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The Top 40 Kick-Ass Female Sci-Fi Characters

This weekend, Star Trek Into Darkness hits theaters and the common consensus among reviewers seems to be that JJ Abrams‘ adaptation of the beloved series is even better this time around. The thing we’re most excited about, of course, is Zoe Saldana‘s return as a young Nyota Uhura. Apparently Saldana’s role is much bigger this time around, which means the Star Trek sequel is a can’t miss for us!

Of course, lesbian and bisexual women are not strangers to the world of science fiction. In fact, we often find better representation in the fantasy realm than in any other genre. And even when we don’t find queer women to swoon over, we find powerful women to root for. So, in honor of Star Trek, we’ve made a list of the Top 40 Kick-Ass Female Sci-Fi Characters from some of our favorite TV shows and movies.

(For those of you looking for the fine women of Lost Girl here, please note that they weren’t included on this list because that show is considered fantasy, instead of sci-fi, because of magic and mysticism. It’s also why Hermione Granger isn’t included. Don’t worry, we’ll keep them in mind when we make our list of favorite fantasy women!)

Nyota Uhura, Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness

In the Star Trek films’ alternate timeline, Nyota was a strong-willed cadet who rebuked the drunken advances of James Kirk and then refused to let Spock keep her off the Enterprise just because she was his girlfriend. Once they were in space, she quickly rose to the position of communications officer on her own merit.

River Song, Doctor Who

Conceived in the TARDIS, born partial Time Lord, kidnapped and brainwashed and set on a mission of epic assassination, but every time you thought River Song was going to zig, she zagged. She was a whip-smart, justice-loving, gun-wielding, building-diving adventurer who also had time to drop lines like, “Well, I was on my way to a gay gypsy Bar Mitzvah for the disabled when I suddenly thought, ‘Gosh! The Third Reich’s a bit rubbish. I think I’ll kill the Führer.'”

Agent Sarah Walker, Chuck

She was a CIA special agent who scaled buildings and danced tangos and commandeered sports cars. One time, she disarmed and arrested a man with her hands literally tied behind her back (wearing nothing but lingerie!). Her mission was to protect the asset Chuck Bartowski, whose brain had been transformed into a super computer housing all of the government’s secrets. In her spare time, she worked at a frozen yogurt store.

Zoe Washburne, Firefly

She was second-in-command on Serenity and one of the deadliest fighters in the history of space.

Astrid Farnsworth, Fringe

Astrid was an FBI Junior Agent whose technological savvy saved everyone from Observers more times than we can count. She also spoke five languages, enjoyed cryptology as a recreational activity, and started taking apart computers when she was six years old.

Barbarella, Barbarella

There’s a reason both Santana Lopez and Emily Fields enjoy dressing up like Barbarella – she’s one of the sexiest heroes ever. Sure, there are lots of feminist issues with this 1968 film, but when viewed through a campy lens, there’s a lot to love about Jane Fonda battling snowballs and terrifying dolls in 40,000 AD.

Nyota Uhura, Star Trek: The Original Series

Nichelle Nichols played The Enterprise’s communications officer in the Star Trek TV series and in the original movies. She deserves her own shout out for being a multilingual badass lieutenant who worked her way to lieutenant commander and then full commander over the course of the series. Nichols was also one of the very first black women to be cast in a major role on primetime American TV.

Kara “Starbuck” Thrace, Battlestar Galactica

Starbuck was a dude in the original Battlestar Galactica, but in Syfy’s series remake, she was unapologetically all woman. (She also never apologized for her whiskey-drinking and cigar-smoking!) She was a cocky fighter pilot who evolved from not caring about her own life to understanding that the sacrifice of her own life could save all of humanity.

Capt. Kathryn Janeway, Star Trek: Voyager

Kate Janeway was the Captain – yes, Captain – of the USS Voyager who fought for seven years to bring her starship crew home after they got lost in a wormhole in the Delta Quadrent, after which she was quite rightly promoted to Admiral. Was she the best starship captain ever? Yes. Yes, she was. Oh, and she also had a deliciously subtextual lesbian relationship with Seven of Nine.

Dana Scully, The X-Files

She made us want to believe!

Diana, V

If V was the Dallas of space, Diana was the J.R. of the universe: a conniving, shoulder pad-ed villain who got her way no matter how evil she had to be. And we loved every second of it.

Donna Noble, Doctor Who

She was The Doctor’s best mate and she saved the entire universe from destruction. She also convinced The Doctor to exercise a lot more compassion for individual people. Not bad for a temp from Chiswick who was just looking for a way out of her wedding.

Anastasia Dualla, Battlestar Galactica

Petty Officer Crew Specialist 2nd Class Dualla had the thankless job of working as liaison between Galactica’s senior staff and the other spacecraft in the fleet, but she handled it with grace and ultimately worked her way up to being the Executive Officer aboard the Pegasus.

Echo, Dollhouse

A “doll” whose memory was perpetually wiped clean so she could carry out various homicidal assignments, Echo fought against the man to gain and maintain self-awareness. She succeeded in the end and used her cumulative powers to try to stop the Rossum Corporation from taking over the world.

Ellen Ripley, Alien

Casting a female lead in an action movie is sadly still something that gives big Hollywood studios the heebeegeebees, but Ridley Scott did it back in 1979 with huge success. Ellen Ripley transcends gender and genre. She is one of the most complicated, ass-kicking movie heroes of all time.

Eve, WALL-E

Our favorite Extraterrestrial Vegetation Examiner broke free from her programmed directive to save the love of her life, and in doing so, she helped all of humanity finally return to earth and start cleaning up the mess they had left behind for WALL-E to deal with.

Gwen Cooper, Torchwood

Gwen Cooper started out as a policewoman who stumbled upon the Torchwood crew working their alien-vanquishing magic, and she became the series’ ultimate alien fighter. She saved the world from destruction countless times – sometimes with guns, sometimes with brains, sometimes through the sheer force of her glorious Welsh willpower. She once shot down a spy helicopter with one hand while holding her baby in the other.

Helena G. Wells, Warehouse 13

H.G. Wells never fit into Victorian society in London, mostly because H.G. Wells was a genius woman named Helena who was forced to publish books under a male pseudonym before she finally managed to time-travel to the future and use her expertise to help the crew at Warehouse 13 keep the world’s supernatural artifacts in check.

Zoe Graystone, Caprica

Zoe Graystone was the mother of all Cylons, literally.

Holly Marshall, Land of the Lost

She was the youngest human in the Land of the Lost, which meant she was mostly afraid most of the time, but Holly used her smarts and savvy to save herself and her brother on multiple occasions, most notably from the the Sleestak God. Also, she named all the dinosaurs and had at least one as a pet, which is the ultimate act of badassery.

Eleanor Arroway, Contact

Dr. Arroway was selected to be the first person to make contact with aliens, which she did at great risk to her life by traveling on purpose through loads of wormholes. But of course no one really believed her because the recording devices she brought along with her only recorded static. Luckily, they recorded 18 hours of it, so she got to keep her government grant money at least.

Julian, Children of Men

A reformed terrorist who became the peaceful leader of the government resistance in a dystopian future where no children were ever born, Julian found the only pregnant woman in the world and gave her life to help her get to safety.

Kathy, Never Let Me Go

It’s hard to find a reason to hope when you realize you’re trapped in a dystopian future where you’re nothing more than a clone who is being kept alive to have your organs harvested for “normals,” but Kathy defiantly found a reason to live – even though she was created to die. She had a whole lot of soul for a person who was meant to be soulless.

Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games

Katniss volunteered to be District 12’s tribute to the Hunger Games to save her little sister, and she ended up making a fool out of the Capitol by winning the games and saving Peeta, too. Quick with a bow and even quicker with a verbal zinger, Katniss became the symbol of an entire oppressed society’s courage and hope.

Martha Jones, Doctor Who and Torchwood

A medical student turned time traveler turned doctor turned paranormal military organizations officer turned Torchwood team member: There is literally nothing Martha Jones cannot do. She once saved the world, single-handedly, and then enjoyed a nice bike ride around town.

Julie Winston, Masters of the Universe

He-Man never could have faced down and defeated Skeletor without the help of “Earth female” Julie Winston. She joined He-Man as he tried to save Eternia after Skeltor stole the Cosmic Key from the locksmith Gwildor. She Had The Power!

Myka Bering, Warehouse 13

Myka Bering’s job is to guard the infinite number of supernatural artifacts inside Warehouse 13, which, of course, requires her to keep the entire earth from exploding every week. She’s smart and strong and fiercely independent. She also happens to be deeply in love with H.G. Wells.

The Voice of the Enterprise computer, Star Trek

You cannot make a list of kick-ass sci-fi females and not include Majel Barrett‘s voice. She was sexy, charming, and hilarious as the Enterprise’s computer, and she tied the whole Star Trek universe together.

Original Cindy, Dark Angel

You know you’re a badass when you talk about yourself in the third person. Of course, Original Cindy had swagger and skill to back up the talk. She was the best friend and roommate of Max, a supersolider from Manticore, and even though she didn’t have any special powers, was always bravest.

Padmé Amidala, Star Wars (Episodes 1-3)

Yeah, yeah, she married Darth Vader. We all make mistakes. But before that tragic accident, Padmé Amidala became Queen of Naboo and Senator of the Galactic Republic. She defended her planet from occupation by the Trade Federation, lobbied against the Military Creation Act, and then gave birth to Luke and Leia Skywalker.

Paprika, Paprika

Paprika (aka Dr. Chiba) decided to illegally use DC Mini (the Dream Machine) to help soothe the minds of psychiatric patients. Her compassion and whimsicality carried us through beautiful dreamscapes and then the nightmares the followed.

Princess Leia, Star Wars (Episodes 4-6)

She may seem like your average golden bikini-wearing damsel in distress, but in reality, she’s so much more than that. She thwarted Darth Vader repeatedly, refused to capitulate to his torture techniques, and very nearly sacrificed her own life to save the people of Hoth. She also pays Han Solo back by rescuing him before they defeat the entire Empire.

River Tam, Firefly

“River was more than gifted. She was a gift. Everything she did, music, math, theoretical physics-even dance-there was nothing that didn’t come as naturally to her as breathing does to us.”

Sarah Connor, The Terminator

Oh, you know, just a small town waitress whose son was prophesied to lead humanity’s forthcoming war against machines. Sarah Connor is the epitome of feminine badasses.

Sarah Jane Smith, Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures

She was a beacon of feminist inspiration in the early days of Doctor Who. A Cyberman-Dalek-Sontaran-fighting journalist who was so beloved she even got her own spin-off.

Servalan, Blake’s 7

The Supreme Commander of the Terran Federation was the best thing about Blake’s 7. She was classy and sassy and so very evil. Even though it was tantamount to rooting for the Cylons, we were always on her side, hoping she’d catch Blake and his Seven and bring them to justice.

Elizabeth Shaw, Prometheus

It takes some kind of brawn to watch your boyfriend get torched with a flamethrower and your whole crew get brutally murdered and then give yourself a c-section before carrying on with your mission to find extraterrestrial life.

Number Six, Battlestar Galactica

She was the sexiest Cylon in all the known universes, but Six was more than just a pretty face/bangin’ body. She was also the reason the Colonies fell to the Cylons and then one of the major reasons humanity was able to return from space. In all of her incarnations, she refused to be shaken down to her robotic instincts and orders.

Toshiko Sato, Torchwood

Tosh was a technology whiz in an alien-fighting headquarters that boasted some of the most sophisticated technology in the world. (They even had a pterodactyl!) She even sacrificed her own life to save her team and all the people in Cardiff.

Trinity, The Matrix

Trinity may not have been The One, but she was the one reason we kept coming back for more and more installments of The Matrix. Not only did she possess standard badass items like guns and leather jackets and a smart mouth, she was also gifted with Bullet-Time, a superpower we’d only ever seen Superman employ.

President Laura Roslin, Battlestar Galactica

The reluctant president to a barely-surviving group of ragtag human refugees in space, Laura Roslin became one of the greatest leaders in sci-fi history. She showed constant compassion, strength, and grace, all while fighting a very private battle with cancer.

Who is your favorite kick-ass sci-fi character?

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