These are some of my favorite females on screen and the page.

I FINALLY got around to doing this. I’ve been tagged three times by the lovely:

x Megan @A Geeky Gal

x Jaycee @Thinking Moon

x Kelly @Why We Play Games 

All of whom you should check out and follow. I always enjoy reading their posts and I’m sure everyone else will. Also, shoutout to the creator Kate for coming up with this amazing tag.

After reading the other tags, I was interested but nervous about doing this because there are so many female characters that deserve credit and to try and fit them all under the categories was tough. And it turned out to be harder than I thought.

The Rules

• Please PINGBACK to me at Kate @ Melting Pots and Other Calamities. Or just Kate. And PINGBACK TO A SPECIFIC POST OF MINE.  I won’t see the post otherwise, and I’d like to see it.
• Answer the questions.
• Choose female characters from books, movies, TV, anime, Webtoons, etc.
• Tag as many people as you want, but at least one person.
• Have fun!

The Tag

Name a heroine you like, but whom you feel is always overshadowed by the male characters in the story.

Nala from The Lion King. This one was probably the hardest to answer then out of nowhere *poof.*

From an early age, Nala was told her purpose is to grow up and marry Simba. Despite being an independent and strong character, that was supposed to be her role.

And yeah, that’s what she ends up doing, but before that, Nala established herself as a someone who can take care of herself and didn’t need a man around for a good chunk of her life. She stood up to Scar and for herself.

She might’ve been Simba’s love interest from the start but there was so much more to her character and she’s one of the reasons Simba goes back. She tells him to get off his butt and help his family. She and the other lionesses are the reason any of them have food. She deserves more credit.

For that matter, name a heroine whom you feel is always overshadowed by the other female characters in the story.

Harper from The 100. Ho boy. She had more of a role in the earlier seasons and when she started to date fan-favorite Monty, that role grew, but season five did her no justice whatsoever. She’s one of those side characters you like, but never gets enough screen time and being The 100 with its strong, female characters, gets lost in the shadows.

In season five, she was barely mentioned or shown and didn’t have much to do until the finale, when she died. I wish I got to see her more, especially with Monty and not just as his girlfriend.

Name a character who had potential but was greatly underutilized in her story.

Charlie from Supernatural. Boy, was I…pissed when she died. At first, she was introduced as this young, gay woman who appeared like a little sister to Sam and Dean and got thrown into the hunting world, like most characters but learned to handle her own.

Then she went to Oz with Dorothy and came back different then she died and I just feel like we didn’t see her enough. I remember the fandom getting mad over her death, as it happened off screen and in a bathroom with no one with her, trying to fend off someone. I wish we got to see more of her and watch her become this badass hunter who still loves geek culture and roleplaying.

Name a female character who you either find better in her book than her movie, find better in her movie than her book, or whose portrayals you find equal.

I knew I’d end up putting Carol from The Walking Dead in here somewhere. I haven’t read all the novels of The Walking Dead, but her TV counterpart is 100x different. Not only did she die early on in the comic, but was obsessed with Lori and Rick and wanted them to have a three-way romantic relationship (not that that’s bad, I just didn’t see it coming.)

In the show, if she needs an explanation, went from being an abused, housewife with no way of protecting herself to defending and saving her group countless times, again and again, and doing the things that need to be done that not everyone else will do. She could’ve been grief-stricken after her daughter’s death but became more and watching her evolution has been one of my favorite parts of the show.

Currently, she’s happy, which makes me happy.

Edit: she’s not happy anymore.

Name a character who you want more backstory on.

Edna Mode from The Incredibles. I love when a side-character in a piece of fiction ends up becoming a fan favorite.

I’d love to know how and why she got into designing suits for superheroes and where she gets her fabric. Did she grow up admiring supers? Did one save her life? Was she related or friends with a super and just helped them make a suit one day?

Seriously, where did she find fabric that turns invisible with Violet? How does she design clothes that can sustain explosions? Is Edna really a super who can create any type of fabric that she wants!?

Even more than the backstory, who doesn’t want to see more of Edna? Everyone wants a short of the night she babysat Jack-Jack. Edna is a character you can admire for her ambition and confidence.

Also,

Name a character with traits you feel are sadly overlooked by everyone.

Reggie Rocket from Rocket Power. I grew up loving this show. I enjoy watching the X-Games and always enjoyed “extreme sports” although I’ve never tried them except some rollerblading when I was little.

Reggie is the only girl in a group of four boys, and one of the few females in the show period. When it comes to those close to her, she doesn’t have to prove herself. They know she’s good but didn’t always give her credit for being a skilled athlete. Not only that, but she’s smart. I remember her and Sam getting along because of their smarts.

AND she’s the voice of reason. When her brother wanted to go out and do something stupid, she either told him not to or ended up getting help because we all knew he’d end up getting hurt.

I had some pretty good fictional role models growing up and Reggie was one of them. She stood up for herself and her friends, called people out, and proved herself by what she did rather than her words.

Name a morally grey character. (Villain or anti-hero!)

The Evil Queen aka Regina Mills from Once Upon A Time. The first few seasons she was either loved or hated, but over time became one of my favorite characters on the show. At times she still lived up to her name, but grew to become more and found herself in the end.

And I LOVE when she brought some sarcasm and sass to the show. At times, it would bother me how upbeat and peppy some of the characters were and she was always there to tone it down.

I didn’t watch the final season so I don’t know what happened with her in the end, but she went through some shit: losing the first love of her life, being manipulated to use magic, finding then losing the second love of her life, not knowing if her son wanted to be with her, finding out she had a sister who just wanted to kill her. Sure, she cast the curse that started the show, but everyone grew to look past that and see Regina for who she is.

But she’ll still kill someone and that’s what makes me love her.

A character you’re stunned isn’t more famous.

Princess Allura from Voltron: Legendary Defender. I think Allura is a great character for young girls (and older girls, it doesn’t matter) to look up to. Not only is she a person of color commanding the group that will help save the universe, but she goes through her own development as well and learns to see past her own prejudices against a race that killed her people.

She awoke from a 10,000-year-old sleep to find out her entire planet was destroyed and at the time thought only two of them remained. Instead of wallowing from everything, she was determined to create Voltron and save the universe.

Her death…is a touchy subject. I love how she grew throughout the seasons and became more powerful and learned more about herself. I hate that she was subjected from Commander to Paladin and never took her position back but that’s a rant for another day.

In the end, she wanted to avenge her people and bring peace and prosperity to the universe and I believe she did just that. She’s a great role model not only from her leadership skills but how she learned from her mistakes. She didn’t need a love interest to give her hope (although she would eventually have two) and did things on her own, but still admitted when she needed help.

A character from a piece of fiction you’re amazed isn’t more famous.

Karolina Dean from Marvel’s Runaways. I’m very surprised she’s not more famous because she’s the first openly gay superhero on screen who is one of the main characters and not just thrown to the side or talked about for a second. She became one of my favorite female characters/superheroes early on in the show and I loved reading and watching her start to understand who she is and where she comes from.

That being said, I’m surprised her and Nico aren’t talked about more either. They’re a popular couple in the show and thankfully, Nico’s feelings are reciprocated rather than in the comic.

Not only that, but Karolina is a glowing rainbow alien. She’s awesome.

I Tag

x Claire @BooksCoffeeandRepeat

x Debjani @Debjani’sThoughts

x Malosri @AQueenWithWings

x Natalia @BookishVegan

x  Claire @TheReadingNook

x Anyone that wants to do the tag!

That was a lot of fun. It took me a couple days to pick a character for each category, but I think that goes to show how many great female characters there are.

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