All together now!
“God save our gaming queens, long live our gaming queens, God save the queens. Send them victorious, happy and glorious, long to reign over us, God save the gaming queens.”
2022 marked the late Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee. The Platy Joobs, if you were so inclined. In celebration of this historic landmark, we thought it would be remiss to not celebrate our other favourite queens, too. These ladies have sat atop the throne of games for many years ruling with respect, power, or even good old-fashioned bone-chilling fear. But whether they haunt our nightmares or grace our dreams, this is why we love each of them in their own way.
Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom (Super Mario Bros.)
While not formally titled a queen, the original princess in a castle is the unquestioned ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom (whenever Bowser hasn’t invaded for the weekend that is). This archetypal damsel-in-distress has the gentle personality and kind temperament one would expect from such a character. However, we love her because even as her role has expanded across Mario spin-offs and protagonist roles in Super Princess Peach and Super Mario 3D World, she has stayed true to that gentle nature. Whether she’s hitting you with a shell or dumping Mario and Bowser on the moon, she does so with the delicate grace worthy of such a gaming icon.
Queen Talanji of the Zandalari Empire (World of Warcraft)
If you’re with the Alliance, you probably want to skip this entry. But for the Horde, this is a hell of an inclusion. Talanji is Queen of the Zandalari trolls, succeeding her father at just eighteen years of age. She’s a forward-thinking queen, eschewing the old ways her dear old dad clung to. In fact, she brought her people into a full alliance with the Horde to face down common enemies and ultimately joined the Horde Council. Talk about carving her own legacy!
Cerys an Craite, Queen of the Skellige Isles (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)
It takes a special kind of woman to become the first female monarch of a society where the king’s wife usually lets herself be burned at sea with her husband’s body. Cerys an Craite is just that, and proves it if you choose to support her claim to the throne over her brother Hjalmar’s. Stubborn and self-confident? You bet your last barrel of mead she takes after her father Crach in that regard. But her levelheadedness leads to the comfort and safety of her people in the game’s epilogue. Not only that, but she becomes one hell of a Gwent card in the Skellige deck. Who doesn’t love Gwent?
Queen Unuratu, Ruler of Paititi (Shadow of the Tomb Raider)
It’s not just the peasantry that can stage the occasional coup. After ascending to the throne following her husband’s death, she refused to be just a figurehead for the Cult of Kukulkan that really ruled the city. Like the girl-boss that she is, she only went and spoke out against them at her coronation. Sadly, her brother-in-law conspired with the Cult to ultimately seize power. But you can’t keep a good queen down. Unuratu mustered a rebellion and worked with Lara Croft to free her people.
Princess Zelda of Hyrule (The Legend of Zelda)
Like Peach, Zelda is usually depicted as the ruler of her kingdom in spite of her moniker. Unlike Nintendo’s more famous princess though, Zelda takes on many forms and incarnations throughout her franchise. We’ve seen her as everything, from the cool and mysterious Sheik and the fearless pirate captain Tetra to the book smart and selfless princess of Breath of the Wild. In all instances she is powerful in her own right, possessing Triforce of Wisdom, and her need to be rescued usually comes as a consequence of her willingness to sacrifice herself for others. What a lady!
Queen Myrrah of the Locust Horde (Gears of War)
Not every queen is a benevolent ruler, at least in the eyes of their game’s protagonist. Myrrah is not only the ruler of the Locust Horde that threatened the people of Sera with extinction throughout Gears of War but their progenitor as well. Her bloody crusade only started to save her people from the effects of Lambency. War wasn’t even her first option but killing the race that experimented on her as a child become the only path. Despite her cynicism and xenophobia toward humans, the overwhelming maternal nature of Myrrah is what drives her. It’s why we can’t help but admire her, even if we owe her one for Dom.
Anna Henrietta, Duchess of Touissant (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)
The Witcher just loves its strong, female characters, doesn’t it? Maybe we’ll see some more when Witcher 4 comes along…
Anyway, despite having the lower title of Duchess, Anna Henrietta has all the trappings that make her a queen in our eyes. She’s got the crown, is called “Her Grace”, and her duchy is given all the autonomy of a kingdom. Like any good queen, she uses this independence to foster peace, chivalric tourneys, and absolute swathes of delicious wine. That’s a monarch we can truly get behind. The time she tried to have Dandelion hung for being, well, Dandelion? We can let it slide.
Queen Elizabeth reigned for 70 long years, during which technology has changed and evolved faster than any other point in history. We look a look back over HRH’s reign and how she embraced the ever-changing technological landscape.
Gaming PCs Fit for a Queen
So how can you venture to these kingdoms and realms for yourself and experience the reign of these majestic queens? At Overclockers UK, we have plenty of gaming PCs and laptops perfect for experiencing these games for yourself.
Refract Gaming Amber (FS-1DK-EP)
Part of our range of Refract Gaming PCs, these pre-built systems are all carefully designed to suit different gameplay styles. Each comes with a three-years parts and labour warranty and is ready to be delivered to your door the next day. The Amber comes equipped with an AMD Ryzen 5 7500F CPU as well as a 16GB DDR5 RAM kit. Elevate your gaming by harnessing the power of a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card. With Ada Lovelace architecture, you’ll get high-performance gaming features such as ray-tracing and DLSS. Truly a gaming PC fit for royalty!
ASUS ROG Strix G16 Gaming Laptop (G614JV-N3075W)
The ASUS ROG Strix G16 is a gaming laptop fit for enthusiasts. It has an Intel Core i7-13650HX processor, a flexible powerhouse of a CPU. With fourteen cores and twenty threads, it can handle hardcore gaming, streaming, and content creation. As befits royalty, your games will be rendered on an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 GPU. What’s more, the 1TB NVMe SSD and 16GB DDR5 RAM at 4800MH ensure smooth, low latency performance in all your royal workflows. Now that is a gaming laptop that befits a queen.
Refract Gaming Indigo (FS-1DN-EP)
Bathed in regal purple, the Refract Gaming Indigo is pre-built with premium hardware designed for gaming at the elite tier. Befitting such high status, you get next-day delivery too. It really wears the crown with a phenomenal AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D processor and 32GB DDR5 RAM. This guarantees high-speed memory and minimal loading times. No one makes a queen wait! The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Super Graphics Card comes armed with Ada Lovelace architecture, packing the Indigo with incredible features that make it a perfect choice for serious PC gamers and professional streamers alike.
God Save the Queen
Which gaming royalty have we missed from our list? Be sure to pop them in the comments below!
PC specs are subject to change.
- 7 min read
Jacob Smith
Author
Jacob is a passionate gamer, plus a noted Pokemon and LEGO nutjob, who emerges only when doing the words here at Overclockers UK. Since starting at the tail end of 2021, Jacob has gone on to write dozens of blogs on everything from the latest games to whimsical Dickens-inspired poetry. Outside of creating content and being the one person in the office daring to champion Nintendo, he is often found fawning over his Pokemon card collection and his trio of lovely doggos.
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