Can be from any kind of media.
For me it’s Margot from The Magicians (which is interesting because in the books she is anything but) and Jesse Faden from Control.
Princess Cimorene from the Enchanted Forest Chronicles
Very good chocolate cake recipe from that series. Very chocolatey.
Ron Swanson
Susannah Dean and Naomi Nagata
Zoe, Inara, Kaylee, and River. Mic drop.
Ellen Ripley. Under pressure she steps up and does what needs doing. Whether that means operating a loader, comforting a child or making monsters extinct.
Roberta “Bobbie” Draper from The Expanse was the first to jump into my head.
Avasarala is my pick
Came here to say Avasarala.
That’s funny. I also posted Naomi Nagata. While I like Chrisjen and Bobby more, I think Naomi wins for strong independent. General of the resistance, self-marooned insurgent, and the escape of the Chetzmoka.
Ripley
Major Matoko Kusanagi from the Ghost in the Shell series.
Adding my vote for Ellen Ripley.
There are others that come to mind from more obscure movies I’ve watched more recently, like the women in Grandma (2015), Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020), and even Men (2022), also non-fictional women like those in Kokomo City (2023). There are so many more I can picture in my mind but can’t put my finger on the movie and or am just shit with names so I can’t think of them right now, but might come back to update.
Literally the first name that popped into my head when I saw the question. There are plenty of other good choices, but she has to be near the top of any list.
Incidentally… am I having federation issues? This is the only comment I see mentioning Ripley. I see 11 comments currently…
Incidentally… am I having federation issues? This is the only comment I see mentioning Ripley. I see 11 comments currently…
I see 36 comments, mine and 3 others mention Ripley, so yeah, probably a federation issue.
Ellen Ripley from the Alien series.
Pippi Longstocking
Great answer
Samus came to mind immediately
High King Margot is a great answer
For me, I thought of Linda Carter’s Wonder Woman and then Captain Rachel Garrett, commander of the USS Enterprise, 1701-C
Hyacinth Bucket (ITS BOUQUET)
He might be a doormat, but she’d be utterly lost without Richard. As such, I can’t agree she’s entirely independent.
Adding to this, she’s also too concerned about what other people (her social betters not her family) think of her to be truly independent. She is strong, however.
Korra and Toph from Avatar, Tsunade and Sakura from Naruto