Juleidah The Princess in the Leather Burqa When her father decided to marry her, this leather-clad princess embarked on one of the most bonkers Cinderella tales ever told.
La Llorona The Weeping Ghost of Latin America's Past Mexico's infamous "weeping ghost" has many incarnations: a jilted widow, a slave princess, a milk addict, a coffee bag, and a pair of panties.
Nia Ngao Zhua Pa Paragon of Hmong Femininity This Hmong morality tale shows how to be a good person, but it certainly takes some twists getting there.
Isabelle Eberhardt (1877-1904) The Undefinable Adventurer This undefinable adventurer's life burnt bright but short: a wildcard of the Algerian revolution, she survived an assassination attempt by sabre, and died in a freak desert flood.
Sermerssuaq The strongest, strangest Inuit woman ever An Inuit woman so strong nobody could even beat her lice in arm-wrestling, her story just gets stranger the closer you look.
Hester Stanhope (1776-1839) The Desert Queen 100 years before Lawrence of Arabia, this British woman traveled the Middle East by herself, surviving shipwrecks, plagues, and Bedouin attacks in the process.
Étaín Goddess of Irish Sovereignty Mythological Irish princess who was turned into a worm, butterfly, and a pool of water; who induced the strangest pregnancy since Jesus; and who may hold the key to understanding Ireland's history.
Penta The Handless Princess When her brother of this fairytale princess decided to marry her, she warded him off by cutting off her own hands. Then she gave birth to a dog. It got weirder after that.
Pasiphaë Mother of the Minotaur This mythical queen gave birth to the minotaur and cursed her unfaithful husband with the world's weirdest magic STD -- but was her whole story just a smear campaign?
Corn Maiden Native American Maize Goddess This mythical Native American woman saved her loved ones from starvation with delicious magical leprosy - a fact that led to, shall we say, complications.