Which fictional character comes to your mind first when someone says strong, independent woman?
Which fictional character comes to your mind first when someone says strong, independent woman?
Can be from any kind of media.
For me it's Margot from The Magicians (which is interesting because in the books she is anything but) and Jesse Faden from Control.
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...
Incidentally… am I having federation issues? This is the only comment I see mentioning Ripley. I see 11 comments currently…
I see 36 comments, mine and 3 others mention Ripley, so yeah, probably a federation issue.
Don't think I've seen that review of Alien before. Thanks for sharing it.
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.
True. I was speaking generically, but yeah, she was quite fragile in the first.
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.
I’m addicted to coffee so I understand her very much.
I was a young child in a Trekkie house when that show aired. I think that helped me think of women in authority as just a normal thing.
I also wrote Janeway. Why did I have to scroll so far down to find another?
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.
Samantha Carter from Stargate SG1
I rewatch that series every few years, it's awesome, in no small part thanks to Sam.
Ellen Ripley from the Alien series.
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
Totally agree. She feels like a Dostoevsky character. Not a character, at all, just...a person. Totally believable.
So timely for me... I love that character and just rewatched Better Call Saul! She is very attractive, even referenced for that trait multiple times in the show, but they never actually sexualize her. Across ~4000 final hours of show footage, her character was all about her work ethic, her intelligence, and her loyalty. Do you realize how rare that is for a modern young, attractive female character!? Rhea Seehorn is an amazing actor...
Ellen Ripley. She will wreck your shit and yeet you into space.
Leela from Futurama
Lieutenant Ellen Ripley.
Trillian from hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. People see the book as satire but she really knew where her towel was.
She was a real frood, even a hoopy, if you will.
Ripley
Roberta "Bobbie" Draper from The Expanse was the first to jump into my head.
Avasarala is my pick
That’s funny. I also posted Naomi Nagata. While I like Chrisjen and Bobby more, I think Naomi wins for strong independent. General of the resistance, self-marooned insurgent, and the escape of the Chetzmoka.
Came here to say Avasarala.
Cara gee portraying as Camina Drummer.
I think expanse has good characters that work as strong women.
Captain/Admiral Kathryn Janeway
Ripley
Sarah Connor
Major Matoko Kusanagi from the Ghost in the Shell series.
No love for the bad bitch Agent Dana Scully?
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.
Couldn't tell you why, but my mind went straight to Wonder Woman.
Conditioning.
Xena
Zoe from Firefly, Tiffany Aching from Discworld are two that come to mind
Aloy from the Horizon games was my first thought.
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, Inara, Kaylee, and River. Mic drop.
Pippi Longstocking
Great answer
Agnes Nutter, Good Omens.
Alternatively, "The most powerful person in Discworld is Granny Weatherwax"
Samus came to mind immediately
Korra and Toph from Avatar, Tsunade and Sakura from Naruto
Chandler Bing
Wow I haven't watched that show in ages, but I totally remembered that bit!
Captain Janeway
Hermione Granger because I read so little fiction that this is the first woman (?) that comes to mind.
assuming that "strong independent woman" being in the title of the original post counts as someone saying it
Susannah Dean and Naomi Nagata
She got that Detta Walker energy
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 from the first "Tomb Raider" movie, played by Angelina Jolie.
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.
Xena Warrior Princess
Lara Croft
My girlfriend ):
Oof
Same :(
Metroid/Samus Aran
She’s almost always on her own dealing with a horde of alien enemies but does it well.
Though, she does have a bad habit of losing her suit’s features and abilities on nearly every mission she’s on lol
Insane that I had to scroll this far down to find Samus mentioned
The bride from kill bill.
Ron Swanson
"Woman of the Year!"
Risa Hawkeye from Fullmetal Alchemist
Lana ″LANAAAAAAAAAA″ Kane from Archer
Alt: Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?
The first one I thought of was Mara Jade.
Fuck you Disney!
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.
- Bastila Shan from KOTOR
- Mustang from Red Rising
- Rita from Groundhog Day
- Hermione from Harry Potter (if only JK respected ALL women)
- Dottie from A League of Their Own
- Mulan from Mulan
- Ellie from The Last of Us Part 2
- Freya from God of War
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.
For me, Commander Ivanova from Babylon 5. Like the rest of the characters, she wasn't perfect, but she was so strong.
Only Brits or BBC International viewers will know this character but Catherine Cawood from Happy Valley.
And obviously Ellen Ripley, Dana Scully and Sarah Connor.
Major General Olivier Mira Armstrong from Fullmetal Alchemist
Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Tiffany Aching.
About half the cast of Fullmetal Alchemist (Olivier Mira Armstrong, Izumi Curtis, Riza Hawkeye, Winry and Pinako Rockbell, Lan Fan, Mai Chang, Chris Mustang... and I'm sure I'm missing some).
Oh, and friggin' Chell, of course. Makes you almost feel sorry for GLaDOS.
Granny Weatherwax
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No one has mentioned Princess Leia. Does she qualify? She later became a general but I haven't seen that episode.
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All the characters I recognize in this thread are primarily written by men. That can't be good. I haven't seen Barbie though.
That was my thought too. Princess Leia is a complete badass and my first time seeing a woman in that such a depiction on any screen.
On point number two, I mean that’s probably because most industries, especially media, have been dominated by males for decades and are just now having more female presence in the last decade in greater, more pronounced roles and numbers.
Well I mostly meant the characters themselves are male projections as a result. So they are effectively dudes with curves a lot of the time. I'm having trouble thinking of exceptions who aren't caretaker types like Deanna Troi. I probably don't read enough contemporary fiction.
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So the absolute first that comes to mind is a joke answer: Strong Woman, the vice Principal from South Park.
The actual answer is Phryne Fisher
Hyacinth Bucket (ITS BOUQUET)
He might be a doormat, but she'd be utterly lost without Richard. As such, I can't agree she's entirely independent.
Adding to this, she's also too concerned about what other people (her social betters not her family) think of her to be truly independent. She is strong, however.
Princess Cimorene from the Enchanted Forest Chronicles
Very good chocolate cake recipe from that series. Very chocolatey.
To me, this is one of the most fully realized female characters in science fiction (at least):
My fiancee insists that if we ever have a daughter that we're naming her Aeryn. I'm fine with that. Hell, I'm the one who introduced her to the show lol
As a parent myself, might I suggest using that as her middle name.
When we named our two boys, we chose classic yet timeless names for their first, but did have some fun with their middle names. (and NO, they are not named "Ben" and "Will". My god, I actually know 6 families that have two boys with those names). That way, we got to name them something fun, but they had good classical first names they could go by through out their lives. Our boys were born during the height of what I call the "din" period. Where a lot of babies have names that ended with some derivation of "din", "dyn", "den" or something along those lines.
There is a very good reason why there is an entire subreddit on that other site called "/r/tragideigh".
I'm really liking the evolution of Shallan Davar in the Stormlight Archives at the moment.
Margot was so awesome. Really loved that show.
Edit: Well, I loved the first three seasons, anyway. 😑
The latter seasons were worse, but I still loved those. But yeah, Margot and Elliot were simply awesome.
First who popped into my mind was Friday Jones from Robert A. Heinlein's Friday.
I love that book.
Ignoring the shit show that is Rings of Power, Galadriel, Luthien, Arwen, Eowyn, and Nienna.
Mirko!
Margot is also amazing, but she's not independent IMO. She's very emotionally hooked. Not in a bad way, mind you. She's like a shounen protagonist who screams for 5 episodes because her friend was threatened and somehow a nation collapses as a result.
I mean, no one is really independent, but women in fiction tend to be very dependent on men as (almost) their primary personality trait.
I loved Margot because she was as independent as anyone in real life can be. She did her own thing, helped her friends, let her friends help her, fucked up, owned it and fixed it (most of the time, anyway).
All the characters were very realistic (well, if you ignore the magic).
I mean emotionally independent. Margot had some serious needs. Functionally she's totally independent. Probably all of them except Fen were.
Mirko from the popular My Hero Academia anime/manga series.
She doesn't take crap from anyone and fearlessly goes into battle.
High King Margot is a great answer
For me, I thought of Linda Carter’s Wonder Woman and then Captain Rachel Garrett, commander of the USS Enterprise, 1701-C
Garnet (Steven Universe)
Someone already said Susannah Dean so I'm gonna go with Roz from Frasier
Cate Blanchett's portrail of Elizabeth I (who I know was real, but I'm sure there was some creative license with the character).
Off the top of my head - all of Lady Parts, Lydia West as Jill Baxter in It's a Sin, Toni Collette as Muriel and Rachel Griffiths as Rhonda in Muriel's Wedding, Parminder Nagra as Jess in Bend It Like Beckham, Milla Jovovich as Leeloo in The Fifth Element, Natalie Portman as Evey in V for Vendetta
Diana Taverner from Slow Horses.
Veronica Palmer from Better Off Ted.
Hetty Lange
Caska from Berserk
Miss Marple.
Lauren Oya Olamina, from Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents. Strong, independent, and wise enough to know that there's strength in community.
The Boss, MGS
Not Big Boss, the man with the eye patch and is a bad guy, the woman who taught him and the mother of Ocelot
She was such a badass woman that she inspired basically everyone around her to try to mold the world in the way they thought she saw it. Shes a great example of a woman/mother who's a badass directly because of the skills normally associated with those roles. Yeah, she can fight and kick your main characters ass, but that's mostly because she's spent time nurturing him and caring for him to the point where he emotionally cannot fight her. She regularly disarms strong, imposing men (some with superpowers like lightning channeling) by just looking at them sternly and implying she's about to call them by all 3 of their names in a disapproving tone
Time and again she does badass things while she's alive, and her death is technically the catalyst for the rest of the series as those who loved and admired her try to shape the world as she saw it, which isn't even something she herself did because of her loyalty to her country.
Oh and she's voiced by the same woman who does Pearl from SpongeBob, which is wild
Taarna
Nest Freemark
Joan Holloway from Mad Men- she at the very least has the evolution of a woman rising to independence while in a world built around suppression of women. A lot of characters from that show are badass ladies at different stages of independence though.
Appsros character in Abberation
Agatha Heterodyne from Girl Genius.
And a lot of her friends too.
Elastigirl
Susan Sto Helit Aka the lady Susan Death.
Tina Fey. And I don’t care that she’s not fictional. She’s a badass and needs to be recognized. But if I had to play by the rules…
Liz Lemon.
Because shes played by someone I admire.
Hachikuji Mayoi from monogatari series.
Senjougahara Hitagi from monogatari series.
Deishuu Kaik-- oops you didn't read that.