Five of the Toughest Ladies in Sci-Fi

There’s a long legacy of men in science fiction films and television series that are born-and-bred bad-asses.  Although the sci-fi and fantasy genres tend to be a little more balanced between the genders, there still seems to be a distinct lack of strong female characters in the media as a whole.  Writers still feel the need to relegate women to damsels in distress, support characters or place them in the more “traditional” roles of mother and wife.  While these types of characters certainly have their place in all works of fiction, it’s always nice to see a female character step forward and start owning the room.  I’m not talking about the strong-willed ladies that talk tough and get things done, but those true bad-ass females - the ones that carry guns, fight like kung-fu masters and are willing to kill anyone that gets in their way.  Though there are plenty more out there, here I’ve gathered up five of my favorites, some of the biggest and baddest of the tough ladies of my generation.

Ellen Ripley -

Played by actress Sigourney Weaver in four movies of the Alien franchise, Ellen Ripley was one of the first and is still by-far one of the meanest of the bunch.  She’s become such a sci-fi icon that when people mention Weaver and her career, the “typical” female roles she’s played over the years - no matter how well she did - are eclipsed by the image of Ripley, flame-thrower in hand and facing down a giant Alien queen.  There aren’t more than a handful of men out there that could look an alien in the eye and not flinch and Ripley puts them all to shame.  Born into her heroism unwillingly, Ripley transforms as the series progresses, from technician trying to desperately survive to Alien queen hunter to self-sacrificing heroine willing to end her own life for the good of humanity.  If the world is ever invaded by hordes of angry E.T.s, screw Will Smith, get Ripley.

Princess Leia Organa -

Just looking at Princess Leia, played by a very petite Carrie Fischer, you wouldn’t think much of her in the way of kicking people’s butts.  But being a rebel leader tends to give you a unique set of skills.  Whether she’s facing down one of the most powerful Sith Lords in the galaxy, keeping a makeshift government from falling apart, picking up a blaster and wasting stormtroopers or teaching a snarky Han Solo a thing or two about how to exercise a razor wit, Leia radiates pure bad-assery.  If it wasn’t for Leia, the Rebellion would have never been able to take down the Death Star.  If she hadn’t of infiltrated Jabba’s palace, Han Solo would still be a wall decoration.  And though she never got a chance (in the movies) to pick up a lightsaber, I’m guessing she was just one movie away from kicking people’s asses face-to-face.

Sarah Connor -

First played by Linda Hamilton and later, when the TV series came about, by the amazing Lena Headey, Sarah Connor is yet another female hero that did not begin her career kicking asses.  In the beginning (Terminator), she was the damsel in distress, being saved from an angry robot by the future father of her child.  Of course, learning that the world is going to end and that your son is the key to humanity’s survival can be a traumatic experience.  But did Sarah cave?  Nope.  She moved out to the jungles of South America and learned pretty much every damn way there is to survive, including a wealth of combative skills.  Then, when she saw a potential way to stop the whole mess from happening, she was ready to put a bullet in an innocent man.  If you ever have a problem with a robot assassin, Sarah Connor should be the first person you call.

Kara Thrace (AKA Starbuck) -

Brought to life by Katee Sackhoff, Battlestar Galactica’s Kara Thrace, better known as Starbuck, is a robot-killing machine both on the ground and in space.  Whether she’s flinging her fists around, berating someone for being stupid or flying her Viper on patrol, Starbuck is dangerous, pure and simple.  Most rebooted series suffer from fanboy rage when they replace a character with one of the opposite gender, but with Starbuck that rage was almost non-existent.  Why?  Because she kicked major ass.  I almost pity poor Sackhoff in her future career, because everyone that sees her face is going to instantly think of Starbuck.  Though one among a cast of dozens, she still remains one of the series favorites and one of the most iconic female warriors in sci-fi.

Katniss Everdeen -

A relatively new addition to the world of bad-ass sci-fi ladies, Katniss Everdeen of The Hunger Games, brought to life on the big screen by the endlessly talented Jennifer Lawrence, is an icon in the making.  She’s only had the chance to strut her stuff in two movies thus far, but with two more to go in the series, she has plenty of time to make an impression.  From the beginning of the series Katniss is a survivor and as things take a turn for the worse she only grows stronger.  She’s forced to kill and does what she needs to do.  Contrary to the usual cliché of the strong hero saving the poor, weak damsel, Katniss spins the story and ends up having to save her male companion.  She undergoes a barrage of media, politics and war itself to come out as a strong leader in a world gone to hell.

Since I couldn’t possibly write forever, here are a few that didn’t make the cut but definitely deserve an honorable mention:

Trinity from The Matrix - She may not have been “The One”, but she sure as hell held her own when backed into a corner.

River Tam from Firefly - A pure death machine.  Put a sword in her hand, point her at the enemy and watch them fall.

Laura Roslin from Battlestar Galactica - She may not know how to fly a Viper, but she’s the most ruthless political player in the galaxy.  If Roslin was in charge of the U.S. right now, Congress wouldn’t have dared shut the government down.

Photo Credits -           

Ripley courtesy of everythingaction.com

Princess Leia courtesy of starcentralmagazine.com

Sarah Connor courtesy of ew.com

Kara Thrace courtesy of craveonline.com

Katniss Everdeen courtesy of hungergamessingapore.wordpress.com