Traditionally, females in fiction tend to be portrayed as secondary characters, side-kicks, plot devices, and prop pieces. On the occasions that they're allowed a moment in the spotlight, it's often in service of literally anything and anyone but herself and her own character development.
But sometimes...
Sometimes we get a female character that is unapologetic in her strength, her growth, her mission, her development—her badassery.
Reddit user Boat3000 asked:
"Who's the most badass fictional female character of all time?"
So here's to these inspirational bits of awesomeness. To the female characters who kicked down doors, who stomped all over expectations, and who changed their worlds.
We love a baddie around here.
Hard To Disagree
"Toph Bei Fong"
-Meringuas
"Toph will wreck absolutely ANYBODY's sh*t, bar none, from ANY fictional universe, and will dish out mad shade while doing so."
"Lara croft? Killed in seconds."
"Sarah Connor? Destroyed."
"Samus? Commander Sheppard? GLaDOS? All absolutely stomped."
"Toph is the G.O.A.T"
- --Ty--
"She was already the G.O.A.T. as a small, blind, and 'helpless' little girl. She became an absolute legend and force of nature as an adult."
"Nobody even remotely challenged Toph - except maybe Twinkle Toes, but that was only until she learned from him and I'm pretty sure half the reason she adored Aang was BECAUSE he was a challenge."
- [Reddit]
"And she’s just allowed to keep that strength!"
Avatar The Last Airbender GIFGiphy"A lot of other stories would have ‘humbled’ a character who claimed to be the best, put them up against someone stronger and/or forced them to use other abilities and admit that they clearly weren’t that great. Not Toph."
"Toph is the best. We see how much she worked to get to her level, how much completely deserved confidence she has in herself, and the show doesn’t punish her for taking pride in that."
"And even with her incredibly strength, Toph is under no illusions about her limits. She might be a bit petty about it sometimes because it irks her, (“you think I can’t put up posters on my own?!”) but she knows there are things she can’t do and it would be stupid to pretend otherwise."
"She had issues admitting that to others sometimes, but she gets better about it."
"And she never lost touch with her basics or failed to connect with people so far under her level-even when she was first training Aang, she wasn’t tough on him because she was so advanced she couldn’t dumb it down for him."
"She was tough because that’s what he needed. Earth is hard, stubborn, unyielding, just like her, and just like Aang needed to understand to master it."
- Faiakishi
The Influence
"Ellen Ripley is mine."
"I remember when Captain Marvel came out, my cousin said that he was glad to see that there was finally a strong female character that his daughters could look up to."
"I legit almost sent him a picture of her saying "Ellen Ripley would like a word with you."
-jarrettbrown
"ELLEN RIPLEY ELLEN RIPLEY ELLEN RIPLEY"
- Fr00gie
"I initially came here to say Samus Aran."
"But since Metroid’s biggest direct influence is Alien, Ellen Ripley is, in fact, the correct answer."
- squarefan80
Giphy"I Am No Man"
"How has nobody said Eowyn?"
-LeakySpaceBlob
"A young woman, fully mortal, from one of the races of man with the least amount of Numenorian Blood or Blood of the Gods."
"All but alone on a battlefield, standing atop the body of her Lord - her Uncle and father figure - faces down a powerful Immortal Sorcerer King who has been the death of beings magnitudes more powerful than her (and she knows it) as well as entire nations."
"Her horse is dead, her arm is broken, her shield rent asunder; but she still stares him in the eye and spits a defiant cry to the winds."
"And she does what no man can: she slays the Witch King and saves her Lord's body and soul."
-Kiyohara
"I am no man!"
- wine_traveler
lord of the rings GIFGiphyUnstoppable Machine V. Unstoppable Machine
"There are many bada** female characters in fiction, but I would have to say Sarah Connor from the Terminator movies is one of the most bada**."
"She is a strong and determined woman who does whatever it takes to protect her loved ones and fight for what is right. She is a survivor who has endured many challenges, and she never gives up."
-Oliverbay512
"I can still remember her fighting that liquid terminator. Two unstoppable machines."
- HabitualTheater
Linda Hamilton Ok GIF by Terminator: Dark FateGiphyXena AND Lucy
"Xena The Warrior Princess would hand everyone in this comment section their own respective arses and then back flip outta there."
-ACalcifiedHeart
"Let's be honest, Lucy Lawless should probably be on this list just as herself. Every character she's played is stronger and badder than the last."
"Xena, Domina in Spartacus, that rando background chick in Spider Man - all of them bad."
- [Reddit]
"Aiyaiyaiyaiyaiyai /flip /flip /chakram /flip."
- Olly0206
Xena Warrior Princess Punch GIFGiphyBaby Baddie
"Lyra Belaqua from His Dark Materials."
"She is so young but willing to risk death to save a friend, travels between universes to find her father, has her soul torn away, travels to a place where no mortal has stood and gives up the only person she has ever loved."
-CanCharacters
Bbc One GIF by BBCGiphyAll thanks to her
"Jyn Erso."
"She gave the Death Star plans to Leia. Without her the rebellion would not have taken the empire down."
- Halos123u.
"No Jyn. No Future."
"Any and every Star Wars fan needs to acknowledge how pivotal Jyn was for everything! Give that woman her flowers!"
- [Reddit]
rogue one GIF by Nerdist.comGiphyShe's a 100
"Octavia Blake from the 100"
-aelinivanov
"What makes her amazing? Most aggressive female characters are poorly written and they're always either ethical and moral or just punch people for no reason in skimpy clothing, they always feel so simple and one dimensional."
"What I love about Octavia is that she's flawed, she has emotions, she has a backstory, she has motives to do what she does, she makes mistakes, she's her own person and she feels real."
-[Reddit]
show the 100 season 2 GIFGiphyThe Secretary-General
"Chrisjen Avasarala from The Expanse."
-CurtKline
"Her character is wicked smart, straight to the point, and knows how to navigate social politics to keep herself out of the spotlight."
"Despite all of her bad-a**ery, she still has weaknesses. She hates losing. She comes apart when she gets frustrated."
"Avasarala is a wonderfully nuanced character, and Shohreh Aghdashloo does an amazing job playing her. I think she's a fantasitic role model for girls and young women."
-Razur
The Expanse GIF by Amazon Prime VideoGiphyAI Alpha
"Cortana is hugely badass in all Halo games she's in except 3."
"She's basically the smartest living being on the human side, and she's far more of an active protagonist than even Chief."
"Also, I just love hearing her speak."
-ClassyJacket
happy miss you GIF by XboxGiphyCelebrating girl power with Reddit is always fun, but we are more interested in who YOU want to shine the spotlight on.
Sound off in the comments and give your favorite fictional femme the applause she deserves.
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