Female character meme
I don't remember who originally posted this meme since it was a few months ago, but I finally got around to doing it: the "FUCK YOU, SHE'S AWESOME" meme. The gist of it was that female characters tend to be under-appreciated, ignored, disproportionately hated, or just plain shafted in both canon and fandom. Hence the meme: list ten female characters that you think are awesome, even if everyone else seems to hate them.
No particular order or preference for mine. Just some spiffy chicks, most of whom either seem to get too much hate or not enough love.
1. Franziska von Karma (Ace Attorney)
Fran is awesome. She's smart, tough, a wee bit obsessive (but then, so are pretty much all the prosecutors in the Ace Attorney universe), she will whip the fuck out of you if you step out of line, and she has no patience for foolish fools and their foolish foolhardy ways.
2. Gaz (Invader Zim)
Whether she's being casually scary, casually kick-ass, or a gamer, she's awesome. ("I hope you like NIGHTMARE WORLDS.")
3. Niki/Jessica Sanders (Heroes)
Niki gets so much hate, but I LIKED her in season 1. Shame that all the interesting things about her got lost in the season 2 train wreck, to the point where I was glad she died (OR DID SHE?) so they couldn't ruin her character any more.
4. Donna Noble (Doctor Who)
I hated The Runaway Bride, so I wasn't sure what to expect when I heard Donna was going to be a full time companion. I've been pleasantly surprised to find her likeable, funny, strong-willed, sympathetic, occasionally highly snarky. Not that I didn't like Rose and Martha (I did), but even though Donna and the Doctor get a bit too slapsticky at times, I'm digging Donna as a companion and as a character. I respect anyone who's not afraid to stand up to the Doctor when he needs someone to stop him.
5. Snow White (Fables)
There's plenty of awesome chicks in the Fables universe, and a lot of them are currently more active in the storyline than Snow. (Cinderella, Frau Tottenkinder...) But as much as marriage and a litter of flying wolf babies seems to have mellowed Snow out and let her retire from the main storyline, she still deserves points for everything she did in previous storylines: hunting down and killing the seven dwarves, escaping the Adversary to make it to the mundane world, running Fabletown, talking her way out of execution, shooting a tiger, axing Goldilocks in the skull, and taking part in the Battle of Fabletown while very, very pregnant.
6. Susan Sto Helit (Discworld)
Discworld is another series with too many awesome female characters to name. Susan is just one of them. I love her practical approach when it comes to kids, monsters, and saving the day. Don't get afraid, get angry. And her take on fairy tales is exactly the kind of thing I put way too much thought into myself. ("...and then Jack chopped down what was the world's last beanstalk, adding murder and ecological terrorism to the theft, enticement, and trespass charges already mentioned, and all the giant's children didn't have a daddy anymore. But he got away with it and lived happily ever after, without so much as a guilty twinge about what he had done...which proves that you can be excused for just about anything if you are a hero, because no one asks inconvenient questions.")
7. Ellen Harvelle (Supernatural)
Supernatural has a bad track record when it comes to female characters, but Ellen is one that I would love to see again.
8. Molly/Eva (Oban Star-Racers)
While I wasn't impressed by what went down in the "final battle" (seriously, show? SERIOUSLY?), Molly was nifty the rest of the time. Her cleverness and skills as a pilot were evened out by her recklessness, frequent selfishness, and how personal everything was for her, so it made sure that the racing action was just as intense as the daddy issues.
9. Doctor Girlfriend (The Venture Brothers)
Included because season 3 just started, and I'm remembering how much I love this show. It's full of well-developed, well-rounded characters with their own flaws and hang-ups and issues. Doctor Girlfriend might tend to make bad decisions in her love life and her professional life, but so does everyone on the show. She's still a cool character. Bring it on, season 3.
10. Brigitte Fitzgerald (Ginger Snaps)
It's no secret that I love the Ginger Snaps movies, but Brigitte is also one of my favourite characters. Everything about her character is tragic, and she's ultimately screwed over in every sad, unfair, horrifying way she could possibly be screwed over. Yet she has so much strength and determination to fight it to the bitter end. I only WISH more female characters were as strong, well-developed, sympathetic, and believable as Brigitte.
No particular order or preference for mine. Just some spiffy chicks, most of whom either seem to get too much hate or not enough love.
1. Franziska von Karma (Ace Attorney)
Fran is awesome. She's smart, tough, a wee bit obsessive (but then, so are pretty much all the prosecutors in the Ace Attorney universe), she will whip the fuck out of you if you step out of line, and she has no patience for foolish fools and their foolish foolhardy ways.
2. Gaz (Invader Zim)
Whether she's being casually scary, casually kick-ass, or a gamer, she's awesome. ("I hope you like NIGHTMARE WORLDS.")
3. Niki/Jessica Sanders (Heroes)
Niki gets so much hate, but I LIKED her in season 1. Shame that all the interesting things about her got lost in the season 2 train wreck, to the point where I was glad she died (OR DID SHE?) so they couldn't ruin her character any more.
4. Donna Noble (Doctor Who)
I hated The Runaway Bride, so I wasn't sure what to expect when I heard Donna was going to be a full time companion. I've been pleasantly surprised to find her likeable, funny, strong-willed, sympathetic, occasionally highly snarky. Not that I didn't like Rose and Martha (I did), but even though Donna and the Doctor get a bit too slapsticky at times, I'm digging Donna as a companion and as a character. I respect anyone who's not afraid to stand up to the Doctor when he needs someone to stop him.
5. Snow White (Fables)
There's plenty of awesome chicks in the Fables universe, and a lot of them are currently more active in the storyline than Snow. (Cinderella, Frau Tottenkinder...) But as much as marriage and a litter of flying wolf babies seems to have mellowed Snow out and let her retire from the main storyline, she still deserves points for everything she did in previous storylines: hunting down and killing the seven dwarves, escaping the Adversary to make it to the mundane world, running Fabletown, talking her way out of execution, shooting a tiger, axing Goldilocks in the skull, and taking part in the Battle of Fabletown while very, very pregnant.
6. Susan Sto Helit (Discworld)
Discworld is another series with too many awesome female characters to name. Susan is just one of them. I love her practical approach when it comes to kids, monsters, and saving the day. Don't get afraid, get angry. And her take on fairy tales is exactly the kind of thing I put way too much thought into myself. ("...and then Jack chopped down what was the world's last beanstalk, adding murder and ecological terrorism to the theft, enticement, and trespass charges already mentioned, and all the giant's children didn't have a daddy anymore. But he got away with it and lived happily ever after, without so much as a guilty twinge about what he had done...which proves that you can be excused for just about anything if you are a hero, because no one asks inconvenient questions.")
7. Ellen Harvelle (Supernatural)
Supernatural has a bad track record when it comes to female characters, but Ellen is one that I would love to see again.
8. Molly/Eva (Oban Star-Racers)
While I wasn't impressed by what went down in the "final battle" (seriously, show? SERIOUSLY?), Molly was nifty the rest of the time. Her cleverness and skills as a pilot were evened out by her recklessness, frequent selfishness, and how personal everything was for her, so it made sure that the racing action was just as intense as the daddy issues.
9. Doctor Girlfriend (The Venture Brothers)
Included because season 3 just started, and I'm remembering how much I love this show. It's full of well-developed, well-rounded characters with their own flaws and hang-ups and issues. Doctor Girlfriend might tend to make bad decisions in her love life and her professional life, but so does everyone on the show. She's still a cool character. Bring it on, season 3.
10. Brigitte Fitzgerald (Ginger Snaps)
It's no secret that I love the Ginger Snaps movies, but Brigitte is also one of my favourite characters. Everything about her character is tragic, and she's ultimately screwed over in every sad, unfair, horrifying way she could possibly be screwed over. Yet she has so much strength and determination to fight it to the bitter end. I only WISH more female characters were as strong, well-developed, sympathetic, and believable as Brigitte.