Men might be the oft leading candidates for the bad-ass heroes in films, but women have had their share of butt-kicking screen time as well. Here are the top ten Bad Ass Women of all time.
10. Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (1991)
Skynet, the 21st century computer waging a losing war on humans sends a second terminator back in time to destroy the leader of the human resistance while he is still a boy. His mother is the only one who knows of the existence of the Terminators, human-like robots that exist only to kill and are nearly indestructible, and she, the boy’s mother, is currently in a state mental hospital because of her ‘delusions’. A second protector is sent back to the past by the Human resistance to protect John Connor, their future leader, at all costs. All in order to protect her son, the future leader of the resistance against the machines, Sarah kicks a sizable amount of ass.
9. Lori Petty as Tank Girl (Rebecca) TANK GIRL (1995)
Tank Girl (Rebecca) and her friends are the only remaining citizens living in the wasteland that is Earth, where all the remaining water is controlled by Water and Power, the mega corporation/government that runs the territory. While incarcerated at W + P, Tank Girl and her new friend Jet Girl break out and steal… a tank and a jet. After meeting some mutant kangaroo/humans, and rescuing her little girl (adopted by her friends), the kangaroos and the girls kick Water and Powers’ ass. Based on a comic series, it tends to take a more comedic approach to the subject, but there is little doubt that Tank Girl kicks ass.
8. Michelle Yeoh & Zhang Ziyi as Yu Shu Lien & Jen Yu CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON (2000)
Wo hu cang long (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) is a timeless story that takes place in QING China when miracles were credible and spirits and gods were present in man’s world. It is not unbelievable that zen warriors float through the air, skim the water and battle in trees and on rooftops. Pain, revenge and duty are the stuff that bind us in this world and are the main plot line of the movie, but in the afterlife love and faith linger on. Along with Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat), the ladies in this movie are graceful and downright deadly.
7. Uma Thurman as Beatrix Kiddo (The Bride) KILL BILL VOL. I-II (2003-4)
The lead character, called ‘The Bride,’ was a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, lead by her lover ‘Bill.’ Upon realizing she was pregnant with Bill’s child, ‘The Bride’ decided to escape her life as a killer. She fled to Texas, met a young man, and on the day of their wedding was gunned down by an angry and jealous Bill (with the assistance of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad). Four years later, ‘The Bride’ wakes from a coma, and discovers her baby is gone. She, then, decides to seek revenge upon the five people who destroyed her life and killed her baby. Beatrix absolutely goes all out as she individually hunts and eliminates every member of the D.V.A.S., finally getting to Bill, her desired target. Kicks ass!
6. Carrie Fischer as Princess Leia THE STAR WARS TRILOGY (1977-1983)
Snide, snarky, and about as un-princess-like as one could be, Leia Organa takes charge of her rag-tag rescue band from the moment Han, Luke, and Chewie release her from the cell block. Defiant, cock-sure, and a natural leader, Leia eventually safely delivers the Death Star plans to the Rebel resistance via R2-D2 and sets into motion the utter collapse and downfall of the Galactic Empire. If there was any Imperial ass to kick, Leia was there with blaster in hand. And was there ever any doubt that she’d eventually hook up with a galactic smuggler?
5. Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft TOMB RAIDER (2001-03)
Based on the popular video game series, Tomb Raider features the adventures of Lara Croft an antiquities hunter-for-hire. She travels to exotic locales in search of treasures and artifacts in the catacombs of ancient tombs and ruins remaining from age-old empires. A female Indiana Jones, Croft’s expeditions are always chock full of action, danger, intrigue, suspense and her omnipresent knack for defying death in skin-tight outfits. Looking good and kicking ass is a winning combination.
4. Sheri Moon Zombie as Baby Firefly HOUSE OF A 1000 CORPSES & THE DEVILS REJECTS (2003-05)
The sequel to ‘House of 1000 Corpses’, ‘The Devil’s Rejects,’ takes place a few months later with the Texas State Police making a full-scale attack against the murderous Firefly family residence for the 1,000+ murders and disappearances of the past several years. But three of the family members escape, including Otis, Baby Firefly and Baby’s father Captain Spaulding. The evil trio go on a road trip, leaving dozens of mangled bodies in their wake. Evading a massive Texas Rangers dragnet as well as a group of equally murderous bounty hunters led by Ken Dwyer (the brother of a policeman Mamma Firefly killed in ‘House of…’) who’s obsessed with finding the deadly killers, the surviving Firefly clan gather at a run-down amusement park owned by Captain Spaulding’s half-brother, Charlie Altamont, who offers them shelter and a new base of operations for their killing spree as Sheriff Dwyer, the Texas Rangers, the FBI and others slowly close in. Though gruesome and sadistic, Baby kicks all kinds of ass.
3. Devon Aoki as Miho SIN CITY (2005)
“Sin City” is infested with criminals, crooked cops and sexy dames, some searching for vengeance, some for redemption and others, both. The film incorporates storylines from three of Miller’s graphic novels including ‘Sin City,’ which launched the long-running, critically acclaimed series, as well as ‘That Yellow Bastard’ and ‘The Big Fat Kill.’ Where Hartigan, a cop with a bum ticker and a vow to protect stripper Nancy. Marv, the outcast misanthrope, is on a mission to avenge the death of his one true love, Goldie; there’s also Dwight, the clandestine love of Shelley who spends his nights defending Gail and her Old Towne girls from Jackie Boy, a dirty cop with a penchant for violence. Miho resides in Old Towne and with one word from Gail, the appointed matriarch, Miho dispatches raiders and men alike with razor-sharp accuracy. She kicks serious ass.
2. Mila Jovovich as Alice RESIDENT EVIL, RE: APOCALYPSE, RE: EXTINCTION (2002-07)
A virus has escaped into a secret facility called “The Hive,” which chemically turns the staff (Umbrella Corporation) into man-eating zombies and releasing the mutated lab animals that they were studying. The complex computer (The Red Queen) shuts down the base to prevent further infection. The parent corporation sends in a military unit, where they meet Alice who has only a short time to remember who she is and the state of her mission, and is suffering from amnesia due to the nerve gas released into her bathroom. The military must shut down the computer (The Red Queen) and make their way back out of the Hive. Fighting their way past zombies, mutants and The Red Queen before the T-Virus escapes and effects the rest of the world. Its up to Alice to defeat the virus, if she loses, we all lose. And yes, she defeats them so thoroughly through three well-made films, kicking zombie ass all the way through.
1. Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley ALIEN, ALIENS, ALIEN 3, ALIEN RESURRECTION (1979-97)
Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), the sole survivor of the alien attack on the mining ship Nostromo, awakens half a century later when she is found by a salvage ship. The welcome given to her by the “Company” officials is far from warm, since they refuse to believe her discovery of alien existence and strip her off her flight officer’s license. Ripley also discovers, much to her horror, that the planet LV-426 where her crew had encountered an alien species for the first time, is now colonized by the company. But when all contact from the planet is lost Ripley is called back into action again as an advisor to a team of tough space marines with lots of firepower. To get rid of her recurrent nightmares about the alien creature, Ripley prepares for a final battle with the monsters – and this time, there are hundreds of them out there. Going from unwitting recipient to a monsters attack, to a vicious military scourge, to a prisoner, to an alien/human hybrid, Ellen Ripley kicks ass for 200 solid years. The very best of the best.
Contributor: StewWriter
nice list
Ha HA! its my first first!
Princess Leia, untraditional, but groovy
Ripley running around in just a tee shirt and panties in Alien…
Never mind Ripley. Thus top 10 site is full of crap. They've missed of real bad ass chick Angela bassest in the movie Strange Days. – released in 1995. Some real kick ass scenes in that movie that these dummies seemed to have forgotten
Sarah Michelle Gellar or whatever in cruel intentions!! I guess thats more diabolical though. Just to let you know, this site is the greatest!! I am a manager at a call center, i have alot of free time to surf the net and i have read almost all lists on this mofo. So thanks for helpin me kill time, technically i probably owe you some of my salary J.
Thanks again
Tony
OMG how could i forget Kathy Bates as Anne Wilkes in Misery!! The ankle breaking scene haunted me as a kid.
Warning: Explicit!!!
Fisher. Fisher. F-I-S-H-E-R. Wikipedia is your friend.
Sarah Connor & Beatrix Kiddo…..perfect.
Ok so maybe i jumped the gun a bit, the chicks i mentioned above are not really badass by definition. Most evil female characters though for sure. Sorry bout that heh
AWESOME list. Spot on. Bravo!
Good list, but I think Uma Thurman kicked more ass than Princess Leia. And everyone kicked more ass than Alice. In the movies, she was like a fan-made character…everything else is great though. Especially Baby.
@Tony:
Yeah, I wouldn’t call Kathy Bates’ character in Misery badass, just freaking DERANGED.
i say, the BRIDE and ALICE ought to be No. 1 & 2, they are just too f….. good in d art of killing!
What about Lilo from 5th element???? Shes amazing!
just FYI it's Leeloo not lilo
Stew,
You have to be trying to start a fight with this list. Princess Freakin Leia more badass than the Bride?!?! Just picture a fight between them. What did Leia EVER do that made her badass??
Also, Tank Girl over Sarah Connor?!?!? Maybe if this was a most annoying list. Picture what Sarah would do to her if she was *****ed. I realize her name is Tank Girl, but what did she ever do outside of that tank. Meg Ryan could drive a tank and be badass if that was the only qualification.
And Baby Firefly? You are joking right?
The more i think about it, i really do believe you did this on purpose. i’m fine with that. i know part of having a good list is making it worth reading and arguing about. But this is blatantly trying to cause controversy.
geez, lucy liu (O-ren Ishii), vivica a. fox (vernita green) and darryl hannah (elle driver) would all whoop both of those girls asses and they are the background character and all got taken to the wood shed by the Bride.
ya, what DiscHuker said!
resident evil movies suck
Agreed, Sarah Connor higher, soooo much higher. Riply is clearly the choice for number 1, so kudos on that… but Baby Firefly? There is a difference between sick and deranged and badass. She just loves doing sick things to people, that doesn’t make her badass. What makes these characters badass is that they are thrown into crazy situations and they can still be awesome and be all they can be and all that.
Other than Baby and possibly Miho (i’m biased, because I didn’t like that movie, but she was definitely an ass kicker), every other woman belongs on that list. I would have ordered it differently, but that is pretty common with these lists
oh, and Meghan, I agree, Leeloo (that is the spelling according to imdb, but they are not always right) should definitely be on here, over Baby or Miho.
I’m so with you on Lara Croft, Sarah Connor, Alice, and Miho. I haven’t seen half of the other movies, but those four are definitely awesome.
Well, Leia killed Jabba the Hut all by herself, that’s what I call badass!!!!!!!
I can agree with almost everything, I never saw Crouching Tiger…; the order seems off. I think I’d let all of them kick my ass.
Jackie Brown (Pam Grier), Sarah Connor, The Bride, Xena (Lucy Lawless)China O’Brien (Cynthia Rothrick
Kids write these lists. Anything more than a few years old is utterly off their cultural radar screen. Sad.
Hint: Diana Rigg, Tura Satana.
Late O’Day, I have to disagree with you. Just take a look at some lists on this webpage.
Hint:
http://listverse.com/history/the-7-wonders-of-the-ancient-world/
http://listverse.com/history/15-incredible-historical-photographs/
http://listverse.com/music/top-15-most-influential-classical-composers/
Another vote for Pam Grier (as any of her characters).
i agree with late… emma peel kicks ass big time
Tomb Raider.. the list just lost all credibility on that one.
Late O’ Day: Kids right these lists? Are you insane? I own a copy of Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill, by the way, but to me, Tura Satana is just somehow not bad ass enough for me.
I was going for something a bit more non-traditional here. If I’d have made the list many of you are calling for, it would surely have been lazy and obvious. Thanks to those of you who have figured that out, and no, I did not deliberately make this to be overly controversial, but I do enjoy when that happens. And about Leia, let’s face it, she was given the opportunity to bring down the Empire with one set of plans, killed the galaxy’s most feared smuggler, gave the galaxy’s soon-to-be best Jedi confidence, and just whooped up on everyone around here. She was never portrayed as the princess that she was. That is why she’s higher on the list than many would otherwise get. Beyond all that, thanks for the kudos, glad you all liked it, in one way or another!
If you look up “badass chick” in the dictionary there is a picture of Summer Glau as River Tam from Serenity/Firefly. ‘Nuff said.
That is a badass list. Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley definitely deserves her number 1 spot.
Late O’ Day: Are you *****ing retarded? The Road Trip Movie List contains no recent movies that are better than the crap on that list.
How about trinity from the matrix?
how bout alabama worley from “true romance”
big scene where she kills james gandolfini
Re to # (JP Ibay): I definitely support that proposal. Throw out Lara Croft, get in Trinity.
Too bad this wasn’t a list of women in movies AND tv because if it was, Xena would have probably torn most of the ladies on this list a new ass.
Ripley…Alien…Love it! One of my all-time favorite movies. She definitely kicks some serious ass.
As for Leia, she was a better shot than Luke or Han in the battle/fight scenes. They couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.
I think the Bride should be higher on the list. . . only Uma could pull off that yellow jumpsuit.
Notable ommission: albeit subtle, Clarice Starling from Silence of the Lambs. She goes head to head with Hannibal and kills Buffalo Bill singlehandedly.
Great List!
hey what about Geena Davis in the long kiss goodnight
princess leia was a pleasant surprise.
lucy liu as Oren Ishii should have been here somewhere.
if not Jolie as Croft, how bout as Mrs. Smith?
ah! what about charlie’s angels! they kicked ass *nods head*
Glad Ripley is #1, but i disagree with some of the others. Sarah Connor should rank higher, and Alice should not be #2.
This list can go on forever, especially since CGI makes most of the older movies look like a joke. I liked most on your list, but a few of them didn’t really impress me.
I’m still not sure if you mean “badass” you just think they can fight. Badass could mean anything, some can even be on that list for their looks alone. Sarah Connor I can completely respect on your list, she didn’t look ugly yet looked tough enough to beat a marine in an arm wrestling match, and she would fight like a cornered animal.
Far as a role in a movie, not just stunts, you might want to factor in the following; Cleo (from Set It Off) who robbed banks, stole cars (tossing out the CD’s she didn’t like), and lead the cops in a high speed chase before going out in a blaze of glory.
Catherine Tramell (from Basic Instinct), oh hell watch the movie, she did wonders with her words as much as an ice pick.
I think of it more like, “If we tossed them all in a cage, who would come out alive?”
I suppose it would have to be somewhat popular movies instead of the older movies, especially the old Kung Fu type of films, some were really badass. You may even wanna factor in “Mortal Kombat” characters since they had two movies.
There are also some who had potential like Violet from UltraViolet, but like this example, if the movie is lame then it reflects on the character.
Aside from the characters you’ve listed and the others I mentioned, I would have included; Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Trinity from The Matrix, Mystique from X-Men, Xenia Onatopp from GoldenEye, Landlady from Kung Fu Hustle, and any of Charlie’s Angels.
Pam Grier as both “Coffy” and “Foxy Brown”.
Natasha Henstridge as Sil in “Species”.
Dyanne Thorne as “Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS”.
Summer Glau as River in “Serenity”.
Rose McGowan as Cherry Darling, Zoe Bell as Zoe, and Tracie Thorns as Kim in “Grindhouse”.
Tamara Dobson as “Cleopatra Jones”.
All are more badass than Baby Firefly, Lara Croft, and Princess Leia.
Heck, Lara Croft isn’t even the most badass character Angelina Jolie played. Mrs. Smith was much tougher.
The Bride, Ripley, and Sarah Connor, though…excellent choices.
Dr. Smooth:
ROFL!! the landlady from kung fu hustle. i forgot all about her. she was amazing. even before she was revealed as a master, she beat the hell out of her man. that’s good stuff.
excellent suggestion.
Add another vote from me for River Tam, ably played by Summer Glau
I’m curious why is there another movie in the Devils’ Rejects video for Sherri Zombi (Baby Firefly). There’s a cut in of some guy who had NOTHING to do with it. LoL Sorry, I love that movie, and I agree Miho on Sin City is wicked hott wicked bad @$$
Signourney/Ripley is the clear hands-down winner. Youtube pulled the video clip that they had of an interview done with her and some of the cast from Alien Resurrection about that famous scene where she’s walking away from the hoop and throws the ball backwards and ‘swoosh’ makes it. Awesome scene, and done for real, no CGI/stunt.
Well, ok. It took like maybe 200 takes, and they were going to give up for the day.
I agree those that claim that Leia needs to go. I’m not sure which one I’d put in her place. Either Clarice Starling/Jodi Foster/Silence of the Lambs or Zula/Grace Jones/Conan the Destroyer are far more ‘kick ass’ than Leia, come on now…
Fallenangel, yeah in that vid there are clips from the t.v. show Heroes…
I have absolutely no idea why they were mixed together, I’m glad to know someone else was as confused about it as I
HA!!! Ripley is awesome. so is Devon Aoki. I still want that list I mentioned!! You know, most erotic movies? I need that list, just for me!!!!
-Andrea Carlena Beauman
No River Tam (Summer Glau)???
I could also opt for Clarice Starling(Jodie Foster) from Silence of the Lambs.
the real queen of kickass: Brigette Lin Ching Hsia.
This website is slowly turning to *****. Theres been a complete lack of interesting lists or updates for quite awhile now.
Milla Jovonovich does not deserve to be on the list. Those movies werent faithful to the games,and were horrible on their own. The Nemesis turns good!? WT-!???
I agree that Sara Connor should be higher, much higher. If Ripley is #1, Connor should be 2 or 3 (and I also agree that Ripley wholly deserves that spot). I think the main female character of Planet Terror (the one with the machine gun leg) should DEFINITELY be on this list, preferably replacing Lara Croft, who isnt even that impressive as a videogame character anymore, thanks to Nate Drake of Uncharted).
Should’ve included a bonus on Princess Leia. Carrie Fisher played a *****ed off ex girlfriend on Blues Brothers. She carried around a bazooka and a flamethrower trying to blow them up. That’s badass.
Is it only one lady per movie?
Or did everyone forget about Vasquez from Aleins.
…I don’t think she has a single line or action that is not badass throughout the entire movie.
#2-10 owe everything to Signourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley because before 1986 and Aliens, women in film (well, horror and action movies) were usually the victims and damsels in distress who needed to be rescued.
Ellen Ripley was probably the first female action leads who took charge and kicked ass and rescued the men!
Here’s a couple of Honorable Mentions:
Miranda Otto: Eowyn from The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King. Killer of the Witch-King in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
Angela Bassett: Lornette ‘Mace’ Mason from Strange Days. She can be my bodyguard.
Davern – J’s been on holiday for a few weeks and will return home ..i think by next week. anyway..he’s been checking in and there have been some new lists posted, just not as many as was usual. once home, it’ll get back to normal in terms of frequency and quantity. so please be patient for another week or so. don’t write off listverse just yet!
and as always…there are over 300 lists in archives.
Cyn- I love this site as much as everyone and am sure i would have read almost all lists. but i just noticed over christmas an enormous decline in quantity and quality with lists such as the top 10 diet pills. but i guess the holidaying would explain all that. thanks for informing me.
Another one you missed is Charlise Thereon as aeon flux.
Mallory, in Natural Born Killers
“Are you flirtin’ with me?”