10. Oscar Pistorius
At the London Summer Olympics, the South African double-leg amptuee didn't win. He competed—and that one thing made all the difference.
9. Pussy Riot
The Russian punk band proved a song could be more than just for singing, as it protested Russian President Vladimir Putin's rule all the way to the country's notorious prison camps. "We are not finished," Yekaterina Samutsevich, one of the group's freed members, vowed.
8. Jennifer Hudson
The Oscar-winner has long shown grace under fire. At the Grammys, she came through again, using one unadorned performance of "I Will Always Love You" to say what needed to be said: This is what Whitney Houston meant to music.
7. Kristen Stewart
What do you do when you screw up, and get caught? If you're the Twilightactress, you apologize, put your head down and do your work, even if doing your work means putting you in front of the same people—the press and the public—who spent their summer scrutinizing and criticizing your every move. It may not be the classic feel-good tale, but it's a blueprint nonetheless on how to take your lumps.
6. Lizzie Velasquez & Jennifer Livingston
The overweight local news anchor (chided for being a poor role model) and the disease-stricken author and motivational speaker (ridiculed for her gaunt appearance) both stood up for themselves and to their bullies, and showed everyone how to be comfortable in their own skin.
5. Abraham Lincoln
Nearly 150 years gone, the nation's 16th president returned to the public arena, courtesy Daniel Day-Lewis and director Steven Spielberg, with a timely message: compromise is a necessary, not dirty word. (Added bonus message: Always bring your ax to a vampire fight.)
4. Frank Ocean
The singer-songwriter emerged as a solo artist, and an openly gay man. The album, Channel Orange, was acclaimed, and the announcement was near-unprecedented for his genre. "Today is a big day for hip-hop," mogul Russell Simmons wrote. "Frank, we thank you. We support you. We love you."
3. Robin Roberts
In this era of openness, we're almost used to fighting the health fight right alongside that of the stricken celebrity. We're not used to feeling one so personally.
2. Lana Wachowski
She used to be known as Larry Wachowski. She still works with her brother Andy, and she still makes movies of outsized ambition. And she inspires like never before. "I began to believe voices in my head, that I was a freak," she said at Human Rights Campaign gala in October. "Years later, I find the courage to admit that I am transgender, and this doesn't mean I am unlovable."
1. The Heroes of Aurora, Colo.
When a heavily armed man burst into the Century Aurora 16 theater during an opening-day, midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises, the stars came out. Jarell Brooks was said to have helped a mother and her two young children out of the killing ground. Jonathan Blunk, Matthew McQuinn and Alexander Teves were reported to have died shielding their respective girlfriends. "Even in the darkest of days," President Barack Obama would later say, "life continues and people are strong."