Action hero
This list of action heroes refers to characters who are heroes or sometimes anti-heroes. They appear in a number of genres including action films, adventure films, swashbuckler films, television Westerns, old-time radio, adventure novels, dime novels, pulp magazines, and folklore. These heroes often display exaggerated physical characteristics such as extreme physical stature and/or fitness.
Action heroes
Actors
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- Humphrey Bogart
- Charles Bronson
- Jackie Chan
- Sean Connery
- Tom Cruise
- Johnny Depp
- Vin Diesel
- Clint Eastwood
- Douglas Fairbanks
- Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
- Harrison Ford
- Errol Flynn
- Clark Gable
- Mel Gibson
- Bruce Lee
- Jet Li
- Dolph Lundgren
- Ralf Möller
- Chuck Norris
- Tyrone Power
- Brad Pitt
- Basil Rathbone
- Keanu Reeves
- The Rock
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Steven Seagal
- Will Smith
- Wesley Snipes
- Sylvester Stallone
- Jason Statham
- Robert Taylor
- Jean-Claude Van Damme
- John Wayne
- Bruce Willis
Cinema
- James Bond film series - James Bond (character)
- Rocky Balboa (character) in the Rocky (series)
- Indiana Jones
- The Terminator films - Kyle Reese and Terminator (character)
- John Rambo in the Rambo films
- John McClane from the Die Hard series
- Snake Plissken
- Paul Kersey from Death Wish (film) and its four sequels
- Zorro
- Napoleon Wilson from Assault on Precinct 13 (1976 film)
- Xander Cage from the XXX film
- Jason Bourne from The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum
- Neo from The Matrix trilogy
- Frank Martin from The Transporter and The Transporter 2
- Ethan Hunt from the Mission: Impossible film series
- Harry Callahan from the Dirty Harry film series
Literature and pulp fiction
- Iliad and Odyssey: Odysseus and a number of other characters
- Beowulf (hero) in Beowulf
- King Arthur
- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
- Robin Hood
- D'Artagnan - The Three Musketeers
- The Count of Monte Cristo
- The Scarlet Pimpernel
- Ben Hur
- Ivanhoe
- Zorro
- James Bond in James Bond novels (Ian Fleming)
- Doc Savage
- The Shadow
- The Spider
- Conan the Barbarian
- Tarzan
Radio
Television
- Jack Bauer from the 24 television series
Video Game action hero characters
- Gordon Freeman from the Half-Life series
- Solid Snake from the Metal Gear Solid series
- Sam Fisher from the Splinter Cell series
- Master Chief from the Halo series
- Leon S. Kennedy from the Resident Evil series
- Duke Nukem from the Duke Nukem series
- Christopher Blair from the Wing Commander series
Female action heroes
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Actresses
- Jessica Alba
- Devon Aoki
- Kate Beckinsale
- Halle Berry
- Honor Blackman
- Neve Campbell
- Tia Carrere
- Lynda Carter
- Angie Dickinson
- Tamara Dobson
- Vivica A. Fox
- Anne Francis
- Jennifer Garner
- Sarah Michelle Gellar
- Teresa Graves
- Pam Grier
- Linda Hamilton
- Gloria Hendry
- Darryl Hannah
- Angelina Jolie
- Famke Jansen
- Milla Jovovich
- Keira Knightley
- Lucy Lawless
- Lucy Liu
- Demi Moore
- Carrie-Anne Moss
- Diana Rigg
- Sharon Stone
- Uma Thurman
- Lindsay Wagner
- Sigourney Weaver
- Peta Wilson
- Michelle Yeoh
Cinema
- Alice - Resident Evil
- Æon Flux 2005 - Æon Flux
- Alien and Aliens (film) - Ellen Ripley
- Cleopatra Jones
- Coffy
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
- Elektra Natchios - Daredevil and Elektra
- The Heroic Trio
- Kill Bill - Beatrix Kiddo, O-Ren Ishii, Vernita Green, Elle Driver
- Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life 2003 - Lara Croft
- Lady Snowblood 1973 - Yuki Kashima a.k.a. Lady Snowblood
- Sarah Connor - The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day
- Serenity 2005 - River Tam
- Supercop
- Ultraviolet 2006 - Violet Song jat Shariff
- Wing Chun
Literature and pulp fiction
Television
- The Avengers - Cathy Gale and Emma Peel
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1992 - Buffy Summers
- Dark Angel - Max Guevara
- Get Christie Love
- Honey West (TV series) - Honey West
- Nikita
- Charmed - Prue Halliwell,Phoebe Halliwell,Piper Halliwell and Paige Matthews -
- Xena of Amphipolis and Gabrielle in Xena: Warrior Princess (1995 - 2001)
Further reading
- Inness, Sherrie A. (ed.) Action Chicks: New Images of Tough Women in Popular Culture, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.
- Kim, L. S. "Making women warriors: a transnational reading of Asian female action heroes in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media. No. 48, Winter, 2006.
- Osgerby, Bill, Anna Gough-Yates, and Marianne Wells. Action TV : Tough-Guys, Smooth Operators and Foxy Chicks. London: Routledge, 2001.
- Tasker, Yvonne. Action and Adventure Cinema. New York: Routledge, 2004.
- ———.Spectacular Bodies : Gender, Genre, and the Action Cinema. London and New York: Routledge, 1993.