Numbers 25 - 21

25. Pippi Longstocking (Pippi Longstocking)

Didn’t we already have a red-haired children’s book character? Nine year old Pippi is a cheeky little girl, but can you blame her? She wasn’t really given an opportunity to learn much on her dad’s ship. Except how to cook for herself…and clean the house…and care for her pets…okay, maybe she did learn some useful skills. Having unexplained super strength is certainly an added bonus too. Pippi and her friends Tommy and Annika have many adventures together, much to their mother Mrs. Settergren’s disapproval. Jeez lady, given Pippi’s strength, and what most of the other redheads on this list are capable of, are you sure that’s a good idea?

24. Lisbeth Salander (Millennium series)

It’s amazing that the two Swedish redheads on this list are not only in the same post, they’re consecutive (yes, Lisbeth has red hair, she just dyes it). Speaking of Pippi, Steig Larsson actually said in his one and only interview about the series that Lisbeth is what he thought Pippi would be like as an adult. That would be quite a transformation, considering Lisbeth Salander is an extremely intelligent computer hacker, as well as an anti-social, chain-smoking bisexual badass. How, you ask? In several ways, including but not limited to: allowing herself to get raped so she could torture and blackmail said rapist without him retaliating (and when he does, it backfires. Badly); beating the crap out of two much larger bikers; and nailing a guy’s feet to the floor, calling a biker gang that want him dead to tell them where he is, then calling the cops that want the biker gang to tell them where THEY are.

23. River Tam (Firefly)

Is there a reason scientists in fiction feel the need to experiment on helpless children? River was an exceptionally smart and talented child, excelling at everything she ever did. Then “The Academy” happened, where they experimented on her and basically drove her mad. Luckily, she managed to tell her brother Simon before she went completely crazy. The two end up on the ship Serenity (owned by not very legitimate businessman Malcolm Reynolds), making them even more on the lam than before. I think now’s as good a time as any to point out that River is psychic, and The Academy screwed up her mental health (mainly by taking away the part of her brain that feels emotions. As in, the things she needs to feel guilt over murdering you). So…have fun trying to harm the crew of Serenity. You’re going to need it.

22. Xena (Xena: Warrior Princess)

I can’t count how many characters on this list probably just got on here because of their title. Xena used to be a villain, terrorising everywhere she went with as much violence as she could. All that changed, however, when Hercules convinced her that she doesn’t need to kill to prove she’s a warrior. She soon goes on to try to redeem herself, despite many people being sceptical of her (her reputation as heartless killing machine was a little bit more well-known than her soft side, to the point where even her own mother didn’t believe her).

21. Leela (Futurama)

Three X-Men on this list, and Leela still manages to be the top mutant. She has the will of the warrior, despite what any martial arts trainer might say. Leela is the pilot of a giant spaceship, despite her obvious handicap of having one eye and no depth perception. She’s about the only competent member of the Planet Express delivery crew. And let’s face it: you cheer any time she punches Zapp Brannigan, don’t you?