TV Badasses #5-6

5.  Gemma Teller Morrow (Katey Sagal)—Sons of Anarchy

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Who She Is: Widow of the founder of the SAMCRO biker gang, mother of the heir apparent, and possible accomplice in the murder of her first husband.  She is not officially “in” the club, but she obviously rules it.

Why She’s a Badass: Because she keeps the rest of the badasses and thugs in the club under tight control, she doesn’t take any shit from anybody, she will absolutely drop the hammer on anybody who fucks with somebody she loves, and she covered up a brutal gang-rape for the good of the club, only revealing her painful secret when she realized it was the only way to bury simmering tensions between her son and his stepfather.

Badass Moment: She has one almost every episode.  It’s hard to pick just one.  We’ll go with the casual murder at the end of last season.

How Does She Go Out?  She hasn’t yet.  Hopefully, she never will.  The club would flounder and be utterly lost without her.

Badass Dialog:  “I’m not sure why you’re carrying a gun, but make sure you’re safe. No serial numbers.”

6.  Ruper Giles (Anthony Stewart Head)—Buffy the Vampire Slayer

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Who He Is: A “Watcher”, responsible for the training and direction of a Slayer.  Much as Gemma is the glue that holds SAMCRO together, Giles is a father-figure to the band of willful teens that represents Sunnydale’s last line of defense against evil.

Why He’s a Badass: He appears to be a foppish Brit, but we slowly learn over the course of seven seasons, that Giles has untapped reserves of badassness.  In his hell-raising (literally) younger days, he summoned a demon.  He knows books, but he also knows how to fight, as evidenced numerous times (even though he is prone to being knocked unconscious).  When he returned to England for most of a season, the show missed his presence terribly, and the “Scooby Gang” fell to pieces.

Badass Moment: At the end of season 5, the “big bad”, or at least the vessel that contains her, is incapacitated.  Giles does not hesitate to do what nobody else will do, and kills the young man so that the entity inside him can never do harm again.

How Does He Go Out?  Giles does what so many mentor characters over the years haven’t done: he survives.  That’s how badass he is.

Badass Dialog: “Things involving a computer fill me with a childlike terror. Now if it were a nice ogre or some such I would be much more in my element.”