History Main / TheSquadette

* Inverted in Creator/AAPessimal's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12321109/1/Gap-Year-Adventures Gap Year Adventures]]'', where the role of Squadette is taken by junior student Assassin Horst Lensen in an otherwise all-female team. Horst realizes he is very much the junior squad member.

* From what we've seen of the Unification War in ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', Zoe Alleyne seems to be the only female who served under Malcolm Reynolds.

* ''Series/{{JAG}}'': Harm had three partners on the show; Lt. Caitlin Pike in the PilotMovie, Lt. Meg Austin for the rest of the 1st season, and Major/Lieutenant Colonel Sarah "Mac" [=MacKenzie=] for the rest of the series.
** And of course, being a show about the military, spent numerous episodes discussing the role of women in combat. Being BackedByThePentagon, the issue usually tilted towards acceptance.

* Captain/Major/Lt. Colonel/Colonel/General Samantha "Sam" Carter, from ''Series/StargateSG1'' and later ''Series/StargateAtlantis''. In her first appearance, she mentions how she accumulated over 100 hours of flight time over hostile territory in the Gulf War.
* ''Series/CombatHospital'' shows women serving in Afghanistan in a number of roles, from doctors and nurses to chopper pilots.
* ''Series/RedCap'' has Sergeant Jo [=McDonough=] and Staff Sergeants Neve Kirland (season 1) and Harriet Frost (season 2).
* In ''Series/BlakesSeven'' every armed resistance group or Federation base seems to have a single female member in a speaking role, while everyone else is male. There are never any female mooks in the background, silently working their way up the ranks to the position of Supreme Commander or Rebel Leader. Averted with the Seven however, where there's always TwoGirlsToATeam.
* This is a plot point in the Australian 1990's mini-series ''Series/{{Phoenix}}''. The only female member of the Major Crime Unit is the unit's analyst; as a result she has a problem getting the detectives to take her (and by extension her job) seriously.
* ''Series/OurGirl'' is about a female combat medic in an otherwise all-male British Army platoon.

* ''Conflict: Denied Ops'': Carrie Sherman. Your squad is initially all-male, but she gets assigned as a replacement sniper after your previous one is captured.

* Depending on your personal theory on the Pyro's identity, ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' either plays this straight or averts this. Or maybe inverts it. We really have no idea.
* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' features the [[GraveRobbing Afflicted Graverobber]] in a [[WolfpackBoss boss trio]] encountered in the Sunken City, she wears Alva's armor and dual-wields [[KatanasAreJustBetter Berserker Blades]].
* ''VideoGame/ShiningResonance'': Sonia Blanche became the first ''and only'' female to join the knights of Astoria because she wanted to follow in her father's footsteps. If you speak with Captain Burroughs, he tells you King Albert initially opposed the idea because he didn't want to put [[DaddysGirl his daughter]] in harm's way. But he finally relented once he understood [[WellDoneSonGuy how much it meant to her.]]
* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' featured this with the original S.T.A.R.S. team, with Jill Valentine on Alpha Team and Rebecca Chambers on Bravo Team. [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil5 Sheva]] fills this role as well, being the only woman shown to be taking part in the ill-fated BSAA operation.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''Manga/{{Aruosumente}}'':
** Lamia, a TomboyWithAGirlyStreak, is Rucetta's second-in-command and the only woman seen serving in his outfit during the backstory.
** GirlyBruiser Rita Rina, Lante's second-in-command, is also the only female knight shown, kicking ass with the best of them during the tournament.
* In ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'', Major Kusanagi is the only female member of Section 9. In ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', flashbacks to the team's military careers show that she was also the only female member then, too.

* Technically, the lead character of Wally Wood's ''[[ComicStrip/SallyForthWood Sally Forth]]'' qualifies, as she began as a recruit in Lt. Dahl's commando unit.
* Heller, the sole female member of ''ComicBook/HuntersHellcats''. Gets a pass on the realism as the Hellcats are a special ops unit of {{Boxed Crook}}s the brass regards as SurprisinglyEliteCannonFodder. As such, Lt. Hunter is granted leeway on how he recruits for the unit. Heller was originally recruited for a mission that specifically required a female, and proved so useful he decided to keep her on.

* ''Film/IronEagleII'': Valeri Zuyeniko, despite the fact that the Soviet Union stopped using female combat pilots after World War II.
%%* Peggy Carter in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger''.
%%* Scarlet and The Baroness from ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra''.
%%** Lady Jaye, a MilitaryBrat and female WellDoneSonGuy, fills this role for the Joes in ''Film/GIJoeRetaliation''.

* The ''Literature/HIVESeries'' features two, the first being Raven, an adult, who acts as a CoolBigSis to Alpha squad four, which is made up of a bunch of teenagers. In squad four is [[LovableAlphaBitch Shelby]], who is also a squadette.

* Creator/JohnRingo seems to be fond of these. Examples include Marine Sgt. Ellsworthy in the ''Literature/LegacyOfTheAldenata'' series, and Sergeant Major Eva Kosutic and Sergeant Nimashet Despreaux in the ''Literature/PrinceRoger'' series.

* The ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' by Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold has Elena Bothari-Jesek, Elli Quinn, and Taura. Also Cordelia Naismith, whose brief military career provides a lampshading.

* The ''Literature/TheWarGods'' series by Creator/DavidWeber has Kaeritha, especially when she's travelling with Bahzell, Brandark, and company.
* In ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' the Manticoran and Havenite military forces are completely gender-neutral so there are plenty of examples. The Grayson Space Navy was male-only until the second novel and is slowly changing.
* In the Swedish fantasy novel ''Spiran och Staven (The Sceptre and the Quarterstaff)'' women of the Zaki people that choose to go the male way of life may become warriors. The competent officer Sorana serves as an unexpected mercenary in the novel's main military conflict, which takes place far away from the Zaki empire.
* In the ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'' series, the refusal of the acid-spitting (and thus strategically indispensable) Longwing dragon breed to accept male handlers means that Napoleonic Britain's Aerial Corps is peppered with these. This was hidden from the populace at large, the other branches of service, and the bulk of the government itself [[spoiler:until Jane Roland made Admiral]].
* ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' ('''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM''') is attached to the mixed-gender 597th Valhallan regiment for most of his career, created by shoving the remains of an all-male and an all-female regiment together. In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', such regiments are less common than all-female ones, as maybe 10% of the Imperial Guard are women.
* Vin in ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'' is the only female member of Kelsier's Crew (in the first book, at any rate. In the second they are joined by Tyndwyl and in the third by Allriane).
* Spyder in the ''Literature/MythAdventures'' novel ''M.Y.T.H. Inc. In Action'' is stated to have joined up based as part of an "experimental program", and is a punk girl who automatically bristles at authority, which doesn't go down well with the DrillSergeantNasty.

* This is a plot point in the Australian 1990's mini-series ''Phoenix''. The only female member of the Major Crime Unit is the unit's analyst; as a result she has a problem getting the detectives to take her (and by extension her job) seriously.

* Related tropes:
** LadyOfWar. See the RealLife section of this trope for examples of women who openly served as warriors in the past -- historical squadettes.
** SweetPollyOliver. See also the RealLife section of this trope for historical examples of women who disguised themselves as men to become squadettes. Women have been fighting in wars side-by-side with men for many centuries; they just couldn't always do so ''openly''.
[[/folder]]

[[caption-width-right:250:"I love the kind of woman that can kick my ass."]]

* ''ComicBook/CombatKellyAndHisDeadly Dozen'', a Creator/MarvelComics UsefulNotes/WorldWarII comic, had Laurie Livingston who was arrested for stealing from US Army supply depots as its sole female member.

* ''ComicBook/Combat KellyAndHisDeadly Dozen'', a Creator/MarvelComics UsefulNotes/WorldWarII comic, had Laurie Livingston who was arrested for stealing from US Army supply depots as its sole female member.

* ''Combat Kelly and the Deadly Dozen'', a Creator/MarvelComics UsefulNotes/WorldWarII comic, had Laurie Livingston who was arrested for stealing from US Army supply depots as its sole female member.

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2001d4ec_68a1_4ed1_b7ed_c492650ecd8d.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[Anime/CowboyBebopKnockinOnHeavensDoor "I love the kind of woman that can kick my ass."]]]]

----

* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', in general. This ''is'' a universe which seems to have a universal draft, or at least equal opportunities for women, as there's a pretty large percentage of female soldiers, including Riza Hawkeye, Olivier Armstrong, Maria Ross, Rebecca Catalina, and a decent number of background soldiers, overall amounting ten to fifteen perfect of the soldiers shown. Martel was also once a soldier before she became a Chimera.

* ''ComicBook/XWingRogueSquadron'': [[TheLadette Brash, tomboyish]] Plourr is the only woman in the squadron at first. Five others join, leaving or dying over the course of the comics. They're all quite distinct and non-stereotyped, but are still outnumbered nearly two to one by men in the squadron.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'': While shown as a LadyOfWar in ancient Chinese literature and various live action films, the Creator/{{Disney}}fied version of the character is portrayed more as in this trope, which is somewhat justifiable as the character is just fresh out of training. However, none of her later exploits are shown and she becomes combat competent only towards the end of the film.

* ''Literature/TheMalazanBookOfTheFallen'': has a number of examples. Blend, Picker and Smiles to name a few of [[BadassNormal Imperial Marines]] that are in the various armies. Not to mention [[PhysicalGod Sorry]] from the first book.

* The ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' by Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold has Elena Bothari-Jesek, Elli Quinn and Taura. Also Cordelia Naismith, whose brief military career provides a lampshading.

* The ''Literature/TheWarGods'' series by Creator/DavidWeber has Kaeritha, especially when she's travelling with Bahzell, Brandark and company.
* In ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' the Manticoran and Havenite military forces is completely gender-neutral so there are plenty of examples. The Grayson Space Navy was male-only until the second novel and is slowly changing.

** Used as a plot point in an episode. The police break up a wild hotel party being held by a group of sailors on shore leave. In one of the rooms, they find the body of woman who they assume is a hired prostitute. Then they discover her uniform and realize that the deceased was a Lieutenant.

** They DID try to incorporate Bridget "[=RedCap=]" Sullivan into the unit when she first appeared in the beginning of season 4, but for reasons unknown they gradually moved her duties back to MissionControl and to other menial tasks.
* Captain/Major/Lt. Colonel/Colonel/General Samantha "Sam" Carter, from ''Series/StargateSG1'' and later ''Series/StargateAtlantis''. In her first appearance, she mentions how she accumulated over 100 hours flight time over hostile territory in the Gulf War.

* ''Series/OurGirl'' is about a female combat medic in an otherwise all male British Army platoon.

* ''Conflict: Denied Ops'': Carrie Sherman. Your squad is initially all male, but she gets assigned as a replacement sniper after your previous one is captured.

* Creator/BioWare games avert it by providing plenty of female [=NPCs=] to bring along in your squad, from straight up action girls like [[Franchise/MassEffect Ashley Williams]] or [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII Aveline Vallen]] to powerful magic types like [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins Morrigan]] or even a WrenchWench like [[Franchise/MassEffect Tali]].

* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' features the [[GraveRobbing Afflicted Graverobber]] in a [[WolfpackBoss boss trio]] encountered in the Sunken City, she wears Alva's armor and dual wields [[KatanasAreJustBetter Berserker Blades]].
* ''VideoGame/ShiningResonance'': Sonia Blanche became the first ''and only'' female to join the knights of Astoria, because she wanted to follow in her father's footsteps. If you speak with Captain Burroughs, he tells you King Albert initially opposed the idea because he didn't want to put [[DaddysGirl his daughter]] in harm's way. But he finally relented once he understood [[WellDoneSonGuy how much it meant to her.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'' had an episode where all the men were incapacitated, and the women had to take over (Sound familiar? See the ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' example above). Uhura and the first non-wimpy version of Christine Chapel ran the ship, and had already solved the problem by the time men stagger back aboard.

** The USA has recently decided to open infantry positions to women. This will apparently apply to all conventional infantry positions, while special force units can chose to admit or deny female applicants at their own discretion.

** Germany. In 2000 a female German medic successfully went to the European Court of Justice to remove restrictions for women bearing arms in the German armed forces. Her original intention was just to be allowed to receive weapon training for self defence, but it caused the German Government to officially allow women in their armed forces as soldiers. Nowadays female soldiers are a notable if still small part of their land, air and sea forces.

** The military of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland does not allow women to serve in combat infantry positions...except for one particular regiment. The Special Reconnaissance Regiment, an elite intelligence gathering unit of the British military is the only "teeth" regiment in the entire military with female combat soldiers.

** Turkey does not employ female infantry soldiers but it is notable for having a surprisingly large number of female aircraft pilots for everything from transport planes to attack helicopters to fighter jets. In fact the worlds first female fighter pilot was Turkish.

** South Korea employs women as part of the 707th Special Missions Battalion (SMB); the actual number of women who serve depends on the the source, with some saying its only a dozen or so while others say there is an entire female squadron, though it is known that the women have to undergo the same training as the boys do. [[http://www.specialoperations.com/Foreign/South_Korea/Default2.html It's mentioned here.]]
** Taiwan. According a NATO Review, only six of the 28 members of NATO have a greater percentage of women in their ranks than the Taiwanese Armed Forces, and only three nations actually have more women in uniform than Taiwan does. This may have something to do with the fact that the ROC Military relies on conscription of men only, and women must join the better-treated and better-paid officer corps.

** Russia. Technically does not allow women to do combat duties or become commanding officers of anything that sees combat, but that's only in peacetime. During both World Wars Russia/Soviet Union did have female soldiers, officers and even [[AmazonBrigade all-female units]] doing actual combat. Some even were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, only given for exceptional acts of heroism or inflicting big losses to enemy.
*** [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober Civil War-era]] Russia had, in fact, no Tsarist regulations still functioning and no Communist regulations yet functioning. This meant that any woman who wished so could pick up a gun and join any army, bandit gang or army that is a bandit gang. One particular subtrope was the female [[ThePoliticalOfficer commissar]]; the pre-revolutionary Bolsheviks were egalitarian, and had to send their old cadre to the frontlines en masse when the Revolution was complete and the Civil War started.

** Israel, one of only nine countries in the world that can conscript female soldiers and one of only two who does so regularly, along with Norway to a lesser extent since 2014. Several infantry and special forces units employ female soldiers and operators within the country and the first Muslim Arab to serve in the military (and to serve in actual combat) was a women serving the the CSAR force known as Unit 669.

* Several SWAT teams through out the world employ or have employed female operators.

[[quoteright:250:[[WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sergeant-calhoun_3279.jpg]]]]

[[quoteright:250:[[Disney/WreckItRalph https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sergeant-calhoun_3279.jpg]]]]

!!Examples

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
* ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'': While shown as a LadyOfWar in ancient Chinese literature and various live action films, the Creator/{{Disney}}fied version of the character is portrayed more as in this trope, which is somewhat justifiable as the character is just fresh out of training. However, none of her later exploits are shown and she becomes combat competent only towards the end of the film.
* Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun in ''Disney/WreckItRalph'' (pictured above) commands a squad that is battling creatures called "Cy-Bugs", whose existence resulted from an experiment gone wrong. Her [[DefrostingIceQueen initially cold personality]] is the result of [[WidowedAtTheWedding losing her fiancé on their wedding day]].

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/{{Aliens}}'': [[VasquezAlwaysDies Vasquez]]. Also Dietrich and Ferro.
* ''Film/{{Avatar}}'': Trudy Chacon (Creator/MichelleRodriguez), part of the largely sausage party [[PrivateMilitaryContractors SecFor]].
* ''Film/{{Basic}}'': Nunez, a female US Army ranger, which the US Army did not permit at the time of its release.

* ''Film/EdgeOfTomorrow'' has Nance, the token ActionGirl of J Squad.

* ''Film/{{Predators}}'' has [[ActionGirl Isabelle]] [[BadassIsraeli the]] [[SmallGirlBigGun sniper]].
* ''Franchise/StarshipTroopers'': Dizzy Flores in both TheMovie and the AnimatedAdaptation.
** [[GenderFlip But not in the original novel]].

* Peggy Carter in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger''.
* Scarlet and The Baroness from ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra''.
** Lady Jaye, a MilitaryBrat and female WellDoneSonGuy, fills this role for the Joes in ''Film/GIJoeRetaliation''.

* In the ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'' series, the refusal of the acid-spitting (and thus strategically indispensable) Longwing dragon breed to accept male handlers means that Napoleonic Britain's Aerial Corps is peppered with these. This was hidden from the populace at large, the other branches of service, and the bulk of the government itself [[spoiler: until Jane Roland made Admiral]].

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''[[Series/{{Bluestone42}} Bluestone 42]]'': Corporal Lynda Bird, very much in [[TheLadette Ladette]] mould.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': had this with the Peacekeepers mixed squads, and ex-Peacekeeper Aeryn Sun.

* ''Series/OverThere'': "Doublewide" and "Mrs. B" are truck drivers who get stuck with the all-male squad for various reasons nearly every episode.
* ''Series/SpaceAboveAndBeyond'': Shane Vansen. Also, "Damn Fool" Damphousse.
* ''Series/UltimateForce'': Becca Gallagher. Her presence was the reason why viewers disliked the changes made by [=ITV=].

* In ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'', Major Kasanagi is the only female member of Section 9. In ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', flashbacks to the team's military careers show that she was also the only female member then, too.

* ''ComicBook/XWingSeries'': [[TheLadette Brash, tomboyish]] Plourr is the only woman in the squadron at first. Five others join, leaving or dying over the course of the comics. They're all quite distinct and non-stereotyped, but are still outnumbered nearly two to one by men in the squadron.

* Heller, the sole female member of ''ComicBook/HuntersHellcats''. Gets a pass of the realism as the Hellcats are a special ops unit of {{Boxed Crook}}s the brass regards as SurprisinglyEliteCannonFodder. As such, Lt. Hunter is granted leeway on how he recruits for the unit. Heller was originally for a mission that specifically required a female, and proved so useful he decided to keep her on.

* ''{{Disney/Mulan}}'': While shown as a LadyOfWar in ancient Chinese literature and various live action films, the Creator/{{Disney}}fied version of the character is portrayed more as in this trope, which is somewhat justifiable as the character is just fresh out of training. However, none of her later exploits are shown and she becomes combat competent only towards the end of the film.

* ''WesternAnimation/GIJoe'': Both sides have some. The Joes had Scarlett, Lady Jaye, Cover Girl, Jinx, and Firewall. Cobra had a few female members, most notably TheBaroness and Zarana. And in the same episode mentioned below, a bunch of female Cobra grunts showed up for the Baroness to command. There was also the occasional comparatively low-ranking female trooper or agent. In a few cases not even being named, or with any attention in the plot paid to their gender--just {{mook}}s who happened to be women.

%%* ''{{Transformers}}'': Arcee in the original series, and in WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime.

Fills [[TokenMinority the role that was used primarily for minority characters]] in earlier times. A lone black or Japanese soldier fighting in an otherwise all-white, American WWII unit was its most common form, [[ArtisticLicenseHistory despite being totally unrealistic since the US Armed forces did not integrate their combat units until 1948, 3 years after the end of the war]].

* ''ComicBook/XWingSeries'': [[TheLadette Brash, tomboyish]] Plourr is the only woman in the squadron at first. Five others join, leaving or dying over the course of the comics, they're all quite distinct and non-stereotyped, but are still outnumbered nearly two to one by men in the squadron.

* Inverted in Creator/AAPessimal's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12321109/1/Gap-Year-Adventures Gap Year Adventures]]'', where the role of Squadette is taken by junior student Assassin Horst Lensen in an otherwise all-female team. Horst realises he is very much the junior squad member.

* ''Anime/LibraryWar'' Iku Kasahara is the first woman to join the elite Library Task Force.