#9 Cate Archer
If Joanna Dark is the female equivalent to Peirce Brosnan’s 007 James Bond, then Cate Archer is the same to Sean Connery’s. After the death of her parents and moving from one foster home to another, Cate stumbled into a life of a crime as a cat burglar. It was only after stealing the watch of a UNITY agent were her skills recognized and she was brought into the fold of the anti-terror organization. Cate is fighting not only against the criminal group HARM, but also against the male chauvinism and oppression being a female secret agent brings during the 1960s setting. Despite the doubts her superiors have of sending a woman into the field, Cate repeatedly proves them wrong.