How many on-screen badass women can you name?
(I’ll update the list periodically.)
Badass On-Screen Women
- Landlady (Kung Fu Hustle)
- Ellen Ripley (Alien, Aliens, Alien3, Alien: Resurrection)
- Sarah Connor (The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Terminator: Dark Fate)
- Zoë Washburne (Firefly, Serenity)
- Kaylee Frye (Firefly, Serenity)
- Inara (Firefly, Serenity)
- Private Vasquez (Aliens)
- Xena (Xena: Warrior Princess)
- Chrisjen Avasarala (The Expanse)
- Naomi Nagata (The Expanse)
- Roberta ‘Bobbie’ W. Draper (The Expanse)
- Camina Drummer (The Expanse)
- Yu Shu Lien (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)
- Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
- The Bride (Kill Bill, Kill Bill: Vol. 2)
- Trinity (The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions)
- PrinceessLeia (Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi)
Everybody remembers Ripley, but Aliens was a solid gender equality movie… filmed way back in 1986. Remember Vasquez and Ferro? Totally believable, flawed and likeable badasses. I find today’s characters to be way too perfect to be believable. Wonder Woman is a good example. I find her annoying.
“Hey Vasquez… Have you ever been mistaken for a man?”
“No. Have you?”
Top ten movie zinger for me. Delivered perfectly. Loved her character so much.
Interesting tidbit: Actress that played Vasquez also did Sarah Conner’s mom…
Vasquez actress in Titanic:
this is blowing my mind
I just read an interview of James Cameron where he says they actually cut off her hair which was down to her waist at the time. He told her:
“Your hair will grow back. Vasquez will live forever.”
And she really does. What a character.
That’s a fascinating little nugget!
Close but not quite. John Connor’s foster mom.
I appreciate the correction. Looks like I need more electrolytes this morning!
I thought you meant she did her mom, not portrayed her.
This blew my mind a bit so here’s a pic for others…
Where is the love for Chrisjen Avasarala? The UN General Secretary
Queen of the Earthfrom The Expanse lore? The Space Iron Lady!I admire her more than other traditional depiction of bad ass action stars who are either a man or a woman. I realised I admire mental acuity more than raw strength. Avasarala is Machiavellian but a pragmatist, and ready to get her hands dirty if needs be in spite of her privileged upbringing. Her main drawbacks though is that she is too willing to get her hands dirty, especially at the first episode when she personally oversaw the torture of a Belter in a blacksite. She was also willing to use her family image to gain political sympathy. But one could argue it’s for the greater good, not that I am excusing both of her egregious and questionable actions. As I said, she is a pragmatist after all and looks at the bigger picture and have long term scope. She was right about slowly colonising the New Worlds. Avasarala is an anti-hero but she’s right in more ways than none.
Avasarala and (TV) Drummer were absolute badasses.
“Let’s go hydrate… with some beers” is said too much in my household.
“i know you love sticking your dick in everything, but try not to fuck this one”
top 20 one liners for me. she was one of my favorites in that series.
Take your pick.