The first 2 characters I thought of were:
Sarah Connor (Terminator)
Ellen Ripley (Alien)
The first 2 actors were I thought of were
Arnold Schwarzenegger, well because
Jackie Chan, because of the stunts, but his characters are generally not bad-asses, so I dropped him from contention
For my final list went with:
Sarah Connor (Terminator), because when the chips were down she stepped up to the plate and jammed it down the Terminators throat
Ellen Ripley (Alien), tough to start with, but ends up going toe-to-toe with the baddest of the bad
Brian Mills (Taken), starts the movie as a bad-ass, and does not let up
Mad Dog (The Raid: Redemption), perhaps should not be here, more just tough, but oh well
John Matrix (Commando), we meet him carrying a tree
HM: Alex Murphy (Robocop), Sister Mary Stigmata (The Blues Brothers), Malcolm Tucker (In the Loop), Insp. Jessica Yang (Supercop aka Police Story 3), Tom Stall (A History of Violence), Inigo Montoya (The Princess Bride), Ah Yong (The Killer), Jef Costello (Le Samurai), Will Munny (Unforgiven), Ting (Ong Bak), John Wick (John Wick)