Imperator Furiosa is a fictional character in the Australian post-apocalyptic action film series Mad Max.

[3][4] In the film, the warlord Dementus kidnaps Furiosa and executes her mother before selling her to Immortan Joe as a future breeder.

Having lost his family (including his own child) during the apocalypse, he hopes to raise Furiosa as his new daughter, nicknaming her "Little D" and taking her (in a cage) with him wherever he goes.

Immortan Joe brings Furiosa to his fortress, the Citadel, where he imprisons her in a luxurious residence for his "wives," a group of sex slaves who have mostly avoided the genetic effects of post-apocalyptic radiation.

As a mechanic, Furiosa helps build the "War Rig", a heavily armed and armoured tractor-trailer that transports water, human milk, and agricultural products from the Citadel to trade for petrol and ammunition produced by Joe's military allies.

However, his sadism backfires when Furiosa severs her left arm to escape, losing her star map but saving her life.

Upon returning to the Citadel, she builds a mechanical prosthetic arm, shaves her head, and pursues Dementus through the desert until she catches up with him, drains his last bit of water and taunts him.

(The Mad Max films have "no strict chronology",[5] but in Fury Road, Furiosa mentions that she was kidnapped roughly 7,000 days, or 19 years, before the events of the film, plus the days she "doesn't remember") After Furiosa captures Dementus, Immortan Joe promotes her to Imperator and gives her command of a new War Rig.

At the start of the film, Joe dispatches Furiosa and the War Rig on a supply run to Gastown (an oil refinery) and the Bullet Farm (a mining facility that manufactures guns and ammunition).

After leaving the Citadel, Furiosa abruptly changes course and heads off the main road in search of the Green Place, precipitating a battle in which she shows her combat and tactical skills.

She encounters Max Rockatansky in the desert and the two end up working together, drawing on their respective experiences surviving in hostile environments to overcome the challenge of fighting against Joe's forces.

However, they also explain that the Green Place is no longer habitable; in the twenty-odd years since Furiosa was kidnapped, its supply of fresh water disappeared and the soil decayed into a poisonous swamp.

Her relationship with Max inspires her to return to the Citadel and take it over after killing Immortan Joe, giving the Five Wives and all citizens a safe haven.

In an interview, Charlize Theron revealed that Furiosa was originally supposed to be another one of Immortan Joe's wives, but was infertile: "[George Miller and I] talked about backstory, about how she ended up with no arm and that she was discarded.

Furiosa has received praise for being a strong female action heroine and bringing feminist themes to the franchise.

A. O. Scott and Manohla Dargis of The New York Times said that "Mad Max, which has garnered almost $150 million domestically so far, and near unanimous critical rapture, belongs less to its titular hero than to Imperator Furiosa, the steely avenger played by Charlize Theron.

"[11] Richard Roeper wrote for Chicago Sun Times that "Max often takes a passenger seat to Theron's Imperator Furiosa, this is one female-empowered action vehicle.

"[12] Marc Savlov of The Austin Chronicle wrote that "Furiosa, who more than lives up to her name, is Fury Road's heart and soul – well, after all those nightmarishly souped-up deathmobiles – and this future über-feminist/humanist gets all of the good lines.

"[13] Ty Burr of The Boston Globe proclaimed, "About a half hour into Mad Max: Fury Road, you may realize with a start that Max is sharing hero duties with a fiery woman warrior named Furiosa, played with tensile strength by Charlize Theron, and that Furiosa may actually be the central figure in this breakneck and emotionally resonant film.

She lends the role a fascinating blend of toughness, tenderness and gravitas as we learn her tragic back story in the film's final third.