| Cherith |
As fictional characters - I'm always drawn to the more kick-ass type girls (Buffy), especially those that are a tad broken mentally (Drucilla or River Tam), and even more so if they hold some of position of authority (Zoe). But then there's something to be said for the clever girls that are always up for a little adventure (Rose, Martha & Donna - Doctor Who). And I'm always up for the girl who is a bit of a geek (Wendy Watson - The Middleman).
In fictional literature, I'm not really into the traditional fantasy set - but I strongly enjoy the main female characters created by the following female authors: Elizabeth Bear, Kim Harrison, CE Murphy, Rachel Caine, Vicky Pettersson and Lilith Saintcrow (six books ago, that list would've also included Laurell K. Hamilton). From Comics - I love Dawn and Witchblade, I don't really have a lot of love for the more traditional female superheroes.
As player characters I tend to gravitate towards two or three strong ideas when creating a new character. Most of my characters (across all game systems) are some combination of the following: magic users, sneaky gypsy/rogue types, or creative types (eg. bards/artists/musicians). I have played the occassional badass fighter, or evil cleric but to a smaller ratio compared to the previous types. Oddly though, the characters I create the fit the first group rather than the other types out there still tend to fit the fictional archtypes I'm drawn to - and usually are given some sort of leadership role (wanted or not by the character).