Do we like them?

Do we like Clarice Starling?

A character from The Silence of the Lambs (1988 (novel), 1991 ()

Our score: 9 out of 10. Yes, we'd back her. She's brave, sharp and decent, and she keeps her empathy while working in a world that tries to talk down to her and use her.

Clarice Starling is a bright, determined FBI trainee from a modest, rural background. She is pulled out of the academy by Jack Crawford, who heads the Behavioral Science Unit. He wants her to question Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant imprisoned psychiatrist, about a killer who is still at large.

Clarice is underestimated by nearly everyone around her. Male colleagues condescend to her and Lecter probes her past. She stays composed, honest and stubborn through all of it. Her main drive is empathy: she is haunted by a childhood memory of helpless animals she couldn't save, and it pushes her to protect people who can't protect themselves.

She isn't flawless. She is young and inexperienced, and she makes a dangerous bargain by trading personal truths with a manipulator. But her moral compass holds steady, and her courage and persistence make her one of fiction's most admired heroes, which is why she scores a 9.