In honor of the recent archaeological revelation that half of all Viking warriors were, in fact, women, we've decided to take a stroll down memory lane and check out the fiercest female warriors in TV and movie history. And we're not talking gun-toting Tank Girls, either. This is an ode to brute force — swords, staves, spikes, sweat, and sheer muscle. Here are ten of the most brutally capable women of all time.

XENA

Remember Xena, the Warrior Princess and her crazy battle cry? Felling mythological bad guys with her chakram and sword, Lucy Lawless portrayed a fearsome femme fatale who constantly strove to do the right thing to atone for her laundry list of past bad deeds.

KATNISS EVERDEEN

It was hard not to watch much of these movies in awe of Jennifer Lawrence's rabble-rousing archer-rebel from District 12. Even when beaten down and bearing the weight of the world, she manages to rise to the occasion and emerge from the Hunger Games victorious.

GUINEVERE

There are tons of King Arthur movies, but only one had Keira Knightley as an ass-kicking future queen.

BRIENNE of TARTH

Game of Thrones has no shortage of badasses, but Brienne is one of the baddest, hacking her way through the brutish men of Westeros with a scowl, Valyrian steel, and more honor than any "true knight" she faces.

ZULA

Before he was the Terminator and the Governator, Schwarzenegger was Conan the Destroyer, and Grace Jones was one of the only warriors — female or otherwise — gnarly enough to keep up with him.

JEN

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is one of the best martial arts movies of all time, and at its heart it is petite Zhang Ziyi as Jen, the Wudang sword master.

TAURIEL

Even though she never appeared in the original Tolkien books, Evangeline Lilly's captain of the Mirkwood Elven guard was so awesome that even most Hobbit purists didn't raise a stink when she was added to the movie's cast.

THE BRIDE

As a former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, you know Uma Thurman's character in Tarantino's Kill Bill movies will be intense. When she goes into full kill-em-all vengeance mode with a katana, it's naturally next level.

JOAN OF ARC

Joan of Arc is literally who most people think of when the term "woman warrior" comes up. But Milla Jovovich made the role her own in The Messenger, cementing herself as an action star to be reckoned with.

BUFFY

C'mon, did you really think we'd forget Sarah Michelle Gellar? Beyond living over the mouth of hell and dispatching demons every week, Buffy had to deal with family members dying, her friends turning evil, and — worst of all — high school in the late '90s.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io