List of female action heroes and villains

Further information: Women warriors in literature and culture
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
A montage of actresses who have played female action heroes.
From top left: Michelle Yeoh, Uma Thurman, Tia Carrere, Linda Hamilton, Angelina Jolie, Halle Berry, Sigourney Weaver, and Lucy Liu.
Are female action heroes truly empowering? - Dan Hassler-Forest (Utrecht University)

The following is a list of female action heroes and villains who appear in action films, television shows, comic books, and video games and who are "thrust into a series of challenges requiring physical feats, extended fights, extensive stunts and frenetic chases."[1]

Elizabeth Abele suggests that "the key agency of female action protagonists is their ability to draw on the full range of masculine and feminine qualities in ever-evolving combinations."[2]

Films

Animated theatrical films

Live-action theatrical films

Films based on comic books

See also: Superhero comics, List of superheroines, and List of female supervillains
DC
Marvel

Films based on novels

Films based on video games

Literature

Literary villains

Television

Animated television series

See also: female action heroes and villains in the section for anime.

Anime

Commercials

Video games

See also

References

  1. ^ "AllMovie Genres:ACTION". AllMovie. Retrieved 2017-07-08.
  2. ^ Abele, Elizabeth. Home Front Heroes: The Rise of a New Hollywood Archetype, 1988-1999. McFarland, 2013:132
  3. ^ "Ahsoka Tano". StarWars.com. Lucasfilm Ltd. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  4. ^ Knight, Gladys L. (2010). Female action heroes : a guide to women in comics, video games, film, and television. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood. p. 176. ISBN 978-0313376122.
  5. ^ "Sorry Katniss, Princess Fiona is still the best feminist action hero around". theweek.com. 16 December 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  6. ^ Diaz, Poehler and More: A Magical Q&A with Shrek the Third's Fab Five Princesses
  7. ^ Meinel, Dietmar. Pixar's America: The Re-Animation of American Myths and Symbols. Palgrave Macmillan, 2016: 173.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Female Action Heroes". The Boston Globe. July 9, 2004. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Bibbiani, William (November 17, 2015). "The Top Female Action Heroes in Movies". SuperHeroHype. CraveOnline. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  10. ^ Beveridge, Chris (December 22, 2014). "Discotek Media Acquires 'Iria: Zeiram The Animation' OVA License". The Fandom Post. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  11. ^ a b c "From Snow White to Brave: the evolution of the Action Princess". The Guardian. 26 June 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  12. ^ A Beginner's Guide to Ghost in the Shell
  13. ^ Różalska, Aleksandra M.; Zygadło, Grażyna, eds. (2013). Narrating American gender and ethnic identities (1. publ. ed.). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publ. p. 40. ISBN 978-1443847841.
  14. ^ "Sabine Wren". StarWars.com. Lucasfilm Ltd. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  15. ^ a b c d e f "Kick-Ass killer Hit Girl and 10 other ruthless heroines". www.cbc.ca. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Staff (Fall 2015). "Beyond Badass: Female Action Heroes". TIFF.net. Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on October 3, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i Knight, Gladys L. (2010). Female action heroes : a guide to women in comics, video games, film, and television. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood. pp. 51–55. ISBN 978-0313376122.
  18. ^ a b c d e "Why must action heroines wear S&M stripper outfits to kick butt?". The Guardian. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i Staff. "9 Amazing Female Action Heroes". fandango.com. Fandango. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  20. ^ Surrey, Miles (22 June 2018). "Blue the Raptor Is the True Hero of 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'". The Ringer. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  21. ^ Stein, Ruthe (18 February 2005). "Weaver stands alone as female action hero". SFGate. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  22. ^ Rowland, Robin (2004). "Warrior queens and blind critics." CBC News
  23. ^ "2015's Remakes, Sequels and Adaptations That Didn't Suck 12/28/2015". People. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  24. ^ Supercop as Woman Warrior
  25. ^ "Zeiramu (1991)". IMDb.
  26. ^ a b Kim, L. S. "Making women warriors: a transnational reading of Asian female action heroes in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media. No. 48, Winter, 2006.
  27. ^ Knight, Gladys L. (2010). Female action heroes : a guide to women in comics, video games, film, and television. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood. p. 245. ISBN 978-0313376122.
  28. ^ "The Silent Westerns". Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  29. ^ Howard, Adam (22 December 2015). "'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' hero Rey hailed as feminist icon". MSNBC. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  30. ^ a b "Make a woman the action hero and see how she flips the script". Washington Post. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  31. ^ Janik, Erika (26 April 2016). "CHAPTER SIX: Girl Detectives". Pistols and Petticoats: 175 Years of Lady Detectives in Fact and Fiction. Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0807039380.
  32. ^ Purse, Lisa (2011). Contemporary Action Cinema. Edinburgh University Press. p. 14. ISBN 9780748638185.
  33. ^ Sneddon, Laura (4 October 2012). "Why Dredd 3D gets women in comics right". New Statesman. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  34. ^ a b "10 Kick-Ass Female Comic Book Characters You Should Know About". Flavorwire. 15 October 2013.
  35. ^ a b c d e f g h Lamont, Kevin (April 21, 2012). "The 10 best female action heroes – in pictures". The Guardian. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  36. ^ a b c "Women run the world in Marvel's new Avengers". CNN. 6 February 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  37. ^ a b Porter, Lynnette R. (2005). Unsung heroes of the Lord of the rings : from the page to the screen. Westport, Conn.: Praeger. pp. 91–92. ISBN 0275985210.
  38. ^ a b Atkins, B. (2003). More Than a Game: The Computer Game as Fictional Form. Manchester University Press. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-7190-6365-7. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  39. ^ Cox, Virginia (2013). Lyric poetry by women of the Italian Renaissance. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 379. ISBN 978-1421408880.
  40. ^ a b "Women Are the Real Heroes of 'Game of Thrones'".
  41. ^ a b "'Game of Thrones': The 10 Greatest Heroes in Westeros". The Hollywood Reporter. 15 January 2016.
  42. ^ "Razor girls: genre and gender in cyberpunk fiction". Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  43. ^ Knight, Gladys L. (2010). Female action heroes : a guide to women in comics, video games, film, and television. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood. p. 52. ISBN 978-0313376122.
  44. ^ Bennett, Pete; McDougall, Julian (June 25, 2015). Barthes' "Mythologies" Today: Readings of Contemporary Culture (Routledge Research in Cultural and Media Studies). Routledge. p. 102. ISBN 978-1138925366.
  45. ^ "Fictional Females: Shotgun Suzie, The Nightside Series". 19 March 2017.
  46. ^ Grendel's mother#Agl.C3.A6cwif .28warrior.29 Aglæcwif (warrior)
  47. ^ a b Muir, John Kenneth (2007). A critical history of Doctor Who on television (Repr. ed.). Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 252. ISBN 978-0786437160.
  48. ^ Inness, Sherrie A., ed. (2004). Action chicks new images of tough women in popular culture. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 13. ISBN 1403963967.
  49. ^ a b Forman-Brunell, Miriam, ed. (2001). Girlhood in America : an encyclopedia (volume 2). Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. p. 665. ISBN 1576072061.
  50. ^ a b c Knight, Gladys L. (2010). Female action heroes : a guide to women in comics, video games, film, and television. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood. pp. 196–198. ISBN 978-0313376122.
  51. ^ "Girlfriends: The Magazine of Lesbian Enjoyment". Girlfriends Magazine. 1999. p. 25. Batgirl on the original Batman television series — was probably TV's first femme action hero. (She even rode a motorcycle to work and did her own stunts, garnering more than a few lesbian fans.)
  52. ^ a b Pomerantz, Shauna; Kelly, Deirdre M.; Currie, Dawn H. (2009). 'Girl power' : girls reinventing girlhood. New York: Peter Lang. pp. 43–44. ISBN 978-0820488776.
  53. ^ "Ballerina suited to role as an action figure (The Vancouver Sun)". Canada.com. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  54. ^ a b Garcia, Frank; Phillips, Mark (2012). Science fiction television series, 1990–2004 : histories, casts and credits for 58 shows. Jefferson: Mcfarland. p. 240. ISBN 978-0786469178.
  55. ^ a b c d Rogers, Dave (1989). The complete Avengers : everything you ever wanted to know about The Avengers and The New avengers (1st U.S. ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312031874.
  56. ^ a b c Stange, Mary Zeiss; Oyster, Carol K.; Sloan, Jane E., eds. (2011). Encyclopedia of women in today's world, Volume 1. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Reference. p. 19. ISBN 978-1412976855.
  57. ^ Eramo, steven (November 2000). TV Zone. p. 18.
  58. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Inness, Sherrie A., ed. (2004). Action chicks new images of tough women in popular culture. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 70–72. ISBN 1403963967.
  59. ^ Newcomb, Horace (2005). Encyclopedia of television (2nd ed.). New York: Fitzroy Dearborn. p. 2604. ISBN 1579583946.
  60. ^ "Review: 'Torchwood' Season 3 on BBC America". Los Angeles Times. 20 July 2009. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  61. ^ "'Maharakshak Devi' – superheroine lands on Indian TV". indianexpress.com. 11 March 2015.
  62. ^ Jowett, Lorna (2005). Sex and the slayer a gender studies primer for the Buffy fan ([Repr.] ed.). Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan Univ. Press. p. 20. ISBN 0819567582.
  63. ^ Knight, Gladys L. (2010). Female action heroes : a guide to women in comics, video games, film, and television. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood. pp. 2–13. ISBN 978-0313376122.
  64. ^ "27 Characters Who Took 2015 by Storm". 9 December 2015.
  65. ^ a b "30 groundbreaking female action heroes". dailylife.com.au. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  66. ^ "Take a first look at Benoist as TV's Supergirl". USA Today. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  67. ^ a b Stuart, Sarah Clarke (2011). Into the looking glass : exploring the worlds of Fringe. Toronto: ECW Press. pp. 13–14. ISBN 978-1770410510.
  68. ^ Knight, Gladys L. (2010). Female action heroes : a guide to women in comics, video games, film, and television. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood. p. 53. ISBN 978-0313376122.
  69. ^ a b Inness, Sherrie A., ed. (2004). Action chicks new images of tough women in popular culture. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 89–90. ISBN 1403963967.
  70. ^ "Interview with Katheryn Winnick (Lagertha)".
  71. ^ Reconstruction studies in contemporary culture Archived 2012-02-06 at the Wayback Machine
  72. ^ a b c Brown, Jeffrey A. (2013). Dangerous curves : action heroines, gender fetishism, and popular culture. [S.l.]: Univ Pr Of Mississippi. p. 165. ISBN 978-1617039409.
  73. ^ a b c d e f g DeTora, L.M. (2009). Heroes of Film, Comics and American Culture: Essays on Real and Fictional Defenders of Home. McFarland, Incorporated Publishers. p. 220. ISBN 978-0-7864-5143-2. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  74. ^ Edidin, Rachel. "Marvel's Agent Carter: Looking Back On The Ballsy, Brassy, Revolutionary First Season". Playboy. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  75. ^ "Atwell takes Marvel action-hero challenge seriously". USA Today. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  76. ^ Porter, Lynnette; Lavery, David; Robson, Hillary (2008). Unlocking Battlestar Galactica. Naperville, Ill.: Sourcebooks. p. 143. ISBN 978-1402212116.
  77. ^ DeTora, Lisa M., ed. (2009). Heroes of film, comics and American culture : essays on real and fictional defenders of home. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., Publishers. pp. 221–222. ISBN 978-0786438273.
    -Gentz, Natascha; Kramer, Stefan, eds. (2006). Globalization, cultural identities, and media representations. Albany: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0791466841.
  78. ^ Jones, Norma; Bajac-Carter, Maja; Batchelor, Bob, eds. (2014). Heroines of film and television : portrayals in popular culture. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 192. ISBN 978-1442231498.
  79. ^ Lamb, Sharon; Brown, Lyn Mikel (2007). Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters from Marketers' Schemes. St. Martin's Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-4299-0632-6. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  80. ^ Brown, Jeffrey A. (2013). Dangerous curves : action heroines, gender fetishism, and popular culture. [S.l.]: Univ Pr Of Mississippi. p. 162. ISBN 978-1617039409.
  81. ^ "Waifu Wednesday: Masane Amaha (Witchblade) - Rice Digital". 7 June 2023.
  82. ^ Daily Video Classic: Ridley Scott's 1984 Apple Ad
  83. ^ Losing Our Cool: Dublin Review of Books
  84. ^ "Waifu Wednesday: Ling Xiaoyu (Tekken) - Rice Digital". 14 June 2023.
  85. ^ Barba, Rick (25 October 2016). "Assassin's Creed: Liberation". Assassin's Creed: A Walk Through History (1189-1868). Scholastic Inc. p. 80. ISBN 9781338099157.
  86. ^ "The Official Xbox Magazine". Issues 107-110. Future Network USA. 2010. p. 74. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  87. ^ "Waifu Wednesday: Talim (Soulcalibur) - Rice Digital". 11 January 2023.
  88. ^ "ANNO: Mutationem confirmed for Switch". 17 August 2022.
  89. ^ "Ultionus: A Tale of Petty Revenge for Switch Game Reviews".
  90. ^ "Game Jolt - Games for the love of it".
  91. ^ "Waifu Wednesday: Fiona Belli (Haunting Ground) - Rice Digital". 19 October 2022.
  92. ^ "Waifu Wednesday: Konoko (Oni) - Rice Digital". 26 July 2023.
  93. ^ "Wife Quest (Switch) Review". 4 April 2022.
  94. ^ "Waifu Wednesday: Nariko (Heavenly Sword) - Rice Digital". 2 August 2023.
  95. ^ "Waifu Wednesday: Virginia Maxwell (Wild Arms 3) - Rice Digital". 21 July 2021.
  96. ^ Player's default model is female (Gina), although a male model can be chosen.