As a twelve year-old growing up in the 1990s, there are few women you admire more than those on TV.

Whether it’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Mulan, these ladies fought off bad guys, defended Jurassic Park, spied on people and dodged the police.

It seems kind of… stupid to be inspired by fictional characters, or is it?

We do after all look up to real powerful women as well. We all read books (and loved women like Elizabeth Bennett) but sometimes film and TV get it right too.

So, here are the 12 fictional characters from movies of the 90s and 00s that inspired us when we were growing up…