[[KimPossible http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Shego_SD.jpg]]
[[caption-width:345: Girls just wanna have fun.]]
-->''"Come on, fight back! How far will you carry this silly chivalry? 'Cause this dark damsel is not impressed!"''
-->--Blackarachnia, ''{{Transformers}}: BeastWars''

-->Tohru: "[[WouldntHitAGirl I... uh... cannot fight a woman.]]"
-->[[EvilCounterpart Helga]]: "This ''woman'' going to make you scream like little girl."
-->--''JackieChanAdventures''

Those stupid boys and their ridiculous little games. What's a girl to do? Well, if you're ''this'' girl, most likely kick their asses.

The [[{{Villains}} villainous]] version of the ActionGirl. Likes dressing in black and keeping her [[FemmeFatalons nails particularly long and sharp]]. A popular combination with TheBaroness, but usually not TheVamp or the FemmeFatale, since she prefers to pummel TheHero to a bloody pulp instead of seducing him, but there are certainly exceptions, and these exceptions can be incredibly dangerous.

She's usually someone's EvilCounterpart. She tends to enjoy beating on tougher-looking characters, and [[WouldntHitAGirl a man's refusal to fight back]] tends to annoy her.

You'd think that this would be the point where the ActionGirl and the DarkMagicalGirl intersect. Go on, keep thinking that way. We'll see how long you live. Hang on, let me get my stopwatch.

The DarkActionGirl is the DarkMagicalGirl's polar opposite, fiercely independent, cruelly carefree, and rarely interested in making friends. Just as the DarkMagicalGirl almost always does a HeelFaceTurn, the DarkActionGirl almost ''never'' does. If she ''is'' brought over to the side of good, even if only for an episode, expect her to be hesitant about it at best - and if she stays, she'll remain more standoffish and cynical than the rest of the {{nakama}} or the FiveManBand. Typically the DarkActionGirl will only aid the ActionGirl against another villain because she considers herself [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou the only one allowed to defeat her]].

If TheMessiah offers her friendship, expect her to take it as an insult. The DarkActionGirl is generally immune, or at least resistant, to ThePowerOfFriendship. ThePowerOfLove can soften her up sometimes, but it's a crapshoot; the foolish boy could just as easily wind up getting used and discarded, rejected violently, or just plain killed for his trouble.

For some reason, while heroic {{Action Girl}}s can [[FauxActionGirl fail to live up to their reputation]], you will almost never find a Faux Dark Action Girl. This is probably because no matter what standards the decade or culture sets for women, villains can break those standards anyway.

For some people, a major source of FetishFuel.

Compare ClassyCatBurglar, DarkMagicalGirl, and DarkChick.

ActionGirl + DarkActionGirl = CatFight.
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!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* [=LadyDevimon=] from ''DigimonAdventure'' was thrown in, apparently at the last minute, as one of these. The only reason for this, however, appeared to be to set up an EvilCounterpart with whom Angewomon could have a CatFight, complete with slapping and hair-pulling. They even brought her back in ''DigimonAdventure02'' just to repeat the process.
* Karinka from ''SteelAngelKurumi'' toes the line. She beats the living hell out of another main character then ''crucifies'' them, and lives primarily so she can destroy the main character and steal her boyfriend. Oh, yeah, she cusses like a sailor, too.
* A brief glimpse of Caerula Sanguis's distant past in Volume 9 of [[{{Gunnm}} Battle Angel Alita: Last Order]] shows that when she was part of the Chinese Triads, she was very much an example of this trope. After meeting Victor Byron, however, she softens a little, softening further after meeting John Farrell in Volume 8 to the point that she became something of the [[{{HeroSecretService}} Hero Secret Service]][[spoiler: , at first against Victor to protect John Farrell's grandson, Arthur]], eventually extending her protection to the whole of humanity.
* Adiane from ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann''.
* Gretel of OtogiJuushiAkazukin.
* ''Naruto'' has a load of bait-and-switch DarkActionGirl s who never quite live up to their initial posturing or pull a whiplash-inducing HighHeelFaceTurn, but for this troper's money the standout is Tayuya, the flute-playing, ClusterFBomb-dropping genjutsu expert of the Sound Four, who easily cows her AxCrazy coworkers, punches out the eponymous hero, and demonstrates perhaps better than anyone in the series so far save Uchiha Itachi why genjutsu is NOT the "soft" one of the three main ninja skill sets. She then goes toe to toe with Shikamaru, the smartest guy in the whole series, and proceeds to back him into a corner and break his nigh-unbreakable binding jutsu with sheer brute force and bloody-mindedness. The only thing that stops her is having an entire forest dropped on her courtesy of Temari, a Badass ActionGirl whose idea of a "cat fight" is breaking her opponent's spine and then tossing them across the room.
* Revy from ''BlackLagoon'' is an AntiHero (or quite possibly a HeroicSociopath) version of this.
** Balalaika was also one before she graduated to TheBaroness.
** Come to think of it, every major female character in [[WretchedHive Roanapur]] is a variant of this theme.
*** You know a show has lots of Dark Action Girls when the HeroicSociopath Revy is outdarked by both Balalaika and especially Roberta.
*** It's debatable whether Roberta (as of the anime) actually outdarks Revy. Her motives are selfless, after all: Give. Me. My. [[MoralityPet Morality. Pet.]] Back. Now. SAFE.
* Hibari Ginza from SpeedGrapher.
* Nena Trinity from ''{{Gundam 00}}'', though she's more of a ''Dark Female Gundam Pilot''.
** Considering that Nena has only actually been able to kill stationary (like the wedding) or otherwise helpless (like [[spoiler: Wang's shuttle]]) targets, she could actually qualify as a FauxActionGirl rather than a DarkActionGirl. The fact that [[spoiler: Louise eventually killed her in [[CurbStompBattle a brutally one sided fight]] certainly didn't help matters.]] Even moreso that Throne Drei is built specifically for stealth and support purposes, therefore, asking it to actually kick ass is like sending in a [[SquishyWizard squishy]] [[StaffChick cleric]] in the middle of tough enemies that can deal a lot of damage.
** Also, we may be able to include Soma Peries and maybe [[spoiler: Louise Halevy]] (if she [[CantCatchUp manages to catch up with the others]]) from second season on.
*** After [[spoiler: killing Nena]] in episode 21, [[spoiler: Louise]] has caught up and ''very'' much counts.
** Hilling Care ''definitely'' qualifies for this, both inside and outside of a mobile suit. And even though she technically lost against the [[spoiler:00 Raiser]], she did put up a spectacular fight.
* Although Rizelle of ''ChronoCrusade'' prefers to use [[PeoplePuppets her powers]] to get other people to do her dirty work for her, when confronted by [[ActionGirl Rosette]] she proves herself to be one of these, using her marionette strings and FemmeFatalons to cause a massive amount of [[ClothingDamage clothing]] damage to Rosette in the process.
* Several female arrancars from {{Bleach}}, the biggest examples being Halibel and her AmazonBrigade (Apache, Mila Rose and Sun-Sun) as well as Cirucci Thunderwitch.
* ''GunXSword'''s Fasalina, who; unlike the only other girl in her group Melissa, who was just merely confused; fully embraced the methods of The Claw and most of the time puts up a damn good fight against the heroes.
* Kagura and Tsubaki from ''InuYasha''.
* OnePiece has its fair share, from Miss Double Finger(and arguably Miss Merry Christmas), to Kalifa. Boa Hancock is shaping up to be this as well.
* Dominique the Cyclops from {{Trigun}}.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Book ]]

* Lady Shiva is generally regarded as the deadliest martial artist in TheDCU.
* Rose Wilson aka Ravager of the [[Comicbook/TeenTitans Teen Titans]] is the most badass girl they've had.
* Andrea Beaumont from ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}: Mask of the Phantasm'' combines this trope with being a FemmeFatale.
* ''YTheLastMan'', thanks to the [[GenderCide premise]], has several examples as villains. Most notably, there's Alter and her AmazonBrigade, the (unrelated) Daughters of the Amazon, Toyota, and Hero [[spoiler:who makes the rare HeelFaceTurn]].
** ''Especially'' Toyota.
* Scandal from Villains United and SecretSix first appears to be simply a MiddleManagementMook. However, she's shown to be extremely dangerous in combat, quite possibly insane, and very hard to kill (and it's revealed that her father is the immortal supervillain Vandal Savage).
* Black Cat the trope namer of Spider-Man's love interest. Her HeelFaceTurn is often a XanatosGambit, her betrayals less an indication of her turn than the prime motivator all along. Though she doesn't need love in her life, she can appreciate it when it's there and remember it fondly after abandoning it, which is why she doesn't return to the HeelFaceRevolvingDoor by whacking the Hero.
* Destrii, from the DoctorWhoMagazine comic. She begins a HeelFaceTurn after being beaten to a pulp by her father figure, the BigBad, for [[HelpFaceTurn daring to side with the Doctor]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* The Baroness from GI Joe: Rise of Cobra. Slick leather outfit, tall boots and two guns. She is a crossover with the femme fatale, as she seduces quite a few characters, but her usual MO is to kick butt. Couterpart to GI Joe operative Scarlett.
* All of the female warriors in ''KillBill Vol. 1/2'' classify. This includes Beatrix Kiddo (''{{Badass}}''), Elle Driver (''EvilCounterpart''), O-Ren Ishii (''RivalTurnedEvil'' and ''LadyOfWar''), Vernita Green (''RivalTurnedEvil''), and Gogo Yubari (''LittleMissBadass'' and ''PsychoForHire'').
* Lori (Sharon Stone) in ''TotalRecall''.
* Many, many bad [[JamesBond Bond]] girls, but particularly Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen) in ''GoldenEye'' and Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi) in ''{{Thunderball}}''.
* Selina Kyle in ''Batman Returns''.
* Lola from the TheTransporter 2, Could also doubles as Psycho For Hire.
* Viper from ''{{Doomsday}}'', although her most memorable scene was not fighting but lighting a man on fire in order to cook him for the hungry crowd.
* Ni Chang from TheForbiddenKingdom.
* The ''DieHard'' series has Katja in ''Die Hard 3'' and Mai Linh in ''Live Free or Die Hard''. Both of them are martial artists and the girlfriend of a more cerebral BigBad, serving as his [[TheDragon Dragon]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* Bellatrix Lestrange of ''HarryPotter''
* Zandramas in David Eddings's ''{{Malloreon}}'' fits this role perfectly, right down to being an evil counter to Polgara.
* Protagonist example who is still "Dark": Lale of ''TheAssassinsOfTamurin''
* Hester Shaw in ''{{Mortal Engines}}'' becomes a completely merciless killer.
* Angelina, supposedly reformed murderess turned Special Corp agent/wife of [[{{TheStainlessSteelRat}} 'Slippery Jim' DiGritz]]. Always carries an arsenal of lethal weaponry on her person, and has the ability to produce a [[ReallyBigGun .75 calibre recoilless]] from HammerSpace whenever she thinks her husband is getting too slippery for her taste. Supposedly her more psychotic impulses have been removed by the psych-techs, but Jim frequently has to restrain her natural enthusiasm for killing and torture.
* [[StarWars Asajj]] [[ExpandedUniverse Ventress]], Count Dooku's main follower...cruel, skilled, and a major threat, with a tendency to pull a NotQuiteDead every time she seems defeated.
* Arya Stark of ASongOfIceAndFire is one, with hints of outright HeroicSociopath. She has a list of people who have wronged her, and who she fully intends to kill. She's already killed some of them, and indirectly caused the deaths of others. She's recently joined a death-worshiping [[MurderInc assassin's guild]]. Oh yeah, and she's about [[LittleMissBadass twelve years old]].
* War from ''GoodOmens''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Sarah Corvis in the ''BionicWoman'' reboot is to be a prime example of the type. She teaches the ActionGirl protagonist just so that she can fight later. Sarah also seems to like to drop hints, though it's been shown she does have a motivating [[FoeYay romantic interest]].
* Faith on ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' is half this, half DarkMagicalGirl. Her abilities are action-based, not magical, and the fights between Buffy and Faith were adrenaline-spiked highlights among the series' many action sequences. Directors, stunt directors, actresses, and stunt doubles always seemed to go all out whenever one of these scenes came up. At the same time, her issues are much more of the DMG vein, and she is eventually redeemed DMG-style in a two-part episode of ''Angel''. However, even after Faith returns and joins up with Buffy, the two constantly butt heads, often violently.
** Don't forget Darla. While in flashbacks she's less action and more just plain ''evil'', during the first season she was pretty much The Master's {{Dragon}}, that is, until she died.
* Callisto, Xena's EvilCounterpart from ''XenaWarriorPrincess''. She actually does pull a HeelFaceTurn late in the show's run, actually.
** It basically takes divine intervention, though.
*** To be precise, it requires Xena -- who at this point had died and become an Archangel -- to take on all of Callisto's sins and suffering, thus damning herself to Hell for All Eternity. This removes all of Callisto's memories of being evil, which not coincidentally leaves her with more or less no memory of her life after turning twelve.
* Ebony of ''TheTribe.'' She was also TheBaroness, and a female MagnificentBastard.
* Gretchen Morgan from ''PrisonBreak''. Really, ''dark'' action girl. Do ''not'' mess with her.
* Ana Espinosa from {{Alias}}
* Fiona Glennane from {{BurnNotice}} is one of the rare exceptions of the trope to do a {{HeelFaceTurn}}.
* Tenaya7 from PowerRangersRPM, who more or less doubles as TheDragon for the better part of the series.
* Ziva on {{NCIS}} used to be a dark action girl - the few images we get of her past show her shooting a guy from the back of a motorbike. She used to be a professional killer. It's okay, though, now she never kills anyone! ...Well, hardly ever.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Videogame ]]

* Christy from DOA is either this or just an Action girl. Im not sure. But I think she fits this trope.
* Rider of ''[[FateStayNight Fate/stay night]]'' embraces this image, although she does show a nice side -- how much depends on the scenario.
* Larxene of the ''KingdomHearts'' series certainly fits the bill. She's well aware of it, too - her personal title is "The Savage Nymph", and she delights in taunting the heroes with "clues" that turn out to be completely fake. Not to mention in RE:CoM she manages to martial-arts kick Sora to the ground...TWICE.
* Sonia, Ursula and Limstella in Fire Emblem 7. And ''definitely'' Petrine from Fire Emblem 9.
** Of course, whether Limstella has a gender is debatable...
*** If you're referring to [[spoiler:the fact that she's one of Nergal's morphs]], then you'd have to say the same thing about Sonia, although Sonia was specifically [[spoiler:created]] to be TheVamp.
* Speed Buster, the not-so-nice old lady with a {{BFG}} from NoMoreHeroes, is probably what happens when the Dark Action Girl survives into her 70s.
** In fact, ''every'' female opponent in NoMoreHeroes probably qualifies under this trope, ''especially'' Bad Girl.
* After being killed, corrupted and resurrected in undeath, [[WarCraft Sylvanas Windrunner]] slips easily into this role. Unusually, she's often portrayed with sympathy (depending on your interpretation she could easily be considered a protagonist), and actually ''doesn't'' like her new role very much. Indeed, the things that seems 'dark' about her seems to be just about her fighting method and her aloof personality, not her goal (which seemed... nice).
** This might be a case of DarkIsNotEvil, but then again, she could also be said to formally HeelFaceTurn [[spoiler:after the betrayal of the Royal Apothecary Society and the resultant collapse of her initial plan to simply destroy everything. The other Horde leaders being some of the more Facey of Faces in the entire setting certainly helps.]]
* Risky Boots, the villainous pirate captain in the obscure Game Boy {{Metroidvania}} ''{{Shantae}}''.
* Menardi, from GoldenSun, fits this trope, although [[spoiler:it's revealed in the sequel that she and Saturos were actually SAVING the world...after the heroes killed them. (Oops)]]
* Bodhi from ''BaldursGate II: Shadows of Amn''. Even if your PC is a heavily armoured warrior with an InfinityPlusOneSword or two, she can probably wipe the floor with him or her in single combat with her bare hands and while wearing less than required by decency. And she's also pretty much a CompleteMonster.
* Tavion and Alora from the ''JediKnight'' sequels. Both are dark jedi and (sub-)bosses.
* ''[[{{Wet}} Rubi Malone]]'' easily outshines, or outdarkens, ''[[KimPossible Shego]]''. Let's see, she's a GunsAkimbo, BottleFairy PsychoForHire, spends half the game on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, goes into an UnstoppableRage when the blood of some mook she shoots gets on her face, and has a perchant for the GroinAttack, using gun or sword. Oh, she wears a SlasherSmile during these last two actions. Put it this way, she is far too dark to ever be a Disney Villian.
* In VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines, if your character is female, Mercurio says something about not wanting to speak of some matters(a vampire being a slut) in front of a lady. Your response is that a knee to the crotch tends to get men talking. He immediately talks.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* Sal Walters, from [[http://www.itswalky.com It's Walky]] tends to weave in and out of the "dark" portion of ActionGirl. She wasn't above [[http://www.itswalky.com/d/20040227.html opening a can of whupass on her own brother]], though.
* Considering that until Agatha freed the other Jaegers, she was doing pretty well holding her own against guards and Othar, Jenka from {{Girl Genius}} likely qualifies. Mamma Gkika, being one of the Jager ''Generals'', probably falls somewhere between this and LadyOfWar. Von Pinn is just AxeCrazy. And then there's Dupree, who's [[AxeCrazy axe CRAZIER]]. She routinely attempts to murder entire towns (and, it's implied, only fails because her commanders won't ''let'' her) and actively taunts Von Pinn, who can tear Jagers apart with her bare hands.
* Kria, the demon mare of DanAndMabsFurryAdventures, is the first example this troper has seen of a Dark ActionMom. But given the comic, her appearances are pretty much entirely VillainsOutShopping.
* Hortense in ''TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'' .. at least, so far as we know.
* In BladeOfToshubi, Lamika, aka Lady Snow Blood, kind of falls into this trope.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* [[TheShego Shego]] (pictured) of ''KimPossible''
* Ravess from ''StormHawks''
* Blackarachnia of ''{{Transformers}}: BeastWars'' is a bad, bad girl, ready to dish out pain by the bucket at the drop of a hat, as well as a treacherous FemmeFatale when it suits her. These two things, in combination, [[EvilIsCool made her very popular in the fandom]]. [[spoiler:Unlike many, though, she does do a HeelFaceTurn in the end, though at first it's just for her own safety.]]
** Despite having a counterpart in ''[[TransformersAnimated Animated]]'', the far better fit for this trope would be [[spoiler:''Starscream's'' OppositeSexClone]].
* Jinx of ''TeenTitans'' fits to a T ([[IncrediblyLamePun heh heh heh]]). She's also the leader of the H.I.V.E F.I.V.E, all male, and the only one with ambition. Her supposed HeelFaceTurn was triggered by high ranking villains [[HelpFaceTurn dismissing her as useless]]. She has yet to do real heroics, her motivations seem to be simple revenge (and possibly a crush on Kid Flash). Of course, the phrase "Dark Action Girl" really brings Raven to mind...though she's more an example of [[DarkMagicalGirl another trope]].
** And let's not forget Blackfire, Starfire's diabolical big sister.
* ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Azula, as a charismatic and powerful leader, combines this trope with [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bitch]].
* Galatea in ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'''s also an EvilTwin.
* Fox from ''{{Gargoyles}}'' is another {{HeelFaceTurn}}er, though it doesn't [[{{Chickification}} change her personality]] [[AvertedTrope one iota.]] Well, except for the MamaBear thing. Demona also is a candidate, though she's a bit more AxCrazy than the usual iterations of the trope.
** She voices genuine concern when she sees that the Gargoyles are in danger (of course, they had saved her son from Oberon.)
* Silver Sable from TheSpectacularSpiderMan, an incredibly dangerous and clever combatant who serves as TheDragon to her father, mob boss [[BadassGrandpa Silvermane]]. Black Cat from the same series might also be considered an example, though being something of a [[DatingCatwoman Catwoman]] figure, she's sometimes atagonistic but not exactly ''evil''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* A staple character of ''OpenBlue'' is [[GratuitousGerman Kapitänin]] Karla Weir. She works for a 19th-century equivalent of NaziGermany, is rumored to perform raids on colonies belonging to fellow member states of TheFederation, and is frequently called on by [[CloakAndDagger intelligence officer]] and literal [[TheBaroness baroness]] Rhianna von Adolph to help her with carrying out the occasional dirty work.
** Rhianna herself qualifies, being a highly-skilled KnifeNut armed with a [[SchizoTech diamond-coated]] combat knife.
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