The Women of Sci-Fi

When you are asked what your ideal picture of the “woman of television sci-fi” would look like, who do you see? Are you the person who sees Buffy Summers sprinting across a graveyard chasing after a vampire? Do you see Major (nee Colonel) Samantha Carter in uniform barking orders on some planet in another galaxy? Do you watch Sarah Connor stand side-by-side with her son, John, and terminator, Cameron, against any adversary?

If you look back over the last 40 odd years of television science fiction, you will find many different “ideals” for the women of television sci-fi. But instead of just focusing on the femme fatales or sex symbols – which seems to be atypical of most “top” lists for women regardless of the genre – this list will mainly focus on the strong, independent and intelligent women who not only looked great in their costumes or uniforms (where applicable), but could also kick ass and show up the men around them.

• Diana Rigg in the British 1960’s series The Avengers was sexy secret agent Emma Peel, who had superior fighting skills, intelligence and “fashion sense” being clad in a slick, tight zippered jumpsuit.

• Yvonne Craig as librarian Barbara Gordon otherwise known as Batgirl in the 1960’s television series Batman was a force to be reckoned with in her skintight purple, masked costume with small wigged cap. She was often put into perilous situations right alongside both Batman and Robin and could handle herself extraordinarily well. It should be noted that Ms. Craig’s portrayal has been praised for paving the way for many other TV heroines in the years that followed her very brief stint on the last season of Batman.

• Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Uhura in Star Trek, the legendary 1960’s phenom, was one of the first African-American actresses to portray a non-stereotypical role, holding an important position with the Star Fleet. It should also be noted that Ms. Nichols became the first African-American actress to place her handprints in front of Hollywood’s Graumann’s Chinese Theatre.

• Lynda Carter was legendary Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman in the 1970’s cult-classic series. In her red, white and blue costume she saved mankind from themselves on a daily basis.

• Lindsey Wagner as the one and only Jamie Sommers in The Bionic Woman in the 1970’s series was the first female cyborg, who was saved after a near-fatal parachuting accident and worked as a secret agent masquerading as a school teacher.

• Joanna Cameron in the short-lived series Isis was Andrea Thomas, a high school teacher, who, on an archaeological dig, found a mythical amulet given to an Egyptian Queen. After using an incantation, the amulet bestowed on the wearer great strength, the ability to move inanimate objects and fly at super speed, making her Isis.

• Deidre Hall and Judy Sturgis were Electra Woman and Dyna Girl for one year in 1976 in the series of the same name. While they were seen as gorgeous superheroes in skintight outfits, they battled a bevy of villains and worked out of the Electrabase that featured sophisticated equipment.

• Catherine Hicks was Amanda Tucker in the short-lived 1982-1983 series Tucker’s Witch where she and her husband ran a private investigation office and she used her special powers to advantage, despite it getting them into trouble.

• Erin Gray was Col. Wilma Deering in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century during the late 1970’s and early 1980s, while seen in a skin-tight white jumpsuit and helmet this character was one of the early examples of a strong female character in a sci-fi setting.

• Faye Grant was Dr. Juliet Parrish in the 1980’s V: The Series, where she fought side-by-side with Marc Singer against invading lizards disguised as humans.

• Martina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation in the latter part of the 1980’s and early 1990’s was a highly valued advisor to Captain Picard and a skilled diplomat. While she was not a clinical psychologist or a medical doctor she was, a shrink-type person aboard the Enterprise.

• Linda Hamilton was Catherine Chandler on Beauty & the Beast. After a brutal attack, and a rescue by a shadowy figure, she worked for the District Attorney’s office and fought to make a difference beside Vincent, the half-man/half-creature who saved her life.

NOTE: Please remember this is a list of women of television sci-fi and is not meant to negate any women of sci-fi from film; therefore, Linda’s portrayal as Sarah Connor is not being overlooked. I’m just focusing on TV this time around.

Roles for woman started to drastically change in the 1990s and 2000s and the following will highlight just a small portion of the intelligent, strong-willed woman who graced screens all over America and beyond:

• Gillian Anderson starred as Special Agent Dana Scully in The X-Files for over 9 years. She was the skeptic to Agent Mulder’s believer, investigating unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena.

• Lucy Lawless was Xena, Warrior Princess, who once lead a band of outlaws that terrorized all of Greece, but she set out to redeem her murderous past by fighting against tyranny and evil and protecting the innocent and weak with her ever faithful companion Gabrielle (Renee O’Connor)

• Sarah Michelle Geller played the infamous Buffy Anne Summers on the series Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. As the legend goes there is one young woman chosen by fate to battle evil forces. She is endowed with dramatically increased physical strength as well as endurance, agility, accelerated healing, intuition and a limited degree of clairvoyance. Buffy saved Sunnydale on nearly a daily basis from vampires and all manner of demons while attempting to be a high school then college student.

• Alyson Hannigan epitomized the role of Willow Rosenberg, the awkward best friend of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, who came to be one of the most powerful witches in the history of television.

• Charisma Carpenter appeared on both Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Angel as Cordelia Chase. She started out as a self-absorbed high school student and a would-be actress working at Angel’s private investigation office. She then inherited visions from Quinn, the demon who worked with Angel, gave birth to Jasmine, a creature that nearly ended the world. Cordelia eventually became an ascended being.

• Sabrina Lloyd was Wade Welles in the FOX series Sliders. She was a colleague of Quinn Mallory, who developed an anti-gravity device that could open portals to alternative realities. After accidentally going through a portal, they had to fight their way to get back home.

• Peta Wilson had the lead role in the series La Femme Nikita, which was about a street-smart drug addict whose death in prison is faked. Nikita is then forced to work for a super secret agency as a martial arts trained covert agent.

• Mira Furlan was Delenn and Claudia Christian was Cmdr. Susan Ivanova in Babylon 5. Deleen was an alien ambassador, who changed from a shy, respectful priestess to a decisive military and political leader. Ivanova was the XO of the Babylon 5 space station and was eventually promoted to Captain and given command of a new class of Earth Alliance warship.

• Kate Mulgrew, starred in Star Trek: Voyager, as the first female captain of the Federation – Captain Kathryn Janeway. She was in charge of the deep-space mission to the Badlands, the hideout for the so-called traitors to the Federation – the Marquis. She was the only female captain featured in the TV variations of the Star Trek world and was a formidable character.

• Amanda Tapping starred for over 10 years as Samantha Carter on Stargate: SG-1, working up the ranks from Major to Colonel over the course of her career and eventually being placed in charge of the command on Stargate: Atlantis.

• Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan (and Shannen Doherty) starred as the Halliwell sisters on Charmed. They were witches working to save the innocent while still attempting to have “normal” lives. Each sister had a unique ability but when their talents were combined they were a lethal combination against evil.

• Yancy Butler starred as Sara Pezzini, a disciplined, tough-talking detective, who wields the conscious, intelligent and ancient weapon, known as the Witchblade; a weapon with supernatural origins, the offspring of the universe’s opposing aspects. She was a hard-ass chick with a gun, but matched the Witchblade she is a formidable warrior.

• Jennifer Garner played Sydney Bristow on Alias, the English lit undergraduate student who is offered to work for SD-6, a branch she believed to be part of the CIA, but turned out to be anything but. She was a woman with a heart of gold who could become anyone and battle any foe.

• Andrea Parker played Miss Parker in the fan-favorite NBC series The Pretender, who was a formidable character, chain-smoking and hunting down Jarod. Miss Parker was the daughter of the man behind “The Centre” where Jarod was held for nearly his entire life. Her character was complex, cynical, powerful and intimidating yet a somewhat tortured soul.

• Claudia Black appeared as Officer Aeryn Sun on Farscape. She was a renegade Peacekeeper officer, who was stripped of her rank and marked for death after protecting John Crichton. Even thought she was trained as a soldier since birth, her severance from the Peacekeepers allowed her to rediscover her compassionate side.

• Amy Acker was Winifred “Fred” Burkle on Angel. Fred was a young Texan physicist whose social skills became stunted due to her captivity on the world Pylea, but after her rescue she became more outspoken and used her skills in Angel’s investigation office.

• Gina Torres, who starred as Zoe Alleyne Washburne in Firefly, was second-in-command onboard the ship Serenity. She was a loyal wartime friend of Captain Reynolds, and the wife of pilot Wash. She was described as a warrior woman and had great knowledge of combat.

• Summer Glau starred in Firefly as River Tam, a child prodigy whose brain was subjected to experiments, causing her to display schizophrenia but she was actually a “reader” and possessed psychic abilities. She appeared to be childlike, but at rare moments she could shoot down adversaries easily without looking or battle an army of Reavers, as displayed in the movie Serenity.

• Jessica Alba was probably one of the top kick-ass women of sci-fi as Max on Dark Angel. Part human and part cat, she had unbelievable abilities and after she escaped the confines of Manticore, she hid underground, doing her best to blend in after an electrical attack on the country. Later after her secret was revealed, she worked side-by-side with the other inhabitants of Manticore to secure a safe haven for themselves.

• Allison Mack has starred as Chloe Sullivan in the series Smallville loosely based on the early years of Clark Kent. She started out as Clark’s best friend and teen investigator for their high school newspaper, eventually worked for the Daily Planet and then became the Watchtower for the Justice League. While her character isn’t a part of the known lexicon of the Superman world, she is a strong defender of Clark and his secret.

• Katee Sackhoff, starring as Kara “Starbuck” Thrace in the reimagined version of Battlestar Galactica, is probably one of the top kick-ass women of sci-fi. She was just as comfortable behind the controls of her Viper as she was at the poker table, smoking a cigar and picking fights with her commanding officers.

• Mary McDonnell as Laura Roslin on Battlestar Galactica was the epitome of what our world would want for the first female President; strong, reliable, compassionate and smart.

• Tricia Helfer appeared in Battlestar Galactica as Number Six, a humanoid Cylon operative. There were several variations of Number Six, including Caprica Six, Shelly Godfrey, Gina Inviere and Natalie. Each variation had specific skills whether it be seduction, destruction or humanitarianism.

• Erica Durance is the epitome of who Lois Lane (from the TV series Smallville) is all about. A brass, in-your-face, tough girl with a heart of gold. She can get herself out of nearly any fight and write winning articles for the Daily Planet. She may not wear the cape, but she’s a superhero to many.

• Evangeline Lilly as Kate on Lost may not be seen as one of the women of sci-fi, but given the fact the show has slowly changed for a science fact series into a science fiction program and the unexplainable events for which she has had to deal with, she deserves to be a part of this list.

• Jacqueline McKenzie starred as Diana Skuris on The 4400. Diana started out as cold and removed, but over time she changed into a compassionate agent protecting the returnees even adopting one of the youngest as her own daughter.

• Rachel Luttrell appeared as Teyla Emmagan on Stargate: Atlantis from over 5 years. Teyla was the leader of the Athosians, a race of humans native to the Pegasus galaxy, who ends up working with John Sheppard and the Atlantis team to fight the Wraith.

• Billie Piper was Rose on Doctor Who – one of many companions to the Doctor who had a simple, uncomplicated life before meeting the doctor but who grew and changed greatly during her short time with him.

• Eve Myles is Gwen on Torchwood, a South Cardiff police officer who discovers the mysterious Torchwood Institute into which she is eventually recruited by Captain Jack Harkness.

• Yvonne Strahovski is Sarah Walker on Chuck, one of two agents assigned by the CIA to protect Chuck Bartowski after he accidentally downloaded government secrets into his brain. She is tough, capable, resilient and formidable.

• Salli Richardson-Whitfield is Dr. Allison Blake on Eureka. She is a medical doctor who started out as a Department of Defense agent, acting as the liaison between the town and the federal government then later became the director of Global Dynamics. She works closely with Sheriff Jack Carter to deal with any dilemma that may arise in Eureka.

• Elizabeth Mitchell appeared on Lost as Dr. Juliet Burke, a fertility expert brought to the island to help the inhabitants only to be forced to participate in inhumane treatment of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. She ends up showing herself to not only be a capable doctor but a tough and almost ruthless fighter.

• Lena Headey was tasked with the role of legendary Sarah Connor in the short-lived series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. As the world knows Sarah is the mother of John Connor who will one day become the leader of the human resistance but is seen as a deranged fugitive to the authorities. She is another kick-ass woman who would lay down her life to protect her son.

• Summer Glau also appeared on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles as Cameron, an advanced form of Terminator that was actually programmed to protect John Connor. As a cyborg-robot, she was indestructible and was the ultimate weapon as long as her circuitry didn’t go haywire.

This list doesn’t reflect all women of television sci-fi (that would simply be astronomically), but it’s a terrific reflection of the strong women who have graced our TV screens over the decades. What are your thoughts? Was there a particular character missed? Do you agree with the list?

What new female characters can we expect to add to the list? Perhaps it will be Roxie (Rebecca Romijn) from the fall ABC series Eastwick; Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell) on the mid-season ABC series V; Kahlan Amnell (Bridget Regan) from the syndicated series Legend of the Seeker or maybe even Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) on the new CW series The Vampire Diaries? As the old saying goes, “time will tell.”