Here's a proposal I've been wanting to do for a while now. This ones for Hildegard von Krone from the Soulcalibur series.
What is the Work?
Soulcalibur is a fighting game series where in-game characters fight using unique weapons from across renaissance Europe and Asia. It is not as well-known as Mortal Kombat nor Street Fighter, but has its perks that make it stand out nonetheless.
The storyline for the series follows the rumors of two powerful swords of legend: one is called Soul Edge, a powerful red sword with a large eye in the center of the hilt which according to legend can fulfill anyone's desires, but in reality, the sword is the host of an evil male entity called Nightmare, who wishes to feast on the souls of the living and innocent for omnicidal power.
The other sword is Soul Calibur, a crystalline blue sword which is said to be the bane of Soul Edge. Like Soul Edge, Soul Calibur hosts another entity, one that is female that is seemingly more benevolent. The sword is heroic in the first several games (as well as the reboot Soulcalibur VI) but in later games (namely Soulcalibur V), its true wish is to purify the world of everything evil and associated with Soul Edge (including heroic characters like Pyrrha Alexandra) by crystallizing everything.
Over the course of the series, many of the characters have gone on journeys in search for the former sword to furfill a goal (such as Heishiro Mitsurugi searching for the sword to outlet the rifle or Seong Mi-Na initially wanting to find the sword to protect her kingdom from invading Japanese pirates), but some characters such as Sophitia Alexandra, Taki, and Siegfried Schtauffen wish to find it and destroy it in order to save the world from potential destruction.
Who is she? What has she done?
Hildegard von Krone (or Hilde for short) was introduced in the fifth installment Soulcalibur IV. She is the princess of a fictional German Kingdom called Wolfkrone. She took the throne after her father the unnamed King of Wolfkrone, who was driven to insanity to the point he turned into a Malfested (a twisted humanoid being that seeks only destruction and murder to feed the evil sword Soul Edge). Despite her young age, Hildegard took up the responsibility maturely and raised a powerful army to defeat the evil forces of Ostrinsburg Castle (Nightmare's headquarters).
Her ultimate goal was to find Soul Calibur, whom she had from legend in order to summon a powerful warrior (implied to be King Arthur to kill Nightmare and destroy Soul Edge, in order to save the Earth from potential doom. She is however beaten by none other than series protagonist Siegfried, and together, the two heroes defeat Nightmare's forces, with Siegfried delivering the fatal blow to Nightmare and (initially) believing to have destroyed Soul Edge for good.
Although Hilde and her allies were victorious, the victory was hollow, as her kingdom was left in turmoil. She tries to readjust to a normal life, traveling from nation to nation, and becoming a mother along the way. Seventeen years past, and Soul Edge returns. Having choice but to put an end to Nightmare's reign of terror again, she sides with her old friend Siegfried and his newly reformed group the Schwarzwind to defend the kingdom she, Siegfried, and her allies resided in. It is never mentioned whether or not Hilde survived the war by the end of the game.
In the alternate timeline started in Soulcalibur VI, Hilde is once again the crown princess of Wolfkrone, but this time she is sided with the Aval Organization to put an end to Azwel's attempt to recreate the Evil Seed in order to obtain god-like powers.
Admirable Standards
Hildegard is a brave, steadfast princess. Unlike most Princess, who are generally damsels-in-distress, she breaks away from this archetype, and is never willing to surrender without a fight and always chooses to do what is right, even going as far as to put herself in danger to save those she loves most.
Hilde is shown to be merciful in battle, and has never "canonically" killed anyone in the series, she has also helped Siegfried repent for his sins that he committed in the past, allowing to gain the courage to fight Nightmare without fear of doubt and regret.
While I doubt this will help in convincing anyone, it is interesting to note that while Hilde is German, she is based off of a real-life heroine from France named Joan of Arc, known as the Maid of Orleans, who defended France back in the 15th century to save its people from English tyranny. Like, Hilde, she was young when she dawned armor and a symbolic flag she carried in battle. In 1920, she was canonized as a saint.
Corrupting Factors
Unlike other Soulcalibur characters I have nominated in the past, Hilde has less screen time, considering that she appeared late in the series. While she was a supporting character with a detailed timeline in her appearance, her role is notably more minor in subsequent ones, having only a brief role in the intro lore to Soulcalibur V, though she did have a bigger role in Soulcalibur VI, when she was given her own storyline like every other character in-game.
The only person she has ever "killed" was Nightmare in her ending in Soulcalibur IV, however this is non-canon, and even so, Nightmare would have killed her and possibly everyone on the planet if he had succeeded, so one could argue that this was justified, as she did it to save the world from potential destruction.
Final Verdict
I hope I didn't bore you all with this "history lesson", but hopefully Hilde her has a chance for the category, if not...I tried.