(Originally posted on July 18, 2013. Don’t think my mindset has changed much. Though, the one comment about my female villains not being whores kind of changes thanks to Desirae Duvall in War of Nytefall. I do think there has been a shift in regards to female heroes since I made this post. I’ve been seeing more female heroes who are designed to be perfect or simply . . . men without the naughty bits. It’s like the uniqueness of writing an evil woman has been replaced by boring, standard ‘evil person’ tendencies.)
One of the big things about Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower is the introduction of Nyx and Trinity. They are the female spellcasters for both sides of the conflict and I think they’re badasses. Very powerful and very tough while still retaining their femininity. I’m proud of how they turned out because they are the types of female characters that I love to read. I will mention that I read mostly fantasy and action, so this is going to be a light combat-skewed.
I think of the Mr. & Mrs. Smith fight scenes when I consider this topic. Not because of the banter and the flow of it. Those are good, but I love how there is not a single point where Angelina Jolie’s character felt weak or overpowered. This was done without making Brad Pitt’s character come off as weak. They are even in terms of skill, physicality, and determination. She gives as good as she gets and the movie wasn’t afraid to she her taking a shot. I think female heroes shouldn’t be treated with kid gloves and should be shown taking a hit. More importantly, taking a hit and fighting back. I’m not talking about taking a hit, crying, and then doing a cheap shot. That makes a female character cunning, but rather weak.
Focusing on the giving part of the equation, I love it when a female character can take out a male character without converting to a masculine version of herself. Speed, agility, skill, and grace over power and brawn. Even better if both characters are cunning because that makes either of their victory a lot sweeter. It’s strange how people still do the weak female character or turn them into a tough, heartless bitch that will inevitably be thawed by the male lead. I think I threw up a bit on that one. Give me my Xena’s, Fiona from Burn Notice, and Buffy. Still moments of sensitivity, but they will happily beat the crap out of someone that crosses them.
The third factor of a female character that makes me enjoy her is the retention of her female mentality while still being a badass. I’m not talking beating people up while breast-feeding, which is a scene written by someone in college that I shall never cleanse from my mind. I mean the character can be emotional in a tender, gentle way when the situation calls for it. She doesn’t get confused when a guy hugs her after she’s killed a band of orcs. She hugs him back and makes a joke about getting blood on him. I say this should go for male characters too if you’re aiming for the sensitive hero. Sensitivity does not equal weak, which is an assumption that has to stop.
Finally, I love my female villains to be smart, but still able to fail and not be whores. I’ve noticed a trend with many female villains that they are one of two types. They are either the seductive ho villain or they are so smart and perfect that you can’t believe they’re going to be defeated. It’s like the writers are either misogynistic (that right?) or are terrified to make a female villain that is as bungling as some of the male villains. I’m looking at you Gargamel and Skeletor. I want my female villains to be as realistic as my male villains with the same amount of smarts, evil, confidence, and touch of ineptitude. That might sound strange, but it makes me enjoy the character even more.
Heck, I like it when my female heroes have the same level of ineptitude of a male hero.
That’s why Nyx is about as flawed as Luke Callindor in terms of personality. She might not have his ego and recklessness, but she has that nasty temper.
So, I like my female characters to be smart, flawed, able to take a hit, and able to go toe-to-toe with the male characters. What do you look for in female characters?
Legends of Windemere 
A very interesting discussion. I agree with you about having heroines who are capable without making them caricatures.
There has been a ton of discussion lately about what makes a strong heroine. Fan backlash against certain females in movies and the emasculation of certain male characters has birthed many YouTube videos. Many point to the trio of hunters in Kpop Demon Hunters as having a good balance between fighting prowess and femininity. I agree with this assessment.
I like a character who has strengths and weaknesses. I usually stop reading a book or watching a show or movie where the main character easily defeats everyone, never grows in wisdom, never hones her skills, and never experiences a moment of vulnerability. Even Superman has moments of vulnerability through his relationships and his weakness to kryptonite.
LikeLike
I haven’t seen Kpop yet. Still on the fence if it’s my thing, but I have little time to watch stuff these days. Maybe when I hit a long break.
I think a swing to better female characters is happening due to the surge of ‘perfect’ ones who were made to look stronger by surrounding them with idiotic men. The ones who excelled did great things alongside capable males without being a sidekick. Black Widow comes to mind.
LikeLike
I like my female characters to be as you described. When they are as dumb or as smart as the males I think it makes a better story.
LikeLike
True. They need to be just as human as the males.
LikeLiked by 1 person
😊
LikeLike
I don’t like when the female character relys on the man or is represented as a brainless shadow that just sobs and cries and is useless.
Women are strong and capable, and under pressure, we can find power and fortitude we never knew we had.
I took a feminism class in college when I re-enrolled to start working on a new degree, and one of the essays I wrote was based on the Bechdel test.
It is absolutely jaw dropping how many movies fail this little test in their representation of women. Even female-centric movies like A Quiet Place II and Day One, which appear on the surface to feature strong female leads, fail this test.
Ripley and Sarah Connor are some of the greatest examples of strong female leads and they started off as women just doing their work and get mixed up in craziness and live up to kicking butt. Fantastic characters for sure and women are represented like that few and far between in films.
One of my favorite characters to compare modern female leads to is Scarlett O’Hara. She is a whiny, annoying teenager who just pretty much wants to impress the boys, and then she lives through war, death, starvation, suffering and child loss (twice). It’s interesting to see her change and growth as a character, although things don’t exactly work out for her in the end. She’s still strong enough to determine that tomorrow is another day and she can focus on problem solving then.
One character that bothers me is Brianne of Tarth. She’s powerful and fierce, likeable and loyal…. And bad writing in Season 8 leaves her sobbing and crying? Come on. Please.
Not every woman needs to be written purely with the sole purpose of being the prize the man gets in the end.
LikeLike
I do agree, but I’ve always had issues with how people use the Bechdel Test. Mostly, many people have issues if there is even one conversation of many about a man. I get it if that’s all they talk about and romance isn’t the main plot. Yet, I’ve seen people get upset when it happens once with female characters who have discussed other things. Relationships and romance are part of life, so it is a viable topic if it pertains to the story even as a character-building subplot.
Many authors create an alternative that ends up being an overcorrection. You get women with no emotions and sometimes men who are overly emotional. It’s done to the point where it feels like parody. People end up praising this for passing the test even if the characters aren’t very good due to the main goal being the Bechdel pass.
I’m also confused on why male characters get a pass on talking about women. Some complain it’s objectification of women while others call it romantic. I know part of it is because older fiction had women solely as love interests. So there is a focus on them being more to inspire girls to become independent and strong. What positives do they get from reading about only male characters talking about the opposite sex? To me, it brings up thoughts of saying women need to be pursued while they live their lives. Kind of intrusive.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think your recipe card is still valid. Write people first and foremost. We’ve drifted into a weird era of the girl boss who in recent years has become a Mary Sue. It’s okay for them to suffer wounds and failures, even if they overcome in the end.
LikeLike
It’s a weird time. I remember plenty of female leads from growing up. They were flawed like male heroes. It made them more interesting. Then, they vanished for a bit and reappeared as flawless.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Female heros should not be men with boobs. Neither should they be weak, crying and helpless. They should be just as rounded as their male compatriots.
LikeLike
Totally agree. I was trying to think of what may have caused the surge of ‘woman being men with boobs’ thing. Wonder if it’s because there was always an Internet outcry whenever a female action hero cried or showed any sense of helplessness in a situation. It drove creators, many of who are terrified of bad reviews, to eliminate all sense of weakness from female characters. The irony is that many of the people complaining before and cheering now never went to see the new stuff. Maybe these people got social media hits over the gender-based controversies, so they wanted to keep it going. Supporting anything to grant a financial success could hurt that. To be fair, I feel like I’m trying to think like a sociopath and it’s weird.
LikeLiked by 1 person