The Renaissance of movie and TV tie-in action figures arrived in 2013 with Funko’s classic Kenner-style ReAction figure line. Other companies focus on single licensed figures and getting the likenesses spot-on, but Funko’s diversification of lines meant everyone could find something that fit their personal niche at an affordable price point. A true throwback series, one of the overlooked features of the line is the incredible variety of no-names-taken, classic kick-ass heroines represented.
In fact you can find here the top of the world’s best, in-your-face, take-no-prisoners, genre heroines. Buy them for yourself, for your friends, or get your favorite as a totem to inspire you each day from your desktop. And where the early sculpts in Funko’s line admittedly looked nothing like the actresses that made the roles famous, the new lines have only improved. And nobody has better packaging designs than the ReAction line.
Who would you add to the Funko roster of heroines? Compare your list to our more than 85 suggestions for future kick-ass women action figures below.
First, check out this Baker’s Dozen of our favorites in the current Funko pantheon:
Sarah Connor from Terminator 2. Funko even has Connor’s earlier incarnation from the first film in the series, but has any heroine anywhere ever been as tough as Connor in Terminator 2? We don’t think so.
Ellen Ripley from Alien. We liked her even better in the sequel Aliens, but you can’t deny no one takes on otherworldly baddies like Ripley.
Uhura from the original Star Trek. How can you top the first woman of the Final Frontier? We met Nichelle Nichols in person and she is all that you’d expect from this ambassador to an optimistic tomorrow.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It will always be in the running for the best genre TV series ever. Joss Whedon’s put-upon leader of a modern Scooby Gang showed us how to fight and win when the odds are stacked against you. And your city was built on a Hell Mouth.
Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. First just a meek sidekick, Willow came into her own in the middle seasons of the series.
Black Canary. She’s always been one of our favorites, and the CW’s Arrow is just the latest version of the Star City crime fighter from the DC Universe. We even approve of her latest bad guy-beating outfit.
Zoe Washburne. Tough, loyal. A good soldier and unflinching in protecting her crew and Captain of the Firefly class vessel, Serenity.
Kaylee Frye. A loyal and protective shipmate, a mechanic who kept her ship in order and always got what she was after.
Leeloo Dallas. Thousands of years we waited, then Leeloo came to save the world from itself in The Fifth Element. And don’t miss her variant outfit.
Diva Plavalaguna. An opera singer who was a trusted contact of the Mondoshawans, she protected the elemental stones with her life, allow Leeloo to save Earth from the Mangalore mercenaries.
Gracie Law. She saved her friend from a sex traffic kidnapping in Big Trouble in Little China and helps Jack Burton along the way.
What makes a great heroine? Who should Funko add to their action figure line? We came up with 85. How about these: Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Veronica Mars, Jackie Brown, Bo, Kenzie, and Tamsin from Lost Girl, Morticia Addams, Emma Peel, Calisto from Xena, Warrior Princess, Piper, Phoebe, Pru, and Paige from Charmed, Fiona from Burn Notice, Parker from Leverage, Aeon Flux, Miss Fury, Selene from Underworld, Samantha from Bewitched, Alice from Resident Evil, Ultraviolet, Yu Shu Lien from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, River Song, Madam Vastra, and Jenny from Doctor Who, Dejah Thoris from John Carter, River Tam from Firefly, Anna Valerius from Van Helsing, Liv Moore from iZombie, Daphne and Velma from Scooby Doo, Yori and Quorra from Tron, Dutch from Killjoys, Digger from StarCrossed, Rachael, Pris, and Zhora from Blade Runner, Trigger Girl 6, Cameron Phillips from The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Xenia Onatopp from GoldenEye, May Day from A View to a Kill, Kahlen Amnell from Legend of the Seeker, and The Bride from Kill Bill.
Many action figures representing female characters at the top of many fans’ lists have been available for a while now, like Princess Leia and Seven of Nine (although we expect to see both arrive in future Funko series), Black Widow from The Avengers, Baroness from G.I. Joe, Trinity from The Matrix, Xena Warrior Princess, Merida from Brave, Mulan, Lara Croft, Katniss from The Hunger Games, The Honey Trap Army, Eowyn, Galadriel, and Arwyn from The Lord of the Rings, Tauriel from The Hobbit, Michonne from The Walking Dead, Gamora from Guardians of the Galaxy, Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones, Marion Ravenwood from Raiders of the Lost Ark, Storm, Rogue, The Scarlet Witch, Mystique, Emma Frost, and Kitty Pryde, from X-Men, Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, Elizabeth Swann from Pirates of the Caribbean, Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, Jane Austin’s Emma, Dorothy Gale, Barb Wire, Tank Girl, Huntress, Captain Marvel, Hawkgirl, Elektra, Red Sonja, Silk Spectre, Vampirella, Witchblade, Shanna, Thor, Supergirl, Zatanna, Batwoman, Catwoman, and, of course, Wonder Woman. Adalind Schade and Kelly Burkhardt from Grimm. And we could come up with more than 100 from the Star Trek series alone.
Should Funko also add some anti-heroes and villains like The Wicked Witch of the West, Harley Quinn, and Ursa from Superman II?
So who did we miss from your list?
C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com
