It is no secret that fantasy novels take inspiration from real places to create their world when building cultures, landscapes, and more. Some authors even fly across the world to research and write their novels. In adventure fantasy novels, we are granted many different lands and, of course, characters. Not everyone you will meet in an adventure novel is White, so here are five strong female main characters who are people of color.
Mare Barrow – Red Queen
Mare Barrow is the main female character in Red Queen. It was written by Victoria Aveyard and published in 2015. It follows Mare, a girl living in the slums, in a world separated by Silver Bloods, people with magic, and Red Blood, people without. Red Bloods are the enslaved people, workers, and “lesser,” while Silver Bloods are warriors and royalty. However, Mare is special, a Red Blood with magic. It is the first book in the Red Queen series and follows her solely as she leads a rebellion against the tyrannical world, adventuring through multiple kingdoms and lands in her world.
Mare Barrow is seen as a young girl with golden brown skin. She lives on the water, in a fishing town, and is always in the sun. Most fan art will depict her as having brown skin, which is true to her nature. Victoria Aveyard has said that Mare Barrow resembles a Hispanic and Mediterranean descent if she were in our world.
Yrene Towers – Tower of Dawn
Content Warning: This contains spoilers for Throne of Glass.
Throne of Glass has many main characters and some of the biggest adventures I have read. It is beautifully written, with a lot of strong female main characters. Though she initially seems like a secondary character, Yrene Towers quickly grows into the leading group. The story follows multiple character perspectives, as a group of unlikely allies follow a lost queen towards saving her world from demons, evil queens, slavery, and getting her kingdom back. It was written by Sarah J. Maas and published in 2012, and is the first book of a whopping eight-book series.
Yrene Towers is a young girl who quickly becomes the most powerful and talented healer in the world, as she is able to banish demons with it. She has extremely dark skin, with curly hair and golden tones. She is from Fenharrow, a southern city in the series that inspired Latin America and Latin cultures.
Vin – Mistborn
Brandon Sanderson, the king of fantasy, gave us a beautiful adventure trilogy turned saga, with the first book being Mistborn. It was published in 2006 and follows multiple characters, the FMC being Vin. The skaa have been slaves to the powerful, rich, and magical for thousands of years. However, one enslaved person, Kels, snaps and runs, entering the feared mists. The rich avoid it, but Kels gains magic from it. He escapes and forms a highly talented group of people, getting another Mistborn girl, someone with magic that has never been heard of and is usually executed. The powerful get their magic from certain metals, but Vin can get them from all. Together, the team plans a heist to steal gold from the royals for more magic and to give the skaa an upper hand against the tyrannical rule.
Vin is described as half-skaa, though she was not enslaved; she did live a harder life. She was a thief and smuggler, doing whatever she could to scrape by, but her magic makes her powerful, and her determination gives her strength. Because she is half-skaa, her skin has a darker complexion, although Brandon Sanderson never explicitly states the shade. Her fan art ranges from a golden-brown to a dark-brown with a general understanding that she is not white.
Sorasa Sar – Realm Breaker
Victoria Aveyard gave us another excellent adventure book featuring chosen ones, princes, immortals, and even pirates. Realm Breaker is the first book in her second series, the Realm Breaker series, and was published in 2021. It is a multiple POV book that follows an improbable group of people, who have a lot of issues between them, as they sail, fight, and adventure their way across the realm, fighting off the undead and protecting their world from being destroyed and eaten by old gods. Sorasa Sarn is one of the FMCs in the group — a morally grey assassin who is the strongest in her guild and has quite a temper.
Sorasa Sarn hails from Ibal, a kingdom in the southern region that is only a desert. She trained in a guild her whole life, spending more time in the sun than most, but that is not all. Middle Eastern cities and cultures heavily inspire Ibal, so Sorasa has a darker complexion with a golden undertone. She is just as beautiful as she is lethal.
Lor – Trial of the Sun Queen
Nisha J. Tuli wrote Trial of the Sun Queen and published it in 2023. It is the first book in the Artefacts of Ouranos series. It is an action-packed fantasy following Lor, the female main character. After over a decade trapped in the Aurora King’s prison, she is suddenly pulled out to participate in the Sun Queen’s trials to be the new queen. Only problem? She isn’t supposed to be here, but now that she is, she must find some untapped magic and a will to live, powered by revenge on the Aurora King, to win this competition and come out on top.
Nisha J. Tuli pulls from her indian heritage while she writes her fantasy and incorporates that in subtle details, and her characters are no different. Lor has a darker skin tone, one that represents Tuli’s heritage. Though her shade is never explicitly stated, fan art often includes anywhere from a golden-brown to a dark-brown complexion. Her pure will and desire for vengeance make her a strong female main character.
These characters are strong female leads who play essential roles in their books. From magic tassassins, queens, and healers, there is nothing these girls can’t do. Each inspired by specific cultures and regions, they are the perfect ethnic FMCs to love.
Check out what these five cozy fantasy authors say about the genre here!
Check out the team’s favorite fantasy books here!
