Plucky Girl

Running on pluck. Running on waves and pluck.

"Aren't you scared?"
"Oh, yeah. But while I'm mouthing off, I'm Feisty Heroine. Nothing bad happens to Feisty Heroine."

— Wisdom: Rudiments of Wisdom # 6

Plucky means "brave and optimistic".

You might be able to pile life complications onto this young woman/girl, to the point where the audience would forgive her if she just refused to go on. She might even have an episode or so where she does throw in the towel, because human beings can only take so much of what the universe is handing out for her. But the Plucky Girl always comes back. That's the bravery part.

The optimistic part is the rest of it. This character leans toward the sane version of The Pollyanna, blending the agency of the Action Girl with the sweetness and wise charm of the Spirited Young Lady, while exhibiting a strong sense of optimism and an unassailable spirit that differentiates her from the grimness of a Determinator. You can beat her, but damned if she'll let you break her.

Male versions exist, but they tend to be closer to Determinator territory instead, because men always have to be MANLY.

Female protagonists who are not straightforward Action Girls (and a good many who are) will be Plucky Girls because of the Anthropic Principle — if she's the protagonist and she gives up for good, the story gets cut short without resolution.

Not to be confused with Plucky Office Girl, though they may overlap once in a while.

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Examples:

• Anime & Manga
• Video Games

Comic Books

• The Avengers:
  • Mockingbird, while more cynical than most examples, has also suffered so much that it'd be insane for her not to be cynical. Listing everything she's suffered would be a pretty big wall of text, but they include being raped, tortured, abducted, stalked, divorced, shunned by her own family, and yet she's pretty eager to just get back into the action and still cracks jokes all the while, and despite the tortures she's suffered, she's typically one of the fun ones of any group she's with.
  • Founding member The Wasp: losing her dad is what spurred her onto becoming a superhero, but she didn't become an angsty vengeance seeker, instead becoming the plucky idealist of the group. After her bitter divorce from her husband after his mental breakdown though, during which she was physically assaulted and left humiliated, she decided to commit to heroism more and took leadership of the team, turning the low point of her life into the start of her high-point. She's suffered still since, most notably spending time trapped in another universe believed dead by her friends and family, but still remains one of the most hopeful of the team, if not The Heart at times.
• Batman: Stephanie Brown, the third Batgirl. Her ex-con of a father is starting to cause trouble again? Her mother's an addict? Her dad's trying to kill her? The father of her baby abandons her and she almost dies during delivery? The boy she's got her eyes on and who happens to be Robin's not interested in her? Batman tries to get her to quit being a crimefighter again and again - then fires her as Robin? She gets tortured, humiliated and almost killed and is forced to leave Gotham to heal? ... C'mon, you don't actually think that's gonna stop her, do you?
• Empowered could be considered a Reconstruction of this trope; the superheroine, Emp, continuously tries to be a hero despite having an abysmal track record of getting tied up and humiliated at virtually every turn. She does not simply ignore or brush off the failures, nor does she dispute that being repeatedly rendered a powerless, sexualised toy of thugs and supervillains despite her very best efforts is deeply traumatic, (she openly admits to having nightmares about being tied up, but says they're not so bad because she can wake up from them, unlike the countless times it's happened to her in real life) and she spends a fair amount of time in each volume sobbing uncontrollably. However, because the few times she does win are spectacularly awesome enough to see her through the bad times, and because every time she dons the suit she convinces herself that maybe it won't happen this time, she remains a Nice Girl with Heroic Willpower who is noted by a growing number of characters to be vastly stronger than many more badass characters who seldom have to deal with humiliation and helplessness.
• Luke Pearson's Hilda doesn't let trolls, giants, or big scary dogs get her down.
• Audrey, the title character in Incandescence. Beaten and terrorized regularly by her biological mother, orphaned in an earthquake, then her new adoptive mother ends up in a coma and she gets robbed on the way home from a college class. But somehow, through it all, she still gets up with a smile on her face each time.
• Mary Jane Watson from Spider-Man. Although she's gone through some rough patches and worries more than most examples of this trope, she is still the type of character that will have no qualms about beating a B list hero with a baseball bat or bringing Peter out of slum with some helpful optimism.
• Frédéric Brrémaud and Giovanni Rigano's Tête de Pioche is headstrong, dauntless, optimistic, and willing to adventure to whichever place in the world her big sister Milady is currently at.
• X-Men:
  • Kitty Pryde, the Trope Codifier for comic books. Parents splitting up, new school, new freaky powers that somehow aren't quite as useful as the powers of your new classmates, and a demon attack on your first Christmas there? Not a problem! It Gets Worse? She gets over it.
  • 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. Though she gets cured of the vampirism part later.
  • Jean Grey has displayed these qualities many times; as a girl she was wild and happy until her friend Annie was run over and died in her arms filling Jean with despair as her Mutation activated. Thanks to Professor X, Jean was able get out of her depression by showing her happiness and optimism still inside her mind. Even after countless hardships Jean has held onto that optimism and been an emotional anchor for the X-Men frequently.
  • Storm despite both her parents dying, getting buried under rubble, growing up the streets, leaving her Kenya tribe whom worship her as a goddess to go America and join the X-Men where she will be spurned and hated, having her beloved mentor killed and then shortly after her husband divorcing her - Ororo has never lost that plucky determination to carry on she’s had since she was a girl on the streets of Cairo.
  • Rogue to a mixed degree; she started off a scared and depressed girl who managed to find self confidence and become so wild she got her monicker “Rogue” after causing so much trouble and running away from home. After pulling a permanent Heel–Face Turn to the X-Men, Rogue constantly displays her vivacious pluck with only the occasional bouts of sadness over her Touch of Death power though even after countless hardships she’s managed to remain strong. Her film counterpart however, sadly doesn’t quite evolve past the “scared and depressed” stage.
  • 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 The Cape. She remains strong even in face of her “father” Wolverine dying (he gets better) telling Storm the last thing he’d want is for her break down over his death.

Fan Works

• Ace Combat: Equestria Chronicles:
  • Cloud Kicker; for most of the time, whatever she's doing, she acts like a true optimist.
  • Then there is Rainbow Dash, who isn't afraid to tackle any kind of challenge, believing fully she'll be able to handle it.
• Annabelle Lennox in the Transformers (2007) fanfic Black Crayons. She's sweet and friendly, but she can be as brave and stubborn as her parents (or Ironhide) when she needs to. 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.
• Blood and Honor: Vette doesn't let torture, slavery, the uncertain fate of her family, the downtrodden state of her people, or anything else get her down for long. In the first few chapters of the story she faces near-certain death with unflinching bravery. She's certain that things will work out, one way or another, and on the off-chance they don't, she's determined to go down with her head held high and a good one liner.
• Kumiko of Despair's Last Resort. She's hyper and fun loving despite having to deal with trials and murder. The first murder does break her for a while, considering that the victim was her best friend Chiyo.
• Avalina in Hope for the Heartless (Disney's The Black Cauldron fanfic). After ending up in the Horned King's castle during one stormy night, she's forced to remain there as a prisoner who's not allowed to leave the lich's lands. She's permitted to say her farewells to her family and takes with her only her faithful Cool Horse. She comes close to death several times (because of the Horned King or otherwise), greatly misses her home and you'd want to hug her whenever she cries. Still she manages to keep going as the Horned King's Morality Pet.
• Chloe Cerise in Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail starts out as a Shrinking Violet in her world before she gets onto the Infinity Train where she quickly proves that with a bit of confidence and a steel pipe, that she can tackle any and all foes. By the time Act 2 starts, she's quite the determined warrior who is off to topple the Apex.
• Once Upon a Studio: Version 2.0: Cinderella and Rapunzel both this fit trope perfectly, as Cinderella is determined to turn the situation around following Goofy's failed first attempt. 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".
  • And just before Cinders starts singing, she happily whispers to everyone else gathered; "here we go", as they all listen intently.
• Jana Teires in Tom Riddle's Schooldays. No misfortune stops her, or even slows her down for long.

Film — Animation

• A Bug's Life: Dot is shown to be incredibly determined, which allows her to fly.
• Many heroines in the Disney Animated Canon.
  • Rapunzel from Tangled. This trait was something that varied between scripts in development. In Rapunzel Unbraided, she was a plucky girl, but in the darker Rapunzel, she was more demure and anxious. In the final Tangled, she is very optimistic and chipper despite being locked up for eighteen years with no human contact besides her "mother".
  • Vanellope von Schweetz from Wreck-It Ralph has enough spirit to power a jet fighter, reacts to her circumstances as The Pollyanna and is the Determinator in her dream of becoming a racer. She's probably this trope PERSONIFIED, because after all the bullying and abuse she's been through, she's still optimistic and happy. Wow.
  • Anna from Frozen. The traits that define her are her sheer optimism and energy. Similar fo the above-mentioned Rapunzel, in earlier versions of the film, Anna apparently lacked much of this. In the full version of the "That's no blizzard — that's my sister!" Missing Trailer Scene (which dates back to when Elsa was still the Big Bad), she showed fears about jumping off a mountain, and in the Cut Song "More Than Just A Spare", she has more self-confidence issues than in the final product.
  • Judy Hopps from Zootopia. No amount of discrimination will stop her from helping others. What temporarily brings her down is realizing her own unconscious bigotry actually made things worse for others.
• Dory from Finding Nemo and its sequel, Finding Dory. Despite having short-term memory loss, she remains extremely optimistic and her main saying is "Just keep swimming!".
• Intrepid Reporter Roxanne Ritchi from Megamind remains fearless despite being kidnapped by a supervillain almost every day.
• Miriam from The Prince of Egypt. Her optimism and her willingness to put herself on the line for what she believes in are pretty impressive considering she is a Jewish slave whose people have been under Egyptian oppression for 400 years.
• Wendy's daughter Jane from Return To Never Land is this Played for Drama. She strives to be a Plucky Girl but has forgotten what it means to be a child, since she comes from the England of World War II — so she has all the practicality but none of the enthusiasm. By the end, she has recovered her spirits and has morphed into a straight example.
• Meilin Lee from Turning Red 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 Trauma Conga Line 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, getting home to hide her red panda form, getting to the 4*Town Concert, or even fighting her mother's towering kaiju-panda form.

Film — Live-Action

• Giselle from Enchanted is this trope to the letter. When faced with the wildlife of New York City - gnats, pigeons, and cockroaches - she forces herself to smile and admit "Well, it's always nice to make new friends!"
• The girl Micha from a German film Stahlnetz PSI. She is kidnapped for ransom which her family cannot pay as it's not actuall rich and cannot escape on her own, but she still holds herself with dignity until the very end, (though she slowly begins to resign, but in her situation, it's hard not to; and she still doesn't break).
• James Bond:
  • Kara Milovy from The Living Daylights. She's left to be killed by her own boyfriend as part of his Evil Plan and a lot of craziness happens in between, but damn it, she takes it upon herself to help foil said plan and take said craziness in stride.
  • Paloma from No Time to Die. Very friendly, very enthusiastic, very deadly.
• The title character of The Journey of Natty Gann is bound and determined to find her father, and nothing is going to keep her from doing it, no matter how many people tell her that he abandoned her. She hops trains and hitchhikes from Chicago to Seattle, with little idea of exactly where her father is beyond "somewhere in Washington".
• Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) in Labyrinth won't give up her attempts to solve the Goblin King's seemingly-impossible maze and retrieve her baby brother.
• Star Wars: Rey in The Force Awakens. She was abandoned at the age of five on Jakku and is forced to work as a scavenger, but honestly believes that her family will return for her.
• The Third Saturday In October Part V: The outgoing and good-natured PJ, who will dance with outcasts to cheer them up and toss kitchen knives to her babysitter to help take down a slasher.

Literature

• Arabian Nights:
  • Scheherezade, the protagonist from the Framing Device, so much that she has a gambit named after her. She volunteers to marry King Shahryar (a madman who hates women and has ordered all his previous wives executed after the first one cheated on him) as part of a plan to cure his insanity - and she succeeds, becoming his Queen.
  • Some other characters in the individual stories qualify too, such as Morgiana, the Guile Hero of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Morgiana being an Author Avatar for Scheherezade is lampshaded in at least one adaptation.
• Bazil Broketail: Lagdalen goes through lots of adventures and hardships in the series. She always remains optimistic and brave though, recovering from any setbacks.
• Illiana Henriksdotter in Betvingade has a tyrannical father and a cold-hearted mother, who never show her any love. But as soon as she gets married, she pretty much puts her abusive parents behind her.
• Caging Skies: Elsa Korr, which even Nazi Protagonist Johannes is frustrated at.
  I'm not a kept woman!' I saw the old fire light up in her eyes. 'If a boat were sinking and a man and woman were both on it, what good would it do for the man to bail the water out by himself? The boat sank, they both drowned — how many lives would he have saved? Zilch. If they bailed the water out together and the boat remained afloat, how many lives will each one have saved? Two.
  I shook my head at my old Elsa with her rhetorical arguments, which she pulled out of her hat at will. Sensing a breach in my defences she took her chance to change my mind. 'I have a talent, a craft, you know. You invested in it; you should get something out of it.' She waited for me to catch on but I didn't. 'My painting! If you let me, I can do one per day, at least, maybe even two. You just sell them at whatever price you choose, and use the money to keep the house going.
• The Chalet School is full of these, to the point where you wonder if it's a requirement to get into the school. Joey Bettany - who shares more than a few similarities with another Jo - is but one example. Childhood illness, running away from the Nazis, war, her husband Jack being temporarily MIA, the deaths of friends, a shedload of children...nothing will keep her down for long. And then there's Corney Flower, Biddy O'Ryan, Daisy Venables, Mary-Lou Trelawney, Carola Johnstone, Len Maynard...the list goes on.
• Circleverse: Sandry tends to come across as the sweet, optimistic one of the four, but she survived several days alone in a dark, concealed room, with only a basket of embroidery thread for company while half the city died of plague around her, and when once again trapped in the dark (by an earthquake, no less) she is the one who figures out how to get herself and her friends out (though they all participate).
• Conan the Barbarian has Zenobia from The Hour of the Dragon, a harem girl that has no martial training whatsoever, but is brave and resourceful enough to save Conan when he is thrown into prison by the conspirators, arranging for his escape and showing no fear whatsoever. Her courage ends up making him fall for her.
• Gemma from Dark Life. She's an orphan whose beloved older brother was sent to a reformatory, escaped from her cruel headmistress, went subsea on her own despite not knowing how to swim, and is constantly delighted by all the wonderful sea creatures she comes across.
• Enola Holmes is the definition of this, eventually. It does take her running away from home with her brother, Sherlock Holmes, hunting her to force her into finishing school, and finding that she's a great detective herself at the age of 14. At the end, Sherlock and Mycroft are agape at how capable she is for her age.
• Angel in Gene Stratton-Porter's Freckles. It seals Freckles' Love at First Sight.
  She did know. She was not in the least afraid. She was depending on a rattlesnake to live up to his share of the contract and rattle in time for her to move. The one characteristic an Irishman admires in a woman, above all others, is courage. Freckles worshiped anew.
• From Harry Potter: Lily Potter (standing between the Dark Lord and her baby without a second thought), Ginny Weasley (Cute Witch who does what she can to help Harry and Co.), Hermione Granger (member of the Golden Trio and Magical Girl Warrior extraordinaire), and Luna Lovegood - though it's hard to say with her what is indomitable pluck and what is sheer Cloud Cuckoo Land training.
• Journey to Chaos: Imagine being stuck in the lair of an Evil Sorcerer for months and then learning the Awful Truth that you are an Artificial Human with implanted memories; do you think would have both the courage to continuing trying to escape, and the presence of mind to act like a Proper Lady? Vaya Kloac can, and does; she even rescues a captured mercenary in the process.
• Maree Mallory of Deep Secret has "sheer if not-always-nice pluck" as one of her defining character traits. How much of a fighter is she? At one point, she permanently loses half her soul. Most people die within hours of this happening. Maree not only fights back, she walks miles to recover in Babylon. To put things in perspective, the only other person to survive this that we know of? A powerful and charismatic emperor who once conquered eleven different core universes and untold others.
• Roald Dahl's Matilda is ignored by her parents and terrorised by the awful Miss Trunchbull, and just 6-7 years old. So what's a little super-smart girl to do? Obviously, play some 'subduing' pranks on your boastful, corrupt father to take him down a peg, then develop your latent psychokinetic powers to help that nice teacher who recognised your genius.
• The titular character of Momo by Michael Ende. The bad guys actually take over the world (while she's asleep for A Year and a Day), but she never gives it up. She even dares giving one of the grey men a Care-Bear Stare while she's completely on her own.
• Nory Ryans Song: The titular character. Though Nory frequently struggles to hold on to hope, she never loses it and doesn't give up in trying to provide for her family.
• Beatrice Löwenström in Överenskommelser by Simona Ahrnstedt is a tough girl, but it seems like the Universe itself is out to break her down. But once the worst is over, she gets over it and moves on.
• Christine Daae in The Phantom of the Opera novel (which may be surprising to fans more familiar with the Broadway Musical) is an adventurous and vivacious heroine in Gaston Leroux’s novel, whose prim and proper lady-like behaviour is frequently offset by her wildness and boldness. Her love interest Raoul is left in awe and explicitly describes Christine as “plucky” upon learning how brave she has acted in spite of the looming threat of the phantom. Unfortunately the majority of adaptations have completely excised Christine’s plucky girl qualities and dialed up The Ingenue traits to the extreme.
• 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 everybody else needing help.
• Lia in Skinned by Robin Wasserman. Despite getting in a car accident, having her brain put in an android, her friends abandoning her, her sister sleeping with her boyfriend, and people believing she doesn't deserve to exist, she still keeps going.
• Sansa Stark from A Song of Ice and Fire, 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.
• Stephanie Plum from the books by Janet Evanovich. Faces down homicidal rapists and madmen with pluck, snark, and heavy coats of mascara. Interestingly enough, she's not entirely plucky - pretty much every time she's in direct danger, she's a terrified, blubbering wreck. She deserves the moniker because, even when she's out of her depth, terrified, and facing fates too horrible to consider, she doesn't give up.
• The Stormlight Archive: Shallan Davar gives off this vibe, always ready with a smile and a quip, persevering through sheer pluckiness. It soon becomes clear that she's faking nearly all of this in order to keep herself functional. She goes as far as actively repressing memories, but when push comes to shove she turns into a stone cold pragmatist who is willing to do anything to survive. She killed her mother in self-defense when she was eleven, and later poisoned her father to stop him from killing her brother. When that failed to kill him, she calmly strangled him while her brothers watched in horror.
• In C. S. Lewis' Till We Have Faces, Istra, aka Psyche, is this. To the extent that she angers her older sister, Orual, for not being worried about being offered to a local god as a "bride", saying the god might actually be nice. It turns out Istra is right, and everything works out in the end.
• In Toliver's Secret, Ellen considers giving up on her journey to deliver her grandfather's message to his friend for the Revolutionary War and going back home a few times, especially after a disastrous chase at the beginning with two boys who stole it from her. She pulls through out of sheer determination to complete her grandfather's mission.
• Tortall Universe: Daine is probably the most obvious example. Her house was burned by raiders, her family killed and she survived only by accident, she was almost raped/murdered by an ex-suitor of her mother's, and was Raised by Wolves — all before the book starts. She then proceeds to demonstrate a great deal of ass-kicking, particularly so in the later books; in the third one, after she is told that the Emperor killed Numair, she proceeds to wake up an army of fossilized dinosaurs and rip the everloving shit out of the palace. She's not done. In the fourth book, after even more tragedy occurs, she kills Ozorne with only a badger claw, naked, and entirely out of magic. Yeowch.
• Mavra Chang from Jack Chalker's Well World series absolutely refuses to give up despite all of the Body Horror inflicted on her — seemingly crippling mutations and body modifications only seem to make her even more determined. Hell, Mavra's probably at her most dangerous when she doesn't even have any hands.
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz features Dorothy, a resourceful, smart little girl who is willing to slap lions in the face and learns not to be afraid of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Live-Action TV

• Susan Grey from The Bletchley Circle is the driving force behind the investigation, the one who gets the band back together.
• Carmen Carrillo from Carrusel. She may not have the best family situation at first, but she always makes sure to study and do well in school, so that someday she can go to college and obtain a career. Plus she is always nice to everyone. She is very prim and proper- while always remaining determined, so her being ladylike and staying out of trouble may be a not so obvious way of remaining strong so that she can achieve her goals.
• Miki Momozono/Goggle Pink from Dai Sentai Goggle Five. She gets hit massively with a fatal bomb that nearly killed her, yet she still dragged her body to get up so her friends and Kid Sidekick won't worry about her. Then she gets trapped in a devil diary, is tied up and the diary gets burned from the outside (which would burn her eventually), and her friends can't get her out, only able to watch as she burns. Instead, she escapes from the book on her own using just her wits and brains, delivers a condemning speech to those who trapped her (and dozens of innocent kids), then proceeds to kick ass.
• Doctor Who:
  • Vicki, the First Doctor companion. She was orphaned by a space accident, and we meet her after she's been stranded on an isolated desert planet awaiting a rescue mission while being psychologically terrorised by a repugnant monster with unclear motivations who turns out to be a man she thought was her friend in disguise — she'd still been making the best of it, by befriending the local wildlife. After the Doctor takes her on she will have occasional scenes where she will remind the others of what she's lost and that the Doctor is now her only family, but is mostly resolute and cheerful, happy to take the lead in a crisis (like in "The Space Museum"), and with a big scoop of Nightmare Fetishist and Fluffy Tamer to boot.
  • Lampshaded in "The Unicorn and the Wasp" when the Doctor introduces himself to the guests at a 1926 dinner party as a Scotland Yard detective and Donna as "The plucky young girl who helps me out."
    Donna: "The plucky young girl who helps me out"?
    The Doctor: No policewomen in 1926.
    Donna: I'll pluck you in a minute!
  • Amy Pond and Clara Oswald generally fit this, though each in their own way: Amy's the more sanguine, cheeky go-getter, while Clara tends to be more introverted and shy whenever she's not wisecracking or fooling around.
• The titular character in Dong Yi never gives up on, or breakdown over whatever she is doing, even when the odds are completely against her.
• Friends: Rachel starts out as a Spoiled Brat Upper-Class Twit who when realizing she was about to enter a loveless marriage, runs away to find childhood friend Monica in hopes she could help. Rachel then through much determination goes from a menial job as a waitress to a successful career woman, along with also evolving into a more sensible and capable person.
• Game of Thrones:
  • Despite all the loss and suffering Arya Stark goes through, she just keeps on going.
  • When Stannis takes her along on his march to take Winterfell from the Boltons, Shireen declares she won't be afraid during the battle.
• Audrey Parker of Haven: A young FBI agent who is sent to the small town of Haven, Maine to capture a killer but stays to solve the terrifying "Troubles" that afflict the town and to find her long lost mother and learn to be a "small town cop." Being cocooned alive, almost driving off a cliff and dealing with super powered freaks of nature only makes her pissed and/or more determined. Also a very capable Action Girl but could be considered a Broken Bird at times because of the emotional distance she keeps from people.
• Monk has Natalie Teiger who brings bushels of optimism as a counterpoint to her employer's crabbiness.
• Kamen Rider Ex-Aid: Nico Saiba is determined enough to stick around the resident Token Evil Teammate and flip off Cthulhu if she thinks the situation calls for it. One example is when she hit Kamen Rider Genm with a mop.
• LazyTown:
  • Stephanie. The character is defined by her can-do attitude; she has a song called There Is Always a Way.
  • Sportacus is both a rare male example and a rare adult one. He's as cheerful and encouraging as Stephanie, despite the added pressure that come with being the town savior and dealing with the Big Bad.
• The Law According to Lidia Poët: Lidia is never more than briefly deterred from her goals in spite of the institutionalized sexism she faces as it's Italy during the 1880s, her strong determination always taking her on even if she has to lie or manipulate for what she wants.
• The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House: Kiyo, the teenage protagonist. In the second episode Sumire describes her as not particularly talented in school, but very determined to see things through. Indeed, in that same episode Kiyo spends the night hiking towards a shrine and back in order to solidify her position.
• ''New Girl"": The titular character relishes in her personality quirks and doesn't let the awkwardness of any situation hold her back.
• Never Have I Ever: Aneesa can be described as plucky in relation to Dev who tends to fret more.
• Once Upon a Time:
  • Princess Aurora, lampshaded when she is called this by her kidnapper, Cora, when Aurora flatly refuses to play along with her games.
  • Gretel/Ava is driven by her faith that she'll find her father again. In Storybrooke, she's managed to take care of herself and her younger twin brother while hiding the fact that their parents are missing, and in the Enchanted Forest, she even manages to stand up to Regina by telling her that family will always find each other. At the end of "True North," the two children are reunited with their father.
• Djaq from Robin Hood originates from the Holy Land which is being torn apart by war in which she lost her father, mother and twin brother. She was then enslaved and brought to England in chains, all the while hiding her gender from her jailers. When she's rescued by Robin Hood, her fellow prisoners abandon her while she's helping out the outlaws. Yet she joins the gang, contributing her skills as a scientist and a medic to the country that is at war with her own, overcoming race and gender prejudices, and proceeding to kick ass all over the place whilst keeping her rather wicked sense of humor, resulting in one of the few times in which a character with obvious OP qualities manages to be imminently likeable.
• Schitt's Creek has Alexis Rose, who is cheerful, brave and optimistic no matter what the circumstances despite her lack of book smarts and losing her family's fortune.
• In Smallville, as much as we love to see one of Chloe Sullivan's many Break the Cutie moments, she always pulls herself together to help Clark at the end of the day. Season eight, "Abyss", "Bride" and "Legion", for instance. She has her memory slowly destroyed, making her gradually forgetting everything and everyone, attacked at her wedding, Jimmy almost dies, she is kidnapped by Doomsday to be possessed by Brainiac, and the Legion is about to kill her before Clark rushes in. She is up and about almost unnaturally quickly after the ordeal. And that isn't even half of it.
• Allison Young in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a resistance fighter captured by Skynet in the future who absolutely refuses to give in, even when pushed to the point of total emotional collapse. She tries to escape twice, refuses to eat when the machines try to interrogate her, and spins a story designed to trick the Terminator that tries to mimic her into walking into a trap. It doesn't work, and Cameron kills her for her troubles, but she gave it her best shot. And even when dying, she stares her killer defiantly in the eye and refuses to yield an inch.
• Caroline Forbes from The Vampire Diaries, no matter how many times she's abused, tortured, neglected or loses someone she loves, she always holds her head high, smiles and is there for her friends.
• Veronica Mars of Veronica Mars, the unflappable young PI who is roofied and date-raped, best friend is killed, family splits up, ostracized by her old friends, yet somehow trudges through and comes out mostly on top. And her relationships? Suspected murderer of best friend, and also a man who could possibly be her biological brother (he's not). Well, let's just say she's incredibly determined.
• Cheryl in Welcome to Flatch isn't having a great time with the move but tries to put on as brave of a face as she can for the documentary crew. She also takes a lot of pride in her budding newspaper.
• Subverted by Gabrielle in Xena: Warrior Princess. She starts off plucky, but in season 4, she joins the church of the One True God, throws in the towel, her staff and her joy. she becomes a determinator and never comes back. Lampshaded in an episode set in modern time. Mad Scientist raids Xena and Gabrielle's tomb and clones them. Gabrielle is plucky, Mad Scientist turns her into a determinator. Fan complains, Mad Scientist says you will only ever see plucky Gabrielle in the repeats of Seasons 1-3 - "Only in the re-runs."

Myths & Religion

• Antigone from Greek Mythology, who refuses to abandon her father Oedipus even after learning the truth of her birth. She also defies her uncle Creon when he orders to not give burial to her brother's corpse, and prefers execution rather than renouncing to her beliefs.
• Many Christian martyrologies have tales about young and not-so-young girls who choose torture and death rather than renouncing to their beliefs and worshipping non-Christian Gods, and many of them are described as plucky to the extreme. For that matter, the Blessed Virgin Mary is this to Catholics, oh so very much.

Podcasts

• Mystery Show has Determinator Amateur Sleuth Starlee Kine.

Roleplay

• Dawn of a New Age: Oldport Blues:
  • Zia has gone through a higher quota of trauma than most, and is still fighting against a deep depression that she hides beneath her cheerful snark, but she's determined not to let it overtake her, and has a flirty, friendly personality.
  • Destiny has had to put with a lot, being one of the few poor kids living in a rich town, but she hasn't let it get her down and maintains a positive attitude and a level head.

Tabletop Games

• In Blood Bowl, the former pig farmer turned Star Blitzer Karla von Kill has had to deal with low level sexism from Cablevision reporters, as well as major injuries caused by Minotaur that apothecaries said should have ended her career but has been determined to push onwards regardless. Karla’s attitude is was ably demonstrated during the 2492 Blood Bowl final where she attempted to stop the Mighty Zug only to be knocked out for her trouble. Karla didn’t let this stop her however and, once she regained consciousness, immediately singled out Zug again and actually managed to knock down the famously solid Blocker, something that gained her a nod of respect from Zug himself.
• In Heroine, one of the players plays the eponymous Heroine, who is defined by her pluckiness. Sure, she also has flaws she has to overcome in the course of the story, but as a rule of thumb, optimism and resourcefulness are a requirement in this role.

Theatre

• Swanhilde from Coppélia. She's unwilling to just take her boyfriend Franz's sudden abandonment to favor the titular Coppelia and later desert him when it turns out that he's in danger of losing his own soul. So she will go into Dr. Coppelius's home to see what's going on with her "love rival" with her own eyes and later protect Franz as much as she can once Coppelia's Robot Girl nature is revealed.
• Deconstructed in Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children. The main female's pluckiness, perseverance and resourcefulness were supposed to show how dehumanized Mother Courage had become thanks to her sucky life (the deaths of her children included), as a detestable personification of the evils of capitalism. The audience embraced her instead.
• Romeo and Juliet: Juliet Capulet, believe it or not, and especially considering the time period it's set in. She disobeys her parents, follows her heart, takes the initiative even more than Romeo (to the point of them qualifying as Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy in the era's standards), braves disownment and being trapped in a tomb to stay true to the man she loves (or at least believes she loves - give her a break, she is a teenager after all) and chooses to die with him rather than just bow to her elders.
• Molly Brown in The Unsinkable Molly Brown. "I ain't down yet" is her catchphrase.

Visual Novels

• Ace Attorney's strongest example of this is Maya Fey — not only is she framed for murder multiple times, but she often watches her family members be murdered (notably her mother and sister) and frame each other for murder (and two of the times she's framed, it's by her own family.) Despite everything, she does her damnedest to keep a smile on her face and crack a joke when she can. After all's said and done in the final case of the third game, after Maya has been through absolute physical and emotional hell, Franziska just marvels at Maya's optimism and wonders aloud how she manages to stay so strong. She's followed by Trucy Wright in Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes in Dual Destinies.
• Danganronpa has several examples:
  • The first game has Aoi Asahina, a sweethearted fitness nut who does her damnedest to keep everyone's chins up during the killing game. She breaks twice- first when she thinks Sakura killed herself because of the others, and second when Junko reveals the outside world is post-apocalyptic, but manages to bounce back with some help.
  • The second game has several: Akane Owari (the upbeat and competitive Ultimate Gymnast), Sonia Nevermind (Princess Classic and the group's Supporting Leader), and Ibuki Mioda (a cheerful Cloud Cuckoolander rock musician).
• In Daughter for Dessert, Lily never abandons her positive attitude, and she’s braver than some others give her credit for.
• Yui, the heroine of Diabolik Lovers, has a reputation for being an Extreme Doormat. In the visual novels she is more precisely an extreme Love Martyr, because when it comes to her love interest she is incredibly persistent. No matter how cruel he is or how much he tries to scare her off, Yui will discover his emotional weak points or find him in a distressing situation and do everything she can to help him. Each and every one of them is eventually cowed by her willingness to Turn the Other Cheek.
• Sakura from Fate/stay night, who lives with an abusive family but still manages to by sweet and cheerful. Until she snaps in the third route.
• Hatoful Boyfriend:
  • Nothing gets Hiyoko Tousaka down for long. Not even being unintentionally killed by her best friend/love interest and then cut up into pieces by a mad doctor keeps her from taking an active role in the plot and helping Ryouta when he needs it the most.
  • Rare male example in Sakazaki Yuuya, who accepted his guilt in Killing his half-brother to let his full brother Sakuya live and refuses to let himself be get down by anything from Sakuya hating him to being stabbed by a poisoned cleaver to being guilt-tripped by The King using the sound of breaking eggs.
• The main character of Ikemen Sengoku has her entire life upended when she abruptly gets sent back in time to Japan's Sengoku period and has to survive in a time where wars and deaths are commonplace for at least three months before she can return home. Despite getting frightened or horrified at various points by how much more dangerous the Sengoku period is compared to her more peaceful modern day time, her resolve to survive it and be productive in her new job as chatelaine of Azuchi Castle instead of just sitting around and waiting never falters and she can even snark about the more absurd aspects of her new life.
• Emi Ibarazaki from Katawa Shoujo, a young woman who lost her legs and her father in an horrifying accident, but around a year later she had already relearned to walk, and is the star of Yamaku High's track team. Once the player pursues her route, though, it's a Deconstructed Trope. Emi knows that loss of a relationship is normal, and it is best to be strong and move on. However, at the same time, the same stubbornness that enables her to deal with her issues prevents Emi from growing close to anyone because she is afraid that the pain of loss will prevent her from moving onto the future. This prevents anyone from helping her when she does need it, so Hisao must be VERY patient and persistent with her.
• Mary Clarissa Christie, the main character from Shikkoku no Sharnoth. The minigame is even based off of it: If her mental state falls too far, you lose.
• Spirit Hunter: NG:
  • Kaoru shows little fear in the presence of spirits, and is determined to do anything to hunt down and save Ami from Kakuya. Even if the scare is put in her, she'll eventually bounce back and keep on moving.
  • Ami's kindness and optimism allow her to get along with pretty much everyone she meets, and she has a noted stubborn streak that's enough to get Akira, who otherwise doesn't like bothersome things, to play along with her.

Webcomics

• Credenza, The Protagonist of Archipelago. While years as a slave on a pirate ship have left their mark, she's relentlessly helpful to everyone, the stubborn optimist between her Sour Supporter Raven's whining and team worrier Tuff's fretting, and saving the world despite all odds, because it's the right thing to do. As her friend Blitz says (regarding the Big Bad):
  Blitz: You're gonna faith him to death!
• Grace from El Goonish Shive has strong shades of this, being willing to talk her half-immortal teacher into hunting a magically-enlarged giant boar... because she wants to save the boar.
• Feferi Peixes, of Homestuck, is one. She'd almost be a Princess Classic, if not for her easily riled temper and lack of subtlety.
• The main character of Invincea and the Warriors from Hell keeps a chipper attitude in spite of all her suffering. She has a very optimistic view of the world, and pursues every adventure like it’s her first.
• Milny from Planescape Survival Guide. Even being briefly dead cannot undo her optimism.
• The blind Idony and the carefree Chara from The Silver Eye.
• Xenospora gives us an alien woman named Strike, who endures a whipping for her beliefs.

Web Original

• Rebecca Stone from Demo Reel. She's had a difficult life, with misogyny in the industry, Abusive Parents and a sexually abusive uncle, but she's an optimistic Nice Girl all the same. Plus can beat the crap out of anything that hurts Tacoma or Donnie.
• From New Vindicators, there's Kirstie Arnett, also known as Parabola. While her Neo-Sapien powers can be useful, and she's not entirely helpless in a hand to hand fight, she's not quite an Action Girl and relies more on strength of character.
• RWBY: Ruby has an enduring optimism that she can make the world a better place for everyone. She was raised on children stories about great heroes protecting and inspiring people and is determined to become a Huntress to help people survive the world of monsters in which they live. When Blake tries to tell her she's fantasising like a child and the real world isn't so kind, Ruby simply tells her that the reason people like them exist is to make the real world a nicer place. When she regrets dragging her friends on a dangerous quest across the continent of Anima, Jaune tells her that she didn't drag anyone — her optimism and determination gave them the courage to follow her. When Ruby cheers up the terrified Oscar with advice on how she copes with the terrible things the world has been throwing at her, Oscar and Professor Ozpin discuss her unique ability to lift and inspire others with her constant optimism and determination. Her optimism drives a bitter Roman to rage about her detachment from a world in which the realists only concentrate on survival. There are strong hints that Salem sees Ruby as the key to winning her ancient war with the equally optimistic Ozpin: by breaking Ruby's optimism, she can break Ozpin and defeat him by destroying the world he protects right in front of his eyes.

Western Animation

• Tinker Bell is portrayed as this in the Disney Fairies franchise. In her original film she was more of a Yandere, though she still showed traces of this when she fearlessly took a bomb away from Peter and almost sacrificed herself to help him.
• Toot from Drawn Together became a mix of this and Jerkass Woobie after going through Character Development.
• Asami Sato from ATLA sequel The Legend of Korra, who has remained strong, kind, and supportive despite multiple betrayals and disappointments and a lot of loss.
• Lilo Pelekai in Lilo & Stitch: The Series. This little Hawaiian girl is not afraid of dealing with destructive, mischievous aliens on a regular basis as she helps them use their abilities for constructive purposes.
• Julie Kane in Motorcity. The token female Action Girl of the Burners, who actually believes there might be still some good in her father.
• The Owl House: Luz Noceda is a feisty girl who is confident in herself and refuses to give up, in particular undertaking the challenge of learning magic despite Humans having no natural ability to use magic. Her drive, passion and determination ultimately result in Luz discovering an entire branch of lost Wild Magic that is nearly exclusive to her and allows her to cast spells like Witches and Demons without the need for a Bile Sac.
• In Princess Sissi, the plucky farm girl who deals with danger and tribulation after tribulation to get married to her sweetheart, Prince Franz, all the while believing that she can bring peace to Austria and Hungary and helping who she can on the way.
• Ensign D'Vana Tendi of Star Trek: Lower Decks. From the first episode, she's very enthusiastic about her posting, and deterred by very little, even when others might find her enthusiasm a bit grating at times. Despite primarily being in the medical division, she's shown to be more than capable of handling herself in a fight, as she was able to take out numerous armed Romulan guards single-handedly by herself, and could be uncomfortably dominant with males of her own race.
• Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars: The Clone Wars begins as a headstrong, impulsive Padawan learner, and while the realities of the war and being betrayed by the Jedi council temper her somewhat, she never loses her fundamental bravery and optimism.
• Steven Universe:
  • Gender Inverted with the eponymous Steven Quartz Universe. Both a young warrior and the only human/gem hybrid, he manages to be a sweet and cheerful boy regardless.
  • While Connie Maheswaran starts out as shy and friendless, things gradually change when she meets Steven, and she still manages to become bold and a bit more cunning while still trying to be a Nice Girl. By the second season, she learns how to handle a sword, go on adventures with the Gems, and stand up for Steven because he helps her to make friends, and she cares so much for him and their inseparable bond of friendship that she wants to be a part of his universe.
• Princess Ilana in Sym-Bionic Titan. She's fairly cheerful, something of a Granola Girl, and passionate about school-related activities. Although she is shown to worry about the state of the people on her planet.
• Miko from Transformers: Prime, who is ever eager to get herself into the action.

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