Noble
A noble is a member of a nobility, which is a member of a kingdom's royalty. Feckin' Nobles. Due to this, nobles are the richest louts in a kingdom, having plenty of money, land, and usually soldiers under their control. Due to the fact that they own most of the kingdom's resources, nobles are the most influential and powerful people in the land, normally in charge of settlements, estates, and industries. Because nobles own everything they need to survive, the commonfolk must follow their whims and decrees, for better or for worse.
Nobles who aren't completely drunk on power know that peasants need him as much as he needs them (after all, without peasants, who's gonna work for you to generate money and pay you taxes?), so they do their best in keeping the people happy, or at the very least treat them like human beings. Those who're on an eternal power trip usually don't last long when the peasants have had enough and decide to rebel en masse.
Nobles in Fantasy
When the word "nobles" comes to mind in fantasy settings; the stereotype for them is the rich folk who lives it up like a pre-revolution French king while his peasants and guards do everything for him. This is only a half-truth, as while nobles can be as decadent as they wish since they can afford to do so, even noble classes partook in combat. A simple example are the Knights, who are nobles but are popular in many settings for their elite combat prowess.
Nobles throughout world history were notorious for exploiting their power to oppress the common populace, so they were usually good as enemy leader fodder in fantasy settings where the nobles continued to live a life of unparalleled luxury while the people lived in constant hardship due to him either short-changing the people on resources or taxing them to unfair levels to maintain his growing treasury. Perhaps this type of noble is no more evident in Dorf Fortress, where every living soul despises them for requesting the most luxurious and expensive goods and accommodations and will jail a worker if they fail to appease him (regardless if he's one of your most valuable, skilled workers). This type of attitude however, happens to have a particularly hilarious side-effect of them meeting "unfortunate accidents" at an unprecedented rate.
That said, the "common touch" Lawful Good noble who stands aloof from his kinsmen because of his just policies and good management is an equally-popular subject in fiction. Sadly, settings that involve strife means that a goody-two-shoes noble is highly susceptible to assassinations and chronic backstabbing attempts by rival nobles who're after his fortunes.
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