Watch the follow-up, this time about the men's side of things: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/o82Koph036zKqqc.html

How can you talked about mothers but not bring up Elastigirl from Incredibles?! Why does nobody ever talk about her? She's easily the best female character in the last 17 years.

OG Mulan is another prime example of a strong female character that is incredibly well written.

You left out Eowyn from Lord of the Rings. She is a top tier hero. She was the last line of defense for the women and children in Helm's Deep. When the riders of Rohan spurned Merry she gave him faith in himself. When the Witch King was unstoppable enemy on the Fields of Pelenor, she beat him. She did it not because she was faster or stronger. The Witch King beat her down physically. She beat him because she put herself between the enemy and her family and she inspired and nurtured the childlike faith of Merry. The Witch King underestimated what the nurturing soul could do and thus was felled by Merry and Eowyn.

I think one problem with the motherhood debate is what makes then a younger female character strong? Female Characters like Lyra Belacqua ( The golden compass) who are not adults still show feminine traits like compassion (for her best friend and the reason why she starts her journey) , but also strength ( not physical but through her intelligence) and she is a great example of someone who asks for help from others ( like Lee Scoresby). She still inspires others ( also men like Lee) with her kindness and her strong will but there is (obviously) no romantic reason involved. Or like most of the young female protagonists from ´Studio Ghibli are great examples of strength and still embracing feminine traits and amazing character developments.

I agree heartily that kindness and empathy are among the strongest character traits out there, in fiction and in real life. But as a childfree woman I wince a bit at any implication that femininity can't exist without motherhood. A woman can be kind and empathetic without being, or wanting to be, a mother.

Here are my candidates for at least a couple of those categories: 1) The mom in the first original "Poltergeist" movie. Not only did she brave unknown dangers, facing who-knew-what when she passed through the bilocation to rescue her daughter, but she later braved the powerful demonic forces that threw her around the room like a rag-doll & knocked her clear down the hallway, and yet kept coming back again & again to rescue _both_ her children, literally facing down a huge, scary demon-creature for good measure! To me, that character definitely takes top honors in the "strong grizzly-mom" category; 2) In the 'strong supportive friend" category I would nominate "Astrid" from the "How To Train Your Dragon" movies & TV series. And _nobody_ but _nobody_ could ever describe her as a 'damsel in distress" or anything other than "strong," yet she was strong but _without_ being an intolerable pain-in-the-ass ballbuster. Hell, in many ways she was the best fighter of the bunch. But she was also supportive, encouraging and unceasingly-loyal to Hiccup, watching his back & giving him valuable feedback & encouragement when he needed to hear it.

More strong female characters who may have not been mothers but shown maternal instincts; Katniss Everdeen and Wonder Woman (The movement with the baby gets me every time). I would even throw in underrated Rita Vrataski for helping to save humanity.

I love that you chose Mrs. Brisby and 100% agree. I’m always prone to say that Lt. Ripley is the strongest, for the same reasons you mentioned. But, Mrs. Brisby really is easily one of the strongest female characters ever written, because she’s all heart and she’ll stop at nothing to ensure her children are safe, because of her devoted unconditional love for them. Mrs. Brisby reminds me so much of my own mother 🥲❤️

Don’t forget Joyce Byers. Definitely one of the greatest female characters of all time, and a persevering mother regardless of the danger she faces.

Wow. The last part was unexpected. I didn't even expect to cry because of how touching it is. We don't see characters like her anymore.

You know it’s bad when Samus Aran in the newest Metroid game is the best woman character in all of 2021 and she only ever talks once or twice in that entire game. Heck, Samus in the Metroid series in general is usually depicted well as far as female characters go (powerful, resourceful, but also caring). Other M even tried to tackle Samus’s sense of motherhood and feelings of inadequacy when a baby Metroid alien she bonded with sacrificed itself to protect her in the events of Super Metroid (unfortunately it did a very poor job at it).

You know you've fucked up big time on writing a female character when a mouse of all creatures manages to be a better character than the main character of a trilogy that continues what many believe to be one of the best movie trilogies of all time.

Do not forget the very short yet impactful role the mother ‘Longneck’ from Land Before Time played with her son Little Foot. She cared and nurtured him teaching her child how to get to the Great Valley. Then she lays her life down protecting her baby from the Long Teeth! That's true mommy power!!! Damn movie breaks me every time I watch it.

I remember arguing with a person about this. She called me a sexist pig who only hated female leads. Sorry but The original Mulans cast was absolute amazing, especially mulan. Beatrix from Kill Bill fucking slams, no “I’m a female and can do what ever a man cans” no, she just kills those who wronged her. Brienne from GOT, at least in the first season, never mentions of being able to do what a man does except when a man questions her, she gets the job done, and does it right. Here’s my favorite, elsti- I’m kidding. *ELLEN RIPLEY FROM ALIENS* *HOLY SHIIIITTTTT* The most bad ass character in a sci fi movie, I mean you can’t get better than the ripley and you’ll never change my mind, just watch the movie and you’ll see why I should even have to explain.

Perfect explanation of the whole situation and the problems with modern media and entertainment! You hit the nail on the head many times over! Glad to see a clear and concise video on the topic! 😁👍

Galadriel but not from ROP. She was so elegant in the trilogy and books and at the same time you knew she was fully capable of kicking ass if she wanted to.

Ima huge fan of the anime claymore, they come across as very convincing females that are also stoic warriors but what motivates the main characters are human connections in the end

Strong female characters that aren‘t mothers and are not nurturing: - Azula - Toph - Effie - Beth Harmon - Komi from Komi can‘t communicate (is instead being nurtured by her male love interest and social environment) - Tigress - Amy Dunne from Gone Girl (- Eun Chan from Coffee Prince (nurtures in an almost masculine way, main provider of her family after her father‘s untimely death)) - Annalies Keating - Mae and George from Feel Good - Fleabag from Fleabag - Hannah Waddingham from Ted Lasso - Poppy, Ola and Summer from Surviving Summer - Oh Yun-seo from Touch your heart - Eleven and Nancy from Stranger Things You missed a lot buddy. I believe in your feminist journey. Yes, motherhood can be a source of strength and happiness, but that‘s not always the case for every woman. Not every woman is nurturing, but that doesn‘t make her a monster. Prioritising yourself is a choice everyone is allowed to make. There were good things in that video. Might I recommend "Breasts and Eggs“ by Mieko Kawakami, touches upon motherhood in a very feminist way. Also, quick note: There are different sub-sections of feminism. So, you should at least change your video description to liberal feminist influences.

I don't understand how Hollywood has such a hard time writing these characters it's really not hard whatsoever, they are just stuck in their own little bubble outside reality having stupid unwritten rules for female characters that just makes them more uninteresting if anything I guess I have to show Hollywood how to do it right.

Here’s my take as a female -- Being a mother doesn’t necessarily make a great film character because there are plenty of terrible mothers in real life, but it gives a purpose to the story. Ripley in Aliens, for example, is not a mother, but she is protective and empathetic towards a child so that makes her character interesting and relatable. She can be warm and kind, but at the same time, Ripley is also strong with a drive to survive and fight monsters. On the other hand, Captain Marvel is a wooden character and just plain cold.

*Lower tier* I think you're spot on regarding the ones in here. The ambition for these characters are to represent feminism. The goals are "confident", "strong", and "independent". But these goals are taken at such face value by the writers that the characters circle into displaying masculine traits, to the point of toxicity at that. Captain Marvel's sense of confidence is to boast her brute force. Even her movie's tagline invites contest. Her power in question is so massive, it negates much of the MCU's canon. In effect, she ends up not only upstaging the male characters, but also the female characters. The ambition of Nomi from 'No Time To Die' is to show that women can exist in Bond's world to compete with him and not merely be his romantic/sexual interests. Ironically, when every other characters exist to serve the story, she sticks out as irrelevant and her nature makes her a nuisance. More ironically, one character in the same movie had that ambition fulfilled. Paloma never tried to upstage Bond, but she's able to keep up with him and not at all an interest to Bond. Further ironically, a greater role for this fan-favorite character was denied by the filmmakers' preference for Nomi. And unlike Nomi, Paloma would've had a motivation to accompany Bond for his further quest --- She'd want to avenge her fallen boss, Felix. *Mid tier* I'm in the middle with this. I think there are characters that are underlooked simply because they are damsel-in-distress. But at the same time, I also think this trope, played straightly, is outdated and gave too many excuses in lesser media for women to be mere trophies for the male heroes. An example of this trope inverted is in 'The Girl With the Dargon Tattoo' where our male protagonist, Mikael, is the damsel and Lisbeth Salander, the female protagonist, is the savior. *Upper tier* This part, I disagree. To say that strong female characters must be coded as mothers is a narrow mindset based on gender stereotype. And it's limiting to tell a story. What if the female character is not a mother by choice? What if she's too young? *My opinion* I think your perception on strong female characters is too tied to the male characters. Yes, there could be great female characters that support the male, but you have to acknowledge that this could deny them agency. Yes, strong women could rely on others, but it doesn't have to be on a man. There's nothing wrong that instead of being a mother to a great leader during a post-apocalyptic event, such as an invasion of killer robots, she'd be the leader (I know we got a movie that addressed this, but it's awful so it doesn't count). I think you could make a much stronger point without emphasizing the male characters. Another thing is I wished you'd use other example for the upper tier characters, besides Mrs. Brisby. Beatrix Kiddo, Sarah Connor, and Ellen Ripley (who wasn't originally written as a female) are always the go-to examples for these sorts of discussion that they're becoming clichés. It pushes a notion that they are exceptions. My example would be Ilsa Faust from Chris McQuarrie's 'Mission: Impossible' movies. I don't think she necessarily fits into your criterias of ideal strong female character, but she doesn't fall into the traits of lower tier either. Frankly, if there's anyone to carry the baton when they retire Ethan Hunt, she'd the best candidate. And the only problem would be that she's not Tom Cruise. But that's not woman versus man matter, it's Tom Cruise versus everyone else.

This is why women and men in anime and manga are more beloved than anything Hollywood could muster and people wonder why many of the modern women are completely forgettable

either they make her an overpowered flawless mary sue just to shove her down people's throats or they make her a helpless and dumbed down damsel in distress

This is why ATLA is God-tier on female characters. They were not boys in female bodies. They were girls of different personalities, flaws and strengths (literally and figuratively). Even the tomboy Toph was still feminine when she enjoyed her day out doing girlie things with Katara in The Tales of Ba Sing Se. And thanks to the existence of bending, it wasn't unbelievable to have girls take down grown men (ex. Toph vs the earth wrestlers). Even nonbenders like Ty Lee and Mai were capable fighters without having to be as physically strong as men (Mai used her blades and Ty Lee used Chi block). One scene that stuck out to me was when Sokka apologized to Suki for not seeing her as a warrior, but she reminds him she's both a warrior and girl. She didn't feel ashamed of her gender! *She didn't see it as a weakness. I'm surprised there's not more videos on ATLA in regards to female characters.

Vi is also a strong female character. She loves her sister Powder. Mulan 1998 loves her father and risks her life for him.

When I think of strong female characters, I think of a type of compelling characterization (which actually isn't based on gender), but then the character embodying qualities in the way their gender would ALSO coherently-- whether they are negative or positive. I want to see strong female villains too! I agree w you about Hollywood trying to remove elements of traditional femininity from women nowadays and doing a poor job. I feel like complex female characters who ARE well-executed but have what society views as more "masculine traits" are often liked less whether they are well-written or not. Especially if they are anti-heroes or villains. (Like, Tony Stark is arrogant at first but somehow still charming and we root for him despite this. I doubt people would do the same for a woman who starts out arrogant even if she has a character arc. A similar thing happens of we see a man who is cowardly or too overly sensitive.) I think we inherently gender certain character traits and are more accepting of them in one gender over the other but also, it doesn't mean a character is poorly written, so we also have to include societal values in the assessment.

Wow! I was actually clapping and cheering when I saw Mrs. Brisby in your video. The movie in general is in my opinion pretty underrated but her a s a character always inspired me. The compassion she had for not only her kids but everyone and also the will to struggle through all these hardships was truly amazing. I recognized that as a kid and she has been be one of my favourite characters in movie history to this day.

Having no weakness has no character

Sorry, I am late. But I have to say, that you are right except one point: it is not motherhood, that makes a strong female character. Take Ripley in the first film. Take Arwen and Eowyn, take Mula in Resident Evil, take Samantha in SATC, take Mulan (the original) or Arielle or Belle. They there all fighters but no mothers. Love can be felt for a lot of reason, self love, love for other relatives, love for a partner or a pet. So no, it is not motherhood that makes a strong female, it is love and trust on herself.

I love how you highlighted The Secret of Nimh. I love that film.

I think Tony Stark is a great example of what makes a character „strong“. He starts off by predominately being a jerk. He grows as a person through every event that happens. He has set-backs, he develops PTSD which he has to fight. He gets blinded by emotions at times. But eventually, it’s him overcoming his flaws, weaknesses and him learning, which not just saves the day, but saves the universe. They took the risk of making him more difficult to like by showcasing his flaws and his weaknesses. But due to the great character development, they created one of the most beloved MCU characters. So please, don’t try too hard to make a character likeable. Make them real. Take a risk, give them flaws and weaknesses, give them set-backs. And then, let them overcome it.

Peggy Carter is a great example of a strong female character i think. You need to watch agent carter first tho to know her more deeply.

Natasha Romanov, Ellen Ripley, Kara Thrace, Buffy Summers, Sarah Connor, Dana Scully, Clarice Starling, Hermione Grainger, Eleven, Zoe Washburne, Rita Vratawski, Laura Roslin, AEthelflaed Lady of Mercia, Beatrix Kiddo, Harley Quinn, Katniss Everdeen, Leeloo, Stiorra, Selene, Enola Holmes, Wanda Maximoff, Lady Olenna, Beth Harmon, Abbess Hild, Princess Leia, Xena, Lagertha Lothbrok, Alice, Leslie Knope, Olivia Dunham, Lana Kane, Olivia Benson, Brienne of Tarth, Brida, Jessica Jones, Mulan, Moana, etc, etc...

In my group's D&D campaign I play a half elf cleric princess named Zelda Alagondar. This character is extremely feminine but capable in her own right. What she lacks in strength and dexterity she makes up for in her charisma and intelligence. While most of the party are fighters or rouges, Zelda is the strongest spellcaster in the party. What makes my character strong is that she is a subversion of the damsel in distress trope. While she often needs other members of the party to save her, she uses her skills to try and negotiate or break free. When the party encounters the BBEG (big bad evil guy or villain), Zelda is the main conversationalist and takes center stage in trying to psychologically mess with the villain. She is wise enough to know when she needs help and when she can use her skills. One major flaw she has is her sense of duty to her kingdom. As the heir to the powerful kingdom of Neverwinter on the Sword Coast, Zelda is willing to do anything to protect her people even at her own expense. This makes her reckless at times and highly naïve, even more so because she is young. Towards the beginning of the campaign the BBEG offered the party a chance to stay at his castle if the party would kill this one individual for him. Against her better judgement she was willing to do this task if it meant getting on good terms with the BBEG. The other party members had to stop her. Likewise, her recklessness often gets her into danger and her naivety often puts her in compromising situations. In one of our most recent sessions in the campaign, Zelda got so angry at the BBEG for what he did, that she was ready to storm up to his castle ALONE and confront him herself. One of the vampires in the party had to physically restrain her until she calmed down.

Mrs. Jonathan Brisby! Big Ups! Don Bluth!

Claudette Colbert's character in "Three Came Home" (1950). From IMDb: "The true story of Agnes Newton Keith's imprisonment in several Japanese prisoner-of-war camps from 1941 to the end of WWII. Separated from her husband and with a young son to care for she has many difficulties to face". The strength she has to summon to protect her child in the most unimaginably evil circumstances is one of the most amazing demonstrations of courage I have ever seen in movies. When I think of strong female characters, Agnes is on that list.

So honestly this just makes me appreciate all the women in each category. If we had a balanced representation of each, we’d have triple the amount of women to appreciate because women come in all types. Yes captain marvel isn’t everyone’s favorite but next to Wanda, Natasha, Okoye, etc, it feels more real to have a wide range of personalities

An excellent breakdown, one I couldn't agree more with. As a writer myself, I also think that being a supportive mother is the strongest attribute of a lead female character. One who would do anything to protect her children.

I agree that female characters should be complex just like male characters which they all go through accomplishments & struggles in their life. Also they should portray them to be both caring and tough period.

Excellent essay. I am writing a serial screenplay for my own entertainment with two strong female MCs. I think I will rework large parts of the plot/backstory in light of your overall ideas. Gave me a lot to think about. Not even something specific, but a different way of looking at my characters.

My favorite female characters not featured in this video: -Eowyn, my shield-maiden of Rohan -Arwen Undomiel -Galadriel -Anne from Persuasion -Devi from The King Killer Chronicle trilogy -Molly Bloom from Molly's Game -Mulan (from the anímate movie) -Ilsa Faust from the Mission Impossible saga -Sally from a Nightmere Before Christmas -Astrid from How to Train Your Dragon Trilogy -April from Defently, Maybe -Erza Scarlett from Fairy Tail -Both Princess and Erika from Barbie The Princess and the Pupper -Clara from Barbie in The Nutcracker -Claire Redfield and Jill Valentine from RE games -Cinderella from the live action movie And there are many more, but these ones all I could think about. So yeah, lots of great female characters that have nothing to do with the feminist crap these days see. BTW, I am so happy Evelyn from the Mummy was featured.

I love the Secret of Nimh. Ive watched it countless times as a kid. I dont know why I enjoyed it so much but hearing you point it out, it might be because of Mrs. Brisbys strength. Im not a woman but I still admired her character and the challenges she overcame for the sake of her kids. She showed true courage by voluntarily facing her fears, driven by her determination to press on despite being frail and faced with overwhelming odds. I guess, even if i didnt know it at the time, I appreciated that motherly instinct to protect her young despite immense danger.

OK with the uppes tier you just made me cry you sneaky fox! Upper tier, too: Nancy Thompson (A Nightmare on Elm Street). Mulan from the animated movie. Princess Leia. Middle tier: Kitty Softpaws (Puss in Boots 2 the Last Wish)

As I was watching this, I agreed with MOST of what you said, respectfully disagreed with a small portion of what you said: THEN...THE FINALLY!! WOW! I always thought Mrs. Brisby was an AMAZING character, but I didn't hold her up as high as you did here. But I'm thinking she deserves more respect 🤗 Love that movie, Love Mrs. Brisby.

Men protects woman. Woman protects child. Now we need more strong child characters :P What makes a child character strong? Child protects younger sibling?

Shoutout to Eowyn from Lord of the Rings. Definitely my favorite female movie character. She wasn't perfect. She can't cook stew well enough, but she has compassion, gives motivation, hope, able to be a warrior when in need, does not make excuses for being a female, has ginormous amount of bravery and perseverance, and lastly, does not show off her powers or authority to dominate.

In the beginning of the "Male Support Characters" section, you put in a lot of clips from The Mummy. I would respectfully completely disagree with putting Evie anywhere in that category. Evie is the protagonist of that movie, with everything happening from her perspective. Not only that, she makes EVERYTHING in the movies happen. She is the one who realizes what her brother's trinket is, and how to open it. She decides to try to get to Hamunaptra and (with some impressive quick thinking) saves O'Connell's life in order to do so. She gets him to agree to take her there. She figures out how to get to the sarcophagus ahead of the Americans. She steals the book of the dead, figures out how to open it, and knows how to read it (awakening the mummy). She gets O'Connell to stand and fight when he wants to run. She figures out the inscriptions that were misunderstood by the Bembridge Scholars. Yes, she had to be saved when she was kidnapped as sacrifice. But immediately after being saved, she saves O'Connell's life with her quick thinking, extensive knowledge, and intelligence when he's about to be killed by Imohtep. They both save each other, over and over again. O'Connell with bravery and physicality, Evie with bravery and intelligence. Both are shining examples of their respective genders, and in NO way is Evie simply a "male support character". Great video!!

People need to realise that when youre writing a MAIN female character, it won't work of you push her to the background and turn her into just the thing that inspires the male.

My favorite strong female character is Salander in the book THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. 90 pounds, soaking wet; tragic back story (which includes physical, sexual, & psychological abuse); introverted; bullied; incorrectly considered mentally incompetent; YET brilliant, courageous, defender of the weak. As is usually the case, her character is better developed in the book than in the movies (although both the Swedish & American movies are good).

It's not even that they write women to be more like men, they write them to be the worst aspects of men. Men can be loving and caring and nurturing too we just do it different.

I found this video very refreshing. Instead of the uninformed, knee jerk screeching of the word "woke" it actually gets into the core of the problem without resorting to the simple minded reactionary response of a Ron DeSantis or some other moron. It is by far one of the closest I've seen in outlining the problem and defining actual solutions to it. I've got some additional thoughts on the matter: This video puts at the top of its hierarchy of strong female characters the mother protecting their child. While this is certainly a strong idea it ignores the fact that some women either can't have children or, for perfectly legitimate reasons specific to their own life, don't want children. I would suggest instead the idea of the mother protecting her family. The mother may not be an actual mother but may simply take up a maternal role in the relationship being shown and the family may not be actual blood relations but could be simply those near and dear to her. Another thing I saw in this video were examples of strong female characters having male mentors. To make this one really stick I would suggest that there also be stories where the strong male character has a female mentor - just so things aren't one sided. I applaud this video and hope that more rational voices speak out on this issue and begin to move our movies into a space where audiences can appreciate and enjoy them without extremists ruining the experience for them - and I'm talking about extremists on both sides of this: the radicals pushing the "strong" female character without any flaws and the right wing extremists wanting to put women into "traditional" roles where they are subservient and without agency.

The lead character in one of my screenplays is a woman whose prior physical abuse from her ex prevents her from having children, a major void in her life. (The closest she can come to motherhood is doting on her 10-year-old nephew.) When she accidentally develops a superpower of sorts - but one that leads her to doubt whether she can ever truly be loved - she falls for the man who shielded and supported her following her bizarre change. Armed with a power she gradually accepts, she begins to perceive him as both a lover and her surrogate child, bringing out her latent maternal qualities. (This is not meant to be Oedipal, BTW!) She comes to like protecting others, making her an earth mother of sorts, and by story's end she sacrifices her power to save the man she loves and becomes a beloved figure in her community, a major advance for a character who at one point feared the world would view her as a freak. (While the story is a romantic comedy, the principal characters have depth.)

Good video, I don't completely agree that to be a strong female chracter you have to be a mother but I ultimately agree that raising and protecting children is the highest form of femininity and I never really thought about that angle of what makes characters like Ripley and Connor so great. I also agree with you that the damsel in distress is underrated. There's nothing wrong with relying on others, doing so doesn't make you weak. In fact accepting your weaknesses and figuring out how you can work with others to help eachother are two of the most important lessons you can learn. Finally I think you nailed a key difference between the likable "strong female characters" and the unlikable ones. The ones we like never seek to replace or belittle men.

Mattie Ross in TRUE GRIT (1969) Any character played by Mae West ALICE IN WONDERLAND Clarice in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)

This is a great essay that deserves far more views.

I also nominate Julie Andrews as Maria in Sound of Music 🎶

Spirits away is also a great movie with a strong female character

One of the greatest female characters is sixteen-year-old Sarah from Labirynth. Similar story to Mrs Brisby's and she still triumphs despite the odds and being sometimes weak and in need of help. But that was 1986. Now it is time for "modern audiences", whatever that means. And apparently women cannot be weak when catering to those.

Totally agree, great video! What a surprise ending. I saw that movie but she seemed so fearful, almost cowardly, fragile and weak in body and mind. Regarding Ripley, I loved Alien 1 and 2... but in my opinion there is no Alien 3. They destroyed everything of the 2 to throw Ripley into a hellish prison. Why couldn't they give Ripley that Alien 2 ending and let her have her rest for the rest of her life? At best they could have brought her back as a consultant remotely, or referenced her from files where she left everything she knew about aliens. What do you think of the protagonist of the movie G.I.Jane? I think she enters the Upper tier because I remember that at various times you see her weaknesses and she almost gives up, you see that she really has to work hard and fight to achieve what she achieves in the end.

I want to see some kind of poll or data on what kind of characters women prefer. In the comment section of a similar video someone basically told women dont like characters with weaknesses and much prefer mary sues. I find it interesting because the idea of the girl that is held back by society has been a staple for female protagonist for a long time. Its not uncommon to have all her rivals be objectively bad people that society praises for being born "better" which leads to another problem. Female targeted stories traditionally heavily estol the virtues of birth right, that you are born great or you are not, and no amount work or effort can bridge the gap and usually end with the love interest taking a moral stand, making significant sacrifice, and lowering their station in life and standard of living to be with the protagonist. I believe the new wave of female targeted protagonists showing up in action movies or other previously male targeted media is where problems arise. If you look at any romance or drama you find these kinds mary sues all over the place where their only problem is that the world either doesn't know they exist yet or wont acknowledge them because of prejudice or sabotage by an antagonist and they are beloved characters. I think women prefer that type of character but I would love to see some data on it.

Characters like Clarice Starling (Silence of the Lambs) and Rita Vertazki (The Edge of Tomorrow), though they have no children, you always feel that they could die at any moment, not in a “plot armor “ kind of way, but in that they don’t pretend to be strong and we fear for their safety yet they persevere to get the job done.

Erza Scarlett=Fairy Tail Bisca Connell=Fairy Tail Juvia Lockser=Fairy Tail Ripley=Alien (1979) Wonder Woman (2017) Sango the Demon Slayer=Inuyasha The Bride= Kill Bill Sarah Conor= Terminator(1984) and Terminator 2 (1991) Katnis Everdeen=Hunger Games San= Princess Mononoke (1997) Hermione Granger=Harry Potter Nobura=Jujutsu Kaisen Selena Kyle AKA Catwoman= DC Comics Black Canary= DC Comics Arya Stark= Game of Thrones Daenerys Targaryen= Game of Thrones Miss Honey= Matilda Amy Rose=Sonic Rukia Kuchiki=Bleach Yoruichi Shihoin=Bleach Usagi Tsukino=Sailor Moon Ami Mizuno=Sailor Moon Rei Hino=Sailor Moon Makoto Kino=Sailor Moon Minako Aino=Sailor Moon Eowyn= Lord of the Rings Toph=Avatar the Last Airbender Katara=Avatar the Last Airbender Hana= Wolf Children Tsunade=Naruto Astrid=How to Train Your Dragon Eva=Hell on Wheels Bell=Beauty and the Beast (1991) Master Tigress= Kung Fu Panda Mulan (1998) Kim Possible (2002-2007) Diane Foxington=The Bad Guys (2022) Black Widow= Marvel Ochako Uraraka= My Hero Academia Momo Yayorozu= My Hero Academia Jiro Kyoka= My Hero Academia Tsuyu Asui= My Hero Academia Ais Wallenstein= Danmachi=Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon Ryuu Lion= Danmachi=Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon Mikoto Yamato= Danmachi=Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon Sypha Belnades=Castlevania Mrs. Brisby= The Secret of Nimh Elastagirl=Incredibles (2004) I could list more, But these are examples of great strong female characters.

They’re DEFINITELY NOT gonna be found in Hollywood, that’s for sure.

That was an interesting video but I wish you chose different kind of women for the "upper tier characters" and not only mothers.

One thing that baffles me are the feminist lesbian characters that bash men for being toxic and then immediately act just like a toxic man, my brain can’t comprehend it.

Joyce Byers (née Maldonado), portrayed by Winona Ryder in Stranger Things. I like her character as a strong women in the series. "Maybe I am a mess, maybe I’m crazy, maybe I’m out of my mind! But, God help me, I will keep these lights up until the day I die, if I think there’s a chance that Will's still out there!" in the first season. Actually this character made me continue watching the series!

To be fair, Snow White or Aurora are the protagonists of their respective stories, no support to the hero (the princes have hardly any character to speak of) and Anya Amasova from The Spy Who Loved Me is easily one of the most amazing women in movies. She has a backstory, she's an excellent and resourceful spy and she is very much on par with James Bond.

I loved Gena Davis in the Long Kiss Goodnight.

Evelyn from Everything Everywhere All At Once is someone I would consider high tier. While she does complain about her husband, the context is there. It was a beautifully written movie.

I know the topic here is how a lot of the female characters are negatively affected by overusage of masculine traits, but I strongly disagree that you can't have a well written masculine woman, and should stick to feminine only traits. And I also find it weird that love and care are considered more feminine traits, when ideally every good guy hero should have those traits to at least some extent.

I'm a virgin so the mothers are completely unrelatable to me. I need a strong female character who fights with enemies that are against her traditional values. Just like I do. There are so many people that hate me because I would rather die than disgrace myself with any licentiousness. They want me to become sexually liberated, just like the most of modern women. But I stay resistant and unbreakable. You see, honor is the most important value in my life. And my chastity is a great part of it. People of both sexes don't understand me. They condemn me. They mock me. But I still don't care about their opinion. My life is all about honor. It makes me a strong woman - I know about it very well. So it's sad that there are NO fictional characters similar to me. We, the brave virgins, don't have ANY representation in pop culture. I would like to change it but there's nothing I can do. I'm the most lonely person in the world. But at the same time I'm a warrior who wants to continue her journey. Best wishes from Poland! Natalia (31 years old)

I disagree with a great female character having to be a mom. What about child female characters? Imo the greatest characters are the most complex. Lots of great male characters aren’t fathers.

Thank you for this. I hate how “modern writers” think they are being progressive when writing women as completely autonomous power-houses, who are never in doubt, never feel insecure and certainly never ever need to ask for help. No woman I know can identify with these characters, and again, male characters come out on top, as they usually have something interesting going on as complex characters who go through an actual development. For example, in the new Star Wars, I found Rey to be the least interesting character of all, she just goes from great to perfect.

MRS BRISBY!!! Oh my god you pulled at my male heartstrings lol! Yes, yes yes! A true strong female and I always thought that as a kid. I was so invested in her winning!

Very good video! Thank you!

Erin Gruwell is also a strong female character. She reminds me of my formal math teacher. Very kind paticent and talented. I would not pass without her.

Good analysis mate. 👍

10:35 Isn't that what Iroh told Toph?

Ms. Bianca from The Rescuers also!

Old video, I know, but I'd like to know your opinion on Sadie Adler from RDR2. For me, she is probably my #1 female character in all of gaming, naturally followed by Lara Croft.

The female character I like is Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games Franchise because she is adventurous, she is compassionate, she is courageous, she makes mistakes like everyone else, she is persistent, and she is a tough survivor. A lot of female audiences and male audiences including me can relate to Katniss for the accomplishments & struggles she went through.

My favourite female lead is Jessica Tandy in 'Driving Miss Daisy'. Her and Morgan Freeman were excellent 💖

I'd say Elizabeth is more than a Damsel in distress. She has her own agenda, as every character in the first three movies. Will is her Prince in distress in some of them xD

I would add the character Nansica in “The Wioman King” to the top tier.

I'm curious since Ariel from The Little Mermaid is one of my all time favorite characters. But, she's been looked down upon as a weak and helpless damsel in distress (like Princess Peach, Snow White, Mary Jane Watson, or Bella Swan). Although she fought a shark and saved Flounder in the end, destroyed Ursula's eels in the climax, causing Ursula to grow in gigantic size and allow Prince Eric to deliver the final blow, and saved Prince Eric 2 times, people are claiming it's not good enough and continue to dismiss her as weak and helpless damsel because Ariel had to be saved in the finale. You got any comments?

Istg i started this vedio to NOT be one thing talk about "how women are not women enough in movies". Bravo you did it and. I don't wanna be a mother ,i just want basic empathy or emotions in myself I don't have to explain WHYs all the time.

Very good... Interesting that it's almost been a year and you are at just over 4000 views. KZfaq isn't pushing your content. Do you have an idea why? I can't really figure it out.

This was beautiful! You got yourself a sub!!

Great Video, Liked and Subscribed :)

7:47 I actually heavily disagree. There can be good Male, AND Female characters that can stand on their own most of the time, or be with someone of their own gender. Good characters have something or someone good to fight for.

The Greeks already beat you to it. Duh. Athena, artemis, hestia, Hecate, even aphrodite are strong goddesses but not irritating or annoying. They are not trying hard to be strong. They are strong. They don't pretend to be strong. No cheesy pathetic lines of "feminine power." They just are powerful.

I honestly hate it when some not all, but some movies and some TV shows portray men as creeps & women as bootlickers. I also hate it when some not all, but some movies and some TV shows portray men as simps & women as spoiled. I myself want movies and TV shows to portray men as protectors & women as helpers which shows them working together as warriors instead of hating each other period.

Wait, why is Lorraine from Atomic Blonde in the thumbnail? She’s honestly a grounded strong female character

Oh snap, you went with Mrs. Brisby! She's Frodo level awesome. Proof the smallest can be the greatest. Well done!

I feel the bigger or over arching problem is the ratio of male to female characters present in media . I will take MCU as an example as it pretty much reflection of female representation in media. Considering just Infinity saga, we hv only 4 main female character(Wanda, Black Widow, Gamora, Carol) whereas you hv 12 main male characters (5 male Avengers, Vision, BP, SM, Starlord, Groot, Rocket and Nick Fury) . So 4: 12 ,that's 3 times more. This imbalance creates an unforseen problem. Since there are plenty of male characters even if some of them r poorly written or only there to hv 1 role, fans don't mind them as male character, as there's already better male character present. Basically ,the range is bigger. However as there's only 4 main female character, the option of them being even slightly badly written goes out of the window. I mean, if u look at every celebrated male character/ strong male character do u think all of them werr well written or some weren't like female characters type thar you listed ? For eg, Hulk in MCU has been reduced to comic relief. To which fans r upset but not bcs he is badly written 'strong male character' but bcs comics hv done him better. Now compare him to Mary Jane from Rami trilogy. She actually has life, ambitions and hopes infact she and Harry Osborne are pretty much equal. I will even say plotline of a love interest and a best friend of main lead in same in many movies yet it's only Jane who is looked down for simply playing her part i.e 'love interest', But why is that so? It's bcs in the she is the only main female character. Even in case of most of the damesl in distress female characters. Irrespective of how well written they r however since they are usually the only main female character out main characters cast ,them being certain type catches the eyes more. The female characters r rn't viewed merely as a 'character' anymore instead now these female characters hv additional burden of fulling every expectation of being best 'female' character. (I hope you get my point. Sorry if you didn't , this is the best I can explain. )

Also Mrs Weasley ❤

Strong character - Naomi Nagata from Expanse.

loved the surprise female reveal at the end. wish that movie hadn't used magic to solve the problem, though. the book had the rats do everything. I loved that story so much as a kid.

You just know they're next going to come out with a remake of The Secret of Nimh. Where the lead character easily dispatches all enemies with her unmatched martial arts skill.