The best fictional royals of all-time

We all love the real royal family, but that has not stopped creative-types from imagining other royal figures in literature, film, and television. We present, the top ten fictional royals of all-time.

5. King Triton, "The Little Mermaid"

He rules over the mermen and mermaids of Atlantica, which is a seemingly peaceful mer-community. However he can't even control his daughter, who is so eager to leave his kingdom, she goes on land to be with a man she just meant. I mean, some teenage girls may threaten to leave home after fights with their fathers, but they don't jump into the ocean. And he is seemingly powerless against Ursula, who tricks his daughter with a shady lawyer talk and unfair consumer practices. Weak sauce, King Triton.

4. Robert Baratheon, "Game of Thrones"

King Robert was not a great monarch by any stretch, committed more to drinking wine and hunting boars than ruling over a kingdom in peril. However, he makes this list by default, as his predecessors and those that followed were, by most accounts, terrible rulers. Baratheon, of course, came to rule by overthrowing King Aerys Targarean, "The Mad King" who set his people ablaze in a psychotic fit. And Baratheon was followed by the illegitimate Joffrey, who ruled as an adolescent tyrant until his demise. Baratheon was an oaf, but he was neither stupid nor insane nor cruel, and that makes him the best recent ruler of Westeros.

3. Queen Padme Amidala, "Star Wars"

Amidala was a principled ruler who did everything she could to avoid leading her people into war. When that war became inevitable, she bravely led her forces and navigated her own escape from confinement despite a legion of battle droids guarding the palace. Her weakness was her belief that democracy would safeguard her kingdom. In the end, demogoguery and fear would lead to the demise of the Senate and rise of the Empire, not only leading to her demise, but that of her husband, Annakin Skywalker, in favor of his alter ego - Darth Vader.

2. King Ralph Jones, "King Ralph"

Ralph Jones was an American slob, but he was also a man of the people, bringing a sense of egalitarianism to the crown. It seemed boorish at first to bring an exotic dancer in as a lover, but Miranda ended up being a solid base for Ralph as he ruled the kingdom. Eventually, Ralph learned to mix the best of American culture with the best of British culture, and in the end, he won over our hearts with his wacky hijinks.

1. King Joffe Jaffer of Zamunda, "Coming to America"

King Joffe is a powerful man of principles, simply wanting the best for his son, Akeem. He is willing to entertain the thought of his son "sowing his royal oats", but when he finds out his son was merely using that excuse as a ruse to find a woman of more substance, King Joffe is at first obtuse. However, spurred on by his wise wife, Queen Aeoleon, he relents and gives in to his son. What results is a wonderful mixing of cultures, capped off amusingly by the crass commercialism of the patriarch of the McDowell family.