The Disney Channel is currently on the trend of featuring strong female characters in their TV shows. News series such as The Villains Of Valley View and Ultra Violet & Black Scorpion feature leads with great literal strength.
However, strength is not just a physical trait. It can also be of mind and emotion. When looking back on the history of the channel, Disney has featured a lot of powerful girls and women in their shows, all exhibiting strength in their own unique ways.
Alex Russo
Wizards Of Waverly Place (2007 - 2012)
Alex is the main character on Wizards Of Waverly Place, a fantasy show about a family of wizards who own a sub shop in New York. Alex is portrayed by Selena Gomez who has advanced her career since Wizards came to an end.
Alex tends to exhibit reckless and lazy behavior in Wizards Of Waverly Place. She finds humor in other people's faults and loves to pick on her brothers. Alex often misuses magic and finds herself in trouble because of it. While she isn't the best character to look up to, her strength shines through whenever she and her family are in deep danger. She saves the world several times, growing as a person each time she's taking down dark angels, vampires, and other mythical and non-mythical creatures that are out to get them.
Jessie Prescott
Jessie (2011 - 2015)
Debby Ryan plays the lead role in Jessie. Her character is new to New York City, and she takes a job off the streets as a live-in nanny for a wealthy family.
Jessie is a very ambitious character. She left Texas against her father's wishes to pursue acting in NYC. While her ability in that department is questionable, her love for the Ross family is undeniable. She can sometimes be immature, but most of the time, she takes her job seriously and finds strength within herself to protect the kids at all costs. She does this all while simultaneously dealing with her own family struggles, boy problems, and other hiccups along the way.
Maddie Fitzpatrick
The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody (2005 - 2008)
The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody is considered one of the best Disney Channel shows of all time. It follows the Martin twins who get into wild antics at the Tipton hotel where they permanently reside.
Maddie is the worker at the hotel's candy counter. Unlike her friend, London, she lives in a studio apartment and barely makes enough money to support herself. Still, Maddie remains relatively strong in her work ethic, and she sticks to her values. Of course, this doesn't stop her from having fun with her friends. It's one thing to be working non-stop. It's another to have a good work-life balance.
Harley Diaz
Stuck In The Middle (2016 - 2018)
Stuck In The Middle follows a family of nine as they struggle to keep everything together. Harley Diaz is the central middle child with an inventive spirit.
Harley has the archetypal experiences of a middle child, and she's often the main focus of Stuck In The Middle. For example, the pilot episode sees her trying to get her family to a ceremony at which she's being honored that takes place around the same time as her sibling's other extracurricular activities. This is enough to make any child snap, but Harley doesn't. This shows great strength in her character. She understands her family, and she knows sacrifices are necessary, as long as she's not the only one making them.
K.C. Cooper
K.C. Undercover (2015 - 2018)
Zendaya starred in several Disney Channel projects, including K.C. Undercover in which she plays the titular character.
K.C. is very intelligent. She has straight A's, respect for rules, and combat training. She is literally one of the strongest female characters on the Disney Channel. Her mental toughness is also superb, as she's able to put herself in high-stress, undercover situations. She's strong because she has to be, and because her parents brought her up to be. She is definitely a great character for young girls to look up to.
Andi Mack
Andi Mack (2017 - 2019)
Andi is the main character in Andi Mack. Her life takes a turn when she learns that the woman she believed to be her sister is actually her mother.
Andi's life is thrown for a loop when this secret comes out. She struggles with this new reality in addition to normal teenage problems such as school and boys. Andi handles the news like any kid would after being deceived her entire life, but she pushes through the pain and eventually accepts her new normal. She shares the news with her friends, meets her father, and learns to thrive as an individual with strength and kindness.
Sarah Fox
My Babysitter's A Vampire (2011 - 2012)
My Babysitter's A Vampire is one of the most underrated shows on the Disney Channel. The franchise began with a movie of the same name. Sarah is a fledgling vampire, turned in the movie by her boyfriend at the time.
Sarah's strength lies primarily in her resistance to temptation and keeping her moral code. To become a full vampire, she must feed on a person. This is something she is strongly against, even though every ounce of her undead being is craving human flesh. She only becomes a full vampire to save Ethan, and even then, she continues to abide by her morals and refuses to consume human blood. Even when more powerful vampires demand her compliance, she sticks to her code.
Ally Dawson
Austin & Ally (2011 - 2016)
Ally is half of the titular duo in Austin & Ally. She writes songs for Austin to perform until she conquers her stage fright and becomes a famous singer herself.
Ally has a type A personality. She wants everything to be perfect, and she gets incredibly anxious over things she can't control. She is often the butt of the joke, especially in the first season. Even her friends make fun of her at times. Ally's strength is evident in her ability to stay true to herself despite the teasing and discouragement she receives from others. While the ridicule mostly subsides in later seasons, she still faces doubts from others, and she's not afraid to prove them wrong.
Maya Hart
Girl Meets World (2014 - 2017)
Maya Hart is Riley Matthews' best friend in Girl Meets World. She is opposite to Riley in several ways, one being her relationship with her family.
While Riley grew up with a strong familial support system, Maya did not, largely due to her father's decision to leave her and her mom. This choice put much financial burden on Maya's mother who has to work all the time to pay for a place to live and food to eat. Her parents' absence leads to Maya's tendency to act out. While she often gets into trouble, Maya's perseverance through the pain shows great strength, and she comes to realize that she is worth more than what she was dealt.
Buffy Driscoll
Andi Mack (2017 - 2019)
Buffy is Andi's best friend in Andi Mack. She's an athlete and a feminist, going so far as to petition the school to form a girls' basketball team.
The characters' stories on Andi Mack are unique to other Disney Channel characters, and Buffy is no exception. She often endures teasing from the boys at school, and blatant prejudice over her hairstyle. What may be most compelling about her, however, is the pain she goes through while her mom is stationed in the military. Buffy has a strong woman to look up to. She emulates her mom by advocating for herself and others all the time. When her mother surprises her at a basketball game, Buffy's shock and her run to hug her mom is one of the few moments she lets her guard down, and it's enough to make a grown adult cry.