Big fan of any pirate queen, be it Ching Shih or Gráinne O'Malley.
On several occasions I've been beating the drum for South Sámi activist Elsa Laula Renberg (or just Elsa Laula) as the best choice for a Sámi civ, back when we all assumed that leaders would be tied to civs as always. I still believe she could be a great choice, being an important leading figure in early Sámi rights movements with a fondly remembered legacy (she took initiative to holding the first meeting for all Sámi in Norway and Sweden, which date is now the Sámi National Day; her birthday is a Sámi flag day; a statue of her was unveiled in Mosjøen, the town where she began her activism in Norway and which is near where she later would live; young Sámi demonstrators who blocked Oslo's main street last year "renamed" it to Elsa Laulan gæjnoe) and thus a representative from a globally-little-known European minority group and indigenous people. Personality-wise, besides the implicit strength and motivation needed to fight for Sámi rights in those times (she received some nasty public personal attacks in Sweden), she was also described as a strong orator.
Sayyida Al Hurra lol.
Alright let's list a few worthy names
- Aethelflaed
- Amanirenas
- Anna Komnene
- Arwa al-Sulyahi
- Baba Tonka
- Ching Sinh
- Dihya
- Florence Nightingale
- Grace O'Malley
- Hojo Masako
- Hurrem Sultan
- Idia
- Jigonsahse
- Lakshmibai, Rani of Jhani
- Laskarina Bouboulina
- Libussa
- Liliuokalani
- Livia Drusilla
- Margrethe I
- Matilda di Canossa
- Empress Maud
- Nur Jahan
- Olga of Kiev
- Osh-Tish
- Salote III of Tonga
- Siti Wan Kembang
- Susan B. Anthony
- Taytu Betul
- Tin Hinan
- Trung Trac
- Urraca
- Vera Atkins
- Wangari Maathai
- Yaa Ashantewa
- Yeshe Tsogyal
- Zenobia
There's plenty more if you dig deep enough...
My bets from this list:
* Matilda di Canossa - great leader for "Italy" even if Italy is a modern civ. She feels very much a birther of modern Italian identity in the same sense as a Confucius or Himiko.
* Olga of Kiev - if we get Byzantium -> Imperial Russia, she is an awesome in-between-ish leader without stepping on the Russia/Ukraine issue much. I do see her competing with Matilda for "leader abilities" concept, though.
* Jeanne de Arc - nevermind, it's just going to be Joan of Arc, probably. Meh.
* Zenobia - come on. If any female leader without a civ should happen, she made a whole empire by her damn self. That's at least on the level of Napoleon and Alexander.
* Margrethe I - I think Denmark is super likely to be the exploration Scandi civ, and if it gets a leader she is totally in.
Somewhat Less Likely:
* Grace O'Malley - if only because I doubt we will see an exploration or modern Ireland, until I start seeing more "kingdom"-sized civs instead of aggressively expansionist empires. I could see her representing "Ireland" in a game without Ireland, while also having a fairly distinct personality to work leader abilities around.
* Urraca - super cool idea broadening the idea of Spain with a leader, albeit not one that gets a lot of attention online. I think absent an online fandom Isabella is more likely to come back.
* Nur Jahan - If big civs get second leaders, she's a solid choice for "India." But let's be real, this will be the first civ in which Gandhi actually makes sense.
Jigonsahse - really just depends on if the Iroquois actually happen. If they do, I would bet on her.
Write-offs:
* Salote/Liliuokalani/Wangari/etc. - too recent, I'm betting, especially if as I suspect they are avoiding any pre-WWI polity.
* Idia/Diyha - would be nice, but next to Amina I am dubious we will get more badass queens from West Africa.
* Hojo Masako - Japan getting two female leaders? A nice idea but unlikely given the gender spread in past games, imo.
* Arwa A-Sulyahi - I just want the wonder, I don't really need her.
I also think we will see some returners. I think Maria Teresa, Wu Zetian, and Eleanor make a LOT of sense for regions that will likely not have Austria, Tang Dynasty, or the Angevins. And if Scythia or Georgia return and get leaders I think Tomyris and Tamar are far and away the only just options. I also think that, to give the Confucius idea full consideration, we want Carthage with Dido or Phoenicia with Hannibal but not both, so Dido's chances are about 50/50 (if I had my druthers, it would just be Dido/Phoenicia again, Hannibal/Carthage is far less unique/interesting to me).
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