| “ | For all we know, he's one of them. Give him nothing! | ” |
– Warrior Woman | ||
Warrior Woman is a member of Pappagallo's tribe, she is portrayed by Virginia Hey in Mad Max 2
Biography[]
The Warrior Woman takes aim.
Upon first meeting Max, the Warrior Woman was wary of him, not altogether appreciating Max's delivery of their wounded friend. She berated him for his apparent insensitivity to their situation, by only wanting his bartered gasoline so that he could leave immediately; "Trading in human flesh! Mercenary trash!"
She was later proven wrong about the "Road Warrior" when he delivered the promised prime mover. and helped save the fort when Humungus' marauders attacked. She went to him afterwards, admitting that she was wrong about him and apologizing.
During the diversion Max created for Pappagallo's tribe's escape, the Warrior Woman accompanied Max upon the Mack R-600. During the road war, she was wounded by Wez, who fired three darts into her stomach, and fell over the side of the tanker trailer, getting caught in its barbed wire defensive measures. Seeing she's still alive, The Mechanic attempted to pull her up to safety, but both were ultimately dragged from the tanker and dropped to the road below, where they were presumably run over and killed by pursuing vehicles.
Character Origins[]
Scarred from a battle won.
Originally the Warrior Woman was envisioned as a man, but according to George Miller, the sexuality in the Wasteland became interchangeable, so it was decided that the character should be a woman. Another character whose sex was changed was the Golden Youth, originally envisioned as a woman.[1]
The Warrior Woman was also designed to be attractive to Max in a specific way. Byron Kennedy had especially put emphasis on Warrior Woman's large scar across her cheek as a kind of physical paradox that would render her attractive to Max. "Otherwise Max would be too shy and too ethical to get involved with her"[2]
Mythology[]
Inspired by mythology.
In the days in which George Miller et al conceived and wrote the original Mad Max trilogy, women in the military was not as commonplace; the idea of women-soldiers was still rather controversial for the day. And it was a second thought for Miller, evidenced by the fact that he changed the gender of the character after it had been written.
Additionally, the design of Warrior Woman seems to have been derived from mythology as she wears a modern-day armor in white and light tones and uses a bow as her primary weapon, a rather ancient, but deadly weapon. In fact, her entire mystique invokes connotations of the warrior-women of Amazonian lore, of which "Wonder Woman" was derived. But, perhaps, even more precise would be the warrior women of Norse mythology -- the Valkyries. Warrior Woman appears to be the template for Miller's vision of a modern-day Valkyrie. And we know Miller is overtly influenced by Norse mythology as we see in Fury Road he not only uses "Valkryrie" as the name of a character -- another warrior woman -- one of Furiosa's friends from the Green Place, but also in the lore that Immortan Joe has built in usurping the legends of Valhalla, turning them into a myth for the War Boys.
Abilities[]
Afraid of no man.
The Warrior Woman acted as guardsman within the Oil Refinery and had very keen eyesight. This ability gave her an advantage when using her compound bow and arrow.
She was fiercely bold, and fearless, willing to engage in hand to hand combat if necessary. And, ultimately, she was noble in not hesitating to volunteer to defend the tanker on its suicide mission which resulted in a bloody and deadly road war.
Trivia[]
- The Warrior Woman seemed to have a strong affection for The Mechanic and vice versa. First, she is seen trying unsuccessfully to dissuade him from being part of the tanker's defense. Later, after she is wounded by Wez's dart gun and falls over the side of the trailer, the Mechanic desperately attempts to pull her back up, only for both to be dragged from the vehicle.
Gallery[]
