thinking about kickass female characters is healing... sort of
This post is probably going to be the very definition of tl;dr, as I plan to spend it talking about the matches in cidercupcakes' Home Team 2009: Round One, full of wonderful fictional women and proof once again that I hold a fuckton of unpopular fandom opinions. It is my fervent hope that by spending some time writing this out, I will soon feel enough recovered from Comic-con (which gave me a horrible cold; yesterday I wouldn't've been able to type out even this) to write that up too. Because obviously voting last night is part of why I feel marginally better this morning. :)
The first thing I feel the need to say is that I am super, super, super excited that Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle made it in at all. Sure, she's at 64 (the very last slot) and is about to lose to Princess Leia by quite a lot (though not by as much as some of the other races, which is cool -- Leia was at 71.2% (last I checked -- all percentages taken from this morning), and some of the other winners have over 80%), but hey, at least she's there! The temptation to go through and friend everyone who chose Sophie is incredibly strong. Still, it's not surprising that she's losing, as book heroines are just generally not doing so hot -- 15 book heroines, and if you take out Harry Potter (because the HP phenomenon goes so far beyond the books), 10; of those 10, only 4 are winning their match (and I only agree with two of those, but more on that later). Plus, a lot of this is purely about the popularity of the fandom the characters come from rather than the actual awesomeness of the characters themselves. I'll note also that the OP seems to be more of a TV fandom person, so that might help explain why anime fandom characters are also getting the shaft. Sophie being both from a book fandom and an anime fandom is probably the only reason she made it onto the list at all; however, she has no chance against the main female character from an immensely popular movie fandom, no matter how much more awesome she is. Sad, but true. Alas!
Next race, number 2 against number 63, McGonagall at 69.8% over Xena. I am pleased that McGonagall is the first HP character we see; how often are our favorite characters of an older age group? I am sure Xena is wonderful, and even from only fannish osmosis (I've never seen the show) I was briefly tempted to vote for her (I like underdogs, apparently -- of the first 8 pairs, the top seeded vs. the lowest seeded, I only voted for 3 of the top), but in the end, I just like McGonagall too much.
Martha Jones 70.5% over Susan Pevensie. I suffered quite a bit from never having seen New Who and only a few episodes of Torchwood, as together they made up 5 characters, tied with HP for the most. I chose Susan, but you know, if we're talking Narnia, I like Lucy more anyway (this will be a running theme that some of my favorite fandoms are represented, but not by my favorite female character in that fandom), and Martha has always sounded pretty darn awesome, so I'm really okay with this.
Eowyn 81.6% over Azula from Avatar. The second highest lead, and one of only three in the 80s! Eowyn just kicks ass. She is awesome by pretty much all possible standards, and is the one of two book characters winning her battle that I actually approve of, though given the success of the movies it's possible she should be more in the HP category than with the other book characters. I haven't watched much Avatar /o\, only episodes I've seen in passing (let's just say I've seen enough to be pissed about the movie casting, but not much more than that), so I don't have much memory of Azula. But even if I did, she's up against Eowyn.
Uhura 69% over Sam Carter from the Stargate universe. Talk about battle of the brainiacs, and chance causing two relatively similar characters fulfilling relatively similar roles to be up against each other. Now, I really liked Uhura in the newest Star Trek movie, and she's one of the only 6 (that I know of -- there are a few characters I know very little about) non-animated characters of color on this list, but Sam, Sam is my people, all tech-smart and competent and kickass. She is that elusive combination of genius-level smart and impressively well-adjusted, all in the least-flashy blonde package on television.
Hermione 77.7% over Robin Scherbatsky from How I Met Your Mother. Now, I feel a little guilty for choosing Hermione here, because I do love HIMYM, but to put it frankly, Robin kind of annoys me at times and I like Lily a lot more. And while Hermione kind of annoys me at times, too, she, like Sam Carter, is also my people.
Buffy 62.5% over Matilda of the incomparable Roald Dahl book. This is the narrowest race in the first 8, as well it should be, because Matilda is the best character Roald Dahl ever created (with Sophie of The B.F.G. not far behind -- seriously, even if you think you hate Roald Dahl, you should read these two books... but especially Matilda), and is both objectively wonderful and of my people. I going to be so, so sad if Matilda doesn't win, but also not surprised, because Whedon fandom is one of the biggest out there and Buffy is one of his flagship characters. But she seriously gets on my nerves sometimes (sometimes I think I like the Kristy Swanson original version better, but maybe it's just that one feature film provides less opportunity for annoyance), and is not even close to my favorite female character in the series (Tara's not even on here!), so. I realize that this kind of makes me a bad person in some people's eyes, but oh well. Go Matilda! *\o/*
Veronica Mars 73.2% over Fiona Glennane from Burn Notice. Speaking of blonde female protagonists beloved of fandom that get on my nerves, Veronica Mars. I do like Veronica, but I have such mixed feelings about her (give me Mac or Lilly any day), and I really do love Fiona. I love Madeline more (yet another favorite female character Not Appearing On This List), but Fi is so, so awesome. But she's going to lose to VM and that's okay. Well, at least more okay than Matilda losing to Buffy.
Donna Noble of Doctor Who 52.9% over Ellen Ripley of the Alien franchise. Again, I know little about Doctor Who but I seriously doubt anyone in the DW/Torchwood universe is more amazing than Ripley. Sigourney Weaver, people. Being insanely hot and even more insanely kickass. While wearing practical clothes and being super smart and competent and very, very human. I just really love Ripley. And Donna has the third smallest lead! There's still hope!
Zoe Alleyne Washburne of Firefly 83.9% over Elizabeth Swann of Pirates of the Caribbean. Zoe has the largest lead of anyone and oh, is it well-deserved. No offense to Elizabeth, but I don't understand how anyone could not vote for Zoe. Zoe is the best. She's everything good about Ripley, plus all these fantastic human connections, and she's a CoC. Zoe! ♥
Luna Lovegood 74.2% over Carla Espinosa of Scrubs. I don't have much to say about this because I've only seen a couple eps of Scrubs, and while Carla did seem reasonably awesome, I just really like Luna.
CJ Cregg of The West Wing 58.8% over Temperance Brennan from Bones. This was the choice that just about killed me. At first, I thought Bones! Because I love the show and it's underrepresented in fandom and I do really love Brennan. But the thing is... I love Angela more (aka, woman Not Appearing On This List). Whereas for me, CJ is the best character on The West Wing, hands down, no contest. So I went back and changed my answer to CJ. But I still feel desperately guilty about it. I still love you Bones! (Can I just say, with the new Star Trek movie just come out, it's terribly confusing to have two characters nicknamed Bones in my headspace; it's almost as bad as Chuck.) Mrph.
Kaylee of Firefly 68.8% over Teyla of SGA. Kaylee is probably tied for my most unpopular fandom opinion with Anne of Green Gables. Kaylee is one of those sweet, perky characters that everyone adores, and that gives me sugar shock because I can only take so much sweet and perky. There are aspects of Kaylee I like (thumbs up for casual sex seen in a positive light), but overall... Well, I don't dislike her. I like her, even. It's just... she's my least favorite female character in the crew of Firefly. Zoe, Inara, and River are all more important to me. I think she also suffered some from her actress (Jewel Staite) expressing happiness that Kaylee was so skinny in Serenity so she wouldn't haven't to gain weight back. Because Kaylee in Firefly was fat? Seriously?? Grrr. Now, some people are just naturally skinny, and I am totally okay with that. But it really, really pisses me off when people reinforce notions of skinny being good and "fat" being bad. (Fat is in quotes because Kaylee in Firefly is barely even plump. Argh.) Renee Zellweger's ill-considered comments about being happy Bridget Jones's weight went down between movies has also tainted that character for me as well. It taints the actresses more, yes, but it's difficult to completely separate the character from the actress. But even before that, Kaylee annoyed me. Yes, I realize this might contribute to me being a crotchety bitch, but I'm really quite happy with that. She's just so... perky. Ugh. Teyla, meanwhile, I really like. The show makes her a little too perfect, but I'm inclined to blame the writers more than the character. Teyla's awesome! (It's interesting that so many of the black CoCs are from future or alien settings -- Uhura and Zoe also fall into that category. Martha from Dr. Who is modern day but still on an SF show. The other two non-animated characters of color on the list, Carla from Scrubs and Tosh from Torchwood, are Hispanic and Asian respectively, and are modern-day, though Tosh is also in an SF show. Wow. White-washed much, Hollywood?)
Dana Scully 70.5% over Dr. Lisa Cuddy of House. I like Cuddy and I love House and I picked her, but I have to acknowledge that I've only seen about half an episode of the X-Files (and one movie; the episode scared the crap out of me so I didn't keep watching), and from hearsay Scully is pretty great (I was amused at having two characters commonly referred to by their last names head to head), so I'm okay with this.
Sarah Connor from the Terminator franchise 81.4% over Utena Tenjou from her namesake anime. Sarah Connor has the third highest lead so far, and it's well-deserved. Utena is seriously awesome, but she doesn't stand a chance against Sarah Connor, who is played brilliantly by two different actresses and appears on both the big and small screens. Sarah Connor, like Ripley, is one of the seminal action heroines, and hell, at least one of them better make it into the next round (though I'd prefer both!).
Lisa Simpson 67.8% over Juliet Burke from Lost. I must admit here that I haven't yet gotten to Juliet in my Lost-watching (I've only seen the first season), but I've seen the actress in Boston Legal and disliked her, and in House and thought she was okay, if annoying, and I found her somewhat irritating at Comic-con. Smart enough, with some good answers, but exactly the kind of fake sweet-and-gentle really gets to me, and not in a good way. She's probably a decent actress, just with a tendency to play characters that will bother the hell out of me. Maybe I'm being too kneejerk judgmental. Maybe I'll meet Juliet and love her, it's possible. But I haven't yet. And Lisa Simpson is terrific! Totally my people. So this was a very easy decision for me.
Anne of Green Gables 67.1% over Chloe Sullivan of Smallville. The thing about Anne is that I really love LM Montgomery and have read everything she's ever written. I love the Anne of Green Gables books and I do like Anne. But if I were to list my favorites of Montgomery's female characters, Anne's not even in the top five. She's just too relentlessly perky for me, and kind of annoyingly Sue-ish. Sometimes I just want to slap her (yes, yes, I'm a bitch, this is true). I'd much rather have Emily or Valancy or Rilla or Una or Donna. Much. Also, Chloe is one of the few redeeming factors of Smallville. Chloe and Lois and Lex and Jimmy and Oliver, that's about it. It sounds like a lot but it's not, because there's way, way, way too much Lana. *shudder*
Faith Lehane 63.5% over Wendy Watson of The Middleman. This is the one match in which I think I might change my vote if I saw more of any of the sources. I love Faith and choosing her was easy, but the Wendy Watson supporters are loud and convincing and from their descriptions it's possible I would like her more if only I would watch The Middleman. Which I plan to watch, but haven't gotten around to yet. Oops.
Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice 59.9% over Anya from Buffy. I actually really love Anya, but Elizabeth Bennet is one of the top book heroines of all time. Period, end of story. It is interesting (and logical) that many of the more successful book heroines appear in popular movie or tv versions of the source as well.
Kara "Starbuck" Thrace 57.7% over Meg Murray (Madeline L'Engle). Meg is also one of the top book heroines of all time and it almost makes me cry that she's losing to Starbuck. I realize that Starbuck is hella awesome, but Meg is so much more awesome it hurts. A Wrinkle In Time is one of the first SF/fantasy books I ever remember reading, and it got me into the genre. Meg is also one of the first ugly duckling into swan stories I ever read, giving hope to all girls who think they look awkward at some point in their lives (though I personally wouldn't've minded if she'd kept the glasses!), and her main power is her smarts. I like that in a protagonist, whatever the gender. Vote for Meg! She's amazing.
River Tam from Firefly 51.8% over Granny Weatherwax from Discworld. Really, people? Really?? Don't get me wrong, River's awesome, but Granny Weatherwax is... there are no words for how incredible Granny Weatherwax is. This is the closest race, and I am crossing my fingers for Granny Weatherwax to pull ahead. Granny Weatherwax can outsmart Death with her plain old common sense. You don't really get more amazing than that. You just don't.
Aeryn Sun from Farscape 57% over Belle from Beauty and the Beast. The thing is, I grew up with Belle. She's my favorite of the Disney heroines, and that's saying a lot. Aeryn Sun might be the superstar of Farscape fandom, and she was reasonably good in the few episodes I've seen, but I don't care. Belle is proactive and smart and empathic and even if I don't support martyrom and sacrifice in real life, it really works for me in stories. I just love Belle. Plus, of the kickass type of female character on this list, I'd rather have Zoe or Ripley or Sarah Connor. By a lot. It's just the way it is.
Miss Piggy 52.4% over Marion Ravenwood of the Indiana Jones movies. Go Miss Piggy!! Marion is the most palatable of the Indiana Jones' women, but Miss Piggy could take her without breaking a nail, and still be on time for curtain. I love love love Miss Piggy, and I hope desperately that she holds onto her lead, which is the second smallest of the bunch.
Scout Finch of To Kill a Mockingbird 67.1% over Parker from Leverage. The fact is, I adore Parker and somehow escaped reading or watching To Kill a Mockingbird in school, so my choice is Parker. But I am willing to believe that Scout is awesome enough to beat her.
Daria 62% over Gwen Cooper of Torchwood. Daria is the poster child for sarcasm and snark, Gwen kind of annoyed me in the few eps of TW I've seen. Easy choice, though I'm not particularly attached to either of them.
Kira Nerys of Star Trek (Deep Space Nine) 71.2% over Lois Lane of Smallville. I do quite like the snippets of Lois I've seen (we often watch the last five minutes of SV before Supernatural), but I fully admit that if I'd ever seen Deep Space Nine, maybe Kira would beat her.
Barbara Gordon 60.1% over Alanna of Tortall of Tamora Pierce's fantastic YA novels. Babs is awesome, absolutely, but Alanna is part of my own personal pantheon of mythic heroines and goddesses, you know?
Toshiko Sato from Torchwood 63.2% over Toph of Avatar. I'm not sure there's ever been a character more "like me" on television, or even in movies. I mean, she's more an engineer rather than a scientist, but that's so much closer than most characters, it's not even funny. And you'll notice that she's the only non-animated Asian character on this list. I don't even care that she's Japanese, that's how starved I am for characters who look even a little bit like me. And she's canonically bisexual. I just. I love her. If I ever get around to watching more TW, it'll probably be for her. I'm sorry Avatar, but you don't stand a chance.
Ginny Weasley 64.4% over Rose Tyler of Doctor Who. Ahahahaha, I think this is the one case in which I pretty much simply voted against a character. I am, sadly, anti-Weasley. The only Weasleys I actually like are Bill and to some extent Charlie. I am a mean, terrible person, I know. But what can you do! I have come to peace with it. Rose Tyler can't possibly annoy me as much as Ginny does. [ETA: Note that I am discussing primarily book-Ginny. I am much more neutral about movie-Ginny... Unfortunately, movie-Molly Weasley actually irritates me more than the book one does, so it's all even.]
Laura Roslin of Battlestar Galactica 62.9% over Liz Lemon of 30 Rock. It's possible that if I had actually watched the still-shrinkwrapped season of 30 Rock sitting on the shelf downstairs, I would vote differently, but I doubt it. Because Laura Roslin is amazing. I am a fan of strong female leaders who pull together under pressure, and Roslin is practically the definition of that in the BSG mini-series (I will someday watch the rest, but the mini-series was so brilliant and intense I had to pause for awhile).
Molly Weasley 57.4% over Wonder Woman. I actually like Molly a little more than I like Ginny, but I still wouldn't say that I actually like her. But even if I did, I mean, Wonder Woman. There are a lot of excellent Dianas in fiction and myth and history, but seriously, Wonder Woman. I am too blown away by her lagging behind that I'm having a hard time coming up with anything else to say. Wonder Woman!
M of the Bond franchise 78.2% over Katara of Avatar. M has the biggest lead in the second half of the battle, where the numbers were originally closest. It is a pity that Katara ended up against M, because in several cases I would've voted for her. But not against M, alas.
Incidentally, if anyone's interested in fandoms represented:
HP at the top with a whopping 5
DW/TW next with 5, or if I ought to separate them out, DW with 3 and TW with 2
Also with 3: Avatar, Buffy, Firefly
Also with 2: Star Trek (though different franchises), Stargate (combined SG-1 and SGA, though one of them was a regular in both so it might be fair to say just SGA), Smallville, Battlestar Galactica, and DC Comics
Everything else has only 1
Note: feel free to discuss, try to change my mind, etc, etc. Voting goes until Monday night and all votes can be changed until then. You should all go vote! It's good for one's health, I'm telling you. :)
ETA: Note that I actually do like the vast majority of these characters, even the ones I also find irritating. And I fully believe that all of them could be written such that I would like them. It's just not my usual and/or consistent experience, necessarily.
The first thing I feel the need to say is that I am super, super, super excited that Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle made it in at all. Sure, she's at 64 (the very last slot) and is about to lose to Princess Leia by quite a lot (though not by as much as some of the other races, which is cool -- Leia was at 71.2% (last I checked -- all percentages taken from this morning), and some of the other winners have over 80%), but hey, at least she's there! The temptation to go through and friend everyone who chose Sophie is incredibly strong. Still, it's not surprising that she's losing, as book heroines are just generally not doing so hot -- 15 book heroines, and if you take out Harry Potter (because the HP phenomenon goes so far beyond the books), 10; of those 10, only 4 are winning their match (and I only agree with two of those, but more on that later). Plus, a lot of this is purely about the popularity of the fandom the characters come from rather than the actual awesomeness of the characters themselves. I'll note also that the OP seems to be more of a TV fandom person, so that might help explain why anime fandom characters are also getting the shaft. Sophie being both from a book fandom and an anime fandom is probably the only reason she made it onto the list at all; however, she has no chance against the main female character from an immensely popular movie fandom, no matter how much more awesome she is. Sad, but true. Alas!
Next race, number 2 against number 63, McGonagall at 69.8% over Xena. I am pleased that McGonagall is the first HP character we see; how often are our favorite characters of an older age group? I am sure Xena is wonderful, and even from only fannish osmosis (I've never seen the show) I was briefly tempted to vote for her (I like underdogs, apparently -- of the first 8 pairs, the top seeded vs. the lowest seeded, I only voted for 3 of the top), but in the end, I just like McGonagall too much.
Martha Jones 70.5% over Susan Pevensie. I suffered quite a bit from never having seen New Who and only a few episodes of Torchwood, as together they made up 5 characters, tied with HP for the most. I chose Susan, but you know, if we're talking Narnia, I like Lucy more anyway (this will be a running theme that some of my favorite fandoms are represented, but not by my favorite female character in that fandom), and Martha has always sounded pretty darn awesome, so I'm really okay with this.
Eowyn 81.6% over Azula from Avatar. The second highest lead, and one of only three in the 80s! Eowyn just kicks ass. She is awesome by pretty much all possible standards, and is the one of two book characters winning her battle that I actually approve of, though given the success of the movies it's possible she should be more in the HP category than with the other book characters. I haven't watched much Avatar /o\, only episodes I've seen in passing (let's just say I've seen enough to be pissed about the movie casting, but not much more than that), so I don't have much memory of Azula. But even if I did, she's up against Eowyn.
Uhura 69% over Sam Carter from the Stargate universe. Talk about battle of the brainiacs, and chance causing two relatively similar characters fulfilling relatively similar roles to be up against each other. Now, I really liked Uhura in the newest Star Trek movie, and she's one of the only 6 (that I know of -- there are a few characters I know very little about) non-animated characters of color on this list, but Sam, Sam is my people, all tech-smart and competent and kickass. She is that elusive combination of genius-level smart and impressively well-adjusted, all in the least-flashy blonde package on television.
Hermione 77.7% over Robin Scherbatsky from How I Met Your Mother. Now, I feel a little guilty for choosing Hermione here, because I do love HIMYM, but to put it frankly, Robin kind of annoys me at times and I like Lily a lot more. And while Hermione kind of annoys me at times, too, she, like Sam Carter, is also my people.
Buffy 62.5% over Matilda of the incomparable Roald Dahl book. This is the narrowest race in the first 8, as well it should be, because Matilda is the best character Roald Dahl ever created (with Sophie of The B.F.G. not far behind -- seriously, even if you think you hate Roald Dahl, you should read these two books... but especially Matilda), and is both objectively wonderful and of my people. I going to be so, so sad if Matilda doesn't win, but also not surprised, because Whedon fandom is one of the biggest out there and Buffy is one of his flagship characters. But she seriously gets on my nerves sometimes (sometimes I think I like the Kristy Swanson original version better, but maybe it's just that one feature film provides less opportunity for annoyance), and is not even close to my favorite female character in the series (Tara's not even on here!), so. I realize that this kind of makes me a bad person in some people's eyes, but oh well. Go Matilda! *\o/*
Veronica Mars 73.2% over Fiona Glennane from Burn Notice. Speaking of blonde female protagonists beloved of fandom that get on my nerves, Veronica Mars. I do like Veronica, but I have such mixed feelings about her (give me Mac or Lilly any day), and I really do love Fiona. I love Madeline more (yet another favorite female character Not Appearing On This List), but Fi is so, so awesome. But she's going to lose to VM and that's okay. Well, at least more okay than Matilda losing to Buffy.
Donna Noble of Doctor Who 52.9% over Ellen Ripley of the Alien franchise. Again, I know little about Doctor Who but I seriously doubt anyone in the DW/Torchwood universe is more amazing than Ripley. Sigourney Weaver, people. Being insanely hot and even more insanely kickass. While wearing practical clothes and being super smart and competent and very, very human. I just really love Ripley. And Donna has the third smallest lead! There's still hope!
Zoe Alleyne Washburne of Firefly 83.9% over Elizabeth Swann of Pirates of the Caribbean. Zoe has the largest lead of anyone and oh, is it well-deserved. No offense to Elizabeth, but I don't understand how anyone could not vote for Zoe. Zoe is the best. She's everything good about Ripley, plus all these fantastic human connections, and she's a CoC. Zoe! ♥
Luna Lovegood 74.2% over Carla Espinosa of Scrubs. I don't have much to say about this because I've only seen a couple eps of Scrubs, and while Carla did seem reasonably awesome, I just really like Luna.
CJ Cregg of The West Wing 58.8% over Temperance Brennan from Bones. This was the choice that just about killed me. At first, I thought Bones! Because I love the show and it's underrepresented in fandom and I do really love Brennan. But the thing is... I love Angela more (aka, woman Not Appearing On This List). Whereas for me, CJ is the best character on The West Wing, hands down, no contest. So I went back and changed my answer to CJ. But I still feel desperately guilty about it. I still love you Bones! (Can I just say, with the new Star Trek movie just come out, it's terribly confusing to have two characters nicknamed Bones in my headspace; it's almost as bad as Chuck.) Mrph.
Kaylee of Firefly 68.8% over Teyla of SGA. Kaylee is probably tied for my most unpopular fandom opinion with Anne of Green Gables. Kaylee is one of those sweet, perky characters that everyone adores, and that gives me sugar shock because I can only take so much sweet and perky. There are aspects of Kaylee I like (thumbs up for casual sex seen in a positive light), but overall... Well, I don't dislike her. I like her, even. It's just... she's my least favorite female character in the crew of Firefly. Zoe, Inara, and River are all more important to me. I think she also suffered some from her actress (Jewel Staite) expressing happiness that Kaylee was so skinny in Serenity so she wouldn't haven't to gain weight back. Because Kaylee in Firefly was fat? Seriously?? Grrr. Now, some people are just naturally skinny, and I am totally okay with that. But it really, really pisses me off when people reinforce notions of skinny being good and "fat" being bad. (Fat is in quotes because Kaylee in Firefly is barely even plump. Argh.) Renee Zellweger's ill-considered comments about being happy Bridget Jones's weight went down between movies has also tainted that character for me as well. It taints the actresses more, yes, but it's difficult to completely separate the character from the actress. But even before that, Kaylee annoyed me. Yes, I realize this might contribute to me being a crotchety bitch, but I'm really quite happy with that. She's just so... perky. Ugh. Teyla, meanwhile, I really like. The show makes her a little too perfect, but I'm inclined to blame the writers more than the character. Teyla's awesome! (It's interesting that so many of the black CoCs are from future or alien settings -- Uhura and Zoe also fall into that category. Martha from Dr. Who is modern day but still on an SF show. The other two non-animated characters of color on the list, Carla from Scrubs and Tosh from Torchwood, are Hispanic and Asian respectively, and are modern-day, though Tosh is also in an SF show. Wow. White-washed much, Hollywood?)
Dana Scully 70.5% over Dr. Lisa Cuddy of House. I like Cuddy and I love House and I picked her, but I have to acknowledge that I've only seen about half an episode of the X-Files (and one movie; the episode scared the crap out of me so I didn't keep watching), and from hearsay Scully is pretty great (I was amused at having two characters commonly referred to by their last names head to head), so I'm okay with this.
Sarah Connor from the Terminator franchise 81.4% over Utena Tenjou from her namesake anime. Sarah Connor has the third highest lead so far, and it's well-deserved. Utena is seriously awesome, but she doesn't stand a chance against Sarah Connor, who is played brilliantly by two different actresses and appears on both the big and small screens. Sarah Connor, like Ripley, is one of the seminal action heroines, and hell, at least one of them better make it into the next round (though I'd prefer both!).
Lisa Simpson 67.8% over Juliet Burke from Lost. I must admit here that I haven't yet gotten to Juliet in my Lost-watching (I've only seen the first season), but I've seen the actress in Boston Legal and disliked her, and in House and thought she was okay, if annoying, and I found her somewhat irritating at Comic-con. Smart enough, with some good answers, but exactly the kind of fake sweet-and-gentle really gets to me, and not in a good way. She's probably a decent actress, just with a tendency to play characters that will bother the hell out of me. Maybe I'm being too kneejerk judgmental. Maybe I'll meet Juliet and love her, it's possible. But I haven't yet. And Lisa Simpson is terrific! Totally my people. So this was a very easy decision for me.
Anne of Green Gables 67.1% over Chloe Sullivan of Smallville. The thing about Anne is that I really love LM Montgomery and have read everything she's ever written. I love the Anne of Green Gables books and I do like Anne. But if I were to list my favorites of Montgomery's female characters, Anne's not even in the top five. She's just too relentlessly perky for me, and kind of annoyingly Sue-ish. Sometimes I just want to slap her (yes, yes, I'm a bitch, this is true). I'd much rather have Emily or Valancy or Rilla or Una or Donna. Much. Also, Chloe is one of the few redeeming factors of Smallville. Chloe and Lois and Lex and Jimmy and Oliver, that's about it. It sounds like a lot but it's not, because there's way, way, way too much Lana. *shudder*
Faith Lehane 63.5% over Wendy Watson of The Middleman. This is the one match in which I think I might change my vote if I saw more of any of the sources. I love Faith and choosing her was easy, but the Wendy Watson supporters are loud and convincing and from their descriptions it's possible I would like her more if only I would watch The Middleman. Which I plan to watch, but haven't gotten around to yet. Oops.
Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice 59.9% over Anya from Buffy. I actually really love Anya, but Elizabeth Bennet is one of the top book heroines of all time. Period, end of story. It is interesting (and logical) that many of the more successful book heroines appear in popular movie or tv versions of the source as well.
Kara "Starbuck" Thrace 57.7% over Meg Murray (Madeline L'Engle). Meg is also one of the top book heroines of all time and it almost makes me cry that she's losing to Starbuck. I realize that Starbuck is hella awesome, but Meg is so much more awesome it hurts. A Wrinkle In Time is one of the first SF/fantasy books I ever remember reading, and it got me into the genre. Meg is also one of the first ugly duckling into swan stories I ever read, giving hope to all girls who think they look awkward at some point in their lives (though I personally wouldn't've minded if she'd kept the glasses!), and her main power is her smarts. I like that in a protagonist, whatever the gender. Vote for Meg! She's amazing.
River Tam from Firefly 51.8% over Granny Weatherwax from Discworld. Really, people? Really?? Don't get me wrong, River's awesome, but Granny Weatherwax is... there are no words for how incredible Granny Weatherwax is. This is the closest race, and I am crossing my fingers for Granny Weatherwax to pull ahead. Granny Weatherwax can outsmart Death with her plain old common sense. You don't really get more amazing than that. You just don't.
Aeryn Sun from Farscape 57% over Belle from Beauty and the Beast. The thing is, I grew up with Belle. She's my favorite of the Disney heroines, and that's saying a lot. Aeryn Sun might be the superstar of Farscape fandom, and she was reasonably good in the few episodes I've seen, but I don't care. Belle is proactive and smart and empathic and even if I don't support martyrom and sacrifice in real life, it really works for me in stories. I just love Belle. Plus, of the kickass type of female character on this list, I'd rather have Zoe or Ripley or Sarah Connor. By a lot. It's just the way it is.
Miss Piggy 52.4% over Marion Ravenwood of the Indiana Jones movies. Go Miss Piggy!! Marion is the most palatable of the Indiana Jones' women, but Miss Piggy could take her without breaking a nail, and still be on time for curtain. I love love love Miss Piggy, and I hope desperately that she holds onto her lead, which is the second smallest of the bunch.
Scout Finch of To Kill a Mockingbird 67.1% over Parker from Leverage. The fact is, I adore Parker and somehow escaped reading or watching To Kill a Mockingbird in school, so my choice is Parker. But I am willing to believe that Scout is awesome enough to beat her.
Daria 62% over Gwen Cooper of Torchwood. Daria is the poster child for sarcasm and snark, Gwen kind of annoyed me in the few eps of TW I've seen. Easy choice, though I'm not particularly attached to either of them.
Kira Nerys of Star Trek (Deep Space Nine) 71.2% over Lois Lane of Smallville. I do quite like the snippets of Lois I've seen (we often watch the last five minutes of SV before Supernatural), but I fully admit that if I'd ever seen Deep Space Nine, maybe Kira would beat her.
Barbara Gordon 60.1% over Alanna of Tortall of Tamora Pierce's fantastic YA novels. Babs is awesome, absolutely, but Alanna is part of my own personal pantheon of mythic heroines and goddesses, you know?
Toshiko Sato from Torchwood 63.2% over Toph of Avatar. I'm not sure there's ever been a character more "like me" on television, or even in movies. I mean, she's more an engineer rather than a scientist, but that's so much closer than most characters, it's not even funny. And you'll notice that she's the only non-animated Asian character on this list. I don't even care that she's Japanese, that's how starved I am for characters who look even a little bit like me. And she's canonically bisexual. I just. I love her. If I ever get around to watching more TW, it'll probably be for her. I'm sorry Avatar, but you don't stand a chance.
Ginny Weasley 64.4% over Rose Tyler of Doctor Who. Ahahahaha, I think this is the one case in which I pretty much simply voted against a character. I am, sadly, anti-Weasley. The only Weasleys I actually like are Bill and to some extent Charlie. I am a mean, terrible person, I know. But what can you do! I have come to peace with it. Rose Tyler can't possibly annoy me as much as Ginny does. [ETA: Note that I am discussing primarily book-Ginny. I am much more neutral about movie-Ginny... Unfortunately, movie-Molly Weasley actually irritates me more than the book one does, so it's all even.]
Laura Roslin of Battlestar Galactica 62.9% over Liz Lemon of 30 Rock. It's possible that if I had actually watched the still-shrinkwrapped season of 30 Rock sitting on the shelf downstairs, I would vote differently, but I doubt it. Because Laura Roslin is amazing. I am a fan of strong female leaders who pull together under pressure, and Roslin is practically the definition of that in the BSG mini-series (I will someday watch the rest, but the mini-series was so brilliant and intense I had to pause for awhile).
Molly Weasley 57.4% over Wonder Woman. I actually like Molly a little more than I like Ginny, but I still wouldn't say that I actually like her. But even if I did, I mean, Wonder Woman. There are a lot of excellent Dianas in fiction and myth and history, but seriously, Wonder Woman. I am too blown away by her lagging behind that I'm having a hard time coming up with anything else to say. Wonder Woman!
M of the Bond franchise 78.2% over Katara of Avatar. M has the biggest lead in the second half of the battle, where the numbers were originally closest. It is a pity that Katara ended up against M, because in several cases I would've voted for her. But not against M, alas.
Incidentally, if anyone's interested in fandoms represented:
HP at the top with a whopping 5
DW/TW next with 5, or if I ought to separate them out, DW with 3 and TW with 2
Also with 3: Avatar, Buffy, Firefly
Also with 2: Star Trek (though different franchises), Stargate (combined SG-1 and SGA, though one of them was a regular in both so it might be fair to say just SGA), Smallville, Battlestar Galactica, and DC Comics
Everything else has only 1
Note: feel free to discuss, try to change my mind, etc, etc. Voting goes until Monday night and all votes can be changed until then. You should all go vote! It's good for one's health, I'm telling you. :)
ETA: Note that I actually do like the vast majority of these characters, even the ones I also find irritating. And I fully believe that all of them could be written such that I would like them. It's just not my usual and/or consistent experience, necessarily.