When we think of the beautiful and gorgeous princesses on the silver screen, we can’t help but think of the legendary characters created by Disney/Pixar. From Snow White to Elsa, all the beautiful, charming, strong and empowered princesses seem to belong to Disney. However, there are many other animated movies with plots revolving around princesses, or have a princess playing a pivotal role in the story. So, let us take a look at 10 Non-Disney Animated Princesses who are Just as Awesome.

10 Non-Disney Princesses in American/European Films

1. Fiona

Dreamworks’ Shrek series is one of the most popular modern-day fairy-tales with a twist, where the forever-ever-after kind of love touches the hearts of two beings who are not conventionally beautiful. Princess of Far Far Away, Fiona Lillian, breathes life into the story as the cursed human who later turns into an ogress, leaving behind her dual life of turning ogress after sunset.

She is like any princess, wishing to be rescued by the prince of her dreams, but she isn’t afraid to throw some kicks and punches herself. Both as a human as an ogress, Fiona is unconventional and mind-blowing.

See also: Robin Williams Movies that Made Our Childhood Special

2. Anastasia

Former Disney animation directors Don Bluth and Gary Goldman directed the Fox Animation Studios produced musical, Anastasia, distributed by 20th Century Fox, with the story based on the urban legend that Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia survived the execution of her family.

In the movie, Anastasia, who goes by Anya, has no memory of her royal connection, and in a quest to find her family, sides with two conmen who note her resemblance to the Duchess. Anya is funny, spunky and bright, with a brutal honesty. She does not behave like royalty, and is not afraid to fight.

3. Thumbelina

Produced by Don Bluth Entertainment, released by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment and distributed by 20th Century Fox, the movie Thumbelina’s titular character is an extremely popular non-Disney princess. Mostly, everything about her is very traditional. She is beautiful, with long, strawberry-blonde hair and blue eyes.

She is sweet and romantic, and despite her tiny, thumb-like size, she has a big heart full of love. Though she isn’t royal by birth, she eventually becomes the princess of the fairies after marrying Cornelius, the prince of the fairies who saves Thumbelina.

4. Odette

The Swan Princess, produced by Nest Family Entertainment and Rich Animation, and distributed by New Line Cinema, is based on the legendary ballet named Swan Lake, and was directed by former Disney animation director, Richard Rich. The golden haired princess, Odette, has the capability to turn into a swan during the day and return to her human form at night.

She is sweet, gentle and kind, and is caring towards her loved ones. She is also quite brave, and is not afraid to speak her mind. Swan Princess is married to Prince Derek who saves her, and has a daughter, Alise whom she adopted.

5. Princess Irene

The European film, The Princess and the Goblin, an adaptation of an 1872 novel, was distributed in America by Hemdale Film Corporation, A. Film A/S and J&M Entertainment, in United Kingdom by Entertainment Film Distributors and in Hungary by Budapest Film. The young Princess Irene is an adorable girl with large eyes and ginger hair.

Irene is very cute, and is kind and caring. She is quite a courageous little girl, and is ready to embark upon adventures, even if it means she has to go alone. Also known to have a vivid imagination. She can go the extra length to save her loved ones.

6. Bala

Bala is the princess of the ant colony in DreamWorks Animation’s Antz. Despite her tiny size, she proves that ants are a people, too, and a very well-organized, self-respecting one. Bala herself is independent minded, and hates to see her colony suffer while being cooped up in the Ant Hill. The blue-eyed beauty is kind and caring, and loves dancing.

She is also strict and stern, and is quite headstrong. Her motto is to protect the ant colony from the General Mandible, her former fiancé, and marry Z. Though she prefers to fight with her fist, a chair is sometimes her weapon, too.

7. Pea

The Tale of Despereaux is a Universal Pictures film based loosely on a fantasy book by the same name. While the story is essentially about the brave mouse Despereaux Tilling, the human Princess Pea is also an important character. Despite her lack of heroic traits or achievements, Pea, the princess of Dor, is still a lovable character.

She is so upset after her mother is literally scared to death by a rat named Roscuro, that she insults Roscuro. She is worried about her grieving father, the king. Pea is kind, and befriends Despereaux. Her heart is big enough for her to later apologises to Roscuro.

8. Selenia

In the French/American movie series Arthur and the Invisibles, Selenia, the princess of the Mnimoys, is one of the pivotal characters of the films. She is 999 Minimoy-years old in the first movie, which is about 10 human years. She has ginger, pixie-cut hair, with bronze-orange eyes to go with it.

Selenia is athletic, and desperate to prove herself worthy of taking the responsibility of the throne when the time comes. She is mostly dressed ruggedly for adventures, but slips into the super-cute dresses. She is not the one to wait around to be saved, and is strong enough to defeat her kidnapper, Maltazard.

9. Princess Yum Yum

British animated film The Thief and the Cobbler has a troubled history of 28 years, and its edited versions are called The Princess and the Cobbler and Arabian Nights. In the film, one of the main characters is Princess Yum Yum in this legendary animated movie.

Yum Yum is the princess of the Golden City. She is outlandishly beautiful, with black hair, dark skin and large eyes, and is dressed in exotic clothes. Also, she is an intelligent, brave and a go-getter. She saves the life of the cobbler, Tack, whom she falls in love with. She is confident, and knows she is cleverer than any man in her town.

10. Melisande

The Flight of the Dragon is an ABC Warner Bros. distributed film, based loosely on a combination of a novel named The Dragon and the George and speculative natural history book bearing the same name as the film. Princess Melisande, daughter of the Green Wizard Carolinus, is sadly a much-forgotten princess, though she has shown traits that should have made her more memorable.

She has a traditional look, with golden hair, blue dreamy eyes, red lips and pale skin. Melisande is extremely courageous, and risks permanent insanity for her loved ones. Plus, she has a pet dragon.

There are several other princesses with memorable personalities, like warrior princess Xeno from Hercules and Xena or Princess Cholena from An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island. If we take into consideration films from around the world, some very remarkable princesses have been portrayed, especially in Japanese movies.

Some of the Japanese princesses are Kaguya, Mononoke, Toyotomi, warrior princess Nausicaa, etc. Even in the Barbie film series, the princesses are shown with a different, Barbie-like twist. Besides, there are numerous other non-Disney women who might not be princesses, but are nothing short of being excellent and unforgettable.

Ask almost any little girl, and she will tell you just how much she admires Disney princesses. The tiaras, beautiful long gowns, high heels, plus the chance to meet prince charming—who isn’t swayed by the princess’s life?
But did you know that most of these princesses have real-life counterparts? And they may not have the ultimate fairytale-like life found in the story you grew up with. If you’re curious whether your favorite Disney princess made it to the list, keep reading. We have curated ten of the darkest real-life counterparts of some of the famous princesses of the Disney world.

10 Cinderella: Rhodopis

The famous Cinderella, who worked as a slave to her stepmom and stepsisters, finally fell in love with her prince charming and became successful in the end. This fairytale sister has always been famous for having a midnight curfew where she magically transforms back into her ragged clothes. Apparently, Cinderella was inspired by Rhodopis, a Greek servant.

Rhodopis married the king of Egypt, and the eagle was the magical animal who helped the king or the Pharaoh search for Rhodopis. The author of this Egyptian “Cinderella” is Strabo, releasing this story in his book, Geography, Book XVII.33.

The main difference between Rhodopis and Cinderella is that she had no evil stepsister- but their similarities include the slipper and the hunt to find the woman it belonged to. The original story tells of an eagle who snatched up Rhodopis’s sandal as she was washing. The bird dropped the sandal into the king’s lap, who became intrigued. While not completely the same, it might have just been enough to inspire the later writers of the Cinderella story we all know—glass slipper and all.^[1]

9 Snow White: Margaretha von Waldeck

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a phenomenal Disney fairytale adaptation of the story by the Grimm Brothers, but the evidence proved that the brothers took inspiration from a real sovereign beauty.

The royal beauty was Margaretha von Waldeck, a German countess born in 1533. She was the second daughter of the Count of Waldeck-Wildungen, Philip IV. Margaret was indeed beautiful, described as having ruby lips and fair skin like Snow White, but with blonde hair.

Like Snow White, she also lost her mother at a young age, and her father married Katharina von Hatzfeld, a vain queen who relished looking at herself in the mirror. Researchers believe that this inspired the “Mirror, Mirror on the wall” saying.

Like the evil stepmother, Katharina also hated Snow White. This led her to send Margaretha away to Brussels when she turned 16. This is also purportedly where the royal beauty met her prince, the future king of Spain, Philip II. The couple fell madly in love, and Margaretha’s fame made Katharina jealous. In 1554, Margaretha became ill and died. There were speculations about Spanish authorities or Katharina poisoning her.

Another similarity is the poisoned apple. This element might have been inspired by the apples given to children by a man as revenge. He hated that his apples were being stolen from his orchard.^[2]

8 Moana: Victoria Kawēkiu Kaʻiulani Lunalilo Kalaninuiahilapalapa Cleghorn

Moana is another famous Disney princess because she’s not your ordinary princess. You won’t see her wearing tiaras, long gowns, and heels. Instead, she takes pride in representing her Polynesian tribe. While there was no direct correlation to link the two, speculations revealed Princess Ka’iulani inspired Moana. She was the daughter of Princess Miriam Likelike and the last heir to the throne of Hawaii as the niece of King Kalākaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani
https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/where-is-moana-from#:~:text=Although%20Moana%20is%20from%20the,Samoa%2C%20Tonga%2C%20and%20Tahiti.
What made Moana similar to Princess Kai’iulani (aside from the Hawaiian setting) is that they are both warriors, and they always fought for justice and the truth. Even before she turned 18, Princess Ka’iulani had to take responsibility because the rivals overturned and destroyed the Hawaiian kingdom.

Princess Kai’iulani was always known for being beloved as she fought for her nation’s rights and justice, which was very much depicted in Moana, further leading people to believe that the film took inspiration from the former Hawaiian princess.^[3]

7 Jasmine: Badroulbadour

Princess Jasmine, the love of Aladdin’s life, took inspiration from Princess Badroulbadour. She was the wife of Aladdin in two historical stories: One Thousand and One Nights and The Story of Aladdin or The Wonderful Lamp.

In these original tales, Princess Badroulbadour was a Far Eastern princess, unlike Jasmine, an Arabic princess. Badroulbadour is an Arabic word meaning full moons within full moons

One of the simplest reasons why Disney changed Badroulbaour to Jasmine is because it’s easier to pronounce and spell!^[4]

6 Rapunzel: Saint Barbara

Rapunzel is another masterpiece story from the Grimm Brothers—and who could ever forget this Disney princess? Did you know that there was indeed someone who experienced being locked away? She is St. Barbara, the woman behind Rapunzel.

St. Barabara lived during the 3rd century. She was a holy virgin, and many desired to visit her in her tall tower, asking for marriage. Barbara did not entertain any man and dedicated her life to God. Barbara created a window in her tower for the Blessed Trinity, and her father drew his sword upon learning about this. Barbara prayed to God, and fortunately, a hole opened in the tower for her to escape.

Not long after, she was discovered and beheaded by her father. Shortly later, Barbara’s father died after getting hit by lightning, a grim departure from the beloved Disney adaption.^[5]

5 Belle: Catherine Gonsalvus

Beauty and the Beast, created by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve in 1740, is based on real-life historical events without magical spells and talking cups and pots. Belle was based on Catherine Gonsalvus, the daughter of a court servant. Catherine met her beast, Petrus Gonsalvus, through Catherine de Medici. Petrus had rare hypertrichosis, commonly known as the werewolf syndrome.

Because of his genetic condition, he was criticized and treated as a spectacle and was sent as a gift to Henry II. Petrus met his Catherine only on their wedding day. The couple had seven children, four of which developed the same genetic condition.^[6]

7 Merida: Flora Macdonald

Princess Merida is another unique Disney princess. In fact, the film Brave took inspiration from several true events and details of Scottish history.

During the 12th century in Scotland, princesses wore thick cloaks and robes, quite similar to what Princess Merida wore during battles and special occasions in the film. Furthermore, Princess Merida resembled Flora Macdonald, an activist and royal princess.

Flora Macdonald assisted in the escape of Bonnie Prince Prince Charlie, preventing her capture during the Battle of Culloden. She also got herself involved during the American Revolution. In 1774, Flora and Allan Macdonald, her husband, moved to North Carolina and ran a plantation.

Flora Macdonald was very vocal about her advocacies for the Scots. She exudes bravery and loyalty, earning the Scots’ trust.^[7]

3 Tiana: Leah Chase

Disney did not disappoint when it took inspiration from Leah Chase in creating Tiana from The Princess and the Frog. Leah Chase was born in 1923, and she was one of the most legendary chefs from New Orleans.

Leah Chase owned a famous restaurant right in the heart of New Orleans called Dooky Chase. Before she became a renowned chef, Leah Chase’s first job was as a waitress. When she met her husband, Dooky, things changed for her. Leah transformed her parents’ small sandwich shop into a famous restaurant. When asked how she did it, she always said it was because it was her passion. When doing what you love, it’s easy to make something big of it and succeed.

So when Disney had to look for inspiration for African-American Princess Tiana, Leah Chase quickly came to mind.^[8]

2 Pocahontas: Pocahontas

The film Pocahontas may have been a family favorite, but its real meaning holds so much tragedy. The real Pocahontas had two names: Amonute and Matoaka. When joined together, the names meant “flower between two streams.” It’s saddening to discover that the real-life Pocahontas suffered much—the complete opposite of Disney’s Pocahontas.

John Smith from the film was also different from the man in the actual events. He was 27 years old and was always feared by young children like Pocahontas. John enjoyed violently entering tribal lands with a gun and stealing supplies and food. She was never romantically involved with Smith, but she may have communicated with him. For some reason, the very young Pocahontas was used as a go-between for her tribe and the English.

The 1600s were the darkest points for Pocahontas. Pocahontas, the chief’s daughter, was kidnapped and used as a bargaining chip for food the English needed so much to survive. She was converted to Christianity during her captivity—she denounced her people and their “idolatry.” Her name was changed to Rebecca. There, she met and married John Rolfe, later having a son Thomas before they traveled to England. Unfortunately, she fell ill in London and died there. Definitely a far cry from the Disney princess who spoke to trees and sang about the riverbend.^[9]

1 Mulan: Hua Mulan

The famous Mulan took inspiration from Hua Mulan, a brave female soldier who lived between AD 420 and AD 589 in the Northern and Southern dynasties. Everything is almost the same, especially since the original story revolves around Mulan dressing as a man to join the army. The story dates from a 12th-century poem that is likely based on folk tales from the fourth and fifth centuries.

In the film, Mulan disguised herself as a male warrior to prevent her sickly father from joining the battle, and she could never be discovered because death was the ultimate punishment for this action. The original mentions no old or sick father, only that there are no sons.

After the victory, Mulan did not want any reward except a return to her family. When she finally dressed back as a woman, her companions in the army were shocked. The final lines of the poem nicely explain this sentiment:

The male hare wildly kicks its feet;
The female hare has shifty eyes,
But when a pair of hares run side by side,
Who can distinguish whether I in fact am male or female?^[10]

Have you ever heard about the first African-American princess, Tiana? She was the only princess of Disney with dimples, or Mulan. The famous princess based on an ancient Chinese legend of Hua Mulan. She was a female warrior, famously described in the poem, “The Ballad of Mulan”. The stories of most of the bravest women from history or mythology have been adapted in the comic’s universe, to tell those sagas in a colorful way to the children, or even to the adult readers. Even the gaming industry adopted some of the famous female characters with historical importance. These tales are about the historical significance of those princesses in colored comics’ pages; princesses who are attached mythically, historically or socially with real life scenarios, but, long forgotten. Here is the list of Top 10 Forgotten Princesses adapted in comics.

10. Corn Maiden

Corn Maiden, also called Corn Mother, is a mythological figure believed to be responsible for the origin of corn or maize among indigenous agricultural tribes in North America. Local legend tells about the overflowing corn storehouse when she was around. In the Arapaho tradition, to get rid of her, they tied her up and drowned her in the river, while, in the Zuni’s culture, she was frightened by the erotic gyrations of the male dancers. In the Tepecano version of this tale, when she spends her first night after marriage in a private room in her husband’s family house, it’s full of corn in the morning. According to other local legends, she was supposed to secretly produce grains of corn by rubbing her body, or by literally popping corns out and filling bucket after bucket.

9. Shajar Al-Durr

Shajar al-Durr, meaning Tree of Pearls. Actually played a crucial role after Sultan As-Salih Ayyub’s death during the Seventh Crusade against Egypt where the Battle of Fariskur took place and King Louis IX was captured. Shajar, described by historians as a beauty with the brain, started her life as a Turkish servant, purchased for the Sultan of Egypt. While being in a relationship with Aybak, Shajar al-Durr firmly established the Mamluk dynasty.

After she fought and captured King Louis IX, Shajar al-Durr negotiated a treaty to return the captured king to his country for ransom amount of 400,000 in the currency used in France during the middle age which was roughly about 30% of France’s total annual revenue. She was later caught in the act of killing Aybek and imprisoned by Aybek’s first wife who executed her by beating to death by servants with wooden clogs, and later her naked corpse was dumped over the wall of the city.

8. Pasiphaë

According to Greek mythology, Pasiphaë was the Greek queen and the daughter of Helios, the Sun. She married King Minos of Crete and was known for giving birth to Asterion aka Ruler of the Stars, also called the Minotaur by the Greeks. She was famous for having irresistible sexual drive towards a bull that Poseidon gave to King Minos. King Minos, also ironically the son of Zeus, took the form of a bull and mated with his mother Europa. Being a Bull Goddess, when Pasiphaë got to know that her husband was cheating on her, she made a charm such that if he slept with anyone he would ejaculate serpents and insects. But, Procris, the daughter of the ruler of Athens, laid with Minos with a protective herb.

7. Nzinga

Queen Anna Nzinga was a 17th-century queen of the Ndongo and Matamba Kingdoms of the Mbundu people in Angola. Being the daughter of King Kiluanji, she was named Njinga, derived from the Kimbundu verb, Kujinga, which means, to twist or turn, because her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. When her brother was captured by Portuguese, she visited and demanded her brother’s return with a promise to leave Ndongo. At their meeting, the Portuguese offered her no chair but a floor mat to sit on, as a sign of disrespect.

In response, Nzinga ordered for one of her servants and sat on the servant as a chair. After she moved south, she started a new country by conquering the cannibal tribe known as the Jaga. According to local legend, Nzinga obtained a large group of 60 male harems at her disposal. Her men fought to death in order to spend the night with her, while, after a single night, they were put to death. It is also said that Nzinga made her male servants dress as women.

6. Hatshepsut

Hatshepsut, which means, The Foremost of Noble Ladies, was the fifth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt, whose mother gave birth to her in a lion’s den. She was one of the greatest pharaohs from Egypt, besides King Tut or Nefertiti. The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art has an entire room devoted to her. Fifteen hundred years before the birth of Jesus, she ruled her land for twenty-two years. She ruled Egypt wearing men’s clothing, including the pharaoh’s false beard. According to Egyptologist James Henry Breasted, she is the first great woman in history of whom we are informed. She constructed the Temple of Karnak and restored the original Precinct of Mut. Nine golden cartouches bearing the names of both Hatshepsut and Thutmose III were found in Karnak.

5. Wu Zelian

Wu Zelian, also known as Wu Zhao; China’s only female emperor in more than 4,000 years of ancient history who lived during the Tang dynasty. Wu was married to the Emperor Taizong and after his death, she married his successor and ninth son, Emperor Gaozong. After Gaozong’s died due to cardiac disease in 690, she ruled China until 705 AD. She had an enormous network of her secret police intelligence posted all over China and also famous for her “human pig” torture where all limbs and tongue were removed. Besides marrying twice, she also carried on an affair with a Buddhist monk, Huaiyi, in around 685. Her period of political and military leadership includes the major expansion of the Chinese empire beyond its previous territory, deep into Central Asia, and the upper Korean Peninsula.

4. Khutulun

Khutulun was the most famous daughter of Kaidu, the most powerful ruler of Central Asia, and the niece of Kublai Khan. Her name was founded in Marco Polo’s and Rashid al-Din’s writings. According to Marco Polo, Khutulun was described as being a superb warrior who fought beside her father in many battles.

When Emperor Kaidu desperately wanted to see his daughter, Khutulun’s marriage, she refused to do so unless she got the appropriate man who could defeat her in wrestling. With the consent from his father, she set up an offer for all the men in the dynasty to beat her in wrestling and marry her. But, the condition on the other side was, if someone lost the battle with her, he should present her 100 horses. But, no one was able to beat her, and she gain 10,000 horses. Khutulun is considered one of the last great nomadic warrior princesses.

3. La Maupin

Julie d’Aubigny, better known as Mademoiselle Maupin or La Maupin, born in 1673, was an amazing swordswoman and opera singer from 17th-century. She used to dress as a man from her early ages while learning dancing and fencing. This bisexual celebrity attended a royal ball while dressed as a man, thrown either by Louis XIV or his brother. She was famous for her Opera voice and debuted as Pallas Athena in Cadmus et Hermione by Jean-Baptiste Lully. But, when she kissed a young woman at a society ball and was challenged to duels by three different noblemen, she had to interrupt her career and leave Paris. Théophile Gautier in his novel Mademoiselle de Maupin (1835) based the title character, Madeleine de Maupin, on her.

2. Mai Bhago

She was taken from the real historical character, Mai Bhago, whose name, after converting to Khalsa, was Mai Bhag Kaur as Kaur was a surname all female Khalsas took. This 18th century Sikh warrior-saint was the only survivor of the Battle of Khidrana to save Gobind Singh Ji, who founded the Khalsa. Mai Bhago was born at her ancestral village of Jhabal Kalan, presently Amritsar. She was a Sikh by birth and later married to Nidhan Singh Waraich. At that time, India was ruled by the Mughals and Aurangzeb was the emperor when he sent imperial army in pursuit of Guru Gobind Singh. Mai Bhago stopped and challenged them near the pool of Khidrana with her forty Sikh warriors who attained martyrdom in this battle. Guru Gobind Singh Ji took Mai Bhago into his care and later, she was known for being one of his bodyguards, in male attire.

1. Noor Inayat Khan

Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan was an Allied Special Operation agent during the Second World War, and was later awarded the George Cross, the highest civilian award of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth nations. Belonging to an Indian origin, she was born in Moscow and began working as the only radio operator in occupied Paris. Where the average life span of that job was around a month due to heavy World War II chaos and continuous Nazi attack, she, with her amazing skills and bravery, lasted for almost 5 months. Her father, Hazrat Inayat Khan, was a noble Muslim Sufi who was a personal friend of Mahatma Gandhi. She was also the 2nd Class Aircraftwoman in Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. She was eventually caught, when a double agent betrayed her to the Nazis, and was moved to the Dachau Concentration Camp and shot dead.

There are many more females throughout the history and mythology whose tales deserve to get adapted in recent movies or comics. We always hope to see them in those mediums so that we can know about their significance in our history. Local legends are always fascinating and sometimes, more thrilling than fairy tales, and they also consist of many female characters who were brave, beautiful and absolute worthy to become the central characters of any productive media. With this dream, we end this list here and take a bow to all those brave warrior-princesses who were famous in their own ways.

Here are some other related lists, you may also like; Top 10 Iranian Queens in History, Top 10 Legendary Worriers in History, Top 10 Less-Known Folklore Creatures.