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DarkActionGirl examples in anime and manga.
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* The group Jaegers from ''Manga/AkameGaKill'' has several female members.
** The leader of the group is [[OneManArmy General Esdeath]], AnIcePerson who can freeze time itself with her powers, and is understandably hailed as the "Empire's Strongest."
** [[{{Yandere}} Kurome]] is [[SiblingRivalry the sister of the titular Akame]], an excellent swordswoman who can control PeoplePuppets with her sword.
** [[AxCrazy Seryu]] is a cyborg with BlackAndWhiteInsanity and numerous armaments that she had willfully implanted in her body. She is fanatically dedicated to killing criminals in the name of "justice."
* Mirror Zero of ''Anime/{{Albegas}}'' is the TokenGirl of the Dellinger military, and on top of being a spy who gathers information for the Dellingers, she conducts operations and pilots mechanical fighters herself.
* Annie Leonhart of ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' has shades of this, being a cold and cynical soldier who enlists in the infamously corrupt Military Police Brigade, abandoning her FireForgedFriends without a second thought. [[spoiler: She's also one of the Titan Shifter [[TheMole spies]], and her rampage as the Female Titan leaves scores of veteran soldiers dead.]] She turns out to be a more complicated case, hinted to be a BrokenBird with serious Daddy Issues. [[spoiler: WordOfGod explicitly states she isn't inherently evil, though it's hard to deny that she's a {{Sadist}} that likes to get.....creative with her kills. When Eren and Armin attempt to talk to her, she goes on one final city-smashing rampage before encasing herself in a CrystalPrison, denying the military the chance to learn her secrets.]]
** Mikasa Ackerman actually has some darker shades, too. She develops over the course of the series and obviously holds some strong morals dear to her, but as soon as Eren is in danger she is willing to slice up pretty much anyone, friend or foe without a second thought to protect him. While most others join the Survey Corps to actually fight for mankind, Mikasa couldn't care less if Eren hadn't joined.
* A brief glimpse of Caerula Sanguis' distant past in Volume 9 of ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita: 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. She softens further after meeting John Farrell in Volume 8, to the point that she became something of a HeroSecretService, [[spoiler: at first against Victor, to protect John Farrell's grandson, Arthur]], eventually extending her protection to the whole of humanity.
* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' only has about two. The first and one who engaged in the most fighting is [[TragicMonster Rosine]], an insect girl Apostle who gave even [[LightningBruiser Guts]] the fight of his life especially when she went OneWingedAngel. The second is [[PhysicalGod Slan]] of the [[GodOfEvil God Hand]] although her "[[CurbStompBattle fight]]" with Guts wasn't very long and [[CombatSadomasochist she only got turned on]] by his attacks.
* ''Manga/BirdyTheMighty'': Moss from Decode's second season, to the point of being the most badass of the fugitives. Undine may count as well, if "girl" is the right way to describe her.
* Grell Sutcliff of ''Manga/BlackButler'' is a UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} woman who, in battle, uses a chainsaw and [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence takes sexual pleasure]] in fighting Sebastian. She's later revealed to be [[spoiler:at least a half of UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper and Madame Red's accomplice in murdering the prostitutes]].
* ''Manga/BlackClover'':
** Fana is one of the strongest members of the Eye of the Midnight Sun. Her Flame Magic lets her unleash incredibly destructive fire and she's implacable and merciless towards the ones she loathes. Gaining her hatred is an easy action.
** Vanica is the only female member of the [[BigBadDuumvirate Dark Triad]] and the host of a powerful devil. She's a maniacal BloodKnight who enjoys fighting strong enemies with childish glee, ordering her underlings to attack civilians just to rile up her foes. She uses BloodMagic to fight, overpowering her opponents even at a disadvantage, and turns more demonic as she expends higher percentages of her devil Megicula's power.
* ''Manga/BlackLagoon'':
** Revy is a [[VillainProtagonist Protagonist]] version of this, a deadly gun slinger who would likely go on a killing spree ForTheEvulz if not for Dutch and Rock. [[CharacterDevelopment She gets a bit better though]] with Rock's help.
** Balalaika was also one before she graduated to TheBaroness of Hotel Moscow, having been a sinister soldier sniper for the Soviets during the Afghan War.
** By volume 10 ''Black Lagoon'' is pretty much a [[WorldOfActionGirls World of Dark Action Girls]]. These range from [[NinjaMaid Roberta]] of whom we see a [[TheStoic robotic]] and an AxCrazy version on separate occasions, [[PunchClockVillain mercenaries who do it for the money]] like Shenhua and Sawyer to outright psychopaths like [[FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon Gretel]].
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' has many with its large cast.
** Several Arrancar in Aizen's army are, namely Tier Harribel, who is the Third and [[TheSmurfettePrinciple only female member]] of the Espada and a reserved yet deadly fighter. Her AmazonBrigade Apache, Mila Rose, and Sun-Sun, and Cirucci Sanderwicci, a rude and cocky bitch, are as well.
** The Vandereich have Bambietta Basterbine, a BloodKnight with a CommissarCap and ZettaiRyouiki, who is seen [[BloodKnight gleefully joining]] the Seiteirei invasion and cheerfully [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe bisecting]] almost everyone in her way. Her next big appearance involved her slicing a guy in half in a moment of frustration after asking him to have sex with her.
** Bambietta's gal-pals fit in here pretty well, too. Specifically Candice Catnipp, who fries [[spoiler: Kenpachi]] with her PsychoElectro powers and later attacks [[spoiler: Ichigo]] in the most HotBlooded way. Aside of that Liltotto Lamperd [[ImAHumanitarian stretches her mouth to eat her enemies]], and Meninas Macallon [[CuteBruiser cutely]] [[SuperStrength drops entire buildings on hers]].
** [[spoiler:Yachiru Unohana]] was one of these way back in the day. She was Soul Society's most brutal fighter and even today [[TheDreaded she is widely feared]] as Soul Society's most infamous criminal. The only reason she wasn't executed was because Soul Society wanted her on their side.
* Saori, Kikako and Mako Fujisaki/Valkyria from ''Manga/BrynhildrInTheDarkness''. Saori can cut people into pieces, Kikako has a powerful BreathWeapon, and Valkyria has an arsenal of powers that can kill people. And she's the one who actually enjoys killing.
* N'rala/Nurara from "Captain Future"... as far as the zeitgeist allowed it. The Captain once [[WouldHitAGirl floored her with a karate chop]] and commented "You're just a woman after all".
* Although Rizelle of ''Manga/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 [[RazorFloss marionette strings]] and FemmeFatalons to cause a massive amount of ({{clothing|Damage}}) damage in the process.
* ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'', as a WorldOfActionGirls, has its Dark Action Girls.
** [[TheOphelia Ophelia]] is a [[AxCrazy complete lunatic]] obsessed with taking lives. She even kills her own fellow Claymores. [[spoiler: She would have killed Claire if Irene hadn't intervened, which lead Ophelia to beg her dearly departed brother to protect her, while alone in the woods, and then moving to a hateful and (at least in the anime version) [[ClusterFBomb profanity-flooded]] monologue that ended with three F-bombs before "awakening".]]
** Also the even worse Roxanne, a ManipulativeBastard and PsychoLesbian who, while she was still alive, would stalk powerful Claymores until she learned their technique and kill them when she was done doing so, allowing her to rise to the rank of Number 1.
** Then there's [[BigBad Priscilla]]. ''The'' most powerful Awakened Being in the series due to her intense hatred, she's arrogant, calm, and ''brutal''. Just after Awakening she killed Teresa, and has the vast power to utterly trash [[spoiler:Alicia and Beth, Riful's daughter, and numerous Abyssal Ones]].
* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' gives us [[LadyOfWar Cornelia li Britannia]], an especially cruel version of this trope. Her first appearance has her piloting a modified Gloucester into the heart of an enemy base as she [[IShallTauntYou belittles them]] and effortlessly takes them down. Despite her skill, however, she is no match for the likes of [[AcePilot Kallen Kozuki]], who can easily outfight her. Despite this, Cornelia is still fully capable outside of a Knightmare, having frightening swordsmanship skills.
** The female members of the [[QuirkyMiniBossSquad Knights of the Round]] also qualify, if only by their alignment. So do Valkyrie Squadron, [[SociopathicSoldier Luciano Bradley]]'s AmazonBrigade.
** [[TheBaroness Villetta Nu]] also counts, but as a lesser example. While she is a capable pilot, she is rather ineffectual compared to the true aces of the show and is little better than an [[EliteMooks elite mook]] in a custom-painted Sutherland.
* [=LadyDevimon=] from ''Anime/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 ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' just to repeat the process.
* Even if you put non-canon material into consideration, ''Franchise/DragonBall'' only has about six- Launch in her [[SplitPersonality blonde side]] ([[TookALevelInKindness before she got better]]), Hasky a female mercenary who works for the Red Ribbon army, Colonel Violet who managed to escape Red Ribbon army's destruction, Android 18 from [[BadFuture Future Trunks' timeline]], Fasha the Saiyan warrioress from ''Anime/DragonBallZBardockTheFatherOfGoku'' ([[PunchClockVillain although her evilness is debatable]]), Zangya from the 9th movie ''Anime/DragonBallZBojackUnbound'' and Towa the evil scientist demon from ''VideoGame/DragonBallXenoverse''.
** The Android 18 of the main timeline could be considered one as well, before her HeelFaceTurn.
* ''Manga/DrStone'': Homura appears to be Tsukasa's very own version of [[ActionGirl Kohaku]]; one of the first things she does is prove her worth by ''[[EstablishingCharacterMoment nearly burning down the whole village]]''. The jury's still out on whether or not she's really all that bad though; Senku seems to believe that they can convert her to his side with the allure of creature comforts that science can create.
* The VillainProtagonist Lucy/[[spoiler:Kaede]] from ''Manga/ElfenLied''. Mariko and [[spoiler:her four clones]], too. All of them have Vectors that can cut people into pieces.
%%* Anemone from ''Anime/EurekaSeven''. [[spoiler: Unlike most Dark Action Girls, she ends up being an AntiVillain.]]
* ''Manga/FairyTail'' has several.
** Ikaruga, a reserved and proud assassin who uses her katana to send slashes through the air that slice through all of Erza's armors as she tries to slaughter her, qualifies.
** Erza Nightwalker, Erza Scarlet's Edolas counterpart and a SociopathicSoldier who fought Scarlet to a draw before a HeelFaceTurn, definitely counts.
** Flare Corona, a [[AxCrazy deranged]] woman of the [[SmugSnake Raven Tail]] [[EvilCounterpart guild]] who has a constant [[SlasherSmile creepy grin on her face]], is willing to resort to dirty tactics to win (like [[WouldHurtAChild taking a child as a hostage]]) and is sadistic towards her enemies, trying to humiliate them at every chance she has. [[spoiler: After Raven Tail is dissolved, she however pulls a HeelFaceTurn and reveals her previous behavior was a result of the influence of the guild on her, revealing being shy and good natured without them. [[CreepyGood She's still a bit creepy despite that, however.]]]]
** Minerva Orland is the cruel {{Ojou}} of Sabertooth who gives Lucy a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown and tortures Millianna. Then after losing to Erza, she leaves to join a Dark Guild. After that she joins [[TheDreaded Tartaros]], but then [[spoiler:pulls a HeelFaceTurn]].
** Kyôka of Tartaros, the head of the Nine Demon Gates, is first introduced callously disregarding the people she killed who could not handle her [[MagicEnhancement Curse]], terrifying fellow Dark Action Girl Minerva. A {{Dominatrix}} and {{Sadist}}, her ColdBloodedTorture was enough to break ''Erza'', whom she later matches blow for blow and came very close to defeating.
** Seilah is a fellow member of Tartaros who calmly uses her [[PeoplePuppets Macro]] to command Elfman to destroy the Fairy Tail Guild, nearly killing everyone inside. She then shows herself to be a {{Yandere}} when she wants to kill Lisanna because she was embarrassed in front of Kyôka, and then kicks Mirajane's ass and nearly kills her.
** The Albareth Empire arc gives us the absolutely ''ruthless'' [[TimeMaster Dimaria Yesta]]. On top of being a MasterSwordsman who enjoys taking her time to cut off her opponents' clothes to humiliate them, she's more than willing to kill Wendy and Sherria, [[WouldHurtAChild who were no older than around 13-14]], for opposing the Empire. [[spoiler:It's best [[PlayingWithATrope played straight]] when she gets furious over Ultear's thought projection interfering with her Age Seal (which freezes time), and reverts to her PhysicalGod form, shooting Carla through the ribs and torturing Wendy with an AgonyBeam that makes her experience ''all the pain she's ever felt throughout her entire life''. If it weren't for Sherria's God-Slaying magic and receiving Third Origin from Ultear ([[DeadlyUpgrade a spell that greatly increases one's magic power, at the cost of never being able to use magic again]]) to defeat Dimaria, she, Wendy, and Carla surely would have been killed.]]
* Gavrill Madaraki from ''Manga/FrankenFran'', the almost-invincible shapeshifting leader of an army of pillaging thugs.
* Lust from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. Beautiful, cruel, and seductive, she's the [[TheSmurfettePrinciple only female]] of the Homunculi and uses her FemmeFatalons as penetrating spears. Her "lust" is one for violence and murder.
* In ''Animation/GuardianFairyMichel'', Lady Salome uses robots and fairies to fight Kim and Michel.
* ''Anime/GunXSword'''s Fasalina, who (unlike the only other girl in her group, Melissa, who was merely confused) fully embraced the methods of The Claw and, most of the time, puts up a damn good fight against the heroes.
* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' has plenty of female baddies:
** Kycilia Zabi of the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' is a Dark Action Girl[=/=]LadyOfWar cross of this trope.
** [[AxCrazy Four]] [[SuperSoldier Murasame]] of ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'' is a Dark Action Girl[=/=]{{Tykebomb}} blend.
*** Subverted by Rosamia Badam from ''Zeta Gundam'' and Stella Loussier from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny''. They both look and act like this trope at first, but soon we find out that they're both actually a pair of [[PsychopathicWomanchild damaged womanchilds]] when not fighting.
** Other Dark Action Girls include [[BigBad Haman Karn]] of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]'' and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ Gundam ZZ]]'', who's probably one of the most dangerous pilots in the entire franchise as well as a MagnificentBitch par excellence. Also from ''Zeta'' are [[{{Yandere}} Sarah Zabiarov]], Lila Milla Rira, Mouar Pharaoh, and [[spoiler:Reccoa Londe]].
** Then, ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Victory Gundam]]'' gives us several. We have Lupe Cineau, Fuala Griffon, Renda de Baroma (an AntiVillain version, as well as the female half of BattleCouple with ColonelBadass Duker Iq), and '''especially''' [[spoiler: the FaceHeelTurn-ed Katejina Loos]].
** [[ColonelBadass Nastasha Zabigov]] from ''[[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G Gundam]]'' is one of the few ''not'' villainous examples. While she does pose a threat to Domon at first, she later winds up becoming a staunch ally.
** Dorothy Catalonia and Lady Une of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]]''. The former's a BloodKnight and TheStrategist with latent DeathSeeker tendencies, the latter's TheBaroness, TheDragon, and a PsychoSupporter to BigBad Treize Khushreneda, whom she does most of the dirty work for. Both of them prefer to avoid physical combat, but when forced to fight, are quite competent, with Une being a crack shot and a capable pilot, while Dorothy is absolutely lethal with a rapier.
** [[CuteAndPsycho Nena Trinity]] from ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'', though she's more of a ''Dark Female Gundam Pilot''... and unfortunately a sore pilot at that. Considering that [[HateSink Nena]] has only actually been able to kill stationary (like [[ForTheEvulz the wedding]]) or otherwise helpless (like [[spoiler: [[AssholeVictim Wang Liu Mei]]'s shuttle]]) targets, she could actually qualify as a FauxActionGirl rather than a Dark Action Girl. Or rather, a Faux Dark Action Girl. The fact that [[spoiler:Louise Halevy eventually kills her in [[CurbStompBattle a brutally one-sided fight]] certainly doesn't help matters]]. Even moreso, Throne Drei is built specifically for [[MissionControl stealth and support purposes]], therefore, asking it to actually kick ass is like sending in a {{squishy|Wizard}} [[WhiteMage cleric]] to deal with tough, frontline enemies that can deal a lot of damage.
*** Also, we may be able to include [[SuperSoldier Soma Peries]] and [[spoiler:[[BrokenBird Louise Halevy]]]] (from the second season on).
*** Hiling Care of the Innovators ''definitely'' qualifies for this, both inside and outside of a mobile suit. She technically lost [[spoiler:against the 00 Raiser]], but she did put up a big fight with her Garazzo.
** Carta Issue of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'' appears to be this on the first glance, except she's an [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Ineffectual Sympathetic]] AntiVillain. While she is capable of mopping up her foes if an opportunity is given, she frequently loses miserably because of her [[TalkingIsAFreeAction obsession with honour]]. This does her no good since her foes are [[CombatPragmatist combat pragmatists]] that have no qualms about killing their opponents when their guard is down. [[TooDumbToLive Carta repeated this mistake a whopping three times]], [[spoiler:and the last instance led to her death]].
* Zorin Blitz and Rip Van Winkle from ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}''. Both are Nazi Vampires that enjoy death and destruction.
* ''Manga/HeroTales'' has Shouka, powerful enough to put an entire town under her rule. Suffers The Worf Effect when Housei fights her with a mundane bow and beats her.
* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' has Belarus, a ClingyJealousGirl and BoisterousBruiser who skirts the line between this and ActionGirl. [[GirlWithPsychoWeapon She has been known to carry around knives]] and, while '''not''' villainous (she's more childish and extremely jealous/obsessive than evil), is often portrayed as having darker motives than the other {{Action Girl}}s in the series, plus she has a HairTriggerTemper and exhibits strange behavior.
* Kyala from ''Anime/HighlanderTheSearchForVengeance'' qualifies for this. She is an immortal, who was a soldier in Japan in the sixteenth century. She is a badass fighter, and at the same time a cruel sadist.
* ''Manga/HighschoolOfTheDead'': Before [[ZombieApocalypse the outbreak]], Saeko Busujima was the captain of her school's Kendo Club, so she was already proficient with a sword. Then [[NotUsingTheZWord "They"]] came, which gave her the perfect excuse to use it - 'cuz Saeko is an AxCrazy BloodKnight, who [[OrgasmicCombat literally gets off]] ''[[InterplayOfSexAndViolence on violence.]]'' Which she openly confessed to Takashi, when she told him how she'd once beaten a would-be rapist within an inch of his life... and enjoyed it. Not because he tried to rape her, but because of [[SexIsViolence the euphoric glee she got from beating the ever living sh*t out of someone]] without restraint. And she's '''[[CuteAndPsycho GOOD]]''' at it. Which is why Takashi's glad she's on ''their'' side and regards her as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg-VEeYhvL4 a necessary evil.]]
* ''Manga/InuYasha'': Kagura started off as this and eventually [[HeelFaceTurn softened]] via CharacterDevelopment into an AloofAlly of the good guys that fitted the [[IceQueen cynical]] version of a {{Heel Face Turn}}ed Dark Action Girl; strictly speaking, she was a Dark Action Girl due to being enslaved to the BigBad, which made her a BrokenBird as well.
* Satsuki Kiryūin from ''Anime/KillLaKill'' TheRival [[spoiler: and [[CainAndAbel sister]]]] to the protagonist Ryūko definitely qualifies. She's an extremely powerful Dark Action Girl whose FightingSpirit alone could down a 500 hundred men and [[MasterSwordsman wields]] a black blade [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]] [[CoolSword Bakuzan]] which matches Ryūko's {{BFS}} [[ShearMenace scissors]] all while being powered by [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman Junketsu]]. [[spoiler: After being freed from her mother [[EvilMatriarch Ragyō]]'s influence she becomes the {{Deuteragonist}}]].
* ''Manga/LegendOfHeavenlySphereShurato'': Nara-oh Renge. Ability-wise, as she's very ruthless in battle and has the skills to back it up. Returns to being an Action Girl on the side of good when she's Back from the Dead.
* Since DefeatMeansFriendship, there are only a few female characters from ''Franchise/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' who ''still'' are Dark Action Girls:
** Subverted with Presea Testarossa from the [[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha first season]]. Despite being one of most powerful known mages and the BigBad of that season, she is TheUnfought.
** From ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'', Tre and Sette are the only two of the still imprisoned Numbers who fill the action part. And Due, who is one of the two darkest Numbers, is KilledOffForReal.
*** Ironically, the other one of the two darkest Numbers ([[TheSociopath Quattro]]) lacks the action part.
** The Mariage from ''AudioPlay/StrikersSoundStageX'' are almost literal {{Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot}}s who kill and eat people and infect the corpses to turn them into new Mariages.
** From ''Manga/MagicalRecordLyricalNanohaForce'', the three fighting female members of the Hückebein family fit this trope: Curren, Cypha and Arnage. Arnage is the PerkyFemaleMinion, Cypha is AxCrazy BloodKnight who almost killed Signum in their first fight, and Curren is [[BigBad the leader]], a MoodSwinger and the first thing she did when she appeared in the series is impaling Hayate [[InTheBack from behind]].
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has a load of bait-and-switch Dark Action Girls who [[FauxActionGirl sometimes don't live up to their initial posturing]] or pull a whiplash-inducing HighHeelFaceTurn, but the standout is Tayuya, the flute-playing, SirSwearsALot 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, 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 a 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.
* Evangeline from ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', before her HeelFaceTurn. Not that she'd [[{{Tsundere}} ever admit to having made one]].
* ''Manga/OnePiece'' has its fair share, from Miss Double Finger (and arguably Miss Merry Christmas) to Kalifa. Boa Hancock initially appeared to be this, but mellowed out over time (though she can still be cruel to enemies). The sole female member of the [[ThePsychoRangers Blackbeard Pirates]], Catarina Devon, counts. The Wano arc adds Ulti and Black Maria from ArcVillain Kaido's [[QuirkyMiniBossSquad Flying Six]]. The strongest Dark Action Girl is of course Pirate Emperor Big Mom who's equal to Kaido in being a PersonOfMassDestruction.
* The titular character of ''Literature/Overlord2012'' Satoru Suzuki/Momonga has multiple Dark Action Girls under his command, most notably his two main love interests, his [[FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon elegant and beautiful, but barely stable and cutthroat]] AxCrazy [[TheDragon second-in-command]] Albedo, and the CuteAndPsycho vampire and guardian of the Nazarick's first three floors Shalltear Bloodfallen, both of which are among if not ''the'' best fighters on their side, as well as there most evil.
** Another member of the guardians is Aura Bella Fiora a tomboyish dark elf, TheBeastmaster, and co-guardian of the sixth floor with her [[PolarOppositeTwins twin brother]] Mare Bello Fiore.
** For an example not on their side, we have Clementine, a boisterous and sadistic BloodKnight who enjoys brutally killing anyone unfortunate enough to cross her path with a big SlasherSmile on her face.
** There is also The Pleiades, who with the exception of their leader [[BadassInANiceSuit Sebas]], are a squad consisting entirely of {{Ninja Maid}}s, meant to serve as The Great Tomb of Nazarick's and its leader's last line of defense if the guardians failed.
* Sabrina and Lorelei of ''Manga/PokemonAdventures''. Interestingly enough, both of them have joined forces with the protagonists at some point due to an EnemyMine situation; in fact, Sabrina does so ''against'' Lorelei.
* Every female villain in the ''Anime/PrettyCure franchise'' does count to a degree, but the most outstanding example is [[Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure Dark Precure]], who doesn't rely on [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monsters of the Week]].
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' has [[{{Jerkass}} Ky]][[FieryRedhead ouko]] [[PsychoForHire Sakura]]. She [[CharacterDevelopment gets]] [[TookALevelInKindness better]], to the point of even [[spoiler:pulling a MercyKill[=/=]HeroicSacrifice so that Sayaka (who she has become very sympathetic toward) doesn't have to [[DyingAlone die alone]], even admitting that part of the reason she became a MagicalGirl in the first place was because she wanted to protect someone]].
* Early in ''Literature/ReZero'' the major threat is Elsa Granhiert. She's a polite raven-haired beauty with [[{{Stripperiffic}} exceptionally eccentric]] fashion sense. She is also a ruthless assassin with a disturbing appreciation for the beauty of her enemies' guts and the combat skills to put up a decent fight against one of the most powerful knights in the kingdom.
-->'''Elsa:''' If I lose my fangs, I'll use my claws. If I lose my claws, I'll use my bones. And if I lose my bones, I'll use my life.
* Pirotess from ''Literature/RecordOfLodossWar'', a female dark elf who serves as the villainous counterpart to the high elf on the heroes' side, Deedlit.
* ''Literature/TheSagaOfTanyaTheEvil'' has the titular character [[VillainProtagonist Lt. Tanya Degurechaff]], possibly one of if not the youngest examples of this trope, at only around ''[[ChildSoldiers ten years old]]''. Yet on the battlefields of an alternate version of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, she is one of the most powerful and ruthless soldiers you could ever have the misfortune of meeting, even earning herself the nickname ''[[RedBaron The Devil of The Rhine]]''. Tanya is a mage born with an incredibly high amount of power, that makes blasting through entire companies of enemy mages, ground soldiers, planes, and artillery a breeze, not that she won't resort to cutting her enemies open with her bayonet and even ''blowing herself up'' if she has to. She is also an extremely ruthless, brilliant, and [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] leader, willing to get her own men killed simply for annoying her and only pretending to care about her troops or country to further her own personal gain.
* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'':
** Any of the Sailor Animamates from the last season. Sailor Animamates were the servants of BigBad Sailor Galaxia, who was hunting down Star Seeds/Sailor Crystals across the universe. [[spoiler:They were all once good, but Sailor Senshi become evil when they lose their Sailor Crystals.]]
** The Doom and Gloom Girls, Queen Beryl's last and strongest warriors from the [[Anime/SailorMoon anime]], who very nearly succeeded in defeating the Sailor Senshi.
** Also the Ayakashi Sisters, {{Evil Counterpart}}s of the Inner Senshi and pretty competent combatants. [[spoiler: In the anime, however, they have a collective HeelFaceTurn.]]
* ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' has Ophiuchus Shaina start off as this in the classic series (before undergoing a HighHeelFaceTurn), and a few others like Geist (anime only) who is Shaina's sister, and Mermaid Thethis in the Poseidon saga.
** ''Manga/SaintSeiyaTheLostCanvas'' features two. The first is Pandora, one of [[CoDragons the dragons]] of Hades who, unlike her counterpart in the original Saint Seiya, gets involved in fights and doesn't fears to face the whole Sanctuary for the sake of her lord. The other is the Specter Behemoth Violate, who is able to fight toe-to-toe with [[FourStarBadass Gold Saints]] with no problem.
** ''Anime/SaintSeiyaOmega'' brings more examples, among the most prominent ones Hornet/Scorpio Sonia, Gemini Paradox, the BigBad from the second season Pallas, and her subordinate, Great Sword Gallia.
* ''Sands of Destruction'' features a couple, though who and to what extent varies by adaptation:
** In [[Manga/SandsOfDestruction the manga]], VillainProtagonist Morte is a gleeful OmnicidalManiac whose favorite things include [[MadBomber bombs]], StuffBlowingUp, and [[BloodKnight hitting things]] with her {{BFS}}.
** In [[Anime/SandsOfDestruction the anime]], Morte softensu into an ActionGirl with a DarkAndTroubledPast, but [[TheGunslinger Rhi'a]] takes her place, preferring to shoot first and not bother to ask questions later. Naturally, the two of them end up fighting quite often, but rather than being a DesignatedGirlFight, it's more about pitting two of the best fighters against each other.
* Karinka from ''Manga/SteelAngelKurumi'' toes the line. She beats another main character, and lives primarily so she can destroy the main character and steal her boyfriend. Oh, yeah, she curses like a sailor, too.
* Adiane from ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' beats down an entire brigade on land and [[MoreDeadlyThanTheMale is the most violent and psychotic member of the Beastmen Generals]]. Her Gunmen even brings to mind VaginaDentata.
* The anime ''Manga/TokyoESP'' has several examples.
** Kobushi Kuroi not only has the ability to make herself invisible, but is also a talented boxer. In the course of the plot, however, [[ActionGirl she becomes a heroine]].
** However, her sister Kozuki Kuroi remains evil. She is also a good fighter and has [[PsychicPowers special powers]].
** Lin Lianjie also qualifies, as does Amie Namuro. Both are especially evil.
** The second major villain is Minami Azuma, who also plays this trope.
* ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' features several of these, all deadly Ghouls that enjoy playing with their food and killing anyone that gets in their way.
** [[VillainousGlutton Binge Eater]] Rize Kamishiro, a serial predator that targets attractive young men and enjoys "gently scrambling" their insides.
** The series ''loves'' [[spoiler:pulling a SamusIsAGirl with its {{Big Bad}}s, with the major threats of the side-stories ''Jack'' and ''Joker'' both revealed to be women]]. Perhaps the greatest example of this in the series is [[spoiler:the legendary HeroKiller, Eto/Sen/the One-Eyed Owl. She is considered the most dangerous Ghoul in Tokyo, a brilliant EvilOverlord, and so powerful that only [[TheAce Arima]], [[TheHero Kaneki]] (eventually), and [[FinalBoss Furuta]] have been able to take her on in battle]].
** The sequel introduces another in the form of [[FemmeFatale Nutcracker]], another deadly fighter with a preference for male victims. [[GroinAttack Guess why they call her that]].
* In ''Manga/YuGiOh Duel Monsters'', Mai Kujaku becomes one in the Doma arc and eventually steals the souls of Pegasus and Jonouchi (though, she has a HeelFaceTurn right after stealing the latter's soul).
* ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' has two among the Gun-Ho-Guns: Dominique the Cyclops who gives Vash a genuinely tricky fight thanks to her MagicEye and Elendira the Crimsonnail who has BriefcaseBlaster along with illusion powers and SuperSpeed.
* ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'':
** The two female Seven Stars Assassins, Camula and Tania, are among the four strongest members. Aside from Amnael, they are the only members to win against the Key Guardians, but both of them end up defeated by Judai.
*** Tania is actually a tiger, and she becomes an ally in the third season.
** Asuka becomes one temporarily during the second season when she becomes a member of the [[LightIsNotGood Society of Light]], and she replaces her [[DanceBattler Cyber Girl]] deck for a [[AnIcePerson White Night]] deck.
** If you see the BigBad of the third season, Yubel, [[AmbiguousGender as a girl]], then "she" counts as one. WomanScorned is pretty much the reason for
* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'':
** Aki is one as the Black Rose Witch, a violent and destructive duelist with PsychicPowers, before reconciling with her parents.
** Misty and Carly as Dark Signers. Misty tries to avenge her younger brother's death by trying to kill Aki, the person she thinks is responsible for his death, and nearly defeats her twice. Carly defeats Divine in a duel, in which her final attack sends him falling down a building, nearly killing him, and ''could have'' defeated Jack if not for a HeroicSacrifice.
* ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'':
** Droite starts out as one, although AffablyEvil. She later becomes a regular ActionGirl.
** Merag is the only female member of the Seven Barian Emperors. [[spoiler:To make Rio's FaceHeelTurn more effective, the first crime Merag commits is killing Tetsuo, although she kind of regrets it.]]
----
* The group Jaegers from ''Manga/AkameGaKill'' has several female members.
** The leader of the group is [[OneManArmy General Esdeath]], AnIcePerson who can freeze time itself with her powers, and is understandably hailed as the "Empire's Strongest."
** [[{{Yandere}} Kurome]] is [[SiblingRivalry the sister of the titular Akame]], an excellent swordswoman who can control PeoplePuppets with her sword.
** [[AxCrazy Seryu]] is a cyborg with BlackAndWhiteInsanity and numerous armaments that she had willfully implanted in her body. She is fanatically dedicated to killing criminals in the name of "justice."
* Mirror Zero of ''Anime/{{Albegas}}'' is the TokenGirl of the Dellinger military, and on top of being a spy who gathers information for the Dellingers, she conducts operations and pilots mechanical fighters herself.
* Annie Leonhart of ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' has shades of this, being a cold and cynical soldier who enlists in the infamously corrupt Military Police Brigade, abandoning her FireForgedFriends without a second thought. [[spoiler: She's also one of the Titan Shifter [[TheMole spies]], and her rampage as the Female Titan leaves scores of veteran soldiers dead.]] She turns out to be a more complicated case, hinted to be a BrokenBird with serious Daddy Issues. [[spoiler: WordOfGod explicitly states she isn't inherently evil, though it's hard to deny that she's a {{Sadist}} that likes to get.....creative with her kills. When Eren and Armin attempt to talk to her, she goes on one final city-smashing rampage before encasing herself in a CrystalPrison, denying the military the chance to learn her secrets.]]
** Mikasa Ackerman actually has some darker shades, too. She develops over the course of the series and obviously holds some strong morals dear to her, but as soon as Eren is in danger she is willing to slice up pretty much anyone, friend or foe without a second thought to protect him. While most others join the Survey Corps to actually fight for mankind, Mikasa couldn't care less if Eren hadn't joined.
* A brief glimpse of Caerula Sanguis' distant past in Volume 9 of ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita: 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. She softens further after meeting John Farrell in Volume 8, to the point that she became something of a HeroSecretService, [[spoiler: at first against Victor, to protect John Farrell's grandson, Arthur]], eventually extending her protection to the whole of humanity.
* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' only has about two. The first and one who engaged in the most fighting is [[TragicMonster Rosine]], an insect girl Apostle who gave even [[LightningBruiser Guts]] the fight of his life especially when she went OneWingedAngel. The second is [[PhysicalGod Slan]] of the [[GodOfEvil God Hand]] although her "[[CurbStompBattle fight]]" with Guts wasn't very long and [[CombatSadomasochist she only got turned on]] by his attacks.
* ''Manga/BirdyTheMighty'': Moss from Decode's second season, to the point of being the most badass of the fugitives. Undine may count as well, if "girl" is the right way to describe her.
* Grell Sutcliff of ''Manga/BlackButler'' is a UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} woman who, in battle, uses a chainsaw and [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence takes sexual pleasure]] in fighting Sebastian. She's later revealed to be [[spoiler:at least a half of UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper and Madame Red's accomplice in murdering the prostitutes]].
* ''Manga/BlackClover'':
** Fana is one of the strongest members of the Eye of the Midnight Sun. Her Flame Magic lets her unleash incredibly destructive fire and she's implacable and merciless towards the ones she loathes. Gaining her hatred is an easy action.
** Vanica is the only female member of the [[BigBadDuumvirate Dark Triad]] and the host of a powerful devil. She's a maniacal BloodKnight who enjoys fighting strong enemies with childish glee, ordering her underlings to attack civilians just to rile up her foes. She uses BloodMagic to fight, overpowering her opponents even at a disadvantage, and turns more demonic as she expends higher percentages of her devil Megicula's power.
* ''Manga/BlackLagoon'':
** Revy is a [[VillainProtagonist Protagonist]] version of this, a deadly gun slinger who would likely go on a killing spree ForTheEvulz if not for Dutch and Rock. [[CharacterDevelopment She gets a bit better though]] with Rock's help.
** Balalaika was also one before she graduated to TheBaroness of Hotel Moscow, having been a sinister soldier sniper for the Soviets during the Afghan War.
** By volume 10 ''Black Lagoon'' is pretty much a [[WorldOfActionGirls World of Dark Action Girls]]. These range from [[NinjaMaid Roberta]] of whom we see a [[TheStoic robotic]] and an AxCrazy version on separate occasions, [[PunchClockVillain mercenaries who do it for the money]] like Shenhua and Sawyer to outright psychopaths like [[FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon Gretel]].
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' has many with its large cast.
** Several Arrancar in Aizen's army are, namely Tier Harribel, who is the Third and [[TheSmurfettePrinciple only female member]] of the Espada and a reserved yet deadly fighter. Her AmazonBrigade Apache, Mila Rose, and Sun-Sun, and Cirucci Sanderwicci, a rude and cocky bitch, are as well.
** The Vandereich have Bambietta Basterbine, a BloodKnight with a CommissarCap and ZettaiRyouiki, who is seen [[BloodKnight gleefully joining]] the Seiteirei invasion and cheerfully [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe bisecting]] almost everyone in her way. Her next big appearance involved her slicing a guy in half in a moment of frustration after asking him to have sex with her.
** Bambietta's gal-pals fit in here pretty well, too. Specifically Candice Catnipp, who fries [[spoiler: Kenpachi]] with her PsychoElectro powers and later attacks [[spoiler: Ichigo]] in the most HotBlooded way. Aside of that Liltotto Lamperd [[ImAHumanitarian stretches her mouth to eat her enemies]], and Meninas Macallon [[CuteBruiser cutely]] [[SuperStrength drops entire buildings on hers]].
** [[spoiler:Yachiru Unohana]] was one of these way back in the day. She was Soul Society's most brutal fighter and even today [[TheDreaded she is widely feared]] as Soul Society's most infamous criminal. The only reason she wasn't executed was because Soul Society wanted her on their side.
* Saori, Kikako and Mako Fujisaki/Valkyria from ''Manga/BrynhildrInTheDarkness''. Saori can cut people into pieces, Kikako has a powerful BreathWeapon, and Valkyria has an arsenal of powers that can kill people. And she's the one who actually enjoys killing.
* N'rala/Nurara from "Captain Future"... as far as the zeitgeist allowed it. The Captain once [[WouldHitAGirl floored her with a karate chop]] and commented "You're just a woman after all".
* Although Rizelle of ''Manga/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 [[RazorFloss marionette strings]] and FemmeFatalons to cause a massive amount of ({{clothing|Damage}}) damage in the process.
* ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'', as a WorldOfActionGirls, has its Dark Action Girls.
** [[TheOphelia Ophelia]] is a [[AxCrazy complete lunatic]] obsessed with taking lives. She even kills her own fellow Claymores. [[spoiler: She would have killed Claire if Irene hadn't intervened, which lead Ophelia to beg her dearly departed brother to protect her, while alone in the woods, and then moving to a hateful and (at least in the anime version) [[ClusterFBomb profanity-flooded]] monologue that ended with three F-bombs before "awakening".]]
** Also the even worse Roxanne, a ManipulativeBastard and PsychoLesbian who, while she was still alive, would stalk powerful Claymores until she learned their technique and kill them when she was done doing so, allowing her to rise to the rank of Number 1.
** Then there's [[BigBad Priscilla]]. ''The'' most powerful Awakened Being in the series due to her intense hatred, she's arrogant, calm, and ''brutal''. Just after Awakening she killed Teresa, and has the vast power to utterly trash [[spoiler:Alicia and Beth, Riful's daughter, and numerous Abyssal Ones]].
* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' gives us [[LadyOfWar Cornelia li Britannia]], an especially cruel version of this trope. Her first appearance has her piloting a modified Gloucester into the heart of an enemy base as she [[IShallTauntYou belittles them]] and effortlessly takes them down. Despite her skill, however, she is no match for the likes of [[AcePilot Kallen Kozuki]], who can easily outfight her. Despite this, Cornelia is still fully capable outside of a Knightmare, having frightening swordsmanship skills.
** The female members of the [[QuirkyMiniBossSquad Knights of the Round]] also qualify, if only by their alignment. So do Valkyrie Squadron, [[SociopathicSoldier Luciano Bradley]]'s AmazonBrigade.
** [[TheBaroness Villetta Nu]] also counts, but as a lesser example. While she is a capable pilot, she is rather ineffectual compared to the true aces of the show and is little better than an [[EliteMooks elite mook]] in a custom-painted Sutherland.
* [=LadyDevimon=] from ''Anime/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 ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' just to repeat the process.
* Even if you put non-canon material into consideration, ''Franchise/DragonBall'' only has about six- Launch in her [[SplitPersonality blonde side]] ([[TookALevelInKindness before she got better]]), Hasky a female mercenary who works for the Red Ribbon army, Colonel Violet who managed to escape Red Ribbon army's destruction, Android 18 from [[BadFuture Future Trunks' timeline]], Fasha the Saiyan warrioress from ''Anime/DragonBallZBardockTheFatherOfGoku'' ([[PunchClockVillain although her evilness is debatable]]), Zangya from the 9th movie ''Anime/DragonBallZBojackUnbound'' and Towa the evil scientist demon from ''VideoGame/DragonBallXenoverse''.
** The Android 18 of the main timeline could be considered one as well, before her HeelFaceTurn.
* ''Manga/DrStone'': Homura appears to be Tsukasa's very own version of [[ActionGirl Kohaku]]; one of the first things she does is prove her worth by ''[[EstablishingCharacterMoment nearly burning down the whole village]]''. The jury's still out on whether or not she's really all that bad though; Senku seems to believe that they can convert her to his side with the allure of creature comforts that science can create.
* The VillainProtagonist Lucy/[[spoiler:Kaede]] from ''Manga/ElfenLied''. Mariko and [[spoiler:her four clones]], too. All of them have Vectors that can cut people into pieces.
%%* Anemone from ''Anime/EurekaSeven''. [[spoiler: Unlike most Dark Action Girls, she ends up being an AntiVillain.]]
* ''Manga/FairyTail'' has several.
** Ikaruga, a reserved and proud assassin who uses her katana to send slashes through the air that slice through all of Erza's armors as she tries to slaughter her, qualifies.
** Erza Nightwalker, Erza Scarlet's Edolas counterpart and a SociopathicSoldier who fought Scarlet to a draw before a HeelFaceTurn, definitely counts.
** Flare Corona, a [[AxCrazy deranged]] woman of the [[SmugSnake Raven Tail]] [[EvilCounterpart guild]] who has a constant [[SlasherSmile creepy grin on her face]], is willing to resort to dirty tactics to win (like [[WouldHurtAChild taking a child as a hostage]]) and is sadistic towards her enemies, trying to humiliate them at every chance she has. [[spoiler: After Raven Tail is dissolved, she however pulls a HeelFaceTurn and reveals her previous behavior was a result of the influence of the guild on her, revealing being shy and good natured without them. [[CreepyGood She's still a bit creepy despite that, however.]]]]
** Minerva Orland is the cruel {{Ojou}} of Sabertooth who gives Lucy a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown and tortures Millianna. Then after losing to Erza, she leaves to join a Dark Guild. After that she joins [[TheDreaded Tartaros]], but then [[spoiler:pulls a HeelFaceTurn]].
** Kyôka of Tartaros, the head of the Nine Demon Gates, is first introduced callously disregarding the people she killed who could not handle her [[MagicEnhancement Curse]], terrifying fellow Dark Action Girl Minerva. A {{Dominatrix}} and {{Sadist}}, her ColdBloodedTorture was enough to break ''Erza'', whom she later matches blow for blow and came very close to defeating.
** Seilah is a fellow member of Tartaros who calmly uses her [[PeoplePuppets Macro]] to command Elfman to destroy the Fairy Tail Guild, nearly killing everyone inside. She then shows herself to be a {{Yandere}} when she wants to kill Lisanna because she was embarrassed in front of Kyôka, and then kicks Mirajane's ass and nearly kills her.
** The Albareth Empire arc gives us the absolutely ''ruthless'' [[TimeMaster Dimaria Yesta]]. On top of being a MasterSwordsman who enjoys taking her time to cut off her opponents' clothes to humiliate them, she's more than willing to kill Wendy and Sherria, [[WouldHurtAChild who were no older than around 13-14]], for opposing the Empire. [[spoiler:It's best [[PlayingWithATrope played straight]] when she gets furious over Ultear's thought projection interfering with her Age Seal (which freezes time), and reverts to her PhysicalGod form, shooting Carla through the ribs and torturing Wendy with an AgonyBeam that makes her experience ''all the pain she's ever felt throughout her entire life''. If it weren't for Sherria's God-Slaying magic and receiving Third Origin from Ultear ([[DeadlyUpgrade a spell that greatly increases one's magic power, at the cost of never being able to use magic again]]) to defeat Dimaria, she, Wendy, and Carla surely would have been killed.]]
* Gavrill Madaraki from ''Manga/FrankenFran'', the almost-invincible shapeshifting leader of an army of pillaging thugs.
* Lust from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. Beautiful, cruel, and seductive, she's the [[TheSmurfettePrinciple only female]] of the Homunculi and uses her FemmeFatalons as penetrating spears. Her "lust" is one for violence and murder.
* In ''Animation/GuardianFairyMichel'', Lady Salome uses robots and fairies to fight Kim and Michel.
* ''Anime/GunXSword'''s Fasalina, who (unlike the only other girl in her group, Melissa, who was merely confused) fully embraced the methods of The Claw and, most of the time, puts up a damn good fight against the heroes.
* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' has plenty of female baddies:
** Kycilia Zabi of the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' is a Dark Action Girl[=/=]LadyOfWar cross of this trope.
** [[AxCrazy Four]] [[SuperSoldier Murasame]] of ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'' is a Dark Action Girl[=/=]{{Tykebomb}} blend.
*** Subverted by Rosamia Badam from ''Zeta Gundam'' and Stella Loussier from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny''. They both look and act like this trope at first, but soon we find out that they're both actually a pair of [[PsychopathicWomanchild damaged womanchilds]] when not fighting.
** Other Dark Action Girls include [[BigBad Haman Karn]] of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]'' and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ Gundam ZZ]]'', who's probably one of the most dangerous pilots in the entire franchise as well as a MagnificentBitch par excellence. Also from ''Zeta'' are [[{{Yandere}} Sarah Zabiarov]], Lila Milla Rira, Mouar Pharaoh, and [[spoiler:Reccoa Londe]].
** Then, ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Victory Gundam]]'' gives us several. We have Lupe Cineau, Fuala Griffon, Renda de Baroma (an AntiVillain version, as well as the female half of BattleCouple with ColonelBadass Duker Iq), and '''especially''' [[spoiler: the FaceHeelTurn-ed Katejina Loos]].
** [[ColonelBadass Nastasha Zabigov]] from ''[[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G Gundam]]'' is one of the few ''not'' villainous examples. While she does pose a threat to Domon at first, she later winds up becoming a staunch ally.
** Dorothy Catalonia and Lady Une of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]]''. The former's a BloodKnight and TheStrategist with latent DeathSeeker tendencies, the latter's TheBaroness, TheDragon, and a PsychoSupporter to BigBad Treize Khushreneda, whom she does most of the dirty work for. Both of them prefer to avoid physical combat, but when forced to fight, are quite competent, with Une being a crack shot and a capable pilot, while Dorothy is absolutely lethal with a rapier.
** [[CuteAndPsycho Nena Trinity]] from ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'', though she's more of a ''Dark Female Gundam Pilot''... and unfortunately a sore pilot at that. Considering that [[HateSink Nena]] has only actually been able to kill stationary (like [[ForTheEvulz the wedding]]) or otherwise helpless (like [[spoiler: [[AssholeVictim Wang Liu Mei]]'s shuttle]]) targets, she could actually qualify as a FauxActionGirl rather than a Dark Action Girl. Or rather, a Faux Dark Action Girl. The fact that [[spoiler:Louise Halevy eventually kills her in [[CurbStompBattle a brutally one-sided fight]] certainly doesn't help matters]]. Even moreso, Throne Drei is built specifically for [[MissionControl stealth and support purposes]], therefore, asking it to actually kick ass is like sending in a {{squishy|Wizard}} [[WhiteMage cleric]] to deal with tough, frontline enemies that can deal a lot of damage.
*** Also, we may be able to include [[SuperSoldier Soma Peries]] and [[spoiler:[[BrokenBird Louise Halevy]]]] (from the second season on).
*** Hiling Care of the Innovators ''definitely'' qualifies for this, both inside and outside of a mobile suit. She technically lost [[spoiler:against the 00 Raiser]], but she did put up a big fight with her Garazzo.
** Carta Issue of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'' appears to be this on the first glance, except she's an [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Ineffectual Sympathetic]] AntiVillain. While she is capable of mopping up her foes if an opportunity is given, she frequently loses miserably because of her [[TalkingIsAFreeAction obsession with honour]]. This does her no good since her foes are [[CombatPragmatist combat pragmatists]] that have no qualms about killing their opponents when their guard is down. [[TooDumbToLive Carta repeated this mistake a whopping three times]], [[spoiler:and the last instance led to her death]].
* Zorin Blitz and Rip Van Winkle from ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}''. Both are Nazi Vampires that enjoy death and destruction.
* ''Manga/HeroTales'' has Shouka, powerful enough to put an entire town under her rule. Suffers The Worf Effect when Housei fights her with a mundane bow and beats her.
* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' has Belarus, a ClingyJealousGirl and BoisterousBruiser who skirts the line between this and ActionGirl. [[GirlWithPsychoWeapon She has been known to carry around knives]] and, while '''not''' villainous (she's more childish and extremely jealous/obsessive than evil), is often portrayed as having darker motives than the other {{Action Girl}}s in the series, plus she has a HairTriggerTemper and exhibits strange behavior.
* Kyala from ''Anime/HighlanderTheSearchForVengeance'' qualifies for this. She is an immortal, who was a soldier in Japan in the sixteenth century. She is a badass fighter, and at the same time a cruel sadist.
* ''Manga/HighschoolOfTheDead'': Before [[ZombieApocalypse the outbreak]], Saeko Busujima was the captain of her school's Kendo Club, so she was already proficient with a sword. Then [[NotUsingTheZWord "They"]] came, which gave her the perfect excuse to use it - 'cuz Saeko is an AxCrazy BloodKnight, who [[OrgasmicCombat literally gets off]] ''[[InterplayOfSexAndViolence on violence.]]'' Which she openly confessed to Takashi, when she told him how she'd once beaten a would-be rapist within an inch of his life... and enjoyed it. Not because he tried to rape her, but because of [[SexIsViolence the euphoric glee she got from beating the ever living sh*t out of someone]] without restraint. And she's '''[[CuteAndPsycho GOOD]]''' at it. Which is why Takashi's glad she's on ''their'' side and regards her as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg-VEeYhvL4 a necessary evil.]]
* ''Manga/InuYasha'': Kagura started off as this and eventually [[HeelFaceTurn softened]] via CharacterDevelopment into an AloofAlly of the good guys that fitted the [[IceQueen cynical]] version of a {{Heel Face Turn}}ed Dark Action Girl; strictly speaking, she was a Dark Action Girl due to being enslaved to the BigBad, which made her a BrokenBird as well.
* Satsuki Kiryūin from ''Anime/KillLaKill'' TheRival [[spoiler: and [[CainAndAbel sister]]]] to the protagonist Ryūko definitely qualifies. She's an extremely powerful Dark Action Girl whose FightingSpirit alone could down a 500 hundred men and [[MasterSwordsman wields]] a black blade [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]] [[CoolSword Bakuzan]] which matches Ryūko's {{BFS}} [[ShearMenace scissors]] all while being powered by [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman Junketsu]]. [[spoiler: After being freed from her mother [[EvilMatriarch Ragyō]]'s influence she becomes the {{Deuteragonist}}]].
* ''Manga/LegendOfHeavenlySphereShurato'': Nara-oh Renge. Ability-wise, as she's very ruthless in battle and has the skills to back it up. Returns to being an Action Girl on the side of good when she's Back from the Dead.
* Since DefeatMeansFriendship, there are only a few female characters from ''Franchise/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' who ''still'' are Dark Action Girls:
** Subverted with Presea Testarossa from the [[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha first season]]. Despite being one of most powerful known mages and the BigBad of that season, she is TheUnfought.
** From ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'', Tre and Sette are the only two of the still imprisoned Numbers who fill the action part. And Due, who is one of the two darkest Numbers, is KilledOffForReal.
*** Ironically, the other one of the two darkest Numbers ([[TheSociopath Quattro]]) lacks the action part.
** The Mariage from ''AudioPlay/StrikersSoundStageX'' are almost literal {{Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot}}s who kill and eat people and infect the corpses to turn them into new Mariages.
** From ''Manga/MagicalRecordLyricalNanohaForce'', the three fighting female members of the Hückebein family fit this trope: Curren, Cypha and Arnage. Arnage is the PerkyFemaleMinion, Cypha is AxCrazy BloodKnight who almost killed Signum in their first fight, and Curren is [[BigBad the leader]], a MoodSwinger and the first thing she did when she appeared in the series is impaling Hayate [[InTheBack from behind]].
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has a load of bait-and-switch Dark Action Girls who [[FauxActionGirl sometimes don't live up to their initial posturing]] or pull a whiplash-inducing HighHeelFaceTurn, but the standout is Tayuya, the flute-playing, SirSwearsALot 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, 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 a 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.
* Evangeline from ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', before her HeelFaceTurn. Not that she'd [[{{Tsundere}} ever admit to having made one]].
* ''Manga/OnePiece'' has its fair share, from Miss Double Finger (and arguably Miss Merry Christmas) to Kalifa. Boa Hancock initially appeared to be this, but mellowed out over time (though she can still be cruel to enemies). The sole female member of the [[ThePsychoRangers Blackbeard Pirates]], Catarina Devon, counts. The Wano arc adds Ulti and Black Maria from ArcVillain Kaido's [[QuirkyMiniBossSquad Flying Six]]. The strongest Dark Action Girl is of course Pirate Emperor Big Mom who's equal to Kaido in being a PersonOfMassDestruction.
* The titular character of ''Literature/Overlord2012'' Satoru Suzuki/Momonga has multiple Dark Action Girls under his command, most notably his two main love interests, his [[FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon elegant and beautiful, but barely stable and cutthroat]] AxCrazy [[TheDragon second-in-command]] Albedo, and the CuteAndPsycho vampire and guardian of the Nazarick's first three floors Shalltear Bloodfallen, both of which are among if not ''the'' best fighters on their side, as well as there most evil.
** Another member of the guardians is Aura Bella Fiora a tomboyish dark elf, TheBeastmaster, and co-guardian of the sixth floor with her [[PolarOppositeTwins twin brother]] Mare Bello Fiore.
** For an example not on their side, we have Clementine, a boisterous and sadistic BloodKnight who enjoys brutally killing anyone unfortunate enough to cross her path with a big SlasherSmile on her face.
** There is also The Pleiades, who with the exception of their leader [[BadassInANiceSuit Sebas]], are a squad consisting entirely of {{Ninja Maid}}s, meant to serve as The Great Tomb of Nazarick's and its leader's last line of defense if the guardians failed.
* Sabrina and Lorelei of ''Manga/PokemonAdventures''. Interestingly enough, both of them have joined forces with the protagonists at some point due to an EnemyMine situation; in fact, Sabrina does so ''against'' Lorelei.
* Every female villain in the ''Anime/PrettyCure franchise'' does count to a degree, but the most outstanding example is [[Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure Dark Precure]], who doesn't rely on [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monsters of the Week]].
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' has [[{{Jerkass}} Ky]][[FieryRedhead ouko]] [[PsychoForHire Sakura]]. She [[CharacterDevelopment gets]] [[TookALevelInKindness better]], to the point of even [[spoiler:pulling a MercyKill[=/=]HeroicSacrifice so that Sayaka (who she has become very sympathetic toward) doesn't have to [[DyingAlone die alone]], even admitting that part of the reason she became a MagicalGirl in the first place was because she wanted to protect someone]].
* Early in ''Literature/ReZero'' the major threat is Elsa Granhiert. She's a polite raven-haired beauty with [[{{Stripperiffic}} exceptionally eccentric]] fashion sense. She is also a ruthless assassin with a disturbing appreciation for the beauty of her enemies' guts and the combat skills to put up a decent fight against one of the most powerful knights in the kingdom.
-->'''Elsa:''' If I lose my fangs, I'll use my claws. If I lose my claws, I'll use my bones. And if I lose my bones, I'll use my life.
* Pirotess from ''Literature/RecordOfLodossWar'', a female dark elf who serves as the villainous counterpart to the high elf on the heroes' side, Deedlit.
* ''Literature/TheSagaOfTanyaTheEvil'' has the titular character [[VillainProtagonist Lt. Tanya Degurechaff]], possibly one of if not the youngest examples of this trope, at only around ''[[ChildSoldiers ten years old]]''. Yet on the battlefields of an alternate version of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, she is one of the most powerful and ruthless soldiers you could ever have the misfortune of meeting, even earning herself the nickname ''[[RedBaron The Devil of The Rhine]]''. Tanya is a mage born with an incredibly high amount of power, that makes blasting through entire companies of enemy mages, ground soldiers, planes, and artillery a breeze, not that she won't resort to cutting her enemies open with her bayonet and even ''blowing herself up'' if she has to. She is also an extremely ruthless, brilliant, and [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] leader, willing to get her own men killed simply for annoying her and only pretending to care about her troops or country to further her own personal gain.
* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'':
** Any of the Sailor Animamates from the last season. Sailor Animamates were the servants of BigBad Sailor Galaxia, who was hunting down Star Seeds/Sailor Crystals across the universe. [[spoiler:They were all once good, but Sailor Senshi become evil when they lose their Sailor Crystals.]]
** The Doom and Gloom Girls, Queen Beryl's last and strongest warriors from the [[Anime/SailorMoon anime]], who very nearly succeeded in defeating the Sailor Senshi.
** Also the Ayakashi Sisters, {{Evil Counterpart}}s of the Inner Senshi and pretty competent combatants. [[spoiler: In the anime, however, they have a collective HeelFaceTurn.]]
* ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' has Ophiuchus Shaina start off as this in the classic series (before undergoing a HighHeelFaceTurn), and a few others like Geist (anime only) who is Shaina's sister, and Mermaid Thethis in the Poseidon saga.
** ''Manga/SaintSeiyaTheLostCanvas'' features two. The first is Pandora, one of [[CoDragons the dragons]] of Hades who, unlike her counterpart in the original Saint Seiya, gets involved in fights and doesn't fears to face the whole Sanctuary for the sake of her lord. The other is the Specter Behemoth Violate, who is able to fight toe-to-toe with [[FourStarBadass Gold Saints]] with no problem.
** ''Anime/SaintSeiyaOmega'' brings more examples, among the most prominent ones Hornet/Scorpio Sonia, Gemini Paradox, the BigBad from the second season Pallas, and her subordinate, Great Sword Gallia.
* ''Sands of Destruction'' features a couple, though who and to what extent varies by adaptation:
** In [[Manga/SandsOfDestruction the manga]], VillainProtagonist Morte is a gleeful OmnicidalManiac whose favorite things include [[MadBomber bombs]], StuffBlowingUp, and [[BloodKnight hitting things]] with her {{BFS}}.
** In [[Anime/SandsOfDestruction the anime]], Morte softensu into an ActionGirl with a DarkAndTroubledPast, but [[TheGunslinger Rhi'a]] takes her place, preferring to shoot first and not bother to ask questions later. Naturally, the two of them end up fighting quite often, but rather than being a DesignatedGirlFight, it's more about pitting two of the best fighters against each other.
* Karinka from ''Manga/SteelAngelKurumi'' toes the line. She beats another main character, and lives primarily so she can destroy the main character and steal her boyfriend. Oh, yeah, she curses like a sailor, too.
* Adiane from ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' beats down an entire brigade on land and [[MoreDeadlyThanTheMale is the most violent and psychotic member of the Beastmen Generals]]. Her Gunmen even brings to mind VaginaDentata.
* The anime ''Manga/TokyoESP'' has several examples.
** Kobushi Kuroi not only has the ability to make herself invisible, but is also a talented boxer. In the course of the plot, however, [[ActionGirl she becomes a heroine]].
** However, her sister Kozuki Kuroi remains evil. She is also a good fighter and has [[PsychicPowers special powers]].
** Lin Lianjie also qualifies, as does Amie Namuro. Both are especially evil.
** The second major villain is Minami Azuma, who also plays this trope.
* ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' features several of these, all deadly Ghouls that enjoy playing with their food and killing anyone that gets in their way.
** [[VillainousGlutton Binge Eater]] Rize Kamishiro, a serial predator that targets attractive young men and enjoys "gently scrambling" their insides.
** The series ''loves'' [[spoiler:pulling a SamusIsAGirl with its {{Big Bad}}s, with the major threats of the side-stories ''Jack'' and ''Joker'' both revealed to be women]]. Perhaps the greatest example of this in the series is [[spoiler:the legendary HeroKiller, Eto/Sen/the One-Eyed Owl. She is considered the most dangerous Ghoul in Tokyo, a brilliant EvilOverlord, and so powerful that only [[TheAce Arima]], [[TheHero Kaneki]] (eventually), and [[FinalBoss Furuta]] have been able to take her on in battle]].
** The sequel introduces another in the form of [[FemmeFatale Nutcracker]], another deadly fighter with a preference for male victims. [[GroinAttack Guess why they call her that]].
* In ''Manga/YuGiOh Duel Monsters'', Mai Kujaku becomes one in the Doma arc and eventually steals the souls of Pegasus and Jonouchi (though, she has a HeelFaceTurn right after stealing the latter's soul).
* ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' has two among the Gun-Ho-Guns: Dominique the Cyclops who gives Vash a genuinely tricky fight thanks to her MagicEye and Elendira the Crimsonnail who has BriefcaseBlaster along with illusion powers and SuperSpeed.
* ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'':
** The two female Seven Stars Assassins, Camula and Tania, are among the four strongest members. Aside from Amnael, they are the only members to win against the Key Guardians, but both of them end up defeated by Judai.
*** Tania is actually a tiger, and she becomes an ally in the third season.
** Asuka becomes one temporarily during the second season when she becomes a member of the [[LightIsNotGood Society of Light]], and she replaces her [[DanceBattler Cyber Girl]] deck for a [[AnIcePerson White Night]] deck.
** If you see the BigBad of the third season, Yubel, [[AmbiguousGender as a girl]], then "she" counts as one. WomanScorned is pretty much the reason for
* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'':
** Aki is one as the Black Rose Witch, a violent and destructive duelist with PsychicPowers, before reconciling with her parents.
** Misty and Carly as Dark Signers. Misty tries to avenge her younger brother's death by trying to kill Aki, the person she thinks is responsible for his death, and nearly defeats her twice. Carly defeats Divine in a duel, in which her final attack sends him falling down a building, nearly killing him, and ''could have'' defeated Jack if not for a HeroicSacrifice.
* ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'':
** Droite starts out as one, although AffablyEvil. She later becomes a regular ActionGirl.
** Merag is the only female member of the Seven Barian Emperors. [[spoiler:To make Rio's FaceHeelTurn more effective, the first crime Merag commits is killing Tetsuo, although she kind of regrets it.]]
