In the genre of fantasy, there have been some fantastic female characters. Some inspire viewers to emulation, and some to detestation. Either way, they have left their mark on the realm of imagination. No matter if their intentions were good or evil, they are a force to be reckoned with. As William Congreve put it in his play The Mourning Bride, “Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.”
But strength comes in many different forms. Sometimes it is furious and vengeful, and sometimes it is quiet and loyal. There is a strength needed to conquer foes without and a different strength required to conquer foes within. Whatever the challenges these heroines faced, they found their strength and proved to be some of the most inspirational and memorable fantasy characters of all time.
10 Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan)
‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ (2017)
Image via Sony
You have to be pretty formidable if you’re named after a martial arts move. In the movie Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Ruby Roundhouse is a character that real-life players can select to play in the updated video game version of its predecessor. With her knowledge of three different types of martial arts, use of nunchucks, and unique strength of dance fighting, there is no wonder she is known as the “killer of men.” However, her player, Martha (Morgan Turner), gets more than she bargained for when she gets sucked into the video game and inhabits the body of Ruby Roundhouse.
While the real Martha discovers her own strength as she plays Ruby in the game, the character of Ruby Roundhouse stands out on her own. In a plethora of video games where female characters are practically nonexistent or relegated to being victims or damsels in distress, having one that can not only fight, but fight well is awesome.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Release Date December 20, 2017
Director Jake Kasdan
Runtime 119 minutes
9 Maleficent (Eleanor Audley)
‘Sleeping Beauty’ (1959)
Image via Walt Disney Pictures
There is a good reason why Maleficent is known as the “mistress of all evil.” Her pension for revenge is formidable. After all, she is willing to wait 16 years for her evil plan to be enacted. She didn’t kill her offender’s child right away. She gave him time to love and cherish it before she took it away, increasing the torment and pain and adding to it the terrible knowledge that robbed him of joy every day leading up to the fateful one.
Cunning, confident, and self-possessed, Maleficent is also a powerful sorceress. Her ability to transform into a gigantic fire-breathing dragon at the end of the film sends chills down the viewers’ spines. In the medieval era, when the film was set, the idea of women having power of their own was a dangerous one. Women either inherited wealth and status from their fathers or married into it through their husbands. Women who had power not reliant on a man were usually viewed as having a form of dark sorcery like spell casters or witches. Maleficent not only has power, but enjoys using it. Her elegant and twisted personality is one of the reasons she has become one of the most iconic villains.
Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Release Date January 29, 1959
Director Clyde Geronimi , Wolfgang Reitherman
Cast Mary Costa , Bill Shirley , Eleanor Audley
Runtime 75
8 Hermione Granger (Emma Watson)
‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ (2001)
Image via Warner Bros. Pictures
It is tough enough to fit in at a regular school, let alone a wizarding one such as Hogwarts. Schoolmates find any reason to poke fun or put down fellow attendees and Hermione Granger was no exception. Teased for being muggle-born (having two non-magical biological parents), Hermione had to make her way and prove that she was just as determined and talented as her companions.
Not only is Hermione brilliantly smart and studious, but she proves to be brave and loyal as well. When her close friends Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) face peril and go to battle with evil forces, she is right there by their side, often saving their (and by extension, everyone else’s) lives.
7 Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews)
‘Mary Poppins’ (1964)
Image via Disney
Another way strength can be measured is by strength of character, and Mary Poppins certainly has that in spades. More than just an average nanny, she has an uncanny ability to know exactly when she is needed and shows up to help. Refusing to be put upon by fussy children or obstinate adults, Mary Poppins ensures that all is put right and in a manner singular to her. Using just a “spoonful of sugar” to help the “medicine go down,” she finds insightful and unusual ways to ensure order and efficiency are kept.
Although most people assume she is only there to care for the children, she ends up helping the whole Banks family, including the anxious and distracted Mr. Banks (David Tomlinson). Through her influence, the children not only learn to appreciate their hardworking father but come to sympathize with him as well. Equivalently, Mr. Banks learns to let go of his need for corporate approval and to spend time cherishing his children.
Mary Poppins
Release Date August 27, 1964
Director Robert Stevenson
Cast Julie Andrews , Dick Van Dyke , David Tomlinson , Glynis Johns , Hermione Baddeley , Reta Shaw
Runtime 140
Studio Walt Disney Productions
6 Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley)
‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl’ (2003)
Image via Walt Disney Pictures
Most days for Elizabeth Swann were fairly routine. The only daughter of a governor, she was used to having an easy life of luxury. But fine clothes and a fancy house did not satisfy her longing for adventure. She was enthralled by the treacherous group of marauders known as pirates who haunted the oceans around her island home. However, her fascination with pirates would prove to be a different situation entirely when she encountered them.
What begins as a kidnapping for ransom turns into the adventure of a lifetime. As Elizabeth fights her way to be free from pirates aboard the Black Pearl, she uses any means necessary, including lies, impersonation, and manipulation. As the action goes awry, she finds herself not as the rescued anymore but as the rescuer, saving her true love Will Turner’s (Orlando Bloom’s) life. In later films in the series, she continues to display bravery in her many adventures on the high seas.
5 The (Evil) Queen (Lucille La Verne)
‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ (1937)
Image via Disney
It’s not easy being queen. Maintaining one’s position and power was a very delicate balance in the medieval era, especially for royalty. When rival armies would invade and conquer, enough threats were coming from outside the castle walls; you wanted to be sure there weren’t any coming from inside as well. The Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs had one lingering threat to her rule: the only daughter and heir to her deceased husband’s throne. However, the real threat Snow White (Adriana Caselotti) posed was not one of status but of preference.
Banished to a humble life in a cottage in the forest, Snow White seems perfectly happy with the arrangement and does not intend to claim rule over her father’s kingdom. But the Queen, consumed by vanity, asks her magic mirror daily, “Who is the fairest one of all?” And when the answer comes that it is Snow White instead of her, the Queen’s jealousy runs rife with murderous intent. The quest for perfection has plagued every woman since Eve first bit into the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. And the Queen in Snow White uses fruit to ensure her pursuit of preeminence has no rival. The character of the Evil Queen serves as a great reminder that the temptation to engage in comparison only leads to envy.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Release Date February 4, 1938
Director David Hand
Cast Roy Atwell , Stuart Buchanan , Adriana Caselotti , Zeke Clements , Eddie Collins , Pinto Colvig
Runtime 83
Studio Walt Disney Productions
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4 Mary Lennox (Gennie James)
‘The Secret Garden’ (1987)
Perhaps one of the greatest tests of strength is how a person handles change. The character of Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden has her entire world up-ended. When both of her parents die suddenly from cholera, she is taken from all she knows, a life in India where her father was stationed with the military, and sent to live with a distant uncle in England.
Used to being cared for by servants and neglected by her parents, she has to learn to be independent and self-reliant in her new home of Misselthwaite Manor. Not only does Mary undergo an internal transformation as she becomes more patient, communicative, and kind, but she uses her stubbornness and tenacity for good as she single-handedly turns about the sad state of the other inhabitants of the house.
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3 Eowyn (Miranda Otto)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2003
Image via New Line
Women have to fight many battles, but choosing to fight one that you don’t have to takes a whole other level of courage. In The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Eowyn does precisely that. Sitting on the sidelines and watching her uncle and brother go off to battle is something she cannot bear. So, she disguises herself as a man and rides to war with them. Even after her brother tries to scare her into not coming by describing the grisly effects of combat, Eowyn knows the horrors she will face and goes anyway.
As fate would have it, her determination to fight proves to be crucial in defeating a formidable foe. The Witch-king of Angmar (Lawrence Makoare) was a powerful undead servant of Sauron (Sala Baker) that “no living man can kill.” However, in one of the most epic scenes of the whole series, Eowyn takes off her helmet, revealing her true identity, and cries, “I am no man,” as she stabs him with her sword. Despite the fact that none of the male characters, be they wizard, man, elf, or dwarf, could best him, her strength was needed, specifically her own.
2 Mrs. Brisby (Elizabeth Hartman)
The Secret of NIMH, 1982
Image via United Artists, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Single mothers are as strong as characters come, in real life or fantasy. Mrs. Brisby is a widow, and if the loss of her husband isn’t enough, she soon faces the possibility of losing a child when her son falls ill. Already having made the difficult decision to move her young family (which was risky), she has to put plans on hold until her son is cured.
For the love of her child, she risks her life by traveling to visit a group of rats who knew her husband. Her quest for answers brings unsettling revelations as she learns the truth about how her husband met the rats and the cruel experiments he was subjected to. Through near-death escapes and murderous subplots, she remains courageous and determined to save her child.
1 Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, 2005
Image via Buena Vista Pictures, Walden Media
It is easy to be strong when you have support. But when no one else will believe you, do you keep going? Lucy Pevensie discovers a magical land through a gateway in an unassuming wardrobe. However, no one believes her. The argument that she has been exploring a new kingdom isn’t supported by the passage of time either, as a few minutes in the real world are hours in Narnia. Even when she takes her siblings back to investigate, they find the gateway nonexistent and the wardrobe unremarkable. When her brother Edmund (Skandar Keynes) manages to go to Narnia as well, she is relieved to finally have support, only to have him lie and betray her to her other siblings.
Luckily, Lucy never gives up. Soon, the rest of her siblings get to experience Narnia for themselves, and many great adventures are had. Through the following sequels, Lucy continues to be a source of strength. When the others seek selfish motives or let their egos take control, Lucy is always there to be a voice of reason. She not only continually sees the good in everyone but brings it out of them as well. She faces each challenge with bravery, kindness, and understanding. As the great Aslan (Liam Neeson) himself said, “If you were any braver, you’d be a lioness.”
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Release Date December 9, 2005
Runtime 143 Minutes
Studio(s) Walt Disney Pictures , Walden Media , Mark Johnson Productions
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