Top 10 Greatest TV Kings and Queens, Ranked

10 Best TV Kings & Queens, Ranked

Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark and Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones

By Guy Howie Published 22 minutes ago After joining ScreenRant in January 2025, Guy became a Senior Features Writer in March of the same year, and now specializes in features about classic TV shows. With several years' experience writing for and editing TV, film and music publications, his areas of expertise include a wide range of genres, from comedies, animated series, and crime dramas, to Westerns and political thrillers. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Royal protagonists have been a staple of TV drama ever since the very first small-screen broadcast, The Queen's Messenger, back in 1928. But most of the best kings and queens in television history have appeared on our screens in the 21st century, whether in historical dramas, fantasy shows, or sci-fi series.

Many of today’s best historical TV shows revolve around a monarch of some sort, since the reign of a specific king or queen tends to embody the history of the era in which a show is set. What’s more, TV audiences never seem to tire of the fraught interpersonal dynamics and political intrigues typical of royal households.

TV monarchs aren’t limited to real-life figures, either. Some of the best fantasy shows of all time center on fictional royalty, with the most famous among them featuring more kings and queens than we can count. Even series in the sci-fi genre have been partial to installing monarchies in their fictional story worlds from time to time.

Nor is the title of king or queen confined to heads of state. There are certain fictional characters on the small screen who’ve acquired these titles in a more symbolic sense, on the basis of achievements which don’t necessarily pertain to a geographic realm. Only in the very best cases, though, do TV royals actually deserve the crowns they’re wearing.

10 King Arthur

Merlin

Bradley James as King Arthur in Merlin.

The portrayal of this legendary British king in Merlin is far more grounded than the versions of King Arthur we’re used to seeing in movies. Arthur begins the fantasy series as a spoilt and self-serving prince, before gradually earning the right to be the king he’s destined to become.

Instead of ending with Arthur triumphantly extending his reign, however, Merlin’s series finale is a heartbreaking tragedy, which sees the young king die from his wounds after the Battle of Camlann, having vanquished his enemy, Mordred. The change-up from a traditional hero’s ending only strengthens the show’s case for featuring the best King Arthur in screen history.

9 Queen Charlotte

Bridgerton

Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) looking angry on her sofa in Bridgerton.

Bridgerton’s Queen Charlotte is the mother of King George’s children, but the show makes her role in the British Regency about far more than motherhood. The real-life figure on whom she’s based was also said to be a courageous and erudite woman who was intensely loyal to her husband, yet the show transforms her into an even more formidable character.

While the actual Queen Charlotte was said to be somewhat tempestuous, it’s hard to imagine that she was capable of delivering the kind of withering one-liners we get to enjoy in Bridgerton. Meanwhile, the real queen wasn’t anything like the Regency taste-setter we see in the show, and didn’t further the cause of racial integration in 19th century Britain.

8 Crowley

Supernatural

Crowley and the Colt in Supernatural season 5, episode 10, Abandon All Hope

Supernatural’s machiavellian demon Crowley is the ultimate King of Hell, surpassing even Lucifer’s reign over the underworld. His many wiles and lust for power make him an excellent strategist, capable of playing other demons off against one another to maintain the stability of his kingdom.

Although he’s certainly charismatic, Crowley is far from the most terrifying demon in Supernatural. His real strength is that he’s able to combine evil intentions with a sense of cunning that allows him to exploit others for his own benefit. In short, he’s the ideal candidate to rule over the most evil realm imaginable.

7 Sansa Stark

Game of Thrones

Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones

Sansa Stark isn’t just a hero of the North, who successfully liberates her people from the rule of Ramsay Bolton. She’s an exceptionally shrewd monarch, whose wise head beyond her years sets her apart from virtually every other king and queen in Westeros.

Sansa Stark’s best decisions in Game of Thrones ought to be a model for more celebrated, higher-profile characters in the series to follow. She does her father, Ned Stark, proud, and represents one of the few genuinely heroic character arcs to reach a happy conclusion at the end of season 9.

6 Gol D. Roger

One Piece

Michael Dorman as Gold Roger kneeling during his execution in One Piece

One Piece got Gol D. Roger’s live-action casting spot on in 2024, although fans of the manga’s original characterization of Roger might disagree with the version of him depicted in the Netflix show’s flashbacks. Either way, in both the anime and live-action iterations of the story, this legendary pirate king is a genuine icon.

No tangible realization of the character could ever compete with the mythical status of a figure known as the only pirate to have conquered the whole of the Grand Line and found the so-called “One Piece” treasure. He’s an aspiration to live up to, who’s managed to inspire the Straw Hat Pirates and Gen Z revolutionaries alike.

5 Jaehaerys I

House Of The Dragon

Jaehaerys I Targaryen frowning and holding a quill.

Artwork by Amok.

House of the Dragon’s King Jaehaerys Targaryen is a better King of Westeros than anyone we see wearing a crown in Game of Thrones. The wizened conciliator of the Seven Kingdoms is the ultimate symbol of peace and prosperity in the series.

He reigns over a unified Westeros for over half a century, ensuring that a proper legal system is established and enforced across his realm. He’s firm in resolve, yet prudent in judgment, and it’s hard to identify a single bad decision he makes throughout his reign. Things went downhill rapidly after his death, at the age of 69.

4 Queen Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I

There are several great TV shows about Queen Elizabeth I, the celebrated Tudor queen credited with stabilizing Britain’s political situation for almost half a century, and commanding the English Navy to victory over the Spanish Armada. These feats, along with her status as a strong woman in a role usually reserved for men, naturally make her a compelling protagonist.

However, the standout small-screen portrayal of the so-called “Virgin Queen” is generally thought to be Helen Mirren’s in Elizabeth I, a 2005 miniseries released one year before Mirren’s Oscar-winning portrayal of Britain’s second Queen Elizabeth on the big screen. Incredibly, her first Elizabeth is arguably Mirren’s better performance of the two.

3 King Alfred the Great

The Last Kingdom

David Dawson as King Alfred in The Last Kingdom

The depiction of Britain’s King Alfred in The Last Kingdom is generally historically accurate. The historical version of the character really was a pioneering political strategist who laid the foundations for the future kingdom of England by uniting the Anglo-Saxons against the Vikings, despite being plagued by ill health.

What Alfred lacks in physical strength, he more than makes up for with his shrewd intellect, tactical acumen on the battlefield, and unerring ability to build alliances where and when required. In many ways, he’s the forerunner to the successful absolute monarchs of the Late Medieval and Early Modern period of European history.

2 Ragnar Lothbrok

Vikings

Travis Fimmel as Ragnar Lothbrok in Vikings

Ragnar Lothbrok’s best moment in Vikings is a siege of Paris which he leads from the front. This example demonstrates exactly the kind of king Ragnar is in the series. The most ferocious warrior on this list, this legendary Danish monarch is as handy in battle as he is strategic in his approach to expanding Viking territory and trade.

While he does have certain weaknesses, such as his tendency to be guided by impulses he struggles to control, Ragnar is a far-sighted monarch whose portrayal in the show represents the pinnacle of the Viking Age. His horrifying death at the hands of King Ælla is possibly the most gruesome thing to happen to a great TV monarch.

1 Queen Elizabeth II

The Crown

The Crown's Three Queen Elizabeth, played by Imelda Staunton in the center, Olivia Colman on the left, and Claire Foy on the right

It’s only fitting that the best portrayal of a TV king or queen depicts the most celebrated, longest-reigning monarch of modern times. All three Queen Elizabeth performances in The Crown are utterly spellbinding in different ways, exploring the person beneath the royal garb to an extent we’ve never seen before on the small screen.

At the same time, the show examines the nature of monarchy itself, and its role in modern society, from almost every conceivable angle. We see the young Queen’s subtle role in post-war politics, a mooted coup attempt in her name narrowly averted, and the endless fallout from her children’s failed relationships become the scourge of her existence.

Perhaps the greatest testament to Queen Elizabeth II as a TV monarch is The Crown’s final scene, in which Jonathan Pryce’s Prince Philip tells her she’s the last of a dying breed. It’s quite correct that we’re highly unlikely to see the late Queen’s like again, on or off the screen.

The Crown
Game Of Thrones

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