Back to school topic? Nah, that one didn’t seem nearly as fun as focusing on some of our favorite females did! From horror to sci-fi and books to movies, this is a list of ladies we admire (that doesn’t include Buffy, Ripley, Sara Conner, or Laurie Strode). We think you might be surprised at some of our choices. We tried to keep away from your typical lady list! And there’s a bonus at the bottom to pique your interest.
Serengeti – Serengeti series by J.B. Rockwell
This is a bit of an unusual one, because, well, Serengeti isn’t human. She’s an AI within a Valkyrie-class space battleship. She’s also snarky, caring, willing to do as much as she can to protect her sisters and her crew. She’s a memorable character that you can’t help but root for. – Lilyn
Mina Harker – Dracula by Bram Stoker
She’s the one who sets about figuring out the small clues in everyone’s journals, collecting them and doing research without which the dots would not have been connected. After being attacked and forced by Dracula to drink his blood she doesn’t curl up into a ball of useless. No, she still helps them by purposefully withdrawing from the information and also actively helps them by ‘spying’ on Dracula for them. Not too shabby for a Victorian ‘lady’. – GracieKat
Sarah Manning – Orphan Black
She’s tough, loyal and protective. Plus, she kicks ass – Nico
Clarice Starling – Silence of the Lambs
The last time I watched Silence of the Lambs was years ago but I remember Clarice Starling was intelligent, brave and honorable. She dealt with Lecter, took down Buffalo Bill and saved the girl. She’s a great female lead. – Jason
(She also rightly calls her boss on his ‘Boy’s Club’ attitude while talking to one of the local policemen. – GK)
Art3mis – Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
She is noble in deed and badass in action! – Frankie
Molly Millions – Neuromancer by William Gibson
I haven’t read it for maybe 30 years but I still really remember Molly Millions with her cybernetic claws and permanent mirror shades. – Olly
Beverly Marsh – IT
Brave, independent (to a degree), faces Horror at home and the horror of IT. Note: I am referencing IT remake Bev here. Not book Bev.- Tracy
Theo – The Haunting (1963)
Theo knows what’s going on with the house and Eleanor. She tries to gently (and sometimes not so gently) push Eleanor away from the house…and the doctor. She tries to warn Eleanor that she’s wasting time crushing on the doctor. She’s like that annoying friend that’s blunt but always right. She is also beatnik sexy. – GracieKat
Casey Lawson – Spirit Chasers series by Kat Mayor
I’ve never been that crazy about romances or paranormal romances. They’re just not for me. The Spirit Chaser series is one that I have really, really enjoyed. Part of that’s due to the character of Casey. She’s a very interesting (and often badass) protagonist whose sass makes me laugh. – GracieKat
Monkey – Kubo and the Two Strings
If you don’t understand why, you need to watch this movie!
Shannon Moss – The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch
Shannon is a time-traveling member of the Naval Criminal Investigative Services. She has to endure long periods out of her own time, long periods isolated, and she has to operate almost entirely on her own for investigations. She’s not perfect, but she is kick-ass. She’s also an amputee in a world where the author chose not to give her some near magical work-around. – Lilyn
Bonus Section!
While talking our favorite horror and sci-fi women we also got to talking about who we could possibly see ourselves as. The answers were interesting, as you’ll see.
‘Vasquez’ from Aliens – Olly
“Clear Rivers from Final Destination or Sidney from Scream, both a little backwards, both a little kick-ass” – Tracy
“I’m Julia from Hellraiser because I’d do anything for the love of my life. I find her darkly romantic, just like me.” – Frankie
So, what about you? Who would YOU play in a horror or sci-fi movie? Why them? Talk to us!
GracieKat was the first co-host of Sci-Fi & Scary, Lilyn’s partner-in-crime, and sub-head of the Coolthulhu Crew. She reviews horror books, movies, and games for the site. She also does a weekly Focus on the Frightful feature, and is the site list-maker. She is also in control of the Sci-Fi & Scary podcast which will relaunch soon.
Gracie is also a member of the Ladies of Horror Fiction crew.
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[…] awesome books! (A character from her book – Serengeti – featured on our list of “Sci-Fi & Horror Women We Want to be When We Grow Up” […]
Mina Harker does get underrated, doesn’t she? At least Van Helsing appreciates her brains.
Jody, the protagonist of Christopher Moore’s 3 volume “Bloodsucking Fiends” series, gets credit for handling her transition to the undead fairly well, handling what turn out to be the horrendous side effects, and, oh, enjoying a great deal of lively sex with her boyfriend.
And Myfanwy Thomas (especially the Mark II version) of Daniel O’Malley’s “The Rook” starts with the tremendous disadvantage of having had her memory wiped, and yet still manages to hold down her supernatural office job. This may be a satirical comment on office jobs everywhere, I admit.
Thank you for your picks! I’ll have to check those out. I know a lot of people loved the movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula but I hated what it did to Mina and Lucy’s characters.
I found a hilarious intro to one of the kindle versions of Dracula praising Lucy for her feminist approach to love because of the line “Why can’t a woman be married to as many men as she wants?” Granted it is somewhat ‘risque’ for the period and I’m all for powerful women but they took it so out of context it was ridiculous. She’s saying it because she had to break the hearts of three men in one day. I’d say that could make a person kind of bummed out.
Mina Harker, serial polygamist. Now there’s a turn Alan Moore missed when he did “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.” We can combine Dracula with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and set it in Mormon Utah in the days of Brigham Young.
I really need to read those. My only contact with them is the movie and it lost me at the Hulk Hyde
If you like pastiche, they can be quite good, especially the first. Some of the later ones, well, Moore, lost track of the “let’s keep it entertaining” part. I found his parody of 1950s beat novels unreadable.
Eh, I don’t usually. I’ve only liked a very few mash-up type books. And usually those are in short story form
Great list and I agree with you on these characters. Also, I love The Spirit Chasers series too. Need to share my reviews. That would be good for my Halloween feature!
I’d like to play Milla Jovovich as Alice from the Resident Evil movies. She’s sexy and totally kicks butt!
Excellent choice! I also loved her in The Fifth Element as well.
Apparently I have to watch Kubo and the Two Strings! I need to know what’s so awesome about Monkey!
I’m curious too, now! Looking it up it looks like a movie I would love