10 Toughest Movie Heroes Ever
1. Sarah Connor - The Terminator Franchise
One of the best character transitions to ever grace the big screen was Linda Hamilton's evolution of Sarah Connor throughout the Terminator series; starting off as a hopeless damsel in distress, Sarah grew into a feral, capable and dangerous mercenary, and eventually a jaded and disconnected assassin for cyborgs. Sarah Connor has only gotten tougher with age, and as a result she's become one of the best and hardest heroes we've ever seen.
The films do everything they can to show how resourceful and dedicated Sarah is to protecting her son. Everything she had done since the first film was in effort to prepare John, and that included training her own body and mind for the oncoming apocalypse. Not just adept and skilled with every weapon she can find, there's a determination to Sarah that drives her forward more than most heroes.
The astonishing psyche ward escape sequence in T2 does everything it can to display how dedicated, violent and (some might say) unhinged Sarah has become in her efforts. The absolutism of Sarah is unpalpable; she doesn't flinch and she doesn't waver from the goal set across the Terminator films.
One of the best moments at the end of T2 comes when the T1000 has her pinned to a wall and playfully threatens her life. Sarah is spitefully defiant to the very end; a hard as nails lioness who will always protect her cub, there's no question as to why Sarah is number one on this list.