The 15 Hottest Female Assassins

Film: The Quick And The Dead (1995)

The Quick And The Dead was a story about avenging the death of a loved one. In the Sam Raimi-directed western, Stone plays the protagonist “The Lady,” a cowgirl who rides into the town of Redemption to gun down the man who killed her father. This film proved that Stone wasn’t only cut out for the sexual predator she had been typecasted as after Basic Instinct.

Film: The Point Of No Return (1993)

John Badham's 1993 remake of Nikita follows Bridget Fonda as Maggie Hayward, a hardened criminal/drug addict about to suffer the death penalty for killing a police officer. Then she's chosen to become a secret government assassin. In the film, Fonda’s signature unassuming, girl-next-door quality made her even less suspicious, and more effective, as a professional killer.

Film: The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)

The Long Kiss Goodnight focuses on what happens when woman with amnesia (Davis) begins to recollect memories of her deadly past. As Samantha Caine, Davis quickly goes from homely school teacher to the assassin for the CIA she never realized she was until she naturally started kicking ass. It’s like Kindergarten Cop meets Salt.

Film: Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

AHH-nold’s "Terminator” was the most iconic character of his career, but we prefer Kristanna Loken as the “T-X” in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Loken was the first female Terminator to appear in the series, as she was programmed to take down John Connor and the resistance. Similar to the T-1000, the T-X can take on many forms, but we’d prefer for it to mimic Ms. Loken’s looks. Forever.

Film: Kill Bill (2003)

As The Bride's (Uma Thurman) first target for revenge, Liu plays O-Ren Ishii, a sword-fighting former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad and the queen of the Tokyo underworld. She's hot enough that we'd take the risk of being decapitated to get close to her.

Film: Elektra (2005)

Garner brought the sai-wielding female ninja of the beloved Marvel comic to life. Although the film adaptation was critically panned, Garner's red-leather clad outfit was a win.

Film: Sin City (2005)

In the film adaption of Frank Miller’s graphic novel Sin City, Aoki took on the role of Miho, a mute killer with a pair of samurai swords who takes extra pleasure in murdering those who offend her. What makes her character even more sinister is the fact that she will “play” with her opponent by swiftly evading their attacks before she finishes them. It’s like sadistic foreplay.

Film: Aeon Flux (2005)

Theron plays Aeon Flux, an telepathic assassin who is part of the rebel group The Monicans, whose mission is to overthrow the government. Despite the fact that creator Peter Chung referred to the film as a “travesty,” it still opened well, only behind Harry Potter And The Goblet of Fire. We didn’t need to be telepathically manipulated to want to see Theron in a catsuit.

Film: Smokin’ Aces (2006)

Ms. Keys played Georgia Sykes, a female contract killer hired to assassinate Buddy “Aces” Israel (played by Jeremy Piven), a Las Vegas magician who got caught up with gangster affair. Sykes was a gun specialist, and when partnered with sniper-expert Sharice Watters (played by Taraji P. Henson), the pairing was a deadly combo. But, Ms. Keys doesn’t need any guns because her looks can kill—yeah, we went there.

Film: Kill Bill (2003)

Uma Thurman wielded the ancient Japanese blade like no other female has ever done in Tarantino’s revenge flick, Kill Bill. Thurman plays “The Bride,” an ex-assassin who wakes up from a coma after being shot in the dome by her former love Bill (played by the late David Carradine) during her wedding. She seeks revenge on her former “co-workers” who all double-crossed her. She sliced, diced and tore the house down in the process.

Film: House of Flying Daggers (2004)

In the wuxia film (a broad term for a Chinese fiction genre involving martial arts), Ziyi plays Mei, a beautiful blind dancer who becomes the center of a war between the police and the top rebel group, the Flying Daggers. She's also gets caught in a fatal love triangle. A pale and delicate girl in a kimono? Yeah, we’d probably miss the “deadly assassin” warning signals, too.

Film: La Femme Nikita (1990)

Before we gawked at Maggie Q holding a bazooka, it was Anne Parillaud who made the name “Nikita” synonymous with sexy in the Luc Besson-directed French film. Parillaud’s Nikita had the perfect mix of charm and mystery to turn a convicted criminal into government trained assassin.

Film: Underworld (2003)

Bestowed by her father Viktor as a “Death Dealer” to the Lycans, Beckinsale’s ass-whooping, vampire-vixen character Selene has been the staple of the Underworld movie series. In the series, Selene has slain countless numbers of werewolves and other suckers of the night, unloading shells upon shells of ammunition on their mythical carcasses.

Film: Colombiana (2008)

With her supporting roles in the action films Avatar and The Losers, Zoe Saldana always seemed to look more natural slinging weapons than crying on cue. Her role in Colombiana as a hitwoman avenging her parents’ death will officially cement her as the female action star we always thought she would inevitably become.

Film: Wanted (2008)

It was tough to pick which Angelina Jolie assassin movie was the best; we’ve seen her scale buildings and fire guns while leaning out of car windshields countless of times. Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Salt come to mind, but Jolie’s character, aptly named Fox, in Wanted was her most unmerciful and visually impressive action role to date.