Entertainment with female protagonists.

[kurupt87]

Iain M Banks novels, specifically his Culture books. These books form an extended Universe in which they are set.

Surface Detail has the main character as a female seeking revenge. It also has a female character with an adjoining story arc who has made herself gender neutral.

Excession has a major female player, though she is ditzy she has power despite it. I don't really know how to explain this character, it won't be what you expect. All the main characters in this book are AI though, so this probably isn't the best to start with.

Matter has a female lead who is, in effect, a super spy/soldier. This isn't teen fiction though. I would say realistic but this is sci fi, so I suppose what I mean is that these books are written very much with realism in mind.

A Player of Games has a male lead who has not, and refuses to, change his sex at any point in his life. This makes him, if not a freak (Culture citizens are too polite for that), a definite oddity.

 

[DRTJR]

Trigun, Millie Thompson and Meryl Stryfe are awesome, professional, and determined.

Kid Icarus Uprising, It's funny and all of the characters are top rate.

 

[Mikeyfell]

A few come to mind. Most of them cartoons.
In my experience Cartoons aimed at girls are usually better than cartoons aimed at boys.

Kim Possible, Powerpuff Girls and My Little Pony
Avatar The Last Airbender (The main character is a guy but the 3 best female characters I can think of are in the immediate supporting cast. Katara, Toph and Azula. and it's one of the few shows where the primary badguy is a girl)

For TV shows
United States of Tara (it's brilliant, You should seriously consider watching it)
30 Rock
Weeds (At least early Weeds, it sort of fizzled out towards the end)
New Girl

Anime:
Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Read or Die (The move definitely, the TV series maybe)
Rinaughters of Mnemosyne (It is highly sexualized but It's still a well told story with a strong female protagonist)

movies:
Hanna
Black Swan
Kill Bill
Imagine Me and You
Hard Candy
Nurse Betty
Brave

Books:
"Doppelganger" and "Warrior and Witch" by Marie Brennan (I think it was re-branded as Book 1 "Warrior" and book 2 "Witch") They're my favorite books of all time
The Noble Dead series by Barb and J.C. Hendee

 

[EstrogenicMuscle]

Sexuality is human, any attempt to completely ignore our sexual dimorphism in gaming is dishonest to our species.

I get the feeling we have very different ideas of what counts as sexualization and what counts as sexual dimorphism. I don't consider those macho save the girl guys to be sexualized at all. And by sexualized, I mean made into sexual objects. That is, I'm less interested in entertainment that treats the female characters like a piece of meat to entice people. I'm not interested in seeing bouncing breasts, I want to enjoy their minds.

It isn't that I'm against the sexualization of female characters ever. But I'm getting a bit sick of all of it. And it usually detracts from the females being portrayed as well rounded characters. I very much want to see characters have their own sexuality. It is a huge focus on their bodies being sexualized that I am getting a little bit tired of. Sexualized as in those comic books that spend several pages giving a close up on a woman's butt or something like that. That I tire of a little bit.

But I'd prefer not go get into another argument about this subject here.

I see on one's mentioned the 2000 not so classic Oni from Bungie. Sure it had a lot of anime cliches in it and the world didn't exactly feel like it was really lived in by the characters but the story was still halfway decent for the time and the hand to hand combat system was really solid.

I actually have that game. The PC version in specific. It was one of the few PC games of that generation that really enticed me. I have the box laying around somewhere.

I remember looking at that game in the store and getting Ghost in the Shell vibes. An anime I was in love with at the time. I was a little disappointed by the game and it certainly could have been better. That being said, I really wish they would re-release the game on Steam or Good old Games or something like that.

OP: A lot of Miyazaki movies have female protagonists. The two sisters in Totoro are adorable. Kiki from the witch movie was pretty cool. So was Chihiro. The rest are a bit stereotypical though... it's always "the girl from Nausicaa" or "the girl from Castle in the Sky". Something like that.

That would be a great recommendation. Though sadly it will be lost on me since I'm already a huge Miyazaki Ghibli fan. I've watched most of his films several times already. Thanks, though.

 

[ChristopherT]

TV shows
Buffy the Vampire Slayer- Buffy Summers herself. Strong, capable, develops into a determined leader. Rarely gives up.

Xena - Wrecking ball who doesn't put up with shit. Found something in her she wasn't proud of and steered herself into the path of justice into righting wrongs.

Books
OSI novels by Jes Battis- I've only read Night Child and A Flash of Hex - however Tess Corday seems to be a strong female character, Tess Corday a woman who's job it is to investigate occult crime scenes, and find the big bad monsters who go bump in the night. She's a bit of a girl at times, protective type, but that's not a bad thing at all, she draws strength from it. And while her partner will look out for her, and protect her, she's the muscle, she's the stronger of the two, and he's weaker.

Bram Stoker's Dracula - Mina - Maybe I'm in the minority, but I found Mina to do so much in Dracula. Almost nothing could have been completed without her. The big strong men throw the paper work to her, shove the busy work in her direction, she does it all and then some. Her organizing dairies, almost every bit of work she does helps their cause. I think she does the most to help the fight against Dracula than any other character.

Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire - Verity Price - Verity is a young woman raised to be a monster hunter/protector. Her family in hiding from the monster hunting crusaders - the Covenant of St. George, as outlaws helping the filthy cryptids (monsters, supernatural beings). She grew up in a home where the main concern her parents had where teaching their children how to survive encounters with the supernatural and hunters of the Covenant. And all she wants to do, is dance, professionally. A determined character, she's capable against fighting monsters, almost always on her guard, and while she loves outfits, the best outfit is the one with the most places to hide weapons.

Comis
Stephanie Brown - As Batgirl at least, cause I haven't read much of her other than that. As a bat, they're never really sexualized, 'cept Dick. She's one of those character's that screws up, picks themselves up, laughs it off, and keeps fighting. She has her weaknesses, she's not just a bruiser. When of her biggest weaknesses is bat on her chest, from it getting her into more trouble than she may be able to handle, to it getting into her head, and thinking she doesn't deserve the bat mantle, to her gaining confidence from the symbol, with determination and a smile.

Morning Glories - Casey - Getting into a top school, something she dreamed of, has come true, she has just arrived at Morning Glory Academy, and in her first week, they've tried to kill her, several times. Her response is to stand up, fight back, and find a way out, find a way to bring the school down.

Runaways - Most of the characters really. A group of teens find out their parents are super villains, run away from home, and decide the only course of action is to bring their parents to justice. Nico, the goth girl with a magical staff stuck inside her, the only way to get it out is to bleed - get beat up enough, cut herself, or if it's that time of the month. Nico's one of the bigger hitters of the group. Karolina is no push over herself though. and Gert may be vunerable, but she's got spunk, and a pet dinosaur.

Cardcaptor Sakura - Sakura - A young girl, a lot of powerful creatures, and a staff to catch them. The forces of the cards are always bigger than her, they surprise her, take her friends captive, find ways to disorient Sakura, and she keeps fighting, and finds a way to win.

 

[Stryc9]

I actually have that game. The PC version in specific. It was one of the few PC games of that generation that really enticed me. I have the box laying around somewhere.

I remember looking at that game in the store and getting Ghost in the Shell vibes. An anime I was in love with at the time. I was a little disappointed by the game and it certainly could have been better. That being said, I really wish they would re-release the game on Steam or Good old Games or something like that.

The PC version is the definitive version, everything I've heard says that the PS2 version had horrible controls. Unfortunately it was rushed out the door and had content cut out, there was a bit in one of the early trailers that showed a fight against a mech that wasn't anywhere in the released product and multiplayer that got scrapped because the netcode wasn't very good. There is a mod called the 10th Anniversary version that gives it a fresh coat of graphical paint and cobbles together what the modders thought the multiplayer might be like, the video I posted is using it.

The Ghost in the Shell vibes aren't really unwarranted, there are some similarities there for sure. I would never say that I was disappointed with the game, I actually played the demo from a PC Gamer disc before I decided to buy it, remember when you could do that? The biggest failure of Oni for me was the level design, it's best designed level is also the shortest and weirdest.

 

[Ryotknife]

Video games:

Recetear
Xenosaga series
Valkyrie Chronicles

Suikoden 3

^technically in this one you have a choice of 3 heroes, 2 male, and one female. For the first 50% you have to play all 3 of them eventually as each has her/him unique perspective to a single important event in the story in any order you want, but then at the mid point you choose the main character for the rest of the game. Chris Lightfellow (the female) is a general/hero in a medieval country and has by far the most interesting character arc as she goes through a very tramatic event. Hugo is a young boy (14-16) who is more heart than brains and gets a bit angsty during the war. Geddeo is an old gruff male mercenary who acts more like a machine than a human ("oh ive seen all of the horries of humanity and nothing fazes me anymore" type).

 

[CrazyCajun777]

silence of the lambs and pitch black have not yet been mentioned.

I offer quality over quantity =^)

 

[an annoyed writer]

Beyond Good and Evil and the Alien movies spring to mind

Oh fuck you, you robot! Stealing my goddamn words outta my mouth and whatnot. Seriously, either these things are getting a little more prevalent, or I'm just noticing them more. Either way, I don't like it. And now, I can say I had a robot steal from me. Terrific.

 

[knight steel]

How about Dead Or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball:
Look at all those strong independant female protagonist's

But in all seriousness why would you like female character's everyone knows that girls have cooties and are smelly >_<
Wouldn't your prefer big sexy manly Protagonist's like Kratos?

MMMMMM He's so hot

 

[an annoyed writer]

Runaways - Most of the characters really. A group of teens find out their parents are super villains, run away from home, and decide the only course of action is to bring their parents to justice. Nico, the goth girl with a magical staff stuck inside her, the only way to get it out is to bleed - get beat up enough, cut herself, or if it's that time of the month. Nico's one of the bigger hitters of the group. Karolina is no push over herself though. and Gert may be vunerable, but she's got spunk, and a pet dinosaur.

SHIET! I remember seeing my friend reading a copy of that and forgot what the hell it was for a while. I find the concept of a pet dinosaur to be pretty loaded with awesome. Keep in mind, this is coming from someone who went to see Rise of The Planet of The Apes because there was a gorilla beating up a helicopter in the film. Anyway, I might check that out soon. Thanks for jogging my memory.

 

[soren7550]

The Perfect Dark series! Ok, so the games aren't really filled with much story or character development, but the books and the comic series made me fall in love with Miss Dark. She's funny, smart, tough as nails, but still very human. She's suffers greatly after the loss of her father (suffering from Survivor's Guilt), is trying to figure out what to do with her life, and questions herself and her abilities and actions, wondering what it makes her as a person. If you can, track down Perfect Dark: Initial Vector, Perfect Dark: Janus' Tears and Perfect Dark: Second Front as they are most excellent. Also, get the games. You can get Perfect Dark Zero for about $5 USD and that's not bad at all, and you can get the HD remake of Perfect Dark on XBLA for about $10 USD or so.

Spoiler: Just look at mah cosplay of her! I just love this character to bits!

 

[Timmaaaah]

I didn't read the whole thread but...
Buffy the Vampire Slayer! Although the first season is aggressively 90s and the first 2 seasons are both very very "high schooley". But after you get a grip on the characters and the shows budget increased (around season 2) it gets seriously fuckin awesome. The majority of the characters including the titular protagonist is a female.

 

[itaywex]

Well if you are searching for books with female main character than:
1. The Black Magician series (trudi canavan)
2. Medalon (and the rest of the trilogy by Jennifer Fallon)

 

[Accel]

For books, I recommend the Oz series by Frank T. Baum. Almost all of them feature a girl as the main protagonist.


For games, there's the Portal series, of course.


For comics, I always enjoyed Dan Slott's run on She-Hulk, even if it does wear out the whole "I didn't sleep with the Juggernaut" running gag near the end. Peter David has a good, albeit different, run immediately afterwards, which also brings focus on other female characters like Valkyrie and Invisible Woman.

Y: The Last Man focuses on literally the last man on Earth as the central character, but the rest of cast is made almost entirely of great female characters.

There's also Alana, the main female lead of Saga.

And Kelly Sue DeConnick's run on Captain Marvel right now is pretty good.

 

[an annoyed writer]

The Perfect Dark series! Ok, so the games aren't really filled with much story or character development, but the books and the comic series made me fall in love with Miss Dark. She's funny, smart, tough as nails, but still very human. She's suffers greatly after the loss of her father (suffering from Survivor's Guilt), is trying to figure out what to do with her life, and questions herself and her abilities and actions, wondering what it makes her as a person. If you can, track down Perfect Dark: Initial Vector, Perfect Dark: Janus' Tears and Perfect Dark: Second Front as they are most excellent. Also, get the games. You can get Perfect Dark Zero for about $5 USD and that's not bad at all, and you can get the HD remake of Perfect Dark on XBLA for about $10 USD or so.

Spoiler: Just look at mah cosplay of her! I just love this character to bits!

Ooh, that's another great one! And great cosplay, by the way. Going for the Perfect Dark: Zero look? I personally prefer her original design from the promotional renders that Rare did for the first Perfect Dark, but hey, different folks, different strokes and all that. Still, great character. Great games. Awesome story.

 

[DocMcCray]

Um...

For other video games, I would consider Half-Life 2 and Bioshock Infinite.

Before you bring out the torches and pitchforks, hear me out. In HL2, Alyx is with Gordon for a large portion of the game. And she definitely talks more than Gordon. For Bioshock, the whole story is about Elizabeth. She has more dialogue and you see her much more than you see Booker.

For anime, Fushigi Yuugi, FLCL, Excel Saga and Martian Successor Nadesico are all excellent.

 

[Eleuthera]

Books:

Earth's Children series -Jaen Auel
His Dark Materials - Phillip Pullman
Last of the Amazons - Steven Pressfield
A Kiss Before Dying - Ira Levin
Nation - Terry Pratchett
Kingslayer Chronicles - Patrick Rothfuss (not the main character, but a pretty big role none-the-less)

Comics:
Fallen Angel - Peter David

 

[OtherSideofSky]

Basically any novel by Tamora Pierce, if you're into fantasy. Terry Pratchett's has a fair number of Discworld books with female protagonists (my favorite is Monstrous Regiment). There's also Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, of course, and An Evil Guest by Gene Wolf is... interesting. I can't speak to the quality, but my younger sister has been obsessing over a series of YA mystery novels about a girl called Sammy Keyes. Of course, there are always writers like Jane Austen. If you want something more serious and socially-minded, Ding Ling is a favorite of mine.

For video games, Monster Tale and Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia are both good choices. Remember Me, which comes out next month, also looks interesting.

In comics and animation, I recommend The Rose of Versaille, Michiko e Hatchin, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and (maybe) Shut Hell. Persepolis is another obvious choice. The 8-bit Theater and Atomic Robo guy is doing a webcomic about a devil-girl cowboy gunslinger over at Nuklearpower.com that's pretty cool. Mobile Police Patlabor has more of an ensemble cast, but most people consider Noa Izumi (who is a woman) to be the main character of everything but the second movie. It's a pretty awesome show about a group of police officers in charge of giant robot crime (it's usually more along the lines of running red lights than trying to destroy the city).

Honestly, I wish I could help you more, but most of my reading lately hasn't been in English, so I can't really recommend the things I've been looking at unless you read Chinese or Japanese.

 

[soren7550]

The Perfect Dark series! Ok, so the games aren't really filled with much story or character development, but the books and the comic series made me fall in love with Miss Dark. She's funny, smart, tough as nails, but still very human. She's suffers greatly after the loss of her father (suffering from Survivor's Guilt), is trying to figure out what to do with her life, and questions herself and her abilities and actions, wondering what it makes her as a person. If you can, track down Perfect Dark: Initial Vector, Perfect Dark: Janus' Tears and Perfect Dark: Second Front as they are most excellent. Also, get the games. You can get Perfect Dark Zero for about $5 USD and that's not bad at all, and you can get the HD remake of Perfect Dark on XBLA for about $10 USD or so.

Spoiler: Just look at mah cosplay of her! I just love this character to bits!

Ooh, that's another great one! And great cosplay, by the way. Going for the Perfect Dark: Zero look? I personally prefer her original design from the promotional renders that Rare did for the first Perfect Dark, but hey, different folks, different strokes and all that. Still, great character. Great games. Awesome story.

Yeah, I went for the Zero look because:
- Looked easier to do than her original look
- Was way easier to get loads of images of her in her Zero attire than her original getup
- The red hair would make me more distinctive
- Zero was one of the major inspirations that made me want to become a writer, so it seemed fitting to do a Joanna cosplay Zero style
- The sexy bothered my brother, so naturally I had to do it to bother him

Out of interest, did you go to Sakura Con this year? Just wondering if I was there with any other escapists :3

Nah. The only con I've ever been to was NYCC (in 2011 and 2012, and I only wore the Joanna cosplay on Saturday NYCC 2011).