Top 10 Underrated Animated Female Characters

As far as moms go, you can’t get much cooler than Annie Hughes. She’s a single mother struggling to make ends meet all while raising her son Hogarth. If that weren’t enough, her son’s secret friendship with a giant robot from outer space brings the military right to her door. After she discovers her son’s make-believe robot is actually real, her only concern is her son’s safety. When Hogarth is knocked unconscious, Annie ignores the rampaging robot and rushes to her son’s aid. She even intervenes with the military’s plan of attack when her son ends up in the crossfire between robot and army. Now that’s a pretty badass move.


Life’s pretty rough when you’re no bigger than a thumb. When Thumbelina is kidnapped and taken away from her home and her true love, she struggles to find her way back through a big wide world. Her attempts keep being thwarted by lovesick toads, ambitious beetles and lonely moles, who only want her for her voice. After finally breaking away from the obstacles put before her, Thumbelina manages to find her prince and her way home, and even gets her own pair of wings. It just goes to show that you can do impossible things when you follow your heart.


 Trained since she was a cub in the mystical art of Kung Fu, Tigress quickly rose to become the unofficial leader of the Furious Five, an elite group of the toughest warriors who protect the Valley of Peace. Even though she’s denied the title of Dragon Warrior, an honor she believes to be hers, she still gives it her all. When the Valley of Peace is under attack from the evil Tai Lung, Tigress goes out to stop him, regardless if she has to face him alone or with the Furious Five. In the eye of this tiger, it really is all about the thrill of the fight.

 This girl certainly isn’t afraid to stand up to the boys. When Tzipporah is captured and offered as a gift for Rameses II, she tries to bite him, prompting him to call her a “desert cobra". During a struggle with Moses, she falls into a pool of water but when the two meet again, she sees an opportunity to get back at the prince of Egypt and, she lets him fall back into a well. After giving Moses as good as she got, she helps him integrate into her community and eventually marries him. She remains steadfast by Moses and goes with him back to Egypt in order to help free the Jews.

If we’re being real here, Tulio and Miguel would not have lasted one day in El Dorado if it wasn’t for Chel. She’s a conniving con artist who wants out, but in order to do that, she first has to help get the guys in. She’s their go-to girl on all of the religious and social customs of El Dorado and she uses that knowledge to help pass them off as gods. She smoothes over any cultural misunderstandings that might occur and helps the boys cheat their way into playing the roles of deities.


It’s a given that most mothers would sacrifice themselves in order to protect their children, but this one does it twice. Sariatu, Kubo’s mother, tells her son not to stay out after dark or else her sisters and the Moon King will attack. Unable to make it back by sundown one night, Kubo is inevitably attacked by the sisters. Suddenly Sariatu appears to protect her son and sends him away. Believing she’s dead, Kubo later finds out that his monkey companion (aptly named Monkey) is actually his mother reincarnate. When Kubo and Monkey encounter the sisters again, Monkey once again sacrifices herself so that Kubo can get away.


Astrid is at the top of her class in dragon training, and with her competitive edge, she doesn’t take kindly to losing to pacifist Hiccup. But while she might not like losing, she always does the right thing. So when Hiccup shows that Berk can live in harmony with dragons, Astrid is among the first join Hiccup’s side, and naturally becomes one of the best dragon riders. She almost instantly becomes Hiccup’s right hand man (sorry, woman) in changing the Isle of Berk’s opinion on dragons. And while Hiccup might be the brains to many operations on Berk, Astrid’s unwavering support provide the means to turn Hiccup’s schemes into a reality.

 

Here’s another mother who will go to great lengths to protect her children. It’s planting season on the farm where Mrs. Brisby lives, which means her home in the field is destined to be dug up by the plough. But Mrs. Brisby’s son Timmy can’t go outside because he has pneumonia. Brisby refuses to leave him behind, so she seeks out the help of the rats of NIMH. While in the middle of transporting their house, a fight breaks out, which leaves the house sinking in the mud. In a desperate attempt to save her children, Brisby uses the power of “The Stone”, a magical amulet which channels the bravery of the wearer save her family.


This girl doesn’t get mad-she gets even. After mobsters kill her father, she exacts her own brand of revenge. Donning a grim reaper vigilante costume, she takes down the mobsters one by one, leaving everyone perplexed about who the killer could be. Andrea rekindles an old romance with Batman, who the police believe is the real killer. Andrea is able to save Batman from the police and simultaneously tricks him to believe that her father is the killer, leading him off her trail. When Batman finally realizes who the killer really is, he begs her to give up her quest. But just like Batman, Andrea is not one to abandon a job before it’s done.

  
Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
 
Lady Amalthea
“The Last Unicorn” (1982)
 
María Posada

“The Book of Life” (2014)
 
Jenna

“Balto” (1995)



Once upon a December, Anastasia went from being royalty to an orphan in a matter of minutes. Ten years later and now known as Anya, she wonders where she came from and who her family is, and these questions spark her journey into her past. She meets Vlad and Dimitri, the latter whom she bosses around like the princess she is. Along the way she faces Rasputin, who tried to kill her entire family back in the day and is back to finish the job. In the final showdown, it is Anastasia who takes out Rasputin by crushing his magical relic. After finally facing down her past, she’s able to move on towards a new future.