10 Women of Fantasy Idols
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Article by: Geek Girl Wandering Dana
After writing my 10 Women of Sci-Fi Idols list I realized I had to follow it up with a fantasy genre one too! So here is my list of my top 10 women of fantasy that I admire and the reasons why I love them! (PS. I know there's tons more so leave a comment with your favs!)
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Sarah (Labyrinth): She's an obvious choice for me since I spent many childhood years watching my Labyrinth VHS tape over & over again wishing I was her and singing along with Bowie. This movie is a modern classic and Sarah is a great heroine. She's just your average young girl, a little snarky which I can relate to hehe, but in the end she of course saves the day.
"You have no power over me."
Red Sonja (Dynamite Entertainment): She has it all, strength, power, beauty, sex appeal, fearlessness, you name it she's got everything a "she-devil with a sword" needs! For me she's the quintessential bikini armor-clad warrior woman. I love her comic books and also the Red Sonja movie starring Brigitte Nielsen. I had been looking forward to Rose McGowan playing her in a remake movie a few years back but due to an injury and other reasons that never happened. Hopefully someday soon we'll get another Red Sonja movie because this would have been cool...
Tauriel (The Hobbit): I know, I KNOW, she's not in the books. Please stop nerd raging. Tauriel is still awesome and I for one am very glad they added her in The Hobbit trilogy because let's face it, Tolkien wasn't exactly generous with writing female characters (only 19% of the characters mentioned in all his Middle-earth works are female). She's strong willed and clearly an expert archer. I think Evangeline Lilly did a great job bringing this new character to life and I'm interested to see what happens in her storyline.
Lady Sif (Marvel Universe):
"I am the Lady Sif, born a goddess and forged a warrior." Who doesn't love Lady Sif? Well apparently Thor in the Marvel movie universe doesn't, lol. Every Thor movie I can't help but scream "Dammit Thor she's so much better than Jane Foster! What is wrong with you?" So I'm hoping they eventually scrap Thor & Jane's relationship and hook him up with Sif because they make a pretty unstoppable team. OR just give Sif her own movie because she's badass and we all love her! And let's not forget comic book Sif...
Hermione Granger (Harry Potter): She's intelligent, quick witted, logical, dedicated... I could go on, she's basically a magical genius despite being Muggle-born. Although she may be bossy she is completely loyal and will always be there for her friends. She's definitely someone you want on your side!
Éowyn (Lord of the Rings): She is a noblewoman of Rohan who longs to win renown in battle. She finally gets that chance during the battle of the Pelennor Fields against the evil Witch-king of Angmar, Lord of the Nazgûl who proclaims
"No living man may hinder me..." to which she replies,
"But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund’s daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him." and then she kills him with her sword! To sum it up...
Wonder Woman (DC Comics): Wonder Woman is a true comic book superheroine and icon. Her depiction as a heroine fighting for justice, love, peace, and sexual equality has led to her being widely considered a feminist icon. To me she shows women can be strong, compassionate, beautiful and be both princesses & warriors. We can be it all! Her character has been through many different transformations, but these traits remain the same. I can only hope the future Wonder Womans stay true to Princess Diana of Themyscira.
Daenerys Targaryen (Game of Thrones): She's hands down my favourite character in Game of Thrones. Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, of the blood of Old Valyeria, Mother of Dragons has inspired millions of women to find their inner Khaleesi. In fact in 2012 over 100 Americans named their baby girls Khaleesi. She's also hugely popular with cosplayers, I love seeing all the different Daenerys cosplays at cons and online. She's also got some of the best quotes,
"I will take what is mine with fire and blood.", "All men must die, but we are not men." and of course
" Drakaris!"
Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer): Joss Whedon sure knows how to write women! Buffy is an epic character, not at all the typical blonde you would expect in the horror fantasy genre. She's strong, badass and always battling her demons and winning (literally and figuratively). Whedon succeeded in making Buffy an icon as he had intended,
"I wanted her to be a hero that existed in people's minds the way Wonder Woman or Spider-Man does, you know? ...I wanted Buffy to be a cultural phenomenon, period." Mission accomplished. I knew when I started this list that Buffy & Xena would take the top spots...
Xena (Xena: Warrior Princess): Xena was another childhood idol of mine. I remember playing Xena: Warrior Princess in our backyards when we weren't inside watching the show. I love to watch her quest for redemption from her dark past unfold and her loving "friendship" with Gabrielle grow, which has lead her to become a lesbian icon. Xena is incredible at hand-to-hand combat as we see with her ability to take out hoards of attackers single-handedly. She is also highly skilled in the use of pressure points and of course her signature weapon the chakram. Simply, Xena rocks, she's a pop cultural phenomenon, another feminist icon and just a general badass. Ayiyiiyiyiyiyi!
Honourable Mentions:
Brienne of Tarth,
Arya Stark (I didn't what to overwhelm the list with GoT ladies as there are so many great female characters),
She-Ra,
Alice,
Dejah Thoris,
Lagertha Lothbrok (since Vikings is somewhat historically accurate and she is based on a real person I wasn't sure if she could count as "fantasy" but I love her)
Codex (from The Guild, since it is a comedy I wasn't sure if I could count her either, but she rocks) and if we're including Disney
Merida &
Mulan.
Also as a side note, I didn't include any video game ladies in either my Sci-Fi or Fantasy lists, so that will have to be another list altogether! :)
I know there's tons more epic ladies of fantasy so leave a comment with your favs!
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March 29 2014