Sorry, I know I promised the Badass Movie Moms list yesterday but I put a lot of thought into this so it took me a while. This post is a toast to the characters as well as the amazing actresses who portrayed this roles on the big screen. I originally wanted to narrow it down to two but it just isn’t possible, so without further ado, let me introduce you to these tough cookies who will stop at nothing to protect their own.

I feel obligated to tell you that if you haven’t seen this movies, you might want to skip the videos because there are a ton of spoilers in the clips. Enjoy and see if you agree.

Slim Hiller (Enough). Remember that time in 2002, when Jennifer Lopez played Slim Hiller, a woman who suffered from physical and emotional abuse from her husband Mitch (Billy Campbell)? This is actually one of my mom’s favorite J-Lo movies because this tackled the resilience and the determination of a woman who had to learn how to defend herself and her child against her abusive husband. Her journey from becoming a victim to one of a triumphant empowered woman was an inspiration, that mothers will always go the extra mile to be with their kids and to protect them from any threat, even if it means staking their lives on it.

Meg Altman (Panic Room). There must have been something in the water in 2002 because filmmakers kept churning out movies featuring badass mothers like Meg Altman (Jodie Foster), a newly divorced mom who just moved into a new home with her diabetic daughter Sarah (Kirsten Stewart). While the pair are faced with the challenge of starting a new life, their home is attacked by three burglars who want to rob the home of $22 million worth of bearer bonds that the previous owner hid under the floor safe inside his panic room. Meg risks her neck countless times to save Sarah’s life, call for help and in the end face off with the armed burglars, well until the cops arrive when  all the action is over.  Moms will stop at nothing to protect their young, even if they have to lay their lives on the line to do this.

Molly Weasley (Harry Potter series). To be able to raise six rambuctious boys, one daughter and deal with a well natured muggle loving husband is enough testament to Molly Weasley’s (Julie Walters) mettle as a mom. In the earlier parts of the series, the focus was more on her abilities to run the household and her loving and warmhearted nature. She is the ultimate mother hen. But when the threat of the Dark Lord was upon the magical world, Molly proved that she could fight alongside the bravest witches and wizards to protect her family and the ones she loves from anyone who tries to mess with their future. It broke my heart to see her lose her son Fred during the war but her acceptance of the cost of her heartbreak, one she could never recover from, is proof of a mother’s ultimate strength.

Sarah Connor (Terminator: Judgement Day). What is battling an indestructible android from the future compared to her son’s future? Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) will bomb Skynet buildings, attempt to kill the biggest threat to her son (although her mother’s heart prevents her from actually killing Dyson in front of his family), bear heavy weaponry, engage in hand to hand combat, and escape mental facilities to make sure her son fulfills his destiny to save the world. The extraordinary things that Sarah had to endure to protect John Connor’s timeline was harrowing, but she made it in one piece, prompting a spinoff television series starring the equally badass Lena Headey and the mother of dragons herself Emilia Clarke in Terminator: Genisys.

Ellen Ripley and the Xenomorph (Aliens). Sigourney Weaver’s most iconic role is perhaps playing the badass Ellen Ripley in the Alien franchise. And its for good reason too. While the earlier installments of the franchise were mainly about battling the alien xenomorphs, Aliens is basically a Mother vs Mother showdown. Ellen Ripley is dead set on destroying the Xenomorph Hive and at the same time protect Newt, the child she has grown close to and the sole survivor of the Hadley’s Hope Colony in Acheron. Ripley’s maternal instincts are triggered by the determination to save Newt, putting herself at great risk to complete her mission. On the other end of the specter,  we have to give her maternal insticts a tie with the Alien Queen who uses all her power to try to kill Ellen and protect her Hive from destruction. She is one bloodthirsty mother but given her reasons, I totally respect her for it.

Riley North (Peppermint). In most of these entries, the badass mom’s motivations are to protect their families. But Riley North, effectively portrayed by Jennifer Garner, tragically loses her husband and daughter to a hit ordered by drug lord Diego Garcia. From being a loving mom and homemaker, Riley devotes the next five years of her life training to become an assassion so she can single handedly take down her family’s killers, without concern for her own safety. In doing so, she also becomes the protector of the homeless and serves as their guardian angel until her mission is complete. If you combine Bryan Mills and John Wick’s determination and vendetta, you get Riley North. Hell hath no fury like a mother scorned.

So there you have it folks, stay tuned for my Evilest moms in film and TV,  Amazing TV Moms and Best Movie Moms posts coming, all in celebration of Mother’s Day on Sunday. Cheers to you badass moms in real life! We know you are not confronted with these threats on a daily basis but we know you got our backs when push comes to shove.