The characters in Grey's Anatomy are the best at what they do, and there really isn't a lot to choose between them when it comes to being brave and determined. The main protagonists are all surgeons and battle life and death every day, which itself takes tremendous courage.
Bravery doesn't necessarily mean fighting off evil or facing dangerous situations, although several of the characters have done that as well. But surviving catastrophic circumstances and simply making it out alive, by wit and merit, is also brave and deserves a tip of the hat.
Callie Torres
Callie was one of the most body and sex positive characters on the show. Fans will recall her dancing in her underwear at the basement of Seattle Grace in one of her earliest episodes. It takes a lot of courage and determination to shatter social expectations, and Callie embodied both of those traits.
Torres had her flaws but there wasn't a lack of courage at all. She discovered her true sexual preferences at a later stage and turned her life around, despite opposition from her parents, especially her mother. It also took courage to be there for Arizona when the latter went through horrifying trauma as a result of the plane crash of the season 8 finale.
Jo Wilson
Like many other characters, Jo Wilson had to contend with several heartbreaking moments. She struggled throughout her childhood, having been abandoned as a baby. She went from one foster home to another and then literally lived in her car.
Yet, Jo braved her situation and managed to get into Harvard. But even more importantly, she survived a deeply abusive relationship with a surgeon, Paul Stadler, and was able to get away from him, in the process building a new, independent life for herself. Kudos to Jo for showing great pluck in the face of such dire circumstances.
Amelia Shepherd
Amelia Shepherd might have come across as rather unstable when she was first introduced in the long-running medical drama, but she was also a survivor in more ways than one, and it was because of what she had been through and was going through, that she might have appeared volatile in the first place.
Amelia battled her addiction to drugs and came out stronger than ever before, But she had also been through far worse, especially in the Grey's Anatomy spin-off Private Practice, where she had first appeared. Her fiancé passed away right beside her from overdosing and she lost her son. On top of that, she was then diagnosed with a massive brain tumor. The way she has fought every disaster thrown her way shows that she is fearless.
Izzie Stevens
Izzie Stevens was yet another brave character on the series. Her dramatic and emotionally wrought arc made fans live her pain and experience her struggle along with her.
Izzie, like Jo and Alex, had a difficult time growing up but made it into medical school on her own merit. She then managed to get through Denny Duquette's death, considered one of the most tragic patient deaths in Grey's Anatomy. But where she demonstrated the greatest strength of character was when she survived her diagnosis of cancer, a feat for which she deserved to be saluted.
Miranda Bailey
Bailey might be a tad frustrating at times, but she is certainly one of the most courageous characters on the show. Not only did she make it to Chief of Surgery, a position that not many women, and that too women of color, achieve even today, but she showed courage in the face of extreme danger and came out unscathed.
During the hospital shooting on the season 6 finale, Miranda faced the deranged shooter on her own and would have almost single-handedly saved the resident Charles Percy's life had the elevators not been shut down because of the hospital lockdown. In her own life too, Miranda survived a heart attack brought on by extreme stress and tension.
Derek Shepherd
Derek Shepherd is often criticized for his narcissism and the way he treated Meredith or Amelia at times. However, there is no doubt that Derek was extraordinarily brave too, and put the lives of his patients over everything else.
In one of the most shocking Grey's Anatomy season finales, Derek took on the shooter, Gary Kent, face-to-face, hoping to talk him down and knowing that he himself was the target. He was also known for taking on complicated cases as a surgeon, cases that others wouldn't touch with a barge pole, and never quit until he had helped his patient. There might have been some overconfidence there, but courage there definitely was.
Arizona Robbins
Arizona is certainly known for braving unimaginable trauma. In the devastating plane crash of season 8, Arizona lost her leg leaving her bitter and angry with the world for a good while.
However, the sunny Arizona eventually made it, getting back to work, and even winning the custody battle for little Sophia. Through all the ups and downs, she came out on top. They say that whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger and Arizona certainly epitomized that.
Cristina Yang
Cristina Yang was snarky and cut-throat but in spite of her difficult personality and her robotic attitude, she was certainly brave at heart.
During the hospital shooting, Cristina operated on Derek under unbelievably traumatic circumstances. And in the immediate aftermath of the plane crash, she and Meredith were the only ones unscathed, and Cristina went around tending to Mark who collapsed soon after Lexie's shocking death and trying her best to pick up the shattered pieces even as everyone around her lay unraveled. In both situations, Cristina showed nerves of steel.
Stephanie Edwards
The surgical resident was one of the most promising that Grey Sloan had had, and fans grew to love the straight-talking young woman who seemed to be on her way to becoming the next Cristina Yang but perhaps with more heart.
Stephanie had beaten sickle cell anemia, which had forced her to spend a lot of her young days within the confines of a hospital. However, she showed uncommon bravery when she single-handedly saved a young girl after she and the girl had been stuck on a hospital floor along with a rapist. Like a true hero, Stephanie took the girl to safety, risking her own life in the process as a fire raged on around them. If that isn't bravery, then nothing is.
Meredith Grey
Finally, while it might be a cliché to place Meredith at the top, it does seem justified in this case since Meredith Grey is quite simply a brave heart if ever there was one.
Every Grey's Anatomy fans know that Meredith almost died several times. It requires great courage, determination, and fearlessness to become the woman she has. From almost being drowned to death to surviving a shooting to surviving a plane crash that killed two people, mutilated one and paralyzed another, she's brave. There was also getting beaten into a pulp by a patient who didn't know what he was doing, getting past the untimely death of her husband and surviving a severe bout of COVID-19, this woman has beaten death and tragedy at every turn, and is the bravest of the lot.