FICTIONAL Female Warriors

[macphersonrants]

Originally Posted by copeab

I liked Howard's own "Dark" Agnes de Chastillon better ;)

I suppose one could add Karrin Murphy from The Dresden Files.

I've heard that, but I've had a hell of a time tracking those stories down.

[macphersonrants]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

I don't think that Arwen is pictured as a warrior in the book. In the movie it is somewhat different.
Arwen was actually an improvement. Some didn't like her because she was Not In The Book(or not quite). But she hovered at the books borders so to speak and was to good a story not to snap up. Especially if it comes at the price of Bombadil which isn't all that bad.

There were a number of changes I didn't like but that wasn't among them.

Luthien in Silmarilion is closer to the adventuring female, if an extremely powerful one.

[macphersonrants]

Deunan Knute from Appleseed and Major Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell are both cool and formidable.

I've always been partial to Friday from the Robert Heinlein novel of the same name.

[Kelly Pedersen]

Originally Posted by Kuroshima

Now, I would have loved to see Glorfindel show the might of a true elven warrior on the screen...

Don't get me wrong. I love Glorfindel, and I would have liked to see what Peter Jackson et al. would have done to show an elflord revealed in his wrath. But when you get right down to it, giving Arwen an actual role in the story beyond "Aragorn's bonus prize for defeating Sauron" was a very good thing. I mean, seriously. In the course of the actual narrative of LoTR, Arwen shows up on screen twice, only one of which times is a speaking role. And Aragorn's relationship to her is barely mentioned more often than that. Not exactly a romance for the ages. :-)

Originally Posted by Kuroshima

Well, I find Tarma and Kethry to be good PC material.

Oh, I'm not denying that! Tarma and Kethry are excellent PC material. Honestly, they're my favorite Lackey characters, and certainly the ones I find most re-readable today (many of her other characters I have an unfortunate tendency to want to slap a couple of times. Or give them a Livejournal account). I was just saying Tarma only sort of qualifies for the subject of the thread on a technicality. :-)

Originally Posted by Kuroshima

Kethry (and later Kerrowyn) carry a sword shaped plot hook

An excellent summary. Hmm. I wonder how you'd model Need's weapon-skill boosting effect in GURPS? Loads of gadget-linked Broadsword Talent, I guess. Probably at least 8 levels of it, given that it's capable of transforming an essentially untrained mage into a fighter capable of holding her own against seasoned professionals.

[the_seeker]

If we're going to count genres other than fantasy, I want to go on record as having loved every major character I've seen Claudia Black portray so far: Aeryn Sun the (former) Peacekeeper in Farscape, Vala Maldoran in Stargate SG-1 and that gearhead space chick in Pitch Black.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen

Oh, I'm not denying that! Tarma and Kethry are excellent PC material. Honestly, they're my favorite Lackey characters, and certainly the ones I find most re-readable today (many of her other characters I have an unfortunate tendency to want to slap a couple of times. Or give them a Livejournal account). I was just saying Tarma only sort of qualifies for the subject of the thread on a technicality. :-)

If asexuality disqualifies femaleness, Paks is several times less qualified than Tarma. She was asexual for her entire plot arc (at least through Oath of Gold...dunno if there's anything more) with no magical compulsion. Whereas Tarma was not originally.

Though Tarma and Kethry's stories tended to actively characterize Tarma as sexless, whereas Paks was simply never interested.

[Kelly Pedersen]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

If asexuality disqualifies femaleness, Paks is several times less qualified than Tarma. She was asexual for her entire plot arc

Well, I wouldn't quite say that. Paks at least regretted never being intimate with Saben. After that, though, you're right, she pretty much had zero interest. I guess Tarma stands out in my mind because it was an actual divinely-enforced element of her. Although, I suppose the same could be said for Paks, depending on how you interpret stuff. :-)

[Kuroshima]

Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen

Don't get me wrong. I love Glorfindel, and I would have liked to see what Peter Jackson et al. would have done to show an elflord revealed in his wrath. But when you get right down to it, giving Arwen an actual role in the story beyond "Aragorn's bonus prize for defeating Sauron" was a very good thing. I mean, seriously. In the course of the actual narrative of LoTR, Arwen shows up on screen twice, only one of which times is a speaking role. And Aragorn's relationship to her is barely mentioned more often than that. Not exactly a romance for the ages. :-)

True, and in the context of the movie, I agree that giving her more screen time was a good thing. It's just that it clashes so much with my original reading of the books...

Oh, I'm not denying that! Tarma and Kethry are excellent PC material. Honestly, they're my favorite Lackey characters, and certainly the ones I find most re-readable today (many of her other characters I have an unfortunate tendency to want to slap a couple of times. Or give them a Livejournal account). I was just saying Tarma only sort of qualifies for the subject of the thread on a technicality. :-)

An excellent summary. Hmm. I wonder how you'd model Need's weapon-skill boosting effect in GURPS? Loads of gadget-linked Broadsword Talent, I guess. Probably at least 8 levels of it, given that it's capable of transforming an essentially untrained mage into a fighter capable of holding her own against seasoned professionals.

I would say that it gives skill 14, if the owner doesn't have skill 14 or less, and gives Magic Resistance if the owner doesn't have Magery. How to model it with points is certainly hard. Ally with Possession?

[MIB.6361]

Most of mine have been mentioned, but I'll reinfore my kinsmen none the less.

Aeryn Sun from Farscape
Sarah Connor from the Terminator mythos.
Beatrix Kiddo from Kill Bill
Matilda from Leon (at least as an origin tale of a warrior woman)
Leeloo from The Fifth Element
Xena from Xena: The Warrior Princess
Ellen Ripley from the Alien mythos.

[Maz]

Ash, from "Ash- a secret history": http://www.sfsite.com/10b/ash91.htm

Shes a feamle warrior in every sense of the word. Some female warriors tend to just be "men with boobs" and not really address that men and female are different.

Ash is not big and strong, and is having to constantly fight to maintain her position as a mercenary captain, in a historical earth that do not allow women much freedom.