List of action heroines in SF

Encyclopedia of Female Characters
Issues in characterization: Identities, representation, stereotypes Roles, relationships, & character arcs
Indexes of female characters: notable female characters ... by occupation ... by ethnic, sexual, other identity ... by skill or ability ... by series or work ... Research and lists of female characters
Comprehensive: A-G ... H-P ... Q-Z browse index

This is a list of action heroines; female characters who play the leading or key roles in SF action adventure stories — usually film, TV, games, and comics. Action heroines are distinguished from superheroines: action heroines do not necessarily have superpowers, and superheroines are not necessarily action-oriented (although more often than not they are).

• Wonder Woman
• Buffy Summers (aka "Buffy the Vampire Slayer")
• Ellen Ripley in the Alien series
• Sarah Connor in the Terminator series
• Elizabeth Swann in the Pirates of the Caribbean series
• Lara Croft
• Xena in Xena: Warrior Princess
• Gabrielle in Xena: Warrior Princess
• Trinity in the Matrix series
• Storm (Ororo Munro in The X-Men
• Yu Shu-lien in the Crane-Iron series (including the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)
• Jen Yu in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
• Emma Peel (in The Avengers")
• Max Guevara in "Dark Angel"
• Mace Mason in "Strange Days"
• Faith Lehane in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
• Kendra in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
• Jaime Sommers in "The Bionic Woman"
• Sydney Bristow in "Alias"
• Wu Yen in "Wu Yen" (aka "Chung Mo Yim")
• Catwoman
• Elektra - Marvel Comics' Elektra, from "Elektra" and "Daredevil"
• River Tam in "Serenity"
• Zoe Alleyne in "Firefly" and "Serenity"
• Selene in "Underworld" and "Underworld: Evolution"
• Violet in "Ultraviolet"
• Alice in the "Resident Evil" films
• Sara Pezzini in Witchblade
• Lian Nichang in The Bride with White Hair
• Tank Girl

... many many more

Further reading

• Action Heroine Blog-a-Thon, June 12, 2007, at "Film Experience Blog" (announcement)
• List of female superheroes
• The Action Heroine's Handbook by Jennifer Worick and Joe Borgenicht (2003) ISBN 1931686688, ISBN 978-1931686686
• Angela Waldrop, The Portrayal of the High Kicking Action Heroine: Across Space, Format, and Theories, Latent Image: A Student Journal of Film Criticism (Summer 2001)
• Yvonne Tasker. Spectacular Bodies: Gender, Genre, and the Action Cinema. Routledge Press, London, NY. 1993.
• GirlsWithGuns.org