15. Merida ('Brave')
What a fantastically flawed young heroine. Not really your typical rebellious Disney princess, this Scottish lass is full of energy, is brash, tough, but has a caring heart. Merida is a prodigy skilled in archery, horse riding, rock climbing and swordfighting. Her rebellion stems from being restricted in every sense of the word as a princess - she struggles with what real women of royalty have to go through all the time, and she's sick of it, since it crushes her free spirit. As a lover of fairy tales herself, Merida's story - her fate - revolves around her relationship with her mother, Queen Elinor. There is no shame in being a natural at what you do, at being proactive for a woman in medieval times; and Merida will come to learn about the significance of responsibility and that change can't come if you lash out and don't think things through. Indeed, she is reckless, she is selfish, stubborn, foolish, and in the eyes of a parent she can be a pain in the arse who makes you wish never to bear children, lest you have to deal with a teenager 24/7. But that's the thing: Merida is just like an ordinary teenager, princess or not. She is probably what a lot of us were like as teenagers, and we don't want to be reminded of how selfish and disrespectful we once were. But like Merida, we were growing up. We were never perfect. Throughout all our lives we remain human, and will make stupid mistakes. Merida does learn from her mistakes, and realises her flaws and moves on from them, for the better of herself, her family and her kingdom. Nevertheless, I will always love her fiery personality that fills the sky, and her amazing red hair. She grows into a better person socially, while never losing her fighting streak. No prince for this princess, Merida develops through the woman who gave birth to her, and she looks inside herself - a star in her own fairy tale.
14. Dory ('Finding Nemo')
Here's another character from a Pixar movie. Dory is unlike any other female character I've ever seen, and I mean it. Not because she's a fish, but because she is: A very funny comic relief, a tragic figure, someone with short-term memory loss... and remarkably her mental illness doesn't define everything about her, and is itself not played for laughs or treated offensively. Ellen DeGeneres - talented comedienne and all-around wonderful human being - is unbelievable as Dory: One of the most unforgettable voice performances in animation since Robin Williams as 'Aladdin''s Genie. Dory is a little fish lost in the big sea, ignored and avoided by other fish because she''s so vague and not easy to even start a conversation with; and yet she stays positive throughout her confused existence. "Just keep swimming", is her motto. In 'Finding Dory' - Pixar's third film with a female protagonist - Dory's story develops further, and she shows just how determined and brave she truly is. Flaky or vague, when she sets her mind on something, she never forgets it, and there is no stopping her. Unlike so many other characters with a mental illness or other disabilities in film and other mediums, such as in 'Forrest Gump' and any works of 'Mr. Magoo', Dory doesn't start her adventures by accident: She has a specific goal in mind, and makes things happen deliberately in order to achieve it. She doesn't let her memory loss hinder her, and it isn't a weakness to overcome, not in the face of finding out where she belongs in the world of fishes in the sea. Overall, the sad but happily-wondering Dory is a-dory-ble. Oh, I am so sorry, that was a terrible pun.
13. Lisbeth Slander ('The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' ('Millennium') Trilogy)
We come to the darker and more tragic characters on the list now. Lisbeth Slander - computer hacker and genius extraordinaire - is a rape survivor and victim of child abuse. But she never lets herself be a victim: You cross her, she will promise you pain. She is remembered most admirably by her fans as an avenging angel of sexually abused women, a petite - childlike in appearance - and not to be fucked with, and is phenomenally badass in every way. She even survives a bullet to the brain and being buried alive - at the same time! She may seem like a dreary Gothic/Emo stereotype at first, but Lisbeth does not go well with labels. She is whoever the hell she wants to be - bisexual (plus!), the best hacker in the world, a detective, a person with an eidetic memory, a motorbiker etc. Lisbeth is labeled as a sociopath and mentally unstable within the 'Millennium' books, but as she proves again and again, labels - and files - do not tell you everything about a person. Her brain is brilliant, and she will be vital in exposing corruption in a system that destroyed her life. We see she is caring towards people, like her sick mother, and even when she does feel strong emotions other than hatred, such as romantic love, she is quick to stamp it out when it is inconvenient to her. She saves the male lead, Mikael Blomkvist, more than he saves her, as part of an extremely odd and complicated partnership. Extreme is Lisbeth's style, however. Lisbeth Salander is a fascinating specimen of a character. An anti-heroine with so many qualities to her eccentric personality. You can't help but love this superwoman.
12. Katniss Everdeen ('The Hunger Games' Trilogy)
One of the best portrayals of a teenage girl in YA fiction. Katniss Everdeen is brave but very vulnerable, strong yet not strong; she's in a dark, dark place, and is never afraid to cry, despite it being dangerous to show any weakness in the Capitol-ruled world of 'The Hunger Games', and she knows it. She suffers from PTSD, and really wants to give up being a "hero" to her people. Katniss never wanted to be the Mockingjay - the Girl on Fire - it all started because she just wanted to save her little sister. Now she is fighting for survival every time someone wants to use her as either a dolled-up celebrity, or as a warrior symbol for hope. Though survival is what she is an expert at. Young Katniss is forced into a war by those who wish to manipulate her for a means to an end. She is a pawn caught between two factions, an unwitting rags-to-riches figure, and a reluctant hero. However, in this nightmare where she is put through so much, where she is forced to compromise everything in her treacherous life, she tries her hardest, and after a breakdown or two induced by repeated traumatic events, she will pick herself back up again and fight for the protection of her family and friends. I want to give her a hug and soothe all the pain away, tell her it will be alright, however futile that is. Katniss' father is dead - killed in a mining accident - and her mother and sister are the healers while she is the famous Hunger Games winner bringing in vast amounts of food on the table - using her bow and arrow, for fame means nothing to her in a dystopian world; she keeps being a survivor in the woods. Survivor - externally and internally - is her key trait; she's not a lovesick teen girl the Capitol wants to imagine her as. Romance does not define her. Katniss Everdeen - an archer, a strategist, a martyr, a human being who makes mistakes and stumbles and falls, and a friend. The Girl on Fire inspires a generation of girls who will, at last, see themselves represented as heroes, and as imperfect human beings.
11. Homura Akemi ('Puella Magi Madoka Magica')
A dark Magical Girl who perfectly reflects the nature of the anime that deconstructs the Magical Girl genre, Homura Akemi's character is so tragic, you'll either love her or hate her for making you depressed. In the beginning of the series she seems like your average aloof and emotionless anime girl, but like everything in 'Madoka Magica', nothing is what it seems at first. I won't spoil a great deal about Homura, but believe me when I say that she is one of the most determined yet hopeless figures I have ever encountered in fiction. She's tragic all around - caught in a cycle of despair she can never give in to completely, or else all will truly be lost. She keeps doing what she does in order to achieve a single goal in life - to protect the one person she loves more than anything in the universe - knowing that it is pointless but that it would be dangerous if she were ever to give up. And yet, the anime doesn't exactly allow the viewer to feel sorry for her. Homura is so complex she's divisive; nothing said about her can be immediately dismissed as wrong. She is both a victim of circumstances and an instigator of them. This Magical Girl is an example of how single-minded love can corrupt and destroy. The ultimate selfless love heals, but Homura, having been trapped so long in a never-ending cycle of sorrow and ruination, cannot accept that: She's reached the point of being unable to let go, even if losing the one she loves means the world's salvation, and her freedom from despair at last. This is illustrated to greater effect in the movie, 'Rebellion'. In fact, Homura may be the most selfish character on this list, but the anime acknowledges this, and explores her multiple layers that quite literally transcend space and time. Her whole story could be interpreted as a metaphor for a domestic abuse cycle. To call Homura Akemi an anti-heroine is too simplifying for her. Rich in tragedy, heartbreak, and understanding in abhorrent acts, Homura achieves a higher plane of existence in character writing. And did I mention that she is only fourteen-years-old?
To be continued in Part 3.
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