As someone who writes/talks about super-heroes all the time, I have a strange dilemma: I hate, hate HATE the term “heroine”, but calling someone a “female hero: makes me feel like the Grand Nagus Zek. Synonymically speaking, “woman hero” might work, but it sounds so clinical, while “lady hero” sounds condescending, leaving me with limited options to describe some of the best characters of all: Storm, with her complete control of meteorological phenomena; Wonder Woman, whose power is rivaled only by that Kryptonian kid; Fantomah, mystery woman of the jungle, with powers comparable to Wonder Boy unrivaled by anyone who isn’t a Super-Wizard. Any or all of them could be considered the top of the pops, leading to today’s femme fatale query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) generally prefers to call women who are heroic “heroes,” but that’s another, mildly sanctimonious argument entirely, asking: Who’s the greatest female hero of all?
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My mom. But, when it comes to fictional ones its Gabby, or Honey Badger. She has power almost no modern comic book characters have ever had: Instant likeabilty, both in and out of fictional universe.
I’m going to swerve and pick a non-super hero: Lt. Ripley. She earns the title of most bad-a and is instantly recognizable throughout the world.