8. Zoe - Firefly
Zoe is one of two entries on this list created by the inimitable Joss Whedon, the man who gave life to a vampire slayer, penned the screenplay for
The Avengers and came out with
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, a mini-series so hilarious that my mother is even addicted to it. Let's just all agree that this man is one of the great dramedic writers of our time and move on. If I were so inclined, I could nominate all of the female principal characters from
Firefly for this list. We have Kaylee Frye, the girl in the teddy bear jeans who stole her boyfriend's mechanic job after noticing during sex that there was something wrong with the ship's engine. We have Inara, the futuristic geisha who will not be called a whore and saves everyone's collective butt on more than one occasion. Since I promised you 10 female fictional characters, they'll just be mentioned in passing. From the start, Zoe is one of Mal Reynolds' old war buddies. She was there with him when the war was lost at Serenity Valley. Years later, she is first mate on his ship. She's married to the pilot and she sometimes keeps the crew in line more effectively than the Captain himself. She is also the wife in one of the healthiest marriages I've ever seen on television. She knows when to be good to her man's ego and when to correct him. Her wedding vows said nothing about obeying her husband and her husband acknowledges what that means. At one point, her husband says that the Captain and Zoe need to get over their burning sexual tension and she deadpans, "I understand. We have no choice. Take me, sir. Take me hard." Zoe is not your typical housewife, even if she makes really good soup and inspires crappy poetry. She respects her husband and grieves appropriately when she is widowed.