Lisbeth Salander

Lisbeth Salander is the main character in the Girl with The Dragon Tattoo, the first of Steig Larsson's Millennium Series. Salander is introduced as a gifted but psychologically troubled computer hacker living in Stockholm, Sweden, working for a corporation called Milton Securities. After being hired by a lawyer to investigate a journalist for Millenium, a news publication, named Mikael Blomkvist, ends up involved with a murder case Blomkvist was investigating, namely the grandniece of a rich businessman, Henrik Vanger, Harriet Vanger.

Meanwhile, it is revealed that Salander is a ward of the state and that she has been recently been placed under the care of a new guardian, a man named Nils Bjurmann, who forces Salander to perform oral sex on him in exchange for allowing her access to her finances. Salander later approaches Bjurmann a second time, for money to buy a computer. Nils proceeds to bind and rape Lisbeth. However, it is Lisbeth who gets the last laugh- she filmed Nil's rape, and returns, binding him with his own bondage equipment and tattoos the words "I AM A RAPIST, A PERVERT, AND A SADISTIC PIG" on his chest, and threatens to release the video of the rape to the authorities unless he continues to give her good reports and recommends she be declared legally independent.

Back on the case of Harriet Vanger's disappearance, Lisbeth discovers that Harriet is still alive, hiding out in Australia, being forced to flee after discovering that Vanger's half brother Martin was a murder and rapist, trained to do so by this father Gottfried. Martin take Mikael Blomkvist captive, and tortures and attempts to murder him. Lisbeth, however, makes it there in time and attacks Martin with a golf club. Martin escapes, and Lisbeth gives chase on her motorcycle, but Martin instead dies in an auto accident. Lisbeth also discovers compromising information about Blomkvist's rival in the media industry, and, in the process, hacks his computer and wires billion of Kroner to her.

Salander takes the money and leaves for the Bahamas, but returns in a year, only to quickly end up falsely accused of the murder of Bjurmann and two of Blomkvist's colleagues. Blomkvist tries to help, but Lisbeth avoids him. Instead, Salander goes on the run to clear her name, at one encountering a couple bikers who try to attacker, but she disables one with a stun gun, and she pepper sprays the other and shoots him in the foot with his own handgun, before escaping on their bike.

Lisbeth eventually discovers the true culprit, her own father, a Russian defector named Alexander Zalachenko, and her half brother, Ronald Niedermann, a man who has a rare disorder that makes him unable to feel pain. Niedermann subdues Lisbeth as she attempts to enter her father's farm. During this period, Lisbeth's past is revealed- she was committed to a mental institution at 12 because doused her father in gasoline and set him on fire after he abused both her and her mother. Salander was in fact not mentally ill, but instituted as part of a conspiracy by a few members the Swedish Secret Service, who considered Zalachenko such an important asset, that they covered up Zalachenko's illegal activities, including arms dealing and prostitution. Bjurmann and Blomkvist's colleagues were murdered for the same reason, and Lisbeth was again framed for the murder.

Zalachenko then proceeds to shoot Lisbeth several times, including ones in the head, and buries her in a shallow grave, not knowing she is still alive. Defying all probability, Lisbeth survives and digs her way out of the grave with a cigarette holder and proceeds to ambush Zalachenko in a barn with a woodcutting axe, hitting him in the head. Zalachenko survives, again defying all logic, and draws a pistol. Lisbeth disarms and attempts to shoot him, but Zalachenko and Niedermann escapes.

Lisbeth is found by the authorities and, by a coincidence, ends up in the same hospital as Zalachenko. Zalachenko is assassinated by a member of the rogue section of the Swedish Security Service, who now see him as a liability. The assassin tries to assassinate Lisbeth, but commits suicide after failing to break into her room- it was later revealed he had liver cancer and only had a few months to live anyway.

After leaving hospital, Lisbeth is placed on trial for her assault on Zalachenko, among the key witness for the prosecution being Doctor Teleborian, a doctor who abused her during her childhood term at a mental institution. On the defense was Mikael Blomkvist's sister Annika, who, using evidence proving falsification of records, and a proving that Lisbeth was telling the truth about being raped, an important issue in her psychological profile, Annika gets Lisbeth acquitted. At the same time, Blomkvist enlists the help of Lisbeth's fellow hackers, who, in addition to threatening to shut down the entire computer system of the Swedish government,  manage to hack into Teleborian's computer, discovering child pornography files. The hackers also uncover incriminating information relating the rogue faction in the Secret Service, leaking it the authorities and resulting in their arrest.

The final loose end in the series, is Niedermann, who is on the loose while Lisbeth is on trial, murdering several people, including two police and is currently hiding out in an abandoned brick factory that was formerly used by a gang for imprisoning Russian prostitutes, until Niedermann murdered them. By a twist of fate, the brick works becomes part of Lisbeth's estate, which she inherited from Zalachenko. Lisbeth does not want anything for her father, and plans to sell it and donate it to charity, however, she does go out to survey the brick works, believing their may be additional money hidden there (or simply to survey the site in the case of the films). Lisbeth is met by Niedermaan, who attacks and attempts to kill her, however, Lisbeth uses a nailgun to nail his feet to the floor, then makes an anonymous phone call to a biker gang who want Niedermann dead after he killed one of their members. The gang members arrive and murder Niedermann, at which point Lisbeth, who was observing from a concealed vantage point, calls the police, resulting in the arrest of the biker gang.  In the final scenes, Lisbeth meets with Blomkvist and the two make up.