Ever since a very young age, I’ve been in love with science fiction. Okay, I know what you’re thinking – it’s not really your typical teen girl genre, but I’m always so drawn to the strong portrayal of girl power that commonly plays a huge role in sci-fi flicks! From ’80s musicals to British TV, strong female characters prove that being tough and kicking butt isn’t just a guy thing. Here’s a list (in no particular order) of my five favorite female characters in science fiction movies and television.
1. River Tam
River is a 17-year-old girl from the 2003 futuristic FOX series called Firefly. Despite being a little crazy due to the highly corrupt government messing with her brain, River is exceptionally intelligent and ends up saving her entire spaceship crew later on in the series – and again in the hit movie Serenity that was made a couple years after Firefly ended. I like River because she is loyal, artistic and has very fabulous values and opinions, and she always intends to do good for her friends and crew.
2. Leeloo
From one of my all time favorite movies, The Fifth Element, Leeloo is the funny and charming orange-haired element girl who spends thousands of years in an ancient Egyptian temple before being woken up by a group of 23rd century scientists. She ends up traveling the galaxies with a new league of friends to save the Earth from a giant meteor that is prophesied to hit at any moment. I love Leeloo because she’s witty and happy all the time, and indisputably has the best ending-fight sequence of any sci-fi movie ever.
3. Sarah Williams
Fifteen year old Sarah (who is the most stylish ‘80s teen ever, just saying) finds herself in an unearthly Labyrinth after wishing her baby brother away one night while babysitting. Sarah must journey to the center of the biggest and most complex maze ever to find her brother Toby, and she picks up a bunch of “creatures” as friends on the way, as well as dances in many fabulous ’80s musical numbers. I love Sarah for her determination, pure cleverness and maturity to handle such situations while keeping her head on straight (literally, you’ll understand if you’ve seen the movie). I love her authenticity, and she’s inspired me a great deal growing up.
4. Ofelia
Ofelia is a very free-spirited girl of the 1940s who lives on a Spanish manor with her evil stepfather and her mother during World War II. Through the terrible violence going on around her, Ofelia meets a faun who tells her that she possesses the spirit of an ancient princess who lived in the underworld. This movie has been commonly classified as a “fairy tale for adults”, but at about 10, I fell in love with the fantasy aspects of it. Ofelia and I are both very similar in that we find the good parts of every situation and run with them, no matter how odd they seem. She is wise beyond her years, and shows heroic loyalty and bravery, especially at the end of the film.
5. Rose Tyler
As a modern London girl growing up with her single mom, Rose is the most relatable character of the bunch. She has regular 21st century human problems and has a normal job, until she runs into a 900-year-old time traveling alien named The Doctor. On the world renowned television classic Doctor Who, Rose grows from just an ordinary shop girl to a heroine as she travels galaxies with the Doctor, putting justice where it belongs and very, very rarely using violence while doing it. I love that Rose is such a role model for all of us, helping us feel like we can become something more. She’s a go-getter and never backs down from a great adventure!
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Ivana Baquero who played Ofelia in Pan’s Labyrinth was simply amazing and deserved the Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor.
I agree about Ellen Ripley and Samantha Carter and I’d also add -
Aeryn Sun from Farscape
Kara ‘Starbuck’ Thrace from Battlestar Galatica
Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager
Love this but Ellen Ripley definitely needs to be up there!
Samantha Carter from Stargate SG-1 is also a really brave and cool woman.
No one is better than Rose Tyler <3
Don’t forget Queen Amadala from Star Wars, or Evangeline O’Neill from the Diviners (great book by the way)
Wait a sec here.
“Cool” by what definition? And Labyrinth is Fantasy, not SF.
Sumer Glau gets on twice because of River Tam and Cameron.
Yvonne Craig gets on 3 times for the green alien dancer (Marta) on
Star Trek, Batgirl, and Wild Wild West’s “Ecstasy La Joie”
Catwoman (played by 5 different ladies so far)
You have the robot Maria from Metropolis.
Uhuru from Star Trek..
Princess Leia from Star Wars.
The alien singer from the 5th Element.
Aunty Entity (played by Tina Turner) in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.
Just to scratch the surface.
You left out Buffy, the most kick ass of all!
Ellen Ripley!
Nausicaa will always be tops in my book.
Labyrinth and Pan’s Labyrinth are both fantasy, not scifi.
Olivia Dunham from Fringe is awesome as well.
I really think you should watch Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda. Trance Gemini is my favorite female character in all of Science Fiction. It seems she is an avatar of a Star. She also has a cool guessing power that is almost precognitive in nature.
What about Starbuck!?!?
Dear Grace. A funny thing about Hollywood is that it managed to make science fiction a cheap and unrecognized movie type. Therefore, many very serious and remarkable scifi movies that are really impressive and important in the movies history are completely out of reach for most people. I dont think the movies you mention here are scifi, are more fantasy, but the Holywood scifi movies normally lack any artistic merit. Ok, I am going to tell you about 5 really good scifi moview with remarkable female characters. Solaris (Russia, 1976), with a beautiful actress doing an outstanding leading role. Blade Runner (1980) (The beautiful 80s aesthethic replicant), Ethernal sunshine of a spotless mind (Kate Winslet leading role, really remarkable). Melancholia 2012, impressive role of Kristen Dunst. Well, I think those have the most remarkable female characters. I hope you have the opportunity to watch them. Cheers. Alonso
Ofelia didn’t live during the WWII, it was the Spanish Civil War. Spain never got into the WWII, too poor to fight!
Truth, was civil war but please don’t be ignorant… Spain didn’t make part of WWII ’cause they didn’t care, the fact that USA has to put the head in each war doesn’t mean all world has to.
Buffy!
Willow!
Agree!
Hi!I’m a 22 year old aspiring musician who loves playing ukulele and bass guitar. I’m an animal lover and vegetarian and I work at my family’s knitting shop. I needed to share that with you!
This whole list is amazing! And I love that you included Rose Tyler! Dare I say Amelia Pond comes in right behind her as far as companions go?
Ofelia sounds fascinating- what book/movie/tv show is she from?
Also- River Tam will forever be awesome.
Ofelia is definitely from Pan’s Labyrinth. Just beware, it’s very graphic. But it’s an amazing story.
Very graphic! I didn’t expect it at all, but I guess that’s what I get for watching a rated R movie without checking lol, but it is a great story
I am pretty sure Ofelia is the girl from Pan’s Labyrinth.