Princess What's-Her-Name

Princess What's-Her-Name is the twin sister of Queen Slug-for-a-Butt, the tyrannical ruler of Insectika, and the primary love interest in the Earthworm Jim franchise. Despite her ridiculous name (which is, yes, her actual legal name), she is far from a joke. In the animated series, she is a fierce, intelligent, and independent warrior princess who leads rebellions against her sister's regime and possesses the strength of a hundred men. Her relationship with her sister defines much of her story. Born beautiful into a species of grotesque insect royalty, the Princess was hated by her twin out of pure jealousy. Queen Slug-for-a-Butt usurped the throne, imprisoned her, and has been trying to destroy her ever since. The Princess responded not by waiting for rescue, but by becoming a revolutionary. In the games, she starts as a classic damsel in distress, a deliberate parody of the trope. The first game ends with a cow falling on her right before Jim can kiss her. The animated series took this concept and flipped it: here she is a highly competent fighter and tactician who barely notices Jim's romantic obsession with her. She treats him as a friend and ally in her political struggle, consistently insisting their adventures together are "not a date" while Jim swoons. Her personality in the cartoon is dry, no-nonsense, and occasionally cynical. She is the most level-headed person in a universe full of idiots, which makes her both the straight woman and the most frustrated character in the cast. She is brave to the point of recklessness when it comes to fighting her sister, but emotionally guarded when it comes to anything personal. The comedy of her character comes from the contrast: she is a legitimate action hero trapped in a franchise that refuses to take anything seriously. She fights real battles with real stakes, surrounded by characters like Jim (a worm in a suit), Professor Monkey-for-a-Head (self-explanatory), and Evil the Cat (also self-explanatory). She is the only person who seems aware of how absurd everything is, and it exhausts her. Her voice (performed by Kath Soucie in the animated series) is confident, slightly exasperated, and occasionally tender when she lets her guard down around Jim. She speaks like someone who has better things to do but will explain the plan one more time if she has to. Princess What's-Her-Name is the rare 90s cartoon character who was both a parody of the damsel trope and a genuinely compelling character in her own right. She has real motivation, real agency, and real frustration with the ridiculous world she lives in.