Trillian from hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. People see the book as satire but she really knew where her towel was.

Leela from Futurama

Ripley

Captain/Admiral Kathryn Janeway

Roberta "Bobbie" Draper from The Expanse was the first to jump into my head.

Major Matoko Kusanagi from the Ghost in the Shell series.

Couldn't tell you why, but my mind went straight to Wonder Woman.

Ripley

No love for the bad bitch Agent Dana Scully?

Buffy. I was the right age (or maybe a bit too young) when it aired and it was the first female-led show that I fell in love with.

First: Diana Prince

Best: Leslie Knope

Aloy from the Horizon games was my first thought.

Zoe from Firefly, Tiffany Aching from Discworld are two that come to mind

Zoe, Inara, Kaylee, and River. Mic drop.

Pippi Longstocking

Agnes Nutter, Good Omens.

Alternatively, "The most powerful person in Discworld is Granny Weatherwax"

Samus came to mind immediately

Korra and Toph from Avatar, Tsunade and Sakura from Naruto

Chandler Bing

Hermione Granger because I read so little fiction that this is the first woman (?) that comes to mind.

Clobberella from Futurama.

But I rather prefer to read about real strong women. Like scientists, nobel prize winners, political figures and people of (contemporary) history. Or I just consume their content if they're an author, comedian or content creator.

Xena Warrior Princess

Not the first that comes to mind, but I have to add Nausicaa into the mix. She shows her strength through nothing but kindness and determination, without the need for violence or cold cruelty. A frightened critter bites her, and she endures the pain to keep soothing it without interruption. Ripley's a badass, but she'd never be able to do that.

Lara Croft from the first "Tomb Raider" movie, played by Angelina Jolie.

My girlfriend ):

Lara Croft

Metroid/Samus Aran

She’s almost always on her own dealing with a horde of alien enemies but does it well.

Though, she does have a bad habit of losing her suit’s features and abilities on nearly every mission she’s on lol

Susannah Dean and Naomi Nagata

For me, I respect female characters who are written strong but not mean or "buff". Your character doesn't need to be a dick or on steroids to be strong. A strong person can be kind and compassionate, just not capitulate under pressure. I also don't believe being "independent" means you can't love someone and lean on them in times of need, it just means you aren't defined by the relationship.

• Bastila Shan from KOTOR
• Mustang from Red Rising
• Rita from Groundhog Day
• Hermione from Harry Potter (if only JK respected ALL women)
• Dottie from A League of Their Own
• Mulan from Mulan
• Ellie from The Last of Us Part 2
• Freya from God of War

Nobody in particular stands out, but a thought I had a while back is that Game of Thrones was one of the rare pieces of modern cinema with a host of great female characters who, for the most part, actually had to put in effort to earn their status rather than just being born with it.

Ron Swanson

The first one I thought of was Mara Jade.

Fuck you Disney!

Major General Olivier Mira Armstrong from Fullmetal Alchemist

Only Brits or BBC International viewers will know this character but Catherine Cawood from Happy Valley.

And obviously Ellen Ripley, Dana Scully and Sarah Connor.

Hyacinth Bucket (ITS BOUQUET)

1. No one has mentioned Princess Leia. Does she qualify? She later became a general but I haven't seen that episode.

2. All the characters I recognize in this thread are primarily written by men. That can't be good. I haven't seen Barbie though.

Princess Cimorene from the Enchanted Forest Chronicles

Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Tiffany Aching.

About half the cast of Fullmetal Alchemist (Olivier Mira Armstrong, Izumi Curtis, Riza Hawkeye, Winry and Pinako Rockbell, Lan Fan, Mai Chang, Chris Mustang... and I'm sure I'm missing some).

Oh, and friggin' Chell, of course. Makes you almost feel sorry for GLaDOS.

Margot was so awesome. Really loved that show.

Edit: Well, I loved the first three seasons, anyway. 😑