even in the books), so there’s no real indication of what else she’ll get up to before she’s written out of the picture.  On the other hand, her chief rival on this list has largely been augmented by ancillary materials over a number of decades, so separating her on-screen character from what augmentative novels have turned her into is an incredible ordeal in of itself.  Having to settle on only single winner, however, I ultimately had to side against the Mother of Dragons.

I can think of few female characters, royalty or otherwise, who possess greater agency within their own narratives than Daenerys of House Targaryen.  Although she starts off as little more than a pawn to be used by her brother, Targaryen loyalists and Dothraki horse lords, she ultimately sets out on the path that she foresees best benefitting herself and her fallen household.  She refused to be relegated to the ceremonial life of a widowed crone in Vaes Dothrak, avenged her murdered husband, revived the extinct draconic species and leads her shattered Khalasar through the desert when her advisors called it suicide.  She waged a moralistic war against slavery in the far East, eventually resulting in the conquest Meereen, which she successfully held it off against invading and insurgent forces.

Although her record in battle is pristine, Daenerys herself is far from a flawless.  Although her decision to plant herself in Meereen to gain a greater understanding for the duties of a Queen were well-founded and far-seeing, the logistics of doing so proved to be an absolute nightmare for her fledgling forces.  And while her war against slavery certainly holds the moral high ground, it brought down greater wrath upon her than she could realistically hold off.  The key, though, as is always the case, is that she chose the direction of her narrative herself, with realistic skill and intelligence becoming of her background and character.

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