7 K-Dramas With the Most Badass Female Leads

One of the great things about Korean dramas is that the genre fully embraces the joy that romantic tropes bring to viewers and isn't afraid to use them. However, this great thing can also backfire horribly with useless, boring, and weak female characters who get to play the role of damsel in distress over and over again.

Luckily for fans of the genre, there are plenty of shows that prove that women can be loud, eccentric, and funny, and still deserve as much love and attention as any shy and pleasant heroine. If you love watching stories where fierce women get what they want, just pick one of the dramas below and get ready for a wild ride.

The Law Cafe (2022)

When eccentric lawyer Yu Ri is fired from a firm that can't handle her sharp temper and loud personality, she decides to open her own law cafe and work on her own terms.

The plan gets even better when she finds out who the new landlord is. Being friends with Jeong Ho, a prosecution monster genius, from high school, they find it very easy to reconnect, bond and work together, driving each other crazy from time to time.

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon (2017)

If you are interested in a drama where the girl is not only strong in spirit but also physically, this is the perfect choice. Even though Do Bong Soon doesn't appreciate the power she was given from the beginning and sees it more as a curse that keeps her away from her crush, she grows to love herself.

Besides, it's the superhuman strength that allows her to get so deep into the investigation of a kidnapping gang that is responsible for several attacks in her area.

Fight For My Way (2017)

Although she may seem childish, Choi Ae Ra has always been a girl with big dreams and ambitions. Absolutely certain that she wants to be a news anchor one day, she is currently working at the information desk of a department store and is not ready to give up.

Though it would have been helpful for her to get a more adult perspective, Ae Ra is a woman who doesn't let society's many expectations clip her wings, and that alone deserves a lot of praise.

Search: WWW (2019)

As a competitive director at a major web portal company, Bae Ta Mi had to sacrifice much of her personal happiness to build her career. It is not easy for a woman to break through the glass ceiling, and it is even harder to do so while working in a male-dominated field.

But as she reaches her late 30s, she begins to wonder if the choices she's made are worth it, and if she could have achieved a better balance between work and pleasure.

Mr. Sunshine (2018)

This K-drama is not easy to watch, but it is a story of love, loyalty, and devotion to country that is worth watching. Set in the early 1900s, the show follows a man who was born into slavery and managed to escape to the U.S. to become a naval officer. But when the need to fight for Korean independence grew, he came back.

The female character, Go Ae Sin, is an orphaned noblewoman who's been trained by her own grandfather to become a sniper for the Righteous Army. She is strong-willed and loyal, a perfect image of a true fighter.

Vincenzo (2020)

The female lead in Vincenzo, attorney Hong Cha Young, who succeeds her father as CEO of his law firm, is not your usual meek and mild romantic interest, but a real force to be reckoned with.

She's loud and pushy, willing to do anything to win the case she's working on, but also prone to overreacting and making some questionable rushed decisions. Though her character becomes more rounded and even-keeled as the show progresses, she remains badass.

Rookie Historian (2019)

Ironically, Rookie Historian goes against real history and tells a fictionalized story of 19th-century historian Goo Hae Ryung. Knowing that women aren't allowed to write history in Joseon, she still becomes an intern at the palace and pushes through all the prejudices to do what she loves.

Of course, people aren't rushing to accept her, but the more resistance Hae Ryung encounters, the more determined she becomes in her efforts.