Which Star Wars characters would these The Walking Dead favorites be?

Maggie Rhee and Princess Leia Organa

In a time where film and television still have a long way to go in terms of equal representation on-screen, it is important that we focus on strong female characters that will hopefully inspire more stories to be told from a female perspective.

Maggie Rhee and Princess Leia Organa are perfect representations of strong female lead characters who are inspirational to the people that watch them.

The most notable similarity between the two is their unwillingness to succumb to gender expectations. In most media, men are the ones coming up with the plan and acting heroic as they save the damsel in distress. Maggie and Leia turn that trend on its head.

Leia constantly shows just how strong and smart she is in comparison to her male counterparts. It’s not Han or Luke that comes up with the idea to escape into the garbage compactor on the Death Star. And when Han runs away from the looming threat of the Empire as it moves in on the Rebel base, Leia is the one who stands strong and leads the people around her in a fight against insurmountable odds.

Whether it’s leading soldiers to battle against a frightening foe or taking down Jabba the Hutt by herself, Leia is a shining example of a female character with confidence and bravery rivaling any of her male counterparts.

Maggie is just like Leia on that front, as she takes no crap from anybody on The Walking Dead – human or walker. We primarily see this in her interactions with Gregory at Hilltop. When the cowardly Gregory tries to belittle her, Maggie doesn’t back down. Here is her fierce response to the leader of Hilltop at the time:

"“This is our home now. So you’ll learn to start to call me by my name. Not Marsha. Not dear. Not honey. Maggie. Maggie Rhee.”"

Before you know it, Maggie is the one effectively in charge of Hilltop, leading them into battle against the Saviors and making the hard decisions when nobody else would.

The strength of both women is even more impressive when you consider the heavy losses that they face throughout their respective journeys. Maggie lost basically everyone she loves, as she witnessed the death of her husband Glenn, father Hershel, and sister Beth, among others. Leia was forced to watch her entire home planet explode while also having to deal with the fall of her son Ben to the dark side and the death of her husband Han at the hands of their son.

Despite these tragedies, both women continue to lead and inspire their communities until the very end.