Poll

She's from the Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce. The first one's Alanna: the first adventure
If you like fantasy and great female leads and stuff then you should read it :)

I am more into apocalypses and end of the world stuff but have started a couple fantasy reads. I guess you would have to put the Harry Potter books in the fantasy category too. Thanks, checking it out.

Cassandra, Alanna sounds like a really good book. Thank you! That's what we're here for, right? To learn about and discuss books with each other.

Hermione, she's a freaking wizard

Caroline wrote: "Hermione, she's a freaking wizard"

YES!!

Donna wrote: "Yeah, but what about magic, using spells, pretty much invalidates any fighting abilities, no?"

HERMIONE IS NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH MAGIC. Celaena, Alanna, Harry and Aerin also have magic, and on top of that, they are trained warriors. Take away Hermione's magic, and she's nothing. Also, her magic is limited--she has to speak her spells, and use a wand. Celaena could have a knife in her throat before she could utter a word. And plenty of the others don't have "magic", per se, but have abilities that would definitely make them contenders: Fire can control minds, Katsa is Graced with killing/survival, Calla is a werewolf, Evie can suck the souls out of people and open portals to other worlds, Ellie is an archangel warrior who wields fire and swords, Daine is a shapeshifter who can speak to animals, Annabeth is a demigod, and Rose is a dhampir. The others are just ordinary mortals, but skills and cleverness could beat magic. And I just realized that sounded rude, sorry! I wasn't trying to be! :)
(I created the poll, by the way--and just to clarify for anybody who was wondering, YES, in this fight, they would all be using their abilities.)

Thank you! That clears up a lot of the discussion :)

How? How do skills and cleverness beat magic? I am trying to see it but can't. Hermione is pretty clever too. It has been a fun discussion and I will have to catch up on my fighting heroines.

Guys, Hermione is the smartest (so is Annabeth of course) and she could just kill from a distance by just Avada Kadavra"ing" everyone, or even paralyze them. So OBVIOUSLY Hermione! And even without her wand, she is a freaking badass! Just ask Draco Malfoy's nose...

Manasa(மானசா)TeamLeo2602 wrote: "Guys, Hermione is the smartest (so is Annabeth of course) and she could just kill from a distance by just Avada Kadavra"ing" everyone, or even paralyze them. So OBVIOUSLY Hermione! And even without..."

I'm with you! Hermione has brains, cleverness and magic.

Can someone please tell this heroine lover which book(s) Annabeth is in? Thanks. Sounds like I have some catching up to do.

OH MY GODS! Annabeth is in the Percy Jackson series AND the Heroes of Olympus series (like one of my childhood favs series next to Harry Potter)! You DO have a lot of catching up to do!

I am not a huge fantasy fan, or haven't been. But that will have to change. Thanks again. Read all the Harry Potter books and saw some Percy Jackson but haven't read it.

Definitely Katsa. No hesitation. She's a heroine who simply can't lose. She has the stamina, ability, courage, and guts to go up against anyone. I really like Tris and I think she can do anything she sets her mind to, but she just doesn't have the same thing that Katsa does. Katsa has a magical ability as well as battle training. Her Grace amplifies her fighting.

What is Katsa's magical ability and what book is she in? (Scrambling to catch up here).

Shaylee wrote: "Definitely Katsa. No hesitation. She's a heroine who simply can't lose. She has the stamina, ability, courage, and guts to go up against anyone. I really like Tris and I think she can do anything s..."

Um are you forgetting that HERMIONE IS ON THE LIST! I mean, Katsa is BADASS to the T, but Hermione could just PERTRIFICUS TOTALUS her before she could even move an inch.

Yes, i dont know w h at Katsa's magical abilty is but Hermione has an all incompassing magic sooo......

Donna wrote: "What is Katsa's magical ability and what book is she in? (Scrambling to catch up here)."

Well, telling you would be a spoiler but she is in the Graceling trilogy. It is like a middle-ages, kingdom book, but that has nothing to do with how BADASS Katsa is.

Ok. Thanks, but if her magic is not all incompassing like Hermione's she is still in trouble. Update: I read about Katsa's magic and Hermione the wizard could block her power. I think. Will have to read this one too but H so far is the winner in my book, heheh.

Katsa's ability isn't like magic, well I really don't know what to label it...but I guess it is more of a VERY talented ability than "magic"...

Do you guys think Cassie (The 5th Wave) would win against Allana? I honestly think Allana would win but my friend says Cassie would win...

Ok, so no match really for our brilliant clever talented Hermione.

Manasa(மானசா)TeamLeo2602 wrote: "Shaylee wrote: "Definitely Katsa. No hesitation. She's a heroine who simply can't lose. She has the stamina, ability, courage, and guts to go up against anyone. I really like Tris and I think she c..."

I did see Hermione. I'm not sure if she has the skill to fight hand to hand if the fight requires it. But I think she could handle herself in a magical fight.

Donna wrote: "Ok. Thanks, but if her magic is not all incompassing like Hermione's she is still in trouble. Update: I read about Katsa's magic and Hermione the wizard could block her power. I think. Will have to..."

Good point. But if the other fighter didn't have magic, Katsa could win. I think if there's a magician involved, Katsa would lose. Katsa's ability isn't so magical that she could fight against a wizard or spell caster.

Shaylee wrote: "Donna wrote: "Ok. Thanks, but if her magic is not all incompassing like Hermione's she is still in trouble. Update: I read about Katsa's magic and Hermione the wizard could block her power. I think..."

Yeah, I agree if there is no magic, Katsa, no contest!

Manasa(மானசா)TeamLeo2602 wrote: "Katsa's ability isn't like magic, well I really don't know what to label it...but I guess it is more of a VERY talented ability than "magic"..."

I agree. Other Gracelings have more "magic" than Katsa does. Hers is more of a talent that no one else has.

Yes, well that's the point. Maybe we should have a contest that doesn't include wizards. Then I would have to read up fast to even know everyone's abilities. With Hermione in the mix it sort of negates those other more natural abilities.

I'm pretty sure Alanna could beat Hermione with magic and she could beat a lot of the other fighters at hand-to-hand or with weapons. Katsa would beat Alanna if she didn't have magic.

Hermione has magic. How does anyone else contend?

Alanna has magic and she is an incredible fighter, I'm pretty sure she could beat Hermione.

Sounds like Alanna had one specific enhanced ability that could be stopped with Some serious wizard magic. I guess I don't inderstand how anyone could beat some serious all incompassing magic. It's been fun, guys.

Donna wrote: "Sounds like Alanna had one specific enhanced ability that could be stopped with Some serious wizard magic. I guess I don't inderstand how anyone could beat some serious all incompassing magic. It's..."

What if someone had the ability to take away a person's magic?

Shaylee wrote: "Donna wrote: "Ok. Thanks, but if her magic is not all incompassing like Hermione's she is still in trouble. Update: I read about Katsa's magic and Hermione the wizard could block her power. I think..."

I don't know about that. Hermione has to speak her spells, and Katsa could kill her with a thrown knife (view spoiler)[ (you know, like she did with Leck, before he could tell Po's secret) (hide spoiler)] before she could say anything.

Hermione could deflect the knife.

That would be really cool. I can't think of a character in any book that could do that, though.

Donna wrote: "Hermione could deflect the knife."

Yes, but she would have to SAY SOMETHING and gesture with her wand in order to deflect it, by which time it would have already struck her. And, in this fight, since Hermione's outnumbered, she could be defending against an attack from the front and be killed from behind.

Kim wrote: "That would be really cool. I can't think of a character in any book that could do that, though."

Well, (view spoiler)[ the King of Adarlan (hide spoiler)] from Throne of Glass could take away an entire kingdom's magic, and so could (view spoiler)[ Paksahara (hide spoiler)] from The Familiars, but those are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head... Although, technically, those weren't inherent powers they had, but rather the power of some magic weapons they used... So I guess that doesn't really count. Oops.

Although, one I can think of who definitely has that power is Annie from The Wide-Awake Princess. She's immune to magic, so when someone throws a spell at her, it bounces back onto them, and if she touches a magic-user, they lose their magic, and if she touches someone who's cursed or something, the spell is broken, as long as she's touching them.

Nicole wrote: "what about hermione without magic though...what if it was just a weaponless brawl between all of them"

She did punch Draco, though he wasn't expecting it, so not sure how well that really counts in terms of her physicality.

She can utter one word. That does not take long. I'm thinking it would take only a flick of her wand. It's been a while since I read the Potter books:)

Donna wrote: "She can utter one word. That does not take long. I'm thinking it would take only a flick of her wand. It's been a while since I read the Potter books:)"

And even if she can't think of a spell on the spot, she can just Apparate out of there...I still don't get how you guys think that MAGIC can be defeated by fighting...

I think that many of you are arguing for Hermione because you see the magic, and see the fighters, and don't know many of the fighters. Also, many other fighters have some sort of magic magic - Daine, Alanna, Annabeth(?), Katsa, Fire, Celaena.
I know Hermione, Celaena, Katniss, Tris, Alanna, Kel, Daine, and Fire, and have heard of Annabeth, Bella, Rose, Katsa, and Sophronia.
I think that out of those heroines they all would have a pretty close fight. Well, except for Bella.
I think that yes, Hermione can kill easily from a distance, and many people at a time. But she's not a trained fighter! Celaena and Alanna (to name but two) have had much more battle experience than Hermione. Yes, Hermione has had duels with other wizards, but she's never faced 10 or so clever, cunning girls who've been fighting in their own worlds for years.
So I'm not sure that Hermione would win. But yes, she'd be one of the best.

She could kill or disable from any distance, really and unless some other heroine has all incompassing magic as she does one with a specific magic or just great fighting abilities would be at a disadvantage against magic. I feel we are saying the same thing over and over. So far the facts have not.
But it's a fun question to ponder.

Plenty of these heroines have had to fight to survive for most of their lives, while Hermione's led a pretty privileged life by comparison, so their battle instincts are honed better than hers. So many of you keep thinking "magic=win" when it doesn't, not necessarily. And when you say that you don't get how being a great fighter can beat magic, it's not just about being able to use a sword--it has to do with outwitting your opponent... It's the same principle as if you're fighting a person much bigger and stronger than you. You use their strength and size against them. Heroines like Alanna, Celaena or even Sophronia have fought people/creatures far more powerful than they are, and have beat them with their cleverness, skills and, let's face it, dumb luck. And you really can't have an opinion if you don't know any of the other heroines on the list, so how about you go read the other books, and then we'll see if you still think Hermione would win.

Ok I will take my opinion that magic wins any fight regardless and no one has yet explained to me why not, and let you all fight it out. My opinion has been made plain. And so far I have seen no way magic wouldn't win, regardless of skill, priviledge or whatever. It makes no difference.
A great discussion. If you remain rational.

How did katniss get up there? I agree she has awesome survival and fighting skills and is great with a bow and arrow but when it comes down to it magic that Celaena has or katsa's grace could totally beat her skill.

Hermione for the win. I haven't read all of these but from those I have I feel our Ms. Granger is the obvious choice, given her intelligence, bravery, and magical skills. Granted, she arguably lacks killing-intent like say Katniss or Celaena, but Hermione proved how much she could accomplish for the sake of the people and world she held dear, and I think that's a quiet strength that cannot be underrated.

Donna wrote: "Ok I will take my opinion that magic wins any fight regardless and no one has yet explained to me why not, and let you all fight it out. My opinion has been made plain. And so far I have seen no wa..."

HERMIONE ISN'T THE ONLY ONE WITH MAGIC. Multiple people have told you this more than once. I even listed out what all the other heroines' powers are. I also already explained how someone without magic could beat a magic-user, but just for argument's sake, a few examples, and then I'm done: in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy (who has no magic whatsoever) defeated a witch. When the witch threw a spell at her (after she'd already beat Buffy up quite a bit), Buffy kicked a mirror in the way, and the spell bounced off the mirror and destroyed the witch. Or in the movie Aladdin, Aladdin (who has no magic) tricked Jafar (who, at that point, had made himself the most powerful sorcerer in the world) into wishing to become a genie, thus trapping him in a bottle. Those are just a few examples I could think of off the top of my head--I know there are more. And I don't remember if there's anything in the Harry Potter universe that negates magic, but a non-magical person could beat plenty of creatures if they were properly armed: iron for faeries; silver and wolfsbane for werewolves; crosses, holy water, garlic, fire, sunlight (you could rip open a curtain and burn them alive), wooden stakes, etc. for vampires; salt and fire (to burn the corpse) for ghosts, etc. And someone who doesn't inherently HAVE magic could still use certain kinds of magic (like witchcraft or something)--you know, the sort of magic where they have to draw symbols, recite spells from a book, perform certain rituals, etc. So a lot of it depends on the right weapons, skills, cleverness, timing, and luck. And plenty of the heroines could team up against Hermione, if that's what it would take, and then turn on each other.

To be fair, there wouldn't need to be an army of Bellas - just the one - if (view spoiler)[she was her vampire self. (hide spoiler)]

Donna wrote: "Ok I will take my opinion that magic wins any fight regardless and no one has yet explained to me why not, and let you all fight it out. My opinion has been made plain. And so far I have seen no wa..."

Word

Jenna wrote: "What about Annabeth?"

Yeah really, I mean she could strategize and figure out the best ways to take all of them out.