Recently I posted a list of the 50 hottest men in literature, which my roomie and I worked out while bored. I didn't want to leave the ladies hanging, but I'm not the best judge of sex appeal in mujeres, considering I don't swing that direction, sooo, instead!
I give you my list of the 50 Most Badass Women in Literature:
50. Olivia Joules (Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination)
49. Laura (American Gods)
48. Gobi (Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick)
47. Tris (Divergent)
46. Ben (Princess Ben)
45. Miho (Sin City)
44. Mrs. Weasley (Harry Potter series)
43. Immacolata (Weaveworld)
42. Lizzie (Pride and Prejudice)
41. Yvaine (Stardust)
40. Athena (The Witch of Portobello)
39. Katsa (Graceling)
38. Rachel (the Animorphs series)
37. Harry (The Blue Sword)
36. Unnamed Narrator (The Historian)
35. Daenrys (Song of Fire and Ice)
34. Phèdre (Kushiel’s Dart)
33. Hua Mulan (Chinese legend, basis for Mulan)
32. Tally (the Uglies series)
31. Princess Leia (Star Wars)
30. Katarina (Heist Society)
29. Pie oh Pah (Imajica – depending if you read this character as a woman or not)
28. Granny Weatherwax (Discworld series)
27. Xena (Xena Warrior Princess)
26. Kate (The Taming of the Shrew)
25. Puck (The Scorpio Races)
24. Penelope (The Odyssey)
23. Anne Frank (Diary of Anne Frank)
22. Lucy (Chronicles of Narnia)
21. Lisbeth (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
20. Valentine Wiggin (Ender’s Game)
19. Hanna (Bleeding Violet)
18. Meg (A Wrinkle in Time)
17. Fire (Fire by Kristin Cashore)
16. Hermione (Harry Potter series)
15. Matilda (Roald Dahl)
14. Liesel (The Book Thief)
13. Alanna (The Song of the Lioness series)
12. Deryn (Leviathan)
11. Katniss (Hunger Games)
10. Mary Ingalls (Little House on the Prairie series)
9. Sheyrena (Elvenbane series)
8. Lyra (The Golden Compass)
7. Sabriel (Sabriel series)
6. Ginny (Harry Potter series)
5. Firekeeper (Through Wolf’s Eyes series)
4. Sophie (Howl’s Moving Castle)
3. Éponine (Les Miserables)
2. Éowyn (Lord of the Rings)
Aaaand finally, last but certainly not least, my personal heroine:
1. Hester Prynne (The Scarlet Letter)
Now, some of you are probably shaking your heads. Or thinking "WTF?" That might be because, in my book, badass =/= literally ass-kicking (or else someone like Katniss would probably be #1 on my list).
To me, being a badass means that you know who you are, you're true to yourself, and you aren't ashamed of it, damnit. That's why, to me, Hester is the embodiment of badassitude. Hester was like "Yeah, that's right. My husband's been missing for 10 years and is probably dead*, so I found a new lover. And yeah, that's right, I'm having his kid. SUCK IT, PURITANS." And then she went on living in her quietly badass way.
I'm sure I missed like a zillion badass ladies in this post, since I basically just scrolled through my Goodreads list trying to remember what classics had really badass chicas in them, so got any suggestions? Who are your favorite female up-starts?
* okay, so turns out he wasn't, but hey, how could she have known?
Eowyn, absolutely! I think we've all quoted that "I am no man!" line at least once...
ReplyDeleteYay Meg Murray! But did you really mean Mary Ingalls, the insipid "good girl" who goes blind and suffers all with no complaint? Or Laura, who beats up on boys and questions everything?
ReplyDeleteLaura is a badass too... But Mary goes blind! And she's all "whatevs, I still have a good life :D"
ReplyDeleteI dunno, as a kid that struck me as pretty badass >.>
This is a great list! After reading all the names the first person that popped into my head was Menolly from the Dragonriders of Pern. Although I'm sure there are plenty of strong willed ladies out there.
ReplyDeleteHappy to see Mrs. Weasley on there! She's one tough momma :). And I didn't see her on the list, but I think Professor McGonagall is pretty B.A.
ReplyDeleteooo, good point, McGonagall is one badass lady... :D
ReplyDeletei scrolled down to the bottom of the list immediately, thinking, please don't let it be hermoine granger:) oh me of little faith in my Ellen. but i do think that meg from Wrinkle in Time is a weeee bit more bad ass than freakin' Ginny. just saying.
ReplyDeleteWhat? Ginny is more badass than Hermione? Get real.
ReplyDelete