Fictional Women...

[fajrdrako]

From The Fannish Five: Name five kickass female characters.

I take it that for the purposes of this question, "kickass" means: "Interesting, powerful, strong in character."

Ten or twenty years ago or so I might have said there were none, except in comics: I was thoroughly disgusted with the depiction of women in television and movies. Women in movies are still terrible - and don't get me started on my opinion of Princess Leia! - but there are some great women on TV now.

Books

1. Arya Stark, the young swordswoman in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, who witnessed the destruction of her family at the age of 8 or so, has been a slave and an assassin, and currently is living overseas where she can become someone's secret weapon... or something. Ah, these young swordswomen, I love them. I wonder if we'll ever see her again. (Write, Martin, write.)
   
   
2. Cordelia Naismith, from the Vorkosigan novels by Lois McMaster Bujold. She is the protagonist of Shards of Honour and Barrayar, and a significant presence in many of the later novels as the mother of Miles Vorkosigan. Cordelia has great moments: saving Dubauer, foiling Vorrutyer, hiding out in the hills with the young Emperor, her shopping expedition... I've always wished there were more novels from Cordelia's point of view.
   
   
3. Katherine Talbert. Ever heard of her? Probably not. She's the heroine of The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner, and she's terrific. It's the same fantasy world as Swordspoint; Katherine is the niece of Duke Tremontaine, who was one of the protagonists in Swordspoint. She reluctantly falls under his guardianship, and he forces her to take up swordsmanship. This is fantasy-adventure for those of us who love swashbucking stories, affairs of honour, bisexual protagonists, Baroque settings, and coming of age novels.
   
   I loved Katherine. I wanted to be Katherine.
   
   
4. Phoebe Somerville from Susan Elizabeth Phillips' It Had to be You. I love all the Phillips' heroines, but Phoebe was the first I encountered. One thing I love about them, is that they are nothing like me, and their lives aren't lives I'd want: and yet in every single case their courage and strength of character.
   
   
5. Tiffany Aching, whom you probably do know, is the protagonist of several of Terry Pratchett's novels: The Wee Free Men, A Hatful of Sky, Wintersmith, ans I Shall Wear Midnight. Tiffany breaks my heart, because she is courage personified, and common sense, too. I want to be Tiffany when I grow up, for all she's about 14 years old now.

Comics

1. Batwoman, Kate Kane.
   
   
   
   Odd that I should cite a DC character, when I am not much of a DC reader; I almost chose Renee Montoya, who was once Kate Kane's grilfriend, or Stephanie Brown, who was once Robin and is currently Batgirl, and who has quite a story. But no, I'm choosing Batwoman because her story arc in Detective Comics last year was one of the best things in comics in ages. She's smart, she's gay, she's a woman holding her own in the world of Batman.
   
   
2. Emma Frost in X-Men and many Marvel Mutant comics.
   
   
   
   She was originally a villain, White Queen of the Hellfire Club when Magneto was the White King, and Headmistress of the Massachusetts Academy. She dressed like a slut and behaved like a dominatrix. Then as time went on, the more we learned about her, the better she was. She's a self-made woman all the way. She played her image for all it was worth, but underneath the attitude and looks was insightful intelligence, a snarky tongue, and more strength of character than most women in comics can ever dream of. She became Scott Summer's lover. She became one of the X-Men. She's one of the best women in a team where the standard is high.
   
   And, yes, she has powers, too.
   
   
3. Domino, from X-Force and assorted comics
   
   
   
   I shouldn't love Domino as I do. She's a beautiful woman with pale skin and a spot over one eye and a big gun. (Sometimes two.) I first came to knew her as Cable's lover, but that didn't go well: at one point, she was kidnapped and replaced by a doppelganger, and he never even noticed. She's kicked around from comic to comic, and they really don't seem to know what to do with her. She's currently in X-Force, I think, where I don't know what's going on with her, because even when I read it, I find that comic so badly written and so incoherent I can't tell what's happening.
   
   So why do I mention her here? Because when she's good, she's terrific. Because of what I want her to become. Because I liked her with Cable. (Is it true she's slept with Wolverine?)
   
   
4. Pepper Potts, from Iron Man.
   
   
   
   I can't believe I've saying Pepper Potts. She appeared in Iron Man comics long before I read them; I only knew her as a character referenced in the past, who always was, as far as I could see, one of those boring secretaries in love with the boss, a sort of pseudo-Lois Lane with nothing of interest to her at all.
   
   That changed with the Iron Man movies. Gwynneth Paltrow and good writing gave her character and pizzazz. Matt Fraction made her into one of the more interesting personalities in Marvel, and now she's got her own Iron Man suit and a superhero name, Rescue.
   
   She's gone from boring to terrific in a smooth progression.
   
   
5. X-23
   
   
   
   Imagine Wolverine as a young woman. Well, he isn't one, but Laura Kinney is: she's his young female clone. She's been an assassin and a prostitute, and now she's an assassin again - sort of - working for Scott Summers and the X-Men in their secred-police-hit-squad X-Force, the one I find impossible to read. Still. I loved her previous stories and I find Laura fascinating. Another coming of age story, with a life more difficult than most - even in the Marvel universe.