AfterEllen.com's Top 50 Favorite Female TV Characters

6. Emily Fields (Shay Mitchell), Pretty Little Liars

When Emily Fields' (now [probably] dead) best friend accused her of "liking Beyonce too much," we had ourselves a giggle. We had no idea our laughter would turn into a full-blown love affair. During two seasons of the most gloriously absurd show on cable TV, Emily came out to her friends, her family, and dated about twenty-seven of the hottest girls we have ever seen. She's gone from a timid keeper of secrets to a stealthy ninja who can weather even GLASS IN HER HAIR. Her girlfriends might come and go, but that's OK — because the only thing Rosewood, PA rains down more than murder is teenage lesbians for dating.

5. Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Buffy the Vampire Slayer

We firmly believe that any list of awesome female TV characters that doesn't include Buffy Summers in the top five is totally invalid. So congratulations on making the right choice! Buffy is, and always will be, a television icon. A clever, cynical teenager who embraced her destiny and saved the world time and time and time again. But even when she was kicking the asses of the Biggest Bads, she was doing normal teenage stuff, like making terrible decisions with her love life. The premise of Buffy may have been fantasy, but she's one of the most relatable characters we've ever known.

4. Emily Fitch (Kat Prescott), Skins

The first time Emily Fitch looked across a crowded gymnasium to lock eyes with Naomi Campbell, we felt like she was staring into our souls. And what she saw was us seeing that she is a perfect human being. Her coming out speeches, both to her buddy JJ and to her parents, made us swoon. ("I like tits and fanny, you know." and "Her name's Naomi. She's rather beautiful. So, I was nailing her.") And her longing looks and desperate pleas to Naomi made us sigh. We wanted Noami to be brave and want her back more than we ever wanted anything for ourselves. (And then we wanted to slay that giant beast Mandy with our bare hands for even looking at her.) Like Naomi, we loved her from the first time we saw her. And also like Naomi, we'll go on loving her as long as we both shall live.