9. Sara Lance – DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
Who plays her: Caity Lotz
Powers/Abilities: Master assassin, tactician, archer
Why she’s so empowering: Sara Lance doesn’t hold any of her own super powers. In fact, she’s not technically a superhero from the power/abilities standpoint. She starts off as an assassin and develops into a vigilante, but doesn’t that actually make her a superhero? Well, it does for this list.
Initially being introduced as the younger sister of Laurel Lance who was presumed dead after the ship accident, Sara came back as an assassin for the League of Assassins. In fact, she’d broken away from them and was in hiding, leading to Oliver Queen finding her.
One thing we’ve seen from Sara is her growth in her character. Initially, she stole her sister’s boyfriend. This isn’t a woman we should like and the earlier incarnation certainly isn’t empowering. It’s what Sara has since become.
She’s broken away from being an assassin and become a Legend. After initially helping to protect Star City, she is now the captain of the Waverider, leading a bunch of ragtag vigilantes to try to keep the universe and time safe.
On top of all that, we have this positive LGBT character. She doesn’t shy away from who she is, making no apologies for her sexual orientation. Sure, at first she did, but like Negosonic Teenage Warhead, she’s proven that hiding who you are isn’t just a lie to others but a lie to yourself. Sara has grown in confidence since accepting who she really is, which has made her an excellent leader and that’s something we can all gain from.