I'll give you my short list:

Male:
Squall
Cloud
ZACK
Balthier
And you have to admit, Auron was pretty badass. You should be ashamed that he isn't on any of your lists. (sorry, that's very opinion based...You're entitled to your own opinion)

Female:
Yuna
Lightning
Ashe

And the villains that I saw as good leaders (I know the title says hero, but hear me out) are:
Seifer
Sephiroth
Seymour

The heroes wouldn't really be heroes without the villains. Oddly, they all start with 's'. Tidus wouldn't BE a hero without Seymour. That's my opinion though.