Adding my vote for Ellen Ripley.
There are others that come to mind from more obscure movies I've watched more recently, like the women in Grandma (2015), Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020), and even Men (2022), also non-fictional women like those in Kokomo City (2023). There are so many more I can picture in my mind but can't put my finger on the movie and or am just shit with names so I can't think of them right now, but might come back to update.
Literally the first name that popped into my head when I saw the question. There are plenty of other good choices, but she has to be near the top of any list.
Incidentally... am I having federation issues? This is the only comment I see mentioning Ripley. I see 11 comments currently...
Linda Hamilton - Terminator
I had to say something different, because I would have said Ripley first.
+1 for each of those, and i'll add clarice starling, uhura, michael burnham, Evelyn Quan Wang (everything everywhere all at once), helen lyle (candyman)
From T2. Sarah Conner from the first movie barely has enough sense to keep herself alive, but boy did she take her short comings seriously between movies.
Captain Janeway from Voyager ❤️
She's strong, but is anybody who loves coffee that much truly independent?
She'll independently recycle your matter into more coffee.
Ellen Ripley. Under pressure she steps up and does what needs doing. Whether that means operating a loader, comforting a child or making monsters extinct.
Kim Wexler from Better Call Saul 😍
I came here to mention her. She should be a case study on how to write believable, badass and strong characters
Ellen Ripley from the Alien series.
Lieutenant Ellen Ripley.
Leela from Futurama
Trillian from hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. People see the book as satire but she really knew where her towel was.
Ripley
Captain/Admiral Kathryn Janeway
Roberta "Bobbie" Draper from The Expanse was the first to jump into my head.
No love for the bad bitch Agent Dana Scully?
Sarah Connor
Couldn't tell you why, but my mind went straight to Wonder Woman.
Ripley
Major Matoko Kusanagi from the Ghost in the Shell series.
Buffy. I was the right age (or maybe a bit too young) when it aired and it was the first female-led show that I fell in love with.
Aloy from the Horizon games was my first thought.
Xena
Zoe, Inara, Kaylee, and River. Mic drop.
Can't believe princess Leia hasn't been mentioned yet.
"What the hell are you doing?" "Somebody has to save our skins. Into the garbage chute flyboy!"
Lol
Zoe from Firefly, Tiffany Aching from Discworld are two that come to mind
Korra and Toph from Avatar, Tsunade and Sakura from Naruto
Captain Janeway
Agnes Nutter, Good Omens.
Alternatively, "The most powerful person in Discworld is Granny Weatherwax"
Hermione Granger because I read so little fiction that this is the first woman (?) that comes to mind.
Not the first that comes to mind, but I have to add Nausicaa into the mix. She shows her strength through nothing but kindness and determination, without the need for violence or cold cruelty. A frightened critter bites her, and she endures the pain to keep soothing it without interruption. Ripley's a badass, but she'd never be able to do that.
Clobberella from Futurama.
But I rather prefer to read about real strong women. Like scientists, nobel prize winners, political figures and people of (contemporary) history. Or I just consume their content if they're an author, comedian or content creator.
Lara Croft
For me, I respect female characters who are written strong but not mean or "buff". Your character doesn't need to be a dick or on steroids to be strong. A strong person can be kind and compassionate, just not capitulate under pressure. I also don't believe being "independent" means you can't love someone and lean on them in times of need, it just means you aren't defined by the relationship.
Nobody in particular stands out, but a thought I had a while back is that Game of Thrones was one of the rare pieces of modern cinema with a host of great female characters who, for the most part, actually had to put in effort to earn their status rather than just being born with it.
My girlfriend ):
Xena Warrior Princess
The bride from kill bill.
The first one I thought of was Mara Jade.
Fuck you Disney!
No one has mentioned Princess Leia. Does she qualify? She later became a general but I haven't seen that episode.
All the characters I recognize in this thread are primarily written by men. That can't be good. I haven't seen Barbie though.
Alt: Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?
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