Story: Downer
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Marguerite de la Rocque
Stranded by her cruel relative on an abandoned Canadian island (literally named the Isle of Demons), she survived for two years by hunting animals and eventually made it back to France.

Kharboucha
This legendary pockmarked poet sang truth to power and was killed for it, becoming an enduring symbol of resistance.

Yoshiko Kawashima
Bisexual cross-dressing spy princess of the Qing dynasty - a hero to some and unspeakable villain to others.

Takeko Nakano
When the end of an era was at hand, this samurai woman refused to go gently.

Neerja Bhanot
When terrorists hijacked her plane, she gave her life to save it, becoming the youngest recipient of India's highest honor.

Cut Nyak Dhien
When her (second) rebel husband was killed, this heroine of Indonesian revolution took over the fight against the Dutch.

Toregene Khatun
Although her tribe was destroyed and she was forced into an unwanted marriage, this indomitable woman came to run the world's largest empire - with a woman as her companion.

Sita
After being saved from demonic forces, this legendary Indian princess is then subjected to endless purity tests by her own husband. She eventually puts an end to his questions in a manner that surprised everyone.

Malinche
Sold into sexual slavery to Hernan Cortes, this maligned woman became his interpreter, and it was with her words that…

Qiu Jin
This revolutionary martyred herself to help rid China of the Qing dynasty.
Random Princesses

Nzinga Mbande
When the Portuguese took the throne from her, this Angolan queen made a new one: out of her own servant. She then fled to the jungle, conquered a tribe of cannibals, and waged war on the Portuguese for so long that they gave up and left.

Kharboucha
This legendary pockmarked poet sang truth to power and was killed for it, becoming an enduring symbol of resistance.

Amba/Sikhandi
When this princess had her life ruined by an unstoppable warrior, she: became a fervent ascetic for years and got a divine boon; killed herself to reincarnate faster; came back as a man; and killed the man who'd wronged her, in the stunning climax of the world's longest epic poem.

Beloved
The ghost of a tragically-murdered young child come back to haunt her mother in post-slavery America.

Nellie Bly
Daring journalist who infiltrated insane asylums, exposed slavery rings, and raced around the world in under 80 days.

Te Ao-Kapurangi
Abducted from her tribe, this Maori woman managed to save her kinsmen and stop a war - by straddling a roof and cramming the house underneath.

Mahendradatta
This Indonesian queen ruled wisely and justly in life, and was deified as the embodiment of all evil after her death. The story of why gets a bit complicated.

Onake Obavva
When enemies invaded her town while her husband was on lunch break, she grabbed a nearby pestle and saved the day by achieving the high score in soldier whack-a-mole.

Julie d'Aubigny
Sword-slinging, opera-singing bisexual rock star of the 17th century - who burnt down a convent to romance a nun and had to be pardoned by the king of France TWICE.

Sarah Biffin
Born without arms or legs, this artist learned to write, sew, and paint with her mouth - and came to work for kings and queens.