Reader Top Ten Greatest Science Fiction Film Characters: Bruce Nims

Reader Bruce Nims shares his list of greatest science fiction film characters below.  Bruce writes:

"Here is my Top 10 list of Sci-Fi Characters of all time!  (Drum roll please!)

1. Darth Vader (not counting the prequels where Lucas seemingly did the impossible and ruin the greatest movie villain of all time).  - Seriously, has there ever been a more iconic villain than good old Darth?   Has there ever been a more amazing introduction to a villain than Darth?  Has there ever been a more quoted villain than Darth?  Well if you don’t agree with my points then, "I find your lack of faith disturbing."  Darth Vader, especially in Empire Strikes Back, has no peer in my opinion in the pantheon of movie villains.

2. Han Solo - (ignoring Return of the Jedi of course and the silly "Special Editions" that were anything but).  The perfect embodiment of cool and yes HE SHOT FIRST and I'm okay with that and Lucas should be as well.  The fact that he was a stone cold killing bad ass and then developed into part of the core of the rebel alliance and a trusted leader is something we call a “Character Arc”.  Look it up George.

3. Ripley (Alien & Aliens only).   Not only one of the best written characters in Sci-Fi history but one of the best written characters in cinema history.  Endlessly copied now but all copies are a pale imitation of the real thing. 

4. T-800 (aka The Terminator).  In the first movie, gives Vader a run for his money as greatest villain ever.  In the second movie, becomes the greatest protector ever in a movie and shows a level of heroism and humanity that you would not expect from a machine originally programmed to kill.

5. Marshall William O’Neil (from the criminally underappreciated Outland).  This movie is full of amazing characters but Sean Connery’s portrayal of a world (space) weary Federal Marshall who decides that he is tired of looking the other way while as the gears of corruption continue to turn around him and decides to take a stand.  Frankly, I think its Connery’s best acting ever.

6. Dr. Lazarus (also from the criminally underappreciated Outland).  A lost soul stuck in a soulless place.  Dr. Lazarus’s sharp wit and mind find a natural ally in Marshall O’Neil and this causes her to find the hero within herself forming a great arc from a great character.

7. Mark Sheppard (also from the criminally underappreciated Outland).  The villain of the ConAm mining operation featured in Outland is frankly one of the most interesting villains I have seen in any movie.  Peter Boyle’s best performance.  Mark Sheppard is a jovial man and the kind of guy who is everyone’s friend, but just beneath the surface (though our intrepid hero Marshall O’Neil has a knack of breaking through that surface) is a special type of evil and menace.  The kind doesn’t care who he hurts (or kills) to get ahead in the rat race.  Carter Burke (from Aliens) without the expensive suit.  A blue collar worker with a black heart.

8. T-1000 (aka “Liquid Metal” from Terminator 2).  Another villain that gives Vader a run for this money and easily once of the biggest menaces in movie history.   Casting a very long shadow over the entirety of the movie and actually made you think that Arnold (aka the T-800) was vulnerable.  (Which you have to admit is a neat hat trick to pull off!).  Completely steals every scene he is in and you never for a second think that he is anything less than the perfect killing machine.

9. Corporal Hudson (“he’s Hicks sir, I’m Hudson”).  Okay, I know what you’re thinking, “Game over man, game over!”, but bear with me.  Besides the fact, that he is basically a whiny coward who loses his cool in the worse way possible (“oh this is just great man, just great!”).  Besides the fact that he is really not a very good person (“Hey Vasquez, has anyone ever mistaken you for man?”).  Hudson is the character we all related to when we watched that movie.  We all wanted to be quietly heroic like Hicks. We all wanted to be smart and resourceful like Bishop.  We all wanted to be unrelenting and strong like Ripley.  But when we all watched that movie, the character we related to was Hudson because we couldn’t be Hicks, Bishop or Ripley.  He was the one who represented how we, as an audience, would have reacting if we found ourselves in that situation (“Sarge is dead man, let’s get the f___ outta here!”).  That is why he is so memorable.  That is why we still quote him incessantly to this day.  That is why he was so damn funny!  (None of his lines were funny because they were objectively funny lines; they were funny because as an audience he was speaking our truth.  We he says, “Game over man game over” we are laughing because we are saying “Yeah, no shit buddy, we are screwed here!”) That is why he has made such an impact on us as a character.  Almost ALL of the quotable dialogue from ALIENS that exists to this day comes from Hudson.  (The notable exception of course is Ripley’s “Get away from her you bitch!”). 

10. Yoda (Empire Strikes Back only).  The puppet that acted better than anyone else in the movie.  (Seriously, can anyone argue with that fact?)  Endlessly deep, beautifully written, and with amazing dialogue made us all believe that we were dealing with a real entity.  None of us saw a bunch of rubber on the end of some guys arm.  None of saw a passable special effect.  We saw Yoda.  We saw a Jedi Master.  We believed he was real in every single frame of the movie.   Looking back now from the age of CGI it is still amazing how effective and REAL Yoda is in ESB. 

Honorable mentions (and frankly all of these deserve to make the top 10 but I had to cut somewhere):

1.      Agent Smith

2.      HAL 9000

3.      Riddick

4.      Sarah Connor

5.      Corporal Hicks

6.      Kyle Reese (The Terminator only)

7.      James Tiberius Kirk (from Wrath of Khan)

8.      Khan Noonien Singh (from Wrath of Khan)

9.      Mad Max (from The Road Warrior)

10.    Mr. Spock

I must say, I love that Bruce boasts such a passion for Outland (1981), a film I absolutely adore, and which I actually purchased this very week on blu ray, since my old laserdisc player is now defunct.  I can’t wait to watch the movie again, even though I must have seen it approximately fifty times.  I agree that it is criminally under-appreciated.

I also like the unconventional choice of Hudson from Aliens (1986).  He is a great character, and in any other movie, he would likely be THE GREATEST character.  But Aliens is filled with tremendous characters, including Ripley, Bishop, Hicks, Newt, Vasquez and Hudson.  How to choose?

Great list, Bruce!