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The Leading Ladies Showdown - We Have Our 64!
- Thread starter Tonguez
- Start date
Tauric
First Post
56. Supergirl.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
In 2004, Kara Zor-El was reintroduced into DC continuity in the Superman/Batman series. Like the pre-Crisis version, this Kara claims to be the daughter of Superman's uncle Zor-El and his wife Alura. In a twist from the traditional Supergirl origin, Kara is actually older than Kal-El (Superman) and was a teenager when he was a baby. When Krypton exploded, she was sent in a rocket (in suspended animation) to look after Superman. However, her rocket got caught in a piece of Krypton and she has just arrived on Earth now. Writer Jeph Loeb explains, "She came to Earth essentially to look after this baby who was sent at the same time. But her rocket got wedged into a huge chunk of the planet and it has taken years to get here. When she arrives, the baby isn't a baby, he's Superman -- the greatest hero the universe has ever known. And as a teenager who has lost everything in her past, this is quite the monkey wrench. It may be part of the reason why, at least at first, she'll be hesitant to spend too much time with Superman. She was supposed to take care of him, not the other way around."
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
In 2004, Kara Zor-El was reintroduced into DC continuity in the Superman/Batman series. Like the pre-Crisis version, this Kara claims to be the daughter of Superman's uncle Zor-El and his wife Alura. In a twist from the traditional Supergirl origin, Kara is actually older than Kal-El (Superman) and was a teenager when he was a baby. When Krypton exploded, she was sent in a rocket (in suspended animation) to look after Superman. However, her rocket got caught in a piece of Krypton and she has just arrived on Earth now. Writer Jeph Loeb explains, "She came to Earth essentially to look after this baby who was sent at the same time. But her rocket got wedged into a huge chunk of the planet and it has taken years to get here. When she arrives, the baby isn't a baby, he's Superman -- the greatest hero the universe has ever known. And as a teenager who has lost everything in her past, this is quite the monkey wrench. It may be part of the reason why, at least at first, she'll be hesitant to spend too much time with Superman. She was supposed to take care of him, not the other way around."
ThirdWizard
First Post
Lina Inverse - 57
Lina Inverse, The Slayers.
Lina is a sorceress of high power, a thief of great renown, and a born leader. That, and she has an appetite that is only matched by her hot temper. Oh, and don't mistake her for a young girl or you might find yourself on the wrong side of a fireball, and that's if she's in a good mood.
Lina isn't your typical hero. She's greedy, manipulative, but at the same time you love her, because deep down she's... um... well, deep down she is a good person, but she doesn't like to show that side of herself too often. She's good to her friends, and will go through a lot to save those she cares about, or those she has become attached to even though they drive her nuts. And, on more than a few occasions, she shows that she is intelligent and thoughtful. Usually right before deciding to blow something up, though.
Lina Inverse, The Slayers.
Lina is a sorceress of high power, a thief of great renown, and a born leader. That, and she has an appetite that is only matched by her hot temper. Oh, and don't mistake her for a young girl or you might find yourself on the wrong side of a fireball, and that's if she's in a good mood.
Lina isn't your typical hero. She's greedy, manipulative, but at the same time you love her, because deep down she's... um... well, deep down she is a good person, but she doesn't like to show that side of herself too often. She's good to her friends, and will go through a lot to save those she cares about, or those she has become attached to even though they drive her nuts. And, on more than a few occasions, she shows that she is intelligent and thoughtful. Usually right before deciding to blow something up, though.
Because she deserves to be here:
Even though I'm too lazy to do it myself.
Renton said:
Nanny Ogg: "How did you do that?"
Granny: "Simple. He knows you wouldn't make his daft head explode."
Nanny: "Well, I know you wouldn't, too."
Granny: "No you don't. You just know I ain't done it up to now."
Granny Weatherwax... maybe the best witch the world has seen so far (and no one will dare to doubt that, at least as long as Granny is around). Hard as steel and sharp as a razor blade, she is a very good witch - which means that she can be so bad that even wizards, mad kings, elf queens and blood sucking vampires (aside your usual bears, bandits and what else you can find in her homeland Lancre) better think twice about crossing her path...
Other witches use magic, candles, summonings, charms and a lot of mumbo-jumbo... Granny Weatherwax uses brain... and not only hers. She knows the minds of people - often enough better as themself, and she has mastered the art of 'borrowing' beyond imagination... she borrows the bodies of pigeons and bears, even of whole hives of bees... you never know who's watching you when you are in Lancre.
There have to be good witches and bad witches - Granny Weatherwax is a bad witch that has to be good because she knows not only the difference between right and left but also between right and wrong. Having her as your ally is a good thing, because it means she won't be your enemy... at least most of the time. Having her as your enemy... well, there might be fates worse than that, but thus far no one has found out what they are.
Others may give you what you want - Granny Weatherwax gives you what you need.
(From http://www.y2012.de/faces/weatherwax.html)
Even though I'm too lazy to do it myself.
59. Susan Sto Helit
Duchess of Sto Helit, and Death's granddaughter
(from the Wikipedia entry, because I'm just not good at writing these things...)
Susan Sto Helit is a fictional character who features in three of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels - Soul Music, Hogfather, and Thief of Time.
She is the daughter of Mort and Ysabell. Ysabell was the adopted daughter of Death and Mort was, briefly, Death's apprentice. They leave Death's ambit and become Duke and Duchess of Sto Helit. Susan is their only child.
Despite her tenuous relationship to Death, she is often called his granddaughter and she refers to Death as grandfather. Because of this link she has certain abilities: she can "walk through walls and live outside time and be a little bit immortal."
Her most obvious character trait is being sensible, an attribute carefully cultivated by her parents as a counterbalance to the influence of her grandfather. Initially, this manifested itself as a refusal to admit the supernatural side of the world (beyond basic magic) even existed. Latterly, however, she accepts she is part of the same world as the Hogfather and the Tooth fairy. She just wishes she wasn't. She can be relied upon to keep her head in a crisis, something she tends to view as a character flaw.
She is first introduced as a sixteen year old pupil at the "Quirm College for Young Ladies" in Soul Music, shortly after the death of her parents. After graduating -- and despite being technically the current Duchess of Sto Helit -- she begins a teaching career, first as a governess (in Hogfather) and then as a school teacher (in Thief of Time). She proves to be quite good at handling small children, a skill that is attributed to her sensible and practical nature.
This could also be due to her approach to children's problems. When a child complains about a monster in the cupboard or under the bed, most parents would go to great lengths to carefully explain to the child that there is no monster. Susan, on the other hand, simply hands the child a suitable weapon (such as an axe or broadsword) with which to assault the monster, or goes and does it herself. Monsters from a wide area have come to dread the fireplace poker she uses for this task, although as word of Susan has quickly spread among the city's resident monsters, she latterly has only needed to deal with newcomers.
Her approach in other areas is also unusual. For example, in her role as a governess she has found that her charges' reading progress has been greatly enhanced by using interesting books which are slightly too difficult for them, and which therefore present something of a challenge. Parents may, however, have reservations about her choice of General Tacticus' Campaigns as a reader, since it may be argued that the ability to spell 'disembowelled' is not necessarily needed by children under ten.
As a schoolteacher she is sufficiently successful to have parents clamouring to have their child included in her class. Her approach to history and geography, often subjects which children find rather dull, has particularly captured her class's attention. The occasional need to remove from their children's clothing dried-in bloodstains or ground-in swamp mud is generally seen by parents as more than compensated for by the broad education being received - a child's description of one of the classic battles from Ankh-Morpork's long history, for example, might be sufficiently vivid and detailed to make the parent think that the description could not have been improved upon if the child had actually seen the battle at first hand.
Duchess of Sto Helit, and Death's granddaughter
(from the Wikipedia entry, because I'm just not good at writing these things...)
Susan Sto Helit is a fictional character who features in three of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels - Soul Music, Hogfather, and Thief of Time.
She is the daughter of Mort and Ysabell. Ysabell was the adopted daughter of Death and Mort was, briefly, Death's apprentice. They leave Death's ambit and become Duke and Duchess of Sto Helit. Susan is their only child.
Despite her tenuous relationship to Death, she is often called his granddaughter and she refers to Death as grandfather. Because of this link she has certain abilities: she can "walk through walls and live outside time and be a little bit immortal."
Her most obvious character trait is being sensible, an attribute carefully cultivated by her parents as a counterbalance to the influence of her grandfather. Initially, this manifested itself as a refusal to admit the supernatural side of the world (beyond basic magic) even existed. Latterly, however, she accepts she is part of the same world as the Hogfather and the Tooth fairy. She just wishes she wasn't. She can be relied upon to keep her head in a crisis, something she tends to view as a character flaw.
She is first introduced as a sixteen year old pupil at the "Quirm College for Young Ladies" in Soul Music, shortly after the death of her parents. After graduating -- and despite being technically the current Duchess of Sto Helit -- she begins a teaching career, first as a governess (in Hogfather) and then as a school teacher (in Thief of Time). She proves to be quite good at handling small children, a skill that is attributed to her sensible and practical nature.
This could also be due to her approach to children's problems. When a child complains about a monster in the cupboard or under the bed, most parents would go to great lengths to carefully explain to the child that there is no monster. Susan, on the other hand, simply hands the child a suitable weapon (such as an axe or broadsword) with which to assault the monster, or goes and does it herself. Monsters from a wide area have come to dread the fireplace poker she uses for this task, although as word of Susan has quickly spread among the city's resident monsters, she latterly has only needed to deal with newcomers.
Her approach in other areas is also unusual. For example, in her role as a governess she has found that her charges' reading progress has been greatly enhanced by using interesting books which are slightly too difficult for them, and which therefore present something of a challenge. Parents may, however, have reservations about her choice of General Tacticus' Campaigns as a reader, since it may be argued that the ability to spell 'disembowelled' is not necessarily needed by children under ten.
As a schoolteacher she is sufficiently successful to have parents clamouring to have their child included in her class. Her approach to history and geography, often subjects which children find rather dull, has particularly captured her class's attention. The occasional need to remove from their children's clothing dried-in bloodstains or ground-in swamp mud is generally seen by parents as more than compensated for by the broad education being received - a child's description of one of the classic battles from Ankh-Morpork's long history, for example, might be sufficiently vivid and detailed to make the parent think that the description could not have been improved upon if the child had actually seen the battle at first hand.
John Crichton
First Post
60. Aeryn Sun - Farscape
Aeryn Sun (played by Claudia Black) is a former Peacekeeper (a militaristic police force) pilot and Officer of Icarion Company, Pleisar Regiment. Although she appears to be human, she is in fact Sebacean - a species (practically) indistinguishable from humans. When John Crichton appeared through a wormhole, Officer Aeryn Sun was one of the pilots ordered to bring him in.
However, Aeryn's Prowler was caught up in the stream of Moya's starburst and was towed along when Moya first escaped from the Peacekeepers along with her crew. Aeryn was brought on board Moya as a prisoner, but because of her time spent with Crichton and the others, she was deemed "irreversibly contaminated" (a removal of name, rank, and status as a Peacekeeper) by Bialar Crais, and was ordered to be put to death.
She was in turn saved by the crew of Moya, and has since learned to think beyond the strict, militaristic confines of her Peacekeeper upbringing. She is very well skilled in hand-to-hand and weapons combat, and can more than hold her own in a fight. She has also become a valuable and important member of Moya's crew, and a companion and romantic interest to Crichton.
Aeryn was raised from birth to become a Peacekeeper, and she now has difficulty dealing with the fact she can never return to her previous life. Her experiences, however, have taught her that there is more to life than the emotionless, structured existence of the Peacekeepers.
[sblock]Aeryn was raised by the Peacekeepers without being told about her parents. After she became a fugitive, Aeryn discovered that her mother, Xhalax Sun, was a Peacekeeper pilot who—against Peacekeeper regulations—fell in love with an older officer, Talyn Lyczac. Xhalax was forced to chose between Aeryn and Talyn, and she executed Aeryn's father so that Aeryn could live.
Farscape's Aeryn Sun travels a long and complex character arc. She evolves emotionally and ultimately becomes a loyal, compassionate, loving wife, friend, crewmate and peacemaker. She eventually marries John Crichton and together they have a son they name D'Argo, who is born during the final battle of the Peacekeeper Wars.[/sblock]
Aeryn Sun (played by Claudia Black) is a former Peacekeeper (a militaristic police force) pilot and Officer of Icarion Company, Pleisar Regiment. Although she appears to be human, she is in fact Sebacean - a species (practically) indistinguishable from humans. When John Crichton appeared through a wormhole, Officer Aeryn Sun was one of the pilots ordered to bring him in.
However, Aeryn's Prowler was caught up in the stream of Moya's starburst and was towed along when Moya first escaped from the Peacekeepers along with her crew. Aeryn was brought on board Moya as a prisoner, but because of her time spent with Crichton and the others, she was deemed "irreversibly contaminated" (a removal of name, rank, and status as a Peacekeeper) by Bialar Crais, and was ordered to be put to death.
She was in turn saved by the crew of Moya, and has since learned to think beyond the strict, militaristic confines of her Peacekeeper upbringing. She is very well skilled in hand-to-hand and weapons combat, and can more than hold her own in a fight. She has also become a valuable and important member of Moya's crew, and a companion and romantic interest to Crichton.
Aeryn was raised from birth to become a Peacekeeper, and she now has difficulty dealing with the fact she can never return to her previous life. Her experiences, however, have taught her that there is more to life than the emotionless, structured existence of the Peacekeepers.
[sblock]Aeryn was raised by the Peacekeepers without being told about her parents. After she became a fugitive, Aeryn discovered that her mother, Xhalax Sun, was a Peacekeeper pilot who—against Peacekeeper regulations—fell in love with an older officer, Talyn Lyczac. Xhalax was forced to chose between Aeryn and Talyn, and she executed Aeryn's father so that Aeryn could live.
Farscape's Aeryn Sun travels a long and complex character arc. She evolves emotionally and ultimately becomes a loyal, compassionate, loving wife, friend, crewmate and peacemaker. She eventually marries John Crichton and together they have a son they name D'Argo, who is born during the final battle of the Peacekeeper Wars.[/sblock]
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reapersaurus
Explorer
If perfection was a criteria, almost noone would be in this list.Melkor said:
However, if most-well-known Leading Lady is a criteria, the contest is down to 5 entries max IMO :
wonder woman, red sonja, buffy, xena, and maybe lara croft (however, Lara's way too superficial and "perfect" of character)
Out of those, I think Xena stands out, due to the sheer amount of character development, and story-arcs in her long-running series. Also Xena was the most influential woman in modern fantasy TV/movie history. Before Xena, there simply was not the overwhelming acceptance for a "butt-kicking female" that is ubiquitous now.
The impact of Xena is the subject of woman's studies college classes, for gosh sakes.
I don't think this contest should be viewed solely in the light of "I didn't like XYZ from the show the character came from."
Also, characters that were only in one or 2 movies (Trinity) don't deserve the title of Best Leading Lady ever.
John Crichton
First Post
If Red Sonja and Lara Croft are on this short list than I think Princess Leia belongs as well. Ask anyone who the most recognizable female character in science fiction is and they'll probably bring her up. It's all about the buns.reapersaurus said:
I generally agree with this but she is pretty well known.reapersaurus said:
Side note: I was going to nominate Hermione from Harry Potter as she is in so many scenes with Harry but I don't know if she's a leading lady. In the books she is more of a secondary character but in the movies she is in almost as many scenes as Harry and is a very important character. Thoughts?
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Tonguez
A suffusion of yellow
61. AYLA (Clan of the Cave Bear)
When her parents are killed by an earthquake, 5-year-old Ayla wanders through the forest completely alone. Cold, hungry, and badly injured by a cave lion, the little girl is as good as gone until she is discovered by a group who call themselves the Clan of the Cave Bear. This clan, left homeless by the same disaster, have little interest in the helpless girl who comes from the tribe they refer to as the "Others." Only their medicine woman sees in Ayla a fellow human, worthy of care. She painstakingly nurses her back to health--a decision that will forever alter the physical and emotional structure of the clan. Although this story takes place roughly 35,000 years ago, its cast of characters could easily slide into any modern tale. The members of the Neanderthal clan, ruled by traditions and taboos, find themselves challenged by this outsider, who represents the physically modern Cro-Magnons. And as Ayla begins to grow and mature, her natural tendencies emerge, putting her in the middle of a brutal and dangerous power struggle.
We'll put Hermione (Harry Potter) at 62 whch only leaves 2 more to go (64 MAX)
When her parents are killed by an earthquake, 5-year-old Ayla wanders through the forest completely alone. Cold, hungry, and badly injured by a cave lion, the little girl is as good as gone until she is discovered by a group who call themselves the Clan of the Cave Bear. This clan, left homeless by the same disaster, have little interest in the helpless girl who comes from the tribe they refer to as the "Others." Only their medicine woman sees in Ayla a fellow human, worthy of care. She painstakingly nurses her back to health--a decision that will forever alter the physical and emotional structure of the clan. Although this story takes place roughly 35,000 years ago, its cast of characters could easily slide into any modern tale. The members of the Neanderthal clan, ruled by traditions and taboos, find themselves challenged by this outsider, who represents the physically modern Cro-Magnons. And as Ayla begins to grow and mature, her natural tendencies emerge, putting her in the middle of a brutal and dangerous power struggle.
We'll put Hermione (Harry Potter) at 62 whch only leaves 2 more to go (64 MAX)
Endur
First Post
reapersaurus said:
I have the opposite opinion. Xena always bored me, but I agree she definitely is in the running for best leading lady. Trinity seemed like a very strong lead in the Matrix series, better than Neo or Morpheus.
And for sheer longevity, you have Charlie's Angels, Wonder Woman, and the Bionic Woman. Wonder Woman has 60 years of character development.
