Emma Watson’s character Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter films topped the poll with 21 percent of the votes followed by Angelina Jolie’s Lara Croft in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (19 percent), with Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman (17 percent) coming in third.

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games film series (16 percent), Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Buffy Summers in TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (14 percent) and Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley in Alien (14 percent) also featured in the top 10.

The research, commissioned to celebrate the Blu-ray TM and DVD release of Halloween on Monday, which sees Jamie Lee Curtis reprise her role as the indomitable Laurie Strode, revealed how important female heroes are to Brits.

84 percent of those surveyed said they felt inspired when they saw a strong female character in a film or on TV. However, nearly three quarters of those surveyed (73 percent), believe that there are not enough strong roles for women in films or TV shows.

Intelligence (46 percent), self-confidence (45 percent) and courage (42 percent) were seen as the most important traits for a female hero to have, followed by independence (41 percent), bravery (39 percent), strength (39 percent) and a good sense of humour (39 percent). Interestingly, fighting prowess was only chosen by 17 percent of the 1,000 respondents.

The research also revealed that 40 percent of Brits think it is vital for young girls to see strong female role models on screen.

Nearly a quarter said they are bored of shows and films where women are constantly being rescued by men.

Men and women were relatively united in their choices of screen heroes; however there were some differences in the top picks. Men’s top picks were Lara Croft from Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (21 percent) followed by Ripley from Alien (20 percent) and Wonder Woman (19 percent). Only 15 percent chose Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter films. Women chose Hermione Granger (24 percent), Lara Croft (19 percent) and Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games films (17 percent) as their top three.

Top 20 female screen heroines

1. Hermione Granger – Emma Watson/Harry Potter film series (21%)
2. Lara Croft – Angelina Jolie/Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (20%)
3. Wonder Woman – Gal Gadot/Wonder Woman (18%)
4. Katniss Everdeen – Jennifer Lawrence/The Hunger Games film series (16%)
5. Buffy Summers – Sarah Michelle Gellar/Buffy the Vampire Slayer ( 14%)
6. Ripley – Sigourney Weaver/Alien (14%)
7. Dana Scully – Gillian Anderson/The X-Files (14%)
8. Clarice Starling – Jodie Foster/The Silence of the Lambs (12%)
9. Sarah Connor – Linda Hamilton/The Terminator film series (12%)
10. Arya Stark – Maisie Williams/Game of Thrones (12%)
11. Bella Swan – Kristen Stewart/Twilight film series (10%)
12. The Bride – Uma Thurman/Kill Bill film series (10%)
13. Leia Organa – Carrie Fisher/Star Wars film series (9%)
14. Eleven – Millie Bobby Brown/Stranger Things (8%)
15. Laurie Strode – Jamie Lee Curtis/Halloween (6%)
16. Rey – Daisy Ridley/Star Wars: The Force Awakens (6%)
17. Veronica Sawyer – Winona Ryder/Heathers (5%)
18. Imperator Furiosa – Charlize Theron/Mad Max: Fury Road (5%)
19. Shuri – Letitia Wright/Black Panther (4%)
20. Barbarella – Jane Fonda/Barbarella (4%)

The survey was commissioned to coincide with Monday’s (February 25) Blu-ray TM and DVD and release of HALLOWEEN.

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