Our Top Ten Fictional Female Icons
9 March 2020
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Comics and SF culture has a long history of strong and capable women - and here are some of the best!
BATWOMAN. Kate Kane is a masked vigilante, patrolling the streets of Gotham, and fighting the forces of crime. Batwoman has gained a much greater profile in recent years, including her own comic and multiple lead roles in Detective Comics, DC’s flagship publication. Plus her own TV series, in which she’s wonderfully played by Ruby Rose!
BLACK WIDOW. We know Natalia Romanova best from her presence in the Marvel movies. Tactician and strategist, an expert at threat assessment and psychological manipulation, she’s enhanced by superhuman biotech, and has a physical prowess in excess of any gold-medal Olympian. And we’re looking forward to the movie!
BUFFY and WILLOW. One is the Slayer, the other is her world-shatteringly powerful Wiccan best friend. They’re fought monsters, vampires, hellmouths – and each other – and they’ve triumphed in style. They may be gone from our screens, but they remain one our favourite teams of all time.
THE THIRTEENTH DOCTOR. Portrayed by Jodie Whittaker, Thirteen is the current incarnation of the BBC’s Doctor Who. With each regeneration, the Doctor changes not only appearance, but personality, and Thirteen is a light-heated adventurer with a passion for building things and a drive to find peaceful solutions.
HARLEY QUINN. From her past relationship with the Joker to her role in the Gotham City Sirens, from the days of Dr. Harleen Quinzel to her new romance with Poison Ivy, Harley has been adapted from comics into television, films and, video games. And we love her emancipation!
MIKASA ACKERMAN. If you’re not reading or watching Attack on Titan, then now’s the time to start. Sister to the story’s hero Eren, Mikasa is true badass, dedicated to defending Eren at all costs, and to hacking down lumbering Titans five and ten – and twenty! – times her own size. But, whatever you do, don’t touch her scarf…
SHURI. Princess of Wakana, Shuri is the head of the Science and Information Exchange, the inventor and technologist behind Wakanda’s modern technology, and the designer of the panther habits. She also possesses all the enhanced abilities of the Black Panther!
STORM. Descended from a long and proud African line, Orore Munroe is the daughter of Kenyan tribal process and an African-American journalist father. Ranked by IGN as 42nd in the Top 100 Comic Book Heroes, she’s a member of Marvel’s X-Men, the group of superheroes fighting for peace and equal rights.
UHURA. Nyota Uhura is the communications officer aboard the Star Trek Enterprise, portrayed by Nichelle Nichols in the original series, and more recently, by Zoe Saldana. Uhura specialises in linguistics, cryptography and philology. Plus, we all know about the kiss, thing, right?
WONDER WOMAN. Needing no introduction, the Amazing Amazon is one of the single most visible icons of female strength and capability. From her first appearance in 1941, through the founding of The Justice League and Lynda’s Carter’s iconic TV twirl, all the way up to battering her way across No Man’s Land in the recent movie release, she’s every reason we ever needed to Fight Like A Girl.