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
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.
Taarna
Zoe, Inara, Kaylee, and River. Mic drop.
Leela from Futurama
Xena Warrior Princess
Hermione Granger because I read so little fiction that this is the first woman (?) that comes to mind.
assuming that “strong independent woman” being in the title of the original post counts as someone saying it
Korra and Toph from Avatar, Tsunade and Sakura from Naruto
Roberta “Bobbie” Draper from The Expanse was the first to jump into my head.
Avasarala is my pick
Came here to say Avasarala.
Ripley
Ellen Ripley from the Alien series.
Garnet (Steven Universe)
Linda Hamilton - Terminator
I had to say something different, because I would have said Ripley first.
+1 for each of those, and i’ll add clarice starling, uhura, michael burnham, Evelyn Quan Wang (everything everywhere all at once), helen lyle (candyman)
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.
Major Matoko Kusanagi from the Ghost in the Shell series.