Iconic Female Characters

Anne Lewis

RoboCop (1987)

Nancy Allen



Catherine Tramell

Basic Instinct (1992)

Sharon Stone



Clarice Starling

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Jodie Foster



Clarice Starling

Hannibal (2001)

Julianne Moore



David Duchovny

The X Files: I Want to Believe (2008)

Gillian Anderson

Time for something a little different... this is basically the jam for the ladies, as Moby might say. These women pretty much sweep aside the dominance of iconic male leads without breaking a sweat—they’ve seen it all, done it all, and... survived it all in their respective films. Serial killers, psychopaths, sociopaths, robots, criminals, nightmare creatures, space parasites, aliens... even Michael Douglas... these ladies have outdone everyone, becoming part of cinematic history where their fictional characters stand on equal footing with their actual names. Most were relatively unknown when they took over these roles, but each brought something deeply personal, recognizable, and original to the table, pushing back against that old trope where action, sci-fi, or thrillers are just "men's genres" where women only exist to be killed off or to stare at the lead with wide eyes...

Just some clarifications, as always... Even though every woman mentioned here is already etched into film history with her own cult following, I had some specific criteria for picking them. Basically, each character is fictional—none of these are adaptations of someone's real life making history that way—and every character has survived through at least two titles. None could be dependent on a man (at least not in the "damsel in distress" sense), and none could be a programmed robot devoid of any feeling. The fact that they can all act is obviously a huge plus. Scarlett O'Hara is a whole thing on her own, even if there is a follow-up in a TV format, and it's a similar story with Clarice Starling since she's been played by two different actresses. The actress herself isn't the point, it's about the character development... so while Jodie Foster snagged an Academy Award for her take, Julianne Moore pushed that character in a totally new direction, making the role her own and definitely earning her spot on this list. Nikita has its terribly bad American remake (which doesn't even use her film name), but it inspired a series and earned its place here too...

I feel like I’ve gotta step in here—it feels like such a massive, totally uncalled-for oversight how we constantly overlook actresses like Nancy Allen playing Anne Lewis in RoboCop, Ren Russo as Lorna Cola in those two Lethal Weapon sequels, or even Sandra Bullock as Annie Potter in the Speed movies (seriously, find me a guy who so well knows how to handle a bus)... because even though their characters proved they belong right up there with someone like Sharon Stone's Catherine Tramell, they almost never get mentioned when people talk about badass female characters who actually accomplished something.

To the ladies on the forum... just a friendly reminder that you can drop these truth bombs whenever the mood strikes... and to my guys, don't be shy... if things ever get weird in the neighborhood, which one of these women from the poll would you actually call to watch your back? Let's hear those recommendations... you know, feel free to weigh in.

My vote is cast

G.I. Jane is definitely 😍

And what about this gorgeous lady?

Ellen Ripley

Alien (1979)

Sigourney Weaver



Jamie Lee Curtis

Halloween

Jamie Lee Curtis



unknown

Ren Russo



Nancy Thompson

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Heather Langenkamp



Speed

Sandra Bullock

rustyscout34 said:and what about this stunning lady?

I totally blanked on mentioning... humans 😁 No superpowers, no genetic tinkering, no flying (cue Uma Thurman) and no slaughtering a million bad guys just because it's part of the cartoon logic—the genre itself isn't locked down like that. We're talking about women who are just regular, everyday people, you know? They have their femininity, sure, but they don't necessarily need to be pageant queens... I think you get my point, not 🤣
...

Louise Fletcher playing the sister to Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
She was just so repulsive that you almost wanted to reach through the screen and throttle her yourself...🙏🙏 🙏

Sarah Connor

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Linda Hamilton



Scarlett O'Hara

Gone with the Wind

Vivien Leigh



Sidney Prescott

Scream

Neve Campbell



Nikita

Nikita

Anne Parillaud

Shout out to my buddy redefine for jogging my memory on something I totally missed mentioning... there aren't any actual superheroes here—no superpowers, no dramatic poses, nothing outside the realm of "normal"... We're playing fair, so let's be real: these women earned their wins through sheer grit. Whether they just sat there crossing their legs and sent some local police station into a trance, or if they grabbed a vending machine or a flamethrower and torched an alien nest... honestly, it doesn't even matter.

I think you limited that poll way too much. I don't see why a woman who can actually fly in her movie would be any less iconic than someone who is just a detective or drives a bus. Maybe Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz should have been mentioned, though she probably doesn't fit here either, despite being a cult icon... 😉

The core idea should have been a "cinematic character" who actually lives their own life—with my own little flourishes added in, obviously😁—and then everything else follows from there. The problem is, Uma Thurman isn't even really a character here, not to mention how Tarantino just buried her under all those tributes (for God's sake, the woman is wearing a Bruce Lee tracksuit), so she lacks any real personality. It's the same story with Milla; it's just a poser role, nothing about it pulls her out of that sea of carbon copies. Even Jennifer Love Hewitt fell into the same trap—she’s got two decent horror flicks under her belt, but this role is just pure, cliché-ridden shit. After thinking it over... honestly, all superhero roles feel kind of poser-ish, none of them feeling truly organic (maybe Jean Grey from the X-Men could pass for real)... it feels more like a little survey of ladies who could eat James Bond for breakfast, which stands in such weird contrast to the actual roles they play in the film.

Here are the latest shots of Gillian Anderson, Milla Jovovich, and Sandra Bullock.

Man, Gillian Anderson is just 👍

Personally, I think Cate Blanchett is absolutely phenomenal.
She played a total psychopath in *A Star Is Born*. Honestly, she’s the sole reason I even bothered with the second season of *Alias*. Her performance in that series actually outshines Hannibal Lecter. 🙏🙏

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2cR71nx9fU&NR=1 🙏🙏

the one and only:



😍

Ripley. Hell yeah!

I’m honestly pretty disappointed with this poll (a more fitting title would probably have been women as action heroines), since there are just way too few way notable female roles or actresses to justify narrowing things down like this—using terms like "action heroines" or requiring every character to have survived at least two franchises 😕. If one of the actual criteria is Women in Leading Roles in Action Films, then why on earth isn't Uma Thurman or Kill Bill even mentioned? 🤷

Sorry, briskhound2, but I just can't get past the fact that in a poll about Cult (Female) Characters, there’s absolutely no room for Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis from cult masterpiece by Ridley Scott: Thelma & Louise.

Anyway, no big deal, but out of respect for you, I ended up voting for Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster).

Beatrix should have been included. We’re missing Lola (Franka Potente), Amelie (Audrey Tautou), Lady Vengeance... even Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi in Shang-Chi. It feels like action roles are disproportionately given to male characters instead.

Christian Taylor3 said:Honestly, this poll was a bit of a letdown—it probably should've been titled women as action heroines instead... there are just way too many iconic female roles/actresses way too many to be boxed in by stuff like "action heroines" or "characters who survived at least two movies." 😕 If Women in Leading Roles in Action Films is even part of the criteria, why aren't we seeing Uma Thurman in Kill Bill? 🤷

My bad, the final result didn't exactly turn out how I envisioned it—turns out almost all the roles were borderline action, minus Sharon Stone—but hopefully, I can make up for it next time. 😢 Basically, I had to set those limits because, look, there are so many incredible female characters out there, but the problem was that if I didn't restrict it, the topic would have shifted from the characters themselves to the actresses playing them, which wasn't really the point of the whole thing. Plus, the poll would've become massive and totally overwhelming since everyone would just pull their own favorites. Maybe down the road I'll tackle the rest and do something about the legendary actresses who defined the cinematic landscape and the cult films they starred in... in that case, Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis would definitely be safe bets since the theme would actually fit better.

No worries, I voted for Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) mostly out of respect for you.

Thanks for the feedback (and for the vote—even if my humble self missed the mark a little)... I'll definitely take these points seriously so I don't repeat the same mistakes next time.

Mmmmmmm.......Ripley.......
I was planning on posting that one image that’s been burned into my brain forever, but it looks like Schwaler beat me to it. 🙂

A vote for Ripley and Sarah Connor 👍
Those two women are absolute powerhouses—honestly, you just don't see anyone tougher than them, and they have so much depth as characters.



I’d throw Laurie Jupiter / Silk Spectre II, played by Malin Akerman, into the mix too.



The poll is solid. I don't get why people are acting like there's some kind of "mutiny on the ship" happening here—it’s basic math, you can't please everyone at once. Shout out to the guy running the poll.👍

Paul James62 said:The poll is fine, honestly, and I don’t really get why everyone is staging a full-blown mutiny over it. It’s just common sense that you can't make everyone happy all at once, so I'm definitely standing by the guy who put this together. 👍

Nobody's stepping up. Mutiny on the ship.Hey, let's just take a breath and dial it back a notch. ☕ I didn't realize we were allowed to vote for multiple female characters at once (sorry, Ripley). It turns out I was right to be a little skeptical about this whole thing. Even if a poll is titled "Action Movie Heroines," it doesn't really sit right with me when people start making comments about their physical attributes or calling them "babes." If the poll is supposed to be about "Iconic (Female) Characters," then why even bother adding "(Female)" in parentheses in the first place? 🙂).

P.S. The character of Sigourney Weaver/Ripley is honestly bigger than life itself—it’s more than just that. fish! 😁

🙂