FANTASY GIRLS: TOP 10

(SPECIAL MENTION: FILM & TV)

 

I have my Top 10 Girls of Fantasy & SF but wait – there’s more!

As I noted for that top ten, it was for the girls from fantasy or SF literary works, not those of fantasy or SF in cinema or television, with a couple of caveats.

The first caveat is that they may be adapted in other media – which tended to be the source of the visual representations in art or cosplay that are a large part of my rankings. The second is these special mentions – which I have extended from literary fantasy & SF to include girls from cinematic or television fantasy &SF, albeit often media franchises that have an ‘expanded universe’ often including books.

There’s enough for my usual set of twenty special mentions – indeed, two sets of twenty special mentions, as I also have twenty special mentions for girls of fantasy & SF literature.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

But first a note on the visual images used in this top ten. Given the copyright in such images, I only use a visual image as fair use for the purposes of comment and review in each entry – an iconic feature image to identify the character, either in general or in their most iconic version as I review it to be (or both), typically excerpted from their adaptations on screen or in comics.

As usual I include a special section in each entry under the subtitle of art and cosplay – not for any actual art and cosplay as such but instead where I nominate my favorite artists and cosplay models depicting the character, which you can look up for yourself.

As for my iconic feature image, I chose this still image of actress Beau Garrett as the ‘siren’ Gem in the 2010 Tron Legacy film – reclining in the common SF female pose matching that of the book cover I used for my Top 10 Girls of Fantasy & SF (Special Mentions: Literature).

 

 

(1) GIRLS OF STAR WARS (1977)

 

“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away”, there were a surprisingly prolific number of fantasy girls – enough for the Girls of Star Wars to get their own special mention and top ten (in which I feature the art and cosplay for individual entries.

No prizes for guessing a certain bikini slave girl to rank highly. And of course I’m here for the Twi’lek girls!

May the Force be with you, indeed – these ARE the girls you’re looking for.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

There could only be one choice for my feature image – the iconic scene of Princess Leia as Jabba the Hutt’s slave girl in her equally iconic gold bikini from Return of the Jedi.

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****

S-TIER (GODDESS TIER – OR IS THAT FORCE TIER?)

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(2) GIRLS OF BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (1997)

 

Buffy Summers is arguably the most iconic female figure from fantasy on television, reflecting the significance of her titular series for fantasy on television in general – also arguably television fantasy should be classified as pre-Buffy and post-Buffy. It also has particular significance for TV Tropes – as the TV Tropes article on Buffy acknowledges, “bluntly put, this show is why TV Tropes exists”.

Of course, Buffy so predominates her series as to overshadow other female characters in it but there were a surprisingly prolific number of fantasy girls – or perhaps not so surprisingly given there were seven seasons (as well as the original film) and that I’m including the spinoff series Angel with its five seasons. They are prolific enough for the Girls of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and Angel) to get their own special mention and top ten (in which I feature the art and cosplay for individual entries).

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

For my iconic feature image, I chose the promotional title card for the series also used as the feature image for the TV Tropes article on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****

S-TIER (GOD TIER – OR IS THAT SLAYER TIER?)

 

 

(3) GIRLS OF HORROR (FINAL GIRLS & SCREAM QUEENS)

 

Interestingly, one of the most signature roles for females in fantasy or SF film or TV is in horror – hence the proverbial scream queens for actresses who become associated with horror films, “either through an appearance in a notable entry in the genre as a frequent victim or through constant appearances as the female protagonist”.

Of course, the most proverbial scream queens might well be those associated with slasher horror films – which are nominally not fantasy or SF with their focus on human killers, but the most iconic slashers tend towards being supernatural, at least in effect by their ability of relentless pursuit or survival and escape, if not outright originating or evolving into supernatural or quasi-supernatural figures (such as Jason Vorhees or Freddy Krueger).

Also, many fantasy or SF horror films are slasher films at heart, simply with some supernatural or SF entity substituted for the human slasher. Although equally horror films might be said to be haunted house films at heart – even slasher films, in which a locale (or time) is haunted by the human slasher.

Back to the usage of scream queen, “while the term is more specifically used to refer to the ‘attractive young damsels in distress characters'” that are the lifeblood (heh) of horror, “some are more, if not, downright capable of taking care of themselves”.

Those are usually the so-called final girls, a term “coined by Carol J. Clover in her 1992 book Men, Women, And Chain Saws: Gender In The Modern Horror Film“. As the term implies, this is “the last character left alive to confront the killer”, successfully or otherwise. (If the former, she may not be so lucky in the sequel).

Distinctive or iconic female characters in horror, scream queens, and final girls are so prolific as to not only get this special mention but their own top ten – indeed, potentially quite a few top tens, at least one for each category. That is, a top ten for female characters in horror, a top ten for the actresses themselves as scream queens, and top ten final girls – perhaps even a thematic top ten for the distinctive characteristics or tropes of female roles in horror, scream queens and final girls.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

For my iconic feature image, what else but the promotional poster image for the TV series that leaned into the term for its very title (and premise), Scream Queens?

 

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

 

 

(4) GIRLS OF STAR TREK (1964)

 

“To go boldly where no man has gone before.”

Or no woman – these are the girls of the Starship Enterprise, surprisingly prolific enough for the Girls of Star Trek to get their own special mention and top ten. Not to mention the original green-skinned alien space babes (Orion slave girls) – the source of the trope of that name in TV Tropes.

Live long and prosper. Your mission – to seek out new fantasy girls

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

Although it was a close call with those Orion slave girls, I went with my iconic feature image of Uhura as portrayed by Zoe Saldana on the cover of the IDW comic series set in the universe of the 2009 Star Trek film.

 

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

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(5) MORTICIA & WEDNESDAY ADDAMS –

ADDAMS FAMILY (1938)

 

“They’re creepy and they’re kooky

Mysterious and spooky

They’re altogether ooky

The Addams Family!”

 

And in the case of Morticia and grown-up versions of Wednesday (tending to resemble her mother Morticia), they’re also hot.

Technically, I might have ranked this entry as special mention in my literary Girls of Fantasy & SF to the extent that one might consider the original single panel cartoons in the New Yorker magazine from 1938 onwards as literature – it is the New Yorker after all and literary figures such as James Thurber also published cartoons in it.

However, it is really only with the adaptation as a franchise in TV and film that saw the Addams Family take iconic shape in popular culture – and also take shape as this special mention entry. Apparently, it was the iconic 1960s TV series that gave the characters their enduring names as well as “providing a model for all subsequent versions”:

“A deliberate inversion of the ideal American nuclear family, the Addamses are an obscenely wealthy clan of borderline supernatural beings with a taste for the grotesque and macabre, holding opinions and preferences that tend to be mirror images or inversions of more conventional attitudes. Although visibly different from virtually everyone they encounter, they still perceive themselves as a ‘perfectly normal family’; in fact, they seem somewhat incapable of even noticing that their lifestyle varies widely from that of their neighbors.”

The family matriarch Morticia clearly took iconic shape for this special mention from the outset of her slinky yet serene portrayal by Carolyn Jones in the 1960s TV series. Interestingly, this was an adaptational attractiveness upgrade from the cartoons, at least according to the creator Charles Addams who described her as “a ruined beauty” – although she looks perhaps the closest in his art style of all the family to their TV counterparts. A pale-skinned raven-haired brunette perpetually in a tight black dress reminiscent of a hot vampire or witch – both of which are apparently implied (or inferred by fans).

The portrayal by Carolyn Jones remains my favorite in appearance – with the possible exception of Gwen Jones as young Morticia in the Wednesday TV series.

The daughter of the family, Wednesday…not so much, except to the extent that she was reimagined as grown-up versions of her character – typically resembling her pale-skinned raven-haired mother but retaining her distinctive braided pigtails and often even clothing style of her youth. In terms of persona, the model is less her portrayal in the 1960s TV series than her distinctly darker deadpan snarker portrayal by Christina Ricci in the 1990s films – which carried over into her high school portrayal by Jenna Ortega in the 2020s Wednesday TV series.

Wednesday proved to be something of a breakout character in the 1990s films and has remained so ever since, even in art and cosplay.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

For my iconic feature image, I compiled a collage of the publicity shots for Carolyn Jones as Morticia Addams in the 1960s TV series and for Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams in the 2020s Wednesday TV series.

Sadly no art from Sciamano or Dandonfuga, but both Morticia and Wednesday feature in art by Nathan Szerdy. Otherwise there is more prolific art of Wednesday by my favorite artists – Sun Khamunaki, Elias Chatzoudis, Neoartcore, and Keith Garvey.

While there’s no cosplay by my holy trinity, there is cosplay by Kalinka Fox and By0ru.

 

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

 

(6) BARBIE (1959)

 

“I’m a Barbie girl in the Barbie world

Life in plastic, it’s fantastic”

 

Barbie needs no introduction – you know who she is. Okay, she might need some introduction for her original name (and storyline) as Barbara Millicent Roberts but it is as Barbie that she has become a cultural icon.

She might also need some introduction as to why I have included a line of dolls within the special mentions in film or TV for my Top 10 Girls of Fantasy. In short, that line of dolls has expanded into a multi-media franchise, including animated films and a live-action film with Margot Robbie as the titular character – the latter itself in the nature of absurdist comic fantasy albeit in juxtaposition with the real world. (On a side note, the live action film showed its attention to model, with Barbie’s first appearance imitating that of the first doll in a zebra swimsuit).

However, it goes deeper than that. Even as a doll, she was a fantasy figure. Typically blond and blue-eyed (although she’s had variants even from her original doll which came in both brunette and blond designs), her fantasy figure is just that – a stylized figure that at times has also been the subject of controversy, as among other things, impossible in real life.

She has been imitated and the subject of stock parody since her inception – the latter including parodying herself in the Toy Story films.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

For my iconic feature image, I chose a shot of Margot Robbie as Barbie from the 2023 film in easily her best outfit that film – the pink cowgirl outfit.

That in turn has been the subject of art by Elias Chatzoudis and cosplay by By0ru

 

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

 

 

(7) BARBARELLA (1968)

 

“Like some baby Barbarella…

She’s just a cosmic girl

From another galaxy…

It’s a distant solar system

I tried to phone but they don’t list ’em

So I asked her for a number all the same

She said, step in my transporter

So I can teleport ya

All around my heavenly body” – Jamiroquai, “Cosmic Girl”

 

Jamiroquai may not have been the best lyricist, but it doesn’t matter when you’re that funky. Technically, Barbarella should be in my girls of comics as she originated in a 1962 French comic by Jean-Claude Forrest, although she has since been revived in comics by Dynamite Entertainment since 2017.

However, it’s her adaptation in a 1968 film directed by Roger Vadim with his then wife (and sex symbol) Jane Fonda in the title role that truly earned her place in popular culture and imagination. Both comic and film are set in humanity’s distant future in interstellar space. In the film, it’s about the 40th century, with peace reigning on Earth – but Barbarella is sent to retrieve Dr Durand Durand (who subsequently lent his name to the 1980s pop group), is subjected to various sexual encounters and…I confess, I’ve never seen all the film. It was on television one night when I was a child and my parents sent me to my room when it started to get naughty. “But it’s science fiction!” I protested, partly motivated by my strange new crush on Jane Fonda. And I’ve never seen it since. Damn you, parental guidance!

I’ve dreamed of Barbarella ever since.

Even more so as it’s now apparently being remade with Sydney Sweeney in the title role.

 

ART  & COSPLAY

 

For my iconic feature image, I of course chose Barbarella as incarnated by Jane Fonda in the film poster.

There is a range of Barbarella art from her comics, particularly in their present incarnation as published by Dynamite Entertainment. There’s also cosplay of her, although interestingly the best cosplay for me is that of Fonda’s film version.

 

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

*

 

 

 

(8) ELVIRA (1981)

 

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark!

“When you hear the name Elvira, one thing immediately comes to mind – the quick-witted valley girl, Halloween icon, and quintessential symbol of all things spooky: Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.”

The stage name of redhead Cassandra Peterson as raven-haired TV show “horror host” – she “emerged as one of the most original and outrageous characters in popular culture, with a large cult following”.

Incredibly, Elvira as horror host launched her as the focus of a multi-media franchise – that includes her own films and comics.

 

Not to mention signature gags based on her cleavage or decolletage:

The sassy lassy with the classy chassis!

The girl who put the “boob” back in the “boob tube!”

The gal with the enormous…er, ratings!

The peace (piece) that everyone’s dying to rest in!

Every Trickers’ Treat!

The gal with the shape that drives men ape!

That chick who put the “rack” in “Dracula!”

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

For my iconic feature image, it was straightforward enough – I chose Elvira as she appears in the poster for her 1988 film.

There is surprisingly prolific Elvira art – from her various series of comics of course, with her present comics published by Dynamite Entertainment.

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RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

*

 

 

 

(9) XENA (1995)

 

Before Buffy, there was Xena as the archetypal fantasy female warrior, encapsulated in the subtitle of her titular TV series – Warrior Princess.

Xena was essentially the Red Sonja to Hercules’ Conan, originating as a warlord villain in the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, but proving so popular with fans that the producers gave her a spinoff series with her as a protagonist wandering hero like Hercules, repenting her former villainy.

She doesn’t quite do Red Sonja’s chainmail bikini but comes pretty close with some of her outfits, including her signature leather battledress.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

For my iconic feature image, I chose a shot of Lucy Lawless as Xena in iconic pose and battledress from the TV series.

 

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

*

*

 

 

(10) SANTANICO PANDEMONIUM – FROM DUSK TILL DAWN (1996)

 

“Bow your head! Kneel and worship at the feet of Santanico Pandemonium!”

Emphasis on the feet, as it is a Tarantino film after all – literally pouring tequila down her foot into the mouth of Tarantino’s character (Richie Gecko). In fairness, my preference would be to take all my tequila shots poured over Salma Hayek as well.

And yes – I have knelt and worshipped at her feet ever since that iconic snake dance scene in From Dusk Till Dawn. I mean, she’s only in the film for a few minutes and everyone remembers that scene, even if they don’t remember anything else. It’s arguably her breakout role – that or Desperado – and she’s certainly been etched into my psyche from that scene. Although in fairness, Eiza Gonzalez also filled out the role nicely in the TV series.

All hail the Aztec vampire queen! Okay, the strip club she rules over as vampire queen feasting on its customers may be literally built on an Aztec pyramid – as revealed in the closing scenes of the first film – but the subsequent films clarified her origin to Mexico after independence. However, the TV series restored her Meso-American origin. She owes her name to the 1975 Mexican nunsploitation horror film Satanico Pandemonium – and I always think the franchise missed the golden opportunity to link Santanico’s backstory to the nuns and convent in the former film.

I suppose technically Santanico should be included among my girls of horror but she deserves special mention all to herself.

 

ART & COSPLAY

As for my iconic feature image, what else could it be but that iconic scene with Salma and the snake in the original film?

However, despite those few minutes of screen appearance, she has endured in art and cosplay – with my favorites for art being that of Rory Phillips or Eric Basaldua (Ebas), and for cosplay being that of Octokuro, although there is a lot of standout Santanico cosplay to be found.

 

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

 

(11) LEELOO – THE FIFTH ELEMENT (1997)

 

“Multi-pass!”

What more do I need to say? If you’ve seen the Fifth Element, you know Leeloo and this line.

Played to perfection by Mila Jovovich, Leeloominaï Lekatariba Lamina-Tchaï Ekbat De Sebat – Leeloo in short – is the titular fifth element (after the four classical elements of earth, air, water and fire) or perfect being, weapon against the Great Evil, the fiery ball of destruction heading towards Earth in the twenty-third century (which somehow can phone ahead of its trajectory).

She is perhaps most iconic in her original bandage babe costume – her thermal bandages and nothing else – but there’s also her other main outfit, the one with cropped white t-shirt, leggings, boots and suspenders.

 

ART & COSPLAY

As for my iconic feature image, what else but her iconic “Multi-pass” scene (in her main outfit with leggings, boots and suspenders).

 

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

 

 

(12) GIRLS OF THE MATRIX – PERSEPHONE

 

She is the One!

Look, I’m not hear to tell you about the Matrix films. After all, no one can be told about the Matrix, they have to see it for themselves.

However, I will tell you about the top girl of the Matrix, even if she is in the sequels that I prefer to ignore when it comes to the films themselves.

But what about Trinity, I hear you ask?  To paraphrase Martin from The Simpsons, I’m aware of her work.

But seriously – I’m not saying that she’s unattractive and I totally dig her cyberpunk girl aesthetic, it’s just that her actress Carrie-Ann Moss just doesn’t do it for me, particularly when Monica Belucci’s Persephone is in the same room as her.

 

ART & COSPLAY

As for my iconic feature image, I went with Monica Belucci as Peresphone with Lambert Wilson as her partner Merovingian in her iconic costume from Matrix: Revolutions.

 

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

 

 

 

(13) RIVER TAM – FIREFLY / SERENITY (2002)

 

Joss Whedon’s space Western TV series that sadly did not reach the same acclaim or popularity as Buffy.

It did however replay his propensity for action girls and waif fu, to borrow the tropes from TV Tropes – represented in this series by Summer Glau’s River Tam, effectively designed as a (psychic) human weapon.

 

ART & COSPLAY

For my iconic feature image, I went with Summer Glau as River Tam in iconic pose and promotional image.

 

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

 

 

 

(14) SELENE – UNDERWORLD (2003)

 

It doesn’t get much vampier than Kate Beckinsale in black leather.

She’s pretty much the only reason people watched this film franchise and the only thing people remember about it. Okay, there was some backstory of a war between vampires and werewolves waged over centuries. Well, that and they swapped her out for Rhona Mitra in the prequel third film. Yes – I know Rhona wasn’t Selene but another character (Vamp) Sonja and she vamped up nicely as well.

 

ART & COSPLAY

For iconic feature image, the film posters generally focused on Selene as their star attraction and hence was spoilt for choice, but ultimately went with the film poster for Underworld Evolution as my favorite (and perhaps best encapsulating her vampiness in leather).

 

 

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

 

 

(15) TERMINATRIX – TERMINATOR (2003)

 

Or, ah, terminatrices – Kristanna Loken as the T-X in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Summer Glau as Cameron (named as tribute to James Cameron) in the Sarah Connor Chronicles TV series.

They can terminate me any time.

If only Skynet had just used teminatrices, it probably would have wiped out the human resistance – or at least the ones with a male gaze.

Between River Tam and Cameron, I almost considered a special mention entry for Summer Glau.

 

ART & COSPLAY

For iconic feature image, I compiled a collage of representative images of Kristanna Loken as the T-X in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Summer Glau as Cameron in the Sarah Connor Chronicles

 

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

 

(16) JESSICA HAMBY – TRUE BLOOD (2008)

 

Yes – I know True Blood was adapted from the Sookie Stackhouse / Southern Vampire Mysteries series of books but Jessica was a character entirely original to the TV series adapted from those books.

 

ART & COSPLAY

For iconic feature image, I again compiled a collage of a promotional image of Deborah Woll as Jessica Hamby in the TV series and cover art of her character by J. Scott Campbell of the IDW comics adaptation.

 

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

 

 

(17) BABY DOLL – SUCKER PUNCH (2011)

 

Terrible film showcasing Snyder’s worst flaws as director and writer but Emily Browning’s Baby Doll character was iconic in art and cosplay.

 

ART & COSPLAY

Speaking of which, I chose Baby Doll as she appears front and center in the film’s promotional art for its poster.

For art, she’s been depicted by Elias Chatzoudis among my favorite artists.

And for cosplay, by Kato Punk and Katyuska Moonfox among my favorite models.

 

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

 

(18) QUORRA – TRON: LEGACY (2010)

 

Portrayed by Olivia Wilde in the Tron sequel film, she’s not quite my favorite trope of robot girl but close – she’s a program or algorithm within a virtual reality world. I wish more algorithms looked like this.

 

ART & COSPLAY

As it says in the caption!

 

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

 

 

(19) JOI – BLADE RUNNER 2049 (2017)

 

“You look lonely. I can fix that”.

Everyone’s favorite holographic girlfriend. It’s Ana de Armas after all.

I particularly like the cute little dance she does in one of her ubiquitous advertisements that you glimpse for only a few seconds – it helps to have seen the behind the scenes footage (itself only a few seconds).

Despite being a holograph, the protagonist’s customized version of her has her own personality – and you really feel the scene of her (2017 spoiler alert) “death”.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

What else for feature image (and quote) but the iconic film scene of the giant Joi advertisement interacting with the protagonist – “You look lonely. I can fix that”?

Of course, that’s not his Joi, lost to him by this point in the film (really K, you couldn’t have had her set to regularly saving a backup copy of herself?) but one of the ubiquitous Joi advertisements we see in the film, programmed to respond to passers-by and a poignant reminder of the Joi he has lost.

 

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

 

 

(20) NEYTIRI – AVATAR (2009)

 

Sigh – I suppose I have to have an entry for the blue space catgirl, so here she is wrapping up my special mentions. Even if she’s a little bit…furry for my preference.

I also suppose we’d all be more environmentally conscious if we all could literally plug ourselves into the planet and all got blue space catgirls. Avatar replaced “where’s my jetpack?” or “where’s my flying car?” with “where’s my blue space catgirl?” as quip for reality not matching up with SF.

 

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)