In the world of books, television, film, comics, etc. these powerful women rule.
- Katniss Everdeen – (Hunger Games Trilogy)
Neither Robin Hood nor Green Arrow can hold a candle (well, a bow and arrow) to the Girl on Fire. When she first volunteered in the Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen originally intended to save her sister. Along the way however, Katniss’s archery skills and courage was able to spark hope in people’s hearts, thus influencing them to stand up against the tyranny of President Snow. Though her skills with a bow and arrow are great, they pale in comparison to what makes Katniss a badass. Her compassion, instincts, and intelligence are what truly won the hearts of the people in the districts and what truly made her a badass queen!
- Hermione Granger – (Harry Potter Series)
Let’s be real here, Harry may be the hero of the wizarding world, but he and Ron wouldn’t have made it past their first adventure without Hermione. Being a Gryffindor, you’d think batting a troll or wielding a sword would automatically describe a badass. Well in Hermione’s case her badassery doesn’t come from brawn, but from brains. From escaping the devil’s snare to deciphering horcruxes, Hermione’s book smarts had saved Harry and others more times than she can count… and I have no doubt Hermione can proudly count those times! Her badassness isn’t limited to her smarts though, the girl has also been put through the wringer mainly due to being discriminated against as a muggle-born witch, and like a phoenix, Hermione rises above out of the fiery hate of bigotry. Her strong will, determination, and courage has made her greater than the haters.
- Wonder Woman/Diana Prince – (DC Universe)
Some of you think what obviously makes W.W. a bad ass is her fighting abilities, powers, and weaponry. While these things had been proven useful for the famed DC heroine, they’re not what solely makes her a badass. Unlike her Amazonian sisters, Diana’s curiosity about men and the outside world had influenced her to journey beyond her home and venture out with an open mind and open heart. During her time in man’s world, she encountered sexism, hatred, and countless wars. These kinds of horrors could’ve made her hard and cynical, but from openly learning from good people like Steve Trevor, Diana remained compassionate in her heroic path while gaining wisdom to become a better hero and a bridge between her home and man’s world.
- Toph Beifong – (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
What makes this sassy earthbender a badass? Is it her witty quips? The way she rolls with the punches? (Both figuratively and literally). Or perhaps she’s the youngest bender and first female to invent a new bending skill? While those are impressive, what solely makes Toph a badass is her unwavering spirit. Since she was born, her parents believed that her blindness would forever disable her and she would be helpless. While her blindness does prevent her from seeing like everyone else, Toph is far from helpless. Growing up, she had to learn to adapt her senses in order to sharpen her fighting skills and to function well in the world around her. With her other senses highly developed, Toph is able to detect danger from miles away and can tell from a person’s truths and lies. Like a rock, her stubbornness can rub off people the wrong way sometimes, but Toph stands firm in what she sets her mind to and faces life head on… again both figuratively and literally. There’s no denying that Toph is tough!
- The Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff – (Marvel Universe)
It’s no secret that many of our favorite comic book heroes/heroines have been through the worst tragedies. For Wanda Maximoff however, she’s been riding on the tragedy train nonstop! She lost her home, her parents, she’s been experimented on, she lost her brother, she’s been imprisoned, villainized by civilians, she lost her true love (three times), her children, she’s been used, she’s been lied to, she’s been manipulated… you’d think after everything she’s been through she’d abandon the superhero job, but that’s where you’re wrong. What makes Wanda a badass is not her magic it’s her persevering will to come out stronger than the darkness that engulfed her life and her strive to do what’s right in the face of adversity.
- Mulan – (Disney)
We all know that this Disney Princess can kick ass, mainly due to being voice acted by the real-life badass Ming Na Wen. But as nice as Mulan’s fighting skills are, what truly earned her the badass title is her sense of worth. For so long, Mulan questioned her self-worth and tried to be the ideal woman in her culture and the perfect daughter in her family, especially in the name of honoring her father. However, the shift changes when Shan-Yu and his band of Huns invade China and Mulan steps up to take her injured father’s place in the army disguised as a man. After her secret was revealed and was told to go home by the arrogant chancellor and the small-minded, but well meaning Captain Li Shang, Mulan did the total opposite. She stood her ground on who she is, went off to defeat the villain, save the emperor, and became the hero of China. She did all this by being her true self, and if that doesn’t qualify her as a badass, then I don’t know what does.
- Melanie Cavill – (Snowpiercer TV Series)
This female of fiction has blurred the lines between hero and villain in leading the train, Snowpiercer. Though most of her actions were morally questionable, like murdering and torturing people who discovered her secret, everything that this engineer has done was in the name of saving the human race from a frozen apocalypse. Melanie’s intelligence and ingenuity were the reasons why this famous train was built and kept every passenger alive. Her scientific knowledge has also put her on the journey to discover that their world was coming back to life. What makes this antiheroine a badass is that the results of her victories came from hard sacrifices, and her hardest was leaving her daughter twice. Once in order to prevent the nefariously mad Wilford from boarding the train, and twice to go out beyond the train so that her daughter and the rest of the passengers can have a future. Last season, Melanie was thought to be dead after Wilford deliberately left her out in the cold to die, but with season three now currently showing, here’s hoping this badass mother engineer makes an epic comeback!
- Beatrice “Tris” Prior – (Divergent Trilogy)
YA Author Veronica Roth has a knack for creating strong and empowering female characters. Her main protagonist, Tris Prior, in the Divergent trilogy has proved that you don’t have to fit into one category to be a badass. In the beginning, Tris struggled with where she belonged based on what her dystopian society believes. However, upon learning that she’s divergent and discovering a dark conspiracy that threatens her home, Tris steps out of her own way to do what’s right and saves Chicago from the tyranny and manipulation of Jeanine Matthews and later David. What categorized Tris as a badass is not only her fighting skills that she learned from Dauntless instructor/boyfriend Tobias “Four” Eaton, but also her self-sacrificing nature. Growing up in the Abnegation faction, she never picked up on selflessness naturally like her family and community. But once she transfers to Dauntless and finally sees how broken Chicago’s system is, Tris understands the selfless values that her family lives by, especially her mother. Brave and selfless, Tris will do anything to protect her loved ones, even if that means sacrificing her own life.
- Kim Possible – (Disney Channel)
It’s “no big” that Kim Possible “can do anything.” She saved the world numerous times, she’s the captain of her cheerleading squad, and she does all these things while trying to balance the life of an everyday teenager. Kim is a badass when it comes to multitasking, but that’s not the sole reason why she is a badass. What many fans, mostly girls, loved about Kim Possible was how incredibly relatable she was. Like every teenager, Kim struggles with acne, schoolwork, embarrassing family members, and of course, BOYS! Though she seems like the picture perfect teenage heroine, Kim knows that she’s far from it, and admits that every hero needs a partner, or in Kim’s case her BF Ron and his naked mole rat, Rufus, to help her when she’s backed into a corner. When “danger or trouble comes calling, you know who you always can call on the double.” Okay! I’m done with the puns!
- Regina Mills/The Evil Queen (Once Upon A Time)
The best kind of heroines aren’t the ones who start off in success, the best kind of heroines are the ones who start off in tragedy, and for Regina Mills, tragedy had been a longtime cruel friend. Like Wanda Maximoff, tragedy had plagued Regina’s life, mostly due to the abuse she suffered under her mother. The darkness inside Regina truly began to grow when she learned that Snow White had broken a promise to her, thus resulting in her mother killing Regina’s boyfriend. The hardships that befell on Regina had consumed her and gave birth to her sinister persona, The Evil Queen. From her early evil reign in the enchanted forest to her dominion over Storybrooke, Regina’s one goal in life was to bring misery and pain on everyone who had wronged her. She never cared who’d she hurt, until she saw the consequences of her evil actions hurt the person she loved the most, her son Henry. What really makes Regina a badass is not her magic, but her perseverance for redemption. Though she wasn’t free from suffering and had fallen off the evil bandwagon more than once, Regina managed to work hard on being a better leader, a better friend, and a better mother. Regina’s arc throughout the television series has proved to people that no matter what bad things you’ve done in your past, it’s never too late for another chance to begin again.
Give a shoutout to these fierce females of fiction! YASS QUEENS!