Sara Pezzini

I'm in serious need of strong female characters so I'm going to do a short series on some of my favorites.

     The first one is Detective Sara Pezzini from the live action 'Witchblade'.  I distinguish between live action and animated because this was originally a graphic novel series and then an animated series.  Of the three I much prefer the live action.  The main reason being that Sara isn't portrayed as a blatant sex object here.  In the comic (I found a cache of free online versions to read through) she is scantily clad and bursting out of what little she has on at the time.

In the live action version Sara Pezzini is portrayed more realistically.  She's a hard-ass cop, excellent boxer, good shot, motorcycle driver, and good looking.  Her mother died when she was young and her father was murdered when she was in her teens or early twenties.  When the series begins her best friend was just found murdered in a high end hotel room.  Sara is sure she knows who did it, a mobster who has it out for her, but has of yet been unable to find evidence to that end.  In pursuit of one of his associates Sara comes into contact with the Witchblade.

When introduced to the Witchblade she stays outwardly strong even though she is having to deal with visions, changes in her perception of time, and vivid dreams.  When going after the mobster, Gallo, a second time she and her partner are ambushed.  Gallo shoots her partner.  With the Witchblade she takes out several of his men.

A lot of people want to control her throughout the series.  Irons, a billionaire who owns a large portion of New York City, wants control of the Witchblade.  The Witchblade can only be wielded by a woman, so he knows he has to control her.  In the first few comics Sara seems a bit damsel in distress around Irons but in the live action show she figures him out pretty quickly.  Gallo wants Pezzini dead and a few of her fellow cops want her off the force.

Though she has lost so much she remains strong.  One aspect of her character that I particularly like is that she doesn't let other people control her and she catches on quickly when they try.  Any advice or ideas she gets she works through, tests its applicability, before integrating it.