The List

7 Badass Warrior Princesses

Not every royal heir is cut out for a luxury life of eating bonbons, attending parties, and breaking the royal bank. Some take arms, either because their country is war-torn or they're too bored to laze about the castle. This week's list counts down seven princesses who work as their own knights in shining armor.

7. Princess Hakuei Ren (Magi) Hakuei has an impressive list of feats under her belt. She leads her own corp in the Kou Empire's army, wields a scantily-clad wind djinn named Paimon. The djinn resides inside of Hakuei's fan-like weapon, giving her the ability to summon tornadoes. She's able to use this ability to fend off attacking armies of archers and defend her kingdom.

6. Leina Vance (Queen's Blade) At the beginning of the story, Leina is a soon-to-be countess, technically not a princess. She enters the bloodsport Queen's Blade to throw her sword into the ring for a chance to be the next, well, Queen. She's determined to make her name known despite her family's best efforts to reign her in. Her armor has magical properties against attacks (including breast milk?) and her sword attacks make quick work of her opponents.

5. Princess May Chang (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood) Pint-sized May is a sweet-natured girl hunting down the key of immortality for her father. She joins with Edward on this pursuit and proves herself an asset to both of their goals. May has unlimited creativity that allows her to think outside of the box to solve the group's problems. She's also highly skilled in martial arts, taking down multiple enemies at time when attacked.

4. Princess Cornelia (Code Geass) Lelouch's half-sister Cornelia knows her way around a Knightmare Frame. She leads the Imperial Army as Chief General and employs superior tactics, even managing to corner Zero (kinda) during her quest to avenge her siblings.

3. Princess Sapphire (Princess Knight) Princess Sapphire is credited as the original genderbending female and an inspiration to early shojo manga artists. Raised as a boy, Sapphire has everyone believe she's actually a prince and also takes the time to wear female disguise and a crimefighter disguise at night. Sapphire helped set the stage for warrior princesses everywhere to take up the sword.

2. Princess Serenity (Sailor Moon) The best example of a princess fighting for love and justice could be none other than Princess Serenity. With the support of her allies, she defeats Chaos itself and its many incarnations. She continues to fight when her friends and lover are mind controlled or die, and saves the Earth no less than five times from an evil queen, time travelers, extra-dimensional entities, and far-off aliens.

1. Nausicaa (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind) The peace-loving Nausicaa has the #1 spot in spades. Unsatisfied by humanity's choice to give into fear of what they don't understand, she puts her life at risk to preserve nature. Even the Ohmu insect creatures, which are low on the cute and cuddly scale. When some jerks do in her dying father, she shows her fighting prowess by taking out his murderers singlehandedly. She also flies a glider and relies on knowledge of science instead of greed to decide what is best.

The new poll: If a mecha pilot is going to succeed, what trait is most important?





The old poll: The last poll asked whether Disney robbed Tezuka's Jungle Emperor Leo or if the accusation was unjustified. The result was ridiculously close, but more fans agreed that Disney needs to own up to their Tezuka inspiration!

1. Kimba: 51.1%
2. Simba: 48.9%