History Main / AffirmativeActionGirl

** The series had mostly an all-male cast for its first six seasons. The only female engines were Mavis and Daisy, who are both diesels. ''WesternAnimation/{{Thomas and the Magic Railroad}}'' introduced Lady, a female steam locomotive, but she only appeared twice (the second time was during a dream sequence) before being forgotten by canon. Other female characters included every piece of passenger rolling stock, a few road vehicles (Caroline and Elizabeth), and many human characters, notably Lady Hatt and Mrs. Kindley. Starting with Season 7 in 2003, after years of complaints from moms accusing the series of sexism, the first canon female steam locomotive, Emily, was introduced, and became a member of the main cast. Season 9 introduced a second female steam character named Molly, who only had one lead role, several minor roles, and background cameos before disappearing after the show's eleventh season. Rosie was introduced in Season 10 and has had at least one speaking role until Season 14 when she was relegated to the background (though has been regaining screentime from Season 21 onwards). Season 12 introduced Flora, a female counterpart for Toby; Flora suffered from [=HiT=] Entertainment's bad habit of introducing a character, then said character disappears without a trace as an excuse to quickly and cheaply market new toys. Season 15 introduced Belle (who wasn't well-received by fans due to having unrealistic water cannons attached to her side tanks, when her class, the British Railways 4MT, was a passenger locomotive), and Season 17 introduced Millie (the first female narrow-gauge engine) and Caitlin. More female steam locomotive characters are likely to be introduced in coming seasons.
** In Season 22 onwards (going under the title ''Big World! Big Adventures!''), the core cast gains TWO new female members - Nia the Kenyan tank engine, and Rebecca the yellow streamlined tender engine. Their addition expands the number of female members in the core cast from only one (Emily) to a whopping three, combined with four existing males (Thomas, James, Percy and Gordon) to form a near GenderEqualEnsemble. According to WordOfGod from Mattel executives, Nia and Rebecca's introduction, much like Emily's, was done in response to criticism over the show being sexist, and also due to a rise in interest for the series from female and minority audiences.
** Prior to the show's [[ShiftedToCGI transition from scale train models to CGi]], Isobella was [[TheSmurfettePrinciple the only female member of the Sodor Construction Company]]. Although Isobella wasn't carried over from the transition, Season 23 introduced two new female members to the team; Brenda the Bulldozer and Darcy the Digger. Unfortunately for Brenda, as she now fulfills Byron's position as the Sodor Construction Company's bulldozer, this has caused her to be [[ReplacementScrappy hated by some fans of Byron]], who like Isobella, wasn't carried over from the [=CGi=] transition.
* An interesting case that stretches between the ''Series/{{Thunderbirds}}'' of the 1960s and the most recent 2015 remake ''WesternAnimation/ThunderbirdsAreGo''. In the original series a female character by the name of Tin Tin was added to the cast to address the imbalance between the male/female character ratio -- only for the show to do nothing particularly interesting with her. The remake reconceives the character as Kayo, who is given a more delineated skill set and a backstory of her own -- resulting in a much more interesting and important character.

*** ''Series/KamenRiderRevice'': Ikki and Daiji's little sister Sakura is a karate student that can hold her own against {{Mooks}} and human criminals, and that's before she gets her own TransformationTrinket and becomes Kamen Rider Jeanne. It's considered the first time that a female Rider was a main character, as she and Daiji are both series {{Deuteragonist}}s. She's also the first one to get a SuperMode.[[note]]Valkyrie technically got one before her, but A) it was in a spinoff and Jeanne's is in the actual show, and B) Valkyrie's was a PowerupLetdown and she got badly beaten.[[/note]] Sakura's FriendlyRivalry with the DarkChick Aguilera also leads to [[spoiler:Aguilera making a HeelFaceTurn and becoming a Rider herself, so the series gets ''two'' regular female Riders]].
*** One of the Riders competing in the DeadlyGame in ''Series/KamenRiderGeats'' is a woman, given the name Kamen Rider Na-Go. Other women were seen being recruited for the game, but they were all among the {{Red Shirt}}s disqualified in the first round.

* The cartoon adaptation of ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfZelda1989 Zelda]]'' added Spryte The Fairy to the cast of characters. While there ''are'' fairies in the [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda series]], there wasn't a main fairy character until ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'', and Spryte was likely added for this reason. Strangely, Impa was not in the cartoon despite being an important female character present in the first game, but to be fair, she was [[AllThereInTheManual only mentioned in the manual]].

** The series had mostly an all-male cast for its first six seasons. The only female engines were Mavis and Daisy, who are both diesels. ''WesternAnimation/{{Thomas and the Magic Railroad}}'' introduced Lady, a female steam locomotive, but she only appeared twice (the second time was during a dream sequence) before being forgotten by canon (and for good reason, due to being a flat, one-note character whose basis is freelanced). Other female characters included every piece of passenger rolling stock, a few road vehicles (Caroline and Elizabeth), and many human characters, notably Lady Hatt and Mrs. Kindley. Starting with Season 7 in 2003, after years of complaints from moms accusing the series of sexism, the first canon female steam locomotive, Emily, was introduced. Emily is a member of the main cast, though it came at the cost of Duck being banished from the main cast and going [=MIA=] for years. Season 9 introduced a second female steam character named Molly, who only had one lead role, several minor roles, and background cameos before disappearing after the show's eleventh season. Rosie was introduced in Season 10 and has had at least one speaking role until Season 14 when she was relegated to the background (though has been regaining screentime from Season 21 onwards). Season 12 introduced Flora, a female counterpart for Toby; Flora suffered from [=HiT=] Entertainment's bad habit of introducing a character, then said character disappears without a trace as an excuse to quickly and cheaply market new toys. Season 15 introduced Belle (who wasn't well-received by fans due to having unrealistic water cannons attached to her side tanks, when her class, the British Railways 4MT, was a passenger locomotive), and Season 17 introduced Millie (the first female narrow-gauge engine) and Caitlin. More female steam locomotive characters are likely to be introduced in coming seasons.
** In Season 22 onwards (going under the title ''Big World! Big Adventures!''), the core cast gains TWO new female members - Nia the Kenyan tank engine, and Rebecca the yellow streamlined tender engine. Their addition expands the number of female members in the core cast from only one (Emily) to a whopping three, combined with four existing males (Thomas, James, Percy and Gordon) to form a near GenderEqualEnsemble. According to WordOfGod from Mattel executives, Nia and Rebecca's introduction, much like Emily's, was done in response to criticism over the show being sexist, and also due to a rise in interest for the series from female and minority audiences. Unfortunately, Nia and Rebecca came into the series [[DemotedToExtra at the cost]] of old favourites Edward and Henry, [[ReplacementScrappy causing the new girls to be hated by some fans]], especially those who accused Mattel of doing so to force a feminist agenda where it doesn't belong (never mind the fact that Edward and Henry's characters are so flat that writing for them had become difficult compared to characters like James or Percy; even Toby, who was also removed from the Steam Team, still managed to get a leading role in the Seasons 23 and 24). Nia in particular is also the [[TwoferTokenMinority first "black" engine]] to be in the main cast.

* For the first six years of its run, ''[[WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers SMG4]]'' had only Princess Peach as a major female character (Daisy and Toadette were never major). Then in July 2017, the series introduced Meggy Spletzer, an [[Franchise/{{Splatoon}} Inkling]] whose popularity quickly catapulted her to the main cast. She immediately distinguished herself as the {{tomboy}} to Peach's GirlyGirl through her sporty FieryReadhead personality. Meggy soon replaced Peach as ''the'' main girl of the series. However, unlike Peach, she would be joined in short order by three more major female characters (plus at least two minor ones), making the gender-balance of the series more even …which Mario {{lampshade|hanging}}s at least once.

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* Almost all the main cast of ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' was taken from the "Uncle Scrooge" comics. Two new female characters were added though, Webby and Mrs. Beakley.

* The cartoon adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfZelda1989'' added Spryte the fairy to the cast of characters. While there ''are'' fairies in the [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda series]], there wasn't a main fairy character until ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'', and Spryte was likely added for this reason. Strangely, Impa was not in the cartoon despite being an important female character present in the first game, but to be fair, she was [[AllThereInTheManual only mentioned in the manual]].
* WesternAnimation/LolaBunny basically existed in ''Film/SpaceJam'' because of how few notable female WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes there were (having Granny play basketball would be pushing suspension of disbelief[[note]]which doesn't stop her from playing in [[Film/SpaceJamANewLegacy the sequel]][[/note]], and Petunia Pig and Melissa Duck are seriously obscure). They found a gender-neutral niche for her in the comic books, and eventually turned her into a CloudCuckoolander and StalkerWithACrush for ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow''.
* Skeeter in ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984'', as Miss Piggy was the only major recurring woman on the parent series, ''Series/TheMuppetShow''. (For the record, there weren't many minor recurring women on ''The Muppet Show'', either. There was really just Janice, who was part of the rock band. On the other hand, Animal was part of the band, too, and they used him regardless.) And Camilla (the chicken, and Gonzo's love interest). Camilla also appeared in the cartoon as a stuffed doll that interacted with the other characters whenever they'd have their imagination sequences. Like when they did an episode on [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek mythology]] and needed a third woman for the goddesses' contest with Paris. She was Aphrodite, goddess of beauty, to the other girls' chagrin.

* ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol'''s first season had five male pups (Marshall, Chase, Rubble, Rocky, Zuma) and one girl (Skye). The second season added Everest, a second female pup, and Tracker, an ethnic-minority pup (he's Latino, inasmuch as that concept applies to dogs: he's bilingual in Spanish and his English is strongly accented).

** Dr. Hutchinson was created originally for this purpose--the writers were told they needed "a professional woman [...] with a good hook." (They [[HookHand took that a bit more literally than intended]].) Though reluctant at first, they eventually grew fond of her and created a storyline where she dates and marries Filbert.

* ''{{WesternAnimation/Rugrats}}'' had Lil as the only girl in the core group of babies, with Angelica as the antagonist. Eventually Susie and later Kimi were added. The original lineup of Rugrats was three boys to one girl (or two if one counts Angelica, who isn't really part of the group) and by the end was a GenderEqualEnsemble.

If she's the first woman in a previously all-male cast, this is just TheSmurfettePrinciple at work and she's probably TheChick or TheHeart. But if she's added when there's already a (single) woman in the cast, to counter the Smurfette Principle by adding more gender balance, then she's an Affirmative Action Girl. When this trope was in its formative stages (when Affirmative Action was still working its way into action-oriented fiction), such characters were usually {{Straw Feminist}}s to boot. For bonus points, she might be a [[TwoferTokenMinority racial minority]] as well.

Note that despite the PunnyName, she need not be an ActionGirl, but usually is at least a {{Tomboy}} to [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl distinguish her]] from a pre-existing [[TheChick Chick]].

* Textbook example in ''Toys/BBSenshiSangokuden'': the second named female character Sonshoukou Gerbera is the resident tomboy, and the first, Chousen Qubeley, is TheChick complete with a healthy relationship to Ryofu Tallgeese, [[spoiler:and gets killed off for it]].
* Prime Minister Kayabuki in ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex''. Probably counts as TheChick to the Major's ActionGirl, although to be fair, she does get to be quite awesome in her own non-violent, office-based way.

** Trini Kwan, the Yellow Ranger / GranolaGirl from ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers''. In the original Japanese version, ''Series/KyoryuSentaiZyuranger'', there was only [[TheChick one girl]] on the team (Mei/Ptera Ranger). [[ShesAManInJapan The Yellow Ranger was a guy]] (Boy/Tiger Ranger).

* Samantha Carter was living large as [[TheChick the sole estrogen representative]] of ''Series/StargateSG1''. And then along comes Vala Mal Doran, who ironically was more of a [[TheChick Chick]] than [[TheSmartGuy Carter]] ever was. Sam never really filled the role of TheChick, despite being initially the only girl. Instead, [[NonActionGuy Daniel]] [[TookALevelInBadass Jackson]] functioned as TheHeart, while Sam was the resident ActionGirl and OmnidisciplinaryScientist.

* While the reimagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' had two women among the main pilots from Day One (Kara as TheAce and Sharon as TheChick), of the three "nuggets" added partway through Season 1 Kat was the one who got the most screen time and character development.

* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' starts out with 4 different geeks and [[TheChick the one chick]] across the hall. After almost 3 years of seeing TheSmurfettePrinciple in action (and [[spoiler:2 failed relationship attempts between TheChick and the DoggedNiceGuy]]), two new main female characters are brought in that help balance the two more socially extreme geeks of the group and the gender ratio in general.

* Sassette in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'', who was a tomboy compared to Smurfette's [[TheChick Chick]].

* Allenby Beardsley from ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam''. A fan favorite SixthRanger GenkiGirl and {{Bokukko}} who promptly managed to fall into a LoveTriangle involving the only other major female character on the show, the local HotScientist and TeamMom. Also, a relief to the male fans that were [[StupidSexyFlanders getting uncomfortable]] with the all-male pilots wearing {{Latex Space Suit}}s.

** Due to Wrestling/{{WWE}}'s female roster expanding in 2008, they introduced a second female title - giving the Raw brand the Women's Championship and Smackdown the Divas' Championship. The Women's Championship was retired in 2010, but in 2016 when the brand split was brought back a second female championship was introduced again.

* In 2012, during one of the famous UsefulNotes/SuperBowl commercials, Advertising/MAndMs maker Mars introduced Ms. Brown, an icy businesswoman voiced by Music/VanessaWilliams, to go with the other M&M "spokescandies". Brown was the last regular color to be characterized, and since Green was the only other woman out of the set, it seems Mars wanted to kill two birds with one stone.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'':

*** Among the several Riders in the starting cast of ''Series/KamenRiderGeats'', one of the main ones is a woman, Kamen Rider Nago.

** ''VideoGame/WarcraftII'': The expansion pack adds Alleria Windrunner, an elven ranger hero and the only female unit, to the story.
** ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'': Female units would usually be relegated to supporting magical roles (sorceresses for Humans[=/=]High Elves and Banshees for Undead), up until Night Elves had women filling all the primary attack unit roles. The expansion adds the Night Elf Warden, the only female melee hero in the game.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'': ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64'' has only one playable female character, Samus. ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee Melee]]'' on [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] added Peach, the Ice Climbers (one of whom is female) and Zelda (who can transform into Sheik), essentially adding four female characters. ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Brawl]]'' added Zero Suit Samus (a transformation for Samus similar to Zelda and Sheik), as well as Ivysaur (whose bud type actually confirms it as female, oddly enough), putting the total female playable character count (should you count Zelda/Sheik and Samus/Zero Suit as their own fighters) to 6 out of 39. Then came ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'', which split Zelda and Sheik as well as Samus and Zero Suit Samus into separate characters, finally giving those characters their own roster space, while simultaneously removing the Ice Climbers and Ivysaur. This would balance things out if they didn't add in the Wii Fit Trainer (who has a male ant-skin, but the female is default), Rosalina, Palutena, Lucina, and (as DLC) VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}, as well as multiple characters with female-alt skins such as Wendy (Bowser Jr.), Mii Fighter (two times over, technically, as only the Mii Gunner is female by default), Robin, the Villager, and Corrin, adding ''ten'' new female characters in one installment. It's for this reason that the fourth installment has received praise for being much more gender-accepting. Meanwhile, ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' [[TheBusCameBack brought back]] the Ice Climbers and Ivysaur and giving a female skin to the Pokemon Trainer, while at the same time adding in Daisy, the Inklings (who come as male too) and Isabelle, while DLC character Byleth comes with a female-alt skin, as well as Min Min, the Aegis and Alex as a skin for Steve.

*** ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'' once again has a female Rider that only appears in tie-in movies (though two or three instead of just one), Kamen Rider Nadeshiko.

*** ''Series/KamenRiderGhost'' had a QuirkyMinibossSquad using knockoffs of Kamen Rider Necrom's powers in the summer movie; and one of the team members was a woman. Necrom's sister also used her own variant of his powers in one of the episodes tying into said movie. Years later, a return appearance reveals that Kanon has also become a Kamen Rider with her own variation on the powerset of her brother, Kamen Rider Specter.

** The Reiwa era looks to be taking more steps forward and making female Riders more common:
*** ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'' is the first series in the entire franchise to ''start'' with a female Rider in the cast: Yua Yaiba/Kamen Rider Valkyrie; and she was the first woman to take part in the franchise's SwissArmyHero gimmick. If you're willing to stretch gender definitions, Naki also becomes a Rider late in the series (the character is androgynous and, as an android, has NoBiologicalSex; while the actress identifies as non-binary).

*** ''Series/KamenRiderRevice'': Ikki and Daiji's little sister Sakura is a karate student that can hold her own against {{Mooks}} and human criminals, and that's before she gets her own TransformationTrinket and becomes Kamen Rider Jeanne. It's considered the first time that a female Rider was a main character, as she and Daiji are both series {{Deuteragonist}}s.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} III'', female units would usually be relegated to supporting magical roles (sorceresses for Humans[=/=]High Elves and Banshees for Undead), up until Night Elves had women filling all the primary attack unit roles. The expansion adds the Night Elf Warden, the only female melee hero in the game.
** Also, the expansion pack for ''Warcraft II'' added Alleria Windrunner, an elven ranger hero and the only female unit, to the story.
* In the original UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo 64}} version of ''VideoGame/DiddyKongRacing,'' the only female character was Pipsy the mouse. In order to even the balance a bit (and fill the empty spots left by [[ExiledFromContinuity characters Nintendo no longer had permission to use]], along with making the game less of an InNameOnly addition to the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' franchise), Diddy's girlfriend Dixie Kong and her younger sister Tiny Kong were added to the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS version.
* Aqua in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' is the franchise's first properly playable female character (not just a bonus addition like Larxene or Xion in multiplayer). [[MemeticBadass And she is awesome]].
* Viola of ''Stationery Voyagers''. It was strongly implied that Neone would join shortly after the first launch, so she doesn't count. But Viola appears from seemingly out of nowhere in the second season, and quickly convinces the team to let her join, [[SoulBrotha in spite of her eccentricities]] being confusing to them.

* ''WesternAnimation/IronMan'' had two CanonForeigner villainesses named Hypnotia and Elastika, who were created in order to add some women to Iron Man's mostly-male rogues gallery.

* The second season of ''Roland Rat: The Series'' introduced Roxanne Rat, an outspoken female rat, to a franchise that had previously only had one major female character, Glenis the Guinea-Pig. Unfortunately, the popularity of Roland Rat was already fading, and Roxanne isn't remembered as strongly as even the (male) characters added in season one.

** Prior to this, the original ComicBook/BlackCanary, Dinah Drake, was also commonly made a founding member (or at least, a member who joined early into their tenure), and nowadays Liberty Belle (Libby Lawrence) has been increasingly featured as a founding member too (a carryover from her having lead the All-Star Squadron, which was basically the JSA merged with other teams active at the time). Retroactively, Hippolyta has been featured in place of her daughter.

* The O5 X-Men, created in the days of TheSmurfettePrinciple, are joined by Comicbook/{{X 23}} in ''ComicBook/AllNewXMen''.

** Prior to the rise of the Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance Cora Livingston's title was only one recognized World Championship belt. This was an UnBuiltTrope, better than the men, who couldn't agree on a World Heavyweight Championship belt until Wrestling/GeorgeHackenschmidt, who forced the issue and still had to have ''two'' different World Heavyweight Championship belts for the Easter and Western Hemispheres, but over the decades various governing bodies introduced dozens of world championship belts for men of various weight divisions, and even {{tag team}}s, but with wasn't until the NWA that the women finally got World Tag Team and Junior Heavyweight belts of their own.

* The cast of THQ's cancelled ''Avengers'' video game pretty much exclusively consisted of characters featured in the [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse MCU]] (Comicbook/IronMan, ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk, [[Characters/TheMightyThorThorOdinson Thor]], Comicbook/BlackWidow, Comicbook/{{Hawkeye}} and [[Characters/IronManHeroes War Machine]]) with the lone exception of [[Characters/MarvelComicsCarolDanvers Ms. Marvel]], who would have appeared as an unlockable character.

** Ellen Yin was the sole major female character for the first couple of seasons. Unsurprisingly, she was written out of the show around the time ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} was introduced as a main character.

* According to Creator/BruceTimm, ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} was [[AscendedExtra made into a main character]] in ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries The New Batman Adventures]]'' because the network thought adding a girl to the main cast would help court female viewers.

* Skeeter in ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984'', as Miss Piggy was the only major recurring woman on the parent series, ''Series/TheMuppetShow''. (For the record, there weren't many minor recurring women on ''The Muppet Show'', either. There was really just Janice, who was part of the rock band. On the other hand, Animal was part of the band, too, and they used him regardless.) And Camilla (the chicken, and Gonzo's love interest). Camilla also appeared in the cartoon as a stuffed doll that interacted with the other characters whenever they'd have their imagination sequences. Like when they did an episode on [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek mythology]] and needed a third woman for the goddesses' contest with Paris. She was Aphrodite, goddess of beauty, [[HilarityEnsues to the other girls' chagrin]].

** Comicbook/{{Zatanna}} and [[{{ComicBook/Icon}} Rocket]] join over the course of the first season. No other male characters joined the team until season two. The second season also added Batgirl, Wonder Girl, and Bumblebee to the team.

'''ComicBook/BlackCanary:''' Agreed.\\

* The cartoon adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfZelda'' added Spryte the fairy to the cast of characters. While there ''are'' fairies in the [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda series]], there wasn't a main fairy character until ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'', and Spryte was likely added for this reason. Strangely, Impa was not in the cartoon despite being an important female character present in the first game, but to be fair, she was [[AllThereInTheManual only mentioned in the manual]].

* Sassette in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'', who was a tomboy compared to Smurfette's [[TheChick Chick]].

* Arwen's role in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' is expanded considerably compared to the original trilogy. Glorfindel's ride to bring Frodo to Rivendell is given to Arwen and she was filmed fighting at Helm's Deep so that the main romantic interest wasn't left out of the story for too long, but according to the [[WordOfGod DVD extras]], her being Affirmative Action Girl didn't feel right so they delved into the periphery material to show her feminine strength (supporting, encouraging, negotiating and persuading to aid the fellowship from afar) instead of the masculine strength of bashing stuff with a sword. And also according to [[WordOfGod the commentaries]], to avoid introducing [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters a new named character who will have two total minutes of screen time]]. WordOfGod also said that Tauriel from ''Film/TheHobbit'' film trilogy is what Arwen could have been since she was added to include some feminine energy.

** Despite the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, only a handful of the ones that are significant to the plot are female. The first fifty-odd hours will lead one to think that Elly is destined to be the game's playable Smurfette compared to the five guys Fei, Citan, Bart, Rico, and Billy, only being mitigated somewhat with Miang as the DarkMistress to Ramsus's presumptive BigBad, Margie as a non-playable PluckyGirl, and the all-female QuirkyMinibossSquad. Then, after completing the Shevat story arc near the end of the first disc, three female playable characters in a row are added: Maria, Chu-Chu, and Emeralda.

* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' with its [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters increasingly enormous playable roster]] has an already pretty-even gender ratio, though fan request and Riot's own interest for more diversity has led to female champions taking affirmative positions in originally uncommon roles. Examples include [[LadyOfWar Fiora]] (designed out of demand for a female [[MasterSwordsman melee duelist]]), [[ThePaladin Leona]] (a female [[StoneWall tank]]), and [[BadassPreacher Ill]][[AmazonianBeauty aoi]] (a female "[[TheJuggernaut jugger]][[MightyGlacier naut]]"). There have interestingly also been a few [[GenderInvertedTrope gender-inversions]] of this trope, such as [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter Gra]][[{{Cowboy}} ves]] (made out of demand for a [[RatedMForManly manly]] ranged marksman) and [[BarrierWarrior Br]][[HuskyRusskie aum]] (a manly support).

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'': ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64'' has only one playable female characters, Samus. ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee Melee]]'' on [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] added Peach, the Ice Climbers (one of whom is female) and Zelda (who can transform into Sheik), essentially adding four female characters. ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Brawl]]'' added Zero Suit Samus (a transformation for Samus similar to Zelda and Sheik), as well as Ivysaur (whose bud type actually confirms it as female, oddly enough), putting the total female playable character count (should you count Zelda/Sheik and Samus/Zero Suit as their own fighters) to 6 out of 39. Then came ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'', which split Zelda and Sheik as well as Samus and Zero Suit Samus into separate characters, finally giving those characters their own roster space, while simultaneously removing the Ice Climbers and Ivysaur. This would balance things out if they didn't add in the Wii Fit Trainer (who has a male ant-skin, but the female is default), Rosalina, Palutena, Lucina, and (as DLC) VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}, as well as multiple characters with female-alt skins such as Wendy (Bowser Jr.), Mii Fighter (two times over, technically, as only the Mii Gunner is female by default), Robin, the Villager, and Corrin, adding ''ten'' new female characters in one installment. It's for this reason that the fourth installment has received praise for being much more gender-accepting. Meanwhile, ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' [[TheBusCameBack brought back]] the Ice Climbers and Ivysaur and giving a female skin to the Pokemon Trainer, while at the same time adding in Daisy, the Inklings (who come as male too) and Isabelle, while DLC character Byleth comes with a female-alt skin, as well as Min Min, the Aegis and Alex as a skin for Steve.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'': ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64'' had only two playable female characters, Samus and Jigglypuff (whose gender is ambiguous anyway). ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee Melee]]'' on [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] added Peach, the Ice Climbers (one of whom is female) and Zelda (who can transform into Sheik), essentially adding four female characters. ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Brawl]]'' added Zero Suit Samus (a transformation for Samus similar to Zelda and Sheik), as well as Ivysaur (whose bud type actually confirms it as female, oddly enough), putting the total female playable character count (should you count each Pokemon of Pokemon Trainer and Zelda/Sheik and Samus/Zero Suit as their own fighters) to 8 out of 39. Then came ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'', which split Zelda and Sheik as well as Samus and Zero Suit Samus into separate characters, finally giving those characters their own roster space, while simultaneously removing the Ice Climbers and Ivysaur. This would balance things out if they didn't add in the Wii Fit Trainer (who has a male ant-skin, but the female is default), Rosalina, Palutena, Lucina, and VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}, as well as multiple characters with female-alt skins such as Wendy (Bowser Jr.), Mii Fighter (two times over, technically, as only the Mii Gunner is female by default), Robin, the Villager, and Corrin, adding ''ten'' new female characters in one installment. It's for this reason that the fourth installment has received praise for being much more gender-accepting. Meanwhile, ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' [[TheBusCameBack brought back]] the Ice Climbers and Ivysaur and giving a female skin to the Pokemon Trainer, while at the same time adding in Daisy, the Inklings (who come as male too) and Isabelle, while DLC character Byleth comes with a female-alt skin, as well as Min Min and Alex as a skin for Steve.

*** Mayu was soon overshadowed by ''Series/KamenRiderGaim''[='s=] Yoko Minato, who was a badass spy even before she became Kamen Rider Marika (it helped that she was played by stuntwoman Minami Tsukui, who was the first Rider since [[Series/KamenRider the original]] to use NoStuntDouble). She ended up the only woman in the Heisei era to have Rider powers for the majority of a show's run.

*** ''Series/KamenRiderGhost'' had a QuirkyMinibossSquad using knockoffs of Kamen Rider Necrom's powers in the summer movie; and one of the team members was a woman. Necrom's sister also used her own variant of his powers in one of the episodes tying into said movie.

*** ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'' is the first series in the entire franchise to ''start'' with a female Rider in the cast: Yua Yaiba/Kamen Rider Valkyrie; and she was the first woman to take part in the franchise's SwissArmyHero gimmick. If you're willing to stretch the trope definition, Naki also becomes a Rider late in the series (the character is androgynous and, as an android, has NoBiologicalSex; while the actress identifies as non-binary).

*** ''Series/KamenRiderRevice'': Ikki and Daiji's little sister Sakura is a karate student that can hold her own against {{Mooks}} and human criminals, and will even take a swing at one of the {{Big Bad}}s if given the opportunity. After struggling with having to just sit by and watch while her brothers fight, she's given a TransformationTrinket and she becomes Kamen Rider Jeanne.

'''[[Characters/BlackCanaryTheBlackCanary Black Canary]]:''' Agreed.\\

** Prior to this, the original [[Characters/BlackCanaryTheBlackCanary Black Canary]], Dinah Drake, was also commonly made a founding member (or at least, a member who joined early into their tenure), and nowadays Liberty Belle (Libby Lawrence) has been increasingly featured as a founding member too (a carryover from her having lead the All-Star Squadron, which was basically the JSA merged with other teams active at the time). Retroactively, Hippolyta has been featured in place of her daughter.

** ''Anime/LupinIIIPart6'' has Lily, the KidSidekick of Literature/SherlockHolmes.