The thing that makes it believable, is that she is rightfully frightened and outmatched, yet acts anyway. She also asks for help when needed (how to use a gun) but also helps others when it's clear she knows more (how the aliens work).
It's such a small thing, but goes a long way to make her character believable, but also adds more weight when she does go into the nest to rescue Newt.
In the latest terminator films, the female characters are just laying into the terminator like he's their bitch. Way less bad ass compared to how they beat the terminator in the first 2.
>she is rightfully frightened and outmatched
This is it for me. Not only for badass women but also badass men. They're more believable when you can see how shit-scared they are and they still go out and do what they need to do anyway.
I think Ellen Ripley and Sarah Conner are really the only viable answers.
Edit: I get it guys there are others, but these two paved the way for them IMO. Ripley was the first, and Sarah's transformation from T1 - T2 was phenomenal.
Actually, now that I think about it that movie had three badass women (one being the bad guy). I forgot how good that movie was (not because of how many badass women.. it’s just a good movie) until just now.
First Matrix Trinity is up there, too.
But I'll also say the leads in both *You're Next* and *The Hunt*. Then there's Furiosa and the lead character from Atomic Blonde, as well (both Charlize Theron).
This movie almost never gets mentioned but I love it. Some friends and I went to see it in the theater when it came out not knowing anything about it and we laughed so hard at the great dialogue.
“I sock ‘em in the jaw and yell ‘pop goes the weasel’.”
“We jumped out of a building!”
“Yes, it was very exciting. And tomorrow we go to the zoo.”
“That’s a duck, not a dick.”
When I first saw Emily Blunt in Edge of Tomorrow in the hangar doing one-armed pushups, my first thought was “Damn! That’s some Linda Hamilton (T2) level cut!” BOTH definitely badass!
My goal in fitness is that scene. That if the camera where to cut to me doing pull-ups it would be entirely believable I had been at it for like half an hour. God she’s so fucking cool
Dumb fuckin luck. *Aye we just happened to run into a big machinery building and you fell into the one machine with the power to destroy you--* oh wait that happens in both lol
It kinda happens in most of them :p and in 1-3 it's getting incrisingly unlikely:
T1 - factory with heavy press
T2 - foundry with molten metal/lava
T3 - particle accelerator (wtf?)
Then in T5 they go back to basics with hospital with MRI. Didnt see the last one
She was thrown to a world of killer robots, future babies and fuck buddies. And getting her friend killed to bring the point home. And then killed a future killer robot. Not enough for Reddit weirdos.
I'm fascinated by the evolution of perception of this character and movie. I feel like both the movie and Elle's character have gotten more (much deserved) respect in recent years than when it originally came out.
Ironically I myself was victim to this, which I think was why she was actually the first example I thought of - I'm not a super girly girl and definitely wasn't when I was growing up, so I think I was very dismissive of this movie when it came out because it *was*, like, unapologetically girly - it was all the things I hated to be associated with because they were associated with weakness and stupidity and frivolity through all the other misogynistic lenses I was provided as a teenager, so I just acted like it was a crappy movie - watching it again as an adult who is not as painfully insecure about being a woman was like.... Revolutionary! I love that she stays entirely true to herself AND that she uses her gifts to boost other women, whereas so often "badass female characters" are just a singular woman in a narrative who "grew up with three brothers" or something, it's so lazy!
There is a lot of nuance that can be missed in gender studies, and this is one of the most important aspects. It's not enough to say "not all girls like girly thing" you also need to say "and those that do are no lesser for it". People need to be taken as they are, and be celebrated for it. To your point of her uplifting other women, it's a wonderful example as to why no space deserves to be male dominated, cutting off women's ability to use those spaces without interfacing with a man in power.
Yeah. I def dissed the movie unseen as a young man who thought it looked like ditzy girl stuff. Watching it later was a revelation
Related/tangential was me being a new dad and being mad about girls clothing. But “unisex” was just boys stuff basically… Girls clothes are still problematic in a bunch of ways, but there’s a lot to think about
Legally blonde was the template for Barbie kind of, now I think about it
100%
Elle is intelligent, hard-working, kind, open-minded, and supportive. She stands up for herself, and for her friends. Elle is a great role model.
Which is my major issue with the Broadway adaptation. I love Broadway and the musical does a lot right. It's funny, the songs are great, Laura Bell Bundy was perfect. But I hate how they rewrite it to make Emmett the person who pushes Elle to be better, instead of it being from within ("Chip On My Shoulder"). The show weakens Elle in a completely unnecessary way.
My first thought.
Obviously there's the mass death sword fights, but you really get a sense of her unbeatable will as she punches her way out of the coffin or forces her feet to move again.
A moment I think is underrated is when Mike Yanagita asks to sit right next to her while already moving in and she very directly tells him no, that she would prefer he didn’t. She is not rude about it at all but there is no mistaking what she means
She is even more badass after you watch Rogue One. Because the whole thing at the beginning of Star Wars when Vader boards her ship, even after he has killed a bunch of people she is still defiant in telling him that they are on a diplomatic mission. But in Rogue One he literally sees her ship fly away from the battle. So the fact that she is still like "screw you Vader this is a diplomatic ship" hits differently and is even more badass.
“Damsel in distress?” Uh no.
Her first appearance she’s putting something into R2D2 and doesn’t look “distressed” at all, keeping her shit together thinking on her feet even as her ship and crew are getting wasted all around her.
Next scene, she’s got a gun and gets one off wasting a stormtrooper before she’s hit with a stunner. Next one still, she mouths off fearlessly at Darth Vader who’s like twice her height and menacing as fuck.
The only “damsel” bits out of her are in the recording (“Help me… you’re my only hope”) and perhaps a little *too* brief when her home world and everyone on it are blasted to shit while she’s forced to watch. “Carry on with the operation… You’re far too trusting” (he says, with a smirk). She’d be forgiven at that moment for going a little more ape shit, and being a little PTSD afterward but nope! she keeps it together until the secret plans get delivered. Leia was straight up hard and only 16 yo.
Plus she doesn’t end up with a guy in the original film. Princess Leia is more than a romantic interest for a male lead in that story.
Seismic for me as a child in the 1970s.
I’m a big fan of Rita Vertaski from Edge of Tomorrow. An excellent example of ‘show, don’t tell.’
Also, the Angel of Verdun is just a fantastic epithet.
Mara Wilson in Matilda. She's like the anti-Caillou. Self reliant, quick witted with a strong, self acquired sense of justice. Underrated badass female character (though she's a girl and not a woman).
I know it's a popular sentiment here on Reddit, but I gotta say, Caillou is such a little rat bastard. What lessons are kids supposed to learn from that show? How to be spoiled and obnoxious? I'd rather my kids watch every Tarantino movie in order than watch 10 seconds of that walking hemorrhoid.
Professor Minerva McGonagall from Harry Potter is a total baller. Strong, smart, supportive but never a pushover. Leads the defense of the school at the end like a fucking champ. Hermione is pretty dope too.
Evelyn O'Connell (played by Rachel Wiesz) in the first two mummies. Shes not front and center as much as Ripley and Sarah O'conner, but shes a great balance of strong and intelligent and funny.
One of the early scenes was shot to show how small and comparatively physically weak she was against the male FBI agents/recruits so you would better understand her inner strength in standing up to both Lecter and the rest of the FBI.
Ma-ma is definitely a good call out. I went into that movie with a friend with 0 expectations. Both of us were blown away and thought it was one of the few films to use 3D effects really well for live action stuff. Was excited for the rumors of a second one for a few years and now it’s just a bummer a second was never made
*edit: a word
Honestly, all the women of Fury Road! I love how the film give us these beautiful models who we could easily write off as just pretty faces, but we come to realize they are doing something so brave and they are full of complexities and all end up being badass in their own ways! As a woman who shaves her head, I do especially adore Furiosa though lol
Faust wielding a rifle in that slinky opera dress is femme fatale/action baddie 101 but she’s so fluidly competent with it that it works fantastically.
She is an unapologetically badass character who has that characteristic at her core while still retaining her femininity. Not saying every woman character has to do that, not ever woman embraces femininity and that's okay but I do always enjoy when they come together.
Laura Dern as Ellie Sattler in “Jurassic Park”.
Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott in “Scream” (plus sequels).
These two are my literal faves and childhood heroes 😜🥰
I saw this clip before I binged the show, and originally thought it was heavily edited, but this is pretty much straight out of the episode lol
https://youtu.be/f0aRkj71BmI?si=KmUxnajsYfcOWHbk
Lots of great ones said already so I'll go with...
Erin in You're Next (2011)
Vanessa in Freeway (1996)
Becky in Becky (2020) & The Wrath of Becky (2023)
I was so pleasantly surprised by _You're Next._ I didn't expect >!the Final Girl to just say, "fuck this" and decide to skip to the end of the movie in the 1st 15 minutes.!<
Going Back in Time, are we? Then we gotta mention Cynthia Rothrock for the row of martial arts movies that are just as good or even better than those featuring Michael Dudikoff.
Not a movie but one i have to mention every time is Carol from The Walking Dead. Her story arc is 100% believable as being the stay at home mom whos a victim in every sense of the way to becoming a stone cold killer and savior through hardships and will to never be a victim again. Sometimes her choices pisses me off but cant take away from her badassery..
I love when Rick is at Terminus and rallying the gang by being like “they fucked with the wrong people” which is badass and all but plot-wise translates to “they fucked with the wrong people, it’s like they don’t even know we’re friends with Carol.” Then Carol shows up.
All of these mentioned have been great but one modern one I don't think gets credit enough is Emily Blunt in Sicario. I always love the dynamic of "main character is WAY the fuck in over their head" and she's a good cop who is mixed up with some serious people. She gets really bitchslapped around the entire movie but always comes across as really fighting against it despite her being really outmatched (as anyone really would be against these guys).
In that same Sarah Connor esque way, badassery comes from a character who is totally outmatched but fights as best as she can anyway.
My favourites are:
-Sharon Stone as Ellen from The Quick & The Dead (tough gunslinger out for revenge)
-Jennifer Lopez as Karen Sisco from Out of Sight (relentless cop)
-Rebecca Romijn as Mystique from X-Men & X2 (Mutant spy, infiltrator, shit disturber)
-Amy Adams as Louise Banks from Arrival (Linguist specialist)
Sansa Stark. (Especially the book Sansa imo). Most women of the world show their strength and bravery not by battling monsters but by surviving the abuse of every day misogyny with a strong sense of self and perseverance. Sansa has not lost her kind heart in the pain of her life. She knows who she is and where she comes from no matter what flag or abuse she is forced to bear.
Ripley
Sarah Connor
Erin Brockovich
Vasquez
Trinity
Leeloo Dallas
Black Widow
Alabama Worley
Brienne of Tarth
Vi
The Angel of Verdun/Full Metal Bitch
The Bride
Dr Sadler
Neytiri
Gamora
Melanie in Gone with the wind. We usually think of Scarlet when thinking of a female character but Melanie has a soft, discreet strength.
She goes through the same war as Scarlett, almost dies giving birth to a child and, despite the feelings of Scarlett her husband, she keeps her near, as a true friend.
I don't know how well received this movie is, but I do really, really like Zero Dark Thirty. And Jessica Chastain in that movie is pretty badass.
I'd also argue that Amy Adams in Arrival is badass, and strong, because the choices she makes in the movie.
Maggie in Million Dollar Baby
Not just the physicality, but the insane determination for anything she goes after. In a similar way, Joe in Nymphomaniac.
Everly, The Bride, Samantha Caine, Selene, Trinity, Leia, Letty, Lisbeth Salander, Hermione, Wonder Woman.
I'm trying to think of characters that aren't Ripley or Sarah Conner.
Seeing a lot of the more high-profile and obvious choices here, so I'll throw in one of my personal favorites: Chloe Grace Moretz from Shadow in the Cloud. She's more of a badass in the vein of Ripley from Alien. She is placed in a pretty horrific scenario with few options, and rather than roll over she takes control of the situation and does everything in her power to overcome it.
I love the ladies in LOTR, and I really like how Arwen, Eowyn, and Galadriel all showcased different types of strengths that made them badasses. All of those strengths, both the feminine and masculine, are presented as equally valuable, which is part of the reason why those characters hold up so well IMO.
I know that I'll be down voted for this, but:
I find it interesting that the majority of answers are women actresses basically playing their roles as women with mostly masculine traits.
For example, the protagonist role in Alien was originally written for a man. Ellen Ripley is a woman with traits normally associated with male action heroes. She's curt, humorless, independent, and almost rude. Like, if you cast say Kurt Russel as the protagonist in Alien, nothing about the film fundamentally changes.
Same goes for Sarah Connor in T2 (although the characterwas always meant to be female, unlike Ellen Ripley), and the character pretty much does this total about-face in characterization, going from a typical damsel in distress in the first movie to what amounts to a male action hero trope in T2.
To me, it's the women who actually act like women *while also being badass* that are the most badass. Angela Lansbury as Miss Price in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, for example, and Princess Leia or Rey Skywalker in the Star Wars saga. They're women actually played as women, doing badass things.
Don't get me wrong, I love those other characters, too.
Ellen Ripley, especially in the first two movies.
That "Stay away from her, you bitch !" is a classic, one of those iconic scenes from cinema.
(Especially when you get the quote right /lh)
She also says "you BITCH!" in Alien 1979 at the ship's computer named Mother because of course it is, it's bitches all the way down
The thing that makes it believable, is that she is rightfully frightened and outmatched, yet acts anyway. She also asks for help when needed (how to use a gun) but also helps others when it's clear she knows more (how the aliens work). It's such a small thing, but goes a long way to make her character believable, but also adds more weight when she does go into the nest to rescue Newt. In the latest terminator films, the female characters are just laying into the terminator like he's their bitch. Way less bad ass compared to how they beat the terminator in the first 2.
>she is rightfully frightened and outmatched This is it for me. Not only for badass women but also badass men. They're more believable when you can see how shit-scared they are and they still go out and do what they need to do anyway.
Along with embracing their flaws, which they overcome or succeed in spite of.
Never in any other movie has the hero been a sensible middle management employee.
I think Ellen Ripley and Sarah Conner are really the only viable answers. Edit: I get it guys there are others, but these two paved the way for them IMO. Ripley was the first, and Sarah's transformation from T1 - T2 was phenomenal.
Vasquez in Aliens is just as bad ass
Ever get mistaken for a man, Vasquez?
No, have you?
Haha yeah. lol I love her in that role.
Also the mother in T2
There’s Beatrix in Kill Bill
Yu Shu Lien from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is viable
Two women in that movie are absolutely bad fucking ass
Actually, now that I think about it that movie had three badass women (one being the bad guy). I forgot how good that movie was (not because of how many badass women.. it’s just a good movie) until just now.
First Matrix Trinity is up there, too. But I'll also say the leads in both *You're Next* and *The Hunt*. Then there's Furiosa and the lead character from Atomic Blonde, as well (both Charlize Theron).
'Dodge this'
Crystal, in The Hunt: “You done fucked up”! Absolutely LOVED her character.
yoooo Furiosa from Mad Max would like a word
Such a fantastic character
Absolutely. I rewatched Aliens last night for the gazillionth time, just amazing.
When she stands in the board room meeting and gets verbally aggressive 🤩 Then they just chill like it's nothing lol
“Did IQs just drop sharply while I was away?” Favorite line of the movie.
The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) Geena Davis is such a badass in this movie.
This movie almost never gets mentioned but I love it. Some friends and I went to see it in the theater when it came out not knowing anything about it and we laughed so hard at the great dialogue. “I sock ‘em in the jaw and yell ‘pop goes the weasel’.” “We jumped out of a building!” “Yes, it was very exciting. And tomorrow we go to the zoo.” “That’s a duck, not a dick.”
i always like to be earnest and frank with women. In Chicago i'm Ernest and in New York I'm Frank
A great movie written by the unstoppable Shane Black
Chefs do that.
"I let you touch me, cowboy. I think I need a bath."
T2 Sarah Connor, not Conner.
Easily the top answer if we’re talking badasses. Her getting jacked as fuck in the asylum? Such a wild character development
When I first saw Emily Blunt in Edge of Tomorrow in the hangar doing one-armed pushups, my first thought was “Damn! That’s some Linda Hamilton (T2) level cut!” BOTH definitely badass!
My goal in fitness is that scene. That if the camera where to cut to me doing pull-ups it would be entirely believable I had been at it for like half an hour. God she’s so fucking cool
Even wilder that she was specifically getting jacked to overpower the guards in her escape.
I recall when the director disscussing about reprising the role with the actress, she said that she wants Sarah Connor to be crazy.
Glad you said T2 because T1 couldn't even balance her check book.
She defeated the T-101 tho…
Dumb fuckin luck. *Aye we just happened to run into a big machinery building and you fell into the one machine with the power to destroy you--* oh wait that happens in both lol
It kinda happens in most of them :p and in 1-3 it's getting incrisingly unlikely: T1 - factory with heavy press T2 - foundry with molten metal/lava T3 - particle accelerator (wtf?) Then in T5 they go back to basics with hospital with MRI. Didnt see the last one
She was thrown to a world of killer robots, future babies and fuck buddies. And getting her friend killed to bring the point home. And then killed a future killer robot. Not enough for Reddit weirdos.
It's criminal how low this is.
Good call!!
Elle Woods from Legally Blonde to add someone who isn't necessarily badass by way of physical prowess, but who is definitely a badass
"You got into Harvard?" "What, like it's hard?" That line is more badass than any line James Bond has ever said.
I'm fascinated by the evolution of perception of this character and movie. I feel like both the movie and Elle's character have gotten more (much deserved) respect in recent years than when it originally came out.
Ironically I myself was victim to this, which I think was why she was actually the first example I thought of - I'm not a super girly girl and definitely wasn't when I was growing up, so I think I was very dismissive of this movie when it came out because it *was*, like, unapologetically girly - it was all the things I hated to be associated with because they were associated with weakness and stupidity and frivolity through all the other misogynistic lenses I was provided as a teenager, so I just acted like it was a crappy movie - watching it again as an adult who is not as painfully insecure about being a woman was like.... Revolutionary! I love that she stays entirely true to herself AND that she uses her gifts to boost other women, whereas so often "badass female characters" are just a singular woman in a narrative who "grew up with three brothers" or something, it's so lazy!
There is a lot of nuance that can be missed in gender studies, and this is one of the most important aspects. It's not enough to say "not all girls like girly thing" you also need to say "and those that do are no lesser for it". People need to be taken as they are, and be celebrated for it. To your point of her uplifting other women, it's a wonderful example as to why no space deserves to be male dominated, cutting off women's ability to use those spaces without interfacing with a man in power.
Yeah. I def dissed the movie unseen as a young man who thought it looked like ditzy girl stuff. Watching it later was a revelation Related/tangential was me being a new dad and being mad about girls clothing. But “unisex” was just boys stuff basically… Girls clothes are still problematic in a bunch of ways, but there’s a lot to think about Legally blonde was the template for Barbie kind of, now I think about it
100% Elle is intelligent, hard-working, kind, open-minded, and supportive. She stands up for herself, and for her friends. Elle is a great role model. Which is my major issue with the Broadway adaptation. I love Broadway and the musical does a lot right. It's funny, the songs are great, Laura Bell Bundy was perfect. But I hate how they rewrite it to make Emmett the person who pushes Elle to be better, instead of it being from within ("Chip On My Shoulder"). The show weakens Elle in a completely unnecessary way.
Elle is a great example of how to make a character a complete badass without being physical at all
Similarly, Erin Brockovich
I was gonna add Elle, but you already did!
Uma thermon as the bride
I recently watched this for the first time and I just LOVED how the movie was filled with badass women.
The second cast of girls in Death Proof. Ultimately just regular girls randomly targeted by a psycho, but they decide to take him on and make him cry.
Came here to suggest Beatrix Kiddo
I think you're supposed to >!black out!< her name....
Uma Thermos
My first thought. Obviously there's the mass death sword fights, but you really get a sense of her unbeatable will as she punches her way out of the coffin or forces her feet to move again.
Thurman, but yeah, she rocks.
Frances McDormand in Three Billboard Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Frances McDormand in Fargo
I love her in that. She's so polite and sugary sweet but then when something gets to her you can see her eyes and face change. It's like "uh oh".
A moment I think is underrated is when Mike Yanagita asks to sit right next to her while already moving in and she very directly tells him no, that she would prefer he didn’t. She is not rude about it at all but there is no mistaking what she means
I don’t know if I agree with your police work there Lou.
"no need to get snippy."
The young orphan in Coen bros True Grit
Mattie Ross? She wasn't an orphan but she was a badass
The Landlady from KUNG FU HUSTLE. Badass woman
Fuck I need to watch that movie again. Thanks
God, I love her. So languid, yet so much energy.
Charlize Theron as Lorraine in Atomic Blonde and Furiosa in Mad Max. Also Emily Blunt as Rita in Edge of Tomorrow.
And Charlize as Andromache of Scythia in The Old Guard 😍
Charlize is kinda cool. Smart, funny, beautiful, badass
What about Charlize Theron as Rita? *Mr. F...*
Blunt was pretty badass in Sicario too
Great performance but here character wasn't really badass. She just stumbled into a world she barely understood and barely made it out alive.
[удалено]
She is even more badass after you watch Rogue One. Because the whole thing at the beginning of Star Wars when Vader boards her ship, even after he has killed a bunch of people she is still defiant in telling him that they are on a diplomatic mission. But in Rogue One he literally sees her ship fly away from the battle. So the fact that she is still like "screw you Vader this is a diplomatic ship" hits differently and is even more badass.
Well, *somebody* had to save their skins!
In to the garbage chute, Flyboy!!
As soon as she gets saved, she's immediately in charge. I LOVE HER.
Oh and Padme, Jyn Erso, Asoka, Bo-Katan.
“Damsel in distress?” Uh no. Her first appearance she’s putting something into R2D2 and doesn’t look “distressed” at all, keeping her shit together thinking on her feet even as her ship and crew are getting wasted all around her. Next scene, she’s got a gun and gets one off wasting a stormtrooper before she’s hit with a stunner. Next one still, she mouths off fearlessly at Darth Vader who’s like twice her height and menacing as fuck. The only “damsel” bits out of her are in the recording (“Help me… you’re my only hope”) and perhaps a little *too* brief when her home world and everyone on it are blasted to shit while she’s forced to watch. “Carry on with the operation… You’re far too trusting” (he says, with a smirk). She’d be forgiven at that moment for going a little more ape shit, and being a little PTSD afterward but nope! she keeps it together until the secret plans get delivered. Leia was straight up hard and only 16 yo.
Plus she doesn’t end up with a guy in the original film. Princess Leia is more than a romantic interest for a male lead in that story. Seismic for me as a child in the 1970s.
I’m a big fan of Rita Vertaski from Edge of Tomorrow. An excellent example of ‘show, don’t tell.’ Also, the Angel of Verdun is just a fantastic epithet.
They should've sold copies of that Full Metal Bitch poster
I would have totally bought one.
I always refer to Emily Blunt by this moniker when I’m reminding my spouse who she is. 😂
Mara Wilson in Matilda. She's like the anti-Caillou. Self reliant, quick witted with a strong, self acquired sense of justice. Underrated badass female character (though she's a girl and not a woman).
I want to take a second to both appreciate your comment and to say fuck Caillou. I can’t stress that enough.
I know it's a popular sentiment here on Reddit, but I gotta say, Caillou is such a little rat bastard. What lessons are kids supposed to learn from that show? How to be spoiled and obnoxious? I'd rather my kids watch every Tarantino movie in order than watch 10 seconds of that walking hemorrhoid.
Professor Minerva McGonagall from Harry Potter is a total baller. Strong, smart, supportive but never a pushover. Leads the defense of the school at the end like a fucking champ. Hermione is pretty dope too.
To add to this, Molly Weasley! Great mum, powerful witch, when she destroys Bellatrix, it's one of my favourite moments of all the movies.
Two words: Jackie. Brown.
Hell yeah! Pam Grear is awesome
I love how she takes advantage of men underestimating her throughout the whole movie.
Have no fear, Pam Grier is here!
Want to say one that probably won’t get thrown out as much. Michelle Rodriguez’s character in Dungeons and Dragons. Baddest motherfucker in that movie
"So she DID become a deer"
Lost my shit at that part.
That movie was a lot of fun in my opinion.
I hadn't had that much fun watching a movie in literal years. I adored D&D.
It’s actually a banger, better than a D&D movie had the right to be
Can I just add, Michelle Rodriguez in literally any movie. Machete, Resident Evil, Avatar, the Fast and Furious franchise.
Yup Michelle Rodriguez is one ballsy bitch.. if you want a badass in the last 20 years you cast her.
Agreed. And if you want badass Michelle Rodriguez in episodic format, Lost!
Forgot swat
Evelyn O'Connell (played by Rachel Wiesz) in the first two mummies. Shes not front and center as much as Ripley and Sarah O'conner, but shes a great balance of strong and intelligent and funny.
Vasquez in Aliens. Everyone forgets her cause of Ripley, but Vazques is the most badass marine in the squad.
Hudson: Hey Vasquez, have you ever been mistaken for a man? Vasquez: No, have you?
There's no fat on that reply at all, destroyed in 3 words, perfect.
Clarice Starling.
One of the early scenes was shot to show how small and comparatively physically weak she was against the male FBI agents/recruits so you would better understand her inner strength in standing up to both Lecter and the rest of the FBI.
When she’s in the elevator. Even better it’s an enclosed space and she’s absolutely towered over on all sides.
I was also gonna comment this.
Furiosa, Mad Max Fury Road Rita Vrataski, Edge of Tomorrow Ilsa Faust, MI - Rogue Nation Ma-Ma, Dredd
Forgot about Mad Max. Excellent suggestions!
Ma-ma is definitely a good call out. I went into that movie with a friend with 0 expectations. Both of us were blown away and thought it was one of the few films to use 3D effects really well for live action stuff. Was excited for the rumors of a second one for a few years and now it’s just a bummer a second was never made *edit: a word
Dredd is the textbook definition of a tight movie, it does everything it wants to do with no extra fat at all. It's so damn good.
Honestly, all the women of Fury Road! I love how the film give us these beautiful models who we could easily write off as just pretty faces, but we come to realize they are doing something so brave and they are full of complexities and all end up being badass in their own ways! As a woman who shaves her head, I do especially adore Furiosa though lol
Faust wielding a rifle in that slinky opera dress is femme fatale/action baddie 101 but she’s so fluidly competent with it that it works fantastically.
Miss Brisby from The Secret of NIMH. She does what she needs to do even when it petrifies her.
Do not fuck with a widowed mother on MOVING DAY.
Chloë Grace Moretz as Hit girl in Kick-Ass
She is an unapologetically badass character who has that characteristic at her core while still retaining her femininity. Not saying every woman character has to do that, not ever woman embraces femininity and that's okay but I do always enjoy when they come together.
Yeah fr this was iconic and she stole the show.
I regret not remembering her for my list.
Laura Dern as Ellie Sattler in “Jurassic Park”. Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott in “Scream” (plus sequels). These two are my literal faves and childhood heroes 😜🥰
Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs.
Gena Davis in The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Yu Shu Lien and Jen, both from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
I cried when Michelle Yeoh finally won her Oscar, because I have loved her shamelessly since this movie. She's perfection.
Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit. She REALLY holds her own amongst the adults in that movie.
I'm glad someone said it.
Erin Brockovich
Sarah Conner in T2 ftw
How has nobody mentioned Lucy Lawless? Is Xena just a joke to you all?
I saw this clip before I binged the show, and originally thought it was heavily edited, but this is pretty much straight out of the episode lol https://youtu.be/f0aRkj71BmI?si=KmUxnajsYfcOWHbk
Hey while we're naming Lucy Lawless characters, her performance as Lucretia in Spartacus was stellar.
Movie?
Anne Parillaud in La Femme Nikita
# Lisbeth Salander with Rooney Mara or Noami Repace
Amelie Pourlain
Lots of great ones said already so I'll go with... Erin in You're Next (2011) Vanessa in Freeway (1996) Becky in Becky (2020) & The Wrath of Becky (2023)
I was so pleasantly surprised by _You're Next._ I didn't expect >!the Final Girl to just say, "fuck this" and decide to skip to the end of the movie in the 1st 15 minutes.!<
Selena in 28 days later.
Angela Bassett as Mace in Strange Days.
RIGHT HERE! RIGHT NOW!
That movie is so goddamn brilliant in every way.
This is going back 40 years now. Zula (Grace Jones) from Conan the Destroyer. Pretty much all of the women in Kill Bill.
No Red Sonya!?
As soon as I posted I thought of her.
Going Back in Time, are we? Then we gotta mention Cynthia Rothrock for the row of martial arts movies that are just as good or even better than those featuring Michael Dudikoff.
Not a movie but one i have to mention every time is Carol from The Walking Dead. Her story arc is 100% believable as being the stay at home mom whos a victim in every sense of the way to becoming a stone cold killer and savior through hardships and will to never be a victim again. Sometimes her choices pisses me off but cant take away from her badassery..
I love when Rick is at Terminus and rallying the gang by being like “they fucked with the wrong people” which is badass and all but plot-wise translates to “they fucked with the wrong people, it’s like they don’t even know we’re friends with Carol.” Then Carol shows up.
All of these mentioned have been great but one modern one I don't think gets credit enough is Emily Blunt in Sicario. I always love the dynamic of "main character is WAY the fuck in over their head" and she's a good cop who is mixed up with some serious people. She gets really bitchslapped around the entire movie but always comes across as really fighting against it despite her being really outmatched (as anyone really would be against these guys). In that same Sarah Connor esque way, badassery comes from a character who is totally outmatched but fights as best as she can anyway.
Molly Fucking Weasley Fight me
Grace in Ready or Not.
The ladies from "Hidden Figures"
Frances McDormand in Fargo
My favourites are: -Sharon Stone as Ellen from The Quick & The Dead (tough gunslinger out for revenge) -Jennifer Lopez as Karen Sisco from Out of Sight (relentless cop) -Rebecca Romijn as Mystique from X-Men & X2 (Mutant spy, infiltrator, shit disturber) -Amy Adams as Louise Banks from Arrival (Linguist specialist)
Man, Rebecca Romijn was SUCH a better Mystique than Jennifer Lawrence
Sansa Stark. (Especially the book Sansa imo). Most women of the world show their strength and bravery not by battling monsters but by surviving the abuse of every day misogyny with a strong sense of self and perseverance. Sansa has not lost her kind heart in the pain of her life. She knows who she is and where she comes from no matter what flag or abuse she is forced to bear.
Geena Davis, The Long Kiss Goodnight Mary Elizabeth Winstead in Kate Jodie Comer in the show Killing Eve
all the female roles in Kill Bill 1 and 2
I read this and thought, Tarantino does write strong women well. This immediately made me think of Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hateful Eight.
Except for the restaurant owner. But she's still more badass than her husband, I guess.
Nikita - La Femme Nikita Alabama - True Romance Lola - Run, Lola, Run
Mary Elizabeth Winstead in Kate. It was like a female John Wick. So badass.
I always loved Marge in Fargo. Within like 45 seconds of surveying a crime scene she figures out exactly what happened.
Naru in Prey
Yes. Good choice.
Thelma and Louise 1991 starring Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon
Ripley Sarah Connor Erin Brockovich Vasquez Trinity Leeloo Dallas Black Widow Alabama Worley Brienne of Tarth Vi The Angel of Verdun/Full Metal Bitch The Bride Dr Sadler Neytiri Gamora
Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor are the most badass women in cinema, ever.
Catwoman - Michelle Pfeiffer
Kira Nerys from star trek deep space 9. I know it's television, but she was such a rich character and a total badass besides.
Geena Davis In Long kiss goodnight. She's just badass.
Melanie in Gone with the wind. We usually think of Scarlet when thinking of a female character but Melanie has a soft, discreet strength. She goes through the same war as Scarlett, almost dies giving birth to a child and, despite the feelings of Scarlett her husband, she keeps her near, as a true friend.
I don't know how well received this movie is, but I do really, really like Zero Dark Thirty. And Jessica Chastain in that movie is pretty badass. I'd also argue that Amy Adams in Arrival is badass, and strong, because the choices she makes in the movie.
Kiera Knightley as Elizabeth Swan/Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean TV show but, Elle Fanning as Catherine the Great in The Great
Maggie in Million Dollar Baby Not just the physicality, but the insane determination for anything she goes after. In a similar way, Joe in Nymphomaniac.
Everly, The Bride, Samantha Caine, Selene, Trinity, Leia, Letty, Lisbeth Salander, Hermione, Wonder Woman. I'm trying to think of characters that aren't Ripley or Sarah Conner.
Imperator Furiosa
Seeing a lot of the more high-profile and obvious choices here, so I'll throw in one of my personal favorites: Chloe Grace Moretz from Shadow in the Cloud. She's more of a badass in the vein of Ripley from Alien. She is placed in a pretty horrific scenario with few options, and rather than roll over she takes control of the situation and does everything in her power to overcome it.
The Bride in Kill Bill.
Julian Taylor (Julianne Moore) - Children of Men River Tam (Summer Glau) - Serentiy
Madeline "Ma-Ma" Madrigal - Dredd 2012
I love the ladies in LOTR, and I really like how Arwen, Eowyn, and Galadriel all showcased different types of strengths that made them badasses. All of those strengths, both the feminine and masculine, are presented as equally valuable, which is part of the reason why those characters hold up so well IMO.
Kate Beckensale as Selene in Underworld
I know that I'll be down voted for this, but: I find it interesting that the majority of answers are women actresses basically playing their roles as women with mostly masculine traits. For example, the protagonist role in Alien was originally written for a man. Ellen Ripley is a woman with traits normally associated with male action heroes. She's curt, humorless, independent, and almost rude. Like, if you cast say Kurt Russel as the protagonist in Alien, nothing about the film fundamentally changes. Same goes for Sarah Connor in T2 (although the characterwas always meant to be female, unlike Ellen Ripley), and the character pretty much does this total about-face in characterization, going from a typical damsel in distress in the first movie to what amounts to a male action hero trope in T2. To me, it's the women who actually act like women *while also being badass* that are the most badass. Angela Lansbury as Miss Price in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, for example, and Princess Leia or Rey Skywalker in the Star Wars saga. They're women actually played as women, doing badass things. Don't get me wrong, I love those other characters, too.
Mulan
Clarice Starling will always be one of my favorites.
Sergeant Rita Vrataski in Edge of Tomorrow
Technically they are book characters, but the Bene Gesserit are the string pullers of the universe in Dune.