25 Most Badass Fictional Female Characters

Chances are if someone isn’t on this list its likely because I either haven’t seen the Movie/TV/Gameplay, simply forgot to include them, or didn’t think they were worthy enough. There were a lot of Ehhh characters that I excluded. This list is based off of not just Badassness, but competition among other characters in their perspective fields and all around courageousness, not just combat/fighting.

25 Reggie Rocket – Rocket Power – TV

Reggie is often overlooked when we talk about the Nickelodeon show Rocket Power. Most guys think they connect with Otto at first because he’s the best at everything. Others like Twister because he’s the comic relief, and Squid is the nerdy, “I’ll try my best but I need to do my homework first” type of character. Reggie is just as good at street hockey than her older brother Otto. She’s the Tomboy type, an amazing surfer, great snowboarder, a rad rollerblader and one of the more responsible characters in the show.

I grew up in the Northeast of the US so my options of surfing and extreme sports were not readily available. So I lived vicariously through this show and envied their lifestyles. Reggie was so elite at everything I couldn’t even imagine what she would turn out to be when older. I imagine the female equivalent to Johnny Tsunami.

24 Romona Flowers – Scott Pilgrim vs. The World – Movie

Scott Pilgrim vs The World is the type of movie that you either love or hate. I love the quirkiness and bizarreness mixed with the wild characters and individual humor associated with them. Romana is the only woman on Earth where in order to date her, you have to fight to the death against her 7 evil Ex’s. Imagine having to do that? Now that’s a commitment like no other.

She’s got some pretty cool hair, in this picture it’s pink, she also dyes it blue. I never dated a girl who dyed their hair a color that is wild like that. She can also hold her own fighting against her once estranged Ex’s. Would I go through the trouble of doing that to date a girl? I would for one of the women in the Top 3…

23 Max Caufield – Life is Strange – Videogame 

Life is Strange is a badass game. You play as a high school senior named Max at a private photography and art school, who discovers she has the power to rewind time. Throughout the game, your supposed to make decisions that have major impacts on the outcome of the story. Some decisions have consequences and you can rewind time to change them or play it out.

Max is included on this list because she’s the average high school girl with insecurities and  obstacles to overcome. Then she is given the power to rewind time and change the world for the better or worse. Put yourself in her shoes and what would you do? I think every one can relate and think about something we did at one point or another when we wish we would of acted differently.

22 Eliza Thornberry – The Wild Thornberry’s – TV

Eliza has the ability to talk to animals but she can’t tell anybody she can or else she loses her power forever. Eliza travels the world with her parents who are wildlife filmmakers, her pet Chimp Darwin, her younger brother Donnie and her older sister Debbie.

Eliza takes it upon herself to help baby Cheetah cubs find their parents, fight off poachers hunting elephants, searching for treasure at the Galapagos Islands, while often finding themselves all across Africa in an amazing adventure each episode.

People always ask what superpower they wish they had, and my answer is always, “To be able to talk to animals”.

21 Elizabeth Jennings – The Americans – TV

Elizabeth and her husband Phillip, are both Soviet Intelligence operatives, living in Washington DC during the Cold War posing as a married couple, who relay information about the American Government. Elizabeth has balls. Elizabeth’s balls are so big that I’m embarrassed I’m typing this sentence. Her next door neighbor is a freaking FBI agent. Hiding in plain sight, Disturbia style.

It’s such a bizarre sequence, I feel guilty rooting for her. She’s the enemy dammit! But at the same time, I don’t want her to get caught. She’s sneaky, she’s confident and she’s calculated. She’s also very pretty and here is a Pro-tip, to all the CIA agents reading my blog, hire pretty women, you’re welcome. Matt you’re a genius and definitely not an idiot. 

20 Lilo – Lilo & Stitch – TV

The story of a little creature created by genetic experimentation and bound to prison with his evil creator. Stitch escapes and heads for Earth where he tries to impersonate a dog and gets adopted by Lilo, whom, bent on self preservation, he plans to use as a human shield to protect himself from the aliens sent to recapture him. But without a greater purpose in life, no friends, family, or memories, Stitch does a little soul searching and begins to understand the meanings of “love” and “family” and his feelings for Lilo begin to change – IMDb

Lilo thinks she adopted a crazy aggressive dog who turns out to be an alien from outer space Wanted by gun-toting aliens sent to take him prisoner? Lilo is a little Hawaiian girl who fights off aliens with her new friend. Anybody who decides to protect him rather than hand him over immediately to the government is somebody I want on my side whenever the apocalypse hits.

There are actually quite a few younger girls on this list because age doesn’t matter when it comes to being a Badass. “Ohana means family: family means no one gets left behind or forgotten”.

19 Tigress – Kung Fu Panda – Movie

Tigress would punch trees and stone to the point where she can break rocks without it hurting her hands, she’s numb to it. An elite fighter, one of the best of the Furious Five. Destined to be the next Dragon Warrior, she’s been training her whole life for the job. Until a goofy panda comes along and snags it from her grasp.

Tigress brushes herself off, and decides to help train the lumpy ol’ bastard named Poe and guide him along showing off her expertise and skills in which he later acquires. Tigress is a mental giant for this and is also a fierce warrior. Poe wouldn’t be nearly as successful without her by his side. Tigress intimidates me, she intimidated the damn future Dragon Warrior, she’s not somebody to be messed with.

18 Elena Fisher – Uncharted Series – Videogame

Elena Fisher: Foreign Correspondent, TV Personality, Journalist, Treasure Hunter, Smokeshow, Badass. That’s how she should introduce herself to new people at parties. Every time. Just be that girl. She won’t seem conceded at. all. She’s married to fellow Treasure Hunter Nathan Drake who is badass in his own right, he’s like Indiana Jones but not as awesome (he’s awesome, but nobody’s cooler than Indy).

Every guy needs a ride or die chick. You ever see that scene from the movie The Town where Ben Affleck walks in and says “I need your help. I can’t tell you what it is and you can never ask me about it later, and we are gonna hurt some people.” In which Jeremy Renner’s character replies, “Whose car we taking?” That’s Ellie Fisher.

17 Selene – Underworld Series – Movie

Selene’s title: Vampire Death Dealer. I wish I had some cool badass title. People mostly call me Matt or my last name. I did go as Moon Unit on Twitter for a few days but that got old fast.

Selene’s eyes and this picture are supposed to be creepy and vampirery, but it actually makes her more attractive. I guess I just have a thing for women who dual-wield pistols with lightning fast quickness dealing death to all the vampires in the room. People used to call me Day Walker, hey Selene, Sup? This Blade reference is going to make everyone cringe, including myself when I forget about typing this and come back to edit this, but leave it in instead.

16 Mulan – Mulan Movie 

Mulan secretly joins the Chinese Army under the disguise of her weak and frail father suffering from wounds from previous wars, because she fears he won’t come back, becoming one of the greatest heroines to ever live.

Mulan is without a doubt, a First Ballot Hall of Fame warrior. First she was disowned as a Chinese women because she wasn’t the ideal bride. Then she decided to impersonate her father and fight in his honor. Mulan can shoot you between your eyes at a 100 yards with an arrow or slice and dice you up close, doesn’t matter, it’s not gonna be pretty for you.

15 Clarice Starling – Silence of the Lambs – Movie

Remember when I said Elizabeth had “balls” from The Americans? Clarice goes into a house with a psychopath, in the dark, without any back up, with the intent of killing this maniac before he kills her or his next victim. Her adrenaline must having been firing times a trillion because I think I’d pass out in this scenario.

Clarice is fresh out of the FBI’s academy. She’s a newbie, yet she sits down with a known serial killer who’s popular for manipulating everyone he comes into contact with. Clarice is seeking guidance from him through a glass wall where he’s incarcerated in hopes of catching another serial killer who skins his victims.

Do I need to go any further?

14 Eleven – Stranger Things – TV

Eleven is such an impressive character and young actress (Millie Brown), only 12 years old, yet has the ability to dominate even the most powerful forces against her. Eleven is named after the number tattooed on her arm. I know Stranger Things is relatively new and to avoid spoilers I just want to say that she deserves to be on this list. Season Two here we come!

13 Astrid Hofferson – How to Train Your Dragon – Movie

Astrid is similar to Tigress. Tigress thought she’d be the next Dragon Warrior, Astrid thought she’d be the first among her friends to kill a dragon to become a Viking Warrior. Like Tigress, Astrid was passed over, for a shy, unconfident Viking named Hiccup who had a lot of potential.

And like Tigress, Astrid took it in stride (reluctantly at first) and was among one of the first Vikings to ever be able to tame and train a dragon, then fly it. Astrid becomes one of the best new Viking warriors and has proven herself every opportunity she’s seen. Look for her to continue being a badass in the next film of the series coming out in 2018.

12 Kim Possible – Kim Possible! – TV

Kim Possible and her sidekick and best friend Ron were the Mac & Cheese of TV. Kim Possible the crime fighting badass, Ron the clumsy comic relief often just there for moral support, though he helped when it counted, so that’s all that matters. The best message from this show was if you be yourself, then you can do anything. 

Kim is a regular popular high school student and cheerleader by day, and saving the world by night using her cool gadgets made by her friend Wade, fighting with her impressive ninja skills, while we all laugh and enjoy the ride. “Call her, beep her if you wanna reach her”, Kim Possible is also the first person to ever own a smart phone.

11 Princess Leia – Star Wars – Movie – RIP Carrie Fisher

Stereotypical princesses don’t fight, or at least they’re not supposed to.

That’s the princes job. Until one day Princess Leia stepped onto the battlefield when she was old enough to make an impact, fearlessly leading a rebellion against the Empire and ending the fight, one Blaster shot at a time.

Princess Leia is the leader’s leader. She’s dynamic, she can choke you to death for being too forward or she could become a friend though not being able to communicate through the same language. She’ll out charm you, out style you, force out the will to fight against her, and smile while doing it. A true bad bitch, and one of the baddest of them all.

10 Ellie – The Last of Us – Videogame

Ellie is a 13 year old who has been living in a militarized quarantined zone in Boston, Massachusetts, where she’s been shielded from the outbreak. Then one day she must fight for her survival with her new partner Joel, as they scrounge the city for supplies, weapons, and shelter.

The story shows the maturity and progression through Ellie’s young life as she copes with the hardships of her newfound life. Joel helps mentor her, though sees the challenges because of the environments they find themselves in. Ellie is young teenager who must learn how to take care of herself, fight off bandits, and kill those who are infected. Ellie is somebody that everybody can relate to especially connecting with both her flaws and unique personality traits.

Anybody who can survive in this world is a badass, especially if they are only a teenager with no friends or family to go through something as mentally and physically exhausting as that.

9 Trinity – The Matrix – Movie

“Dodge this, BANG!” Trinity is a computer hacker who will end your life financially speaking, then roundhouse kick you into next week. Trinity doesn’t just have a cool name, she has the impressive skills to back it up. She uses every weapon in the arsenal, but her most valuable is her mind. She’ll outsmart you and be thinking two steps ahead, until your dead.

8 Fiona Glennanne – Burn Notice – TV

Fiona, better known as Fi, is Michael Weston’s (right) “Triggy happy ex-girlfriend”. She can get her hands on any weapon or explosive due to her previous career being a weapons dealer. She takes jobs as a bounty hunter, though not officially. She is a CIA intelligence asset and a former member of the Provisional IRA. Now she works with Michael a burned CIA Agent, Chuck Finley a former Navy SEAL and former FBI agent, and Jesse another burned CIA Agent.

While juggling jobs, using their skills to help people. They often find themselves interacting and avoiding the likeliness of people from their past.

Fi is known for her Go Big or Go Home mentality. She’s gonna bring the big guns and you better hope you’re not on the receiving end of it. She’ll charm you to make you trust her, then blow your head off when you double-cross her.

7 Harley Quinn – Suicide Squad/Batman – Movie/Comics

Two things make me fearful of you: If you’re absolutely insane and unpredictable. Harley Quinn is both of these things. She carries a baseball bat around like she’s Ted Williams in anticipation to smash your face across third base (….). She’s also very nimble, which creates problems for those fighting her.

She’s the lover of The Joker, which should confirm her craziness, other than all the other shit she does. They are often together and not far from each other, so if they are near you, RUN!

6 Hermoine Granger – Harry Potter – Books/Movies

Harry and Ron would be fucked if it wasn’t for Hermoine Granger. Just like she would be without them. She’s very book smart and can handle her own problems when they come about. What’s most adored is her cleverness, wittiness and loyal nature to her friends.

She is very competent and an impressive young witch. She’s awesome and I want to go watch Harry Potter now.

5 Clementine – TellTale’s The Walking Dead – Videogame

Clementine went from an innocent 1st grader to a zombie killing machine in just a few months. She’s survived and lost everybody in her group more times than she cares to disclose. She has been through unimaginable loss in her short life and is jaded because of it. She’s afraid to form new relationships, because they often don’t make it in the end.

Clementine is currently with a new group and being a badass! She’s probably 12? now and you don’t want to end up on her bad side. She still has some childlike innocence but it is buried deeply in her heart behind all the suffering she has been exposed to.

Clementine is one of the baddest fucking fictional characters, not just female characters, of all-time.

4 Alice – Resident Evil – Movie/Videogame

Alice has a tough and rugged look to her, someone who has seen a lot in her life. A once innocent and pretty young girl turned badass covert operative with superhuman abilities in her gunplay, martial arts, and jumping incredible distances. She has used a psychic ability in the past but has negative side effects because of it.

She is superb with all weaponry but because she suffers from Amnesia, she utilizes the weapons she can salvage. Bad day to be a zombie or a bandit.

3 Rita Vrataski: The Angel of Verdun – Edge of Tomorrow – Movie

Rita, home of the many nicknames, the Full Metal Bitch leads an elite unit of hardasses bent sent on killing all of the aliens called mimics before they destroy the planet. Rita has one secret, she was once able to repeat the day. That’s how she has grown to be the warrior she is.

Her bitter humor and relentless violence towards the opposing alien race is one to applaud. The only thing to make her more badass, is a heavy metal band (Play this while looking at Rita’s and reading about her) following her every move playing insanely heavy guitar riffs to accompany her deadliness.

Look at the warriors she has behind her in the above picture. #ShitYourPants-Scary. Imagine if we just had a bunch of Rita’s running around? We practically do now minus the futuristic equipment (we got some heavy hitters), and THEN having Rita attached to them would equal world domination and all those shitheads around the world would be toast!

2 Lara Croft – Tomb Raider – Videogame/Movie

You’re seeing it, I’m typing it, Lara Croft, my girlfriend jeeeeeeesus Matt, I’m such a nerd is number two on the list. Not my number one. How on Earth is this possible, would you have ever thought you’d see the day?

Lara Croft is the female equivalent of my hero Indiana Jones. Lara has a sweet British accent that makes me fall head over heels for. Other than being incredibly attractive, her adventurous pursuit for the latest and greatest artifacts to discover around the world is awe-inspiring. Most of the time she finds herself in the cruelest of environments whether it’s the brutally cold snowy mountains of Siberia, the deserts of Syria, creepy tombs and dark hideouts. Lara’s journey is always brought forth with action-packed fighting against asshole bandits, pirates, hired soldiers, and usually a few evil leaders who murder anyone in their paths.

She is a survivalist living off the land, gathering plants for medicine and wood for crafting arrows. A hunter of the animals who live around her, some who are hunting her in the process, yet her instincts are unmatched, even for predatory animals like bears, panthers, and mountain lions. Lara crafts her own weapons and learns and increases her skills as she’s collecting and finding new artifacts previously undiscovered for over hundreds of years.

I’m pretty sure they are rebooting the Tomb Raider movie franchise and replacing Angelina Jolie. In my opinion Camilla Luddington who voices Lara in the game should be the actress. I hope the casting directors don’t shit the bed and make a crucial mistake miscasting Lara. That would infuriate me, and other fans boyfriends.

1 Lagertha – Vikings – TV

Lagertha is a Viking. She is a Warrior. She is a Queen. She is a Mother. She is a BADASS. Lagertha is one of the greatest and most skilled Vikings on the show. She has the gentleness to deal with oppressed women in the Viking Age recruiting them to join her army and the kindness that comes with nurturing and teaching her young sons. She also shouldn’t be fucked with.

Betray her, she might only cut your balls off, if you’re lucky. Try to manipulate her with your charming good looks then secretly plot to kill her? She’ll charm you right back then stab you in the back when you’re least expecting it. Steal her husband and make multiple babies with him? Arrow to the back.

Lagertha is often left off of Top Badass lists, and this is partly because Vikings is a relatively new show and partly because people are morons. There is NOBODY I’d rather have by my side in a raiding party. I’d take Lagertha over Rollo, over Ragnar, over Bjorn, she is the baddest of them all.

My Top 5 would be sufficient if the zombie apocalypse, World War 3, and Aliens invaded all at the same time, and we don’t even need to include men. A child’s innocence mixed with the ferocity of a gunslinger, an incredible decision maker with great instincts for a person at any age (Clementine), A covert operative with telekinetic powers (Alice), A warfighter with skills that match any elite warfighter today (Rita) Imagine if she was attached to a battalion of Army Rangers? Fucking Mayhem would ensue… A Survivalist, Hunter, Treasure Seeker, and Bow & Arrow Expert (Lara Croft), and a Viking, Queen, Mother of Ragnar’s sons, and the most BADASS hard-charging fucking warrior anybody has ever fucking seen! 

Did I leave anyone off of the list? Probably and people will become enraged that they didn’t see somebody on here. Have a better Top 5-10-20-25? Comment below or Tweet me @TheAlbumWeb

Honorable Mentions:
Jodie Holmes – Beyond Two Souls – Videogame
Black Widow – The Avengers – Movie
Cat Woman – Batman – Comic Books/Movie
Hit-Girl – Kick-Ass – Movie
Katniss Everdeen – The Hunger Games – Movie/Books
Carrie – Homeland – TV
Imperator Furiosa – Mad Max: Fury Road – Movie
Velma – Scooby Doo – TV
Merida – Brave – Movie