Okay, before I show you my list, let me assure you that I am not sexist. But for some reason the characters I like most always turn out to be women. So get ready for my amazon brigade!
I'd like to start with the single most perfect and amazing character in the history of movies:
ALICE (Resident Evil movies)
... kidding, KIDDING!! Put away the knives! Enough fooling around, here they are (in no particular order):
1) Lara Croft (Tomb Raider)
I realise it's a little awkward to say that you like Lara Croft these days, because there are at least three different versions of her. Well, I don't care, I love them all, mostly because of how profoundly that woman with the twin pistols has influenced me since the day she saw the light of day. She took this videogame world filled with mostly male heroes, where female characters only existed to be saved by the aforementioned heroes, and turned it upside down.
2) Natla (Tomb Raider)
My favourite female videogame villain, although it took a remake of her first game to make me realise that. Smart, powerful and always a step ahead, with an intriguing back-story.
3) Cate Archer (No One Lives Forever)
A female spy in the 60's, quick-witted, well-dressed and cool. What has always fascinated me the most about her is her tendency to get into the most impossible life-threatening situations, and out again without a scratch, but not in some unrealistic manner like in Resident Evil, where people just fall down fifteen stories and don't even get hurt, but by using her brain and disguised gadgets. I think I fell in love with her the moment she started throwing explosive lipsticks around.
4) Grumpy Cat
I realise the real cat is nothing like the character they created for the media, but it's that fictional character I'm talking about. She's just awesome.
5) Elsa (Frozen)
My favourite Disney princess from my favourite Disney movie of all time. Many people find Frozen overrated as hell, and with the media constantly shoving it down our throats, I can understand where they're coming from. But I just love Elsa's personality and emancipated attitude, especially considering that she's a Disney princess, and her song "Let it go" could have been written by or for me, that's how well I can identify with it.
6) Sue Sylvester (Glee)
Another villain for a change. She's so comically and ridiculously evil, I don't even know where to start. With her one-liners and nicknames for other characters, she just steals everybody's show.
7) Shannon Beiste (Glee)
A big female rugby coach with a preference to chicken meat who shows us that a woman doesn't have to be young, thin and pretty to be beautiful and strong. Unfortunately what they've done with her in the sixth season pretty much throws away everything her character used to stand for, but since said season has messed up quite a few things, I'd say let's just ignore it.
8) Elizabeth Bennet (Pride & Prejudice)
The coolest 19th century female I know. Witty, intelligent and unwilling to bow down to unreasonable authority figures, I suppose she was written as some kind of role model for women in Jane Austen's time period, but she's not flawless either, being stubborn, a horrible judge of character and filled with prejudices (hence the name of her novel). But those flaws are part of what makes her so interesting.
9) Katniss Everdeen (Hunger Games)
Suzanne Collins has managed to create what I call a realistic heroine. She's clever, she can fight, she leads the rebellion and never gives up even when the odds are not in her favour, but she's still human, and all she really wants is to survive. Fittingly, I always think of her when I hear the song "I will survive".
An honourable mention goes to Felicity Smoak (Arrow) and Barry Allen (Flash), who I like for pretty much the same reasons, but they're especially adorable when put in the same room.
You might have noticed that I didn't include any Resident Evil characters in my list. Well, while I think that many of them are interesting and have great potential, that potential isn't really used most of the time, so I wouldn't call any of them my all-time favourites.
