History Main / PluckyGirl

%%* The title character of Hugh Howey's YoungAdult SpaceOpera ''Molly Fyde'' series.

* Ninevah "Nin" Redstone from ''Seven Sorcerers'' by Caro King. Her Motto is "Have Courage and never give up!" She confronts a Bogeyman while armed only with a toothbrush and goes to insane lengths to rescue her brother, along with [[ChronicHeroSyndrome everybody else needing help]].

** Chun Li. Oh my, Chun Li. The first ActionGirl in fighting game history simply can't be less. Followed by Cammy White, "Rainbow" Mika Nanakawa, Sakura Kasugano, Karin Kanzuki, Elena, Ibuki, Maki Genryusai, Makoto, Rose, Ingrid...
** In regards to non-fighting female charas, Yun's HotBlooded "non-girlfriend" Houmei is this; considering how calm she is when around her, her little sister Shaomei might count too. Eliza Masters can be considered to be an OlderAndWiser version: she's not seen a lot but when she does appear she's almost always smiling and patient, and the mere fact that she's HappilyMarried to [[LovedINotHonorMore a dude who's very often fighting out there]] implies that she's got quite the patience.

* Sansa Stark from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', who manages to stay cool even when life seems more and more persistent to break her. Her sister Arya too, though this becomes less appealing and more creepy as the story goes on though, as the goals Arya persists in achieving pretty much amount to mass murder.

* Casca from ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' zigged in and out of this trope. She was first like this when Guts patronized her for being a weak female when she fell ill during her period, but she never let him get to her. After Guts returned after a year's absence when everything came crashing down for the Hawks, Casca had an emotional breakdown and nearly committed suicide, [[InterruptedSuicide but Guts saved her]] and [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre gave her some emotional strength]] [[spoiler: [[LoveEpiphany while admitting their love to each other]]]]. After that, Casca more or less [[ToughLeaderFacade resumed her role as the strong female acting-leader of the Hawks]], and even managed to keep her cool in the wake of a bad situation when [[spoiler: the Eclipse began, and the Hawks were warped to another dimension]]. [[FromBadToWorse And then that bad situation turned worse.]] [[BreakTheCutie Casca did not come]] [[RapeLeadsToInsanity out very well]] - [[GoMadFromTheRevelation AT]] [[DrivenToMadness ALL.]]

** Anna from ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}''. The traits that define her are her sheer optimism and energy. Similar fo the above-mentioned Rapunzel, in [[WhatCouldHaveBeen earlier versions of the film]] Anna apparently lacked much of this. In the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM9palXgpC4 full version]] of the "That's no blizzard -- that's my sister!" MissingTrailerScene (which dates back to when Elsa was still the BigBad), she showed fears about jumping off a mountain, and in the CutSong "More Than Just A Spare", she has more self-confidence issues than in the final product.

* Meilin Lee from ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'' is optimistic about what she can do to make the world a better place and determined to do her part in realizing that goal. After the TraumaCongaLine she endures in the first act, you wouldn't be surprised if she broke down - and in fact she does, for a while. But with the support of her friends she comes back strong. It quickly becomes clear that Mei always sees the best side of things, and she won't let ''anything'' stop her from achieving her goal-of-the-moment, whether it's getting top grades, entertaining the temple visitors, [[spoiler: getting home to hide her red panda form, getting to the 4*Town Concert, or even fighting her mother's towering kaiju-panda form]].

* Annabelle Lennox in the ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/BlackCrayons''. She's sweet and friendly, but she can be as brave and stubborn as her parents (or Ironhide) when she needs to. [[spoiler:She sneaks her way into a ''warzone'' because she thought she needed to be there. Keep in mind that she's ''six years old'' at the time.]]

* ''Fanfic/OnceUponAStudioVersionTwoPointOh'': Cinderella and Rapunzel both this fit trope perfectly, as Cinderella is determined to turn the situation around following Goofy's failed first attempt. On the way downstairs, she quickly gives Rapunzel [[ThatRemindsMeOfASong an idea to lift everyone's spirits]]. Both Fairy Godmother and Rapunzel take the initiative, as the former conjures a guitar for Rapunzel, while Raps herself begins playing a new rendition of "When You Wish Upon a Star".

* ''Manga/{{Lady}}'': Discussed as Lynn's major motive - in spite of her mother's death and her father's family hating her for being a person of colour, she strives to be a ProperLady no matter what.

* Arya Stark from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. This becomes less appealing and more creepy as the story goes on though, as the goals Arya persists in achieving pretty much amount to mass murder. Her sister Sansa, too, who manages to stay cool even when life seems more and more persistent to break her.

* Fanfic/OnceUponAStudioVersionTwoPointOh: Cinderella and Rapunzel both this fit trope perfectly, as Cinderella is determined to turn the situation around following Goofy's failed first attempt. On the way downstairs, she quickly gives Rapunzel [[ThatRemindsMeOfASong an idea to lift everyone's spirits]]. Both Fairy Godmother and Rapunzel take the initiative, as the former conjures a guitar for Rapunzel, while Raps herself begins playing a new rendition of "When You Wish Upon a Star".

* From ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Lily Potter ([[MamaBear standing between the Dark Lord and her baby without a second thought]]), [[HeroesWantRedHeads Ginny Weasley]] (CuteWitch who does what she can to help Harry and Co.), [[InsufferableGenius Hermione Granger]] (member of the Golden Trio and MagicalGirlWarrior extraordinaire), and [[CloudCuckoolander Luna Lovegood]] - though it's hard to say with her what is indomitable pluck and what is sheer CloudCuckooLand training.

** [[Characters/XMen90sMembers Jubilee]]. From about middle school age on life has constantly tried to crap all over her but not the murder of her parents, homelessness, being separated from her surrogate father figure, being captured and tortured by anti-mutant government initiatives, having the boy you have a crush on blown up, being crucified, losing her powers, or being turned into a vampire will stop her from forging ahead and realizing that life's what you make of it, so why not make it fun. [[spoiler: Though she gets cured of the vampirism part later.]]

** [[Characters/X23LauraKinney X-23]] of all X-Ladies becomes this in later comics, having thrown away well-justified stoicism and depression of her earlier comic years, she’s extremely upbeat to point of being TheCape. She remains strong even in face of [[spoiler: her “[[OppositeSexClone father]]” Wolverine dying ([[DeathIsCheap he gets better]]) telling Storm the last thing he’d want is for her break down over his death]].

* Clementine in ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' starts off as one, as scared of her situation as a child would be but maintaining a mostly optimistic attitude. On top of just coloring pictures, she contributes to the group every now and then, finding the boat in the shed and possibly putting in her two cents on whether they should let Ben stay or not. Overall, she does fairly well for a child in the apocalypse. As things become more and more dire, however, her optimism runs out to the point until [[BreakTheCutie she's effectively jaded]].

* ''Anime/HelloSandybell'': Sandybell Christie. She always stands up to the stuck up Kitty's bullying, and despite having barely any leads, she tries her best to find her biological mother....[[spoiler:even if she's on the other side of the continent in Lefkdas, Greece]].

* ''Anime/LucyMayOfTheSouthernRainbow'': Lucy-May is this constistently. Arthur says she can't have a dingo unless it's trained? She domesticates it. She can't speak to Hercules because of the LanguageBarrier? She speaks to him non-verbally. No matter what problem she faces, Lucy-May always tries to solve it.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* [=LaToya=] Jackson. She was in an abusive relationship for a decade and then suffered the loss of [[Music/MichaelJackson her brother]]. Yet when you watch her in interviews, she's the happiest she has ever been.
* Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani Human Rights Activist. She became famous after being shot in retaliation for advocating education for girls, but survived and continued speaking out. After the attempt on her life, she was forced to leave Pakistan in order to continue her work internationally. In spite of facing criticism, threats, and opposition to her advocacy, she has continued to speak out in favor of peace, compassion, and answered her critics with kindness.
* US Olympic gymnast Kerri Strug. In the Atlanta UsefulNotes/OlympicGames she gave the performance of her life, anchoring team USA -- forever after nicknamed "The Magnificent Seven" -- to its first-ever team gold medal. But the Americans' last rotation, vault, was a disaster. No gymnast -- not even the fabled Shannon Miller -- had managed to "stick the landing", and every step was another chip in their lead. Then disaster struck -- Dominique Moceanu sat down her vault. Twice. Last to go, everything rested on Kerri -- who sat down ''her'' first vault, severely spraining her ankle in an injury that normally renders someone unable to walk. But not Kerri, who stood up, shook it off, limped back to the start of the runway, and vaulted again. This time, she stuck it -- ''on one foot'' -- and ensured that team USA would indeed win gold. Then she crumpled to the mat in agony, and had to be [[BridalCarry carried by her coach]] to the podium so she could stand with the rest of her team.
* Aliya Mustafina, the greatest Russian gymnast since Svetlana Khorkina, was on top of the world in 2010, winning all-around gold and qualifying into every single event final at the World Championships. She was expected to dominate the next two years and be a major threat to the all-around podium in London. But at the 2011 European Championships, Mustafina tore her ACL on a vault, instantly ending her season. In gymnastics, an ACL tear is almost always a career-ender, and many people wrote her off. But Aliya didn't write ''herself'' off, and a year later she came out of the London Games as the most decorated gymnast there -- including a bronze in the all-around and Russia's only gold medal -- and first in three Olympics -- on the uneven bars. Never again shall Aliya Mustafina be counted out of ''anything''.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haru_Urara Haru Urara]], a Japanese mare that became a national symbol of courage and optimism during the final years of the Lost Decade. After a decade of economic stagnation, people in Japan related to the story of a plucky racehorse that always tried her hardest, but never won a single race. She was nicknamed the "Shining Star of Losers Everywhere" and cited by people as an inspiration to keep trying no matter how many times they failed. Because of her popularity, the failing racetrack where she ran was saved and continues to operate to the present day.
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