History ActionGirl / Anime

* Honey Kisaragi from ''Anime/CuteyHoney'' may be one of the earliest examples in anime (along with Sapphire from ''PrincessKnight'', mentioned further down) where the female lead was the main character AND a downright competent ActionGirl.

* Amir from ''Manga/{{Otoyomegatari}}'' is a skilled equestrian, archer and hunter. Apparently, this was part of a normal upbringing where she's from.

* Yoshino from ''Anime/DigimonSavers'' had her moments as this. (Izumi, from the SuperSentai-inspired 'kids-turn-into-Digimon' ''[[Anime/DigimonFrontier Frontier]]'', was a FauxActionGirl, unfortunately.)

* ''AttackOnTitan'': There's more than a few tough ladies in this series, on account of the army not discriminating based on gender.

* Naomi Armitage from ''Anime/ArmitageIII''. She's so {{Badass}}, in the second OVA, a lecherous creepo ends up getting absolutely ''terrified'' of her! And in Dual Matrix, she suplexed a guy in a heavy mech suit!

* ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' is usually less fair to the females in this sense due to the ValuesDissonance (it's a shonen franchise that comes from TheEighties), but two {{Action Girl}}s from the much newer spinoff series stand out: Crane Yuzuriha from ''Anime/SaintSeiyaTheLostCanvas'' and Aquila Yuna from ''Anime/SaintSeiyaOmega''. While Yuzuriha certainly can hold her own, Yuna has the advantage of being one of the core cast of the series and receives a lot of developments.

* Jun from ''[[Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman Gatchaman]]''. She actually can be considered as another TropeCodifier of this, since the mere fact that she was an ActionGirl [[TheSmurfettePrinciple in an otherwise male team]] was [[FairforItsDay revolutionary]] for [[TheSeventies its time.]] Though the FanDumb tends to dismiss her [[WhatMeasureIsANonBadass simply because she doesn't win all of her fights.]]

* Francoise Arnoul aka 003 from {{Cyborg 009}} is this when at her boldest. While she relays more in her SuperSenses and WrenchWench skills, when she needs to defend herself and she can't relay on 009 or others, she'll do it without hesitation.

* ''[[Manga/YoureUnderArrest You're Under Arrest!]]'': [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl Natsumi and Miyuki]] are almost always involved in every major case and have the service records and commendations to prove it. They're known to the people of Tokyo as Bokuto Precinct's [[FamedInStory "Super Duo".]]

* ''Anime/PhantomQuestCorp'': As Phantom Quest's president, [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl Ayaka]] [[ChristmasCake Kisaragi]] has made a living from [[OccultDetective studying the occult]] and [[WhoYouGonnaCall eliminating all manner of spooks]] across Tokyo. And while she's undeniably good at her job, [[DestructiveSaviour she's the reason]] that her company's [[PerpetualPoverty constantly up their ears in debt.]]

* Whenever anything action oriented needs to be done in ''Manga/SchoolLive'', it's up to Kurumi and her trusty shovel. Later, Miki becomes a secondary Action Girl, acting when Kurumi can't.

* ''Anime/YuugenKaisha'': As Phantom Quest's president, [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl Ayaka]] [[ChristmasCake Kisaragi]] has made a living from [[OccultDetective studying the occult]] and [[WhoYouGonnaCall eliminating all manner of spooks]] across Tokyo. And while she's undeniably good at her job, [[DestructiveSaviour she's the reason]] that her company's [[PerpetualPoverty constantly up their ears in debt.]]

* From the creator Creator/GoNagai, the ''{{Mazinger}}'' trilogy features several {{Action Girl}}s:

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Several actually. The most prominent currently probably being [[LadyOfWar Boa Hancock]] who is said to be the strongest woman in the whole world and can '''perfectly'' back up said claim thanks to her KickChick skills and TakenforGranite powers. Tashigi is of the the more traditional variety being a swordsman. The female strawhats are frequently in the fore of the fighting as well. WordOfGod states this is intentional because Oda wants to make female characters both male and female fans can like.

* [[{{Intangibility}} Renka Urushiba]] and [[TeleportersAndTransporters Minami]] in ''Manga/TokyoESP'' serve as easily the two most {{Badass}} characters in the series and their fights are absolutely brutal.
* ''LightNovel/ShinmaiMaouNoTestament'' has several of the main heroines who can fight. However, Mio is not as good, though it's justified as she just recently learned about her powers, and is still in the process of mastering them.
* Anyone in ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' who gets into U.A. High School's superheroics class counts towards this trope by default. There's also an action girl among the support-oriented group, a GadgeteerGenius named Mei Hatsume.

* ''SaintSeiya'' is usually less fair to the females in this sense due to the ValuesDissonance (it's a shonen franchise that comes from TheEighties), but two {{Action Girl}}s from the much newer spinoff series stand out: [[SaintSeiyaTheLostCanvas Crane Yuzuriha]] and [[SaintSeiyaOmega Aquila Yuna]]. While Yuzuriha certainly can hold her own, Yuna has the advantage of being one of the core cast of the series and receives a lot of developments.

* The [=HiME=] in ''Anime/MaiHiME'', plus [[spoiler:a RobotGirl and a fake [=HiME=]]].

* Almost every single female character in ''MasterOfMartialHearts''. Even the most unsuspectable ones.
** Single exceptions are FauxActionGirl Miko and CuteMute, nameless, Natsumi's mom. Partly subverted because [[spoiler: Natsumi's mom, before getting [[MindRape broken into a mute StepfordSmiler]] used to be a fairly good Action Girl]].

* Rushuna in ''{{Grenadier}}''. Her goal is to get the enemy to lose their will to fight by the power of her smile. She regularly fails on this part. So she has to use her ImprobableAimingSkills and UnorthodoxReload to shoot anything that moves. In a world of riflemen and samurai and superweapons, the most dangerous thing is a girl with large breasts and a six-shot revolver.

* Remy Shimada in ''GoShogun'' and ''GoShogun: The Time Étranger'', first a mecha pilot, then a revolver-wielding explorer/adventurer.

* Anise and Lily of ''[[VideoGame/GalaxyAngel Galaxy Angel II]]'' and ''GalaxyAngelRune'', more obviously so than two previous Angels, Forte and Ranpha.

* Amanda from ''{{Blassreiter}}'', in addition to being the only one of her whole BadassNormal ''team'' to [[spoiler: survive...with her humanity]]. [[spoiler:Maria]] also counts later in the series

* Naomi Armitage from ''{{Armitage III}}''. She's so BadAss, in the second OVA, a lecherous creepo ended up getting absolutely ''terrified'' of her! And in Dual Matrix, she suplexed a guy in a heavy mech suit!

** Mirajane is usually placid and cts as the Guild's bartender, but when she finds her loved ones in danger, she unleashes her own transformation powers which are said to be comparable to Erza.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'''s Sakura Haruno. She TookALevelInBadass in Shippuden when she defeated Sasori, an Akastuki member and became a full-on Action Girl. She had more ActionGirl moments such as like killing with a single punch one of the Pain's summons, taking charge when Naruto [[spoiler:was going eight-tailed fox]] in that arc, when she takes down White Zetsu in one punch. Later it's revealed that she knows how to use the Strength of a Hundred Seal like Tsunade and kills a massive a amount of juubis to everyone surprise and shock. [[spoiler: She even goes against Madara Uchiha on her own so Naruto and Sasuke could have an opening to attack him. In the final fight she punches the major villain of the series and if it wasn't her both Naruto and Sasuke couldn't have won that fight.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'''s Temari holds the shining distinction of not only being the only female to participate in the Chunin exams to actually win a fight, but to add insult to injury she did it twice in a row. She later [[ShipTease rescued Shikamaru]] and defeated Tayuya in the Sasuke Retrieval arc. Sadly Impressive for a female character in Naruto.

** Sakura [[ZigZaggedTrope ZigZags]] like all hell between this trope and FauxActionGirl. She started off as an above average ninja, then quickly fell behind and became TheLoad, then she had an Action Girl moment in the Forest of Death during the Chunin Exams and did what she could in the Exams themselves... before becoming a DistressedDamsel for Naruto and Gaara's fight. Then TookALevelInBadass in Shippuden and became a full-on Action Girl... then fell behind again after the first two arcs. She had more ActionGirl moments such like killing with a single punch one of the Pain's summons, taking charge when Naruto [[spoiler:was going eight-tailed fox]] in that arc, and trying to [[spoiler:kill Sasuke]], but some of them didn't go very well. Sakura ''has'' had one or two Action Girl moments since her DayInTheLimelight, however, like when she unmasked and captured a Zetsu clone that had infiltrated the camp and handed him to the interrogation groups and when she revealed she knows how to use the Strength of a Hundred Seal like Tsunade. DoubleSubverted when it's finally acknowledged that she's utterly outclassed by any and all characters that actually matter; her only recourse is to either A: stand on the sidelines and be useless or B: [[spoiler: throw herself at an enemy she knows can kill her faster than you can say "moving scenery" in order to at the very least provide a distraction for [[TheMainCharactersDoEverything Naruto and Sasuke to exploit]].]] To her credit she actually chooses the latter (what little good it does, but A for effort).

** [[ShrinkingViolet Hinata Hyuga]] is one of these, especially in the anime. It gave her one of the only blows that Deva Path would take and several arcs add more moves to her arsenal that don't otherwise exist in the manga. And now in the War, [[spoiler: she's saved Neji from White Zetsus, helped Ino take over Obito with Shintenshin, saved Naruto and finally gave him a GetAholdOfYourselfMan by snapping Naruto out of the HeroicBSOD after Neji's death facing the Ten-Tails. Naruto then gives her a chakra cloak-and she can deflect Ten-Tails' tail-hands with a SINGLE air palm and send them flying across the battlefield.]]

** Ino Yamanaka grows into her own during the war. Let's see, [[spoiler: she helped bring down Kinkaku with her teammates when he was all [[SuperPoweredEvilSide Kyubified]], enabling him to be [[SealedEvilInACan sealed in the Amber Sealing Pot]]. Then she saves Choji twice in the battle with Asuma, the second time actually ''fighting'' Asuma in Choji's body while ''lecturing'' him. She then combines with Shikamaru to make a pretty awesome duo, taking out numerous Zetsu clones with him, while setting up Asuma to be beaten. She has also gotten the nickname the 'Reaper of Souls' given how she can take over opponents far stronger than herself. Notably Obito while he's controlling the Ten-Tails...TWICE.]]

** During the War Arc, Karin goes from being a CombatMedic to full-blown Action Girl when she learns how to use Chakra Chains like Kushina. Oh, and [[spoiler: that attack that killed Neji?]] Karin just bites herself and [[GoodThingYouCanHeal shrugs it off.]]

* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'': Karate expert Ran Mouri can kick down doors, break knives, dodge bullets, help kick the ass of 50-60 armed men, kick the ass of any person who hostages her or harms her loved ones, and even dent a cement telephone post if she's in the mood for it. And she's not the only one: Satou (standard police training, which include judo), Kazuha (aikido), Sara (jeet kune do), Ran's mom Eri (judo) and Heiji's mom Shizuka (former kendo champion who has ''not'' let her skills go rusty) can handle themselves pretty well too.

* ''Anime/YuugenKaisha'': As Phantom Quest's president, [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl Ayaka]] [[ChristmasCake Kisaragi]] has made a living from [[ParanormalInvestigation studying the occult]] and [[WhoYaGonnaCall eliminating all manner of spooks]] across Tokyo. And while she's good at her job, [[DestructiveSaviour she's the reason]] that her company's [[PerpetualPoverty constantly up their ears in debt.]]