Top Ten Fierce Women on Television

2. Cordelia Chase (Angel)



Cordelia: Don't make this hard, Angel. I'm just on a different road... and this is my off-ramp. The Powers That Be owed me one, and I didn't waste it. I got my guy back on track.
Angel: Cordy, there's just—
Cordelia: We take what we can get, champ, and we do our best with it. I'll be seeing you.
(She turns to walk out of the office, then stops, turns around, and walks quickly up to Angel)
Cordelia: Oh, what the hell. One for the road?
(She kisses Angel, but moments later, the telephone rings)
Angel: You know, um... I don't...I don't need to get that.
Cordelia: That you have to get.
(Angel walks toward the phone)
Cordelia: Oh... and you're welcome.

This woman is a superhero. She rebels against the visions for about six hours and then accepts them, eventually coming to understand them as an essential part of herself. This destiny, this war, this path she was not born into or mystically chosen for, is hers and she accepts it. She finds her purpose amidst her suffering. She has a clarity about her that means she is the keeper of the mission for the entire Angel Investigations team, and when she's not there they all slip the track. This is a woman who looked at her life and wanted to be better, and did it. She did not whine about her burdensome destiny. She took it. And there were days when she almost died because of it, and she still took it. When she had to, she became a demon because of it, even though she didn't know how she would come out on the other side. She sacrificed her life for the man she loves because he was losing his mission and she knew she would be the only one to get him back on his path because that's what Cordelia Chase does. She sees people. She understands their purpose and their path.

This knowledge, this understanding of humanity, is a factor of her characterization from day one of BtVS and only fosters and matures at the 'verse continues. This woman is a champion and that word seems overused and too small, but she represents the best of them, perpetually underappreciated by this fandom and the people who knew her in Sunnydale, only to finally find the love she sought when she moved to L.A. This is a woman who spent years having visions that felt like her skull was being torn open and hot lava poured into it in order to save the world. This is a woman who feels the pain of every person she sees in those visions. This is a woman who looked into the depths of the sufferings of humanity and refused to shy away. This is a woman who refused to stop fighting just because of the dangers this mission might bring her. This is a woman who sacrificed her life for the cause. This is why she's a superhero. This is why I love her.