I was having a conversation with my son tonight about writing from various BotP characters' viewpoints and commented that I have the hardest time getting into Princess' head. I think that's because she seems so perfect to me that I have a hard time relating to her. Tiny's an over-eater who occasionally sleeps on the job, Keyop has that stutter, Jason's gets cranky and has double-vision, and Mark is a perfectionist who occasionally quits his job or walks out. What flaws does Princess have?

Well if you want to be brutally honest, she's a little too dependent on Mark. She looks up to him like he's the greatest thing since sliced bread, and it's rare that she can see if he's made a mistake or doing something that's not right. So blind faith, I guess? She's also somewhat impulsive (running off to deal with the Fierce Flowers on her own) and can be a bit naggy toward Keyop, who isn't actually her responsibility (not in the way Jinpei is Jun's responsibility). And don't forget her biggest flaw... she voluntarily kisses Zark!

I think TJ summed up most of what I disliked about Princess. I think one thing that irked me most of all was that, even though she could fight at the same level as her teammates, she was still cast in a light that suggested that "feminine" equaled "weakness"; I could even imagine her (as a kid) showing up to training sessions in a pink tutu and a tiara!

She does come off as a little "soft" in a way that probably made it hard for me to identify with her. I find the pink thing amusing, since I'm all for women choosing what they like and not having that dictated for them (including being told you shouldn't wear pink because it's too "girly"), but there's definitely times where she seems a bit too much the damsel in distress. There's the famous one where for some gawdawful reason her and Mark (or Jun and Ken) are climbing up a ladder to get out of a big cylindrical area. She has trouble with this, apparently, and more than once has to be dragged to safety. For someone that fit and trained, that makes no sense. Also, they can bounce up and up and up with gliding, WHY ARE THEY CLIMBING??? *ahem* I try to remind myself that given the time the show was made, they could have made her much less kick-ass than she was.

Originally posted by ElectricWhite I think TJ summed up most of what I disliked about Princess. I think one thing that irked me most of all was that, even though she could fight at the same level as her teammates, she was still cast in a light that suggested that "feminine" equaled "weakness"; I could even imagine her (as a kid) showing up to training sessions in a pink tutu and a tiara!

See, I'd love to see her show up in that as a kid and proceed to wipe the floor with the boys while they're laughing.

Reviving an old thread because I've been thinking about this very question myself. I've got a few ideas rattling around in my head, but I'm having some trouble trying to figure out where Princess fits into it. IMHO, the episode "Decoys of Doom" pretty much showcases everything I don't like about Princess--she fawns over Mark, she's bossy (in that she's issuing orders despite the fact that she's not in charge and Jason is), and she's unprofessional (the whole "secret messages" over official channels thing). I can't really add much to what has been said already. TJ's post was pretty spot on because I see all those things, too. When I was a kid, I always wished that there was another girl on G-Force so Jason would have at least one person on his side when the rest of the team ganged up on him. I was kind of torn on Princess then because while it was cool that there was a girl on this team, I couldn't relate to her because she was too girly to me. When I wrote my episode review for Decoys of Doom, I started mentally comparing Princess and Jun and came to the conclusion that Jun is actually the stronger character of the two. While she may have her "go easy on Ken" fawning moments, she's not afraid to tell Ken to cut the crap, either. I can't picture Princess calling Mark a "crybaby" because he's acting recklessly due to his own personal issues. Jun is not without her flaws, but the flaws in all the Gatch characters are what give them the depth they do have. Watching this as an adult, I do see the whole "damsel in distress" thing and I'm not so crazy about that. I don't think her name helps out in that area, either.

Mark doesn't look much better in "Decoys of Doom." He impulsively runs off against orders, he stays out of contact so they have no idea what's going on, and WHILE HE'S MISSING he's sexting Princess? There's a reason I chose that episode to beat up on for my episode rewrite.

Originally posted by ChrisW and WHILE HE'S MISSING he's sexting Princess?

...and why in the heck didn't Prin trace the signal instead of just sitting there, sexting him back?!?

I know!

Imagine if they also had Facebook...

Can't find any other flaw for Princess, you got it all covered

Originally posted by ElectricWhite

Originally posted by ChrisW and WHILE HE'S MISSING he's sexting Princess?

...and why in the heck didn't Prin trace the signal instead of just sitting there, sexting him back?!?

And then she asked the double if HE would ever send her private messages. WTF?? And then when Mark runs off on his own, everyone else makes excuses for him. That entire episode makes me want to repeatedly bang my head against a brick wall.

That's why I made them all idiots in my rewrite. *cackle*