Ripley (Sigourney Weaver)
Seen in the Alien franchise (1979-1997)

Ripley is the image in which all subsequent female heroes are made – strong, smart, resilient, and quite capable of going toe-to-toe with a snarling, acid-blooded Xenomorph when the occasion calls for it. While the first Alien film remains a masterpiece of tension –Ripley is the only survivor of the doomed Nostromo – it’s in the sequel Aliens when Ripley emerges as the true matriarch of the franchise. She’s a force of maternal rage, hellbent on protecting the orphaned Newt.

Most Badass Moment: Stepping up in the power loader for a punch-up with the Alien Queen. Get away from her you bitch indeed.

Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot)
Seen in Wonder Woman (2017)

Though Wonder Woman can easily match her male cape-wearing counterparts for strength, speed, and super-powers, she also has another trick: lampooning patriarchy everywhere she sees it. Arriving in London for the first time, she has no understanding (and no tolerance) for society’s ideas on men’s and women’s roles, or why she should dress, think, and talk as men expect her to do.

Most Badass Moment: Charging into no man’s land during a WWI battle and taking out a platoon of enemy soldiers. It might be no man’s land, but no-woman’s land? Give us a break.