Kids

LIST: Female Movie Characters Our Kids Look Up To and Why in 2025

by Kevyn Gohu
March 12, 2025

Our daughters have their fair share of movies, and here are some strong female movie characters they look up to and why

Media plays a big role in influencing daughters around the world. From the women featured on advertisements and magazine covers to the female characters in movies and shows, they show our daughters how the world sees and will most likely behave around them. While this doesn’t mean fitting exactly the mold presented, some of these strong female movie characters show our daughters what it’s like to be that kind of woman. It’s why they’ve become popular, after all.

Without further ado, here are some strong female movie characters that our daughters love and why.

Strong Female Movie Characters Our Daughters Love

Lucy Gray Baird from Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Suzanne Collins has been celebrated for making complex and strong female characters, with Lucy Gray Baird being strong but in a way that differs from the main character, Katniss Everdeen.

Her strength doesn’t lie in her ability to fight. Rather, it lies in her ability to perform. A performer turned fighter, Lucy Gray Baird won the Hunger Games not through violence but creativity. We see how she worked together with a young Corleonis Snow, not just giving him the prestige he wanted back but also earning her freedom. The most iconic scene is in the snake pit where she sings and the snakes don’t hurt her. To prevent anyone from suspecting her of cheating and believing that Snow intervened on her behalf, she sings to make it look like the snakes bend to her will.

Princess Mononoke from Princess Mononoke

A classic female character from Studio Ghibli, even the creator Hayao Miyazaki himself mentioned how he wanted to create a female character whose strength was not dependent on the man. It then became a pattern, from the quiet Chihiro in Spirited Away to the wild Princess Mononoke from the namesake movie.

The titular character of the movie Princess Mononoke showcases her strength to protect the forest. Though introduced as feral and uncivilized, the main character soon sees that she is a defender of the forest and its inhabitants. She fights against a deadly form of urbanization where humanity learns how to craft metallic weapons that are poisonous to the forest.

What they love about her is that she doesn’t end up with the main male lead (spoiler alert!). But she does thank him for his support before returning to the forest.

Miranda Priestly from Devil Wears Prada

Every woman aspires to be her. Played by Meryl Streep in the movie and allegedly based on Anna Wintour, many women in various industries wish to have the charisma and power she had. A slight purse of the lips, a single statement to get things done, and a loyal following — those are all the things Miranda Priestly from Devil Wears Prada has. She carries herself with a grace and charm that many people both respect and envy her for.

Granted, many would call her “toxic” for her practices. But in the fast-paced world of fashion, some of her moves could be argued for the sake of pragmatism.

Andy Sachs from Devil Wears Prada

Another strong woman character from the Devil Wears Prada movie is Andy Sachs. Although she got off on a rough start during her first few weeks on Runway, she eventually began to learn the ropes. Not only did she learn her way around but she also became quite favored as Miranda’s personal assistant.

But what many of our daughters often celebrate Andy Sachs for is having the strength to walk away and choose her morals. Sure, she could have risen higher in the fashion world had she gone to Paris, but in the end, she chose not to. While morals don’t pay the bills directly, it’s keeping to them that allows anyone to find another job that pays for it.

Annabeth Chase from Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief

The daughter of Artemis from Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, originally wasn’t too fond of Percy but eventually enjoyed his company. She is loyal and willing to help Percy find out who the true lightning thief is. Even if it meant journeying to the underworld to face Hades and Persephone, who were both unhinged due to their twisted marriage.

As the daughter of Athena, she inherited her mother’s wisdom and dauntlessness. She was always figuring out clever ways to win a fight, which would always bail her friends out whenever they needed it. Although she is different in the series, the movie depicts her as someone quick on her feet in a fight.

Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games

Who could ever forget the woman who started an entire rebellion to end the tradition of the Hunger Games?

Many who have read the Hunger Games series may say that Katniss Everdeen’s strength comes from her love for her sister, Prim. She willingly volunteers as tribute when her sister is selected and even allows herself to have a higher chance of being drawn to feed her family. She is a skilled archer, which helps her survive the combat aspect of the Hunger Games. Her sisterly love even extends to another contestant, Rue, who, unfortunately, did not survive the games. Katniss lulls Rue to sleep before the latter succumbs to her wounds.

Another reason why our daughters love Katniss Everdeen as a character is how she’s not showy. As she becomes more popular, she still remains that young woman from District 12 who sacrificed herself to fight in the Hunger Games for her sister.

Elle Woods from Legally Blonde

Most of our daughters who aspired to be lawyers probably got the push from Elle Woods. Although appearing the stereotypical airhead blonde, Elle Woods reveals that her 3.0 in Fashion was no joke. She even enters law school and when asked how, she answers with the signature line, “What, like it’s hard?”

Now, if that’s not a flex, then what is?

Although her motivations for entering law school are misplaced at first, she eventually finds a new reason to excel in law. Not only does she become the best performing in her class but she becomes an author for a bill, Bruiser’s Bill.

While our daughters can’t wear hot pink suits in a court session, they can emulate Elle’s tenacity and adaptability. She didn’t become like the others; instead, she used her pre-existing skills to become just as good as those who have been raised and trained to be lawyers all their lives.

Hermione Granger from Harry Potter

Played by Emma Watson, Hermione Granger has been a model to millennial parents and daughters everywhere and proves that blood doesn’t make you a good witch or wizard. It’s the willingness to learn the magic and the mechanics that does.

Her brightness plays a very vital role. Ask any Potterhead and they will agree: both Harry and Ron would have been dead early on in the books and the movies had Hermione not been out there saving them. Her early instance with the troll may have been a setback but she makes up for it with what she says, “books and cleverness.” That, and maybe the punch everyone felt Malfoy deserved after calling her a “mudblood.”

As a Muggle (who are not always looked upon kindly in the Harry Potter world), she’s often fought for the underdogs, including house elves like Dobby. The courage she has is something that our daughters may want to learn.

Madame Adelaide Bonfamille from Aristocats

While she didn’t play too big a role in the Disney movie Aristocats, our daughters aspire to be her. She lived an accomplished life as an opera singer before retiring to enjoy the fruits of her labor with her darling cat, Duchess, and her kittens, Marie, Berlioz, and Toulouse. She is the dream most of our daughters have: drama-free from relationships, rich from smart and hard work, and living a life of love with her furbabies of choice.

Princess Tiana from Princess and the Frog

Unlike other Disney movies, wherein the women were born princesses, Tiana never dreamed of being one. She just wanted to open her own restaurant after being encouraged by her daddy when she made her pot of Gumbo. Although she had Lottie, who was rich enough to buy her a place to start had Tiana asked for it, she chose to work. She waited tables and learned to grind.

Even if she did become a princess due to her marrying Naveen, Tiana never forgot her core values. It’s like she and her dad agreed on, “Wishing on a star is only 50% of the work. The other half is something you have to work at.”

Elsa from Frozen

Considering how “Let It Go” has been on repeat on our family Spotify because of our kids, it would be criminal not to add Queen Elsa to the list. Although originally planned to be more flamboyant and villainous in the concept art of Frozen, she instead is written in as a loving older sister to Princess Anna.

But what makes our daughters love her is that she has beautiful powers and the grace of a queen. Ice powers creating castles, chandeliers, and even styling up a new dress — that’s something any little girl would want. With the empowering song “Let It Go,” it’s no surprise that our daughters love Elsa so much.

Elphaba and Glinda from Wicked

They share a spot because they’re opposites of one another but with the same goal. While Elphaba tries to be accepted by discovering more of her abilities as a witch and to meet the Wizard of Oz, Glinda finds more acceptance by being the “good one” everyone wants her to be. Either way, the two fight for acceptance, which is something all of our daughters really want from their peers and their families.

That, and maybe to have an organized musical mob every so often.

A lot of strong female movie characters for our daughters love

Women in movies have a bigger variation in roles. No longer just the damsel in distress or told to just “sit there and look pretty,” women have become agents of their own lives. In movies, they run businesses, save people from distress, and most of the time, prevent the protagonist from destroying themselves before the movie even ends! Although Life isn’t like the one on the silver screen, it’s still nice to see our daughters have strong female movie characters as role models.

And if our sons love these characters too, then that’s no problem for us!