Ellen Ripley

Sigourney Weaver’s protagonist across 4 movies in the Alien series is perhaps the definitive kick-ass onscreen woman. She’s an inspiration to all of us, seeing as she was the sole survivor after her ship was infiltrated by a killer alien. In fact, not only was she a survivor, but she actually blew the son of a bitch out of the airlock. AND she did it at least partially in her underwear, which is really just an added bonus. Don’t hurt me, please.

Sarah Connor

Even more so than Ripley, the heroine of the first two Terminator movies has quite an evolution from unassuming girl to horrifying warrior/possible crazy person. In The Terminator, Sarah is a suburban waitress who becomes the target of a cyborg from the future sent to murder her before she gives birth to the savior of humankind. In Terminator 2, she’s confined to a mental asylum and will crack your face open with a broken broom handle just as soon as not. And that’s before she gets out and starts using guns and explosives and stuff.

Xena, Warrior Princess

I don’t really remember much about Xena. She had throwing discs, and she hung out with Hercules, and she got into lots of fights, and she had a girlfriend? Sounds like a kick-ass woman to me. I bet she’d like me if she got to know me (although maybe she thinks the same thing about me, like I said it’s been a while since I watched the show).