The Loyal Kings and Queens Hall of Fame
The Ringer has spent all week celebrating the most nefarious traitors in history, pop culture, and sports. But what about those who remained faithful when it mattered most?
If there’s one major takeaway from the week The Ringer has spent obsessing over traitors—in pop culture, sports, religion, and recorded history—it’s that it’s disconcertingly easy to break bad. Humans are fallible creatures, coerced into betraying one another for the sake of self-interest, safety, or spite. We found enough examples to fill out a 64-person bracket; if we wanted to turn this into Traitors Month, I doubt we’d run out of ideas. There’s no two ways about it: Loyalty is hard to come by.
I’m not an optimistic person by nature, but Traitors Week left me so disheartened that I wanted to put together a bit of counterprogramming: Why not celebrate some of culture’s most loyal kings and queens? Sadly, we’d be scraping the bottom of the barrel if we tried to create another 64-person bracket—would signing up for loyalty programs count?—but anointing 20 loyal kings and queens is doable with some conditions. I’ve decided to split our loyal royalty into four categories: pop culture characters, athletes, historical figures, and dogs.
Of course, loyalty isn’t just about sticking around out of habit—it’s about staying true to your word when you’re tempted to take the easy way out. The loyal legends that follow aren’t perfect, and some of them aren’t even especially powerful. But each one earned their crown by refusing to capitulate when it mattered most. Traitors might make for better reality show contestants, but loyal kings and queens are the rare figures who remind us that sticking to your guns is still worth celebrating. This is the Loyal Kings and Queens Hall of Fame.
More From Traitors Week
The Pop Culture Characters
Samwise Gamgee, The Lord of the Rings
The gold standard for loyalty, Samwise Gamgee’s dedication to Frodo is all that kept Middle-earth from succumbing to Sauron’s darkness. Sam stuck by Frodo through thick and thin, saving him from a huge-ass spider and the duplicitous Gollum—all while his bestie mostly treated him like crap. To be fair, the One Ring corrupted Frodo’s soul, but a lesser man—er, Hobbit—wouldn’t have put up with everything Sam endured. He even does a great job of resisting the ring when in possession of it, a testament to the purity of his convictions. We should all aspire to be as noble and duty bound as Sam, but what makes him a king among loyal kings is the knowledge of how many of us would crumble under similar circumstances.
Alfred Pennyworth, Batman
A reminder: Alfred Pennyworth didn’t sign up for any of this shit. He was hired to be a butler at Wayne Manor, but after Thomas and Martha Wayne’s tragic deaths, he became their son’s legal guardian and surrogate father. Then [deep breath] Bruce Wayne decides to channel his childhood trauma into fighting crime as a masked vigilante with a bat fetish, and Alfred sticks by his side as a tireless confidant. What does he get to show for it? Constantly patching up Bruce’s wounds and warning the person he cares about most in the world that he’s headed for an early grave. Batman might be cleaning up the streets of Gotham, but Alfred is doing all the heavy lifting at home. Nobody has ever deserved a raise more than him.
Jack Aubrey, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Naval captain Jack Aubrey’s loyalty comes in many forms: loyalty to England, loyalty to his crew, and loyalty to his best friend, Stephen Maturin, the ship’s surgeon. What’s fascinating is when these duties come in conflict with one another throughout Master and Commander (a first-ballot Dad Movie, by the way). Aubrey’s orders are to intercept a French privateer en route to the South Pacific, and he engages in several battles with it. But when faced with the prospect of chasing the ship down, Aubrey chooses to anchor at the Galapagos Islands so that Maturin can properly recover from a gunshot wound. Life aboard a 19th-century navy vessel looks like absolute hell, but I’d be honored to serve under Aubrey, a man who understands that duty and friendship don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Beat to quarters, and fire up the violin.
Brienne of Tarth, Game of Thrones
To paraphrase Cersei Lannister: When you play the game of thrones, you backstab or you die. Loyal characters tend to have short life spans (see: Ned Stark), and even knights will forsake their honor, but amid so much treachery, there’s still good in Westeros if you know where to look. Throughout Game of Thrones, Brienne of Tarth is subjected to misogyny and mockery, but she never lets these indignities erode her fundamental decency. Brienne swears an oath to Renly Baratheon and avenges his murder by killing his brother; she vows to serve Catelyn Stark, which, after the Red Wedding, extends to protecting her daughters; and she even sees the good in Jaime “Kingslayer” Lannister. In Thrones, her journey is a much-needed source of hope and perseverance—she’s a knight whose word is as unbending as Valyrian steel. Really, who has a better story than Brienne of Tarth?
Rod Williams, Get Out
When Chris Washington meets his girlfriend’s family in Get Out, he soon finds himself surrounded by sinister figures who see him as a means to an end, a vessel to hold someone else’s consciousness. The Armitages have the crime of kidnapping Black victims down to a science. There’s just one problem: Chris’s best friend, Rod, can see right through their bullshit. Rod knows, intuitively, that Rose is lying to him over the phone, and instead of getting the police involved, he takes matters into his own hands. When Rod shows up in his TSA car at the end of the film, my theater erupted in cheers. May we all be lucky enough to have a best friend like Rod in our lives.
Honorable mentions: Severus Snape (Harry Potter), Forrest Gump (Forrest Gump), Leslie Knope (Parks and Recreation), Woody (Toy Story), Dory (Finding Nemo)
The Athletes
Dirk Nowitzki
Of all the legendary players who’ve graced the NBA, not a single one has stayed with a team longer than Dirk Nowitzki. The German forward ended up playing 21 seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, an incredible stretch that included 14 All-Star appearances, an MVP award, and a championship in 2011. We may never see his like again, for circumstances that might be beyond a player’s control—by all accounts, Luka Doncic wanted to stay with the Mavs for his entire career, but [gestures at Nico Harrison]. Dirk’s connection to Dallas is such that there's a statue of him in front of the American Airlines Center engraved with four words: Loyalty never fades away. Even if it weren’t etched in stone, Dirk’s loyalty would be as timeless as his stepback jumper.
Alexander Ovechkin
It’s tough being a Washington, D.C., sports fan. The Wizards are finally tanking after decades of .500 mediocrity; the Commanders fell apart in Jayden Daniels’s injury-plagued sophomore season, which is giving me RGIII flashbacks; and the Nationals blessed us with a World Series title in 2019 before immediately imploding. Thankfully, we still have the Capitals—and the enduring brilliance of Alexander Ovechkin. Ovi has been leading the line for the Capitals for over two decades, with the 2018 Stanley Cup to show for it. Last year, he even surpassed the legendary Wayne Gretzky as the NHL’s all-time leading scorer, with 915 goals and counting. Ovi’s unwavering loyalty isn’t always a good thing, given his longtime friendship with Vladimir Putin, but the fact that he’s still managed to become the most beloved athlete in the nation’s capital speaks to sport’s power to transcend borders.
Sue Bird
If we were measuring WNBA loyalty solely by the number of seasons played for a single team, we’d have to go with Diana Taurasi, who spent 20 years with the Phoenix Mercury before retiring last year. But I’m giving the nod to another WNBA stalwart, Sue Bird, who’s synonymous with the Seattle Storm. Between four championships and 13 All-Star nods in her 19 seasons, Bird stuck with the Storm through rebuilds and played on a veteran minimum’s salary to prioritize winning another championship in her swan song. In retirement, Bird became a part-time owner of the Storm, underscoring that her loyalty to the team goes beyond the locker room. She’s the only Sue Storm I recognize.
Francesco Totti
Loyalty might be more impressive in soccer than in any other sport because elite clubs expect a level of performance so high that even the most legendary players will be shown the door when they show signs of slowing down. Nevertheless, soccer has produced some incredible one-club icons, including Paolo Maldini (25 seasons with AC Milan), Ryan Giggs (24 seasons with Manchester United), and Carles Puyol (15 seasons with Barcelona). The career longevity that impresses me the most, however, is Francesco Totti’s. He spent 24 seasons with Roma, including a stretch from the 1995-96 season to the 2014-15 season when he played at least 24 matches each season in Serie A. Totti accomplished all this while primarily being used as an attacking midfielder—the kind of physically demanding position that puts a lot of mileage on the body. The results speak for themselves: a Serie A title, two Coppa Italias, the most goals scored for a single Italian club (250), and, of course, being the most capped player in Roma’s history. A gladiator in every sense of the word.
Derek Jeter
It takes a certain character—and, for more than 50 years, a willingness to shave your beard—to play for the New York Yankees, and Derek Jeter inhabited those qualities. The Captain spent his entire 20-year career with the Yankees, winning five World Series while earning 14 All-Star appearances. But Jeter treated his commitment to the Yankees as a two-way street, famously coining the phrase “Loyalty one way is stupidity” in his ESPN docuseries. In other words, Jeter expected the organization to compensate him for what he was worth and demanded that his teammates live up to the high standards he placed on himself. Break his trust—as Alex Rodriguez did by diminishing Jeter’s accomplishments in the press—and it could never be repaired. Is this the behavior of a fiercely loyal individual or of someone so distrusting that he doesn’t allow anyone to bring a cellphone into his house? Can’t it be both?
Honorable mentions: Barry Sanders, Kobe Bryant, Jamie Carragher, Cal Ripken Jr., Lisa Leslie
The Historical Figures
Marcus Agrippa
Get yourself a bestie like Marcus Agrippa. A capable general, Agrippa won the Battle of Actium against the forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra before becoming lieutenant to the Roman emperor Augustus. Despite his military prowess, Agrippa never sought power of his own, placing the emperor’s success—and that of the Roman Empire—over personal glory. His devotion to Augustus was so intense that Agrippa even married the emperor’s daughter, Julia the Elder, a political union intended to secure a stable line of succession. When Agrippa died in 12 B.C., Augustus spent over a month in mourning, and who can blame him? A bromance for the history books.
Hiroo Onoda
There’s fighting for your country, and then there’s the inexplicable saga of Hiroo Onoda. A Japanese intelligence officer during World War II, Onoda was stationed on Lubang Island in the Philippines when the war ended. However, Onoda spent almost the next 30 years engaging in guerrilla warfare, convinced that the surrender notices and letters from family were a ploy by Japan’s enemies. It wasn’t until his former commanding officer arrived on the island that Onoda finally laid down arms—in 1974 (!). Onoda’s steadfast commitment to his country made him a national hero in Japan and became the basis for a Werner Herzog novel. And when your story is weird enough to land on Herzog’s radar, you’ve turned loyalty into something closer to a deranged endurance sport.
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke
Hailed as “the greatest knight to be found in all the world,” William Marshal was a model of loyalty in medieval England, serving under four kings. Through civil wars, political turmoil, and even King John taking two of his sons as hostages, Marshal never went against the crown, underlining his unshakable sense of duty. (In a complete 180, on his deathbed King John trusted Marshal to protect his son Henry III, and he was appointed regent of the kingdom until Henry came of age.) In an era defined by shifting allegiances and self-serving betrayals, Marshal built a legacy on an appropriately noble principle: You honor the oath you swore, no matter how messy things get.
Joan of Arc
Can loyalty be born out of divine intervention? A teenage peasant with no military training, Joan of Arc claimed that she was guided by visions from the archangel Michael, Saint Margaret, and Saint Catherine to help Charles VII save France from English tyranny. True to her word, when the French court handed her an army, Joan of Arc helped lift England’s nearly seven-month siege of the city of Orléans. After Charles’s coronation, Joan of Arc was captured by Burgundian troops and handed to the English, who tried her for heresy before she was burned at the stake. Even as Charles refused to intervene in her execution, Joan of Arc’s devotion to her country never wavered. History has been kind to her ordeal—no less an authority than the pope has anointed Joan of Arc a patron saint of France. Très bien.
William Wallace
The inspiration for the Oscar-winning historical epic Braveheart, William Wallace’s loyalty is, ironically, embodied by an act of rebellion. During the First War of Scottish Independence, Wallace refused to swear fealty to King Edward I and led an armed resistance, most famously defeating English forces at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297. That defiance made Wallace a hero to the Scottish people—and an existential problem for everyone trying to keep the peace. Wallace refused to compromise, rejected political maneuvering, and kept fighting even as support fractured around him. Captured by the English and executed for treason in 1305, he was transformed from rebel to martyr, and from martyr to myth. As Scotland continues to reckon with independence from the United Kingdom, Wallace remains an evocative symbol of uncompromising conviction.
Honorable mentions: King Leonidas I, Richard D. Winters, Socrates, Clara Barton, the 47 rōnin
The Canines
Lassie
The dog that put rough collies on the map, Lassie is defined by her guiding principle: If something goes wrong, it’s her job to fix it. Across decades of the LCU (Lassie cinematic universe), Lassie responds to human incompetence with immediate, tireless action—running miles to summon help, rescuing children from danger, and generally doing the work of several people with opposable thumbs. She epitomizes canine loyalty, selflessly putting herself in harm’s way because it’s the right thing to do. Hang her collar in the rafters.
Ghost
In Game of Thrones, direwolves are to House Stark as dragons are to House Targaryen: There’s a deep, sacred bond between each family and its animal companion. Of course, Thrones being Thrones, it’s also meant that many direwolves have been slain along the way to inflict maximum trauma on characters—and audiences. Thankfully, we’ll always have Ghost. Jon Snow’s faithful canine companion, Ghost has had his owner’s back from their early days at the Night’s Watch, when he warned him about the White Walker that tried to kill Lord Commander Mormont. Despite this, Jon didn’t always seem to want Ghost around, which might be a by-product of Thrones using nearly its entire CGI budget on dragons. Rest assured, Ghost: The North remembers your loyalty, as does every viewer.
Toto
Would Dorothy have ever made it back to Kansas if it weren’t for Toto? Thrust into the Land of Oz by a tornado, Dorothy meets devoted friends across her journey—the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion—but her true ride or die is that little cairn terrier. It’s Toto, after all, who exposes the Wizard of Oz as a fraud, pulling back the curtain to reveal that he’s just an ordinary man. In a world full of smoke, mirrors, and con artists, Toto's loyalty is the one thing that never needs to be questioned. Home is where the heart is—and there’s no place like being by Toto’s side.
Chewbacca
The trusty sidekick of Han Solo, Chewbacca owes his life to the Corellian smuggler for breaking them out of an Imperial prison. Ever since, Chewy’s paid Han back—and then some. Through all types of adversity—including smuggling spice for Jabba the Hutt and joining the Rebel Alliance—Chewy has been the ultimate copilot, constantly putting himself in danger because, to invoke another multibillion-dollar franchise, you never turn your back on family. (Least of all when they’re frozen in carbonite.) Despite his heroics, it feels like Chewy’s loyalty hasn’t always been appreciated—one of the franchise’s greatest sins was when the Rebels failed to award Chewy with a medal at the end of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. No matter: Chewy may not technically be a canine, but he is proof that good boys do exist in a galaxy far, far away.
Hachikō
If you’re unfamiliar with the story of Hachikō, I hope you’ve got some tissues handy. An Akita Inu, Hachikō was adopted in 1924 by an agricultural professor, Hidesaburo Ueno, who regularly took the train to work; Hachikō would wait at Tokyo’s Shibuya Station until he came home. Sadly, Ueno died of a cerebral hemorrhage just 16 months after adopting Hachikō, but the dog never stopped going to the station. Hachikō continued waiting for nine years—despite being ignored, shooed away, and occasionally mistreated by onlookers and station staff—until his story gained national prominence, symbolizing the type of fidelity that makes dogs such special, loving companions. Hachikō has since been immortalized with a statue outside Shibuya Station: a fitting tribute to a dog whose love and loyalty never faded.
Honorable mentions: Gromit, Old Yeller, Argos, Air Bud, my uncle’s chocolate lab Apollo
