I always thought that Jack Bristow and Irina Derevko were the (sort-of) Mr. and Mrs. Smith of Alias, except they're angrier and were more prone to killing/betraying one another.
Oh, and with the use of the term "spy-fi" does this mean the new show will be bordering into science fiction?
And I don't know if I should be excited about this. I hated how Alias' last season was handled. Blergh. I don't think I'm ready for a JJ-handled spy show, no matter how sweeter and fun in tone is it to Alias.
@blarblarnyar: I agree that the last season was terrible. But JJ didn't run the later seasons, he ran the first, maybe the second one, and those were of course the best ones.
JJ is kinda known for starting up a show, run it for 1-2 seasons to define it, and then let someone else take over while he get's busy with another project. Lost and Fringe are not exceptions.
@MrThunderfield: He was pretty hands-on with Alias until after the first few eps of season 4, when he started MI:3, I think...
I was actually dismayed at how the series finale was executed-- Punkner said that JJ had a hand with the finale but it turns out that the only thing he contributed/approved of was Sydney and Vaughn's beach ending.
@HymanDictys: Now, see, that was deserved... by the end of the series Buffy was pretty darn crazy god-like/reincarnatin'/army-leading badass. To the point where she'd gotten rather humorless.
Wendy Watson! She's faced down ravenous trout zombies AND Kevin Sorbo. The Middleman is so overlooked.
And though she was only a recurring character for a season, I'll nominate Ellen from Supernatural. Lady was seriously badass, and needs to return to the show ASAP.
But there are so many others that deserve a nod! Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender, definitely. And how about Roxy from Dead Like Me? Ella (and maybe Thelma?) from Hex, and Djaq from Robin Hood (the BBC TV show). Stretching, but what about Miss Parker from The Pretender and Nikita and Madeleine from La Femme Nikita? More adventure/drama than sci-fi/fantasy, but so is Alias, right? (I haven't watched it, so I don't know; that's only my impression based on the ads I've seen)
I tried not to pick characters that have already been mentioned, but man, this list could go on and on. I love this thread!
@Dormouse: Corporate Tool: I'm glad I'm not alone in that one. She was an okay character, but I was never sold on the presentation she turned into a kick ass woman. Martha, more convinced. Donna Noble: Awesome times awesome. (Altough badass might not be quite right)
I will cause some controversy and say I don't get why Uhura is on this list at all. She's a sharp cookie for sure, but I don't recall seeing much badassery from her.
Also, Xena, Sydney Bristow, and Barbarella are all rated too low, while Claire Bennet, Mikaela Banes (dumb name), and Sam Carter (yes, that's right) are all rated much too high. Carter was literally a walking source of exposition and, in the last 15 minutes of every episode, the deus-ex-machina wrap-up and "reset everything back to the status quo" machine. Just because her reproductive organs are on the outside of her body does NOT mean she was a "badass woman."
Nichelle Nichols has a lot of right to be up on this list. Taken from Wikipedia,
"It was in Star Trek that Nichols gained popular recognition by being one of the first black women featured in a major television series not playing a servant; her prominent supporting role as a female black bridge officer was unprecedented. During the first year of the series, Nichols was tempted to leave the show, as she felt her role lacked significance; however, a conversation with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. changed her mind. Though specifics of the conversation vary, in generalities she has reported that Dr. King personally encouraged her to stay on the show, telling her that he was a big fan of the series and told her she "could not give up" since she was playing a vital role model for black children and young women across the country.[2] It is also often reported that Dr. King added that "Once that door is opened by someone, no one else can close it again."
Former NASA astronaut Mae Jemison has cited Nichols's role of Lt. Uhura as her inspiration for wanting to become an astronaut and Whoopi Goldberg has also spoken of Nichols's influence."
@Marq Gorton: Um, that's all well and good, but nowhere in that blurb does it specify that Uhura was a _badass_. Just that she was a lesser role compared to the three core characters, she was played by a black woman, and she was a TV character on a show that happened to fall into the sci-fi genre. The most "badass" thing she did in the original series was that fan dance.
@Astfgl: Uhura's bad assedness comes from the fact she kissed Kirk and came away without contracting a single one of his 217 veneral diseases he's picked up over the years and years of inter-species sex.
brentbent: C.O.C.K.R.O.A.C.H. )for all the queer super villians out there( was starred
brentbent: C.O.C.K.R.O.A.C.H. )for all the queer super villians out there( was unstarred
@brentbent: Nah, that's just a robust immune system. I suppose you might claim that she was badass for kissing him while _knowing_ about those 217 VDs, but one should assume that Bones follows the Hippocratic Oath to the letter, and does not draw on the deep reservoir of anecdotes that Kirk inadvertantly provides him with while hanging out in the mess hall. You know, because that would probably be violently harmful to the digestive processes of his fellow diners.
There are a few on this list that I would have left out, and several I would have included, but the one I miss most is Zoe (Gina Torres) from Firefly. Badass, witty, and very human. One of my favorite female characters in a tv series.
I think Aunty Entity (Tina Turner) should be on there as she created a vibrant post apocalyptic town.
I'd even throw in Savannah Nix (Helen Buday) as she stood fast as Max Rockatansky took shots at her then took the initiative to lead her fellow tribes people to find a better life.
What did Leia Organa ever do besides whine? Choke Jabba to death as his sail barge burned? Big deal.
@Zach Snyder: I thought it was fairly well established that Aunty Entity just took all the credit, while Master was the real mastermind.
And I guess you didn't watch the SW movies very closely, but in Ep4 she resisted torture, stood her ground in the face of two of the most powerful people in the galaxy, improvised an escape plan by shooting a gun, dove (voluntarily) into a trash compacter, and shoved a Wookiee out of the way while insulting him...all while not wearing a bra. In Ep5, she lived in a room carved from ice (probably wearing a bra this time around), hurled the best insults in the entire SW series, again stood her ground in the face of the remaining "powerful person" from the previous movie, resisted Lando's charms, gave every indication that she was going to let the aforementioned Wookiee choke the life out of Lando, reined that same Wookiee in with but a single command, and walked around in a slug's mouth. In Ep6, she infiltrated an enemy fortress, destroyed their leader's favorite trophy, choked him with her own restraints (while wearing a metal bikini), talked a race of feral teddy bears out of the biggest meal they've probably seen in their entire lives, let her boyfriend grope her up smack in the middle of a firefight (after she'd been shot, no less), found out she's the daughter of the aforementioned "powerful person", and found out that she's capable of outright breaking the laws of physics with her mind.
Not once did she ever whine, though she did object to being called a "committee".
@bitsytimelord: Dude, word! Claire Bennett and bloody Megan Fox, but no Aeryn? She could kick the asses of ninety-nine percent of the people on this list, all at the same damn time.
@bitsytimelord: Total agreement here. What has Claire Bennett done that is remotely badass besides whining and failing at everything she tries to accomplish, ending up as a perpetual victim? And she tops Aeryn Sun?
10/08/09
10/08/09
10/08/09
Oh, and with the use of the term "spy-fi" does this mean the new show will be bordering into science fiction?
And I don't know if I should be excited about this. I hated how Alias' last season was handled. Blergh. I don't think I'm ready for a JJ-handled spy show, no matter how sweeter and fun in tone is it to Alias.
10/08/09
10/08/09
JJ is kinda known for starting up a show, run it for 1-2 seasons to define it, and then let someone else take over while he get's busy with another project. Lost and Fringe are not exceptions.
10/08/09
I was actually dismayed at how the series finale was executed-- Punkner said that JJ had a hand with the finale but it turns out that the only thing he contributed/approved of was Sydney and Vaughn's beach ending.
10/08/09
10/09/09
Wasn't Lost the show he started to work on after Alias, and MI:3 after the second season of Lost? Then came Cloverfield and then Fringe.
10/08/09
10/08/09
10/08/09
Let's hope he doesn't spread himself too thin. I still want his attention on Fringe for the time being as well.
10/08/09
10/08/09
10/08/09
06/02/09
06/03/09
06/02/09
And though she was only a recurring character for a season, I'll nominate Ellen from Supernatural. Lady was seriously badass, and needs to return to the show ASAP.
But there are so many others that deserve a nod! Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender, definitely. And how about Roxy from Dead Like Me? Ella (and maybe Thelma?) from Hex, and Djaq from Robin Hood (the BBC TV show). Stretching, but what about Miss Parker from The Pretender and Nikita and Madeleine from La Femme Nikita? More adventure/drama than sci-fi/fantasy, but so is Alias, right? (I haven't watched it, so I don't know; that's only my impression based on the ads I've seen)
I tried not to pick characters that have already been mentioned, but man, this list could go on and on. I love this thread!
06/02/09
06/02/09
06/03/09
But Rose? Nah.
06/02/09
Also, Xena, Sydney Bristow, and Barbarella are all rated too low, while Claire Bennet, Mikaela Banes (dumb name), and Sam Carter (yes, that's right) are all rated much too high. Carter was literally a walking source of exposition and, in the last 15 minutes of every episode, the deus-ex-machina wrap-up and "reset everything back to the status quo" machine. Just because her reproductive organs are on the outside of her body does NOT mean she was a "badass woman."
06/02/09
"It was in Star Trek that Nichols gained popular recognition by being one of the first black women featured in a major television series not playing a servant; her prominent supporting role as a female black bridge officer was unprecedented. During the first year of the series, Nichols was tempted to leave the show, as she felt her role lacked significance; however, a conversation with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. changed her mind. Though specifics of the conversation vary, in generalities she has reported that Dr. King personally encouraged her to stay on the show, telling her that he was a big fan of the series and told her she "could not give up" since she was playing a vital role model for black children and young women across the country.[2] It is also often reported that Dr. King added that "Once that door is opened by someone, no one else can close it again."
Former NASA astronaut Mae Jemison has cited Nichols's role of Lt. Uhura as her inspiration for wanting to become an astronaut and Whoopi Goldberg has also spoken of Nichols's influence."
06/03/09
Um, that's all well and good, but nowhere in that blurb does it specify that Uhura was a _badass_. Just that she was a lesser role compared to the three core characters, she was played by a black woman, and she was a TV character on a show that happened to fall into the sci-fi genre. The most "badass" thing she did in the original series was that fan dance.
06/03/09
06/03/09
Nah, that's just a robust immune system. I suppose you might claim that she was badass for kissing him while _knowing_ about those 217 VDs, but one should assume that Bones follows the Hippocratic Oath to the letter, and does not draw on the deep reservoir of anecdotes that Kirk inadvertantly provides him with while hanging out in the mess hall. You know, because that would probably be violently harmful to the digestive processes of his fellow diners.
06/02/09
06/02/09
06/02/09
06/02/09
I'd even throw in Savannah Nix (Helen Buday) as she stood fast as Max Rockatansky took shots at her then took the initiative to lead her fellow tribes people to find a better life.
What did Leia Organa ever do besides whine? Choke Jabba to death as his sail barge burned? Big deal.
06/03/09
I thought it was fairly well established that Aunty Entity just took all the credit, while Master was the real mastermind.
And I guess you didn't watch the SW movies very closely, but in Ep4 she resisted torture, stood her ground in the face of two of the most powerful people in the galaxy, improvised an escape plan by shooting a gun, dove (voluntarily) into a trash compacter, and shoved a Wookiee out of the way while insulting him...all while not wearing a bra. In Ep5, she lived in a room carved from ice (probably wearing a bra this time around), hurled the best insults in the entire SW series, again stood her ground in the face of the remaining "powerful person" from the previous movie, resisted Lando's charms, gave every indication that she was going to let the aforementioned Wookiee choke the life out of Lando, reined that same Wookiee in with but a single command, and walked around in a slug's mouth. In Ep6, she infiltrated an enemy fortress, destroyed their leader's favorite trophy, choked him with her own restraints (while wearing a metal bikini), talked a race of feral teddy bears out of the biggest meal they've probably seen in their entire lives, let her boyfriend grope her up smack in the middle of a firefight (after she'd been shot, no less), found out she's the daughter of the aforementioned "powerful person", and found out that she's capable of outright breaking the laws of physics with her mind.
Not once did she ever whine, though she did object to being called a "committee".
06/03/09
Leia wasn't the whiner in the Skywalker family. That title falls squarely on the shoulders of Luke.
Don't forget that Leia was also a senator and a leader of the Rebellion.
06/03/09
Oh, yes, I forgot. Not once did Leia ever express any desire to go to Tosche Station.
06/02/09
Come on TotalScifi, you're better than that.
06/02/09
06/02/09
How could they leave her out?
06/02/09
06/02/09
I demand a recount!