Top Ten… SciFi Heroes!
So, we’ve had the top ten sci fi villains, so let’s have a quick look at the top ten heroes from science fiction. I’m complining this list based on the following factors:
1. Universe saving – how many times has this hero saved the universe or their home planet or whatever?
2 Impact on the genre – how much of an impact or effect has this hero had on the sci fi genre?
3. Aura of awesomeness – the indefinable cool factor.
Some heroes rank high in one area but less in others, so with that in mind, ahead warp one for the Top Ten SciFi heroes! Onward!
10. Lieutennant Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica
An obvious knock off of Han Solo from the Star Wars trilogy, the ace Viper pilot Lt. Starbuck nonetheless is cool enough to make the list. Played by Dirk “Face from off of The A-Team” Bennedict in the grad tradition of Flash Gordon-esque swashbuckling sci fi heroes, the popularity of Starbuck apparently pissed Richard Hatch off, who felt that his character of Apollo was being sidelined to make room for more episodes starring Bennedict.
9. Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation
A bit of a controversial one here since there are those who think that Picard should be in the top spot on this list, but for my money, Picard’s in his rightful place at number nine. A man who would seemingly rather sit in his ready room and hold meetings rather than actually, yanno, *do* something, Picard has nonetheless negotiated his way into saving the universe a couple times and for that he is worthy of inclusion.
8. The T-800 from Terminator 2: Judgement Day
The only character on this list to have been both the baddie and the goodie, Schwarzenegger’s heroic T-800 from T2 has become a pop cultural icon and one of the most parodied characters in cinema history. After fighting on the side of Skynet in the first movie, the Austrian Oak returned, reprogrammed and fighting the good fight in the sequel.
7. Flash Gordon
dumdumdumdumdumdumdum FLASH! Ah-ahhhh! He’ll save every one us! Well, he’s been saving every one of us in books, comics, radio, TV shows, and movies since 1934 and it doesn’t look like he’s planning to stop any time soon. Created by Alex Raymond (one of the most underrated and unappreciated men in comics history) the “saviour of the universe” has been battling the forces of Emperor Ming in every form of media and Freddie Mercury was not using hyperbole when he described Flash as “king of the impossible.”
6. Han Solo from Star Wars
The role that made Harrison Ford a star. Be honest, who hasn’t wanted to be Han Solo at some point in their life? The coolest guy ever to wear a waistcoat and buddies with a death dealing walking carpet, the cocky smuggler Han Solo is undoubtedly the best character in Star Wars. He’s at his best in A New Hope when he’s arrogant, wisecracking and absolutley 100% uninterested in the Rebellion’s cause. His character becomes watered down the more into the rebellion he gets, but he still maintains that smuggler cool, even when he’s being upstaged by Ewoks.
5. Mr. Spock from Star Trek
Flawlessly logical and endlessly cool (in the “as a cucumber” sense of the word) the half Vulcan-half human Mr. Spock was Captain Kirk’s second-in-command and right-hand-man. Acting as a calm and rational counterpoint to the passion and emotion of Kirk and Dr. McCoy, Spock was absolutley invaluable to both the fictional sucess of the Enterprise’s missions and the very real sucess of Star Trek.
4. Luke Skywalker from Star Wars
He was never as cool as Han Solo, but from a heroic standpoint Luke places higher than Han. The son of Darth Vader and brother of Princess Leia, Luke’s journey from simple farmboy to Jedi Knight is – despite what Lucas might say about Vader and/or the droids – the true story being told in the original Star Wars trilogy. The real trick Lucas played with Luke was casting Mark Hamill, an actor capable of going from gormless boy to mature and confident man. Whether he’s destroying the Death Star in ANH, trying to save his friends in TESB or redeeming his father in ROTJ, Luke is the real hero in the Star Wars trilogy.
3. Superman
Some of his powers and adventures might be more fantasy than science fiction, but his origin is pure scifi. The last son of Krypton, sent to earth from his dying home planet as a child in a rocketship built by his scientist father, Superman has saved his adoptive home – not to mention the entire universe – on occasions innumerable. Constantly threatened by evil geniuses, mechanical robots, giant apes and interdimensional tricksters, Superman also has to face some very human problems such as dealing with his boss, his pushy girlfriend and his nerdish friends. Known as the Man of Steel, the Man of Tomorrow and, ocassionaly, the Metropolis Marvel, Superman is not only comic’s greatest hero, but also one of science fiction’s.
2. Captain James T. Kirk from Star Trek
Every so often a character and an actor become so inextricably linked that it’s impossible for any other actor to play the role. Chris Pine learned this the hard way when he tried to essay the role of Jim Kirk in the 2009 Star Trek reboot. Now and forever, Captain Kirk and William Shatner are all but one and the same. Kirk is the classic image of the authoritarian who’s not afraid to play by his own rules when the going gets tough. Captain, of course, of the USS Enterprise, Kirk has saved the galaxy more times than I’ve had hot dinners.
1. The Doctor from Dr. Who
If Captain Kirk is the epitome of a sci fi hero in a uniform, then the Doctor is the ultimate sci fi renegade. The Gallifreyan Time Lord has probably saved the universe more times than anyone, and yet can be a bit of a bastard himself – stealing the TARDIS, almost strangling his companion Peri, frequently losing his temper and being guilty of some shocking wardrobe choices. Played by eleven actors (so far) – Peter Davidson, Matt Smith, Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee being some of my favorites – my all time favorite Doctor however is Colin Baker. Sadly Baker was never given much of a chance in the role (Timothy Dalton comes to mind) and the scripts he was given let him down somewhat, but he was brilliant in the role, pitching his performance somewhere between the grumpiness of Hartnel, the quirkiness of Tom Baker and the nice-guy-ness of Davidson. In any case, the character of the Doctor is without question science fiction’s greatest hero and one of its most beloved characters.
Whether we’re being attacked by Ming the Merciless, the Cybermen, the Klingons or Lex Luthor, we can always count one of of these guys to save the day. This list could easily have been a top twenty, so whittling it down to just ten wasn’t easy. Annoyed that I’ve missed out one of your favorites? Let me know your thoughts below. End transmission.
Comments
Comment from VadikComa
Time August 1, 2010 at 1:34 am
I would like to exchange links with your site thepicardmaneuver.com
Is this possible?
Pingback from The Picard Maneuver. » The geeky list thing gets geekier; Sci-Fi’s best captains.
Time August 21, 2010 at 4:52 pm
[...] a tough choice. But much like Marty Michael’s Top Ten Sci Fi Heroes these choices are based on my view (as always really, my site and all that) and oddly, we have two [...]
Comment from James Tyler
Time June 30, 2010 at 12:01 pm
The Doctor… interesting, but fair, top choice. I still feel that Paul McGann was given the short end of the stick and would have been brilliant if given a real chance to be the Doctor. The movie is alright, it has it’s Americanism… but McGann was far better than the script.
Picard… I can see his inclusion, but the DS9 fan in me still leans towards Sisko. Far more proactive than Picard (maybe too much, who was in charge when he took his staff out on the Defiant?) and despite the show taking a couple of years to warm up (but TNG was the same, so meh) he seemed more commanding, more powerful and more able to fight his cause. He even seemed to take control over the Admirals involved in the war and was more complex a charachter, especially when losing his cool.
Though I still see DS9 as Ron Moore’s prelude to what became the new Battlestar – and I’m tempted to say William Adama, but his actions don’t match up with others on this list. But he was cool despite being old, commanding and not afraid to be a prick, emotional yet would hide that from is crew (when he was sober) and loyal. Not to mention… Edward James Olmos is a fantastic actor who really owned the role.
Pine’s still quite young, but I think that added to his performance. He’s the early days of Kirk, he wasn’t always the awesome – he had to get the shit kicked out him and learn. The same goes for Spock, really – but that’s just a far more logical step to show that he’s had to tame his human side. Even though this is a Kirk born of different circumstance. But in the scenes where he channels Shatner (particularly the last scene on the bridge) it was wonderful as Shatner and Kirk will forever be tied together as one.
Althought I know it’s not your cup or raktajino, Jack O’Neill from Stargate pops in my head. Richard Dean Anderson gave us the anti-McGyver in the performance of a simple soldier who was good at his job, not so good at the science. But he saved the world on more than one occasion, usually against all odds, and still managed to get his groove on until he bowed out in the later years.
For Terminator… I’m not sure on the big man. He’s a machine programmed to be the hero, where as Sara Conner in T-2 was a human fighting against everything and everyone to make sure the future would go forward with fates chosen hero. Arnie was writen as the hero, but I always wonder if Conner – as a flawed human with a lot to deal with – was one of the unsung heroes of the saga. Especially considering the life she was pushing her son towards.
I’m also tempted to say Taggart from Galaxy Quest. He never gave up, never surrendered…