3. One thing is, in the rare case where the female character isn't shoehorned into the Perfunctory Love Interest role, in Western fandoms, she's invariably cast as the Straight Man. (Of course, Japan is even worse about the wusses and love interests.) Personally, my favorites are almost always the characters who are weird, offbeat, or just plain crazy. But those are hardly ever female roles. It's really too bad.

That said:

The Boss is greater-badass-to-the-series'-ultimate-badass, break-your-arm-in-three-places-and-throw-you-in-a-river-with-a-"You take care of yourself, y'hear?" LOVE.