Gallery: Hunger Games Star Shoots to Top of Action Heroine Hot List
01the-hunger-games
With her trusty bow and arrow, reality-show sharpshooter Katniss Everdeen drives *The Hunger Games* with a fierce tomboy energy rarely seen on the big screen. The teen hunter can nail a squirrel or split an apple from 100 yards away and she's quick to slam a guy against the wall when he announces his affections on national TV. But Katniss also comes to the gladiator bloodbath that is the Hunger Games fully loaded with compassion. Powered by Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss portrayal, [*The Hunger Games*](http://www.thehungergamesmovie.com/) is expected to generate *Twilight*-level box-office numbers — something that could bring a potential sea change in the way movie studios [perceive the bankability of female action stars](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2012/03/katniss-everdeen-hollywood-heroines/). Dressed to kill, not to seduce, Katniss joins a long line of heroines who've made a mark in the guy-centric universe of action, sci-fi and horror. To celebrate these ass-kicking role models, past and present, Wired decided to revisit and [its brief history of the toughest women in movies, TV, comic books and videogames](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2010/07/gallery-female-ass-kickers/). Check out our picks in the gallery above and let us know your favorite female heroines in the comments below. __Above:__ Katniss Everdeen ---------------- Jennifer Lawrence became the obvious choice to play reluctant warrior Katniss Everdeen after picking up an Oscar nomination for *Winter's Bone*. In that 2010 indie flick, she showed smarts and determination as a teenager who fights for the survival of her impoverished Ozark Mountain family. By channeling a more athletic brand of understated heroism into *Hunger Games*' futuristic fantasy, Lawrence stays true to the literary source material. Katniss is not a people pleaser by nature. "I don't know how to make people like me," Katniss states early on in the film, which of course only makes her that much more likable. Her tough determination wins over couch potato nation with a combination of predatory cunning and righteous compassion, both on real-world theater screens and in her home country of Panem.
Merrick Morton02girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-2
Lisbeth Salander (American film adaptation) -------------------------------------------- Following in the ferociously anti-social footsteps of Noomi Rapace, who portrayed the surly investigative hacker in the original Swedish film adaptation of *The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo*, Rooney Mara sustained plenty of tension under the direction of David Fincher. In place of credibility-defying superhero shenanigans, Rooney's Lisbeth used wile to avenge her tormenter in one of the year's most unsettling sequences.
03angelina-jolie-salt-0
Evelyn Salt ----------- Angelina Jolie extended her reputation as one of the few women who can single-handedly carry an action movie when she starred in 2010's CIA-themed Salt. Jolie’s lithe Agent Salt races through the movie in hyper-athletic chase scenes and smack-downs that leave a trail of bloodied male antagonists in her wake.
04starbuck-1
Starbuck -------- Katee Sackhoff gender-switched the [Battlestar Galactica](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlestar_Galactica) character played by Dirk Benedict for the original TV series. When *BSG* rebooted in 2003, Sackhoff quickly overcame skeptics with her tomboy take on Kara “Starbuck” Thrace. The actress took flight as a tough, smart, complicated pilot able to kick ass and soul search with equal conviction. __See Also:__ - [Strong Women Steer *Battlestar Galactica*'s Final Voyage](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2009/01/women-steer-bat/)
05red-sonja-2-1
Red Sonja --------- Introduced in Marvel Comics' Conan the Barbarian, swords-and-sorcery hellion [Red Sonja](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sonja) got incarnated on screen in 1985 by great Dane Brigitte Nielsen. More recently, filmmaker Robert Rodriguez produced concept art picturing his girlfriend Rose McGowan as the chain-mailed warrior in a movie slated for 2011. __See Also:__ - [First Peek at Rose McGowan as She-Warrior *Red Sonja*](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2008/07/first-glimpse-o/)
06subject-zero
Jack, aka ‘Subject Zero’ ------------------------ The [*Mass Effect 2* role-playing game](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_Effect_2) numbers among its myriad mutants the biotic "Subject Zero" Jack, who also shows up in Dark Horse Comics' [*Mass Effect Redemption*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_Effect%3A_Redemption) spin-off.
07witchblade
Witchblade ---------- Megan Fox grew up idolizing Top Cow's tough chick Witchblade, portrayed on TV by Yancy Butler. Especially popular in Japan in manga and anime form, Witchblade comics have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide since 1995. Top Cow Productions has spent years developing a motion picture about the woman gifted with a supernaturally high-powered glove. __See Also:__ - [*Witchblade* Publisher Cuts Movie Deal](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2008/05/witchblade-crea/)
08xena
Xena ---- Statuesque New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless filled out Xena’s tight skirts and leather vests with brawn and brains. The character first appeared in the 1995 to 1999 television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys before getting her own [TV show](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xena). Making no apologies for Xena’s rib-cracking approach to problem-solving, Lawless remains a force to be reckoned with in Starz’s blood-and-sex-drenched Spartacus series.
09tank-girl-apocalypse
Tank Girl --------- Birthed by *Deadline* magazine, this antisocial teenager harbored a fondness for machine guns and mutant kangaroos on the printed page before Lori Petty brought the character to life in 1995’s [Tank Girl film](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114614/).
10lara-croft-2-0
Lara Croft ---------- Videogame heroine Lara Craft became a pop-culture sensation when Angelina Jolie took on the character for [one good *Tomb Raider* movie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0146316/) and a so-so sequel.
11hack-slash
Cassie Hack ----------- The star of Devil’s Due Publishing’s [*Hack/Slash*](http://www.myspace.com/hack_slash) graphic novel series, avenging feminist Cassie Hack takes sex ‘n’ violence for a wild ride aimed at ruining the lives of abusive creeps. Hollywood studios are currently circling a script that would propel Cassie to the big screen.
12ripley
Ripley ------ Sigourney Weaver smoked, snarled and ripped the guts out of alien interlopers in the first three Alien movies. A feminist sci-fi icon, Ripley effectively upended the eye-candy apple cart for years to come.
13alice
Alice ----- Milla Jovovich cranked up her survivalist adrenaline for a swarm of gun-toting film adventures based on the Resident Evil videogames.
14mystique
Mystique --------- Marvel Comics’ *X-Men* series features a bevy of strong female mutants, but in 2004’s X-2 movie, [Rebecca Romijn](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005381/)’s portrayal of blue baddie Mystique gave form to what is arguably the greatest supervillain costume ever devised.
