"When fortune smiles on something as violent and ugly as revenge, it seems proof like no other that not only does God exist, you're doing his will."
Featured in: Kill Bill
Portrayed by: Uma Thurman
*SPOILERS for Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2*
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The protagonist of two of my favorite films ever, PERFECTLY played by Uma Thurman, is an incredible mix of lethality and tenderness... but mostly lethality. She's a woman who doesn't take crap from anyone, though of course she had a very good reason for wanting revenge and killing all those people along the way. She never, EVER gave up, even at very dark times in her journey, like when her body was pretty much paralyzed after leaving the hospital, and when Budd had her buried in a coffin. Though she's strong and fierce, she's no stranger to fear, making her courage all the more impressive and her journey all the more incredible. She's a master of ass-kicking, whether it be with a sword, a gun, or with martial arts, I'm sure she has all other types of ass-kicking knowledge as well, which makes her all the more awesome. And of course, there's the motherly element featured in Vol. 2, where she found her long-thought-dead daughter B.B. and became a protector figure for her, it was beautiful to see her embracing and spending time with her daughter and the juxtaposition of that and all the violent things The Bride had been through made the scenes all the more incredible. Again, badass babes are a dime a dozen in fiction, but The Bride's complexity and also, simply, her coolness made her stand out over many of the rest. She made you root for her right from the start, even when she was going up against some of the most sympathetic "villains" ever seen in a Tarantino movie (O-Ren, Gogo, Vernita, hell, even Bill was slightly sympathetic). Her relationship with Bill was a messed-up but strangely touching tragic love story, easily the best romance to appear in a Tarantino film and the driving element behind the events leading up to the films themselves. Both films did an outstanding job of showing two distinct elements of The Bride's personality, the first focused on her outer strength, the second on her inner strength, ultimately forming a four hour character study of one of my favorite characters in cinematic history.
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I chose poorly. Black Turtle chose wisely.