Picspam: Top 20 BAD-ASS Female Characters

Ivy Walker in The Village
"Sometimes we don't do things we want to do so that others will not know we want to do them."
Thoughts: A SURPRISE bad-ass girl if I ever saw one; I went to see this movie for Joaquin and left in love with her. Her braveness in spite of her blindness. Love makes us brave and you're willing to do anything and go through anything for the sake of the person you truly love. She left me breathless as she bravely carried on through the woods regardless of the mortal danger she faced.


Sorsha in Willow
"Went away? "I dwell in darkness without you" and it went away?"
Thoughts: Before Joanne became Scarlett O'Hara she was Sorsha. I love that Sorsha walks in a very fine line between Bad-Ass Girl and Bad-Girl. We meet this dark princess as she's unquestioningly doing her wicked mother's bidding. But all it took was one man, one cause and she swayed. I mean, I would sway too if a man came whispering words into my tent, words like 'I dwell in darkness without you', yup. I'd sway.


Domino
"I decided to never invest too much emotion in one thing. It's always a set-up to the pain of losing them."
Thoughts: A lot of people would consider Domino a bad-girl rather than a bad-ass girl or perhaps both. I'm moving her to bad-ass girl because it's my list. I think the scene that for me made her bad ass was the lap dance scene. I mean... it was outrageously sexy and awesome. Bad Ass.


Zoe in Firefly/Serenity
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: You think she'll hold together?
Zoë: She's torn up plenty, but she'll fly true.
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: Could be bumpy.
Zoë: Always is.
Thoughts: I had a dilemma because I not only love Zoe but I also love River. So which to decide? Well, River's bad-ass scenes I can count with my right hand. Zoe, on the other hand, is a walking-talking bad-ass with a marshmallow center. Hence she wins the cake. Zoe is like a tank. She's though, unassuming, quiet, calm and wise. She's a friend, a mother, a wife, a soldier but she's very human underneath all her leather and bullets. But watch out because she will kick your ass if needed, no questions asked.


Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice
"I am only resolved to act in a manner which will constitute my own happiness without reference to you or any person so wholly unconnected with me."
Thoughts: I will venture to say that most versions of Lizzy are bad-ass but the 1995 Jennifer Ehle version of Liz is my very favorite. I know, she doesn't kick anyone's ass... but doesn't she? I recall a very angry old and moldy aunt who came to chew her out and she held her chin high and stated her opinion. Actually Elizabeth is ALWAYS stating her opinion on things which is what makes her bad-ass in any girl's book.


Mathilda in Leon/The Professional
"I am writing here the name of a girl in the class who makes me sick. If things get hot, she'll take the heat."
Thoughts: Officially the youngest member of my bad-ass team but really can't help yourself. Because what else would this little girl do when her family gets killed over perico? Yeah. She 'hires' a hit man to show her the ways of the force so she can get them back. AND Natalie Portman can act at ANY age so that cements her in my hall of fame.


Danielle in Ever After
"If you suffer your people to be ill-educated, and their manners corrupted from infancy, and then punish them for those crimes to which their first education disposed them, what else is to be concluded, sire, but that you first make thieves and then punish them?"
Thoughts: What makes Danielle awesome is that she puts the Prince in his place. Which he needed. I mean he was an overall whiny Prince, wasn't he before he met Danielle? Yeah. She needed to knock some sense into him and that's just what she did. Running around, climbing trees, bathing in her underwear, lying, rescuing servants. All in a day's work for Danielle. Plus, not many people stand up to Anjelica Houston and survive. That's like surviving an encounter with a polar bear or something.


Catherine Banning in The Thomas Crown Affair
"Men make women messy."
Thoughts: Damn I'm a sucker for a cynical woman. I am. Damaged goods? Bring them. I love them. That's what Catherine is. She doesn't even want to bring love into the equation but somehow love finds her. She waltz into NYC with her sunglasses, her couture and her 'I get my man' attitude and what happens? She falls for the man! I love that weakness and how she makes it turn into a strength. She's classy, well poised, has a sharp tongue, lounges in beaches topless, is smart, resourceful and is very human at the same time portraying jealousy, stubbornness and sadness. Plus Renee Russo is fuckable as hell. <3


Queen Gorgo in 300
"There's only one woman's words that should affect the mood of my husband. Those are mine."
Thoughts: Fuck me, this woman is HOT. She's bad ass, though, passionate, sexy as hell and she will do what she has to do for her husband, her son and her country. A true Queen in all her right Queen Gorgo basically tells an ambassador to fuck-off, fucks her husband cross eyed, sends him off to war with a straight face, does politics while he's away, fucks a favor to save her husband and then turns around and publicly kills that same man whom she fucked. True Bad Ass.


Selene in Underworld Series
Selene: Lycans are allergic to silver. We have to get the bullets out quickly, or they end up dying on us during questioning.
Michael Corvin: What happens to them afterward?
Selene: We put the bullets back in.
Thoughts: I fell in love with Selene the moment she leaps down from that building and gracefully landed on her feet. Yes, I know she's a vampire and yes I know she should be a bad-girl but she's more bad-ass than anything. I mean, she wears body-forming leather the entire time she's before the film, her hair is cropped short, she kills without thought, she holds off against Craven's advances (thought I dont know how), she defies the customs and brings back her sire because Selene knows she's right. She wont back down, she knows what is the right thing to do and wont stop at it. If this didn't convince you she's bad ass then slicing her maker's head in half should.


Cleapatra
Cleopatra: You come before me as a suppliant.
Antony: If you choose to regard me as such.
Cleopatra: You will therefore assume the position of a suppliant before this throne. You will kneel.
Antony: I will what?
Cleopatra: On-your-knees!
Thoughts: I have a weakness for Queens, I will admit. There's nothing lonelier than a Queen most especially a though Bad-Ass queen. But our dear Cleopatra loved to keep her bed warm with the bodies of Roman soldiers and who was to say she shouldn't? She was the ruler of the land, a goddess whose actions were not to be questioned by her servants. She saw, she liked, she conquered. And she was fun too. I loved when she wrapped herself in a carpet to overhear Ceasar's conversation, I loved when she made her lover kneel before her court, I loved when she was like 'fuck this I'm killing myself' before getting caught or living the rest of her life without her lover. But really, how can you argue when this is a woman who makes a 9-minute entrance into Rome? You just cant.


Aeryn Sun in Farscape
"Oh, just to be in the warm glow of all this testosterone."
Thoughts: Aeryn and her robotic-goodness just wins me time and time again. She's emotionless, cynical and LOVES to shoot a gun. LOVES it. So what makes her bad ass? I dont know, maybe the fact that she LOVES to shoot a gun? But she's always a survivor. When John 1 dies and she faces it and continues living? Bad ass. She was emotionally dead but she faced life and she found her John2. I also love Claudia Black, she's such an awesome actress. When you first meet her you dont expect much of her but as she develops her character there's this rare beauty that shines from her that by the end of it you find her stunning and majestic.


Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace in Battlestar Galactica
Starbuck: Permission to speak off the record, sir?
Tigh: Granted.
Starbuck: You're a bastard
Thoughts: Really. If you've even seen ONE episode of this show you would know why she's here. I need not explain. If you've never seen the show perhaps the fact that her nickname is 'Starbuck' will change your mind.


Mercedes in Pan's Labyrinth
"I'm not some old man! Or a wounded prisoner! Motherfucker... Don't you dare touch the girl. You won't be the first pig I've gutted!"
Thoughts: Hands down my very favorite SURPRISE bad-ass girl. I mean. I was STUNNED speechless when the REAL Mercedes came out. Three monumental scenes for me were when she guts the captain and spits at him the words above, trust me they sounds so much more amazing in Spanish. Then when she gets surrounded by soldiers and she's like 'killing myself, thanks' and then of course the ending. It's amazing. Her 'he wont even know your name'. And that's the last line she says. Bad Ass. It's so awesome because you see her as a servant with no backbone, most likely loyal to the Captain but then you realize she's under cover and when she gets caught you feel like you want to die because you know he's such a sadistic bastard but this girl is not lying down and taking it. Such an amazing movie and to me she took it to another level.


Trinity in The Matrix Series
"No? Let me tell you what I believe. I believe that Morpheus means more to me than he does to you. I believe if you are really serious about rescuing him, you are going to need my help. And since I am the ranking officer on this ship, if you don't like it... I believe you can go to hell. Because you're not going anywhere else. Tank, load us up."
Thoughts: I feel that if I have to explain WHY Trinity is bad-ass I will leave sad with life because she embodies bad-assness. I mean. She says "Dodge This". Just fucking fierce. I love her. First girl-crush I believe.


Erin Brockovich
"Yeah. Yeah, sexy, huh? How 'bout this for a number? Six. That's how old my other daughter is, eight is the age of my son, two is how many times I've been married - and divorced; sixteen is the number of dollars I have in my bank account. 850-3943. That's my phone number, and with all the numbers I gave you, I'm guessing zero is the number of times you're gonna call it."
Thoughts: I think what makes Erin so inspiring is that she's a mom, she's really not an educated woman by any sense of the word, she knows she doesn't have class but she's put that aside and she's using what she has to get what she needs and what she believes to be right. She's a survivor and she doesn't bow down to anyone. Her lines are spot-on but the two moments that just kill me is 1- the numbers scenes with George and 2- the time she rims the lawyers asses. I wish I could've been there to actually seen it play out.


Veronica Mars
"It's all fun and games until someone gets my foot up their ass"
Thoughts: Oh Veronica. You crusty marshmallow. I think Veronica is one of the most kick-ass female teen characters ever written. Never mind the fact that Kristen is an absolute genius portraying her. I really think that without Kristen Veronica wouldn't have been so very awesome. That's something about quirky characters, your actress needs to have more than two facial expressions (smiling and looking cute doesn't count) to pull them off and Kristen did this to perfection with Veronica. Veronica's dialogue and actions were strong, brash and often she jumped before she thought but if she stumbled she brushed off her knees and stood with her head held high. She's such a fantastic character; she was vulnerable, strong, classy, funny, hip and so very smart. She's just clever and inventive and she would always get her man. Or girl. Whichever.


Sarah Connor in Terminator 2
"You're already dead, Silberman. Everybody dies. You know I believe it so don't fuck with me!"
Thoughts: I still remember the first time I watched Terminator 2. I remember my mom saying to me that in the first movie she was so lovely and pretty but I just remember thinking she's so SO bad ass! Like I could be her! I could cock a riffle, kick ass and be fierce. Mom didn't approve and thinking back on it I would never be Sarah but man she's a fucking inspiration. From the moment you first see her, doing an innumerable amount of pull-ups and being stuck in an asylum she sets her character to a whole new level. She was scary but crazy in that awesome way. I think Sarah Connor in T2 is a perfect example of what an angry mother does when her child is threatened. She's like converted herself into this killing machine in order to do what she has to do. Sarah Connor, most guys, will tell you is the baddest of all the female characters. They would actually suggest a Trinity/Sarah pairing. Trust me. Ask a random guy and he'll tell you that.


Princess Leia in Star Wars Series
"I don't know who you are or where you've come from, but from now on you'll do as I say, okay?"
Thoughts: My very favorite royalty. Hands down. There's just something so very awesome about Leia. She's not carrying around issues, she's not disturbed because she's on this very dangerous mission, she's not mopping around thinking 'why her, why her'. No. She snaps back at Vader, insults Generals, treats her rescuers with disdain all the while her hair remains intact in those un-earthly buns. I mean - she's amazing. She grabs guns and shoots, she negotiates, she has great instincts and thought she's very self-centered there's one thing she holds about herself and that is the resistance. She believes in it with all of her being and that makes her one hell of a Princess. I love that as the series progresses she becomes less and less haughty and more maternal especially towards Luke and the group itself. But really the scene that made her a marble-edifice in the Bad-Ass Realm was the bikini. Yes. Hear me out. Here she is; being sexually exposed to the millions of ogling eyes of horny men and guess what? She worked it. She looked HOT but she KICKED ASS. I mean, she choked this 4 ton mass of a fatty worm with her bare strength, leap to the roof, got suggestively close to her brother and swung heroically from one mode of transportation to another. And the lipstick? It was still there, thankyouverymuch.

and finally.... DRUM ROLL!!!


Buffy Summers
"I'm beyond tired. I'm beyond scared. I'm standing on the mouth of hell, and it's going to swallow me whole. And it'll choke on me. We're not ready? They're not ready. They think we're gonna wait for the end to come, like we always do. I'm done waiting. They want an apocalypse? Oh, we'll give 'em one. Anyone else who wants to run... do it now. Because we just became an army. We just declared war. From now on we won't just face our worst fears, we will seek them out. We will find them and cut out their hearts one by one until the First shows itself for what it really is. And I'll kill it myself. There's only one thing on this earth more powerful than evil. And that's us. Any questions?"
Thoughts: Next to Blair Waldorf, Buffy is THE one. She's the one who created so many things. She raised a generation on the thought that one insignificant girl who likes to chew gum and boys can hold the responsibility of the world in her shoulders. Buffy is simply iconic; she's the hero of the show and in her heroism inspired others that were not so very heroic to begin with (Faith, Spike, Andrew etc) because she's the lone wolf that fights against the forces of darkness. It's like JW shook her out of a comic book and now she's real. She's funny, fun, human, weak, vulnerable, quirky, hopeful, hopeless, romantic, cynical, innocent, worldly - she's so many contradictions in one little petite body that it's mind-blowing. Sarah, of course, will forever be in my top 10 actresses of modern time because she was able to carry on this mission she was given to bring audiences a believable 'Slayer' for seven years and you know what? Buffy had to kill two lovers, loose love ones, sacrifice all she knew and had for the sake of the world and she still ended the show with a smile on her face. Bow down to the Queen of bad-asses.

Honorable Mentions (not in order)
Elle Woods in Legally Blonde
Ginny & Hermione in Harry Potter
Mulan in Mulan
Morgana in Arthur/Merlin Universe
Kyra - Riddick
Ellen Ripley in Alien
Rogue in X-Men Comics
Dolly in Hello Dolly
Angela Pretrelli in Heroes
Elizabeth Swann in Pirates of the Caribbean
Red Sonja in Red Sonja
Wonder Woman
Kahlan in The Legend of the Seeker
Queen Elizabeth in Elizabeth
Galadriel in Lord of the Rings
Brennan in Bones
Mei in House of Flying Daggers
Nikita in La Femme Nikita
Miss Piggy - Muppet's
Aeon Flux