15 Sci-Fi Shows Led By Stellar Female Characters

Some of these female characters have inspired many young girls and women for generations.

Subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest stories and updates.

In the past, women had been sidelined in the science fiction genre. They’re either occupying roles as side characters who are helpless, killed off quickly or, as some say, just serving as a ‘lamp post’ or background décor.

More often than not, female characters are used to propel a male character’s story arc, and the audience never gets to get to know the female character in depth.

Fortunately, the times are changing bit by bit, and there are more sci-fi films that have women in starring roles. These characters have their own stories and character arcs. Over the years, some of these characters such as X-Files’ Scully became role models to many young girls and encouraged them to go into science careers.

This International Women’s Day is a good time as any to revisit some of the amazing women-led sci-fi shows ever listed below and continue to #BreakTheBias.

1. Aliens

The sci-fi horror film Aliens (1979) stars Sigourney Weaver as Lieutenant Ellen Ripley, a character who has inspired tough, driven female characters in science fiction and beyond. In the story, Ripley had to face and fight dangerous aliens in space with her crew on their ship, Nostromo. The success of the first film spawned a franchise and introduced another strong female character, Alexa Woods, in its crossover AVP: Alien vs Predator (2004).

2. AVP: Alien vs Predator

AVP: Alien vs Predator stars Sanaa Lathan as Alexa Woods, an experienced mountaineering guide. She was hired by a wealthy industrialist, Charles Weyland, to lead a team on a dangerous trip off the coast of Antarctica where they get caught in between a battle of two alien species.

3. Prometheus

Prometheus is a prequel inspired by the Aliens franchise. Archaeologist Elizabeth Shaw (played by Noomi Rapace) discovered a star map in Scotland and interpreted it as an invitation from beings known as the Engineers. The CEO of Weyland Corporation quickly funds an expedition aboard the scientific vessel Prometheus, to seek the origins of humanity.

4. Star Trek: Discovery

Star Trek: Discovery stars Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham, a science specialist on Discovery who eventually assumes captainship. The series begins around ten years before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series.

Burnham’s recklessness starts a war between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire, so she’s demoted and reassigned to the USS Discovery.

Throughout her adventures, she comes across brilliant female characters such as Sylvia Tilly (played by Mary Wiseman), an ensign on Discovery, and the formidable warlord/ emperor Philippa Georgiou (played by Michelle Yeoh).

5. Pacific Rim

Rinko Kikuchi stars as Mako Mori, a Ranger in training in the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps (PPDC) who eventually commandeers a Jaeger called Gipsy Danger with Raleigh Becket when monsters known as Kaijus attacked the world. In Pacific Rim: Uprising, she rose ranks and became the PPDC Secretary-General.

6. Psycho-Pass

Psycho-Pass is a Japanese cyberpunk psychological thriller anime series set in a futuristic Japan that’s governed by the Sibyl System, a powerful biomechatronic computer network.

The story follows Akane Tsunemori, a novice Inspector assigned to Division One of the Public Safety Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division who uncovers a conspiracy involving a criminal mastermind.

In this world, citizens are constantly assessed for their prevalence to commit a crime. Enforcers of the Bureau are tasked to get rid of citizens with a high Crime Coefficient score.

7. Alita: Battle Angel

Alita: Battle Angel chronicles the story of Alita (played by Rosa Salazar), who’s a cyborg who awakens in a new body with no memory of her past life. She lived a pretty sheltered life thanks to Ido, a compassionate cyber-doctor.

One day, she discovers that she’s well-versed in Panzer-Kunst, a lost combat art for machine bodies, when her father figure, Ido, is ambushed by a gang of cyborg killers. Believing she’ll eventually regain her memories through fighting, she soon crosses paths with a criminal mastermind.

8. Serenity

Serenity (2005) is a Space Western film that served as a continuation of the television series Firefly. The story focuses on the crew of Serenity who shelters River Tam (played by Summer Glau), a girl with special psychic abilities who’s also an assassin.

Due to their actions, the crew had to outrun an Alliance agent known as the Operative. The film also stars Gina Torres as Zoe Washburne, the second-in-command of Serenity, and Jewel Staite as Kaylee Frye, the ship’s mechanic.

9. Sunshine

Sunshine (2007) is said to be the bleakest and most beautiful sci-fi movie ever made. An international crew of astronauts aboard the spaceship Icarus II journeys towards the dying Sun to save the human race. The plan is to place a bomb in it in hopes to reignite the star. The film feature amazing characters such as Corazon (Michelle Yeoh), a biologist, and Cassie (Rose Byrne), the pilot of Icarus II.

10. Ex Machina

Alicia Vikander plays the humanoid AI Ava in this psychological thriller. A programmer named Caleb was invited by Nathan, the company’s CEO, to administer the Turing test on Ava to find out whether she can pass as a real person. All seems well enough until Ava tells Caleb not to trust Nathan and plots her way to freedom.

11. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Rogue One serves as the first instalment of the Star Wars anthology series and an immediate prequel to Star Wars: A New Hope. The story follows an orphaned girl named Jyn Erso (played by Felicity Jones) who eventually joins the Rebel Alliance and embarks on a dangerous mission to steal plans of the Death Star.

12. The Shape of Water

The Shape of Water is a romantic sci-fi movie that’s the first to win the Best Picture Oscar. Set in 1962 Baltimore, the story follows a mute cleaner named Elisa Esposito (played by Sally Hawkins) at a high-security government laboratory. She falls in love with a captured humanoid amphibian creature. Their riveting yet strange love story keeps the audience hooked right until the end.

13. IO

When Earth’s atmosphere became toxic, most of the human race settled on a space station near one of Jupiter’s moons, Io. Margaret Qualley plays Sam, a young scientist on Earth who’s trying to breed a bee species to save the world.

14. Annihilation

Annihilation follows a group of scientists and explorers investigating The Shimmer, a mysterious quarantined zone of mutating plants and animals caused by an alien presence.

Natalie Portman stars as Lena, a biology professor and Army veteran, who retells what she saw when she was in the Shimmer.

The film stars Jennifer Jason Leigh as the psychologist Dr Ventress, Tessa Thompson as the physicist Josie Radek, Tuva Novotny as a geomorphologist Cassie Sheppard and Gina Rodriguez as the paramedic Anya Thorensen.

15. Everything Everywhere All At Once

Everything Everywhere All At Once is an upcoming sci-fi show starring Michelle Yeoh. Yeoh plays Evelyn Wang, an ordinary immigrant woman working in a laundromat who’s trying to get her taxes done. One day, she discovers that she can access multiple emotions, memories, and skills of her alternate selves. To make things worse, she’s told she’s the world’s best chance of survival from an evil threat.