Top Tens – History: Top 10 Types of Empire & Imperialism (Special Mention) (7) Columbian Exchange – Ecological Imperialism

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Alfred W. Crosby – “Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe 900-1900”, Cambridge University Press, 1986 hardcover edition (fair use)

 

 

(7) COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE – ECOLOGICAL IMPERIALISM

 

The Columbian exchange – the massive and widespread transfer of plants, animals, human populations, and communicable diseases between the Old World and the New World from Columbus onwards – might well have happened simply from trade rather than imperialism. Well, perhaps except for the human populations.

However, it did happen from imperialism and is distinctive enough for its own type of imperialism as ecological imperialism. Indeed, the historian who coined the term Columbian exchange in a book of that title – American historian Alfred Crosby – also coined the term ecological imperialism in the title of a sequel book.

Of course, the focus of Crosby’s ecological imperialism is on the European side of the equation – that is, Europe’s exports of biological species or population rather than those it imported from elsewhere, where the latter largely consisted of cultivated plants (with superstars such as potatoes and tomatoes) and largely beneficial.

“Crosby introduced ecological imperialism as an explanatory concept that points out the contribution of European biological species such as animals, plants and pathogens in the success of European colonists” – foreshadowing arguments much to the same effect by Jared Diamond’s book Guns, Germs and Steel.

Ecological imperialism may not have had the same deliberate nature of other aspects of imperialism – and even where it was deliberate, often may not have had the same awareness or intention of consequences, the most destructive of which can be summarized in one word, extinction.

That is, extinction of human populations through disease, often overlapping with gen0cide, but also extinction of animal (or plant) species, through such things as competition with or predation by invasive species but also something that might be added as another aspect of ecological imperialism – human over-hunting or habitat destruction.

The same destructive consequences recurred with European ecological imperialism in Australasia and Oceania.

Top Tens – History: Top 10 Empires (Special Mention: Revisited) (7) Egyptian Empire

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The maximum borders of the Egyptian empire 1450 BC by J.G. Bartholomew in 1913 (public domain image – Wikipedia “New Kingdom of Egypt”

 

(7) EGYPTIAN EMPIRE

 

“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

Even more so than Mesopotamia, Egypt set the standard for imperial state chic, not least in its monumental architecture and statuary, as well as its priesthoods and divine ruler personality cult.

Indeed, it is not too difficult to see the stamp of Egyptian imperial chic even to the twentieth century and beyond, as in the Soviet Union but with a secular party priesthood devoted to the cycles of history as opposed to the Nile and cult of socialism rather than the sun god. Less pyramids perhaps, but equally monumental architecture and statuary, as well as a tendency towards equally grandiose and gigantic projects.

Ironically, despite this imperial chic, Egypt was not so much of an empire itself, except of course to its own subjects, as it largely kept within its own borders to the Nile. The exception is the imperial Egypt of the New Kingdom, when it extended southwards to Nubia and northwards through the Levant – under pharaohs such as Rameses, whose title in Greek gave us the figure in Shelley’s poem Ozymandias.

Also ironically, Egypt has consistently played an important role within empires, but more as imperial prize rather than ruling empire itself – starting with its conquest by Assyrian, Persian and Macedonian empires in turn.

The last also reveals something of an odd recurring tendency, for foreign invaders or subjects from an empire conquering or ruling Egypt to break away from that empire with their own dynasty within Egypt, which is then effectively regarded as Egyptian.

First and foremost among those was the Ptolemaic dynasty, founded by Alexander’s general Ptolemy as a successor state of the Macedonian empire and regarded as the last dynasty of ancient Egypt. It was the dynasty that gave history Egypt’s most famous female monarch, Cleopatra – also Egypt’s last reigning monarch, before its fall to the Roman Empire. Indeed, its fall transformed the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.

Kudos to Cleopatra, however, for almost pulling all a second breakaway dynasty based in Egypt, this time from the Roman Empire in its eastern half, through her alliance with Mark Antony. Yes – it was a long shot but it’s tempting to imagine the counterfactual of their victory, perhaps anticipating the eastern Roman Empire by three centuries, except from Alexandria rather than Constantinople, with Greek as its lingua franca at an earlier date. Or alternatively something like the short-lived breakaway Palmyrene empire under Zenobia two centuries ahead of the Crisis of the Third Century.

Egypt then became an imperial prize for the Roman Empire – and its richest, the proverbial breadbasket of its empire. That always strikes me as strange from my perspective of contemporary Egypt and its comparative poverty – but then that is part of the more general strange feature that the Roman Empire’s eastern or southern African and Asian provinces were richer than its western and northern European provinces, the reverse of our contemporary perspective.

From there, it was briefly a battlefield between the eastern Roman (or Byzantine) empire and the resurgent Persian (or Sassanid) empire, before falling to the Arab conquest that defeated one and conquered the other.

Egypt remained in the hands of one caliphate after another, but rose to new prominence as the seat of power for the Fatimid Caliphate. The Fatimids did not quite fall within that recurring tendency for Egyptian breakaway dynasties, except perhaps in the last stages of their decline when their rule was effectively confined to Egypt – but the Mamluks did, the slave mercenary military case that rose to rule their own Sultanate in Egypt and beyond, even famously defeating the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalat in 1260.

The Mamluks declined in turn, but their role was replayed by Albanian mercenaries with Egypt as a province in the Ottoman Empire, led by their commander Muhammed Ali Pasha, who founded his own dynasty, nominally subject to but effectively independent from the Ottoman Empire.

Egypt became a protectorate of the British Empire, as Egypt again rose to prominence as an imperial prize, not for its agriculture but for the newly constructed Suez Canal as maritime trade route.

And once again ironically, Egypt and the Suez Canal subsequently rose to prominence as the imperial humiliation of the British Empire, with the Suez Crisis in 1956 – often cited as one of the end points of the British Empire.

We’re not quite done with Egypt and its imperial ironies yet – as finally modern Egypt echoed the imperial heights of its ancient New Kingdom with the short-lived United Arab Republic, when it formed a sovereign union with Syria from 1958 to 1961.

Top Tens – Mythology: Top 10 Adaptations of the Odyssey (7) Coen Brothers – O Brother, Where Art Thou?

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O Brother, Where Art Thou? DVD cover (fair use)

 

 

(7) COEN BROTHERS –

O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? (2000)

 

“You seek a great fortune, you three who are now in chains. You will find a fortune, though it will not be the one you seek. But first… first you must travel a long and difficult road, a road fraught with peril. Mm-hmm. You shall see thangs, wonderful to tell…”

So says the Blind Railman, this film’s equivalent of the blind prophet Tiresias in the underworld.

Some might prefer this film adaptation of the Odyssey to that of Nolan – and I obviously regard it as the only other cinematic version worthy of a place in my top ten, albeit second to Nolan’s film.

My reason is that Nolan’s film is a more straightforward adaptation of the original epic. As entertaining as it is, O Brother is only loosely based on the original epic – “a loose comedic retelling of Homer’s ancient Greek epic poem, The Odyssey, set in 1930s Depression-era Mississippi.” Oh – and musical as well.

Indeed, part of the fun is spotting the parallels with the original epic. George Clooney’s Ulysses and Holly Hunter’s Penelope. John Goodman’s cyclops. The sirens – always the best part of the Odyssey and one of the highlights here. And so on.

The other highlight for me was Sheriff Cooley and his relentless pursuit of Clooney’s Ulysses, as well as the latter’s escape by divine fortune. In terms of the epic, Cooley represents Poseidon (or the forces of divine retribution or nemesis in general), but arguably also Hades and the underworld, merged with the Christian Devil.

Top Tens – History: Top 10 Types of Empire & Imperialism (Special Mention) (6) Mare Nostrum – Imperial Lake

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Map of the Roman fleets and major naval bases during the Principate, 27 BC to AD 284. (public domain image)

 

 

(6) MARE NOSTRUM – IMPERIAL LAKE

 

Mare nostrum, literally “our sea” in Latin, connoting the core of the Roman Empire – its complete control of the Mediterranean Sea and coastline, as a perfect fusion of territorial and maritime empire.

No other state has come close to that fusion of territorial or maritime empire for total domination of a maritime body of water – a sea, let alone an ocean – although some maritime empires or naval powers have come close in terms of naval predominance, which we’ll come back to with that term of imperial lake. Speaking of lakes, I’m obviously excluding those bodies of water such as lakes or rivers that are essentially internal to a single nation or state, hence that qualifier of maritime which typically connotes sea or ocean.

The Roman Empire had complete naval predominance that was effectively a monopoly throughout its imperial period – in the absence of any maritime enemy in the form of a rival state, although the Roman navy still had to contend with piracy and barbarian incursions that were essentially also piracy until the Vandals managed to escalate to being a rival naval state.

What made the Roman mare nostrum distinctive was its total control of the coastline as territorial empire as well as naval power, and the classical Roman Empire remains the only state in history to have controlled the entire Mediterranean coast. Other states – the eastern Roman empire, the Arab caliphates, the Ottoman empire, and the Axis powers – have come close to or contended for that control of the Mediterranean coastline but fell short or were successfully contested. Fascist Italy even revived the use of the term in its claim to Mediterranean empire and Roman succession.

However, as I said, other maritime empires or naval powers have come close to the same naval predominance over a body or bodies of water, although they have tended to confine their control of coastlines to islands or key points as strategic bases or areas of command.

Hence, the informal use of the term lake to connote that naval predominance, mirroring the use of the term mare nostrum – and has indeed been substituted for it, describing the Mediterranean as a “Roman lake”.

For example, I have seen the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean described as a Portuguese lake and Spanish lake respectively at the outset of the period of European maritime exploration, although both were soon encroached upon or contested by other European maritime powers. One of those powers – the British – effectively displaced Portuguese or other naval powers to claim the Indian Ocean as a “British lake”, although really British naval predominance in the nineteenth century was such to make all the world’s oceans (or World Ocean) their lake. The Pax Britannica was essentially naval, something that was inherited by its American successor.

Top Tens – History: Top 10 Empires (Special Mention: Revisited) (6) Mesopotamia – Akkadian, Assyrian & Babylonian Empires

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Assyrian Empire 824-671 BC

 

(6) MESOPOTAMIA – AKKADIAN, ASSYRIAN & BABYLONIAN EMPIRES

 

Ur-imperialism.

The original imperialism – in that Mesopotamia was the origin (or one of the origins) of human civilization, and even more so, states.

Of course those states were necessarily on a small scale, as in the archetypal city-states of Sumerian civilization, and their imperialism was similarly on a small scale, as in city states conquering other city states or their neighbors.

In his book Against the Grain, James C Scott strikingly argues that such imperialism was ingrained (heh) in those states from their very foundations in grain agriculture as an instrument and means of state control, depending on various degrees of forced labor or extraction.

Whether or not that is the case, Sumerian city states warred against each other in what might be regarded as micro-imperialism or proto-imperialism.

Or as I introduced it, ur-imperialism – both as the term ur- is used to connote an ancestral prototype or primeval origin, and for the Sumerian city state of Ur.

One of the aspects of that ur-imperialism is, like many other features of subsequent civilizations, Sumerian civilization created or set the standard features of imperial or at least palace states, including monumental architecture – such as ziggurats! – and imperial or royal cults of leadership.

Ultimately, Mesopotamia evolved to imperialism on a larger scale – with its three namesake empires best known in general history. The Akkadian empire – best known for Sargon of Akkad – managed to conquer or unite all Mesopotamian city states in an area similar to modern Iraq, in the floodplains of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers that defined Mesopotamia.

However, the Akkadian Empire pales in comparison to the biggest and most belligerent of Mesopotamian empires, the Assyrian Empire (or technically neo-Assyrian Empire, as I understand it was a resurgence of the Assyrian state) – indeed, the largest empire in world history to that date.

To be honest, I don’t know too much about the Assyrian Empire, other than it being portrayed as one of the evil empires that menaced the Israelites in the Bible – and also that Jonah was ordered to its capital Ninevah by God before disobeying and being swallowed by the whale.

Although smaller than its predecessor, the Babylonian Empire (or again technically neo-Babylonian Empire) loomed larger in the Bible as one of its ultimate symbols, if not the ultimate symbol, of evil empire, because of the so-called Babylonian captivity and exile of the Jews.

“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down; yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion”.

Egypt and Babylon are the two famous (or infamous) poles of captivity for the Jews, but the latter is more raw in the Bible – because it was more recent (and less mythic), but also because the Old Testament was mostly written or compiled at or about that time.

And the symbolism of Babylon as evil empire loomed even larger in Christianity, due to its use as a symbol for Rome in the Book of Apocalypse, with the enduring imagery of that hot harlot, Mystery Babylon.

 

 

 

Top Tens – Mythology: Top 10 Adaptations of the Odyssey (6) Barbara Walker – The Women’s Encyclopedia of Myths & Secrets

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HarperCollins 1983 paperback edition (the edition I own) – my favorite cover art for the book!

 

 

(6) BARBARA WALKER –

WOMEN’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MYTHS & SECRETS (1983)

 

As the title indicates, this is a general encyclopedia of mythology, including classical mythology, including entries for subjects from the Odyssey – most notably for Penelope.

Like Graves and indeed borrowing from him as a reference, the entries are really interpretative notes or commentary – decoding or reconstructing mythology to the monomyth of the Goddess or prehistoric matriarchal religion.

Essentially, throughout all entries there is Walker’s monomyth of the archetypal Goddess throughout mythology and history – or rather prehistory (or perhaps herstory), as the Goddess was displaced, firstly into many goddesses, and secondly by male gods or God.

Or in this case, heroes or hero. There’re not many entries directly for the Odyssey – Odysseus himself does not get one – but there are brief entries for some of its female figures such as Circe, the Sirens, and above all, Penelope.

Teasing out Walker’s adaptation or interpretation of the Odyssey from such entries, primarily that for Penelope (which cites Graves’ The Greek Myths), Walker presents Penelope as yet another manifestation of the Goddess – essentially in the same role as Athena as patron of Odysseus, particularly as a goddess of fate spinning and unspinning the thread of his life (represented by the shroud of his father) such that he has a literally charmed life, escaping dangers and death.

Top Tens – History: Top 10 Types of Empire & Imperialism (Special Mention) (5) Lingua Franca – Linguistic Imperialism

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Trade languages of the world in 1908 from The Harmsworth Atlas and Gazetteer (public domain image)

 

 

(5) LINGUA FRANCA – LINGUISTIC IMPERIALISM

 

The lingua franca – literally the Frankish tongue – is more generally used as a term for a “common tongue” or language among different people.

And generally, it is one native to the imperial nation or state of an empire, although it can arise from trading nations – but also from cultural or religious influence, as well as “diplomatic and administrative convenience” or scholarly and scientific convention, albeit these things also tend to be by-products of empire.

The most famous “imperial” lingua franca is of course English in the contemporary world (from the British Empire and American hegemony), but notable predecessors (or rivals) include French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Greek, and of course Latin.

Whether or not a lingua franca emerges from “linguistic imperialism” is far more contentious. Empires as a general rule do not deliberately stamp out the native languages of their subjects – although occasionally they will to “acculturate” those subjects within their empire, or more brutally, in displacing or wiping out those subjects altogether.

Indeed, the Roman Empire was famously multilingual. Latin may have had first place as the original language of the Romans – but Greek loomed almost as large among elite Romans and larger among eastern provinces, with the eastern Roman empire even shifting its official language to Greek from Latin after the western half of the empire fell. Other languages in the classical empire included Aramaic or Syriac, Coptic, Punic, Celtic, and ultimately Germanic languages such as Gothic.

However, empires often reduce linguistic diversity not so much through deliberate policy but through the priority or privilege of the language of the imperial nation as lingua franca – people follow the lingo to the money or power that comes from speaking it.

Top Tens – History: Top 10 Empires (Special Mention) (5) Naz! Empire

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Europe at the height of Axis success by Gorak ten-en for Wikipedia “Naz! Germany” under licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

 

(5) NAZ! EMPIRE

 

The evil empire par excellence. Although that is an overstatement – it was barely an empire.

Despite styling itself as the Third Reich after the first German “empire” or Reich of a thousand years, the Holy Roman Empire, it didn’t even last as long as the second, Wilhelmine Germany.

In total, Naz! Germany lasted only twelve years from 1933 to 1945 – for which it could only be described as imperial, at least beyond its original borders, for a little over half of that, from 1938 onwards. Well, perhaps from its involvement in the Spanish Civil War before that, although that failed to yield a reliable client state – and it was arguably preparing for its imperialism from its very inception.

And even for war beyond its borders from 1939 to 1945, the second half of that period was defending or retreating from conquests made in the first half – before its complete collapse, defeat, unconditional surrender, occupation and partition. So its empire was about three years of conquests, albeit impressive, then defending or retreating from those conquests before falling altogether.

The evil part, however, is not an overstatement. It can probably best be summed up by the Encyclopedia of Fantasy’s comparison of the First World War with the Second – “despite the attempts of propagandists on both sides, no wholly evil figure emerges from World War I to occupy the world’s imagination, no one of a viciousness so unmitigated that it seems almost supernatural; H!tler, on the other hand, has all the lineaments of a Dark Lord, and the Reich he hoped to found was a parody of the true Land”.

The Naz! empire, short-lived as it was, consisted of its conquests and occupied territory in Europe and north Africa – as well as its allies that started off resembling client states at best and finished off resembling hostages at worst.

And it was notorious for all the worst features of empire – war, extortion, plunder, slavery and genocide – arguably as a form of hyper-imperialism, both in intent and scale, more so by being crammed into a few short years.

It couldn’t even aspire to the caustic observation of empire by the Roman historian Tacitus through the mouthpiece of a Caledonian chieftain – that they make a desert and call it peace. Rather they made a desert and called it war.

The most that could be said for it was that its occupation of western Europe, extortionate as it was from the outset, was relatively benign until later in the war – relatively that is, compared to its occupation of eastern Europe, brutal or genocidal as it was from the outset

“It has been argued, and not altogether frivolously, that the crucial German mistake of the Second World War was to have behaved atrociously to Poland and correctly to France when the reverse would have served German interests to better effect”.

On a related side note, I have never understood why the Germans crushed the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, rather than simply withdraw to leave it as a thorn in the Soviet side.

Ironically, there were strains of anti-imperialism within the Naz! empire, similar to those other modern imperial powers that styled themselves as anti-imperialist while creating empires or enacting imperialism of their own. That was particularly so as it opposed the British Empire and hence sporadically invoked or supported anti-imperialism against that empire, as well as its propaganda posing as defending itself (or Europe) from Soviet and American forms of imperialism.

But it couldn’t even do that right – as it was not particularly concerned with expressing such sentiments during its high tide of conquest, and they only came to the fore as it became increasingly desperate defending against its defeat.

 

RATING:
S-TIER (GOD-TIER – OR IS THAT DEVIL-TIER?)

Top Tens – Mythology: Top 10 Adaptations of the Odyssey (5) Robert Graves – The Greek Myths

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Cover 2017 Penguin paperback edition (fair use)

 

 

(5) ROBERT GRAVES –

THE GREEK MYTHS (1955)

 

Similarly to Bulfinch’s Mythology, this book by Graves is a general compendium of Greek myths, including the Odyssey.

However, The Greek Myths by Graves is distinct from Bulfinch’s Mythology in that it extends beyond mere summary to interpretation, albeit Graves’ idiosyncratic interpretation to his overarching “poetic theme” or monomyth of the Goddess, and hence arguably an adaptation.

Essentially, Graves’ study of Greek mythology comes in two parts, summary and interpretation.

The first is a conventional compendium of Greek mythology – literary retellings of the various myths from their sources – and it is this part that is the basis for the book as my favorite single volume study of Greek mythology, albeit somewhat dense in its prose style.

The second part – his interpretative notes or commentary – is where things get wilder, albeit all in good poetic fun. This is where Graves ‘decodes’ or reconstructs Greek mythology to his monomyth of the Goddess or prehistoric matriarchal religion – “Graves interpreted Bronze Age Greece as changing from a matriarchal society…to a patriarchal one under continual pressure from victorious Greek-speaking tribes. In the second stage local kings came to each settlement as foreign princes, reigned by marrying the hereditary queen, who represented the Triple Goddess, and were ritually slain by the next king after a limited period, originally six months. Kings managed to evade the sacrifice for longer and longer periods, often by sacrificing substitutes, and eventually converted the queen, priestess of the Goddess, into a subservient and chaste wife, and in the final stage had legitimate sons to reign after them”.

So there you go. Of course, the historical accuracy of Graves’ interpretation or commentary has been almost universally contested or considered to be idiosyncratic – “the interpretive notes are of value only as a guide to the author’s personal mythology”.

And that extends to his interpretation of the Odyssey, of which I’ll always remember his interpretation of recurring katabasis or descent to the underworld – death and rebirth. One scene that indeed strikes as a ritual burial of death and rebirth is that of the Phaeacians taking Odysseus – who is in a seemingly supernatural state of slumber – ashore on Ithaca, placing him and the treasures they gave him in a cave.

Top Tens – Top 10 Girls of Animation (Special Mention: Complete & Revised)

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Screenshot excerpt from Australian animated TV series Pacific Heat from its IMDB profile

 

 

TOP 10 GIRLS OF ANIMATION (SPECIAL MENTION)

 

“Hellooo nurse!”

But wait – there’s more! Although counting down my Top 10 Girls of Animation was surprisingly challenging, there are enough candidates for my usual twenty special mentions I prefer for my top ten lists – with little tweaking of or eye for female figures in animation.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

But first a note on the visual images used in these special mentions. Given the copyright in such images, I only use a visual image as fair use for the purposes of comment and review in each entry – an iconic feature image to identify the character, either in general or in their most iconic version as I review it to be (or both), as excerpted from the animation itself.

Iconic perhaps, but not my favorite as I usually prefer the style of fan art or cosplay for the characters – although the girls of Western animation have nowhere near the prolific art or cosplay of the girls of anime, particularly in these special mentions, with the occasional exception. Hence as usual I also include a special section in each entry under the subtitle of art and cosplay – not for any actual art and cosplay as such but instead where I nominate my favorite artists and cosplay models depicting the character, which you can look up for yourself. For art, I award a special ranking for any art by my two favorite artists – the two freelance digital artists Sciamano and Dandonfuga. For cosplay, I award a special ranking for any cosplay by my holy trinity of models – my favorite model Yummychiyo with her insane figure in top spot, followed by Hane Ame and Helly Valentine.

As for the iconic feature image I’ve chosen for this page itself, I went with an excerpt from an animated series (and characters) that I am reasonably confident almost no one will identify (or instead misplace as from Archer) – the Australian animated TV series Pacific Heat (and its leading female duo, Maddie Riggs voiced by Rebecca Massey, and Veronica ‘VJ’ Delaney voiced by Lucia Manstrantone) in one of the screenshot excerpts used for its IMDB profile. That series was widely panned and has almost completely disappeared into the memory hole of popular culture…but I liked it as a guilty pleasure.

 

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

 

 

Clip from Archer, Season 1, episode 1 “Mole Hunt” – Archer flashing back to how he spends his operational account

 

 

(1) GIRLS OF ARCHER

(2009)

 

“(This) isn’t your own personal travel agency. It doesn’t exist so you can jet off to wh0re island”

“That’s not…a real place”…

“Sterling?!”

“Sorry – I was just picturing wh0re island”.

 

Lana Kane may be the top female agent in the animated series Archer, second only to the titular spy himself – as well as third place in my Top 10 Girls of Animation…but there’s many more girls in the animated series, from major or recurring characters to one-off episode appearances, more than enough for their own top ten and special mentions.

I mean, what do you expect for a compulsive womanizer like Archer – known for it among his “many weaknesses” (and one of the reasons he’s my spirit animal) – modelled on James Bond in a dysfunctional spy agency?

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

And what else but an excerpt from the pilot episode Mole Hunt which flashes back to Archer’s use of his operational account for personal expenses, foremost of which is women as featured in this excerpt. My feature dialog – with his mother reviewing his account as head of the agency – follows shortly afterwards. Also when he hacks into his expense account – “How?! How did I spend so much money?!”

 

 

From left to right, Ty Lee, Azula, and Mai as they appear in a classic scene hunting the Avatar in the second season

 

 

(2) GIRLS OF AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER & LEGEND OF KORRA

(2005)

 

Water. Earth. Fire. Air.

And girls, not least of which is the narrator of that opening sequence, water-bender Katara.

 

A Western animated series sometimes mistaken for anime due to its style and depiction consistent with an Asian fantasy world setting, it’s still lauded as one of the best animated series, maintaining an active fandom despite the passage of time since it originally aired. The central premise is a world in which certain individuals can magically “bend” or manipulate the four classical elements, with one individual – the perpetually reincarnating Avatar – able to bend all of them as a cosmic peacekeeper to maintain balance in the world. Although the series plays fast and loose at times with the rules of what each element includes and what is involved in bending them.

One of its strengths is its characterization – particularly its female characters, of which there are enough for their own top ten. And yes – I’m also counting characters from the sequel series Korra.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

Well you can’t go past the Fire Nation trio of Azula, Ty Lee and Mai as the signature girls of Avatar, rivalled only by Katara for top spot. My iconic feature image is from one of their classic scenes introducing them as a trio hunting the Avatar and his companions.

As I said, the girls of Avatar get their own top ten – in which I also feature the art and cosplay for individual entries (and in which they are usually aged up to adults).

 

 

 

Beth Smith in Hellraiser Cenobite disguise in Amortycan Grickfitti, episode 5, season 5, Rick & Morty

 

 

 

(3) GIRLS OF RICK & MORTY

(2013)

 

I have to give special mention to the girls of Rick and Morty, given it’s my favorite animated series after Archer.

Hell, Hellraiser Beth probably deserves an entry of her own! Uh, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Anyway, the girls of Rick and Morty are prolific enough for their own special mention and top ten, albeit perhaps more by way of imagining them in a different art style than that of the series. Or like their voice actresses – as with Christina Hendricks as Unity. I’ll be absorbed into her hive mind any day!

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

My iconic feature image is a still image of Hellraiser Beth (and Rick) – that is, Beth in her Hellraiser Cenobite disguise from “Amortycan Rickfitti”, episode 5 of Season 5. There’s fan art and even cosplay out there of various characters, but sadly none from my favorites.

 

 

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

The Flintstones series by DC Comics after acquiring the rights to Hanna-Barbera animated series and revamping them in comics – cover art by Amanda Conner for issue 2 “Buyer Beware” in October 2016

 

 

(4) WILMA FLINTSTONE & BETTY RUBBLE –

THE FLINTSTONES (1960)

 

Yabba dabba doo!

The first entry by chronology in my Top 10 Girls of Animation or special mentions – I did consider Betty Boop who would have ranked as even earlier given her first appearance in 1930 but thought that her animation style and profile just didn’t earn special mention.

The Flintstones proved surprisingly durable as a concept for an animated sitcom featuring archetypal American suburban family life from the 1950s (heavily inspired by The Honeymooners) transferred to the Stone Age, with animals substituted for the technological appliances or conveniences of modern life and the whole anachronism of it all being the running gag of the series.

Wilma Flintstone is the redhead wife of the titular married couple, while Barney and Betty Rubble are the married couple neighboring (and best friends of) the Flintstones. Wilma is “more intelligent and level-headed” than her husband Fred, serving as a “foil to his behaviour” and “a loyal wife to him” – while Betty in a similar role to Barney.

I’m going to give a shout-out to Pebbles Flintstone – who started off as Fred and Wilma’s baby daughter in the original series, but featured as grown up in spinoff series, obviously inheriting her redhead good looks from her mother (and exceeding them in my opinion, mainly due to the evolution of animation art style by the time of her spinoffs).

Speaking of which…

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

Yeah – Wilma and Betty wouldn’t earn much of a place based on their original animation art style, which was pretty basic although it served its purpose for the series as animated sitcom. They earn special mention more from various adaptations in art or fan art since, notably when DC Comics acquired the rights to the Hanna-Barbera animated series and revamped them in comics – the source of my iconic feature image from cover art by Amanda Conner for issue 2 “Buyer Beware” in October 2016.

There’s also art of both Wilma and Betty by Nathan Szerdy and Elias Chatzoudis. They occasionally pop up in cosplay but not by my favorite models.

 

 

Art of the Jetsons by Amanda Conner for the DC comics revamp series

 

(5) JANE & JUDY JETSON –

THE JETSONS (1962)

 

Well, you should have been expecting this one after The Flintstones, as The Jetsons is essentially the Flintstones IN SPACE.

Well, in the Space Age at least.

Obviously there are some differences but once again it was an animated sitcom featuring archetypal American suburban life from the 1950s or early 1960s, this time in an idealized twenty-first century with flying cars, robot maids and so on. Not as durable or iconic as The Flintstones.

Jane Jetson is the wife of the titular family, while Judy is the platinum blonde daughter.

I’m going to give a shout-out to robot maid Rosie, who occasionally gets a s€xbot makeover in art.

Speaking of which…

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

Yeah, again Jane and Judy wouldn’t earn much of a place based on their original animation art style, which was pretty basic although it served its purpose for the series as animated sitcom. They earn special mention more from various adaptations in art or fan art since, notably when DC Comics acquired the rights to the Hanna-Barbera animated series and revamped them in comics – the source of my iconic feature image from art by Amanda Conner for the comics.

There’s also art of Jane and Judy Jetson by Nathan Szerdy and Elias Chatzoudis – I haven’t seen them in cosplay.

 

 

A collage I compiled of Velma’s live-action film depiction as played by Linda Cardellini

 

(6) VELMA DINKLEY –

SCOOBY DOO (1969)

 

I can’t have Daphne Blake in my Top 10 Girls of Animation without special mention for the other female member of the Scooby Doo gang, Velma Dinkley.

Or perhaps I could have, if it was only a matter of her original animation design (or the infamous Velma animated series).

However, fortunately Velma as the brains of the Scooby Doo gang gets quite the makeover in art, cosplay and live action film adaptations, whether in a duo with Daphne or on her own, to the point that she, ah, equals or even out va-vooms Daphne at times.

Speaking of which…

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

For her iconic feature image, I compiled a collage of her live action depictions as played by Linda Cardellini, including THAT suit. “Who’s your mommy?” indeed.

As for art, Velma has been depicted, either in duo with Daphne or her own, by Elias Chatzoudis and Nathan Szerdy among my favorite artists. She has also been depicted in some sizzling cosplay, albeit not by my favorite models.

 

 

Cover art by Dan Panosian for the Dynamite Entertainment comic, adapted from the animated film

 

(7) TEEGRA –

FIRE & ICE (1983)

 

A female character sadly overlooked in popular culture, as indeed is her animated film Fire and Ice or for that matter the works of Ralph Bakshi in general – but here it was Bakshi combined with artist Frank Frazetta and Teegra was nothing but an archetypal Frazetta fantasy bikini girl.  That’s a princess bikini by the way, although it might be explained by the heat of her father’s volcano kingdom.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

For iconic feature image, I chose the cover art by Dan Panosian for the Dynamite Entertainment comic, a prequel to the animated film. Sadly, there’s not too much Teegra art out there – apart from Josh Burns and sketch art by Elias Chatzoudis – and no cosplay, a result of being sadly overlooked

 

 

 

Cover art by Leirix for the Thundercats: Cheetara 3 comic by Dynamite Entertainment, adapted from the animated TV series

 

(8) CHEETARA –

THUNDERCATS (1985)

 

I’ve never seen Thundercats – whether in its original 1980s incarnation, its short-lived 2011 reboot version, or the 2020 parody version Thundercats Roar. It always struck me as He-Man with cat-people – which appears to be reasonably accurate according to the TV Tropes description of the original series:

“Somewhere in the depths of space, a group of aliens with feline-patterned skin (who happened to look like ’80s Glam Rock stars with a cat-like theme) flee their doomed homeworld of Thundera. Pursued by their enemies, the Mutants, their ship crash-lands on the planet of Third Earth…And if you ever wonder about what the show was actually like, remember that this was the ’80s, a time of six-pack superheroes, magical weaponry that could do absolutely anything, and villains who shared their wardrobes with death-metal bands, all powered by the Rule of Cool, and ThunderCats was no exception.”

Cheetara was the girl of the gang – with a cheetah design as her name suggests.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

For iconic feature image, I chose the cover art by Leirix for the Thundercats: Cheetara 3 comic by Dynamite Entertainment, adapted from the animated TV series, as it showcases her cheetah appearance (updated to the style of modern comics). She’s also been featured by Elias Chatzoudis, Nathan Szerdy, and Lucio Parrillo among my favorite artists.

 

Kida as she appears in a shot from Atlantis: The Lost Empire, used in her character profile in the fan wiki

 

 

(9) KIDA –

ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE (2001)

 

Yes – this is a film from Disney and from its animated canon no less, albeit often overlooked, including by me as I haven’t seen it. What people haven’t overlooked – and what I have seen – is Kida, as one or two of my favorite artists seem quite taken with her.

And yes – that’s Princess Kida from the titular Atlantis of the film, voiced by Cree Summer. Kida is short for Kidagakash Nedakh…I can see why she shortens it. Also, to be technical, she does become Queen of Atlantis.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

For her iconic feature image, I chose a shot of her from the film, extracted from the gallery in her character profile in the fan wiki.

 

ART  – DANDONFUGA

 

Whoa! The first of my special mentions to score a Dandonfuga ranking for art of her. Neoartcore has also done some art of her.

 

 

Promotional art for one of its seasons, featuring the trio of totally spies (fair use)

 

 

(10) SAM, CLOVER & ALEX –

TOTALLY SPIES! (2001)

 

Yes, this entry is for all three protagonists.

But let’s face it, it’s really for Sam. As I said for Gwen Tennyson, It’s the red hair and those green eyes – a recurring feature of girls in visual media (comics, video games, animation, and anime) but not so much in real life. Note to self – compile a top ten girls with red hair and green eyes. (Beware! Beware! Those flashing eyes! That floating hair!).

They’re all pretty cute, though. I don’t know much about this series, but after looking it up, I’ve seen it was a French animated TV series that ran for seven seasons and acquired a cult following. Despite it’s French production, the three protagonists are girls from Beverly Hills, who work as undercover agents for the World Organization of Human Protection (WOOHP). WOOHP, there it is!

Clover Ewing or Clover is the blond in the red spysuit, Alexandra Casoy or Alex is the brunette (apparently of mixed Asian and Latin American descent) in the yellow spysuit, and as we’ve established, Samantha Simpson or Sam is the redhead in the green spysuit (to match her eyes)

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

For my feature image, I’ve gone with standard seasonal promotion art.

Totally Spies came to my attention through Neoartcore artwork of Sam.

 

 

Kim and Shego as they appear in the animated TV series (in one of their numerous fights)

 

(11) KIM POSSIBLE & SHEGO (2002)

 

“It is impossible!”

“No—but real close.”

 

I haven’t seen Kim Possible – except in art and cosplay – so I’ll quote TV Tropes:

“Kim Possible is a Disney animated series that aired from 2002 to 2007. It features a redheaded action girl, her blond male sidekick, and a voice with an internet connection — they fight crime, mostly a sleek and s€xy woman with long black hair who turned to crime for the evulz…The premise is, at first glance, an interesting cross of Alias and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (with a little bit of Austin Powers — high school head cheerleader plus awkward male friend and naked mole rat stop global supervillains”.

Kim Possible is the titular heroine – as well as a green-eyed redhead rare in real life but beloved of comics artists and animators – and Shego is her green-themed raven-haired antagonist, nominally sidekick to the primary antagonist (Dr Drakken).

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

For their iconic feature images, I chose a shot from the animated series depicting the duo in one of their numerous fights.

 

ART – DANDONFUGA

 

That’s right – both Kim and Shego score Dandonfuga rankings, as well as art by Neoartcore.

 

Cover art from one of the DVD season collections

 

(12) DR. GIRLFRIEND / DR. MRS. THE MONARCH –

THE VENTURE BROS. (2003)

 

Special mention has to go to the top girl of The Venture Bros, given that it is one of my favorite animated series – which started as a parody of the Johnny Quest animated series before evolving into a virtually encyclopedic parody of every superhero or pulp action hero trope there is.

As her villain moniker indicates, Dr Girlfriend is the girlfriend of the primary antagonist to the Venture family, the Monarch. She’s drawn as attractive, clearly in the style of former US First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy – down to the hair and clothing, although she swaps out the latter for some pretty risque costumes, particularly upon becoming Dr. Mrs. The Monarch. Although…one of the gags of the series is her inexplicably husky masculine voice – not only is she voiced by male show creator Doc Hammer, but he lays it on thick with the deepest, huskiest voice he can muster, far more so than the male characters he voices.

I have to give a shoutout to their parody of the Black Widow Character, whose name I dare not feature here but is a play on Molotov cocktail.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

For her iconic feature art, I chose the cover art from one of the DVD season collections (in her Dr. Mrs. The Monarch costume). Sadly, she has not drawn (heh) the attention of my favorite artists or cosplay models.

 

 

Astrid as she appears in the second film from her profile on the fan wiki (fair use)

 

 

(13) ASTRID HOFFERSON –

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (2010)

 

Technically, Astrid should rank in my girls of (literary) fantasy, as How to Train Your Dragon is a franchise that began as a series of children’s books, written by British author Cressida Cowell, but the animated films are only very loosely based on the series – and Astrid is adapted from a different character (from Book 3 onwards) with a different name, Camicazi.

The protagonist of the film, as in the book series is Hiccup, is a young Viking on the island of Berk, who befriends one of the dragons that seemingly plague the village – hence the title. Astrid Hofferson is a female Viking warrior, initially rival to Hiccup as he threatens her status of ace of the next generation in training for dragon slaying, but adapts to his friendship with dragons – becoming his love interest, girlfriend and ultimately his wife (and hence “Chieftess” of Berk).

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

For her iconic feature art, I chose her profile image from the fan wiki – how she appears in the second film. Sadly, she has not drawn (heh again) little attention from my favorite artists – except Neoartcore – and none from my favorite cosplay models.

 

 

Mavis as she appears in her standard costume design in the Hotel Transylvania franchise. You can’t go wrong with a little black dress! Not to mention the striped stockings

 

(14) MAVIS DRACULA –

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA (2012)

 

While the Hotel Transylvania film franchise is somewhat average fare (with diminishing returns), its leading female character – Dracula’s daughter, Mavis, voiced by Selena Gomez Adventure Time – stands out with her blue-eyed perky goth girl design, which has proved popular with fan artists and cosplay models.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

For her iconic feature image, I’ve chosen an image of her in her standard costume design from the franchise. You can’t go wrong with a little black dress! The striped stockings are also doing it for me!

 

COSPLAY – HELLY

 

That’s right – she may not have art from my favorite artists but she scores a Helly ranking for Helly Valentine’s sizzling cosplay of her, literally down to those striped stockings…

 

 

Promotional image of Anna with sister Elsa from the Disney channel Frozen film profile

 

(15) ANNA –

FROZEN (2013)

 

I suppose technically Anna should rank in my Girls of Fantasy & SF, like her sister Elsa does as an adaptation of the fairy tale Snow Queen. Where Elas combines the characters of the titular Snow Queen and the boy Kai from the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, Anna is adapted from Kai’s friend Gerda, who seeks Kai out to warm his frozen heart.

Of course, Elsa froze all our hearts in a good way – hence her top spot in my Top 10 Girls of Fantasy & SF – but Anna, voiced by Kristen Bell, is just adorable, much like her literary counterpart Gerda.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

For her iconic feature image, I’ve chosen the promotional image of her with her sister Elsa from the Disney channel for the film.

 

ART – DANDONFUGA

 

Sadly, her art and cosplay is eclipsed by the far more prolific art and cosplay for her sister, but Anna does score a Dandonfuga ranking as Dandonfuga has done art of her as well as Elsa. Likewise for Neoartcore!

 

X-TIER (WILD TIER)

 

 

Iconic shot of the Woman (as she is credited) or the titular Witness in The Witness, episode 3, season 1, Love, Death + Robots

 

(16) THE WITNESS / THE WOMAN –

LOVE, DEATH + ROBOTS (2019)

 

Love, Death + Robots was and is something of a mixed bag, with standout episodes and episodes that, well, don’t stand out.

However the episode The Witness did stand out in the first season of the series, not least for its publicity. Surprisingly it’s not as short as I recalled it – twelve minutes or so – but boy did it have an impact, for its mind-bending twists, art and animation, the focus of which is the titular Witness, credited simply as the Woman. Despite her lack of a name and limited screen time (albeit as some sort of theatrical s*x worker), she also made an impact in art and cosplay at the time.

It was a close call between her and the siren in the third season – I saw art or cosplay of both – but the latter was just a little too freaky.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

What else but the iconic shot of the Woman (as she is credited) or the titular Witness from the episode itself? The shot that was most commonly replicated in art and cosplay, albeit sadly not by any of my favorites.

 

 

Kacey as she appears in Supercrooks

 

(17) KASEY –

SUPERCROOKS (2021)

 

Technically anime – “capepunk heist anime” – but as it’s based on a comic by Mark Millar (and a spinoff of Jupiter’s Legacy) adapted for Netflix, I’m putting psychic supervillain Kasey here, because I make my own rules and break them anyway.

Although supervillain is a somewhat inaccurate term – the titular supercrook is better. They’re decent enough people but down on their luck and hence “drum up huge heists”, with their last big heist against a deserving target.  Johnny Bolt – named for his superpowered control over electricity – is the protagonist who aspired to use his powers as a hero but luck was not on his side. Kasey is his more sensibly ambitious (and somewhat long-suffering) girlfriend. Her psychic power is the ability to implant illusions in people’s minds, akin to the power of suggestion and implanting false memories – which allowed the gang to escape failed heists.

The title sequence showcased both Bolt and Kasey dancing provocatively on the streets, albeit separately from each other.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

The Netflix series didn’t really have any impact in art and cosplay – it’s hard for animated characters to draw attention from the holy trinity of comics, video games and anime characters – so this entry only has my iconic feature image for her, in a scene from the series.

 

 

Martha Washington as she appears in a scene from the film

 

 

(18) MARTHA WASHINGTON –

AMERICA: THE MOTION PICTURE (2021)

 

Martha!

Why did you say that name?

This is why.

America: The Motion Picture may have been a decidedly average animated film on Netflix – although it had its moments – but its leading lady, a blonde buxom Martha Washington, definitely was anything but average.

It helps that she was voiced by Judy Greer – the voice of one of my favorite animated hot slices of crazy, Archer’s Cheryl Tunt. Martha has the hot but not the crazy – well, not before her brainwashed British version, although to be honest I kinda find her even hotter then. Well, with the exception of her Statue of Liberty form she has after that.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

The Netflix film just lacked impact in art and cosplay so this entry only has my iconic feature image for her, in a scene from the film itself.

 

 

Vex (left) reassuring Kyleth (right) about her druidic tree portal spell in a scene from the series

 

 

(19) VEX & KEYLETH –

THE LEGEND OF VOX MACHINA (2022)

 

The best animated adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons – adapted from the first campaign of Critical Role, a weekly web video of voice actors playing the game – has a number of girls that could round out an entry for the Girls of Vox Machina, but lacks the profile for art and cosplay. So I’ll stick to the two leading ladies of the titular protagonist adventuring party (apologies to brash gnome cleric Pike) – insecure half-elf druid Keyleth and snarky half-elf ranger Vex (twin sister of rogue Vax).

Although it was a close call for their first season antagonist necromancer Delilah Blackwood – voiced by Grey DeLisle, who always does good villainess voice.

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

Another series that despite its quality lacks art and cosplay, at least from my favorite artists or models, so this entry only has my iconic feature image for her, in a clip from a scene featuring the duo together (with Vex reassuring Kyleth about the latter’s druidic spell).

 

 

Verosika Mayday as she appears in her profile image in the Helluva Boss fan wiki

 

 

(20) HAZBIN HOTEL / HELLUVA BOSS –

VEROSIKA MAYDAY

 

Who is the top girl of the Hazbin Helluvaverse and why is it Verosika Mayday?

Ah – she’s a literal succubus and you know they’re as hot as hell. I do like my devil girls and succubi tend to be the hottest of them.

Yes, yes – there are other female characters in the Hazbin Helluverse, not least the protagonist of Hazbin Hotel and Lucifer’s daughter, Charlie Morningstar.

It’s just that the art style of both series seems to favor the male characters, as do the creative teams and fans – the female characters, notably Charlie Morningstar, tend to be depicted better in fan art.

Verosika is the exception – “Verosika is notably well-endowed for the show’s art style” (with an impossibly hourglass figure) “which is fitting since she’s supposed to be attractive even by succubus standards, being a lust object in both Hell and Earth” (albeit in the latter she has a human form as a pop singer).

 

ART & COSPLAY

 

Despite a fandom that puts the fan into fanaticism, little of that trickles down to the mainstream popularity as a subject of art or cosplay by my favorite artists or models, so this entry again only has my iconic feature image using her profile image from the Helluva boss fan wiki.