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Friday, April 19, 2013

Q is for Queen

Often depicted as the evil oppressor of the kind-hearted princess in classic fairy tales, the Queen gets a bad rap. Which let's face it, is sometimes pretty deserved. But of course not all queens are dark and dangerous. Here's a look at some of my favorite fictional queens, both praiseworthy and pernicious. 

Q is for Queen 

Snow Queen (The Snow Queen) – One of Hans Christian Andersen's more famous fairy tale characters, The Snow Queen is both beautiful and dangerous. Queen of the snowflakes, her kiss can make you forget you past. The Snow Queen abducts Kai, kissing him so he no longer remembers Gerda, the young girl he loves, and imprisons him in the frozen lake upon which rests her throne. Only Gerda's love can rescue him from the Snow Queen's frosty clutches. 

Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts (Alice's Adventure in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass) – Contrary to popular belief, the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts are not in fact the same person. Though often combined into one singular character for film purposes, the two queens are as different as night and day. The Queen of Hearts makes her appearance in Carroll's first Alice book as the lady with the ungovernable rage, flying off the handle at a moment's notice. She's most known for her constant refrain of "Off with their heads!" The Red Queen on the other hand, hails from Carroll's second foray into Wonderland. Unlike her counterpart, the Red Queen is calm and calculating, and refrains from abusing her power. 

Red Queen (Resident Evil) – The Red Queen in Resident Evil is a highly-advanced and self aware computer system with a holographic image designed to look like a little girl. She was created to monitor the goings-on within the Hive, particularly that of the T-virus hidden there. When the virus breaks out, she locks down the facility, imprisoning and killing those below in her effort to stop it from being released into the world. Her actions, though perhaps altruistic in theory, are cold and calculated, willing to sacrifice human life to stop the virus's spread. But that's a queen machine for you. 

Queen Amidala (Star Wars) – Queen Amadala, or Padme, is the doomed wife of Anakin Skywalker and the mother of twins Luke and Leia. A kind and honorable queen, Padme stands for freedom and the liberation of her subject of Naboo. And when the Republic is dissolved in favor of a new, corrupt empire, Padme Amidala is one of the first to sign the Petition of 2000, opposing the increasing rule of Emperor Palpatin (for more on him, see my "E" post here). Her fatal downfall comes in the form of love and trust. She loves her husband Anakin, the future Darth Vadar and the man responsible for her death. 

Evil Queen (Snow White) – One of the most dangerous fairy tale characters ever written, the Evil Queen from Snow White is obsessed with beauty, youth and power. When the Queen asks her magic mirror "Who's the fairest of them all?" and it answers Snow White, she demands that her Huntsman take the girl into the forest and cut out her heart. Upon learning of his failure to carry out her wishes, she then poisons Snow White with her famous poison apple. My three favorite depictions of the Evil Queen include Charlize Theron in Snow White and the Huntsman, Lana Parrilla in Once Upon a Time, and Dianne Weist in The 10th Kingdom. 

And there you have it, my Top 5 favorite Queens. What are some of your favorites?

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This post is part of the Blogging A through Z Challenge 2013. My theme (in case you didn't already guess) is character types and tropes. Stay tuned for the rest of the alphabet, and if you’d like to check in on the other participants, simply click here.

20 comments:

  1. So many Queens!

    How about the White Witch, the Queen who froze Narnia?

    Rinelle Grey

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    1. Her Turkish Delights are to die for.

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    2. Don't worry, she'll make an appearance under "W" for Witch.

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  2. Queen Bavmorda, from Willow.

    And I loved Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen in Snow White.

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  3. Dropping by from the A to Z challenge, and I love your theme!

    The Snow Queen is one of my favorites, too. She was just the... coldest of cold, literally and figuratively.

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  4. It is true that Queens are usually the villains or the persecutors of princesses.
    Katie atBankerchick Scratchings

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  5. As far as evil Queens, I'd pick the White Witch from Narnia who proclaimed herself Queen of Narnia.

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  6. Definitely Amidala. Great post for Q!

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  7. When you said Red Queen I thought you meant the one from Alice in Wonderland. She's probably one of my favorites.

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  8. Alex took mine. I'm drawing a blank on any others at the moment.

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  9. Queen Akasha from Queen of the Damned. :)

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  10. And Queen... one of the great rock bands ever!

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  11. Julia Roberts in Tarsem's Mirror Mirror.

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  12. Visiting from A to Z. Love your theme! I have a lot of reading to catch up on.

    As for my favorites, the Evil Queen. Between the poison and wanting Snow White's heart, she scared me to death as a child.

    The Snow Queen's another one you love to hate.

    Barbara
    Q: Quitting is not an option
    The Daille-y News



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  13. I wouldn't consider the Red Queen from Resident Evil an actual queen in the true sense of the word, but she would definitely make my list of favorite diabolical AI defense systems. :)

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  14. Great theme. I don't seem to have a 'favourite queen' but I do think that the one in Narnia was scary.

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  15. I love Lana Parrilla as Snow White's evil queen. She's stunning in that role. Another great depiction of Snow White's evil queen in the short Snow White Blood Red that's part of the Grimm Diaries series.

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  16. So many Queens! I love to tease my Granddaughters when the Queen comes on the Disney shows 'oh I love her!' she's my favorite. OH that get's them alllll wound up. They have to convince me why she is bad. Great debates over Disney Queens!
    Thank you for stopping by my blog!
    Connie
    A to Z-ing to the end
    Peanut Butter and Whine

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  17. Could I choose the band Queen? If not, then Cersei Lannister would take my vote :)

    Jamie @ Mithril Wisdom

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