This is a list of action heroes who appear in a number of genres including action films, adventure films, swashbuckler films, television Westerns, old-time radio, adventure novels, dime novels, pulp magazines, and folklore. These heroes often display exaggerated physical characteristics such as extreme physical stature and/or fitness.

Male action heroes

Actors

• Eric Bana
• Antonio Banderas
• Humphrey Bogart
• Charles Bronson
• Jackie Chan
• Sean Connery
• Kevin Costner
• Tom Cruise
• Matt Damon
• Mark Dacascos
• Vin Diesel
• Michael Dudikoff
• Clint Eastwood
• Douglas Fairbanks
• Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
• Harrison Ford
• Errol Flynn
• Clark Gable
• Mel Gibson
• Tommy Lee Jones
• Shia LaBeouf
• Tom Laughlin
• Bruce Lee
• Jet Li
• Dolph Lundgren
• Ralf Möller
• Chuck Norris
• Tyrone Power
• Brad Pitt
• Basil Rathbone
• Keanu Reeves
• The Rock
• Arnold Schwarzenegger
• Steven Seagal
• Will Smith
• Wesley Snipes
• Sylvester Stallone
• Jason Statham
• Robert Taylor
• Jean-Claude Van Damme
• Denzel Washington
• John Wayne
• Bruce Willis
• Chow Yun-Fat
• Toshiro Mifune
• Rajinikanth
• Ajithkumar

Cinema

• James Bond (film series) - James Bond (character)
• Rocky Balboa (character) in the Rocky (film series)
• Billy Jack (four films between 1967 and 1977)
• Indiana Jones
• The Terminator films - Kyle Reese and Terminator (character)
• John Rambo in the Rambo films
• John McClane from the Die Hard series
• Casey Ryback from the Under Siege films.
• Snake Plissken
• Raj Malhotra from the Khiladi series.
• Luke Skywalker from the Star Wars films.
• Paul Kersey from Death Wish (film) and its four sequels
• Zorro
• Mani from Brotherhood of the Wolf
• Napoleon Wilson from Assault on Precinct 13 (1976 film)
• Xander Cage from the XXX (2002 film)
• Jason Bourne from The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum
• Neo from The Matrix trilogy
• Frank Martin from The Transporter and The Transporter 2
• Ethan Hunt from the Mission: Impossible film series
• Harry Callahan from the Dirty Harry film series

''

• Max Rockatansky from the Mad Max film series
• John Shaft from the Shaft series
• Martin Riggs from the Lethal Weapon series

Literature and pulp fiction

• Iliad and Odyssey: Odysseus and a number of other characters
• Beowulf (hero) in Beowulf
• King Arthur
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
• Robin Hood
• D'Artagnan - The Three Musketeers
• The Count of Monte Cristo
• The Scarlet Pimpernel
• Ben Hur
• Ivanhoe
• Zorro
• James Bond in James Bond novels (Ian Fleming)
• Doc Savage
• The Shadow
• The Spider
• Conan the Barbarian
• Tarzan
• Drizzt Do'Urden
• Dirk Pitt

Radio

• The Green Hornet
• The Lone Ranger

Television

• Walker on Walker, Texas Ranger
• Jack Bauer from the 24 television series
• Jack Harkness from the Doctor Who and Torchwood television series

Games

• Link from the Legend of Zelda series
• Gordon Freeman from the Half-Life series
• Solid Snake from the Metal Gear Solid series
• Sam Fisher from the Splinter Cell series
• Master Chief from the Halo series
• Leon S. Kennedy from the Resident Evil series
• Duke Nukem from the Duke Nukem series
• Christopher Blair from the Wing Commander series
• Siegfried Schtauffen of the Soul Calibur series
• Jin Kazama of the Tekken series

Female action heroes

Actresses

• Jessica Alba
• Devon Aoki
• Kate Beckinsale
• Halle Berry
• Honor Blackman
• Neve Campbell
• Tia Carrere
• Lynda Carter
• Connie Chan Po-chu
• Holly Marie Combs
• Geena Davis
• Angie Dickinson
• Tamara Dobson
• Shannen Doherty
• Eliza Dushku
• Priyanka Chopra
• Vivica A. Fox
• Anne Francis
• Jennifer Garner
• Sarah Michelle Gellar
• Summer Glau
• Teresa Graves
• Pam Grier
• Linda Hamilton
• Lena Headey
• Gloria Hendry
• Darryl Hannah
• Angelina Jolie
• Famke Janssen
• Milla Jovovich
• Keira Knightley
• Lucy Lawless
• Iyari Limon
• Lucy Liu
• Angela Mao
• Rose McGowan
• Nora Miao
• Alyssa Milano
• Demi Moore
• Carrie-Anne Moss
• Diana Rigg
• Sharon Stone
• Uma Thurman
• Lindsay Wagner
• Sigourney Weaver
• Peta Wilson
• Michelle Yeoh

Further reading

• Ho, Sam. "Licensed to Kick Men: The Jane Bond Films." The Restless Breed: Cantonese Stars of the Sixties. Hong Kong: Urban Council of Hong Kong, 1996. ISBN 962-7040-50-9
• Inness, Sherrie A. (ed.) Action Chicks: New Images of Tough Women in Popular Culture, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.
• Kim, L. S. " Making women warriors: a transnational reading of Asian female action heroes in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media No. 48, Winter, 2006.
• Magoulick, Mary. " Frustrating Female Heroism: Mixed Messages in Xena, Nikita, and Buffy" The Journal of Popular Culture, Volume 39 Issue 5 (October 2006).
• Osgerby, Bill, Anna Gough-Yates, and Marianne Wells. Action TV : Tough-Guys, Smooth Operators and Foxy Chicks. London: Routledge, 2001.
• Tasker, Yvonne. Action and Adventure Cinema. New York: Routledge, 2004.
• ———.Spectacular Bodies : Gender, Genre, and the Action Cinema. London and New York: Routledge, 1993.

External links

• Female action heroes photo gallery - Boston Globe
• The Lost Action Hero - Washington Post