[[quoteright:300:[[TombRaider http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Lara_Croft_Action_Girl.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Some women have cooler jobs than others.]]

->"Stay, stay thy hands! Thou art an Amazon and fightest with the sword of Deborah."
-->-- ''King Henry VI Part 1''

->'''Derek Reese:''' Remind me again, why are the boys out here and the girls in there?\\
'''John Connor:''' Because (...) one of the girls is harder than nuclear nails.\\
'''Derek Reese:''' And the other one's a cyborg.
-->-- ''Terminator: TheSarahConnorChronicles'', "What He Beheld"

%% No more quotes, please. If you have an applicable quote, put it in the examples.

The Action Girl is, essentially, [[{{Badass}} Badassitude]] molded into a sleek female frame: a female character who is spunky, agile, and can take you down with an array of kicks, punches, or diverse [[WeaponOfChoice Weapons Of Choice]].

She is '''not''' a DistressedDamsel. She doesn't sit around waiting to be rescued. She doesn't only plan how to rescue herself. She doesn't talk/manipulate/charm her way out of problems. She's got ''physical'' moves of her own to make, and even if she's a female WarriorTherapist, that does ''not'' guarantee she'll stop attacking as she speaks either. At one point she was the opposite of TheChick, though they have been overlapping more and more frequently.

Two of them make a LovelyAngels pair; if there are more, it's an AmazonBrigade. The youngest are {{Cute Bruiser}}s and occasionally {{Little Miss Badass}}es. The most noble and graceful are [[LadyOfWar Ladies Of War]] whereas the wildest and older ones are [[HotChickWithASword Hot Chicks With Swords]]. [[TheGunslinger Gunslinging action]] is best placed in the GirlsWithGuns' hands.

If an ActionGirl in her twenties or thirties, yet still tags along for the fights, she'll become an ActionMom or a TeamMom, depending on whether the kids she takes care of are hers or not. Maybe even both, if she's got her kids ''and'' takes care of other children/teens as well. [[AndYourLittleDogToo And threatening said kids]], also? [[MamaBear Bad, BAD idea]].

If the ActionGirl is even ''older'', it's a case of NeverMessWithGranny. As a bonus, she might also be an OldMaster towards a bunch of students, who will also fill in as "her kids". All the other conditions apply, of course.

One anime-specific kind of ActionGirl is a NinjaMaid, where the ActionGirl normally works as a butler, [[{{Meido}} maid]], babysitter or nanny, but is quick to jump in her boss/their family's defense when push comes to shove. If the ActionGirl is hired/honor-bound to work as someone's bodyguard and ends up falling in love with them, she's in a BodyguardCrush situation. If she works for another person and falls in love with said boss/superior, she's got a SubordinateExcuse going on.

If she has a boyfriend that fights alongside her, they are a BattleCouple. If she's the main character and the series's main plot revolves around her and a non-action boyfriend/girlfriend and their adventures, she's likely to be an ActionGirlfriend.

This trope frequently overlaps with HotAmazon, who is lusted after because of her strength and her good looks. This kind of ActionGirl is also likely to attact not only the attention of males, but of ''[[EvenTheGirlsWantHer females]]'' too, who admire her strength and have her as a role-model. On the other hand, sometimes it serves up NoGuyWantsAnAmazon as AnAesop about girl power and chauvinism.

If she's only an ActionGirl because you have to TakeOurWordForIt, she's a FauxActionGirl. This can happen as a result of CharacterDerailment or PowerCreepPowerSeep. Will probably pull a SweetPollyOliver at some point. Vulnerable to {{Chickification}} thanks to TheSmurfettePrinciple, and WomenInRefrigerators.

On the other hand, it might be worth noting that being an ActionGirl [[TropesAreNotGood is not inherently a good thing]]. Some writers fall into the trap of thinking that since the ActionGirl is a [[TradeSnark Strong Woman™]], she doesn't need any other qualities or CharacterDevelopment, often resulting in a really FlatCharacter. If this is the case, she'll be reduced to a female JerkAss, a StrawFeminist or a TsundereSue. At its worst, the portrayal of ActionGirl might even include several gender-related UnfortunateImplications, especially of the [[RealWomenNeverWearDresses "if you're an Action Girl, you're not allowed to be feminine in any way, lest you lose your right be a feminist icon!"]] variety. Conversely, there are plenty of well-written female characters who've never thrown a single punch, resolving problems through other means and with other strengths. Proceed with caution, then.

Compare the ActionGirl with her Dark-Side counterpart, the often far-more-aggressive DarkActionGirl and the more mundane versions: YouGoGirl and PluckyGirl. Not to be confused with AffirmativeActionGirl, who is just a girl added to the cast in an adaptation or new season to balance out the gender ratio no matter what role she actually plays.
----
!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime & Manga]]
* In ''{{Monster}}'', Nina is not only capable of kicking ass (and running without pain while in heels) but also scaring people completely shitless (and in at least one case, pissless) when they get in her way. It's possible she inherited some of this from her mother who [[spoiler: escaped from a high security military base ''while in labor''.]]
* ''CowboyBebop: Knocking On Heaven's Door''
-->'''Spike:''' Are all the employees around here like you? You got some classy moves for a corporate girl.\\
'''Electra:''' The more you know, the shorter you life will be.\\
'''Spike:''' I love the kind of woman who could kick my ass.
* All of the Sailor Senshi, though [[HugeSchoolgirl Makoto/Jupiter]] and [[{{Bifauxnen}} Haruka/Uranus]] the most obviously, in ''SailorMoon''.
** Sailor Moon ''herself''. Sure she's a whiny crybaby, but she's still the one that's always charging into the villain's stronghold to rescue her boyfriend, who has to play the part of JamesBondage for her at least once a season.
* Riza Hawkeye from ''FullmetalAlchemist'' pretty much defines this status. She is easily the most consistently competent and the least goofy of the Military Men, and let's not forget the "You're useless in the rain" scene. This is even more obvious in the manga where she's protrayed as an expert sniper having saved both Hughes and Mustang's life during the Ishval Rebellion/massacre.
** The manga also gives us Lan Fan bodyguard ninja to Ling Yao, Mei Chan the cutest warrior princess ever, and Olivier Milla Armstrong, who defeats her younger brother Alex in a fight, and takes on a homunculi in a tank.
** The most badass female and arguably the most badass person is Izumi Curtis, the local ActionMom; she cements it during the Tales of a Master flashback to her training in Mount Briggs, where she is forced to fight for her life in Winter and does this by taking out patrols from the heavily trained Fort Briggs, then she throws a bear to the ground, knocks the damn thing out, and drags the bear back to the person who told her to fight for her life for a month. She then beats the shit out of him for being a famous martial artist instead of a famous alchemist.
* Pururuun aka Polly Esther in ''SamuraiPizzaCats''. So tough, she has even been known to beat up her own ''co-workers'' if they annoy her in any way!
* Inoue Miyako from ''DigimonAdventure02'' gets an honorable mention, for her "Skateboard Thwap Attack" on [=LadyDevimon=], which was ''definitely'' her CrowningMomentOfAwesome. Ruki from ''DigimonTamers'' is about as close to an ActionGirl as a {{Mons}} or BondCreatures series can get. (Izumi, from the SuperSentai-inspired 'kids-turn-into-Digimon' ''[[DigimonFrontier Frontier]]'', was a FauxActionGirl, unfortunately.)
** ''YourMilageMayVary''. Personally, this troper found the fact that, out of all of her noticeably more powerful friends, the fact that she was the only one of them that could control her Beast Spirit a testament to how far she had come during the series. Note this was before her status was downgraded to ''TransformationTrinket''.
* Jo from ''BakuretsuTenshi''.
* Revy, Balalaika, Shenhua, Eda and Roberta from ''BlackLagoon''. The show is noted for its high ratio of Action Girls, who tend to deliver equally high body counts. Revy's aggressive attitude puts her more in DarkActionGirl territory, however.
* Nagisa and Honoka of ''FutariWaPrettyCure''. Actually, every member of every incarnation of PrettyCure, period. [[YesPrecure5 Kurumi]], [[FutariWaPrettyCureSplashStar Michiru and Kaoru]] can come too. Sorry, [[DistressedDamsel Hikari]], you're out.
* Jun from ''[[ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman Gatchaman]]'', when it's not downplayed by the influence of [[RealWomenNeverWearDresses 70's Japanese sexism]].
* Anise and Lily of ''[[GalaxyAngelGameverse Galaxy Angel II]]'' and ''GalaxyAngelRune'', more obviously so than two previous Angels, Forte and Ranpha.
* Eclair, Tweedledee, and others from ''KiddyGrade''.
* Kaede Nagase, Asuna Kagurazaka, Evangeline A.K. [=McDowell=], Mana Tatsumiya, Ku Fei, and Setsuna Sakurazaki in ''MahouSenseiNegima''. As other girls in the class get involved in Negi's other life, they start drifting in this direction as well.
* Julia from ''RaveMaster'', in her human form.
* Iria from ''Iria: Zeiram the Animation'', and the live-action ''Zeiram'' movies.
* Shana from ''ShakuganNoShana''.
* Honoka from ''[=~The Third: The Girl With the Blue Eye~=]''.
* Aisha Klan-Klan and Suzuka from ''OutlawStar''.
* Gally/Alita from ''{{GUNNM}}/Battle Angel Alita''.
** The LadyOfWar Caerula Sanguis from ''Last Order'' qualifies. In ''[[{{Badass}} spades]]''.
* In ''DragonBall'', [[{{Tsundere}} Chi-Chi]] was one of these, specifically of the Warrior Princess variety.
** Let's not forget Android 18 and Videl in ''DragonBallZ''.
* Kamiya Kaoru of ''RurouniKenshin'' is mostly a FauxActionGirl and ba BadassTeacher than a proper ActionGirl, but she ''does'' have her moments. Misao Makimachi from the [[{{Ninja}} Oniwabanshu]] is no slouch, either.
* Maki, [=AKA=] ''{{Airmaster}}'', is a streetfighting HugeSchoolgirl with an added dash of [[BloodKnight desperate thrill-seeking]]. Her UnknownRival, Sakiyama Kaori is also an ActionGirl.
* Kallen Stadtfeld / Karen Kouzuki from ''CodeGeass'', AcePilot of LaResistance.
** C.C. also qualifies, maybe not as much as Kallen, but she can still kick quite a bit of ass.
** Let's not forget Anya Earlstreim and ActionMom Empress Marianne [[spoiler: Even more if we consider that Anya was Marianne's SoulJar]]. Princess Cornelia bounced in and out of this and DarkActionGirl, though.
* Yoruichi Shihouin, Rukia Kuchiki (she still needs to Catch Up, but she ''is'' getting there), Kuukaku Shiba, Tatsuki Arisawa, Soifon, Rangiku Matsumoto, Momo Hinamori, Lisa Yadomaru, Hiyori Sarugaki, Mashiro Kuma and other ladies from ''{{Bleach}}''. The Arrancar also has a lot of fighting-geared ladies, but with the exception of [[spoiler:Neliel]] they fit more in the DarkActionGirl mold.
* Tokiko from ''BusouRenkin''.
* Major Motoko Kusanagi from ''{{Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex}}''.
** To clarify: She is likely the best there is in Section 9 at just about everything. The only character who was shown to be better than her at something was also thought to be ''too cool to exist''.
* Balsa from ''SeireiNoMoribito''.
* The first several episodes of ''{{The Daughter of Twenty Faces}}'' show Chiko's rapid development from a seemingly SpoiledBrat to a cunning, resourceful, and skilled PhantomThief ActionGirl.
* Both Elle Ragu and Folli of ''ShadowSkill''. [[FauxActionGirl Kyou]] only wishes she was.
* ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' has [[SmallGirlBigGun Nanoha]], [[SuperSoldier Fate]], [[LittleMissBadass Vita]], [[LadyOfWar Signum]], [[CuteBruiser Subaru]], [[GirlsWithGuns Teana]]... you know, it'd probably be easier to list the female mages that ''wouldn't'' count as an ActionGirl. Even the StaffChick could kick your ass, or at least [[TheBeastmaster have her]] [[SummonMagic dragons]] do it for her.
* It would seem that in ''{{GaoGaiGar}}'', if you're a female humanoid, you're almost guaranteed for [[MissionControl supporting roles]] [[BridgeBunnies on the backstage]]. However, starting in the OVA, we're introduced with Rune Cardiff Shishioh, who is actually a total ActionGirl on her own and is probably the only female who takes combat directly head on. Hell, in SuperRobotWars, she DOES actually take on robots bigger than her size armed with just her bazookas and fists (but with the help of her companion femmebots as well).
* Yoko Littner from ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann''.
* Asuka Langley Soryu from ''NeonGenesisEvangelion''. [[spoiler: Painfully and brutally subverted when she gets wtfpwned by the Mass Produced Evas in ''The End of Evangelion''.]]
** She did [[spoiler:single-handedly fight back against the entire offensive, including the mass-produced Evas and kept trying to fight after getting [[DidntSeeThatComing impaled by a mass-produced Lance of Longinus]], so her final battle qualifies as a {{crowning moment of awesome}} followed by a {{curb stomp battle}}.]]
*** She's even more of an ActionGirl in the manga, where her introduction consists of her fighting a gang of street thugs at an arcade and ''kicking all of their asses!''
* Hibari Ginza from ''SpeedGrapher''. She also fits the Girls With Guns category below, but is not the main character of the show.
** I'd say she's more of a DarkActionGirl, due to her {{Yandere}} streak.
* Kagura from from ''InuYasha'', who has defeated the protagonists multiple times by herself. Sango, a YamatoNadeshiko demon-slayer with a [[{{BFS}} ludicrously-sized]] [[PrecisionGuidedBoomerang boomerang]], of all things. Kikyou also was an excellent StraightArrow and LadyOfWar, and Kagome eventually evolved into an ActionGirl of the same type as time passed.
* In {{Naruto}}, [[BadassGrandpa Badass Grandma]] Chiyo definitely applies. In addition there's Tsunade and Sakura who possess [[SuperStrength Super Strength]], and Temari who fights using her [[BlowYouAway large]] [[RazorWind fan]].
** Unfortunately, women in Naruto, including the examples above, are often accused by fans of being [[FauxActionGirl Faux Action Girls]] due to the fact that they rarely get a chance to show off their skills. In a sense, girls in {{Naruto}} have the ''potential'' to be [[ActionGirl Action Girls]], but these moments are few and far between due to their moments of action being grossly outnumbered by the amount of times they get [[CurbStompBattle easily defeated]], captured, or seen crying helplessly. The fact that they are always weaker than their male counterparts doesn't help either.
* Hayao Miyazaki is already a big fan of putting female characters strong in ''both'' mind and body into his films, so naturally there's a few that meet this trope unquestioningly.
** [[NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind Nausicaa]] may be a FriendToAllLivingThings, but she also is courageous enough to face a stampede of building-sized insects and strong enough to wipe out a room full of soldiers with a staff.
** San, Eboshi, and the entire female population of ''Iron Town'', from ''{{Princess Mononoke}}''.
* The female pilot trio in ''MartianSuccessorNadesico'', especially Ryoko.
* Shiina Tamai from ''NaruTaru''.
* Casca from ''{{Berserk}}'' was a very credible one until... [[BreakTheCutie stuff]] [[GoMadFromTheRevelation happened]], which resulted in one of the cruelest, more tear-jerking {{Chickification}} processes ''ever''.
* Yuki Nagato of ''SuzumiyaHaruhi''. There's a reason why she's called a BadassBookworm.
* Genkai and Mukuro from ''YuYuHakusho''. Genkai is still one of these [[NeverMessWithGranny as a seventy-plus year-old woman]], and, when she was younger, [[spoiler: she helped Team Toguro with the Dark Tournament, her being the only girl on that team]]. Mukuro is so BadAss that [[spoiler: [[BeyondTheImpossible she rose to the rank of a demon king]] [[WithMyHandsTied while having her hands shackled together for hundreds of years]]]].
* Pandy and possibly the Warden from ''DeadLeaves''.
* Ryoko from ''TenchiMuyo!'' meets this exactly, though most of the cast can kick ass and take names when they need to (particularly BarrierWarrior Aeka).
* Also, Kawasumi Mai from ''{{Kanon}}'' is pretty cool with a sword.
* Makie from ''{{Blade of the Immortal}}''. Granted, she does not fight much, but when she begins she easily proves herself to be the best swords fighter in the entire series.
* Yotsuha from episode 15 of ''SamuraiChamploo'', who is a ''ninja detective'' in imperial Japan.
* Yui Lee from the ''VampirePrincessMiyu'' TV series.
* Saber, Rider, Caster, and Rin Tohsaka from ''FateStayNight''
* Allenby Biarzury from {{G Gundam}} is an example in the {{Gundam}} franchise. Don't let the girly-looking Gundam and the girlish speech patterns fool you: she can kick you ass six ways to Sunday, and she ''will''. If you have to doubt her skill, [[EstablishingCharacterMoment in her first scene]] she actually fought Domon in an arcade simulation when they first met; neither of them won, but the machine was the real loser as their combined fighting skills caused it to break down.
** Other action-oriented ladies in the Gundam series are: WaifFu Lalah Sune, LadyOfWar Emma Sheen, CuteBruiser Elle Vianno, DefrostingIceQueen Roux Rouka, TeamMom Marvette Fingerhut (along with the girls of the [[TheShrikeTeam Shrike Team, too bad they don't last]]), ColonelBadass Lucrezia Noin, GenkiGirl Hilde Schbeiker, FrontierDoctor Sally Po, {{Tsundere}} Sochie Heim, {{Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain}}ess Poe Eiji, etc. Heck, when given the chance, even ''Relena Peacecraft'' could handle herself passably well [[TheGunslinger with a gun]]; had she been a MartialPacifist and not an [[ActualPacifist absolute one]], who knows...
** There are also some {{Dark Action Girl}}s as well, the most noticeable being TheBaroness Haman Kahn, TykeBomb Four Murasame, {{Yandere}} Sarah Zaviaroff, and Princess Kycillia Zabi.
* Being heavily action oriented, the {{Nasuverse}} is filled with this, with the main heroines always being one.
** Just about all the girls in {{Kara no Kyoukai}}. All girls in {{Tsukihime}} except Hisui and maybe Kohaku (unless we count ''Melty Blood'', where they're upgraded to {{Ninja Maid}}s). All female Servents in {{Fate Stay Night}}, plus Rin Tousaka and Sakura Matou (though Sakura is more of a DarkMagicalGirl). Though Type-Venus never had any action scenes and seem to be very gentle, it is extremely likely she can kick a lot of ass as well; even weakened, she is still one of the "Ultimate Ones."
* Lina Inverse from ''{{The Slayers}}'': She left a path of devastation wherever she went, kicking the collective arses of everyone between her and whatever goal she was pursuing at the time.
* Princess Sapphire is one of the earliest examples in this medium, what with ''PrincessKnight'' being created way back in the fifties and considered as the mother of ''all'' {{shoujo}} manga.
* Lenalee from ''[=~D.Gray-Man~=]'' actually is ''such'' an ActionGirl that she Action Girls herself ''past her capabilities'' and [[BroughtDownToNormal temporarily becomes]] The Load until she recovers and goes back to being the local ActionGirl.
* ''{{Gintama}}'' has quite a few: Kagura, Otae, Sacchan (as long as she has her glasses) and [[spoiler: Kyuubei]].
* Holy moley, [[FairyTail Erza Scarlett]].
* Juliet, ''{{Romeo X Juliet}}''. Excellent Swordsman, she [[spoiler: was a vigilante nown as the Red Whirlwind and was more than a match for the guards of the city.]]
* Maka of ''SoulEater''. There is no shortage of instances where she's kicking ass by swinging and [[EverythingsBetterWithSpinning twirling]] that SinisterScythe of hers. Liz, Patty, and Tsubaki are capable too, on the rare occasion that they fight without their meister partners.
* Tomoyo Sakagami from ''{{Clannad}}'', making her kinda stand-out in a mostly non-Action anime.
* The [=HiME=] in ''{{Mai-HiME}}'', plus [[spoiler:a RobotGirl and a fake [=HiME=]]].
** Haruka Suzushiro, who [[BadassNormal isn't]] a [=HiME=], kicked a tank, held off two armed guards so her friend could run for help, and head butted [[PsychoLesbian Shizuru Fujino]] before [[spoiler: dying by disintegration]].
* The Otome in ''{{Mai-Otome}}''.
* Genie in ''RuneSoldierLouie''.
* Ryoko and Ikuno in AngelDensetsu, being [[DoctorGirlfriend always around]] [[FaceOfAThug Kitano]] it's a wonder they still mange to find people [[MuggingTheMonster trying to bother them]].
* Inner Moka, especially, from ''RosarioToVampire'', but all of them have solo or tag-teamed at beating the snot out of some hefty MonsterOfTheWeek candidates.
* Birdy of ''{{Birdy the Mighty}}''
* Sumire Iwaya of ''KimiWaPetto'' (''Tramps Like Us''), is a classy career woman who's punched out a boss's fake tooth, beaten up muggers on at least three different occasions, taken out Yakuza goons, given her boyfriend a split lip, and busted out some wrestling techniques to use on the men who kidnapped her pet, Momo.
-->'''Momo:''' No wonder they call her the Department of Technique!
* Momoko in ''SumomoMoMomoMo''.
* Elizaveta/Hungary from ''AxisPowersHetalia'' is an ActionGirl of the NinjaMaid type. Though we haven't seen them in proper action, other girls are also hinted to be proficient in self-defense, specially Belarus (a cute-looking KnifeNut) and Belgium (represented in sketches as the tomboyish owner of a {{BFG}}).
* A cardinal rule of ''PokemonSpecial'' is that if you have paired X chromosomes and you come into a Pokedex by hook or by crook, you are one of these to a degree without exception.
** Blue is the ClassyCatBurglar who is more than willing to use her feminine wiles ([[CrazyPrepared as well as some major advance planning in some cases]]) to get what she wants. Sabrina and Lorelei learned this the hard way.
** Yellow is the kind of person who would rather befriend Pokémon than fight them, but even Sird realizes (and Lance learns through experience) that cutting off any possibility of diplomacy with her is a ''[[BewareTheNiceOnes cosmically bad]]'' idea.
** Crystal is the only trainer ''in the entire series'' to complete the Pokédex for all non-legendary entries, and even then she may borrow off the others to fill out those entries. Her accuracy with leg-propelled Pokéballs is second to none, [[ExtremityExtremist and Arceus help you if she learns Capoeira to compliment that style]].
** Anyone who looks under the WildChild and BadassNormal entries should be aware of what Sapphire is capable of; capable in combat both with and without her Pokémon, and hardly a slouch in the cranial department [[BookDumb despite her complications in Roxanne's written challenge]]. She also developed a soft spot for [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Ruby]], and though he hasn't gotten in a hot spot she needed to wholly bail him out of, it's safe to assume that threatening his safety with her in proximity is akin to a death wish.
** Finally, despite her isolated and spoiled upbringing, Platina Berlitz comes from a family of scholars and can easily classify as the most knowledgeable out of the entire lot. Even though her bodyguards aren't what you'd [[BigEater expect from]] [[HotBlooded their profession]], it's not a bright idea to tick her off or endanger them, either.
* Just about any major female from ''{{Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple}}'', except for Kenichi's sister. But special mention goes to Miu.
* To some extent, Akane Tendō and most of Ranma's harem from ''[=~Ranma ½~=]''. While they may not be as strong as Ranma and most of the main male martial artists, they can still beat the shit out of 90% of the boys their age.
** For comedic purposes, Akane tends to become temporarily physically stronger than all the characters.
* Sakurako and Matsuri from ''{{Psyren}}'' are "Universal-type" PSI users, which as the name implies means they are good at everything. Fredrica and Marie, despite being kids, are equally capable.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comics]]
* The archetypical comic book Action Girl is, of course, Diana Prince a.k.a. WonderWoman, created for just that purpose in 1941. Not the first female superhero, but a true cultural icon and never out of print in 67 years. (Since until recently, if DC didn't keep making it they would lose ownership).
* Black Canary is a character who fluctuates between ActionGirl and FauxActionGirl, depending on the writer. Gail Simone, in ''{{Birds of Prey}}'', was frustrated at the fact that she always seemed to end up as a victim/hostage, and devoted much of the comic to re-establishing Canary's BadAss credibility. Sadly, the current "Green Arrow/Black Canary" title has ''utterly evaporated'' all that martial arts street cred.
* And then there's Big Barda, who's practically a beautiful seven-foot walking tank. [[HotAmazon And her husband, Mr. Miracle, loves her that way.]]
* Every [[{{X-Men}} X-Woman]] in existence has had an ActionGirl moment, but doubly so if she was created/handled by ChrisClaremont. Easily the most "Action"-oriented are Psylocke and Rogue, though Storm led the team without her powers during a long period in the '80s, and [[{{TookALevelInBadass}} accumulated several Badass levels]] during that period.
* Chakaal from ''{{Groo the Wanderer}}''.
* ModestyBlaise
* RedSonja
* Agent 355 (and most of the rest of the Culper Ring) in ''YTheLastMan''. A good thing too, as the titular walking MacGuffin is a definite NonActionGuy. Natalya Zamyatin also fits the bill, as does [[spoiler:Hero Brown]] after her HeelFaceTurn.
* The Bat Family has a record of having some of the the most awesome Action Girls (Barbara Gordon both as Batgirl and Oracle, Cassandra Cain Batgirl, Spoiler, Huntress and Catwoman, just to name a few) and tending to go through long periods where those girls are [[StuffedInTheFridge stuffed in the fridge]] or misused in some other way, before [[HesBack making returns]].
* When creating the new {{Batwoman}}, introduced in ''FiftyTwo'', the writers were afraid that she would quickly become a FauxActionGirl, especially since, though important, she is not the hero of the story. The RealLife furor surrounding the fact that she was a gay character caught them completely by surprise (They expected a response, of course, but not nearly of the size they got) and they wanted to make sure she was more than a token-'''anything'''. As such, they wanted the few action scenes she was in to be [[RuleOfCool explicitly cool]], they did not want to just [[InformedAbility talk about how cool she was]]. To this end, when writing one fight scene they scripted it as simply [[ShowDontTell "Batwoman is finishing off the last two Intergangers with a devestating move that will have people saying 'holy ****, she's cool!'"]] When looking at the finished product, Greg Rucka observes what she is doing and points out that the injury she is causing is something "[[{{Comicbook/Batman}} the Batman himself]] [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome would think twice about before inflicting.]]"
* Tulip O'Hare of ''{{Preacher}}'' fame. She hates guns, except when they're shooting you.
* ''UsagiYojimbo'' has at least five or six.
** Tomoe Ame, who kicked the title character's ass as a kid.
** Her cousin/[[spoiler: half-sister]] Noriko the Blood Princess, who did the same to her.
** Chizu, who qualifies by default as a {{Ninja}} and a recurring character.
** Inazuma, who was good enough in a fight to attract Jei's attention...
** Kitsune does not exactly qualify (preferring stealth to more direct approaches), but has been shown to have some skill with swords/battle tops/[[GroinAttack knees]]...
* Alexandra Goncharova, Makita and Maya Antares from ''The Red Star''.
* In ''StrangersInParadise'', anyone who's ever worked for Darcy Parker.
* [[{{Nextwave}} Elsa Bloodstone]], to [[BeyondTheImpossible stupidly ridiculous]] proportions, kicking the ass of anything with an ass using anything from shotguns to shovels to [[ImprobableWeaponUser guitars]].
* Tara, Mariah and Shakira from ''TheWarlord''.
* [[XWingSeries Plourr Ilo]]. Just [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Image:X-wing_26.jpg look]] at her! She is a [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses princess]] and her story is loosely based on that of Anastasia, but she is also a competent mechanic and pilot, a bit of a {{Tsundere}}, and both strong and good at hand-to-hand combat.
* The version of Rapunzel from ''Rapunzel's Revenge''.
* SquirrelGirl. And how!!
* The ''ComicBook/{{Sonic the Hedgehog}}'' Archie comic has Bunnie Rabbot, Julie-Su, and Sally Acorn, though the third has been subject to {{Chickification}} at times.
* The titular lead of ''YokoTsuno''.
* Gran'ma Ben of ''{{Bone}}'' is a great example of when this type of character grows up to be a CoolOldLady, and retains all of her ass-kicking powers.
* Cassie Hack of ''[[{{ptitle847h4r8c}} Hack/Slash]]''.
* Comic ''{{Hard Graft}}'' features all round actiongirl (and madwoman) Bernadette Montez.
* Kate Spencer of DC's Manhunter has become an example of this. Add the fact that she stole the weapons and costume she wears and isn't afraid to kill anyone in her way, and you have one crazy woman.
* Elena Kurakin, a half-Mongolian swordswoman and Rudinshtein Irregular who killed her commanding officer for cowardice in ''NikolaiDante''.
* Susan, a.k.a. Ginormica, from ''MonstersVsAliens'' [[CharacterDevelopment eventually becomes one of these]] after starting out as a ReluctantMonster.
* Marvel's Mockingbird is another good example.
* There's also She-Hulk.
* ''JudgeDredd'' has no shortage of very competent female judges.
* [[FantasticFour Sue Storm!]] She sure started out as a FauxActionGirl, but man did she ever level up. She's now the toughest fighter on the team, and she's on a team with Ben Grimm!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Folklore]]
* In ''[[http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=lang&book=red&story=death The Death of Koshchei the Deathless]]'', [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Princess Marya Morevna]] is apparently a fierce and vicious warrior. However, she does come off as a bit of a FauxActionGirl when [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Koshchei the Deathless]] kidnaps her, turning her into a DamselInDistress and forcing her NonActionGuy husband to go on a quest to save her.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* Tigress from ''KungFuPanda''.
* ''{{Mulan}}''. {{Disney/Aladdin}}, [[TheLittleMermaid Ariel]], [[LiloAndStitchTheSeries Lilo & Stitch]], even ''[[TheEmperorsNewGroove Kuzco]]'' got a TV series, why didn't she?
** Most likely because all the above examples aren't VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory. Disney was already treading on thin ice with the [[DidNotDoTheResearch "ancestors" thing]].
* EVE from ''{{WALL-E}}''.
* 7 is the [[TheSmurfettePrinciple only girl]] out of the group in ''[[{{ptitle1d5irnza}} 9]]'', and makes her entrance by [[spoiler:decapitating the Cat Beast in one swing.]]
* Abigail, the tomboyish woodmouse in ''{{Once Upon a Forest}}''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
* ''DOA'' the movie! Christie, Helena, Ayane, Katsumi, and of course Tina.
* Emma Peel of ''The Avengers''.
* Action Girls were not common in early movies, as the true form usually requires convincing hand-to-hand combat skills. However, a female character in a Western or Pirate movie could get away with the role. Maureen O'Hara is probably the most famous. She had a powerful screen personality, great acting skills, and an ungodly beauty that could carry any part. She also always looked to be having enormous fun whenever she got in a swordfight, most particularly in ''Against All Flags'' (as a pirate) and ''At Sword's Point'' (as the daughter of one of the Three Musketeers!).
* Many Kung Fu movies. In particular, characters played by Cheng Pei Pei (60s and 70s), Brigitte Lin, Michelle Yeoh (both 80s and 90s; coincidentally, she played the aforementioned Wai Lin), and now Zhang Ziyi.
** Yeoh, Zhang and Cheng came together as Shu-lien, Jen, and Jade Fox of ''CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon''. The sequence in the bar is FANTASTIC, as well as the fight between Shu and the rebel Jen.
* The first real example of a lead ActionGirl has to be Ellen Ripley from ''Film/{{Alien}}''.
** Vasquez from the second film. [[CrowningMomentofAwesome "LET'S ROCK!"]]
* The title character from ''Azumi'' and ''Azumi 2''.
* Marion Ravenwood of ''IndianaJones'' is supposed to be one, but she tends to lean more towards FauxActionGirl. She's defintely one in ''Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' though.
* Pretty much every female character in ''KillBill''.
* In ''LastActionHero'', Slater's daughter is one of these, and at first it's played for laughs by subverting the DistressedDamsel -- she's screaming mock-hysterically as she kills the mook sent to take care of her. But it's also deconstructed a bit when Slater mentions that she spent her prom night alone in her room, field-stripping an AK-47.
* Trinity from ''TheMatrix''.
* Elizabeth Swann, from the ''{{Pirates of the Caribbean}}'' trilogy, quickly evolves from a DistressedDamsel to an ActionGirl over the course of the three films.
* Rose [=McGowan=]'s role in ''[[{{Grindhouse}} Planet Terror]]'' redefined the ActionGirl for the next few years at least.
* Interesting little semi-subversion in ''Red Eye''. Rachel Macadams' character is manipulated, abused, and (metaphorically) raped by Cillian Murphy's MagnificentBastard, and eventually [[spoiler: she decides to man up (for want of a better term) and brutalize him with a pen, a shoe, and a field hockey stick. She does pretty well (or at least, well enough not to be a FauxActionGirl), but she ''still'' needs the help of Daddy Brian Cox, who also mans up just in time.]]
* Zoe in ''{{Firefly}}'' and Inara AND even [[spoiler: Kaylee, after Simon starts talking to her about possible future sex.]] How does nobody remember Inara's epic [[spoiler: dart-bow-gun thing?!]]
* So-Ha from ''The Shadowless Sword''.
* Princess Leia Organa from ''StarWars'' often switches in and out of the ActionGirl role. She must have got it from her mother, Padmé Amidala, who is, incidentally, the best shot with a blaster in the entire series.
** Leia deserves more credit for being an ActionGirl than Padmé does, if only because she manages to stay the ActionGirl throughout all three movies ''and'' the ''StarWars'' ExpandedUniverse (particularly after she quits politics). Padme turns into a whiner that dies because she's ''lost the will to live''. Leia picked off a Stormtrooper on top of a Walker with a handgun, shot two Stormtroopers at once, strangled Jabba the Hut, and, in the EU, ''disarmed her brother, Luke Skywalker, in a lightsaber sparring match while [[PregnantBadass heavily pregnant]]''.
* In the first two ''{{Terminator}}'' films, Sarah Connor grows from DistressedDamsel to one of the most badass heroines of all time, perhaps the only other that can truly stand beside Ellen Ripley.
** While Kate Brewster doesn't see much action in the third film (but she still shoots down a flying HK!), Williams from ''Salvation'' is a clear example of this trope.
* Trivia: We have (arguably) yet to have a true ''JamesBond'' ActionGirl, though Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh) from ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' and Giacinta/Jinx (Halle Berry) from ''DieAnotherDay'' come close.
** Some other girls ''do'' have their ActionGirl moments, though. We have HotAmazon May Day (Grace Jones) from ''{{A View to a Kill}}'', StraightArrow Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet) from ''ForYourEyesOnly'', Countess Teresa "Tracy" [=DiVincezo=] (Diana Rigg a.k.a. Emma Peel from ''TheAvengers'') from ''OnHerMajestysSecretService'', Japanese spy Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi) from ''YouOnlyLiveTwice'', CIA agent Dr. Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles) in ''{{Moonraker}}'', and Bambi (Lola Larson) and Thumper (Trina Parks) from ''DiamondsAreForever.''
* Ukrainian model/actress Milla Jovovich frequently plays Action Girls. She has the attractiveness to get by in Hollywood, and the lean, rangy body of a female athlete.
** Alice, ''ResidentEvil''.
** Leeloo, ''TheFifthElement''.
** Violet, ''{{Film/Ultraviolet}}''.
** Joan of Arc, ''The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc''.
* Selena in ''[[TwentyEightDaysLater 28 Days Later]]'' has this kind of scheme going on. Since ''28 Days Later'' is on the cynical end of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, she may be badass and violent, but she's still just a rather athletic chemist with a machete.
* Mace in ''StrangeDays''. It pretty much takes an entire police [=SWAT=] team to kick her ass. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that she's a professional bodyguard, whom you'd reasonably expect to be able to kick someone's ass if necessary.
* Francesca Bruni in the 2005 ''Casanova'' movie. Your brother is a poor swordsman who's got himself into a duel? No problem, just take his place and kick ass!
* Selene in ''{{Underworld}}'', played by Kate Beckinsale.
* Pam Grier's film carrier is made up of [[SassyBlackWoman Sassy]] [[ActionGirl Action]] [[HelloNurse Girls]].
* Trixie (played by Christina Ricci) from the ''SpeedRacer'' movie.
* Eowyn from ''{{The Lord of the Rings}}''. "[[SamusIsAGirl I]] [[PreMortemOneLiner AM]] [[NoManOfWomanBorn NO MAN]]!"
** In the first film, Arwen Evenstar carries a wounded Frodo from Weathertop to Rivendell, outrunning the Black Riders. (In the book, Arwen was just there for Aragorn to [[TheChiefsDaughter fall in love with]], so the film could be considered [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory Politically Correct Fiction]].)
*** Or it could be considered a big improvement with the most beautiful film scene of her on the white horse and the nine on their black mounts. Much better then the book in that respect.
* ''The Quick and the Dead'' (1995) with the unnamed "The Lady" played by Sharon Stone.
* ''RedDawn''. Teenaged girls Toni and Erica, who subvert the usual trope by being too rugged up in the Colorado winter to be much fanservice. After the RagtagBunchOfMisfits kill their first DirtyCommunists, they state flat out that the guys can do their own washing up. We later see them blasting away in ambushes and using their feminine wiles to get bombs into places where the Russians really don't want them going off.
* Maya from ''EightBelow''. Only female dog ''and'' the leader of the pack.
* Zen, [[IdiotSavant autistic teenage]] [[DisabilitySuperpower martial arts savant]] of the Thai film ''Chocolate''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Action Girls were popular in classical literature. Examples include the goddesses Athena (LadyOfWar) and Artemis (StraightArrow), Penthesilea the Amazon Queen who appeared ancient epic cycles (and later Kleist's play) and Camilla in Virgil's ''TheAeneid''. The popularity of Amazon women waned in Middle Ages, but they were to make a comeback in Renaissance epic in the form of female knights such as Bradamante and Marfisa in Ariosto's ''Orlando Furioso'', Clorinda in Tasso's ''Gerusalemme Liberata'', and Belphoebe and Britomart in Spenser's ''TheFaerieQueene''. In the latter poem, Spenser laments the scarcity of Action Girls in his own time and bids females to start kicking ass again as they did in the old days.
* Sharrow in Iain M. Banks' ''{{Against a Dark Background}}''.
* Novelist Christopher Brookmyre's kung fu cop, Angelique de Xavia. She kills terrorists with her bare hands, and responds to the {{Big Bad}}'s expository speech by [[spoiler:shooting him in the spine and then cutting out his eye to use on a retinal scanner]]. She's also technically a ViolentGlaswegian, especially considering she's a Rangers fan, but since she's about five feet tall and of south Asian ancestry you might not realise it to look at her.
** Jane Fleming was no slouch either.
* Ellie Quinn and Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan from {{Lois McMaster Bujold}}'s VorkosiganSaga, although Cordelia seems to have retired after the events of ''Barrayar'', at least in terms of physical arse-kicking.
* In Jim Butcher's ''TheDresdenFiles'':
** Karrin Murphy with (particularly in early books) a bit of TheLancer thrown in. As she is the BadassNormal, she can have trouble with some of the things that she has to face, but after a while, she learns the rules for battling things, and kicks ass.
*** TheLancer disappeared in the recent books, as Murphy begins to out-badass everyone in every book. Including Harry.
** Miss Gard. A Valkyrie with a penchant for firearms.
* Velvet in David Eddings' ''TheMalloreon''. She kills one enemy in ''Demon Lord of Karanda'' by ''throwing a viper in his face''.
* Captain Holly Short and Juliet Butler (on occasion) in ''ArtemisFowl''. Juliet is more of a CuteBruiser, Holly Short a FairCop, among other things.
* Kahlan in Terry Goodkind's ''{{The Sword Of Truth}}'' series and even more so in ''Legend of the Seeker''
* The title character from KerryGreenwood's Phryne Fisher mysteries.
* AnitaBlake from Laurell K. Hamilton's AnitaBlake series. She is the ultimate killing machine.
* Jame of P.C. Hodgell's ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath—a martial arts expert, formerly a professional thief who pulled off some of the most impossible thefts, and in training to be a military officer.
* Robert E. Howard wrote some surprisingly strong female characters considering his time, genre and upbringing, including Valeria, Dark Agnes, Tarala, Helen Tavrel, Conchita and the '''''original''''' Red Sonya (totally different and far more realistic than the character better known from Marvel comics and the movie).
* David Isaak's ''Shock and Awe'' features multiple examples of this, most notably the heroine, Carla, who is probably the most realistic, believable portrayal of an action girl ever seen.
* Mara Jade of the ''StarWars'' ExpandedUniverse switches back and forth between being an Action Girl and a full-on MarySue depending on who was writing her, only to end up as a FauxActionGirl [[spoiler:purely so the writer could [[WallBanger kill her off]]. She got ridiculously close to ''killing'' her killer, and that's not something a ''FauxActionGirl'' is capable of, it's something an ActionMom or MamaBear would do, but if she'd been [[CharacterDerailment written accurately]], she would have mopped the floor with the jumped-up idiot before the fight even properly started. ''Sacrifice'' began the process of restoring her from FauxActionGirl to ActionGirl, only to kill her off before getting her anywhere near to her true {{Badass}} level]].
** Then there's Jaina, who is at once BadAss enough to take down one of the most powerful and yet least impressive Sith Lords ever, [[spoiler:her twin brother nonetheless]], and yet despite being a fully-functioning Jedi Knight and part of the Skywalker line (which practically ''burns'' with Force potential), had to get additional training from Boba freaking Fett, a seventy-year-old cancer-survivor with bad knees, all because of Karen Traviss's desire to keep Fett and the Mandalorians relevant. Not to mention the 12+ books where she [[FauxActionGirl hung around uselessly]] before even getting to that point. Twelve books where her [[DoubleStandard twin brother]] received an obscene amount of [[GodModeSue god-modding]].
*** And don't forget that in the NewJediOrder, she took down [[TheDragon the Warmaster]] [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome single-handedly]].
** Let's not forget Tenel Ka, who took down a Nightsister [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome without any weapons!]]
* Catti-Brie, of the ''[[ForgottenRealms Drizzt]]'' novels, is a reasonably competent ActionGirl. This is helped by her truly badass equipment; her sword would be decent equipment on someone four times her official character level, and her bow is all but epic. She even beats Drizzt in sparring matches now and again, and he's fifty years her senior, still in his prime, and trained since his youth to fight. However, [[spoiler:a recent wound to the leg that didn't heal right lead her to taking up magic. After three books of this, she died in the Spellplague.]].
** In game terms, though, it's noteworthy that she has the lowest character level of any of the Companions of the Hall -- Drizzt is 16, Bruenor is 12, Regis and Wulfgar are both 9, and Catti-Brie is (before her [[spoiler:magical trainig]] 4]]. She does, however, have the least overall combat experience, so this is justified.
** Salvatore's other leading original ''ForgottenRealms'' female, Danica Maupoissant, is also a warrior. In her case, she's a fighting monk, trained from her youth both in unarmed combat and the use of some ''very'' fine knives, and by the second book of the Cleric Quintet the foremost student of a long-dead grandmaster's teachings. She's skilled enough to fight alongside and impress centuries-old elven warriors before she's even thirty.
** The Seven Sisters from the ''Forgotten Realms'' all fit the template to some degree.
* MercedesLackey examples: Georgina (''One Good Knight''), Tarma (''Oathbound'' series), Elspeth (''Mage Winds'' trilogy) Kerowyn (''By the Sword'', appearances in ''Mage Winds'' and ''Mage Storms''), Silverblade (Silver Gryphon, though she's a bit iffy).
* Brienne of Tarth from ''[[ASongOfIceAndFire A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' is arguably a mix of ActionGirl and FailureKnight. A talented warrior (in a fairly patriarchal fantasy society) who [[spoiler:watches the man she loves get murdered by a shadow]] and still tries to defend him. She also manages to defeat many skilled knights (often outnumbered) and is doing pretty damn well on her quest before [[spoiler:being hanged for a traitor]]. [[ButtMonkey Some people have no luck]].
** The series also contains [[HornyVikings Ascha]] [[HotAmazon Greyjoy]], Meera Reed, Osha and [[FieryRedhead Ygritte]], all who play this trope fairly straight without Brienne's terrible luck. Though, poor Ygritte ''did'' have the misfortune of [[spoiler:getting sacrificed at the altar of Jon's Woobiedom]].
* Hekat and Rhian in Karen Miller's ''GodspeakerTrilogy''
* All of TamoraPierce's Tortall protagonists (with the possible exception of Aly, who's more of a Spy/[[TricksterArchetype Trickster]], but can still hold her own in a fight)
** Daine may be an exception as well; she's more of a certified nature girl who can shoot a bow and use a slingshot, but doesn't have any explicit powers of destruction unless you [[spoiler:tell her that you murdered her beloved teacher]]. Then she gets [[BerserkButton angry]].
*** Her prowess with a longbow against the Stormwings would certainly qualify her in the first book, though.
* Terry Pratchett has outright stated that he "can't write 'soft' female characters." Thus, ''{{Discworld}}'' contains Angua von Uberwald, werewolf cop; Susan Sto Helit, [[TheGrimReaper Death]]'s granddaughter; Polly Perks, a [[GroinAttack dirty-fighting]] SweetPollyOliver [[spoiler: and one of [[AmazonBrigade a squad entirely composed of them]]]]; Granny Weatherwax, an ''old'' ActionGirl-ish witch; and even [[BewareTheNiceOnes normally bland female characters who have their moments]]. Magrat Garlick, generally rather useless, has taken down a pair of snake-ladies in ''Discworld/WitchesAbroad'' and a few [[TheFairFolk evil elves]] in ''Discworld/{{Lords and Ladies}}'', Agnes Nitt roughs up a few vampires in ''Discworld/{{Carpe Jugulum}}'', and Saccharissa threatens a man with a crossbow near the end of ''Discworld/{{The Truth}}'' convincingly enough that he passes out.
** And don't forget Tiffany Aching, who overpowered the Queen of the Elves with only a frying pan on her home turf, and to whom Mistress Weatherwax took off her hat in respect, [[LittleMissBadass at the age of]] ''[[LittleMissBadass nine]]''. That's just the start of her adventures.
** Even Sybil has her moments. On two occasions, in ''Night Watch'' and ''Guards! Guards!'', she responds to trespassers by getting down one of the ornamental swords from the wall. She even stops murderous dwarfs with a song from an opera in ''Fifth Elephant''.
** Don't forget Adora Bella Dearheart (do NOT [[BerserkButton comment on the name]]) from ''Going Postal''. She chain smokes and threatens to put the heel of her stiletto through a man's foot, among other things.
** Not to mention Kirsty from ''JohnnyMaxwellTrilogy''.
** And then there are the ''GoodOmens'' ones conceived with NeilGaiman. War is the quintessential amazon, and then there's of course Pepper. Arguments could be made for putting Anathema and Agnes Nutter into this category as well; they were certainly badass enough in their own ways.
* Rachel in ''{{Animorphs}}''; her signature battle morph is the [[EverythingsWorseWithBears grizzly bear]]. She's a BloodKnight, TheBigGuy, and good proof that RealWomenWearDresses: her other passions in life are gymnastics, her boyfriend, and ''shopping''.
* Cutlass Cate and, to a lesser extent, Cheng Li, in ''{{Vampirates}}''.
* Patricia Savage, Doc's pistol-toting cousin in the ''DocSavage'' novels who is quite capable of taking on several armed thugs at once.
* Blue Jade in the fifth ''FinneganZwake'' novel is a (modren-day) ''pirate'' ActionGirl.
* Little My of ''TheMoomins''.
* Several in ''{{Nightrunner}}'', considering one of the major settings is a matriarchy with lots of women warriors. Most notably Beka, the princesses Klia and Phoria, and RetiredBadass Thryis.
* In the ''{{Temeraire}}'' series, there are female captains of dragons -- and they are almost exclusively captains of the light-heavyweight acid-spitting Longwing breed, critical to Britain's combat formations. There are even three variants presented; a [[ActionMom more matronly, heavyset, ladylike woman]], a shy young woman who in any other service would be the SweetPollyOliver, and the middle road of a woman approaching early middle age with a daughter in the service with a mannish stride and a penchant for smoking and drinking.
* In Matthew Woodring Stover's ''ActsOfCaine'' novels, there's Talaan in ''Heroes Die'' and Olga/Marade in ''Caine Black Knife''.
* Just like TerryPratchett, David Weber is apparently physically unable to ever write a StaffChick. Even his {{Distressed Damsel}}s tends to be {{badass}} in some way, and are usually able even if not to fight, then trick themselves out of trouble with some sort of IndyPloy or BavarianFireDrill. But more often than not they just start to kick asses and take names.
** HonorHarrington from David Weber's ''Honorverse'' novels not only commands starships (and later in the series, entire fleets), but on occasion takes part in various forms of hand-to-hand combat. She's an all round example of the action woman who's both smart and physically very capable.
* Since combat is never purely in the cockpit, most of the women in the books of the ''XWingSeries'' count. Shalla Nelprin would probably have gotten along well with Plourr, above.
* In ''Spider-Man: The Darkest Hours'', during Spider-Man's fight with The Ancients, Mary Jane [[spoiler:beats the crap out of the last Ancient with a tire iron while quoting Macbeth.]] If that's not Action Girl, what is?
* BrandonSanderson seems to like this trope. The main character of ''{{Mistborn}}'' is Vin, who is one of the biggest [[{{Badass}} badasses]] in a trilogy full of them even before she [[spoiler: becomes a god]], and in the first book she has a DarkActionGirl nemesis, Lady Shan. [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses Sarene]] from ''{{Elantris}}'' is more of a political {{Chessmaster}} type, but she fences in her spare time and is good enough to hold her own agaisnt the BigBad, a magically enhanced warrior monk. {{Warbreaker}} has no really solid example, though Vivenna seems to be becoming an ActionGirl in training by the end.
* Many of the female characters in {{Anne McCaffrey}}'s ''{{Dragonriders of Pern}}'' novels. Most notable are Lessa and Moreta, though others such as Brekke occasionally qualify.
* When she first appeared, Arya of ''Eragon'' showed promise as an Action Girl. However, due to Paolini's [[strike:meddling teenage brain]] author genius, she's become a perfect example of [[TheChick girls who seem unreachable but really aren't (even though their love is unfulfilled)]].
* If Katniss of ''TheHungerGames'' wasn't this before the title event, she is by the end of them.
* The Arch-Angel Gabriel (literaly the "strength of god") is often depicted as a female in arts. Hir name is also one that who would go under GenderBlenderName if v wasn't the first to have the name. A being in charge of a race with memebers including eye cover wheels and 4 winged eye covered FlamingSword wielding guardians likely shouldn't have a penis or vagina (or be humanoid) though. This would also make Gabriel the [[TheSmurfettePrinciple only female]] in the 4 Catholic Arch-Angels (Gabriel is one of the 2 who appears outside of Catholic only books)
* Clarissa Kinnison (nee McDougall) of the Lensmen novels, and all four of her daughters. Arguably Virgilia Samms from the same universe, inasmuch as she's an integral part of Triplanetary's senior operations planning and is as exposed to danger as any of the men (to the point where she's [[spoiler:captured and tortured]], and barely escapes with her life). In ''Masters of the Vortex'', there are several female members of Neal Cloud's crew who kick MAJOR arse, including the epic scene where they [[spoiler:commandeer the weapons Cloud was issued for use as overclocked drilling and sampling lasers, and reduce the local gangster boss's fortress to a puddle of boiling rock along with everyone in it]]. The Lensman universe was pretty much Smith's redemption for making Dorothy Seaton such a shrinking violet for all but the very last part of the ''Skylark'' quartet.
** Clio Marsden in ''Triplanetary'' doesn't fight anywhere near as effectively as her male compatriots; but given that she starts the story as a naive young civilian, she doesn't do too badly.
* Milla of the Far Raiders of {{The Seventh Tower}} is tougher and more physically competent than any fourteen year old should be... on the other hand, she is still a fourteen year old, and behaves like one, behaving in an [[JerkAss incredibly arrogant]] and at times [[MurderIsTheBestSolution almost homicidal]] way towards Tal in the early book. She grows up a lot as the series continues, like Tal, mostly due to common sense being drilled into them both by reality.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''{{Ace Lightning}}'''s spunky sidekick (and RedheadedHero), Sparx. The name is apt.
* The protagonist of ''{{Alias}}'', Sydney Bristow. Also Irina Derevko, Lauren Reed, Nadia Santos, Rachel Gibson, Anna Espinosa, Allison Dorren, Katya Derevko and Elena Derevko.
* Beka Valentine from ''{{Andromeda}}''.
** I see your Beka, and raise you Romi.
* Cathy Gale from 1960s action/spy show ''TheAvengers'' was arguably TV's first ActionGirl. She replaced former star Ian Hendry and there were reportedly no changes in the early scripts, so that she was effectively playing a "male" character. She was later replaced with the equally tough Emma Peel, who became the series's iconic female character. Both of them occasionally needed to be saved by male colleague John Steed, but they saved him just as frequently.
* Susan Ivanova on ''{{Babylon 5}}'' was sometimes one of these, particularly in her speech in "Between the Darkness and the Light": "I am the right hand of vengeance, and the boot that is going to kick your sorry ass all the way back to Earth, sweetheart! I am Death Incarnate, and the last living thing that you are ever going to see. God sent me."
* Kara "Starbuck" Thrace from the ''BattlestarGalactica'' remake. Kara is perhaps ''the'' ActionGirl while in the cockpit of a Viper, but is no slouch in hand-to-hand or ranged infantry combat, either -- she's described as "the best shot in or out of the cockpit."
* Temperance Brennan, ''{{Bones}}''. Trained in martial arts, and goes hunting. Just for food though.
* ''{{Buffy the Vampire Slayer}}'' from the very beginning. JossWhedon explained that besides the pure female-empowerment angle, he wanted to turn the opening of virtually every horror movie ever on its head; normally, [[DarknessEqualsDeath the pretty blond girl walks into the dark alley, the monster goes in after, and the girl dies]]. Here, the girl rips the monster a new one. Naturally, the movie features such a scene (involving several vampires, but also a telling-off for Buffy for being an idiot).
** This goes for almost every female both in ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and in ''Angel'' at some point or another.
** ... and in ''{{Dollhouse}}''. Spotting a theme,here?
* Corporal Jennifer "Pilot" Chase from ''{{Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future}}''.
* Sarah Walker on ''{{Chuck}}'' as well as numerous female guest characters.
* Max from ''DarkAngel''.
* Leela, ''DoctorWho'' (after whom the ''{{Futurama}}'' character may have been named). Also Ace, who was never without her trusty [[StuffBlowingUp Nitro-9]] (who also, incidentally, shot a Dalek in the face with a ''rocket launcher'', and beat the crap out of another with a ''baseball bat'').
** The funny part is that modern writers often say the Doctor is "finally" going to have an ActionGirl companion, due to the public (read: "journalists") having SmallReferencePools and only remembering those who stood around screaming in black and white. Of course, this ignores characters like the babarian warrior, Leela, and the ever cool and resourceful Time Lady Romana. Ironically the companions from the new series tend to be rather more DistressedDamsel than half the ones in the classic series. This also applies to some extent to JamesBond.
** The Doctor manages to turn all of his female companions into [[ActionGirl Action Girls]] eventually. Heck, even [[spoiler: Rose's mom]] is pretty awesome. Traveling throughout space and time with a Time Lord will do that, apparently.
* Echo, Sierra and November from ''{{Dollhouse}}'' depending on the imprint.
* Jo Lupo, ''{{Eureka}}''.
* Aeryn Sun, {{Farscape}}.
** The other women on the show are no slouches (except Jool, and even she gets better in The Peacekeeper Wars) in a fight, either. Even Zhaan gets some combat ability. But none of them are highly-trained soldiers who show themselves consistently able to make the hard call.
* Zoe in ''{{Firefly}}'' and River in ''{{Serenity}}''.
** Also Inara, who can [[spoiler: swordfight like nobody's business]], and the owner of the Heart of Gold, although [[spoiler: she was shot by the BigBad of that particular episode.]], as well as her girls. Not mention Petaline, who [[spoiler: shot the father of her baby in the head as he knelt on the ground, introducing her son to him before, and saying "say goodbye to your daddy" after. Kick. ASS.]] And even to an extent 'Saffron', [[spoiler: who's a decent fighter to begin with and compounds on it with her sneakiness (stole Mal's gun), insane acting skills, and interesting weapon choices.]]
* FBI agent Olivia Dunham from ''{{Fringe}}''.
* Agent 99 from ''GetSmart''.
* Ella Dee in ''{{Hex}}''. On the rare occasions when the heroes actually achieve anything, it usually involves her doing violence to somebody. Including throttling a priest (who was actually a demon) while wearing a truly terrifying expression.
* The titular heroine of ''LaFemmeNikita'', both movie and series.
* Detective Olivia Benson from ''{{Law and Order SVU}}''.
* Juliet on ''{{Lost}}''. Television Without Pity calls her a ninja. Kate, Ana-Lucia, Charlotte (who rarely got to show it off), and Ilana as well.
* Ziva David of ''{{NCIS}}'', a Mossad officer trained as an assassin. She's responsible for some impressive takedowns, such stopping the steroid-fueled UnstoppableRage of a Marine who'd thrown off [=McGee=], Tony, and Gibbs in "Corporal Punishment", and temporarily holding off four Marines at once in "Cloak".
** Am [[{{Fiona}} I]] the only one who finds Ziva fighting [[{{FetishFuel}} really, really hot?]]
** To be fair, Kate had her moments too. And so did Abby, when she [[spoiler: took out the imposter agent with a taser]] and [[spoiler: incapacitated her spy lab assistant with nothing but a roll of duct tape]].
* Hunter of ''{{Neverwhere}}''.
* Megan Reeves of ''{{NUMB3RS}}''. Not only does she have the firearm proficiency expected of an FBI agent, but she also has a black belt in Krav Maga. As she remarks to Colby, "If you're going to be arresting people [[AmericanCustomaryMeasurements a hundred pounds]] heavier than you, you'll need to learn some hobbies."
* Jen from ''PowerRangers Time Force''. When ''not'' wearing the [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman shiny Ranger suit]], she'll [[{{Tsundere}} clobber]] poor Wes in sparring sessions (and once for ''real'' while BrainwashedAndCrazy) and wields a sniper rifle. (Wes isn't a NonActionGuy, he just isn't police trained.) For that matter, most female Rangers count to some degree: there are [[HotAmazon Katie]] (Time Force), [[HeirToTheDojo Alyssa]] and [[GoodLookingPrivates Taylor]] (Wild Force), [[{{Bokukko}} Vida]] and to a degree [[TheCutie Madison]] (Mystic Force), [[CuteBruiser Kira]] (Dino Thunder), Z and Sydney (and temporarily [[CatGirl Kat]]) (SPD)...
** Super Sentai has some examples, as well. Remy from Fiveman and Sakura from Boukenger are a couple of the better examples.
* Maid Marian in ''RobinOfSherwood'', ''Series/RobinHood'' (2006) and, of course, ''MaidMarianAndHerMerryMen''.
** Also from 2006's ''RobinHood'' is the Saracen Djaq, who doubled as the team medic. Sadly, both women have now been replaced with a FauxActionGirl.
** In ''{{The New Adventures of Robin Hood}}'', Marion was portrayed as a Xena clone.
* Teresa Moreno from ''{{Sharpe}}''.
* Veronica Layton from ''[=~Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World~=]''.
* Teyla from ''StargateAtlantis'' is easily mistaken for the self-effacing type until she comes after you with a P-90 or her trusty Bantos rods. She routinely kicks Sheppard's butt during their sparring sessions and is not afraid of making her point with a knife to the throat.
** The unlucky fella who ended up with the last option was a Wraith. Yes, ''those'' Wraith.
* Samantha Carter in ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'' prefers to be the [[BadassBookworm thinker]] of the gang, but when butt kicking is called for, ''she kicks butt''!
* ''StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': Jadzia Dax is a dab hand with a bat'leth, and Kira -- well, Kira once beat the shit out of a serial killer while the equivalent of ''nine months pregnant''.
* ''StarTrekVoyager'': Seems the whole point of the "Macrocosm" episode was to show Captain Janeway stripping down to a sweaty tanktop and going Sigourney Weaver on the macrovirus' hiney. [[HalfHumanHybrids Half]]-[[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Klingon]] B'elanna Torres is handy in a punchup too, and [[MsFanservice Seven of Nine]] is both a good shot and strong enough to [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom knock someone off their feet and a yard down the corridor]].
* ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' had Tasha Yar for awhile (pity she died) and K'Ehleyr as well, both women who easily counted as Action Girls. Tasha was raised in an anarchist colony and spent time running from rape gangs as a girl, and K'Ehleyr took on Worf in the holodeck.
* Trooper Becca Gallagher from ''Ultimate Force''. Okay, Season 3 was when the series (arguably){{Jumped The Shark}} but there was nothing wrong with the ''character''.
* Summer Glau as Cameron Phillips in ''{{Terminator}}: TheSarahConnorChronicles''. Despite not being an android, Sarah herself qualifies as well.
** Cameron's a cyborg, not an android. You know, living flesh on metal endoskeleton and all that.
* Despite the fact that she ''seems'' to be TheChick, Gwen Cooper from ''{{Torchwood}}'' is actually an ActionGirl. Toshike Sato, on the other hand, was definitely a combo of TheChick and TheSmartGuy.
* ''XenaWarriorPrincess''
** And in later seasons, Gabrielle. If you see her in the costume displaying abs o' steel and she has short hair, she's kicking ass.
* Velda the Elf and Gundrada from ''{{Knightmare}}'' at least as much as possible within the confines of a kids show.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Super Girl (Buttercup) by Shounen Knife.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music Videos]]
* Pink in the video for "Trouble".
** Pink in real life, too. In her "I'm Not Dead" tour, she did a full-fledged Cirque de Soleil act forty feet above a stage ''that had no padding and no net''. While singing the entire song live. Every single night. This tour, she's doing a song with a trapeze act that starts out with her ''blindfolded''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''MetalGearSolid'' has The Boss, who is a very extreme example of this trope, probably closer to an ActionHero with breasts and bordering on a female [[TheAce Ace]]: physically powerful, emotionally intelligent, and deeply perceptive. She beats the snot out of the main character repeatedly; [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory fought in World War II]] -- while hugely pregnant -- and became a hero; and makes everyone cry at the end. For a lot of [[CharacterDevelopment rather complicated reasons]], she has never been considered a MarySue and is probably the most popular female character in the fandom.
** Meryl becomes one of these in ''MetalGear Solid 4''. The members of The Beauty and the Beast Unit from the same game are part this trope and part NightmareFuel.
** Also Sniper Wolf from ''1'', Olga Gurlokavich and Fortune from ''2'' (Fortune also wields the biggest gun in the whole series including Raven's), and to some extent EVE from ''3''.
* Tifa Lockhart from ''FinalFantasyVII'' can punch and kick her way with the best of them. She has been trained in martial arts since she was a child, and has super human reflexes and strength.
** If you're going to mention Tifa, it's only fair Yuffie pops in too.
* ''FinalFantasyVI'': Celes and Terra are ultimately the most powerful fighters ''and'' the most powerful spellcasters in the game, including using "knightly" equipment that most men aren't up to equipping. This is particularly obvious in a Natural Magic Challenge game...
* ''{{Live a Live}}'' has, from the Xin Shan Quan Master's chapter, Li Kuugo, former bandit and one of three possible characters to become the inheritor of the Xin Shan Quan martial arts style. Of the three possible characters, she is the fastest and has decent attack power and health (far faster than Sammo, more health than Yuan, although that ceases to be an issue as your level increases). Of the three characters, she starts with more attacks than Yuan, but less than Sammo, but is the only one of the three to get a whole-screen attack. Like the other two, she becomes death incarnate once she gets her ultimate tech. She is this editor's personal favorite character in the entire game.
** Ditto for [[TheGreatUnknown this (admittedly nerdy) troper]].
** She reminds [[ExOttoyuhr this troper]] of [[Characters/FinalFantasyVI Terra]]. (Square ''liked'' this trope back in their golden age.)
* Jaheira, of the ''BaldursGate'' series, wears the pants in her marriage. She's also a warrior and a druid, is not afraid to criticize the PC for doing stupid things, and assumes a role of either leader or trusted advisor. She also has better stats than her husband. There are two parts of the games that are arguably not suited to her being an Action Girl, where she apparently picked up a DistressBall (or was forced to):
** She is cursed by someone she once had put away for slaving, and requires your help to survive it. This is acceptable because it wasn't a matter of strength; the spell affecting her would have overcome ''anyone'' in the party had they been targeted with it, and it was perfectly logical that the person who had it commissioned would come after her (personal vendetta).
** If the PC is in a romance with her, a vampire entrances her and makes her a slave, [[spoiler: forcing the party to kill her, though you can bring her back]]. However, this happens to ''whomever'' the PC is romancing, male or female, including Anomen, the tall, "handsome", and bloody annoying knight-errant.
** As a typical example of how good the adaptation is, she becomes an ''awful'' FauxActionGirl in the novels.
* Krystal, from ''StarFox'', although it's debatable on whether or not she's an ActionGirl or a FauxActionGirl.
** The DS iteration of the series has one possible scenario in which Krystal, Katt Monroe, Lucy Hare (Peppy's daughter), and Amanda (Slippy's fiancée) team up to save Corneria. A good day for gender equality indeed.
* Arioch from ''{{Drakengard}}'', with the added bonus that she's AxCrazy. This editor hesitated over whether to place her in here or in DarkActionGirl.
* Selan in ''{{Lufia}} II'' fits this well, despite also having elements of TheChick (although [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend Tia]] is more of a Chick). She also eventually becomes an ActionMom.
* Almost all the girls who don't fit in the StaffChick mold in ''FireEmblem''. They're more likely to belong to the BlackMagicianGirl, FragileSpeedster or StraightArrow type, but still can handle themselves more than well in the battlefield, and more than often they get ''more'' bonus growths than male characters.
** The best example is Princess Ayra from ''FireEmblem 4''. She is a very tough lady and has the deadly skill Ryuuseiken, which allows her to hit ''many'' times in a row for one round, which can easily mow down almost all enemies. This quote probably sums up her status as ActionGirl, as she threatens her "boss" for using [[MamaBear her nephew]] [[IHaveYourWife as a hostage]]:
--->"You better not double-cross me, Kinbois, because I'll hunt you down and put your head to a stick! Even if it takes me to the ends of hell! Got it!?"
** Another case in point, Mia, from Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn. She drags the resident healer to her training sessions to ensure that she doesn't have to hold back. Said training sessions are always with Ike, who has a similar "no holds barred" training ethic to her. Everyone else on the mercenary crew is too scared to spar with them.
* Argilla from ''ShinMegamiTensei: DigitalDevilSaga''.
* Alyx Vance of ''Half-Life 2''.
* [[{{Metroid}} Samus Aran]] is the ''original'' video game ActionGirl, even if that [[SamusIsAGirl wasn't always obvious.]] Nowadays, [[ItWasHisSled everybody knows]] -- and she's ''still'' one of the most BadAss characters in the video game world, female or no. In-universe, she's considered a living legend, and many of the {{NPC}}s she meets in ''{{Metroid}} Prime 3: Corruption'' are starstruck at seeing her.
* Due to budget limitations, we never get to see Sergeant Brooks of the ''{{Crusader}}'' series of games in an actual fight, but when you consider the lower-ranked [=NCOs=] are afraid of her, she lips off multiple times to a superior officer who also happens to be someone who could probably kill her without a breaking a sweat, and survives WEC captivity with no wounds requiring anything more than a two-day stint in a (probably poorly-equipped) hospital, she almost certainly counts.
* Queen Catherine Ironfist of ''{{Heroes of Might and Magic}} III'', a cunning tactician, skilled warrior, and phenomenal leader. Then there's Mutare, a young human woman who rises to prominence in the "dungeon" cities of Nighon (populated mostly by monsters like harpies, medusas, minotaurs, etc.), makes a grab for power the moment her enemy shows a sign of weakness, and ends up the ruler of all Nighon due to [[spoiler:being transformed into a sentient black dragon]]. There are other female warrior-types who probably count, but those two are [[TheSmurfettePrinciple the only ones with real characterization]] -- the other characterized lead, Adrienne, doesn't count, because she's a MagicalGirl.
* Lara Croft, ''TombRaider''. Even as the size of her breasts enlarged, she still kicked lots of ass.
* From ''MegaMan'': Marino, the sexy thief from ''MegaManX: Command Mission'', and from ''[[MegaManZX ZX]]'', there's Aile and Ashe. Ashe moreso, because she's an experienced Hunter who can kick ass with just a pistol (And Model A increases her ass-kicking ability quite a bit). Even more impressive is when you realize she can beat bosses with a weapon from the armory of one of few groups from Zero and ZX whose weapons are typically useless in the hands of anyone else besides bad guys and other heroes.
** And I forgot to mention that Aile and Ashe are humans, in a series of robotic protagonists. That makes it even more impressive.
* Monica from ''DarkCloud 2'', a time-traveling princess who's just as good with a sword as she is with fire magic (and she's cute, to boot).
* Jade from ''{{Beyond Good and Evil}}'' is both a regular ActionGirl ''and'' a kind of ActionMom -- although she doesn't have any ''biological'' children, she is the "mother" of several [[HeartwarmingOrphan cute orphans]] at a shelter.
* Mona Sax of ''MaxPayne 2'' is a very capable [[CareerKillers assassin]] who is the title character's equal when it comes to guns and ass-kicking in general. You get to play as her during the second act, when Max gets in trouble at the construction site and Mona has to ensure that he stays alive. You also step into her shoes during the third act, when Max gets a bullet in the head from Vlad at the funhouse and Mona "comes to get him through the fire." The two eventually go on a two-person [[StormingTheCastle castle storm]] on Woden's manor.
* Many fighting game girls would fit here in some way, but a few are more noteworthy:
** The famous Chun Li from ''[[{{StreetFighter}} Street Fighter II]]'' and beyond could turn anyone's head with her looks or one (thousand) of her ridiculously fast and powerful kicks. Her SF legacy is continued by ladies like Cammy White, Rose, Sakura Kasugano, Karin Kanzuki, Makoto, Elena, Hokuto, Pullum Purna and others.
** Chun Li's partner in dishing out leggy Chinese violence, Jam Cloudberry from ''[[{{GuiltyGear}} Guilty Gear]]'' is a [[{{LethalChef}} lethal chef]] [[ChefOfIron of a different variety]].
** Nina Williams from ''{{Tekken}}'' would also count... though she might be a bit [[{{DarkActionGirl}} darker]] than the norm. Ana Williams, michell and Julia Chang, Li Xiaoyu, Asuka Kazama and Christie Monteiro would be more straight examples, then.
** Don't forget the ladies from the ''{{King of Fighters}}'' saga. You have {{Cute Bruiser}}s (Athena, Yuri, Hinako, Momoko), {{Badass Lolita}}s (Mignon), {{Action Mom}}s (Vanessa), [[LadyOfWar Ladies of War]] (Chizuru, Maki, Elisabeth), [[BloodKnight Blood Ladies]] (Vice and Mature), {{Emotionless Girl}}s (Leona Heidern), {{Bifauxnen}} (King, though she's also a bit of an ActionMom [[PromotionToParent because she raised her brother]]), [[MurderousThighs Strong Grapplers]] (Shermie, Blue Mary) and many others.
** [[SoulCalibur Sophitia]] [[CodeGeass "Badass Mother"]] [[SoulCalibur Alexandria]]. Fugudsakes, when [[MamaBear she thought her daughter Phyrra was in danger]], she promptly mowed down almost ''every single character in the game'' with ease. Honorable mentions go to the lady ninja Taki, the [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean very talented]] Ivy Valentine, Sophitia's younger sister Cassandra, ChineseGirl swordswoman Chai Xianghua, PluckyGirl Seung Mina, FemmeFatale Setsuka and [[CuteBruiser the tiny but powerful]] Talim.
* Alicia Winston in ''TimeCrisis 3''. Not only does she subvert the series' trend of [[DistressedDamsel Distressed Damsels]], which the past three games had, but she's also a ''playable character'' in the [=PS2=] port.
* Shanoa in ''{{Castlevania}}: Order of Ecclesia''.
** Anyone from the Belnades clan of witches, and Maria Renard who was fighting monsters before puberty.
** Sonia Belmont, the first Belmont, at least until they dreamed up Leon several years later, and then [[RetCon retconned]] her out of the timeline altogether.
* Lenna, Faris and Krile from ''FinalFantasyV''.
* Every female pilots in ''SuperRobotWars OriginalGeneration'' series are all {{Action Girl}}s. It doesn't matter if the said pilot is MoeMoe and shy. Once she enters her mecha, expect multitudes of ass-kicking to commence from her.
* Ashley Williams in ''MassEffect''. Of all of the squadmates, she is the best all-around fighter, being able to use shotguns, assault rifles, ''and'' sniper rifles, wear heavy armor, has high hit points (second only to Wrex) and health regeneration, ''and'' can use Immunity, Shield Boost, and Adrenaline Burst. None of your other squadmates can do ''all'' of this.
** Ash is, however, altogether outdone if [[BadAss Commander Shepard]] is played as a woman.
* Bastila Shan in ''{{Knights of the Old Republic}}''. And, like Ashley in ''MassEffect'', she pales in comparison to the female PlayerCharacter, particularly when you learn that the incredibly {{Badass}} Darth Revan everybody's been talking about all game, the one who beat the living daylights out of the [[ProudWarriorRace Mandalorians]] ''and'' the Republic, Jedi Order and all? [[spoiler: You're her.]]
** Mira and [[spoiler: Brianna]] the Handmaiden in the sequel, not to mention the [[PlayerCharacter Jedi Exile]].
* Blaze the Cat is the most straight example from the ''{{Sonic the Hedgehog}}'' games, but [[ClingyJealousGirl Amy]] is no slouch with [[DropTheHammer that hammer of hers]] and [[ClassyCatBurglar Rouge]] has a more subtle brand of asskicking. Cream... could be considered more of a TechnicalPacifist, with her [[{{Mon}} Chao]] partner Cheese delivering all of the direct attacks.
* Jill Valentine from ''ResidentEvil'' can tear through a ZombieApocalypse like a hot knife through butter. Plus she has the honorable title of "Master of Unlocking".
** Ada from ''ResidentEvil 4'' is also pretty badass.
** Don't forget Sheva Alomar or Claire Redfield either.
* Ayla from ''ChronoTrigger''. Okay, she's a cavewoman, but also easily the most powerful character (while fighting ''barehanded''), even without magic powers like the other protagonists. And in-story, she is the leader of her village, and its most skilled warrior (even Kino, her boyfriend, is weaker than her).
* Oh, so very much in ''Valkyria Chronicles'', where one of the two female leads is the leader of the local town watch at the start of the game and can run halfway across most maps in a single turn before gunning down a tank and eventually goes super saiyan, and the other is a bigoted former singer who is one of the single toughest characters in the game and carries a machine gun and a flamethrower as standard weaponry. And then there's the Dragon for the big bad, who just dials "action girl" up to 14 in her first encounter with the heroes and gets much much worse.
* In ''PlanescapeTorment'', Annah is a fierce and fearless knife-fighter. She's drawn to the protagonist almost against her will, but then so are the rest of the [=NPCs=], [[spoiler:thanks to their torments]].
* No mention of AxCrazy [[{{Disgaea3}} Princess Sapphire]] yet? Also a BattleCouple.
* Ashelin from the ''{{Jak and Daxter}}'' games has had full [[XtremeKoolLetterz Krimzon Guard]] training, and unlike most of the [[{{Mooks}} Guard]], actually ''remembers'' it.
* In the ''Halo 3'' level "The Covenant", as Sergeant Johnson is held prisoner by the Brutes, Miranda Keyes [[spoiler:crashes her Pelican through the Citadel's window and starts blowing away the Brutes with her shotgun]].
* Ashei, the lady knight who aids Link in ''{{The Legend of Zelda}}: Twilight Princess'', qualifies for this trope.
* Heather Mason from ''SilentHill3''. Arguably, the very nature of the series makes the other female characters varying types of a FauxActionGirl at the very least, but Heather is probably the most well-known and easily identifiable example of a true ActionGirl.
* Presea Combatir, Judith, and Farah Oersted from the ''Tales'' series fill in this category.
** Presea's choice of weapon is a giant ax that is literally heavier than she is and her physical strength is the highest in ''Tales of Symphonia''.
** Judith is the resident air master of ''Tales of Vesperia'' and was so popular that she was accepted as one of the characters to appear in ''Tales of Vs''.
** Farah Oersted is so powerful that she is capable of firing three consecutive beast heads with the technique "ground breaker" and she does this ENTIRELY BAREHANDED.
* Most of the playable female characters in the ''DynastyWarriors'' series, especially Sun Shang Xiang and Zhu Rong, where there is some basis in [[Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms the source material]].
* Ginchiyo Tachibana and Ina from ''Samurai Warriors 2'' are easily the toughest women in the game. Whereas the other female characters either wear robes (Okuni, No) or are ninjas (Nene, Kunoichi from SW 1), Ina is the daughter of Tadakatsu Honda (regarded as the strongest in the land) and wields a giant bladed bow while wearing armor (and one of her alternate costumes in Warriors Orochi 2 has full body armor). Ginchiyo wears full plate and chain mail, wields a serrated, lightning-imbued sword and has one of the most devastating movesets in the game. There's even a line group between her and Zhang He (a very un-masculine character from ''Dynasty Warriors'') in ''Warriors Orochi'':
-->'''Zhang He:''' You are supposed to be a woman, where is your sense of grace?\\
'''Ginchiyo:''' You are supposed to be a warrior! Where is your sense of masculinity!?
* Freya Crescent from ''FinalFantasyIX''. To put it in [[http://socksmakepeoplesexy.net/index.php?a=ff09 the words of one reviewer]]:
-->"Let me see if I'm understanding this. Freya is one of the main heroines of a JRPG -- and she ''doesn't'' at any point have the hots for the hero, ''never'' needs to be rescued by the hero, and in fact shows up the hero in a monster-slaying competition? (Unless the player really knows what he's doing during the Festival of the Hunt sequence, that is.) And wait -- does Freya really offer ''zero'' fanservice? Not even the slightest effort is made to cater to ''[[TheSecretOfNIMH Secret of NIMH]]'' fanboy furries? (..) And am I really not imagining the game, when Freya ends up with the guy she has the hots for -- a guy who, again, isn't the game's male main character? Whoa. Not only might Freya be the best Dragoon in ''FinalFantasy'', the best female party member in the whole series (at least from a feminist perspective)."
* A staple of ''{{Command and Conquer}}'', since ''Red Alert'' introduced us to Tanya Adams, a certified {{Badass}} "[[HiredGuns professional volunteer]]".
** After that in ''Tiberian Sun'' we had Umagon, a mutant lady who was PutOnABus during the expansion.
** ''Red Alert 2'' Tanya returned portrayed by Kari Wuhrer.
** ''Tiberium Wars'' introduced a new Nod Commando with a sexy accent and an eyepatch, and it's expansion also introduced a squad of sonic grenade launching jetpack women in form fitting PoweredArmor.
** ''Red Alert 3'' one again had Tanya (this time Jenny [=McCarthy=]), along with Natasha (Gina Carano), and Yuriko. Oh, and there were flying anime-inspired laser dominatrices; I am not making that up.
* Lani, Kidra, and Santes from TheReconstruction. Lani is HotBlooded, prone to yelling a lot, and bashes any foes that come her way with a giant tower shield, and Santes blasts any foes in your way to oblivion with [[HolyHandGrenade Judement]].
* Ophelia, Lita, the Razor Girls, and the Zaulia in BrutalLegend. In other words, every woman in the game.
* Ayame from ''{{Tenchu}}'', a kunoichi who, after [[BreakTheCutie a string of traumatic events in her childhood]], [[TookALevelInBadass took an attitude]] and became the second best ninja in the Azuma Ninja Clan. Also a DeadpanSnarker in most games.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Sal Walters in ''[[ItsWalky It's Walky]]''... [[DarkActionGirl unless you catch her on a bad day]].
* Anne Onymous, Katie [=McBride=], Samantha "Wolfie" Wolf, and Miranda West in ''TheWotch''.
* Ellen Dunkel and Nanase Kitsune in ''ElGoonishShive''.
* Oasis in ''SluggyFreelance'', though not an especially heroic one (which is to say, she is [[AxCrazy completely psychotic]]). May be a RobotGirl or a former TykeBomb or [[spoiler: a vengeful spirit that possesses random passers-by]] or more than one.
* Zeetha from ''GirlGenius'' is a warrior woman from a hidden, jungle city which might possibly have a matriarchal society (this is speculation). She appears to be a stronger warrior than any of the [[BadassNormal humans]] in the comic, although she is [[spoiler: beaten in combat by the superhuman Baron Wulfenbach]].
** This editor thinks ''old age and treachery'' factored into the above.
** There's also that [[spoiler:Baron Wulfenbach]] is perhaps the most badass individual on that planet. Really, losing to him is no shame for ''anyone''.
** The title character is a proficient in making and ''using'' {{death ray}}s and can hold her ground with a sword, but lacks the physique of a real action girl. Fortunately, Zeetha's working on fixing that.
* Haley from ''{{The Order of the Stick}}'' is a high-level chaotic good thief. Her archery is unmatched in the comic. [[PronounTrouble Maybe]] Vaarsuvius, too.
** Miko might have been a stick-up-the-butt KnightTemplar, but this is a woman that managed to solo the Order twice, defeated a minimum 15th level, artifact-enhanced cleric in a world of {{codzilla}}, and can behead people with her feet.
* Radical, in ''GamingGuardians''. Her [[ShapeShifter shapeshifting]] EvilTwin, Ultima starts out as a DarkActionGirl, but (unusually for the trope) does a HeelFaceTurn later -- [[KarmaHoudini after having put Radical through seven kinds of hell]] ([[spoiler:including fathering Radical's child while disguised as Randarch, and then causing her miscarriage]]).
* {{Garanos}} from [[http://www.garanos.com the webcomic of the same name]].
* Juno from ''[[http://www.starcrossd.net Starcross'd Destiny]]''.
* Virtually every female character in ''ErrantStory'' qualifies, though special consideration goes to Sara, the resident warrior-monk. ''Time-mage'' warrior-monk.
* Jane Mighty (formerly Iron Jane) from ''EverydayHeroes''. She introduced herself to her future husband by [[AgonyOfTheFeet kicking him in the head]].
* The title character of ''The Chalenges of Zona''. She and her sister Tula have been known to form a warrior/priestess-mage LovelyAngels duo.
* Wendy from ''{{Cheshire Crossing}}''
* ''TheCyantianChronicles'': Silver and Celina best embody this trope. Quinn will, once she does more than spar with family and friends. Chatin, Cilke and a few others cover this trope to a (very slightly) lesser degree.
** It helps that the majority of cyantians have some kind of combat training. Especially the members of the Akaelae family and the Mounty royal family. Which makes sense given the need to protect themselves.
* Tonya from ''[[http://www.shapequest.net Shape Quest]]'' is this trope precisely.
* Chen-Chen in ''{{Harkovast}}'' has martial art skills that allow her to block swords (with her bare arms!) and smash skulls (with her bare fists!)
* Saffron and Felicia from ''[[{{ptitlejmt00a4r}} Fetch Quest: Saga of the Twelve Artifacts]]''. Especially the former.
* Tristan in ''AngelMoxie''.
* Cassie in ''{{Acrobat}}''.
* While there are several in ''SchlockMercenary'' -- Legs, 'Chelle, even Breya fit the bill -- Elf takes the cake. Ranging from blowing up a refinery to [[AssShove procto-ing a reality TV host with one of his own cameras]].
* The Girl from the webcomic ''{{A Girl and Her Fed}}''. She's one of the best in the world at Judo, and will use it when necessary.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* This is pretty much the point of ''{{Pokegirls}}''.
* At the SuperHeroSchool Whateley Academy, in the webfiction ''WhateleyUniverse'', most of the girls in Team Kimba fit this trope. Chaka, mistress of Ki, has taken down a team of ninjas, fought a guy the size of a Sasquatch to stand up for a friend, and beaten Lycanthros (a super-werewolf kind of supervillain who has multiple wants for murder). Tennyo is so tough the school has had to ban everyone from facing off against her. Phase fought a killer supervillain before she even knew how to use her own powers properly. Generator beat a supervillain in power armor who was trying to hold her hostage with a knife... by impaling herself on the knife first and then taking over his armor. They're all ActionGirl types. [[spoiler:Except that none of them was born female.]]
* Kit Baxter from ''RedPandaAdventures''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''[=~She-Ra: Princess of Power~=]'' has the title character, as well as Huntara, a purple-skinned Grace Jones lookalike who has no powers except a bunch of [[WhereDoesHeGetAllThoseWonderfulToys really cool weapons]], but held her own against She-Ra in a one-on-one fight.
** In fact, most of the women in the show were Action Girls, and the guys were the JamesBondage types. Understandable since the show was created as the girl's version of ''He-Man''.
* Sally Acorn, ''{{Sonic the Hedgehog}}'', before her CharacterDerailment in the later comics.
* Mira Nova, ''{{Buzz Lightyear of Star Command}}''.
* Colleen, ''RoadRovers''.
* Leela, ''{{Futurama}}''.
* Elena Potato and Lay Mamery in ''MonsterAllergy''.
* All three of ''ThePowerpuffGirls''.
* Sam, Alex, and Clover of ''TotallySpies!'' seem to take turns being competent.
* Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman, ''JusticeLeague''. In ''Unlimited'' we gain Huntress, Black Canary, and Vixen.
* Katara (from the second season on), Toph Bei Fong, Suki, and [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Ozai's Angels]] (Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee) on ''[=~Avatar: The Last Airbender~=]''; at this point they outnumber the male badasses.
* ''KimPossible''... [[DistressBall usually]]. It's "most of the time, but no boys will watch this show if she saves the day every week". That said, crucial-moment stuff is generally carried out by Rufus. Kim is a true ActionGirl most of the time, especially ''[[TheMovie So the Drama]]'' is all about giving Kim one [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Moment of Awesome]] after another. Unfortunately, the plot often demands Kim to receive a problem she can't solve on her own in order to let [[YouSuck Ron]], [[TeamPet Rufus]], or any other supporting character to [[AllUpToYou save the day]].
* The same goes for ''TeenTitans'''s Starfire.
* Diana the Acrobat in ''[[Series/DungeonsAndDragons Dungeons & Dragons]]''. To a more subtle degree, also Sheila the Thief.
* [[FutureBadass Adult]] Jade of ''JackieChanAdventures''.
* Lioness from ''AlphaTeensOnMachines''.
* Shao Lin from ''{{Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys}}''.
* Niko from ''{{Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers}}'', who also had PsychicPowers.
* Carbine, a recurring character on ''{{Biker Mice from Mars}}''.
* Candy from ''{{Dave the Barbarian}}''. Sometimes parodied, sometimes played straight. Also Fang, Candy's much more aggressive younger sister.
* Sara from ''{{Chaotic}}''. Admittedly she looks like the FauxActionGirl for most of the first season, and is quickly defeated in the first battle she has, the first battle of hers that the viewer actually SEES is one of the most intense combats in the series up to that point.
** Some female creatures on the show also provide examples, such as Intress, Laarina, and Takinom.
* Cera from ''TheLandBeforeTime''. Granted as a dinosaur, she lacks the attractive appearance, but you have to respect a girl who can shatter rocks with her ''head''.
** More of a CuteBruiser, though.
* Valerie Gray from ''DannyPhantom''. She's been stated as a ninth degree martial artist despite being [[CompetenceZone only fourteen]].
* Sandy Cheeks from ''{{SpongeBob SquarePants}}''.
* From ''{{ReBoot}}'', all of the main female characters were more than capable of holding their own, though [=AndrAIa=] was the only one to be consistently in the fight. Dot and Mouse were more often used for their command and technical skills.
* Kiva from ''MegasXLR''.
* Yumi Ishiyama from ''CodeLyoko''. Aelita also grows into one throughout the series, to settle it starting Season 3.
* Rose from ''AmericanDragonJakeLong''.
* Jessica from ''{{Gormiti the Lords of Nature Return}}'', as she proves by [[spoiler:single-handedly defeating the BigBad's pet dragon and knocking down Orrore Profondo (the second strongest of the Volcano Gormiti)]]
* Elisa Maza in ''{{Gargoyles}}''.
** And [[MamaBear Fox]], and [[DarkActionGirl Demona]], and [[SixthRanger Angela]], and '''[[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Princess Katherine]]'''... Heck, ''every'' female in ''{{Gargoyles}}'' fits this, with the exception of [[TheChick Maggie the Cat.]]
** And even Maggie is a superhumanly strong, winged mutant who can shoot lightning bolts from her hands. She may not be an ActionGirl by temperment, but you wouldn't want to mess with her, either.
* Wendy from ''SouthPark'' seems very likely to grow up into one of these based on her CrowningMomentOfAwesome in season 12. (Kicked Cartman's ass.)
* ''{{Transformers}}'' has a pretty good record with this, despite females being in the extreme minority.
** ''TransformersGenerationOne'': The female Autobots, and to a lesser extent Arcee.
** ''BeastWars'': Airazor and Blackarachnia.
** ''TransformersEnergon'': Arcee.
** ''TransformersCybertron'': Override and Thunderblast.
** ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' (film series): Mikaela.
** ''TransformersAnimated'': Blackarachnia, Strika, [[spoiler: Starscream's female clone]] and [[spoiler: Sari, after she took a level in badass.]] Professor Princess might technically count, although she's more about the gadgets than actual combat.
* The girls of the ''KidsNextDoor'', including [[BewareTheNiceOnes Numbuh Three]] (Kuki Sanban), [[TheLancer Numbuh Five]] (Abigail Lincoln) and [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Numbuh Three Sixty Two]] (Racheal Mckenzie).
* ''AtomicBetty''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Joan d'Arc was a French peasant girl who heard the voice of God instructing her to expel the hated English from France. Legend has it that she led a cavalry charge with an arrow wound in her neck, and also not only survived being struck in the head with a cannonball but ''kept fighting'' as well. Was eventually betrayed and burned at the stake, but the legend lives on.
** Though this page's quote is about her from Shakespeare's "Henry VI Part 1", Joan d'Arc was actually a DarkActionGirl in that play, through a case of CharacterDerailment of an actual person.
* Artemisia of Caria fought at the Battle of Salamis, commanding five Persian ships against the Greeks. Her ship was nearly captured by the Greek navy, but she turned and rammed one of her own fleet's ships, sinking it and escaping. Nevertheless, she was ''praised'' by Xerxes for her ruthless ingenuity.
** The poetic quote from Xerxes: "My men have become women and my women have become men."
* I think [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_snipers female Soviet snipers]] during the WWII were pretty cool girls, eh kills over 300 Nazis and [[MemeticMutation doesn't afraid of anything]].
** Then there was the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, who made use of obsolete and generally pacific but nimble wooden biplanes PO-2 to fly under the veil of night and drop bombs. And since the carrying capacity of the planes was rather poor girls would ''leave the parachutes'' to take some more bombs aboard. Nazis called them "night witches". Hell yeah!
* Zenobia of Palmyra, anyone?
* Fights between female gladiators was a standard gimmick in the games of ancient Rome, and female gladiators nearly always fought topless. {{Fanservice}} is older than we think...
* Japanese has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onna_bugeisha Onna-bugeisha]], girls who embrace {{samurai}} tropes.
** Let's not forget [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomoe_Gozen Tomoe Gozen]], either.
** Actually, many YamatoNadeshiko were expected to ''at least'' know the basics of self defense, in case their households were under attack when the samurai and guards were out in the war. The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naginata naginata]] [[BladeOnAStick spear]] was specifically created to be used for women: its lenght allowed the Yamato Nadeshiko to keep attackers at bay easily, then stab/slash them with the pointy tip.
*** As a bonus, whenever a girl of a samurai family left her home to work in the city, she was given a ''[[KnifeNut tanto]]'' [[KnifeNut dagger]] before her departure. She was expected to either use it to comit {{seppuku}} (or better said, ''jidai'') if her honor demanded it, the other was for specific self-defense.
* Wing Chun. You know someone's an Action Girl when she has a martial arts style named after her.
* [[http://www.badassoftheweek.com/chingshih.html Ching Shih was one of the most badass pirates of all time]]. And best of all, she was able to get away with everything, keep all of her loot and avoid suffering the indignity of a death by hanging.
[[/folder]]

----
<<|AlwaysFemale|>>
<<|HeroTropes|>>
<<|TropesOfLegend|>>