4. Khawla bint Al-Azwar
Going back nearly 1400 years to a remote desert, we find an unlikely and exciting heroine. A lone warrior would charge into battle for the nascent religion of Islam and enter the legends of her faith and people. The daughter of a local Arabian tribe, young Khawla was an early convert and contemporary of the prophet Muhammad. As the religion spread, she found herself travelling with the fabled military genius Khalid ibn al-Walid as a healer. Whilst anxiously observing a battle, she witnessed her beloved brother Derar being dragged kicking and screaming away from the field by the hired thugs of the Eastern Roman 'Byzantine' Empire. In that moment, being a healer nosedived to somewhere below 'dead' in terms of desirability, swiftly replaced by an insatiable urge to slay every Roman soldier in sight. Khawla proceeded to grab herself some armour, a mask, a green cloak and various pointy objects, mounted a horse and rode out, probably whilst incredibly epic music swelled in the background. In the ensuing battle, the Arab soldiers were shocked to see the newcomer in green arrive from nowhere and unleash hell on the Byzantine lines. Many initially thought they were seeing the work of Khalid himself, until, in a moment that would've been comedy gold but for all the blood and death, the actual Khalid appeared and everyone did a few back-and-forth double-takes. The legendary commander quickly exploited the surprise and ordered a new attack, resulting in many exultant Arabs and many executed Romans. In the carnage, Khawla continued her Byzantine-butchering, rescued her brother along with many other prisoners, and bolted back to her side covered in blood. The amazed Khalid demanded that the mysterious warrior that had won the day reveal their identity. His reaction was measured and appropriate: Khawla went on to fight in many other campaigns across the Levant. This winning streak of divinely inspired ass-kicking came to an end when Khawla was captured by the burly Byzantines and thrown in a tent along with several other women. One Roman came to inspect his prisoners with only one thing in mind. Khawla would have none of this sordid intent in a tent, and rallied her fellow would-be sex slaves to revolt. They cunningly collapsed the tent on top of them, and when some hapless guards went to inspect, delicious irony ensued as they got hard word smacked in their faces. Khawla and her determined band of sisters pole-smashed their way to freedom, with the leading lady cracking the skulls of five Byzantines. She is today remembered as one of the finest warriors in Arab and Islamic history, with many schools to her name and, more recently, had an all-female combat unit in the reformed Iraqi army named in her honour.