Nintendo games are filled with royals and, for the most part, they are significantly less controversial than any real-world monarchs. You won't catch HRH Princess Zelda yawning during a Hylian military parade, or King Boo claiming he's physically incapable of perspiring (although that might make sense in his case).
Nintendo Land tabloids seem to be a great deal more respectful and courteous, too, compared to paparazzi hiding in bushes with six-foot lenses to catch how many sugars Lady Patricia Bourgetout Heffington-Heffington takes in her Darjeeling.
With so much royalty to choose from across the Mushroom Kingdom, Hyrule, and beyond, we thought it the perfect time to round up just some of our favourite sovereigns from Nintendo games. Here you'll find some big cheeses mixing with lesser royals from realms throughout the Nintenoverse.
It's far from a comprehensive list (we could have turned this into Smash and filled the entire thing with lord and ladies from the Fire Emblem series), but you're sure to find a selection of video gaming's finest blue-bloods below. There's a poll at the end, too, so let us know your personal pick.
So, on this day, for no particular reason, and in no particular order, let's remind ourselves of 24 rulers that really rule...
King Boo
King Boo, the monarch of all things Boo in the Mario world. Making his debut in Luigi's Mansion and sporting a rather stylish jewelled crown (toned down a bit more for his Super Mario appearances), King Boo is a rather mischievous monarch who loves lavish decor and paintings. But despite his distaste for the green brother, he always makes time for a spot of golf, kart racing, and baseball. Watch out for that sneaky little laugh, as if you hear it, you could be in trouble.
Queen Ambi
What do you mean Queen Ambi (the resident ruler from Oracle of Ages / Seasons) wasn't the first royal to pop into your mind when you thought of The Legend of Zelda series?? Surely she tops any 'Zelda royalty' list, right?
Well... no. This queen might spend a little more time under the possession of Veran than we would have liked, but hey, at least she dedicates some pretty statues to Link at the end of the day.
Bowser, King of the Koopas
We're not sure exactly how blue Bowser's blood is. He may well have assembled a bunch of random Koopas and declared himself the ruler. Hey, that's how all dynasties start out, right?
Regardless of the legitimacy of the Koopa King's claim to the throne, we can't help but like him. He's a caring father and a devoted nemesis, and you can't call him a quitter, even when he probably should call it quits on kidnapping princesses.
Parasite Queen
When it comes to gender equality among the royals in games, it's undeniably lop-sided in the favour of male monarchs, unfortunately, and it's 50/50 whether those that do appear are evil or somehow insectoid. This queen certainly has the latter covered, and the jury's out on the former. Being experimented on by Space Pirates is going to put anyone in a bad mood, as is having all your subjects blasted by a bounty hunter.
Impressive, nonetheless.
King Dedede
We're pretty sure King Dedede, the self-proclaimed ruler of Dream Land, is supposed to be intimidating, but he's actually pretty cute. Kirby's "frenemy" might be beloved by fans, but he's lazy, selfish, and a little bit greedy, jealous of Kirby's powers and strength. Yet despite this, the two have worked together many a time. You'll never spot Dedede without his trusty hammer, and he makes for a pretty tough opponent in Smash Bros., too
Princess Peach
Princess Toadstool first appeared in Super Mario Bros. and has been enchanting us ever since with her easy charm and disarming benevolence. She's gotten more involved with her subjects over the years, rolling her sleeves up and charging about the kingdom, usually with a couple of plumbers not far behind. She keeps a tidy castle, too, although there are valid questions to be answered about lax security measures at her various palatial properties. Toads are adorable and all, but after this many kidnappings, surely it's time to get some Secret Service protection.
King Bob-omb
Introduced to us mere subjects in Super Mario 64, King Bob-omb is a big ol' Bob-omb who surveys the first world in the game, Bob-omb Battlefield, from the top of his polygonal mountain.
His massive moustache has gotten lusher and less pointy over the years, but as the reigning monarch of one of Mario's most beloved World 1-1s, the bomb king demands respect. A neat cameo in the Super Mario Bros. Movie highlights the populace's high regard for him.
Princess Zelda
Ahh, there she is. Princess Zelda is either the ruler of Hyrule or next in line to its throne depending on which game you play *shakes fist at the Zelda timeline*, but she has to be one of Nintendo's most iconic royals. Our fingers are still crossed that this people's princess will be playable in Tears of the Kingdom, even if it is looking less likely by the day...
King K. Rool
Everybody loves an underdog story, and the tale of a young pirate croc from a Kremling Galleon working his way up to become a monarch is quite something. Sure, repeatedly kidnapping members of the Kong family all in an attempt to lay his hands on a big pile of bananas might seem like a step too far, but you can certainly say that he's, erm, driven... we guess...
Whether you know him from Donkey Kong or from Smash, K. Rool's methods certainly R'nt Kool.
Princess Daisy
Peach's sassy, tomboy-ish counterpart has one of the most dedicated fanbases across the Mario series, and rightly so. Daisy, the princess of Sarasaland, might not have made many mainline appearances outside of her debut in Super Mario Land, but whether it be on the tennis courts, the golf fairway, or on the party board, her exuberant personality has made her a hit with many. We adore Princess Daisy (as does the lovely ONM veteran, VGC features editor, and NL contributor Chris Scullion, we understand — huge Daisy fan), and we wish she'd get some more time in the spotlight outside of the sports spin-offs.
Ganondorf/Ganon, King of the Gerudo/King of Thieves/King of Evil/Demon King/Prince of Darkness/King of Darkness
Having the internet thirsting over you is hardly a prerequisite for being a king, but in the case of Ganondorf, it certainly hasn't hurt his image as of late. Just look at all of those different things that the Zelda antagonist is 'King' of! The man has as many titles as he does abs...
Comments (81)
Prince Poo tee hee
Hold on what about the Great and Mighty Poo...he sings songs!
You wrote a coronation day article w/o using the word coronation, nice.👍
King Dedede is the wun true king for me.
Edelgard for me
Melia by a long shot. If I were cheating I'd probably pick a certain Welsh lady instead.
For me, it’s Rosalina, she holds a special place in my heart, Mario galaxy being one of my first 3d platformers, and is still my favorite to this day!
My choice.

MAX BRASS
King boo for me!
And I hate that Ruto princess dungeon...
Princess Peach for me. Not Princess Zelda. I only love so much Majora's mask that style of Zelda but it was very hard for me. I can not play every Zelda game. I am not good in. That is why Princess Peach. Skyward sword and Breath of the wild was easy. I think Tears of the kingdom is very hard the puzzles. I have not play it but I have little seen it. I do not know if I can beat it.
The guillotine. Next.
Zelda has always been my favourite Nintendo Royal.
Well it's obviously N. How could you guys forget him?! For shame!
Empress Bulblax : PIKMIN 2
Elvis from Animal Crossing New Horizons is my favourite king:
As much as I love Princess Zelda in a couple of the games, in most of them she has little to no personality (or presence). I went with Bowser
Is King K. Rool actually a real royal? Since he has definitely some sort of split personality disorder, it might be possibly that he just made his royalty up like everything else.
I voted K Rool, for being not just a king, but a pirate and mad scientist respectively.
Curse this royalist propaganda! (Half joking.)
That said how can you forget about everyone's favourite catgirl?
@RareFan He lords over a seemingly endless horde of minions, I'd say that counts for something in terms of his royal credentials.
Melia Antiqua
@RareFan
despots, including absolute monarchs, often give themselves military and aristocratic titles that they haven't really earned or inherited, in this case the ranks of Kaptain and Baron.
Where's Melia from Xenoblade?
Melia was the first that came to mind.
My favorites are:
Princess Rosalina
Princess Mipha
Princess Lucina
King of Red Lions for me. And his actual kingly form
Removed - unconstructive feedback
...Melia? Nia? Or even Morag while we're at it?
Seriously, that's two NL tops ignoring Xenoblade in a short while.😒 At least there's Fire Emblem although my top fave royal among its royalty so far is Celica.
Parasite Queen is such an apt name.
King K. Rool is one of my favorite Nintendo villains as well as Nintendo kings. He’s a cruel croc who’s out to starve the Kongs of their bananas and dresses up in alter egos. His comeback in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was just brilliant. Now I’m still waiting and hoping for his triumphant return to the Donkey Kong series!
When it comes to Nintendo princesses, I choose Rosalina. It’s odd that Nintendo rarely if ever calls her a princess even though she clearly looks like one. Maybe she’s a queen like Disney’s Elsa but Nintendo doesn’t even go that far. Regardless, she’s immensely powerful, mature and regal to a fault and she has a history unlike many Super Mario characters.
King Bomb for the sake of my brother who loves him. However, I'd have put Melia on there.
+Melia, she's the highest of all Entia.
But I voted for Daisy since I like the characters that no one likes.
I would like Zelda a lot more if you could actually play as her in her main games! Since you can't, I went for Peach.
I would have picked Rosalina if she was an option but I guess it's a little unclear if she is a princess or, like, an intergalactic goddess. The fact that these options are similar makes me realize Nintendo has more in common with Marvel than one would think; bring on the Nintendo cinematic universe I guess.
@Snatcher @TsukiDeity @Dev9417 Rosalina definitely would have polled high if she were an option.
I love how you rejected the series staple Marth in favor of Chrom and his family, more people should do this! I’m picking Ganondorf though
Rosalina from super mario galaxy
Princess Ruto and I had a thing once.
No love for Olivia or King Olly, aka The Origami King?
@OldManHermit Don't forget a boxer as well. Oh, and some sort of pharaoh baseball player, too.
King Boo. The best royal is a dead royal.
Bowser. He is the king of all platforming games. Oh wait, he is in another castle.
@nhSnork What was the other list that ignored Xenoblade?
@TeaCatherine now that I think back to it, seems like my memory pranked me - it was a quiz (the one making you guess the games by goofy out-of-context descriptions), not a list.
@nhSnork Shame, because there would have been so many possible stupid summaries.
King Bob-omb or K. Rool. Went with Bob-omb, largely because his death/explosion is one of my favorite sound effects.
Rosalina is the best royalty despite not been a princess/queen
Just like the best champion poll, I am going for Mipha here.
Obviously Zelda will win because of totk hype but I hope bowser gets top 3
Princess shroob deserved a spot on the list
I forgot how scary Queen Gohma was
Voted Zelda(but it depends on which version of her we're talking about)
Uhmm the best princess, Rosalina not even on the list?
Lose more faith in this site daily.
Aaah Poo. Wish he’d made it into Smash just to hear the announcer shout “Poo!” Every time he was selected.
Yes. I am of simple needs.
Nobody's voted for the Deku King as of yet. Really shouldn't have wasted my vote on Daisy in hindsight ._.
@TeaCatherine pretty much my own comment back then.😆 The franchise is a fertile ground for this stuff.
@nhSnork I'd count Pyra and Mythra too who would be my pick. Not to spoil too much but based on who their "father" is, I think they qualify as royals too.
I voted King Boo. I like his designs and find him quite funny in the Luigi Mansion series.
You know I have to say Daisy.
Real OGs remember when I was daisygurl, then I deleted that account and became octokid…
@PessitheMystic Then don't click or comment on it.
(or even better, learn to have a sense of humour, since this feature is clearly meant to be a fun read)
Edelgard gets my vote too, she's way more interesting and complex as a character born into royalty than anyone on this list.
The King of Red Lions is the only good Royal because he's the only one actually providing a benefit to society — transportation.
I pick Bowser.
Claude von Riegan. What an interesting and fun character.
@Axecon Nah, I wouldn't say so, he's a god figure not a king figure.
It's Zelda, but the BOTW & Skyward Sword have made her very off putting to be fair
My vote goes to the missing King Hippo.
+1 for Melia. Wonderfully voiced by the talented Jenna Coleman
Ganondorf also was King of Hyrule.
Parasite Queen is no Royal, that's just a naming convention for insectoid matriarchs.
The royals in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance/Dawn supercede the royals in Awakening. (Naesala, Tibark, Cangeihis, Elincia, Naihla, etc)
Shout out for Queen Bean in Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga with a little extra cushion for the pushin'.
Back to the original list: Zelda
Also if you include Pokemon there are a few more royals.
> the original 150 royals: Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Seaking
> Slowking
> Empoleon and Serperior
> Tyrunt
*haven't played sword or shield so might be missing a few more
When I first played ocarina I was 7 or 8 about the same age as ruto, who was naked. So out of the options, I went with that. I also like Richard from Link's Awakening, he's probably my favorite.
@PessitheMystic byeeeee
Salazar RE4...DUH.
I dunno, Dimitri's pretty badass. Unhinged Dimitri, specifically.
I'm surprised that no one mentioned Midna, the eponymous Twilight Princess.
I don’t know what’s wrong with me but I apart from the obvious ones I thought about Gohma immediately and voted for her — just because I was quite delighted to see her mentioned.
Dedede or K. Rool because of their theme music.
In gaming, one of my favorites by far is for King Mickey and Minnie in Kingdom Hearts 1.
I picked Lissa because honestly Lissa is so damn cute and awesome and just one of my favorite fire emblem characters ever. Honestly I think she’s one of the reasons I fell in love with fire emblem like I did. I’ll admit the end of that article threw me for a loop because I read it a little too fast and originally read the last part as like hail to the nazis and not down with the nazis and was like WAIT WHAT WHERE DID THAT COME FROM. Excellent article tho.
im surprised ganon doesnt have as many votes tbh
Removed - inappropriate
@WeirdAlUHF334 Same.
No Prince Sidon?? Yowza.
Also- The Sablé Prince from For the Frog the Bell Tolls!!
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