Thirteen of My Favorite Fictional Heroines

 Hello [and, Happy Mean Girls day, by the way]

So, I think the title of this post makes it pretty clear what I'm going to be doing today.

When I say 'heroines' what I mean is the main character in the story, so I probably won't include characters from ensemble casts [but maybe I'll throw in a few. Maybe not].

Does anyone else tend to like supporting characters better? Just me. 

This post however is a post to all the leading ladies that I love fiercely. I'll talk about why I love each of them, not just why I think they're a great character.

#1: Elizabeth Bennet, Pride and Prejudice

Ah, Lizzie. Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books, and Elizabeth is one of my favorite heroines. I love every single one of Jane Austen's heroines, but I think Lizzie's my favorite.

First of all, she's incredibly witty, and I love witty characters, so I think that's part of the reason why I like her.

She's also very intelligent, and I love and respect her for that. 

Also, she's just a fantastic character. She's independent, she's talented, she's smart, she's witty, and she's flawed. As said in the title, she can be extremely prejudiced and judgmental, and she's not perfect, which makes for a great character. But she learns and she grows from those mistakes, and becomes a better person.

She's just a really, really well-written character, and she's fantastic.

#2: Leslie Knope, Parks and Recreation

First of all, you should go watch Parks and Recreation right now, because it's the best. 

Anyway, Leslie is one of my very favorite characters of all time [well, duh, that's why she's on this list]. She's just....the absolute best. She's highly competent, she's hardworking, and she's a genuinely good person. She's sweet and she's friendly, but don't mess with her [and definitely don't insult JJ's Diner or Pawnee]. Part of the reason I love Leslie is because, again, she's a complex character, and she's just.....she always does the right thing, even if it takes awhile. Also, I love her ambition, and how she's so determined to make Pawnee a better place. Leslie is the best. 

#3: Nora O'Malley, The Girls I've Been

The first thing you should know about Nora is that she's a survivalist. She's been through a ton of horrible things, but she's pulled through. She's brilliant and loyal and resilient complex and kind of morally grey, which makes her a fascinating character.  I mean, the whole book is amazing, but Nora in particular is a great protagonist. I highly recommend this book, mostly because of Nora, but there are other factors as well.

#4: Buffy Summers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy is just....so complex and so interesting. First of all, I really like how she's a very girly girl, and also the Slayer [meaning she's been chosen to fight and kill vampires and other monsters]. She's very smart and strong, and that's never presented as at odds with her femininity. They're just both parts of who she is. She's also a really great example of the Chosen One trope done well. She struggles with balancing the rest of her life with her Slayer duties. for example. 

She has flaws, of course. I think the main one is that she tends to isolate people and can be a little judgmental towards other people. So she occasionally annoys me, but, at her core, she's a good person, and a great character, and I love her very much.

#5: Emma Woodhouse, Emma

Emma is probably the closest thing to an anti-hero that Jane Austen wrote. Not because she actually did anything evil, but she's kind of spoiled and selfish and a tad unlikable. In fact Jane Austen herself said, ''I'm going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like. I mean, I really like her, though. She grows so much as a character during the story, and her arc is phenomenal. Like, yes, she's obnoxious, but she gets better! And, even before she did, I thought she was an interesting character, though I can absolutely understand why she annoys some people.

#6: Blue Sargent, The Raven Boys

Ah, Blue. Blue is fascinating. She's creative, independent, and strong-willed, and I love her. I love her dynamic with the Raven Boys [who, btw, would definitely make my favorite male characters list]. She's just a really great character. In some ways she's quirky, but in a much more realistic way than most female characters written to be quirky. 

#7: Veronica Sawyer, Heathers

Also, her facial expressions are just the best.

Where to start with Veronica? Um, she's probably my favorite murderer protagonist.

 To sum things up, she's a popular girl who used to be a nerd, and is now regretting becoming popular because she finds her friends shallow and just plain mean. Then she starts dating a guy named J.D who decides that the solution to her problems is murder, and Veronica herself ends up accidentally killing the leader of the Heathers, the titular group of popular girls, Heather Chandler. 

So, as you can tell, she's kind of a terrible person, and she's such a complex character. She's smart, she's snarky, and she's cynical, which makes her an interesting narrator. She's a literal murderer, but yet she's kind of sympathetic. She has empathy, and she does regret her missteps, and she has a huge character arc. And I just like her [part of that is probably due to the way Winona Ryder played the character. She has a remarkable knack for humanizing the characters she plays, and making them relatable]. 

#8: Jo March, Little Women

I am firmly of the belief that everyone who has read or watched Little Women has a favorite March sister, even if you like all of them. And my favorite is Jo [yes, yes, I'm an incredibly basic person, and I no longer care]. I think part of what I like about her is that she's so determined. Back in her time, it was incredibly hard to write a book and have it be published, but she still did it. And that's just how she is with everything. She's kind of intense and headstrong, and, while she may be brutally honest most of the time, she can be very sweet and obviously cares a lot about her friends and family. She's just an interesting character, but she's also one of those characters who I'd just love to be friends with.

#9: Anne Shirley, Anne of Green Gables

Anne has been a favorite of mine since I first read Anne of Green Gables [so, when I was maybe about eight or nine?]. She was one of the first characters that I strongly related to. Like her, I was a sensitive, imaginative, dramatic child [I was talkative, but not as much as she was. Most of the time, I needed time to recharge and needed time on my own, but when I wanted to talk, I could talk both your ears off]. Maybe it's a bit shallow to like a character because you relate to them [or maybe not. Idk. Does anybody else do this?], but I don't like her just because I can relate to her. I think she's a marvelously written character. She feels almost like she could just walk right off the page. 

#10: Wanda Maximoff, The Marvel Cinematic Universe

You bet I was sososososososososo excited when WandaVision came out.

I've liked Wanda since she first showed up in Age of Ultron [yup, back when Pietro was still around and she was a pseudo-villain]. I'm not totally sure why I like her, but I do. I think part of it is that I feel sorry for her [I mean, seriously, Marvel. She's been through enough]. And she's just kind of.....quiet and fragile-seeming, but is absolutely not someone you want to mess with, which is an archetype that I'm quite fond of [is it an archetype? The fragile, weak-seeming character who actually turns out to be stronger than you'd think]. And then WandaVision happened, and now I love her even more.

#11: Daisy 'Skye' Johnson, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D

Hey, look, it's another Marvel woman. I am also.....really stretching the usage of 'heroine' here since AoS is an ensemble show, and Phil Coulson is the main character, but I like Daisy, and this is my blog, so I can do what I want]. Daisy is another one of those characters who I've loved since the moment she appeared onscreen [actually, that's happened with all of the women on this list. Practically as soon as they showed up I was like, ''Her. I like her.'']. First of all, in her early appearances, she's just fun, snarky and dorky, which is always a nice combination, and then she goes through some serious character development [not that I didn't like her before, because I did], There's a lot I like about her, and I also hugely respect how she listens to what she believes is right, even when everyone else is against her. 

#12: Spencer Hastings, Pretty Little Liars

Look at my child! She's so happy!

I have issues with Pretty Little Liars. I don't think it's a bad show, per se, but it's not a great show either. However, I absolutely love Spencer. She's, by far, my favorite of the liars [though I do quite like Hanna]. She just has this very dry sense of humor, with a very deadpan delivery, and I love that. I have watched countless videos of Spencer's best moments [I stand by my opinion that ''Confucius said stop being such a drama queen'' is her best one[I also just like her personality and the role she plays in the group. She's the super-smart, perfectionist, uptight overachiever in the group, and, while those characters can annoy me, I ended up really liking Spencer. I think part of that is because, Troian Bellisario [the actress who plays Spencer] is absolutely amazing. 

#13: Elle Woods, Legally Blonde

Legally Blonde is such a fun and goofy movie, and I really like Elle as a heroine.

Much like Buffy, Elle is a very girly girl, and she's also much smarter and stronger than you'd think. Unlike Buffy, however, Elle's monsters that she has to fight are a lot of sexism, and mean law school students [mostly her jerk ex-boyfriend Warner [and, yes, you are supposed to say his name with disgust]. She's sweet and she's fun, and a little bit quirky, as well as being incredibly intelligent and hard-working. Also, her clothes were just the best. Like, look at that hat. 

So, these are a few of my favorite heroines. I'm sure there's more that I've forgotten about, but these are a few that jump out at me right away. Who are some of yours?